25 years as an Australian diplomat and 25 years exploring the renaissance of classical China at over 50 conferences across Asia have provided the adventures and discoveries that have informed my wr...показать больше25 years as an Australian diplomat and 25 years exploring the renaissance of classical China at over 50 conferences across Asia have provided the adventures and discoveries that have informed my writing.My diplomatic experience followed a university education in economics and commerce and English and Russian language and literature. It included 18 months Japanese and 15 months Chinese in-country language training, five posts as Deputy or Head of Mission, and experience in Japan, Laos, Bangladesh, UN New York, Ireland, China, Switzerland and 26 Caribbean countries. My education and professional experience have nurtured an appetite to explore and seek to evaluate the likely 21st Century success of contrasting cultural traditions.I was fortunate to participate in the First International Conference on Confucian Studies in Qufu in1987, to become a Founding Director of the Beijing based International Confucian Association in 1994 and be elected a Vice President in 2009. In the following five years I had the honour to serve under a President whose family has played a central role in China’s economic revitalization and cultural renaissance.I have also been fortunate to spend three months in early 2012 at the Four Seas Confucius Academy under Fragrant Mountain on the outskirts of Beijing. This Academy has led a revival of classical education in China, teaching children aged from three to thirteen the Chinese classics, beginning with rote singing and chanting. This deepened profoundly my understanding of and feeling for the distinctive and profound character of Chinese mindwork, an interest which had already developed over half a century. It also introduced me to the joy, energy and expectation of young children following the same path as earlier generations going back more than two millennia.показать меньше