The Theory And Practice Of Taking Officials As Teachers In The Qin And Han Dynasties

The Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods are periods of great social transformation and upheaval in Chinese history,which saw hundred schools of thoughts contend,academic prosperity,official study decline,private school rise,and education thoughts develop.As an important thought from Pre-Qin Legalism,"Regard Officials as Teachers" gradually formed during that period.During Warring States Period,Shang Yang adovated cultural and educational policies which emphasize legal education,brought forward the thought of "Set up judges for laws and decrees and as teachers for people" and put it into practice.Han Fei,also as a representitive of Legalism put forward the thought of "in a country with a wise sovereign,it should abolish classical literature recorded by books and set laws and decrees as education contents;it should abandon former emperors' cliches and regard law enforcement officials as teachers",this is the first time when the thought of "Regard Officials as Teachers" was explicitly posed.After the First Emperor of Qin united six countries,Prime Minister Li Si claimed "learn laws and decrees from officials" in order to unify thoughts,control public opinions,discriminate against those who hold different views and consolidate politics.The First Emperor of Qin adopted his claim and implemented it nationwide.There is a direct connection between this claim and the following activity of Burning of Books and Burying of Scholars.Since then,"Regard Officials as Teachers" has been strictly implemented as a state system,the content and function of this system had enriched along with the change of dynasties.As the Emperor Jing said,"the men who are officials should be the educators",Han Dynasty,which followed the system of Qin Dynasty,still implemented Official division system.Since educational policy of the Han Dynasty was relatively loose,different types of ideology spread again,from Huang Lao thought in the early Western Han Dynasty to Dong Zhongshu's "rejecting the other schools of thought and respecting only Confucianism" and "Grand unification of the spring and Autumn Period" in the time of Emperor Wu.In order to adapt to the development of the times and politics,Han Dynasty regarded the officials as the educators,and combined the politics and the religion.The ruling policies as achieving the control of people and the unity of thinking were also reflected in the field of education,like the laws of holding books of Emperor Xiaohui,the set of doctoral position of Emperor Wen,and the advocation of Imperial College and the Doctor of the Five Classics of Emperor Wu.Moreover,thanks to the establishment of Offical Teachers in schools by Emperor Wu,the neighboring countries got the chance to promote the official schools and increased the access to learning.In the Eastern Han Dynasty,the officials were willing to be a teacher and the students,who strove to take the exam and became the officials,respected the officials as models.The schools run by the officials could not only teach the knowledge,but also strengthen the functions of the teachers.All of these are the further development of the scholar official system in the Han Dynasty.From the "Taught by the laws"in Qin Dynasty to the "Taught by the ethics" in Han Dynasty,the Official division system effectively promote the laws and impart the knowledge,which have a significant impact on the citizens,guarantee the monarchy system and protect the feudal rule.