China put forward the concept of "harmony" as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty. In Twenty Years of Zuo Zhuan Gong, Yan Ying pointed out that it was "like soup". Fire and water, acyl sugar, salt plum to cook fish, fire alone, slaughter husband and it, taste it together, help it less, vent it. In other words, "harmony" is a harmonious state composed of different elements, just like fish and meat mixed with water, fire, salt and plum. It has become a new state of food existence after cooking and processing by chefs. At the same time, Yan Ying also pointed out that "if water is supplied, who can eat it? "? If the harp is single-minded, who can listen The same is true. It means: water with water is still water, and it can't be delicious. Who wants to eat? At the same time, if the harp and harp only play one note, without the cooperation of other notes, it is impossible to form a beautiful movement. Who wants to hear it? It can be seen that "harmony" is not the addition and aggregation of the same elements, nor is it the existence state of a single element.
After Yan Ying, thinker Shi Bo further deepened the concept of "harmony". Shi Bo said: "The husband and the real creature both contain contradictory opposition and unity, that is to say," harmony "is the unity of contradiction diversity.
Subsequently, "harmony" in the pre-Qin period was given the meaning of "harmony", thus a complete concept of "harmony" appeared. The word "He" first appeared in Mandarin Zheng Yu: "He is also a person who can combine the five religions and protect the people". This article records that Qi, an official in the Shang Dynasty, made a living for Shu Ren. Therefore, five different ethical teachings are integrated and implemented in society. Qi can go down in history because he can integrate the five religions. It can be seen that "harmony" shows the unity of diversity. The combination of "harmony" and "harmony" not only highlights the integration of different elements, but also emphasizes the importance of harmonious coordination of contradictory things. Since then, "harmony" has become the most ideal structural existence form of the integration of different elements, which has been widely respected and valued by thinkers of all schools. The traditional philosophical concept of "harmony" has since become the essence of Chinese traditional culture and has been widely and profoundly integrated into China culture.