| This article examines the development of new-style schools in Sichuan,especially in nanbu county,in the late Qing Dynasty from the aspects of preparation,rise and promotion of new-style schools,teachers and students of new-style schools,teaching,funding,effectiveness,as well as power conflicts and class changes caused by running schools.After the Opium War,under the background of western learning spreading to the east,China’s education began to modernize and educational reform became a trend.Sichuan,a secluded place in southwest China,although new changes have taken place in some areas,on the whole the impact of western culture on Sichuan is not obvious.For a long time after the Opium War,Sichuan’s educational pattern basically remained the same as before the Opium War.However,with the gradual deepening of the modernization of education,Zhang Zhidong first advocated new learning,opened up the wisdom of the people,and then added Chongqing as a port.Western learning was gradually introduced,especially after the New Deal reform in the late Qing Dynasty,Sichuan’s atmosphere gradually opened up.Later,with the gradual promotion of new schools,Sichuan’s old-style education system inevitably went from decline to collapse.However,the traditional agricultural society supported the popularization of a large number of modern education.The model of the promotion of new schools is guidance from the central government,local exploration and grassroots practice,coupled with weak local supervision,irregular fundraising and management procedures,and the expansion of the power of schools,which provides a hotbed of loopholes for the corruption and misappropriation of school funds.However,no matter provincial,government or prefectural,county,all levels of administration,the pressure to achieve the goal of the school,in the school financing is not easy,all levels of government for limited funds to fight endlessly.In view of the expenditure of funds to make ends meet,in order to maintain the operation of schools at the grass-roots level had to raise more funds,the pressure on fund-raising was constantly transferred,heavy taxes throughout Sichuan,resulting in the phenomenon of resistance to pay,unpaid.And gentry of each school district holds the idea of standard doctrine,make already numerous raise money more entanglements.Around the school funds between different interest groups in the frequent struggle,and this struggle has been accompanied by the whole process of the promotion of new learning in the late Qing dynasty.With the rapid development of new schools in various regions,the local schoolaffairs are increasingly heavy and need special institutions to be responsible.In this context,the administrative institutions with modern educational administrative functions should be born according to the needs,and the persuasion schools are given the basic functions of promoting new schools in the county.Through the investigation of the establishment,organization and operation of the school,this paper finds that the school has indeed played a positive role in promoting the establishment of the new school in the local;however,with the rise of the new school,the school gradually has the right to use a large amount of funds and the power of tax collection,which shows the tendency of power expansion in practice.With the promotion of the new policy education reform in the late Qing Dynasty,the number of schools and the types of schools in Sichuan and southern counties increased significantly,and the number of students and teachers also increased.At this time,the new schools,whether they are school teachers,school students or even school running,all present the characteristics of obvious mixture of the old and the new.Moreover,the characteristics of the new and the old are not distinct,but rather Interlaced miscellaneous.The teaching materials and curriculum of the longitudinal inspection school tend to be the same and unified,and the new school running generally tends to be standardized.In Sichuan,different interest groups are playing games around the issue of school funding,and this competition has been accompanied by the whole process of promoting new schools in the late Qing Dynasty.The reason is that,on the one hand,the traditional agricultural society’s finance is used to support the promotion and popularization of modern new education.In the absence of new fund-raising channels,school finance generally cannot make ends meet.On the other hand,as the promotion mode of the new school is the guidance of the central government,local exploration and grassroots practice;This,coupled with weak local supervision,irregular fund-raising and management procedures,and the expansion of the power of the schools,has provided a hotbed for corruption and misappropriation of funds.Therefore,both provincial governments and prefectural and county administrators at all levels are under pressure to achieve the goal of promoting learning.Under the situation that it is not easy to raise funds for schools,governments at all levels are constantly competing for limited funds.In view of the shortage of funds,in order to maintain the operation of the school,the grass-roots have to raise more funds,and the pressure of fund-raising has been passed on continuously,resulting in heavy taxes in various places,leading to the widespread occurrence of non-payment andnon-payment.However,the gentry in various school districts hold the idea of departmentalism,which makes the already complicated fund-raising more complicated.At the same time,the local gentry inevitably split up and moved under a series of educational reform measures such as abolishing the imperial examinations and promoting schools in the late Qing Dynasty.The grassroots gentry were actively or passively incorporated into the new educational system in order to seek a new way out,and this incorporation inevitably brought the new schools into a strong old-fashioned color.With the establishment of a large number of administrative institutions for education and new schools,new power resources were generated as a result of school running,which led to the redistribution of resources between the old and new power holders,thus showing the power transfer of local gentry groups in the education reform in the late Qing Dynasty.The education reform in the late Qing Dynasty began to break the flow pattern of the traditional rank order of identity.Since then,scholars have not only read books to complete the change of identity across ranks,but also have the choice of career direction.Such career differentiation has also promoted the disintegration of the traditional society of four people,namely,scholars,farmers,businessmen and businessmen. |
