Private Academies of Chinese Learning in Meiji Japan: The Decline ...

30 PRIVATE ACADEMIES OF CHINESE LEARNING IN MEIJI JAPANThe Education Law of 1872 changed this situationfundamentally in three ways. First, it explicitly linked learning toworldly sucess. Together with the abolition of the class system,this principle paved the way to a society where mobilitydepended on merit defined in terms of educational achievement.Second, it established (in principle, if not yet in practice) a systemof public education that was centrally regulated. A thirdfundamental change to affect the kangaku juku was that Westernlearning became the key to prestige and power. Nearly all themen who rose to leadership after 1868 had had at least minimalexposure to Western learning, and a Western educationincreasingly became the key to success. The new schools taughtmainly Western subjects.The full extent of these changes did not make itself feltimmediately. The system took years to implement. Educationalachievement only gradually became the condition for entry intomost professions. Moreover, kangaku retained its prestige foryears. This is why the kangaku juku could survive for as long asthey did, and even in the first years after 1872 were under littlepressure to change. Kangakujuku often filled the gap in publicprovision, especially between elementary and university level.Gradually the situation changed. 62 The juku of the Tokugawaperiod and the first years of Meiji began to disappear. Members ofthe samurai class were finding it harder to attend schools, havinglost their income and privileges. On the other hand, the demandfor commoner education increased. As more people receivedelementary education and the demand for secondary educationrose, private middle schools, often former kangaku juku, began toflourish, filling the gap in government provision. New juku forstudies beyond elementary level were established in rural areasand provincial towns at this time, attended by the sons ofsamurai who could not afford to study in Tokyo, or by wealthycommoners who expected to inherit the family business.Gradually, the kangaku juku had to adapt to the new situation.By offering a broader curriculum some became private versionsof the public schools. Others functioned as preparatory schoolsfor students wanting to take public examinations (these includedkanbun); this function became more significant as examinationsbecame increasingly important.But the kangaku curriculum could also present an alternative tothe Western education provided in the public system. For thosewho did not seek education as a way into a profession, this type