Educational Efforts and Social Mobility in Ancient China:From thePerspective of Historical Sociology(PDF)
《南京师大学报》(社会科学版)[ISSN:1006-6977/CN:61-1281/TN]
- Issue:
- 2017年04期
- Page:
- 94-
- Research Field:
- 教育学理论与实践研究
- Publishing date:
Info
- Title:
- Educational Efforts and Social Mobility in Ancient China:From thePerspective of Historical Sociology
- Author(s):
- ZHOU Yong
- Keywords:
- students from humble origins; educational efforts; rise to a higher social status
- PACS:
- -
- DOI:
- -
- Abstract:
- During the long period from the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty,it was difficult for thestudents from humble origins to climb up the social ladder through studying hard. The Northern Song Dynastywitnessed a remarkable upward movement along the social ladder achieved by the students from humbleorigins. This resulted from the political and educational reforms aiming to re-structure the old social systemcontrolled by noble families. These reforms provided the students with an institutional approach to equal chanceof upward social mobility through working hard. The great upgrade of social status for students from humbleorigins,however,was also due to their personal aspirations and efforts. Guided by their lofty idea of servingthe whole society,the outstanding representative of this group re-shaped the image of the nobility,which hadpreviously been tarnished by selfishness. Therefore,rising to a higher position from a humble origin in theNorthern Song Dynasty has great implications for the sociology of education:the examination of the socialmobility enabled by educational efforts not only helps explore a histo-sociological approach for sociology ofeducation to the matter of equality in education but also offers informative historical reference for answering thequestion of why it is difficult for students from humble origins to change their social status.
Last Update: 2017-08-30