ABSTRACT
Competitors for the first military degree, a military bachelorship, are examined by the same officials as are literary competitors, but candidates for the second military degree are examined by the provincial governor instead of special commissioners from Peking. In examinations of candidates before the imperial commissioners for the second degree, sometimes aid is only procured for the composition of poetry, or for the third or fourth prose essay, the competitor himself having succeeded in preparing the other essays to his liking. The examination for the second degree, or master of arts, of the military bachelors of all the province, takes place at the provincial capital, under the supervision of the provincial governor as chief. A list of competitors is made out by the district magistrate at the close of his sessions for the literary chancellor to examine. The number of successful competitors for the second military degree for all the province is only about sixty.
