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It is reported that recently, the Ministry of Education held a press conference to introduce the progress regarding the unified textbooks for the three core subjects in general high schools. Wen Rumin, the chief editor of the Chinese language textbooks for general high schools and a professor at Peking University, explained that the newly compiled unified Chinese language textbooks include a dedicated unit in the first volume of the compulsory courses, themed around the honor of labor. This unit features texts that praise working people, model workers, and the spirit of labor, aiming to help students understand and carry forward the fine tradition of the Chinese nation of valuing labor. Since the National Education Conference held last year called for the cultivation of socialist builders and successors with all-round development in morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor, labor education has quickly become a focus of attention in the education sector. The inclusion of a dedicated \"The Glory of Labor\" unit in the unified high school Chinese textbooks can be regarded as an important measure to implement the spirit of the National Education Conference. The labor education familiar to the previous generation has indeed become a weak point in the current education system, amid the trends of marketization in services and specialization in education since the new century. The entire education community emphasizes \"labor education\" and reiterates the importance of integrating all five aspects of education, aiming to foster in students the habit and awareness of respecting labor, loving labor, and learning through labor – something that holds great significance both for individuals and for society as a whole. But times are changing; the environment in which life skills are learned has undergone dramatic changes compared to that of previous generations. How to carry out labor education is a challenging issue facing all educators today. In this regard, the proposal in the **“Opinions on Deepening Educational and Teaching Reforms to Comprehensively Improve the Quality of Compulsory Education” issued recently by the Central Committee and the State Council to “fully leverage the comprehensive educational role of labor” serves as a guiding principle. It is the manifestation of labor’s \"comprehensive educational function\" that has enabled humanity to thrive, given rise to culture, and shaped traditions. From ancient societies, where songs expressed ideas such as “breaking bamboo, repairing bamboo, throwing dust to chase prey,” to the modern adage that “farming and studying ensure a lasting family legacy, while poetry and books preserve it through generations,” and then to the role models of skilled workers in the new era, labor has always been celebrated and respected throughout history – precisely because it represents a realm full of opportunities for creativity and poetry. Amidst the many voices that praise and advocate labor, educator Tao Xingzhi’s insights into the meaning, value, and approaches of labor remain highly instructive for addressing the contemporary challenge of how to implement labor education. Tao Xingzhi advocated \"life is education, society is school, and integration of teaching, learning, and doing,\" and he wrote extensively on labor education. He once wrote a couplet for Xiaozhuang Normal School: “He who teaches others should first teach himself” ； Exert mental effort in labor. ”“\"Putting effort into both physical labor and mental effort\" can be regarded as the philosophical foundation of Tao Xingzhi’s educational philosophy. He argued that \"we advocate putting effort into both physical labor and mental effort, not equal emphasis on both types of effort.\" \"True action lies in putting mental effort into physical labor, using the mind to control physical strength.\" Those who do this must use their mind to direct the forces, so as to apply appropriate strength and understand the principles behind changes in the target. Such people can overcome even nature’s might with human effort. ”Today, cultivating talent requires equal emphasis on moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and vocational development in order to meet the needs of society, as well as to ensure that students lead healthy lives. Tao Xingzhi’s ideas are enlightening and guiding for how to carry out labor education as well as the simultaneous development of the ‘five aspects of education’. “The simultaneous development of the five aspects of education does not mean that physical education involves only using the hands, aesthetic education only involves using the eyes, physical training only involves using the legs, intellectual education only involves using the brain, and moral education only involves using the heart; rather, it involves the combined use of hands and brain, as well as the interaction between heart and hands. Even in sports, this is true. Zhang Boling, the president of Nankai University, was known as \"the man who placed the greatest emphasis on sports in China.\" His greatness lay in his advocacy that sports should not be pursued merely for physical fitness, but rather should be combined with the cultivation of noble moral values – which is precisely the spirit of the Olympics. This is especially true for labor education. While it is important to master certain labor skills, the true essence of labor education should lie in using labor to foster both mental and physical development, thereby promoting moral improvement, intellectual growth, physical strength, and the cultivation of aesthetic sense. Author: Luo Ronghai (Executive Deputy Director of the Guangdong Province Primary and Secondary School Teachers Development Center at Beijing Normal University, Guangming Daily, September 3, 2019, Page 02)