As we all know, the work in the palace is not only physical labor such as chopping wood and carrying water, but also technical work such as taking charge of classics and documents. It's not good to be illiterate, and it's not good to be literate without meaning. The imperial court also had to adapt to the situation and opened a eunuch school in the palace. How was school? What books do you read? Listen to Lao Liu's decomposition.
Everyone knows that Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, was the most defensive against eunuchs. In the seventeenth year of Hongwu, that is, A.D. 1384, Lao Zhu posted a notice in the palace, saying: The minister of the interior shall not interfere in political affairs, and the promoter shall be beheaded. After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the actual effect of this brand became invalid. Gu also said: after Yongle, this order will not work. Judy, the son of Zhu, the founder of Ming Dynasty, began to use eunuchs to manage some affairs related to writing and culture, such as books, documents and regulations. To take care of these things, it is not good to be illiterate, and it is not good to be literate only. In other words, it is imperative to use civil eunuchs.
For example, the emperor asked the eunuch to take a book, and the eunuch must know the title. Be a little more demanding. Eunuchs should check the first few lines of books. Eunuch must understand the meaning of these pages. The problem of improving the cultural literacy of eunuchs was put on the table, so Ming Chengzu considered cultural training for eunuchs and began to regularly select some cultural instructors to enter the palace to train eunuchs.
When Bachelor Hanlin was a teacher in Zhu Zhanji, he started to establish a eunuch school, which was specially named Neishutang. The specific establishment date was July of the first year of Xuande (i.e. 1426). According to Volume 12 of Notes of the Qing Dynasty, the students came from eunuchs in the palace. The school age is about 10, and the number of students is about 200 to 300. Later, it expanded its enrollment. According to a professor named Xu Xiaoqing, he has 800 to 900 students.
From the teacher's point of view, eunuch school is one of the best schools in Ming Dynasty. The teachers are all Hanlin bachelors. The first teacher was Chen Shan, a college student, and there were four Hanlin bachelors as teaching assistants. Professor Chen is not a simple teacher. He was a scholar in the period of Zhu Yuanzhang. During the Yongle period, he participated in the compilation of Yongle Dadian and served as a full-time teacher of the emperor's grandson. One year, he wrestled on horseback and his foot was slightly injured. Ming Renzong also personally treated him.
Many famous teachers will not be listed one by one, and one is Yan Song, the great traitor of the Ming Dynasty. Teacher Yan has a bad personality, but his knowledge is excellent.
What textbooks are used? First-hand information of eunuch schools in Ming Dynasty is recorded in Deliberate Chronicle written by eunuch Liu Ruoyu: hundred surnames, thousand-character writings, filial piety, university, the doctrine of the mean, The Analects of Confucius and Mencius, all of which are primary, while the more advanced ones are the noble family and the general examination of literature. However, popularity is king. Among a lot of textbooks, the most popular one is Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the specific reasons need not be explained.
Teaching situation: respecting teachers and attaching importance to teaching also involves corporal punishment. Students are not allowed to be polite when they enter school. Of course, students bow to the portrait of the saint, which is a respect for the saint. Next, respect the teacher. When Confucius accepted students, he wanted dried bacon. In the eunuch school, the students gave their teachers the following gifts: ash, handkerchiefs and robes. Tuition fees must have been paid by the relevant institutions in the Ming Dynasty. It's just a small gift, and it's not small. According to Zhang Wei and Yu, professors of the school, the school will send an invitation letter to the teacher the day before the class. On the day of teaching in the school, forty student representatives were waiting at Chengtianmen. After receiving the teacher, they went to the door for dinner. Student cadres and school directors will respectfully send out some red paper posts, a total of nine, and they will write a nod on them.
The so-called student cadres are the elected seniors, and the so-called school supervisor is the warden of this prison. Along the way, the students were waiting to be greeted in batches, and people with leaders, followers and parties were invited into Zhan to rest and set meals. Presumably, the teacher should have a great sense of accomplishment in crowding around.
Teacher Yan Song went to teach on1/February 2 1 Sunday, 15 17. He recalled that at that time, all the students had to worship him four times, and Mr. Yan received the gift standing, so there was no need to return it. However, the eunuch school is very polite to teachers, but not so good to students. There are many cruel corporal punishment systems. According to Jiao Xuan's records, once a student's back is bad, or his writing is really unsightly, or books are defaced, and there are other violators, it is of course inconvenient for the teacher from Hanlin to punish him personally, so he handed it over to the inspector for repair.
How to fix it? It is also recorded that according to the seriousness of the plot and nature, the punishment measures are as follows: the lightest is to use iron ruler as a thug; Heavier kneeling in front of the portrait of Confucius; A little heavier, the technical operation is a little more difficult. Standing in front of a portrait of a saint, standing upright, with your upper body attached to your legs down, pulling your feet with your hands, and your legs can't bend, which is probably equivalent to standing on the physical education class. But in the physical education class, we are a dynamic leg press, and the upper body can move, while in the inner hall, students who have been physically punished must keep this posture.
How long will it last? Seniors are polite, those who have a good relationship with you will be punished for half the time, and those who are severe will be punished once. Put yourself in others' shoes. Your head has been lowered for a long time, and you are always pulling the ligament. How uncomfortable it is.
Its side effect is to punish people with half a stick of incense or a wick of incense, and the punished people often faint and get sick. Fang Junshi, the author of Jiao Xuan Records, also condemned this inhuman behavior: it is the coolest and most unreasonable method.
Every holiday will have a day off, and some cultural activities will be held, such as writing poems, which are nothing more than children's poems with light clouds and light winds. But this kind of entertainment is also risky, that is, when everyone is waiting in line to leave, if anyone accidentally stands in the wrong line, the students will get up and attack, whether verbally or physically, cursing and beating.
How to arrange students' homework? Of course, most of it is internal digestion, but it will also provide students for other units. For example, if major government offices are short of articles, they will report to important people in the museum, and the court will arrange writers for them.
It is said that these cultural eunuchs are very popular, and they were hired as documents when they were students, sometimes to the point where students were taken away by various government offices and no one attended classes in the school. You have to divert eunuchs from other departments to supplement your students.