Ancient Chinese people emphasized moral cultivation, and they considered moral integrity and trust as the most fundamental elements of self-cultivation, raising a family, governing a nation and bringing peace to the world.
 
From the process of heaven and earth having given birth and nurtured all things, the ancient Chinese people have seen the universal characteristic of truthfulness and non-deception. They called this characteristic "integrity." They stressed that human beings should pursue moral integrity and be in accord with heavenly principles. From the structure of the Chinese character, "trust" (pronounced as "xin"), one can see that this character is a combination of two characters, "human" (pronounced as "ren") and "human's words" (pronounced as "yan"). Therefore, the Chinese character "trust" means, "human's words are trustworthy." As a result, in Chinese culture there are the following sayings about "trust": "A promise is worth one thousand ounces of gold;" "Promises must be kept, and actions must be resolute;" and "A promise cannot be taken back once it is made;" and so on. There are many stories about ancient Chinese people being honest, trustworthy and keeping their promises.
 
For example, Confucius (551 – 479 BC) taught his students to hold such an attitude toward learning and knowledge, "What you know, you know, what you don't know, you don't know." That is, it is true knowledge when one acknowledges what one knows and admits what one does not know. One should not be presumptuous and should be modest. One should fit one's actions to the words, and "A gentleman takes it as a disgrace to let his words outstrip his deeds." According to Lun Yu (Analects of Confucius), when Confucius talked about how a person cultivates himself or treats others, he repetitively mentioned "trust," "An individual cannot establish him- or herself without honesty and trust." When Confucius talked about governing a nation, he said, "People cannot be governed without trust." He believed that "trust" was even more important than the military or food.
 
In the Northern Song Dynasty, when young Fan Zhongyan (989 – 1052 AD, a very famous scholar and prime minister in the Song Dynasty who had very high morality) was studying in Suiyang, he acquainted an alchemist. One day, the alchemist became seriously ill, and he asked someone to find Fan Zhongyan. He told Fan, "I have a secret alchemy recipe. My son is still young and I cannot teach him the secret skill. Now I will let you keep this secret recipe." The alchemist sealed, in a package, the secret recipe as well as one jin (about one pound) of platinum that he had made through alchemy, and he handed the package to Fan. He then died. Several years later Fan became an official whose role was to provide criticisms and suggestions to the government. He found that alchemist's son and told him, "Your father had a magical secret skill. When he passed away, you were still very young, and he let me keep this secret recipe for you. Now that you have grown up, and I should hand it back to you." He then took out that package that contained the recipe and the platinum and handed it to the alchemist's son. The seal mark was still intact, proving that the package had never been opened.
 
Fan Zhongyan's son, Fan Chunren (1027 – 1101 AD), likewise followed his father's ideals. When he governed Luoyang City, he brought blessings to the local community through his moral integrity and honesty. Because of his governing, "no one pocketed anything found on the road, and no families needed to bar their doors at night." One day in the region of Baisimapo, an old man sunbathed by a wall. Someone came to tell him, "Your yellow calf has been stolen." After hearing the message, the old man still sat there; he did not move at all, nor did he say a word. A moment later, another person came and told him again about the loss of the calf. The old man peacefully told that person, "You do not need to look for it. It must be someone who wanted to make a joke and has hidden it." The passersby felt strange and they asked the man, "Sir, your family has lost a cow. Others told you this again and again, but why don't you care about it." The old man smiled, "Since Mr. Fan has lived here, who would want to become a thief? This is in no way possible." Shortly after, the calf came back as expected.
 
There was another story about moral integrity and trust, which is called "Zhong Shiheng does not break his promise to the Qiang people." Zhong Shiheng (985 – 1045 AD) was a famous general in the Northern Song Dynasty. When he went to Qingjian City to guard the dynasty’s border, he visited the tribes of the Qiang people inside the border. Niujia Tribe leader Nu-E was stubborn and conceited, and he never obeyed the local regulations of the Song Dynasty. Zhong Shiheng made an appointment with Nu-E; Zhong would visit the tribe to convey greetings to the Qiang people. Then, unexpectedly, there was a big snowstorm in the evening, and it was very difficult to travel the next day. Furthermore, Nu-E's tribe was located in the remote mountains. Zhong's subordinates tried to persuade him to go there on another day. However, Zhong insisted on keeping his promise. Nu-E thought that Zhong would definitely not come in such conditions. Surprisingly, Zhong showed up, which made Nu-E admire Zhong very much. Nu-E quickly gathered his people to come to listen to Zhong's words. Ever since then, various Qiang tribes continued to follow Zhong. Since Zhong's army had not caused trouble for the local people, his army had won their hearts and had gotten along very well with the Qiang. The Qiang people called the army "Zhong's Army." Later whenever the Xixia (a warring state of the Song Dynasty) army came to invade the country, the Qiang people always immediately informed of the invasion, and they exerted effort to help Zhong's army. Thus, Zhong's army won every battle, which brought peace to the border region.
 
Integrity and trust are the fundamental principles that one should follow when one conducts oneself and lives in society. It is a basic requirement of human nature, human values, as well as human responsibilities. It is a virtue. It is even more so a responsibility. Ancient Chinese people often used the criterion of "extreme honesty" to restrict themselves, manage their relationships with others, and improve the morality of society.
 
诚信与责任
 
古人歷來重視道德修養，把誠信作為人道德修養最基本的內容，作為修身、齊家、治國、平天下的最基本的道德規範。

古人從天地生養萬物的過程中，看到了天地真實無妄、自強不息的特徵，就把這種特徵稱作「誠」。並由此推出人的行為準則：「是故誠者，天之道也；思誠者，人之道也」，指出了人應思誠而與天道相通。「信」從造字結構看，「人言為信」， 關於信的論述有「一諾千金」、「言必信，行必果」、「一言既出，駟馬難追」等。古人為人誠實、恪守諾言的例子比比皆是：

例如孔子教育他的學生對待學習的態度是：「知之為知之，不知為不知」。知道的就說知道，不知道的就說不知道，這才是真正的知，不自以為是，要虛心。說話辦事要言行一致，「君子恥其言而過其行」。孔子在《論語》中談個人修養和待人之道時多次說到「信」：「為人謀而不忠乎？」、「與朋友交而不信乎？」、「人而無信，不知其可也。大車無輗，小車無軏，其何以行之哉？」人無信則無以立，無以行。孔子在談到治理國家大事時說：「民無信不立」，認為「信」比軍隊、糧食還要重要。

北宋的范仲淹青年時在睢陽讀書，認識了一位姓李的術士。一天，那個術士得了重病，請人找來范仲淹說：「我這裡有一個煉金秘方，我的兒子年紀小，不能把點金術給他，現在我把這秘方交託給你。」術士把秘方和煉成的一斤白金封好交給范仲淹，就病故了。幾年後，范仲淹當了諫官，他找到那個術士的兒子，對他說：「你的父親會使用神奇的點金術，當年他過世的時候，因為你年紀還小，所以就托我先保管秘方，如今你已長大，應當把這個東西還給你。」於是就拿出那個秘方還有白金一起交給術士之子，那個密封的記號還保存完好，沒有被打開過。

范仲淹之子范純仁秉承父志，在洛陽為官時以誠信造福於民，當地路不拾遺、夜不閉戶。一次在白司馬坡，有位老人坐在牆邊晒太陽，有人來告訴老人說：「你家黃牛犢被人偷了。」老人坐在那裡動都不動一下，也不問一句話。過了一會，又有人來告訴他牛犢丟失的事，老人臉色平靜的對那人說：「你不要去找，一定是有人開玩笑，把它藏起來了。」經過這裡的路人感到奇怪，就走過去問他說：「老人家，您家中丟失了牛犢，別人一再告訴您，您為甚麼不管呢？」老人笑著說：「范大人住在這裡，誰願意當小偷？這是絕不可能的事。」不一會，牛犢果然回來了。

還有一個著名的誠信故事：「種世衡不失信於羌人」。北宋名將種世衡到青澗城戍邊時，巡視撫問境內羌族部落。牛家族首領奴訛倔強自負，從不服從宋朝地方管理。種世衡與他約定，次日到帳下慰問部族。誰知當晚下起了大雪，次日道險難行，而奴訛部落又處於偏僻的山溝，眾官勸阻種世衡改天再去，種世衡堅意踐約。奴訛以為大雪種世衡必不來，沒想到他頂風冒雪而至，感服，急聚族人聽命。此後，當地羌族相繼來歸。種世衡的軍隊秋毫無犯，深得人心，與羌民和睦相處，人稱「種家軍」。後來每當西夏軍犯宋，羌民即先通報，並傾力相助，因此宋軍每戰必勝，使邊境得安。

誠信是為人、處世之本，是對人的本性、人的價值、人的使命提出的基本要求，是一種美德，更是一種責任。古人常用「至誠」的標準來規範自己，協調人與人的關係，提高社會道德水準。