明清的基层教育与文会

Grassroots Education and Gatherings of Men of Letters in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

“君子以文会友,以友辅仁”,是文人聚会论学的写照。文会在明清基层社会广泛存在,具有教育功能和应对科举的作用。就国家教育体制而言,官学与社学、义学是从上到下的教育体系。县、州、府学及以上为官学,县学以下由官方提倡、民间合设的是社学和义学。官学有学田,学生要通过考试才能取得入学资格。社学和义学由于财政有限,多由民间自行筹资兴办。在学校不多的乡村基层,文会由乡族人等自发设立,灵活多样。这种组织弥补着教育资源的不足,对应着国家教育制度的下行。

“A gentlemen makes friends based on their writing and knowledge,and relies on friends to cultivate his own kindness and virtue。”This old saying portrays the situation of men of letters gathering and learning from each other in ancient China.Such gatherings were popular with the grassroots society in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.They had education functions and were helpful for those to participate in the imperial examinations.From the perspective of national education system,official schools,local schools,and free schools form a top-down educational system.Official schools were run by fu(second level),zhou(third level),and county(fourth level)governments;local schools and free schools were schools below the county level,which were promoted by the government and jointly run by the folks.Official schools were allotted with farmlands as financial support,and students had to pass examinations to be qualified.Due to limited financial support,local schools and free schools had to raise their own funds.In countryside with few schools,men of letters of the same clan or village would spontaneously organize their own gatherings in flexible and diversified manners.Such organizations made up for the inadequacy of education resources,benefiting the downstream of the national education system.