Understanding the Broad mindedness of the Chinese Nation from the Perspective of "Carrying Things with Virtue" | China | The Chinese Nation

Summary

Entering "A Journey to China's Wisdom", following the ancient Chinese saying, let's embark on a journey of exploring traditional culture and national spirit together.

In his speech, General Secretary Xi Jinping once quoted "the terrain is Kun, and the gentleman carries things with virtue" to express the broad mind of the Chinese nation's "great harmony of the world" and "harmony of all nations. The reason why Chinese civilization has lasted for more than 5000 years lies in its confident and generous adherence to foreign exchanges and the absorption of excellent foreign cultures. To build a modern socialist country with Chinese characteristics, we need not only a positive and enterprising spirit, but also a broad and inclusive mind. We should be moral oriented, promote ourselves and others, respect and learn from the strengths of all different civilizations in the world, and strive for harmonious coexistence and common progress.

Being virtuous and carrying things is a fundamental spiritual character of the Chinese nation for thousands of years, and it is also the inner spiritual pillar that enables Chinese culture to stand tall among the world's nations.

The classic of "carrying things with virtue" is derived from the Book of Changes, Kun Gua, Xiang Zhuan. Its original text is "The terrain is Kun, and a gentleman carries things with virtue".

"De" includes characters such as "Qi", "Mu", and "Xin", which refer to a person's need for eye alignment, action alignment, and heart alignment. Later, it was extended to mean character.

There are two interpretations of "virtue". When "hou" is used as an adjective, it is explained in "Shuowen Jiezi" as the thickness of mountains and tombs. Therefore, the first interpretation of "hou de" is that virtue is as heavy as mountains and tombs. If "thick" is regarded as a verb, "thick virtue" refers to continuously increasing virtue.

"Zai" means "transportation", and its extended meaning is to accommodate and carry. "Things" refer to all things, both natural objects and social existence.

"Carrying things with virtue" refers to the rational treatment of people and things in the objective environment with magnanimous conduct, which demonstrates a generous mind and sense of responsibility with a highly altruistic spirit.

In ancient China, there were many stories about "carrying things with virtue".

During the Warring States period, during the war between the State of Zhao and the State of Qin, Lin Xiangru of the State of Zhao made multiple contributions and was appointed as the Minister. The old general Lian Po was not convinced and threatened to publicly humiliate him. After learning about it, Lin Xiangru tried to avoid and tolerate Lian Po as much as possible for the sake of the country, and did not conflict with him. He said, "Other countries dare not invade our state of Zhao because of me and General Lian. I tolerate and compromise with General Lian, putting the country's crisis first and personal hatred behind!" Lian Po felt ashamed after learning of his good intentions, so he carried Jingtiao and apologized to Lin Xiangru, leaving behind a beautiful talk of "peace between generals and officials.".

There are still many people like Lin Xiangru in Chinese history. From ancient times to the present, China has been a country that upholds and abides by morality. In the historical process of the Chinese nation's reverence for virtue, goodness, and practice of clear virtue, it has always been based on the unwavering pursuit of "virtue", and gradually formed the great virtues of tolerance, openness, forgiveness, introspection, flexibility, and humility. Such ideological concepts also affect our attitude towards foreign cultures and civilizations.

The inclusivity and openness of the Tang Dynasty have written a brilliant chapter in Chinese history. The opening up of the Tang Dynasty was not only the opening up of simple lifestyle habits, but also the opening up from economy to culture and then to politics. During this period, the Tang Dynasty carried out a large number of cultural exchange activities with foreign countries, and its broad mindedness and magnanimity towards foreign cultures were important reasons for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty.

Looking back at history, one important reason why Chinese civilization has been able to endure more than 5000 years of continuous renewal is its extraordinary magnanimity of embracing all rivers and the concept of seeking common ground while reserving differences in communication.

In modern times, this spirit of "carrying wealth with virtue" is still deeply nourishing the Chinese people. In the process of overthrowing the old world and establishing a new world, Marx and Engels have always upheld a fundamental principle, which is to unite all forces that can be united with an open and inclusive attitude, absorb and draw on all achievements of civilization in human history. Early Chinese Marxists carried forward the tradition of openness, inclusiveness, and inclusiveness of Chinese civilization, which ultimately expanded the broad path of sinicization of Marxism.

After the founding of New China, in the face of the contradiction between the domestic backward social productivity and the growing demand of the people for material culture, the CPC led the people to determine the system of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, which united all forces that can be united to the greatest extent; We adhere to ethnic equality and implement a system of regional ethnic autonomy; In terms of diplomacy, the CPC has always adhered to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence by developing its own country to better benefit the world. In this historical period, the CPC led the people to complete the socialist revolution, and achieved a great leap forward in the socialist society for the great oriental country with a large population and a poor population.

After the reform and opening up, the wave of ideological liberation swept away rigid and backward concepts, unleashing the enormous vitality hidden in billions of people and activating the most active factor in productive forces. As a result, China galloped forward and flourished. The achievements made by the CPC in leading the people in reform and opening up fully demonstrate the Chinese people's pioneering and innovative spirit, courage to take on responsibilities, openness, inclusiveness and inclusiveness, as well as the spirit of "virtue and material integrity" in the traditional culture of the Chinese nation.

In today's world that is more open and diverse, on the one hand, we are paying more attention to our own moral construction, and on the other hand, we are approaching the center of the world stage with a more open and inclusive attitude.

From proposing the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to adhering to an independent and peaceful foreign policy; From proposing to build a community with a shared future for mankind to promoting high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road"; China has always been a builder of world peace, a contributor to global development, and a maintainer of the international order, from proposing global development and security initiatives to proposing global civilization initiatives, especially advocating the common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, and freedom for all mankind.

In the new journey, as a new form of human civilization, Chinese path to modernization has greatly enriched the garden of flowers of world civilization by learning from other civilizations around the world; In the new era, China and the world will join hands on the path of modernization, and will make new and greater contributions to promoting human peace and development, and building a community with a shared future for mankind!