The twenty-four solar terms are a curriculum that can be "heard"
The twenty-four solar terms rooted in farming civilization integrate the ancient Chinese wisdom on astronomy, calendar, rhythm, and health preservation, and also contain rich and profound philosophical, ethical and aesthetic spirits, and are known as the international meteorological community. "China's fifth greatest invention" has been included in the list of world intangible cultural heritage.
However, when it comes to the modern inheritance and transformation of the twenty-four solar terms, I think that the seeds of Chinese solar terms culture should be implanted softly into the hearts of young people.
Reconstructing education time and space in heaven and earth time and space
The twenty-four solar terms are the time system formed by the Chinese people by observing the annual movement of the sun. It is also the discovery of the universe by our ancestors looking up and down. It is also the spiritual awareness of the harmonious coexistence of "heaven-earth-human".
Essentially, what the twenty-four solar terms provides is a "natural time view" that is different from the modern "physical time view".
Here, time becomes the endless life cycle, connection and echo between the living beings in heaven and earth.
It is out of respect and reverence for nature and nature that our ancestors not only established a lifestyle of clear farming and rain reading, but also demonstrated the cultural ethics that both prospered and passed down with the value of farming and reading.
Therefore, in the textbooks of ancient Mongolian studies, the words "Heaven, Earth and Man" are used to enlighten children in the simplest philosophy of life and time and space.
In our opinion, what the twenty-four solar terms provide for modern education is actually a "timetable" of nature, the seasons and rhythms set by God for the world. The rhythm is ignored.
Our timetable has become a "class schedule", the sound of the wind is inaudible, the sound of rain is inaudible, and the sound of birds is inaudible. In this huge space, only the bell is the only signal to remind the time.
To implant the seeds of the twenty-four solar terms into school education is to liberate modern education from the morbid occupation of knowledge and curriculum, and to fully open up the "natural dimension" of education, so that the younger generation will be free from a kind of morbid occupation. The "materialization horizon" of cognition and monologue moves to the "life horizon" of understanding and dialogue.
Only when the time is opened and the space is opened can we talk about the opening of the curriculum.
This is related to the reconstruction of educational time and space.
Embrace Chinese Wisdom in Daily Experience
The twenty-four solar terms are called the "existence and time" of the Chinese people, and the core of Chinese wisdom highlighted by them is the unity of man and nature, and the inseparability of things and me.
On the one hand, it is a metaphysical guide for survival that conforms to the times, and on the other hand, it is a metaphysical natural law and human decree, with the philosophical wisdom of "viewing the world" and "viewing life".
The twenty-four solar terms cover almost the core propositions of Chinese philosophy, and make these propositions the daily life of Chinese people.
The world is full of changes, and the power of change comes from the ebb and flow and transformation between yin and yang, and from the mutual growth and restraint between metal, wood, water, fire and soil.
These Chinese wisdoms do not reside in the classics, they are written in the cycle of solar terms.
It is like the "winter solstice and one yang" in winter, and "everything bears the yin and embraces the yang, and inflates it for harmony" in the spring.
From the perspective of Chinese philosophy, the ontology pointed to by "Qi" is the state of existence and the way of life, while "Harmony" refers to the harmonious order of coexistence of life.
In the solar terms, the so-called opposite phase is no longer rational speculation, but a natural interpretation of yin and yang, black and white, cold and heat, profit and loss; and the spirit of harmony and moderation can also be obtained from the "track" of the sun and the moon and the rhythm of the changing seasons Arguments from heaven and earth.
The fundamental orientation of education that is consistent with this philosophical spirit is that "people follow the earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows Tao, and Tao follows nature". It can be said that the Chinese wisdom in which heaven and earth are interrelated and coexist with dialogue is the essence of Chinese educational thought. .
Therefore, there is also a relationship between the natural solar terms and the personality's integrity.
A person with integrity lies in the spirit, persistence and moderation.
As the "Book of Changes" says: "The lord of the world is in harmony with heaven and earth, in harmony with the sun and the moon, in its order with the four seasons, and in good and bad with ghosts and spirits."
The Chinese wisdom of Han Yong's twenty-four solar terms is also a comprehension of personality cultivation.
For example, there are minor heat and major heat in the solar terms, minor cold and major cold, and minor fullness, but there is no "big fullness".
Does the blank of this naming mean that the "Daman" in the philosophical sense is the ideal of life?
Cultivating Aesthetic Education Feelings in Project Learning
"Zhuangzi" said: "Heaven and earth have great beauty but do not talk about it, there are clear laws in the four seasons but do not discuss it, and everything has a rationale but do not talk about it." Opening the "natural dimension" of education means that the door of aesthetic education is also open to heaven and earth.
The significance of solar terms in aesthetic education lies in establishing a broad and lasting emotional connection between people and the world, and finding a place for spiritual life with empathy, aesthetics and creative methods beyond utilitarianism.
The connotation of the twenty-four solar terms involves multidisciplinary knowledge such as astronomy, geography, agriculture, folklore, rhythm, literature, philosophy, aesthetics and communication.
But the significance of solar terms in aesthetic education is not the provision of knowledge, but a way of grasping the world, a way of thinking, feeling and expressing.
Therefore, we must think across disciplines, treat solar terms as a life theme of project-based learning, make looking up and looking down become the spiritual gestures of modern children, and let nature and humanities harmonize with children.
The solar term culture under the project-based learning must appeal to the school's environment, activities and courses.
Such as observing and drawing flowers and plants according to the solar terms, such as planning a solar term class that integrates music, recitation, singing, games, making, and eating, such as guiding children to care about the subtle sounds of the earth and the sky in different seasons, to learn from A color, a shape, a smell, a rhythm to appreciate the breath of beauty.
In this way, for children, the process of returning to the sky under the twenty-four solar terms is the process of fully opening their aesthetic senses, the process of connecting with nature, and the process of opening up the beauty of life from plants, animals and all sentient beings. door process.
(Author: Huang Yaohong, professor at the School of Literature, Hunan Normal University)