Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1873-04-10
Education in China.

boys in the street on the way to school,
with an armful of books-the satchel be-
ing piece of blue cloth. / entered a
school the. other day-they are easily dis
tinguished from the noise of voices proceed
ing from them-and found an old man
with about twenty pupils. The boys do
not sit op forms, as in England; there
were number of small tables, each with
boy or two sitting at them. A very
prominent object was a large new coffin,
which the schoomaster had evidently pro-
vided to be ready when he should require
it. 1t was decorated at the end with a
piece of bright red paper, and the charac-
ter Shin upon it, which is used as a SYM
Dol for happiness. This would indicate
that they have not the same sepulchral and
dismal ideas in connection with a coffin
that We have. A school is very noisy
place; all the boys are bawling at the
same time at the very top Of their voices.
They do this to get by heart the books
which they are reading, and when they
have done so they come to the school
master, and, standing with their backs to
him, so that they cannot see the book in
the masters hand, they repeat what they
have learned. 1t is a system of examining,
in which the boy with the best memory
will stand highest, and this seems to be
the Chinese plan all through in education.
| was rather astonished TO find that instead
of horn-books those little fellows were
reading the Chinese classics. One boy
was pointed out to me as reading Men
Gus and whoever at last gets the most
Of these works by heart is the best
scholar Imagine boys at home in
a village school, reading Plato, Ho-
mer, or Milton, and being able to
repeat them by memory, and you viii
realize the Chinese mode of education
All this is working up to the public ex-
animation system which occupies such an
important place in China: so important is
it, that it may be called the core of the po-
litical and social fabric. As it is an old
institution here, it would be well if itwere
carefully studied in reference to our own
examination system, which is but thing
of yesterday. The principle upon which
it is founded is no doubt good. still it is
full of defects A system which has been
a thousand years at work, however per
feet, and adapted to the times when it be
gan, Is not likely to be in accordance with
the altered circumstances of the times
now. To be able to repeat the works of
Contucius and Mencius is no doubt good:
but examining mere words into one is not
quite the best system of training. The
mind has other end more important pow
ers than that OF mere memory. Limiting
the resources of knowledge to these old
classic authors is another defect of the
Chinese system. We have had the strug
gle about the classics and more modern
knowledge going on in our own universe.
ties No sensible person would object to
the study of ancient knowledge. The
limiting OF national system of education
in any way must be fault The whole
temple should be thrown open The
American who announced "I'he History
OF the World, from the Creation till Half
past Ten Last Night" was upon the right
track OF education. Our kilograms from
all round the globe, which we read at our
breakfast in the morning, are the last page
IN the world, and bring that history up to
somewhere about halfpast ten last
night"
In China the literati, or educated class
are said to be haters of foreigners, the op-
ponents OF telegraphs railways, and of
everything new. Their classic books date
from the time of Confucius, and the his
tory Of the world, or of intellectual thought.
which IS the essence Of all history and
knowledge, ceases at that time. The Chi
naman has been grinding his teeth on these
dry bones ever since. and he growls if any
other dog should venture to approach.
ms education, confined to such narrow
limits has been going on until his mind is
rs compressed and dimnutiye as the small
feet OF the women of the country A Chi
neSe girls feet are stopped growing in her
infancy, and Il literary mans mind has It's
growth arrested at the early dale Of Con
tucius. A woman here goes about some
thing very like goat trying to walk on its
iIlnd legs, and an educated Chnaman
seems equally incapable of trcadng the
paths of modern knowledge: hence his
total incapacity to comprehend the strange
foreigners who have of late invaded his
soil. The whole civilization of these
foreigners began ages after the date of
ContuciuS, and the educated Chinaman has
not IN his training acquired even the pre-
limlnary knowledge necessary to reform
notion OF their science and power. Over
the outside OF the gateway of the Exami-
nation Hall al Pekin there is an inscrip-
ton saying: Ii you are high UP in the
classics you will gain a scholarship; ;" and
over the inside Of the same door it saws
Those who pass through here afterwards
learn to govern the country" This simply
means that knowledge Of the classics is
all that man required to entitle him to
be a governor of men in the nineteenth
century in China.
There are examination halls in every
provincial capital, where the first two de
grees can only be given; but the two high,
er degrees can only be completed at Pekin.
The Suwang 1uen is the fourth degree.
and IS equivalent to our Senior Wrangler.
lie Is so-caled "One of the Ten Thou
sand" The place where the examination
is held contains 10000. and hence the
name, for there only is one Young man out
OF that number who can receive the honor
once in three years. Examination after
examination, men come up 10 compete.
TIL they grow old and gray, such is the de-
sire to achieve this high distinction 1t is
told OF one man that he competed every
three years till he was eighty. When men
perseyere TO this great age the Emperor
generally conters some honor upon them
The competition at Pekin is hard trial
1T lasts Tor nine days, and is divided i..to
three goes For three DAYS and three
nights the ten thousand" are confined in
pens, each man having about a square
yard of space into which he is imprisoned.
so that he is totally separated from his
neighbors, and there be has to write his
essay or paper on the subject given to him
by the judges, and which he knows moth
ing about till he is in his cell Paper.
with an official stamp, is given 10 each to
write upon, and all depends upon his mem
Dry OF the claSSicS-miniature copies have
been produced, so that they could be
Smuggled in, but it is a crime to print or
al y.a1, !.