Qu Yuan is not only a great poet and reformer of politics, but also an educationalist with important educational thought and practice. He attached great significance to the cultivation of intellectuals and held that leaders and educator should be of high moral virtue in order to win the heart of the intellectuals. Talents being various with their unique merits and demerits, a leader should, therefore, break the usual ritual of selecting talents, choosing talented people without consideration of their social identities. In his opinion, a talented person should not only have “abilities" but also should have a good habit of “improving himself", endowing himself with lofty virtues and great ideals. Meanwhile, he hold such a stand as not being too picky with person with ability, instead, that one should take good care of people with ability. The management of these talented people should not be subjected to one’s own likes and dislikes, instead, it should follow a certain rules. Qu Yuan’s views of education and talented people are a summery of the ancient in pre-Qing dynasty which are of guiding significance to us today.
