"Unremitting self-improvement, virtue" is the motto of Tsinghua University.
The eight-character school motto was put forward in November 1914 when Liang Qichao, a master of Chinese studies, gave a speech at the school, quoting the content of the two hexagrams of Qiankun in the "Zhou Yi", which is known as the first of all classics: "Tianxingjian, the gentleman is self-improving" and "The terrain is kun, the gentleman is virtuous".
The school motto is the soul of a school and usually reflects the school's core values and characteristics. The motto of different schools has its own characteristics, but they generally emphasize ethical, academic, practical, and innovative aspects. It is the basic code of conduct and moral norms that teachers and students abide by, which is not only a reflection of a school's philosophy and spirit of governance, but also an important content of campus culture construction, a concentrated expression of a school's teaching style, study style and school spirit, and the core content of the school's cultural spirit.
The concept of school motto began to appear in the history of modern education in China, which can be traced back to the end of the Qing Dynasty to the early years of the Qing Dynasty. The earliest example of the school motto is recorded in 1906 when Li Ruiqing presided over the Liangjiang Normal School (the predecessor of Nanjing University) established "chew the root of the vegetable and do great things". However, as a highly condensed form of school spirit and educational philosophy, the origin of the school motto may have been influenced by the traditional seowon culture, and gradually became popular with the establishment and improvement of the modern school system. Earlier academies also had similar spiritual guidance statements or school rules, but the formal name "school motto" and widespread use in various new schools was formed in the course of China's modern education reform.
The predecessor of Tsinghua University was Tsinghua Academy. In 1909, the Qing Dynasty established the Office of Tourist Beauty, which was responsible for directly selecting students to travel to the United States, and at the same time began to prepare for the establishment of the Tourist Beauty Museum. In November 1910, the Department of Tourism and Aesthetics proposed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Faculty of Education the method of reforming the Museum of Tourism and Tourism. It mentioned that since Tsinghua Park had been identified as the school site, it was petitioned to change the name of the Youmei School to "Tsinghua Academy". In 1912, it was renamed Tsinghua School, and in 1928, it was renamed National Tsinghua University. At present, Tsinghua University has a total of 21 colleges and 59 departments, and has become a comprehensive, research-oriented and open university with 12 disciplines, including science, engineering, literature, art, history, philosophy, economics, management, law, education, medicine and interdisciplinary disciplines.
Liang Qichao (February 23, 1873 - January 19, 1929), known as Zhuoru, Hongyou, Ren Fu, alias Ren Gong, the owner of the ice room, was a native of Xinhui County, Guangdong Province, and was a famous bourgeois politician and thinker in modern China. He was an outstanding politician, thinker, educator, historian, writer, new jurist, social activist, word inventor, and calligrapher in modern China. He was one of the leaders of the Wuxu Reform Law at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the founder of several political parties.
Liang Qichao first came into contact with Tsinghua University in just over three years after the establishment of Tsinghua University, Tsinghua advocated the development of morality, intellect and physical education and "personality" education, Liang Qichao was invited to give a speech as a celebrity, he quoted the "Book of Changes" in the "Tianxingjian gentleman to self-improvement", "terrain Kun gentleman to be virtuous" to encourage young students to establish a "complete personality", this speech has had a profound impact on the cultivation of Tsinghua's excellent academic style and school spirit. Since then, the school has set the motto of "self-improvement and virtue".
The original source is: "Zhou Yi" said: Tianxingjian, a gentleman is self-improving; The terrain is good, and the gentleman carries things with virtue. The last sentence "Tianxingjian, a gentleman strives for self-improvement" is more widely spread. The meaning of the two sentences is: the movement of heaven (i.e., nature) is strong and vigorous, and accordingly, a gentleman should be like heaven and strive for self-improvement. Fortitude and perseverance, work hard, never stop; The momentum of the earth is thick and smooth, and a gentleman should thicken virtue and contain all things.