When our well-intent

Beniamin's rescue, they did not simply push his hand down

clumsily or uncertainly, as I might have done. Instead, they

uided him with extreme facility and gentleness in precisely

the desired direction. I came to realize that these Chinese

were not just molding and shaping Benjamin's performance

in any old manner: In the best Chinese tradition, they were

ba zhe show jiao -"teaching by holding his hand"-so much

so that he would happily come back for more

e The idea that learning should take place by continual

careful shaping and molding applies equally to the arts. Watch-

ing children at work in a classroom setting, we were aston-

ished by their facility. Children as young as 5 or 6 were paint-

ing flowers, fish and animals with the skill and confidence of

an adult: calligraphers 9 and 10 years old were producing

works that could have been displayed in a museum. In a visit

to the homes of two of the young artists, we learned from

their parents that they worked on Perfecting their craft for

several hours a day