论盛宣怀办学与政府的协调关系——以南洋公学校名演变为视角

Government Coordination in Private Education: Case of Nanyang College

考察解读校名更易的具体过程与内在根源,可以窥见我国现代教育诞生和成长的特殊轨迹。南洋公学(1896-1905)是盛宣怀倾注心力最多、办学成绩最突出的一所学堂,其校名数经变更。在现代教育起步之初,以盛宣怀为代表的绅商阶层扮演了先行者的角色,其创办的南洋公学借鉴西方,定名"公学",采取由工商实业出资支持的"公学"发展模式。然而,当时中国社会还远未形成成熟稳定的工商阶层,而国家行政管理体制主导社会的传统却异常发达,"公学"办学模式注定缺乏可持续性。在晚清政府主持学制改革后,"公学"模式不得不退出历史舞台,转而融入到由国家政府主导的教育现代化进程的滚滚洪流之中。

The once most prominent Nanyang College( 1896-1905) to which SHENG Xuan-huai devoted most of his efforts changed its name several times. Examining how and why the college changed its name helps to reveal the developmentof modern education. From the outset,the gentry and merchants represented by SHENG played the leading role in establishing the College in the name of Public School. This western-style College was then financed by the industry and commerce community. However,there was no mature and stable industrial and commercial class in China,while there was a well-developed traditional system of public administration,which made the education mode of Nanyang College less sustainable. After the reform in the School System in the late Qing Dynasty,SHENG's mode gradually faded out in the process of education modernization led by the government.