This is the first essence of the Chinese national moral tradition. The Book of Songs written more than 2,000 years ago clearly stated that "staying up late in public" is a noble moral quality. Emphasizing the patriotic belief of serving the country and the people and advocating the spirit of overall coordination is a moral concept that has been generally recognized by people, which is indisputable. In the history of China, countless people gave their lives for justice, and they won the admiration and praise of countless people. People have seen that Su Wu, who sent a mission to the Xiongnu, Yue Fei, a famous anti-gold star, Shi Kefa and Tan Sitong who generously went to the execution ground in the Reform Movement of 1898, and even Liu Hulan, who would rather die than surrender in the War of Liberation, left indelible footprints on the historical battlefield. It can be said that it is such a patriotic dedication that supported their pursuit until their death, and finally left a touching chapter in history.
Here, Yue Fei is particularly worth mentioning. When I was in high school, everyone argued about his merits and demerits. Some people think that national unity is advocated now, while Yue Fei's resistance to gold is an internal struggle, which hinders national integration and delays the historical development process. This statement is really ridiculous. Anyone with a little knowledge of history knows that the nomads from the Jin Dynasty invaded, burned and plundered, which is completely different from the present national integration. What we admire more is his soul-stirring patriotic feelings and his shining and firm ambition of "serving the country faithfully". As for historical review, does it matter? Just look at the people's devout worship in Yue Temple and the hateful couple kneeling outside the door, and people's love and hate will be clear at a glance. As the saying goes, "the eyes of the masses are discerning." "The predecessors have gone with the dust, and future generations will surely step on the dust." Inspired by the example of our ancestors, what should people do today? Some people may say that it is a time of peace, and the country is stable and United. Where can patriotism go? In fact, patriotism is not limited to being able to stand up when the country is invaded by foreign enemies. Everything we do that meets the needs of the country is patriotic. 1999, NATO led by the United States bombed our embassy in Yugoslavia, and the anger of the whole people was patriotic. The resulting energetic work and study is also a kind of patriotism. In a sense, this is more in line with the needs of the country. In fact, patriotism can also be implemented in every little thing in real life, including paying taxes on time, saving water and electricity, and not littering. For our college students, it is the greatest reward for the country to persist in studying hard and strive to improve their own quality. In addition, it is particularly noteworthy that college students should pay more attention to current politics. Nowadays, many students lack the awareness of political participation, thinking that this is only a matter for some political activists and has nothing to do with the past. Some people don't even know the most basic national policies, and they don't know that the National People's Congress is held every few years ... This is worrying. You know, the country is everyone's country, and every citizen has the responsibility and right to care about and comment on it. Only when the country is strong will we not be ashamed to mention our own nation in front of the Japanese like the "I" in Theology.
Happily, the The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China just held is attracting more and more students' attention, which is a very good thing! All people in our country should be integrated into a solid national spirit, which is actually a powerful extension of patriotism. For a country to develop, it is definitely not enough to rely on one party and one government. It also needs the participation and support of the masses, and the government only acts as a steering wheel and lubricant. The overall spirit has always been a fine tradition of the Chinese nation. As the saying goes, "Three heads are better than one Zhuge Liang", "One tree has three piles, one hero has three gangs", all of which are about the overall wisdom and strength. The overall spirit of the new era requires it to be linked with the interests of the people, so as to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of all parties and truly realize democracy and progress. In normal times, everyone may be very busy, but at the critical moment, our whole nation must be able to reach unity in the shortest time in order to share the same fate. It can be said that it is this that supports the existence and continued prosperity of our country. Perhaps everyone has not forgotten the Yangtze River flood of 1998. That year, countless people volunteered to join the flood fighting team, and the military and civilians fought side by side in the forefront. Among them, many heroes have emerged, and some even gave their lives for it. Every crisis, the people of the whole country pay attention to a place and consciously feel the tension and pain. After the flood, the whole country immediately set off an upsurge of donating money and materials. In the final analysis, these are the embodiment of the overall spirit of the country, more precisely, the result of the integration of overall ideas that are in line with the interests of the masses and touch the society.
Second, advocate the principle of "benevolence" and interpersonal harmony.
In interpersonal relationships, China's traditional ethical thoughts particularly emphasize "putting oneself in others' shoes". Confucius once said, "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you" and "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you". These are all positive attitudes towards life. Today, this idea still has important practical significance. Kindness requires us to keep a heart of pity, sympathy and love, and always think of others. There is a statue of "Guanyin of Tears" in the Buddhist temple, which also contains this meaning. If we can be considerate and help each other in dealing with people, many contradictions between people will be easily resolved. Another important content of "benevolence" is "respect and understanding" Even for a beggar, we should not turn a blind eye. Imagine bringing a bowl of rice and yelling at a beggar. The result of this is often that beggars "receive". Because a beggar is also a human being and has human dignity, he may be forced to become a beggar, and the ridicule and contempt of the world are likely to push him to the wall. Of course, there are fake beggars who cheat money and extort money. Maybe someone is fooled by them. So, should we reject all beggars for this? It is more appropriate to answer this with a poem by the famous writer Sha: "Even if I have been cheated a thousand times/10,000 times/I still firmly believe that there is always a truth/a heart of gold/a pure feeling in this world ..." Yes, we should look at this world with more love, and would rather be cheated by a thousand fake beggars than build one.
Traditional morality has always emphasized the harmony of interpersonal relationships. When we have a kind heart, we will be accepted and loved by people around us. Traditional morality requires us to be strict with ourselves, to be lenient with others, and to be patient. This is obviously conducive to interpersonal harmony, but it should be noted that what kind of margin is this "width"? To what extent do you "endure"? Humility to others, of course, does not mean obedience to everything; Respect other people's opinions, but it doesn't mean echoing them; Being able to tolerate friends' shortcomings does not mean letting them fall; Be ready to help others, but that doesn't mean doing everything on your behalf. Making friends with us is actually a process of learning from each other and making progress together. The so-called "the ruler is short, the inch is long" and "a threesome, there must be a teacher", which means that only the friendship that makes people make continuous progress is truly lasting. Today's emphasis on interpersonal harmony must be based on this basis in order to be healthy and firm.
Third, carry forward the value of human relations and pay attention to the moral responsibility and character of individuals in human relations.
China's traditional morality refers to interpersonal relationship, which is often based on family and blood relationship. Among them, filial piety is undoubtedly the most important, and from this comes the moral creed of "father and son are blind date, monarch and minister are righteous, parents are orderly, friends are trustworthy, and husband and wife are different".
Filial piety can be said to be the most basic premise of traditional ethics. In China, this awareness can be said to be deeply rooted. Compared with the western indifference to family, we have reason to be proud of it. In ancient times, people demanded that "parents should stay here, don't travel far" and stay in Dai Xiao for three years after their parents died, which reflected the importance and depth of "filial piety" in ancient times! We don't even need to list examples of the ancients exhausting filial piety. Because in the ancients, filial piety has almost become the same as eating and dressing. If you occasionally have an unfilial son, no matter how excellent he is in other aspects, he will definitely be despised by everyone, and it will be hateful to abandon him-it seems that it takes a lot of courage to be an unfilial descendant. Filial piety is the first manifestation of a person's kindness, including understanding and respecting parents' hard work, which deserves respect and promotion. In today's prevailing individualism, it is especially necessary to remind people not to forget their parents' kindness. Further, perhaps many people will realize how to serve the country after they are sensible. However, many people don't even fulfill their obligation to honor their parents. They just send some money to the elderly every month, thinking that they can feel at ease. In fact, this is far from enough, because what parents need more is an immaterial thing-love from their children's hearts. I remember a song "Go home often to see" once swept the country, just because it sang the common aspiration of people: "Go home often to see, even if it is to help my mother brush chopsticks and wash dishes, even if it is to help my father rub his back and shoulders ..." What the old people need is actually such a warm respect. As far as our college students are concerned, they are far away from home to study. Although there is no need to stick to the dogma of "parents are here, don't travel far", do you often call home to report peace? Will you send a warm word of "Happy Birthday" to your parents on their birthdays? Some people may think that calling home often has nothing to say. As we all know, every little thing that happens around you is the object of parents' attention. Talking more is not only a right, but also an obligation and responsibility. Unfortunately, too many parents just want to tell their children to add clothes (when the weather turns cold) and call to remind them to "eat more eggs" on their birthdays, but college students rarely get the same return and news. Is it because they are too busy to be ignored, or do they think such a trivial matter is not worth mentioning? Anyway, for the sake of parents, there are some things we should do, because elders also need them.
If "respecting the old and loving the young" is the first step of "filial piety", then its second step is "respecting and loving the old and loving the young". More importantly, it respects a series of principles around "courtesy", such as women's "three obedience and four virtues", "women are virtuous without talent" and "only villains and women are difficult to support", which are outdated and extreme and gradually annihilated with history. In addition, there is another very important thing, that is, modesty. The ancients emphasized that people should be modest and polite. As the saying goes, "Shoot the first bird with a gun" and "A tree attracts the wind", so the more talented people are, the more modest they should be. When you say "my dear friend's opinion", I have to say "where"; Another sentence "My brother is really talented" and another sentence "I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it" often make westerners who don't know the inside story "confused". Generally speaking, China people like twists and turns, while foreigners are always paunchy, so it's hard to say which is better or worse. Here, I just want to remind people that "modesty should not become modesty, and confidence should not become conceit".
Fourth, pursue spiritual perfection and promote the perseverance of personal cultivation.
According to China's traditional morality, people are different from animals because they have moral ethics. The ancients attached great importance to the perfection of spiritual life and personal cultivation, which is also the reason why many literati can live and work in peace and contentment and forge ahead. Tao Yuanming, who lives in seclusion in the countryside, said that "under the hedge of picking chrysanthemums, you can see Nanshan leisurely". What an elegant bearing! Qu Yuan, who devoted himself to gurgling, said, "The clear water in the surging waves can help me swim, while the turbid water in the surging waves can help me swim." What a noble sentiment Not only that, the spirit of seeking welfare for the public is also highly respected in traditional morality. Mencius once said: "Life is what I want, and righteousness is what I want. You can't have it both ways, and those who give up their lives for righteousness are also ",and" righteousness "is higher than life and death. The "righteousness" here often includes the meaning of friends' feelings, the meaning of national interests, and the broad connotation of the meaning of the rise and fall of the country. It is recorded in the history books that a micro-student who made an appointment with a friend would rather die of a flood in his chest than leave in good faith. This is the meaning of being a friend. Facing the vast Yueyang Tower, Fan Zhongyan lamented that "the world is worried first, and then the world is happy", which means cherishing the country; Jing Ke generously lamented at the Yishui River: "The wind and rain hit Yishui, and the strong men are gone forever", which is exactly the meaning of calling for national salvation ... History has repeatedly faded their stories in the end. Today, the ancestors' integrity still sounds thrilling and tearful! Yes, in today's era, we especially need such spirit and style. With this spirit and style, people will not blindly lose themselves in the material world, become rebellious or know nothing about history.
From a close point of view, it is very urgent for college students to improve their own quality. I can't help asking, in some colleges and universities, why are there often people with extreme ideas and people who don't come back from abroad? Why do students go crazy or commit suicide every year? In the final analysis, this phenomenon in universities is because some people are not guided by correct concepts and beliefs, and their psychological endurance is too weak. If we can accept the spiritual influence of the ancients, some college students who have slipped away for a while could have grown into useful trees. People can see that on the BBS of HKUST campus, people can often find that HKUST is always compared with the vulgar articles of Peking University and Tsinghua, which is quite pedantic, such as Ah Q, but in fact, many papers are purely redundant. Is HKUST good or not? What is its strength? This is by no means for us to decide, nor can it be decided by the outside media. As the saying goes, "those who are clear are self-clear, and those who are turbid are self-turbid." The people of HKUST just go their own way. If our study style and school spirit are good, we will produce more talents and make great achievements, and we will naturally become famous. Complaining about others all day and demanding this and that can only be an impetuous mentality and irresponsible performance, but it makes people laugh. In fact, impetuous mentality exists not only in college students, but also in the whole society at present. This is probably the most worrying problem in today's society. Such as "killing" after success and "killing" after failure, only paying attention to "money" and pursuing endless enjoyment and comfort, these phenomena are the results of not paying special attention to self-cultivation. In the 1970s and 1980s, a wave of "going abroad fever" caused a large outflow of talents. In the 1990s, there were "one billion people who bet 900 million on dancing", and later it became "one billion people with 900 million businessmen, and 100 million people haven't opened yet." With such a wave of agitation, where should we young people go? Compared with professional knowledge, the construction of spiritual realm is definitely more important and difficult. We should strive to pursue a noble spiritual taste, so as to keep a clear head in a complicated world, keep ideological progress in an impetuous environment and keep moral purity in various fashion trends. In Dante's words, it is: "Go your own way and let others talk." We just need to have a clear conscience towards the country and the people and serve the country and the people with our loyalty, diligence and achievements.