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Sustainability from a Chinese cultural perspective: the implications of harmonious development in environmental management

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Abstract

Sustainable development has broad consensus in environmental science and policy discourse, but its implications differ in specific cultural contexts. This article articulates sustainable development from a Chinese cultural perspective by tracing ideas from Chinese traditional culture and exploring China’s concept of harmonious development with emphasis on environmental management. Ideas that resemble sustainable development are not new to Chinese culture, but have roots in ancient Chinese thoughts, which in turn influence current governance and policies. Notably, Chinese traditional philosophies such as Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, and Yin–Yang contain philosophies fundamental to sustainable development. As a distinct local discourse, such concepts were well interpreted and understood in the ancient meaning of harmony, giving China unique sustainability perspectives with institutional implications for policies of harmonious development and environmental management. Currently, China is driven to create a new national identity of harmonious development that involves Chinese traditional philosophies and values in its modern administration. The slogans “harmonious society” and “Chinese dream” reflect this new way of responding to the world with the aspiration to achieve cleaner growth, personal prosperity, and social stability. The Chinese and Western roots of sustainable development are conceptually, ideologically, and historically different, and this paper articulates how the convergence of the two underlies contemporary international debates.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the School of Geography Planning and Environmental Management of University of Queensland and China Scholarship Council for their financial supports. We thank R. M. Beeton for her copy edit. We also would like to give our thanks to the editor and reviewers for their critical and valuable comments that have led to the improvement in this paper.

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  1. School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia

    Ying Li, R. J. S. Beeton, Thomas Sigler & Anthony Halog

  2. Shandong Tri-Fluoro Advanced Material Co. Ltd, 217 Changguo East Road, Zhangdian District, Zibo City, 255000, Shandong, People’s Republic of China

    Hao Cheng

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Li, Y., Cheng, H., Beeton, R.J.S. et al. Sustainability from a Chinese cultural perspective: the implications of harmonious development in environmental management. Environ Dev Sustain 18, 679–696 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-015-9671-9

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