As a part of Singapore’s Chinese cultural heritage, textbooks of Chinese-medium schools formed a significant aspect of the collective memory of Chinese who grew up during the colonial era and Singapore’s early nation-building years. Those who attended traditional private schools or new types of schools (also known as modern schools, xinshi xuetang) continue to hold deep memories of the early learning or modernised textbooks they studied.

Early learning texts for children (1819–1894)

Before new types of schools were founded, Singapore’s Chinese community was primarily educated through various forms of private schools. Located in homes, shops, temples, clan associations, or other rudimentary buildings, these schools did not have a fixed curriculum or clearly defined objectives. They also did not use standardised textbooks, but relied on teachers to decide what to teach. Common teaching content included traditional children’s texts like the Trimetric Classic, A Hundred Family Surnames, and the Thousand Character Classic, along with arithmetic and calligraphy classes. More advanced students had the opportunity to study classics like the Four Books and Five Classics.

The rise of modern schools and textbooks in late Qing dynasty (1894–1911)

The first modern school in Singapore, founded in 1899, was the Singapore Chinese Girls’ School.1 Established by social elites such as Khoo Seok Wan (1874–1941) and Lim Boon Keng (1869–1957), it later evolved into an English-medium educational institution offering a curriculum that included Romanised Malay, Chinese, English, mathematics, history, geography, music, and sewing, and other modern subjects. From the early 20th century, Chinese-medium schools like Yeung Ching School (now Chongzheng Primary School), Kwong Chow School (now Yangzheng Primary School), Yin Sin School, Tuan Mong School, Tao Nan School, and Khee Fatt School (now Qifa Primary School) were established as part of an education system outside of China.2 The curriculum and textbooks used in these modern schools followed the goals and outlines stipulated in the school charter of the Qing government.

These textbooks were mainly produced by The Commercial Press and included texts like the Moral Education and the Chinese Language, along with books on abacus calculation, written calculation, history, geography, ethics, science, arts and crafts, music, and physical education. These textbooks aimed to inculcate various life values in students — such as respect for Confucian values, loyalty to the emperor, and public morality — that aligned with the political requirements of the late Qing government.

The flourishing of pre-war overseas Chinese schools and Republic of China textbooks (1912–1941)

In 1912, the Republic of China was established by a Republican government. From the first year of the Republic of China to 1941, China faced both internal and external challenges, resulting in a highly unstable political environment. Major events during this period included the May Fourth Movement, the rebellion of the Northern Warlords, the Chinese Civil War between the Nationalists (Kuomintang) and the Communists, and the Japanese invasion, which impacted the educational policies and content of Chinese textbooks.

During this period, Singapore’s Chinese-medium schools primarily adopted textbooks by publishing companies in China that were designed for overseas Chinese-medium schools in Nanyang. As a result, the content of these textbooks was naturally influenced by political events in China and exhibited characteristics unique to their times. Some of the textbooks adopted by Chinese-medium schools were scrutinised and banned by the colonial government for containing anti-Japanese and anti-British content. For example, the British colonial government banned a number of anti-British textbooks in 1928. During the governorship of Cecil Clementi (1875–1947) from 1930 to 1934, the colonial government was even more strict in reviewing and banning textbooks of Chinese-medium schools. Between 1930 and 1935, it announced a list of banned textbooks almost every year. In 1935 alone, the colonial government banned 84 textbooks and teaching reference books from 16 publishers.3

The majority of textbooks used in Chinese-medium schools in Singapore and throughout Southeast Asia before World War II were imported from China. These textbooks were primarily written by Chinese intellectuals and educators and published by Chinese publishing houses in Shanghai, such as The Commercial Press, Chung Hwa Book Company, and World Book Company. The textbooks they compiled covered various subjects at the primary, middle, and senior-middle school levels, including Chinese language, moral education, history, geography, general knowledge, civics, health, arithmetic, physics, chemistry, and biology.4 These books were popular throughout Southeast Asia. Books such as the eight-volume Selected Chinese Texts, edited by Song Wenhan (1894–1971) from the Chung Hwa Book Company, and High School Chinese by Song and Zhang Wenzhi (1898–1956) were widely adopted by local Chinese-medium schools and made a significant impact on education here. These textbooks aimed to impart new knowledge in various disciplines and cultivate the character of Chinese nationals, and catered to Chinese students in China. As for Chinese-medium schools outside of China, especially in Southeast Asia, textbooks known as “textbooks suitable for use by overseas Chinese in Nanyang” were mostly modified from those by Shanghai-based publishers, namely the Chung Hwa edition of New Curriculum Standard Textbook and The Commercial Press edition of Reviving Educational Textbook series. The adapted textbooks were similar in content to those used in China.

China’s monopoly on textbooks continued until 1936, when several major bookstores established by local Chinese businessmen, including Nanyang book Company, Chung Hing Publishing Company, Shanghai Book Company, and the World Book Company, began publishing a series of localised textbooks.

Singapore imprints of Nanyang textbooks (1936–1957)

In the early post-war period, Chinese-medium schools in Singapore experienced a rapid resurgence, but faced a shortage of textbooks. Civil war and social instability in China from 1946 to 1949 had greatly affected the supply of Chinese-medium books and textbooks to Southeast Asia. To address the shortage,5 Shanghai Book Company in Singapore gathered a group of scholars and educators — who had taken refuge in Southeast Asia during the war and were familiar with the local situation – to compile a series of Nanyang-based Shanghai Modern Series textbooks. The World Book Company also published the World Book Series Nanyang textbooks, while Nanyang Bookstore released Nanyang Series textbooks. With their strong local flavour and rich Southeast Asian content, these textbooks were not only adopted by local schools, but also gained popularity in other regional cities. The books came to be known generally as the Singapore imprints of “Nanyang textbooks”.

The World Book Company and Nanyang Bookstore in Singapore also embarked on the editing and publication of Nanyang textbooks. One notable feature of these textbooks was their stronger emphasis on local content and issues compared with “textbooks suitable for use by overseas Chinese in Nanyang” series.

The Commercial Press’ Fuxing guoyu jiaokeshu [Reviving Chinese Language Textbook], Primary Level Book 3, 1947. National Museum of Singapore Collection, courtesy of National Heritage Board.
Nanyang Book Company’s Nanyang changshi jiaokeshu [Nanyang General Knowledge Textbook], Lower Primary Level Book 7, 1948. Gift of Sim Siew Gaik, National Museum of Singapore Collection, courtesy of National Heritage Board.

Post-war educational reforms and Malayanised textbooks (1951–1964)

The political landscape in Singapore and Malaya underwent significant changes in the early post-war years. British Malaya saw developments such as political demands from the Malayan Communist Party, the spread of Malay nationalism, and the formation of the Federation of Malaya. As the focus on politics grew, so did nationalist movements. Beyond the region, the Communist Party of China had come into power, and the ideological Cold War between Eastern and Western political blocs was building up. Consequently, the educational content and textbooks for Chinese-medium schools shifted from ethnic education to local politics, giving rise to a push for the “Malayanisation” of textbooks.

The movement referred to a new education system established by the British colonial government and the transitional autonomous governments to rein in the development of vernacular schools (mainly Chinese-medium schools) and promote English education. This was done through the revision of textbooks for Chinese-medium schools, by reducing or eliminating Chinese nationalist content in pre-war textbooks, and introducing localised content to instil in students a sense of loyalty to their place of residence. In essence, the Malayanisation of textbooks was to exert governmental control over textbook content through a committee responsible for setting subject curriculum standards and overseeing textbook compilation, approval, publication, and adoption.6

In 1951, the Federation of Malaya government invited two educationists, William P. Fenn (1903–1993), an expert in higher education in China, and United Nations official, Wu Teh Yao (1915–1994), to conduct a survey of Chinese education in Malaya. They published a report known as the Fenn-Wu Report on Chinese schools and the education of Chinese Malayans, which initiated the Malayanisation of textbooks.

In 1953, the first set of Malayanised textbooks, the United Publishing House’s Chinese Language (Guoyu), was introduced. Subsequently, until 1956, other versions of Malayanised textbooks appeared on the market, including Shanghai Book Company’s Modern Series, the World Book Company’s World Series, The Commercial Press and Chung Hwa Book Company’s Chung Hwa–Commercial Series, Nanyang Bookstore’s Nanyang Series, and the United Publishing House Series. These textbooks covered various subjects, including language, mathematics, and science, and they were based on the curriculum standards developed by the education ministries of Singapore and Malaya. Their content focused on the fusion of Chinese and Malayan cultures and aimed to foster loyalty to the local political system.

The final chapter of textbooks for Chinese-medium schools (1965–1979)

During Singapore’s early independent years, approximately 170,000 students attended Chinese-medium schools. Apart from learning English as a second language, all the other subjects were taught in Chinese. The market for textbooks in Chinese attracted not only the five major publishing houses but also other publishers, resulting in a diverse array of publications. After 1979, when schools from the four language streams were integrated into one unified model with English as the medium of instruction, textbooks in Chinese were reduced to only one: the subject-based Chinese Language (huawen) textbooks. Textbooks, along with the decline of Chinese-medium education, eventually became a part of history.