The Western Zhou Dynasty was the heyday of slave society in China. The important feature of culture and education in the Western Zhou Dynasty is that "learning lies in officials", which is also called "learning from officials". The most fundamental reason for its formation is the limited level of productivity development and social system structure in the Western Zhou Dynasty.

Educational institutions are set up in the government, and academics and education are controlled by the government. The state's written laws and regulations, literature and classics, and ritual vessels used in sacrificial ceremonies are all controlled by the government, and ordinary people cannot touch them at all.

"Learning in the government" is embodied in:

1, only officials have books, and the people have no books;

2. Only officials have tools, and the people have no tools;

3. Only the officials have knowledge, but the people have no knowledge.

The aristocrats monopolized the material resources of education and the educational activities themselves, and the teachers were also officials, which also led to an obvious feature of the official school in the Western Zhou Dynasty, that is, "the integration of officials and teachers".

Due to the limitation of social and economic development level, it is impossible to build many large public buildings for various special activities. Schools in the Western Zhou Dynasty were not only places for teaching, but also places for various social activities. There is no difference between educational institutions and administrative organs. This "integration of politics and religion" is the inevitable result of the government's school-running conditions.