Chapter 12 Chapter Five: The New Development of Ming Dynasty Academy

The development of academies in the Ming Dynasty is closely related to the cultural and educational policies of the Ming Dynasty. In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, after the end of the social unrest and chaos since the end of the Yuan Dynasty, after nearly a hundred years of hard work, the economy was able to recover and develop, and the politics and society were relatively stable. The so-called "Hongyong" prosperity appeared.During this period, the imperial court adhered to the cultural and educational policy of "the use of literature should be used in order to rule the world", concentrated on developing official education and strengthening the imperial examinations, and achieved remarkable results, and official education achieved unprecedented development.According to "History of Ming Dynasty: Election Records":

In the Ming Dynasty, Confucianism was established in all prefectures, prefectures, and counties in the world. There are more than 4,200 instructors, and there are no disciples. The preface, repeating the rules and overlapping the rules, does not ask about the wasteland in Xiayi, the mountains and the sea (zou Zou).The prosperity of schools in the Ming Dynasty was not as good as that in the Tang and Song Dynasties. The scale of the central government school has been expanded, the facilities are sufficient, the system is perfect, and the treatment is generous.Some people say: The central official school of the Ming Dynasty was "prepared for regulations and flourished in humanities, and it has its own success, which has not been heard before."Local government schools at all levels are also generally established, and a series of measures are taken to mobilize the enthusiasm for studying in government schools, and a social atmosphere of "the family has the voice of chanting, and the people have the ambition of the sky" was once formed.

It was under the guidance of the cultural and educational policy of the Ming court to fully develop official schools and strengthen imperial examinations that the academies in the early Ming Dynasty were neglected and fell into a state of silence for nearly a century.Mr. Liu Yizheng, a modern scholar and an expert on the history of academies, pointed out in the book "Jiangsu Academy Chronicles": "The priests in the early Ming Dynasty returned to the school", and "when the style of the lecture academy changed, its survivors only worshiped the ancestors. Confucian ear".Huang Yizhou, a scholar in the Qing Dynasty, also said: "When the school is prosperous, the academy has no different teachings; when the school is declining, the academy helps its disadvantages."

During this period, many academies were merged into local government schools or social schools, even the famous Bailudong Academy, which was destroyed by war since the end of the Yuan Dynasty, has been ignored by no one. , Mountains and valleys echo, the lingering sound is melodious, like string singing" ("Bailudongzhi" Volume 12, "Youludongji").The famous Yuelu Academy was also in a state of disrepair in the early Ming Dynasty: "The house is broken, and it is hidden in the wilderness." At that time, someone left a poem "The Abandoned Academy": "E'e Yuelu Mountain, where the former sages read. The world People from afar have also perished, and the remains are desolate and filthy. There are still Beihai monuments, and there are still records of Nanxuan. When I come here during public leisure, I wander around and sigh!" ("Yuelu Zhi") Although a few academies have been preserved, they are mainly used as Places of worship, such as Zhusi and Nishan Academy, are only for offering sacrifices to Confucius and his disciples, and there is no longer any lectures.

From the Chenghua period of Emperor Xianzong of the Ming Dynasty to the Hongzhi period of Xiaozong Emperor (1465-1505 A.D.), due to the expansion of eunuch power, political corruption and social conflicts intensified.There are many drawbacks in official education and imperial examinations.Students of government schools "but only those who are seniors", "only have qualifications", "don't pay attention to academic ability", "scholarly style" and "too much to abuse".Under such circumstances, some courtiers and scholars worried about the deteriorating cultural and educational undertakings, and strongly urged the court to take measures to "promulgate clear edicts and spread the word, so as to boost the morale of the world" (Ming Tong Jian, Volume 33).At the same time, he started to restore the lectures in the academy to make up for or correct the shortcomings of the official school and the imperial examination.For example: in the first year of Chenghua (AD 1465), Li Ling, the prefect of Nankang, built an additional house at the former site of Bailudong Academy. "Fengjiao began to write", and set up six regulations, "It is the trend to set up one's ambition, the Lord is sincere and respectful to keep one's heart, to learn a lot of things to make the best of one's knowledge, to examine a few microscopic points and think what is necessary for the matter, to be self-restraining and to do one's best. The way is to push oneself and things to achieve the merits of things."Attract "wise and heroic people from all directions, discuss with each other and learn from each other" ("Hu Jingzhai Collection").Another example: in the fifth year of Chenghua (AD 1469), Qian Shu, the magistrate of Changsha, restored Yuelu Academy, so that "the land of more than a hundred years of hills and ruins can be seen in a grand view." In the seventh year of Hongzhi (AD 1494), Chen Gang and Yang Maoyuan continued to restore, In the ninth year of Hongzhi (1496 A.D.), "opened roads, expanded houses, prepared equipment, increased public land, and stored scriptures" in order to "invigorate culture and education in Hunan, and spread sound and light in the world" (Volume 7 of "Yuelu Zhi").

The restoration of the two famous academies, Bailudong and Yuelu, has indeed played the role of "flowing sound and light in the world".The imperial court also changed its long-term indifference towards the academy, and actively advocated the establishment of the academy, such as: In the 20th year of Chenghua of Emperor Xianzong (AD 1484), he "ordered Guixi County, Jiangxi Province to rebuild Xiangshan Academy", and in the second year of Emperor Xiaozong's Hongzhi (AD 1489) "Building Xuedao Academy in Changshu County in the south of the Yangtze River with Zhou Muyan, a doctor in the Ministry of officials".All these indicate that the full prosperity of Ming Dynasty Academy is coming.

During the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1506-1521), the Academy entered its heyday. "Scholars of Jin and gentry, old men who have lost their lives, hold lectures together, set up academies, and look at each other far and near." The direct reason is that a group of famous masters such as Wang Yangming and Zhan Ruoshui advocated that the academies gather students to give lectures.According to the "History of Ming Dynasty: The Biography of Wang Shouren", it is praised: "At the time of Zhengjia, Wang Shouren gathered his disciples in the army, and Xu Jie gave lectures on the day of Duankui. It is also said in "Winning": "Since the Wuzong Dynasty (Zhu Houzhao, reign name Zhengde), Wang Xinjian (Wang Yangming was named Xinjian Bo, so he was called Wang Xinjian) used the study of conscience to travel between Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Guangdong and Guangxi, while Luo Nian'an, Tang Jingchuan, etc. After the succession, the southeast scene was attached, and the academy flourished." Zhan Ruoshui is a "dedicated and hard-working" educator. For 55 years, he taught apprentices and gave lectures every day. Build an academy to worship Baisha (Chen Baisha, the teacher of Zhan Ruoshui), and there will be almost all the travelers in the world."

According to statistics, nearly 1,600 academies were built in the Ming Dynasty, of which about 500 were built before the Zhengde Year, and about 1,100 were built after the Zhengde Year.That is to say, in the nearly 140 years from Zhu Yuanzhang's founding of the Ming Dynasty to the first year of Zhengde (AD 1368-1506), the academies built accounted for only 30% of the total number of Ming Dynasty academies. Academies accounted for 70% of the total number of academies in the Ming Dynasty.However, during the Zhengde and Jiajing dynasties (1506-1566 AD) a total of 60 years, 634 academies were built, accounting for nearly 40% of the total, exceeding the total number of academies built in the first 140 years of Zhengde.In the main areas where Wang Yangming, Zhan Ruoshui, etc. and their disciples gave lectures, the number of academies increased even more. For example, there were 265 academies in Jiangxi, 173 in Zhejiang, and 149 in Guangdong (including Hainan).The sum of the three provinces is nearly 600, accounting for more than 1/3 of the national academies.Even remote regions such as the Northwest and Southwest, such as Gansu, Ningxia, Guizhou, Yunnan and other provinces and autonomous regions, also established many academies, and most of them were built after the Zhengde Year.

The Zhengde and Jiajing dynasties adopted a policy of support and encouragement for the development of the academies, which promoted the vigorous development of the academies. As a result, the scale of development expanded and the number of academies increased sharply.The court felt in danger of losing control.In particular, many academies were involved in the turmoil of the political struggle between the government and the opposition, which aroused the vigilance of the court. Under the manipulation of certain political forces, since the late Jiajing period, there have been many incidents of banning and destroying academies.However, academies have strong social influence and vitality. In fact, they are forbidden but never stopped, destroyed but difficult to destroy.

Looking at the development of academies in the Ming Dynasty, in the first hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, "Talents on the Internet of Chinese Studies, scholars scattered in academies, all gathered in Liangyong. Although there were academies, their popularity was not strong."After Zhengde, "the system of national studies gradually declined, the disadvantages of the imperial examinations were blatant, and the scholar-bureaucrats resumed the method of lecturing, and the academies prospered because of it." ("Jiangsu Academy Annals First Draft") Wang Yangming and others gathered disciples to give lectures, and moved the government and the public. The southeast view is attached, facing each other far and near, surrounded by the wind, the academy is flourishing.When Donglin Academy flourished, its lectures advocated "satire discussing government affairs and judging people".The imperial court took another brutal measure of banning and destroying, but it couldn't be stopped.