Fawn Bambi

Author: [Austrian] Felix Salten
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 offered 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. Another way to put it: The purpose of children's literature is to lay the "spiritual foundation" for humanity. This series of "Classic Children's Books from the Double-Masted Ship" selects the classics of world children's literature, which are undoubtedly a spiritual feast for 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 the basic aspects of this so-called sound foundation of good character—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 day, literature has played an immeasurable role in shaping and refining human nature. In the spiritual world of modern humanity, many beautiful and radiant elements come from literature. In the fine 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 as we know it today, no humanity as we know it today. Without literature, humanity would still be lost in vastness and dimness, still troubled by ignorance, still surviving in a purely animalistic existence devoid of taste and interest. Literature must have moral sense, and children's literature must have it even more so. It must be acknowledged that inherent human nature is far from being so lovely and beautiful. In fact, the opposite may be true. Human nature is filled with a significant amount of evil. 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 within humanity. The emergence of this concept made it possible for humanity to advance 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 principles, along with other spiritual forms (such as philosophy and ethics), effectively restrain the evils of human nature and continuously improve it.
Taste. Literature seems to have more power than any other spiritual form in cultivating humanity's sense of 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 through the shadows of green mountains." With concise words, literature can instantly inject the essence of taste into a person's blood and soul. 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 life's pallor and the mundane into something worth appreciating. Taste has changed human nature, elevating it in quality. And the cultivation of taste should begin in childhood. Taste belongs to the realm of aesthetics. My views have 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 commonplace, but one thing never ages—beauty.
However, in the current context of China, there is a very strange phenomenon—"beauty" has become an overly sentimental term. This is extremely strange. I simply cannot 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 in elevating the taste and refinement of a nation? Let us leave adult literature alone for now and focus on children's literature. We must address this issue. Without laying this foundation, human nature will be in dire straits. The neglect of aesthetic education is one of the great failures of Chinese education. This failure 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, intellectual, physical, worldview, and aesthetic) at the National Education Conference. Aesthetic education was included among these. However, it sparked fierce debate and was nearly rejected. Later, it was only accepted as a principle for primary and secondary schools, not as a national education policy. Over time, the understanding of aesthetic education became increasingly narrow, eventually being reduced to being synonymous with fine arts and music. In Cai Yuanpei's view, the five types of education formed a perfect system for cultivating a superior human nature—moral, intellectual, and physical education formed the lower half, while worldview and aesthetic education formed the upper half. Yet, the upper half was cut off. China's education system became incomplete.
Emotional education. Classical literature has always entrusted itself to a core word: moving. For centuries, classical literature has written about moving stories. But after the rise of modern literature, it no longer does so. Classical literature moves us precisely because of its spirit of compassion and its compassionate sentiment. Human society has evolved to this day, gaining much but also losing or damaging much. There has been a significant loss of emotions—passion, enthusiasm, compassion—even among children raised in this material and cultural environment (so-called "new humans") have raised concerns among anthropologists. One reason for these concerns is the fading of compassion (they have not yet developed a compassionate sentiment). We have seen that today's children seem to have little urge to engage in such noble behaviors. Various signs indicate that the modernization process is not perfect. The benefits humanity enjoys today from modernization come at a great cost. The weakening of emotions is a prominent example. We have asserted that literature exists to provide and create a sound foundation of good character for the existence of human society. And this "foundation" necessarily includes a crucial element: compassion.
If we evaluate these works selected for "Classic Children's Books from the Double-Masted Ship" based on these three fundamental aspects, they are ideal models. They strike a balance among the three. This balance is also a balance of the human spirit, a balance of humanity.