The second stage of study consists of translations from text-books and lessons in composition. This work brings some pleasure to the child, as it is a little less mechanical. The third stage consists of belles-lettres and essay writing. Only a few ever reach this stage, and the purpose of this advanced work is not intellectual development, or even the accumulation of knowledge, but to prepare for a position under the government, which can be reached by no other means. Even in these last two stages of study memory is the principal faculty brought into play. Without great exercise of this power the vast amount of material can never be mastered.
Higher Education.—There are no high schools, but men who have taken degrees gather about them young students, who are to devote themselves to study, and give them instruction in the Chinese classics and prepare them for the State examinations for degrees. Great attention is paid to style, and in order to cultivate a good style, students are required to commit to memory many of the productions of their classical authors. They write a great many essays and verses, which are criticised by their teachers. The attention is confined solely to the Chinese classics. The educated Chinaman is usually ignorant of any field of knowledge not embraced in his own literature.
There is in the royal library at Pekin a catalogue consisting of one hundred and twelve octavo volumes of three hundred pages each, containing the titles of twelve thousand works, with short extracts of their contents. These works treat of science, medicine, astronomy, and philosophy, while history has an especially rich literature. The Chinese knew how to observe the heavens four thousand years ago, and yet were unable to construct a calendar without the help of the Europeans. They invented gunpowder, the mariner's compass, porcelain, bells, playing cards, and the art of printing long before they were used in Europe, yet they lacked the ability to use these inventions as instruments to their advancement.
China is divided into provinces which are subdivided into districts. Candidates must pass three examinations in their own district and those who are successful receive the lowest degree, that of "Budding Intellect." Many thousands enter for this degree, but only about one per cent succeed in attaining it. The possession of this degree does not yet entitle the holder to a public office, but most of those who have secured it become teachers, physicians, lawyers, etc. Once in three years there is another examination for the second degree, called "Deserving of Promotion," conducted by an examiner sent from Pekin. A third examination is also held once every three years, in Pekin, and success in this is rewarded by the title "Fit for Office." Holders of the last two degrees are entitled to an appointment to some office, the highest aim of a Chinaman. All of these examinations are conducted with great strictness and fairness, no one being excluded. Thus every Chinese child of ability has the opportunity to reach the highest positions in the country.
There is a still higher degree called the "Forest of Pencils," which is open only to members of the Royal Academy, the Hanlin. The acquirement of this degree is the greatest honor to be attained; its possessor is highly esteemed, and may hold the highest offices in the country.
In 1905 an edict was promulgated abolishing the old system of examinations. This marks an epoch in Chinese educational history and will tend to place China in the line of modern political and industrial development.
Criticism of Chinese Education.—1. It is not under government control.
2. It has no interest beyond the boundaries of China, and regards no literature save the Chinese classics.
3. It is non-progressive, having made practically no improvement for many centuries.
4. It cultivates memory to the neglect of the other powers of the mind, and places more emphasis on the acquirement of knowledge than on the development of the human faculties.