The 20th century was an era in which technological civilization achieved rapid prosperity and made prodigious progress. Due to virtually day-by-day advances in information and internet technology, humanity enjoyed an unprecedented array of new products, new services and hitherto unimaginable new life experiences; it was an era full of innovation and amazement. Unfortunately, it was also a century full of military clashes and conflict, many parts of the world were ravaged by endless wars. The century saw more than 100 major or minor wars (discounting civil wars), and of them, more than 20 were large-scale international conflicts. Naturally, this includes the two World Wars that resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people.
In addition to military conflicts, in later years the world has experienced an endless stream of various sorts of international trade wars, financial wars, hacker wars, and terrorist attacks. The global population explosion and the consuming-oriented economy, as augmented by the technological development, have brought negative impacts to global environment and human society. Global crises, such as environmental damage, a widening gap between rich and poor, and global climate change, became increasingly severe. By the end of the 20th century, human beings of the time generally felt anxious and troubled to an unprecedented degree.
To respond to the problems, Dr. Chao-shiuan Liu, the chairman of the foundation of Chinese Culture for Sustainable Development, is convinced that promotion of a new Renaissance is necessary if Chinese culture “Wang Dao” is to make a major contribution to the world today. He recruited different experts from enterprises, public sectors, and academic institutions to build up a research team and to create Wang Dao Sustainability Index, WDSI, based on serial “Wang Dao” studies and cross-disciplinary dialogues over the years.