Explain the old state to assist the new life;
Very clear and gentle.
-Feng Youlan's motto
(This contract is written in 1987. At that time, the author was 92 years old, and his eyesight and energy were already very poor; But still struggling forward, relying on assistants to complete the new edition of China's Philosophy. The sentence "Explain the old country to help the new life" expresses the Book of Songs Daya Wang Wen: "Although Zhou is an old country, his life has changed." Regarding this sentence, the author once wrote in "Kang Youwei's Letter to the Principality": "I simplified these two poems into" New Life in the Old Country ". These four words are enough for a new stage of China's historical development. " "Old State" refers to China's long cultural tradition. "New life" refers to modernization and socialist construction. It is the author's lifelong ambition to "release the old country and help the new life". This sentence comes from Chapter 27 of The Doctrine of the Mean: "Therefore, a gentleman respects morality and studies, makes it broad and subtle, makes it extremely clear and moderate, learns from the old and salutes sincerely." "Yan" means noble character. The doctrine of the mean means impartiality, which is also called mediocrity. Confucianism regards the golden mean as the highest moral standard. This sentence is the realm that the author pursues all his life. This pre-sentence collection is stable and natural, accurately portraying the author's image, and it is very excellent. )