The Way of Honesty and Moral Cultivation in Ancient China

The people of China have always been sincere and even kind. This old saying comes from Su Shi's "The First Rule of Daoism and Two Virtues". In this article, Su Shi pointed out the importance of sincerity. In his view, sincerity means sincere treatment, and you can't pretend it at all.

As early as the Doctrine of the Mean, honesty appeared and was mentioned as a high realm of moral cultivation: honesty is the only one in the world, so as to know the classics of the world, establish the foundation of the world and know the cultivation of heaven and earth. Virtues such as honesty and loyalty advocated by Confucius are closely related to honesty. Especially faith, in ancient China, sincerity and faith can be trained with each other and have the same meaning. In modern Chinese, honesty and faith are often used together, which is what we often say. Honesty does not focus on the truth of words and keeping promises, but on inner sincerity. The original meaning of honesty is sincerity, not cheating.

In Confucianism, sincerity is first associated with heaven. Mencius said: sincere people, heaven is also; If you think sincerely, you will learn from others. ("Mencius on Li Lou") "The Doctrine of the Mean" says: A loyal person is a heavenly way; Honest people, people's way is also. Sincerity is innocent, and it is the same as righteousness, so it is called heaven.

Then what is the sincerity of human nature? People who really think and people who really care. In other words, if you are willing to learn from Xiangcheng, you can make honesty a human code of conduct and realize it. This is human nature, that is, the sincerity of humanity. For example, the sky runs according to the rules, and people should act according to the rules, and they can't do whatever they want; This rule contains both laws and regulations and ethics. For example, heaven never shuts one door but he opens another, and naturally it keeps running and the four seasons alternate. Correspondingly, human nature should strive for self-improvement and be consistent.

Xunzi said that a gentleman is not good at raising his heart with sincerity, and nothing is more important than raising his feelings and character with sincerity. Among the eight principles of Confucianism, honesty comes before correctness. To be right, you must be sincere first, which shows the importance of sincerity.

The most basic connotation of honesty is truth. If you lose truth, you lose sincerity. Lv Kun, a writer and thinker in the Ming Dynasty, emphasized truthfulness, truthfulness and truthfulness, which were beneficial to others. Speak honestly, do things honestly, and be honest. There is no reason why people can't be convinced. This reality is honesty.

Sincerity also requires people to be honest and not deceive themselves or others. Zeng Guofan said that sincere people don't deceive others (note in Diary of Complete Works of Zeng), don't deceive others with lies, don't hide or disguise themselves, don't cheat, don't grandstanding, and don't deceive the world. And those who can be wholehearted and sincere to themselves, others, the work they are engaged in and the life they face are selfless.

In retrospect, Su Shi said that sincerity is the way, and he did the same. Right is right, wrong is wrong. He said in the Four Tang Dynasties that as a gentleman, his instinctive reaction is to like good things and hate bad things. What else should we think about? Once you think about it, you will figure out a way to escape. Once people have repeated thinking and hesitation, selfish distractions will sprout, and justice will fail if they think about righteousness and benefit; If you think about life in the face of war, war will be invalid. This is also a kind of sincerity, not hiding your heart.

In short, sincerity should be the way up and down, the way inside and outside. Honesty should be the principle of being a man and the standard of self-cultivation. As the saying goes, dishonesty is deceiving your heart and giving up on yourself. If you are dishonest to others, you will lose your morality and increase your resentment. Treat others with yourself, you must pay attention to honesty.