This research aims to elucidate and compare the tripartite nature of the concepts of ‘Asha’ (Ancient Iran), ‘Yin-Yang’ (Ancient China), and ‘Wabi-Sabi’ (Japan), undertaking an interdisciplinary and comparative examination of these fundamental worldviews. The primary problem addressed is the dearth of comparative studies simultaneously exploring these three pivotal concepts from linguistic, socio-cultural, and philosophical-cosmological perspectives. Adopting a comparative-analytical research methodology and a qualitative case-oriented approach, the present study investigates the linguistic roots, social contexts, and ontological foundations of these concepts within fundamental texts (the, the I Ching, and Zen literature) and across their historical evolution. The research demonstrates that despite substantive differences in their essence—with Asha defined as ‘cosmic order and truth’, Yin-Yang as the ‘dynamic equilibrium of opposites’, and Wabi-Sabi as the ‘aesthetics of impermanence and imperfection’—all three concepts fundamentally crystallised in response to the essential question regarding the relationship between humanity and the cosmos. Whilst extracting the similarities and distinctions among the worldviews of these three civilisations, this study provides a theoretical framework for identifying Eastern ‘civilisational affinities’. Ultimately, the results of this interdisciplinary analysis are proposed as a foundation for designing ‘shared cultural narratives’ within the sphere of civilisational tourism among Iran, China, and Japan. The final findings are formulated as a comparative framework and a set of conceptual models of civilisational action, illustrating how each worldview distinctively organises the relationship between ontology, ethics, and human action. This innovative analytical modelling facilitates the systematic comparison of civilisational action patterns across the intellectual traditions of Iran, China, and Japan, thereby elevating the research from descriptive comparison to conceptual elucidation. The findings indicate profound structural affinities in how these civilisations perceive concepts such as balance, ethics, and acceptance: Asha emphasises ‘order’, Yin-Yang highlights ‘harmony’, and Wabi-Sabi focuses on ‘acceptance’. Within this analytical framework, Asha, emphasising cosmic order and moral responsibility, organises human action in relation to truth and righteousness; Yin-Yang interprets action as a dynamic and relational process between opposites within an ontological equilibrium; and Wabi-Sabi, by accepting the impermanence and incompleteness of existence, formulates ethics and human action within the horizon of a humble, minimalist, and situated existence. |
