How many words is the motto of Tsinghua University?

The motto of Tsinghua University is eight words.

The school motto of Tsinghua University is to strive for self-improvement and to be virtuous. The motto of Tsinghua University is “to strive for self-improvement and to be virtuous.” The school motto of Tsinghua University is “Continuous self-improvement and virtuous conduct.” It comes from a speech titled “A Gentleman” delivered by Liang Qichao at the Tongfang Department of Tsinghua University in the winter of 1914. Come.

In November 1914, Liang Qichao gave a speech at Tsinghua University and inspired students with two metaphors from the Book of Changes: "Heaven moves vigorously, and a gentleman strives for self-improvement" and "The terrain is prosperous, and a gentleman carries great virtues."

It is pointed out that a gentleman’s self-motivation is like the movement of the heavenly bodies, which is vigorous and unstoppable. He should not be exposed to the cold. He should not advance when he sees benefits and retreat when he sees difficulties. Instead, he should focus on self-victory, put aside selfish desires, and be resolute and unyielding. Act bravely when seeing justice, do not avoid hardships and dangers, and strive for self-improvement.

At the same time, a gentleman should be as thick and gentle as the momentum of the earth, able to accommodate all things, be strict with oneself and light with others. With a broad mind, he should absorb new civilizations, improve our society, promote our politics, and use a generous mind to Morality takes on the heavy responsibility of history. Later, "continuous self-improvement and moral integrity" was summarized as the school motto of Tsinghua University.

Extended information:

When Tsinghua University was founded, a foreign teacher composed a school song with English lyrics, but neither the lyrics nor the music were satisfactory. Mr. He Lin wrote an article in "Tsinghua Weekly" in 1925: "I simply think that Tsinghua's English school song cannot represent the spirit of Tsinghua, let alone the spirit of Chinese culture.

When I think about it carefully, it turns out that this The song was composed by an American woman, and it suddenly dawned on me that this song actually represents very naive Americanization, and this kind of Americanization is not what we need."

It is in this context. Below, around 1923, the school publicly solicited the school song. Mr. Wang Luanxiang’s lyrics were selected after being reviewed by celebrities inside and outside the school. Mr. Wang was a teacher of Chinese literature and philosophy at Tsinghua University at the time. In order to make the school lyrics meaningful, he wrote them in classical Chinese.

Three paragraphs of lyrics are magnificent and profound in meaning. Mr. He Lin believes that this school song is the crystallization of China’s excellent traditional culture and “can express the spirit of Chinese culture.

At the same time, it is in line with the school motto and achieves the purpose of Tsinghua education. The words of the school song are also It's quite appropriate and everyone appreciates this song." He formally proposed to cancel the English school song at that time and replace it with Mr. Wang's Chinese school song.

Baidu Encyclopedia—Tsinghua University