The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-03-28
-soM the most advanced

and England to the most ancient
, China Is the leap tho Schoolmastcrs
association OF New York and Vicinity
,opk al the fifth meeting OF this season
ali devored to a consideration OF nor
EN- education.
W,bils suggestions from this source
IN the improvement OF American edu-
Atom we're few and far between (per-
Sar. the hest was the Chinese rever-
40 Tor good hand writing) the eve
80 clarified the orientai point Of
- and Indicated ways OF mind new
10 almost all present.
IN. occasion was the 202d meeting
a, the association, held at the Crafts
AN club. East Thirty-ninth street.
q npniunct,on with an early dinner.
nv. sneaker was Or. Frank J. Goodnow.
,,ss,dent Of Johns Hopkins University
ana recently adviser to the republic OF
China
-. ,hs presiding officer. Arthur A
wsren of the Collegiate School. an
,ounc.d that a ffth honorary embe
:, ,hs association had been selected,
G.crvs Plinpton. in whose office
,ts association had its birth.
pr.sjdent Warren also read a tribute
.nr ,he pen Of William McAndrew.
..s,uats superintendent of schools. TO
,hs memory OF DR.. am Greenieat
C,osryell. "A former president OF this
association and late head master or me
u-~yisr school, who had been buried
80 Grace Church on the Tuesday
a,A..4inr ,hs meeting. This
w.s ordered spread upon the minu
r, rough digest these are President
aoodnow's remarks;
In China II Is almost iWross'p'e 10
~, a. facts. What is sad TO pc true
o,s dsy Is denied the next. a year
~ halt OF close observation on 'he
nav, Of President Goodnow orousht 10
i,,h, many things, but he does not
t..l confident even now 10 elucIuate
.,d,,ior. The old system, however
stu prevails and must be taken 'hoo "c-
count ,r,s
rN,h Ch,,ese IDEAS IL an mmeus task
,~,nprehensible to an Occidental Inc
rs,nese language is not alphaoetlcal
rhis fact has great signlhcahce' III
s,udvng our language We nave 10 'eaIn
o,iv tuen,v-six arbitrary characteristic
-.as ordinary street signs IN Ch'ha
agility characters must be known W
nsys any facility in speaking. l'-oo W
h.vs an education sufiic!ent TO e a
"u.,ap.r between 5000 and 5000, and
"a he considered fairly educated, ABOUT
1000 In all, there are about 4o'ooo
.bs-ac,ers. and new ones are oelhS
nads all the time TO meet the terms
which come through Japan. IL useu 10
he said IN Pekin that a man cou'a nov
devote himself to his family and learn
chinese. j.
Tbs fact that Chinese civilization IS
tho Oldest in the world. running oacN
1000 or 1000 years, Is hard ior US
woo., civilization goes back not more
A.. ,.,.trfaG N realize.
The age Of Chinese civilization was
brought wildly before Prof. Goodnow
whom he met the seventy-siNth Inca!
descendan Of a brother or Coniuclus'
who lived about 500 y c. II is TO ne
remembered that the Chinese cisss'cs
70 hack almost to Confucius.
The whole Chinese political system
has always been. by policy, neslecUul
About all that the Government uoes 10
10 tax, and this not very severely Nc-
eordingly. the Government has never
made ans provision for educatloh'
Rough speaking. there has been no
such thing a. privately endowed etuca-
ton The whole matter has been ei'
IN ,he hands OF those h went mo
education for the purpose Of MAKING \
living. Tn" teachers were mostly those
who had failed in the higher civil service
examinations The schoolmaster. now
ever has always been treated with IN.
revere % shown scholars.
While the Government did nothlns
,or education il exerted an important
influence over education. because IL es-
tahlshad examinations tor c'Ell service
This practically fixed the character or
eiucaton-hNed il more than any io'-
.rrmer, here would have iiNed II. ne
cause the MY career facilitated by edu-
c.Aor was an Official career. Every
'ducatAl man did ms preparation WIN
me Ultimate nope OF Official service
The whole character Of this education
was exclusively literary.
The reverence. the veneraiion whIch
M. chinese mad for Literature. was due
B. the TACT that they alone had a WIN
Ten language They came TO distinguish
themselves by this fact, and their lit
'ratuTe thus appeared to them to EN-
brace al knowledge, all learning.
Talking once with a Chtndman VINO
had had 4 Western education and SPOKE
Fr~r h, German and English and trans
ltted them we'll, Or Goodnow had IRON
him this summary THE difference De
tween tho Chlnaman and the Occidenta
10 that the Occidental selects his gov
erning officers by counting noses W.
select ours hy counting brains.
The tendency 81 Chinese literature II
way $40 ~ lfAfIh NV '' ~
toward Journalism. con~ventionalism. ar
tActsli'y. One who could not expires
ttmself in this way was not learned
FOR example, the literary test was TN
sT'fng 81 an eight legged essay.
In order TO understand this, DR.
Onodnow once asked a learned China
nan whether our selection OF men 10
Ne Government by tho writing of son
fes would ia a fair comparison. h
rsplisd that Il would he something Tx
the essay. but much easier.
TIC purpose OF Chinese education II
SET is acquaintance with the master
pieces ot The past. verbal accuracy an
sfac!lity in the writing OF this artnhc!a
form OF expression.
The method Of the education NJ
Ch'nhse boy Is "a have him commit IL
memory, without knowing the meaning
samples OF classic literature. This dis
cpl'ns OF memonzing accounts for IN
marvellous verbal memOr OF the Chinese
Ch'nese teachers say. however. that NH
faculty does not enable Chinese boy
70 rnmember other subjects better. o.
me whole, than do their Occidenta
brothers.
This memory work is also a matter q
sounds. for the spoken and tho write
language are different, Written lar
euage Ia ~monoryllabic In the spoke
iAnguass each sound has at least fou
ZONES and some have as many az MINI
WIN 10000 characters you must ofte
repeat sounds with different meaning
The reading aloud Of literary Chinese
therefor, most difficult, A Chinese DO
!" NOT supposed 10 be working In scho'
unless he In shouting aloud the sounds {
The cha "a