《蒙學報》成立之背景，緣自於清廷自甲午戰爭（1895）慘敗後，維新派知識分子鼓吹救國圖強之觀念，以教育改革作為圖強之方法。本文就內容及形式之變化，分作四個階段析論《蒙學報》〈文學類〉之識字啟蒙教材變革及演進之過程，對於清末民初漢字教育之轉型，有重要之意義。第一階段為1897 年第1 期至第6 期，第二階段為1898 年第7 期至第14 期，第三階段為1898 年第15期至1901 年第72 期，第四階段為《蒙學叢書》1902 年至1907 年。在第一及第二階段中，《蒙學報》之識字教材，無論是〈識字法〉或〈啟蒙字書〉，除學習中文字外，均加入英文學習之元素。究其原因，為清朝歷經數次與外國戰爭慘敗之打擊，便開始推行學習西方學術之運動，西學成為一時風尚，是以《蒙學報》識字教材加入英語學習之元素，是順應時人之實用需求。第三階段識字教材，增〈釋名〉，與原連載之〈識字法〉搭配對照。〈釋名〉所載內容更為詳實，形式也具有條理，呈現分項解說之形式，近於百科全書編排之精神，試圖建立出一套知識傳遞系統。第四階段之〈字課分類圖解〉，其內容有如傳統辭書，引用資料也是以古代典籍為主。其原因應與清廷早年大量推行新式學堂及遣送留學生，結果反而造成學子國文程度不佳、進而影響國族認同之現象有關，因此後來清廷開始強調本國語言文字之重要，學制改革主張童蒙語文教育應以本國語文為先。〈字課分類圖解〉取材僅止於傳統經典，難以達到童蒙識字淺白生動之教學宗
旨，且過於注重經典文化，雖是欲以加強國族認同，卻弱化國際新知之學習，對於童蒙學習成長而言，頗有顧此失彼之缺憾。

       The background of the founding of Meng xue bao stemmed from the fact that after the fi asco of the Qing court in the Sino-Japanese War (1895), the reformist intellectuals advocated the concept of saving the country and trying to become strong, and took educational reform as the method to become strong. In this paper, the changes in content and form are divided into four stages to analyze the teaching materials for literacy enlightenment in Meng xue bao. In the fi rst and second stages, the literacy textbooks of the Meng xue bao, whether it is the “Literacy Method” or “Enlightenment Character Book”, in addition to learning Chinese characters, all elements of English learning are added, with Chinese and English bilingual teaching elements. The characteristic is to comply with the practical needs of the people of the times.
In the third stage of literacy textbooks, “Release Word” has been added to compare with the original serialized “Literacy”. The content contained in “Explanation of Names” is more detailed and organized in form, and is similar to the encyclopediastyle explanation method, establishing a system of knowledge transfer. The content of the fourth stage has become classical and conservative, such as ordinary traditional calligraphy books. The material is limited to traditional classics, which is too limited
for Tongmeng’s learning and growth, which is not conducive to the development of an international perspective.