
老子の姓は李、名は二(エル)。老子は尊称です。老子は中国史上最も尊敬される哲学者の一人として広く知られています。彼の生誕、経歴、教え、そして哲学思想については、数多くの伝説が残っています。
ある有名な伝説によると、老子は母親が膝に落ちる星を見て妊娠し、80年間胎内に留まりました。生まれた時には既に成人しており、灰色の髭と長い耳たぶを持ち、幸運と長寿の象徴でした。
彼はかつて周王朝(紀元前11世紀頃 – 紀元前256年)の宮廷文書を管理していました。しかし後に辞職し、自らの思想と哲学を広めるために西方へと向かいました。
ある日、牛に乗って漢谷関に近づいた老子は、関を守る番兵の殷溪に呼び止められました。老子の哲学の忠実な信奉者である役人は、この偉大な師をすぐに見抜きました。しかし、老子にその哲学を伝授してもらうために、役人は老人に正式な出国許可証の提示を求めました。老子は許可証を所持していなかったため、西域への渡航と引き換えに、自らの哲学について5000語のエッセイを書くことに同意しました。そのエッセイこそが、後に有名な『道徳経』(『道徳経』とも呼ばれる)となるのです。
今日でも世界中の学者たちは、この書物が老子自身によって書かれたのか、それとも弟子や弟子によって編纂されたのかを議論し続けています。
しかしながら、この書物が老子の思想を反映しているという点では、皆一致しています。老子はこの書物の中で、道(タオ)という概念を用いて宇宙のあらゆる変化を説明しています。「道」や「大義」とも訳される道は、あらゆる存在の神秘的な源泉、あるいは理想とされています。
老子の『道徳経』は中国哲学の古典です。この作品を深く理解する最良の方法は、中国に来てフルタイムの中国語コースを受講することです。中国語を学ぶのに最適な国である中国は、質の高い語学コースを提供しているだけでなく、中国の祭りなどの伝統的な文化活動を直接体験する機会も提供しています。
At Keats, I have a lot of opportunities to practice what I have learned. I really like this school, because I can learn Chinese in one-on-one style, so I think this is the best immersion program in China and my teacher is the best teacher. I feel that without my teacher, my Chinese will definitely not improve so much. I’m very happy because, at Keats, I have improved my Chinese significantly.
Kunming is a fantastic city. The weather here is great. The school is excellent. The instructors are very helpful, very friendly. I strongly recommend that anybody who is looking for a Chinese language school in China come here to study. Kunming and Keats school are much better than any other place.
My teachers are all excellent. They trained the teachers so professionally. I feel like I learn very quickly with my teacher. They are very serious about their students and I know every teacher is like this. I would highly recommend that you come to Keats if you are looking for the best Chinese school in China.
I think Kunming is a great city, the weather is really good. I really like Keats school and found it is very organized. The teachers here are very good. They have a coffee shop and new classrooms, a new lounge area here now, so you can chill out with your friends and practice your spoken Chinese with natives. If you’re considering coming to Keats to study, I would really recommend it. It’s the best place to learn Mandarin and I think it will be a great experience for you.
All teachers are really lovely. The teaching level at Keats is so much higher. I really love the city. It is very comfortable to get around. I fully recommend Keats. It is a great place to study Chinese in China. We are looking forward to coming back again later this year.
I decided to learn Chinese in Kunming because I like smaller cities and I like the climate here. We had four hours a day study here and my dear teacher taught me very much and never lost her patience with me. It was a really wonderful experience to be here and I recommend Keats school and the teachers here to everyone who likes to learn Chinese in China.
So during my first week at Keats, I didn’t dare to speak any Chinese words. I found out that my Chinese level quickly improved since then. Although I have many options to study in China, for example, some other schools have homestay, I found I could immerse myself and fully focus on learning Chinese by staying at Keats.
This is my second time coming. Last year, I also came for about 12 weeks. This time I came for 13 weeks of a summer program in China. The reason why I particularly want to come to this school was because of the one-on-one classes. I was able to increase my level and learn Chinese more quickly than in group classes. If I have a chance again to come next year, I certainly will.