Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/122

 the magistrate following. In a selected field an old farmer and his wife await them. The magistrate ploughs his seven furrows, the farmer sows some grain, the wife bears a basket of food for him, and the couple receive a silver medal.

The post of ch‘un kuan is bought for a fixed sum and may be held for life. It gets an annual payment from the magistrate. (See under Four Seasons.)

At the end of the year the official seals are sealed up and are brought into use again at the middle of the first moon. (See under New Year.)

The literary examinations, k‘ao k‘o (考課), have been much changed lately and much chaos has resulted; hence a few notes on the old system must suffice.

Chi (季) k‘o examinations were held in the Academy at the four seasons, the subjects being penmanship and composition.

Monthly examinations, yüeh (月) k‘o, were held to select students for the Academy. The Academy head master had great power and could degrade unworthy scholars after examinations, shih k‘o.

The local gentry also held examinations in the country hui (會) k‘o. Twice in three years an examination, k‘ao shih (考試), was held to pick out the students fit to proceed to the prefectural examinations. The magistrate had to be shut in with the students in the examination hall, control the examination of the essays and publication of lists of passes.

No public business is done on the anniversaries of the deaths of former emperors, shou chi ai (守忌哀).

On the anniversaries of the accession of former emperors, the magistrate wore court dress, worshipped the wan sui p‘ai, but did not stop work. The birthdays of emperor, of empress, of empress-dowager and heir-apparent were similarly observed. At an emperor's death the magistrate had to sit in straw, tso ts‘ao (坐草), for a certain period.

At the proper time a tablet is hung in the yamen announcing "No litigation in harvest time," nung mang t‘ing