Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 4.djvu/166

 powdered on the image of Shaka was used for the daily copies; or all the worn-out writing-brushes were offered at the shrine of Temman-gu. Children entered the schools at the age of five or six, and the course extended from five to seven years. Sons and daughters of high-rank samurai had special instructors, but the children of inferior samurai shared the education of the "commoner." There were not any technical schools; practical training was obtained by apprenticeship. The apprentice—who will be spoken of more fully in a future chapter—had partly to study a trade or handicraft and partly to act as a servant. He received, in short, a general training and underwent wholesome discipline. Even wealthy people often sent their sons to serve for a term of years in the house of a court nobleman or a feudal chief, on the principle that to be a man one must mix with men. It was also customary for parents to place their daughters in the family of some man of rank, in order that they might learn the etiquette and domestic usages of polite society, and in some country districts a girl found it difficult to make an eligible match unless her education had included this practical experience. It is not to be understood, however, that she was treated with any special consideration during her residence in such a house; she had to discharge all the duties of a servant, with the exception of the rough functions that fell to the lot of the lowest menials,