What is the meaning of good moral character

Good moral character literally means to have good quality,

Traditionally understood to be:

The good moral tradition of the Chinese nation, in general, refers to the ancient Confucian ethics and morality as the main content and includes the essence of the traditional moral thought of the Mohist, Taoist, Legalism and so on. In the course of more than 2,000 years of history, the ethical thoughts of Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism, and Legalism, as well as the doctrine of mindfulness in Buddhism, have interacted and absorbed each other to form the unique ethical tradition of the Chinese nation.

(1) The overall supremacy, the sense of social responsibility and the sense of mission of "self-restraint and dedication". In the traditional Chinese ethical structure, to serve the nation and the people, and to "promote the great interests of the people of the world" (Mozi - Jing Shang) is the highest expression of morality and the greatest "righteousness". To adhere to this principle, to regulate people's behavior, and to obey it is the embodiment of a "man of benevolence". Many thinkers, politicians and writers have been advocating this state of life. Confucius said: "There is to kill oneself in order to become benevolent, not to seek life in order to harm benevolence" ("Analects - Yongya"), Mencius said: "Life, I desire; righteousness, I desire. I can't have both; I'll give up my life for righteousness" ("Mengzi - Teng Wengong"). Fan Zhongyan advocated that "if you live high up in the temple, you are worried about your people: if you are far away in the rivers and lakes, you are worried about your king". "Worry about the world before the world, and be happy after the world" ("The Records of the Yueyang Tower"); Du Fu sings "Ten million rooms in a wide building, sheltering the world's poor with joy, and the wind and rain do not move as well as a mountain" ("The Song of the Thatched Cottage Broken by the Autumn Winds"); Lin Zexu's aspiration "Gou li country life and death, not because of the disaster and happiness to avoid it" ...... these views, advocates, all adhere to the principle of the supremacy of the national interest and the overall interests of the individual in the relationship to others, to society, to the group, "righteousness as the In the relationship of individuals to others, to society, and to the group, "righteousness is considered to be the highest" and "righteousness comes before profit". Personal interests should be considered in a way that does not violate moral principles and does not harm the interests of society and others. The so-called "righteousness and then take", "not righteous but rich and noble, with me like floating clouds" (Analects - Yongya).

(2) The Principle of Interpersonal Harmony of Benevolence and Beneficence

In traditional Chinese ethics, special importance is attached to and emphasized on respect and care for human beings, and it is advocated that human beings should care for each other, love and help each other, and try to build a gentle atmosphere of harmony and goodwill. Confucius took "benevolence" as the core content of his ethics and morality, and he associated "benevolence" with "loving others", taking "loving others" as "benevolence" and "loving others" as "love". He associated "benevolence" with "loving others" and made "loving others" the fundamental requirement of "benevolence". He advocated that "one who wishes to establish oneself and establish others, and one who wishes to attain benevolence," and that "one who is generous and helpful to all can be considered benevolent" (Lunyu Shuyao). Advocating the harmony between people, from their own desires, emotions, will and interests of their own personal feelings, put themselves in the shoes of others to consider, enhance understanding, mutual consideration, take care of each other, to give each other the convenience, especially for those who are in difficulty to help and relief. From the utilitarian principle of simple respect between people, Mozi put forward the ethical principle of "love one another and benefit one another". He believed that conflicts and disputes between people are caused by the egoistic thinking of "losing others and benefiting oneself", i.e. "not loving each other", and that people should "love others as if they were themselves", and that loving and being loved are interrelated. The love of man and the love of man are interconnected. "Those who love others will love them, and those who benefit others will benefit them" (Mozi - "Love at the same time"). This kind of interpersonal love is not only manifested in psychological sympathy and concern, but also in mutual benefit in practical life, so that people can get practical benefits. "The Moists broke through the Confucian hierarchical concept of "love with equal differences" and advocated the universality of love and benefit. It is the first time in the history of the world that a person's life has been affected by a disease, and it is the first time in the world that a person's life has been affected by a disease.

(3) The robust spirit of "self-improvement" and the broad-mindedness of "virtue".

Thousands of years of change in traditional Chinese culture have produced the spirit of the Chinese personality, which is manifested in two interrelated and opposite aspects: one is "self-improvement", and the other is "carrying things in a virtuous manner". In the "yijing - yidazhuan", the earliest put forward "just healthy" doctrine, "just healthy and not trapped, its righteousness is not poor carry on", "the sky walks healthy, the gentleman to self-improvement" ("yijing - elephants") ) "robustness" is expressed as the initiative of life, mobility and strong unyielding character, the spirit of struggle, "robustness and self-improvement" ideas, has been respected by thinkers throughout the ages, and has become a spiritual pillar to motivate people to fight and overcome difficulties. Virtue is a humanistic sentiment nurtured by traditional Chinese ethics, and it is also a realistic way to realize robustness and self-improvement. In the I Ching - Xiang Chuan, it is pointed out that "the earth is Kun, and a gentleman carries things with great virtue". Advocating that the gentleman should be like the earth as a broad-minded, nurturing, carrying and accommodating all things, so as to make himself a broad and profound saint. This excellent quality is manifested in two aspects: one is to accommodate others with joyful feelings, good treatment of others, good treatment of life, more from the benefits of everything, in life, to find the beauty, to discover the human race, their own beneficial things, get along with others, more to find *** with the same point, seek common ground while reserving differences, *** with the development. The second is a humble attitude, to find their own shortcomings, learning from others strengths, to make up for the shortcomings, while overcoming their own defects and shortcomings, this kind of integrity and attitude to promote people to enrich themselves, so that they are growing stronger.

(4) Cultivate oneself and practice the principle of moral cultivation

Focusing on strengthening the cultivation of personal moral qualities is a unique ethical culture in traditional Chinese morality, and the spiritual heritage that can be inherited is also the richest in this area.

There are discussions on moral cultivation in all schools of thought in ancient China, and Confucianism is the most systematic school of thought in this regard. The Confucian school of thought draws up a cultivation system of "three syllabi and eight objectives" for the people, and the "three ways of the university are to be clear and virtuous, to be kind to the people, and to stop at the highest level. "The "Three Outlines" clearly define the fundamental purpose of cultivating one's moral qualities, "In ancient times, those who wanted to be clear and virtuous in the world first ruled their country, those who wanted to rule their country first had their own families, those who wanted to unify their families first cultivated their bodies, those who wanted to cultivate their bodies first corrected their hearts, those who wanted to correct their hearts first cultivated their intentions, and those who wanted to cultivate their intentions first cultivated their minds, and those who wanted to cultivate their minds first cultivated their hearts. The "Eight Objects of Cultivating One's Self" (《礼记-大学》) here details the eight stages of cultivating one's moral qualities, and they believe that moral cultivation is the foundation of all people in society***. "From the son of heaven to the common people, one is all to cultivate the body as the basis".

Confucianism not only summarizes the complete system of moral cultivation, affirming the extreme importance of moral cultivation. At the same time also for the guidance of people's moral cultivation, put forward a number of specific and feasible methods of moral cultivation, such as "Zhi Zhi", "learning", "self-restraint", "introspection", "practice", "prudence" and so on. They pay special attention to the significance of the cultivation of the "position", that the "will" is the beginning of being a man, is the foundation of success. "The three can take away the commander in chief, but not the man can take away the will" ("Analects of Confucius - Zihan"), and the core of the "stand" is "Zhidao", i.e., the ambition should be far-reaching and lofty. The core of "Zhi Dao" is "Zhi Dao", that is to say, the ambition should be great and lofty. "If one hears of the Way, one can die in the evening" and "If a scholar aspires to the Way and is ashamed of his bad clothes and bad food, he is not yet a member of the committee" ("Analects of Confucius - Liren"). "Self-restraint" means that in order to reach a lofty moral state, one must restrain one's selfish desires and subjective prejudices, so that one's mental and emotional state and behavior are in line with the requirements of morality. "Learning" is the basic means of moral cultivation. In the ancient Confucian classics, "learning" is mainly the study and understanding of moral theories and norms. The opening words of The Analects of Confucius are Confucius' feelings about moral learning, "Learning and studying is not a pleasure", and Confucius summarized moral learning as "learning", "asking", "thinking", "thinking", "asking", and "thinking", Confucius summarized moral learning into five stages: "Learning", "Questioning", "Thinking", "Discerning", and "Acting", i.e., "Learning from experience, questioning, thinking prudently, discerningly, and acting conscientiously" (Li Ji - The Book of Rites). " (Rituals - Zhongyong). We should not only study the classics, but also learn from the advanced moral models, "If three people walk together, there must be a teacher for me" and "Seeing the virtuous, thinking of the wise, seeing the unwise and introspecting" ("Analects of Confucius - Learning to be"). "Introspection" means constantly reflecting on oneself, noticing one's own mistakes and faults, and correcting them instantly. Zeng Sen said: "I have three times a day to reflect on my own body, for people to plan and not loyal? With friends and not believe it? Is it not practiced to pass on?" (ibid.). Wang Yangming, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, summarized the method of cultivating goodness, which is an enrichment and development of Zeng Sen's "introspection". He advocated that everyone should always check out his own selfish desires, such as good interests and goods, in his free time, and criticize them severely according to the moral theories of the sages, so as to eliminate them. "Like going to a thief, don't give him a way out, don't give him convenience, make sure to sweep it away"; "and like a cat catching a mouse, stare at it with one eye, cut it down, make sure to wipe it out, make it clear, and only then will it be fast" (Chuanxilu-next). Being "prudent and solitary" is an important method of moral cultivation, and also a noble state to be achieved in moral cultivation, as pointed out in the Book of Rites - Zhongyong (中庸), "A gentleman should be prudent in what he does not block, and fearful in what he does not hear. There is nothing to see that is hidden, and nothing to show that is not, so the gentleman is prudent in his solitude." The meaning is that a noble man, even when he is personally alone and unsupervised, should hold fast to his moral convictions, be careful about what he says and does, and refrain from doing anything immoral. Because where no one knows and no one pays attention, one's moral character is better reflected, so one must consciously and actively maintain one's moral beliefs. The method and realm of "prudence" is a reflection of the consistency of a person's words and deeds, and the consistency of the appearance of a good moral character.