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6. Education and Learning
- Indiana University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
6 Education and Learning The independent nation of China is more ancient than all the nations in the ¤ve continents of Asia, Europe, Africa, America, and Australia, and has lasted for four thousand years now. The Egyptian, Hellenic, Roman, Indian, and other ancient nations suffered a decline. Some of them are now being trampled underfoot by foreign enemies, some are living in subjection under strong foreign rule, and some have left behind no sign other than their names. But China is still an independent country; it enjoys self-rule. Although it is compelled at times to bow down before a strong Western enemy, it is capable of achieving the advancement of its country and people, and of developing the power to resist Western nations; and it is improving itself accordingly. The Americans, the English, and other Europeans may show disrespect to the Chinese, or ridicule or censure them as much as they like; they still treat the Chinese with caution. Today China has no reason to fear foreign domination. It appears certain that if China introduces changes conducive to the modern human conditions in keeping with the changing times, and strengthens the nation from within, it need fear no danger from without. What is the reason why this nation has acquired such strength, such stability and such prominence? Confucius, the teacher of the Chinese people, said that education eliminates class differences. Following his advice, the Chinese people decided not to treat any particular class as the highest, but to accept that a person’s education and good morals are the true criteria of his superiority; and they established the practice of appointing a person to an of¤ce which was suited to his education and conduct, instead of entrusting the administration of the country to the nobility or a special class of people. Therefore even a person born in a poor, unknown, and lowly family in China cherishes hopes of rising to a high status on the strength of his education and good morals. Education enjoys pre-eminence among the menfolk of China. Even an ordinary laborer or servant there can read and write. Rare indeed is an illiterate man. Why then would a country whose administration is founded on education not be strong? It is not surprising that a country whose inhabitants are ever ready to work, who do not pamper idle beggars, and who appreciate education should be independent ; it would be astonishing were it not so. The learned Plutarch has said that “The fair fabric of justice raised by Numa passed rapidly away because it was not founded upon education.”1 What other reason can there be for the decline of a kingdom which has all other good things? What stronger reason can there be for its downfall than that its political philosophy was not supported by the¤rm foundation of education? It would be surprising indeed if a nation were not destroyed, when only a few of its people get an education—and those too belonging to a particular class—and where thousands and millions of its inhabitants are immersed in the darkness of ignorance, without even a hope of obtaining a high position. As in China, the political and moral leaders in the United States have realized the importance of education. They know well that all the inhabitants of the nation need to be at least literate if their independence is to last. And these days they consider it absolutely essential to open the avenues of education to women as well as men. In this matter they have surpassed China. Gradually all nations, including China, will come to realize the importance of women’s education. The national might of the United States does not lie in its standing army, cannons, and swords; it lies in the educational advancement and diligence of the nation’s inhabitants. Schools2 People belonging to the Puritan sect found that they were unable to freely follow their own religion in their country, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the United States. They opened schools right from the beginning, because they considered education to be essential for their children. Four hundred years ago, Martin Luther tried to free Christians from their subjection to the Roman Catholic priesthood; since that time it has come to be generally accepted that the common man in Europe needs to have some education. Luther understood that ignorance was the reason why the scheming priests could deceive millions of poor gullible people and shackle them with...