268 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



the government of China. If the admin- 

 istration goes on smoothly in the provinces 

 the officials therein do about as they please. 

 But there have been occasions when the 

 people of a province have felt themselves 

 oppressed by their provincial officials, and 

 they have very summarily resented it. It is 

 an unwritten law of China that the people 

 have the right to dethrone their Emperor 

 when he does not govern wisely and justly. 

 While they recognize the Emperor as the 

 son of heaven, they say that he ceases to be 

 such when he fails to live up to the dignity 

 and requirements of his high station. 

 There is a beautiful idea in this principle, 

 for it means that a ruler ought to govern 

 by the highest standards of virtue and 

 equity. 



The shooter will rarely, if ever, have 

 such a case as will necessitate his going 

 to Peking to enlist the support of his 

 diplomatic representative. But as I have 

 presented an outline of the divisions of the 

 territorial administrative system, a brief 

 reference to the administration of the 

 system of the central government may be 

 added. 



