Jingzheng Academy

Jingzheng Academy

Jingzheng academy, founded in 1891, was changed into "Academy of scholars" after 1903 (later Yunnan Normal School, two-level normal school and the predecessor of Kunming No.1 Middle School). Although it has existed for only 13 years, the establishment of academies is "unprecedented in kainanzhong". Together with Guangdong Xuehai academy, Zhejiang Gujing academy and Sichuan Zunjing academy, it is known as the "four academies" in China. It is one of the famous academies that followed the trend of the times in the late Qing Dynasty with distinctive features and outstanding achievements.

Reasons for establishment

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the old style academies gradually fell behind, and their stale teaching contents and "eight part essay" to cope with the imperial examination were not allowed by the times. A group of literati with innovative ideas advocated the establishment of new academies to cultivate talents for the country. At that time, Emperor Guangxu agreed with the reform and soon approved the request of Tan Junpei, governor of Yunnan Province, to establish "Jingzheng academy" in Kunming (meaning "preaching, worshiping and upholding the classics"), and personally granted the plaque of "Dianchi Zhixiu" as an encouragement.

On March 5, 1891, "Jingzheng academy" was officially established in the former site of Baoen temple in Kunming City (now in the courtyard of Kunming Sports Committee on Cuihu North Road).

target

Jingzheng academy declared publicly that it aims at cultivating talents who are able to understand and apply classics. The teaching content is mainly about "ancient learning and current affairs", which is quite innovative. Most of the students in the academies are hardworking, studious and active.

The two presidents Xu Yinfang (1832-1901) and Chen Rongchang (1860-1935) contributed a lot to the success of Jingzheng Academy in a short time.

School running experience

Xu Yinfang was an old scholar in the frontier area and a Confucian scholar from the imperial examination. However, in the decades of Yunnan Education and "preaching, imparting, and dispelling doubts", he was able to keep pace with the times, boldly accept new trends of thought, and constantly improve educational methods and approaches. He often teaches students: "no matter what kind of academic, we must study and study carefully. However, we should have our own opinions. We should not be like the corrupt scholars in the past. We should always be obedient to the ancients. We should be well behaved and follow others' advice. We should not dare to go beyond the thunder pool. It's impossible to read like this. If we want to seek truth and true knowledge, we must widely read books at all times and in all countries. After reading it, we should think more and re evaluate the knowledge we have gained. For this reason, it not only obtains the spirit of seeking truth from facts of sinologists, but also conforms to the research methods of Western scientists and philosophers. " He practiced by himself, taught by words and by example, and adopted different education methods according to the students' hobbies and characteristics, but the focus was on cultivating talents who were "practical" rather than the "airs" who could only recite a few "too many" sentences. He not only emphasized the importance of reading, earnestly told the students that "the mountains are beautiful, the jade sea is beautiful, and the pearls are good for people's mind; he also emphasized the reading methods. He wrote in a poem——

Reading is like making wine, and sucking semen.

If there is no bad liquor in the wine jar, how can semen be obtained?

It means that learning is like wine making. It is good at absorbing essence from dross. If there is no dross, where does the essence come from?

This poem is clear as words, concise, easy to understand and easy to remember. Many students take it as the standard, stick to it, keep it fresh, and benefit from it all their lives.

He has been in charge of Jingzheng Academy for six years, which has blazed a new way for the development of the Academy.

After Xu Yinfang, Chen Rongchang inherited his idea of running a school and taught in the Academy for six years, "either encouraging students to read books from all over the world, or advocating sending students to study in Japan", cultivating a large number of talents for Yunnan.

famous alumni

Yuan Jiagu is the most successful graduate. Recommended by Chen Rongchang, he took part in the examination of "special economic subjects" held by the imperial court in 1903 and won the first place in one fell swoop. The difficulty of teyuan's examination is higher than that of the top one, and the admission procedure is more strict and complex. It is a "golden list" more glorious than the top one. Those who took the special yuan examination in 1895 were the No. 1 student in Yiwei, a famous scholar in Sichuan, and Liang Shiyi, a Jinshi from Guangdong.

Yuan Jiagu won a great honor for his hometown. Yunnan people specially built the "number one scholar building" on the Bank of Jinzhi River, Tuodong Road, Kunming to commemorate him forever. Yuan Jiagu's success is inseparable from the Academy's keeping up with the trend of the times and paying attention to "new learning" education, which should be recorded in history forever.

In addition, Qin Guangyu, Qian Yongzhong, Li Kun and other graduates later became scholars who made indelible contributions to Yunnan's cultural and educational undertakings and are still praised by people.

Address: 1 Nanhua Road

Longitude: 107.119188

Latitude: 23.599439

Chinese PinYin : Jing Zheng Shu Yuan