summary
Confucius said, "A gentleman is harmonious but not flowing, and he is strong; Neutral and unleaning, strong and correct". The French writer Romain Rolland said, "The abandonment of independent thinking is at the heart of all misfortunes." As two big countries with independent spirits, China and France have burst out with tremendous energy and influenced the direction of the world in every encounter in the long history. Standing at a new historical intersection, let us join hands and start again to promote China-France relations to achieve new and greater achievements for the benefit of the two countries and the world!
——On May 5, General Secretary Xi Jinping published a signed article in the French media entitled "Inheriting the Spirit of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and France and Jointly Promoting World Peace and Development"
"A gentleman is harmonious but not flowing, and he is strong; Neutral but not leaning, strong and correct" is from the tenth chapter of "The Mean": "The gentleman is harmonious but not flowing, and the strong is correct; Neutral and unleaning, strong and correct; The state has a road, it is not congested, and it is strong; The country has no way, it will not change until death, and it will be strong. ”
Confucius statue Image source: Qufu Municipal People's Government website
This is a dialogue between Confucius and Zilu about "strong". Zilu is one of the "Ten Philosophers of Confucius", and the "Historical Records: The Biography of Zhongni's Disciples" describes Zilu as "contemptible, courageous, and straightforward". Once, Zilu asked Confucius for advice on what strength is. In this regard, Zhu Xi said in "Notes on the Collection of Chapters and Sentences of the Mean": "Zilu is brave, so he asks strong." "Zilu is so brave, nature worships the strong, and there will be such a problem. As far as his mind and character are concerned, what he means of strength is more outward, physical.
Confucius knew Zilu very well, so he inspired Zilu in the form of a rhetorical question: "Are you asking about the strength of the south, the strength of the north, or the strength of what you should be?" The so-called strength of the south is to "teach with gentleness, not to repay the way", to educate others with a tolerant and gentle attitude, and not to retaliate against those who are rampant; The so-called strength of the north is "Jin Ge, die without getting tired", with Jia Ge as a lying seat, even if he dies in battle, he will not regret it. And Confucius expected Zilu to be strong, which is "harmony but not flow", "neutrality and not reliance", "the state has the way, but it does not change", and "the country has no way, and it will not change until death".
"Harmony without flow", that is, when getting along with others, we should follow the principle of "harmony", neither antagonizing nor being assimilated by others. First of all, we must maintain independence, have our own judgment standards and codes of conduct for everything, and must not go with the flow or join the stream; At the same time, we should be good at coordinating our own relationships with others, so as to respect each other, value harmony, and seek common ground while reserving differences. The opposite way of life is "harmony but not flow", one is pretentious, maverick, not easy-going, and incompatible with the people around him; The other is unprincipled, blindly conforming to the convergence and flattering the world, Confucius called this kind of person "hometown wish", that "hometown wishes, the thief of virtue is also", Mencius made a specific explanation of this: "There is no action without action, and there is no thorn in the thorn; It is the same as the customs, and it is in line with the dirty world; dwelling as faithfulness, and walking as incorruptible; Everyone is pleased, self-righteous, and can not enter the way of Yao Shun, so it is said that the thief of virtue is also. ”
"Neutral and unbiased" means being able to always be impartial and look at things fairly and objectively. What is "leaning"? Zhu Xi believes: "Whoever is brave or discerning, or lustful and profitable, clinging to one side is leaning on." Standing in the middle, for a long time without impartiality, non-strong cannot. Those who can achieve "neutrality and impartiality" must be strong and healthy people. If you have the way in your heart, you will have determination, and you will be able to think carefully, discernment, and act diligently, so that "the rich and noble cannot be lewd, the poor and the lowly cannot be moved, and the mighty cannot be bent", and in the face of temptation and threats, they will not climb and rely on others, and they will not lose the ability to think independently.
It can be seen that in the hearts of the ancient sages, the real strength is the moral personality of independence, firmness, integrity, and perseverance. This kind of strength is not only a kind of personality cultivation and attitude towards the world, but also the embodiment of the national spirit. "Tianxingjian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement." For thousands of years, the spirit of independence has been deeply integrated into the spiritual blood of the Chinese nation, becoming the soul of the Chinese nation, and providing a strong impetus and tenacity for the continuous development of Chinese civilization for thousands of years. At the same time, Chinese civilization has always advocated harmony and difference, among noble monks, always uphold an open and inclusive mind, confidently and generously carry out exchanges and cultural exchanges with foreign nationalities, and has composed the long song of the vast Silk Road of thousands of miles of camel bells and waves, and has also created the prosperous Tang Dynasty atmosphere of Chang'an.
The Communist Party of China has grown up under the infiltration of China's excellent traditional culture, and its insistence on independence and self-reliance is the great historical experience accumulated by our party over the past 100 years of struggle.
During the period of the new democratic revolution, after the defeat of the Great Revolution, our party relied on its own arduous explorations and embarked on a revolutionary road of "encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing power by armed force." The Zunyi Conference on the way of the Long March began to form the first generation of the party's central leadership collective with Comrade Mao Zedong as the core, and opened a new stage in which the party independently solved the practical problems of the Chinese revolution.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in the face of the economic blockade of Western countries, Comrade Mao Zedong emphasized: "What is the basis for our policy? Placing it on the basis of one's own strength is called self-reliance. "The People's Republic of China adheres to an independent foreign policy of peace, advocates and adheres to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, firmly upholds national independence, sovereignty and dignity, completely puts an end to the humiliating diplomacy of old China, and has won the respect and praise of the international community, especially the vast number of developing countries.
Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11 th CPC Central Committee, the mainland has gone through a magnificent course of reform and opening up, and has made achievements that have attracted worldwide attention. Comrade Deng Xiaoping repeatedly stressed that "China's foreign policy is independent and self-reliant" and that "no foreign country should expect China to be their vassal." Scientifically judging and grasping the historical development trend and the law of development, and correctly handling the relationship between independence and opening up to the outside world, have become valuable experiences in reform and opening up.
In the new era, in the face of the complex and severe international situation and unprecedented external risks and challenges, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has emphasized the need to coordinate the overall domestic and international situations, and adhere to the unity of independence and opening up. On the one hand, based on independence and self-determination, we insist that China's affairs must be mastered by the Chinese people themselves, do not believe in evil, fear ghosts, and fear oppression, and firmly hold the destiny of China's development and progress in their own hands; On the other hand, we should establish a world vision, link China's development with the world's development, integrate the interests of the Chinese people with the common interests of the people of all countries, and persist in seeking development on the path we have chosen, while promoting the common progress and improvement of all countries with our own development. People from more and more countries have seen from China that the world is changing, and win-win cooperation has always been the way forward.
Data map Image source: People's Daily client
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. On May 6, at the closing ceremony of the sixth meeting of the Sino-French Business Council, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Adhering to the spirit of independence, mutual understanding, foresight, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, the two countries have gone through an extraordinary journey together and established a close and lasting comprehensive strategic partnership. ”
The unique history of the development of China-France relations over the past 60 years has proved that the Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation are not the way to get along, and countries with different civilizations, systems and levels of development can cooperate in friendship and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. Standing at a new crossroads in human development and facing the changes in the world in a century, China will always keep the future of mankind and the well-being of the people in mind, unswervingly develop itself and benefit the world with open arms, strive to contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to the cause of peace and development of mankind, advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and inclusive economic globalization, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
(Source: China Discipline Inspection and Supervision Daily, May 10, 2024, 5th edition; Author: Hauss. ）