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Abstract
"Di Zi Gui" (Standards for Being a Good Student and Child) is a classic Chinese text outlining the proper behavior of a good student and child. It covers the "desired" behavior of children at home and away from home, things that one should pay attention to in daily life, trustworthiness, love of humanity, learning from people with virtue and compassion, and further study after accomplishing the basic tasks. In the present study, the basic assertions in different chapters of Di Zi Gui were examined with reference to contemporary scientific literature on youth development and parenting. Several observations can be highlighted from the review. First, some assertions in Di Zi Gui (such as the emphases on bonding and character) are similar to the emphases in the contemporary youth development literature. Second, some assertions (such as the thought of undermining the rights of children) are not consistent with the contemporary views. Third, Di Zi Gui offers novel insights (such as emphasis on the importance of self-cultivation) into the youth development and parenting theories. Finally, there are practical implications of Di Zi Gui for youth development and parenting. It is concluded that although Di Zi Gui is a classic Chinese text written several centuries ago, some assertions show striking resemblance to the contemporary scientific findings and it has tremendous implications for contemporary youth development and parenting science and practice.
Keywords: Parenting instruction book, Chinese culture, children and youth development, parenting science
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Introduction
In many cultures, there are two questions confronting young people, parents, youth workers, allied professionals and policy makers. The first question is what should the developmental "ideals" for children and adolescents should be. In the cultures emphasizing hunting, good physical strengths and independent living skills in children are usually emphasized. On the other hand, as order and social harmony are indispensable to crop growing in the agricultural societies, children are taught to be patient and respect the social norms. The second question is how parents should nurture their children to attain such developmental ideals. Again, different cultural characteristics with reference to the children's rights or parental power would suggest different strategies in the socialization process.
Regarding the developmental ideals for youth development, different attributes such as positive selfconcept,...