In four years of promoting the "Cleanliness and Politeness" campaign, Mrs. Yu came to understand deeply that the cultivation of the mind and spirit is the root of all behavior. One must begin from inside with the individual mind and spirit, then influence the family, and only then can one create the healthy development of society. For example, only if everyone has public spiritedness can a clean environment be maintained. Only by respecting oneself and inspecting others can society be harmonious.

Mrs. Yu believes that although in recent years the economy has prospered, social habits are moving in a disconcerting direction. This is because people pursue material enjoyment to too great a degree, and ignore spiritual cultivation, leading to a collapse of higher culture and ethics and morality. Therefore, she has, working through the Executive Yuan branch of the CWAL, launched the campaign "A Harmonious Society Needs You and Me-- Let's Make Our Minds and Spirits Healthy," to encourage people to pay attention to personal spiritual cultivation and to be concerned about society.

At the end of last year, the Executive Yuan branch of the CWAL led by Mrs. Yu convened a seminar to take the pulse of society and offer suggestions, and take the first step in the "Harmonious Society" campaign. Besides members of the CWAL Standing Committee, those in attendance included the Wang Hung-tiao, Chai Sung-lin, Yang Hsiao-jung, and Hsieh Zui-chih, scholars of mass media, society, and education. Also attending were the women authors Mrs. Wei Wei, Chu Hsiu-chuan, Chang Chung-yu, and Chu Wan-ching, as well as TV newscasters Miss Chen Yue-ching and Mr. Chao Yi, plus newspaper publisher Ms. Wang Hsiao-lan.

Those in attendance unanimously agreed that society has many unharmonious phenomena. The main reasons offered were:

(1) A society too oriented to economics makes social development unbalanced, creates gaps between the rich and the poor, and makes money the guiding value in people's hearts.

(2) The changes in family, social, and demographic structure, such as the increasing number of young people and large out-migration from rural areas, has made social relations maladjusted.

(3) Since there is inadequate maintenance of ethics and culture and too much attention to system and doctrine, one can't adopt the advantages of western liberalism, equality, and democracy, leading to the loss of cultural autonomy and allowing western utilitarianism, individualism, and materialism to seriously influence our thought and behavior.

(4) Educational and cultural investment is inadequate, creating a dislocation in culture.

(5) Social welfare investment is inadequate, making people at the lowest level lose their sense of security and creating social disorder.

(6) The legal system is not in good enough order and causes the public authority to lose effectiveness.

(7) The mass media misleads and overemphasizes immediate gratification.

As to how to correct current social problems, those in attendance offered suggestions. These included: The government should increase cultural and educational investment, establish a complete social welfare system and robust rule of law system, and strengthen public trust and public authority. The mass media should educate society and improve social habits, and should avoid exaggerating stories.

The most urgent task is for everyone to cultivate public spiritedness. Many people only ask of others, and not of themselves, they seek only rights and forget their own responsibilities. Only with mutual help and mutual respect can society be harmonious. And public spiritedness depends on cultivating the mind and spirit; then behavior will not be deviant, and then one can influence the family and further make society harmonious.

This seminar marked the kickoff of the "Harmonious Society" campaign. The CWAL offer concrete activities in stages, and hopes that it can win the support and cooperation of all the people in society.