"Locally Colored, Knowledge And Action" - Central National School Motto Study

School motto is the condensing of a school’s educational philosophy and objectives, the concentrated manifest of school’s traditions and features, the soul of campus culture construction and also the core values, codes of conduct and ethical norms that should be followed by students, faculty and staff, which plays an important role in guiding various school work. School Motto research is of great significance for studying the educational philosophy, educational goals, traditions, the campus culture construction and other aspects of a school.As the highest institution of minority education in China, MUC has its unique educational philosophy and educational goals. Systematic study of MUC motto would contribute to clarifying the school’s educational objectives and development direction, enriching the connotation of the school’s running concepts, thus giving a better guide for the practice of running school. The history of MUC motto is in line with its development path. In the1940s, the motto of Yanan national Institute was "unity"; From the1950s to the1980s, that is,the period of the Central Institute for nationalities, although no explicit motto was put forward during this period, its educational goals had well inherited and carried forward the spirit of unity and truth-seeking spirit of the Yanan Institute for nationalities; After the Central Institute for Nationalities was renamed Minzu University of China In the1990s, the motto "unity, diligent, truth-seeking, innovation" was finally established. At the beginning of the21st century, MUC entered the ranks of the "211Project","985" project of national key university successively. Advancing with times, MUC worked out the recent motto "Diversity in unity, theory in practice".Utilizing the research methods of literature study, interview, questionnaire, this paper conducted field surveys and theory exploration on the connotation, the characteristics and the functions of MUC’s new motto "Diversity in unity, theory in practice" This motto is a premium selection under the rational organization of school managers. Through a scientific and democratic process, this motto achieves innovation and development both in content and form and it is rich in cultural heritage, distinctive in personalities and exquisite in expressions of language. The new motto well embodies the unity of humanistic spirits and scientific spirits, the fusion of modern thoughts and traditional cultures and plays a positive role in condensing school’s core values, guiding the direction of school development, standardizing the behaviors of teachers and students, promoting the construction of campus culture, and establishing school’s unique brand. Meanwhile, the motto still has room for improvement since there are some problems awaited to be solved in practice.In conclusion, the new motto of MUC"Diversity in unity, theory in practice"is an excellent motto which is rich in content,outstanding both in form and content and has far-reaching implication with distinctive features.