8.15.1.1.1. Honour suicides in Chinese history (中国历史上的荣誉自杀, Qu Yuan, 屈原, Wu Zixu, 伍子胥)
As mentioned on Wikipedia, China has a long history of suicide for altruistic/moral/honour reasons in Confucian tradition, some of which are still celebrated to this day.
The Analects (论语, c. 475-200 BC) paragraph 15.9 says:
The Master said, The gentleman who is resolute and ren does not seek to live on at the expense of ren, and there are times when he will sacrifice his life to complete ren.
Mencius (book, 孟子 (书), c. 300 BC) paragraph paragraph 6A.10 says:
I love to eat fish; I also love to eat bear paws. If I can’t have both, I will forego the fish and eat the bear paws. I love life; I also love right. If I can’t have both, I will forego life and choose to do right. Life is truly something I love, it is just that there is something else I love more, and so I can’t hold on to life by devious means. And death is truly something I hate, it is just that there is something I hate more than death, and so there are dangers I will not avoid.
If a man loves nothing more than life, then won’t he use whatever means are required to hold onto it? If a man hates nothing more than death, then won’t he use whatever means are required to avoid danger? Yet there are things men won’t do in order to avoid danger and live, and from this we know that there are things men love more than life and hate more than death. It is not just worthy men who have such feelings, all men have them; worthies are simply those who do not lose them.
Notable historical figures who committed suicides are are still celebrated to this day include:
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These sound exactly like examples that Xi Dada (习大大, 2015) would want his army to keep in mind: ultimate sacrifice for the motherland.
As mentioned on Wikipedia, China has a long history of suicide for altruistic/moral/honour reasons in Confucian tradition, some of which are still celebrated to this day.
The Analects (论语, c. 475-200 BC) paragraph 15.9 says:
The Master said, The gentleman who is resolute and ren does not seek to live on at the expense of ren, and there are times when he will sacrifice his life to complete ren.
Mencius (book, 孟子 (书), c. 300 BC) paragraph paragraph 6A.10 says:
I love to eat fish; I also love to eat bear paws. If I can’t have both, I will forego the fish and eat the bear paws. I love life; I also love right. If I can’t have both, I will forego life and choose to do right. Life is truly something I love, it is just that there is something else I love more, and so I can’t hold on to life by devious means. And death is truly something I hate, it is just that there is something I hate more than death, and so there are dangers I will not avoid.
If a man loves nothing more than life, then won’t he use whatever means are required to hold onto it? If a man hates nothing more than death, then won’t he use whatever means are required to avoid danger? Yet there are things men won’t do in order to avoid danger and live, and from this we know that there are things men love more than life and hate more than death. It is not just worthy men who have such feelings, all men have them; worthies are simply those who do not lose them.
Notable historical figures who committed suicides are are still celebrated to this day include:
These sound exactly like examples that Xi Dada (习大大, 2015) would want his army to keep in mind: ultimate sacrifice for the motherland.