The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1896-06-04

The City of Pekin contains what is
undoubtedly the oldest university in
the world. 1t is called the Kwotsze-
ken, or "School for the Sons of the
Empire" The duties of the faculty
are somewhat difficult, for, In addition
to the instructions of the scholars,
they have to admonish the Emperor
of that which is just and good, to re-
prove him for his faults, and have
the hereditary privilege of schooling
the members of his family in the
sciences, the scope of their teaching
has been widened, and all those
throughout the province who purchase
degrees and are of defective educa-
ton attend the Kwotszekien. The an
tiquity Of the college is very great,
and a granite register, consisting of
stone columns, 800 in number, con-
tains the anne of 10000 graduates
of the highest degree. These inscribed
columns constitute the university roll
of honor, and the record goes back
more than 600 years. The university
also contains the Thirteen Classics
engraved on massive granite columns
probably almost the only stone libr-
arary in existence. There is one in
Shanganfu also, but that belonged to
the Kowotszekien when Singan was
the seat of empire.
Attached to the university is a mag
nificent temple of Confucius, and adj
joining the temple is the imperial lee
ture room, 81 called because the EN-
| peror must attend there once every
year and receive the instruction and
exhortation Of the college presidents.
This ceremony is still kept up, though
the majority of the college buildings
are in ruins, and it's educational value
is almost nil. The only use of this
| ancient institution now is to enable
the professors to hold a sham eXamin-
alton periodically, and thus entitle
them to draw their salaries. The m
oluments are not large. Each pro-
lessor draws So per month. two suits
of clothes, and two bushels of rice
every year, and a fur jacket once in
three years. There is. however, a GER
tain amount of honor and social dis
tinction attached to the office, so that
the applications are far more numerous
than the vacancies.
There are six colleges for students,
named as follows: Hall for the Pur-
| suit of Wisdom, Hall of the Sincere
Heart, Hall of True Virtue, Hall of
Noble Aspirations, Hall of Broad Ac-
quirements, and Hall for the Guidance
of Nature. Each college or hall has
two professors and many assistants,
and the faculty consists of W o presi-
dents, the rector, two directors of in
struction. two prOctOrs, two secretaries
and one librarian. Twice a month all
these officials assemble on the flag
stones in front of the temple.
The gorgeous robes and imposing
ceremony made this q rather impress
sive spectacle, but Of late years even
this has been done by proxy, and two
or three members go through the pre-
scribed g~enuf1ections and then write
the names of the absent ones as well
as their own, in the ponderous ledger
entitled the Record of Diligence
The degrees can be purchased for a
moderate sum, and some years age
100000 diplomas We're sent out into
the provinces in One year. Perhaps
not 20 per cent of the recipients of the
degrees had ever seen the walls of
Pekin. The colleges mentioned date
back to a very remote period, and in
1914 the Tartars added eight more col
leges- one for each Tartar tribe. The
whole fourteen buildings are now, how
ever, in a very dilapidated condition.
and no instruction is given. in any of
them. Every now and then an attempt
is made to revive these government
schools, but it never m to any
thing. The last attempt was made by
Violin, the tutor of the Emperor and
a better opponent of Western ideas
He died soon after his appointment as
president of the university, and the
ancient alma mater of the early
Chinese is still merely q remembrance
of the proud institution-which was
in it's glory before Plato was born
New York Times.