Education officials in China are considering changes to elementary and middle school textbooks that would expand the study of Chinese philosophy and literature, a shift that some education experts say is connected to recent efforts by the government to emphasize China’s cultural heritage.

中国的教育官员正考虑对中小学教材进行一些修改，增加与中国哲学和文学有关的内容，教育专家说，这一举动与政府最近强调中国文化遗产的行动有关。

At an annual education conference this past weekend in the southwestern city of Chengdu, Wang Xuming, president of the state-owned Language and Culture Press, told reporters that his publishing house had revised its Chinese language and literature textbooks to increase the proportion of guoxue, literally¹ “national studies, ” referring to the study of Chinese culture, in textbooks to 35 percent, up from 25 percent, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

据新华社报道，上周末在中国西南部的成都市的一个年度教育会议上，国有的语文出版社社长王旭明告诉记者，该机构已经对中国的语文教材进行了修订，将国学内容的比重从目前的25%增加到35%。国学指的是涉及中国文化的学问。

Mr. Wang, a former spokesman for the Ministry² of Education, said the proposed changes had already been submitted to the ministry. If approved, he said, the new textbooks would be introduced next September in time for the new school year. While there are many education publishers in China, Language and Culture Press, along with the People’s Education Press and the Higher Education Press, is widely regarded as one of the leading publishing houses for teaching materials.

曾担任教育部发言人的王旭明说，新修订的教材已送教育部审批。他说，如获通过，这批教材将于明年9月开学时进入学校课堂。尽管中国有许多教育出版机构，语文出版社，以及人民教育出版社和高等教育出版社，被普遍认为是教辅材料的主要出版机构。

The proposed changes appear to be part of a broader shift in thinking about the importance of traditional culture to China’s modern national identity.

安徽合肥的小学生。教材修订意见似乎反映出，在塑造民族身份方面，中国开始更加注重传统文化。

According to Mr. Wang, the revision process began in September 2013, the same month that he set off a heated debate when he posted comments on his Sina Weibo microblog calling for the elimination⁴ of English classes in elementary schools and more emphasis on guoxue.

王旭明说，修订工作是从2013年9月开始的。正是在那个月，他在新浪微博上发表的一些言论引发了热议。他呼吁在小学取消英语课，更加重视国学。

Because of the low quality of instruction, he wrote, Chinese language education and learning were declining in a “landslide” that was intensifying⁶ day by day. “It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that improving national language and literature ability is a pressing issue, ” he added.

他写道，由于教学质量低，汉语教学和学习“滑坡”的情况正在日益加剧。他接着说，“可以毫不夸张的说，提高国民语文应用能力已经迫在眉睫。”

Concern over young people’s Chinese language abilities has long been a point of national discussion. Last year, the city of Beijing proposed changes to the college entrance examinations taken by high school students that would reduce the importance of English on the exam, known as the gaokao, in favor of greater emphasis on the Chinese language.

长期以来，对青少年汉语能力的担忧一直是全国性讨论中的焦点。去年，北京市提出，要改革高中生参加的大学入学考试，即高考，降低英语在考试中的权重，更加强调语文的重要性。

Given Mr. Wang’s government background and the status of the publishing house as a state-owned entity³, some education experts say that the proposed revisions are likely to be approved. At the very least, the changes appear to be in line with a statement by President Xi Jinping on the role of art last month in which he called traditional Chinese culture the lifeblood of China as well as a “foundation for China to compete in the world.”

考虑到王旭明的政府背景，以及语文出版社国有机构的身份，一些教育专家说，这些修改提议很可能得到批准。不管怎样，这些修改看起来与习近平上个月关于艺术的角色的讲话是一致的。习近平把中国传统文化称作中华民族的命脉，以及“在世界文化激荡中站稳脚跟的坚实根基”。

If the proposed textbook changes are approved, it is unclear what elements in the existing curriculum might be dropped to make room for the additional coverage⁷ of traditional culture. But experts say that, for now, the most pressing issue is to understand what “traditional Chinese culture” actually entails⁸.

目前尚不清楚的是，如果这些教材修改意见被批准，现有教材中的哪些部分可能会因此被删除，让位于新增的传统文化内容。但专家称，目前而言，最紧迫的问题是要理解“传统文化”究竟指的是什么。

“There has always been a lot of classical culture embedded⁹ in the curriculum, so that’s not really the problem, ” said Ye Kai, author of a 2011 book on Chinese language and literature education. “The problem is: What are they going to choose to emphasize? There are so many sources of traditional Chinese culture.”

“教材中一直包含了许多古典文化，因此这不是真正的问题所在，”叶开说，他2011年出版过一本与中国语文教育有关的书。“问题是：他们会选择强调什么？中国传统文化有太多源头。”

Language and Culture Press is not alone in its efforts to call for a greater focus on Chinese culture. Starting next year, the Beijing Normal University Publishing Group, another major textbook publisher, has said it will introduce new Chinese language and literature textbooks for elementary school pupils with more attention to classical poetry, Xinhua reported.

在呼吁加强对中国文化关注的行动中，语文出版社并非孤例。据新华社报道，另一家主要的教材出版商北京师范大学出版社表示，明年将推出更加重视古典诗词学习的新版小学语文教材。