Religion.—Three forms of belief, the Confucian, the Buddhist, and the Taoist, may be considered the National religions, as they are believed in, more or less, by the great mass of the people. Of these the Confucian and the Taoist are in digenous, but Buddhism was introduced from India. Confucianism is the basis of the social life and political system of the Chinese. It has been professed by all their greatest men, and is still the sole belief of the educated classes. It is, however, less a religion than a phi losophy and does not pretend to treat of spiritual things; hence room was left for other creeds to supply its deficiencies in this respect. Temples belonging to the three religions are very numerous. Those dedicated to Confucius are fune real in character. The Buddhist temples are crowded with images, and Buddha is represented expounding his doctrine to attentive listeners. The many-storied tower takes the place of the bell-shaped pagoda or relic-shrine of other Buddhist countries.
Education.—The educational system is divided into secondary and primary schools, the former being directed under the central government and the latter under the provincial governments. Uni versities, technical colleges, and higher normal schools are directed under the board Of education of the central govern ment; and middle schools, lower normal schools, and primary schools are under the control of the provincial govern ments. When the educational system is finally perfected, there will be 4 univer sities, one each in the N., center, W. and S. Capitals of provinces will have tech nical colleges of law, industry, and medi cine, and higher normal schools. Lack of funds has prevented carrying out a complete system of education. The his toric system of examinations was abol ished by a decree of Sept. 3, 1905. There are over 5,000,000 pupils undergoing in struction in the schools of the Republic. The United States returned to China the surplus of the indemnity of 1900 awarded on account of the Boxer trouble, amounting to about $10,000,000 on con dition that this sum should be spent in preparing and sending students to the United States to receive their education. More than 300 students, including a few women, have been sent under these con ditions. There are several universities for higher education. These include the Peking Government University, estab lished in 1898 and reorganized in 1917. There are at Tien-Tsin a Chinese univer sity, a preparatory department, an An glo-Chinese college, an industrial school, a general medical college, and other edu cational institutions. There is also a
Union Medical College in Peking, and the Rockefeller Foundation has granted October, 1907, an additional decree was issued ordering the formation of 36 divisions in the various provinces of the Empire for 1912. Recruiting for this army was on the principal of modified conscription. The terms of service were 3 years with the colors, 3 in the first reserve, and 4 in the 2d reserve, or a total of 10 years. The modified form large sums to the Shantung Christian University at Tsinganfu, the Hunan-Yale Medical College at Changsha, and to the Harvard Medical School at Shanghai.
Government.—The Republic of China is composed of a president, a vice-presi dent, and a bicameral legislature, con sisting of a senate of 264 members and a house of representatives of 596 mem bers. The central government has, how ever, little real power. The provincial governments are carried on with little regard to the central power at Peking. An attempt was made in 1913 and in succeeding years to bring the whole pro vincial and local administration under control and make it responsible directly to the central government. The break ing out of civil war between the north and the south resulted in the loosening of all central power. In 1920 the mili tary governments were practically su preme and were almost uncontrolled in their respective spheres. The president for 1920 was Hsu-Shih-shang, elected president Aug. 10, 1918, and inaugurated Oct. 10, 1918. There is a premier nom inated by the president and a cabinet of 9 members, nominated by the premier. All appointments require the sanction of both houses of parliament.
Army.—The creation of an army on modern lines was undertaken on Janu ary, 1905, by an imperial decree, and in of conscription came into effect on Jan. 1, 1915. The 36 divisions were to comprise about 10,000 men each. This plan was partially carried out, but the number of men in the army never exceeded about 180,000. All military forces are theoret ically under the control of the ministry of war and are paid by the central gov ernment. The provincial governors have control of the police and of the provin cial militia. In late years the military governors have paid little attention to the provisions of the military law but have recruited armies as they needed them. It was estimated that in 1919 the total Chinese military forces numbered 1,200,000.