The Philosophy of Chinese Moral Education

A History

Zhuran You, A.G. Rud, Yingzi Hu, A. G. Rud

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9781137564337
• eBook ISBN:
  9781137564344
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Theory & Practice

The book depicts a unique historical and cultural phenomenon, the philosophy of Chinese moral education, in an attempt to capture the essence of Chinese culture. While tracing the historical journey of this philosophy, the book rearranges and interprets the conceptual frameworks concerning moral education in various Chinese philosophical schools and religions. In so doing, it summarizes the ideas of human relations, man and nature, cosmology, moral virtues, and educational approaches, posing intriguing questions about how they have influenced Chinese characteristics, social norms, and value orientations. In particular, the book brings up discussions on the culture of family and state, the challenges that the philosophy had encountered in early modern and present China, as well as the prospect of regeneration of the philosophy and its significance for our world today. This is the book to read if you want to have a deep understanding about China and its belief and educational system.

© The Author(s) 2018

Zhuran You, A.G. Rud and Yingzi HuThe Philosophy of Chinese Moral Educationhttps://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56434-4_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction of the Philosophy and the Book

Zhuran You¹ , A. G. Rud² and Yingzi Hu³

(1)

School of Teacher Education, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang, China

(2)

College of Education, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA

(3)

Office of the Provost, Shaoxing University, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang, China

Zhuran You (Corresponding author)

A. G. Rud

End Abstract

The idea of the philosophy of Chinese moral education that gives rise to this book is based on two observations: first, there was exclusive and ample philosophical discussion of moral cultivation in ancient China; ¹ second, this represents a unique historical and cultural phenomenon. While the former endows it with the basic properties of philosophy and moral education, the latter indicates its broader connotations with respect to cultural history. In light of these dynamics, we contend that the philosophical system is grounded in ancient Chinese social, political, and economic settings, and thus should be understood by connecting it to these historical complexities, which is essential for characterizing the primary theme of this philosophy, namely education to ensure proper human relations.

For a country with thousands of years of uninterrupted civilization such as China, philosophical discussions on moral education for appropriate human relations, as well as the relevant educational activities, played a key role in strengthening the social order and stabilizing the state. The ancient Chinese believed that it was the individual’s moral character and values that mostly decided his or her behavior and that it was the morality of the rulers and the people as a whole that determined the rise and decline of the country; this is also true in today’s world. That said, our goal in exploring the historical process of this philosophy is to shed light on its unique ideas about education and universal values for moral development and social prosperity.

From a cultural perspective, the book is not just an inquiry into philosophy or history, but also a comprehensive and systematic exploration of the core and essence of Chinese culture. The fortunes of philosophy are closely tied to the characteristics of the Chinese people and their modes of thinking. On the one hand, the ancient Chinese tended to perceive the world holistically (Zhang, 1999), relying less on logical causality or concrete analysis and more on intuition; they discussed the issue of moral education through a metaphysical lens. On the other, with its meaning for political rule, philosophical discussion related to moral education was so widespread that it grew and prospered to form a comprehensive system of philosophy in China; this in turn has strongly influenced how people think, what they believe and value, and how they act in human relations, politics, religions, and the arts. Thus, an investigation into the philosophy provides a key to deciphering Chinese culture.

This grand philosophical trend, though a powerful force in history, has not been explicitly defined and widely recognized—partly because it was set out in ambiguous and esoteric treatises in ancient Chinese culture and partly because of its intertwined relationships with traditional Chinese ethics , metaphysics , and political thinking. Most of the relevant scholarly works today tend to discuss ethics and moral education separately, and few have examined them from the angle of philosophical frameworks and concepts related to moral education. The predominant role of moral cultivation in traditional philosophy and the absence of literature on this, nonetheless, have made it necessary to conduct a systematic study of the philosophy of moral education in Chinese history, helping to define and expand this particular area of knowledge.

This philosophical inquiry is much needed in an era of globalization, when cross-cultural understanding has become essential for encouraging international collaboration and reducing the clash of civilizations . The history of philosophy of Chinese moral education, with its roots in Confucianism and other Chinese philosophical schools, can yield fresh insights into the orientation of Chinese values and social norms through the lens of moral cultivation. The book is unique as it is the first to deal specifically with this important subject, lending support to cultural exchange in relation to values and education between East and West.

Why the Philosophy of Chinese Moral Education? And Why History?

Before discussing the organization of this book, we need to examine the legitimacy of the philosophy of Chinese moral education. Worldwide, the philosophy of moral education is still an underdeveloped field with scant literature. Frankena (1958) and Kohlberg (1971, 1981) wrote articles or books on the philosophy of moral education, bringing new insights from moral philosophy into the field of education. Dai (2004) defined the philosophy of moral education as a discipline studying moral education in an integrated way, suggesting that it is the integrative function of moral philosophy on education that determines the need for establishing a philosophy of moral education, while de Ruyter and Miedema (2012) summarized their edited book as a commitment to clarifying the philosophy of moral education. This relative lack of literature might have reflected a concern among academics over the independence of this strand of philosophy from moral philosophy and the philosophy of education more generally.

The traditional philosophy of moral education in China, nonetheless, provides a special case to validate this area of knowledge because of its unique cultural niche and philosophical characteristics, as well as the extremely important role that moral education has played in Chinese history. There are several ideas we can use to support this claim: first, ancient Chinese philosophy centers on ethics and education in virtue; second, traditional Chinese education is intrinsically a moral education, and the traditional Chinese philosophy of education is essentially a philosophy of moral education; and third, traditional Chinese philosophy involves abundant metaphysical concepts and epistemological topics that are closely tied to or devoted to the purpose of moral education—all have enabled the philosophy of Chinese moral education to become a complete and independent field of study, including not just the moral education dimension in ethics, but also connected frameworks in metaphysics and epistemology .

First of all, traditional Chinese philosophies can be essentially perceived as moral philosophies centering on teaching morality and self-cultivation (Deng & Yin, 2015; Wu, 1999). This was well described by a famous philosopher, Wang Fuzhi: “all discourses about Tao [Truth] are to teach people [to be moral]” (Wang, 1996, p. 458). Almost all the philosophical schools in ancient China focused on discussing how to develop appropriate human relations through moral cultivation , which aimed at maintaining social order . Confucianism concerns teaching the virtues and nurturing harmonious human relations, Taoism stands for maintaining a quiescent attitude in relationships among people and maintaining the harmony between man and nature, while Buddhism helps to promote a peaceful mind, offering the promise of eternal happiness. The Mohists advocated fostering universal love and an altruistic spirit, while the Legalists called for the regulation of human relations through the enforcement of law.² Working together, they constituted the main body of Chinese moral philosophy and pursued the end of moral cultivation from differing perspectives.

These philosophical schools, in reality, are freighted with concepts focusing on moral education. Confucianism, for instance, is a philosophy of moral cultivation and social practice (Peng, 2010). The central doctrine of the ‘Three Guiding Principles’ in Confucianism, namely promoting virtue, refreshing oneself, and reaching the state of moral perfection, is also the guidance for the moral self-cultivation of scholars, who in turn would help build good customs in society by realizing the ideal of rule by morality . In this sense, Confucianism is not just a virtue ethics , but also a philosophy of moral education. This argument is bolstered by the fact that most Confucian philosophers, such as Confucius and Mencius, were also great educators. Many of their philosophical discussions were recorded by their students during their teaching. Indeed, their ideas were often the products of conversations and exchanges between teacher and students, enriching their philosophy with implications for a wide-ranging and deeply held moral education.

Next, traditional Chinese education over the past several thousand years is essentially a form of moral education as it centers on people’s moral development (Cui, 1999). Wang Yangming , a great philosopher in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 CE), stated that the chief goal of school education was to cultivate students’ morality (Wang, 2011). In fact, most Chinese schools, private or official, were not designed to teach concrete and detailed knowledge or practical skills, but to teach moral truth. Thus, the philosophy of education in ancient China was, in essence, a philosophy of moral education. Unlike the modern philosophy of education, which tends to underscore cognitive theory and scientific inquiry, the traditional Chinese philosophy of education concentrates on discussing the heart, human nature, the heavenly principle ,³ and moral perfection, as well as elaborating on the corresponding approaches for moral development.⁴

Furthermore, there are intrinsic bonds between concepts of metaphysics , epistemology , and moral education in ancient Chinese philosophy. While cosmology and ontology serve as the basis and direction of moral cultivation , moral education principles and approaches in turn are firmly situated within metaphysical discourses. For instance, it would be impossible to truly understand Lao Tzu’s following of nature, Chu Hsi’s investigation of the world to understand moral truth, or Wang Yangming ’s extension of innate knowledge without connecting these to their respective cosmological frameworks and ontological concepts about the substance and operation of the universe. Epistemology too plays an important role in illuminating moral education because of its emphasis on exploring the nature of moral knowledge and its intertwined association with metaphysics: it deals with achieving moral education-related knowledge such as the “Tao” (the Way) and enquires into the relationships between the Tao and morality, body and mind, and knowing and acting; it defines the basic feature of morality as relational and interactive, not only in human relations but also between the universe and humans (Rošker, 2014), highlighting the active role of learners in moral knowledge acquisition.

It is worth noting that traditional moral education in China is essentially a form of moral self-cultivation underscoring an individual’s autonomy and initiative, which further justifies the inclusiveness of the philosophy of moral education. As the responsibility for moral development was usually laid upon the shoulders of each individual, the moral agents needed to understand the cosmological and ontological frameworks so as to have the right attitude and motivations in their own moral cultivation . In other words, metaphysics and epistemology became indispensable parts of the philosophical discussion of moral education because they helped scholars clarify the rationales and legitimacy for choosing these educational contents and approaches, and thus for consciously following the moral principles. There is therefore a compelling need to investigate moral education from a philosophical perspective, including not just ideas about moral education, but also an integrated understanding of metaphysical frameworks, ethical principles, and epistemological beliefs; these constitute a complete philosophical system that we call the philosophy of Chinese moral education.

Though closely related to and sometimes overlapping with ethics, the philosophy of moral education is not equivalent to ethics. Aside from including the components of metaphysics and epistemology , the philosophy differs from ethics in concentrating on the subject of moral education. Although ethics encompasses extensive moral principles, frameworks, and logic that can contribute to the teaching of morality, its core mission is to seek moral truth, which limits its impact on moral education. The philosophy of moral education, on the other hand, is a focused study of these philosophical concepts as related to moral cultivation . Such an inquiry can revita...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction of the Philosophy and the Book
• Part I. The Conceptual Origin and the First Flowering
• Part II. The Era of Conflict, Adaptation, and Integration
• Part III. The Era of Full Development and Transformation
• Part IV. The Era of Crises, Learning, and Regeneration
• Back Matter