Introduction

As one of the most important manifestations and representations of China’s diverse culture, Dunhuang illustrates the cultivation of people through compassion and ethics education—a core component of the Dunhuang civilization. A close examination of aspects of the Dunhuang educational system, its teaching content, and historical development, reveals a strong connection to and the influence of the Chinese Central Plains. At the same time, the educational system also clearly displays a strong association with and the impact of diverse traditions from the Western nations on the Chinese border. Dunhuang education developed its own characteristics based on the regional characteristics and the people’s inner needs, characteristics that are primarily related to Buddhism and are particularly reflected in its mural paintings, written documents, and artifacts. The murals, inscriptions, and artifacts represent the people’s unique aesthetic tastes and their psychological state during a particular historical period (Peng 2010).

An extensive literature review shows that previous research has explored the psychological factors contributing to the design of the Dunhuang Grottoes (Hu and Hu 2005) and mural paintings (Hu and Hu 2004). However, the psychological and spiritual significance of Dunhuang educational aspirations has not been explored and examined in depth. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the deeper psychological reasons behind Dunhuang education and their implications for modern education in an era when both spirituality and ideology are seriously lacking. The analysis of Dunhuang from psychological and spiritual perspectives as well as the connection with education is based mainly on Abraham Maslow’s (1968, 1971) five-level Hierarchy of Needs pyramid. Through this scholarly and critical lens, the chapter examines how Dunhuang’s remaining artifacts showcase its people, who strove to move beyond the self to pursue self-affirmation, self-actualization, and self-transcendence over the course of a thousand years in an extremely difficult habitat and challenging times.

Psychological Analysis of Dunhuang Education

Dunhuang education, as seen in its art, texts, and other artifacts, consisted primarily of Buddhist teachings and religious practices. He (1990) pointed out that “Dunhuang art is religious in its function. The purpose for the art was to inspire worship, and its mission from the very beginning was to serve Buddhism” (p. 340). According to historical records, during the period of the Five Dynasties and the Ten Kingdoms (AD 815–1036, 五代十国), Dunhuang had at least ten Buddhist temple schools. The subjects taught include literacy, enlightenment education, practical knowledge, literature, and the Chinese classics. Students in the temple schools came from both common and noble family backgrounds (Feng 2013). Although in ancient China “systematic and academic teaching and learning were very much a privilege and rarity” (Xu 2017, p. 44), the development and growth of temple schools broke the monopoly of education and knowledge by aristocracy so that the majority of people could have access to education (Yan 2009). Dunhuang education was a public-oriented education; its educational goals and content aimed at serving people’s spiritual and psychological needs. These goals differed significantly from those of the Central Plains region and government education at that time, which were for the aristocracy and elite with the goal of preparing people to rule the nation.

Dunhuang’s educational style was drastically different from that in many other areas of the Central Plains in ancient China. The people in Dunhuang created a large number of Buddhist paintings, frescoes, grottoes, sculptures, scriptures, and books. This phenomenon can be explained from the perspective of people’s psychological state, needs, and motivation. Their creativity, to a large extent, can be explained as being associated with deficiency motivation and growth needs, which are part of Maslow’s psychological theory (Maslow 1954, 1964, 1968, 1971). This well-known theory centers on a hierarchy of needs: physiological needs, safety needs, the need for belongingness and love, the need for self-esteem, and the need for self-actualization. Human beings generally move up the hierarchy from basic to complex needs. The needs function as motivators for action; as each need is met, it becomes less of a motivator and the person focuses meeting the needs on the next level.

Through years of research, Maslow (1968) gradually realized that some individuals go beyond the level of self-actualization with the salient motivation being to further a cause beyond the self and to experience a communion beyond the boundaries of the self. He referred to this level as self-transcendence, as illustrated in Table 10.1 (Koltko-Rivera 2006).

Table 10.1 A rectified version of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Full size table

Generally speaking, for people who lived in the barren and isolated Gobi Desert and often encountered harsh living conditions, there was a stronger demand for spiritual, psychological, and emotional support in order to overcome life’s difficulties and achieve their desired life. When affected by the impact of war, poverty, and pain, people would copy and chant sutras and build grottoes to pay respect to the Buddha so as to receive blessing and deliverance. They prayed for well-being and peace for family members when the latter were ill or passing (Cui 2006).

These phenomena of copying manuscripts, chanting sutras, and building grottoes echo with Maslow’s theory that people have physiological, safety, belongingness, and love needs in order to sustain physical and psychological well-being. People also have a desire for meaningful and satisfying social relationships, so they relate to their family and friends when feeling either happy or miserable. At the same time, they demonstrate higher-level needs to grow, elevate themselves, and self-actualize their current condition with intrinsic aspiration in order to transcend death or realize enlightenment. Section “Survival and Safety Needs” explains Dunhuang education from a psychological perspective based on Maslow’s theory.

Survival and Safety Needs

Dunhuang folk education, or the education for ordinary people, originated from the people’s daily lives and the effects of teaching and learning were enlightening (jiaohuazuoyong, 教化作用). In ancient Dunhuang, some people wanted to change their destiny for the better by taking imperial exams to seek an official career or shitu (仕途); however, doing so was beyond the reach for the vast majority. Historical records show that very few commoners or people from the business sector were able to become an official in the imperial court. For them, survival and living a normal secular life were more practical and realistic than an idealistic aspiration (Zhao 2008). Therefore, the goal of education was to teach skills useful in daily life and to cultivate good morals and character. Dunhuang folk education taught people practical principles and goodvirtues: the four commandments—loyalty, filial piety, chastity, and righteousness (zhongxiaojieyi, 忠孝节义); diligent study (qinxue, 勤学); making friends (jiaoyou, 交友); self-cultivation (xiuyang, 修养); and other aspects of moral education. Dunhuang folk education harmoniously combined the teachings of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. These educational ideas and values penetrated the hearts of the Dunhuang community and became an organic part of the public psychology (Wang 2013).

Becker (1971) suggested that culture is the highest form of human adaptation. In Dunhuang, teaching and learningBuddhism and moral conduct served as an adaptive function that made people’s survival more probable. In a way, through the years of immersion in the practice of Buddhism, the Buddhist cultural worldviews and beliefs, which suggest the value of life and the meaning of being, were accepted by diverse people in the Dunhuang region as the concepts, principles, and behaviors that must be passed down from generation to generation. Buddhist teachings provided Dunhuang people with the fortitude to strive for moral perfection and self-improvement. In this sense, faith in the Buddhist cultural worldview became a source of resilience that promoted people’s psychological safety and social well-being. Thus, families taught their children and Dunhuang educated their youth in “what has worked in the past,” that is to transmit Buddhist cultural worldviews and ways of being to increase the probability of survival.

For example, the Golden Light Scriptures (Jingguanmingzuishengwangjin, 《金光明最胜王经》) in the Dunhuang Grottoes were made in the period when the Tibetan Kingdom prospered (AD 618–842) because people longed for a peaceful and orderly world after two decades of warfare (Sha 2006). The content of the Golden Light Scriptures covers everything from the spiritual to the material, from the big to the small. The strong idea of protecting the world is expressed in the scriptures, which echo and reflect the reality of the chaos, poverty, and pain the people of Dunhuang endured during the time of war. It was hoped that the scriptures would make the war subside, the enemy retreat, and bring peace for the whole world. The scriptures emphasized this part repeatedly, which shows that people longed for peace after years of war and being under the pressure of oppression. During that time, the promotion of peace and legality helped people remain safe.

Dunhuang Buddhist paintings (佛教史迹故事画) portray many legends and stories of Buddha and the Bodhisattvas from Tianzhu (天竺), Xiyu (西域–于阗), Hexi (河西), the Central Plains (中原), and the southern areas (江南) (Zhang 2011a). Dunhuang people also used vows and pledges (发愿文), the promise or agreement to do or refrain from doing something as a Buddhist practice or in their daily life. Researchers have found that the common people strived to become a Buddha (成佛) and to attain enlightenment (成正觉), an intuitive looking into the nature of things as opposed to an analytical or logical understanding of it (Hurvitz et al. 1996, p. 434). Through painting and copying sutras, people sought happiness and blessings for their parents, ancestors, children, siblings, spouses, and other relatives. The cultivation and practice of moral ethics, virtue, and soul enlightenment enhanced people’s psychological safety, and they generated a sense of peace and hope that eventually became an integral part of their thinking and living.

The Need for Belongingness and Self-Esteem

From the Northern Liang (北凉, AD 397–439) to the early Northern Zhou (北周, AD 557–581) Dynasties, when the early grottoes were formed, they consisted mainly of small divinity caves (小型禅窟), central pillar caves (中心塔柱窟), and palace caves (殿堂窟). The small caves were places for monks to live and practice. Central pillar caves had both monks’ rooms and a pagoda that provided room for more monks to sit and meditate. At the same time, they could also parade around the pillar (Dunhuang Academy 2002). The grottoes served as memorial and special community centers for commoners and family members to pray, meditate, and meet for Buddhist teachings and other worship activities (Li 2002). They helped people grow and brought further understanding to the essence of connection with others.

For instance, paintings in the eastern entrance to the Zhang Yichao family cave (张议潮家窟), Cave #156, show not only the parents of Zhang Yichao (张议潮) and image of his elder brother, Zhang Yitan (张议潭), but also pictures of his military troops and of a trip his wife took (Chen 2016). The paintings helped the family gain self-esteem and self-respect from the worshippers (Li 2007).

With the prevalence of Buddhism and temple education at that time, large families started to open caves for offering prayers, seeking longevity, and keeping the family safe and happy in everyday life. People derived healthy and positive feelings from their activities in the caves. This phenomenon became more popular when there were frequent wars in the region (Chen 2016). The family caves helped people stay connected with their family members, friends, religious practitioners, ancestors, and spiritual beings, which truly reflects Dreyfus’ (1972) idea that “Man, by temperament a social being, cannot easily tolerate such isolation; he wants and strives for companionship, intimacy, and relatedness—with himself and others” (p. 31).

After the Sui Dynasty (隋朝, AD 581–618), painters, builders, artists, workers, and creators in Dunhuang expressed their desires, ambitions, emotions, and ideals about the surrounding world through complex murals (Hu and Hu 2005). The Dunhuang murals can be divided into seven categories. The first category, the Buddha paintings, refers to the depiction of various gods and goddesses in Buddhism, such as the Medicine Buddha in Cave #148 (Dunhuang Academy 2005) and the Eight Great Buddha Mandala figures in Cave #25 of the Yulin Grottoes (Wei 2012). Second, the story paintings, refers to those illustrating the legends based on Buddhist scriptures, such as stories of events in Buddha’s life (本生故事), and marriage stories. Third, traditional mythological paintings, includes mainly depictions of ancient Chinese myths such as the story of the Eastern King (Dong Wang Gong, 东王公), the leader of all gods and the ancestor of the Northern and Southern Daoist sects; the Western Empress (Xi Wang Mu, 西王母), the goddess of all female immortals, who is in charge of longevity and protects women, marriage, and childbirth; and Nu Wa (女娲), the creation goddess. The fourth category, Jingbian (经变画) murals, are those based on Buddhist scriptures, a uniquely Dunhuang creation intended to teach Buddhism and its stories through colorful paintings. Fifth is that the paintings illustrate the history of Buddhism by showing historical figures and events, Buddhist holy places, and major spiritual events. They include both true stories and legendary ones. The sixth category is portraits of the provider (gongyangren huanxiang, 供养人画像), small paintings of the sponsor of the grotto located at the bottoms of the murals. In the Tang Dynasty, this type of portrait gradually increased in size. The final category is the decorative patterns that are seen mainly on the architectural structures of the grottoes, such as ceilings, borders, and fringes (Tong 2006).

The seven categories of murals display Dunhuang people’s social, religious, political, cultural, and historical lives and economic activities through painting the local school (Cave #12), marriage rituals and wedding banquet (Yulin Cave #25), people’s clothing and images (Yulin Cave #29), writing and copies of sutras and textbooks (Cave #16), and so on. The murals serve as educational materials for the common people. For instance, taking the caisson ceiling (Zaojing, 藻井) in Cave #392 as an example, students learn to appreciate the structure, arrangement, and style of the paintings and start to create their own artistic works. Studying the portraits in Yulin Cave #29, anthropologists and historians learn the clothing style, cultural relics and ritual, and religious principles at that time. The creators imbued the paintings with their talent and spirit, deriving a sense of value and self-esteem from their works. Consequently, they hoped to offer psychological assurance so that their paintings could somehow help others, kings and the commoners alike, as well as themselves, escape suffering and transcend death.

The murals not only display objects and events of daily life such as wild animals, hunting, farming, trading, burial, and family gatherings, but also the imaginative worlds of the painters—peaceful heavens, beautiful scenery after death, and Nirvanas. The painters’ and artisans’ rich imaginations and genuine creations reflect their aesthetic and religious experiences (Hu and Hu 2005). Such symbolic and religious pursuits prompted a mental transformation that gave humans an alternative view of their condition and environment and allowed them to explore it more positively. The existential concerns of the human condition engendered by the awareness of death and sufferings inspired religious practices and expressions to help the people in Dunhuang cope with the hardships.

The murals in the grottoes played two important roles: one was to elaborate and promote Buddhism and the second was to attract believers through their strong decorative effects (Hu 2014). The integration of the content, art form, grotto, and statue formed a relatively complete and independent religious and educational world, so that when people entered into the “Buddha realm,” they were touched by these sensuous images, the magnificent imaginations, and experienced unexpected aesthetic fulfillment and emotional inspiration. Such integration creates an experience that transforms knowledge into thoughtful action and carries with it its own individualizing quality and self-sufficiency, which aligns with Dewey’s pragmatic theory of experiential learning and education (Dewey 2005). Hence, the Dunhuang murals ultimately enhanced the internalization of Buddhist teachings and moral self-discipline in the public without moral preaching, blunt propaganda, and serious sermons.

Pinker (1997), among others, has declared that “religion and philosophy are in part the application of mental tools to problems they were not designed to solve” (p. 525). Rinpoche (1994) argued that “all the teachings and training in Buddhism are aimed at that one single point: to look into the nature of the mind, and so free us from the fear of death” (pp. 51–52). Because of the circumstances around Dunhuang at that time—war and death, the lack of basic living resources, the suffering, and other unresolved problems—the people voluntarily relinquished individual autonomy to delegated authority (Becker 1975) through connecting to supernatural spirits, the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and other gods. This spiritual connection provided psychological equanimity (Solomon et al. 2004) through the belief that one belongs to a meaningful universe and is able to lead a blessed life if one engages in genuine religious practices. People who had similar moral values and Buddhist beliefs came together naturally and influenced one another. The great consensus around such beliefs made these Buddhist teachings seem more authentic and thus they were more valid. This echoes with the research of Greenberg et al. (2004) that suggests the greater consensus can serve as fear-regulating psychological structures to enhance people’s connections, confidence, and holistic well-being.

The Need for Self-Actualization and Self-Transcendence

Self-actualization, according to Maslow (1954), represents the growth of an individual toward fulfillment of the highest levels of needs; for example, the realization of dreams and goals, the enrichment of one’s own life through selfless devotion, and, more importantly, the alignment of one’s personal development with the Dao and humanistic values. Self-actualization is thought to be a possibility for all creative individuals. Rogers (1961) indicated that the self-actualized person has the potential to grow, to congruently integrate the real self and the ideal self, thereby cultivating the emergence of a fully functioning person. Maslow later amended his hierarchical model of needs, arguing that beyond self-actualization, there exists another, higher, level of development, which is self-transcendence. A person achieves this level by focusing on goals beyond the self, such as altruism, spiritual awakening, liberation from egocentricity, and ultimately the unity of being:

Transcendence refers to the very highest and most inclusive or holistic level of human consciousness, behaving and relating, as ends rather than means, to oneself, to significant others, to human beings in general, to other species, to nature, and to the cosmos. (Maslow 1971, p. 269)

Transcendent individuals often have peak experiences, in which they transcend the individual ego and become aware of ultimate truth and the unity of all things. Koltko-Rivera (2006) explained that at the level of self-actualization, the individual works to actualize the individual’s own potential, whereas at the level of transcendence, the individual’s own needs are put aside in order to seek a benefit beyond mere personal interest, to identify with something greater than the purely individual self. The transcendent beings often engage in selfless service to others or to some higher force or cause conceived as being outside the personal self.

Li (1999) commented on the connection between Dunhuang’s murals and the people’s psychological state:

If the murals of the Northern Wei Dynasty were used to describe the tragic reality and painful sacrifice needed to find spiritual comfort, then the Sui and Tang dynasties were just the opposite: the purpose of these paintings was to attain an imaginary bliss and find joy and happiness, which was the fulfillment of the soul. (p. 120. Author’s translation)

Becker (1973) argues that humans naturally seek to connect themselves with powers that transcend the individual as a symbolic defense against mortality. We are strongly motivated by a survival instinct to creatively transcend the fear of death. In Dunhuang, murals and Buddhism were used as a vehicle for death transcendence and healing. The murals are quite popular and successful in helping people develop the cultural worldview and value system associated with Buddha’steachings. In this sense, a meaningful, or authentic life for people in Dunhuang was to adhere to Buddhist values and practices. People built grottoes to demonstrate their respect for the Buddha and to express a particular expectation and aspirational respect for and connection with the dead. For example, most of the Mogao Grottoes in the Sui and Tang Dynasties (AD 581–907) and the Five Dynasties (AD 907–960) were family grottoes that were not open to the public. The big, noble, or powerful families such as the Yin Jiazheng (阴嘉政) family, Cave #231, and the Zhang Yichao (张仪潮) family, Cave #156, built grottoes as places to pray for their parents to live longer and healthier lives (Chen 2016), to send deceased family members to the heavenly paradise of bliss, and to regenerate their souls (Wang and Feng 2017). The children wished for their deceased parents and relatives to achieve the state of immortal souls or shengxian (升仙), and enjoy heavenly enlightenment along with the Buddha. In doing so, they hoped their own lives would be impacted positively as well.

In Dunhuang, people created magnificent murals, enshrined Buddhas, and appreciated and worshipped them with awe and sincerity, joining the self and the other through these artistic experiences. For instance, while appreciating murals, people’s senses were aroused and purified by the prolonged and cumulative interaction with the environment. The intense emotions of suspense, wonder, and awe enhanced and enriched their living experiences. The interpretation of the murals and sutras, on the part of the creator, the sponsor, the participants, and the audience, was a communicative activity. They are interpreted by the Self or the Other, and this interpretation is accomplished by both the artist, that is, the creator, and the audience. Essentially, the appreciation of the murals may have culminated in a dialogue between the artist and the audience, or a self-dialogue and self-realization within the artist. This self-actualization through artistic experiences enhanced people’s psychological well-being.

In Buddhist practice, hand copying sutras is an important pathway to gaining virtue, purifying oneself, transcending worldly delusion, and attaining enlightenment or chengfoguo (成佛果). The copying and learning of sutras as a spiritual, psychological, and social ritual and practice became prevalent after the Northern Dynasty (北朝, AD 386–581), and its popularity was comparable to that of the construction of Buddhist statues in the Central Plains. During the latter part of the Tubo Kingdom (吐蕃王朝, AD 618–842) in Dunhuang, the Tibetan authorities initiated a massive Buddhist scripture-copying movement in Dunhuang as a specific measure to promote Buddhism. The Dunhuang scripture-copying workshop (Chaojingfang, 抄经坊) was the most basic and dynamic copying institution for Buddhist scriptures, with a copying team that totaled nearly 700 people (Zhang 2011b), from the provincial governor and military generals, down to civilians. Because of the increasing concern for the safety and well-being of oneself and one’s family, copying and learning sutras had become a common activity to earn merit. However, because of differences in social and economic status, the scale, quality, and cost of copying sutra products varied significantly. Commoners and ordinary monks and nuns could afford to donate only a small amount of money to copy sutras or have them copied as an act of worship to the Buddha. So, they usually copied only one part of the Buddhist scriptures or a few pages from a whole volume. However, the situation was quite different for the dignitaries and the Buddhist priests. They invested money in setting slaves and livestock free and copying hundreds of sutras in order to earn spiritual merit. Once the copying was completed, some people put the sutras in their family shrine or temple shrine and paid respect to them daily during the spiritual rituals (Cui 2006).

The practice of hand copying reveals that the people in Dunhuang wanted to stop suffering and attain bliss and the Bodhi way. The Lotus Sutra says repeatedly that those who copy it will, by the copying itself, achieve supreme enlightenment. Copying is an excellent way for a person to put himself or herself fully into a state of truly sensing, feeling, and connecting with a sutra. The effort of copying unifies the person and the sutra, which is considered an expression of piety and recognized as a devotional practice that cultivates merit in one’s family, ancestors, and self by transference.

While copying sutras, transcribers usually wrote their personal prayers, spiritual vows, or pledges (fayuanwen, 发愿文) in the book. Examining the contents of these vows and pledges reveals that the common people strived to become a Buddha (chengfo, 成佛) and to achieve enlightenment (chengzhengjue, 成正觉). Generally, the contents of the vows include three types. The first type is blessings for parents, ancestors, and loved ones. For example, in the Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhuajin, 《妙法莲花经》), one Buddhist disciple inscribed his wishes: to wish his parents who passed away to be free from evil and live in peace after death. Others prayers were for brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives. In Volume II of The Collection of Mahāvaipulya Dharani Sutras, (Dafangdentuoluonijin, 《大方等陀罗尼经》), a female disciple hoped that her husband would receive spiritual support after death. The second type of vow was related to getting rid of suffering and diseases, and solving other practical problems. For example, in the Mahayana Mahaparinnirvana Sutra (Dabanniepanjin, 《大般涅槃经》) Volume 40, Zhang Bao (张檗) inscribed to express his understanding that there was no secular life, and his wish to escape from sufferings earlier (体悟无生,早[脱]苦海). The third type of inscription was prayers to become a man. Some females hoped their female body would be transformed into a male body after death, so they copied sutras as a spiritual offering and form of prayer (Cui 2006, p. 117. Author’s translation).

Feuerbach (1984) believed that “the premise of religion lies between the will and the ability, between desire and acquisition, between purpose and result; it is the opposition and contradiction between thinking and existence” (p. 462. Author’s translation). From an emotional perspective, people always choose to pursue a happy life, but in fact, life is, for the most part, ruthless and full of pain. The people in Dunhuang tried to transcend the oppositions between the ideal and reality, love and hate, life and death, infinity and limits, and solve these contradictions through the worship of Buddha and Heaven (Hu and Hu 2005). These experiences gave them a sense of purpose or meaning of life beyond the needs of the self, a deeper sense of purpose to counterbalance the plight of the whole world. By connecting one’s life journey and happiness to the condition of others, one develops a coherent life narrative (Kenyon 2000). When pursuing enlightenment, a person enters into a particular altered state and reaches a special, unique level of being (Katz 1973), what Maslow (1964) described as a peak experience, in which many dichotomies, polarities, and conflicts are fused, transcended, or resolved. This spiritual realization culminates in becoming a fully functioning person (Rogers 1961). The real self and the ideal self can be congruently integrated through the practice of Buddhism and spiritual and moral cultivation. In engaging in these practices, the person connects various aspects of life (good and difficult), the different stages of life (life and death), and various times (past, present, and future) holistically and finds inner purpose, understanding, and peace.

Implications for Modern Education

Current worldwide educational systems are devoted to the development of the exterior aspects of students, often neglecting their inner development—the sphere of emotional maturity, spirituality, self-awareness, self-understanding, values, and beliefs—that plays an important role in students’ psychological and physical well-being (Astin and Astin 2003). While students have high ambitions and aspirations for educational and occupational success, they are also seriously challenged in other aspects of their life and continually confronted with existential and spiritual questions. They are searching for ways to cultivate their inner selves, seeking to be compassionate and charitable, and looking for inward and outward security. Learners are striving to give a deeper meaning to their lives and to solve the challenging problems confronting their society and the global community. For example, adolescents become “increasingly aware of their concern with values, identity, religion, morality, politics, marriage, family, education, careers, and interpersonal relations” (Dreyfus 1972, p. 1). Leng’s (2015) study found that adolescents were interested in searching for a balanced life and in the concepts of success and happiness. These concerns can and should be addressed by spiritual, religious, and moral education and practices (Higher Education Research Institute 2003). Thus, it is pertinent to ask what lessons can be learned from Dunhuang, in terms of both Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and contemporary educational philosophy and practice.

Maslow’s Theory and Its Relationship to Learning and Teaching

Maslow’s theory provides a framework for guiding students to strive for and reach their full potential. According to Maslow (1968, 1971), before individuals can meet their full potential, they need to satisfy a series of needs. Lower-order needs must be satisfied before the individual can satisfy higher-order needs; that is, physiological needs such as food, shelter, clothing, sleep, and warmth must be met first. If these basic needs are not satisfied, students’ further needs and desires are suppressed because their concern is about satisfying physiological needs. If the physiological needs are met, students’ concern will move to realizing their safety needs. Thus, the teacher needs to ensure that students must not only feel physically safe in the classroom, but intellectually, emotionally, and psychologically as well. Students must feel free to ask questions, share ideas, and make comments without being ridiculed by other students or reprimanded by the teacher. When students feel safe in the classroom, they are able to progress to the next level of needs—the need for love and belonging.

To satisfy their need for love and belonging, students should feel that they belong to the classroom community and share a strong relationship with their teachers and peers. Students must feel that they are important as individuals as well as a part of the community. The classroom interaction is instrumental in helping students become involved and engaged in their learning. When all these lower-level needs are met, students may move on to satisfying the need for self-esteem. At this level the student is more receptive to learning and develops self-esteem through achievement, encouragement, and recognition. The teacher can support students’ self-esteem by giving them affirmative, concrete feedback and positive reinforcement.

When all levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs are met, students are motivated to learn, to create, and to flourish. But the current educational system often fails to help students actualize their full potential. The teaching methods and content have changed considerably, from a primarily oral tradition based on a faith or rituals and a cultural and spiritual heritage and values to an emphasis on compartmentalized disciplines (language, literature, mathematics, and science, etc.), practical knowledge, short-term gains, and professional careers. Technological advancement has led to teachers and students integrating new technology and teaching tools such as computers, multimedia, the internet, tablets, and smart phones in their teaching and learning. Yet the human race has never before been so fragmented and separated from the community and family internally and physically. “At the core, there is a growing lack of spirituality, human values, and quality. Health and happiness, the basics of human life and existence are noticeably missing throughout our educational systems” (Xu 2013, p. 42). The present system of education is turning us into robots and subservient to economic profits. Though it awakens us intellectually to a certain degree, it stultifies us inwardly, leaving us incomplete, unintegrated with our emotions, intuition, and self-knowledge.

Lessons from Dunhuang Education

Education in Dunhuang, which emphasized inculcation in the learner appropriate attitudes and practices, a greater awareness of one’s thoughts and actions, commitment to harmony, and respect for Heaven and Earth and promoted soul cultivation, mind and heart transformation, enlightenment, and virtue, can provide some inspiration for dealing with the current predicament in contemporary education. While Xueji honors junzi (君子) (an educated teacher and statesman), Plato calls for a sage, a guide, or a philosopher king and Aristotle respects the wise man (Xu 2017), Dunhuang educators cultivated “the enlightened man” who reached “the climax of one’s cultivation as a moral and educated being” and made “positive contributions to humanity and the universe” (Xu and Lum 2012, p. 714). The teachings of Dunhuang provided concrete examples of Maslow’s Hierarchical Needs on all level. It also awakened the capacity to be self-aware, to cultivate oneself and develop self-control, and helped the students uncover the deeper layers of their being through: (1) enlightenment education (mengxue, 蒙学), which consisted of good manners in daily behavior and the development of the individual personality; (2) moral and ethical education that involved the cultivation of morals, virtue, and an orderly, harmonious social order; and (3) Buddhist education, which pursues compassion, wisdom, and spiritual enlightenment and educates for the good and kind man. The moral degradation that we are witnessing today in many parts of the world is the result of turning away from the spiritual perspectives, religious and moral teachings, and traditional values found in Dunhuang, and returning to those values is a promising way to reshape modern education and purify our human soul.

Education for Self-Transcendence

The spirit of religious education embodied in Dunhuang is transcendent in essence. It transcends the suffering of society by its firm belief in the ultimate state of Buddhist enlightenment, from a pragmatic reflection on reality to the bold and creative imagination of Dunhuang art. The spirit of Dunhuang education is the unity of secular and religious, realistic and romantic (Zhu 2011). It transcends the mind and body to reach the noble spirit, transcends the tragic reality to reach the fantasy paradise. The lessons of Dunhuang demonstrated that spiritual life can be rationally explained, that is has a naturalistic meaning. It created, to use Maslow’s (1964) phrase, “peak experiences,” moments of extreme self-transcendence among religious and secular people alike. The peak experiences helped people to see beyond the two-dimensional world of self-advancement in order to try to live a nobler life for the higher good of all.

Transformative education and educational transcendence in the spirit of Dunhuang are urgently needed in today’s education. As Frankl (1969) wrote, “Self-transcendence is the essence of [human] existence. Being human is directed to something other than itself” (p. 50). Personal growth, the desire for making meaning, and the goal of self-realization and transcendence are inseparable from students’ learning and development. As educators, are we really challenging ourselves to do the necessary work to help students transcend their current intellectual, psychological, emotional, and spiritual states to move to the next higher level? Do we leverage education to move learners from the working poor to a credentialed professional? Or do we strive for a more nuanced and full understanding of ourselves, others, and the world as ONE? Krishnamurti (1953) defined understanding life as understanding ourselves, and that is both the beginning and the end of education. Do we inspire students in their current state of mind to overcome internal fear, shame, and discomfort to break down old barriers, and move beyond where they even dreamed possible? Do we stifle them or spark creativity, curiosity, and the desire to learn?

Education in Dunhuang extended learning beyond the acquisition of information and skill development to spiritual awareness, purification, and self-realization. Contemporary education can learn from Dunhuang to reconstruct a more reliable and meaningful way of knowing, as Mezirow (2000) indicated that the knowing may be different from our old habits of mind, but creates deep and lasting change in the learner with a positive, significant impact on growth.

Conclusion

Dunhuang represents the highest achievement of the medieval Western Cultural Circle (中古世纪西部文化圈) and a preeminent ancient Buddhist site on the Silk Road in China (Wu 2015). It was the spiritual inspiration for future Chinese education and the world. Dunhuang is the reference point for the acculturation and nationalization of foreign art and teaching. It has played a significant role in cultivating aesthetic taste, promoting traditional culture, carrying forward spiritual and moral education, and nurturing creative thinking in learners.

As discussed in this chapter, education in Dunhuang was a matter of establishing humanity, cultivating human proper nature, eradicating the improper aspects of people’s thinking and behaving, and transforming and harmonizing the social and cultural atmosphere. In order to preserve one’s root (Zhu 1983), which is the cultivation of one’s character and virtue, one needs to eradicate one’s errant heart–mind and seek an authentic heart–mind. The current crisis in education does not lie only in too much emphasis on science and not enough on humanities, but more deeply is the result of a lack of connection and awareness in our modern mode of being with ourselves internally and with the larger environment around us. This epoch, signified by the rapid development of science and technology, reveals humans’ fundamental turning far away from our essential source, tianli (天理) (Zhu 1983), and our hearts and souls. As a result, meeting our psychological needs is a serious challenge in education and in life.

In order to create a better education, the strategies and forms of action of education systems will need to be modified in respect of both teaching and administration. Teaching should particularly concern the conditions for the construction of inner peace, harmony, and strength in the minds and hearts of individuals, and the ethical, philosophical, and spiritual bases of human development. Education should adopt a holistic and integrated approach in teaching and learning to nurture a sense of oneness, interconnectedness, self-awareness, awe, and wonder in students. The major strategies used in teaching may include the inculcation and clarification of the affective, social and spiritual values, the moral dilemmas, action learning, and transpersonal practices such as meditation, visioning, introspective analysis, and positive social interaction. We need to learn from Dunhuang to understand ourselves deeply, truthfully, psychologically, and to pursue a lofty ideal of life and mentality. With compassion, tolerance, self-discipline, contentment, and a sense of community, we can form a better society and cultivate better education for future generations.

Acknowledgment The author would like to acknowledge the payment of copy editing by a grant from Chinese Ministry of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences Foundation (#35518511).