Research On The Development History Of Chinese Junior Middle School Arithmetic Textbooks(1902-1949)

As a branch and the primary form of mathematics,Arithmetic specializes in the study of the properties and operations of rational numbers.It is in a basic and important position in science,mathematics,and people's life.During the late Qing Dynasty and the period of the Republic of China,arithmetic was set up in elementary and junior middle schools as the basis of algebra,geometry,trigonometry and other disciplines.It was maintained in junior middle school from the establishment of People's Republic of China to the year of 1962.As a continuation of elementary school Arithmetic,junior middle school Arithmetic is a higher stage of learning,emphasizing the study and research of arithmetic principles on the basis of preliminary calculations.Junior middle school arithmetic is combined with junior middle school algebra and geometry and simple algebra and geometry knowledge are set in textbooks.This study takes the junior middle school arithmetic textbooks of the period of the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China(1902-1949)as the research object,which is divided into four periods,namely the late Qing Dynasty(1902-1911),the early Republic of China(1912-1922),the middle period of the Republic of China(1923-1936)and the late Republic of China(1937-1949).Using historical research method,literature research method,comparative research method and case study method to explore the development process of mathematics textbooks in junior middle schools in China,analyze the compiling concept,layout form,content system and compiling features of representative junior middle school arithmetic textbooks in different periods,summarize the main internal and external factors affecting the changes of Chinese junior middle school arithmetic textbooks as well as the overall characteristics of the development of junior middle school arithmetic textbooks,dig out the mathematics education concepts held by junior middle school arithmetic textbook writers so as to get the typical experience which can be used for reference in writing the contemporary primary and middle school mathematics textbooks.The main research contents of this study are the following six parts.1.During the late Qing Dynasty,a new school system and new mathematics curriculum system were established in modern China by learning from Japanese school system construction.The textbook writing group mainly consisted of personnel studying in Japan and the main writing method was to translate and compile Japanese textbooks.In the initial period when the examination and approval system for textbooks was setup,the compilation and publication of arithmetic textbooks in junior middle schools showed a diversified trend,which laid the foundation for the localization of textbooks.The representative textbooks reflected the novelty and life-like characteristics in writing concepts and contents.2.The government of the Republic of China established a new type of democratic republican system,formulated and promulgated the RenZiGuiChou School System in the early Republic of China.The compilation of textbooks was gradually localized on the basis of imitating Japanese and other foreign textbooks.The textbook content system focused on the connection between elementary school arithmetic and junior middle school arithmetic and highlighted its practicality and life-oriented feature.Representative textbook writers displayed advanced mathematics education concepts and made positive contributions to the development of modern mathematics education.3.The Chinese educational system adopted European and American methods during the middle period of Republic of China and the6.3.3 School System was established in 1922.Mixed mathematics was implemented in junior middle school and arithmetic was combined with algebra,geometry,and triangle.It was converted into a mixed and branched system in 1929.The writing of junior middle school mathematics textbook adhered to the mixed and single subject parallel strategy.Textbooks showed a diversified trend and the compilation and publication reached the peak of the Republic of China period.The mixed mathematics textbook presented the expert integration of knowledge in various subjects and the rich content of the history of mathematics.The single-subject arithmetic textbook focused on the connection of different subjects within the mathematics.4.The 6.3.3 School System was continuously adopted and the mathematics curriculum standards were adjusted on the basis of the 1936 curriculum standards in the late Republic of China.The publishing institutions represented by the Commercial Press,the Zhengzhong Book Company,and the Kaiming Bookstore stuck to the publication of textbooks under the circumstances of shortage of resources and difficult conditions and promoted the junior middle school mathematics textbooks to be edited and published with a steady progress.The compilation and publication of Experimental Junior Middle School Arithmetic,National Defense Arithmetic and Intermediate Arithmetic are very representative.5.The paper explains the development and evolution of concept expression and classification expression of fractions between 1902 and 1949.The concept expression of fraction has undergone a complex evolutionary process in which the definitions of shares and quotients are used interchangeably or in a mixed way.The classification expression of fraction has experienced the evolution of the expression of Proper fraction,Improper fraction,Mixed fraction,and Complex fraction in different periods.The evolution process also reflects how the fraction is used and inherits the traditional Chinese method of expressing fraction and the evolution of the mathematical culture that accepts fraction boundaries outside the domain.6.Through the detailed analysis of the above five parts,the main internal and external factors which influence the changes of Chinese junior middle school mathematics textbooks from 1902 to 1949 are summarized as bellow: the compilation of junior middle school mathematics textbooks,political,economic and cultural influences as well as the influences of Japan,Europe and America.The paper analyzes the macro and micro characteristics of the development of junior middle school mathematics textbooks and draws useful experiences that can be used for reference in the compilation of contemporary mathematics textbooks in primary and middle schools.