With the development of the economy, do we still want traditional morality? How to choose between righteousness and profit

Chinese morality is an important part of traditional Chinese culture, in which many excellent ideas and spirits coalesced in the long course of history, not only in ancient times, once fed countless heroes and heroines and made great contributions to the development of the nation and the country, but also in the present day is still strong vitality, the construction of morality in contemporary China has an important value. First, the excellent tradition of Chinese morality Chinese civilization is known as ceremonial civilization, Chinese morality and Chinese civilization have a long history, which on the one hand creates the rich content of Chinese morality, and on the other hand also inevitably brings the historical complexity of Chinese morality. Undoubtedly, we should admit that Chinese morality, in the process of historical development, is subject to the constraints of feudal autocracy and has many one-sidedness and limitations, such as the theory of "three principles" and "three subordinates", etc. But at the same time, we should be more conscious of the fact that Chinese morality has a long history and civilization has a long history. But at the same time, we should be more soberly aware of the fact that we must not deny or even give up Chinese morality just because it has many one-sidedness and limitations in the process of historical development. This is because, firstly, the renewal and development of any national morality can not cut off the moral history of the nation, and secondly, although Chinese morality has one-sidedness and limitations, but there are more excellent thoughts and spirits that support the righteousness and backbone of the nation. Therefore, the author thinks that if we deny or even give up the Chinese morality, the development of contemporary morality of our nation will inevitably become water without source and wood without foundation. In this sense, putting aside the one-sidedness and limitations of Chinese morality in the process of historical development, it is a very meaningful thing to sort out its excellent tradition. The excellent tradition of Chinese morality is mainly embodied in the following aspects: First, affirming the value of human beings and emphasizing the dignity of personality. Confucius said that the pedestrians of heaven and earth are precious, which means that human life is the most valuable between heaven and earth, and human beings are the most valuable. Mencius further pointed out that because everyone has a conscience, they all have their own intrinsic value. This intrinsic value is not given by others, but is inherent in every human being, and the content of the intrinsic value is the moral consciousness of human beings. It is because people have moral consciousness, people and animals are different, people have a unique intrinsic value, people also have the dignity of being a human being. Mencius has two famous sayings, one is "want more than life" [1] (P475), meaning that I ask for more valuable than life, which is the dignity of the human personality; the second is "more evil than the dead" [1] (P475), meaning that I detest the more than death, which is the loss of character. These two sentences are the very manifestation of affirming human value and focusing on human dignity. The affirmation of human value and the focus on human dignity is an important aspect of the excellent tradition of Chinese morality. It is under the cultivation of this excellent tradition that the unique moral psychological structure and behavioral pattern of the Chinese nation have been formed. This is to emphasize on the one hand, we should regard ourselves as human beings, to learn self-love, self-respect and self-esteem, and to improve our personal moral cultivation, so as to develop the value of human beings and win the dignity of human beings; on the other hand, we should pay attention to others as human beings, and we should care for and understand and respect them, that is, we should respect the dignity of other people's personalities. This is a very important base of our moral tradition of the Chinese nation and a basic feature of Chinese morality. Second, it emphasizes the concept of holism for the sake of the nation and the state. The so-called whole is the nation and the state; the so-called holism emphasizes that the individual must obey and serve the nation and the state. It is precisely because Chinese morality emphasizes the concept of holism that the unique national spirit has been formed, which is based on consideration of the overall situation, dedication, selflessness, and putting the interests of the nation and the state above all else. Throughout the ages, "the state ear forgets the family, public but forgets private" [2] (P4), "the world's worries first, after the world's happiness and joy" [3], "if you want to benefit the country to life and death, not because of the disasters and blessings of avoiding the trend "[4] (P105) and other wise words, is a vivid demonstration of this national spirit. It is in the Chinese moral holism of the excellent tradition of inculcation, the emergence of a batch and batch of consideration of the overall situation, willing to dedication of the people, thus making our nation and the country through countless times of internal and external disasters, but always be able to once and for all to get a new life, to the promising road to prosperity. Thirdly, it emphasizes the importance of righteousness and the correct handling of the relationship between righteousness and profit, i.e., the relationship between material and spiritual life and between private and public interests. Chinese morality has never simply denied people's pursuit of interests, according to the Analects of Confucius - Zilu recorded: "Zi fit Wei, Ran You servant. Zi said: 'Concubine! Ran You said: 'Since it is concupiscent, what is added to it?' He said: 'Rich.'" According to Zhu Xi's explanation, the reason why to "rich", is because "conciliatory and not rich, the people's livelihood is not attempted." [1] (P208-209) Chinese morality on the one hand does not simply deny the pursuit of interests, on the other hand, also feel that, if people's pursuit of interests are not subject to any constraints and guidance, it will inevitably lead to the deterioration of the reality of the relationship of interests. It is against this background that Chinese morality puts forward the important idea of putting righteousness above all else. This idea is fully reflected in a passage from Mencius: "Life is what I desire. Righteousness is also what I desire. The two cannot be reconciled, and the one who sacrifices life for righteousness." [1](P475) The idea of taking righteousness as the top contains the following basic tenets: first, profit must be subject to righteousness. The pursuit of material life is indisputable, but "not righteous and rich and noble, in me as floating clouds" [1] (P138), therefore, must see the benefit of thinking of righteousness, see the righteousness. Secondly, seeking profit should be in line with the norms of righteousness. Why seek profit to comply with the norms of righteousness? This is because the pursuit of material and spiritual fulfillment of life is everyone's desire, desire is not prohibited, but if everyone is to comply with its desire, the reality of the relationship between the interests are bound to deteriorate, so that: "rich and noble, is the desire of the people also. Not with its way to get it, not in the place." [1] (P98) That is, people are required to comply with the norms of righteousness in the process of seeking benefits, so that everyone can get their own benefits. Thirdly, against the pursuit of selfish interests, advocating the desire to seek profit to the height of the people's interests, the country's interests, the world's interests. It is because the Chinese moral emphasis on righteousness, and thus formed the excellent quality of the Chinese people to see the benefits of righteousness, morality in economic life, become a household name, women and children know the basic ethical norms, which strongly promote the ethical economic activities.