Education Reform in the Late Qing Dynasty and Expansion of Public Realms in Society

The Late-Qing government took three leading measures in educational reform,that is,abolishing the imperial examination,sending oversea students,and building schools.These measures effectively accelerated the expansion of such public realms as schools,academic societies and newspapers.The establishment and implementation of the new school system paved the way for establishing modern educational system,educational mode and teaching content,which laid a new foundation of learning for the reform-oriented intellectuals to participate in public criticism and supervision.Educational reform and expansion of public realms led to the weakening of the legal basis of traditional politics.As a result,in face of the relatively loose social environment,the Late-Qing government as the initialist of this reform was incapable of effectively controlling and synthesizing the situation.