Yang Chaoming, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, is interviewed ahead of the fifth plenary meeting of the first session of the 14th NPC in Beijing, March 12, 2023. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei/chinadaily.com.cn]

One outstanding strength of the Chinese nation is that its civilization has deep "roots" to support the growth of a strong "trunk", said Yang Chaoming, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress and professor at the Advanced Institute for Confucian Studies, Shandong University, in East China.

"It's our profound cultural soft power," Yang said at a deputies' passage interview ahead of the fifth plenary meeting of the first session of the 14th NPC on Sunday in Beijing.

Yang works and lives in Qufu, Shandong, the hometown of Confucius.

There, cultural classics have been included as textbooks for primary and middle school students. The Luyuan village, at the foot of the Nishan mountain where the great ancient Chinese thinker Confucius was born, has been garnered with a variety of traditional cultural events.

The city of Qufu has been holding the Nishan Forum of World Civilizations for eight times since 2010, serving as a hub of cultural exchanges for scholars and diplomatic envoys from home and abroad, and a link to connect to the world.

Yang recalls a private talk during one such forum where he and a European scholar discussed the differences between Eastern and Western culture.

His Western counterpart quoted the Analects, "When the grand course was pursued, a public and common spirit ruled all under the sky", and said it's a shared concept for human being.

Yang firmly believed the idea of great harmony was the most influential Confucian thought to the world. He once told his audience in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that it has embodied an international outlook of pursuing peace among all nations.

"As a deputy from the culture sector, I'll work further to perform my duties, promote traditional culture and enhance mutual learning between civilizations, and to contribute my share to turning China into a country with a strong socialist culture," Yang said.

fangaiqing@chinadaily.com.cn