Community Schools and the State in Ming China / Edition 1

by Sarah Schneewind

Overview

According to imperial edict in pre-modern China, an elementary school was to be established in every village in the empire for any boy to attend. This book looks at how the schools worked, how they changed over time, and who promoted them and why. Over the course of the Ming period (1368-1644), schools were sponsored first by the emperor, then by the central bureaucracy, then by local officials, and finally by the people themselves. The changing uses of schools helps us to understand how the Ming state related to society over the course of nearly 300 years, and what they can show us about community and political debates then and now.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780804751742
Publisher:	Stanford University Press
Publication date:	03/21/2006
Edition description:	1
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Sarah Schneewind is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, San Diego.

Table of Contents

	List of Tables	viii
	Acknowledgements	ix
	Table of Ming Reign Periods	xi
1	Introduction	1
2	Shaky Foundations: The Early Ming	6
3	Borders and Bureaucrats: The Middle Ming	33
4	Heroes of the High Ming	58
5	Philosophy and Politics in Community School Curricula	94
6	Community Schools in Ming Society	112
7	The Locality Fights Back: The Late Ming	138
8	Conclusion	163
	Appendixes	171
	Notes	181
	Gazetteers Consulted	255
	Works Cited	271
	List of Chinese Terms	287
	Index	291

Editorial Reviews

"... a substantial, refined, and very readable analysis of the development and significance of village elementary schools, called 'community schools' shexue, in Ming China (1368-1644)."

New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies

"Sarah Schneewind must be thanked for producing a clearly argued, comprehensive, and up-to-date study on the subject. This book will be most useful for anyone interested in Ming political and social history."—Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies

From the Publisher

"..meticulously researched and eloquently written..."

American Historical Review

"..meticulously researched and eloquently written..."

American Historical Review/i>