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 In this process, the new will replace the old, and the outdated will be abandoned.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.

溫故而知新

“溫故而知新”出自《論語》，意為溫習舊有的知識，并獲得新的理解與體會。前人對“溫故而知新”的理解主要有兩種：其一，將“溫故”與“知新”理解為并列的兩方面，認為在“溫故”的同時就逐步獲得新知，“知新”在“溫故”的過程中得以實現。其二，將“溫故”理解為“知新”的前提與基礎，認為沒有“溫故”，就不可能“知新”，“新”是“故”的進一步發展，并且摒棄了其中陳腐的舊見。在今天，“溫故而知新”已經超出一般學習方法的范疇，被視作個體、企業、組織甚至一個國家自我成長的基本機理，涵蓋舊與新、古與今、已知與未知、繼承與創新等辯證思想。

2014年9月，習近平在紀念孔子誕辰2565周年國際學術研討會暨國際儒學聯合會第五屆會員大會開幕會上引用“溫故而知新”，強調前人傳承的知識積累了人們歷史上對處理人、社會、自然三者關系的重要認知和經驗，今人創造的知識形成了人們應對時代問題的智慧和探索，這兩方面的知識對人類繼往開來都十分重要。