This
research
explores
the
complexity
of
Confucian
schooling
in
the
context
of
contemporary
China.
Based
on
fieldwork
in
a
Confucian-‐style
classical
school
(given
the
pseudonym
Yiqian
School),
the
thesis
reveals
why
parents
choose
Confucian
education,
how
the
school
seeks
to
cultivate
children
as
Confucian
autonomous,
learned
individuals
and
what
sense
parents,
students
and
teachers
make
of
this
schooling.
Theoretically
the
thesis
draws
together
three
strands
of
scholarship—research
on
Chinese
education
and
the
rhetoric
of
suzhi/quality,
the
individualisation
thesis
as
it
applies
to
China,
and
governmentality
and
subjectification
in
the
context
of
China.
The
study
is
ethnographic,
drawing
on
participant
observation
and
formal
and
informal
interviews.
Conducted
in
2015,
the
fieldwork
took
place
over
six
months
in
Yiqian
School,
a
classical
school
with
a
student
population
spanning
seven
to
15
years.
The
research
demonstrates
the
complexity
of
parents’
decisions
to
withdraw
their
children
from
state
schools
and
in
planning
for
their
future
education.
These
parents
had
contradictory
dispositions
towards
the
state
school
system:
while
many
criticised
compulsory
schooling,
at
the
same
time
they
also
recognised
the
importance
of
the
state-‐defined
educational
track
in
awarding
academic
certificate.
The
parental
desire
for
their
children
to
receive
Confucian
classical
education
was
deeply
influenced
by
anxiety
about
morality
and
a
belief
that
classical
education
would
enhance
children’s
moral
status.
As
most
parents
came
from
middle-‐class
families,
their
stress
on
Confucian
ethical
virtue
can
be
interpreted
as
an
attempt
to
distinguish
their
children
from
other
social
groups
through
a
Confucian-‐inspired
distinction
between
good/bad
manners,
high/low
qualities
(suzhi),
and
superior/inferior
civilities
(wenming).
The
thesis
also
explores
the
specific
educational
practices
and
techniques
used
in
the
Confucian
school.
While
Yiqian
School
aimed
to
cultivate
students
as
autonomous,
learned
individuals
through
the
approach
of
“individualised
memorisation,”
this
process
is
subjected
to
disciplinary
power
in
two
conflicting
types
of
memorisation-‐based
pedagogy,
an
individualistic
and
an
authoritarian
mode.
This
meant
the
subjectification
of
the
students
involved
a
contradiction
between
autonomy
and
coercion.
By
showing
how
Confucian
individuals
are
shaped
within
the
education
system,
the
thesis
reveals
what
Confucian
education
tells
us
about
the
Chinese
path
to
individualisation.
The
making
of
Confucian
individuals
in
the
school
is
not
completely
“dis-‐embedded”
from
the
“traditional”
categories
such
as
family
relations,
the
state
school
system
and
social
class.
The
tension
between
parents
and
their
children
in
planning
for
the
latter’s
future
education
indicates
how
strongly
the
Confucian
youth
pursue
personal
aspirations.
Furthermore,
while
parents
were
free
to
take
their
children
out
of
the
state
school
system
and
choose
Confucian
education,
they
had
to
face
the
risks
resulting
from
the
ambiguous
status
of
Confucian
education,
particularly
the
lack
of
certificate-‐granting
powers
and
the
marginalisation
of
the
Confucian
educational
experience
