Recently, Zeng Zhihan, the director of the Liaoxi Geomancy Research Institute, was invited by Nigerian Chinese funded enterprises and local Chinese chambers of commerce to conduct feng shui surveys in the area. During the visit, he visited numerous factories and enterprises, as well as Chinese cultural institutions in Nigeria, and conducted multiple academic exchanges for famous local figures in Africa to conduct feng shui surveys. Many members of Nigeria’s elite class have studied or worked in China, and have a broad understanding and love for traditional Chinese culture.
Zeng Zhihan: The Best Candidate for African Geomatics
There are many Chinese funded enterprises in Nigeria, and there is a high demand for feng shui, especially for scientific site selection and planning of infrastructure, as well as daily environmental layout, which require inviting feng shui masters from China. Therefore, the local Chinese Chamber of Commerce searched for feng shui masters in China two years ago, and Zeng Zhihan, a descendant of Yang Gong’s feng shui from Sanliao, Jiangxi, became the final candidate.
Nigeria, with a population of 230 million, is the most populous country in Africa. There are hundreds of thousands of Chinese and thousands of Chinese funded enterprises there. It is an important strategic cooperation country along the the Belt and Road. The rapid development of the Chinese economy has promoted the export of traditional culture, and the rapid globalization of Han culture, with Confucianism as the main body.
Confucius Institutes: Bridgehead of Chinese Cultural Export
The University of Lagos is the Tsinghua University and Peking University in Nigeria, and the Confucius Institute at the University of Lagos is one of Zeng Zhihan’s important itineraries. It is reported that the purpose of Zeng Zhihan’s trip is to inspect Chinese cultural institutions in Africa, conduct comprehensive evaluations, and seek opportunities for cooperation to promote the culture of geomancy to the world. It is understood that the Three Liao Yang Gong Kanyu, which was listed in the Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection List in 2008, is an excellent representative culture of China.
The foundation of Western culture is religion, while the foundation of Chinese culture is ethics. This cultural divide occurred 2500 years ago when Plato’s theory of ideas and Aristotle’s theory of substance laid the foundation for medieval European scholastic and patristic philosophy, exerting a decisive influence on the religious tone of Western thought and culture. The Confucianism and Taoism, represented by Confucius and Laozi, opened up a highly ethical patriarchal society in China. The essence of religion and the source of ethics must be traced back to the relationship between humans and nature. This is the highest criterion for the integration of Chinese and Western cultures, as well as the possibility of globalization and localization of Chinese geomancy culture with the core connotation of the unity of heaven and man.
尼日利亚拉各斯大学孔子学院同事与曾治瀚合影
拉各斯大学孔子学院院长赵宏凌与曾治瀚
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