Cultivate Moral Integrity and Good Conduct

This means that one should cultivate him/herself and manage interpersonal relations well. The idea is fully expressed in The Great Learning (Da Xue), a Confucian classic. According to the book, everyone from the ruler of a state to ordinary people should cultivate morality first by studying things, then acquiring knowledge, being sincere in thought, and rectifying one's heart. This empowers people to identify the principles of all things, expand knowledge, and then cultivate virtues such as uprightness and good faith. Then, the book offers the three steps to conduct oneself in society after achieving self-cultivation: manage one's family well, govern the state properly, and bring peace to all under heaven. In short, self-cultivation is the prerequisite and foundation for participation in society, and an important way to realize self-cultivation is by participating in society. A person lacking moral integrity cannot easily manage relations with others, and a person living in isolation can hardly achieve meaningful self-cultivation.

The concept reflects the general attitude of the Chinese towards self-cultivation and interpersonal relations. In history, the Chinese have accumulated considerable wisdom on how to cultivate moral integrity and conduct oneself in society, which injects confidence, endurance, and strength into Chinese culture.

修身處世

修身處世，即修養好自身的德行，處理好與他者的關系，這一理念集中體現在儒家經典《大學》中。關于“修身”，《大學》強調，上自國家元首，下至平民百姓，人人都要以修養品性為根本。要做到修身，需要首先做好格物、致知、誠意、正心，就是要盡可能地研究清楚萬事萬物的道理，拓展自身的認知，進而讓自己的意念真誠篤實、心思端正無邪。關于“處世”，《大學》提出了齊家、治國、平天下的次第，就是要為管理好家族、治理好國家、把和平與秩序帶給天下作出應有的貢獻。總體而言，修身是處世的根本和基礎，一個人如果德行不好，很難處理好與他者的關系；處世也是修身的重要方法，一個人如果離群索居、遠離他者， 很難談得上有意義的修身。

修身處世是中國人如何要求自己、對待他人的基本態度。在歷史上，中國人積累了大量修身處世的智慧，賦予中華文明獨特的自信、耐力與定力。