.i ruLXT OF \'Ih'\V LL\ (l/l\A 



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China is the great example of a 

 country at peace. She has not been 

 tranquil within herself, for it is a mis- 

 take, as I see it, to regard Cliina as 

 complacent; but essentially her contact 

 with tlie world has not been of tlie con- 

 quering-hero kind. I have been in- 

 terested to see her conquest in the South 

 Seas. A Chinese comes to a place 

 quietly. He asks no favors, no protec- 

 tion of his government; he raises no 

 flag. Presently he has a good business ; 

 he makes himself useful; soon he con- 

 trols important affairs; he conquers the 

 country, but the conquest is not in the 

 name of China. It is a racial con- 

 quest. The only way it can be stopped 

 is to prohibit immigration. 



China has had the presumption to put 

 the soldier lowest in the social scale ,, 

 and yet she has persisted longest; this 

 makes her perhaps the luost remarkable 

 and the most significant country. Since 

 China began, Greece has finished. 

 Egypt has buried herself in her sands. 

 Alexander the Great has come and 

 gone. Christianity has come. Kome 

 fell. Spain planted her language 

 around the world. Great states have 

 come out of the renaissance; by vast 

 heroics they are trying to keep their 

 heads above water. China is the Great 

 Fact in history. It was a sensation to 

 me to find that her native systems of 

 education are innocent of Greece and 

 Rome. 



(Query: Has nny continuous mili- 

 tary method of civilization justillc(l it- 

 self? ^Iny we h()]io for the contimicil 

 development of a ]H'ace-loving China as 

 the greatest safeguard in the world?) 



Scmilh. China has not had a con- 

 tinuous government. We think of the 

 Chinese monarchies as extensively des- 

 potic, yet such is not the case except 

 within rnthcr naiTow ]iowers. liife m;iy 

 have been chca]) as against th(^ will ol' 

 dynasties, yet the powers of govern- 

 ment have lain largely in the provinces. 

 Dynasties have been short, an average 

 it is said of abont two hundred vears. 



and every succeeding dynasty has been 

 of a different kind and stamp from its 

 predecessor. It is the unwritten law 

 that a dynasty does not write its own 

 history. China has seen marvelous 

 changes of governmental direction. We 

 think she has been sleeping. Some peo- 

 |ilr> are too wakeful. They do not rest 

 well. When they turn over in bed, the 

 bed ercaks, perhaps the windows rattle. 

 When China turns over, the bed falls 

 down, the house collapses, the founda- 

 tions separate into their elements. 



China has lived long enough to prove 

 that there are more enduring things 

 within a people than government. We 

 of the West have not yet learned this. 

 In some parts of the West we still think 

 that government is a copartnership 

 with God. 



Kiillith. China is described as the 

 oldest great country of widely dissemi- 

 nated learning. This learning may not 

 be universally acquired, but it is never- 

 theless accessible. Wherever 1 went. 

 I was impressed with the nuiid)er of 

 books on sale. I do not know what 

 was in these books, but I saw them. 



(Query: Is universal popttlar educa- 

 tion essential to permanent institu- 

 tions?) 



X in III. China has had jirobably the 

 most perfect educational system yet de- 

 vised. We may not agree that the edu- 

 cational result has been most worth 

 while, but it has led directly into civic 

 office and has opened a career fnr 

 talent. 



In the fofiiier Chinese system, which 

 came to an end practically with the fall 

 of the IManchus. in very recent years, 

 the wealthy youth even if from the city 

 was not much favored over the j^oorer 

 youth even if from the cnttntiw. The 

 clan or family supported the poor boy 

 of promise for the sake of the clan : we 

 support such a one for sweet chai-ily. 

 or the government extends its benevo- 

 lence. There were no extensive an<l 

 ex]")ensive laboratories and technical 

 schools. The exercise was pure learn- 



