Confucius fans, mark your calendars! The 2025 China International Confucius Cultural Festival is back on September 27-28 in Qufu, eastern Shandong Province on the Chinese mainland. This year, we’re celebrating a whopping 2,576 years since the birth of the legendary thinker. 🎉
But here’s a twist: Confucius’s vibes aren’t just felt in Asia. A CGTN stringer hit the streets of South Africa to see how locals vibe with Confucian ideas. Spoiler: They found some surprising parallels with local values!
Clea Schultz Mofokeng shared that the core Confucian virtue of “ren,” which basically means benevolence or being kind, feels a lot like the South African concept of Ubuntu (‘I am because we are’). Both promote kindness and community care. 🤝
Then there’s Greta Frieslaar, who’s all about equal opportunity. She says she’s on board with universal access to education—a big deal that Confucius championed over 2,500 years ago. He believed learning should be open to everyone, not just the elite. 🎓
What’s awesome here is how two cultures, miles apart, can find common ground through ideas that value people and learning. It goes to show that ancient wisdom still has the power to connect us across continents. 🌍
So, next time you think about philosophy, ask yourself: What old-school idea speaks to your world? Drop a comment below and let’s chat! 💬
Reference(s):
We Talk: How Confucian thought resonates with South Africans
cgtn.com
