知识与财富的链接
明清之际湖北地方基础教育发达，地方官学虽有一定程度发展，但是由于与科举相结合，日益腐朽，加以明清时期湖北人口剧增，地方官学无法满足地方中等教育的需要，因此，书院取代官学成为地方主要教育场所。书院也是地方人材培养中心和地方文化、学术中心。
Basic education in Hubei during Ming and Qing dynasties was rather developed. Official schools, though having witnessed certain growth, could not avoid the negative influence of civil service examination and thus became decadent, unable to meet the needs for secondary education from the fast increasing population. With this background, academies of classical learning had come to replace official schools and become the center of local education, culture, and academic researches.