Research On Dong Zhongshu’s Educational Thought

Confucianism has always attached importance to the thought of enlightenment.As one of the representatives of Confucianism in the Western Han Dynasty,Dong Zhongshu formed his unique thought of enlightenment on the basis of inheriting the Confucian thought of enlightenment,based on the era background,and integrating the thoughts of other various schools of thought in the society at that time.Dong Zhongshu,based on the Confucian doctrine of enlightenment,drew inspiration from the reasonable elements of the Yin Yang and famous schools of thought,and formed his educational ideas based on the philosophy of the Heavenly Way,the theory of human nature,and the theory of the interaction between heaven and man.Therefore,Dong Zhongshu proposed the goals and principles of his educational thought.Regarding the goal of education,Dong Zhongshu believes that it includes three aspects:"becoming a good person," "being a literate person," and "securing the country.";Regarding the principles of enlightenment,Dong Zhongshu proposed the theory of "Three Cardinal Principles and Five Constants",which emphasizes group ethics and morality,while "Five Constants" emphasizes individual ethics and morality.The main content of Dong Zhongshu’s enlightenment thought and its practice at the social level can be divided into the following two aspects:first,the enlightenment of the Heavenly Way,that is,to forcefully use the theory of restructuring,reform,and disaster to achieve the goal of long-term stability of the country;The second is the cultivation of kingcraft,that is,to achieve the goal of maintaining social stability and cultivating national talents through four different levels of measures:value justice above material gains,"system" "the education of the six arts," and the Spring and Autumn Period prison decision.The characteristics of Dong Zhongshu’s ideological cultivation are mainly reflected in two aspects:one is the combination of ideology and politics,that is,the combination of educational ideology and politics,making it a governance strategy;On the other hand,it combines learning and innovation,on the basis of learning from and integrating the thoughts of other schools of thought,he innovatively developed Confucianism.Although Dong Zhongshu’s thought of enlightenment was supported by the royal power at that time,it contributed to promoting the official learning of Confucianism and improving the compatibility of Confucianism,but it also had some historical limitations.