Chinese children are the most obedient and reverential to parents of any
children in the world, and the Chinese Empire is the only one in all
history that has prolonged its existence from ancient times to the
present.

But along with much good, one great evil has resulted from this blind,
servile following of the past. The Chinese in strictly obeying the
injunction to walk in the old ways, to conform to the customs of the
ancients, have failed to mark out any new footpaths for themselves. Hence
their lack of originality, their habit of imitation: hence the unchanging,
unprogressive character of Chinese civilization.

EDUCATION AND CIVIL SERVICE COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS.--China has a very
ancient educational system. The land was filled with schools, academies,
and colleges more than a thousand years before our era, and education is
to-day more general among the Chinese than among any other pagan people. A
knowledge of the sacred books is the sole passport to civil office and
public employment. All candidates for places in the government must pass a
competitive examination in the Nine Classics. This system is practically
the same in principle as that which we, with great difficulty, are trying
to establish in connection with our own civil service.

THE THREE RELIGIONS,--CONFUCIANISM, TAOISM, AND BUDDHISM.--There are three
leading religions in China,--Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The great
Sage Confucius is reverenced and worshipped throughout the Empire. He
holds somewhat the same relation to the system that bears his name that
Christ holds to that of Christianity. Taoism takes its name from Tao,
which is made, like Brahma in Brahmanism, the beginning of all things. It
is a very curious system of mystical ideas and superstitious practices.
Buddhism was introduced into China about the opening of the Christian era,