Chapter 67 Section 6 The Education System of the Ming Empire

The biggest obstacle to the unification of thinking is the scholars.The job of intellectuals is to think, so they are naturally prone to centrifugal tendencies towards unified thinking.Zhu Yuanzhang started from the source and vigorously established compulsory education to control the specifications and models for the formation of intellectual embryos, so that intellectuals that met his needs could be produced in batches. Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to running a school, saying, "The establishment of a school is the top priority of the country" and "Governing the world is based on talents, and teaching talents is the first."He regards education and agriculture together as the "foundation of the king's government", and he has always grasped it very tightly.As early as the first month of the fifth year of Longfeng (AD 1359), nine years before the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he had established a county school in Wuzhou to train talents, and in September of the eleventh year of Longfeng he founded Guozi school in Yingtian.After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, education was vigorously developed, and three-level schools of Chinese studies, county studies, and social studies were established from the central government to the localities.

Guoxue is Guozixue, a national university.At the beginning, the school site followed the old site of Confucianism in the Yuan Dynasty. Because the campus was small, Zhu Yuanzhang continued to expand it. Only once every six years in Hongwu, he "built more than a few hundred more school buildings."But this place is located in the bustling area of ​​the city center, close to the place where the zither and the flute are played, which is not conducive for students to calm down and study. In the 14th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang personally selected the site for Xiangji's new campus, and he chose Zhiyang of Jiming Mountain, seven miles away from the capital, where the environment is quiet and suitable for studying.Zhu Yuanzhang invested a huge amount of money, and Chen Gong, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, personally presided over the construction. In the fifteenth year of Hongwu, the new school was completed, with teaching areas, living areas, libraries, canteens, and vegetable gardens. .On May 17th, the emperor visited Guozijian in person to "pay homage to the ancestor Confucius", and went to the lecture hall to give a class to the students in person. "Hong Fan" and all the teachers and students were invited to dinner after class.

The students of Guozijian are commonly called Jiansheng, and they are divided into two categories: official students and people's students. "Officials' livelihoods are taken from the upper class", which is appointed by the emperor, and "people's livelihoods are taken from Kegong", which is recommended by the local government.In the traditional era, the scale of this university can be called very large. In the 26th year of Hongwu (1393 AD), the total number of students reached 8,124, making it one of the largest institutions of higher learning in the world at that time.If there was a university ranking at that time, I believe that the scale of Guozijian must be among the best in the world.

As for the homework of Guozijian, the scope is a bit narrow, mainly including Chinese, mathematics, politics, calligraphy, and physical education.The teaching materials of Chinese class mainly include "Four Books" and "Five Classics".The textbooks of political classes are mainly the imperial "Da Gao" and "Da Ming Law Order", etc. Liu Xiang's "Shuo Yuan" in the Han Dynasty contains anecdotes and anecdotes that people can learn from. Zhu Yuanzhang believes that familiarity with it can teach people how to behave Therefore, it is listed as a compulsory homework.

As for the teaching materials of numbers (mathematics) and books (calligraphy), there is no record.The content of physical education is to learn martial arts. In the third year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Guozijian and the county and county students to "all order to learn archery". place.In addition to national universities, in the second year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang began to build schools extensively across the country.He "ordered all counties and counties to establish schools", and he issued an edict: "Although the Guozijian is established today, it may not be enough to extend the beauty of the world. It ordered the counties and counties of the world to build schools to support scholars." "Talking about the holy way will make people gradually become moons, so as to restore the old kings."

County schools are secondary schools established by local governments.At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the governing ability of Zhu Yuanzhang's regime was very outstanding. With one order, all prefectures, states, and counties across the country began to establish schools.Of course, the policy is one size fits all. There are forty students in government-level schools, thirty in state-level schools, and twenty in county-level schools.With the development of the county school, it was ordered to expand the number of students soon, with no limit on the number, and the teaching content was similar to that of the national school.

In the eighth year of Hongwu, he ordered the world to establish social schools, namely rural primary schools and community primary schools.He said: "In the past, as far back as the Zhou Dynasty, every family had a private school, and every township had a school, so the people knew everything about learning, so the sage's teachings were implemented and the customs became pure and beautiful. Today, there are schools in the capital and counties. Rural people have not yet enjoyed the right to education. Therefore, officials at all levels should be ordered to build rural primary schools and community schools, and teachers should be invited to teach folk children, so that ordinary people can be guided to transform into good customs. and "Laws of the Ming Dynasty" as the main compulsory courses." According to statistics, during the Hongwu period, each prefecture, prefecture, and county had an average of nearly 61 sociology institutions, a considerable number.

In pre-modernized countries, national schools extend from the capital level, prefectures, prefectures, and counties to the village level. Such a wide coverage and such a large number are rare in the world.The emperor's spiritual education is issued from the palace, and it can reach every household in the countryside.As the history of the Ming Dynasty said, therefore, "There is no place to learn, and there is no one to accept the teaching." Its prosperity is not as good as it has been since the Tang and Song dynasties." Although stingy by nature, Zhu Yuanzhang has never been afraid to spend money on education.A huge amount of financial funds have been invested in building the school building and hiring teachers, and the treatment of the students is the highest in history.

During the Hongwu period, the school was invested by the state, and the school funds came from the school land allocated by the state (the public land used for running the school uses the land income as the school fund). Learn eight hundred stones, and counties learn six hundred stones. Students at the government, state, and county levels can enjoy state subsidies.The amount is six buckets of rice per person, plus fish.The Taixue students in the capital are treated better.Once admitted to Taixue, the state will distribute school uniforms, one set every quarter, and also provide board and lodging.Even those who are married can bring their family members to school.The living supplies of the family members are personally in charge of by Empress Ma.

Zhu Yuanzhang's concern and consideration for the students can be described as meticulous.The students had been away from home for a long time, Zhu Yuanzhang gave them a new set of clothes, and five ingots for travel expenses, so that they could go home to visit their parents.During the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, Zhu Yuanzhang also specially distributed festival money to students.The emperor was so humane that he even extended favor to the students' families.For example, in the twelfth year of Hongwu, the emperor gave each student's parents four pieces of silk. As for the social schools in every township and every mile, although they cannot provide such generous board and lodging, they do not charge tuition and miscellaneous fees.Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that grassroots cadres should mobilize as many school-age children as possible to go to school according to the natural conditions of ordinary people's homes.

Schools at all levels have incentive systems.The students of Guozijian won the first place in the imperial examination, and a Jinshi inscription tablet was erected at the gate of Guozijian to praise them.Every year, the students of the county school select one with the best grades as a tribute, and recommend him to Guozixue for further study. These measures of Zhu Yuanzhang have effectively promoted the development of education.In the whole country, "there is no place to study, and there is no one to accept the teaching. Xiangsheng prefaces, repeats the rules, and is seamless in Xiayi, Huangjiao (jiao), Shanzhu (zou) and Haiya", appeared " The family has the sound of chanting, and the people have the ambition of the sky". The development of education in the Ming Dynasty surpassed that of the previous Tang and Song Dynasties.