The Creative Transformation and Innovative Development of China’s Excellent Traditional Virtues in the New Era

Xi Jinping points out: “China’s traditional virtues are the essence of Chinese culture, containing rich ideological and moral resources. Only by not forgetting the past can we open up the future; only by being good at inheriting can we better innovate.”[1]1 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture.164 The excellent traditional Chinese culture is the “root vein” of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times, possessing enduring contemporary value. Realizing the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s excellent traditional virtues requires taking as our standpoint the historical orientation of the New Era and the major proposition of the Two Integrations, so that they conform to the needs of the times and embody Chinese characteristics, Chinese style, and Chinese manner.

习近平指出：“中华传统美德是中华文化精髓，蕴含着丰富的思想道德资源。不忘本来才能开辟未来，善于继承才能更好创新。”[1]164中华优秀传统文化是马克思主义中国化时代化的“根脉”，具有历久弥新的时代价值。实现中华优秀传统美德的创造性转化和创新性发展需要立足新时代历史方位和“两个结合”重大命题，使其符合时代需要，体现中国特色、中国风格和中国气派。

I. The Significant Meaning of Inheriting China’s Excellent Traditional Virtues in the New Era

一、新时代传承中华优秀传统美德的重要意义

China’s excellent traditional virtues represent the most core value orientation of excellent traditional Chinese culture and the methodological guidance for directing practice. Xi Jinping points out: “If the Chinese nation is to continue advancing, it must, in accordance with the conditions of the times, inherit and carry forward our national spirit, our nation’s excellent culture, and especially the traditional virtues contained within it.”[1]1 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture.181 In the New Era of socialism with Chinese characteristics, traditional virtues possess a unique value orientation, transmitting a cultural charm rich in Chinese characteristics. In answering the scientific proposition of the theoretical innovation of the Two Integrations, consolidating the value strength for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and providing governance wisdom for the construction of a Chinese-path modernization powerful country, it is necessary to realize the integration of Marxism with China’s excellent traditional culture and to promote the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s excellent traditional virtues.

中华优秀传统美德代表中华优秀传统文化最核心的价值观导向和指导实践的方法论遵循。习近平指出：“中华民族要继续前进，就必须根据时代条件，继承和弘扬我们的民族精神、我们民族的优秀文化，特别是包含其中的传统美德。”[1]181中国特色社会主义新时代，传统美德具有独特的价值导向，传递富有中国特色的文化魅力。在回答“两个结合”理论创新的科学命题、凝聚中华民族伟大复兴的价值力量、为中国式现代化强国建设提供治理智慧等方面，实现马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化相结合，推动中华优秀传统美德的创造性转化和创新性发展。

(I) The Ideological and Moral Foundation for Realizing the Two Integrations

（一）实现“两个结合”的思想道德基础

Xi Jinping proposed at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage and Development on June 2, 2023: “Opening up and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics on the deep foundation of more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, and combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture, is the only path.”[2]2 The Second Centenary Goal (第二个百年奋斗目标) is to build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the 21st century, the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. China’s excellent traditional virtues are the fine character that realizes the intrinsic value of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and they are also the ideological and moral foundation for realizing the Two Integrations in the New Era.

习近平在2023年6月2日的文化传承发展座谈会上提出：“在五千多年中华文明深厚基础上开辟和发展中国特色社会主义，把马克思主义基本原理同中国具体实际、同中华优秀传统文化相结合是必由之路。”[2]中华优秀传统美德是实现中华优秀传统文化内在价值的美好品格，也是新时代实现“两个结合”的思想道德基础。

Adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times originates from the high degree of compatibility between Marxism and China’s excellent traditional culture. The world under Heaven belongs to all (天下为公) and the people are the foundation of the state (民为邦本) are compatible with the communist ideal and the people-centered concept and proposition; “Although Zhou was an ancient state, its mandate was renewed” (周虽旧邦，其命维新)[3]3 落脚点 (luòjiǎo diǎn): Literally “the point where the foot lands,” this term is commonly used in Chinese political discourse to mean “the ultimate goal,” “the final focus,” or “the point of implementation” of a policy or theoretical principle.477 echoes the spirit of reform and innovation of the times of the Chinese Communists; the unity of knowledge and action (知行合一) and statecraft and practical application (经世致用) coincide with the scientific practical view of historical materialism. The value concepts, theoretical wisdom, and practical experience of China’s excellent traditional culture not only represent the ideological crystallization of Chinese civilization but are also important categories of traditional morality, the human ethics and heavenly principles that bear the rise and fall of the nation’s fortunes. Inheriting China’s excellent traditional virtues is inheriting the unbroken cultural genes of Chinese history. Only by realizing the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s excellent traditional virtues in the New Era can we achieve the mutual fulfillment of Marxism and China’s excellent traditional culture in practice, “effectively linking the ideological essence of Marxism with the essence of China’s excellent traditional culture, transforming them into new theoretical advantages, and continuously scaling new ideological heights”[4]4 The Three Cardinal Guides (三纲) and Five Constant Virtues (五常) are core Confucian ethical principles: ruler guides subject, father guides son, husband guides wife; and benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and fidelity..

马克思主义中国化时代化，源于马克思主义和中华优秀传统文化的高度契合。天下为公、民为邦本与共产主义理想和人民至上的理念主张相契合；“周虽旧邦，其命维新”[3]477与中国共产党人改革创新的时代精神相互呼应；知行合一、经世致用与历史唯物主义科学实践观不谋而合。中华优秀传统文化的价值观念、理论智慧和实践经验，不仅代表着中华文明的思想结晶，也是传统道德的重要范畴，是承载国运兴衰的人伦天理。传承中华优秀传统美德就是传承中国历史赓续不绝的文化基因。只有在新时代实现中华优秀传统美德的创造性转化和创新性发展，才能在实践中实现马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化的相互成就，“有效把马克思主义思想精髓同中华优秀传统文化精华贯通起来，聚变为新的理论优势，不断攀登新的思想高峰”[4]。

China’s excellent traditional virtues are the moral foundation of the subjectivity of Chinese culture. Identification with China’s excellent culture is inseparable from identification with traditional virtues. Xi Jinping points out: “Link the ideological essence of Marxism with the essence of China’s excellent traditional culture, and integrate it with the common values that the people use daily without conscious awareness”[5]5 “Family traditions” (家风) refers to the moral atmosphere, values, and behavioral norms passed down within a family.15. Inheriting China’s excellent traditional virtues means maintaining the common spiritual home of the Chinese nation, taking the subject position of Chinese culture, and consolidating the spiritual strength of the sons and daughters of China. Xi Jinping proposes that China’s excellent traditional virtues are the essence of Chinese culture, and inheriting them means consolidating the ideological and moral foundation of socialism with Chinese characteristics[1]1 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture.163. Socialism with Chinese characteristics is rooted in China’s excellent traditional culture and cannot be separated from the cultivation of traditional virtues. Establishing cultural confidence and promoting the integrity and innovation of socialism with Chinese characteristics both require us to understand the continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness, and peacefulness of Chinese civilization, to understand the unique value stance of Chinese civilization, and to express the value requirements of traditional virtues.

中华优秀传统美德是中华文化主体性的道德基础。对中华优秀文化的认同离不开对传统美德的认同。习近平指出：“把马克思主义思想精髓同中华优秀传统文化精华贯通起来、同人民群众日用而不觉的共同价值观念融通起来”[5]15，传承中华优秀传统美德，就是维系中华民族共同的精神家园，立足中华文化的主体地位，凝聚中华儿女的精神力量。习近平提出，中华优秀传统美德是中华文化的精髓，传承中华优秀传统美德就是夯实中国特色社会主义的思想道德基础[1]163。中国特色社会主义植根于中华优秀传统文化，也离不开传统美德的涵养。树立文化自信，推动中国特色社会主义守正创新，都需要我们理解中华文明具有的连续性、创新性、统一性、包容性与和平性，理解中华文明的独特价值立场，表达传统美德的价值要求。

China’s excellent traditional virtues are a treasure trove of thought for the theoretical innovation of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. Xi Jinping points out that the reform and opening up led by the Communist Party of China and the path of Chinese-path modernization both have deep historical and cultural foundations[6]6 The quotation is from Marx and Engels, *Manifesto of the Communist Party* (1848). The Chinese text cites a standard Chinese edition.. Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era is the theoretical innovation achievement of the Two Integrations, and it is also the theoretical crystallization of the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s excellent traditional culture, embodying the immortal

中华优秀传统美德是新时代中国特色社会主义理论创新的思想宝库。习近平指出，中国共产党领导的改革开放和中国式现代化道路，都有深厚的历史文化根基[6]。习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想是“两个结合”的理论创新成果，也是中华优秀传统文化创造性转化和创新性发展的理论结晶，体现中华优秀传统美德的不朽魅力。中华优秀传统美德强调的育德养正、文以载道，体现在习近平以文化人、以文育人的文化思想中；传统天人观对时令制度、万物和谐的尊重，彰显人与自然和谐共生的生态思想；中华优秀传统美德的和而不同、美美与共等观念，为新时代大国外交提供重要的思想根据，也是人类文明新形态的道德和文化基石。

China’s excellent traditional virtues provide an important value orientation for the “Two Integrations.”[1]1 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture. Xi Jinping pointed out: “We will cultivate and practice the core socialist values, constantly strengthen our leadership and discursive power in the ideological sphere, and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of fine traditional Chinese culture.”[7]7 The “Four Virtues” (四德) refers to personal virtue, family virtue, professional virtue, and social virtue, a framework promoted in contemporary moral education.18-19 All practice and values are influenced by history and culture and are grounded in specific historical and cultural contexts. The core socialist values are the basic value stance of the Party and the state in theoretical practice; they contain value concepts from China’s several thousand years of history and are also the contemporary expression of China’s excellent traditional virtues. “The core values are, in essence, a kind of virtue.”[1]1 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture.168 Only by condensing values from traditional virtues can we provide an inexhaustible cultural nourishment for the core socialist values and embody the Chinese characteristics and national traits of the core values.

中华优秀传统美德为“两个结合”提供重要价值遵循。习近平指出：“培育和践行社会主义核心价值观，不断增强意识形态领域主导权和话语权，推动中华优秀传统文化创造性转化、创新性发展。”[7]18-19一切实践和价值都受到历史文化的影响，立足于特定历史文化背景。社会主义核心价值观是党和国家理论实践的基本价值立场，蕴含着中国数千年历史的价值理念，也是中华优秀传统美德的时代表达。“核心价值观，其实就是一种德”[1]168，只有从传统美德中凝聚价值，才能为社会主义核心价值观提供生生不息的文化滋养，体现核心价值观的中国特色和民族特性。

(II) The Powerful Spiritual Force for the Great Rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation

（二）中华民族伟大复兴的强大精神力量

China’s excellent traditional virtues consolidate social consensus and gather spiritual impetus for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. A person cannot stand without virtue; a nation cannot prosper without virtue. Xi Jinping pointed out that traditional virtues provide a powerful “value guidance, cultural cohesion, and spiritual impetus”[8]8 “Investigating things to acquire knowledge” (格物致知) is a key concept from the Confucian classic *The Great Learning*, referring to the process of studying phenomena to attain knowledge.321 for forging new brilliance in Chinese culture, achieving the Second Centenary Goal,[2]2 The Second Centenary Goal (第二个百年奋斗目标) is to build China into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious, and beautiful by the middle of the 21st century, the centenary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. and realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The appeal and spiritual impetus inherent in China’s excellent traditional virtues are rooted in the 5,000-year historical heritage of the Chinese nation and are a summation of the historical experience of the continuous development of Chinese national culture. By integrating the value pursuits of the individual, society, and the nation, we achieve the internal unity of the small self and the great self within the cultural community, “integrating love of the family with love of the country, and integrating the realization of personal dreams and family dreams into the national dream and the national dream.”[9]9 Mao Zedong, *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 163. The original citation [43]163 refers to a specific edition; the reference is to Mao’s discussion of Confucius’s moral views.69 “The power of the spirit is infinite, and the power of morality is also infinite.”[1]1 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture.158 Through ideological and moral construction, we inspire and encourage people, enabling traditional virtues to exert their eternal value in the New Era and become “a powerful spiritual force for us to advance reform and opening up and socialist modernization.”[1]1 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture.158

中华优秀传统美德凝聚社会共识，为实现中华民族伟大复兴凝聚精神动力。人无德不立，国无德不兴。习近平指出，传统美德为铸就中华文化新辉煌，实现第二个百年奋斗目标和中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦提供强大的“价值引导力、文化凝聚力、精神推动力”[8]321。中华优秀传统美德具备的号召力和精神推动力，根源于中华民族5000年历史传承，是中华民族文化赓续发展历史经验的总结。通过将个人、社会、国家层面的价值追求结合起来，实现文化共同体中小我与大我的内在统一，“把爱家和爱国统一起来，把实现个人梦、家庭梦融入国家梦、民族梦之中”[9]69。“精神的力量是无穷的，道德的力量也是无穷的”[1]158，通过思想道德建设激励人、鼓舞人，使传统美德能够在新时代发挥其永恒价值，成为“我们推进改革开放和社会主义现代化建设的强大精神力量”[1]158。

China’s excellent traditional virtues manifest the deepest cultural soft power of Chinese culture and are an indispensable value foundation for building a culturally strong nation. Xi Jinping has stated: “Cultural confidence is a more fundamental, broader, and deeper confidence, a more basic, deeper, and more enduring force. Firm cultural confidence is a major issue concerning the rise and fall of the nation’s fortunes, cultural security, and the independence of the national spirit.” [10]10 Engels, *Anti-Dühring*, in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 26, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2014, p. 247. The original citation [44]247 refers to this passage.349 China’s excellent traditional culture lays the spiritual foundation for cultural confidence. Among the many elements of traditional culture, traditional virtues best represent the inherent requirements of culture, possessing social, individual, and super-ego characteristics [11]11 Mao Zedong, *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 3, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 237. The original citation [45]237 refers to Mao’s use of the phrase “seeking truth from facts” from the *Book of Han*.10-14. China’s excellent traditional virtues provide valuable historical experience, innovative impetus, and ideological stability for confidence in the path, confidence in the theory, and confidence in the system. By promoting China’s excellent traditional virtues, we can better construct the Chinese spirit, Chinese values, and Chinese strength. “As long as the Chinese nation, generation after generation, pursues a lofty and beautiful moral realm, our nation will forever remain healthy and upward, forever full of hope.” [12]12 The three work styles of the Chinese Communist Party: integrating theory with practice, maintaining close ties with the masses, and practicing criticism and self-criticism.25

中华优秀传统美德彰显中华文化最深层的文化软实力，是建设文化强国必不可少的价值基础。习近平提出：“文化自信，是更基础、更广泛、更深厚的自信，是更基本、更深沉、更持久的力量。坚定文化自信，是事关国运兴衰、事关文化安全、事关民族精神独立性的大问题。”[10]349中华优秀传统文化奠定了文化自信的精神根基，在传统文化的诸多元素中，传统美德最能代表文化内在要求，具有社会性、个人性和超我性[11]10-14。中华优秀传统美德为道路自信、理论自信、制度自信提供宝贵的历史经验、创新动力和意识形态定力。通过弘扬中华优秀传统美德，更好构筑中国精神、中国价值、中国力量。“只要中华民族一代接着一代追求美好崇高的道德境界，我们的民族就永远健康向上、永远充满希望。”[12]25

(III) The Historical and Cultural Treasure Trove of the Chinese Communist Party’s Governance

（三）中国共产党治国理政的历史文化宝库

The spread of Marxism and its adaptation to the Chinese context, and the inheritance of China’s excellent traditional virtues, have mutually reinforced each other. China has had a tradition of rule by virtue since ancient times. In Confucian culture, the foundation of stable political power lies in following rule by virtue, while the collapse of political power stems from virtue not matching one’s position [13]13 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on the ‘Two Integrations’,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 17. The original citation [4] refers to this speech.2. In modern times, the Chinese nation faced profound national and cultural crises: “When heavenly principles perish and human relations collapse, society will disintegrate.” [14]14 The original citation [6] refers to a source not specified in the text; the sentence summarizes the general principle.276 Some modern intellectuals regarded traditional morality either as a cultural disease hindering national progress or as a lifeline for national survival, but none grasped the dialectical relationship between social history and traditional morality. Historical materialism holds that morality is a product of consciousness in a class society. “Traditions are decaying, decomposing, and disappearing. So what is sustaining and strengthening these traditions? And what is weakening and destroying them? The brief answer is: the practice or non-practice of the relevant virtues.” [15]15 The original citation [46]729 is from an unspecified classical text; the phrase “国之功德，崇于城墙” is a classical allusion emphasizing the primacy of cultural virtue over physical fortifications.282 The Chinese Communist Party combined the practical wisdom and cultural elements of traditional Chinese virtues, which have contemporary relevance, with the revolutionary practice of modern Chinese society. At the Seventh National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong proposed the line for the New Democratic Revolution, aiming to establish “an independent, free, democratic, unified, and prosperous China” [16]16 Xi Jinping, *Xi Jinping: The Governance of China*, Vol. 1, Beijing:304. “Where did this line come from? It grew out of China’s own soil” [16]16 Xi Jinping, *Xi Jinping: The Governance of China*, Vol. 1, Beijing:315. He cited cultural allusions such as “not daring to take the lead in the world” from the *Laozi*, “retreating three she” from the *Zuo Commentary*, and “courtesy demands reciprocity; it is discourteous not to return a visit” from the *Book of Rites*, integrating the practical wisdom of China’s excellent traditional virtues into the theory of the New Democratic Revolution.

马克思主义的传播及其中国化与中华优秀传统美德的传承相互成就。中国自古有德治之传统。在儒家文化中，政权稳固的根本在于遵循德治，政权覆灭源于德不配位[13]2。近代中华民族面临深刻的民族危机、文化危机，“天理亡，人伦堕，则社会将散。”[14]276近代一些知识分子或将传统道德视为阻碍民族进步的文化痼疾，或将传统道德作为民族存续的救命稻草，都不能把握社会历史和传统道德的辩证关系。历史唯物主义认为，道德是阶级社会的意识产物。“传统在衰微、分解和消失。那么，是什么在维系并强化这些传统？又是什么在削弱并摧毁它们？扼要的回答是：相关美德的践行或没有践行。”[15]282中国共产党将中华传统美德具有时代性的实践智慧和文化因素与近代中国社会的革命实践相结合。在中国共产党第七次全国代表大会上，毛泽东提出新民主主义革命路线，建立“一个独立的、自由的、民主的、统一的、富强的中国”[16]304，“这条路线是从哪里来的呢？它是从中国自己的土地上生长出来的”[16]315。他引用《老子》中“不为天下先”，《左传》中“退避三舍”和《礼记》中“来而不往非礼也”等文化典故，将中华优秀传统美德的实践智慧融入新民主主义革命理论。

China’s excellent traditional virtues provide intellectual wisdom for Chinese-path modernization. Xi Jinping places great importance on applying China’s excellent

中华优秀传统美德为中国式现代化提供思想智慧。习近平非常重视将中华优秀传统美德应用于治国理政的实践，认为中华优秀传统美德蕴含丰富的思想精华和道德观念，“可以为人们认识和改造世界提供有益启迪，可以为治国理政提供有益启示，也可以为道德建设提供有益启发”[17]5。中国共产党创设的人民代表大会制度、人民政协制度、少数民族区域自治等制度，都能从华夏大地的历史文献中寻得实践经验和伦理基础。形成以法律为准绳，以道德为基石的治理体系，需要我们准确把握、积极弘扬传统美德的教化治理功能。习近平指出：“要治理好今天的中国，需要对我国历史和传统文化有深入了解，也需要对我国古代治国理政的探索和智慧进行积极总结。”[6]国家治理体系和治理能力的现代化，是中华优秀传统美德不断内化、深度阐释、推陈出新的结果。只有立足新时代中国特色社会主义实践，才能展现传统美德的永恒魅力；只有将中华优秀传统美德的政治智慧融入中国式现代化实践中，才能创造具有中国特色的人类文明新形态。

II. The Value Dimension of Inheriting China’s Excellent Traditional Virtues in the New Era

二、新时代传承中华优秀传统美德的价值维度

Marx held that “men, consciously or unconsciously, derive their ethical ideas in the last resort from the practical relations on which their class position is based — from the economic relations in which they carry on production and exchange.”[18]470 Morality divorced from the individual and the social relations in which he is situated, divorced from the community, is rootless duckweed. According to the differences in social relations and moral categories, China’s excellent traditional virtues can be divided into such levels as personal virtue, family virtue, professional virtue, social public virtue, political virtue, and diplomatic moral righteousness. Xi Jinping has proposed: “To understand great virtue, observe public virtue, and be strict in private virtue, to be an upright person and do clean things.”[8]8 “Investigating things to acquire knowledge” (格物致知) is a key concept from the Confucian classic *The Great Learning*, referring to the process of studying phenomena to attain knowledge.32 Inheriting and carrying forward China’s excellent traditional virtues in the New Era fully manifests the unique value concepts of traditional virtues and integrates them with a governance system possessing Chinese characteristics.

马克思认为：“人们自觉地或不自觉地，归根到底总是从他们阶级地位所依据的实际关系中——从他们进行生产和交换的经济关系中，获得自己的伦理观念。”[18]470离开个人及其所处的社会关系、离开共同体的道德是无根之萍。根据社会关系和道德范畴的不同，可以将中华优秀传统美德分为个人品德、家庭美德、职业道德、社会公德、政德和外交德义等层次。习近平提出：“明大德、守公德、严私德，清清白白做人、干干净净做事”[8]32。新时代传承和弘扬中华优秀传统美德，充分彰显传统美德的独特价值观念，并与具有中国特色的治理体系相结合。

(1) Personal Virtue

（一）个人品德

Personal virtue is the starting point of ideological and moral construction. In China’s excellent traditional culture, personal virtue generally includes modesty and uprightness, valuing benevolence and observing propriety, being strict with oneself and engaging in cautious introspection while alone, ceaseless self-renewal and embracing all things with virtue, achieving tranquility and reaching far, being indifferent to fame and clarifying one’s aspirations, and so on. Xi Jinping points out: “Chinese traditional culture has always regarded self-discipline as the foundation and basis for conducting oneself, doing things, and holding office.”[19]145 Personal virtue is the core and source of personal cultivation and the primary link through which an individual enters society[20]1592. China’s excellent traditional culture holds that personal cultivation provides the value impetus for other moralities and occupies a more important cultural position. By enhancing personal cultivation to clarify the individual’s social identity, thereby clarifying the individual’s moral responsibilities and obligations and practicing moral values, this is the value orientation of personal virtue in traditional culture and also the ideological guide for the moral construction of a socialist society with Chinese characteristics. In the ideological and moral construction of the New Era, personal cultivation is forever the starting point, key point, and落脚点 [n] of social ethical education. Only by constantly tempering personal virtue and consciously inheriting traditional virtues can one live a life of quality.

个人品德是思想道德建设的起点。在中华优秀传统文化中，一般来说个人品德主要包括谦恭、正直，重仁爱、讲礼仪，严于律己、慎独自省，自强不息、厚德载物，宁静致远、淡泊明志，等等。习近平指出：“中华传统文化历来把自律看作做人、做事、做官的基础和根本。”[19]145个人品德是个人修养的核心和源头，是个人走入社会的首要环节[20]1592。中华优秀传统文化认为，个人修养为其他道德提供价值动力，具有更加重要的文化地位。通过提升个人修养明确个体社会身份，进而明确个人道德责任和义务，践行道德价值，是传统文化中个人品德的价值导向，也是中国特色社会主义社会道德建设的思想指南。新时代思想道德建设中，个人修养永远是社会伦理教育的出发点、关键点和落脚点，通过不断锤炼个人品德，自觉传承传统美德，才能过有品味的生活。

Give play to the power of moral models, promoting the internalization of personal virtue in the mind and its externalization in action. In China’s excellent traditional culture, personal morality and ability are dialectically unified and mutually reinforcing. “There are three things universally esteemed under Heaven: rank, age, and virtue. At court, rank is supreme; in the village, age is supreme; in assisting the world and governing the people, virtue is supreme.”[21]49 Personal cultivation possesses stronger individuality, autonomy, and complexity. Compared with social constraints, cultivating personal virtue should give greater play to the exemplary power of moral models. Through the deeds of moral pioneers and models, moral values are transmitted, moral strength is gathered, and moral practice is promoted. Xi Jinping pointed out at the National Conference of Moral Models: “Moral models are an important banner for social moral construction. We must deeply carry out activities to study and publicize moral models, promote truth, goodness, and beauty, spread positive energy, encourage the masses to uphold virtue and do good, to admire the worthy and emulate them, encourage the whole society to accumulate goodness and become virtuous, to understand virtue and make it fragrant, and gather strong spiritual strength and powerful moral support for realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”[22]41 Moral exemplars are the individual expression of traditional virtues, conducive to manifesting the contemporary characteristics of traditional virtues, reflecting the practical significance of personal cultivation, and forming a social atmosphere of admiring the worthy and emulating them.

发挥道德模范力量，推动个人品德内化于心、外化于行。中华优秀传统文化中个人道德和能力是辩证统一、相辅相成的。“天下有达尊三：爵一，齿一，德一。朝廷莫如爵，乡党莫如齿，辅世长民莫如德。”[21]49个人修养具有更强的个体性、自主性、复杂性，相较于社会约束，培养个人品德更应发挥道德模范的榜样力量。通过道德先锋模范事迹传递道德价值、凝聚道德力量、促进道德实践。习近平在全国道德模范座谈会上指出：“道德模范是社会道德建设的重要旗帜，要深入开展学习宣传道德模范活动，弘扬真善美，传播正能量，激励人民群众崇德向善、见贤思齐，鼓励全社会积善成德、明德唯馨，为实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦凝聚起强大的精神力量和有力的道德支撑。”[22]41道德榜样是传统美德的个性表达，有利于彰显传统美德的时代特色、反映个人修养的现实意义、形成见贤思齐的社会风气。

(2) Family Virtue

（二）家庭美德

The family is a community naturally formed on the basis of blood relations. Excellent traditional Chinese culture places special emphasis on family virtues, stressing that filial piety is the foremost of all virtues, that elder brothers should be kind and younger brothers respectful, that husband and wife should treat each other with mutual respect, that elders should lead by example, that all should work together in harmony, and that there should be order between old and young, and so on. Traditional culture contains both timeless values of family harmony and outdated feudal ethical codes of the Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues [4]4 The Three Cardinal Guides (三纲) and Five Constant Virtues (五常) are core Confucian ethical principles: ruler guides subject, father guides son, husband guides wife; and benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and fidelity.; it includes both human care that has been renewed with modernization and traditional concepts that have lost their vitality as social and family structures have changed. To inherit the family virtues in excellent traditional Chinese culture, it is necessary to take the essence and discard the dross, to excavate the contemporary value of traditional family ethics, and to integrate traditional family virtues with Marxism and with the theory and practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era.

家庭是基于血缘关系自然形成的共同体。中华优秀传统文化格外注重家庭美德，强调百善孝为先，兄良弟悌，夫妻之间相敬如宾，长辈以身作则，和衷共济，长幼有序，等等。传统文化中既包含不朽的家庭和谐价值，也包含陈腐的封建纲常伦理；既包含随着现代化发展历久弥新的人伦关怀，也包含随着社会家庭结构变化而失去活力的传统观念。传承中华优秀传统文化中的家庭美德，需要取其精华，去其糟粕，挖掘传统家庭伦理的时代价值，使传统家庭美德与马克思主义相结合，与新时代中国特色社会主义理论和实践相结合。

Carrying forward the construction of family traditions [5]5 “Family traditions” (家风) refers to the moral atmosphere, values, and behavioral norms passed down within a family. and promoting the integration of traditional family virtues with Marxism requires continuous innovation in response to changes in family structure in the New Era. Marxism links the development of family ethics with human liberation. The *Communist Manifesto* states: “The bourgeois clap-trap about the family and education, about the hallowed co-relation of parent and child, becomes all the more disgusting, the more, by the action of the Modern Industry, all the family ties among the proletarians are torn asunder, and their children transformed into simple articles of commerce and instruments of labor.” [23] [6]6 The quotation is from Marx and Engels, *Manifesto of the Communist Party* (1848). The Chinese text cites a standard Chinese edition. Historical materialism critiques the alienated family ethics of class society from the perspective of promoting the free and comprehensive development of the individual. In the New Era, the family still holds a fundamental status as a community. Xi Jinping points out: “The Chinese nation has always valued the family… The traditional family virtues of the Chinese nation are engraved in the hearts of the Chinese people and integrated into their blood. They are an important spiritual force supporting the endless vitality and passing on of the torch of the Chinese nation, and a precious spiritual asset for the construction of family civilization.” [24] The Communist Party of China draws nourishment from excellent traditional Chinese culture and Marxism to build harmonious and healthy family relationships and to promote the integration of traditional culture with the construction of family traditions in the New Era. In the process of Chinese-path modernization, family relationships, influenced by social transformation and urbanization, have gradually moved away from the structure of the traditional blood-based extended family and regional large-scale clan, placing greater emphasis on individual living space and a convenient work-life rhythm, showing characteristics such as the expansion of privacy, reduction in scale, and simplification of structure. In the New Era, traditional family virtues still possess the basic function of constructing harmonious family relationships and guiding family ethical values. Promoting the construction of family traditions should continuously adapt to the needs of the times and the living conditions of the people, reflecting the excellent family ethical values of traditional culture and the cultural requirements of a harmonious society. Xi Jinping states: “If family traditions are good, the family will prosper, be harmonious and happy; if family traditions are bad, it will inevitably bring disaster to descendants and harm society” [24], and “We must pay attention to family, family education, and family traditions, seriously study the new situations and new problems emerging in the family sphere, and treat advancing family work as a long-term task to be grasped and implemented effectively.” [9]9 Mao Zedong, *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 163. The original citation [43]163 refers to a specific edition; the reference is to Mao’s discussion of Confucius’s moral views. In the construction of family civilization, the exemplary and vanguard role of Party members and cadres should be fully utilized, demanding of themselves according to excellent family ethical concepts, and setting an example in the construction of family traditions. “Party committees at all levels, government organs, and veteran cadres’ workers should, from the height of inheriting our Party’s and our military’s fine traditions and promoting the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, respect and care for the elderly and serve them wholeheartedly.” [25] In the construction of family traditions, it is particularly important to give play to the guiding role of the core socialist values. Efforts must be made to promote the integration of core values with traditional family virtues, passing down traditional virtues from generation to generation, and making the family a powerful force for promoting cultural-ethical progress and the construction of a harmonious society.

开展家风建设，推动传统家庭美德与马克思主义相结合，随新时代家庭结构变化不断创新。马克思主义把家庭伦理的发展与人的解放联系起来。《共产党宣言》提出：“无产者的一切家庭联系越是由于大工业的发展而被破坏，他们的子女越是由于这种发展而被变成单纯的商品和劳动工具。”[23]418历史唯物主义从推动个人自由全面发展的角度批判阶级社会异化的家庭伦理。在新时代，家庭仍然具有基本的共同体地位。习近平指出：“中华民族历来重视家庭……中华民族传统家庭美德，铭记在中国人的心灵中，融入中国人的血脉中，是支撑中华民族生生不息、薪火相传的重要精神力量，是家庭文明建设的宝贵精神财富。”[24]2中国共产党从中华优秀传统文化和马克思主义中汲取营养，构建和谐良好的家庭关系，推动传统文化与新时代家风建设相结合。在中国式现代化进程中，家庭关系随着社会转型和城市化的影响，已经逐步脱离传统社会血缘大家庭和地域性大宗族的结构，更强调个人生活空间和便利的工作生活节奏，呈现出私人性扩张、规模缩小、结构精简等特征。新时代，传统家庭美德仍然具备构建和谐家庭关系，指导家庭伦理价值的基本功能。推进家风建设应不断顺应时代需要和人民生活条件，体现传统文化的优秀家庭伦理价值与和谐社会的文化要求。习近平提出：“家风好，就能家道兴盛、和顺美满；家风差，难免殃及子孙、贻害社会”[24]5，“要注重家庭、注重家教、注重家风，认真研究家庭领域出现的新情况新问题，把推进家庭工作作为一项长期任务抓实抓好。”[9]26在家庭文明建设中，充分发挥党员干部先锋模范作用，以优秀家庭伦理观念要求自身，在家风建设方面作出表率，“各级党委、机关和广大老干部工作者，要从传承我党我军优良作风、弘扬中华民族传统美德的高度，尊老爱老、竭诚服务。”[25]在家风建设中，发挥社会主义核心价值观指导作用尤其重要。要着力推进核心价值观与传统家庭美德相结合，将传统美德代代相传，使家庭成为促进精神文明建设与和谐社会建设的强大力量。

(III) Professional Ethics

（三）职业道德

In excellent traditional Chinese culture, professional ethics embody the internal unity of personal cultivation, social relations of production, and cultural concepts. Cultivating good social professional ethics is not only an important means of creating social productive forces but also a practical need for individual development and progress. In both conduct and work, one must always learn from the masses, improve one’s own abilities and qualities, and strive to emulate those better than oneself.

在中华优秀传统文化中，职业道德体现个人修养、社会生产关系和文化观念的内在统一。培养良好的社会职业道德不仅是创造社会生产力的重要手段，也是个人发展进步的现实需要。做人、做事，都要时刻向群众学习，提高自身能力素质，做到见贤思齐。

Selecting the worthy and elevating the capable is an inherent requirement of excellent traditional Chinese culture. In ancient times, when productive forces were underdeveloped, society placed special emphasis on professional competence and skill level. In the moral concepts of early civilizations in both China and the West, “goodness” was interconnected with and mutually reinforcing of ability and accomplishment. “A good farmer does not stop farming because of floods or droughts; a good merchant does not stop trading because of losses; a scholar-gentleman does not slacken in the pursuit of the Way because of poverty.” [26] The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle proposed: “What is the good of each action and craft? Perhaps it is that for the sake of which everything else is done.” [27]

选贤举能是中华优秀传统文化的内在要求。在生产力不发达的古代时期，社会格外重视职业素养和能力水平。在中西方早期文明的道德观念中，“善”与能力、素养是相互贯通、相互促进的。“良农不为水旱不耕，良贾不为折阅不市，士君子不为贫穷怠乎道。”[26]17古希腊哲学家亚里士多德提出：“每种活动和技艺中的那个善是什么？也许它就是人们在做其他每件事时所追求的那个东西。”[27]16

Carrying out professional ethics education is of great significance for realizing the free and comprehensive development of the individual, promoting social production and the cultural-ethical progress of society, and is an inevitable requirement for advancing Chinese-path modernization. In the New Era, the socialist market economy environment with Chinese characteristics places greater emphasis on honesty and trustworthiness, orderly competition, and compliance with laws and regulations within professional ethics, reflecting both the fine Chinese cultural tradition of esteeming virtue and honoring the worthy and the contemporary value of Chinese-path modernization. Xi Jinping proposes that in cultivating and practicing the core socialist values and promoting excellent traditional Chinese culture, we should actively carry out education in the “Four Virtues” [7]7 The “Four Virtues” (四德) refers to personal virtue, family virtue, professional virtue, and social virtue, a framework promoted in contemporary moral education. and place professional ethics in the first position [28]. The spirit of pursuing innovation, being industrious and courageous, and investigating things to acquire knowledge [8]8 “Investigating things to acquire knowledge” (格物致知) is a key concept from the Confucian classic *The Great Learning*, referring to the process of studying phenomena to attain knowledge. found in the professional ethics of excellent traditional Chinese culture should be combined with the contemporary innovation-driven development strategy, providing an inexhaustible spiritual driving force for realizing the people’s needs for a better life and laying the spiritual foundation of cultural confidence for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

开展职业道德教育，对实现人的自由全面发展、促进社会生产和社会精神文明建设具有重要意义，是推动中国式现代化的必然要求。在新时代，中国特色社会主义市场经济环境更加强调职业道德中的诚实守信、有序竞争、遵纪守法等，既体现中华文化崇德尚贤的优良传统，也体现中国式现代化的时代价值。习近平提出，在培育和践行社会主义核心价值观，弘扬中华优秀传统文化过程中，积极开展“四德”教育，并将职业道德放在首位[28]9。将中华优秀传统文化职业道德中追求创新、勤劳勇敢、格物致知的精神与当代创新驱动发展战略相结合，为实现人民对美好生活的需要提供不竭精神动力，为伟大复兴中国梦奠定文化自信的精神根基。

(IV) Social Morality

（四）社会公德

China’s traditional social structure, over the course of historical development, produced social morality concepts with diverse levels and rich connotations, pursuing neighborly relations based on virtue and goodwill, village virtues of charity and helping the distressed, a social atmosphere of simplicity, kindness, and peaceful living, and a sense of family-nation sentiment that “everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world.”

中国传统的社会结构在历史发展中产生了层次多样、内涵丰富的社会公德观念，追求以德为邻、亲仁善邻的邻里关系，乐善好施、扶危济困的乡里德行，淳朴善良、安居乐业的社会风气和天下兴亡、匹夫有责的家国情怀。

Promoting the core socialist values and building a socialist cultural power requires grounding in excellent traditional Chinese virtues, especially traditional social morality. The social morality inherited from excellent traditional Chinese culture can best embody the laws and wisdom of production and exchange in Chinese civilization, best reflect the inherent requirements of traditional culture in handling social relations, and best express the unique spiritual characteristics of the Chinese nation; it is an important component of the Chinese national spirit. Xi Jinping points out: “We must earnestly absorb the ideological essence and moral marrow of excellent traditional Chinese culture… deeply excavate and elucidate the contemporary value of excellent traditional Chinese culture, which emphasizes benevolence, values the people, upholds integrity, advocates justice, promotes harmony, and seeks common ground, so that excellent traditional Chinese culture becomes an important source for nurturing the core socialist values.” [1]1 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture. Excellent traditional Chinese virtues provide the basic value guidelines for social interaction and become the value soil for the spiritual home of the Chinese national community. To build a cultural power and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, it is necessary to integrate the construction of socialist cultural-ethical progress with the traditional Chinese concept of social morality, forming a good social atmosphere and demonstrating the inclusiveness and cohesion of Chinese civilization.

弘扬社会主义核心价值观、建设社会主义文化强国需要立足中华优秀传统美德尤其是传统社会公德。中华优秀传统文化传承的社会公德，最能够体现中华文明生产交往的规律和智慧，最能够反映传统文化处理社会关系的内在要求，最能够表现中华民族独有的精神特质，是中华民族精神的重要组成部分。习近平指出：“要认真汲取中华优秀传统文化的思想精华和道德精髓……深入挖掘和阐发中华优秀传统文化讲仁爱、重民本、守诚信、崇正义、尚和合、求大同的时代价值，使中华优秀传统文化成为涵养社会主义核心价值观的重要源泉。”[1]164中华优秀传统美德提供了社会交往的基本价值遵循，成为中华民族共同体精神家园的价值观土壤。建设文化强国，实现中华民族的伟大复兴，要把社会主义精神文明建设与中华优秀传统公德观结合起来，形成良好的社会风气，展现中华文明包容性和凝聚力。

Integrate traditional social morality into the socialist governance system with Chinese characteristics. Xi Jinping points out: The various schools of thought in Chinese history “all adhered to the principle of practical application, focusing on the educational function of culture to transform people, combining the education of individuals and society with the governance of the state, achieving a mutually reinforcing and promoting effect” [17]17 Tongxin (同心) is a common pseudonym used by editors of Chinese official media outlets, meaning “united heart” or “with one mind.”. In the process of the Party leading New China from the old society onto the path of Chinese-path modernization, the critical inheritance, creative transformation, and innovative development of traditional social morality have firmly maintained the common values and cultural roots of the Chinese nation. Today, in the process of social transformation, this is combined with the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, playing a unique role in the construction of socialist cultural-ethical progress.

把传统社会公德融入中国特色社会主义治理体系中。习近平指出：中国历史上的各种学说“都坚持经世致用原则，注重发挥文以化人的教化功能，把对个人、社会的教化同对国家的治理结合起来，达到相辅相成、相互促进的目的”[17]5。在党领导新中国由旧社会走向中国式现代化道路的过程中，对传统社会公德的批判性继承、创造性转化和创新性发展牢牢维系了中华民族的共同价值观和文化根脉，并在今天社会转型过程中与国家治理体系和治理能力现代化相结合，在社会主义精神文明建设中发挥独特作用。

In the social construction led by the Party in the New Era, the building of neighborly relations, the construction of rural customs, the fight against poverty, and social welfare undertakings all embody the value orientation of traditional social morality; they are the modern transformation and innovative expression of traditional social morality. Xi Jinping pointed out: “From ancestral family precepts of farming and reading handed down through generations, of fathers being kind and sons filial, to rural customs and folkways of neighbors watching over one another, of honesty and respect for ritual — all these are distinctive labels of Chinese culture, all carry the genetic code of Chinese civilization’s unbroken vitality, and all manifest the ideological wisdom and spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation.” [29]294 Carrying out the construction of rural customs is an important cultural project for building a new countryside; a civilized rural customs in the New Era, grounded in traditional virtues, manifests the eternal charm of traditional values. Xi Jinping pointed out: “Rural customs and civilization are an urgent task for rural revitalization. The focus is on promoting core socialist values, protecting and inheriting the excellent traditional culture of the countryside.” [30]259 In poverty alleviation work, the Party Central Committee likewise attaches importance to uniting social forces through traditional virtues, “inheriting the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation of watching over one another, working together in times of difficulty, and aiding the poor and distressed, guiding all sectors of society to care for the poor, to be concerned with the cause of poverty reduction, and to devote themselves to the actions of poverty alleviation.” [8]8 “Investigating things to acquire knowledge” (格物致知) is a key concept from the Confucian classic *The Great Learning*, referring to the process of studying phenomena to attain knowledge.136 Incorporating excellent traditional virtues into the cultivation of social morality in the New Era helps to consolidate the historical foundation, the mass foundation, and the moral foundation of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context, and provides lasting moral strength for Chinese-path modernization.

新时代党领导的社会建设中，邻里关系建设、乡风建设、脱贫攻坚和社会公益事业，都蕴含着传统社会公德的价值指向，是传统社会公德的现代转化和创新表达。习近平提出：“从耕读传家、父慈子孝的祖传家训，到邻里守望、诚信重礼的乡风民俗，等等，都是中华文化的鲜明标签，都承载着华夏文明生生不息的基因密码，彰显着中华民族的思想智慧和精神追求。”[29]294开展乡风建设是新农村建设的重要文化工程，立足于传统美德的新时代文明乡风彰显传统价值观的永恒魅力。习近平指出：“乡风文明，是乡村振兴的紧迫任务。重点是弘扬社会主义核心价值观，保护和传承农村优秀传统文化。”[30]259在扶贫工作中，党中央同样重视以传统美德凝聚社会力量，“传承中华民族守望相助、和衷共济、扶贫济困的传统美德，引导社会各界关爱贫困群众、关心减贫事业、投身脱贫行动”[8]136。把优秀的传统美德纳入新时代社会公德培育中，有助于夯实马克思主义中国化的历史基础、群众基础和道德根基，为中国式现代化提供长久的道德力量。

(5) Governing with Virtue

（五）为政以德

The Chinese nation has historically had a tradition of governing the country with virtue; only when the sovereign practices enlightened virtue can fraternal states interact with one another [31]332. In our country’s traditional culture, political virtue includes both the political cultivation and political integrity of those who govern, and also the position and method of the ruling class in governing the country with virtue. Generally speaking, political virtue in excellent traditional Chinese culture mainly includes being upright and incorruptible, loving the people and cherishing all things, restraining oneself and serving the public, and taking history as a mirror, among others. Xi Jinping pointed out: “Ancient China advocated that the people are the foundation of the state, that governance wins the people, that ritual and law are combined with virtue as the primary and punishment as the secondary, that the most important thing in governance is to obtain the right people, and that governing the country begins with governing officials.” [6]6 The quotation is from Marx and Engels, *Manifesto of the Communist Party* (1848). The Chinese text cites a standard Chinese edition.

中华民族在历史上就有以德治国的传统，君王施行明德，才有兄弟邦国来往[31]332。在我国传统文化中，政德既包含为政者的政治素养和政治操守，也包含统治阶级以德治国的立场和方法。一般来说，中华优秀传统文化中的政德主要包括清正廉洁、仁民爱物、克己奉公、以史为鉴，等等。习近平提出：“我国古代主张民惟邦本、政得其民，礼法合治、德主刑辅，为政之要莫先于得人、治国先治吏。”[6]

Promoting the combination of the innovation of traditional political virtue with the building of the cadre contingent. The attitude of being strict with oneself and advocating incorruptibility and frugality in official conduct, as found in traditional virtues, has enlightening significance for the Party’s self-re

推动传统政德创新与干部队伍建设相结合。传统美德中严于律己、崇尚清廉俭朴的从政态度，对党的自我革命具有启发意义。习近平指出：“要善于运用中华优秀传统文化中凝结的哲学思想、人文精神、道德理念来明是非、辨善恶、知廉耻，自觉做为政以德、正心修身的模范。”[32]传统美德包含的政治价值观，为推进从严治党，加强党风廉政建设提供丰富的文化营养，为作风建设提供传统美德熏陶，“抓作风建设要返璞归真、固本培元，在加强党性修养的同时，弘扬中华优秀传统文化”[33]11。通过自我反思、相互监督形成清廉正直的思想觉悟，坚守清正廉洁的纪律底线。

Promoting the integration of traditional political virtue innovation with institutional construction, and advancing the modernization of the governance system and governance capacity. In building the institutional system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, cultural resources can be drawn from traditional political values. Xi Jinping stated at the National Conference on Propaganda and Ideological Work: "A unique cultural tradition, a unique historical destiny, and a unique basic national condition have determined that we must follow a development path suited to our own characteristics." [1]1 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refers to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of China’s traditional culture.156 Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has deeply explored political wisdom from China's excellent traditional culture, answered historical questions, and promoted the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional political culture. When discussing consultative democracy, Xi Jinping pointed out: "Consultative democracy is a unique, distinctive, and original form of democracy in China's socialist democratic politics. It originates from the excellent political culture of the Chinese nation, which has long formed such concepts as the world being shared by all, inclusiveness, and seeking common ground while reserving differences." [34]15 The governance strategy of the Communist Party of China and the construction of the socialist institutional system with Chinese characteristics bear the genes of China's excellent traditional culture; they are the inheritance and development of the unique concepts of traditional political morality.

推动传统政德创新与制度建设结合，推动治理体系和治理能力现代化。建设中国特色社会主义制度体系，可以从传统政治价值中寻找文化资源。习近平在全国宣传思想工作会议上提出：“独特的文化传统，独特的历史命运，独特的基本国情，注定了我们必然要走适合自己特点的发展道路。”[1]156党的十八大以来，以习近平同志为核心的党中央，从中华优秀传统文化中深挖政治智慧，回答历史问题，推动传统政治文化的创造性转化和创新性发展。在论及协商民主时，习近平指出：“协商民主是中国社会主义民主政治中独特的、独有的、独到的民主形式，它源自中华民族长期形成的天下为公、兼容并蓄、求同存异等优秀政治文化。”[34]15中国共产党的治国方略和中国特色社会主义制度建设具有中华优秀传统文化的基因，是对传统政治道德独特理念的继承和发扬。

(6) Virtue and Righteousness in Diplomatic Relations

（六）邦交德义

The moral connotations and diplomatic righteousness of China's excellent traditional culture in external affairs mainly include independence and self-reliance, peace being of paramount value, mutual exchange of needed goods, and mutual learning among civilizations, among others. Promote the global vision of China's excellent traditional virtues and build good-neighborly and friendly regional relations. In traditional Chinese culture, "all under heaven" (天下) was composed of five zones: the royal domain, the noble domain, the pacified domain, the frontier domain, and the barbarian domain [31]185, which distinguished political order according to distance from the Central Plains dynasties. The Central Plains and surrounding ethnic groups formed a cultural pattern of intermingling through interaction. In border areas, despite diverse ethnic groups and different customs, "when the Central Plains followed the Way, they adhered to its teachings and civilization; when it did not, they attacked each other" [35]2531. The Central Plains still adopted a policy of moral transformation, promoting cultural exchange, displaying its strength, and making known its virtue and righteousness [36]3596. While promoting ethnic interaction through trade, tribute, and other forms, the Central Plains dynasties also actively maintained border stability and assumed the responsibilities of a major power. In the New Era, promoting the global vision of China's excellent traditional virtues is not only an important way to enhance ethnic unity and regional peace but also an inevitable requirement for enhancing the soft power of Chinese culture. Xi Jinping pointed out: "Continuously strengthen the cohesion of the Chinese nation and the influence of Chinese culture, and deepen exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations." [37] By telling China's story well, conveying Chinese values, building mutually beneficial and win-win regional relations, creating a favorable surrounding environment for modernization, and setting an example for maintaining international peace and regional security.

中华优秀传统文化在对外方面的道德内涵和外交德义，主要包括独立自主、以和为贵、互通有无、文明互鉴，等等。发扬中华优秀传统美德的天下情怀，建设睦邻友好的地区关系。在中华传统文化中，“天下”由甸、侯、绥、要、荒五服构成[31]185，根据与中原王朝的距离区分政治秩序。中原与周边民族在交往中形成了你中有我、我中有你的文化格局，在边疆地区，尽管民族多样、风俗有别，“中原有道则遵循教化，无道则相互征伐”[35]2531，中原依然采取德化政策，推动文化交流，展现中原强盛，晓喻中原德义[36]3596。通过商贸、朝贡等形式促进民族交往的同时，中原王朝还积极维护边疆稳定，承担大国责任。在新时代，发扬中华优秀传统美德的天下情怀既是促进民族团结、地区和平的重要途径，也是提升中华文化软实力的必然要求。习近平指出：“不断增强中华民族凝聚力和中华文化影响力，深化文明交流互鉴。”[37]通过讲好中国故事，传递中国价值，构建互利共赢的地区关系，为现代化建设营造良好的周边环境，为维护国际和平与地区安全作出表率。

Jointly promote peaceful development with a global vision and advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. Since ancient times, Chinese civilization has valued international exchange. In the Western Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions aimed to communicate customs and spread virtue to the four seas [38]2037; the Tang Dynasty's exchanges spanned Eurasia, showcasing the Chinese nation's spirit of helping the weak and needy, and its openness and inclusiveness [39]5317; in the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas also took as their purpose the promotion of moral transformation and the enhancement of exchanges, proclaiming the emperor's teachings and bestowing gifts upon the rulers of various states [40]5200. In China's excellent traditional culture, respecting other countries' cultures and pursuing pragmatic, win-win cooperation are the basic principles of state-to-state relations. In recent years, through cultural exchange platforms such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Party and the state have put forward a series of Chinese proposals with Chinese characteristics and Chinese style, integrating the wisdom of traditional Chinese virtues into the process of international exchanges, "promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese civilization, activating its vitality, and allowing Chinese civilization, together with the colorful civilizations created by the people of all countries, to provide correct spiritual guidance for humanity." [10]10 Engels, *Anti-Dühring*, in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 26, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2014, p. 247. The original citation [44]247 refers to this passage.340

以世界眼光共促和平发展，推动构建人类命运共同体。中华文明自古以来重视国际交流，西汉张骞通西域把沟通风俗、德致四海[38]2037作为目标；唐代交往贯通欧亚，展现中华民族扶弱济困，开放包容的风貌[39]5317；明朝郑和下西洋，也将宣传德化，增进交往作为宗旨，宣布天子教化，赐予各邦君主[40]5200。在中华优秀传统文化中，尊重他国文化、务实合作共赢是邦交的基本原则。近年来，通过“一带一路”等文化交流平台，党和国家提出了一系列具有中国特色、中国气派的中国方案，将中华传统美德智慧融入国际交往进程，“推动中华文明创造性转化、创新性发展，激活其生命力，让中华文明同各国人民创造的多彩文明一道，为人类提供正确精神指引。”[10]340

Promote the Chinese cultural concept of harmony and build a new form of human civilization. The concept of harmony is an important value proposition of China's excellent traditional culture. "Harmony is the universal path under heaven. When equilibrium and harmony are achieved, heaven and earth are in their proper positions, and all things are nurtured." [41]191 The ancients also applied the concept of harmony to state governance: "When the ruler is harmonious in virtue above, the people are harmonious and united below." [42]206 In the New Era, the concept of harmony serves not only as a value orientation for building a harmonious society but also as a cultural lubricant for enhancing international exchanges and promoting world peace. Practice has proven that China's excellent traditional virtues can provide important cultural guidance for cooperation between Eastern and Western values. Standing on the ground of China's excellent traditional culture and the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, we can answer important questions concerning the inheritance and development of human civilization, promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, anchor the value of Chinese civilization amidst the changes unseen in a century, and help build a new international order of openness, inclusiveness, and peaceful development.

弘扬中华文化和合思想，构建人类文明新形态。和合观是中华优秀传统文化重要价值主张，“和也者，天下之达道也。致中和，天地位焉，万物育焉。”[41]191古人还将和合观应用于国家治理中，“人主和德于上，百姓和合于下。”[42]206在新时代，和合观念既是和谐社会建设的价值指向，也是增进国际交往，促进世界和平的文化润滑剂。实践证明，中华传统美德能够为东西方价值合作提供重要的文化指引，站在中华优秀传统文化和中国特色社会主义实践立场上，回答人类文明传承发展的重要问题，推动构建人类命运共同体，在世界百年未有之大变局中奠定中华文明的价值锚点，助力建设开放包容、和平发展的新国际秩序。

III. The Scientific Attitude and Method for Inheriting China's Excellent Traditional Virtues in the New Era

三、新时代传承中华优秀传统美德的科学态度和方法

The creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional virtues in the New Era are based on the value stance, national characteristics, and historical inheritance of China's excellent culture.

新时代中华优秀传统美德的创造性转化和创新性发展立足于中华优秀文化的价值立场、民族特性和历史传承。推动传统美德的批判性继承和创新，做到不忘本来、吸收外来、面向未来，将中华优秀传统美德与马克思主义相结合，以中华优秀传统美德滋养社会主义核心价值观，为新时代理论创新和传统文化传承提供科学路径和不竭动力。

(1) Realizing the integration of Marxism with fine traditional Chinese virtues

（一）实现马克思主义与中华优秀传统美德相结合

Inheriting China’s excellent traditional virtues must be grounded in the Marxist ethical outlook. The ethical outlook of China’s excellent traditional culture is rooted in the underdeveloped productive conditions of ancient society; compared with modern ethics, it places greater emphasis on human cultivation and the successful practice of “the good,” and attaches importance to the practical significance of moral conduct. China’s excellent traditional virtues are highly secular and inductive, reflecting the ancient Chinese people’s emphasis on social production and historical experience, yet they lack the mature logical reasoning of modern ethics and require continuous theoretical refinement amid the complex ideological conflicts of contemporary society. Chinese Communists regard traditional virtues as part of China’s national conditions and attach importance to elucidating China’s excellent traditional virtues through the critical stance of Marxism. Mao Zedong once proposed, regarding Confucius’s moral outlook, that it should be examined through historical materialism, with attention to the dialectical wisdom in his ideas about name and reality, form and substance, and words and deeds.[9]9 Mao Zedong, *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 2, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 163. The original citation [43]163 refers to a specific edition; the reference is to Mao’s discussion of Confucius’s moral views. Engels pointed out that there is no universal morality suitable for all eras, nations, and circumstances; each nation and each class has its own morality.[10]10 Engels, *Anti-Dühring*, in *Marx and Engels Collected Works*, Vol. 26, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2014, p. 247. The original citation [44]247 refers to this passage. To fully bring into play the unique function of China’s excellent traditional virtues in value orientation and moral judgment in the New Era, it is necessary to adapt to the social conditions of the times under the guidance of the Marxist ethical outlook, innovate the moral discourse system, integrate the achievements of human civilization, and consolidate the subjectivity of Chinese culture.

传承中华优秀传统美德要立足马克思主义伦理观。中华优秀传统文化的伦理观立足于古代社会尚不发达的生产条件，相比现代伦理观更强调人的素养与“善”的成功实践，重视道德实践的现实意义。中华优秀传统美德具有高度的世俗性和归纳性，体现华夏先民对社会生产和历史经验的重视，但并不具备现代伦理观成熟的逻辑推理，需要在当代复杂的社会意识形态冲突中不断完善其理论系统。中国共产党人将传统美德视为中国国情的一部分，重视以马克思主义的批判态度阐发中华优秀传统美德。毛泽东曾经就孔子的道德观提出，应当以历史唯物主义考察，重视其中关于名与是，文与质，言与行等思想的辩证智慧[43]163。恩格斯指出，不存在适合一切时代、民族和情况的普世道德，每个民族和阶级都有自己的道德[44]247。充分发挥中华优秀传统美德在新时代的价值导向和道德判断中的独特功能，在马克思主义伦理观指导下适应时代社会条件，创新道德话语体系，融合人类文明成果，铸牢中华文化主体性。

Promote the integration of China’s excellent traditional virtues with the Party’s moral construction practice in the New Era, and develop a socialist moral outlook. Traditional virtues have provided rich cultural values for the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership of revolution and theoretical innovation. Mao Zedong used the concept of “seeking truth from facts” from the *Book of Han: Biography of Liu De, King of Hejian* to emphasize the importance of investigation and research,[11]11 Mao Zedong, *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 3, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 237. The original citation [45]237 refers to Mao’s use of the phrase “seeking truth from facts” from the *Book of Han*. and repeatedly mentioned seeking truth from facts in articles such as *On the New Stage*, *On New Democracy*, and *Reform Our Study* during the Yan’an period. Theoretical achievements such as the Party’s three work styles[12]12 The three work styles of the Chinese Communist Party: integrating theory with practice, maintaining close ties with the masses, and practicing criticism and self-criticism. are permeated with the wisdom of China’s excellent traditional virtues, demonstrating the high compatibility between Marxism and China’s excellent traditional culture. Xi Jinping pointed out: “The major proposition of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and the needs of the times itself determines that we must never discard the soul of Marxism, nor must we discard the root of China’s excellent traditional culture.”[13]13 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Symposium on the ‘Two Integrations’,” *Qiushi*, 2023, no. 17. The original citation [4] refers to this speech. In the New Era, inheriting China’s excellent traditional virtues and building socialist cultural-ethical progress complement each other; traditional virtues are both the value yardstick of socialist morality with Chinese characteristics and the cultural background of the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics.

推动中华优秀传统美德与新时代党的道德建设实践相结合，发展社会主义道德观。传统美德为中国共产党领导革命和理论创新提供了丰富的文化价值。毛泽东用《汉书·河间献王刘德》中“实事求是”的观点强调重视调查研究[45]237，在延安时期的《论新阶段》《新民主主义论》《改造我们的学习》等文章多次提到实事求是。党的三大作风等思想理论成果渗透着中华优秀传统美德的智慧，彰显马克思主义与中华优秀传统文化的高度契合性。习近平指出：“马克思主义中国化时代化这个重大命题本身就决定，我们决不能抛弃马克思主义这个魂脉，决不能抛弃中华优秀传统文化这个根脉。”[4]在新时代，传承中华优秀传统美德与社会主义精神文明建设相辅相成，传统美德既是中国特色社会主义道德的价值尺度，也是中国特色社会主义实践的文化背景。

Grounded in the changes unseen in a century in the world, grasp the theoretical innovation in ideological and moral development in the New Era. The promotion of the national spirit stems from the people’s understanding and acceptance of Chinese history and traditional culture.[14]14 The original citation [6] refers to a source not specified in the text; the sentence summarizes the general principle. To promote the Chinese national spirit and enhance the country’s cultural soft power in the New Era, we must understand the ideological background of China’s excellent traditional virtues as the values of Chinese culture. “The merits and virtues of the state are more revered than its city walls”[15]15 The original citation [46]729 is from an unspecified classical text; the phrase “国之功德，崇于城墙” is a classical allusion emphasizing the primacy of cultural virtue over physical fortifications. — since ancient times, the Chinese nation has regarded cultural confidence as the cultural foundation of national unity and long-term stability. The construction of core socialist values in the New Era and the building of a community of Chinese civilization must both clarify the subjective position of China’s excellent culture, laying the value foundation for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

立足世界百年未有之大变局，把握新时代思想道德理论创新。民族精神的发扬源于人民群众对中华历史和传统文化的理解接受[6]。新时代弘扬中华民族精神，提高国家文化软实力，要求我们了解中华优秀传统美德作为中华文化价值观的思想背景。“国之功德，崇于城墙”[46]729，中华民族自古以来就把文化自信作为国家统一和长治久安的文化基石。新时代中国特色社会主义核心价值观和中华文明共同体建设，都必须明确中华优秀文化的主体地位，为中华民族伟大复兴奠定价值基础。

(II) China’s Excellent Traditional Virtues Nourish the Core Socialist Values

（二）中华优秀传统美德滋养社会主义核心价值观

China’s excellent traditional virtues enrich the ideological foundation of the core socialist values. Xi Jinping emphasized that cultivating and promoting the core socialist values must be grounded in China’s excellent traditional culture: “A solid core set of values always has its inherent root.”[16]16 Xi Jinping, *Xi Jinping: The Governance of China*, Vol. 1, Beijing: China’s excellent traditional culture is the ideological source of the core socialist values, and traditional virtues and the core values echo each other ideologically. In Chinese culture, whether it is governing the state, educating customs, or achieving personal success, all are important links in moral cultivation, sharing a common value core and practical requirements. These excellent values are instructive for building the core socialist values. For example, the Chinese culture of “harmony” reflected in the saying “When filial piety and obedience become custom, harmony prevails both within and without, and the state is well governed — this is called great virtue”[17]17 Tongxin (同心) is a common pseudonym used by editors of Chinese official media outlets, meaning “united heart” or “with one mind.” is the cultural driving force for building a harmonious society; the Legalist thought manifested in “Distinguishing the law and following the law, if not governed then punished, because the law is respected”[18] represents China’s ancient tradition of rule of law; the patriotic sentiment expressed in “Worry before the world’s worries, rejoice after the world’s joys”[19] is the Song dynasty scholar-officials’ value cognition linking individual value with the fate of society and the state. The theoretical essence of China’s excellent traditional virtues has always connected the morality of the individual, society, and the state, interpenetrating the three levels of the core socialist values, and representing the ethical characteristics and value charm of China’s excellent traditional culture.

中华优秀传统美德丰富了社会主义核心价值观的思想底蕴。习近平强调，培育和弘扬社会主义核心价值观必须立足中华优秀传统文化，“牢固的核心价值观，都有其固有的根本”[1]164。中华优秀传统文化是社会主义核心价值观的思想源泉，传统美德与核心价值观在思想上前后呼应。在中华文化中，无论是治国理政、风俗教化还是人生成就，都是道德修养的重要环节，具有相通的价值观内核和实践要求。这些优秀价值观念，对建设社会主义核心价值观具有启发意义。例如，“教顺成俗，外内和顺，国家理治，此之谓盛德”[47]642体现的中华“和”文化，是和谐社会建设的文化动力；“辨法辟法，不治则刑之，尊法故也”[48]642彰显的法家思想，代表中国古老的法治传统；“先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐”[49]708抒发的家国情怀，是宋朝士大夫对个人价值与社会国家命运相联系的价值认知。中华优秀传统美德的理论精华，历来都是把个人、社会与国家的道德相连通，与社会主义核心价值观的3个层次相互贯通，代表中华优秀传统文化的伦理特质和价值魅力。

Inheriting China’s excellent traditional virtues is an important link in promoting the core socialist values. In Confucian thought, setting one’s will is the foundation of learning and the root of practice.[20] The value orientation of China’s excellent traditional virtues is an important motivational factor in promoting the practice of the core socialist values. Xi Jinping pointed out that promoting the core socialist values requires “diligent study, moral cultivation, clear discernment, and earnest practice.”[21] The process of the core values moving from understanding to mastery, from cognition to identification, and from thought to practice also embodies the methodology of self-cultivation in China’s excellent traditional virtues, containing the earnest teachings of Chinese sages on the unity of knowledge and action.

传承中华优秀传统美德是弘扬社会主义核心价值观的重要环节。在儒家思想中，立志是学习的根本、实践的根基[50]133。中华优秀传统美德的价值导向是推动践行社会主义核心价值观的重要动力因素。习近平指出，弘扬社会主义核心价值观需要“勤学，修德，明辨，笃实”[1]172-174。核心价值观从了解到掌握、从认识到认同、从思想到实践的过程，亦体现中华优秀传统美德修身养性的方法论，包含中华圣贤知行合一的谆谆教诲。

(III) Promoting China’s Excellent Traditional Virtues in the Practice of Building a Strong Country and National Rejuvenation

（三）在强国建设、民族复兴的实践中弘扬中华优秀传统美德

Grasp the people-centered stance in inheriting traditional virtues. The subject of traditional virtues is the individual within a specific cultural community; the inheritance and development of China’s excellent traditional virtues must be grounded in China’s excellent traditional culture and be people-centered. Xi Jinping pointed out: “Strive to realize the creative transformation and innovative development of China’s traditional virtues, guide people to yearn for and pursue a life of morality, respect for morality, and adherence to morality, and make every one of the 1.3 billion people a subject spreading Chinese virtues and Chinese culture.”[22] China’s excellent traditional virtues have their cultural origins in Chinese society; social moral construction must be based on the forms and ideological essence of traditional virtues. In transmitted texts, China’s excellent traditional virtues are usually manifested as practical experiences that conform to the inherent requirements of traditional culture, often carried by historical figures, events, stories, and sayings. Therefore, unlike Western modern ethics, which emphasizes social ideology and theoretical systems, the inheritance of China’s excellent traditional virtues cannot be separated from historical context, figures and events, and moral discourse; it is even more necessary to bring into play the role of historical classics, moral models, and exemplary deeds in contemporary moral construction, to carry moral charm through Chinese stories and to interpret moral value through moral exemplars. In the New Era, our Party attaches special importance to the encouragement and publicity of moral models. At the conference commemorating the centenary of the May Fourth Movement, Xi Jinping pointed out: “Young Chinese in the New Era should consciously establish and practice the core socialist values, be adept at drawing moral nourishment from the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, and feel the moral demeanor from heroic figures and role models of the times.”[23] Among ideological and moral models, Party members and cadres have played an exemplary and leading role, becoming inheritors, practitioners, and innovators of China’s excellent traditional virtues in the New Era. Party members and cadres set a good example of integrity and self-discipline, continuously promoting the traditional virtues to realize their contemporary value, so that the people feel as if bathed in a spring breeze, and Chinese traditional virtues exert a subtle and profound influence.

把握传承传统美德的人民立场。传统美德的主体是特定文化共同体中的个人，中华优秀传统美德的传承和发展必须立足中华优秀传统文化，以人民为中心。习近平指出：“努力实现中华传统美德的创造性转化、创新性发展，引导人们向往和追求讲道德、尊道德、守道德的生活，让13亿人的每一分子都成为传播中华美德、中华文化的主体。”[1]160-161中华优秀传统美德在中国社会有其文化渊源，社会道德建设必须立足于传统美德的形式和思想本质。中华优秀传统美德在传世文献中通常表现为符合传统文化内在要求的实践经验，往往以历史人物、事件、故事和言论为载体。因此，与西方现代伦理学强调社会意识形态和理论体系不同，中华优秀传统美德的传承离不开历史语境、人物事件和道德言说，更需要在当代道德建设中发扬历史经典、道德模范和先进事迹的作用，以中国故事承载道德魅力，以道德楷模诠释道德价值。新时代，我们党格外重视对道德模范的激励和宣传。在纪念五四运动100周年大会上，习近平指出：“新时代中国青年要自觉树立和践行社会主义核心价值观，善于从中华民族传统美德中汲取道德滋养，从英雄人物和时代楷模的身上感受道德风范。”[51]11-12在思想道德模范中，党员干部发挥了先进表率作用，成为了新时代中华优秀传统美德的传承者、践行者和创新者。党员干部做好廉洁自律表率，不断推动传统美德发挥时代价值，使人民群众如沐春风，使中华传统美德潜移默化、深入人心。

Innovating the concept of publicity to assist the continuation of traditional virtues. “Morality differs from custom; the latter only considers issues of appearance, preference, and convenience.”[11]11 Mao Zedong, *Selected Works of Mao Zedong*, Vol. 3, Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 1991, p. 237. The original citation [45]237 refers to Mao’s use of the phrase “seeking truth from facts” from the *Book of Han*.14 In the historical evolution of Chinese civilization, only those cultural elements that manifest cultural value and guide concepts and practice become virtues, while morality whose value function has weakened evolves into customs and habits, gradually disappearing or even becoming dross. The fundamental reason for the loss of vitality of traditional virtues lies in their inability to adapt to the development of social practice; in terms of ideological essence, it is the loss of the moral emotion that serves as the soul.[52]93 The creative transformation and innovative development of traditional virtues should promote the internalization of traditional virtues into the value identification of the masses, and stimulate moral subjects to actively practice moral requirements. Inheriting fine traditional Chinese culture requires taking its essence and discarding its dross, transmitting and developing those parts of traditional virtues that possess vitality and embody the value of the times and the needs of society, achieving critical inheritance, and excavating and innovating the fine values in traditional culture. Give full play to the unique role of fine traditional Chinese virtues in cultivating sentiment and nurturing values, and make it clear that the vitality of traditional virtues lies in their power of infection and appeal. Avoid instilling moral items and dogmatic propaganda. “Improve the mechanism for people-to-people and cultural exchanges, innovate the methods of people-to-people and cultural exchanges, give play to the role of all regions, departments, and sectors, and comprehensively use multiple methods such as mass communication, group communication, and interpersonal communication to showcase the charm of Chinese culture.”[32]202 By expanding publicity channels and establishing mechanisms for moral rewards and punishments, form a social trend that upholds morality, so that fine traditional Chinese virtues are engraved in the hearts of the people.

创新宣传理念助力传统美德赓续。“道德不同于习俗，后者只考虑外观、爱好、便利方面的问题。”[11]14在中华文明历史演进中，只有彰显文化价值、指导观念与实践的文化要素才成为美德，价值功能淡化的道德则演变为风俗习惯，逐步消失甚至成为糟粕。传统美德失去生命力的原因，根本在于不能适应社会实践发展，从思想本质上说，则是失去了作为灵魂的道德情感[52]93。传统美德的创造性转化和创新性发展，应当推动传统美德内化为人民群众的价值认同，激发道德主体主动实践道德要求。传承中华优秀传统文化要取其精华、去其糟粕，将传统美德中具有生命力、体现时代价值和社会需要的部分传承发扬，做到批判继承，发掘和创新传统文化中的美好价值。发挥中华优秀传统美德陶冶情操、培育价值观的独特作用，明确传统美德的生命力在于其感染力、感召力，切忌灌输道德条目和教条式宣传，“完善人文交流机制，创新人文交流方式，发挥各地区各部门各方面作用，综合运用大众传播、群体传播、人际传播等多种方式展示中华文化魅力”[32]202。通过拓展宣传渠道、建立道德奖惩机制，形成崇尚道德的社会风尚，使中华优秀传统美德印刻在百姓心中。

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心