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教育要放在首位。這里的“先”，既表示其重要性，也表示其先行性。
歸納古人相關(guān)論說，其蘊含的意思主要是：個人的成長成才，良好社會風(fēng)尚的形成，國家的建設(shè)及有效治理，發(fā)現(xiàn)事物固有原理、發(fā)揮其固有屬性以成就事功等，均離不開教育。因此，興辦教育是國家重要職能之一。這是中華民族自古及今的共識。
Here "first" expresses both the importance and priority of education. A summary of ancient works on this subject argued that education's meanings include: nurturing individuals and their talents; forming good social mores; developing the country and its effective governance; discovering the inherent principles of things and making full use of their attributes in order to fulfill tasks – these are all inseparable from education. Therefore, the promotion of education is one of the important functions of the state. This has been a consensus of the Chinese people, both past and present.
引例 Citations：
◎古者建國，教學(xué)為先，所以道世治性，為時養(yǎng)器也。（《三國志·吳書·孫休傳》）
古代圣王建立國家，將教育放在首位，用它來引導(dǎo)世人修養(yǎng)品性，為當(dāng)世培養(yǎng)所需的人才。
When the ancient sage-kings established their states, they gave education the highest priority in order to guide the people to cultivate character, and nurture the talent needed by the times. (The History of the Three Kingdoms)
◎自古開物成務(wù)，必以教學(xué)為先。（《南齊書·崔祖思傳》）
自古以來，揭示萬物真相，確定做事原則，就必須首先興辦教育。
Since ancient times, education had been given the foremost priority in order to reveal the true nature of all things and to determine the principles of action. (The History of Qi of the Southern Dynasties)
推薦：教育部 國家語委
供稿：北京外國語大學(xué) 外語教學(xué)與研究出版社
責(zé)任編輯：錢耐安
