“The war would not easily break out if the West followed the doctrine of loyalty and forgiveness of Confucianism” Ho Xiaosin, Deputy Chair of Department of Sociology, University of Nanjing, said.

Prof. Ho has accurately pointed out the importance of implementing Confucian culture while speaking in the “Confucian Culture and Global Civilization Seminar” sponsored by College of International Studies, Tamkang University (TKU).

TKU President Dr. Chang Horng-jinh said that how to mutually merge the Confucian culture with global civilization and to explore the effect of Confucian culture towards the world will become the most important significance when we are promoting the Confucian culture. Two American scholars failed to attend the seminar as the seminar was held after the United States and Iraq waged the war.

Speaking of the American-Iraqi war, scholars across the Taiwan Strait held different viewpoints. Scholars from Mainland China as the officials of Beijing government, held a strong anti-war manner. On the contrary, scholars from Taiwan expressed different opinions.

Prof. Peng Zisheng, Graduate Institute of Management Science, Nanjing University, said that the U.S. attack to Iraq was a hegemonic manner regardless of the resolution of the United Nations and the international voices. Associate Prof. Ho Xiaosin, Deputy Chair of Department of Sociology, Nanjing University, said that the Western culture fills with the hegemonic thoughts while Confucian culture attaches much importance to peace. Ho went on saying that though powerful dynasties had appeared in the history of China, they still would not invade the weak. This is the difference between the Eastern culture and the Western one.

Assistant Prof. Lin Chin-ming of the Graduate Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, TKU, said that it’s quite understandable why the United States attacked Iraq if we have a better understanding of the U.S. culture. For the United States, the war is not a good thing but the United States should surely fight back once she was bullied.

Although scholars of the two sides hold different views on the war, yet they seem quite agreeable on the development of Confucian culture. Prof. Chang Hai-lin, Department of History, Nanjing University, pointed out that whether the Confucian culture could integrate with the global culture or not, the international voice longing for peace is quite similar to the essence of Confucian culture. Consequently, the development of Confucianism is to be predicted in the future, he added.