Page:History of Corea, ancient and modern; with description of manners and customs, language and geography (1879).djvu/333

 LITEBARY DEQBEEa 307 compete for Jinsa ; many taking the first degree a dozen times and never gaining the higher, without which there is no hope of oflScial employment. There is still the third and highest degree of wunjil, and woojil (literary and military), which entitles to literary or military officership. Favoritism, however, acts powerfully. Pingyang province, which borders China^ is divided into north and south ; the highest literary degree will gain no mandarinate for the northern, and only up to the fifth grade for the southern ; and almost all the first, second, and third grades are in the hands of the big officials in the capital* The principal offices are hereditary. The following remarks on literature are translated out of a Corean book, whence a good deal of other useful information has been derived. The remarks apply in toto to Chinese literature ; for though there is a good deal written in the Corean alphabet, the acquisition of it is so easyf that it is not regarded as worthy the name of literature, nor the knowledge of it as deserving the name of education. There is first the Yiking (Book of Changes), transmitted from Foohi or Pood (b.c. 2832), who invented the eight diagrams. Wun Wang (b.c. 1150) invented the six Yao, thus multiplying the diagrams to forty-eight And Confucius completed the work by annotations. He made the book a unit, by knitting together the detached words and sentences. The literary style Hanchnng (capital) no Jayin. 260 Jinsa. Joongching Do. 25 90 Chingshang Do. 30 100 JuUa Do. 25 90 Gangwan Do. 15 45 Whanghai Do. 10 36 Pingan Do. 13 45 Hamging Do. 10 35 Total 238 Juyin. 700 Jinsa. Of whom are Toongdoo SO 30 additional for Capital 48 superior Jinsa. tSee below "Language.'
 * The numbers who had superior degrees twenty years ago are appended: