Listen to Wang Meng talk about the characteristics and vitality of Chinese culture

Source: Website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission

Central Commission for Discipline Inspection State Supervision Commission website Liu Tonghua

Chinese No matter what kind of tribulations and hardships we have experienced, we have never lost hope for a better life in the face of bitter days, and China's culture and history are the pride of Chinese, and it is also the strength of China. The picture shows the stills of the ninth issue of "Tao Te Ching" of "China in the Classics" broadcast by CCTV on September 12. (File photo)

The People's Publishing House has just published Wang Meng's Chinese Culture: Characteristics and Vitality. In the book, Wang Meng condensed and summarized the characteristics and vitality of Chinese culture, with unique insights and eloquent words, reflecting the responsibility and feelings of cultural everyone, and the reporter interviewed him.

Reporter: Chinese culture has always had a lofty and broad vision when looking at the current situation and the world, and in the words of the ancients, "qiankun has a thousand eyes, and a hundred years of time and a hundred years of heart." At the historical juncture of the world's unprecedented changes in a hundred years, Chinese culture has provided us with cultural impetus on the basis of inheriting the past, how should we understand the enthusiasm of Chinese culture?

Wang Meng: One of the characteristics of Chinese culture that distinguishes it from other cultures is that it is active and promising, and it is applied through the ages. In other words, our culture has had a strong, positive view of reality from ancient times to the present.

Although our culture does not directly answer many questions about creation, such as "where did the earth come from" and "where did life come from?", it will make people "self-reliant and virtuous". Because Chinese advocates industriousness and opposes laziness; advocates learning, not comfortism.

However, countries around the world are different about this. I have heard a story in Germany, India, and Central Africa about a fisherman fishing in a lake next to a young man sleeping next to him. Because there were too many fish in the lake and the fisherman was too busy to come, he wanted to ask the young man for help, and promised to pay a fee, enough for him to travel the world and live a happy life. But young people refuse to say that sleeping is happiness and that traveling the world doesn't make me feel happy.

This is the "hedonism" advocated by many countries. However, Chinese culture urges us to be virtuous, to study hard, and to be industrious, which is one of the enthusiasms.

In addition, we are all familiar with a sentence in the Analects that can better express the positive spirit of Chinese - "knowing that it cannot be done." It means saying something that even if you can't do it, but you think you should do it, do it, even if you have to pay a terrible price for it.

That is to say, if you want to be a benevolent person, a person who loves others and is loved by others, then you must be "benevolent." Because "benevolence" is the nature of Chinese, it plays a positive role in promoting our characteristics of kindness, benevolence, and the courage to take responsibility.

The enthusiasm of Chinese culture is also reflected in the practical application of the world.

We can start with Confucius on this point. When Confucius was alive, he was revered as the "Saint of Heavenly Indulgence", and was even honored by later generations as the Most Holy Ancestor and the Master of All Ages.

But Confucius was very modest in his evaluation of himself, even with "self-deprecation": "I am not as good as the old farmer, and I am not as good as the old garden." If I had to ask what I was good at, it would be to catch a car. ”

This sentence precisely explains why Confucius became a saint! The so-called saint is the inner saint and the outer king, who does not hold any power, and takes himself as an example to save the atmosphere of society. Confucius wanted to turn the tide and bring China back to the stage of "self-denial and retribution, and the whole world is one". He not only preached the truth to people, but also told people by example how to eat food, what filial piety is...

Someone once asked Confucius, when parents are old, their children are supported in time, so that they can have no worries about food and clothing, and be safe until they die.

Confucius said that it depends on whether children really love their parents, whether they like them from the heart, or whether they are regarded as a burden of life when they think of them. If you just throw money at your parents every month, it's better not to be filial piety. If you keep an animal, you can feed it as well.

Mencius also told the story of Confucius. Confucius was courteous to the king of the state of Lu, and once when presiding over the sacrifice, he found that the meat in the sacrifice was not fresh, and he was furious, and he did not even take off the hat of the sacrifice, so he resigned and left the country of Lu. Many people are puzzled by this, saying that Confucius was a saint, and his temper was so urgent, is the saint like this?

Mencius explained that Confucius spent three years in the state of Lu, and although the monarch was courteous, Confucius's own political ideals were not promoted here. He cannot fall and lose himself, he must leave the country of Lu. But the monarch is so good to him that he cannot intensify the contradictions, and he must find an excuse to leave. This is where the scene of anger at the sacrifice ceremony is born.

Confucius preferred to let the common people complain about his short temper, and used this method to protect his relationship with the king.

All his life, he was looking for a place where he could experiment with benevolence and the royal way, and realize his political ideals, so he did everything with this as the standard and did it just right.

The French Enlightenment thinker Voltaire spoke highly of Confucius. The reason why Voltaire felt that Confucius was great was because Confucius's teachings were applied through the ages, and he condensed many complicated things very simple and masterful. For example, "Do not do to others what you do not want to do to others", which is itself a very complex human question, but Confucius used human affairs to prove the Tao of the human world, just arguing that "if you do not want others to do this to you, you should not do this to others."

This seeming simplicity is actually a high degree of condensation and generalization, and it is a positive and promising wisdom that culture has accumulated over the years to face the world, society and life.

The world is in turmoil, strife and friction, which further highlights the great value of Chinese culture

Reporter: You once said that when we talk about traditional culture, we want to carry out creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture, which is a very serious and great process for China with ancient culture, and the result will become a propellant to promote China's rapid development. From the perspective of governing the country today, what are the unique and exploitable political and cultural concepts in traditional Chinese culture?

Wang Meng: On this topic, we can choose a few key words for the introduction analysis: governing the country with virtue, the way of moderation, shangyi is still the same, and the world is just.

Let's start with governing the country with ethics. Chinese culture has distinct and strong "Shangde" characteristics. "Shangde" means that nothing in the world is more important than morality. In the Analects of Government, it is said, "For the sake of government and virtue, such as the North Star, dwell in its place and all the stars are together." Mencius also said that those who win the hearts and minds of the people will win the world. All of this emphasizes the decisive role of morality in political life.

Just like when King Wen of Zhou respected the elderly, advocated etiquette, did things politely, and never abused violence. His noble virtue won the love of the people, and finally King Wen of Zhou won the victory and defeated the tyrannical King Huan.

Confucius also said: "The Tao is based on government, Qi is punished, the people are exempt and shameless, the Tao is virtuous, and the Qi is courteous, shame and dignity." This means that if the power is used as an administrative means and the strict torture law is used as a management norm, the people, although they are free from making mistakes, do not know what shameful behavior is.

For example, a person who knows that stealing money will be punished with a hand, and although he will not steal money, he does not know that stealing money is shameful. The best way is to use morality as a guide, to use etiquette to unify the words and deeds of the people, people have a sense of shame, know how to maintain their dignity, will consciously abide by the rules.

We can look back and see that the concept of governing the country with virtue in traditional society has formed a cultural supervision and moral supervision of the power system, which has a positive effect. In this regard, the West is very different from us.

About the Middle Way. I think that the "middle" of the middle way, to be read four times, refers to the accuracy of shooting arrows to hit ten rings. "Mediocrity" is by no means mediocre, but refers to normal and not to engage in extremism. Long before the West became a modern state, China was already a fairly complete great power. The middle way in traditional political theory is one of the stable foundations and guarantees that support its operation.

In the Analects, it is said that "too much is too late" means that it has already done very well, not to be more powerful, but to know how to stop at the right time.

Confucius said, "Gentlemen are moderate, and villains are anti-moderate." That is to say, the more ignorant, cultural and educated the little people, the easier it is to engage in extremism and destruction. The so-called "middle way" is to let people grasp the weight and balance of their own behavior and doing things. Zhuangzi's saying is not called moderation, but "Daoshu", that is, to become the hub of the Tao, that is, the center of the circle. In the center of the circle, it is naturally stable, which is the middle way.

Shang Yi is still the same. Now it is difficult to find a culture in the world like Chinese culture, which has this concept - after passing, it must be the same, the same is the same, and the same is the same. Tao tong is one, shang yi is still the same, because Chinese culture pursues monism, and at the same time pursues the unity of one and many.

Chinese culture advocates that the world is set in one, and the sky must be clear. The word "one" here has several meanings. The first meaning, the unity of one and many. There is a word in the Chinese called "everything", "one" is unification, "cut" refers to various parts, use "one" to unify "many", use "many" to correct and enrich "one", this is the essence of Chinese culture.

The second meaning is the unity of heaven and man. I believe that "the unity of nature and man" is the core logic of Chinese culture. Confucius believed that the Tao of Heaven made you good, virtuous, filial piety, and compassion; Mencius believed that the Tao of Heaven made you have compassion, shame, respect, and right and wrong for people; Lao Tzu believed that good people are as simple, sincere, and not playing tricks like babies...

They use the beauty and morality of man to prove the existence of Providence, and use Providence to prove that you must talk about morality, and if you violate the way of Heaven, you will be in great trouble. They also use the Heavenly Way to explain the legitimacy of power, the ancients believed that your virtue is stronger than others, you should hold power, this is the "unity of heaven and man" .

Finally, the world is just. I believe that in Chinese culture, the most prominent ideal is "the world is just and the world is one". The Book of Rites says, "The journey of the Great Avenue is also the common good of the world, the selection of the wise and the able, the preaching of faith and the cultivation of harmony... It is said to be the same. "Whether it was then or is now, we are very firm in our ideal of world unity. This is the lofty ideal and belief that Chinese culture possesses. Especially today, the world is in turmoil, strife, and friction, which highlights the great value of the world for the common good.

We should put forward China's propositions, Chinese Chinese words, and Chinese interpretations to promote global governance

Reporter: Chinese culture is the backbone and confidence of Chinese, and under the conditions of the new era, it promotes the creative transformation and innovative development of China's outstanding traditional culture, so that the world can better understand China and understand China. From your years of observation, study and practice, we can analyze where we should start to answer this major topic.

Wang Meng: For thousands of years, traditional culture has nurtured and condensed hundreds of millions of Chinese sons and daughters, which have endured for a long time, endured many troubles, and penetrated the hearts of the people. Self-improvement, keep pace with the times, benevolent people love people, push themselves and others... These spirits are all in common with modernity, and have also tested and cultivated the openness and digestion ability, adaptability and resilience, introspection and self-adjustment ability of Chinese culture.

We are in the 21st century, and it is the Communist Party of China that leads the people to expand and explore our spiritual resources, and to carry forward and develop traditional culture in the process of realizing great rejuvenation, rather than learning from the ancients and learning for the sake of learning. We need to strengthen the research and design of traditional culture to achieve creative transformation and innovative development, and I believe that the key to double creation lies in the docking of traditional culture and socialist modernization.

The key to promoting the realization of creative transformation and innovative development lies in positive thinking and theory of modernization and globalization, understanding and cherishing the Chinese cultural tradition, understanding and actively applying the characteristics of the times and globalization, mobilizing and perfecting cultural patriotism, especially cherishing the theory and practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and cherishing the combination of tradition and modernity embodied in the socialist core value system, and the combination of Chinese characteristics and the world-oriented, future-oriented, and modernization-oriented minds.

We must cherish, improve and promote Chinese demeanor and Chinese way of life in the era of globalization, our demeanor and way lie in benevolence, modesty, calmness, balance, moderation, moderation, and moderation, and at the same time, we need to understand this side of "learning from the East and learning from the West, Taoism has not cracked" and "the South China Sea and the North Sea, the psychology is the same". We must put forward The Chinese proposition, the Chinese Chinese, and the Chinese interpretation to promote global governance, so that the traditional Chinese culture will have a wonderful blend with the world's advanced culture in the hands of our generation.

Practice has repeatedly proved that Chinese culture has shown its ability to regenerate, showing that it is fully able to keep pace with the times and open up the trend of the times, while maintaining the character, characteristics, identity and charm of its own culture. This makes us full of confidence and pride in Chinese culture.