Research On The History Textbooks For Middle Schools In The Later Qing Dynasty And The Republic Of China

History textbook is the main source for middle school students to learn about history knowledge. It is significant in shaping middle school students' view of history. Research on the compilation of history textbooks for middle schools is a hot but difficult issue for the circle of history educators in middle schools.Modern history textbooks for middle schools in China emerged in the later Qing Dynasty and achieved great improvement during the reign of the Republic of China. It underwent a process of simulation and borrowing, adoption and internalization and autonomous innovation. This research is intended to make a systematic review of the history textbooks for middle schools in the later Qing Dynasty and the reign of Republic of China with a view to providing some implications for reforms of current history textbooks for middle schools. The whole thesis is presented in six parts.Part One reviews the research on history textbooks for middle schools in later Qing Dynasty and reign of the Republic of China, we also elaborate the goals and design of this research.In Part Two, we go back to the earliest period when history textbooks for middle schools came into being. This thesis argues that the establishment of modern educational system, the revival of history after it escaped from the constraints of classic scholarship when the latter declined, and the flourishing and development of "neo-history" all provided institutional guarantee and direct theoretical support for the compilation of history textbooks for middle schools. Therefore, a broad space was created for the emergence and development of history textbooks for middle schools. I also particularly introduce some typical history textbooks for middle schools of that time in terms of their structure, style and contents. They represented the achievement in upgrading both the format and content of history textbooks for middle schools at that time. They also marked the modernization of history textbooks for middle schools.The over-all modernization of history textbooks for middle schools is dealt with in Part Three. Together with the deepening New Culture Movement, the fervent expansion of Colloquial Movement had a profound effect on the whole society. As a result, the first history textbooks in colloquial language came out for middle schools. It marked the transition of history textbooks from classical to colloquial. The change in language style greatly facilitated students' learning and popularized history knowledge. The promulgation of Renxu Educational System transformed the length of schooling in middle schools from non-stop four or five years to six years divided into junior and senior with three years for each. This marked the advent of history textbooks for senior middle schools. At the same time, with the introduction of modern pedagogical theories, history textbooks of that period were innovated in its content and style. This innovation accelerated the process of history textbooks modernization and finally led to the over-all modernization of history textbooks.Part Four elucidates the development and consummation of history textbook in terms of its over-all modernization. After the establishment of the Republic of China, the Renxu Educational System was partly revised and adjusted. As to the level for senior middle schools, the history textbooks were differentiated into two kinds, one for the students of arts and the other for the students of science. The current criteria for history textbooks have been revised several times and gradually improved. The quality of history textbooks which were compiled in accordance with curriculum criteria was...