Study On The Culture Of Academy In Zhongzhou Area Of Ming Dynasty

Academy,as a special education organization in ancient China,was also an important place for academic research and played an extremely important role in ancient history of culture in China.This paper aims to further explore the actual situation of the emergence and development of academies in Zhongzhou Area in Ming Dynasty on the basis of previous research results.This paper also focuses on digging out academy historical evolution,operation mode and interaction and integration with the academic,educational and cultural aspects of the Ming Dynasty,taking the academies in all regions of the Zhongzhou Area of the Ming Dynasty as the main object.On this basis,it further clarifies the overall development of academies in the Zhongzhou Area in the Ming Dynasty and their status and value in the development of Chinese academies.There are five chapters in the text.Chapter ?,"The Development Trend of Academies of the Zhongzhou Area in Ming Dynasty",mainly discusses the general situation of the Academies in Ming Dynasty and the specific situation of the Academy in the Zhongzhou Area in Ming Dynasty from the macro perspective.The development of academies in the Ming Dynasty showed a general trend of depression in the early Ming Dynasty,prosperity in the middle of the Ming Dynasty,and decline in the late Ming Dynasty after repeated government bans.The total number of newly-built academies and restored academies in the Ming Dynasty should be 113,which is the most accurate number known so far,based on the regional coverage of the Ming Dynasty's Zhongzhou Area.Chapter ?I,"Research on the Academy System of the Zhongzhou Area in Ming Dynasty",mainly starts from the existing relevant documents and materials,and carries out relevant investigation and analysis from the aspects of organizational structure,operation mechanism and management system,sacrifice system,economic system,etc.,to cross-check the contents of the Academy System of Zhongzhou in Ming Dynasty.In the Ming Dynasty,there were both large-scale and small-scale academies in Zhongzhou Area.In terms of operation mechanism and management system,more reasonable arrangements were made from their own situations.In terms of imparting knowledge,some academies adopted a “speaking" system combining lectures and discussions,some academies insisted on daily lectures.In terms of learning forms,some academies paid attention to rigor and some academies paid attention to the edification of life.In terms of the sources of students,some academies adopted a fair selection system to absorb students and some mainly targeted on local students.In terms of accommodation for students,most academies were able to arrange accommodation directly,while a few only provided accommodation for excellent children who were selected.In terms of learning contents,most academies were related to the former sages whom they worshiped and offered sacrifices to,and most of them were studying the writings and theories of famous Confucian scholars in the Song,Yuan and Ming Dynasties.Many academies also learned other contents.For example,Ziyun Academy emphasized Confucian rituals and order while learning Confucian classics.In terms of examination and assessment,some academies focused on the content of the promotion,while some measured morality and intelligence.In the form of examination,some held monthly examinations to test the results and some usually had examinations at any time and grading assessment monthly.In terms of economic system,many academies were built or rebuilt with donations from local officials,and most of them purchased academic fields for their daily expenses.The sacrificial objects of Zhongzhou Area Academy in Ming Dynasty,apart from the general worship of sages by educational institutions,often focused on the selection of local famous sages.Such kind of education method not only focused on the imparting and learning of knowledge and thoughts written in ancient books,but also attached great importance to the enlightenment function of sages in personality cultivation and life practice,so as to achieve the effect of changes in traditions and customs.Chapter ?," Research on the Education of the Academies in Zhongzhou in Ming Dynasty",mainly inspects the educational activities and corresponding ideological concepts of the academies in Ming Dynasty,in order to have a deeper understanding of the educational culture of the academies and its concrete influence.Generally speaking,the educational contents of the academies in the Ming Dynasty all belonged to the category of Confucian education,most of which were consistent with the direction of official academic and imperial examinations,focusing on the relevant writings and theories of Cheng Zhu's Neo-Confucianism system.Some academies focused on Yangming's philosophy system,while some focused on more traditional Confucian education.In terms of educational facilities,many academies were equipped with special teaching places,leisure places,residential places,library,ancestral halls and other functional buildings.In terms of educational forms and methods,Zhongzhou Area Academy in Ming Dynasty adopted various forms such as lectures,speeches and debates.Among them,some academies used several methods together,such as Daliang Academy,which had lectures,questions and debates between teachers and students.In terms of educational purposes,the Academies of the Zhongzhou Area in the Ming Dynasty generally contained four levels of connotation: one is to deal with imperial examinations,the second is to develop academics,the third is to cultivate personality,and the fourth is to educate customs.Apart from the imperial examination and personality cultivation,the Academies of the Zhongzhou Area in the Ming Dynasty had also played a powerful role in promoting the academic and cultural atmosphere in Zhongzhou.Chapter ? " Academies and Academic Thoughts of the Ming Dynasty in Zhongzhou Area",discusses the internal connection between Cheng Zhu's Neo-Confucianism,Yangming's Mind Theory and Confucius and Mencius' Doctrine and the Academy of the Zhongzhou Area in Ming Dynasty.In Ming Dynasty,the Academies of the Zhongzhou Area were closely related to Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu.Many academies were deeply influenced by Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu in terms of educational contents,aims and objectives.The connection between the Academies of the Zhongzhou Area and Yang Ming's Mind Theory in Ming Dynasty was not comprehensive and systematic.Only a few academies took the dissemination of Yang Ming's Mind Theory as their aim.Some academies were basically based on the framework of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism,which was contaminated with the color of Yang Ming's Mind Theory and presented a compatible state of two ideological systems.In the Ming Dynasty,the Academies of the Zhongzhou Area did not completely accept the influence of Yang Ming's Mind Theory unilaterally,but deepened and refined some theories of Yang Ming's Mind Theory in specific educational practice,which promoted the further enrichment of Yang Ming's Mind Theory.There were few academies matching Confucius and Mencius' studies in terms of ideology and culture.Although the Academies of the Zhongzhou Area in the Ming Dynasty was more inclined to the Song Dynasty proxy figures in terms of sacrificial system and spiritual beliefs,many academies upheld the ideology and culture,often with the help of Confucianism of the Song Dynasty to trace Confucianism and Mencius,in order to study the essence and origin of Confucianism.This means that the study of Confucius and Mencius is relatively submerged for the nourishment of the academies in the Ming Dynasty.Chapter ?,“Research on Literature and Culture of the Ming Dynasty's Zhongzhou Academy”,mainly starts with a variety of literary works produced directly or indirectly by the Academies of the Zhongzhou Area in the Ming Dynasty,and expounds some views and thoughts on the ideology and culture of the Ming people.Among the many works related to the Academies of the Zhongzhou Area in Ming Dynasty,inscriptions are obviously the most numerous.In addition,there are many types of works such as memorials,preface,annals,poems and novels,of which the largest proportion is memorials.In order of proportion,the others are poems,annals,preface,novels and other types of works.The rest are mostly essays.Although there are rhymes in some places,the proportion is not large either.These works show some views and thoughts of the Ming people's ideology and culture,and have quite high academic and cultural values.