In 1947, A. Toynbee, a British master of historical studies, predicted, “The 21st century will be the era of thePacific Ocean.” In 1970, B. Russell, a British philosopher, gave his last prediction on his deathbed, “The 21stcentury will be the era of China.” And both masters’ remarks have been summarized as follows: “The 21st centuryis the era of the East.” At the very start of the new century, when religious and cultural conflicts mushroomed withmankind at a loss, this proposition, together with the slight, far-reached tolling of the evening bell of the 21stcentury, has been gradually highlighted in the west as well as the east, and in a tiny region as well as around theglobe, by Confucianism, the symbol of the eastern culture, which has been depreciated in its hibernation for as longas 150 years.
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