China Ancient Education

Ancient Chinese education began with classic works, namely, the Four Books and the Five Classics (Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Analects, and Mencius; Classic of Poetry, Book of Documents, Book of Rites, I Ching, and Spring and Autumn Annals), regarded as cardinal texts that one had to learn, in order to understand the authentic thought of Confucianism. Beginning from the time of the Xia dynasty (2070-1600 BC), it was traditional for ancient kings and emperors to select well-educated officials to assist them in administering their kingdoms.
The civil service examination system for selecting officials was established by Emperor Yang (569-618 AD) of the Sui dynasty (581-618). It was further refined by Emperor Taizong (598-649) of the Tang dynasty (618-907). It was not until the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911) that the civil service examination system was dismantled by Yuan Shikai (1859-1916), and replaced by a more western education system. Since the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the Chinese education system has been modeled on the Russian system, with perhaps more spoon-feeding and rote-learning than in some other countries.
The History of Ancient Education
In primitive society, knowledge was passed on orally by elders to their children. As hieroglyphic writings emerged 3,000 years or so ago, professional institutions emerged aiming to teach knowledge. These were called chengjun, the predecessors of schools.
The Establishment of Schools
Guozijian, an imperial academy in Beijing
Formal schools were established during the Xia dynasty (2070 BC-1600 BC). They were called Xiao during the Xia, Xiang during the Shang dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC) and Xu during the early Zhou dynasty (1046 BC-221 BC).
Xu were divided into East Xu and West Xu. East of the capital of the Zhou kingdom stood the East Xu. These were the precursors of college, where the children of nobility were educated. West of the capital stood the West Xu. These were the precursors of elementary schools, where the children of ordinary citizens studied. The East Xu only recruited children of the nobility, and were just a dream for children of the ordinary people.
With the expansion of productive forces and the prosperity of culture during the Zhou dynasty (1046-221 BC), more and more schools were established. During the Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771 BC) slave society was at its peak. Schools were divided into state schools and village schools.
State schools were established just for children of the nobility; and consisted of elementary schools and higher-level colleges. Village schools, also known as local schools, were divided into four levels: shu, xiang, xu and xiao. Generally speaking, students who studied well in shu could enter the next level and proceed upwards. If determined and persistent, they even stood a chance of studying in college.
Jixia Academy was established in the State of Qi, in 360 BC during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). The king at the time sought out able men (including Mencius, Hsun Tzu, Zou Yan and Lu Zhonglian) across his kingdom to lecture regularly on various topics, leading to 100 schools of thought contending with each other.
After the unification of the Qin Empire (221-206 BC) in 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang (the first emperor of China, who reigned from 259-210 BC) forbade private schools of any form in his kingdom, so that he could exert strict control over the common people. Following the advice of Li Si, secretary of the Qin Empire (221 BC-206 BC), Qin Shi Huang ordered the promulgation of legalist education. He forbade the common people to read privately or collect Confucian classics, and he even gave orders to burn books and to bury Confucian scholars alive.
Imperial Colleges
Emperor Wu (156-87 BC) of the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-9 AD) established government-sponsored imperial colleges, and teachers were selected from among learned and accomplished officials, who were called boshi (present-day doctors). The chief boshi was given the title pushe in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-9 AD) and jijiu in the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD). Students from the imperial colleges were called boshi disciples. The number of boshi disciples (roughly equivalent to present-day college students) reached over 30,000 during the Shundi Emperor's (115-144 AD) reign.
Emperor Wen, Cao Pi (the son of Cao Cao), who reigned from 220 to 226 AD, developed further the imperial college system in Luoyang in 224. The Imperial Academy was established by Emperor Wu (Sima Yan reigning from 236 to 290) during the Western Jin dynasty (265-317), and it was explicitly stipulated by Emperor Hui (259-307) that only children of 5th-rank officials or higher were allowed to study in the Imperial Academy. The Confucian Academy was established by Emperor Wen (422-453) in 438 AD, in a suburb of Jiankang (presently Nanjing of Jiangsu Province), followed by the Metaphysics Academy, History Academy and Literature Academy.
Classification of Ancient Chinese Education
Generally speaking, ancient Chinese education was divided into official school education and private school education. These supplemented each other to train talent for the ruling classes.
Ancient Official School Education
Ancient official school education refers to a whole set of education systems sponsored by central and local governments of slave and feudal societies. It aimed to train talent of various kinds for the ruling classes, whose rise and fall was related to social and political developments in ancient China.
Legend has it that official school education emerged during the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC). According to historical documents, however, central official school education was only initiated in the Western Han dynasty (206 BC-9 AD), and it waxed and waned during the Wei (220-265), Jin (265-420), and Northern and Southern (420-589) dynasties, owing to changes in the political situation. It was not until the Tang dynasty (618-907) t