I. The Disciple Rules and its author
The second emperor Kangxi, whose capital was Beijing, succeeded him in 1462. After the pro-government Kangxi Emperor, the ruler of power, the Ping San Domain, the anti-Tsarist Russia, the surrender of Mongolia and Tibet, the acquisition of Taiwan, the excellence of martial arts, and the expansion of the territory of the Great Qing Dynasty to Siberia. He adopted a policy of national reconciliation, reused Han Chen, vigorously promoted and popularized the traditional culture of the Han people, appeased the Han people and other ethnic minorities, took Confucianism as the theoretical basis for governing the country, compiled the Chinese Kangxi Dictionary, and it became a common practice for the children of the Eight Banners to learn Han culture. Kangxi himself's Chinese proficiency and chinese calligraphy are quite profound, which can be called everyone. Under his martial arts, the Chinese nation opened the curtain on the "prosperous era of Kangqian."
In this historical background, there is a shanxi Daizhou named Li Yuxiu (born in the seventh year of Qing Shunzhi, died in the sixth year of Yongzheng), who repeatedly failed to pass the township examination, founded a private school as a Xiucai, opened a library and taught, made a living, and used it as a career for life. With a rigorous practice, he seriously studied the characteristics of children's enlightenment education, combined with the usual teaching practice, and compiled a children's enlightenment textbook "Xun Mengwen" in popular language, which was later revised and adapted, renamed "Disciple Rules", which has been handed down to this day and has become a children's Chinese enlightenment textbook with the same name as "Three Character Classic", "Hundred Family Names" and "Thousand Character Text".
Second, the main content and characteristics
The "Disciple Rules" take the disciples in the "Analects" "Learning and" section of the "Disciples" as the theme of "filial piety, out of the brothers, be sincere and faithful, love the public, and be kind, have spare strength, then learn", according to the ethical and moral standards of the Kangxi period society, combined with the characteristics of children's enlightenment education, the disciples should have the behavioral norms in five aspects, such as staying at home, going out, treating people, receiving things, and learning, and compiling them into teaching materials in plain language, which is the main content of the "Disciple Rules". Its core ideas are filial piety, brotherhood, benevolence, and love, and it is a classic work that embodies Confucian ethical and moral thought.
The Disciple Rules have the following characteristics:
The first is to organically combine Confucian ethical and moral thought with children's enlightenment education, and integrate moral education into literacy education, so that children can accept Confucian ethical ideas in the process of literacy, and become the standard for guiding and measuring their own words and deeds. It can be said that the "Disciple Rules" is a good Confucian moral education textbook.
Second, it is easy to understand and the reason is simple. Those who do not cite scriptures such as the Three Character Sutra are also like the Analects. Some even colloquially speak, such as "parents call, should not slow down", "parents order, do not be lazy", easy to understand and easy to do.
The third is to be crisp and refreshing, easy to remember. The whole text is three words and one sentence, two sentences and one rhyme. Such as "disciple rules, saints training; first filial piety, second sincere faith" and so on.
As a children's enlightenment textbook, the Disciple Rules are easier to learn than the Three Character Classic and more ideological than the Hundred Family Names. Therefore, it has been very popular and widely circulated since its inception. During the Republic of China period, private schools in various places mostly used this text. Li Yuxiu taught and educated people all his life, so his name was left in history.
III. The Practical Significance of the Study of the Disciple Rules
It has been three hundred years since the Disciple Rules came out. When we study it today, we still find the content fresh and practical. For those of us as disciples, how to honor our parents, love our brothers, and how to treat others and things still has a strong guiding significance. The idea of "filial piety, brotherhood, benevolence, and love" propagated by it has penetrated deep into the ideological depths of the Chinese nation and has become an important moral standard for us to govern the country according to law, govern the country with ethics, and measure the right and wrong of society. Therefore, in recent years, sinology education, including the "Disciple Rules", has received attention in some organs, schools, and enterprises, and it does have its social foundation and practical needs. The Confucian moral concepts promoted in the Disciple Rules will surely be passed on forever in the land of China.
First, filial piety to parents has become the consensus of the whole people of Chinese sons and daughters. This year, the state also revised the Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Elderly, stipulating that children and daughters must often go home to see them in the form of legislation. In the form of law, filial piety to parents is included in the national code of conduct. Filial piety is against the law. This is the first time in China's history, which shows how important the position of "filial piety" is in the hearts of the Chinese nation.
Second, fraternity and brotherhood and respect for teachers and leaders are the basis for maintaining social order and governing the country. The word "disciple" mentioned in the "Disciple Rules" has a broad meaning. It refers to children, siblings, students, apprentices, subordinates, etc. Each of us is not only a parent, but also a child, a brother and sister. In the unit we are employees, are subordinates. The "Disciple Rules" have made many explicit notices on how to regulate the behavior of the "disciples", and this part is the highlight of the "Disciple Rules". The three articles "Out of the Brother", "Sincere", and "Faith" all teach us how to be "brothers" and how to treat people and things. Such as "brother Daoyou, brother Daogong", "light wealth, resentment and life", "words endure, angry self-defeating", "young people, do not drink, drink drunk, the ugliest" and so on. The "brother" in the Analects is equivalent to the "悌" in modern Chinese, which means "younger brother obeys older brother". By extension, it is extended as follows: employees obey the boss, and subordinates obey the superior. Therefore, in the "Disciple Rules", chapters such as "Out of the Brothers" are written by the author in accordance with Confucian thought, emphasizing the order of the elderly and the young, up and down, and strengthening the sense of obedience at all levels, so as to ensure the order and stability of society. In today's society, we need this social order. Otherwise, there will be no distinction between the elder and the young, and there will be no distinction between the upper and lower levels, and "the country will not be a country"!
3. Treat people with kindness and affection. The heart of benevolence is the symbol of human civilization and the reflection of human conscience. From Confucius more than 2,000 years ago, to Christianity in the West, to Buddhism in the East, they all advocate benevolence. Because killing each other is a lose-lose situation. Human beings are constantly summing up and reflecting on the killing and gradually growing up and moving toward civilization. Now benevolence is not only a sign of a society's civilization or not, but also a reflection of a person's moral level. The benevolent man is certainly highly regarded and respected. The ideas of "benevolence" and "universal love for the masses" advocated in the "Disciple Rules" are precisely the embodiment of this civilized thinking of mankind, and although three hundred years have passed, they still shine brightly and enlighten people.
Of course, due to the limitations of the level of social development and history, some of the ideas and formulations in the Disciple Rules are no longer appropriate. For example, "three years of mourning", "living in a change", "wine and meat extinction", etc., it is now difficult to do. Another example is "promoting the evil of others, that is, evil", and there is also the suspicion of being wise and protecting oneself and lacking justice. These dross need to be identified and discarded in our learning.