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to confound theory with practice, and not to attribute unreservedly the strict ancient usages to the existing generation.

In a country where the system of instruction is entirely regulated by the laws, and forms so material a part of the constitution, the palpable deficiency is that there are no free schools supported by the government. Yet there are numerous establishments for education founded by the munificence of those who in past ages have acquired fame and riches by their literary attainments. The master of a district school is paid at the rate of two to three dollars a year for each boy; yet even this small sum cannot very easily be spared by a laboring man, whose wages are not more than a few pennies a day; so that many families of the poorer classes send only one son to school, selecting, of course, him who shows the most promising genius. The boys are incited to industry and good behavior by the hope of prizes which are distributed at stated periods, and. consist of pencils, paper, Indian ink and ink-stones or little palettes for grinding the ink, which are all much prized by the Chinese, who call them "the four precious materials," and teach the children to keep them in very neat order. In most of the country villages and in all large cities there are evening schools for boys who are obliged to work in the day-time; for the children of the poor are inured to labor from a very tender age, so that little fellows of five or six years of age may be seen trudging along the roads with a stick across their shoulders carrying loads; and they are set to work in the fields almost as soon as they can walk. It is the usual practice now for persons of rank and wealth to engage private tutors

for their children; but whether the latter are educated at home or at a public school, they must undergo the regular examinations before they are eligible to office, nor are they taught in any way differently from the boys at the village seminaries.

These examinations were first instituted for the purpose of selecting the fittest persons to fill all offices of state, without regard to rank or fortune, and have as a general rule previous to the present dynasty been conducted with impartiality. One of the favorite maxims of the Chinese is, "By learning the sons of the poor become great; without learning the sons of the great are mixed with the common people." The beneficial influence of this maxim is observable in the village schools, which are generally well attended, since it is natural for every father to hope that one of his children at least may distinguish himself by a superior capacity, and thus make his own fortune as well as that of his family; for as parents are frequently degraded in consequence of the misconduct of a son, so they are often honored and rewarded on account of his virtues.

Many years of laborious application to study are required to fit a youth to become a candidate for literary distinction. Five or six years are entirely spent in committing to memory the works of the ancient sages, particularly the five canonical books of which Confucius was either the author or the compiler; and thus its officers come to know by heart the maxims by which the empire has been regulated from time immemorial. Six years more are devoted by the unwearied student to the making himself master of the art of composition, to which end he studies innumerable set phrases and apt

similes; so that the learned Chinese all write in the same general figurative style and use the same metaphors.

The lower examinations take place annually, when those young men who are looking for preferment and are qualified for trial assemble at the public hall before a council of the literati, who are to judge of their merits ; when each candidate is furnished by the president with a theme, on which he has to write an essay and an ode to test his fitness for a further trial. The best of these compositions being selected, the authors are sent to the chief literary mandarin of the department in which their district is situated, who subjects them to a much more rigorous examination than the former one, which ends by giving certificates to a certain number, who thus gain what is called "a name in the village," while the rest either give up the pursuit or wait for the next opportunity of making another trial. The chosen few have then to appear before a still higher tribunal, which is yet stricter than the last. The hall where this trial takes place is provided with a great number of small apartments, so that each candidate may be shut up alone, and the judges thus assured that their performances are entirely their own. They are even searched on entering these little cells, to see that they have neither books nor papers about them; and this being ascertained, all are supplied with writing materials and themes to try their skill in composition, both in prose and verse. To guard against any partiality being shown by the president and members of the board, these papers are laid before them unsigned, and they select the best without knowing who are the authors. The fortunate individuals whose pieces are thus approved then receive

the first degree, styled Siu-tsai, which is equivalent to that of our Bachelor of Arts; but the numbers are so considerably diminished at each fresh trial that, on an average it is reckoned that not more than ten arrive at this degree, out of every thousand who present themselves, in the first instance, at the hall of the district; but as the districts are numerous, these tens amount to several hundreds in a province.

The second degree is that of Ku-jin, which may be translated "elevated man," a rank equal to that of Master of Arts at our colleges. All those who have attained the first step are qualified to try for the second, but the task is a much harder one, and as the number to be chosen is very small in proportion to that of the candidates, being not much more than one out of every hundred and forty, the emulation and excitement are of course very great. This trial takes place only once in three years in all the provincial capitals, before a board composed of an imperial chancellor and some of the principal officers of the province. On this occasion, as before, the competitors write their essays in separate cells, which are guarded by soldiers to prevent the possibility of communication with any one outside. They have to pass through three ordeals, with an interval of two days between each. On the first day two or three thousand pieces are, perhaps, sent in for inspection to the judges, who are so strict that if one word of the composition be incorrectly written it is thrown aside, and the mark with which it is signed (for no names appear) is put up at the gate of the hall, which spares all the mortification of a public rejection, as no one knows the signature but the candidate himself, who, on recognizing his own mark, returns quietly home;

so that on the second day there are not perhaps onequarter of the original number, and on the third there are fewer still. At length the names of the successful candidates are declared, on which handbills notifying the same are printed and posted up in all directions ; their parents and nearest relatives are sent for to share in the honors that are bestowed on them; they are invited to the houses of the great and overwhelmed with presents and congratulations. Their blue dress is exchanged for a brown gown with a blue border, and their silver badge superseded by a golden or gilt one. The happy scholar is now on the highroad to wealth and fame; he is qualified for any office, and if his conduct and ability are such as to entitle him to advancement, he is expected to rise.

Such are the means by which nobility is acquired in China, and before the reign of Yung-ching they were the only means; but in the reign of that prince and since his time rich merchants and others, who have not gone through the ordeal above described, have been allowed to purchase rank, and have thus obtained office without possessing the necessary qualifications; but this innovation caused much dissatisfaction, and was not carried then to any great extent. There are still two degrees above those already mentioned, to which all who have taken the second degree are privileged to aspire. Once in three years those who are ambitious of rising another step repair to Peking for the examination by the doctors of the Han-lin College, who elect three hundred out of about ten thousand, which is the average number of candidates for the honor of a rank somewhat similar to that which among us is called Doctor of Laws.

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