Literate Knowledge Middle Kingdom: Euclid's Elements

Education began in prehistory, as adults trained the young in the knowledge and skills deemed
necessary in their society. In pre-literate societies, this was achieved orally and through
imitation. Story-telling passed knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to the next.
As cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond skills that could be readily learned
through imitation, formal education developed. Schools existed in Egypt at the time of
the Middle Kingdom.[2]
Matteo Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi (right) in the Chinese edition of Euclid's Elements published

in 1607
Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in Europe.[3] The

city of Alexandria in Egypt, established in 330 BCE, became the successor to Athens as the
intellectual cradle of Ancient Greece. There, the great Library of Alexandria was built in the 3rd
century BCE. European civilizations suffered a collapse of literacy and organization following
the fall of Rome in CE 476.[4]
In China, Confucius (551–479 BCE), of the State of Lu, was the country's most influential

ancient philosopher, whose educational outlook continues to influence the societies of China
and neighbours like Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Confucius gathered disciples and searched in
vain for a ruler who would adopt his ideals for good governance, but his Analects were written
down by followers and have continued to influence education in East Asia into the modern era.
[5]
The Aztecs also had a well-developed theory about education, which has an equivalent word
in Nahuatl called tlacahuapahualiztli. It means "the art of raising or educating a person", [6] or
"the art of strengthening or bringing up men". [7] This was a broad conceptualization of
education, which prescribed that it begins at home, supported by formal schooling, and
reinforced by community living. Historians cite that formal education was mandatory for
everyone regardless of social class and gender. [8] There was also the word neixtlamachiliztli,
which is "the act of giving wisdom to the face." [7] These concepts underscore a complex set of
educational practices, which was oriented towards communicating to the next generation the
experience and intellectual heritage of the past for the purpose of individual development and
his integration into the community.[7]
After the Fall of Rome, the Catholic Church became the sole preserver of literate scholarship in
Western Europe.[9] The church established cathedral schools in the Early Middle Ages as
centres of advanced education. Some of these establishments ultimately evolved
into medieval universities and forebears of many of Europe's modern universities. [4] During the
High Middle Ages, Chartres Cathedral operated the famous and influential Chartres Cathedral
School. The medieval universities of Western Christendom were well-integrated across all of
Western Europe, encouraged freedom of inquiry, and produced a great variety of fine scholars
and natural philosophers, including Thomas Aquinas of the University of Naples, Robert
Grosseteste of the University of Oxford, an early expositor of a systematic method of scientific
experimentation,[10] and Saint Albert the Great, a pioneer of biological field research.
[11]
Founded in 1088, the University of Bologne is considered the first, and the oldest
continually operating university.[12]
Elsewhere during the Middle Ages, Islamic science and mathematics flourished under the

Islamic caliphate which was established across the Middle East, extending from the Iberian
Peninsula in the west to the Indus in the east and to the Almoravid Dynasty and Mali Empire in
the south.
The Renaissance in Europe ushered in a new age of scientific and intellectual inquiry and
appreciation of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. Around 1450, Johannes
Gutenberg developed a printing press, which allowed works of literature to spread more
quickly. The European Age of Empires saw European ideas of education in philosophy, religion,
arts and sciences spread out across the globe. Missionaries and scholars also brought back new
ideas from other civilizations – as with the Jesuit China missions who played a significant role
in the transmission of knowledge, science, and culture between China and Europe, translating
works from Europe like Euclid's Elements for Chinese scholars and the thoughts
of Confucius for European audiences. The Enlightenment saw the emergence of a more secular
educational outlook in Europe.
17

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Education began in prehistory, as adults trained the young in the knowledge and skills deemed

Matteo Ricci (left) and Xu Guangqi (right) in the Chinese edition of Euclid's Elements published

Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in Europe.[3] The

In China, Confucius (551–479 BCE), of the State of Lu, was the country's most influential

Elsewhere during the Middle Ages, Islamic science and mathematics flourished under the

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