The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 24

Xu Tian took the manuscript, glanced at it briefly, and handed it back to him. "I feel it's very good, and I can't offer any better suggestions. From now on, you might as well use this article as teaching material to children of the appropriate age, and then observe whether there are any areas for improvement."

If we still can't improve it after a few months, we can publish this article and distribute it; that would definitely be a good thing.

"Xu Tian is right. It is thanks to your suggestion and encouragement that this article was finally published. I won't say thank you again."

"Only after writing this article did I finally feel that I had achieved something in the past few years, and I am already satisfied." Mr. Cui's words were tinged with gratitude.

“Brother Cui, you are mistaken. At thirty, you are at the prime of your life, a time when you have much to achieve. There is still a long road ahead, and you need to continue your efforts,” Xu Tian encouraged.

"Xu Tian is right. Just as you said last time, the sky is high enough for birds to fly and the sea is wide enough for fish to leap. Don't waste your youth and grow old in vain. Even if we don't have the talent to lead the world for a hundred years, we should still strive to improve ourselves."

"Hehe, Brother Cui, please don't tease me about what I said when we were drinking last time. It makes me feel embarrassed and awkward."

"How could it be embarrassing, Xu Tian? The wonderful words you uttered on the Lantern Festival have been remembered by everyone present."

Now, the name of Scholar Xu has spread widely in Xiangzhou, and it is said that many of those who gathered in Longzhong that day but did not come to Huazi Tower for various reasons deeply regret it.

His words made Xu Tian even more embarrassed, as what he had said that day was basically plagiarism of later poems.

Now that I've become famous because of this, even though nobody knows it, the thought of it brings a mix of joy and embarrassment, making me feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Mr. Cui continued, "After that day, many talented people who love poetry thought of completing your beautiful lines and turning them into poems. I have heard several of them, and some of them are really quite good."

Of course, if you were to rewrite them yourself, the resulting poems would certainly be even better. I suggest you put some effort into completing these poems; it would be a great thing.”

"Well, we'll see how things go later. I'm getting ahead of myself. Now that the 'Hundred Family Surnames' is complete, I have another idea I'd like to share with Brother Cui."

"Oh, any new ideas?"

"Brother Cui, what books do you usually use to teach your students?" Xu Tian asked instead of directly stating his thoughts.

"Naturally, we should start by learning simple characters. At this time, we can use texts such as the Thousand Character Classic, the Urgent Chapter, and the Li Family Primer as supplementary materials, as well as the nursery rhymes and children's songs that you have provided."

Once students have learned common words and phrases, they can then learn poems with simpler vocabulary, thus developing their ability to use words and construct sentences.

"From simple quatrains and short poems to complex long regulated poems, as students grow older and gain more knowledge, they can learn famous texts with simple vocabulary."

Thus, the learning progresses gradually, from simple to complex. Ancient classics are occasionally touched upon, but since I only teach introductory subjects, they are not the focus. In addition, commonly used arithmetic is taught, including Xu Tian's new numbers.

"Brother Cui's teaching pace is quite good. Since my last conversation with Brother Cui, I have also paid close attention to early childhood education. I have found that there are many poems and articles by our predecessors, but almost none of them are specifically used for early childhood education."