The Social View of Maintaining Harmony Without Uniformity
The view of maintaining harmony without uniformity emphasizes the necessity to maintain a harmonious and amiable attitude while refraining from excessively requiring uniformity in details when dealing with relationships with others. According to Zuo's Commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals (Zuo Zhuan) and The Discourses of the States (Guo Yu), the Chinese people had already begun to consider the relations between "harmony" and "uniformity" by the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC).
Confucius (551-479 BC) was the first to put forward the idea of seeking harmony without uniformity. He said: "A man of virtue pursues harmony but does not seek uniformity; a petty man seeks uniformity but does not pursue harmony." It clarifies the two kinds of principles held by either men of virtue or petty men for dealing with social relations. A man of virtue develops harmonious and friendly relations with others, but does not agree with others without reservation. Instead, a petty man does not think independently, but only seeks to be completely consistent with others. Living in a real world, we must interact with others. It is an incontestable fact that differences exist between people. Therefore, how to keep the independence of an individual while respecting the differences of others for maintaining harmonious social relations becomes an important issue in social interactions.
The Chinese people take "maintaining harmony without uniformity" as the basic principle in addressing this issue. Respecting the elderly and caring for the young, maintaining marital harmony and neighborhood solidarity, showing tolerance and understanding toward each other, and treating others with kindness, will bring about harmony among people. When all social strata value equality and harmony, and achieve compatibility, coordination, balance and order, rather than fall into conflict, confrontation, hindrance and chaos, harmony will be achieved in social division of labor and within the whole of society. In such a state, balance, stability and order will be attained between people, between people and society, between humanity and nature, and between various elements within society. Dependent on each other, they will coexist and prosper together, and bring about harmony of the whole of society.
The social view of maintaining harmony without uniformity is a way of life formed in traditional Chinese society, which reflects the Chinese people's pursuit of harmonious interpersonal and social relations.
和而不同的社会观
和而不同，强调在和他者相处时，保持一种和谐友善的态度，而不必在细节上苛求一致。从《左传》《国语》等文献来看，大概从西周末年开始，“和”“同”问题就开始被中国人所重视。“和而不同”思想是由孔子提出来的，所谓“君子和而不同，小人同而不和”。这体现的是君子和小人处理社会关系的两种不同原则，即君子待人和谐友善，但不求与对方苟同；小人则没有自己独立的见解，只求与别人完全一致。人生活在现实世界之中，必然与他人交往，而人与人之间的差异是必然存在的。因此，既保持个体的独立性，又尊重他者的差异性，从而形成一种和谐的社会关系，这是社会交往的一个重要问题。
和而不同是中国人处理社会关系的基本原则。尊老爱幼、夫妻和睦、邻里团结、谅解宽容、与人为善，这是人与人之间的和谐。社会各阶层平等和谐，兼容而不冲突、协作而不对立、制衡而不掣肘、有序而不混乱，这是社会分工和社会内部的和谐。在这种和而不同的状态下，人与人、人与社会、人与自然之间以及社会内部诸要素之间均实现均衡、稳定、有序，相互依存，共生共荣，从而实现整个社会的和谐。和而不同的社会观，是在中国传统社会发展中形成的处世之道，体现了中国人对于和谐人际关系和社会关系的追求。
