Recently, Cogdel School Chengdu held a grand event to commemorate the 2574th anniversary of the birth of Confucius. The purpose of this event was not only to pass on and promote traditional Chinese culture, but also to allow teachers and students to deeply understand and experience the charm of Cogdel School’s "Six Arts" program through various forms of explanation, teaching, and practice, etc.
Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, was a great thinker, statesman, and educator. The Confucian educational philosophy encourages cognitive, emotional and behavioral development, which is reflected in the core educational philosophy of Cogdel School Chengdu, which is "to educate people with manners" and student-centered education and teaching.
The "Six Arts", the core of ancient Chinese aristocratic education, originated from the Zhou Dynasty more than 1000 years BC, and consisted of Rites, Music, Archery, Chariotry, Calligraphy, and Mathematics. It represents the wisdom interpretation of holistic education, echoes the concept of comprehensive development of morality, intellect, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor put forward by contemporary Chinese education, and is also part of Cogdel School Chegndu’s daily learning life .
The teachers and students of Kongzi House prepared this traditional event for the teachers and students in the school to celebrate Confucius's birthday by learning about Confucius's life and participating activities related to the "Six Arts". At the beginning of the event, all the teachers and students of the school gathered to watch the play "The Gentleman and the Six Arts" performed by the teachers and students of Kongzi House. The play was based on the conversation of the middle-aged Confucius, Yan Hui, and Zi Lu about "what is a gentleman and how to become a gentleman", which skillfully introduced the study of the "Six Arts".
Two students gave a wonderful report on the life and contributions of Confucius, which was detailed and insightful, and brought great inspiration to everyone present. It is worth mentioning that this was also a bilingual report, which inspired foreign teachers and students present. They expressed their admiration for Confucius, their love for the excellent traditional Chinese culture, and their desire to understand Chinese culture more deeply.
As the report came to an end, all the students walked out of the classroom and went outdoors to the Six Arts fountain to participate in the Confucius Six Arts activities. The event lasted for an hour, during which the teachers and students gained a deeper understanding of the excellent traditional Chinese culture.
o recognize 礼 lǐ – Rites, students practiced traditional etiquette and behaviour.
To recognize 乐 yuè – Music, students listened to traditional instruments (Guqin and Pipa) and were taught to play the Guqin.
To recognize 射 shè – Archery, students practiced their skills in arrow tossing.
To recognize 御 yù - Chariotry, students challenged themselves to ride a unicycle.
To recognize 书 shū - Calligraphy, students practiced calligraphic writing of Confucius.
To recognize 数 shù - Mathematics, the students challenged calculating with the abacus.
This commemoration of the birth of Confucius is not only a tribute to contributions of Confucius's life , but also a way to pass on and promote the traditional Chinese culture. Cogdel School Chengdu will take this event as an opportunity to continuously improve the cultural literacy of students, emphasize the immersive exposure to traditional Chinese culture, and cultivate new modern youth with all-around development in morality, intellect, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor.
