So why study Di Zi Gui (Students’ Rules)? What do these old precepts from the bygone days of Imperial China have to do with us? Well, there are two main reasons: learning about the Chinese intellectual heritage, and helping us live a happy and successful life.

First, learning about the Chinese intellectual heritage: a very important part of the Chinese heritage is in the intellectual sphere; our forefathers have made remarkable contributions to the realm of thought and philosophy, including the discourse on perennial questions facing the great thinkers throughout world history. Questions such as “What is the good life?” and “What makes a good man?” have been answered with some very unique Chinese answers. Di Zi Gui is a succinct summary of much of that traditional thought and philosophy. Used in traditional China for raising young people into gentlemen, today Di Zi Gui offers a good introduction to the world of traditional Chinese thought. The text is a rich repository of Chinese philosophy, values, mores and norms. Studying Di Zi Gui enables us to learn about the Chinese intellectual heritage.

These days, because of the adoption of vernacular Mandarin (bai hua wen) as the standard form of writing and education since the early 1900’s and the abandonment of classical Chinese (wen yan wen), fewer and fewer students are capable of reading the original works of the great Chinese thinkers because the works are written in that classical Chinese. Thus, for those seeking their Chinese roots, the Chinese intellectual heritage in the realm of thought and philosophy is often off limits, and there is little chance that those seekers can hear their forefathers’ original voices expound on unique, Chinese ideas. True, one can read about the ideas second and third hand via modern books written in the vernacular Mandarin or in English, but for appreciating the spirit of the authors, nothing can replace studying the original. Therefore, to help with accessing the original, we’ve translated Di Zi Gui into plain vernacular (modern day spoken) Chinese and English on this website. By studying the original text of Di Zi Gui we can hear our ancestors’ own voices.

Also, as we have said in the "Introduction" in the Di Zi GuiWeb Page on this website, in today's pervasive Westernized culture, Chinese in general and Chinese children in particular are driven daily to be ashamed of their heritage. Chinese children are especially vulnerable since what most people know these days of the Chinese heritage is only a distorted version. If left unarmed with some accurate knowledge of Chinese culture such as that provided by Di Zi Gui, Chinese children will grow up to be ashamed of their heritage, of their parents and eventually of themselves. Then they won't have the self esteem or inner strength necessary to become good, smart and capable persons. Studying Di Zi Gui and understanding the thinking in it will enable Chinese persons to synthesize traditional Chinese culture with modern life and help strengthen our sense of identity, cultural roots, pride, and self esteem. Then we will not become discouraged and lose hope, or abuse and give up on ourselves; we will persist in striving to do our best in life. Studying Di Zi Gui will give Chinese and Chinese children an accurate knowledge of the Chinese intellectual heritage. Armed with this knowledge, they will not grow up to be ashamed of their heritage, of their parents and eventually of themselves. They will have the necessary self esteem and inner strength to become upright, kind, smart and capable people. Indeed, understanding traditional Chinese thought and taking up the Chinese intellectual heritage is of the utmost importance to each Chinese personally. Therefore, Chinese people especially need to, especially should, study Di Zi Gui.

For those not of Chinese ethnicity, Di Zi Gui will be a good initial exposure to very important aspects of traditional Chinese thought.

To be considered truly educated, young people of Chinese ethnicity should know about some of the important ideas from their intellectual heritage. Would we not expect young people whose ethnicity is, say, that of a Muslim country, whether they practice the Islamic religion or not, to have been exposed to the Koran as part of having received a well-rounded education? Would we not expect young people of Caucasian, i.e. European, ethnicity, whether they practice the Christian faith or not, to have had some exposure to the Christian Bible to be considered well educated? Of course we do. Without some exposure to the Koran it is impossible to fully comprehend and appreciate a Muslim ethnic heritage, and without some exposure to the Christian Bible it is also impossible to fully comprehend and appreciate the Western heritage. Yet, despite the importance their parents place on education and even a “well-rounded education,” very rarely are young people of Chinese ethnicity, included many considered “highly educated,” exposed to Confucian writings. Nor has the thought ever occurred to many such parents. It really is an anomaly that will be wondered at by future generations.

Of course, in this day and age, to be considered truly educated every one, even one not of Chinese ethnicity, should know something about the very important and unique part of the human heritage called the Chinese intellectual heritage.

By providing a useful glimpse into the world of traditional Chinese thought, studying Di Zi Gui can greatly help meet the need for exposure to the Chinese intellectual heritage. Even if, after perusal and study, one disagrees with part or all of the traditional Chinese ideals and standards of conduct, one will still be enriched by the exposure. One will have been given the opportunity to work through the arguments and thought processes of some of the most important thinkers not just in Chinese history but also in world history. Only after having had some such exposure can a person of Chinese ethnicity be considered well educated.

The second reason for studying Di Zi Gui is that, as previous mentioned, doing so will help us live a happy and successful life. The precepts, values, and norms taught in Di Zi Gui are still suitable for us today. In fact, I believe that to live a happy and successful life today, these precepts, values, and norms are the most useful ones to follow.

Nowadays the Chinese Confucian tradition in thought and philosophy has been forgotten and abandoned by many Chinese, because that tradition has long been denigrated, since 1895 in fact, by Chinese ourselves, for being out-dated, irrelevant, the cause of Chinese backwardness, or even for being “dictatorial,” “fascist,” and “designed to keep the masses ignorant and stupid.”

It’s time to reverse that horribly wrong verdict, because the exact opposite is true. If it hadn’t been for Confucius’ teachings, if it hadn’t been those very precepts, values and norms taught in Di Zi Gui, Chinese backwardness would have been even more marked and the ancient Chinese civilization itself might have been long extinguished, just like the ancient civilizations of Babylon and ancient Egypt. Those teachings have never been “dictatorial” or “fascist,” and they have never opposed inquiry and independent thought—as the famous Tang Dynasty Confucian scholar Han Yu has said in his essay Jin Xue Jie, “conduct succeeds with thinking and fails with following (xin cheng yu si wei yu sui).”

In fact, not only are those teachings not out of sync with modern society, but also they are most compatible with and conducive to such a society, to a society based progressively more and more on freedom and volition, and less and less on autocracy and coercion. Those teachings, in fact, constitute the answer to the failure of much of “modern” thought, values and norms to deliver to people the ability to live happy, productive and successful lives today. Following the teachings in Di Zi Gui, I strongly believe and my own personal experience has thus far confirmed, will be a strong guarantee of living a happy, productive, and successful life in today’s world.

Many readers will be surprised at the above statement that Confucius’ teachings are most compatible with and conducive to a modern society based on freedom and volition. How can that be? How can precepts over two thousand years old be most suitable for living successfully in a free society? Aren’t Confucian teachings all about conformity, submission, and obedience? Well, there are very good answers to those questions, and I will set forth the answers in my next commentary, “Confucius' Teachings are Conducive to a Modern Society Based on Freedom and Volition”.

好，為甚麼要學習《弟子規》呢？那些過去帝王時代中國的陳舊概念跟我們有甚麼相干呢？有兩個主要原因：學習《弟子規》，可以學習中華思維傳統，亦可以幫助我們過快樂和成功的人生。

首先，學習中華思維傳統：中華文化遺產的很重要一部分是在於思維界域裡；我們的祖先在思想和哲學領域上，包括那些世界歷史偉大思想家們一向都要面對的問題上，作出了傑出的貢獻，對“甚麼才是好的人生？”和“怎樣才是好人？”等問題，作出了一些很獨特的中華答案。《弟子規》把這傳統思想和哲學的很大一部分精簡地總結。《弟子規》是舊時中國用來把幼年人教育成為君子的，而現在我們可以用來認識中華傳統思想。原文滿載中華哲學、價值、道德和准則。學習《弟子規》，讓我們認識中華思維傳統。

因為自從1900年代早期來就採用了白話文來作為寫作和教育的標準而拋棄了文言文，所以今天越來越少學生們有能力閱讀中華偉大思想家的原著，因為都是用文言文寫的。因此，很多時對尋找中華根源的人們來說，思想和哲學領域的中華思維文化遺產是禁區，沒有機會親耳聽到祖先講說獨特中華概念的聲音。是的，可以二手或三手地在現代的白話文或英語文章或書本裡讀看這些概念，但要領會作者的精神，沒有別的辦法能夠代替閱讀原著了。為了幫助人們閱讀原著，我們把《弟子規》翻譯為白話文和英語，在本網站刊登。學習《弟子規》原文，讓我們能夠親耳聽到祖先們的聲音。

另外，正如我們在本網站《弟子規》網頁的“引言”所說那樣，今天普遍西化的社會，每天都使華人，特別是華人孩子，傾向對自己的傳統文化感覺羞恥。現在多數人只能看到被歪曲了的中華傳統，所以華人孩子們特別容易受害。如果思想沒有被一些好像《弟子規》所提供的、對中華文化正確的認識武裝起來，華人孩子長大後便會對自己的傳統文化、對自己的父母、乃至對自己，感覺羞恥，便沒有足夠的自尊心和內在力量來做個好的和聰明能幹的人。學習《弟子規》，領會了《弟子規》的思想，華人就會有能力把傳統中華文化和現代生活相結合起來，讓我們得到自我認同感、文化根源感和自豪感，我們就會得到自尊心。擁有了自尊心，就不會頹喪失望，就不會自暴自棄，就會努力向上。學習了《弟子規》，華人孩子們就有了對中華文化正確的認識，思想就會被武裝起來，不會對自己的傳統文化、對自己的父母、乃至對自己，感覺羞恥，就會擁有足夠的自尊心和內在力量來做正直善良和聰明能幹的人。的確，認識中華傳統思想、繼承中華思維文化，是每一個華人的切身大事。所以華人特別需要、特別應該學習《弟子規》。

對於不是華人的人們，學習《弟子規》，是對中華思維傳統一些很重要方面，很好的初步認識。

要被認為是一個真正具有教育的人，華裔青年應該對他們自己的思維傳統有所接觸。對祖籍是穆斯林文化的年輕人，不論他自己是否信奉伊斯蘭教，我們不是會預想他對《古蘭經》有所接觸，才會認為他是一個具有了全面教育的人嗎？同樣地，對祖籍是白裔即歐洲裔的年輕人，不論他是否信奉基督教，我們不是會預想他對《聖經》有所接觸，才會認為他是一個具有了全面教育的人嗎？當然啦。不對《古蘭經》有所接觸，就不能明白和領會穆斯林文化傳統，而不對《聖經》有所接觸，就不能明白和領會西方文化傳統。然而，雖然華裔青年們的家長極端注重教育和甚至“全面的教育”，但是很少華裔青年，儘管是具備了“高度教育”的，對孔教文章曾經有過接觸。這真正是件怪事，後代人們將會不解的。

當然，這些年代裡，無論是華裔與否，一個人要被人認為真正具有教育，就必須對這個叫做中華思維傳統的人類文化遺產非常重要又獨特的一部分，有所接觸。

《弟子規》為接觸中華傳統思想體系提供一瞥，能夠很大地幫助解決接觸中華思維傳統的需要。儘管閱讀和學習後，不同意中華傳統的理想和行為準則，這個接觸仍然會令人思想更加充實，會給予人一個機會，去想通不光是屬於中國歷史上而且是屬於世界歷史上，最重要思想家的論點和思維過程之中的一部分。一個華裔人要擁有這種經歷，才能稱為具有良好教育。

學習《弟子規》的第二個理由是，正如上文所說過，這樣做會幫助我們過一個快樂和成功的人生。《弟子規》教導的信條、價值和准則今天仍然合適我們。的確，我認為今天要過一個快樂和成功的人生，追隨這些信條、價值和准則最為有效。

今天很多華人忘記和拋棄了中華孔教思想和哲學傳統，因為長久自二十世紀以來，這個傳統曾被貶斥。貶斥它的人，其實正是我們華人們自己。我們說它過時、對現代沒有意義、是中國落後的原因、甚至是“專制的”、“法西斯的”、“愚民的”。

現在是推翻這個巨大冤案的時候了，因為真相正是完全相反。如果沒有孔子的教導，如果沒有這些《弟子規》教導的信條、價值和准則，中國便會更加落後，古老的中華文明可能會好像巴比倫和古埃及等古老文明那樣，老早便滅絕了。這些教導從來未嘗是“專制的”或“法西斯的”，從來沒有反對過調查事物和獨立思考：正如著名的唐朝儒家學者韓愈在他的著名文章《進學解》裡說過，“行為成功地達到准則，是因為思考，而行為遭受毀壞，是因為跟隨他人。（行成于思毀於隨。）”

其實，孔子的這些教導不但不跟現代社會脫節，而且非常合適和有利於這種社會，這種基於越來越多自由和自願、越來越少專制和強迫的社會。“現代”思想、價值和准則有一個問題，就是不能給予人們快樂的、成功的和有成果的生活，而孔子教導正好解答這個問題。我堅信，而我自己的人生經歷亦證明了，遵守《弟子規》的教導，強有力地保障在今天社會裡，能夠過快樂的、成功的和有成果的生活。

很多讀者會覺得以上所說的有些奇怪，孔子教導非常合適和有利於基於自由和自願的現代社會麼？怎會這樣的呢？超過二千年老的信條，怎能非常合適自由社會裡面的生活呢？孔子的教導不都是提倡一致性、屈服和服從嗎？啊，對這些問題，有很好的答案。我在下一個解說文章，孔子的教導有利於自由和自願的社會裡，將會把答案列出來。