Emile (Volume 1 and 2) (Translated from Chinese Classics)

Author: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (French), translated by Li Pingru
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: Emile, or On Education, an important work by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778), a French bourgeois democrat and outstanding Enlightenment thinker. Written in 1757, it was first published in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1762. At the time of its publication, it caused a sensation throughout France and some bourgeois countries in Western Europe, exerting a profound influence. This book is not only Rousseau's monograph on bourgeois education but also his renowned work elucidating bourgeois social and political thought. Following the bourgeois revolutions in the Netherlands and England in the 16th and 17th centuries, 18th-century Western Europe was in a period of increasingly developed capitalism and the impending collapse of feudal society, with even deeper bourgeois revolutions on the horizon. This situation was particularly evident in France, which was a backward feudal autocracy. The arrogant slogan "L'état, c'est moi" (The state is me) by Louis XIV reflected this autocratic regime. Feudal nobles and clergy, backed by feudal monarchy and theocracy, imposed heavy oppression on the Third Estate, including the bourgeoisie, leaving them politically powerless. Economically, the nobles and clergy owned vast tracts of land and controlled fiscal and tax authority, brutally exploiting and plundering the Third Estate, especially the. However, with the development of capitalist production, the bourgeoisie's economic power grew, making them no longer tolerate their powerless status. The demand to oppose feudal oppression, overthrow the monarchy, and remove obstacles to capitalist development became a common call of the Third Estate. The works of Rousseau and other bourgeois Enlightenment thinkers reflected this demand. Emile specifically demonstrates Rousseau's opposition to the feudal education system and his exposition of bourgeois educational thought through the education of his hypothetical subject, Emile. Rousseau's educational philosophy stemmed from his natural philosophy. According to this view, he believed that humans are born free and equal; in the state of nature, everyone enjoys these inherent rights, but inequality, privilege, and servitude arise only after humans enter the civilized state, causing them to lose their natural essence. To rectify this unreasonable situation, he advocated "natural education," tailored to the natural development process of children, with the goal of cultivating "new men" for the bourgeois rational state. Emile embodies Rousseau's ideal of nurturing such "new men." Rousseau's so-called natural education means submitting to the eternal laws of nature and allowing the free development of the human body and mind. Therefore, he believed that the means of this education are life and practice, enabling children to acquire the knowledge they need through direct sensory experiences. He advocated the use of concrete teaching methods and visual instruction, opposing rote memorization of abstract texts. In the context of schools being subordinate to the church and religious doctrines restricting children's individual development, Rousseau's natural education can be seen as a revolutionary and progressive move. His pursuit of bourgeois "individual liberation" objectively aligned with the demands of social progress at the time. His proposed methods of concrete teaching and visual instruction, though simple, still hold certain reference value. However, Rousseau was an idealist "deist," and his advocacy of "child-centered education" based on children's personal interests and his one-sided emphasis on acquiring knowledge through personal activities, while neglecting systematic scientific and cultural education for children, paved the way for the later spread of pragmatic educational thought in capitalist countries. Closely linked to natural education, Rousseau also advocated labor education and the teaching of freedom, equality, and brotherly love, aiming to equip children with means to earn a living, prevent them from leading parasitic lives dependent on high-ranking officials, avoid servitude to the powerful, and enjoy the rights bestowed by nature freely, with all people being equal and mutually loving. Rousseau believed that only through such education could children's minds be spared from the stifling influence of feudal religious prejudices, enabling them to develop self-governance and physical strength early on while maintaining natural habits. When they reached adulthood, they would be able to choose a good system, operate a small plot of land or workshop without servitude, and pursue their own happiness. These educational ideas of Rousseau were undoubtedly a powerful critique of the feudal autocratic education and religious doctrines of the time, providing significant inspiration for the Third Estate, especially the bourgeoisie, to rise against feudal autocracy. However, these education methods could at most cultivate spontaneous petty bourgeoisie. As Engels pointed out, "The great thinkers of the 18th century, like all their predecessors, could not transcend the limitations imposed by their own era." Rousseau was no exception. Although his educational philosophy represented the interests and demands of the bourgeoisie and played a progressive role in opposing feudalism, his own class limitations prevented him from understanding the science of class and class struggle. Consequently, he failed to recognize that education has always been class-bound since the division of classes, serving the interests of a particular class. For this reason, his theory of natural education was later exploited by many monopolistic bourgeois educators, who promoted bourgeois education as "classless" and "apolitical," serving the imperialist deception of the working people. This book is divided into five volumes. Based on children's age stages, Rousseau proposed principles, content, and methods of education for different age groups. In the first volume, he focuses on physical education for infants under two years old to ensure their natural development. In the second volume, he argues that children between two and twelve years old are still in a mental "sleep" period, lacking the ability to think, and thus advocates sensory education for this age group. In the third volume, he believes that adolescents aged twelve to fifteen have gained some experience through sensory perception, so the main focus is on intellectual education for them. In the fourth volume, he argues that young people aged fifteen to twenty are beginning to enter society, making moral education the primary focus. In the fifth volume, he believes that due to the needs of natural development, the education of young men and women, as well as their love education, is the main focus. Rousseau's idea of dividing education into stages based on age characteristics undoubtedly represents a major progress in the history of education, offering invaluable insights for the later development of bourgeois pedagogy, especially educational psychology. However, it should be noted that this division and the separation of physical, intellectual, and moral education into distinct methods are unscientific. Emile also had a certain influence on China's educational circles. As early as 1923, it was translated into Chinese from an English abridged version by Wei Zhaoji and published by the Commercial Press. This edition is based on the full French original and is published in two volumes. To balance the length of the two volumes, the portion of the fourth volume On Religious Tolerance and beyond is included in the second volume. An appendix includes a chronology of Rousseau's life and a glossary of names and place names, for reference.