Jian Cao, Zhifang Zhang

Jian Cao

August 31, 2025

Frugality, Thrift, Less is More, Pragmatism, Cultural comparison, Ethical reflection.

In the context of globalization, design education faces dual challenges of cultural identity crisis and insufficient innovative momentum. The urgent task for educational fields lies in drawing nourishment from traditional wisdom while addressing modern societal demands. As a core carrier of cultivating virtue and nurturing talents in higher education under the new era, ideological and political education must transcend the limitations of "generalized indoctrination" by deeply integrating professional characteristics with ideological-political elements to construct an educational model that combines intellectual depth and practical relevance. This study adopts a dual perspective—Mozi’s Eastern philosophy of creation and Mies van der Rohe’s Western modernist design—to initiate a cross-temporal ideological dialogue. On one hand, it focuses on the Mohist principles of "frugality in utility" and "technology for public welfare"; on the other, it analyzes Mies’ minimalist aesthetics of "Less is More" and its profound interpretation of industrial ethics. By horizontally comparing the similarities and differences between Eastern and Western design philosophies in functional rationality, technological ethics, and humanistic care, this research reveals the latent ideological-political genes embedded within them: from Mozi’s "non-aggressive" mechanisms to Mies’ democratized spaces, and from Zhuangzi’s "skill transcending into Dao" to modernism’s "form follows function," humanity’s exploration of design essence remains intertwined with social responsibility and cultural values. This study aims to transcend the instrumental tendencies of traditional design education, proposing a logical framework of "cultural comparison-value extraction-pathway transformation" to explore strategies for deeply integrating ideological and political education. By reconstructing course modules centered on "dialogue between traditional wisdom and modernity" and implementing teaching methods that parallel "ethical debates and innovative practices," it guides students to establish cultural confidence through historical depth, cultivate responsibility through technological critique, and comprehend sustainable development from ecological perspectives. Ultimately, this research provides theoretical support and practical paradigms for nurturing interdisciplinary design talents equipped with humanistic sensibility, global vision, and innovative capabilities.

© 2025, the Authors. Published by ISCCAC

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license