In spite of the many good things that may be said to the credit of Hung Wu, he will ever be remembered in connection with a form of evil which has eaten into the very heart of the nation.  This was the system of triennial examinations, or rather the form of Chinese composition, called the “Essay,” or the “Eight Legs,” which, for the first time in the history of Chinese literature, was made the basis of all literary contests.  It was so-named, because after the introduction of the theme the writer was required to treat it in four paragraphs, each consisting of two members, made up of an equal number of sentences and words.  The theme was always chosen from either the Four Books, or the Five Classics.  The writer could not express any opinion of his own, or any views at variance with those expressed by Chu Hsi and his school.  All he was required to do was to put the few words of Confucius, or whomsoever it might be, into an essay in conformity with the prescribed rules.  Degrees, which were to serve as passports to Government positions, were awarded the best writers.  To say that the training afforded by the time required to make a man efficient in the art of such writing, would at the same time qualify him to hold the various offices under the Government, was absurd.  But absurd as the whole system was, it was handed down to recent times from the third year of the reign of Hung Wu, and was not abolished until a few years ago.  No system was more perfect or effective in retarding the intellectual and literary development of a nation.  With her “Eight Legs,” China long ago reached the lowest point on her downhill journey.  It is largely on account of the long lease of life that was granted to this rotten system that the teachings of the Sung philosophers have been so long venerated.

These are the words of a Chinese patriot of the present day, and no doubt, as a modern system, the “Eight Legs” deserve all the hard things that he says about them.  But in the fourteenth century, when one considers the practicable alternatives, one can see that there was probably much to be said for such a plan.  At any rate, for good or evil, the examination system profoundly affected the civilization of China.  Among its good effects were:  A widely-diffused respect for learning; the possibility of doing without a hereditary aristocracy; the selection of administrators who must at least have been capable of industry; and the preservation of Chinese civilization in spite of barbarian conquest.  But, like so much else in traditional China, it has had to be swept away to meet modern needs.  I hope nothing of greater value will have to perish in the struggle to repel the foreign exploiters and the fierce and cruel system which they miscall civilization.

FOOTNOTES: 

[Footnote 1:  Legge’s Shu-King, p. 15.  Quoted in Hirth, Ancient History of China, Columbia University Press, 1911—­a book which gives much useful critical information about early China.]