A Study Of The Spatial-temporal Distribution Of The Tuition-free Schools In Gui Zhou In Qing Dynasty

China is a multi-ethnic country since the ancient times.Ethnic issue has been the country's major problems.To this end,successive governments have attached great importance to the solving of this problem and made specific national policies according to the actual situation.The civilization of the minority people in the frontier regions was an important part of the ethnical policy.This paper studies the Tuition-free Schools of Gui Zhou in Qing dynasty,which was one of the implementations of the civilization.This paper investigates the foundation policies and evolution of the Tuition-free Schools from the view of historical geography.The study explores the regional differences of the Tuition-free Schools in the evolution and its corresponding causes,its characteristics and function in popularizing rudimentary education and maintaining frontier stability.This paper consists of three parts:the introduction,the main part and the conclusion.The introduction part includes the reason and significance of selecting the subject,literature review,use of historical materials and the structure of this study.The main body of the present study is divided into the following three parts.The first chapter discusses the historical background of its establishment.First there was a review of its foundation and evolution.It is generally thought that the wide foundation of the Tuition-free Schools started from Song Dynasty.In Yuan and Ming Dynasties they further developed.In Qing Dynasty they flourished all over the country. Different from other Dynasties,Qing government also attached importance to Tuition-free Schools in the frontier areas.The Gui Zhou Tuition-free Schools were found very early and was paid close attention to.Qing government took measures to develop them.As the development of the Reform of Aboriginal Chieftains and the exploration of the regions of Miao minority more and more area was under the direct administration of Qing government.In order to develop the Tuition-free Schools in the area of Miao minority the Qing government made some preferential policies in the fields of teachers,teaching methods and imperial examinations.The second chapter discusses the evolution of the Tuition-free Schools. Referring to the local records from Qing dynasty to the present day,this study aims to have a comprehensive research on the education.Community Schools and Tuition-free Schools have natural connections.This paper studies Community Schools as well, explaining their relationships.There were no distinctive differences between the two kinds of Schools.Compared with the Tuition-free Schools,the members of the Community Schools were fewer and were mainly founded at the beginning of Qing dynasty.As the flourish of the Tuition-free Schools,the influence of the Community Schools weakened.Tuition-free Schools were the main form of rudimentary Education in Qing dynasty.The third chapter investigates its distribution characteristics and the causes from the historical and spatial point of view,intending to study its evolution process.The process of the Tuition-free Schools can be divined into four periods.The first was The Kang Xi and the Yong Zheng Period.In this time the Schools began to develop.The second was the Qian Long and Jia Qing period.The members decreased in this time. The third was Dao Guang period.It was in this time that the first summit appeared. The fourth periods can be further divided into two parts.The first part was the Xian Feng period.In this time the mummers of the schools went down again.The second period was from Tong Zhi period to Guang Xu.This was the period that the summit appeared.At the end of Qing dynasty,the Tuition-free Schools disappeared owing to the appearance of modern education.From the view of spatial distribution,it can be seen that Du Yun,An Shun,Zun Yi,Gui Yang had the largest numbers of the Tuition-free Schools.They were the key areas of the Schools.From the above analysis it can be seen that the development of the Schools were from towns to countryside, from inner land to the frontier areas.The conclusion part studies the local characteristics of Tuition-free Schools that was embodied in its evolution from the perspective of the civilization in the frontier regions.They had two features.First,Qing government made flexible education policies in different areas.One example was that the government made preferential policy in the Miao minority area.Second,more people could have access to the Tuition-free Schools.Especially in the Miao minority area,both children and soldiers could be educated.The schools had two significances in history.First,they helped popularize the rudimentary education of the minority and the change of local custom in Gui Zhou.The second was the civilization of the local people,the cultivation of the talents and the maintenances of the stability in the frontier areas.