Abstract
Virtually all of the Hong Kong's secondary school textbooks on Chinese history adopt the phrase "scholars the ninth and beggars the tenth" to describe the "lowly" status of Confucian scholars in the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1260-1368). This paper analyses the popular saying by looking at the lives and works of the two Song loyalists who created the expression, the obligations and privileges of Confucian households in the Yuan , as well as the chances of Yuan scholars in joining the officialdom. It concludes that the phrase "scholars the ninth and beggars the tenth" is an anti-Mongol exaggeration rather than a true reflection of the Yuan reality, and it's time for Hong Kong's secondary school textbooks to discard the old myth.
| Keywords: | Yuan dynasty of China; Confucian scholars status; Hong Kong; Chinese History textbooks; textual criticism |
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