Cultivating morality through good deeds
This term comes from Xun Zi (The Book of Xun Zi). It means that if one consistently performs good deeds, while the individual acts may be trivial, over time, one will cultivate lofty morality and achieve great virtue.
According to Xun Zi (c. 313-238 BC), also known as Xun Kuang, a thinker and educator of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), if everyone follows their innate nature, there will be endless disputes that cause disorder and chaos among the people, while one's virtue can be cultivated through education from an early age. If one's words and deeds always comply with the norms of rites, gradually one will become a devoted follower of virtues and rites and develop an inner consciousness of virtue.
When meeting the fourth group of nominees and winners of national ethical model awards in September 2013, Xi Jinping said: Paragons of morality are important banners for building public ethics. We need to carry out campaigns to publicize such paragons of morality and let people learn from them, foster the true, the good and the beautiful, and spread positive energy. We should inspire the people to esteem virtue, perform good deeds and emulate virtuous people. Moreover, we should encourage the whole of society to cultivate morality by practicing virtue and to exert a positive influence through ethical behavior. In this way, we will marshal strong inner strength and ethical support for realizing the Chinese Dream of national renewal.
积善成德
“积善成德”出自《荀子》，意为善行好事，长期积小善为大德，就会形成一种高尚的品德。荀子认为，仅仅依循于人的本性，只能导致对外物无休止的争夺，并使群体陷入无秩序的混乱之中；而人的道德有赖于后天的教化，人需要在言行表现上符合礼法的要求，并经过长期积累，逐渐形成对道德、礼法的认同，确立起内在的道德意识。
2013年9月，习近平在会见第四届全国道德模范及提名奖获得者时强调，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、明德惟馨，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。
