China Awakens With Education

By the establishment of public schools, the diffusion of education is daily increasing.

Continuing China Awakens 1905,
with a selection from A Chinese Cambridge Man. This selection is presented in 5.5 easy 5 minute installments. For works benefiting from the latest research see the “More information” section at the bottom of these pages.

Previously in China Awakens 1905.

Time: 1905
Place: China

Perhaps the persons most influenced by the Press are the provincial officials. Not only do they often get blame thrown upon them by their more powerful brothers in the central Government, but also, being situated not so much in a cluster, they are more liable to be selected for individual criticism. Only a few months ago the Viceroy of Nankin was attacked. He was so troubled that he actually descended from his high pedestal and wrote a letter to the paper explaining the motives of his measure — a thing never heard of in China before! The petty provincial officers, also, are now under the watchful eyes of a reporter. In the good old times they could practice the most extraordinary injustices and yet not be found out by their superiors. The people so ill-used had no means of getting redress except that of directly petitioning the Governor or the Viceroy, which as a rule was worse for the petitioner, and often meant his ruin. Nowadays, a farthing stamp will bring a letter before the editor of an influential paper, which will most probably be read by the Viceroy or Governor of the province. If his statement is not contradicted by the person in question, an inquiry will most likely be held, unless the accused is a man of untainted reputation or the Governor exceptionally blind.

Credibility is very high, except in the official organs and some of the local papers. All the leading papers are free from corruptions of any kind. Let me cite an example in proof of this. Some time ago the Chong-wai-tse-pao came into possession of some facts concerning the secret relations of an ex-Ambassador to Russia. This ex-official came to the editor and offered him £2,000; but, to his regret, he was promptly refused and exposed all the more vigorously, which settled his hope of getting a new appointment.

The influence of the reviews is somewhat different. They are the medium through which new ideas and theories are transmitted; not being exclusively occupied with politics, their scope is wider. Unlike the daily papers, they are extremely well written, and a few of them are of great literary value. The editors of the Min-pao (the People) and the Sin- min-chung-pao (the New People) are universally acknowledged to be the two greatest Chinese writers now living. Most of the editors and contributors, moreover, know at least one foreign language, which very visibly influences their writings for the better. Without losing the best element of Chinese literature, they are changing the style and, to some extent, even the construction of the Chinese language. New terms and phrases are created almost every day, the result being that Chinese prose is becoming “less majestic, less artfully involved, less variously musical, than that of an earlier age, but more lucid, more easy, and better fitted for controversy and narrative.”

Very closely connected with the development of the Press is the amelioration of internal communication. The number of letters sent through the Post Office increased twenty-five per cent. in 1905. This was rendered possible by the opening of the railways. In the south and southeast, where the rivers are navigable, steamers have long been in use, but the difficulty of intercourse in Central China was very great indeed. Since the opening of the Peking-Hankow railway this difficulty has been partly removed. This is by no means only a commercial improvement. The quick transit of intelligence of all kinds to the north has done wonders in the way of opening up the minds of the people.

By the establishment of public schools, the diffusion of education is daily increasing. This is noticed by the most casual observer, but the difference between the old and the new learning is difficult even for ourselves to realize. First of all, there is an entirely different method of education. The average teacher of the old days went no further than giving us a very elementary idea of history and literature, and those desiring a higher education had to conduct their own studies themselves at their own expense. Oftentimes we found a man who, having obtained his first degree in the state examinations, wished to further his knowledge in classical and literary works, but despairing at the appalling sight of those thousands of volumes which he must digest all by himself with only the help of a dictionary. It is true that there were great teachers with crowds of students, or rather disciples, around them, but these teachers were very scarce, because they had to be men of great ability and attainments. This great difficulty of finding good direct instruction explains the huge regard and affection which every Chinese had for his teacher.

Perhaps in no other branch of studies so much as mathematics is the difficulty of self-instruction so vividly exemplified. It used to be the death of many who possessed a special taste for the science of numbers. They had only books to teach them and their labor was consequently tenfold. The late Professor Hua, one of China’s greatest mathematicians, if not the greatest, told us in his “Memoirs” that he learned addition and subtraction entirely by himself. He read all the works and translations on the subject with a care that is incredible, and achieved his ambition only after forty years of hard work. At first he had to make a pair of compasses for himself, and he used to spend sleepless nights in solving a problem. But he was by no means the only example. Many men, whose physique was not strong enough, died of over work. To-day, in the schools, however imperfect they may be, students receive actual instruction — a luxury never known to us before!

Wu Ting Fang begins here. Adachi Kinnosuke begins here. A Chinese Cambridge Man begins here.

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