What are China's thoughts about teachers' morality in ancient times?

The Chinese nation has respected teachers and valued education since ancient times, and regarded this tradition as the basis of social civilization and progress. Teachers are not only teachers who teach, but also teachers who preach and teach. Their morality and behavior have been strictly restricted. "Every way to learn, teacher yan is difficult. If the teacher is strict, then Tao Zun; Respect the Tao, then the people know how to respect learning. " This is what people usually call "the dignity of being a teacher." Society attaches importance to education and respects teachers. First of all, teachers are highly respected and strict with themselves. Therefore, teachers must start from themselves, cultivate self-cultivation, and integrate knowledge with practice in order to run education well and win social respect. This simple truth, until today, is still worthy of our in-depth thinking.

The earliest standard of teachers' morality

Ancient scholars must have teachers. In ancient times, the profession of teacher appeared very early. But what was the teacher like at that time, and what was his manners? Because there is no literature record, it is difficult for future generations to verify it.

According to legend, during the reign of Emperor Yao, Qi was appointed as "Situ". The title "Situ" later evolved into an official position. According to its original meaning, it is to manage and educate students, that is, teachers now. Why did Yao Shun appoint a "Stuart"? Because at that time, "the people were not close, and the five products were not inferior"-the social atmosphere was not correct and the world was in chaos. This is a very serious problem, so we need someone to solve it. How to manage? At that time, the saying was-"respect the five religions and apply them."

"Respecting five religions" is a very important proposition in the history of China's education and culture. Firstly, the purpose of implementing education, that is, "five religions", is put forward. "Five teachings" are aimed at five main social interpersonal relationships to implement education. The ancients believed that father and son, monarch and minister, couple, brother and friend were the five most important interpersonal relationships in society, which were called "five ethics". The "five virtues" are nature, both human nature and natural laws.

Only by conforming to human nature can we build a social ethical foundation and follow the laws of nature, can we build a social moral standard, which is not only the proper meaning of education, but also the beginning of a civilized society and the foundation of a harmonious society. Later, Mencius further described the "Five Religions" as "father and son are close, monarch and minister are righteous, husband and wife are different, young and old are orderly, and friends are trustworthy", making it the core content of Confucian educational thought and the mainstream values of China society for thousands of years. Therefore, the source of education in China is life education, not knowledge transmission. Ancient sages believed that only by educating students to understand and handle these five kinds of social interpersonal relationships and learn to be a man can they "cultivate themselves, keep the family in order, govern the country and level the world", realize personal happiness, family happiness, career success and promote social harmony and progress.

Secondly, the words "respect" and "application" are also worth remembering. "Respect" is the requirement for educators' professional attitude, and "sages study with morality and never leave one respect". The antonym of "respect" is "boss", which means being casual, laissez-faire and irresponsible, that is, unable to perform the duty of teaching and educating people. "Fu" means communication and diffusion. Teachers should not only know the truth of being a man, but also have the spirit of taking the world as their own responsibility, loving others and teaching others tirelessly.

According to this standard, Yao and Shun finally chose Qi as Stuart to undertake the heavy responsibility of educating people. Qi, the ancestor of Shang dynasty, once assisted Dayu in water control, showing great talent. But as a teacher, it is not enough to be superior. As for the deed, Lienv Biography says that "those who are wise and kind in deed can be educated and named". It can be seen that Qi's achievement is not mainly due to his water control, but because of his great contribution to education, which was remembered by people at that time and later generations. The nature of the deed is "smart and benevolent", and "smart" is talent and knowledge; "Benevolence" is love and character. They have both, so they can shoulder the responsibility of educating people. In the current words, it is "learning to be a teacher and be a model", or "having both ability and political integrity". Only such people are qualified to be teachers. This man, Qi, is probably the first model our ancestors set for future generations. His "wisdom and benevolence" nature can also be regarded as the earliest professional ethics of teachers in China.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was also an era full of turmoil and disputes, so a hundred schools of thought contended and jointly prescribed a peaceful prescription for troubled times. In fact, all philosophers are professional teachers, giving lectures in private, sitting and talking, each with a group of students. Although philosophers are not teachers appointed by others, they should also be persuasive and proficient educators. Otherwise, how can so many students follow? Therefore, in their works, a lot of words about education and teachers are retained. Although auspicious, it is precious, and many classic words are directly quoted into the teacher's ethics norms formulated by later generations.

Confucius was an outstanding educator in ancient times and was regarded as a "model for later generations". "Confucius stepped back and studied poetry, books, etiquette and music. Many of his disciples were taught from afar. Confucius lived in seclusion at home to sort out ancient cultural classics. He probably didn't want to post job advertisements everywhere, but as a result, he attracted a large number of students from all directions to study with him. This can be explained by Confucius' own words-"The body is upright and does not listen to orders, and the body is not upright and does not listen to orders". Confucius is the unity of knowledge and action, and his educational ideas come from his educational practice. "What if it can't be right?" (The Analects of Confucius Lutz) If teachers can't match their words with their deeds and set an example, how can they educate and influence students? Confucius taught students to "never tire of learning and never tire of teaching", and he himself did the same. In this regard, Confucius' student Zi Gong commented: "Learning to be excellent is an official; Teach people tirelessly and be kind. Benevolence and wisdom, the Lord is holy. " In the eyes of his students, "benevolence" is the distinctive feature of Confucius, and it is also the main reason why Confucius was regarded as a saint by later generations, which is in the same strain as the aforementioned "benevolence" of Qi. Can it be said that "benevolence" is the highest pursuit of personality and exemplary demeanor of ancient educators in China?

Zhu wrote the White Deer Cave Doctrine.

In the sixth year of the Southern Song Dynasty (1 179), Zhu, a great educator who had just served as commander-in-chief of Nankang Army (now Jiujiang County, Jiangxi Province), decided to establish an academy in Bailudong at the eastern foot of Lushan Mountain. Here, he personally formulated the famous "White Deer Cave Doctrine":

Father and son are related. Both monarch and minister are righteous. Couples are different. Young and old are orderly. Friends have letters.

The purpose of correct education. Yao and Shun made a pact that Stuart respected five religions, that is, this is also. Scholars learn this, and the order of learning is also five, which is listed as follows:

Profound knowledge. Interrogate it. Think about it. Distinguish clearly Do it.

Correctness is the order of learning. Learn, ask, think and argue, so I am poor. If a husband is faithful, he will cultivate his morality and cultivate his nature, and even do things according to his needs, as shown in the left:

Keep your word. Be respectful. Punish repressed desires. Move and patch.

The key to correct cultivation.

Friendship, not benefit. Do what you know, regardless of merits and demerits.

The key to doing things correctly.

Don't do to others what you don't want them to do, but do whatever you want.

The key to correct connection.

This is an event worthy of special commemoration in the history of education in China. Thanks to Zhu's advocacy and efforts, Bailudong Academy not only sang constantly in the following hundreds of years, but also developed into "the first academy in the world" and "represented the general trend of Song studies in China in recent 700 years" (in Hu Shi's language), which opened the educational tradition of ancient academies for nearly a thousand years. Zhu's "White Deer Cave Classic" has been regarded as the creed of teachers' morality by educators in past dynasties. For example, Wang Yangming, a great scholar and educator in the Ming Dynasty, once said, "The husband is the way to learn, and the rules of Bailuyuan are exhausted."

"Bailudong dogma" is not only the criterion for students to seek knowledge, but also the criterion for teachers to engage in education. They are unified. In this regard, Zhu explained: "I stole the views of ancient sages, so I taught people the meaning of learning." Is it possible for them to explain their own righteousness, repair their own bodies, and then push others, instead of just remembering their own things, making comments, gaining fame and interests? " That is to say, in educational practice, teaching and learning are unified, and there is only one purpose of education throughout the ages: to be a man, not to regard education as a means to pursue personal utility. As Mr. Tao Xingzhi said: "Thousands of teachers in Qian Qian teach people to seek truth, and thousands of students in Qian Qian learn to be human." It can be seen that real educators in ancient and modern history are opposed to utilitarian education.

Bailudong Theory systematically combs the classical expositions of ancient sages, especially pre-Qin Confucianism, on education: First, it is clear that Mencius' "five religions" is the purpose of education, and "scholars only learn this". Secondly, Confucius' The Doctrine of the Mean puts forward "erudition, interrogation, deliberation, discernment and faithfulness" as the way to teach and educate people. And stressed that the first four, knowledge for poor reason, belong to the category of knowledge, behind "tenacity".

It is practice. Zhu has always believed that The Doctrine of the Mean is Confucius' work of "teaching the mind", which puts forward many important educational propositions and deserves lifelong taste. Since then, Wang Yangming has put forward the ideas of "unity of knowledge and action" and "unity of knowledge and action". These views and ideas are also of great practical significance for us to correct the deviation of current educational work.

The essentials of self-cultivation, doing things and accepting things listed later are all "things to do" and belong to practical categories. Zhu believes that people's understanding cannot be divorced from practice, and practice can improve people's understanding. "The more you know, the more you do, the more you know." This circular process is the process of education.

For educators themselves, it is more important to take this as a "law of prevention", and in this process, constantly cultivate their own moral character. "This is a gentleman's heart. He sees that there is nothing in the world that is not my love and nothing that is not my job." Although the situation is not as good as that of a person, it is not my duty to obey his monarch and his people. "

This is the most complete and clear exposition of teachers' morality in ancient China.

Teachers' moral norms of academies in Ming and Qing Dynasties

After Zhu, his disciple Cheng Duanmeng and Cheng's good friend Dong Zhu formulated "Mr. Cheng's Learning Rules" according to the "Bailudong Daoism", which can be used by college students and also for teachers' reference. This theory, like Bailudong theory, was widely adopted by academies and official schools in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Incidentally, the names of "learning rules" in ancient academies and schools are different, including "dogma", "learning rules", "norm", "disclosure", "admonition" and "admonition". In fact, the meaning is the same or similar, and its content is binding on all members of the school, including teachers and students. The reason why teachers and students are not required to be separated is based on a sentence in the Book of Changes: "A gentleman teaches with his friends". That is to say, in ancient universities, the teacher-student relationship should be a friend relationship, and its main teaching (lecture) form, that is, the so-called "friends gathering, spiritual meeting, talking freely and developing truth", is even more so for colleges that pay attention to life education.

Compared with the subtle meaning of Bailudong dogma, Mr. Wang's learning rules are specific to the daily life and behavior norms of teachers and students in colleges and universities. Such as "live respectfully", "walk uprightly", "what you hear is empty", "speak carefully", "look handsome", "dress well", "eat frugally" and "read expertly". Its advantage is that it is easy to operate, execute and supervise, but it is too trivial and formalistic, and it is easy for people to abandon books. Therefore, Zhu seems to disagree with this when approving it, thinking that it is "the legacy of ancient primary schools", similar to restraining children. If it is used to regulate adults, it is too superficial.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, following the ethos of giving lectures in the Academy of Song Dynasty, talents from all over the world gathered in the mountains to encourage self-cultivation. "Luo Luo Zhiru is here, and the empty hall echoes the voices of the four mountains." Academy education developed greatly and gradually became the mainstream of education at that time. It has played a positive role in cultivating talents, strengthening honesty and cultivating swimming atmosphere.

Academies in Ming and Qing Dynasties generally attached importance to students' self-cultivation and moral progress. Therefore, the most important thing in choosing a teacher is ability and integrity. Dai Zhen, a scholar in Qing Dynasty, said: "Giving lectures is a festival, speaking with virtue and speaking with courtesy. Since the Song Dynasty, the establishment of academies has been salty. " It can be seen that if you are not a respected scholar, it is difficult to become a life mentor of a book scholar.

In the Qing Dynasty, there were four rules for the teachers' morality of Henan Academy: first, taking this as the virtue; Second, study hard and practice; Third, we should pay attention to the restraint of teachers and friends; Fourth, I want to make friends who abide by etiquette and law. Among them, the third article also specifically requires teachers to "study together, follow around, enjoy surprises and solve doubts, and learn from each other", emphasizing that teachers and students should interact together, freely explore knowledge, learn from each other, and create a lively teaching atmosphere, which is commonly known as "teaching lively and splashing".

There is a special "pro-teacher Zhai" in Qunyu Academy, and the inscription reads:

"The goodness of the Lord, owned by professional ethics, respects, fears and loves, and follows suit. After a long time of edification, the benefits are endless. "

Teachers should have a loving heart, make disobedient children respect you, make timid children like you, and be willing to follow you and be close to you all the time. Cultivating and nourishing children with your noble personality for a long time will make them learn for life. Such a standard of teachers' morality is desirable even today.