360 PROBLEMS OF HUMAN EVOLUTION 



have never yet met with a man who loved virtue as much as he 

 loved pleasure," the inference being apparently that we must not 

 slacken in our pursuit of virtue. Mencius " taught the original 

 virtue of man and described human nature as surely disposed to 

 good even as water is sure to flow downwards. Force alone 

 and strong temptation can drive water upwards or drag human 

 nature downwards." 1 



The Four Books and the Five Classics are a great storehouse 

 of morality and wisdom to which the Chinese are constantly 

 referring. Here, then, is another power which cements the 

 nation together. All educated citizens of the celestial empire 

 read and admire these writings of the wise of old, and the study 

 of them produces a community of life, character and ideas which 

 is more powerful than any freemasonry. 



But not only do the ancient classics and the examinations in 

 connection with them hold the empire together. They are, 

 in addition, a powerful antiseptic that prevents the corruption 

 of the national life. Nowhere in the world has there been a 

 code of law or morals that has so long remained a living 

 influence for good. Let it be granted that Chinese civilisation 

 is infinitely below the European product. 



" Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay," 

 expresses the conviction of all loyal sons of the progressive 

 nations. But the Chinese have advanced a long way up the 

 incline and if they have not slid down again towards barbarism, 

 it must be owned that the fact is one to excite our wonder. 

 And I believe it is largely to their great classical authors they 

 owe it that there has been no decadence. It is an example of 

 Sir Henry Maine's great principle, that codification should take 

 place " when usage is still wholesome." It is a remarkable fact 

 that there is no mention of foot-cramping in any of the Chinese 

 Foot- classics. If you ask a Chinaman the reason why girl children 

 cramping have their feet cramped, he can give no good explanation. It is 

 a custom. And the most probable way of accounting for it is 

 that small feet were considered one of the points of beauty in 

 women, and so they were cramped more and more till the 



1 Loc. cit, p. 247. 



