How to understand Tao Xingzhi's three generations of poems: "Action is Laozi, knowledge is his son, and creation is his grandson"?

Tao Xingzhi, an educator, wrote in Poems of Three Generations: "Action is Laozi, knowledge is his son, and creation is his grandson."

"If you want to have grandchildren, you have to have Laozi first". This means that you must acquire knowledge from your actions and then use it to guide your actions. Do, know, do, and keep circulating. Only in this way can we promote the continuous progress of society.

The teaching concept embodied in the three generations of poems is "the combination of teaching and learning"-the whole process of the integration of teaching and learning is through;

First, it is difficult to move; Second, it is difficult to ask questions; Third, doubt hypothesis; 4. Hypothetical experiment; Fifth, the conclusion of the experimental students; Sixth, the conclusion is reborn.

In this process, the first "action" is "Laozi", so that students can gain knowledge from it; The last "action" is "grandson", which is the re-creation of students.

In the "integration of teaching and doing" advocated by Mr. Tao Xingzhi, we should always take doing as the center. Just doing or not doing, or just teaching and not doing, is not a thorough education. This is why Mr. Tao Xingzhi renamed "knowing and doing" as "knowing".