The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-25

pointed without consulting the governed
but they nave been shamelessly corrupt.
When C~onfucius and Mencius taught
they complained Of the degeneraCy Of the
government, and in more than twenty
centuries that nave elapsed since those
days there has been no marked improve
ment. OF course, there have been pure and
patriotic men in high places occasionally,
but the government showed neither per-
lection then nor improvement afterward-
until within the last few years.
What II the compass was known to the
Chinese before 1t was to Europe? They
made little use Of It, compared with the use
to which it was put by the Portuguese, the
Spanisrds. Dutch and other Europeans.
They invented g~unpowder and yet they
equipped their soldiers with bows and ar
rows down to the present generation.
They invented the printing press and yet
until recently they had no newspapers and
but few books. I shall speak in another
article OF the Improvement in this direction
but as an evidence of the little use made Of
the printing press even now / record the
fact that in a four days ride lat present the
train runs only in the day time) from the
capital OF the Empire to Hankow, through
, adensely populated section, we did not zee a
I man selling or reading a newspaper.
mite EDUCATION.
Equally without justification is the boast
Of great learning among the people. They
nave had no educational system and their
children have bad to rely upon private
sohoola, q few families getting together
and hiring a teacher. Even then the main
purpose OF their higher education was to
obtain O Government position.
Az only q very limited number could
possibly be selected at the competitive
examinations held by the Government
there was small incentive to study and
the written language. with 2l4 radicals
and 1900 different characters, was enough
to discourage oven the ambitious, A
Chinese official informed ms that not more
than n man in 100 could write q letter
and that not more than one in ten could
understand a letter when read to him.
Tho object Of the schools, such as they
had, was to cultivate h memory and TO
!, teach the pupils TO write essays e~xpounding
=, the doctrines Of the Chinese sages. All
/, Of the schools used the same text book, the
primer In universal use having been pre-
pared more than 800 years ago.
Education was limited in the number
Who received it and limited in the amount
provided, and the course OF instruction was
foaziized. None Of the students was
taught anything about the outside world
and but few Of the people we're students.
Yt In sufficient evidence Of the absolute
failure of their educational system to COM
pare this great empire, containing approx
mately o~ne-fourth Of the population OF
the siobe, with even the smaller States Of
FS,rope in the production Of scientists,
scholars and poets. China has had diplo-
mats and astute statesmen, but these have
been developed in the school Of experience
rather than in the halls of learning.
Considering the educational opportunities
furnished it is astonishing that she has pro-
duced any great men at all.
HOTEL FOR THE DEAD.
China has her religions, and they have
doubtless exerted a molding influence
upon the people, but the influence has not
been an unmixed good. Take. for in
stance, ancestor worship; 1t contains a
germ Of good in that 1t teaches respect
and care for parents, but the spirit has
bean lost in the observance OF the letter
until the welfare OF the living is neglected
that senseless sacrifices may be made to
the Cedu.
At Canton we visited a place called 'The
Place OF the Dead 1t is connected with
a Buddhist temple and is just outside Of
the city wall. There are some 400 rooms
IN the group OF buildings and nearly every
room contains a coffin.
Here the we'll TO do deposit the body OF
an ancestor and keep incense burning as
long rs they car afford to pay for 1t. Rent
must be paid for the rooms; the light must
be kept bright; food and drink must be
offered to the departed each day, and the
incense must be paid for.
As some one has remarked, it costs more
to care for a dead ancestor than q live one,
We saw one coffin that had cost 5000;
had been In the building for sixteen years
and had been moved from one apartment
to another, a cheaper ono being chosen
zach time as the resources Of the family