What are the traditional virtues of China?

Chinese traditional virtue refers to the outstanding moral heritage handed down from China's 5,000-year history, which is influential, can be inherited and continuously innovated and developed, and is beneficial to the next generation. To sum up, it is the sum of the excellent quality, excellent national spirit, lofty national integrity, noble national feelings and good national habits of the Chinese nation. It marks the "shape" and "soul" of the Chinese nation. It is also the crystallization of China people's practice in dealing with interpersonal relationships, the relationship between people and society, and the relationship between people and nature for more than 2,000 years.

Performance: patriotism, righteousness, benevolence, ambition, perseverance, restraint, self-improvement, sincerity, honesty, shame-awareness, reform, kindness, kindness, loyalty to the monarch, courage, learning, sizing up the situation, innovation, diligence, public welfare and pragmatism. ...

Core connotation:

Benevolence: Kindness-Emperor Taizong loved the people as a son.

Righteousness: attaching importance to feelings-Jing Ke stabbed the king of Qin.

Li: A man who knows manners-Kong Rong.

Wisdom: Wisdom and Decisiveness-Empty City Plan

Faith: Honesty will bear fruit, and when it is spoken-it will eventually sink.

"Benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faithfulness" are the core values and basic requirements of the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, which promote the development of the whole social moral system and improve the social moral level, and occupy an important position in the traditional virtues of the whole Chinese nation.

"Benevolence" refers to the mentality of sympathy, care and love, that is, "good heart". About "benevolence", it first came from Shangshu. In Historical Records, it is said: "Forgiveness makes people believe", which means that Shang Tang believed the whole world with the virtue of forgiveness. "Benevolence" originally meant "relatives". In Shuo Wen Jie Zi, it is said that "the benevolent is also benevolent" and "the benevolent is intimate". It is mainly to "kiss" family members and clan relatives, and this "kiss" is limited to family relatives. With the evolution of history, the meaning of "benevolence" has been further expanded, from "relatives" to "lovers". Lao Tzu said, "Harmony without difference". It means to be friendly, sincere and selfless when dealing with people. Confucius once said: "The benevolent is kind, the non-existent is harmful, and the deceased is kind." . Benevolence has become the highest realm of life morality here. In order to maintain benevolence, you can commit suicide, that is, you can sacrifice your life to maintain this moral concept. It can be seen that while the emotional scope of "benevolence" extends from family to society, the moral connotation and moral status of "benevolence" have been further enriched and promoted, becoming the first element of Chinese traditional virtue.

"Righteousness" refers to the integrity of justice, integrity and morality, that is, the spirit of justice. The original meaning of "righteousness" refers to people's appearance, which is people's pursuit of close friendship and beauty in interpersonal communication. Shuo Wen Jie Zi once explained that "righteousness (righteousness) is one's own dignity. From me to the sheep. " Meaning, "righteousness" is a person's external image and internal cultivation. We advocate the image and cultivation of sheep, and should be as gentle, kind and beautiful as sheep. The "righteousness" mentioned here mainly refers to a beautiful and kind emotion and integrity. In our life, sheep has always been the first of the six livestock and the most beautiful food. People in China worship sheep very much. When the ancients created characters, they used "sheep" to represent the most beautiful things. For example, sheep and fish constitute "fresh". In the eyes of China people, sheep and fish are both the most delicious food and the most delicious food. China people's most beautiful words "beauty" and "goodness" all have a word "sheep" on them, and the word "sheep" is the main radical structure, which embodies people's pursuit of the beautiful realm of sheep, and regards this realm as the character that China people should pursue and the morality that should be advocated. Shuo Wen Jie Zi links righteousness with beauty and goodness to explain righteousness. Goodness is the prefix of sheep, and the traditional righteousness in China is also the prefix of sheep. Therefore, righteousness, beauty and goodness are synonyms. The "loyalty" emphasized by the ancients refers to such a beautiful and kind realm and integrity and justice. Confucius praised the virtue of "benevolence" and advocated "killing one's body to become benevolence" Mencius, on the other hand, highly praised the virtue of "righteousness" and said that he would "sacrifice his life for righteousness." "Kill one's body" and "lay down one's life" have the same meaning and realm, which shows that Mencius put "righteousness" and "benevolence" in the same important position to understand. When we talk about Chinese traditional virtues, they are mainly the five elements of "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faithfulness", which are usually simplified as "benevolence and virtue". It can be seen that the two virtues of "benevolence" and "righteousness" are the most important, core and basic of these five elements. The ancients said that "benevolence means honor, benevolence means shame" and "righteousness means honor, and righteousness means shame". It can be seen that China's traditional view of moral honor and disgrace is also based on whether benevolence and righteousness are achieved.

"Rite" refers to etiquette, politeness and rules of etiquette, that is, rules of etiquette. "Rite" was originally the custom and ceremony of offering sacrifices to God and praying for blessings in primitive society. In the Book of Rites, it is said that "Yin people respect God, lead civil gods, and put ghosts before rituals", which refers to a kind of ceremony and custom. At that time, "ceremony" had not been defined and advocated as a moral norm, moral standard and moral concept. With the further development of society, the knowledge and understanding of "ceremony" has also changed. In the Book of Rites, it is said that "Zhou people respected the ceremony and applied it, while ghosts respected God and stayed away, and they were loyal to each other." It is said that the Yin people respected God, while the Zhou people respected God and stayed away. The Rites and Music System gradually standardized these rituals, specifically standardized what kind of etiquette to implement, what kind of etiquette to hold, and what kind of etiquette to pay attention to, and advocated "rites and music" to govern the world. By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the content of "ceremony" had a creative change and began to be advocated as a moral standard. China's oldest collection of poems, The Book of Songs, says, "Rats have skins, but people have no tools; The poem "What is a man without grace and immortality? "it means: look at that mouse with a face, how can it be a rude person; If a person is impolite, why not die? Confucius also famously said, "Self-denial is benevolence", which means that everyone should restrain his improper desires, impulsive emotions and incorrect words and deeds, and achieve "see no evil, don't listen to indecent assault, don't speak indecent assault, don't move indecent assault", so that his vision, hearing, words and deeds are in line with the provisions of "courtesy". This shows that "courtesy" has been placed in a very important position in the moral field to be respected, standardized and advocated. Guan Zhong, a famous politician and thinker in ancient times, even put forward the concept of "propriety, justice, honesty and shame are the four dimensions of a country", and put "propriety" at the top of moral norms, indicating that "propriety" has been gradually standardized from a primitive custom and ceremony to a moral education and moral concept, and sublimated to the top of the four elements of governing the country. China people have always placed "courtesy" in an important position, showing our civilization with a state of etiquette, and it is uncivilized not to talk about etiquette. It can be seen that "courtesy" also plays an important role in China's traditional virtues.

"Wisdom" refers to the ability to distinguish right from wrong, to know good and evil, and to know ourselves and ourselves, that is, "the power of ingenuity". As one of the basic elements of Chinese traditional virtues, "wisdom" has long appeared in written records. Confucius once said: "There are three ways to learn: the benevolent does not worry, the wise does not worry, and the brave does not fear." The Doctrine of the Mean says: "Wisdom, benevolence and courage are great virtues in the world". In the Analects of Confucius, it is famous that "knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing, and knowing is also doing", that is to say, no matter how rich people's knowledge is, there are always problems that they don't understand, so they should have a realistic attitude. Only in this way can they learn more knowledge and become smart. The "erudition" here means "this is wisdom, this is cleverness, and this is a wise man". On the basis of inheriting and developing Tang Yao, Yu Shun and Shang Tang's brilliant wisdom thoughts on self-knowledge, society, right and wrong, good and evil, Confucius and Mencius enriched the concrete ideological content of "wisdom", promoted its position as a moral requirement in moral norms, made it a new moral concept and value orientation with universal significance, and became one of the most basic requirements of people's ideological and moral and civilized quality.

"Credibility" refers to the character of honesty, trustworthiness, firmness and mutual trust, that is, "the product of honesty". "Trust" is not simple honesty, but credit is the most basic connotation of "trust". It not only requires people to be honest and trustworthy in their own behavior, but also embodies people's firm and reliable understanding of a certain thing and an idea, and embodies the relationship of mutual trust between people and things. Without the foundation of firmness, reliability and mutual trust, it is difficult for people to be honest and trustworthy in their actions. As for "faith", as early as ancient times, our ancestors knew it and actively advocated it. The sages of past dynasties emphasized "faith" in their books, and even some classical literary masterpieces such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin and Dream of Red Mansions all emphasized the moral concept of "faith", and all of them had human interpretation and story description about "faith". "Zuo Zhuan Xi Gong Twenty-five Years" records that "faith is the treasure of the country and protected by the people", which shows that the ruler has "faith", which is the foundation of the country and the foundation of the people's survival. Lao Tzu said, "Say what you say is good and believe it". This means keeping your promise. Confucius also said, "People can't stand in the world without loyalty" and "People don't know what they can do without loyalty". He also regards "words must be faithful, deeds must bear fruit" and "respecting things" as the basic requirements for regulating disciples' words and deeds, and regards honesty as the basic point of being a man and establishing the world. Mencius regarded honesty as the cornerstone of society and the criterion of being a man. He said, "Honesty is the way to heaven." . If you think sincerely, you will learn from others. Those who are sincere and motionless are not there; The argument that "if you are not sincere, you will not move" is proof. In Zhenguan Politicians, Wei Zhi, a famous figure in the Tang Dynasty, said: "Morality, courtesy and honesty are the keys to governing the country" and emphasized "faithfulness" as the key to governing the country. "Old Tang Book" says that "the only thing you can protect is honesty". Shangshu wrote: "Credit landlite". There is a very famous idiom in The Book of Songs called "swearing". Such an understanding, advocacy and worship of "faith" has lived in the fertile ideological and cultural soil of the Chinese nation like an evergreen tree since ancient times. It can be seen that "faith", as an important part of the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, has always been affirmed and respected by people.

Then, how to treat the five basic elements of Chinese traditional virtues: benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith? Judging from the relationship between the five elements, they are interrelated, interdependent and mutually supportive. This isomorphism has become the foundation of the traditional moral construction of the Chinese nation, and it can also be said that it is the pillar of moral construction. From the basic connotation, "benevolence" is mainly the emotion of mutual care, mutual respect and mutual love between people, and it is the moral norm on which everything in the world depends for survival, harmonious coexistence and harmonious development; "Righteousness" is an attitude of transcending oneself, facing up to reality and striving for justice and fairness; "Rites" are the standards and rules for establishing interpersonal relationships and social order. "Wisdom" is people's vision and ability to know themselves, understand society, solve contradictions and deal with problems; "Faith" is the moral principle for people to communicate and do things. "Benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith" are the core values and basic requirements of the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, and they are the five most important social moral norms that we should follow well. From the comparison of various combinations of Chinese traditional virtues, "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith" is the basic obligation and main character that people should perform, and it has a basic position in moral construction. Judging from the history of the emergence and development of Chinese traditional virtues, "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith" has an original position in the long river of Chinese moral construction. Judging from the many colorful traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith" occupies a dominant position. Judging from the extensive and far-reaching influence of Chinese traditional virtues on social progress, "benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith" has promoted the development of the whole social moral system and the improvement of social moral level, and occupies an important position in the whole Chinese traditional virtues.