250 CHINESE LITERATURE
immensely struck by his work, and sent for the grand examiner to reconsider the order of merit. "This essay," said his Majesty, " shows us the moral code of the ancients as in a mirror ; it betokens a loyalty en- during as iron and stone." The grand examiner readily admitted the justice of the Emperor's criticism, and when the list was published, the name of Wen T'ien- hsiang stood first. The fame of that examiner, WANG YlNG-LlN (1223-1296), is likely to last for a long time to come. Not because of his association with one of China's greatest patriots, nor because of his voluminous contributions to classical literature, including an exten- sive encyclopaedia, a rare copy of which is to be seen in the University of Leyden, but because of a small primer for schoolboys, which, by almost universal consent, is attributed to his pen. For six hundred years this primer has been, and is still at this moment, the first book put into the hand of every child throughout the empire. It is an epitome of all knowledge, dealing with philosophy, classical literature, history, biography, and common objects. It has been called a sleeve edition of the Mirror of History. Written in lines of three characters to each, and being in doggerel rhyme, it is easily committed to memory, and is known by heart by every Chinaman who has learnt to read. This Three Character Classic, as it is called, has been imi- tated by Christian missionaries, Protestant and Catholic ; and even the T'ai-p'ing rebels, alive to its far-reaching in- fluence, published an imitation of their own. Here are a few specimen lines, rhymed to match the original :
" Men, one and a//, in infancy Are "virtuous at heart ; Their moral tendencies the same, Their practice wide apart.
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