Chapter 16 Section 4 Private School in the Han Dynasty

Private schools in the Han Dynasty were very developed. In terms of organizational form, they can be divided into two types: one is "Mengxue" and the other is "Jingshe" (or "Jinglu"). Mengxue is the place where children learn, also known as "library", and teachers call it "calligrapher".The learning content is mainly literacy practice.Wang Chong, an educator of the Eastern Han Dynasty, said in his "Lunheng Ziji" that there are about a hundred students studying in the library.Some schoolchildren were beaten for poor handwriting, and some were blamed for negligence.The only calligraphy used in the library is "Jijiupian", which is said to have been compiled by Shiyou in the Western Han Dynasty.This edition of "Ji Jiu Pian" has a total of 1244 characters.The content includes surnames, clothing, agriculture, food, utensils, music, physiology, weapons, birds, animals, medicine, personnel, etc. The full text rhymes without repeated words. The sentences have seven, four, and three words.It is easy to memorize and practical. "Ji Jiu Pian" was widely circulated and was the main literacy textbook from Han to Tang.

Jingshe or Jinglu is equivalent to Taixue, which is taught by Confucianism of Jingshi University.It appeared in the Western Han Dynasty and became more prosperous in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which is unprecedented in ancient Chinese history. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "respected only Confucianism", officials of all sizes in the Han Dynasty had to have some knowledge of Confucianism, and almost all of them needed to study Confucianism.At that time, a folk proverb said: "It is better to teach your son the classics than to leave a box full of gold money to your son, it is better to teach your son the classics."Some Confucian classics masters have more than a hundred disciples.For example, the famous Confucian Dong Zhongshu (179 BC-104 BC), because there were too many students, he had to use the method of senior students teaching lower grade students. Lectures are the main teaching method in which disciples turn to each other to teach and receive.This was especially true during the Eastern Han Dynasty.Students travel thousands of miles and bring dry food to seek fame as Confucian masters. There are often thousands or hundreds of people.At that time, there were two kinds of students: one was the "disciple of the same school", who came to receive teaching in person; Those who study, so under the sect of some masters, there are no fewer than ten thousand such disciples.

In the private monastery, the teacher-student relationship is particularly close, the students are respectful and courteous to the teachers, and the teachers are very caring for the students.Some teachers take the initiative to help poor disciples whenever they receive rewards.There was a teacher named Bian Shao, who used to sleep during the day, and the students laughed at him in private: "I'm lazy to study, but I want to sleep." When Bian Shao heard this, he replied, "But I want to sleep, and think about scriptures." Teachers and students can interact with each other. Just kidding, it can be seen that the atmosphere is extremely harmonious.The most touching thing is that the teacher was wrongly convicted, and some students petitioned for wrongdoing and even asked to die on their behalf.For example, when Ouyang She [she She] was imprisoned, his student Li Zhen wrote a letter to die in his place.When Yu Xu (xu Xu) was imprisoned, more than 100 of his students held flags and kowtowed and shed blood to appeal for his grievances. They were later pardoned, and the grievances were finally cleared.This kind of feeling of respecting teachers and loving students is sincere and has become a good story in the history of school education in ancient China.

The reason why private schools flourished in the Han Dynasty was that, on the one hand, it was influenced by the state’s “selecting scholars by classics”, and on the other hand, it was because private lectures had less ideological constraints.Doctors of official studies and Taixue mostly focus on one scripture, stick to the chapters and sentences, and rarely write, but private lectures often also teach the scriptures.Some of the scripture teachers in the Eastern Han Dynasty were not only proficient in Confucian classics, but also taught astronomy, calendar, arithmetic, law and other knowledge.How to stop "good calendar calculation", Zheng Xuan "Tongyi, Gongyang Chunqiu, Santong calendar, nine chapters arithmetic".In the Eastern Han Dynasty, in addition to private lectures on Confucian classics by Confucian classics, there were also private schools that taught science and technology among the people. For example, the famous doctor Hua Tuo taught disciples with "刳〔kuku〕破" (surgery) and acupuncture.Fu Weng wrote "Acupuncture Meridian Diagnosis" and passed it on to his disciples.Fan Ying, Duan Yi, Liao Fu and others were proficient in astrology and astronomy, which were passed on to their disciples.Although the techniques of Fangji in the Eastern Han Dynasty are mixed with superstition, they also contain rich knowledge of natural science and human science.

In addition, there were women giving lectures in the Han Dynasty. Ban Zhao (about 49-about 120), the sister of Ban Gu (32-92 A.D.), the author of "Hanshu", was knowledgeable and talented.Emperor He of the Eastern Han Dynasty ordered the queen and all the nobles to take her as a teacher, and called her "Master Cao [Gu Gu]" (she is the wife of Uncle Cao).She not only understands Confucian classics, but also has a good command of astronomy and mathematics.Empress Dowager Deng once learned from her.Ban Zhao completed a part of Ban Gu's unfinished "Han Shu" - "Eight Tables and Tianwen Zhi".After the book was completed, it was highly valued by people, but many people could not read it. Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty sent 10 people including Ma Rong (79-166 AD) to learn from her.She is also the author of "Woman Commandments" and other books.There is also Cai Wenji, the daughter of Cai Yong [yong Yong], who is erudite and talented, and understands music.Cao Cao redeemed her from the Huns. Knowing that her family had a lot of books, he wanted to send 10 officials to learn from her.Later, Cai Wenji transcribed all the more than 400 articles she could remember, and there were no omissions or mistakes.