-- "To be a good teacher to the satisfaction of the party and the people -- a speech at the symposium with the representatives of teachers and students of Beijing Normal University" and other articles

■Interpretation

Comrade Xi Jinping quoted this famous sentence from Zhuangzi's "Leisurely Travel" to vividly express the important role of teachers' knowledge accumulation. In the collective portrait of the "good teacher" of our time, Comrade Xi Jinping has depicted "solid knowledge" is an important content. The ancients were teachers, so they preached and taught to solve doubts. If a teacher lacks a solid foundation of knowledge, how can he accomplish his mission of preaching, teaching, and dispelling doubts? The three-foot podium transmits knowledge and flows culture, and students can forgive the teacher for being strict and rigid, but they can't forgive the teacher for being shallow in knowledge.

In the information age, knowledge is being updated at a geometric rate, and if teachers do not pay attention to updating the knowledge system, they will inevitably have aging knowledge, rigid ability, and dull thinking, and it will be difficult for them to shoulder the responsibility of "educating the world's talents." Modern education is not only the inculcation of professional knowledge, but also the cultivation of comprehensive quality and the cultivation of personality and conduct. As the saying goes, "In order for students to gain a little light of knowledge, teachers should draw in the whole ocean of light."

■Original text

And the accumulation of water is not thick, so it is not able to carry the boat. Cover the cup of water on the top of the col hall, then the mustard is the boat, the cup is glued, the water is shallow and the boat is big. If the accumulation of wind is not thick, then its negative wings are also weak. Therefore, 90,000 miles is the wind in the bottom, and then it is the wind today; Those who carry the blue sky and Mo are not young, and then they will now be Tunan.

——(Warring States) Zhuangzi "Zhuangzi Wandering"

■Definition

This passage in "Zhuangzi Wandering" uses a series of metaphors to illustrate the importance of doing a good job of basic work. The first sentence "If the water is not thick, then the boat will not be able to carry it", which means that if the water is not deep enough, it will not have the strength to carry the ship. Zhuangzi then used two sets of figurative metaphors to illustrate this truth: if you pour a glass of water in the low-lying part of the court, then you can put a small grass and use it as a boat, and put a cup on it and it will stick to it, because the water is shallow and the boat is large. If the wind does not accumulate strength, it is unable to support the huge wings. Therefore, the Peng bird flew 90,000 miles high, and the wind was below it, and then it took advantage of the wind and flew to the South China Sea without hindrance with the blue sky on its back.

In this regard, Lao Tzu, another representative of Taoism, also has a similar statement. Chapter 39 of "Lao Tzu" says: "The noble is based on the cheap, and the high and the lower are the basis." He admonished people to be able to "deal with", "live behind" and "be humble", and if they want to achieve great things, they must start from the basics.