"China is a sleeping lion. Today, the lion has woken up. But it is peaceful, pleasant and civilized." So said Chinese president Xi Jinping in his speeches during his recent visit to Europe. The statement was welcomed by his international audiences. It also allowed the world access to a true image of China.

Singapore's former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, drew a vivid analogy between China and a friendly elephant. Some foreign scholars portrayed China as an aloof and adorable panda. However, there are other voices that adhere to their preconceived ideas about China, thinking that a developed China will be a "threat" to the world.

Why is it so difficult to eradicate prejudice? Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State, said that historical and cultural differences sometimes lead to faulty conclusions. But some erroneous judgments are made deliberately and arbitrarily. Some predict a Chinese hegemony based on an interpretation of their own countries' chequered histories. Some judge China purely in the context of ideological differences, totally denying the contributions that China has made along the path to human civilization.

Divorced from China's history, China's culture, the spiritual world of the Chinese people, and the profound changes taking place in contemporary China, it is difficult to gain a correct understanding of China, according to Xi Jinping.

The world will achieve a more objective image of modern China if it looks at the country from a realistic historic perspective. The Chinese people still have fresh memories of being invaded and enslaved, so they particularly cherish the peaceful life they enjoy today and take a firm stance against war. The Chinese people struggled for a long time to find a path suited to the country's national conditions. They tried constitutional monarchy, the restoration of the monarchy, and parliamentary, multiparty and presidential systems. None of these proved satisfactory. Finally, the path of socialism was approved as the only suitable path for China's development, and as result China went on to achieve remarkable and extraordinary results, and now enjoys bright prospects for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The world will achieve a more comprehensive image of modern China if it looks at the country from a material and spiritual perspective. Chinese traditional values including love, peace and respect for the nature have deeply influenced the lives of its people. Without understanding the unique and long-standing spiritual world of the Chinese people, it is hard to understand how China has succeeded in becoming the world's economic engine; it is hard to understand where the Chinese people find such strong national self-confidence.

What separates people is never geographical distance, but the estrangement of the heart. In this sense, China needs to make itself more transparent to the world by narrating its story well. The world also needs to avoid prejudice and misunderstanding in its view of China.

Edited and translated by Huang Jin, People's Daily Online

The article is edited and translated from 多维视角看中国 , source: People's Daily, Author: Zhong Sheng