本研究旨在探究北宋初年書院的教育目的。過去研究認為南宋書院教育與道德性的教學理想有關。研究者的問題意識為：書院教育是否純然與道德相關？從北宋初年書院的發展或可看出端倪，本研究發現：北宋初年，官學教育未能即時因應教育之需求，書院成為補充官學的一種方式。又因朝廷崇尚文人之治，書院的發展與科舉之間的關連密切。從應天府書院的為學目的、慶曆新政推行地方官學，乃至宋初三先生之講學，書院講學是為了求理想的政治格局，一如范仲淹之語「文章之薄，則為君子之憂」，是以，「救斯文之薄」是北宋初年的書院教育目的。

This study aims to explore the educational goals of the early years of the Northern Sung Dynasty. Past research has suggested that the education of the Southern Sung Dynasty Academy is related to the teaching ideal of morality. The researcher's questioning consciousness is: Is the official school system purely related to morality? From the development of the early years of the Northern Sung Dynasty, we can see that: in the early years of the Northern Sung Dynasty, the official school system failed to respond to the needs of education, and the academy education became a way to supplement the official school system. The official attaches importance to the intellectuals, and the academies and the imperial examination are closely related. From the Yingtianfu Academy's academic purpose, the Qingli Reforms to promote the official school system, and even lectures by three scholars in the early Sung Dynasty, the Academies are aimed at the ideal political situation. Just as Fan Zhongyan's words "the intellectuals worry that the article is shallow" Therefore, "Saving the Loss of This Culture of Ours" is the purpose of the academic education in the early years of the Northern Sung Dynasty.