This new lunar year promises to be a very special one for mankind as a whole, because of a wonderful event that will occur: China will launch and land the 1st lunar explorer on the far side of the moon. Not only is this the side which is always turned away from the Earth, and therefore not seen. But it is also protected from the Earth’s magnetic field, so we will be able to detect and observe the Cosmos in ways we have not been able to before in the history of human beings – a new stepping stone for mankind into the Universe!
Over 2500 years ago Confucius described a future society governed by ‘tian xia wei gong’, a society where the dignity of man is cherished and protected. With hundreds of millions of people being lifted out of poverty in the last few decades, and with the ever expanding and encompassing ‘Spirit of the Silk Road’ – in the mind, and over land, water and space – mankind’s future society promises to be governed not only by ‘tian xia wei gong’, but by ‘the universe (Cosmos) belongs to everybody’.
Thus, the most profound and ardent aspirations of great poets, scientists and philosophers from the past are promising to become reality.
Let this poetic truth as expressed in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, based on a poem by Schiller, resonate in our minds and hearts as we celebrate our forefathers and the unfolding future, and conducting our lives accordingly!