This thesis examines China’s transition from empire to nation by looking at intellectual changes and educational reform. There were many continuities between what the (late) Qing state,...Show moreThis thesis examines China’s transition from empire to nation by looking at intellectual changes and educational reform. There were many continuities between what the (late) Qing state, respectively the (early) Republican government, sought to inculcate into the populace, and both sought to use education to do so. This thesis explores why this was the case and argues that some of the causes for these continuities are to be found in the following factors: pre-existing notions of China as an imagined community, nationalism and patriotism; the respective internal and external pressures that were present; intellectual movements (that sometimes constituted a sort of bottom-up initiative); the role of the press in articulating views from elite intellectuals that participated in such movements, as well as the role of the press in disseminating state views; and continuities in education personnel.Show less
