History, Memory, and Place in the Popular Revival of Confucian Educational Traditions

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, traditional Confucian education re-emerged in China in the context of so-called study halls and academies. The goal of the parents, teachers, and headmasters associated with them is to cultivate modern virtuous persons through an approach called “classics-reading education.” Even though they allude to deep historical roots, these contemporary facilities are novel (re)creations, developed in response to current needs. This article examines the classics-reading movement under the theoretical lens of infrastructures of memory to illustrate the roles of memory and the perception of the past in the current making of “traditional” education and educational sites. Memories of and references to the past inform people's visions of a better future that is to be achieved through their tradition-related educational practices. Making a connection with the past through memory aims at stability in the face of future uncertainty.