THE CHINESE PUBLIC SCHOOLBOY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1507, 17 January 1901, Page 39

THE CHINESE PUBLIC SCHOOLBOY.

The streets were crowded with Chinese hoys, all wending their way in one direction. Over 11U0 were about to commence their daily studies at Queelns .College, Hongkong. They did not hurry; they walked sedately along, with tlieir books under their arms. There was no boisterous laughter; at tlie most a reserved smile lit up the face of a boy here and there, as he listened to the conversation of his fellows. There was little variety in the colour and cut of tlieir dress. They wore no hats. Some had brushed all their hair straight back into their long queues; others had a fringe of stiff, upright bristles dividing the shaven from the unshaven territory of tlieir heads. All carried fans. There were none that ran and none that leapt “likel trout-lets in *a pool.” Such proceedings would have been very undignified, and quite contrary to Chinese ideas of schoolboy “form.” The more sedate and quiet he is in his behaviour, the more he conducts himself like a little old man, the jnore ‘ Toney” lie is considered to be by his schoolfellows, and the more his schoolmasters and parents will praise him. In England parents and sons do not always agree as to what virtues are to be admired in a schoolboy; but m China they do, and, strange as it may sound to an English boy, Chinese youths mostly go to school with the sole idea of acquiring knowledge. Hence tlie stolid faces of these 1100 boys as they entered Queen’s College. That institution was my destination as well. Having entered the gates, the four coolies lowered my chair, and I at once inquired of the Chinese hallporter if I could see Dr Wright, the headmaster. To this he replied,. “No can, ’ which, being interpreted, meant that I could not see the gentleman for whom I was inquiring. However, 1 presented my card, and, after wait in v a few minutes, my Chinese friend returned and fired this at me: “Can go topside—look, see.” I immediately went topside, and, having looked, I saw Dr Wright, who, in a characteristic, energetic way, bade me welcome. Shortly afterwards I was walking through class rooms and halls, gaining my first experience of Chinese public schoolboys. The first thing that struck me was how quiet they all were. We went into class rooms where forty or more boys were studying by tiiemselves in the absence of their master, but we beard no uproar as we approached, and there was no cry of “Cave” and a sudden cessation of noise when we entered. The ages of the boys at Queen’s College vary from nine up to twentythree, and many of them have family cares in the shape of a wife and children at home. Each year sees a decrease in the proportion of married schoolboys, and- the average age becomes less every year. In its early history boys of all ages were to be found in the school, and it was quite possible to find father and son run a dead heat for the first prize. Sometimes family rivalry was productive of dire results, as the following experience of Mr May, the second master, bears witness. Air had been but a short time at the school when one day he noticed that a boy was absent, and he made inquiries as to the reason. The following dialogue m Chinese took place : Officious Boy: “Please, sir, Li-ho-wack isn’t well.” Master“ What is the _maf ter with him ?” Officious Bay: “His father thrashed

Master: “He must have committed a grave fault to merit sc severe a thrashing. What did he do?”

. Officious*Bcy : “Please, sir, he laughed when you caned his father yesterday.”—Extract from the “Captain.”