A research paper on Zhu Xi's moral education thought
Zhu Xi attaches importance to the important role of education in changing human nature. He explained the theory of human nature from the objective idealism of the monism of reason, and put forward the view that human nature is reason, that is, feudal moral norms of benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and wisdom. He said: "Sex is only reason, because it is inherent in people, so it is called sex."
In connection with the thought about the role of education, Zhu Xi advocates that the purpose of school education lies in "understanding human relations". He said: "The ancient holy king was set as a school to teach people all over the world. ..... there must be a bias to get rid of its temperament, a cover of material desires, a return to its nature, and an end to it. " In Zhu Xi's view, in order to overcome the "temperament bias" and get rid of the "material desire" to restore the goodness, we must "do our best". Therefore, he emphasized that "the father and son are close, the monarch and the minister are righteous, the husband and wife are different, the young and the old are orderly, and the friends are trustworthy. This person is also great. It' s all about this, order, learning and school. " In "Revealing Bailudong Academy", it is also clearly listed as "the purpose of teaching" and put it in the first place, pointing out that "scholars only learn this".
Starting from the idea that the purpose of education is "the ethics of the Ming Dynasty", Zhu Xi severely criticized the school education with the imperial examination as its purpose at that time.
He thinks: "The ancient sages taught people to learn, did they make them explain their righteousness and reason to cultivate their bodies, and then pushed themselves and others? They didn't just want to remember their affairs, write poems, and gain profits by fishing for fame." However, at that time, school education did the opposite. Scholars "sought books instead of reciting, exegeting, and writing words, just fishing for fame and gaining profits", which completely violated the original intention of "the learning of the first king was based on the ethics of the Ming Dynasty". He pointedly pointed out that the name of such a school "may or may not be superior to that of the king, but the reason why its teachers teach and its disciples learn is that they forget the roots and pursue righteousness, and have no intention of reverting to the king. Therefore, although the name of the school exists, it is actually not mentioned, and its effect is that the customs are getting worse and the talents are getting worse." Therefore, he called for the reform of the imperial examination and the reorganization of schools. In view of the fact that school education at that time neglected ethics and moral education, and induced students to "seek fame and gain", and in order to change the situation that "customs are getting worse and talents are getting worse", Zhu Xi re-stated and emphasized the idea of "ethical relations", which had certain positive significance at that time. Zhu Xi's educational thought is an important part in his complete theoretical system, and runs through his entire academic activities and practices it. In 1173, Zhu Xi wrote "A Record of Rebuilding Youxi Temple" and inscribed the plaque "Mingluntang" for Youxi Academy, which also reflected his educational thought. After Zhu Xi ascended the throne at the age of 19, he was an official at the local level for seven years (nine years in a row), served as a lecturer at the DPRK for 46 days, and devoted himself to giving lectures and preaching for more than forty years, writing books and making statements. Zhu Xi has been engaged in education and educating the people all his life. According to Ziyang Zhu's Jian 'an Spectrum, there are 321 candidates for Zhu Zi's examination, including Cai Yuanding, Zhen Dexiu and Peng Guinian, who not only have their surnames, but also attach their resumes. The educational thought of Ming Dynasty's ethics is best proved by himself. At the same time, his criticism of school education and imperial examination system at that time was also timely. Zhu Xi proposed that education should be divided into two stages: entering primary school at the age of 8 to 15, and entering university after 15. "Primary school students, learn its things; A great scholar learns what he learned in primary school. " Zhu Xi advocates that in primary schools, it is mainly to "teach with things", such as "the number of books shot by rites and music, and the loyalty of filial brothers" As for discovering and exploring things, it is the task of university education. "Universities are poor in their principles", "Primary schools are parents and pay attention to that matter directly, while universities are concerned about that principle in detail, so the parents are what they are, so the parents are what they are" (Volume 7 of Zhuzi Language). Therefore, if the primary school can get a good education, "it will make him feel better unconsciously, and he will be omnipotent when he gets longer and longer" (ibid.). Zhu Xi's educational ideas are inseparable from his educational teleology. His teleology of education is based on Confucian ethics, which holds that the purpose of education lies in the ethics of the Ming Dynasty, and the so-called "the learning of the ancient kings is based on the ethics of the Ming Dynasty". At the same time, he advocates that schools should cultivate talents who "explain righteousness and reason to cultivate their bodies". In "Revealing Bailudong Academy", he clearly pointed out: "To steal the ancient sages so as to teach people the meaning of learning, is it not to make them explain their righteousness, to cultivate their bodies, and then to push others, not just to remember their affairs as a chapter, but to gain fame and fortune?" In "Yushan Lectures", it is also said: "Therefore, sages teach people to learn, not to make people compile languages and create words, but to be a famous scholar, they must be disciplined, knowledgeable, sincere, upright, and self-cultivation, and to rule the country and rule the world can be justified." It fully shows Zhu Xi's purpose of running a school, which is also a major aspect of his educational thought. Considering the current nine-year compulsory education, it is worrying that many 15-and 16-year-old students drop out of school after finishing junior high school. Is there anything worth pondering about in our education system and school education?
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Moral education is the core of Confucian educational thoughts, and the essence of all Zhu Xi's educational thoughts is also concentrated here. Zhu Xi attaches great importance to moral education and advocates putting moral education in the first place in education. He said: "Virtue is important to the National People's Congress ... Scholars sincerely know that if they exert themselves on it, they can not only cultivate themselves, but also govern people and the country. Therefore, the ancient teachers must be first. " That is to say, virtue is of great significance to people, not only to cultivate one's morality, but also to govern people and the country by extension. Therefore, ancient educators gave priority to moral education. On the other hand, if we lack virtue and simply pursue knowledge, people will be like "wandering riders", lost their way and unable to find a home.
He often educates his students with Confucius' saying that "You are a gentleman's Confucian, but you are not a villain's Confucian", and he thinks that "this is the difference between ancient and modern scholars, and it is a thousand miles away, so it is necessary to judge it!" (Volume 121 of Zhuzi Language) He resolutely opposes people who "learn from sages and make a trip to the market". At that time, many scholars regarded learning as the ladder and capital of the imperial examination in China, and Zhu Xi was extremely opposed to it. He advocated the so-called "restoring justice to nature and eliminating human desires", which was essentially to educate students with Confucian morality and ethics, "so that the way to cultivate one's morality, keep one's family in order, govern the country, and level the world can be used by the court" (Volume 16 of the Book of Luo Guan Min). Zhu Xi always puts moral education in the leading position, and integrates moral education with intellectual education, which not only teaches students knowledge, but also teaches them how to be a man. In his view, primary education is the foundation and bacon's work, so it is particularly important to educate children on moral quality from an early age.
Zhu Xi believes that the ethics and morals that children must learn and master are all contained in Confucian classics, such as "sweeping and coping with the festival of advance and retreat, loving relatives and fearing the way of promoting teachers". "Tao is in the world, in fact, it is originally in the nature of destiny, and it is between the monarch, father and son, brothers, couples and friends. His writings were written by sages, but were kept in The Book of Changes, Poems, Rites, Music, and Spring and Autumn Annals (Book of Learning Books in Wuyuan County, Huizhou, Volume 18 of Zhu Wen's Official Documents). Therefore, Confucian classics are the basic content of primary education.
among a large number of writings written by Zhu Xi in his life, children's books account for a large proportion. For example, The Analects of Confucius, The Enlightenment of Yi-ology, Primary School, Four Books Notes, etc. are all children's books written by him personally. In particular, Primary School and Notes on Four Books have been used as orthodox primary school textbooks for feudal rulers in the late Song Dynasty and the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties for six or seven hundred years.
These children's books written by Zhu Xi put the promotion of Confucianism in the first place. For example, the book Primary School is compiled from the maxims, stories and admonitions about loyalty to the monarch, filial piety, chastity and family management in the Six Classics, historical biographies and Confucius' post-school works, which reflects the Confucian moral standards and code of conduct, as Zhu Xi himself said: "cultivate one's morality, prepare for primary school" and "learn from later generations, and look at the book of Primary School" (. Zhu Xi also formulated many moral education norms in "Revealing Bailudong Academy": "The purpose of the five religions: father and son are close, the monarch and the minister are righteous, the couple are different, the young and the old are orderly, and the friends are trustworthy." "The key to self-cultivation: loyalty, respect, punishment, and good deeds." "The key to doing things: just do what you want, not seek its benefits. Know its way, regardless of its merits. " "The importance of receiving things: don't do what you don't want, don't do it to others, do something wrong, and ask for yourself." And stressed that "scholars learn this" ("Zhu Wen Official Documents Collection" volume 74). Zhu Xi also said in "Advising Virtue and Industry": "Virtue means that when you see good, you must do it, and if you smell it, you must change it. Can cure their bodies, their families, their fathers and brothers, their children, their children, their children's servants, their politics and religion, their careers, their relatives and friends, their friends, their honesty, their generosity, their sustenance and their salvation. Can guide people to do good, can discipline people's mistakes, can seek things for people, and can gather things for the people. Can solve the struggle, can decide right and wrong. Can promote benefits and eliminate pests, and can be promoted to official positions. " If these "abilities" listed above can really be achieved, they will become a perfect person. Although this article is written by Zhu Xi, it is the basic content of Zhu Xi's moral education view.
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As for the methods of moral education, in Zhu Xi's view, the most prominent feature of adolescent moral education is "preconceptions". He believes that young people's thoughts are simple, and they are most easily influenced by all kinds of thoughts in society. Once they accept "heresy", they will encounter conflicts if they are taught Confucian ethics. However, "the end of indecent assault can't be forbidden from the outside, but can be forbidden from the inside" (Volume 12 of Continued Thoughts), so as long as we "sweep the way to cope with the advance and retreat, love the way to respect the relatives and friends of Changlong" and "talk about Xi Zhi when he is naive", as long as we "preconceived", we can avoid "the meaning of being invincible". Zhu Xi emphasized that after the baby fell to the ground, the education of the wet nurse was particularly important. When you are 6 years old, you should teach simple knowledge such as number and square name. 8-15 years old is the primary school stage. "When you are 8 years old, you are below the princes. As for Shu Ren's children, they all go to primary schools, and they should be taught to sweep away the festival of advance and retreat, and the rites and music should shoot the number of books" ("University Chapters"). Zhu Xi advocates that parents must strictly discipline teenagers and must not pamper them. If "arrogance and laziness are broken from childhood to fierceness" ("Primary School Jiayan"). Therefore, family education should not be relaxed at all. In order to facilitate education from childhood, Zhu Xi personally compiled a book "What Children Should Know" for children as a teaching material.
Zhu Xi inherited Confucius' view that "when you are young, it is natural, and when you are used, it becomes natural". He believes that as long as teenagers can follow certain etiquette rules and norms in their daily words and deeds, they will naturally form habits after a long time, and they will be able to abide by ethical norms when they grow up. It can be seen that cultivating teenagers' good moral habits is the key to the cultivation of children's moral quality.
how can we effectively cultivate teenagers' moral behavior habits? Zhu Xi believes that we should start with the specific daily affairs. The so-called "sages say a thousand words, teach people and do it from nearby" (Volume II of Zhuzi's Genre Collection). To this end, he advocates that the best way to cultivate teenagers' moral behavior habits is to concretize and organize social ethics, so that teenagers can comply with them, in order to make them "respond in a sweeping way, show filial piety, turn their backs on others" (Volume 76 of Zhu Wen's Official Documents). In Zhu Xi's Notes for Children, the daily habits and codes of conduct of children, such as clothes and shoes, manners and manners, dealing with people, sweeping and coping, reading and writing, have been specifically regulated according to Confucian standards, which is more detailed than today's primary code, and requires teenagers to follow it without violating it, faithfully perform it, and in the future, they will be "willing people" and even "enter the realm of great sages and gentlemen"
Zhu Xi's emphasis on teenagers' "behavior" does not mean that he does not attach importance to "knowledge". He believes that in order to form good moral behavior habits of teenagers, we must also instill social ethics into them at the same time, which is just as he pointed out: "For the sake of learning, practice is inherent. If you know but don't do it, honesty is the same as not learning. However, if you want to do it but you don't understand it, then those who practice it don't know what the result is. " (The Collection of Zhu Wen's Official Documents, Volume 59, Answer to Cao Yuanke) He vividly compared the relationship between behavior and knowledge with the relationship between eyes and feet: "Knowledge and behavior often need each other, if you have no eyes, you can't do it, and your feet can't see." ("Zhuzi Genre" Volume 9) Line and knowledge are interdependent. Four
Zhu Xi's methods of moral education can be summarized as follows:
One is determined. Zhu Xi believes that ambition is the aspiration of the heart and is very important for people's growth.
Therefore, he asked scholars to set up lofty aspirations first. "Ask to learn kung fu, what is the first? Yue: As I said before, it's only about people's self-determination. " When people have lofty aspirations, they have the goal of progress, and they can "go forward blindly, why not advance". If you don't aspire to it, the goal is not clear, and there is no motivation to move forward. "There is no power to be straight." He said: "The so-called aspirant is not to cover others, but to learn from Yao and Shun." He also said: "Scholars must be determined, and they must be saints before they can learn."
when it comes to respect. Zhu Xi emphasized "respect". He said: "The time to respect the word is the first meaning of the holy gate. It is thorough and cannot be interrupted in an instant." He also said: "The word" respect "is the reason why the sacred learning is completed from the beginning to the end. Being a primary school student can't help it, and there is no way to cultivate one's roots. Instead, I would like to sweep away the festival of advancing and retreating and the teaching of six arts. Those who are universities can't help it, and they can't develop their intelligence, study in Germany, and make contributions to Fu Mingde and Xinmin. " It can be seen that "respect" is an important moral cultivation method of Zhu Xi.
keep it for a day. The so-called "preservation" is the abbreviation of "intentional cultivation" Zhu Xi believes that everyone has innate goodness, but at the same time, he has temperament bias and material desire. Therefore, it is necessary to use the effort of "preserving" to carry forward goodness and invent the original heart. He said: "Now we must work hard, and we must be dignified and maintain, and we must look at the original." On the other hand, "preserving" is to prevent the loss of the original heart. "Sages say a thousand words, as long as people do not lose their true heart", "If the heart does not exist, there will be no master in one body". At the same time, from the fundamental task of moral education, "preserving and nurturing" is to converge people's hearts and settle them in righteousness.
a day of introspection. "Province" is introspection and "inspection" is procuratorial. "introspection" means often conducting self-reflection and inspection. Zhu Xi believes that a person should "examine all the time" if he wants to improve his moral cultivation. In his view, "mortal hearts, if they don't survive, they will die, and all of them will survive." Therefore, if you don't pay attention to the province, you will die unconsciously. Everything in the world is not right, but there is nothing wrong. Therefore, if you don't add the merits of careful observation, you will fall into evil without knowing it. " Therefore, in order to prevent people from "falling into death" and doing things "falling into evil", it is essential to conduct self-reflection and inspection frequently. This view of Zhu Xi shows that in moral education, he not only emphasizes the prevention of delay, but also attaches importance to correcting mistakes in the future.
do it every day. Zhu Xi attaches great importance to "practicing". "I don't want to learn from others, but I want to understand this and practice it." "Therefore, sages must teach people with poverty first and practice it to the end." What he said is "practicing", which requires that the ethical knowledge he has learned be put into his own practical actions and transformed into moral behavior. Zhu Xi's this