Moral education of Confucius teaching has shown a great success in one of the secondary schools in Japan, Edo-chuan Secondary School located in Ibaraki prefecture. The philosophy of Confucius education dates back to ancient Edo period which occupied a prominent position in the society of Japan. Though after the Meiji Japan modernized its country with Westernization idealism, the impact of Confucian culture can be seen everywhere.

Confucius

Confucius is a great teacher. He emphasizes that the moral principles, virtues should be the first lessons taught to children since they were small. The earliest the proper education is given to them, the earliest they are being taught to respect elders, respect brothers and sisters, respect wife and husband, respect the society and finally respect to the country as a whole. By adopting the correct moral teachings to the children, the elders will not have to face the fate of being dumped into an elderly home or left abandoned.

Nowadays, more and more children are having lots of social problems including fighting, crime, murdering, stealing and many of them left school at a very young age. Also, the statistic shows that cases of crimes are arising and at a worrying state. Many primary schools in Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China have started educating small children with the Confucius teachings. And the results from these teachings have successfully cultivated good practices and virtues among the young generations. I suggest other countries to start teaching the youngsters with these teachings as a guide towards a happy life. By doing this, the country will be in harmonization as the young generations respect and bow to the elderly and these old people do not have to face the misfortunate fate just as I described in How often Do We Think about Our Parents when they grow old as their children take good care of their welfare.

A child is reading Di Zi Gui

There are many teachings of Confucius, but here I would like to introduce Di Zi Gui as a fundamental teaching for the youngsters. This book was taught thousand of years ago. In ancient China, people felt that it was important that the child should be well-disciplined and moral conducts, otherwise a child would amount to nothing. By not knowing the dutiful to parents, elderly and teachers, a child would grow up not listening to or respecting anyone. Additionally, teachers are afraid to teach and discipline children because they are fearful of violating the children’s legal rights and being sued by the parents.

It is sadly to say that the relationships among people, between siblings, parents and children, husbands and wives, and employers and employees are deteriorating. Parents do not act like parents, while children do not act like children. Thus, by reintroducing Di Zi Gui to the public, I hope that it will be regarded as a good parental guide book for all parents to teach and educate their children properly. This teaching is preferably to be started at a very young age. It is always the best period for a pregnant mother to read Di Zi Gui word by word slowly by repeating many times to her kid before delivering a child. Many have done this and found that the child is obedient to teach after being born. By doing so, the future generation will benefit with good conducts and our world will be at peace.

Di Zi Gui contains seven chapters. Every word of each sentence should be implemented; its fundamental teaching cannot be violated. Here are some of the essence teachings for each chapter:

Chapter 1: At home, be dutiful to my parents

• Response promptly and correctly when my parents call me
• Do things that parents instruct
• Obey and accept parents’ scolding
• Keep my parents warm in the winter; keep my parents cool in the summer

Respect Thy Parents

• Greet my parents every morning to show them that I care
• Make sure parents rest well at night
• Tell my parents where I am going
• Go and see my parents after returning home, so that they will not worry about me
• Maintain a permanent place to stay and lead a routine life
• Avoid doing things that are wrong to do or unfair to another person
• Doing things that are irrational or illegal are being unfaithful to my parents
• Do not hide things though small as a secret from my parents as this will hurt my parents’ feelings
• Keep doing things that will please my parents but keep away things that displease my parents
• Do not hurt my body as this will make my parents worried; and do not do things that make my parents feel ashamed
• Be dutiful to my loving parents or parents who hate me
• Urge parents with kind facial expression and a gentle voice when my parents do wrong
• Attempt to dissuade my parents when they are in good mood, or if necessary, followed by crying to make them understand. If they do not want to accept me but end up with whipping me, I will not hold a grudge against them
• I will taste the medicine first before serving it to my parents who are sick. I will stay by their bedside to care for them throughout the day and night

Chapter 2: Standards for a younger brother when away from home

• Care for the younger brother if I am the older ones
• Respect and love the older brother if I am the younger ones
• Give more priority to familial ties instead of the property and belongings
• Hold back hurtful comments and always careful with words I said
• Let the elders to be the first in drinking, eating, walking, or sitting, and I will follow the last

Love between the siblings

• Address an elder by not calling his given name
• Never show off in front of the elder
• Greet the elder that I met on the street by clasping my hands or with a bow. If he ignored me, I will step back respectfully
• Never sit when an elder is standing; sit only when I am told to do so
• Speak softly and gently before an elder
• Serve my uncles just as my own parents; and treat my cousins just as my own siblings

Chapter 3: Be cautious in my daily life

A kid is brushing teeth by himself

• Get up earlier than my parents and go back to sleep at night only after my parents have gone to sleep
• Wash my face and brush my teeth when I wake up in the morning
• Wash my hands after using the toilet
• Wear my hat neatly
• Make sure the hooks of my clothes are tied properly
• Wear my socks and shoes neatly and correctly
• Place my hats and clothes in their proper places but not carelessly throw them away or get them dirty
• Wear the clean attire appropriately according to the situation
• Never pick my favorite food to eat or drink. Only eat the right amount but not over-eating
• Never get drunk as my behavior will turn badly
• Never step on doorsills or stand leaning on one leg; never sit with legs apart or sprawled out; never shake the lower part of body while standing or sitting down
• Avoid doing things in a hurry to avoid mistakes; should not be afraid with difficult tasks and will not become careless when a job is easy to do
• Keep away from rowdy place and will not enquire things that are abnormal or unusual
• Ask if someone is inside before entering the main entrance
• Give my name when someone asks me who I am
• Ask a permission before borrowing things from others
• Return the borrowed items promptly

Chapter 4: Be trustworthy

I am an honest baby. I will not cheat you, mum!

• Speak honestly but do not say deceitful words or tell lies
• Speak less instead of talking much
• Speak only the truth but not twist the facts
• Avoid using cunning words, foul language and philistine habits
• Do not tell others what I have not seen
• Do not pass on things easily with what I do not sure
• Do not do things that are inappropriate or bad if I am asked to do so
• Talk clearly but not too fast or mumble
• Do not get involved by taking the good points of others or faults of others that is none of my business
• Follow the example of those who do good deeds
• When seeing someone does wrong, I must immediately reflect upon myself
• Correct for my mistakes and remind myself not to repeat the same mistake
• Encourage myself to be better, when my morals, conduct, knowledge and skills are not as good as others
• Should not concern with the clothes and food that are not as good as others
• Never cover up mistakes as there will be doubly wrong

Chapter 5: Love all equally

All love is equal

• Regardless of nationality, race or religion, everyone should be loved equally as we all live on the same planet sheltering by the same sky
• People not value on outside appearance
• Use my capabilities for the benefit of others
• Never slander other people’s competence
• Never flatter the rich or despise the poor
• Never ignore old friends just only having a new one
• Never bother a person who is busy; and never bother the person when his mind is not at ease
• Never expose person who has a shortcoming
• Never tell others a person’s secret
• Praising the goodness of others to encourage them to try even harder
• Never spread the rumors about wrongdoings of others
• Encourage person for doing good but tell him his fault
• There is a difference between “give” and “take”. It is always better to give more than receive
• I will not ask others to do things I am not willing to do
• Repay the kindness of others and let go of my resentments
• Spending more time to repay the kindness of others rather than holding grudges
• Treat the maids and servants kindly and generously

Chapter 6: Be close to and learn from people of virtue and compassion

Learn from a person with great virtue, Mother Teresa

• All human are not the same. Most of us are ordinary but only a few have great virtues and high moral principles
• A truly virtuous person is greatly respected by others. He will not afraid to speak the truth and he will not fawn on others
• I will benefit from learning with people who have a great virtue and compassion. In this manner, my virtues will grow daily while my wrongdoings will lessen day by day
• I have a great loss for not learning from people who are of great virtue
• When people with no virtue close to me, I will not succeed in life

Chapter 7: After all the above are accomplished, I should study further and learn literature and art to improve my cultural and spiritual life

Share knowledge and opinions together

• Even though I am knowledgeable but I do not practice what I learned, I will not gain any benefits
• If I do apply my knowledge diligently, but stop studying, I will only do things based on my own opinion, thinking it is correct but actually it is not a truth
• There are 3 methods to study effectively. They involve concentration of my mind, eyes and mouth
• Do not think about other things when reading a book
• Never start reading another book if I have not completed reading the first book
• Give myself lots of time to study hard
• I will understand better if I devote enough time and effort
• Make a note if I have a question
• Ask the knowledgeable person for the right answer
• Classify my books and place them on the bookshelves in their proper places
• Put back the book where it belongs after reading
• Repair the missing or damaged pages immediately
• Discard or not even look at books if it is not a book on the teachings of the saints and sages as these books block my wisdom and intelligent, and will undermine my aspirations and sense of direction
• Neither be harsh on myself nor give up on myself. I can attain high ideals, moral standards and virtue in time if only I work hard