The term "Chinese Studies" has existed since ancient times. "Book of Rites·Chunguan Zongbo·Musician" says: "Musicians are in charge of the affairs of Chinese studies and teach the sons of the state Xiaowu." "Book of Rites·Xueji" also says: "The ancient teachers had a private school in their family and a party in the party. , the art is orderly, and the state-owned learning. "Sun Yirang (1848-1908) pointed out in his book "Zhou Li Zhengyi": "The Chinese scholars are also in the primary school on the left side of the palace." From this, it can be seen that "Chinese learning". In ancient China, it referred to a national-level school, which was equivalent to Taixue in the Han Dynasty. Since then, dynasties have changed, and the nature and role of "Guoxue" have also changed.
In the Zhenyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Li Bo lived in seclusion and studied in Bailu Cave in Mount Lu. In the Southern Tang Dynasty, he built a school at the site to teach students, which was named "Lushan Chinese Studies" (also known as "Bailu Cave"). "Guoxue", "Lushan Guozijian", "Lushan Book Hall", etc.), used the concept of "Guoxue" for the first time. In the Song Dynasty, it was renamed "Bailudong Academy" and became a place for collecting books and giving lectures. In the Song Dynasty, academies flourished, and four major academies emerged: Bailu, Shigu (some say Songyang), Suiyang and Yuelu. From this point of view, "Lushan Chinese Studies" was actually a "school" that both collected books and gave lectures, which was later called an "academy."
Under the circumstances at that time, the books collected and the knowledge taught were naturally Chinese traditional academic culture. Judging from the actual situation of the four major academies in the Song Dynasty, the concept of "Chinese Studies" is used the same as "Chinese Medicine". "Chinese medicine" refers to the country's medicine, and "Guoxue" naturally refers to the country's academics. In a realm where concepts such as "Western medicine", "foreign studies" and "Western studies" did not yet exist, this was originally a concept that was easy to understand and accept. It was only when "Western medicine", "foreign studies" and "Western studies" appeared that It is easy for ambiguity to arise and cause controversy.
However, the real comparison of "Guoxue" with many "foreign studies", that is, it was put forward as a concept to govern Chinese academics, was at a time when Western learning spread eastward and our country's society and academic culture were in an unprecedented transformation. of the early twentieth century.
The concept of "Guoxue" has existed in Chinese history.
The Imperial College in Beijing
It can be found in "Book of Zhou", "Book of Han", "Book of Later Han" "" and "Book of Jin" all contain the concept of "Chinese Studies". There was also one in the Tang Dynasty. You see, there was one at the foot of Lushan Mountain - it is still called Bailudong Academy. This academy was first built by Zhu Xi in the Southern Song Dynasty and became one of the "four major academies" at that time. But before Zhu Xi, this place was not called Bailudong Academy, but "Bailudong Chinese Studies". What does Bailudong Chinese Studies mean? It's a school. It can be seen that in Chinese history, the concept of "Guoxue" has existed, and the term "Guoxue" has existed, but the so-called "Guoxue" has always meant "national school". In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhongdu Guozixue was established, and later it was changed to Guozijian, which was in charge of the instruction of Guoxue students. The Imperial College has teaching subjects such as etiquette, music, law, archery, imperialism, calligraphy, and mathematics.
In modern times, the so-called "Chinese studies" are believed by some scholars to have originated from Japan. In the middle of the Edo period, some people in Japanese intellectual circles, such as Harumitsu Haruda, advocated the study of ancient Japanese classics in order to ascertain the The inherent local culture is called "Chinese culture". After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government implemented a Europeanization policy, which led to a complete trend of westernization in society. In 1888, Miyake Yukirei, Shiga Shigeo and others established the Political and Religious Society to advocate the quintessence of the nation in order to reverse the direction. Perhaps influenced by this trend of thought, in the autumn of 1902, Liang Qichao discussed with Huang Zunxian and others to establish the Journal of Chinese Studies in Japan.
Journal of Chinese Culture
In 1904, Deng Shi published "On the Preservation of Chinese Studies", discussing the importance of preserving "Chinese Studies". In 1905, Deng Shi, Huang Jie and others established the Society for the Preservation of Chinese Studies in Shanghai, with the purpose of "studying Chinese studies and preserving the essence of Chinese culture" ("Brand of the Society for the Preservation of Chinese Studies"), and published the "Journal of Chinese Studies". In addition to Deng Shi, Huang Jie, as well as Zhang Binglin, Liu Shipei, Chen Qubing, Huang Kan, Ma Xulun, etc., were either members of the Chinese Tongmenghui or tended to the democratic revolution. From April to June 1922, Zhang Binglin lectured on "General Chinese Studies" and "Schools of Chinese Studies" in Shanghai. In 1934, Zhang Binglin founded Zhang's Chinese Studies Seminar in Suzhou and gave a summary explanation of Chinese studies. Zhang Binglin's above-mentioned speeches were recorded and compiled, and books such as "On the Balance of National Heritage", "Introduction to Chinese Studies", and "Zhang Taiyan's Lectures on Chinese Studies" were published, which had a great influence in the 1920s and 1930s. Zhang Binglin's so-called Chinese studies are divided into five parts: "primary school", "Confucian classics", "historiography", "philosophers" and "literature". From this, we can see his definition of the scope of Chinese studies. In addition, Hu Shi, Gu Jiegang, Qian Mu and others also have various discussions on "Chinese studies", "national heritage" and "national quintessence".