land of their birth, form an interesting chapter in the history of modern education in China.

A less known but no less important educational enterprise was undertaken by the Foochow Arsenal. In 1876 it sent fortysix students abroad to study ship-building and navigation. These students met a better fate than those of the other mission, although even they did not receive so warm a welcome upon their return as they deserved. It must be remembered, however, that these schemes of sending students abroad can in no wise be considered failures, for with the passing of years a larger and larger number of those pioneer students have become men of influence in the promotion of progress and reform in their native land. Indeed, not a few of them have risen to positions of great importance and have achieved sufficient distinction to prove their worthiness of the effort bestowed upon them, thus going far toward justifying the educational experiment which is now being repeated on a much larger scale.

Effect of the Chino-Japanese War upon Educational Reform

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The disastrous war with Japan (1894-1895) and the general foreign aggression which followed it, humiliating though they were to the national honor of China, gave a new impetus to the cause of educational reform. Many people were convinced for the first time that further reforms in education were necessary in order to place China upon a firmer basis. This conviction became so prevalent that many of the literary men, some of whom were quite advanced in age, sought western learning by attending missionary schools and colleges, by employing private tutors, by forming reform clubs, and by reading such translations of western books as were available. The emperor, Kuang Hsü, himself became so interested in western science and learning that he ordered his eunuchs to search out and bring to him all the translations of books on western learning that could be found. The demand for the new learning became so great that by 1896 all schools where western language and science were taught were overcrowded with pupils. Even young and inexperienced students found it easy to obtain lucrative positions as private teachers. In the midst of this zeal for western learning, several important institutions came into existence. Two of these need special mention: One is the university in Tientsin,

now known as the Peiyang University. The real beginning of this institution dates as early as 1887, but the actual organization of the university did not take place until after the war with Japan, when arrangements were made to finance the institution with funds from the telegraph administration, the China Merchants Steamship Navigation Company, and the Office of the Superintendent of Customs or the Taotai's Yamen. The other important educational institution is the Nanyang College, which was established in Shanghai in 1897, mainly through the influence of Sheng Hsüan Huai. Both of these institutions, although their character has been changed considerably since their first establishment, have, nevertheless, withstood all the political storms which have been raging over China during the last fifteen years, and are now ranked as among the best of the institutions for higher learning which China possesses.

The Book of Chang Chih Tung and his Recommendations Concerning Educational Reform

Soon after the war with Japan, Chang Chih Tung, then viceroy of the Hupeh and Hunan provinces, published a remarkable book known as Ch'uan Hsüeh P'ien or An Exhortation to Learning. In this now famous book the viceroy advocated the establishment of modern schools in every province, circuit, prefecture, department, and district. He outlined a system of schools as follows: universities in the provincial capitals and at Peking, colleges in the prefectural cities, and high schools in the districts, all planned out on a graded system, with the lower institutions co-ordinated with the higher ones. The curriculum of the high schools was to be the "Four Books," Chinese geography and history (abridged), arithmetic, geometry, and the elements of science; that of colleges, the higher branches of science, the "Five Classics," the T'ung Chien (a history), government, foreign languages and literatures; and the curriculum of the universities was to include subjects of still higher grade. One of the ways of putting his scheme into practice which he suggested was to convert temples and monasteries of the Buddhists and Taoists into schools, and to appropriate temple

The book has been translated into English by Samuel I. Woodbridge and is known under the title "China's Only Hope."

lands and incomes for educational purposes. The courageous viceroy also urged the necessity of abolishing the use of the socalled "eight-legged essay" in the examinations and of making the new learning the test of scholarship through the introduction. into the examinations of practical subjects, such as history, geography, and Chinese government, in addition to the commonly used classics.

The book, dealing with issues so live and so exciting and coming from the pen of one so influential both in action and in intellect, naturally attracted much attention. By the order of the emperor it was handed to the Grand Council of the State and copies of it were distributed to the viceroys, governors, and literary examiners of China in order that it might be extensively published and widely circulated in the provinces. As a result the book was devoured with the greatest avidity by the scholars throughout the country, and so enthusiastic was the reception accorded to it that within a short time millions of copies were distributed. In this way the seed of a far-reaching intellectuai awakening was scattered broadcast in the minds of the people, preparing them for reform measures even more drastic and radical than those already introduced.

Reforms and Counter-Reforms of 1898

In the memorable year of 1898 the young emperor Kuang Hsü, backed by a host of reformers, including the well-known K'ang Yu Wei and Liang Chi Chao, issued a series of decrees in which were embodied some of the most sweeping reforms China has ever known. The reforms introduced include the establishment of a system of modern schools, the abolition of the "eight-legged essay" in the examinations, the introduction of short, practical essays upon subjects suitable to modern needs and conditions, and the sending of young Manchus abroad for a western education. These innovations and others touching upon the reform of the military examination system, the encouragement of the translation of foreign books, and the establishment of newspapers, literally shook the empire from

These essays were so called because they were divided into eight heads in an artificial manner. The style was stilted, sentences of four or six characters alternated, and each set of ten characters had to be antithetical.

Cf. Emperor Kuang Hsü's Reform Decrees, 1898. Reprinted from the North China Daily News.

one end to another. For a time the reform movement promised to become national in character and its spirit to permeate the provinces and to move the minds of the great nation.

But unfortunately a reactionary movement as radical and drastic as that of reform, arose and finally gained full sway. At the back of the reform movement was a small band of earnest men whose excessive zeal led to premature action. A plot was conceived, under which the Empress Dowager was to be arrested and imprisoned; but this being made known to that resourceful woman, she turned the tables by suddenly arresting and imprisoning the Emperor, and promptly decapitating all the conspirators, with the exception of a few who succeeded in making their escape. All prospect of reform now disappeared from the imperial program; the edicts which had raised premature hope in this direction were annulled and the old regime was to prevail once more. All newspapers were suppressed; schools projected in prefectural, sub-prefectural, and district cities were held in abeyance; the right to use temples, monasteries, and nunneries for school purposes was revoked; and the use of the eight-legged essay in the examinations and the old order of conducting military examinations were once more restored. Of all the educational reforms of that year, the imperial university alone withstood the storm of reaction. Effect of the Boxer and the Russo-Japanese War upon the Progress of Modern Education

The retrograde policy of which we have been speaking lasted till 1900, when the Boxer outbreak once more changed the state of things. During those days of storm and fury almost all of the modern schools and colleges in northern China were temporarily abandoned; some of them, including the Peiyang University, were even completely destroyed. Fortunately the outbreak, through the refusal of the viceroys in the southern provinces to join the movement, was confined to the North, else the same sad fate would have befallen the schools in the South. But although the immediate effect of the political uprising was detrimental to the cause of the new learning, its ultimate influence was helpful; for after China had been humbled and peace once more restored, the program of educational reform was again adopted and the Empress Dowager, having

learned a dearly bought lesson, began to advocate the very measures she had so vigorously resisted only a short time before. She not only re-enacted many of Kuang Hsü's edicts, but made the influence of some of them even more far-reaching than before. From this time on modern education progressed by leaps and bounds.

Among the immediate results of the Boxer uprising was the establishment of the Shantung Provincial College with Dr. W. M. Hayes as its president, and the University of Shansi with Dr. Timothy Richard at its head. The latter institution has a singular history. During the Boxer uprising a number of missionaries were killed in the province of Shansi. When the trouble was over, compensation was demanded by the Powers both for the buildings that were destroyed, and for the missionaries that were killed. A certain number of the missionary bodies refused absolutely to take any compensation. Animated by the spirit of the early Christian church, they were not willing that the blood which had been shed for the sacred cause should be paid for in money. At this juncture a deadlock was threatened. The western governments were insisting on compensation, but were uncertain as to how that compensation should be made. At this crisis, the Chinese authorities.in charge of the matter sent for Dr. Timothy Richard, one of the Protestant missionaries in whom they had confidence, to help them settle the case. Thereupon Dr. Richard made a recommendation which appealed at once to all parties concerned, namely, that the money should be devoted to the founding of a great university in Shansi. Under such peculiar terms the university was founded. It was under the government of China, and yet not completely so, for according to the terms of arrangement, Dr. Richard was to have the control of the western side of the education at least for ten years. At the end of that period it was to return to the ordinary status of a government university."

In the midst of attractive promises of reform came the RussoJapanese War, with all its surprises. Among the causes to which the Manchu court ascribed the success of the Japanese, western learning took a high rank, and this led to renewed efforts and

Cf. Gascoyne-Cecil: Changing China, pp. 274-275.