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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/2076-h.zip b/2076-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..542ec27 --- /dev/null +++ b/2076-h.zip diff --git a/2076-h/2076-h.htm b/2076-h/2076-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5440c4d --- /dev/null +++ b/2076-h/2076-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,5596 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Civilization of China, by Herbert A. Giles + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Civilization Of China, by Herbert A. Giles + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Civilization Of China + +Author: Herbert A. Giles + +Release Date: March 25, 2006 [EBook #2076] +Last Updated: December 10, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + by HERBERT A. GILES + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Professor of Chinese in the University of Cambridge, <br /> And sometime + H.B.M. Consul at Ningpo + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_PREF"> PREFACE </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA</b></big> + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I—THE FEUDAL AGE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II—LAW AND GOVERNMENT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III—RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV—A.D. 220-1200 </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V—WOMEN AND CHILDREN </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI—LITERATURE AND EDUCATION + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII—PHILOSOPHY AND SPORT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII—RECREATION </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX—THE MONGOLS, 1260-1368 + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X—MINGS AND CH'INGS, + 1368-1911 </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI—CHINESE AND FOREIGNERS + </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII—THE OUTLOOK </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_BIBL"> BIBLIOGRAPHY </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + PREFACE + </h2> + <p> + The aim of this work is to suggest a rough outline of Chinese civilization + from the earliest times down to the present period of rapid and startling + transition. + </p> + <p> + It has been written, primarily, for readers who know little or nothing of + China, in the hope that it may succeed in alluring them to a wider and + more methodical survey. + </p> + <p> + H.A.G. + </p> + <p> + Cambridge, May 12, 1911. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I—THE FEUDAL AGE + </h2> + <p> + It is a very common thing now-a-days to meet people who are going to + "China," which can be reached by the Siberian railway in fourteen or + fifteen days. This brings us at once to the question—What is meant + by the term China? + </p> + <p> + Taken in its widest sense, the term includes Mongolia, Manchuria, Eastern + Turkestan, Tibet, and the Eighteen Provinces, the whole being equivalent + to an area of some five million square miles, that is, considerably more + than twice the size of the United States of America. But for a study of + manners and customs and modes of thought of the Chinese people, we must + confine ourselves to that portion of the whole which is known to the + Chinese as the "Eighteen Provinces," and to us as China Proper. This + portion of the empire occupies not quite two-fifths of the whole, covering + an area of somewhat more than a million and a half square miles. Its chief + landmarks may be roughly stated as Peking, the capital, in the north; + Canton, the great commercial centre, in the south; Shanghai, on the east; + and the Tibetan frontier on the west. + </p> + <p> + Any one who will take the trouble to look up these four points on a map, + representing as they do central points on the four sides of a rough + square, will soon realize the absurdity of asking a returning traveller + the very much asked question, How do you like China? Fancy asking a + Chinaman, who had spent a year or two in England, how he liked Europe! + Peking, for instance, stands on the same parallel of latitude as Madrid; + whereas Canton coincides similarly with Calcutta. Within the square + indicated by the four points enumerated above will be found variations of + climate, flowers, fruit, vegetables and animals—not to mention human + beings—distributed in very much the same way as in Europe. The + climate of Peking is exceedingly dry and bracing; no rain, and hardly any + snow, falling between October and April. The really hot weather lasts only + for six or eight weeks, about July and August—and even then the + nights are always cool; while for six or eight weeks between December and + February there may be a couple of feet of ice on the river. Canton, on the + other hand, has a tropical climate, with a long damp enervating summer and + a short bleak winter. The old story runs that snow has only been seen once + in Canton, and then it was thought by the people to be falling + cotton-wool. + </p> + <p> + The northern provinces are remarkable for vast level plains, dotted with + villages, the houses of which are built of mud. In the southern provinces + will be found long stretches of mountain scenery, vying in loveliness with + anything to be seen elsewhere. Monasteries are built high up on the hills, + often on almost inaccessible crags; and there the well-to-do Chinaman is + wont to escape from the fierce heat of the southern summer. On one + particular mountain near Canton, there are said to be no fewer than one + hundred of such monasteries, all of which reserve apartments for guests, + and are glad to be able to add to their funds by so doing. + </p> + <p> + In the north of China, Mongolian ponies, splendid mules, and donkeys are + seen in large quantities; also the two-humped camel, which carries heavy + loads across the plains of Mongolia. In the south, until the advent of the + railway, travellers had to choose between the sedan-chair carried on the + shoulders of stalwart coolies, or the slower but more comfortable + house-boat. Before steamers began to ply on the coast, a candidate for the + doctor's degree at the great triennial examination would take three months + to travel from Canton to Peking. Urgent dispatches, however, were often + forwarded by relays of riders at the rate of two hundred miles a day. + </p> + <p> + The market in Peking is supplied, among other things, with excellent + mutton from a fat-tailed breed of sheep, chiefly for the largely + Mohammedan population; but the sheep will not live in southern China, + where the goat takes its place. The pig is found everywhere, and + represents beef in our market, the latter being extremely unpalatable to + the ordinary Chinaman, partly perhaps because Confucius forbade men to + slaughter the animal which draws the plough and contributes so much to the + welfare of mankind. The staple food, the "bread" of the people in the + Chinese Empire, is nominally rice; but this is too costly for the peasant + of northern China to import, and he falls back on millet as its + substitute. Apples, pears, grapes, melons, and walnuts grow abundantly in + the north; the southern fruits are the banana, the orange, the pineapple, + the mango, the pomelo, the lichee, and similar fruits of a more tropical + character. + </p> + <p> + Cold storage has been practised by the Chinese for centuries. Blocks of + ice are cut from the river for that purpose; and on a hot summer's day a + Peking coolie can obtain an iced drink at an almost infinitesimal cost. + Grapes are preserved from autumn until the following May and June by the + simple process of sticking the stalk of the bunch into a large hard pear, + and putting it away carefully in the ice-house. Even at Ningpo, close to + our central point on the eastern coast of China, thin layers of ice are + collected from pools and ditches, and successfully stored for use in the + following summer. + </p> + <p> + The inhabitants of the coast provinces are distinguished from the dwellers + in the north and in the far interior by a marked alertness of mind and + general temperament. The Chinese themselves declare that virtue is + associated with mountains, wisdom with water, cynically implying that no + one is both virtuous and wise. Between the inhabitants of the various + provinces there is little love lost. Northerners fear and hate + southerners, and the latter hold the former in infinite scorn and + contempt. Thus, when in 1860 the Franco-British force made for Peking, it + was easy enough to secure the services of any number of Cantonese, who + remained as faithful as though the attack had been directed against some + third nationality. + </p> + <p> + The population of China has never been exactly ascertained. It has been + variously estimated by foreign travellers, Sacharoff, in 1842, placing the + figure at over four hundred millions. The latest census, taken in 1902, is + said to yield a total of four hundred and ten millions. Perhaps three + hundred millions would be a juster estimate; even that would absorb no + less than one-fifth of the human race. From this total it is easy to + calculate that if the Chinese people were to walk past a given point in + single file, the procession would never end; long before the last of the + three hundred millions had passed by, a new generation would have sprung + up to continue the neverending line. The census, however, is a very old + institution with the Chinese; and we learn that in A.D. 156 the total + population of the China of those days was returned as a little over fifty + millions. In more modern times, the process of taking the census consists + in serving out house-tickets to the head of every household, who is + responsible for a proper return of all the inmates; but as there is no + fixed day for which these tickets are returnable, the results are + approximate rather than exact. + </p> + <p> + Again, it is not uncommon to hear people talking of the Chinese language + as if it were a single tongue spoken all over China after a more or less + uniform standard. But the fact is that the colloquial is broken up into at + least eight dialects, each so strongly marked as to constitute eight + languages as different to the ear, one from another, as English, Dutch and + German, or French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. A Shanghai man, for + instance, is unintelligible to a Cantonese, and so on. All officials are + obliged, and all of the better educated merchants and others endeavour, if + only for business purposes, to learn something of the dialect spoken at + the court of Peking; and this is what is popularly known as "Mandarin." + The written language remains the same for the whole empire; which merely + means that ideas set down on paper after a uniform system are spoken with + different sounds, just as the Arabic numerals are written uniformly in + England, France and Germany, but are pronounced in a totally different + manner. + </p> + <p> + The only difficulty of the spoken language, of no matter what dialect, + lies in the "tones," which simply means the different intonations which + may be given to one and the same sound, thus producing so many entirely + different meanings. But for these tones, the colloquial of China would be + absurdly easy, inasmuch as there is no such thing as grammar, in the sense + of gender, number, case, mood, tense, or any of the variations we + understand by that term. Many amusing examples are current of blunders + committed by faulty speakers, such as that of the student who told his + servant to bring him a goose, when what he really wanted was some salt, + both goose and salt having the same sound, <i>yen</i>, but quite different + intonations. The following specimen has the advantage of being true. A + British official reported to the Foreign Office that the people of + Tientsin were in the habit of shouting after foreigners, "Mao-tsu, + mao-tsu" (pronounced <i>mowdza</i>, <i>ow</i> as in <i>how</i>), from + which he gathered that they were much struck by the head-gear of the + barbarian. Now, it is a fact that <i>mao-tsu</i>, uttered with a certain + intonation, means a hat; but with another intonation, it means "hairy + one," and the latter, referring to the big beards of foreigners, was the + meaning intended to be conveyed. This epithet is still to be heard, and is + often preceded by the adjective "red." + </p> + <p> + The written characters, known to have been in use for the past three + thousand years, were originally rude pictures, as of men, birds, horses, + dogs, houses, the numerals (one, two, three, four), etc., etc., and it is + still possible to trace in the modified modern forms of these characters + more or less striking resemblances to the objects intended. The next step + was to put two or more characters together, to express by their + combination an abstract idea, as, for instance, a <i>hand</i> holding a <i>rod</i> + = father; but of course this simple process did not carry the Chinese very + far, and they soon managed to hit on a joint picture and phonetic system, + which enabled them to multiply characters indefinitely, new compounds + being formed for use as required. It is thus that new characters can still + be produced, if necessary, to express novel objects or ideas. The usual + plan, however, is to combine existing terms in such a way as to suggest + what is wanted. For instance, in preference to inventing a separate + character for the piece of ordnance known as a "mortar," the Chinese, with + an eye to its peculiar pose, gave it the appropriate name of a "frog gun." + </p> + <p> + Again, just as the natives and the dialects of the various parts of China + differ one from another, although fundamentally the same people and the + same language, so do the manners and customs differ to such an extent that + habits of life and ceremonial regulations which prevail in one part of the + empire do not necessarily prevail in another. Yet once more it will be + found that the differences which appear irreconcilable at first, do not + affect what is essential, but apply rather to matters of detail. Many + travellers and others have described as customs of the Chinese customs + which, as presented, refer to a part of China only, and not to the whole. + For instance, the ornamental ceremonies connected with marriage vary in + different provinces; but there is a certain ceremony, equivalent in one + sense to signing the register, which is almost essential to every marriage + contract. Bride and bridegroom must kneel down and call God to witness; + they also pledge each other in wine from two cups joined together by a red + string. Red is the colour for joy, as white is the colour for mourning. + Chinese note-paper is always ruled with red lines or stamped with a red + picture. One Chinese official who gave a dinner-party in foreign style, + even went so far as to paste a piece of red paper on to each + dinner-napkin, in order to counteract the unpropitious influence of white. + </p> + <p> + Reference has been made above to journeys performed by boat. In addition + to the Yangtsze and the Yellow River or Hoang ho (pronounced <i>Hwong haw</i>), + two of the most important rivers in the world, China is covered with a + network of minor streams, which in southern China form the chief lines of + transport. The Yangtsze is nothing more than a huge navigable river, + crossing China Proper from west to east. The Yellow River, which, with the + exception of a great loop to the north, runs on nearly parallel lines of + latitude, has long been known as "China's Sorrow," and has been + responsible for enormous loss of life and property. Its current is so + swift that ordinary navigation is impossible, and to cross it in boats is + an undertaking of considerable difficulty and danger. It is so called from + the yellowness of its water, caused by the vast quantity of mud which is + swept down by its rapid current to the sea; hence, the common saying, + "When the Yellow River runs clear," as an equivalent of the Greek Kalends. + The huge embankments, built to confine it to a given course, are + continually being forced by any unusual press of extra water, with + enormous damage to property and great loss of life, and from time to time + this river has been known to change its route altogether, suddenly + diverging, almost at a right angle. Up to the year 1851 the mouth of the + river was to the south of the Shantung promontory, about lat. 34 N.; then, + with hardly any warning, it began to flow to the north-east, finding an + outlet to the north of the Shantung promontory, about lat. 38 N. + </p> + <p> + A certain number of connecting links have been formed between the chief + lines of water communication, in the shape of artificial cuttings; but + there is nothing worthy the name of canal except the rightly named Grand + Canal, called by the Chinese the "river of locks," or alternatively the + "transport river," because once used to convey rice from the south to + Peking. This gigantic work, designed and executed in the thirteenth + century by the Emperor Kublai Khan, extended to about six hundred and + fifty miles in length, and completed an almost unbroken water + communication between Peking and Canton. As a wonderful engineering feat + it is indeed more than matched by the famous Great Wall, which dates back + to a couple of hundred years before Christ, and which has been glorified + as the last trace of man's handiwork on the globe to fade from the view of + an imaginary person receding into space. Recent exploration shows that + this wall is about eighteen hundred miles in length, stretching from a + point on the seashore somewhat east of Peking, to the northern frontier of + Tibet. Roughly speaking, it is twenty-two feet in height by twenty feet in + breadth; at intervals of a hundred yards are towers forty feet high, the + whole being built originally of brick, of which in some parts but mere + traces now remain. Nor is this the only great wall; ruins of other walls + on a considerable scale have lately been brought to light, the object of + all being one and the same—to keep back the marauding Tartars. + </p> + <p> + Over the length and breadth of their boundless empire, with all its + varying climates and inhabitants, the Chinese people are free to travel, + for business or pleasure, at their own sweet will, and to take up their + abode at any spot without let or hindrance. No passports are required; + neither is any ordinary citizen obliged to possess other papers of + identification. Chinese inns are not exposed to the annoyance of + domicilary visits with reference to their clients for the time being; and + so long as the latter pay their way, and refrain from molesting others, + they will usually be free from molestation themselves. The Chinese, + however, are not fond of travelling; they love their homes too well, and + they further dread the inconveniences and dangers attached to travel in + many other parts of the world. Boatmen, carters, and innkeepers have all + of them bad reputations for extortionate charges; and the traveller may + sometimes happen upon a "black inn," which is another name for a den of + thieves. Still there have been many who travelled for the sake of + beautiful scenery, or in order to visit famous spots of historical + interest; not to mention the large body of officials who are constantly on + the move, passing from post to post. + </p> + <p> + Among those who believe that every nation must have reached its present + quarters from some other distant parts of the world, must be reckoned a + few students of the ancient history of China. Coincidences in language and + in manners and customs, mostly of a shadowy character, have led some to + suggest Babylonia as the region from which the Chinese migrated to the + land where they are now found. The Chinese possess authentic records of an + indisputably early past, but throughout these records there is absolutely + no mention, not even a hint, of any migration of the kind. + </p> + <p> + Tradition places the Golden Age of China so far back as three thousand + years before Christ; for a sober survey of China's early civilization, it + is not necessary to push further back than the tenth century B.C. We shall + find evidence of such an advanced state of civilization at that later date + as to leave no doubt of a very remote antiquity. + </p> + <p> + The China of those days, known even then as the Middle Kingdom, was a mere + patch on the empire of to-day. It lay, almost lozenge-shaped, between the + 34th and 40th parallels of latitude north, with the upper point of the + lozenge resting on the modern Peking, and the lower on Si-an Fu in Shensi, + whither the late Empress Dowager fled for safety during the Boxer rising + in 1900. The ancient autocratic Imperial system had recently been + disestablished, and a feudal system had taken its place. The country was + divided up into a number of vassal states of varying size and importance, + ruled each by its own baron, who swore allegiance to the sovereign of the + Royal State. The relations, however, which came to subsist, as time went + on, between these states, sovereign and vassal alike, as described in + contemporary annals, often remind the reader of the relations which + prevailed between the various political divisions of ancient Greece. The + rivalries of Athens and Sparta, whose capitals were only one hundred and + fifty miles apart—though a perusal of Thucydides makes one feel that + at least half the world was involved—find their exact equivalent in + the jealousies and animosities which stirred the feudal states of ancient + China, and in the disastrous campaigns and bloody battles which the states + fought with one another. We read of chariots and horsemanship; of feats of + arms and deeds of individual heroism; of forced marches, and of night + attacks in which the Chinese soldier was gagged with a kind of wooden bit, + to prevent talking in the ranks; of territory annexed and reconquered, and + of the violent deaths of rival rulers by poison or the dagger of the + assassin. + </p> + <p> + When the armies of these states went into battle they formed a line, with + the bowmen on the left and the spearmen on the right flank. The centre was + occupied by chariots, each drawn by either three or four horses harnessed + abreast. Swords, daggers, shields, iron-headed clubs some five to six feet + in length and weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds, huge iron hooks, + drums, cymbals, gongs, horns, banners and streamers innumerable, were also + among the equipment of war. Beacon-fires of wolves' dung were lighted to + announce the approach of an enemy and summon the inhabitants to arms. + Quarter was rarely if ever given, and it was customary to cut the ears + from the bodies of the slain. Parleys were conducted and terms of peace + arranged under the shelter of a banner of truce, upon which two words were + inscribed—"Stop fighting." + </p> + <p> + The beacon-fires above mentioned, very useful for summoning the feudal + barons to the rescue in case of need, cost one sovereign his throne. He + had a beautiful concubine, for the sake of whose company he neglected the + affairs of government. The lady was of a melancholy turn, never being seen + to smile. She said she loved the sound of rent silk, and to gratify her + whim many fine pieces of silk were torn to shreds. The king offered a + thousand ounces of gold to any one who would make her laugh; whereupon his + chief minister suggested that the beacon-fires should be lighted to summon + the feudal nobles with their armies, as though the royal house were in + danger. The trick succeeded; for in the hurry-skurry that ensued the + impassive girl positively laughed outright. Later on, when a real attack + was made upon the capital by barbarian hordes, and the beacon-fires were + again lighted, this time in stern reality, there was no response from the + insulted nobles. The king was killed, and his concubine strangled herself. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, a high state of civilization was enjoyed by these feudal + peoples, when not engaged in cutting each other's throats. They lived in + thatched houses constructed of rammed earth and plaster, with beaten + floors on which dry grass was strewn as carpet. Originally accustomed to + sit on mats, they introduced chairs and tables at an early date; they + drank an ardent spirit with their carefully cooked food, and wore robes of + silk. Ballads were sung, and dances were performed, on ceremonial and + festive occasions; hunting and fishing and agriculture were occupations + for the men, while the women employed themselves in spinning and weaving. + There were casters of bronze vessels, and workers in gold, silver, and + iron; jade and other stones were cut and polished for ornaments. The + written language was already highly developed, being much the same as we + now find it. Indeed, the chief difference lies in the form of the + characters, just as an old English text differs in form from a text of the + present day. What we may call the syntax of the language has remained very + much the same; and phrases from the old ballads of three thousand years + ago, which have passed into the colloquial, are still readily understood, + though of course pronounced according to the requirements of modern + speech. We can no more say how Confucius (551-479 B.C.) pronounced + Chinese, than we can say how Miltiades pronounced Greek when addressing + his soldiers before the battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). The "books" which + were read in ancient China consisted of thin slips of wood or bamboo, on + which the characters were written by means of a pencil of wood or bamboo, + slightly frayed at the end, so as to pick up a coloured liquid and + transfer it to the tablets as required. Until recently, it was thought + that the Chinese scratched their words on tablets of bamboo with a knife, + but now we know that the knife was only used for scratching out, when a + character was wrongly written. + </p> + <p> + The art of healing was practised among the Chinese in their pre-historic + times, but the earliest efforts of a methodical character, of which we + have any written record, belong to the period with which we are now + dealing. There is indeed a work, entitled "Plain Questions," which is + attributed to a legendary emperor of the Golden Age, who interrogates one + of his ministers on the cause and cure of all kinds of diseases; as might + be expected, it is not of any real value, nor can its date be carried back + beyond a few centuries B.C. + </p> + <p> + Physicians of the feudal age classified diseases under the four seasons of + the year: headaches and neuralgic affections under <i>spring</i>, skin + diseases of all kinds under <i>summer</i>, fevers and agues under <i>autumn</i>, + and bronchial and pulmonary complaints under <i>winter</i>. They treated + the various complaints that fell under these headings by suitable doses of + one or more ingredients taken from the five classes of drugs, derived from + herbs, trees, living creatures, minerals, and grains, each of which class + contained medicines of five flavours, with special properties: <i>sour</i> + for nourishing the bones, <i>acid</i> for nourishing the muscles, <i>salt</i> + for nourishing the blood-vessels, <i>bitter</i> for nourishing general + vitality, and <i>sweet</i> for nourishing the flesh. The pulse has always + been very much to the front in the treatment of disease; there are at + least twenty-four varieties of pulse with which every doctor is supposed + to be familiar, and some eminent doctors have claimed to distinguish no + fewer than seventy-two. In the "Plain Questions" there is a sentence which + points towards the circulation of the blood,—"All the blood is under + the jurisdiction of the heart," a point beyond which the Chinese never + seem to have pushed their investigations; but of this curious feature in + their civilization, later on. + </p> + <p> + It was under the feudal system, perhaps a thousand years before Christ, + that the people of China began to possess family names. Previous to that + time there appear to have been tribal or clan names; these however were + not in ordinary use among the individual members of each clan, who were + known by their personal names only, bestowed upon them in childhood by + their parents. Gradually, it became customary to prefix to the personal + name a surname, adopted generally from the name of the place where the + family lived, sometimes from an appellation or official title of a + distinguished ancestor; places in China never take their names from + individuals, as with us, and consequently there are no such names as + Faringdon or Gislingham, the homes of the Fearings or Gislings of old. + Thus, to use English terms, a boy who had been called "Welcome" by his + parents might prefix the name of the place, Cambridge, where he was born, + and call himself Cambridge Welcome, the surname always coming first in + Chinese, as, for instance, in Li Hung-Chang. The Manchus, it must be + remembered, have no surnames; that is to say, they do not use their clan + or family names, but call themselves by their personal names only. + </p> + <p> + Chinese surnames, other than place names, are derived from a variety of + sources: from nature, as River, Stone, Cave; from animals, as Bear, Sheep, + Dragon; from birds, as Swallow, Pheasant; from the body, as Long-ears, + Squint-eye; from colours, as Black, White; from trees and flowers, as + Hawthorn, Leaf, Reed, Forest; and others, such as Rich, East, Sharp, Hope, + Duke, Stern, Tepid, Money, etc. By the fifth century before Christ, the + use of surnames had definitely become established for all classes, whereas + in Europe surnames were not known until about the twelfth century after + Christ, and even then were confined to persons of wealth and position. + There is a small Chinese book, studied by every schoolboy and entitled <i>The + Hundred Surnames</i>, the word "hundred" being commonly used in a + generally comprehensive sense. It actually contains about four hundred of + the names which occur most frequently. + </p> + <p> + About two hundred and twenty years before Christ, the feudal system came + to an end. One aggressive state gradually swallowed up all the others; and + under the rule of its sovereign, China became once more an empire, and + such it has ever since remained. But although always an empire, the + throne, during the past two thousand years, has passed many times from one + house to another. + </p> + <p> + The extraordinary man who led his state to victory over each rival in + turn, and ultimately mounted the throne to rule over a united China, finds + his best historical counterpart in Napoleon. He called himself the First + Emperor, and began by sending an army of 300,000 men to fight against an + old and dreaded enemy to the north, recently identified beyond question + with the Huns. He dispatched a fleet to search for some mysterious islands + off the coast, thought by some to be the islands which form Japan. He + built the Great Wall, to a great extent by means of convict labour, + malefactors being condemned to long terms of penal servitude on the works. + His copper coinage was so uniformly good that the cowry disappeared + altogether from commerce during his reign. Above all things he desired to + impart a fresh stimulus to literary effort, but he adopted singularly + unfortunate means to secure this desirable end; for, listening to the + insidious flattery of courtiers, he determined that literature should + begin anew with his reign. He therefore determined to destroy all existing + books, finally deciding to spare those connected with three important + departments of human knowledge: namely, (1) works which taught the people + to plough, sow, reap, and provide food for the race; (2) works on the use + of drugs and on the healing art; and (3) works on the various methods of + foretelling the future which might lead men to act in accordance with, and + not in opposition to, the eternal fitness of things as seen in the + operations of Nature. Stringent orders were issued accordingly, and many + scholars were put to death for concealing books in the hope that the storm + would blow over. Numbers of valuable works perished in a vast + conflagration of books, and the only wonder is that any were preserved, + with the exception of the three classes specified above. + </p> + <p> + In 210 B.C. the First Emperor died, and his youngest son was placed upon + the throne with the title of Second Emperor. The latter began by carrying + out the funeral arrangements of his father, as described about a century + later by the first and greatest of China's historians:— + </p> + <p> + "On the 9th moon the First Emperor was buried in Mount Li, which in the + early days of his reign he had caused to be tunnelled and prepared with + that view. Then, when he had consolidated the empire, he employed his + soldiery, to the number of 700,000, to bore down to the Three Springs + (that is, until water was reached), and there a firm foundation was laid + and the sarcophagus placed thereon. Rare objects and costly jewels were + collected from the palaces and from the various officials, and were + carried thither and stored in huge quantities. Artificers were ordered to + construct mechanical crossbows, which, if any one were to enter, would + immediately discharge their arrows. With the aid of quicksilver, rivers + were made—the Yangtsze, the Yellow River, and the great ocean—the + metal being made to flow from one into the other by machinery. On the roof + were delineated the constellations of the sky, on the floor the + geographical divisions of the earth. Candles were made from the fat of the + man-fish (walrus), calculated to last for a very long time. The Second + Emperor said: 'It is not fitting that the concubines of my late father who + are without children should leave him now;' and accordingly he ordered + them to accompany the dead monarch into the next world, those who thus + perished being many in number. When the internment was completed, some one + suggested that the workmen who had made the machinery and concealed the + treasure knew the great value of the latter, and that the secret would + leak out. Therefore, so soon as the ceremony was over, and the path giving + access to the sarcophagus had been blocked up at its innermost end, the + outside gate at the entrance to this path was let fall, and the mausoleum + was effectually closed, so that not one of the workmen escaped. Trees and + grass were then planted around, that the spot might look like the rest of + the mountain." + </p> + <p> + The career of the Second Emperor finds an apt parallel in that of Richard + Cromwell, except that the former was put to death, after a short and + inglorious reign. Then followed a dynasty which has left an indelible mark + upon the civilization as well as on the recorded history of China. A + peasant, by mere force of character, succeeded after a three-years' + struggle in establishing himself upon the throne, 206 B.C., and his + posterity, known as the House of Han, ruled over China for four hundred + years, accidentally divided into two nearly equal portions by the + Christian era, about which date there occurred a temporary usurpation of + the throne which for some time threatened the stability of the dynasty in + the direct line of succession. To this date, the more northern Chinese + have no prouder title than that of a "son of Han." + </p> + <p> + During the whole period of four hundred years the empire cannot be said to + have enjoyed complete tranquillity either at home or abroad. There were + constant wars with the Tartar tribes on the north, against whom the Great + Wall proved to be a somewhat ineffectual barrier. Also with the Huns, the + forbears of the Turks, who once succeeded in shutting up the founder of + the dynasty in one of his own cities, from which he only escaped by a + stratagem to be related in another connexion. There were in addition wars + with Korea, the ultimate conquest of which led to the discovery of Japan, + then at a low level of civilization and unable to enter into official + relations with China until A.D. 57, when an embassy was sent for the first + time. Those who are accustomed to think of the Chinese as an eminently + unwarlike nation will perhaps be surprised to hear that before the end of + the second century B.C. they had carried their victorious arms far away + into Central Asia, annexing even the Pamirs and Kokand to the empire. The + wild tribes of modern Yunnan were reduced to subjection, and their + territory may further be considered as added from about this period. + </p> + <p> + At home, the eunuchs gave an immense deal of trouble by their restless + spirit of intrigue; besides which, for nearly twenty years the Imperial + power was in the hands of a famous usurper, named Wang Mang (pronounced <i>Wahng + Mahng</i>), who had secured it by the usual means of treachery and poison, + to lose it on the battle-field and himself to perish shortly afterwards in + a revolt of his own soldiery. But the most remarkable of all events + connected with the Han dynasty was the extended revival of learning and + authorship. Texts of the Confucian Canon were rescued from hiding-places + in which they had been concealed at the risk of death; editing committees + were appointed, and immense efforts were made to repair the mischief + sustained by literature at the hands of the First Emperor. The scholars of + the day expounded the teachings of Confucius as set forth in these texts; + and although their explanations were set aside in the twelfth century, + when an entirely new set of interpretations became (and remain) the + accepted standard for all students, it is mostly due to those early + efforts that the Confucian Canon has exercised such a deep and lasting + influence over the minds of the Chinese people. Unfortunately, it soon + became the fashion to discover old texts, and many works are now in + circulation which have no claim whatever to the antiquity to which they + pretend. + </p> + <p> + During the four hundred years of Han supremacy the march of civilization + went steadily forward. Paper and ink were invented, and also the + camel's-hair brush, both of which gave a great impetus to the arts of + writing and painting, the latter being still in a very elementary stage. + The custom of burying slaves with the dead was abolished early in the + dynasty. The twenty-seven months of mourning for parents—nominally + three years, as is now again the rule—was reduced to a more + manageable period of twenty-seven days. Literary degrees were first + established, and perpetual hereditary rank was conferred upon the senior + descendant of Confucius in the male line, which has continued in unbroken + succession down to the present day. The head of the Confucian clan is now + a duke, and resides in a palace, taking rank with, if not before, the + highest provincial authorities. + </p> + <p> + The extended military campaigns in Central Asia during this period brought + China into touch with Bactria, then an outlying province of ancient + Greece. From this last source, the Chinese learnt many things which are + now often regarded as of purely native growth. They imported the grape, + and made from it a wine which was in use for many centuries, disappearing + only about two or three hundred years ago. Formerly dependent on the + sun-dial alone, the Chinese now found themselves in possession of the + water-clock, specimens of which are still to be seen in full working + order, whereby the division of the day into twelve two-hour periods was + accurately determined. The calendar was regulated anew, and the science of + music was reconstructed; in fact, modern Chinese music may be said to + approximate closely to the music of ancient Greece. Because of the + difference of scale, Chinese music does not make any appeal to Western + ears; at any rate, not in the sense in which it appealed to Confucius, who + has left it on record that after listening to a certain melody he was so + affected as not to be able to taste meat for three months. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II—LAW AND GOVERNMENT + </h2> + <p> + In the earliest ages of which history professes to take cognizance, + persons who wished to dispose of their goods were obliged to have recourse + to barter. By and by shells were adopted as a medium of exchange, and then + pieces of stamped silk, linen, and deerskin. These were followed by + circular discs of copper, pierced with a round hole, the forerunners of + the ordinary copper coins of a century or two later, which had square + holes, and bore inscriptions, as they still do in the present day. Money + was also cast in the shape of "knives" and of "trouser," by which names + specimens of this early coinage (mostly fakes) are known to connoisseurs. + Some of these were beautifully finished, and even inlaid with gold. Early + in the ninth century, bills of exchange came into use; and from the middle + of the twelve century paper money became quite common, and is still in + general use all over China, notes being issued in some places for amounts + less even than a shilling. + </p> + <p> + Measures of length and capacity were fixed by the Chinese after an + exceedingly simple process. The grain of millet, which is fairly uniform + in size, was taken as the unit of both. Ten of these grains, laid + end-ways, formed the inch, ten of which made a foot, and ten feet a <i>chang</i>. + The decimal system has always prevailed in China, with one curious + exception: sixteen ounces make a pound. How this came to be so does not + appear to be known; but in this case it is the pound which is the unit of + weight, and not the lower denomination. The word which for more than + twenty centuries signified "pound" to the Chinese, was originally the rude + picture of an axe-head; and there is no doubt that axe-heads, being all of + the same size, were used in weighing commodities, and were subsequently + split, for convenience's sake, into sixteen equal parts, each about + one-third heavier than the English ounce. For measures of capacity, we + must revert to the millet-grain, a fixed number of which set the standard + for Chinese pints and quarts. The result of this rule-of-thumb calculation + has been that weights and measures vary all over the empire, although + there actually exist an official foot, pound and pint, as recognized by + the Chinese government. In one and the same city a tailor's foot will + differ from a carpenter's foot, an oilman's pint from a spirit-merchant's + pint, and so on. The final appeal is to local custom. + </p> + <p> + With the definitive establishment of the monarchy, two hundred years + before the Christian era, a system of government was inaugurated which has + proceeded, so far as essentials are concerned, upon almost uniform lines + down to the present day. + </p> + <p> + It is an ancient and well-recognized principle in China, that every inch + of soil belongs to the sovereign; consequently, all land is held on + consideration of a land-tax payable to the emperor, and so long as this + tax is forthcoming, the land in question is practically freehold, and can + be passed by sale from hand to hand for a small conveyancing fee to the + local authorities who stamp the deeds. Thus, the foreign concessions or + settlements in China were not sold or parted with in any way by the + Chinese; they were "leased in perpetuity" so long as the ground-rent is + paid, and remain for all municipal and such purposes under the + uncontrolled administration of the nation which leased them. The land-tax + may be regarded as the backbone of Chinese finance; but although nominally + collected at a fixed rate, it is subject to fluctuations due to bad + harvests and like visitations, in which cases the tax is accepted at a + lower rate, in fact at any rate the people can afford to pay. + </p> + <p> + The salt and other monopolies, together with the customs, also contribute + an important part of China's revenue. There is the old native customs + service, with its stations and barriers all over the empire, and the + foreign customs service, as established at the treaty ports only, in order + to deal with shipments on foreign vessels trading with China. The + traditional and well-marked lines of taxation are freely accepted by the + people; any attempt, however, to increase the amounts to be levied, or to + introduce new charges of any kind, unless duly authorized by the people + themselves, would be at once sternly resisted. As a matter of fact, the + authorities never run any such risks. It is customary, when absolutely + necessary, and possibly desirable, to increase old or to introduce new + levies, for the local authorities to invite the leading merchants and + others concerned to a private conference; and only when there is a general + consent of all parties do the officials venture to put forth proclamations + saying that such and such a tax will be increased or imposed, as the case + may be. Any other method may lead to disastrous results. The people refuse + to pay; and coercion is met at once by a general closing of shops and + stoppage of trade, or, in more serious cases, by an attack on the official + residence of the offending mandarin, who soon sees his house looted and + levelled with the ground. In other words, the Chinese people tax + themselves. + </p> + <p> + The nominal form of government, speaking without reference to the new + constitution which will be dealt with later on, is an irresponsible + autocracy; its institutions are likewise autocratic in form, but + democratic in operation. The philosopher, Mencius (372-289 B.C.), placed + the people first, the gods second, and the sovereign third, in the scale + of national importance; and this classification has sunk deep into the + minds of the Chinese during more than two thousand years past. What the + people in China will not stand is injustice; at the same time they will + live contentedly under harsh laws which they have at one time or another + imposed upon themselves. + </p> + <p> + Each of the great dynasties has always begun with a Penal Code of its own, + based upon that of the outgoing dynasty, but tending to be more and more + humane in character as time goes on. The punishments in old days were + atrocious in their severity; the Penal Code of the present dynasty, which + came into force some two hundred and fifty years ago, has been pronounced + by competent judges to take a very high rank indeed. It was introduced to + replace a much harsher code which had been in operation under the Ming + dynasty, and contains the nominally immutable laws of the empire, with + such modifications and restrictions as have been authorized from time to + time by Imperial edict. Still farther back in Chinese history, we come + upon punishments of ruthless cruelty, such as might be expected to prevail + in times of lesser culture and refinement. Two thousand years ago, the + Five Punishments were—branding on the forehead, cutting off the + nose, cutting off the feet, mutilation, and death; for the past two + hundred and fifty years, these have been—beating with the light + bamboo, beating with the heavy bamboo, transportation for a certain + period, banishment to a certain distance, and death, the last being + subdivided into strangling and decapitation, according to the gravity of + the offence. + </p> + <p> + Two actual instruments of torture are mentioned, one for compressing the + ankle-bones, and the other for squeezing the fingers, to be used if + necessary to extort a confession in charges of robbery and homicide, + confession being regarded as essential to the completion of the record. + The application, however, of these tortures is fenced round in such a way + as to impose great responsibility upon the presiding magistrate; and in + addition to the risk of official impeachment, there is the more dreaded + certainty of loss of influence and of popular esteem. Mention is made in + the code of the so-called "lingering death," according to which first one + arm is chopped off, then the other; the two legs follow in the same way; + two slits are made on the breast, and the heart is torn out; decapitation + finishes the proceedings. It is worthy of note that, although many + foreigners have been present from time to time at public executions, + occasionally when the "lingering death" has been announced, not one has + established it as a fact beyond a doubt that such a process has ever been + carried out. Not only that; it is also well known that condemned criminals + are allowed to purchase of themselves, or through their friends, if they + have any, spirits or opium with which to fortify their courage at the last + moment. There is indeed a tradition that stupefying drinks are served out + by the officials to the batches of malefactors as they pass to the + execution ground at Peking. It would still remain to find executioners + capable of performing in cold blood such a disgusting operation as the + "lingering death" is supposed to be. The ordinary Chinaman is not a fiend; + he does not gloat in his peaceful moments, when not under the influence of + extreme excitement, over bloodshed and cruelty. + </p> + <p> + The generally lenient spirit in which the Penal Code of China was + conceived is either widely unknown, or very often ignored. For instance, + during the excessive summer heats certain punishments are mitigated, and + others remitted altogether. Prompt surrender and acknowledgment of an + offence, before it is otherwise discovered, entitles the offender, with + some exceptions, to a full and free pardon; as also does restitution of + stolen property to its owner by a repentant thief; while a criminal guilty + of two or more offences can be punished only to the extent of the + principal charge. Neither are the near relatives, nor even the servants, + of a guilty man, punishable for concealing his crime and assisting him to + escape. Immense allowances are made for the weakness of human nature, in + all of which may be detected the tempering doctrines of the great Sage. A + feudal baron was boasting to Confucius that in his part of the country the + people were so upright that a son would give evidence against a father who + had stolen a sheep. "With us," replied Confucius, "the father screens the + son, and the son screens the father; that is real uprightness." To another + questioner, a man in high authority, who complained of the number of + thieves, the Master explained that this was due to the greed of the upper + classes. "But for this greed," he added, "even if you paid people to + steal, they would not do so." To the same man, who inquired his views on + capital punishment, Confucius replied: "What need is there for capital + punishment at all? If your aims are worthy, the people also will be + worthy." + </p> + <p> + There are many other striking features of the Penal Code. No marriage, for + instance, may be contracted during the period of mourning for parents, + which in theory extends to three full years, but in practice is reckoned + at twenty-seven months; neither may musical instruments be played by near + relatives of the dead. During the same period, no mandarin may hold + office, but must retire into private life; though the observance of this + rule is often dispensed with in the case of high officials whose presence + at their posts may be of considerable importance. In such cases, by + special grace of the emperor, the period of retirement is cut down to + three months, or even to one. + </p> + <p> + The death of an emperor is followed by a long spell of national + tribulation. For one hundred days no man may have his head shaved, and no + woman may wear head ornaments. For twelve months there may be no marrying + or giving in marriage among the official classes, a term which is reduced + to one hundred days for the public at large. The theatres are supposed to + remain closed for a year, but in practice they shut only for one hundred + days. Even thus great hardships are entailed upon many classes of the + community, especially upon actors and barbers, who might be in danger of + actual starvation but for the common-sense of their rulers coupled with + the common rice-pot at home. + </p> + <p> + The law forbidding marriage between persons of the same surname is widely, + but not universally, in operation. No Smith may marry a Smith; no Jones + may marry a Jones; the reason of course being that all of the same surname + are regarded as members of the same family. However, there are large + districts in certain parts of China where the people are one and all of + the surname, and where it would be a great hardship—not to mention + the impossibility of enforcing the law—if intermarriages of the kind + were prohibited. Consequently, they are allowed, but only if the + contracting parties are so distantly related that, according to the legal + table of affinity, they would not wear mourning for one another in case of + death—in other words, not related at all. The line of descent is now + traced through the males, but there is reason to believe that in early + days, as is found to be often the case among uncivilized tribes, the + important, because more easily recognizable, parent was the mother. Thus + it is illegal for first cousins of the same surname to marry, and legal if + the surnames are different; in the latter case, however, centuries of + experience have taught the Chinese to frown upon such unions as + undesirable in the extreme. + </p> + <p> + The Penal Code forbids water burial, and also cremation; but it is + permitted to the children of a man dying at a great distance to consume + their father's corpse with fire if positively unable to bring it back for + ordinary burial in his native district. The idea is that with the aid of + fire immediate communication is set up with the spirit-world, and that the + spirit of the deceased is thus enabled to reach his native place, which + would be impossible were the corpse to remain intact. Hence the horror of + dying abroad, common to all Chinese, and only faced if there is a + reasonable probability that their remains will be carried back to the + ancestral home. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the above law, the cremation of Buddhist priests is universal, + and the practice is tolerated without protest. Priests who are getting on + in years, or who are stricken with a mortal disease, are compelled by rule + to move into a certain part of their monastery, known as the Abode of a + Long Old Age, in which they are required—not to die, for death does + not come to a good priest, but—to enter into Nirvana, which is a + sublime state of conscious freedom from all mental and physical + disturbance, not to be adequately described in words. At death, the priest + is placed in a chair, his chin supported by a crutch, and then put into a + wooden box, which on the appointed day is carried in procession, with + streaming banners, through the monastery, and out into the + cremation-ground attached, his brother priests chanting all the while that + portion of the Buddhist liturgies set apart as the service for the dead, + but which being in Pali, not a single one of them can understand. There + have, of course, been many highly educated priests at one time and another + during the long reign of Buddhism in China; but it is safe to say that + they are no longer to be met with in the present day. The Buddhist + liturgies have been written out in Chinese characters which reproduce the + sounds of the original Indian language, and these the priests learn by + heart without understanding a word of their meaning. The box with the dead + man in it is now hoisted to the top of a funeral pyre, which has been well + drenched with oil, and set alight; and when the fire has burnt out, the + ashes are reverently collected and placed in an urn, which is finally + deposited in a mausoleum kept for that purpose. + </p> + <p> + Life is remarkably safe in China. No man can be executed until his name + has been submitted to the emperor, which of course means to his ministers + at the capital. The Chinese, however, being, as has been so often stated, + an eminently practical people, understand that certain cases admit of no + delay; and to prevent the inevitable lynching of such criminals as + kidnappers, rebels, and others, caught red-handed, high officials are + entrusted with the power of life and death, which they can put into + immediate operation, always taking upon themselves full responsibility for + their acts. The essential is to allay any excitement of the populace, and + to preserve the public peace. + </p> + <p> + In the general administration of the law great latitude is allowed, and + injustice is rarely inflicted by a too literal interpretation of the Code. + Stealing is of course a crime, yet no Chinese magistrate would dream of + punishing a hungry man for simple theft of food, even if such a case were + ever brought into court. Cake-sellers keep a sharp eye on their wares; + farmers and market-gardeners form associates for mutual protection, and + woe to the thief who gets caught—his punishment is short and sharp. + Litigation is not encouraged, even by such facilities as ought to be given + to persons suffering wrongs; there is no bar, or legal profession, and + persons who assist plaintiffs or defendants in the conduct of cases, are + treated with scant courtesy by the presiding magistrate and are lucky if + they get off with nothing worse. The majority of commercial cases come + before the guilds, and are settled without reference to the authorities. + The ordinary Chinese dread a court of justice, as a place in which both + parties manage to lose something. "It is not the big devil," according to + the current saying, "but the little devils" who frighten the suitor away. + This is because official servants receive no salary, but depend for their + livelihood on perquisites and tips; and the Chinese suitor, who is a party + to the system, readily admits that it is necessary "to sprinkle a little + water." + </p> + <p> + Neither do any officials in China, high or low, receive salaries, although + absurdly inadequate sums are allocated by the Government for that purpose, + for which it is considered prudent not to apply. The Chinese system is to + some extent the reverse of our own. Our officials collect money and pay it + into the Treasury, from which source fixed sums are returned to them as + salaries. In China, the occupants of petty posts collect revenue in + various ways, as taxes or fees, pay themselves as much as they dare, and + hand up the balance to a superior officer, who in turn pays himself in the + same sense, and again hands up the balance to his superior officer. When + the viceroy of a province is reached, he too keeps what he dares, sending + up to the Imperial exchequer in Peking just enough to satisfy the powers + above him. There is thus a continual check by the higher grade upon the + lower, but no check on such extortion as might be practised upon the + tax-payer. The tax-payer sees to that himself. Speaking generally, it may + be said that this system, in spite of its unsatisfactory character, works + fairly well. Few officials overstep the limits which custom has assigned + to their posts, and those who do generally come to grief. So that when the + dishonesty of the Chinese officials is held up to reprobation, it should + always be remembered that the financial side of their public service is + not surrounded with such formalities and safeguards as to make robbery of + public money difficult, if not almost impossible. It is, therefore, all + the more cheering when we find, as is frequently the case, retiring or + transferred mandarins followed by the good wishes and affection of the + people over whom they have been set to rule. + </p> + <p> + Until quite recently, there has been no such thing in China as municipal + administration and rating, and even now such methods are only being + tentatively introduced in large cities where there are a number of foreign + residents. Occupants of houses are popularly supposed to "sweep the snow + from their own doorsteps," but the repair of roads, bridges, drains, etc., + has always been left to the casual philanthropy of wealthy individuals, + who take these opportunities of satisfying public opinion in regard to the + obligations of the rich towards the poor. Consequently, Chinese cities are + left without efficient lighting, draining, or scavengering; and it is + astonishing how good the health of the people living under these + conditions can be. There is no organized police force; but cities are + divided into wards, and at certain points barriers are drawn across the + streets at night, with perhaps one watchman to each. It is not considered + respectable to be out late at night, and it is not safe to move about + without a lantern, which is carried, for those who can afford the luxury, + by a servant preceding them. + </p> + <p> + One difference between life in China and life in this country may be + illustrated to a certain extent in the following way. Supposing a + traveller, passing through an English village, to be hit on the head by a + stone. Unless he can point out his assailant, the matter is at an end. In + China, all the injured party has to do is to point out the village—or, + if a town, the ward—in which he was assaulted. Then the headman of + such town or ward is summoned before the authorities and fined, + proportionately to the offence, for allowing rowdy behaviour in his + district. The headman takes good care that he does not pay the fine + himself. In the same way, parents are held responsible for the acts of + their children, and householders for those of their servants. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III—RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION + </h2> + <p> + The Chinese are emphatically not a religious people, though they are very + superstitious. Belief in a God has come down from the remotest ages, but + the old simple creed has been so overlaid by Buddhism as not to be + discernible at the present day. Buddhism is now the dominant religion of + China. It is closely bound up with the lives of the people, and is a + never-failing refuge in sickness or worldly trouble. It is no longer the + subtle doctrine which was originally presented to the people of India, but + something much more clearly defined and appreciable by the plainest + intellect. Buddha is the saviour of the people through righteousness + alone, and Buddhist saints are popularly supposed to possess intercessory + powers. Yet reverence is always wanting; and crowds will laugh and talk, + and buy and sell sweetmeats, in a Buddhist temple, before the very eyes of + the most sacred images. So long as divine intervention is not required, an + ordinary Chinaman is content to neglect his divinities; but no sooner does + sickness or financial trouble come upon the family, than he will hurry off + to propitiate the gods. + </p> + <p> + He accomplishes this through the aid of the priests, who receive his + offerings of money, and light candles or incense at the shrine of the + deity to be invoked. Buddhist priests are not popular with the Chinese, + who make fun of their shaven heads, and doubt the sincerity of their + convictions as well as the purity of their lives. "No meat nor wine may + enter here" is a legend inscribed at the gate of most Buddhist temples, + the ordinary diet as served in the refectory being strictly vegetarian. A + tipsy priest, however, is not an altogether unheard-of combination, and + has provided more than one eminent artist with a subject of an interesting + picture. + </p> + <p> + Yet the ordeal through which a novice must pass before being admitted to + holy orders is a severe tax upon nerve and endurance. In the process of a + long ritual, at least three, or even so many as nine, pastilles are placed + upon the bald scalp of the head. These are then lighted, and allowed to + burn down into the skin until permanent scars have been formed, the + unfortunate novice being supported on both sides by priests who encourage + him all the time to bear what must be excruciating pain. The fully + qualified priest receives a diploma, on the strength of which he may + demand a day and a night's board and lodging from the priests of any + temple all over the empire. + </p> + <p> + At a very early date Buddhism had already taken a firm hold on the + imagination of Chinese poets and painters, the latter of whom loved to + portray the World-honoured One in a dazzling hue of gold. A poet of the + eighth century A.D., who realized for the first time the inward meaning of + the Law, as it is called, ended a panegyric on Buddhism with the following + lines:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + O thou pure Faith, had I but known thy scope, + The Golden God had long since been my hope! +</pre> + <p> + Taoism is a term often met with in books about China. We are told that the + three religions of the people are Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, this + being the order of precedence assigned to them in A.D. 568. Confucianism + is of course not a religion at all, dealing as it does with duty towards + one's neighbour and the affairs of this life only; and it will be seen + that Taoism, in its true sense, has scarcely a stronger claim. At a very + remote day, some say a thousand, and others six hundred, years before the + Christian era, there flourished a wise man named Lao Tzu, which may be + approximately pronounced as <i>Loudza</i> (<i>ou</i> as in <i>loud</i>), + and understood to mean the Old Philosopher. He was a very original + thinker, and a number of his sayings have been preserved to us by ancient + authors, whom they had reached by tradition; that is to say, the Old + Philosopher never put his doctrines into book form. There is indeed in + existence a work which passes under his name, but it is now known to be a + forgery, and is generally discarded by scholars. + </p> + <p> + The great flaw in the teaching of the Old Philosopher was its extremely + impractical character, its unsuitability to the needs of men and women + engaged in the ordinary avocations of life. In one sense he was an + Anarchist, for he held that the empire would fare better if there were no + government at all, the fact being that violence and disorder had always + been conspicuous even under the best rulers. Similarly, he argued that we + should get along more profitably with less learning, because then there + would be fewer thieves, successful thieving being the result of mental + training. It is not necessary to follow him to his most famous doctrine, + namely, that of doing nothing, by which means, he declared, everything + could be done, the solution of which puzzle of left everybody to find out + for himself. Among his quaint sayings will be found several maxims of a + very different class, as witness his injunction, "Requite evil with + kindness," and "Mighty is he who conquers himself." Of the latter, the + following illustration is given by a commentator. Two men meeting in the + street, one said to the other, "How fat you have grown!" "Yes," replied + his friend, "I have lately won a battle." "What do you mean?" inquired the + former. "Why, you see," said the latter, "so long as I was at home, + reading about ancient kings, I admired nothing but virtue; then, when I + went out of doors, I was attracted by the charms of wealth and power. + These two feelings fought inside me, and I began to lose flesh; but now + love of virtue has conquered, and I am fat." + </p> + <p> + The teachings of the Old Philosopher were summed up in the word <i>Tao</i>, + pronounced as <i>tou(t)</i>, which originally meant a road, a way; and as + applied to doctrines means simply the right way or path of moral conduct, + in which mankind should tread so as to lead correct and virtuous lives. + Later on, when Buddhism was introduced, this Taoism, with all its + paradoxes and subtleties, to which alchemy and the concoction of an elixir + of life had been added, gradually began to lose its hold upon the people; + and in order to stem the tide of opposition, temples and monasteries were + built, a priesthood was established in imitation of the Buddhists, and all + kinds of ceremonies and observances were taken from Buddhism, until, at + the present day, only those who know can tell one from the other. + </p> + <p> + Although alchemy, which was introduced from Greece, via Bactria, in the + second century B.C., has long ceased to interest the Chinese public, who + have found out that gold is more easily made from the sweat of the brow + than from copper or lead; and although only a few silly people now believe + that any mixture of drugs will produce an elixir of life, able to confer + immortality upon those who drink it; nevertheless, Taoism still professes + to teach the art of extending life, if not indefinitely, at any rate to a + considerable length. This art would probably go some way towards extending + life under any circumstances, for it consists chiefly in deep and regular + breathing, preferably of morning air, in swallowing the saliva three times + in every two hours, in adopting certain positions for the body and limbs, + which are also strengthened by gymnastic exercises, and finally, as + borrowed from the Buddhists, in remaining motionless for some hours a day, + the eyes shut, and the mind abstracted as much as possible from all + surrounding influences. The upshot of these and other practices is the + development of "the pure man," on which Chuang Tzu (<i>Chwongdza</i>), a + Taoist philosopher of the third and fourth centuries B.C., to be mentioned + again, writes as follows: "But what is a pure man? The pure men of old + acted without calculation, not seeking to secure results. They laid no + plans. Therefore, failing, they had no cause for regret; succeeding, no + cause for congratulation. And thus they could scale heights without fear; + enter water without becoming wet, and fire without feeling hot. The pure + men of old slept without dreams, and waked without anxiety. They ate + without discrimination, breathing deep breaths. For pure men draw breath + from their heels; the vulgar only from their throats." + </p> + <p> + Coupled with what may be called intellectual Taoism, as opposed to the + grosser form under which this faith appeals to the people at large, is a + curious theory that human life reaches the earth from some extraordinarily + dazzling centre away in the depths of space, "beyond the range of + conceptions." This centre appears to be the home of eternal principles, + the abode of a First Cause, where perfectly spotless and pure beings + "drink of the spiritual and feed on force," and where likeness exists + without form. To get back to that state should be the object of all men, + and this is only to be attained by a process of mental and physical + purification prolonged through all conditions of existence. Then, when + body and soul are fitted for the change, there comes what ordinary mortals + call death; and the pure being closes his eyes, to awake forthwith in his + original glory from the sleep which mortals call life. + </p> + <p> + For many centuries Buddhism and Taoism were in bitter antagonism. + Sometimes the court was Buddhist, sometimes Taoist; first one faith was + suppressed altogether, then the other; in A.D. 574 both were abolished in + deference to Confucianism, which, however, no emperor has ever dared to + interfere with seriously. At present, all the "three religions" flourish + happily side by side. + </p> + <p> + The Chinese believe firmly in the existence of spirits, which they + classify simply as good and evil. They do not trouble their heads much + about the former, but they are terribly afraid of the latter. Hideous + devils infest dark corners, and lie in wait to injure unfortunate + passers-by, often for no cause whatever. The spirits of persons who have + been wronged are especially dreaded by those who have done the wrong. A + man who has been defrauded of money will commit suicide, usually by + poison, at the door of the wrongdoer, who will thereby first fall into the + hands of the authorities, and if he escapes in that quarter, will still + have to count with the injured ghost of his victim. A daughter-in-law will + drown or hang herself to get free from, and also to avenge, the tyranny or + cruelty of her husband's mother. These acts lead at once to family feuds, + which sometimes end in bloodshed; more often in money compensation; and + the known risk of such contingencies operates as a wholesome check upon + aggressive treatment of the weak by the strong. + </p> + <p> + Divination and fortune-telling have always played a conspicuous part in + ordinary Chinese life. Wise men, of the magician type, sit at stalls in + street and market-place, ready for a small fee to advise those who consult + them on any enterprise to be undertaken, even of the most trivial kind. + The omens can be taken in various ways, as by calculation based upon + books, of which there is quite a literature, or by drawing lots inscribed + with mystic signs, to be interpreted by the fortune-teller. Even at + Buddhist temples may be found two kidney-shaped pieces of wood, flat on + one side and round on the other, which are thrown into the air before an + altar, the results—two flats, two rounds, or one of each—being + interpreted as unfavourable, medium, and very favourable, respectively. + </p> + <p> + Of all Chinese superstitions, the one that has been most persistent, and + has exerted the greatest influence upon national life, is the famous + Wind-and-Water system (<i>feng shui</i>) of geomancy. According to the + principles which govern this system, and of which quite a special + literature exists, the good or evil fortunes of individuals and the + communities are determined by the various physical aspects and conditions + which surround their everyday life. The shapes of hills, the presence or + absence of water, the position of trees, the height of buildings, and so + forth, are all matters of deep consideration to the professors of the + geomantic art, who thrive on the ignorance of superstitious clients. They + are called in to select propitious sites for houses and graves; and it + often happens that if the fortunes of a family are failing, a geomancer + will be invited to modify in some way the arrangement of the ancestral + graveyard. Houses in a Chinese street are never built up so as to form a + line of uniform height; every now and again one house must be a little + higher or a little lower than its neighbour, or calamity will certainly + ensue. It is impossible to walk straight into an ordinary middle-class + dwelling-house. Just inside the front door there will be a fixed screen, + which forces the visitor to turn to the right or to the left; the avowed + object being to exclude evil spirits, which can only move in straight + lines. + </p> + <p> + Mention of the ancestral graveyard brings to mind the universal worship of + ancestors, which has been from time immemorial such a marked feature of + Chinese religious life. At death, the spirit of a man or woman is believed + to remain watching over the material interests of the family to which the + deceased had belonged. Offerings of various kinds, including meat and + drink, are from time to time made to such a spirit, supposed to be + particularly resident in an ancestral hall—or cupboard, as the case + may be. These offerings are made for the special purpose of conciliating + the spirit, and of obtaining in return a liberal share of the blessings + and good things of this life. This is the essential feature of the rite, + and this it is which makes the rite an act of worship pure and simple; so + that only superficial observers could make the mistake of classifying + ancestral worship, as practised in China, with such acts as laying wreaths + upon the tombs of deceased friends and relatives. + </p> + <p> + With reference to the spirit or soul, the Chinese have held for centuries + past that the soul of every man is twofold; in a popular acceptation it is + sometimes regarded as threefold. One portion is that which expresses the + visible personality, and is permanently attached to the body; the other + has the power of leaving the body, carrying with it an appearance of + physical form, which accounts for a person being seen in two different + places at once. Cases of catalepsy or trance are explained by the Chinese + as the absence from the body of this portion of the soul, which is also + believed to be expelled from the body by any violent shock or fright. + There is a story of a man who was so terrified at the prospect of + immediate execution that his separable soul left his body, and he found + himself sitting on the eaves of a house, from which point he could see a + man bound, and waiting for the executioner's sword. Just then, a reprieve + arrived, and in a moment he was back again in his body. Mr. Edmund Gosse, + who can hardly have been acquainted with the Chinese view, told a similar + story in his <i>Father and Son</i>: "During morning and evening prayers, + which were extremely lengthy and fatiguing, I fancied that one of my two + selves could flit up, and sit clinging to the cornice, and look down on my + other self and the rest of us." + </p> + <p> + In some parts of China, planchette is frequently resorted to as a means of + reading the future, and adapting one's actions accordingly. It is a purely + professional performance, being carried through publicly before some altar + in a temple, and payment made for the response. The question is written + down on a piece of paper, which is burnt at the altar apparently before + any one could gather knowledge of its contents; and the answer from the + god is forthwith traced on a tray of sand, word by word, each word being + obliterated to make room for the next, by two men, supposed to be ignorant + of the question, who hold the ends of a V-shaped instrument from the point + of which a little wooden pencil projects at right angles. + </p> + <p> + Another method of extracting information from the spirits of the unseen + world is nothing more or less than hypnotism, which has long been known to + the Chinese, and is mentioned in literature so far back as the middle of + the seventeenth century. With all the paraphernalia of altar, candles, + incense, etc., a medium is thrown into a hypnotic condition, during which + his body is supposed to be possessed by a spirit, and every word he may + utter to be divinely inspired. An amusing instance is recorded of a medium + who, while under hypnotic influence, not only blurted out the pecuniary + defalcations of certain men who had been collecting in aid of temple + restoration, but went so far as to admit that he had had some of the money + himself. + </p> + <p> + This same influence is also used in cases of serious illness, but always + secretly, for such practices, as well as dark <i>seances</i> for + communicating with spirits, are strictly forbidden by the Chinese + authorities, who regard the employment of occult means as more likely to + be subversive of morality than to do any good whatever to a sick person, + or to any one else. All secret societies of any sort or kind are equally + under the ban of the law, the assumption—a very justifiable one—being + that the aim of these societies is to upset the existing order of + political and social life. The Heaven-and-Earth Society is among the most + famous, and the most dreaded, partly perhaps because it has never been + entirely suppressed. The lodges of this fraternity, the oath of fidelity, + and the ceremonial of admission, remind one forcibly of Masonry in the + West; but the points of conduct are merely coincidences, and there does + not appear to be any real connexion. + </p> + <p> + Among the most curious of all these institutions is the Golden Orchid + Society, the girl-members of which swear never to marry, and not only + threaten, but positively commit suicide upon any attempt at coercion. At + one time this society became such a serious menace that the authorities + were compelled to adopt severe measures of repression. + </p> + <p> + Another old-established society is that of the Vegetarians, who eat no + meat and neither smoke nor drink. From their seemingly harmless ranks it + is said that the Boxers of 1900 were largely recruited. + </p> + <p> + For nearly twenty-five centuries the Chinese have looked to Confucius for + their morals. Various religions have appealed to the spiritual side of the + Chinese mind, and Buddhism has obtained an ascendancy which will not be + easily displaced; but through all this long lapse of time the morality of + China has been under the guidance of their great teacher, Confucius + (551-479 B.C.), affectionately known to them as the "uncrowned king," and + recently raised to the rank of a god. + </p> + <p> + His doctrines, in the form sometimes of maxims, sometimes of answers to + eager inquirers, were brought together after his death—we do not + know exactly how soon—and have influenced first and last an enormous + proportion of the human race. Confucius taught man's duty to his + neighbour; he taught virtue for virtue's sake, and not for the hope of + reward or fear of punishment; he taught loyalty to the sovereign as the + foundation stone of national prosperity, and filial piety as the basis of + all happiness in the life of the people. As a simple human moralist he saw + clearly the limitations of humanity, and refused to teach his disciples to + return good for evil, as suggested by the Old Philosopher, declaring + without hesitation that evil should be met by justice. The first + systematic writer of Chinese history, who died about 80 B.C., expressed + himself on the position and influence of Confucius in terms which have + been accepted as accurate for twenty centuries past: "Countless are the + princes and prophets that the world has seen in its time—glorious in + life, forgotten in death. But Confucius, though only a humble member of + the cotton-clothed masses, remains with us after numerous generations. He + is the model for such as would be wise. By all, from the Son of Heaven + down to the meanest student, the supremacy of his principles is freely and + fully admitted. He may indeed be pronounced the divinest of men." + </p> + <p> + The Son of Heaven is of course the Emperor, who is supposed to be God's + chosen representative on earth, and responsible for the right conduct and + well-being of all committed to his care. Once every year he proceeds in + state to the Temple of Heaven at Peking; and after the due performance of + sacrificial worship he enters alone the central raised building with + circular blue-tiled roof, and there places himself in communication with + the Supreme Being, submitting for approval or otherwise his stewardship + during the preceding twelve months. Chinese records go so far as to + mention letters received from God. There is a legend of the sixth century + A.D., which claims that God revealed Himself to a hermit in a retired + valley, and bestowed on him a tablet of jade with a mysterious + inscription. But there is a much more circumstantial account of a written + communication which in A.D. 1008 descended from heaven upon mount T'ai, + the famous mountain in Shantung, where a temple has been built to mark the + very spot. The emperor and his courtiers regarded this letter with + profound reverence and awe, which roused the ire of a learned statesman of + the day. The latter pointed out that Confucius, when asked to speak, so + that his disciples might have something to record, had bluntly replied: + "Does God speak? The four seasons pursue their courses and all things are + produced; but does God say anything?" Therefore, he argued, if God does + not speak to us, still less will He write a letter. + </p> + <p> + The fact that the receipt of such a letter is mentioned in the dynastic + history of the period must not be allowed to discredit in any way the + general truth and accuracy of Chinese annals, which, as research + progresses, are daily found to be far more trustworthy than was ever + expected to be the case. We ourselves do not wholly reject the old + contemporary chronicles of Hoveden and Roger of Wendover because they + mention a letter from Christ on the neglect of the Sabbath. + </p> + <p> + In Chinese life, social and political alike, filial piety may be regarded + as the keystone of the arch. Take that away, and the superstructure of + centuries crumbles to the ground. When Confucius was asked by one of his + disciples to explain what constituted filial piety, he replied that it was + a difficult obligation to define; while to another disciple he was able to + say without hesitation that the mere support of parents would be + insufficient, inasmuch as food is what is supplied even to horses and + dogs. According to the story-books for children, the obligation has been + interpreted by the people at large in many different ways. The twenty-four + standard examples of filial children include a son who allowed mosquitoes + to feed upon him, and did not drive them away lest they should go and + annoy his parents; another son who wept so passionately because he could + procure no bamboo shoots for his mother that the gods were touched, and up + out of the ground came some shoots which he gathered and carried home; + another who when carrying buckets of water would slip and fall on purpose, + in order to make his parents laugh; and so on. No wonder that Confucius + found filial piety beyond his powers of definition. + </p> + <p> + Now for a genuine example. There is a very wonderful novel in which a very + affecting love-story is worked out to a terribly tragic conclusion. The + heroine, a beautiful and fascinating girl, finally dies of consumption, + and the hero, a wayward but none the less fascinating youth, enters the + Buddhist priesthood. A lady, the mother of a clever young official, was so + distressed by the pathos of the tale that she became quite ill, and + doctors prescribed medicines in vain. At length, when things were becoming + serious, the son set to work and composed a sequel to this novel, in which + he resuscitated the heroine and made the lovers happy by marriage; and in + a short time he had the intense satisfaction of seeing his mother restored + to health. + </p> + <p> + Other forms of filial piety, which bear no relation whatever to the + fanciful fables given above, are commonly practised by all classes. In + consequence of the serious or prolonged illness of parents, it is very + usual for sons and daughters to repair to the municipal temple and pray + that a certain number of years may be cut off their own span of life and + added to that of the sick parents in question. + </p> + <p> + Let us now pause to take stock of some of the results which have accrued + from the operation and influence of Confucianism during such a long + period, and over such swarming myriads of the human race. It is a + commonplace in the present day to assert that the Chinese are hardworking, + thrifty, and sober—the last-mentioned, by the way, in a land where + drunkenness is not regarded as a crime. Shallow observers of the + globe-trotter type, who have had their pockets picked by professional + thieves in Hong-Kong, and even resident observers who have not much + cultivated their powers of observation and comparison, will assert that + honesty is a virtue denied to the Chinese; but those who have lived long + in China and have more seriously devoted themselves to discover the truth, + may one and all be said to be arrayed upon the other side. The amount of + solid honesty to be met with in every class, except the professionally + criminal class, is simply astonishing. That the word of the Chinese + merchant is as good as his bond has long since become a household word, + and so it is in other walks of life. With servants from respectable + families, the householder need have no fear for his goods. "Be loyal," + says the native maxim, "to the master whose rice you eat;" and this maxim + is usually fulfilled to the letter. Hence, it is that many foreigners who + have been successful in their business careers, take care to see, on their + final departure from the East, that the old and faithful servant, often of + twenty to thirty years' standing, shall have some provision for himself + and his family. In large establishments, especially banks, in which great + interests are at stake, it is customary for the Chinese staff to be + guaranteed by some wealthy man (or firm), who deposits securities for a + considerable amount, thus placing the employer in a very favourable + position. The properly chosen Chinese servant who enters the household of + a foreigner, is a being to whom, as suggested above, his master often + becomes deeply attached, and whom he parts with, often after many years of + service, to his everlasting regret. Such a servant has many virtues. He is + noiseless over his work, which he performs efficiently. He can stay up + late, and yet rise early. He lives on the establishment, but in an + out-building. He provides his own food. He rarely wants to absent himself, + and even then will always provide a reliable <i>locum tenens</i>. He + studies his master's ways, and learns to anticipate his slightest wishes. + In return for these and other services he expects to get his wages + punctually paid, and to be allowed to charge, without any notice being + taken of the same, a commission on all purchases. This is the Chinese + system, and even a servant absolutely honest in any other way cannot + emancipate himself from its grip. But if treated fairly, he will not abuse + his chance. One curious feature of the system is that if one master is in + a relatively higher position than another, the former will be charged by + his servants slightly more than the latter by his servants for precisely + the same article. Many attempts have been made by foreigners to break + through this "old custom," especially by offering higher wages; but signal + failure has always been the result, and those masters have invariably + succeeded best who have fallen in with the existing institution, and have + tried to make the best of it. + </p> + <p> + There is one more, and in many ways the most important, side of a Chinese + servant's character. He will recognize frankly, and without a pang, the + superior position and the rights of his master; but at the same time, if + worth keeping, he will exact from his master the proper respect due from + man to man. It is wholly beside the mark to say that he will not put up + for a moment with the cuffs and kicks so freely administered to his Indian + colleague. A respectable Chinese servant will often refuse to remain with + a master who uses abusive or violent language, or shows signs of + uncontrollable temper. A lucrative place is as nothing compared with the + "loss of face" which he would suffer in the eyes of his friends; in other + words, with his loss of dignity as a man. If a servant will put up with a + blow, the best course is to dismiss him at once, as worthless and + unreliable, if not actually dangerous. Confucius said: "If you mistrust a + man, do not employ him; if you employ a man, do not mistrust him;" and + this will still be found to be an excellent working rule in dealings with + Chinese servants. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV—A.D. 220-1200 + </h2> + <p> + The long-lived and glorious House of Han was brought to a close by the + usual causes. There were palace intrigues and a temporary usurpation of + the throne, eunuchs of course being in the thick of the mischief; added to + which a very serious rebellion broke out, almost as a natural consequence. + First and last there arose three aspirants to the Imperial yellow, which + takes the place of purple in ancient Rome; the result being that, after + some years of hard fighting, China was divided into three parts, each + ruled by one of the three rivals. The period is known in history as that + of the Three Kingdoms, and lasted from A.D. 220 to A.D. 265. This short + space of time was filled, especially the early years, with stirring deeds + of heroism and marvellous strategical operations, fortune favouring first + one of the three commanders and then another. The whole story of these + civil wars is most graphically told in a famous historical romance + composed about a thousand years afterwards. As in the case of the Waverley + novels, a considerable amount of fiction has been interwoven with truth to + make the narrative more palatable to the general reader; but its basis is + history, and the work is universally regarded among the Chinese themselves + as one of the most valuable productions in the lighter branches of their + literature. + </p> + <p> + The three to four centuries which follow on the above period were a time + of political and social disorganisation, unfavourable, according to + Chinese writers, to the development of both literature and art. The House + of Chin, which at first held sway over a once more united empire, was + severely harassed by the Tartars on the north, who were in turn + overwhelmed by the House of Toba. The latter ruled for some two hundred + years over northern China, while the southern portions were governed by + several short-lived native dynasties. A few points in connexion with these + times deserve perhaps brief mention. + </p> + <p> + The old rule of twenty-seven months of mourning for parents was + re-established, and has continued in force down to the present day. The + Japanese sent occasional missions, with tribute; and the Chinese, who had + already in A.D. 240 dispatched an envoy to Japan, repeated the compliment + in 608. An attempt was made to conquer Korea, and envoys were sent to + countries as far off as Siam. Buddhism, which had been introduced many + centuries previously—no one can exactly say when—began to + spread far and wide, and appeared to be firmly established. In A.D. 399 a + Buddhist priest, named Fa Hsien, started from Central China and travelled + to India across the great desert and over the Hindu Kush, subsequently + visiting Patna, Benares, Buddha-Gaya, and other well-known spots, which he + accurately described in the record of his journey published on his return + and still in existence. His object was to obtain copies of the sacred + books, relics and images, illustrative of the faith; and these he safely + conveyed to China by sea from India, via Ceylon (where he spent three + years), and Sumatra, arriving after an absence of fifteen years. + </p> + <p> + In the year A.D. 618 the House of T'ang entered upon its glorious course + of three centuries in duration. Under a strong but dissolute ruler + immediately preceding, China had once more become a united empire, + undivided against itself; and although wars and rebellions were not + wanting to disturb the even tenor of its way, the general picture + presented to us under the new dynasty of the T'angs is one of national + peace, prosperity, and progress. The name of this House has endured, like + that of Han, to the present day in the popular language of the people; for + just as the northerners still delight to style themselves "good sons of + Han," so are the southerners still proud to speak of themselves as "men of + T'ang." + </p> + <p> + One of the chief political events of this period was the usurpation of + power by the Empress Wu—at first, as nominal regent on behalf of a + step-child, the son and heir of her late husband by his first wife, and + afterwards, when she had set aside the step-child, on her own account. + There had been one previous instance of a woman wielding the Imperial + sceptre, namely, the Empress Lu of the Han dynasty, to whom the Chinese + have accorded the title of legitimate ruler, which has not been allowed to + the Empress Wu. The latter, however, was possessed of much actual ability, + mixed with a kind of midsummer madness; and so long as her great + intellectual faculties remained unimpaired, she ruled, like her successor + of some twelve centuries afterwards, with a rod of iron. In her old age + she was deposed and dismissed to private life, the rightful heir being + replaced upon his father's throne. + </p> + <p> + Among the more extravagant acts of her reign are some which are still + familiar to the people of to-day. Always, even while her husband was + alive, she was present, behind a curtain, at councils and audiences; after + his death she was accustomed to take her place openly among the ministers + of state, wearing a false beard. In 694 she gave herself the title of + Divine Empress, and in 696 she even went so far as to style herself God + Almighty. In her later years she became hopelessly arrogant and + overbearing. No one was allowed to say that the Empress was fair as a lily + or lovely as a rose, but that the lily was fair or the rose lovely as Her + Majesty. She tried to spread the belief that she was really the Supreme + Being by forcing flowers artificially and then in the presence of her + courtiers ordering them to bloom. On one occasion she commanded some + peonies to bloom; and because they did not instantly obey, she caused + every peony in the capital to be pulled up and burnt, and prohibited the + cultivation of peonies ever afterwards. She further decided to place her + sex once and for all on an equality with man. For that purpose women were + admitted to the public examinations, official posts being conferred upon + those who were successful; and among other things they were excused from + kneeling while giving evidence in courts of justice. This innovation, + however, did not fulfil its promise; and with the disappearance of its + vigorous foundress, the system also disappeared. It was not actually the + first time in Chinese history that the experiment had been tried. An + emperor of the third century A.D. had already opened public life to women, + and it is said that many of them rose to high office; but here too the + system was of short duration, and the old order was soon restored. + </p> + <p> + Another striking picture of the T'ang dynasty is presented by the career + of an emperor who is usually spoken of as Ming Huang, and who, after + distinguishing himself at several critical junctures, mounted the throne + in 712, in succession to his father, who had abdicated in his favour. He + began with economy, closing the silk factories and forbidding the palace + ladies to wear jewels or embroideries, considerable quantities of which + were actually burnt. He was a warm patron of literature, and schools were + established in every village. Fond of music, he founded a college for + training youth of both sexes in this art. His love of war and his growing + extravagance led to increased taxation, with the usual consequences in + China—discontent and rebellion. He surrounded himself by a brilliant + court, welcoming men of genius in literature and art; at first for their + talents alone, but finally for their readiness to participate in scenes of + revelry and dissipation provided for the amusement of a favourite + concubine, the ever-famous Yang Kuei-fei (pronounced <i>Kway-fay</i>). + Eunuchs were appointed to official posts, and the grossest forms of + religious superstition were encouraged. Women ceased to veil themselves, + as of old. At length, in 755, a serious rebellion broke out, and a year + later the emperor, now an old man of seventy-one, fled before the storm. + He had not proceeded far before his soldiery revolted and demanded + vengeance upon the whole family of the favourite, several unworthy members + of which had been raised to high positions and loaded with honours. The + wretched emperor was forced to order the head eunuch to strangle his + idolized concubine, while the rest of her family perished at the hands of + the troops. He subsequently abdicated in favour of his son, and spent the + last six years of his life in seclusion. + </p> + <p> + This tragic story has been exquisitely told in verse by one of China's + foremost poets, who was born only a few years later. He divides his poem + into eight parts, dealing with the <i>ennui</i> of the monarch until he + discovers <i>beauty</i>, the <i>revelry</i> of the pair together, followed + by the horrors of <i>flight</i>, to end in the misery of <i>exile</i> + without her, the <i>return</i> when the emperor passes again by the fatal + spot, <i>home</i> where everything reminds him of her, and finally <i>spirit-land</i>. + This last is a figment of the poet's imagination. He pictures the + disconsolate emperor sending a magician to discover Yang Kuei-fei's + whereabouts in the next world, and to bear to her a message of + uninterrupted love. The magician, after a long search, finds her in one of + the Isles of the Blest, and fulfils his commission accordingly. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Her features are fixed and calm, though myriad tears fall, + Wetting a spray of pear-bloom, as it were with the raindrops of + spring. + Subduing her emotions, restraining her grief, she tenders thanks + to His Majesty. + Saying how since their parting she had missed his form and voice; + And how, although their love on earth had so soon come to an end, + The days and months among the Blest were still of long duration. + And now she turns and gazes towards the above of mortals, + But cannot discern the Imperial city, lost in the dust and haze. + Then she takes out the old keepsake, tokens of undying love, + A gold hairpin, an enamel brooch, and bids the magician carry + these back. + One half of the hairpin she keeps, and one half of the enamel + brooch, + Breaking with her hands the yellow gold, and dividing the enamel + in two. + "Tell him," she said, "to be firm of heart, as this gold and + enamel, + And then in heaven or on earth below we two may meet once more." +</pre> + <p> + The magnificent House of T'ang was succeeded by five insignificant + dynasties, the duration of all of which was crowded into about half a + century. Then, in A.D. 960, began the rule of the Sungs (pronounced <i>Soongs</i>), + to last for three hundred years and rival in national peace and prosperity + any other period in the history of China. The nation had already in a + great measure settled down to that state of material civilization and + mental culture in which it has remained to the present time. To the + appliances of ordinary Chinese life it is probable that but few additions + have been made since a very early date. The dress of the people has indeed + undergone several variations, but the ploughs and hoes, the water-wheels + and well-sweeps, the tools of the artisans, mud huts, carts, junks, + chairs, tables, chopsticks, etc., which we still see in China, are + probably very much those of two thousand years ago. Mencius, of the third + century B.C., observed that written characters had the same form, and + axle-trees the same breadth, all over the empire; and to this day an + unaltering uniformity is one of the chief characteristics of the Chinese + people in every department of life. + </p> + <p> + In spite, however, of the peaceful aspirations of the House of Sung, the + Kitan Tartars were for ever encroaching upon Chinese territory, and + finally overran and occupied a large part of northern China, with their + capital where Peking now stands. This resulted in an amicable arrangement + to divide the empire, the Kitans retaining their conquests in the north, + from which, after about two hundred years, they were in turn expelled by + the Golden Tartars, who had previously been subject to them. + </p> + <p> + Many volumes, rather than pages, would be required to do justice to the + statesmen, soldiers, philosophers, poets, historians, art critics, and + other famous men of this dynasty. It has already been stated that the + interpretation of the Confucian Canon, accepted at the present day, dates + from this period; and it may now be of interest to give a brief account of + another remarkable movement connected with the dynasty, though in quite a + different line. + </p> + <p> + Wang An-shih (as <i>shi</i> in <i>shirk</i>), popularly known as the + Reformer, was born in 1021. In his youth a keen student, his pen seemed to + fly over the paper. He rose to high office; and by the time he was + forty-eight he found himself installed as confidential adviser to the + emperor. He then entered upon a series of startling political reforms, + said to be based upon new and more correct interpretations of portions of + the Confucian Canon, which still remained, so far as explanation was + concerned, just as it had been left by the scholars of the Han dynasty. + This appeal to authority was, of course, a mere blind, cleverly introduced + to satisfy the bulk of the population, who were always unwilling to move + in any direction where no precedent is forthcoming. One of his schemes, + the express object of which was to decrease taxation and at the same time + to increase the revenue, was to secure a sure and certain market for all + products, as follows. From the produce of a given district, enough was to + be set aside (1) for the payment of taxes, and (2) to supply the wants of + the district; (3) the balance was then to be taken over by the state at a + low rate, and held for a rise or forwarded to some centre where there + happened to be a demand. There would be thus a certainty of market for the + farmer, and an equal certainty for the state to make profits as a + middleman. Another part of this scheme consisted in obligatory advances by + the state to cultivators of land, whether these farmers required the money + or not, the security for the loans being in each case the growing crops. + </p> + <p> + There was also a system of tithing for military purposes, under which + every family having more than two males was bound to supply one to serve + as a soldier; and in order to keep up a breed of cavalry horses, every + family was compelled to take charge of one, which was provided, together + with its food, by the government. There was a system under which money + payments were substituted for the old-fashioned and vexatious method of + carrying on public works by drafts of forced labourers; and again another + under which warehouses for bartering and hypothecating goods were + established all over the empire. + </p> + <p> + Of all his innovations the most interesting was that all land was to be + remeasured and an attempt made to secure a more equitable incidence of + taxation. The plan was to divide up the land into equal squares, and to + levy taxes in proportion to the fertility of each. This scheme proved for + various reasons to be unworkable; and the bitter opposition with which, + like all his other measures of reform, it was received by his opponents, + did not conduce to success. Finally, he abolished all restrictions upon + the export of copper, the result being that even the current copper "cash" + were melted down and made into articles for sale and exportation. A panic + ensued, which Wang met by the simple expedient of doubling the value of + each cash. He attempted to reform the examination system, requiring from + the candidate not so much graces of style as a wide acquaintance with + practical subjects. "Accordingly," says one Chinese author, "even the + pupils at the village schools threw away their text-books of rhetoric, and + began to study primers of history, geography, and political economy"—a + striking anticipation of the movement in vogue to-day. "I have myself + been," he tells us, "an omnivorous reader of books of all kinds, even, for + example, of ancient medical and botanical works. I have, moreover, dipped + into treatises on agriculture and on needlework, all of which I have found + very profitable in aiding me to seize the great scheme of the Canon + itself." But like many other great men, he was in advance of his age. He + fell into disfavour at court, and was dismissed to a provincial post; and + although he was soon recalled, he retired into private life, shortly + afterwards to die, but not before he had seen the whole of his policy + reversed. + </p> + <p> + His career stands out in marked contrast with that of the great statesman + and philosopher, Chu Hsi (pronounced <i>Choo Shee</i>), who flourished + A.D. 1130-1200. His literary output was enormous and his official career + successful; but his chief title to fame rests upon his merits as a + commentator on the Confucian Canon. As has been already stated, he + introduced interpretations either wholly or partly at variance with those + which had been put forth by the scholars of the Han dynasty, and hitherto + received as infallible, thus modifying to a certain extent the prevailing + standard of political and social morality. His guiding principle was + merely one of consistency. He refused to interpret words in a given + passage in one sense, and the same words occurring elsewhere in another + sense. The effect of this apparently obvious method was magical; and from + that date the teachings of Confucius have been universally understood in + the way in which Chu Hsi said they ought to be understood. + </p> + <p> + To his influence also must be traced the spirit of materialism which is so + widely spread among educated Chinese. The God in whom Confucius believed, + but whom, as will be seen later on, he can scarcely be said to have + "taught," was a passive rather than an active God, and may be compared + with the God of the Psalms. He was a personal God, as we know from the + ancient character by which He was designated in the written language of + early ages, that character being a rude picture of a man. This view was + entirely set aside by Chu Hsi, who declared in the plainest terms that the + Chinese word for God meant nothing more than "abstract right;" in other + words, God was a principle. It is impossible to admit such a proposition, + which was based on sentiment and not on sound reasoning. Chu Hsi was + emphatically not a man of religious temperament, and belief in the + supernatural was distasteful to him; he was for a short time under the + spell of Buddhism, but threw that religion over for the orthodoxy of + Confucianism. He was, therefore, anxious to exclude the supernatural + altogether from the revised scheme of moral conduct which he was deducing + from the Confucian Canon, and his interpretation of the word "God" has + been blindly accepted ever since. + </p> + <p> + When Chu Hsi died, his coffin is said to have taken up a position, + suspended in the air, about three feet from the ground. Whereupon his + son-in-law, falling on his knees beside the bier, reminded the departed + spirit of the great principles of which he had been such a brilliant + exponent in life—and the coffin descended gently to the ground. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V—WOMEN AND CHILDREN + </h2> + <p> + The Chinese are very fond of animals, and especially of birds; and on the + whole they may be said to be kind to their animals, though cases of + ill-treatment occur. At the same time it must be carefully remembered that + such quantum of humanity as they may exhibit is entirely of their own + making; there is no law to act persuasively on brutal natures, and there + is no Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to see that any + such law is enforced. A very large number of beautiful birds, mostly + songless, are found in various parts of China, and a great variety of + fishes in the rivers and on the coast. Wild animals are represented by the + tiger (in both north and south), the panther and the bear, and even the + elephant and the rhinoceros may be found in the extreme south-west. The + wolf and the fox, the latter dreaded as an uncanny beast, are very widely + distributed. + </p> + <p> + Still less would there be any ground for establishing a Society for the + Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the very name of which would make an + ordinary, unsophisticated Chinaman stare. Chinese parents are, if + anything, over-indulgent to their children. The father is, indeed, + popularly known as the "Severe One," and it is a Confucian tradition that + he should not spare the rod and so spoil the child, but he draws the line + at a poker; and although as a father he possesses the power of life and + death over his offspring, such punishments as are inflicted are usually of + the mildest description. The mother, the "Gentle One," is, speaking + broadly, a soft-hearted, sweet-natured specimen of humanity; one of those + women to whom hundreds of Europeans owe deep debts of gratitude for the + care and affection lavished upon their alien children. In the absence of + the Severe One, it falls to her to chastise when necessary; and we even + read of a son who wept, not because his mother hurt him, but because, + owing to her advanced age, she was no longer able to hit him hard enough! + </p> + <p> + Among other atrocious libels which have fastened upon the fair fame of the + Chinese people, first and foremost stands the charge of female + infanticide, now happily, though still slowly, fading from the + calculations of those who seek the truth. Fifty years ago it was generally + believed that the Chinese hated their female children, and got rid of them + in early infancy by wholesale murder. It may be admitted at once that boys + are preferred to girls, inasmuch as they carry on the family line, and see + that the worship of ancestors is regularly performed in due season. Also, + because girls require dowries, which they take away with them for the + benefit of other families than their own; hence the saying, "There is no + thief like a family of five daughters," and the term "lose-money goods," + as jestingly applied to girls, against which may be set another term, "a + thousand ounces of gold," which is commonly used of a daughter. Of course + it is the boy who is specially wanted in a family; and little boys are + often dressed as little girls, in order to deceive the angels of disease + and death, who, it is hoped, may thus pass them over as of less account. + </p> + <p> + To return to the belief formerly held that female infanticide was rampant + all over China. The next step was for the honest observer to admit that it + was not known in his own particular district, but to declare that it was + largely practised elsewhere. This view, however, lost its validity when + residents "elsewhere" had to allow that no traces of infanticide could be + found in their neighbourhood; and so on. Luckily, still greater comfort is + to be found in the following argument,—a rare example of proving a + negative—from which it will be readily seen that female infanticide + on any abnormal scale is quite beyond the bounds of the possible. Those + who have even a bowing acquaintance with Chinese social life will grant + that every boy, at about the age of eighteen, is provided by his parents + with a wife. They must also concede the notorious fact that many + well-to-do Chinese take one or more concubines. The Emperor, indeed, is + allowed seventy; but this number exists only on paper as a regulation + maximum. Now, if every Chinaman has one wife, and many have two, over and + above the host of girls said to be annually sacrificed as worthless + babies, it must follow that the proportion of girls born in China + enormously outnumbers the proportion of boys, whereas in the rest of the + world boys are well known to be always in the majority. After this, it is + perhaps superfluous to state that, apart from the natural love of the + parent, a girl is really, even at a very early age, a marketable + commodity. Girls are sometimes sold into other families to be brought up + as wives for the sons; more often, to be used as servants, under what is + of course a form of slavery, qualified by the important condition, which + can be enforced by law, that when of a marriageable age, the girl's master + shall find her a husband. Illegitimate children, the source of so much + baby-farming and infanticide elsewhere, are practically unknown in China; + and the same may be said of divorce. A woman cannot legally divorce her + husband. In rare cases she will leave him, and return to her family, in + spite of the fact that he can legally insist upon her return; for she + knows well that if her case is good, the husband will not dare to risk the + scandal of an exposure, not to mention the almost certain vengeance of her + affronted kinsmen. It is also the fear of such vengeance that prevents + mothers-in-law from ill-treating the girls who pass into their new homes + rather as servants than daughters to the husband's mother. Every woman, as + indeed every man, has one final appeal by which to punish an oppressor. + She may commit suicide, there being no canon, legal or moral, against + self-slaughter; and in China, where, contrary to widespread notions on the + subject, human life is held in the highest degree sacred, this course is + sure to entail trouble and expense, and possibly severe punishment, if the + aggrieved parties are not promptly conciliated by a heavy money payment. + </p> + <p> + A man may divorce his wife for one of the seven following reasons:—Want + of children, adultery, neglect of his parents, nagging, thieving (i.e. + supplying her own family with his goods, popularly known as "leakage"), + jealous temper and leprosy. To the above, the humanity of the lawgiver has + affixed three qualifying conditions. He may not put her away on any of the + above grounds if she has duly passed through the period of mourning for + his parents; if he has grown rich since their marriage; if she has no + longer any home to which she can return. + </p> + <p> + Altogether, the Chinese woman has by no means such a bad time as is + generally supposed to be the case. Even in the eye of the law, she has + this advantage over a man, that she cannot be imprisoned except for high + treason and adultery, and is to all intents and purposes exempt from the + punishment of the bamboo. Included in this exemption are the aged and the + young, the sick, the hungry and naked, and those who have already suffered + violence, as in a brawl. Further, in a well-known handbook, magistrates + are advised to postpone, in certain circumstances, the infliction of + corporal punishment; as for instance, when either the prisoner or they + themselves may be under the influence of excitement, anger or drink. + </p> + <p> + The bamboo is the only instrument with which physical punishment may + legally be inflicted; and its infliction on a prisoner or recalcitrant + witness, in order to extort evidence, constitutes what has long been + dignified as "torture;" but even that is now, under a changing system, + about to disappear. This must not be taken to mean that torture, in our + sense of the term, has never been applied in China. The real facts of the + case are these. Torture, except as already described, being + constitutionally illegal, no magistrate would venture to resort to it if + there were any chance of his successful impeachment before the higher + authorities, upon which he would be cashiered and his official career + brought abruptly to an end. Torture, therefore, would have no terrors for + the ordinary citizen of good repute and with a backing of substantial + friends; but for the outcast, the rebel, the highway robber (against whom + every man's hand would be), the disreputable native of a distant province, + and also for the outer barbarian (e.g. the captives at the Summer Palace + in 1860), another tale must be told. No consequences, except perhaps + promotion, would follow from too rigorous treatment in such cases as + these. + </p> + <p> + Resort to the bamboo as a means of extorting the confession of a prisoner + is regarded by the people rather as the magistrate's confession of his own + incapacity. The education of the official, too easily and too freely + turned into ridicule, gives him an insight into human nature which, + coupled with a little experience, renders him extremely formidable to the + shifty criminal or the crafty litigant. As a rule, he finds no need for + the application of pain. There is a quaint story illustrative of such + judicial methods as would be sure to meet with full approbation in China. + A magistrate, who after several hearings had failed to discover, among a + gang accused of murder, what was essential to the completion of the case, + namely, the actual hand which struck the fatal blow, notified the + prisoners that he was about to invoke the assistance of the spirits, with + a view to elicit the truth. Accordingly, he caused the accused men, + dressed in the black clothes of criminals, to be led into a large barn, + and arranged around it, face to the wall. Having then told them that an + accusing angel would shortly come among them, and mark the back of the + guilty man, he went outside and had the door shut, and the place darkened. + After a short interval, when the door was thrown open, and the men were + summoned to come forth, it was seen directly that one of the number had a + white mark on his back. This man, in order to make all secure, had turned + his back to the wall, not knowing, what the magistrate well knew, that the + wall had been newly white-washed. + </p> + <p> + As to the punishment of crime by flogging, a sentence of one or two + hundred—even more—blows would seem to be cruel and disgusting; + happily, it may be taken for granted that such ferocious sentences are + executed only in such cases as have been mentioned above. An acute + observer, for many years a member of the municipal police force in + Shanghai, whose duty it was to see that floggings were administered to + Chinese criminals, stated plainly in a public report that the bamboo is + not necessarily a severe ordeal, and that one hundred blows are at times + inflicted so lightly as to leave scarcely a mark behind, though the + recipient howls loudly all the time. Those criminals who have money can + always manage to square the gaoler; and the gaoler has acquired a certain + knack in laying on, the upshot being great cry and little wool, very + satisfactory to the culprit. Even were we to accept the cruellest estimate + in regard to punishment by the bamboo, it would only go to show that + humanitarian feelings in China are lagging somewhat behind our own. In <i>The + Times</i> of March 1, 1811, we read that, for allowing French prisoners to + escape from Dartmoor, three men of the Nottingham militia were sentenced + to receive 900 lashes each, and that one of them actually received 450 + lashes in the presence of pickets from every regiment in the garrison. On + New Year's Day, 1911, a eunuch attempted to assassinate one of the + Imperial Princes. For this he was sentenced to be beaten to death, some + such ferocious punishment being necessary, in Chinese eyes, to vindicate + the majesty of the law. That end having been attained, the sentence was + commuted to eighty blows with the bamboo and deportation to northern + Manchuria. + </p> + <p> + The Chinese woman often, in mature life, wields enormous influence over + the family, males included, and is a kind of private Empress Dowager. A + man knows, says the proverb, but a woman knows better. As a widow in early + life, her lot is not quite so pleasant. It is not thought desirable for + widows to remarry; but if she remains single, she becomes "a rudderless + boat;" round which gathers much calumny. Many young women brave public + opinion, and enter into second nuptials. If they are bent upon remarrying, + runs the saying, they can no more be prevented than the sky can be + prevented from raining. + </p> + <p> + The days of "golden lilies," as the artificially small feet of Chinese + women are called, are generally believed to date from the tenth century + A.D., though some writers have endeavoured to place the custom many + centuries earlier. It must always be carefully remembered that Manchu + women—the women of the dynasty which has ruled since 1644—do + not compress their feet. Consequently, the empresses of modern times have + feet of the natural size; neither is the practice in force among the + Hakkas, a race said to have migrated from the north of China to the south + in the thirteenth century; nor among the hill tribes; nor among the + boating population of Canton and elsewhere. Small feet are thus in no way + associated with aristocracy or gentleness of birth; neither is there any + foundation for the generally received opinion that the Chinese lame their + women in this way to keep them from gadding about. Small-footed women may + be seen carrying quite heavy burdens, and even working in the fields; not + to mention that many are employed as nurses for small children. Another + explanation is that women with bound feet bear finer children and + stronger; but the real reason lies in another direction, quite beyond the + scope of this book. The question of charm may be taken into consideration, + for any Chinaman will bear witness to the seductive effect of a + gaily-dressed girl picking her way on tiny feet some three inches in + length, her swaying movements and delightful appearance of instability + conveying a general sense of delicate grace quite beyond expression in + words. + </p> + <p> + The lady of the tenth century, to whom the origin of small feet is + ascribed, wished to make her own feet like two new moons; but whether she + actually bound them, as at the present day, is purely a matter of + conjecture. The modern style of binding inflicts great pain for a long + time upon the little girls who have to endure it. They become very shy on + the subject, and will on no account show their bare feet, though Manchu + women and others with full-sized feet frequently walk about unshod, and + the boat-girls at Canton and elsewhere never seem to wear shoes or + stockings at all. + </p> + <p> + The "pigtail," or long plait of hair worn by all Chinamen, for the + abolition of which many advanced reformers are now earnestly pleading, is + an institution of comparatively modern date. It was imposed by the + victorious Manchu-Tartars when they finally established their dynasty in + 1644, not so much as a badge of conquest, still less of servitude, but as + a means of obliterating, so far as possible, the most patent distinction + between the two races, and of unifying the appearance, if not the + aspirations, of the subjects of the Son of Heaven. This obligation was for + some time strenuously resisted by the natives of Amoy, Swatow, and + elsewhere in that neighbourhood. At length, when compelled to yield, it is + said that they sullenly wound their queues round their heads and covered + them with turbans, which are still worn by natives of those parts. + </p> + <p> + The peculiar custom of shaving the head in front, and allowing the hair to + grow long behind, is said to have been adopted by the Manchus out of + affectionate gratitude to the horse, an animal which has played an + all-important part in the history and achievements of the race. This view + is greatly reinforced by the cut of the modern official sleeves, which + hang down, concealing the hands, and are shaped exactly like a pair of + horse's hoofs. + </p> + <p> + In many respects the Manchu conquerors left the Chinese to follow their + own customs. No attempt was made to coerce Chinese women, who dress their + hair in styles totally different from that of the Manchu women; there are, + too, some tolerated differences between the dress of the Manchu and + Chinese men, but these are such as readily escape notice. Neither was any + attempt made in the opening years of the conquest to interfere with + foot-binding by Chinese women; but in 1664 an edict was issued forbidding + the practice. Readers may draw their own conclusions, when it is added + that four years after the edict was withdrawn. Hopes are now widely and + earnestly entertained that with the dawn of the new era, this cruel custom + will become a thing of the past; it is, however, to be feared that those + who have been urging on this desirable reform may be, like all reformers, + a little too sanguine of immediate success, and that a comparatively long + period will have to go by before the last traces of foot-binding disappear + altogether. Meanwhile, it seems that the Government has taken the + important step of refusing admission to the public schools of all girls + whose feet are bound. + </p> + <p> + The disappearance of the queue is another thing altogether. It is not a + native Chinese institution; there would be no violation of any cherished + tradition of antiquity if it were once and for ever discarded. On the + contrary, if the Chinese do not intend to follow the Japanese and take to + foreign clothes, there might be a return to the old style of doing the + hair. The former dress of the Japanese was one of the numerous items + borrowed by them from China; it was indeed the national dress of the + Chinese for some three hundred years, between A.D. 600-900. One little + difficulty will vanish with the queue. A Chinese coolie will tie his tail + round his head when engaged on work in which he requires to keep it out of + the way, and the habit has become of real importance with the use of + modern machinery; but on the arrival of his master, he should at once drop + it, out of respect, a piece of politeness not always exhibited in the + presence of a foreign employer. The agitation, now in progress, for the + final abolition of the queue may be due to one or all of the following + reasons. Intelligent Chinese may have come to realize that the fashion is + cumbrous and out of date. Sensitive Chinese may fear that it makes them + ridiculous in the eyes of foreigners. Political Chinese, who would gladly + see the re-establishment of a native dynasty, may look to its + disappearance as the first step towards throwing off the Manchu yoke. + </p> + <p> + On the whole, the ruling Manchus have shown themselves very careful not to + wound the susceptibilities of their Chinese subjects. Besides allowing the + women to retain their own costume, and the dead, men and women alike, to + be buried in the costume of the previous dynasty, it was agreed from the + very first that no Chinese concubines should be taken into the Palace. + This last condition seems to be a concession pure and simple to the + conquered; there is little doubt, however, that the wily Manchus were only + too ready to exclude a very dangerous possibility of political intrigue. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI—LITERATURE AND EDUCATION + </h2> + <p> + The Chinese people reverence above all things literature and learning; + they hate war, bearing in mind the saying of Mencius, "There is no such + thing as a <i>righteous</i> war; we can only assert that some wars are + better than others;" and they love trade and the finesse of the + market-place. China can boast many great soldiers, in modern as well as in + ancient days; but anything like a proper appreciation of the military arm + is of quite recent growth. "Good iron is not used for nails, nor good men + for soldiers," says the proverb; and again, "One stroke of the civilian's + pen reduces the military official to abject submission." On the other + hand, it is admitted that "Civilians give the empire peace, and soldiers + give it security." + </p> + <p> + Chinese parents have never, until recent days, willingly trained their + sons for the army. They have always wished their boys to follow the + stereotyped literary curriculum, and then, after passing successfully + through the great competitive examinations, to rise to high civil office + in the state. A good deal of ridicule has been heaped of late on the + Chinese competitive examination, the subjects of which were drawn + exclusively from the Confucian Canon, and included a knowledge of ancient + history, of a comprehensive scheme of morality, initiated by Confucius, + and further elaborated by Mencius (372-289 B.C.), of the ballads and + ceremonial rites of three thousand years ago, and of an aptitude for + essay-writing and the composition of verse. The whole curriculum may be + fitly compared with such an education as was given to William Pitt and + others among our own great statesmen, in which an ability to read the + Greek and Roman classics, coupled with an intimate knowledge of the + Peloponnesian War, carried the student about as far as it was considered + necessary for him to go. The Chinese course, too, has certainly brought to + the front in its time a great many eminent men, who have held their own in + diplomacy, if not in warfare, with the subtlest intellects of the West. + </p> + <p> + Their system of competitive examinations has indeed served the Chinese + well. It is the brightest spot in the whole administration, being + absolutely above suspicion, such as attaches to other departments of the + state. Attempts have been made from time to time to gain admission by + improper means to the list of successful candidates, and it would be + absurd to say that not one has ever succeeded; the risk, however, is too + great, for the penalty on detection may be death. + </p> + <p> + The ordeal itself is exceedingly severe, as well for the examiners as for + the candidates. At the provincial examinations, held once in every third + year, an Imperial Commissioner, popularly known as the Grand Examiner, is + sent down from Peking. On arrival, his residence is formally sealed up, + and extraordinary precautions are taken to prevent friends of intending + candidates from approaching him in any way. There is no age limit, and men + of quite mature years are to be found competing against youths hardly out + of their teens; indeed, there is an authenticated case of a man who + successfully graduated at the age of seventy-two. Many compete year after + year, until at length they decide to give it up as a bad job. + </p> + <p> + At an early hour on the appointed day the candidates begin to assemble, + and by and by the great gates of the examination hall are thrown open, and + heralds shriek out the names of those who are to enter. Each one answers + in turn as his name is called, and receives from the attendants a roll of + paper marked with the number of the open cell he is to occupy in one of + the long alleys into which the examination hall is divided. Other writing + materials, as well as food, he carries with him in a basket, which is + always carefully searched at the door, and in which "sleeve" editions of + the classics have sometimes been found. When all have taken their seats, + the Grand Examiner burns incense, and closes the entrance gates, through + which no one will be allowed to pass, either in or out, dead or alive, + until the end of the third day, when the first of the three sessions is at + an end, and the candidates are released for the night. In case of death, + not unusual where ten or twelve thousand persons are cooped up day and + night in a confined space, the corpse is hoisted over the wall; and this + would be done even if it were that of the Grand Examiner himself, whose + place would then be taken by the chief Assistant Examiner, who is also + appointed by the Emperor, and accompanies the Grand Examiner from Peking. + </p> + <p> + The long strain of three bouts of three days each has often been found + sufficient to unhinge the reason, with a variety of distressing + consequences, the least perhaps of which may be seen in a regular + percentage of blank papers handed in. On one occasion, a man handed in a + copy of his last will and testament; on another, not very long ago, the + mental balance of the Grand Examiner gave way, and a painful scene ensued. + He tore up a number of the papers already handed in, and bit and kicked + every one who came near him, until he was finally secured and bound hand + and foot in his chair. A candidate once presented himself dressed in + woman's clothes, with his face highly rouged and powdered, as is the + custom. He was arrested at the entrance gate, and quietly sent home to his + friends. + </p> + <p> + Overwork, in the feverish desire to get into the Government service, is + certainly responsible for the mental break-down of a large proportion of + the comparatively few lunatics found in China. There being no lunatic + asylums in the empire, it is difficult to form anything like an exact + estimate of their number; it can only be said, what is equally true of + cripples or deformed persons, that it is very rare to meet them in the + streets or even to hear of their existence. + </p> + <p> + As a further measure of precaution against corrupt practices at + examinations, the papers handed in by the candidates are all copied out in + red ink, and only these copies are submitted to the examiners. The + difficulty therefore of obtaining favourable treatment, on the score of + either bribery or friendship, is very much increased. The Chinese, who + make no attempt to conceal or excuse, in fact rather exaggerate any + corruption in their public service generally, do not hesitate to declare + with striking unanimity that the conduct of their examination system is + above suspicion, and there appears to be no valid reason why we should not + accept this conclusion. + </p> + <p> + The whole system is now undergoing certain modifications, which, if wisely + introduced, should serve only to strengthen the national character. The + Confucian teachings, which are of the very highest order of morality, and + which have moulded the Chinese people for so many centuries, helping + perhaps to give them a cohesion and stability remarkable among the nations + of the world, should not be lightly cast aside. A scientific training, + enabling us to annihilate time and space, to extend indefinitely the uses + and advantages of matter in all its forms, and to mitigate the burden of + suffering which is laid upon the greater portion of the human race, still + requires to be effectively supplemented by a moral training, to teach man + his duty towards his neighbour. From the point of view of science, the + Chinese are, of course, wholly out of date, though it is only within the + past hundred and fifty years that the West has so decisively outstripped + the East. If we go back to the fifteenth century, we shall find that the + standard of civilization, as the term is usually understood, was still + much higher in China than in Europe; while Marco Polo, the famous Venetian + traveller of the thirteenth century, who actually lived twenty-four years + in China, and served as an official under Kublai Khan, has left it on + record that the magnificence of Chinese cities, and the splendour of the + Chinese court, outrivalled anything he had ever seen or heard of. + </p> + <p> + Pushing farther back into antiquity, we easily reach a time when the + inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom "held learning in high esteem, while our + own painted forefathers were running naked and houseless in the woods, and + living on berries and raw meat." In inventive, mechanical and engineering + aptitudes the Chinese have always excelled; as witness—only to + mention a few—the art of printing (<i>see below</i>); their + water-wheels and other clever appliances for irrigation; their wonderful + bridges (not to mention the Great Wall); the "taxicab," or carriage fitted + with a machine for recording the distance traversed, the earliest notice + of which takes us back to the fourth century A.D.; the system of + fingerprints for personal identification, recorded in the seventh century + A.D.; the carved ivory balls which contain even so many as nine or ten + other balls, of diminishing size, one within another; a chariot carrying a + figure which always pointed south, recorded as in existence at a very + early date, though unfortunately the specifications which have came down + to us from later dates will not work out, as in the case of the "taxicab." + The story goes that this chariot was invented about 1100 B.C., by a + wonderful hero of the day, in order to enable an ambassador, who had come + to the court of China from a far distant country in the south, to find his + way expeditiously home. The compass proper the Chinese cannot claim; it + was probably introduced into China by the Arabs at a comparatively late + date, and has been confused with the south-pointing chariot of earlier + ages. As to gunpowder, something of that nature appears to have been used + for fireworks in the seventh century; and something of the nature of a gun + is first heard of during the Mongol campaigns of the thirteenth century; + but firearms were not systematically employed until the fifteenth century. + Add to the above the art of casting bronze, brought to a high pitch of + excellence seven or eight centuries before the Christian era, if not + earlier; the production of silk, mentioned by Mencius (372-289 B.C.) as + necessary for the comfort of old age; the cultivation of the tea-plant + from time immemorial; also the discovery and manufacture of porcelain some + sixteen centuries ago, subsequently brought to a perfection which leaves + all European attempts hopelessly out-classed. + </p> + <p> + In many instances the Chinese seem to have been so near and yet so far. + There is a distinct tradition of flying cars at a very remote date; and + rough woodcuts have been handed down for many centuries, showing a car + containing two passengers, flying through the clouds and apparently + propelled by wheels of a screw pattern, set at right angles to the + direction in which the travellers are proceeding. But there is not a scrap + of evidence to show what was the motive power which turned the wheels. + Similarly, iron ships are mentioned in Chinese literature so far back as + the tenth century, only, however, to be ridiculed as an impossibility; the + circulation of the blood is hinted at; added to which is the marvellous + anticipation of anaesthetics as applied to surgery, to be mentioned later + on, an idea which also remained barren of results for something like + sixteen centuries, until Western science stepped in and secured the prize. + Here it may be fairly argued that, considering the national repugnance to + mutilation of the body in any form, it could hardly be expected that the + Chinese would seek to facilitate a process to which they so strongly + object. + </p> + <p> + In the domain of painting, we are only just beginning to awake to the fact + that in this direction the Chinese have reached heights denied to all save + artists of supreme power, and that their art was already on a lofty level + many centuries before our own great representatives had begun to put brush + to canvas. Without going so far back as the famous picture in the British + Museum, by an artist of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., the point may + perhaps be emphasized by quotation from the words of a leading art-critic, + referring to painters of the tenth and eleventh centuries:—"To the + Sung artists and poets, mountains were a passion, as to Wordsworth. The + landscape art thus founded, and continued by the Japanese in the fifteenth + century, must rank as the greatest school of landscape which the world has + seen. It is the imaginative picturing of what is most elemental and most + august in Nature—liberating visions of storm or peace among abrupt + peaks, plunging torrents, trembling reed-beds—and though having a + fantastic side for its weakness, can never have the reproach of pretty + tameness and mere fidelity which form too often the only ideal of Western + landscape." + </p> + <p> + Great Chinese artists unite in dismissing fidelity to outline as of little + importance compared with reproduction of the spirit of the object painted. + To paint a tree successfully, it is necessary to produce not merely shape + and colour but the vitality and "soul" of the original. Until with the + last two or three centuries, nature itself was always appealed to as the + one source of true inspiration; then came the artist of the studio, since + which time Chinese art has languished, while Japanese art, learned at the + feet of Chinese artists from the fourteenth century onwards, has come into + prominent notice, and is now, with extraordinary versatility, attempting + to assimilate the ideals of the West. + </p> + <p> + The following words were written by a Chinese painter of the fifth + century:— + </p> + <p> + "To gaze upon the clouds of autumn, a soaring exaltation in the soul; to + feel the spring breeze stirring wild exultant thoughts;—what is + there in the possession of gold and gems to compare with delights like + these? And then, to unroll the portfolio and spread the silk, and to + transfer to it the glories of flood and fell, the green forest, the + blowing winds, the white water of the rushing cascade, as with a turn of + the hand a divine influence descends upon the scene. . . . These are the + joys of painting." + </p> + <p> + Just as in poetry, so in pictorial art, the artist avoids giving full + expression to his theme, and leaving nothing for the spectator to supply + by his own imaginative powers. "Suggestion" is the key-note to both the + above arts; and in both, "Impressionism" has been also at the command of + the gifted, centuries before the term had passed into the English + language. + </p> + <p> + Literature and art are indeed very closely associated in China. Every + literary man is supposed to be more or less a painter, or a musician of + sorts; failing personal skill, it would go without saying that he was a + critic, or at the lowest a lover, of one or the other art, or of both. All + Chinese men, women and children seem to love flowers; and the poetry which + has gathered around the blossoms of plum and almond alone would form a not + inconsiderable library of itself. Yet a European bouquet would appear to a + man of culture as little short of a monstrosity; for to enjoy flowers, a + Chinaman must see only a single spray at a time. The poorly paid clerk + will bring with him to his office in the morning some trifling bud, which + he will stick into a tiny vase of water, and place beside him on his desk. + The owner of what may be a whole gallery of pictures will invite you to + tea, followed by an inspection of his treasures; but on the same afternoon + he will only produce perhaps a single specimen, and scout the idea that + any one could call for more. If a long landscape, it will be gradually + unwound from its roller, and a portion at a time will be submitted for the + enjoyment and criticism of his visitors; if a religious or historical + picture, or a picture of birds or flowers, of which the whole effort must + be viewed in its completeness, it will be studied in various senses, + during the intervals between a chat and a cup of tea. Such concentration + is absolutely essential, in the eyes of the Chinese critic, to a true + interpretation of the artist's meaning, and to a just appreciation of his + success. + </p> + <p> + The marvellous old stories of grapes painted by Zeuxis of ancient Greece, + so naturally that birds came to peck at them; and of the curtain painted + by Parrhasius which Zeuxis himself tried to pull aside; and of the horse + by Apelles at which another horse neighed—all these find their + counterparts in the literature of Chinese art. One painter, in quite early + days, painted a perch and hung it over a river bank, when there was + immediately a rush of otters to secure it. Another painted the creases on + cotton clothes so exactly that the clothes looked as if they had just come + from the wash. Another produced pictures of cats which would keep a place + free from rats. All these efforts were capped by those of another artist, + whose picture of the North Wind made people feel cold, while his picture + of the South Wind made people feel hot. Such exaggerations are not + altogether without their value; they suggest that Chinese art must have + reached a high level, and this has recently been shown to be nothing more + than the truth, by the splendid exhibition of Chinese pictures recently on + view in the British Museum. + </p> + <p> + The literary activities of the Chinese, and their output of literature, + have always been on a colossal scale; and of course it is entirely due to + the early invention of printing that, although a very large number of + works have disappeared, still an enormous bulk has survived the ravages of + war, rebellion and fire. + </p> + <p> + This art was rather developed than invented. There is no date, within a + margin even of half a century either way, at which we can say that + printing was invented. The germ is perhaps to be found in the engraving of + seals, which have been used by the Chinese as far back as we can go with + anything like historical certainty, and also of stone tablets from which + rubbings were taken, the most important of these being the forty-six + tablets on which five of the sacred books of Confucianism were engraved + about A.D. 170, and of which portions still remain. However this may be, + it was during the sixth century A.D. that the idea of taking impressions + on paper from wooden blocks seems to have arisen, chiefly in connexion + with religious pictures and tracts. It was not widely applied to the + production of books in general until A.D. 932, when the Confucian Canon + was so printed for the first time; from which point onwards the extension + of the art moved with rapid strides. + </p> + <p> + It is very noticeable that the Chinese, who are extraordinarily averse to + novelties, and can hardly be induced to consider any innovations, when + once convinced of their real utility, waste no further time in securing to + themselves all the advantages which may accrue. This was forcibly + illustrated in regard to the introduction of the telegraph, against which + the Chinese had set their faces, partly because of the disturbance of + geomantic influences caused by the tall telegraph poles, and partly + because they sincerely doubted that the wires could achieve the results + claimed. But when it was discovered that some wily Cantonese had learnt + over the telegraph the names of the three highest graduates at the Peking + triennial examination, weeks before the names could be known in Canton by + the usual route, and had enriched himself by buying up the tickets bearing + those names in the great lotteries which are always held in connexion with + this event, Chinese opposition went down like a house of cards; and the + only question with many of the literati was whether, at some remote date, + the Chinese had not invented telegraphy themselves. + </p> + <p> + Moveable types of baked clay were invented about A.D. 1043, and some + centuries later they were made of wood and of copper or lead; but they + have never gained the favour accorded to block-printing, by which most of + the great literary works have been produced. The newspapers of modern days + are all printed from moveable types, and also many translations of foreign + books, prepared to meet the increasing demand for Western learning. The + Chinese have always been a great reading people, systematic education + culminating in competitive examinations for students going back to the + second century A.D. This is perhaps a suitable place for explaining that + the famous <i>Peking Gazette</i>, often said to be the oldest newspaper in + the world, is not really a newspaper at all, in that it contains no news + in our sense of the term. It is a record only of court movements, list of + promoted officials, with a few selected memorials and edicts. It is + published daily, but was not printed until the fifteenth century. + </p> + <p> + Every Chinese boy may be said to have his chance. The slightest sign of a + capacity for book-learning is watched for, even among the poorest. Besides + the opportunity of free schools, a clever boy will soon find a patron; and + in many cases, the funds for carrying on a curriculum, and for entering + the first of the great competitions, will be subscribed in the district, + on which the candidate will confer a lasting honour by his success. A + promising young graduate, who has won his first degree with honours, is at + once an object of importance to wealthy fathers who desire to secure him + as a son-in-law, and who will see that money is not wanting to carry him + triumphantly up the official ladder. Boys without any gifts of the kind + required, remain to fill the humbler positions; those who advance to a + certain point are drafted into trade; while hosts of others who just fall + short of the highest, become tutors in private families, schoolmasters, + doctors, fortune-tellers, geomancers, and booksellers' hacks. + </p> + <p> + Of high-class Chinese literature, it is not possible to give even the + faintest idea in the space at disposal. It must suffice to say that all + branches are adequately represented, histories, biographies, philosophy, + poetry and essays on all manner of subjects, offering a wide field even to + the most insatiate reader. + </p> + <p> + And here a remark may be interjected, which is very necessary for the + information of those who wish to form a true estimate of the Chinese + people. Throughout the Confucian Canon, a collection of ancient works on + which the moral code of the Chinese is based, there is not a single word + which could give offence, even to the most sensitive, on questions of + delicacy and decency. That is surely saying a good deal, but it is not + all; precisely the same may be affirmed of what is mentioned above as + high-class Chinese literature, which is pure enough to satisfy the most + strait-laced. Chinese poetry, of which there is in existence a huge mass, + will be searched in vain for suggestions of impropriety, for sly innuendo, + and for the other tricks of the unclean. This extraordinary purity of + language is all the more remarkable from the fact that, until recent + years, the education of women has not been at all general, though many + particular instances are recorded of women who have themselves achieved + success in literary pursuits. It is only when we come to the novel, to the + short story, or to the anecdote, which are not usually written in + high-class style, and are therefore not recognized as literature proper, + that this exalted standard is no longer always maintained. + </p> + <p> + There are, indeed, a great number of novels, chiefly historical and + religious, in which the aims of the writers are on a sufficiently high + level to keep them clear of what is popularly known as pornography or + pig-writing; still, when all is said and done, there remains a balance of + writing curiously in contrast with the great bulk of Chinese literature + proper. As to the novel, the long story with a worked-out plot, this is + not really a local product. It seems to have come along with the Mongols + from Central Asia, when they conquered China in the thirteenth century, + and established their short-lived dynasty. Some novels, in spite of their + low moral tone, are exceedingly well written and clever, graphic in + description, and dramatic in episode; but it is curious that no writer of + the first rank has ever attached his name to a novel, and that the + authorship of all the cleverest is a matter of entire uncertainty. + </p> + <p> + The low-class novel is purposely pitched in a style that will be easily + understood; but even so, there is a great deal of word- and + phrase-skipping to be done by many illiterate readers, who are quite + satisfied if they can extract the general sense as they go along. The + book-language, as cultivated by the best writers, is to be freely + understood only by those who have stocked their minds well with the + extensive phraseology which has been gradually created by eminent men + during the past twenty-five centuries, and with historical and + biographical allusions and references of all sorts and things. A word or + two, suggesting some apposite allusion, will often greatly enhance the + beauty of a composition for the connoisseur, but will fall flat on the + ears of those to whom the quotation is unknown. Simple objects in everyday + life often receive quaint names, as handed down in literature, with which + it is necessary to be familiar. For instance, a "fairy umbrella" means a + mushroom; a "gentleman of the beam" is a burglar, because a burglar was + once caught sitting on one of the open beams inside a Chinese roof; a + "slender waist" is a wasp; the "throat olive" is the "Adam's apple"—which, + by the way, is an excellent illustration from the opposite point of view; + "eyebrow notes" means notes at the top of a page; "cap words" is sometimes + used for "preface;" the "sweeper-away of care" is wine; "golden balls" are + oranges; the "golden tray" is the moon; a "two-haired man" is a + grey-beard; the "hundred holes" is a beehive; "instead of the moon" is a + lantern; "instead of steps" is a horse; "the man with the wooden skirt" is + a shopman; to "scatter sleep" means to give hush-money; and so on, almost + <i>ad infinitum</i>. + </p> + <p> + Chinese medical literature is on a very voluminous scale, medicine having + always occupied a high place in the estimation of the people, in spite of + the fact that its practice has always been left to any one who might + choose to take it up. Surgery, even of an elementary kind, has never had a + chance; for the Chinese are extremely loath to suffer any interference + with their bodies, believing, in accordance with Confucian dogma, that as + they received them from their parents, so they should carry them into the + presence of their ancestors in the next world. Medicine, as still + practised in China, may be compared with the European art of a couple of + centuries ago, and its exceedingly doubtful results are fully appreciated + by patients at large. "No medicine," says one proverb, "is better than a + middling doctor;" while another points out that "Many sons of clever + doctors die of disease." + </p> + <p> + Legend, however, tells us of an extraordinary physician of the fifth + century B.C. who was able to see into the viscera of his patients—an + apparent anticipation of the X-rays—and who, by his intimate + knowledge of the human pulse, effected many astounding cures. We also read + of an eminent physician of the second and third centuries A.D. who did add + surgery to this other qualifications. He was skilled in the use of + acupuncture and cautery; but if these failed he would render his patient + unconscious by a dose of hashish, and then operate surgically. He is said + to have diagnosed a case of diseased bowels by the pulse alone, and then + to have cured it by operation. He offered to cure the headaches of a + famous military commander of the day by opening his skull under hashish; + but the offer was rudely declined. This story serves to show, in spite of + its marvellous setting, that the idea of administering an anaesthetic to + carry out a surgical operation must be credited, so far as priority goes, + to the Chinese, since the book in which the above account is given cannot + have been composed later than the twelfth century A.D. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII—PHILOSOPHY AND SPORT + </h2> + <p> + Chinese philosophy covers altogether too large a field to be dealt with, + even in outline, on a scale suitable to this volume; only a few of its + chief features can possibly be exhibited in the space at disposal. + </p> + <p> + Beginning with moral philosophy, we are confronted at once with what was + in early days an extremely vexed question; not perhaps entirely set at + rest even now, but allowed to remain in suspense amid the universal + acceptance of Confucian teachings. Confucius himself taught in no + indistinct terms that man is born good, and that he becomes evil only by + contact with evil surroundings. He does not enlarge upon this dogma, but + states it baldly as a natural law, little anticipating that within a + couple of centuries it was to be called seriously in question. It remained + for his great follower, Mencius, born a hundred years later, to defend the + proposition against all comers, and especially against one of no mean + standing, the philosopher Kao (<i>Cow</i>). Kao declared that + righteousness is only to be got out of man's nature in the same way that + good cups and bowls are to be got out of a block of willow wood, namely, + by care in fashioning them. Improper workmanship would produce bad + results; good workmanship, on the other hand, would produce good results. + In plain words, the nature of man at birth is neither good nor bad; and + what it becomes afterwards depends entirely upon what influences have been + brought to bear and in what surroundings it has come to maturity. Mencius + met this argument by showing that in the process of extracting cups and + bowls from a block of wood, the wood as a block is destroyed, and he + pointed out that, according to such reasoning, man's nature would also be + destroyed in the process of getting righteousness out of it. + </p> + <p> + Again, Kao maintained that man's nature has as little concern with good or + evil as water has with east or west; for water will flow indifferently + either one way or the other, according to the conditions in each case. If + there is freedom on the east, it will flow east; if there is freedom on + the west, it will flow west; and so with human nature, which will move + similarly in the direction of either good or evil. In reply, Mencius + freely admitted that water would flow either east or west; but he asked if + it would flow indifferently up or down. He then declared that the bent of + human nature towards good is precisely like the tendency of water to flow + down and not up. You can force water to jump up, he said, by striking it, + and by mechanical appliances you can make it flow to the top of a hill; + but what you do in such cases is entirely contrary to the nature of water, + and is merely the result of violence, such violence, in fact, as is + brought into play when man's nature is bent towards evil. + </p> + <p> + "That which men get at birth," said Kao, "is their nature," implying that + all natures were the same, just as the whiteness of a white feather is the + same as the whiteness of white snow; whereupon Mencius showed that on this + principle the nature of a dog would be the same as that of a an ox, or the + nature of an ox the same as that of a man. Finally, Mencius declared that + for whatever evil men may commit, their natures can in nowise be blamed. + In prosperous times, he argued, men are mostly good, whereas in times of + scarcity the opposite is the case; these two conditions, however, are not + to be charged against the natures with which God sent them into the world, + but against the circumstances in which the individuals in question have + been situated. + </p> + <p> + The question, however, of man's original nature was not set permanently at + rest by the arguments of Mencius. A philosopher, named Hsun Tzu (<i>Sheundza</i>), + who flourished not very much later than Mencius, came forward with the + theory that so far from being good according to Confucius, or even neutral + according to Kao, the nature of man at birth is positively evil. He + supports this view by the following arguments. From his earliest years, + man is actuated by a love of gain for his own personal enjoyment. His + conduct is distinguished by selfishness and combativeness. He becomes a + slave to envy, hatred, and other passions. The restraint of law, and the + influence and guidance of teachers, are absolutely necessary to good + government and the well-being of social life. Just as wood must be + subjected to pressure in order to make it straight, and metal must be + subjected to the grindstone in order to make it sharp, so must the nature + of man be subjected to training and education in order to obtain from it + the virtues of justice and self-sacrifice which characterize the best of + the human race. It is impossible to maintain that man's nature is good in + the same sense that his eyes see and his ears hear; for in the latter + there is no alternative. An eye which does not see, is not an eye; an ear + which does not hear, is not an ear. This proves that whereas seeing and + hearing are natural to man, goodness is artificial and acquired. Just as a + potter produces a dish or a carpenter a bench, working on some material + before them, so do the sages and teachers of mankind produce righteousness + by working upon the nature of man, which they transform in the same way + that the potter transforms the clay or the carpenter the wood. We cannot + believe that God has favourites, and deals unkindly with others. How, + then, is it that some men are evil while others are good? The answer is, + that the former follow their natural disposition, while the latter submit + to restraints and follow the guidance of their teachers. It is indeed true + that any one may become a hero, but all men do not necessarily become + heroes, nor is there any method by which they can be forced to do so. If a + man is endowed with a capacity for improvement, and is placed in the hands + of good teachers, associating at the same time with friends whose actions + display such virtues as self-sacrifice, truth, kindness, and so forth, he + will naturally imbibe principles which will raise him to the same + standard; whereas, if he consorts with evil livers, he will be a daily + witness of deceit, corruption, and general impurity of conduct, and will + gradually lapse into the same course of life. If you do not know your son, + says the proverb, look at his friends. + </p> + <p> + The next step was taken by the philosopher Yang Hsiung (<i>Sheeyoong</i>), + 53 B.C. to A.D. 18. He started a theory which occupies a middle place + between the last two theories discussed above, teaching that the nature of + man at birth is neither wholly good nor wholly evil, but a mixture of + both, and that development in either direction depends altogether on + environment. A compromise in matters of faith is not nearly so picturesque + as an extreme, and Yang's attempted solution has attracted but scant + attention, though always mentioned with respect. The same may also be said + of another attempt to smooth obvious difficulties in the way of accepting + either of the two extremes or the middle course proposed by Yang Hsiung. + The famous Han Yu, to be mentioned again shortly, was a pillar and prop of + Confucianism. He flourished between A.D. 768 and 824, and performed such + lasting services in what was to him the cause of truth, that his tablet + has been placed in the Confucian temple, an honour reserved only for those + whose orthodoxy is beyond suspicion. Yet he ventured upon an attempt to + modify this important dogma, taking care all the time to appear as if he + were criticizing Mencius rather than Confucius, on whom, of course, the + real responsibility rests. He declared, solely upon his own authority, + that the nature of man is not uniform but divided into three grades—namely, + highest, middle, and lowest. Thus, natures of the highest grade are good, + wholly good, and nothing but good; natures of the lowest grade are evil, + wholly evil, and nothing but evil; while natures of the middle grade may, + under right direction, rise to the highest grade, or, under wrong + direction, sink to the lowest. + </p> + <p> + Another question, much debated in the age of Mencius, arose out of the + rival statements of two almost contemporary philosophers, Mo Ti (<i>Maw + Tee</i>) and Yang Chu. The former taught a system of mutual and + consequently universal love as a cure for all the ills arising from + misgovernment and want of social harmony. He pointed out, with much truth, + that if the feudal states would leave one another alone, families cease to + quarrel, and thieves cease to steal, while sovereign and subject lived on + terms of benevolence and loyalty, and fathers and sons on terms of + kindness and filial piety—then indeed the empire would be well + governed. But beyond suggesting the influence of teachers in the + prohibition of hatred and the encouragement of mutual love, our + philosopher does little or nothing to aid us in reaching such a desirable + consummation. + </p> + <p> + The doctrine of Yang Chu is summed up as "every man for himself," and is + therefore diametrically opposed to that of Mo Ti. A questioner one day + asked him if he would consent to part with a single hair in order to + benefit the whole world. Yang Chu replied that a single hair could be of + no possible benefit to the world; and on being further pressed to say what + he would do if a hair were really of such benefit, it is stated that he + gave no answer. On the strength of this story, Mencius said: "Yang's + principle was, every man for himself. Though by plucking out a single hair + he might have benefited the whole world, he would not have done so. Mo's + system was universal love. If by taking off every hair from the crown of + his head to the sole of his foot he could have benefited the empire, he + would have done so. Neither of these two doctrines is sound; a middle + course is the right one." + </p> + <p> + The origin of the visible universe is a question on which Chinese + philosophers have very naturally been led to speculate. Legend provides us + with a weird being named P'an Ku, who came into existence, no one can + quite say how, endowed with perfect knowledge, his function being to set + the gradually developing universe in order. He is often represented + pictorially with a huge adze in his hand, and engaged in constructing the + world out of the matter which has just begun to take shape. With his death + the detailed part of creation appeared. His breath became the wind; his + voice, the thunder; his left eye, the sun; his right eye, the moon; his + blood yielded rivers; his hair grew into trees and plants; his flesh + became the soil; his sweat descended as rain; and the parasites which + infested his body were the forerunners of the human race. This sort of + stuff, however, could only appeal to the illiterate; for intellectual and + educated persons something more was required. And so it came about that a + system, based originally upon the quite incomprehensible Book of Changes, + generally regarded as the oldest portion of the Confucian Canon, was + gradually elaborated and brought to a finite state during the eleventh and + twelfth centuries of our era. According to this system, there was a time, + almost beyond the reach of expression in figures, when nothing at all + existed. In the period which followed, there came into existence, + spontaneously, a principle, which after another lapse of time resolved + itself into two principles with entirely opposite characteristics. One of + these principles represented light, heat, masculinity, and similar + phenomena classed as positive; the other represented darkness, cold, + femininity, and other phenomena classed as negative. The interaction of + these two principles in duly adjusted proportions produced the five + elements, earth, fire, water, wood, and metal; and with their assistance + all Nature as we see it around us was easily and rapidly developed. Such + is the Confucian theory, at any rate so called, for it cannot be shown + that Confucius ever entertained these notions, and his alleged connexion + with the Canon of Changes is itself of doubtful authenticity. + </p> + <p> + Chuang Tzu (<i>Chwongdza</i>), a philosopher of the third and fourth + centuries B.C., who was not only a mystic but also a moralist and a social + reformer, has something to say on the subject: "If there is existence, + there must have been non-existence. And if there was a time when nothing + existed, then there must have been a time before that, when even nothing + did not exist. Then when nothing came into existence, could one really say + whether it belonged to existence or non-existence?" + </p> + <p> + "Nothing" was rather a favourite term with Chuang Tzu for the exercise of + his wit. Light asked Nothing, saying: "Do you, sir, exist, or do you not + exist?" But getting no answer to his question, Light set to work to watch + for the appearance of Nothing. Hidden, vacuous—all day long he + looked but could not see it, listened but could not hear it, grasped at + but could not seize it. "Bravo!" cried Light; "who can equal this? I can + get to be nothing [meaning darkness], but I can't get to be not nothing." + </p> + <p> + Confucius would have nothing to say on the subject of death and a future + state; his theme was consistently this life and its obligations, and he + regarded speculation on the unknown as sheer waste of time. When one of + three friends died and Confucius sent a disciple to condole with the other + two, the disciple found them sitting by the side of the corpse, merrily + singing and playing on the lute. They professed the then comparatively new + faith which taught that life was a dream and death the awakening. They + believed that at death the pure man "mounts to heaven, and roaming through + the clouds, passes beyond the limits of space, oblivious of existence, for + ever and ever without end." When the shocked disciple reported what he had + seen, Confucius said, "These men travel beyond the rule of life; I travel + within it. Consequently, our paths do not meet; and I was wrong in sending + you to mourn. They look on life as a huge tumour from which death sets + them free. All the same they know not where they were before birth, nor + where they will be after death. They ignore their passions. They take no + account of their ears and eyes. Backwards and forwards through all + eternity, they do not admit a beginning or an end. They stroll beyond the + dust and dirt of mortality, to wander in the realms of inaction. How + should such men trouble themselves with the conventionalities of this + world, or care what people may think of them?" + </p> + <p> + Life comes, says Chuang Tzu, and cannot be declined; it goes, and cannot + be stopped. But alas, the world thinks that to nourish the physical frame + is enough to preserve life. Although not enough, it must still be done; + this cannot be neglected. For if one is to neglect the physical frame, + better far to retire at once from the world, since by renouncing the world + one gets rid of the cares of the world. There is, however, the vitality + which informs the physical frame; that must be equally an object of + incessant care. Then he whose physical frame is perfect and whose vitality + remains in its original purity—he is one with God. Man passes + through this sublunary life as a sunbeam passes through a crack; here one + moment, and gone the next. Neither are there any not equally subject to + the ingress and egress of mortality. One modification brings life; then + comes another, and there is death. Living creatures cry out; human beings + feel sorrow. The bow-case is slipped off; the clothes'-bag is dropped; and + in the confusion the soul wings its flight, and the body follows, on the + great journey home. + </p> + <p> + Attention has already been drawn to this necessary cultivation of the + physical frame, and Chuan Tzu gives an instance of the extent to which it + was carried. There was a certain man whose nose was covered with a very + hard scab, which was at the same time no thicker than a fly's wing. He + sent for a stonemason to chip it off; and the latter plied his adze with + great dexterity while the patient sat absolutely rigid, without moving a + muscle, and let him chip. When the scab was all off, the nose was found to + be quite uninjured. Such skill was of course soon noised abroad, and a + feudal prince, who also had a scab on his nose, sent for the mason to take + it off. The mason, however, declined to try, alleging that the success did + not depend so much upon the skill of the operator as upon the mental + control of the patient by which the physical frame became as it were a + perfectly inanimate object. + </p> + <p> + Contemporary with Chuang Tzu, but of a very different school of thought, + was the philosopher Hui Tzu (<i>Hooeydza</i>). He was particularly fond of + the quibbles which so delighted the sophists or unsound reasoners of + ancient Greece. Chuang Tzu admits that he was a man of many ideas, and + that his works would fill five carts—this, it must be remembered, + because they were written on slips of wood tied together by a string run + through eyelets. But he adds that Hui Tzu's doctrines are paradoxical, and + his terms used ambiguously. Hui Tzu argued, for instance, that such + abstractions as hardness and whiteness were separate existences, of which + the mind could only be conscious separately, one at a time. He declared + that there are feathers in a new-laid egg, because they ultimately appear + on the chick. He maintained that fire is not hot; it is the man who feels + hot. That the eye does not see; it is the man who sees. That compasses + will not make a circle; it is the man. That a bay horse and a dun cow are + three; because taken separately they are two, and taken together they are + one: two and one make three. That a motherless colt never had a mother; + when it had a mother, it was not motherless. That if you take a stick a + foot long and every day cut it in half, you will never come to the end of + it. + </p> + <p> + Of what use, asked his great rival, is Hui Tzu to the world? His efforts + can only be compared with those of a gadfly or a mosquito. He makes a + noise to drown an echo. He is like a man running a race with his own + shadow. + </p> + <p> + When Chuang Tzu was about to die, his disciples expressed a wish to give + him a splendid funeral. But Chuang Tzu said: "With heaven and earth for my + coffin and my shell; with the sun, moon and stars as my burial regalia; + and with all creation to escort me to my grave,—are not my funeral + paraphernalia ready to hand?" "We fear," argued the disciples, "lest the + carrion kite should eat the body of our Master;" to which Chuang Tzu + replied: "Above ground I shall be food for kites; below ground for + mole-crickets and ants. Why rob one to feed the other?" + </p> + <p> + Life in China is not wholly made up of book-learning and commerce. The + earliest Chinese records exhibit the people as following the chase in the + wake of the great nobles, more as a sport than as the serious business it + must have been in still more remote ages; and the first emperors of the + present dynasty were also notable sportsmen, who organized periodical + hunting-tours on a scale of considerable magnificence. + </p> + <p> + Hawking was practised at least so far back as a century before Christ; for + we have a note on a man of that period who "loved to gallop after wily + animals with horse and dog, or follow up with falcon the pheasant and the + hare." The sport may be seen in northern China at the present day. A hare + is put up, and a couple of native greyhounds are dispatched after it; + these animals, however, would soon be distanced by the hare, which can run + straight away from them without doubling, but for the sudden descent of + the falcon, and a blow from its claw, often stunning the hare at the first + attempt, and enabling the dogs to come up. + </p> + <p> + Sportsmen who have to make their living by the business frequently descend + to methods which are sometimes very ingenious, and more remunerative than + the gun, but can hardly be classified as sport. Thus, a man in search of + wild duck will mark down a flock settled on some shallow sheet of water. + He will then put a crate over his head and shoulders, and gradually + approach the flock as though the crate were drifting on the surface. Once + among them, he puts out a hand under water, seizes hold of a duck's legs, + and rapidly pulls the bird down. The sudden disappearance of a colleague + does not seem to trouble its companions, and in a short time a very + considerable bag has been obtained. Tradition says that Confucius was fond + of sport, but would never let fly at birds sitting; which, considering + that his weapon was a bow-and-arrow, must be set down as a marvel of + self-restraint. + </p> + <p> + Scores of Chinese poets have dwelt upon the joys of angling, and fishing + is widely carried on over the inland waters; but the rod, except as a + matter of pure sport, has given place to the businesslike net. The account + of the use of fishing cormorants was formerly regarded as a traveller's + tale. It is quite true, however, that small rafts carrying several of + these birds, with a fisherman gently sculling at the stern, may be seen on + the rivers of southern China. The cormorant seizes a passing fish, and the + fisherman takes the fish from its beak. The bird is trained with a ring + round its neck, which prevents it from swallowing the prey; while for each + capture it is rewarded with a small piece of fish. Well-trained cormorants + can be trusted to fish without the restraint of the ring. Confucius, + again, is said to have been fond of fishing, but he would not use a net; + and there was another sage of antiquity who would not even use a hook, but + fished with a straight piece of iron, apparently thinking that the + advantage would be an unfair one as against the resources of the fish; and + declaring openly that he would only take such fish as wished to be caught. + By such simple narratives do the Chinese strive to convey great truths to + childish ears. + </p> + <p> + Many sports were once common in China which have long since passed out of + the national life, and exist only in the record of books. Among these may + be mentioned "butting," a very ancient pastime, mentioned in history two + centuries before the Christian era. The sport consisted in putting an + ox-skin, horns and all, over the head, and then trying to knock one's + adversary out of time by butting at him after the fashion of bulls, the + result being, as the history of a thousand years later tells us, "smashed + heads, broken arms, and blood running in the Palace yard." + </p> + <p> + The art of boxing, which included wrestling, had been practised by the + Chinese several centuries before butting was introduced. Its most + accomplished exponents were subsequently found among the priests of a + Buddhist monastery, built about A.D. 500; and it was undoubtedly from + their successors that the Japanese acquired a knowledge of the modern <i>jiu-jitsu</i>, + which is simply the equivalent of the old Chinese term meaning "gentle + art." A few words from a chapter on "boxing" in a military work of the + sixteenth century will give some idea of the scope of the Chinese sport. + </p> + <p> + "The body must be quick to move, the hands quick to take advantage, and + the legs lightly planted but firm, so as to advance or retire with effect. + In the flying leap of the leg lies the skill of the art; in turning the + adversary upside down lies its ferocity; in planting a straight blow with + the fist lies its rapidity; and in deftly holding the adversary face + upwards lies its gentleness." + </p> + <p> + Football was played in China at a very early date; originally, with a ball + stuffed full of hair; from the fifth century A.D., with an inflated + bladder covered with leather. A picture of the goal, which is something + like a triumphal arch, has come down to us, and also the technical names + and positions of the players; even more than seventy kinds of kicks are + enumerated, but the actual rules of the game are not known. It is recorded + by one writer that "the winners were rewarded with flowers, fruit and + wine, and even with silver bowls and brocades, while the captain of the + losing team was flogged, and suffered other indignities." The game, which + had disappeared for some centuries, is now being revived in Chinese + schools and colleges under the control of foreigners, and finds great + favour with the rising generation. + </p> + <p> + Polo is first mentioned in Chinese literature under the year A.D. 710, the + reference being to a game played before the Emperor and his court. The + game was very much in vogue for a long period, and even women were taught + to play—on donkey-back. The Kitan Tartars were the most skilful + players; it is doubtful if the game originated with them, or if it was + introduced from Persia, with which country China had relations at a very + early date. A statesman of the tenth century, disgusted at the way in + which the Emperor played polo to excess, presented a long memorial, urging + his Majesty to discontinue the practice. The reasons given for this advice + were three in number. "(1) When sovereign and subject play together, there + must be contention. If the sovereign wins, the subject is ashamed; if the + former loses, the latter exults. (2) To jump on a horse and swing a + mallet, galloping here and there, with no distinctions of rank, but only + eager to be first and win, is destructive of all ceremony between + sovereign and subject. (3) To make light of the responsibilities of + empire, and run even the remotest risk of an accident, is to disregard + obligations to the state and to her Imperial Majesty the Empress." + </p> + <p> + It has always been recognized that the chief duty of a statesman is to + advise his master without fear or favour, and to protest loudly and openly + against any course which is likely to be disadvantageous to the + commonwealth, or to bring discredit on the court. It has also been always + understood that such protests are made entirely at the risk of the + statesman in question, who must be prepared to pay with his head for + counsels which may be stigmatized as unpatriotic, though in reality they + may be nothing more than unpalatable at the moment. + </p> + <p> + In the year A.D. 814 the Emperor, who had become a devout Buddhist, made + arrangements for receiving with extravagant honours a bone of Buddha, + which had been forwarded from India to be preserved as a relic. This was + too much for Han Yu (already mentioned), the leading statesman of the day, + who was a man of the people, raised by his own genius, and who, to make + things worse, had already been banished eleven years previously for + presenting an offensive Memorial on the subject of tax-collection, for + which he had been forgiven and recalled. He promptly sent in a respectful + but bitter denunciation of Buddha and all his works, and entreated his + Majesty not to stain the Confucian purity of thought by tolerating such a + degrading exhibition as that proposed. But for the intercession of + friends, the answer to this bold memorial would have been death; as it was + he was banished to the neighbourhood of the modern Swatow, then a wild and + barbarous region, hardly incorporated into the Empire. There he set + himself to civilize the rude inhabitants, until soon recalled and once + more reinstated in office; and to this day there is a shrine dedicated to + his memory, containing the following inscription: "Wherever he passed, he + purified." + </p> + <p> + Another great statesman, who flourished over two hundred years later, and + also several times suffered banishment, in an inscription to the honour + and glory of his predecessor, put down the following words: "Truth began + to be obscured and literature to fade; supernatural religions sprang up on + all sides, and many eminent scholars failed to oppose their advance, until + Han Yu, the cotton-clothed, arose and blasted them with his derisive + sneer." + </p> + <p> + Since the fourteenth century there has existed a definite organization, + known as the Censorate, the members of which, who are called the "ears and + eyes" of the sovereign, make it their business to report adversely upon + any course adopted by the Government in the name of the Emperor, or by any + individual statesman, which seems to call for disapproval. The reproving + Censor is nominally entitled to complete immunity from punishment; but in + practice he knows that he cannot count too much upon either justice or + mercy. If he concludes that his words will be unforgivable, he hands in + his memorial, and draws public attention forthwith by committing suicide + on the spot. + </p> + <p> + To be allowed to commit suicide, and not to suffer the indignity of a + public execution, is a privilege sometimes extended to a high official + whose life has become forfeit under circumstances which do not call for + special degradation. A silken cord is forwarded from the Emperor to the + official in question, who at once puts an end to his life, though not + necessarily by strangulation. He may take poison, as is usually the case, + and this is called "swallowing gold." For a long time it was believed that + Chinese high officials really did swallow gold, which in view of its + non-poisonous character gave rise to an idea that gold-leaf was employed, + the leaf being inhaled and so causing suffocation. Some simple folk, + Chinese as well as foreigners, believe this now, although native + authorities have pointed out that workmen employed in the extraction of + gold often steal pieces and swallow them, without any serious consequences + whatever. Another explanation, which has also the advantage of being the + true one, is that "swallowing gold" is one of the roundabout phrases in + which the Chinese delight to express painful or repulsive subjects. No + emperor ever "dies," he becomes "a guest on high." No son will say that + his parents are "dead;" but merely that "they are not." The death of an + official is expressed by "he is drawing no salary;" of an ordinary man it + may be said that "he has become an ancient," very much in the same way + that we say "he has joined the majority." A corpse in a coffin is in its + "long home;" when buried, it is in "the city of old age," or on "the + terrace of night." To say grossly, then, that a man took poison would be + an offence to ears polite. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII—RECREATION + </h2> + <p> + To return, after a long digression. The age of manly sport, as above + described, has long passed away; and the only hope is for a revival under + the changing conditions of modern China. Some few athletic exercises have + survived; and until recently, archery, in which the Tartars have always + excelled, was regarded almost as a semi-divine accomplishment. Kite-flying + has reached a high level of skill. Clever little "messengers" have been + devised, which run up the string, carrying fire-crackers which explode at + a great height. There is a game of shuttlecock, without the battledore, + for which the feet are used as a substitute; and "diavolo," recently + introduced into Europe, is an ancient Chinese pastime. A few Manchus, too, + may be seen skating during the long northern winter, but the modern + inhabitant of the Flowery Land, be he Manchu or Chinese, much prefers an + indoor game to anything else, especially when, as is universally the case, + a stake of money is involved. + </p> + <p> + Gambling is indeed a very marked feature of Chinese life. A child buying a + cake will often go double or quits with the stall-keeper, to see if he is + to have two cakes or nothing, the question being settled by a throw of + dice in a bowl. Of the interval allowed for meals, a gang of coolies will + devote a portion to a game of cards. The cards used are smaller than the + European pack, and of course differently marked; they were the invention + of a lady of the Palace in the tenth century, who substituted imitation + leaves of gilt paper for real leaves, which had previously been adopted + for playing some kind of game. There are also various games played with + chequers, some of great antiquity; and there is chess, that is to say, a + game so little differing from our chess as to leave no doubt as to the + common origin of both. In all of these the money element comes in; and it + is not too much to say that more homes are broken up, and more misery + caused by this truly national vice than can be attributed to any other + cause. + </p> + <p> + For pleasure pure and simple, independent of gains and losses, the theatre + occupies the warmest place in every Chinaman's heart. If gambling is a + national vice in China, the drama must be set off as the national + recreation. Life would be unthinkable to the vast majority if its monotony + were not broken by the periodical performance of stage-plays. It is from + this source that a certain familiarity with the great historical episodes + of the past may be pleasantly picked up over a pipe and a cup of tea; + while the farce, occasionally perhaps erring on the side of breadth, + affords plenty of merriment to the laughter-loving crowd. + </p> + <p> + Ability to make Chinamen laugh is a great asset; and a foreigner who + carries this about with him will find it stand him in much better stead + than a revolver. When, many years ago, a vessel was wrecked on the coast + of Formosa, the crew and passengers were at once seized, and confined for + some time in a building, where traces of their inscriptions could be seen + up to quite a recent date. At length, they were all taken out for + execution; but before the ghastly order was carried out, one of the number + so amused everybody by cutting capers and turning head over heels, that + the presiding mandarin said he was a funny fellow, and positively allowed + him to escape. + </p> + <p> + With regard to the farce itself, it is not so much the actual wit of the + dialogue which carries away the audience as the refined skill of the + actor, who has to pass through many trials before he is considered to be + fit for the stage. Beginning as quite a boy, in addition to committing to + memory a large number of plays—not merely his own part, but the + whole play—he has to undergo a severe physical training, part of + which consists in standing for an hour every day with his mouth wide open, + to inhale the morning air. He is taught to sing, to walk, to strut, and to + perform a variety of gymnastic exercises, such as standing on his head, or + turning somersaults. His first classification is as male or female actor, + no women having been allowed to perform since the days of the Emperor + Ch'ien Lung (A.D. 1736-1796), whose mother was an actress, just as in + Shakespeare's time the parts for women were always taken by young men or + boys. When once this is settled, it only remains to enrol him as + tragedian, comedian, low-comedy actor, walking gentleman or lady, and + similar parts, according to his capabilities. + </p> + <p> + It is not too much to say that women are very little missed on the Chinese + stage. The make-up of the actor is so perfect, and his imitation of the + feminine voice and manner, down to the smallest detail, even to the small + feet, is so exact in every point, that he would be a clever observer who + could positively detect impersonation by a man. + </p> + <p> + Generally speaking, a Chinese actor has many more difficulties to face + than his colleague in the West. In addition to the expression of all + shades of feeling, from mirth to melancholy, the former has to keep up a + perpetual make-believe in another sense, which is further great strain + upon his nerves. There being no scenery, no furniture, and no appointments + of any except the slenderest kind upon the stage, he has to create in the + minds of his audience a belief that all these missing accessories are + nevertheless before their eyes. A general comes upon the scene, with a + whip in his hand, and a studied movement not only suggests that he is + dismounting from a horse, but outlines the animal itself. In the same + manner, he remounts and rides off again; while some other actor speaks + from the top of a small table, which is forthwith transfigured, and + becomes to all intents and purposes a castle. + </p> + <p> + Many of those who might be apt to smile at the simple Chinese mind which + can tolerate such absurdities in the way of make-believe, require to be + reminded that the stage in the days of Queen Elizabeth was worked on very + much the same lines. Sir Philip Sidney tells us that the scene of an + imagined garden with imagined flowers had to do duty at one time for an + imagined shipwreck, and at another for an imagined battlefield, the + spectator in the latter case being helped out by two opposing soldiers + armed with swords and bucklers. Even Shakespeare, in the Prologue to his + play of <i>Henry V</i>, speaks of imagining one man to be an army of a + thousand, and says:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Think, when we talk of horses that you see them + Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth; + For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings. +</pre> + <p> + Here, then, is good authority for the quaint system that still prevails in + China. + </p> + <p> + Hundreds of Chinese pilgrims annually went their weary way to the top of + Mount Omi in the province of Ssuch'uan, and gaze downward from a sheer and + lofty precipice to view a huge circular belt of light, which is called the + Glory of Buddha. Some see it, some do not; the Chinese say that the whole + thing is a question of faith. In a somewhat similar sense, the dramatic + enthusiast sees before him such beings of the mind as the genuine actor is + able to call up. The Philistine cannot reach this pitch; but he is sharp + enough to see other things which to the eye of the sympathetic spectator + are absolutely non-existent. Some of the latter will be enumerated below. + </p> + <p> + The Chinese stage has no curtain; and the orchestra is on the stage + itself, behind the actors. There is no prompter and no call-boy. Stage + footmen wait at the sides to carry in screens, small tables, and an odd + chair or two, to represent houses, city walls, and so on, or hand cups of + tea to the actors when their throats become dry from vociferous singing, + which is always in falsetto. All this in the face of the audience. Dead + people get up and walk off the stage; or while lying dead, contrive to + alter their facial expression, and then get up and carry themselves off. + There is no interval between one play and the next following, which + probably gives rise to the erroneous belief that Chinese plays are long, + the fact being that they are very short. According to the Penal Code, + there may be no impersonation of emperors and empresses of past ages, but + this clause is now held to refer solely to the present dynasty. + </p> + <p> + For the man in the street and his children, there are to be seen + everywhere in China where a sufficient number of people gather together, + Punch-and-Judy shows of quite a high class in point of skill and general + attractiveness. These shows are variously traced back to the eighth and + second centuries B.C., and to the seventh century A.D., even the latest of + which periods would considerably antedate the appearance of performing + marionettes in this country or on the Continent. Associated with the + second century B.C., the story runs that the Emperor of the day was + closely besieged by a terrible Hun chieftain, who was accompanied by his + wife. It occurred to one of his Majesty's staff to exhibit on the walls of + the town, in full view of the enemy, a number of manikins, dressed up to a + deceptive resemblance to beautiful girls. The wife of the Hun chieftain + then persuaded her husband to draw off his forces, and the Emperor + escaped. + </p> + <p> + By the Chinese marionettes, little plays on familiar subjects are + performed; many are of a more serious turn than the loves of Mr. Punch, + while others again are of the knock-about style so dear to the ordinary + boy and girl. Besides such entertainments as these, the streets of a + Chinese city offer other shows to those who desire to be amused. An + acrobat, a rope-dancer or a conjurer will take up a pitch right in the + middle of the roadway, and the traffic has to get on as best it can. A + theatrical stage will sometimes completely block a street, and even + foot-passengers will have to find their way round. There is also the + public story-reader, who for his own sake will choose a convenient spot + near to some busy thoroughfare; and there, to an assembled crowd, he will + read out, not in the difficult book-language, but in the colloquial + dialect of the place, stories of war and heroism, soldiers led to + night-attacks with wooden bits in their mouths to prevent them from + talking in the ranks, the victory of the loyal and the rout and slaughter + of the rebel. Or it may be a tale of giants, goblins and wizards; the + bewitching of promising young men by lovely maidens who turn out to be + really foxes in disguise, ending as usual in the triumph of virtue and the + discomfiture of vice. The fixed eyes and open mouths of the crowd, + listening with rapt attention, is a sight which, once seen, is not easily + forgotten. + </p> + <p> + For the ordinary man, China is simply peopled with bogies and devils, the + spirits of the wicked or of those unfortunate enough not to secure decent + burial with all its accompanying worship and rites. These creatures, whose + bodies cast no shadow, lurk in dark corners, ready to pounce on some + unwary passer-by and possibly tear out his heart. Many a Confucianist, + sturdy in his faith that "devils only exist for those who believe in + them," will hesitate to visit by night a lonely spot, or even to enter a + disused tumbledown building by day. Some of the stories told are certainly + well fitted to make a deep impression upon young and highly-strung nerves. + For instance, one man who was too fond of the bottle placed some liquor + alongside his bed, to be drunk during the night. On stretching out his + hand to reach the flask, he was seized by a demon, and dragged gradually + into the earth. In response to his shrieks, his relatives and neighbours + only arrived in time to see the ground close over his head, just as though + he had fallen into water. + </p> + <p> + From this story it will be rightly gathered that the Chinese mostly sleep + on the ground floor. In Peking, houses of more than one storey are + absolutely barred; the reason being that each house is built round a + courtyard, which usually has trees in it, and in which the ladies of the + establishment delight to sit and sew, and take the air and all the + exercise they can manage to get. + </p> + <p> + Another blood-curdling story is that of four travellers who arrived by + night at an inn, but could obtain no other accommodation than a room in + which was lying the corpse of the landlord's daughter-in-law. Three of the + four were soon snoring; the fourth, however, remained awake, and very soon + heard a creaking of the trestles on which was the dead body dressed out in + paper robes, ready for burial. To his horror he saw the girl get up, and + go and breathe on his companions; so by the time she came to him he had + his head tucked well under the bedclothes. After a little while he kicked + one of the others; but finding that his friend did not move, he suddenly + grabbed his own trousers and made a bolt for the door. In a moment the + corpse was up and after him, following him down the street, and gaining + gradually on him, no one coming to the rescue in spite of his loud shrieks + as he ran. So he slipped behind a tree, and dodged right and left, the + infuriated corpse also dodging right and left, and making violent efforts + to get him. At length, the girl made a rush forward with one arm on each + side, in the hope of thus grabbing her victim. The traveller, however, + fell backwards and escaped her clutch, while she remained rigidly + embracing the tree. By and by he was found senseless on the ground; and + the corpse was removed from the tree, but with great difficulty, as the + fingers were buried in the bark so deep that the nails were not even + visible. The other three travellers were found dead in their beds. + </p> + <p> + Periodical feasting may be regarded as another form of amusement by which + the Chinese seek to relieve the monotony of life. They have never reserved + one day in seven for absolute rest, though of late years Chinese merchants + connected with foreign trade have to some extent fallen in with the + observance of Sunday. Quite a number of days during the year are set apart + as public holidays, but no one is obliged to keep them as such, unless he + likes, with one important exception. The festival of the New Year cannot + be ignored by any one. For about ten days before this date, and twenty + days after it, the public offices are closed and no business is + transacted, the seal of each official is handed over for safe keeping to + the official's wife, a fact which helps to dispose of the libel that women + in China are the down-trodden creatures they are often represented to be. + All debts have to be paid and accounts squared by midnight on the last day + of the old year. A few nights previously, offerings of an excessively + sticky sweetmeat are made to the Spirit of the Hearth, one of whose + functions is that of an accusing angel. The Spirit is then on the point of + starting for his annual visit to heaven, and lest any of the disclosures + he might make should entail unpleasant consequences, it is adjudged best + that he shall be rendered incapable of making any disclosures at all. The + unwary god finds his lips tightly glued together, and is unable to utter a + single word. Meanwhile, fire-crackers are being everywhere let off on a + colossal scale, the object being to frighten away the evil spirits which + have collected during the past twelve months, and to begin the year + afresh. The day itself is devoted to calling, in one's best clothes, on + relatives, friends and official superiors, for all of whom it is customary + to leave a present. The relatives and friends receive "wet" gifts, such as + fruit or cakes; officials also receive wet gifts, but underneath the top + layer will be found something "dry," in the shape of silver or bank-notes. + Everybody salutes everybody with the conventional saying, "New joy, new + joy; get rich, get rich!" Yet here again, as in all things Chinese, we + find a striking exception to this good-natured rule. No one says "Get + rich, get rich!" to the undertaker. + </p> + <p> + A high authority (on other matters) has recently stated that the Chinese + calendar "begins just when the Emperor chooses to say it shall. He is like + the captain of a ship, who says of the hour, 'Make it so,' and it is so." + The truth is that New Year's Day is determined by the Astronomical Board, + according to fixed rules, just as Easter is determined; and it may fall on + any day between the 21st of January and the 20th of February, but neither + before the former date nor after the latter date, in spite even of the + most threatening orders from the Palace. This book will indeed have been + written in vain if the reader lays it down without having realized that no + such wanton interference on the part of their rulers would be tolerated by + the Chinese people. But we are wandering away from merry-making and + festivity. + </p> + <p> + In their daily life the Chinese are extremely moderate eaters and mostly + tea-drinkers, even the wealthy confining themselves to few and simple + dishes of pork, fowl, or fish, with the ever-present accompaniment of + rice. The puppy-dog, on which the people are popularly believed to live, + as the French on frogs, is a stall-fed animal, and has always been, and + still is, an article of food; but the consumption of dog-flesh is really + very restricted, and many thousands of Chinamen have never tasted dog in + their lives. According to the popular classification of foods, those who + live on vegetables get strong, those who live on meat become brave, those + who live on grain acquire wisdom, and those who live on air become divine. + </p> + <p> + At banquets the scene changes, and course after course of curiously + compounded and highly spiced dishes, cooked as only Chinese cooks know + how, are placed before the guests. The wine, too, goes merrily round; + bumpers are drunk at short intervals, and the wine-cups are held upside + down, to show that there are no heel-taps. Forfeits are exacted over the + game of "guess-fingers," for failure to cap a verse, or for any other + equally sufficient (or insufficient) reason; and the penalty is an extra + bumper for the loser. + </p> + <p> + This lively picture requires, perhaps, a little further explanation. + Chinese "wine" is an ardent spirit distilled from rice, and is modified in + various ways so as to produce certain brands, some of which are of quite + moderate strength, and really may be classed as wine. It is always drunk + hot, the heat being supplied by vessels of boiling water, in which the + pewter wine-flasks are kept standing. The wine-cups are small, and it is + possible to drink a good many of them without feeling in the least + overcome. Even so, many diners now refuse to touch wine at all, the excuse + always being that it flushes the face uncomfortably. Perhaps they fear an + undeserved imputation of drunkenness, remembering their own cynical + saying: "A bottle-nosed man may be a tee-totaller, but no one will believe + it." To judge from their histories and their poetry, the Chinese seem once + upon a time to have been a fairly tipsy nation: now-a-days, the truth lies + the other way. An official who died A.D. 639, and was the originator of + epitaphs in China, wrote his own, as follows:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Fu I loved the green hills and white clouds . . . + Alas! he died of drink! +</pre> + <p> + There are exceptions, no doubt, as to every rule in every country; but + such sights as drunken men tumbling about the streets, or lying senseless + by the roadside, are not to be seen in China. "It is not wine," says the + proverb, "which makes a man drunk; it is the man himself." + </p> + <p> + Even at banquets, which are often very rich and costly, unnecessary + expense is by no means encouraged. Dishes of fruit, of a kind which no one + would wish to eat, and which are placed on the table for show or ornament, + are simply clever imitations in painted wood, and pass from banquet to + banquet as part of the ordinary paraphernalia of a feast; no one is + deceived. The same form of open and above-board deception appears in many + other ways. There are societies organized for visiting in a comfortable + style of pilgrimage some famous mountain of historic interest. Names are + put down, and money is collected; and then the party starts off by boat or + in sedan-chairs, as the case may be. On arriving at the mountain, there is + a grand feast, and after the picnic, for such it is, every one goes home + again. That is the real thing; now for the imitation. Names are put down, + and money is collected, as before; but the funds are spent over a feast at + home, alongside of a paper mountain. + </p> + <p> + Another of these deceptions, which deceive nobody, is one which might be + usefully adapted to life in other countries. A Chinaman meeting in the + street a friend, and having no leisure to stop and talk, or perhaps + meeting some one with whom he may be unwilling to talk, will promptly put + up his open fan to screen his face, and pass on. The suggestion is that, + wishing to pass without notice, he fails to see the person in question, + and it would be a serious breach of decorum on the part of the latter to + ignore the hint thus conveyed. + </p> + <p> + Japan, who may be said to have borrowed the civilization of China, lock, + stock and barrel—her literature, her moral code, her arts, her + sciences, her manners and customs, her ceremonial, and even her national + dress—invented the folding fan, which in the early part of the + fifteenth century formed part of the tribute sent from Korea to Peking, + and even later was looked upon by the Chinese as quite a curiosity. In the + early ages, fans were made of feathers, as still at the present day; but + the more modern fan of native origin is a light frame of bamboo, wood or + ivory, round or otherwise, over which silk is stretched, offering a + convenient medium for the inscription of poems, or for paintings, as + exchanged between friend and friend. + </p> + <p> + The same innocent form of deception, which deceives nobody, is carried out + when two officials, seated in sedan-chairs, have to pass one another. If + they are of about equal rank, etiquette demands that they should alight + from their chairs, and perform mutual salutations. To obviate the extreme + inconvenience of this rule, large wooden fans are carried in all + processions of the kind, and these are hastily thrust between the passing + officials, so that neither becomes aware of the other's existence on the + scene. The case is different when one of the two is of higher rank. The + official of inferior grade is bound to stop and get out of his chair while + his superior passes by, though even now he has a chance of escape; he + hears the gong beaten to clear the way for the great man, whose rank he + can tell from the number of consecutive blows given; and hurriedly turns + off down a side street. + </p> + <p> + An historical instance of substituting the shadow for the reality is that + of the great general Ts'ao Ts'ao, third century A.D., who for some breach + of the law sentenced himself to death, but satisfied his sense of justice + by cutting off his hair. An emperor of the sixth century, who was a devout + Buddhist, and therefore unable to countenance any destruction of life, had + all the sacrificial animals made of dough. + </p> + <p> + The opium question, which will claim a few words later on, has been + exhaustively threshed out; and in view of the contradictory statements for + and against the habit of opium smoking, it is recognized that any + conclusion, satisfactory to both parties, is a very remote possibility. + The Chinese themselves, who are chiefly interested in the argument, have + lately come to a very definite conclusion, which is that opium has to go; + and it seems that in spite of almost invincible obstacles, the sincerity + and patriotism which are being infused into the movement will certainly, + sooner or later, achieve the desired end. It is perhaps worth noting that + in the Decree of 1906, which ordered the abolition of opium smoking, the + old Empress Dowager, who was herself over sixty and a moderate smoker, + inserted a clause excusing from the operation of the new law all persons + already more than sixty years of age. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX—THE MONGOLS, 1260-1368 + </h2> + <p> + Lack of patriotism is often hurled by foreigners as a reproach to the + Chinese. The charge cannot be substantiated, any more than it could be if + directed against some nation in Europe. If willingness to sacrifice + everything, including life itself, may be taken as a fair test of genuine + patriotism, then it will be found, if historical records be not ignored, + that China has furnished numberless brilliant examples of true patriots + who chose to die rather than suffer dishonour to themselves or to their + country. A single instance must suffice. + </p> + <p> + The time is the close of the thirteenth century, when the Mongols under + Kublai Khan were steadily dispossessing the once glorious and powerful + House of Sung, and placing the empire of China under alien rule. Disaster + followed disaster, until almost the last army of the Sungs was cut to + pieces, and the famous statesman and general in command, Wen (pronounced + <i>One</i>) T'ien-hsian, fell into the hands of the Mongols. He was + ordered, but refused, to write and advise capitulation, and every effort + was subsequently made to induce him to own allegiance to the conquerors. + He was kept in prison for three years. "My dungeon," he wrote, "is lighted + by the will-o'-the-wisp alone; no breath of spring cheers the murky + solitude in which I dwell. Exposed to mist and dew, I had many times + thought to die; and yet, through the seasons of two revolving years, + disease hovered around me in vain. The dank, unhealthy soil to me became + Paradise itself. For there was that within me which misfortune could not + steal away; and so I remained firm, gazing at the white clouds floating + over my head, and bearing in my heart a sorrow boundless as the sky." + </p> + <p> + At length he was summoned into the presence of Kublai Khan, who said to + him, "What is it you want?" "By the grace of the Sung Emperor," he + replied, "I became His Majesty's Minister. I cannot serve two masters. I + only ask to die." Accordingly, he was executed, meeting his death with + composure, and making an obeisance in the direction of the old capital. + His last words were, "My work is finished." Compare this with the quiet + death-bed of another statesman, who flourished in the previous century. He + had advised an enormous cession of territory to the Tartars, and had + brought about the execution of a patriot soldier, who wished to recover it + at all costs. He was loaded with honours, and on the very night he died he + was raised to the rank of Prince. He was even canonized, after the usual + custom, as Loyalty Manifested, on a mistaken estimate of his career; but + fifty years later his title was changed to False and Foul and his honours + were cancelled, while the people at large took his degraded name for use + as an alternative to spittoon. + </p> + <p> + Two names of quite recent patriots deserve to be recorded here as a + tribute to their earnest devotion to the real interests of their country, + and incidentally for the far-reaching consequences of their heroic act, + which probably saved the lives of many foreigners in various parts of + China. It was during the Boxer troubles in Peking, at the beginning of the + siege of the legations, that Yuan Ch'ang and Hsu Ching-ch'eng, two high + Chinese officials, ventured to memorialize the Empress Dowager upon the + fatal policy, and even criminality, of the whole proceedings, imploring + her Majesty at a meeting of the Grand Council to reconsider her intention + of issuing orders for the extermination of all foreigners. In spite of + their remonstrances, a decree was issued to that effect and forwarded to + the high authorities of the various provinces; but it failed to accomplish + what had been intended, for these two heroes, taking their lives in their + hands, had altered the words "slay all foreigners" into "protect all + foreigners." Some five to six weeks later, when the siege was drawing to a + close, the alteration was discovered; and next day those two men were + hurriedly beheaded, meeting death with such firmness and fortitude as only + true patriotism could inspire. + </p> + <p> + The Mongols found it no easy task to dispossess the House of Sung, which + had many warm adherents to its cause. It was in 1206 that Genghis Khan + began to make arrangements for a projected invasion of China, and by 1214 + he was master of all the enemy's territory north of the Yellow River, + except Peking. He then made peace with the Golden Tartar emperor of + northern China; but his suspicions were soon aroused, and hostilities were + renewed. In 1227 he died, while conducting a campaign in Central Asia; and + it remained for his vigorous grandson, Kublai Khan, to complete the + conquest of China more than half a century afterwards. So early as 1260, + Kublai was able to proclaim himself emperor at Xanadu, which means + Imperial Capital, and lay about one hundred and eighty miles north of + modern Peking, where, in those days known as Khan-baligh (Marco Polo's + Cambaluc), he established himself four years later; but twenty years of + severe fighting had still to pass away before the empire was finally + subdued. The Sung troops were gradually driven south, contesting every + inch of ground with a dogged resistance born of patriotic endeavour. In + 1278 Canton was taken, and the heroic Wen T'ien-hsiang was captured + through the treachery of a subordinate. In 1279 the last stronghold of the + Sungs was beleaguered by land and sea. Shut up in their ships which they + formed into a compact mass and fortified with towers and breastworks, the + patriots, deprived of fresh water, harassed by attacks during the day and + by fire-ships at night, maintained the unequal struggle for a month. But + when, after a hard day's fighting, the Sung commander found himself left + with only sixteen vessels, he fled up a creek. His retreat was cut off; + and then at length despairing of his country, he bade his wife and + children throw themselves overboard. He himself, taking the young emperor + on his back, followed their example, and thus brought the great Sung + dynasty to an end. + </p> + <p> + The grandeur of Kublai Khan's reign may be gathered from the pages of + Marco Polo, in which, too, allusion is made to Bayan, the skilful general + to whom so much of the military success of the Mongols was due. Korea, + Burma, and Annam became dependencies of China, and continued to send + tribute as such even up to quite modern times. Hardly so successful was + Kublai Khan's huge naval expedition against Japan, which, in point of + number of ships and men, the insular character of the enemy's country, the + chastisement intended, and the total loss of the fleet in a storm, aided + by the stubborn resistance offered by the Japanese themselves—suggests + a very obvious comparison with the object and fate of the Spanish Armada. + </p> + <p> + Among the more peaceful developments of Mongol rule at this epoch may be + mentioned the introduction of a written character for the Mongol language. + It was the work of a Tibetan priest, named Baschpa, and was based upon the + written language of a nation known as the Ouigours (akin to the Turks), + which had in turn been based upon Syraic, and is written in vertical lines + connected by ligatures. Similarly, until 1599 there was no written Manchu + language; a script, based upon the Mongol, was then devised, also in + vertical lines or columns like Chinese, but read from left to right. + </p> + <p> + Under Kublai Khan the calendar was revised, and the Imperial Academy was + opened; the Yellow River was explored to its source, and bank-notes were + made current. The Emperor himself was an ardent Buddhist, but he took care + that proper honours were paid to Confucius; on the other hand, he issued + orders that all Taoist literature of the baser kind was to be destroyed. + Behind all this there was extortionate taxation, a form of oppression the + Chinese have never learned to tolerate, and discontent led to disorder. + Kublai's grandson was for a time an honest ruler and tried to stem the + tide, but by 1368 the mandate of the Mongols was exhausted. They were an + alien race, and the Chinese were glad to get rid of them. + </p> + <p> + Chinese soldiers are often stigmatized as arrant cowards, who run away at + the slightest provocation, their first thought being for the safety of + their own skins. No doubt Chinese soldiers do run away—sometimes; at + other times they fight to the death, as has been amply proved over and + over again. It is the old story of marking the hits and not the misses. A + great deal depends upon sufficiency and regularity of pay. Soldiers with + pay in arrear, half clad, hungry, and ill armed, as has frequently been + the case in Chinese campaigns, cannot be expected to do much for the flag. + Given the reverse of these conditions, things would be likely to go badly + with the enemy, whosoever he might be. + </p> + <p> + Underneath a mask of complete facial stolidity, the Chinese conceal one of + the most exciteable temperaments to be found in any race, as will soon be + discovered by watching an ordinary street row between a couple of men, or + still better, women. A Chinese crowd of men—women keep away—is + a good-tempered and orderly mob, partly because not inflamed by drink, + when out to enjoy the Feast of the Lanterns, or to watch the twinkling + lamps float down a river to light the wandering ghosts of the drowned on + the night of their All Souls' Day, sacred to the memory of the dead; but a + rumour, a mere whisper, the more baseless often the more potent, will + transform these law-abiding people into a crowd of fiends. In times when + popular feeling runs high, as when large numbers of men were said to be + deprived suddenly and mysteriously of their queues, or when the word went + round, as it has done on more occasions than one, that foreigners were + kidnapping children in order to use their eyes for medicine,—in such + times the masses, incited by those who ought to know better, get + completely out of hand. + </p> + <p> + A curious and tragic instance of this excitability occurred some years + ago. The viceroy of a province had succeeded in organizing a contingent of + foreign-drilled troops, under the guidance and leadership of two qualified + foreign instructors. After some time had elapsed, and it was thought that + the troops were sufficiently trained to make a good show, it was arranged + that a sham fight should be held in the presence of the viceroy himself. + The men were divided into two bodies under the two foreign commanders, and + in the course of operations one body had to defend a village, while the + other had to attack it. When the time came to capture the village at the + point of the bayonet, both sides lost their heads; there was a fierce + hand-to-hand fight in stern reality, and before this could be effectively + stopped four men had been killed outright and sixteen badly wounded. + </p> + <p> + Considering how squalid many Chinese homes are, it is all the more + astonishing to find such deep attachment to them. There exists in the + language a definite word for <i>home</i>, in its fullest English sense. As + a written character, it is supposed to picture the idea of a family, the + component parts being a "roof" with "three persons" underneath. There is, + indeed, another and more fanciful explanation of this character, namely, + that it is composed of a "roof" with a "pig" underneath, the forms for + "three men" and "pig" being sufficiently alike at any rate to justify the + suggestion. This analysis would not be altogether out of place in China + any more than in Ireland; but as a matter of fact the balance of evidence + is in favour of the "three men," which number, it may be remarked, is that + which technically constitutes a crowd. + </p> + <p> + Whatever may be the literary view of the word "home," it is quite certain + that to the ordinary Chinaman there is no place like it. "One mile away + from home is not so good as being in it," says a proverb with a punning + turn which cannot be brought out in English. Another says, "Every day is + happy at home, every moment miserable abroad." It may therefore be + profitable to look inside a Chinese home, if only to discover wherein its + attractiveness lies. + </p> + <p> + All such homes are arranged more or less on the patriarchal system; that + is to say, at the head of the establishment are a father and mother, who + rank equally so far as their juniors are concerned; the mother receiving + precisely the same share of deference in life, and of ancestral worship + after death, as the father. The children grow up; wives are sought for the + boys, and husbands for the girls, at about the ages of eighteen and + sixteen, respectively. The former bring their wives into the paternal + home; the latter belong, from the day of their marriage, to the paternal + homes of their husbands. Bachelors and old maids have no place in the + Chinese scheme of life. Theoretically, bride and bridegroom are not + supposed to see each other until the wedding-day, when the girl's veil is + lifted on her arrival at her father-in-law's house; in practice, the young + people usually manage to get at least a glimpse of one another, usually + with the connivance of their elders. Thus the family expands, and one of + the greatest happinesses which can befall a Chinaman is to have "five + generations in the hall." Owing to early marriage, this is not nearly so + uncommon as it is in Western countries. There is an authentic record of an + old statesman who had so many descendants that when they came to + congratulate him on his birthdays, he was quite unable to remember all + their names, and could only bow as they passed in line before him. + </p> + <p> + As to income and expenditure, the earnings of the various members go into + a common purse, out of which expenses are paid. Every one has a right to + food and shelter; and so it is that if some are out of work, the strain is + not individually felt; they take their rations as usual. On the death of + the father, it is not at all uncommon for the mother to take up the reins, + though it is more usual for the eldest son to take his place. Sometimes, + after the death of the mother—and then it is accounted a bad day for + the family fortunes—the brothers cannot agree; the property is + divided, and each son sets up for himself, a proceeding which is forbidden + by the Penal Code during the parents' lifetime. Meanwhile, any member of + the family who should disgrace himself in any way, as by becoming an + inveterate gambler and permanently neglecting his work, or by developing + the opium vice to great excess, would be formally cast out, his name being + struck off the ancestral register. Men of this stamp generally sink lower + and lower, until they swell the ranks of professional beggars, to die + perhaps in a ditch; but such cases are happily of rare occurrence. + </p> + <p> + In the ordinary peaceful family, regulated according to Confucian + principles of filial piety, fraternal love, and loyalty to the sovereign, + we find love of home exalted to a passion; and bitter is the day of + leave-taking for a long absence, as when a successful son starts to take + up his official appointment at a distant post. The latter, not being able + to hold office in his native province, may have a long and sometimes + dangerous journey to make, possibly to the other end of the empire. In any + case, years must elapse before he can revisit "the mulberry and the elm"—the + garden he leaves behind. He may take his "old woman" and family with him, + or they may follow later on; as another alternative, the "old woman" with + the children may remain permanently in the ancestral home, while the + husband carries on his official career alone. Under such circumstances as + the last-mentioned, no one, including his own wife, is shocked if he + consoles himself with a "small old woman," whom he picks up at his new + place of abode. The "small old woman" is indeed often introduced into + families where the "principal old woman" fails to contribute the first of + "the three blessings of which every one desires to have plenty," namely, + sons, money, and life. Instances are not uncommon of the wife herself + urging this course upon her husband; and but for this system the family + line would often come to an end, failing recourse to another system, + namely, adoption, which is also brought into play when all hope of a + lineal descendant is abandoned. + </p> + <p> + Whether she has children or not, the principal wife—the only wife, + in fact—never loses her supremacy as the head of the household. The + late Empress Dowager was originally a concubine; by virtue of motherhood + she was raised to the rank of Western Empress, but never legitimately took + precedence of the wife, whose superiority was indicated by her title of + Eastern Empress, the east being more honourable than the west. The emperor + always sits with his face towards the south. + </p> + <p> + The story of Sung Hung, a statesman who flourished about the time of the + Christian era, pleasantly illustrates a chivalrous side of the Chinese + character. This man raised himself from a humble station in life to be a + minister of state, and was subsequently ennobled as marquis. The emperor + then wished him to put away his wife, who was a woman of the people, and + marry a princess; to which he nobly replied: "Sire, the partner of my + porridge days shall never go down from my hall." + </p> + <p> + Of the miseries of exile from the ancestral home, lurid pictures have been + drawn by many poets and others. One man, ordered from some soft southern + climate to a post in the colder north, will complain that the spring with + its flowers is too late in arriving; another "cannot stand the water and + earth," by which is meant that the climate does not agree with him; a + third is satisfied with his surroundings, but is still a constant sufferer + from home-sickness. Such a one was the poet who wrote the following lines:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Away to the east lie fair forests of trees, + From the flowers on the west comes a scent-laden breeze, + Yet my eyes daily turn to my far-away home, + Beyond the broad river, its waves and its foam. +</pre> + <p> + And such, too, is the note of innumerable songs in exile, written for the + most part by officials stationed in distant parts of the empire; sometimes + by exiles in a harsher sense, namely, those persons who have been banished + to the frontier for disaffection, maladministration of government, and + like offences. A bright particular gem in Chinese literature, referring to + love of home, was the work of a young poet who received an appointment as + magistrate, but threw it up after a tenure of only eighty-three days, + declaring that he could not "crook the hinges of his back for five pecks + of rice a day," that being the regulation pay of his office. It was + written to celebrate his own return, and runs as follows:— + </p> + <p> + "Homewards I bend my steps. My fields, my gardens, are choked with weeds: + should I not go? My soul has led a bondsman's life: why should I remain to + pine? But I will waste no grief upon the past: I will devote my energies + to the future. I have not wandered far astray. I feel that I am on the + right track once again. + </p> + <p> + "Lightly, lightly, speeds my boat along, my garments fluttering to the + gentle breeze. I inquire my route as I go. I grudge the slowness of the + dawning day. From afar I descry by old home, and joyfully press onwards in + my haste. The servants rush forth to meet me: my children cluster at the + gate. The place is a wilderness; but there is the old pine-tree and my + chrysanthemums. I take the little ones by the hand, and pass in. Wine is + brought in full bottles, and I pour out in brimming cups. I gaze out at my + favourite branches. I loll against the window in my new-found freedom. I + look at the sweet children on my knee. + </p> + <p> + "And now I take my pleasure in my garden. There is a gate, but it is + rarely opened. I lean on my staff as I wander about or sit down to rest. I + raise my head and contemplate the lovely scene. Clouds rise, unwilling, + from the bottom of the hills: the weary bird seeks its nest again. Shadows + vanish, but still I linger round my lonely pine. Home once more! I'll have + no friendships to distract me hence. The times are out of joint for me; + and what have I to seek from men? In the pure enjoyment of the family + circle I will pass my days, cheering my idle hours with lute and book. My + husbandmen will tell me when spring-time is nigh, and when there will be + work in the furrowed fields. Thither I shall repair by cart or by boat, + through the deep gorge, over the dizzy cliff, trees bursting merrily into + leaf, the streamlet swelling from its tiny source. Glad is this renewal of + life in due season: but for me, I rejoice that my journey is over. Ah, how + short a time it is that we are here! Why, then, not set our hearts at + rest, ceasing to trouble whether we remain or go? What boots it to wear + out the soul with anxious thoughts? I want not wealth: I want not power: + heaven is beyond my hopes. Then let me stroll through the bright hours, as + they pass, in my garden among my flowers; or I will mount the hill and + sing my song, or weave my verse beside the limpid brook. Thus will I work + out my allotted span, content with the appointments of Fate, my spirit + free from care." + </p> + <p> + Besides contributing a large amount of beautiful poetry, this author + provided his own funeral oration, the earliest which has come down to us, + written just before his death in A.D. 427. Funeral orations are not only + pronounced by some friend at the grave, but are further solemnly consumed + by fire, in the belief that they will thus reach the world of spirits, and + be a joy and an honour to the deceased, in the same sense that paper + houses, horses, sedan-chairs, and similar articles, are burnt for the use + of the dead. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X—MINGS AND CH'INGS, 1368-1911 + </h2> + <p> + The first half of the fourteenth century, which witnessed the gradual + decline of Mongol influence and power, was further marked by the birth of + a humble individual destined to achieve a new departure in the history of + the empire. At the age of seventeen, Chu Yuan-chang lost both his parents + and an elder brother. It was a year of famine, and they died from want of + food. He had no money to buy coffins, and was forced to bury them in + straw. He then, as a last resource, decided to enter the Buddhist + priesthood, and accordingly enrolled himself as a novice; but together + with the other novices, he was soon dismissed, the priests being unable to + provide even for their own wants. After this he wandered about, and + finally joined a party of rebels commanded by one of his own uncles. + Rapidly rising to the highest military rank, he gradually found himself at + the head of a huge army, and by 1368 was master of so many provinces that + he proclaimed himself first emperor of the Great Ming dynasty, under the + title of Hung (<i>Hoong</i>) Wu, and fixed his capital at Nanking. In + addition to his military genius, he showed almost equal skill in the + administration of the empire, and also became a liberal patron of + literature and education. He organized the present system of examinations, + now in a transition state; restored the native Chinese style of dress as + worn under the T'ang dynasty, which is still the costume seen on the + stage; published a Penal Code of mitigated severity; drew up a kind of + Domesday Book under which taxation was regulated; and fixed the coinage + upon a proper basis, government notes and copper <i>cash</i> being equally + current. Eunuchs were prohibited from holding official posts, and Buddhism + and Taoism were both made state religions. + </p> + <p> + This truly great monarch died in 1398, and was succeeded by a grandson, + whose very receding forehead had been a source of much annoyance to his + grandfather, though the boy grew up clever and could make good verses. The + first act of this new emperor was to dispossess his uncles of various + important posts held by them; but this was not tolerated by one of them, + who had already made himself conspicuous by his talents, and he promptly + threw off his allegiance. In the war which ensued, victory attended his + arms throughout, and at length he entered Nanking, the capital, in + triumph. And now begins one of those romantic episodes which from time to + time lend an unusual interest to the dry bones of Chinese history. In the + confusion which followed upon the entry of troops into his palace, the + young and defeated emperor vanished, and was never seen again; although in + after years pretenders started up on more than one occasion, and obtained + the support of many in their efforts to recover the throne. It is supposed + that the fugitive made his way to the distant province of Yunnan in the + garb of a Buddhist priest, left to him, so the story runs, by his + grandfather. After nearly forty years of wandering, he is said to have + gone to Peking and to have lived in seclusion in the palace there until + his death. He was recognized by a eunuch from a mole on his left foot, but + the eunuch was afraid to reveal his identity. + </p> + <p> + The victorious uncle mounted the throne in the year 1403, under the now + famous title of Yung Lo (<i>Yoong Law</i>), and soon showed that he could + govern as well as he could fight. He brought immigrants from populous + provinces to repeople the districts which had been laid waste by war. + Peking was built, and in 1421 the seat of government was transferred + thither, where it has remained ever since. A new Penal Code was drawn up. + Various military expeditions were despatched against the Tartars, and + missions under the charge of eunuchs were sent to Java, Sumatra, Siam, and + even reached Ceylon and the Red Sea. The day of doubt in regard to the + general accuracy of Chinese annals has gone by; were it otherwise, a + recent (1911) discovery in Ceylon would tend to dispel suspicion on one + point. A tablet has just been unearthed at Galle, bearing an inscription + in Arabic, Chinese and Tamil. The Arabic is beyond decipherment, but + enough is left of the Chinese to show that the tablet was erected in 1409 + to commemorate a visit by the eunuch Cheng Ho, who passed several times + backwards and forwards over that route. In 1411 the same eunuch was sent + as envoy to Japan, and narrowly escaped with his life. + </p> + <p> + The emperor was a warm patron of literature, and succeeded in bringing + about the achievement of the most gigantic literary task that the world + has ever seen. He employed a huge staff of scholars to compile an + encyclopaedia which should contain within the compass of a single work all + that had ever been written in the four departments of (1) the Confucian + Canon, (2) history, (3) philosophy, and (4) general literature, including + astronomy, geography, cosmogony, medicine, divination, Buddhism, Taoism, + handicrafts and arts. The completed work, over which a small army of + scholars—more than two thousand in all—had spent five years, + ran to no fewer than 22,877 sections, to which must be added an index + occupying 60 sections. The whole was bound up (Chinese style) in 11,000 + volumes, averaging over half-an-inch in thickness, and measuring one foot + eight inches in length by one foot in breadth. Thus, if all these were + laid flat one upon another, the column so formed would rise considerably + higher than the very top of St. Paul's. Further, each section contains + about twenty leaves, making a total of 917,480 pages for the whole work, + with a grand total of 366,000,000 words. Taking 100 Chinese words as the + equivalent of 130 English, due to the greater condensation of Chinese + literary style, it will be found that even the mighty river of the <i>Encyclopedia + Britannica</i> "shrinks to a rill" when compared with this overwhelming + specimen of Chinese industry. + </p> + <p> + It was never printed; even a Chinese emperor, and enthusiastic patron of + literature to boot, recoiled before the enormous cost of cutting such a + work on blocks. It was however transcribed for printing, and there appear + to have been at one time three copies in existence. Two of these perished + at Nanking with the downfall of the dynasty in 1644, and the third was in + great part destroyed in Peking during the siege of the Legations in 1900. + Odd volumes have been preserved, and bear ample witness to the + extraordinary character of the achievement. + </p> + <p> + This emperor was an ardent Buddhist, and the priests of that religion were + raised to high positions and exerted considerable influence at court. In + times of famine there were loud complaints that some ten thousand priests + were living comfortably at Peking, while the people of several provinces + were reduced to eating bark and grass. + </p> + <p> + The porcelain of the Ming dynasty is famous all over the world. Early in + the sixteenth century a great impetus was given to the art, owing to the + extravagant patronage of the court, which was not allowed to pass without + openly expressed remonstrance. The practice of the pictorial art was very + widely extended, and the list of Ming painters is endless, containing as + it does over twelve hundred names, some few of which stand for a high + level of success. + </p> + <p> + Towards the close of the sixteenth century the Portuguese appeared upon + the scene, and settled themselves at Macao, the ownership of which has + been a bone of contention between China and Portugal ever since. It is a + delightful spot, with an excellent climate, not very far from Canton, and + was for some time the residence of the renowned poet Camoens. Not far from + Macao lies the island of Sancian, where St. Francois Xavier died. He was + the first Roman Catholic missionary of more modern times to China, but he + never set foot on the mainland. Native maps mark the existence of "Saint's + Grave" upon the island, though he was actually buried at Goa. There had + previously been a Roman Catholic bishop in Peking so far back as the + thirteenth century, from which date it seems likely that Catholic converts + have had a continuous footing in the empire. + </p> + <p> + In 1583, Matteo Ricci, the most famous of all missionaries who have ever + reached China, came upon the scene at Canton, and finally, in 1601, after + years of strenuous effort succeeded in installing himself at Peking, with + the warm support of the emperor himself, dying there in 1610. Besides + reforming the calendar and teaching geography and science in general, he + made a fierce attack upon Buddhism, at the same time wisely leaving + Confucianism alone. He was the first to become aware of the presence in + China of a Jewish colony, which had been founded in 1163. It was from his + writings that truer notions of Chinese civilization than had hitherto + prevailed, began to spread in the West. "Mat. Riccius the Jesuite," says + Burton in his <i>Anatomy of Melancholy</i> (1651), "and some others, + relate of the industry of the Chinaes most populous countreys, not a + beggar, or an idle person to be seen, and how by that means they prosper + and flourish." + </p> + <p> + In 1625 an important find was made. A large tablet, with a long + inscription in Chinese and a shorter one in Syraic, was discovered in + central China. The inscription, in an excellent state of preservation, + showed that the tablet had been set up in A.D. 781 by Nestorian + missionaries, and gave a general idea of the object and scope of the + Christian religion. The genuineness of this tablet was for many years in + dispute—Voltaire, Renan, and others of lesser fame, regarding it as + a pious fraud—but has now been established beyond any possibility of + doubt; its value indeed is so great that an attempt was made quite + recently to carry it off to America. Nestorian Christianity is mentioned + by Marco Polo, but disappears altogether after the thirteenth century, + without leaving any trace in Chinese literature of its once flourishing + condition. + </p> + <p> + The last emperor of the Ming dynasty meant well, but succumbed to the + stress of circumstances. Eunuchs and over-taxation brought about the + stereotyped consequence—rebellion; rebellion, too, headed by an able + commander, whose successive victories soon enabled him to assume the + Imperial title. In the capital all was confusion. The treasury was empty; + the garrison were too few to man the walls; and the ministers were anxious + to secure each his own safety. On April 9, 1644, Peking fell. During the + previous night the emperor, who had refused to flee, slew the eldest + princess, commanded the empress to commit suicide, and sent his three sons + into hiding. At dawn the bell was struck for the court to assemble; but no + one came. His Majesty then ascended the Coal Hill in the palace grounds, + and wrote a last decree on the lapel of his robe: "WE, poor in virtue and + of contemptible personality, have incurred the wrath of God on high. My + ministers have deceived me. I am ashamed to meet my ancestors; and + therefore I myself take off my crown, and with my hair covering my face + await dismemberment at the hands of the rebels. Do not hurt a single one + of my people." He then hanged himself, as also did one faithful eunuch; + and his body, together with that of the empress, was reverently encoffined + by the rebels. + </p> + <p> + So ended the Ming dynasty, of glorious memory, but not in favour of the + rebel commander, who was driven out of Peking by the Manchus and was + ultimately slain by local militia in a distant province. + </p> + <p> + The subjugation of the empire by the victors, who had the disadvantage of + being an alien race, was effected with comparative ease and rapidity. It + was carried out by a military occupation of the country, which has + survived the original necessity, and is part of the system of government + at the present day. Garrisons of Tartar troops were stationed at various + important centres of population, each under the command of an officer of + the highest military grade, whose duty it was to co-operate with, and at + the same time watch and act as a check upon, the high authorities employed + in the civil administration. Those Tartar garrisons still occupy the same + positions; and the descendants of the first battalions, with occasional + reinforcements from Peking, live side by side and in perfect harmony with + the strictly Chinese populations, though the two races do not intermarry + except in very rare cases. These Bannermen, as they are called, in + reference to eight banners or corps under which they are marshalled, may + be known by their square heavy faces, which contrast strongly with the + sharper and more astute-looking physiognomies of the Chinese. They speak + the dialect of Peking, now regarded as the official or "mandarin" + language, just as the dialect of Nanking was, so long as that city + remained the capital of the empire. + </p> + <p> + In many respects the conquering Tartars have been themselves conquered by + the people over whom they set themselves to rule. They have adopted the + language, written and colloquial, of China; and they are fully as proud as + the purest-blooded Chinese of the vast literature and glorious traditions + of those past dynasties of which they have made themselves joint heirs. + Manchu, the language of the conquerors, is still kept alive at Peking. By + a fiction, it is supposed to be the language of the sovereign; but the + emperors of China have now in their youth to make a study of Manchu, and + so do the official interpreters and others whose duty it is to translate + from Chinese into Manchu all documents submitted to what is called the + "sacred glance" of His Majesty. In a similar sense, until quite a recent + date, skill in archery was required of every Bannerman; and it was + undoubtedly a great wrench when the once fatally effective weapon was + consigned to an unmerited oblivion. But though Bannermen can no longer + shoot with the bow and arrow, they still continue to draw monthly + allowances from state funds, as an hereditary right obtained by conquest. + </p> + <p> + Of the nine emperors of the Manchu, or Great Ch'ing dynasty, who have + already occupied the dragon throne and have become "guests on high," two + are deserving of special mention as fit to be ranked among the wisest and + best rulers the world has ever known. The Emperor K'ang Hsi (<i>Khahng + Shee</i>) began his reign in 1662 and continued it for sixty-one years, a + division of time which has been in vogue for many centuries past. He + treated the Jesuit Fathers with kindness and distinction, and availed + himself in many ways of their scientific knowledge. He was an + extraordinarily generous and successful patron of literature. His name is + inseparably connected with the standard dictionary of the Chinese + language, which was produced under his immediate supervision. It contains + over forty thousand words, not a great number as compared with European + languages which have coined innumerable scientific terms, but even so, far + more than are necessary either for daily life or for literary purposes. + These words are accompanied in each case by appropriate quotations from + the works of every age and of every style, arranged chronologically, thus + anticipating to some extent the "historical principles" in the still more + wonderful English dictionary by Sir James Murray and others, now going + through the press. But the greatest of all the literary achievements + planned by this emperor was a general encyclopaedia, not indeed on quite + such a colossal scale as that one produced under the Ming dynasty and + already described, though still of respectable dimensions, running as it + does in a small-sized edition to 1,628 octavo volumes of about 200 pages + to each. The term encyclopaedia must not be understood in precisely the + same sense as in Western countries. A Chinese encyclopaedia deals with a + given subject not by providing an up-to-date article written by some + living authority, but by exhibiting extracts from authors of all ages, + arranged chronologically, in which the subject in question is discussed. + The range of topics, however, is such that the above does not always apply—as, + for instance, in the biographical section, which consists merely of lives + of eminent men taken from various sources. In the great encyclopaedia + under consideration, in addition to an enormous number of lives of men, + covering a period of three thousand years, there are also lives of over + twenty-four thousand eminent women, or nearly as many as all the lives in + our own <i>National Dictionary of Biography</i>. An original copy of this + marvellous production, which by the way is fully illustrated, may be seen + at the British Museum; a small-sized edition, more suitable for practical + purposes and printed from movable type, was issued about twenty years ago. + </p> + <p> + Skipping an emperor under whose reign was initiated that violent + persecution of Roman Catholics which has continued more or less openly + down to the present day, we come to the second of the two monarchs before + mentioned, whose long and beneficent reigns are among the real glories of + the present dynasty. + </p> + <p> + The Emperor Ch'ien Lung (<i>Loong</i>) ascended the throne in 1735, when + twenty-five years of age; and though less than two hundred years ago, + legend has been busy with his person. According to some native accounts, + his hands are said to have reached below his knees; his ears touched his + shoulders; and his eyes could see round behind his head. This sort of + stuff, is should be understood, is not taken from reliable authorities. It + cannot be taken from the dynastic history for the simple reason that the + official history of a dynasty is not published until the dynasty has come + to an end. There is, indeed, a faithful record kept of all the actions of + each reigning emperor in turn; good and evil are set down alike, without + fear or favour, for no emperor is ever allowed to get a glimpse of the + document by which posterity will judge him. Ch'ien Lung had no cause for + anxiety on this score; whatever record might leap to light, he never could + be shamed. An able ruler, with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and an + indefatigable administrator, he rivals his grandfather's fame as a + sovereign and a patron of letters. His one amiable weakness was a fondness + for poetry; unfortunately, for his own. His output was enormous so far as + number of pieces go; these were always short, and proportionately trivial. + No one ever better illustrated one half of the cynical Chinese saying: "We + love our own compositions, but other men's wives." He disliked + missionaries, and forbade the propagation of the Christian religion. + </p> + <p> + After ten years of internal reorganization, his reign became a succession + of wars, almost all of which were brought to a successful conclusion. His + generals led a large army into Nepaul and conquered the Goorkhas, reaching + a point only some sixty miles distant from British territory. Burma was + forced to pay tribute; Chinese supremacy was established in Tibet; Kuldja + and Kashgaria were added to the empire; and rebellions in Formosa and + elsewhere were suppressed. In fifty years the population was nearly + doubled, and the empire on the whole enjoyed peace and prosperity. In 1750 + a Portuguese embassy reached Peking; and was followed by Lord Macartney's + famous mission and a Dutch mission in 1793. Two years after the venerable + emperor had completed a reign of sixty years, the full Chinese cycle; + whereupon he abdicated in favour of his son, and died in 1799. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI—CHINESE AND FOREIGNERS + </h2> + <p> + A virtue which the Chinese possess in an eminent degree is the rather rare + one of gratitude. A Chinaman never forgets a kind act; and what is still + more important, he never loses the sense of obligation to his benefactor. + Witness to this striking fact has been borne times without number by + European writers, and especially by doctors, who have naturally enjoyed + the best opportunities for conferring favours likely to make a deep + impression. It is unusual for a native to benefit by a cure at the hands + of a foreign doctor, and then to go away and make no effort to express his + gratitude, either by a subscription to a hospital, a present of silk or + tea, or perhaps an elaborate banner with a golden inscription, in which + his benefactor's skill is likened to that of the great Chinese doctors of + antiquity. With all this, the patient will still think of the doctor, and + even speak of him, not always irreverently, as a foreign devil. A Chinaman + once appeared at a British Consulate, with a present of some kind, which + he had brought from his home a hundred miles away, in obedience to the + command of his dying father, who had formerly been cured of ophthalmia by + a foreign doctor, and who had told him, on his deathbed, "never to forget + the English." Yet this present was addressed in Chinese: "To His + Excellency the Great English Devil, Consul X." + </p> + <p> + The Chinaman may love you, but you are a devil all the same. It is most + natural that he should think so. For generation upon generation China was + almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. The people of her + vast empire grew up under influences unchanged by contact with other + peoples. Their ideals became stereotyped from want of other ideals to + compare with, and possibly modify, their own. Dignity of deportment and + impassivity of demeanour were especially cultivated by the ruling classes. + Then the foreign devil burst upon the scene—a being as antagonistic + to themselves in every way as it is possible to conceive. We can easily + see, from pictures, not intended to be caricatures, what were the chief + features of the foreigner as viewed by the Chinaman. Red hair and blue + eyes, almost without exception; short and extremely tight clothes; a quick + walk and a mobility of body, involving ungraceful positions either sitting + or standing; and with an additional feature which the artist could not + portray—an unintelligible language resembling the twittering of + birds. Small wonder that little children are terrified at these strange + beings, and rush shrieking into their cottages as the foreigner passes by. + It is perhaps not quite so easy to understand why the Mongolian pony has + such a dread of the foreigner and usually takes time to get accustomed to + the presence of a barbarian; some ponies, indeed, will never allow + themselves to be mounted unless blindfolded. Then there are the dogs, who + rush out and bark, apparently without rhyme or reason, at every passing + foreigner. The Chinese have a saying that one dog barks at nothing and the + rest bark at him; but that will hardly explain the unfailing attack so + familiar to every one who has rambled through country villages. The + solution of this puzzle was extracted with difficulty from an amiable + Chinaman who explained that what the animals, and indeed his + fellow-countrymen as well, could not help noticing, was the frowzy and + very objectionable smell of all foreigners, which, strangely enough, is + the very accusation which foreigners unanimously bring against the Chinese + themselves. + </p> + <p> + Compare these characteristics with the universal black hair and black eyes + of men and women throughout China, exclusive of a rare occasional albino; + with the long, flowing, loose robes of officials and of the well-to-do; + with their slow and stately walk and their rigid formality of position, + either sitting or standing. To the Chinese, their own language seems to be + the language of the gods; they know they have possessed it for several + thousand years, and they know nothing at all of the barbarian. Where does + he come from? Where can he come from except from the small islands which + fringe the Middle Kingdom, the world, in fact, bounded by the Four Seas? + The books tell us that "Heaven is round, Earth is square;" and it is + impossible to believe that those books, upon the wisdom of which the + Middle Kingdom was founded, can possibly be wrong. Such was a very natural + view for the Chinaman to take when first brought really face to face with + the West; and such is the view that in spite of modern educational + progress is still very widely held. The people of a country do not unlearn + in a day the long lessons of the past. He was quite a friendly mandarin, + taking a practical view of national dress, who said in conversation: "I + can't think why you foreigners wear your clothes so tight; it must be very + difficult to catch the fleas." + </p> + <p> + As an offset against the virtue of gratitude must be placed the + deep-seated spirit of revenge which animates all classes. Though not + enumerated among their own list of the Seven passions—joy, anger, + sorrow, fear, love, hatred and desire—it is perhaps the most + over-mastering passion to which the Chinese mind is subject. It is revenge + which prompts the unhappy daughter-in-law to throw herself down a well, + consoled by the thought of the trouble, if not ruin, she is bringing on + her persecutors. Revenge, too, leads a man to commit suicide on the + doorstep of some one who has done him an injury, for he well knows what it + means to be entangled in the net which the law throws over any one on + whose premises a dead body may thus be found. There was once an absurd + case of a Chinese woman, who deliberately walked into a pond until the + water reached up to her knees, and remained there, alternately putting her + lips below the surface, and threatening in a loud voice to drown herself + on the spot, as life had been made unbearable by the presence of foreign + barbarians. In this instance, had the suicide been carried out, vengeance + would have been wreaked in some way on the foreigner by the injured ghost + of the dead woman. + </p> + <p> + The germ of this spirit of revenge, this desire to get on level terms with + an enemy, as when a life is extracted for a life, can be traced, strangely + enough, to the practice of filial piety and fraternal love, the very + cornerstone of good government and national prosperity. In the Book of + Rites, which forms a part of the Confucian Canon, and contains rules not + only for the performance of ceremonies but also for the guidance of + individual conduct, the following passage occurs: "With the slayer of his + father, a man may not live under the same sky; against the slayer of his + brother, a man must never have to go home to fetch a weapon; with the + slayer of his friend, a man may not live in the same state." Being now + duly admitted among the works which constitute the Confucian Canon, the + above-mentioned Book of Rites enjoys an authority to which it can hardly + lay claim on the ground of antiquity. It is a compilation made during the + first century B.C., and is based, no doubt, on older existing documents; + but as it never passed under the editorship of either Confucius or + Mencius, it would be unfair to jump to the conclusion that either of these + two sages is in any way responsible for, or would even acquiesce in, a + system of revenge, the only result of which would be an endless chain of + bloodshed and murder. The Chinese are certainly as constant in their hates + as in their friendships. To use a phrase from their own language, if they + love a man, they love him to the life; if they hate a man they hate him to + the death. As we have already noted, the Old Philosopher urged men to + requite evil with good; but Confucius, who was only a mortal himself, and + knew the limitations of mortality, substituted for an ideal doctrine the + more practical injunction to requite evil with justice. It is to be feared + that the Chinese people fall short in practice even of this lower + standard. "Be just to your enemy" is a common enough maxim; but one for + which only a moderate application can be claimed. + </p> + <p> + It has often been urged against the Chinese that they have very little + idea of time. A friendly Chinaman will call, and stay on so persistently + that he often outstays his welcome. This infliction is recognized and felt + by the Chinese themselves, who have certain set forms of words by which + they politely escape from a tiresome visitor; among their vast stores of + proverbs they have also provided one which is much to the point: "Long + visits bring short compliments." Also, in contradiction of the view that + time is no value to the Chinaman, there are many familiar maxims which + say, "Make every inch of time your own!" "Half-an-hour is worth a thousand + ounces of silver," etc. An "inch of time" refers to the sundial, which was + known to the Chinese in the earliest ages, and was the only means they had + for measuring time until the invention or introduction—it is not + certain which—of the more serviceable <i>clepsydra</i>, or + water-clock, already mentioned. + </p> + <p> + This consists of several large jars of water, with a tube at the bottom of + each, placed one above another on steps, so that the tube of an upper jar + overhangs the top of a lower jar. The water from the top jar is made to + drip through its tube into the second jar, and so into a vessel at the + bottom, which contains either the floating figure of a man, or some other + kind of index to mark the rise of the water on a scale divided into + periods of two hours each. The day and night were originally divided by + the Chinese into twelve such periods; but now-a-days watches and clocks + are in universal use, and the European division into twenty-four hours + prevails everywhere. Formerly, too, sticks of incense, to burn for a + certain number of hours, as well as graduated candles, made with the + assistance of the water-clock, were in great demand; these have now quite + disappeared as time-recorders. + </p> + <p> + The Chinese year is a lunar year. When the moon has travelled twelve times + round the earth, the year is completed. This makes it about ten days short + of our solar year; and to bring things right again, an extra month, that + is a thirteenth month, is inserted in every three years. When foreigners + first began to employ servants extensively, the latter objected to being + paid their wages according to the European system, for they complained + that they were thus cheated out of a month's wages in every third year. An + elaborate official almanack is published annually in Peking, and + circulated all over the empire; and in addition to such information as + would naturally be looked for in a work of the kind, the public are + informed what days are lucky, and what days are unlucky, the right and the + wrong days for doing or abstaining from doing this, that, or the other. + The anniversaries of the death-days of the sovereigns of the ruling + dynasty are carefully noted; for on such days all the government offices + are supposed to be shut. Any foreign official who wishes to see a mandarin + for urgent business will find it possible to do so, but the visitor can + only be admitted through a side-door; the large entrance-gate cannot + possibly be opened under any circumstances whatever. + </p> + <p> + No notice of the Chinese people, however slight or general in character, + could very well attain its object unless accompanied by some more detailed + account of their etiquette than is to be gathered from the few references + scattered over the preceding pages. Correct behaviour, whether at court, + in the market-place, or in the seclusion of private life, is regarded as + of such extreme importance—and breaches of propriety in this sense + are always so severely frowned upon—that it behoves the foreigner + who would live comfortably and at peace with his Chinese neighbours, to + pick up at least a casual knowledge of an etiquette which in outward form + is so different from his own, and yet in spirit is so identically the + same. A little judicious attention to these matters will prevent much + unnecessary friction, leading often to a row, and sometimes to a + catastrophe. Chinese philosophers have fully recognized in their writings + that ceremonies and salutations and bowings and scrapings and rules of + precedence and rules of the road are not of any real value when considered + apart from the conditions with which they are usually associated; at the + same time they argue that without such conventional restraints, nothing + but confusion would result. Consequently, a regular code of etiquette has + been produced; but as this deals largely with court and official + ceremonial, and a great part of the remainder has long since been quietly + ignored, it is more to the point to turn to the unwritten code which + governs the masses in their everyday life. + </p> + <p> + For the foreigner who would mix easily with the Chinese people, it is + above all necessary to understand not only that the street regulations of + Europe do not apply in China; but also that he will there find a set of + regulations which are tacitly agreed upon by the natives, and which, if + examined without prejudice, can only be regarded as based on common sense. + An ordinary foot-passenger, meeting perhaps a coolie with two buckets of + water suspended one at each end of a bamboo pole, or carrying a bag of + rice, weighing one, two, or even three hundredweight, is bound to move out + of the burden-carrier's path, leaving to him whatever advantages the road + may offer. This same coolie, meeting a sedan chair borne by two or more + coolies like himself, must at once make a similar concession, which is in + turn repeated by the chair-bearers in favour of any one riding a horse. On + similar grounds, an empty sedan-chair must give way to one in which there + is a passenger; and though not exactly on such rational grounds, it is + understood that horse, chair, coolie and foot-passenger all clear the road + for a wedding or other procession, as well as for the retinue of a + mandarin. A servant, too, should stand at the side of the road to let his + master pass. As an exception to the general rule of common sense which is + so very noticeable in all Chinese institutions, if only one takes the + trouble to look for it, it seems to be an understood thing that a man may + not only stand still wherever he pleases in a Chinese thoroughfare, but + may even place his burden or barrow, as the fancy seizes him, sometimes + right in the fairway, from which point he will coolly look on at the + streams of foot-passengers coming and going, who have to make the best of + their way round such obstructions. It is partly perhaps on this account + that friends who go for a stroll together never walk abreast but always in + single file, shouting out their conversation for all the world to hear; + this, too, even in the country, where a more convenient formation would + often, but not always, be possible. Shopkeepers may occupy the path with + tables exposing their wares, and itinerant stall-keepers do not hesitate + to appropriate a "pitch" wherever trade seems likely to be brisk. The + famous saying that to have freedom we must have order has not entered + deeply into Chinese calculations. Freedom is indeed a marked feature of + Chinese social life; some small sacrifices in the cause of order would + probably enhance rather than diminish the great privileges now enjoyed. + </p> + <p> + A few points are of importance in the social etiquette of indoor life, and + should not be lightly ignored by the foreigner, who, on the other hand, + would be wise not to attempt to substitute altogether Chinese forms and + ceremonies for his own. Thus, no Chinaman, and, it may be added, no + European who knows how to behave, fails to rise from his chair on the + entrance of a visitor; and it is further the duty of a host to see that + his visitor is actually seated before he sits down himself. It is + extremely impolite to precede a visitor, as in passing through a door; and + on parting, it is usual to escort him to the front entrance. He must be + placed on the left of the host, this having been the post of honour for + several centuries, previous to which it was the seat to the right of the + host, as with us, to which the visitor was assigned. At such interviews it + would not be correct to allude to wives, who are no more to be mentioned + than were the queen of Spain's legs. + </p> + <p> + One singular custom in connection with visits, official and otherwise, + ignorance of which has led on many occasions to an awkward moment, is the + service of what is called "guest-tea." At his reception by the host every + visitor is at once supplied with a cup of tea. The servant brings two + cups, one in each hand, and so manages that the cup in his left hand is + set down before the guest, who faces him on his right hand, while that for + his master is carried across and set down in an exactly opposite sense. + The tea-cups are so handed, as it were with crossed hands, even when the + host, as an extra mark of politeness, receives that intended for his + visitor, and himself places it on the table, in this case being careful to + use <i>both</i> hands, it being considered extremely impolite to offer + anything with one hand only employed. Now comes the point of the + "guest-tea," which, as will be seen, it is quite worth while to remember. + Shortly after the beginning of the interview, an unwary foreigner, as + indeed has often been the case, perhaps because he is thirsty, or because + he may think it polite to take a sip of the fragrant drink which has been + so kindly provided for him, will raise the cup to his lips. Almost + instantaneously he will hear a loud shout outside, and become aware that + the scene is changing rapidly for no very evident reason—only too + evident, however, to the surrounding Chinese servants, who know it to be + their own custom that so soon as a visitor tastes his "guest-tea," it is a + signal that he wishes to leave, and that the interview is at an end. The + noise is simply a bawling summons to get ready his sedan-chair, and the + scurrying of his coolies to be in their places when wanted. There is + another side to this quaint custom, which is often of inestimable + advantage to a busy man. A host, who feels that everything necessary has + been said, and wishes to free himself from further attendance, may grasp + his own cup and invite his guest to drink. The same results follow, and + the guest has no alternative but to rise and take his leave. In ancient + days visitors left their shoes outside the front door, a custom which is + still practised by the Japanese, the whole of whose civilization—this + cannot be too strongly emphasized—was borrowed originally from + China. + </p> + <p> + It is considered polite to remove spectacles during an interview, or even + when meeting in the street; though as this rather unreasonable rule has + been steadily ignored by foreigners, chiefly, no doubt, from + unacquaintance with it, the Chinese themselves make no attempt to observe + it so far as foreigners are concerned. In like manner, it is most + unbecoming for any "read-book man," no matter how miserably poor he is, to + receive a stranger, or be seen himself abroad, in short clothes; but this + rule, too, is often relaxed in the presence of foreigners, who wear short + clothes themselves. Honest poverty is no crime in China, nor is it in any + way regarded as cause for shame; it is even more amply redeemed by + scholarship than is the case in Western countries. A man who has gained a + degree moves on a different level from the crowd around him, so profound + is the respect shown to learning. If a foreigner can speak Chinese + intelligibly, his character as a barbarian begins to be perceptibly + modified; and if to the knack of speech he adds a tolerable acquaintance + with the sacred characters which form the written language, he becomes + transfigured, as one in whom the influence of the holy men of old is + beginning to prevail over savagery and ignorance. + </p> + <p> + It is not without reason that the term "sacred" is applied above to the + written words or characters. The Chinese, recognizing the extraordinary + results which have been brought about, silently and invisibly, by the + operation of written symbols, have gradually come to invest these symbols + with a spirituality arousing a feeling somewhat akin to worship. A piece + of paper on which a single word has once been written or printed, becomes + something other than paper with a black mark on it. It may not be lightly + tossed about, still less trampled underfoot; it should be reverently + destroyed by fire, here again used as a medium of transmission to the + great Beyond; and thus its spiritual essence will return to those from + whom it originally came. In the streets of a Chinese city, and + occasionally along a frequented highroad, may be seen small ornamental + structures into which odd bits of paper may be thrown and burnt, thus + preventing a desecration so painful to the Chinese mind; and it has often + been urged against foreigners that because they are so careless as to what + becomes of their written and printed paper, the matter contained in + foreign documents and books must obviously be of no great value. It is + even considered criminal to use printed matter for stiffening the covers + or strengthening the folded leaves of books; still more so, to employ it + in the manufacture of soles for boots and shoes, though in such cases as + these the weakness of human nature usually carries the day. Still, from + the point of view of the Taoist faith, the risk is too serious to be + overlooked. In the sixth of the ten Courts of Purgatory, through one or + more of which sinners must pass after death in order to expiate their + crimes on earth, provision is made for those who "scrape the gilding from + the outside of images, take holy names in vain, show no respect for + written paper, throw down dirt and rubbish near pagodas and temples, have + in their possession blasphemous or obscene books and do not destroy them, + obliterate or tear books which teach man to be good," etc., etc. + </p> + <p> + In this, the sixth Court, presided over, like all the others, by a judge, + and furnished with all the necessary means and appliances for carrying out + the sentences, there are sixteen different wards where different + punishments are applied according to the gravity of the offence. The + wicked shade may be sentenced to kneel for long periods on iron shot, or + to be placed up to the neck in filth, or pounded till the blood runs out, + or to have the mouth forced open with iron pincers and filled with + needles, or to be bitten by rats, or nipped by locusts while in a net of + thorns, or have the heart scratched, or be chopped in two at the waist, or + have the skin of the body torn off and rolled up into spills for lighting + pipes, etc. Similar punishments are awarded for other crimes; and these + are to be seen depicted on the walls of the municipal temple, to be found + in every large city, and appropriately named the Chamber of Horrors. It is + doubtful if such ghastly representations of what is to be expected in the + next world have really any deterrent effect upon even the most illiterate + of the masses; certainly not so long as health is present and things are + generally going well. "The devil a monk" will any Chinaman be when the + conditions of life are satisfactory to him. + </p> + <p> + As has already been stated, his temperament is not a religious one; and + even the seductions and threats of Buddhism leave him to a great extent + unmoved. He is perhaps chiefly influenced by the Buddhist menace of + rebirth, possibly as a woman, or worse still as an animal. Belief in such + a contingency may act as a mild deterrent under a variety of + circumstances; it certainly tends to soften his treatment of domestic + animals. Not only because he may some day become one himself, but also + because among the mules or donkeys which he has to coerce through long + spells of exhausting toil, he may be unwittingly belabouring some friend + or acquaintance, or even a member of his own particular family. This + belief in rebirth is greatly strengthened by a large number of recorded + instances of persons who could recall events which had happened in their + own previous state of existence, and whose statements were capable of + verification. Occasionally, people would accurately describe places and + buildings which they could not have visited, while many would entertain a + dim consciousness of scenes, sights and sounds, which seemed to belong to + some other than the present life. There is a record of one man who could + remember having been a horse, and who vividly recalled the pain he had + suffered when riders dug their knees hard into his sides. This, too, in + spite of the administration in Purgatory of a cup of forgetfulness, + specially designed to prevent in those about to reborn any remembrance of + life during a previous birth. + </p> + <p> + After all, the most awful punishment inflicted in Purgatory upon sinners + is one which, being purely mental, may not appeal so powerfully to the + masses as the coarse tortures mentioned above. In the fifth Court, the + souls of the wicked are taken to a terrace from which they can hear and + see what goes on in their old homes after their own deaths. "They see + their last wishes disregarded, and their instructions disobeyed. The + property they scraped together with so much trouble is dissipated and + gone. The husband thinks of taking another wife; the widow meditates + second nuptials. Strangers are in possession of the old estate; there is + nothing to divide amongst the children. Debts long since paid are brought + again for settlement, and the survivors are called upon to acknowledge + false claims upon the departed. Debts owed are lost for want of evidence, + with endless recriminations, abuse, and general confusion, all of which + falls upon the three families—father's, mother's, and wife's—connected + with the deceased. These in their anger speak ill of him that is gone. He + sees his children become corrupt, and friends fall away. Some, perhaps, + may stroke the coffin and let fall a tear, departing quickly with a cold + smile. Worse than that, the wife sees her husband tortured in gaol; the + husband sees his wife a victim to some horrible disease, lands gone, + houses destroyed by flood or fire, and everything in an unutterable plight—the + reward of former sins." + </p> + <p> + Confucius declined absolutely to discuss the supernatural in any form or + shape, his one object being to improve human conduct in this life, without + attempting to probe that state from which man is divided by death. At the + same time, he was no scoffer; for although he declared that "the study of + the supernatural is injurious indeed," and somewhat cynically bade his + followers "show respect to spiritual beings, but keep them at a distance," + yet in another passage we read: "He who offends against God has no one to + whom he can pray." Again, when he was seriously ill, a disciple asked if + he might offer up prayer. Confucius demurred to this, pointing out that he + himself had been praying for a considerable period; meaning thereby that + his life had been one long prayer. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII—THE OUTLOOK + </h2> + <p> + There is a very common statement made by persons who have lived in China—among + the people, but not of them—and the more superficial the + acquaintance, the more emphatically is the statement made, that the + ordinary Chinaman, be he prince or peasant, offers to the Western observer + an insoluble puzzle in every department of his life. He is, in fact, a + standing enigma; a human being, it may be granted, but one who can no more + be classed than his unique monosyllabic language, which still stands + isolated and alone. + </p> + <p> + This estimate is largely based upon some exceedingly false inferences. It + seems to be argued that because, in a great many matters, the Chinaman + takes a diametrically opposite view to our own, he must necessarily be a + very eccentric fellow; but as these are mostly matters of convention, the + argument is just as valid against us as against him. "Strange people, + those foreigners," he may say, and actually does say; "they make their + compass point north instead of south. They take off their hats in company + instead of keeping them on. They mount a horse on its left instead of on + its right side. They begin dinner with soup instead of dessert, and end it + with dessert instead of soup. They drink their wine cold instead of hot. + Their books all open at the wrong end, and the lines in a page are + horizontal instead of vertical. They put their guests on the right instead + of on the left, though it is true that we did that until several hundred + years ago. Their music, too, is so funny, it is more like noise; and as + for their singing, it is only very loud talking. Then their women are so + immodest; striding about in ball-rooms with very little on, and embracing + strange men in a whirligig which they call dancing, but very unlike the + dignified movements which our male dancers exhibit in the Confucian + temple. Their men and women shake hands, though know from our sacred Book + of Rites that men and women should not even pass things from one to + another, for fear their hands should touch. Then, again, all foreigners, + sometimes the women also, carry sticks, which can only be for beating + innocent people; and their so-called mandarins and others ride races and + row boats, instead of having coolies to do these things for them. They are + strange people indeed; very clever at cunning, mechanical devices, such as + fire-ships, fire-carriages, and air-cars; but extremely ferocious and + almost entirely uncivilized." + </p> + <p> + Such would be a not exaggerated picture of the mental attitude of the + Chinaman towards his enigma, the foreigner. From the Chinaman's + imperturbable countenance the foreigner seeks in vain for some indications + of a common humanity within; and simply because he has not the wit to see + it, argues that it is not there. But there it is all the time. The + principles of general morality, and especially of duty towards one's + neighbour, the restrictions of law, and even the conventionalities of + social life, upon all of which the Chinaman is more or less nourished from + his youth upwards, remain, when accidental differences have been brushed + away, upon a bed-rock of ground common to both East and West; and it is + difficult to see how such teachings could possibly turn out a race of men + so utterly in contrast with the foreigner as the Chinese are usually + supposed to be. It is certain that anything like a full and sincere + observance of the Chinese rules of life would result in a community of + human beings far ahead of the "pure men" dreamt of in the philosophy of + the Taoists. + </p> + <p> + As has already been either stated or suggested, the Chinese seem to be + actuated by precisely the same motives which actuate other peoples. They + delight in the possession of wealth and fame, while fully alive to the + transitory nature of both. They long even more for posterity, that the + ancestral line may be carried on unbroken. They find their chief pleasures + in family life, and in the society of friends, of books, of mountains, of + flowers, of pictures, and of objects dear to the collector and the + connoisseur. Though a nation of what the Scotch would call "sober eaters," + they love the banquet hour, and to a certain extent verify their own + saying that "Man's heart is next door to his stomach." In centuries past a + drunken nation, some two to three hundred years ago they began to come + under the influence of opium, and the abuse of alcohol dropped to a + minimum. Opium smoking, less harmful a great deal than opium eating, took + the place of drink, and became the national vice; but the extent of its + injury to the people has been much exaggerated, and is not to be compared + with that of alcohol in the West. It is now, in consequence of recent + legislation, likely to disappear, on which result there could be nothing + but the warmest congratulations to offer, but for the fact that something + else, more insidious and deadly still, is rapidly taking its place. For a + time, it was thought that alcohol might recover its sway, and it is still + quite probable that human cravings for stimulant of some kind will find a + partial relief in that direction. The present enemy, however, and one that + demands serious and immediate attention, is morphia, which is being + largely imported into China in the shape of a variety of preparations + suitable to the public demand. A passage from opium to morphia would be + worse, if possible, than from the frying-pan into the fire. + </p> + <p> + The question has often been asked, but has never found a satisfactory + answer, why and how it is that Chinese civilization has persisted through + so many centuries, while other civilizations, with equal if not superior + claims to permanency, have been broken up and have disappeared from the + sites on which they formerly flourished. Egypt may be able to boast of a + high level of culture at a remoter date than we can reach through the + medium of Chinese records, for all we can honestly claim is that the + Chinese were a remarkably civilized nation a thousand years before Christ. + That was some time before Greek civilization can be said to have begun; + yet the Chinese nation is with us still, and but for contact with the + Western barbarian, would be leading very much the same life that it led so + many centuries ago. + </p> + <p> + Some would have us believe that the bond which has held the people + together is the written language, which is common to the whole Empire, and + which all can read in the same sense, though the pronunciation of words + varies in different provinces as much as that of words in English, French, + or German. Others have suggested that to the teachings of Confucius, which + have outlived the competition of Taoism, Buddhism and other faiths, China + is indebted for the tie which has knitted men's hearts together, and + enabled them to defy any process of disintegration. There is possibly some + truth in all such theories; but these are incomplete unless a considerable + share of the credit is allowed to the spirit of personal freedom which + seems to breathe through all Chinese institutions, and to unite the people + in resistance to every form of oppression. The Chinese have always + believed in the divine right of kings; on the other hand, their kings must + bear themselves as kings, and live up to their responsibilities as well as + to the rights they claim. Otherwise, the obligation is at an end, and + their subjects will have none of them. Good government exists in Chinese + eyes only when the country is prosperous, free from war, pestilence and + famine. Misgovernment is a sure sign that God has withdrawn His mandate + from the emperor, who is no longer fit to rule. It then remains to replace + the emperor by one who is more worthy of Divine favour, and this usually + means the final overthrow of the dynasty. + </p> + <p> + The Chinese assert their right to put an evil ruler to death, and it is + not high treason, or criminal in any way, to proclaim this principle in + public. It is plainly stated by the philosopher Mencius, whose writings + form a portion of the Confucian Canon, and are taught in the ordinary + course to every Chinese youth. One of the feudal rulers was speaking to + Mencius about a wicked emperor of eight hundred years back, who had been + attacked by a patriot hero, and who had perished in the flames of his + palace. "May then a subject," he asked, "put his sovereign to death?" To + which Mencius replied that any one who did violence to man's natural + charity of heart, or failed altogether in his duty towards his neighbour, + was nothing more than an unprincipled ruffian; and he insinuated that it + had been such a ruffian, in fact, not an emperor in the true sense of the + term, who had perished in the case they were discussing. Another and most + important point to be remembered in any attempt to discover the real + secret of China's prolonged existence as a nation, also points in the + direction of democracy and freedom. The highest positions in the state + have always been open, through the medium of competitive examinations, to + the humblest peasant in the empire. It is solely a question of natural + ability coupled with an intellectual training; and of the latter, it has + already been shown that there is no lack at the disposal of even the + poorest. China, then, according to a high authority, has always been at + the highest rung of the democratic ladder; for it was no less a person + than Napoleon who said: "Reasonable democracy will never aspire to + anything more than obtaining an equal power of elevation for all." + </p> + <p> + In order to enforce their rights by the simplest and most bloodless means, + the Chinese have steadily cultivated the art of combining together, and + have thus armed themselves with an immaterial, invisible weapon which + simply paralyses the aggressor, and ultimately leaves them masters of the + field. The extraordinary part of a Chinese boycott or strike is the + absolute fidelity by which it is observed. If the boatmen or chair-coolies + at any place strike, they all strike; there are no blacklegs. If the + butchers refuse to sell, they all refuse, entirely confident in each + other's loyalty. Foreign merchants who have offended the Chinese guilds by + some course of action not approved by those powerful bodies, have often + found to their cost that such conduct will not be tolerated for a moment, + and that their only course is to withdraw, sometimes at considerable loss, + from the untenable position they had taken up. The other side of the medal + is equally instructive. Some years ago, the foreign tea-merchants at a + large port, in order to curb excessive charges, decided to hoist the + Chinese tea-men, or sellers of tea, with their own petard. They organized + a strict combination against the tea-men, whose tea no colleague was to + buy until, by what seemed to be a natural order of events, the tea-men had + been brought to their knees. The tea-men, however, remained firm, their + countenances impassive as ever. Before long, the tea-merchants discovered + that some of their number had broken faith, and were doing a roaring + business for their own account, on the terms originally insisted on by the + tea-men. + </p> + <p> + There is no longer any doubt that China is now in the early stages of + serious and important changes. Her old systems of education and + examination are to be greatly modified, if not entirely remodelled. The + distinctive Chinese dress is to be shorn of two of its most distinguishing + features—the <i>queue</i> of the man and the small feet of the + woman. The coinage is to be brought more into line with commercial + requirements. The administration of the law is to be so improved that an + honest demand may be made—as Japan made it some years back—for + the abolition of extra-territoriality, a treaty obligation under which + China gives up all jurisdiction over resident foreigners, and agrees that + they shall be subject, civilly and criminally alike, only to their own + authorities. The old patriarchal form of government, autocratic in name + but democratic in reality, which has stood the Chinese people in such good + stead for an unbroken period of nearly twenty-two centuries, is also to + change with the changes of the hour, in the hope that a new era will be + inaugurated, worthy to rank with the best days of a glorious past. + </p> + <p> + And here perhaps it may be convenient if a slight outline is given of the + course marked out for the future. China is to have a "constitution" after + the fashion of most foreign nations; and her people, whose sole weapon of + defence and resistance, albeit one of deadly efficiency, has hitherto been + combination of the masses against the officials set over them, are soon to + enjoy the rights of representative government. By an Imperial decree, + issued late in 1907, this principle was established; and by a further + decree, issued in 1908, it was ordered that at the end of a year + provincial assemblies, to deliberate on matters of local government, were + to be convened in all the provinces and certain other portions of the + empire, as a first step towards the end in view. Membership of these + assemblies was to be gained by election, coupled with a small property + qualification; and the number of members in each assembly was to be in + proportion to the number of electors in each area, which works out roughly + at about one thousand electors to each representative. In the following + year a census was to be taken, provincial budgets were to be drawn up, and + a new criminal code was to be promulgated, on the strength of which new + courts of justice were to be opened by the end of the third year. By 1917, + there was to be a National Assembly or Parliament, consisting of an Upper + and Lower House, and a prime minister was to be appointed. + </p> + <p> + On the 14th of October 1909 these provincial assemblies met for the first + time. The National Assembly was actually opened on the 3rd of October + 1910; and in response to public feeling, an edict was issued a month later + ordering the full constitution to be granted within three years from date. + It is really a single chamber, which contains the elements of two. It is + composed of about one hundred members, appointed by the Throne and drawn + from certain privileged classes, including thirty-two high officials and + ten distinguished scholars, together with the same number of delegates + from the provinces. Those who obtain seats are to serve for three years, + and to have their expenses defrayed by the state. It is a consultative and + not an executive body; its function is to discuss such subjects as + taxation, the issue of an annual budget, the amendment of the law, etc., + all of which subjects are to be approved by the emperor before being + submitted to this assembly, and also to deal with questions sent up for + decision from the provincial assemblies. Similarly, any resolution to be + proposed must be backed by at least thirty members, and on being duly + passed by a majority, must then be embodied in a memorial to the Throne. + For passing and submitting resolutions which may be classed under various + headings as objectionable, the assembly can at once be dissolved by + Imperial edict. + </p> + <p> + There are, so far, no distinct parties in the National Assembly, that is, + as regards the places occupied in the House. Men of various shades of + opinion, Radicals, Liberals and Conservatives, are all mixed up together. + The first two benches are set aside for representatives of the nobility, + with precedence from the left of the president round to his right. Then + come officials, scholars and leading merchants on the next two benches. + Behind them, again, on four rows of benches, are the delegates from the + provincial assemblies. There is thus a kind of House of Lords in front, + with a House of Commons, the representatives of the nation, at the back. + The leanings of the former class, as might be supposed, are mostly of a + conservative tendency, while the sympathies of the latter are rather with + progressive ideas; at the same time, there will be found among the Lords a + certain sprinkling of Radicals, and among the Commons not a few whose + views are of an antiquated, not to say reactionary, type. + </p> + <p> + With the above scheme the Chinese people are given to understand quite + clearly that while their advice in matters concerning the administration + of government will be warmly welcomed, all legislative power will remain, + as heretofore, confined to the emperor alone. At the first blush, this + seems like giving with one hand and taking away with the other; and so + perhaps it would work out in more than one nation of the West. But those + who know the Chinese at home know that when they offer political advice + they mean it to be taken. The great democracy of China, living in the + greatest republic the world has ever seen, would never tolerate any + paltering with national liberties in the present or in the future, any + more than has been the case in the past. Those who sit in the seats of + authority at the capital are far too well acquainted with the temper of + their countrymen to believe for a moment that, where such vital interests + are concerned, there can be anything contemplated save steady and + satisfactory progress towards the goal proposed. If the ruling Manchus + seize the opportunity now offered them, then, in spite of simmering + sedition here and there over the empire, they may succeed in continuing a + line which in its early days had a glorious record of achievement, to the + great advantage of the Chinese nation. If, on the other hand, they neglect + this chance, there may result one of those frightful upheavals from which + the empire has so often suffered. China will pass again through the + melting-pot, to emerge once more, as on all previous occasions, purified + and strengthened by the process. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_BIBL" id="link2H_BIBL"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + BIBLIOGRAPHY + </h2> + <p> + 1. <i>The Chinese Classics</i>, by James Legge, D.D., late Professor of + Chinese at Oxford. + </p> + <p> + A translation of the whole of the Confucian Canon, comprising the Four + Books in which are given the discourses of Confucius and Mencius, the Book + of History, the Odes, the Annals of Confucius' native State, the Book of + Rites, and the Book of Changes. + </p> + <p> + 2. <i>The Ancient History of China</i>, by F. Hirth, Ph.D., Professor of + Chinese at Columbia University, New York. + </p> + <p> + A sketch of Chinese history from fabulous ages down to 221 B.C., + containing a good deal of information of an antiquarian character, and + altogether placing in its most attractive light what must necessarily be + rather a dull period for the general reader. + </p> + <p> + 3. <i>China</i>, by E. H. Parker, Professor of Chinese at Victoria + University, Manchester. + </p> + <p> + A general account of China, chiefly valuable for commercial and + statistical information, sketch-maps of ancient trade-routes, etc. + </p> + <p> + 4. <i>A Chinese Biographical Dictionary</i>, by H. A. Giles, LL.D., + Professor of Chinese at the University of Cambridge. + </p> + <p> + This work contains 2579 short lives of Chinese Emperors, statesmen, + generals, scholars, priests, and other classes, including some women, from + the earliest times down to the present day, arranged alphabetically. + </p> + <p> + 5. <i>A Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire</i>, by L. Richard. + </p> + <p> + This work is rightly named "comprehensive," for it contains a great deal + of information which cannot be strictly classed as geographical, all of + which, however, is of considerable value to the student. + </p> + <p> + 6. <i>Descriptive Sociology (Chinese)</i>, by E. T. C. Werner, H.B.M. + Consul at Foochow. + </p> + <p> + A volume of the series initiated by Herbert Spenger. It consists of a + large number of sociological facts grouped and arranged in chronological + order, and is of course purely a work of reference. + </p> + <p> + 7. <i>A History of Chinese Literature</i>, by H. A. Giles. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_NOTE" id="link2H_NOTE"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Notes on two or three hundred writers of history, philosophy, biography, + </h2> + <p> + travel, poetry, plays, fiction, etc., with a large number of translated + extracts grouped under the above headings and arranged in chronological + order. + </p> + <h3> + 8. <i>Chinese Poetry in English Verse</i>, by H. A. Giles. + </h3> + <p> + Rhymed translations of nearly two hundred short poems from the earliest + ages down to the present times. + </p> + <p> + 9. <i>An Introduction to the History of Chinese Pictorial Art</i>, by H. + A. Giles. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_NOTE" id="link2H_NOTE_"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Notes on the lives and works of over three hundred painters of all + </h2> + <p> + ages, chiefly translated from the writings of Chinese art-critics, with + sixteen reproductions of famous Chinese pictures. + </p> + <h3> + 10. <i>Scraps from a Collector's Note-book</i>, by F. Hirth. + </h3> + <p> + Chiefly devoted to notes on painters of the present dynasty, 1644- 1905, + with twenty-one reproductions of famous pictures, forming a complementary + supplement to No. 9. + </p> + <p> + 11. <i>Religions of Ancient China</i>, by H. A. Giles. + </p> + <p> + A short account of the early worship of one God, followed by brief notices + of Taoism, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Mahommedanism, and other less + well-known faiths which have been introduced at various dates into China. + </p> + <p> + 12. <i>Chinese Characteristics</i>, by the Rev. Arthur Smith, D.D. + </p> + <p> + A humorous but at the same time serious examination into the modes of + thought and springs of action which peculiarly distinguish the Chinese + people. + </p> + <p> + 13. <i>Village Life in China</i>, by the Rev. Arthur Smith. + </p> + <p> + The scope of this work is sufficiently indicated by its title. + </p> + <p> + 14. <i>China under the Empress Dowager</i>, by J. O. Bland, and E. + Backhouse. + </p> + <p> + An interesting account of Chinese Court Life between 1860 and 1908, with + important sidelights on the Boxer troubles and the Siege of the Legations + in 1900. + </p> + <p> + 15. <i>The Imperial History of China</i>, by Rev. J. Macgowan. + </p> + <p> + A short and compact work on a subject which has not been successfully + handled. + </p> + <p> + 16. <i>Indiscreet Letters from Peking</i>, by B. Putnam Weale. + </p> + <p> + Though too outspoken to meet with general approbation, this work is + considered by many to give the most faithful account of the Siege of the + Legations, as seen by an independent witness. + </p> + <p> + 17. <i>Buddhism as a Religion</i>, by H. Hackmann, Lic. Theol. + </p> + <p> + A very useful volume, translated from the German, showing the various + developments of Buddhism in different parts of the world. + </p> + <p> + 18. <i>Chuang Tzu</i>, by H. A. Giles. + </p> + <p> + A complete translation of the writings of the leading Taoist philosopher, + who flourished in the fourth and third centuries B.C. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Civilization Of China, by Herbert A. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Civilization Of China + +Author: Herbert A. Giles + +Release Date: March 25, 2006 [EBook #2076] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + + + + + +THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA + +by Herbert A. Giles + + +Professor of Chinese in the University of Cambridge, + +And sometime H.B.M. Consul at Ningpo + + + + +PREFACE + +The aim of this work is to suggest a rough outline of Chinese +civilization from the earliest times down to the present period of rapid +and startling transition. + +It has been written, primarily, for readers who know little or nothing +of China, in the hope that it may succeed in alluring them to a wider +and more methodical survey. + +H.A.G. + +Cambridge, May 12, 1911. + + + + +THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA + + + +CHAPTER I--THE FEUDAL AGE + +It is a very common thing now-a-days to meet people who are going to +"China," which can be reached by the Siberian railway in fourteen or +fifteen days. This brings us at once to the question--What is meant by +the term China? + +Taken in its widest sense, the term includes Mongolia, Manchuria, +Eastern Turkestan, Tibet, and the Eighteen Provinces, the whole being +equivalent to an area of some five million square miles, that is, +considerably more than twice the size of the United States of America. +But for a study of manners and customs and modes of thought of the +Chinese people, we must confine ourselves to that portion of the whole +which is known to the Chinese as the "Eighteen Provinces," and to us as +China Proper. This portion of the empire occupies not quite two-fifths +of the whole, covering an area of somewhat more than a million and a +half square miles. Its chief landmarks may be roughly stated as Peking, +the capital, in the north; Canton, the great commercial centre, in the +south; Shanghai, on the east; and the Tibetan frontier on the west. + +Any one who will take the trouble to look up these four points on a +map, representing as they do central points on the four sides of a rough +square, will soon realize the absurdity of asking a returning traveller +the very much asked question, How do you like China? Fancy asking a +Chinaman, who had spent a year or two in England, how he liked Europe! +Peking, for instance, stands on the same parallel of latitude as Madrid; +whereas Canton coincides similarly with Calcutta. Within the square +indicated by the four points enumerated above will be found variations +of climate, flowers, fruit, vegetables and animals--not to mention human +beings--distributed in very much the same way as in Europe. The climate +of Peking is exceedingly dry and bracing; no rain, and hardly any snow, +falling between October and April. The really hot weather lasts only for +six or eight weeks, about July and August--and even then the nights are +always cool; while for six or eight weeks between December and February +there may be a couple of feet of ice on the river. Canton, on the other +hand, has a tropical climate, with a long damp enervating summer and a +short bleak winter. The old story runs that snow has only been seen +once in Canton, and then it was thought by the people to be falling +cotton-wool. + +The northern provinces are remarkable for vast level plains, dotted +with villages, the houses of which are built of mud. In the southern +provinces will be found long stretches of mountain scenery, vying in +loveliness with anything to be seen elsewhere. Monasteries are built +high up on the hills, often on almost inaccessible crags; and there +the well-to-do Chinaman is wont to escape from the fierce heat of the +southern summer. On one particular mountain near Canton, there are +said to be no fewer than one hundred of such monasteries, all of which +reserve apartments for guests, and are glad to be able to add to their +funds by so doing. + +In the north of China, Mongolian ponies, splendid mules, and donkeys are +seen in large quantities; also the two-humped camel, which carries heavy +loads across the plains of Mongolia. In the south, until the advent of +the railway, travellers had to choose between the sedan-chair carried +on the shoulders of stalwart coolies, or the slower but more comfortable +house-boat. Before steamers began to ply on the coast, a candidate for +the doctor's degree at the great triennial examination would take three +months to travel from Canton to Peking. Urgent dispatches, however, were +often forwarded by relays of riders at the rate of two hundred miles a +day. + +The market in Peking is supplied, among other things, with excellent +mutton from a fat-tailed breed of sheep, chiefly for the largely +Mohammedan population; but the sheep will not live in southern China, +where the goat takes its place. The pig is found everywhere, and +represents beef in our market, the latter being extremely unpalatable to +the ordinary Chinaman, partly perhaps because Confucius forbade men to +slaughter the animal which draws the plough and contributes so much to +the welfare of mankind. The staple food, the "bread" of the people in +the Chinese Empire, is nominally rice; but this is too costly for the +peasant of northern China to import, and he falls back on millet as its +substitute. Apples, pears, grapes, melons, and walnuts grow abundantly +in the north; the southern fruits are the banana, the orange, the +pineapple, the mango, the pomelo, the lichee, and similar fruits of a +more tropical character. + +Cold storage has been practised by the Chinese for centuries. Blocks of +ice are cut from the river for that purpose; and on a hot summer's day a +Peking coolie can obtain an iced drink at an almost infinitesimal cost. +Grapes are preserved from autumn until the following May and June by +the simple process of sticking the stalk of the bunch into a large hard +pear, and putting it away carefully in the ice-house. Even at Ningpo, +close to our central point on the eastern coast of China, thin layers +of ice are collected from pools and ditches, and successfully stored for +use in the following summer. + +The inhabitants of the coast provinces are distinguished from the +dwellers in the north and in the far interior by a marked alertness of +mind and general temperament. The Chinese themselves declare that virtue +is associated with mountains, wisdom with water, cynically implying that +no one is both virtuous and wise. Between the inhabitants of the +various provinces there is little love lost. Northerners fear and +hate southerners, and the latter hold the former in infinite scorn and +contempt. Thus, when in 1860 the Franco-British force made for Peking, +it was easy enough to secure the services of any number of Cantonese, +who remained as faithful as though the attack had been directed against +some third nationality. + +The population of China has never been exactly ascertained. It has been +variously estimated by foreign travellers, Sacharoff, in 1842, placing +the figure at over four hundred millions. The latest census, taken in +1902, is said to yield a total of four hundred and ten millions. Perhaps +three hundred millions would be a juster estimate; even that would +absorb no less than one-fifth of the human race. From this total it is +easy to calculate that if the Chinese people were to walk past a given +point in single file, the procession would never end; long before the +last of the three hundred millions had passed by, a new generation would +have sprung up to continue the neverending line. The census, however, is +a very old institution with the Chinese; and we learn that in A.D. 156 +the total population of the China of those days was returned as a little +over fifty millions. In more modern times, the process of taking the +census consists in serving out house-tickets to the head of every +household, who is responsible for a proper return of all the inmates; +but as there is no fixed day for which these tickets are returnable, the +results are approximate rather than exact. + +Again, it is not uncommon to hear people talking of the Chinese language +as if it were a single tongue spoken all over China after a more or less +uniform standard. But the fact is that the colloquial is broken up into +at least eight dialects, each so strongly marked as to constitute eight +languages as different to the ear, one from another, as English, Dutch +and German, or French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. A Shanghai man, +for instance, is unintelligible to a Cantonese, and so on. All officials +are obliged, and all of the better educated merchants and others +endeavour, if only for business purposes, to learn something of the +dialect spoken at the court of Peking; and this is what is popularly +known as "Mandarin." The written language remains the same for the whole +empire; which merely means that ideas set down on paper after a uniform +system are spoken with different sounds, just as the Arabic numerals are +written uniformly in England, France and Germany, but are pronounced in +a totally different manner. + +The only difficulty of the spoken language, of no matter what dialect, +lies in the "tones," which simply means the different intonations which +may be given to one and the same sound, thus producing so many entirely +different meanings. But for these tones, the colloquial of China would +be absurdly easy, inasmuch as there is no such thing as grammar, in the +sense of gender, number, case, mood, tense, or any of the variations we +understand by that term. Many amusing examples are current of blunders +committed by faulty speakers, such as that of the student who told his +servant to bring him a goose, when what he really wanted was some salt, +both goose and salt having the same sound, _yen_, but quite different +intonations. The following specimen has the advantage of being true. +A British official reported to the Foreign Office that the people of +Tientsin were in the habit of shouting after foreigners, "Mao-tsu, +mao-tsu" (pronounced _mowdza_, _ow_ as in _how_), from which he gathered +that they were much struck by the head-gear of the barbarian. Now, it is +a fact that _mao-tsu_, uttered with a certain intonation, means a hat; +but with another intonation, it means "hairy one," and the latter, +referring to the big beards of foreigners, was the meaning intended to +be conveyed. This epithet is still to be heard, and is often preceded by +the adjective "red." + +The written characters, known to have been in use for the past three +thousand years, were originally rude pictures, as of men, birds, horses, +dogs, houses, the numerals (one, two, three, four), etc., etc., and +it is still possible to trace in the modified modern forms of these +characters more or less striking resemblances to the objects intended. +The next step was to put two or more characters together, to express by +their combination an abstract idea, as, for instance, a _hand_ holding +a _rod_ = father; but of course this simple process did not carry the +Chinese very far, and they soon managed to hit on a joint picture and +phonetic system, which enabled them to multiply characters indefinitely, +new compounds being formed for use as required. It is thus that new +characters can still be produced, if necessary, to express novel objects +or ideas. The usual plan, however, is to combine existing terms in +such a way as to suggest what is wanted. For instance, in preference +to inventing a separate character for the piece of ordnance known as +a "mortar," the Chinese, with an eye to its peculiar pose, gave it the +appropriate name of a "frog gun." + +Again, just as the natives and the dialects of the various parts of +China differ one from another, although fundamentally the same people +and the same language, so do the manners and customs differ to such an +extent that habits of life and ceremonial regulations which prevail in +one part of the empire do not necessarily prevail in another. Yet once +more it will be found that the differences which appear irreconcilable +at first, do not affect what is essential, but apply rather to matters +of detail. Many travellers and others have described as customs of the +Chinese customs which, as presented, refer to a part of China only, and +not to the whole. For instance, the ornamental ceremonies connected with +marriage vary in different provinces; but there is a certain ceremony, +equivalent in one sense to signing the register, which is almost +essential to every marriage contract. Bride and bridegroom must kneel +down and call God to witness; they also pledge each other in wine from +two cups joined together by a red string. Red is the colour for joy, +as white is the colour for mourning. Chinese note-paper is always ruled +with red lines or stamped with a red picture. One Chinese official who +gave a dinner-party in foreign style, even went so far as to paste a +piece of red paper on to each dinner-napkin, in order to counteract the +unpropitious influence of white. + +Reference has been made above to journeys performed by boat. In addition +to the Yangtsze and the Yellow River or Hoang ho (pronounced _Hwong +haw_), two of the most important rivers in the world, China is covered +with a network of minor streams, which in southern China form the chief +lines of transport. The Yangtsze is nothing more than a huge navigable +river, crossing China Proper from west to east. The Yellow River, which, +with the exception of a great loop to the north, runs on nearly parallel +lines of latitude, has long been known as "China's Sorrow," and has been +responsible for enormous loss of life and property. Its current is so +swift that ordinary navigation is impossible, and to cross it in boats +is an undertaking of considerable difficulty and danger. It is so called +from the yellowness of its water, caused by the vast quantity of mud +which is swept down by its rapid current to the sea; hence, the common +saying, "When the Yellow River runs clear," as an equivalent of the +Greek Kalends. The huge embankments, built to confine it to a given +course, are continually being forced by any unusual press of extra +water, with enormous damage to property and great loss of life, and from +time to time this river has been known to change its route altogether, +suddenly diverging, almost at a right angle. Up to the year 1851 the +mouth of the river was to the south of the Shantung promontory, about +lat. 34 N.; then, with hardly any warning, it began to flow to the +north-east, finding an outlet to the north of the Shantung promontory, +about lat. 38 N. + +A certain number of connecting links have been formed between the chief +lines of water communication, in the shape of artificial cuttings; but +there is nothing worthy the name of canal except the rightly named Grand +Canal, called by the Chinese the "river of locks," or alternatively the +"transport river," because once used to convey rice from the south to +Peking. This gigantic work, designed and executed in the thirteenth +century by the Emperor Kublai Khan, extended to about six hundred +and fifty miles in length, and completed an almost unbroken water +communication between Peking and Canton. As a wonderful engineering feat +it is indeed more than matched by the famous Great Wall, which dates +back to a couple of hundred years before Christ, and which has been +glorified as the last trace of man's handiwork on the globe to fade from +the view of an imaginary person receding into space. Recent exploration +shows that this wall is about eighteen hundred miles in length, +stretching from a point on the seashore somewhat east of Peking, to the +northern frontier of Tibet. Roughly speaking, it is twenty-two feet in +height by twenty feet in breadth; at intervals of a hundred yards are +towers forty feet high, the whole being built originally of brick, of +which in some parts but mere traces now remain. Nor is this the only +great wall; ruins of other walls on a considerable scale have lately +been brought to light, the object of all being one and the same--to keep +back the marauding Tartars. + +Over the length and breadth of their boundless empire, with all its +varying climates and inhabitants, the Chinese people are free to travel, +for business or pleasure, at their own sweet will, and to take up their +abode at any spot without let or hindrance. No passports are required; +neither is any ordinary citizen obliged to possess other papers of +identification. Chinese inns are not exposed to the annoyance of +domicilary visits with reference to their clients for the time being; +and so long as the latter pay their way, and refrain from molesting +others, they will usually be free from molestation themselves. The +Chinese, however, are not fond of travelling; they love their homes too +well, and they further dread the inconveniences and dangers attached +to travel in many other parts of the world. Boatmen, carters, and +innkeepers have all of them bad reputations for extortionate charges; +and the traveller may sometimes happen upon a "black inn," which is +another name for a den of thieves. Still there have been many who +travelled for the sake of beautiful scenery, or in order to visit famous +spots of historical interest; not to mention the large body of officials +who are constantly on the move, passing from post to post. + +Among those who believe that every nation must have reached its present +quarters from some other distant parts of the world, must be reckoned a +few students of the ancient history of China. Coincidences in language +and in manners and customs, mostly of a shadowy character, have led some +to suggest Babylonia as the region from which the Chinese migrated to +the land where they are now found. The Chinese possess authentic records +of an indisputably early past, but throughout these records there is +absolutely no mention, not even a hint, of any migration of the kind. + +Tradition places the Golden Age of China so far back as three thousand +years before Christ; for a sober survey of China's early civilization, +it is not necessary to push further back than the tenth century B.C. We +shall find evidence of such an advanced state of civilization at that +later date as to leave no doubt of a very remote antiquity. + +The China of those days, known even then as the Middle Kingdom, was +a mere patch on the empire of to-day. It lay, almost lozenge-shaped, +between the 34th and 40th parallels of latitude north, with the upper +point of the lozenge resting on the modern Peking, and the lower on +Si-an Fu in Shensi, whither the late Empress Dowager fled for safety +during the Boxer rising in 1900. The ancient autocratic Imperial system +had recently been disestablished, and a feudal system had taken its +place. The country was divided up into a number of vassal states of +varying size and importance, ruled each by its own baron, who swore +allegiance to the sovereign of the Royal State. The relations, however, +which came to subsist, as time went on, between these states, sovereign +and vassal alike, as described in contemporary annals, often remind the +reader of the relations which prevailed between the various political +divisions of ancient Greece. The rivalries of Athens and Sparta, whose +capitals were only one hundred and fifty miles apart--though a +perusal of Thucydides makes one feel that at least half the world was +involved--find their exact equivalent in the jealousies and animosities +which stirred the feudal states of ancient China, and in the disastrous +campaigns and bloody battles which the states fought with one another. +We read of chariots and horsemanship; of feats of arms and deeds of +individual heroism; of forced marches, and of night attacks in which the +Chinese soldier was gagged with a kind of wooden bit, to prevent talking +in the ranks; of territory annexed and reconquered, and of the violent +deaths of rival rulers by poison or the dagger of the assassin. + +When the armies of these states went into battle they formed a line, +with the bowmen on the left and the spearmen on the right flank. The +centre was occupied by chariots, each drawn by either three or four +horses harnessed abreast. Swords, daggers, shields, iron-headed clubs +some five to six feet in length and weighing from twelve to fifteen +pounds, huge iron hooks, drums, cymbals, gongs, horns, banners +and streamers innumerable, were also among the equipment of war. +Beacon-fires of wolves' dung were lighted to announce the approach of +an enemy and summon the inhabitants to arms. Quarter was rarely if +ever given, and it was customary to cut the ears from the bodies of +the slain. Parleys were conducted and terms of peace arranged under the +shelter of a banner of truce, upon which two words were inscribed--"Stop +fighting." + +The beacon-fires above mentioned, very useful for summoning the feudal +barons to the rescue in case of need, cost one sovereign his throne. He +had a beautiful concubine, for the sake of whose company he neglected +the affairs of government. The lady was of a melancholy turn, never +being seen to smile. She said she loved the sound of rent silk, and to +gratify her whim many fine pieces of silk were torn to shreds. The king +offered a thousand ounces of gold to any one who would make her laugh; +whereupon his chief minister suggested that the beacon-fires should be +lighted to summon the feudal nobles with their armies, as though the +royal house were in danger. The trick succeeded; for in the hurry-skurry +that ensued the impassive girl positively laughed outright. Later on, +when a real attack was made upon the capital by barbarian hordes, and +the beacon-fires were again lighted, this time in stern reality, there +was no response from the insulted nobles. The king was killed, and his +concubine strangled herself. + +Meanwhile, a high state of civilization was enjoyed by these feudal +peoples, when not engaged in cutting each other's throats. They lived +in thatched houses constructed of rammed earth and plaster, with beaten +floors on which dry grass was strewn as carpet. Originally accustomed +to sit on mats, they introduced chairs and tables at an early date; they +drank an ardent spirit with their carefully cooked food, and wore robes +of silk. Ballads were sung, and dances were performed, on ceremonial and +festive occasions; hunting and fishing and agriculture were occupations +for the men, while the women employed themselves in spinning and +weaving. There were casters of bronze vessels, and workers in gold, +silver, and iron; jade and other stones were cut and polished for +ornaments. The written language was already highly developed, being much +the same as we now find it. Indeed, the chief difference lies in the +form of the characters, just as an old English text differs in form from +a text of the present day. What we may call the syntax of the language +has remained very much the same; and phrases from the old ballads of +three thousand years ago, which have passed into the colloquial, are +still readily understood, though of course pronounced according to the +requirements of modern speech. We can no more say how Confucius (551-479 +B.C.) pronounced Chinese, than we can say how Miltiades pronounced Greek +when addressing his soldiers before the battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). +The "books" which were read in ancient China consisted of thin slips +of wood or bamboo, on which the characters were written by means of a +pencil of wood or bamboo, slightly frayed at the end, so as to pick up +a coloured liquid and transfer it to the tablets as required. Until +recently, it was thought that the Chinese scratched their words on +tablets of bamboo with a knife, but now we know that the knife was only +used for scratching out, when a character was wrongly written. + +The art of healing was practised among the Chinese in their pre-historic +times, but the earliest efforts of a methodical character, of which +we have any written record, belong to the period with which we are now +dealing. There is indeed a work, entitled "Plain Questions," which is +attributed to a legendary emperor of the Golden Age, who interrogates +one of his ministers on the cause and cure of all kinds of diseases; +as might be expected, it is not of any real value, nor can its date be +carried back beyond a few centuries B.C. + +Physicians of the feudal age classified diseases under the four seasons +of the year: headaches and neuralgic affections under _spring_, skin +diseases of all kinds under _summer_, fevers and agues under _autumn_, +and bronchial and pulmonary complaints under _winter_. They treated the +various complaints that fell under these headings by suitable doses of +one or more ingredients taken from the five classes of drugs, derived +from herbs, trees, living creatures, minerals, and grains, each of which +class contained medicines of five flavours, with special properties: +_sour_ for nourishing the bones, _acid_ for nourishing the muscles, +_salt_ for nourishing the blood-vessels, _bitter_ for nourishing general +vitality, and _sweet_ for nourishing the flesh. The pulse has always +been very much to the front in the treatment of disease; there are at +least twenty-four varieties of pulse with which every doctor is supposed +to be familiar, and some eminent doctors have claimed to distinguish +no fewer than seventy-two. In the "Plain Questions" there is a sentence +which points towards the circulation of the blood,--"All the blood is +under the jurisdiction of the heart," a point beyond which the Chinese +never seem to have pushed their investigations; but of this curious +feature in their civilization, later on. + +It was under the feudal system, perhaps a thousand years before Christ, +that the people of China began to possess family names. Previous to that +time there appear to have been tribal or clan names; these however were +not in ordinary use among the individual members of each clan, who were +known by their personal names only, bestowed upon them in childhood by +their parents. Gradually, it became customary to prefix to the personal +name a surname, adopted generally from the name of the place where +the family lived, sometimes from an appellation or official title of +a distinguished ancestor; places in China never take their names from +individuals, as with us, and consequently there are no such names as +Faringdon or Gislingham, the homes of the Fearings or Gislings of old. +Thus, to use English terms, a boy who had been called "Welcome" by his +parents might prefix the name of the place, Cambridge, where he was +born, and call himself Cambridge Welcome, the surname always coming +first in Chinese, as, for instance, in Li Hung-Chang. The Manchus, it +must be remembered, have no surnames; that is to say, they do not use +their clan or family names, but call themselves by their personal names +only. + +Chinese surnames, other than place names, are derived from a variety +of sources: from nature, as River, Stone, Cave; from animals, as Bear, +Sheep, Dragon; from birds, as Swallow, Pheasant; from the body, as +Long-ears, Squint-eye; from colours, as Black, White; from trees and +flowers, as Hawthorn, Leaf, Reed, Forest; and others, such as Rich, +East, Sharp, Hope, Duke, Stern, Tepid, Money, etc. By the fifth century +before Christ, the use of surnames had definitely become established for +all classes, whereas in Europe surnames were not known until about the +twelfth century after Christ, and even then were confined to persons +of wealth and position. There is a small Chinese book, studied by every +schoolboy and entitled _The Hundred Surnames_, the word "hundred" being +commonly used in a generally comprehensive sense. It actually contains +about four hundred of the names which occur most frequently. + +About two hundred and twenty years before Christ, the feudal system came +to an end. One aggressive state gradually swallowed up all the others; +and under the rule of its sovereign, China became once more an empire, +and such it has ever since remained. But although always an empire, the +throne, during the past two thousand years, has passed many times from +one house to another. + +The extraordinary man who led his state to victory over each rival in +turn, and ultimately mounted the throne to rule over a united China, +finds his best historical counterpart in Napoleon. He called himself +the First Emperor, and began by sending an army of 300,000 men to fight +against an old and dreaded enemy to the north, recently identified +beyond question with the Huns. He dispatched a fleet to search for some +mysterious islands off the coast, thought by some to be the islands +which form Japan. He built the Great Wall, to a great extent by means +of convict labour, malefactors being condemned to long terms of penal +servitude on the works. His copper coinage was so uniformly good that +the cowry disappeared altogether from commerce during his reign. Above +all things he desired to impart a fresh stimulus to literary effort, but +he adopted singularly unfortunate means to secure this desirable end; +for, listening to the insidious flattery of courtiers, he determined +that literature should begin anew with his reign. He therefore +determined to destroy all existing books, finally deciding to spare +those connected with three important departments of human knowledge: +namely, (1) works which taught the people to plough, sow, reap, and +provide food for the race; (2) works on the use of drugs and on the +healing art; and (3) works on the various methods of foretelling the +future which might lead men to act in accordance with, and not in +opposition to, the eternal fitness of things as seen in the operations +of Nature. Stringent orders were issued accordingly, and many scholars +were put to death for concealing books in the hope that the storm would +blow over. Numbers of valuable works perished in a vast conflagration +of books, and the only wonder is that any were preserved, with the +exception of the three classes specified above. + +In 210 B.C. the First Emperor died, and his youngest son was placed +upon the throne with the title of Second Emperor. The latter began by +carrying out the funeral arrangements of his father, as described about +a century later by the first and greatest of China's historians:-- + +"On the 9th moon the First Emperor was buried in Mount Li, which in the +early days of his reign he had caused to be tunnelled and prepared with +that view. Then, when he had consolidated the empire, he employed his +soldiery, to the number of 700,000, to bore down to the Three Springs +(that is, until water was reached), and there a firm foundation was laid +and the sarcophagus placed thereon. Rare objects and costly jewels were +collected from the palaces and from the various officials, and were +carried thither and stored in huge quantities. Artificers were ordered +to construct mechanical crossbows, which, if any one were to enter, +would immediately discharge their arrows. With the aid of quicksilver, +rivers were made--the Yangtsze, the Yellow River, and the great +ocean--the metal being made to flow from one into the other by +machinery. On the roof were delineated the constellations of the sky, +on the floor the geographical divisions of the earth. Candles were made +from the fat of the man-fish (walrus), calculated to last for a +very long time. The Second Emperor said: 'It is not fitting that the +concubines of my late father who are without children should leave him +now;' and accordingly he ordered them to accompany the dead monarch into +the next world, those who thus perished being many in number. When the +internment was completed, some one suggested that the workmen who had +made the machinery and concealed the treasure knew the great value of +the latter, and that the secret would leak out. Therefore, so soon as +the ceremony was over, and the path giving access to the sarcophagus had +been blocked up at its innermost end, the outside gate at the entrance +to this path was let fall, and the mausoleum was effectually closed, so +that not one of the workmen escaped. Trees and grass were then planted +around, that the spot might look like the rest of the mountain." + +The career of the Second Emperor finds an apt parallel in that of +Richard Cromwell, except that the former was put to death, after a +short and inglorious reign. Then followed a dynasty which has left an +indelible mark upon the civilization as well as on the recorded history +of China. A peasant, by mere force of character, succeeded after a +three-years' struggle in establishing himself upon the throne, 206 B.C., +and his posterity, known as the House of Han, ruled over China for four +hundred years, accidentally divided into two nearly equal portions +by the Christian era, about which date there occurred a temporary +usurpation of the throne which for some time threatened the stability +of the dynasty in the direct line of succession. To this date, the more +northern Chinese have no prouder title than that of a "son of Han." + +During the whole period of four hundred years the empire cannot be said +to have enjoyed complete tranquillity either at home or abroad. There +were constant wars with the Tartar tribes on the north, against whom the +Great Wall proved to be a somewhat ineffectual barrier. Also with the +Huns, the forbears of the Turks, who once succeeded in shutting up the +founder of the dynasty in one of his own cities, from which he only +escaped by a stratagem to be related in another connexion. There were +in addition wars with Korea, the ultimate conquest of which led to the +discovery of Japan, then at a low level of civilization and unable to +enter into official relations with China until A.D. 57, when an embassy +was sent for the first time. Those who are accustomed to think of the +Chinese as an eminently unwarlike nation will perhaps be surprised to +hear that before the end of the second century B.C. they had carried +their victorious arms far away into Central Asia, annexing even the +Pamirs and Kokand to the empire. The wild tribes of modern Yunnan were +reduced to subjection, and their territory may further be considered as +added from about this period. + +At home, the eunuchs gave an immense deal of trouble by their restless +spirit of intrigue; besides which, for nearly twenty years the Imperial +power was in the hands of a famous usurper, named Wang Mang (pronounced +_Wahng Mahng_), who had secured it by the usual means of treachery and +poison, to lose it on the battle-field and himself to perish shortly +afterwards in a revolt of his own soldiery. But the most remarkable of +all events connected with the Han dynasty was the extended revival of +learning and authorship. Texts of the Confucian Canon were rescued from +hiding-places in which they had been concealed at the risk of death; +editing committees were appointed, and immense efforts were made to +repair the mischief sustained by literature at the hands of the First +Emperor. The scholars of the day expounded the teachings of Confucius as +set forth in these texts; and although their explanations were set aside +in the twelfth century, when an entirely new set of interpretations +became (and remain) the accepted standard for all students, it is mostly +due to those early efforts that the Confucian Canon has exercised such +a deep and lasting influence over the minds of the Chinese people. +Unfortunately, it soon became the fashion to discover old texts, and +many works are now in circulation which have no claim whatever to the +antiquity to which they pretend. + +During the four hundred years of Han supremacy the march of civilization +went steadily forward. Paper and ink were invented, and also the +camel's-hair brush, both of which gave a great impetus to the arts of +writing and painting, the latter being still in a very elementary stage. +The custom of burying slaves with the dead was abolished early in the +dynasty. The twenty-seven months of mourning for parents--nominally +three years, as is now again the rule--was reduced to a more manageable +period of twenty-seven days. Literary degrees were first established, +and perpetual hereditary rank was conferred upon the senior descendant +of Confucius in the male line, which has continued in unbroken +succession down to the present day. The head of the Confucian clan is +now a duke, and resides in a palace, taking rank with, if not before, +the highest provincial authorities. + +The extended military campaigns in Central Asia during this period +brought China into touch with Bactria, then an outlying province of +ancient Greece. From this last source, the Chinese learnt many things +which are now often regarded as of purely native growth. They imported +the grape, and made from it a wine which was in use for many centuries, +disappearing only about two or three hundred years ago. Formerly +dependent on the sun-dial alone, the Chinese now found themselves in +possession of the water-clock, specimens of which are still to be seen +in full working order, whereby the division of the day into twelve +two-hour periods was accurately determined. The calendar was regulated +anew, and the science of music was reconstructed; in fact, modern +Chinese music may be said to approximate closely to the music of ancient +Greece. Because of the difference of scale, Chinese music does not make +any appeal to Western ears; at any rate, not in the sense in which it +appealed to Confucius, who has left it on record that after listening to +a certain melody he was so affected as not to be able to taste meat for +three months. + + + +CHAPTER II--LAW AND GOVERNMENT + +In the earliest ages of which history professes to take cognizance, +persons who wished to dispose of their goods were obliged to have +recourse to barter. By and by shells were adopted as a medium of +exchange, and then pieces of stamped silk, linen, and deerskin. These +were followed by circular discs of copper, pierced with a round hole, +the forerunners of the ordinary copper coins of a century or two later, +which had square holes, and bore inscriptions, as they still do in +the present day. Money was also cast in the shape of "knives" and of +"trouser," by which names specimens of this early coinage (mostly fakes) +are known to connoisseurs. Some of these were beautifully finished, and +even inlaid with gold. Early in the ninth century, bills of exchange +came into use; and from the middle of the twelve century paper money +became quite common, and is still in general use all over China, notes +being issued in some places for amounts less even than a shilling. + +Measures of length and capacity were fixed by the Chinese after an +exceedingly simple process. The grain of millet, which is fairly uniform +in size, was taken as the unit of both. Ten of these grains, laid +end-ways, formed the inch, ten of which made a foot, and ten feet a +_chang_. The decimal system has always prevailed in China, with one +curious exception: sixteen ounces make a pound. How this came to be so +does not appear to be known; but in this case it is the pound which is +the unit of weight, and not the lower denomination. The word which +for more than twenty centuries signified "pound" to the Chinese, was +originally the rude picture of an axe-head; and there is no doubt +that axe-heads, being all of the same size, were used in weighing +commodities, and were subsequently split, for convenience's sake, into +sixteen equal parts, each about one-third heavier than the English +ounce. For measures of capacity, we must revert to the millet-grain, a +fixed number of which set the standard for Chinese pints and quarts. +The result of this rule-of-thumb calculation has been that weights and +measures vary all over the empire, although there actually exist an +official foot, pound and pint, as recognized by the Chinese government. +In one and the same city a tailor's foot will differ from a carpenter's +foot, an oilman's pint from a spirit-merchant's pint, and so on. The +final appeal is to local custom. + +With the definitive establishment of the monarchy, two hundred years +before the Christian era, a system of government was inaugurated which +has proceeded, so far as essentials are concerned, upon almost uniform +lines down to the present day. + +It is an ancient and well-recognized principle in China, that every +inch of soil belongs to the sovereign; consequently, all land is held on +consideration of a land-tax payable to the emperor, and so long as this +tax is forthcoming, the land in question is practically freehold, and +can be passed by sale from hand to hand for a small conveyancing fee to +the local authorities who stamp the deeds. Thus, the foreign concessions +or settlements in China were not sold or parted with in any way by the +Chinese; they were "leased in perpetuity" so long as the ground-rent +is paid, and remain for all municipal and such purposes under the +uncontrolled administration of the nation which leased them. The +land-tax may be regarded as the backbone of Chinese finance; but +although nominally collected at a fixed rate, it is subject to +fluctuations due to bad harvests and like visitations, in which cases +the tax is accepted at a lower rate, in fact at any rate the people can +afford to pay. + +The salt and other monopolies, together with the customs, also +contribute an important part of China's revenue. There is the old native +customs service, with its stations and barriers all over the empire, and +the foreign customs service, as established at the treaty ports only, in +order to deal with shipments on foreign vessels trading with China. The +traditional and well-marked lines of taxation are freely accepted by the +people; any attempt, however, to increase the amounts to be levied, +or to introduce new charges of any kind, unless duly authorized by the +people themselves, would be at once sternly resisted. As a matter of +fact, the authorities never run any such risks. It is customary, when +absolutely necessary, and possibly desirable, to increase old or to +introduce new levies, for the local authorities to invite the leading +merchants and others concerned to a private conference; and only when +there is a general consent of all parties do the officials venture +to put forth proclamations saying that such and such a tax will be +increased or imposed, as the case may be. Any other method may lead to +disastrous results. The people refuse to pay; and coercion is met at +once by a general closing of shops and stoppage of trade, or, in more +serious cases, by an attack on the official residence of the offending +mandarin, who soon sees his house looted and levelled with the ground. +In other words, the Chinese people tax themselves. + +The nominal form of government, speaking without reference to the new +constitution which will be dealt with later on, is an irresponsible +autocracy; its institutions are likewise autocratic in form, but +democratic in operation. The philosopher, Mencius (372-289 B.C.), placed +the people first, the gods second, and the sovereign third, in the scale +of national importance; and this classification has sunk deep into the +minds of the Chinese during more than two thousand years past. What the +people in China will not stand is injustice; at the same time they will +live contentedly under harsh laws which they have at one time or another +imposed upon themselves. + +Each of the great dynasties has always begun with a Penal Code of its +own, based upon that of the outgoing dynasty, but tending to be more and +more humane in character as time goes on. The punishments in old days +were atrocious in their severity; the Penal Code of the present dynasty, +which came into force some two hundred and fifty years ago, has been +pronounced by competent judges to take a very high rank indeed. It was +introduced to replace a much harsher code which had been in operation +under the Ming dynasty, and contains the nominally immutable laws of the +empire, with such modifications and restrictions as have been authorized +from time to time by Imperial edict. Still farther back in Chinese +history, we come upon punishments of ruthless cruelty, such as might +be expected to prevail in times of lesser culture and refinement. Two +thousand years ago, the Five Punishments were--branding on the forehead, +cutting off the nose, cutting off the feet, mutilation, and death; for +the past two hundred and fifty years, these have been--beating with +the light bamboo, beating with the heavy bamboo, transportation for a +certain period, banishment to a certain distance, and death, the last +being subdivided into strangling and decapitation, according to the +gravity of the offence. + +Two actual instruments of torture are mentioned, one for compressing +the ankle-bones, and the other for squeezing the fingers, to be used +if necessary to extort a confession in charges of robbery and homicide, +confession being regarded as essential to the completion of the record. +The application, however, of these tortures is fenced round in such a +way as to impose great responsibility upon the presiding magistrate; +and in addition to the risk of official impeachment, there is the more +dreaded certainty of loss of influence and of popular esteem. Mention is +made in the code of the so-called "lingering death," according to which +first one arm is chopped off, then the other; the two legs follow in the +same way; two slits are made on the breast, and the heart is torn +out; decapitation finishes the proceedings. It is worthy of note that, +although many foreigners have been present from time to time at public +executions, occasionally when the "lingering death" has been announced, +not one has established it as a fact beyond a doubt that such a process +has ever been carried out. Not only that; it is also well known that +condemned criminals are allowed to purchase of themselves, or through +their friends, if they have any, spirits or opium with which to fortify +their courage at the last moment. There is indeed a tradition that +stupefying drinks are served out by the officials to the batches of +malefactors as they pass to the execution ground at Peking. It would +still remain to find executioners capable of performing in cold blood +such a disgusting operation as the "lingering death" is supposed to be. +The ordinary Chinaman is not a fiend; he does not gloat in his peaceful +moments, when not under the influence of extreme excitement, over +bloodshed and cruelty. + +The generally lenient spirit in which the Penal Code of China was +conceived is either widely unknown, or very often ignored. For instance, +during the excessive summer heats certain punishments are mitigated, and +others remitted altogether. Prompt surrender and acknowledgment of an +offence, before it is otherwise discovered, entitles the offender, with +some exceptions, to a full and free pardon; as also does restitution +of stolen property to its owner by a repentant thief; while a criminal +guilty of two or more offences can be punished only to the extent of the +principal charge. Neither are the near relatives, nor even the servants, +of a guilty man, punishable for concealing his crime and assisting him +to escape. Immense allowances are made for the weakness of human nature, +in all of which may be detected the tempering doctrines of the great +Sage. A feudal baron was boasting to Confucius that in his part of +the country the people were so upright that a son would give evidence +against a father who had stolen a sheep. "With us," replied Confucius, +"the father screens the son, and the son screens the father; that is +real uprightness." To another questioner, a man in high authority, who +complained of the number of thieves, the Master explained that this was +due to the greed of the upper classes. "But for this greed," he added, +"even if you paid people to steal, they would not do so." To the same +man, who inquired his views on capital punishment, Confucius replied: +"What need is there for capital punishment at all? If your aims are +worthy, the people also will be worthy." + +There are many other striking features of the Penal Code. No marriage, +for instance, may be contracted during the period of mourning for +parents, which in theory extends to three full years, but in practice +is reckoned at twenty-seven months; neither may musical instruments +be played by near relatives of the dead. During the same period, no +mandarin may hold office, but must retire into private life; though +the observance of this rule is often dispensed with in the case of +high officials whose presence at their posts may be of considerable +importance. In such cases, by special grace of the emperor, the period +of retirement is cut down to three months, or even to one. + +The death of an emperor is followed by a long spell of national +tribulation. For one hundred days no man may have his head shaved, and +no woman may wear head ornaments. For twelve months there may be no +marrying or giving in marriage among the official classes, a term which +is reduced to one hundred days for the public at large. The theatres are +supposed to remain closed for a year, but in practice they shut only +for one hundred days. Even thus great hardships are entailed upon many +classes of the community, especially upon actors and barbers, who might +be in danger of actual starvation but for the common-sense of their +rulers coupled with the common rice-pot at home. + +The law forbidding marriage between persons of the same surname is +widely, but not universally, in operation. No Smith may marry a Smith; +no Jones may marry a Jones; the reason of course being that all of the +same surname are regarded as members of the same family. However, there +are large districts in certain parts of China where the people are one +and all of the surname, and where it would be a great hardship--not to +mention the impossibility of enforcing the law--if intermarriages of the +kind were prohibited. Consequently, they are allowed, but only if the +contracting parties are so distantly related that, according to the +legal table of affinity, they would not wear mourning for one another in +case of death--in other words, not related at all. The line of descent +is now traced through the males, but there is reason to believe that in +early days, as is found to be often the case among uncivilized tribes, +the important, because more easily recognizable, parent was the mother. +Thus it is illegal for first cousins of the same surname to marry, +and legal if the surnames are different; in the latter case, however, +centuries of experience have taught the Chinese to frown upon such +unions as undesirable in the extreme. + +The Penal Code forbids water burial, and also cremation; but it is +permitted to the children of a man dying at a great distance to consume +their father's corpse with fire if positively unable to bring it back +for ordinary burial in his native district. The idea is that with the +aid of fire immediate communication is set up with the spirit-world, +and that the spirit of the deceased is thus enabled to reach his native +place, which would be impossible were the corpse to remain intact. Hence +the horror of dying abroad, common to all Chinese, and only faced if +there is a reasonable probability that their remains will be carried +back to the ancestral home. + +In spite of the above law, the cremation of Buddhist priests is +universal, and the practice is tolerated without protest. Priests who +are getting on in years, or who are stricken with a mortal disease, are +compelled by rule to move into a certain part of their monastery, known +as the Abode of a Long Old Age, in which they are required--not to die, +for death does not come to a good priest, but--to enter into Nirvana, +which is a sublime state of conscious freedom from all mental and +physical disturbance, not to be adequately described in words. At death, +the priest is placed in a chair, his chin supported by a crutch, and +then put into a wooden box, which on the appointed day is carried in +procession, with streaming banners, through the monastery, and out into +the cremation-ground attached, his brother priests chanting all the +while that portion of the Buddhist liturgies set apart as the service +for the dead, but which being in Pali, not a single one of them can +understand. There have, of course, been many highly educated priests at +one time and another during the long reign of Buddhism in China; but +it is safe to say that they are no longer to be met with in the present +day. The Buddhist liturgies have been written out in Chinese characters +which reproduce the sounds of the original Indian language, and these +the priests learn by heart without understanding a word of their +meaning. The box with the dead man in it is now hoisted to the top of a +funeral pyre, which has been well drenched with oil, and set alight; +and when the fire has burnt out, the ashes are reverently collected and +placed in an urn, which is finally deposited in a mausoleum kept for +that purpose. + +Life is remarkably safe in China. No man can be executed until his +name has been submitted to the emperor, which of course means to his +ministers at the capital. The Chinese, however, being, as has been so +often stated, an eminently practical people, understand that certain +cases admit of no delay; and to prevent the inevitable lynching of such +criminals as kidnappers, rebels, and others, caught red-handed, high +officials are entrusted with the power of life and death, which they +can put into immediate operation, always taking upon themselves full +responsibility for their acts. The essential is to allay any excitement +of the populace, and to preserve the public peace. + +In the general administration of the law great latitude is allowed, and +injustice is rarely inflicted by a too literal interpretation of the +Code. Stealing is of course a crime, yet no Chinese magistrate would +dream of punishing a hungry man for simple theft of food, even if such +a case were ever brought into court. Cake-sellers keep a sharp eye on +their wares; farmers and market-gardeners form associates for mutual +protection, and woe to the thief who gets caught--his punishment is +short and sharp. Litigation is not encouraged, even by such facilities +as ought to be given to persons suffering wrongs; there is no bar, or +legal profession, and persons who assist plaintiffs or defendants in +the conduct of cases, are treated with scant courtesy by the presiding +magistrate and are lucky if they get off with nothing worse. The +majority of commercial cases come before the guilds, and are settled +without reference to the authorities. The ordinary Chinese dread a court +of justice, as a place in which both parties manage to lose something. +"It is not the big devil," according to the current saying, "but the +little devils" who frighten the suitor away. This is because official +servants receive no salary, but depend for their livelihood on +perquisites and tips; and the Chinese suitor, who is a party to the +system, readily admits that it is necessary "to sprinkle a little +water." + +Neither do any officials in China, high or low, receive salaries, +although absurdly inadequate sums are allocated by the Government for +that purpose, for which it is considered prudent not to apply. The +Chinese system is to some extent the reverse of our own. Our officials +collect money and pay it into the Treasury, from which source fixed sums +are returned to them as salaries. In China, the occupants of petty posts +collect revenue in various ways, as taxes or fees, pay themselves as +much as they dare, and hand up the balance to a superior officer, who in +turn pays himself in the same sense, and again hands up the balance to +his superior officer. When the viceroy of a province is reached, he too +keeps what he dares, sending up to the Imperial exchequer in Peking just +enough to satisfy the powers above him. There is thus a continual check +by the higher grade upon the lower, but no check on such extortion +as might be practised upon the tax-payer. The tax-payer sees to that +himself. Speaking generally, it may be said that this system, in spite +of its unsatisfactory character, works fairly well. Few officials +overstep the limits which custom has assigned to their posts, and those +who do generally come to grief. So that when the dishonesty of the +Chinese officials is held up to reprobation, it should always be +remembered that the financial side of their public service is not +surrounded with such formalities and safeguards as to make robbery of +public money difficult, if not almost impossible. It is, therefore, all +the more cheering when we find, as is frequently the case, retiring or +transferred mandarins followed by the good wishes and affection of the +people over whom they have been set to rule. + +Until quite recently, there has been no such thing in China as municipal +administration and rating, and even now such methods are only being +tentatively introduced in large cities where there are a number of +foreign residents. Occupants of houses are popularly supposed to "sweep +the snow from their own doorsteps," but the repair of roads, bridges, +drains, etc., has always been left to the casual philanthropy of wealthy +individuals, who take these opportunities of satisfying public opinion +in regard to the obligations of the rich towards the poor. Consequently, +Chinese cities are left without efficient lighting, draining, or +scavengering; and it is astonishing how good the health of the people +living under these conditions can be. There is no organized police +force; but cities are divided into wards, and at certain points barriers +are drawn across the streets at night, with perhaps one watchman to +each. It is not considered respectable to be out late at night, and it +is not safe to move about without a lantern, which is carried, for those +who can afford the luxury, by a servant preceding them. + +One difference between life in China and life in this country may +be illustrated to a certain extent in the following way. Supposing a +traveller, passing through an English village, to be hit on the head by +a stone. Unless he can point out his assailant, the matter is at an +end. In China, all the injured party has to do is to point out the +village--or, if a town, the ward--in which he was assaulted. Then the +headman of such town or ward is summoned before the authorities and +fined, proportionately to the offence, for allowing rowdy behaviour in +his district. The headman takes good care that he does not pay the fine +himself. In the same way, parents are held responsible for the acts of +their children, and householders for those of their servants. + + + +CHAPTER III--RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION + +The Chinese are emphatically not a religious people, though they are +very superstitious. Belief in a God has come down from the remotest +ages, but the old simple creed has been so overlaid by Buddhism as +not to be discernible at the present day. Buddhism is now the dominant +religion of China. It is closely bound up with the lives of the people, +and is a never-failing refuge in sickness or worldly trouble. It is no +longer the subtle doctrine which was originally presented to the people +of India, but something much more clearly defined and appreciable by +the plainest intellect. Buddha is the saviour of the people through +righteousness alone, and Buddhist saints are popularly supposed to +possess intercessory powers. Yet reverence is always wanting; and crowds +will laugh and talk, and buy and sell sweetmeats, in a Buddhist temple, +before the very eyes of the most sacred images. So long as divine +intervention is not required, an ordinary Chinaman is content to neglect +his divinities; but no sooner does sickness or financial trouble come +upon the family, than he will hurry off to propitiate the gods. + +He accomplishes this through the aid of the priests, who receive his +offerings of money, and light candles or incense at the shrine of the +deity to be invoked. Buddhist priests are not popular with the Chinese, +who make fun of their shaven heads, and doubt the sincerity of their +convictions as well as the purity of their lives. "No meat nor wine may +enter here" is a legend inscribed at the gate of most Buddhist temples, +the ordinary diet as served in the refectory being strictly vegetarian. +A tipsy priest, however, is not an altogether unheard-of combination, +and has provided more than one eminent artist with a subject of an +interesting picture. + +Yet the ordeal through which a novice must pass before being admitted to +holy orders is a severe tax upon nerve and endurance. In the process of +a long ritual, at least three, or even so many as nine, pastilles are +placed upon the bald scalp of the head. These are then lighted, and +allowed to burn down into the skin until permanent scars have been +formed, the unfortunate novice being supported on both sides by priests +who encourage him all the time to bear what must be excruciating pain. +The fully qualified priest receives a diploma, on the strength of which +he may demand a day and a night's board and lodging from the priests of +any temple all over the empire. + +At a very early date Buddhism had already taken a firm hold on the +imagination of Chinese poets and painters, the latter of whom loved to +portray the World-honoured One in a dazzling hue of gold. A poet of the +eighth century A.D., who realized for the first time the inward meaning +of the Law, as it is called, ended a panegyric on Buddhism with the +following lines:-- + + O thou pure Faith, had I but known thy scope, + The Golden God had long since been my hope! + +Taoism is a term often met with in books about China. We are told +that the three religions of the people are Confucianism, Buddhism, and +Taoism, this being the order of precedence assigned to them in A.D. 568. +Confucianism is of course not a religion at all, dealing as it does with +duty towards one's neighbour and the affairs of this life only; and it +will be seen that Taoism, in its true sense, has scarcely a stronger +claim. At a very remote day, some say a thousand, and others six +hundred, years before the Christian era, there flourished a wise man +named Lao Tzu, which may be approximately pronounced as _Loudza_ (_ou_ +as in _loud_), and understood to mean the Old Philosopher. He was a very +original thinker, and a number of his sayings have been preserved to us +by ancient authors, whom they had reached by tradition; that is to say, +the Old Philosopher never put his doctrines into book form. There is +indeed in existence a work which passes under his name, but it is now +known to be a forgery, and is generally discarded by scholars. + +The great flaw in the teaching of the Old Philosopher was its extremely +impractical character, its unsuitability to the needs of men and women +engaged in the ordinary avocations of life. In one sense he was an +Anarchist, for he held that the empire would fare better if there were +no government at all, the fact being that violence and disorder had +always been conspicuous even under the best rulers. Similarly, he argued +that we should get along more profitably with less learning, because +then there would be fewer thieves, successful thieving being the result +of mental training. It is not necessary to follow him to his most famous +doctrine, namely, that of doing nothing, by which means, he declared, +everything could be done, the solution of which puzzle of left everybody +to find out for himself. Among his quaint sayings will be found several +maxims of a very different class, as witness his injunction, "Requite +evil with kindness," and "Mighty is he who conquers himself." Of the +latter, the following illustration is given by a commentator. Two men +meeting in the street, one said to the other, "How fat you have grown!" +"Yes," replied his friend, "I have lately won a battle." "What do you +mean?" inquired the former. "Why, you see," said the latter, "so long +as I was at home, reading about ancient kings, I admired nothing but +virtue; then, when I went out of doors, I was attracted by the charms +of wealth and power. These two feelings fought inside me, and I began to +lose flesh; but now love of virtue has conquered, and I am fat." + +The teachings of the Old Philosopher were summed up in the word _Tao_, +pronounced as _tou(t)_, which originally meant a road, a way; and +as applied to doctrines means simply the right way or path of moral +conduct, in which mankind should tread so as to lead correct and +virtuous lives. Later on, when Buddhism was introduced, this Taoism, +with all its paradoxes and subtleties, to which alchemy and the +concoction of an elixir of life had been added, gradually began to lose +its hold upon the people; and in order to stem the tide of opposition, +temples and monasteries were built, a priesthood was established in +imitation of the Buddhists, and all kinds of ceremonies and observances +were taken from Buddhism, until, at the present day, only those who know +can tell one from the other. + +Although alchemy, which was introduced from Greece, via Bactria, in the +second century B.C., has long ceased to interest the Chinese public, who +have found out that gold is more easily made from the sweat of the +brow than from copper or lead; and although only a few silly people now +believe that any mixture of drugs will produce an elixir of life, able +to confer immortality upon those who drink it; nevertheless, Taoism +still professes to teach the art of extending life, if not indefinitely, +at any rate to a considerable length. This art would probably go some +way towards extending life under any circumstances, for it consists +chiefly in deep and regular breathing, preferably of morning air, +in swallowing the saliva three times in every two hours, in adopting +certain positions for the body and limbs, which are also strengthened +by gymnastic exercises, and finally, as borrowed from the Buddhists, in +remaining motionless for some hours a day, the eyes shut, and the mind +abstracted as much as possible from all surrounding influences. The +upshot of these and other practices is the development of "the pure +man," on which Chuang Tzu (_Chwongdza_), a Taoist philosopher of the +third and fourth centuries B.C., to be mentioned again, writes as +follows: "But what is a pure man? The pure men of old acted without +calculation, not seeking to secure results. They laid no plans. +Therefore, failing, they had no cause for regret; succeeding, no cause +for congratulation. And thus they could scale heights without fear; +enter water without becoming wet, and fire without feeling hot. The pure +men of old slept without dreams, and waked without anxiety. They ate +without discrimination, breathing deep breaths. For pure men draw breath +from their heels; the vulgar only from their throats." + +Coupled with what may be called intellectual Taoism, as opposed to the +grosser form under which this faith appeals to the people at large, is +a curious theory that human life reaches the earth from some +extraordinarily dazzling centre away in the depths of space, "beyond +the range of conceptions." This centre appears to be the home of eternal +principles, the abode of a First Cause, where perfectly spotless and +pure beings "drink of the spiritual and feed on force," and where +likeness exists without form. To get back to that state should be the +object of all men, and this is only to be attained by a process of +mental and physical purification prolonged through all conditions of +existence. Then, when body and soul are fitted for the change, there +comes what ordinary mortals call death; and the pure being closes his +eyes, to awake forthwith in his original glory from the sleep which +mortals call life. + +For many centuries Buddhism and Taoism were in bitter antagonism. +Sometimes the court was Buddhist, sometimes Taoist; first one faith was +suppressed altogether, then the other; in A.D. 574 both were abolished +in deference to Confucianism, which, however, no emperor has ever dared +to interfere with seriously. At present, all the "three religions" +flourish happily side by side. + +The Chinese believe firmly in the existence of spirits, which they +classify simply as good and evil. They do not trouble their heads much +about the former, but they are terribly afraid of the latter. Hideous +devils infest dark corners, and lie in wait to injure unfortunate +passers-by, often for no cause whatever. The spirits of persons who have +been wronged are especially dreaded by those who have done the wrong. +A man who has been defrauded of money will commit suicide, usually by +poison, at the door of the wrongdoer, who will thereby first fall into +the hands of the authorities, and if he escapes in that quarter, +will still have to count with the injured ghost of his victim. A +daughter-in-law will drown or hang herself to get free from, and also to +avenge, the tyranny or cruelty of her husband's mother. These acts lead +at once to family feuds, which sometimes end in bloodshed; more often in +money compensation; and the known risk of such contingencies operates as +a wholesome check upon aggressive treatment of the weak by the strong. + +Divination and fortune-telling have always played a conspicuous part in +ordinary Chinese life. Wise men, of the magician type, sit at stalls +in street and market-place, ready for a small fee to advise those +who consult them on any enterprise to be undertaken, even of the most +trivial kind. The omens can be taken in various ways, as by calculation +based upon books, of which there is quite a literature, or by +drawing lots inscribed with mystic signs, to be interpreted by the +fortune-teller. Even at Buddhist temples may be found two kidney-shaped +pieces of wood, flat on one side and round on the other, which are +thrown into the air before an altar, the results--two flats, two rounds, +or one of each--being interpreted as unfavourable, medium, and very +favourable, respectively. + +Of all Chinese superstitions, the one that has been most persistent, +and has exerted the greatest influence upon national life, is the +famous Wind-and-Water system (_feng shui_) of geomancy. According to +the principles which govern this system, and of which quite a special +literature exists, the good or evil fortunes of individuals and +the communities are determined by the various physical aspects and +conditions which surround their everyday life. The shapes of hills, +the presence or absence of water, the position of trees, the height of +buildings, and so forth, are all matters of deep consideration to +the professors of the geomantic art, who thrive on the ignorance of +superstitious clients. They are called in to select propitious sites for +houses and graves; and it often happens that if the fortunes of a family +are failing, a geomancer will be invited to modify in some way the +arrangement of the ancestral graveyard. Houses in a Chinese street are +never built up so as to form a line of uniform height; every now and +again one house must be a little higher or a little lower than its +neighbour, or calamity will certainly ensue. It is impossible to walk +straight into an ordinary middle-class dwelling-house. Just inside the +front door there will be a fixed screen, which forces the visitor to +turn to the right or to the left; the avowed object being to exclude +evil spirits, which can only move in straight lines. + +Mention of the ancestral graveyard brings to mind the universal worship +of ancestors, which has been from time immemorial such a marked feature +of Chinese religious life. At death, the spirit of a man or woman is +believed to remain watching over the material interests of the family to +which the deceased had belonged. Offerings of various kinds, including +meat and drink, are from time to time made to such a spirit, supposed to +be particularly resident in an ancestral hall--or cupboard, as the case +may be. These offerings are made for the special purpose of conciliating +the spirit, and of obtaining in return a liberal share of the blessings +and good things of this life. This is the essential feature of the rite, +and this it is which makes the rite an act of worship pure and simple; +so that only superficial observers could make the mistake of classifying +ancestral worship, as practised in China, with such acts as laying +wreaths upon the tombs of deceased friends and relatives. + +With reference to the spirit or soul, the Chinese have held for +centuries past that the soul of every man is twofold; in a popular +acceptation it is sometimes regarded as threefold. One portion is that +which expresses the visible personality, and is permanently attached to +the body; the other has the power of leaving the body, carrying with it +an appearance of physical form, which accounts for a person being +seen in two different places at once. Cases of catalepsy or trance are +explained by the Chinese as the absence from the body of this portion +of the soul, which is also believed to be expelled from the body by any +violent shock or fright. There is a story of a man who was so terrified +at the prospect of immediate execution that his separable soul left his +body, and he found himself sitting on the eaves of a house, from which +point he could see a man bound, and waiting for the executioner's sword. +Just then, a reprieve arrived, and in a moment he was back again in his +body. Mr. Edmund Gosse, who can hardly have been acquainted with the +Chinese view, told a similar story in his _Father and Son_: "During +morning and evening prayers, which were extremely lengthy and fatiguing, +I fancied that one of my two selves could flit up, and sit clinging to +the cornice, and look down on my other self and the rest of us." + +In some parts of China, planchette is frequently resorted to as a means +of reading the future, and adapting one's actions accordingly. It is a +purely professional performance, being carried through publicly before +some altar in a temple, and payment made for the response. The question +is written down on a piece of paper, which is burnt at the altar +apparently before any one could gather knowledge of its contents; and +the answer from the god is forthwith traced on a tray of sand, word by +word, each word being obliterated to make room for the next, by two men, +supposed to be ignorant of the question, who hold the ends of a V-shaped +instrument from the point of which a little wooden pencil projects at +right angles. + +Another method of extracting information from the spirits of the unseen +world is nothing more or less than hypnotism, which has long been known +to the Chinese, and is mentioned in literature so far back as the +middle of the seventeenth century. With all the paraphernalia of altar, +candles, incense, etc., a medium is thrown into a hypnotic condition, +during which his body is supposed to be possessed by a spirit, and +every word he may utter to be divinely inspired. An amusing instance +is recorded of a medium who, while under hypnotic influence, not only +blurted out the pecuniary defalcations of certain men who had been +collecting in aid of temple restoration, but went so far as to admit +that he had had some of the money himself. + +This same influence is also used in cases of serious illness, but +always secretly, for such practices, as well as dark _seances_ for +communicating with spirits, are strictly forbidden by the Chinese +authorities, who regard the employment of occult means as more likely to +be subversive of morality than to do any good whatever to a sick person, +or to any one else. All secret societies of any sort or kind are equally +under the ban of the law, the assumption--a very justifiable one--being +that the aim of these societies is to upset the existing order of +political and social life. The Heaven-and-Earth Society is among the +most famous, and the most dreaded, partly perhaps because it has never +been entirely suppressed. The lodges of this fraternity, the oath +of fidelity, and the ceremonial of admission, remind one forcibly of +Masonry in the West; but the points of conduct are merely coincidences, +and there does not appear to be any real connexion. + +Among the most curious of all these institutions is the Golden Orchid +Society, the girl-members of which swear never to marry, and not only +threaten, but positively commit suicide upon any attempt at coercion. At +one time this society became such a serious menace that the authorities +were compelled to adopt severe measures of repression. + +Another old-established society is that of the Vegetarians, who eat no +meat and neither smoke nor drink. From their seemingly harmless ranks it +is said that the Boxers of 1900 were largely recruited. + +For nearly twenty-five centuries the Chinese have looked to Confucius +for their morals. Various religions have appealed to the spiritual side +of the Chinese mind, and Buddhism has obtained an ascendancy which will +not be easily displaced; but through all this long lapse of time the +morality of China has been under the guidance of their great teacher, +Confucius (551-479 B.C.), affectionately known to them as the "uncrowned +king," and recently raised to the rank of a god. + +His doctrines, in the form sometimes of maxims, sometimes of answers to +eager inquirers, were brought together after his death--we do not +know exactly how soon--and have influenced first and last an enormous +proportion of the human race. Confucius taught man's duty to his +neighbour; he taught virtue for virtue's sake, and not for the hope of +reward or fear of punishment; he taught loyalty to the sovereign as the +foundation stone of national prosperity, and filial piety as the basis +of all happiness in the life of the people. As a simple human moralist +he saw clearly the limitations of humanity, and refused to teach his +disciples to return good for evil, as suggested by the Old Philosopher, +declaring without hesitation that evil should be met by justice. The +first systematic writer of Chinese history, who died about 80 B.C., +expressed himself on the position and influence of Confucius in +terms which have been accepted as accurate for twenty centuries past: +"Countless are the princes and prophets that the world has seen in its +time--glorious in life, forgotten in death. But Confucius, though only +a humble member of the cotton-clothed masses, remains with us after +numerous generations. He is the model for such as would be wise. By all, +from the Son of Heaven down to the meanest student, the supremacy of his +principles is freely and fully admitted. He may indeed be pronounced the +divinest of men." + +The Son of Heaven is of course the Emperor, who is supposed to be God's +chosen representative on earth, and responsible for the right conduct +and well-being of all committed to his care. Once every year he +proceeds in state to the Temple of Heaven at Peking; and after the due +performance of sacrificial worship he enters alone the central raised +building with circular blue-tiled roof, and there places himself +in communication with the Supreme Being, submitting for approval or +otherwise his stewardship during the preceding twelve months. Chinese +records go so far as to mention letters received from God. There is a +legend of the sixth century A.D., which claims that God revealed Himself +to a hermit in a retired valley, and bestowed on him a tablet of jade +with a mysterious inscription. But there is a much more circumstantial +account of a written communication which in A.D. 1008 descended from +heaven upon mount T'ai, the famous mountain in Shantung, where a temple +has been built to mark the very spot. The emperor and his courtiers +regarded this letter with profound reverence and awe, which roused +the ire of a learned statesman of the day. The latter pointed out +that Confucius, when asked to speak, so that his disciples might have +something to record, had bluntly replied: "Does God speak? The four +seasons pursue their courses and all things are produced; but does God +say anything?" Therefore, he argued, if God does not speak to us, still +less will He write a letter. + +The fact that the receipt of such a letter is mentioned in the dynastic +history of the period must not be allowed to discredit in any way +the general truth and accuracy of Chinese annals, which, as research +progresses, are daily found to be far more trustworthy than was ever +expected to be the case. We ourselves do not wholly reject the old +contemporary chronicles of Hoveden and Roger of Wendover because they +mention a letter from Christ on the neglect of the Sabbath. + +In Chinese life, social and political alike, filial piety may +be regarded as the keystone of the arch. Take that away, and the +superstructure of centuries crumbles to the ground. When Confucius was +asked by one of his disciples to explain what constituted filial piety, +he replied that it was a difficult obligation to define; while to +another disciple he was able to say without hesitation that the mere +support of parents would be insufficient, inasmuch as food is what +is supplied even to horses and dogs. According to the story-books for +children, the obligation has been interpreted by the people at large +in many different ways. The twenty-four standard examples of filial +children include a son who allowed mosquitoes to feed upon him, and did +not drive them away lest they should go and annoy his parents; another +son who wept so passionately because he could procure no bamboo shoots +for his mother that the gods were touched, and up out of the ground +came some shoots which he gathered and carried home; another who when +carrying buckets of water would slip and fall on purpose, in order to +make his parents laugh; and so on. No wonder that Confucius found filial +piety beyond his powers of definition. + +Now for a genuine example. There is a very wonderful novel in which a +very affecting love-story is worked out to a terribly tragic conclusion. +The heroine, a beautiful and fascinating girl, finally dies of +consumption, and the hero, a wayward but none the less fascinating +youth, enters the Buddhist priesthood. A lady, the mother of a clever +young official, was so distressed by the pathos of the tale that she +became quite ill, and doctors prescribed medicines in vain. At length, +when things were becoming serious, the son set to work and composed a +sequel to this novel, in which he resuscitated the heroine and made +the lovers happy by marriage; and in a short time he had the intense +satisfaction of seeing his mother restored to health. + +Other forms of filial piety, which bear no relation whatever to the +fanciful fables given above, are commonly practised by all classes. In +consequence of the serious or prolonged illness of parents, it is very +usual for sons and daughters to repair to the municipal temple and pray +that a certain number of years may be cut off their own span of life and +added to that of the sick parents in question. + +Let us now pause to take stock of some of the results which have accrued +from the operation and influence of Confucianism during such a long +period, and over such swarming myriads of the human race. It is +a commonplace in the present day to assert that the Chinese are +hardworking, thrifty, and sober--the last-mentioned, by the way, in a +land where drunkenness is not regarded as a crime. Shallow observers +of the globe-trotter type, who have had their pockets picked by +professional thieves in Hong-Kong, and even resident observers who have +not much cultivated their powers of observation and comparison, will +assert that honesty is a virtue denied to the Chinese; but those who +have lived long in China and have more seriously devoted themselves to +discover the truth, may one and all be said to be arrayed upon the other +side. The amount of solid honesty to be met with in every class, except +the professionally criminal class, is simply astonishing. That the word +of the Chinese merchant is as good as his bond has long since become a +household word, and so it is in other walks of life. With servants from +respectable families, the householder need have no fear for his goods. +"Be loyal," says the native maxim, "to the master whose rice you eat;" +and this maxim is usually fulfilled to the letter. Hence, it is that +many foreigners who have been successful in their business careers, take +care to see, on their final departure from the East, that the old and +faithful servant, often of twenty to thirty years' standing, shall have +some provision for himself and his family. In large establishments, +especially banks, in which great interests are at stake, it is customary +for the Chinese staff to be guaranteed by some wealthy man (or firm), +who deposits securities for a considerable amount, thus placing the +employer in a very favourable position. The properly chosen Chinese +servant who enters the household of a foreigner, is a being to whom, as +suggested above, his master often becomes deeply attached, and whom +he parts with, often after many years of service, to his everlasting +regret. Such a servant has many virtues. He is noiseless over his work, +which he performs efficiently. He can stay up late, and yet rise early. +He lives on the establishment, but in an out-building. He provides his +own food. He rarely wants to absent himself, and even then will always +provide a reliable _locum tenens_. He studies his master's ways, and +learns to anticipate his slightest wishes. In return for these and other +services he expects to get his wages punctually paid, and to be allowed +to charge, without any notice being taken of the same, a commission on +all purchases. This is the Chinese system, and even a servant absolutely +honest in any other way cannot emancipate himself from its grip. But if +treated fairly, he will not abuse his chance. One curious feature of +the system is that if one master is in a relatively higher position than +another, the former will be charged by his servants slightly more than +the latter by his servants for precisely the same article. Many attempts +have been made by foreigners to break through this "old custom," +especially by offering higher wages; but signal failure has always been +the result, and those masters have invariably succeeded best who have +fallen in with the existing institution, and have tried to make the best +of it. + +There is one more, and in many ways the most important, side of a +Chinese servant's character. He will recognize frankly, and without a +pang, the superior position and the rights of his master; but at the +same time, if worth keeping, he will exact from his master the proper +respect due from man to man. It is wholly beside the mark to say that +he will not put up for a moment with the cuffs and kicks so freely +administered to his Indian colleague. A respectable Chinese servant +will often refuse to remain with a master who uses abusive or violent +language, or shows signs of uncontrollable temper. A lucrative place is +as nothing compared with the "loss of face" which he would suffer in the +eyes of his friends; in other words, with his loss of dignity as a man. +If a servant will put up with a blow, the best course is to dismiss +him at once, as worthless and unreliable, if not actually dangerous. +Confucius said: "If you mistrust a man, do not employ him; if you employ +a man, do not mistrust him;" and this will still be found to be an +excellent working rule in dealings with Chinese servants. + + + +CHAPTER IV--A.D. 220-1200 + +The long-lived and glorious House of Han was brought to a close by the +usual causes. There were palace intrigues and a temporary usurpation of +the throne, eunuchs of course being in the thick of the mischief; +added to which a very serious rebellion broke out, almost as a natural +consequence. First and last there arose three aspirants to the Imperial +yellow, which takes the place of purple in ancient Rome; the result +being that, after some years of hard fighting, China was divided into +three parts, each ruled by one of the three rivals. The period is known +in history as that of the Three Kingdoms, and lasted from A.D. 220 to +A.D. 265. This short space of time was filled, especially the early +years, with stirring deeds of heroism and marvellous strategical +operations, fortune favouring first one of the three commanders and then +another. The whole story of these civil wars is most graphically told in +a famous historical romance composed about a thousand years afterwards. +As in the case of the Waverley novels, a considerable amount of fiction +has been interwoven with truth to make the narrative more palatable +to the general reader; but its basis is history, and the work is +universally regarded among the Chinese themselves as one of the most +valuable productions in the lighter branches of their literature. + +The three to four centuries which follow on the above period were a +time of political and social disorganisation, unfavourable, according +to Chinese writers, to the development of both literature and art. The +House of Chin, which at first held sway over a once more united empire, +was severely harassed by the Tartars on the north, who were in turn +overwhelmed by the House of Toba. The latter ruled for some two hundred +years over northern China, while the southern portions were governed +by several short-lived native dynasties. A few points in connexion with +these times deserve perhaps brief mention. + +The old rule of twenty-seven months of mourning for parents was +re-established, and has continued in force down to the present day. The +Japanese sent occasional missions, with tribute; and the Chinese, who +had already in A.D. 240 dispatched an envoy to Japan, repeated the +compliment in 608. An attempt was made to conquer Korea, and envoys +were sent to countries as far off as Siam. Buddhism, which had been +introduced many centuries previously--no one can exactly say when--began +to spread far and wide, and appeared to be firmly established. In A.D. +399 a Buddhist priest, named Fa Hsien, started from Central China and +travelled to India across the great desert and over the Hindu Kush, +subsequently visiting Patna, Benares, Buddha-Gaya, and other well-known +spots, which he accurately described in the record of his journey +published on his return and still in existence. His object was to obtain +copies of the sacred books, relics and images, illustrative of the +faith; and these he safely conveyed to China by sea from India, via +Ceylon (where he spent three years), and Sumatra, arriving after an +absence of fifteen years. + +In the year A.D. 618 the House of T'ang entered upon its glorious course +of three centuries in duration. Under a strong but dissolute ruler +immediately preceding, China had once more become a united empire, +undivided against itself; and although wars and rebellions were not +wanting to disturb the even tenor of its way, the general picture +presented to us under the new dynasty of the T'angs is one of national +peace, prosperity, and progress. The name of this House has endured, +like that of Han, to the present day in the popular language of the +people; for just as the northerners still delight to style themselves +"good sons of Han," so are the southerners still proud to speak of +themselves as "men of T'ang." + +One of the chief political events of this period was the usurpation +of power by the Empress Wu--at first, as nominal regent on behalf of a +step-child, the son and heir of her late husband by his first wife, and +afterwards, when she had set aside the step-child, on her own account. +There had been one previous instance of a woman wielding the Imperial +sceptre, namely, the Empress Lu of the Han dynasty, to whom the Chinese +have accorded the title of legitimate ruler, which has not been allowed +to the Empress Wu. The latter, however, was possessed of much actual +ability, mixed with a kind of midsummer madness; and so long as her +great intellectual faculties remained unimpaired, she ruled, like her +successor of some twelve centuries afterwards, with a rod of iron. In +her old age she was deposed and dismissed to private life, the rightful +heir being replaced upon his father's throne. + +Among the more extravagant acts of her reign are some which are still +familiar to the people of to-day. Always, even while her husband was +alive, she was present, behind a curtain, at councils and audiences; +after his death she was accustomed to take her place openly among the +ministers of state, wearing a false beard. In 694 she gave herself the +title of Divine Empress, and in 696 she even went so far as to style +herself God Almighty. In her later years she became hopelessly arrogant +and overbearing. No one was allowed to say that the Empress was fair +as a lily or lovely as a rose, but that the lily was fair or the rose +lovely as Her Majesty. She tried to spread the belief that she was +really the Supreme Being by forcing flowers artificially and then in the +presence of her courtiers ordering them to bloom. On one occasion she +commanded some peonies to bloom; and because they did not instantly +obey, she caused every peony in the capital to be pulled up and burnt, +and prohibited the cultivation of peonies ever afterwards. She further +decided to place her sex once and for all on an equality with man. For +that purpose women were admitted to the public examinations, official +posts being conferred upon those who were successful; and among other +things they were excused from kneeling while giving evidence in courts +of justice. This innovation, however, did not fulfil its promise; +and with the disappearance of its vigorous foundress, the system also +disappeared. It was not actually the first time in Chinese history that +the experiment had been tried. An emperor of the third century A.D. had +already opened public life to women, and it is said that many of them +rose to high office; but here too the system was of short duration, and +the old order was soon restored. + +Another striking picture of the T'ang dynasty is presented by the career +of an emperor who is usually spoken of as Ming Huang, and who, after +distinguishing himself at several critical junctures, mounted the throne +in 712, in succession to his father, who had abdicated in his favour. He +began with economy, closing the silk factories and forbidding the palace +ladies to wear jewels or embroideries, considerable quantities of which +were actually burnt. He was a warm patron of literature, and schools +were established in every village. Fond of music, he founded a college +for training youth of both sexes in this art. His love of war and +his growing extravagance led to increased taxation, with the usual +consequences in China--discontent and rebellion. He surrounded himself +by a brilliant court, welcoming men of genius in literature and art; +at first for their talents alone, but finally for their readiness +to participate in scenes of revelry and dissipation provided for the +amusement of a favourite concubine, the ever-famous Yang Kuei-fei +(pronounced _Kway-fay_). Eunuchs were appointed to official posts, and +the grossest forms of religious superstition were encouraged. Women +ceased to veil themselves, as of old. At length, in 755, a serious +rebellion broke out, and a year later the emperor, now an old man of +seventy-one, fled before the storm. He had not proceeded far before his +soldiery revolted and demanded vengeance upon the whole family of the +favourite, several unworthy members of which had been raised to high +positions and loaded with honours. The wretched emperor was forced to +order the head eunuch to strangle his idolized concubine, while the +rest of her family perished at the hands of the troops. He subsequently +abdicated in favour of his son, and spent the last six years of his life +in seclusion. + +This tragic story has been exquisitely told in verse by one of China's +foremost poets, who was born only a few years later. He divides his +poem into eight parts, dealing with the _ennui_ of the monarch until he +discovers _beauty_, the _revelry_ of the pair together, followed by the +horrors of _flight_, to end in the misery of _exile_ without her, the +_return_ when the emperor passes again by the fatal spot, _home_ where +everything reminds him of her, and finally _spirit-land_. This last is a +figment of the poet's imagination. He pictures the disconsolate emperor +sending a magician to discover Yang Kuei-fei's whereabouts in the next +world, and to bear to her a message of uninterrupted love. The magician, +after a long search, finds her in one of the Isles of the Blest, and +fulfils his commission accordingly. + + Her features are fixed and calm, though myriad tears fall, + Wetting a spray of pear-bloom, as it were with the raindrops of + spring. + Subduing her emotions, restraining her grief, she tenders thanks + to His Majesty. + Saying how since their parting she had missed his form and voice; + And how, although their love on earth had so soon come to an end, + The days and months among the Blest were still of long duration. + And now she turns and gazes towards the above of mortals, + But cannot discern the Imperial city, lost in the dust and haze. + Then she takes out the old keepsake, tokens of undying love, + A gold hairpin, an enamel brooch, and bids the magician carry + these back. + One half of the hairpin she keeps, and one half of the enamel + brooch, + Breaking with her hands the yellow gold, and dividing the enamel + in two. + "Tell him," she said, "to be firm of heart, as this gold and + enamel, + And then in heaven or on earth below we two may meet once more." + +The magnificent House of T'ang was succeeded by five insignificant +dynasties, the duration of all of which was crowded into about half +a century. Then, in A.D. 960, began the rule of the Sungs (pronounced +_Soongs_), to last for three hundred years and rival in national peace +and prosperity any other period in the history of China. The nation +had already in a great measure settled down to that state of material +civilization and mental culture in which it has remained to the present +time. To the appliances of ordinary Chinese life it is probable that but +few additions have been made since a very early date. The dress of the +people has indeed undergone several variations, but the ploughs and +hoes, the water-wheels and well-sweeps, the tools of the artisans, mud +huts, carts, junks, chairs, tables, chopsticks, etc., which we still +see in China, are probably very much those of two thousand years ago. +Mencius, of the third century B.C., observed that written characters had +the same form, and axle-trees the same breadth, all over the empire; and +to this day an unaltering uniformity is one of the chief characteristics +of the Chinese people in every department of life. + +In spite, however, of the peaceful aspirations of the House of Sung, +the Kitan Tartars were for ever encroaching upon Chinese territory, and +finally overran and occupied a large part of northern China, with +their capital where Peking now stands. This resulted in an amicable +arrangement to divide the empire, the Kitans retaining their conquests +in the north, from which, after about two hundred years, they were in +turn expelled by the Golden Tartars, who had previously been subject to +them. + +Many volumes, rather than pages, would be required to do justice to the +statesmen, soldiers, philosophers, poets, historians, art critics, and +other famous men of this dynasty. It has already been stated that the +interpretation of the Confucian Canon, accepted at the present day, +dates from this period; and it may now be of interest to give a brief +account of another remarkable movement connected with the dynasty, +though in quite a different line. + +Wang An-shih (as _shi_ in _shirk_), popularly known as the Reformer, was +born in 1021. In his youth a keen student, his pen seemed to fly over +the paper. He rose to high office; and by the time he was forty-eight he +found himself installed as confidential adviser to the emperor. He then +entered upon a series of startling political reforms, said to be based +upon new and more correct interpretations of portions of the Confucian +Canon, which still remained, so far as explanation was concerned, just +as it had been left by the scholars of the Han dynasty. This appeal to +authority was, of course, a mere blind, cleverly introduced to satisfy +the bulk of the population, who were always unwilling to move in any +direction where no precedent is forthcoming. One of his schemes, the +express object of which was to decrease taxation and at the same time +to increase the revenue, was to secure a sure and certain market for all +products, as follows. From the produce of a given district, enough was +to be set aside (1) for the payment of taxes, and (2) to supply the +wants of the district; (3) the balance was then to be taken over by the +state at a low rate, and held for a rise or forwarded to some centre +where there happened to be a demand. There would be thus a certainty +of market for the farmer, and an equal certainty for the state to +make profits as a middleman. Another part of this scheme consisted in +obligatory advances by the state to cultivators of land, whether these +farmers required the money or not, the security for the loans being in +each case the growing crops. + +There was also a system of tithing for military purposes, under which +every family having more than two males was bound to supply one to serve +as a soldier; and in order to keep up a breed of cavalry horses, every +family was compelled to take charge of one, which was provided, together +with its food, by the government. There was a system under which money +payments were substituted for the old-fashioned and vexatious method +of carrying on public works by drafts of forced labourers; and again +another under which warehouses for bartering and hypothecating goods +were established all over the empire. + +Of all his innovations the most interesting was that all land was to be +remeasured and an attempt made to secure a more equitable incidence of +taxation. The plan was to divide up the land into equal squares, and to +levy taxes in proportion to the fertility of each. This scheme proved +for various reasons to be unworkable; and the bitter opposition with +which, like all his other measures of reform, it was received by +his opponents, did not conduce to success. Finally, he abolished all +restrictions upon the export of copper, the result being that even the +current copper "cash" were melted down and made into articles for sale +and exportation. A panic ensued, which Wang met by the simple expedient +of doubling the value of each cash. He attempted to reform the +examination system, requiring from the candidate not so much graces of +style as a wide acquaintance with practical subjects. "Accordingly," +says one Chinese author, "even the pupils at the village schools +threw away their text-books of rhetoric, and began to study primers of +history, geography, and political economy"--a striking anticipation of +the movement in vogue to-day. "I have myself been," he tells us, "an +omnivorous reader of books of all kinds, even, for example, of ancient +medical and botanical works. I have, moreover, dipped into treatises on +agriculture and on needlework, all of which I have found very profitable +in aiding me to seize the great scheme of the Canon itself." But +like many other great men, he was in advance of his age. He fell into +disfavour at court, and was dismissed to a provincial post; and although +he was soon recalled, he retired into private life, shortly afterwards +to die, but not before he had seen the whole of his policy reversed. + +His career stands out in marked contrast with that of the great +statesman and philosopher, Chu Hsi (pronounced _Choo Shee_), who +flourished A.D. 1130-1200. His literary output was enormous and his +official career successful; but his chief title to fame rests upon his +merits as a commentator on the Confucian Canon. As has been already +stated, he introduced interpretations either wholly or partly at +variance with those which had been put forth by the scholars of the +Han dynasty, and hitherto received as infallible, thus modifying to a +certain extent the prevailing standard of political and social morality. +His guiding principle was merely one of consistency. He refused to +interpret words in a given passage in one sense, and the same words +occurring elsewhere in another sense. The effect of this apparently +obvious method was magical; and from that date the teachings of +Confucius have been universally understood in the way in which Chu Hsi +said they ought to be understood. + +To his influence also must be traced the spirit of materialism which +is so widely spread among educated Chinese. The God in whom Confucius +believed, but whom, as will be seen later on, he can scarcely be said +to have "taught," was a passive rather than an active God, and may be +compared with the God of the Psalms. He was a personal God, as we know +from the ancient character by which He was designated in the written +language of early ages, that character being a rude picture of a +man. This view was entirely set aside by Chu Hsi, who declared in the +plainest terms that the Chinese word for God meant nothing more than +"abstract right;" in other words, God was a principle. It is impossible +to admit such a proposition, which was based on sentiment and not +on sound reasoning. Chu Hsi was emphatically not a man of religious +temperament, and belief in the supernatural was distasteful to him; +he was for a short time under the spell of Buddhism, but threw that +religion over for the orthodoxy of Confucianism. He was, therefore, +anxious to exclude the supernatural altogether from the revised scheme +of moral conduct which he was deducing from the Confucian Canon, and his +interpretation of the word "God" has been blindly accepted ever since. + +When Chu Hsi died, his coffin is said to have taken up a position, +suspended in the air, about three feet from the ground. Whereupon his +son-in-law, falling on his knees beside the bier, reminded the departed +spirit of the great principles of which he had been such a brilliant +exponent in life--and the coffin descended gently to the ground. + + + +CHAPTER V--WOMEN AND CHILDREN + +The Chinese are very fond of animals, and especially of birds; and on +the whole they may be said to be kind to their animals, though cases of +ill-treatment occur. At the same time it must be carefully remembered +that such quantum of humanity as they may exhibit is entirely of their +own making; there is no law to act persuasively on brutal natures, and +there is no Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to see that +any such law is enforced. A very large number of beautiful birds, mostly +songless, are found in various parts of China, and a great variety of +fishes in the rivers and on the coast. Wild animals are represented by +the tiger (in both north and south), the panther and the bear, and even +the elephant and the rhinoceros may be found in the extreme south-west. +The wolf and the fox, the latter dreaded as an uncanny beast, are very +widely distributed. + +Still less would there be any ground for establishing a Society for the +Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the very name of which would make +an ordinary, unsophisticated Chinaman stare. Chinese parents are, if +anything, over-indulgent to their children. The father is, indeed, +popularly known as the "Severe One," and it is a Confucian tradition +that he should not spare the rod and so spoil the child, but he draws +the line at a poker; and although as a father he possesses the power of +life and death over his offspring, such punishments as are inflicted are +usually of the mildest description. The mother, the "Gentle One," is, +speaking broadly, a soft-hearted, sweet-natured specimen of humanity; +one of those women to whom hundreds of Europeans owe deep debts of +gratitude for the care and affection lavished upon their alien children. +In the absence of the Severe One, it falls to her to chastise when +necessary; and we even read of a son who wept, not because his mother +hurt him, but because, owing to her advanced age, she was no longer able +to hit him hard enough! + +Among other atrocious libels which have fastened upon the fair fame +of the Chinese people, first and foremost stands the charge of +female infanticide, now happily, though still slowly, fading from +the calculations of those who seek the truth. Fifty years ago it was +generally believed that the Chinese hated their female children, and got +rid of them in early infancy by wholesale murder. It may be admitted +at once that boys are preferred to girls, inasmuch as they carry on +the family line, and see that the worship of ancestors is regularly +performed in due season. Also, because girls require dowries, which they +take away with them for the benefit of other families than their own; +hence the saying, "There is no thief like a family of five daughters," +and the term "lose-money goods," as jestingly applied to girls, against +which may be set another term, "a thousand ounces of gold," which is +commonly used of a daughter. Of course it is the boy who is specially +wanted in a family; and little boys are often dressed as little girls, +in order to deceive the angels of disease and death, who, it is hoped, +may thus pass them over as of less account. + +To return to the belief formerly held that female infanticide was +rampant all over China. The next step was for the honest observer to +admit that it was not known in his own particular district, but to +declare that it was largely practised elsewhere. This view, however, +lost its validity when residents "elsewhere" had to allow that no +traces of infanticide could be found in their neighbourhood; and so +on. Luckily, still greater comfort is to be found in the following +argument,--a rare example of proving a negative--from which it will +be readily seen that female infanticide on any abnormal scale is +quite beyond the bounds of the possible. Those who have even a bowing +acquaintance with Chinese social life will grant that every boy, at +about the age of eighteen, is provided by his parents with a wife. They +must also concede the notorious fact that many well-to-do Chinese take +one or more concubines. The Emperor, indeed, is allowed seventy; but +this number exists only on paper as a regulation maximum. Now, if every +Chinaman has one wife, and many have two, over and above the host of +girls said to be annually sacrificed as worthless babies, it must follow +that the proportion of girls born in China enormously outnumbers the +proportion of boys, whereas in the rest of the world boys are well known +to be always in the majority. After this, it is perhaps superfluous to +state that, apart from the natural love of the parent, a girl is really, +even at a very early age, a marketable commodity. Girls are sometimes +sold into other families to be brought up as wives for the sons; +more often, to be used as servants, under what is of course a form of +slavery, qualified by the important condition, which can be enforced by +law, that when of a marriageable age, the girl's master shall find her +a husband. Illegitimate children, the source of so much baby-farming and +infanticide elsewhere, are practically unknown in China; and the same +may be said of divorce. A woman cannot legally divorce her husband. In +rare cases she will leave him, and return to her family, in spite of the +fact that he can legally insist upon her return; for she knows well that +if her case is good, the husband will not dare to risk the scandal of an +exposure, not to mention the almost certain vengeance of her +affronted kinsmen. It is also the fear of such vengeance that prevents +mothers-in-law from ill-treating the girls who pass into their new homes +rather as servants than daughters to the husband's mother. Every +woman, as indeed every man, has one final appeal by which to punish an +oppressor. She may commit suicide, there being no canon, legal or moral, +against self-slaughter; and in China, where, contrary to widespread +notions on the subject, human life is held in the highest degree sacred, +this course is sure to entail trouble and expense, and possibly severe +punishment, if the aggrieved parties are not promptly conciliated by a +heavy money payment. + +A man may divorce his wife for one of the seven following reasons:--Want +of children, adultery, neglect of his parents, nagging, thieving (i.e. +supplying her own family with his goods, popularly known as "leakage"), +jealous temper and leprosy. To the above, the humanity of the lawgiver +has affixed three qualifying conditions. He may not put her away on +any of the above grounds if she has duly passed through the period of +mourning for his parents; if he has grown rich since their marriage; if +she has no longer any home to which she can return. + +Altogether, the Chinese woman has by no means such a bad time as is +generally supposed to be the case. Even in the eye of the law, she has +this advantage over a man, that she cannot be imprisoned except for high +treason and adultery, and is to all intents and purposes exempt from the +punishment of the bamboo. Included in this exemption are the aged and +the young, the sick, the hungry and naked, and those who have already +suffered violence, as in a brawl. Further, in a well-known handbook, +magistrates are advised to postpone, in certain circumstances, the +infliction of corporal punishment; as for instance, when either the +prisoner or they themselves may be under the influence of excitement, +anger or drink. + +The bamboo is the only instrument with which physical punishment may +legally be inflicted; and its infliction on a prisoner or recalcitrant +witness, in order to extort evidence, constitutes what has long been +dignified as "torture;" but even that is now, under a changing system, +about to disappear. This must not be taken to mean that torture, in our +sense of the term, has never been applied in China. The real facts +of the case are these. Torture, except as already described, being +constitutionally illegal, no magistrate would venture to resort to it +if there were any chance of his successful impeachment before the higher +authorities, upon which he would be cashiered and his official career +brought abruptly to an end. Torture, therefore, would have no +terrors for the ordinary citizen of good repute and with a backing of +substantial friends; but for the outcast, the rebel, the highway robber +(against whom every man's hand would be), the disreputable native of a +distant province, and also for the outer barbarian (e.g. the captives at +the Summer Palace in 1860), another tale must be told. No consequences, +except perhaps promotion, would follow from too rigorous treatment in +such cases as these. + +Resort to the bamboo as a means of extorting the confession of a +prisoner is regarded by the people rather as the magistrate's confession +of his own incapacity. The education of the official, too easily and +too freely turned into ridicule, gives him an insight into human +nature which, coupled with a little experience, renders him extremely +formidable to the shifty criminal or the crafty litigant. As a rule, +he finds no need for the application of pain. There is a quaint story +illustrative of such judicial methods as would be sure to meet with +full approbation in China. A magistrate, who after several hearings had +failed to discover, among a gang accused of murder, what was essential +to the completion of the case, namely, the actual hand which struck +the fatal blow, notified the prisoners that he was about to invoke the +assistance of the spirits, with a view to elicit the truth. Accordingly, +he caused the accused men, dressed in the black clothes of criminals, +to be led into a large barn, and arranged around it, face to the wall. +Having then told them that an accusing angel would shortly come among +them, and mark the back of the guilty man, he went outside and had the +door shut, and the place darkened. After a short interval, when the door +was thrown open, and the men were summoned to come forth, it was seen +directly that one of the number had a white mark on his back. This +man, in order to make all secure, had turned his back to the wall, not +knowing, what the magistrate well knew, that the wall had been newly +white-washed. + +As to the punishment of crime by flogging, a sentence of one or two +hundred--even more--blows would seem to be cruel and disgusting; +happily, it may be taken for granted that such ferocious sentences +are executed only in such cases as have been mentioned above. An acute +observer, for many years a member of the municipal police force in +Shanghai, whose duty it was to see that floggings were administered to +Chinese criminals, stated plainly in a public report that the bamboo is +not necessarily a severe ordeal, and that one hundred blows are at times +inflicted so lightly as to leave scarcely a mark behind, though the +recipient howls loudly all the time. Those criminals who have money +can always manage to square the gaoler; and the gaoler has acquired a +certain knack in laying on, the upshot being great cry and little wool, +very satisfactory to the culprit. Even were we to accept the cruellest +estimate in regard to punishment by the bamboo, it would only go to show +that humanitarian feelings in China are lagging somewhat behind our +own. In _The Times_ of March 1, 1811, we read that, for allowing French +prisoners to escape from Dartmoor, three men of the Nottingham militia +were sentenced to receive 900 lashes each, and that one of them actually +received 450 lashes in the presence of pickets from every regiment in +the garrison. On New Year's Day, 1911, a eunuch attempted to assassinate +one of the Imperial Princes. For this he was sentenced to be beaten to +death, some such ferocious punishment being necessary, in Chinese eyes, +to vindicate the majesty of the law. That end having been attained, the +sentence was commuted to eighty blows with the bamboo and deportation to +northern Manchuria. + +The Chinese woman often, in mature life, wields enormous influence over +the family, males included, and is a kind of private Empress Dowager. +A man knows, says the proverb, but a woman knows better. As a widow +in early life, her lot is not quite so pleasant. It is not thought +desirable for widows to remarry; but if she remains single, she becomes +"a rudderless boat;" round which gathers much calumny. Many young women +brave public opinion, and enter into second nuptials. If they are bent +upon remarrying, runs the saying, they can no more be prevented than the +sky can be prevented from raining. + +The days of "golden lilies," as the artificially small feet of Chinese +women are called, are generally believed to date from the tenth century +A.D., though some writers have endeavoured to place the custom many +centuries earlier. It must always be carefully remembered that Manchu +women--the women of the dynasty which has ruled since 1644--do not +compress their feet. Consequently, the empresses of modern times have +feet of the natural size; neither is the practice in force among the +Hakkas, a race said to have migrated from the north of China to the +south in the thirteenth century; nor among the hill tribes; nor among +the boating population of Canton and elsewhere. Small feet are thus in +no way associated with aristocracy or gentleness of birth; neither is +there any foundation for the generally received opinion that the +Chinese lame their women in this way to keep them from gadding about. +Small-footed women may be seen carrying quite heavy burdens, and even +working in the fields; not to mention that many are employed as nurses +for small children. Another explanation is that women with bound feet +bear finer children and stronger; but the real reason lies in another +direction, quite beyond the scope of this book. The question of charm +may be taken into consideration, for any Chinaman will bear witness to +the seductive effect of a gaily-dressed girl picking her way on tiny +feet some three inches in length, her swaying movements and delightful +appearance of instability conveying a general sense of delicate grace +quite beyond expression in words. + +The lady of the tenth century, to whom the origin of small feet is +ascribed, wished to make her own feet like two new moons; but whether +she actually bound them, as at the present day, is purely a matter of +conjecture. The modern style of binding inflicts great pain for a long +time upon the little girls who have to endure it. They become very shy +on the subject, and will on no account show their bare feet, though +Manchu women and others with full-sized feet frequently walk about +unshod, and the boat-girls at Canton and elsewhere never seem to wear +shoes or stockings at all. + +The "pigtail," or long plait of hair worn by all Chinamen, for the +abolition of which many advanced reformers are now earnestly pleading, +is an institution of comparatively modern date. It was imposed by the +victorious Manchu-Tartars when they finally established their dynasty in +1644, not so much as a badge of conquest, still less of servitude, +but as a means of obliterating, so far as possible, the most patent +distinction between the two races, and of unifying the appearance, +if not the aspirations, of the subjects of the Son of Heaven. This +obligation was for some time strenuously resisted by the natives of +Amoy, Swatow, and elsewhere in that neighbourhood. At length, when +compelled to yield, it is said that they sullenly wound their queues +round their heads and covered them with turbans, which are still worn by +natives of those parts. + +The peculiar custom of shaving the head in front, and allowing the hair +to grow long behind, is said to have been adopted by the Manchus out +of affectionate gratitude to the horse, an animal which has played an +all-important part in the history and achievements of the race. This +view is greatly reinforced by the cut of the modern official sleeves, +which hang down, concealing the hands, and are shaped exactly like a +pair of horse's hoofs. + +In many respects the Manchu conquerors left the Chinese to follow their +own customs. No attempt was made to coerce Chinese women, who dress +their hair in styles totally different from that of the Manchu women; +there are, too, some tolerated differences between the dress of the +Manchu and Chinese men, but these are such as readily escape notice. +Neither was any attempt made in the opening years of the conquest to +interfere with foot-binding by Chinese women; but in 1664 an edict was +issued forbidding the practice. Readers may draw their own conclusions, +when it is added that four years after the edict was withdrawn. Hopes +are now widely and earnestly entertained that with the dawn of the new +era, this cruel custom will become a thing of the past; it is, however, +to be feared that those who have been urging on this desirable reform +may be, like all reformers, a little too sanguine of immediate success, +and that a comparatively long period will have to go by before the last +traces of foot-binding disappear altogether. Meanwhile, it seems that +the Government has taken the important step of refusing admission to the +public schools of all girls whose feet are bound. + +The disappearance of the queue is another thing altogether. It is not a +native Chinese institution; there would be no violation of any cherished +tradition of antiquity if it were once and for ever discarded. On the +contrary, if the Chinese do not intend to follow the Japanese and take +to foreign clothes, there might be a return to the old style of doing +the hair. The former dress of the Japanese was one of the numerous items +borrowed by them from China; it was indeed the national dress of the +Chinese for some three hundred years, between A.D. 600-900. One little +difficulty will vanish with the queue. A Chinese coolie will tie his +tail round his head when engaged on work in which he requires to keep it +out of the way, and the habit has become of real importance with the use +of modern machinery; but on the arrival of his master, he should at once +drop it, out of respect, a piece of politeness not always exhibited in +the presence of a foreign employer. The agitation, now in progress, +for the final abolition of the queue may be due to one or all of the +following reasons. Intelligent Chinese may have come to realize that the +fashion is cumbrous and out of date. Sensitive Chinese may fear that it +makes them ridiculous in the eyes of foreigners. Political Chinese, who +would gladly see the re-establishment of a native dynasty, may look +to its disappearance as the first step towards throwing off the Manchu +yoke. + +On the whole, the ruling Manchus have shown themselves very careful +not to wound the susceptibilities of their Chinese subjects. Besides +allowing the women to retain their own costume, and the dead, men and +women alike, to be buried in the costume of the previous dynasty, it was +agreed from the very first that no Chinese concubines should be taken +into the Palace. This last condition seems to be a concession pure and +simple to the conquered; there is little doubt, however, that the wily +Manchus were only too ready to exclude a very dangerous possibility of +political intrigue. + + + +CHAPTER VI--LITERATURE AND EDUCATION + +The Chinese people reverence above all things literature and learning; +they hate war, bearing in mind the saying of Mencius, "There is no such +thing as a _righteous_ war; we can only assert that some wars are better +than others;" and they love trade and the finesse of the market-place. +China can boast many great soldiers, in modern as well as in ancient +days; but anything like a proper appreciation of the military arm is of +quite recent growth. "Good iron is not used for nails, nor good men for +soldiers," says the proverb; and again, "One stroke of the civilian's +pen reduces the military official to abject submission." On the other +hand, it is admitted that "Civilians give the empire peace, and soldiers +give it security." + +Chinese parents have never, until recent days, willingly trained their +sons for the army. They have always wished their boys to follow the +stereotyped literary curriculum, and then, after passing successfully +through the great competitive examinations, to rise to high civil office +in the state. A good deal of ridicule has been heaped of late on the +Chinese competitive examination, the subjects of which were drawn +exclusively from the Confucian Canon, and included a knowledge of +ancient history, of a comprehensive scheme of morality, initiated by +Confucius, and further elaborated by Mencius (372-289 B.C.), of the +ballads and ceremonial rites of three thousand years ago, and of an +aptitude for essay-writing and the composition of verse. The whole +curriculum may be fitly compared with such an education as was given +to William Pitt and others among our own great statesmen, in which an +ability to read the Greek and Roman classics, coupled with an intimate +knowledge of the Peloponnesian War, carried the student about as far as +it was considered necessary for him to go. The Chinese course, too, has +certainly brought to the front in its time a great many eminent men, who +have held their own in diplomacy, if not in warfare, with the subtlest +intellects of the West. + +Their system of competitive examinations has indeed served the Chinese +well. It is the brightest spot in the whole administration, being +absolutely above suspicion, such as attaches to other departments of the +state. Attempts have been made from time to time to gain admission by +improper means to the list of successful candidates, and it would be +absurd to say that not one has ever succeeded; the risk, however, is too +great, for the penalty on detection may be death. + +The ordeal itself is exceedingly severe, as well for the examiners as +for the candidates. At the provincial examinations, held once in every +third year, an Imperial Commissioner, popularly known as the Grand +Examiner, is sent down from Peking. On arrival, his residence is +formally sealed up, and extraordinary precautions are taken to prevent +friends of intending candidates from approaching him in any way. There +is no age limit, and men of quite mature years are to be found +competing against youths hardly out of their teens; indeed, there is +an authenticated case of a man who successfully graduated at the age of +seventy-two. Many compete year after year, until at length they decide +to give it up as a bad job. + +At an early hour on the appointed day the candidates begin to assemble, +and by and by the great gates of the examination hall are thrown open, +and heralds shriek out the names of those who are to enter. Each one +answers in turn as his name is called, and receives from the attendants +a roll of paper marked with the number of the open cell he is to occupy +in one of the long alleys into which the examination hall is divided. +Other writing materials, as well as food, he carries with him in a +basket, which is always carefully searched at the door, and in which +"sleeve" editions of the classics have sometimes been found. When all +have taken their seats, the Grand Examiner burns incense, and closes the +entrance gates, through which no one will be allowed to pass, either in +or out, dead or alive, until the end of the third day, when the first of +the three sessions is at an end, and the candidates are released for +the night. In case of death, not unusual where ten or twelve thousand +persons are cooped up day and night in a confined space, the corpse is +hoisted over the wall; and this would be done even if it were that of +the Grand Examiner himself, whose place would then be taken by the +chief Assistant Examiner, who is also appointed by the Emperor, and +accompanies the Grand Examiner from Peking. + +The long strain of three bouts of three days each has often been +found sufficient to unhinge the reason, with a variety of distressing +consequences, the least perhaps of which may be seen in a regular +percentage of blank papers handed in. On one occasion, a man handed in a +copy of his last will and testament; on another, not very long ago, +the mental balance of the Grand Examiner gave way, and a painful scene +ensued. He tore up a number of the papers already handed in, and bit +and kicked every one who came near him, until he was finally secured +and bound hand and foot in his chair. A candidate once presented himself +dressed in woman's clothes, with his face highly rouged and powdered, +as is the custom. He was arrested at the entrance gate, and quietly sent +home to his friends. + +Overwork, in the feverish desire to get into the Government service, is +certainly responsible for the mental break-down of a large proportion +of the comparatively few lunatics found in China. There being no lunatic +asylums in the empire, it is difficult to form anything like an exact +estimate of their number; it can only be said, what is equally true of +cripples or deformed persons, that it is very rare to meet them in the +streets or even to hear of their existence. + +As a further measure of precaution against corrupt practices at +examinations, the papers handed in by the candidates are all copied out +in red ink, and only these copies are submitted to the examiners. The +difficulty therefore of obtaining favourable treatment, on the score of +either bribery or friendship, is very much increased. The Chinese, who +make no attempt to conceal or excuse, in fact rather exaggerate any +corruption in their public service generally, do not hesitate to declare +with striking unanimity that the conduct of their examination system is +above suspicion, and there appears to be no valid reason why we should +not accept this conclusion. + +The whole system is now undergoing certain modifications, which, +if wisely introduced, should serve only to strengthen the national +character. The Confucian teachings, which are of the very highest order +of morality, and which have moulded the Chinese people for so many +centuries, helping perhaps to give them a cohesion and stability +remarkable among the nations of the world, should not be lightly cast +aside. A scientific training, enabling us to annihilate time and space, +to extend indefinitely the uses and advantages of matter in all its +forms, and to mitigate the burden of suffering which is laid upon the +greater portion of the human race, still requires to be effectively +supplemented by a moral training, to teach man his duty towards his +neighbour. From the point of view of science, the Chinese are, of +course, wholly out of date, though it is only within the past hundred +and fifty years that the West has so decisively outstripped the East. If +we go back to the fifteenth century, we shall find that the standard of +civilization, as the term is usually understood, was still much higher +in China than in Europe; while Marco Polo, the famous Venetian traveller +of the thirteenth century, who actually lived twenty-four years in +China, and served as an official under Kublai Khan, has left it on +record that the magnificence of Chinese cities, and the splendour of the +Chinese court, outrivalled anything he had ever seen or heard of. + +Pushing farther back into antiquity, we easily reach a time when the +inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom "held learning in high esteem, while +our own painted forefathers were running naked and houseless in the +woods, and living on berries and raw meat." In inventive, mechanical and +engineering aptitudes the Chinese have always excelled; as witness--only +to mention a few--the art of printing (_see below_); their water-wheels +and other clever appliances for irrigation; their wonderful bridges (not +to mention the Great Wall); the "taxicab," or carriage fitted with a +machine for recording the distance traversed, the earliest notice +of which takes us back to the fourth century A.D.; the system of +fingerprints for personal identification, recorded in the seventh +century A.D.; the carved ivory balls which contain even so many as nine +or ten other balls, of diminishing size, one within another; a chariot +carrying a figure which always pointed south, recorded as in existence +at a very early date, though unfortunately the specifications which have +came down to us from later dates will not work out, as in the case of +the "taxicab." The story goes that this chariot was invented about 1100 +B.C., by a wonderful hero of the day, in order to enable an ambassador, +who had come to the court of China from a far distant country in the +south, to find his way expeditiously home. The compass proper the +Chinese cannot claim; it was probably introduced into China by the +Arabs at a comparatively late date, and has been confused with the +south-pointing chariot of earlier ages. As to gunpowder, something +of that nature appears to have been used for fireworks in the seventh +century; and something of the nature of a gun is first heard of during +the Mongol campaigns of the thirteenth century; but firearms were not +systematically employed until the fifteenth century. Add to the above +the art of casting bronze, brought to a high pitch of excellence +seven or eight centuries before the Christian era, if not earlier; the +production of silk, mentioned by Mencius (372-289 B.C.) as necessary +for the comfort of old age; the cultivation of the tea-plant from time +immemorial; also the discovery and manufacture of porcelain some sixteen +centuries ago, subsequently brought to a perfection which leaves all +European attempts hopelessly out-classed. + +In many instances the Chinese seem to have been so near and yet so far. +There is a distinct tradition of flying cars at a very remote date; and +rough woodcuts have been handed down for many centuries, showing a car +containing two passengers, flying through the clouds and apparently +propelled by wheels of a screw pattern, set at right angles to the +direction in which the travellers are proceeding. But there is not a +scrap of evidence to show what was the motive power which turned the +wheels. Similarly, iron ships are mentioned in Chinese literature so +far back as the tenth century, only, however, to be ridiculed as an +impossibility; the circulation of the blood is hinted at; added to which +is the marvellous anticipation of anaesthetics as applied to surgery, to +be mentioned later on, an idea which also remained barren of results for +something like sixteen centuries, until Western science stepped in and +secured the prize. Here it may be fairly argued that, considering the +national repugnance to mutilation of the body in any form, it could +hardly be expected that the Chinese would seek to facilitate a process +to which they so strongly object. + +In the domain of painting, we are only just beginning to awake to the +fact that in this direction the Chinese have reached heights denied to +all save artists of supreme power, and that their art was already on +a lofty level many centuries before our own great representatives had +begun to put brush to canvas. Without going so far back as the famous +picture in the British Museum, by an artist of the fourth and fifth +centuries A.D., the point may perhaps be emphasized by quotation from +the words of a leading art-critic, referring to painters of the tenth +and eleventh centuries:--"To the Sung artists and poets, mountains +were a passion, as to Wordsworth. The landscape art thus founded, and +continued by the Japanese in the fifteenth century, must rank as +the greatest school of landscape which the world has seen. It is the +imaginative picturing of what is most elemental and most august in +Nature--liberating visions of storm or peace among abrupt peaks, +plunging torrents, trembling reed-beds--and though having a fantastic +side for its weakness, can never have the reproach of pretty tameness +and mere fidelity which form too often the only ideal of Western +landscape." + +Great Chinese artists unite in dismissing fidelity to outline as of +little importance compared with reproduction of the spirit of the object +painted. To paint a tree successfully, it is necessary to produce not +merely shape and colour but the vitality and "soul" of the original. +Until with the last two or three centuries, nature itself was always +appealed to as the one source of true inspiration; then came the artist +of the studio, since which time Chinese art has languished, while +Japanese art, learned at the feet of Chinese artists from the fourteenth +century onwards, has come into prominent notice, and is now, with +extraordinary versatility, attempting to assimilate the ideals of the +West. + +The following words were written by a Chinese painter of the fifth +century:-- + +"To gaze upon the clouds of autumn, a soaring exaltation in the soul; to +feel the spring breeze stirring wild exultant thoughts;--what is there +in the possession of gold and gems to compare with delights like these? +And then, to unroll the portfolio and spread the silk, and to transfer +to it the glories of flood and fell, the green forest, the blowing +winds, the white water of the rushing cascade, as with a turn of the +hand a divine influence descends upon the scene. . . . These are the +joys of painting." + +Just as in poetry, so in pictorial art, the artist avoids giving full +expression to his theme, and leaving nothing for the spectator to supply +by his own imaginative powers. "Suggestion" is the key-note to both the +above arts; and in both, "Impressionism" has been also at the command +of the gifted, centuries before the term had passed into the English +language. + +Literature and art are indeed very closely associated in China. Every +literary man is supposed to be more or less a painter, or a musician of +sorts; failing personal skill, it would go without saying that he was a +critic, or at the lowest a lover, of one or the other art, or of both. +All Chinese men, women and children seem to love flowers; and the poetry +which has gathered around the blossoms of plum and almond alone would +form a not inconsiderable library of itself. Yet a European bouquet +would appear to a man of culture as little short of a monstrosity; for +to enjoy flowers, a Chinaman must see only a single spray at a time. The +poorly paid clerk will bring with him to his office in the morning some +trifling bud, which he will stick into a tiny vase of water, and place +beside him on his desk. The owner of what may be a whole gallery of +pictures will invite you to tea, followed by an inspection of his +treasures; but on the same afternoon he will only produce perhaps a +single specimen, and scout the idea that any one could call for more. +If a long landscape, it will be gradually unwound from its roller, and +a portion at a time will be submitted for the enjoyment and criticism +of his visitors; if a religious or historical picture, or a picture +of birds or flowers, of which the whole effort must be viewed in its +completeness, it will be studied in various senses, during the intervals +between a chat and a cup of tea. Such concentration is absolutely +essential, in the eyes of the Chinese critic, to a true interpretation +of the artist's meaning, and to a just appreciation of his success. + +The marvellous old stories of grapes painted by Zeuxis of ancient +Greece, so naturally that birds came to peck at them; and of the curtain +painted by Parrhasius which Zeuxis himself tried to pull aside; and +of the horse by Apelles at which another horse neighed--all these find +their counterparts in the literature of Chinese art. One painter, in +quite early days, painted a perch and hung it over a river bank, when +there was immediately a rush of otters to secure it. Another painted the +creases on cotton clothes so exactly that the clothes looked as if they +had just come from the wash. Another produced pictures of cats which +would keep a place free from rats. All these efforts were capped by +those of another artist, whose picture of the North Wind made people +feel cold, while his picture of the South Wind made people feel hot. +Such exaggerations are not altogether without their value; they suggest +that Chinese art must have reached a high level, and this has recently +been shown to be nothing more than the truth, by the splendid exhibition +of Chinese pictures recently on view in the British Museum. + +The literary activities of the Chinese, and their output of literature, +have always been on a colossal scale; and of course it is entirely due +to the early invention of printing that, although a very large number of +works have disappeared, still an enormous bulk has survived the ravages +of war, rebellion and fire. + +This art was rather developed than invented. There is no date, within +a margin even of half a century either way, at which we can say that +printing was invented. The germ is perhaps to be found in the engraving +of seals, which have been used by the Chinese as far back as we can go +with anything like historical certainty, and also of stone tablets +from which rubbings were taken, the most important of these being the +forty-six tablets on which five of the sacred books of Confucianism were +engraved about A.D. 170, and of which portions still remain. However +this may be, it was during the sixth century A.D. that the idea of +taking impressions on paper from wooden blocks seems to have arisen, +chiefly in connexion with religious pictures and tracts. It was not +widely applied to the production of books in general until A.D. 932, +when the Confucian Canon was so printed for the first time; from which +point onwards the extension of the art moved with rapid strides. + +It is very noticeable that the Chinese, who are extraordinarily averse +to novelties, and can hardly be induced to consider any innovations, +when once convinced of their real utility, waste no further time in +securing to themselves all the advantages which may accrue. This was +forcibly illustrated in regard to the introduction of the telegraph, +against which the Chinese had set their faces, partly because of the +disturbance of geomantic influences caused by the tall telegraph poles, +and partly because they sincerely doubted that the wires could achieve +the results claimed. But when it was discovered that some wily Cantonese +had learnt over the telegraph the names of the three highest graduates +at the Peking triennial examination, weeks before the names could be +known in Canton by the usual route, and had enriched himself by buying +up the tickets bearing those names in the great lotteries which are +always held in connexion with this event, Chinese opposition went down +like a house of cards; and the only question with many of the literati +was whether, at some remote date, the Chinese had not invented +telegraphy themselves. + +Moveable types of baked clay were invented about A.D. 1043, and some +centuries later they were made of wood and of copper or lead; but they +have never gained the favour accorded to block-printing, by which most +of the great literary works have been produced. The newspapers of modern +days are all printed from moveable types, and also many translations +of foreign books, prepared to meet the increasing demand for Western +learning. The Chinese have always been a great reading people, +systematic education culminating in competitive examinations for +students going back to the second century A.D. This is perhaps a +suitable place for explaining that the famous _Peking Gazette_, often +said to be the oldest newspaper in the world, is not really a newspaper +at all, in that it contains no news in our sense of the term. It is a +record only of court movements, list of promoted officials, with a +few selected memorials and edicts. It is published daily, but was not +printed until the fifteenth century. + +Every Chinese boy may be said to have his chance. The slightest sign +of a capacity for book-learning is watched for, even among the poorest. +Besides the opportunity of free schools, a clever boy will soon find a +patron; and in many cases, the funds for carrying on a curriculum, and +for entering the first of the great competitions, will be subscribed in +the district, on which the candidate will confer a lasting honour by his +success. A promising young graduate, who has won his first degree with +honours, is at once an object of importance to wealthy fathers who +desire to secure him as a son-in-law, and who will see that money is not +wanting to carry him triumphantly up the official ladder. Boys without +any gifts of the kind required, remain to fill the humbler positions; +those who advance to a certain point are drafted into trade; while hosts +of others who just fall short of the highest, become tutors in private +families, schoolmasters, doctors, fortune-tellers, geomancers, and +booksellers' hacks. + +Of high-class Chinese literature, it is not possible to give even the +faintest idea in the space at disposal. It must suffice to say that all +branches are adequately represented, histories, biographies, philosophy, +poetry and essays on all manner of subjects, offering a wide field even +to the most insatiate reader. + +And here a remark may be interjected, which is very necessary for the +information of those who wish to form a true estimate of the Chinese +people. Throughout the Confucian Canon, a collection of ancient works on +which the moral code of the Chinese is based, there is not a single word +which could give offence, even to the most sensitive, on questions of +delicacy and decency. That is surely saying a good deal, but it is not +all; precisely the same may be affirmed of what is mentioned above as +high-class Chinese literature, which is pure enough to satisfy the most +strait-laced. Chinese poetry, of which there is in existence a huge +mass, will be searched in vain for suggestions of impropriety, for sly +innuendo, and for the other tricks of the unclean. This extraordinary +purity of language is all the more remarkable from the fact that, until +recent years, the education of women has not been at all general, though +many particular instances are recorded of women who have themselves +achieved success in literary pursuits. It is only when we come to the +novel, to the short story, or to the anecdote, which are not usually +written in high-class style, and are therefore not recognized as +literature proper, that this exalted standard is no longer always +maintained. + +There are, indeed, a great number of novels, chiefly historical and +religious, in which the aims of the writers are on a sufficiently high +level to keep them clear of what is popularly known as pornography or +pig-writing; still, when all is said and done, there remains a balance +of writing curiously in contrast with the great bulk of Chinese +literature proper. As to the novel, the long story with a worked-out +plot, this is not really a local product. It seems to have come along +with the Mongols from Central Asia, when they conquered China in the +thirteenth century, and established their short-lived dynasty. Some +novels, in spite of their low moral tone, are exceedingly well written +and clever, graphic in description, and dramatic in episode; but it is +curious that no writer of the first rank has ever attached his name to +a novel, and that the authorship of all the cleverest is a matter of +entire uncertainty. + +The low-class novel is purposely pitched in a style that will be +easily understood; but even so, there is a great deal of word- and +phrase-skipping to be done by many illiterate readers, who are quite +satisfied if they can extract the general sense as they go along. +The book-language, as cultivated by the best writers, is to be freely +understood only by those who have stocked their minds well with the +extensive phraseology which has been gradually created by eminent +men during the past twenty-five centuries, and with historical and +biographical allusions and references of all sorts and things. A word or +two, suggesting some apposite allusion, will often greatly enhance the +beauty of a composition for the connoisseur, but will fall flat on +the ears of those to whom the quotation is unknown. Simple objects in +everyday life often receive quaint names, as handed down in literature, +with which it is necessary to be familiar. For instance, a "fairy +umbrella" means a mushroom; a "gentleman of the beam" is a burglar, +because a burglar was once caught sitting on one of the open beams +inside a Chinese roof; a "slender waist" is a wasp; the "throat olive" +is the "Adam's apple"--which, by the way, is an excellent illustration +from the opposite point of view; "eyebrow notes" means notes at the +top of a page; "cap words" is sometimes used for "preface;" the +"sweeper-away of care" is wine; "golden balls" are oranges; the "golden +tray" is the moon; a "two-haired man" is a grey-beard; the "hundred +holes" is a beehive; "instead of the moon" is a lantern; "instead of +steps" is a horse; "the man with the wooden skirt" is a shopman; +to "scatter sleep" means to give hush-money; and so on, almost _ad +infinitum_. + +Chinese medical literature is on a very voluminous scale, medicine +having always occupied a high place in the estimation of the people, in +spite of the fact that its practice has always been left to any one who +might choose to take it up. Surgery, even of an elementary kind, has +never had a chance; for the Chinese are extremely loath to suffer any +interference with their bodies, believing, in accordance with Confucian +dogma, that as they received them from their parents, so they should +carry them into the presence of their ancestors in the next world. +Medicine, as still practised in China, may be compared with the European +art of a couple of centuries ago, and its exceedingly doubtful results +are fully appreciated by patients at large. "No medicine," says one +proverb, "is better than a middling doctor;" while another points out +that "Many sons of clever doctors die of disease." + +Legend, however, tells us of an extraordinary physician of the fifth +century B.C. who was able to see into the viscera of his patients--an +apparent anticipation of the X-rays--and who, by his intimate knowledge +of the human pulse, effected many astounding cures. We also read of an +eminent physician of the second and third centuries A.D. who did add +surgery to this other qualifications. He was skilled in the use of +acupuncture and cautery; but if these failed he would render his patient +unconscious by a dose of hashish, and then operate surgically. He is +said to have diagnosed a case of diseased bowels by the pulse alone, and +then to have cured it by operation. He offered to cure the headaches +of a famous military commander of the day by opening his skull under +hashish; but the offer was rudely declined. This story serves to show, +in spite of its marvellous setting, that the idea of administering an +anaesthetic to carry out a surgical operation must be credited, so far +as priority goes, to the Chinese, since the book in which the above +account is given cannot have been composed later than the twelfth +century A.D. + + + +CHAPTER VII--PHILOSOPHY AND SPORT + +Chinese philosophy covers altogether too large a field to be dealt with, +even in outline, on a scale suitable to this volume; only a few of its +chief features can possibly be exhibited in the space at disposal. + +Beginning with moral philosophy, we are confronted at once with what was +in early days an extremely vexed question; not perhaps entirely set +at rest even now, but allowed to remain in suspense amid the universal +acceptance of Confucian teachings. Confucius himself taught in no +indistinct terms that man is born good, and that he becomes evil only by +contact with evil surroundings. He does not enlarge upon this dogma, +but states it baldly as a natural law, little anticipating that within +a couple of centuries it was to be called seriously in question. It +remained for his great follower, Mencius, born a hundred years later, to +defend the proposition against all comers, and especially against one +of no mean standing, the philosopher Kao (_Cow_). Kao declared that +righteousness is only to be got out of man's nature in the same way that +good cups and bowls are to be got out of a block of willow wood, namely, +by care in fashioning them. Improper workmanship would produce bad +results; good workmanship, on the other hand, would produce good +results. In plain words, the nature of man at birth is neither good +nor bad; and what it becomes afterwards depends entirely upon what +influences have been brought to bear and in what surroundings it has +come to maturity. Mencius met this argument by showing that in the +process of extracting cups and bowls from a block of wood, the wood as +a block is destroyed, and he pointed out that, according to such +reasoning, man's nature would also be destroyed in the process of +getting righteousness out of it. + +Again, Kao maintained that man's nature has as little concern with +good or evil as water has with east or west; for water will flow +indifferently either one way or the other, according to the conditions +in each case. If there is freedom on the east, it will flow east; if +there is freedom on the west, it will flow west; and so with human +nature, which will move similarly in the direction of either good or +evil. In reply, Mencius freely admitted that water would flow either +east or west; but he asked if it would flow indifferently up or down. +He then declared that the bent of human nature towards good is precisely +like the tendency of water to flow down and not up. You can force water +to jump up, he said, by striking it, and by mechanical appliances you +can make it flow to the top of a hill; but what you do in such cases is +entirely contrary to the nature of water, and is merely the result of +violence, such violence, in fact, as is brought into play when man's +nature is bent towards evil. + +"That which men get at birth," said Kao, "is their nature," implying +that all natures were the same, just as the whiteness of a white feather +is the same as the whiteness of white snow; whereupon Mencius showed +that on this principle the nature of a dog would be the same as that +of a an ox, or the nature of an ox the same as that of a man. Finally, +Mencius declared that for whatever evil men may commit, their natures +can in nowise be blamed. In prosperous times, he argued, men are mostly +good, whereas in times of scarcity the opposite is the case; these two +conditions, however, are not to be charged against the natures with +which God sent them into the world, but against the circumstances in +which the individuals in question have been situated. + +The question, however, of man's original nature was not set permanently +at rest by the arguments of Mencius. A philosopher, named Hsun Tzu +(_Sheundza_), who flourished not very much later than Mencius, came +forward with the theory that so far from being good according to +Confucius, or even neutral according to Kao, the nature of man at birth +is positively evil. He supports this view by the following arguments. +From his earliest years, man is actuated by a love of gain for his own +personal enjoyment. His conduct is distinguished by selfishness and +combativeness. He becomes a slave to envy, hatred, and other passions. +The restraint of law, and the influence and guidance of teachers, are +absolutely necessary to good government and the well-being of social +life. Just as wood must be subjected to pressure in order to make it +straight, and metal must be subjected to the grindstone in order to +make it sharp, so must the nature of man be subjected to training +and education in order to obtain from it the virtues of justice and +self-sacrifice which characterize the best of the human race. It is +impossible to maintain that man's nature is good in the same sense +that his eyes see and his ears hear; for in the latter there is no +alternative. An eye which does not see, is not an eye; an ear which does +not hear, is not an ear. This proves that whereas seeing and hearing are +natural to man, goodness is artificial and acquired. Just as a potter +produces a dish or a carpenter a bench, working on some material before +them, so do the sages and teachers of mankind produce righteousness by +working upon the nature of man, which they transform in the same way +that the potter transforms the clay or the carpenter the wood. We cannot +believe that God has favourites, and deals unkindly with others. How, +then, is it that some men are evil while others are good? The answer +is, that the former follow their natural disposition, while the latter +submit to restraints and follow the guidance of their teachers. It +is indeed true that any one may become a hero, but all men do not +necessarily become heroes, nor is there any method by which they can be +forced to do so. If a man is endowed with a capacity for improvement, +and is placed in the hands of good teachers, associating at the same +time with friends whose actions display such virtues as self-sacrifice, +truth, kindness, and so forth, he will naturally imbibe principles which +will raise him to the same standard; whereas, if he consorts with evil +livers, he will be a daily witness of deceit, corruption, and general +impurity of conduct, and will gradually lapse into the same course +of life. If you do not know your son, says the proverb, look at his +friends. + +The next step was taken by the philosopher Yang Hsiung (_Sheeyoong_), +53 B.C. to A.D. 18. He started a theory which occupies a middle place +between the last two theories discussed above, teaching that the nature +of man at birth is neither wholly good nor wholly evil, but a mixture +of both, and that development in either direction depends altogether +on environment. A compromise in matters of faith is not nearly so +picturesque as an extreme, and Yang's attempted solution has attracted +but scant attention, though always mentioned with respect. The same may +also be said of another attempt to smooth obvious difficulties in +the way of accepting either of the two extremes or the middle course +proposed by Yang Hsiung. The famous Han Yu, to be mentioned again +shortly, was a pillar and prop of Confucianism. He flourished between +A.D. 768 and 824, and performed such lasting services in what was to +him the cause of truth, that his tablet has been placed in the Confucian +temple, an honour reserved only for those whose orthodoxy is beyond +suspicion. Yet he ventured upon an attempt to modify this important +dogma, taking care all the time to appear as if he were criticizing +Mencius rather than Confucius, on whom, of course, the real +responsibility rests. He declared, solely upon his own authority, that +the nature of man is not uniform but divided into three grades--namely, +highest, middle, and lowest. Thus, natures of the highest grade are +good, wholly good, and nothing but good; natures of the lowest grade +are evil, wholly evil, and nothing but evil; while natures of the middle +grade may, under right direction, rise to the highest grade, or, under +wrong direction, sink to the lowest. + +Another question, much debated in the age of Mencius, arose out of the +rival statements of two almost contemporary philosophers, Mo Ti (_Maw +Tee_) and Yang Chu. The former taught a system of mutual and consequently +universal love as a cure for all the ills arising from misgovernment +and want of social harmony. He pointed out, with much truth, that if the +feudal states would leave one another alone, families cease to quarrel, +and thieves cease to steal, while sovereign and subject lived on terms +of benevolence and loyalty, and fathers and sons on terms of kindness +and filial piety--then indeed the empire would be well governed. But +beyond suggesting the influence of teachers in the prohibition of hatred +and the encouragement of mutual love, our philosopher does little or +nothing to aid us in reaching such a desirable consummation. + +The doctrine of Yang Chu is summed up as "every man for himself," and is +therefore diametrically opposed to that of Mo Ti. A questioner one day +asked him if he would consent to part with a single hair in order to +benefit the whole world. Yang Chu replied that a single hair could be +of no possible benefit to the world; and on being further pressed to +say what he would do if a hair were really of such benefit, it is stated +that he gave no answer. On the strength of this story, Mencius said: +"Yang's principle was, every man for himself. Though by plucking out a +single hair he might have benefited the whole world, he would not have +done so. Mo's system was universal love. If by taking off every hair +from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot he could have +benefited the empire, he would have done so. Neither of these two +doctrines is sound; a middle course is the right one." + +The origin of the visible universe is a question on which Chinese +philosophers have very naturally been led to speculate. Legend provides +us with a weird being named P'an Ku, who came into existence, no one can +quite say how, endowed with perfect knowledge, his function being to +set the gradually developing universe in order. He is often represented +pictorially with a huge adze in his hand, and engaged in constructing +the world out of the matter which has just begun to take shape. With +his death the detailed part of creation appeared. His breath became the +wind; his voice, the thunder; his left eye, the sun; his right eye, the +moon; his blood yielded rivers; his hair grew into trees and plants; his +flesh became the soil; his sweat descended as rain; and the parasites +which infested his body were the forerunners of the human race. This +sort of stuff, however, could only appeal to the illiterate; for +intellectual and educated persons something more was required. And so +it came about that a system, based originally upon the quite +incomprehensible Book of Changes, generally regarded as the oldest +portion of the Confucian Canon, was gradually elaborated and brought +to a finite state during the eleventh and twelfth centuries of our era. +According to this system, there was a time, almost beyond the reach of +expression in figures, when nothing at all existed. In the period which +followed, there came into existence, spontaneously, a principle, which +after another lapse of time resolved itself into two principles with +entirely opposite characteristics. One of these principles represented +light, heat, masculinity, and similar phenomena classed as positive; +the other represented darkness, cold, femininity, and other phenomena +classed as negative. The interaction of these two principles in duly +adjusted proportions produced the five elements, earth, fire, water, +wood, and metal; and with their assistance all Nature as we see it +around us was easily and rapidly developed. Such is the Confucian +theory, at any rate so called, for it cannot be shown that Confucius +ever entertained these notions, and his alleged connexion with the Canon +of Changes is itself of doubtful authenticity. + +Chuang Tzu (_Chwongdza_), a philosopher of the third and fourth +centuries B.C., who was not only a mystic but also a moralist and a +social reformer, has something to say on the subject: "If there is +existence, there must have been non-existence. And if there was a time +when nothing existed, then there must have been a time before that, when +even nothing did not exist. Then when nothing came into existence, could +one really say whether it belonged to existence or non-existence?" + +"Nothing" was rather a favourite term with Chuang Tzu for the exercise +of his wit. Light asked Nothing, saying: "Do you, sir, exist, or do you +not exist?" But getting no answer to his question, Light set to work to +watch for the appearance of Nothing. Hidden, vacuous--all day long he +looked but could not see it, listened but could not hear it, grasped at +but could not seize it. "Bravo!" cried Light; "who can equal this? I +can get to be nothing [meaning darkness], but I can't get to be not +nothing." + +Confucius would have nothing to say on the subject of death and a future +state; his theme was consistently this life and its obligations, and he +regarded speculation on the unknown as sheer waste of time. When one +of three friends died and Confucius sent a disciple to condole with the +other two, the disciple found them sitting by the side of the corpse, +merrily singing and playing on the lute. They professed the then +comparatively new faith which taught that life was a dream and death the +awakening. They believed that at death the pure man "mounts to heaven, +and roaming through the clouds, passes beyond the limits of space, +oblivious of existence, for ever and ever without end." When the shocked +disciple reported what he had seen, Confucius said, "These men travel +beyond the rule of life; I travel within it. Consequently, our paths do +not meet; and I was wrong in sending you to mourn. They look on life as +a huge tumour from which death sets them free. All the same they know +not where they were before birth, nor where they will be after death. +They ignore their passions. They take no account of their ears and +eyes. Backwards and forwards through all eternity, they do not admit a +beginning or an end. They stroll beyond the dust and dirt of mortality, +to wander in the realms of inaction. How should such men trouble +themselves with the conventionalities of this world, or care what people +may think of them?" + +Life comes, says Chuang Tzu, and cannot be declined; it goes, and cannot +be stopped. But alas, the world thinks that to nourish the physical +frame is enough to preserve life. Although not enough, it must still be +done; this cannot be neglected. For if one is to neglect the physical +frame, better far to retire at once from the world, since by renouncing +the world one gets rid of the cares of the world. There is, however, +the vitality which informs the physical frame; that must be equally an +object of incessant care. Then he whose physical frame is perfect and +whose vitality remains in its original purity--he is one with God. Man +passes through this sublunary life as a sunbeam passes through a crack; +here one moment, and gone the next. Neither are there any not equally +subject to the ingress and egress of mortality. One modification brings +life; then comes another, and there is death. Living creatures cry out; +human beings feel sorrow. The bow-case is slipped off; the clothes'-bag +is dropped; and in the confusion the soul wings its flight, and the body +follows, on the great journey home. + +Attention has already been drawn to this necessary cultivation of the +physical frame, and Chuan Tzu gives an instance of the extent to which +it was carried. There was a certain man whose nose was covered with a +very hard scab, which was at the same time no thicker than a fly's wing. +He sent for a stonemason to chip it off; and the latter plied his adze +with great dexterity while the patient sat absolutely rigid, without +moving a muscle, and let him chip. When the scab was all off, the nose +was found to be quite uninjured. Such skill was of course soon noised +abroad, and a feudal prince, who also had a scab on his nose, sent for +the mason to take it off. The mason, however, declined to try, alleging +that the success did not depend so much upon the skill of the operator +as upon the mental control of the patient by which the physical frame +became as it were a perfectly inanimate object. + +Contemporary with Chuang Tzu, but of a very different school of thought, +was the philosopher Hui Tzu (_Hooeydza_). He was particularly fond of +the quibbles which so delighted the sophists or unsound reasoners of +ancient Greece. Chuang Tzu admits that he was a man of many ideas, +and that his works would fill five carts--this, it must be remembered, +because they were written on slips of wood tied together by a string run +through eyelets. But he adds that Hui Tzu's doctrines are paradoxical, +and his terms used ambiguously. Hui Tzu argued, for instance, that such +abstractions as hardness and whiteness were separate existences, of +which the mind could only be conscious separately, one at a time. +He declared that there are feathers in a new-laid egg, because they +ultimately appear on the chick. He maintained that fire is not hot; it +is the man who feels hot. That the eye does not see; it is the man who +sees. That compasses will not make a circle; it is the man. That a bay +horse and a dun cow are three; because taken separately they are +two, and taken together they are one: two and one make three. That a +motherless colt never had a mother; when it had a mother, it was not +motherless. That if you take a stick a foot long and every day cut it in +half, you will never come to the end of it. + +Of what use, asked his great rival, is Hui Tzu to the world? His efforts +can only be compared with those of a gadfly or a mosquito. He makes a +noise to drown an echo. He is like a man running a race with his own +shadow. + +When Chuang Tzu was about to die, his disciples expressed a wish to give +him a splendid funeral. But Chuang Tzu said: "With heaven and earth +for my coffin and my shell; with the sun, moon and stars as my burial +regalia; and with all creation to escort me to my grave,--are not my +funeral paraphernalia ready to hand?" "We fear," argued the disciples, +"lest the carrion kite should eat the body of our Master;" to which +Chuang Tzu replied: "Above ground I shall be food for kites; below +ground for mole-crickets and ants. Why rob one to feed the other?" + +Life in China is not wholly made up of book-learning and commerce. The +earliest Chinese records exhibit the people as following the chase +in the wake of the great nobles, more as a sport than as the serious +business it must have been in still more remote ages; and the first +emperors of the present dynasty were also notable sportsmen, who +organized periodical hunting-tours on a scale of considerable +magnificence. + +Hawking was practised at least so far back as a century before Christ; +for we have a note on a man of that period who "loved to gallop after +wily animals with horse and dog, or follow up with falcon the pheasant +and the hare." The sport may be seen in northern China at the present +day. A hare is put up, and a couple of native greyhounds are dispatched +after it; these animals, however, would soon be distanced by the hare, +which can run straight away from them without doubling, but for the +sudden descent of the falcon, and a blow from its claw, often stunning +the hare at the first attempt, and enabling the dogs to come up. + +Sportsmen who have to make their living by the business frequently +descend to methods which are sometimes very ingenious, and more +remunerative than the gun, but can hardly be classified as sport. Thus, +a man in search of wild duck will mark down a flock settled on some +shallow sheet of water. He will then put a crate over his head and +shoulders, and gradually approach the flock as though the crate were +drifting on the surface. Once among them, he puts out a hand under +water, seizes hold of a duck's legs, and rapidly pulls the bird down. +The sudden disappearance of a colleague does not seem to trouble +its companions, and in a short time a very considerable bag has been +obtained. Tradition says that Confucius was fond of sport, but would +never let fly at birds sitting; which, considering that his weapon was a +bow-and-arrow, must be set down as a marvel of self-restraint. + +Scores of Chinese poets have dwelt upon the joys of angling, and fishing +is widely carried on over the inland waters; but the rod, except as +a matter of pure sport, has given place to the businesslike net. The +account of the use of fishing cormorants was formerly regarded as a +traveller's tale. It is quite true, however, that small rafts carrying +several of these birds, with a fisherman gently sculling at the stern, +may be seen on the rivers of southern China. The cormorant seizes a +passing fish, and the fisherman takes the fish from its beak. The bird +is trained with a ring round its neck, which prevents it from swallowing +the prey; while for each capture it is rewarded with a small piece +of fish. Well-trained cormorants can be trusted to fish without the +restraint of the ring. Confucius, again, is said to have been fond +of fishing, but he would not use a net; and there was another sage of +antiquity who would not even use a hook, but fished with a straight +piece of iron, apparently thinking that the advantage would be an unfair +one as against the resources of the fish; and declaring openly that +he would only take such fish as wished to be caught. By such simple +narratives do the Chinese strive to convey great truths to childish +ears. + +Many sports were once common in China which have long since passed out +of the national life, and exist only in the record of books. Among these +may be mentioned "butting," a very ancient pastime, mentioned in history +two centuries before the Christian era. The sport consisted in putting +an ox-skin, horns and all, over the head, and then trying to knock one's +adversary out of time by butting at him after the fashion of bulls, +the result being, as the history of a thousand years later tells us, +"smashed heads, broken arms, and blood running in the Palace yard." + +The art of boxing, which included wrestling, had been practised by +the Chinese several centuries before butting was introduced. Its most +accomplished exponents were subsequently found among the priests of a +Buddhist monastery, built about A.D. 500; and it was undoubtedly from +their successors that the Japanese acquired a knowledge of the modern +_jiu-jitsu_, which is simply the equivalent of the old Chinese term +meaning "gentle art." A few words from a chapter on "boxing" in a +military work of the sixteenth century will give some idea of the scope +of the Chinese sport. + +"The body must be quick to move, the hands quick to take advantage, +and the legs lightly planted but firm, so as to advance or retire with +effect. In the flying leap of the leg lies the skill of the art; in +turning the adversary upside down lies its ferocity; in planting a +straight blow with the fist lies its rapidity; and in deftly holding the +adversary face upwards lies its gentleness." + +Football was played in China at a very early date; originally, with a +ball stuffed full of hair; from the fifth century A.D., with an inflated +bladder covered with leather. A picture of the goal, which is something +like a triumphal arch, has come down to us, and also the technical names +and positions of the players; even more than seventy kinds of kicks +are enumerated, but the actual rules of the game are not known. It is +recorded by one writer that "the winners were rewarded with flowers, +fruit and wine, and even with silver bowls and brocades, while the +captain of the losing team was flogged, and suffered other indignities." +The game, which had disappeared for some centuries, is now being revived +in Chinese schools and colleges under the control of foreigners, and +finds great favour with the rising generation. + +Polo is first mentioned in Chinese literature under the year A.D. 710, +the reference being to a game played before the Emperor and his court. +The game was very much in vogue for a long period, and even women were +taught to play--on donkey-back. The Kitan Tartars were the most skilful +players; it is doubtful if the game originated with them, or if it was +introduced from Persia, with which country China had relations at a very +early date. A statesman of the tenth century, disgusted at the way in +which the Emperor played polo to excess, presented a long memorial, +urging his Majesty to discontinue the practice. The reasons given for +this advice were three in number. "(1) When sovereign and subject play +together, there must be contention. If the sovereign wins, the subject +is ashamed; if the former loses, the latter exults. (2) To jump on a +horse and swing a mallet, galloping here and there, with no distinctions +of rank, but only eager to be first and win, is destructive of all +ceremony between sovereign and subject. (3) To make light of the +responsibilities of empire, and run even the remotest risk of an +accident, is to disregard obligations to the state and to her Imperial +Majesty the Empress." + +It has always been recognized that the chief duty of a statesman is +to advise his master without fear or favour, and to protest loudly and +openly against any course which is likely to be disadvantageous to +the commonwealth, or to bring discredit on the court. It has also been +always understood that such protests are made entirely at the risk of +the statesman in question, who must be prepared to pay with his head for +counsels which may be stigmatized as unpatriotic, though in reality they +may be nothing more than unpalatable at the moment. + +In the year A.D. 814 the Emperor, who had become a devout Buddhist, made +arrangements for receiving with extravagant honours a bone of Buddha, +which had been forwarded from India to be preserved as a relic. This was +too much for Han Yu (already mentioned), the leading statesman of the +day, who was a man of the people, raised by his own genius, and who, to +make things worse, had already been banished eleven years previously for +presenting an offensive Memorial on the subject of tax-collection, +for which he had been forgiven and recalled. He promptly sent in a +respectful but bitter denunciation of Buddha and all his works, and +entreated his Majesty not to stain the Confucian purity of thought by +tolerating such a degrading exhibition as that proposed. But for the +intercession of friends, the answer to this bold memorial would have +been death; as it was he was banished to the neighbourhood of the modern +Swatow, then a wild and barbarous region, hardly incorporated into the +Empire. There he set himself to civilize the rude inhabitants, until +soon recalled and once more reinstated in office; and to this day +there is a shrine dedicated to his memory, containing the following +inscription: "Wherever he passed, he purified." + +Another great statesman, who flourished over two hundred years later, +and also several times suffered banishment, in an inscription to the +honour and glory of his predecessor, put down the following words: +"Truth began to be obscured and literature to fade; supernatural +religions sprang up on all sides, and many eminent scholars failed +to oppose their advance, until Han Yu, the cotton-clothed, arose and +blasted them with his derisive sneer." + +Since the fourteenth century there has existed a definite organization, +known as the Censorate, the members of which, who are called the "ears +and eyes" of the sovereign, make it their business to report adversely +upon any course adopted by the Government in the name of the Emperor, +or by any individual statesman, which seems to call for disapproval. +The reproving Censor is nominally entitled to complete immunity from +punishment; but in practice he knows that he cannot count too much +upon either justice or mercy. If he concludes that his words will be +unforgivable, he hands in his memorial, and draws public attention +forthwith by committing suicide on the spot. + +To be allowed to commit suicide, and not to suffer the indignity of a +public execution, is a privilege sometimes extended to a high official +whose life has become forfeit under circumstances which do not call for +special degradation. A silken cord is forwarded from the Emperor to the +official in question, who at once puts an end to his life, though not +necessarily by strangulation. He may take poison, as is usually the +case, and this is called "swallowing gold." For a long time it was +believed that Chinese high officials really did swallow gold, which in +view of its non-poisonous character gave rise to an idea that gold-leaf +was employed, the leaf being inhaled and so causing suffocation. Some +simple folk, Chinese as well as foreigners, believe this now, although +native authorities have pointed out that workmen employed in the +extraction of gold often steal pieces and swallow them, without any +serious consequences whatever. Another explanation, which has also the +advantage of being the true one, is that "swallowing gold" is one of the +roundabout phrases in which the Chinese delight to express painful +or repulsive subjects. No emperor ever "dies," he becomes "a guest on +high." No son will say that his parents are "dead;" but merely that +"they are not." The death of an official is expressed by "he is drawing +no salary;" of an ordinary man it may be said that "he has become an +ancient," very much in the same way that we say "he has joined the +majority." A corpse in a coffin is in its "long home;" when buried, +it is in "the city of old age," or on "the terrace of night." To say +grossly, then, that a man took poison would be an offence to ears +polite. + + + +CHAPTER VIII--RECREATION + +To return, after a long digression. The age of manly sport, as above +described, has long passed away; and the only hope is for a revival +under the changing conditions of modern China. Some few athletic +exercises have survived; and until recently, archery, in which the +Tartars have always excelled, was regarded almost as a semi-divine +accomplishment. Kite-flying has reached a high level of skill. Clever +little "messengers" have been devised, which run up the string, carrying +fire-crackers which explode at a great height. There is a game of +shuttlecock, without the battledore, for which the feet are used as +a substitute; and "diavolo," recently introduced into Europe, is an +ancient Chinese pastime. A few Manchus, too, may be seen skating during +the long northern winter, but the modern inhabitant of the Flowery Land, +be he Manchu or Chinese, much prefers an indoor game to anything +else, especially when, as is universally the case, a stake of money is +involved. + +Gambling is indeed a very marked feature of Chinese life. A child buying +a cake will often go double or quits with the stall-keeper, to see if he +is to have two cakes or nothing, the question being settled by a throw +of dice in a bowl. Of the interval allowed for meals, a gang of coolies +will devote a portion to a game of cards. The cards used are smaller +than the European pack, and of course differently marked; they were the +invention of a lady of the Palace in the tenth century, who substituted +imitation leaves of gilt paper for real leaves, which had previously +been adopted for playing some kind of game. There are also various games +played with chequers, some of great antiquity; and there is chess, that +is to say, a game so little differing from our chess as to leave no +doubt as to the common origin of both. In all of these the money element +comes in; and it is not too much to say that more homes are broken +up, and more misery caused by this truly national vice than can be +attributed to any other cause. + +For pleasure pure and simple, independent of gains and losses, the +theatre occupies the warmest place in every Chinaman's heart. If +gambling is a national vice in China, the drama must be set off as the +national recreation. Life would be unthinkable to the vast majority +if its monotony were not broken by the periodical performance of +stage-plays. It is from this source that a certain familiarity with the +great historical episodes of the past may be pleasantly picked up over +a pipe and a cup of tea; while the farce, occasionally perhaps erring on +the side of breadth, affords plenty of merriment to the laughter-loving +crowd. + +Ability to make Chinamen laugh is a great asset; and a foreigner who +carries this about with him will find it stand him in much better stead +than a revolver. When, many years ago, a vessel was wrecked on the coast +of Formosa, the crew and passengers were at once seized, and confined +for some time in a building, where traces of their inscriptions could be +seen up to quite a recent date. At length, they were all taken out for +execution; but before the ghastly order was carried out, one of the +number so amused everybody by cutting capers and turning head over +heels, that the presiding mandarin said he was a funny fellow, and +positively allowed him to escape. + +With regard to the farce itself, it is not so much the actual wit of +the dialogue which carries away the audience as the refined skill of the +actor, who has to pass through many trials before he is considered to be +fit for the stage. Beginning as quite a boy, in addition to committing +to memory a large number of plays--not merely his own part, but the +whole play--he has to undergo a severe physical training, part of which +consists in standing for an hour every day with his mouth wide open, to +inhale the morning air. He is taught to sing, to walk, to strut, and to +perform a variety of gymnastic exercises, such as standing on his head, +or turning somersaults. His first classification is as male or female +actor, no women having been allowed to perform since the days of the +Emperor Ch'ien Lung (A.D. 1736-1796), whose mother was an actress, just +as in Shakespeare's time the parts for women were always taken by young +men or boys. When once this is settled, it only remains to enrol him as +tragedian, comedian, low-comedy actor, walking gentleman or lady, and +similar parts, according to his capabilities. + +It is not too much to say that women are very little missed on the +Chinese stage. The make-up of the actor is so perfect, and his imitation +of the feminine voice and manner, down to the smallest detail, even to +the small feet, is so exact in every point, that he would be a clever +observer who could positively detect impersonation by a man. + +Generally speaking, a Chinese actor has many more difficulties to face +than his colleague in the West. In addition to the expression of all +shades of feeling, from mirth to melancholy, the former has to keep up +a perpetual make-believe in another sense, which is further great +strain upon his nerves. There being no scenery, no furniture, and no +appointments of any except the slenderest kind upon the stage, he has +to create in the minds of his audience a belief that all these missing +accessories are nevertheless before their eyes. A general comes upon the +scene, with a whip in his hand, and a studied movement not only suggests +that he is dismounting from a horse, but outlines the animal itself. In +the same manner, he remounts and rides off again; while some other actor +speaks from the top of a small table, which is forthwith transfigured, +and becomes to all intents and purposes a castle. + +Many of those who might be apt to smile at the simple Chinese mind which +can tolerate such absurdities in the way of make-believe, require to +be reminded that the stage in the days of Queen Elizabeth was worked on +very much the same lines. Sir Philip Sidney tells us that the scene of +an imagined garden with imagined flowers had to do duty at one time for +an imagined shipwreck, and at another for an imagined battlefield, the +spectator in the latter case being helped out by two opposing soldiers +armed with swords and bucklers. Even Shakespeare, in the Prologue to +his play of _Henry V_, speaks of imagining one man to be an army of a +thousand, and says:-- + + Think, when we talk of horses that you see them + Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth; + For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings. + +Here, then, is good authority for the quaint system that still prevails +in China. + +Hundreds of Chinese pilgrims annually went their weary way to the top of +Mount Omi in the province of Ssuch'uan, and gaze downward from a sheer +and lofty precipice to view a huge circular belt of light, which is +called the Glory of Buddha. Some see it, some do not; the Chinese say +that the whole thing is a question of faith. In a somewhat similar +sense, the dramatic enthusiast sees before him such beings of the mind +as the genuine actor is able to call up. The Philistine cannot reach +this pitch; but he is sharp enough to see other things which to the eye +of the sympathetic spectator are absolutely non-existent. Some of the +latter will be enumerated below. + +The Chinese stage has no curtain; and the orchestra is on the stage +itself, behind the actors. There is no prompter and no call-boy. Stage +footmen wait at the sides to carry in screens, small tables, and an odd +chair or two, to represent houses, city walls, and so on, or hand cups +of tea to the actors when their throats become dry from vociferous +singing, which is always in falsetto. All this in the face of the +audience. Dead people get up and walk off the stage; or while lying +dead, contrive to alter their facial expression, and then get up and +carry themselves off. There is no interval between one play and the +next following, which probably gives rise to the erroneous belief +that Chinese plays are long, the fact being that they are very short. +According to the Penal Code, there may be no impersonation of emperors +and empresses of past ages, but this clause is now held to refer solely +to the present dynasty. + +For the man in the street and his children, there are to be seen +everywhere in China where a sufficient number of people gather together, +Punch-and-Judy shows of quite a high class in point of skill and general +attractiveness. These shows are variously traced back to the eighth and +second centuries B.C., and to the seventh century A.D., even the +latest of which periods would considerably antedate the appearance of +performing marionettes in this country or on the Continent. Associated +with the second century B.C., the story runs that the Emperor of the day +was closely besieged by a terrible Hun chieftain, who was accompanied +by his wife. It occurred to one of his Majesty's staff to exhibit on +the walls of the town, in full view of the enemy, a number of manikins, +dressed up to a deceptive resemblance to beautiful girls. The wife of +the Hun chieftain then persuaded her husband to draw off his forces, and +the Emperor escaped. + +By the Chinese marionettes, little plays on familiar subjects are +performed; many are of a more serious turn than the loves of Mr. Punch, +while others again are of the knock-about style so dear to the ordinary +boy and girl. Besides such entertainments as these, the streets of a +Chinese city offer other shows to those who desire to be amused. An +acrobat, a rope-dancer or a conjurer will take up a pitch right in the +middle of the roadway, and the traffic has to get on as best it can. +A theatrical stage will sometimes completely block a street, and even +foot-passengers will have to find their way round. There is also the +public story-reader, who for his own sake will choose a convenient spot +near to some busy thoroughfare; and there, to an assembled crowd, he +will read out, not in the difficult book-language, but in the colloquial +dialect of the place, stories of war and heroism, soldiers led to +night-attacks with wooden bits in their mouths to prevent them from +talking in the ranks, the victory of the loyal and the rout and +slaughter of the rebel. Or it may be a tale of giants, goblins and +wizards; the bewitching of promising young men by lovely maidens who +turn out to be really foxes in disguise, ending as usual in the triumph +of virtue and the discomfiture of vice. The fixed eyes and open mouths +of the crowd, listening with rapt attention, is a sight which, once +seen, is not easily forgotten. + +For the ordinary man, China is simply peopled with bogies and devils, +the spirits of the wicked or of those unfortunate enough not to secure +decent burial with all its accompanying worship and rites. These +creatures, whose bodies cast no shadow, lurk in dark corners, ready to +pounce on some unwary passer-by and possibly tear out his heart. Many a +Confucianist, sturdy in his faith that "devils only exist for those who +believe in them," will hesitate to visit by night a lonely spot, or even +to enter a disused tumbledown building by day. Some of the stories +told are certainly well fitted to make a deep impression upon young +and highly-strung nerves. For instance, one man who was too fond of +the bottle placed some liquor alongside his bed, to be drunk during the +night. On stretching out his hand to reach the flask, he was seized by a +demon, and dragged gradually into the earth. In response to his shrieks, +his relatives and neighbours only arrived in time to see the ground +close over his head, just as though he had fallen into water. + +From this story it will be rightly gathered that the Chinese mostly +sleep on the ground floor. In Peking, houses of more than one storey +are absolutely barred; the reason being that each house is built round a +courtyard, which usually has trees in it, and in which the ladies of +the establishment delight to sit and sew, and take the air and all the +exercise they can manage to get. + +Another blood-curdling story is that of four travellers who arrived by +night at an inn, but could obtain no other accommodation than a room in +which was lying the corpse of the landlord's daughter-in-law. Three of +the four were soon snoring; the fourth, however, remained awake, and +very soon heard a creaking of the trestles on which was the dead body +dressed out in paper robes, ready for burial. To his horror he saw the +girl get up, and go and breathe on his companions; so by the time she +came to him he had his head tucked well under the bedclothes. After a +little while he kicked one of the others; but finding that his friend +did not move, he suddenly grabbed his own trousers and made a bolt for +the door. In a moment the corpse was up and after him, following him +down the street, and gaining gradually on him, no one coming to the +rescue in spite of his loud shrieks as he ran. So he slipped behind +a tree, and dodged right and left, the infuriated corpse also dodging +right and left, and making violent efforts to get him. At length, the +girl made a rush forward with one arm on each side, in the hope of thus +grabbing her victim. The traveller, however, fell backwards and escaped +her clutch, while she remained rigidly embracing the tree. By and by he +was found senseless on the ground; and the corpse was removed from the +tree, but with great difficulty, as the fingers were buried in the bark +so deep that the nails were not even visible. The other three travellers +were found dead in their beds. + +Periodical feasting may be regarded as another form of amusement by +which the Chinese seek to relieve the monotony of life. They have +never reserved one day in seven for absolute rest, though of late years +Chinese merchants connected with foreign trade have to some extent +fallen in with the observance of Sunday. Quite a number of days during +the year are set apart as public holidays, but no one is obliged to +keep them as such, unless he likes, with one important exception. The +festival of the New Year cannot be ignored by any one. For about ten +days before this date, and twenty days after it, the public offices +are closed and no business is transacted, the seal of each official is +handed over for safe keeping to the official's wife, a fact which +helps to dispose of the libel that women in China are the down-trodden +creatures they are often represented to be. All debts have to be paid +and accounts squared by midnight on the last day of the old year. A few +nights previously, offerings of an excessively sticky sweetmeat are +made to the Spirit of the Hearth, one of whose functions is that of +an accusing angel. The Spirit is then on the point of starting for his +annual visit to heaven, and lest any of the disclosures he might make +should entail unpleasant consequences, it is adjudged best that he shall +be rendered incapable of making any disclosures at all. The unwary god +finds his lips tightly glued together, and is unable to utter a single +word. Meanwhile, fire-crackers are being everywhere let off on a +colossal scale, the object being to frighten away the evil spirits which +have collected during the past twelve months, and to begin the year +afresh. The day itself is devoted to calling, in one's best clothes, +on relatives, friends and official superiors, for all of whom it is +customary to leave a present. The relatives and friends receive "wet" +gifts, such as fruit or cakes; officials also receive wet gifts, but +underneath the top layer will be found something "dry," in the shape of +silver or bank-notes. Everybody salutes everybody with the conventional +saying, "New joy, new joy; get rich, get rich!" Yet here again, as in +all things Chinese, we find a striking exception to this good-natured +rule. No one says "Get rich, get rich!" to the undertaker. + +A high authority (on other matters) has recently stated that the Chinese +calendar "begins just when the Emperor chooses to say it shall. He is +like the captain of a ship, who says of the hour, 'Make it so,' and +it is so." The truth is that New Year's Day is determined by the +Astronomical Board, according to fixed rules, just as Easter is +determined; and it may fall on any day between the 21st of January and +the 20th of February, but neither before the former date nor after +the latter date, in spite even of the most threatening orders from the +Palace. This book will indeed have been written in vain if the reader +lays it down without having realized that no such wanton interference on +the part of their rulers would be tolerated by the Chinese people. But +we are wandering away from merry-making and festivity. + +In their daily life the Chinese are extremely moderate eaters and mostly +tea-drinkers, even the wealthy confining themselves to few and simple +dishes of pork, fowl, or fish, with the ever-present accompaniment of +rice. The puppy-dog, on which the people are popularly believed to live, +as the French on frogs, is a stall-fed animal, and has always been, and +still is, an article of food; but the consumption of dog-flesh is really +very restricted, and many thousands of Chinamen have never tasted dog in +their lives. According to the popular classification of foods, those +who live on vegetables get strong, those who live on meat become brave, +those who live on grain acquire wisdom, and those who live on air become +divine. + +At banquets the scene changes, and course after course of curiously +compounded and highly spiced dishes, cooked as only Chinese cooks know +how, are placed before the guests. The wine, too, goes merrily round; +bumpers are drunk at short intervals, and the wine-cups are held upside +down, to show that there are no heel-taps. Forfeits are exacted over the +game of "guess-fingers," for failure to cap a verse, or for any other +equally sufficient (or insufficient) reason; and the penalty is an extra +bumper for the loser. + +This lively picture requires, perhaps, a little further explanation. +Chinese "wine" is an ardent spirit distilled from rice, and is modified +in various ways so as to produce certain brands, some of which are of +quite moderate strength, and really may be classed as wine. It is always +drunk hot, the heat being supplied by vessels of boiling water, in which +the pewter wine-flasks are kept standing. The wine-cups are small, and +it is possible to drink a good many of them without feeling in the least +overcome. Even so, many diners now refuse to touch wine at all, the +excuse always being that it flushes the face uncomfortably. Perhaps +they fear an undeserved imputation of drunkenness, remembering their own +cynical saying: "A bottle-nosed man may be a tee-totaller, but no one +will believe it." To judge from their histories and their poetry, the +Chinese seem once upon a time to have been a fairly tipsy nation: +now-a-days, the truth lies the other way. An official who died A.D. +639, and was the originator of epitaphs in China, wrote his own, as +follows:-- + + Fu I loved the green hills and white clouds . . . + Alas! he died of drink! + +There are exceptions, no doubt, as to every rule in every country; +but such sights as drunken men tumbling about the streets, or lying +senseless by the roadside, are not to be seen in China. "It is not +wine," says the proverb, "which makes a man drunk; it is the man +himself." + +Even at banquets, which are often very rich and costly, unnecessary +expense is by no means encouraged. Dishes of fruit, of a kind which no +one would wish to eat, and which are placed on the table for show or +ornament, are simply clever imitations in painted wood, and pass from +banquet to banquet as part of the ordinary paraphernalia of a feast; no +one is deceived. The same form of open and above-board deception appears +in many other ways. There are societies organized for visiting in +a comfortable style of pilgrimage some famous mountain of historic +interest. Names are put down, and money is collected; and then the party +starts off by boat or in sedan-chairs, as the case may be. On arriving +at the mountain, there is a grand feast, and after the picnic, for such +it is, every one goes home again. That is the real thing; now for the +imitation. Names are put down, and money is collected, as before; but +the funds are spent over a feast at home, alongside of a paper mountain. + +Another of these deceptions, which deceive nobody, is one which might be +usefully adapted to life in other countries. A Chinaman meeting in the +street a friend, and having no leisure to stop and talk, or perhaps +meeting some one with whom he may be unwilling to talk, will promptly +put up his open fan to screen his face, and pass on. The suggestion +is that, wishing to pass without notice, he fails to see the person in +question, and it would be a serious breach of decorum on the part of the +latter to ignore the hint thus conveyed. + +Japan, who may be said to have borrowed the civilization of China, +lock, stock and barrel--her literature, her moral code, her arts, her +sciences, her manners and customs, her ceremonial, and even her +national dress--invented the folding fan, which in the early part of the +fifteenth century formed part of the tribute sent from Korea to Peking, +and even later was looked upon by the Chinese as quite a curiosity. In +the early ages, fans were made of feathers, as still at the present day; +but the more modern fan of native origin is a light frame of bamboo, +wood or ivory, round or otherwise, over which silk is stretched, +offering a convenient medium for the inscription of poems, or for +paintings, as exchanged between friend and friend. + +The same innocent form of deception, which deceives nobody, is carried +out when two officials, seated in sedan-chairs, have to pass one +another. If they are of about equal rank, etiquette demands that they +should alight from their chairs, and perform mutual salutations. To +obviate the extreme inconvenience of this rule, large wooden fans are +carried in all processions of the kind, and these are hastily thrust +between the passing officials, so that neither becomes aware of the +other's existence on the scene. The case is different when one of the +two is of higher rank. The official of inferior grade is bound to stop +and get out of his chair while his superior passes by, though even now +he has a chance of escape; he hears the gong beaten to clear the way +for the great man, whose rank he can tell from the number of consecutive +blows given; and hurriedly turns off down a side street. + +An historical instance of substituting the shadow for the reality is +that of the great general Ts'ao Ts'ao, third century A.D., who for some +breach of the law sentenced himself to death, but satisfied his sense +of justice by cutting off his hair. An emperor of the sixth century, +who was a devout Buddhist, and therefore unable to countenance any +destruction of life, had all the sacrificial animals made of dough. + +The opium question, which will claim a few words later on, has been +exhaustively threshed out; and in view of the contradictory statements +for and against the habit of opium smoking, it is recognized that any +conclusion, satisfactory to both parties, is a very remote possibility. +The Chinese themselves, who are chiefly interested in the argument, have +lately come to a very definite conclusion, which is that opium has +to go; and it seems that in spite of almost invincible obstacles, the +sincerity and patriotism which are being infused into the movement will +certainly, sooner or later, achieve the desired end. It is perhaps worth +noting that in the Decree of 1906, which ordered the abolition of opium +smoking, the old Empress Dowager, who was herself over sixty and a +moderate smoker, inserted a clause excusing from the operation of the +new law all persons already more than sixty years of age. + + + +CHAPTER IX--THE MONGOLS, 1260-1368 + +Lack of patriotism is often hurled by foreigners as a reproach to the +Chinese. The charge cannot be substantiated, any more than it could be +if directed against some nation in Europe. If willingness to sacrifice +everything, including life itself, may be taken as a fair test of +genuine patriotism, then it will be found, if historical records be not +ignored, that China has furnished numberless brilliant examples of true +patriots who chose to die rather than suffer dishonour to themselves or +to their country. A single instance must suffice. + +The time is the close of the thirteenth century, when the Mongols under +Kublai Khan were steadily dispossessing the once glorious and powerful +House of Sung, and placing the empire of China under alien rule. +Disaster followed disaster, until almost the last army of the Sungs +was cut to pieces, and the famous statesman and general in command, Wen +(pronounced _One_) T'ien-hsian, fell into the hands of the Mongols. He +was ordered, but refused, to write and advise capitulation, and every +effort was subsequently made to induce him to own allegiance to the +conquerors. He was kept in prison for three years. "My dungeon," he +wrote, "is lighted by the will-o'-the-wisp alone; no breath of spring +cheers the murky solitude in which I dwell. Exposed to mist and dew, +I had many times thought to die; and yet, through the seasons of two +revolving years, disease hovered around me in vain. The dank, unhealthy +soil to me became Paradise itself. For there was that within me which +misfortune could not steal away; and so I remained firm, gazing at the +white clouds floating over my head, and bearing in my heart a sorrow +boundless as the sky." + +At length he was summoned into the presence of Kublai Khan, who said +to him, "What is it you want?" "By the grace of the Sung Emperor," he +replied, "I became His Majesty's Minister. I cannot serve two masters. +I only ask to die." Accordingly, he was executed, meeting his death with +composure, and making an obeisance in the direction of the old capital. +His last words were, "My work is finished." Compare this with the quiet +death-bed of another statesman, who flourished in the previous century. +He had advised an enormous cession of territory to the Tartars, and had +brought about the execution of a patriot soldier, who wished to recover +it at all costs. He was loaded with honours, and on the very night he +died he was raised to the rank of Prince. He was even canonized, after +the usual custom, as Loyalty Manifested, on a mistaken estimate of his +career; but fifty years later his title was changed to False and Foul +and his honours were cancelled, while the people at large took his +degraded name for use as an alternative to spittoon. + +Two names of quite recent patriots deserve to be recorded here as +a tribute to their earnest devotion to the real interests of their +country, and incidentally for the far-reaching consequences of their +heroic act, which probably saved the lives of many foreigners in various +parts of China. It was during the Boxer troubles in Peking, at the +beginning of the siege of the legations, that Yuan Ch'ang and Hsu +Ching-ch'eng, two high Chinese officials, ventured to memorialize the +Empress Dowager upon the fatal policy, and even criminality, of the +whole proceedings, imploring her Majesty at a meeting of the Grand +Council to reconsider her intention of issuing orders for the +extermination of all foreigners. In spite of their remonstrances, a +decree was issued to that effect and forwarded to the high authorities +of the various provinces; but it failed to accomplish what had been +intended, for these two heroes, taking their lives in their hands, had +altered the words "slay all foreigners" into "protect all foreigners." +Some five to six weeks later, when the siege was drawing to a close, +the alteration was discovered; and next day those two men were hurriedly +beheaded, meeting death with such firmness and fortitude as only true +patriotism could inspire. + +The Mongols found it no easy task to dispossess the House of Sung, which +had many warm adherents to its cause. It was in 1206 that Genghis Khan +began to make arrangements for a projected invasion of China, and by +1214 he was master of all the enemy's territory north of the Yellow +River, except Peking. He then made peace with the Golden Tartar emperor +of northern China; but his suspicions were soon aroused, and hostilities +were renewed. In 1227 he died, while conducting a campaign in Central +Asia; and it remained for his vigorous grandson, Kublai Khan, to +complete the conquest of China more than half a century afterwards. So +early as 1260, Kublai was able to proclaim himself emperor at Xanadu, +which means Imperial Capital, and lay about one hundred and eighty miles +north of modern Peking, where, in those days known as Khan-baligh (Marco +Polo's Cambaluc), he established himself four years later; but twenty +years of severe fighting had still to pass away before the empire was +finally subdued. The Sung troops were gradually driven south, contesting +every inch of ground with a dogged resistance born of patriotic +endeavour. In 1278 Canton was taken, and the heroic Wen T'ien-hsiang +was captured through the treachery of a subordinate. In 1279 the last +stronghold of the Sungs was beleaguered by land and sea. Shut up in +their ships which they formed into a compact mass and fortified with +towers and breastworks, the patriots, deprived of fresh water, harassed +by attacks during the day and by fire-ships at night, maintained the +unequal struggle for a month. But when, after a hard day's fighting, the +Sung commander found himself left with only sixteen vessels, he fled up +a creek. His retreat was cut off; and then at length despairing of his +country, he bade his wife and children throw themselves overboard. He +himself, taking the young emperor on his back, followed their example, +and thus brought the great Sung dynasty to an end. + +The grandeur of Kublai Khan's reign may be gathered from the pages +of Marco Polo, in which, too, allusion is made to Bayan, the skilful +general to whom so much of the military success of the Mongols was due. +Korea, Burma, and Annam became dependencies of China, and continued to +send tribute as such even up to quite modern times. Hardly so successful +was Kublai Khan's huge naval expedition against Japan, which, in +point of number of ships and men, the insular character of the enemy's +country, the chastisement intended, and the total loss of the fleet in +a storm, aided by the stubborn resistance offered by the Japanese +themselves--suggests a very obvious comparison with the object and fate +of the Spanish Armada. + +Among the more peaceful developments of Mongol rule at this epoch may +be mentioned the introduction of a written character for the Mongol +language. It was the work of a Tibetan priest, named Baschpa, and was +based upon the written language of a nation known as the Ouigours (akin +to the Turks), which had in turn been based upon Syraic, and is written +in vertical lines connected by ligatures. Similarly, until 1599 there +was no written Manchu language; a script, based upon the Mongol, was +then devised, also in vertical lines or columns like Chinese, but read +from left to right. + +Under Kublai Khan the calendar was revised, and the Imperial Academy was +opened; the Yellow River was explored to its source, and bank-notes were +made current. The Emperor himself was an ardent Buddhist, but he took +care that proper honours were paid to Confucius; on the other hand, he +issued orders that all Taoist literature of the baser kind was to be +destroyed. Behind all this there was extortionate taxation, a form of +oppression the Chinese have never learned to tolerate, and discontent +led to disorder. Kublai's grandson was for a time an honest ruler and +tried to stem the tide, but by 1368 the mandate of the Mongols was +exhausted. They were an alien race, and the Chinese were glad to get rid +of them. + +Chinese soldiers are often stigmatized as arrant cowards, who run away +at the slightest provocation, their first thought being for the safety +of their own skins. No doubt Chinese soldiers do run away--sometimes; at +other times they fight to the death, as has been amply proved over and +over again. It is the old story of marking the hits and not the misses. +A great deal depends upon sufficiency and regularity of pay. Soldiers +with pay in arrear, half clad, hungry, and ill armed, as has frequently +been the case in Chinese campaigns, cannot be expected to do much for +the flag. Given the reverse of these conditions, things would be likely +to go badly with the enemy, whosoever he might be. + +Underneath a mask of complete facial stolidity, the Chinese conceal one +of the most exciteable temperaments to be found in any race, as will +soon be discovered by watching an ordinary street row between a couple +of men, or still better, women. A Chinese crowd of men--women keep +away--is a good-tempered and orderly mob, partly because not inflamed +by drink, when out to enjoy the Feast of the Lanterns, or to watch the +twinkling lamps float down a river to light the wandering ghosts of the +drowned on the night of their All Souls' Day, sacred to the memory of +the dead; but a rumour, a mere whisper, the more baseless often the more +potent, will transform these law-abiding people into a crowd of fiends. +In times when popular feeling runs high, as when large numbers of men +were said to be deprived suddenly and mysteriously of their queues, or +when the word went round, as it has done on more occasions than one, +that foreigners were kidnapping children in order to use their eyes for +medicine,--in such times the masses, incited by those who ought to know +better, get completely out of hand. + +A curious and tragic instance of this excitability occurred some years +ago. The viceroy of a province had succeeded in organizing a contingent +of foreign-drilled troops, under the guidance and leadership of two +qualified foreign instructors. After some time had elapsed, and it was +thought that the troops were sufficiently trained to make a good show, +it was arranged that a sham fight should be held in the presence of +the viceroy himself. The men were divided into two bodies under the +two foreign commanders, and in the course of operations one body had to +defend a village, while the other had to attack it. When the time came +to capture the village at the point of the bayonet, both sides lost +their heads; there was a fierce hand-to-hand fight in stern reality, +and before this could be effectively stopped four men had been killed +outright and sixteen badly wounded. + +Considering how squalid many Chinese homes are, it is all the more +astonishing to find such deep attachment to them. There exists in the +language a definite word for _home_, in its fullest English sense. As a +written character, it is supposed to picture the idea of a family, the +component parts being a "roof" with "three persons" underneath. There +is, indeed, another and more fanciful explanation of this character, +namely, that it is composed of a "roof" with a "pig" underneath, the +forms for "three men" and "pig" being sufficiently alike at any rate +to justify the suggestion. This analysis would not be altogether out +of place in China any more than in Ireland; but as a matter of fact the +balance of evidence is in favour of the "three men," which number, it +may be remarked, is that which technically constitutes a crowd. + +Whatever may be the literary view of the word "home," it is quite +certain that to the ordinary Chinaman there is no place like it. "One +mile away from home is not so good as being in it," says a proverb with +a punning turn which cannot be brought out in English. Another says, +"Every day is happy at home, every moment miserable abroad." It may +therefore be profitable to look inside a Chinese home, if only to +discover wherein its attractiveness lies. + +All such homes are arranged more or less on the patriarchal system; that +is to say, at the head of the establishment are a father and mother, who +rank equally so far as their juniors are concerned; the mother receiving +precisely the same share of deference in life, and of ancestral worship +after death, as the father. The children grow up; wives are sought for +the boys, and husbands for the girls, at about the ages of eighteen and +sixteen, respectively. The former bring their wives into the paternal +home; the latter belong, from the day of their marriage, to the paternal +homes of their husbands. Bachelors and old maids have no place in the +Chinese scheme of life. Theoretically, bride and bridegroom are not +supposed to see each other until the wedding-day, when the girl's veil +is lifted on her arrival at her father-in-law's house; in practice, the +young people usually manage to get at least a glimpse of one another, +usually with the connivance of their elders. Thus the family expands, +and one of the greatest happinesses which can befall a Chinaman is to +have "five generations in the hall." Owing to early marriage, this +is not nearly so uncommon as it is in Western countries. There is an +authentic record of an old statesman who had so many descendants that +when they came to congratulate him on his birthdays, he was quite unable +to remember all their names, and could only bow as they passed in line +before him. + +As to income and expenditure, the earnings of the various members go +into a common purse, out of which expenses are paid. Every one has a +right to food and shelter; and so it is that if some are out of work, +the strain is not individually felt; they take their rations as usual. +On the death of the father, it is not at all uncommon for the mother to +take up the reins, though it is more usual for the eldest son to take +his place. Sometimes, after the death of the mother--and then it is +accounted a bad day for the family fortunes--the brothers cannot agree; +the property is divided, and each son sets up for himself, a proceeding +which is forbidden by the Penal Code during the parents' lifetime. +Meanwhile, any member of the family who should disgrace himself in any +way, as by becoming an inveterate gambler and permanently neglecting his +work, or by developing the opium vice to great excess, would be formally +cast out, his name being struck off the ancestral register. Men of this +stamp generally sink lower and lower, until they swell the ranks of +professional beggars, to die perhaps in a ditch; but such cases are +happily of rare occurrence. + +In the ordinary peaceful family, regulated according to Confucian +principles of filial piety, fraternal love, and loyalty to the +sovereign, we find love of home exalted to a passion; and bitter is the +day of leave-taking for a long absence, as when a successful son starts +to take up his official appointment at a distant post. The latter, not +being able to hold office in his native province, may have a long and +sometimes dangerous journey to make, possibly to the other end of +the empire. In any case, years must elapse before he can revisit "the +mulberry and the elm"--the garden he leaves behind. He may take his +"old woman" and family with him, or they may follow later on; as another +alternative, the "old woman" with the children may remain permanently +in the ancestral home, while the husband carries on his official career +alone. Under such circumstances as the last-mentioned, no one, including +his own wife, is shocked if he consoles himself with a "small old +woman," whom he picks up at his new place of abode. The "small old +woman" is indeed often introduced into families where the "principal old +woman" fails to contribute the first of "the three blessings of which +every one desires to have plenty," namely, sons, money, and life. +Instances are not uncommon of the wife herself urging this course upon +her husband; and but for this system the family line would often come to +an end, failing recourse to another system, namely, adoption, which +is also brought into play when all hope of a lineal descendant is +abandoned. + +Whether she has children or not, the principal wife--the only wife, in +fact--never loses her supremacy as the head of the household. The late +Empress Dowager was originally a concubine; by virtue of motherhood she +was raised to the rank of Western Empress, but never legitimately took +precedence of the wife, whose superiority was indicated by her title +of Eastern Empress, the east being more honourable than the west. The +emperor always sits with his face towards the south. + +The story of Sung Hung, a statesman who flourished about the time of the +Christian era, pleasantly illustrates a chivalrous side of the Chinese +character. This man raised himself from a humble station in life to be a +minister of state, and was subsequently ennobled as marquis. The emperor +then wished him to put away his wife, who was a woman of the people, and +marry a princess; to which he nobly replied: "Sire, the partner of my +porridge days shall never go down from my hall." + +Of the miseries of exile from the ancestral home, lurid pictures have +been drawn by many poets and others. One man, ordered from some soft +southern climate to a post in the colder north, will complain that the +spring with its flowers is too late in arriving; another "cannot stand +the water and earth," by which is meant that the climate does not agree +with him; a third is satisfied with his surroundings, but is still a +constant sufferer from home-sickness. Such a one was the poet who wrote +the following lines:-- + + Away to the east lie fair forests of trees, + From the flowers on the west comes a scent-laden breeze, + Yet my eyes daily turn to my far-away home, + Beyond the broad river, its waves and its foam. + +And such, too, is the note of innumerable songs in exile, written for +the most part by officials stationed in distant parts of the empire; +sometimes by exiles in a harsher sense, namely, those persons who have +been banished to the frontier for disaffection, maladministration +of government, and like offences. A bright particular gem in Chinese +literature, referring to love of home, was the work of a young poet who +received an appointment as magistrate, but threw it up after a tenure of +only eighty-three days, declaring that he could not "crook the hinges of +his back for five pecks of rice a day," that being the regulation pay +of his office. It was written to celebrate his own return, and runs as +follows:-- + +"Homewards I bend my steps. My fields, my gardens, are choked with +weeds: should I not go? My soul has led a bondsman's life: why should I +remain to pine? But I will waste no grief upon the past: I will devote +my energies to the future. I have not wandered far astray. I feel that I +am on the right track once again. + +"Lightly, lightly, speeds my boat along, my garments fluttering to the +gentle breeze. I inquire my route as I go. I grudge the slowness of the +dawning day. From afar I descry by old home, and joyfully press onwards +in my haste. The servants rush forth to meet me: my children cluster at +the gate. The place is a wilderness; but there is the old pine-tree and +my chrysanthemums. I take the little ones by the hand, and pass in. Wine +is brought in full bottles, and I pour out in brimming cups. I gaze +out at my favourite branches. I loll against the window in my new-found +freedom. I look at the sweet children on my knee. + +"And now I take my pleasure in my garden. There is a gate, but it is +rarely opened. I lean on my staff as I wander about or sit down to +rest. I raise my head and contemplate the lovely scene. Clouds rise, +unwilling, from the bottom of the hills: the weary bird seeks its nest +again. Shadows vanish, but still I linger round my lonely pine. Home +once more! I'll have no friendships to distract me hence. The times +are out of joint for me; and what have I to seek from men? In the pure +enjoyment of the family circle I will pass my days, cheering my idle +hours with lute and book. My husbandmen will tell me when spring-time +is nigh, and when there will be work in the furrowed fields. Thither I +shall repair by cart or by boat, through the deep gorge, over the dizzy +cliff, trees bursting merrily into leaf, the streamlet swelling from its +tiny source. Glad is this renewal of life in due season: but for me, I +rejoice that my journey is over. Ah, how short a time it is that we are +here! Why, then, not set our hearts at rest, ceasing to trouble whether +we remain or go? What boots it to wear out the soul with anxious +thoughts? I want not wealth: I want not power: heaven is beyond my +hopes. Then let me stroll through the bright hours, as they pass, in my +garden among my flowers; or I will mount the hill and sing my song, or +weave my verse beside the limpid brook. Thus will I work out my allotted +span, content with the appointments of Fate, my spirit free from care." + +Besides contributing a large amount of beautiful poetry, this author +provided his own funeral oration, the earliest which has come down to +us, written just before his death in A.D. 427. Funeral orations are not +only pronounced by some friend at the grave, but are further solemnly +consumed by fire, in the belief that they will thus reach the world of +spirits, and be a joy and an honour to the deceased, in the same sense +that paper houses, horses, sedan-chairs, and similar articles, are burnt +for the use of the dead. + + + +CHAPTER X--MINGS AND CH'INGS, 1368-1911 + +The first half of the fourteenth century, which witnessed the gradual +decline of Mongol influence and power, was further marked by the birth +of a humble individual destined to achieve a new departure in the +history of the empire. At the age of seventeen, Chu Yuan-chang lost both +his parents and an elder brother. It was a year of famine, and they died +from want of food. He had no money to buy coffins, and was forced to +bury them in straw. He then, as a last resource, decided to enter the +Buddhist priesthood, and accordingly enrolled himself as a novice; but +together with the other novices, he was soon dismissed, the priests +being unable to provide even for their own wants. After this he wandered +about, and finally joined a party of rebels commanded by one of his own +uncles. Rapidly rising to the highest military rank, he gradually found +himself at the head of a huge army, and by 1368 was master of so many +provinces that he proclaimed himself first emperor of the Great Ming +dynasty, under the title of Hung (_Hoong_) Wu, and fixed his capital +at Nanking. In addition to his military genius, he showed almost equal +skill in the administration of the empire, and also became a liberal +patron of literature and education. He organized the present system of +examinations, now in a transition state; restored the native Chinese +style of dress as worn under the T'ang dynasty, which is still the +costume seen on the stage; published a Penal Code of mitigated severity; +drew up a kind of Domesday Book under which taxation was regulated; +and fixed the coinage upon a proper basis, government notes and copper +_cash_ being equally current. Eunuchs were prohibited from holding +official posts, and Buddhism and Taoism were both made state religions. + +This truly great monarch died in 1398, and was succeeded by a grandson, +whose very receding forehead had been a source of much annoyance to his +grandfather, though the boy grew up clever and could make good verses. +The first act of this new emperor was to dispossess his uncles of +various important posts held by them; but this was not tolerated by one +of them, who had already made himself conspicuous by his talents, and +he promptly threw off his allegiance. In the war which ensued, victory +attended his arms throughout, and at length he entered Nanking, the +capital, in triumph. And now begins one of those romantic episodes which +from time to time lend an unusual interest to the dry bones of Chinese +history. In the confusion which followed upon the entry of troops into +his palace, the young and defeated emperor vanished, and was never seen +again; although in after years pretenders started up on more than one +occasion, and obtained the support of many in their efforts to recover +the throne. It is supposed that the fugitive made his way to the distant +province of Yunnan in the garb of a Buddhist priest, left to him, so the +story runs, by his grandfather. After nearly forty years of wandering, +he is said to have gone to Peking and to have lived in seclusion in the +palace there until his death. He was recognized by a eunuch from a mole +on his left foot, but the eunuch was afraid to reveal his identity. + +The victorious uncle mounted the throne in the year 1403, under the now +famous title of Yung Lo (_Yoong Law_), and soon showed that he could +govern as well as he could fight. He brought immigrants from populous +provinces to repeople the districts which had been laid waste by war. +Peking was built, and in 1421 the seat of government was transferred +thither, where it has remained ever since. A new Penal Code was drawn +up. Various military expeditions were despatched against the Tartars, +and missions under the charge of eunuchs were sent to Java, Sumatra, +Siam, and even reached Ceylon and the Red Sea. The day of doubt in +regard to the general accuracy of Chinese annals has gone by; were it +otherwise, a recent (1911) discovery in Ceylon would tend to dispel +suspicion on one point. A tablet has just been unearthed at Galle, +bearing an inscription in Arabic, Chinese and Tamil. The Arabic is +beyond decipherment, but enough is left of the Chinese to show that the +tablet was erected in 1409 to commemorate a visit by the eunuch Cheng +Ho, who passed several times backwards and forwards over that route. In +1411 the same eunuch was sent as envoy to Japan, and narrowly escaped +with his life. + +The emperor was a warm patron of literature, and succeeded in bringing +about the achievement of the most gigantic literary task that the +world has ever seen. He employed a huge staff of scholars to compile an +encyclopaedia which should contain within the compass of a single +work all that had ever been written in the four departments of (1) +the Confucian Canon, (2) history, (3) philosophy, and (4) general +literature, including astronomy, geography, cosmogony, medicine, +divination, Buddhism, Taoism, handicrafts and arts. The completed work, +over which a small army of scholars--more than two thousand in all--had +spent five years, ran to no fewer than 22,877 sections, to which must +be added an index occupying 60 sections. The whole was bound up (Chinese +style) in 11,000 volumes, averaging over half-an-inch in thickness, and +measuring one foot eight inches in length by one foot in breadth. Thus, +if all these were laid flat one upon another, the column so formed would +rise considerably higher than the very top of St. Paul's. Further, each +section contains about twenty leaves, making a total of 917,480 pages +for the whole work, with a grand total of 366,000,000 words. Taking +100 Chinese words as the equivalent of 130 English, due to the greater +condensation of Chinese literary style, it will be found that even the +mighty river of the _Encyclopedia Britannica_ "shrinks to a rill" when +compared with this overwhelming specimen of Chinese industry. + +It was never printed; even a Chinese emperor, and enthusiastic patron of +literature to boot, recoiled before the enormous cost of cutting such +a work on blocks. It was however transcribed for printing, and there +appear to have been at one time three copies in existence. Two of these +perished at Nanking with the downfall of the dynasty in 1644, and the +third was in great part destroyed in Peking during the siege of the +Legations in 1900. Odd volumes have been preserved, and bear ample +witness to the extraordinary character of the achievement. + +This emperor was an ardent Buddhist, and the priests of that religion +were raised to high positions and exerted considerable influence at +court. In times of famine there were loud complaints that some ten +thousand priests were living comfortably at Peking, while the people of +several provinces were reduced to eating bark and grass. + +The porcelain of the Ming dynasty is famous all over the world. Early in +the sixteenth century a great impetus was given to the art, owing to +the extravagant patronage of the court, which was not allowed to pass +without openly expressed remonstrance. The practice of the pictorial +art was very widely extended, and the list of Ming painters is endless, +containing as it does over twelve hundred names, some few of which stand +for a high level of success. + +Towards the close of the sixteenth century the Portuguese appeared upon +the scene, and settled themselves at Macao, the ownership of which has +been a bone of contention between China and Portugal ever since. It is +a delightful spot, with an excellent climate, not very far from Canton, +and was for some time the residence of the renowned poet Camoens. Not +far from Macao lies the island of Sancian, where St. Francois Xavier +died. He was the first Roman Catholic missionary of more modern times +to China, but he never set foot on the mainland. Native maps mark the +existence of "Saint's Grave" upon the island, though he was actually +buried at Goa. There had previously been a Roman Catholic bishop in +Peking so far back as the thirteenth century, from which date it seems +likely that Catholic converts have had a continuous footing in the +empire. + +In 1583, Matteo Ricci, the most famous of all missionaries who have +ever reached China, came upon the scene at Canton, and finally, in +1601, after years of strenuous effort succeeded in installing himself +at Peking, with the warm support of the emperor himself, dying there in +1610. Besides reforming the calendar and teaching geography and science +in general, he made a fierce attack upon Buddhism, at the same time +wisely leaving Confucianism alone. He was the first to become aware +of the presence in China of a Jewish colony, which had been founded +in 1163. It was from his writings that truer notions of Chinese +civilization than had hitherto prevailed, began to spread in the West. +"Mat. Riccius the Jesuite," says Burton in his _Anatomy of Melancholy_ +(1651), "and some others, relate of the industry of the Chinaes most +populous countreys, not a beggar, or an idle person to be seen, and how +by that means they prosper and flourish." + +In 1625 an important find was made. A large tablet, with a long +inscription in Chinese and a shorter one in Syraic, was discovered in +central China. The inscription, in an excellent state of preservation, +showed that the tablet had been set up in A.D. 781 by Nestorian +missionaries, and gave a general idea of the object and scope of the +Christian religion. The genuineness of this tablet was for many years in +dispute--Voltaire, Renan, and others of lesser fame, regarding it as +a pious fraud--but has now been established beyond any possibility +of doubt; its value indeed is so great that an attempt was made quite +recently to carry it off to America. Nestorian Christianity is mentioned +by Marco Polo, but disappears altogether after the thirteenth century, +without leaving any trace in Chinese literature of its once flourishing +condition. + +The last emperor of the Ming dynasty meant well, but succumbed to the +stress of circumstances. Eunuchs and over-taxation brought about the +stereotyped consequence--rebellion; rebellion, too, headed by an able +commander, whose successive victories soon enabled him to assume the +Imperial title. In the capital all was confusion. The treasury was +empty; the garrison were too few to man the walls; and the ministers +were anxious to secure each his own safety. On April 9, 1644, Peking +fell. During the previous night the emperor, who had refused to flee, +slew the eldest princess, commanded the empress to commit suicide, and +sent his three sons into hiding. At dawn the bell was struck for the +court to assemble; but no one came. His Majesty then ascended the Coal +Hill in the palace grounds, and wrote a last decree on the lapel of his +robe: "WE, poor in virtue and of contemptible personality, have incurred +the wrath of God on high. My ministers have deceived me. I am ashamed to +meet my ancestors; and therefore I myself take off my crown, and with my +hair covering my face await dismemberment at the hands of the rebels. Do +not hurt a single one of my people." He then hanged himself, as also did +one faithful eunuch; and his body, together with that of the empress, +was reverently encoffined by the rebels. + +So ended the Ming dynasty, of glorious memory, but not in favour of the +rebel commander, who was driven out of Peking by the Manchus and was +ultimately slain by local militia in a distant province. + +The subjugation of the empire by the victors, who had the disadvantage +of being an alien race, was effected with comparative ease and rapidity. +It was carried out by a military occupation of the country, which has +survived the original necessity, and is part of the system of government +at the present day. Garrisons of Tartar troops were stationed at various +important centres of population, each under the command of an officer of +the highest military grade, whose duty it was to co-operate with, and +at the same time watch and act as a check upon, the high authorities +employed in the civil administration. Those Tartar garrisons still +occupy the same positions; and the descendants of the first battalions, +with occasional reinforcements from Peking, live side by side and in +perfect harmony with the strictly Chinese populations, though the two +races do not intermarry except in very rare cases. These Bannermen, as +they are called, in reference to eight banners or corps under which they +are marshalled, may be known by their square heavy faces, which contrast +strongly with the sharper and more astute-looking physiognomies of the +Chinese. They speak the dialect of Peking, now regarded as the official +or "mandarin" language, just as the dialect of Nanking was, so long as +that city remained the capital of the empire. + +In many respects the conquering Tartars have been themselves conquered +by the people over whom they set themselves to rule. They have adopted +the language, written and colloquial, of China; and they are fully as +proud as the purest-blooded Chinese of the vast literature and glorious +traditions of those past dynasties of which they have made themselves +joint heirs. Manchu, the language of the conquerors, is still kept +alive at Peking. By a fiction, it is supposed to be the language of the +sovereign; but the emperors of China have now in their youth to make a +study of Manchu, and so do the official interpreters and others whose +duty it is to translate from Chinese into Manchu all documents submitted +to what is called the "sacred glance" of His Majesty. In a similar +sense, until quite a recent date, skill in archery was required of every +Bannerman; and it was undoubtedly a great wrench when the once fatally +effective weapon was consigned to an unmerited oblivion. But though +Bannermen can no longer shoot with the bow and arrow, they still +continue to draw monthly allowances from state funds, as an hereditary +right obtained by conquest. + +Of the nine emperors of the Manchu, or Great Ch'ing dynasty, who have +already occupied the dragon throne and have become "guests on high," two +are deserving of special mention as fit to be ranked among the wisest +and best rulers the world has ever known. The Emperor K'ang Hsi (_Khahng +Shee_) began his reign in 1662 and continued it for sixty-one years, +a division of time which has been in vogue for many centuries past. He +treated the Jesuit Fathers with kindness and distinction, and +availed himself in many ways of their scientific knowledge. He was an +extraordinarily generous and successful patron of literature. His name +is inseparably connected with the standard dictionary of the Chinese +language, which was produced under his immediate supervision. It +contains over forty thousand words, not a great number as compared with +European languages which have coined innumerable scientific terms, +but even so, far more than are necessary either for daily life or +for literary purposes. These words are accompanied in each case by +appropriate quotations from the works of every age and of every +style, arranged chronologically, thus anticipating to some extent the +"historical principles" in the still more wonderful English dictionary +by Sir James Murray and others, now going through the press. But the +greatest of all the literary achievements planned by this emperor was a +general encyclopaedia, not indeed on quite such a colossal scale as that +one produced under the Ming dynasty and already described, though still +of respectable dimensions, running as it does in a small-sized +edition to 1,628 octavo volumes of about 200 pages to each. The term +encyclopaedia must not be understood in precisely the same sense as in +Western countries. A Chinese encyclopaedia deals with a given subject +not by providing an up-to-date article written by some living +authority, but by exhibiting extracts from authors of all ages, arranged +chronologically, in which the subject in question is discussed. The +range of topics, however, is such that the above does not always +apply--as, for instance, in the biographical section, which consists +merely of lives of eminent men taken from various sources. In the great +encyclopaedia under consideration, in addition to an enormous number of +lives of men, covering a period of three thousand years, there are also +lives of over twenty-four thousand eminent women, or nearly as many as +all the lives in our own _National Dictionary of Biography_. An +original copy of this marvellous production, which by the way is fully +illustrated, may be seen at the British Museum; a small-sized edition, +more suitable for practical purposes and printed from movable type, was +issued about twenty years ago. + +Skipping an emperor under whose reign was initiated that violent +persecution of Roman Catholics which has continued more or less openly +down to the present day, we come to the second of the two monarchs +before mentioned, whose long and beneficent reigns are among the real +glories of the present dynasty. + +The Emperor Ch'ien Lung (_Loong_) ascended the throne in 1735, when +twenty-five years of age; and though less than two hundred years ago, +legend has been busy with his person. According to some native accounts, +his hands are said to have reached below his knees; his ears touched his +shoulders; and his eyes could see round behind his head. This sort of +stuff, is should be understood, is not taken from reliable authorities. +It cannot be taken from the dynastic history for the simple reason that +the official history of a dynasty is not published until the dynasty +has come to an end. There is, indeed, a faithful record kept of all the +actions of each reigning emperor in turn; good and evil are set down +alike, without fear or favour, for no emperor is ever allowed to get a +glimpse of the document by which posterity will judge him. Ch'ien Lung +had no cause for anxiety on this score; whatever record might leap +to light, he never could be shamed. An able ruler, with an insatiable +thirst for knowledge, and an indefatigable administrator, he rivals +his grandfather's fame as a sovereign and a patron of letters. His one +amiable weakness was a fondness for poetry; unfortunately, for his own. +His output was enormous so far as number of pieces go; these were always +short, and proportionately trivial. No one ever better illustrated one +half of the cynical Chinese saying: "We love our own compositions, +but other men's wives." He disliked missionaries, and forbade the +propagation of the Christian religion. + +After ten years of internal reorganization, his reign became a +succession of wars, almost all of which were brought to a successful +conclusion. His generals led a large army into Nepaul and conquered the +Goorkhas, reaching a point only some sixty miles distant from British +territory. Burma was forced to pay tribute; Chinese supremacy was +established in Tibet; Kuldja and Kashgaria were added to the empire; and +rebellions in Formosa and elsewhere were suppressed. In fifty years the +population was nearly doubled, and the empire on the whole enjoyed peace +and prosperity. In 1750 a Portuguese embassy reached Peking; and was +followed by Lord Macartney's famous mission and a Dutch mission in 1793. +Two years after the venerable emperor had completed a reign of sixty +years, the full Chinese cycle; whereupon he abdicated in favour of his +son, and died in 1799. + + + +CHAPTER XI--CHINESE AND FOREIGNERS + +A virtue which the Chinese possess in an eminent degree is the rather +rare one of gratitude. A Chinaman never forgets a kind act; and what +is still more important, he never loses the sense of obligation to his +benefactor. Witness to this striking fact has been borne times without +number by European writers, and especially by doctors, who have +naturally enjoyed the best opportunities for conferring favours likely +to make a deep impression. It is unusual for a native to benefit by a +cure at the hands of a foreign doctor, and then to go away and make no +effort to express his gratitude, either by a subscription to a hospital, +a present of silk or tea, or perhaps an elaborate banner with a golden +inscription, in which his benefactor's skill is likened to that of the +great Chinese doctors of antiquity. With all this, the patient +will still think of the doctor, and even speak of him, not always +irreverently, as a foreign devil. A Chinaman once appeared at a British +Consulate, with a present of some kind, which he had brought from his +home a hundred miles away, in obedience to the command of his dying +father, who had formerly been cured of ophthalmia by a foreign doctor, +and who had told him, on his deathbed, "never to forget the English." +Yet this present was addressed in Chinese: "To His Excellency the Great +English Devil, Consul X." + +The Chinaman may love you, but you are a devil all the same. It is most +natural that he should think so. For generation upon generation China +was almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. The people of +her vast empire grew up under influences unchanged by contact with other +peoples. Their ideals became stereotyped from want of other ideals to +compare with, and possibly modify, their own. Dignity of deportment +and impassivity of demeanour were especially cultivated by the ruling +classes. Then the foreign devil burst upon the scene--a being as +antagonistic to themselves in every way as it is possible to conceive. +We can easily see, from pictures, not intended to be caricatures, what +were the chief features of the foreigner as viewed by the Chinaman. Red +hair and blue eyes, almost without exception; short and extremely tight +clothes; a quick walk and a mobility of body, involving ungraceful +positions either sitting or standing; and with an additional feature +which the artist could not portray--an unintelligible language +resembling the twittering of birds. Small wonder that little children +are terrified at these strange beings, and rush shrieking into their +cottages as the foreigner passes by. It is perhaps not quite so easy to +understand why the Mongolian pony has such a dread of the foreigner and +usually takes time to get accustomed to the presence of a barbarian; +some ponies, indeed, will never allow themselves to be mounted unless +blindfolded. Then there are the dogs, who rush out and bark, apparently +without rhyme or reason, at every passing foreigner. The Chinese have a +saying that one dog barks at nothing and the rest bark at him; but that +will hardly explain the unfailing attack so familiar to every one who +has rambled through country villages. The solution of this puzzle was +extracted with difficulty from an amiable Chinaman who explained that +what the animals, and indeed his fellow-countrymen as well, could +not help noticing, was the frowzy and very objectionable smell of +all foreigners, which, strangely enough, is the very accusation which +foreigners unanimously bring against the Chinese themselves. + +Compare these characteristics with the universal black hair and black +eyes of men and women throughout China, exclusive of a rare occasional +albino; with the long, flowing, loose robes of officials and of the +well-to-do; with their slow and stately walk and their rigid formality +of position, either sitting or standing. To the Chinese, their own +language seems to be the language of the gods; they know they have +possessed it for several thousand years, and they know nothing at all +of the barbarian. Where does he come from? Where can he come from except +from the small islands which fringe the Middle Kingdom, the world, in +fact, bounded by the Four Seas? The books tell us that "Heaven is round, +Earth is square;" and it is impossible to believe that those books, +upon the wisdom of which the Middle Kingdom was founded, can possibly be +wrong. Such was a very natural view for the Chinaman to take when first +brought really face to face with the West; and such is the view that +in spite of modern educational progress is still very widely held. The +people of a country do not unlearn in a day the long lessons of the +past. He was quite a friendly mandarin, taking a practical view of +national dress, who said in conversation: "I can't think why you +foreigners wear your clothes so tight; it must be very difficult to +catch the fleas." + +As an offset against the virtue of gratitude must be placed the +deep-seated spirit of revenge which animates all classes. Though not +enumerated among their own list of the Seven passions--joy, anger, +sorrow, fear, love, hatred and desire--it is perhaps the most +over-mastering passion to which the Chinese mind is subject. It is +revenge which prompts the unhappy daughter-in-law to throw herself down +a well, consoled by the thought of the trouble, if not ruin, she is +bringing on her persecutors. Revenge, too, leads a man to commit suicide +on the doorstep of some one who has done him an injury, for he well +knows what it means to be entangled in the net which the law throws over +any one on whose premises a dead body may thus be found. There was once +an absurd case of a Chinese woman, who deliberately walked into a pond +until the water reached up to her knees, and remained there, alternately +putting her lips below the surface, and threatening in a loud voice +to drown herself on the spot, as life had been made unbearable by the +presence of foreign barbarians. In this instance, had the suicide +been carried out, vengeance would have been wreaked in some way on the +foreigner by the injured ghost of the dead woman. + +The germ of this spirit of revenge, this desire to get on level terms +with an enemy, as when a life is extracted for a life, can be traced, +strangely enough, to the practice of filial piety and fraternal love, +the very cornerstone of good government and national prosperity. In the +Book of Rites, which forms a part of the Confucian Canon, and contains +rules not only for the performance of ceremonies but also for the +guidance of individual conduct, the following passage occurs: "With the +slayer of his father, a man may not live under the same sky; against +the slayer of his brother, a man must never have to go home to fetch a +weapon; with the slayer of his friend, a man may not live in the same +state." Being now duly admitted among the works which constitute the +Confucian Canon, the above-mentioned Book of Rites enjoys an authority +to which it can hardly lay claim on the ground of antiquity. It is a +compilation made during the first century B.C., and is based, no doubt, +on older existing documents; but as it never passed under the editorship +of either Confucius or Mencius, it would be unfair to jump to the +conclusion that either of these two sages is in any way responsible +for, or would even acquiesce in, a system of revenge, the only result of +which would be an endless chain of bloodshed and murder. The Chinese are +certainly as constant in their hates as in their friendships. To use a +phrase from their own language, if they love a man, they love him to the +life; if they hate a man they hate him to the death. As we have already +noted, the Old Philosopher urged men to requite evil with good; but +Confucius, who was only a mortal himself, and knew the limitations +of mortality, substituted for an ideal doctrine the more practical +injunction to requite evil with justice. It is to be feared that the +Chinese people fall short in practice even of this lower standard. "Be +just to your enemy" is a common enough maxim; but one for which only a +moderate application can be claimed. + +It has often been urged against the Chinese that they have very little +idea of time. A friendly Chinaman will call, and stay on so persistently +that he often outstays his welcome. This infliction is recognized and +felt by the Chinese themselves, who have certain set forms of words by +which they politely escape from a tiresome visitor; among their vast +stores of proverbs they have also provided one which is much to the +point: "Long visits bring short compliments." Also, in contradiction of +the view that time is no value to the Chinaman, there are many familiar +maxims which say, "Make every inch of time your own!" "Half-an-hour is +worth a thousand ounces of silver," etc. An "inch of time" refers to the +sundial, which was known to the Chinese in the earliest ages, and +was the only means they had for measuring time until the invention +or introduction--it is not certain which--of the more serviceable +_clepsydra_, or water-clock, already mentioned. + +This consists of several large jars of water, with a tube at the bottom +of each, placed one above another on steps, so that the tube of an upper +jar overhangs the top of a lower jar. The water from the top jar is made +to drip through its tube into the second jar, and so into a vessel at +the bottom, which contains either the floating figure of a man, or some +other kind of index to mark the rise of the water on a scale divided +into periods of two hours each. The day and night were originally +divided by the Chinese into twelve such periods; but now-a-days +watches and clocks are in universal use, and the European division into +twenty-four hours prevails everywhere. Formerly, too, sticks of incense, +to burn for a certain number of hours, as well as graduated candles, +made with the assistance of the water-clock, were in great demand; these +have now quite disappeared as time-recorders. + +The Chinese year is a lunar year. When the moon has travelled twelve +times round the earth, the year is completed. This makes it about ten +days short of our solar year; and to bring things right again, an extra +month, that is a thirteenth month, is inserted in every three years. +When foreigners first began to employ servants extensively, the latter +objected to being paid their wages according to the European system, for +they complained that they were thus cheated out of a month's wages in +every third year. An elaborate official almanack is published annually +in Peking, and circulated all over the empire; and in addition to such +information as would naturally be looked for in a work of the kind, the +public are informed what days are lucky, and what days are unlucky, the +right and the wrong days for doing or abstaining from doing this, that, +or the other. The anniversaries of the death-days of the sovereigns +of the ruling dynasty are carefully noted; for on such days all the +government offices are supposed to be shut. Any foreign official who +wishes to see a mandarin for urgent business will find it possible to do +so, but the visitor can only be admitted through a side-door; the +large entrance-gate cannot possibly be opened under any circumstances +whatever. + +No notice of the Chinese people, however slight or general in character, +could very well attain its object unless accompanied by some more +detailed account of their etiquette than is to be gathered from the +few references scattered over the preceding pages. Correct behaviour, +whether at court, in the market-place, or in the seclusion of private +life, is regarded as of such extreme importance--and breaches of +propriety in this sense are always so severely frowned upon--that it +behoves the foreigner who would live comfortably and at peace with +his Chinese neighbours, to pick up at least a casual knowledge of an +etiquette which in outward form is so different from his own, and yet in +spirit is so identically the same. A little judicious attention to these +matters will prevent much unnecessary friction, leading often to a +row, and sometimes to a catastrophe. Chinese philosophers have fully +recognized in their writings that ceremonies and salutations and bowings +and scrapings and rules of precedence and rules of the road are not of +any real value when considered apart from the conditions with which they +are usually associated; at the same time they argue that without +such conventional restraints, nothing but confusion would result. +Consequently, a regular code of etiquette has been produced; but as this +deals largely with court and official ceremonial, and a great part of +the remainder has long since been quietly ignored, it is more to the +point to turn to the unwritten code which governs the masses in their +everyday life. + +For the foreigner who would mix easily with the Chinese people, it is +above all necessary to understand not only that the street regulations +of Europe do not apply in China; but also that he will there find a set +of regulations which are tacitly agreed upon by the natives, and which, +if examined without prejudice, can only be regarded as based on common +sense. An ordinary foot-passenger, meeting perhaps a coolie with two +buckets of water suspended one at each end of a bamboo pole, or carrying +a bag of rice, weighing one, two, or even three hundredweight, is +bound to move out of the burden-carrier's path, leaving to him whatever +advantages the road may offer. This same coolie, meeting a sedan chair +borne by two or more coolies like himself, must at once make a similar +concession, which is in turn repeated by the chair-bearers in favour of +any one riding a horse. On similar grounds, an empty sedan-chair must +give way to one in which there is a passenger; and though not exactly +on such rational grounds, it is understood that horse, chair, coolie and +foot-passenger all clear the road for a wedding or other procession, as +well as for the retinue of a mandarin. A servant, too, should stand +at the side of the road to let his master pass. As an exception to the +general rule of common sense which is so very noticeable in all Chinese +institutions, if only one takes the trouble to look for it, it seems to +be an understood thing that a man may not only stand still wherever +he pleases in a Chinese thoroughfare, but may even place his burden or +barrow, as the fancy seizes him, sometimes right in the fairway, from +which point he will coolly look on at the streams of foot-passengers +coming and going, who have to make the best of their way round such +obstructions. It is partly perhaps on this account that friends who +go for a stroll together never walk abreast but always in single file, +shouting out their conversation for all the world to hear; this, too, +even in the country, where a more convenient formation would often, but +not always, be possible. Shopkeepers may occupy the path with tables +exposing their wares, and itinerant stall-keepers do not hesitate to +appropriate a "pitch" wherever trade seems likely to be brisk. The +famous saying that to have freedom we must have order has not entered +deeply into Chinese calculations. Freedom is indeed a marked feature of +Chinese social life; some small sacrifices in the cause of order would +probably enhance rather than diminish the great privileges now enjoyed. + +A few points are of importance in the social etiquette of indoor life, +and should not be lightly ignored by the foreigner, who, on the other +hand, would be wise not to attempt to substitute altogether Chinese +forms and ceremonies for his own. Thus, no Chinaman, and, it may be +added, no European who knows how to behave, fails to rise from his chair +on the entrance of a visitor; and it is further the duty of a host to +see that his visitor is actually seated before he sits down himself. +It is extremely impolite to precede a visitor, as in passing through a +door; and on parting, it is usual to escort him to the front entrance. +He must be placed on the left of the host, this having been the post of +honour for several centuries, previous to which it was the seat to the +right of the host, as with us, to which the visitor was assigned. At +such interviews it would not be correct to allude to wives, who are no +more to be mentioned than were the queen of Spain's legs. + +One singular custom in connection with visits, official and otherwise, +ignorance of which has led on many occasions to an awkward moment, is +the service of what is called "guest-tea." At his reception by the host +every visitor is at once supplied with a cup of tea. The servant brings +two cups, one in each hand, and so manages that the cup in his left hand +is set down before the guest, who faces him on his right hand, while +that for his master is carried across and set down in an exactly +opposite sense. The tea-cups are so handed, as it were with crossed +hands, even when the host, as an extra mark of politeness, receives that +intended for his visitor, and himself places it on the table, in this +case being careful to use _both_ hands, it being considered extremely +impolite to offer anything with one hand only employed. Now comes the +point of the "guest-tea," which, as will be seen, it is quite worth +while to remember. Shortly after the beginning of the interview, an +unwary foreigner, as indeed has often been the case, perhaps because +he is thirsty, or because he may think it polite to take a sip of the +fragrant drink which has been so kindly provided for him, will raise +the cup to his lips. Almost instantaneously he will hear a loud shout +outside, and become aware that the scene is changing rapidly for no very +evident reason--only too evident, however, to the surrounding Chinese +servants, who know it to be their own custom that so soon as a visitor +tastes his "guest-tea," it is a signal that he wishes to leave, and that +the interview is at an end. The noise is simply a bawling summons to get +ready his sedan-chair, and the scurrying of his coolies to be in their +places when wanted. There is another side to this quaint custom, which +is often of inestimable advantage to a busy man. A host, who feels that +everything necessary has been said, and wishes to free himself from +further attendance, may grasp his own cup and invite his guest to drink. +The same results follow, and the guest has no alternative but to rise +and take his leave. In ancient days visitors left their shoes outside +the front door, a custom which is still practised by the Japanese, the +whole of whose civilization--this cannot be too strongly emphasized--was +borrowed originally from China. + +It is considered polite to remove spectacles during an interview, or +even when meeting in the street; though as this rather unreasonable +rule has been steadily ignored by foreigners, chiefly, no doubt, from +unacquaintance with it, the Chinese themselves make no attempt to +observe it so far as foreigners are concerned. In like manner, it is +most unbecoming for any "read-book man," no matter how miserably poor he +is, to receive a stranger, or be seen himself abroad, in short clothes; +but this rule, too, is often relaxed in the presence of foreigners, who +wear short clothes themselves. Honest poverty is no crime in China, +nor is it in any way regarded as cause for shame; it is even more amply +redeemed by scholarship than is the case in Western countries. A man +who has gained a degree moves on a different level from the crowd around +him, so profound is the respect shown to learning. If a foreigner can +speak Chinese intelligibly, his character as a barbarian begins to be +perceptibly modified; and if to the knack of speech he adds a tolerable +acquaintance with the sacred characters which form the written language, +he becomes transfigured, as one in whom the influence of the holy men of +old is beginning to prevail over savagery and ignorance. + +It is not without reason that the term "sacred" is applied above to the +written words or characters. The Chinese, recognizing the extraordinary +results which have been brought about, silently and invisibly, by +the operation of written symbols, have gradually come to invest these +symbols with a spirituality arousing a feeling somewhat akin to worship. +A piece of paper on which a single word has once been written or +printed, becomes something other than paper with a black mark on it. +It may not be lightly tossed about, still less trampled underfoot; it +should be reverently destroyed by fire, here again used as a medium of +transmission to the great Beyond; and thus its spiritual essence will +return to those from whom it originally came. In the streets of a +Chinese city, and occasionally along a frequented highroad, may be seen +small ornamental structures into which odd bits of paper may be thrown +and burnt, thus preventing a desecration so painful to the Chinese mind; +and it has often been urged against foreigners that because they are +so careless as to what becomes of their written and printed paper, the +matter contained in foreign documents and books must obviously be of no +great value. It is even considered criminal to use printed matter for +stiffening the covers or strengthening the folded leaves of books; still +more so, to employ it in the manufacture of soles for boots and shoes, +though in such cases as these the weakness of human nature usually +carries the day. Still, from the point of view of the Taoist faith, the +risk is too serious to be overlooked. In the sixth of the ten Courts of +Purgatory, through one or more of which sinners must pass after death in +order to expiate their crimes on earth, provision is made for those who +"scrape the gilding from the outside of images, take holy names in vain, +show no respect for written paper, throw down dirt and rubbish near +pagodas and temples, have in their possession blasphemous or obscene +books and do not destroy them, obliterate or tear books which teach man +to be good," etc., etc. + +In this, the sixth Court, presided over, like all the others, by a +judge, and furnished with all the necessary means and appliances for +carrying out the sentences, there are sixteen different wards where +different punishments are applied according to the gravity of the +offence. The wicked shade may be sentenced to kneel for long periods on +iron shot, or to be placed up to the neck in filth, or pounded till the +blood runs out, or to have the mouth forced open with iron pincers and +filled with needles, or to be bitten by rats, or nipped by locusts while +in a net of thorns, or have the heart scratched, or be chopped in two +at the waist, or have the skin of the body torn off and rolled up into +spills for lighting pipes, etc. Similar punishments are awarded for +other crimes; and these are to be seen depicted on the walls of the +municipal temple, to be found in every large city, and appropriately +named the Chamber of Horrors. It is doubtful if such ghastly +representations of what is to be expected in the next world have really +any deterrent effect upon even the most illiterate of the masses; +certainly not so long as health is present and things are generally +going well. "The devil a monk" will any Chinaman be when the conditions +of life are satisfactory to him. + +As has already been stated, his temperament is not a religious one; and +even the seductions and threats of Buddhism leave him to a great extent +unmoved. He is perhaps chiefly influenced by the Buddhist menace of +rebirth, possibly as a woman, or worse still as an animal. Belief +in such a contingency may act as a mild deterrent under a variety of +circumstances; it certainly tends to soften his treatment of domestic +animals. Not only because he may some day become one himself, but also +because among the mules or donkeys which he has to coerce through long +spells of exhausting toil, he may be unwittingly belabouring some friend +or acquaintance, or even a member of his own particular family. This +belief in rebirth is greatly strengthened by a large number of recorded +instances of persons who could recall events which had happened in their +own previous state of existence, and whose statements were capable of +verification. Occasionally, people would accurately describe places and +buildings which they could not have visited, while many would entertain +a dim consciousness of scenes, sights and sounds, which seemed to belong +to some other than the present life. There is a record of one man who +could remember having been a horse, and who vividly recalled the pain he +had suffered when riders dug their knees hard into his sides. This, too, +in spite of the administration in Purgatory of a cup of forgetfulness, +specially designed to prevent in those about to reborn any remembrance +of life during a previous birth. + +After all, the most awful punishment inflicted in Purgatory upon sinners +is one which, being purely mental, may not appeal so powerfully to the +masses as the coarse tortures mentioned above. In the fifth Court, the +souls of the wicked are taken to a terrace from which they can hear and +see what goes on in their old homes after their own deaths. "They see +their last wishes disregarded, and their instructions disobeyed. The +property they scraped together with so much trouble is dissipated and +gone. The husband thinks of taking another wife; the widow meditates +second nuptials. Strangers are in possession of the old estate; there +is nothing to divide amongst the children. Debts long since paid are +brought again for settlement, and the survivors are called upon to +acknowledge false claims upon the departed. Debts owed are lost for want +of evidence, with endless recriminations, abuse, and general confusion, +all of which falls upon the three families--father's, mother's, and +wife's--connected with the deceased. These in their anger speak ill of +him that is gone. He sees his children become corrupt, and friends +fall away. Some, perhaps, may stroke the coffin and let fall a tear, +departing quickly with a cold smile. Worse than that, the wife sees her +husband tortured in gaol; the husband sees his wife a victim to some +horrible disease, lands gone, houses destroyed by flood or fire, and +everything in an unutterable plight--the reward of former sins." + +Confucius declined absolutely to discuss the supernatural in any form +or shape, his one object being to improve human conduct in this life, +without attempting to probe that state from which man is divided by +death. At the same time, he was no scoffer; for although he declared +that "the study of the supernatural is injurious indeed," and somewhat +cynically bade his followers "show respect to spiritual beings, but keep +them at a distance," yet in another passage we read: "He who offends +against God has no one to whom he can pray." Again, when he was +seriously ill, a disciple asked if he might offer up prayer. Confucius +demurred to this, pointing out that he himself had been praying for a +considerable period; meaning thereby that his life had been one long +prayer. + + + +CHAPTER XII--THE OUTLOOK + +There is a very common statement made by persons who have lived in +China--among the people, but not of them--and the more superficial the +acquaintance, the more emphatically is the statement made, that the +ordinary Chinaman, be he prince or peasant, offers to the Western +observer an insoluble puzzle in every department of his life. He is, in +fact, a standing enigma; a human being, it may be granted, but one who +can no more be classed than his unique monosyllabic language, which +still stands isolated and alone. + +This estimate is largely based upon some exceedingly false inferences. +It seems to be argued that because, in a great many matters, the +Chinaman takes a diametrically opposite view to our own, he must +necessarily be a very eccentric fellow; but as these are mostly matters +of convention, the argument is just as valid against us as against him. +"Strange people, those foreigners," he may say, and actually does say; +"they make their compass point north instead of south. They take off +their hats in company instead of keeping them on. They mount a horse +on its left instead of on its right side. They begin dinner with soup +instead of dessert, and end it with dessert instead of soup. They drink +their wine cold instead of hot. Their books all open at the wrong end, +and the lines in a page are horizontal instead of vertical. They put +their guests on the right instead of on the left, though it is true that +we did that until several hundred years ago. Their music, too, is so +funny, it is more like noise; and as for their singing, it is only +very loud talking. Then their women are so immodest; striding about in +ball-rooms with very little on, and embracing strange men in a whirligig +which they call dancing, but very unlike the dignified movements which +our male dancers exhibit in the Confucian temple. Their men and women +shake hands, though know from our sacred Book of Rites that men and +women should not even pass things from one to another, for fear their +hands should touch. Then, again, all foreigners, sometimes the women +also, carry sticks, which can only be for beating innocent people; and +their so-called mandarins and others ride races and row boats, instead +of having coolies to do these things for them. They are strange people +indeed; very clever at cunning, mechanical devices, such as fire-ships, +fire-carriages, and air-cars; but extremely ferocious and almost +entirely uncivilized." + +Such would be a not exaggerated picture of the mental attitude of +the Chinaman towards his enigma, the foreigner. From the Chinaman's +imperturbable countenance the foreigner seeks in vain for some +indications of a common humanity within; and simply because he has not +the wit to see it, argues that it is not there. But there it is all the +time. The principles of general morality, and especially of duty towards +one's neighbour, the restrictions of law, and even the conventionalities +of social life, upon all of which the Chinaman is more or less nourished +from his youth upwards, remain, when accidental differences have been +brushed away, upon a bed-rock of ground common to both East and West; +and it is difficult to see how such teachings could possibly turn out a +race of men so utterly in contrast with the foreigner as the Chinese +are usually supposed to be. It is certain that anything like a full +and sincere observance of the Chinese rules of life would result in a +community of human beings far ahead of the "pure men" dreamt of in the +philosophy of the Taoists. + +As has already been either stated or suggested, the Chinese seem to be +actuated by precisely the same motives which actuate other peoples. They +delight in the possession of wealth and fame, while fully alive to the +transitory nature of both. They long even more for posterity, that +the ancestral line may be carried on unbroken. They find their chief +pleasures in family life, and in the society of friends, of books, of +mountains, of flowers, of pictures, and of objects dear to the collector +and the connoisseur. Though a nation of what the Scotch would call +"sober eaters," they love the banquet hour, and to a certain extent +verify their own saying that "Man's heart is next door to his stomach." +In centuries past a drunken nation, some two to three hundred years +ago they began to come under the influence of opium, and the abuse of +alcohol dropped to a minimum. Opium smoking, less harmful a great deal +than opium eating, took the place of drink, and became the national +vice; but the extent of its injury to the people has been much +exaggerated, and is not to be compared with that of alcohol in the West. +It is now, in consequence of recent legislation, likely to disappear, on +which result there could be nothing but the warmest congratulations to +offer, but for the fact that something else, more insidious and deadly +still, is rapidly taking its place. For a time, it was thought that +alcohol might recover its sway, and it is still quite probable that +human cravings for stimulant of some kind will find a partial relief in +that direction. The present enemy, however, and one that demands serious +and immediate attention, is morphia, which is being largely imported +into China in the shape of a variety of preparations suitable to the +public demand. A passage from opium to morphia would be worse, if +possible, than from the frying-pan into the fire. + +The question has often been asked, but has never found a satisfactory +answer, why and how it is that Chinese civilization has persisted +through so many centuries, while other civilizations, with equal if not +superior claims to permanency, have been broken up and have disappeared +from the sites on which they formerly flourished. Egypt may be able to +boast of a high level of culture at a remoter date than we can reach +through the medium of Chinese records, for all we can honestly claim +is that the Chinese were a remarkably civilized nation a thousand years +before Christ. That was some time before Greek civilization can be said +to have begun; yet the Chinese nation is with us still, and but for +contact with the Western barbarian, would be leading very much the same +life that it led so many centuries ago. + +Some would have us believe that the bond which has held the people +together is the written language, which is common to the whole Empire, +and which all can read in the same sense, though the pronunciation of +words varies in different provinces as much as that of words in English, +French, or German. Others have suggested that to the teachings of +Confucius, which have outlived the competition of Taoism, Buddhism and +other faiths, China is indebted for the tie which has knitted men's +hearts together, and enabled them to defy any process of disintegration. +There is possibly some truth in all such theories; but these are +incomplete unless a considerable share of the credit is allowed to the +spirit of personal freedom which seems to breathe through all Chinese +institutions, and to unite the people in resistance to every form of +oppression. The Chinese have always believed in the divine right of +kings; on the other hand, their kings must bear themselves as kings, and +live up to their responsibilities as well as to the rights they claim. +Otherwise, the obligation is at an end, and their subjects will have +none of them. Good government exists in Chinese eyes only when +the country is prosperous, free from war, pestilence and famine. +Misgovernment is a sure sign that God has withdrawn His mandate from the +emperor, who is no longer fit to rule. It then remains to replace the +emperor by one who is more worthy of Divine favour, and this usually +means the final overthrow of the dynasty. + +The Chinese assert their right to put an evil ruler to death, and it is +not high treason, or criminal in any way, to proclaim this principle in +public. It is plainly stated by the philosopher Mencius, whose writings +form a portion of the Confucian Canon, and are taught in the ordinary +course to every Chinese youth. One of the feudal rulers was speaking to +Mencius about a wicked emperor of eight hundred years back, who had been +attacked by a patriot hero, and who had perished in the flames of his +palace. "May then a subject," he asked, "put his sovereign to death?" +To which Mencius replied that any one who did violence to man's +natural charity of heart, or failed altogether in his duty towards +his neighbour, was nothing more than an unprincipled ruffian; and he +insinuated that it had been such a ruffian, in fact, not an emperor +in the true sense of the term, who had perished in the case they were +discussing. Another and most important point to be remembered in any +attempt to discover the real secret of China's prolonged existence as +a nation, also points in the direction of democracy and freedom. The +highest positions in the state have always been open, through the medium +of competitive examinations, to the humblest peasant in the empire. It +is solely a question of natural ability coupled with an intellectual +training; and of the latter, it has already been shown that there is no +lack at the disposal of even the poorest. China, then, according to a +high authority, has always been at the highest rung of the democratic +ladder; for it was no less a person than Napoleon who said: "Reasonable +democracy will never aspire to anything more than obtaining an equal +power of elevation for all." + +In order to enforce their rights by the simplest and most bloodless +means, the Chinese have steadily cultivated the art of combining +together, and have thus armed themselves with an immaterial, invisible +weapon which simply paralyses the aggressor, and ultimately leaves them +masters of the field. The extraordinary part of a Chinese boycott or +strike is the absolute fidelity by which it is observed. If the boatmen +or chair-coolies at any place strike, they all strike; there are no +blacklegs. If the butchers refuse to sell, they all refuse, entirely +confident in each other's loyalty. Foreign merchants who have offended +the Chinese guilds by some course of action not approved by those +powerful bodies, have often found to their cost that such conduct +will not be tolerated for a moment, and that their only course is to +withdraw, sometimes at considerable loss, from the untenable position +they had taken up. The other side of the medal is equally instructive. +Some years ago, the foreign tea-merchants at a large port, in order to +curb excessive charges, decided to hoist the Chinese tea-men, or sellers +of tea, with their own petard. They organized a strict combination +against the tea-men, whose tea no colleague was to buy until, by what +seemed to be a natural order of events, the tea-men had been brought +to their knees. The tea-men, however, remained firm, their countenances +impassive as ever. Before long, the tea-merchants discovered that some +of their number had broken faith, and were doing a roaring business for +their own account, on the terms originally insisted on by the tea-men. + +There is no longer any doubt that China is now in the early stages +of serious and important changes. Her old systems of education and +examination are to be greatly modified, if not entirely remodelled. +The distinctive Chinese dress is to be shorn of two of its most +distinguishing features--the _queue_ of the man and the small feet of +the woman. The coinage is to be brought more into line with commercial +requirements. The administration of the law is to be so improved that +an honest demand may be made--as Japan made it some years back--for the +abolition of extra-territoriality, a treaty obligation under which China +gives up all jurisdiction over resident foreigners, and agrees that +they shall be subject, civilly and criminally alike, only to their own +authorities. The old patriarchal form of government, autocratic in name +but democratic in reality, which has stood the Chinese people in such +good stead for an unbroken period of nearly twenty-two centuries, is +also to change with the changes of the hour, in the hope that a new era +will be inaugurated, worthy to rank with the best days of a glorious +past. + +And here perhaps it may be convenient if a slight outline is given of +the course marked out for the future. China is to have a "constitution" +after the fashion of most foreign nations; and her people, whose sole +weapon of defence and resistance, albeit one of deadly efficiency, has +hitherto been combination of the masses against the officials set over +them, are soon to enjoy the rights of representative government. By an +Imperial decree, issued late in 1907, this principle was established; +and by a further decree, issued in 1908, it was ordered that at the +end of a year provincial assemblies, to deliberate on matters of local +government, were to be convened in all the provinces and certain +other portions of the empire, as a first step towards the end in view. +Membership of these assemblies was to be gained by election, coupled +with a small property qualification; and the number of members in each +assembly was to be in proportion to the number of electors in each +area, which works out roughly at about one thousand electors to +each representative. In the following year a census was to be taken, +provincial budgets were to be drawn up, and a new criminal code was to +be promulgated, on the strength of which new courts of justice were +to be opened by the end of the third year. By 1917, there was to be a +National Assembly or Parliament, consisting of an Upper and Lower House, +and a prime minister was to be appointed. + +On the 14th of October 1909 these provincial assemblies met for the +first time. The National Assembly was actually opened on the 3rd of +October 1910; and in response to public feeling, an edict was issued a +month later ordering the full constitution to be granted within three +years from date. It is really a single chamber, which contains the +elements of two. It is composed of about one hundred members, appointed +by the Throne and drawn from certain privileged classes, including +thirty-two high officials and ten distinguished scholars, together with +the same number of delegates from the provinces. Those who obtain seats +are to serve for three years, and to have their expenses defrayed by the +state. It is a consultative and not an executive body; its function is +to discuss such subjects as taxation, the issue of an annual budget, the +amendment of the law, etc., all of which subjects are to be approved by +the emperor before being submitted to this assembly, and also to deal +with questions sent up for decision from the provincial assemblies. +Similarly, any resolution to be proposed must be backed by at least +thirty members, and on being duly passed by a majority, must then +be embodied in a memorial to the Throne. For passing and submitting +resolutions which may be classed under various headings as +objectionable, the assembly can at once be dissolved by Imperial edict. + +There are, so far, no distinct parties in the National Assembly, that +is, as regards the places occupied in the House. Men of various shades +of opinion, Radicals, Liberals and Conservatives, are all mixed up +together. The first two benches are set aside for representatives of the +nobility, with precedence from the left of the president round to his +right. Then come officials, scholars and leading merchants on the +next two benches. Behind them, again, on four rows of benches, are the +delegates from the provincial assemblies. There is thus a kind of House +of Lords in front, with a House of Commons, the representatives of +the nation, at the back. The leanings of the former class, as might be +supposed, are mostly of a conservative tendency, while the sympathies +of the latter are rather with progressive ideas; at the same time, there +will be found among the Lords a certain sprinkling of Radicals, and +among the Commons not a few whose views are of an antiquated, not to say +reactionary, type. + +With the above scheme the Chinese people are given to understand quite +clearly that while their advice in matters concerning the administration +of government will be warmly welcomed, all legislative power will +remain, as heretofore, confined to the emperor alone. At the first +blush, this seems like giving with one hand and taking away with the +other; and so perhaps it would work out in more than one nation of the +West. But those who know the Chinese at home know that when they offer +political advice they mean it to be taken. The great democracy of China, +living in the greatest republic the world has ever seen, would never +tolerate any paltering with national liberties in the present or in the +future, any more than has been the case in the past. Those who sit in +the seats of authority at the capital are far too well acquainted with +the temper of their countrymen to believe for a moment that, where such +vital interests are concerned, there can be anything contemplated save +steady and satisfactory progress towards the goal proposed. If the +ruling Manchus seize the opportunity now offered them, then, in spite of +simmering sedition here and there over the empire, they may succeed +in continuing a line which in its early days had a glorious record of +achievement, to the great advantage of the Chinese nation. If, on the +other hand, they neglect this chance, there may result one of those +frightful upheavals from which the empire has so often suffered. China +will pass again through the melting-pot, to emerge once more, as on all +previous occasions, purified and strengthened by the process. + + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + +1. _The Chinese Classics_, by James Legge, D.D., late Professor of +Chinese at Oxford. + +A translation of the whole of the Confucian Canon, comprising the Four +Books in which are given the discourses of Confucius and Mencius, the +Book of History, the Odes, the Annals of Confucius' native State, the +Book of Rites, and the Book of Changes. + +2. _The Ancient History of China_, by F. Hirth, Ph.D., Professor of +Chinese at Columbia University, New York. + +A sketch of Chinese history from fabulous ages down to 221 B.C., +containing a good deal of information of an antiquarian character, and +altogether placing in its most attractive light what must necessarily be +rather a dull period for the general reader. + +3. _China_, by E. H. Parker, Professor of Chinese at Victoria +University, Manchester. + +A general account of China, chiefly valuable for commercial and +statistical information, sketch-maps of ancient trade-routes, etc. + +4. _A Chinese Biographical Dictionary_, by H. A. Giles, LL.D., Professor +of Chinese at the University of Cambridge. + +This work contains 2579 short lives of Chinese Emperors, statesmen, +generals, scholars, priests, and other classes, including some +women, from the earliest times down to the present day, arranged +alphabetically. + +5. _A Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire_, by L. Richard. + +This work is rightly named "comprehensive," for it contains a great deal +of information which cannot be strictly classed as geographical, all of +which, however, is of considerable value to the student. + +6. _Descriptive Sociology (Chinese)_, by E. T. C. Werner, H.B.M. Consul +at Foochow. + +A volume of the series initiated by Herbert Spenger. It consists of a +large number of sociological facts grouped and arranged in chronological +order, and is of course purely a work of reference. + +7. _A History of Chinese Literature_, by H. A. Giles. + +Notes on two or three hundred writers of history, philosophy, biography, +travel, poetry, plays, fiction, etc., with a large number of translated +extracts grouped under the above headings and arranged in chronological +order. + +8. _Chinese Poetry in English Verse_, by H. A. Giles. + +Rhymed translations of nearly two hundred short poems from the earliest +ages down to the present times. + +9. _An Introduction to the History of Chinese Pictorial Art_, by H. A. +Giles. + +Notes on the lives and works of over three hundred painters of all +ages, chiefly translated from the writings of Chinese art-critics, with +sixteen reproductions of famous Chinese pictures. + +10. _Scraps from a Collector's Note-book_, by F. Hirth. + +Chiefly devoted to notes on painters of the present dynasty, 1644- +1905, with twenty-one reproductions of famous pictures, forming a +complementary supplement to No. 9. + +11. _Religions of Ancient China_, by H. A. Giles. + +A short account of the early worship of one God, followed by brief +notices of Taoism, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Mahommedanism, and +other less well-known faiths which have been introduced at various dates +into China. + +12. _Chinese Characteristics_, by the Rev. Arthur Smith, D.D. + +A humorous but at the same time serious examination into the modes of +thought and springs of action which peculiarly distinguish the Chinese +people. + +13. _Village Life in China_, by the Rev. Arthur Smith. + +The scope of this work is sufficiently indicated by its title. + +14. _China under the Empress Dowager_, by J. O. Bland, and E. Backhouse. + +An interesting account of Chinese Court Life between 1860 and 1908, +with important sidelights on the Boxer troubles and the Siege of the +Legations in 1900. + +15. _The Imperial History of China_, by Rev. J. Macgowan. + +A short and compact work on a subject which has not been successfully +handled. + +16. _Indiscreet Letters from Peking_, by B. Putnam Weale. + +Though too outspoken to meet with general approbation, this work is +considered by many to give the most faithful account of the Siege of the +Legations, as seen by an independent witness. + +17. _Buddhism as a Religion_, by H. Hackmann, Lic. Theol. + +A very useful volume, translated from the German, showing the various +developments of Buddhism in different parts of the world. + +18. _Chuang Tzu_, by H. A. Giles. + +A complete translation of the writings of the leading Taoist +philosopher, who flourished in the fourth and third centuries B.C. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Civilization Of China, by Herbert A. Giles + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA *** + +***** This file should be named 2076.txt or 2076.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/7/2076/ + +Produced by John Bickers; Dagny and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz +and Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com + + + + + +THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA + +by HERBERT A. GILES, M.A., LL.D. + +Professor of Chinese in the University of Cambridge, +And sometime H.B.M. Consul at Ningpo + + + + +PREFACE + + The aim of this work is to suggest a rough outline of Chinese + civilization from the earliest times down to the present period of + rapid and startling transition. + + It has been written, primarily, for readers who know little or + nothing of China, in the hope that it may succeed in alluring them + to a wider and more methodical survey. + +H.A.G. + + Cambridge, + May 12, 1911. + + + + +THE CIVILIZATION OF CHINA + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE FEUDAL AGE + +It is a very common thing now-a-days to meet people who are going to +"China," which can be reached by the Siberian railway in fourteen or +fifteen days. This brings us at once to the question--What is meant by +the term China? + +Taken in its widest sense, the term includes Mongolia, Manchuria, +Eastern Turkestan, Tibet, and the Eighteen Provinces, the whole being +equivalent to an area of some five million square miles, that is, +considerably more than twice the size of the United States of America. +But for a study of manners and customs and modes of thought of the +Chinese people, we must confine ourselves to that portion of the whole +which is known to the Chinese as the "Eighteen Provinces," and to us +as China Proper. This portion of the empire occupies not quite two- +fifths of the whole, covering an area of somewhat more than a million +and a half square miles. Its chief landmarks may be roughly stated as +Peking, the capital, in the north; Canton, the great commercial +centre, in the south; Shanghai, on the east; and the Tibetan frontier +on the west. + +Any one who will take the trouble to look up these four points on a +map, representing as they do central points on the four sides of a +rough square, will soon realize the absurdity of asking a returning +traveller the very much asked question, How do you like China? Fancy +asking a Chinaman, who had spent a year or two in England, how he +liked Europe! Peking, for instance, stands on the same parallel of +latitude as Madrid; whereas Canton coincides similarly with Calcutta. +Within the square indicated by the four points enumerated above will +be found variations of climate, flowers, fruit, vegetables and animals +--not to mention human beings--distributed in very much the same way +as in Europe. The climate of Peking is exceedingly dry and bracing; no +rain, and hardly any snow, falling between October and April. The +really hot weather lasts only for six or eight weeks, about July and +August--and even then the nights are always cool; while for six or +eight weeks between December and February there may be a couple of +feet of ice on the river. Canton, on the other hand, has a tropical +climate, with a long damp enervating summer and a short bleak winter. +The old story runs that snow has only been seen once in Canton, and +then it was thought by the people to be falling cotton-wool. + +The northern provinces are remarkable for vast level plains, dotted +with villages, the houses of which are built of mud. In the southern +provinces will be found long stretches of mountain scenery, vying in +loveliness with anything to be seen elsewhere. Monasteries are built +high up on the hills, often on almost inaccessible crags; and there +the well-to-do Chinaman is wont to escape from the fierce heat of the +southern summer. On one particular mountain near Canton, there are +said to be no fewer than one hundred of such monasteries, all of which +reserve apartments for guests, and are glad to be able to add to their +funds by so doing. + +In the north of China, Mongolian ponies, splendid mules, and donkeys +are seen in large quantities; also the two-humped camel, which carries +heavy loads across the plains of Mongolia. In the south, until the +advent of the railway, travellers had to choose between the sedan- +chair carried on the shoulders of stalwart coolies, or the slower but +more comfortable house-boat. Before steamers began to ply on the +coast, a candidate for the doctor's degree at the great triennial +examination would take three months to travel from Canton to Peking. +Urgent dispatches, however, were often forwarded by relays of riders +at the rate of two hundred miles a day. + +The market in Peking is supplied, among other things, with excellent +mutton from a fat-tailed breed of sheep, chiefly for the largely +Mohammedan population; but the sheep will not live in southern China, +where the goat takes its place. The pig is found everywhere, and +represents beef in our market, the latter being extremely unpalatable +to the ordinary Chinaman, partly perhaps because Confucius forbade men +to slaughter the animal which draws the plough and contributes so much +to the welfare of mankind. The staple food, the "bread" of the people +in the Chinese Empire, is nominally rice; but this is too costly for +the peasant of northern China to import, and he falls back on millet +as its substitute. Apples, pears, grapes, melons, and walnuts grow +abundantly in the north; the southern fruits are the banana, the +orange, the pineapple, the mango, the pomelo, the lichee, and similar +fruits of a more tropical character. + +Cold storage has been practised by the Chinese for centuries. Blocks +of ice are cut from the river for that purpose; and on a hot summer's +day a Peking coolie can obtain an iced drink at an almost +infinitesimal cost. Grapes are preserved from autumn until the +following May and June by the simple process of sticking the stalk of +the bunch into a large hard pear, and putting it away carefully in the +ice-house. Even at Ningpo, close to our central point on the eastern +coast of China, thin layers of ice are collected from pools and +ditches, and successfully stored for use in the following summer. + +The inhabitants of the coast provinces are distinguished from the +dwellers in the north and in the far interior by a marked alertness of +mind and general temperament. The Chinese themselves declare that +virtue is associated with mountains, wisdom with water, cynically +implying that no one is both virtuous and wise. Between the +inhabitants of the various provinces there is little love lost. +Northerners fear and hate southerners, and the latter hold the former +in infinite scorn and contempt. Thus, when in 1860 the Franco-British +force made for Peking, it was easy enough to secure the services of +any number of Cantonese, who remained as faithful as though the attack +had been directed against some third nationality. + +The population of China has never been exactly ascertained. It has +been variously estimated by foreign travellers, Sacharoff, in 1842, +placing the figure at over four hundred millions. The latest census, +taken in 1902, is said to yield a total of four hundred and ten +millions. Perhaps three hundred millions would be a juster estimate; +even that would absorb no less than one-fifth of the human race. From +this total it is easy to calculate that if the Chinese people were to +walk past a given point in single file, the procession would never +end; long before the last of the three hundred millions had passed by, +a new generation would have sprung up to continue the neverending +line. The census, however, is a very old institution with the Chinese; +and we learn that in A.D. 156 the total population of the China of +those days was returned as a little over fifty millions. In more +modern times, the process of taking the census consists in serving out +house-tickets to the head of every household, who is responsible for a +proper return of all the inmates; but as there is no fixed day for +which these tickets are returnable, the results are approximate rather +than exact. + +Again, it is not uncommon to hear people talking of the Chinese +language as if it were a single tongue spoken all over China after a +more or less uniform standard. But the fact is that the colloquial is +broken up into at least eight dialects, each so strongly marked as to +constitute eight languages as different to the ear, one from another, +as English, Dutch and German, or French, Spanish, Italian and +Portuguese. A Shanghai man, for instance, is unintelligible to a +Cantonese, and so on. All officials are obliged, and all of the better +educated merchants and others endeavour, if only for business +purposes, to learn something of the dialect spoken at the court of +Peking; and this is what is popularly known as "Mandarin." The written +language remains the same for the whole empire; which merely means +that ideas set down on paper after a uniform system are spoken with +different sounds, just as the Arabic numerals are written uniformly in +England, France and Germany, but are pronounced in a totally different +manner. + +The only difficulty of the spoken language, of no matter what dialect, +lies in the "tones," which simply means the different intonations +which may be given to one and the same sound, thus producing so many +entirely different meanings. But for these tones, the colloquial of +China would be absurdly easy, inasmuch as there is no such thing as +grammar, in the sense of gender, number, case, mood, tense, or any of +the variations we understand by that term. Many amusing examples are +current of blunders committed by faulty speakers, such as that of the +student who told his servant to bring him a goose, when what he really +wanted was some salt, both goose and salt having the same sound, +/yen/, but quite different intonations. The following specimen has the +advantage of being true. A British official reported to the Foreign +Office that the people of Tientsin were in the habit of shouting after +foreigners, "Mao-tsu, mao-tsu" (pronounced /mowdza/, /ow/ as in +/how/), from which he gathered that they were much struck by the head- +gear of the barbarian. Now, it is a fact that /mao-tsu/, uttered with +a certain intonation, means a hat; but with another intonation, it +means "hairy one," and the latter, referring to the big beards of +foreigners, was the meaning intended to be conveyed. This epithet is +still to be heard, and is often preceded by the adjective "red." + +The written characters, known to have been in use for the past three +thousand years, were originally rude pictures, as of men, birds, +horses, dogs, houses, the numerals (one, two, three, four), etc., +etc., and it is still possible to trace in the modified modern forms +of these characters more or less striking resemblances to the objects +intended. The next step was to put two or more characters together, to +express by their combination an abstract idea, as, for instance, a +/hand/ holding a /rod/ = father; but of course this simple process did +not carry the Chinese very far, and they soon managed to hit on a +joint picture and phonetic system, which enabled them to multiply +characters indefinitely, new compounds being formed for use as +required. It is thus that new characters can still be produced, if +necessary, to express novel objects or ideas. The usual plan, however, +is to combine existing terms in such a way as to suggest what is +wanted. For instance, in preference to inventing a separate character +for the piece of ordnance known as a "mortar," the Chinese, with an +eye to its peculiar pose, gave it the appropriate name of a "frog +gun." + +Again, just as the natives and the dialects of the various parts of +China differ one from another, although fundamentally the same people +and the same language, so do the manners and customs differ to such an +extent that habits of life and ceremonial regulations which prevail in +one part of the empire do not necessarily prevail in another. Yet once +more it will be found that the differences which appear irreconcilable +at first, do not affect what is essential, but apply rather to matters +of detail. Many travellers and others have described as customs of the +Chinese customs which, as presented, refer to a part of China only, +and not to the whole. For instance, the ornamental ceremonies +connected with marriage vary in different provinces; but there is a +certain ceremony, equivalent in one sense to signing the register, +which is almost essential to every marriage contract. Bride and +bridegroom must kneel down and call God to witness; they also pledge +each other in wine from two cups joined together by a red string. Red +is the colour for joy, as white is the colour for mourning. Chinese +note-paper is always ruled with red lines or stamped with a red +picture. One Chinese official who gave a dinner-party in foreign +style, even went so far as to paste a piece of red paper on to each +dinner-napkin, in order to counteract the unpropitious influence of +white. + +Reference has been made above to journeys performed by boat. In +addition to the Yangtsze and the Yellow River or Hoang ho (pronounced +/Hwong haw/), two of the most important rivers in the world, China is +covered with a network of minor streams, which in southern China form +the chief lines of transport. The Yangtsze is nothing more than a huge +navigable river, crossing China Proper from west to east. The Yellow +River, which, with the exception of a great loop to the north, runs on +nearly parallel lines of latitude, has long been known as "China's +Sorrow," and has been responsible for enormous loss of life and +property. Its current is so swift that ordinary navigation is +impossible, and to cross it in boats is an undertaking of considerable +difficulty and danger. It is so called from the yellowness of its +water, caused by the vast quantity of mud which is swept down by its +rapid current to the sea; hence, the common saying, "When the Yellow +River runs clear," as an equivalent of the Greek Kalends. The huge +embankments, built to confine it to a given course, are continually +being forced by any unusual press of extra water, with enormous damage +to property and great loss of life, and from time to time this river +has been known to change its route altogether, suddenly diverging, +almost at a right angle. Up to the year 1851 the mouth of the river +was to the south of the Shantung promontory, about lat. 34 N.; then, +with hardly any warning, it began to flow to the north-east, finding +an outlet to the north of the Shantung promontory, about lat. 38 N. + +A certain number of connecting links have been formed between the +chief lines of water communication, in the shape of artificial +cuttings; but there is nothing worthy the name of canal except the +rightly named Grand Canal, called by the Chinese the "river of locks," +or alternatively the "transport river," because once used to convey +rice from the south to Peking. This gigantic work, designed and +executed in the thirteenth century by the Emperor Kublai Khan, +extended to about six hundred and fifty miles in length, and completed +an almost unbroken water communication between Peking and Canton. As a +wonderful engineering feat it is indeed more than matched by the +famous Great Wall, which dates back to a couple of hundred years +before Christ, and which has been glorified as the last trace of man's +handiwork on the globe to fade from the view of an imaginary person +receding into space. Recent exploration shows that this wall is about +eighteen hundred miles in length, stretching from a point on the +seashore somewhat east of Peking, to the northern frontier of Tibet. +Roughly speaking, it is twenty-two feet in height by twenty feet in +breadth; at intervals of a hundred yards are towers forty feet high, +the whole being built originally of brick, of which in some parts but +mere traces now remain. Nor is this the only great wall; ruins of +other walls on a considerable scale have lately been brought to light, +the object of all being one and the same--to keep back the marauding +Tartars. + +Over the length and breadth of their boundless empire, with all its +varying climates and inhabitants, the Chinese people are free to +travel, for business or pleasure, at their own sweet will, and to take +up their abode at any spot without let or hindrance. No passports are +required; neither is any ordinary citizen obliged to possess other +papers of identification. Chinese inns are not exposed to the +annoyance of domicilary visits with reference to their clients for the +time being; and so long as the latter pay their way, and refrain from +molesting others, they will usually be free from molestation +themselves. The Chinese, however, are not fond of travelling; they +love their homes too well, and they further dread the inconveniences +and dangers attached to travel in many other parts of the world. +Boatmen, carters, and innkeepers have all of them bad reputations for +extortionate charges; and the traveller may sometimes happen upon a +"black inn," which is another name for a den of thieves. Still there +have been many who travelled for the sake of beautiful scenery, or in +order to visit famous spots of historical interest; not to mention the +large body of officials who are constantly on the move, passing from +post to post. + +Among those who believe that every nation must have reached its +present quarters from some other distant parts of the world, must be +reckoned a few students of the ancient history of China. Coincidences +in language and in manners and customs, mostly of a shadowy character, +have led some to suggest Babylonia as the region from which the +Chinese migrated to the land where they are now found. The Chinese +possess authentic records of an indisputably early past, but +throughout these records there is absolutely no mention, not even a +hint, of any migration of the kind. + +Tradition places the Golden Age of China so far back as three thousand +years before Christ; for a sober survey of China's early civilization, +it is not necessary to push further back than the tenth century B.C. +We shall find evidence of such an advanced state of civilization at +that later date as to leave no doubt of a very remote antiquity. + +The China of those days, known even then as the Middle Kingdom, was a +mere patch on the empire of to-day. It lay, almost lozenge-shaped, +between the 34th and 40th parallels of latitude north, with the upper +point of the lozenge resting on the modern Peking, and the lower on +Si-an Fu in Shensi, whither the late Empress Dowager fled for safety +during the Boxer rising in 1900. The ancient autocratic Imperial +system had recently been disestablished, and a feudal system had taken +its place. The country was divided up into a number of vassal states +of varying size and importance, ruled each by its own baron, who swore +allegiance to the sovereign of the Royal State. The relations, +however, which came to subsist, as time went on, between these states, +sovereign and vassal alike, as described in contemporary annals, often +remind the reader of the relations which prevailed between the various +political divisions of ancient Greece. The rivalries of Athens and +Sparta, whose capitals were only one hundred and fifty miles apart-- +though a perusal of Thucydides makes one feel that at least half the +world was involved--find their exact equivalent in the jealousies and +animosities which stirred the feudal states of ancient China, and in +the disastrous campaigns and bloody battles which the states fought +with one another. We read of chariots and horsemanship; of feats of +arms and deeds of individual heroism; of forced marches, and of night +attacks in which the Chinese soldier was gagged with a kind of wooden +bit, to prevent talking in the ranks; of territory annexed and +reconquered, and of the violent deaths of rival rulers by poison or +the dagger of the assassin. + +When the armies of these states went into battle they formed a line, +with the bowmen on the left and the spearmen on the right flank. The +centre was occupied by chariots, each drawn by either three or four +horses harnessed abreast. Swords, daggers, shields, iron-headed clubs +some five to six feet in length and weighing from twelve to fifteen +pounds, huge iron hooks, drums, cymbals, gongs, horns, banners and +streamers innumerable, were also among the equipment of war. Beacon- +fires of wolves' dung were lighted to announce the approach of an +enemy and summon the inhabitants to arms. Quarter was rarely if ever +given, and it was customary to cut the ears from the bodies of the +slain. Parleys were conducted and terms of peace arranged under the +shelter of a banner of truce, upon which two words were inscribed-- +"Stop fighting." + +The beacon-fires above mentioned, very useful for summoning the feudal +barons to the rescue in case of need, cost one sovereign his throne. +He had a beautiful concubine, for the sake of whose company he +neglected the affairs of government. The lady was of a melancholy +turn, never being seen to smile. She said she loved the sound of rent +silk, and to gratify her whim many fine pieces of silk were torn to +shreds. The king offered a thousand ounces of gold to any one who +would make her laugh; whereupon his chief minister suggested that the +beacon-fires should be lighted to summon the feudal nobles with their +armies, as though the royal house were in danger. The trick succeeded; +for in the hurry-skurry that ensued the impassive girl positively +laughed outright. Later on, when a real attack was made upon the +capital by barbarian hordes, and the beacon-fires were again lighted, +this time in stern reality, there was no response from the insulted +nobles. The king was killed, and his concubine strangled herself. + +Meanwhile, a high state of civilization was enjoyed by these feudal +peoples, when not engaged in cutting each other's throats. They lived +in thatched houses constructed of rammed earth and plaster, with +beaten floors on which dry grass was strewn as carpet. Originally +accustomed to sit on mats, they introduced chairs and tables at an +early date; they drank an ardent spirit with their carefully cooked +food, and wore robes of silk. Ballads were sung, and dances were +performed, on ceremonial and festive occasions; hunting and fishing +and agriculture were occupations for the men, while the women employed +themselves in spinning and weaving. There were casters of bronze +vessels, and workers in gold, silver, and iron; jade and other stones +were cut and polished for ornaments. The written language was already +highly developed, being much the same as we now find it. Indeed, the +chief difference lies in the form of the characters, just as an old +English text differs in form from a text of the present day. What we +may call the syntax of the language has remained very much the same; +and phrases from the old ballads of three thousand years ago, which +have passed into the colloquial, are still readily understood, though +of course pronounced according to the requirements of modern speech. +We can no more say how Confucius (551-479 B.C.) pronounced Chinese, +than we can say how Miltiades pronounced Greek when addressing his +soldiers before the battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). The "books" which +were read in ancient China consisted of thin slips of wood or bamboo, +on which the characters were written by means of a pencil of wood or +bamboo, slightly frayed at the end, so as to pick up a coloured liquid +and transfer it to the tablets as required. Until recently, it was +thought that the Chinese scratched their words on tablets of bamboo +with a knife, but now we know that the knife was only used for +scratching out, when a character was wrongly written. + +The art of healing was practised among the Chinese in their +pre-historic times, but the earliest efforts of a methodical +character, of which we have any written record, belong to the period +with which we are now dealing. There is indeed a work, entitled "Plain +Questions," which is attributed to a legendary emperor of the Golden +Age, who interrogates one of his ministers on the cause and cure of +all kinds of diseases; as might be expected, it is not of any real +value, nor can its date be carried back beyond a few centuries B.C. + +Physicians of the feudal age classified diseases under the four +seasons of the year: headaches and neuralgic affections under +/spring/, skin diseases of all kinds under /summer/, fevers and agues +under /autumn/, and bronchial and pulmonary complaints under /winter/. +They treated the various complaints that fell under these headings by +suitable doses of one or more ingredients taken from the five classes +of drugs, derived from herbs, trees, living creatures, minerals, and +grains, each of which class contained medicines of five flavours, with +special properties: /sour/ for nourishing the bones, /acid/ for +nourishing the muscles, /salt/ for nourishing the blood-vessels, +/bitter/ for nourishing general vitality, and /sweet/ for nourishing +the flesh. The pulse has always been very much to the front in the +treatment of disease; there are at least twenty-four varieties of +pulse with which every doctor is supposed to be familiar, and some +eminent doctors have claimed to distinguish no fewer than seventy-two. +In the "Plain Questions" there is a sentence which points towards the +circulation of the blood,--"All the blood is under the jurisdiction of +the heart," a point beyond which the Chinese never seem to have pushed +their investigations; but of this curious feature in their +civilization, later on. + +It was under the feudal system, perhaps a thousand years before +Christ, that the people of China began to possess family names. +Previous to that time there appear to have been tribal or clan names; +these however were not in ordinary use among the individual members of +each clan, who were known by their personal names only, bestowed upon +them in childhood by their parents. Gradually, it became customary to +prefix to the personal name a surname, adopted generally from the name +of the place where the family lived, sometimes from an appellation or +official title of a distinguished ancestor; places in China never take +their names from individuals, as with us, and consequently there are +no such names as Faringdon or Gislingham, the homes of the Fearings or +Gislings of old. Thus, to use English terms, a boy who had been called +"Welcome" by his parents might prefix the name of the place, +Cambridge, where he was born, and call himself Cambridge Welcome, the +surname always coming first in Chinese, as, for instance, in Li Hung- +Chang. The Manchus, it must be remembered, have no surnames; that is +to say, they do not use their clan or family names, but call +themselves by their personal names only. + +Chinese surnames, other than place names, are derived from a variety +of sources: from nature, as River, Stone, Cave; from animals, as Bear, +Sheep, Dragon; from birds, as Swallow, Pheasant; from the body, as +Long-ears, Squint-eye; from colours, as Black, White; from trees and +flowers, as Hawthorn, Leaf, Reed, Forest; and others, such as Rich, +East, Sharp, Hope, Duke, Stern, Tepid, Money, etc. By the fifth +century before Christ, the use of surnames had definitely become +established for all classes, whereas in Europe surnames were not known +until about the twelfth century after Christ, and even then were +confined to persons of wealth and position. There is a small Chinese +book, studied by every schoolboy and entitled /The Hundred Surnames/, +the word "hundred" being commonly used in a generally comprehensive +sense. It actually contains about four hundred of the names which +occur most frequently. + +About two hundred and twenty years before Christ, the feudal system +came to an end. One aggressive state gradually swallowed up all the +others; and under the rule of its sovereign, China became once more an +empire, and such it has ever since remained. But although always an +empire, the throne, during the past two thousand years, has passed +many times from one house to another. + +The extraordinary man who led his state to victory over each rival in +turn, and ultimately mounted the throne to rule over a united China, +finds his best historical counterpart in Napoleon. He called himself +the First Emperor, and began by sending an army of 300,000 men to +fight against an old and dreaded enemy to the north, recently +identified beyond question with the Huns. He dispatched a fleet to +search for some mysterious islands off the coast, thought by some to +be the islands which form Japan. He built the Great Wall, to a great +extent by means of convict labour, malefactors being condemned to long +terms of penal servitude on the works. His copper coinage was so +uniformly good that the cowry disappeared altogether from commerce +during his reign. Above all things he desired to impart a fresh +stimulus to literary effort, but he adopted singularly unfortunate +means to secure this desirable end; for, listening to the insidious +flattery of courtiers, he determined that literature should begin anew +with his reign. He therefore determined to destroy all existing books, +finally deciding to spare those connected with three important +departments of human knowledge: namely, (1) works which taught the +people to plough, sow, reap, and provide food for the race; (2) works +on the use of drugs and on the healing art; and (3) works on the +various methods of foretelling the future which might lead men to act +in accordance with, and not in opposition to, the eternal fitness of +things as seen in the operations of Nature. Stringent orders were +issued accordingly, and many scholars were put to death for concealing +books in the hope that the storm would blow over. Numbers of valuable +works perished in a vast conflagration of books, and the only wonder +is that any were preserved, with the exception of the three classes +specified above. + +In 210 B.C. the First Emperor died, and his youngest son was placed +upon the throne with the title of Second Emperor. The latter began by +carrying out the funeral arrangements of his father, as described +about a century later by the first and greatest of China's +historians:-- + +"On the 9th moon the First Emperor was buried in Mount Li, which in +the early days of his reign he had caused to be tunnelled and prepared +with that view. Then, when he had consolidated the empire, he employed +his soldiery, to the number of 700,000, to bore down to the Three +Springs (that is, until water was reached), and there a firm +foundation was laid and the sarcophagus placed thereon. Rare objects +and costly jewels were collected from the palaces and from the various +officials, and were carried thither and stored in huge quantities. +Artificers were ordered to construct mechanical crossbows, which, if +any one were to enter, would immediately discharge their arrows. With +the aid of quicksilver, rivers were made--the Yangtsze, the Yellow +River, and the great ocean--the metal being made to flow from one into +the other by machinery. On the roof were delineated the constellations +of the sky, on the floor the geographical divisions of the earth. +Candles were made from the fat of the man-fish (walrus), calculated to +last for a very long time. The Second Emperor said: 'It is not fitting +that the concubines of my late father who are without children should +leave him now;' and accordingly he ordered them to accompany the dead +monarch into the next world, those who thus perished being many in +number. When the internment was completed, some one suggested that the +workmen who had made the machinery and concealed the treasure knew the +great value of the latter, and that the secret would leak out. +Therefore, so soon as the ceremony was over, and the path giving +access to the sarcophagus had been blocked up at its innermost end, +the outside gate at the entrance to this path was let fall, and the +mausoleum was effectually closed, so that not one of the workmen +escaped. Trees and grass were then planted around, that the spot might +look like the rest of the mountain." + +The career of the Second Emperor finds an apt parallel in that of +Richard Cromwell, except that the former was put to death, after a +short and inglorious reign. Then followed a dynasty which has left an +indelible mark upon the civilization as well as on the recorded +history of China. A peasant, by mere force of character, succeeded +after a three-years' struggle in establishing himself upon the throne, +206 B.C., and his posterity, known as the House of Han, ruled over +China for four hundred years, accidentally divided into two nearly +equal portions by the Christian era, about which date there occurred a +temporary usurpation of the throne which for some time threatened the +stability of the dynasty in the direct line of succession. To this +date, the more northern Chinese have no prouder title than that of a +"son of Han." + +During the whole period of four hundred years the empire cannot be +said to have enjoyed complete tranquillity either at home or abroad. +There were constant wars with the Tartar tribes on the north, against +whom the Great Wall proved to be a somewhat ineffectual barrier. Also +with the Huns, the forbears of the Turks, who once succeeded in +shutting up the founder of the dynasty in one of his own cities, from +which he only escaped by a stratagem to be related in another +connexion. There were in addition wars with Korea, the ultimate +conquest of which led to the discovery of Japan, then at a low level +of civilization and unable to enter into official relations with China +until A.D. 57, when an embassy was sent for the first time. Those who +are accustomed to think of the Chinese as an eminently unwarlike +nation will perhaps be surprised to hear that before the end of the +second century B.C. they had carried their victorious arms far away +into Central Asia, annexing even the Pamirs and Kokand to the empire. +The wild tribes of modern Yunnan were reduced to subjection, and their +territory may further be considered as added from about this period. + +At home, the eunuchs gave an immense deal of trouble by their restless +spirit of intrigue; besides which, for nearly twenty years the +Imperial power was in the hands of a famous usurper, named Wang Mang +(pronounced /Wahng Mahng/), who had secured it by the usual means of +treachery and poison, to lose it on the battle-field and himself to +perish shortly afterwards in a revolt of his own soldiery. But the +most remarkable of all events connected with the Han dynasty was the +extended revival of learning and authorship. Texts of the Confucian +Canon were rescued from hiding-places in which they had been concealed +at the risk of death; editing committees were appointed, and immense +efforts were made to repair the mischief sustained by literature at +the hands of the First Emperor. The scholars of the day expounded the +teachings of Confucius as set forth in these texts; and although their +explanations were set aside in the twelfth century, when an entirely +new set of interpretations became (and remain) the accepted standard +for all students, it is mostly due to those early efforts that the +Confucian Canon has exercised such a deep and lasting influence over +the minds of the Chinese people. Unfortunately, it soon became the +fashion to discover old texts, and many works are now in circulation +which have no claim whatever to the antiquity to which they pretend. + +During the four hundred years of Han supremacy the march of +civilization went steadily forward. Paper and ink were invented, and +also the camel's-hair brush, both of which gave a great impetus to the +arts of writing and painting, the latter being still in a very +elementary stage. The custom of burying slaves with the dead was +abolished early in the dynasty. The twenty-seven months of mourning +for parents--nominally three years, as is now again the rule--was +reduced to a more manageable period of twenty-seven days. Literary +degrees were first established, and perpetual hereditary rank was +conferred upon the senior descendant of Confucius in the male line, +which has continued in unbroken succession down to the present day. +The head of the Confucian clan is now a duke, and resides in a palace, +taking rank with, if not before, the highest provincial authorities. + +The extended military campaigns in Central Asia during this period +brought China into touch with Bactria, then an outlying province of +ancient Greece. From this last source, the Chinese learnt many things +which are now often regarded as of purely native growth. They imported +the grape, and made from it a wine which was in use for many +centuries, disappearing only about two or three hundred years ago. +Formerly dependent on the sun-dial alone, the Chinese now found +themselves in possession of the water-clock, specimens of which are +still to be seen in full working order, whereby the division of the +day into twelve two-hour periods was accurately determined. The +calendar was regulated anew, and the science of music was +reconstructed; in fact, modern Chinese music may be said to +approximate closely to the music of ancient Greece. Because of the +difference of scale, Chinese music does not make any appeal to Western +ears; at any rate, not in the sense in which it appealed to Confucius, +who has left it on record that after listening to a certain melody he +was so affected as not to be able to taste meat for three months. + + + +CHAPTER II + +LAW AND GOVERNMENT + +In the earliest ages of which history professes to take cognizance, +persons who wished to dispose of their goods were obliged to have +recourse to barter. By and by shells were adopted as a medium of +exchange, and then pieces of stamped silk, linen, and deerskin. These +were followed by circular discs of copper, pierced with a round hole, +the forerunners of the ordinary copper coins of a century or two +later, which had square holes, and bore inscriptions, as they still do +in the present day. Money was also cast in the shape of "knives" and +of "trouser," by which names specimens of this early coinage (mostly +fakes) are known to connoisseurs. Some of these were beautifully +finished, and even inlaid with gold. Early in the ninth century, bills +of exchange came into use; and from the middle of the twelve century +paper money became quite common, and is still in general use all over +China, notes being issued in some places for amounts less even than a +shilling. + +Measures of length and capacity were fixed by the Chinese after an +exceedingly simple process. The grain of millet, which is fairly +uniform in size, was taken as the unit of both. Ten of these grains, +laid end-ways, formed the inch, ten of which made a foot, and ten feet +a /chang/. The decimal system has always prevailed in China, with one +curious exception: sixteen ounces make a pound. How this came to be so +does not appear to be known; but in this case it is the pound which is +the unit of weight, and not the lower denomination. The word which for +more than twenty centuries signified "pound" to the Chinese, was +originally the rude picture of an axe-head; and there is no doubt that +axe-heads, being all of the same size, were used in weighing +commodities, and were subsequently split, for convenience's sake, into +sixteen equal parts, each about one-third heavier than the English +ounce. For measures of capacity, we must revert to the millet-grain, a +fixed number of which set the standard for Chinese pints and quarts. +The result of this rule-of-thumb calculation has been that weights and +measures vary all over the empire, although there actually exist an +official foot, pound and pint, as recognized by the Chinese +government. In one and the same city a tailor's foot will differ from +a carpenter's foot, an oilman's pint from a spirit-merchant's pint, +and so on. The final appeal is to local custom. + +With the definitive establishment of the monarchy, two hundred years +before the Christian era, a system of government was inaugurated which +has proceeded, so far as essentials are concerned, upon almost uniform +lines down to the present day. + +It is an ancient and well-recognized principle in China, that every +inch of soil belongs to the sovereign; consequently, all land is held +on consideration of a land-tax payable to the emperor, and so long as +this tax is forthcoming, the land in question is practically freehold, +and can be passed by sale from hand to hand for a small conveyancing +fee to the local authorities who stamp the deeds. Thus, the foreign +concessions or settlements in China were not sold or parted with in +any way by the Chinese; they were "leased in perpetuity" so long as +the ground-rent is paid, and remain for all municipal and such +purposes under the uncontrolled administration of the nation which +leased them. The land-tax may be regarded as the backbone of Chinese +finance; but although nominally collected at a fixed rate, it is +subject to fluctuations due to bad harvests and like visitations, in +which cases the tax is accepted at a lower rate, in fact at any rate +the people can afford to pay. + +The salt and other monopolies, together with the customs, also +contribute an important part of China's revenue. There is the old +native customs service, with its stations and barriers all over the +empire, and the foreign customs service, as established at the treaty +ports only, in order to deal with shipments on foreign vessels trading +with China. The traditional and well-marked lines of taxation are +freely accepted by the people; any attempt, however, to increase the +amounts to be levied, or to introduce new charges of any kind, unless +duly authorized by the people themselves, would be at once sternly +resisted. As a matter of fact, the authorities never run any such +risks. It is customary, when absolutely necessary, and possibly +desirable, to increase old or to introduce new levies, for the local +authorities to invite the leading merchants and others concerned to a +private conference; and only when there is a general consent of all +parties do the officials venture to put forth proclamations saying +that such and such a tax will be increased or imposed, as the case may +be. Any other method may lead to disastrous results. The people refuse +to pay; and coercion is met at once by a general closing of shops and +stoppage of trade, or, in more serious cases, by an attack on the +official residence of the offending mandarin, who soon sees his house +looted and levelled with the ground. In other words, the Chinese +people tax themselves. + +The nominal form of government, speaking without reference to the new +constitution which will be dealt with later on, is an irresponsible +autocracy; its institutions are likewise autocratic in form, but +democratic in operation. The philosopher, Mencius (372-289 B.C.), +placed the people first, the gods second, and the sovereign third, in +the scale of national importance; and this classification has sunk +deep into the minds of the Chinese during more than two thousand years +past. What the people in China will not stand is injustice; at the +same time they will live contentedly under harsh laws which they have +at one time or another imposed upon themselves. + +Each of the great dynasties has always begun with a Penal Code of its +own, based upon that of the outgoing dynasty, but tending to be more +and more humane in character as time goes on. The punishments in old +days were atrocious in their severity; the Penal Code of the present +dynasty, which came into force some two hundred and fifty years ago, +has been pronounced by competent judges to take a very high rank +indeed. It was introduced to replace a much harsher code which had +been in operation under the Ming dynasty, and contains the nominally +immutable laws of the empire, with such modifications and restrictions +as have been authorized from time to time by Imperial edict. Still +farther back in Chinese history, we come upon punishments of ruthless +cruelty, such as might be expected to prevail in times of lesser +culture and refinement. Two thousand years ago, the Five Punishments +were--branding on the forehead, cutting off the nose, cutting off the +feet, mutilation, and death; for the past two hundred and fifty years, +these have been--beating with the light bamboo, beating with the heavy +bamboo, transportation for a certain period, banishment to a certain +distance, and death, the last being subdivided into strangling and +decapitation, according to the gravity of the offence. + +Two actual instruments of torture are mentioned, one for compressing +the ankle-bones, and the other for squeezing the fingers, to be used +if necessary to extort a confession in charges of robbery and +homicide, confession being regarded as essential to the completion of +the record. The application, however, of these tortures is fenced +round in such a way as to impose great responsibility upon the +presiding magistrate; and in addition to the risk of official +impeachment, there is the more dreaded certainty of loss of influence +and of popular esteem. Mention is made in the code of the so-called +"lingering death," according to which first one arm is chopped off, +then the other; the two legs follow in the same way; two slits are +made on the breast, and the heart is torn out; decapitation finishes +the proceedings. It is worthy of note that, although many foreigners +have been present from time to time at public executions, occasionally +when the "lingering death" has been announced, not one has established +it as a fact beyond a doubt that such a process has ever been carried +out. Not only that; it is also well known that condemned criminals are +allowed to purchase of themselves, or through their friends, if they +have any, spirits or opium with which to fortify their courage at the +last moment. There is indeed a tradition that stupefying drinks are +served out by the officials to the batches of malefactors as they pass +to the execution ground at Peking. It would still remain to find +executioners capable of performing in cold blood such a disgusting +operation as the "lingering death" is supposed to be. The ordinary +Chinaman is not a fiend; he does not gloat in his peaceful moments, +when not under the influence of extreme excitement, over bloodshed and +cruelty. + +The generally lenient spirit in which the Penal Code of China was +conceived is either widely unknown, or very often ignored. For +instance, during the excessive summer heats certain punishments are +mitigated, and others remitted altogether. Prompt surrender and +acknowledgment of an offence, before it is otherwise discovered, +entitles the offender, with some exceptions, to a full and free +pardon; as also does restitution of stolen property to its owner by a +repentant thief; while a criminal guilty of two or more offences can +be punished only to the extent of the principal charge. Neither are +the near relatives, nor even the servants, of a guilty man, punishable +for concealing his crime and assisting him to escape. Immense +allowances are made for the weakness of human nature, in all of which +may be detected the tempering doctrines of the great Sage. A feudal +baron was boasting to Confucius that in his part of the country the +people were so upright that a son would give evidence against a father +who had stolen a sheep. "With us," replied Confucius, "the father +screens the son, and the son screens the father; that is real +uprightness." To another questioner, a man in high authority, who +complained of the number of thieves, the Master explained that this +was due to the greed of the upper classes. "But for this greed," he +added, "even if you paid people to steal, they would not do so." To +the same man, who inquired his views on capital punishment, Confucius +replied: "What need is there for capital punishment at all? If your +aims are worthy, the people also will be worthy." + +There are many other striking features of the Penal Code. No marriage, +for instance, may be contracted during the period of mourning for +parents, which in theory extends to three full years, but in practice +is reckoned at twenty-seven months; neither may musical instruments be +played by near relatives of the dead. During the same period, no +mandarin may hold office, but must retire into private life; though +the observance of this rule is often dispensed with in the case of +high officials whose presence at their posts may be of considerable +importance. In such cases, by special grace of the emperor, the period +of retirement is cut down to three months, or even to one. + +The death of an emperor is followed by a long spell of national +tribulation. For one hundred days no man may have his head shaved, and +no woman may wear head ornaments. For twelve months there may be no +marrying or giving in marriage among the official classes, a term +which is reduced to one hundred days for the public at large. The +theatres are supposed to remain closed for a year, but in practice +they shut only for one hundred days. Even thus great hardships are +entailed upon many classes of the community, especially upon actors +and barbers, who might be in danger of actual starvation but for the +common-sense of their rulers coupled with the common rice-pot at home. + +The law forbidding marriage between persons of the same surname is +widely, but not universally, in operation. No Smith may marry a Smith; +no Jones may marry a Jones; the reason of course being that all of the +same surname are regarded as members of the same family. However, +there are large districts in certain parts of China where the people +are one and all of the surname, and where it would be a great hardship +--not to mention the impossibility of enforcing the law--if +intermarriages of the kind were prohibited. Consequently, they are +allowed, but only if the contracting parties are so distantly related +that, according to the legal table of affinity, they would not wear +mourning for one another in case of death--in other words, not related +at all. The line of descent is now traced through the males, but there +is reason to believe that in early days, as is found to be often the +case among uncivilized tribes, the important, because more easily +recognizable, parent was the mother. Thus it is illegal for first +cousins of the same surname to marry, and legal if the surnames are +different; in the latter case, however, centuries of experience have +taught the Chinese to frown upon such unions as undesirable in the +extreme. + +The Penal Code forbids water burial, and also cremation; but it is +permitted to the children of a man dying at a great distance to +consume their father's corpse with fire if positively unable to bring +it back for ordinary burial in his native district. The idea is that +with the aid of fire immediate communication is set up with the +spirit-world, and that the spirit of the deceased is thus enabled to +reach his native place, which would be impossible were the corpse to +remain intact. Hence the horror of dying abroad, common to all +Chinese, and only faced if there is a reasonable probability that +their remains will be carried back to the ancestral home. + +In spite of the above law, the cremation of Buddhist priests is +universal, and the practice is tolerated without protest. Priests who +are getting on in years, or who are stricken with a mortal disease, +are compelled by rule to move into a certain part of their monastery, +known as the Abode of a Long Old Age, in which they are required--not +to die, for death does not come to a good priest, but--to enter into +Nirvana, which is a sublime state of conscious freedom from all mental +and physical disturbance, not to be adequately described in words. At +death, the priest is placed in a chair, his chin supported by a +crutch, and then put into a wooden box, which on the appointed day is +carried in procession, with streaming banners, through the monastery, +and out into the cremation-ground attached, his brother priests +chanting all the while that portion of the Buddhist liturgies set +apart as the service for the dead, but which being in Pali, not a +single one of them can understand. There have, of course, been many +highly educated priests at one time and another during the long reign +of Buddhism in China; but it is safe to say that they are no longer to +be met with in the present day. The Buddhist liturgies have been +written out in Chinese characters which reproduce the sounds of the +original Indian language, and these the priests learn by heart without +understanding a word of their meaning. The box with the dead man in it +is now hoisted to the top of a funeral pyre, which has been well +drenched with oil, and set alight; and when the fire has burnt out, +the ashes are reverently collected and placed in an urn, which is +finally deposited in a mausoleum kept for that purpose. + +Life is remarkably safe in China. No man can be executed until his +name has been submitted to the emperor, which of course means to his +ministers at the capital. The Chinese, however, being, as has been so +often stated, an eminently practical people, understand that certain +cases admit of no delay; and to prevent the inevitable lynching of +such criminals as kidnappers, rebels, and others, caught red-handed, +high officials are entrusted with the power of life and death, which +they can put into immediate operation, always taking upon themselves +full responsibility for their acts. The essential is to allay any +excitement of the populace, and to preserve the public peace. + +In the general administration of the law great latitude is allowed, +and injustice is rarely inflicted by a too literal interpretation of +the Code. Stealing is of course a crime, yet no Chinese magistrate +would dream of punishing a hungry man for simple theft of food, even +if such a case were ever brought into court. Cake-sellers keep a sharp +eye on their wares; farmers and market-gardeners form associates for +mutual protection, and woe to the thief who gets caught--his +punishment is short and sharp. Litigation is not encouraged, even by +such facilities as ought to be given to persons suffering wrongs; +there is no bar, or legal profession, and persons who assist +plaintiffs or defendants in the conduct of cases, are treated with +scant courtesy by the presiding magistrate and are lucky if they get +off with nothing worse. The majority of commercial cases come before +the guilds, and are settled without reference to the authorities. The +ordinary Chinese dread a court of justice, as a place in which both +parties manage to lose something. "It is not the big devil," according +to the current saying, "but the little devils" who frighten the suitor +away. This is because official servants receive no salary, but depend +for their livelihood on perquisites and tips; and the Chinese suitor, +who is a party to the system, readily admits that it is necessary "to +sprinkle a little water." + +Neither do any officials in China, high or low, receive salaries, +although absurdly inadequate sums are allocated by the Government for +that purpose, for which it is considered prudent not to apply. The +Chinese system is to some extent the reverse of our own. Our officials +collect money and pay it into the Treasury, from which source fixed +sums are returned to them as salaries. In China, the occupants of +petty posts collect revenue in various ways, as taxes or fees, pay +themselves as much as they dare, and hand up the balance to a superior +officer, who in turn pays himself in the same sense, and again hands +up the balance to his superior officer. When the viceroy of a province +is reached, he too keeps what he dares, sending up to the Imperial +exchequer in Peking just enough to satisfy the powers above him. There +is thus a continual check by the higher grade upon the lower, but no +check on such extortion as might be practised upon the tax-payer. The +tax-payer sees to that himself. Speaking generally, it may be said +that this system, in spite of its unsatisfactory character, works +fairly well. Few officials overstep the limits which custom has +assigned to their posts, and those who do generally come to grief. So +that when the dishonesty of the Chinese officials is held up to +reprobation, it should always be remembered that the financial side of +their public service is not surrounded with such formalities and +safeguards as to make robbery of public money difficult, if not almost +impossible. It is, therefore, all the more cheering when we find, as +is frequently the case, retiring or transferred mandarins followed by +the good wishes and affection of the people over whom they have been +set to rule. + +Until quite recently, there has been no such thing in China as +municipal administration and rating, and even now such methods are +only being tentatively introduced in large cities where there are a +number of foreign residents. Occupants of houses are popularly +supposed to "sweep the snow from their own doorsteps," but the repair +of roads, bridges, drains, etc., has always been left to the casual +philanthropy of wealthy individuals, who take these opportunities of +satisfying public opinion in regard to the obligations of the rich +towards the poor. Consequently, Chinese cities are left without +efficient lighting, draining, or scavengering; and it is astonishing +how good the health of the people living under these conditions can +be. There is no organized police force; but cities are divided into +wards, and at certain points barriers are drawn across the streets at +night, with perhaps one watchman to each. It is not considered +respectable to be out late at night, and it is not safe to move about +without a lantern, which is carried, for those who can afford the +luxury, by a servant preceding them. + +One difference between life in China and life in this country may be +illustrated to a certain extent in the following way. Supposing a +traveller, passing through an English village, to be hit on the head +by a stone. Unless he can point out his assailant, the matter is at an +end. In China, all the injured party has to do is to point out the +village--or, if a town, the ward--in which he was assaulted. Then the +headman of such town or ward is summoned before the authorities and +fined, proportionately to the offence, for allowing rowdy behaviour in +his district. The headman takes good care that he does not pay the +fine himself. In the same way, parents are held responsible for the +acts of their children, and householders for those of their servants. + + + +CHAPTER III + +RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION + +The Chinese are emphatically not a religious people, though they are +very superstitious. Belief in a God has come down from the remotest +ages, but the old simple creed has been so overlaid by Buddhism as not +to be discernible at the present day. Buddhism is now the dominant +religion of China. It is closely bound up with the lives of the +people, and is a never-failing refuge in sickness or worldly trouble. +It is no longer the subtle doctrine which was originally presented to +the people of India, but something much more clearly defined and +appreciable by the plainest intellect. Buddha is the saviour of the +people through righteousness alone, and Buddhist saints are popularly +supposed to possess intercessory powers. Yet reverence is always +wanting; and crowds will laugh and talk, and buy and sell sweetmeats, +in a Buddhist temple, before the very eyes of the most sacred images. +So long as divine intervention is not required, an ordinary Chinaman +is content to neglect his divinities; but no sooner does sickness or +financial trouble come upon the family, than he will hurry off to +propitiate the gods. + +He accomplishes this through the aid of the priests, who receive his +offerings of money, and light candles or incense at the shrine of the +deity to be invoked. Buddhist priests are not popular with the +Chinese, who make fun of their shaven heads, and doubt the sincerity +of their convictions as well as the purity of their lives. "No meat +nor wine may enter here" is a legend inscribed at the gate of most +Buddhist temples, the ordinary diet as served in the refectory being +strictly vegetarian. A tipsy priest, however, is not an altogether +unheard-of combination, and has provided more than one eminent artist +with a subject of an interesting picture. + +Yet the ordeal through which a novice must pass before being admitted +to holy orders is a severe tax upon nerve and endurance. In the +process of a long ritual, at least three, or even so many as nine, +pastilles are placed upon the bald scalp of the head. These are then +lighted, and allowed to burn down into the skin until permanent scars +have been formed, the unfortunate novice being supported on both sides +by priests who encourage him all the time to bear what must be +excruciating pain. The fully qualified priest receives a diploma, on +the strength of which he may demand a day and a night's board and +lodging from the priests of any temple all over the empire. + +At a very early date Buddhism had already taken a firm hold on the +imagination of Chinese poets and painters, the latter of whom loved to +portray the World-honoured One in a dazzling hue of gold. A poet of +the eighth century A.D., who realized for the first time the inward +meaning of the Law, as it is called, ended a panegyric on Buddhism +with the following lines:-- + + O thou pure Faith, had I but known thy scope, + The Golden God had long since been my hope! + +Taoism is a term often met with in books about China. We are told that +the three religions of the people are Confucianism, Buddhism, and +Taoism, this being the order of precedence assigned to them in A.D. +568. Confucianism is of course not a religion at all, dealing as it +does with duty towards one's neighbour and the affairs of this life +only; and it will be seen that Taoism, in its true sense, has scarcely +a stronger claim. At a very remote day, some say a thousand, and +others six hundred, years before the Christian era, there flourished a +wise man named Lao Tzu, which may be approximately pronounced as +/Loudza/ (/ou/ as in /loud/), and understood to mean the Old +Philosopher. He was a very original thinker, and a number of his +sayings have been preserved to us by ancient authors, whom they had +reached by tradition; that is to say, the Old Philosopher never put +his doctrines into book form. There is indeed in existence a work +which passes under his name, but it is now known to be a forgery, and +is generally discarded by scholars. + +The great flaw in the teaching of the Old Philosopher was its +extremely impractical character, its unsuitability to the needs of men +and women engaged in the ordinary avocations of life. In one sense he +was an Anarchist, for he held that the empire would fare better if +there were no government at all, the fact being that violence and +disorder had always been conspicuous even under the best rulers. +Similarly, he argued that we should get along more profitably with +less learning, because then there would be fewer thieves, successful +thieving being the result of mental training. It is not necessary to +follow him to his most famous doctrine, namely, that of doing nothing, +by which means, he declared, everything could be done, the solution of +which puzzle of left everybody to find out for himself. Among his +quaint sayings will be found several maxims of a very different class, +as witness his injunction, "Requite evil with kindness," and "Mighty +is he who conquers himself." Of the latter, the following illustration +is given by a commentator. Two men meeting in the street, one said to +the other, "How fat you have grown!" "Yes," replied his friend, "I +have lately won a battle." "What do you mean?" inquired the former. +"Why, you see," said the latter, "so long as I was at home, reading +about ancient kings, I admired nothing but virtue; then, when I went +out of doors, I was attracted by the charms of wealth and power. These +two feelings fought inside me, and I began to lose flesh; but now love +of virtue has conquered, and I am fat." + +The teachings of the Old Philosopher were summed up in the word /Tao/, +pronounced as /tou(t)/, which originally meant a road, a way; and as +applied to doctrines means simply the right way or path of moral +conduct, in which mankind should tread so as to lead correct and +virtuous lives. Later on, when Buddhism was introduced, this Taoism, +with all its paradoxes and subtleties, to which alchemy and the +concoction of an elixir of life had been added, gradually began to +lose its hold upon the people; and in order to stem the tide of +opposition, temples and monasteries were built, a priesthood was +established in imitation of the Buddhists, and all kinds of ceremonies +and observances were taken from Buddhism, until, at the present day, +only those who know can tell one from the other. + +Although alchemy, which was introduced from Greece, via Bactria, in +the second century B.C., has long ceased to interest the Chinese +public, who have found out that gold is more easily made from the +sweat of the brow than from copper or lead; and although only a few +silly people now believe that any mixture of drugs will produce an +elixir of life, able to confer immortality upon those who drink it; +nevertheless, Taoism still professes to teach the art of extending +life, if not indefinitely, at any rate to a considerable length. This +art would probably go some way towards extending life under any +circumstances, for it consists chiefly in deep and regular breathing, +preferably of morning air, in swallowing the saliva three times in +every two hours, in adopting certain positions for the body and limbs, +which are also strengthened by gymnastic exercises, and finally, as +borrowed from the Buddhists, in remaining motionless for some hours a +day, the eyes shut, and the mind abstracted as much as possible from +all surrounding influences. The upshot of these and other practices is +the development of "the pure man," on which Chuang Tzu (/Chwongdza/), +a Taoist philosopher of the third and fourth centuries B.C., to be +mentioned again, writes as follows: "But what is a pure man? The pure +men of old acted without calculation, not seeking to secure results. +They laid no plans. Therefore, failing, they had no cause for regret; +succeeding, no cause for congratulation. And thus they could scale +heights without fear; enter water without becoming wet, and fire +without feeling hot. The pure men of old slept without dreams, and +waked without anxiety. They ate without discrimination, breathing deep +breaths. For pure men draw breath from their heels; the vulgar only +from their throats." + +Coupled with what may be called intellectual Taoism, as opposed to the +grosser form under which this faith appeals to the people at large, is +a curious theory that human life reaches the earth from some +extraordinarily dazzling centre away in the depths of space, "beyond +the range of conceptions." This centre appears to be the home of +eternal principles, the abode of a First Cause, where perfectly +spotless and pure beings "drink of the spiritual and feed on force," +and where likeness exists without form. To get back to that state +should be the object of all men, and this is only to be attained by a +process of mental and physical purification prolonged through all +conditions of existence. Then, when body and soul are fitted for the +change, there comes what ordinary mortals call death; and the pure +being closes his eyes, to awake forthwith in his original glory from +the sleep which mortals call life. + +For many centuries Buddhism and Taoism were in bitter antagonism. +Sometimes the court was Buddhist, sometimes Taoist; first one faith +was suppressed altogether, then the other; in A.D. 574 both were +abolished in deference to Confucianism, which, however, no emperor has +ever dared to interfere with seriously. At present, all the "three +religions" flourish happily side by side. + +The Chinese believe firmly in the existence of spirits, which they +classify simply as good and evil. They do not trouble their heads much +about the former, but they are terribly afraid of the latter. Hideous +devils infest dark corners, and lie in wait to injure unfortunate +passers-by, often for no cause whatever. The spirits of persons who +have been wronged are especially dreaded by those who have done the +wrong. A man who has been defrauded of money will commit suicide, +usually by poison, at the door of the wrongdoer, who will thereby +first fall into the hands of the authorities, and if he escapes in +that quarter, will still have to count with the injured ghost of his +victim. A daughter-in-law will drown or hang herself to get free from, +and also to avenge, the tyranny or cruelty of her husband's mother. +These acts lead at once to family feuds, which sometimes end in +bloodshed; more often in money compensation; and the known risk of +such contingencies operates as a wholesome check upon aggressive +treatment of the weak by the strong. + +Divination and fortune-telling have always played a conspicuous part +in ordinary Chinese life. Wise men, of the magician type, sit at +stalls in street and market-place, ready for a small fee to advise +those who consult them on any enterprise to be undertaken, even of the +most trivial kind. The omens can be taken in various ways, as by +calculation based upon books, of which there is quite a literature, or +by drawing lots inscribed with mystic signs, to be interpreted by the +fortune-teller. Even at Buddhist temples may be found two kidney- +shaped pieces of wood, flat on one side and round on the other, which +are thrown into the air before an altar, the results--two flats, two +rounds, or one of each--being interpreted as unfavourable, medium, and +very favourable, respectively. + +Of all Chinese superstitions, the one that has been most persistent, +and has exerted the greatest influence upon national life, is the +famous Wind-and-Water system (/feng shui/) of geomancy. According to +the principles which govern this system, and of which quite a special +literature exists, the good or evil fortunes of individuals and the +communities are determined by the various physical aspects and +conditions which surround their everyday life. The shapes of hills, +the presence or absence of water, the position of trees, the height of +buildings, and so forth, are all matters of deep consideration to the +professors of the geomantic art, who thrive on the ignorance of +superstitious clients. They are called in to select propitious sites +for houses and graves; and it often happens that if the fortunes of a +family are failing, a geomancer will be invited to modify in some way +the arrangement of the ancestral graveyard. Houses in a Chinese street +are never built up so as to form a line of uniform height; every now +and again one house must be a little higher or a little lower than its +neighbour, or calamity will certainly ensue. It is impossible to walk +straight into an ordinary middle-class dwelling-house. Just inside the +front door there will be a fixed screen, which forces the visitor to +turn to the right or to the left; the avowed object being to exclude +evil spirits, which can only move in straight lines. + +Mention of the ancestral graveyard brings to mind the universal +worship of ancestors, which has been from time immemorial such a +marked feature of Chinese religious life. At death, the spirit of a +man or woman is believed to remain watching over the material +interests of the family to which the deceased had belonged. Offerings +of various kinds, including meat and drink, are from time to time made +to such a spirit, supposed to be particularly resident in an ancestral +hall--or cupboard, as the case may be. These offerings are made for +the special purpose of conciliating the spirit, and of obtaining in +return a liberal share of the blessings and good things of this life. +This is the essential feature of the rite, and this it is which makes +the rite an act of worship pure and simple; so that only superficial +observers could make the mistake of classifying ancestral worship, as +practised in China, with such acts as laying wreaths upon the tombs of +deceased friends and relatives. + +With reference to the spirit or soul, the Chinese have held for +centuries past that the soul of every man is twofold; in a popular +acceptation it is sometimes regarded as threefold. One portion is that +which expresses the visible personality, and is permanently attached +to the body; the other has the power of leaving the body, carrying +with it an appearance of physical form, which accounts for a person +being seen in two different places at once. Cases of catalepsy or +trance are explained by the Chinese as the absence from the body of +this portion of the soul, which is also believed to be expelled from +the body by any violent shock or fright. There is a story of a man who +was so terrified at the prospect of immediate execution that his +separable soul left his body, and he found himself sitting on the +eaves of a house, from which point he could see a man bound, and +waiting for the executioner's sword. Just then, a reprieve arrived, +and in a moment he was back again in his body. Mr. Edmund Gosse, who +can hardly have been acquainted with the Chinese view, told a similar +story in his /Father and Son/: "During morning and evening prayers, +which were extremely lengthy and fatiguing, I fancied that one of my +two selves could flit up, and sit clinging to the cornice, and look +down on my other self and the rest of us." + +In some parts of China, planchette is frequently resorted to as a +means of reading the future, and adapting one's actions accordingly. +It is a purely professional performance, being carried through +publicly before some altar in a temple, and payment made for the +response. The question is written down on a piece of paper, which is +burnt at the altar apparently before any one could gather knowledge of +its contents; and the answer from the god is forthwith traced on a +tray of sand, word by word, each word being obliterated to make room +for the next, by two men, supposed to be ignorant of the question, who +hold the ends of a V-shaped instrument from the point of which a +little wooden pencil projects at right angles. + +Another method of extracting information from the spirits of the +unseen world is nothing more or less than hypnotism, which has long +been known to the Chinese, and is mentioned in literature so far back +as the middle of the seventeenth century. With all the paraphernalia +of altar, candles, incense, etc., a medium is thrown into a hypnotic +condition, during which his body is supposed to be possessed by a +spirit, and every word he may utter to be divinely inspired. An +amusing instance is recorded of a medium who, while under hypnotic +influence, not only blurted out the pecuniary defalcations of certain +men who had been collecting in aid of temple restoration, but went so +far as to admit that he had had some of the money himself. + +This same influence is also used in cases of serious illness, but +always secretly, for such practices, as well as dark /seances/ for +communicating with spirits, are strictly forbidden by the Chinese +authorities, who regard the employment of occult means as more likely +to be subversive of morality than to do any good whatever to a sick +person, or to any one else. All secret societies of any sort or kind +are equally under the ban of the law, the assumption--a very +justifiable one--being that the aim of these societies is to upset the +existing order of political and social life. The Heaven-and-Earth +Society is among the most famous, and the most dreaded, partly perhaps +because it has never been entirely suppressed. The lodges of this +fraternity, the oath of fidelity, and the ceremonial of admission, +remind one forcibly of Masonry in the West; but the points of conduct +are merely coincidences, and there does not appear to be any real +connexion. + +Among the most curious of all these institutions is the Golden Orchid +Society, the girl-members of which swear never to marry, and not only +threaten, but positively commit suicide upon any attempt at coercion. +At one time this society became such a serious menace that the +authorities were compelled to adopt severe measures of repression. + +Another old-established society is that of the Vegetarians, who eat no +meat and neither smoke nor drink. From their seemingly harmless ranks +it is said that the Boxers of 1900 were largely recruited. + +For nearly twenty-five centuries the Chinese have looked to Confucius +for their morals. Various religions have appealed to the spiritual +side of the Chinese mind, and Buddhism has obtained an ascendancy +which will not be easily displaced; but through all this long lapse of +time the morality of China has been under the guidance of their great +teacher, Confucius (551-479 B.C.), affectionately known to them as the +"uncrowned king," and recently raised to the rank of a god. + +His doctrines, in the form sometimes of maxims, sometimes of answers +to eager inquirers, were brought together after his death--we do not +know exactly how soon--and have influenced first and last an enormous +proportion of the human race. Confucius taught man's duty to his +neighbour; he taught virtue for virtue's sake, and not for the hope of +reward or fear of punishment; he taught loyalty to the sovereign as +the foundation stone of national prosperity, and filial piety as the +basis of all happiness in the life of the people. As a simple human +moralist he saw clearly the limitations of humanity, and refused to +teach his disciples to return good for evil, as suggested by the Old +Philosopher, declaring without hesitation that evil should be met by +justice. The first systematic writer of Chinese history, who died +about 80 B.C., expressed himself on the position and influence of +Confucius in terms which have been accepted as accurate for twenty +centuries past: "Countless are the princes and prophets that the world +has seen in its time--glorious in life, forgotten in death. But +Confucius, though only a humble member of the cotton-clothed masses, +remains with us after numerous generations. He is the model for such +as would be wise. By all, from the Son of Heaven down to the meanest +student, the supremacy of his principles is freely and fully admitted. +He may indeed be pronounced the divinest of men." + +The Son of Heaven is of course the Emperor, who is supposed to be +God's chosen representative on earth, and responsible for the right +conduct and well-being of all committed to his care. Once every year +he proceeds in state to the Temple of Heaven at Peking; and after the +due performance of sacrificial worship he enters alone the central +raised building with circular blue-tiled roof, and there places +himself in communication with the Supreme Being, submitting for +approval or otherwise his stewardship during the preceding twelve +months. Chinese records go so far as to mention letters received from +God. There is a legend of the sixth century A.D., which claims that +God revealed Himself to a hermit in a retired valley, and bestowed on +him a tablet of jade with a mysterious inscription. But there is a +much more circumstantial account of a written communication which in +A.D. 1008 descended from heaven upon mount T'ai, the famous mountain +in Shantung, where a temple has been built to mark the very spot. The +emperor and his courtiers regarded this letter with profound reverence +and awe, which roused the ire of a learned statesman of the day. The +latter pointed out that Confucius, when asked to speak, so that his +disciples might have something to record, had bluntly replied: "Does +God speak? The four seasons pursue their courses and all things are +produced; but does God say anything?" Therefore, he argued, if God +does not speak to us, still less will He write a letter. + +The fact that the receipt of such a letter is mentioned in the +dynastic history of the period must not be allowed to discredit in any +way the general truth and accuracy of Chinese annals, which, as +research progresses, are daily found to be far more trustworthy than +was ever expected to be the case. We ourselves do not wholly reject +the old contemporary chronicles of Hoveden and Roger of Wendover +because they mention a letter from Christ on the neglect of the +Sabbath. + +In Chinese life, social and political alike, filial piety may be +regarded as the keystone of the arch. Take that away, and the +superstructure of centuries crumbles to the ground. When Confucius was +asked by one of his disciples to explain what constituted filial +piety, he replied that it was a difficult obligation to define; while +to another disciple he was able to say without hesitation that the +mere support of parents would be insufficient, inasmuch as food is +what is supplied even to horses and dogs. According to the story-books +for children, the obligation has been interpreted by the people at +large in many different ways. The twenty-four standard examples of +filial children include a son who allowed mosquitoes to feed upon him, +and did not drive them away lest they should go and annoy his parents; +another son who wept so passionately because he could procure no +bamboo shoots for his mother that the gods were touched, and up out of +the ground came some shoots which he gathered and carried home; +another who when carrying buckets of water would slip and fall on +purpose, in order to make his parents laugh; and so on. No wonder that +Confucius found filial piety beyond his powers of definition. + +Now for a genuine example. There is a very wonderful novel in which a +very affecting love-story is worked out to a terribly tragic +conclusion. The heroine, a beautiful and fascinating girl, finally +dies of consumption, and the hero, a wayward but none the less +fascinating youth, enters the Buddhist priesthood. A lady, the mother +of a clever young official, was so distressed by the pathos of the +tale that she became quite ill, and doctors prescribed medicines in +vain. At length, when things were becoming serious, the son set to +work and composed a sequel to this novel, in which he resuscitated the +heroine and made the lovers happy by marriage; and in a short time he +had the intense satisfaction of seeing his mother restored to health. + +Other forms of filial piety, which bear no relation whatever to the +fanciful fables given above, are commonly practised by all classes. In +consequence of the serious or prolonged illness of parents, it is very +usual for sons and daughters to repair to the municipal temple and +pray that a certain number of years may be cut off their own span of +life and added to that of the sick parents in question. + +Let us now pause to take stock of some of the results which have +accrued from the operation and influence of Confucianism during such a +long period, and over such swarming myriads of the human race. It is a +commonplace in the present day to assert that the Chinese are +hardworking, thrifty, and sober--the last-mentioned, by the way, in a +land where drunkenness is not regarded as a crime. Shallow observers +of the globe-trotter type, who have had their pockets picked by +professional thieves in Hong-Kong, and even resident observers who +have not much cultivated their powers of observation and comparison, +will assert that honesty is a virtue denied to the Chinese; but those +who have lived long in China and have more seriously devoted +themselves to discover the truth, may one and all be said to be +arrayed upon the other side. The amount of solid honesty to be met +with in every class, except the professionally criminal class, is +simply astonishing. That the word of the Chinese merchant is as good +as his bond has long since become a household word, and so it is in +other walks of life. With servants from respectable families, the +householder need have no fear for his goods. "Be loyal," says the +native maxim, "to the master whose rice you eat;" and this maxim is +usually fulfilled to the letter. Hence, it is that many foreigners who +have been successful in their business careers, take care to see, on +their final departure from the East, that the old and faithful +servant, often of twenty to thirty years' standing, shall have some +provision for himself and his family. In large establishments, +especially banks, in which great interests are at stake, it is +customary for the Chinese staff to be guaranteed by some wealthy man +(or firm), who deposits securities for a considerable amount, thus +placing the employer in a very favourable position. The properly +chosen Chinese servant who enters the household of a foreigner, is a +being to whom, as suggested above, his master often becomes deeply +attached, and whom he parts with, often after many years of service, +to his everlasting regret. Such a servant has many virtues. He is +noiseless over his work, which he performs efficiently. He can stay up +late, and yet rise early. He lives on the establishment, but in an +out-building. He provides his own food. He rarely wants to absent +himself, and even then will always provide a reliable /locum tenens/. +He studies his master's ways, and learns to anticipate his slightest +wishes. In return for these and other services he expects to get his +wages punctually paid, and to be allowed to charge, without any notice +being taken of the same, a commission on all purchases. This is the +Chinese system, and even a servant absolutely honest in any other way +cannot emancipate himself from its grip. But if treated fairly, he +will not abuse his chance. One curious feature of the system is that +if one master is in a relatively higher position than another, the +former will be charged by his servants slightly more than the latter +by his servants for precisely the same article. Many attempts have +been made by foreigners to break through this "old custom," especially +by offering higher wages; but signal failure has always been the +result, and those masters have invariably succeeded best who have +fallen in with the existing institution, and have tried to make the +best of it. + +There is one more, and in many ways the most important, side of a +Chinese servant's character. He will recognize frankly, and without a +pang, the superior position and the rights of his master; but at the +same time, if worth keeping, he will exact from his master the proper +respect due from man to man. It is wholly beside the mark to say that +he will not put up for a moment with the cuffs and kicks so freely +administered to his Indian colleague. A respectable Chinese servant +will often refuse to remain with a master who uses abusive or violent +language, or shows signs of uncontrollable temper. A lucrative place +is as nothing compared with the "loss of face" which he would suffer +in the eyes of his friends; in other words, with his loss of dignity +as a man. If a servant will put up with a blow, the best course is to +dismiss him at once, as worthless and unreliable, if not actually +dangerous. Confucius said: "If you mistrust a man, do not employ him; +if you employ a man, do not mistrust him;" and this will still be +found to be an excellent working rule in dealings with Chinese +servants. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A.D. 220-1200 + +The long-lived and glorious House of Han was brought to a close by the +usual causes. There were palace intrigues and a temporary usurpation +of the throne, eunuchs of course being in the thick of the mischief; +added to which a very serious rebellion broke out, almost as a natural +consequence. First and last there arose three aspirants to the +Imperial yellow, which takes the place of purple in ancient Rome; the +result being that, after some years of hard fighting, China was +divided into three parts, each ruled by one of the three rivals. The +period is known in history as that of the Three Kingdoms, and lasted +from A.D. 220 to A.D. 265. This short space of time was filled, +especially the early years, with stirring deeds of heroism and +marvellous strategical operations, fortune favouring first one of the +three commanders and then another. The whole story of these civil wars +is most graphically told in a famous historical romance composed about +a thousand years afterwards. As in the case of the Waverley novels, a +considerable amount of fiction has been interwoven with truth to make +the narrative more palatable to the general reader; but its basis is +history, and the work is universally regarded among the Chinese +themselves as one of the most valuable productions in the lighter +branches of their literature. + +The three to four centuries which follow on the above period were a +time of political and social disorganisation, unfavourable, according +to Chinese writers, to the development of both literature and art. The +House of Chin, which at first held sway over a once more united +empire, was severely harassed by the Tartars on the north, who were in +turn overwhelmed by the House of Toba. The latter ruled for some two +hundred years over northern China, while the southern portions were +governed by several short-lived native dynasties. A few points in +connexion with these times deserve perhaps brief mention. + +The old rule of twenty-seven months of mourning for parents was +re-established, and has continued in force down to the present day. +The Japanese sent occasional missions, with tribute; and the Chinese, +who had already in A.D. 240 dispatched an envoy to Japan, repeated the +compliment in 608. An attempt was made to conquer Korea, and envoys +were sent to countries as far off as Siam. Buddhism, which had been +introduced many centuries previously--no one can exactly say when-- +began to spread far and wide, and appeared to be firmly established. +In A.D. 399 a Buddhist priest, named Fa Hsien, started from Central +China and travelled to India across the great desert and over the +Hindu Kush, subsequently visiting Patna, Benares, Buddha-Gaya, and +other well-known spots, which he accurately described in the record of +his journey published on his return and still in existence. His object +was to obtain copies of the sacred books, relics and images, +illustrative of the faith; and these he safely conveyed to China by +sea from India, via Ceylon (where he spent three years), and Sumatra, +arriving after an absence of fifteen years. + +In the year A.D. 618 the House of T'ang entered upon its glorious +course of three centuries in duration. Under a strong but dissolute +ruler immediately preceding, China had once more become a united +empire, undivided against itself; and although wars and rebellions +were not wanting to disturb the even tenor of its way, the general +picture presented to us under the new dynasty of the T'angs is one of +national peace, prosperity, and progress. The name of this House has +endured, like that of Han, to the present day in the popular language +of the people; for just as the northerners still delight to style +themselves "good sons of Han," so are the southerners still proud to +speak of themselves as "men of T'ang." + +One of the chief political events of this period was the usurpation of +power by the Empress Wu--at first, as nominal regent on behalf of a +step-child, the son and heir of her late husband by his first wife, +and afterwards, when she had set aside the step-child, on her own +account. There had been one previous instance of a woman wielding the +Imperial sceptre, namely, the Empress Lu of the Han dynasty, to whom +the Chinese have accorded the title of legitimate ruler, which has not +been allowed to the Empress Wu. The latter, however, was possessed of +much actual ability, mixed with a kind of midsummer madness; and so +long as her great intellectual faculties remained unimpaired, she +ruled, like her successor of some twelve centuries afterwards, with a +rod of iron. In her old age she was deposed and dismissed to private +life, the rightful heir being replaced upon his father's throne. + +Among the more extravagant acts of her reign are some which are still +familiar to the people of to-day. Always, even while her husband was +alive, she was present, behind a curtain, at councils and audiences; +after his death she was accustomed to take her place openly among the +ministers of state, wearing a false beard. In 694 she gave herself the +title of Divine Empress, and in 696 she even went so far as to style +herself God Almighty. In her later years she became hopelessly +arrogant and overbearing. No one was allowed to say that the Empress +was fair as a lily or lovely as a rose, but that the lily was fair or +the rose lovely as Her Majesty. She tried to spread the belief that +she was really the Supreme Being by forcing flowers artificially and +then in the presence of her courtiers ordering them to bloom. On one +occasion she commanded some peonies to bloom; and because they did not +instantly obey, she caused every peony in the capital to be pulled up +and burnt, and prohibited the cultivation of peonies ever afterwards. +She further decided to place her sex once and for all on an equality +with man. For that purpose women were admitted to the public +examinations, official posts being conferred upon those who were +successful; and among other things they were excused from kneeling +while giving evidence in courts of justice. This innovation, however, +did not fulfil its promise; and with the disappearance of its vigorous +foundress, the system also disappeared. It was not actually the first +time in Chinese history that the experiment had been tried. An emperor +of the third century A.D. had already opened public life to women, and +it is said that many of them rose to high office; but here too the +system was of short duration, and the old order was soon restored. + +Another striking picture of the T'ang dynasty is presented by the +career of an emperor who is usually spoken of as Ming Huang, and who, +after distinguishing himself at several critical junctures, mounted +the throne in 712, in succession to his father, who had abdicated in +his favour. He began with economy, closing the silk factories and +forbidding the palace ladies to wear jewels or embroideries, +considerable quantities of which were actually burnt. He was a warm +patron of literature, and schools were established in every village. +Fond of music, he founded a college for training youth of both sexes +in this art. His love of war and his growing extravagance led to +increased taxation, with the usual consequences in China--discontent +and rebellion. He surrounded himself by a brilliant court, welcoming +men of genius in literature and art; at first for their talents alone, +but finally for their readiness to participate in scenes of revelry +and dissipation provided for the amusement of a favourite concubine, +the ever-famous Yang Kuei-fei (pronounced /Kway-fay/). Eunuchs were +appointed to official posts, and the grossest forms of religious +superstition were encouraged. Women ceased to veil themselves, as of +old. At length, in 755, a serious rebellion broke out, and a year +later the emperor, now an old man of seventy-one, fled before the +storm. He had not proceeded far before his soldiery revolted and +demanded vengeance upon the whole family of the favourite, several +unworthy members of which had been raised to high positions and loaded +with honours. The wretched emperor was forced to order the head eunuch +to strangle his idolized concubine, while the rest of her family +perished at the hands of the troops. He subsequently abdicated in +favour of his son, and spent the last six years of his life in +seclusion. + +This tragic story has been exquisitely told in verse by one of China's +foremost poets, who was born only a few years later. He divides his +poem into eight parts, dealing with the /ennui/ of the monarch until +he discovers /beauty/, the /revelry/ of the pair together, followed by +the horrors of /flight/, to end in the misery of /exile/ without her, +the /return/ when the emperor passes again by the fatal spot, /home/ +where everything reminds him of her, and finally /spirit-land/. This +last is a figment of the poet's imagination. He pictures the +disconsolate emperor sending a magician to discover Yang Kuei-fei's +whereabouts in the next world, and to bear to her a message of +uninterrupted love. The magician, after a long search, finds her in +one of the Isles of the Blest, and fulfils his commission accordingly. + + Her features are fixed and calm, though myriad tears fall, + Wetting a spray of pear-bloom, as it were with the raindrops of + spring. + Subduing her emotions, restraining her grief, she tenders thanks + to His Majesty. + Saying how since their parting she had missed his form and voice; + And how, although their love on earth had so soon come to an end, + The days and months among the Blest were still of long duration. + And now she turns and gazes towards the above of mortals, + But cannot discern the Imperial city, lost in the dust and haze. + Then she takes out the old keepsake, tokens of undying love, + A gold hairpin, an enamel brooch, and bids the magician carry + these back. + One half of the hairpin she keeps, and one half of the enamel + brooch, + Breaking with her hands the yellow gold, and dividing the enamel + in two. + "Tell him," she said, "to be firm of heart, as this gold and + enamel, + And then in heaven or on earth below we two may meet once more." + +The magnificent House of T'ang was succeeded by five insignificant +dynasties, the duration of all of which was crowded into about half a +century. Then, in A.D. 960, began the rule of the Sungs (pronounced +/Soongs/), to last for three hundred years and rival in national peace +and prosperity any other period in the history of China. The nation +had already in a great measure settled down to that state of material +civilization and mental culture in which it has remained to the +present time. To the appliances of ordinary Chinese life it is +probable that but few additions have been made since a very early +date. The dress of the people has indeed undergone several variations, +but the ploughs and hoes, the water-wheels and well-sweeps, the tools +of the artisans, mud huts, carts, junks, chairs, tables, chopsticks, +etc., which we still see in China, are probably very much those of two +thousand years ago. Mencius, of the third century B.C., observed that +written characters had the same form, and axle-trees the same breadth, +all over the empire; and to this day an unaltering uniformity is one +of the chief characteristics of the Chinese people in every department +of life. + +In spite, however, of the peaceful aspirations of the House of Sung, +the Kitan Tartars were for ever encroaching upon Chinese territory, +and finally overran and occupied a large part of northern China, with +their capital where Peking now stands. This resulted in an amicable +arrangement to divide the empire, the Kitans retaining their conquests +in the north, from which, after about two hundred years, they were in +turn expelled by the Golden Tartars, who had previously been subject +to them. + +Many volumes, rather than pages, would be required to do justice to +the statesmen, soldiers, philosophers, poets, historians, art critics, +and other famous men of this dynasty. It has already been stated that +the interpretation of the Confucian Canon, accepted at the present +day, dates from this period; and it may now be of interest to give a +brief account of another remarkable movement connected with the +dynasty, though in quite a different line. + +Wang An-shih (as /shi/ in /shirk/), popularly known as the Reformer, +was born in 1021. In his youth a keen student, his pen seemed to fly +over the paper. He rose to high office; and by the time he was forty- +eight he found himself installed as confidential adviser to the +emperor. He then entered upon a series of startling political reforms, +said to be based upon new and more correct interpretations of portions +of the Confucian Canon, which still remained, so far as explanation +was concerned, just as it had been left by the scholars of the Han +dynasty. This appeal to authority was, of course, a mere blind, +cleverly introduced to satisfy the bulk of the population, who were +always unwilling to move in any direction where no precedent is +forthcoming. One of his schemes, the express object of which was to +decrease taxation and at the same time to increase the revenue, was to +secure a sure and certain market for all products, as follows. From +the produce of a given district, enough was to be set aside (1) for +the payment of taxes, and (2) to supply the wants of the district; (3) +the balance was then to be taken over by the state at a low rate, and +held for a rise or forwarded to some centre where there happened to be +a demand. There would be thus a certainty of market for the farmer, +and an equal certainty for the state to make profits as a middleman. +Another part of this scheme consisted in obligatory advances by the +state to cultivators of land, whether these farmers required the money +or not, the security for the loans being in each case the growing +crops. + +There was also a system of tithing for military purposes, under which +every family having more than two males was bound to supply one to +serve as a soldier; and in order to keep up a breed of cavalry horses, +every family was compelled to take charge of one, which was provided, +together with its food, by the government. There was a system under +which money payments were substituted for the old-fashioned and +vexatious method of carrying on public works by drafts of forced +labourers; and again another under which warehouses for bartering and +hypothecating goods were established all over the empire. + +Of all his innovations the most interesting was that all land was to +be remeasured and an attempt made to secure a more equitable incidence +of taxation. The plan was to divide up the land into equal squares, +and to levy taxes in proportion to the fertility of each. This scheme +proved for various reasons to be unworkable; and the bitter opposition +with which, like all his other measures of reform, it was received by +his opponents, did not conduce to success. Finally, he abolished all +restrictions upon the export of copper, the result being that even the +current copper "cash" were melted down and made into articles for sale +and exportation. A panic ensued, which Wang met by the simple +expedient of doubling the value of each cash. He attempted to reform +the examination system, requiring from the candidate not so much +graces of style as a wide acquaintance with practical subjects. +"Accordingly," says one Chinese author, "even the pupils at the +village schools threw away their text-books of rhetoric, and began to +study primers of history, geography, and political economy"--a +striking anticipation of the movement in vogue to-day. "I have myself +been," he tells us, "an omnivorous reader of books of all kinds, even, +for example, of ancient medical and botanical works. I have, moreover, +dipped into treatises on agriculture and on needlework, all of which I +have found very profitable in aiding me to seize the great scheme of +the Canon itself." But like many other great men, he was in advance of +his age. He fell into disfavour at court, and was dismissed to a +provincial post; and although he was soon recalled, he retired into +private life, shortly afterwards to die, but not before he had seen +the whole of his policy reversed. + +His career stands out in marked contrast with that of the great +statesman and philosopher, Chu Hsi (pronounced /Choo Shee/), who +flourished A.D. 1130-1200. His literary output was enormous and his +official career successful; but his chief title to fame rests upon his +merits as a commentator on the Confucian Canon. As has been already +stated, he introduced interpretations either wholly or partly at +variance with those which had been put forth by the scholars of the +Han dynasty, and hitherto received as infallible, thus modifying to a +certain extent the prevailing standard of political and social +morality. His guiding principle was merely one of consistency. He +refused to interpret words in a given passage in one sense, and the +same words occurring elsewhere in another sense. The effect of this +apparently obvious method was magical; and from that date the +teachings of Confucius have been universally understood in the way in +which Chu Hsi said they ought to be understood. + +To his influence also must be traced the spirit of materialism which +is so widely spread among educated Chinese. The God in whom Confucius +believed, but whom, as will be seen later on, he can scarcely be said +to have "taught," was a passive rather than an active God, and may be +compared with the God of the Psalms. He was a personal God, as we know +from the ancient character by which He was designated in the written +language of early ages, that character being a rude picture of a man. +This view was entirely set aside by Chu Hsi, who declared in the +plainest terms that the Chinese word for God meant nothing more than +"abstract right;" in other words, God was a principle. It is +impossible to admit such a proposition, which was based on sentiment +and not on sound reasoning. Chu Hsi was emphatically not a man of +religious temperament, and belief in the supernatural was distasteful +to him; he was for a short time under the spell of Buddhism, but threw +that religion over for the orthodoxy of Confucianism. He was, +therefore, anxious to exclude the supernatural altogether from the +revised scheme of moral conduct which he was deducing from the +Confucian Canon, and his interpretation of the word "God" has been +blindly accepted ever since. + +When Chu Hsi died, his coffin is said to have taken up a position, +suspended in the air, about three feet from the ground. Whereupon his +son-in-law, falling on his knees beside the bier, reminded the +departed spirit of the great principles of which he had been such a +brilliant exponent in life--and the coffin descended gently to the +ground. + + + +CHAPTER V + +WOMEN AND CHILDREN + +The Chinese are very fond of animals, and especially of birds; and on +the whole they may be said to be kind to their animals, though cases +of ill-treatment occur. At the same time it must be carefully +remembered that such quantum of humanity as they may exhibit is +entirely of their own making; there is no law to act persuasively on +brutal natures, and there is no Society for the Prevention of Cruelty +to Animals to see that any such law is enforced. A very large number +of beautiful birds, mostly songless, are found in various parts of +China, and a great variety of fishes in the rivers and on the coast. +Wild animals are represented by the tiger (in both north and south), +the panther and the bear, and even the elephant and the rhinoceros may +be found in the extreme south-west. The wolf and the fox, the latter +dreaded as an uncanny beast, are very widely distributed. + +Still less would there be any ground for establishing a Society for +the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the very name of which would +make an ordinary, unsophisticated Chinaman stare. Chinese parents are, +if anything, over-indulgent to their children. The father is, indeed, +popularly known as the "Severe One," and it is a Confucian tradition +that he should not spare the rod and so spoil the child, but he draws +the line at a poker; and although as a father he possesses the power +of life and death over his offspring, such punishments as are +inflicted are usually of the mildest description. The mother, the +"Gentle One," is, speaking broadly, a soft-hearted, sweet-natured +specimen of humanity; one of those women to whom hundreds of Europeans +owe deep debts of gratitude for the care and affection lavished upon +their alien children. In the absence of the Severe One, it falls to +her to chastise when necessary; and we even read of a son who wept, +not because his mother hurt him, but because, owing to her advanced +age, she was no longer able to hit him hard enough! + +Among other atrocious libels which have fastened upon the fair fame of +the Chinese people, first and foremost stands the charge of female +infanticide, now happily, though still slowly, fading from the +calculations of those who seek the truth. Fifty years ago it was +generally believed that the Chinese hated their female children, and +got rid of them in early infancy by wholesale murder. It may be +admitted at once that boys are preferred to girls, inasmuch as they +carry on the family line, and see that the worship of ancestors is +regularly performed in due season. Also, because girls require +dowries, which they take away with them for the benefit of other +families than their own; hence the saying, "There is no thief like a +family of five daughters," and the term "lose-money goods," as +jestingly applied to girls, against which may be set another term, "a +thousand ounces of gold," which is commonly used of a daughter. Of +course it is the boy who is specially wanted in a family; and little +boys are often dressed as little girls, in order to deceive the angels +of disease and death, who, it is hoped, may thus pass them over as of +less account. + +To return to the belief formerly held that female infanticide was +rampant all over China. The next step was for the honest observer to +admit that it was not known in his own particular district, but to +declare that it was largely practised elsewhere. This view, however, +lost its validity when residents "elsewhere" had to allow that no +traces of infanticide could be found in their neighbourhood; and so +on. Luckily, still greater comfort is to be found in the following +argument,--a rare example of proving a negative--from which it will be +readily seen that female infanticide on any abnormal scale is quite +beyond the bounds of the possible. Those who have even a bowing +acquaintance with Chinese social life will grant that every boy, at +about the age of eighteen, is provided by his parents with a wife. +They must also concede the notorious fact that many well-to-do Chinese +take one or more concubines. The Emperor, indeed, is allowed seventy; +but this number exists only on paper as a regulation maximum. Now, if +every Chinaman has one wife, and many have two, over and above the +host of girls said to be annually sacrificed as worthless babies, it +must follow that the proportion of girls born in China enormously +outnumbers the proportion of boys, whereas in the rest of the world +boys are well known to be always in the majority. After this, it is +perhaps superfluous to state that, apart from the natural love of the +parent, a girl is really, even at a very early age, a marketable +commodity. Girls are sometimes sold into other families to be brought +up as wives for the sons; more often, to be used as servants, under +what is of course a form of slavery, qualified by the important +condition, which can be enforced by law, that when of a marriageable +age, the girl's master shall find her a husband. Illegitimate +children, the source of so much baby-farming and infanticide +elsewhere, are practically unknown in China; and the same may be said +of divorce. A woman cannot legally divorce her husband. In rare cases +she will leave him, and return to her family, in spite of the fact +that he can legally insist upon her return; for she knows well that if +her case is good, the husband will not dare to risk the scandal of an +exposure, not to mention the almost certain vengeance of her affronted +kinsmen. It is also the fear of such vengeance that prevents mothers- +in-law from ill-treating the girls who pass into their new homes +rather as servants than daughters to the husband's mother. Every +woman, as indeed every man, has one final appeal by which to punish an +oppressor. She may commit suicide, there being no canon, legal or +moral, against self-slaughter; and in China, where, contrary to +widespread notions on the subject, human life is held in the highest +degree sacred, this course is sure to entail trouble and expense, and +possibly severe punishment, if the aggrieved parties are not promptly +conciliated by a heavy money payment. + +A man may divorce his wife for one of the seven following reasons:-- +Want of children, adultery, neglect of his parents, nagging, thieving +(i.e. supplying her own family with his goods, popularly known as +"leakage"), jealous temper and leprosy. To the above, the humanity of +the lawgiver has affixed three qualifying conditions. He may not put +her away on any of the above grounds if she has duly passed through +the period of mourning for his parents; if he has grown rich since +their marriage; if she has no longer any home to which she can return. + +Altogether, the Chinese woman has by no means such a bad time as is +generally supposed to be the case. Even in the eye of the law, she has +this advantage over a man, that she cannot be imprisoned except for +high treason and adultery, and is to all intents and purposes exempt +from the punishment of the bamboo. Included in this exemption are the +aged and the young, the sick, the hungry and naked, and those who have +already suffered violence, as in a brawl. Further, in a well-known +handbook, magistrates are advised to postpone, in certain +circumstances, the infliction of corporal punishment; as for instance, +when either the prisoner or they themselves may be under the influence +of excitement, anger or drink. + +The bamboo is the only instrument with which physical punishment may +legally be inflicted; and its infliction on a prisoner or recalcitrant +witness, in order to extort evidence, constitutes what has long been +dignified as "torture;" but even that is now, under a changing system, +about to disappear. This must not be taken to mean that torture, in +our sense of the term, has never been applied in China. The real facts +of the case are these. Torture, except as already described, being +constitutionally illegal, no magistrate would venture to resort to it +if there were any chance of his successful impeachment before the +higher authorities, upon which he would be cashiered and his official +career brought abruptly to an end. Torture, therefore, would have no +terrors for the ordinary citizen of good repute and with a backing of +substantial friends; but for the outcast, the rebel, the highway +robber (against whom every man's hand would be), the disreputable +native of a distant province, and also for the outer barbarian (e.g. +the captives at the Summer Palace in 1860), another tale must be told. +No consequences, except perhaps promotion, would follow from too +rigorous treatment in such cases as these. + +Resort to the bamboo as a means of extorting the confession of a +prisoner is regarded by the people rather as the magistrate's +confession of his own incapacity. The education of the official, too +easily and too freely turned into ridicule, gives him an insight into +human nature which, coupled with a little experience, renders him +extremely formidable to the shifty criminal or the crafty litigant. As +a rule, he finds no need for the application of pain. There is a +quaint story illustrative of such judicial methods as would be sure to +meet with full approbation in China. A magistrate, who after several +hearings had failed to discover, among a gang accused of murder, what +was essential to the completion of the case, namely, the actual hand +which struck the fatal blow, notified the prisoners that he was about +to invoke the assistance of the spirits, with a view to elicit the +truth. Accordingly, he caused the accused men, dressed in the black +clothes of criminals, to be led into a large barn, and arranged around +it, face to the wall. Having then told them that an accusing angel +would shortly come among them, and mark the back of the guilty man, he +went outside and had the door shut, and the place darkened. After a +short interval, when the door was thrown open, and the men were +summoned to come forth, it was seen directly that one of the number +had a white mark on his back. This man, in order to make all secure, +had turned his back to the wall, not knowing, what the magistrate well +knew, that the wall had been newly white-washed. + +As to the punishment of crime by flogging, a sentence of one or two +hundred--even more--blows would seem to be cruel and disgusting; +happily, it may be taken for granted that such ferocious sentences are +executed only in such cases as have been mentioned above. An acute +observer, for many years a member of the municipal police force in +Shanghai, whose duty it was to see that floggings were administered to +Chinese criminals, stated plainly in a public report that the bamboo +is not necessarily a severe ordeal, and that one hundred blows are at +times inflicted so lightly as to leave scarcely a mark behind, though +the recipient howls loudly all the time. Those criminals who have +money can always manage to square the gaoler; and the gaoler has +acquired a certain knack in laying on, the upshot being great cry and +little wool, very satisfactory to the culprit. Even were we to accept +the cruellest estimate in regard to punishment by the bamboo, it would +only go to show that humanitarian feelings in China are lagging +somewhat behind our own. In /The Times/ of March 1, 1811, we read +that, for allowing French prisoners to escape from Dartmoor, three men +of the Nottingham militia were sentenced to receive 900 lashes each, +and that one of them actually received 450 lashes in the presence of +pickets from every regiment in the garrison. On New Year's Day, 1911, +a eunuch attempted to assassinate one of the Imperial Princes. For +this he was sentenced to be beaten to death, some such ferocious +punishment being necessary, in Chinese eyes, to vindicate the majesty +of the law. That end having been attained, the sentence was commuted +to eighty blows with the bamboo and deportation to northern Manchuria. + +The Chinese woman often, in mature life, wields enormous influence +over the family, males included, and is a kind of private Empress +Dowager. A man knows, says the proverb, but a woman knows better. As a +widow in early life, her lot is not quite so pleasant. It is not +thought desirable for widows to remarry; but if she remains single, +she becomes "a rudderless boat;" round which gathers much calumny. +Many young women brave public opinion, and enter into second nuptials. +If they are bent upon remarrying, runs the saying, they can no more be +prevented than the sky can be prevented from raining. + +The days of "golden lilies," as the artificially small feet of Chinese +women are called, are generally believed to date from the tenth +century A.D., though some writers have endeavoured to place the custom +many centuries earlier. It must always be carefully remembered that +Manchu women--the women of the dynasty which has ruled since 1644--do +not compress their feet. Consequently, the empresses of modern times +have feet of the natural size; neither is the practice in force among +the Hakkas, a race said to have migrated from the north of China to +the south in the thirteenth century; nor among the hill tribes; nor +among the boating population of Canton and elsewhere. Small feet are +thus in no way associated with aristocracy or gentleness of birth; +neither is there any foundation for the generally received opinion +that the Chinese lame their women in this way to keep them from +gadding about. Small-footed women may be seen carrying quite heavy +burdens, and even working in the fields; not to mention that many are +employed as nurses for small children. Another explanation is that +women with bound feet bear finer children and stronger; but the real +reason lies in another direction, quite beyond the scope of this book. +The question of charm may be taken into consideration, for any +Chinaman will bear witness to the seductive effect of a gaily-dressed +girl picking her way on tiny feet some three inches in length, her +swaying movements and delightful appearance of instability conveying a +general sense of delicate grace quite beyond expression in words. + +The lady of the tenth century, to whom the origin of small feet is +ascribed, wished to make her own feet like two new moons; but whether +she actually bound them, as at the present day, is purely a matter of +conjecture. The modern style of binding inflicts great pain for a long +time upon the little girls who have to endure it. They become very shy +on the subject, and will on no account show their bare feet, though +Manchu women and others with full-sized feet frequently walk about +unshod, and the boat-girls at Canton and elsewhere never seem to wear +shoes or stockings at all. + +The "pigtail," or long plait of hair worn by all Chinamen, for the +abolition of which many advanced reformers are now earnestly pleading, +is an institution of comparatively modern date. It was imposed by the +victorious Manchu-Tartars when they finally established their dynasty +in 1644, not so much as a badge of conquest, still less of servitude, +but as a means of obliterating, so far as possible, the most patent +distinction between the two races, and of unifying the appearance, if +not the aspirations, of the subjects of the Son of Heaven. This +obligation was for some time strenuously resisted by the natives of +Amoy, Swatow, and elsewhere in that neighbourhood. At length, when +compelled to yield, it is said that they sullenly wound their queues +round their heads and covered them with turbans, which are still worn +by natives of those parts. + +The peculiar custom of shaving the head in front, and allowing the +hair to grow long behind, is said to have been adopted by the Manchus +out of affectionate gratitude to the horse, an animal which has played +an all-important part in the history and achievements of the race. +This view is greatly reinforced by the cut of the modern official +sleeves, which hang down, concealing the hands, and are shaped exactly +like a pair of horse's hoofs. + +In many respects the Manchu conquerors left the Chinese to follow +their own customs. No attempt was made to coerce Chinese women, who +dress their hair in styles totally different from that of the Manchu +women; there are, too, some tolerated differences between the dress of +the Manchu and Chinese men, but these are such as readily escape +notice. Neither was any attempt made in the opening years of the +conquest to interfere with foot-binding by Chinese women; but in 1664 +an edict was issued forbidding the practice. Readers may draw their +own conclusions, when it is added that four years after the edict was +withdrawn. Hopes are now widely and earnestly entertained that with +the dawn of the new era, this cruel custom will become a thing of the +past; it is, however, to be feared that those who have been urging on +this desirable reform may be, like all reformers, a little too +sanguine of immediate success, and that a comparatively long period +will have to go by before the last traces of foot-binding disappear +altogether. Meanwhile, it seems that the Government has taken the +important step of refusing admission to the public schools of all +girls whose feet are bound. + +The disappearance of the queue is another thing altogether. It is not +a native Chinese institution; there would be no violation of any +cherished tradition of antiquity if it were once and for ever +discarded. On the contrary, if the Chinese do not intend to follow the +Japanese and take to foreign clothes, there might be a return to the +old style of doing the hair. The former dress of the Japanese was one +of the numerous items borrowed by them from China; it was indeed the +national dress of the Chinese for some three hundred years, between +A.D. 600-900. One little difficulty will vanish with the queue. A +Chinese coolie will tie his tail round his head when engaged on work +in which he requires to keep it out of the way, and the habit has +become of real importance with the use of modern machinery; but on the +arrival of his master, he should at once drop it, out of respect, a +piece of politeness not always exhibited in the presence of a foreign +employer. The agitation, now in progress, for the final abolition of +the queue may be due to one or all of the following reasons. +Intelligent Chinese may have come to realize that the fashion is +cumbrous and out of date. Sensitive Chinese may fear that it makes +them ridiculous in the eyes of foreigners. Political Chinese, who +would gladly see the re-establishment of a native dynasty, may look to +its disappearance as the first step towards throwing off the Manchu +yoke. + +On the whole, the ruling Manchus have shown themselves very careful +not to wound the susceptibilities of their Chinese subjects. Besides +allowing the women to retain their own costume, and the dead, men and +women alike, to be buried in the costume of the previous dynasty, it +was agreed from the very first that no Chinese concubines should be +taken into the Palace. This last condition seems to be a concession +pure and simple to the conquered; there is little doubt, however, that +the wily Manchus were only too ready to exclude a very dangerous +possibility of political intrigue. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +LITERATURE AND EDUCATION + +The Chinese people reverence above all things literature and learning; +they hate war, bearing in mind the saying of Mencius, "There is no +such thing as a /righteous/ war; we can only assert that some wars are +better than others;" and they love trade and the finesse of the +market-place. China can boast many great soldiers, in modern as well +as in ancient days; but anything like a proper appreciation of the +military arm is of quite recent growth. "Good iron is not used for +nails, nor good men for soldiers," says the proverb; and again, "One +stroke of the civilian's pen reduces the military official to abject +submission." On the other hand, it is admitted that "Civilians give +the empire peace, and soldiers give it security." + +Chinese parents have never, until recent days, willingly trained their +sons for the army. They have always wished their boys to follow the +stereotyped literary curriculum, and then, after passing successfully +through the great competitive examinations, to rise to high civil +office in the state. A good deal of ridicule has been heaped of late +on the Chinese competitive examination, the subjects of which were +drawn exclusively from the Confucian Canon, and included a knowledge +of ancient history, of a comprehensive scheme of morality, initiated +by Confucius, and further elaborated by Mencius (372-289 B.C.), of the +ballads and ceremonial rites of three thousand years ago, and of an +aptitude for essay-writing and the composition of verse. The whole +curriculum may be fitly compared with such an education as was given +to William Pitt and others among our own great statesmen, in which an +ability to read the Greek and Roman classics, coupled with an intimate +knowledge of the Peloponnesian War, carried the student about as far +as it was considered necessary for him to go. The Chinese course, too, +has certainly brought to the front in its time a great many eminent +men, who have held their own in diplomacy, if not in warfare, with the +subtlest intellects of the West. + +Their system of competitive examinations has indeed served the Chinese +well. It is the brightest spot in the whole administration, being +absolutely above suspicion, such as attaches to other departments of +the state. Attempts have been made from time to time to gain admission +by improper means to the list of successful candidates, and it would +be absurd to say that not one has ever succeeded; the risk, however, +is too great, for the penalty on detection may be death. + +The ordeal itself is exceedingly severe, as well for the examiners as +for the candidates. At the provincial examinations, held once in every +third year, an Imperial Commissioner, popularly known as the Grand +Examiner, is sent down from Peking. On arrival, his residence is +formally sealed up, and extraordinary precautions are taken to prevent +friends of intending candidates from approaching him in any way. There +is no age limit, and men of quite mature years are to be found +competing against youths hardly out of their teens; indeed, there is +an authenticated case of a man who successfully graduated at the age +of seventy-two. Many compete year after year, until at length they +decide to give it up as a bad job. + +At an early hour on the appointed day the candidates begin to +assemble, and by and by the great gates of the examination hall are +thrown open, and heralds shriek out the names of those who are to +enter. Each one answers in turn as his name is called, and receives +from the attendants a roll of paper marked with the number of the open +cell he is to occupy in one of the long alleys into which the +examination hall is divided. Other writing materials, as well as food, +he carries with him in a basket, which is always carefully searched at +the door, and in which "sleeve" editions of the classics have +sometimes been found. When all have taken their seats, the Grand +Examiner burns incense, and closes the entrance gates, through which +no one will be allowed to pass, either in or out, dead or alive, until +the end of the third day, when the first of the three sessions is at +an end, and the candidates are released for the night. In case of +death, not unusual where ten or twelve thousand persons are cooped up +day and night in a confined space, the corpse is hoisted over the +wall; and this would be done even if it were that of the Grand +Examiner himself, whose place would then be taken by the chief +Assistant Examiner, who is also appointed by the Emperor, and +accompanies the Grand Examiner from Peking. + +The long strain of three bouts of three days each has often been found +sufficient to unhinge the reason, with a variety of distressing +consequences, the least perhaps of which may be seen in a regular +percentage of blank papers handed in. On one occasion, a man handed in +a copy of his last will and testament; on another, not very long ago, +the mental balance of the Grand Examiner gave way, and a painful scene +ensued. He tore up a number of the papers already handed in, and bit +and kicked every one who came near him, until he was finally secured +and bound hand and foot in his chair. A candidate once presented +himself dressed in woman's clothes, with his face highly rouged and +powdered, as is the custom. He was arrested at the entrance gate, and +quietly sent home to his friends. + +Overwork, in the feverish desire to get into the Government service, +is certainly responsible for the mental break-down of a large +proportion of the comparatively few lunatics found in China. There +being no lunatic asylums in the empire, it is difficult to form +anything like an exact estimate of their number; it can only be said, +what is equally true of cripples or deformed persons, that it is very +rare to meet them in the streets or even to hear of their existence. + +As a further measure of precaution against corrupt practices at +examinations, the papers handed in by the candidates are all copied +out in red ink, and only these copies are submitted to the examiners. +The difficulty therefore of obtaining favourable treatment, on the +score of either bribery or friendship, is very much increased. The +Chinese, who make no attempt to conceal or excuse, in fact rather +exaggerate any corruption in their public service generally, do not +hesitate to declare with striking unanimity that the conduct of their +examination system is above suspicion, and there appears to be no +valid reason why we should not accept this conclusion. + +The whole system is now undergoing certain modifications, which, if +wisely introduced, should serve only to strengthen the national +character. The Confucian teachings, which are of the very highest +order of morality, and which have moulded the Chinese people for so +many centuries, helping perhaps to give them a cohesion and stability +remarkable among the nations of the world, should not be lightly cast +aside. A scientific training, enabling us to annihilate time and +space, to extend indefinitely the uses and advantages of matter in all +its forms, and to mitigate the burden of suffering which is laid upon +the greater portion of the human race, still requires to be +effectively supplemented by a moral training, to teach man his duty +towards his neighbour. From the point of view of science, the Chinese +are, of course, wholly out of date, though it is only within the past +hundred and fifty years that the West has so decisively outstripped +the East. If we go back to the fifteenth century, we shall find that +the standard of civilization, as the term is usually understood, was +still much higher in China than in Europe; while Marco Polo, the +famous Venetian traveller of the thirteenth century, who actually +lived twenty-four years in China, and served as an official under +Kublai Khan, has left it on record that the magnificence of Chinese +cities, and the splendour of the Chinese court, outrivalled anything +he had ever seen or heard of. + +Pushing farther back into antiquity, we easily reach a time when the +inhabitants of the Middle Kingdom "held learning in high esteem, while +our own painted forefathers were running naked and houseless in the +woods, and living on berries and raw meat." In inventive, mechanical +and engineering aptitudes the Chinese have always excelled; as witness +--only to mention a few--the art of printing (/see below/); their +water-wheels and other clever appliances for irrigation; their +wonderful bridges (not to mention the Great Wall); the "taxicab," or +carriage fitted with a machine for recording the distance traversed, +the earliest notice of which takes us back to the fourth century A.D.; +the system of fingerprints for personal identification, recorded in +the seventh century A.D.; the carved ivory balls which contain even so +many as nine or ten other balls, of diminishing size, one within +another; a chariot carrying a figure which always pointed south, +recorded as in existence at a very early date, though unfortunately +the specifications which have came down to us from later dates will +not work out, as in the case of the "taxicab." The story goes that +this chariot was invented about 1100 B.C., by a wonderful hero of the +day, in order to enable an ambassador, who had come to the court of +China from a far distant country in the south, to find his way +expeditiously home. The compass proper the Chinese cannot claim; it +was probably introduced into China by the Arabs at a comparatively +late date, and has been confused with the south-pointing chariot of +earlier ages. As to gunpowder, something of that nature appears to +have been used for fireworks in the seventh century; and something of +the nature of a gun is first heard of during the Mongol campaigns of +the thirteenth century; but firearms were not systematically employed +until the fifteenth century. Add to the above the art of casting +bronze, brought to a high pitch of excellence seven or eight centuries +before the Christian era, if not earlier; the production of silk, +mentioned by Mencius (372-289 B.C.) as necessary for the comfort of +old age; the cultivation of the tea-plant from time immemorial; also +the discovery and manufacture of porcelain some sixteen centuries ago, +subsequently brought to a perfection which leaves all European +attempts hopelessly out-classed. + +In many instances the Chinese seem to have been so near and yet so +far. There is a distinct tradition of flying cars at a very remote +date; and rough woodcuts have been handed down for many centuries, +showing a car containing two passengers, flying through the clouds and +apparently propelled by wheels of a screw pattern, set at right angles +to the direction in which the travellers are proceeding. But there is +not a scrap of evidence to show what was the motive power which turned +the wheels. Similarly, iron ships are mentioned in Chinese literature +so far back as the tenth century, only, however, to be ridiculed as an +impossibility; the circulation of the blood is hinted at; added to +which is the marvellous anticipation of anaesthetics as applied to +surgery, to be mentioned later on, an idea which also remained barren +of results for something like sixteen centuries, until Western science +stepped in and secured the prize. Here it may be fairly argued that, +considering the national repugnance to mutilation of the body in any +form, it could hardly be expected that the Chinese would seek to +facilitate a process to which they so strongly object. + +In the domain of painting, we are only just beginning to awake to the +fact that in this direction the Chinese have reached heights denied to +all save artists of supreme power, and that their art was already on a +lofty level many centuries before our own great representatives had +begun to put brush to canvas. Without going so far back as the famous +picture in the British Museum, by an artist of the fourth and fifth +centuries A.D., the point may perhaps be emphasized by quotation from +the words of a leading art-critic, referring to painters of the tenth +and eleventh centuries:--"To the Sung artists and poets, mountains +were a passion, as to Wordsworth. The landscape art thus founded, and +continued by the Japanese in the fifteenth century, must rank as the +greatest school of landscape which the world has seen. It is the +imaginative picturing of what is most elemental and most august in +Nature--liberating visions of storm or peace among abrupt peaks, +plunging torrents, trembling reed-beds--and though having a fantastic +side for its weakness, can never have the reproach of pretty tameness +and mere fidelity which form too often the only ideal of Western +landscape." + +Great Chinese artists unite in dismissing fidelity to outline as of +little importance compared with reproduction of the spirit of the +object painted. To paint a tree successfully, it is necessary to +produce not merely shape and colour but the vitality and "soul" of the +original. Until with the last two or three centuries, nature itself +was always appealed to as the one source of true inspiration; then +came the artist of the studio, since which time Chinese art has +languished, while Japanese art, learned at the feet of Chinese artists +from the fourteenth century onwards, has come into prominent notice, +and is now, with extraordinary versatility, attempting to assimilate +the ideals of the West. + +The following words were written by a Chinese painter of the fifth +century:-- + +"To gaze upon the clouds of autumn, a soaring exaltation in the soul; +to feel the spring breeze stirring wild exultant thoughts;--what is +there in the possession of gold and gems to compare with delights like +these? And then, to unroll the portfolio and spread the silk, and to +transfer to it the glories of flood and fell, the green forest, the +blowing winds, the white water of the rushing cascade, as with a turn +of the hand a divine influence descends upon the scene. . . . These +are the joys of painting." + +Just as in poetry, so in pictorial art, the artist avoids giving full +expression to his theme, and leaving nothing for the spectator to +supply by his own imaginative powers. "Suggestion" is the key-note to +both the above arts; and in both, "Impressionism" has been also at the +command of the gifted, centuries before the term had passed into the +English language. + +Literature and art are indeed very closely associated in China. Every +literary man is supposed to be more or less a painter, or a musician +of sorts; failing personal skill, it would go without saying that he +was a critic, or at the lowest a lover, of one or the other art, or of +both. All Chinese men, women and children seem to love flowers; and +the poetry which has gathered around the blossoms of plum and almond +alone would form a not inconsiderable library of itself. Yet a +European bouquet would appear to a man of culture as little short of a +monstrosity; for to enjoy flowers, a Chinaman must see only a single +spray at a time. The poorly paid clerk will bring with him to his +office in the morning some trifling bud, which he will stick into a +tiny vase of water, and place beside him on his desk. The owner of +what may be a whole gallery of pictures will invite you to tea, +followed by an inspection of his treasures; but on the same afternoon +he will only produce perhaps a single specimen, and scout the idea +that any one could call for more. If a long landscape, it will be +gradually unwound from its roller, and a portion at a time will be +submitted for the enjoyment and criticism of his visitors; if a +religious or historical picture, or a picture of birds or flowers, of +which the whole effort must be viewed in its completeness, it will be +studied in various senses, during the intervals between a chat and a +cup of tea. Such concentration is absolutely essential, in the eyes of +the Chinese critic, to a true interpretation of the artist's meaning, +and to a just appreciation of his success. + +The marvellous old stories of grapes painted by Zeuxis of ancient +Greece, so naturally that birds came to peck at them; and of the +curtain painted by Parrhasius which Zeuxis himself tried to pull +aside; and of the horse by Apelles at which another horse neighed--all +these find their counterparts in the literature of Chinese art. One +painter, in quite early days, painted a perch and hung it over a river +bank, when there was immediately a rush of otters to secure it. +Another painted the creases on cotton clothes so exactly that the +clothes looked as if they had just come from the wash. Another +produced pictures of cats which would keep a place free from rats. All +these efforts were capped by those of another artist, whose picture of +the North Wind made people feel cold, while his picture of the South +Wind made people feel hot. Such exaggerations are not altogether +without their value; they suggest that Chinese art must have reached a +high level, and this has recently been shown to be nothing more than +the truth, by the splendid exhibition of Chinese pictures recently on +view in the British Museum. + +The literary activities of the Chinese, and their output of +literature, have always been on a colossal scale; and of course it is +entirely due to the early invention of printing that, although a very +large number of works have disappeared, still an enormous bulk has +survived the ravages of war, rebellion and fire. + +This art was rather developed than invented. There is no date, within +a margin even of half a century either way, at which we can say that +printing was invented. The germ is perhaps to be found in the +engraving of seals, which have been used by the Chinese as far back as +we can go with anything like historical certainty, and also of stone +tablets from which rubbings were taken, the most important of these +being the forty-six tablets on which five of the sacred books of +Confucianism were engraved about A.D. 170, and of which portions still +remain. However this may be, it was during the sixth century A.D. that +the idea of taking impressions on paper from wooden blocks seems to +have arisen, chiefly in connexion with religious pictures and tracts. +It was not widely applied to the production of books in general until +A.D. 932, when the Confucian Canon was so printed for the first time; +from which point onwards the extension of the art moved with rapid +strides. + +It is very noticeable that the Chinese, who are extraordinarily averse +to novelties, and can hardly be induced to consider any innovations, +when once convinced of their real utility, waste no further time in +securing to themselves all the advantages which may accrue. This was +forcibly illustrated in regard to the introduction of the telegraph, +against which the Chinese had set their faces, partly because of the +disturbance of geomantic influences caused by the tall telegraph +poles, and partly because they sincerely doubted that the wires could +achieve the results claimed. But when it was discovered that some wily +Cantonese had learnt over the telegraph the names of the three highest +graduates at the Peking triennial examination, weeks before the names +could be known in Canton by the usual route, and had enriched himself +by buying up the tickets bearing those names in the great lotteries +which are always held in connexion with this event, Chinese opposition +went down like a house of cards; and the only question with many of +the literati was whether, at some remote date, the Chinese had not +invented telegraphy themselves. + +Moveable types of baked clay were invented about A.D. 1043, and some +centuries later they were made of wood and of copper or lead; but they +have never gained the favour accorded to block-printing, by which most +of the great literary works have been produced. The newspapers of +modern days are all printed from moveable types, and also many +translations of foreign books, prepared to meet the increasing demand +for Western learning. The Chinese have always been a great reading +people, systematic education culminating in competitive examinations +for students going back to the second century A.D. This is perhaps a +suitable place for explaining that the famous /Peking Gazette/, often +said to be the oldest newspaper in the world, is not really a +newspaper at all, in that it contains no news in our sense of the +term. It is a record only of court movements, list of promoted +officials, with a few selected memorials and edicts. It is published +daily, but was not printed until the fifteenth century. + +Every Chinese boy may be said to have his chance. The slightest sign +of a capacity for book-learning is watched for, even among the +poorest. Besides the opportunity of free schools, a clever boy will +soon find a patron; and in many cases, the funds for carrying on a +curriculum, and for entering the first of the great competitions, will +be subscribed in the district, on which the candidate will confer a +lasting honour by his success. A promising young graduate, who has won +his first degree with honours, is at once an object of importance to +wealthy fathers who desire to secure him as a son-in-law, and who will +see that money is not wanting to carry him triumphantly up the +official ladder. Boys without any gifts of the kind required, remain +to fill the humbler positions; those who advance to a certain point +are drafted into trade; while hosts of others who just fall short of +the highest, become tutors in private families, schoolmasters, +doctors, fortune-tellers, geomancers, and booksellers' hacks. + +Of high-class Chinese literature, it is not possible to give even the +faintest idea in the space at disposal. It must suffice to say that +all branches are adequately represented, histories, biographies, +philosophy, poetry and essays on all manner of subjects, offering a +wide field even to the most insatiate reader. + +And here a remark may be interjected, which is very necessary for the +information of those who wish to form a true estimate of the Chinese +people. Throughout the Confucian Canon, a collection of ancient works +on which the moral code of the Chinese is based, there is not a single +word which could give offence, even to the most sensitive, on +questions of delicacy and decency. That is surely saying a good deal, +but it is not all; precisely the same may be affirmed of what is +mentioned above as high-class Chinese literature, which is pure enough +to satisfy the most strait-laced. Chinese poetry, of which there is in +existence a huge mass, will be searched in vain for suggestions of +impropriety, for sly innuendo, and for the other tricks of the +unclean. This extraordinary purity of language is all the more +remarkable from the fact that, until recent years, the education of +women has not been at all general, though many particular instances +are recorded of women who have themselves achieved success in literary +pursuits. It is only when we come to the novel, to the short story, or +to the anecdote, which are not usually written in high-class style, +and are therefore not recognized as literature proper, that this +exalted standard is no longer always maintained. + +There are, indeed, a great number of novels, chiefly historical and +religious, in which the aims of the writers are on a sufficiently high +level to keep them clear of what is popularly known as pornography or +pig-writing; still, when all is said and done, there remains a balance +of writing curiously in contrast with the great bulk of Chinese +literature proper. As to the novel, the long story with a worked-out +plot, this is not really a local product. It seems to have come along +with the Mongols from Central Asia, when they conquered China in the +thirteenth century, and established their short-lived dynasty. Some +novels, in spite of their low moral tone, are exceedingly well written +and clever, graphic in description, and dramatic in episode; but it is +curious that no writer of the first rank has ever attached his name to +a novel, and that the authorship of all the cleverest is a matter of +entire uncertainty. + +The low-class novel is purposely pitched in a style that will be +easily understood; but even so, there is a great deal of word- and +phrase-skipping to be done by many illiterate readers, who are quite +satisfied if they can extract the general sense as they go along. The +book-language, as cultivated by the best writers, is to be freely +understood only by those who have stocked their minds well with the +extensive phraseology which has been gradually created by eminent men +during the past twenty-five centuries, and with historical and +biographical allusions and references of all sorts and things. A word +or two, suggesting some apposite allusion, will often greatly enhance +the beauty of a composition for the connoisseur, but will fall flat on +the ears of those to whom the quotation is unknown. Simple objects in +everyday life often receive quaint names, as handed down in +literature, with which it is necessary to be familiar. For instance, a +"fairy umbrella" means a mushroom; a "gentleman of the beam" is a +burglar, because a burglar was once caught sitting on one of the open +beams inside a Chinese roof; a "slender waist" is a wasp; the "throat +olive" is the "Adam's apple"--which, by the way, is an excellent +illustration from the opposite point of view; "eyebrow notes" means +notes at the top of a page; "cap words" is sometimes used for +"preface;" the "sweeper-away of care" is wine; "golden balls" are +oranges; the "golden tray" is the moon; a "two-haired man" is a grey- +beard; the "hundred holes" is a beehive; "instead of the moon" is a +lantern; "instead of steps" is a horse; "the man with the wooden +skirt" is a shopman; to "scatter sleep" means to give hush-money; and +so on, almost /ad infinitum/. + +Chinese medical literature is on a very voluminous scale, medicine +having always occupied a high place in the estimation of the people, +in spite of the fact that its practice has always been left to any one +who might choose to take it up. Surgery, even of an elementary kind, +has never had a chance; for the Chinese are extremely loath to suffer +any interference with their bodies, believing, in accordance with +Confucian dogma, that as they received them from their parents, so +they should carry them into the presence of their ancestors in the +next world. Medicine, as still practised in China, may be compared +with the European art of a couple of centuries ago, and its +exceedingly doubtful results are fully appreciated by patients at +large. "No medicine," says one proverb, "is better than a middling +doctor;" while another points out that "Many sons of clever doctors +die of disease." + +Legend, however, tells us of an extraordinary physician of the fifth +century B.C. who was able to see into the viscera of his patients--an +apparent anticipation of the X-rays--and who, by his intimate +knowledge of the human pulse, effected many astounding cures. We also +read of an eminent physician of the second and third centuries A.D. +who did add surgery to this other qualifications. He was skilled in +the use of acupuncture and cautery; but if these failed he would +render his patient unconscious by a dose of hashish, and then operate +surgically. He is said to have diagnosed a case of diseased bowels by +the pulse alone, and then to have cured it by operation. He offered to +cure the headaches of a famous military commander of the day by +opening his skull under hashish; but the offer was rudely declined. +This story serves to show, in spite of its marvellous setting, that +the idea of administering an anaesthetic to carry out a surgical +operation must be credited, so far as priority goes, to the Chinese, +since the book in which the above account is given cannot have been +composed later than the twelfth century A.D. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +PHILOSOPHY AND SPORT + +Chinese philosophy covers altogether too large a field to be dealt +with, even in outline, on a scale suitable to this volume; only a few +of its chief features can possibly be exhibited in the space at +disposal. + +Beginning with moral philosophy, we are confronted at once with what +was in early days an extremely vexed question; not perhaps entirely +set at rest even now, but allowed to remain in suspense amid the +universal acceptance of Confucian teachings. Confucius himself taught +in no indistinct terms that man is born good, and that he becomes evil +only by contact with evil surroundings. He does not enlarge upon this +dogma, but states it baldly as a natural law, little anticipating that +within a couple of centuries it was to be called seriously in +question. It remained for his great follower, Mencius, born a hundred +years later, to defend the proposition against all comers, and +especially against one of no mean standing, the philosopher Kao +(/Cow/). Kao declared that righteousness is only to be got out of +man's nature in the same way that good cups and bowls are to be got +out of a block of willow wood, namely, by care in fashioning them. +Improper workmanship would produce bad results; good workmanship, on +the other hand, would produce good results. In plain words, the nature +of man at birth is neither good nor bad; and what it becomes +afterwards depends entirely upon what influences have been brought to +bear and in what surroundings it has come to maturity. Mencius met +this argument by showing that in the process of extracting cups and +bowls from a block of wood, the wood as a block is destroyed, and he +pointed out that, according to such reasoning, man's nature would also +be destroyed in the process of getting righteousness out of it. + +Again, Kao maintained that man's nature has as little concern with +good or evil as water has with east or west; for water will flow +indifferently either one way or the other, according to the conditions +in each case. If there is freedom on the east, it will flow east; if +there is freedom on the west, it will flow west; and so with human +nature, which will move similarly in the direction of either good or +evil. In reply, Mencius freely admitted that water would flow either +east or west; but he asked if it would flow indifferently up or down. +He then declared that the bent of human nature towards good is +precisely like the tendency of water to flow down and not up. You can +force water to jump up, he said, by striking it, and by mechanical +appliances you can make it flow to the top of a hill; but what you do +in such cases is entirely contrary to the nature of water, and is +merely the result of violence, such violence, in fact, as is brought +into play when man's nature is bent towards evil. + +"That which men get at birth," said Kao, "is their nature," implying +that all natures were the same, just as the whiteness of a white +feather is the same as the whiteness of white snow; whereupon Mencius +showed that on this principle the nature of a dog would be the same as +that of a an ox, or the nature of an ox the same as that of a man. +Finally, Mencius declared that for whatever evil men may commit, their +natures can in nowise be blamed. In prosperous times, he argued, men +are mostly good, whereas in times of scarcity the opposite is the +case; these two conditions, however, are not to be charged against the +natures with which God sent them into the world, but against the +circumstances in which the individuals in question have been situated. + +The question, however, of man's original nature was not set +permanently at rest by the arguments of Mencius. A philosopher, named +Hsun Tzu (/Sheundza/), who flourished not very much later than +Mencius, came forward with the theory that so far from being good +according to Confucius, or even neutral according to Kao, the nature +of man at birth is positively evil. He supports this view by the +following arguments. From his earliest years, man is actuated by a +love of gain for his own personal enjoyment. His conduct is +distinguished by selfishness and combativeness. He becomes a slave to +envy, hatred, and other passions. The restraint of law, and the +influence and guidance of teachers, are absolutely necessary to good +government and the well-being of social life. Just as wood must be +subjected to pressure in order to make it straight, and metal must be +subjected to the grindstone in order to make it sharp, so must the +nature of man be subjected to training and education in order to +obtain from it the virtues of justice and self-sacrifice which +characterize the best of the human race. It is impossible to maintain +that man's nature is good in the same sense that his eyes see and his +ears hear; for in the latter there is no alternative. An eye which +does not see, is not an eye; an ear which does not hear, is not an +ear. This proves that whereas seeing and hearing are natural to man, +goodness is artificial and acquired. Just as a potter produces a dish +or a carpenter a bench, working on some material before them, so do +the sages and teachers of mankind produce righteousness by working +upon the nature of man, which they transform in the same way that the +potter transforms the clay or the carpenter the wood. We cannot +believe that God has favourites, and deals unkindly with others. How, +then, is it that some men are evil while others are good? The answer +is, that the former follow their natural disposition, while the latter +submit to restraints and follow the guidance of their teachers. It is +indeed true that any one may become a hero, but all men do not +necessarily become heroes, nor is there any method by which they can +be forced to do so. If a man is endowed with a capacity for +improvement, and is placed in the hands of good teachers, associating +at the same time with friends whose actions display such virtues as +self-sacrifice, truth, kindness, and so forth, he will naturally +imbibe principles which will raise him to the same standard; whereas, +if he consorts with evil livers, he will be a daily witness of deceit, +corruption, and general impurity of conduct, and will gradually lapse +into the same course of life. If you do not know your son, says the +proverb, look at his friends. + +The next step was taken by the philosopher Yang Hsiung (/Sheeyoong/), +53 B.C. to A.D. 18. He started a theory which occupies a middle place +between the last two theories discussed above, teaching that the +nature of man at birth is neither wholly good nor wholly evil, but a +mixture of both, and that development in either direction depends +altogether on environment. A compromise in matters of faith is not +nearly so picturesque as an extreme, and Yang's attempted solution has +attracted but scant attention, though always mentioned with respect. +The same may also be said of another attempt to smooth obvious +difficulties in the way of accepting either of the two extremes or the +middle course proposed by Yang Hsiung. The famous Han Yu, to be +mentioned again shortly, was a pillar and prop of Confucianism. He +flourished between A.D. 768 and 824, and performed such lasting +services in what was to him the cause of truth, that his tablet has +been placed in the Confucian temple, an honour reserved only for those +whose orthodoxy is beyond suspicion. Yet he ventured upon an attempt +to modify this important dogma, taking care all the time to appear as +if he were criticizing Mencius rather than Confucius, on whom, of +course, the real responsibility rests. He declared, solely upon his +own authority, that the nature of man is not uniform but divided into +three grades--namely, highest, middle, and lowest. Thus, natures of +the highest grade are good, wholly good, and nothing but good; natures +of the lowest grade are evil, wholly evil, and nothing but evil; while +natures of the middle grade may, under right direction, rise to the +highest grade, or, under wrong direction, sink to the lowest. + +Another question, much debated in the age of Mencius, arose out of the +rival statements of two almost contemporary philosophers, Mo Ti (/Maw +Tee) and Yang Chu. The former taught a system of mutual and +consequently universal love as a cure for all the ills arising from +misgovernment and want of social harmony. He pointed out, with much +truth, that if the feudal states would leave one another alone, +families cease to quarrel, and thieves cease to steal, while sovereign +and subject lived on terms of benevolence and loyalty, and fathers and +sons on terms of kindness and filial piety--then indeed the empire +would be well governed. But beyond suggesting the influence of +teachers in the prohibition of hatred and the encouragement of mutual +love, our philosopher does little or nothing to aid us in reaching +such a desirable consummation. + +The doctrine of Yang Chu is summed up as "every man for himself," and +is therefore diametrically opposed to that of Mo Ti. A questioner one +day asked him if he would consent to part with a single hair in order +to benefit the whole world. Yang Chu replied that a single hair could +be of no possible benefit to the world; and on being further pressed +to say what he would do if a hair were really of such benefit, it is +stated that he gave no answer. On the strength of this story, Mencius +said: "Yang's principle was, every man for himself. Though by plucking +out a single hair he might have benefited the whole world, he would +not have done so. Mo's system was universal love. If by taking off +every hair from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot he could +have benefited the empire, he would have done so. Neither of these two +doctrines is sound; a middle course is the right one." + +The origin of the visible universe is a question on which Chinese +philosophers have very naturally been led to speculate. Legend +provides us with a weird being named P'an Ku, who came into existence, +no one can quite say how, endowed with perfect knowledge, his function +being to set the gradually developing universe in order. He is often +represented pictorially with a huge adze in his hand, and engaged in +constructing the world out of the matter which has just begun to take +shape. With his death the detailed part of creation appeared. His +breath became the wind; his voice, the thunder; his left eye, the sun; +his right eye, the moon; his blood yielded rivers; his hair grew into +trees and plants; his flesh became the soil; his sweat descended as +rain; and the parasites which infested his body were the forerunners +of the human race. This sort of stuff, however, could only appeal to +the illiterate; for intellectual and educated persons something more +was required. And so it came about that a system, based originally +upon the quite incomprehensible Book of Changes, generally regarded as +the oldest portion of the Confucian Canon, was gradually elaborated +and brought to a finite state during the eleventh and twelfth +centuries of our era. According to this system, there was a time, +almost beyond the reach of expression in figures, when nothing at all +existed. In the period which followed, there came into existence, +spontaneously, a principle, which after another lapse of time resolved +itself into two principles with entirely opposite characteristics. One +of these principles represented light, heat, masculinity, and similar +phenomena classed as positive; the other represented darkness, cold, +femininity, and other phenomena classed as negative. The interaction +of these two principles in duly adjusted proportions produced the five +elements, earth, fire, water, wood, and metal; and with their +assistance all Nature as we see it around us was easily and rapidly +developed. Such is the Confucian theory, at any rate so called, for it +cannot be shown that Confucius ever entertained these notions, and his +alleged connexion with the Canon of Changes is itself of doubtful +authenticity. + +Chuang Tzu (/Chwongdza/), a philosopher of the third and fourth +centuries B.C., who was not only a mystic but also a moralist and a +social reformer, has something to say on the subject: "If there is +existence, there must have been non-existence. And if there was a time +when nothing existed, then there must have been a time before that, +when even nothing did not exist. Then when nothing came into +existence, could one really say whether it belonged to existence or +non-existence?" + +"Nothing" was rather a favourite term with Chuang Tzu for the exercise +of his wit. Light asked Nothing, saying: "Do you, sir, exist, or do +you not exist?" But getting no answer to his question, Light set to +work to watch for the appearance of Nothing. Hidden, vacuous--all day +long he looked but could not see it, listened but could not hear it, +grasped at but could not seize it. "Bravo!" cried Light; "who can +equal this? I can get to be nothing [meaning darkness], but I can't +get to be not nothing." + +Confucius would have nothing to say on the subject of death and a +future state; his theme was consistently this life and its +obligations, and he regarded speculation on the unknown as sheer waste +of time. When one of three friends died and Confucius sent a disciple +to condole with the other two, the disciple found them sitting by the +side of the corpse, merrily singing and playing on the lute. They +professed the then comparatively new faith which taught that life was +a dream and death the awakening. They believed that at death the pure +man "mounts to heaven, and roaming through the clouds, passes beyond +the limits of space, oblivious of existence, for ever and ever without +end." When the shocked disciple reported what he had seen, Confucius +said, "These men travel beyond the rule of life; I travel within it. +Consequently, our paths do not meet; and I was wrong in sending you to +mourn. They look on life as a huge tumour from which death sets them +free. All the same they know not where they were before birth, nor +where they will be after death. They ignore their passions. They take +no account of their ears and eyes. Backwards and forwards through all +eternity, they do not admit a beginning or an end. They stroll beyond +the dust and dirt of mortality, to wander in the realms of inaction. +How should such men trouble themselves with the conventionalities of +this world, or care what people may think of them?" + +Life comes, says Chuang Tzu, and cannot be declined; it goes, and +cannot be stopped. But alas, the world thinks that to nourish the +physical frame is enough to preserve life. Although not enough, it +must still be done; this cannot be neglected. For if one is to neglect +the physical frame, better far to retire at once from the world, since +by renouncing the world one gets rid of the cares of the world. There +is, however, the vitality which informs the physical frame; that must +be equally an object of incessant care. Then he whose physical frame +is perfect and whose vitality remains in its original purity--he is +one with God. Man passes through this sublunary life as a sunbeam +passes through a crack; here one moment, and gone the next. Neither +are there any not equally subject to the ingress and egress of +mortality. One modification brings life; then comes another, and there +is death. Living creatures cry out; human beings feel sorrow. The bow- +case is slipped off; the clothes'-bag is dropped; and in the confusion +the soul wings its flight, and the body follows, on the great journey +home. + +Attention has already been drawn to this necessary cultivation of the +physical frame, and Chuan Tzu gives an instance of the extent to which +it was carried. There was a certain man whose nose was covered with a +very hard scab, which was at the same time no thicker than a fly's +wing. He sent for a stonemason to chip it off; and the latter plied +his adze with great dexterity while the patient sat absolutely rigid, +without moving a muscle, and let him chip. When the scab was all off, +the nose was found to be quite uninjured. Such skill was of course +soon noised abroad, and a feudal prince, who also had a scab on his +nose, sent for the mason to take it off. The mason, however, declined +to try, alleging that the success did not depend so much upon the +skill of the operator as upon the mental control of the patient by +which the physical frame became as it were a perfectly inanimate +object. + +Contemporary with Chuang Tzu, but of a very different school of +thought, was the philosopher Hui Tzu (/Hooeydza/). He was particularly +fond of the quibbles which so delighted the sophists or unsound +reasoners of ancient Greece. Chuang Tzu admits that he was a man of +many ideas, and that his works would fill five carts--this, it must be +remembered, because they were written on slips of wood tied together +by a string run through eyelets. But he adds that Hui Tzu's doctrines +are paradoxical, and his terms used ambiguously. Hui Tzu argued, for +instance, that such abstractions as hardness and whiteness were +separate existences, of which the mind could only be conscious +separately, one at a time. He declared that there are feathers in a +new-laid egg, because they ultimately appear on the chick. He +maintained that fire is not hot; it is the man who feels hot. That the +eye does not see; it is the man who sees. That compasses will not make +a circle; it is the man. That a bay horse and a dun cow are three; +because taken separately they are two, and taken together they are +one: two and one make three. That a motherless colt never had a +mother; when it had a mother, it was not motherless. That if you take +a stick a foot long and every day cut it in half, you will never come +to the end of it. + +Of what use, asked his great rival, is Hui Tzu to the world? His +efforts can only be compared with those of a gadfly or a mosquito. He +makes a noise to drown an echo. He is like a man running a race with +his own shadow. + +When Chuang Tzu was about to die, his disciples expressed a wish to +give him a splendid funeral. But Chuang Tzu said: "With heaven and +earth for my coffin and my shell; with the sun, moon and stars as my +burial regalia; and with all creation to escort me to my grave,--are +not my funeral paraphernalia ready to hand?" "We fear," argued the +disciples, "lest the carrion kite should eat the body of our Master;" +to which Chuang Tzu replied: "Above ground I shall be food for kites; +below ground for mole-crickets and ants. Why rob one to feed the +other?" + +Life in China is not wholly made up of book-learning and commerce. The +earliest Chinese records exhibit the people as following the chase in +the wake of the great nobles, more as a sport than as the serious +business it must have been in still more remote ages; and the first +emperors of the present dynasty were also notable sportsmen, who +organized periodical hunting-tours on a scale of considerable +magnificence. + +Hawking was practised at least so far back as a century before Christ; +for we have a note on a man of that period who "loved to gallop after +wily animals with horse and dog, or follow up with falcon the pheasant +and the hare." The sport may be seen in northern China at the present +day. A hare is put up, and a couple of native greyhounds are +dispatched after it; these animals, however, would soon be distanced +by the hare, which can run straight away from them without doubling, +but for the sudden descent of the falcon, and a blow from its claw, +often stunning the hare at the first attempt, and enabling the dogs to +come up. + +Sportsmen who have to make their living by the business frequently +descend to methods which are sometimes very ingenious, and more +remunerative than the gun, but can hardly be classified as sport. +Thus, a man in search of wild duck will mark down a flock settled on +some shallow sheet of water. He will then put a crate over his head +and shoulders, and gradually approach the flock as though the crate +were drifting on the surface. Once among them, he puts out a hand +under water, seizes hold of a duck's legs, and rapidly pulls the bird +down. The sudden disappearance of a colleague does not seem to trouble +its companions, and in a short time a very considerable bag has been +obtained. Tradition says that Confucius was fond of sport, but would +never let fly at birds sitting; which, considering that his weapon was +a bow-and-arrow, must be set down as a marvel of self-restraint. + +Scores of Chinese poets have dwelt upon the joys of angling, and +fishing is widely carried on over the inland waters; but the rod, +except as a matter of pure sport, has given place to the businesslike +net. The account of the use of fishing cormorants was formerly +regarded as a traveller's tale. It is quite true, however, that small +rafts carrying several of these birds, with a fisherman gently +sculling at the stern, may be seen on the rivers of southern China. +The cormorant seizes a passing fish, and the fisherman takes the fish +from its beak. The bird is trained with a ring round its neck, which +prevents it from swallowing the prey; while for each capture it is +rewarded with a small piece of fish. Well-trained cormorants can be +trusted to fish without the restraint of the ring. Confucius, again, +is said to have been fond of fishing, but he would not use a net; and +there was another sage of antiquity who would not even use a hook, but +fished with a straight piece of iron, apparently thinking that the +advantage would be an unfair one as against the resources of the fish; +and declaring openly that he would only take such fish as wished to be +caught. By such simple narratives do the Chinese strive to convey +great truths to childish ears. + +Many sports were once common in China which have long since passed out +of the national life, and exist only in the record of books. Among +these may be mentioned "butting," a very ancient pastime, mentioned in +history two centuries before the Christian era. The sport consisted in +putting an ox-skin, horns and all, over the head, and then trying to +knock one's adversary out of time by butting at him after the fashion +of bulls, the result being, as the history of a thousand years later +tells us, "smashed heads, broken arms, and blood running in the Palace +yard." + +The art of boxing, which included wrestling, had been practised by the +Chinese several centuries before butting was introduced. Its most +accomplished exponents were subsequently found among the priests of a +Buddhist monastery, built about A.D. 500; and it was undoubtedly from +their successors that the Japanese acquired a knowledge of the modern +/jiu-jitsu/, which is simply the equivalent of the old Chinese term +meaning "gentle art." A few words from a chapter on "boxing" in a +military work of the sixteenth century will give some idea of the +scope of the Chinese sport. + +"The body must be quick to move, the hands quick to take advantage, +and the legs lightly planted but firm, so as to advance or retire with +effect. In the flying leap of the leg lies the skill of the art; in +turning the adversary upside down lies its ferocity; in planting a +straight blow with the fist lies its rapidity; and in deftly holding +the adversary face upwards lies its gentleness." + +Football was played in China at a very early date; originally, with a +ball stuffed full of hair; from the fifth century A.D., with an +inflated bladder covered with leather. A picture of the goal, which is +something like a triumphal arch, has come down to us, and also the +technical names and positions of the players; even more than seventy +kinds of kicks are enumerated, but the actual rules of the game are +not known. It is recorded by one writer that "the winners were +rewarded with flowers, fruit and wine, and even with silver bowls and +brocades, while the captain of the losing team was flogged, and +suffered other indignities." The game, which had disappeared for some +centuries, is now being revived in Chinese schools and colleges under +the control of foreigners, and finds great favour with the rising +generation. + +Polo is first mentioned in Chinese literature under the year A.D. 710, +the reference being to a game played before the Emperor and his court. +The game was very much in vogue for a long period, and even women were +taught to play--on donkey-back. The Kitan Tartars were the most +skilful players; it is doubtful if the game originated with them, or +if it was introduced from Persia, with which country China had +relations at a very early date. A statesman of the tenth century, +disgusted at the way in which the Emperor played polo to excess, +presented a long memorial, urging his Majesty to discontinue the +practice. The reasons given for this advice were three in number. "(1) +When sovereign and subject play together, there must be contention. If +the sovereign wins, the subject is ashamed; if the former loses, the +latter exults. (2) To jump on a horse and swing a mallet, galloping +here and there, with no distinctions of rank, but only eager to be +first and win, is destructive of all ceremony between sovereign and +subject. (3) To make light of the responsibilities of empire, and run +even the remotest risk of an accident, is to disregard obligations to +the state and to her Imperial Majesty the Empress." + +It has always been recognized that the chief duty of a statesman is to +advise his master without fear or favour, and to protest loudly and +openly against any course which is likely to be disadvantageous to the +commonwealth, or to bring discredit on the court. It has also been +always understood that such protests are made entirely at the risk of +the statesman in question, who must be prepared to pay with his head +for counsels which may be stigmatized as unpatriotic, though in +reality they may be nothing more than unpalatable at the moment. + +In the year A.D. 814 the Emperor, who had become a devout Buddhist, +made arrangements for receiving with extravagant honours a bone of +Buddha, which had been forwarded from India to be preserved as a +relic. This was too much for Han Yu (already mentioned), the leading +statesman of the day, who was a man of the people, raised by his own +genius, and who, to make things worse, had already been banished +eleven years previously for presenting an offensive Memorial on the +subject of tax-collection, for which he had been forgiven and +recalled. He promptly sent in a respectful but bitter denunciation of +Buddha and all his works, and entreated his Majesty not to stain the +Confucian purity of thought by tolerating such a degrading exhibition +as that proposed. But for the intercession of friends, the answer to +this bold memorial would have been death; as it was he was banished to +the neighbourhood of the modern Swatow, then a wild and barbarous +region, hardly incorporated into the Empire. There he set himself to +civilize the rude inhabitants, until soon recalled and once more +reinstated in office; and to this day there is a shrine dedicated to +his memory, containing the following inscription: "Wherever he passed, +he purified." + +Another great statesman, who flourished over two hundred years later, +and also several times suffered banishment, in an inscription to the +honour and glory of his predecessor, put down the following words: +"Truth began to be obscured and literature to fade; supernatural +religions sprang up on all sides, and many eminent scholars failed to +oppose their advance, until Han Yu, the cotton-clothed, arose and +blasted them with his derisive sneer." + +Since the fourteenth century there has existed a definite +organization, known as the Censorate, the members of which, who are +called the "ears and eyes" of the sovereign, make it their business to +report adversely upon any course adopted by the Government in the name +of the Emperor, or by any individual statesman, which seems to call +for disapproval. The reproving Censor is nominally entitled to +complete immunity from punishment; but in practice he knows that he +cannot count too much upon either justice or mercy. If he concludes +that his words will be unforgivable, he hands in his memorial, and +draws public attention forthwith by committing suicide on the spot. + +To be allowed to commit suicide, and not to suffer the indignity of a +public execution, is a privilege sometimes extended to a high official +whose life has become forfeit under circumstances which do not call +for special degradation. A silken cord is forwarded from the Emperor +to the official in question, who at once puts an end to his life, +though not necessarily by strangulation. He may take poison, as is +usually the case, and this is called "swallowing gold." For a long +time it was believed that Chinese high officials really did swallow +gold, which in view of its non-poisonous character gave rise to an +idea that gold-leaf was employed, the leaf being inhaled and so +causing suffocation. Some simple folk, Chinese as well as foreigners, +believe this now, although native authorities have pointed out that +workmen employed in the extraction of gold often steal pieces and +swallow them, without any serious consequences whatever. Another +explanation, which has also the advantage of being the true one, is +that "swallowing gold" is one of the roundabout phrases in which the +Chinese delight to express painful or repulsive subjects. No emperor +ever "dies," he becomes "a guest on high." No son will say that his +parents are "dead;" but merely that "they are not." The death of an +official is expressed by "he is drawing no salary;" of an ordinary man +it may be said that "he has become an ancient," very much in the same +way that we say "he has joined the majority." A corpse in a coffin is +in its "long home;" when buried, it is in "the city of old age," or on +"the terrace of night." To say grossly, then, that a man took poison +would be an offence to ears polite. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +RECREATION + +To return, after a long digression. The age of manly sport, as above +described, has long passed away; and the only hope is for a revival +under the changing conditions of modern China. Some few athletic +exercises have survived; and until recently, archery, in which the +Tartars have always excelled, was regarded almost as a semi-divine +accomplishment. Kite-flying has reached a high level of skill. Clever +little "messengers" have been devised, which run up the string, +carrying fire-crackers which explode at a great height. There is a +game of shuttlecock, without the battledore, for which the feet are +used as a substitute; and "diavolo," recently introduced into Europe, +is an ancient Chinese pastime. A few Manchus, too, may be seen skating +during the long northern winter, but the modern inhabitant of the +Flowery Land, be he Manchu or Chinese, much prefers an indoor game to +anything else, especially when, as is universally the case, a stake of +money is involved. + +Gambling is indeed a very marked feature of Chinese life. A child +buying a cake will often go double or quits with the stall-keeper, to +see if he is to have two cakes or nothing, the question being settled +by a throw of dice in a bowl. Of the interval allowed for meals, a +gang of coolies will devote a portion to a game of cards. The cards +used are smaller than the European pack, and of course differently +marked; they were the invention of a lady of the Palace in the tenth +century, who substituted imitation leaves of gilt paper for real +leaves, which had previously been adopted for playing some kind of +game. There are also various games played with chequers, some of great +antiquity; and there is chess, that is to say, a game so little +differing from our chess as to leave no doubt as to the common origin +of both. In all of these the money element comes in; and it is not too +much to say that more homes are broken up, and more misery caused by +this truly national vice than can be attributed to any other cause. + +For pleasure pure and simple, independent of gains and losses, the +theatre occupies the warmest place in every Chinaman's heart. If +gambling is a national vice in China, the drama must be set off as the +national recreation. Life would be unthinkable to the vast majority if +its monotony were not broken by the periodical performance of stage- +plays. It is from this source that a certain familiarity with the +great historical episodes of the past may be pleasantly picked up over +a pipe and a cup of tea; while the farce, occasionally perhaps erring +on the side of breadth, affords plenty of merriment to the laughter- +loving crowd. + +Ability to make Chinamen laugh is a great asset; and a foreigner who +carries this about with him will find it stand him in much better +stead than a revolver. When, many years ago, a vessel was wrecked on +the coast of Formosa, the crew and passengers were at once seized, and +confined for some time in a building, where traces of their +inscriptions could be seen up to quite a recent date. At length, they +were all taken out for execution; but before the ghastly order was +carried out, one of the number so amused everybody by cutting capers +and turning head over heels, that the presiding mandarin said he was a +funny fellow, and positively allowed him to escape. + +With regard to the farce itself, it is not so much the actual wit of +the dialogue which carries away the audience as the refined skill of +the actor, who has to pass through many trials before he is considered +to be fit for the stage. Beginning as quite a boy, in addition to +committing to memory a large number of plays--not merely his own part, +but the whole play--he has to undergo a severe physical training, part +of which consists in standing for an hour every day with his mouth +wide open, to inhale the morning air. He is taught to sing, to walk, +to strut, and to perform a variety of gymnastic exercises, such as +standing on his head, or turning somersaults. His first classification +is as male or female actor, no women having been allowed to perform +since the days of the Emperor Ch'ien Lung (A.D. 1736-1796), whose +mother was an actress, just as in Shakespeare's time the parts for +women were always taken by young men or boys. When once this is +settled, it only remains to enrol him as tragedian, comedian, low- +comedy actor, walking gentleman or lady, and similar parts, according +to his capabilities. + +It is not too much to say that women are very little missed on the +Chinese stage. The make-up of the actor is so perfect, and his +imitation of the feminine voice and manner, down to the smallest +detail, even to the small feet, is so exact in every point, that he +would be a clever observer who could positively detect impersonation +by a man. + +Generally speaking, a Chinese actor has many more difficulties to face +than his colleague in the West. In addition to the expression of all +shades of feeling, from mirth to melancholy, the former has to keep up +a perpetual make-believe in another sense, which is further great +strain upon his nerves. There being no scenery, no furniture, and no +appointments of any except the slenderest kind upon the stage, he has +to create in the minds of his audience a belief that all these missing +accessories are nevertheless before their eyes. A general comes upon +the scene, with a whip in his hand, and a studied movement not only +suggests that he is dismounting from a horse, but outlines the animal +itself. In the same manner, he remounts and rides off again; while +some other actor speaks from the top of a small table, which is +forthwith transfigured, and becomes to all intents and purposes a +castle. + +Many of those who might be apt to smile at the simple Chinese mind +which can tolerate such absurdities in the way of make-believe, +require to be reminded that the stage in the days of Queen Elizabeth +was worked on very much the same lines. Sir Philip Sidney tells us +that the scene of an imagined garden with imagined flowers had to do +duty at one time for an imagined shipwreck, and at another for an +imagined battlefield, the spectator in the latter case being helped +out by two opposing soldiers armed with swords and bucklers. Even +Shakespeare, in the Prologue to his play of /Henry V/, speaks of +imagining one man to be an army of a thousand, and says:-- + + Think, when we talk of horses that you see them + Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth; + For 'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings. + +Here, then, is good authority for the quaint system that still +prevails in China. + +Hundreds of Chinese pilgrims annually went their weary way to the top +of Mount Omi in the province of Ssuch'uan, and gaze downward from a +sheer and lofty precipice to view a huge circular belt of light, which +is called the Glory of Buddha. Some see it, some do not; the Chinese +say that the whole thing is a question of faith. In a somewhat similar +sense, the dramatic enthusiast sees before him such beings of the mind +as the genuine actor is able to call up. The Philistine cannot reach +this pitch; but he is sharp enough to see other things which to the +eye of the sympathetic spectator are absolutely non-existent. Some of +the latter will be enumerated below. + +The Chinese stage has no curtain; and the orchestra is on the stage +itself, behind the actors. There is no prompter and no call-boy. Stage +footmen wait at the sides to carry in screens, small tables, and an +odd chair or two, to represent houses, city walls, and so on, or hand +cups of tea to the actors when their throats become dry from +vociferous singing, which is always in falsetto. All this in the face +of the audience. Dead people get up and walk off the stage; or while +lying dead, contrive to alter their facial expression, and then get up +and carry themselves off. There is no interval between one play and +the next following, which probably gives rise to the erroneous belief +that Chinese plays are long, the fact being that they are very short. +According to the Penal Code, there may be no impersonation of emperors +and empresses of past ages, but this clause is now held to refer +solely to the present dynasty. + +For the man in the street and his children, there are to be seen +everywhere in China where a sufficient number of people gather +together, Punch-and-Judy shows of quite a high class in point of skill +and general attractiveness. These shows are variously traced back to +the eighth and second centuries B.C., and to the seventh century A.D., +even the latest of which periods would considerably antedate the +appearance of performing marionettes in this country or on the +Continent. Associated with the second century B.C., the story runs +that the Emperor of the day was closely besieged by a terrible Hun +chieftain, who was accompanied by his wife. It occurred to one of his +Majesty's staff to exhibit on the walls of the town, in full view of +the enemy, a number of manikins, dressed up to a deceptive resemblance +to beautiful girls. The wife of the Hun chieftain then persuaded her +husband to draw off his forces, and the Emperor escaped. + +By the Chinese marionettes, little plays on familiar subjects are +performed; many are of a more serious turn than the loves of Mr. +Punch, while others again are of the knock-about style so dear to the +ordinary boy and girl. Besides such entertainments as these, the +streets of a Chinese city offer other shows to those who desire to be +amused. An acrobat, a rope-dancer or a conjurer will take up a pitch +right in the middle of the roadway, and the traffic has to get on as +best it can. A theatrical stage will sometimes completely block a +street, and even foot-passengers will have to find their way round. +There is also the public story-reader, who for his own sake will +choose a convenient spot near to some busy thoroughfare; and there, to +an assembled crowd, he will read out, not in the difficult book- +language, but in the colloquial dialect of the place, stories of war +and heroism, soldiers led to night-attacks with wooden bits in their +mouths to prevent them from talking in the ranks, the victory of the +loyal and the rout and slaughter of the rebel. Or it may be a tale of +giants, goblins and wizards; the bewitching of promising young men by +lovely maidens who turn out to be really foxes in disguise, ending as +usual in the triumph of virtue and the discomfiture of vice. The fixed +eyes and open mouths of the crowd, listening with rapt attention, is a +sight which, once seen, is not easily forgotten. + +For the ordinary man, China is simply peopled with bogies and devils, +the spirits of the wicked or of those unfortunate enough not to secure +decent burial with all its accompanying worship and rites. These +creatures, whose bodies cast no shadow, lurk in dark corners, ready to +pounce on some unwary passer-by and possibly tear out his heart. Many +a Confucianist, sturdy in his faith that "devils only exist for those +who believe in them," will hesitate to visit by night a lonely spot, +or even to enter a disused tumbledown building by day. Some of the +stories told are certainly well fitted to make a deep impression upon +young and highly-strung nerves. For instance, one man who was too fond +of the bottle placed some liquor alongside his bed, to be drunk during +the night. On stretching out his hand to reach the flask, he was +seized by a demon, and dragged gradually into the earth. In response +to his shrieks, his relatives and neighbours only arrived in time to +see the ground close over his head, just as though he had fallen into +water. + +From this story it will be rightly gathered that the Chinese mostly +sleep on the ground floor. In Peking, houses of more than one storey +are absolutely barred; the reason being that each house is built round +a courtyard, which usually has trees in it, and in which the ladies of +the establishment delight to sit and sew, and take the air and all the +exercise they can manage to get. + +Another blood-curdling story is that of four travellers who arrived by +night at an inn, but could obtain no other accommodation than a room +in which was lying the corpse of the landlord's daughter-in-law. Three +of the four were soon snoring; the fourth, however, remained awake, +and very soon heard a creaking of the trestles on which was the dead +body dressed out in paper robes, ready for burial. To his horror he +saw the girl get up, and go and breathe on his companions; so by the +time she came to him he had his head tucked well under the bedclothes. +After a little while he kicked one of the others; but finding that his +friend did not move, he suddenly grabbed his own trousers and made a +bolt for the door. In a moment the corpse was up and after him, +following him down the street, and gaining gradually on him, no one +coming to the rescue in spite of his loud shrieks as he ran. So he +slipped behind a tree, and dodged right and left, the infuriated +corpse also dodging right and left, and making violent efforts to get +him. At length, the girl made a rush forward with one arm on each +side, in the hope of thus grabbing her victim. The traveller, however, +fell backwards and escaped her clutch, while she remained rigidly +embracing the tree. By and by he was found senseless on the ground; +and the corpse was removed from the tree, but with great difficulty, +as the fingers were buried in the bark so deep that the nails were not +even visible. The other three travellers were found dead in their +beds. + +Periodical feasting may be regarded as another form of amusement by +which the Chinese seek to relieve the monotony of life. They have +never reserved one day in seven for absolute rest, though of late +years Chinese merchants connected with foreign trade have to some +extent fallen in with the observance of Sunday. Quite a number of days +during the year are set apart as public holidays, but no one is +obliged to keep them as such, unless he likes, with one important +exception. The festival of the New Year cannot be ignored by any one. +For about ten days before this date, and twenty days after it, the +public offices are closed and no business is transacted, the seal of +each official is handed over for safe keeping to the official's wife, +a fact which helps to dispose of the libel that women in China are the +down-trodden creatures they are often represented to be. All debts +have to be paid and accounts squared by midnight on the last day of +the old year. A few nights previously, offerings of an excessively +sticky sweetmeat are made to the Spirit of the Hearth, one of whose +functions is that of an accusing angel. The Spirit is then on the +point of starting for his annual visit to heaven, and lest any of the +disclosures he might make should entail unpleasant consequences, it is +adjudged best that he shall be rendered incapable of making any +disclosures at all. The unwary god finds his lips tightly glued +together, and is unable to utter a single word. Meanwhile, fire- +crackers are being everywhere let off on a colossal scale, the object +being to frighten away the evil spirits which have collected during +the past twelve months, and to begin the year afresh. The day itself +is devoted to calling, in one's best clothes, on relatives, friends +and official superiors, for all of whom it is customary to leave a +present. The relatives and friends receive "wet" gifts, such as fruit +or cakes; officials also receive wet gifts, but underneath the top +layer will be found something "dry," in the shape of silver or bank- +notes. Everybody salutes everybody with the conventional saying, "New +joy, new joy; get rich, get rich!" Yet here again, as in all things +Chinese, we find a striking exception to this good-natured rule. No +one says "Get rich, get rich!" to the undertaker. + +A high authority (on other matters) has recently stated that the +Chinese calendar "begins just when the Emperor chooses to say it +shall. He is like the captain of a ship, who says of the hour, 'Make +it so,' and it is so." The truth is that New Year's Day is determined +by the Astronomical Board, according to fixed rules, just as Easter is +determined; and it may fall on any day between the 21st of January and +the 20th of February, but neither before the former date nor after the +latter date, in spite even of the most threatening orders from the +Palace. This book will indeed have been written in vain if the reader +lays it down without having realized that no such wanton interference +on the part of their rulers would be tolerated by the Chinese people. +But we are wandering away from merry-making and festivity. + +In their daily life the Chinese are extremely moderate eaters and +mostly tea-drinkers, even the wealthy confining themselves to few and +simple dishes of pork, fowl, or fish, with the ever-present +accompaniment of rice. The puppy-dog, on which the people are +popularly believed to live, as the French on frogs, is a stall-fed +animal, and has always been, and still is, an article of food; but the +consumption of dog-flesh is really very restricted, and many thousands +of Chinamen have never tasted dog in their lives. According to the +popular classification of foods, those who live on vegetables get +strong, those who live on meat become brave, those who live on grain +acquire wisdom, and those who live on air become divine. + +At banquets the scene changes, and course after course of curiously +compounded and highly spiced dishes, cooked as only Chinese cooks know +how, are placed before the guests. The wine, too, goes merrily round; +bumpers are drunk at short intervals, and the wine-cups are held +upside down, to show that there are no heel-taps. Forfeits are exacted +over the game of "guess-fingers," for failure to cap a verse, or for +any other equally sufficient (or insufficient) reason; and the penalty +is an extra bumper for the loser. + +This lively picture requires, perhaps, a little further explanation. +Chinese "wine" is an ardent spirit distilled from rice, and is +modified in various ways so as to produce certain brands, some of +which are of quite moderate strength, and really may be classed as +wine. It is always drunk hot, the heat being supplied by vessels of +boiling water, in which the pewter wine-flasks are kept standing. The +wine-cups are small, and it is possible to drink a good many of them +without feeling in the least overcome. Even so, many diners now refuse +to touch wine at all, the excuse always being that it flushes the face +uncomfortably. Perhaps they fear an undeserved imputation of +drunkenness, remembering their own cynical saying: "A bottle-nosed man +may be a tee-totaller, but no one will believe it. To judge from their +histories and their poetry, the Chinese seem once upon a time to have +been a fairly tipsy nation: now-a-days, the truth lies the other way. +An official who died A.D. 639, and was the originator of epitaphs in +China, wrote his own, as follows:-- + + Fu I loved the green hills and white clouds . . . + Alas! he died of drink! + +There are exceptions, no doubt, as to every rule in every country; but +such sights as drunken men tumbling about the streets, or lying +senseless by the roadside, are not to be seen in China. "It is not +wine," says the proverb, "which makes a man drunk; it is the man +himself." + +Even at banquets, which are often very rich and costly, unnecessary +expense is by no means encouraged. Dishes of fruit, of a kind which no +one would wish to eat, and which are placed on the table for show or +ornament, are simply clever imitations in painted wood, and pass from +banquet to banquet as part of the ordinary paraphernalia of a feast; +no one is deceived. The same form of open and above-board deception +appears in many other ways. There are societies organized for visiting +in a comfortable style of pilgrimage some famous mountain of historic +interest. Names are put down, and money is collected; and then the +party starts off by boat or in sedan-chairs, as the case may be. On +arriving at the mountain, there is a grand feast, and after the +picnic, for such it is, every one goes home again. That is the real +thing; now for the imitation. Names are put down, and money is +collected, as before; but the funds are spent over a feast at home, +alongside of a paper mountain. + +Another of these deceptions, which deceive nobody, is one which might +be usefully adapted to life in other countries. A Chinaman meeting in +the street a friend, and having no leisure to stop and talk, or +perhaps meeting some one with whom he may be unwilling to talk, will +promptly put up his open fan to screen his face, and pass on. The +suggestion is that, wishing to pass without notice, he fails to see +the person in question, and it would be a serious breach of decorum on +the part of the latter to ignore the hint thus conveyed. + +Japan, who may be said to have borrowed the civilization of China, +lock, stock and barrel--her literature, her moral code, her arts, her +sciences, her manners and customs, her ceremonial, and even her +national dress--invented the folding fan, which in the early part of +the fifteenth century formed part of the tribute sent from Korea to +Peking, and even later was looked upon by the Chinese as quite a +curiosity. In the early ages, fans were made of feathers, as still at +the present day; but the more modern fan of native origin is a light +frame of bamboo, wood or ivory, round or otherwise, over which silk is +stretched, offering a convenient medium for the inscription of poems, +or for paintings, as exchanged between friend and friend. + +The same innocent form of deception, which deceives nobody, is carried +out when two officials, seated in sedan-chairs, have to pass one +another. If they are of about equal rank, etiquette demands that they +should alight from their chairs, and perform mutual salutations. To +obviate the extreme inconvenience of this rule, large wooden fans are +carried in all processions of the kind, and these are hastily thrust +between the passing officials, so that neither becomes aware of the +other's existence on the scene. The case is different when one of the +two is of higher rank. The official of inferior grade is bound to stop +and get out of his chair while his superior passes by, though even now +he has a chance of escape; he hears the gong beaten to clear the way +for the great man, whose rank he can tell from the number of +consecutive blows given; and hurriedly turns off down a side street. + +An historical instance of substituting the shadow for the reality is +that of the great general Ts'ao Ts'ao, third century A.D., who for +some breach of the law sentenced himself to death, but satisfied his +sense of justice by cutting off his hair. An emperor of the sixth +century, who was a devout Buddhist, and therefore unable to +countenance any destruction of life, had all the sacrificial animals +made of dough. + +The opium question, which will claim a few words later on, has been +exhaustively threshed out; and in view of the contradictory statements +for and against the habit of opium smoking, it is recognized that any +conclusion, satisfactory to both parties, is a very remote +possibility. The Chinese themselves, who are chiefly interested in the +argument, have lately come to a very definite conclusion, which is +that opium has to go; and it seems that in spite of almost invincible +obstacles, the sincerity and patriotism which are being infused into +the movement will certainly, sooner or later, achieve the desired end. +It is perhaps worth noting that in the Decree of 1906, which ordered +the abolition of opium smoking, the old Empress Dowager, who was +herself over sixty and a moderate smoker, inserted a clause excusing +from the operation of the new law all persons already more than sixty +years of age. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE MONGOLS, 1260-1368 + +Lack of patriotism is often hurled by foreigners as a reproach to the +Chinese. The charge cannot be substantiated, any more than it could be +if directed against some nation in Europe. If willingness to sacrifice +everything, including life itself, may be taken as a fair test of +genuine patriotism, then it will be found, if historical records be +not ignored, that China has furnished numberless brilliant examples of +true patriots who chose to die rather than suffer dishonour to +themselves or to their country. A single instance must suffice. + +The time is the close of the thirteenth century, when the Mongols +under Kublai Khan were steadily dispossessing the once glorious and +powerful House of Sung, and placing the empire of China under alien +rule. Disaster followed disaster, until almost the last army of the +Sungs was cut to pieces, and the famous statesman and general in +command, Wen (pronounced /One/) T'ien-hsian, fell into the hands of +the Mongols. He was ordered, but refused, to write and advise +capitulation, and every effort was subsequently made to induce him to +own allegiance to the conquerors. He was kept in prison for three +years. "My dungeon," he wrote, "is lighted by the will-o'-the-wisp +alone; no breath of spring cheers the murky solitude in which I dwell. +Exposed to mist and dew, I had many times thought to die; and yet, +through the seasons of two revolving years, disease hovered around me +in vain. The dank, unhealthy soil to me became Paradise itself. For +there was that within me which misfortune could not steal away; and so +I remained firm, gazing at the white clouds floating over my head, and +bearing in my heart a sorrow boundless as the sky." + +At length he was summoned into the presence of Kublai Khan, who said +to him, "What is it you want?" "By the grace of the Sung Emperor," he +replied, "I became His Majesty's Minister. I cannot serve two masters. +I only ask to die." Accordingly, he was executed, meeting his death +with composure, and making an obeisance in the direction of the old +capital. His last words were, "My work is finished." Compare this with +the quiet death-bed of another statesman, who flourished in the +previous century. He had advised an enormous cession of territory to +the Tartars, and had brought about the execution of a patriot soldier, +who wished to recover it at all costs. He was loaded with honours, and +on the very night he died he was raised to the rank of Prince. He was +even canonized, after the usual custom, as Loyalty Manifested, on a +mistaken estimate of his career; but fifty years later his title was +changed to False and Foul and his honours were cancelled, while the +people at large took his degraded name for use as an alternative to +spittoon. + +Two names of quite recent patriots deserve to be recorded here as a +tribute to their earnest devotion to the real interests of their +country, and incidentally for the far-reaching consequences of their +heroic act, which probably saved the lives of many foreigners in +various parts of China. It was during the Boxer troubles in Peking, at +the beginning of the siege of the legations, that Yuan Ch'ang and Hsu +Ching-ch'eng, two high Chinese officials, ventured to memorialize the +Empress Dowager upon the fatal policy, and even criminality, of the +whole proceedings, imploring her Majesty at a meeting of the Grand +Council to reconsider her intention of issuing orders for the +extermination of all foreigners. In spite of their remonstrances, a +decree was issued to that effect and forwarded to the high authorities +of the various provinces; but it failed to accomplish what had been +intended, for these two heroes, taking their lives in their hands, had +altered the words "slay all foreigners" into "protect all foreigners." +Some five to six weeks later, when the siege was drawing to a close, +the alteration was discovered; and next day those two men were +hurriedly beheaded, meeting death with such firmness and fortitude as +only true patriotism could inspire. + +The Mongols found it no easy task to dispossess the House of Sung, +which had many warm adherents to its cause. It was in 1206 that +Genghis Khan began to make arrangements for a projected invasion of +China, and by 1214 he was master of all the enemy's territory north of +the Yellow River, except Peking. He then made peace with the Golden +Tartar emperor of northern China; but his suspicions were soon +aroused, and hostilities were renewed. In 1227 he died, while +conducting a campaign in Central Asia; and it remained for his +vigorous grandson, Kublai Khan, to complete the conquest of China more +than half a century afterwards. So early as 1260, Kublai was able to +proclaim himself emperor at Xanadu, which means Imperial Capital, and +lay about one hundred and eighty miles north of modern Peking, where, +in those days known as Khan-baligh (Marco Polo's Cambaluc), he +established himself four years later; but twenty years of severe +fighting had still to pass away before the empire was finally subdued. +The Sung troops were gradually driven south, contesting every inch of +ground with a dogged resistance born of patriotic endeavour. In 1278 +Canton was taken, and the heroic Wen T'ien-hsiang was captured through +the treachery of a subordinate. In 1279 the last stronghold of the +Sungs was beleaguered by land and sea. Shut up in their ships which +they formed into a compact mass and fortified with towers and +breastworks, the patriots, deprived of fresh water, harassed by +attacks during the day and by fire-ships at night, maintained the +unequal struggle for a month. But when, after a hard day's fighting, +the Sung commander found himself left with only sixteen vessels, he +fled up a creek. His retreat was cut off; and then at length +despairing of his country, he bade his wife and children throw +themselves overboard. He himself, taking the young emperor on his +back, followed their example, and thus brought the great Sung dynasty +to an end. + +The grandeur of Kublai Khan's reign may be gathered from the pages of +Marco Polo, in which, too, allusion is made to Bayan, the skilful +general to whom so much of the military success of the Mongols was +due. Korea, Burma, and Annam became dependencies of China, and +continued to send tribute as such even up to quite modern times. +Hardly so successful was Kublai Khan's huge naval expedition against +Japan, which, in point of number of ships and men, the insular +character of the enemy's country, the chastisement intended, and the +total loss of the fleet in a storm, aided by the stubborn resistance +offered by the Japanese themselves--suggests a very obvious comparison +with the object and fate of the Spanish Armada. + +Among the more peaceful developments of Mongol rule at this epoch may +be mentioned the introduction of a written character for the Mongol +language. It was the work of a Tibetan priest, named Baschpa, and was +based upon the written language of a nation known as the Ouigours +(akin to the Turks), which had in turn been based upon Syraic, and is +written in vertical lines connected by ligatures. Similarly, until +1599 there was no written Manchu language; a script, based upon the +Mongol, was then devised, also in vertical lines or columns like +Chinese, but read from left to right. + +Under Kublai Khan the calendar was revised, and the Imperial Academy +was opened; the Yellow River was explored to its source, and bank- +notes were made current. The Emperor himself was an ardent Buddhist, +but he took care that proper honours were paid to Confucius; on the +other hand, he issued orders that all Taoist literature of the baser +kind was to be destroyed. Behind all this there was extortionate +taxation, a form of oppression the Chinese have never learned to +tolerate, and discontent led to disorder. Kublai's grandson was for a +time an honest ruler and tried to stem the tide, but by 1368 the +mandate of the Mongols was exhausted. They were an alien race, and the +Chinese were glad to get rid of them. + +Chinese soldiers are often stigmatized as arrant cowards, who run away +at the slightest provocation, their first thought being for the safety +of their own skins. No doubt Chinese soldiers do run away--sometimes; +at other times they fight to the death, as has been amply proved over +and over again. It is the old story of marking the hits and not the +misses. A great deal depends upon sufficiency and regularity of pay. +Soldiers with pay in arrear, half clad, hungry, and ill armed, as has +frequently been the case in Chinese campaigns, cannot be expected to +do much for the flag. Given the reverse of these conditions, things +would be likely to go badly with the enemy, whosoever he might be. + +Underneath a mask of complete facial stolidity, the Chinese conceal +one of the most exciteable temperaments to be found in any race, as +will soon be discovered by watching an ordinary street row between a +couple of men, or still better, women. A Chinese crowd of men--women +keep away--is a good-tempered and orderly mob, partly because not +inflamed by drink, when out to enjoy the Feast of the Lanterns, or to +watch the twinkling lamps float down a river to light the wandering +ghosts of the drowned on the night of their All Souls' Day, sacred to +the memory of the dead; but a rumour, a mere whisper, the more +baseless often the more potent, will transform these law-abiding +people into a crowd of fiends. In times when popular feeling runs +high, as when large numbers of men were said to be deprived suddenly +and mysteriously of their queues, or when the word went round, as it +has done on more occasions than one, that foreigners were kidnapping +children in order to use their eyes for medicine,--in such times the +masses, incited by those who ought to know better, get completely out +of hand. + +A curious and tragic instance of this excitability occurred some years +ago. The viceroy of a province had succeeded in organizing a +contingent of foreign-drilled troops, under the guidance and +leadership of two qualified foreign instructors. After some time had +elapsed, and it was thought that the troops were sufficiently trained +to make a good show, it was arranged that a sham fight should be held +in the presence of the viceroy himself. The men were divided into two +bodies under the two foreign commanders, and in the course of +operations one body had to defend a village, while the other had to +attack it. When the time came to capture the village at the point of +the bayonet, both sides lost their heads; there was a fierce hand-to- +hand fight in stern reality, and before this could be effectively +stopped four men had been killed outright and sixteen badly wounded. + +Considering how squalid many Chinese homes are, it is all the more +astonishing to find such deep attachment to them. There exists in the +language a definite word for /home/, in its fullest English sense. As +a written character, it is supposed to picture the idea of a family, +the component parts being a "roof" with "three persons" underneath. +There is, indeed, another and more fanciful explanation of this +character, namely, that it is composed of a "roof" with a "pig" +underneath, the forms for "three men" and "pig" being sufficiently +alike at any rate to justify the suggestion. This analysis would not +be altogether out of place in China any more than in Ireland; but as a +matter of fact the balance of evidence is in favour of the "three +men," which number, it may be remarked, is that which technically +constitutes a crowd. + +Whatever may be the literary view of the word "home," it is quite +certain that to the ordinary Chinaman there is no place like it. "One +mile away from home is not so good as being in it," says a proverb +with a punning turn which cannot be brought out in English. Another +says, "Every day is happy at home, every moment miserable abroad." It +may therefore be profitable to look inside a Chinese home, if only to +discover wherein its attractiveness lies. + +All such homes are arranged more or less on the patriarchal system; +that is to say, at the head of the establishment are a father and +mother, who rank equally so far as their juniors are concerned; the +mother receiving precisely the same share of deference in life, and of +ancestral worship after death, as the father. The children grow up; +wives are sought for the boys, and husbands for the girls, at about +the ages of eighteen and sixteen, respectively. The former bring their +wives into the paternal home; the latter belong, from the day of their +marriage, to the paternal homes of their husbands. Bachelors and old +maids have no place in the Chinese scheme of life. Theoretically, +bride and bridegroom are not supposed to see each other until the +wedding-day, when the girl's veil is lifted on her arrival at her +father-in-law's house; in practice, the young people usually manage to +get at least a glimpse of one another, usually with the connivance of +their elders. Thus the family expands, and one of the greatest +happinesses which can befall a Chinaman is to have "five generations +in the hall." Owing to early marriage, this is not nearly so uncommon +as it is in Western countries. There is an authentic record of an old +statesman who had so many descendants that when they came to +congratulate him on his birthdays, he was quite unable to remember all +their names, and could only bow as they passed in line before him. + +As to income and expenditure, the earnings of the various members go +into a common purse, out of which expenses are paid. Every one has a +right to food and shelter; and so it is that if some are out of work, +the strain is not individually felt; they take their rations as usual. +On the death of the father, it is not at all uncommon for the mother +to take up the reins, though it is more usual for the eldest son to +take his place. Sometimes, after the death of the mother--and then it +is accounted a bad day for the family fortunes--the brothers cannot +agree; the property is divided, and each son sets up for himself, a +proceeding which is forbidden by the Penal Code during the parents' +lifetime. Meanwhile, any member of the family who should disgrace +himself in any way, as by becoming an inveterate gambler and +permanently neglecting his work, or by developing the opium vice to +great excess, would be formally cast out, his name being struck off +the ancestral register. Men of this stamp generally sink lower and +lower, until they swell the ranks of professional beggars, to die +perhaps in a ditch; but such cases are happily of rare occurrence. + +In the ordinary peaceful family, regulated according to Confucian +principles of filial piety, fraternal love, and loyalty to the +sovereign, we find love of home exalted to a passion; and bitter is +the day of leave-taking for a long absence, as when a successful son +starts to take up his official appointment at a distant post. The +latter, not being able to hold office in his native province, may have +a long and sometimes dangerous journey to make, possibly to the other +end of the empire. In any case, years must elapse before he can +revisit "the mulberry and the elm"--the garden he leaves behind. He +may take his "old woman" and family with him, or they may follow later +on; as another alternative, the "old woman" with the children may +remain permanently in the ancestral home, while the husband carries on +his official career alone. Under such circumstances as the last- +mentioned, no one, including his own wife, is shocked if he consoles +himself with a "small old woman," whom he picks up at his new place of +abode. The "small old woman" is indeed often introduced into families +where the "principal old woman" fails to contribute the first of "the +three blessings of which every one desires to have plenty," namely, +sons, money, and life. Instances are not uncommon of the wife herself +urging this course upon her husband; and but for this system the +family line would often come to an end, failing recourse to another +system, namely, adoption, which is also brought into play when all +hope of a lineal descendant is abandoned. + +Whether she has children or not, the principal wife--the only wife, in +fact--never loses her supremacy as the head of the household. The late +Empress Dowager was originally a concubine; by virtue of motherhood +she was raised to the rank of Western Empress, but never legitimately +took precedence of the wife, whose superiority was indicated by her +title of Eastern Empress, the east being more honourable than the +west. The emperor always sits with his face towards the south. + +The story of Sung Hung, a statesman who flourished about the time of +the Christian era, pleasantly illustrates a chivalrous side of the +Chinese character. This man raised himself from a humble station in +life to be a minister of state, and was subsequently ennobled as +marquis. The emperor then wished him to put away his wife, who was a +woman of the people, and marry a princess; to which he nobly replied: +"Sire, the partner of my porridge days shall never go down from my +hall." + +Of the miseries of exile from the ancestral home, lurid pictures have +been drawn by many poets and others. One man, ordered from some soft +southern climate to a post in the colder north, will complain that the +spring with its flowers is too late in arriving; another "cannot stand +the water and earth," by which is meant that the climate does not +agree with him; a third is satisfied with his surroundings, but is +still a constant sufferer from home-sickness. Such a one was the poet +who wrote the following lines:-- + + Away to the east lie fair forests of trees, + From the flowers on the west comes a scent-laden breeze, + Yet my eyes daily turn to my far-away home, + Beyond the broad river, its waves and its foam. + +And such, too, is the note of innumerable songs in exile, written for +the most part by officials stationed in distant parts of the empire; +sometimes by exiles in a harsher sense, namely, those persons who have +been banished to the frontier for disaffection, maladministration of +government, and like offences. A bright particular gem in Chinese +literature, referring to love of home, was the work of a young poet +who received an appointment as magistrate, but threw it up after a +tenure of only eighty-three days, declaring that he could not "crook +the hinges of his back for five pecks of rice a day," that being the +regulation pay of his office. It was written to celebrate his own +return, and runs as follows:-- + +"Homewards I bend my steps. My fields, my gardens, are choked with +weeds: should I not go? My soul has led a bondsman's life: why should +I remain to pine? But I will waste no grief upon the past: I will +devote my energies to the future. I have not wandered far astray. I +feel that I am on the right track once again. + +"Lightly, lightly, speeds my boat along, my garments fluttering to the +gentle breeze. I inquire my route as I go. I grudge the slowness of +the dawning day. From afar I descry by old home, and joyfully press +onwards in my haste. The servants rush forth to meet me: my children +cluster at the gate. The place is a wilderness; but there is the old +pine-tree and my chrysanthemums. I take the little ones by the hand, +and pass in. Wine is brought in full bottles, and I pour out in +brimming cups. I gaze out at my favourite branches. I loll against the +window in my new-found freedom. I look at the sweet children on my +knee. + +"And now I take my pleasure in my garden. There is a gate, but it is +rarely opened. I lean on my staff as I wander about or sit down to +rest. I raise my head and contemplate the lovely scene. Clouds rise, +unwilling, from the bottom of the hills: the weary bird seeks its nest +again. Shadows vanish, but still I linger round my lonely pine. Home +once more! I'll have no friendships to distract me hence. The times +are out of joint for me; and what have I to seek from men? In the pure +enjoyment of the family circle I will pass my days, cheering my idle +hours with lute and book. My husbandmen will tell me when spring-time +is nigh, and when there will be work in the furrowed fields. Thither I +shall repair by cart or by boat, through the deep gorge, over the +dizzy cliff, trees bursting merrily into leaf, the streamlet swelling +from its tiny source. Glad is this renewal of life in due season: but +for me, I rejoice that my journey is over. Ah, how short a time it is +that we are here! Why, then, not set our hearts at rest, ceasing to +trouble whether we remain or go? What boots it to wear out the soul +with anxious thoughts? I want not wealth: I want not power: heaven is +beyond my hopes. Then let me stroll through the bright hours, as they +pass, in my garden among my flowers; or I will mount the hill and sing +my song, or weave my verse beside the limpid brook. Thus will I work +out my allotted span, content with the appointments of Fate, my spirit +free from care." + +Besides contributing a large amount of beautiful poetry, this author +provided his own funeral oration, the earliest which has come down to +us, written just before his death in A.D. 427. Funeral orations are +not only pronounced by some friend at the grave, but are further +solemnly consumed by fire, in the belief that they will thus reach the +world of spirits, and be a joy and an honour to the deceased, in the +same sense that paper houses, horses, sedan-chairs, and similar +articles, are burnt for the use of the dead. + + + +CHAPTER X + +MINGS AND CH'INGS, 1368-1911 + +The first half of the fourteenth century, which witnessed the gradual +decline of Mongol influence and power, was further marked by the birth +of a humble individual destined to achieve a new departure in the +history of the empire. At the age of seventeen, Chu Yuan-chang lost +both his parents and an elder brother. It was a year of famine, and +they died from want of food. He had no money to buy coffins, and was +forced to bury them in straw. He then, as a last resource, decided to +enter the Buddhist priesthood, and accordingly enrolled himself as a +novice; but together with the other novices, he was soon dismissed, +the priests being unable to provide even for their own wants. After +this he wandered about, and finally joined a party of rebels commanded +by one of his own uncles. Rapidly rising to the highest military rank, +he gradually found himself at the head of a huge army, and by 1368 was +master of so many provinces that he proclaimed himself first emperor +of the Great Ming dynasty, under the title of Hung (/Hoong/) Wu, and +fixed his capital at Nanking. In addition to his military genius, he +showed almost equal skill in the administration of the empire, and +also became a liberal patron of literature and education. He organized +the present system of examinations, now in a transition state; +restored the native Chinese style of dress as worn under the T'ang +dynasty, which is still the costume seen on the stage; published a +Penal Code of mitigated severity; drew up a kind of Domesday Book +under which taxation was regulated; and fixed the coinage upon a +proper basis, government notes and copper /cash/ being equally +current. Eunuchs were prohibited from holding official posts, and +Buddhism and Taoism were both made state religions. + +This truly great monarch died in 1398, and was succeeded by a +grandson, whose very receding forehead had been a source of much +annoyance to his grandfather, though the boy grew up clever and could +make good verses. The first act of this new emperor was to dispossess +his uncles of various important posts held by them; but this was not +tolerated by one of them, who had already made himself conspicuous by +his talents, and he promptly threw off his allegiance. In the war +which ensued, victory attended his arms throughout, and at length he +entered Nanking, the capital, in triumph. And now begins one of those +romantic episodes which from time to time lend an unusual interest to +the dry bones of Chinese history. In the confusion which followed upon +the entry of troops into his palace, the young and defeated emperor +vanished, and was never seen again; although in after years pretenders +started up on more than one occasion, and obtained the support of many +in their efforts to recover the throne. It is supposed that the +fugitive made his way to the distant province of Yunnan in the garb of +a Buddhist priest, left to him, so the story runs, by his grandfather. +After nearly forty years of wandering, he is said to have gone to +Peking and to have lived in seclusion in the palace there until his +death. He was recognized by a eunuch from a mole on his left foot, but +the eunuch was afraid to reveal his identity. + +The victorious uncle mounted the throne in the year 1403, under the +now famous title of Yung Lo (/Yoong Law/), and soon showed that he +could govern as well as he could fight. He brought immigrants from +populous provinces to repeople the districts which had been laid waste +by war. Peking was built, and in 1421 the seat of government was +transferred thither, where it has remained ever since. A new Penal +Code was drawn up. Various military expeditions were despatched +against the Tartars, and missions under the charge of eunuchs were +sent to Java, Sumatra, Siam, and even reached Ceylon and the Red Sea. +The day of doubt in regard to the general accuracy of Chinese annals +has gone by; were it otherwise, a recent (1911) discovery in Ceylon +would tend to dispel suspicion on one point. A tablet has just been +unearthed at Galle, bearing an inscription in Arabic, Chinese and +Tamil. The Arabic is beyond decipherment, but enough is left of the +Chinese to show that the tablet was erected in 1409 to commemorate a +visit by the eunuch Cheng Ho, who passed several times backwards and +forwards over that route. In 1411 the same eunuch was sent as envoy to +Japan, and narrowly escaped with his life. + +The emperor was a warm patron of literature, and succeeded in bringing +about the achievement of the most gigantic literary task that the +world has ever seen. He employed a huge staff of scholars to compile +an encyclopaedia which should contain within the compass of a single +work all that had ever been written in the four departments of (1) the +Confucian Canon, (2) history, (3) philosophy, and (4) general +literature, including astronomy, geography, cosmogony, medicine, +divination, Buddhism, Taoism, handicrafts and arts. The completed +work, over which a small army of scholars--more than two thousand in +all--had spent five years, ran to no fewer than 22,877 sections, to +which must be added an index occupying 60 sections. The whole was +bound up (Chinese style) in 11,000 volumes, averaging over half-an- +inch in thickness, and measuring one foot eight inches in length by +one foot in breadth. Thus, if all these were laid flat one upon +another, the column so formed would rise considerably higher than the +very top of St. Paul's. Further, each section contains about twenty +leaves, making a total of 917,480 pages for the whole work, with a +grand total of 366,000,000 words. Taking 100 Chinese words as the +equivalent of 130 English, due to the greater condensation of Chinese +literary style, it will be found that even the mighty river of the +/Encyclopedia Britannica/ "shrinks to a rill" when compared with this +overwhelming specimen of Chinese industry. + +It was never printed; even a Chinese emperor, and enthusiastic patron +of literature to boot, recoiled before the enormous cost of cutting +such a work on blocks. It was however transcribed for printing, and +there appear to have been at one time three copies in existence. Two +of these perished at Nanking with the downfall of the dynasty in 1644, +and the third was in great part destroyed in Peking during the siege +of the Legations in 1900. Odd volumes have been preserved, and bear +ample witness to the extraordinary character of the achievement. + +This emperor was an ardent Buddhist, and the priests of that religion +were raised to high positions and exerted considerable influence at +court. In times of famine there were loud complaints that some ten +thousand priests were living comfortably at Peking, while the people +of several provinces were reduced to eating bark and grass. + +The porcelain of the Ming dynasty is famous all over the world. Early +in the sixteenth century a great impetus was given to the art, owing +to the extravagant patronage of the court, which was not allowed to +pass without openly expressed remonstrance. The practice of the +pictorial art was very widely extended, and the list of Ming painters +is endless, containing as it does over twelve hundred names, some few +of which stand for a high level of success. + +Towards the close of the sixteenth century the Portuguese appeared +upon the scene, and settled themselves at Macao, the ownership of +which has been a bone of contention between China and Portugal ever +since. It is a delightful spot, with an excellent climate, not very +far from Canton, and was for some time the residence of the renowned +poet Camoens. Not far from Macao lies the island of Sancian, where St. +Francois Xavier died. He was the first Roman Catholic missionary of +more modern times to China, but he never set foot on the mainland. +Native maps mark the existence of "Saint's Grave" upon the island, +though he was actually buried at Goa. There had previously been a +Roman Catholic bishop in Peking so far back as the thirteenth century, +from which date it seems likely that Catholic converts have had a +continuous footing in the empire. + +In 1583, Matteo Ricci, the most famous of all missionaries who have +ever reached China, came upon the scene at Canton, and finally, in +1601, after years of strenuous effort succeeded in installing himself +at Peking, with the warm support of the emperor himself, dying there +in 1610. Besides reforming the calendar and teaching geography and +science in general, he made a fierce attack upon Buddhism, at the same +time wisely leaving Confucianism alone. He was the first to become +aware of the presence in China of a Jewish colony, which had been +founded in 1163. It was from his writings that truer notions of +Chinese civilization than had hitherto prevailed, began to spread in +the West. "Mat. Riccius the Jesuite," says Burton in his /Anatomy of +Melancholy/ (1651), "and some others, relate of the industry of the +Chinaes most populous countreys, not a beggar, or an idle person to be +seen, and how by that means they prosper and flourish." + +In 1625 an important find was made. A large tablet, with a long +inscription in Chinese and a shorter one in Syraic, was discovered in +central China. The inscription, in an excellent state of preservation, +showed that the tablet had been set up in A.D. 781 by Nestorian +missionaries, and gave a general idea of the object and scope of the +Christian religion. The genuineness of this tablet was for many years +in dispute--Voltaire, Renan, and others of lesser fame, regarding it +as a pious fraud--but has now been established beyond any possibility +of doubt; its value indeed is so great that an attempt was made quite +recently to carry it off to America. Nestorian Christianity is +mentioned by Marco Polo, but disappears altogether after the +thirteenth century, without leaving any trace in Chinese literature of +its once flourishing condition. + +The last emperor of the Ming dynasty meant well, but succumbed to the +stress of circumstances. Eunuchs and over-taxation brought about the +stereotyped consequence--rebellion; rebellion, too, headed by an able +commander, whose successive victories soon enabled him to assume the +Imperial title. In the capital all was confusion. The treasury was +empty; the garrison were too few to man the walls; and the ministers +were anxious to secure each his own safety. On April 9, 1644, Peking +fell. During the previous night the emperor, who had refused to flee, +slew the eldest princess, commanded the empress to commit suicide, and +sent his three sons into hiding. At dawn the bell was struck for the +court to assemble; but no one came. His Majesty then ascended the Coal +Hill in the palace grounds, and wrote a last decree on the lapel of +his robe: "WE, poor in virtue and of contemptible personality, have +incurred the wrath of God on high. My ministers have deceived me. I am +ashamed to meet my ancestors; and therefore I myself take off my +crown, and with my hair covering my face await dismemberment at the +hands of the rebels. Do not hurt a single one of my people." He then +hanged himself, as also did one faithful eunuch; and his body, +together with that of the empress, was reverently encoffined by the +rebels. + +So ended the Ming dynasty, of glorious memory, but not in favour of +the rebel commander, who was driven out of Peking by the Manchus and +was ultimately slain by local militia in a distant province. + +The subjugation of the empire by the victors, who had the disadvantage +of being an alien race, was effected with comparative ease and +rapidity. It was carried out by a military occupation of the country, +which has survived the original necessity, and is part of the system +of government at the present day. Garrisons of Tartar troops were +stationed at various important centres of population, each under the +command of an officer of the highest military grade, whose duty it was +to co-operate with, and at the same time watch and act as a check +upon, the high authorities employed in the civil administration. Those +Tartar garrisons still occupy the same positions; and the descendants +of the first battalions, with occasional reinforcements from Peking, +live side by side and in perfect harmony with the strictly Chinese +populations, though the two races do not intermarry except in very +rare cases. These Bannermen, as they are called, in reference to eight +banners or corps under which they are marshalled, may be known by +their square heavy faces, which contrast strongly with the sharper and +more astute-looking physiognomies of the Chinese. They speak the +dialect of Peking, now regarded as the official or "mandarin" +language, just as the dialect of Nanking was, so long as that city +remained the capital of the empire. + +In many respects the conquering Tartars have been themselves conquered +by the people over whom they set themselves to rule. They have adopted +the language, written and colloquial, of China; and they are fully as +proud as the purest-blooded Chinese of the vast literature and +glorious traditions of those past dynasties of which they have made +themselves joint heirs. Manchu, the language of the conquerors, is +still kept alive at Peking. By a fiction, it is supposed to be the +language of the sovereign; but the emperors of China have now in their +youth to make a study of Manchu, and so do the official interpreters +and others whose duty it is to translate from Chinese into Manchu all +documents submitted to what is called the "sacred glance" of His +Majesty. In a similar sense, until quite a recent date, skill in +archery was required of every Bannerman; and it was undoubtedly a +great wrench when the once fatally effective weapon was consigned to +an unmerited oblivion. But though Bannermen can no longer shoot with +the bow and arrow, they still continue to draw monthly allowances from +state funds, as an hereditary right obtained by conquest. + +Of the nine emperors of the Manchu, or Great Ch'ing dynasty, who have +already occupied the dragon throne and have become "guests on high," +two are deserving of special mention as fit to be ranked among the +wisest and best rulers the world has ever known. The Emperor K'ang Hsi +(/Khahng Shee/) began his reign in 1662 and continued it for sixty-one +years, a division of time which has been in vogue for many centuries +past. He treated the Jesuit Fathers with kindness and distinction, and +availed himself in many ways of their scientific knowledge. He was an +extraordinarily generous and successful patron of literature. His name +is inseparably connected with the standard dictionary of the Chinese +language, which was produced under his immediate supervision. It +contains over forty thousand words, not a great number as compared +with European languages which have coined innumerable scientific +terms, but even so, far more than are necessary either for daily life +or for literary purposes. These words are accompanied in each case by +appropriate quotations from the works of every age and of every style, +arranged chronologically, thus anticipating to some extent the +"historical principles" in the still more wonderful English dictionary +by Sir James Murray and others, now going through the press. But the +greatest of all the literary achievements planned by this emperor was +a general encyclopaedia, not indeed on quite such a colossal scale as +that one produced under the Ming dynasty and already described, though +still of respectable dimensions, running as it does in a small-sized +edition to 1,628 octavo volumes of about 200 pages to each. The term +encyclopaedia must not be understood in precisely the same sense as in +Western countries. A Chinese encyclopaedia deals with a given subject +not by providing an up-to-date article written by some living +authority, but by exhibiting extracts from authors of all ages, +arranged chronologically, in which the subject in question is +discussed. The range of topics, however, is such that the above does +not always apply--as, for instance, in the biographical section, which +consists merely of lives of eminent men taken from various sources. In +the great encyclopaedia under consideration, in addition to an +enormous number of lives of men, covering a period of three thousand +years, there are also lives of over twenty-four thousand eminent +women, or nearly as many as all the lives in our own /National +Dictionary of Biography/. An original copy of this marvellous +production, which by the way is fully illustrated, may be seen at the +British Museum; a small-sized edition, more suitable for practical +purposes and printed from movable type, was issued about twenty years +ago. + +Skipping an emperor under whose reign was initiated that violent +persecution of Roman Catholics which has continued more or less openly +down to the present day, we come to the second of the two monarchs +before mentioned, whose long and beneficent reigns are among the real +glories of the present dynasty. + +The Emperor Ch'ien Lung (/Loong/) ascended the throne in 1735, when +twenty-five years of age; and though less than two hundred years ago, +legend has been busy with his person. According to some native +accounts, his hands are said to have reached below his knees; his ears +touched his shoulders; and his eyes could see round behind his head. +This sort of stuff, is should be understood, is not taken from +reliable authorities. It cannot be taken from the dynastic history for +the simple reason that the official history of a dynasty is not +published until the dynasty has come to an end. There is, indeed, a +faithful record kept of all the actions of each reigning emperor in +turn; good and evil are set down alike, without fear or favour, for no +emperor is ever allowed to get a glimpse of the document by which +posterity will judge him. Ch'ien Lung had no cause for anxiety on this +score; whatever record might leap to light, he never could be shamed. +An able ruler, with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and an +indefatigable administrator, he rivals his grandfather's fame as a +sovereign and a patron of letters. His one amiable weakness was a +fondness for poetry; unfortunately, for his own. His output was +enormous so far as number of pieces go; these were always short, and +proportionately trivial. No one ever better illustrated one half of +the cynical Chinese saying: "We love our own compositions, but other +men's wives." He disliked missionaries, and forbade the propagation of +the Christian religion. + +After ten years of internal reorganization, his reign became a +succession of wars, almost all of which were brought to a successful +conclusion. His generals led a large army into Nepaul and conquered +the Goorkhas, reaching a point only some sixty miles distant from +British territory. Burma was forced to pay tribute; Chinese supremacy +was established in Tibet; Kuldja and Kashgaria were added to the +empire; and rebellions in Formosa and elsewhere were suppressed. In +fifty years the population was nearly doubled, and the empire on the +whole enjoyed peace and prosperity. In 1750 a Portuguese embassy +reached Peking; and was followed by Lord Macartney's famous mission +and a Dutch mission in 1793. Two years after the venerable emperor had +completed a reign of sixty years, the full Chinese cycle; whereupon he +abdicated in favour of his son, and died in 1799. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CHINESE AND FOREIGNERS + +A virtue which the Chinese possess in an eminent degree is the rather +rare one of gratitude. A Chinaman never forgets a kind act; and what +is still more important, he never loses the sense of obligation to his +benefactor. Witness to this striking fact has been borne times without +number by European writers, and especially by doctors, who have +naturally enjoyed the best opportunities for conferring favours likely +to make a deep impression. It is unusual for a native to benefit by a +cure at the hands of a foreign doctor, and then to go away and make no +effort to express his gratitude, either by a subscription to a +hospital, a present of silk or tea, or perhaps an elaborate banner +with a golden inscription, in which his benefactor's skill is likened +to that of the great Chinese doctors of antiquity. With all this, the +patient will still think of the doctor, and even speak of him, not +always irreverently, as a foreign devil. A Chinaman once appeared at a +British Consulate, with a present of some kind, which he had brought +from his home a hundred miles away, in obedience to the command of his +dying father, who had formerly been cured of ophthalmia by a foreign +doctor, and who had told him, on his deathbed, "never to forget the +English." Yet this present was addressed in Chinese: "To His +Excellency the Great English Devil, Consul X." + +The Chinaman may love you, but you are a devil all the same. It is +most natural that he should think so. For generation upon generation +China was almost completely isolated from the rest of the world. The +people of her vast empire grew up under influences unchanged by +contact with other peoples. Their ideals became stereotyped from want +of other ideals to compare with, and possibly modify, their own. +Dignity of deportment and impassivity of demeanour were especially +cultivated by the ruling classes. Then the foreign devil burst upon +the scene--a being as antagonistic to themselves in every way as it is +possible to conceive. We can easily see, from pictures, not intended +to be caricatures, what were the chief features of the foreigner as +viewed by the Chinaman. Red hair and blue eyes, almost without +exception; short and extremely tight clothes; a quick walk and a +mobility of body, involving ungraceful positions either sitting or +standing; and with an additional feature which the artist could not +portray--an unintelligible language resembling the twittering of +birds. Small wonder that little children are terrified at these +strange beings, and rush shrieking into their cottages as the +foreigner passes by. It is perhaps not quite so easy to understand why +the Mongolian pony has such a dread of the foreigner and usually takes +time to get accustomed to the presence of a barbarian; some ponies, +indeed, will never allow themselves to be mounted unless blindfolded. +Then there are the dogs, who rush out and bark, apparently without +rhyme or reason, at every passing foreigner. The Chinese have a saying +that one dog barks at nothing and the rest bark at him; but that will +hardly explain the unfailing attack so familiar to every one who has +rambled through country villages. The solution of this puzzle was +extracted with difficulty from an amiable Chinaman who explained that +what the animals, and indeed his fellow-countrymen as well, could not +help noticing, was the frowzy and very objectionable smell of all +foreigners, which, strangely enough, is the very accusation which +foreigners unanimously bring against the Chinese themselves. + +Compare these characteristics with the universal black hair and black +eyes of men and women throughout China, exclusive of a rare occasional +albino; with the long, flowing, loose robes of officials and of the +well-to-do; with their slow and stately walk and their rigid formality +of position, either sitting or standing. To the Chinese, their own +language seems to be the language of the gods; they know they have +possessed it for several thousand years, and they know nothing at all +of the barbarian. Where does he come from? Where can he come from +except from the small islands which fringe the Middle Kingdom, the +world, in fact, bounded by the Four Seas? The books tell us that +"Heaven is round, Earth is square;" and it is impossible to believe +that those books, upon the wisdom of which the Middle Kingdom was +founded, can possibly be wrong. Such was a very natural view for the +Chinaman to take when first brought really face to face with the West; +and such is the view that in spite of modern educational progress is +still very widely held. The people of a country do not unlearn in a +day the long lessons of the past. He was quite a friendly mandarin, +taking a practical view of national dress, who said in conversation: +"I can't think why you foreigners wear your clothes so tight; it must +be very difficult to catch the fleas." + +As an offset against the virtue of gratitude must be placed the deep- +seated spirit of revenge which animates all classes. Though not +enumerated among their own list of the Seven passions--joy, anger, +sorrow, fear, love, hatred and desire--it is perhaps the most over- +mastering passion to which the Chinese mind is subject. It is revenge +which prompts the unhappy daughter-in-law to throw herself down a +well, consoled by the thought of the trouble, if not ruin, she is +bringing on her persecutors. Revenge, too, leads a man to commit +suicide on the doorstep of some one who has done him an injury, for he +well knows what it means to be entangled in the net which the law +throws over any one on whose premises a dead body may thus be found. +There was once an absurd case of a Chinese woman, who deliberately +walked into a pond until the water reached up to her knees, and +remained there, alternately putting her lips below the surface, and +threatening in a loud voice to drown herself on the spot, as life had +been made unbearable by the presence of foreign barbarians. In this +instance, had the suicide been carried out, vengeance would have been +wreaked in some way on the foreigner by the injured ghost of the dead +woman. + +The germ of this spirit of revenge, this desire to get on level terms +with an enemy, as when a life is extracted for a life, can be traced, +strangely enough, to the practice of filial piety and fraternal love, +the very cornerstone of good government and national prosperity. In +the Book of Rites, which forms a part of the Confucian Canon, and +contains rules not only for the performance of ceremonies but also for +the guidance of individual conduct, the following passage occurs: +"With the slayer of his father, a man may not live under the same sky; +against the slayer of his brother, a man must never have to go home to +fetch a weapon; with the slayer of his friend, a man may not live in +the same state." Being now duly admitted among the works which +constitute the Confucian Canon, the above-mentioned Book of Rites +enjoys an authority to which it can hardly lay claim on the ground of +antiquity. It is a compilation made during the first century B.C., and +is based, no doubt, on older existing documents; but as it never +passed under the editorship of either Confucius or Mencius, it would +be unfair to jump to the conclusion that either of these two sages is +in any way responsible for, or would even acquiesce in, a system of +revenge, the only result of which would be an endless chain of +bloodshed and murder. The Chinese are certainly as constant in their +hates as in their friendships. To use a phrase from their own +language, if they love a man, they love him to the life; if they hate +a man they hate him to the death. As we have already noted, the Old +Philosopher urged men to requite evil with good; but Confucius, who +was only a mortal himself, and knew the limitations of mortality, +substituted for an ideal doctrine the more practical injunction to +requite evil with justice. It is to be feared that the Chinese people +fall short in practice even of this lower standard. "Be just to your +enemy" is a common enough maxim; but one for which only a moderate +application can be claimed. + +It has often been urged against the Chinese that they have very little +idea of time. A friendly Chinaman will call, and stay on so +persistently that he often outstays his welcome. This infliction is +recognized and felt by the Chinese themselves, who have certain set +forms of words by which they politely escape from a tiresome visitor; +among their vast stores of proverbs they have also provided one which +is much to the point: "Long visits bring short compliments." Also, in +contradiction of the view that time is no value to the Chinaman, there +are many familiar maxims which say, "Make every inch of time your +own!" "Half-an-hour is worth a thousand ounces of silver," etc. An +"inch of time" refers to the sundial, which was known to the Chinese +in the earliest ages, and was the only means they had for measuring +time until the invention or introduction--it is not certain which--of +the more serviceable /clepsydra/, or water-clock, already mentioned. + +This consists of several large jars of water, with a tube at the +bottom of each, placed one above another on steps, so that the tube of +an upper jar overhangs the top of a lower jar. The water from the top +jar is made to drip through its tube into the second jar, and so into +a vessel at the bottom, which contains either the floating figure of a +man, or some other kind of index to mark the rise of the water on a +scale divided into periods of two hours each. The day and night were +originally divided by the Chinese into twelve such periods; but now-a- +days watches and clocks are in universal use, and the European +division into twenty-four hours prevails everywhere. Formerly, too, +sticks of incense, to burn for a certain number of hours, as well as +graduated candles, made with the assistance of the water-clock, were +in great demand; these have now quite disappeared as time-recorders. + +The Chinese year is a lunar year. When the moon has travelled twelve +times round the earth, the year is completed. This makes it about ten +days short of our solar year; and to bring things right again, an +extra month, that is a thirteenth month, is inserted in every three +years. When foreigners first began to employ servants extensively, the +latter objected to being paid their wages according to the European +system, for they complained that they were thus cheated out of a +month's wages in every third year. An elaborate official almanack is +published annually in Peking, and circulated all over the empire; and +in addition to such information as would naturally be looked for in a +work of the kind, the public are informed what days are lucky, and +what days are unlucky, the right and the wrong days for doing or +abstaining from doing this, that, or the other. The anniversaries of +the death-days of the sovereigns of the ruling dynasty are carefully +noted; for on such days all the government offices are supposed to be +shut. Any foreign official who wishes to see a mandarin for urgent +business will find it possible to do so, but the visitor can only be +admitted through a side-door; the large entrance-gate cannot possibly +be opened under any circumstances whatever. + +No notice of the Chinese people, however slight or general in +character, could very well attain its object unless accompanied by +some more detailed account of their etiquette than is to be gathered +from the few references scattered over the preceding pages. Correct +behaviour, whether at court, in the market-place, or in the seclusion +of private life, is regarded as of such extreme importance--and +breaches of propriety in this sense are always so severely frowned +upon--that it behoves the foreigner who would live comfortably and at +peace with his Chinese neighbours, to pick up at least a casual +knowledge of an etiquette which in outward form is so different from +his own, and yet in spirit is so identically the same. A little +judicious attention to these matters will prevent much unnecessary +friction, leading often to a row, and sometimes to a catastrophe. +Chinese philosophers have fully recognized in their writings that +ceremonies and salutations and bowings and scrapings and rules of +precedence and rules of the road are not of any real value when +considered apart from the conditions with which they are usually +associated; at the same time they argue that without such conventional +restraints, nothing but confusion would result. Consequently, a +regular code of etiquette has been produced; but as this deals largely +with court and official ceremonial, and a great part of the remainder +has long since been quietly ignored, it is more to the point to turn +to the unwritten code which governs the masses in their everyday life. + +For the foreigner who would mix easily with the Chinese people, it is +above all necessary to understand not only that the street regulations +of Europe do not apply in China; but also that he will there find a +set of regulations which are tacitly agreed upon by the natives, and +which, if examined without prejudice, can only be regarded as based on +common sense. An ordinary foot-passenger, meeting perhaps a coolie +with two buckets of water suspended one at each end of a bamboo pole, +or carrying a bag of rice, weighing one, two, or even three +hundredweight, is bound to move out of the burden-carrier's path, +leaving to him whatever advantages the road may offer. This same +coolie, meeting a sedan chair borne by two or more coolies like +himself, must at once make a similar concession, which is in turn +repeated by the chair-bearers in favour of any one riding a horse. On +similar grounds, an empty sedan-chair must give way to one in which +there is a passenger; and though not exactly on such rational grounds, +it is understood that horse, chair, coolie and foot-passenger all +clear the road for a wedding or other procession, as well as for the +retinue of a mandarin. A servant, too, should stand at the side of the +road to let his master pass. As an exception to the general rule of +common sense which is so very noticeable in all Chinese institutions, +if only one takes the trouble to look for it, it seems to be an +understood thing that a man may not only stand still wherever he +pleases in a Chinese thoroughfare, but may even place his burden or +barrow, as the fancy seizes him, sometimes right in the fairway, from +which point he will coolly look on at the streams of foot-passengers +coming and going, who have to make the best of their way round such +obstructions. It is partly perhaps on this account that friends who go +for a stroll together never walk abreast but always in single file, +shouting out their conversation for all the world to hear; this, too, +even in the country, where a more convenient formation would often, +but not always, be possible. Shopkeepers may occupy the path with +tables exposing their wares, and itinerant stall-keepers do not +hesitate to appropriate a "pitch" wherever trade seems likely to be +brisk. The famous saying that to have freedom we must have order has +not entered deeply into Chinese calculations. Freedom is indeed a +marked feature of Chinese social life; some small sacrifices in the +cause of order would probably enhance rather than diminish the great +privileges now enjoyed. + +A few points are of importance in the social etiquette of indoor life, +and should not be lightly ignored by the foreigner, who, on the other +hand, would be wise not to attempt to substitute altogether Chinese +forms and ceremonies for his own. Thus, no Chinaman, and, it may be +added, no European who knows how to behave, fails to rise from his +chair on the entrance of a visitor; and it is further the duty of a +host to see that his visitor is actually seated before he sits down +himself. It is extremely impolite to precede a visitor, as in passing +through a door; and on parting, it is usual to escort him to the front +entrance. He must be placed on the left of the host, this having been +the post of honour for several centuries, previous to which it was the +seat to the right of the host, as with us, to which the visitor was +assigned. At such interviews it would not be correct to allude to +wives, who are no more to be mentioned than were the queen of Spain's +legs. + +One singular custom in connection with visits, official and otherwise, +ignorance of which has led on many occasions to an awkward moment, is +the service of what is called "guest-tea." At his reception by the +host every visitor is at once supplied with a cup of tea. The servant +brings two cups, one in each hand, and so manages that the cup in his +left hand is set down before the guest, who faces him on his right +hand, while that for his master is carried across and set down in an +exactly opposite sense. The tea-cups are so handed, as it were with +crossed hands, even when the host, as an extra mark of politeness, +receives that intended for his visitor, and himself places it on the +table, in this case being careful to use /both/ hands, it being +considered extremely impolite to offer anything with one hand only +employed. Now comes the point of the "guest-tea," which, as will be +seen, it is quite worth while to remember. Shortly after the beginning +of the interview, an unwary foreigner, as indeed has often been the +case, perhaps because he is thirsty, or because he may think it polite +to take a sip of the fragrant drink which has been so kindly provided +for him, will raise the cup to his lips. Almost instantaneously he +will hear a loud shout outside, and become aware that the scene is +changing rapidly for no very evident reason--only too evident, +however, to the surrounding Chinese servants, who know it to be their +own custom that so soon as a visitor tastes his "guest-tea," it is a +signal that he wishes to leave, and that the interview is at an end. +The noise is simply a bawling summons to get ready his sedan-chair, +and the scurrying of his coolies to be in their places when wanted. +There is another side to this quaint custom, which is often of +inestimable advantage to a busy man. A host, who feels that everything +necessary has been said, and wishes to free himself from further +attendance, may grasp his own cup and invite his guest to drink. The +same results follow, and the guest has no alternative but to rise and +take his leave. In ancient days visitors left their shoes outside the +front door, a custom which is still practised by the Japanese, the +whole of whose civilization--this cannot be too strongly emphasized-- +was borrowed originally from China. + +It is considered polite to remove spectacles during an interview, or +even when meeting in the street; though as this rather unreasonable +rule has been steadily ignored by foreigners, chiefly, no doubt, from +unacquaintance with it, the Chinese themselves make no attempt to +observe it so far as foreigners are concerned. In like manner, it is +most unbecoming for any "read-book man," no matter how miserably poor +he is, to receive a stranger, or be seen himself abroad, in short +clothes; but this rule, too, is often relaxed in the presence of +foreigners, who wear short clothes themselves. Honest poverty is no +crime in China, nor is it in any way regarded as cause for shame; it +is even more amply redeemed by scholarship than is the case in Western +countries. A man who has gained a degree moves on a different level +from the crowd around him, so profound is the respect shown to +learning. If a foreigner can speak Chinese intelligibly, his character +as a barbarian begins to be perceptibly modified; and if to the knack +of speech he adds a tolerable acquaintance with the sacred characters +which form the written language, he becomes transfigured, as one in +whom the influence of the holy men of old is beginning to prevail over +savagery and ignorance. + +It is not without reason that the term "sacred" is applied above to +the written words or characters. The Chinese, recognizing the +extraordinary results which have been brought about, silently and +invisibly, by the operation of written symbols, have gradually come to +invest these symbols with a spirituality arousing a feeling somewhat +akin to worship. A piece of paper on which a single word has once been +written or printed, becomes something other than paper with a black +mark on it. It may not be lightly tossed about, still less trampled +underfoot; it should be reverently destroyed by fire, here again used +as a medium of transmission to the great Beyond; and thus its +spiritual essence will return to those from whom it originally came. +In the streets of a Chinese city, and occasionally along a frequented +highroad, may be seen small ornamental structures into which odd bits +of paper may be thrown and burnt, thus preventing a desecration so +painful to the Chinese mind; and it has often been urged against +foreigners that because they are so careless as to what becomes of +their written and printed paper, the matter contained in foreign +documents and books must obviously be of no great value. It is even +considered criminal to use printed matter for stiffening the covers or +strengthening the folded leaves of books; still more so, to employ it +in the manufacture of soles for boots and shoes, though in such cases +as these the weakness of human nature usually carries the day. Still, +from the point of view of the Taoist faith, the risk is too serious to +be overlooked. In the sixth of the ten Courts of Purgatory, through +one or more of which sinners must pass after death in order to expiate +their crimes on earth, provision is made for those who "scrape the +gilding from the outside of images, take holy names in vain, show no +respect for written paper, throw down dirt and rubbish near pagodas +and temples, have in their possession blasphemous or obscene books and +do not destroy them, obliterate or tear books which teach man to be +good," etc., etc. + +In this, the sixth Court, presided over, like all the others, by a +judge, and furnished with all the necessary means and appliances for +carrying out the sentences, there are sixteen different wards where +different punishments are applied according to the gravity of the +offence. The wicked shade may be sentenced to kneel for long periods +on iron shot, or to be placed up to the neck in filth, or pounded till +the blood runs out, or to have the mouth forced open with iron pincers +and filled with needles, or to be bitten by rats, or nipped by locusts +while in a net of thorns, or have the heart scratched, or be chopped +in two at the waist, or have the skin of the body torn off and rolled +up into spills for lighting pipes, etc. Similar punishments are +awarded for other crimes; and these are to be seen depicted on the +walls of the municipal temple, to be found in every large city, and +appropriately named the Chamber of Horrors. It is doubtful if such +ghastly representations of what is to be expected in the next world +have really any deterrent effect upon even the most illiterate of the +masses; certainly not so long as health is present and things are +generally going well. "The devil a monk" will any Chinaman be when the +conditions of life are satisfactory to him. + +As has already been stated, his temperament is not a religious one; +and even the seductions and threats of Buddhism leave him to a great +extent unmoved. He is perhaps chiefly influenced by the Buddhist +menace of rebirth, possibly as a woman, or worse still as an animal. +Belief in such a contingency may act as a mild deterrent under a +variety of circumstances; it certainly tends to soften his treatment +of domestic animals. Not only because he may some day become one +himself, but also because among the mules or donkeys which he has to +coerce through long spells of exhausting toil, he may be unwittingly +belabouring some friend or acquaintance, or even a member of his own +particular family. This belief in rebirth is greatly strengthened by a +large number of recorded instances of persons who could recall events +which had happened in their own previous state of existence, and whose +statements were capable of verification. Occasionally, people would +accurately describe places and buildings which they could not have +visited, while many would entertain a dim consciousness of scenes, +sights and sounds, which seemed to belong to some other than the +present life. There is a record of one man who could remember having +been a horse, and who vividly recalled the pain he had suffered when +riders dug their knees hard into his sides. This, too, in spite of the +administration in Purgatory of a cup of forgetfulness, specially +designed to prevent in those about to reborn any remembrance of life +during a previous birth. + +After all, the most awful punishment inflicted in Purgatory upon +sinners is one which, being purely mental, may not appeal so +powerfully to the masses as the coarse tortures mentioned above. In +the fifth Court, the souls of the wicked are taken to a terrace from +which they can hear and see what goes on in their old homes after +their own deaths. "They see their last wishes disregarded, and their +instructions disobeyed. The property they scraped together with so +much trouble is dissipated and gone. The husband thinks of taking +another wife; the widow meditates second nuptials. Strangers are in +possession of the old estate; there is nothing to divide amongst the +children. Debts long since paid are brought again for settlement, and +the survivors are called upon to acknowledge false claims upon the +departed. Debts owed are lost for want of evidence, with endless +recriminations, abuse, and general confusion, all of which falls upon +the three families--father's, mother's, and wife's--connected with the +deceased. These in their anger speak ill of him that is gone. He sees +his children become corrupt, and friends fall away. Some, perhaps, may +stroke the coffin and let fall a tear, departing quickly with a cold +smile. Worse than that, the wife sees her husband tortured in gaol; +the husband sees his wife a victim to some horrible disease, lands +gone, houses destroyed by flood or fire, and everything in an +unutterable plight--the reward of former sins." + +Confucius declined absolutely to discuss the supernatural in any form +or shape, his one object being to improve human conduct in this life, +without attempting to probe that state from which man is divided by +death. At the same time, he was no scoffer; for although he declared +that "the study of the supernatural is injurious indeed," and somewhat +cynically bade his followers "show respect to spiritual beings, but +keep them at a distance," yet in another passage we read: "He who +offends against God has no one to whom he can pray." Again, when he +was seriously ill, a disciple asked if he might offer up prayer. +Confucius demurred to this, pointing out that he himself had been +praying for a considerable period; meaning thereby that his life had +been one long prayer. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE OUTLOOK + +There is a very common statement made by persons who have lived in +China--among the people, but not of them--and the more superficial the +acquaintance, the more emphatically is the statement made, that the +ordinary Chinaman, be he prince or peasant, offers to the Western +observer an insoluble puzzle in every department of his life. He is, +in fact, a standing enigma; a human being, it may be granted, but one +who can no more be classed than his unique monosyllabic language, +which still stands isolated and alone. + +This estimate is largely based upon some exceedingly false inferences. +It seems to be argued that because, in a great many matters, the +Chinaman takes a diametrically opposite view to our own, he must +necessarily be a very eccentric fellow; but as these are mostly +matters of convention, the argument is just as valid against us as +against him. "Strange people, those foreigners," he may say, and +actually does say; "they make their compass point north instead of +south. They take off their hats in company instead of keeping them on. +They mount a horse on its left instead of on its right side. They +begin dinner with soup instead of dessert, and end it with dessert +instead of soup. They drink their wine cold instead of hot. Their +books all open at the wrong end, and the lines in a page are +horizontal instead of vertical. They put their guests on the right +instead of on the left, though it is true that we did that until +several hundred years ago. Their music, too, is so funny, it is more +like noise; and as for their singing, it is only very loud talking. +Then their women are so immodest; striding about in ball-rooms with +very little on, and embracing strange men in a whirligig which they +call dancing, but very unlike the dignified movements which our male +dancers exhibit in the Confucian temple. Their men and women shake +hands, though know from our sacred Book of Rites that men and women +should not even pass things from one to another, for fear their hands +should touch. Then, again, all foreigners, sometimes the women also, +carry sticks, which can only be for beating innocent people; and their +so-called mandarins and others ride races and row boats, instead of +having coolies to do these things for them. They are strange people +indeed; very clever at cunning, mechanical devices, such as fire- +ships, fire-carriages, and air-cars; but extremely ferocious and +almost entirely uncivilized." + +Such would be a not exaggerated picture of the mental attitude of the +Chinaman towards his enigma, the foreigner. From the Chinaman's +imperturbable countenance the foreigner seeks in vain for some +indications of a common humanity within; and simply because he has not +the wit to see it, argues that it is not there. But there it is all +the time. The principles of general morality, and especially of duty +towards one's neighbour, the restrictions of law, and even the +conventionalities of social life, upon all of which the Chinaman is +more or less nourished from his youth upwards, remain, when accidental +differences have been brushed away, upon a bed-rock of ground common +to both East and West; and it is difficult to see how such teachings +could possibly turn out a race of men so utterly in contrast with the +foreigner as the Chinese are usually supposed to be. It is certain +that anything like a full and sincere observance of the Chinese rules +of life would result in a community of human beings far ahead of the +"pure men" dreamt of in the philosophy of the Taoists. + +As has already been either stated or suggested, the Chinese seem to be +actuated by precisely the same motives which actuate other peoples. +They delight in the possession of wealth and fame, while fully alive +to the transitory nature of both. They long even more for posterity, +that the ancestral line may be carried on unbroken. They find their +chief pleasures in family life, and in the society of friends, of +books, of mountains, of flowers, of pictures, and of objects dear to +the collector and the connoisseur. Though a nation of what the Scotch +would call "sober eaters," they love the banquet hour, and to a +certain extent verify their own saying that "Man's heart is next door +to his stomach." In centuries past a drunken nation, some two to three +hundred years ago they began to come under the influence of opium, and +the abuse of alcohol dropped to a minimum. Opium smoking, less harmful +a great deal than opium eating, took the place of drink, and became +the national vice; but the extent of its injury to the people has been +much exaggerated, and is not to be compared with that of alcohol in +the West. It is now, in consequence of recent legislation, likely to +disappear, on which result there could be nothing but the warmest +congratulations to offer, but for the fact that something else, more +insidious and deadly still, is rapidly taking its place. For a time, +it was thought that alcohol might recover its sway, and it is still +quite probable that human cravings for stimulant of some kind will +find a partial relief in that direction. The present enemy, however, +and one that demands serious and immediate attention, is morphia, +which is being largely imported into China in the shape of a variety +of preparations suitable to the public demand. A passage from opium to +morphia would be worse, if possible, than from the frying-pan into the +fire. + +The question has often been asked, but has never found a satisfactory +answer, why and how it is that Chinese civilization has persisted +through so many centuries, while other civilizations, with equal if +not superior claims to permanency, have been broken up and have +disappeared from the sites on which they formerly flourished. Egypt +may be able to boast of a high level of culture at a remoter date than +we can reach through the medium of Chinese records, for all we can +honestly claim is that the Chinese were a remarkably civilized nation +a thousand years before Christ. That was some time before Greek +civilization can be said to have begun; yet the Chinese nation is with +us still, and but for contact with the Western barbarian, would be +leading very much the same life that it led so many centuries ago. + +Some would have us believe that the bond which has held the people +together is the written language, which is common to the whole Empire, +and which all can read in the same sense, though the pronunciation of +words varies in different provinces as much as that of words in +English, French, or German. Others have suggested that to the +teachings of Confucius, which have outlived the competition of Taoism, +Buddhism and other faiths, China is indebted for the tie which has +knitted men's hearts together, and enabled them to defy any process of +disintegration. There is possibly some truth in all such theories; but +these are incomplete unless a considerable share of the credit is +allowed to the spirit of personal freedom which seems to breathe +through all Chinese institutions, and to unite the people in +resistance to every form of oppression. The Chinese have always +believed in the divine right of kings; on the other hand, their kings +must bear themselves as kings, and live up to their responsibilities +as well as to the rights they claim. Otherwise, the obligation is at +an end, and their subjects will have none of them. Good government +exists in Chinese eyes only when the country is prosperous, free from +war, pestilence and famine. Misgovernment is a sure sign that God has +withdrawn His mandate from the emperor, who is no longer fit to rule. +It then remains to replace the emperor by one who is more worthy of +Divine favour, and this usually means the final overthrow of the +dynasty. + +The Chinese assert their right to put an evil ruler to death, and it +is not high treason, or criminal in any way, to proclaim this +principle in public. It is plainly stated by the philosopher Mencius, +whose writings form a portion of the Confucian Canon, and are taught +in the ordinary course to every Chinese youth. One of the feudal +rulers was speaking to Mencius about a wicked emperor of eight hundred +years back, who had been attacked by a patriot hero, and who had +perished in the flames of his palace. "May then a subject," he asked, +"put his sovereign to death?" To which Mencius replied that any one +who did violence to man's natural charity of heart, or failed +altogether in his duty towards his neighbour, was nothing more than an +unprincipled ruffian; and he insinuated that it had been such a +ruffian, in fact, not an emperor in the true sense of the term, who +had perished in the case they were discussing. Another and most +important point to be remembered in any attempt to discover the real +secret of China's prolonged existence as a nation, also points in the +direction of democracy and freedom. The highest positions in the state +have always been open, through the medium of competitive examinations, +to the humblest peasant in the empire. It is solely a question of +natural ability coupled with an intellectual training; and of the +latter, it has already been shown that there is no lack at the +disposal of even the poorest. China, then, according to a high +authority, has always been at the highest rung of the democratic +ladder; for it was no less a person than Napoleon who said: +"Reasonable democracy will never aspire to anything more than +obtaining an equal power of elevation for all." + +In order to enforce their rights by the simplest and most bloodless +means, the Chinese have steadily cultivated the art of combining +together, and have thus armed themselves with an immaterial, invisible +weapon which simply paralyses the aggressor, and ultimately leaves +them masters of the field. The extraordinary part of a Chinese boycott +or strike is the absolute fidelity by which it is observed. If the +boatmen or chair-coolies at any place strike, they all strike; there +are no blacklegs. If the butchers refuse to sell, they all refuse, +entirely confident in each other's loyalty. Foreign merchants who have +offended the Chinese guilds by some course of action not approved by +those powerful bodies, have often found to their cost that such +conduct will not be tolerated for a moment, and that their only course +is to withdraw, sometimes at considerable loss, from the untenable +position they had taken up. The other side of the medal is equally +instructive. Some years ago, the foreign tea-merchants at a large +port, in order to curb excessive charges, decided to hoist the Chinese +tea-men, or sellers of tea, with their own petard. They organized a +strict combination against the tea-men, whose tea no colleague was to +buy until, by what seemed to be a natural order of events, the tea-men +had been brought to their knees. The tea-men, however, remained firm, +their countenances impassive as ever. Before long, the tea-merchants +discovered that some of their number had broken faith, and were doing +a roaring business for their own account, on the terms originally +insisted on by the tea-men. + +There is no longer any doubt that China is now in the early stages of +serious and important changes. Her old systems of education and +examination are to be greatly modified, if not entirely remodelled. +The distinctive Chinese dress is to be shorn of two of its most +distinguishing features--the /queue/ of the man and the small feet of +the woman. The coinage is to be brought more into line with commercial +requirements. The administration of the law is to be so improved that +an honest demand may be made--as Japan made it some years back--for +the abolition of extra-territoriality, a treaty obligation under which +China gives up all jurisdiction over resident foreigners, and agrees +that they shall be subject, civilly and criminally alike, only to +their own authorities. The old patriarchal form of government, +autocratic in name but democratic in reality, which has stood the +Chinese people in such good stead for an unbroken period of nearly +twenty-two centuries, is also to change with the changes of the hour, +in the hope that a new era will be inaugurated, worthy to rank with +the best days of a glorious past. + +And here perhaps it may be convenient if a slight outline is given of +the course marked out for the future. China is to have a +"constitution" after the fashion of most foreign nations; and her +people, whose sole weapon of defence and resistance, albeit one of +deadly efficiency, has hitherto been combination of the masses against +the officials set over them, are soon to enjoy the rights of +representative government. By an Imperial decree, issued late in 1907, +this principle was established; and by a further decree, issued in +1908, it was ordered that at the end of a year provincial assemblies, +to deliberate on matters of local government, were to be convened in +all the provinces and certain other portions of the empire, as a first +step towards the end in view. Membership of these assemblies was to be +gained by election, coupled with a small property qualification; and +the number of members in each assembly was to be in proportion to the +number of electors in each area, which works out roughly at about one +thousand electors to each representative. In the following year a +census was to be taken, provincial budgets were to be drawn up, and a +new criminal code was to be promulgated, on the strength of which new +courts of justice were to be opened by the end of the third year. By +1917, there was to be a National Assembly or Parliament, consisting of +an Upper and Lower House, and a prime minister was to be appointed. + +On the 14th of October 1909 these provincial assemblies met for the +first time. The National Assembly was actually opened on the 3rd of +October 1910; and in response to public feeling, an edict was issued a +month later ordering the full constitution to be granted within three +years from date. It is really a single chamber, which contains the +elements of two. It is composed of about one hundred members, +appointed by the Throne and drawn from certain privileged classes, +including thirty-two high officials and ten distinguished scholars, +together with the same number of delegates from the provinces. Those +who obtain seats are to serve for three years, and to have their +expenses defrayed by the state. It is a consultative and not an +executive body; its function is to discuss such subjects as taxation, +the issue of an annual budget, the amendment of the law, etc., all of +which subjects are to be approved by the emperor before being +submitted to this assembly, and also to deal with questions sent up +for decision from the provincial assemblies. Similarly, any resolution +to be proposed must be backed by at least thirty members, and on being +duly passed by a majority, must then be embodied in a memorial to the +Throne. For passing and submitting resolutions which may be classed +under various headings as objectionable, the assembly can at once be +dissolved by Imperial edict. + +There are, so far, no distinct parties in the National Assembly, that +is, as regards the places occupied in the House. Men of various shades +of opinion, Radicals, Liberals and Conservatives, are all mixed up +together. The first two benches are set aside for representatives of +the nobility, with precedence from the left of the president round to +his right. Then come officials, scholars and leading merchants on the +next two benches. Behind them, again, on four rows of benches, are the +delegates from the provincial assemblies. There is thus a kind of +House of Lords in front, with a House of Commons, the representatives +of the nation, at the back. The leanings of the former class, as might +be supposed, are mostly of a conservative tendency, while the +sympathies of the latter are rather with progressive ideas; at the +same time, there will be found among the Lords a certain sprinkling of +Radicals, and among the Commons not a few whose views are of an +antiquated, not to say reactionary, type. + +With the above scheme the Chinese people are given to understand quite +clearly that while their advice in matters concerning the +administration of government will be warmly welcomed, all legislative +power will remain, as heretofore, confined to the emperor alone. At +the first blush, this seems like giving with one hand and taking away +with the other; and so perhaps it would work out in more than one +nation of the West. But those who know the Chinese at home know that +when they offer political advice they mean it to be taken. The great +democracy of China, living in the greatest republic the world has ever +seen, would never tolerate any paltering with national liberties in +the present or in the future, any more than has been the case in the +past. Those who sit in the seats of authority at the capital are far +too well acquainted with the temper of their countrymen to believe for +a moment that, where such vital interests are concerned, there can be +anything contemplated save steady and satisfactory progress towards +the goal proposed. If the ruling Manchus seize the opportunity now +offered them, then, in spite of simmering sedition here and there over +the empire, they may succeed in continuing a line which in its early +days had a glorious record of achievement, to the great advantage of +the Chinese nation. If, on the other hand, they neglect this chance, +there may result one of those frightful upheavals from which the +empire has so often suffered. China will pass again through the +melting-pot, to emerge once more, as on all previous occasions, +purified and strengthened by the process. + + + +BIBLIOGRAPHY + +1. /The Chinese Classics/, by James Legge, D.D., late Professor of + Chinese at Oxford. + +A translation of the whole of the Confucian Canon, comprising the Four +Books in which are given the discourses of Confucius and Mencius, the +Book of History, the Odes, the Annals of Confucius' native State, the +Book of Rites, and the Book of Changes. + +2. /The Ancient History of China/, by F. Hirth, Ph.D., Professor of + Chinese at Columbia University, New York. + +A sketch of Chinese history from fabulous ages down to 221 B.C., +containing a good deal of information of an antiquarian character, and +altogether placing in its most attractive light what must necessarily +be rather a dull period for the general reader. + +3. /China/, by E. H. Parker, Professor of Chinese at Victoria + University, Manchester. + +A general account of China, chiefly valuable for commercial and +statistical information, sketch-maps of ancient trade-routes, etc. + +4. /A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/, by H. A. Giles, LL.D., + Professor of Chinese at the University of Cambridge. + +This work contains 2579 short lives of Chinese Emperors, statesmen, +generals, scholars, priests, and other classes, including some women, +from the earliest times down to the present day, arranged +alphabetically. + +5. /A Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire/, by L. Richard. + +This work is rightly named "comprehensive," for it contains a great +deal of information which cannot be strictly classed as geographical, +all of which, however, is of considerable value to the student. + +6. /Descriptive Sociology (Chinese)/, by E. T. C. Werner, H.B.M. + Consul at Foochow. + +A volume of the series initiated by Herbert Spenger. It consists of a +large number of sociological facts grouped and arranged in +chronological order, and is of course purely a work of reference. + +7. /A History of Chinese Literature/, by H. A. Giles. + +Notes on two or three hundred writers of history, philosophy, +biography, travel, poetry, plays, fiction, etc., with a large number +of translated extracts grouped under the above headings and arranged +in chronological order. + +8. /Chinese Poetry in English Verse/, by H. A. Giles. + +Rhymed translations of nearly two hundred short poems from the +earliest ages down to the present times. + +9. /An Introduction to the History of Chinese Pictorial Art/, by H. + A. Giles. + +Notes on the lives and works of over three hundred painters of all +ages, chiefly translated from the writings of Chinese art-critics, +with sixteen reproductions of famous Chinese pictures. + +10. /Scraps from a Collector's Note-book/, by F. Hirth. + +Chiefly devoted to notes on painters of the present dynasty, 1644- +1905, with twenty-one reproductions of famous pictures, forming a +complementary supplement to No. 9. + +11. /Religions of Ancient China/, by H. A. Giles. + +A short account of the early worship of one God, followed by brief +notices of Taoism, Buddhism, Nestorian Christianity, Mahommedanism, +and other less well-known faiths which have been introduced at various +dates into China. + +12. /Chinese Characteristics/, by the Rev. Arthur Smith, D.D. + +A humorous but at the same time serious examination into the modes of +thought and springs of action which peculiarly distinguish the Chinese +people. + +13. /Village Life in China/, by the Rev. Arthur Smith. + +The scope of this work is sufficiently indicated by its title. + +14. /China under the Empress Dowager/, by J. O. Bland, and E. + Backhouse. + +An interesting account of Chinese Court Life between 1860 and 1908, +with important sidelights on the Boxer troubles and the Siege of the +Legations in 1900. + +15. /The Imperial History of China/, by Rev. J. Macgowan. + +A short and compact work on a subject which has not been successfully +handled. + +16. /Indiscreet Letters from Peking/, by B. Putnam Weale. + +Though too outspoken to meet with general approbation, this work is +considered by many to give the most faithful account of the Siege of +the Legations, as seen by an independent witness. + +17. /Buddhism as a Religion/, by H. Hackmann, Lic. Theol. + +A very useful volume, translated from the German, showing the various +developments of Buddhism in different parts of the world. + +18. /Chuang Tzu/, by H. A. Giles. + +A complete translation of the writings of the leading Taoist +philosopher, who flourished in the fourth and third centuries B.C. + + + + + +End if The Project Gutenberg Etext The Civilization of China, by Giles + diff --git a/old/cvchn10.zip b/old/cvchn10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bccb683 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cvchn10.zip |