Popular education
2 min readChina’s Spring and Autumn and Warring States period（770-221 BC）was a time of great social upheaval and protracted war and chaos.Numerous theories for reforming society emerged，producing the famous”Hundred Schools”period.The ideas of some of the thinkers of this time found scant welcome among those in power.However，their teachings were widely disseminated among the common people through methods such as private lectures and instruction，greatly increasing the influence of these ideas on the society.
After the Han Dynasty，Confucianism became the official state ideology.Supplementing the official indoctrination in Confucian ideology that took place at the Taixue Imperial College，popular schools were established throughout the country to transmit the tenents of Confucianism to the common people.The establishment of the imperial examination system provided a major impetus for the development of popular education.Diligent study and participation in the imperial examinations became the primary means by which educated commoners could advance their social status.
The Song Dynasty（960-1276 AD）saw the flourishing of education for the common people inschools known as popular academies.The popular academies of the Song Dynasty served not only to supplement the Taixue Imperial College and provide training for the imperial examinations.They also continued the venerable tradition of debate fostered during the”Hundred Schools”period，becoming crucibles for new philosophies and ideas for reforming society.Popular academies provided centralized locations where scholars could gather，lecture，and accept students.Songyang Academy，Bailudong Academy，Juyang Academy，and Yuelu Academy were known as the”Four Great Academies”of the time.Bailudong Academy，establishedin 937 AD at Lushan，Jiangxi Province，endured for over 1，000 years，through the Five Dynasties，Song，Yuan，Ming，and Qing dynasties.During the twelfth century AD，philosopher Zhu Xi（1130-1200 AD）was responsible for renovating Bailudong Academy.He personally formulated the Bailudong Academy Educational Code，consisting of detailed descriptions andregulations concerning the Academy’s educational objectives，training programs，courses and curricula，and teaching methods.The Bailudong Academy Educational Code comprises one of the world’s first comprehensive educational philosophies.Not only did it provide a model for establishing institutes of higher learning for the next 700 years，it also is an important resource for today’s scholars studying educational systems.
During the final years of the Qing Dynasty，the incursion of Western culture resulted in the establishment of missionary and other schools modeled on Western educational forms.This new trend culminated in 1898，when Emperor Guangxu（r.1875-1908 AD）ordered the establishment of the Jingshi Daxuetang（Metropolitan University），the successor to the Guozijian Imperial College and the predecessor of today’s Beijing University.From this point on，China’s ancient educational tradition，both popular and official，entered a new period of transformation.
