Minister Rockhill to the Secretary of State.

No. 180.]

Sir: In further reference to the matter of educational reform in China, to which I have referred in my dispatches numbered 42, of August 1, 85 of September 4, and 97 of September 19, and which is now the leading topic of interest among Chinese, I have the honor to inclose herewith a report prepared at my request by Mr. Williams, Chinese secretary of this legation, on this interesting subject. Mr. Williams herein sketches the history of the present movement for modern education, and then indicates the plan which has been adopted by the Chinese Government and what has been done to carry it out. Mr. Williams’s remarks concerning the future rôle of the Christian mission schools are also of great interest. I propose to address you shortly on the subject of the desire of the American mission schools in China to secure recognition from the Chinese Government for graduates of their colleges and universities. Mr. Williams’s remarks will make this question the more easily understood.

I have, etc.,

W. W. Rockhill.
[Inclosure.]

Mr. Williams, Chinese Secretary, to Minister Rockhill.

Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report upon recent educational reforms in China.

By Article II of the final protocol of 1901 it was provided that all official examinations should be suspended for a period of five years in those cities where foreigners had been massacred or subjected to cruel treatment during the “Boxer” uprising of 1900.

In accordance with this provision an imperial edict was issued on August 19, 1901, suspending for five years all civil and military examinations in forty-six cities blacklisted by the representatives of the foreign powers.

This action opened the way for the favorable consideration by the Chinese Government of a much needed reform of the whole educational system of the Empire.

Previous to the Boxer trouble the Imperial Government had taken only an indirect interest in the education of Chinese youth. It contented itself with maintaining a system of examinations by which the brightest students were drafted into the civil service. This system, which apparently had its origin in the twelfth century B. C., was gradually developed through the long course of its history into an institution which was the pride of the Empire and the hope of its students, since by it the highest offices in the state and thier rich emoluments [Page 198] became the prizes of scholarship. The method was not bad, provided the examination had had any bearing whatever upon the duties to be performed in the civil service. But, as the candidates were tested in their ability to expound the sacred books of China and to write beautiful odes and brilliant essays, proficiency in these matters became the one aim of master and pupil alike and was esteemed of more importance than any practical acquaintance with affairs or any knowledge of the science of government. Such a system was more apt to secure pedantry than statesmanship. But, if the examination had been of a more practical character, the studies of the candidates would of necessity have been of a more useful kind also. Attempts were made, indeed, at various times to introduce into the examinations questions of present day interest, but the attempts were local and spasmodic, and, being contrary to established custom in a land where precedent has all the force of law, the students rebelled, and the examiners yielded to pressure.

The advent of the foreigner, however, has gradually wrought a great change. Missionaries established schools wherever they went. This is particularly true of the American missionaries. Girls and boys, chiefly of the middle and lower classes, were taught to read and write their own language and were given a knowledge of the elements of mathematics, geography, history, and of the natural sciences. In the most important cities academies or colleges were founded, and their brightest students were, many of them, sent abroad to complete their education.

With a few exceptions, however, the mandarins of China looked askance at these educational efforts of the foreigners. They felt sure that there must be some ulterior motive and believed that the missionary was a political emissary, preparing the way for foreign encroachments. The mission schools have therefore never been regarded with much favor by the official classes, and the graduates from them have found little, if any, chance for official employment, except as teachers, interpreters, or clerks, and until within three or four years scarcely one of them has ever secured any post of importance.

But foreign commerce steadily expanded; political relations became of increasing importance, and these changing conditions produced a constantly growing demand for a knowledge of foreign languages, of western industrial methods, international law, and an acquaintance with the history and the sciences, whose comprehension is necessary to an understanding of western civilization. Mission schools therefore grew in numbers and importance from year to year, and the more enlightened officials, recognizing that “time makes ancient good uncouth,” saw that China must change, and that without the learning which the West could give her she could not even maintain her prestige in Asia, much less hold her own among the great nations of the world. Several viceroys established colleges for the teaching of modern sciences. But these colleges had no relation to each other; there was no uniformity in the courses of study pursued; there were no elementary schools to prepare students for admission to them and, inasmuch as the old system of examinations still supplied the only entrance to an official career, the new schools seemed to lead nowhither and students were induced to attend chiefly by the payment of a monthly stipend. This attempt to establish a school system from the top was much like the Chinese method of building a house, the roof being put on before the walls are built up, except that the roof has the support of pillars resting on stone bases, while the school system was suspended in midair. The students therefore who really desired an education to fit them for a commercial career still continued, as a rule, to attend the mission schools. The military and naval schools established by various viceroys were also independent one of another. The methods of drill were unlike, the equipment different; the words of command in various languages, and the incipient armies and navies which began to be organized were formed upon different models. Nevertheless these government schools served the purpose of diminishing, to some extent, the prejudice which still existed in the minds of most officials and of increasing the number of those who recognized that there was valuable knowledge to be gained outside the Chinese classics. The war with Japan served to demonstrate still more conclusively that Chinese institutions were hopelessly antiquated, wholly unsuited to modern conditions. The young Emperor and his advisers, resolved on reform, planned a complete school system for the whole Empire. But with the rashness of inexperience they antagonized the strongest elements of the nation. High officials who had given their lives to the service of the state were relegated to private life and the religious sensibilities of the people were shocked by the wholesale confiscation of temples for educational purposes. The coup d’etat followed which sent the Emperor’s advisers to the execution ground or forced them to fly into exile. A strong reaction set in. There were many occurrences to justify antipathy to the foreigner, and all things foreign began to be taboo. The Boxer uprising was but an expression of this feeling. It failed of its purpose; but the attempt made shook the state to its foundations, and the walls of conservatism fell with a crash. Since that time there has been an unwavering determination on the part of the government to modernize all its institutions. The plans adopted may not be the best in every instance, but the purpose is there, and the result, as there is every reason to believe, can not but be gratifying in the highest degree to all friends of China.

[Page 199]

Immediately after the signature of the final protocol in September, 1901, the government took steps to establish a general system of public schools on modern lines. On January 13, 1904, the chancellor of the Imperial University, Chang Pohsi, and the viceroy of the Hu-kuan Provinces, Chang Chih-tung, after many months of independent investigation and subsequent collaboration, submitted to the Throne a complete and detailed plan for a national system of public schools, beginning with the kindergarten and crowned by the Imperial University. These regulations were published in eight volumes and were based upon those of Japan, which, in their turn, were derived from the United States. The regulations were approved by Their Imperial Majesties, and local authorities were directed to carry them into operation. At the same time a special commission on educational reforms was appointed, the principal members being the two chancellors of the Imperial University, Chang Po-hsi (Chinese) and Jungch’ing (Mongol). The provincial authorities throughout the Empire took up the difficult task, but found themselves hampered from the start, first, by their own ignorance of the modern curriculum; secondly, by the lack of properly qualified teachers and superintendents, and, thirdly, by the want of suitable text-books. The teachers needed are being secured in part from the students in the mission schools, in part by the employment of a very few Europeans and Americans, but in much larger measure by appointment, of numerous Japanese instructors. But the preparation of native teachers is being hastened by the sending of large numbers of students abroad for education. This movement began in earnest as soon as educational reform was determined upon and has been greatly accelerated in the past two or three years. These students are nearly all supported either by the Imperial Government or the various provincial authorities, and most of them have been sent to Japan. Those sent to Europe and America number at most but a few hundred, but those in Japan are to be counted by the thousand. The influence of Japan therefore in the new schools is predominant. And this seems wise, for Japan is near at hand and her educational system is abreast of the times. Her schools are easily accessible and her teachers can be brought to China at small expense and engaged at much smaller salaries than Europeans or Americans. Even more important, however, is the spiritual kinship of the two nations. The Japanese understand the Chinese. They have but recently passed through the great change to which China is now being subjected. They can study the situation from the Chinese point of view. Their own social, political, and religious institutions are similar to those of China. They can, therefore, enter into close sympathy with the Chinese, wear Chinese dress, live upon Chinese food, dwell in Chinese houses, adapt themselves easily and heartily to the Chinese environment, and avoid giving offense to Chinese prejudices. Their thorough understanding of the old and the new will enable them to graft the modern system upon the rootstock of the ancient without destroying the latter. The transformation will thus be natural and the continuity with the past preserved. All that is of value in the ancient institutions of China will be conserved, though they will be modified to meet the requirements of modern conditions.

The text-books needed are being supplied in part by translations or original works prepared by missionaries or by the various bureaus of translations which have been maintained by several of the provincial governments for some years past. These books are to be subjected to revision, however, and new works are being prepared under government supervision.

A recent memorial submitted to the Throne by Yin Ming-shou, a member of the Hanlin Academy, complains that the results of the past four years’ work are very small; but, when all the difficulties are taken into consideration, the measure of success must be regarded as quite satisfactory. The new school system has now been inaugurated in every province of China proper and bids fair to make rapid development in the near future.

So long, however, as the old system of examinations was retained, as it was throughout the greater part of the Empire, and this door of hope to official preferment was kept open, a large number of the students adhered to the old course of study, and it became necessary therefore in the interest of the new system to definitely abolish the old order. This was done on September 2, 1905, by an imperial edict, a copy of which was senta at the time, I believe, to the Department. This measure had an excellent effect, as is shown already by the memorials which are pouring in from all parts of the Empire, suggesting measures for raising school funds, method of employing the disappointed graduates of the old school, who are too advanced in years to take up with the new order of things, and recommending improvements in the new system in order to meet difficulties that have arisen. It is shown, too, in the rapidly-increasing number of schools that are being established and in the enthusiasm with which the people are making contributions of money to assist the government in its plans. The Peking Gazette makes frequent mention of such voluntary offerings, some individuals giving as much as 10,000 taels each, and the gentry in other neighborhoods combining to establish and support the additional schools needed. The experience of the past four years has shown the necessity for a better organization, and a number of memorials upon this subject have recently been submitted, which while they differ in the details of the plans proposed all agree in recommending a national board of education to rank with the other [Page 200] departments of the Imperial Government. The most important of these memorials was that of Pao-hsi, a Manchu of the imperial clan and superintendent of education for the Province of Shansi. He proposed the establishment of a national board of education modeled on that of Japan, and inasmuch as the provincial chancellors under the old system and the imperial examiners were under the jurisdiction of the board of rites, which was in reality a department of public worship and education, he proposed that the board of rites be entirely abolished and its duties in relation to public worship and court ceremonial be left to the court of sacrificial worship and the court of state ceremonial. He also proposed that the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial Academy of Learning be incorporated with the new board of education. Prince Ch’ing, on behalf of the commission on administrative reforms, reported favorably upon the recommendation that a board of education be established and favored also the proposal to incorporate with it the Imperial Academy of Learning, which action will give the new board handsome quarters adjoining the Confucian Temple. The prince was not in favor, however, of abolishing the board of rites nor of making the Hanlin Academy an appendage of the new board, though he advised that some changes be made in the character of that institution which will make its members more useful. In accordance with the recommendations of Prince Ch’ing, an imperial edict appeared on December 6, 1905, establishing the new board of education. I inclose a translation of the same. Jungch’ing, who has been made president of the board, is one of the chancellors of the Imperial University and has until recently been also one of the presidents of the board of revenue. He is also a grand councilor and a member of the commission on administrative reform. He is a Mongol, a comparatively young man of progressive ideas, and has risen very rapidly within the past three years from comparative obscurity.

Other recommendations of these recent memorials are that education be made compulsory and that parents be fined for not sending their children to school, and that the funds heretofore used in conducting the triennial examinations, amounting to from 20,000 to 50,000 taels, from each province every three years be employed in aid of the new system, one-half to be spent by the province concerned and the other half by the board. These recommendations are referred to the new board for consideration.

The school regulations as now in force provide that children between the ages of 3 and 7 years of age shall be sent to the kindergarten. At 7 years of age they must be sent to the second-grade primary, where a five years’ course is taken, and thence to the first-grade primary for a four years’ course. The hsien (county) authorities are required to provide these primary schools. Every hsien city and every department city, as well as every market town, and every village of one hundred families is expected to maintain from one to three second-grade primary schools and the cities and towns mentioned at least one first-grade primary. Where the villages are poor or children few, the authorities are authorized to combine two or three villages in the support of one second-grade primary, but not more than four hundred families are allowed to one school. It is recognized that this will not supply school accommodation for all the children, and the authorities are urged to persuade the people to supplement the government schools by others of their own establishment. The course of study in the primary grades comprises ethics, reading, and explaining the Chinese classics, Chinese composition, arithmetic, history, geography, elementary science, and physical drill. Drawing is also taken in the first grade.

From the first-grade primary the pupils are advanced to the intermediate grade, where a five years’ course is to be taken. Each prefecture is required to provide at least one intermediate school. The course embraces a further study of Chinese, foreign languages (Japanese, English, German, French, and Russian), mathematics, geography, history, and the natural sciences, and ethics, drawing, and physical drill, with courses in law and political economy when possible to establish the same. The intermediate grade is not free, but the tuition fee is low. Pupils are told that they are not being prepared especially for the civil sevice, but for the ordinary avocations of life, and at the close of the intermediate course may, if they choose, enter one of the special industrial or professional schools.

From the intermediate grade students pass to the provincial academy, usually styled a college. Here a three years’ course is taken, on the completion of which admission may be had to the Imperial University at Peking. The university course is divided into two sections, the lower covering a college course of three or four years, according to the course chosen, and the upper a real university course of five years.

The university embraces eight schools or departments—the classical, law, literary, medical, science, agriculture, engineering, and commercial. Students pay for tuition, but free scholarships may be won by competition.

In addition to the regular course as outlined above there are shorter courses provided for those unable to attend the university:

(1)
For children already over 12 years of age, who can not attend the primary schools there are established industrial schools, where trades are taught.
(2)
For boys who have taken the second-grade primary course and do not want to go farther there is provided a primary school of agriculture to prepare the peasants’ sons to perform the work of the farm more intelligently.
(3)
Pupils who have completed the primary courses may enter special schools of agriculture, engineering, or commerce, and thus prepare themselves for farming, engineeering, or mercantile life.
(4)
Pupils may, if they choose, pass from the intermediate schools to special schools of agriculture, engineering, or commerce of a higher grade than those mentioned in (3).
(5)
Every hsien (county) or department city is expected to maintain a second-grade teachers’ school, and every provincial capital a first-grade teachers’ school. These are to assist in equipping the new schools with the needed teachers.
(6)
Special schools of foreign languages to prepare men for translators and interpreters in the diplomatic and consular services and for use in the government translation bureaus. The course is five years in length.
(7)
A special course of three years for those who have already won their doctor’s degree at the recent examinations under the old system. This will serve to bring them more or less into line with the new order of things.
(8)
Special schools of law and political science will be maintained in all the provinces for the especial benefit of those expectant officials who have already been placed on the civil list under the old examination system, but have not yet been appointed to office. There has for centuries past been a provincial college at each provincial capital for the preparation of young candidates for the duties of official life, but the colleges have really only existed in name; no course of study is provided, and no instructors have been employed. The buildings and grounds are generally very attractive, but are chiefly used as club houses for the mandarins and gentry.
In response to a memorial of Wu T’ing-fang last May it was decided to require all expectants to take a course of one and a half years in law and political science and to pass a satisfactory examination in the same before being assigned to duty. Instruction is to be given in lectures by graduates of foreign schools, who will be selected and assigned to this duty upon their return to China.
In this connection it is interesting to note that the viceroy of this province, Yuan Shih-k’ai has issued an order to the effect that all expectants of this province must spend at least three months in Japan before they can receive a definite appointment to office.
(9)
Other special schools established in the provinces are those of veterinary surgery, police training schools, and the industrial schools connected with the new workhouses which are called for by the recent reform of the penal code. It is hoped that by giving the prisoners respectable trades the poverty of the lower classes will be reduced and thus one great incentive to crime removed.

It will be seen, therefore, that the system theoretically covers the whole field; but it must of necessity be many years before some of the provinces can approach to any realization of this ideal. It is impossible to obtain any statistics upon the subject, for the Chinese have not yet learned the value of statistics; but a brief statement of what has been done in part in this province will enable one to understand in some measure the present condition of affairs.

The viceroy at Tientsin has been very active in the matter and has been very fortunate in securing the services of a trained educator for provincial superintendent. This is Dr. C. D. Tenney, an American, who has been in the service of the Chinese Government for many years, chiefly in the capacity of president of the Tientsin University. Under the direction of Doctor Tenney the viceroy has already established more than 3,000 schools of various grades in this Province of Chihli. These are exclusive of the schools established in the Peking prefecture. In the old provincial capital, Pao-ting Fu, there are over 2,300 students in the various high schools and academies established there. Pupils in the primary schools are not counted, nor those in the police training school. Among the special schools included are those of law, veterinary surgery, and agriculture.

In the city of Peking there have been established by the local authorities, independently of the viceroy, over forty schools of all grades, primary, intermediate, academies, and the university (which was established before the Boxer, folly, but reorganized two years ago), together with special schools of law, foreign languages, police training, and a military school for the sons of nobles.

Probably no other province is abreast of Chihli in education; but very much has been done also in the viceroyalty of Chang Chih-tung (Hupeh and Hunan), in the Province of Kiangsu, and in Kuangtung. With regard to the second mentioned, there are over forty government schools in operation in the city of Nanking and large numbers also in Shanghai, Soochow, and other cities of the province.

Shantung has at least one hundred of the new schools already established, of which twenty are in the provincial capital, Chi-nan Fu. As stated above, all the provinces of China proper have done something; but it has been very difficult for those far inland to secure qualified teachers. I note, however, that even in far-away Yunnan it is reported by the viceroy that a teachers’ training school has been established at the provincial capital and two Japanese professors secured for it who also teach the Japanese language.

[Page 202]

Owing to this lack of teachers and the fact that few students are prepared to enter the academies or the university, classes in the courses outlined for the provincial academies and the university are for the present suspended and the instructors are employed in teaching those branches required in the intermediate and the teachers’ training schools.

In regard to the instruction given, there are two or three points worthy of special notice. No foreign instructor is allowed to teach his own religious views. This is eminently proper in view of the fact that the schools are supported by a government which maintains its own religious establishment. All instruction is to be given in the mandarin dialect, a most commendable regulation, which, in a generation, if carried out, will do much toward removing one of the principal obstacles to national solidarity. In all the coast provinces from Shanghai to the Tonkin border nearly every little district (county) has its own dialect, and these differ so much one from another that natives of the same province can not communicate with each other unless they can do so in writing. Although the curriculum provides for instruction in ethics in all the schools, the regulations call attention to the inadequacy of such instruction (so the ministers of education think), as given in foreign schools. This remark refers to the science of ethics as taught by the Japanese. The authors of the regulations do not believe that ethics can be taught so as to influence conduct unless based upon the sacred scriptures of China. The last point to which I would call attention is that military drill is required in all the schools, and a uniform is to be adopted for all students. The Chinese civilian has in past centuries been taught to despise the soldier and the art of war; but the civilized nations of the West have taught him that China will be respected only as she may be able to protect her interests by force of arms, and efforts are now being made to cultivate a martial spirit. There have been military and naval schools for some years in three or four provinces, but it is now proposed to establish in each province two grades of military and two of naval schools, and in Peking an imperial military college and an imperial naval college, students for which will be supplied from the provincial schools just named. This plan is in abeyance for the present, and to supply the military instruction needed all students will be required to drill and on reaching the provincial academy will have instruction in military regulations, military history, and in military tactics, while those who enter the department of law in the university will have special courses in military government.

The discipline of the students is, theoretically at least, very strict. Among other prohibitions they are forbidden to smoke opium and they are not allowed to interfere in any way in matters that concern the government. The latter has not been enforced, so far as the recent boycott of American goods is concerned, and there is reason to fear that the former will not be observed.

One matter of great importance under consideration at present is that of providing the necessary funds for the support of the schools. The regulations require the hsien (county) authorities to provide the primary schools, and it is suggested that in most places there are common funds belonging to the people which with the consent of their elders might be devoted to the support of these schools. Such funds are those for village free schools of the old type, for village theatricals, sports, and the support of certain benevolent institutions. It is further suggested that certain temples and clubhouses may be used for school buildings. With respect to the temples, many of them are endowed with lands which furnish revenues for the support of the monks and the maintenance of the sacrifices. One of the reform edicts of 1898 provided for the confiscation of certain classes of such temples for the support of the schools and this created great disaffection. On the approval of the present regulations steps were taken in some of the provinces, particularly in Fukien and Kuangtung, to compel the monks to surrender their property. To avoid doing so, a number who had an inkling of what was coming disposed of their property to Japanese Buddhist monks, who could not be compelled to yield to the demands of the officials. This led to an imperial edict forbidding the local authorities to coerce the monks. The mischief had already been done, however, in some places, and a recent traveler in Kuangtung and Kuanghsi ascribes the feeling of hostility toward foreigners in those provinces in part to this measure, since the people look upon the new education as foreign in its origin and forced upon China by foreign powers.

For the support of the intermediate schools and academies it is more difficult to find funds. I have already noticed the suggestion that the funds for the old examination system be devoted in part to this purpose. Another plan is that adopted by the viceroy of this province. He has already secured the sanction of the Throne to the levying of a special tax upon deeds for the transfer of real estate. This amounts to 4.9 per cent of the purchase price, of which 3.3 per cent shall be devoted to primary education and 1.6 per cent to the intermediate schools. Two days ago it was decided that henceforth for three years no vacancies in the twenty-four banner corps shall be supplied, and the funds thus saved shall be devoted one-half to the support of the regular school system and one-half to the support of the proposed military and naval schools. It was also decided to gradually abolish the eight divisions of palace guards, an obsolete organization no longer of use, the funds thus saved to be also applied to educational purposes. The old examination hall in Peking is to be occupied by the military college.

[Page 203]

One serious defect in the system remains to be pointed out. No provision is made for the education of girls, except in the kindergarten.

The regulations say that there are many difficulties in the way of the establishment of girls’ schools in China, and that very little can be done for them at present.

There are many high officials who do not agree with this statement of the authors of the regulations. One such high official is Tuan-fang, the governor of Hunan, now on his way to the United States to study our institutions. During his recent visit to Peking he had audience of Her Imperial Majesty the Empress Dowager and laid before her the importance of establishing girls’ schools.

Her Majesty was much impressed and at once issued an edict directing that a large abandoned lamasery in Peking should be converted into a girls’ college. This has not been done as yet, but several of the princesses, encouraged by this action of the Dowager Empress, have undertaken without any aid from the state to establish a number of girls’ schools in Peking. At least one of these is absolutely free, and is conducted in the residence of Tuan-fang, which is given for a merely nominal rent for this purpose. Others charge a small tuition and are attended by girls from noble families. Some of the princesses have opened schools in their own palaces for their daughters and their relatives. A few Chinese women teachers have been secured, some of them former students in the mission schools. But the new branches, such as arithmetic, geography, foreign history, and the Japanese language are taught by Japanese ladies, who are giving their services without charge. Besides the branches mentioned, the curriculum embraces music, drawing, dancing, calisthenics, needlework, Chinese reading and writing, physiology, hygiene, physics, natural history, and nursing.

All pupils are required to unbind their feet, and are not allowed to paint, powder, wear jewelry or expensive gowns. They must wear their hair in a braid or plain coil and must dress in a plain blue gown, the only ornament being the rosette which indicates the school to which the pupil belongs. Similar schools have been opened in Tientsin, Chi-nan Fu, Shanghai, Chinkiang, Nanking, Soochow, Hangchow, and Hankow. I have seen no reports from other places, but the movement appears to be very general and is the most interesting feature in the present situation, though wholly independent of the government. In all these schools Japanese women appear to be the main reliance so far as teaching is concerned.

The missionaries with whom I have discussed the matter seem for the most part to fully appreciate the significance of the educational reforms and rejoice in the prospect of a better condition of society in China. Some, however, look askance at the new school system, and seem to think that it will mean a great loss of influence for the missionary, whose pupils will probably desert him for the government school. I am glad to say that this feeling appears to be shared by very few. The missionaries have every reason to be proud of their past record as educators in China, for although their influence has been indirect, the present movement owes very much more to them than appears upon the surface. It is quite true that the importance of their schools will probably lessen with the passing years unless arrangements can be made to admit their graduates to the examinations for official posts, but these schools will always have their special work in preparing men and women for the service of the church, and for many years to come they must probably be depended upon very largely for the needed supply of Chinese instructors in modern branches of learning.

* * * * * * *

I have, etc.,

E. T. Williams.

supplementary.

Since writing the above I have received a very interesting letter from Dr. C. D. Tenney, president of the Tientsin University and provincial superintendent of education for Chihli. I append his statistics for this province, calling attention to the fact that the schools which I have called “kindergartens” are classed by him as “primary,” and those which I have called “first” and “second grade primaries” are listed as “higher” and “lower grade elementary” schools.

Educational statistics for the province of Chihli.

Number of schools. Number of pupils.
Primary schools already established 2,480 72,120
Lower elementary school 124 6,200
Higher elementary 124 6,200
Middle (intermediate) school 16 960
High school (academy) 1 320
Provincial university (Tientsin) 1 200
Total 2,746 86,000
[Page 204]

It is to be noted that the Tientsin University existed before the new system was inaugurated, and that several such colleges have been established in various parts of China, which are no doubt to be affiliated with the new system. The above figures do not include schools in the prefecture of Peking, which are under the metropolitan and not the provincial administration.

[Inclosure 2.—Translation.]

Imperial edict of December 6, 1905, organizing the board of education.

[From the Peking Gazette.]

We have to-day received a joint memorial from the council of state (or bureau of national administration) and the minister of education, reporting upon the suggestions of Paohsi and others. Sometime ago we issued an edict abolishing the system of examinations, and it is most urgently necessary that something be done to encourage education, so as to develop the talents of men. At present the various provinces are gradually establishing the new schools, and there must be an office that shall have general control of the system and be responsible for the standard set and the direction of the course of study. Therefore we establish the board of education, and Jungch’ing is hereby transferred to be the president of the same. The first vice-president shall be Hsi-ying, and the second class Hanlin compiler, Yen-hsiu, is appointed acting second vice-president of the board of education with the rank of an expectant metropolitan official of the third grade. The Imperial Academy of Learning, known in ancient times as the “Ch’eng Chün” (i. e., a place where learning is completed), was originally the highest institution of learning. Let all matters pertaining to said institution henceforth be under the control of the board of education. As to matters not yet settled, let the aforesaid president and vice-presidents consult together and devise satisfactory arrangements and report to us. As the said board has but just been established, the commencement of such a work as the encouragement of education and the cultivation of talent is a most important one and the greatest care must be exercised in investigating the subject and extra attention given to strengthening the system of education in the hope that encouragement of genuine learning and the cultivation of useful talents may fulfill the purpose of the court to establish schools for the improvement of social conditions, the civilization of the people and the perfection of their customs.

As for other suggestions made, let them be carried out as proposed.

Respect this.

  1. Inclosure 2 in dispatch No. 85, September 4, 1905, p. 181.