Abby Harris, age 14, of Columbia, Tenn., for her question:

WHAT EXACTLY IS A MANDARIN?

English speaking people use the name "Mandarin" for any high military or civil official of the Chinese Empire. The Chinese term is "kwan," which means a "public official."

The dialect of North China, which is the language these officials spoke, is also called Mandarin. Today it is the national language of China.

A Chinese became a mandarin by taking promotional examinations. He showed his rank by the color of the buttons on his cap. Governors and generals had red coral buttons. Lieutenant governors and judges wore blue ones. Lower officers had other colors.

Each mandarin had an official robe. The military man's robe had beasts embroidered on it. The civil official had decorative birds on his robe. Judges wore plainer robes.

To ensure the honesty of a mandarin, he was never assigned to the province from which he came. He could neither marry nor acquire property in the province to which he was sent. And he could not serve over three years in one province