Chinese Education from the Western Viewpoint

The following pages contain a general survey of the educational development of China up to 1913. The occidental students of educational history generally have a hazy and in­adequate idea of what the term "Chinese education" really connotes. Some speak of the examination system, which forms but a link in the whole chain of the educational development of China, as though it constituted the whole history of Chinese education. While it is true that old Chinese education since the founding of the Appointment System had been of a humanistic type, it does not follow, as Professor Monroe dogmat­ically asserts, that Chinese literature is so inferior to the occidental classical literature that "when the general results upon intellectual life and social develop­ment are considered, there is little basis for comparison."If Chinese literature has not produced great results upon social and intellectual life, it has been due not to its lack of content-value but to the emphasis laid upon its formal side ...This reprint of a classic work on Chinese education is produced courtesy of Life is a Story Problem.org. Proceeds from the sale of this reprint go towards the development of the free websites provided as an educational service by Life is a Story Problem.org