Education In Communication Between Human And Deity

Education for human beings has come into existence since the beginning of human society on earth. Human beings created education. However, the essence of education has been gradually distorted or even dissimilated in the evolutionary process for some narrow motives. As a result, the dissimilated education has exerted its influence upon human beings and thus human beings have been dissimilated. There exists complicated social factors and reasons behind the unreasonable yet virtual phenomenon. From the viewpoints of education itself, the main reason lies in the fact that that education failed to seize the prosperity of subjectivity, independence, and transcendence. According to those educational dissimilation phenomena, the author tries to look into the essence of education, and to answer the question of what education is, or what kind of education we really need.The reason why this study is devoted to the educational interpretation based on the gift-presenting custom of communication between man and deity so as to look into the essence of education is as follows:As Marx once stated, "The human essence is no abstraction inherent in each single individual. In reality it is the ensemble of the social relations". Human being can prove its own existence to form the human essence and function only through a reciprocal exchange with the alienated surroundings rather by human being itself. In effect, an individual exists in historical, cultural, natural, and social interaction. In modern philosophical view, interaction is ab asicr ealisticfo rm coming into effects between human being and the external world. Interaction is the fundamental way of human existence and also the origin and basis of the formation in human essence, function or even the human development. Also, it is a realistic platform for human essence and its function to come into effects. Gift-presenting is a specific role on the platform and has deepened into our life style and subconsciousness as a custom. As a "Total social fact", as Marcel Mauss said, "it is an activity that has implications throughout society, in the economic, legal, political, and religious spheres", and by this means, the distinguishing feature of social operation can be penetrated, and the operational logic of social culture can be deduced. Based on the gift-exchange which has been ignored but still comes into effects fundamentally, people will have a deep understanding of the fundamental effects on individuals because of this convention.Edmund Husserl as one of the representativesof Phenomenalist School believes that people do not only live on earth, but also try to seek the natural power. Religion was born in the contradiction of human ability and natural power. Religion is unavoidable among human lives because of the alien forces and the action of seeking natural power for livelihood in people's daily lives. And "religion, whatever form and howevers uperior or inferior, forms the basis of all functions in people's spiritual life". Meanwhile, from the very beginning of its emergence, the religion is ubiquitous and will exert far-reaching and ever-lasting influence on people's spiritual life as a way of life. In Marcel Mauss'view, gift exchange is a basic form of religious life. Thus, observing the significance of the basic form's impact on individuals mental development from the perspective of practice and interpreting the essence of education is still a new research area so far.The reason why the author chooses Xizhong village in a Bai-inhabited district as the site of a case is that the area was a political center and played a very important role at the region of Eehai Lake in the historical and cultural development of Yunnan Province. For the past 500 years, this area has witnessed the changing environment and surroundings. Diannan, as part of Xizhong village, is an area where exists culture of Bai ethic groups. And it was also the central region of "Jianhu civilization" and was regarded as the strategic area by the State of Nanzhao, Tibetan kingdom and Tang Dynasty in Chinese history. Meanwhile, it was also the stopover place for Kublai Khan of Yuan Dynasty in China. In this area, primitive worship for nature, primitive religion of Bai ethic group, and the external manipulated religion coexists and interrelated. The phenomenon lays a foundation for the research on the etiquette and custom of gift exchange and interpretation of education.The research plan in this paper is as follows:To give an educational anthropological study of communication between human and deity from the perspective of practice based on gift-presenting exchange.B y means of education explanation study, it aims to give an educational interpretation of gift-presenting custom in perspective of communication between man and deity. Based on this, the author tries to interpret what education is and then what the educational essence is.According to the describing-interpretation paradigm, combinedwith literature study, fieldwork of cultural anthropology from the feminism view and hermeneutic study, the paper is composed of four parts:A:a descriptionof the environment of cultural ecology around Xizhong village custom.B:an educational anthropological study of the gift-presenting custom in perspective of communication of man and deity in Xizhong village.C:an educational interpretation by means of education explanation study on the communication of man and deity in Xizhong village.D:an explanation of what education is and a discovery of the essence of education.First, according to natural environment, social settings, overview of administration, social changes, the development of economy, social stratification, religious faith and those changes recently in Xizhong village, the paper gives a detailed description of the natural environment and social settings. The description is a fundamental link to know and interpret the gift-presenting custom in this area. The reason is that the formation of ethic group's custom is based on the special social settings and structure.Second, this paper focuses on the families in Xizhong village. By reviewing the festival and non-festival gift-presenting custom, sacrificial activities, gift givers'attitude, gift-presenting procedure, gift itself, and all gift exchanging system, this papertri es to reveal the gift-presenting custom from the perspective of communication of man and deity in non-festival days.Third, by means of education explanation study, the paper gives an interpretation of the gift-presenting custom from the perspective of communication between man and deity, and a further analysis of potential negative impacts on human survival and development for the gift-presenting custom from the perspective of the communication of man and deity, all of which areb ased on the four elements:educational subject, educational settings, educational language,e ducational action.In view of this study and from the perspective of monograph and its understanding of hermeneutics, understanding means the comprehension of meaning or significance, which exactly refers to human or subjects'understanding. The situations mean the subjects or the knower'situations. The meaning can't be generated without words. The essence ofl anguage refers to the relationship created by subjects'practices ratherth an an expression of previous things. The practices of these subjects are adjusted by the partnerships, and meanings are generated in the practices by the words practioners, also names social practioners. The situations, words, and practices generate meanings because of the interrelation of subjects. Thus, the subjects are the essential elements in the formation of meaning.By reviewing the educational subjects, the study that there exists an "inter-subjective" relationships among the subjects in dealing with each other and the nature.On the relationship between human being and nature, "Heaven and man combining into one" and the mixture of heaven and man are the typical feature in Xizhong village. People are still unable to distinguish themselves from the nature since they have been influenced by primitive religion and ethnic religion.On the external manipulated religion, there is no distinguishing boundaries between educator and educatees. In the educational process, the practioners are not only practitioners, but also the meaning constructors. The worshiping hosts or the practitioners unaware that they played the functions of educators while the so-called educatees lack of the awareness that they are receiving education. All the practitioners are subjects of education which is accomplished in the "inter-subjective" relations.On the social gender, the "women-oriented" idea exists in the implication of the local language which has subverted the asymmetric relations of the culture and authority in accordance with our traditional social gender conception. Also, it frees the men and women from the gender stereotypes which exists for a long time, and restores people's simplified social perception. The breakthrough further makes it possible to reach a symmetric,s qual, and harmonious state,a nd an unstricted and equal relationship of inter-subjects.In Xizhong village, the inter-subjectivity of individual development is the group-living basis of individuals. The group-living characteristics of individuals require individual "me" of viewing nature and the otherp eople as objectified tools and means so asto accomplish something. Only in this way can the supremacy and domination which exists in subject-object relations be dissolved. All individuals come to a "unity of freedom" where everyone shares freedom and equality. The "inter-subjectivity" of individuals is a fundamental requirement of lives and also the release of alienated lives which has been "imprisoned" in subjects. So, inter-subjectivity is another essence of individuals.The study gives an educational interpretation of the gift-presentingc ustom by means of description, investigation and analysis step by step.I n the last part of the paper, this study comes to its conclusion:education is the germination of lives, which is based on the review of former speculation on the essence of education, the analysis of the roots and functions of religion, and theoretical summary of educational interpretation on gift-presenting custom——the fundamental way of religious life. At last, the study reflects social responsibility and mission, and research direction of ethnic education.The paper tries to answer the question on what education is,what the essence of education is, and what the true education is in viewpoint of practices based on gift-presenting custom in perspective of communication between human and deity——a case study in Xizhong of Bai-inhabited village. And at last, the paper further reflects the social responsibility of religious education. The interpretation of education is an open field and everyone is able to interpret it according to their own understanding. Since the conclusion and its reflection are based on a case study, more cases and interpretations are needed to discover the essence of education. Only in that way can the understanding of education be perfected in some measure.