Tao Kan School

　　Tao Kan School is situated by the Lianshui River in Bailu Village, Xiyang Township, Loudi City. During the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns of the Qing Dynasty, there was a scholar named Luo Xinnan in Bailu Bay who had a deep love for the poetry of Tao Yuanming. After reading, he often placed the books on his family shrine and styled himself "Tao Kan Jushi" (Hermit of Tao Kan), making a living by composing poetry and teaching. He attracted many followers from all directions, and although he longed to establish a school to spread education, he lacked the means and passed away with this ambition unfulfilled. His son, Luo Chang? (courtesy name Shentian), sought to fulfill his father’s legacy. Drawing on the salary he earned over the years from his official posts (he rose to the rank of Left Councillor in Tibet), he set aside land rents of 240 dan and founded the “Tao Kan Free School” in the 27th year of the Guangxu reign (1901), with the schoolhouse built in the Bamboo Painting Garden of the founder Luo Shentian’s residence. In the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906), with the abolition of the imperial examination system and the establishment of modern schools, the “Tao Kan Free School” was renamed “Tao Kan Two-Level Primary School.” In the first year of the Republic of China (1912), Luo Shentian’s son, Luo ?zhong, took charge of the school administration and, following official orders, changed the school’s name to “Tao Kan School.” In 1914, Luo ?zhong returned from studying in the United States, declined official positions, and devoted himself to education. He donated an additional 100 dan of land rent, even sacrificing his own family fortune to run the school. For decades, he worked tirelessly, pouring his heart into the school. Through multiple new constructions and expansions, the school grew to cover an area of over 80 acres, with 11 buildings consisting of 87 rooms—including 23 classrooms, as well as a canteen, auditorium, offices, dormitories, library, laboratory, infirmary, music room, art room, sewing room, printing room, and shop—totaling a construction area of 9,420 square meters (see the model diagram of the original site of Tao Kan School). The campus also featured facilities such as sports fields, recreational areas, a farm, factory, pigsty, fishpond, rockery, and fountain. At its peak, the school had over a thousand students, with attendees coming from all over the southeastern provinces.

　　Luo ?zhong led Tao Kan School with the belief that: “Of all teachings, the most important is to teach people to ‘seek truth’; of all learning, the most essential is to learn to be a ‘true person.’” He advocated that the school should view children as the “masters,” with all efforts centered on the children, owned, managed, and enjoyed by them. He upheld the two-character motto “Blood Spirit” (Xuexing), emphasized the value of the “five educations”—physical, moral, intellectual, aesthetic, and social—and implemented a series of reforms, blazing a new trail for rural basic education. He placed particular importance on students’ extracurricular practice and participation in social activities. During the Anti-Japanese War, he strived to cultivate in students virtues such as “discipline, courage in the face of danger, cooperation and mutual aid, solidarity in adversity, service to soldiers, and fearlessness of sacrifice,” while actively participating in anti-war relief efforts.

　　At the time, Tao Kan School enjoyed the widespread acclaim of “Xingzhi in the north, Tao Kan in the south,” attracting a continuous stream of visits from experts, scholars, and teachers and students from other regions. Tao Kan became a uniquely distinctive and renowned rural primary school both at home and abroad. Luo ?zhong was honored as a “master of his generation.”

　　In 1961, due to the construction of the Xikou Reservoir, all the buildings of Tao Kan School were demolished, and the school merged with Litu School, becoming known as “Bailu Primary School.” In 1986, the Loudi municipal government allocated special funds to build a new school in Bailu Bay, restoring the name “Tao Kan School” (primary school section). Xiangxiang City also built the secondary school section of Tao Kan School in Zhuyuan Village, Maotian Township, adjacent to Bailu Bay. On September 21, 1991, more than 300 alumni from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and over ten provinces and cities gathered to enthusiastically celebrate the 90th anniversary of Tao Kan School. On the same day, the books Tao Kan School Chronicles and Selected Posthumous Works of Luo ?zhong were launched at the celebration, and the “Luo ?zhong Memorial Hall” located on campus was also opened. Subsequently, Loudi City established the “Luo ?zhong Educational Thought Research Association” and edited and published the book Collected Works of Luo ?zhong.