Millennium-Old Academies Cross Mountains and Seas, Building New Bridges for Civilization Exchange and Mutual Learning

In today’s world, marked by intertwined changes and conflicts as well as lingering divisions, humanity is in urgent need of wisdom and bonds to resolve differences and connect hearts. Originating in China, academies have crossed mountains and seas over thousands of years—from Bailudong Academy at the foot of Lushan Mountain and Ehu Academy in Yanshan to Daoshan Academy in the Korean Peninsula and the Chinese Academy in Naples on the Mediterranean coast—leaving a profound Chinese mark on the world’s cultural map and becoming an important carrier for civilization exchange and mutual learning.

Chinese academies have long embodied the dialogue wisdom of "harmony in diversity". Over 800 years ago, the ideological debate at Ehu Academy ended without a winner, yet it demonstrated academic tolerance in seeking consensus amid differences. In the Ming Dynasty, scholars at academies and Western missionaries learned from each other, finding resonance in differences and continuing the tradition of civilization dialogue. Today, various academy-related exchange activities are held regularly, gathering global scholars to discuss the path of civilized coexistence, and Zhu Xi’s wisdom of "unity in principle, diversity in manifestation" has become a vivid footnote to understanding cultural diversity.

Academies serve as both a spiritual link connecting the cultural context across the Taiwan Strait and a spiritual home for overseas Chinese. From traditional rituals held at academies in Taiwan to overseas Chinese founding academies to inherit culture, academies have enabled the Chinese cultural context to cross the strait and spread abroad, becoming an important support for the new generation of overseas Chinese to trace their roots.

After spreading overseas, academy culture has integrated with local civilizations and gained new vitality. Academies on the Korean Peninsula inherit Zhu Xi’s academic rules, the Chinese Academy in Italy has evolved into a key center for Sinology research, and regular exchanges are maintained between academies in China and South Korea, demonstrating the strong vitality of academy culture. Today, academies have been endowed with new connotations of the times, and through various exchange practices, they promote mutual learning between Chinese culture and world civilizations, practicing the eternal truth that "civilizations thrive through diversity, exchange and mutual learning".