Summary Of A Schedule For Learning 'By Ch' Eng Tuan Li

Although both “A Schedule for Learning” by Ch’eng Tuan-li and the “Method of Lecturing in the Liberal Arts,” had the same objective of finding the best way to improve education, it seems as if they both share key differences in accomplishing this goal. Not only did gender, class, and the technology available play a major role in who and how the people were being educated, but also in the way in which each society approached education as a whole. In the end, it would appear as if the Chinese set a much more important standard on education than their medieval counterparts, not only affecting their scholarly life, but their virtues, and lifestyle as well. Like in today’s world, the quality of education varies from community to community. This

Making students read thoroughly through one book before moving on to the next. This was very different than Medieval Europe, where there was more of an emphasis on lecturing rather than books. As illustrated in the painting titled “Class in Session” by Laurentius de Voltolina. Where the painting shows the German monk Henry of Frimar lecturing at the University of Bologna in Italy. As we can see, the students appear to be taking notes rather than reading a book. Furthermore, the painting illustrates another difference Medieval Europe had over China, the appearance of women in the classroom. This is not to say women in China did not get an education, but rather, women in government sanctioned positions was surely rare occurrence, after all, it was a patriarchal society. Going back to the issue of books vs. lecture, one must wonder why Medieval Europe chose to go this route, after all, books and the technology to print books in greater quantities was around (as we have seen in China). The reasoning might be for economic reasons. In Europe, European rulers were in “competition with one another for financial resources,” Private groups began to form, gaining payments of fees and taxes; in return, these groups would pay local leaders in hopes of gaining favor in the political realm. As a result, these groups began to gain control under the law, being legally recognized and allowed to pass laws and

As "Method of Lecturing in the Liberal Arts" shows us, the only way that was allowed to teach was through lecturing. “Masters of philosophy utter their words rapidly so that the mind of the hearer can take them in but the hand cannot keep up with them... the former method is found the better.” Those who did not adhere to the set guidelines would get punished by not being allowed to teach any for weeks, months, or even years. In contrast, “A Schedule for Learning” by Ch’eng Tuan-li, all the strict guidelines and rules were set for the student. For example, students had to be dressed and properly groomed by the sound of the first clapper, by the sound of the second clapper the students had to be in the main hall ready to learn. Furthermore, there was a sequence of bowing that took place that had to be done in a specific order. In addition there were rules on how to treat their elder and superior. In a sense, the purpose of an education was not only to teach them the “classics,” but also