or moral character in the young. This moral training is to be supplemented by an industrial and military education and rounded out by an asthetic education. The chief emphasis is then placed on the cultivation of a moral or virtuous character (tao teh). Just what is meant by "tao teh" one is left to interpret for himself, but it is sufficiently clear that it refers to public morality or virtues, for the center of interest in providing such an education is said to be for the welfare of the state, so long that education does not impede the progress of the world and interfere with the development of the individual. In broader terms, "the general education aims at spreading modern knowledge to all young nationals in order that they may be qualified for citizenship. The higher education is directed toward cultivating the habit of regarding learning as sacred." This conception of education found its echo in the three personal messages of the minister issued to the educational administrative officers, teachers, and students of the country.

As a result of this change of spirit and aim of education, many interesting problems have arisen. All reference books and text books relating to the Manchu reign, containing sentiments and ideas which are in any way inconsistent with the spirit of republican form of government, have either to be discarded or modified. Enterprising publishers and text-book writers are not slow to recognize the fresh avenues of profit and are busy preparing new textbooks of a new kind to meet the new demand. Already many of these so-called republican readers have been placed on the market and are enjoying a popularity unexcelled by any other text books. In Kuangtung and several other provinces even the use of the old governmental almanacs had been prohibited for the reason that they contain much material that is superstitious and is therefore not fitted for the citizens of the republic. This objection, together with the fact that the western calendar has been adopted in place of the old one, has necessitated the preparation and publication of a new kind of official almanac for use among the people.

Since the organization of the new ministry of education,

it has been making attempts to restore the status of education in China. Among other activities, it sent a deputy to Japan to study the method adopted there for recognizing the work of mission schools. During the summer of 1912 it arranged and conducted a series of lectures in the capital for the benefit of students and others who were inclined to study and had spare time at their disposal. It also ordered the provincial educational authorities to start half day summer schools for the same purpose. During the early part of the summer of the same year this ministry of education summoned a conference generally known as the Central Educational Conference to meet in Peking, July 10, to August 10. This conference was called for the purpose of obtaining the knowledge, experience, and result of deliberation of the educators of the country with a view to promote the cause of education, hasten its progress, and help the government to adopt a sound educational policy. In order to insure the highest efficiency and best result from the conference, every effort was made to secure fully qualified men, including graduates of normal schools in China or abroad, who have had at least three years of experience in teaching, and educators of national renown. The delegation of the conference was chosen according to the following manner: Two from each of the twenty-two provinces and also from Mongolia and Tibet; one representing Chinese residing abroad; fifteen from teachers and administrative officers of schools under the direct control of the ministry of education; ten from the ministries of interior, finance, agriculture, commerce, and industry, army and navy; and others specially invited by the ministry of education. The conference was conducted under the direction of the minister. Among the problems presented for discussion were the following: School government; division between central control and local control of schools; education of Mongolians, Turkestans, and Tibetans; the giving of special privileges to elementary school teachers and the certification of elementary school teachers; the worshipping of Confucius, the adoption of a national anthem, and the organization of higher school educational conference. In all, ninety-two problems were submitted to

the conference for solution, but during the nineteen regular meetings that were held, only twenty-three more important ones of these were satisfactorily settled and recommended to the ministry of education. Although the body of educators forming the delegation of the conference were invested with no legislative power, nevertheless, the suggestions and recommendations made to the ministry after careful deliberation exerted a strong influence over the educational policy of the country, as could easily be seen by comparing the resolutions of the conference with the measures of reorganizing the educational system put into force after the closing of the conference through the various educational ordinances made public.

Before passing from the Central Educational Conference, it is interesting to note a controversy which came before the conference for settlement. Early in the summer it was noised abroad that Mr. Chung Wing Kwong, commissioner of education in the Kwangtung province, was sending an official delegate to the Central Educational Conference charged with the task of urging the conference to endorse the idea that in the future the public schools of China should not permit the worshipping of Confucius on the ground that all religions should be excluded from the schools; for this is the trend of the leading republican nations, and more and more the governments of these enlightened countries are excluding religion from the sphere of national education and priests from interfering therein. The suggestion, which is but a sign of the new movement toward general reform, that the government authorities have been pushing forward with great rapidity, proved to be too radical not only to the conservative Chinese, but also to some of the more cautious of the progressives. Immediately protests were raised from all directions. Many sent appeals to Chung Wing Kwong pointing out the mistake which, in their opinion, he was making in advocating not to permit Confucius to be worshipped by the students. These protests, however, were but the opening shots in the warfare. In Canton, the matter was brought before a large gathering of the members of the assembly, who apparently were united in their wish

that such a course should be resisted. At this meeting it was agreed that as Confucianism is not a religion, therefore it is wrong to class Confucius with the founders of religion, and that it is an insult to class Confucianism with these religions, for Confucius had nothing to do with inducing men to worship the gods. His influence was all on the side of virtue and knowledge; therefore his influence should be extolled and the sphere of his influence enlarged. In spite of these protests, the matter was duly brought before the Central Educational Conference, and, contrary to the expectation of many, the conference strongly endorsed the suggestion made by the commissioner of education in Canton, and recommended that the clause providing for the worship of Confucius in public schools be omitted from the new school law. That this recommendation has been accepted is shown by the fact that in the educational ordinance regarding rites and ceremonies used in school, a very significant injunction occurs, namely, that in the observance of anniversaries of any kind, no worshipping and religious ceremony of any kind are to be used.

The educational activity of the ministry of education has been, to a great extent, curtailed or handicapped by the financial stress of the central government. According to the budget prepared for the new republic, an annual sum of Taels 12,801,468 was provided for the ordinary expenditure in educational affairs. In addition, a sum of Taels 3,348,061 was specified to cover the necessary provisional expenditure. Considering the gigantic task that is before the ministry, the allowance made for education is by no means liberal, and even the fund thus specified has been thus far slow in coming during the present period of readjustment. For this reason the ministry of education has been somewhat slow in carrying out what it proposes to do. Meanwhile it has been devising means not only to eliminate as much waste as possible, either by abolishing institutions that have outlived their usefulness or by combining forces, but also to exercise the strictest economy in the administration of educational funds. Thus the Hanlin Academy in Peking, once the center of literary activity and the chief

THE JOURNAL OF RACE DEVELOPMENT, VOL. 4, NO. 1, 1913

seat of the educational system of China, has been recently abolished. No students from the Tsing-hua College were sent abroad during the past year. The ministry, however, is doing its best, so far as its financial condition would allow, to restore the institutions which come under its direct control. The Peking University has been reopened. This is also true with the Tsing-hua College in Peking, and competitive examinations were held last summer with a view to selecting a number of students to be trained before sending them to America to study. The central government has also been able to send abroad twenty-five of the revolutionary leaders to receive a western education; fourteen of these have come to America.

In the provinces the financial stress is less stringent than the central government, and efforts for the extension of educational privileges and facilities have been pushing forward with considerable rapidity. Provincial as well as local educational associations are showing great activity. During the month of August 1912, examinations were held in Tsinanfu, Shantung province, for students who are desirous of being sent to the United States for college education. The Kwangtung province, in spite of its financial stress, managed to send during the past summer 100 students abroad, 20 to America, 10 to Europe, and 70 to Japan. The Kiangsi provincial government has recently sent 60 students abroad for advanced study. Of this number, 16 were sent to America, 1 to England, 1 to Germany, 2 to France, 2 to Belgium, and the rest to Japan. Early in the year of 1912, the Commercial Press in Shanghai undertook to supply a Chinese educational exhibit for the Teachers' College of Columbia University. An announcement of the fact was made by the said press, and within the course of two or three months, some six hundred schools responded and over seven thousand articles were sent in. Before the exhibit was sent from Shanghai, an opportunity was given to the public to visit it, and in the course of three days over ten thousand people availed themselves of the opportunity, showing something of the enthusiasm of the people toward things educational. These and other facts which might be