By staff reporter ZHANG HONG

“Read after me, children:” Every Saturday, a class-full of children at the Sihai Classics Reading Guide Center for Children in Beijing’s Haidian District obediently sits and chants Chinese classics. This reversion to an old discipline was one initiated by Professor Wang Caigui of Taizhong Normal University in Taiwan. He discovered that reading Chinese classics and reciting poetry has made them more aware of the subtle nuances of the Chinese language and better equipped to appreciate literary works. Wang is of the opinion that childhood memory is at its most absorbent up to the age of thirteen, and that it is beneficial for children to read, recite and memorize classics. By the time they reach adulthood, they have a deeper understanding of what these works convey and often consciously apply the principles they imbue to their everyday lives.

At the Chinese People’s Political Consultation Conference of 1995, nine distinguished Chinese scholars proposed setting up children’s classes in Chinese classics in order to enrich their knowledge of Chinese literature and traditional culture. The proposal was welcomed by those whose beliefs and dreams were destroyed during the “cultural revolution” (1966-1976) and who want their children to have grounding in fundamental morals and ethics. Many believe that the thoughts of ancient Chinese sages, such as Confucius and Mencius, still have relevance in contemporary society.

“At one time, people considered Confucius their god; at another, they thought him a monster,” says Professor Guo Qijia of the Education Institute of Beijing Normal University. “We now intend to re-address him and re-examine his thoughts; after all, he was only human like the rest of us.”

As reading classics becomes more popular, teaching centers increase their curricula content. In July 2004, the Sihai Center held a Confucius and Shakespeare Week. They are planning an event in 2007 at which 1,000 children will recite Shakespeare’s sonnets.

The government is paying increasing attention to primary education in Chinese traditions and culture. New Chinese textbooks that include 160 classical texts, accounting for 40 percent of total texts as compared to the old textbooks that contained only 40 ancient poems, have been in trial use in some elementary schools over the past few years.

Argument for and Against Reading Classics

Chinese primary and middle school students are already busy on weekends with extra math and English as well as piano lessons, and they must now find time to study classics too. Some parents wonder just how useful studying the Four Books and the Five Classics will be to their children.

Old style private schools, where children were required to recite all kinds of classical Chinese texts, were abolished about a century ago. Yet, in a crude farmhouse in Hunan Province, students sit around a table made of old doors, as a gray-hair teacher walks around teaching them Chinese poetry, classic texts and calligraphy. “Contemporary studies help children find a good job in the future, but learning old texts teaches them how to conduct themselves correctly. For farmers, the latter is more important,” he argues.

But does everyone agree? In July 2004, Xue Yong, a Chinese journalist who studied history at Yale University, wrote a newspaper article expressing doubt at the worth of making children recite classic texts. This triggered off a national debate in both the printing and net media, the most heated aspect of which was whether or not the newly edited 12-volume Chinese Cultural Classics Reading Series comprising 19 Confucian classics that total 150,000 words is appropriate for primary and middle school students. Xue Yong doubts the benefits to children of reciting old texts in addition to their already heavy burden of study.

Those that advocate the study of Chinese classics argue that China has embraced Western educational concepts to the extent that Chinese classic works – the bedrock of traditional Chinese literary culture -- have been neglected. China’s rich culture and traditions have ensured the survival of the Chinese nation during difficult times, they argue, and if the importance of Chinese literary classics within education is not sufficiently stressed, the Chinese cultural heritage may fade away.

Chinese youngsters can benefit from learning Shakespeare, enjoy reading Hans Christian Andersen stories and be thrilled by Harry Potter movies, but they should also cultivate an appreciation of Tang poetry, as it is highly respected in world literary circles and has been translated into several other languages. Chinese scholars are generally familiar with the works of Aristotle and Kant, the Greek democratic system and the British Constitution, but they need to be equally conversant in Confucius’ theory and the Book of Changes.

As China’s economy booms, social problems begin to emerge. Certain traditional Chinese values and concepts, such as humanity and the spirit of harmony advocated by Confucius, are still practiced and promoted in contemporary society. Children need all kinds of input to grow physically and spiritually. The problem is, how it should be administered.