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.

If a man of virtue wishes to enlighten the people and establish good social mores, he must start with education. If jade is not carved, it cannot become an artistic implement; if a person does not learn, he cannot understand principles. That is why the ancient sage-kings put education first when they established their states and governed their people. The Book of Rites

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

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