Vadim Shushanyants
Professor Ireland
English 101
26 March 2015 Hsun Tzu “Encouraging Learning” (Topic # 4)

In the essay “Encouraging Learning”, Hsun Tzu emphasized the importance of continues learning. Hsun Tzu was one of the most famous early Confucian philosophers and was well known for his views on human nature and human way of life; that all human beings are born evil. He believed that natural instinct could only be changed through training and dedicated study. He also believed that learning should never stop, people should always keep learning until their deaths and that only endless learning can transform a human being from evil to good. In the following essay Hsun Tzu is trying to teach us and explain to us the importance of lifetime learning. Hsun Tzu regarded education as a means of becoming a complete, well rounded individual. Explaining exactly how people should be taught, he felt that knowledge improved lives for the better and as we all know the learning process molded the child into the ‘gentleman’. According to Hsun Tzu, the ultimate goal of education is to make a gentleman with a virtuous consistency and constancy, a man of ritual, a man who only sees, hears, loves and thinks of what is good and right, a man eager to learn from the virtuous gentlemen before him, a man of moral character. In order to become an educated “gentleman” one has to get educated and his education path shall have no ending. By doing so, it becomes the everlasting ability of ones’ character, which is considered to be the superior benefit in itself. According to Hsun Tzu, an additional reward that an educated gentleman might expect is personal orderliness, the same virtuous consistency that the normal man may never attain. The order allows the educated person to respond to others, which is making him a complete man and that is valued above all. Hsun Tzu suggested the gentleman not to surround himself with gross or vulgar people. He also tells the gentleman to understand that “what lacks completeness and purity does not deserve to be called beautiful”. Throughout the whole essay Hsun Tzu talks about lifetime learning and each detail, each step to be a successful learner are clearly stated and explained. As previously stated Hsun Tzu is trying to teach and inform us on how to be a “gentleman”, Hsun Tzu’s definition of gentleman was an educated person, a person who dedicates his life to learning. Hsun Tzu also states that being a gentleman is nothing more than just a regular person, it’s just that a “gentleman” is good at making use of things unlike a regular person. I believe that the whole meaning behind the gentleman idea is that with the right tools every human is able to approach learning, but only with the proper use of those tools humans will become educated. During Hsun Tzu’s lifetime he always thought that education should never stop, people need to learn and educate themselves until their deaths. As he states in his essay, “In learning, nothing is more profitable than to associate with those who are learned.” He saw personal thought and relaxing as a waste of time. Hsun Tzu emphasized that ritual was critical to the learning process. Hsun Tzu was considered an influential writer, since his writings inspired and taught people. Hsun Tzu knew the significance of having an education and believed that knowledge was a vital part to mankind and an enlightened society. One of the most important points that Hsun Tzu considered important was that men need to be truly educated and be able to use their knowledge, but not simply be informed and have no use for the information that they know. This essay is full of beautiful, useful quotes, examples, teachings and suggestions and if one