Febeuaky 14, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



259 



and other schools. Her old rival, and her 

 eonqiieror, became her teacher. 



A third cause of the educational ad- 

 vancement lies in the force of the progres- 

 sive men of China. The character of 

 Chang Chih-Tang— one of the two greatest 

 Chinese — and his Avriting, as, for instance, 

 his book, "China's Only Hope," represent 

 a mighty influence. Against hard odds 

 and good fighters do the progressive leaders 

 contend. Chang Chih-Tang himself has 

 described them in his book: 



The anti-reformers may be roughly divided into 

 three classes: 



First, the conservatives, who are stuck in the 

 mud of antiquity. The mischief wrought by these 

 obstructionists may be readily perceived. 



Second, the slow bellies of Chinese oflBcialdom, 

 who in case of reform would be compelled to bestir 

 themselves, and who would be held responsible for 

 the outlay of money and men necessai-y for the 

 changes. The secret machinations of these be- 

 fuddled, indolent, slippery nepotists thwart all 

 schemes of reform. They give out that it is not 

 " convenient," and in order to cloak their evil 

 deeds rehearse the old story, the usual evasive 

 drivel about " old custom." And if we attempt 

 to discover what this precious old custom in the 

 matter of education and government is, there will 

 be remonstrances on all sides. Old custom is a 

 bugaboo, a password to lying and deceit. How 

 can any one believe it? 



Tliird, the hypercritics. 



But against such forces the reform party 

 has -won, and is still winning; though no 

 prophet would intimate how long it will 

 prove to be victorious. 



But, above all, the missionary and Chris- 

 tian forces of the Middle Kingdom repre- 

 sent a permanent cause of her interest in 

 education. Christianity has not been in 

 China for three hundred years, or for a 

 hundred years with special power, for noth- 

 ing. Christianity is far more than a re- 

 ligion. It is an education. The church 

 and the schoolhouse historically stand side 

 by side. The priest is also a teacher. 

 Protestant Christianity has for the last 

 hundred years in its missionary propagan- 



dism given special heed to education. Such 

 a force operating for generations, even in 

 a most conservative society, could not fail 

 to effect results of comprehensive and also 

 of definite significance. 



Under the influence of these four occa- 

 sions and motives, not to mention others, 

 China has entered into the work of educa- 

 tion. She has come to realize that the work' 

 is more complex and more difficult than 

 it seemed five years ago. She undertook 

 the tremendous task without proper fore- 

 thought. It was a leap in the dark. But 

 the leap was taken and the consequences of 

 taking it she must, for better or for worse, 

 endure. Wliat are some of the peculiar 

 difficulties which are now besetting the 

 pathway of education in China I shall 

 discuss in some detail. For these diffi- 

 culties are formidable and unique. 



SPECIAL DIFFICULTIES OP THE NEW EDUCA- 

 TION IN CHINA 



One's heart goes out in great interest to 

 the educationists of China. For the diffi- 

 culties which beset them are very serious. 

 I doubt if in the history of the world 

 difficulties more serious have beset those 

 whose duty it is to establish and to promote 

 a system of education. 



One difficulty lies in the necessary doubt 

 regarding the sincerity and earnestness of 

 the Chinese govermnent in its endeavor to 

 foster the education of its people. The 

 government may be honest in the desire to 

 educate; it may not be. Even if the desire 

 be real as far as it goes, doubt also arises 

 respecting the earnestness and fullness of 

 this desire. The edicts abolishing the old 

 system of examinations followed not long 

 after the cataclysm of the summer of 1900. 

 This break seemed one of the inevitable 

 results of that catastrophe. This and other 

 consequences could not be avoided by the 

 court, however conservative were the gov- 

 ernmental tendencies. With these results 



