The Wizard of Oz - Classic Childhood Twin Sails

Author: Frank Baum
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 the shapers of future national character. A few years ago, I revised this concept and made a new definition: The mission of children's literature is to provide humanity with a sound foundation of good human nature. I now prefer this statement because it is broader and more aligned with the spiritual world of children's literature. Another way to say it: The purpose of children's literature is to lay a "spiritual foundation" for people. This series of "Classic Sailing Ship Children's Books" selects classic works of 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 human nature. These books are books within books. I once called such books "King Books." Now, let's first discuss the basic aspects of this so-called sound foundation of good human nature—moral sense.
Literature was chosen by humanity as a spiritual form precisely because it was discovered to be beneficial for 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 radiant elements come from literature. In the exquisite qualities of human beauty today, we can discern the traces left by literature with just a little reflection. Without literature, there would be no world as we know it today, no humanity as we know it 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 a moral sense, and children's literature must have an even stronger moral sense. 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 is filled with a large amount of evil elements. These elements hinder humanity's progress toward higher levels of civilization. To maintain the existence and development of humanity, the elite have realized that morality must be upheld among humans. The birth of this concept made it possible for humanity to move toward civilization. Over the centuries, 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 need, 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 evils of human nature and continuously improve it.
Taste. Literature seems to have more power than any other spiritual form in helping humanity develop taste. "The waves rise gently, white birds descend leisurely." "Sparse shadows slant across the clear water, faint fragrance drifts in the dusk." "The orioles also love the coolness of the new season, singing over the shadows of green mountains." With concise words, literature can instantly inject the elements of taste into people's blood and souls. Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe, Tagore, Hemingway, Turgenev, Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, and Kawabata, one generation after another, with their noble and refined words, have transformed our lives into lives of taste. They have turned pale and ordinary life into something worth appreciating. Taste has changed human nature, greatly elevating it in quality. And the cultivation of taste should begin with children. Taste should belong to the realm of aesthetics. My view has always been consistent—I believe that the power of beauty, the power of aesthetics, 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 a very pretentious 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 really true that literature has no role or responsibility in elevating the taste and refinement of a nation? Let's leave adult literature alone for now. As for children's literature, we must speak up. Without laying this foundation, it is not possible. Without this foundation, human nature will be very poor. The gap in aesthetic education is one of the great mistakes of Chinese education. This mistake has far-reaching consequences. When Cai Yuanpei served as Minister of Education in the Republic of China, he proposed the idea of promoting the five types of education (moral education, intellectual education, physical education, worldview education, and aesthetic education) at the National Education Conference. Aesthetic education was included among these. However, it sparked fierce debate and was almost completely rejected. Later, it was merely accepted as a principle for primary and secondary schools, not as a national education principle. Eventually, 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 education, intellectual education, and physical education constituted the lower half, while worldview education and aesthetic education formed the upper half. However, this upper half was cut off in the middle. The Chinese education system became a flawed system.
Emotional Education. Classical literature has always entrusted itself to a core word: moving. Classical literature has spent centuries writing about moving people. But after the rise of modern literature, this no longer happens. Classical literature moves us precisely because of its spirit of compassion and its compassionate sentiment. Human society has rolled forward to this day, gaining much but also losing or damaging much. It has lost or damaged many emotions—passion, enthusiasm, compassion—even children raised in this material and cultural environment (so-called "new humans") have become 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 humanity enjoys today from 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 human nature for the existence of human society. And this "foundation" must necessarily include an important element: compassion. If we consider these three aspects—moral sense, taste, and emotional education—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.