Chinese is not only a beautiful language but also a highly compact, efficient, and logical system for organizing, recording, and communicating human thought. Writings that contain millennia of distilled wisdom can be understood by modern readers of the language without the need for translations that may introduce bias (although a hefty dictionary may be required for truly difficult-to-understand classical texts). Teaching Chinese helps facilitate the spread of such wisdom and ensure that past human follies are not repeated out of ignorance of history.