ABSTRACT
China prides itself on being the world’s longest continuous civilization, with over 5,000 years of history. The primacy of education and learning for the well-being and good governance of Chinese society has been recognized for thousands of years. Culture and education have been inextricably linked for most of China’s history and although the formal education system experienced neglect in more recent times, it has once again been recognized as a top priority for the nation’s progress and prosperity. The links between education and culture in China are close and have been formalized for a much longer period than anywhere else in the world and some of these links and developments are described in this chapter. Specifically, the link between education and what became the official state orthodoxy of Confucianism is explored to explain the development of education in China historically and in the contemporary context.
