A: (1) History of establishment and development: Shi Jing Wentong Library was originally established as a foreign language school, which is the product of passive opening in modern China. Shortly after the end of the Second Opium War, in June 65438 +08665438 10 +65438 10, the Qing court should preside over the westernization litigation and other petitions and approve the establishment of a foreign language school in the Foreign Affairs Office of the Prime Minister. On June 1862, 1 1 day, the school was finally officially opened in the Prime Minister's yamen and named Wentongtang. Its students are all thirteen or fourteen-year-old teenagers selected from Manchu relatives, and the study period is eight years. At first, Wentong Library had only one English library with only 10 students. Later, French Library, Russian Library, German Library, Japanese Library, Mathematics Library and Planetarium joined in succession, thus developing into a comprehensive school, and the number of students increased from the initial 10 to 120 in 887. 1898, the climax of reform, Shi Jing University Hall was established, and the science and technology education part of Wentong Museum was owned by Shi Jing University Hall. 1902 1 month, Shi Jing Wentong Museum was completely merged into Shi Jing University Hall. (2) Historical position: First, it is the beginning of China Westernization School and modern new education. The establishment of Shi Jing Wentong Museum indicates that learning from the West has changed from concept to reality in modern times. It was the first attempt to change the old feudal traditional education, which opened a gap in the feudal education system for more than two thousand years in practice. Second, Shi Jing Wentong Museum, located in the imperial capital Beijing, is the national political and cultural center, directly under the leadership of the Westernization Central Prime Minister's Office, and is the focus of social attention. Some of its important measures and the controversies it caused can often reflect the views of various parties on education reform. The above two points determine the symbolic significance of Shi Jing Wentong Museum in the history of modern education in China. Tongwenguan is both feudal and colonial, and it is the product of the combination of Qing government and foreign capitalism in education. It not only has a new form of running a school, but also has added a series of natural science courses after it evolved from a foreign language school to a comprehensive school. Science education has been formally included in China's education system, and education has taken an important step forward.