IAK Academy Collection Life Cultivation

IAK Digital Academy Series · No. 3

IAK 数字书院导读（三）

Life Cultivation

The Educational Philosophy of the IAK Shuyuan

生命修养

IAK书院的教育理念

Education Begins with Learning How to Be Human

Traditional Chinese education begins with learning how to be human.

An old Chinese saying observes:

"Teachers who transmit the classics may be found; teachers who guide others through the example of their own lives are rare."

A teacher may pass on texts and knowledge. A true teacher of the human way, however, teaches through character, conduct, and lived experience.

For this reason, education in the Chinese classics is not limited to the transmission of knowledge. It concerns the formation of character and the lifelong cultivation of the human being.

教育，始于学做人

中国传统教育，首先学习的是做人。

古人说："经师易得，人师难求。"

能够传授经典知识的人并不少见，而能够以自身品德、人格与生命影响他人的老师，却十分难得。

因此，中国经典中的教育，从来不仅仅是知识的传授，更重要的是人格的养成，以及一生不断完善自己的过程。

The Great Learning

One of the best-known educational classics in the Confucian tradition is The Great Learning (Daxue).

Rather than presenting education as a collection of subjects, it describes an ordered path of cultivation that begins within the individual and gradually extends outward.

For more than two thousand years, this framework has remained one of the foundations of Chinese education.

《大学》

《大学》是儒家最重要的教育经典之一。

它并没有把教育划分为不同学科，而是提出了一条由内而外、循序渐进的修养道路。

两千多年来，这一教育框架始终影响着中国教育的发展。

The Eight Stages of Cultivation

The Great Learning presents a complete path of cultivation:

Ge Wu 格物 — Freeing oneself from the domination of external things

Zhi Zhi 致知 — Attaining true understanding

Cheng Yi 诚意 — Making one's intentions sincere

Zheng Xin 正心 — Rectifying the heart-mind

Xiu Shen 修身 — Cultivating oneself

Qi Jia 齐家 — Bringing harmony to the family

Zhi Guo 治国 — Governing society responsibly

Ping Tianxia 平天下 — Bringing peace to the world

These are not eight separate subjects but eight successive stages of cultivation.

Learning does not begin with the accumulation of information. It begins with freeing oneself from the domination of external things, thereby attaining true understanding. From there come sincerity, inner rectification, self-cultivation, and the gradual extension of one's cultivation to the family, society, and ultimately the world.

八个修养次第

《大学》提出了一条完整的修养道路：

格物——不为外物所役

致知——达到真正的认知

诚意——使意念真诚

正心——端正自己的内心

修身——修养自身

齐家——使家庭和谐

治国——承担社会责任

平天下——促进天下和平

这并不是八门彼此独立的课程，而是八个循序渐进的修养次第。

学习不是从知识的累积开始，而是从不为外物所役开始，由此达到真正的认知，再进一步落实于诚意、正心、修身，并逐渐推及家庭、社会，最终关怀天下。

From Self-Cultivation to the Flourishing of Life

The Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong) further reveals the purpose of self-cultivation:

"Only those of utmost sincerity can fully realise their own nature. By fully realising their own nature, they come to understand the nature of others. By understanding the nature of others, they come to understand the nature of all things. Such understanding is not an end in itself. It enables human beings to contribute to the continual growth, flourishing, and renewal of life, fulfilling their responsibility within the greater order of the world."

This passage shows that education is not confined to personal growth alone. Through sincerity and self-cultivation, one's understanding gradually extends from oneself to others, and ultimately to all things in the world. As understanding deepens, so too does responsibility. The purpose of education is therefore not merely to acquire knowledge, but to cultivate the wisdom, character, and sense of responsibility needed to contribute to the flourishing of life and the well-being of society.

As The Great Learning concludes:

"From the ruler down to the common people, all alike must regard self-cultivation as the foundation."

The central concern is therefore not simply how much a person knows, but what kind of person one becomes.

从修养自己到参与生命的化育

《中庸》进一步阐明了修养的意义：

“唯天下至诚，为能尽其性。能尽其性，则能尽人之性。能尽人之性，则能尽物之性。能尽物之性，则可以赞天地之化育。可以赞天地之化育，则可以与天地参矣。”

这段经典说明，教育并不仅仅停留于个人的成长。通过诚意、正心与修身，人不断认识自己，理解他人，进而认识万事万物的本性。随着修养不断深化，人也承担起更大的责任，以自己的智慧、品德与实践，参与生命与万物的化育，促进社会的发展与生命的繁荣。

正如《大学》所说：“自天子以至于庶人，壹是皆以修身为本。”

教育最终关心的，不是一个人知道多少，而是一个人成为什么样的人。

Xiū and Yǎng

Chinese culture also preserves two important characters:

Xiū (修) means to practise, refine, correct, and cultivate.

Yǎng (养) means to nurture, sustain, nourish, and allow life to grow.

Xiū emphasises conscious practice.

Yǎng emphasises gradual nourishment.

Together, they form the Chinese idea of Xiūyǎng (修养)—Life Cultivation.

修与养

中华文化还有两个重要的字：

修，强调不断实践、调整、完善自己。

养，强调涵养、滋养、积累与成长。

修与养相辅相成，共同构成了中国文化所说的修养。

Life Cultivation

Modern education rightly values lifelong learning.

At IAK, lifelong learning forms part of a broader process: Life Cultivation.

Learning develops understanding.

Practice transforms understanding into lived experience.

Life Cultivation asks not only what we know, but how we conduct ourselves, how we care for body and mind, how we relate to others, nature, and the wider world.

Inspired by the Chinese classics and the historical traditions of the Shuyuan, the IAK Shuyuan seeks to explore this path in contemporary life.

We do not seek simply to reproduce a historical institution. We draw from the classics while developing an educational practice appropriate to our own time.

Reading the classics, practising Guqin, studying calligraphy, preparing tea, practising Tai Chi, travelling with cultural awareness, and engaging in sincere dialogue may all become different forms of Life Cultivation.

For IAK, the Shuyuan is not merely a place where knowledge is transmitted.

It is a living academy devoted to learning how to be human, cultivating the self, and nurturing life throughout one's lifetime.

生命修养

现代教育强调终身学习。

而在IAK，我们将终身学习视为生命修养的重要组成部分。

学习帮助我们理解世界。

实践帮助我们完善自己。

生命修养不仅关注知识，更关注品格、身心、人与人、人与自然，以及人与世界之间的关系。

受到中国经典与传统书院精神的启发，IAK书院希望在当代继续探索这条修养之路。

阅读经典、抚琴、书法、茶道、太极、文化旅行，以及真诚的交流，都可以成为生命修养的一部分。

对于IAK而言，书院不仅是一处学习知识的地方，更是一座持续学习做人、修养自身、滋养生命的当代书院。