Chapter 34 Section Eight Examples of Family Education of Famous Officials in Song Dynasty

Song Taizu paid attention to culture and education, and asked the prime minister to use scholars.As a result, the family education of official families was based on taking the imperial examinations, and a social atmosphere emerged that no official did not pay attention to family education, and no family education did not seek fame.Once this trend was formed, coupled with the strengthening of the imperial examination system, it became an enduring tradition of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties with far-reaching influence. The family education of Fan Zhongyan, a famous prime minister in the Song Dynasty, can be said to be very representative.Fan Zhongyan, styled Xiwen, is a descendant of Fan Lubing, the Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty.Fan Zhongyan's father died when he was two years old, and his mother remarried to the Zhu family. He changed his surname to Zhu and named him Shuo.Later, when he knew his life experience, he bid farewell to his mother and stepfather with tears, and went to Yingtianfu (now south of Shangqiu, Henan) to worship Qi Tongwen as his teacher.During my studies, life was hard.In winter, when he was very tired, he would wash his face with cold water, and he often studied until midnight.He usually eats leftover porridge to satisfy his hunger, and children from rich families do not want to be classmates with him, but he takes pleasure in suffering.Because of his ambition, he worked hard to study the Six Classics, and later mastered the Confucian Classics and was good at rhetoric, and obtained a Jinshi background with excellent results.Since Fan Zhongyan became an official, he not only devoted himself to the Song Dynasty with the noble sentiment of "worrying about the world's worries first, and enjoying the world's joys later", but also used it as a family lesson to educate his descendants.For example, his eldest son Chunyou, at the age of 10, read books from various schools of thought, and wrote very beautiful articles.In order to promote Hu Yuan, an educator, to start a local government school in Suzhou, he sent Chunyou to the state school, and asked him to be an example of respecting teachers and studying diligently for the state students, so that the noble children of Suzhou Confucianism would change their bad habits of not respecting teachers.At that time, Fan Zhongyan was an official in Suzhou, and the family education conditions were naturally superior. The reason why he let his son enter the state school was to support Hu Yuan's reform of state school education with practical actions, and on the other hand, he paid attention to showing his own family education. Is an official.His sons Chunyou, Chunren, Chunli and Chunchun are all outstanding and independent from the world because of his good family education.Especially the second son Chunren, Fan Zhongyan not only cultivated it himself, but also invited the sages Hu Yuan, Sun Fu, Shi Jie, Li Gou (gougou) and others to carefully tutor him.Chunren often studied till night. In summer, he read in the tent with a lamp inside, and the roof of the tent was smoked black.Later, he was admitted as a Jinshi, an official to the prime minister, and he inherited his father's moral character of worrying about the world before him. He was honest, diligent and thrifty, and was praised by the world.In history, Fan Zhongyan cultivated the family tradition of officials and family with his honesty, diligence, thrift, and selflessness, and its influence was far-reaching.For example, the later minister Sima Guang and others used "Family Model" to admonish their children, and many of the contents followed the example of Fan Zhongyan's family education.

The famous writers Su Shi and Su Zhe in the Song Dynasty, their extraordinary literary achievements and noble morals are also inseparable from the family education of their parents.His father Su Xun, known as the "Da Su" in the history of literature, is not only famous for his articles, but also has a wide knowledge of classics, history and various schools of thought, which created good conditions for the cultural education of his sons Su Shi and Su Zhe.When Su Shi was 10 years old, his father traveled all over the world. His mother Cheng was in charge of his education. The books he read were not only Confucian classics, but also history books and famous scholars in the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, such as Laozi, Zhuangzi, Han Fei, Jia Yi, Lu Jia, Yang Xiong, The works of Dong Zhongshu and others are all widely read.His younger brother, Su Zhe, was two years younger than him and was also taught by his mother.Later, the two brothers were admitted to Jinshi at the same time, and their articles were commended by Song Renzong and Song Shenzong.According to historical records, Shenzong read and appreciated their articles in the palace. He forgot to eat when the food was on the table. ").Su Shi was upright by nature and repeatedly disobeyed the powerful. He only served as a county magistrate in his life, but Su Zhe became the prime minister.Although the two brothers are very different in their official careers, they both attach equal importance to their children's tutoring and both have achieved success.Su Shi's three sons, Su Mai, Su Xi, and Su Guo, were all good at writing articles, and they all entered official careers.Su Shi not only educated his son himself, but also taught his grandchildren.Just like Su Yuan, the grandson of his family, was lonely and poor when he was young. He studied diligently under the guidance of Su Shi and Su Zhe, and later grew up in "Spring and Autumn" and was good at writing articles.Huang Tingjian, a well-known writer at that time, first met Su Yuanlao, and after reading his articles, he was very surprised. He said that Yuanlao was "Su's talent", and praised Su Shi and Su Zhe for their contribution to his teaching.Later, Mr. Su Yuan was elected as a Jinshi, and the officials went to Dr. Guozi and Taichang Shaoqing, and some poems and essays were handed down to the world.It can be seen that Su's family education is good at emphasizing literature.

Almost none of the famous officials in the Song Dynasty did not pay attention to family education.However, the successful experience of tutoring in each family is different, mainly because the elders of official families have different understandings of the personality characteristics of their children and the methods of raising them.According to legend, Ouyang Xiu, a litterateur in the Northern Song Dynasty, lost his father at the age of four, and his mother Zheng taught him culture in person.The family was very poor, so Mrs. Zheng taught Ouyang Xiu to write on the ground with di grass stalks.This story was later called "Yu imitating painting grass".Yue Fei, a famous general in the Southern Song Dynasty, was said to have lost his father in a flood after he was born, and his mother also made a sand table to teach him to read because of her poor family.Later, when he was enlisted in the army, his mother-in-law taught him to be loyal to the emperor and patriotism. In order to make him remember the teaching forever, he had the words "serving the country with loyalty" tattooed on his back.The story of mother-in-law's tattooing has been popular for hundreds of years. It is not only a model of family education for the generals' families in ancient my country, but also a vivid portrayal of the patriotic family education of the working people in our country.