A Christian Approach to Chinese Classical Education

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth…that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way towards him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “In him we live and move and have our being” as even some of your own poets have said, “For we are indeed his offspring.”…But now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:26–28, 30–31).

Paul does not say that God was absent from ancient Greek culture. On the contrary, he says that God was with them from the beginning, and moreover, He intended that they should not only “seek” and “feel their way” towards Him but “find” Him. Paul quotes pagan classics to prove that even the ancient Greeks knew of Him. Nevertheless, their knowledge of God was very limited. They knew of God but they did not know Him. He was worshiped but “unknown” ( Acts 17:23).

But in Christ this God is finally and fully revealed. Through repentance and faith in Christ we can finally know Him. Chinese Christian educators must seek to tell this story, to sing this song. How do we redeem the Chinese classical tradition? How do we help Chinese children to see the history of Chinese culture as the history of God’s redemption? We must listen. God was not silent in ancient China, and He is not silent now. May He give us ears to hear.

Before considering the content of Chinese classical education, we must first consider what the tradition says about the nature of education itself. The Record of Rites contains the earliest systematic treatment of education in the world—the

Record of Learning (Xueji 学记). In the Record of Learning , we find a striking critique of “modern” education:

Nowadays, teachers drone on as they read through their texts, making them ever more opaque. They continue to convey information, but as they move forward, they pay no heed to conveying what is meant or whether it is understood. They are unable to help students develop into virtuous and honest persons. In their teaching, they fail to guide their students to grow to their full potential. What they provide is perverse, and what they demand is absurd. Such being the case, this is why students learn to detest their studies and come to resent their teachers. They have suffered the pains of trying without realizing the benefits of learning. The moment that students complete their course of study they abandon any further interest in learning. Is this not why such ineffective teaching is a waste of time? 8

We can hardly believe that this passage was written over two millennia ago. It is a stunningly accurate description of modern Chinese education (which just goes to show that “modern” education is nothing new). The Record of Learning refutes the pragmatism that characterizes much of modern education: “The Great Virtue is not limited to government office, the Great Dao is not a tool.” 9 The Great Learning ends on a similar point: “In a state, gain is not to be considered

8 “ 今之教者，呻其占毕，多其讯，言及于数，进而不顾其安，使人 不由其诚，教人不尽其材；其施之也悖，其求之也佛。夫然，故隐其学而疾 其师，苦其难而不知其益也，虽终其业，其去之必速。教之不刑，其此之由 乎！ ” Xue 学记 [Record of Learning] in Liji 礼记 [Record of Rites] 36.7.1060, trans. Xu Di, Yang Liuxin, Hunter McEwan, and Roger T. Ames.

9 “ 大德不官，大道不器 ” Xue 学记 [Record of Learning] in Liji 礼记 [Record of Rites] 36.17.1071, author’s translation.