The Study On Li Hongzhang's Family Education

In late Qing Dynasty, with the country wide open, family education in the changes of social environment was impacted powerfully by the western culture, especially by the western advanced science and technology and educational thoughts, which directly caused the traditional Chinese education to chang from closed to open, and also the concept of family education in China from traditional to modern. The exploration of some advanced people in family education laid the foundation for the modernization of Chinese education. Li Hongzhang was an important person of the era, who attached great importance to family education. His tutor thought and practice combined thoughts of the east and west, and also kept pace with the times, which could not be ignored when we studied modern Chinese family education. Studies on his family education could not only deepen studies on his educational thoughts, but also enrich the study of traditional Chinese family education.Thus the second part of this paper explored the cause of Li's life from the perspective of the social development and changes, which revealed that his main political, diplomatic, educational ideas and practical contribution as a senior military official, a diplomatic genius and a Confucian literati. He stepped into official circle through studying with grand aspirations, and actively carried out the Westernization Movement for self-improvement; he seeked a new practice, bite the bullet, and tried to maintain a friendship with the West; he was open-minded to learning, attached the importance of nurturing talents and made painstaking efforts to cultivate them. These showed powerfully that Li was the pride of the times.As the pride of the times, his great vision and great wisdom had deeply affected his family education. He sticked to tradition and set an example for his children; his was keen in learning and also encouraged children to study hard; He advocated western learning with lofty vision, and encourageed children to keep up with the times; he attached importance to the physical and mental maintenance and will development, and promoted the healthy growth of children. Because of his words and deeds, his children made a lot contribution to the country in the diplomatic, technological, and commercial areas. His eldest son, Li Jingfang became a career diplomat, who greatly helped him to handle diplomacy; the second son, Li Jingshu became a poet with great sense of responsibility and talent, who was included in the filial piety for his filial conduct which was passed on to future generations.The family education of Li had so many advantages that it was very helpful for our studies and practice on family education in the new period of transition. The last part analyzed the contemporary era with great development of science and technology and increasingly intense competition and also indicated that Li's family education had reference value for the modern family inheriting traditions, the morality forming and intellect development, training the full development of children, and modern family keeping up with the times, actively buliding the family of Lifelong Learning.