Abstract: The university motto brings together university culture and university spirit. University culture and university spirit live in the university motto， and evolve into an image which has a sense without a form. Such an image can be regarded as the spiritual dimension of the university motto. The birth of the university motto has a long history. The philosophical wisdom contained in the university motto can inspire the wisdom of the people. Literature and history share the same origin， and university motto and literature complement each other. The externalization of cultural taste promotes the development of aesthetic taste， which confirms that the spiritual dimension of university motto contains cultural attributes. Therefore， the spiritual dimension of the university motto is naturally related to Chinese philosophy， history， literature and aesthetics. This paper tries to analyze the four spiritual dimensions of the Chinese university motto， i.e. the length of history， the depth of philosophy， the temperature of literature and the thickness of aesthetics， to explore the positive effects of the Chinese university motto on the contemporary university culture， the construction of university spirit and the promotion of the all-round development of human beings.

Key words: university motto; university culture; university spirit; spiritual dimension