The Western Han Dynasty told a thought-provoking story in "Seven Hairs", the prince of Chu fell ill, Wu Ke diagnosed the source of his illness as mental malaise, and the prescription was to learn and discuss the "wonderful words", use morality to regulate themselves, and slowly "Yang Qi is seen between the eyebrows", and finally "Huo Ran is sick". To govern the party strictly in an all-round way, it is necessary to rely on treating the symptoms, taking strong medicine to get rid of the disease, and re-governing the chaos; It is also necessary to rely on curing the root cause, cultivating culture, and keeping the foundation of government.

——Speech at the Seventh Plenary Session of the 18th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (January 6, 2017)

Further reading:

"Seven Hairs" is an allegorical literary work written for the Han Dynasty. This article tells a fictional story: the prince of Chu was sick, Wu Ke went to visit, starting from the illness and the cause, the two had a series of discussions from shallow to deep, and through mutual questions and answers, they constituted seven layers of meaning.

Wu Ke believes that the cause of Prince Chu's pampering and excessive pleasure lies in the fact that he has a chariot in and out, a beautiful woman in his escort, a greasy diet, and a constant temperature in his residence, so he is not energetic and sick. In fact, this is not a physical problem, which is difficult to cure with medication and acupuncture; Rather, it is spiritually degenerate, and can only "go away with good words."

Therefore, Wu Ke described the fun of music, food, car riding, traveling, field hunting, and watching the waves, and gradually inspired the prince to change his lifestyle, and the prince's eyebrows gradually revealed joy. In the end, Wu Ke proposed to introduce the prince to "the wise and strategic", so that they could "discuss the subtleties of the world and the right and wrong of all things", and discuss the truth of governing the world and cultivating oneself with the prince. When the prince heard this, he rose up according to several times, and Huo Ran recovered from his illness.

"Seven Hairs" uses the dialogue of fictitious characters to exhort the children of the aristocracy not to indulge in lust, covet comfort, and indulge in pleasure. The Seven Pleasures are actually about the dialectical relationship between matter and spirit. If a person indulges in pleasure and indulgence, but lacks spiritual pursuit and moral self-discipline, it will lead to the breeding and reproduction of various "germs". Therefore, a person can only achieve true health by replenishing mental calcium. Mao Zedong also admired the "Seven Hairs", and at the Lushan Conference, he instructed that the article be printed and distributed to the participants, and also wrote a long criticism.

"Seven Hairs" is gorgeous, magnificent, and far-reaching, and it is the beginning of Han Dafu's work, which has a great influence on later generations. Liu Xian said in "Wenxin Carving Dragon": "The first production of "Seven Hairs" is full of rhetoric and clouds, and it is beautiful and terrifying. This style of writing has been followed by later generations, such as Fu Yi's "Seven Radicals", Zhang Heng's "Seven Arguments", Wang Cang's "Seven Interpretations", Cao Zhi's "Seven Enlightenments", Lu Ji's "Seven Signs", Zhang Xie's "Seven Lives", etc., forming the "Seven Bodies" in Fuzhong.

Xi Jinping told the story in "Seven Hairs" to illustrate that only by improving self-cultivation and strengthening faith can we keep the foundation of government. As the saying goes, "the principle is the country's solidity, and the chaos is the country's danger." Xi Jinping often emphasizes that "consolidating the foundation and cultivating the yuan" is the foundation and heart, and the root is not shaken, so as to absorb nutrients and flourish; Yuan is the soul and vitality, and only when the vitality is sufficient can we resist the invasion of evil qi and maintain vigorous vitality. The fundamental thing is to strengthen ideals and beliefs and improve the cultivation of party spirit.