History of education in China

The first written mention of a "school" in China appears in the oracle bones of the Shang dynasty (from c. 1250 BCE), which constitute the first written records in China and the main historical record for that period. Used for divination, questions would be written on the bones before they were placed in a fire, and then the results printed on the bones. Several of these divinations contain questions about school: ‘Is it auspicious for the children to go on school? Will it rain on their way home?’ However, the oracle bones contain little information about the function or purpose of the schools. By the Zhou dynasty, inscriptions from bronze vessels and the Book of Rites suggest that the Zhou kings founded schools for young aristocratic men to serve the king. The Book of Rites suggests that most of these schools were located near ponds and forests, and therefore historians infer that these schools mostly focused on martial arts education, especially archery. From the Zhou period onwards, the imperial government would have a strong influence on the education system. The traditions from this period were passed on through the Book of Rites, which later became one of the Five Classics of the Confucian Canon. During the late Autumn and Spring period, such schools had become commonplace throughout the Zhou dynasty, but the power of the central government was slowly giving way to local warlords. == The Warring States period ==

The Warring States period saw the rise of several influential philosophies, including Confucianism, Mohism, and Daoism. Of these philosophies, Confucianism would have the most long-term impact on state and imperial education. The weakening of the Zhou empire and the rise of local warlords ushered in the Period of Warring States. Some local warlords may have founded academies to consolidate their power and gain legitimacy. The different schools were often organized into political entities to gain social influence. Rival scholars were invited to courts; governmental sponsorship led to the development of the first Chinese academies. Importance of education and respect to the teachers was stressed in the Annals of Lü Buwei. One educational institution that existed during this period was the Jixia Academy. The open and tolerant atmosphere in this academy attracted Confucian and Daoist scholars from across the country for debate and study. However, the institution had no long-term impact on subsequent Chinese institutions. == Han era ==

Emperor Wu of Han favored Confucianism and made it as the national educational doctrine. In 124 BC, The Origins of Statecraft in China was set up to turn out civil servants for the state, which taught the Five Classics of Confucianism. The traditional Chinese attitude towards education followed Mencius's advice that "Those who labor with their minds govern others; those who labor with their strength are governed by others." Beginning during the Han dynasty, the state promoted the written language through state schools. State schools were also complemented by private schools and academies which lineage groups sponsored. == The Sui and Tang dynasty ==

In the Sui dynasty (581–619), the imperial examination system was established to train and recruit Confucian scholar-officials. Especially in the Song dynasty (960–1279), the imperial examination become the most fundamental and important ancient Chinese political and educational system. The function of a professional bureaucracy in ancient Chinese higher education served the imperial examination system. == Medieval period ==

The Imperial examination began in 605, which required students to pass their local minimum score before the final examination in the capital. So the private school prevailed. White Deer Grotto Academy and Donglin Academy were their models. Meanwhile, the art school Pear Garden appeared in the early 8th century, and in 1178 a national military school was set up. The invention of paper and movable type greatly aided the education system. == Qing dynasty ==

Education during the Qing dynasty was dominated by provincial academies, which did not charge tuition fees and gave stipends to preselected students. They were dedicated to the pursuit of independent study of the classics and literature, rather than to the preparation for governance, as was the case with imperial academies. Professors rarely lectured students, instead offering advice and critiquing research. The near total neglect of engineering, mathematics, and other applied science education by the state contributed to a vast gap in military power between China and the European empires, as evidenced by the outcomes of the First and Second Opium Wars and the Sino–French War amongst others. In response, the Qing embarked on a self-strengthening movement, founding the Tongwen Guan in 1861, which hired foreign teachers to teach European languages, mathematics, astronomy and chemistry. In 1872, the Qing dynasty sent 120 students to study in the United States. It was China's first Educational Mission. In 1908, American President Theodore Roosevelt established the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program, which diverted funds from the Boxer Indemnity toward higher education inside China, as well as for Chinese students to study in the United States. == Modern era ==

Republic of China The replacement of the Qing dynasty by the Republic of China increased the power of urban elites who sought to modernize the country, including through state education. The New Culture Movement of 1919 was a reaction against the Chinese government's emphasis on technical knowledge, and resulted in a new enthusiasm for theoretical knowledge, but with a focus on Western philosophy rather than Confucianism. Education was mostly decentralized in this period, since China was politically disunited, with Chinese warlords and foreign imperialists, especially the Japanese, occupying significant chunks of Chinese territory. Early advocates of Catholic education in China included Ma Xiangbo and Ying Lianzhi.Among their efforts to promote Catholic education were Ma's donations to help found Zhendan Academy (Aurora University) and their efforts between 1912 and 1917 to persuade the Holy See to open a Catholic University in the capital, which occurred when the Catholic University of Peking opened in 1925.''' For example, Japanese military police (Kempeitai) sealed off Yenching University's campus and also arrested its foreign faculty. Both the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Nationalists deemed education important for resisting the Japanese and building the Chinese nation. It opened schools for adults and children (both male and female) in which locally produced textbooks were used and led literacy campaigns. Because literacy in China had historically been connected with political power, public education and literacy campaigns were viewed as inherently revolutionary. In 1949, the literacy rate was only between 20 and 40%. By 1979, participation by Chinese youth in primary school was nearly universal. The Chinese Academy of Sciences was set up in 1949. During the period of the First Five Year Plan, the State Planning Commission set the number of university enrollment spaces. In 1951, China adopted the Resolution on the Educational System Reform. It made cadre and adult training schools an integral part of the school system, replaced bilevel elementary school (which leadership believed impeded the education of working class children) with five year elementary school, and increased specialized technological education at the secondary school level and in colleges. Tsinghua University established a political counselor program in 1953, becoming the first university to do so. This language reform was intended to make reading easier and thereby increase literacy. By 1964, he argued that school curricula, which had been copied closely from the Soviet model of the 1950s, should be reformed. Cultural Revolution The early stages of the Cultural Revolution disrupted education, which became one of the most contested socio-political matters. In June 1966, the national university entrance examinations were suspended. Alongside a break in the direct progression from high school to college, the rural education system was expanded and rural high school graduates were expected to later return to their villages to contribute to rural development. Based on a July 1968 comment by Mao Zedong, July 21st Industrial Universities were established at factories as part-time technical and engineering study programs. Mao had given the instruction to emulate the model of the Shanghai Machine Tool Factory university. Curriculum was revised with a focus on practical education and abstract learning and "bookishness" were condemned. Classroom education included only a fraction of the school day and the balance was spent in practical training. Its reintroduction decreased educational opportunities for the highly motivated, but not academically prepared, peasants who had benefited from the "worker, peasant, soldier" model of the later stage of the Cultural Revolution. Vocational and practical training at the university level was greatly decreased in favor of research. Fewer rural people returned to their villages after completing their university studies. 1990s and early 2000s In 1990, less than 2% of China's adult population had college degrees. Since 2000, higher education has experienced a boom in China, with many universities and colleges being built in periurban areas. The major focus of the campaign was within education, and text books were revised to reduce narratives of class struggle and to emphasize the party's role in ending the century of humiliation. Women's educational attainment grew considerably. Also beginning in the 1990s, the political counselor system was further institutionalized and expanded in higher educational institutions throughout China, with standardized rules such as term limits and age limits being issued by the Ministry of Education in 2000. Following the launch of the Free Lunch Project by a grassroots non-governmental organization, in 2011 China's central government established the National Nutrition Subsidies Policy to provide 16 billion yuan (US$2.32 billion) per year for rural students. Xi Jinping In 2014, the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People's Republic of China issued guidance on strengthening ideological education in colleges and universities. During Xi Jinping's tenure, numerous colleges and universities have established schools of Marxism. Xi has also implemented a number of other education reforms. Schools are required to adjust their opening hours to be consistent with work hours in their area so that parents can pick-up their children directly after work (in order to reduce reliance on private classes for adult supervision after school hours). As part of Xi's 2021 directive on "double lessening" (reducing excessive off-campus tutoring and reducing homework burdens), schools may not assign homework to children to grades one and two, homework is limited to no more than 60 minutes for children in grades three to six, and no more than 90 minutes for middle school children. Rules issued in July 2021 prohibits new registration of private tuition tutoring centers and required existing centers to re-organize as non-profits. == Islamic education ==

Jingtang Jiaoyu was a form of Islamic education developed during the Ming dynasty among the Hui, centered around Mosques. The Arabic and Persian language Thirteen Classics were part of the main curriculum. In the madrassas, some Chinese Muslim literature like the Han Kitab were used for educational purposes. Liu Zhi (scholar) wrote texts to help Hui learn Arabic. Persian was the main Islamic foreign language used by Chinese Muslims, followed by Arabic. Jingtang Jiaoyu was founded during the era of Hu Dengzhou 1522–1597. There were 5 Persian books and the Qur'an was among 8 Arabic books which made up the "Thirteen Classics" (سابقة). The Chinese Muslim Arabic writing scholars Ma Lianyuan 馬聯元 1841–1903 was trained by Ma Fuchu 馬复初 1794–1874 in Yunnan Islamic names, du'ā' (دُعَاء), ġusl (غسل), prayers, and other ceremonies were taught in the Miscellaneous studies (Zaxue) 雜學 while 'āyāt (آيات) from the Qur'an were taught in the Xatm al-Qur'an (ختم القرآن) (Haiting). Ma Fuchu brought an Arabic Qasidat (Gesuide jizhu 格随德集注) poem to China. Hui Muslim Generals like Ma Fuxiang, Ma Hongkui, and Ma Bufang funded schools or sponsored students studying abroad. Imam Hu Songshan and Ma Linyi were involved in reforming Islamic education inside China. Muslim Kuomintang officials in the Republic of China government supported the Chengda Teachers Academy, which helped usher in a new era of Islamic education in China, promoting nationalism and Chinese language among Muslims, and fully incorporating them into the main aspects of Chinese society. The Ministry of Education provided funds to the Chinese Islamic National Salvation Federation for Chinese Muslim's education. The president of the federation was General Bai Chongxi (Pai Chung-hsi) and the vice president was Tang Kesan (Tang Ko-san). 40 Sino-Arabic primary schools were founded in Ningxia by its Governor Ma Hongkui. Imam Wang Jingzhai studied at Al-Azhar University in Egypt along with several other Chinese Muslim students, the first Chinese students in modern times to study in the Middle East. Wang recalled his experience teaching at madrassas in the provinces of Henan (Yu), Hebei (Ji), and Shandong (Lu) which were outside of the traditional stronghold of Muslim education in northwest China, and where the living conditions were poorer and the students had a much tougher time than the northwestern students. In 1931 China sent five students to study at Al-Azhar in Egypt, among them was Muhammad Ma Jian and they were the first Chinese to study at Al-Azhar. Na Zhong, a descendant of Nasr al-Din (Yunnan) was another one of the students sent to Al-Azhar in 1931, along with Zhang Ziren, Ma Jian, and Lin Zhongming. Hui Muslims from the Central Plains (Zhongyuan) differed in their view of women's education than Hui Muslims from the northwestern provinces, with the Hui from the Central Plains provinces like Henan having a history of women's Mosques and religious schooling for women, while Hui women in northwestern provinces were kept in the house. However, in northwestern China reformers, such as Cai Yuanpei, started bringing female education in the 1920s. In Linxia, Gansu, a secular school for Hui girls was founded by the Muslim warlord Ma Bufang, the school was named Shuada Suqin Women's Primary School after his wife Ma Suqin who was also involved in its founding. Hui Muslim refugees fled to northwest China from the central plains after the Japanese invasion of China, where they continued to practice women's education and build women's mosque communities, while women's education was not adopted by the local northwestern Hui Muslims and the two different communities continued to differ in this practice. General Ma Fuxiang donated funds to promote education for Hui Muslims and help build a class of intellectuals among the Hui and promote the Hui role in developing the nation's strength. Since the 1980s Islamic private schools (Sino-Arabic schools (中阿學校)) have been supported and permitted by the Chinese government in Muslim areas outside Xinjiang. Xi Jinping general secretaryship Although religious education for children is officially forbidden by law in China, the CCP allows Hui Muslims to violate this law and have their children educated in religion and attend Mosques while the law is enforced on Uyghurs. In Uyghur communities, Islamic education for children has been prohibited and teaching the Quran to children has resulted in criminal prosecution. After secondary education is completed, China then allows Hui students who are willing to embark on religious studies under an Imam. China does not enforce the law against children attending Mosques on non-Uyghurs in areas outside of Xinjiang. == See also ==