College Chinese: A New Edition

Author: Qiao Gang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: "College Chinese" is one of the public courses in higher education. With people reflecting on the long-term lack of humanities education in universities, it has also become a carrier for expressing care for college students. As a responsibility, "College Chinese" should hold high the banner of the times, full of humanistic spirit and imbued with value sentiments, carrying forward the legacy of the past. As a mission, it must objectively recognize that "College Chinese" cannot alone bear such a heavy burden. Therefore, as its textbook, it should combine the functions of both a teaching guide and a reading text. The teaching guide focuses on effective communication and mutual understanding between teachers and students in the classroom, while the reading text guides students to expand their knowledge of society and life based on the historical and literary clues and learning methods provided. Based on this guiding principle of complementary teaching and learning, this book is titled "Newly Compiled" and is conceptualized as follows.
1. Integrating Literature, History, and Philosophy to Fulfill the Responsibility of Humanistic Care
Reviewing the history of university development, there have been eras of ivory tower isolation and eras closely tied to national politics and economics. Universities have evolved, and their paths have not been without difficulties, sometimes straying from the right course. In the ivory tower era, universities were overly transcendent of utilitarianism, intensely pursuing a noble spirit of the intellectual aristocracy and pure academic research, indifferent to social and economic needs, careers, and other practical considerations. In the societally-oriented era, many universities placed excessive emphasis on utilitarian values, leading to the acquisition of good technical skills for social careers through training that easily drains intellectual vitality. As a result, important qualities needed for mid-career and later stages of a profession are often artificially neglected in early education. This is also true for the Chinese language course. Originally, language was for form and literature for function, supposed to embody a unity of tool and humanity. However, in practice, it often leans too heavily toward "language" or "literature," with teachers becoming lost in it and students finding little interest. The "Newly Compiled" aims to restore Chinese language to its true nature, selecting texts with a cultural orientation that not only carry the significance of literary aesthetics but also trace and reflect on the history and culture of humanity, as well as philosophical thoughts on life, self, and society. The selected texts are merely cultural carriers, and whether the course teaching becomes a Chinese language class, a history class, or a philosophy class depends on the teacher's appropriate choice.
2. Taking Humanistic Spirit as the Main Thread to Grant Students Space for Exploration
Selecting texts based on history is always selective and incomplete. To compile a "selection of the best," which includes the countless achievements of the past while meeting the contemporary students' demand for novelty and modernity, the compilers can only take the path of "newly compiled": with humanistic spirit as the main thread, embracing both Eastern and Western cultures (with Chinese culture as the primary focus), and organizing the book into thematic units by genre and theme. The "Newly Compiled" is divided into six sections: Exploration, Self-Cultivation, Praise and Remembrance, Arts and Crafts, Nature, and Society. Each section is further divided into four units. The "Exploration" section aims to showcase the origins and development of human thought and the current level of understanding. The "Self-Cultivation" section advocates for a positive attitude toward moral cultivation, social conduct, and ideals, as well as emotions such as family, friendship, and love. The "Praise and Remembrance" section, through the praise and remembrance of national heroes and ordinary heroes in literature and life, calls for the return of heroic ideals and spirit. The "Arts and Crafts" section intends to use China's most typical literary, artistic, and garden landscapes as a starting point, while compiling Chinese literary and artistic theories, emphasizing the aesthetic connections between knowledge, emotion, and meaning. The "Nature" section, drawing on the descriptions, praise, and reflections of nature by predecessors, seeks to declare that nature is not only humanity's home but also its closest friend, even a mentor. The "Society" section is a summary of humanistic spirit, reflecting on traditional Chinese culture, educational thought, and historical perspectives, calling rationally for life planning, life pursuits, and social reform, as well as attention to the future and aspirations. While dividing chapters by genre and theme inevitably leads to overlapping themes between sections, the compilers must focus on the main points of each unit. Scholars, however, can and should use each text in multiple ways. As for teachers, they should be able to focus on teaching priorities while also paying attention to the connections between selected texts, making full and creative use of the textbook.
3. Adopting a Comprehensive Approach to Writing Style to Grant Students Wings of Imagination
The writing style of the "Newly Compiled" does not deliberately seek novelty or eccentricity but avoids blindly copying past methods, instead drawing on the strengths of others to serve educational and teaching goals. With the advent of the knowledge economy era, more universities are practicing or attempting to break down the barriers between the humanities and sciences: many foreign universities prioritize students' innovative perspectives on academic work and social experience as top choices; some domestic universities implement general education in liberal arts and sciences (or temporarily without specialization) for incoming students, followed by specialized teaching after one or two years based on actual conditions. This is a sign that some universities have recognized the responsibilities and missions universities should bear toward society. "The purpose of education is to make a person what he is, to turn him into himself. And this purpose of education, in its relationship to employment and economic progress, should not be to train young people and adults for a specific, lifelong profession, but to train them to be able to move as freely as possible between different professions and to always stimulate their desire for self-learning and self-training."