屏陽義塾の教育活動

Yanagawa Chikudo (1841-1899) established kangaku juku (Heiyo-gijuku: a private academy of Chinese learning) in the west of Sanuki (now in Kagawa Prefecture) after studying at Kangien (a famous private academy). His juku ran from 1870 to 1896. During that time, 478 students studied there, coming from the immediate neighborhood or surrounding areas. They sought knowledge of kanbun (Chinese learning), and became local leaders after studying kanbun in Heiyo-gijuku. The modern public school system was established in the 1870s. The importance of kangaku has been underestimated. However, kanbun remained the language of scholarship, literature and kanshi poetry throughout the 1870s and 1880s. Despite this, few secondary educational institutions taught kanbun. Thus, Heiyo-gijuku aimed to create local leaders by teaching kanbun. Kangien was famous for gettanhyo (a very rigorous system of ranking). Academic rank was reevaluated via regular examinations, and the revised gettanhyo was posted monthly. When Chikudo started Heiyo-gijuku, he introduced the Kangien educational system into his juku. However, in the 1880s, government regulation over private schools was tightened and it was no longer possible to maintain this type of education system. Thus, private schools were replaced by public education systems.