People’s Daily: It is necessary to cultivate children’s warmth and respect for classics

\”Zuo Zhuan\” says: \”The state is in the heaven and the earth, and it exists and stands.\” Chinese traditional culture has accumulated the deepest spiritual pursuit of the Chinese nation and is the most unique spiritual symbol of China. Classical books and chapters, including classical poetry and prose, are the most important carriers of traditional Chinese culture. Strengthening classics education not only helps to improve the humanistic quality and spiritual taste of the Chinese people, but also helps to build the value consensus and national identity of the Chinese people. It has always been a \”major national matter.\” In ancient China, schools were the main place for classical education. Whether it was a government-run school or a private private school, all classics such as the Four Books and Five Classics were used as the basic teaching content. In modern times, as knowledge classification has become more and more detailed and school teaching content has increased, it is an inevitable trend that the proportion of classic education has declined. However, this does not mean that classical education is unimportant and must be withdrawn from schools. On the contrary, schools should appropriately retain classical education through reasonable setting of courses or subjects, so as to shoulder the important task of inheriting the lifeline of traditional Chinese culture. Regrettably, at the beginning of the founding of the Republic of China, classical education in primary schools was explicitly abolished, which also affected middle schools and universities, and has been postponed to this day. Because generations of young people lack common classical education, Chinese people have experienced many deviations in their value consensus and national identity. In addition, schools are increasingly focusing on utilitarian education such as knowledge-based, skill-based, and instrumental education, causing many students to become what the American philosopher Marcuse called \”one-dimensional people\”, that is, they only focus on material and external life. , people who do not pay attention to spiritual and moral cultivation, and have caused a series of social consequences. In short, due to the lack of systematic classical education in schools, a phenomenon of \”de-Sinicization\” of culture and values ​​has indeed occurred in society. To prevent \”de-Sinicization\” and achieve \”re-Sinicization\”, the top priority is for the government to make overall arrangements, classify and guide schools at all levels, and significantly increase the proportion of ancient classics in Chinese textbooks. In the long run, classical education should be listed as a separate course and a compulsory and credit-bearing course that is \”not necessary but not necessary\”. It is best to link it to the entrance examination, employment and even the national civil servant selection examination. , establish a positive guidance and incentive mechanism for students and even the whole people to learn classics. In addition, it is necessary to promptly establish Chinese academies and other related teaching institutions in normal and comprehensive universities to cultivate a team of specialized teachers who are proficient in ancient classics. Of course, classical education is not only a classroom education, but also a practical education. In schools, erecting statues of ancient sages, holding poetry recitation contests, holding six-art experience activities such as \”rituals, music, imperial books, and numbers\”, and even designing traditional school buildings, school emblems, school mottos, school songs, school uniforms, etc. are all conducive to creating a classic education The atmosphere cultivates students\’ interest, warmth and respect for Chinese traditional culture.