Zhang Xiao: Promoting the innovation of the academy in the inheritance

Private schools, yixue and shuyuan are the public carriers of traditional Chinese culture and education, and as a traditional scholar and the leader of the imperial examination era, Zhang Xiao benefited from the education of yixue and the academy. Zhang Xiao studied at Zhongshan Academy and Xiyin Academy in Nanjing, where he studied under Li Lianxuan, the head of Zhongshan Academy, xue Shiyu, the head of Xiyin Academy, and asked Zhang Yuzhao, the head of Fengchi Academy. Zhang Yuzhao later went to baoding Lotus Pond Academy in the north, and Zhang Xiao also paid a special visit. In 1893, when Zhang Xiao's third brother Zhang Jian was serving in Guixi, Jiangxi, he repaired and expanded the Xiangshan Academy, and Zhang Jian actively contributed to the academy's "Record of Moving and Building the Xiangshan Academy". Zhang Xiao successively served as the head of Ganyu Xuanqing Academy, Chongming Yingzhou Academy, Jiangning Wenzheng Academy, Anqing Jinggu Academy and other academies. Among them, the one who has held office for a long time, has a deep effort, and has distinct personal characteristics is undoubtedly Jiangning Wenzheng Academy.

Confucian scholars have a tradition of teaching people and inheriting the past and the future. The reason why the academy has become a powerful carrier of traditional Chinese culture and education is precisely that after the Confucian scholars have succeeded in their careers, they will use their social influence to recruit outstanding scholars, set up colleges, give back to the society through education, inherit the past and the future, and "continue to learn for the saints and open up peace for all the worlds." In addition to teaching the way of Confucius and Mencius, the academies set up in various places are often also memorial places for outstanding local scholars and literati. For example, when Zhang Qin rebuilt the Guixi Xiangshan Academy, he set up new ancestral halls for Lu Jiuyuan and Xie Dieshan. Xie Dieshan is a native of Guixi, who is a middle scholar in the same discipline as Wen Tianxiang, and is known as the "Second Mountain" of patriotism with the national hero Wen Tianxiang in Chinese history. Zhang Xiao believes that the significance of setting up a memorial ancestral hall is to make the scholars who study here "Shangyou Guxian". Jiangning Wenzheng Academy was established in Bafutang in 1890 by Xu Zhenyi, the envoy of Jiangning Bu. According to Zhang Xiao's account, "Since the envoy Feng Xinxu rebuilt Jiangnan with the Xiangxiang Zengwen Zhenggong, and in Jiangning Youjiu, the academy was established, and the people of Bi state never had endless thoughts, so Jiangning had a Wenzheng Academy." ”

Emphasis is placed on the practical application of the world

Although Wenzheng Academy was established relatively late, Zhang Jian joined with the hope of the new branch, and was extended and supported by Zhang Zhidong (acting governor of Liangjiang) in the late Qing Dynasty, and Jiangning Wenzheng Academy was naturally famous for a while. Zhang Jian's administration of the academy attracted many scholars to study, among which the most famous ones, according to Zhang Xiao's self-description, were: Jiang Qian, Jiang Daomin, Shu Yuezhen, Lu Zongyu, Guo Hongyi, Guo Wenche, Pan Shijie, Shen Shusheng, and Zhang Xiao's subordinate Zhang Liangzu. At that time, Zhang Jian was also hired by Shen Zhongfu (Bingcheng), the governor of Anhui, to serve as the head of the Anqing Jinggu Academy, and Shen Shi was the acting governor of Liangjiang as the governor of Anhui.

Wenzheng College adheres to the counseling function of the examination. "Craftsmanship, policy, and poetry do not have to be unpopular" "Craftsmanship tests what it learns rather than learns it." Zhang Xiao believes that the imperial examination is a way to examine knowledge, but it is not the purpose of learning. Zhang Xiao is the head of the Imperial Examination, and the road of the Imperial Examination is very bumpy and experienced, and there are also quite legends about his path. Jiangning Wenzheng College attracts many students to apply for the examination, and probably many of them come for the "examination". At that time, the drawbacks of the "uselessness" of the scientific expedition gradually appeared, and the imperial examination policy tried the policy in addition to the art and the law, but the policy also wavered. Zhang Xiao did not abandon the art of making and the law, and the teaching art of Dingwenzheng Academy "took the one system of art, the uniform endowment and the seven words and twelve rhymes and long rhythm poems as the grid". Zhang Xiao believes that the art of teaching is the foundation of the examination, so he exerts more efforts in the art of teaching, diligently approves the textbooks, and sometimes reads as many as one hundred and fifty books a day, saying that "the pain of proofreading in his life is not more than this."

College education should return to the history of the scriptures and lay a solid foundation. The Qing Dynasty had academies from provinces to prefectures and counties, and the slightly larger academies had places for students to study, with funds and books, and academically emphasized emulation of the ancient sages and eclectic schools, and the use of official Zhu Xue in the art of the imperial examination. Zhang Xiao believes that "learning is not before the scriptures, and history is secondary", and the talents selected by the imperial examination, most of them study for the purpose of utilitarianism, eager to achieve success, but to pick some words, canons to embellish themselves, to show off to others. In view of the current social situation at that time, Zhang Jian believed that it was not enough to build a college, and that the study of the academy should return to the history of the scriptures, weaken the utilitarian goal of the imperial examination, and consolidate the foundation of learning is the essence.

In 1897, in order to innovate the education of the college, Zhang Jian set up a new Western School in Wenzheng College, and added three courses in English, translation and arithmetic in addition to Chinese. Wenzheng College also gradually broadened the scope of the curriculum, "to each topic, divided into time affairs, arithmetic, military, agriculture, mining, and chemical studies." In order to solve the problem of insufficient funds for Jiangning Wenzheng Academy, Zhang Jian once called for afforestation on the mountains inside and outside Jiangning City to subsidize the college's funds.

Promote the innovation of the College

In the Qing Dynasty, most of the academies were no different from official studies. In the 27th year of Guangxu, the edict decreed that the colleges of the provinces should be converted into university halls, the colleges of the provinces, departments, and prefectures directly under the prefecture should be changed into middle school halls, and the colleges of the prefectures and counties should be changed into primary school halls. Zhongshan College in Nanjing was converted into a university hall, and Jiangning Wenzheng College was converted into a middle school hall. At this time, Zhang Jian also participated in the reform of Jiangyin Nanjing Academy, proposing to change it into a liberal arts college. Zhang Xiao is an advocate of the innovation and new style of school in the college, he believes that in the process of changing the college into a school, it is not possible to simply use the imperial examination education to correspond to university education, and some college students do not meet the requirements of the higher school, but because the college is changed to a higher school, the students are also rising. Zhang Xiao believes that school-running students must have an opinion, and running a school must be upright, and they cannot touch the wall and walk with their heels.

In 1901, Zhang Xiao resigned as the head of Wenzheng Academy and returned to his hometown to manage the affairs of the spinning mill. In 1902, Wenzheng College was changed to Fuxue, that is, JiangningFu Middle School. In 1927, JiangningFu Middle School was merged with the former Zhongshan Academy, which was later changed to Jiangnan Higher School, and the Jiangsu Provincial Fourth Normal School was merged to form Jiangsu Nanjing Middle School.

Zhang Jian was born in the academy, but in the period of change that "has not existed in three thousand years", Zhang Jian was the shouter and promoter of the reform of the academy. He vigorously promoted modern school education, and personally practiced, "father education, mother industry", founded nearly 400 schools in his lifetime, is the pioneer and pioneer of modern school education in China. Zhang Xiao's exploration and practice of school education is precisely based on the responsibility of the scholar who "inherits the study for the saints" and inherits the essence of traditional Chinese culture and education; he founded the school, Guangxing education, adhering to the spirit and ideal of Confucianism; in his reform, the spirit of the academy has a more vital expression and bearing, and its purpose is to learn scientific and technological knowledge outside the national language, so that the Chinese people can adapt to industrial civilization and protect the country and protect the species.