A Study On Later Qing Dynasty's Education Of New Schools And Middle Schools In History

After the Opium Wars, China began falling into the semi-colony and semi-feudal society and was being drawn into capitalism world. Facing the fast changing situation, the advanced Chinese cried "Studying the foreign skills is to deal with them" and "self-strength, self-enrich". Then, the political innovation campaign such as Westernization Movement and Reform Movement of 1898 etc. had been in succession from beginning to end. And the great revolution also occured in education. Originally for settling the problem lacking the persons of diplomacy ability, the westernists established the linguistics schools such as Capital Tung-wen College etc.. Later on they established military colleges and skill schools in order to cultivate people who had modern military, science and technology knowledge. Though the view of westernists still limited in the western skill knowledge, "new trend of thought " had been strengthened, and the coursehad been recommended the science and technology of the west in the westernists' schools, which widened the course content. On this foundation, the course content of reform group enlarged further, and the knowledge of western politics including western history was brought into the course system, and those had widened the field of vision of China society. In 1904, the Qing government issued "School Constitution for Presenting to Qing Emperor", and finally China had built the three grades school in education system, which indicating the education system achieved modernization basically. During this particular period, Chinese history had been separated from the study of Confucian classics, and became a school individual course. The foreign history's position in the curriculum of middle school had gained the admition of nation education laws and decrees for the first time in history. Under the background of saving the nation, the western society history especially capitalism development had enlightened the thoughts of Chinese, which had been disseminated in the later Qing's education in history. The later Qing's education in history played crucial part and made positive effect on pushing the modernization of China society forward, particularly the ordinary middle school education in history of elementary education position. At the same time, the education in history was combined with the modern westerneducation theory in this course, and achieved the modernization itself.