志异 Draft by Drama box December 2014 (english) | Page 26

Just as how a
single note cannot
produce music,
nor a single
ingredient produce
a delightful dish,
a society where
everyone is the
same would be a
society devoid of
creativity and it
will ultimately be
an unsustainable
society.

adopt the same value system. But Confucius was quick to point
out that harmony must not be confused with the elimination of
diversity by making everything and everyone the same (和而不
同 he er bu tong - harmonise but not make everything the same).
Confucius warns that though such a solution could possibly solve
problems of discord, the end result may not be that great either.
Just as how a single note cannot produce music, nor a single
ingredient produce a delightful dish, a society where everyone
is the same would be a society devoid of creativity and it will
ultimately be an unsustainable society.
True harmony, therefore, is about diversity. With diversity comes
the inevitable conflict due to differences in values and the way
people act and respond to things. The aim of harmony is not
about eliminating such differences, but to manage diversity
in such a way that the interaction between these diverse
groups becomes fruitful. It is worth noting that I did not define
harmony as the elimination of conflict. That is not the objective
of harmony from a Chinese perspective. There are times where
conflict can be completely eliminated. But there are times where
conflict is a necessary evil, and must be present but managed in
a way that will prove useful for developing fruitful interaction
between the diverse groups.
The early Chinese thinkers did not get their ideas of harmony
from nowhere. They drew inspiration from everyday occurrences

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