Abstract: On June 2, 1936, the Yunnan Provincial Education Department, pursuant to directions of the Ministry of Education, divided the whole province into six normal education zones (NEZ), among which was the Zhennan NEZ that later created Zhennan Provincial Normal School (ZPNS). This could not have succeeded without great contribution from its creator Zhang Zuyin, whose significance in the history of normal education of Chuxiong has been largely neglected. Right prior to inauguration of ZPNS, Zhang was nominated by the Foreign Ministry of the Republic of China (1912-1949) as a Chinese representative to the Sino-British Commission of Boundary between Yunnan and Burma. Until then, development of normal education of Chuxiong had been restricted as the task was assumed by Kunming the provincial capital. Adjustment in educational resources configuration of the Zhennan NEZ changed this, a change that was to lay a solid foundation for the later normal education system reform of Chuxiong by cultivating adequate teaching talents for Chuxiong and even west Yunnan.

Key words: Zhennan Normal Education Zone (NEZ), Zhennan Provincial Normal School (ZPNS), Zhang Zuyin, educational resource configuration, system evolution