Education In The Ordinary Life

The idea has existed in China since time immemorial that scholars, farmers, workers and merchants are differentiated from each other. In slavery society and early feudal society as well, mere the children of aristocracy could enjoy the privilege of education. However, Confucianism won the position to be solely esteemed in Han Dynasty, which laid the foundation for Chinese education and culture for more than two thousands of years. It has been a universal stereotype that accomplished scholars should go to officialism with the implementation of the imperial examination in Sui and Tang Dynasties. Four Books (the Great Learning, the Analects of Confucius, the Doctrine of the Mean, Mencius) and Five Classics(the Book of Changes, the Book of Songs, Collection of Ancient Texts, the Spring and Autumn Annals) became the well-recognized coursebooks necessary for all the examinees who anticipated that they would enter the upper class through the imperial examination. As the result of that, in ancient China, pragmatic education, such as the education of farming, industry and commerce, was not fully developed owing to the fact thatall the people tended to pursue Confucianism s elite culture ---- "healthytemperament, sound household, orderly country and harmonious world" . So, humanistic, political and official studies were highly emphasized, whereas the research of natural sciences and technological skills was much ignored. With the development of commercial economy in Ming and Qing Dynasties, land-tilling farmers, various smart craftsmen, and economical merchants also desired to enhance their literacy in order to meet their needs in life, such as, communication and bookkeeping. The competition of the imperial examination was so rigorous that many examinees failed. Thus, these examinees who went through formal schooling, resided and worked together with the lower class. Breaking through the stereotype of Confucianism thinking, they compiled myriads of tsa-tzu as textbooks of literacy. This kind of tsa-tzu was characterized with easy words, concise sentences and practical contents, like "Sanbaiqian" , a traditional textbook of literacy used in the non-government sphere. Unlike Confucian education textbooks, tsa-tzu scarcely applied the citations from ancient sages. What it addressed was public relations, natural sciences, agriculture, business, craftsmanship, literacy education, knowledge education, vocational education and so on. So it was seen as an encyclopaedia of common people. It facilitated the development of non-government education in ancient China.In some senses, thus, tsa-tzu is considered to have given up in terms of book style as well as book contents the tradition of Jingxue(the study of Confucian classics) which has appeared as early as Han Dynasty. In Yuan Dynasty, the Government ever made a mandate that tsa-tzu should be prohibited from being used even in private schools. This order was a typical evidence showing that governments in different dynasties had prejudice against tsa-tzu. However, owing to the fact that tsa-tzu kept abreast of the time and catered to the needs of common people's life philosophy which stressed that skills are superior to wealth, tsa-tzu prospered in categories and contents in Ming and Qing Dynasties. Moreover, tsa-tzu became the pipeline of education of the common people regardless of ages and social status.As a matter of fact, tsa-tzu in Ming and Qing Dynasties was more than a literacy textbook, it turned out to be the pragmatic textbook for knowledge education and vocational education. The combination of Confucian elite education and tsa-tzu mass education met the various educational needs of people. This was the initial dual educational system in China, which enabled traditional Chinese culture to permeate all walks of life and promoted the development of ancient Chinese culture and the popularization of education.Tsa-tzu was spread and utilized not merely in Central China but also in the minority-resided areas, hence tsa-tzu of minority edition. And what s more, tsa-tzu was diffused even as far as Taiwan and Japan that both were benefited in education and cultural development. All in all, tsa-tzu contribution being unforgettable, tsa-tzu, an indispensable part of Chinese folk culture, occupied a unique position in the history of Chinese education and culture.On the basis of the first-hand materials regarding tsa-tzu, this dissertation is to review research of tsa-tzu from ancient time till now, to explore the reason of its prosperity and traits of tsa-tzu in Ming and Qing Dynasties, to identify the correlation between tsa-tzu and social economic development, and point out the implications for ongoing textbook reform, literacy education and rural education in current China. The paper consists of two sections—body and conclusion, the former is further composed of five chapters.Chapter one is to illustrate the reasons of the research, literature review, research methodology and the outline of this dissertation, respective.Chapter two is to explore the developmental history of tsa-tzu. tsa-tzu was used as book titles as early as Han and Wei Dynasties. In Sui Dynasty, various kinds of tsa-tzu were collected in "Jingjizhi"----an anthology of books in Sui dynasty. Unfortunately, most of the earliest editions of tsa-tzu were missing. Since Song Dynasty, there were diverse types of literacy textbooks one of which was tsa-tzu that was accepted and utilized as textbooks mainly by the offsprings of farmers when they were free from farming. In Ming and Qing Dynasties, tsa-tzu developed rapidly with more and richer contents. In Minguo Period, tsa-tzu was still spread in non-government stratum of society. In the period of Reform and Opening policy in China, tsa-tzu textbooks were compiled and put into use in order to comply with the literacy movement across the country.Chapter three is to shed a light on the causes of popularity of tsa-tzu in Ming and Qing Dynasties. With the development and prosperity of commercial economy in Ming and Qing Dynasties, common people felt it necessary to develop literacy competence in their daily economic life. It became a social tendency to abandon Confucianism for business due to the transformation of people's values and serious competitiveness of the imperial examination. Besides, the increase of urban dwellers gave the impetus to the development spiritual life. And the demand for entertainment involving easy readers became growingly great. The popularity of printing technology provided for tsa-tzu an access to publication. With the development of private schools being on the wing in Ming and Qing Dynasties, tsa-tzu was used a lot as supplementary textbooks. As the result of that, tsa-tzu became more in numbers of types, richer in contents and more popular with people in Ming and Qing Dynasties,Chapter four is to analyze the characteristics of tsa-tzu by comparing with the other similar literacy textbooks for beginners. The traditional literacy textbooks for novices emphasized the education of Confucianism ethics and morals. And what' s more, they were so much influenced by Neo- Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties that these textbooks were imbued with more abstract moral education. Whereas tsa-tzu was teemed with more things in daily life and practical knowledge in terms of agriculture, industry, commerce and so on, all of which were closely linked with common people s life. In addition, these textbooks were written in colloquial language or dialects which were easily understandable to common people. Furthermore, they had many other advantages: flexible methodology, healthy contents such as advocate of relative intimacy, thrifty life, time value, and anti-superstition. By and large the textbooks integrated literacy education, knowledge education, vocational education and moral education. Thanks to the strong flavor of daily life and practical value, the textbooks made common people s life more convenient and richer, and promoted the development of non-government vocational education in ancient China.Chapter five is to probe into the dissemination of tsa-tzu home and abroad. tsa-tzu has been spread in Central China, Northwest China, Taiwan and Japan. Also, this chapter is to introduce the commercial book pertaining to tsa-tzu in Ming and Qing Dynasties, to analyze the similarities and differences between tsa-tzu and "Sanbaiqian" . Although new schools came into being in Minguo period, tsa-tzu was still popular with ordinary people. In the early period after the foundation of the People s Republic of China in 1949 and even during the Reform and Openness period, many types of tsa-tzu were compiled across the country in order to enhance the literacy of people in the rural areas in China. These cases demonstrated the great significance of tsa-tzu in education of China.The conclusion is to point out that tsa-tzu is closely associated with the development of society . it is not only a nun-government literacy textbook but also a practical coursebook for knowledge education and vocational education to lower class than. Unlike the fate of Confucianism, tsa-tzu did not win the deserved attention from the feudal government. But, it made a huge contribution to the popularity of mass education in ancient China, and offered some implications for the rural education, adult literacy education and basic education reform undertaken in the era of Mingguo as well as the foundation of the People s Republic of China.