Chapter 27 Section 3 Academy of Ming and Qing Dynasties

The academies in the Ming Dynasty experienced a tortuous development process of silence-prosperity-banning.During the 130 years from the establishment of the Ming Dynasty to the eighteenth year of Emperor Xiaozong Hongzhi (AD 1505), the academies in the Ming Dynasty were in a state of silence.At that time, the Ming court attached great importance to the establishment and development of official schools, which made official schools flourish in the early Ming Dynasty, which was unprecedented in Tang and Song Dynasties.As for the academies, the Ming court neither advocated nor repaired them, leaving them to fend for themselves.

From the reign of Zhengde (AD 1506-1521) to the reign of Jiajing (AD 1522-1566), Ming Dynasty academies gradually broke through their silence and began to flourish.According to the statistics of Mr. Cao Songye, there were 1,239 academies in Ming Dynasty, among which the Jiajing period was the most built, accounting for 37.13% of the total; the Wanli period (1573-1620 AD) was next, accounting for 22.71% of the total.The statistical data of some provinces are also consistent with the above situation. In terms of provinces, Jiangxi Province ranked first with 19.59% of Ming Academy; Zhejiang Province with 10.07% and Guangdong Province with 10.07%, tied for second place.

Calculated by river basins, the Yangtze River basin accounts for 51.25%, the Yellow River basin accounts for 19.02%, and the Pearl River basin accounts for 30.73%.Compared with the Yuan Dynasty, although the Yangtze River Basin still occupies the first place, its percentage has dropped, the Pearl River Basin has risen to the second place, and the Yellow River Basin has dropped to the third place. Calculated in terms of private and government-run, private-run accounts for 18.98%, which is a lot lower than that of the Song and Yuan Dynasties.Local governments accounted for 47.13%, and central and other government-run enterprises accounted for 17.88%.

The reasons for the prosperity of academies after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, especially the obvious increase in the number of new academies in the Pearl River Basin, are as follows: first, the economy in the Pearl River Basin has further developed; So he set up an academy, in addition to giving lectures, he satirized the government and criticized people.Coupled with the decline of the official school, the official school has become a vassal of the imperial examination system. Some scholar-bureaucrats who are interested in cultural education and academic research have established academies one after another to teach apprentices; Advocated by famous scholars such as 1472-1528 AD.Zhan Ruoshui gave lectures for 55 years in his life, built academies widely, and had many disciples.Wang Shouren began to give lectures in the academy from the age of 34. It lasted 23 years. He successively built Longgang Academy, Lianxi Academy, Jishan Academy, Fuwen Academy, etc., and gave lectures in Wenming Academy, Yuelu Academy, and Bailudong Academy.Famous academic masters built academies to give lectures everywhere, which directly promoted the rapid development of academies after the rise of the style of lectures after the middle of Ming Dynasty.

However, after the middle of Ming Dynasty, the academy was banned and destroyed four times by those in power. The first time was in the 16th year of Jiajing (1537 AD), the second time was in the 17th year of Jiajing (1538 AD), and It was in the seventh year of Wanli (AD 1579), and the fourth time was in the fifth year of Tianqi (AD 1625). Although the specific reasons for these four times of banning and destroying academies were different, they were all closely related to the internal contradictions and struggles of those in power at that time. Its essence is to consolidate the feudal autocratic rule.Because the academies have a relatively free style of study, which is contrary to the autocratic rule of the Ming Dynasty, not to mention that some academies dare to satirize the government, criticize people, and point their fingers at the domineering eunuchs, so they are hated by the rulers and ordered to be banned.However, the academies cannot be restrained. During the Jiajing period, the academies were banned and destroyed twice in a row, but the number of academies in the Ming Dynasty was the most during the Jiajing period.Similarly, the academies were destroyed twice during the Wanli and Tianqi years, but the number of academies in the Wanli period was second only to the Jiajing period, and the academies also developed to a certain extent during the Tianqi period.It can be seen from this that the more the government bans, the more the people do; the more it is banned, the more it develops. This is the dialectic of history.

Among the many academies in the Ming Dynasty, Donglin Academy is the most famous.Donglin Academy is located in the southeast of Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province. It was originally the place where Yang Shi (AD 1053-1135), an educator in the Northern Song Dynasty, gave lectures, and later built an academy there. Because Yang Shi was called Mr. Guishan, Donglin Academy also It is called Guishan Academy.In the Yuan Dynasty, it was abolished as a monk's house. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Gu Xiancheng (1550-1612 A.D.), a native of Wuxi, and his younger brother Gu Yuncheng restored Donglin Academy.After Gu Xiancheng's death, Gao Panlong (1562-1626 A.D.) and Ye Maocai successively presided over the affairs.

Donglin Academy was an important cultural and academic center at that time, and formed a complete system of lectures. According to the "Donglin Meeting", Donglin Academy's lectures were held regularly, with a big meeting every year and a small meeting every month. , every three days, select one person as the moderator; on the day of the lecture, a grand ceremony must be held; the content of the lecture is mainly based on the "Four Books". During the meeting, they also sang poems and harmonies with each other, which was very lively.In addition, there are also specific regulations on other aspects of the organization of the lecture, such as notices, inspections, refreshments, lunches, etc.All these indicate that the lectures at Donglin Academy have been institutionalized.Judging from the statute, organization, ceremony and scale of the lecture, the lecture has gone beyond the scope of the academy and has become a regional academic seminar.In this way, it not only expands the influence of the Academy, improves the social status of the Academy, but also enriches the teaching content of the Academy, and improves the teaching and academic level of the Academy, which is an important feature of Donglin Academy.

Another important feature of Donglin Academy is that it pays close attention to social, political and national affairs.This feature of the academy is concentrated in a couplet inscribed by Gu Xiancheng: This couplet is still engraved on the stone pillar at the former site of the academy. Donglin Academy was persecuted by the eunuch party headed by Wei Zhongxian and burned down. Many leaders of Donglin Academy, such as Gao Panlong, Yang Lian, Zuo Guangdou, Wei Dazhong, Zhou Shunchang, Huang Zunsu, Li Yingsheng, etc. were persecuted to death.Due to the great influence of Donglin Academy on society, when Wei Zhongxian and others banned the destruction of Donglin Academy, they also associated all academies in the world with Donglin Academy and strictly prohibited their destruction.It was not until Emperor Chongzhen came to the throne that Wei Zhongxian hanged himself in fear of crime, and other eunuchs were punished as they should, so that the Donglin Party was exonerated, and Donglin Academy was restored in the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633 A.D.).After going through all these twists and turns, Donglin Academy "has a high reputation, and people are proud of being attached to Donglin", and it is full of vitality again.

In the early Qing Dynasty, the development of academies was also in a state of silence.It was not until the Kangxi period that there were some changes.Emperor Kangxi's imperial book "Study up to the sky", "Xuezong Zhusi", "Confucian classics make scholars", "Learn the way and return to the pure" plaques distributed to some famous academies, so the gentry from all over the country actively established and repaired the academies , Qing Dynasty academies gradually turned from silence to recovery.In the 11th year of Yongzheng (AD 1733), an order was issued to promote academies, affirming that academies were an act of "promoting virtuous and nurturing talents", and asking the governor to establish academies in the provincial capital and provide funds. While actively advocating the establishment of academies, he also strengthened the control over academies .

A total of 781 academies were newly built in the Qing Dynasty, with 233 being the most established during the Kangxi period, followed by 228 during the Qianlong period.According to the statistics of basin distribution, until the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the Yellow River basin accounted for 20.39%, the Yangtze River basin accounted for 35%, and the Pearl River basin accounted for 43.93%.The Pearl River Basin rose to first place.In terms of provinces, according to incomplete statistics, Fujian has the most with 181 schools; Hunan occupies the second place with 106 schools; Guangdong occupies the third place with 102 schools.In terms of private and government-run, private companies accounted for 9.65%; local government-run companies accounted for 57.10%, governors' offices accounted for 8.56%, Beijing government-run companies accounted for 0.48%, imperial construction companies accounted for 12.60%, and government-run companies accounted for 78.74%.

It can be seen that the academies in the Qing Dynasty became more and more government-studied. The government controlled the establishment of the academies, controlled the funds of the academies, controlled the selection and appointment of the teachers of the academies, and controlled the enrollment of the academies and the assessment of students.Most academies have turned to examinations and become appendages to the imperial examination system. However, there are also some folk academies that still maintain the true nature of Song and Ming academies who hired their own teachers and gave free lectures.For example, the Ziyang Academy lecture meeting, according to the "Ziyang Lecture Hall Meeting" established in the eighth year of Kangxi (AD 1669), had very strict requirements on the participants, reflecting the resistance to the unhealthy academic style of the official academy at that time. The Zhangnan Academy founded by Yan Yuan (1635-1704 A.D.) is more distinctive. There are three main halls in the academy, which are named "Xi Lecture Hall" instead of "Lecture Hall" to emphasize the meaning of practice.In addition, the east and west face each other and set up four fastings for literature, military equipment, classics and history, and arts.Wenshizhai teaches subjects such as rites, music, books, mathematics, astronomy, and geography.Wu Beizhai taught subjects such as the art of war of the Yellow Emperor, Taigong, Sun, and Wu, the art of attacking and defending camps, land and water warfare, and archery and martial arts.Jingshizhai teaches subjects such as the Thirteen Classics, History of Past Dynasties, Imperial Order, Zhang Zou, Poetry and Prose.Yi Neng Zhai teaches subjects such as water science, fire science, engineering science, and elephant and mathematics.In addition, Neo-Confucianism and Tiekuo are temporarily set up, both facing north, to show "the hostility of my way".These two fasts are set up as opposites.To the west of the courtyard gate, there is a stepping horse shooting garden, which is used as a place for students to ride horses and shoot arrows.After school, there are also sports activities such as lifting stones (that is, weightlifting), ultra-distance (that is, running), and boxing.At that time, although Yan Yuan was 62 years old, he still "taught his disciples to dance and lifted stones to learn strength". During the period of Qianlong and Jiaqing, Sinology, characterized by textual research and exegesis, emerged, and a generation of famous Sinologists appeared, such as Jiang Yong (AD 1681-1762), Qian Daxin (AD 1728-1804), Wang Zhong (AD 1745) -1794), Dai Zhen (1723-1777 AD), Duan Yucai (1735-1815 AD), Ruan Yuan (1764-1849 AD) and so on.The academies they lectured mainly taught classics and history, Ci Fu, system of names and objects, astronomy, calendar and calculation, geography, phonology and other knowledge, and did not teach stereotyped essays.This kind of academies are the forerunners of the new modern schools. Its appearance has heralded the decline of the education system in the entire feudal society, and the ancient schools will be transformed into modern schools. Ruan Yuan presided over the Jingshe, and often led the students to the nearby first floor "Yanji" to recite poems and compose Fu.The "Xuehaitang" he founded requires students to seek "fineness" on the basis of "both", inspires students to "know the essence and think sharply, and is not confused by common solutions", and encourages students to delve into it by themselves.When the teacher is giving lectures, the students will bring their homework and difficult questions to "apply for the homework", and even debate freely with the teacher.In order to make students' learning develop in a more profound direction, the college also pays attention to teaching students in accordance with their aptitude. "Xuehaitang" has eight seniors, so that students can "choose a teacher and follow them".It also selects high-achieving students to cooperate with scholars and teachers to write books, so as to combine reading and writing. "Xuehaitang" has also established a publishing system, compiling contemporary relevant literature on scripture interpretation into 1400 volumes of "Xuehaitang Jingjie", which is used as an important teaching reference book for this church.In addition, the papers written by the teachers and students of this hall are also compiled into "The Complete Works of Xuehaitang", "Xuehaitang Lessons" and so on.All these reflect the active role played by the academies in the Qing Dynasty on the development of academic culture. In August of the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu (AD 1901), the Qing court adopted the suggestions of Zhang Zhidong (AD 1837-1909) and Liu Kunyi (AD 1830-1902), and issued an edict to convert all academies in each province into schools.Since then, the ancient academy system that lasted for thousands of years came to an end. Academies not only had an important impact on education in ancient Chinese society, but also spread to Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asian countries. There are still many academies in these countries, especially in Japan.