In today's social transformation period, clarifying the relationship between art education and moral education will help us to correctly cope with the current situation and take corresponding measures to promote the development of school education and even the whole society. However, there are still some misunderstandings about the relationship between art and morality, art education and moral education, which are highlighted in the following two aspects:
On the one hand, some people think that confirming the moral education function of art education will lead to the moral education of art education. In the past, because the status of art education in school education could not be guaranteed, many scholars and educators who care about art education emphasized that art education is a good way to educate students morally, and even classified it as "moral education" to ensure and improve the status of art education. The result of this understanding is that art education is "non-artistic" and "moral education", which makes art education an auxiliary means of moral education, and art education loses its aesthetic essence, thus losing its independent position in school education. Since 1980s, with the reform and opening-up, the west wind has spread to the east, and the ideological trend of western philosophy and culture has been overwhelming, which has had a great influence on China artists' creative standpoint and artistic concept. The influence of aestheticism is particularly great. Artists who hold this view completely give up their moral position in the exploration of art forms, advocate the moral retirement of art and the creation of intangible things. As a result, people began to deny the relationship between art and morality, art education and moral education, and advocated that art is art and art should return to itself. This ideological trend of abandoning moral judgment and avoiding moral commitment has also spread to the field of education, affecting the educational concept of art education, making people never mention the moral education function of art education again, thus ensuring the independent status of art education and aesthetic education. As a result of this understanding, the relationship between art education and moral education is completely separated, which makes art education and moral education "insulators" each other, thus seriously weakening the unique moral education function of art education and deepening the moral crisis of the younger generation. This is tantamount to moving from one extreme to the other, which is not only unfavorable to the development of art education and moral education itself, but also unfavorable to the development of the whole education.
On the other hand, some people think that art education is at best a "vassal" of moral education and only a means to realize moral people. As mentioned above, the reason why art education originally occupied a place in school education was because of its function of "assisting moral education". As early as 77 years ago, Mr. Cai Yuanpei once said: "Therefore, aesthetic education should go hand in hand with intellectual education in order to complete moral education." [1] (p174) This view has been influential for a long time. Art education is completely regarded as a moral education medium and means for ideological and political education of students. The main purpose of art education is to improve students' ideological and political consciousness. For example, at the end of 1950, the All-China Musicians Association and the Central Conservatory of Music jointly conducted a national survey on music education in primary and secondary schools. The general answer to the question "why music class must be one of the compulsory courses in primary and secondary schools" is: "Music can cultivate students' new morality, reflect reality, combine with politics, and come faster than other courses in ideological education." [2] It can be seen that in the era of "singing a song is a political lesson", the concept that art education is only a means of moral education has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and people consciously or unconsciously regard this as a matter of course. In fact, this argument of "absolute moralism" has its profound historical origin. As early as the Middle Ages in the West, all kinds of art were full of religious symbolism because of the control and infiltration of Christian thought. All artistic creation is to glorify the Lord, and art directly becomes a means to publicize religious morality and a slave to theology. In China, the peak of this absolute moralism was instrumentalism during the Cultural Revolution, when art became the mouthpiece of political and moral preaching. Now, although the era when politics dominated everything has long since left us, absolute moralists have not completely disappeared. Others blindly emphasize the utilitarian purpose of art while ignoring the stipulation and particularity of art, and think that art education is moral education. So until today, some people still think that if there is any connection between art and morality, or if art education and moral education must be compared together, then art education can only be regarded as a "vassal" of moral education, and the relationship between them is the relationship between means and purpose. The serious consequence of this understanding is that art education exists in name only, which can neither play its unique aesthetic function nor guarantee its independent position in primary and secondary education.
If we want to get out of the above misunderstanding and correctly understand the relationship between art education and moral education, we must talk about aesthetic education. Because, as an integral part of the overall development policy of education, aesthetic education and moral education are on the same level, and art education is the most important content and way of aesthetic education, which is subordinate to aesthetic education. Therefore, understanding the relationship between aesthetic education and moral education naturally clarifies the relationship between art education and moral education.
Based on this analysis, we believe that the relationship between art education and moral education is mainly reflected in the following three aspects:
1. Art education and moral education are not either/or, but integrated.
Since ancient times, beauty and goodness have been regarded as one. In China, as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties more than 3,000 years ago, there were "rites and music" activities directed at spiritual cultivation. Rite and music education mainly includes two aspects: "Rite" refers to moral and ethical education activities, and "Music" refers to artistic education activities with aesthetic nature. In fact, this combination of etiquette and skills is an education that integrates moral education and aesthetic education. In China's early music monograph The Book of Rites? It is also clearly pointed out in "Yue Ji": "All ordinary people are born in people's hearts; Musicians are also moral. " Music education, as an ancient aesthetic education, is a comprehensive art education with social moral concern as its core. In the west, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato said that "goodness is beauty", and Aristotle also said: "Beauty is a kind of goodness, and it causes pleasure precisely because it is goodness." [3](p4 1) The famous educator Suhomlinski believes that "the formation of aesthetic education with people's ideological outlook is inextricably linked with the formation of aesthetic and moral standards for children and adolescents". [4](P 179) All these fully illustrate the harmonious relationship between art education and moral education.
In real education, on the one hand, aesthetic education and moral education are both important parts of all-round development education, and the differences between them are only relative, and the educational objects and purposes are the same, so they also exist in a harmonious relationship; On the other hand, the aesthetic judgment and moral judgment of the educational object often have certain compatibility. Psychologists in the former Soviet Union once investigated 3000 children from different countries and asked them to draw the ugliest and most beautiful things and explain their paintings. Among them, there are several instructions written at the bottom of the painting: "The fireman is the most beautiful: his helmet is red, and he is beautiful all over." Firefighters are beautiful because they are brave enough to save lives. (age 7) The ugliest thing is the robot: nothing on it belongs to people. The most beautiful thing is nature. You can play happily on the grass, play games and row boats in the river. "(1 1 year) [5](p252) This survey shows that from a psychological point of view, people's aesthetic psychology and moral psychology can be completely integrated with each other; From the object point of view, people's judgments on beautiful objects and physical objects can also be completely integrated. Similarly, in art teaching, we can often find that aesthetic emotion and moral emotion resonate in the aesthetic subject. For example, when students appreciate the works of art with the theme of heroes, they will admire both the beauty of artistic images and heroes. That is to say, in the same process, the subject of appreciation produces both aesthetic feelings and moral feelings. Therefore, it can be said that art education and moral education are not an either-or relationship, but an integrated relationship, regardless of you and me.
2. Art education and moral education are not subordinate, but complementary.
The complementary relationship between art education and moral education is manifested in two aspects: on the one hand, art education can promote the development of moral education; On the other hand, moral education can also ensure the correct direction of the development of art education. In art education, because aesthetic activities have the nature of storing, guiding and establishing goodness, they naturally have the incidental function of moral education. With aesthetic ability, a person's mind can unconsciously accept all kinds of beautiful ideas, and finally accept the moral concepts associated with beautiful ideas. [6](P557) This is generally recognized.
In fact, not only art education can promote the development of moral education, but also moral education can promote the healthy development of art education to a certain extent. Since ancient times, artistic creation has been adapted to the social ethics at that time. Without moral and ethical dimensions, art is likely to play a negative and unhealthy role. For example, in the name of art, performance art has lost its ethical dimension, branded people, made people bleed, or cut human flesh, ate people, and even played with corpses. Such behavior is artistic and aesthetic, and it is not conducive to education and interpersonal relationships. If this so-called "art" is put into the classroom, it will undoubtedly only deepen the moral crisis of teenagers and make education fall into the abyss of perdition. Therefore, the moral function and social responsibility of works should be considered in the artistic creation of any country and any era. Similarly, only under the correct guidance of moral education can art education proceed more healthily.
We believe that this influence of moral education on art education is mainly manifested in the influence of moral concepts on the aesthetics and aesthetic concepts of educational objects. For art education, how to make students establish a correct and positive aesthetic view is very important. Mr. Huang Ji once talked about "beauty": "From the perspective of the development of beauty, aesthetic education is nothing more than creation and appreciation ... The premise of realizing these tasks is inseparable from the establishment of correct aesthetics, because without correct aesthetics, we can not only appreciate but also create correct beauty." [7](382) The establishment of a correct aesthetic view is not only related to good artistic learning and artistic accomplishment, but also related to the aesthetic subject's outlook on life and moral accomplishment. A correct outlook on life and good moral cultivation can help the aesthetic subject to establish a healthy and upward aesthetic view, while a negative and decadent outlook on life and bad moral quality can not only help the aesthetic subject to establish a correct aesthetic view, but will make the aesthetic subject farther and farther away from beauty, thus heading for the abyss of ugliness and even evil. Such people can never really understand the meaning of aesthetics. Just like the same statue of Venus, obscene people see sexy, while educated people see the beauty of artistic image. Mr. Ban Hua once said: "It is impossible for a vulgar and low-quality person to make a good aesthetic judgment." He further pointed out: "One of the tasks of aesthetic education is to correct bad tastes and guide students to fight against all kinds of vulgar aesthetic tastes." [8](p340) Therefore, properly infiltrating moral education in art education will not only make art education lose its aesthetic essence, but also promote students to form a correct and positive aesthetic view, thus further deepening the aesthetic experience.
3. Aesthetics is not only a means to complete moral life, but also the highest goal pursued by moral people.
For a long time, people think that aesthetics is a means to realize morality, and the concept of "assisting morality with beauty" has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. Art education has always been a supporting role in moral education, playing an indirect role. In fact, aesthetics is not only a tool and means to promote the formation of moral character, but also the highest realm and goal pursued by moral or rational people. Schiller once pointed out in his aesthetic letters: "In order to solve political problems through experience, we must adopt aesthetic education, because it is through beauty that people can achieve freedom." "There is no other way to make an emotional person a rational person than to make him an aesthetic person first." [9] (P39, 1 16) On the other hand, he also pointed out that aesthetic freedom is the highest realm of human spiritual liberation and power harmony. Schiller's point of view is worth pondering. In the past, people thought that the process of human development was from natural person to aesthetic person and then to moral person. In other words, becoming a virtuous and morally cultivated person is the highest goal that people pursue. Art and aesthetics have always acted as intermediaries and bridges, which makes art education a "means" in the process of moral education. In fact, if you think about it carefully, it is not difficult to find that through non-utilitarian aesthetic activities, people can gain super-utilitarian subjective freedom, thus purifying and promoting morality and helping people become moral people. And what is the goal pursued by moral people? There is no doubt that moral people naturally pursue moral freedom and spiritual liberation, which is naturally the ultimate happiness and value experience of life. And this purpose obviously points directly to aesthetics, because "only the aesthetic state of mind produces freedom" [9](p 147) The modern philosopher Cahill once pointed out that this aesthetic freedom "means that our emotional life has reached its maximum intensity, and it is in this intensity that it has changed its form. Because here we no longer live in the direct reality of things, but in a purely perceptual world. In this world, all our feelings have undergone some qualitative changes in essence and characteristics. Emotion itself lightens their material burden, and what we feel is their form and their life rather than the mental burden they bring. " Professor Tan Chuanbao once affirmed: "The aesthetic characteristics of life and moral education are not natural facts, but the highest realm that moral subjects, moral learners and moral educators should pursue." [10] (p175) Only, compared with "nature-aesthetics-morality", aesthetics in "nature-aesthetics-morality-aesthetics" is a higher stage of aesthetics. This aesthetic can not only give people emotional comfort, but also enlighten moral ethics, stimulate people's perception, understanding and questioning of the meaning of existence, and obtain a spiritual sublimation through this form to reach the realm of human freedom. This spiritual improvement is just like Plato's description of people's joy in seeing beauty: "Those great scenes that are complete, simple, quiet, joyful and immersed in the purest glory will make us stare, and will produce a piety in our hearts and worship it as a god. This is a kind of immortal blessing that reaches the highest level! " [1 1]p 126 This is the ultimate caring value and function unique to art. Therefore, we can say that aesthetics is not only a means to complete moral life, but also the highest goal pursued by moral people.
To sum up, from the discussion of the relationship between aesthetic education and moral education, we further clarify the close relationship between art education and moral education, and point out that they are a kind of integrated and complementary relationship. Therefore, confirming the moral education function of art education will neither lead to "moral education" of art education, nor make art education a "vassal" of moral education, nor let art education evolve into moral education. On the contrary, only by clarifying the relationship between them can we regard them as a whole, give full play to their respective advantages and make due contributions to each other and the whole education. Of course, there is a basic principle that we must adhere to, that is, real art education exists as an aesthetic education, not as a moral education or an auxiliary education of moral education. If art education really plays its moral education function, it must be completed through the central link of aesthetics, so that students can get moral promotion on the premise of gaining aesthetic experience. As Stolovic said, although art education "has moral and political significance, no matter the moral or political influence of art, it can only be produced if it is organically woven into the aesthetic and artistic utility of art" [12](p246). That is to say, the process of moral education through art education is indirect and subtle, rather than direct indoctrination and preaching of moral knowledge. Only by grasping this "degree" can we correctly and effectively play the moral education function of art education.
Furthermore, emphasizing the connection cannot ignore the difference. We should neither agree with the viewpoint of absolute moralism nor agree with the proposition of absolute aestheticism. We say that art education and moral education first exist as independent disciplines, and they have their own unique regulations, which are fundamentally different in educational content, educational means and educational objectives. Therefore, no matter how much we emphasize the moral function of art education or the aesthetic function of moral education, it is limited after all. Their differences and limitations are as follows: the main function and purpose of art education lies in "cultivating beauty", while the main function and purpose of moral education lies in "cultivating morality"; The core of art education lies in "emotion" and the core of moral education lies in "faith"; Art education is expressed by "image", and its spiritual connotation is uncertain and vague; Moral education pays attention to speaking with "concept", which has direct and distinct guidance to moral practice; Art education moves from the realization of overall personality to the completion of moral role, and moral education completes the components of overall personality through the realization of moral role; Wait a minute. Art education cannot teach moral content conceptually and systematically like moral education. Similarly, moral education cannot be as vivid as art education. Therefore, any phenomenon about the omnipotence of art education or the myth of moral education is illusory and does not exist.
References:
[1] Cai Yuanpei. Aesthetic education. Selected Works of Cai Yuanpei's Aesthetics [M]. Beijing: Peking University Publishing House, 1983.
[2] See the article "Preliminary Summary of Music Education in Primary and Secondary Schools" (investigation report).
[3] Quoted from the Aesthetics Teaching and Research Section of the Philosophy Department of Peking University, "Western aestheticians on beauty and aesthetic feeling" [C]. Beijing: Commercial Press, 1982.
[4] Suhomlinski. Let the younger generation grow up healthily [M], Education Science Press, 1984
[5] babanski. Pedagogy [C]. Beijing: People's Education Press, 1987.
[6] Rousseau Amir [M], Beijing: Commercial Press, 1983.
[7] edited by Cheng. Principles of education [C]. Henan: Henan Education Press, 1993.
[8] Editor-in-Chief, Department of Education, Nanjing Normal University. Pedagogy [C]. Beijing: People's Education Press, 1984.
[9] Schiller. Educational letters [M]. China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing Company, 1984, p. 1 18.
[10] Tan Chuanbao. Aesthetic view of moral education [M]. Beijing: Education Science Press, 2006.
[1 1] Plato. Friedrich, Literary Dialogue [M], Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House, 1963.
[12] Stolovic. The essence of aesthetic value [M]. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press, 1984.