It was an important problem, how to integrate the content of traditional education and modern education during the modernization of education in the late Qing Dynasty. History, especially Chinese history, was a field riddled with difficulties. In China, history occupied an important place in the traditional education system that was based on Confucian classics comprised of history, literature, and philosophy. However, with the establishment of a modern educational system that categorized learning by subject, new textbooks were written to meet the requirements of the new system. In the late Qing Dynasty, there were a variety of history textbooks in publication and from this it can be determined that various textbooks were then in use. Out of this chaotic situation, history textbooks improved with the promulgation of a modern educational system and the foundation of a textbook screening system created by the Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Education examined existing books used as textbooks, selecting those most appropriate in effort to improve history textbooks through official approval. This paper analyzes articles published by the Ministry of Education, such as "Record of Screening Results" in order to clarify the direction taken to improve history textbooks in the late Qing Dynasty. This paper will also discuss the significance of textbook screening in the modernization of education in China. This paper is divided into four sections : I. The Ministry of Education's general principles of textbook screening ; II. Screening of history textbooks according to the "Record of Screening Results;" III. The characteristic of history textbooks recorded in the "List of Textbooks for Temporary Use;" IV. Improvement of history textbooks resulting from screening. In the first section, I identify the general characteristics of screening. In the second, I clarify the standards for history textbook as they are applied in "Record of Screening Results." In the third, I elucidate the characteristics of history textbooks found on the "List of Textbooks for Temporary Use." In the fourth section, I specifically analyze the ways that textbook screening improved the quality of history textbooks. The Ministry of Education provided the screening for free and actively encouraged the submission of textbooks to screening. The Ministry of Education not only targeted commercial publications but also manuals written by instructors for their own students' use. While not many books were screened, the Ministry of Education made every effort to improve textbooks contents. In addition, the textbook screening categorized books into textbooks, useful reference books, and books not suitable for education, all in order to bring textbooks into harmony with the new educational system. The process of screening redirected the purpose of history textbooks away from traditional education that was primarily based on memorization. In addition, Chinese textbooks of the time were greatly influenced by Japanese textbooks. Through screening, textbooks could be revised to better meet the China's unique situation and move away from mere translations of foreign textbooks. The modernization of education in China was an attempt to synthesize foreign influences and create an independent, indigenous system.
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