The students asked questions about whether it was illegal for the Cowherd to steal the Weaver Girl's clothes. It got me into a situation where I was thinking about how to deal with this in my teaching.
From the perspective of modern law, the Cowherd's behavior can indeed be regarded as theft, and he took away the clothes of the Weaver Girl without authorization, which is an act of illegal possession of other people's property. According to the provisions of the Criminal Code, this is a criminal act and should be punished by law.
However, we must realize that the story of "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" is an ancient folk tale that was born in ancient society. In ancient societies, legal concepts and values differed from modern societies, and we cannot simply define the actions of the characters in the story based on modern laws.
If we look at the behavior of the Cowherd from the perspective of the ancients, we will find that he did not steal the Weaver Girl's clothes out of malice. In fact, the Cowherd chose this way to show himself to the Weaver Girl out of love and desire to marry the Weaver Girl. He did not intend to possess the Weaver Girl's clothes, but tried to attract the Weaver Girl's attention by wearing them. From this point of view, the Cowherd's behavior is more of a strategy than a malicious act of theft.
The students questioned whether the love between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl was real, they thought that the Cowherd had no culture and no good looks, and why the Weaver Girl chose to marry him. This question is profound and needs to be interpreted from the perspective of the story itself and ancient society.
First of all, the love between the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl is a pure and deep feeling, and there are no material considerations and social pressure between them. The Cowherd is kind and selfless, and the Weaver Girl is empathetic, and they love each other on the basis of selfless help and the affection of cherishing each other. In ancient societies, pure love was seen as supreme and unconditioned by material and external conditions.
Secondly, the cowherd is not completely without merit. Although he has no culture and good looks, he has the quality of hard work and kindness, and he can rely on Lao Niu for his life and overcome the difficulties in life. The ancients focused on a person's moral character and inner qualities, rather than their appearance and material conditions.
In addition, we cannot judge the behavior and way of getting along with ancient characters by modern standards. The concept and values of marriage in ancient societies are different from those in modern societies, and marriage is often based on family considerations and the maintenance of social status. The Weaver Girl's choice is based on her knowledge of the Cowherd and her recognition of his qualities.
In response to the questions raised by the students, I concluded that teaching should be objective and should not interpret the characters and plots in the story one-sidedly. We need to look at the characters and plots in the story rationally, and we can't simply impose modern values on ancient stories.
Stories are the crystallization of human wisdom and culture, and through stories, we can understand ancient societies and people's thoughts. As an ancient and classic story, "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" shows that the humanity and emotions it shows are eternal. We need to think and analyze from different perspectives to understand the deep meaning behind the story.
Education is the process of guiding students to think independently and form independent opinions. Students should be encouraged to ask questions and question the plot and characters in the story, as well as to be guided to think, analyze and evaluate rationally. Through teaching, it helps students develop critical thinking and analytical skills, and cultivates students' humanistic qualities and comprehensive abilities.
In short, teaching should treat the story of "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" with an objective and comprehensive attitude, guide students to understand, think and evaluate from multiple perspectives, and cultivate students' ability to think and analyze problems independently. Only in this way can students truly understand the value and wisdom conveyed by the story.