Education, Culture, and Identity in Twentieth-Century China

Educational pursuits run like a rich thread through the fabric of China's turbulent twentieth century. From the founding of China's first modern school system in the late Qing dynasty through the republican era to the latest educational developments in the People's Republic of China, this book seeks to understand how developments in education contributed to, and were in turn influenced by, cultural patterns and the ongoing search for identity by individuals, collectivities, and states. Its sixteen contributors explore three themes that have enlivened China studies in recent years: sino-foreign interactions, state-society relations, and gender representation and identification.

Unlike most studies of modern Chinese education that focus exclusively on the post-1949 era, Education, Culture, and Identity in Twentieth-Century China represents a deliberate attempt to break through the 1949 barrier and embrace the entire century. Culture emerges in this study as a deeper level factor that underlay the development of education in each period and shaped certain recurrent patterns, while identity involves a search for individual and collective meaning that went on under different regimes.

The product of a genuinely multidisciplinary effort to promote cross-fertilization among an international team of scholars in a wide range of disciplines, Education, Culture, and Identity in Twentieth-Century China will interest students and scholars of modern China, comparative and international education, educational policy, and international relations. It will also appeal to policy makers and professionals associated with international organizations.

Glen Peterson is Associate Professor of History, University of British Columbia. Ruth Hayhoe is Director, Hong Kong Institute of Education.

Yongling Lu is a graduate student in the History Department, Stanford University.

Praise / Awards

• "The essays in this volume provide a variety of vantage points from which to explore the relationships among education, culture and identity in modern China. The book will serve as a valuable reference for scholars interested in Chinese education and society."
  ---Andrew Kipnis, Australian National University, China Journal, July 2002
• ". . .groundbreaking both in its scope and depth."
  ---David Kenley, History: Reviews of New Books, Fall 2001
• "This rich collection of essays written by scholars from various disciplines and countries, but cohering around three themes, provides data and insights useful for historians and social scientists in the China field, as well as for specialists in education."
  ---Jessie G. Lutz, Rutgers University, Journal of Asian Studies, Volume 1: No. 1 (November 2001)