中国近代的职业教育萌芽于19世纪后半叶。它是一种适应近代大工业生产需要和工人阶级产生而出现的、同中国传统封建教育在指导思想、培养目标、教学内容和方法等方面都截然不同的新的教育形式。鸦片战争使中国的大门被打开,开始逐步沦为半殖民地半封建社会。西方列强的资本开始在中国兴办航运、船舶修造和各种加工企业,并雇用工人。这支由破产农民、手工业者、城市居民和退伍士兵等转化而来的产业工人队伍,就是近代中国最早的工人阶级。由于他们的文化素质很低,又不熟悉机器生产,西方列强的企业经营者为了追求最大限度的剩余价值,在采取延长劳动时间、增加劳动强度等各种残酷手段之外,也不得不对工人进行必要的适应机器生产需要的操作训练。这可以说是中国近代最早的职业教育。此外,西方教会也出于自身的需要,利用其宗教影响兴办职业教育。教会兴办职业教育的目的是:“给正在学 Vocational education in modern China sprouted in the second half of the 19th century. It is a new form of education that is quite different from the traditional Chinese feudal education in terms of its guiding ideology, training objectives, teaching contents and methods, which is suitable for the needs of modern large-scale industrial production and the emergence of the working class. The Opium War opened China’s door and gradually reduced itself to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. The capital of Western powers began to set up shipping, shipbuilding and various processing enterprises in China and employed workers. This industrial worker transformed from bankrupt peasants, handicraftsmen, urban residents and ex-soldiers, etc., is the earliest working class in modern China. Owing to their low cultural quality and their lack of familiarity with machinery production, the western business managers of enterprises in the Western powers have to resort to various brutal methods, such as prolonging working hours and increasing labor intensity, in pursuit of the maximum surplus value Necessary training to adapt to machine production needs. This is arguably the earliest vocational education in modern China. In addition, Western churches also use their religious influence to set up vocational education for their own needs. The purpose of the church to set up vocational education is: ”To be learning