1, attach great importance to it and make great determination.
"Without modern education, it is unthinkable to make Japan as civilized as the advanced capitalist countries in the West." Therefore, the Meiji government and its members attached great importance to education. One of the most important * * * of the government, Takashi Kimura, pointed out in the proposal of 1869 that revitalizing general education is a top priority: "The foundation of the country's prosperity lies in the prosperity of the people. When ordinary people are still ignorant, the reputation of Wang Zheng's reform can only be superficial. The goal of confronting the rich and powerful countries in the world is doomed to be difficult to achieve. Therefore, it is an urgent task today to improve the knowledge level of ordinary people, absorb the progressive laws of civilized countries, and gradually revitalize the ubiquitous education in schools across the country. "
The urgency of educational reform has also been recognized by the whole country. 1870, Fu Yang's masterpiece "Encouraging Learning" came out continuously. Starting from the idea of natural human rights, the author lashed out at the feudal system and the old moral and ethical concepts, and issued the voice that "heaven does not give birth to superior people, and the earth does not give birth to human beings", emphasizing that "the independence of the country, based on the independence of all people, is an urgent knowledge." Encourage learning 17, with 3.4 million copies issued. At that time, the total population of Japan was only 35 million. This case alone shows that the Japanese people's desire for modern civilization destroyed the old civilization after the reform.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology began to rectify the old educational institutions and establish new educational institutions and systems by issuing decrees. According to incomplete statistics, from 1868 to 19 1 1 year, the Meiji government enacted more than 50 decrees directly related to education reform. In summing up experience, lessons and process, we constantly revised and supplemented, and finally established a complete education system. The Meiji government's work for educational reform in a series of reforms is unmatched by any other reform. In terms of investment in education, although financial resources were scarce at that time, the investment in education was the largest, accounting for 3% of national income in the last years of Meiji.
2. Popularize primary education and develop industrial education and higher education.
After the establishment of the Ministry of Education, the primary school was the foundation of all schools, and it paid great attention to primary education, aiming at popularizing national education, improving the cultural quality of the employed population and promoting the economic development of Japan. This is a prominent feature of Japanese education and the main body of educational reform during the Meiji Restoration. When realizing the educational system, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has determined "today's work order" and "make more efforts in primary schools" and put forward the policy of "today's first task, make more efforts in primary schools" in order to achieve "no school in every family in the city".
While popularizing primary education, Japan attaches importance to the development of industrial education and higher education. Since Meiji, the characteristic of Japanese industrial education is that all universities, middle schools and primary schools have implemented the policy of technical education, forming a huge network to support primary schools, middle schools and higher-level industrial education. Primary schools are primary handicraft departments, industrial departments and industrial tutorial schools; Technical secondary schools are normal schools and industrial schools in ordinary middle schools (including agriculture, commerce, industry, etc.). ) and technical schools; Higher education is a specialized industrial school.
In terms of higher education, Imperial University of Tokyo, Teachers College and various specialized universities were opened in the early years of Meiji. 1877, the University of Tokyo established the Faculty of Medicine, Science, Literature and Law. 1886 established engineering university, 1890 established agricultural university. Since the promulgation of the "academic system", the restrictions on the admission of students to colleges and universities have been lifted. No matter who is a bachelor of agriculture, industry and commerce, ordinary people can enter colleges and universities as long as they have real talents and practical knowledge. In order to give the gifted children of ordinary people a chance to enter institutions of higher learning, the academic system also stipulates that those who study hard, are smart and upright, can finish their studies in the future, but their families are poor and cannot feed themselves. After checking their academic qualifications, they can lend them academic funds, but they must be repaid after work. This provision provides conditions for some children of ordinary families with excellent academic performance and poor families to receive higher education.
3. Attach importance to normal education and improve the treatment of teachers.
Developing normal education is the basis of developing national general education. Mori Youli, the first generation minister of education in Japan, once said: "The key to the success of general education lies in teachers." The Meiji government has paid enough attention to this point. 1872 In April, the Ministry of Education put forward in the Submission on Establishing Training Places for Primary School Teachers: In order to meet the requirements of the times for education, it is imperative to establish normal schools. In June of the same year, it was clearly pointed out in the current plan to implement the academic system that "quickly establishing normal schools" was second only to "vigorously developing primary schools", and then it was clearly stipulated in the academic system promulgated in September of the same year: "In addition to primary schools, there must be normal schools to teach the teaching principles and methods of primary schools." In order to further improve the normal education system and strengthen the management of normal schools, the government promulgated the Order of Normal Schools in 1886, placing the training of teachers in the same important position as the national training.
In order to improve the status of primary school teachers and encourage people to engage in the teaching profession, the government stipulated in 1890 that anyone who has worked for 15 years or more can enjoy a lifetime pension, and their families can enjoy certain subsidies after their death. Since 1899, the government has spent one million yuan from the national treasury every year as teaching seniority allowance and teachers' special salary. These practices have greatly improved the economic conditions of teachers and raised their political status.
Content:
187 1 In July, the Meiji government, which had just abolished the vassal state, immediately established the Ministry of Education and Culture to take charge of national education. 1872 In September, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology promulgated the educational reform law-academic system, and began to formally implement the educational reform with a program, plans and measures. The "academic system" clearly announced that starting from primary schools, in order to popularize primary schools throughout the country, the whole country is divided into 80 university districts, and each university district has a university and 32 middle schools, that is, 32 middle schools. Each middle school district has 2 10 primary schools. In this way, 8 universities, 256 middle schools and 53,760 primary schools have been established nationwide. The "educational system" requires that "from now on, all ordinary people, regardless of China gentry, agriculture, industry and commerce, and their women and children, will have a home to study." The "academic system" broke the monopoly right of the old gentry to learn cultural knowledge and promoted universal education. It is emphasized that all children over the age of six must go to school and finish primary school, and women have the same right to education as men. In the teaching content, follow the example of France and the United States, and replace the Four Books and Five Classics with modern knowledge education. 1873 supplemented the academic system, formulated the "learning rules" of mining, agriculture, commerce and various industrial schools, and began industrial education. The problem of teachers is the most important issue in the educational reform. 1872, a normal school was established in Tokyo. Since 1873, it has been established in Sakamoto, Miyagi, Aichi, Hiroshima and Tokyo Normal Schools. 1874 promulgated the supplementary academic system, and formulated the regulations on studying abroad, foreign teachers, junior colleges and monk schools, which made the new education system perfect day by day.
The academic system has greatly promoted and laid the foundation for the establishment of modern education system and the reform and development of education. It is a preliminary attempt to integrate the educational heritage of Tokugawa era with western civilization. However, there are also serious problems in the content of the academic system. It copied the education system and contents of advanced countries in Europe and America too much, and many of them were out of tune with Japan's national conditions at that time, even seriously divorced from Japan's national conditions and people's real life, resulting in the enrollment rate not reaching the expected goal. In addition, the Han School headed by Tian Yuan Yongfu and others also made a big fuss about some problems of the academic system. In order to coordinate the opinions of all parties, the Meiji government promulgated the Education Order in 1879 to replace the academic system, which ended after a short period of seven years.
The education order was made in Fujita by the Ministry of Education, which actively advocated the American education system, with a strong pro-American color. The Education Order mainly changed the centralized system stipulated in the academic system, emphasized local decentralization, respected diversity and liberalism, and reorganized the education system in line with Japan's national conditions. In addition, it also relaxed the obligation to go to school, so it is also called a free education order. However, in the name of freedom, many private primary schools carry out very monotonous education, and the government's education is despised, resulting in a decline in primary school enrollment, and some educational contents are reactionary. The education order met with opposition from inside and outside the government, forcing the Meiji government to revise it.
1879, in the name of the emperor, the government promulgated the "Teaching Instructions" and "Two Rules for Primary Schools", and as a fuse, launched a big debate on moral education within the government, which soon developed into a heated debate involving thinkers and educators. Conservatives such as pastoral Yongfu rely on the emperor with absolute authority as the backing, so the ending has long been a foregone conclusion. It can be said that the promulgation of the "teaching imperial edict" and the result of the debate have determined the direction of Japanese education development since then.
1880, at the time of the most heated controversy, the Corrective Education Order was promulgated, which absorbed some lessons of the Order, strengthened the obligation of setting up primary schools in towns and villages, tightened the provisions of the obligation to attend schools, strengthened the educational administrative power of the Minister of Education and the county government, put the self-cultivation class originally placed at the end of the primary education department at the top of all subjects, and strengthened the "respect for ancestors, loyalty and filial piety, and learning Confucius" Thus, the state-controlled education has been strengthened through centralization and Confucianism, and the guiding ideology of education legislation of "harmony but difference" has been initially established.
1885, the new Minister of Education Mori Youli came to power and issued a series of school orders. As an enlightened figure in the government, he tried to explore a way to adapt to Japan's national conditions in the process of learning from the West, so as to prevent Japan from fully restoring the old traditional education. In the educational order, it mainly absorbed Prussia's nationalist educational thought and emphasized the moral education of cultivating "kind subjects".
1889 The Constitution of the Great Japanese Empire established the modern imperial state system in Japan. In order to establish the spiritual support for maintaining this national system, we need corresponding moral standards. 1890, the imperial edict on education was issued in the name of the emperor. The imperial edict on education is based on the principle of "taking Confucianism as the basis and western philosophy as the reference", and it is "nothing more than decorating Japanese mythology with Confucianism and Prussia". The Education Letters regards the emperor as the highest moral incarnation and the sacred and inviolable master, thus further strengthening the educational system of emperor's absolutism. The promulgation of "Education Letters" quelled the debate on moral education since 1878, and laid the foundation for educational reform since Meiji Restoration. From then on to the end of World War II, the education in Japan has never changed greatly, and its influence is enormous.
Revelation:
1. In the process of educational reform, Japan was able to choose the main courses flexibly according to the form at that time. The educational system mainly imitates France, and the educational order mainly imitates the American and school order.
Mainly imitating Prussia. When Japan imitated these countries, it widely adopted Bona, and combined with its own national conditions, absorbed the nutrition it needed from different countries. In a certain period, Japan was mainly influenced by a certain country, but in the end it established a unique education system that integrated the characteristics of various countries. This has a profound relationship with the plasticity, adaptability and adaptability cultivated by a country for a long time.
2. In the process of educational reform, the Meiji government established an educational system in line with its own national conditions, and by half a century, it has trained a technical force at different levels: a labor force with basic knowledge and skills; Technical team capable of mastering and applying advanced production methods; A technical management team that can adapt to the level of industrialization and adopt advanced technology and a scientific and technological team that has inventions and creations in scientific research. It spread new culture and new scientific knowledge among workers and farmers, and played a great role in developing modern industrial and agricultural production. The main reason why Japan can become a capitalist power from a backward feudal country with closed doors is the success of education.
3. The establishment of centralization of authority in Meiji period well adapted to the requirements of the society at that time. During the 40-odd years of Meiji period, the academic system and academic level changed frequently, which shows that the educational administrators of Meiji government are constantly exploring and revising in order to obtain the best scheme and establish a strong educational system. Japan can complete the leap of education in a short time, which can be said to be largely due to this powerful skill of educational administration.
4. The Japanese nation is good at absorbing foreign culture and renewing national culture. The three changes in history are proof that Dahua innovation absorbed China culture, created splendid ancient culture, practiced feudalism, and Meiji Restoration absorbed western culture. Realized modernization and quickly entered the ranks of world powers; Post-war reform absorbed modern scientific civilization in Europe and America, realized economic take-off and became a world industrial power.
5. Science and technology are the primary productive forces. Meiji government adopted various measures to introduce advanced science and technology, economic management system and modern machinery and equipment from western countries, which greatly improved Japan's social productivity and accelerated the process of Japanese capitalist industrialization. Education is the foundation of developing productive forces, because education is a huge project to train talents. Among all the means of production, the most powerful productive force is the revolutionary class itself. Man is the decisive factor of productivity. If human beings master advanced science and technology through education and apply it to social production, science and technology will be transformed into direct social productive forces. During the Meiji Restoration in Japan, science and technology were the key and education was the foundation in the process of national industrialization. Without science and technology and modern education, Japan's industrialization is inconceivable. The Japanese nation still maintains this tradition and carries it forward. It is one of the countries that have introduced the most technology and developed education in the world.
Background:
Japan entered the ranks of capitalist countries relatively late. Japan is nearly 230 years behind Britain. 1775 to 1783, the American War of Independence broke out, defeated the British colonists and established the United States of America. Japan is more than 90 years behind the United States. From 1789 to 1794, the bourgeois revolution broke out in France, destroying the feudal autocracy and establishing bourgeois rule. Japan is also nearly 80 years behind France.
After basically completing the bourgeois revolution, these countries, which first entered the capitalist society, successively had "industrial revolutions" and started the process of capitalist industrialization. From the 1960s to the end of 1930s, Britain basically completed the industrial revolution, which brought about fundamental changes in production technology. By the middle of19th century, it had become the world's first industrial power, and was called the "world factory". After Britain, the United States, France and other countries basically completed the industrial revolution in the 1950s and 1960s, capitalist industrial production developed rapidly.
At this time, Japan is still sleeping in the closed door, still stagnant in feudal society, and far behind western countries in all aspects. There is a strict feudal hierarchy in society, politically in the Tokugawa era, economically stuck in handicraft workshops, pursuing ignorant policies in culture and education, and militarily unable to resist the eastward expansion of western colonial forces due to the corruption of the shogunate and the poverty and backwardness of the country. 1853, American giant ship artillery threatened the country and forced Japan to "establish the country". Japan is facing a semi-colonial national crisis, which requires us to face up to the reality, reflect on the closed-door policy, learn from the strong and seek a way out of the national crisis. Later, Tamoto Tadashi of the Meiji Restoration recalled: "The reform of Fu Fu began with the patriotism of people with lofty ideals, wishing the country to sink, but knowing that there is no need to reform the old things is not enough to make the country rich and strong." It can be seen that they have learned a lesson from China's terrible lessons. Only by abandoning the blind and arrogant closed-door policy and carrying out fundamental reforms can Japan be rescued from the national crisis.
Meiji government is a joint government of landlords and bourgeoisie. In order to rapidly develop the capitalist economy and squeeze into the ranks of European and American powers, it put forward three major programs: enriching Qiang Bing, prospering agriculture and opening up. "Rich Qiang Bing" refers to strengthening the financial, military and power of the Meiji government. "Industrialized prosperity" is the actual economic content to realize "enriching Qiang Bing". "Civilization" refers to learning from western bourgeois culture, introducing European and American science and technology, and reforming Japan's education system, so as to effectively and rapidly promote and realize the goal of "enriching Qiang Bing" and "becoming an industrialized power", and thus build Japan into an advanced capitalist country.
A certain education is determined by a certain politics and economy. The development of capitalism urgently needs advanced science and technology, so reforming the education system has become an objective need of Japan's historical development.
The educational reform of Meiji government was carried out on the basis of criticizing and inheriting the cultural and educational heritage of Edo shogunate. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce the education policy and education situation in the Edo period. The educational policy of Tokugawa shogunate is nobility-oriented, and the object of education is samurai. The content of education is mainly Confucianism, the so-called "samurai's home, Confucianism prevails". Educational institutions, in strict accordance with the feudal hierarchy, include Changping Sakamoto College, Fan Xuetang, Temple, Yi Shu and so on.
Changping Sakamoto College is a school set up by the shogunate to educate Mufti. The students mainly come from seven books, and they also accept excellent fighters. The subjects of study are classics, history, law and poetry. Fanpai is a school set up by the Lord to educate Fanjia samurai. The teaching content is roughly the same as that of Changping Sakamoto College. Siziwu is a civilian school established spontaneously to adapt to the development of commodity economy. Businessmen and doctors predominate in cities, while village heads, township officials and monks dominate in villages. The content of study is mainly industry, which varies from occupation to occupation. Generally, there are courses such as reading, calligraphy, composition, abacus calculation and etiquette. Most schools are located in monasteries. When students enter the school, they kneel in front of the teacher and make an agreement with the teacher. Children respect teachers like relatives, and teachers love children like children, hence the name "Temple". Private school is an educational form and institution that can't be ignored in Edo era. Private schools are mostly run by scholars of various schools. Celebrities and scholars all became famous through prestigious private schools.
The Confucian education system of feudal shogunate is extremely old and backward, which is a big obstacle to social and economic development. In order to master and apply the advanced science and technology learned from the west as soon as possible and popularize it quickly to meet the needs of capitalist industrialization, the Meiji government actively carried out educational reform. Without modern education, it is inconceivable for Japan to achieve the "civilization" like that of western developed capitalist countries. This made education reform a basic link in the bourgeois reform during the Meiji Restoration.