A Brief History of the Tujia: Tujia Culture in the Late Qing and Early Republican Period
Section 3: Tujia Culture in the Late Qing and Early Republican Period — In 1901, the Qing court promulgated reforms abolishing the imperial examination and establishing schools. From 1902, Tujia counties converted old academies into modern schools.
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
Section Three: Tujia Culture in the Late Qing and Early Republic
In 1901, under the name of implementing the New Policies, the Qing court successively promulgated decrees abolishing the imperial examinations and establishing schools, with the aim of stabilizing Qing rule. Driven by the Qing court's so-called New Policies, beginning in 1902 the counties in the Tujia areas converted the old academies into schools, and from then on each county successively established higher primary schools, and middle schools were established in the seats of Yongshun and Shinan prefectures. Most of these schools were run by the government, and some were run with the advocacy of the gentry and the financial support of the county offices. Alongside these, some private schools also appeared one after another. In 1906, Yongshun County established the private Jingwen National School, and afterward private schools such as Lianpeng and Heilongwu were established in succession. In 1915, the private primary schools established in Guzhang County numbered 50. Particularly praiseworthy is that some schools established specifically for girls had already appeared; in 1907, Badong County established a two-level girls' primary school, higher and lower. After the Revolution of 1911, within just two or three years, public and private schools were widely established, and almost every district set up a national school; according to incomplete statistics for Yongshun County alone, the schools established around the time of the Revolution of 1911 numbered 23. In 1911, Yongshun County established a girls' school. Although the number of these schools was very small, they enabled young women to begin to have the opportunity to receive an education, which played a positive role in challenging the feudal ethical and traditional concepts of more than two thousand years. In addition, private old-style tutoring schools were found throughout the countryside.
These schools, whether government-run or private, did not go beyond the scope of "Chinese learning as the essence, Western learning for practical use" in terms of their educational content. They still focused on the Four Books and Five Classics and the ethical principles of the feudal order, supplemented by modern cultural knowledge. Schools at all levels had crude facilities and a shortage of teachers, especially those who understood modern scientific and cultural knowledge. "In recent years, teachers in national schools have often been filled by graduates of higher primary schools, while the responsibilities of junior normal school graduates have been entrusted to them." The quality of education was very low. The number of students at all levels was small, and most of those enrolled were children of propertied families such as landlords and rich peasants. The children of the vast poor Tujia peasantry had little opportunity to receive an education.
After 1916, due to the long-term internecine warfare among northern and southern warlords and local warlords in the Tujia region, social order was unstable, and "although schools were established, they were frequently suspended." Education suffered greatly. With the abolition of the imperial examination system and the establishment of schools, some intellectuals among the Tujia came into contact with Western bourgeois social and political theories and modern natural science knowledge. Stimulated by the national crisis, some went to institutions of higher learning in Beijing, Changsha, and other places, while others traveled across the ocean to study in Japan, seeking ways to save the nation and its people. These intellectuals played a certain positive role in establishing education and disseminating modern scientific and cultural knowledge. Huang Zhaotang, a Tujia from Qiancheng, was long engaged in agricultural education and contributed to the development of modern agricultural education in China. He authored "Fruit Tree Pruning" (manuscript) and other works. In addition, Xiang Naiqi's "Memoirs of Eight Years" and Wu Baoju's "Red Cinnamon Bark Poetry Collection" and other works all embodied certain new ideas.