v.] THE GREAT SAGE OF THE WHOLE HEAVENS. 165

finding himself possessed of supernatural powers, he obtained a place amongst the gods, notwithstanding their unwillingness to receive him, and compelled Yuh Hwangte to bestow this title upon him. An idol of this animal with outstretched hands, as if in the act of conferring a blessing, stands in the temple of the Five Genii. It is annually provided with a cap and a silk suit. Among those who worship it, women who are enceinte and gamblers are frequently found. Chinese mothers sometimes actually dedicate their children to its service.

Among their other important deities may be mentioned the Shay Tseih, to whom, as God of the Land and of the Grain, state worship is paid twice annually; and Fung-Fo-Shan, or the Wind and Fire Gods, who also receive state worship. It may be added, that in every walled city there are temples called Chunglee Sze. These are in honour of Faithful Ministers, and in them are placed the tablets of those who have distinguished themselves in the service of the state.

CHAPTER VI.

EDUCATION AND THE PRESS.

LITERARY distinctions form the avenue to all posts of honour and importance in China, and there is perhaps no country in which education-up to a certain point-is more generally diffused among the male population. The system of competitive examination, and the fact that literary attainments are necessary qualifications for the highest political appointments, prove an immense stimulus to national education. Thus there is little or no difficulty experienced in prevailing upon Chinese parents to send their children to school; and, as schools are very numerous, and the wants of schoolmasters in general of a very simple nature, the poorest of the people are able to procure for their children an education which may enable them some day to rise to eminence. But although the state does so much in this way to encourage learning, I do not think there is any class of the community educated at its expense, except the sons of high officers of state, and Mantchurians of noble birth, who resort to a national institution established for them at Pekin. They receive instruction in the Chinese, Mongolian, and Mantchurian languages; and when their education is complete, they are despatched to various parts of the empire to serve as attachés, until more important offices become vacant for them. Distinguished students among them are instructed for the astronomical board, the chief duties of which are to inform the emperor when an eclipse of the sun or moon is likely to take place. Education is not confined in China, as is sometimes supposed,

CHAP. VI.]

EDUCATION OF WOMEN.

167

to the stronger sex. On the contrary, in the south of China, at least, the seminaries for the board and education of young ladies, presided over by tutors or governesses, are exceedingly numerous; and it is not unusual to find private tutors giving instruction to young ladies in their homes. Some may be disposed to imagine that the education of females in China is a novelty; but this is so far from being the case that it is common to find in Chinese libraries, books containing biographical notices of women who, under former dynasties, were renowned for their great literary attainments. There can be no doubt, however, that education is not nearly so generally diffused among women as it is among men. Amongst the poorer classes they are ignorant to a degree, and in the northern provinces female education, to judge from an interesting letter which I received on the subject, seems to be almost entirely neglected. Mrs. Collins writes to me regarding the neglect of female education in the northern provinces as follows:

"During my stay at Pi-yuen-sze this spring-1855-I was visited by more than three hundred and twenty women of various grades in society. Amongst them came a princess of the imperial family, married to a mandarin of the highest rank -a coral button; accompanied by her four daughters-finelooking, interesting girls from sixteen to twenty-three years of age-two-daughters-in-law, a young son, and a number of female attendants. I inquired if the lady could read, but received a negative answer, and on asking the same question of the younger ladies, was met by the usual reply, 'Girls are not taught in these northern parts.' The mother was a fine, dignified woman of about fifty years of age, a perfect lady according to Chinese ideas, with that air of quiet command which distinguishes Tartar ladies of rank. Amongst all my visitor only two women, and those not of high rank, could read Last year, out of two hundred and ninety women, the proportion was somewhat larger. Three Tartar ladies and two Chinese women of lower rank, were readers. The little daughter of the district magistrate came to see me, and told me that she read every day with a teacher, who instructed at the same time two boys of other families."

As in England, Chinese schools are of two kinds-day-schools and boarding-schools, The day-schools are chiefly held in the

atria of temples which are not much frequented, and in the spare chambers of guilds. Each boy is provided with a desk and chair, and the desks are arranged so as to prevent the pupils talking in school hours. In order that the master may know that the pupils are attending to their studies, they are made, when committing their lessons to memory, to read aloud. Thus the din which arises from a Chinese schoolroom appears to a foreigner more characteristic of a bedlam than a place of study. There are, also, schools of a superior class, which are attended by young men of eighteen years of age and upwards. In these each pupil is provided with a separate apartment, and there is a common hall, in which the principal delivers lectures on the Chinese classics. Youths attending schools of this class are supposed to be preparing for the B.A. examination; and until they have taken this degree, they are not entitled to become members of a university. Other students seek the seclusion of the country, choosing scenes of romantic beauty for their pursuit of learning. Students in the south of China frequently resort to the Sichu mountains, where hermitages, pagodas, and temples, constructed with great taste, and embosomed in trees of rich foliage, afford them comfortable retreats.1

Parents send their children to school at the early age of six, and show great care in the choice of a master. A good teacher must excel in virtue, as well as in learning and aptitude for teaching. The anxiety of a Christian parent to have his children

1 The most eligible of these retreats is at the head of a ravine which abuts on the banks of the Po-yang Lake. It is called the White Deer Grotto, because the learned sage Choo-foo-tsze, so long ago as the twelfth century, lived in a grotto near it, with a white deer as his constant companion. Tradition says he used to send this animal, with a basket tied to its antlers, to the neighbouring village for provisions. The college has accommodation for two hundred students, but I did not find more than six or seven in it. The mantle of the learned Choo had evidently not fallen on the courteous principal, and the few pupils he had, did not seem to me to be men of promise. Attached to the college is a temple in honour of Confucius, in which, I was told, the students daily worshipped. Instead of the usual tablet this temple had an idol of Confucius, although it is known that he was opposed to idols, and the sage is represented as having a black face. There were also idols of his distinguished disciples. The retreat is at the base of a mountain two thousand feet high, and many of the neighbouring hills are covered with fir trees. A mountain torrent, flowing through the ravine, adds to the romantic beauty of the scene.

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