Children by the Railway - Classic Childhood of Twin Sails

Author: (English) Edith Nesbit
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: Many years ago, at a national conference in Yantai, Shandong, I proposed a view: Children's literature writers are shapers of future national character. A few years later, I revised this concept and made a new definition: The mission of children's literature lies in providing humanity with a sound foundation of good character. I now prefer this statement because it is broader and more aligned with the spiritual world of children's literature. In other words, the purpose of children's literature is to lay a "spiritual foundation" for people. This series of "Classic Sailing Ship Children's Books" selects classics from world children's literature, which are undoubtedly a feast for the spirits of young people. These books are the kind I mentioned that can provide humanity with a sound foundation of good character. These books are books within books. I once called such books "King Books." Now, let us first discuss what the basic aspects of this so-called sound foundation of good character are—moral sense. The reason literature has been chosen by humanity as a spiritual form is that people discovered it could contribute to the transformation and purification of human nature. From its inception to the present, literature has played an immeasurable role in transforming and purifying human nature. In the spiritual world of modern humanity, many beautiful and luminous elements come from literature. In the wonderful qualities of human beings today, we can discern the traces left by literature with just a little reflection. Without literature, there would be no world today, no humanity today. Without literature, humanity would still be lost in vastness and dimness, still entangled in the confusion of ignorance, still surviving in a purely animalistic existence devoid of emotion and taste. Literature must have moral sense, and children's literature must have it even more. It must be acknowledged that inherent human nature is far from being so lovely and beautiful. In fact, it may be the opposite. Human nature contains a large amount of evil elements. These elements hinder humanity from advancing toward higher levels of civilization. To maintain the existence and development of humanity, the elite among humans realized that morality must be upheld in human society. The birth of this concept made it possible for humanity to progress toward civilization. Centuries have passed, and the meaning of morality has evolved and changed, but it has gradually settled into some fundamental and constant elements: selflessness, integrity, compassion for the weak, helping those in distress, opposing tyranny, resisting bullying, pursuing equality, yearning for freedom, respecting individuality, and nurturing benevolence. These moral banners, along with other spiritual forms (such as philosophy, ethics, etc.), effectively restrain the evil in human nature and continuously improve it.
Taste. Literature seems to have more power than any other spiritual form to help humanity cultivate taste. "The waves rise gently, white birds descend leisurely." "Sparse shadows slant across the clear water, faint fragrance floats as the evening moon fades." "The orioles also love the coolness of the new season, singing through the shadows of green mountains." With concise words, literature can instantly inject the elements of taste into a person's blood and soul. Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Tagore, Hemingway, Turgenev, Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, and Kawabata Yasunari—each generation of outstanding literary figures, with their noble and refined words, has transformed our lives into lives of taste. They have turned lifeless existence and mediocre objects into things worthy of our appreciation. Taste has changed human nature, elevating it in quality. And the cultivation of taste should begin with children. Taste belongs to the realm of aesthetics. My views have always been consistent. In my consciousness, there is something very important—I believe the power of beauty, the power of beauty, is no less than the power of thought. Even the deepest thought can become common knowledge, but only one thing never ages—beauty. However, in the current context of China, there is a very strange phenomenon—"beauty" has become an overly sentimental word. This is extremely strange. No matter how I think about it, I can't understand: What is wrong with people? Why do they avoid and denigrate beauty? What is the mindset behind it? Is it truly that literature is completely ineffective and has no obligation or responsibility in elevating the taste and refinement of a nation? Let us leave adult literature alone for now and let it be. But when it comes to children's literature, we must speak up. Without laying this foundation, it is not possible. Without this foundation, human nature would be very poor. The gap in aesthetic education is one of the great failures of Chinese education. This failure has far-reaching consequences. When Cai Yuanpei served as the Minister of Education of the Republic of China, he proposed the idea of promoting the five types of education (moral, intellectual, physical, worldview, and aesthetic) at the National Education Conference. Aesthetic education was included among these. However, the issue of aesthetic education sparked fierce debate and was almost rejected. Later, it was only accepted as a principle for primary and secondary schools, not as a national education principle. Over time, the understanding of aesthetic education became increasingly narrow, until it was finally reduced to being equated with art and music. In Cai Yuanpei's view, the five types of education formed a perfect system for cultivating a high-quality human nature. Moral, intellectual, and physical education were the lower half, while worldview and aesthetic education were the upper half. However, this upper half was cut off in the middle. China's education system became a flawed one.
Emotional Education. Classical literature has always entrusted itself to a core word: moving. Classical literature has spent centuries writing about moving things. But after the rise of modern literature, it no longer does this. Classical literature moves us precisely because of its spirit of compassion and its compassionate sentiment. Human society has rolled forward to this day and has gained much, but it has also lost or damaged much. It has lost and damaged many emotions—passion, enthusiasm, compassion—even children raised in this material and cultural environment (so-called "new humans") have been a source of widespread concern among anthropologists. One reason for this concern is the fading of compassion (they have not yet developed a compassionate sentiment). We have seen that today's children seem to have little impulse to engage in such noble behaviors. Various signs indicate that the process of modernization is not a perfect one. The benefits that humanity enjoys today from the process of modernization have come at a great cost. The weakening of emotions is a prominent example. We have asserted that literature lies in providing and creating a sound foundation of good character for the existence of human society. And this "foundation" must necessarily include an important element: compassion. If we consider these three basic aspects, the works selected for "Classic Sailing Ship Children's Books" are ideal models. They strike a balance among the three. This balance is also a balance of the human spirit, a balance of humanity.