Academy Era: How Ancient Chinese People Took University Entrance Exams

Author: Si Yanren
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: This book addresses four questions: What kind of local universities existed in ancient China? What path did ancient scholars take? What position did academies hold in ancient Chinese social life? How many academies remain today? The Age of Academies is an informative read that comprehensively explores China's academy culture, systematically preserves the remaining materials of academies, and delves into the detailed study of ancient Confucian education. Using academies as a medium to study ancient Confucian education, this book serves as a supplementary read for the history of ancient Chinese education. In ancient times, there were both central government academies and local government academies, with this book focusing on the study of ancient local government academies. Academies refer to the local government academies of ancient China. Academies combine Confucian temple architecture with Confucian school architecture, serving both as places for worshipping the sages Confucius and Wen Miao. During the writing of this book, the local colloquial names are generally used. The character "Academy" on the cover of this book was inscribed by the 77th generation direct descendant of Confucius, Kong Decheng, who now resides in Taiwan, on the academy of Panyu, Guangdong. This book is divided into four parts: Illustrated Academies, Textual Interpretation of Academies, Changes in Academies, and Remnants of Outstanding Academies. Illustrated Academies uses concise cultural introductions paired with nine images to visually present the appearance and cultural connotations of academies. Textual Interpretation of Academies conducts an in-depth study of the complex historical events surrounding academies and the path ancient Chinese scholars took. Changes in Academies represents the rise and fall of six local government academies to reflect the enthusiasm of ancient Chinese officials and people in building temples and establishing schools. Remnants of Outstanding Academies collects and organizes the remaining materials of 204 academies (Confucian temples and Wen Miao) and 14 examination halls (gongyuan) from all provinces in China, excluding Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Tibet.