China News Agency, Beijing, February 14th, title: How can "good morality carry things" make new contributions to the process of "civilization integration"?
——Interview with Gao Hongcun, Professor of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National School of Administration)
Author Wang Suning
"Practice morality" is one of the essences of Chinese excellent traditional culture, and it is an important embodiment of the world outlook, world outlook, social outlook, and moral outlook accumulated by the Chinese people in their long-term production and life.
What is the profound value meaning of "good morality and carrying things", and what kind of nourishment does it provide for the development of contemporary China and human civilization?
Gao Hongcun, a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National School of Administration), doctoral supervisor, and chief expert of innovation engineering, said in an exclusive interview with China News Agency "Dongxiwen" recently that "good morality" is an important value for Chinese society to complete the modern transformation The source is also the cultural power to learn and absorb foreign civilizations and create new forms of human civilization.
The interview transcript is summarized as follows:
China News Agency reporter: "Zhouyi·Kun Gua·Xiang Zhuan" says, "The terrain is Kun, and a gentleman carries things with virtue." Is the ancient Chinese's understanding of "morality" consistent with that of the West? How to grasp its meaning of the times?
Gao Hongcun:
"Book of Changes", as a cultural canon of ancient China, embodies the thoughts of the formation period of Chinese civilization and the "breakthrough period" of philosophy, and contains the thinking mode and "psychological schema" of the Chinese people.
The primary value of "good morality and carrying things" is to reflect the uniqueness of Chinese civilization from the level of thinking mode.
Chinese civilization takes "the unity of man and nature" as the starting point of thought and the beginning of civilization, and emphasizes the internal connection and unity between man and the universe with the value choice of respecting the law and nature.
"Good morality carries things" embodies the core spiritual value of Chinese civilization, and expresses the endless value ideals and cultural beliefs of the Chinese nation.
The rare ancient book "Zhouyi Zhengyi".
Photo by Li Nanxuan
Secondly, unlike Western societies who generally understand "morality" from a purely ethical perspective, ancient Chinese people's understanding of "morality" contains unique Chinese values and methods of understanding the world.
From the perspective of "virtue", Chinese people believe that "virtue" is a universal existence. In "Book of Changes", the hexagram Kun symbolizes the earth, which gives birth to, accommodates and carries all things, so that all things can live in their own way.
"Shuo Gua" says: "Kun, Shun Ye." It is extended to embrace all things with the virtue of generosity, and "good virtue carries things" is the virtue of the earth.
"Human law and earth" means learning to imitate the virtues of the earth that bears all things, comprehend the principles of being a person and doing things, and shape the gentle and inclusive virtue of a gentleman. This contains the Chinese people's description and expectation of the ideal ancient sages and virtuous virtues.
In traditional society, "virtuous carrying things" is enshrined as the principles and beliefs of self-cultivation, family harmony, state governance, and peace of the world, and it is the moral ideal of sages and great virtues.
In today's society, with the gradual deepening of Chinese-style modernization, China is moving from cultural self-confidence to civilized self-consciousness. The value contained in "good morality" is highly consistent with the proposition of scientific socialism, and it is an important source of value for Chinese society to complete the modern transformation. It is the traditional basis for the reconstruction of the spiritual value of the Chinese nation, and it is also the cultural power to learn and absorb foreign civilizations and create new forms of human civilization in the historical process of world civilization integration.
Wuhan, Hubei, sculpture of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.
Photo by Sun Xinming
Reporter from China News Agency: How does the accumulation of civilization such as "good morality carry things" benefit the current national character and nourish the real development?
Gao Hongcun:
Under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, Chinese society is creating a new leap for socialism with Chinese characteristics with unprecedented historical initiative and historical confidence, and Chinese society is embarking on the process of national rejuvenation.
In this process, the accumulation of five thousand years of civilization has become the spiritual support and source of power for today's development.
People need to be independent and self-reliant more than ever before, temper their national character with a spirit of vigor, self-reliance, self-improvement, and self-improvement, and strive for a new journey for the "Chinese Dream" of national rejuvenation.
At the same time, in the face of the Chinese-style modernization road and historical practice, it is even more necessary for people to adhere to the mind of "the world in mind", learn from the achievements of Western modernization in the past 400 years, and respond to the "road of self-improvement" of the Chinese nation in the past 200 years. The practice and problems of modernization exploration, absorb and accept all outstanding achievements of civilization with the open and inclusive spirit of Chinese civilization, solve the inner myths and contradictions of modern civilization for a century, and contribute Chinese solutions and Chinese strength to human beings to solve development problems in the 21st century, Keep moving towards the goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
On October 12, 2022, Liu Yang, an astronaut of the Shenzhou 14 flight crew, showed space rice seeds in the third lesson of the "Tiangong Classroom" held on the China Space Station.
Photo by Qu Honglun
China News Service reporter: The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasizes, "Insist on exchanges and mutual learning, and promote the construction of an open and inclusive world." How does the spirit of inclusiveness and openness contained in "good morality carry all things" contribute to the building of a new type of international relations?
Gao Hongcun:
The characteristics of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics determine that when China handles inter-state relations, it must be different from certain capital-centered civilizations that obey the law of the jungle, bully the weak, and insist on zero-sum games.
The nature of socialism determines that China adheres to the principle of "seeking common ground while reserving differences, and seeking harmony without differences" in the international political field. All countries, regardless of size, are equal. and historical mission, strive to promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, and continuously expand the common divisor of peaceful cooperation.
The Chinese nation has always been a peaceful nation and has never sought hegemony; under the perspective of "the unity of man and nature", Chinese culture has formed a spiritual character of tolerance, generosity, and peace, and has continuously Create new brilliance.
Facing the new challenges of globalization, the global crisis of ecological imbalance, and the changing times of the world's political structure, the revival of a civilized country will surely contribute new crystallization of wisdom under the blessing of the Chinese nation's 5,000-year civilization, and promote international governance. Democracy is the only way to move towards a common ideal society for mankind.
In December 2022, the second phase of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15), with China as the presidency, will be held in Montreal, Canada.
The picture shows representatives from all parties participating in the exchange before the meeting.
Photo by Yu Ruidong
China News Service reporter: In the process of the development of human society, various civilizations are not iterative competitions. What kind of nourishment does the inclusive spirit of "good morality and carrying things" provide for the new form of human civilization?
Gao Hongcun:
Human civilization originally existed in the form of "diversification". The "superiority theory" and "European cultural center theory" of Western civilization are just waves in the river of human civilization. The "clash of civilizations" theory advocated by some scholars The "end of history conclusion" has also been self-defeating.
Compared with the long history of human civilization development, European capitalist civilization is a historical narrative of nearly two hundred years after the Industrial Revolution, while Chinese civilization has developed and survived for five thousand years. Although the development has twists and turns, it is more brilliant. This is the contribution of the Chinese nation The world, the cultural confidence and value support standing in the forest of the nation.
Different civilizations co-exist and develop, and there is no distinction between superiority and inferiority.
"Mutual learning among civilizations" should replace "clash of civilizations", and "equality of civilizations" should replace "superiority of civilizations". Different civilizations, countries, and nations should all regard building a community with a shared future for mankind as the vision for the development of human civilization.
In October 2022, the "China Guizhou Dyeing and Weaving Art" exhibition will be held at William Paterson University in New Jersey, USA.
Photo by Liao Pan
As the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China reiterated: "China has always adhered to the foreign policy purpose of maintaining world peace and promoting common development, and is committed to promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind." The practice of reform will inevitably create new brilliance of the national system and civilization, and the perfect system, rules, ideology and value system will surely become a new contribution to Chinese civilization under the trend of "civilization integration" in the world.
(over)
Respondent profile:
Gao Hongcun, Chief Expert, Professor, Doctoral Supervisor, and Director of the Cultural Communication Teaching and Research Section of the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National School of Administration) Innovation Project.
He has long been engaged in research on cultural policy, creative industries, and new media public opinion management.
He has published more than 100 papers in well-known domestic newspapers and periodicals, and published and edited more than 70 cultural works.
Participated in related topics related to the documents of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, research on cultural management reform topics of the Central Deepening Reform Group, and major projects of the National Social Science Fund; participated in many national cultural legislation work or presided over the "Building Modern Public Guiding Opinions on Cultural Service System", "National '12th Five-Year' Cultural Industry Doubling Plan", "13th Five-Year" and "14th Five-Year" Cultural Industry Planning and other large-scale document formulation and drafting work.