The San-tsz’ King was compiled by Wang Pih-hao of the Sung dynasty (A.D. 1050) for his private school. It contains ten hundred and sixty-eight words, and half that number of different characters, arranged in one hundred and seventy-eight double lines. It has been commented upon by several persons, one of whom calls it “a ford which the youthful inquirer may readily pass, and thereby reach the fountain-head of the higher courses of learning, or a passport into the regions of classical and historical literature.” This hornbook begins with the nature of man, and the necessity and modes of education, and it is noticeable that the first sentence, the one quoted above, which a Chinese learns at school, contains one of the most disputed doctrines in the ancient heathen world:
“Men at their birth, are by nature radically good;
Though alike in this, in practice they widely diverge.
If not educated, the natural character grows worse;
A course of education is made valuable by close attention.
Of old, Mencius’ mother selected a residence,
And when her son did not learn, cut out the [half-wove] web.
To nurture and not educate is a father’s error;
To educate without rigor shows a teacher’s indolence.
That boys should not learn is an unjust thing;