A synthesis of educational chanted rules: The chapter Xuntong men 訓童門 in riyong leishu 日用類書

Authors

  • Arianna Magnani University of Enna "Kore"

Abstract

Among the many chapters on all human knowledge provided by the 1612 encyclopedia entitled Xin ban zengbu tianxia bian yong wenlin miao jin wanbao quanshu 新板增補天下便用文林妙錦萬寶全書 (The marvelous, precious, newly edited and supplemented “Complete Book of Myriad Treasures” of literati for the convenient use of all), there is also one on infant education. In the introduction of the chapter, the author stresses the importance of education, and how it can transform a person’s life. Therefore, what were the recommended teaching strategies for raising virtuous children? What was the common etiquette for a child to follow in seventeenth-century China? What analogy or difference does it have in comparison to previous pedagogical literature?

This paper, by means of the partial English translation of the encyclopedic chapter Xuntong men 訓童門 (section for educating children), tries to answer these questions by analyzing the educational precepts, their roots anchored in the Chinese pedagogical literature and the use of rhymes such as erge 兒歌, geyao 歌謠, as an effective teaching strategy to make the precepts simpler and catchy.

 The selected case study represents a model example of printed text which belongs to the genre riyong leishu 日用類書 (a collection of texts for daily-use), encyclopedias that circulated widely in late Ming and early Qing China, and reflects what was then the most widespread and common knowledge in the pedagogical field recommended for self-study. The chapter which is focused on teaching children also represents the fusion of Confucian educational concepts and the practical nature characteristic of daily-use encyclopedias.

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Author Biography

Arianna Magnani, University of Enna "Kore"

Arianna Magnani is a researcher in Chinese Language and Literatures at the University of Enna “Kore,” where she teaches courses in Chinese Language and History of Asia. She currently coordinates as Principal Investigator the 2022 PRIN Project titled “M.A.R.E.: Manuscripts and books from Asia Reaching Europe. A semantically enhanced digital library mapping Asian books circulation along the Silk Maritime Routes,” in collaboration with the Universities of Pisa and Salerno. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Asian and African Studies, at Ca’Foscari University of Venice. Her research mainly focuses on Chinese riyong leishu encyclopedias published during the Ming and early Qing era, as well as the investigation of early documents and collections of Chinese books still preserved in European libraries. She is also interested in the role of early modern Christian missionaries in the intercultural mediation between East and West.

Arianna can be reached at: arianna.magnani@unikore.it

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Published

2025-02-20

Issue

Vol. 28 No. 2 (2024): Special Issue on Chinese Studies

Section

Learning Chinese and Chinese learners

License

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