1924, Mr. Chang Zhizhen, then president, put forward the school motto of "self-improvement and practicality", which evolved into "Mingde self-improvement and practicality" after continuous enrichment and improvement. The word "Mingde" comes from "University": "The way of a university is to be moral and close to the people, and stop at the best." Since the beginning of school, agricultural university people have been working hard in Woye, Central Plains, being closest to the earth and gestating the noble virtues like the earth. This "showing virtue" includes being strict with self-discipline and being lenient with others; Keep promise and be down-to-earth; Patriotism, hard work and other rich connotations are the most distinctive features of Henan Agricultural University and its people. "Self-improvement" comes from the Book of Changes: "A gentleman is self-improvement." In the past hundred years, the growth of agricultural universities has been tortuous and arduous. Only the spirit of self-improvement, which is determined to strengthen the country, serve agriculture, countryside and farmers and serve the country, inspires the agricultural university students to persevere and persevere. The meaning of "Mingde self-improvement" is to advocate the cultivation of self-cultivation by virtue of agricultural university students, cultivate a clear mind of the world's mighty spirit, carry forward the magnificent righteousness of striving for strength, persevere, bravely shoulder heavy burdens, and enrich the people and strengthen the country. "Seeking truth from facts" comes from Hanshu Hejian Wang Xian Liu Dechuan: "Learning from the past, seeking truth from facts." "Seeking" is the expression of people's conscious initiative, the active pursuit and exploration of values, ideals or laws, and "being" is the essence, origin and proper operation law of things. "Seeking truth" is a scientific world outlook and methodology to explore the laws of things, grasp the essence of things and discover the truth, and it is the attitude of agricultural university students to learn and do things. "Doing" is the Analects of Confucius: "Learning is close to knowledge, doing is close to benevolence, and knowing shame is close to courage." "Strength" refers to hard work, and "action" refers to action, practice and personal experience. Agricultural education requires high practice and practical ability. "Doing" is what Mr. Tao Xingzhi called "the unity of knowing and doing". Therefore, "seeking truth from facts" contains the academic spirit of agricultural college students to follow the law and seek true knowledge, the educational concept of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude and setting an example is more important than words and deeds, the principle of being conscientious and seeking truth from facts, and the pragmatic style of not paying attention to empty talk and hard work. The spirit of Agricultural University promotes patriotism, simplicity, realism, innovation, tolerance and forge ahead.
"Promoting agriculture and patriotism" is the inherent essence of the spirit of Henan Agricultural University. "Promoting agriculture" is the unswerving responsibility and sacred historical mission of Henan Agricultural University in the course of a hundred years of wind and rain. It is to vigorously develop agriculture, revitalize agriculture and explore the road of agricultural modernization with the firm determination and will of HTC. "Every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world." "Patriotism" is the natural emotion and broad-minded feeling of Henan Agricultural University. Both anti-American solidarity with Beijing and Professor Ba's patriotic action in support of the student movement are touching patriotic and democratic songs written by Henan Agricultural University.
"Simplicity" is the unique personality charm and moral quality of Henan Agricultural University. "Lofty virtue" is a simple and honest way to describe human virtue through the unparalleled depth of the earth. In fact, it is virtue, deep kindness, and broad mind that does not care about personal gains and losses. "Simplicity" is a very natural state, which is used to describe people who are naive and natural, not artificial, like the benevolent Leshan, the good enjoy water, and let life flow freely.
Being realistic and innovative is the essence of the academic spirit of Henan Agricultural University. Seeking truth is not only a scientific world outlook and methodology to explore the laws of things, grasp the essence of things and discover the truth, but also a correct attitude of scholars. "Seeking truth" lies not only in exploring truth and seeking truth from facts, but also in observing heaven, understanding and following the laws of nature. Agricultural university people are based on agriculture, their temperament is closest to nature, they are modest and honest as teachers, pragmatic and realistic for learning, and they are real people and a true portrayal of agricultural university people.
"Innovation" is a word to describe the emergence and education of new things, that is, to make and create things that have never appeared in history. "Seeking truth" is the foundation and premise of innovation, and "innovation" is the goal and destination of seeking truth. Being realistic and innovative is the soul of national progress and the source of university vitality, which embodies the enterprising spirit of Henan Agricultural University. Since the beginning of the new century, the great-leap-forward development of Henan Agricultural University, which is mainly driven by the construction of new campus, and the achievements of achieving a record high in Henan's total grain output for eleven consecutive years and winning the National Science and Technology Award for six times are all proofs of the school's spirit of seeking truth and innovation.
"Tolerance and forge ahead" is the state and style of the spirit of Henan Agricultural University. "Tolerance" contains a broad mind and boldness of vision, which literally means tolerance and forbearance, and its essence is "benevolence", which means loving everyone with your heart. Tolerance is the premise of harmony, the source of great love and the endogenous motivation of a good environmental atmosphere. "Endeavour", originally meant to forge ahead, is now extended to cheer up, forge ahead and make progress, which shows the positive mental state of Henan Agricultural University. The school spirit is unity, diligence, preciseness and truth-seeking.
The core of the word "unity" is tolerance, friendship, dedication and collective spirit. Advocate a hundred schools of thought, let a hundred flowers blossom, don't do to others what you don't want, be selfless, and work together with Qi Xin. The core of the word "diligence" is fighting, tenacity and firmness. From the beginning, "fighting" means being brave and doing your best, "tenacity" means perseverance, and "firmness" means that the target has perseverance. Learning from the ocean and developing agriculture through science and technology can only be characterized by "unity and diligence" and achieve great things.
The two words "rigorous" and "realistic" actually have the same meaning, that is, to explore scientific truth, do research and teach with a serious and cautious attitude. There should be no falsehood in scientific questions, no deviation in teaching and educating people, and no extravagance in learning and seeking knowledge. Mr. Wu Shaokui, one of the founders of maize breeding in China, an educator, a social activist and an old professor at Henan Agricultural University, has always respected the rigorous and realistic spirit of scholarship, and his fruitful achievements in proving the "heterosis" of crop breeding in the world and creating the precedent of "breeding in the south and breeding in the north" in China also originated from this.