Shang Xiang ({{zh, c=上庠, p=shàng xiáng, w=Shang Hsiang) was a school founded in the Yu Shun (虞舜) era in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
Shun
Shun may refer to one of the following:
*To shun, which means avoiding association with an individual or group
* Shun (given name), a masculine Japanese given name
*Seasonality in Japanese cuisine (''shun'', 旬)
Emperor Shun
* Emperor Shun ( ...
(2257 BCE–2208 BCE), the Emperor of the Kingdom of Yu (虞, or 有虞/Youyu), founded two schools. One was Shang Xiang (shang (上), means up, high), and the other one was Xia Xiang (下庠, xia (下) means down, low). Shang Xiang was a place to educate noble youth. Teachers at Shang Xiang were generally erudite, elder and noble persons.
The original meaning of Xiang (庠) is ''provide for'' (養), and Xiang, including Shang Xiang and Xia Xiang, were initially places to provide for the aged persons, and then became places for aged persons with their knowledge and experiences to teach youth.
Shang Xiang is classified as a kind of
Guo Xue (國學), meaning the National School in capital city, which is the imperial central school, the nation's supreme school in China, in contrast with regional schools.
Cheng Jun
Cheng may refer to:
Chinese states
* Chengjia or Cheng (25–36 AD)
* Cheng Han or Cheng (304–338)
* Zheng (state), or Cheng in Wade–Giles
Places
* Chengdu, abbreviated as Cheng
* Cheng County, in Gansu, China
* Cheng Township, in Malacca, Ma ...
(成均) is also a kind of ancient institution with educational function in the
Five Emperors eras before Shang Xiang as recorded in literature.
Dong Zhongshu
Dong Zhongshu (; 179–104 BC) was a Chinese philosopher, politician, and writer of the Han Dynasty. He is traditionally associated with the promotion of Confucianism as the official ideology of the Chinese imperial state. He apparently favored ...
: The Five Emperors named Daxue as ''Cheng Jun'' and it is similar to Xiang in Yu era (董仲舒:“五帝名大學曰成均,則虞庠近是也”。). The imperial school was called
Dong Xu
Dong or DONG may refer to:
Places
* Dong Lake, or East Lake, a lake in China
* Dong, Arunachal Pradesh, a village in India
* Dong (administrative division) (동 or 洞), a neighborhood division in Korea
Persons
*Queen Dong (1623–1681), princes ...
(東序, literally eastern school) in
Xia Dynasty
The Xia dynasty () is the first dynasty in traditional Chinese historiography. According to tradition, the Xia dynasty was established by the legendary Yu the Great, after Shun, the last of the Five Emperors, gave the throne to him. In tradi ...
, while Xi Xu (西序, western school) was equivalent to Xia Xiang. In
Shang Dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
the upper school was
You Xue
In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers.
History
''You'' comes from the Proto- ...
(右學, literally right school) and the lower school was
Zuo Xue
Zuo () is a Chinese surname. It is the 187th name listed on the ''Hundred Family Surnames'' poem.
People
*Zuo Zongtang (左宗棠) (1812-1885), a Qing dynasty Han Chinese General, the inspiration for General Tso's chicken
* Zuo Baogui (左寶貴 ...
(左學, left school). The imperial central school was named
Taixue __NOTOC__
Taixue (Tai-shueh; ), or sometimes called the "Imperial Academy", "Imperial School", "Imperial University" or "Imperial Central University", was the highest rank of educational establishment in Ancient China created during the Han dynasty ...
in
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...
. From
Sui Dynasty
The Sui dynasty (, ) was a short-lived imperial dynasty of China that lasted from 581 to 618. The Sui unified the Northern and Southern dynasties, thus ending the long period of division following the fall of the Western Jin dynasty, and layi ...
to
Qing Dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
it was named
Guozijian
The Guozijian,Yuan, 194. sometimes translated as the Imperial College, Imperial Academy, Imperial University, National Academy, or National University, was the national central institution of higher learning in Chinese dynasties after the Sui ...
.
Shang Xiang was also one of the five imperial schools in the capital city in
Zhou Dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...
. The other four were: Dong Xu (東序), Cheng Jun (成均), Gu Zong (瞽宗) and Pi Yong (闢雍). Pi Yong, also called Taixue at the time, was a central school, located in a central location, where the
Son of Heaven
Son of Heaven, or ''Tianzi'' (), was the sacred monarchical title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secula ...
may often prelect and also learn and ask for advisement (承師問道). Dong Xu was an eastern school. Cheng Jun was a southern school. Gu Zong was a western school and it is a music school. Shang Xiang was a northern school. The schools established by vassal states were called Pan Gong (泮宮). The schools in the Zhou Dynasty mainly taught the
Six Arts The Six Arts formed the basis of education in ancient Chinese culture. These were made and practiced by the Confucians.
History
During the Zhou dynasty (1122–256 BCE), students were required to master the "liù yì" (六藝) (''Six Arts''):
* Ri ...
: Li (禮, rite), Yue (樂, music), She (射, archery), Yu (禦, charioteering), Shu (書, literature), Shu (數, maths).
References
Ancient
History of education in China