Chapter 21 Chinese Educational System and Educational Thought-9

Nine Now let's continue the educational thought.The entire history of Chinese thought can also be described as a history of educational thought.At least the mastermind, or center of gravity, or the point of departure and destination of all thoughts must be education.All Chinese educational thinking can be summed up in one sentence, saying: "Teaching people how to be a human being", which is the so-called principle of being a human being.Like Confucianism, Mohism, and Taoism, why don't they all talk about the principles of life.Even being an official in politics is just one of the principles of being a human being.Therefore, Chinese people must look at academics above politics.It also never values ​​pure thinking like the West, but must seek to complement each other and complement each other.All thoughts must come from the actual behavior of life, must also be verified and developed from the actual behavior of life, and finally must be the destination of actual life.Therefore, traditional Chinese thinking must have an educational component.A thinker in China must be an educator at the same time.The Chinese value a thinker not only for his thoughts and works, but also for his person and all his actions in actual life.Therefore, whoever belongs to a great thinker must become a great master at the same time.Later generations read his books, and they must know their teachers.This so-called self-obtained teacher is still friends with the ancients.If the thought is separated from the real life, it is not a thought.

This is true not only of Confucianism, but also of Mohism and Taoism.Confucius is teaching people how to be a Confucian, Mo Zhai is teaching people how to be a Mohist, Zhuang Zhou Laodan is teaching people how to be a Taoist, and they should lead by example.Others, such as Chen Zhongzi and Xu Xing, are all the same.The whole life of a person is the true expression and development of all the thoughts of a person.Therefore, the differences between the schools are not only in their ideology, but also in their actual behavior.Therefore, in China, there is no such thing as a thinker, and it is only called a master of one school.People today are all thinkers like Confucius and Laozi. If you separate thinking from real life, you will have lost the main spirit of its theory.If these people are also called philosophers, the distance is even further.As a result, one of the most important educational spirits in Chinese thought is obscure and unremarkable.

Therefore, behind Chinese thinking, there must be a whole living life inside.If you want to study Chinese thought, you should not only add the thinker's real life as a person, but also the scholar's own life, so that you can have real experience and real understanding.For example, Confucius said benevolence, which is considered by people today to be the most important center of Confucius' thought.However, Confucius said to Yan Zi: "Restraining oneself and returning to propriety is benevolence." This is a guide to practical behavior in life, not the definition of a special term in philosophy and a special concept as it is called today.In other words, this is Confucius teaching Yan Zi how to learn to be a benevolent person, rather than guiding Yan Zi how to think and research on the concept of benevolence or the philosophy of benevolence.Yan Yuan asked about his purpose, and Confucius said to him: "Do not see anything that is not in accordance with the propriety, do not listen to anything that is not in line with the propriety, do not speak anything that is not in line with the propriety, and do not act that is not in accordance with the propriety."To have true deeds is to have true knowledge.It is not like a philosophy, which can be deduced from various thinking methods of logical dialectics.The way is not far from people, and the way to be a person is in the body of the person.Don't look at, don't listen to, don't speak, don't move, this is close to Yan Zi.Confucius taught Yanzi only to teach him, that is, to govern himself with his own body.If you do what you do, you will gain something, and you will reach your own realm.This is the so-called way of Confucianism.Confucius answered other disciples' questions about benevolence, and this is also the case.One part, all should be read like this.At the beginning, it says: "Learning and practicing it from time to time, isn't it pleasant." Learning and practicing from time to time should be the reader's own way.As long as you practice it yourself, you will know whether you are warm or cold just like drinking water.Today, we only use new terms and new objectives such as Confucian ideology, philosophical viewpoints, etc. to study, and put the readers aside, then the spirit of Confucianism is not easy to obtain.At least it is separated by a thick film, which is difficult to penetrate.In short, a book is actually a kind of educational thought.Reading his book should be like listening to Confucius's ear, which is true.

After reading "Mozi", you should know how Mozi taught people to love both.After reading "Lao Tzu", you should know how Lao Tzu taught people to be kind, to be thrifty, and to not dare to be the first in the world.You should ask yourself how to learn the Three Jewels.After reading "Mencius", you should know how to be tempted and patient.If you read it, you should know how to live in the world with a carefree mind.All of these are the so-called "Tao" of various schools, and there must be some practical work in life, and there must be some educational spirit placed in it.Therefore, readers must also put themselves into it, and they can gain from it.If there is any gain, he himself is a person who has achieved the Tao, and he can use his gains to teach others.The way of teaching comes from the way of humanity, and the way of teaching is not extinguished, nor is the way of humanity.The reason why Chinese traditional culture can be long and vast, and it is renewed every day is because of this.People today like to use new ideas to evaluate old traditions, so Confucius, Mohist, Lao, and Zhuang have all become thinkers and philosophers like the West, but today we have another set of new ideas and new methods of education. Lead behind.In this way, the cultural accumulation of China for three or four thousand years will disappear and will not continue.This is a big problem, worthy of our vigilance and discussion.

In addition to the pre-Qin scholars, let us try to cite Zen Buddhism in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Neo Confucianism in the Song and Ming Dynasties as examples.It is said that when Da Modong came, he just faced the wall.One day, a monk Huike went to see Bodhidharma and asked him how to get peace of mind.Bodhidharma said: "Come with your heart, and I will rest with you." Hui Ke said that he had enlightenment, so he opened the Zen sect that has been practiced for hundreds of years.The world of Buddhism in the West has turned into the world of Chinese Zen.In fact, Bodhidharma's teaching is also to use his own way to treat his own body.Huike turned around and questioned his own heart, so he had a great understanding.These real lessons are in line with the spirit of traditional Chinese education.The popularity of Zen in Buddhism is not without reason.The patriarchs of the Zen sect are just saying a few words, teaching people not to understand the boundaries, and finally making people realize the Dao.Even though the way of Zen is still aimed at being out of the world, it is different from the ways of Confucianism, Mohism, and Taoism, but it has the same educational spirit and educational methods, so there is no big difference.

Although Song and Ming Confucianists strongly condemned Zen, there are also obvious similarities in the educational spirit and educational methods of the two sides.Brothers Cheng Mingdao and Yichuan traveled to Lianxi in Zhou when they were young, and Lianxi taught them to "seek Kong, Yanlechu". With just these five characters, they opened the door of Yiluo Neo-Confucianism.Ming Dao said: "I heard the language of Lianxi, and I chanted the wind and the moon at night and returned, which means I and Dianye." This is also like a kind of Zen machine.The truth of life is something you can find easily, and you can see it in retrospect.Entering from this body, there can be infinite transfers.