——"Speech at the National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work" and other articles

■Interpretation

In his speech in Indonesia, Comrade Xi Jinping quoted this sentence to indicate that the harmony and friendship between countries "must consolidate the social soil for bilateral relations"; In his speech in France, Comrade Xi Jinping used this sentence to explain that the friendship between China and France is "the result of the hard work of the two peoples"; At the propaganda and ideological work conference, this sentence was used to illustrate the importance of innovation in grassroots work to do a good job in propaganda and ideological work. The reason why Comrade Xi Jinping loves this sentence is precisely because it is full of dialectical thinking about big and small, more and less, success and beginning. While clarifying the law of development and change of things, it also warns people that no matter what they do, they must have strong perseverance, start from small things, start from little things, and only then can they have great development and great causes. Just like the allusion of Yugong moving mountains, a basket of soil is moved down, "children and grandchildren are endless", and there will always be a day when the goal will be achieved.

■Original text

The wood of the hug is born at the end of the millennium; The nine-story platform starts from the soil; Great oaks from little acorns grow.. Those who do it lose, and those who hold it lose. It is the saint's inaction, so there is no defeat; There is no attachment, so there is no loss. The people's engagement is often a failure in a few successes. If you are cautious in the end, you will not fail.

——(Spring and Autumn) Lao Tzu "Lao Tzu Chapter 64"

■Definition

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Lao Tzu, the founder of the Taoist school, put forward the idea of being cautious and cautious according to the law of development of things. "The wood of the hug is born in the end of the millennium; The nine-story platform starts from the soil; Great oaks from little acorns grow.. "Hug: Arms around to describe a thick tree. Millimo: Seedlings, metaphorically small. In other words, the hugging tree grows from tiny seedlings, and the nine-story platform is made of baskets of soil, and the journey of thousands of miles must begin at your feet. It vividly demonstrates the truth that big things are gradually developed and evolved from small things.

Lao Tzu's idea that "the big is born in the small" had an impact on Xunzi, a representative figure of Confucianism during the Warring States period. In "Xunzi Persuasion", Xunzi proposed "accumulating soil into a mountain", "accumulating water into an abyss", "no accumulation of steps, no thousands of miles; If you don't accumulate small streams, you can't become rivers and seas". However, unlike Lao Tzu, Xunzi put forward the positive and enterprising proposition of "perseverance, gold and stone can be carved", which is very different from Lao Tzu's "non-action" and "non-attachment" ideas that conform to nature. The same premise leads to different conclusions, which reflects the complex relationship between Confucianism and Taoism, which is both mutually beneficial and mutually counterproductive.