Education and Philosophy.— The ini mediate object of Chinese education has been twofold: (1) To prepare students for the con duct of life; and (2) to fit them for office under the government. Both in the elementary schools and in those of the highest grade the purpose was ever kept in view of giving the scholar a command of those branches of knowl edge which formed the old Chinese curriculum of studies. These were almost wholly literary — the classics, some knowledge of history and poetry and skill in working the abacus. On this numeral frame, employed in a much simpler form in Europe long ago, but of greater scope and with a more elaborate system, still in use from Petrograd to Tokio, the skilled accountant can add, subtract, multiply, divide, extract the square and cube roots, work decimals and frac tions. The expert can usually complete the cal culation more rapidly than by our mental or mechanical methods. Iu the higher grades, the schools, private instructors and writing masters prepared lads and young men for the civil serv ice examinations which, for over 1,000 years, have been one of the institutions of China. These teachers, usually men who had been un successful applicants at the civil service examr inations, were to be found in most villages, as well as in large towns and cities. In old China this official system, of purely literary competi tion for appointment to office, had become in effect little more than a method of training the memory and for producing experts in penman ship, while educating the literary tastes. Such a discipline, however, bore slight relation to the exercising of the judgment, to the provocation of original thought, or to informing the student concerning the world outside of China, while but slightly fitting him for the practical duties of statesmanship or administration. The reason assigned for this official system of education was that all the people, individually and in mass, were presumed to be so well versed in the maxims of Confucius and so thoroughly indoctrinated in ancestral ethics, that both pri vate and public virtue was supposed to be auto matic. The clash with Occidental civilization exposed the weakness of this antiquated sys tem, and it came to an end during the revolu tion, out of which arose the Chinese Republic. For some years previous to this the schedule of examinations had greatly changed, the reformed curriculum including such subjects as the history of Western nations, political economy, civic administration, finance, taxation and the physical sciences. The ancient brick ex amination halls, with their hundreds and thousands of stalls, in which students spent days, and in which some might be found dead or exhausted, are now no more, for schools and colleges on Western models have taken their places. Though in one sense the Chinese, who almost worship letters, are the most literary of peoples, probably not 10 per cent can read books; though a much larger percentage of the males know the characters needful in their crafts or trades. Until very recently, female education, so far as it existed, was mainly a private or a family affair. Of late years, largely through missionary influence and example, the education of women has made surprising prog ress and the tendency is now strongly toward more equality in intellectual training without regard to sex. The second great purpose of education was personal culture, looking to the right conduct of life. China, like all old nations with unique or advanced civilization, has a long and interesting literary history. Af ter the dateless evolution of writing, Confucius — the Ezra of China—in the 6th century B.C. collected the literary inheritances of the past and reduced the ancient traditions to sys tematic and easily communicated form. The literary bequests of the sage, preserved by his pupils, became the textbook, of the nation, the basis of family and school training and the social bond of a then comparatively small com munity. Nevertheless the people thus equipped with a weapon of culture more potent than the sword, even a deathless literature, was to enter upon a career of expansion and to erect a polit ical structure that should ultimately as an em pire include not only China proper but also most of eastern Asia within China's own bound aries. In time this culture influenced also many distant, neighbor, vassal or pupil nations, to whom Great China was suzerain, teacher or model. Mencius (Lc. 372-289) made pop ular the ethics of the sage, applying them especially as practical principles of government. He gave his work so democratic a tone and flavor that when, 2,000 years later, Chinese and especially Japanese scholars perused the Amer ican Declaration of Independence and the Con stitution or the United States, they thought that surely the barbarians must have studied Mencius"! It is no wonder, therefore, that the first universal Emperor, Shi Wang Ti (209 "Lc.), who abolished feudalism, built the Great Wall and unified China in imperialism, and in what he perhaps meant to be benevolent despo tism, ordered, as tradition loves to state, the destruction of literature and the decapitation or exile of hundreds of the literati. Students of scientific mind remembering that Shi Wang Ti was a centralizer and unionist of strenuous proclivities, use freely the salt of critical opinion here. The reputed tyrant acted less from hatred of literature as such than fear of the democratic sentiments of Mencius and of the ultra-conservatives, who, though men of let ters, were rather too bigoted adherents of feudalism and their feudal patrons and hope lessly wedded to old-time notions. Under an other dynasty, early in the Christian era, the ancient texts were recovered, ink and paper replaced the iron stylus and the bamboo slats and civil service examinations were established. Then in succession followed Buddhism, the study of Sanskrit and the train of ideas from India — to issue later in the blending of Mongol and Hindoo ideals—the foundation of the Han Lin or Imperial Academy (Forest of Pencils), printing by means of cut blocks and later by °living" or movable types (made not indeed of zinc and antimony but of various materials) the compilation of dictionaries and cyclopedias and the creation of the drama and the novel. The era of the Sung dynasty (960-1126) was the Augustan or Golden Age literary splendor, Whole libraries of books, on a multifarious variety of subjects, attest the mental fertility of the age. To, a large degree, this epoch has
been prolonged to our day. It was not, how ever, until the 11th century that the various systems of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism clashed in a contest that for a generation threatened anarchy to the whole empire. Dur ing a time of apparently boundless national prosperity a school of politicians arose c A.D. 1021-1086) with socialistic or populistic notions which they first sought to found on the classic literature and then proceeded to put into prac tice. Their theories and methods show a start ling resemblance to modern discussions and ex periments. At their acme of temporary success they demanded the overthrow of existing insti tutions. Against these innovators, a school of writers and party agitators arose (1009-1086) in opposition, who contended for the ancient principles of the sages. At first the radicals won, but after some years the people demanded the return of the old order and the conserva tives gained power. This bloodless struggle compelled deep thinking on vital themes.
After a generation of thought, a re-state ment of the old faith, or nco-Confucianism, issued (1130-1200) in which it seemed as though all systems had entered and passed through the crucible and taken the form of a creed. No longer a mere ritual, or phase of philosophy, the new system of belief, which has since influenced half of Asia, showed itself to he a fusion of Taoist and Buddhist elements with Confucianism, or Universism, as the chief elefnent; for in this neo-Confucianism, the ethics of the sage are paramount, Yet this "medley of pantheism° is a true creed, which, in both China and neighboring nations, has been often enforced with a cruelty quite equaling that of the southern European. To-day, against this creed Mohammedanism and Christianity concentrate their forces. The compromise made by the State through Yuan Shi Kai and his sup porters, seems to be much like that of those persons in the State churches of Europe and among ourselves, who, while subordinating dogma and the peculiarities of sects, conform politely to mild ritual and the forms supposed to be needed for upholding society and keeping control of the masses. Modern science, while seriously disturbing some of the elements in the °pantheistic medley° of the modern Chinese gentleman's creed, seems on the whole to har monize finely with the ancient ethics, which seem also to the average Chinese man to be so pleasantly modern, while capable of being merged into the rising tide of Christianity.
Customs, Manners, Dress, Among the Chinese, politeness is carried to an extreme. They scrupulously avoid all contradiction in conversation, and are careful not to use any offensive or irritating expressions. From the same source arises the tedious, frivolous and often absurd etiquette and extravagant compli ment for which they are remarkable. But even here a wish to please and gratify is sufficiently evident. An invitation to dinner is written on a slip of red paper, and is sent some days be fore; it is usually in this style: "On the day a trifling entertainment will await the light of your countenance; Tsau Sanwei's compli ments.° This is followed by another card nam ing the hour. The dinner itself is sumptuous, wine and spirits are drunk freely, and the whole affair goes off with a great deal of boisterous merriment. Fresh pork, fish and fowl form the staple articles of food, with vegetables of various kinds. Beef and mutton are rare. Opium and tobacco are in common use. The usual beverage among all classes is tea, of which the Chinese consume enormous quanti ties.
In ordinary cases, strict separation prevails between the male and female branches of a household. Betrothment is entirely in the hands of the parents, and is conducted through the medium of a class of persons called mei-lin, or go-betweens, whose office of matchmaking is considered honorable. The marriage itself is conducted with much ceremony, gay processions and other convivialities. Besides one wife, strictly so-called, a man who can afford it may have several subordinate wives. A wife may be divorced on several grounds that we should deem frivolous. Infanticide is common among the very poor, the female children being almost the only victims.
The return of the new year is an occasion of unbounded festivity and hilarity in China, and New Year's Day is a universal holiday for rich and poor. At this season all accounts are expected to be adjusted, and if this is delayed or neglected the creditor has sometimes recourse to the expedient of carrying off his debtor's door. On New Year's morning all shops are shut, and this usually continues for several days. There are also various festivals throughout the year, but no weekly day of rest. Gambling is universal in China. Porters play by the way-, side while waiting for employment ; and hardly has the retinue of a great Official seen the latter enter the house when they pull out their cards or dice and squat down to a game. Dress, like other things, undergoes its changes in China, and fashions alter there as well as elsewhere; but they are not as rapid or as striking as among European nations. Regarding dress, there are certain restrictive laws in operation. The mandarins or officials have some special pe culiarities of dress, and their respective ranks are indicated by the nature of the knob or but ton they have on the top of their hats. The wearing of the queue or pig-tail, perhaps the most noticeable external peculiarity of the Chi nese as regards costume, was a sign of loyalty to the Manchu dynasty, but with their deposi tion and proclamation of the republic, is now a thing of the past. The headdress of married females is becoming, and even elegant. The copious black hair is bound upon the head in an oval-formed knot. No caps, bonnets, hoods, or veils are worn abroad; a light bamboo hat, or an umbrella, protects from the sun. The extraordinary practice, peculiar to China, of compressing the feet of females (especially those of the better class) into unnatural form and dimensions is now rapidly, passing away under the new order of things, since the repub lic was ushered in.