he was able to borrow thirty-two strings of cash for the journey, of which he spent all but three on the way to the capital.[1] In those days this was a long trip, requiring about a month of slow progress by boat and chair. The usual amount reckoned as necessary for expenses was about forty taels. Successful at last in the great examination,[2] he was shortly afterwards passed in the supreme test of Chinese scholarship and admitted into the Hanlin Academy on the twenty-third of June.[3]
Attainment of these honors conveyed the privilege of office, so he was now a part of the imperial service. Examinations were not yet over, however, for there were several grades in the Hanlin Academy. Kuo-fan therefore, after a short visit to his home, gave himself diligently to his new tasks, advancing rapidly from step to step, meanwhile receiving appointments to minor positions in the capital. His letters for the period show us a singularly attractive life among men of literary inclinations — colleagues in the Hanlin Academy — with disputations and friendly competitions in writing essays and poetry. His income was small and he constantly lived beyond it, though we have no details except that in 1842 his house rent cost fifteen strings of cash a month. Whatever he received he shared generously with his family or with needy Hunanese in Peking. His application to his studies was incessant, for he had plenty of leisure, and
- ↑ A string is 1,000 cash, the equivalent in theory of a tael of silver, but with a purchasing power greatly in excess of today's.
- ↑ The doctorate was highly prized. The family from which a doctor came usually hung up a red sign above the door with the two large characters "Tsin Shih." Even today one sometimes sees above some humble country house these evidences of distinction, and it is easy to imagine the thrill of pride that greeted the news of Kuo-fan's success when it reached his family.
- ↑ This corresponds in the main to membership in the national academy in European countries, except that membership in China is gained through public competitive examination instead of election.
