Teacher for Life in China

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet." John 13:14 我是你们的主，你们的夫子，尚且洗你们的脚，你们也当彼此洗脚。 约翰福音13:14

"According to the custom of ancient China, a teacher was a master for life,a member of the Confucian trinity of "emperor, father, and teacher." Lin Yutang


A group of people in their mid-20s were posing for a photo in front of the 1,000-year-old temple on top of N. E. Fujian's beautiful Mount Taimu (in Ningde).  When they told me they were on a class reunion, I asked, "What college?"

"Kindergarten!" they said.  "Not college!  "We're paying our respects to our kindergarten teacher who helped set us on the road to college!"

It is no wonder that Lin Yutang wrote, "According to the custom of ancient China, a teacher was a master for life,a member of the Confucian trinity of "emperor, father, and teacher."

I can't even remember my college professor's names, much less grade school, but this group was reuniting to show respect for a teacher they had not seen in almost 20 years!

Teacher's Day is celebrated the world over, but only in China is every day Teacher's Day.  Only in China do stationery shops have rows of "For my Teacher" cards on sale twelve months out of the year.

But being a teacher incurs not only great rewards but also sobering responsibility. I receive letters from students I've not seen in fifteen years, and it is gratifying to know they are working on companies or universities everywhere from Australia to Finland.  And judging by the letters, I had a good impression on many.  But I also remember that, far too often, I was impatient with students.  Some were, of course, lazy, but others that I thought were lazy or careless simply did not understand (or perhaps did not believe) the crazy foreign teacher's requirements, and his warnings of a slow death if they failed to finish their assignments.  I hope that over the 21 years here I've mellowed somewhat (though I still make latecomers sing a song, regardless of their excuses).

Fortunately, my Chinese students have a forgiving nature, perhaps because they know that "once my teacher, always my teacher," so they'd better learn to put up with me, just as they put up with their parents (there is, in fact, an old Chinese saying that the teacher is like a father).

But over the years of teaching in China it has also become painfully evident that all of us are teachers for life, leaving and impression, for good or ill, on each person we encounter.  I hope we can all become better teachers and students, both in and out of the classroom.www.amoymagic.com