How was the "Central University" taught in the Song Dynasty? How did the funds and teachers come from?
As we all know, the largest examination in ancient times was the imperial examination. But if the ancients wanted to take the imperial examination, they first had to read, so where did the ancients go to read? - The Academy
Guozijian is the most advanced academy in ancient times, equivalent to the Central University. Even today's Tsinghua Peking University's status is slightly inferior, so how are the students of Guozijian selected? Where does the teacher's funding come from? Take the Song Dynasty as an example.
One. The past and present life of "Chuo University"
The title of "Guozi" first appeared in the "Zhou Li Diguan" so-called :"Three Virtues to teach the Guozi", which was used to refer to the upper-class disciples who had knighthoods at that time.
Emperor Xianning of the Jin Dynasty set up the Guozi Academy for the first time in four years, with one Guozi sacrificial wine and one Doctor Guozi, and 15 assistant teachers of Guozi teaching students. The Ph.D. here is not our current Ph.D., but at the time, this Ph.D. was of a higher status than our current Ph.D.
Those who served as Dr. Guozi not only needed to be proficient in the classics, but also had to be of high moral character, and the official ranks above the rank of Scattered Horse Changshi and Zhongshu Shilang were eligible to serve (roughly equivalent to today's vice minister level).
Students (that is, students) are limited to the children of officials above five pins, and wupin is a very high grade, because officials above five pins are eligible to inherit official positions, equivalent to nobles. The Western Jin Dynasty set up Guozixue and distinguished it from Taixue, which was in line with the trend of dividing the shishu at that time.
The whole society attaches importance to "valve reading", that is, the so-called "birth", And Gaomen is reluctant to let his children study with the Shu people, so he establishes another sub-study in addition to Taixue, and only the clans with more than five pins are eligible to enroll. It can be said that guozixue at that time was today's "aristocratic school".
The Western Jin Dynasty was a short dynasty with frequent wars in the later period, but the Guozi system was passed down. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Northern Qi established the Guozi Temple, which for the first time became an administrative institution. The Sui Dynasty made Guozi Temple subordinate to Taichang Temple, and Tang Gaozu Wude set up Guozi Academy in the first year, which was also subordinate to Taichang Temple like the Sui Dynasty.
After all, Tang Chengsui system. In the second year of Emperor Taizong's reign, zhenguan was renamed Guozijian and became an independent educational management institution. At this time, the Guozijian was already very large-scale and taught a wide range of subjects.
There is one Guozi sacrificial wine, two Guozi Siye, one Guozi supervisor, one Guozi supervisor, and one Guozi supervisor. It has jurisdiction over seven schools, including Guozi Studies, Guangwenguan, Taixue, Simenguan, Law, Calligraphy, and Arithmetic.
It must be explained here that the so-called sake offering was originally a staff officer position, which here is equivalent to the principal of the Guozijian. Siye is the vice principal and director of teaching, and the main book and recorder of the Guozijian are all tutors, so it can be said that the Guozijian is the prototype of the modern school.
Guozijian has seven courses, mainly because the Tang Dynasty period was not yet the eight-strand examination system, so in addition to the Four Books and Five Classics, the average student also has to learn arithmetic, law, calligraphy, etc., which can be said to be a well-rounded talent, so the Tang Dynasty Guozijian is also a generation of talents.
At this time, the entrance threshold of guozijian can be higher, and the students of guozixue are the sons and grandsons of officials above sanpin and the title of duke or above, as well as great-grandchildren of officials above the second grade, and the most famous sanpin of the Tang Dynasty is Tongzhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi, that is, the prime minister. It can be seen that the status of the Tang Dynasty Guozijian was very high.
So the status of the Tang Dynasty Guozijian was so high, how did the Song Dynasty Guozijian develop?
Two. The super "Central University" turned out to be a reality
The Song Dynasty followed the Tang Dynasty system and set up the GuoziJian, but there were also many reforms in addition. For example, in the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong Jianyan merged the Guozijian into the Ministry of Rites in three years, which made the Guozijian a subordinate institution of the Ministry of Rites and directly managed by the state.
In the Song Dynasty, the Guozijian was both an educational institution and an educational management institution, and the central officials and schools were all under the jurisdiction of the Guozi Supervision. Successively, there are Guozixue, Taixue, Guangwenguan, and Wuxue. But to talk about the biggest reform, there is one thing to mention - expansion.
According to the Tang Dynasty system, only nobles could enter the Guozi prison, but the Song Dynasty decided to give the descendants of low-ranking officials and poor people the opportunity to enter this "aristocratic school".
In the early Song Dynasty, Guozixue and Guozijian were two titles for an institution, which was both a school and a yamen that managed the school. The student limit is 70, for the children of officials with seven grades or more, and the children of officials of low grades who apply for a certificate of guarantee, after passing the examination, they can also enroll, and study in Guangwen, Taixue, and Law, respectively, that is, the "Three Pavilions of Guozi".
In the fourth year of Emperor Renzong's reign, Guozixue and Guozijian were separated and became subordinate institutions alongside Taixue and so on, and still recruited the children of officials of seven pins or above to enroll, and in addition, the officials, Qing officials, and relatives of officials accompanying officials in Beijing could also be born for Guozi or called Guozi to listen to lectures, and the quota increased to 200.
The gradual decline of the Song Dynasty scholars, the education of the common people is also gradually perfected, and ordinary civilians can also enter the Guozijian to study, which complements the imperial examination system and further promotes the improvement of the imperial examination system.
This also made the ordinary commoners of the Song Dynasty attach importance to education and take pride in learning to be officials, it can be said that everything in the Chinese is inferior, but the concept of reading high is formed at this time. So since the status of the Guozijian is so lofty, what are the conditions for the appointment of the Guozijian teacher?
Three. The highest institution of learning where the elite gather
In the early years of the Song Dynasty, the selection of Guozijian officials was relatively arbitrary, at this time, the Guozijian officials were not limited to their origins, and the academic officials could be served by low-level prefecture and county officials, elected people, and even common people, which was very similar to when China was just starting out and waiting for rejuvenation. At that time, there was also a shortage of teachers in various places, and local transporters could recommend lecturers. Therefore, the teaching quality of Guozijian is also difficult to guarantee, and can only rely on students to learn by themselves.
After Yuanfeng reformed the system, the conditions for the appointment of officials of the State Zijian were increased. Taixue scholars, including doctors and zheng, and lu required "pure learning and practice, and the public was obedient", and the internal and external academic officials basically required the birth of jinshi, and the jinshi origin at that time was not insignificant, because the probability of being able to pass the entrance examination in the ancient imperial examination was lower than that of today's Tsinghua Peking University. Therefore, jinshi is also the highest level of the imperial examination.
Recommenders are also limited to the Chief Supervisor of the State, the Chief of The Taiwan Counselor, and other supervisors. However, there are also backdoors, such as When Emperor Ningzong of Song Ningzong, Chen Ziqiang was hired as a tutor by Han Tuojia (the first minister of power at the time) as a student of the Ether, and was good at inflammatory attachment, from Taixuelu all the way to Taixue Doctor.
However, although the selection of teachers in Guozijian is strict, the treatment is also too good. In addition to the salary, the Guozi Supervisor also has a ministerial official position.
According to the History of the Song Dynasty, "The level of the official rank of Jilu is divided into three grades: line, guard, and test, and the high rank of the official is the line, the low one is the guard, and the low one is the test." ”
Equivalent to today's performance pay. At that time, the income level of the Guozijian was roughly equivalent to today's annual income of about 500,000, which can be said to be a high salary.
There are also many regulations for teachers and officials of the State Zijian in peacetime. Because the officials of the State Zijian have the particularity of being a role model for others, they have undertaken the heavy responsibility of cultivating talents. In order to supervise the conscientiousness of officials, the imperial court formulated a number of systems, mainly the following.
First, strictly manage the daily management of officials. In the fifth year of Emperor Huizong's reign (1115), the rules played at the Dali Temple of the Punishment Department in August:
"Guozijian, Taixue, and Yongguan are not allowed to be thirsty and receive guests,...... When there is a holiday, when you hear thirst, you are allowed to see guests."
It is required that the Guozi supervisor be loyal to his duties and not receive guests on holidays. At the same time, guozijian officials must not have it when they go to work
"Slowness is unfair, and the investigation is untrue". It can be said that it is strict, and you cannot answer the phone when you are in class today, otherwise it is a violation.
Second, it is strictly required that officials exercise their moral integrity and must not be given privately or abused. The main thing here is that you can't cheat on exams, which were very common at the time. Often colluded inside and outside, and the examination room was fraudulent, so it was stipulated at that time that once found, it would be a light fine, and if it was found, it would be dismissed.
Third, establish an appraisal system for officials. Officials with outstanding performance and high moral character were promoted, such as in the second year of Emperor Shenzong Yuanfeng (1079), Taixue Zhizhi Manchu Zhongxing was promoted to the rank of Guan Ge (equivalent to today's grade director) because of his honest character and self-cultivation.
Officials with low performance and poor conduct were deposed, such as Hui Zongzheng and the leap April of the third year (1113), Liu Siming and Siye Lin Suheng were demoted to one level of officials, and Guozi Zhengguwen was demoted to one level of salary.
Now that the treatment of the teacher is finished, what is the treatment of the students? What was the food treatment of the "Central University" in the Song Dynasty?
Four. The life of the immortals of the aristocratic school
During the study and life of the Song Dynasty Guozijian students, they all enjoyed corresponding treatment, which can be said to be very generous at that time. The first is exemption from military service, that is, exemption from military service, which is very understandable, after all, the talents cultivated by the state, the general labor service work is naturally not used.
The second is food and accommodation. In the celebration calendar, 200 people in the Taixue Inner House were provided with food by the imperial court. Later, it was changed to three hundred yuan per person per month, and the insufficient ones were paid by themselves. Yuan Fengjian, "Zengguo Zijian gave money of 6,000 yuan, and initially gave raw food to foreign houses", 850 yuan per person per month (equivalent to today's 8500 yuan a month).
The standard of food for Taixue Sanshesheng has been different in successive dynasties, and the overall trend should be gradually increased. In the third year of Emperor Shenzong's reign (1080), the number of sanshe students increased to 1100.
In the third year of Emperor Huizong Chongning(1104), the number of students in the outer house increased to 1240, and the number of students in the inner house and the upper house increased to 1300. That is to say, the highest-ranking Shangshesheng nobleman pays 13,000 yuan per month for food. This is expected to be the envy of the vast majority of students today.
The third is to make a career. Guozi Jiansheng's direct career path began when he was in the True Sect. Students who are both excellent in taixue can be awarded official positions without taking the imperial examination to motivate students to study diligently.
Students can enjoy preferential treatment according to the level obtained by the examination, such as exemption from the examination, exemption from the ceremonial examination, or even direct access to the official.
To say that so many preferential treatment is not in vain, the State Zijian also has a lot of rules and regulations. In the Song Dynasty, most of the time was spent studying in the Zhai House, that is, the "dormitory", so in order to better manage the students, some rules and regulations were formulated successively.
The Guozi Supervision Commission will classify students and gather with the same kind, such as good writers and good soldiers and scholars living separately, and once the house (dormitory) is arranged, students are not allowed to change at will.
At the same time, Dr. Kuniko was arranged to patrol the fast to monitor the students' behavior. In addition to the patrol, there is also a person who is directly responsible for the registration of students' access.
Students are allowed to leave the school on four days of the holidays each month, and must live on campus for the rest of the time. Students must also meet guests during the fast, and they must also do so during the prescribed holidays. Daily activities such as getting up, eating, going to bed, and assembling are all trumpeted by drumming.
In addition, there are specific rules and regulations for students to take leave. On the first day of each month, students must sign in person, if there is a private matter or illness, funeral, etc., they can take leave, and if they exceed the term or complete less than one month, they will be expelled from the school.
summary:
The author believes that as an ancient central university, Guozijian has a good salary and a fairly good life, so I don't know if you want to try such an aristocratic school? In fact, there are many such aristocratic schools in modern times, you may wish to know about the United States Youquan Middle School, the United Kingdom's Eton College and the like, but compared to the political status of the Guozijian, these are probably slightly inferior.
Resources
[1] (Song) Ouyang Xiu's New Book of Tang
[2] (Yuan) Detachment of the "History of Song"
[3] (Ming) Song Yi's "History of the Yuan"
[4] (Qing) Zhang Tingyu's History of Ming