??chinese parents?are keen on?a more confucian education

中国父母更热衷于儒学教育

so is the government, hoping it will boost patriotism and fill a moral vacuum

政府亦是如此，希望儒学教育能激发爱国精神，填补道德教育的真空

at first glance, huaguoshan kindergarten in zhuzhou, a city in the southern province of hunan, looks much like any other nursery. four brightly painted playrooms have buckets of building bricks and soft, coloured mats. but on higher floors, the classrooms are more spartan.?

乍一看，湖南省株洲市的花果山幼儿园和其他幼儿园没什么两样。四间色彩鲜艳的游戏室里放着一桶桶积木和柔软的彩色垫子。但更高楼层的教室则显得很简朴。

rice-paper lanterns and a row of black roof tiles running along the top of the walls evoke ancient chinese architecture. children wear powder-blue fleeces with the mandarin collars and frog fasteners of traditional jackets. large portraits of confucius hang on otherwise bare walls.

宣纸灯笼和沿着墙顶的一排黑色瓦片让人联想到了中国古代建筑。孩子们穿着带有浅蓝色中式领口和盘扣的传统服装。空荡荡的墙壁上挂着一幅巨大的孔子画像。

the kindergarten opened in september but already has a year-long waiting list. it taps into a growing nationwide demand for guoxue, or “national studies”. this usually involves learning classical chinese thought, texts and morals, especially those associated with confucius.?

花果山幼儿园于去年9月开学，但等候入学的名单已经排到了一年后。该幼儿园的诞生源于全国各地对国学日益增长的需求。国学通常涉及对中国古典思想、文学和道德（尤其是那些与孔子有关的内容）的学习。

children at huaguoshan are taught how to bow, how to greet each other politely in the street and how to sit attentively, with back straight and hands placed carefully in their laps. in one room they noisily stamp leaves onto muslin bags to learn an ancient dyeing technique.?

花果山幼儿园的孩子们会学习如何鞠躬、如何在街上礼貌地互相问候、如何聚精会神地坐着（背部挺直，双手轻放在膝盖上）。在一间教室里，孩子们学习一种古老的染色技术，吵吵闹闹地在细棉布袋上印出树叶的形状。

in others they recite poems, practise?calligraphy, perform tea ceremonies and play chinese chess. but, say teachers, mastering skills is secondary to building character. a child learns to “respect her rival and accept defeat” in chess; in the tea room, to “value what is fragile as you would a porcelain cup”.

在其他教室，孩子们还会背诵诗歌、练习书法、学习茶道和下象棋。不过，老师们说，相比塑造性格，掌握技能是次要的。孩子们在下棋的过程中会学会“尊重对手，直面失败”；在茶室，孩子们会懂得“像珍惜瓷杯一样珍惜易碎之物”。

after decades of worshipping foreign trends, many people are now interested in such traditions. television shows include “chinese poetry conference”, in which members of the public are quizzed on classical stanzas. young people don traditional robes in public.?

在过去几十年里，人们通常对国外的潮流趋之若鹜，如今，他们也开始对传统文化感兴趣了。例如电视节目“中国诗词大会”会在台上向嘉宾提问有关古典诗词的问题。越来越多的年轻人在公共场合穿着传统长袍。

at the heart of the trend is education. frost & sullivan, a data firm, estimated that the market for children’s guoxue education was worth 466bn yuan ($73bn) in 2018, almost double its value in 2014. schools charge hefty fees.?

这一趋势的核心是教育。数据公司弗若斯特沙利文估计，2018年，儿童国学教育的市场价值达4660亿元人民币（约合730亿美元），相比2014年几乎翻了一番。国学学校会收取高额的学费。

the organisation that runs huaguoshan, a non-profit, also relies on donations. it promotes its educational philosophy on social media, with clips of its pre-schoolers reciting poems in traditional garb.

而像花果山幼儿园这样的非盈利性机构则依赖于捐款以维持经营。花果山幼儿园在社交媒体上宣传其教育理念，播放学龄前儿童穿着传统服装背诵诗词的视频片段。

the ancient system of thought emphasises respect for authority,?reverence?for ancestors and deference to elders. confucius taught that such values were essential to achieve moral excellence as an individual. such upstanding citizens would form the basis for wider social harmony and political stability.?

古代的思想体

系强调尊重权威、尊敬祖先和尊重长辈。孔子曾教导说，这些价值观对于个人道德的修炼是至关重要的。这些具有良好道德修养的公民将为更广泛的社会和谐和政治稳定奠定基础。

strictly speaking, all primary and secondary students should be at state-regulated schools, though most kindergartens are private. guoxue content, such as classical poems, has long been part of the state secondary-school curriculum. in 2014 more of it was added to the university-entrance exam.?

严格来说，所有的中小学生都应该就读公立学校，尽管大多数幼儿园都是私立学校。国学内容（例如古典诗词）早就被列入了国家中学课程。2014年，高考又增加了更多的国学内容。

the number of classical texts to be taught in schools increased from 14 to 72. in 2017 the government put out guidelines for having a comprehensive guoxue?syllabus?in primary and secondary schools by 2025.?

高中语文古诗文从14篇增加到了72篇。2017年，政府提出了到2025年在中小学制定全面的国学教学大纲的指导方针。

in may the education ministry confirmed the plans, saying it was important for young people “to be formed into upright chinese” with the patriotism “to serve the country”. state-approved guoxue classes would “enhance a sense of belonging to and pride in the chinese nation”.

今年5月，教育部确认了该计划，称“要将年轻人培养成为正直的中国人”，并具有“报效国家”的爱国精神，这一点很重要。国家批准的国学课程将“增强人们对中华民族的归属感和自豪感”。

(黑体标注词为重难点词汇)?

本文翻译：vinnie

重难点词汇：

be keen on?喜爱，渴望calligraphy?[k??l?ɡr?fi] n. 书法；笔迹

reverence?[?rev?r?ns] n. 崇敬；尊严；敬礼 vt. 敬畏；尊敬

syllabus?[?s?l?b?s] n. 教学大纲，摘要；课程表

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