A few years ago, the college entrance examination essay featured a "person." If it were at that time, I would say: "A person" seems to be simply written with a stroke and a dot, but to be a person is not as simple as that; instead, it involves various complex relationships. However, nowadays, I personally believe that the essence of a person is as simple as the character itself.
This simplicity is not a superficial understanding of what is called simple, but rather we should seek its origin. The essence of a person is actually very simple; the great path that people pursue is built upon this essence. Just like the philosophers of the pre-Qin period, who stood on the foundation of national culture, which is the root, most of the philosophies learned later cannot escape this foundation. The same goes for people; the complex principles of the world and ways of dealing with things are actually established on a simple essence. Those principles should be extensions of the essence or specific interpretations of it. Starting from the fundamental principles of being a person and dealing with the world, one will naturally feel that being a person is not difficult.
Surely, there will be people who say something like, "Society is so complex; how can being a person be simple?" This viewpoint cannot be considered wrong, but it is also not entirely correct, because we cannot understand the internal core from the superficial aspects of society, just as a surgeon cannot perform brain surgery without expertise. Therefore, we must let specialists handle specialized tasks, allowing brain surgery experts to perform the operations. The complexity of society arises from human factors; various desires drive people to push this society forward, making it more complex. However, if we think from another perspective, lines are made up of points, and surfaces are made up of lines; society is also composed of individuals. If every person could be open and honest, society would present a different, simpler state, no longer elusive. The reality is that while we cannot say that everyone can start from the fundamental principles of being a person, we also cannot say that every individual in society is complex. After such a "yin-yang" harmony, we will naturally not find being a person very difficult.
In this discussion, it seems that I strongly support the theory of innate goodness, as I seem to believe that human nature is good, that people start from goodness, and that they begin from the foundation. However, I do not actually support the theory of innate goodness, nor will I discuss its correctness or argue that the theory of innate evil is correct. I personally believe that being a person should combine the views of the two wise men, Confucius and Xunzi. We must believe that the root of being a person starts from goodness, while also constantly correcting and educating, because after all, the most challenging part of a large tree's growth is its roots. We must provide space while also guiding.
The Chinese character "人" (person), formed by a stroke and a dot, represents both the appearance of a person and the meaning of being human. One character teaches us so much, yet it seems unremarkable; this is actually the unique charm of Chinese culture, isn't it? Reserved and implicit, yet always ready to bloom, the special and beautiful Chinese culture.
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