Comic:Confucius — the greatest teacher
【明報專訊】Confucius from ancient China travelled to modern Hong Kong.
“ Confucius: Hey, kiddos! Do you have a bow and an arrow? ”
“ Bill: I'm afraid we don't. ”
“ Confucius: Why don't you have them with you? Don't you learn archery? ”
“ Pat: I prefer playing tennis to archery. ”
“ Confucius: What? This is your bow? ”
“ Bill: I think we should find someone to help him. ”
“ Dr Panda: The Six Arts (六藝) were practised by scholars in ancient China. ”
“ MoMo: They included ritual (禮), music, archery, charioteering (御), calligraphy and arithmetic (數). ”
◆Know more
Confucius (孔子, 551-479 BC) was a great teacher and thinker in ancient China. He is best known for his set of beliefs called Confucianism (儒家). He was greatly knowledgeable and a paragon of virtue.
He was one of the first private teachers in ancient China. In his time, only royals and nobles had a chance to learn. Since he believed that all people deserved to be educated, he taught all young men no matter what their social class or ability was. His students learned philosophy and the Six Arts. One of his famous teachings is " Do unto others as you would have others do unto you " (己所不欲,勿施於人).
■English highway﹕No matter
"No matter" is used when something is always true whatever the situation is. It can be put at the beginning of a sentence. It is followed by a wh-word.
e.g. No matter what he does, his mother loves him.
■Glossary
archery (n) 箭藝
deserve (v) 應得
social class (n) 社會地位
philosophy (n) 哲學
[Smarties' Power English 第286期]