Patriotic sentiment inspires centripetal force and cohesion. China | Chinese nation | sentiment

This is an important conclusion drawn from a thorough examination of the development process of Chinese history. Since the emergence of the concept of great unity during the Spring and Autumn period, although the situation of unity and division has intertwined in over 2000 years of historical evolution, the formation and development of a unified multi-ethnic country has always been a major trend in history. Especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the situation of national unity was not only a political necessity, but also an inevitable result of economic and cultural development. To deeply grasp the prominent unity of Chinese civilization, it is necessary to fully understand the role of excellent traditional Chinese culture in it, and fully understand the centripetal force and cohesion inspired by the patriotic sentiment of maintaining harmony, governing peace, and taking responsibility for the rise and fall.

The patriotism is an important part of China's excellent traditional culture, and its value foundation is the unity and isomorphism of family and country. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the combination of clan power and political power enabled families and states to have the same internal cultural mechanisms and social functions, forming a political ethics of integrating family and state. After the Western Zhou Dynasty, this political ethics was mainly advocated by Confucianism and further systematized and theorized. As the Analects of Confucius said, "Those who have a state-owned family should not suffer from poverty and inequality, nor from poverty and instability." Mencius said, "The foundation of the world lies in the country, the foundation of the country lies in the family, and the foundation of the family lies in the body." The Great Learning further extends the saying of "cultivating harmony and governing peace": "In ancient times, those who wanted to have clear virtues in the world should first govern their country; those who wanted to govern their country should first govern their family; those who wanted to govern their family should first cultivate their body.". After the Han Dynasty, the family state isomorphic order formed based on these important ideas became the consistent governance model pursued by successive dynasties.

More importantly, this concept of unity and isomorphism between family and country has been inherited and promoted by the literati class, forming a sense of patriotism. This patriotism is a strong expression of recognizing and maintaining Chinese civilization. During the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu said, "The officials were loyal and filial in both literature and martial arts, seeking the help of scholars for the country, and not being private to their families."; Before his death in the Song Dynasty, Lu You wrote a poem: "Wang Shi set the sun in the Central Plains to the north, and the family sacrifice never forgets to inform Nai Weng."; As Wang Yangming of the Ming Dynasty said, "Adults, who consider all things in heaven and earth as one, regard the world as one family, and China as one person."; After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Gu Yanwu declared, "Those who protect the world are not worthy of the lowliness and responsibility of a single person.". It can be said that this patriotism is the ideological foundation of the patriotic spirit in traditional Chinese society.

In modern China, which was filled with internal and external troubles, it was the patriotic spirit based on patriotism that transformed into an important spiritual weapon for the Chinese nation to resist the aggression of Western powers, and became a powerful spiritual driving force for the Chinese people to maintain national unity and the unity of Chinese civilization. Especially during the most dangerous times for the Chinese nation, patriotism played an important role in the rise of the concept of the Chinese family and the promotion of patriotism. Since the beginning of the 20th century, in order to cooperate with the aggressive intentions of Japanese militarist forces towards China, some Japanese people have continuously created various arguments that divide China and deny that the Chinese nation is a unified entity. In order to counter cultural invasion, Chinese intellectuals strongly refute various fallacies with a strong sense of patriotism. For example, vigorously promoting the "descendants of the Yellow Emperor" and "descendants of Yan and Huang", continuously strengthening the recognition of the common ancestor of the Chinese nation, so that this cultural symbol with a nationwide or symbolic blood relationship was widely spread in China during the period of the Comprehensive Anti Japanese War and highly recognized by multiple ethnic groups and political factions. Some scholars have proposed the idea that many ethnic groups within China belong to the same family. For example, Xiong Shili believes that the Chinese nation is "like a Kunji family, in other words, there is Bozhong; collectively, it is a family of bones and flesh.". In addition, intellectuals such as Gu Jiegang and Fu Sinian initiated a grand discussion on "the Chinese nation is one", effectively highlighting the overall characteristics of the Chinese nation. The cohesion and widespread dissemination of the consciousness of the Chinese nation's big family have stimulated the strong spiritual drive of the entire nation in the resistance war, played an important role in saving the country from crisis, and also made important contributions to maintaining the unity of Chinese civilization.

Over the past 100 years since the founding of the CPC, it has always attached great importance to the important role of family and country feelings in building the sense of community of the Chinese nation, and promoted family and country feelings to be deeply integrated into the blood of the Chinese nation. Under the leadership of the CPC, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation ushered in an unprecedented bright prospect. "56 ethnic brothers and sisters are a family, 56 languages come together into one sentence, love China", singing the aspirations of all ethnic groups, becoming the strong voice of the times.

People's Daily