Education: Asia, Traditional and Modern

The history of education in Asia reflected and extended the influence and teachings of three major philosophical, religious traditions: Hinduism (including Buddhism), Islam, and Confucianism (including Neo-Confucianism). Over time, these traditions interacted with one another, although the interaction was not entirely mutual, nor did it blunt the cultural distinctions of the various regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Indeed, while Buddhism exerted its widespread influence across East Asia from the third century b.c.e on, it never replaced the primacy of Confucianism. Similarly, although Islam infiltrated India from the eighth century c.e. on, the foundation of Hindu cultural traditions remained unshaken.

A middle region, Southeast Asia, was influenced by Buddhism and Confucianism, resulting in a unique blended educational experience. From the eighteenth century on, as Western culture came into the region, Asia's educational practices in general underwent a sea change that resulted in a previously unknown level of uniformity. Regional diversity, however, remains visible, reflecting the differences in political settings, cultural values, and economic development, making a comprehensive overview of education in Asia impossible. For this reason, the following discussion will deal primarily with educational practices in South and East Asia with a focus on exploring the ideological dynamics embedded within those regions and the impact of historical change from without.

South Asia

South Asia is known particularly for its cultural and linguistic heterogeneity, a feature influenced by both its topography and its history. Although the Deccan Plateau divided the subcontinent into north and south, two invasions, first by the Aryans (c. 1500 b.c.e), then by the Turkish-speaking Muslims (from the eighth century c.e. on), deepened this division, causing social and political tensions among various ethnic groups for centuries. These invasions also, albeit temporarily, fostered a degree of political unity that makes it possible to identify some characteristics of educational practices in traditional India.

In North India, for example, where the Aryans dominated, cultural and linguistic unity was evident. Classical Hindu culture, as reflected in Vedic learning and other literary works in Sanskrit, flourished during the Gupta period (300–c. 500 c.e.) Given the religious nature of Vedic learning, the form higher learning took in Hindu culture, it was only taught exclusively among the Brahmans, the Hindu priest class. This situation remained unchanged for centuries, even under Muslim rule. The two classes just below the Brahmans, the Kishatriyas (which means "protector of gentle people"; they were the rulers and warriors) and Vaisyas (traders, businesspeople, and farmers), were allowed to enter a different type of school where they learned basic skills in writing, arithmetic, and reading, using texts written in the vernacular. Although some members of these castes pursued knowledge beyond the elementary level, they were usually allowed to excel only in areas outside of Vedic learning, such as medicine. The bottom class, the Sudras, and women were prohibited from receiving any formal schooling, although exceptions always existed.

Strict social hierarchy and diverse cultural traditions prevented India from developing a centralized educational system prior to the arrival of the British. Educational initiatives for establishing a school and selecting its teacher thus often came from a specific class or community. Most schools hired only one teacher, but though most teachers came from the Brahman class, their qualifications varied greatly. Wealthy aristocratic communities supported their schools and the teachers' salaries with land endowments, whereas less wealthy communities paid their teachers with student fees. Whatever the case, teachers, or gurus, usually received considerable respect from their students and the community, partially because the teacher-student relationship replicated the social hierarchy of Hindu society and partially because of the way knowledge was imparted in the schools. Perhaps because the Vedas were transmitted orally for many generations before they were written down, oral learning figured centrally in the methods of teaching. In fact the term Veda is called Sruti in Sanskrit, which means "heard from the guru," and Vedic teachers demanded that their pupils repeat aloud what they heard for better retention. The emphasis on oral instruction also served a religious and social purpose. Since written texts were not easily accessible to students, it allowed the Brahmans to mystify and monopolize Brahmanic education and maintain and safeguard their social privilege.

The subjects of teaching varied in different historical periods, even among schools in the Brahmanic tradition. Because of the Buddhist challenge, for example, the study of nyaya, or logic, flourished. Buddhism exerted its influence in Indian education in other areas as well. Its egalitarianism, for instance, opened the door for members of the non-Brahman classes to become teachers. The Buddhist emphasis on writing was also reflected in the school curricula at various levels. Likewise, the Indian educational system absorbed influences from Islam. Muslim education, which centered on recitation and memorization of the Koran, suited the Hindu emphasis on oral instruction. Like the Hindus, the Muslims also valued person-to-person transmission of knowledge, which reinforced the traditional guru-disciple relationship in Hindu culture.

East Asia

In contrast to the diverse development of education in South Asia, the history of education in East Asia related primarily to the development of Confucianism, but variations and vicissitudes were also present. Indeed, while Confucius (c. 551–479 b.c.e.) was commonly regarded as the first teacher in ancient China, he had many competitors both during and after his time. As in India, oral instruction was the main means of education in China, as shown in the Analects, which record the conversations between Confucius and his disciples. However, Confucius was also credited with compiling the Six Classics. During the Han period (206 b.c.e.–220 c.e.), when Confucianism was established as the official ideology in China, these Classics and their commentaries became the principal texts in the school system, which included a state university. These texts became the means by which the dynastic ruler hoped to centralize the educational system. Indeed, while each village funded its schools and hired its teachers, there was discernible unity in the educational system of imperial China. By using these texts and their derivatives, teachers imparted both knowledge and moral values to their students in an effort to prepare at least some of them for government positions. This interest intensified during the Sui (581–618 c.e.) and Tang periods (618–907 c.e.), following the establishment of the civil service examination system, for the system legally permitted any successful students, regardless of their social origin, to enter officialdom.

The cultural atmosphere in the Tang period was distinctly cosmopolitan in that the dynasty patronized, though not always concomitantly, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism (an indigenous reaction to the challenge of Buddhism) while at the same time absorbing many Buddhist elements into its practices. The Buddhist influence was also present in Confucianism. Inspired by the Buddhist emphasis on lineage in knowledge transmission, Tang scholars, in their attempt to combat the intrusion of Buddhism and Daoism and restore the Confucian orthodoxy, also identified key figures in Confucian genealogy. This restorationist project was continued and expanded in the Song period (960–1279 c.e.), marked by the rise of Neo-Confucianism. The Neo-Confucians, such as Zhu Xi (1130–1200), set out to reform education not only by supplying a new set of texts, namely the Four Books, but also by establishing a new type of school, the academy. Zhu's compilation of the Four Books extended the restorationist project of reshaping the Confucian genealogy, whereby Mengzi (c. 371–289 b.c.e.; romanized as Mencius) was canonized, as were some excerpts from the original Confucian canons, which Zhu identified as the essence of Confucian teaching. The proliferation of the academies from this period onward also provided a new venue for students, supplementing the one-teacher village schools and state-run colleges and universities.

This change had little effect on women's education, however. As in India, Chinese women usually received only a rudimentary education at home that prepared them to be good wives and mothers. Outstanding women scholars and poets, however, appeared in every historical period, for example, Ban Zhao (c. 41–120 c.e.) often argued for the necessity of women's education.

During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) periods, Neo-Confucianism consolidated its position as the ideological orthodoxy, thanks to the entrenchment of civil service examinations. As Neo-Confucianism exerted its influence beyond China and became the orthodox ideology of Korea and Japan, it also faced many challengers and critics. By the eighteenth century, a new intellectual trend arose simultaneously across East Asia that, while sharing the restorationist sentiment of the Neo-Confucians, attempted to transcend the Neo-Confucian discursive system and revive the teachings of classical Confucianism. This trend emphasized practical knowledge and scholarship; the latter was characterized by the endeavor to ascertain the authenticity of Confucian texts and the veracity of their contents by the methods of history and philology. All of this had a noticeable impact on the goals and methods of Confucian education.

South Asia

Toward the end of the eighteenth century, as education in East Asia underwent important changes associated with the ebb and flow of Neo-Confucianism, a more drastic transformation was introduced by the British in South Asia. Having undermined the native educational system via both economic and cultural means, the British introduced modern schools, initially for the purpose of training interpreters and future government officials. In so doing, it weakened the tie between students and their communities, changing the traditional goal of education in South Asia. By teaching English in those schools, the British created an additional barrier between the educated elite and the common people.

Slowly, by the mid-nineteenth century, the British had established, for the first time in history, a centralized educational system in South Asia. It consisted of three tiers of schools—elementary, secondary, and college levels—that purported to transcend the religious and ethnic division of the populace. This system was, by and large, continued after countries in the region had gained independence from the mid-twentieth century on. In fact it is the educational norm throughout Asia in the early twenty-first century.

Modernization

In East Asia, Japan was the first country to embark on modern educational reform. In the wake of the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the government sent out a group of distinguished officials to tour many countries in Europe and America, hoping to gain firsthand knowledge about social, political, and educational systems in the modern West. The educational measures introduced by the Meiji government included creation of the ministry of education, compulsory elementary education (extended also to women), and establishment of a national university—Tokyo University—started in a renovated state school formerly devoted to Confucian learning.

By comparison, as the first country that confronted the Western powers in East Asia, China lagged behind Japan in initiating educational reform. In its struggle against the Western challenge, the reigning Qing dynasty established a few translation schools and sent out a few groups of students abroad, but throughout most of the nineteenth century China apparently lacked the desire to adopt more comprehensive educational reforms. It was not until 1895, after its shattering defeat by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), that the dynasty, as well as Chinese educators, began to realize the importance of modern education. In the aftermath of the war, China witnessed a short-lived political reform, which resulted, among other things, in the founding of a modern university in 1898—the Metropolitan University—now Beijing University. As a large number of its students went abroad, most to Japan because of its proximity, to receive a modern education, the country also embarked on a rapid course of educational reform. In 1905 the thousand-year-old civil service examination was abolished, paving the way for the establishment of a modern educational system. Accompanying this change was an unprecedented opportunity for Chinese women to receive formal schooling.

All in all, the structure of modern education took root in most of Asia from the late nineteenth century on. Over time, it evolved into a uniform system across the continent and bore a striking resemblance to that of the modern West. Meanwhile, it demonstrates in its ideals and practices the diverse influences of the religious and cultural traditions and political ideologies of the region.

See also Confucianism ; Daoism ; Education: China ; Education: India ; Education: Islamic Education ; Education: Japan ; Hinduism ; Islam: Southeast Asia ; Religion: East and Southeast Asia ; Westernization: Southeast Asia .

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Q. Edward Wang