Tao Xingzhi is one of the giants filmed in the education section of the second season of "One Hundred Years of Masters".
Tao Xingzhi (1891-1946), a native of Shexian County, Anhui Province, was a famous educator, thinker, and great democratic fighter. He devoted his life to education and made pioneering contributions to the modernization of education in the mainland. Not only has a complete educational theory system been created, and educational theories such as "life is education", "society is school", and "teaching is one" have been put forward, but also a large number of educational practices have been carried out. He founded social universities and promoted democratic education; he attached importance to rural education, believing that universal education among peasants was essential. He also trained a large number of revolutionary talents and helped some progressive young people to go to the revolutionary base areas. Mao Zedong called him "the great educator of the people", and Soong Ching-ling called him "the master of the world".
In 1936, Tao Xingzhi visited his alma mater, Columbia University Teachers College, in the United States
In the Chinese cultural genes, the Western idea of "learning by doing" is often regarded as an interpretation of "knowing" and "doing". Since the pre-Qin Dynasty, philosophers have been arguing about which is first and which is more important, which is more important, which is difficult and easy, and there is no consensus between "knowing" and "doing". Among the group of educators from modern times, there is a strange person who can be said to have been solving this problem all his life. The Chinese people like to say "line does not change the name, sit does not change the surname", but this gentleman, for this topic, changed the name back and forth three times, until there is no word to use, and a new word is created. But he finally solved the answer to the problem in his own name, including the intriguing experiences and realizations in it. The Scythians are dead, and their names will live on forever.
This strange man's name is Tao Xingzhi.
Enlightenment is the length of learning
Tao Xingzhi was born in Shexian County, Anhui Province in 1891. At that time, SheXian was under the jurisdiction of Huizhou, although the mountains were longitudinal and barren, but it was known as the traditional culture of "ten households in the village, no waste of recitation", and the local academies were lined up, and they had always revered teachers and re-taught. It can be said that Huizhou's "geographical gifts" of rain and dew are not distinguished between noble and lowly, rich or poor, helping countless local families to become scholars, forming a cultural agglomeration effect. Tao Xingzhi enjoyed the educational dividends of his life, that is, he received it.
His father, Tao Weichao, first engaged in business, later farmed, and then taught, and had the characteristics of a love of poetry, and was a "cultivating and reading talent". When Xingzhi was young, his father was cultivating thin fields at home. Ordinary agricultural chores, as soon as they arrived in his hands, seemed to be stained with the smell of books and ink. For example, going up the mountain to cut firewood and hoeing the field and pulling grass can always inspire poetry. As soon as my father had a moment of free time, he wrote casually and recited it happily. This kind of unspoken teaching is obviously tainted with gifted knowledge. In his view, which is not yet sensible, "poetry" is always related to the countryside, Mai Mang, and song insects. The dialogue with "agricultural affairs" and the experience of low-level labor have, in a sense, become the language of his understanding of the world, and also become the original intention of reforming education in the future. Freud believed that the effects of childhood on a person are lifelong. A very interesting phenomenon is that Hu Shi and Tao Xingzhi, two people in the same hometown (Huizhou, Anhui), the same door (both worship under Dewey's door), the same age (born in the same year), but on the road of education, one entered a higher education institution and shouted, and the other stepped on the village field to open the people's wisdom. This is actually inextricably linked to their respective childhoods.
When Xingzhi was four years old, his father began to teach him to read. Speaking of which, there is also an interlude. One day, his father was writing a letter, and the little one watched silently, and after a while, he imitated his father's writing posture, using his fingers as a pen, and there was a similar picture on the table. When his father saw this, he was surprised and delighted, so he decided to teach him to read. A year later, this scene reappeared, but this time it was seen by Fang Shuxian, a show talent from a neighboring village. At that time, the five-year-old Xingzhi used a branch on the ground to copy the couplet, and happened to be seen by Fang Xiu, who was setting up the Mengtong Pavilion. Fang Xiucai saw that the little guy was brilliant, and he had stopped several times outside the private school to "rub lessons", so he deliberately tried several times, and found that he was indeed qualified, so he enlightened him for free; he also quenched the word "Wen Mao" from the "Shundian" sentence "Maozhe Civilization" (meaning "wisdom and civilization") as his scientific name. (Taoguan Newsletter, No. 58, Anhui Tao Xingzhi Memorial Hall)
In this way, from the time Mr. Fang counted to the age of seventeen when he entered the Guangji Medical Hall, Tao Xingzhi roughly experienced Mr. Wu Erkuan, who laid the foundation for traditional literature, Mr. Wang Zao and Mr. Cheng Langzhai, who laid the foundation for traditional Chinese studies, Zhang Juefu and Mr. Tang Jinxian, who laid the foundation for Western studies. When I met such a well-educated, well-hearted gentleman, who still had one side, there was indeed an element of luck, but without exception, it was all due to his insistence on "walking in order to seek knowledge". Not to mention that he often runs over mountains and mountains for dozens of miles, his stories such as "Wang Men Lixue" (because Mr. Wang Zao was lecturing and did not dare to be alarmed and stood in the snow for a long time), "Chai Reading Engineering" (going up the mountain to cut firewood in the early morning, after selling it in the market, then going to ask Mr. Lang Zhai for a lesson), "Filial Piety Engineering" (because he took care of his mother and took the initiative to share the burden of his labor, he was appreciated by Mr. Tang Jinxian and got the opportunity to learn) and other stories were widely circulated, which is proof of this. If he has gained the consciousness and habit of labor from his father's teachings, what he has received from the teachers is the gift and blessing of labor.
This experience of youth has gradually made "work" (labor, work) and "learning" (learning, learning) a relationship of mutual restraint and mutual perfection. Perhaps Tao Xingzhi did not have the consciousness of "learning by doing" at that time, but judging from the "engineering group" he founded later, the seeds of thought were planted at this time. So what is a "engineering group"? It is also simple to say, that is, "a small factory, a small school, a small society." In this there is the meaning of production, the meaning of growth, the meaning of equality and mutual assistance, and the meaning of self-defense. (The Complete Works of Tao Xingzhi, Vol. 2, Hunan Education Publishing House, 1984)
Determined to worry about gains and losses
Tao Xingzhi handwriting "The People's Good"
In Tao Xingzhi's time, the mountains and rivers were broken, the national strength was weak, and the internal and external difficulties were difficult. The reason why he was admitted to the Guangji Medical Hall was that he wanted to relieve the pain of the working people by studying medicine, which was the same as the original intention of Sun Yat-sen, Lu Xun, Yu Dafu and others to study medicine. However, because of discrimination by the church, he dropped out of school in anger. He also joined the army, participated in the local armed uprising of the Xinhai Revolution, the "Huashan Uprising", and also served in politics, serving as the secretary of the Huizhou Provincial Council for half a year. However, in these left-and-right rushes, the only thing he could "learn" was nothing more than to end up in nothing: the pedantic and stale work of the army, the rampant fish and flesh of the "charming civil servants", and the indifference and numbness of the "silent majority", which made Tao Xingzhi feel that whether it was "medical people" or "medical country", it lacked a solid foundation, just like floating clouds floating in the sky, which could not solve the fundamental problem after all.
In 1909, Tao Xingzhi was admitted to the Nanjing Hui Literature Academy and transferred to the Liberal Arts Department of Jinling University. Under the pressure of internal and external troubles, the situation of crisis gave him a solid and urgent ideological foundation for education: "The people are poor, and there is no higher education than education; the people are stupid, not educated; the party sees, non-education is not removed; fine loyalty, non-education cannot be out; if education is good, pseudo-leaders disappear without expectation, true leaders do not come out unexpectedly, and the tyranny of the majority is also invisible." At that time, many advanced intellectuals held the idea of "saving the people and trying to survive", but after experiencing various setbacks, they finally became sober: compared with the strong ships and cannons, only education is the way to open up the people's wisdom, self-reliance, and resistance to foreign humiliation. From this point, we can see the historical inevitability of Tao Xingzhi's lifelong choice of "education" after calm thinking and establishing a lofty ambition.
It was also during this period that he began to come into contact with Wang Yangming's mind. "From Wushu to Xinhai, some forerunners in the ideological and political circles, whether they were more moderate or more radical, greatly admired Wang Xue." ("The Ordinary Sacredness - Tao Xingzhi", Zhang Kaiyuan, Tang Wenquan, Central China Normal University Press, 2013 edition) The main reason for this is that the study of the mind emphasizes personal struggle and enlightenment more than traditional Confucianism, puts "personal deeds" to an unprecedented height, and changes the world and changes itself with practical actions. This positive value proposition is precisely the "timely rain" at a time when traditional beliefs collapse and concepts are confused, especially for the energetic young people. Thinking that he finally had a way forward, Tao Xingzhi was so excited that he directly took Mr. Yang Ming's "unity of knowledge and action" and said that "knowing is the idea of doing, and doing is the kung fu of knowing." Knowing is the beginning of action, and doing is the completion of knowledge" Convinced, he changed "Tao Wenmao" to "Tao Zhixing".
The change of name shows his determination. Since Wang Yangming's "knowledge" is the foundation, the "action" naturally has to keep up, so he did not hesitate to come to a wave of high-profile deeds: When he was in school, he actively participated in patriotic activities, edited the journal "Jinling Guang", and publicized the ideas of national and democratic revolution; after graduation, he went to the United States to study, successively studied at the University of Illinois and Columbia University, and studied under Dewey, Meng Lu, Keberque and other American educators to study education.
After this non-stop operation, Tao Xingzhi unexpectedly ushered in the second turning point in his life: he met Dewey, who was known as the "number one thinker of the American Tianzi". From Wang Yangming, he firmly believed in "the unity of knowledge and action", but soon Dewey's interpretation was even more deafening: everything was waiting for everything to be thought out and then done, but it was actually too late. In many cases, it is done first, and then learn while doing, change while doing, and improve while doing, until the problem is completely solved. Further, Dewey's "learning by doing" also agrees with Wang Yangming's "unity of knowledge and action", but "doing" is the starting point of "learning". This thesis was confirmed when Dewey came to China later, and Sun Yat-sen asked him about the order of "knowing" and "doing." What particularly convinced Dewey was the creation and landing of this set of xingzhi ideas, or pragmatism philosophy, in education. That is the "education as life" theory.
During the May Fourth period, Dewey visited China to study, and a group of disciples such as Tao Xingzhi, Hu Shi, and Jiang Menglin publicized and promoted the master, which had a huge impact in China. Its fierce criticism of traditional education has brought new blood, new strength and new hope to the old education that is rigid and old and difficult to rise. As a philosopher and thinker, Dewey's educational theory is the most well-known and influential is the three sentences of "education is life", "school is society" and "learning from doing". At its core lies the unity of "living" and "doing". On the one hand, this and Wang Yangming's "behavior" met unexpectedly in a sense, on the other hand, it greatly expanded the possibility of educational practice, expanding the benefits of traditional education from "point" to "surface" at once, from "single-dimensional" physical and mental cultivation to extending to "multi-dimensional" socialized and networked overall training.
Tao Xingzhi was greatly excited by this revelation and once said, "We must have the knowledge that occurs from our own experience as a root, and then the similar experiences of others can be received." If we have no experience with something, we must not understand or apply the experience of others in it. (Tao Xingzhi Anthology, Jiangsu People's Publishing House, 1981 edition) This was obviously influenced by Dewey. Because life is everywhere, everyone's "life force" is also different, "spring color is not high, flowers and branches are short and long", as long as life is integrated into education itself, mobilize and transform everyone's experience, then everyone will be able to find their own way of growth. Since then, his theory of "life education" has begun to take shape slowly.
Qiye, above and below
Tao Xingzhi is with the children of Yucai School
In the autumn of 1917, after returning from studying in the United States, Tao Xingzhi successively served in Nanjing Higher Normal School and National Southeast University, but neither lasted long. On the contrary, his legendary and arduous educational career began by taking off his suit, changing into cloth, and running around. He studied the Western educational thought represented by Dewey and combined with China's national conditions, put forward educational theories such as "life is education", "society is school", and "teaching is one". In particular, on the issue of "learning by doing", Tao Xingzhi proposed in a speech at Nankai University in 1925 that adhering to "doing" is the core of educational progress. He actively advocated "doing teaching, doing school", believing that "from the relationship between Mr. and Mr. to students, doing is teaching, from the relationship between students and Mr. Husband, doing is learning." (The Complete Works of Tao Xingzhi)
This original intention of taking "doing" as the logical starting point is the most valuable insistence of Tao Xingzhi's life, and it is also the basis for all kinds of creation, biochemistry and refinement. It can be said that in terms of innovation, Tao Xingzhi even took a bigger step than Dewey's steps. For example, he did not choose to sit firmly in colleges and universities to engage in "learning," but instead practiced what he preached, and ran to the vast number of rural areas, towns, cottages, and streets to create a new world: he mobilized and guided civilian education, rural education, education in national difficulties, and education in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression; vigorously reformed early childhood education, children's education, teacher education, girls' education, compulsory education, and middle and higher education; founded reform societies such as Xiaozhuang Rural Normal School, Yucai School, and the China Education Improvement Society and The Life Education Society; and founded the "Shanhai Engineering Group." Chengeng Public School Group" and "Labor Kindergarten Group"; pioneered the "Little Mr. System"; launched the popularization education campaign of "that is, knowledge is transmission"...
It is difficult for us to imagine that a person actually has so many "labels" and the basic logic of "doing and learning" is like a spiral of spiraling and rising, evolving from the most ordinary place, "doing" and "learning" are mutually exclusive and intertwined, from simple and complex, monotonous and pluralistic, until a person, a family, and a nation are pushed to the forefront of history, which can lead to a momentary trend and establish the merits of a hundred generations.
For example, like a missionary, Tao Xingzhi went to shops, homes, hotels, factories, the army, and even temples and prisons to promote civilian education, wrote letters to Professors Hu Shi, Guo Bingwen and others to promote the serial teaching method, sent free textbooks for the "Thousand Character Lesson for Civilians", and even stipulated that he should write at least one letter a day. Once, when he went to the home of Peking University President Jiang Menglin (who was also a Chinese disciple of Dewey) to "instigate" his civilian reading office, President Jiang really had no time to separate, so he said: "Can the principal of China's highest school tolerate illiterate people in his home?" Jiang Menglin smiled bitterly and said, "It's good to be wrong..." Before he could finish, Tao Xingzhi took over the conversation, "Then it won't work!" If you don't have time, just order 'From today onwards, all the illiterate in the family must learn to write, and those who can read must teach words', and the rest I will do for you! Jiang Menglin had no choice but to take this stubborn senior, so he called his brother Jiang Renyu and the concierge Li Baihua, and Tao Xingzhi really taught them in a serious way, and asked them to "pass on what they know" and then teach the servants and coachmen.
So, to what extent is "done" in place? In Tao Xingzhi's view, it is necessary to attain perfection. After experiencing these innumerable educational practices for ordinary people, what did he learn? In November 1931, Tao Xingzhi wrote in the article "The Mother of Thought":
"I have experienced Mr. Dewey's doctrine for more than a decade, and I feel that the process he describes is like a unipolar circuit, which cannot pass through the current. He did not mention the mother of that thought. This mother is in action. ...... So the amendment I want to propose is to add a step of action before the difficulty, and thus the whole process of scientific life becomes: action gives birth to difficulties, difficulties give rise to doubts, doubts give rise to hypotheses, hypotheses give birth to experiments, experiments give birth to assertions, assertions give rise to actions, and so on evolves into infinity. ”
It seems that at this time, he is no longer moving in line with Dewey, but he sees that the road to education under China's national conditions is by no means blindly solved by any authority, and everything has to be chosen by himself. In this way, when his life reached the forty-third year, he once again renamed himself "Tao Xingzhi", proposing that "action is the beginning of knowledge, and knowledge is the completion of action", that is, only practice can have true cognition.
But Tao Xingzhi soon realized that from "acting" to "knowing" is only the first stage of understanding, and then from "knowing" to "acting" is a higher stage, and even "action- knowledge - re-action" is constantly circulating, so that people's growth has inexhaustible potential, and education has endless fun to speak of. In this way, he wrote a small poem: "Action is Lao Tzu, knowledge is the son, and creation is the grandson", and his theory of "action-knowledge-action" goes beyond Wang Yangming and Dewey's "dualism of action and knowledge" and is relatively consistent with the Marxist concept of practice of "practice-theory-re-practice". In this way, he distilled "learning by doing" into "teaching and doing unity", that is, "the method of teaching is based on the method of learning, and the method of learning is the method of doing; how things are done, how to learn, how to learn is how to teach." He has two concise and accurate explanations for this: first, "teaching people to learn to do things," just five words, clearly explaining the logical relationship between "teaching," "learning," and "doing"; second, "saying that things are done, saying that they are learning to themselves, and teaching others", and positioning each other's positions and roles. Only by "doing" to teach is the real teaching; only by "doing" is learning, is the real learning, each other, is the unity of opposites.
Speaking of this, Tao Xingzhi's last name change came to fruition, and he created a word as his new name. It is formed by the combination of "line" and "knowing", and "line" is next to the form, and "knowing" is the inner core, much like the "ya" of the yamen, pronounced "gàn". It is intended to "know the beginning of behavior", and to do unity in the teaching of "action-middle-action". The pronunciation of "dry" reveals a courage and pride.
Conclusion
Tao Xingzhi memorial meeting venue
"One title, three names". In Tao Xingzhi's educational thought, "doing" is the starting point for cultivating modern citizens, and it is also the destination. What Tao Xingzhi is committed to is the hope that this country can "renew its new face for a while, become a new school of learning, and establish a new style of the first generation." He walked through Wang Yangming and Dewey, and with three names, he realized a "difficult problem of knowledge and action"; in this, he witnessed the exploration and reform of mainland education in internal and external troubles; and also completed a redemptive movement for the modernization of education with the spirit of self-sacrifice.
This not only brings courage and wisdom to the people of the time, but also allows future generations to see a broader and more promising future.
Source | Published in the third issue of Teachers' Monthly, with abridgements
Declare | The copyright of the article and the picture belongs to the original author, the source has been indicated in this public account, if there is any infringement, please contact us, that is, to deal with it.
Producer | Hou Xuan
Art Editing | Magical conch
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