Integrity Digest
"My Day Three Provinces and My Body" is from the Analects of · Learning: "Zeng Ziyi: 'My Day Three Provinces and My Body: Seeking for Others and Not Being Loyal?' Making friends and not believing them? Are you used to it? Many times a day, Zeng Zi reflects on himself whether he is doing his best for others, whether he is honest and trustworthy in his dealings with friends, and whether he has reviewed the studies taught by his teachers. Zeng Zi wrote a lot in his life, and the concept of introspection and prudence advocated by him had a profound impact on later generations.
The starting point of moral cultivation is to face oneself and constantly cultivate one's own virtue. This requires us to maintain an introspective attitude at all times, to achieve "three times a day, three times a day, and to self-examine", to find deficiencies and correct them in time. "Shangshu · Yixun" recorded Yi Yin's earnest admonition: "If you don't ask for preparation with others, you will not be able to check your body." Confucius repeatedly said, "If you have passed, don't be afraid to change", thinking that "introspection is not guilty, and the husband is not worried". Xunzi combines self-examination and learning, believing that "a gentleman who is erudite and self-conscious is aware of what he does is not wrong." Zhu Xi believes that self-examination is a kind of "work", and it is a kind of "daily work", and it is necessary to "check by yourself" from time to time. Historically, when it comes to self-examination, although the sages used many different words such as introspection, self-examination, self-prosecution, self-reflection, self-blame, and self-examination, their basic meanings are the same, and they are all spurring people to face up to themselves, and finally achieve self-improvement through long-term self-reflection, self-criticism, and self-improvement.
Introspection is a kind of consciousness and a practice, and there are many specific ways to practice it. Confucius said, "See the virtuous and think together, see the unvirtuous and introspect introspectively", Xunzi said, "When you see goodness, you must cultivate yourself with self-existence; If you don't see it well, you will be stunned and introspect", which is to take people as a mirror. Mencius took the ancient archery as a metaphor, "the one who does not win, does not complain about the one who wins himself, but seeks for himself".
The sages paid great attention to the practice of self-reflection in their daily lives. Some people regard self-examination as a lesson, and they should meditate and think about it every day before going to bed, and correct their mistakes. Some people have formulated "provincial records" and "merits and demerits" to check themselves against each other, so as to count merits and demerits, save good and eliminate evil. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Wu Youbi's "Diary", Sun Qifeng's "Diary", and Zeng Guofan's "Diary" all took self-examination as an important purpose and had a great influence on later generations. There are also people who use proverbs to introspect, that is, to write proverbs and aphorisms into couplets, plaques, and mottos, which can be used to warn and introspect themselves as far as the eye can see. Han Yu once made the "Five Proverbs" self-defense and self-discipline: self-warning with Youzhen not to "be full and playful", to warn with words and proverbs not to "harm his life", to act to warn himself not to "act and be righteous, and to violate the law and words", to warn himself with likes and dislikes not to "be ominous in the body and unrighteous in morality", and to warn himself with well-known proverbs not to "be inadequate, eager to be known". People also take the theme of self-reflection into poems and paintings, and in the singing and entertainment, pen and ink exchanges, they admonish each other, and use friends to help others. These methods of self-reflection make self-examination not only an intrinsic moral pursuit, but also a practical effort, a habit and a norm in the daily life of the sages.
Profound introspection is not easy, otherwise Confucius would not have lamented, "I have not seen the wrongdoers who can see their faults and sue themselves." It takes courage to introspect, to dissect the pain, to uncover the scars of the past, and then ask yourself: Why am I like this? How do I correct it? How to improve? This process is often accompanied by emotions such as shame and remorse, which is bound to produce temporary pain. But introspection is even happier. The yearning and pursuit of ideal personalities such as "gentleman" and "big husband" gave the sages the determination and perseverance to self-cultivation and self-discipline and self-examination, the courage and pattern to face mistakes and problems, and the sincerity and conscience to unremittingly examine and reflect. The sages were strict with self-examination, improved themselves in the examination, cultivated themselves and were close to benevolence, and what they reaped was a kind of inner pleasure and satisfaction. Taking self-discipline and self-reflection as a kind of self-consciousness and gaining great happiness in it has become an important driving force for a gentleman to strive for self-improvement.
The Chinese Communists have always advocated and attached importance to upholding the truth, correcting mistakes, and having the courage to carry out criticism and self-criticism. Self-examination and self-reflection are not only a kind of cultural consciousness, but also an inherent requirement for communists to transform the subjective world and strengthen the cultivation of party spirit.
In the history of our party, many revolutionaries of the older generation and outstanding party members and cadres were models of self-criticism and self-revolution. Mao Zedong demanded that leading cadres should make serious rather than perfunctory self-criticism, "repeatedly study their own thinking, their own history, and their own current work, and reflect on them well," and especially "deliberately and compulsorily examine their own weaknesses"; When Zhou Enlai wrote the inaugural speech for Unity, he began by quoting "my day and three provinces and my body" as "the best norm for personal cultivation", emphasizing the benefits of this "introspection" to individuals and political parties. On his 60th birthday, Xie Juezai wrote "Sixty Self-Lawsuits", in which he said: "'If you are fifty years old, you should know the wrongs of forty-nine years', then if you are sixty years old, you should also try to make up for the shortcomings of 59 years ago, and be able to make more contributions to the party, this is my plan in the future"; Yang Shanzhou often reminded himself, "Think more about how our work is, and whether there is anything sorry for the party and the people...... Their open-mindedness of "rejoicing when they have heard it, knowing what they have done, and not being afraid of changing it", and the spirit of self-denial of "not deceiving themselves with the slightest selfish intention and not burdening themselves with the slightest selfish desire" still inspire us today.
In the new era, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core attaches great importance to absorbing the experience and wisdom of self-cultivation and self-discipline from the excellent traditional Chinese culture. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized that party members and cadres should be strict with self-discipline and diligent in self-examination, "we must have the consciousness of 'failing to check ourselves', and often compare the party's theory, the party constitution, party rules and party discipline, the original mission, and the deployment requirements of the party central committee, and take the initiative to find and correct their own shortcomings and deficiencies." From solidly carrying out centralized education within the party to conscientiously holding democratic life meetings and organizational life meetings, party organizations at all levels and the majority of party members and cadres have continuously examined, analyzed, and reflected ideologically and politically, and have "benchmarked" with the requirements of the party central committee, "scanned" with the party constitution and party rules, and "seen" with the new expectations of the people, and "compared" with the ancestors and martyrs and advanced models, and regarded self-examination as a consciousness everywhere and at all times, and cleaned up the political dust in a timely manner, and the party's creativity, cohesion, and combat effectiveness continued to increase.
"The fundamental motive force for us communists to carry out self-criticism comes from the party spirit and the spirit of being highly responsible for the cause of the party and the people." Whether or not we can show the courage to face ourselves, the determination to strengthen the blade inward, the courage to expose the shortcomings and ugliness, and the courage to admit mistakes and correct mistakes, not only reflects the character and mind, but also tests the cultivation of party spirit. Self-discipline and self-reflection are important in self-awareness, perseverance and consistency. On the new journey, every party member and cadre should take self-examination as a normal work and way of life, "I am three times a day, I am self-sufficient", often ask myself "for whom, who to rely on, who am I", and constantly temper the party spirit, improve self-cultivation, improve self-improvement, and strive to create new achievements that live up to the times and the people.
Source: China Discipline Inspection and Supervision News
Editor: Zhang Xiaoying
Reviewer: Li Chaofeng
