A gentleman must be cautious when he is alone, that is to say, a noble person must be cautious even when he is alone. It's from The Book of Rites, which is said to have been written by a disciple of Confucius. Prudent independence literally means "prudent independence". Being cautious and independent, as an important part of China's ancient Confucianism, has been mentioned many times in The Doctrine of the Mean and The University.

A gentleman must be cautious and independent, which also comes from the seventh chapter of the Book of Rites University: "The so-called sincere person does not deceive himself. If it stinks, if it's lewd, it's called modesty. Therefore, a gentleman must be cautious and independent. Villains are not good at fooling around and can do anything. When you meet a gentleman, he will be disgusted, cover up his bad and focus on his good. It is no good for a person to see himself if he sees his lungs and liver. It is said that sincerity is in the middle and shape is outside, and a gentleman must be cautious. "

It means ""

"Sincerity is not self-deception. For example, hating ugliness and liking beauty is self-modesty, not self-sincerity. So a gentleman should pay attention to himself. Little people can do anything bad at home. When they see a gentleman, they will hide their bad behavior and pretend to be kind and obedient on the surface. Others look at you as thoroughly as they look at your heart. What's the good of pretending? This is what the heart looks like, and it will be revealed on the outside. Therefore, a virtuous person, even when he is alone, must be cautious.

The Book of Rites University was never published separately before the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu and Li Ao regarded Daxue and the Doctrine of the Mean as equally important classics as Mencius and Yijing. In Song Dynasty, Cheng Er and Zhu Xizu expounded this viewpoint and praised its position in Confucian classics, aiming at promoting Neo-Confucianism.

Zhu called Daxue, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius "Four Books", which were published in the first year of the Southern Song Dynasty (1 190) and engraved into Notes on Four Books. Because The Analects of Confucius recorded Confucius' words and deeds, The University was written by Ceng Zi, The Doctrine of the Mean.

During Yuan You's reign, the four books became the required classics for scholars.

The appearance of similar concepts and precise concepts in ideological and political education is not a long time ago, but ideological and political education is a long-standing topic. With the emergence of class rule, ideological and political education serving the ruling class has also emerged and developed. This kind of educational thought is outstanding in China's ancient thinkers and their classic works. University is a theoretical work of ancient ideological and political education.

This paper briefly summarizes the ideological and political education thought of "University" from its objectives, tasks, specific contents, main measures, main principles and methods.