The Chinese have always paid attention to self-cultivation, emphasizing that "from the Son of Heaven to the common people, one is based on self-cultivation", "self-cultivation is based on self-cultivation", "self-cultivation is to reassure the people", "cultivation of one's mind to govern one's body, and then one can govern the world", "righteousness is the foundation, self-cultivation is the foundation". Also, during the Warring States Period, Zou Ji of Qi used the story of his comparison with Xu Gong in the north of the city to satirize the king of Qi; Zhuge Liang summed up in the "Teacher Table" that "pro-virtuous ministers, far villains, this ancestor Han is so prosperous; pro-villain, far virtuous minister, after that, the Han so fell into decline"; Fan Zhongyan wrote the famous sentences in "The Story of Yueyang Tower", "Don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself", "worry about the worries of the world first, and be happy with the joy of the world after the world"; Wen Tianxiang wrote a magnificent song of "Who has not died in life since ancient times, leaving Dan to take care of the sweat". "The rich and the rich cannot be lewd, the poor and the lowly cannot be moved, and the mighty cannot be bent", this is the heroic righteousness advocated by the ancients.

——Speech at the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee's "Three Stricts and Three Realities" Special Democratic Life Meeting (December 28 and 29, 2015)

Further reading:

Ancient Chinese Confucian culture emphasized the "inner sage and outer king", and the "inner sage" is a person's inner moral quality, which means that a person can only become a qualified ruler by cultivating his heart and forging his character. Zou Ji, Zhuge Liang, Fan Zhongyan, Wen Tianxiang and others are all historical figures famous for their character and integrity in Chinese history.

Zou Ji was a native of Qi during the Warring States Period, he was tall and handsome. However, from the different evaluations of his wife, concubines, and guests, he concluded that "private self", "fear of me" and "asking for me" will lead to information distortion, and then realized the truth that governing the country should be broadly spoken, and advised King Qi Wei to accept advice with an open mind, listen to it clearly, and promote Qi to dominate the princes. The story of Zhuge Liang is even more popular, "three visits to the thatched house" and "Longzhong pair" have become a good story for the ages, Zhuge Liang, who cultivated Nanyang, was entrusted with the defeat of the army, and was ordered to be in danger, and he did his best all his life and died. The Northern Song Dynasty writer Fan Zhongyan's family was poor, he studied hard, and took the world as his own responsibility, and was repeatedly belittled for being impartial and outspoken, but he never forgot his original intention, whether it was governing the local area or defending the country, he could do "the worries of the world first, and the joy of the world after the world". At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, Wen Tianxiang, a famous minister, was born in troubled times, Shenzhou Lu Shen, and still insisted on the War of Resistance when the Yuan army went south, and later was defeated and captured, even if he was imprisoned in "the room is eight feet wide, and the depth can be four searches." In the dirt room, which is low and small, short and narrow in the white room, dirty and dark", he did not change his value sticking, leaving famous works such as "Crossing the Zero Ding Yang" and "Song of Righteousness", which have become a beacon of value in Chinese history.

Zou Ji, Zhuge Liang, Fan Zhongyan, and Wen Tianxiang have all been praised by later generations for their noble character, constituting a continuous and consistent value map, and setting a benchmark for forging character.

At the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee on democratic life, Xi Jinping emphasized the self-cultivation of leading cadres. He told the stories of Zou Ji, Zhuge Liang, Fan Zhongyan, Wen Tianxiang and others, in order to show the majority of party members and cadres, especially senior leading cadres, that the foundation of establishing a life lies in cultivating their bodies, governing their hearts, and cultivating their virtues.

"If you don't ask for preparation with others, if you can't check yourself", "If you don't see good, if you don't see good, if you don't see good, if you don't see it, you can't do it", "If you don't want to be prepared, you can't do it"; Those who benefit from friendship, and those who benefit the poor are scattered", many of the allusions cited by Xi Jinping are all about self-cultivation. Emphasizing self-reflection and self-criticism with "three provinces and my body" with "my day and three provinces and my body", emphasizing abiding by the law and not touching the bottom line with "being in awe and holding the ruler in my hand", and emphasizing the prevention of microscopic and non-abandonment of micro-ends...... Xi Jinping marked out the epistemology and methodology for the self-cultivation of leading cadres from all aspects of their lives.