"You have to learn from Kong Rong, and you must know how to be humble!" Presumably, many Chinese parents have said this to their children.
"Kong Rong let the pear" is a very classic story handed down from traditional Chinese culture, and it can even be said that most Chinese parents have used the story of Kong Rong to let the pear teach their children to learn to "be humble".
But what many people can't imagine is that the story of "Kong Rong Let pears", which has been sung by countless Chinese families, has spread abroad but has become a negative teaching material for them to educate their children.
Why did the "classics" handed down by China for thousands of years become a show in the mouths of foreigners?
"Kong Rong makes pears" become a negative teaching material?
Why did a story, which china hails as a classic of "humility," become a negative teaching material in the United States? First of all, let's first understand how the United States interpreted Kong Rong's pear!
In fact, the story of "Kong Rong let the pear" has a total of two ways of interpreting it in the American textbook, but no matter how it is interpreted, Americans are very disagreed with kong rong let the pear.
First of all, Americans believe that Kong Rong's four-year-old let pear show that he is a very scheming child. By giving up the big pear to his brother and sister, Kong Rong successfully won the appreciation and attention of his parents and guests. At a young age, he knew that he used some means to get the attention of his parents, indicating that Kong Rong's purpose of making pears was not so simple.
Americans believe that the story of Kong Rong's pear is actually telling a unscrupulous approach to achieve an end, which is not worth advocating anyway.
Secondly, regarding the issue of Kong Rong's letting of pears, American textbooks have another way of interpreting. Americans believe that Kong Rong chose small pears mainly because he did not dare to choose large pears at all. It can be seen that Kong Rong's family status at home is not very high, his parents are not particularly concerned about him, and his brothers and sisters may even often bully him.
If Kong Rong did not choose to let the big pear out, but chose to "take it for himself", then after the fact, his brother and sister are likely to bully him.
Even to a more serious point, if Kong Rong does not let the pear, it will be difficult for him to survive in this family in the future. Therefore, in the eyes of Americans, Kong Rong learned to look at people's faces at a young age, so it is very likely that he will become a timid and cowardly person who likes to cater to others when he grows up. For this kind of timid and cowardly character, the American family will not allow and will not accept the existence of such a child.
All in all, the above two analyses precisely represent the two views of the Americans on Kong Rong's letting of pears, and Kong Rong, who gives the big pear in his hand to others, is either weak or cunning.
Contrary to traditional Chinese educational philosophy, most families in the United States encourage their children to bravely choose large pears over small pears. They feel that cultivating children to pursue what they like bravely is conducive to cultivating his brave character in the future. So for most Americans, Kong Rong's letting of pears is clearly contrary to their educational philosophy.
It has to be said that the Analysis of Kong Rong's Pear by The Americans can be described as a strong argument, and it is certainly not surprising that the Americans will use it as a negative teaching material for this kind of story that violates the traditional American educational concept.
But for Chinese, who are deeply influenced by this traditional culture, is Kong Rong's pear really as "unbearable" as the American population describes? Americans use kong rong to let the pear as a negative teaching material for educating children, so does it mean that China also needs to follow the united States' approach and no longer transmit "wrong" educational ideas to its children?
In fact, as soon as the United States took Kong Rong's letting of pears as a negative teaching material, it immediately caused Chinese netizens to discuss Kong Rong's letting of pears. Is it right or wrong about Kong Rong letting the pear? Netizens also had a wonderful and fierce discussion.
Roughly, the camps of discussion were divided into two groups, and those who "agreed with the American educational philosophy" and "adhered to Chinese traditions" respectively expressed their views on Kong Rong's letting of pears.
Some people think that Kong Rong let the pear is completely a show of the performance of the heart, while others think that Kong Rong let the pear when he was only four years old, where the four-year-old child has any heart, as a Chinese should continue to carry forward the traditional Chinese culture.
So, is Kong Rong's pear a show or a virtue? Is Kong Rong's matter of letting pears really be completely negative, and it is not worth Chinese to use to educate his children? Let's take a closer look.
"Let the pear" be a show or a trick
First of all, let's look at the part of the people who do not approve of Kong Rong's pear. Nowadays, many young people are more or less influenced by some Western culture, and more insights and the influence of different educational concepts have led them to have their own views on Kong Rong's pear.
Most of these people feel that kong Rong's heart as a four-year-old child should be very simple, and according to the normal thinking of a four-year-old child, the child will definitely choose the big pear. However, Kong Rong chose a small pear, which shows that Kong Rong is a very clever person.
On this point of view, netizens even moved out the ending of the second half of Kong Rong's life as proof. In fact, the changes after Kong Rong grew up were really surprising.
In the end, Kong Rong was killed by Cao Cao on the grounds of "disloyalty and filial piety" and "slandering the imperial court", and after his death, there was not even a person willing to collect his body.
Kong Rong's final ending is indeed a big contrast with his previous story of being praised for letting pears be praised. The historical evaluation of Kong Rong as a person is indeed not too good, especially from some of the things he has done, it can be seen that the real "Kong Rong" may not be as perfect as imagined.
It is precisely with the end of Kong Rong's second half of his life as a foreshadowing, those who originally did not approve of Kong Rong's letting of the pear are even more reasonable, they think that Kong Rong's tragic ending just proves that he is a very clever person who likes to show.
Second, those who agree with Kong Rong's letting of pears believe that Kong Rong's pears can be passed down as a story representing traditional Chinese virtues, which must be well documented. There is a sentence in the Three Character Classic that says, "At the beginning of man, nature is good", four-year-old Xiao Kongrong may not even be able to distinguish between good and evil, where do you know how to use the behavior of letting pears to "show"?
At a young age, Kong Rong knew that giving up the big pear to his relatives reflected the most innocent and kind side of the child's heart. As for those who say that Kong Rong let the pear be a show, it is completely over-interpreted.
The reason why Chinese passed down the matter of Kong Rong letting the pear as a model for educating children is more to let their children learn the idea of respecting the old and loving the young, being humble and courteous. After all, Confucianism has been circulating in China for thousands of years.
As for Kong Rong's final outcome, many people believe that the nature of human beings will be affected by the environment, but it does not prove that he is born a "bad person". Moreover, Kong Rong's life background is very special, the war years were originally a relatively special period, and the education and environmental influence received by people at that time did not have a complete set of systems and educational concepts as they do now.
Simply put, we cannot judge the ancients by today's standards. After all, living in that era, where is there an absolute "good or bad distinction"?
In fact, the above two views have a certain degree of truth, and both views should be confirmed accordingly. Therefore, we cannot simply judge their right and wrong, no matter which side we choose to stand on to judge Kong Rong's pear, it is very one-sided and irrational.
As a young person who has received a new era of education, it is not a rational way to look at problems one-sidedly, and no matter what things need to be rigorously analyzed before drawing conclusions.
So, if this is the case, how should we look at Kong Rong's pear? Or, in the future, in the process of educating children, should we use Kong Rong to let the pear as an example to tell our children?
Thinking about it at a deeper level, with the development of the times and the change of people's ideological concepts, should we completely negate the traditional educational concepts?
The importance of "taking its essence and removing its dross"
Through the different views of China and the United States on Kong Rong, it has led to people's deep thinking about the "problem of leaving" traditional Chinese culture.
The American concept of education cannot be completely denied but cannot be fully endorsed. In the case of Kong Rong's pear, in fact, it is the differences in Chinese and American cultures that have led to different views on this matter between the two countries.
First of all, China's traditional culture for thousands of years has always advocated humility, not advocating individualism but focusing on the interests of the whole team. So in the minds of many Chinese, individuals and families or individuals and teams, more often than not, we need to take care of the whole. At a deeper level, it may be better understood to compare personal interests with national interests.
Therefore, for Chinese who advocate the overall situation, knowing how to be humble is a very precious quality. China's traditional virtues, in the proof of history and the continuous practice of the Chinese people, have proved that "humility" is indeed a traditional Chinese virtue. For such a virtue, we certainly cannot discard it.
As the saying goes, take its essence and remove its dross. After all, China's traditional culture has been passed down for thousands of years, and it is inevitable that with the development of the times, some shortcomings will be exposed. For those who do not approve of Kong Rong's letting of pears, they are more opposed to Kong Rong's practice of letting pears than to oppose the practice of "humility".
In order to conform to the development of the times and some modern educational characteristics, it is completely possible to educate their children in a different way, rather than blindly "reading the script".
"Improving and upgrading" traditional Chinese culture, abandoning its shortcomings, and amplifying its advantages is the correct way to develop traditional culture.
In addition, regarding the education of children, previous parents were more preachy, such as telling their children some classic stories for their children to emulate. But in real life, many parents can't do things themselves but ask their children to do, which sounds ridiculous.
Therefore, with regard to education, it is not possible to completely read the script, and the facts have proved that the effect of this method is not very obvious. With the improvement of the educational quality of parents now, many people think that parents should lead by example, and what they can do to ask their children may be more easily accepted by their children.
Second, for the United States, which advocates individualism and freedom and equality. "Freedom first" can be said to be the dream pursued by every American, in the American concept of thought, they will feel that Kong Rong let the pear is a kind of constraint on "freedom and equality", so the Americans can not accept the story of Kong Rong let the pear for a while.
However, not accepting it does not mean that it can be blindly denied. Through the analysis of the Matter of Kong Rong's Pear in American textbooks, it also reflects that Americans view things more extremely. Is the excessive promotion of individualism and the promotion of freedom really "more beneficial than harmful" to the long-term stability and development of a family and even a country?
In general, the difference in social system and the culture and ideology that people accept is the root cause of the different views of the chinese and American people on the issue of Kong Rong's letting of pears.
But as a Chinese, the ideological culture and traditional virtues flowing in the bones should not be discarded. After all, from the perspective of traditional Chinese culture, there is nothing wrong with "humility", not only that, we must also carry it forward.
Especially for many young people who are now under the influence of Western education, it is absolutely undesirable to blindly "worship the foreign world", as young people receiving higher education, we are the hope for the development of traditional Chinese culture.
What we need to do is to improve it and find a better way to carry it forward, rather than blindly attacking and denying China's traditional culture from the perspective of the West.
The fact that "Kong Rong let the pear" is not accepted by the Americans is also a reminder to us. It is not a simple thing to continue to carry forward China's traditional culture, and the next thing we need to do is to improve it, so that more people can accept it, and strive to make Chinese culture successfully go to the world.
Now this arduous task has fallen on the shoulders of young people in the new era, and we must continue to verify and improve with our own practice, and strive to make more people accept it!