Western Progress in China 



435 



then may one accomplish the spHtting 

 of the bamboo — i. e., the difficult task. 

 The Book of History says : ' Hold fast 

 the golden mean.' And again, 'Only 

 with decision of character can there be 

 completion of a work.' These words 

 sum up the case. 



" In modifying the government, the 

 most important things to be considered 

 are two : In the first place, the old cus- 

 toms were good, but, having been in 

 operation a long time, a great many 

 abuses and obstructions have grown up. 

 The administration of the law should 

 be thoroughly reformed and restored to 

 its early condition. In the second place, 

 what is lacking in the Chinese law should 

 be supplied by an admixture of Western 

 law, so that in time we may gradually 

 become wealthy and strong. 



" The object of the establishment of 

 this Board of Administration is to 

 promote the independence of China. 

 China's weakness is due to her povert3^ 

 The strength of foreign powers is due 

 to their wealth. Deliverance from pov- 

 erty, therefore, isthe very beginning and 

 foundation of independence. But the 

 commencement of reform ought not by 

 any means to wait upon the attainment 

 of wealth. At present China has but a 

 slender thread of life — merely the loy- 

 alty of her people ; and at a time when 

 bands of brigands are spread abroad, 

 mutually deceiving and inciting one an- 

 other, if the very first thing done is to 

 search the Empire for money, it will 

 shortly be said that of the thousand 

 benefits promised and the hundred ills 

 from which men are to be delivered, 

 not one of the former has been gained 

 nor one of the latter removed. Such a 

 method is a direct oppression of the 

 people and will alienate men's hearts. 

 Though you may have very excellent 

 plans, they will be difficult to carry out. 

 But let us first remove one or two of 

 the abuses complained of throughout 

 the Empire, and carry into execution 

 one or two of the things most desired, 



and we will cause the people of the 

 whole Empire to know that the reforms 

 projected by the court really have in 

 view the promotion of the prosperity of 

 the people and the removal of the ills 

 from which they suffer. 



' ' In all matters let there be apurpose to 

 search out the facts, and afterwards every 

 edict issued will operate like running 

 water. Heretofore, there have been debts 

 to the foreign powers unpaid ; now there 

 is the pressureof the indemnity, amount- 

 ing to more than 20,000,000 taels per an= 

 num. How are we to obtain such a sum? 

 There are but two roads to wealth — one 

 is to increase the revenues [literally, 

 'open the springs'], and the other is 

 to economize in expenditure. An in- 

 crease of the revenues will be either too 

 gradual to meet the pressing demand, 

 or it will be a case of ' seeking money 

 and incurring odium. ' This, therefore, 

 is not so good as practicing economy in 

 expenditure. Economy in expenditure 

 means nothing else than the discharge 

 of useless troops and the saving of their 

 pay, the discharge of extra officials and 

 the saving of their salaries, the aboli- 

 tion of useless offices and factories and 

 the saving of the money spent on them. 

 Pay for soldiers, official salaries, and 

 other expenditures are all the very flesh 

 and blood of the people of the Em- 

 pire. 



' ' In the south and east certain prov- 

 inces have begun the adoption of West- 

 ern customs, and say there is nothing to 

 fear or suspect in Western methods. 

 But the people of the north and west 

 are simple in their habits; their eyes 

 and ears have had no broad experience, 

 and to abruptly order them to change 

 their manners is no wiser than the 

 sounding of a cymbal for a deaf man to 

 hear or the endeavor to peel a water 

 nut with a lotus stem. In reforming 

 the customs, therefore, it is decidedly 

 difficult to make a plan of universal 

 adaptabilit}^ which may be put in oper- 

 ation among all the people of the whole 



