The Foundation of Education
 
Wang Shouren (1472 – 1529 AD) was a scholar and educator during the Ming Dynasty. Because he used to live in Yangming Cave, he was known as Mr. Yangming, or Wang Yangming.
 
Wang Yangming wrote an article “Parting words with the Minister of Rites, Qiao Baiyan” based on a conversation he had with Qiao Baiyan (original name Qiao Yu), when the latter visited him before departing to assume the position of Minister of Rites in Nanjing. The article was written as parting words of advice and encouragement for Qiao Yu.
 
Based on their conversation, Wang Yangming's article expounded the fundamental issues regarding education, pointing out that education must be focused and meticulous; however, if these two aspects deviated from the Dao, both would fail because of addiction or eccentricity. By “Dao,” he referred to the Great Way from which all things were generated and developed. Education must be focused and thorough. If one understands the great way of how all things are generated and developed with a focused and diligent mind, then one would be naturally good at those less important things such as writing and other skills.
 
The story of chef Baoding dismembering an ox is a typical example to demonstrate this concept. The story tells about a chef who, when dismembering an ox for King Hui of the Wei Kingdom (400 – 319 BC), demonstrated incredible skill. Not only were his movements graceful, but the sounds of dismembering the ox were fully in rhythm with the accompanying music. How could a chef have reached such a level? He gave a rather unique answer, “I’m very interested in pursuing the Dao, much more than skill.” He made it very clear that the reason he was able to do this so skillfully was because he paid much more attention to understanding the “Dao” than acquiring a skill.
 
From this we can find it quite easy to understand why ancient people required teachers to “disseminate the Dao, to teach knowledge, and to expound and remove confusion.” The Dao here does not mean the general pattern of things, but the great way by which all things in heaven and on earth were generated. The fundamental issue in education is to disseminate the Dao to students. The “Dao” has been interpreted under different perspectives in the classics of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism.
 
However, today’s China has experienced one political movement after another after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) usurped power, and China’s true traditional culture has been destroyed, especially after the Cultural Revolution. The CCP has also distorted the traditional culture in order to maintain its rule over China. Meanwhile, due to the influence of empirical science from the West, people nowadays find it hard to understand the exact meaning of what the ancient people tried to convey. The way people try to solve problems has been reduced to simple and rigid ways of thinking, such as “only attending to the superficial or minor aspects rather than tackling the root of a problem,” and their understandings of the universe, the human body, as well as all things on earth, are really naïve and laughable, just like blind men trying to describe an elephant.
 
教育的根本是什么
 
王守仁是明朝思想家、教育家，因其曾驻阳明洞，故世称阳明先生，即王阳明。
 
王阳明有一篇文章《送宗伯乔白岩序》（宗伯是礼部尚书的别称。乔白岩姓乔名宇，号白岩），是乔宇将出任南京礼部尚书时，到作者家中辞行、交谈，然后由作者整理成文，送给乔宇，作为临别的赠言。
 
文中通过两个人的对话，论述了治学的根本问题。治学要专、要精，但专与精如果离开了道，不是流于溺，就是失于僻。所谓“道”，王阳明是指天地万物生成发育的大道。专，专一，精，精粹。如果用专与精的心力明白了天地万物生成发育的大道，那些词章、技能等无关轻重的事情不也就自通了吗？
 
庖丁解牛的故事就是注解王阳明论点的一个好例子。“庖丁解牛”说的是一个厨师给梁惠王解剖牛时所展现的出神入化的技艺。庖丁的动作不但优美，而且解剖牛时的声音还与乐曲的节奏合拍。那么，一个厨师是怎么达到这种境界的呢？他的回答也很特别：“臣之所好者道也，进乎技矣。”说的非常明白，自己之所以能做到这一步，是因为自己对“道”的体悟要超过对技艺本身的追求。
 
由此可见，古人对为师者的要求“传道、授业、解惑”就不难理解了，这个道不是一般事物的规律，而是天地万物生化的大道，教育的根本问题就是把这个道传授给学生。这个“道”在中国的儒、释、道的经典中都有不同角度的阐述。
 
可是当今的中国大陆被中共窃取政权后，经历了一次又一次的运动，尤其是“文化大革命”，已经把中华民族真正的传统文化摧毁了，中共又刻意歪曲传统文化，为了维护其统治而加以利用。同时因为西方实证科技文明的冲击，人们已经很难明白古人要表达的确切含义了。人们解决问题的方式已经成了“头痛医头，脚痛医脚”的简单而机械的思维方式，从而对宇宙、人体、以及天地万物的认识就像盲人摸象一样那样的幼稚可笑。