Wind between willows

Author: Kenneth Graham
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. In recent years, 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.
An alternative way to say it: The purpose of children's literature is to lay a "spiritual foundation" for humanity.
This series, "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—those that provide humanity with a sound foundation of good character. They are books within books. I once called such books "King Books."
Let's first discuss the fundamental 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 transforming and purifying human nature. In the spiritual world of modern humanity, many beautiful and radiant 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 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 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 admitted that inherent human nature is far from being lovely and beautiful. In fact, it may be the opposite. Human nature is filled with a large amount of evil. 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. 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 a heart of 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 to help 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, in an instant, inject the elements of taste into the blood and soul of humans. 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, transformed our lives into lives of taste. Thus, life becomes pale and ordinary, and ordinary objects leap into something worth appreciating.
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 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—that is, 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.
I can't figure it out: What is wrong with people? Why do they avoid and denigrate beauty? What kind of mindset is this? Is it truly that literature is completely ineffective and has no obligation or responsibility to elevate the taste and refinement of a nation?
Let's 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's not possible. Without this foundation, human nature will 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 Minister of Education in the Republic of China, he proposed the idea of promoting 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 merely accepted as a principle for primary and secondary schools rather than as a national educational principle. Over time, the understanding of aesthetic education became increasingly narrow, until finally, it was 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 system.
Emotional education.
Classical literature has always entrusted itself to a core word: moving. Classical literature has spent centuries writing about moving stories. 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 advanced to where it is today, but it has also lost or damaged 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 been a source of widespread concern among anthropologists. One reason for this concern is the fading of compassion (they haven't yet developed a compassionate sentiment). We have seen that today's children seem to have little impulse to engage in such noble behaviors.
The signs show that the process of modernization is not perfect. The benefits that humanity enjoys today from the process of modernization 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, of course, include an important element: compassion.
If we consider these three fundamental 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, the balance of humanity.