History & Area Studies / World History / Asian History

摧毁寺庙如何铸就现代中国|Breaking the Temple Forging the Nation TheDark Legacy of Religious Destruction in China

这份研究报告深入探讨了20世纪初期中国现代人力资本的崛起，并重点分析了**“毁庙办学”运动在其中发挥的关键作用。研究指出，清末民初地方政府通过征收佛道寺庙资产**，成功解决了现代化教育转型的财政困境，资助了全国约70%的新式学堂建设。数据表明，寺庙资源越丰富的地区，其现代学校数量、学生入学率以及顶尖大学校友产出均显著更高，且这种积极影响在教育水平和识字率上延续至今。此外，研究还揭示了世俗化改革成功的政治经济条件，即需要强大的国家能力来实施征收，同时需要活跃的公民社会来确保资产真正投入教育而非被官员贪腐。总之，该文献通过量化历史分析，论证了宗教资产向教育资本的转型是中国现代化进程中的核心驱动力之一。|This research report provides an in-depth exploration of the rise of modern human capital in early 20th-century China, with a specific focus on the pivotal role played by the "Destroying Temples to Establish Schools" movement. The study argues that during the late Qing and early Republican periods, local governments successfully resolved the financial constraints of modern educational transformation by levying assets from Buddhist and Taoist temples. This funding mechanism supported the construction of approximately 70% of new-style schools nationwide. Data indicates that regions with greater temple resources exhibited significantly higher numbers of modern schools, student enrollment rates, and alumni output from top-tier universities. Moreover, this positive impact continues to persist in contemporary educational attainment and literacy rates. Additionally, the research reveals the political-economic conditions necessary for the success of secularization reforms: strong state capacity was required to enforce the expropriation, while an active civil society was necessary to ensure that the assets were genuinely invested in education rather than embezzled by officials. In conclusion, through quantitative historical analysis, this paper argues that the transformation of religious assets into educational capital was one of the core drivers of China's modernization process.