What are the six arts in ancient education in China?

"Six Arts" is the basic subject of school education at all levels in the Western Zhou Dynasty. "Six arts" specifically refer to: ceremony, music, shooting, imperial, calligraphy and mathematics, which are divided into the following three aspects according to the nature of the subject.

1. Ceremonies and music

Rites and music originated from rituals (rites) and music songs and dances (music) in religious activities in primitive society. The scope of Zhou Li is very extensive, involving politics, ethics, morality, etiquette and other fields.

Etiquette education in the Western Zhou Dynasty not only lies in the formation of etiquette norms, but also has a profound social and political role. In other words, through the ritual system, marking the hierarchical relationship between the superior and the subordinate, strengthening the patriarchal clan system and the hierarchical system of monarch and minister, effectively maintaining the slave social order. Music education is also the main subject of official schools in the Western Zhou Dynasty. At that time, the concept of music was very broad, including music, poetry, dance and so on. In fact, it is a general term for all kinds of arts, including moral education, intellectual education, physical education and aesthetic education.

Rite and music education is the core of "Six Arts" education. Rites and music are not only integrated into aristocratic life, but also cooperate with each other in educational functions. Etiquette focuses on cultivating people's external behavior norms, while pleasure focuses on cultivating people's internal spiritual sentiments.

Shoot the forbidden city

In the process of consolidating political power, the Western Zhou Dynasty attached great importance to the construction of force, which was reflected in strengthening the teaching of shooting and defense in education. Shooting refers to the technique of archery; Imperial refers to the technique of driving a horse-drawn chariot. The Western Zhou Dynasty was dominated by chariots, and the size of a country's troops was often measured by the number of chariots it had. Therefore, the main military technology at that time was shooting and defense.

3. Number of books

"Book" refers to words, and "number" refers to calculation. Books and figures are the main teaching contents of Xizhou primary school. Chinese characters developed to the Western Zhou Dynasty and were quite mature. According to documents, in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the laws of writing structure have been summarized into six aspects: referring to things, pictographic characters, pictographic characters, sound, knowledge, annotation and borrowing, which are called six books. He also compiled a textbook for primary school writing teaching, Literacy, which is the earliest textbook to record children's literacy in the history of China. Numbers in the Western Zhou Dynasty not only refer to algorithms, but also include calendar and other knowledge related to digital calculation.

The education of "Six Arts" experienced the development in Xia and Shang Dynasties, and was the most complete in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which became the characteristic and symbol of the education in the Western Zhou Dynasty. "Six Arts" education contains many educational factors. It attaches importance to both ideology and morality and cultural knowledge; Pay attention to both traditional culture and practical skills; Pay equal attention to literature and military equipment; It is necessary to conform to the etiquette norms and cultivate inner feelings. The education of "Six Arts" has a far-reaching influence on later education.