The book "University" was written by Zeng Shen, a disciple of Confucius in the Spring and Autumn Period, which profoundly expounded the principles and methods of governing the country by self-cultivation. When a mortal is alive, he must deal with the environment by himself, and in this process, he will either change himself, the environment or both. Self-cultivation is to change yourself, and governing the country is to change the environment. So the book "University" is really a must-read for the world. It is no accident that the ancients listed it as the first of the four books.

"University" put forward "three principles" and "eight goals", emphasizing that self-cultivation is the premise of governing people, and the purpose of self-cultivation is to rule the country and level the world, which shows the consistency between governing the country and level the world and personal moral cultivation. At the beginning of "University", it said: "The way of a university is to show virtue, to be close to the people, and to stop at perfection." This is what later generations call the "three programs" of universities. The so-called "mingde" is the mingde that promotes people's innate endowment. The so-called "being close to the people" means that after developing goodness, you are engaged in governing the people. Governing the people requires loving the people. The so-called "stop at the best" is to achieve the best state of Confucian feudal ethics. "A gentleman stops at benevolence, a minister stops at respect, a son stops at filial piety, a father stops at kindness, and making friends with Chinese people stops at faith." This is the educational planning and training goal put forward by the university.

"University" also said: "The ancient desire is obviously superior to the world, governing the country first. If you want to govern your country, you should unite your family first. If you want to keep your family together, you should trim your body first. If you want to cultivate yourself, you should be upright first. If you want to be right, be sincere first. If you want to be sincere, let him know first. Know in the matter. " The "Eight Progresses", which is called "University" by later generations, is a concrete step to realize the "Three Programmes". The central link of "Bajin" is self-cultivation. "From Tian Zi to Shu Ren, it is based on self-cultivation". With regard to training objectives and methods, universities have repeatedly emphasized personal moral cultivation.

"Wu Ge" and "Zhi Zhi" are the basis of the eight events. Qualified "things" and "knowledge" refer to ethical and moral principles and moral cultivation of self-cultivation and family harmony.

The so-called "sincerity" means don't deceive yourself, be cautious and be independent. This is true when you get along with others, and it should be true when you are alone. This is the case inside, especially outside, that is, the so-called "sincerity is in the middle, shape is outside, and a gentleman is cautious and independent." Cautious independence is a subjective moral cultivation method, which pays attention to the cultivation of moral ideals and motives.

The so-called "right" is to teach people to prevent the deviation of personal feelings and desires. It said: "It is wrong to be angry, to be afraid, to be happy, and to be worried." It is impossible for human beings to avoid anger, fear, happiness, anxiety and other emotions, but we should prevent and overcome inappropriate emotions and desires.

"Self-cultivation" is the basis of "Eight Items", the goal of respecting things, knowing and doing, sincerity and integrity, that is, improving personal cultivation, and also the highest requirement of "university" education. Only in this way can we "rule the country" and "level the world".