Wang Gen Educational Thought,

Wang Gen is the founder of Taizhou school and also student of Wang Yangming, from whom he inherited Mind Philosophy and developed his unique thought based on it. He believes in such thoughts as "common people's daily life is where Dao lies","justice and conscience" and "Huainan investigation of things", playing an important role in late Ming dynasty in terms of educational philosophy. Wang attaches great importance to common people's education. He simplified the classical Confucianism and imparted it to ordinary people in easy and direct way, bringing mass education to fast development period in late Ming dynasty. Through his entire life, Wang developed a complete set of educational theories, representing a milestone in China's educational history.This paper tries to draw a outline of Wang Gen's educational thought from the following aspects:Chapter1is introduction. This part includes significance of this subject from theoretical and practical perspectives, international and domestic research on Wang Gen's educational theory and insufficiencies in these researches. Finally a simple introduction is given with reference to research objective and method of this paper.In Chapter2, analysis on historical and cultural background of Wang Gen's educational thought is given, including introduction to Wang Gen's family background and growing experience which had an influence on the development of his thought. Besides, an introduction is given concerning social condition, economic development, social structure change in mid Ming dynasty and their impact on people's ideology. Furthermore, the disadvantage of neo-Confucianism which became increasingly obvious during mid and late Ming dynasty and the boost of Mind Theory are analyzed, both of which imposed significant impact on the development of Wang Gen's thought.Chapter3analyzes the theoretical source and philosophical foundation of Wang's educational thought. Wang received Confucian education in his childhood. He had read classics of Confucianism before becoming a student of Wang Yangming. He inherited Confucianism's emphasis on ethic and education. Latter, some of Wang Yanging's educational theories were also accepted by him and had an influence on his latter theories. Wang's philosophical ideas are the foundation of his educational ideas. His ideas like "common people's daily life is where Dao lies","justice and conscience" and "Huainan investigation of things" advocate the importance of individual towards the country. He believes in self value, holds the opinion that a "saint" seems wiser than a "fool" just because the former learn earlier, not due to individual difference. This thought put the wise and the foolish on an equal basis, and became the theoretical foundation for his mass education thought.Chapter4analyzes the main content and influence of Wang's educational thought. In his view, education can change people and then the country, therefore, education is a significant undertaking. He transmitted his philosophical ideas and traditional Confucianism in a simple and direct manner to common people. His educational theory affected Taizhou school in such a way that they too bear the characteristic of mass education, exerting a far-reaching influence on latter ideas.Wang Gen, as the founder of mass education, he cultivated a great deal of talents and improved social morality. His educational theory is of great importance to today's educational reform and we should inherit its essence.