Philosophers believe that the essence of the unity of man and nature is "respecting virtue", as the saying goes, "God has no relatives, and virtue is complementary." (Biography of Shangshu Cai Zhongzhi). The son of heaven is predestined, but only the sage can accept this fate. At the same time, according to their understanding of human status and nature, the sages thought that the management of human beings should be based on "benevolence and love" and "moral virtue". Thinkers pay more attention to ethical and political issues, and form an ethical and political culture of seeking goodness and governance.
There is a cloud in the Book of Changes: "Heaven is healthy, and gentlemen are constantly striving for self-improvement; The terrain is Kun, and the gentleman carries things with morality. " Confucianism put forward "three cardinal guides" and "eight aims". The three cardinal guides are "to be virtuous, to be close to the people, and to stop at the best", and the eight aims are "to respect things, know knowledge, be honest, be upright, cultivate one's morality, keep the family in order, run the country and level the world". The five permanent ethics advocated by Confucianism have become the core values of Chinese traditional virtues, which together with loyalty, filial piety, shame and courage constitute the Chinese traditional virtue system.
The purpose of Confucius education is to cultivate "scholars", and the standard of "scholars" is "gentleman" or "gentleman Confucianism". Confucius' requirements for "gentlemen" are: "cultivate one's morality for harmony"; A gentleman should have the cultivation of "wisdom, benevolence and courage": "The benevolent is not worried, the wise is not confused, and the brave is not afraid." ; The pursuit of "perfection" and "gentleness" morality is the inward pursuit through "heart" and the enrichment and perfection of people through internal strength. Confucius said: "See the sage Si Qi Yan, see the sage and introspect." Introspection is the process of examining one's words and deeds through self-awareness.
Mencius asked the educated to expand their innate "conscience" and "goodness" and develop into inner morality such as benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. Neo-Confucianism holds that "learning to be excellent is an official", "learning to be excellent is an official" and "learning to be excellent is an official". Zhang Zai's idea of "building a heart for heaven and earth, making a life for the people, remembering the past, being a teacher for the future, and being safe for generations to come" has become the goal of many intellectuals. Lin Zexu has ten maxims: "Bad intentions, feng shui is useless; : Parents are unfilial and it is useless to serve God; It's no use making friends if brothers are not in harmony; It is useless to study badly; It is useless to be fooled by cleverness; It is useless to be arrogant and knowledgeable; If you are unlucky, you will be bored; It's no use taking other people's money for nothing; Medicine is useless at the expense of vitality; It's no use being an official unless it's for the people. "Tao Xingzhi believes that" teaching thousands of religions, teaching people to seek truth, learning thousands of religions and learning to be a man "advocates that education is the pursuit of truth and educating students to learn to be a man.
Many proverbs, sayings and fluency also contain the philosophy of spiritual cultivation, such as "a impetuous person can accomplish nothing;" If you are peaceful, you will be blessed. " "Looking at the sea and listening to the waves, Xun Mei appreciates the spirit of bamboo." "For the officials to be honest and diligent, be gentle and diligent to make the world." "Three practices in life: seeing through and thinking, picking up and putting down, and standing up straight. "..." Respecting teachers and attaching importance to morality ","having both ability and political integrity "and" having both ability and political integrity "have always been respected and practiced by people.
Family education in China has been the main position of ancient education in China for thousands of years. Moral education is the core, and this kind of education is lifelong. Children should learn to be human, young and middle-aged people should learn to be human, and when they are old, they should educate their future generations, especially by setting an example. For a long time, family moral education has formed a huge system, from ideology to behavior norms, from children to the elderly, all-encompassing, everywhere and all the time.
In today's society, moral decline is an indisputable fact, and its reasons can be found from individuals, families, schools, society and so on. The lack of self-cultivation is not only the lack of traditional culture, but also the impact of western culture and the influence of current bad social atmosphere. Many people are self-centered and self-righteous, and don't want to strengthen their self-cultivation at all. Family education lacks maneuverability, some like being an only child too much, some are too busy to make a living, and some cannot do their duty because they don't understand education; School education lacks effectiveness, teaching materials lack interest, readability and pertinence, some ideological and political teachers are too literal and empty to preach, coupled with exam-oriented education and contrast with the outside world, which greatly reduces school moral education; Social education lacks objectivity, and it is difficult to achieve the effect of being accustomed to false, big and empty social publicity and education.