time and
strength that can be expended in something more profitable?--Chang
Chih-tung in "China's Only Hope."

XXII

THE COURT AND THE NEW EDUCATION

The changes in the attitude of the court towards a new educational
system began, as do many great undertakings, in a very simple way. We
have already shown how the eunuchs secured all kinds of foreign
mechanical toys to entertain the baby Emperor Kuang Hsu; how these were
supplemented in his boyhood by ingenious clocks and watches; how he
became interested in the telegraph, the telephone, steam cars,
steamboats, electric light and steam heat, and how he had them first
brought into the palace and then established throughout the empire: and
how he had the phonograph, graphophone, cinematograph, bicycle, and
indeed all the useful and unique inventions of modern times brought in
for his entertainment.

He then began the study of English. When in 1894 a New Testament was
sent to the Empress Dowager on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday,
he at once secured from the American Bible Society a copy of the
complete Bible for himself. He began studying the Gospel of Luke. This
gave him a taste for foreign literature and he sent his eunuchs to the
various book depositories and bought every book that had been
translated from the European languages into the Chinese. To these he
bent all his energies and it soon became noised abroad that the Emperor
was studying foreign books and was about to embrace the Christian
faith. This continued from 1894 till 1898, during which time his
example was followed by tens of thousands of young Chinese scholars
throughout the empire, and Chang Chih-tung wrote his epoch-making book
"China's Only Hope" which, being sent to the young Emperor, led him to
enter upon a universal reform, the chief feature of which may be
considered the adoption of a new educational system.

But now let us notice the animus of Kuang Hsu. He has been praised
without stint for his leaning towards foreign affairs, when in reality
was it not simply an effort on the part of the young man to make China
strong enough to resist the incursions of the European powers? Germany
had taken Kiaochou, Russia had taken Port Arthur, Japan had taken
Formosa, Great Britain had taken Weihaiwei, France had taken
Kuangchouwan, and even Italy was anxious to have a slice of his
territory, while all the English papers in the port cities were talking
of China being divided up amongst the Pow