Jan. 19. 1888] 



NATURE 



269 



State is that " in which on a given area the largest 

 possible number of human beings are able to pro- 

 cure and distribute most equally amongst themselves 

 the most well-being, liberty, justice, and security." 

 Measured by this standard, China is pronounced to be the 

 most highly civilized country in the world, and the 

 Chinese have this pecuHarity — that, while modern nations 

 are only the collateral successors of those of antiquity* 

 China is the direct heir of the generations which created 

 it. " Its history shows the phenomena of heredity in 

 regular succession, neither modified nor obstructed by 

 change of medium, with the evolution of events and ideas 

 — an evolution as regular as that of living beings, freely 

 proceeding unshaken and untroubled by any exterior 

 influence, by which its direction might have been altered 

 or its development retarded ; and it is here, I repeat, that 

 we find the deep and original interest of China, and 

 perhaps also the secret of her extraordinary longevity." 

 The book is a study of the progress and organization, in 

 short of the civilization, attained by humanity under such 

 conditions of liberty and development. The student in 

 this case is full of love of his subject, and this no doubt is 

 a great advantage, although it has its disadvantages also. 

 M. Simon tells us of a land flowing with milk and honey, 

 moral as well as material. Nothing that he has seen is 

 inharmonious or out of place ; everything is for the best, 

 and has had the best effects. Chinese civilization is not 

 a dead, rotten branch, as it is usually represented to be, 

 but a living active power for good ; in fact, " nowhere in 

 the world is there such proof of force and vitality " as in 

 the Chinese character and in Chinese civilization. 



The book is divided into five parts : (i) the family ; (2) 

 labour ; (3) the State ; (4) the Government ; (5) the 

 Ouang-ming-tse family, in which he gives the history of 

 the life, labours, and pleasures of a family with which he 

 got acquainted in his travels, besides illustrating by a 

 concrete instance how Chinese polity and administration 

 work out in an individual case. With regard to the family, 

 he says that it is at the hearth that the government of the 

 country is carried on. The family has the power of 

 passing judgment on any of its members for an offence, 

 and can sentence the delinquent to whipping, exile, and 

 excommunication. From the decision of the domestic 

 tribunal an appeal is permitted to the ordinary courts of 

 justice, but it is unusual for such an appeal to be made. 

 Such is the respect paid by the Chinese to their traditions 

 that there are few who do not submit at once to the 

 sentence passed on them by their family. No punish- 

 ment inflicted on a Chinaman can be more terrible than 

 exclusion from the family. Socially he becomes an 

 outcast, and, driven from the shelter of his ancestral 

 home, and the protection of the spirits of his ancestors 

 he wanders in search of employment over the world, and 

 it is the thousands of these abandoned ones who flood 

 the American labour-markets. In the family, ancestral 

 worship is cultivated, and is one of the strongest incen- 

 tives to labour and progress : each member looks on 

 himself as the guardian of posterity, toiling for their 

 benefit, and satisfying the ancestors who watch over the 

 family home. Each family religiously preserves the 

 records of its ancestors, their lives and acts ; and to the 

 assembled members these records are read by the head 

 of the house at regular intervals. At each meeting one j 



biography is read, then the next, and so on in order, till 

 the last of the series is finished, when a commence- 

 ment is again made with the first. With regard to these 

 family records, M. Simon sees no more noble sign of 

 the honesty and independence of the Chinese than the 

 fact that, when any question is in dispute, an entry in 

 one of these sacred family books referring to the dispute 

 is looked on by the authorities as decisive. To be able 

 to make the entries in this book, and to read it to his 

 family, should he ever become its head, every Chinaman is 

 taught to read and write ; of this, in connection with 

 education, we shall speak later on. Property is collective 

 and individual ; and the living holders look on them- 

 selves as the trustees of posterity. The fee-simple 

 belongs to the community, except in a few fast-diminish- 

 ing cases, where small portions of land are owned by 

 each family, and are considered inalienable ; and he who 

 dares to introduce a stranger into this patrimonial land 

 commits sacrilege, and becomes an outcast. China has 

 been described as a despotic monarchy, but there is 

 perfect liberty to all. Religions of all kinds are tolerated 

 and are never interfered with except for political purposes. 

 All public meetings and expressions of public opinion are 

 freely permitted. To prove this, M. Simon says that in 1863 

 he made in one province a collection of proclamations of 

 great virulence, denouncing the Emperor for agreeing to the 

 treaty with the Europeans after the sack of the Summer 

 Palace and the burning of the great library, and they are 

 very numerous : none of the mandarins, he adds, dared to 

 prosecute their authors. Taxation is very light — not one- 

 hundredth part of what it is in France. With regard to 

 legislation, the Academy of Sciences at Pekin is the only 

 legislative power. If any official thinks that a custom, 

 generally observed in his province, might with advantage 

 be used over the whole country, he sends an account of 

 it to this body, which examines it, and, if it thinks the 

 custom useful, orders it to be tried in the other provinces ; 

 if successful there, it is finally adopted, inscribed in the 

 code, and becomes law. Though M. Simon reserves a 

 more extensive account of education in China for another 

 work, it is easy to gather his views from the present book. 

 The Government gives full liberty to all to open schools. 

 The children are well taught, and there is scarcely a 

 Chinaman who is not able to read, write, add up accounts, 

 and draw. The foundation of the education is laid in 

 the family. From their earliest years, children are 

 taught their duties and their rights. They are taught 

 respect for others, and hence respect for themselves. 

 Obedience to usages, humanity, justice, and right feeling 

 — these are the foundations of their education. Besides 

 the family education there are two kinds of public 

 instruction, — primary and superior. Primary education 

 is given in the institutions attached to the family temples, 

 where there are such, or in private schools, which any- 

 one is at liberty to open. The education of every child 

 is provided for, apart from Governmental aid, the rich 

 paying for their poorer brethren. Inasmuch as each 

 Chinese sign conveys an idea, the child that is taught to 

 write the Chinese characters learns not only words, but 

 ideas, and he is forced to explain and comment on these 

 to his teachers. And it is to this fact, in addition to the 

 influences of family councils and family readings, with 

 the profuse inscriptions in -every public place, that M. 



