Text/Feng Xuanyi
Many people believe that the first government-run foreign language school in Chinese history was the Beijing Normal Division Tongwenguan. The Jingshi Tongwenguan was opened under the initiative of Prince Gong Yi and others. The school officially opened on August 24, 1862, mainly to cultivate foreign language translators. At first, there was only one subject in English, but later French, German, Russian, Japanese and other subjects were added. The Jingshi Tongwenguan has cultivated many talents who are proficient in foreign Chinese, laying a talent foundation for the western affairs movement, and at the same time allowing more people to open their eyes to the world, which has played an active role and occupied a place in modern history. At the beginning of 1902, the Kyoshi Tongwenguan was merged into the Kyoshi University Hall and renamed the Kyoshi Translation Academy. The Jingshi Tongwenguan was indeed very important in the history of the late Qing Dynasty and made positive contributions to the modernization of China. But to say that the first government-run foreign language college, but it is not yet the turn of the Beijing Normal Division, why? Because there was a foreign Chinese school earlier than it, this school was called Siyiguan, which was ordered by the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
What kind of school is Siyiguan? Let's take a look at a piece of historical data:
The "Great Ming Huidian" records: "Where the Sifang Fanyi translated the text, Yongle set up the Siyi Pavilion in the fifth year, which was divided into eight pavilions, namely Tatar, Female Straight, Xifan, Xitian, Huihui, Baiyi, Gaochang, and Burma. "
This brief text reveals several pieces of information, Siyiguan was established in the fifth year of Yongle (1407), the purpose of the establishment of Siyiguan is to translate the languages and scripts of the surrounding ethnic minorities, Siyiguan has opened a total of eight majors, namely Tatar, Mesut, Xifan, Xitian, Hui, Baiyi, Gaochang and Burmese.
If we compare the Siyiguan and the Jingshi Tongwenguan, we will find that the purpose of their opening is roughly the same, both for the purpose of translating other languages. There are more majors offered than the Jingshi Tongwenguan. In terms of starting time, the Kyoshi Tongwenguan was 450 years late. It can be seen that Siyiguan was the real first government-run foreign language school, so what was the outcome of this school?
Shiyikan is a super "longevity" school that has existed since its establishment during the Ariake Dynasty. Due to the needs of international relations at that time, 800 museums were added during the Zhengde period to teach Lannawen. During the Wanli Period, the SiamEse Pavilion was added to teach Siamese. So far, Siyiguan has opened a total of 10 foreign language majors, covering almost all the languages of the surrounding countries of the Ming Dynasty at that time, which shows that its majors are complete and large.
There are three main sources of siyiguan teachers: the first is the officials who remained in the Ming Dynasty during the Yuan Dynasty. Some officials of the Yuan Dynasty were fluent in many languages, and after entering the Ming Dynasty, a large number of people were arranged by the imperial court to serve as interpreters. This position has no real power and can play its strengths, which is a good choice. After the establishment of the Siyi Pavilion, these people were summoned into the museum to serve as teachers. The second is to hire foreigners to fill the post. During the Yongle period, after Zheng He went to the West seven times, many foreign envoys came to pay tribute, and after many seasons of tribute, they were left in Siyiguan as teachers. The third is that people with excellent academic performance can directly stay in the library to teach.
When it was first established, siyiguan was subordinate to Hanlin Temple, and later the organization was adjusted and changed to the management of Taichang Temple. By Taichang Temple Qing and Tai Chang Temple Shao Qing "Admiral Siyi Pavilion". Taichang Siqing is equivalent to the principal, while Shaoqing is equivalent to the executive vice president, responsible for handling daily affairs.
Siyiguan continued until the fall of the Ming Dynasty. This institution provided a steady stream of professional translators for the Ming Dynasty, enabling the imperial court to accurately and timely handle the surrounding international relations, and indirectly improving the international status of the Ming Dynasty.
After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty followed the Ming Dynasty system and still set up the Siyi Pavilion as usual. Only in terms of professional adjustments, the Jurchen and Tatar Pavilions were abolished, and the remaining eight majors were inherited unchanged. The Qing Dynasty's Ai Xin Jue Luo clan was Manchu, and in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, they were barbarians. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty were also not very confident, and felt that the old use of the word "Yi" was very bad and did not enter the ears. Therefore, the imperial court ordered that "Siyiguan" be changed to "Siyiguan"
With the continuous expansion of the territory of the Qing Dynasty and the development of the various ethnic minorities around the Qing Dynasty, the significance of the existence of the "Four Translation Pavilions" became weaker and weaker. With the development of the Industrial Revolution in Europe, the European and American powers gradually rose. During the Kangxi Dynasty, a large number of missionaries came to the Qing Dynasty, and some even entered the imperial court as officials. The international situation is quietly changing. The profession of the Four Translation Halls is increasingly unsuitable for the needs of the imperial court and society. In the thirteenth year of Qianlong (1748), the imperial court ordered that the "Huitongguan", which was responsible for receiving tribute envoys, be merged with the "Four Translation Pavilions" and renamed "Huitong Siyiguan" and subordinate to the Ministry of Rites. At this point, the Siyi Pavilion survived in name only.
From the history of the development of Siyiguan, we can see that the Qing Dynasty did not do a good job in dealing with the problem of Siyiguan. SiyiGuan was established to translate foreign Chinese and facilitate international exchanges, and in the Qing Dynasty, since the pattern of international relations had changed, it was necessary to adjust the professional settings of the school in time, abolish those that were not used and obsolete, and open new majors in demand. For example, at that time, there were already many foreign missionaries in China, so why didn't the Qing Dynasty court open Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English and other majors in Siyiguan?
If Qianlong had embraced an open attitude to reform the Siyi Pavilion, add specialties, and introduce western scientific and cultural knowledge in a timely manner. Through the window of siyiguan, let more Chinese know what the outside world is like and what other countries are doing. That Chinese open your eyes to see the world a century ahead. If this were the case, China's modern history would surely be rewritten. It is just that history cannot be assumed, but the lessons of history are still profound. That is, when dealing with new things, we must have an open and learning attitude, and timely and rapid perception of the development trend of society, only in this way, we will not be eliminated.