Japan’s Impact On The History Education In The Late Qing Dynasty

The late Qing Dynasty is the significant period when the traditional Chinese Society changed as well as the modernization of education began. The education of history separated gradually from traditional education and became one of the modern subjects. During the period, Japan as the model of modern education’s reform, what was its effect to the education of history in China? In order to answer the question, firstly, this paper chooses the history course according to the policy published by Japanese and Qing’s Governments. It analyses Japan’s influence on Qing historical education’s purpose, plan, and content. It also discusses what Qing Government had accepted from Japanese education of history. Furthermore, this paper gathers the textbooks that Qing government translated from Japanese in order to figure out these textbooks’ impact to the society at that time and attitude of Qing Court towards these textbooks. According to this research, Japan made great influence on the establishment of Qing’s history education ranging from studying system to textbooks editing; even if, Japan’s influence were only partially accepted for the consideration of the Qing Court. Through this project, we can better understand the history of education’s development and figure out the origin of modern historical education. The project also offers insights on how to critically inherit the Chinese traditional education system and learn foreign concepts for future improvements on historical education.