The Research On Cheng Nan Academy In Qing Dynasty

As a cultural and educational organization for Chinese scholars new born in Tang Dynasty, academy reached its prime time in Qing Dynasty after centuries of development in Tang and Song. Established in Shao Xing 31 year (1161 AD), Cheng Nan Academy came to its prosperity.This paper, firstly, surveys the development and changes of Cheng Nan Academy in Qing Dynasty by studying its length-way development in Qing and its transverse development after being conferred as Provincial Academy. Meanwhile, by comparing it with Yue Lu Academy, the paper discovers the evolvement traces.Secondly, the paper analyzes the development of Cheng Nan Academy from four aspects: teaching, book storing, sacrifice and finance. Developing from Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Chinese academies have gradually formed three basic functions: teaching, book storing, and sacrifice, which are all possessed by Cheng Nan Academy. Especially during the reign of Dao Guan, after it extended its enrollment to the whole province, regulations and rules of Cheng Nan Academy were further improved, and under its strict and orderly financial running, teaching, book storing and sacrifice was further enhanced. As a cultural and educational organization, the major function of an academy is to"transmit wisdom and to impart knowledge". The success of Cheng Nan Academy, first of all, comes from teaching, and then enormous famous teachers and students have win glory for this thousand year institution; book storing is a must for an academy, especially after western learning was progressively extending to the East, books very much determine the orientation and taste of an academy; Confucian sacrifice is not only a religious ceremony, but what it conforms is a sort of cultural tradition after Confucius, spiritual essence of an academy as well as its scholars. Cheng Nan Academy has its own characteristics in these aspects.Finally, this paper discusses the changes Cheng Nan Academy has undertaken when transforming into a new-style institution. Academies have replaced official schools, becoming main educational institution of the state, however, since they become more official and are closely related to imperial exams, their system gradually become rigid and produce lots of deficiencies. With the spreading of advanced science and technology from the West, as well as the introduction and great influence of modern school systems from the West, the disadvantages of Academy become more prominent. As a mainstream of traditional Chinese educational institution, Academy couldn't meet the requirements of modern society. Therefore, reforms of Academy have become an irreversible tendency. Under the tide of modernization in China, Academy begins to step into the tough road of reform, from traditional to modern, from academy to new-style institution. The same as other academies in Hunan, Cheng Nan Academy begins its reform during the reign of Guang Xu. In this period, Cheng Nan Academy, a traditional educational institution, has accomplished its mission, stepping into the development road of new-style institution and modern school.