Zhu Xi's Research On Family Education Thoughts

Family education,as a major form in its kind,has been an inseparable part of educational system.It is one’s earliest contact and has the longest influence,not only laying a solid foundation for school education and social education,but serving as its useful supplement and extension,thus exposing a significant impact on one’s entire life.Family education in China enjoys a long history;it has been contributing to the development of social life,the progress of schools,as well as the forming of cultural traditions and family values.Analysis and research of the historic legacy by selecting the essence and abandoning its dross to provide beneficial guidance to modern family education is what mission and responsibility appeal to.Zhu Xi,a landmark figure in China’s ancient feudal society,played a dominant role in the development of Confucianism after Confucius.Not only did he epitomize the neo-Confucianism thoughts in Southern Song Dynasty,but he was rendered as the greatest thinker and educator of his age.His thoughts on family education,inheriting basic elements of traditional Chinese culture and adding his own spin,has been regarded as valuable historic legacy in China,deserving much of the credit for providing rich and valuable ethnic cultural resources to refer to.The thesis focuses on the main content,basic approach,and progressive significance of Zhu Xi’s thoughts on family education,trying to put forward possible solutions to some outstanding issues in moderm China.The thesis can be divided into five parts.Part one goes into detail of why the subject is discussed,with main attention given to the research fruits on "Zhu Xi’s family education thoughts" by sorting out works,master and doctoral dissertations and journal articles on the study of Zhu’s thoughts.Besides,the chapter defines key concepts involved in the thesis,makes clear methods of the research as well as the innovations and shortcomings lies within.Part two elaborates the background of how Zhu’s thoughts formed.A macroscopic description is given first about the political,economic and cultural environment of his time.Then the thesis introduces Zhu’s unique upbringing in chronological order to figure out the foundation of his thoughts for the support of further study.Part three is the key chapter of the thesis,trying to comb the essence of Zhu’s family education.Contents of his family education has been dug from a thorough analysis of his works and his methods in family education,the core of his ideas extracted from practical educational activities and related works documented.Part four focuses on the realistic significance of Zhu’s thoughts on family education.His historical contributions and limitations are discussed first,followed by a summary of the issues prominent in modern family education as well as new ideas of possible solution.Part five summarizes the main points of the thesis as well room for improvement.