Primary schools include Shuowen and Gu Xun. What are Shuowen and Gu Xun?

The so-called "primary school" of the ancients is the "learning for children" ("learning for adults") corresponding to the "university", also known as the traditional philology of China, which includes the philology of analyzing glyphs and studying syllables' phonology, and the exegetics of explaining the meaning-Shuowen and Guwen Training are not specific textbooks, but "primary schools".

Therefore, there is a difference between "telling stories" and "ancient teachings" (exegetical training).

In ancient times, the study of phonology of written exegesis was called primary school. Each character has three parts: 1. Glyph; 2. Meaning; 3. Pronunciation. In the Han dynasty, this difference was not significant. At the end of Song Dynasty, Wang Yinglin's Jade Sea has been divided into three types: systematic, exegetical and phonological. "Sikuquanshu" in Qing Dynasty divided primary school books into three categories: exegesis, word books and rhyme books.

Reading must first be literate, master the form, sound and meaning of words and learn to use them. When children entered school in the Zhou Dynasty, they first learned six books (Liu Jia refers to six groups of branches with simple strokes for children to practice Chinese characters. Six books refer to things, pictographs, sounds, meanings, notes and arguments. It was called "primary school" in the Western Han Dynasty and "primary school" in the Tang and Song Dynasties, hence the name "primary school".

"Primary school" originally refers to the primary school of aristocratic children. "Primary school" was first seen in Li Ji and Fu Bao: "The prince knows little, the girl enters the primary school, and the pupils learn the palace. ..... The ancients left home at the age of eight to learn small arts and do small jobs. " In the heyday of the slave society in the Western Zhou Dynasty, people were hierarchical, and only nobles could receive education at that time. Such schools should teach students to read. Xu Shen's "Shuo Wen Jie Zi Xu" says: "Li Zhou entered the primary school at the age of eight, protecting the teacher and teaching the country, and there were only six books." Duan Yucai's note: "The son of the country, the son of the doctor, the teacher's teaching, the treasure house's raising, the son of the country is also contemptuous. Six books are also a confluence of words and sounds. " As for the minor arts, the book Bao's Family in Zhou Li said: "Bao's admonition to Wang Zhidao, the son of Yu Guo, is to teach six arts: one is five rites, the other is six music, the third is five shots, the fourth is five controls, the fifth is six books, and the sixth is nine numbers." It is also "the instrument of the six religions: the first is the ability of sacrificial ceremonies, the second is the ability of guest ceremonies, the third is the ability of imperial court, the fourth is the ability of funeral ceremonies, the fifth is the ability of military ceremonies, and the sixth is the ability of chariots and horses." It can be seen that in the education of the Zhou Dynasty, primary school initially referred to learning six arts (small arts) and six utensils (bars), and later the meaning of primary school gradually narrowed, referring only to the "book" of one of the six arts, that is, specifically to the learning of language and writing.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cui Mang recorded in the "Four-person Monthly Order": "The first month: before the farming started, the children entered imperial academy, learned the Five Classics, and did not let go, and the young children entered the primary school." The meaning of "primary school" with words begins here.

The Tang dynasty inherited the Sui system, carried out the imperial examination and set up a book discipline. "The Book of the New Tang Dynasty on the Electoral System" says: "Thirty people learn calligraphy ... learn a book, a daily newspaper, know the current situation from time to time, read Mandarin, speak Chinese, Zilin, Sancang and Erya. For all books, the Book of Songs is limited to three years old, Shuowen is limited to one year old, and Zilin is limited to one year old. " It also includes the election law of calligraphy discipline: "Anyone who learns calligraphy must pass the oral test first, which means that he will try 20 pieces of Shuowen and Zilin, and pass 18 pieces first." It can be seen that calligraphy learning in the Tang Dynasty is actually a dual course of calligraphy and primary school, and primary school is more important. Wang Xizhi's philology book Primary School is recorded in Yi Wenzhi, a book of the new Tang Dynasty, which shows that Wang Xizhi is also a philology researcher.