Hu Yuan's educational thoughts and teaching methods are very distinctive and pioneering, and he is worthy of being a great master. His educational theory and achievements in educational practice have stood the test of a thousand years' history and are still shining. To sum up, there are roughly the following eight aspects: Hu Yuan said in the Book of Learning in Songzi County: "Those who govern the world are talented, those who become talented in the world are educated, and those who educate are learning."
Starting from the political goal of "ruling the world", he revealed the internal relationship among talents, education and schools, and put forward his own unique views:
First, why should we attach importance to education? Hu Yuan believes that the key to governing a country well lies in talents, and talents should be cultivated through education.
Second, how to run education well? In his view, "learning from Confucianism" is to manage and engage in education with Confucius and Mencius; Second, popularize people's education; Third, local governors should run schools. In feudal society, the people had no right, and the internal supervision mechanism of feudal regime was nominal. The political morality and cultural quality of officials at all levels are closely related to the quality of officials' management and the weight of people's burden. Cultivating real talents is of practical significance to the long-term stability of feudal society.
At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, education was not prosperous and customs faded. At that time, the imperial examination system advocated flashy temperament and borrowed poetry. There was a general atmosphere of "striving for profit" in society, which ignored "education" and emphasized "taking scholars", and no schools were established in various places. In order to cultivate truly qualified talents for governing the country, Hu Yuan thought it necessary to establish a school of "diligent learning and practical learning", which was of progressive significance at that time. In the period of Ming Dow and Baoyuan in Song Renzong, in order to correct the phenomenon of "improper" selection of scholars, only poetry and school education thought were attached importance, and the fundamental purpose of education was to cultivate talents who were proficient in classics and applications. When Hu Yuan answered Song Shenzong's question, he said, "I have heard of the sage's way, which is tangible, cultured and useful. Your father and son, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and joy, are unchangeable in the world and physically; It is also useful to take measures to nourish the people and return the emperor. " It is clear that "style" refers to the monarch and his son, and benevolence, righteousness, courtesy and joy are the basic moral standards of feudal society; "Use" means mastering and applying this basic moral standard to govern the country. In other words, education should not only gain fame for the imperial examination, but also cultivate talents who are proficient in Confucian classics and can be used in practice.
Hu Yuan made great efforts and achieved success in practicing the thought of "applying what he has learned", which initiated Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty. At the same time, he infiltrated the idea of "understanding and using it" into educational reform, which became the theoretical basis of his educational reform and practice. In order to carry out the educational thought of "being clear and practical", Hu Yuan initiated the teaching system of "dividing fasting" in the educational history of China. He set up "Erzhai" to teach according to students' abilities, interests and aspirations. Jingyi mainly studies the six meridians; Governing affairs is divided into governing people, lecturing martial arts, weir water (water conservancy) and calendar calculation. Every student in the laity chooses a major subject and an additional minor subject. There is also a primary school. This bold attempt, even if students can understand the classic principles of saints, can also learn practical skills, competent for administrative, military, water conservancy and other specialized work.
Practice has proved that the reform of educational content and teaching methods is very effective and successful, and a group of professionals have been trained. For example, Sun Jue and Ni, who are good at Confucian classics, Fan Chunren and Qian Gongfu, who are good at politics, Qian Zao and Teng Yuanfa, who are good at literature and art, Miao Shou and Liu Bing, who are good at military affairs, and others who are good at water conservancy. Facing the bad style of study of "ignoring education" in the early Song Dynasty, Hu Yuan also used the historical comparison method to emphasize the importance of "learning from Confucianism" and "promoting learning". He said: "The prosperity of the school is nothing more than three generations, and the prosperity of the three generations is nothing more than weeks. Da Situ was excited by Liu De's six lines and six arts and taught all the people. Those who correct their differences will be punished, and those who behave differently will be banned. All the people who speak are French characters, and all the people who walk are German. "
At that time, there were two kinds of official schools in Song Dynasty: one was central official school, and the other was local official school (that is, state and county school). In the fourth year of Li Qing (1044), before the first campaign to promote learning, there were very few students in the central government, most of whom were bureaucratic children. It was only in the second year of Dazhong Xiangfu (1009) that Song Zhenzong allowed Qufu to set up a school in the First Confucian Temple and was awarded the title of Tianfu Academy. This was the beginning of running schools for counties, and the rest were few and far between. Therefore, Hu Yuan's loud cry that "those who are enlightened by the flood should be used in the county" is not only a strong appeal to local administrative officials, but also advice to the rulers of the Song Dynasty. Hu Yuan advocated "setting up the urgent teaching widely" and promoting local official schools, which not only enabled talents to "never leave", but more importantly, maintained the feudal rule order with the support of the people, thus achieving the goal of peace and prosperity. So, in April of the fourth year of Li Qing, Song Renzong adopted Fan Zhongyan's suggestion, opened the Tianzhangge, discussed with ministers the good strategy of rejuvenating the country, and sent a letter to the whole country, asking all states and counties to set up schools. This is completely consistent with Hu Yuan's thoughts of "learning benevolence, righteousness, rites and music" and "governing the world". Hu Yuan not only attaches importance to book education in teaching, but also organizes students to travel to the wild and famous mountains and rivers, and incorporates this activity into the curriculum to unify educational theory and practice. He believes: "If a scholar only stays in one country, he will stay in one song, which is despicable and humble. It is conducive for scholars to travel around the world and see human feelings, north and south customs, mountains and rivers. " So he personally led his disciples from Huzhou to Tongguan, Shaanxi to close the door. Looking back, the Yellow River guards Tongguan, snakes and scorpions surge, Taihua and Zhongtiao mountains are magnificent and stretch for thousands of miles. He said generously: "This can be said to be a mountain and river. The scholar can't see it! " This proves that Hu Yuan opposes reading behind closed doors, and advocates connecting with reality, understanding society and visiting famous mountains and rivers, so as to broaden his mind and combine book knowledge with objective reality, which is conducive to realizing his educational goal-truly cultivating "reasonable" talents. At the same time, it also shows that knowledge comes from direct experience and indirect experience.
Implement "boarding system"
In the early Song Dynasty, it was stipulated that students in imperial academy could not stay overnight, mainly because there was the Imperial Book Pavilion on the right side of imperial academy, and fire control work was particularly important. Every midnight, all the lights and candles in the dormitory should be put out, and a "fire ban order" should be implemented. In the first year of Jiayou (1056), Hu Yuan and Sun Fu presided over imperial academy. In order to let students have more time to live in a collective life, they asked the relevant departments to relax the fire ban. If there is an accident, they will be responsible. Since then, imperial academy has implemented the "boarding system". Teachers and students take turns on duty every night to urge candles to be careful. At the same time, students are required to have four holidays a month and stay at school the rest of the time. Get up and sleep every day with drums as a signal. You must ask for leave when you enter or leave the school, and you are not allowed to receive visitors or leave school at ordinary times. This boarding student system extends to qualified state and county schools, and it is still in use in today's schools, and it is becoming more and more perfect.
Throughout Hu Yuan's educational career, he did leave a rich and feasible educational system and teaching experience and made great contributions. We can not only see his dedication and dedication to self-improvement, hard struggle, taking pleasure in suffering and lifelong education, but also see his innovative courage of being diligent, seeking truth and being pragmatic, trying to correct the shortcomings of the times and being determined to reform. At the same time, we can also see his noble qualities of being indifferent to fame and fortune, worrying about the country and the people, practicing hard and teaching people tirelessly.