THE EARLIEST BILINGUAL EDUCATION POLICY IN CHINA:THE GUIMAO EDUCATION SYSTEM DURING THE“NEW POLICIES”REFORM IN THE LATE QING PERIOD

School of Foreign Languages,Minjiang University,Fuzhou,China Email:jeff19880511@163.com

[Abstract]This paper seeks to fill a scholarly gap in the early history of bilingual education(Chinese and foreign languages)in China by investigating the Guimao Education System,the first bilingual education policy in China.Based on a wide variety of historical archives,this study indicates that the Guimao Education System was closely tied to the policymakers’rationale of seeking a balance between gaining practical benefits of foreign language education and preserving the Chinese identity through Confucian education.An in-depth analysis of the Guimao Education System will also provide historical insights for current policymakers in promoting bilingualism in China.

[Keywords]the Guimao Education System;the“New Policies”Reform;bilingual education;bilingualism

INTRODUCTION

The recent decade has witnessed contrasting voices concerning the effectiveness of English education in mainland China.On the one hand,English education has been viewed as a cornerstone for China to facilitate its communication with the outside world and enhance its international outlook.On the other hand,English education in China has been constantly criticized as“ineffective”and“l(fā)ow-efficient”in improving students’English proficiency(Zhang&Zhao,2017).Some educationalists have warned investing much in English education would not only be difficult to achieve satisfactory results but also pose threat to the overarching position of the national language Chinese in the education system(Zhang,2014).A fundamental question of English education in China is how English education contributes to students’academic study and professional development.In other words,how English education satisfies the multiple needs of learners in China and corresponds to China’s strategies of facilitating global communication and cultural diffusion to the rest of the world?Chinese-English Bilingual education has been viewed as an alternative to solving pedagogical problems of English education and balancing Chinese and English education.It is not restricted to teaching the two languages but also refers to using them as the media of instruction in non-language subjects to impart content knowledge.However,the development of bilingual education in China has been constrained by both practical problems such as the imbalance between Chinese language education and English education,and policy problems such as the lack of a consistent policy to support Chinese-English bilingual education in China(Feng,2007).

In contrast with numerous studies on recent English education development in China,there is a surprising paucity of studies to trace the history of English education in China,particularly a dramatic historical period of modern education development—the late Qing period from 1840 to 1911.It probably results from a lack of historical awareness among scholars within the field of applied linguistics and difficulties in locating primary sources concerning the history of English education in China.The present study investigates the earliest bilingual education policies in China,namely the Guimao Education System during the“New Policies”Reform at the turn of the 20th century.It aims to offer us a historical perspective to examine the current problems,and helps us to investigate how the current problems are grounded in history and develop over time,thus providing valuable insights to today’s policymakers and practitioners.

Based on a variety of primary sources such as memorials to the throne,imperial decrees,education archives of the premier universities or schools at various levels,governors’diaries and correspondences,this study aims to present an empirically-grounded historical account of the Guimao Education System.The paper first provides a brief overview of historical background behind the establishment of the Guimao Education System.It then gives a detailed description and analysis of the Guimao Education System with focus on the status of western knowledge vis-á-vis Confucian knowledge,the status and role of foreign languages in the curriculum and the choice of foreign language varieties at different levels of schools.The final section summarizes the insights current policymakers may gain from the history.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

After the humiliating defeat in the Boxer Rebellion in 1901,China was forced to sign the unequal treaty“The Boxer Protocol of 1901”,ceding part of its territory to the victorious nations.The military defeat and the further scrambles of China challenged the prevailing Sino-centric view and warned the imperial government to realize the considerable gap between China and the foreign powers at all sides,and the urgency of implementing political,economic,military and educational reforms,which was called the“New Policies”Reform.

The proposal of Zhang Zhidong,a prestigious educationalist in late imperial China,was the most influential one of the educational reforms.His proposals can be summarized as the statement“absorbing Confucian ethics for soul(Ti)and acquiring western knowledge for practical use(Yong)”(Zhang,1898,p.2).Zhang Zhidong strongly advised that Chinese students acquire both traditional Confucian knowledge and modern western knowledge.The former included the Chinese language,Confucian classics,China’s history,traditional Chinese mathematics and geographical expertise while the latter included western languages,politics,laws,science and technology.Regarding the sequence of education,Zhang emphasized students should lay a solid foundation of Confucian knowledge before acquiring western knowledge:

If someone[studies Western learning]without first firmly being rooted in Chinese learning to cultivate his character,he may become a rebel leader if he has a strong body and a slave if he is weak.He will cause more harm[to society]than a person who knows nothing about Western learning.(Rebecca&Zarrow,2002,p.89)

Zhang Zhidong’s proposals had particular significance over preserving Chinese cultural identity and historical continuity against the trend of westernization and colonization at the turn of the 20th century.Apart from combining western and Confucian knowledge,Zhang also advocated establishing a three-tier modern education system in China.His moderate reforming ideas finally gained the support from Empress Dowager Cixi,the then de facto head of Qing government,and Zhang Zhidong was thus invited to be a chief drawer of education policies during the“New Policies”Reform.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION SYSTEM IN CHINA

During the“New Policies”Reform,one of the most noteworthy reform proposals was to establish a nation-wide education system.Based on the modern education system of Japan and the pioneering practices of modern education in some premier schools such as Imperial Peking University,the Qing government promulgated a national education system-the Guimao Education System in 1903.It was called the“Guimao Education System”because the system was implemented in the year of Guimao in the Chinese lunar calendar.The Guimao Education System consisted of 22 regulations on modern schools at different levels such asRegulations on Junior Primary Schools,Regulations on Senior Primary Schools,Regulations on Secondary Schools,Regulations on Pre-university Schools,Regulations on Universities(including Graduate Schools)andBasic Principles of Education.

The Guimao Education System set forth definite objectives at different levels of schools,drafted specific and appropriate regulations on students’admission,curriculum design,textbook selection,assessment methods and school management in modern schools of different levels.Regarding bilingual education,the Guimao Education System covered the following three core aspects including(1)the status of western knowledge vis-à-vis Confucian knowledge;(2)the status and role of foreign languages in the curriculum;and(3)the choice of foreign languages for western subjects.

The Status of Western Knowledge vis-à-vis Confucian Knowledge

The Guimao Education System prioritized Confucian education as the basis of schooling and defined western education as a supplement not contradiction to Confucian education.In the very beginning ofBasic Principles of Education,it stated the functions and status of Confucian education and western education.Administrators and curriculum designers in all modern schools should“take Confucian ethics such as loyalty and filial piety as fundamental school spirit”,and“attach great importance to the subjects of the Chinese language and Confucian classics to foster patriotism among students”.Having laid a firm foundation in Chinese,students should be“taught foreign languages,western knowledge and some specialized skills so as to serve the country in the future”(The Qing Government,1904a,p.4).

The Guimao Education System also defined the scope of western subjects.As stipulated in theBasic Principles of Education,the western subjects should incorporate western laws and politics because they are the essence of western knowledge.It can be concluded that drawers of the Guimao Education System intended to achieve a balanced bifurcated curriculum,which absorbed the essence of both Confucian and western knowledge.

The Status and Role of Foreign Languages in the Curriculum

The Guimao Education System accentuated the importance of foreign languages to access western knowledge.As stipulated in theBasic Principles of Education,all secondary schools and pre-university schools must teach students at least one foreign language(The Qing Government,1904a).Even for those university students who majored in Chinese-related disciplines such as Chinese Literature and China’s History,foreign languages were still core subjects because foreign language education provided students with a language vehicle to examine similarities and differences in two different types of knowledge.

The high status of foreign languages in the Guimao Education System was also reflected in the hours of foreign language education in modern schools prescribed in theRegulations.For example,as stipulated in theRegulationsonSecondary Schools,foreign language courses occupied 8 hours(out of total 36 hours)from Year 1 to Year 3 in secondary schools and 6 hours(out of total 36 hours)every week in Year 4 and 5.The hours of foreign language courses exceeded those of most academic subjects in secondary schools,only next to Confucian Classics(The Qing Government,1904b).According to theRegulations on Pre-university Schools,the weekly hours of foreign languages courses occupied almost half of the total lecture time since foreign language education in pre-university schools would provide students with an important tool to content subject learning in modern universities or colleges(The Qing Government,1904c).

In contrast with the high status of foreign language education in secondary schools,pre-university schools and universities,theRegulationsset rigid limitation on foreign language education in primary schools to lay students a solid foundation for Chinese before learning foreign languages.Article 12 ofBasic Principles of Educationstipulated that students in primary schools shall not learn foreign languages and all the subjects in primary schools shall be conducted in Chinese(The Qing Government,1904a).

In summary,the Guimao Education System indicated that foreign languages were compulsory courses for students at the secondary and tertiary level.A good mastery of foreign languages would advance students’understanding of western knowledge and help them acquire professional skills.While for students in primary schools,they were required to concentrate on learning Chinese and reading Confucian classics instead of being immersed in the English environment like the indigenous children living in British colonies.

The Choice of Foreign Languages for Western Subjects

As specified in the Guimao Education System,the choice of foreign languages in modern schools was subjected to the language requirements of academic disciplines in which students majored.Before being admitted to universities,the students had attended courses in pre-university schools and chosen one discipline they intended to study in universities from the following three categories:(1)Confucian Classics,Politics and Law,Literature and Commerce;(2)Natural Sciences,Engineering and Agriculture;(3)Medicine.

As stipulated in theRegulations on Pre-university Schools,for the students who chose the first type of disciplines,they were required to study English as the first foreign language,and either German or French as the second foreign language.Particularly,for those students who desired to study law,they should also choose Latin as an elective subject since Latin was an important language to gain expertise on law.For those students who chose the second type of disciplines,apart from English as the first foreign language,they shall learn German or French as the second foreign language.While for the students who chose the third type of disciplines,they were required to study German as the first foreign language,either English or French as the second foreign language(The Qing Government,1904c).

The regulations above indicated that the choice of foreign languages in pre-university schools of late imperial China was closely related to the native language of the country with sophisticated skills in one specialized field.For example,Germany had world-leading techniques in the modern medicine field at the turn of the 20th century(Kim,2014),so the students who majored in medicine subjects were required to choose German as the first foreign language.

THE HISTORICAL LEGACY

Four historical lessons concerning the Guimao Education System capture special attention from today’s policymakers of foreign language education in China.The Guimao Education System established in the“New Policies”Reform built a balanced relationship between foreign and Chinese language education,and gave an equal status of modern western knowledge and traditional Confucian knowledge.“Learning from the West”was a main target of the Reform,however,the policymakers did not abandon Chinese language education and Confucian education with the purpose of preserving the Chinese identity and providing the basis of nationalism and patriotism.A balanced bilingual curriculum offered students an opportunity to draw comparisons between Confucian knowledge and western knowledge on science,technology and politics.Therefore,the two types of education developed into a competitive yet balanced relationship,which achieved a dual objective in expanding the Chinese students’outlook to the outside world and preserving the essence of Confucianism.

The conflicts between Chinese language education and foreign language education were not historical antiques,but still existed in today’s language education policy-making process in China.For long time,the foreign language education policies in China have constantly swung from pursuing the benefits of foreign language education and lowering the status of foreign languages to preserving the Chinese identity.The fundamental principle of balancing foreign language education and Chinese language education,namely not overemphasizing one at the expense of the other one,provides historical insights into handling or at least mitigating the longstanding conflicting ideologies in foreign language education policies in China.

The Guimao Education System also demonstrated close integration of foreign languages and subject content knowledge,which indicated the increasing specialization in foreign language education for students majoring in different academic disciplines.It thus prioritized the instrumental value of foreign languages in accessing western knowledge and interacting with the outside world.Back to today’s scenario in foreign language education in China,one of the dilemmas today is the separation of English language education from content knowledge acquisition in various academic disciplines and the homogeneity of foreign language education regardless of students major,interest and foreign language proficiency(Hu,2015).The Guimao Education System leaves lessons for today’s policymakers in designing a more flexible and diversified foreign language curriculum to satisfy a broad spectrum of the students’needs,interests and capabilities.

The Guimao Education System showed that the choice of foreign languages in the modern schools was not limited to a dominant foreign language,but hinged on the requirements of academic disciplines that students specialized and the advantages of countries across disciplines.By contrast,the foreign language education policies in today’s China are criticized to marginalize other foreign languages but only favored English.In spite of the fact that English is the dominant lingua franca in most international organizations,the other foreign languages have their own values in protecting linguistic diversity and satisfying China’s needs for multilateral negotiations with rest of the world.Providing a wider range of foreign language choices to students does not mean lowering the status of English,but raising students’awareness of the benefits of other foreign languages to China’s diplomatic communication and students’academic study.

CONCLUSION

This historical study provides an account of the first bilingual education system in China—the Guimao Education System.It demonstrated the resolution and approach of the Qing government to resolving the longstanding conflict of language ideologies,namely the conflicts between learning foreign languages to modernize China and preserving Chinese identity by learning Chinese and Confucian classics.The Guimao Education System also provided a central planning for the modern schools to design a balanced bilingual curriculum,and ensure an equilibrium between western education(including foreign language education)and Confucian education(including Chinese language education).

The Guimao Education System also revealed the policymakers’advanced ideas of integrating foreign language education with expertise acquisition.Although the imperial government promulgated no single policies for foreign language education during the“New Policies”Reform,most of the explicit policies regulating foreign language education were incorporated in the modern education policy initiatives,namely the Guimao Education System,which indicated close combination of foreign languages and professional expertise in China’s modern education system.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the reviewers and the editors ofProceedings of the 2020 Northeast Asia International Symposium on Linguistics,Literature and Teaching.

This paper is a research result of“The Bilingual Education Practices of Modern Schools in Late Imperial China and the Educational Modernization in Fujian”funded by the Project of the 13th Five-year Plan of Education Science in Fujian Province in 2020(Project No.FJJKCG20-123).