The Historical Perspective And Current Challenge Of The Utilitarian Tendency Of Moral Education

A.s a major challenge, utilitarian tendency of moral education has caused widespread concerns from scholars, educators and government departments. The utilitarian tendency of moral education exists not only in present age, but also in various historical periods of ancient China. Based on the research of history, this article discusses the social impact of Domination of Confucianism and the imperial examination system, and then analyzes the performance of utilitarian tendency of moral education on the occasion of the Han, Wei, Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Meanwhile the hazards and the corrective theory and methods are also discussed.Exclusive Confucianism Reverence brought up cultural prosperity of the Han Dynasty,while the utilitarian tendency of moral education also gradually appeared after the implementation of this policy.Then along with the rise of Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties,the transformation of the personnel selection system and the family education that returing to life,the utilitarian tendency of moral education had been resolved.However,the implementation of imperial examination in the Sui and Tang required intellectuals to learn moral knowledge, which became their immediate benefits and explicit goals.It caused the moral education deviated from its fundamental goal and lost its essence and then triggered the utilitarian tendency of moral education again. The "Study of Heart" theory that return to the inner world, the attention on social issues, and the Real Learing that emphasizing statecraft are effective theories and methods to correct the utilitarian tendency of moral education, which plays an important role in moral education history. With the formation of a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, the peaceful social situation was broken,moreover,the survival and salvation was imminent.In other words,the external environment of moral education has undergone a fundamental change, which lead to the utilitarian tendency of moral education disappear gradually.The utilitarian tendency of moral education is a huge challenge that continues to have a negative impact on the effect of moral education Resolving the crisis of the utilitarian tendency of moral education is crucial for improving the effect of moral education and getting out of moral dilemma. Based on the reflection of history and past experience, this article discusses the ways to correct the utilitarian tendency of moral education in the following five aspects:deepening the reform of personnel system, returning to the people-oriented objectives in moral education, choosing the moral education contents based on daily life,adopting the moral education methods that paying equal attention to emotion and knowledge, and applying the performative evaluation of moral education.