nese characters, no two of which are any more alike than the photographs of so many thousand people would be alike. The teacher calls out the character, and the boys repeat in concert at the top of their voices. At first the meaning of the character is not considered, but the point to be gained is to be able to recognize it among its fellow-characters and call it by name. At the same time that the boy is shouting the name of his character he is swinging his body back and forth, keeping time to the sound of his voice, while every boy in the room is engaged in the same sort of exercise. One does not need to inquire whether there is a school in the village when he enters it; for if there be one, he will soon find it out for himself. The school hours would be considered long by people whose children are nervous, since they are from early mom till dewy eve, seven days in the week and twelve months in the year, with only an occasional holiday thrown in now and then. The boy who expects to make proper progress must study every night as long as he can keep his eyes open. Some time ago I heard a Korean making a speech in which he described how scholars became men of renown. He said they often studied at night till they could no longer hold up their heads, and then they tied a string to a beam, in the top of the room and tied the other end to their topknot, so that when the head fell over it jerked and aroused them again. Hence the proverb, "Tie your topknot to the beam," is the equivalent of our "Burn the midnight oil." It will be remembered that the topknot is the hair rolled and tied up on top of the head.
