St. Landry democrat., 1889-07-27
School Days in China.

I JOCK Dd@7ynpte, IN IHe american.
] School Days in China
I The school to which All Chang is for the
hrst time vending his steps is down the
street called the Avenue of Eternal Hope,
and the establishment is in the upper story
sof tishmongers shop. AS we near the
place -shere large fish are seen splashing
about in large tubs of water-thus retain
ling their freshness till the very hour when
q customer arrives to make a purchase
! we hear the hum of juvenile voices, end
| at once infer that we are near the school.
All Chang mounts the stairs somewhat
/ nervously, but he has already been fully
/ instructed as to how he should proceed
Reaching the upper door he finds himself
in the presence of the master, and as all
eyes are turned toward him he advances
and placing his hands together in front,
make two or three profound bows before
the venerable sin shang, or teacher. We
notice that he has red handkerchief in
his capacious coat sleeves which serve for
pockets, and this he takes out and unrolls
1t contains two or three little parsels
First, done up in red paper, without which
1t would be very improper to make pres
: emit, is some. broken silver as an opening
present to the master to secure his favor
and attention, and to insure good luck at
school. Then comes little bundle of in
cense sticks, which the pupil now proceeds
to place before the little school shrine in
which Confucius is worshipped, and here
All Chang does homage to the patron of
Celestial scholars. Lastly, we find him
opening his school requisites-Indian
(really Chinese) ink, pencil made of hair
like an English paint brush, which does
duty for pen, inkstand, and spoon to dip
water from the little cup when the ink
has to be ground down to liquid form
for use, and other similar articles. The
intelligent face of the lad is set off by the
bright new dress he wears, and by the
clearly shaver head, the scalp only having
been left unshaven, and the hair growing
there woven into queue, or long plat,
fastened at the end with red silk (unless
the lad Is in mourning, when blue is used),
till he grows older, after which he adopts
the color of his father, black. y
All Chang commences work by learning
the use of the pencil, or pen, as we should
say. In writing Chinese the pen must be
heA upright, and the weight of the hand
rests not on the fingers but on the wrist.
Hold your pen upright between the thumb
and fore finger, so that the tip points to
the floor and the head to the ceiling, then
rest your wrist on the writing table, and
you have the position at once. To learn
the art of forming Chinese characters or
picture. words, the pupil is provided with
paper materials which correspond to the
drawing states used by children in Eng
land. A '.copy" is procured on which the
Chinese words are printed clear and bold !;
this Is placed on the table and fastened In
position under thin piece of Chinese
paper, and then the boy traces on the up
per paper TIE words which he can see
through it onS ibis copy. Beginning with
words containing one, two and three
strokes. inst as we would do, he proceeds
to the more difficult words or characters
bE degrees till he by and by becomes 8
clever pennrsn, and can write fair hand
jof his own. N~Ah Chang will not have his
4 brains worried with arithmetic. Nor will
geography or science puzzle him either,
but he will very soon have to dive into the
mysteries of the aneients, learn the clas-
sizes and ancient Chinese history, write
from dictation and produce couplets or
poetic compositions, and when he can do
this he will be educated" Here is q
specimen of their poetry, written by the
celebrated Marquis T'seng during his stay
in England. / will not give you the
Chinese words, but merely reproduce the
ideas, giving you the rhymes as they stand
1 in the original:
From spring sleep suddenly wake,
Birds all around sweet music make;
Night comes with sound of wind and ran,
And down the plants their flowers shake"
Everything depends upon the way in
which the words correspond with each
other throughout the lines, which must
terminate rythmically. But to tell you
about the mysteries of Chinese poetry Is
not my intention, nor could they be made
intelligible without some knowledge of the
language itself.
The great aim of the master is not to
draw out the original powers OF his pupils
and set them thinking for themselves, but
to make them proficient memoriter repeat
ers of the incidents, i. g., he seeks to cram
their heads with the books written hun
dreds of years ago, and assures them that
because the ancient sages said 1t, 1t must
he correct. Confucius is ethe master,
and his works occupy the same place In
the affections and esteem OF the chinese as
the Bible does in our own. We do moi
comnlain or find fault at the custom OF in
sistipg on the recognition of the authority
of Confucius. What has ever proved IN
iurious to the mind of young Celestial
&c to the mind of man everywhere, is tine
refusal ON the part of the teachers to allow
their pupils to think, examine, criticise
100 for themselves. The Presbyterian