What are the traditional Chinese virtues

Traditional Chinese virtues are part of traditional Chinese culture. During the development of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, traditional virtues have played a very important role in guiding people's behavior and social interaction.

Traditional Chinese virtues are rich in content and profound. Here, according to my personal understanding and with reference to the generalization of relevant experts and scholars, I would like to summarize the traditional Chinese virtues into the following 10 aspects:

Ren love, filial piety and fraternal duty

This is the most distinctive part of the Chinese virtues. "Benevolence" can be said to be the symbol of the moral spirit of the Chinese nation, not only is it the most basic and highest virtue among all kinds of morality in all historical periods, but also the most common standard of virtue in secular moral life. In Chinese culture, "benevolence" and "human being" are one and the same, and are the fundamental characteristics of what makes a human being a human being. The core of "benevolence" is to love others, and "those who are benevolent love others," and the root of this is filial piety and fraternal duty. "Filial piety and fraternal duty are the essence of benevolence" (Analects - Xue而). The basic content of the virtue of filial piety and fraternal duty is father's kindness, son's filial piety, brother's friendship and brother's respect, which has a high status in the moral life of the society, is universally practiced, and is the cornerstone of national unity. The extension of filial piety and fraternal duty is the way of loyalty and forgiveness. Confucius regarded "forgiveness" as a moral code "to be practiced for life", and believed that "the way of loyalty and forgiveness" is "the way of benevolence". "The Way of Loyalty and Forgiveness is the way to be benevolent. The basic requirement of the virtue of loyalty and forgiveness is to treat others with sincerity and to extend oneself to others.2

. Loyalty and Patriotism

The Chinese nation, in its long-term survival and development, has gradually condensed into a deep sense of patriotism for the motherland, forming the righteousness and national temperament of loyalty and patriotism. This patriotism can be said to be the most simple emotions and character, it is love dear home and love the sublimation of emotions. This forms a noble virtue of defending national dignity and safeguarding the interests of the motherland. The spirit of loyalty and patriotism is the great cohesion of the Chinese nation, and also a great spiritual force to promote the development of the nation. Especially when the country is in crisis, people of all races rise up to resist foreign aggression and oppression, defend the country, and are indomitable, not hesitating to die for their country. There are countless examples, such as: the patriotic sentiment of Qu Yuan in the Warring States period; Yue Fei's "loyalty to the country, return to me" in the Southern Song Dynasty; Lu You in the Southern Song Dynasty, when he was in critical condition, he still read "the king's division north of the Central Plains day, the family sacrifices without forgetting to tell Naiweng"; Lin Zexu at the end of Qing Dynasty, "if we are to benefit the country, we should sacrifice our lives for the country. "

The Chinese people, due to the family-oriented social structure and the tradition of ritual culture, have cultivated a spirit of holism, on the basis of which they have formed the virtues of self-restraint and devotion to public duties, forgetting one's own family and the public but forgetting one's private interests. Traditionally, Chinese ethics has taken "justice over selfishness" as the fundamental requirement of morality. The core of "publicity" is to remove selfishness, and "to be selfish is to be public". In order to serve the public, one must be self-restrained, and to be self-restrained is to be public, which is also the Divine Principle. However, it is not totally against self-interest, and the key is whether it is moral or not. The spirit of self-restraint and devotion to public service is essentially the spirit of putting the public before the private, of subordinating one's private interests to the public interests of society. Traditionally, the Chinese people have taken the value of "being fair and just" and "the world is fair" as their ideal. In Chinese culture, there is the state of commonwealth, and in Mozi's "to put one's head on one's shoulders and benefit the whole world". The basic spirit is the word "public". Under the cultivation of this spirit, there are countless outstanding people in our history who love the country and the people, and who have sacrificed their lives for the nation and the society.4.

Modest and courteous

Chinese is a world-renowned state of etiquette, and "etiquette" is the prominent spirit of Chinese culture, and paying attention to etiquette is an important virtue for the Chinese people in the world. "What makes a man a man is his etiquette". Confucius said, "If you don't learn etiquette, you can't stand." Chinese ethical culture can be said to be "etiquette culture" in a sense. "Etiquette is one of the mother virtues of the Chinese nation. As moral norms, there are "etiquette", "etiquette", "manners", "politeness", "Courtesy" are the concrete manifestations of the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation. "Rites" and "benevolence" are interrelated and complementary to each other. The combination of benevolence and propriety is something that needs to be especially promoted in moral education.5.

Honesty and knowledge of reward

The traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, because of the predominance of the belief in the goodness of nature and the emphasis on the exercise of the spirit of self-support and self-discipline, place particular importance on "sincerity", "faith", "reward" and "honesty". "Sincerity" means truthfulness, and its basic meaning is sincerity in one's own nature. Based on "sincerity", the Chinese have developed many related morals, such as "honesty", "sincerity", "loyalty", and "loyalty" to one's career. Loyalty to the cause". As stated in "The Middle Kingdom", "There is nothing without sincerity". "Faith" and "sincerity" are related virtues, and Confucius regarded them as the basis of being a human being. "If one does not have faith, one does not know what is possible". The basic requirement of "faith" is to match words with deeds, "words must be acted upon and deeds must be fruitful". Traditional Chinese virtues list "trust" and benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom as one of the "Five Constants". Keeping promises and speaking of faith are the value standards and basic virtues recognized by the Chinese people***, and "repayment" means to know and think about repayment. Repayment is not only a traditional Chinese virtue, but also an important principle and mechanism in moral life. Confucius puts the principle of filial piety into the context of reward. "The kindness of a drop of water should be repaid by the spring." The Chinese emphasize the importance of repaying the kindness of parents, elders, friends, and the country. Similarly, "ungratefulness", "forgetting one's roots", and "negativity" are inevitably subject to severe moral condemnation. Throughout the long process of cultural accumulation, "knowing kindness and thinking of repayment" has become an important part of Chinese moral conscience.6.

Righteousness before profit

The handling of the relationship between righteousness and profit centrally embodies the value orientation of Chinese ethics and morality. Confucius emphasized the principle of "thinking of righteousness before profit" and made it an important criterion for distinguishing between a gentleman and a villain. Mencius called for "righteousness before profit" and cultivated the righteousness of "matching righteousness with the Way". Xunzi clearly put forward: "Those who put righteousness before profit are honored; those who put profit before righteousness are disgraced." Song and Ming philosophers came to the conclusion that "profit is in the midst of righteousness" and "profit is in the midst of righteousness", while Ming and Qing thinkers put forward the idea of "seeking profit with justice", which is a fundamental characteristic and value orientation based on righteousness. This fundamental characteristic and value orientation based on righteousness is the essence of the Chinese moral spirit, which is sublimated into the concept of life and the sublime moral realm of "killing oneself to be benevolent" and "sacrificing one's life for righteousness". The lofty moral realm of "sacrificing one's life for righteousness". Mencius said: "Life is also what I desire; righteousness is also what I desire. The two can not be reconciled, give up life and take righteousness." Sima Qian "people have a death, or heavier than Mount Taishan, or lighter than a feather," the outlook on life, Wen Tianxiang "life from the beginning of time who have no death, leaving the heart of Dan Zhihanqing," the righteousness of the song, Xia Ming Han's "it does not matter if you cut off the head, as long as the doctrine of the true, kill Xia Ming Han, there will be others later. Xia Minghan's "It doesn't matter if we cut off the head, as long as the doctrine is true, kill Xia Minghan, and there are those who come after us", Fang Zhimin's "The enemy can cut off our heads, but can never shake our faith", all of which are a brilliant portrayal of the Chinese people's noble morality and personality.7.

Diligence and thriftiness

The Chinese people have always been known for their diligence and thriftiness. Thousands of years of labor practices have shaped the Chinese people's culture of diligence and thrift. Thousands of years of labor practice has formed the Chinese people's love of labor, hard-working, honest and diligent excellent quality. In connection with this, the Chinese people have a tradition of thrift. For laborers, "thrift" means cherishing the fruits of one's labor. Confucius said, "It is better to be frugal than extravagant." He made "warmth, goodness, respect, frugality, and generosity" important virtues, and emphasized frugality and abstinence from extravagance. Lao Zi put forward the "three treasures" of life: "One is compassion, two is thrift, and three is not daring to be the first in the world". Mohist advocates "saving", "saving mourning". Zhuge Liang put forward "frugality to cultivate virtue". After the founding of new China, our party has been advocating thrift and frugality, and opposing waste as an important moral principle that must be followed in the construction of socialism.8.

Cleverness and integrity

Cleverness and integrity, meaning high purity, innocence, honesty, thrift, justice, and clear, it is both the requirements of the politicians, but also people in general should be prepared for the moral character. "The incorruptible, clear and not abusive and turbid." To be clean and pure is "incorruptible"; to be able to recognize right and wrong and to take advantage of righteousness is "incorruptible"; to be able to exercise self-restraint without greed is "incorruptible and frugal". The root of "honesty" is to take the right and wrong, to remove the evil mind, and to exercise strict self-restraint. The Legalists regard "propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame" as the "four dimensions of the state". With "integrity", it is possible to be "righteous". The specific manifestations of "righteousness" are "integrity", "justice" and "righteousness". To be "upright" means to follow justice and morality. Integrity is not only the same value orientation of the Chinese nation***, but also a traditional virtue of the Chinese people***.9

. Pragmatism and Generosity

China is a country where agriculture is the main mode of production, and the long-term agricultural production has formed the simple character and pragmatic spirit of the Chinese people. Traditional Chinese virtues honor simplicity and plainness. The Chinese take "truth" as the standard in dealing with people and oppose hypocrisy and falsehood. Lao Zi said, "Believe what you say is beautiful, and believe what you say is beautiful." Confucius believes that "skillful words and colors are rarely benevolent," and requires a gentleman to "be careful with his words but sensitive to his actions" and "be ashamed of his words but not his actions." In the long-term moral practice, the Chinese nation has formed many virtues with the value of "truth" as the norm, such as honesty, truthfulness, truthfulness, truthfulness and truthfulness, and formed the pragmatic spirit of advocating practical work and opposing empty talk. In the treatment of people, the Chinese people have always taken generosity as a virtue, strict self-discipline, leniency, "bow to the thick and thin to blame others"; in human relations, the Chinese people pay attention to the "heart for heart", "heart for heart" and push oneself to others. In human relations, Chinese people are concerned about "comparing heart to heart", "exchanging heart for heart" and "putting oneself in others' shoes", so as to achieve the harmony of human relationships and the realization of personality. In real life, "tolerance", "magnanimity", "loyalty" and other moral evaluations are important reflections of the generosity of the Chinese people.10

. Cultivate oneself and be prudent

Traditional Chinese ethics believe that "to be benevolent is to be oneself", and that as long as one is at peace with oneself and seeks to do one's duty internally, one has accomplished one's morality. Confucius said: "the gentleman seeks to himself, the small man seeks to others", "the body from the thick and thin responsibility for others", "learning is not tired, teaching people tireless", Confucianism is to cultivate themselves, the health of the body as a world, The cultivation of oneself and one's moral character is regarded by Confucianism as fundamental to the realization of one's value in the world. In the history of Chinese morality, a whole set of cultivation methods rich in national characteristics have been formed, such as prudence, introspection, self-litigation, mastering respect, collecting righteousness, and cultivating qi, etc. The most representative of these methods is Zeng Zi's method of cultivation. The most representative one is Zeng Zi's "I have three times a day to save myself." Chinese traditional morality has always had the admonition of "prudence and solitude": "A gentleman should be prudent in what he does not see, and fearful of what he does not hear; he should not see what is hidden, and he should not show what is subtle; therefore, a gentleman should be prudent in what he does". The "gentleman" is required to be disciplined even when he is alone, and to act in strict accordance with moral standards at all times and in all places. The tradition of cultivation has cultivated the consciousness of the Chinese people in practicing morality, and has created many gentlemen with noble moral qualities and firm integrity.

Of course, the traditional Chinese virtues are more than just these ten points, and more can be summarized if they are systematically excavated. I sincerely hope that interested colleagues will add to this, so that more readers can benefit from it.