Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-04
Great Political Influence Welded by
This Glass.
EDUCATION BEGINS At SIX YEARS
Hard Tests to Which Applicant for
Degrees Must Submit.
QUALIFIESFORPUBLICOFFICE

One Of the most interesting chapters in
the auspices of the Edinburgh Geographical
Society is that the "Liberatf' of that
empire. from which the following is taken:
An immense political influence is eXer-
cised in China by the literary class. Thr
Chinese civil service is recruited entirely
from among the graduates of the compet!-
tive examinations. But it is not by those
who are fortunate enough to procure ad-
ministrative posts that this predomnance
is gained.
OF the successful candidates for literary
degrees the merest fraction obtain employ
ment. as the number is Always vastly in ex-
cess of the appointments to be distributed.
Consequently there is an enormous class
composed of these unemployed and disap-
pointed lterati. who having nothing bet
ter to do. become in most cases the mis-
chief makers of the empire. The only oc-
equations which are otherwise open to them
are those of the physician and the trader
These call.ngs are, however generally
considered beneath the dignity of a literary
graduate; the merchant being placed theo-
ret!cally below the manual laborer in the
soclai scale. Consequently, these elegant
and accomplished scholars are driven TO ali
Kinds of shifts in order to pick up a living
Ihey become. in fact. the real pests of Chi
with them is enhanced by the privileges al
tacnlng to their class. The literati cannot
De punished or made anSwerable for any
offenSe committed by them, until they have
peen stripped of their degrees by an i'm
per.al edlcl This provision gives them a
Tree hand,~ of which they avail themselves
to the fullest extent. Being considered on
an equal footing with the mandarlns in
view of their Qualifications for office, they
attach themselves to the yamens and be-
come the Intermediates of justice. That is
70 say, they eNtort money from intending
i-uSahtS on the understanding that Their
influence shall be eXerted to obtain a favor
able judgment from the magistrate
me chief, Il not he only, obstacle to re
form in China is the literary class 1t was
IN recognition of this fact that the En-
peror Chi Hwang-ti, more than two thou
sand years ago. ordered the classic books 10
be burnt, and cut off the heads of the prin-
cipal scholars. The whole system of eiuca-
ton in China is unfavorabe to progress
The object of every student is to learn the
teachings OF the sageS by heart and the
man who has acquired by rote the mos.
comprehensive knowledge of the classics is
heid In Tar greater esteem than one whose
memory is less perfect, but who is capable
of writing the most erudite original retlec-
lions.
The men Of letters therefore. who hold
the highest place in public estimation are
not those who may be personally gifted with
literary genius. but mere literary machines
whose merit lies in the parrol-ike repeti-
titH VI the WISDOM OF others. The youth OF
Chlna Ia consequently encouraged in every
possible way to preserve the tradition of
the past, and the acquisition of modern
knowledge, or of anything calculated TO
prove IN the slightest degree practical, is
absolutely dlScountenanced. In this way a
highly educated. but purely literary class
has been established in China for centuries:
and II has been considered a sufficient ey-
pedient for the production of generals and
statesmen, that promising young men should
be tausht-to the exclusion of everythine.
else-to babble off whole books by heart and
10 compose elegant and flowel-y essays on
topics at least three thousand years Old.
Looking to the Future.
There have been, however. enlightened
men in China, who have foreseen that a
new condition of things is arising. TO which
Anticipated methods can no longer be an
Piled. The Emperor Kanghi was fully
aware of this. and he not only tolerated the
presence of Jesuit missionaries. but APP
pointed them to important posts. where
their knowledge of western. science might
be of benefit TO the country. The success
ors Of this enlightened monarch were me-
morialiZed in turn by eminent statesmen.
who perceived the advantage of giving the
mechanical arts of Europe a place N the
Chinese curriculum. The diplomatic sug-
gestion made in one of the petitions
that after all, western science was derived
from China in the first instance. European
ScholarS, declares Prince hung, nave minds
adapted to reasoning and atstruse study. 50
they were able to deduce from the as,rono-
my which they had borrowed from the far
east the mechanical arts which sim
guished modern civilization. There would
be nothing derogatory. therefore. in the
Chinese applying themselves to studies
which had actually been founded by their
own sages.
Thess arguments prevailed. and the
princes suggestion was carried out. But
the result was what might have been ex-
pected. The Iterati could only see in this
innovation a blow struck at the ancient
system to which they owed their existence
Professors of chemistry mathematics. mod
ern languages. and forth. were imported
into Pek'n; but although the college has
since made a modern amount of Roadway
il was little short of a fiaScp when il Was
first founded. and the pick of Chinese schol-
airs refused to have anything to do with it.
The pride of the literati forbade them to
undergo the huml. alton Of learning from
western barbar:ans: consequently the new
institution was boycotted by the vast ma
jority of them, and only a few blacklegS
SO to speak. of inferior capacity. could be
found willing to benefit by the new course
of instruction.
At the age of six the Chinese boy goes to
school. and his first task IS to learn by
heart the principles of the Chinese consti-
tuition, which have been compiled in easy
textbooks. AS soon as they have been
committed to memory he applies himself to
the stupendnus labor of mastering the nine
over and over again. and commented upon
until the student knows the greater part of
them by heart: and if he has made up his
mind to enter the lists OF competitive cx-
amnations he further perfec:s himself b.
writing innumerable essays and verses until
he has acquired the literary elegance and
fine penmanship which are the chief aims
of every Chinese scholar.
Good Name and Fame.
But before he is allowed TO go up for the
examinations he has to show that the fam
lily name has remained unsullied for three
generations, and that his ancestors do no
belong to the interdicted classes. such as
actors mendcants, eXecutinners. md. until
quite recently. BARRIERS. The latter profess
sion is becoming quite aristocratic in China
it having been ordained that no self-re-
specting barber shall in future stoop to the
plebeian occupation of shaving customers
chins: and now that BARRIERS may aspire IL
literary degrees. Weather Chuainan MI
be able to afford the luxury of having their
pigtails trimmed and at the same time en-
joy quotations from the classics, for which
no doubt, an extra charge will be made
The number of examinations which has to
be undergone before the student is eligible