During Wang Xianqian's lecture on Yuelu Academy, it was the period when the reform trend of thought rose in the late Qing Dynasty and the voice of academy reform became louder and louder. As the last head of Yuelu Academy, Wang Xianqian made some contributions to the reform of the educational system and curriculum of the Academy, but it also hindered the spread of reform ideas and western learning. Wang Xianqian, who opposes empty talk and advocates practical learning, once pointed out: "China scholars are very ill, and they are empty. If Neo-Confucianism prospers, it will tend to Wang Lu instead of Zhu Cheng and be pragmatic with Zhu Cheng; When sinology prospers, it will despise Han and respect Song, and suffer from sinology. New learning flourishes, while rejecting western learning and retaining the middle way, especially western learning. " He further pointed out that "Japan's reform begins with manufacturing; China's innovation, from discussion to. What you do is famous, what you plan is profitable, and what you say is all over the world. If you don't follow it, it's still empty and useless. " He himself entered the imperial examination and served as an examiner for many times. He followed the stereotyped writing system and loved stereotyped writing, but he did not advocate students burying their heads in stereotyped writing. 1898, he wrote "On Imperial Examination", thinking that the eight-part essay has been "broken and collapsed, and its body can no longer stand on its own feet", and he advocated abolishing the eight-part essay examination, so that scholars can "strengthen their spirits, improve their daily physical strength and read more useful books". Even when the Western Empress Dowager ordered the abolition of the New Deal and the restoration of the old system, he insisted that stereotyped writing was "physically cracked" and that "chapters and sentences were used, so mediocre people ignored books and consumed talents". He encouraged students not to be burdened by fame, but to pay more attention to practical study and read more useful books. Thanks to his guidance, a large number of outstanding masters of Chinese studies have emerged among the students and apprentices of Yuelu Academy. Wang Xianqian paid attention to textual research, but he did not confine students to old papers, but advocated applying what he had learned. He is very concerned about the country and encourages students to save the country as their own responsibility. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he listed the national crisis faced by China in his notes to students, and pointed out: "If you are a scholar, if you don't struggle to cheer yourself up, read more useful books, learn from each other's strong points, keep them as a national instrument, and laugh if you keep them. The country can't talk about it; The place is pedantic and there is no way to teach children. " He believes: "Scholars study for practical purposes. Recently, literati are often detained and closed, and it is rare to pay attention to current events. " He thinks Shanghai Times is a must-read book at present. In order to let students "broaden their knowledge" and stimulate their aspirations, he specially asked the college to order six copies of The Times, "read one copy every two days" and "send someone to distribute it at any time" to let students "read the transcript or read the main idea". This shows his painstaking efforts in inspiring students to be "pragmatic" and "pay attention to current affairs".
In order to apply what he has learned, Wang Xianqian advocated the reform of academy curriculum. He thinks: "The atmosphere in China is not open, and the talents are not obvious. Therefore, we should pay attention to outsiders' learning about acousto-optic electrification. " Therefore, he advocated that university courses "should include history, geography, mathematics and pictures, as well as Chinese and Western classics". Languages of various countries can also be used. Under the impetus of current affairs school, Wang Xianqian also carried out some curriculum reforms in Yuelu Academy. At that time, Pi, a famous reformist in Hunan, recorded in September Diary, 1897: "Yuelu normal class has been changed, and it is not necessary to use the current language to teach classics, history and mathematics. 1 1 Monthly Diary records: "After Yuelu Academy changed its chapter, it did not build two houses, but imitated western learning to teach arithmetic and dialects. "Box No.41"also reported that Yuelu Academy "divided the classics into righteousness, advocated new learning" and "added mathematics and translation studies". All these have injected fresh air into the ancient Millennium Academy and laid the foundation for the transformation of the Academy into a school in the future. In the reform movement against new learning, Wang Xianqian was not an opponent from the beginning, and even an active participant in Hunan New Deal. He actively invested in the establishment of modern industrial and mining enterprises, and also participated in the activities of the South Campus. At the same time, he is also one of the founders of the school of current affairs. He, Jiang Degou, Xiong Xiling and others initiated the proposal of "adding a current affairs school", and personally suggested that Liang Qichao should be hired as the general Chinese teacher in Hunan. After Xiong Xiling was appointed Dean of the School of Current Affairs, Wang Xianqian also sent a letter of support, saying, "I have no intention of staying out of it. If you need to be modest first, you can always show it. "
However, Wang Xianqian is a landlord class intellectual after all. When the ideological trend of new learning endangered feudal autocratic rule, he did not hesitate to stand up against new learning. He thought that teachers' and students' remarks about "civil rights" and "parliament" were "rebellious words" and "they were aiming at rebellion", so he drafted "Shen Xiang Gongcheng" and attached a letter from Bin Fengyang, a university student in Lu Yue, demanding that the school be rectified, submitted to the governor's office, attacked teachers and students of the current affairs school, and demanded that the current affairs school be "strictly rectified and refused to learn from others". At the same time, it supported Changsha Third Hospital to conclude the Hunan Learning Contract and prevented students from participating in the Reform Movement. When Xu Renzhu, a political scholar, wanted to track down those who slandered the current school, Wang Xianqian covered up and excused himself in many ways, and threatened to drop out of school. Carry out educational reform Although Wang Xianqian opposed the theory of civil rights and political reform, he did not oppose educational reform. 1898 After the coup, he intends to restore the stereotyped writing system and continue to advocate the establishment of schools. 190 1 year, he wrote to Hu Liansan, governor of Hunan Province, discussing the importance of establishing a technical school to revitalize the industry, and presented Article *** 12 of the Technical School Charter drafted by him, putting forward the idea of combining vocational education with productive labor, which had a certain impact on the rise of modern vocational and technical education in Hunan. 1903 participated in the establishment of Hunan Normal School, the earliest normal school in Hunan, and served as the first curator. The museum offers more than 0 courses 10, such as ethics, Confucian classics, mathematics, Chinese and foreign history, Chinese and foreign geography, literature, physical chemistry, English, painting and gymnastics. There was no unified textbook at that time. Wang Xianqian suggested that China students studying abroad should organize their lecture notes during the day and translate them into Chinese and send them back at night. The government will print the school as a teaching material or publish it in local newspapers and magazines. The translation remuneration of international students shall be paid by the provincial finance. This suggestion was adopted by Fu and played a certain role in solving the problem of teaching materials.
Wang Xianqian gave a lecture at Yuelu Academy 1903. At this time, the bourgeois democratic revolution flourished. Wang Xianqian stopped coming to the museum because of "people's unrest", "heretical and prosperous friends, and the conversation with the revolution was full of ways". In the same year, Yuelu Academy was changed to Hunan Institute of Higher Education.
After Yuelu Academy was changed to a school, Wang Xianqian wrote at home. But he still attaches importance to education. Previously, he thought that primary education in China was underdeveloped. He once pointed out that primary schools in Japan are "compulsory for everyone", while in China, because primary schools are underdeveloped, many people go directly to secondary schools and institutions of higher learning without going through primary schools, resulting in "no difference in the level between secondary schools and institutions of higher learning". In view of this situation, he advocates vigorously developing primary education, especially primary schools for the poor. At the end of Guangxu, he wrote a letter to Wu Zixiu, a scholar in Hunan Province, and submitted a manuscript about the plan to set up a simple primary school to the governor. He thinks that there are many government-run and private schools in various provinces, but poor primary schools are not considered. This is "roll with the punches, which doesn't seem to conform to the quintessence of the country". Therefore, he advocates running primary schools for the poor so that all school-age children can enter school conveniently. "After graduating for five years according to the rules, you know how to learn, know how to calculate, and have a good understanding of words and meanings." In his own name, he also donated all the groom's money *** 12250, which he had served as the spokesman of the provincial school office for many years, and founded 18 simple primary school in Changsha, which made great contributions to the development of primary education in Changsha.
During his educational career, Wang Xianqian closely combined teaching with academic research and achieved fruitful academic results. Known as "a generation of masters who comprehensively studied the subset of the history of Confucian classics in the late Qing Dynasty". At the same time, he also pays attention to understanding the situation abroad, and is called "an extremely rare master of park learning who goes to the world through extensive reading". He is not only the last mountain leader of Yuelu Academy, but also left a huge academic monument for Yuelu Academy with his rich research results.