A: In the early days of the Opium War, the feudal society in China had reached the end of the road. The reformists within the landlord class put forward the idea of reforming education and learning western learning, among which Gong Zizhen and Wei Yuan are the most representative. Their educational thoughts mainly include:

(1) "Don't stick to a pattern and lose talent". Gong Zizhen strongly criticized the imperial examination system. In his view, the imperial examination system immersed scholars in a single Confucian classic all day long, and the imperial examination system based on eight-part essay made the talents and personality of scholars unable to develop normally. Coupled with the recruitment system for corrupt officials, many talents have been buried. Therefore, he shouted out the strong voice of "dropping talents without sticking to one pattern".

(2) Reviving the style of study. Gong and Wei both inherited the tradition of progressive scholars in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. They believe that the imperial examination system is the reason for the non-practical phenomenon of learning, and actively advocate that education should proceed from reality and cultivate practical talents needed by the country.

(3) "Learn from foreigners to control foreigners". Wei Yuan clearly put forward the idea of "learning from foreigners to control foreigners" in his book "The Records of the Sea Chart". He believes that to resist foreign invasion, we must first learn western military technology. He also hopes to train and select talents who are proficient in western military technology by reforming the imperial examination system.

The thoughts of Gong and Wei broke the dreary atmosphere in the education field at that time and even in the whole country, and caused the dispute between middle school and western learning in the field of modern educational thought in China. They are pioneers of modern education in China.