Universal harmony under heaven

This is an ideal world described in The Book of Rites, a vision pursued by the ancient Chinese. In such a world, the people under heaven are of one family, and everyone is equal, friendly and ready to help each other. This is called da tong (universal harmony) in Chinese.

As time goes by, other ideas about politics, the economy, science and technology, and cultural assimilation have been incorporated into this aspiration.

The da tong ideal was created by China, but it has many similarities with the Western idea of utopia, and the modern visions of communism and a global village. 

Xi Jinping has referred to the traditional ideal of "universal harmony" on several occasions. Speaking at the meeting marking the 40th anniversary of the launch of reform and opening up, held in December 2018, he said: Since ancient times, the broad-minded Chinese nation has pursued "universal harmony under heaven" and "coexistence of all nations in harmony," and confidently and generously maintained contacts and conducted cultural exchanges with other nations. The camel bells along the Silk Road and the numerous foreign visitors to Chang'an, the prosperous capital of the Tang Dynasty, were all memories of a good past.

天下大同

“天下大同”源自《禮記》，是對中國古代追求的理想世界的描述，代表著人類對未來社會的美好憧憬，即天下一家、人人平等、友愛互助。隨著時代變遷，這一理念融入了全球范圍的政治、經濟、科技、文化融合等思想。盡管大同理想為中國原創，但西方的烏托邦、現代的共產主義、地球村等愿景也與之有著極大的相似之處。

習近平汲取中華優秀傳統文化的思想精華，多次提及“天下大同”的觀點。2018年12月，習近平在慶祝改革開放40周年大會上指出，自古以來，中華民族就以“天下大同”“協和萬邦”的寬廣胸懷，自信而又大度地開展同域外民族交往和文化交流，曾經譜寫了萬里駝鈴萬里波的浩浩絲路長歌，也曾經創造了萬國衣冠會長安的盛唐氣象。