| As the only one of the four ancient civilisations of the East,China’s millennium-old civilisation has been inherited and carried forward across time and space because of the important role played by the "shi".As one of the most important means of cultural transmission,the cultural connotations embedded in the term "shi" have a certain research value in themselves.An overview of the existing research findings reveals that most of the academic studies on the term "shi" in the pre-Qin period are semantic studies,including the original meaning of "shi" and the study of "shi" in specific subject areas.In the study of the original meaning,most scholars have used the oracle bones and the Jin inscriptions as the basis for the examination of the original meaning of the word "shi",and have proposed a specific lineage of the evolution of the concept of "shi" by sorting out the character origin and group composition of "shi".By sorting out the etymology of the word "shi" and the composition of the group,they propose that the concept of "shi" has gone through a process of evolution from the initial meaning of military in the oracle bone inscriptions to that of a specific person in the late Shang and early Zhou dynasties,and finally to the formal acquisition of the meaning of "educator" during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.The connotation of "educator" was formally acquired during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period.The study of "shi" in relation to specific contexts involves a number of disciplines,including language,culture,literature,art,religion and philosophy,but the research findings of each discipline are relatively fragmentary,focusing mostly on individual teachers in specific contexts,with no systematic analysis of "shi" and a lack of research on the characteristics of teachers as a whole.The study of the role of the teacher as a whole is lacking.The only comprehensive interpretation of the teacher is that of Confucianism,and most of the existing research focuses on Confucian educators or educational texts,but rarely summarises the overall development of the teacher in Confucianism.Therefore,this study takes the "shi" in pre-Qin Confucianism,which has educational connotations,as its object and finds that the Confucian school,represented by Confucius,Mencius and Xunzi,has made creative interpretations of the role of the "shi".The Confucian school of Confucianism,represented by Confucius,Mencius and Xunzi,has interpreted the role of "shi" creatively,giving it a new meaning on the basis of breaking the boundaries of the original official status of "shi" and making it a proposition of universal significance.The logical features behind the evolution of the role of the teacher coincide with the professional requirements of teachers in the new era,and can better provide ideological nourishment,theoretical guidance and role models for contemporary teacher education.The study is conducted in the following sections:Part Ⅰ: Introduction.It begins with an explanation of the reasons for the study,mainly in terms of the doctrinal and contemporary propositions,followed by a brief description of the purpose and significance of the study,then an analysis of the current state of research on "shi",and finally a description of the research methodology and innovations.Part Ⅱ:The evolution of the role of the teacher in pre-Qin Confucianism.This part is where the value of this study lies.This part is an overview of the thought of Confucianism,represented by Confucius,Mencius and Xunzi,and the contents of the relevant Confucian texts concerning the "shi",with a focus on the "shi" with educational connotations.It is based on an exploration of the connotations of the teacher as interpreted by Confucius,Mencius and Xunzi,and summarises their expectations of the role of the teacher.In the Western Zhou period,the role of the teacher was performed by officials within the royal system,as a "teacher of officials",and was subordinate to the ministry of the ministry,whose main educational function was to teach professional theories and skills to the sons and daughters of the nobility.It did not have a sense of responsibility or mission to lead the development of society by teaching the people.However,during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods,the Confucian school was founded and Confucian scholars,represented by Confucius,Mencius and Xunzi,broke away from the original official status of the teacher and interpreted it widely,further promoting the status of the teacher as a general cultural or educator.This provided strong theoretical support for the shift of the main meaning of "shi" to refer to educators who taught and nurtured people,thus realizing the evolution of the role of "shi" from that of "teacher of officials" within the royal official system to that of "shi" in human society.The role of the "shi" evolved from that of a "teacher of officials" within the royal system to that of a "teacher of sages" who transmitted knowledge and educated people in human society while passing on and developing spiritual culture.Part Ⅲ: The Study of Educational Enlightenment.This section links the overall characterisation of the role of the "sage teacher" with the requirements and standards that the state has set for the building of the teaching force today,and finds that the "sage teacher" of the Confucian school of the pre-Qin dynasty is in line with the standard characteristics of the unified "teacher of scripture" and "teacher of men" mentioned by General Secretary Xi Jinping,and can provide a role model for today’s teachers to become the unified "teacher of scripture" and "teacher of men ".It can provide a role model for today’s teachers to become a unified teacher of scripture and a teacher of people,and thus provide a reference for the sustainable and leapfrog development of today’s teaching force and the innovative development of good traditional culture. |
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