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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



blue;-and-whitk vases, imperiai, ye;llow bowls and pirates of the; pe^riod 



OF KIIiNLUNG 



course of the very thorough restorations 

 undertaken since the Japan-Russia war. 

 Both armies respected the sacred pre- 

 cincts during the war. When the Japa- 

 nese General Kodama came to visit the 

 grateful viceroy after the peace, the latter 

 asked his advice as .to what he should 

 do to improve his provinces and help his 

 people, so long the sport of contending 

 armies. "Pave your Mukden streets and 

 make roads, so that your country people 

 can bring their crops to market first," 

 said the great military genius. 



"What next?" asked the contrite vice- 

 roy. 



"Well," said the candid friend, looking 

 around at the sagging and weed-grown 

 roofs, the broken windows, torn mattings 

 and blinds — everything in the last 

 stages of dilapidation and deeply dirt- 

 encrusted — "if you Chinese had half the 

 respect for your ancestors that you talk 

 about you would never let this old palace 

 remain in this condition. Clean it up. 



Repair it, or it will fall down on your 

 heads in another year." 



It was the year for plain talking and 

 the visitor improved his opportunity, say- 

 ing, incidentally, that he would repair the 

 palace at the expense of the Japanese 

 government, if the local officials would 

 not do it, and charge it against the reve- 

 nues of the province. 



The viceroy commanded and the min- 

 ions fell to with such zeal that when 

 General Kodama came back six months 

 later the place was hardly recognizable. 

 To save face before the Japanese general 

 they did what reverence for the imperial 

 ancestors had not moved them to do for 

 nearly a century, and, after a frenzied 

 house cleaning, they painted, papered, 

 mended, plastered, and slicked things 

 over to a miracle. Chinese pride was 

 roused to prodigies of activity, and, as 

 pride grew and money was granted for 

 the "sacred places," the later repairs have 

 been entire reconstructions. "Clean and 



