On the 15th of May a lecture was held at the Vilnius University Great Confucius Hall, which was led by Doc, dr. Vytis Silius, he is a sinologist, philosopher, translator as well as a researcher of Chinese thought and culture. The title of the lecture “Disciples of Confucius: the very first to tread the path of wisdom”.
The main themes explored in the lecture are the subtleties of the learning process, especially the dynamic of the teacher and student. A closer look was taken into the personalities of the students, and overall during the lecture a fact was outlined, that learning is fun and should bring joy. The lecture is based on the “Lunyu” (论语) or the “Analects”, which is a collection of writings written by the students of Confucius, about his teachings. The students mentioned inside of the text were analyzed, specifically their characters, interests and values, the way in which they interact with their teacher was also analyzed.
During the first part of the lecture the main focus was on Confucius himself, more specifically on his image and his cultural legacy. At the same time his work „Lunyu“ (论语) “The Analects” is also mentioned, especially the fact that the very first character in the text is „Xue“ 学 which means “to learn”.
During the second part of the lecture the attention was on the students of Confucius. An underlying message was that every single student of Confucius is unique, and every single one of them required different ways of teaching. This is further discussed using several excerpts. The most mentioned student of Confucius is a man named Yan Hui, a lot is mentioned about his personality, for example: he never stops asking questions; he is always ready to learn more; and that he lives by the things he learns. But his personality isn’t the only thing mentioned, his relationship with Confucius himself and his duty/role as a student is emphasized.
From the lecture we can learn that learning just for information isn’t true learning, it is important to apply the information you learn. Another important point in the lecture and in “The Analects” is the fact that learning should be joyful, it should not be a process filled with competition, it should be a process filled with mistakes and learning from mistakes. And lastly the lecture emphasizes an active connection between the teacher and student, both sides need to put in effort in order for learning to be effective.
For those interested in viewing the recording of the lecture in lithuanian, they are invited to watch the video