five classics and was commencing to write compositions. Five years later, in accordance with Chinese custom, he was betrothed to a young girl named Ouyang, to whom he was married as soon as he was old enough.[1]
In 1826 he took his first examination and stood seventh on the list.[2] But it was not until 1832 that he appeared to compete for the B.A. degree, which he failed to secure at the first attempt, though he stood on the list of honor.[3] In 1833 he was successful and secured the degree at the same time that his father, after seventeen failures, also passed. The following year he went to Changsha for the M.A. examination, in which he was also successful, standing thirty-sixth on the list. The same year he went to Peking to try his luck in the national examinations for the doctorate, but in two examinations he failed. In some manner he found the means to travel extensively during the year 1836 in Kiangnan and Chekiang. Though his position as an M.A. gave him some prestige in the community, he was still not satisfied. It is related of him that while on this journey he discovered a set of valuable books, and borrowed a hundred taels with which to purchase them. With these books in his possession he repaired to his countryside, where he gave himself to a year of intense application in preparation for the third attempt.
At the beginning of 1838 he was ready once again to go to Peking, equipped as he now was with an additional year's preparation. No money was available for him, but
- ↑ The chief source for these earlier years is the Nienp'u, or "Annals" of Tsêng Wen-chen, containing material taken from family records and his own writings.
- ↑ This was a sort of matriculation examination. Those who succeeded might compete later for the B.A. degree.
- ↑ This was not to belittle his scholarship, because the number of men entitled to receive the degree was fixed by the emperor for each province and district. A place on the roll of honor carried some prestige.
