Fletcher D'Amico, age 13, of Albuquerque, N.M., for is question:

CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE TERM "MANDARIN?"

Mandarin is the Chinese dialect of North China, which is the national language of China. Mandarin was also a name for a public official in the old Chinese Empire. You write the word with a capital "M" for the language and use the lower case for the official.

A mandarin was any high military or civil official of China. The Chinese term is "kwan," which means a "public official."

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 were given 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.

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 more than three years in one province.