The author shows that anyone can be his own teacher and should not refuse to learn modestly because of status or age difference. At the end of the article, Confucius testified with his own words and deeds, explaining that seeking advice and attaching importance to Taoism is a practice since ancient times, and people should not abandon the ancient road at that time.
In ancient China, school education was very developed, and there were official schools from the central government to the local government. Han Yu was thirty-five years old when he wrote this article, and was teaching in imperial academy. Then, why did Han Yu say that "ancient scholars must have teachers" and "teachers will not be handed down to the world for a long time"? It turns out that what he called "teacher" has its unique meaning. It does not refer to school teachers at all levels of government, nor does it refer to the enlightenment teachers who "read their books and learn their sentences", but refers to people who have succeeded in school in society and can "get news from their profession". Han Yu is famous for being such a self-righteous person and a good teacher. The Book of the New Tang Dynasty says that he is a "scholar after his success, and his name is often the same". After much advice, they are all called cold disciples. "
Han Yu, author of Shi Shuo
Han Yu was a famous writer, thinker and politician in the Tang Dynasty, and one of the eight masters in the Tang and Song Dynasties. He worshiped Confucianism, pushed Buddhism out of the old times and preached the theory of destiny. In literature, he opposed parallel prose since Wei and Jin dynasties and advocated learning the prose language of pre-Qin and Han dynasties. Han Yu is the founder of China's "orthodoxy" concept and a symbolic figure who respects Confucianism and opposes Buddhism.