The Confucius Institutes aim at promoting the Chinese language and culture overseas throug

In Japan

It has been a long history of 1750 years ever since Confucianism was introduced into this country. Confucius' teachings are in every field of the social life in Japan. Its influence on the people's moral concepts and views about education are the deepest in Japan.

It was in the 16th year of Mikado (285 A. D. ) that Confucius' teachings began to be introduced to Japan. In the year the suggestion of a Korean envoy was adopted and Wang Ren, a Chinese court academician was sent to Japan to present to the Mikado ten copies of Lun Yu (The Analects of Confucius) and a copy of an Article of a Thousand Words (Qian Zi Wen). Wang Ren's arriving at Japan is generally regarded as the beginning of Confucianism being spread in the country. Confucius' teachings were accepted by both the government and the public. Confucianism quickly took its roots among the people and developed constantly. Combined with the conditions in Japan Confucianism has gradually be come part of the national culture of the country.

During the time of Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty Japan sent many students to China to study Confucianism. Under the influence of Confucius' theory about a unified domain, Japanese successfully carried the DAIKA Reform. after which Japanese society started to transit from a slavish society to a feudal society. The person pulling strings behind the scenes of the reform. was a great Confucianist who had studied in China for 20 to 30 years. During the 200 years after the reform. Japan had sent to China 19 groups of envoys. The country did its utmost to import the culture of Tang dynasty, develop national education based on Confucianism, spread the thought of the sage, set up universities and hold ceremonies in memory of Confucius. In the years of EDO Confucius' teachings were unprecedentedly popular. The ruling class people took the lead in reading the classical books of Confucianism, setting up education based on Confucianism, building Confucius' Temples. Education was developed, people of talents came forth in large numbers and the academic circle reached to its flourishing time. The major schools include School of Yonego, School of Yang Ming, School of Mito, School of Kogaku, School of Eclecticism, School of Textual Research.

Since the beginning of 20th century, especially in the late thirty years, among countries except China the study of Confucianism is best developed in Japan. Not only that Confucianism influenced Japanese society in the past 1 000 years, it also has great effect on the people at present time.

In Italy

China is one of the birth places of human civilization. As the kernel of the traditional culture of ancient China, Confucius' teachings greatly influenced not only the historical development of Oriental society, but also the social life of some European countries. Confucius' influence on Italy has something to do with the missionaries who came to China to do missionary work. In 1582, the Society of Jesus sent Matteo Ricci to China. In order to do their missionary work well he studied Confucianism very hard. Matteo Ricci was the first person who used Confucianism to express Christianity. He arrived in Beijing in 1601 and lived there for years. He published the Latin version which were the earliest classical books of Confucius translated into European Language. Matteo Ricci had made some contributions to the cultural exchange between the East and the West, so in Italy he was called "the first man who facilitated the flow of culture between China and Western countries", "Learned Western Confucianist' and "Christian Confucius". The study of Confucius in today's Italy has made some progress and several groups of books about Confucius have been published.

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Aimed at promoting friendly relationship with other countries____________(并增进他们对汉语和中国文化的了解), "Confucius Institute" has been set up in the world, whose major activities include Chinese teaching in countries that have the needs and conditions.

Doing Business in Asia

Many Westerners wanting to do businesses in Asian nations seek information and advice about things they need to know in order to be successful. By Westerners who have already been working in Asian nations, they are told to remember as priorities the "Fs": family, face, fate, favors and friends. Although they do have some subtle differences in meanings and connotations in different parts of Asia, nevertheless, Western businessmen need to be sensitive to these issues if they wish to be successful. The five "Fs" are explained in the following way.

Family: This means that business is often closely connected to family and that there is a family network that branches out regionally and internationally, providing efficient political, financial and emotional support, as well as distribution knowledge. This networking is particularly obvious among Chinese who control huge business segments in Asia and are by far the most successful business group in the region. Their large presence also helps--Singapore is 77 percent Chinese; Malaysia, 45 percent; Taiwan, a Chinese province, 99 percent. Indonesia and the Philippines also have sizable and prosperous Chinese communities. It is explained that the importance of family goes back to Confucius, who taught that family represents relationships that one can trust. Although families in the West may be connected, they are almost never as closely connected as in Confucian Asia. This family dependence is also tree in Korea. The largest corporation in South Korea is Hyundai, a multibillion-dollar company. Headed by the eldest brother, the company's five major divisions are either managed by one of the five brothers, a brother-in-law or a son-in-law.

Face: Two interpretations are given for the meaning of "face". One is literal--Asians like to do business face-to-face. They want to put a face together with a business, to recognize an individual and to associate with a given company. Many foreign companies have made the mistake of sending a series of different executives to Asia during lengthy contract negotiations. They are advised not to do this; if negotiations are started by one individual, they should be completed by that same person if at all possible. However, if a change must be made, then the first person should take the new one and formally present him as his successor so that the two faces are identified. The second interpretation of "face" is that in a way it means "respect". The businessman is told that he must show the "proper respect" according to the age and position of the person he is dealing with and also take into account the size of the person's company in comparison with his own. In Western countries, age is not necessarily given respect, but in Confucius Asia, age is given great respect. Thus businessmen are told to always pay attention to any elderly persons attending a business meeting. They are also warned that it is very difficult for Japanese to speak directly and say no. They will do almost anything to avoid saying no, even to the point of not giving an answer at all. By giving no answer or saying something like “I’ll think about it", or "I'll consider it". They are "saving face", and really mean "no". This is the opposite of the Western "yes or no" mentality. Thus a Western businessman is warned never to put a Japanese businessman in the position of having to say "yes" or "no".

Businessmen are also given advice about how to show "face" to someone of higher rank. Richard Tallboy, CEO of the World Coal Organization, who has had extensive experience in Asia, tells foreigners not to forget the "Chairman's 1/2 percent of the chairman's own pocket." He says that this means they should always start negotiating at a higher price with Asians. In the first round negotiations foreigners should allow themselves to come down in price 10 percent. In the second round of negotiations they should at last

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