士与教育有着天然的联系，中国教育（古称“学”）的自觉，起源士的产生，而中国近代教育实现新旧之间的转型，亦与士有莫大的关联。甚至可以说，近代教育转型，士是不折不扣的导演。在这数量庞大的改革先驱之中，严修是其中的代表之一。当时的许多士子一样，严修接受了正规而良好的士大夫训练——诗赋、时文、白摺、小楷、经史、文字学等等。这种训练包含八股取士的内容，但亦超出了八股的范围，对传统的精英文化进行了广泛而深入的继承和吸收。而严修从小接受的理学熏陶，在加深其道德修养的同时，也使得严修在德与才两方面齐头并进，俨然一“醇士”。在正常学习之余，士好学的本性，使得严修对于新传入的外来知识表示了极大的兴趣。所以，严修与他的士大夫朋友们一起，在接受传统教育的同时，也成为了新学知识传播者。严修是个传统教育体系下的佼佼者，刚过二十就接连中乡试、取进士、点翰林，数年之后便取得了使黔执掌文衡的机会。正当要真正有计划有系统地进行教育事业的时候，甲午之后时代的剧变，给了国人以警醒，也给了士大夫对于中国教育的反思和自省。严修开始发挥“汤之盘铭”的固有精神，对贵州的教育事业进行了顺应时代的改作。虽然官书局、新书院、黔学会都没能撼动社会的根本结构，也不能逃脱精英的士大夫教育的局限性。但是作为试点，其思路已经初具。而经济特科以及经济常科的构想与努力，更是以道和天下为己任的士大夫敢于同自身的集团性决裂的证明。教育的发生史不是“崩溃——新生”的新旧二元对立，而是在两者之间的自我更新和转型。戊戌变法的失败以及庚子之变的创痛，告诉士大夫们渐变的不可待。而八国联军的外力，正好廓清了直隶地区的科举桎梏及附庸的官学体系，各色庙宇和祠社也因与洋人不谐而多遭废弃。面对一片瓦砾和废墟，严修和他的朋友们却看见其中蕴含的机会，于是未等这些旧事物死灰复燃，严修等人便将其化作了新教育的养料。于是大兴公私蒙小学堂，组建教师队伍，派遣留学生，直隶学界迅速成长为一支不可忽视的力量。而其中最主要的组成部分，几乎全是通达时务的官绅士夫。到1905年科举彻底罢停，直隶的士大夫们，已经完成了自身的转换，而过去士大夫教育的种种弊端，也在这过程中完成了自赎。1905年冬以后，严修任职学部，继续致力于将直隶兴学的经验推广向全国，在取得巨大成就的同时，愈发觉察满清政府的不可为。然而，士大夫们已经培养起了接班人，这些新一代的学人或学子没有了士大夫或士子的头衔，却把士大夫们自赎时的事业推向了更前方。

The literati and education have natural ties. In ancient China, the consciousness of education stemmed from the rise of literati, and the restructure of education in modern China, also has a closed relationship with the literati. Even we could say, the literati is an out-and-out director of the restructure of education in modern China. And in large amount of these pioneers, Yan Xiu is a foremost representative.Like many of other literati, Yan Xiu had a good training of literati, including poem and Fu, Baguwen (Stereotyped Writing), handwriting, the classics, etc. These training contains the the imperial examination system’s work, but also is an inherit and assimilate of the traditional elite or high culture. Because of the neo-Confucianism background received from family, Yan Xiu could promote both the ability and political integrity by himself. The love of learning, which is the nature of literati, took Yan Xiu great interesting on new knowledge from abroad. So, the process of receiving traditional education, also one side is the pipeline of transmitting new knowledge.Yan Xiu was a talent in the imperial examination system, twenty years old, he became a candidate, and then Jinshi, and then became the member of the Imperial Academy, and several years before, he got the chance to be an education official in Guizhou province. When he was going to do some work, the Jiawu War broke out, the China’s failure make most of the literati in self-examination. Maybe we need some change, some great change, Yan Xiu thought. So he carried out reform in educational system. Through one official book bureau and one new institution can not change much, yet can not jump out the circle of literati education, but as an experiment, it already got the right way. Yan Xiu’s suggestion to take a special examination of mathematic, modern law and politics, physics, chemistry, and otherwise even can be regarded as an evidence that the literati had always deemed it his duty to keep morality up and take care of Tianxia, and can give up his statues as a sacrifice. The road that education’s taking place, was not a dual opposites like “broken and born”, but an update and renewal.The failure of the reform movement of 1898 and the wounds took by the Boxers Movement, make the literati knew that China needed a change faster and deeper. The allied forces of eight powers against China cleaned away the imperial examination system just in time, many traditional academies and temples were obsolete. But Yan Xiu and his friends found opportunities between the ruins after the battle, they renewed them to be a resource of developing modern education. So they established schools, trained teachers, send the best talents to go abroad, and the educational circles changed to be an important social power. And the leaders almost were the enlightened literati. Until the ending of the imperial examination system, most of the literati had successfully finished this transformation. At the same time, the shortcomings of the post literati education, achieved their atonement by the literati himself.In the winter of 1905, Yan Xiu transferred to the Ministry of Education. As a vice minister, he continued to promote his Zhili experience to the whole country. He had great success, and in the same times, he found the Qing dynasty was dying, so he went home. But the literati had already trained his successor. The new students in the modern schools had no parentage like their literati teachers, yet pushed the project of their literati teacher to more and more far away.