The Education of Love. Beautifully Illustrated Edition

Author: Duan Yingting, Zhang Zhuoming
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2007-01-01
Features: This book moved me more than Rousseau's Emile or Pestalozzi's The Drunken Wife. I first obtained the Japanese translation of this book four years ago and remember crying for three nights while reading it. Even later, while translating or casually reading, I was deeply moved and couldn’t help but tear up. These were not tears of sorrow, but tears of shame and gratitude. Beyond my role as a human being, I am already a father of two sons and two daughters at home and a teacher who has held a teaching position for over ten years in the field of education. In my daily life as a person, a father, and a teacher, reading this book made me feel as if a plain woman saw a beautiful one, and I couldn’t help but feel ashamed and tear up. The book describes the love between parents and children, the bond between teachers and students, the friendship between friends, the sense of belonging to one’s hometown, and the compassion for society. All of these are close to an ideal world. Though it is a mere illusion, it makes readers feel the essence of an ideal world, thinking that the world should be like this. Thus, I couldn’t help but tear up with gratitude. This book is generally considered a famous children’s book, but I believe it should not only be read by children but also serve as a general read. It is particularly recommended to parents and teachers who have direct contact with children, so that everyone may shed some tears of shame or gratitude. School education today is utterly empty. Merely changing the forms and methods like a merry-go-round to meet external demands, yet no one has ever paid attention to nurturing the essence of education. It’s like digging a pond—some say a square is better, while others argue a round one is better. They endlessly change, but no one pays attention to the essential element of a pond, which is water. What is the water of education? It is emotion, it is love. Education without emotion becomes a dry pond—whether square or round, it cannot escape being empty. Due to all these reasons, I had long wanted to translate this book. However, due to my busy schedule, it was delayed until last summer. Just as I was about to start translating with enthusiasm, my only sister passed away due to childbirth. Disheartened, I postponed it again. Later, a change of heart led me to resolve to translate this book in memory of my late sister, and I finally took the time to write it, serializing it in The Eastern Journal.,，,。 This book was originally titled Cora, which means "heart" in Italian. The original book had already been published in 300 editions by 1904, and translations exist in various countries, though the titles differ. I have both the Japanese and English translations. The English translation still uses the title Cora but adds the subtitle "A Diary of an Italian Schoolboy." The Japanese translation was renamed The School of Love. I have seen two Japanese translations—one titled Shinjin (the translator is forgotten, but I own the translation by Shigeo Miura titled The School of Love). If we use the original title Cora, it may not fully convey the content in Chinese. "A Diary of an Italian Schoolboy" seems less simple than The School of Love. However, since the book describes not only schools but also social and family situations, I decided to rename it The School of Love myself. The book was originally about emotional education, and I initially wanted to title it The Education of Emotions. However, I feared it might be confused with the novel The Education of Feelings by French author Jules Michelet, so I abandoned the idea. Although I compared the Japanese and English translations to ensure accuracy, as a children’s book, I feel ashamed that the translation is not fluid or vivid enough and needs further refinement. Unfortunately, I lack the time and ability to do so now. When this book is republished as a standalone volume, I have only had a quick review to correct any printing errors in the first printing and can only wait for the readers’ criticism. Hu Yuzhi, the reporter of The Eastern Journal, provided significant assistance in the publication of this book. My neighbors, Liu Xunyu and Zhu Peishan, were the first readers of this book and came to read each completed chapter, helping with corrections. The cover and illustrations were created by my neighbor Feng Zikai, all of which I will never forget.