Chapter 10 Section 2 The Development and Officialization of Academy in Yuan Dynasty

Zhu Yizun, a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, said in "Old News under the Sun": "The establishment of academies was not as prosperous as in the Yuan Dynasty. If you set up mountains and grow them, they will be the masters, and they will be raised by the grannies [xi opera], and they will be used all over the world." "School Examination" records that Tai Chi Academy was the beginning of Yuanjian Academy, and then the construction of Academy became common practice.According to the statistics of Cao Songye's "Overview of Yuan Dynasty Academies", 143 academies were newly built in the Yuan Dynasty, 65 original academies were restored, and 19 academies were rebuilt, totaling 227 academies.Today, Mr. Ding Yiwu consulted a large number of documents and compiled them into the "List of Academies of Past Dynasties", which contains 296 academies in the Yuan Dynasty, all of which are marked as built in the Yuan Dynasty.The statistics are relatively complete, but there are still omissions.For example: Changlu Zhonghe Academy, which Wang Xu wrote about, was built by Gao Bochuan in the early Yuan Dynasty, so it was not included.Considering that there were more than 600 academies in the Song Dynasty, and most of them were preserved and restored in the Yuan Dynasty, it is estimated that there were nearly a thousand academies in the Yuan Dynasty.

Not only did the number of academies increase greatly in the Yuan Dynasty, but the geographical distribution of the academies also changed greatly compared with that in the Song Dynasty.In the Yuan Dynasty, the most academies were in the south of the Yangtze River, and most of them were concentrated in the Yangtze River Basin.According to Cao Songye’s “Overview of Yuan Dynasty Academies”, among the total 227 academies, 152 are located in the Yangtze River Basin, accounting for 66.96%, still ranking first; 32 are located in the Pearl River Basin, accounting for 14.10%; 43 are located in the Yellow River Basin, accounting for 18.94%.Compared with the Song Dynasty, the Pearl River Basin dropped from the second place to the third place, while the Yellow River Basin rose from the third place to the second place.Especially the academies in the area north of the Yellow River were built after the Yuan Dynasty.This played a huge role in promoting the "moving of learning from the south to the north" which began in the Yuan Dynasty.Wang Xu said in "The Story of Zhonghe Academy": "Since its inception, the country has focused on conquering the Song Dynasty, and has not had time to govern it. Today, the saints are in the top, and the world is one family. Books are flourishing in China, schools are everywhere, and the gentleness will be revived. !And the matter of the academy flourished in the south, but it didn't exist in the north. Now Gao Jun (Bo Chuan) is operating here, and General Gai thinks that the north is advocating it, but because the above is in line with God's will, whoever knows that nothing good will go along with it! In the future, choose a place of great shape, as large as possible, like a white deer, like a stone drum, like Yuelu, known all over the world, famous in later generations, and benefiting scholars infinitely." Fully affirmed that the academy in the Yuan Dynasty changed the "prosperity in the southern country" And the situation of "none in the north" is of great significance.

In the Yuan Dynasty, private individuals were encouraged to contribute money and donate land and acres to build academies.Many academies in the Yuan Dynasty were built with private donations and land donations.For example: Zhang Wenxian in Jishui, Jiangxi donated land to build Baisha Academy; the Zhao brothers in Xinle County donated their family funds to build Bili Academy; the grandson of Zhen Xishan in Pucheng County, Jianning Road, and his clan donated private land to build Xishan Academy, etc. The government of the Yuan Dynasty encouraged and rewarded those who did not want to be officials in the court but retreated to give lectures, especially those who donated private land to build academies.For example: Thousands of slaves, begging to become official, retired to Pu (pu servant), under Mount Li, gathered thousands of volumes of books, extended famous teachers to teach their children in the village, and gave them a hundred acres of private land to support them, the local officials played Ming Shengshang, The imperial court bestowed the amount of Lishan Academy as a token of appreciation; Duan Zhi, who mowed thousands of acres of land, collected thousands of volumes of books, hired famous teachers, recruited scholars from all over the world, and was rewarded specially by the imperial court; Tian Xilu built a lecture hall at the foot of Tianmen Mountain, Chengli Hall, Prepare the library, purchase scriptures, add sacrificial utensils, and donate 200 mu of land for tuition fees for the academy. The imperial court named it Tianmen Academy.

Of course, the government at all levels in the Yuan Dynasty strengthened the construction or restoration of academies with official funds.The academies before the Yuan Dynasty were almost all founded by private or private individuals, and the court or government only recognized, supported or partially subsidized them. In the Yuan Dynasty, the academies were directly established or repaired by the government. According to statistics, government-run academies in the Yuan Dynasty accounted for 52.49% of the total number of academies. More than half, 7.8% of the academies are directly sponsored by the imperial court, and private academies only account for 47.51% of the total.In fact, even for private or private academies, the imperial court and governments at all levels have gradually strengthened their control.As a result, one of the most notable characteristics of the development of academies in the Yuan Dynasty was that the academies gradually became official schools.

One of the important manifestations or one of the main measures of the officialization of academies in the Yuan Dynasty was that the government strengthened the management and control of academies' funds.In the Yuan Dynasty, the governments at all levels increased funds to directly set up academies, allocated learning fields for the academies, and enjoyed the same government fee treatment as government schools at all levels; for private or private academies with financial difficulties, they also provided financial assistance as much as possible; at the same time, for academies The management and control of self-raised funds and self-operated land properties have also been strengthened, and it is clearly stipulated: "Road, government, and state academies, set up direct schools to control the money valley." Basic material conditions are provided.Of course, this measure has also led to the weakening of the independent status of the academy in terms of operation and management, and the characteristics of the academy's education have become increasingly weak.The academy is almost the same as the government school, only the name of the academy, but lacks the reality of the academy.Moreover, with the rapid increase in the number of academies and the limited government funds, there are often difficulties in which academies cannot sustain their funding.As Wu Cheng said, in many academies, “even though the officials spend all the expenses on raising them, they can’t fill up the gaps [xiaxia], and they will stop if they are used up.” The official funding is insufficient, and there is no way or ability to raise funds by themselves. , Many academies survive in name only.

Another major measure of the officialization of academies in the Yuan Dynasty was that the government at all levels appointed mountain chiefs for the academies and selected them as lecturers.In many academies, the heads and professors of the academies were directly held by government officials at all levels.Even privately recruited mountain chiefs or professors must be recognized by the government before they can be awarded the post of academic officer, and they are treated the same as official academics.This measure also shows that the government attaches great importance to the academies, which is conducive to stabilizing the management and teaching quality of the academies, and also helps to improve the social status of the academies' managers and teaching staff.In the initial stage of this measure, it did play a positive role in the development of the academy.However, it also had a negative effect on the development of the academies, especially in the later period, when its drawbacks were more fully exposed, resulting in chaotic management of the academies and poor teachers.Yu Ji, a scholar in the Yuan Dynasty, once criticized: "Today, officials in lower schools are awarded with qualifications, which are imposed on all students."Cheng Jufu, a scholar in the Yuan Dynasty, also pointed out: "In recent years, the number of academies has increased, and the disadvantages have increased. Why? I only know that you are favored by Yousi, but I don't know how great the teaching is. I just take advantage of the name without seeking the truth." Wu Cheng further pointed out: "Today's academies are densely populated, but the teachers who teach are placed by the officials, and they are not very good at choosing." lost its independence.