In the province of Kwang-tung there are
probably a million and a half of scholars under
instruction. Of these, not more than one in two
hundred would be selected as fit candidates for
the triennial examination; and of the candidates
so selected, not one in a hundred can obtain the
lowest grade of literary honour, so very many
are the blanks, so very few the prizes. There
are, perhaps, no classes in China whose state is
more pitiable than that of the rejected competitors.
To obtain official employment is the universal
ambition, and this ambition is one of the
primary incentives to the competitive struggles.
Poor rejected candidates in the provincial
examinations do not willingly engage in any of the
ordinary trades. They become instructors in the
families of prosperous men, teachers in schools,
writers of letters, petitions, and caligraphic
scrolls. Some become fortune-tellers, geomancers
who are consulted as to the auspicious
places where to bury the dead, arrangers of
marriage-settlements, advocates—any profession
which has a smack of learning or literature about
it, not connected with handicraft labour. It is
sad to witness the forlorn condition of many of
these unhappy men, who, having been engaged
again and again in the educational strife, have
exhausted their strength and their resources,
and abandon themselves to despair. Such may
be found among the gamblers, the opium-
smokers, the listless hangers-on upon others
more fortunate than themselves. There are
examples of youths of fourteen and fifteen years
having obtained the highest distinctions, while
old men above fourscore are sometimes found
perseveringly pressing forward for re-examination.
Even of those who succeed in obtaining
the primary degree, and which is deemed a
credential for office, there are very many who never
obtain an appointment, and who remain in a
state of perpetual discontent and disaffection to
the government. One of the prominent leaders
of the Taepings was a disappointed candidate.
So intense and exhausting are the exertions of
the students, that many deaths occur during
and after the examinations. Anxiety, doubt,
despair, are the too-frequent visitants of those
confined for many days to their solitary cells.
They all know how small the chance of any one
can be in so fierce and multitudinous a competition,
and it may well be believed that the
strain is often too great for ordinary strength to
bear. Nothing but the most devoted study can
bring success. All knowledge in China is
represented by an acquaintance with the written
characters, so that the faculty of memory is of
greater value than the gift of high intellect.
The range of acquirement between the seven
hundred characters which are taught in the
elementary schools and the seventy thousand which
are said by some writers to exist, or to have
existed, if the whole field of literature be
explored, is immensely wide, and must be tested
with great difficulty. In the Chinese estimate,
literary merit would generally be weighed by
the number of characters understood and
explained by the student. A tolerably educated
man will generally master from four thousand to
five thousand. Though there are a great many
spoken dialects in China, the written signs are
universally the same; but for all official
purposes the mandarin language is universally
employed. The scholars of the Manchoo race
are examined in their own tongue, but are
expected to be familiar with the books of the
Chinese sages.

A few specimens of the texts upon which the
candidates are called to write their essays will
best elucidate the character of the examinations.
They are mostly extracts from the books of the
sages. These passages are given for commentary
and illustration, or as subjects for poetical
composition. The first inquiry is, whether the
student knows who is the author of the text?

"Even as the united powers of heaven and
earth support millions of created beings, so the
sages, aided by the virtuous, sustain the
multitudinous people."—From the Book of Changes.

In this case the student would be expected to
carry out the analogy between celestial and
terrestrial influences; to associate the wise with
what is excellent in heaven, and the virtuous
with what is excellent on earth; and to quote
examples from the ancient annals of the application
of the apophthegm to the good government,
and felicity of the nation.

"Where a hundred officials govern worthily,
they form by separate threads a brilliant cord."
—From the Book of Annals.

"The herbage! how widely it spreads, how
loftily it towers, and how it sparkles with dew."
—From the Book of Odes.

Apply this to deeds of virtue.

"The prince of the Tsin state sent gifts by
Hanki."—From Confucius's Spring and Autumn.

When did this occur? Who was the prince?
What was the state? What were the gifts?
Who was Hanki? What were the relations then
existing between China and the outer nations?

"For introduction to office there must be a
thorough acquaintance with the three sections
of the Siau-ya (in the Book of Odes). The
drum is struck on entering school, the book-
case is opened. Let the tasks be diligently
done."—From the Book of Rites.

Here encouragement is given for the discussion
of the whole subject of official education.
for long quotations memoriter from the Siau-ya,
The bookcase being opened, what books should
be there, and of the books there which ought
to be most diligently studied?

Short sentences reported to have fallen from
the lips of sages are made the subject of very
elaborate explanations and comments. The
master (Confucius) said " No—I." One of the
characters means negation, the other self. These
are materials for a volume against egotism.
Again, the master said, " Why late?" No
better hint could be given for an eloquent
outbreak against procrastination. So the master
said, " Let every man give his opinion." Here
the student will dilate on the benefits of free
discussion, tolerance for the views of others, no
monopolising intrusion of our own.