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Confucian tenets of good conduct relevant to schoolchildren today
By Wan Lixin |
January 7, 2011, Friday
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NO truly sympathetic parents like to see how our children are driven by school tests.
But it is something of a consolation to know that my eight-year-old son started to learn Dizigui (Standards for Being a Good Student and Child) when he started first grade in September.
I know the teachings in the Dizigui are mostly obsolete, as they were composed several hundred years ago, but if he could learn by rote all these teachings, he would not be totally ignorant of his ancestors' outlooks and attitudes.
Dizigui is chiefly based on Confucian doctrines, beginning with "At home, be dutiful to your parents," and concluding with "After all the above are accomplished, study literature."
But recently the education authorities in Shandong Province banned departments and schools from recommending study of Dizigui and Sanzijing (Three-word Canon) in their entirety, for fear some aspects might "distort students' values and pollute their soul."
For instance, some disapprove of sage Mencius' mother's moving three times in search of a good neighborhood, saying it suggests "environmental determinism," and thus should be bowdlerized.
Celebrity scholar Qian Wenzhong has asserted that "under current conditions, a student totally reared on Sanzijing would be a social misfit."
Qian might be right, but the blame is more appropriately assigned to society, not Sanzijing or Dizigui.
As an educator, Qian might have heard that one of the primary functions of education is to yifeng yisu (to reform the ways and manners of the people), rather than to merely adjust to the evils of current conditions.
I also believe exposure to Dizigui might not be too dangerous.
The alarmists' condescending assertion is based on the assumption that our society is much less corrupt than our ancestors'.
I tend to believe that if our children could survive today's myriads temptations, they could probably be safely left with a copy of Dizigui or Sanzijing.
One of my colleagues told me that once he entered some key word with his son using a computer search engine, and the search elicited a number of pornographic pictures.
Angered and embarrassed, he reported the search engine to regulators for hosting such links.
But probably my colleague is needlessly worried.
Remember that our children have regularly been exposed to scantily clad women, whether in images or on the streets. If bowdlerizers recognize that fact of daily life, they might become more tolerant.
As a matter of fact, persistent enthusiasm for classics such as Dizigui or Sanzijing simply reflects the depth of frustration with our moral values.
My wife told me recently that her teacher (she is taking a MA course) in Dialectic Materialism is frankly bewildered about how our country should be characterized.
Desperate teachers and parents are seeking alternative ways to inculcate more relevant values in children.
In 2006 Mengmutang (an old-style school emphasizing thoroughgoing understanding of Confucian tenets) in Shanghai created quite a sensation with its simple curriculum.
The sensation prompted education authorities to close the school for "violating relevant legal provisions involving China's compulsory education."
That all tapped into the deep sense of frustration on the part of parents and educators.
Every parent has his or her own tale of woe.
On an average week day my eight-year-old son puts in nearly 10 hours just to go through routine school hours and homework, and it pains me to think he still has at least ten years and hundreds of tests ahead of him.
As parents part of our mission today is to make him more sensitive to scores.
For instance, this Tuesday he told me smugly that he got 99+20 in his maths exams, meaning he lost only one point, and correctly solved all the extra, more challenging questions.
Not bad? I hesitate whether I should congratulate him, or give him a solid telling-off.
I had already learned from a posting online that over a dozen of his classmates got 100+20, meaning my son was mediocre at best.
Our faith in scores could only be rivaled by our governments' faith in GDP.
But it is something of a consolation to know that my eight-year-old son started to learn Dizigui (Standards for Being a Good Student and Child) when he started first grade in September.
I know the teachings in the Dizigui are mostly obsolete, as they were composed several hundred years ago, but if he could learn by rote all these teachings, he would not be totally ignorant of his ancestors' outlooks and attitudes.
Dizigui is chiefly based on Confucian doctrines, beginning with "At home, be dutiful to your parents," and concluding with "After all the above are accomplished, study literature."
But recently the education authorities in Shandong Province banned departments and schools from recommending study of Dizigui and Sanzijing (Three-word Canon) in their entirety, for fear some aspects might "distort students' values and pollute their soul."
For instance, some disapprove of sage Mencius' mother's moving three times in search of a good neighborhood, saying it suggests "environmental determinism," and thus should be bowdlerized.
Celebrity scholar Qian Wenzhong has asserted that "under current conditions, a student totally reared on Sanzijing would be a social misfit."
Qian might be right, but the blame is more appropriately assigned to society, not Sanzijing or Dizigui.
As an educator, Qian might have heard that one of the primary functions of education is to yifeng yisu (to reform the ways and manners of the people), rather than to merely adjust to the evils of current conditions.
I also believe exposure to Dizigui might not be too dangerous.
The alarmists' condescending assertion is based on the assumption that our society is much less corrupt than our ancestors'.
I tend to believe that if our children could survive today's myriads temptations, they could probably be safely left with a copy of Dizigui or Sanzijing.
One of my colleagues told me that once he entered some key word with his son using a computer search engine, and the search elicited a number of pornographic pictures.
Angered and embarrassed, he reported the search engine to regulators for hosting such links.
But probably my colleague is needlessly worried.
Remember that our children have regularly been exposed to scantily clad women, whether in images or on the streets. If bowdlerizers recognize that fact of daily life, they might become more tolerant.
As a matter of fact, persistent enthusiasm for classics such as Dizigui or Sanzijing simply reflects the depth of frustration with our moral values.
My wife told me recently that her teacher (she is taking a MA course) in Dialectic Materialism is frankly bewildered about how our country should be characterized.
Desperate teachers and parents are seeking alternative ways to inculcate more relevant values in children.
In 2006 Mengmutang (an old-style school emphasizing thoroughgoing understanding of Confucian tenets) in Shanghai created quite a sensation with its simple curriculum.
The sensation prompted education authorities to close the school for "violating relevant legal provisions involving China's compulsory education."
That all tapped into the deep sense of frustration on the part of parents and educators.
Every parent has his or her own tale of woe.
On an average week day my eight-year-old son puts in nearly 10 hours just to go through routine school hours and homework, and it pains me to think he still has at least ten years and hundreds of tests ahead of him.
As parents part of our mission today is to make him more sensitive to scores.
For instance, this Tuesday he told me smugly that he got 99+20 in his maths exams, meaning he lost only one point, and correctly solved all the extra, more challenging questions.
Not bad? I hesitate whether I should congratulate him, or give him a solid telling-off.
I had already learned from a posting online that over a dozen of his classmates got 100+20, meaning my son was mediocre at best.
Our faith in scores could only be rivaled by our governments' faith in GDP.
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