On April 3, 1938, National Northwest Associated University was established. In October, the school's Standing Committee adopted the school motto of "Being Honest, Diligent and Simple", which was hung in front of the auditorium together with the national motto of "Faith, Faith and Peace".

Gong means justice and fairness. "New Book of Taoism" has the saying that "it is public to be selfless at the same time, and private to be against public", and there is also a saying in "Book of Rites·Liyun" that "the path of the great road is the world for the public".

Sincerity means sincerity. Mencius said in "Mencius Li Lou Shang": "Being sincere is the way of heaven; being sincere is the way of man."

Diligence means hard work and effort. "The Analects of Confucius·Wei Zi" says, "If the four bodies are not diligent, the five grains will not be separated." Confucius Zang of the Han Dynasty wrote in "The Book of He Zilin" that "Acquisition must be gradual, diligence will lead to more", which means that acquisition must come from gradual accumulation, and only by diligence can you gain more.

Pu, originally refers to bark, but also refers to unprocessed wood. "Lunheng·Zhizhi" states that "those that can be cut without a knife or ax are called Pu". Simplicity also means honesty and simplicity. Lu Ji's "Feather Fan Fu" states that "the founder is always simple, but the one who decorates the end must be beautiful."

Li Jinxi, a professor at Northwest Associated University, a famous linguist, lexicographer, writing reformer, and educator, once wrote an article elaborating on the meaning of "honesty, diligence, and simplicity." He said that the cultivation of the school spirit of "honesty, sincerity, diligence and simplicity" corresponds to the excellent people's customs in the northwest: "publicity" means getting rid of selfishness and eliminating party struggle; "sincerity" is the way of heaven and earth, and the movement of heaven is healthy, and a gentleman When one constantly strengthens oneself, this is enough to get rid of weakness. Weakness comes from weakness, and sincerity is real; the people's livelihood is based on diligence, and diligence means not being poor. This is enough to get rid of poverty, and it is not only suitable for studying and studying; being diligent is to increase revenue, and simplicity is to limit expenditure. The meaning of simplicity is more than that, it is the opposite of cleverness and deception. In short, publicity is used to eliminate selfishness, sincerity is used to eliminate weakness, diligence is used to increase revenue, and simplicity is used to reduce expenditure.