Classical Interpretation of Chinese Education

Author: Tian Zhengping Xiao Lang
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Publish Date: 2005-12-01
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Learning without thought is lost; thought without learning is perilous. To take in what is said without understanding is to be lost. To understand without learning is to be in peril. To be silent and yet to take in what is said, to learn without satiety, to teach without weariness—what have I to do with that? To review what one has learned and yet to find something new in it, one may become a teacher. —Confucius: The Analects
The ancient scholars must have had masters. The master is the one who transmits the way, imparts the profession, and removes doubts. Man is not born knowing; who can be without doubts? If one doubts and does not follow a master, those doubts will never be resolved. Those who live before me have surely heard of the way before me, and I follow them as masters; those who live after me may also hear of the way before me, and I follow them as masters. I follow the way, so why should I know whether they were born before or after me? Therefore, there is no high or low, no old or young, only the way, and where the way is, there is the master. Thus, disciples need not be inferior to masters, and masters need not be superior to disciples. Some may come to the way before others, and some may specialize in certain arts—this is all there is to it. —Han Yu: On the Teacher
Learn extensively, inquire deeply, think carefully, distinguish clearly, and act firmly. This is the order of learning. Learning, inquiring, thinking, and acting are the means to seek the truth. As for acting firmly, there are essentials in self-cultivation and in dealing with affairs and people. The essentials are as follows: Be loyal and trustworthy in speech, and firm and respectful in action. Control anger and curb desires, and turn to goodness and correct faults. These are the essentials of self-cultivation. —Zhu Xi: The Regulations of the White Deer Grotto Academy
What is the purpose of education? It is to make people complete individuals. What is a complete individual? One whose abilities are fully developed and harmonized. A person’s abilities are divided into two categories: the physical and the spiritual. To develop the body while withering the spirit, or to develop the spirit while exhausting the body, is not to be complete. A complete individual must have both the spirit and the body fully and harmoniously developed. The spirit is further divided into three parts: knowledge, emotion, and will. For these three, there are ideals of truth, beauty, and goodness: truth is the ideal of knowledge, beauty is the ideal of emotion, and goodness is the ideal of will. A complete individual must possess the virtues of truth, beauty, and goodness. To achieve this ideal is the task of education. —Wang Guowei: On the Purpose of Education
Teaching, learning, and doing are one thing, not three. We must teach by doing and learn by doing. The one who teaches by doing is the teacher; the one who learns by doing is the student. From the teacher’s perspective toward the student, doing is teaching; from the student’s perspective toward the teacher, doing is learning. When the teacher teaches by doing, it is true teaching; when the student learns by doing, it is true learning. If one does not focus on doing, teaching will not be teaching, and learning will not be learning. —Tao Xingzhi: Teaching, Learning, and Doing as One
—The Interpretation of Chinese Educational Classics carefully selects the representative works of 55 Chinese educators, including famous essays by Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Dong Zhongshu, Yan Zhitui, Han Yu, Zhu Xi, Wang Yangming, Yan Yuan, as well as Zhang Zhidong, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Yan Fu, Cai Yuanpei, Huang Yanpei, Tao Xingzhi, and Chen Héquin, among others.