Research On The Reform Of Academic System Of Hunan In Late Qing Dynasty

The academy reformation, which happened from the late 19th century to the early 20th century, is a change of Chinese traditional educational organization and system to the modern scholastic institution. Its nature involves not only the appellative change of educational organization from Academy to School, but also a multiple diversification including the modernization of Chinese traditional educational system with a prominent character of imitating the advanced countries as well as the achievement of modern state educational system integrated with the imperial examinations. Considering its significance to the educational modernization, a comprehensive study to the academy reformation is of great importance to the research of Chinese academy history, educational history, modern history and the ongoing reformation of the current educational system.The entire process of the academy reformation in Hunan province in late Qing Dynasty was filled with a variety of changes and experienced several stages with respective characteristics. In the first stage, new science and technology was introduced to academies, which was regarded as the prelude of the academy reformation. In this stage, the academy reformation mainly involved the change of curriculum. By means of the examination reform, new science and technology was advocated in academies, which indicated the traditional curriculum started changing. The state of coexisting of academies and schools demonstrated that the foremost spontaneous educational reformers had no intention to change the name of the traditional educational organization. While in 1898, the debate concerning academies and schools and the discussion on their name-nature relation made academies and schools signalized in the political conflict. As a result, academy and school represented two different systems and the coexisting situation was break in the second stage. Though it presented a fogeyish circumstance in the state after Empress Cixi commanded recovering some old systems, Hunan provincial officials and gentries persisted with the educational reform. They commenced constituting schools of three levels following the idea of the reformists. In the late New Politics of Qing Dynasty, the Chinese tradition of rectifying name by nature turned to an important force for the appellative change of the educational organization from academy to school. Despite there exist different thoughts to the academy reformation, the idea that the educational system should be improved, was universally accepted by Hunan provincial officials and gentries, and they practised their thoughts with all kinds of efforts. In this stage, the shift of academies to schools in Hunan was comparatively rapid, but the new schools showed an obvious inherited characteristic from academies and a transitional function in view of the whole process of the educational modernization.The academy reformation in Hunan province in the late Qing Dynasty is researched by reviewing a series of historical facts in this thesis. The changes of the basic elements, which are inherent in the Chinese educational organization and system, are analysed during the course of academy shifting to school in condition that new science and technology was imported. Hunan provincial officials and gentries attempted to integrate new science and technology with Chinese traditional knowledge for the educational reform; their thought and practice were also researched and exhibited. From the investigation of the academy reformation in Hunan province in late Qing Dynasty, it can be concluded that the factors conducing the change from academies to schools involve the Chinese tradition of rectifying name by nature, the disadvantage of Chinese traditional education and the contention for the educational resource; it is under the collective efforts of scholars that Chinese traditional education achieved its modern transformation in late Qing Dynasty; the academy reformation in late Qing Dynasty is historically rational; the spirit of academy and its value to the modern society is further developed in the thought of gain and loss over the academy reformation and the problem in the present educational system.