"Enlightenment and Education",a salon held Sunday afternoon in Beijing, produced a heated discussion on the comparison of German and Chinese educational philosophy and systems.

The salon is part of "Enlightenment in Dialogue" program that started in April. It is affiliated with the biggest German exhibition in China, The Art of the Enlightenment, in the National Museum of China.

Venued in Ullens Center for Contemporary Art Center, the salon attracted over 100 guests including Dr. Michael Schaefer, German Ambassador to China, and Michael Kahn-Ackermann, former director of Goethe Institute in Beijing and currently a senior advisor to Confucius Institute Headquarters, who chaired the salon.

"This discussion is particularly interesting," Dr. Schaffer said. "We are attempting to understand how the triangle of education, knowledge and enlightenment interacts with each other."

Dr. Dietrich Benner, a former professor with Humboldt University in Berlin, put forward the idea that enlightenment in German culture means to question and to criticize status quo, yet it must go hand in hand with education.

Dr. Schaffer quoted German philosopher Immanuel Kant that one needs to be a responsible individual who thinks independently while contributing constructively to society.

Dr. Wang Peili, who teaches Chinese in Germany, said most Chinese students are test-result driven -- namely the college entrance examination -- while German students are more interest-drive, which requires the teacher to be more proactive.

"The dialogues are a good platform where different points of view can clash against each other, and different voices be heard in order to promote understanding," said Michael Schwarz, director of Center for International Affairs with Stiftung Mercator, which co-funded the "Enlightenment in Dialogue" program with the National Museum of China.