July 27, 2025. Remembering my primary school teachers.

 

Dear Jesus,

Today, during the meditation, I remember my primary school teachers. My friends often mention the teachers at the university, who helped them have a good career to start their lives, but no one mentions the teachers at their primary schools, those humble teachers are now forgotten by their students.

In the past, there were also teachers at primary schools with hot tempers who often punished students, such as forcing students to kneel on jackfruit peels, or clamping the ears of naughty students with trouser clips. These were clips made of tin, clamping the pants of cyclists at that time, to keep their pants from getting caught in the bicycle chain.

When I studied at the French-Vietnamese Primary School in Tourane City, also known as Hàn City, I did not see students being punished with such punishments. My primary school was a French-Vietnamese school, pupils were educated by teachers with French culture, completely different from Vietnamese culture, with the thought:

"Love gives the rod and the whip, hate gives the sweet and the delicious?"

At my school, students are often given "mauvaise notes" by the teacher when talking in class, which means bad points will be subtracted to the grade book at the end of the month. At most they were punished by "Au piquet".

What is "Au piquet"?

In the classroom, there were two boards, one large board attached to the wall and a smaller one, which can rotate up and down, placed in the corner of the classroom. Any student who talked in class or was naughty must go and stand behind the rotating board for the rest of the class.

During my primary school years, I have never been punished "au piquet".

What I remember the teachers taught is: "First learn manners, then learn knowledge", this motto is written on the wall of the classroom, hitting the students' eyes many times when entering the classroom. The teacher taught us the most important thing is to be a moral person before being an educated one. A highly educated person without morality will be dangerous for society.

Sentences such as:

“Father’s merit, mother’s kindness…”,

“Eat well, study well”,

“Eat fruit, remember the person who planted the tree”,

“Drink water, remember the source” …

were written on the walls in the classroom. The minds of children are like blank sheets of paper engraved with the basic moral teachings.

Primary school years were the years when I studied the “National Literature Textbook”. The authors of these books are Tran Trong Kim, Nguyen Van Hoc, Nguyen Dinh Phuc, Do Than, who were profound scholars in the early 20th century. Although when they compiled this book for the Department of Education of French Indochina, they were very young, around 40 years old. They wrote the books to teach elementary school students, not to show off their own knowledge.

The articles were very concise and easy to understand for students entering the first years of their studies, to teach them how to behave with their families, parents, siblings at home, at school, and in society.

The first years of school are where children are enlightened. The content, writing style, and word usage, without excess or deficiency of each article, reflect the virtues of the writers.

Those books are like classics of the Way of Being Human. They were scholars who understood the dualistic nature of humans. In society, there exist opposing natures, right and wrong, good and bad, wise and foolish, real and fake, good and evil…. 

The authors have planted in the hearts of children what Truth, Goodness, and Beauty  must be learned, and what is bad and evil  must be avoided…

 It is not by chance that the author places alongside the filial piety of Min Ziqian, the love and respect of Li Xi, a good brother, the friendship of Liu  and Pingyang Li, ... stories about bad things that must be avoided, such as Thôi Lượng, a braggart; the story of a drunkard, of an opium addict, of a gambler… 

Besides stories about good students, there were stories about bad students, lazy ones... 

Lessons such as:

 "Do not take revenge", 

"Do not be discouraged”,

 "Do not covet other people's property", 

"An honest official”,

 "Students are grateful to their teachers"... 

The book also writes about Vietnamese historical heroes, such as Ngo Quyen, Tran Quoc Tuan, Le Lai risked his life to save the king, Tran Quoc Toan; brilliant scholars like Chu Van An, To Hien Thanh, and about ancient figures in China such as Confucius, Mencius, Tu Lo...

The authors have brought the immature minds of children into a beautiful and bright horizon, paving the way for them to become good citizens of Vietnam in the future.

Today, during my meditation time, I silently thank the elementary school teachers and scholars who wrote the precious book series “National Literature Textbook”, which helped me and countless friends in my youth prepare to enter life with countless challenges.

Please let me know You, Father, and let me know myself. Know You to listen to Your Word, and put it into practice in daily life. Know myself to change my path to your righteous route, to have Heaven in my heart, and You are always with me.

Please bless  all those who read this meditation in my Blog.

AMEN.