Text/Evening wind and twilight rain
Although the territory of the Song Dynasty was far less vast than that of the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were still a large number of ethnic minorities living in the territory, and the Song Dynasty, which was prosperous in culture and flourished, attached great importance to the cultural education of ethnic minorities, and the imperial court funded the construction of ethnic minority schools - Fanxue.
The earliest ferocity of the Song Dynasty appeared during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty.
At that time, the Song Dynasty passed Wang Anshi's transformation of the law, and the national strength was enhanced to a certain extent, and Song Shenzong sent the famous general Wang Shao to retake Xizhou, Hezhou and other places in the northwest region.
In the Xihe area, there are a large number of Qiang tribes and other ethnic groups dependent on the Western Xia, about 300,000 accounts, the Song Dynasty in order to appease and co-opt these ethnic minorities, introduced a series of preferential policies, one of which is to try to set up a school, trying to make the Qiang people pro-Song and alienated from the Western Xia through cultural education. Wang Anshi once proposed: "Now with 300,000 people, gradually pushing grammar, immediately changing its customs." ”（1）
In the fourth year of Xi Ning, the Song Dynasty assigned the Xihe area to Shaanxi Road, and the next year, Emperor Shenzong of Song issued an edict to set up a school in Shaanxi.
In the sixth year of Xi Ning, xizhou fan school has been prepared, and the children of ethnic minorities have been enrolled, and in the eighth year of Xi Ning, Hezhou Zhizhou Xian yu shizhong shangxiang requested the establishment of a school, which was approved by the imperial court, and allocated 10 hectares of land as a school field, and contributed 1,000 yuan per day as education funds. （2）
Portrait of Song Shenzong
In addition to border passes, ethnic minorities in the interior of the areas where ethnic minorities gathered, the Song Dynasty also gradually established the study of ferns, in the eight years of Xining, Yuanzhou, Jingzhou, Meishan and other places of the fern school was established one after another.
The textbooks used in the Study of The Song Dynasty were the books prescribed by the Guozijian of the Song Dynasty, and the students of the School of Literature could also participate in the imperial examination held by the imperial court, and the imperial court also introduced a series of "extra points" policies, for example, "If the examination of the Gongyuan Academy is not passed, it is advisable to try the famous examples according to the special performance." （3）
The so-called "special performance celebrity" is that the candidates who have established special merits and are recommended by the state and county where they are located can enjoy special care in the examination of the Gongyuan, and the children of the School of Fame can enjoy the same treatment as the "special celebrities" of the Song Dynasty, which shows that the imperial court still takes great care of them.
Unfortunately, the number and scale of the schools established during the Xining period were too large, which caused the Song Dynasty to be overwhelmed financially and the schools to be suspended. The history books record: "However, the establishment of the study of the Fa is so redundant that there is no supplementary plan, but it can be dismissed, and its professors go to que, and the disciples of the Fabu are exiled." ”（4）
Portrait of Wang Anshi
Although the imperial court suspended official schools, wang Anshi, the prime minister at the time, was keen on the study of the central plains, and under his operation, a number of schools were successively established in the northwest region, although the scale was not as grand as when the imperial court funded it, but it made a certain contribution to the popularization of the culture of the Central Plains Dynasty by ethnic minorities.
Guangxi, where there are a large number of ethnic minorities, did not formally set up the School until the Song Huizong Daguan period, and at the same time, the Guangzhou School also began to enroll the children of ethnic minorities.
Portrait of Emperor Huizong of Song
At the beginning of the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, the Song Dynasty used troops in the northwest, expanded part of the land, and once restored the study of the northwest region, and Emperor Huizong even sent The Scholar Huang Tingzhan as a professor in Xining Prefecture (present-day Xining, Qinghai) to establish a school in Xining Prefecture, where the Qingtang and Qiang people gathered.
A few years later, Huang Tingzhan made remarkable achievements in running the school, and the history books recorded that his sons of the Bo ethnic group were even able to write Chinese characters, recite the "Filial Piety Classic", gradually learn the "Analects", and all knew Xiang Muyi and changed the customs. （5）
Huang Tingzhan "thought that he had done tireless work (6)" and was commended by the imperial court and was promoted to general Shilang.
After the "Jingkang Revolution", the Song Dynasty crossed south and lost control of the Xihe region, and the study of The Song Dynasty also fell into the dust of history with the Northern Song Dynasty.
Although the motive for the establishment of ethnic minority schools in the Song Dynasty was not simple, it objectively improved the cultural and educational level of ethnic minorities, was conducive to the integration and unity of ethnic groups, and left a good story in the history of ethnic relations in China!
Citations:
(1) History of the Song Dynasty, Vol. 191
(2) "Continuation of the Zhizhi TongjianChang, Vol. 261"
(3) "Continuation of the Zhizhi TongjianChang, Vol. 243"
(4) "Continuation of the Zhizhi TongjianChang, Vol. 270"
(5) "The Collected Works of Shuwentang Volume IV"
(6) Ibid