ON ITEMS or CHINESE ETHICS AND PHILOSOPHY. 61 



proved himself to be. In bis own country, and more 

 esj^ecially in some of its bxrgest cities, it is no uncommon 

 thing to see one portion of a family of artisans pursuing 

 tbeir special occupation tbrougbout tbe entire bours of 

 dayligbt, otber members take up the same work at nightfall, 

 to continue it till morning ; and so on uninterruptedly, for 

 they know not tbe Sunday's rest. 



[There are a good many restrictions upon labour in China 

 which working men in western countries would not care to 

 submit to. Combinations of working men are recognised 

 by law; in fact they are to a certain extent insisted upon, 

 and a man who does not belong to some union or other 

 finds difficulty in getting work, except in special skilled 

 handicrafts. Labour troubles and distress due to a congested 

 state of the local labour market are unknown. Indeed, 

 trouble of any kind is rarely experienced, for labourers are 

 strictly confined to the districts where they are employed. 

 They are allowed to go where they please ; but no labourer 

 can be employed outside the boundary of his own district. 

 He may, upon making application to the labourers of 

 another locality, be allowed to join them, but it must be 

 by general consent of the majority. In that case he is 

 transferred, and may not then work in the former district 

 to which he belonged. This arrangement is found to work 

 extremely well. It prevents the swarming of unskilled 

 labour into markets already supplied, and yet allows of 

 transfer from one part to another where the resident 

 workers are not opposed to the new comer. It may not 

 suit western notions of perfect freedom, but the result, 

 summed up by the United States Consul — "Trouble is 

 rarely experienced and strikes never occur " — is one that 

 many western states would give a good deal to secure 

 Avithin their own borders.] 



China in the Present. 



Although the great empire to which the preceding 

 remarks more directly apply has been slow to adopt the 

 policy of Avhat in western nations is called progress, it has 

 been by no means stagnant. For example, the gradual 

 introduction of literature which tends to explain the science 

 and leading features of social life in other countries must of 

 necessity affect the train of thought by Avhich during some 

 thousands of years past, the ruling classes and the people 



