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. He took the Peking Gazette, which he read
daily, and commented upon with more or less interest, until June
23d, when an edict was issued abolishing the literary essay of
the old regime as a part of the government examination, and
substituting therefor various branches of the new learning. "We
have been compelled to issue this decree," said the Emperor,
"because our examinations have reached the lowest ebb, and we see
no remedy for these matters except to change entirely the old
methods for a new course of competition."
"What do you think of that?" I asked the Hanlin.
"The greatest step that has ever yet been taken," he replied.
This Hanlin was not a radical reformer, but one of a long line of
officials who were deeply interested in the preservation of their
country which had weathered the storms of so many
centuries,--storms which had wrecked Assyria, Babylonia, Media,
Egypt, Greece and Rome, while China, though growing but little,
had still lived. He was one of those progressive statesmen who
have always been found among a strong minority in the Middle
Kingdom.
The Peking Gazette continued to come daily bringing with it the
following twenty-seven decrees in a little more than twice that
many days. I will give an epitome of the decrees that the reader
at a glance may see what the Emperor undertook to do. Summarized
they are as follows:
1. The establishment of a university at Peking
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