Acquiring new ideas while reviewing old knowledge
Gaining new ideas and insights through reviewing old knowledge is a well-known idea from The Analects of Confucius.
Generally, people may understand this idiom from two angles. One, reviewing old knowledge and acquiring new ideas operate in parallel: One can gain new inspiration while reviewing old knowledge. Two, reviewing old knowledge is the prerequisite for acquiring new ideas: One who does not review old knowledge will not be able to acquire new ideas. In this process, the new will replace the old, and the outdated will be abandoned.
Today, this idiom is used in a wider context, not just as a method for individuals to learn. Enterprises, organizations and countries can all apply the idea in making constant progress. It is used to explain the dialectic relations between the old and the new, the past and the present, the known and the unknown, and the enduring and the innovative.
In September 2014, Xi Jinping attended the opening of the International Conference Commemorating the 2,565th Anniversary of Confucius' Birth and the Fifth Congress of the International Confucian Association. He used this quotation in his address and emphasized that the knowledge passed down from generation to generation is a summary of important perceptions and experience regarding the relationships between human beings, society and nature, and the knowledge created today reflects contemporary wisdom and exploration. These two kinds of knowledge are both important to human development.
温故而知新
“温故而知新”出自《论语》，意为温习旧有的知识，并获得新的理解与体会。前人对“温故而知新”的理解主要有两种：其一，将“温故”与“知新”理解为并列的两方面，认为在“温故”的同时就逐步获得新知，“知新”在“温故”的过程中得以实现。其二，将“温故”理解为“知新”的前提与基础，认为没有“温故”，就不可能“知新”，“新”是“故”的进一步发展，并且摒弃了其中陈腐的旧见。在今天，“温故而知新”已经超出一般学习方法的范畴，被视作个体、企业、组织甚至一个国家自我成长的基本机理，涵盖旧与新、古与今、已知与未知、继承与创新等辩证思想。
2014年9月，习近平在纪念孔子诞辰2565周年国际学术研讨会暨国际儒学联合会第五届会员大会开幕会上引用“温故而知新”，强调前人传承的知识积累了人们历史上对处理人、社会、自然三者关系的重要认知和经验，今人创造的知识形成了人们应对时代问题的智慧和探索，这两方面的知识对人类继往开来都十分重要。