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intoxicated, but the government, and her few high officials who blindly and ignorantly thought that China had gained victory over France, were in a state of intoxication. One could not deny that China had to have a series of urgent internal reforms and the method and procedure were not so simple as Tseng put forward in his article.
The welfare of a nation, Ho Kai emphasized, especially where absolute monarchy obtained, was very much in the hands of the officials who were entrusted by its sovereign to rule over his subjects. On these depended in a large measure the happiness, unity and strength of the people under their sway. By their exalted positions, Ho Kai further stressed, they were capable of doing good or evil to those around them. In ancient time, responsible persons were selected to help administer the Empire. The Emperor and those in authority always opened their ears and cast their eyes over the Empire. When a person was found renowned for virtue, talent, learning, ability and experience, he was immediately invited to take office, high or low according to his capacity. The invitation was always cordial and sincere. In the case of a person of extraordinary merit, it was always the highest authority who went in person to tender the invitation. However, in late 19th century China, this mode of behaviour had long since gone out of fashion. It had been buried with the sages who had ruled over China so successfully. There were only two ways of entering officialdom, either by literary examination or by purchase, Ho Kai pointed out. He rejected Tseng's statement that Chinese officials were carefully selected from those who possessed varied talents.
To secure an official position by purchase was indeed vile. Those who obtained their official positions in this way usually got back their investment with a handsome profit after a brief period. The first method of entering officialdom, that is, by the literary examination, appeared to be very reasonable and to conform with modern ideas; but anyone who took the trouble to enquire, would see at once that these examinations were entirely worthless as a test of real ability and talent. Success in these examinations involved no knowledge of modern sciences or arts. It certainly required a good memory for or knowledge of the precepts and sayings of China's ancient sages. Unfortunately, very few people honestly succeeded in their examinations in this
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CHIU LING-YEONG
intoxicated, but the government, and her few high officials who blindly and ignorantly thought that China had gained victory over France, were in a state of intoxication. One could not deny that China had to have a series of urgent internal reforms and the method and procedure were not so simple as Tseng put forward in his article.
The welfare of a nation, Ho Kai emphasized, especially where absolute monarchy obtained, was very much in the hands of the officials who were entrusted by its sovereign to rule over his subjects. On these depended in a large measure the happiness, unity and strength of the people under their sway. By their exalted positions, Ho Kai further stressed, they were capable of doing good or evil to those around them. In ancient time, responsible persons were selected to help administer the Empire. The Emperor and those in authority always opened their ears and cast their eyes over the Empire. When a person was found renowned for virtue, talent, learning, ability and experience, he was immediately invited to take office, high or low according to his capacity. The invitation was always cordial and sincere. In the case of a person of extraordinary merit, it was always the highest authority who went in person to tender the invitation. However, in late 19th century China, this mode of behaviour had long since gone out of fashion. It had been buried with the sages who had ruled over China so successfully. There were only two ways of entering officialdom, either by literary examina- tion or by purchase, Ho Kai pointed out. He rejected Tseng's statement that Chinese officials were carefully selected from those who possessed varied talents.
To secure an official position by purchase was indeed vile. Those who obtained their official positions in this way usually got back their investment with a handsome profit after a brief period. The first method of entering officialdom, that is, by the literary examination, appeared to be very reasonable and to conform with modern ideas; but anyone who took the trouble to enquire, would see at once that these examinations were entirely worthless as a test of real ability and talent. Success in these examinations involved no knowledge of modern sciences or arts. It certainly required a good memory for or knowledge of the precepts and sayings of China's ancient sages. Unfortunately, very few people honestly succeeded in their examinations in this
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