Chang Chien’s Thought on Education

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Chang Chien (1853-1926) was a native of Nant’ung, Kiangsu. In spite of the various works on Chang Chien, which testify to the significance of his role in modern China, Chang Chien’s thought on education is still not well-researched. The purposes of this paper are firstly, to analyze Chang Chien’s thought on education systematically and clearly in the hope that it may become a useful reference for researchers on modern China, and secondly, to stimulate scholars for further research. This paper depends more on basic source materials rather than second-hand data. Among various source materials, Chang Chien’s Diary, The Nine Records of Chang Chien and The Complete Work of Chang Chien are the most important. Chang Chien’s thought on education may be summarized as follows: 1) Education as a means of saving China and education and industry as basis of local self-government; 2) Universal and compulsory education for the primary education; 3) A planned education to be achieved step by step; 4) With special emphasis on industrial education; 5) With special emphasis on patriotic education; and 6) With special reference to Confucianism and strict education. The paper has also discussed the background to Chang Chien’s thought on education, the factors which shaped it, and how it developed.