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UN chief seeks wisdom, guidance from Confucius

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-29 11:16

UNITED NATIONS - When it comes to spiritual and philosophical guidance, it is not just the Chinese who turn to Confucius.

For the great sage's teachings have also been a source of sustenance for United Nations (UN) chief Ban Ki-moon, particularly in his "agonizing" mission to bring harmony to the world body.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon speaks to members of the media in his room at the Sedona Hotel, where the ASEAN International Pledging Conference on Cyclone Nargis is being held, in Yangon May 25, 2008. [Agencies]

During a recent interview with Xinhua ahead of his visit to China early next month, the veteran Korean diplomat spoke of his appreciation for Confucius and how the scholar's wisdom helped him in both his public and private lives.

"During my lifetime, I have been influenced and ... taught many of the good teachings of Confucius and Mencius," he said. "There are many great scholars and philosophers from China."

"I have really been trying to learn the wisdom lessons from the Analects of Confucius," he said. "These kinds of teachings have been a great source of wisdom and experience, and have been a guiding force in my public service as well as private life."

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"I am still guided by many of the good teachings of Confucius," he said.

Ban then picked up a piece of paper and started writing in Chinese a couple of famous lines from "Advice against the Ousting of Outside Consultants," authored by Li Si during the Qin Dynasty in 221 B.C.

"Mount Tai rises from heaps of earth; small streams converge into a mighty river," the secretary-general wrote in Chinese, revealing that he owned a large calligraphy work on the subject.

"That means you should embrace everybody," no matter how different their thinking, ideology or behavior might be, Ban said. "This has been the guideline of my life," he said.

"I don't claim that I have practiced exactly the same as what Confucius said, but I have been trying my best," he said.

The UN secretary-general first spoke of his esteem for the revered thinker in mid-2007, when he referred to the 2,000-year-old Analects in a Newsweek article entitled "Why the World Has Changed in the UN's Favor."

Ban said for years he had carried in his wallet "a well-worn scrap of paper inscribed with Chinese characters, each pertaining to one's age and phase in life."

The secretary-general then produced that scrap of paper, explaining what he thought was the meaning of the different age phases.

Smiling, Ban said that at 64 he belongs to the phase of "soft ear."

"That means you should be ready to hear all the opinions, all the ideas, but you should have your own judgment," he said. "This is what I have been really trying to practice."

Then he wrote down more Chinese characters meaning "personalities cultivated, families regulated, states well-governed, peace prevails in the world."

"You should first of all bring peace and stability in your own family, only then you can govern ... administer the country and the world," he said, adding that he was even trying to put the idea across to his UN staff.

"I am personally very much agonized (for) not being able to have brought harmony and peace within the UN, because I regard all my staff ... my family members," Ban said.

"...let us try to bring peace and harmony among us, no division among us," he said. "This is what I was telling my staff even this morning, by explaining this. This is what Confucius has taught me."

The UN chief described himself as a "middle-of-the-road man" who follows Confucius' doctrine of the mean. "I don't go to extremes - far right or far left - always in the center. This is my personal philosophy."