帝国教育之回眸——读《纽约时报》晚清教育观察

Reflection on the Education of the Empire:a Review of observation of education in the Late Qing Dynasty by The New York Times

19世纪后期,《纽约时报》有不少关于中国教育(尤其是儿童教育)的报道。这些报道是外国人眼中的中国教育。作为21世纪的中国人,隔一个世纪回望晚清的教育,依稀可见熟悉的影子。通过对晚清教育的回望,可以发现:儿童教育的近现代观念是中国文化的盲点;中国文化对近现代儿童教育观念总体上说还处于无知状态。中国人的当务之急是:学习和建设近现代儿童教育观念,以求实现基本观念的变革,继而采取变革的行动。

In the late years of the 19th century, many reports on Chinese education, especially children education, appeared in The New York Times. These reports mirrored Chinese education in foreigners' eyes. For a Chinese in the 21st century, a glimpse back at the education during that period reveals some vague familiarity. The reflection reveals that contemporary conception of children education is the scotoma of Chinese culture, and it was urgent for Chinese to study and construct the contemporary conception of children education in order to realize the reform of basic conception and, eventually, to take reformative action.