CHINESE DEGREES.

Bruce Herald, Volume II, Issue 46, 23 February 1865, Page 9

CHINESE DEGREES.

The following 1 curious details are from the < North China Herald ' of October 22 : — " The examination for the degree of Ku-jen, which takes place at the capital of each province eveiy three j'ears, has just been completed at Peking 1 , and the competitors, 10,800 in number, are anxiously awaiting* the publication o( the name of the successful candidates. The metropolitan province this year contributed no less than 1000 candidates, of whom the 35 most distinguished will receive the licentiate degree; the provinces of Liautung Shantung*, Shensi, and Kansuh will have a similar number of degrees divided among their representatives. Kiangsu, T'iangsi, Chekiang, Fohkien, Anhwei, Honan, and Hoopeh has sent 1500 competitors, from amongst whom also 35 individuals will at- ; tain the object of their ambition. One in 20 only from amongst the candidates furnished by the other provinces will be selected for the coveted . honor. For nine da}'s so iie four thousand individuals have been immured in seperate cells in the barrack like looking building which may be seen at the distance of an arrows flight from the terrace of the- imperial observatory on the east wall of Peking. They are shut up for three da} r s at a time, tiking with them the bedding, clothes, and provisions which they may require, and during this period no. communication is allowed them with the outer world. The second day's examination commences on the morning after the first ends, and thethird on the morning after the conclusion of the second. The subjects for the first day's examination are themes selected from the Four Books, and the fate of the candidate is supposed very much to depend on the merit of the essay which he produces on these subjects. If he does them well they count as nine parts in ten of the whole number of his marks. The theme for a poem this year — a comparative novelty in examinations, which was introduced by the Emperor Chienlung- after an termission of many centuries — is taken from Tu-fu, a celebrated pqet of the Tang dynas.ty. The poem is to be of. 16 lines, each containing five words and rhyming with Lung (dragon), 37 words that may be used as rhymes being printed on the examination paper. The themes for the second three days are taken from the fivo classics, and during the last three the candidates have to answer questions on five subjects, which this year range throug-h the classics, the 22 histories, the mode of scrutinizing the conduct of mandarins, the augmentation of the revenue, and poetry. The examinations closed at the end of last month, and, as a month generally elapses between this period and the announcement of the successful candidates, the suspense of the competitors must now be nearly at an end. Four principal examiners and 18 assistants have been engaged, on the latter of whom falls the chief work of reading the 10,000 odes, the 80,000 essays, and the 50,000 answers to questions, the principals being generally men hig-h in office, who have been too much engaged in public business to retain perfectly the habits of their studying da} r s. The themes were selected by a mandarin, who was shut up in the Emperor's palace, so that the secret might not be communicated to the candidates before the examination commenced. All were allowed to compete except persons belonging to families which g-ain their subsistence in any one of what the Chinese consider low or disreputable callings, such as stage pkyers, mandarin runners, and servant* generally. During the last reign, we believe a cabinet minister was executed at Peking for allowingan actor to take a degree. The latter had been accustomed to take the part of ' siautau,' and as such had represented a woman. This is held singularly disreputable in the eyes of the Chinese. It will be seen from the figures we have given above that a high degree of excellence must be exhibited to enable a candidate to attain the licentiate degree, as out of more than 4000 candidates only between 100 and 150 can attain the object of their ambition.