Curator devoted to school relics  

刘晓：从文物保护中寻找中国教育脉络

刻着朱子家训的古代门窗，古代状元考试的试卷，绘着古代学生向先生行礼情景的瓷器，古代官学、私学使用的学规......当这些教育文物邂逅曲阜状元文化博物馆馆长刘晓，犹如千里马遇到了伯乐。

Beijing (CNS) -- In the past 20 years, Liu Xiao, the founder and curator of Qufu Number One Scholar Museum, has collected more than 6,000 relics in an effort to preserve and showcase China's educational history.

Liu's collection includes old windows carved with family precepts by the philosopher Zhu Xi, the exam papers of ancient "number one scholars" and the regulations and ferules used over the centuries by private and state-run schools.

Liu, who was born in an education-oriented family, nurtured an early interest in calligraphy and painting. At first he only collected works by famous calligraphers and painters, but later, on the advice of his grandfather, turned his attention to educational culture.

Liu eventually decided to engage in the preservation of educational relics. He says that one cannot understand a nation's culture unless one knows about the legacy of the nation's education, so such relics must be protected.

By 2006, Liu had accumulated more than 1,800 relics and opened a museum in Qufu, Shandong Province. Liu says his museum is a supplement to the birthplace of the great educator Confucius.

Liu says he plans to expand the facility into a Confucius museum, where he will teach people about the changes to China's educational system in a more comprehensive way.