Zhu Zhizhong _ Pingjiang School

I've heard old people tell stories about private schools since I was a child: former Sun Zhaoli and Wu Zhou Zheng Wang. They wrote poems, wrote lyrics, practiced calligraphy, got slapped and stood as punishment ... But I've never seen a real private school, because this ancient educational institution has disappeared for nearly a hundred years.

In Pingjiang, Hunan, an old man insisted on private school education at home for decades and taught four books and five classics. Although there are only a few disciples, after decades of continuous inheritance, traditional school learning is still stubbornly continuing in this area.

The Voice of Private Schools in the Digital Age

Ignorant schoolchildren, conservative teachers, clapping voices ―― The people are full of warm and stern stories about private schools and teachers.

2 1 century, network TV has blossomed everywhere, and private school has long been a distant word. If someone tells you that there is an old-fashioned private school somewhere, you won't believe it.

On Sunday morning, Zhu Liang Jr. got up early in Wujiao Village, Nanjiang Town, Pingjiang County, Hunan Province. After washing and breakfast, Zhu Liang Jr. hurried to school.

"Study hard and listen to the old gentleman!" Zhu Liang's parents told me.

Zhu Liang, 1 1 years old, is a fifth-grade student in a rural primary school. Today, he will go to a private school in his village to study ancient books instead of going to school. Brush dipped in ink, two books "Augmented Sage" and "The Story of Childhood Learning", Zhu Liang went to a private school run by the elderly in Zhu Zhizhong every Sunday to read ancient books for a whole day.

This is the real scene I witnessed in Pingjiang, Hunan last year. ...

The ancient Miluo River passes through the territory, and Pingjiang in Hunan is located at the junction of Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces, with beautiful scenery.

There are still private schools as old as fossils here. Although the terrible hand board no longer exists, the traditional mode of teaching ancient books, learning poetry and practicing calligraphy in private schools is still original.

Zhu Zhizhong's home is in Nanjiang Town, 45 kilometers northwest of Pingjiang County. I took a bus from Pingjiang to Nanjiang, got off at a place called Jiangtian Village, and then walked to Jia Zhu Group in Wujiao Village, where my private school is.

The dam in front of the house, the castle peak behind the house, the rice fields and fish ponds in the dam, the bamboo forests and pine forests on the castle peak, and the pastoral scenery along the way made me daydream about the legendary private school.

Jia Zhu Group is one of 24 villagers' groups in Wujiao Village, with 25 households, 100 people. Mr Zhu Zhizhong's private school is an old house with many new houses around it. There are two iron signs hanging on the low eaves: "No.274 Wujiao Village, Nanjiang Town" and "Five Good Families". Only at the back of the earthen house can you see the classroom. There are many graffiti marks on the dark wall, and there are many sundries piled up in the corner. The only two windows facing west are open-air and the conditions are very simple.

From the outside, Mr. Xue's home is almost the same as the ordinary farmhouse, even more humble. However, according to Mr. Zhu Zhizhong, this house has a history of over 100 years, which has been handed down from generation to generation. The gatehouse of the old house has been destroyed, leaving only an isolated stone door frame. In the winter sunshine, in my opinion, it is a symbol of this old house, or a symbol of some kind of spirit.

The simple and quiet classroom looks a little dark and damp. On the side near the window, there are tables and chairs built with several worn-out door panels. On the simple desk, pens, ink, paper and inkstones are placed neatly and simply. The surrounding walls are covered with poems and articles written by students with brush. As described in Mr. Lu Xun's article "From Hundred Herbs Garden to San Tan Yin Yue", students in private schools are talking about and reciting their own articles, which together become a unique buzz. Time seems to have stopped here, making people vaguely return to the past. These clicks of cameras in the Internet age and the sound of reading in private schools make people feel different in modern times.

The famous "old gentleman"

During the interview in Pingjiang, you can always feel an ancient humanistic atmosphere in Wendun. Private schools are often called "Mongolian libraries" and "teachers of old books". Most of Pingjiang's "second-hand book teachers" are orthodox, highly respected and experienced, and 80-year-old teacher Zhu Zhizhong is a typical representative.

Mr. Zhu is of medium height, slightly hunched, wearing an ordinary single hat and an old cotton-padded coat. His white and thin face has a pair of confident and keen eyes, and there is a red mole on the top of his nose. His life experience, manners and self-cultivation knowledge are well-known in the local area. The old man is knowledgeable and has an amazing memory. He can recite all the ancient Chinese he has learned so far. I was surprised to meet an elder with such a profound cultural background in this remote countryside.

Zhu Zhizhong studied in a private school 10 years in his early years, and became a recognized "scholar" in the village through hard study. When he was in his thirties, he started a school at home and started his traditional private school teaching. For more than half a century, this old man has become the "old gentleman" who has run a private school for the longest time, the oldest and trained the most students.

"By this year, my private school has been running intermittently for more than 50 years. When there are many students, one year 10, four or five students a year. A little more this year, 15 students. I have been running a school for decades, and my students are probably hundreds. " The vibrant Mr. Zhu said indifferently.

Although the old gentleman is famous, his life is extremely simple and poor. There is not even a black-and-white TV and radio in the bedroom except a double bed and a broken wardrobe that has been used for decades. It can be described as a family. Only modernization is an electronic watch bought with a piece of 8 yuan money. Old people only eat two meals a day, and each meal is fried rice with Chili peppers. Eating an egg soup will improve their lives.

"In fact, I don't worry about food and clothing now. Teaching old books is not to earn a few dollars, but mainly a kind of interest. In the past, it was mainly forced by life, but now it is a spiritual sustenance, because students can't live without me, and I can't live without students. " Old people are indifferent and have no hobbies. In the cold winter, he often keeps warm in his room alone, with only a big cat as his companion.

Explore the "cold window"

"Guan, Guan Luo dove, in Hezhou, my fair lady, a gentleman is good ..."

Early in the morning, groups of students came to Mr. Zhu's house and sat around several tables built with door panels. After a while, Lang Lang's reading sounded.

During the break, the students crowded into the teacher's kitchen and warmed around the fireplace. 165438+ The classrooms in the south are particularly cold in late October, which makes people feel the real "cold window" taste.

Different from the current unified teaching in primary and secondary schools, private schools teach one by one according to the differences in students' learning content. Starting with the three-character classics, study tour and expansion, we will focus on learning ancient Confucian classics.

Ancient Chinese is the most important study subject in private schools. Teacher Wang explained the article to each student once or twice, and then made the students familiar with it. What I learned the day before, I will go to him to recite one by one the next day. Only those who pass successfully can learn new courses.

It is another main content of private school teaching that students bring paper from home and copy copybooks under the guidance of Mr. Calligraphy. If Mr. Wang wants to teach students calligraphy, his calligraphy level will naturally not be bad. Mr. Zhu Lao is a famous local calligrapher.

I have heard how old private schools punish students before, so I pay special attention to the teacher-student relationship in Pingjiang private schools.

"In the past, private schools did have corporal punishment of students, because the society recognized the teaching model at that time, and the students recruited were younger, and corporal punishment was very effective. It's different now. Corporal punishment is not only condemned by parents, education and other administrative departments, but also bears legal responsibility. Moreover, the students enrolled now are older and can convince people by reasoning. " Mr Zhu Zhizhong told me. Although I have never seen my husband and students talking and laughing together, nor have I seen students and teachers discussing problems, I can still see the awe-inspiring and warm teacher-student relationship at a glance in the interview. Students are all serious when they meet their teachers. When the teachers leave, they fight again, revealing the innocence of teenagers. Teacher Wang looks serious in front of the students. When reciting, the teacher sits on the sofa and the students sit on bamboo stools, which are separated by a few feet, showing the majesty of the teacher.

The old gentleman is light on business and small profits, and the fee is not high. It doesn't matter whether he gives money to the villagers or not. Generally, he pays 30 yuan a month, plus 1 kg of rice. If you have money at home, you will accept more. If you have difficulties at home, you will be forgotten.

My husband visits home two or three times a year to introduce his children's performance in private schools to adults. Students will follow the tradition of ancient chapters and give gifts to teachers on festivals such as Duanyang, Mid-Autumn Festival and Spring Festival (two kilograms of pork per festival). "One day as a teacher, a lifetime as a father", some students who graduated early in the neighborhood never forget the kindness of their teachers. As long as the teachers are at home, they often come to see them. In the quiet time of Pingjiang, these exchanges between teachers and students constitute a unique and quaint rural landscape.

Different opinions after elegance.

"Mr. Entertainment" He Ying stood behind the coffin, holding a small bowl of black ash in his hand, reading the sacrificial words, and scattering the black ash into the air with his hand. This is an exorcism ceremony. ...

The funeral was warm and grand, and the scale was grand. During the whole funeral, undertaker was in an endless stream, and funeral music and firecrackers were connected.

He Ying, 76, was mainly responsible for writing eulogy, couplets, saluting and exorcising ghosts during the funeral. Reward one or two hundred yuan. The important achievement of private school teaching is to cultivate "Mr. Entertainment". The so-called "Mr. Entertainment" means that when the villagers get married, are buried and offer sacrifices, they sing and preside over the ceremony and write down all the couplets, accounts and proclamations. "Mr. Entertainment" is an elegant and enviable profession in Pingjiang.

In order to let his son read old books, Fan of Daping Township, Pingjiang County took the old gentleman's old books home, washed them all, gave him another 300 kilograms of rice every year, and let his son Fan drop out of school and study at home for seven years. Fan was in the first grade of junior high school, and there were only one or two math competitions in the village. He is very sympathetic to the teachers who have dropped out of school.

Although Fan, who is in his thirties, has not yet been admitted to the university to become a cadre, he is often invited to be a master of ceremonies when it comes to weddings. Because he is proficient in calligraphy and painting and etiquette, his reputation is getting bigger and bigger. He often travels across provinces to Jiangxi, where he is a "person who travels all over Taiwan" and is highly respected.

"What's the use of not assigning jobs to farm after going to college? It is better to go to a private school and be a gentleman in the entertainment circle. " A student's parents named Chen Qiping told us bluntly.

Chen Qiping's words are very representative. Although students are embarrassed to say what they want to do in the future, their parents have locked their future life goals for them.

Society has developed into the digital age. Why are there fossil private schools in Pingjiang? This is indeed an intriguing and thought-provoking question. There are different views on the special phenomenon of private schools in Pingjiang.

Although Pingjiang is located in a remote place, it has always been a place with a prosperous style of writing and a unique geographical and cultural environment. In Pingjiang village, you can see all kinds of beautiful couplets and plaques wherever you go. Every New Year's Day, antique and elegant Spring Festival couplets will be posted outside and at home. Every wedding, funeral and ceremony should be done according to the ancient ceremony, and all sacrificial ceremonies need "Mr. Entertainment" like He Ying. Students who have studied in private schools for two or three years can not only cope with writing, but also communicate smoothly, which is enough to solve the problem of food and clothing in rural areas.

Some people think that private schools are carriers of old ideas and old culture. However, some people think that for a country with a strong cultural tradition like ours, the inheritance of traditional civilization cannot be ignored, and private schools are still necessary.

With the gradual disintegration of the control society, a pluralistic "civil society" began to appear, and Pingjiang private school was only one of the discourse expressions, which abandoned too many subjective activities and cultivated the spontaneous order of the people. We need this objective attitude according to local conditions.

Ouyang Yili, director of Pingjiang County Private Education Office, believes that private schools should be divided into two. The existence of private schools reflects the rural people's thirst for cultural knowledge and helps to maintain a good social atmosphere in rural areas in a certain sense. Although it does not conform to the laws and regulations of private education, objectively speaking, private schools still have some positive effects on rural areas. We can take a tolerant attitude towards them and give them a living space to fend for themselves.

It's been a long time since I came back from Pingjiang, but the image of private school in my mind is still indelible, just like an old and stumbling figure, which is gradually blurred, but it is still inextricably linked with us.

Although private school is the carrier of traditional civilization, its sorrow lies in its inability to cultivate a scientific universal education mechanism, which is far from the grand goal achieved by modern society. The enlightenment of Pingjiang private school should be various, but one thing is certain: the modern education system must fully integrate traditional culture into it, give it a brand-new life, and carry it forward with modern culture.