Latest news with #Confucian
Malaysia Sun
5 days ago
- Politics
- Malaysia Sun
Civilizational dialogue key to promoting shared values: experts
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Civilizational dialogue will help calm global tensions, build bridges at the people-to-people level, and facilitate cooperation, speakers told a forum here in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. In her keynote speech at the "Islam-Confucianism Civilizational Dialogue", Sun Chunlan, president of the International Confucian Association, said the dialogue served as a vivid practice of the Global Civilization Initiative, promoting mutual respect and learning among different civilizations. Sun emphasized that in the face of unprecedented changes, strengthening dialogue between Confucian and Islamic civilizations will provide wisdom to address challenges, inject positive energy into deepening South-South cooperation, and contribute to global peace and development. Meanwhile, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, noted that global tensions and conflicts seemed to be at an all-time high, but through the promotion of dialogue and cooperation, these challenges can be overcome. "It is timely for us to stand together to face cynicism and avoid conflict ... We will affirm the shared ideals of peace, freedom, compassion and justice toward a harmonious future," she said. The dialogue aimed to promote understanding among different civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity.
The Star
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
Civilizational dialogue key to promoting shared values: experts
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Civilizational dialogue will help calm global tensions, build bridges at the people-to-people level, and facilitate cooperation, speakers told a forum here in Kuala Lumpur on Monday. In her keynote speech at the "Islam-Confucianism Civilizational Dialogue", Sun Chunlan, president of the International Confucian Association, said the dialogue served as a vivid practice of the Global Civilization Initiative, promoting mutual respect and learning among different civilizations. Sun emphasized that in the face of unprecedented changes, strengthening dialogue between Confucian and Islamic civilizations will provide wisdom to address challenges, inject positive energy into deepening South-South cooperation, and contribute to global peace and development. Meanwhile, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, noted that global tensions and conflicts seemed to be at an all-time high, but through the promotion of dialogue and cooperation, these challenges can be overcome. "It is timely for us to stand together to face cynicism and avoid conflict ... We will affirm the shared ideals of peace, freedom, compassion and justice toward a harmonious future," she said. The dialogue aimed to promote understanding among different civilizations, advocating the common values of humanity.
Pink Villa
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Taecyeon, Seohyun's The First Night with the Duke under police probe for UNESCO heritage site damage, director publicly apologizes
KBS2's recently-released drama The First Night with the Duke has become embroiled in controversy. The series, starring 2PM's Taecyeon and Girls' Generation's Seohyun, is now being investigated by police. Based on a popular web novel, it was expected to charm audiences. However, the production has drawn intense backlash. They are accused of damaging a designated cultural heritage site during its filming process. At the center of the scandal is Byeongsan Seowon, a 16th-century Confucian academy in Andong that was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2019. Site damaged during filming Reports emerged earlier that the drama's props team had drilled nails directly into the wooden structure of Byeongsan Seowon while decorating the set. They allegedly hanged filming equipment or props. This action violated the Cultural Heritage Protection Act. It caused physical damage to a structure that is supposed to be preserved and protected at the highest level. Following an internal investigation by the Cultural Heritage Administration, three individuals from the production's props team were found to have violated heritage protection laws. They were officially referred to the prosecution. The Seoul Metropolitan Police are now conducting a formal probe into the incident. Production team relocates Amid public uproar and condemnation from cultural experts and citizens alike, the production halted all activities at Byeongsan Seowon and moved filming to a new location in Hadong, South Gyeongsang Province. Despite the swift relocation, criticism has not abated. Many have voiced frustration over the apparent carelessness of the production crew, especially given the known historical value of Byeongsan Seowon. Heritage advocates argue that such negligence could have lasting effects on Korea's reputation for preserving its cultural landmarks. Director speaks out On June 11, the cast and crew held a press conference in Seoul on the same day of the drama's premiere. Director Lee Woong Hee addressed the controversy directly and issued a public apology. He accepted responsibility for the incident. 'We deeply disappointed many people due to the cultural heritage damage incident at Byeongsan Seowon during the production process,' he said. 'I want to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize. It was clearly our fault.' Lee further revealed that KBS has since discarded all footage shot at the heritage site. He emphasized that the network has now implemented strict new guidelines for filming at culturally sensitive locations. 'I'm not trying to boast about taking responsibility,' he added. 'We're currently under investigation by the Cultural Heritage Administration and the police, and I just want to say we've taken the best possible measures we could at this stage.' Due to the delicate nature of the damage, immediate restoration work has been delayed. Experts advised that the wooden structure of Byeongsan Seowon needs to be monitored closely over time to determine the full extent of the impact.
Korea Herald
09-06-2025
- General
- Korea Herald
Exhibition focuses on early Joseon art
First 200 years of Joseon shaped Korean identity, National Museum of Korea says For the next three months, an exhibition at the National Museum of Korea will look at how the first 200 years of Joseon (1392-1910) formed what is quintessentially Korean identity today through exceptional artworks. The exhibition 'Art of Early Joseon: Masterpieces from the 15th and 16th Century' illustrates the initiative and vibrancy the Joseon people projected as they fostered what would become Korea, according to Kim Jae-hong, the NMK director general, during a preview tour Monday. 'Joseon's early years were pivotal to Korean history because the social fabric as well as physical borders of Korea were established by then,' Kim added, saying artworks on display would help people recognize the continuity of society over centuries. A total of 691 ceramics, calligraphy and Buddhist paintings are on view, 40 of which are on loan from 24 institutions in the US, UK, Germany, France and Japan. Of the 40 items, 23 are being shown in Korea for the first time, an NMK official said, adding that 79 items on display are state-designated National Treasures and Treasures. Some 300 ceramics, which account for almost half of the entire objects featured, testify to Korea's shifting focus on white porcelain from the celadon of the preceding Goryeo Kingdom (918-1392). Buncheong, a type of stoneware that bridged the transition in the 15th century, uses a greater range of decorative techniques than Goryeo celadon, and is more colorful than white porcelain, the museum said. White porcelain replaced buncheong in the following centuries. Calligraphy and paintings by Joseon officials, who doubled as scholars promoting Confucian values and teachings, shed light on Joseon aesthetics, chiefly expressed in ink wash paintings that stress various tonal effects employing just black ink and water. 'Through ink-wash landscape paintings rendered in deep tones of black ink with masterful shading, the scholar officials of Joseon depicted the ideal world envisioned by the newly established Confucian ideology,' the museum said. Buddhist objects, from paintings to statues, add context to the exhibition dedicated to the deeply Confucian state. The Wooden Seated Buddha at Jogyesa, the main temple of Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, shows the influence Buddhism still held over the people even after the state adopted Confucianism as its ruling ideology, a museum official said. Hunminjeongeum Haeryebon, a book annotating Hangeul, the Korean writing system created by King Sejong the Great in 1443, which will be on display until July 7. The exhibition comes 20 years after the museum's reopening in Seoul's Yongsan-gu. It runs through August, and admission fees are waived from Tuesday to Sunday.
Straits Times
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Hear Me Out: Has the swing against elitism gone too far?
An art installation at the Padang. Vocal naysayers recently accused the Government's SG Culture Pass initiative of being the very thing it counteracted: elitism. PHOTO: ST FILE Hear Me Out: Has the swing against elitism gone too far? SINGAPORE – At a time when most people understand that the personal is political, individual views have become a battleground of virtue – equality, good; hierarchy, bad. Elitism? The worst possible kind of social evil. Yet, take a step back from this instinctive repulsion and there might be benefits to muddying the waters. Elitism, the belief that an elite group, however defined, should be entitled to the reins of power has been the norm throughout much of history. Whether it is the clergy, kings with their divine right, the Confucian scholar or today's fintech bros, there have been groups in each time period that societies tend to value and reward. It was only with increasing democratisation, and a growing disenfranchisement at the chasm between the top and the rest, that elitism has become a byword for undeserved privilege and gross injustice. This brief trip back in time is not to rehabilitate elitism, but to show that the current period against it – or at least one that pays lip service to not believing in an elite class – may be an aberrant one. In the West, this has been taken to extremes, manifesting in a debilitating disregard fo r e xperts and fatal results during the Covid-19 pandemic against the advice of doctors to vaccinate. In Singapore, it is the elite schools that are targeted, in the idealistic slogan that every school is a good school. Though, for perplexing reasons, this scepticism has not yet been extended to the natural reverence the majority of Singaporeans harbour for lawyers and doctors. Their expertise is assumed to be universally applicable – a mentality that has narrowed parents and students' conception of what success looks like. In any case, the ills of elitism have been thoroughly aired, including the type of entitled, discompassionate divas that it ends up producing. The very consensus of who deserves to be elite has also fractured. I wonder, though, if this enmity has led to some unexpected side effects. This is a train of thought sparked by recent reactions to the Government's SG Culture Pass initiative set out during the Budget statement in 2025. Self-sabotage Under the scheme, $100 would be given t o Si ngaporeans aged 18 and above for the consumption of the local arts, redeemable from September. One would expect rejoicing, but there was uproar from a group of vocal naysayers. They accused the credits of being the very thing it counteracted: elitism. Why? Because the money could be better spent on support for groceries. This, I thought, was a case of anti-elitism as self-sabotage. Central to this worldview was that the arts is an elitist activity patronised only by the rich and the hyper-educated aesthete, when one type of activity for the elite and one for the others is exactly the sort of segregation and self-limiting mentality that perpetuates divides. There was no sense that this $100 in credits was a way of making the perceived barrier more permeable. To put it in context, the Government also announced $800 in CDC vouchers. This was bread for all, and roses too. Yet another potentially problematic by-product is that the word 'elite' has since been tainted by association. No one dares lay claim to the word 'elite', or acknowledge that someone else may be elite in his or her field. The rare exemption is perhaps in sports, where athletes accept the cut-throat nature of their competition, and where non-athletes are so tangibly outside their league that there is no point in pretending otherwise. This is not in itself a problem – elite is after all just a word – though I find no easy replacement term that can immediately convey excellence to the same degree. But it incidentally comes at a time when there is a general reluctance to impose any kind of objective standard, supplemented by that compassionate but useless invention: the consolation prize. This applies to things: Is no one taste now better than another? As well as people, where so many takes on social media are considered equally valid, measured just by virality. It is the kind of ChatGPT mentality where how often something is repeated or the number of clicks on a website can influence results, with no regard to its truth value. The war against elitism may have come at the expense of standards and good sense. Reclaiming elite This impulse to drag discourse to the same level – usually downwards – has the right intentions, timely given that, for so long, highly selective elitist standards have been imposed as objective metrics. To right the ship so discourse is levelled upwards though, perhaps elite can be thought of as separate from elitism, rehabilitated without the corresponding concentration of resources and power. This should be expanded so that who is elite becomes not just about education but also because of other qualities – role models people can aspire to in different contexts. What constitutes an elite has always been reliant on man-made barometers, negotiated by the community. There should be no shame in aspiring to be elite. Anti-elitism should not mean an absence of the elite, but that all who put their heart and minds to it should have a fair shot at claiming its pedigree, or getting closer to it. It is a lifelong dusting off of mediocrity, and it begins with first recognising what is good. Hear Me Out is a new series where young journalists (over)share on topics ranging from navigating friendships to self-loathing, and the occasional intrusive thought. Check out the Headstart chatbot for answers to your questions on careers and work trends.
