Is Confucianism Appropriate as a Core Curriculum in the Liberal Arts Education System of China?

Abstract

It has become the conscious behavior in more and more Chinese universities to carry out the liberal arts education, and has achieved results in some colleges and universities. But there are still some problems, such as how to set up the curriculum system well and so on, awaiting us to solve. We believe that Confucianism should be taken as one core curriculum in the liberal education curriculum system. Confucianism belongs to the treasure house of world thought, and the educational principle advocated by it is highly consistent with the core concept of liberal education. As one core curriculum in the liberal education curriculum system, Confucianism has good practical significance for contemporary college student education. Our practice shows, in the course of teaching not only should we systematically teach the student the knowledge so as to enhance their sense of identity to Chinese traditional culture, but also let them achieve self-discipline combined with their own personalities, while feeling the charm of the self-cultivation tradition. In this way, their ideology, morality and academic performance are sure to be taken in a gratifying situation.