The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations engenders the second cultural awakening in Asia and provides a historic opportunity to address the issue of women’s discrimination. The future of Asia rests on the fundamental elimination of discrimination against women. “Discrimination against women” has become a serious “civilization defect.” Patriarchy is the social and cultural cause of it. Such widespread discrimination causes problems in both forms of production in human society and inhibits the effective progress of civilizations. The mainstream trend of civilization awakening and progress in the next millennium is to move out of a patriarchal society and into a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind in which men and women are equal.The Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations held under the proposal of Chinese President Xi Jinping is an encouraging meeting for inter-civilization dialogue and exchanges on a continuous and unprecedented scale in Asia and the world at large. It provides a historic opportunity to eradicate deep-rooted discrimination against women in Asia and the world.Asia is the world’s largest continent. Seventy years ago, Asian countries and ethnic groups got rid of Western colonial and semi-colonial rule in succession. As national independence and self-determination surged, Asia saw its first historic awakening of civilizations. The second awakening is about to come after seven decades of development when President Xi Jinping advocates holding the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations. If the first is generally a “political awakening,” then the second will be an “awakening of culture and civilization.”Many issues will come under the spotlight. Among them, an important unavoidable aspect is the understanding and the introspection of the “civilization defects” of Asia. Asia is a crucial birthplace of civilizations. It is where many world civilizations originated and developed, such as Judaism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islamism, and Japanese civilization. Therefore, Asia is the cradle of civilizations. While Asian civilizations enjoy many unique advantages, there are inevitably some original “defects,” which we call “civilization defects.” One common defect is the widespread discrimination against women. Looking at human history, this has become a “civilization defect” shared by all major civilizations in the world. What are the “weaknesses” of civilizations? What are the “flaws” of Asian civilizations? The answer, without exception, is discrimination against women. This is a rather surprising, weird phenomenon of civilizations.Imagine what if half the world’s population or “men” have a bias against the other half or “women.” It would be more inconceivable that those who are subject to discrimination are the mothers of human beings. After the culture of discrimination takes shape, not only men but also women begin to show prejudice against women. Yet such a cultural and civilization phenomenon has existed for thousands of years and seems to continue to exist. This is unacceptable anyway. Therefore, the awakening of culture and civilizations first requires us to confront the discrimination of humans against humans, men against women and society against women.More seriously, such sexism develops into an increasingly acute imbalance. The imbalance between war and peace, between the poor and the rich, and between the weak and the strong leads to the antagonism between different cultures and civilizations. The dire situations of fist bullying arise as a consequence, such as the law of the jungle, the strong bullying the weak, relying on the strong to bully the weak, and even hegemony. The weak have no choice but to fight to the death, giving rise to suicide terrorism. All these are not just about gender discrimination. They are also about the serious problems of cultures and civilizations. Such gender imbalance which resembles the overturning of Titanic and such maintenance of peace by using nuclear bombs will ultimately destroy the entire future of mankind.When human beings emerged, it was a matriarchal society where women were more powerful than men. Later on, patriarchy changed everything. As patriarchy became increasingly powerful, it had an absolutely dominant place in society while women were more and more socially disadvantaged. The Axial Age was a time when discrimination against women was written down, fixed, legalized, and secularized. We know that such discrimination exists in the Bible as well as The Analects. Similarly, the history of civilizations so far is a history of sheer “male supremacy.” In history, some world thinkers expressed their prejudice against women, including the great thinkers such as Confucius, Aristotle, and Rousseau. In China, women could not eat in the main hall for a long time or sit around a table with guests at home. In Europe, women were not treated as humans. For example, only men were counted in calculating the number of participants in an event. In more backward areas, women are even seen as ominous.Asia is a crucial birthplace of civilizations. It is also home to a culture of sexism. To date, Asia is home to the top ten countries in the world with the worst discrimination against women. Historically, there are various reasons for and manifestations of sexism. In Nepal and India, girls must leave school to stay in a special black room at home when having a period. Some were bitten by venomous snakes and died. In some parts of Asia, women can be traded as commodities. Examples of such bias are numerous in Asia and the world. What is particularly beyond comprehension is that such tragic experiences of women are stubbornly preserved as a cultural tradition, being passed down and repeated from generation to generation.In the face of this prevailing social situation in Asia and the world, we must examine, criticize, and resist the patriarchal society.Our mission is to end the patriarchal society.We should be keenly aware that all our cultures and civilizations to date are the products of such a society. The patriarchal society is the soil and hotbed of bias against women. It is impossible to eradicate this social phenomenon without transforming such a society. The Western idea of “equality between men and women” emerged in modern times is also the product of the patriarchal society. The medieval respect for women in the West, known as “chivalry,” is essentially a superior gentlemanly bearing under patriarchy. In Asia, such gentlemanly manners do not even exist.To reflect and review the discrimination against women from a historical and cultural perspective, a profound cultural revolution is needed. Such work should be carried out in all civilizations. As inter-civilization dialogues go deeper, it is an inevitable trend to touch on the ancient texts. Therefore, a revolution in beliefs is unavoidable. A further outcome of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations could be a widespread revolution in faith.Here, I would like to discuss another fundamental issue concerning the intergenerational inheritance of civilizations, the education of women as mothers.We should be aware that one of the most serious, direct ramifications of prejudice against women is the deprivation of their right to education. Due to the lack of education, women become more ignorant and uninformed, which in turn becomes a charge against their lack of knowledge. Moreover, when a mother is denied the right to education, it is impossible for her children to get a good education. This vicious circle from generation to generation poses a huge problem to the quality of the population. Marx revealed in Das Kapital that there are two basic modes of production in human society, production of materials and the self-production. Undoubtedly, the laborers of self-production are women. In the productive forces that determine the progress of human society, the quality of humans is the foremost, whereas humans are produced by women. This demonstrates that the quality and education level of women is related to not only the production of materials but also the self-production, shedding light on the harmful effect of the deprivation of women’s right to education on the progress in civilization. As human society has long been discriminating against and oppressing women and depriving them of the right to education, the direct result is the slow or even backward progress of civilization. In other words, one important and direct aspect of Asia’s progress is the eradication of discrimination against women who make up half the population. When we talk about progress in Asia today, we cannot avoid talking about the fundamental elimination of bias against women. Otherwise, there could be no fundamental progress in Asia at all.There is an epoch-making concept in the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, “women’s empowerment.” Now is the right time to do it. The top priority is to empower women to receive an education. Asia is the world’s most illiterate continent, and women account for the majority of the illiterate group. Even for countries like China, the dropout rate of children is the highest for girls in some remote areas. In the public welfare field of AIDS prevention and treatment I engage in, statistics show a positive correlation between the number of people infected with AIDS and other diseases. In other words, the less educated people are, the more likely they are to be infected with AIDS and other diseases. It is a basic fact that without sustainable progress of women, human society cannot develop sustainably.From the perspective of civilization, various cultural restrictions and regulations are mountains that weigh women down and refrain them from freeing themselves. Such old-age discriminatory practices are unlikely to be removed in a day. But we must start to take action anyway. I hope the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations will be a fresh start. This year marks the seventieth anniversary of the founding of new China. Many Asian countries have also been reborn after World War II. At this new historical juncture, I hopefully call on the whole Asia and other parts of the world to pay attention to the fate of women and to remove the big rock that weighs down women, namely, the near-universal oppression of and discrimination against women.Today, all kinds of favorable conditions have been created for the complete emancipation of women. The Industrial Revolution represents the objective basis of modern women’s liberation. This revolution has created opportunities and conditions for women to go out and into the workplace in response to the huge demand for labor in modern industries. Today’s rapid development of science and technology, especially the arrival of the electronic information age, has paved the way for women to give play to their own advantages and roles. The patriarchal technology and social foundation have collapsed and been replaced by the new era of feminism which is just around the corner. At such a historical moment, we need to examine our beliefs and cultural traditions. This is exactly our mission to carry out inter-civilization dialogues and learn from one another.China is a Confucian society. It is an ancient and emerging power. Its economy now ranks second in the world and is expected to replace the United States as the world’s largest. It is conservatively estimated that by the middle of this century, China is due to become the greatest power in the world, and naturally, the top in Asia. A serious question is: what should China do as the largest power in Asia and the world? The attitude towards women is a simple touchstone. Therefore, how China treats women culturally, politically and economically is crucial to how the world treats women in the future. It should be noted that in the era of rapid global changes, Asia has reached a cardinal historical juncture in terms of development and the settlement of issues concerning Asian women. A better future for all Asian women is indispensable to Asia’s better future. In history, Asian women have made indelible contributions to the splendid development of Asian civilizations. The wisdom of ancient Asian civilizations embodies the outstanding wisdom of generations of Asian women. The rich and colorful cultural connotation of Asia can be summed up in four words: love, peace, humility, and tolerance. Asian civilizations are not characterized by tigers, lions or wolves, but by rams and pandas. Asian civilizations have always been permeated with a maternal spirit of broad tolerance and feminine warmth. Indian monk Bodhidharma came to China to preach. Chinese monk Xuan Zang went on a pilgrimage for Buddhist scriptures to India. The Arab businessmen went to Chang’ an to do business. The Jews received selfless assistance in Shanghai. Master Jian Zhen crossed the sea to Japan six times. The Hui people settle down all over China. These countless stories contain warmth behind them. The civilization message they carry is “love, peace, humility, tolerance,” which represents civilization and cultural spirit of harmony, generosity, and friendliness. The most serious defect in Asian civilizations lies in the widespread discrimination against women. This not only represents the common feature of historical prejudice against women in the course of world civilization but also shows the deep-rooted attribute of the historical discrimination against women among Asian civilizations. Asia, as an essential cradle of civilizations, is also a major region of such discrimination. The “civilization defect” of discriminating against women is the most critical issue that cannot be avoided at the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations. Women will be the builders and leaders of Asia’s future. The liberation of women’s productivity in Asia is central to its rapid and sustainable development. In this regard, the conference is expected to engender a new wave of Women’s Liberation in Asia and the world. Women’s Liberation in Asia will inevitably drive the global Women’s Liberation. And its main trend is to terminate the patriarchal society, remove the fundamental cultural and civilization discrimination against women, and enter a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind in which men and women are equal.Translated by Mo Hao