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TAIZHOU, China, Nov. 3, 2023 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--

The awe-inspiring Qiantang River tidal bore may have its ending, but its

ripples linger. Likewise, although the Hangzhou Asian Games has drawn to a

successful conclusion, the romantic and gorgeous grand opening ceremony still

leave many viewers around the world enchanted.

"What is the soul of the opening ceremony of Hangzhou Asian Games? It's Hehe

culture," said Chen Weiqiang, executive secretary of the Hangzhou Asian Games

Organizing Committee.

The first "He" refers to harmony, peace, neutrality, etc., and the second "He"

means convergence, integration, union, etc. These two Chinese characters have

different spellings and meanings, but the same Chinese pronunciation,

representing a unique linguistic interpretation of the connotation of Hehe

culture.

Hehe culture stands for a tolerant character that values harmony, the Golden

Means, mutual understanding, open-mindedness, strong morals and respect for

difference. It is a cultural concept pursued by the Chinese nation, and

contains the cosmic perception featuring harmony between man and nature, the

diplomatic concept advocating good ties among all nations, the social value

calling for mutual respect, and the moral idea promoting kindness.

In the current era of sporadic civilization conflicts, Hehe culture has a big

role to play in the world.

To trace the origin of Hehe culture, Taizhou's Tiantai Mountain is a must-visit

place, where the two Hehe gods used to live in seclusion.

In 1733, the Qing Dynasty emperor decided to honor Hanshan and Shide, two

eminent monks of Tiantai in the Tang Dynasty as the two gods of Hehe.

In the Song Dynasty, Hehe culture further became the common mainstream thought

of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, and became a demonstration of the

coexistence of multiple cultures in China, echoing the Global Civilization

Initiative's call for upholding the principles of equality, mutual learning,

dialogue and inclusiveness among civilizations, and letting cultural exchanges

transcend estrangement, mutual learning transcend clashes, and coexistence

transcend feelings of superiority.

Hehe is also the common pursuit of people in many countries around the world.

It has not only had a far-reaching impact in China, but also gained universal

value recognition in many other countries.

As early as 1905, Hanshan's poems were translated to Japan, where they became

popular and influential. In the 1950s, it crossed the ocean to the United

States, entered the mainstream Western culture circle, and even was selected

into university literature textbooks. Jack Kerouac, the iconic figure of

American hippie movement, once wrote the book Dharma Bums, paying tribute to

Hanshan, one of the two Hehe gods.

The local government has fully harnessed the relevance of the Hehe culture to

the present times, and pushed for creative transformation and innovative

development of the fine traditional culture.

Since 2020, Taizhou has been promoting the cultural gene decoding project by

tracing the development of Hehe cultural genes and cultivating Hehe culture IP.

Local Hehe cultural genes have been transformed and utilized from multiple

dimensions such as the origin, meaning, development, charm, governance and use

of Hehe, according to Global Communication Center of Hehe Culture.

In Taizhou, one can encounter various places named after Hehe culture, such as

Hehe Academy, Hehe Book Bar, Hehe Park, and Hehe Road. One can also enjoy many

cultural performances that reflect and interpret Hehe culture. Hehe culture has

also been compiled into a textbook and introduced into local primary schools.

Taizhou is not only a symbol and demonstration site of the Chinese Hehe

culture, but also a dissemination platform by strengthening international

cultural exchanges and cooperation around the world.

In recent years, Taizhou has carried out more than 20 cultural exchanges and

more than 60 related activities on Hehe culture with the Republic of Korea, the

United States, Japan, Canada and other countries.

Taizhou has set up international centers of Hehe culture in places like Dubai,

Tokyo and Manila. In April this year, Taizhou brought 21 art works of Hehe

culture to the 117th Paris International Exposition, shaping a representative

brand of Chinese culture.

Since 2021, Taizhou has held the Hehe Culture Global Forum every year, bringing

together experts and scholars from many countries around the world to discuss

how to gather global consensus and wisdom with the promotion of Hehe cultural

ideas.

In early November 2023, the third Hehe Culture Global Forum will be held in

Tiantai County, the permanent venue of the forum, with the theme of "Hehe

Culture and the Global Civilization Initiative".

As the Global Civilization Initiative continues to gain popularity around the

world, Hehe culture is expected to be embraced by more countries and cultures,

opening up a new prospect of enhanced exchanges and understanding among

different peoples and better interactions and integration of diversified

cultures. In this way, the garden of world civilizations will be more colorful

and vibrant.

Source: Global Communication Center of Hehe Culture

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   Caption: The riverside landscape of Taizhou