Bulletin Winter 1977

As a result it became a cosmopolitan institution o f learning in the East Asian world. In the third place, unlike its Han predecessor, which was confined to Confucian studies, the T'ang Academy was greatly expanded into a university system to include pro fessional schools such as law and mathematics. Thus we see the emergence o f a prototype o f what Abra ham Flexner called the “ modern university". The Sung Academy The T'ang system was further perfected under the Sung dynasty, which unfortunately was also the last dynasty to take the Imperial Academy seriously as an institution o f higher learning. A medical school and an art (painting) school were added to the system. With the spread o f printing, library facilities were also improved markedly. Not only the Academy developed its own library but the Imperial lib ra ry (Pi-shu Sheng 秘書省 ) was also with in easy reach. In fact the Direc torate o f Higher Education and the Imperial lib ra ry were such two closely related agencies that the latter relied on the former for supplies o f printed works of authorized editions. The campus o f the Sung Academy had every reason to claim to be the best in traditional China. For it was designed by and constructed under the supervision o f one o f China's most brilliant archi tects, Li Chieh (李誡)， in 1102. I must not be mistaken to suggest, however, that the greatness o f the Sung Academy lies primarily in its material improvement, which is unprecedented and tremendous indeed. In fact, the material improve ment is only an expression o f the new cultural spirit o f the Sung times consisting in a clear recognition o f the intrinsic value o f education and learning combined w ith a sensitivity to the needs o f society. The intel lectual development o f this period does lend much support to the famous Naitõ hypothesis that the modern age in China began w ith the Sung dynasty. Never in Chinese history did the Imperial Academy have so many distinguished educators among its faculty and produce so many outstanding scholars, thinkers, as well as public servants among its alumni as in the Sung times. The early Sung leaders in govern ment and education also considered it the Academy's responsibility to include practical studies for the new age then facing difficulties o f various kinds both ex ternally and at home. Under the direction o f Hu Yüan (胡瑷 993-1059) a revolutionary new step was taken to divide the curriculum o f the Academy into two major categories: basic studies o f the Confucian classics and practical studies o f current affairs. The latter category included frontier defense and irrigation. Obviously, the Sung Academy was already profoundly conscious o f its mission to be "in the nation's service". By common consent, teaching, research, and public service have come to be regarded as the three missions o f the modern university. The last one — public service — is also the latest assignment to the univer­ sity, and it is largely an American contribution. Aren't we justified to say, then, that in spirit but not in scale or technological competence the Sung Academy somewhat anticipated this most recent American development? The Sung Shu-yuan I cannot leave Sung China without aword about the shu-yuan (書院)， private or semi-private local academies, as they were developed by great Neo-Con- fucian masters. The shu-yuan is such a unique Chinese institution that it would be in vain to look for its exact equivalent in the West. Its methods o f instruc­ tion may sometimes remind us o f the Socratic dia logue, its emphasis on personal education may bear a vague resemblance to the British collegiate system; and yet it is neither. The contribution o f the shu-yuan to the growth o f early modern Chinese culture can hardly be over-estimated. With the decline o f the Imperial Academy since the end o f Sung, it became in fact the sole torch-bearer o f higher education and learning in China. Throughout the Sung-Yuan-Ming period, it provided the elixir for the rejuvenation o f Chinese society through transmission and dissemi­ nation o f knowledge in the broad field o f Chinese humanities. I believe, no one in his right mind would deny that it has always been amost cherished Chinese dream to extend education to the children o f all, re­ gardless o f social and economic background. But not until the rise o f the shu-yuan and its rapid growth in virtually all parts o f China, did this dream come close to reality. For example, among Lu Hsiang-shan's audience were common people as well as soldiers; the social composition o f the T'ai-chou (泰州) school, the radical wing o f the Wang Yang-ming school, included a woodcutter, a potter, a stonemason, an agricultural worker, clerks, and merchants. True, according to Han Y ü (韓愈 768-824 )， sons o f artisans and merchants already found their way into the T'ang Imperial Academy. There is also evidence that some students in the Sung Academy came from rather obscure origins. But these are exceptional cases and therefore cannot be taken as indication o f a social change o f profound historical significance. It was through the shu-yuan system that the popular character o f higher education and learning was developed to its fullest extent in traditional China. 11