Confucius'thought of Education without discrimination and Its Modern Enlightenme

Abstract. Confucius' Education without discrimination contains the earliest ideological educational fairness，.the paper ，by discussing the background“Education without discrimination”and its content， is to point out that ， the advocation of social harmony as our mainstream， provides the thought of "Education without discrimination"a new social stage， In the modern information condition information technology for the contemporary education to provide a broad space， which is significant for the government to solve the problem of educational injustice of the children of the peasant workers in current society.

Key words： Confucius， Education without discrimination， the children of migrant workers

1 Introduction

The thought of educational justice can be dated back to the time of Confucius， who put forward " Education without discrimination". This thought broke down the situation of "schools in government" （the slave owners monopolized the education ）in the time of Western Zhou，pushed the culture to the lower class and the popularity of education， and promoted extremely thedevelopment of private schools in Western Zhou. Today，it is significant to review " Education without discrimination" to solve the problem of educational injustice of the children of the weaker groups， especially the peasant workers in current society.

2 The historical background of“Education without discrimination”

Dring the period of Spring and Autumn the appearance of iron tools and cow plowing improved the development of productivity， destroyed badly the system of field like well repesenting the economical monopoly of Zhou Dynasty，and gradually found the decrease of royal families，and the increase ofdukes or princes，called the situation of "etiquette，music or fighting from the dukes or princes ". The dukes， princes， nobles and officials， for the sake of power， recruited the talents， or foster their own scholars.The scholars， working between different kingdoms and seldom interfered by the government，had their relative freedom，which made various schools have opportunities to develop their own and places to express their own ideas. Thus， one of them， the thought of Confucius， came into being.

During Western Zhou，"the schools were in government，with officials as teachers." because the particularity of way of teaching， teaching places and the identity of teachers， the educational right of the common people were ruthlessly deprived， which led to the formation of education monopolized by the slave owners or the nobles. With the eastern movement of King Ping of Western Zhou the royal families were gradually

Declined， which formed the situation of "the Emperor lost the opportunity of receiving education，while the official schools were in rural areas."the schools of Confucius promoted the development of private schools，and his idea of "education without discrimination "was gradually carried out too.

As well known， Confucius was born in Lu Kingdom. The special national conditions there accelerated the birth of the thought of "Education without discrimination". Qi and Luwere the original places of Chinese cultivation. Its influence of covering the whole China， and benefiting one hundred generations" objectively provided rich cultural nourishment for the progressive thought of "education without discrimination"。In 594 B.C.， an important reform of taxation in Lu- the implement of "taxation according to the original area"，admitted the legality of private fields， shook "the system of field like well"---the economical base of slavery society， and impact the ruling order of slave owners and the nobles.when King Lu Sanhuan came into power， the etiquette and music were severely destroyed， which worried Confucius very much.to enlarge the team of "Learning and obeying etiquette"， he firstly put forward the idea of "Education without Discrimination" ， which was reasonable.

3. The content of "Education without discrimination"

“Education without discrimination” is Confucius' basic principle to open his private school， which meant he enrolled his students with the wealth of their families， their nationalities， ages or occupations regardless.

3.1 Regardless of wealth

He Yan thinks in “Education without Discrimination”refers to the classification of gentle or simple，" means teaching students without the classification of gentle or simple". Any student no matter how gentle or simple he was， only if he was willing to study， he would be admitted as Confucius' student and treated equally. Among his students， apart from a few， such as Si Maniu，Meng Yizinan and Gong Jinshuand so on， were from noble families， most of them were sons of common or even poor people： Yan Hui lived in slum with little food or drinking"Gong Zhichang was punished to disability like Qi Diaokai while Zi Lu was a country man from Bian All of them were people from lower class， but Confucius didn't abandon them and made them his students， most of whom， with the guidance of their teacher， became people with a large number of knowledge. From above， it can be seen， that "Education without Discrimination " broke the restrain of social status from perspective of educational objects and paid more attention to men themselves.

3.2 Regardless of morality or intellect

Among Confucius' students， some were moral， others were not. For example， Gong Zhichang had ever been in prison， but Confucius recruited him as his student and married his daughter to her， which indicated his idea that a man， no matter how good or bad he was， he could be taught， and reflected his attention on a person's potential and his belief that human being could be developed by teaching. Zhu Xi explained “education without discrimination” in his “Notes on the Analects”like this：“the quality of man is kind， different types of good or bad man result from habbits. So the moral man should teach them and make them recover his kindness instead of discussing their poor quality”

Confucius thought anyone no matter how clever or stupid he was， can receive education. Among his students some were cleverer than others. For example， Yan Huiwho could understand ten times as much as what he was taught， was much more cleverer than Zi Gongwho can understand two. Some students' intellect were ordinary or even poor， such as "Zen Can"or "Gao Cai"and so on. In Confucius' opinion，the students with poorer intellect still could make achievements if he adopted some suitable teaching methods and they tried their best to do so.

Thus it can be seen， that "education without discrimination" respected a person's nature that a teacher should teach his students enthusiastically only if they were modest， without consideration of being good or bad， or being clever or stupid.

3.3 Never consider students' tribe or nationality

Confucius was the first teacher in history proposed popularized his thought to other places by breaking the students'ties of blood or region.

From perspective of tribe， Confucius' students included those both from Hua Xia， the majority and Man， Yi， Di，and Rong etc， the minority. According to nationality，his students were from Lu， Qin， Qi，Wei and other countries. Confucius' thought denied the social stratus between the majority and the minority. During the period of Spring and Autumn， the minority such as Rong， Yi， Di， or Man and so on， lived in rural areas， who didn't obey "the ritual of Zhou"， and their economy and culture fell far behind Hua Xia because of their poor situation. Facing this situation， Confucius thought even though they were minority， by education， the still could get on better with other tribes and stand out among them.

This kind of education without"class"，was based on humanism， which could help to establish the common quality of Chinese.from above， it can be seen， Confucius indeed realized education without discrimination.

3.4 education without age or occupation

Confucius's studentswere out of the limitation of ages. Some of them were a few years' younger than him， such as Qin Shang， Yan Yuan， or Zi Lu. Some were much younger than him， for example， Gong Sunlong was fifty-three year younger than Confucius.His students' occupations were various too.they were from noble families，such as Nangong Jinshu， some were merchant's sons as Zi Gong， and students like Ceng Can and Zi Lu were sons of civilians.

Just because of "education without discrimination"， students from different classes could visit him and become his students only with some bacon. Thus Feng Youlan points： From the eyes of modern research， Confucius was the first private teacher in Chinese history who taught a lot of students by his own knowledge. Just because of his effort， Confucius had more than three thousand students， with seventy-two of whom were outstanding. Only by passing his thought with the help of his distinguished students， could Confucius idea greatly influence on social reform.

4 The function and in fluence of “Education without discrimination”

Although Confucius' education without discrimination was not thoroughly carried on， （it excluded the education of women and slaves）， it still had a great and positive effect on Chinese society during the periods of Spring and Autumn when the slave owners and the nobles monopolized the education.

4.1 Breaking through the strict social stratus of Western Zhou，fitting the benefits of new developed landlords， and comply with the trend of history.

Confucius'“education without discrimination”broke through the old traditional system of education in nobles， making education in government change into Education in the country and education was accepted by common people. It also broke through the social stratus of etiquette above common people. His action played an important role in alleviating different contradicts and stable social orders.it also gave the new developed landlords， who needed to recruit a lot of intellectuals for governing China， a good chance by expanding the ranges of education and bringing up a lot of wise people. Meanwhile， it conformed to the historic trend of transition from slavery system to feudalism .

4.2 Promoting transmission and prosperity of feudal culture and its nations

Confucius efforts to populize its cultureto common people， broke the barrier of "education in government"with more than 3000students， and realized his words of" establish himself by establishing others， and achieve by achieving others"， which availed to make culture to folk，and to promote the transmission of it. It also pushed forward to the development of feudal culture and its academics， and ensured the security of nations.Therefore，in order to make our country richer and our nation prosperous，we must develop our education and improve the whole nation's quality.

5 The Modern Enlightenment of Confucius'thought of“Education without discrimination”

In different forms of greek philosophy，we can find out the origins of different ideas， so does the thought of "education without discrimination". Since the establishment of New China， we have been devoted to the popularization and implenment of compulsory education， which really reflected Confucius' "education without discrimination" and make a great achievement， and responded the basic need of social development and strong desire of common education. However， because of the imbalance of politics and economy， the educational development is also imbalance.

Since the 1990s， with the development of industry and urbanization，the resources was rearranged among the whole country， which made a lot of labor forces in the countryside flew into cities and formed a trend of peasant workers. The familization of flowing population is clearer and clearer.

However， most of children of these peasant workers are still in the ages of compulsory education， which is not only important for their growing， but also for the balance of education and the stable and harmony of the whole society.whilethe master recruited his students regardless their region orb social stratus， today's compulsory education still learn from Confucius. Furthermore， the twelfth item of the new "Law of Compulsory education" stipulates："local government should guarantee children in their educational ages go to school in their nearest schools of their residence，others should receive education in the schools where their parents or legal guardians work，and the local government should provide conditions for equal compulsory education " the law clearly conceals the discrimination of household register，and it should set up and complete concerned measures and systems for children to receive compulsory education. but the expensive borrowing school became a great barrier for the peasant's children to study in state-owned schools， which appears the strange phenomenon that these children can't afford to read in "free" state-owned schools.some schools for peasant's children lack of legal running procedures， teachers， classrooms or teaching instrument. Even so， some of them are alway forbidden for their incomplete of procedures.although some of them can enter the state-owned schools， they are still treated differently from those in the city， and have to receive the contempt and misunderstanding from different fields. Now， in China， there are 100 million peasants with twenty million children in cities.how can those children， who grow up in the environment of poverty， estrangement and discrimination， and lack of the right to receive the basic education，treat the city， people in the city and the society？ The present-day society added them too much vitality and meaning， which is not pure education without discrimination， but the content and quality of education.thus forms the following suggestions：

5.1 treat students equally to realize the justice of education

New compulsory law stipulates： children in China， regardless their sex， nationality， race， wealth， or religious belief， and so on， share the equal education according to the law， and perform the duty of compulsory education. This was similar to Confucius's education without discrimination. But this cannot simply be understood as that the teacher should teach them equally， but teach them different according to their individual differences.children from the country are usually poor in achievement because of the different quality they received in their hometown and the distance of development between city and countryside. So while teaching， teacher should try their best to develop their potential， care about them and love them to help them to establish their confidence and take an active part in their studies.the teacher also should avoid hurting them because of discrimination and make them feel that they are growing in a happy world as their classmates in the city.

5.2 enlarge financial input in education

In the past， the best school equipment， the excellent teachers were flowing and concentrating in a few city schools，but lack of financial input in country schools caused them far behind those in cities.

The second item of New compulsory law stipulates： compulsory education are free in tuition and other cost. since 2006， the government prevents schools in Western region from cost in compulsory educational period， and in 2007， this policies was enlarged into the Middle and Eastern regions， and provide allowance for poor students， which provide a good chance of education for lower-income families.by the way， apart from this， the government should increase the proportion of educational input in countryside schools of Western region. Only with equal education as that in cities， can we reduce the distances between people in cities and those in the country，and develop harmony to improve the quality of the whole nations.

5.3 help the high quantified peasant schools

The issue of education or the children of peasant workers， results from the flowing of labour forces from individual to collection， and educational system which cannot fit the change of society. When these children come to the strange cities， they leave far away from their hometown，with barrier of communication with children in the cities because of their lack of knowledge. They were laughed at for their accent or different habbits. When the school gates were closed to them because of the expensive tuition， or when they were looked down upon by urban educational organizations， these poor children have to enter their own schools organized by their parents. The emergence of peasant schools solve the problems of entering schools of their children in a certain period， and plays a role of supplementary for state- owned schools..some schools for peasant's children lack of legal running procedures， teachers， classrooms or teaching instrument. Even so， some of them are alway forbidden for their incomplete of procedures. Thus it is urgent to strengthen the supervision and management of these schools. The government should support some peasant schools with reasonable locations， developing potentials on the basis of investigation to improve the standards of teaching and their management.the government can also encourage and absorb social fund to invest in these schools.

5.4 four in One

All levels of government should pay high attention to the issue of education of peasant worker's children： firstly， state-owned schools should low its standard of entry， and undertake the task of educating these children， and treat them equally； secondly， strengthen to regulate and support schools run by peasants themselves， and encourage all forms of educational systems. Mainly， government's financial aid is the most influential way to care about the weaker group.

Schools play the role of guidance in the issue of education firstly ，the teachers should treat all the students equally， encourage them， give them confidence， and remove their mental confusion to help them to study better.

Next， schools should take the psychological education into the whole syllabuses to get rid of the mood of hating study of country children， shorten the distance between students in the cities and those in the countryside， and treat study with a an ordinary mood.

Besides， families are the first school for a child.for poor quality in culture， incorrect way of teaching， and hard work， the peasants can hardly communicate with their children. So parents should improve their culture firstly， which can not just reduce cultural difference between parents and children， but lead them to study better and communicate more smoothly. Second， parents should cooperate with schools，such as teacher visitings， school meetings and so on. So they can take part in the process of their children's growth to make "the first school function it should be" of course， only all parts of society involves in their education， can this problem be solved better.

Above all， from the thought of"education without discrimination" we can see the origin of harmonious education. Confucius's educational thought is significant for constructing harmonious China. In the modern information condition information technology for the contemporary education to provide a broad space，we should scientifically learn about this precious cultural relics， and take the most of it to serve the continuous， rapid and healthy development of our educational career and propel it to a road of healthy and harmonious development in education.

6 Acknowledgements

Confucianism culture of social control and social integration， （project number： 2011 xzs023）.

References

[1] Feng you lan：《The Brief History of Chinese Philosophy》[M]，Beijing： Zhonghua Book Company Press， 2005.

[2] Sun Peiqing：《The history of Chinese education》[M]， Shanghai： East China Normal University Press， 2000.

[3] Zhu da wei：《History of Thought in Ancient China》[M]，Nanning： Guangxi People's Publishing House， 2006.

[4] Liguilin：《The history of Chinese education》[M]，Shanghai： Shanghai Education Press， 1989 edition.

[5] Zhong Zhaopeng：《Confucius Research》[M]，Beijing： China Social Sciences Press， 1990.

[6] Yao Shusheng：《Confucius， Mencius， the true assessment of his life and thinking of new Evaluation》[M]，Taipei： Literature and Philosophy of History Press， 1996.

[7] H.G.CREEL，Translation Gao zhuan cheng：《Confucius and the Chinese Way》[M]，Shanxi： Shanxi People's Publishing House， 1992.