Former UN official tells Sinologist forum that listening to wisdom of the past can help pave the way to a better future, Wang Xin reports in Shanghai.

The wisdom of Chinese sages can help promote mutual understanding and contribute to solving global challenges, such as climate issues and wars, and encourage international cooperation and shared development, Sinologists said at the World Conference on China Studies Shanghai Forum last week.

At a subforum of the gathering for China studies, scholars explored the wisdom of Laozi (Lao Tzu) and Confucius, and how they shed light on responses to major challenges facing the modern world.

"Global civilizations are facing various challenges," said Kim Wonsoo, former under secretary-general of the United Nations, at the forum. "We are witnessing clashes of civilizations across the globe, yet mutual understanding and empathy are in short supply."

Kim has studied One Thousand Chinese Characters, or the Qianziwen in Chinese, and the Confucian classics since childhood. Growing up, he took to heart Lao Tzu's teachings of the path of emptiness, as well as Confucius' teachings to better yourself, improve your familial harmony, rule your country wisely, and bring peace to the world.

In addition to inspiring him on a personal level, Kim pointed out that the wisdom of these sages can enlighten responses to major challenges that the world is currently facing.

"Today we are facing a storm of crises that include climate disasters brought on by undisciplined industrialization and the exploitation of nature, the COVID-19 pandemic that has paralyzed the world, and an endless stream of interstate and civil wars that continue unabated into the 21st century," he said. Kim specified the risks, which he attributed to "human greed that has fueled overproduction and overconsumption since the Industrial Revolution".