中华文明价值体系中的“慎始慎终”

“Be Cautious From Beginning to End”in the Value System of Chinese Civilization

中华文明素以“继往圣,开来学”的精神著称于世,把“善继其志”“善述其事”视为继往开来的精神要义,并由此形成了“慎始慎终”的伦理意识,凝结成“不忘初心”或“永葆初心”的价值眷注和文明血脉,凸显了对中华文明之精神源头和大本大源的坚守和维护,对中华文明根本价值、核心价值的高度认同和发展传承。这种“慎始慎终”的伦理意识融合着“殷鉴”和“安而不忘危”的忧患意识,有着对“人心惟危,道心惟微”的不断警醒和提撕,对“道”之大本大源的孜孜探求与念兹在兹,对文化根脉和精神命脉的培育重视和价值眷注,在中华民族一代又一代成员内心深处构筑起了“善始不易,善终更难”的修德意识和行稳致远的伦理品质,凝结成承前启后和继往开来的民族伦理精神。

Chinese civilization has been well-known to the world for its spirit of“following the past sages and opening up a new bright future”(继往圣,开来学).It regards“being good at following the past sages'will(善继其志)and narrating their events(善述其事)”as the spiritual essence of inheriting past traditions and forging ahead into the future,thus forming the ethical consciousness of“being cautious from beginning to end”(慎始慎终),and condensing itself as the value concern and the blood vessel of civilization of“staying true to our original aspiration”(不忘初心)or“keeping the original intention forever”(永葆初心),which highlighted the adherence to and maintenance of the spiritual source of Chinese civilization and the source of Confucian conduct code(大本大源),and also emphasized the high recognition,development and inheritance of the fundamental value and core value of Chinese civilization.This ethical consciousness of“being cautious from beginning to end”was integrated with such senses of unexpected hardship as the lessons drawn from past events(殷鉴)and the awareness of danger in peacetime(安而不忘危).This ethical consciousness contained constant warnings and reminders of“the unpredictable human mind,and the tiny moral mind”(人心惟危,道心惟微).To constantly explore and always bear in mind the source of Confucian doctrine(道),and to cultivate and attach importance to Chinese cultural root and spiritual lifeline,and show concern for their value,the members of one after another generation of the Chinese nation have developed a moral consciousness that“it is difficult to start well,and it is even more difficult to end well”(善始不易,善终更难)and cultivated an ethical quality of making steady progress for long-term goals,and fostered the national ethical spirit of inheriting past traditions and forging ahead into the future.