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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



fathers, producing in them such bad 

 manners. When other people dressed in 

 rude garments, they were clotlied in 

 splendidly colored silks of their own 

 manufacture, colors which have never 

 been excelled to this day. 



A distinctly religious and keenly intel- 

 lectual people, they have passionately 

 loved harmony, and have shown them- 

 selves capable of high thinking and 

 modest living. 



Diligent, also, they are to the last de- 

 gree. Men and women slave from sun- 

 rise to sunset. Even the Emperor him- 

 self will frequently hold audience with 

 his ministers at 3 or 4 o'clock in the 

 ]norning. 



China's contact with the West during 

 the last three centuries has been most 

 unfortunate. On our part it has been 

 coercion, attack, and grab. We have 

 despised her people and disregarded her 

 rights, while demanding her trade at the 

 point of the sword. Her age, her 

 thought, her isolation have made her con- 

 servative and proud. We have tried by 

 force to hurry her, and by shot and shell 

 have compelled her to open her gates. 

 Degrading superstition has made her 

 suspicious, and the struggle for bread has 

 made her intensely material. Still her 

 superstitions have kept before her eyes 

 the unseen, and possibly have made her 

 people really less materialistic than our- 

 selves. The Chinese deny themselves far 

 more for their religious beliefs than do 

 we. We should not forget that our bet- 

 ter knowledge of the unseen, our clearer 

 apprehension of religious truth, came 

 from the revelation of the Bible, the 

 foundation on which our higher civili- 

 zation is built. In its possession we 

 have, as a race, little of which to boast. 

 To us it is a legacy from another ancient 

 ])eople, the Jews. Peculiarities as strong 

 and characteristics as great as those of 

 that ancient people are among the valu- 

 able possessions of the Chinese. 



If we seek their favor only for pur- 

 ])ose of trade we shall make no advance 

 in their friendship. The proverbs of 

 their sages, familiar even to the lower 

 classes of China, are full of warnings 

 against precipitately encouraging that 



form of friendship. They are keen to 

 discern motives, and appreciate high and 

 noble ones in others, however much they 

 seem to be lacking in themselves. 



The lessons of China's history, unlike 

 those of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, are 

 not dead monuments, but living experi- 

 ences in a great and living nation. 



China, though sustained by her mate- 

 rial resources for 4,000 years, has hardly 

 touched her wealth. Living on the prod- 

 ucts of her own labor for 40 centuries, 

 her riches are today almost intact and 

 equal to our own. In this marvelous 

 fact are to be found rich lessons for 

 political and social economists. 



BOOK REVIEWS 



The Great JJ'all of China. By Dr William 

 Edgar Ceil. Pp. 390, 7x9 inches. 100 

 illustrations. New York: Sturgis & Wal- 

 ton Co. $5.00 net. 



The account of this expedition through the 

 heart of China, along the Great Wall from the 

 Yellow Sea to Tibet, is most interesting and of 

 great value. Particular attention has been 

 given to illustrating this volume, not only to 

 substantiate the text, but to make material ad- 

 ditions to it, so that, in many instances instead 

 of long detailed descriptions the photographs 

 furnish the information without encumbering 

 the work. Not only is there an interesting 

 geographical, historical, and legendary descrip- 

 tion of this vast project, but Dr Geil has set 

 forth from his wide knowledge of Chinese 

 literature much that is to us new concerning 

 the country and the people. 



A Summer in Touraine. By Frederic Lees. 

 Pp. 318, 6x8^ inches. 100 illustrations. 

 12 color plates. Chicago: McClurg & Co. 

 1909. 



The banks of the Loire, Vienne, and Cher, 

 those parts of central France richest in natural 

 beauty as well as in historic memories, are here 

 described as they appear to a leisurely traveler, 

 who sees, as he passes along the river banks, 

 and wanders through the old chateaux, the 

 whole pageant of the Renaissance in France. 

 Starting from the once royal city of Blois we 

 visit the typical towns of older France, so 

 rich in historic passages. Then at Tours we 

 renew acquaintance with Balzac, and in the 

 country around see the original settings of 

 much of "The Human Comedy." Mr Lees, 

 however, gives definite information for the 

 present-day traveler who wishes to see the 

 most of Touraine, as well as historic insight 

 for the fireside traveler, who will find every 

 notable chateau represented in Mr Lee's photo- 

 graphs. 



