Why should I cram Chinese studies after graduating from high school?

Guoxue refers to the traditional Chinese cultural system with the three schools of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism as its backbone, and literature, art, drama, music, martial arts, dishes, folk customs, weddings and funeral etiquette as its branches. Chinese studies include the Four Books and Five Classics, the Twenty-Four Histories, Tang poetry and Song lyrics, Dream of Red Mansions and the Three Kingdoms, Lao Zhuang and Zhuangzi, countless ancient documents, and of course the spirit that runs through them. Studying Chinese studies means studying the national spirit inherited by the Chinese nation for thousands of years.

"The Great Learning" was originally a chapter in the "Book of Rites". Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi in the Northern Song Dynasty tried their best to respect it. Zhu Xi in the Southern Song Dynasty also wrote the "Great Learning Chapters", which was finally combined with "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "The Analects of Confucius". , "Mencius" are collectively known as the "Four Books". After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, "The Great Learning" became an official school textbook and a required reading for imperial examinations, which had a great impact on ancient education.

The core idea of ??"The Great Learning" is "benevolent government", and around "benevolent government" it expounds the principle of "ruling the country and bringing peace to the world". The opening chapter of "The Great Learning" states, "The way of a great university lies in Ming De, in the new people, and in the pursuit of perfection." The so-called "Ming Ming De" refers to the bright morality that carries forward the inherent talents of people. The so-called "being close to the people" refers to enabling the people to continuously achieve renewal and progress. The so-called "stopping at the highest good" means to achieve the highest good state of Confucian ethics and morality. To achieve this fundamental goal, efforts must be made in eight aspects: investigating things, improving knowledge, sincerity, righteousness, self-cultivation, managing the family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world. That is to say, in "The Great Learning", "In ancient times, if you want to bring enlightenment and virtue to the world, you must first govern your country. If you want to govern your country, you must first regulate your family. If you want to regulate your family, you must first cultivate your body. If you want to cultivate your body, you must first cultivate your body." To rectify one's heart, one must first be sincere in one's intentions. To achieve knowledge, one must first know things well. His country; those who want to govern the country well must first put their own homes in order; those who want to put their families in order must first cultivate themselves; those who want to cultivate themselves must first correct their thoughts...the thoughts are correct. , then self-cultivation is perfected; self-cultivation is perfected, then the family is in order; the family is in order, then the country is stable and prosperous; the country is stable and prosperous, then the world is peaceful. These eight steps are interlocking and progress layer by layer. They cannot be abandoned or surpassed? Self-cultivation is the basis for realizing "ordering the family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world." "Searching for things, seeking knowledge, sincerity, and correcting the mind" are the methods of "cultivation", which embodies the logical sequence between moral cultivation and politics in Confucianism.

"The University" formulates a series of political governance principles centered on "morality" and "righteousness", requiring rulers to set an example, set a moral example, respect the elderly, care for orphans, share the likes and dislikes of the people, like Parents treat their children the same, and at the same time pay attention to material production, exploitation must be limited, and they must not compete with the people for profit, etc.

"The Great Learning" also advocates the principles of family interpersonal relationships such as filial piety, brotherhood (respect for elder brothers), and kindness, in order to achieve the purpose of "keeping the family together." By extension, the principles of filial piety, brotherhood, and kindness are also applicable to coordinating the relationship between monarch and ministers in the country, and the relationship between monarch and ministers and the people, thus integrating the patriarchal governance of the family with the political governance of the country.

This is a creed respected by intellectuals in the Confucian tradition. Based on self-improvement, through managing the family, until the world is peaceful, this has been the highest ideal of countless intellectuals for thousands of years. However, in fact, there are few chances of success and many disappointments, because it is not enough for a society to rely on morality to restrict people's behavior. It also needs the rule of law. Therefore, the idea of ??"if you are poor, you can benefit yourself alone, and if you are prosperous, you can help the world". The life ideals of "rectifying one's mind, cultivating one's character, managing one's family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world" are combined with the positive and optimistic attitude of "if one is poor, one can benefit oneself, and if one is prosperous, one can benefit the world". Their influence has remained unabated for thousands of years. Whether it is "taking care of yourself" when you are "poor" or "helping the world" when you are "advantaged", they are all based on self-cultivation. Although they are a bit intolerant, they still create Chinese intellectuals who have the courage to expose social darkness, cynicism, and contempt. The outstanding qualities of being a powerful person, not collaborating with corruption, being high-spirited, being happy with the poor, sympathizing with the sufferings of the people, and helping the common people. For example, Tao Yuanming "doesn't bend his waist for five measures of rice", Li Bai refuses to bend his waist to serve the powerful, Zhuge Liang is indifferent to his ambition, quiet and far-reaching, and Su Wu sticks to his national integrity. There are also Qu Yuan, Sima Qian, Du Fu, Liu Yuxi, Su Shi, Pu Songling, Cao Xueqin, Lu Xun... Many people with lofty ideals have shown proud integrity and high integrity.

Now, our society uses "morality, intelligence, body, beauty, and labor" to measure a person's code of conduct. Morality is more important than wisdom. It can be seen that this is different from ancient education. The philosophy is the same, requiring us to radiate and shape ourselves from the inside out. This is also self-cultivation, which includes appearance and heart. But today's society is an open society, a diversified society, where ideas from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign, are inclusive, and new concepts emerge in an endless stream. At a time like this, why should we study Chinese studies? Is it necessary? Let’s take a look at some of the current social phenomena: Walking on the street, there are many young men and women wearing strange and alternative fashions. Yes, it is undeniable that everyone has a standard for pursuing their own inner beauty, but some people pursue the so-called "personality" too much and choose to take a different route from others. They seem to have become part of the social crowd. But this part is so incongruous, unbeautiful, and inelegant. Also, in some public places, which are supposed to be orderly places where no noise is allowed, personalized cell phone ringtones ring from time to time, and some people even talk loudly, or even quarrel and curse. But when we see these situations, we should reflect on whether we have become a person with culture but no cultivation, knowledge but no thoughts, personality but no conduct. Therefore, it is imperative to strengthen students' civilized self-cultivation, draw nutrients from classical culture, and carry forward traditional Chinese civilization.

Let’s look back at our inner “cultivation”! It’s exam time, and some students are not busy reviewing, but busy writing notes and copying “key points” on the table; in the examination room , quietly behind the scenes, copying books and passing notes. Many students are very aware that a certain practice is "uncivilized", but they feel it is "nothing" and a trivial matter if they do it. This is because our classmates lack self-awareness in terms of civilized cultivation. It doesn't matter if a classmate doesn't care about the details of life, but if everyone does this, the quality of the entire student body will appear insufficient. When it comes to the purpose of study, many students usually only think of getting into high school, going to college, and having a good job in the future. Such ultimate goals are all trapped in the circle of self-interest. Who do we expect to benefit others, everyone, the motherland, and the people? Woolen cloth? Faced with this fact, how will we feel? Therefore, what our students need most and urgently is to improve our awareness of civilization and establish the goal of benefiting the world.

From August 17 to 31, 2006, the Central Civilization Office and the National Tourism Administration publicly solicited from the public "Exhibitions of Uncivilized Behaviors of Chinese Citizens in Traveling" and "Suggestions on Improving the Civilized Quality of Chinese Citizens in Traveling." The National Tourism Administration announced the results of the collection on the official website on the 22nd. Let’s take a look at that too.

Common uncivilized behaviors of citizens traveling abroad:

1. Throwing garbage and waste everywhere, spitting, blowing noses, chewing gum, not flushing the toilet, and not talking Leaving dirty traces of hygiene; 2. Ignoring the no-smoking signs and smoking whenever you want, polluting public spaces and endangering the health of others; 3. Fighting over crowds when taking public transportation, jumping in queues when shopping or visiting, and waiting in line. Crossing the yellow line; 4. Making loud calls, calling friends, playing guessing games, and making noise in public places such as vehicles, planes, restaurants, hotels, scenic spots, etc.; 5. Playing in churches, temples and other religious places , joking, disrespecting the customs of local residents; 6. Taking off shoes and socks in public, going bare-chested, rolling up trouser legs above the knees, cross-legged, unabashedly picking teeth after a meal, wearing clothes outside the bedroom Pajamas or disheveled clothes are unsightly; 7. Speak obscenely, behave rudely and domineeringly, lose temper when encountering disputes or unsatisfactory things, speak harshly to others, and lack basic social skills; 8. Bargain for prices in shops that do not offer discounts, and force others to do so. Foreigners take photos and group photos; 9. Get involved in pornographic venues and participate in gambling activities; 10. Occupy the consumption area for a long time without consuming, waste more when eating buffets, take away non-gifts when leaving hotels and restaurants, and do not pay tips after enjoying services. Taking advantage of others.

Some people who traveled abroad said that when they were abroad, there were signs in foreign languages ??everywhere, and when they suddenly saw a sign in Chinese, they felt a sense of loss and shame before they had time to show it, because The slogans are "Please don't spit" and "Please flush after defecation"... These bad habits have seriously affected the image of the Chinese people in the world.

Look around us, are there not many such situations? 2008 is coming soon. Is it true that we have worked hard to apply for the Olympic Games just to invite people from all over the world to come and see us? Therefore, it is necessary for us to look back at our classical civilization and review what is the tradition of the Chinese nation, the spirit of the Chinese nation, and the virtues of the Chinese nation.

Civilized self-cultivation cannot be done lightly. It is a gradual process that requires us to persist in strict requirements on ourselves, so as to truly improve our self-cultivation. With the determination to persevere, bad habits will be slowly broken; with the determination to persevere, good living habits can be formed; with good cultivation, it is possible to serve the motherland and the people.

Now we study Chinese studies to clarify our goals, so that we can have a lofty and noble goal, and so that we can hone a firm and strong will. It is what is said in "The Great Learning": "Knowing to stop can lead to concentration, concentration can lead to tranquility, tranquility can lead to tranquility, tranquility can lead to thinking, and worrying can lead to attainment." The meaning of this sentence is that only when the goal is clear can the ambition be firm; the ambition will be firm Only when the mind is calm can the mind be calm and not impetuous; if the mind is not impetuous, the body can be peaceful and life can be at ease; only by being able to be at peace with the situation can you think clearly and do things properly; can think calmly and clearly and do things appropriately, so that you can achieve your goals and get the best results. The state of goodness. Rebuilding civilization should start from now on. Let us focus on self-cultivation from now on and realize the lofty ideals of life: studying things, seeking knowledge, sincerity, righteousness, self-cultivation, managing the family, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world.