in Chinese Curriculum
Phebe Xu
Gray, Ph.D. Assistant Professor
This paper examines the classic primer of San Zi Jing 三字经 and its relevance in the Chinese curriculum. The presenter explores the content and historical significance of San Zi Jing, highlighting its influence on Westerners who learned Chinese as a Second Language, and calls for considerations of its implications in teaching and learning Chinese as a foreign language in the contemporary setting.
San Zi Jing is an enduring classical Chinese text. Although it was designed
to be used as a primer for school children as early as Song Dynasty, it is
more than a literacy text. It overviews Chinese history, prescribes the sequence
of the cannons of classics to be read in traditional Chinese education preparing
for the imperial examination; it contains the fundamentals of Confucianism,
and teaches many moral lessons. Its language and structure is succinct and
elegant, perfect for recitation and memorization. The content and the literary
style of San Zi Jing stood the test of time.
San Zi Jing has influenced renowned pioneering Sinologists and westerners who learned Chinese as a second language in history, including Matteo Ricci, Robert Morrison, Walter Henry Medhurst, and Herbert Giles, the co-inventor of the Wade-Giles system. San Zi Jing has been translated into many foreign languages, including Latin, French, Spanish, Korean, and English. Giles, the second Chinese professor at Cambridge University, used San Zi Jing as a textbook for teaching elementary Chinese in the early 20th century.
Chinese commentaries of San Zi Jing were published mainland China from 17th century till recent years; scholars in Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong also wrote about this book. There is a renewed interest in Mainland China in recent years to study this book again.
This paper calls for reexaminations of this traditional primer
and considers its implications in teaching and learning of Chinese as a foreign
language in today’s setting.
About the Presenter
Phebe Xu Gray teaches Chinese at Lee University in Cleveland, TN. She received
her Ph.D. in Foreign Language Education from the University of Tennessee,
Knoxville. She also participated in the Chinese Teacher Training program at
Nanjing University, China. Dr. Gray is a Licensed OPI (Oral Proficiency Interview)
tester certified by ACTFL (American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages).