The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-11-25

flux Of from 10000 to 10000 bachelors o
arts-to used the degree Of western termin
oloQy for convenience sake-within it
walls, who have come from the far-distan
borders of the province for the examina
ton for provincial honors. Only abou
one-half Of one per cent. of these candi
dates can be successful. Thousands Q
them know they have not the shadow Of
chance, but literary etiquette (so, stronl
among Chinese) binds them to appear, an,
Indeed they are liable to punishment
should they fail to appear at these exami
nations.
In the wake of all those Confucian schol
ars comes 4 mob OF all of traders
painters, scroll sellers, tea pot vendors can
die merchants, spectacle mongers. ETC., to
Rethsr with the servants and friends Of thu
candidates, SO that the total number Of tn,
increase in floating population caused By
the examinations cannot be less than from
eighty to one hundred thousand in the
larger cities.
In the great examination halls where this
test of Chinese scholarly Attachments is
triennially held, the rooms are divided off
into little pens, shut off from each other in
small rows of twenty or thirty each. The
main halls contain accommodations for al
least 10000 candidates. Looking down
from a distance upon this arrangement OF
buildings gives one the impression Of =
huge cattle peu, or market, with the ami
mails slowly moving to and fro in their
little Enclosures. q
Where the number Of applicants 10 &c
large, mounting we'll up in tbs thousands,
= preliminary course Of wedding is mecca.
takes the opportunity to exclude the least
compstsnt during his most recent visits to
the various prsfsstures of the province in
which the particular examination 10 held
but all those not thus excluded are re-
quired to present themselves at the contra.
examination hall during the latter part Of
the seventh moor. august
The insistancs upon tho exact observance
Of the rules Of academic propriety is very
strict. A candidate may be excluded not
only for incompetency, but for writing his
name in the wrong place. for tearing OF
plotting his examination paper, etc. What
would candidates at our university exami-
nations at homo think of this survival OF
thes rules Of the nursery? But in China
propriety is omnipotept, and yet mediocrity
il mot so infallibly brought to the front as
might be imagined.
After each examination = liat of candi-
dates allowed to compete for honors is pub
lished, and tho ESSAY forms for each county
are prepared with the proper names and
forms duly prescribed. The c%andidate'i
ancestors for three generations must be re-
corded, they must be free from all faint OF
official serfdom, the BARRIERS trade, the
theater and ~out-provincv birth, or the can.
didAte cannot attain to the first degree.
With the essay forms 300 cash (about &c
csnts) are presented to each candidate to
defray the expenses of his board and lodR-
ing during the trying ordeal.
The lists being thus prepared, on the
sixth day Of tho eighth moon lSspt. s. 1917
the sombre and Woodworking native city
takes . holiday to witness the ceremony Of
tho opening OF the examination hall. For
several nays past coolies havs been pump
ing water inso the tanks; droves of pigs
have been driven into the inclosure: doc.
tors, sailors, cooks, painters, etc., have
been massed within tho hall for all possible
needs. And now, everything being in read
mess, the imperial commissioners are es-
corted to the place and the examination
begins. A dozen district magistrates, with
attendants, have been appointed to super
wise inside the Enclosure. md as many moro
on the outer side. Two taotais (mandar-
ins) aud the governor of the province are
locked in with tho candidates during tho
eight days of tho examination.
Ihe entire company il first entertained at
breakfast at the governors palace and then
the procession forms. The examiners and
highest officials are carried in sedan chairs
draped in scarlet II covered with tiger
Bkins-and no man can stand so we'll the
ordeal of being borne through IL dense
crowd ~ the Chinese official. With a
languid f1uttering of his fan his impnssivo
face gives no sign that he is aware of any
body in the world bat himself. The dead
silence which falls upon the crowd, with
the slow beating of tom-toms and cymbals,
betoksns the governor, who brings up tho
rear.
Arrived At tho hall, the procession breaks
mn and tho hnakIo 1T thu avn ~ IN utirr 1,n-
gins. The Enclosure 10 a miniature city.
Practically martial law is proclaimed, for
by no other means could such a compact
mass Of humanity be controlled should oc-
casion arise. Inside the Enclosure in a GEN.
trail position is . swordsMan who serves as
m~isdemeanor committed within the limits
is punished by speedy decapitation. This
mandarins take up their quarters in their
respective lodges, and this whole army OF
writer's, whose duty it il to copy tho essays
OF tho candidates, in order to prevent collu-
sion, take their places. All during the sey-
snth day the candidates anter, and.so great
deaths and serious injuries resulting from
the press of human bodies through the
gates. The jRnitor Of each county proctor
the individual man, and he is
a certain number which CO re-
spends to a coll n few feet square, contain
t.H6 OAO OOuAu WI ~ 6OhL nAA NHOtutT IOI Il
desk: Meanwhile tho printers in the main
building are hard at work printing the
md texts. Each row of cellB has
Two attendants assigned it for cooking; the
take their seats. the rows arc
locked from the outside, the themes handed
out, and the contest has begun.
The examinations ars divided into three
periods Of about thirty-six hours = two
nights and q day each, with intervals of
one day. The first period is the probation
Of three essays on the four Confuoian books
md one sxtsmporansous essay; the second
IL OF i've essays on tho i've Chinese classics,
and the third, five ESSAYS on miscellaneous
nubjecta.. The mental strain, as mny be
imagined, 10 very great, and many victims
die in the cells during tho progress Of the
leads old men OF from 60 to 10 years to I'M
dsrgo these ordeals very frequently destroys
lhem. When deaths occur, the collins are
under no circumstances to be carried
the gates, but must be lifted over
Or through 4 breach made in this walls,
Death must not polluts the great, entrance.
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