February 8, 1904.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
presume to offer my congratulations on the study of colloquial. It is a subject that the equally popular preferment to your still more independent examiners, who examined this exalted present position. (Applause). For the College a short time ago, made rather severe past ten days the local atmosphere has been fall comments upon. Now it is the duty of all of public fauctions, and we therefore feel it all you boys to throw yourselves into the spirit the more kind of your Excellency and Mrs. May of the new method when it has been thoroughly to take the trouble to come here on this ocos-explained to you, and to assist your masters sion. The large number of prize distributions in carrying it out so that when the independent that have recently taken place must have struck examiners come to examine the college again the eyes of all the public generally, but I fanoy. they will have nothing but praise where sir, that old residents in the Colony like myself formerly they found fault. Remember that a are more impressed then new-comers by the large master cannot do everything. He can only increase in the number of schools, the increase do ODU half, the student must do the in the attendance at these schools, and above all other half, and throw himself into the work by the increase in the efficiency of these schools. and assist the master to the best of his ability. Twenty years ago, waen I was Acting Insp otor There is another subject that Dr. Wright of Schools for twelve months, I had considerable alluded to. and that is the restoration of the acquaintance with all the educational Chinese classes in this college. That is to conditions of the Colony that then exis ed. say that in the lower school boys will be and I feel confident I am correct in saying instructed in the Chinese language.
Dr. that had any gentleman at that time predicted Wright, I know, views this innovation with a thal in twenty years' time the expansion of great deal of pleasure, and I think you all edu ation we now view to-day would be effected know that I myself regard it as a most im- he would have been laughed at as a visionary portant improvement. I said yesterday, in The Bible tells us that "When one member suffers distributing prizes at the Government District all the other members suffer with it," but of Schools, that it is very necessary for all Chinese education I would venture to say that when who seek to make a career for themselves either one school flourishes all the other schools in the Government service or in the commercial prosper. "The more the merrier"; and, sphere or in their own country in whatever amending the proverb, I would say, "The more capacity, that they should have a good sound schools, the better cheer for the scholars." knowledge of their own language. There (Applause.)
is another reason why I, and I believe your Head Master, view with satisfaction the restoration of the Chinese schools. You know that the less educated Chinese in Hongkong-the Chinese of the middle and lower classes-have the unenviable reputation of having much worse manners thn the Chinese in China or in Peking or the treaty-ports of China. I have lived in Peking and in Canton, and I have paid short visits to various treaty ports, and I have also travelled extensively in China itself, and I am sorry to say I think the middle and lower classes of Chinese here have well earned that reputation. It is only just now that I, who for the time being the King's representative in the Colony, came into the courtyard of this College. There were seated there several coolies-ignor ant coolies no doubt-and they remained seated till I told the policeman who was following me to make them get up Now, in China conduct like that would be corrected by the stern logic of the bamboo, I remember many years ago that I rode when travelling in North China nto the yard of a Chinese inn followed by my mafoo, who was also on pony-back, and just as I entered the yard of the inn a high Chinese official entered the yard also. He descended from his mule-litter, in which he was travell- ing close to where my mafoo was sitting on his pony, and my mafoo omitted the etiquette, which is called for by Chinese politeness, of getting down off his pony in the presence of his superiors. Instead of that he remained seated on his pony. I went in to my lunch and the official went into the inn also; and presently I was disturbed by a great outcry, and I went out and I found that some of the suite of the Chinese official were giving my mafoo a very severe licking with sticks and other instruments. I may say that I thoroughly approved of their action. In the afternoon after the Chinese official had left and I was about to leave, my groom came to me and he said, "Your honour, I do not wish any longer to serve you." And I said, "Why ?" And he said, "I have lost my 'face.'
HE Mr. F. H. MAY then distributed the prizes, and afterwards said:-Dr. Wright, ladies and gentlemen, the report which Dr. Wright has read is, I tuink you will all agree, a very satisfactory one. I congratulate the Head Master and all the other masters of the school, on the larger measure of success attained this year in the Oxford Local Examinations to what has been accomplished in the past. I think this is a very satisfactory feature of the report (Applause). The Head Master as supplid me with various sam- ples oferamication papers in composition, Shake- speare, history, general intelligence, and transis- tion from Chinese into English, and English into Chinese. These papers were, on the whole, very well done and the Head Master is fully justified in being entirely satisfied with them, n his report, Dr. Wright has expressed his regret that in the lower school the system of making translations from Chiues into English and vice versa has, by decision of the Governmeut, been prohibited for the present. Now I think it may be useful if I state the reason of that decision. It is that it is not onsidered that the best method of teaching boys to compose in a langu age which they are acquiring is by means of translations until they have gained a certain knowledge of the language. That decision is based upon experience gained in other seh ols and in othercentrs of teaching. I might mention one of them. In China, the best sobool for teach- ing English young men Chinese is, without doubt, the Britisa Legation in Peking. They have bad vast experience in the teaching of Chinese, and their method is that during the first year that a young English man is learning the Chinese language he does not touch trans- lation work at all. He devotes himself entirely to the colloquial language, and when he has a grip of that he begins to translate. I passed through that school myself, and I might just mention for the information of masters, per- haps as a hint to them, that, because translation work is prohibited it does not follow that other methods of teaching the boys to compos should not be adopted. One that was in vogue in those days was for the student to tell his Chinese teacher a story in Chiuese one day and get the Chinese teacher to tell it back to him in correct Chinese. One next day he would write a shortlet ter to his Chinese teacher and get him to cor. rect it. That was my favourite method of learning Chinese, and I may say that I found it a very successful one. That brings me to the subject of colloquial generally. You know that, from this year we are going to adopt in Queen's College what is known as the new system of teaching colloquial. It is a system that has been found in Europe to be by far the most successful in teaching modern languages. To sssist in the institution of that system as you have heard from Dr. Wright, in his report, a vormsi master has been appointed, and I feel quite sure that, with his assistance, and under his instruoti n, a very great progress will be made during the coming year in the
am
I have been maltreated and beaten
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by the suite of the Chinese official and you, my master, did not raise your hand to protect me." And I said, "It is not you who have lost your face, but it is I who have lost my face, and you have caused the loss. You are my servant, and it was your duty to behave with proper politeness to the Chinese official. Instead of that you committeda grave breach of etiquette, for which I will give you another flogging." and brought disgrace on me which I thereupon did; and that man ever afterwards was polite to outsiders and he was also polite to me. Now unfor tunately bere in Hongkong we cannot in dealing with the ign rant coolies, like those outside this morning, appeal to the stern logic of the bamboo, because the British law does not permit it, but you who are the rising generation of the Chinese can by your ex- ample correct such rudeness. If you are
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continually polite to your master and to each other and to those who are placed ių authority over you, then the lower orders in this Colony will in the course of time imitate your example; and what I have said to the Chinese boys applies equally to European boys and boys of other nationalities. One of the amenities of life which does not do anybody barm and does a great deal of good is politeness. When you come to travel-if any of you ever do-in Western countries, you will find that politeness if nothing else is commodity which may prove a great economy to you. We have in the West a pernicions system of what we call "tips"-small rewards for ser- vices done. My experience is, as they say in the West, that a smile and a sixpence in such circumstances, "will go as far as half-a-crown." Therefore in the interests of your pocket I would enjoin upon you to be polite. I now wish you all a very happy holiday. I have been very pleased to come here ito-day Queen's College is the premier school of our Government schools, and the Government derives a great deal of benefit from it. Dr. Wright will tell you that when I was Captain Superintendent of Police whenever I wanted a new, clerk, ins ead of resorting to the competi tive examinations which are sometimes in- convenient, I used to ask him to send one of his best Chinese boys from this College, and I must say I never was disappointed in the boys he sent me. (Applause.) Some of them have done extremely well in the Government service and if they go on as they have began they would do even better; and I can assure you boys that if you attend.to your studies and ive good sober lives there is plenty of advance- meat for you both inside this Co.ony and outside of it. (Applans.)
The usual votes of thanks ended the pro- ceedings
The following is the list of prizes :-
OXFORD LOCALS, 1903-4. Senior:-Ho Yan-sik, A. A., Tse Tsok-kani, A.A.. Chan Sz-yut; Banje, Carl, A. A., Bunje, Henry, A.A.
Pak-lia Lo Shin-ting, Fang Kwai-hun, Lam Junior-Au Hing-fo, Lai Chiu-kun, Fung Shin in, Mooney, W. G., The Yan-Inng, Wat ling, H.
Cheung Ting-shan. Sung Ting-eui, Chan Preliminary-Galluzsi, B. F., Galluzi, U. C., Kwok-nin (dead), Juman, Y. M., Markar, C. G., Cheung Luo-shang, Moosa, S. K., Telzel, C., Chau Kwan-lum, A abekr, 8. Suffaid, A M., Rabman, A. K., Li Un-lun,
}
SCHOLARSHIPS 1904. Morrison Scholarship:-Senior, Tse Tsok- kai; Junior, Yang Yam-man,
Stewart Scholarship:-Ho Yan-gik. Belilios Scholarship :-Senior, Ko Posham; Junior, Yamasaki.
SPECIAL PRIZES.
Translation :-E to C. Fang Pak-liu, IA. C to E., Tae Yan-lung IA. IIA, R, Garlazzi; IIB, Chan Shiusham; IIIA History:-IA, Lai hiu-kuu; IB, Pan Hun; Leung Shai-wai; IIB, Leung Kwok-ying; IIIC, Chan Kam-u.
Tsun fai; IIA, W. Ford; IIB, Tam-Chenng-wa; Composition:IA, Carl Bunje; IB, Lak IIIA, Tso Shiu-fan; III», Kwan Wing-yan; IIIo. Yung Po-man.
Macbell Memorial Price)-IA, Carl Bunje, Shorthand :-IIIA, Cheung Ping-shan. - Model,-Li Un-lun, IIB.
Drawing-Freehand-Sang Ting-sui, IIA;
CLASS PRIZES.
IA, 1. Tse Tsok-kni (Morrison__ Scholar), Ho Yan-sik (Stewart Scholar), 3, Bunje, C. (Machell), 4, Au Kwok-leung.
IB, 1, Pang Kwok-sui. 2, Lau Wan-san, IIA, 1, Chi Po-lam, 2, Leung Shi-kau. IIB, 1, Wong Ping, 2, Pan 8 Young. IIIA, 1, Chan King-leuk, 2, Lak I.yan. III, 1, Li Pst, 2, Chan Ping-làn. JIIC, I, Wong Chau-wong, 2, Ho Wan- chong,
IVA, 1, Yung Yam-man, (Morrison, Junior), 2, Lo Kam-cheung, 3, Kwan Shucheung
IVB, 1, Taoi Wa-obeung, 2, Young Pakun. IV, 1, Kwok Wan-fan, 2, Ho Shai-kit, 10, A.M. Osman.
VA, 1, Ho Chouk-kwan, 2, Lau Chu Chum, 8, H. Livesey.
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