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CHINA 453 over a considerable period. The producing class in Java is largely Chinese, and it is stated that they compose one third of the population of Bangkok in Siam. In Mantchooria the Chinese element is so great that the language of the country is dying out. In Mongolia the " labors of the Chinese farmers steal forward like a snake in the grass." Chinese traders find their way to the great marts of central Asia. Emi- gration to distant countries by the way of the sea has been opened within the last 25 years. The greatest flow has been to the Pacific coast of the United States, and next after that to Australia. This emigration has been perfectly voluntary in its character. That to Peru and the West Indies has been promoted by for- eigners and attended with horrors scarcely sec- ond to those of the African slave trade. It is said that a ship has been burned off the Chinese coast each year for a considerable period by the coolies on board, who have preferred to meet death in this manner to being carried into a condition of slavery. The history of the race and their timid character indicate that there is no occasion for the fear that they will come to this country in great numbers. Efforts to introduce them into the southern states have proved unsuccessful. As laborers they are less vigorous than the negroes ; and as the latter possess political power, they are likely to use it against the Chinaman if he becomes a com- petitor in the labor market. The Chinese who have gone to the regions near China have settled in them with their families ; but those who have come to this country do not seem to regard it as a permanent abode, and they even send back to the mother land the bones of those who die. As a laborer, the Chinaman, though lacking vigor, is constant, and he brings to his labors an element of intelligence which produces good results. Those who worked on the Central Pacific railroad were skilfully man- aged and pronounced eminently satisfactory. The following table, which exhibits the Chinese immigration into the United States to June 30, 1873, is compiled from the reports of the bureau of statistics, except for the period prior to 1855, for which the figures are taken from a letter of Daniel Cleveland of San Francisco, published in the " United States Diplomatic Correspon- dence" for 1868: YEARS. 1 1 YEARS. i & YEARS. to YEARS. Number. Previous to 1851 . 1851. 1852. 1853. 1854. 1855. Total 773 2,716 18,434 4.316 15,068 3,526 1856 1857 1-5S 1*5!) IStiO 1861 4.788 5,944 5,128 8.457 5,467 7,518 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 8,633 7,214 2,975 2,942 2.385 8,863 1868 1&69 1870 1871 1872 1878 10,684 14,902 11,948 6,080 10.642 14,769 169,084 To July 1, 1868, it is estimated that 45,887 had returned to China. The United States, accord- ing to the census of 1870, contained 63,199 Chinese, of whom only 4,566 were females. In British Columbia there were 1,548 in 1871. Victoria contains the greater portion of the Chinese in Australia, and in that colony they numbered 17,705 in 1871. (See COOLY.) In no country of the world is education held in higher honor than in China. Though the government fosters it only by making it the road to distinction and by supporting the vari- ous examinations (hio-kung), the knowledge of reading, writing, and arithmetic, to a greater or less degree of proficiency, is all but univer- sal. But as there is no alphabet in the lan- guage, and words are represented by what may be termed arbitrary symbols, the written lan- guage is one of which more or less may be acquired, and a certain mastery of it does not presuppose the mastery of the whole. Thus a merchant may know the symbols for the articles which he sells and the numerals, so as to be able to keep his accounts, and yet have no ability to read the contents of an ordinary book. The number of adult males who can read the classical books with readiness is prob- ably not more than three in a hundred; of women, one in a thousand. The quality of the knowledge dispensed in Chinese schools must not of course be judged by the requirements of western nations. There are four literary degrees, the first of which is called siu-tsai (flowering talent), corresponding to the bache- lorship of arts ; the second Tcu-jin, or licen- tiate ; the third tsin-sze, or doctor ; the fourth han-lin, or member of the imperial academy. The examinations which the aspirants to pub- lic honors have to pass are very severe. Bri- bery is sometimes, but it is believed rarely, practised to attain the degrees. The unsuc- cessful candidates are numbered by hundreds of thousands ; they get employment as school teachers, notaries, clerks, letter writers, &c. Literary attainments are considered creditable to women, and the number of authoresses is by no means small. Printed books are cheaper in China than elsewhere, notwithstanding the clumsiness of the printing apparatus. Knowl- edge centres in a mere acquaintance with the aphorisms of the classics. Sir John Davis justly compares the state of the sciences among them with their condition in Europe previous to the adoption of the inductive mode of in- vestigation. In mathematics they have made some progress since they became acquainted with European mathematical works. Astrono- my has not yet been emancipated from astrolo- gy. Their geographical knowledge is mainly limited to their own country, though recently some Chinese scholars have adopted more cor- rect ideas on this subject. A school known as the university of Peking was established in 1868, for the purpose of instructing Chinese youth in the various branches of western knowledge. The teachers are from different countries. The university has encountered many difficulties, and as yet is hardly worthy