Liu Hsin's theory has been greatly elaborated by later scholars, especially by Chang Hsüeh-ch'eng (1738-1801) and the late Chang Ping-lin. In essence, it maintains that in the early Chou dynasty (1122?-256 B.C.), before the social institutions of that age disintegrated, there was "no separation between officers and teachers". In other words the officers of a certain department of the government were at the same time the transmitters of the branch of learning pertaining to that department. These officers, like the feudal lords of the day, held their posts on a hereditary basis. Hence there was then only "official learning" but no "private teaching". That is to say, nobody taught any branch of learning as a private individual. Any such teaching was carried on only by officers in their capacity as members of one or another department of the government.
劉歆的理論經(jīng)后來的學者叔汁，特別是章學誠（公元一七三八至一八〇一年）、章炳麟（公元一八六九至一九三六年）予以發(fā)展自阱。劉歆的理論主要是說背桐，在周朝（公元前一一二二{一〇四六}至前二五六年）禮崩樂壞（即社會動亂、政制解體）之前佃蚜，即周朝前期庸娱，吏與師不分着绊。換句話說，政府各個部門的官員便負責把有關這一部門的知識傳下去熟尉。這些官吏和貴族諸侯一樣归露，是世襲的。因此斤儿，當時只有“官學”剧包，沒有“私學”。這就是說往果，當時沒有任何私人教師疆液，擔任教師的都是政府的官吏。
According to this theory, however, when the Chou ruling house lost its power during the later centuries of the Chou dynasty, the officers of the governmental departments lost their former positions and scattered throughout the country. They then turned to the teaching of their special branches of knowledge in a private capacity. Thus they were then no longer "officers", but only private "teachers". And it was out of this separation between teachers and officers that the different schools arose.
按照這個理論棚放，當后來周朝皇室失去權力時枚粘，官吏們也失去了原來的優(yōu)裕地位，而散落民間飘蚯，他們便以私人身份招收學生馍迄，傳授他們的知識。這時局骤，他們已經(jīng)不是“官”攀圈，而成為“師”。就在教師與官吏分化的過程中峦甩，興起了諸子百家赘来。
