RELATED TOPIC:
THE CONFUCIAN TRADITION

Robert Oxnam :: Implicit in the Confucian emphasis on ritual and self-cultivation through ritual is the notion that life is a continuous process of learning and self-improvement. Confucius stressed the importance of education for achieving personal and social order.

[Excerpt from the Analects of Confucius]

When Confucius was traveling to Wei, Ran Yu drove him.

Confucius observed, "What a dense population!"

Ran Yu said, "The people having grown so numerous, what next should be done for them?"

"Enrich them," was the reply.

"And when one has enriched them, what next should be done?"

Confucius said, "Educate them."

Excerpt from Sources of Chinese Tradition, Wm. Theodore de Bary, ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1960), Analects 8:9.