JIN Yuanpu 金元浦
Taking into account the role of the Olympic Games as a unique vehicle of cultural diffusion, China has designated the 2008 Games as the “humanistic” or “people’s Olympics.” While the concept known as “humanism” is Western, Chinese culture has a concept that closely parallels it, “humanistic” 人文 meaning “affairs in the human world.” This term first appeared in the Shang 殷 and Zhou 周 dynasties, approximately 3,000 years ago. In the Tang 唐 dynasty (618–907), the Chinese used the term to mean “harmony between man and nature.” As the notion evolved, some Chinese began to theorize that man was at the center of the universe and therefore should be given a place of utmost importance.
