Shi Shuo is an argumentative essay written by Han Yu, a writer in the Tang Dynasty. Explain the truth of learning from teachers, satirize the world where teachers are ashamed, educate young people, and play a role in changing the atmosphere. This paper lists positive and negative examples, compares and demonstrates repeatedly, discusses the necessity and principle of learning from teachers, criticizes the bad habit of "being ashamed to learn from teachers" in society at that time, shows extraordinary courage and fighting spirit, and also shows the spirit of expressing opinions independently regardless of the secular.
Although the full text is not long, it has profound implications, distinct arguments, rigorous structure, thorough reasoning and strong persuasiveness and appeal.
Creation background
Shi Shuo was written by Zhen Yuan when he was a doctor in imperial academy No.4 School in 17-18 years (80 1-802). In the seventeenth year of Zhenyuan (80 1), the author who was dismissed from Xuzhou and lived in Luoyang to preach and teach, was twice transferred to Beijing as a candidate, and was awarded the position of imperial academy's fourth doctor in October of that year. At this time, the author is determined to use imperial academy as a platform to revive Confucianism and reform the literary world, so as to realize his ambition of serving the country. However, when I came to imperial academy to take office, I found that the imperial examination hall was dark, the government was corrupt, and there were many drawbacks in the official system, which led many students to lose confidence in the imperial examination and relax their studies.
At that time, the upper class looked down on teachers. In the scholar-bureaucrat class, there is a concept of "being ashamed to be a teacher", which directly affects the teaching and management in imperial academy. The author is saddened by this and clarifies people's vague understanding of "seeking a teacher" and "being a teacher" by answering Li Pan's question.