'twixt you and me: September 2008

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Ru - Confucian scholar

(to read this extract from the Epoch Times double click on the scanned article to enlarge the print. It says a lot about the love of knowledge by the Chinese)

My interest in "Xu", "the need of a human being", is in the discussion on Nature and Nurture. My interest in the subject largely stems from being a father, a grandfather and a one time teacher.
We are all born with instinctive traits -- our nature. When someone uses the expression "chip of the old bloke " he means, in short, " like father like son" or conversely "like mother like daughter"except that it is not conventional to use the latter expression. We inherit not just looks and other visual characteristics of our parents, eg : skin colour or shades of grey or brown in the colour of our eyes but also our innate tendencies. We tend to behave in the same way our parents behave. We are inclined to behave through imitation. This is our nature.
As we grow we are nurtured through our interaction with our environment and through the imitation of the behaviour of others. The intake of food decides our weight and wellbeing. The education, both formal and informal, determines our knowledge and character. Education usually begins at a very young age to prepare us for life. We are said to be nurtured.
Mr Rudd, our P.M. believes very strongly in early childhood education beginning at the age of three. This could be the result of his Chinese language education, and/or the influence of Confuciannism and his long stay in China.
It is this process of nurturing that determines our status and quality in life.
The absence of this nurturing process almost always leads to underachievement.
I remember an advice given by a Malay politician that in order to do well in life the Malays have to follow the Chinese or the Jews. There is one flaw in this advice. The Chinese have a culture that has evolved from time in memorial. This culture stresses on the importance of education and the acquisition of knowledge . Without this inbuilt drive nothing will eventuate. Just following will result in nothing. Education and the strong urge to work hard diffirentiates the Chinese from others.