The Impact Of The Kokufu Bunka On Japanese Education In The Heian Period

Since ancient times,Japan had a tradition of transplanting and imitating foreign culture and education.Through transplanting and imitating the culture of Mainland China in the Nara Period(710-794),the Tofu Bunka was formed and came to its full prosperity in the Heian Period(794-1192).However,after the middle of Heian Period,a unique national culture—the Kokufu Bunka was formed on the basis of its previous transplantation and imitation of Chinese culture,and the digestion,absorption and transformation of its own national features.The development of national featured culture was a huge reform for Japanese culture,shifting from Tofu to Kokufu.As a part of culture,the form and contents of education are closely tied with the culture it belongs to: the development of culture determines the progress of education and at the same time,education changes frequently with the revolution of culture.Consequently,this huge reform exerted a substantial influence on Japanese education during the Heian Period which started to change from fully Tang wind to the integration of Chinese and its own culture.With the strike on the official Confucianism education and the diminishing importance on Chinese poetry education,the authority of specified education turned to individuals and showed a tendency of hereditary learning.The education for nobility blossomed and private schools prospered.The localization of Buddhism education was on its way to be distinct,and its proposition of serving the country and all people being equal was advocated.Moreover,under the strong influence of national featured culture,national consciousness was aroused in the Heian Period and its core of education which combined Japanese spirit with Chinese learning came into being.It could not only absorb the merits of foreign cultures and education,but also localize it to make it more fitable.This feature laid a firm foundation for Japan to absorb western culture and built its own modern education features under the guidance of Japanese spirit combined with Western learning.The paper,with its primary line through the research of the development and changes of the education of the Heian Period,employs literature research method,history research method,qualitative analysis and comparative research in its systematic presentations of the causes,the manifestation and the results of the Kokufu Bunka which shifted from an era which was dominated by the Tofu Bunka in official educational institutions,special educational institutions with official background,private educational institutions for the nobility and institutions of Buddhism to an era of the integration of Japanese and Chinese culture;in its analysis of the role of the Kokufu Bunka which it played during the creation of the Japanese spirit combined with Chinese learning in general and the arousing of national consciousness in the Heian Period;in its interpretations of the certainty of the development from Japanese spirit combined with Chinese learning in general to the guidance of Japanese spirit combined with Western learning;in its clarification of the role of the Kokufu Bunka which it played during the Heian Period and recent Japanese education;and in its clear and complete presentation of the path through which the Kokufu Bunka had a great influence on the education of the Heian Period.The paper helps readers to increase the understanding of the process and the characteristics of the Japanese education since the Heian Period and it plays both theoretical and practical roles in intensifying the understanding of Japanese ancient education and the history of Japanese education.