中國重修語文教材 擬增加國學內容

Education officials in China are considering changes to elementary and middle school textbooks that would expand the study of Chinese philosophy and literature, a shift that some education experts say is connected to recent efforts by the government to emphasize China’s cultural heritage.

中國的教育官員正考慮對中小學教材進行一些修改，增加與中國哲學和文學有關的內容，教育專家說，這一舉動與政府最近強調中國文化遺產的行動有關。

At an annual education conference this past weekend in the southwestern city of Chengdu, Wang Xuming, president of the state-owned Language and Culture Press, told reporters that his publishing house had revised its Chinese language and literature textbooks to increase the proportion of guoxue, literally “national studies, ” referring to the study of Chinese culture, in textbooks to 35 percent, up from 25 percent, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

據新華社報道，上週末在中國西南部的成都市的一個年度教育會議上，國有的語文出版社社長王旭明告訴記者，該機構已經對中國的語文教材進行了修訂，將國學內容的比重從目前的25%增加到35%。國學指的是涉及中國文化的學問。

Mr. Wang, a former spokesman for the Ministry of Education, said the proposed changes had already been submitted to the ministry. If approved, he said, the new textbooks would be introduced next September in time for the new school year. While there are many education publishers in China, Language and Culture Press, along with the People’s Education Press and the Higher Education Press, is widely regarded as one of the leading publishing houses for teaching materials.

曾擔任教育部發言人的王旭明說，新修訂的教材已送教育部審批。他說，如獲通過，這批教材將於明年9月開學時進入學校課堂。儘管中國有許多教育出版機構，語文出版社，以及人民教育出版社和高等教育出版社，被普遍認爲是教輔材料的主要出版機構。

The proposed changes appear to be part of a broader shift in thinking about the importance of traditional culture to China’s modern national identity.

安徽合肥的小學生。教材修訂意見似乎反映出，在塑造民族身份方面，中國開始更加註重傳統文化。

According to Mr. Wang, the revision process began in September 2013, the same month that he set off a heated debate when he posted comments on his Sina Weibo microblog calling for the elimination of English classes in elementary schools and more emphasis on guoxue.

王旭明說，修訂工作是從2013年9月開始的。正是在那個月，他在新浪微博上發表的一些言論引發了熱議。他呼籲在小學取消英語課，更加重視國學。

Because of the low quality of instruction, he wrote, Chinese language education and learning were declining in a “landslide” that was intensifying day by day. “It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that improving national language and literature ability is a pressing issue, ” he added.

他寫道，由於教學質量低，漢語教學和學習“滑坡”的情況正在日益加劇。他接着說，“可以毫不誇張的說，提高國民語文應用能力已經迫在眉睫。”

Concern over young people’s Chinese language abilities has long been a point of national discussion. Last year, the city of Beijing proposed changes to the college entrance examinations taken by high school students that would reduce the importance of English on the exam, known as the gaokao, in favor of greater emphasis on the Chinese language.

長期以來，對青少年漢語能力的擔憂一直是全國性討論中的焦點。去年，北京市提出，要改革高中生參加的大學入學考試，即高考，降低英語在考試中的權重，更加強調語文的重要性。

Given Mr. Wang’s government background and the status of the publishing house as a state-owned entity, some education experts say that the proposed revisions are likely to be approved. At the very least, the changes appear to be in line with a statement by President Xi Jinping on the role of art last month in which he called traditional Chinese culture the lifeblood of China as well as a “foundation for China to compete in the world.”

考慮到王旭明的政府背景，以及語文出版社國有機構的身份，一些教育專家說，這些修改提議很可能得到批准。不管怎樣，這些修改看起來與習近平上個月關於藝術的角色的講話是一致的。習近平把中國傳統文化稱作中華民族的命脈，以及“在世界文化激盪中站穩腳跟的堅實根基”。

If the proposed textbook changes are approved, it is unclear what elements in the existing curriculum might be dropped to make room for the additional coverage of traditional culture. But experts say that, for now, the most pressing issue is to understand what “traditional Chinese culture” actually entails.

目前尚不清楚的是，如果這些教材修改意見被批准，現有教材中的哪些部分可能會因此被刪除，讓位於新增的傳統文化內容。但專家稱，目前而言，最緊迫的問題是要理解“傳統文化”究竟指的是什麼。

“There has always been a lot of classical culture embedded in the curriculum, so that’s not really the problem, ” said Ye Kai, author of a 2011 book on Chinese language and literature education. “The problem is: What are they going to choose to emphasize? There are so many sources of traditional Chinese culture.”

“教材中一直包含了許多古典文化，因此這不是真正的問題所在，”葉開說，他2011年出版過一本與中國語文教育有關的書。“問題是：他們會選擇強調什麼？中國傳統文化有太多源頭。”

Language and Culture Press is not alone in its efforts to call for a greater focus on Chinese culture. Starting next year, the Beijing Normal University Publishing Group, another major textbook publisher, has said it will introduce new Chinese language and literature textbooks for elementary school pupils with more attention to classical poetry, Xinhua reported.

在呼籲加強對中國文化關注的行動中，語文出版社並非孤例。據新華社報道，另一家主要的教材出版商北京師範大學出版社表示，明年將推出更加重視古典詩詞學習的新版小學語文教材。