The Private Education Practice of Famous Lingnan Scholars and Social Changes
For Lingnan region,the Ming Dynasty was a period of transition from a"cultural desert"to a cultural flowering region.This transformation stemmed from the thriving of local education.The prosperity of cultural and educational undertakings in Lingnan had an interactive relationship with the rural education and clan building in the region.Scholars of Lingnan,represented by Chen Xianzhang,Zhan Ruoshui,Huang Zuo,Huo Tao,and Pang Shangpeng,actively engaged in grassroots teaching practice.They disseminated Confucian culture in the region through various forms of private education such as academies,rural schools,and clan schools.On this basis,Lingnan became an emerging academic and cultural center,and its imperial examination culture was further developed.The private education in Lingnan also popularized the etiquette norms of the dynasty to grassroots communities in a more secular way,while maintaining local stability and promoting the transformation of customs,and deepened the cultural interaction between the Central Plains and Lingnan.