"Tongxin,the Heart Of Sincerity"

The study of children is crucial to the study of education.The research of children’s rich spiritual world and spiritual disposition is an important premise of constructing a scientific view of children.As far as human thought is concerned,Li Zhi,as an influential thinker in the middle and late Ming Dynasty,has always been regarded as the beginning of enlightenment in early modern times,and Li Zhi is also a major representative figure to pay attention to the study of children.Among Li Zhi’s many essays,The Theory of Tongxin is the subject that every scholar who wants to study Li Zhi’s thoughts needs to pay close attention to.In the past,researchers mostly started from the philosophical and literary thoughts contained in The Theory of Tongxin to analyze the development direction of Chinese traditional thoughts.This paper tries to reveal the essence and value of children’s educational thoughts contained in The Theory of Tongxin from the "Tong",which means children.In ancient Chinese society,children have been "hiding" behind adults,known as "little adults",and have very few pluralistic images.What is valuable is that the idea of paying attention to children has always existed in Chinese traditional culture.From the I Ching in the Pre-Qin period,the "Tongzi" in the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the "Tongxin" in the Ming Dynasty,the discussion about children has never really lost.It can be said that the disappearance and discovery of children always transform each other.Li Zhi’s Theory of Tongxin inherits the predecessors’ discussion on children and carries on a deeper discussion on the nature of children.Based on the text of Li Zhi ’s Theory of Tongxin,the research is carried out around the rich children educational thoughts contained in The Theory of Tongxin.First of all,Li Zhi justifies the title of "Tongxin",inheriting his predecessors’ discussion of "heart".He points out that "Tongxin" is the combination of sincere heart and primary heart.On the one hand,it brings human desire into the scope of principle of heaven;on the other hand,it points out the distinction between good,evil,truth and beginning,and draws the conclusion that "Tongxin" is neither good nor evil.Secondly,from the point of view of "Tongxin",Li criticises the current social situation of falsification from three aspects.From the aspect of personality,Li Zhi criticises the fragmented connection between Xing and Xi and expound on the "real person" on a close connection between Xing and Xi.From the aspect of aesthetic thought,Li Zhi criticises the false essays that embellish human nature,and puts forward the authentic essays that reveal true feelings.In terms of the way of learning,Li Zhi criticises the theory of imitating others’ opinions and puts forward the heretical thought that learning must varies from person to person.Finally,Li Zhi’s children educational thought in The Theory of Tongxin still has extremely rich ideological value in contemporary times.On the one hand,the idea of equal contained in The Theory of Tongxin has become the enlightenment of modern values,especially the view of female learning is constantly expanding the thinking of the public,highlighting diverse possibilities.On the other hand,the natural education concept contained in The Theory of Tongxin also carries out a relatively in-depth discussion on the relationship between children and adults.In order to break the obsession of "adult state" in contemporary pedagogy,it is necessary to return to the children themselves and constantly adjust the interactive relationship between them from the perspective of children.Indeed,Li Zhi ’s Theory of Tongxin is highly individualistic and gives people a sense of enlightenment,but it also has certain limitations,especially the proposition of "proactive and prudent personality".Such "proactive and prudent personality" not only possesses great talents and is unwilling to mingle with the common people,but also tends to slip into uncontrollable and even nothingness.