1. Introduction
With the deepening of globalization, the research on cultural exchanges between China and the West is on the ascendant. In order to develop human communication, there is a crucial need for an in-depth discussion of the similarities between Chinese and Western cultures. A broad consensus among people in the world is “building a community with a shared future for mankind”, which is advocated by President Xi. As Cao and He (2024) stated the idea of “a community with a shared future for mankind” has not only become the concept of China’s diplomatic thinking but also the mainstream Chinese media, which has generally been accepted by more and more Western countries. Therefore, the idea of “a community with a shared future for mankind” is generally used by the whole world.
This study focuses on the communication between China and the West, as well as the shared community of human beings, which has universal significance. Things in the world that seem to end but actually do not end. The so-called end is just the end of the old cycle and the beginning of a new cycle. As Heley (2009) illustrated the so-called end of the world in 2012 actually was the end of a 5125-year cycle in the Mayan calendar. After this cycle, a new cycle would be continued, thus this may look like an end but it is actually a new beginning. Therefore, the essence of human society is the cycle, which means the fate of human beings goes round and round, and there is no end. For human beings, the most important thing is to use the existing power to prevent the occurrence of war because human beings all over the world are in the same life cycle system, and there is mutual attraction between them. It is mentioned in the documentary that since ancient times, human beings have launched countless wars actively or passively, which plunged people into misery and suffering. Human beings kill each other, fall into the strange whirlpool of a vicious circle, separate from each other, and hurt each other. Although the First World War and the Second World War both existed and had attached objective significance, they have caused unprecedented destruction and disaster to mankind. Hence, unity and mutual assistance is the only way for human development. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the whole world has become more connected. It is meaningless to blame each other, instead, only relying on each other and helping each other can human beings overcome the difficulties. Only by building a community with a shared future for mankind and strengthening the positive connection among people can humans achieve a harmonious society.
Various expressions convey the idea of “building a community” both in Chinese and Western culture. Some viewpoints of Western scientists coincide with the thoughts of ancient Chinese philosophers, which provides a way for the dialogue between China and the West. Watters (1879) compared Chinese philosophy and Western spirits in his book. The Chinese way of expression is more abstract, while the Western way is more scientific and concrete (Watters, 1879). Scientists in the West like Einstein tried to demonstrate the reality and the unity of the universe by proving the connections of mechanics and energies. However, many Chinese philosophers like Wang Yangming supported the concept of innate knowledge (liangzhi), which emphasizes the theory of human virtue and universal education. As Tan (2020) mentioned that Neo-Confucian thinker Wang Yangming’s idea offers an ethical foundation for global citizenship education, showing the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind”.
Additionally, the Chinese focused more on the relationship between nature and human beings and used more theoretical methods to express the idea. However, the West was more willing to express the idea in a scientific way. The idea of “All in One” in North America conveys the ecological significance of republicanism and unity as well as the meaning of life to human beings all over the world through this documentary. In the form of film media, the West conveys the simplest and most profound consensus to mankind.
2. “All in One” Thought and the Concept of “A Community with a Shared Future”
2.1. The Era Significance of “All in One” Thought
In 2020, the Covid–19 has hit the world, and gradually it became a global crisis. However, all human beings are connected to fight this disaster together, which introduces the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind”.
In the post-pandemic era, the online teaching has been gradually popular. Thence, the whole world is connected closely with cyberspace. However, many pessimistic elements exist, which cause disaster among human beings and also between humans and nature as the director mentioned. Therefore, based on the thinking about cyberspace, the paper analyzed the documentary to research the transmission of “All in One” thought, which further explored the communication between Chinese culture and Western culture.
2.2. The Western and Chinese Research on “All in One” Thought
Since ancient times, the West contributed to exploring the universe’s unity and already had its own system for studying “All in One” thought, which focused on the scientific field to express the idea. Their “All in One” idea is about the unity of the universe and the relationship between the universe and the individual, and they emphasize the greatness of the individual person. Niels Bohr put forward the concept of quantum mechanics to demonstrate the unify of all things in the universe. He pointed out that quantum is the foundation of the unity of the universe, and the proposition of quantum mechanics promoted the spread of the idea of the unity of all things in the West (Faye, 2012).
Moreover, based on their own understanding of the “All in One” idea, many Western scholars have contributed to researching the Chinese “All in One” thought. The study of the “All in One” idea in the West has gone through a long process. In 1953, Taam (1953) pointed out that Confucius (551-479 B.C.) is the most studied in the West, and those who desire to know the Chinese way of thinking naturally begin with him. In 1993, Spence (1993), a Western professor of history, published his article illustrating the introduction of Confucius’ life to his ideologies. In the early times, the West focused on the “All in One” idea in Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Later, they started to research Wang Yangming’s thoughts. Chan (2002) described Julia Ching’s (1934-2001) contributions to Wang Yangming’s thought, and briefly expounded the concrete connotation of the thought of “All in One” in a simple way. The so-called “All in One” is one of the world views of Yangming’s Theory of Mind. Wang Yangming stated, “We should regard everything in heaven and earth as a part of our own body and mind. We and all things in heaven and earth are one, which does not require any proof” (Wang, 1949).
Additionally, Wang Yangming inherited and developed the ideas of Mencius to illustrate “All in One” thought. Mencius made a case for example, “We see a child fall into the well, our hearts will be nervous for him, that is to say, our hearts are connected to the child, otherwise, what is relevant between falling into well and us? Besides, when we see the evil flood wash away the house of wheat seedlings, we will feel commiserative, that is to say, our hearts are connected with the house of wheat seedlings” (Mencius, 1987, 4th century B.C.). Wang Yangming borrowed this interesting example to reflect the ability of empathy among human beings. The reason why people empathize with others can be explained by the concept of “All in One”, and empathy is the first step of “building the community with the shared future for mankind”. In the meantime, the West devoted to exploring the unity of the universe, which aimed to use concrete elements such as energies and mechanics to demonstrate “All in One”.
Chan (1972) illustrated the development of Western research on Yangming’s theory, showing the flourishing of Yangmin culture, which supports my research with foundations. Wing-sit Chan, a Chinese—American scholar, and historian of philosophy, published a new version of Ch’uan-his lu, which caused a new wave of research. During the next 20 years, many scholars of Yangming studies emerged, such as Julia Ching, a famous Chinese sinologist in Canada, who translated 67 important letters of Wang Yangming into English (Chan, 1972). Therefore, Julia Ching and Wing-sit Chan have made great contributions to the transmission of Wang Yangming’s thoughts. His research provides theoretical support for my research and provides a specific case of Wang Yangming’s thought communication, which makes the whole topic clearer.
On this basis, Rosen (2017) combined Chinese thoughts with scientific theory, different from traditional Chinese philosophy, science is the product of the binary opposition of subject and object in the West. Therefore, Chinese thinkers such as Wang Yangming preferred to utilize examples in human life to prove abstract philosophy while the West tended to demonstrate ideas in a scientific method. They compared Chinese and Western cultures, which constructs a bridge between cultures.
After the outbreak of the epidemic, the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind” was once again endowed with the significance of the times. Domestic research on the idea of “All in One” focuses more on the ecological environment and the relationship between humans and nature. More and more scholars have begun to pay attention to the study of the “All in One” though that has been transformed into a new idea, which merges with the meaning of pandemic times. Zhang (2021) put forward that the safety concept of “keeping watch and helping each other” is China’s new understanding and contribution to international security, a new safety product provided by China for the global public health safety governance during the worldwide outbreak of new crown pneumonia. This new concept enriches the “All in One” thought with the social significance of times.
Based on this, Wang Yangming’s thought has been paid more and more attention. Israel (2022) combed the spreading path of Wang Yangming’s thought and the whole Chinese philosophy in the West from 1600 to the end of the 20th century, which indicated that back in the seventeenth century, the Jesuits did interact with followers of the school of Wang Yangming. Ch’uan-hsi Lu, the best book to embody Wang Yangming’s idea, was first circulated in the West (Bloom, 1977). Wang stated in Ch’uan-hsi lu, “When mentioning the right way of the sage, thorough, but consistent, why is there such a thing as the upper part and lower part?” (若论圣人大中至正之道,彻上彻下,只是一贯,更有甚上一截、下一截) The description is that the way of saints is consistent, without the last, the next. The purpose is to show that everything is interrelated and to work out the problem consistently.
Moreover, the study on the transmission of Wang Yangming’s thought is also in the ascendant. Wang (2022) specifically discusses the spread of Yangming’s theory of mind in the Western world. He compared Yangming’s theory with Western gnoseology and indicated the direction for further research. However, the scope of “Yangming’s Theory of Mind” is relatively broad. Therefore, my research has narrowed down Yangming’s Theory of Mind to Yangming’s idea of “All in One”, which is more specific and detailed to study the spread of this idea in the West.
3. Introduction to the Documentary We Are the One
Different from movies, the root of documentaries is “reality”, and the documentary has been perceived as one of the most appropriate ways to spread ideas and ideologies (Sapino & Hoenisch, 2011). Therefore, the Western documentary We Are the One continues to convey the “All in One” thought and encourage humans to build a harmonious world.
3.1. The Background of the Documentary
We Are the One is directed by Malcom Carter and narrated by Patrick Stewart. This documentary explores the theory of “All in One” and the connection of all things in the universe from a scientific perspective and inspires people to look at the world in different ways. We Are the One takes the form of an interview with Nassim Haramein, discussing his new unified physical equation and exploring the deepest connection of all things in the universe, which has been widely watched in 132 countries in five languages (Chen & Li, 2020).
Malcom Carter stated in the documentary, “I do not think skin color, language, and culture cause differences among people. On the contrary, we can feel the energy of stars when we communicate with each other.” Therefore, he directed this documentary to express his thoughts and further construct communication among people from different countries, which achieved the social significance of the post-pandemic era. It is worth mentioning that the documentary is contributed by people from more than 100 countries through crowd-funding, which is also a perfect manifestation of “All in One”. Among them, some donated 20 yuan and others 100 yuan, bit by bit (2020). In less than 30 days, the five-minute preview documentary raised $150,000 and accumulated close to 30,000 Facebook fans, surpassing the first stage of the Indigogo crowdfunding campaign’s 100% fundraising goal. Among the 11131 films on Kickstarter, the trailer’s fundraising total is in the top 20 for documentaries with crowdfunding (Chen & Li, 2020).
3.2. The Features of the Documentary
Starting from the physical level, the documentary explores the theory of “All in One” in the form of the scientific physical equation, illustrates the process of Western scientists’ demonstration of unity and Western philosophers’ argumentation theory, reflects the current social reality, retrospects the disasters experienced in human life, and proposes the concept of a community with shared future for mankind.
Since the Big Bang, everyone’s energy stars have been closely related to nature. Hence, Malcom Carter encourages everyone to realize that they are closely related to the earth and the universe. In addition to the “All in One” thought, the idea that the documentary constantly conveys is not to think that we are small. Everyone is a magical existence and an incredible miracle. Everyone is connected with everything in the world, therefore, each move will have a big or small impact. The documentary helps us learn to face ourselves and understand “who I am”, emphasizing the power and the importance of individuals to the whole.
After more than 30 years of unremitting exploration of this concept, Nassim Haramein, director of the Research Department of Resonance Project Foundation, has made great progress in understanding the relationship between the largest and smallest elements in the vast universe. “Some of the research I have done opens the door to understanding the dynamics and mechanics of the connection between things... The connection between things is no longer a dogma, it is actually a reality of physics”, he stated. However, his research expands upon thousands of previous scientists’ studies, and without these previous studies, he could not form his concept of “All in One”.
4. Research Methodology
4.1. Research Questions
RQ1: Based on the conceptual analysis of We Are the One, what are the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western culture on “All in One” thought?
RQ2: Based on the narrative analysis of We Are the One, how does the language and structure of the documentary show “All in One” thought?
RQ3: What is the ideal dialogue between Chinese and Western culture?
4.2. Research Methods
This paper analyzed the documentary from three dimensions around three research questions. To answer RQ1, the conceptual analysis focuses on the demonstration path of the “All in One” thought from Western scientists and philosophers in the documentary, which is also the basis of the documentary for conveying the “shared community” by illustrating the exploration process. Through the analysis of the demonstration path, the documentary analyzes the method and characteristics of Western communication concepts by illustrating the argumentation of Western scientists and ideas of Western philosophers on “All in One” thought. Moreover, this paper reviewed Chinese “All in One” in ancient times and compared it with Western “Unity”, which found similarities and differences between Chinese and Western cultures on the “All in One” thought. To answer RQ2, the narrative analysis emphasizes the characteristics and logic of the documentary’s language and structure, analyzing the spread of the idea of “All in One” from the content arrangement and word use, which illustrates the unity from the organization and language features of the documentary. This paper employed #Lancsbox to calculate the frequency of keywords used in the documentary and generated the picture of collocation words with keywords, which reflects on “All in One” thought from the analysis of language. The cultural value analysis pays attention to the ecological and life significance of the documentary, which conveys the concept of “building a community with a shared future for mankind” from ecological and biological levels. From the biological dimension, this paper calls on humans to build a harmonious relationship with nature, and from the life level, this paper encourages humans to make positive relationships with others and respect every culture, thus strengthening connections among different countries. To answer RQ3, this paper combines the results from conceptual and cultural value dimensions, which constructs an ideal model for cultural exchanges.
5. Conceptual Analysis: Argumentation of Western Scientist and Philosopher
5.1. Argumentation of Western Scientists
Nassim Haramein, the protagonist of the documentary, is the first person to calculate the new measurement value of the proton’s charge radius. However, his research is based on previous achievements. Spatial structure makes things connected, and the vacuum world is the starting point of all research. Einstein contributed to constructing a grand unified framework to prove that all things in the universe are connected by proving the unity of gravity, electromagnetism, strong force, and weak force, which created a precedent for future generations’ research (Overduin & Fahr, 2001).
As the documentary We Are the One illustrated, Einstein stated that the relationship between things is represented by geometry, which is the key to comprehending the unity of the universe. Based on the geometry theory, Pessoa and Cafaro (2021) put forward an information geometric investigation of gases following the Fermi–Dirac and the Bose-Einstein quantum statistics, which made resonance with Einstein. The research about geometry is the key to the further search of “All in One” and the unity of all humans.
Geometry exists in all things in nature, which is the key to constructing all things. On this basis, Nassim Haramein discusses the unity of all things by observing nature. He found that geometry exists everywhere in nature, which proves Einstein’s ideas that geometry is the basic element of space and continues to drive efforts toward a unified theory of fundamental interactions today (Overduin & Fahr, 2001).
Einstein demonstrated the theory of relativity by using the train experiment, proving that time and space are relative, time will change due to the motion of matter, and space will bend due to the mass of matter. In other words, not only the elements in the universe and nature are interrelated, but also time and space, and all things in different dimensions are closely related.
Western scientists prefer to use various energies, mechanics, and elements in the universe to prove the connections of all things, which is more scientific. Moreover, they emphasize the great power of small things and individual contributions to groups.
David combined the Western scientific spirit with Eastern philosophy, which constructed the early bridge between Western and Eastern cultures. Western scientists such as Niels Bohr, Michael Faraday, and Max Planck all tended to demonstrate that everything in the universe is connected through energy or mechanics. Table 1 lists the scientists’ argumentation on Unity in the documentary.
Therefore, vertically, scientists’ research is accumulated layer by layer, as Newton (1959) said, “I am great because I stand on the shoulders of giants.” Horizontally speaking, Western scientists’ judgment was put forward by philosophers as early as ancient China, but the former is to concretize abstract concepts more concretely.
Based on the illustration of Western scientists’ argumentation on Unity, the documentary formulates the characteristics of Western culture in demonstrating the “All in One” thought, which prefers to use concrete things such as energies, mechanics, and vibration to prove Unity.
Table 1. The process of scientists’ argumentation in the documentary.
The scientists |
The ideas |
David Bohm |
He combines the Western scientific spirit with Eastern philosophy. |
Niels Bohr |
Quantum Mechanics (mechanical interactions) |
Michael Faraday |
Electromagnetic induction (Energies are interconnected) |
Max Planck |
Quantization of energy(the basis of Einstein’s research) |
Nicola Tesla |
Think about the energy frequency and vibration, everything is connected through the energy. |
Albert Einstein |
Grand Unified Theory (a single unified theory of the universe) |
5.2. Argumentation of Western Philosophers
Different from the physical argumentation of scientists, philosophers use theory more in the process of expounding the thought of “All in One”, and connect horizontally. Take the thought analogy of ancient Chinese philosophers, and express the thought of All in One through some simple and popular examples in life.
For example, the philosopher Rumi stated in the documentary, “You are not a drop of water in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop.” Rumi took ourselves as the object, by narrating ourselves, who are the most familiar people in the world, he emphasized the greatness and uniqueness of the individual, which illustrates that the smallest energy will have an impact on groups because all things are connected. Therefore, anyone’s power should not be despised, and because of these tiny streams, the sea is gathered.
Besides, Leonardo da Vinci Plato, and Socrates emphasized the connections between humans and knowledge and truth, which resonated with Chinese philosophy. According to Chang (1955), Wang Yangming, one of the most powerful and influential Chinese thinkers supported that metaphysics is the integration of the universe and metaphysics is intelligibility.
Moreover, Western culture stresses the harmony between humans and nature. Pythagoras stated, “Reconcile seemingly corresponding relationships into a harmonious order.” Similarly, Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming also emphasized a harmonious world. The harmony between man and nature, which was the traditional goal of Wang Yangming’s “All in One” thought, is now understood as an ideal of the universe as a moral society (Cua, 1993). Therefore, both Chinese and Western cultures support that to achieve order in a harmonious world, which can be seen as “a community with a shared future for mankind”. Table 2 illustrates the Western philosophers’ ideas on “All in One” thought in the documentary.
Based on the demonstration of Western philosophers’ ideas on “All in One” thought, the documentary illustrates the features of Western culture in arguing this idea, which emphasizes the harmonious order in society and the importance of knowledge and reality, as well as the power of small elements to groups.
Table 2. The process of philosophers’ argumentation in the documentary.
The philosophers |
The ideas |
Rumi |
You are not a drop of water in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop. |
Leonardo da Vinci |
We can build bridges connecting our different disciplines and integrate our knowledge. |
Socrates |
The human soul is connected with the truth. |
Pythagoras |
Reconcile seemingly corresponding relationships into a harmonious order. |
Plato |
There is an enteral reality. |
5.3. Comparison between Chinese and Western “All in One”
Based on the analysis of Western scientists’ and philosophers’ arguments, this paper compares the Chinese and Western cultures, which aims to construct an ideal dialogue between these two cultures.
Western and Chinese cultures shared similarities in the research of “All in One” thought. Both cultures paid attention to truth and knowledge, which means that since ancient times, both the West and China have realized the importance of knowledge to humans. Besides, those two cultures emphasize harmony which refers to the harmonious order between humans and nature, as well as between humans and humans.
However, both cultures differ greatly in their priorities and customs. Western culture prefers to use more concrete things such as energy, mechanics, and elements to prove the unity of the universe. However, Chinese culture tends to utilize more abstract philosophy to express the concept that “everything is connected in the world”. But Chinese thinker Wang Yangming supported some methodologies, which combined theory and practice. As Cheng (1973) stated, “Wang Yangming’s philosophy of mind is indeed one of unity, a unity of experience and method, a unity of description and prescription, and a unity of cognition and performance” (p.49).
Besides, one of the greatest features of the Chinese “All in One” is that emphasizes the importance of virtue. Kim (2012) pointed out that the major of Neo-Confucians is moral philosophy and they believed Li (理)—the principle and coherence is the unity. Besides, Wang Yangming emphasized Liangzhi (良知), which is the notion of virtue (Cua, 1993). Moreover, Neo-Confucians stressed Jen (仁), the virtue of all virtues (Dy, 1973). Ancient China attached importance to moral and virtuous development, they believed only when all people are able to uphold moral norms will unity be achieved.
However, Western culture emphasized the power of small elements and individual power, which they believed the smallest power can have an impact on the whole, therefore, any energy should not be underestimated. Moreover, Western scientists were addicted to exploring the universe and they contributed to demonstrating the unity of all things in the universe.
Therefore, based on the comparison of Chinese and Western “All in One”, this paper tends to construct a bridge for the communication of these two cultures, which also indicates a direction for further research on culture exchanges. From the conceptual dimension, this paper sought the first way to build the bridge for cultural exchanges.
6. The Narrative Strategy Analysis
6.1. The Narrative Structure of the Documentary
The documentary structure also reflects “All in One”. The documentary’s structure is a progressive relationship, in which the former is closely related to the latter, and the latter is based on the former. At the beginning of the documentary, Nasim Haramein’s continuous exploration of the theory of “All in One” is summarized in the form of an interview. His research on the “All in One” thought is based on previous studies. The documentary integrates and illustrates earlier studies on the “All in One” idea which is the basis of Nasim Haramein’s research. Based on this, Nasim corrected the errors in previous studies and formed his own concepts of “All in One”. The documentary is centered on Nasim Haramein’s research and continues to reemerge previous studies because, without previous research, Nasim could not form his idea, which indicates that each part of this documentary is closely connected.
Then, in the form of a flashback, the documentary started with the connection of all things in the universe, the connection of all things in nature, the existence of geometry, and the connection of all things in the human body. Each part is pushed forward in chronological order, and each part is closely connected. The director starts from a wide range and conveys the concept of “All in One” through the description of plants, animals, living, and inanimate substances in nature. Sunlight makes trees thrive, trees become the home of birds, and birds’ feces become the nutrient of trees. Everything in nature is not only a one-way connection, but also contains and breeds each other.
All things in nature can be connected with because of the connection of all things in the universe. The connection of all things in the universe is derived from protons and atoms, which resonated with previous studies the documentary illustrated in the former part. From protons and atoms, the basis and origin of all things in the universe to other matter in the universe, Einstein deduced general relativity and special relativity, which deepened the exploration of the universe.
Finally, based on the previous theories, the director endowed the theory of “All in One” with the significance of human relationships, even within the human body, where the internal organs are interrelated and indispensable. Humans can sense the positive energy in each other’s bodies, therefore, everyone should try to radiate the positive energy outward to form a positive connection with other people and an active relationship with nature. On this basis, the environment can be friendly to creatures in nature including birds, trees, and human beings, which echoes what has been mentioned above.
The documentary reflects on “All in One” thought from the narrative structure. Firstly, protagonist Nasim Haramein’s research is based on previous studies, therefore, the documentary reviewed the previous studies when illustrating Nasim’s research, which made a connection between them. Secondly, the director first explained the reason why all things in the universe are connected from a scientific viewpoint and then related to nature and human society, indicating the unity of things in nature and human society originated from the unity of things in the universe. Each part of this documentary expresses the concept of “All in One” but is also closely related to each other.
6.2. Textual Analysis of the Documentary
In the process of expounding the theory of “All in One”, the language used in the documentary lines is extremely rigorous, and the words all reflect the theory of “All in One”.
As one of the most important parts of a documentary, lines are a major standard to measure the theme of a movie. The use of lines in this documentary is rigorous, which reflects the theory of “All in One”.
The documentary’s lines are divided into narrator’s and interviewees’. The narrator expounds the theory of “All in One” in a very general language, which has a strong sense of hierarchy and is based on each other.
The paper used the #Lancsbox to calculate the word occurrence that reflects on the theory of “All in One” and the following table indicates that.
Table 3. The comparison of word occurrences in the documentary.
Word |
Occurrence |
Word |
Occurrence |
Connected |
30 |
Disconnected |
6 |
Connect |
6 |
Disconnect |
3 |
Connection |
13 |
Disconnection |
0 |
Universe |
78 |
Single |
5 |
Unified |
8 |
Independent |
1 |
Together |
18 |
Isolated |
6 |
We |
183 |
Individual |
4 |
The KWIC of #Lancsbox is able to search the occurrences of selected keywords in the documentary. Table 3 illustrates that the documentary used many words to emphasize the “All in One” theory while the antonyms of these words are carefully used. By comparing the frequency of two columns of words, this paper found that the words used in this documentary reflect on “All in One” thought. The frequency of the word “we” in the documentary is high with 183, showing the connection of everyone in the world and the intimacy of the human. Besides, the director kept using words like “connected”, “connect”, and “connect” to emphasize the unity of all things in the universe and the world. Moreover, in the documentary, there is a sentence, “It’s a feeling of resonance and a feeling of connection with everything in the natural world.” and “it resonates with the feeling of the connection of life.” The feeling of connection is the feeling of resonance with everything, which indicates that things in the world are connected, not only between humans and humans but also between human and nature.
Table 3 also shows the contrast of the words in the documentary, the antonyms of these high–frequency words appear in a low frequency. Furthermore, most of these antonyms in the documentary appear to show the bad influence of being disconnected, which seems like a warning of being separated. Therefore, the compared frequency also embodied the rigor of the director’s words used in the documentary. Moreover, in some sentences, the antonyms appeared to serve as a foil to high–frequency words. For example, “Sometimes we remain disconnected to being more connected.” The use of the word “disconnected” is to set off the importance of “connected”, hence, the antonyms expressed the theory of “All in One” in some way.
Besides, the frequency of the word “universe” is relatively high, which also indicates the feature of Western culture as mentioned before. The Western culture contributed to exploring the universe and preferred to use the unity of the universe to demonstrate the unity of nature and human society.
The Graphcoll of #Lancsbox helps to generate the visual collation pictures of keywords, which can be more visible to analyze the word using.
Figure 1. Graphcoll of the word “connected”.
Figure 1 illustrates the collation words of the keyword “connected”, the word “everything”, “we”, “all”, and “world” also reflect on the “All in One” thought. The director kept emphasizing the “connected world”, “we are connected”, and “all connected” to convey the concept of “All in One”. Moreover, the color of circles and the length of lines also have significance. The color is darker, the collocational intensity is greater, and the length is shorter, the collocational frequency is higher. Hence, the color of the word “we” is darker than that of other words, and the line’s length of “we” is shorter than that of other words, which means the intensity and the frequency of the words “we” and “connected” are the highest. This indicates the director aims to convey the concept of “All in One” by emphasizing “we are connected” many times.
Therefore, based on the narrative analysis, this documentary reflects on “All in One” from the structure and the language. By analyzing the language, this paper listed the high-frequency words such as “connected”, “unified”, and “together”, which reflected on the “All in One” thought. By comparing the antonyms of those high-frequency words, this paper found that the wording of this documentary is selective and careful. Moreover, by generating the collocation words pictures, this paper discovered that even the collocation words expressed the idea of “All in One”.
7. Cultural Value Analysis
7.1. Biological Viewpoint: We Are the One
Through the exploration of the basic theoretical ideas, the documentary reflects the meaning of the social level. The documentary expounds on the various problems faced by human beings in today’s society with the development of science and technology. In ancient China, there exists a theory called the native view of nature, Li et al. (2019) pointed out that the harmony between man and nature, which corresponds to traditional Chinese agricultural and production methods, is the most conspicuous aspect of the ancient Chinese naive view of nature.
Therefore, the native view of nature is similar to the concept in this Western documentary that expresses the biological thought of “a community with a shared future for mankind”, which also inspires humans to build a harmonious relationship with nature.
With the rapid development of science and technology, human unrestrained lifestyle has caused a variety of ecological and environmental problems including environmental damage, climate warming, and ecological pollution, in which human behaviors have affected the survival and development of nature. The growth of science and technology is accompanied by significant shifts in human cognition, ranging from the fear of nature ingrained by religious tradition to the struggle for control over nature and how it interacts with humans (Liu & Dong, 2021). Therefore, nature will teach humans lessons at a specific time because human beings and nature are closely connected. No one can escape the punishment of nature because human beings are closely related to each other, hence, the bad behaviors of one person will require all mankind to bear the consequences. Based on the ancestors’ theory, combined with the practice of China, President Xi’s ecological thought has gradually formulated to create a stunning, ecologically advanced China and achieve sustainable growth in both environmental preservation and economic building (Pan, 2018). Hence, China has paid attention to developing a harmonious world, considering the relationship between man and nature, which resonates with the concept We Are the One conveys.
From the ecological point of view, the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind” focuses more on the common weal and woe between humans and nature. Men can create a safe and good living environment only by respecting nature and living harmoniously with nature. As Yuan et al. (2023) put forward Confucian environmental virtue ethics again combined with the era significance, the concept has been receiving an increasing amount of attention with the boom of environmental awareness. One of the many environmental virtues found in Confucianism is Wang Yangming’s “All in One” idea. According to Wang Yangming, all living things have an intimate connection to humans, and kind individuals can care for all living things just like their own bodies. Men and the rest of nature can coexist harmoniously in this way.
Nowadays, scholars connect the “All in One” thought with epidemic situations, which gives the significance of times to this idea and indicates the ecological meaning. The reason why COVID-19 happened in 2020 is still hard to trace to the source. However, it is undeniable that human desire gradually expands, loses the fear of nature, and destroys the balance with nature, which is undoubtedly one of the reasons for this disaster. Human unrestrained behavior has caused countless disasters, broken the balance between nature and humans, and blocked the connection between humans and nature. Kellert (2012) mentioned that human beings’ physical, mental, and spiritual well-being depends on the health and diversity of the environment such as water, sunlight, and air. Air is associated not only with human life and death but also with the life and death of everything, which expounds the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind” in the biological sense that is to build a balanced system between humans and nature, to achieve the connections between humans and the universe.
7.2. Human Life Viewpoint: We Are the One
Adler (1931) once said in his book What Life Should Mean to You that everyone is connected with others, nobody is the only member of his family. It is decided by the weakness and limitation of the human individual that one cannot reach the goal alone”. By saying weakness, he probably means the limitation of humans when nature created them, which means nature, as the biological system is related to humans, not to mention the relationship among human beings.
All the research done by Nassim Haramein is based on the predecessors, in any case, his research is progressive because human beings are unified, therefore, individual research is also human research which continues to progress. In both Western scientific argumentations and Chinese philosophies, the practical significance of the “All in One” thought conveys the idea of “a community with a shared future for mankind”.
There is a very simple reality of a community with a shared future for mankind in the documentary, which is the convergence of collective consciousness. In a ball game, it seems that the audience and players are separated, but actually, they are interrelated. The audience will cheer for players they support for the common goal, and when the players receive the audience’s cheers, they become more competitive for the goal, which is one of the embodiments of “a community with a shared future for mankind”.
Gandhi opposed the war. However, human history is a history of war, miseries, economic instability, poverty, and sociopolitical turmoil. Nevertheless, humans have always been in search of the best possible arrangement that can serve as a panacea (Khan, Wang, & Ali, 2021). It seems that war separated and hurt humans, but war connected the world to some extent. Because when war happens, mankind inevitably pays attention to the relevant news, and this process is an inseparable process of human beings. Moreover, the nations of the world will join to discuss how to halt the war and how to support people suffering from the war.
Khan, Wang, and Ali (2021) pointed out that the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind” is the outcome of a fusion of the West and the East sides of the geopolitical divide. Although people in the world may have different skin colors, and share different cultures, sometimes, countries may conflict over political interests, geographical divergence, and even religious differences, they would always explore ways to connect with each other and live in peace, which is the meaning of “a community with a shared future for mankind”.
Nowadays, the world is in a hundred years of great change, the COVID-19 epidemic in early 2020 indicates the importance of building a community with a shared future for mankind. In early 2020, the pandemic only attacked one city, afterward the whole country, and finally the world. In the face of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, all mankind is in the same cycle. All countries in the world should join hands, watch and help each other, breathe, and share destiny to fight the epidemic together, indicating the social significance of “a community with a shared future for mankind”. Qian et al. (2020) endowed the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind” with the contemporary significance of fighting COVID-19 together. They stated that countries in the world shared the experience of fighting epidemics and cooperated in different areas including public health, agriculture, ecology, epidemiology, governance planning, and science. Therefore, the core of this concept is to be connected and promote human progress.
South Korean President Wen Zaiyin’s brotherly love of “helping your neighbor is helping yourself”, the warm transmission of a German high school student “let the world be full of love”, and the heartfelt words of Japanese friendly people “the mountains and rivers are exotic, the wind and the moon are the same as the sky” are the attitudes of the people of all countries towards the concept put forward by President Xi of China. When one country faces difficulties, the whole world is generous to provide assistance.
Zhang (2019) pointed out that the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind” not only introduces the excellent traditional Chinese culture into global governance but also emphasizes the unity of differences and dependencies in the international community. This concept indicates that Chinese traditional virtues are accepted and advocated by more and more countries. Moreover, this concept also expresses that the whole world is connected even though differences exist.
8. Results of the Research
Based on the conceptual dimension, this paper compared Chinese “All in One” thought with Western Unity demonstration and found similarities and differences between Chinese and Western cultures, illustrated in the fifth part of this paper to answer the RQ1.
To answer RQ2, this paper analyzed the documentary from the narrative dimension, which indicated that the structure and language of We Are the One all reflect on “All in One” thought as explained in the sixth part of this paper.
Moreover, to answer RQ3 which is also the purpose of this research, this paper combined the conclusions from three dimensions and constructed the bridge between these two cultures. Through thinking about cyberspace, the paper pointed out that the passive elements exist both in cyberspace and the real world. Starting from this Western documentary, the interaction and dialogue between Chinese and Western cultures are established. From the conceptual dimension, this paper compares the Western scientific arguments and Chinese philosophies on “All in One” thought, comparing the similarities and differences between Western and Chinese cultures. Therefore, “All in One” is a mediator for cultural exchanges, which has built a bridge between these two cultures and broken the boundaries of space.
Based on the analysis of the documentary, this study enriches the “All in One” thought with a social significance which is “a community with a shared future for mankind”, strengthening the connections among countries in the world. Moreover, based on the illustration of Western scientists’ demonstration of the unity of the universe, the documentary conveys this concept, which resonated with ancient Chinese Confucianism and echoed Present Xi’s concept. Therefore, the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind” acts as a bridge for the communication between these two cultures. Moreover, cultural exchange is also an illustration of this concept because when human beings communicate for academic learning and cultural visiting like visiting museums, they respect each culture in the world and learn from each other.
9. Conclusion
Starting from the documentary, this paper achieved the purpose of building a bridge between Chinese and Western cultures based on the research of the “All in One” thought and further enriching the idea with the social significance that is to building a community with a shared future for mankind, which fosters the connections among different countries.
As a creature in nature, individuals often get inner peace through meditation or yoga to communicate with themselves and other creatures. As a whole, human beings should give full play to their internal positive energy and pass on the positive energy to others, to establish a positive relationship with others. Thence, the purpose is to build a healthy environment for both real society and cyberspace. Based on this, the whole world is connected more closely than before.
An old Chinese saying states that “a journey on the road is for the public.” Peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom are the common values of all mankind and the lofty goals of the United Nations. The goal is far from being achieved, and we still have to work hard.
In today’s world, countries are interdependent and share wealth and woe. Human beings should inherit and carry forward the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, build a new type of international relations with win-win cooperation as the core, and build a community with a shared future for mankind. Looking around the world, peace and development are still the two major themes in nowadays era. The call for a community with a shared future for mankind is based on peaceful development and is endowed with social meanings considering different aspects including politics, geography, economy, and cultural diversity.
Acknowledgments
I would like to give great thanks to my teacher Professor Cai Liang for his unwavering support, guidance, and encouragement throughout my research and the writing of this paper. His expertise and insights were invaluable, and his patience and understanding made this journey a profoundly enriching experience.
I would like to thank my friends for offering me technical support including software downloading of #Lancsbox and text output of the documentary.
Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents for their unconditional love and encouragement. They have always believed in me and supported my academic pursuits.