|
|||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||||
By Glenn Shive, PhD
Fulbright Scholar
Sun Yat-sen America Center
Photo Courtesy of
Tainan City Office of Cultural Affairs
Photographer:
CHANG Wu Jun
ROOTS, RANK & RHETORIC Confucianism, the state religion of the Chinese Imperial Court since the 2nd century BC, is well known for serene gardens and magnificent buildings. Often mistaken as religious, the "temples" are secular in nature following the layout of the Imperial Court. By the Sung Period, Confucian temples throughout China celebrated the ancestral lineage of local clans and linked powerful families to the prestige of the central government. They are quiet and dignified when compared to Buddhist and Taoist counterparts, and are dedicated to education and learning in this world. Within these sacred spaces, emphasis is on WORDS rather than icons.During the Tang dynasty, the world's first exams were administered within Confucian halls according to code, and official positions were given to those who achieved high marks. The towering portals and intricate passageways seem to parallel the treacherous, yet orderly path towards upward mobility in traditional Chinese society. Exams were held yearly at the county level, every two years in the provincial capitals, and every three years at the Imperial Court, overseen by the Emperor himself. Security against cheating was strictly enforced since integrity was a key measure to the soundness of government. When the imperial examination system was ended in 1905 (after nearly 1200 years of operation), many believed this also was the end of the Ch’ing dynasty. In fact, the Manchu government fell six years later during the Republican revolution of 1911.
Testing candidates, locked for several days in small rooms within the examination hall, recited long passages of Confucian texts from memory, and they wrote the so-called “eight-legged essays” in which form was more important than content. There was no room for personal perspective or interpretation. Most failed, facing preparation for yet again another try.
| Taiwan's Confucian examination halls carry added significance. As tangible reminders of Ch’ing imperial rule, they reflect a time of strong ties to the mainland, not only in language and customs with Fu-jien province, but also through government sponsored high culture that was embodied in the Confucian tradition and the examination system that arbitrated it. The temples affirm that as a Chinese place, Taiwan participated with the mainland in a common cultural heritage and under a single political and administrative system. That was certainly true from the 17th through the 19th century. The question is, how significant are these ties across the Straits to a common Chinese-ness, as symbolized in the Confucian temple, compared to the more divergent cultural and political experiences of people in Taiwan through the 20th century? Or compared to their aspirations in the 21st? How much is Taiwan, while certainly a Chinese place, going its own way without reference to the mainland in cultural and educational terms as it moves rapidly into the globalization process? |
 |
TAIWAN'S CONFUCIAN BUILDINGSARE RELICS. Indeed, they are beautiful architectural pieces that conjure images of old China. They warrant preservation as so few remain. Yet the meaning of these quiet halls within the vibrant Taiwan context is changing. Historical, high-culture continuity with the mainland is less important now than in the early years of mainlander migration after 1949. As it moves ever towards greater modernity and cosmopolitanism, Taiwan is developing in ways that may make the old and simple definitions of Chinese-ness, such as embodied in a Confucian examination hall, outmoded.Taiwan is taking a potentially bold step to end the comprehensive- examination (lian-kao) system that has shaped the tension filled transition from high school to university. In its current educational reforms, Taiwan is divesting residual Confucian elements in its examination system to provide greater opportunities to a wider audience and in keeping with the information age. Taiwan may also be leading the way among East Asian societies, including Japan, Korea and Vietnam, in moving beyond the Confucian heritage of “examination hell.”
 |
THE UNIFIED EXAM (lian kao) AND ITS CRITICS IN TAIWAN The comprehensive exam system, set in place in the early 1950s by the KMT to govern access to the then few places in universities, has left a strong imprint. Only one exam was required for consideration, and it was based on the student’s academic achievement, not social or economic background. Island wide standards for teachers, curriculum and textbooks also helped unify the educational system. |
One result of this unified system was to formalize a status hierarchy and tighten reciprocal links between particular schools and universities. Students with the highest scores were admitted into the most prestigious universities. Schools were evaluated simply by how many graduates got into the top universities. Unfortunately, learning tended to become simply a matter of preparing for the test. Teaching consisted mainly of coaching students for their exams. Curriculum became ossified. Why study anything that wasn’t on the test?In recent years Taiwan’s business leaders have criticized the lian kao as emphasizing rote memory at the expense of creativity and initiative, skills required by the new knowledge intensive workplace. Taiwan intellectuals returning from study and work abroad added force to this argument. Ability to retain factual information long enough for the test diminished the inclination to think creatively about new material-. Students with other interests or talents were left behind. Although Taiwan students scored high in science and math when compared to international peers, employers felt an increasing miss-match between the abilities of the graduates and the needs of their companies. The mental regimentation of rote learning may be well suited to authoritarian social units, whether in government or industry. But by the 1990s, Taiwan’s economy had moved well beyond assembly to more service and R&D intensive enterprises. Once Marshal Law was lifted in 1987, Taiwan’s political system evolved rapidly towards democracy. This required that schools produce more than obedient absorbers of sanctioned information. The lian-kao appeared to be a holdover from the Confucian past.
Another line of wide public criticism centered on the exam system’s impact on children and families. Winners- were praised, but what about the losers? Exam preparation became an overwhelming pre-occupation giving rise to cram schools, a large gray economy in private education today. Many young people who fell short of their parents’ expectations defined themselves as failures. Even bright students, bored with the didacticism of school, sought other outlets for their energies. Others reacted with anger against overwhelming social pressure. Growing anti-social and self destructive behavior among Taiwan's youth was viewed in part as a consequence of the monolithic exam system.
Are these the inevitable costs of an achievement-oriented- society? Or, has Taiwan become too pluralistic- for a single ladder of educational success? In a traditional society, the role of schools can be (indeed, may have to be) to select for the best and leave the rest. But a modern society like Taiwan needs to educate at a mass level beyond high school. Young people must have options for success, and schools need different ways to measure that success. Over the past two years, Taiwan has decided to eliminate the lian-kao. The last entrance exam to universities was held in June. The last roster of exam results was posted in July. The last entering class to gain admission to the universities through the lian-kao is beginning in fall 2000.
New tests along the lines of the American Standard Achievement Test (SAT) will be offered from next year on that will measure more the basic aptitudes for learning. High school grades, teacher's recommendation-, involvement in extra-curricular activities and leadership potential will carry greater weight. Universities will devise their own criteria for selecting students based on the fields they wish to emphasize. They will have to recruit more actively, and develop strategies for using scholarship funds and other resources to attract applicants. More market forces will determine which universities succeed. Competition will be sharper at the institutional level while, in theory, students will have more choices. These changes occur as the government reduces block funding, and while foreign institutions are more active in recruiting students for overseas campuses.Teachers will have more choices about what and how to teach, a role they may not welcome. Textbooks are produced privately now, and not limited to government presses. Parents may still expect passing performance on tests, even though the pressure will not have a single focus point. Principles may not be sure how schools will be evaluated, and more decisions will move downward from the government to the school level. Universities will have to more clearly define their specific character and attract students accordingly. As broader criteria for admission beyond exam results are considered, the potential for money and family influence may play an increased role.
Multiple pathways to university will require a new mentality that if not utilized could lead to confusion, dissatisfaction or nostalgia for the past. After all, expectations were relatively clear when guided by the lian-kao. Skeptics expect that Chinese culture cannot be without lian-kao, and that similar testing will only fill the void. But for now, the logjam has been broken. The next several years will likely see many changes in both secondary and higher education. Taiwan is the first among Confucian heritage societies of East Asia to reform its lian-kao and place it as an important cultural relic in the museum of the Confucian temple.
