Special Series:
Humane Education, A Bridge to Peace (4)Daisaku Ikeda
Gu Mingyuan
Peace and Happiness for All People
Gu: This year, 2010, marks the eightieth anniversary of the founding ofSoka Gakkai. On this occasion, I should like to express my fervent
congratulations to you, President Ikeda, and to your organization andmy heartfelt commendations for the contributions you make in the nameof peace and spreading the spirit of love throughout society. Your firstpresident, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, raised aloft the banner of educational reform for the sake of the suffering masses and especially theirchildren. Soka Gakkai came into being under his guidance. During
World War II, your organization vigorously opposed nationalistic Shinto
and Japanese militarism. As a consequence, the militarist government
suppressed the organization. President Makiguchi was thrown into
prison, where he died. Your sorrowful history makes it clear that, while
waging a war of invasion that brought misery and suffering to China,
Japanese militarists inflicted calamity and pain on good people in Japan
as well. Nonetheless, you and other later Soka Gakkai leaders persevered in carrying out President Makiguchi’s aims and continue themission of realizing peace and happiness for all people in highly
admirable fashion today.
The Path to Comparative Education—Interrelations between Culture
and Education
Ikeda: I am deeply grateful for your warm words. President Makiguchi
once wrote, “A single courageous individual dedicated to the GreatGood can accomplish far more important things....” You are precisely
such a person, and I am sure that your profound understanding of us
would make him very happy indeed.
humane education, a bridge to peace (4)He was truly a lion whose great work as an original and creative
geography scholar is undying and who, in the face of a militaristic
regime, worked unhesitatingly for social tranquility and the happiness ofchildren and the masses in general. This great pioneer was compelled tomeet the end of his noble life in the cold confinement of prison. To
proclaim to the world the worth of this relentless champion of justice, in
1993, the fiftieth anniversary of his death, we established the Tokyo
Makiguchi Memorial Hall in Hachioji, Tokyo, near the Soka University
campus. It towers as a guardian over the students of that institution,
which can be called a crystallization of his most cherished wishes. The
memorial hall is also a cultural and educational shrine where Soka
comrades and leaders in the work of peace and humaneness from allover the world can assemble. On a magnificent scale, members of theworld’s younger generations are the heirs to the spirit of Tsunesaburo
Makiguchi, who longed for peace and strove to blaze the way for young
people.
In this installment of our dialogue, pursuant to what we said in ourprevious discussions, I hope to examine the relations between educationand culture.
Culture is the soil in which abundant humaneness can flourish andbear fragrant blossom. In relation to the study of comparative education,
you have cast light on culture by pointing out the difficulty of understanding the educational concepts and actualities of a country without
taking its cultural traditions into consideration. In your Cultural Foundations of Chinese Education, you wrote that the factors influencing
education should be divided into the political, the economical, and thecultural and that cultural factors influence it most deeply and lastingly. I
agree completely. Discussing education without paying attention to
culture is mere abstracting and misses the forest for the trees.
Further, you get to the heart of the matter when you identify
education as a component of culture. You state that cultural influence on
the level of philosophy, awareness, and concepts permeates theeducator’s and the learner’s value criteria and views on human talents
and the mentor-disciple relation, which in turn influence the establishment of educational values, goals, content, and systems.
Some kind of cultural imprint is to be found in any and all aspects ofeducation. Consequently, understanding culture profoundly is indispensable to grasping the true nature of education in all countries and among
all peoples.
One of the seven great parables in the Lotus Sutra—which, as you
know, was translated into Chinese in China—is the Parable of thehumane education, a bridge to peace (4)Medicinal Herbs, which describes how the compassionate rain waters
the great Earth, enabling all kinds and sizes of plants to bud and grow.
Referred to as the parable of the three herbs and the two trees, thissplendid teaching reveals how the rain of Buddha wisdom enables all
diverse human beings to attain Buddhahood. It also evokes the image ofa universal symbiosis in which all beings, including the human, harmonize and glorify life in individual ways within the mystical beneficenceof the cosmos.
As we have already said, the inclusive term culture embraces science,
art, religion, philosophy, morality, and law as well as manners, mores,
and systems. The products of all human activities, including education,
are generated on the broad, multilevel ground called culture.
If culture is figuratively the soil of symbiosis, all human activities are
the plants and trees arising from it. The great tree of richly humaneducation grows and thrives by drawing ample sustenance from thefertile cultural ground. The disposition inherent in a culture exerts anespecially profound influence on the nature of education and its
contents.
What is more, education itself plays an important role in theinheritance and development of culture. As you point out, education has
a long and deep influence on culture and is indispensable to culturaltransmission and succession. It accounts for the cultural genetics ofposterity. I hope that, as we delve with greater depth and breadth into
the great ground or foundation of culture, you and I can discoverpossibilities for a brilliant century of humane education.
Education as a Means and Methods of Cultural Transmission
Gu: As a basic component of culture, education, like literature, arts, andarchitecture, has its own relative independence as well as its own rules
and characteristics. Furthermore, it is always nourished by the soil of
ethnic culture. I am in complete agreement with you when you say that
good education requires fertile cultural ground to grow in. The
foundation of education, culture influences pedagogic value criteria andeducational goals, content, and methods.
We need education in order to pass on to posterity parental
experiences in production and society as well as various forms ofcustoms and manners. This is why we may define the true nature of
education as cultural transmission. Consequently, culture is thefoundation and the content of education, which itself constitutes means
and methods of cultural transmission.

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)But, instead of directly passing culture on to students in its originalforms, the transmission process entails selection and modification. For
example, Confucianism as we in China understand it today differs fromthe original philosophy of Confucius’s own time because time and again
it has undergone selection and modification.
Japan too belongs to the Confucian cultural sphere. During the Sui(581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties, Japanese scholars were
frequently dispatched to China to study. Later Japanese students cameinto contact with the Neo-Confucianism of the Song (960–1279) and
Ming (1368–1644) dynasties, which had a great impact on Japaneseculture. But these students did not merely take Chinese Confucianism
home unaltered. They too selected and modified it to create a something
distinctly Japanese.
Cultures are divided into progressive and backward. It can be said that
progressive cultures advocate peace whereas backward cultures
advocate violent aggression. Education that teaches people the values oftruth, goodness, and beauty is superior. Inferior education stirs up such
evil as militarism and terrorism.
Chinese Confucianism is superior education because it teaches
students to treat people benevolently; that is, with ren or humanenessand li or courtesy. In other words, the benevolent person loves others.
Because of this superior kind of education, the Chinese people haveplaced great emphasis on peace, charity, and courtesy.
Education that abandons a nation’s excellent cultural traditions inorder to imitate the culture of another nation cannot be called superior.
Thinking of the younger generations of today makes me aware of thepressing need to reinforce the superior cultural education of the Chinese
people so that young people will not forget their traditions or lose sightof their roots.
Soka Gakkai and Culture and Education
Ikeda: As you say in your lucid explanation of the relation between thetwo, generating good pedagogy requires the inheritance and cultivationof good culture. At the same time, good education is indispensable tothe inheritance and development of good culture. In his The System ofValue-Creating Pedagogy Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, while advocating theguidelines for the construction of a new pedagogy, stressed the importance of moving forward with cultural values as our goals. This indeed
is the key point for the construction of a new pedagogy.
At this point, I should like to offer a partial explanation of the Soka

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)Gakkai’s involvement with education and culture. As you said at theoutset of this installment of our dialogue, November, 2010, marks theeightieth anniversary of the founding of Soka Gakkai. At that time
(1930), the organization was known as the Soka Kyoiku Gakkai, orValue-Creation Educational Society. When, at an advanced age,
President Makiguchi was imprisoned by the oppressive militarist
government and later died in prison, the majority of his disciples fellaway. Josei Toda alone remained staunchly loyal, even in prison. Oncereleased from prison, he rose to the challenge of rebuilding thedevastated organization after the end of World War II. Essentially, Soka
Gakkai as it is today was created from that time forward. On theoccasion of the rebuilding, by changing its name to Soka Gakkai, orValue-Creation Society, President Toda clarified the organization’s
mission to bring peace and happiness to the general masses. President
Makiguchi had undertaken the study and practice of Buddhism on his
own in the quest for sound guidance principles and educational methods
for the achievement of the ultimate goal of happiness for children.
Incorporating the true meaning of this quest, President Toda hoped for
new, vigorous activity in the direction of a more general mass cultural
movement rooted in the fertile soil of Buddhist humanism wherein
education could flourish and blossom. On May 3, 1951, he became thesecond president of the organization. Thereafter, under his leadership,
imparting the hope of a human revolution for the ordinary people, Soka
Gakkai rapidly spread throughout Japan. In my twenties at the time, I
devoted myself wholeheartedly to carrying out my mentor’s cherishedundertaking. Some people ridiculed Soka Gakkai as a ragtag gatheringof the poor and the sick. But, convinced that a religion with real power
is a religion that sets out to save the suffering masses, we ignored
malicious criticisms of this kind.
Our steady, daily, and persistent practice consisted of individual
encounters, dialogues, and encouragement through discussion meetingscalled zadankai. I still fondly remember an occasion when a small house
where a zadankai was being held became so overcrowded that the floor
gave way.
In the confusion of the period immediately after World War II, many
people were indeed impoverished and deprived of the chance foradequate education or the leisure to enjoy elegant culture. But,
essentially, real cultural strength is determined not by economic poverty
but by the richness of the human spirit. Some highly educated, affluent
families are desolate and spiritually arid. By contrast, I have known
many vigorous families who, though living in small, plain homes, were

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)blessed with bright laughter and the radiance of warmly sincere minds.
Although lacking famous works of art, a house adorned with a single
wildflower can be a revelation of the wisdom to create the value ofbeauty and culture rooted in daily life.
In some parts of the world, where violence and poverty are rife,
ceaseless conflict and the ravages of war destroy human culture at theroot, thus robbing people of all chance for education. In such places,
where children grow up ignorant of family life and the joy of learning,sometimes playing at the gruesome reality of war provides the only
amusement children have. It is a savage state of affairs indeed whenhuman beings are trained only by inhuman war. In such instances ofcultural collapse children have no futures.
As is clear from what you have said of your upbringing, you received
a solid education from your mother and grew up in a home redolent of
culture in the true sense. In spite of the difficulties of raising you on herown, your mother imparted to you the spirit of self-renewal andaltruistic service. In a wonderful way, your own heart brims with thedesire to repay your debt of gratitude to her. I believe that a life filledwith such maternal and filial attitudes shines with a culture worthy ofthe best elements of humanity.
Immanuel Kant set forth three values: truth, beauty, and goodness.
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, on the other hand, argued that truth is not avalue but an object of cognizance and proposed his own set of threevalues: beauty, benefit, and goodness and said that human happinessconsists in their acquisition. For the sake of creating these values hedeveloped Soka, or Value-Creation, education. In his The System ofValue-Creating Pedagogy he defines these values in the following way.
1. Goodness—social value bearing on collective group existence
2. Benefit—personal values bearing on self-oriented individual
existence
3. Beauty—sensory values bearing on isolated parts of individual
existence1
In the same work, he wrote, “Human life is a process of creating
value, and education should guide us toward that end.” The goal of our
Soka movement is to take President Makiguchi’s principles as our pointof origin as we create the values of beauty, benefit, and goodness and,on a humanistic base, illuminate the world with the light of culture,
education, and peace.

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)Human Faith and Spirit Are Essential
Gu: Surely it is fundamental to say that a certain amount of faith andspirit is essential to human life in this world. As you point out,
economical poverty is unrelated to poverty as a human being. A personwith faith and spirit whose heart is filled with love and who createssuperior values for the sake of humanity lives a rich, supremely fulfilled
life. This is what is meant by the ultimate value creation of human life
advocated by Soka Gakkai.
Comparative Education in Japan and the World
Ikeda: At the inauguration of Soka University, I sent the following
words as a guideline: “Only labor and devotion to one’s mission givelife its worth.” Ultimate, completely fulfilled value is born of repeated,courageous work in the name of the noble mission of serving humanityand peace. I have actually known many anonymous heroes among theordinary people who have demonstrated the truth of this statement byleading the valuable and creative life it refers to.
But now I should like to return to your special field of interest,
comparative education. Beginning in the West in the nineteenth century,at the heyday of the nationalistic era, the pedagogy of industrialized
nations became an important subject of research. Comparative education
made great contributions in the examination of its educational methods
and systems, thus enabling other nations to select and incorporate
outstanding elements. In Japan, the study of comparative education
gradually spread after the start of the twentieth century. At a time whenstudy of Western education was flourishing, professors at Waseda
University and the Tokyo Imperial University (now University of Tokyo)
published books using terms like comparative research and comparativeeducation in their titles. But serious study in this area did not get
underway until after World War II, when comparative education was
already flourishing worldwide. In the confusion of the immediate
postwar years, people all over the world turned to education as a meansof promoting the greatly desired national recovery. Research on education of the advanced nations became sufficiently active to generate whatmight be called a kind of educational competition.
In 1952, Kyushu University instituted a course in comparativeeducation. The following year, a course in comparative study ofeducational systems was instituted at Hiroshima University. The field ofstudy entered the mainstream in 1965 with the founding of the Japan10

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)Comparative Education Society. Exchanges with universities in othercountries stimulated further research, producing results widely used inreforming Japanese educational systems.
Modernization is the goal of comparative education. Many nations
have achieved it to a certain extent. But now the nation-state structure ischanging greatly. For instance, whereas breakup has occurred in the old
Soviet Union and the countries of Eastern Europe, regional integrationtranscending the nation unit has taken place in other zones, like theEuropean Union. Under these conditions, it is no longer always possible
to make comparisons based simply on individual nations. Moreover, theInternet and improved transportation infrastructures facilitate exchanges
among peoples of different countries. We have entered an era in whichlarge numbers of visiting students and laborers can relate to each otherspeedily and on a vast scale. How to educate people of diverse cultural
backgrounds has become a pressing topic especially in nations withlarge numbers of foreign workers. In short, new conditions now make it
impossible to limit educational comparisons within the older nationstate framework. Emphasis now is being placed on study and educationin relation to a nexus of global issues. Our times require education to
encourage symbiotic relations based on understanding and respect fordiverse cultures; in other words, education for world citizenship. I feelthat comparative education should be placed in the current of this new
pedagogy. I understand that Premier Zhou Enlai was first to advocatecomparative education in China. That was at the time when, after yourexperiences as a visiting student in the Soviet Union, you had joined theInstitute of Foreign Education Research which was newly formed at
Beijing Normal University.
The Role of Comparative Education in Pedagogic Reform
Gu: Precisely. I was no exception to the rule that coincidence andchance sometimes favor people. Comparative education has long been a
traditional field of studies. As you say, it started in the West in thenineteenth century. Some pioneering educators introduced it into China
from the beginning of the twentieth century. After the Liberation of1949, however, a policy of learning everything from the Soviet Union
put a halt to research in broader comparative education. As you point
out, in 1964, Zhou Enlai set forth the idea that to understand othercountries we must study them. Thereafter, organs for studying foreign
education were set up, and studies were once again made of education in
the West. At the time, this field was called, not comparative education,

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)11but foreign-education research. After the end of the Cultural Revolution
and subsequent reforms, courses in comparative education were once
again instituted in the pedagogic world.
In 1980, Professor Hu Chang-tu, a comparative-education scholar atColumbia University, was invited to lecture at Beijing Normal
University. At the same time, as preparation for opening comparativeeducation curricula, faculty members established 10 training courses at
Beijing Normal University. On the basis of our long years of study andresearch, we undertook compiling our own, distinctive, comparativeeducation text, which was published in 1982 as Bijiao Jiaoyu (Comparative Education), by the People’s Education Press (PEP)At the time, I participated in operations and management in two
capacities: department head of the Department of Education and directorof the Institute of Foreign-Education Research.
In July, 1980, at the invitation of Masunori Hiratsuka, director of theJapan Comparative Education Society, I attended the fourth Worldwide
Convention of Comparative Education in Saitama. This was my first
visit to Japan. Observations of elementary and middle schools, University of Tokyo and Hiroshima University impressed me deeply with theway Japanese education was developing. From that time forward,
making contacts with pertinent scholars all over the world, I become oneof those people earnestly engaged in researching comparative education.
The simple significance of the field consists in comparing educational
philosophies, systems, and models from various nations and regions;seeking universal rules and characteristic differences in pedagogic
development and personnel training; and finally using the results of thisprocess as reference in the educational development of one’s own
country.
Comparative education is multiregional and multicultural. Although
this is easy to say, it makes research difficult owing to the more than two
hundred nations and approximately two thousand ethnicities in theworld. Some nations have industrialized; others are still in thedevelopmental stage. Some are large; some are small. Some are
ethnically homogenous; others are ethnically diverse. The situation iscomplicated and intricate.
Comparative research requires first of all the possibility of making
comparisons. Selecting objects of comparison is extremely difficult.
Since socialism is being modernized in China today, we selected certain
industrialized nations—the United States, the United Kingdom, France,
Germany, Russia, and Japan—and studied their various experiences.
Then we chose nations at about the same developmental stage as12humane education, a bridge to peace (4)China—India, Brazil, and so on—for research on such topics ofcommon international interest as universal education, lifelong education,
education for women, education for international understanding, andenvironmental education. The topics being studied are complex, andfuture research prospects are widening greatly.
The Great Impact of the Soviet Educational Model
Ikeda: Your explanation of the significance of comparative education ismost lucid. Educating others means self-study as well. Therefore,
working together, educators must acquire broad viewpoints, improve
themselves, and illuminate each other. In this way they radiate the lightof wisdom like clear mirrors.
On my first trip to China, in 1974, I talked with faculty members at
Peking University, elementary and middle schools in Beijing, and akindergarten in Shanghai. That same year, I visited Moscow State
University and Leningrad State University. In those days, relations
between China and the Soviet Union were deteriorating. From reading
your Cultural Foundations of Chinese Education, I learned that during
the 1950s specialists from the Soviet Union, which had considerable
experience with socialist pedagogic theory and systems, were invited toChina to provide models for setting up schools. In addition, about 200
Chinese students were sent to study in the Soviet Union each year. In the
broad sense, such learning from another country could be called acomparative-educational undertaking.
But everything changed in the 1960s, the age of raging student power
and worldwide educational reform. In China, the Cultural Revolution, towhich you have alluded, brought the study of comparative education
itself to a halt. It was a time of great personal hardship for you. In thelate 1970s, however, when the tempest of the Cultural Revolution had
blown itself out, educational modernization made great forward strides.
As is clearly set forth in your written work, Deng Xiaoping proclaimed
the need to introduce study materials from other countries and to absorb
what was beneficial among them. This provided an opportunity for theacquisition of large quantities of material from such nations as theUnited States, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan to promote
modernizing reforms of Chinese curricula and teaching in what can becalled a revival of comparative education. During my visits to China atthat period, the overflowing joy and passion faculties and students at theuniversities in your country—with which we have made frequentexchanges—devoted to scholarly research left a strong impression onhumane education, a bridge to peace (4)13me. How do you evaluate the role of comparative education and learningfrom the pedagogies of other countries in contemporary Chinese
growth?
Advancing the Cause of Peace through Learning
Gu: As you say, in the first phase after Liberation, China adopted apolicy of full-scale learning from the Soviet Union. This was probably
unavoidable, since, at the time, Western nations refused to recognize the
new China and tended to freeze us out. We had no one to learn fromexcept the Soviet Union. Consequently, Soviet education exerted astrong influence on us. In 1951, I traveled to the Soviet Union as one of
the first visiting students from the new China. Naturally, upon returning
home, I introduced and promoted Soviet educational theory andexperience. I published many Chinese translations of Soviet material in
the journal Jiaoyu Yibao (Educational translation report) issued in thosedays by the People’s Education Press. The first of them was an experimental report on the developmental education theory of the famous
Russian pedagogue Leonid Zankov (1901–1977). But, in 1958, as SinoSoviet relations gradually changed, it became clear that many Soviet
theories, systems, and methods were unsuitable for China.
At this point, we began seeking a path for the development of ourown kind of education. In the 1960s, as relations between our two
countries worsened, Soviet pedagogic theories were roundly criticized,
and the quest for establishing a system of Chinese educational theory
got underway. But the country remained exclusive, and reform waslimited by the need to rely solely on experiences in training officers inwhat are called the liberated areas (those area liberated by the Red Armyin the period of the war against Japan and the War of Liberation).
During the Cultural Revolution, which started not long after this,everything connected with the Soviet Union came under criticism. No
exception, I too found myself being criticized. Still, though I kept thisopinion to myself, I thought that not everything was wrong in Soviet
education, from which I felt we could still learn a great deal.
Under prevailing circumstances, having studied in the Soviet Union
became a dishonorable experience. As one such student, I was branded
as a revisionist in thought and daily life. I lost my job and was subjected
to what was called rustification; that is, I was sent into the country to
work.
The Cultural Revolution threw the wholesome development ofChinese education into complete disarray. But, when it was over, the14humane education, a bridge to peace (4)doors were opened for us to turn our attention to the outside world, atlast revealing the need to catch up with the educational diversity andrichness other areas of the world had achieved. We therefore set about
updating the content of Chinese education by enthusiastically importing
pedagogic theories from overseas and employing new, foreign, teachingmaterials.
Comparative education was very useful then in introducing foreign
educational experience. We presented the systems and developmental
histories of a number of major industrial nations, studied tendencies ineach country after World War II, and introduced pedagogic
philosophical currents and trends then flourishing in the world. Amongthe wide variety of ideas we introduced were lifelong education,
education for all, Zankov’s developmental education, the harmony
education of Vasilii Aleksandrovich Sukhomlinskii (1918–1970), thedevelopmental psychology of the Swiss Jean Piaget (1896–1980), theconstructivist theory of education of the American Jerome Seymour
Bruner (1915–), and the theory of mastery learning of the American
Benjamin Samuel Bloom (1913–1999). By means of these introductions, comparative education widened the field of vision and renewed
the concepts of Chinese educators. My formulation, in 1980, of thetheory that students are both the object of and the subject in education
stimulated considerable controversy at the time. But study of theeducational ideas of advanced nations presented as a consequence ofcomparative education gradually resulted in the acceptance of thestudents-first idea to the point at which it often appeared in official
documents in China. Moreover it has become national policy toprioritize educational development as the way to build a country ofsuperior manpower.
In addition, China has gained several useful experiences fromstudying the three educational reforms carried out in Japan since WorldWar II. At present, not content to stop at superficial matters, we are
pursuing in-depth quests for educational regulations and trends invarious nations. Our comparisons have shown considerable differencesin educational ideas and systems even among nations at the same levelof economic development and with the same political system. For
example, although they are both industrialized capitalist nations, theUnited States and Japan have widely divergent ideas about education.
China and Japan, on the other hand, are at different levels ofdevelopment and have different political systems but share manyeducational ideas. In both countries, the role of examinations andpressure to advance is great. This is true because both nations belong tohumane education, a bridge to peace (4)15the sphere of Confucian culture, which exerts a profound educational
influence. Industrialized nations have diverse historical backgrounds ofsocial development and culture resulting in diversity in educational
ideas and systems. Therefore, to study education in a given nation, it isnecessary to study that nation’s culture. This is what I call culturalresearch in comparative education.
In the present age of globalization and economic integration, we
encounter many internationally shared educational problems, the deeper
investigation of which requires us to employ comparative education.
Researchers in this field must sincerely address such issues as education
for all, lifelong education, women’s right to education, environmental
education, the relation between education and national development,
education for international understanding, and so on.
Comparative education is more than an examination of rules ofpedagogic development and mutual reference for promoting growth. It
can also stimulate mutual understanding and the advancement of peace.
Education for Humanity
Ikeda: Because it includes a broad range of issues, including lifelong
learning, the environment, and international understanding, comparativeeducation is essential to the cultivation of global citizens. Actually
visiting various countries, talking with local people, and coming into
contact with their cultures are important to the advancement ofcomparative education. Soka University, which I founded, conducts
exchanges with universities in 45 countries and regions. I have been
invited to speak at institutions of higher learning on 32 occasions. To
name a few of them: Harvard, Moscow State University, the Universityof Bologna, and, in China, Peking University (three times), Fudan
University, Shenzhen University, and the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences. I always try to talk with students as well as with faculty
members. At Oxford, I was even taken on a visit to a student dormitory.
I frequently tell the professors and students of Soka University about thethings I have learned from exchanges of these kinds.
There is much to be learned from diverse cultures and traditions.
Wherever I have gone, I have sensed differences in the nature ofclasswork and student dispositions. But more important still, in allcases, I have seen that, in spite of differences in cultural backgrounds,
excellent teachers always strive to educate in ways that serve the bestinterests of human beings. Instead of the dogmatic imposition ofpatterns, such education evokes the rich potentialities inherent in human

16

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)beings themselves, enables student personalities to flower, andencourages the young to apply their talents for the sake of peace andhuman happiness. It goes without saying that comparative education isimportant as a driving force in such an undertaking.
As you have examined education in many different countries, what
has surprised you most? With what have you been most in sympathy?
What have you been eager to introduce into Chinese education?
Education as a Means for Transmitting Life Force
Gu: You have visited numerous universities all over the world and havereceived honorable professorships and doctorates from many of them. In
speeches delivered at these institutions, you have stressed education forhuman peace and happiness and its importance as a way to establish
values. You told the rector of De La Salle University, in the Philippines,that education is vital to the imperative task of creating peace. In yourtalks with Israeli educators, you said that 25 percent of all Nobel
laureates have been Jewish and asked what explains this excellence. You
also praised the significance of the creation of a university even before
the founding of the state of Israel. Surely your observations touch on
issues that comparative education must address. I am therefore incomplete agreement with your ideas and think that right now you are
putting comparative education into practice.
The thing that has surprised me most in my international observations
is the widespread extreme emphasis on the development of education,
the concept of education as a way of transmitting life force, and theconcern for training children. Another surprising factor is theappreciation afforded education for promoting morality and the formation of noble personalities. This approach gives hope for world peace.
My observations and study abroad have made many impressions on
me. Notably, wherever I go, the people I meet are all friendly and longfor peace. I have learned much from the emotions of simple, ordinary
people.
I studied in the Soviet Union and have visited North America andEurope on several occasions. But Japan is the country I have visited
most—I think more than 20 times. Everywhere in your country I haveencountered a bright, enthusiastic attitude and lively, charming children
and young people. They are the future of humanity. All the educationalinstitution directors and faculty members I have met believe that
education sows the seeds of peace and, to my delight, hope for increased
exchange and understanding.

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)17When I studied there, the Soviet economy was briskly recoveringfrom World War II. The Soviet people were friendly and, in terms ofdaily living, took almost embarrassingly good care of us. For instance,
they would give up their places in line at motion-picture theaters so we
could purchase tickets first. When a new film was showing at a club near
our school, they left the best seats open for us. Our Soviet classmates
helped us by supplementing our lecture notes. The head of the school
often inquired whether anything was troubling us, and faculty members
invited us to their homes.
The Soviet people were fond of reading and treasured their literature
and art. They were often to be seen, book in hand, reading while riding
trams or waiting in shopping lines. Russians are generous, cheerful, andsincere toward others. Among my classmates I made unforgettablefriendships.
My longest stay in Japan was the four months I spent at Naruto, on
Shikoku. The things that impressed me most deeply about your country
were courtesy, order, neatness, cleanliness, and tranquility. Laying greatstress on preserving all kinds of cultural properties, Japan has done a far
better job of maintaining traditions in the midst of modernization thanChina has.
Balanced development is the most impressive aspect of Japanese
education. Equal student rights are emphasized. Gentle care is taken ofchildren with disabilities, and special classes are set up in all schools toaccommodate their needs. Students are courteous. They and theirteachers form a unity: teachers’ desks are situated in classrooms.
Special mention should be made of the light clothing—short pants
and skirts—primary-school children wore them even in the dead of
winter. Their legs got quite red with the cold. When I asked them if they
were not chilly, they answered yes. When I went on to ask why they
didn’t wear long pants, they told me shorts were primary-school policy.
It was to make them stronger. In China, parents keep their children
warm in winter by having them wear layers of thick clothing. Our
education policies can learn from yours.
The Future in the Radiance of Children’s Minds
Ikeda: I am surprised by your detailed knowledge of my associations
with people from other countries and by your evaluation of them, which
exceeds my deserts. I agree with your impressions of the Soviet Union.
Many of the Soka University students who have studied in Russia speak
movingly and gratefully of the warm treatment they received from the18humane education, a bridge to peace (4)Russian people. Of course, those who have studied in China, too, will
always treasure memories of the kindness with which they were treatedthere.
You mention the lively impression Japanese children made on you.
The liveliness and beautiful eyes of Chinese children moved me deeply.
Once after returning from China, in one of the essays contributed toseveral Japanese monthly and weekly magazines, I wrote, “More than
the superficial showiness of things like clothes, a rich future is to befound precisely in children’s mental brilliance and spiritual strength.”
All over the world, it is children who reveal what a country’s future will
be like. (The essays were later published in book form under the title
The Human Revolution in China by the Mainichi Shimbun in 1974.)
Tradition and Modernization of Chinese Education
Ikeda: As you say, by changing with the times, education embodies its
epoch. Nonetheless, because some immutable, traditional elements
remain alive in national and ethnic education, I should like to turn totradition, change, and modernization in Chinese pedagogy.
As major elements in the composition of modern Chinese education
you stipulate the following five points.
1. Millennia of Chinese traditional culture.
2. The superior educational philosophy founded on science anddemocracy since the anti-imperialist May Fourth Movement of
1919.
3. Educational tradition in the old liberated regions.
4. The influence of Western educational philosophy, systems, andmethodology.
5. Soviet educational influence after the founding of the nation.
You see modern Chinese education as an interrelated fusion of allthese elements.
Education and Chinese Tradition
Gu: Education in China has venerable history. Its sources are remote
and its current long. In reaching its present state of development, it has
undergone various cultural influences. As you say, five major elements
have had impacts on today’s Chinese educational tradition. Obviously,
most basically, Chinese ethnic culture forms the core and foundation.

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)19This is true because, over its continuous five thousand years, whileabsorbing and integrating various foreign elements, the main current ofChinese ethnic culture has remained unchanged. Like the Yangzi (Chang
Jiang) and the Yellow (Huang He) rivers, it has flowed finally to theocean after being joined by many tributary streams along the way.
In China, educational modernization has taken place during only thebrief period of the last century. Whereas the conversion has beenthorough, fundamentally altering examination systems, pedagogic
systems, and curricula, the unchanged Chinese ethnic spirit stillinfluences ways of thinking and living, thus continuing to have an
impact on education.
The History of Relations between Confucian Culture and Education
Ikeda: Since, as you say, its history is very long, Chinese culture has
exerted a correspondingly great and deep influence. Your enumeration offive important cultural elements calls to mind certain factors delineatingconcrete changes and epochs in the history of Chinese education. First,
you speak of the millennia of traditional Chinese culture. Confucianism,
which you discussed in the previous installment, is a central element inthat culture. You have described how it, together with the system ofimperial civil examinations, influenced Chinese education from the Sui
to the Qing dynasties.
You divide the development of Confucian culture into three stages.
The first, or original, stage centered on the concept of ren, or
humaneness, and on rites as developed by Confucius (Kungzi),
Mencius, and Xunzi. This involved more than a doctrinaire enumeration
and annotation of teachings. As is vividly apparent from the Analects ofConfucius, in this phase, master and disciple interrelated at a personallevel to seek the correct Way cooperatively.
Having lost both parents at an early age, Confucius spent his youth inpoverty and misfortune. Never daunted by his difficult situation,
however, he continued to study and pursue the path to the ideal. I haveheard that he never questioned the family lineages of any of his morethan three thousand disciples. In the section on politics in the Analects,
reflecting on his past life Confucius said, “ At fifteen I set my mind on
learning; by thirty I had found my footing; at forty I was free of
perplexities; by fifty I understood the will of Heaven; by sixty I learned
to give ear to others; by seventy I could follow my heart’s desires
without overstepping the line. (At fifteen, I had my mind bent onlearning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew

20humane education, a bridge to peace (4)the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the
reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired,without transgressing what was right.)”2
My mentor, Josei Toda, and his mentor, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi,
struggled as one against the Japanese militarist government of theirtime. For their actions they were thrown into prison where President
Toda read the Lotus Sutra, cogitated, thoroughly mastered the quintessence of Buddhism and its respect for the dignity of life, and attained
profound awareness of his mission to save the masses. He was 45 at thetime, approximately the age at which Confucius was free of perplexities.
He said that, though in this respect he was five years later thanConfucius, he was not troubled because he had come to understand thewill of Heaven five years earlier than Confucius did. The determination
President Toda displayed at that time was the great point of origin forthe postwar development of Soka Gakkai.
Harvard professor Tu Weiming, now Dean of the Institute forAdvanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University, with whom I
published a dialogue, interestingly termed the meetings Confucius heldwith his disciples as a “community of dialogue.” In this age of originalConfucian culture I see an ideal image of the indestructibility ofeducation.
In the second stage, the reign of the Emperor Wu (141–87 BCE) of
the Former Han, on the basis of what are called the Three Mainstays ofSocial Order, (loyalty, filial piety, and devotion) and the Five Constants(humaneness, righteousness, ritual, knowledge, and integrity), for thesake of controlling and supporting the empire, the theoretical moralityof the feudal system evolved. The Later Han witnessed the founding of agreat university in the capital Luoyang. The texts of the newly
established Classics were literally engraved in stone, and Confucianism
became the de-facto national teaching.
Imperial civil-service examinations were introduced during the Sui
dynasty (581–618 CE). While I hope you will discuss them in detaillater, suffice it here to say that they constituted a system whereby
bureaucrats could rise to higher ranks. The grueling examinations
stressed the ability to manipulate poetic texts and the Confucian
Classics. The resultant system, whereby high officials were selected on
the basis of actual capabilities instead of family background, produced
talented people in a wide range of fields, thus contributing to thecollapse of the old aristocracy and the firm establishment of a governing
system with the emperor at the pinnacle.
In the third stage, the great Neo-Confucian (Songming Lixue)

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)21philosophy formed by the absorption of Buddhist and Daoist thought
concerning life and death and cosmology. Whereas the Buddhism andDaoism of the time tended to be unworldly, Neo-Confucianism
characteristically connected ideas of the cosmos with those of humanlife and moral and political ethics. It evolved from the work of Zhou
Dunyi, Cheng Mingdao, Cheng Yichuan, and Zhang Zai of the Northern
Song (960–1127) and was completed by Zhu Xi of the Southern Song(1127–1279). During the Yuan dynasty (127–1368) Neo-Confucianism
became the foundation of the imperial civil-service examinations as
well.
The teachings of Zhu Xi were the axis of Japanese education andscholarship in the Edo period (1603–1868) and tremendously influenced
the local ethnic spirit. At the same time they tended to rigidify popular
thought. As you said earlier, when things reach a state of completion,
they can reverse course and become retrograde.
Origins of the Chinese Examination System
Gu: That is true. As the examinations pioneered the way for theselection of civil officials, Confucianism was ceaselessly and creatively
developing. But the traditional Chinese cultural influence on education
was not completely positive. Since it emerged from a feudal society,feudalistic ideas have permeated many aspects of Chinese culture.
Applying it today necessitates the processes of selection and reform.
In this light, let us analyze the examination system in a concrete
fashion. In 606 CE, the emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty established a
new category of recommended candidates for the mandarinate. This was
the beginning of the civil-service examinations, which were further
developed during the Tang dynasty (618–907) until a full series of tests
for bureaucratic advancement was in place.
It was no coincidence that such a system was born in China. Since theXia (2070–1600 BCE), Shang (1600–1046 BCE), and Zhou (1046–221
BCE) dynasties, heredity had determined advance within ruling groups.
But succeeding generations were sometimes lazy, depraved, or corrupt,
creating a hotbed for rampant vested interests. As feudal society
evolved, rulers found that making the authority of the emperor absolute
required weakening the aristocrats and centralizing authority overpersonnel. Therefore, the emperor Wu of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–
220 CE) started an early form of the imperial examinations in which
local officials recommended to the imperial court candidates to take partin examinations on the Confucian classics to select officials to serve by22humane education, a bridge to peace (4)the emperor’s side. Subjects and standards were set, and the emperor
himself proposed the examination questions. In the Sui-dynasty system,
subjects were set by the state, unified examinations were created foreach grade, and people were chosen or advanced on the basis of test
performance. This system was naturally an advance over the older
hereditary system. It restricted the power of the aristocrats and opened
the gates of bureaucratic advance to children of lower-ranking families.
Anyone who studied hard and did well on the examinations could
become a high-ranking official, enjoying generous perquisites andprivileges. In short, they could become members of the ruling class.
The Real Meaning of Education, a Topic of Eternal Inquiry
Ikeda: The civil-service examinations had a great influence on school
education. I understand that sometimes of the more than 100 thousand
examinees only a few hundred passed. According to Song-dynasty
records, the average age for passing was 36. Achieving this difficult featdemanded tremendous investments in time and capital. Private preparatory schools, called shuyuan, were set up in many places. Dramas ofsadness and joy connected with the examinations are related in things
like the following poem by the Tang-dynasty poet Du Fu (712–770):“When I was a younger Du Fu
I was honored as a national distinguished guest
and wore out ten thousand books in reading,
My brush was always inspired by gods...
In the end this ambition withered.
I became a bard instead of a hermit,and spent thirty years traveling on a donkey,
ate traveler’s rations in the luxury of the capital....”3
These famous verses poignantly reveal the sadness of the failed
candidate and suggest how influential the examinations were for the
youth of the time.
Confucianism, which originally pursued the human ideal, together
with the examination system, came to play the role of a rigid foundation
to maintain the empire. This makes me all the more painfully aware of
the need always to inquire into the real meaning of education. All
societies must constantly bear in mind the need to ask what purposes
learning and education must serve.

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)23Decline of the Examination System
Gu: Especially in the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, after the introduction of the so-called Eight-legged essay (amandatory literary style) the civil-service examination rigidified andthen fell into decline. Actually, the collapse of the examinations
signified the collapse of feudalism, of which its content and forms wereembodiments. Concerning mainly the feudal morality and ethics of theauthoritative Confucian texts—the Four Books and Five Classics—
examinations concentrated on the philosophies of the past. Those who
sat them had no latitude for their own personal opinions but wererequired only to be mouthpieces for sages of yore.
In his novel A Madman’s Diary, Lu Xun had the following to say
about feudal attitudes toward rites and courtesy: “... my history has nochronology, and scrawled all over each page are the words: ‘Virtue andMorality.’ Since I could not sleep anyway, I read intently half the night,
until I began to see words between the lines, the whole book being filledwith the two words—‘Eat people.’”4
The contents of the examinations were diverse. Their forms werecomplicated, and they were divided into many different levels. The first,
or juvenile level, was administered yearly by county magistrates. Those
who passed it were given the title licentiate (xiucai) and were entitled toproceed to the second level. This was the provincial or homeexamination. It was held every three years, and those who completed it
successfully were called recommended men (juren) and were entitled toadvance to the centralized examination. This metropolitan examination
was conducted two years after the completion of the home examinationby the central Ministry of Rites. Successful contestants were called
presented scholars (jinshi) and permitted to advance to the fourth level,or palace examination, conducted at the palace and presided over by theemperor himself. Those who passed this examination finally became
officials in the civil service. There is no telling how many people spent
their youths in this protracted, time-consuming process. The famous
Qing-dynasty novel The Unofficial History of the Forest of the Literati(Rulin Waishi) by Wu Jingzi describes the fervor with which people
pursued this goal in a vivid account of the mad reaction of the hero who
passes the examination for recommended men at last when he is in his
fifties. It is probably historical inevitability that in later times theexamination system caused social corruption when it was unjustly used
for personal profit and influence.
The greatest impact the system had on Chinese society—an impact

24

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)that still persists—was to sponsor awareness of the value of academic
background. Many people in China today still believe that study is the
key to advancement, wealth, and success with lovely women as well.
But this attitude has proved harmful to Chinese education by stimulating
wicked competition for school advancement and tendencies to stresstheory over technical skill and general over vocational training.
Western Philosophy and the Breakdown of Feudal Education
Ikeda: I am very grateful to you for your explanation, which is aspertinent and full as might be found in an excellent textbook. I can see
clearly how, though throughout its long history it supported a unified
identity, the venerable traditional civil-service examination has had
major negative influences.
With the passing time, any system is subjected to the process of
selection. Historically speaking, the influence of the Chinese
examination system has extended far and wide beyond China itself. For
instance, it was introduced into Korea and Vietnam and has exerted an
influence in the West as well. The French Enlightenment philosopher
Guillaume Thomas Raynal (1713〜1796) praised it for recruiting
intelligent, talented people regardless of pedigrees, claiming that in
China the concept of equality had reached the realm of perfection. No
matter whether he was right or wrong, the phenomenon is very
interesting.
Your second point stipulates the superior educational philosophy
founded on science and democracy since the anti-imperialist May
Fourth Movement of 1919. Your fourth point concerns the influence ofWestern educational philosophy, systems, and methodology. The two are
inseparable. The examination system was abolished in 1905 presumably
because of changes necessary in educational policies to train talented
people to shore up the Qing dynasty in the face of aggression byWestern and other powers. But, reaching a boiling point, revolutionary
fervor nurtured by resistance to long years of suppression culminated in
the Xinhai Revolution (Chinese Revolution) of 1911 and the birth of the
Republic of China. At about this time, by way of Japan, Westernpedagogic philosophy—mainly that of the German Johann Friedrich
Herbart (1776–1841)—was introduced into China. The Herbartiantheory stressed rational instruction methods and the formulation of
moral honor. As you point out in Cultural Foundations of Chinese
Education, since this agreed well with the traditional Chinese idea ofsupervision and moral training, it was extensively used in thehumane education, a bridge to peace (4)25educational world from the end of the Qing dynasty and into the earlyphase of the republic. In the 1920s, the noted scholar Wang Guowei
worked as the editor for a magazine entitled Jiaoyu Shijie (The World of
Education), which introduced the philosophies of several noted Westerneducators like Johan Amos Comenius, Jean Jacques Rousseau, andJohann Heinrich Pestalozzi. In 1915, as the demand among intellectuals
for a new culture was on the rise, the newly founded journal La Jeunesse(New Youth) took democracy and science as bywords and publishedmuch anti-Confucian material. One such was Lu Xun’s colloquial A
Madman’s Diary, to which you alluded. The same journal published Lu
Xun’s discursive writing entitled Re Feng (Hot Wind), in which occurs
his proclamation to the effect that the inherent thirst for humanperfection must move forward, trampling the barbed-wire fence ofwhatever darkness obstructs the current of thought, whatever miseryattacks, and whatever evil desecrates humanity. While breaking thefetters on the masses and crashing through the walls of evil tradition, Lu
Xun consistently maintained his firm, inner pride. His works are deeply
engraved on my mind as favorites from my youth.
The journal La Jeunesse also carried the writings of Westerneducational philosophies like that of John Dewey. As Americanpedagogic systems were being imported into China, educational reforms
on the basis of the principle that the children themselves should be thecore of the process were being debated. As exemplified by “life education” of Tao Xingzhi (1891–1946), who studied under Dewey, manyeducators enthusiastically engaged in progressive pedagogic
experiments.
When he visited the country in 1919, at the time of the May Fourth
Movement, Dewey perceived the birth of a new China in the midst of
the political upset. What did Dewey see in the Chinese people,
especially the youth? From that time and into the 1920s, the ideas ofWilliam Heard Kilpatrick (1871–1965), who was influenced by Dewey
and who developed the Project Method, and of Helen Parkhurst (1887–
1973), who proposed the Dalton Plan, were being introduced into China.
Both of these American thinkers were noted for criticizing traditional
emphasis on textbooks and graded classes and insisting on the importance of children’s independent learning activities.
As you point out with praise, during this period, the old feudal
education was collapsing, providing opportunities for the growth ofscientific and democratic education. After the 1950s, however, acceptance of Dewey’s ideas temporarily declined. And it was not until about
1980 that the idea of emphasizing children’s creative abilities was26humane education, a bridge to peace (4)reevaluated. The trend continues to the present.
In the quest for a new kind of education, I engaged in a three-man
exchange of views with two former presidents of the American Dewey
Society: Jim Garrison, professor of the philosophy of education at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute, in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Larry A.
Hickman, director of the Center for Dewey Studies and professor ofphilosophy at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois.
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi placed great weight on Dewey’s educational
philosophy. The SGI-USA New York Culture Center is located in an
historic building where John Dewey once lectured.
Although changes have occurred over time, Dewey’s pedagogy has
long been an object of research in China. What of his thought has yourcountry accepted? How did it take root? In concrete terms, what
influence has it had on Chinese education?
Dewey’s Philosophy and China
Gu: From the outset, Chinese modernization was modeled on events inJapan after the Meiji Restoration of 1868. Consequently, the Japanese
education system naturally became the model for educational modernization in China. But after 1915, the year in which La Jeunesse wasfounded, Western pedagogic ideas began flooding the nation. Under thebanner of science and democracy, copying Western educational systems
and methods increased after the May Fourth Movement. The influenceof American education had an especially great and profound influence.
Whereas in the last years of the Qing dynasty, most Chinese studying
abroad went to Japan, after the Xinhai Revolution, most of them went to
the West. In the 1920s, 80 percent went to the United States to study.5
On May 1, 1919, at the invitation of five scholarly groups, including
Peking University and the Jiangsu Provincial Education Association,
John Dewey came to China to lecture. He remained for two months andthree months, until August, 1921. His travels took him to 11 provinces,among them Fengtian, Zhili, Shanxi, Shandong, Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian,and Guangdong. In all those places he lectured on his pragmatic educational philosophy. The contents of his talks were published in various
journals, in a volume of five lectures delivered at Peking University,
another volume of three delivered at Nanjing University, and in otherbooks dealing with his educational philosophy and with education anddemocracy. Chinese students who had studied under him at the
Columbia University of the United States played a major part in making
this lecture series a reality. Hu Shi, Jiang Menglin, and Tao Zingzhi, allhumane education, a bridge to peace (4)27of whom were well known in the educational field of the day, not only
invited him to China, but also accompanied him on his tour asinterpreters. He was in our country at just the time when the new May
Fourth culture movement was in full swing and when, under the
influence of democratic ideas, a drive for education of the masses was
getting underway.
Even before Dewey’s visit, his former student Hu Xi had been
explaining his philosophy and had said that, though Dewey’s educational philosophy was inexhaustibly diverse, if we could break the oldclass-oriented system, we would promote two major conditions foreducation for the masses at large that it advocates.
Indeed such education was booming at the time. In March, 1919, thePeking University civilian education lecture groups were formed. They
remained active until 1925. In October, 1919 a civilian education society
formed at Beijing Higher Normal School (predecessor of Beijing
Normal University) began issuing a journal called Pingmin Jiaoyu(Civilian education). This organization remained active until the latter
half of 1924, by which time it had put out 73 issues of its journal. In
June, 1923, at Nanjing University, Zhu Qihui, Tao Xingzhi and Yan
Yangchu established the National Association of the Mass Education
Movement (MEM). At this time, popular education for the masses was
being developed in 20 provinces and districts throughout the country.
You have asked how Dewey viewed Chinese youth and what hethought of them. Judging on the basis of the length of his stay and theclose similarity between his egalitarian educational philosophy and theChinese movement for educating the masses, I would say that he wascompletely fervent and hopeful in regard to Chinese youth. He
advocated American democracy. Obviously for Chinese youth, who had
experienced the oppression of feudalism and imperialism and who
trusted in revolutionary methods to effect social reform, the drive foreducation of the masses was only one way of bringing about improvement. Dewey’s progressive educational ideas, which he advocated inaddition to mass education, were completely different from thephilosophy of the German Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel (1782–
1852), accepted in China until that time. Dewey advocated that learning
is identical to life and school to society and taught that children should
learn through their own actions. Classwork should begin with thelearners’ own experiences.
After the establishment of the new China, like his pragmatism,
Dewey’s pedagogic philosophy too came in for criticism. Nonetheless,his insistence on the importance of children’s independent activity

28

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)continued to exert a broad influence on Chinese educational practice.
Since the initiation of reforms, his educational philosophy has beenreevaluated and is once again considered important.
Education as the Driving Power behind a New China
Ikeda: I am certain that what Dewey felt about Chinese students was
precisely the total fervor and hope you mention. In all epochs and all
countries, the maximum source of hope is to be found in youth aflamewith the resolution to build. The breath of aspiring young people
transmits passion and power to everyone around them. That is why I
constantly encourage youth and devote myself entirely to education. In
this I am of the same frame of mind as you.
I cannot help being moved by the way young scholars who shared
beautiful mentor-disciple bonds with Dewey actively prepared the way
for spreading his educational philosophy in China.
Now to return to the points you enumerate, the third of which pertains
to educational tradition in the old liberated regions. On my first trip toyour country, in 1974, I visited the commemorative site of the
Guangzhou Peasant Movement Training Institute, which opened in July,
1924, and at which Premier Zhou Enlai taught. Possibly not strictly
devoted to total-personality cultivation, this is a place where young
people from all over the country assembled to be trained. It became aflashpoint for the peasant movement. Standing there, I was deeply struckby the realization that the power of youth is the real driving force behindthe building of a new nation.
Your fifth point deals with Soviet educational influence after thefounding of the nation. We have already discussed this topic, but I
should like to enter into it in somewhat greater detail. In those days, theideas imported from the Soviet Union centered on the theories of Ivan
Andreyevich Kairov (1893–1978), who believed that children should
acquire cognitive abilities and receive the kind of education suitable tothe building of a communist society. The teacher should provide planned
guidance. But, as you point out in Cultural Foundations of Chinese
Education, while maintaining a scientific system for the instruction
process, his theory entailed problems in relation to central emphasis onclassroom instruction and on instructors. Introduced into China in 1951,
the Soviet educational system created study opportunities, especially forworkers and peasants, and reinforced cultivation of personnel needed forthe building of the nation. Study materials, instruction models, andteaching methods were imported from the Soviet Union. But, as you say,

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)29unfortunately, student-led seminars failed to take root, while the main
import proved to be teacher-centered. In the 1980s, you publishedpapers, paying attention to facets of the Soviet method that did concentrate on student independence and devoted great energy to promoting
disposition education, which elevates children’s creativity.
Acceptance of Soviet Education in China
Gu: As I said earlier, after the foundation of the new nation, China
adopted a policy of overall learning from the Soviet Union. For the first
several years, from a minimum of more than two hundred to more than
two thousand Chinese students a year went to study in the Soviet Union.
Soviet specialists came to China to teach, and large quantities of Soviet
teaching materials were translated into Chinese. But the study process
was erratic since many Soviet methods were unsuited to Chinese conditions. For example, customarily 10 years were allowed for primary andmiddle schooling in the Soviet Union, whereas China had a 12-year
plan. Introducing the 10-year Soviet curriculum into the 12-year
Chinese system meant lowering fundamental middle/high school levels.
Before Liberation, geometry and calculus were studied in middle
school. After the Liberation, they were excluded from the curriculum in
middle/high schools. To resolve these issues, in 1958, China set out on
its own path. This was the starting point from which great educational
reforms developed. In 1960, Chinese education was criticized for poor
content, slow progress, low levels, and high costs. As relations between
the two nations deteriorated, Soviet educational theory, too, became an
object of criticism. Nonetheless, it continued exerting an influence
because, at basic levels, it stressed the systematic, scientific acquisitionof knowledge, training in fundamental attainments and skills, and themain leadership role of the instructor. In these things it correspondedwith traditional Chinese pedagogic emphasis on knowledge and learningand the emphasized the role of the teacher.
In the field of higher education too, the newly formed China learned
from the Soviet Union, making two large-scale adjustments in colleges
and their component departments. Some results were positive. For
instance, the foundation of a series of specialist colleges—institutes ofaeronautics, geology, petroleum, mining, iron and steel, and posts andcommunications—trained many talented people, thus creating thepersonnel basis for industrialization.
Others of its effects were negative. For instance, it resulted in thedismantling of several formerly famous general universities and the30humane education, a bridge to peace (4)consequent decentralization of scholarly strengths. The separation of theengineering and medical divisions left Peking University with only two
faculties: those of literature and physical science. Tsinghua andZhejiang Universities became comprehensive engineering universities.
For this reason, consolidation in the late 1990s was carried out with theidea of reviving several truly comprehensive universities.
The first socialist society in the world, the Soviet Union had strong
appeal for the new China. Chinese youth respected the Soviets all themore for their heroism in the early phases of nation building and during
World War II. As a young person in those days, I too was attracted by
Soviet courage and was deeply moved by Pavel Korchagin, the hero of
Ostrovsky’s novel How the Steel Was Tempered. I have always loved
Russian literature and art, and read the works of writers like
Chernishevsky, Dostoevsky, and Chekhov even before the Chinese
Liberation. During my stay in the Soviet Union as a visiting student, myfondness for Russian and Soviet literature and art intensified, as I read
the works of such other writers as Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Sholokhov andsystematically visited the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. After the
Liberation, many works by Russian and Soviet authors were translated
into Chinese and acquired a broad readership. Songs from the period ofWorld War II, or the Great Patriotic War as the Russians term it, are still
very familiar to the Chinese people.
With worsening relations between our two countries, however, allexchanges came to a halt. Still, when slight improvements occurred, in1984 we organized a group of representatives of Chinese higher
education and once again were able to tread Soviet soil. Thoughexchanges with the local people were strictly regulated, we were able toobserve higher-learning institutes and colleges in Moscow, Leningrad,and Kiev.
Unfading Memories of Visits to the Soviet Union
Ikeda: Your exposition helps me understand even better the transitionsin Chinese education and the various influences the Soviet Union had on
it. I have lasting memories connected with education in both countries.
When, as I said, I first visited the Soviet Union, in September, 1974,
Sino-Soviet relations remained tense. Nonetheless, at his spacious
offices in the celebrated Moscow State University, Rector Rem V.
Khokhlov explained that the conspicuous and beautiful tapestry
depicting an overall view of the front of his university was a gift from
Peking University. I still remember being thrilled to the core at the sighthumane education, a bridge to peace (4)31of this tapestry expressing amity and the faith of noble scholars andteachers in the ability of education to remain outside the control of
temporal, political movements, even in times of international upset.
I also remember well having a conversation with the famous novelist
Mikhail A. Sholokhov (1905–84) during the same visit. Recalling his
masterpiece The Fate of Man (Sudba cheloveka), which describes afather and his son who powerfully overcome the misery of the war with
the Germans, I asked his opinions on human destiny. After some quiet
thought, he replied that belief is the important thing. It is a power withwhich a person advances toward the goal. Without it, people can do
nothing. “We are all the blacksmiths of our own happiness,” he said. A
spiritually strong person exerts an influence, no matter what turns fatetakes.
I sensed great spiritual strength in him, and I often repeat his words toyoung people. I feel the same brilliant, powerful spirit in my manyfriends in Russia and in China. I can understand how the Russian songsof the time of the Great Patriotic War would still be popular among the
Chinese people. Culture rooted in profound humanity speaks toeveryone regardless of national boundaries or epochs.
We have now examined the flow of Chinese education in accordancewith the five elements you cite. You argue that traditional education is
not easy either to affirm or deny and cite as good examples the
traditional method of teaching according to pupil aptitude and mutual
learning between teachers and pupils. As a bad example of traditional
education, you cite the influence of the imperial examination system.
The thing to do is to evaluate the millennia-old traditional system andmodernize it, preserving its good elements. The challenge of achieving
this must have caused Chinese educators immense difficulties. Owing to
its current population of 1.3 billion people, the vast experiment ofadvancing public education in China gives hope to all humanity.
Attempting to Modernize Chinese Education
Gu: Thank you for saying so. The development of Chinese education
has produced great results in the 60 years since the establishment of a
new nation, and especially in the 30 since the initiation of reforms. In
the past much of the population, which as you say now numbers 1.3
billion, was illiterate. But with the spread of a compulsory nine-year
education system, this has been totally changed. Higher education, too,has made great strides and has now reached the level of the masses ingeneral. But we still have a long way to go to make full modernization a32humane education, a bridge to peace (4)reality.
The recent Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium- and Longterm Education Reform and Development. (2010–2020) establishes thefollowing basic policy: “Giving priority to development, taking thecultivation of people as the starting point, carrying out reform andinnovation, promoting equity, and improving quality.” The strategic
goals to be attained by the year 2020 are to modernize education
basically, bring a learning society into shape, and turn China into a
country rich in human resources. In addition, we must strive topopularize higher education further; deliver equal education to
everyone; offer quality education in various ways; build an adjusted
framework for lifelong education; and establish a full-fledged, vibranteducation system.
To achieve these goals, people in the education field must boldly
attempt to re-create the system, develop novel concepts and a more open
way of thinking in the ways listed below.
1. Since Chinese culture is the core and the foundation on which
Chinese education has developed, in modernizing our education,
we must respond correctly to that traditional culture.
2. We must preserve and invigorate what is good in Chinese
tradition, while criticizing and eliminating outdated concepts andideas.
3. Instead of concentrating on narrow values like going on to thehigher educational institutions, we must adopt comprehensive
educational values.
4. We must reform old conservative views of personnel andpersonnel training. We must realize that everyone has developable talents and strive to cultivate diverse human beings in favorof the idea of training variously talented people for a multidimensional, modern society.
5. We must break free from the idea of appointment and promotion
solely on the basis of academic background over ability andtheory over skill and establish concepts of appointment andpromotion that emphasize both academic background and ability.
6. We must abandon old views of instruction and disposition infavor of concepts fostering teacher-student linkage in which
students are the principal elements and instructors their guides aswell as developing the integrated quality of both comprehensiveness and individuality.
7. We must break with the idea that education is limited to thehumane education, a bridge to peace (4)33school environment and establish a broader education including
lifelong learning.
8. We must respond correctly to foreign educational philosophiesand experiences.
Naturally, since it was introduced from abroad, the current Chinese
educational system is permeated with many Western cultural ideas. But
we are opposed to the occidentalist notion that all things Western aregood and that modernization is synonymous with Westernization. We
must become increasingly liberal-minded and strive to absorb
outstanding cultural elements from the whole world. Over the past 20
years, various educational ideas have flooded into China. Our task is todistinguish among them seriously, do our utmost to absorb them,
Sinicize and internalize them, and make them serve the ends of botheducational tradition and educational progress. Finally, we must create
new experiences by boldly applying and practicing what we learn in thisway. In the above-mentioned plan, it was emphasized that reform andinnovation provide the mighty driving force for educational
development. The six major reforms were proposed, the first being thereform of the system for talents or professionals. The other five arereform of examinations and enrollment system, building a modern
school system, reform of school-running system, reform of education
administration system, and further opening of China’s education.
Attempted practice of these reforms showed the need for further
innovation. We must respect the creativity of the schooling site andgroup because they are frequently the sources of experience. In any
case, the actual modernization of Chinese education is a heavy
responsibility and a long journey.
The Treasure of On-the-scene Practice
Ikeda: I understand what you mean. I find your insistence on respecting
attempts and practice in the actual educational environment especiallysignificant because practice bears the weight of a person who actuallyexperiences the difficulties entailed over and over again. Tsunesaburo
Makiguchi, who started out as the principal of a primary school andevolved an excellent theory of education, felt just as you do. He wrote,“Realizing a large-scale, organized, scientific educational plan requires
awareness of the need to distinguish clearly between planning organizations and implementing organizations. Both kinds of organizations must
understand each other and cooperate completely in fulfilling their roles.

34

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)He also wrote that to be truly useful, pedagogy must arise from educational daily life.
As heirs to President Makiguchi’s spirit, in unflaggingly putting
education into practice, members of the Soka Gakkai Education
Division fervently maintain the primacy of students in education andinsist that revolutions in education begin with revolutions within theteachers themselves. Amounting to more than forty thousand cases,
written records of their practical activities have earned praise from allover Japan as living pedagogic theory. Since educational reform is aworldwide issue, many people related to the field, including currently
active teachers in Japan and China, engage energetically and persistently
in all kinds of pertinent undertakings. I am certain that the sincere
passion and hard work you and all the others involved in will blaze abroad path to a new kind of education.
NOTES
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, Education for Creative Living: Ideas and Proposals of
Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, translated by Alfred Birnbaum; edited by Dayle M. Bethel(Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press, 1989), p. 75.
2
The Analects of Confucius (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), p. 20.
3Translated by Tony Barnstone and Chou Ping
4
Selected Stories of Lu Hsun, The True Story of Ah Q, and Other Stories (written
1918–1926), translated by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang (Foreign Languages Press,
Peking, 1960, 1972)
5
Zhou Gupin, Jindai Xifang Jiaoyu Lirun Zai Zhongguo De Chuanbo / 近代西方教育理论在中国的传播 (Transmission of modern Western educational theory in China),
Canton Educational Press
1

humane education, a bridge to peace (4)Daisaku Ikeda

Recipient of 330 (as of August 17, 2012) honorary doctorates andprofessorships from the world’s academic institutions, Dr. Ikeda wasborn in Tokyo in 1928. He has founded a range of educational institutions from kindergartens to universities with post graduate facilities
located around the world, starting with the establishment of Soka
University in Tokyo, which opened to undergraduate students in 1971.
Other cultural institutions founded by Dr. Ikeda include the Min-On
Concert Association and the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum. Academic andpeace research institutions founded by Dr. Ikeda are the Toda Institutefor Global Peace and Policy Research (Tokyo/Honolulu), Ikeda Center
for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue, and the Institute of Oriental Philosophy (Tokyo). Dr. Ikeda is the author of books on Buddhist philosophy, stories for children and a novelized history of Soka Gakkai(The Human Revolution, The New Human Revolution), and is
co-author of a series of dialogues that began in 1972 and includes
Choose Life, his discussion with the historian Arnold J. Toynbee. Hisinterest in China dates from 1968, when he publicly called forrestoration of Sino-Japanese relations. Since normalization of bilateralties in 1972, he has visited the People’s Republic of China ten times,
including a meeting with the late Premier Zhou Enlai.

Gu Mingyuan

Now president of the Chinese Society of Education and Honorary
Dean of the College of Education Administration (Beijing Normal
University), Gu Mingyuan was born in 1929 in Jiangyin, Jiangsu
Province. He studied in Beijing and Moscow, served as a professor,
directed the International and Comparative Education ResearchInstitute, and became vice president of Beijing Normal University. He
has played a major role in promoting education in China. Having
served as president of the China Education Association for International Exchange and president of the Chinese Comparative Education Society as well as vice president of the World Council ofComparative Education Societies, he is an honored figure on the world
educational stage as well. China awarded him the title National
Distinguished Teacher in 1991, and Beijing named him a People’s
Teacher in 1999. Hong Kong recognized him with an honorary
doctorate of education in 2001 from the Hong Kong Institute of
Education, and Teachers College of Columbia University awarded him
their Honorary Professor Medal in 2008. He has edited several
encyclopedias and professional journals, including Comparative
Education Review. Professor Gu is the author of Education in China
and Abroad: Perspectives from a Lifetime in Comparative Education(translated and published in English) and other books in his field.

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