| The Analects of Confucius is an important Confucian classics. In the long historical period of development, it has changed from the records of Confucius’ words and deeds to the Confucius classical textbooks, affecting countless students through educational activities. The process of the Analects of Confucius’emergence, development and evolution is different from that of modern textbooks, which reflects the unique path of traditional Chinese classic textbooks. In view of this characteristic, we name it "learned textbook".The Analects of Confucius is the records on Confucius and his disciples’ teaching process, formed by the later people and gradually accumulated. The collection of the Analects of Confucius is associated with its teaching process. Confucius’ words and deeds are important parts taught by his students, and also the most original materials to compile the Analects of Confucius. After the Warring States Period gathered the Analects of Confucius was spread to the wider regions, which was found by the unearthed Bamboo slips in the Warring States Period and early Han dynasty. Because of the culture and education policies in Qin and early Han Dynasty, the Analects of Confucius was gradually isolated in different regions and then formed a regional study. With unity of all states in Han Dynasty and Confucianism Monopoly, the regional teaching materials represented by Qi Analects of Confucius, Lu Analects of Confucius and Ancient Analects of Confucius started to integrate and formed a common textbook used in the whole empire, the core of which is Lu Analects of Confucius, and finally becomes the prototype of the Analects of Confucius of current version.In the Wei and Jin Periods, the change of the interpretation of the Analects of Confucius increased its version, of which the dominant the Analects of Confucius dispute between Cheng Hsuan and Wang Su. During this period, the masterpiece interpreting Han learning-called the Collected Notes on the Analects of Confucius by He Yan, which becomes the important learned textbook in the future. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the accomplishment of official schools and the unity of textbooks made interpretation versions of the Analects of Confucius a low ebb, and the content of the imperial examination also set the Analects of Confucius to public compulsory course in the school education.From the Northern Song Dynasty, the rise of theory on the Four Books promoted the position of the Analects of Confucius. The interpretation style of Song Learning made the Analects of Confucius annotation version increased greatly. The interpretation by Xing Bing, the Analects of Confucius of Jinggong new doctrine and of the Ch’eng-Chu neo-Confucianism became the leading textbooks occupied official schools in succession. The examination style changed from TieJing and MoYi in the Sui and Tang dynasties to JingYi in the Song Dynasty made the learners more free to select textbooks, coming into the era of multivariate textbooks existing at the same time. After the Yuan Dynasty medium--term, questions in the first imperial examination comes from the Four Books. Chu Hsi’s the Analects of Confucius Variorums was selected as the standard, then Neo-Confucianism occupied the central position in school education. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the imperial examinations adopted the Eight-part Essay. The Four Books becoming the most significant content to learn prompting the Analects of Confucius’interpretation to integrate into the Four Books, and the learning of the Analects of Confucius was placed in the Four Books system.Since the late Qing Dynasty, under the background of the Eastward Transmission and the Western Science Spread, the traditional education faced a transformation. Especially from the "New Deal" in late Qing Dynasty, modern education began to replace traditional education. In the new-style schools, the new discipline system promoted the Analects of Confucius to change from professional classical course to modern curriculum. In elementary education stage, it became a part of reading and lecturing Confucian classics subject; and in high education stage, it became the subject of Confucian classics, realizing the change from the independent course to subject course. After the Republic of China, the equality of the importance of five educational ways replaced "loyal to the emperor, revere Confucius" becoming the new educational aims, and Confucian Classics further lost its rationality of existence. In this process, traditional Study of Si Bu was substituted by Study of Seven Disciplines, the Analects of Confucius becoming a part of modern textbooks. After the foundation of the People’s Republic of China, a new ideology was established, the value of Confucian Classics was further weakened and the necessity of the Analects of Confucius as a textbook was not existed.In a word, the development of the Analects of Confucius in our country’s curriculum system experienced from the practical education stage of Six Arts to the classic education stage of the Five Classics and the Four Books, and then to the stage of modern subjects. This process indicates the bias of traditional educational curriculum’s changes, reflects the interaction among objectives, content, implementation and evaluation during learning textbooks’ development process, and provides a perspectives of our understanding the traditional education of our country. |
