52: 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Panorama of Ruling Valley. 



lowed by only partial recoveries, until 1174 (or 1179?), during the 

 Sung dynasty, when Chii Fu Tsz (or Chii Hui-ngan, or Chii Hsi) be- 

 came prefect of Nank'ang, and undertook to repair the buildings, then 

 somewhat, as now, in ruin, and to restore prosperity to the institution, 

 which held so high a place in the national annals, thus adding to its 

 fame the luster of bis own great name. He purchased additional lands 

 for the support of the scholars, established a collegiate code, parts of 

 which are inscribed on the backs of the doors, and frequently visited 

 the college to instruct the students, many of whom rose to prominence. 



The publication of the classics being at that time forbidden, general 

 education had fallen to a low ebb, and all classes, officials and common 

 folk alike, felt the consequent chagrin. Chii Fu Tsz in an audience 

 with the emperor, as inspector of the State Department, made a plea 

 for more liberal education, setting forth the great disparity between the 

 numerous and prosperous Taoist and Buddhist temples (in the provin- 

 cial capital more than one hundred, and in every prefecture several 

 tens) and the sparse and poorly supported schools (only one in a pre- 

 fecture and none in the small districts), and urging the bestowal of 

 an Imperial Tablet (a stone bearing a classical inscription prepared 

 by the Hanlin Academy), in order that the prestige of the Grotto 

 University might be restored, honor paid to His Majesty's meritorious 

 predecessors and the scholars of the realm favored. This he ventured 

 to beg at the risk of his life, for the civil authorities regarded even this 

 action with suspicion. 



The request was granted, but the tablet did not assure perpetual 



