Public higher learning in imperial China

Overview

It is commonly accepted that higher education plays a public role and produces public goods. However, there is a lack of clarity over what this means. The dominating economic or political ideas do not provide good explanations in contexts beyond Anglo-American countries, especially in relation to the rise of higher education in Sinic countries.

This seminar will examine higher learning system in imperial China, including higher learning institutions, the Civil Service Examination (Keju) and the received public support in order to better understand the Sinic tradition. Closely combined with the Civil Service Examination, higher learning was controlled by the state to some extent and received great financial and political support.

The research sheds light on our understanding of public higher education as it not only brings new perspectives from the Chinese tradition, but is also not confined to the traditional patterns of analysis.

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