What was the girls’ school like in the late Qing Dynasty? A group of old photos to reveal the secret

Although women’s schools began to exist in China in the late Qing Dynasty in the 1840s, they were mainly run by foreign missionaries until the end of the 19th century

According to statistics, at the end of the 19th century, there were hundreds of female schools run by missionaries all over China, but the number of girls who really entered such schools was basically limited to the lower civilian class (orphans and poor people who could not afford to go to school), and female schools did not affect the upper class of China

On March 8, 1907, the Qing government promulgated the Constitution of the Ziding Women’s Primary School and the Constitution of the Ziding Women’s Normal School, which stipulated that women’s schools were divided into junior high schools and senior high schools, with four years of schooling each. All students in women’s schools were prohibited from foot binding. The Constitution of the Women’s Normal School promulgated by the Ministry of Education also stipulates that each county and prefecture must set up a women’s normal school, which can be initially set up by the government and allowed to be run by the people. The school system is also four years. Then, women’s vocational education was approved and carried out in various places. The attitude of the Qing government encouraged the enthusiasm of local officials to run schools, and the establishment of women’s schools became a fashionable move of local governments as one of the main achievements of local governments in implementing the New Deal and constitutionalism, thus objectively promoting the development of women’s education in various regions

A group of old photos of women’s schools in various parts of China during this period have been collated, so that we can have a look at the scene of women’s schools at that time and see them together