Introduction

Introduction details the 20-year origin and core content of the author&s;s research on China&s;s new educational field (1895–1920s), revealing its internal connections and dimensional differences. It first traces the three phases of the research: The 1996 master&s;s thesis on Hunan&s;s educational transformation; the 2003 onwards study on Cai Yuanpei&s;s Peking University rectification; the post-2012 research on the role of Jiangxi&s;s secondary schools in the development of the early Communist Party of China (CPC) organizations. Then it clarifies dual meanings of the new education, emphasizing the politics-learning tension as its core. The three parts, spanning 1895–1926, reveal the evolution of the new educational field, with analyses differing in education levels, intellectual generations, and regions (Hunan, Beijing, Jiangxi), forming a phased summary of the author&s;s research.