It is a tradition for our students to write a course reflection (free writing) at the end of each marking period. When our students submitted their reflections on the past third marking period, I noticed that several students unexpectedly compared the Great Learning with Analects. It is interesting to learn their perspectives. So I excerpted the portion relating to the Chinese classics reading and reciting from their reflections, and combined them into one. So far, our Chinese class students read the first six books of Analects of Confucius (論語學而第一～雍也第六) fluently, and have been learning the first seven chapters of the Great Learning (大學) since the Spring Festival of 2018.
Na Hanlong: As we have finished six books of 论语, our class started reading 大学, with the intent of finishing all twelve chapters by the end of the school year. I found that reading 大学 has many similarities with 论语, but there are some differences. For example, some of the earlier chapters of 大学 have repeated structures in its phrasing, like with use of 欲..其..者 structure in the second chapter, or the repeated use of 如切如磋, 如琢如磨, 瑟兮僩兮，and 赫兮喧兮in the fourth chapter. On the other hand, 论语 typically had a different structure for each chapter which made gave it more variety but also made it more difficult to learn. Personally, I enjoy reading 大学 as it is a unique classic that we have not read much before.
Wu Jingjing: Overall during this marking period, I feel that I am able to learn characters faster than before. The vocabulary quizzes were not difficult and I did not need to work as hard to memorize them. I contribute this ability mostly to reciting 大学 . While I didn’t mind reading 论语, I found that it was much harder to memorize the unfamiliar words. 大学 is easier to recite not only because it is shorter in the chapters’ length, but also because there’s a pattern like repeating characters at the beginning or end of a sentence. I find myself enjoying reciting more, and more confident in speaking louder/clearer.
Zheng Hanfei: We continued to recite and learn new chapters of LunYu by Confucius and now we have learned 7 chapters of DaXue. Truthfully, I like the flow and meter of DaXue more than LunYu; however, the insight and wisdom is better in LunYu. I have learned a lot about ancient Chinese culture and philosophy.
Zhong Jiaying: In contrast to the previous marking periods this year, marking period 3 indicated the beginning of my class reading/reciting 大学. While I did enjoy reciting 论语for the past few marking periods, I was excited to begin a new journey reading a new philosophical text. While learning to recite a completely foreign text is extremely difficult on its own, my class was also tasked with reading 大学using a book of traditional Chinese characters. Although we are not typically used to reading traditional characters, I believe this will also help us to be able to more quickly recognize new characters.
Wu Yuru: In Chinese class itself, we continued learning from the traditional book 大学. I feel like it has become pretty normal because we have been reciting for almost three or four years now.
Zhao Mochou: During marking period 4 I hope we analyze more of the Great Learning. I looked up a translation for “知止而后有定、定而后能靜、靜而后能安、安而后能慮、 慮而后能得。物有本末、事有終始。知所先後則近道矣。” According to http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/greatlearning.html it means, “When you know where to stop, you have stability. When you have stability, you can be tranquil. When you are tranquil, you can be at ease. When you are at ease, you can deliberate. When you can deliberate you can attain your aims.” My mom is a Buddhist and always tells me to calm down, to be more stable and balanced like herself. Although I am short-tempered and excitable by nature, I think this is good advice. Plus, we saw it in the film Hero when the calm, focused woman won the sword-fight against the woman who was obviously angry and flustered.
悟在美国 