of 2,000 persons competed for the prize in 1832, while in Hiangshan not half of this number came together. When the essays are handed in, they are looked over by the board of examiners, and the names of the successful students entered on a roll, and pasted upon the walls of the magistrate's hall; this honor is called hien-ming, i. e. having a name in the village. Out of the 4,000 candidates referred to above, only thirteen in one district, and fourteen in the other, obtained a name in the village; the entire population of these two districts is not much under a million and a half. Those who pass the first examination are entered as candidates for the second, which takes place in the chief town of the department before the literary chancellor and the prefect, assisted by a literary magistrate called the kian-shan, giver of instructions; it is more rigorous than that held before the chihien, though similar to it in nature. If the proportion given above of successful candidates at the district examinations hold for each district, there would not be more than 200 students assembled at the prefect's hall; but the number is somewhat increased by persons who have purchased the privilege. Still the second trial is made among a small number in proportion to the first, and still more trifling compared with the amount of population. The names of the successful students at the second trial are exposed on the walls of the office, which is called fu ming, i. e. having a name in the department, and these only are eligible as candidates for the third trial, before the literary chancellor of the province. This dignitary exercises a superintendence over the previous examinations, and makes the circuit of the province to attend them in each department twice in three years. At the third trial, in the provincial capital, he confers the first degree of sintsai, which has been translated bachelor of arts,' upon those who are chosen out of the whole list as the best scholars.

"There are several classes of bachelors, depending somewhat on the manner in which they obtained their degree; those who get it in the manner here described take the precedence. The possession of this degree protects the person from corporeal punishment, raises him above the common people, renders him a conspicuous man in his native place, and eligible to enter the triennial examination for the second degree. Those who have more money than learning purchase this degree for sums varying from $200 up to $1,000, and even higher. Such are called kiensang, and, as might be supposed, are looked upon somewhat contemptuously by those who have passed through the regular examinations, and won the battle with their own lance. degree called kungsang is purchased by or bestowed upon the sintsai, which does not entitle them to the full honors of a kujin. What proportion of scholars are rewarded by degrees is not known; but it is a small number compared with the candidates. A graduate of considerable intelligence at Ningpo estimated the number of sintsai in that city at 400, and in the department at nearly 1,000. In Canton city, the number of shinkin, or gentry who are allowed to wear the sash of honor, and have obtained literary degrees, is not over 300; but in the whole province there are about 12,000 bachelors.

A

"The candidates for this degree are narrowly examined when they enter the hall, their pockets, shoes, wadded robes, and ink-stones, all being searched, lest precomposed essays or other aids to composition

be smuggled in. When they are all seated in the hall in their proper places, the wickets, doors, windows and other entrances are all guarded by men, and pasted over with strips of paper. The room is filled with anxious competitors, arranged in long seats, pencil in hand, and ready to begin. The theme is given out, and every one immediately writes off his essay, carefully noting how many characters he erases in composing it, and hands it up to the board of examiners; the whole day is allotted to the task, and a signal-gun announces the hour when the doors are thrown open, and the students can disperse. The first two trials thin off the crowd amazingly, and the examiners can easily reduce the number of hopeless competitors, so that not one tenth of those who appear at the first struggle are seen at the third. A man is constantly liable to lose his acquired honor of sintsai, if at a subsequent inspection he is found to have discarded his studies, and he is therefore impelled to pursue them in order to escape disgrace, even if he does not reach the next degree.

"Since the first degree is sometimes procured by influence and money, it is the examination for the second, called küjin, or promoted men, held triennially in the provincial capitals before two imperial commissioners, that separates the candidates into students and officers, though all the students who receive a diploma by no means become officers. This examination is held at the same time in all the eighteen provincial capitals, viz. on the 9th, 12th, and 15th days of the 8th moon, or about the middle of September. While it is going on, the city appears exceedingly animated in consequence of the great number of relatives and friends assembled with the students. The persons who preside at the examination, besides the imperial commissioners, are ten provincial officers, with the fuyuen at their head, who jointly form a board of examiners, and decide upon the merits of the essays. The number of candidates who entered the lists at Canton in the two years 1928 and 1831 was 4,800; in 1832, there were 6,000, which is nearer the usual number. In the largest provinces, it reaches as many as 7,000, 8,000, and upwards. The examinations are held in the Kung yuen, a large and spacious building built expressly for this purpose, and which contains a great number of cloisters and halls, where the candidates can write their essays and the examiners look at them. The hall at Canton is capable of accommodating over 10,000 persons; and in some of the northern cities they are still larger, and generally filled with students, assistants, and other persons connected with the examinations.

"Before a candidate can enter the hall, he must give in an account of himself to the chancellor, stating all the particulars of his lineage, birth-place, residence, age, etc., and where he received his first degree. He enters the establishment the night before, and is searched on entering, to see that no manuscript essay, or miniature edition of the classics, is secreted on his person, or any thing which can assist in the task he is to undertake. If any thing of the sort is discovered, he is punished with the cangue, degraded from his first degree, and forbidden again to compete at the examination; his father and tutor are likewise punished. The practice is, however, quite common, notwithstanding the penalties; and one censor requested a law to be passed forbidding

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small editions to be printed, and booksellers' shops to be searched for them.

"The hall at Canton contains 7,500 cells, measuring four feet by three, and high enough to stand up in; the furniture consists of two boards, one for sitting, and the other contrived to serve for an eatingtable and a writing-desk; all these things, as well as the writing materials, cooking apparatus, and every officer, porter, and menial about the establishment are carefully searched. The cells are arranged around a number of open courts, receiving all their light and air from the central area, and exposed to the observation of the soldiers who guard the place, and watch that no one has any intercourse with the imprisoned students. Confinement in this cramped position, where it is impossible to lie down, is exceedingly irksome, and is said to cause the death of many old students, who are unable to go through the fatigue, but who still enter the arena in hopes of at last succeeding. Cases have occurred when father, son and grandson, appeared at the same time to compete for the same prize. The unpleasantness of the strait cell is much increased by the smoke arising from the cooking which is all done in the court, and by the heat of the weather. Whenever a student dies in his cell, the body is pulled through a hole made in the wall, and left there for his friends to carry away. Whenever a candidate breaks any of the prescribed regulations of the contest, his name and offence are reported, and his name is pasted out' by placarding it on the outer door of the hall, after which he is not allowed to enter until another examination comes around. More than a hundred persons are thus 'pasted out' each season, but no heavy disgrace seems to attach to them in consequence.

"There are four themes given out on the first day, selected from the four books, one of which must be in poetry. The minimum length of the compositions is a hundred characters, and they must be written plainly and elegantly, and sent in without any names attached. In 1828 the acumen of 4,800 candidates was exercised the first day on three themes: Tsangtsz said, to possess ability, and yet ask of those who do not; to know much, and yet inquire of those who know little; to possess, and yet appear not to possess; to be full, and yet appear empty - He took hold of things by the two extremes, and in his treatment of the people maintained the golden medium.' 'A man from his youth studies eight principles, and when he arrives at manhood, he wishes to reduce them to practice.' The fourth essay, to be written in pentameters, had for its subject, The sound of the oar, and the green of the hills and water.' Among the themes given out in 1843 were these: He who is sincere will be intelligent, and the intelligent man will be faithful.' In carrying out benevolence, there are no rules.' In 1835, one was, 'He acts as he ought, both to the common people and official men, receives his revenue from heaven, and by it, is protected and highly esteemed.'

"The three or five themes (for the number seems to be optional) selected from the Five Classics, are similar to these; but as those works are regarded as more recondite than the Four Books, so must the essayists try to take a higher style. An officer goes around and collects the compositions, and the students are dismissed the next morning till the second trial takes place. When they reässemble for

the last time, five topics concerning doubtful matters of government, or upon such questions as might arise in administering the affairs of state, are proposed by the examiners, and more freedom of observation is allowed in illustrating them. The questions proposed on this trial take a more extended range, including topics relating to the laws, history, geography and customs of the empire in former times, doubtful points touching the classical works, and the interpretation of obscene passages, and biographical notices of statesmen. It is forbidden, however, to discuss any points relating to the policy of the present family, or the character and learning of living statesmen; but the conduct of their rulers is now and then alluded to by the candidates.

"Twenty-five days are allowed for the examining board to look over the essays; and few tasks can be instanced more irksome to a board of honest examiners than the perusal of between fifty and seventy-five thousand papers on a dozen subjects, through which the most monotonous uniformity must necessarily run, and out of which they have to choose the seventy or eighty best-for the number of successful candidates cannot vary far from this, according to the size of the province. The examiners are of different ranks, and those in the lower board throw aside many of the essays, which consequently never reach the chancellors. If the number of students be five thousand, and each writes thirteen essays, there will be 65,000 papers, which allots two hundred and sixty essays for each of the ten examiners to peruse daily. One of them, in 1832, who sought to invigorate his nerves or clear his intellect for the task by a pipe of opium, fell asleep in consequence, and, on awaking, found that many of the essays had caught fire and been consumed. It is generally supposed that hundreds of them are returned unread; but the excitement of the occasion, and the dread on the part of the examining board to irritate the body of students, act as checks against gross omissions. Very slight errors are enough to condemn an essay, especially if the examiners have not been gained to look upon it kindly. Section fifty-two of the Code regulates the conduct of the examiners, but the punishments are slight. One candidate whose essay had been condemned without being read, printed it, which led to the punishment of the examiner, degradation of the graduate, and promulgation of a law forbidding this mode of appealing to the public. Another essay was rejected because the writer had abbreviated a single character.

"When the graduates are decided upon, their names are published by a crier at midnight, on or before the 10th of the 9th moon; he mounts the highest tower in the city, and, after a salute, announces them to the expectant city; the next morning, lists of the lucky scholars are hawked about the streets, and rapidly sent to all parts of the provinces. The proclamation which contains their names is pasted upon the fuyuen's office under a salute of three guns; his excellency comes out and bows three times towards the names of the promoted men, and retires under another salute. The disappointed multitude must then rejoice in the success of the few, and solace themselves with the hope of better luck next time; while the successful ones are honored and feasted in a very distinguished manner, and are the objects of flattering attention from the whole city. On an appointed day, the

governors, commissioners, and high provincial officers, banquet them all at the fuyuen's palace; inferior officers attend as servants, and two lads, fantastically dressed, and holding olive branches in their hands, grace the scene with this symbol of literary attainments. The number of licentiates, or küjin, who triennially receive their degrees in the empire, is upwards of 1,300; and the expense of the examinations to the government, in various ways, including the presents conferred on the graduates, can hardly be less than a third of a million of taels. Besides the triennial examination, special ones are held every ten years, and on extraordinary occasions; one was granted in 1835, because the empress-dowager had reached her sixtieth year.

"The third degree of tsinsz', entered scholars, or doctors, is conferred triennially at Peking upon the successful licentiates who compete for it, and only those among the küjin, who have not already taken office, are eligible as candidates. In some cases their travelling expenses to court are paid, but it doubtless requires some interest to get the mileage granted; for many poor scholars are detained from the metropolitan examination, or must beg or borrow to reach it.

"The procedure on this trial is the same as in the provinces, but the examiners are of higher rank; the themes are taken from the same works, and the essays are but little else than repetitions of the same thought and argument. After the degrees are conferred upon all who are deemed worthy, which varies from 150 to 400 each time, the doctors are introduced to the emperor, and do him reverence, the three highest receiving rewards from him. At this examination candidates, instead of being promoted, are occasionally degraded from their acquired standing for incompetency, and forbidden to appear at them again. The graduates are all inscribed upon the list of candidates for promotion, by the Board of Civil Office, to be appointed on the first vacancy; most of them do, in fact, enter an official life in some way or other, by attaching themselves to high dignitaries, or getting employment at some of the departments at the capitol. One instance is recorded of a student taking all the degrees within nine months; and some become hanlin before entering office. Others try again and again, until grey hairs compel them to retire. There are many subordinate offices in the Academy, the Censorate, or the Boards, which seem almost to be instituted for the employment of graduates whose success has given them a partial claim upon the country. The emperor sometimes selects clever graduates to prepare works for the use of government, or nominates them upon special literary commissions; for it would cause heart-burnings among them, if, after all their efforts, they were neglected.

"The fourth and highest degree of hanlin is rather an office than a degree, for those who attain it are enrolled as members of the Imperial Academy, and receive salaries. The triennial examination for this distinction is held in the emperor's palace, and is conducted on much the same plan as all the preceding ones, though being in the presence of the highest personage in the empire, it exceeds them in honor. The Manchus and Mongols compete at these trials with the Chinese, but many facts show, that they are generally favored at the expense of the latter; and the large proportion of men belonging to these races filling high offices, indicates who are the rulers of the land. The can