What was the teacher-student relationship like in ancient times?

I. Dignity of Teachers

In the thousands of years of traditional Chinese society, we have always respected the "respect for teachers", rulers also try to promote respect for teachers, and even the status of the teacher was lifted to the status of the ruler, that the prosperity of the country and the fate of the teacher are closely related, for example, "the country will rise, must honor the teacher and the teacher" ("Xunzi - the great strategy"). When a country is about to rise, the teacher must be honored and the teacher must be valued" (Xunzi - Da Liao).

Han Yu also vigorously publicized the status of the king in his "Teacher's Sayings", "where the teacher exists, the way exists". This idea of the dignity of the teacher gave the teacher a supreme social status like that of a monarch. As a result, the teacher-student relationship is similar to that of a ruler and a minister, which is why when parents take their children to private schools, the children have to do the three kneeling and nine kowtows to Confucius' tablet, and also to the teachers of the private schools to implement the three kneeling and nine kowtows ritual.

Second, "one day as a teacher, lifelong as a father"

In addition to the above will be placed under the status of the teacher of the state under the system of the ruler and ministers, but also will respect the teacher of the idea of the Road to the family ethical point of view, to give the emphasis on the relationship between the human family, appeared in the "one day as a teacher, lifelong as a father! The idea of "once a teacher, always a father" emerged, and the word "master" appeared as such. Therefore, the traditional family education of "respect for teachers" appeared, teaching children to respect the elders in the family, but also to respect teachers as they respect their elders, combining family education and school education together.

Three, both teaching and inspiring

The teacher, when teaching students, plays the role of knowledge dissemination, but also plays the role of thought leader. On the one hand, the teacher-student relationship is the subject-object relationship, in the teaching activities, the teacher as the main, the students as guests, "preaching, teaching, solving puzzles", the students are almost passive acceptance of the content of the teacher's teachings and listen to what they say.

Teaching is a process in which the teacher nurtures and waters the flowers of the students. On the other hand, education is characterized by triggering and inducing, and Confucius advocated that the role of the teacher is to inspire the students and mobilize their enthusiasm and initiative. "One does not want to speak without anger, and one does not want to speak without wanting. If you don't take three corners without lifting a corner, you won't be able to recover." Mencius also emphasized the importance of "self-acquisition, self-acquisition and self-learning", so that students can take the initiative to study and gain real knowledge.

So the ancient Chinese teacher-student relationship is both the order of its own, without losing the meaning of the essence of education, we can learn from.