西周学校的等级体系、升汰机制与学员出路

The School System,Its Mechanism of Promotion and Drop-out and Outlets of Students in the Western Zhou Dynasty

学校教育是人们实现向上流动的重要途径,西周时期也不例外。当时的国家是由周王国和诸侯国构成的,二者的学校体系近似,都有国学和地方学校两大系统。其中,国学里有大学和小学,地方学校包括乡学和遂学。西周各类学校系统内部有级别不等的诸多学校,而且系统内部从下到上、系统之间从外到内都有流通的渠道。西周时期最低级别学校的入学条件并不苛刻,一般人员均可以入学学习。当时的每一级学校都有一定的考核机制,其中优秀者可以升入更高级别的学校学习,拙劣者则会被淘汰。学校教育为西周时期的贵族和平民入仕提供了门径,也为不能入仕的学员带来了境遇改善和生活便利。

Education has always been an important pathway for upward social mobility.It was the same in the Western Zhou dynasty,when the country was consisted of Kingdom Zhou and the ducal states.The school systems of these two kinds of countries were the same and could be divided into the national school system and the local school system.Among them,national school system was consisted of universities and primary schools,and local school system was made up of various District schools.There were many schools with different levels in each school system,and there were circulation channels from bottom to top within one system and from outside to inside between different systems.The admission requirements of the lowest level school at that time were not high and ordinary people could study in them.During that time,every level of school had a certain assessment mechanism,in which the excellent students could be promoted to higher level of school to study and inferior students would be eliminated.School education provided a way for both noble and civilian students to enter the government.It also brought about the improvement of the situation and the convenience of life for the students who could not join the government.