Hello everyone, I am Anthony
Welcome to my channel
This is our first video of 2025
I also wish you all a happy new year.
Happier
Today's show
Let’s continue to talk about Chinese language education in China
Before you begin
Let’s first briefly review
Contents of last week’s two videos
In the video on December 28th
We mentioned
The mechanical and rigid teaching methods of Chinese
That is to say,
Dissecting into paragraphs, words, sentences, and punctuation marks
Mechanical combination of writing skills
So that students can only focus on this surface form
Unable to deeply understand the core content and emotions of the article
This actually dampens students' interest in reading.
In the video on December 29th
We talked about
Because of the language composition
Objectively requiring students to write clichés and empty words
This has caused a deep sense of shame in writing for many students
Although this composition appears to be in Chinese
But it is no longer compatible with everyday Chinese.
Actually
More like a cryptographic language and industry jargon
but
These questions are relatively straightforward.
Many people have criticized
This week's two videos
Let's discuss
On Chinese Language Education
Some deeper questions
that is
How does it foster and encourage a
The state of lack of personality growth and independence
That is to make people more naive and simple
certainly
The connotation of this topic
It has gone far beyond language education
This narrow category
It is actually the entire Chinese society and Chinese culture.
There is a tendency
Therefore, this video
Nor is it simply a criticism of Chinese education.
Just for the convenience of discussion
Here we take language education as an example
Everyone can draw inferences from this
If you are interested in today's video
Or do you have any topic you want to discuss with me?
You can contact my email to make an appointment
Let's get back to our topic today.
First of all, the reason why we say
Language Education in China
Objectively
Encourages a state of immaturity and stagnation of personality
Not really
Or first of all, it’s not about the political propaganda.
Indeed, in Chinese language textbooks
There is a lot of political propaganda
and direct ideological indoctrination
For example, during the Cultural Revolution
Two articles well-known to Chinese people
"In Memory of Norman Bethune" and "Serve the People"
It is still in the Chinese textbooks.
These articles mainly advocate a kind of hard work,
The spirit of selfless dedication
It is also a typical product of political propaganda.
But the language of this political propaganda is very direct
The slogan-like expression is also adopted
for example
The famous quote in "In Memory of Norman Bethune":
“We all need to learn from him
A spirit without selfishness
As long as you have this spirit
A noble person
A pure person
A moral person
A person who has escaped from vulgarity
A man who benefits the people"
This kind of preaching and indoctrination in plain language means
Too strong
Students may memorize these doctrines by rote.
But it does not generate genuine recognition
and
Once students are exposed to more realistic information
This propaganda often appears false and empty
Especially important is
These explicit political texts
Little connection to students’ life experiences
Students are unlikely to
Incorporate it into your own value system
therefore
Although political propaganda exists in language education,
But it is not what I want to analyze and discuss the most.
What I want to talk about here is a kind of implicit indoctrination
Before we start discussing language education
We need to lay some background first
We say that compared with the superficial propaganda
Implicit values and ideological indoctrination
Better at influencing people through subtle influences
Influence students’ worldview and behavior patterns
It usually does not directly tell people "what to do"
Instead, it tries to use narrative and emotional resonance
Make students unconsciously accept specific values
In the process
The person involved did not realize that he was being shaped.
I even think I am natural.
Natural, normal
It is in line with its own nature
French philosopher Althusser believes:
In modern society
Schooling replaced the church in the Middle Ages
Became the dominant ideological state apparatus
Ideology
Make people imagine themselves as "free subjects"
In a hidden way
Rule over those who oppose you
This means that
Ideology’s control over people
Often not through naked commands and preaching
I am a ruler.
I ask you to obey me
That's not the case.
On the contrary, ideology tells you
You are not obeying me
You have to obey your own conscience, freedom, nature
You have to obey your subjectivity
You have to be yourself
However
This subjectivity is precisely the shaping and induction of ideology.
It takes advantage of individuals' misrecognition of ideology.
Rather than the true subjectivity of the individual
Let's go off topic a bit here.
Many videos on this channel
All involve French thinkers
For example, in this video on June 30th
We mentioned Foucault's theory of power
In these two videos
We touched on Lacan and Zizek's psychoanalysis
In the video on December 22
We introduced Bourdieu's theory of symbolic power
I believe everyone can feel it
French thinkers
Seems to be particularly good at revealing
The hidden control mechanism of modern society
On deconstruction and disenchantment
French intellectuals have a
Quite distinctive radical and romantic temperament
Maybe some friends will ask:
If only deconstruction and disenchantment
Then the individual discovers that everything is a false symbol
It's all a misconception
So where should human subjectivity be established?
after all
As long as one uses language to say what subjectivity is
It could all become a misrecognition.
I think
Human Subjectivity and Freedom
Not living in a fixed place
It's not a ready-made thing
It is a series of actions and creations
Its formation
It is precisely reflected in the negation of false subjectivity.
After all, disenchantment is not the goal.
It's just a means
Its ultimate purpose
It is to restore and establish the individual's self-charm.
This process
It must also be a negation and a negation of the negation
The Road
For Chinese culture
We say to build personal value
We need to deconstruct and question Chinese culture.
Imposing responsibilities on individuals
Identity and essence
Remove those false subjectivities
For example, Mencius said: "Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom are the three
Not just me
I also have
"
Wang Yangming believed
Everyone has a conscience
As long as you follow your conscience
You can be filial and respectful from the bottom of your heart
Becoming a Saint
These words mean
You respect your parents
Loyal to the King
The bottom line
It's not because a saint or authority taught you this.
Command you
It's the self-realization of your own inner value.
For your own essence
You are following your conscience
This statement seems to have a sense of ideological liberation.
It seems to acknowledge that people have a subjectivity.
However
This statement is still an ideological misconception
Because this seemingly natural,
Neutral so-called conscience
Still the ruling class order
The result of internalization
for example
Many people admire their parents when they are young.
Worship your parents
Listen to your parents
This is certainly a natural and genuine emotion
But people also grow
It will also develop
As we age
He began to reflect on and examine his growing environment.
Begin to realize the problems of parents
And determined to build your own life
This is also a natural and true emotion
It is a more real state
However
Confucianism, however, regards the attitude of a person towards his parents during childhood as
The innocent and simple state of a child towards his hometown
It has become the core principle of the entire social ethics
And use it as a judgement of a person's loyalty, treachery, good and evil
The highest standards
This is clearly taking advantage of a misconception.
This ideology
Although it is a real thing that originated from human beings,
Natural Emotion
But once it is elevated to the core of the political order
and the height of universal truth
It is no longer natural.
But it is stiff and rigid
Even ugly and dehumanizing
This is also particularly reflected in Chinese language education.
Here we choose
2017 People's Education Press Chinese Grade 7 Volume 1
and two books for Grade 8, Volume 1
Simple browsing catalog
Everyone can feel
Put aside those articles that are obviously political propaganda
and foreign literature
The main content of the Chinese text
Generally speaking, it can be summarized as follows
First of all, we should be grateful and miss our parents or adoptive mother.
for example
Zhu Ziqing's "Back View"
Shi Tiesheng's "Autumn Nostalgia"
Lu Xun's "A Chang and the Classic of Mountains and Seas"
Ai Qing's poem "Dayan River, My Nanny"
The Scribe by Edmondo De Amicis
Zhu De's "Remembering My Mother"
Mo Huaiqi's "Walking"
Bing Xin's Lotus Leaf·Mother
certainly
Some of these texts are from high school or elementary school
The second is the longing for hometown
Or reminiscence of childhood life
比如沈从文的《边城》
For example, Lu Xun's "From Baicao Garden to Sanwei Bookstore",
"Community Opera", selected reading text "Wuchang Festival"
We also talked about this in the previous video
Homesickness
It is a very common theme in Chinese textbooks.
It even became an internet meme
Because there are too many
There are countless ancient poems expressing homesickness.
For example, "Hearing the Flute at the Surrender City at Night"
"Thinking of the Hometown of Chang'an on the Ninth Day of the March"
Li Bai's "Song of the Moon on Mount Emei" and "Farewell at the Crossing of Jingmen"
Yellow Crane Tower by Cui Hao
"Next to Beigu Mountain" by Wang Wan
Ma Zhiyuan's "Tian Jing Sha·Autumn Thoughts" and so on
third
It is a warm praise for nature and rural life.
For example, Zhu Ziqing's "Spring"
Mao Dun's "Ode to the Poplars"
Liu Zhanqiu's "Four Seasons of Rain"
Lao She's "Winter in Jinan"
The text "Winter in Jinan"
Although it seems to be about the city of Jinan
But in fact, it is still about the countryside and nature
No city features are described.
Speaking of which
I believe everyone can feel
Emotions emphasized in Chinese language textbooks
There is some deep commonality.
That is the nostalgia for the state of childhood
Missing parents
Miss nature
Missing the rural society
In a nutshell
Return to the womb
Return to that simple, innocent and simple state
I don’t think the above articles are all false.
Of course they are real
As an author
The expression of one's true emotions
It is understandable
What I want to express is
The Organization Principles of Chinese Texts
There is a clear tendency
That implies respect for family authority.
To nature, to collectivism
And the innocence of rural society,
Simple Yearning
and the implicit understanding of cities and modern civilization
and the accompanying
Rejection of individual consciousness awakening
This interpretation sometimes goes beyond the author's original intention.
For example, Shi Tiesheng's article
In "Autumn Memories"
Just expressing my personal remembrance of my mother.
It doesn't mean to be filial or obedient.
But the textbook in the preview section of this text
Don't forget to suppress the students.
Let the students reflect on
Bathing in the love of family
Do you only know how to accept
Not moved
Don’t you understand how to give back?
This sentence sounds very daddy.
Because what do you presume?
Are the students all bathed in family love?
In reality, there are many Chinese children
In fact, I have never felt the warmth of my original family.
Even in situations of domestic violence
But the interpretation of the textbook
Trying to universalize the author's personal emotions
Moralization
It has even become a standard requirement for students
This is the deliberate induction of ideology.
We say that the process of modernization
It must mean
The individual is freed from the fetters of the womb and the shackles of the primitive
It means the awakening of free consciousness
and increased self-complexity
In the process
Individuals gradually discover
Hometown, nature, original bond
Begins to lose its own aura
Behaviors that were once considered virtuous
For example, a simple belief in traditional authority
Selfless dedication without self-awareness
And the loyalty between people, etc.
They were gradually denied
for example
Unconditional obedience to tradition, customs and authority
would be seen as a lack of reflection
Selfless dedication without self-awareness
It may be seen as a result of moral kidnapping
Undivided loyalty
It will be seen as a lack of boundaries
These original spirits are gradually fading
A new moral concept replaced it
For example, the pursuit of love
Self-discovery and curiosity
Doubt, reflection and critical thinking
And the spirit of pursuing freedom and independence, etc.
However, these ideas are not included in Chinese language textbooks.
Very few
Even though there are articles like this
They were mostly written by foreign writers.
For example, Helen Keller's "The Man Who Reshaped Life"
Another example is Russell's essay "Why I Live"
In conclusion
These articles are very rare in Chinese language textbooks.
Not the point either.
So we say
Language Education in China
Is it intentionally or unintentionally
Encouraging a certain kind of immature personality
That is to encourage retreat
Regression is a psychological concept
Refers to people facing stress and anxiety
Or when you are unable to cope with complex problems
Will return to a more primitive and simple
or low-level behavior or state of mind
For example, returning to the dependence and simplicity of childhood
To seek a sense of security
or try to simplify or idealize
Dealing with complex real-world problems
For example, the problem of insufficient freedom
It comes down to too much freedom, etc.
In a nutshell
It is to remove self-complexity
You should remember
In our November 24 issue
In the video about self-complexity
Just say
People with high self-complexity are more creative
More connections with different people
Gaining support from a wider community
nature
Also have stronger resilience to face setbacks and pressure
Have a stronger and more mature mind
Chinese culture has always had a strong tendency
It is to advocate no desire, no pursuit, no knowledge
I think a role model personality is like a mirror.
Can be open and aboveboard
Many people will keep their minds simple
Being free from desire is seen as a moral ideal
The so-called lack of desire leads to strength
Not too many desires and needs
There is no discrimination
The mind will be pure
Chinese language education in China
Also trying to cultivate this kind of simplicity,
A state of innocence and ignorance
If we put the Chinese textbook
If we consider it as a coherent article
Although it encourages self-improvement,
Hardworking and positive content
But the deep temperament
In fact, it is sad, nostalgic, and stagnant.
It is also anti-growth and anti-modernization.
It seems to be based on a natural
Natural Emotional
After all, on the surface
Everyone has a childhood.
Hometown and parents
It is inevitable that there will be nostalgia for these things.
However
Once this emotion rises to
Core principles of education and political systems
It has become an extremely unnatural
False, artificial things
As we mentioned in the last video,
Chinese composition requires students to write about their parents
But students are required to
We must follow the principle of loving father and filial son
Write it with the template of strict father and kind mother
That is, I act like a model child.
Can't have a little bit of maturity,
Independent and individual ideas
Chinese Culture
There are a lot of words that beautify this child state.
For example, a pure heart, never forgetting one's original intention, returning to nature, etc.
However
If children's innocence is true innocence
So this kind of performance of children, performance of innocence
I'm not naive at all.
It's quite twisted.
In China
People use children's standards to demand themselves
Also ask others to perform children
The complex wishes and practical needs of adults
Considered “abnormal”
turn out
Everyone suppresses their true growth experience
Everyone is becoming more and more similar
This is also the fundamental reason why many people are getting more tired as they live.
That’s all for today’s video.
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