"If the ancient desire is obviously superior to the world, govern the country first; If you want to govern your country, you should first get your family together; If you want to reunite with your family, you should first repair your body; If you want to cultivate yourself, you should be upright first; ..... The mind is right and then the body is repaired, and the body is repaired and then the family is neat, and the family is neat and then the country is ruled, and the country is flat. " (Book of Rites University) We can regard it as the highest and most perfect summary of the life value of a virtuous person. Reaching the highest state of "ruling the country and leveling the world" is naturally beyond human reach, but within the scope of our own business, we should regard it as a kind of value pursuit. And "self-cultivation" is the basic pursuit of being a man.

Confucian benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith are all related to self-cultivation. Self-cultivation is particularly reflected in the Analects of Confucius. It is no exaggeration to say that part of The Analects is about "self-cultivation". Therefore, The Analects of Confucius can be called an encyclopedic ceremony to teach people to cultivate themselves. Whether in Japan, Singapore or Hong Kong, it is absolutely inappropriate for their schools to use The Analects as a self-cultivation textbook. They have foresight.

Self-cultivation, first, Xiu De, and second, cultivating wisdom and having both ability and political integrity is the ideal result of self-cultivation. And Xiu De's first task is to cultivate one's morality. Confucius said, "Disciple, if you enter, you will be filial; if you leave, you will be sincere; if you believe, you will believe; if you love others all the time, you will be kind. If you have extra energy, go to study literature. " It is said that we should understand "filial piety", "sincerity" and "benevolence" before learning literature, which clearly tells us that Xiu De should come first. "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faithfulness" are called the "five permanents" of China's ethics, and Confucianism advocates "benevolence, righteousness, propriety and faithfulness" for Xiu De. Walking into The Analects of Confucius, you will find Xiu De's way everywhere. For example, "Be determined to be benevolent and do all kinds of evil." "A gentleman is figurative, and a villain is figurative." "see no evil, don't listen to evil, don't say evil, don't move." "Do you believe in making friends?" This has become a well-known saying. The Analects also warns us that solemnity, generosity, honesty, diligence and kindness (courtesy, tolerance, faithfulness, sensitivity and kindness) are the "five virtues" of human beings. Regarding the cultivation of wisdom, The Analects not only points out the correct attitude of "being eager to learn without being ashamed to ask questions" and the learning methods of "drawing inferences from others" and "drawing inferences from others", but also clarifies the relationship between book knowledge and practice. Confucius said that even if "reciting 300 poems", it can't be used in practice ("it is impossible to do it with politics and religion; What's the use ("although it's a lot, I also think")? Therefore, he advocates that scholars should be "practical gentlemen". He also taught readers not to be narrow in knowledge, but to be broad in knowledge, and put forward "swimming in art" (that is, learning "six arts": etiquette, music, archery, calligraphy and mathematics).

Thus, the evaluation of self-cultivation in The Analects of Confucius is quite high. Therefore, the Chinese nation has an old saying since ancient times: "From Tian Zi to Shu Ren, self-cultivation is the foundation" (Book of Rites). Schools are holy places for educating people. Self-cultivation is naturally the main task of the school. Both teachers and students should be "self-cultivation-oriented" and learn to be human.