His ancestors were aristocrats in the Song Dynasty, and they declined several generations before Confucius. Confucius worked as a small official several times when he was young, but spent most of his life in education. According to legend, he has as many as 3,000 disciples and has taught many knowledgeable and talented students. Confucius was a thinker, educator and founder of Confucianism in the late Spring and Autumn Period, and was appointed as the head of the State of Lu. Later, he took his disciples around the world; Finally, I returned to Shandong and concentrated on teaching. When he was alive, he was known as "the sage of the heavens", "the muduo of the heavens" and "the sage of the ages". He was one of the most learned scholars in the society at that time, and was respected by later generations as the most holy (saint among saints) and the teacher of all ages. Because my parents prayed for the birth of a child for me in Niqiu Mountain, I was named Qiu and Lu (now southeast of Qufu, Shandong Province). He edited poetry books, defined rites and music, prefaced Zhouyi and wrote Chunqiu. Confucius' thoughts and theories have far-reaching influence on later generations.
Erudition and academic contribution
The essence of Confucius' thoughts and theories can be found in The Analects of Confucius, which consists of 20 articles, 1 1000 words. The Analects of Confucius is Confucius' quotations, some of which are records of Confucius' disciples' words and deeds, and are the memories of Confucius and his disciples' words and deeds. This book has a profound influence on the history of China. Its ideological content, mode of thinking and value orientation have long been integrated into the blood of our nation, precipitated in our lives and cast our national character. The Analects of Confucius embodies the core connotation of Confucianism-benevolence. "Benevolence" is the center of all theories, and all norms about "benevolence" and "happiness" are only the ultimate means to serve the morality of "benevolence". As a representative of China culture, The Analects of Confucius was introduced to Korea and Japan as early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, and was also designated as a compulsory course for Japanese students in Japan. Matteo Ricci translated it into Latin in 1594, and then it was translated into Italian, French, German, English, Russian and other languages, which were widely circulated in western countries.
Confucius takes "benevolence" as the core of his thought, which means "love". Put forward the arguments of "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you" and "stand if you want, and reach if you want", advocate the principle of "loyalty and forgiveness", and think that the implementation of "benevolent policy" should be based on "courtesy": "self-denial, courtesy is benevolence". He is skeptical about the religious superstition of ghosts and gods since the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, and thinks that "you can't be a ghost if you don't know his life" and "you can't be a gentleman if you don't know his life". It also pays attention to the combination of "learning" and "thinking", and puts forward the viewpoints of "learning without thinking is useless, thinking without learning is dangerous" and "reviewing the old and learning the new". Advocate the atmosphere of teaching in private schools, advocate teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, "teach without distinction", "never tire of learning, never tire of teaching", and emphasize that "a gentleman learns to love others, while a villain learns to learn easily". Politically, he put forward the idea of "correcting the name", thinking that "Jun Jun, minister, father and son" should be worthy of the name, and put forward the view of "not suffering from poverty, suffering from inequality". Since the Western Han Dynasty, Confucius' theory has become the cultural orthodoxy of feudal society for more than two thousand years, with far-reaching influence.
When it comes to governing the country, Confucius attaches importance to the sufferings of people's livelihood, calls for benevolent governance, and hopes that rulers will treat people with benevolence and righteousness. He said that "tyranny is fiercer than tigers", and he also stressed that no matter what laws and regulations, rulers must first set an example. "They are upright and have no orders to do things; Its body is not right, although it cannot be done. " In interpersonal communication, Confucius emphasized loyalty and forgiveness. "Loyalty" means being loyal to others and working hard; "Forgiveness" means putting yourself in others' shoes, "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you", and "the beauty of a gentleman is not the evil of an adult". In dealing with people and things, Confucius advocated self-love and love. Confucius was cautious about fate, and he believed in man's own strength. He believes that "sex is similar, learning from each other is far away", and everything depends on personal efforts. Of course, there are also some thoughts in The Analects that deviate from the historical trend, such as his political retro tendency, over-emphasis on hierarchical order, introverted personality value orientation, etc., which have undeniably brought negative effects on the development of China society and need us to correct them with modern consciousness. However, we can't hide our shortcomings. In the pre-Qin era when human civilization was just dawning, our ancestors had such profound wisdom in life that our descendants could be proud of it.
Attach importance to the role of education
Confucius believes that education plays an important role in social development and is one of the three elements of building the country and governing the country. The development of education should be based on economic development. "The Analects of Confucius Lutz" records: "Wei Shi is a son, but there are servants. Confucius said,' It's plain.' You Ran said,' If you are an ordinary person, why bother?' Say, "rich." Say,' If you are rich, why bother?' Say, "teach it." Through the question of You Ran, Confucius briefly expounded his policy program of "equality, wealth and education". Judging from the arrangement of equality, wealth and religion, Confucius has intuitively realized that these three conditions are necessary for governing a country well. That is, labor force, developing production, education and developing education.
Confucius affirmed the key role of education in the process of human development. For the first time in the history of China, he put forward that "sex is similar, but learning is far away". This theory is scientific to a certain extent, pointing out that people's natural qualities are similar, breaking the concept that the aristocratic talents of slave owners are superior to civilians. This scientific proposition is not only the theoretical basis of Confucius' "teaching without class", but also the crystallization of Confucius' long-term educational work. ?
The object of education is very wide.
Advocating "education without class" is the knowledge of nobles before the Spring and Autumn Period, and it is the sons of princes and nobles who are eligible for education. As a civilian, you are not qualified to enter the school for education. After Confucius founded a private school, he first carried out a corresponding revolution in the enrollment targets and implemented the policy of "teaching without distinction", which is also an important part of Confucius' educational practice and theory. ? Regarding "teaching makes no difference", Ma Rong in the Eastern Han Dynasty said: "People have no difference." Emperor Liang Chao said, "People are noble and humble, so they should receive education with the same resources. They shouldn't be ignorant of their own types. If you teach well, you don't have to attend classes. " ? Its original intention is that everyone can go to school and receive education regardless of class, wealth or race. In order to realize this principle, Confucius said when enrolling students: "I have never taught myself how to be self-disciplined." As long as I am willing to learn and present 10 piece of dried meat as a gift, I can become a disciple. Facts show that his disciples came from Qi, Lu, Song, Wei, Qin, Jin, Chen, Cai, Wu, Chu and other vassal States and were widely distributed. Disciples are complex and come from different classes and strata. Most of them come from ordinary people, such as Yan Hui, who lives in a poor alley, the frontier savage who lives on the street, Zeng Shen, who is too poor to make a fire for three days and too poor to make clothes for ten years, Yuan Xian, who lives in a shack, and Zhong Gong, whose father is a poor family and has no place to put a cone. There are also some businessmen, such as Zigong, who used to speculate. There are also a few well-known families, such as Meng of Lu, Ma Niu of Nangong and Song. In Confucius' private school, all kinds of disciples and figures are really living specimens of "teaching without distinction". At that time, some people did not understand this and had various questions. Huizi of the South asked Zigong sarcastically, "How complicated is the master's door?" Zi Gong said, "A gentleman is waiting for a gentleman, but he wants to come and not far away (refuse). There are many people who want to go, and there are many patients at the door of good doctors? There are many waste wood in the hidden edge of the wood, which is also miscellaneous. " Although their personalities are uneven, they can be eclectic and teach useful people, which shows that educators are broad-minded and talented in education and art.
The implementation of the open policy of "no education for all" has satisfied the desire of ordinary people to enter school and receive education, and adapted to the needs of social development. Confucius private school became the largest school with the largest number of talents and the widest social influence at that time, which should be affirmed from the overall social practice effect. "No class for all" is a progressive thought that conforms to the historical development trend. It broke the monopoly of aristocratic education and expanded the scope of education to ordinary people, which was beneficial to the development of China's national culture.
Educational purpose
The fundamental purpose of Confucius education is to cultivate people with lofty ideals and benevolence. Throughout his life, he pursued Tao with the spirit of "hearing Tao early and dying late". But Confucius was frustrated all his life, so he pinned all his hopes on his disciples. He taught his students that "man can spread the Tao, but he can't spread it", "man has ambition in the Tao, so it is not enough to talk about those who eat by his clothes", "he believes in learning and is good at death" and "a benevolent person is benevolent, harming others without survival, and killing himself as an adult". His students are also very savvy. For example, Zeng Shen said, "Scholars have a long way to go to strive for self-improvement. Isn't it important to think that benevolence is your responsibility? Death is not far away! " Xia Zi said: "One hundred workers live in four places to achieve their goals, and a gentleman learns his way." It can be seen that teaching and learning are the common goals of Confucius teachers and students, and the educational purpose of Confucius has been transformed into the learning purpose of students. It is precisely because of this unity of subject and object that Confucius can produce many talented students.
Xia Zi said: "Study hard and you will be an official." Another important aspect of Confucius' educational purpose is summarized theoretically. "Learning to be an official is excellent" contains many meanings: learning is the way to be an official, training officials is the main political purpose of education, and good academic performance is an important condition for being an official. If you don't study, or study but don't get good grades, you are not qualified to be an official. Confucius' attitude towards the practice of "learning to be an excellent official" is very clear. He said: "It is the common people who learn etiquette and music first, and the nobles who learn etiquette and music first. If you want to choose talents, I advocate choosing people who study etiquette and music first. " Learning is closely related to being an official. He encouraged students to say: "If you don't suffer from nowhere, you will suffer from loss." Don't worry about not being an official. What you need to worry about is whether you have learned the knowledge and skills you need to be an official. Disciples were instilled with this idea, and the idea of learning to be an official spread widely in their minds. Since everyone has learned to be a gentleman, it makes no sense not to be an official. Lutz bluntly said that "it is meaningless to be an official" and it is very representative. Confucius actively recommended talented students to those in power for politics, but he also insisted on some principles when sending talents: first, you can't be an official if you don't study hard; Secondly, only when the country is politically enlightened can it become an official, otherwise it would rather retire. Most of the disciples trained by Confucius took part in political activities sooner or later. They "wandered around the princes, the eldest was the master Qing Xiang, and the younger brother was a friend of the literati."
"Learning to be an excellent official" is consistent with the "promoting talents" advocated by Confucius, which determines the educational purpose of cultivating ruling talents and is of great significance in the history of education. It reflected the social needs of the rise of feudalism and became a great driving force for intellectuals to actively learn at that time.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) teaching content
According to the Analects of Confucius, people can summarize the contents of Confucius' teaching from different angles: First, "Confucius teaches four things: literature, conduct, loyalty and faith." Educating people by writing, action, loyalty and faith means that the teaching content includes four basic aspects; Second, the "six arts" such as music, archery, bending, calligraphy and mathematics refer to the main subjects taught by Confucius; Sanyue: Six books, such as Poem, Book, Rite, Yue, Book of Changes and Spring and Autumn Annals, are the cultural classics of slave owners and the basic teaching materials used by Confucius. In a word, it can be said that the teaching content of Confucius should include moral education, cultural knowledge and skill training. These three aspects, from the structure of educational content, the needs of society and the formation of personal personality, should be said to be initially complete. This is Confucius' contribution in the history of teaching content development. Confucius did not attach equal importance to these three aspects. He believes that "learning literature if you have spare capacity" and putting morality and moral education in the first place are the key points of the three and the core of Confucius' educational thought.
The six books adapted by Confucius are the first set of relatively complete textbooks in China. Since Xunzi's exhortation to learn, it has been regarded as the six classics, so it is called the six classics in later generations. Except Yue Jing, the other five classics have been the most basic textbooks in China feudal society for more than two thousand years. The difference between "Six Arts" and "Six Classics" lies in: Six Classics lay particular stress on cultural knowledge and belong to the category of literature; "Six Arts" emphasizes the cultivation of talents and skills. Because "ceremony and joy" also has this nature, it is also listed among the "six arts". "Shooting" is archery and "defending" is driving, both of which belong to military courses.
Generally speaking, Confucius' teaching content has three characteristics: First, it emphasizes social personnel. His textbooks all belong to the cultural knowledge of social history, politics and ethics, and pay attention to realistic personnel instead of worshipping gods. Although he is not an atheist, he has doubts about ghosts and gods. His wise attitude of not talking about "wonder, strength, disorder and spirit", not propagating religious superstitions and not listing religious contents as teaching subjects became the beginning of the tradition of non-religious education in ancient China. Second, pay attention to literature. Although he asked political talents to be both civil and military, he still focused on literature in the arrangement of teaching content, and the teaching of military knowledge and skills was in a secondary position. Third, despise science and technology and productive labor. He wants to train political talents, not laborers engaged in agriculture and industry. He doesn't emphasize mastering natural and scientific knowledge. He has neither handicraft technology nor agricultural technology to teach. He believes that the social division of labor has the business of gentlemen and the business of villains. "A gentleman seeks the Tao without seeking food." The responsibility of a gentleman is different from that of a villain. A gentleman does not have to participate in the material production and labor of a villain. Therefore, he fundamentally opposed disciples to learn productive labor technology. Fan Chi wanted to learn how to farm and grow vegetables, but he refused.
Sixth, the teaching characteristics of Confucius.
(A) teaching students in accordance with their aptitude
On the basis of educational practice, Confucius created the method of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude, and as an educational principle, it runs through daily teaching and educational work. He is the first person to teach students in accordance with their aptitude in the history of our country, and it is also one of the important reasons for his successful education (but the proposition of "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude" was not put forward by Confucius, and Zhu's Annotation to the Analects of Confucius in the Southern Song Dynasty said: "Confucius teaches students in accordance with their aptitude". )
The premise of teaching students in accordance with their aptitude is to recognize their individual differences and understand their characteristics. Confucius understood students in two common ways. First, by talking. Confucius said, "If you don't know what you are talking about, you can't know who you are." He talked purposefully with students, individuals and groups. For example, once I consciously asked Luz a hypothetical question: "If the road is not good, I will float on the sea with a fork. For me, what is the reason? " Lutz didn't say anything, but acquiesced in happiness, while Confucius said, "You are bold, you are more than me, and you have nothing to learn." Second, individual observation. By observing students' words and deeds in many ways, he examines students' spiritual world from the outside to the inside: to "listen to their words and observe their actions", to judge only from their performance in public, it is still one-sided, and to "settle for second best and keep their privacy"; It is not enough to judge only by temporary behavior, but also to "look at what it is, what it is, and what it is for", that is, to pay attention to what the students do, observe the road he takes, and examine his emotional tendency, so as to thoroughly understand a person's ideological outlook. He has accumulated a lot of experience in examining people, and thinks that different things and different situations can examine people's ideological quality.
Combination of learning and thinking, unity of knowledge and action
In teaching, Confucius regards "learning and knowing" as the fundamental guiding ideology. His "learning and knowing" means that learning is the only means to seek knowledge, and knowledge is obtained from learning. Learning is not only an indirect experience of learning words, but also a direct experience through sight and hearing. Both kinds of knowledge are needed. His ideas of "being knowledgeable" and "being good at learning from the ancients" focus on the indirect experience accumulated by predecessors, such as ancient culture and political knowledge. He also put forward that "those who listen more and choose the good, go with it and learn more."
Confucius attached importance to learning and thinking, Zhang Xuesi, and combined thinking with learning. When discussing the relationship between learning and thinking, he said: "Learning without thinking is useless, and thinking without learning is dangerous." We are against thinking without learning, against learning without thinking. Confucius said: "I try not to eat for a day and stay up all night." It's useless to think, it's better to learn. "
Confucius also emphasized that learning knowledge should be "used" and applied to social practice. He asked the students to be careful in what they say, to be diligent in what they do, and to pay more attention to their actions.
From learning to thinking, this is the learning process summarized by Confucius, that is, the education process, which basically conforms to the general cognitive process of human beings. This thought had a far-reaching influence on the later teaching theory and practice.
Enlighten and induce, step by step
Confucius said, "If you don't get angry, you won't get angry. If you don't get angry, you won't get angry. If you don't take a corner, you won't get it again." Anger and resentment are the external manifestations of the internal psychological state. That is to say, in teaching, students should first think seriously, think for quite a while but still can't figure it out, and then inspire him; Although I have thought about it and understood it, I can't express it in proper words. At this time, I can enlighten him. Teachers' inspiration is based on students' thinking. After inspiration, let students rethink and gain further understanding. There are three teaching methods commonly used by Confucius, namely, from shallow to deep, from easy to difficult; Can compare, push yourself and others; Knock at both ends and attack heresy.
Set an example for teachers.
Confucius was honored by later generations as "the most holy teacher" and "the model of later generations". He devoted his life to the education of later generations, was sensitive and eager to learn, had rich practical experience and attached importance to moral cultivation. He was a conscientious and good teacher. In response to Zi Gong's question, he said, "I can't become a saint. I never tire of learning and never tire of teaching." He once commented on himself in front of the students and said, "If it is holy, then I dare. If (learning) is not tired and teaching people is not tired, it can be said that the cloud is already there. " He set an example for future teachers in six aspects:
Never get tired of studying. Teachers should fulfill their social responsibilities, pay attention to their own learning and self-cultivation, master extensive knowledge and have noble moral character, which is the premise of teaching and educating people.
Review the past and learn the new. Teachers should not only master past political and historical knowledge, but also learn from useful historical experience, understand contemporary social problems and know the solutions.
Take pains to teach others. Confucius started running schools around the age of 30 and has been engaged in educational activities for more than 40 years. Even during his five years in politics, he still taught and lectured everywhere while traveling around the world. Some students have bad moral character, low starting point, or make mistakes repeatedly, but they will not be disgusted and will be patiently induced to become talents. "Love, can not work? Loyalty and righteousness, can you not teach? " Love for students and a high sense of responsibility are the ideological basis of his tireless teaching attitude.
Lead by example. Confucius' education for students not only includes teaching by example, but also pays attention to teaching by example. Be strict with yourself and set an example to make students sensitive. "Bowing your head and complaining is far from complaining." "A gentleman seeks for himself, and a villain seeks for others." "Politicians, it is also. Zi Shuai is right, who dares to be wrong? " "its body is right, but it does not make; His body is not right, although he does not obey. " "If you are honest, what about politics? Can't be right, like a right person? "
Teaching and learning learn from each other. Confucius realized that teachers could not impart knowledge to students unilaterally in the teaching process, but could learn from each other. He answers questions for students in teaching activities and often has academic discussions together. Not only educated students, but also improved themselves.
In a word, Confucius is an educator who "defends people with virtue" and a shining example of teachers in the history of China. His teaching spirit of "never tire of learning and never tire of teaching" has become a fine tradition of Chinese teachers.