Education in Premodern China and Japan

Abstract

From earliest times, both China and Japan developed sophisticated traditions in education. China’s major educational aspiration, based on Confucianism, was centered on developing the heart-mind for exemplary moral conduct. Buddhism was also influential, as were Daoism in China and Shinto in Japan, but Confucian values dominated educational thought and institutions, including private academies. In China the civil service examination system played a major role in molding the educational curriculum. Japan, heavily influenced by Chinese Confucianism, adapted it to a very different culture, society, and political system. At the elementary level so-called temple schools, actually private secular institutions, focused on teaching literacy. Along with government schools and local academies, they flourished in Tokugawa Japan, educating both samurai and commoners. In both China and Japan, schooling for girls was not as widespread as for boys. Women were expected to manage the household and educate their children, while men managed public affairs.