【 Guangming Forum · Review 】 Seeking Truth from Facts and Integrating Knowledge and Action - An Important Element of Excellent Traditional Chinese Culture ⑧ Question | Culture | Tradition
【 Guangming Forum · Reflections 】
Author: Xia Ying
Among them, the philosophy of seeking truth from facts and integrating knowledge and action vividly embodies the ideological elements of excellent traditional Chinese culture, which is highly consistent with the basic principles of Marxism. Based on contemporary Chinese practice, guided by Marxism, it is an important mission for current theoretical workers to study and interpret the theoretical significance and contemporary value of seeking truth from facts and integrating knowledge and action.
Seeking truth from facts first appeared in the "Biography of Hejian Xianwang" written by Ban Gu, a historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty: "Hejian Xianwang De was established two years before Xiaojing, studied well in ancient times, and sought truth from facts." Tang Dynasty scholar Yan Shigu wrote in his annotation of this passage: "To obtain facts, always seek truth." This means that facts must be used as the basis to obtain correct conclusions. The "seeking truth from facts" here mainly refers to a style of academic research, which is based on empirical evidence and seeks true knowledge. Essentially, it is a textual research proposition, not a philosophical epistemological proposition. The philosophical idea of the unity of knowledge and action was proposed by the Ming Dynasty philosopher Wang Shouren, who emphasized that "knowledge" and "action" are unified and two aspects of the same thing that cannot be separated. "Knowledge is the idea of action, and action is the skill of knowledge; knowledge is the beginning of action, and action is the result of knowledge." "True and practical knowledge is action, and precise observation of action is action." Here, "knowledge" mainly refers to a person's moral consciousness and ideological thoughts, while "action" mainly refers to a person's moral practice and practical actions. The discussion of the unity of knowledge and action mainly focuses on the relationship between moral consciousness and moral practice, as well as the relationship between some thoughts and practical actions. Overall, it belongs to a theory of moral cultivation.
In 1941, Comrade Mao Zedong published "Transforming Our Learning" in response to the needs of revolutionary practice, which borrowed the term "seeking truth from facts" and gave a new interpretation: "'Fact 'refers to all objectively existing things,' yes' refers to the internal connections of objective things, that is, regularity, and 'seeking' refers to our research. 'Seeking truth from facts refers to exploring the internal connections and development regularity of things from actual objects.". Therefore, seeking truth from facts has become an important proposition in Marxist philosophical epistemology.This further enhances the worldview and methodological significance of seeking truth from facts, injecting new contemporary connotations into it.
The relationship between "knowledge" and "action" is also a typical proposition in ancient Chinese philosophy. In 1937, Comrade Mao Zedong, based on the dialectical relationship between knowledge and practice, reformed and developed the ancient Chinese concept of knowledge and action in his book "On Practice", and proposed the dialectical materialist concept of unity of knowledge and action with Chinese characteristics. Practice, cognition, re practice, and re cognition are forms that cycle back and forth to infinity, and the content of each cycle of practice and cognition has relatively advanced to a higher level. This is the entire epistemology of dialectical materialism, which is the unity of knowledge and action of dialectical materialism. This elevates the traditional view of knowledge and action to the height of Marxist philosophical epistemology.
On the other hand, it has creatively transformed and innovatively developed the ancient Chinese concept of knowledge and action, breaking through the constraints of pure moral practice and expanding to all aspects of governance, achieving the dialectical unity of knowledge and action, theory and practice, marking a new height of consciousness in promoting cultural innovation in inheriting excellent traditional Chinese culture.
The people of the CPC have always been the faithful successors and promoters of China's excellent traditional culture, and have always been committed to promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture. "Seeking truth from facts and integrating knowledge and action" is an important component of excellent traditional Chinese culture. Through "two combinations", it has achieved "two transformations" from traditional philosophical propositions to Marxist philosophical propositions, and from theoretical problems to powerful weapons for solving practical problems. It has become an organic component of "creating a new culture that belongs to our era and building modern civilization of the Chinese nation.".
Looking back on the hundred years of struggle, the CPC people just used the key of "seeking truth from facts and combining knowledge with practice" to open up one key point after another in the development of Chinese history, open up new horizons of the sinicization and modernization of Marxism, and change the historical destiny of generations of Chinese people. History has proven and will continue to prove that opening up and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics on the profound foundation of over 5000 years of Chinese civilization, and combining the basic principles of Marxism with China's specific realities and excellent traditional Chinese culture is a necessary path.
