China is divided into provinces which are subdivided into districts. Candidates must pass three examinations in their own district and those who are successful receive the lowest degree, that of "Budding Intellect." Many thousands enter for this degree, but only about one per cent succeed in attaining it. The possession of this degree does not yet entitle the holder to a public office, but most of those who have secured it become teachers, physicians, lawyers, etc. Once in three years there is another examination for the second degree, called "Deserving of Promotion," conducted by an examiner sent from Pekin. A third examination is also held once every three years, in Pekin, and success in this is rewarded by the title "Fit for Office." Holders of the last two degrees are entitled to an appointment to some office, the highest aim of a Chinaman. All of these examinations are conducted with great strictness and fairness, no one being excluded. Thus every Chinese child of ability has the opportunity to reach the highest positions in the country. There is a still higher degree called the "Forest of Pencils," which is open only to members of the Royal Academy, the _Hanlin_. The acquirement of this degree is the greatest honor to be attained; its possessor is highly esteemed, and may hold the highest offices in the country. In 1905 an edict was promulgated abolishing the old system of examinations. This marks an epoch in Chinese educational history and will tend to place China in the line of modern political and industrial development. =Criticism of Chinese Education.=--1. It is not under government control. 2. It has no interest beyond the boundaries of China, and regards no literature save the Chinese classics. 3. It is non-progressive, having made practically no improvement for many centuries. 4. It cultivates memory to the neglect of the other powers of the mind, and places more emphasis on the acquirement of knowledge than on the development of the human faculties. 5. It obtains its results through fear, not by awakening interest in or love for study. 6. Women are not embraced in the scheme of education. 7. It produces a conservative, untruthful, cunning, and non-progressive people. 8. It reaches practically all of the male sex, and there is opportunity for all to rise to the highest positions of honor, but its methods are so unnatural as to awaken little desire for education on the part of the young. 9. Its motive is debasing to the character. CONFUCIUS (B.C. 550-478)