72 



The National Geographic Magazin2 



Empire not an evil smell nor a filthy 

 spot can be found. The vile odors 

 caused by the collection and transporta- 

 tion of human excreta for fertilizer are 

 forcible proof, though not apparent at 

 first, of the instinctive spirit of cleanli- 

 ness throughout Japan. 



With the Chinaman all this is almost 

 exactly reversed. A Chinese house is 

 built in the most substantial manner — 

 of stone or tiles. It is, in fact, accord- 

 ing to a trite proverb, intended to last 

 forever, and its condition, while neat, is 

 not especially clean. The condition of 

 the streets in a Chinese city literally 

 staggers belief. The villainous smells 

 rising from the nameless filth of a street 

 in a populous city cannot be adequately 

 described. 



Although in domestic architecture 

 these two peoples are so diametrically 

 different, their ecclesiastical construc- 

 tions are strikingly alike. A Buddhist 

 temple of Japan might be set up in China 

 and little difference would be noted in 

 the building itself, but in its ornamenta- 

 tion, exterior and interior, especially in 

 the images and figures, a marked dissim- 

 ilarity is observable. In the Chinese 

 temple there is a certain grotesqueness 

 and unreality which is lacking in the 

 Japanese figures. Not only is this true 

 of the modeling and action, but in color- 

 ing the difference between the artistic 

 sense of the two nations is very striking. 

 The acute observer can readily assign 

 to a colored figure its correct origin by 

 these characteristics of the two nations 

 whose ecclesiastical art has a common 

 genesis. It is proper to note, however, 

 that in neither' example do these artists 

 of the Far East approach in any degree 

 the western standards. 



The charitable organizations among 

 the dwellers in the Celestial Empire are 

 the wonder of the western observer. 

 The altruism born of countless centuries 

 of civilization finds expression in charity 

 as comprehensive in its methods as it is 

 universal in its expression. In China 



there is scarcely a type of misery, of 

 poverty, of sickness, of distress, with- 

 out its corresponding charity among the 

 more fortunate classes. In fact, char- 

 itable organizations are not confined to 

 the rich, but among the poor themselves 

 societies flourish and guilds exist for the 

 amelioration of the condition of those 

 occup3ang the social .strata down to the 

 very bottom in the scale of misery. 



The indigent, the sick, the maimed, 

 the friendless, the blind, the beggar, the 

 laborer, the young, the old, the living, and 

 the dead — all in need of food, clothing, 

 medicines, shelter, assistance, burial — 

 are the objects of definite charitable so- 

 cieties, whose members, while constantly 

 on the lookout for their less fortunate 

 neighbors, seldom or never apply for as- 

 sistance in their good work from the few 

 non-members of some guild or society. 

 Not only are the distressed and sick as- 

 sisted, but the coolie, the laborer on the 

 bund, the bearer of burdens, is the object 

 of care and charity, and close beside 

 the streets, crowded with porters, " pole 

 coolies, ' ' and wheelbarrow carriers, huge 

 earthenware jars of tea are set out, fur- 

 nished with cups, for the use of those 

 who have no season of rest save on the 

 completion of the task in hand. And 

 it is a pleasant sight to see the smile 

 with which a well-dressed Chinaman 

 will hand a cup of tea to his ragged, 

 sweating brother, burdened almost tO' 

 exhaustion and parched with thirst. In 

 these charities, as in all other things, the 

 Cliinaman is practical, and fine-spun 

 theories give way to the actualities of 

 every-day life. 



In practical philanthropy the Japanese 

 and the Chinaman are widely separated, 

 for notwithstanding the fact that char- 

 itable organizations exist and flourish 

 among the subjects of the Mikado, they 

 are neither so numerous nor so far-reach- 

 ing as with the subjects of the Son of 

 Heaven. The Japanese altruism deals, 

 rather with theory than with facts ; so 

 that the whole difference may be piit 



