Chinese Cultural Construction of Harmony: Implications for an Ongoing Dialogue on Sustainability

Sustainable development has now become a general policy goal around the world. However, this concept is open to interpretation depending on different socio-cultural, economic and political circumstances. This is mainly because we are now living in a world that is characterised by heterogeneous rather than homogeneous frames of reference, motives and interests, institutional settings and agendas. This paper provides a brief Chinese cultural context of the sustainability discourse. It is argued that social and cultural considerations will be crucial on the way towards the achievement of sustainable development. Chinese interpretation of sustainability has reflected the significant influence from the country’s unique cultural and philosophical heritage. Although the concept of sustainable development still remains ambiguous and lacks consistency in its use, it has allowed peoples with different backgrounds and often conflicting interests to reach some common ground upon which concrete policies can be developed and implemented toward a sustainable future. To achieve the goal of sustainable development, it is proposed that one of the priorities at the current stage is to maintain cultural diversity and promote inter- and trans-cultural communications.