Show I CUSTOMS or 01 THE I By William Jennings Bryan China Dec 19 the first article on China reference was made to some of the characterIstics of the Chinese but the sUbject Was not k exhausted in fact It would require several articles to exhaust this subject and attention can only be given to those traits or customs which are In Inmost most violent contrast with our own Chinese society is In its organization the family being the unit and the father the head of the family The Chinese sages present and fraternal submission as the root of all benevolent action The children are subject to the parents as long as the parents live and the younger sons are subject to the eldest The four relations which are continually dIs dIscussed discussed cussed by the philosophers are FIrst the relation between the king and his ministers second between the father and his sons third between the eld eldest t brother and the younger brothers arid and fourth between the individual and his fellows but the fourth relation re receives receives the least consideration Marriages are arranged by the par parents cuts and the children must be content with the selection made When the wife is taken to the home of the hus husband husband band she becomes a member of his family and subject to her law if the husbands mother is still alive As other sons are marri married their wives are are brought in and they are ex cx expected to live peaceably together an expectation which is not always fUlly realized As law and custom permit the system of concubinage it is not strange that the home is often the I scene of contention rather than the center of felicity As the duty of sacrificing to ances ancestors ancestors tors falls upon the son the advent of ofa a boy is the signal for rejoicing while the birth of a girl irl is not considered a good omen So unpopular was the Ic fe female male baby that in some provinces man manof many of them were formerly put to death but is now on the de decrease crease No one can vIsit China without be becoming becoming coming acquainted with a peculiarly Oriental phrase called losing face One of the first newspapers ers that I picked up in China described the at attempted attempted tempted suicide of a man who corn com I that he had lost his face be because because cause a magistrate refused to corn com commence 4 mence n a prosecution on his complaint In China there is a constant effort to keep up appearances and when this is no longer possible the unfortunate on one I feels that he cannot look Jook any one else in the face Chinese life Ufe is saturated with this face doctrine it percolates through their disputes and oozes out through the pores of their diplomacy Justice is of less importance in the de e elding of a controversy than the sav savIng av Ing of the parties from the loss of face There are in each community peace talkers who make a business of so adjusting disputes that neither party will seem to be it h the wrong In dealing with China this character must be borne in mind anti ant it is to be regretted that foreign ria na nations have in tl their negotiations some sometimes sometimes times imitated China instead of set setting setting ting her a better example One con constantly meets over here with the the theory theory ory that the foreigner must conform to the methods of the Orient but this is j always advanced as as an excuse for fol following lowing a bad custom It is impossible to convince China that our ideal is a ab b better etier one than hers unless that ideal t Is embodied in action When our coun 1 try admitted that the indemnity cl from Japan Javan after the hekl affair was wa excessive and re returned returned turned it she made a deep Impression Upon the Ja Japanese anese It was several times referred to by speakers duing our recent visit to Japan Javan as an vi dence ot of our desire to do jus justice justice tice to other nations It is just as hon honorable for a nation to acknowledge an error as It is for an indivIdual to do so 50 and our nation has an opportunity to admit another excessive demand and return to ChIna a part of the indemnity collected at the close of the Boxer trouble No nation has ever given em emphasis emphasis to ceremony than does China Confucius places propriety among the cardinal virtues and the doctrine has been elaborated until the whole life is fettered by formality Each rising generation is drilled in the perform performance ance of certain rites required by ap approved approved proved etiquette and it would be hit for one to have to confess that he be did not know the proper thing to do and the proper way to do jt it I II I Even sincerity was of less importance ortance and both Confucius and set demoralIzing examples in placing the latter above the former In Inthe the Aria Ana Analects an instance is given where one Joo Pel wished to see Confucius but the latter refused to see him on the ground of beIng sick When the bear bearer bearor or er of the message had left Confucius tooK his harpsichord and sang to it itin ItIn in order that Pei might hear him It Itis Itis is related of that he was about to go to court to see the king when he received a message from the king say saying ing that the latter was wishing to call caU callon on but was detained by br a cold replied Unfortunate Unfortunately ly I am unwell and unable to go to court but next day he went out and paId a visit of condolence to another family White he was absent from the j house the kings messenger called with witha a physician whereupon the representative live tive of explained that he was sick the day before but that being a little better he had hastened to court It was necessary to send out several men to t and get him to the he kings house All of this sub subterfuge subterfuge was resorted to in order to gc get U king to call upon first firstS S to The kowtow i is still a part art of th ceremonial greeting If two officIals are riding and meet they dismount and how bow their heads to th the ground In the thes th s the students kowtow before a Confucian tablet twice each month When we visited the government school at ShanghaI we noticed mats upon the i floor of the otherwise empty assembly I hall hail and upon inquiry learned that at 7 the next morning the students would perform the usual Confucian rites These consist of f a series of kowtows At a given signal the students kneel on the m mats ats and bow th three ree times toward the tablet their ds each time touch touching touching jl ing the floor they then rise and after I Ia a short interval kneel again at a sig signal nal and bow three times more This j ceremony is again repeated making nine bows in all Then they kneel and bow three times to the professors aft after after er saluting the professors each student bows once tel td the student next to him and the meeting adjourns We thought it would be interesting to witness this service in honor of one who has re received received I more formal reverence than i other mortals and arising before it was light we made the journey to the col college college lege which is distant an hours ride from the hotel When we arrived we found that for some reason which we could not ascertain the ceremony would not be performed Whether the post postponement postponement was due to objection to the presence of foreigners had been present on former occasions or to some other cause was left in mystery Our morning ride however an answered answered one purpose as the road ran ransome ransome some distance by the side of a little stream it enabled us to see something of houseboat life Hundreds of little boats line the stream and in their dIminutive cabins were housed thousands of f natives many of whom are born live and die in these unstable homes As they were preparing preparing ing the morning meal we e had a chan chanto chance to confirm the stories regarding their want of cleanliness It was not an un uncommon uncommon i common thing to see a woman wash washing washing I ing rice in the muddy water and a few feet away another woman throwing refuse matter into the stream or a aman aman man his morning ablutions At Canton one has a still larger opportunity opportunity to observe houseboat life where the Pearl river furnishes the water supply and at the same time an open ODen sewer for a floating population of many thousand The contrast between the Japanese and the dirty complaisant Chinese laborer is very marked and this contrast is also noticeable in the streets The sights and smells that greet the senses along the narrow streets of a native city are not soon forgotten by one who travels through China and ones ideas of modesty modest too I are sadly wrenched I IBy By whatever may be said of the habits of the lower class Chinese they are an industrious and patient people After watching them work and observing observing ing the conditions under which they live one can s scarcely arcely begrudge t them em whatever comfort they can find in the dreams of heaven which the they draw from their opium pipes And speaking of opium one is restraIned from speak speakIng speaking Ing too harshly harshb of the habit by a recollection recollection lection of the fact that the opium trade I was forced upon the Heathen ChinE Chinee by a great Christian nation r ti i C 1 L 4 Q e c 1 I I i k li Yz 4 i ij j S 21 I I LIl rl t 4 l r i i g ff iJ 1 JM L trill t ti t f ft 4 4 1 wL 1 t ft V i 1 i F H t Y j fi i fm 1 L i Lt 1 t ti FJ i iJ 1 J 1 f jt t i i N l br I ht i kT V It ll f t L t K c 1 jp a aW W i 5 r H J 7 t j jf Mm 1 1 t t t r I f H V r J i cs 4 4 y c I IC x fI il f 4 r x 1 r iJ 1 u di t n C ti f J i I Fi Firl rl r y T t If J Jr x w wl i r i y yA l j 1 l i ri K L J A YC a J i it x ke ff x 11 L I i t 1 14 u 4 F 4 ii 4 j I i iL L ecA S I IJ IL i J I 5 4 L i Ai t C e z ir e 4 Chinese L Lady dy in Riding II Ready to St Start rt Except pt the Donkey The Chinese have th their ir amusements one of which is the theatre We at attend attended tend tended d one oneth theatre atre in Pekin and found the room crowded with men it was a commodious hall hail with a gallery but the stage was not relatively so large as asin asin in Japan The acting reminded us more of the American stage than did the Japanese but the scenery was ex cx exceedingly scanty The audience e cx pressed itself in approval or disapproval proal with a great deal of freedom We found a sport in China we have not heard of elsewhere viz quail fighting These little birds are matched against each other as fighting cocks are in the Spanish countries One American told us of a fight between cockroaches These combats as wen well as those between the give an op opportunity opportunity for vice which pre prevails prevails vails in the Orient as well as in the Occident i There is one kind of bird contest I which involves neither r nor nOlO bloodshed although the element of I gambling is also present in it I refer i ito Ito to the singing matches between larks The Chinese are very fond of birds and andone I one cannot go upon the street seeing men carrying bird cages The are aired much as ret Jet dogs are exercised in Our country The favorite I singing bird is the lark and these arc enter d by their owners in contests considerable sums being often placed upon a bird The award is made by the birds themselves one after confessing defeat until but one song songster songster ster is left upon his perch The winner is quite exultant while the others show the superstitions so widespread in China There i is one form of super superstition superstition which has interfered with both as much humiliation as a who has lost his face and will not aft afterward afterward erward sing it itIn In another article I 1 have r referred to religion and commerce The natives I have baye for centuries been the victims of I sorcerers and fortune tellers who pro professing professing a knowledge e of and celestial forces style themselves doctors and make a If liv living ing by selecting lucky burial sites foretelling the future etc There are certain spirits which are supposed to preside over certain places and any change in the conformation of the ground is thought to anger the spirits A railroad cut or fill is sometimes ob objected objected to for this reason and a church spire is in the opinion of the super superstitious liable to endanger the penCE peace and safety of a community However commerce commerce is extending in spite of the spirits and the Christian religion is gradually making headway lea wa a superstition At Peking I att attended a morning service enc at tho th Methodist t church where some Chinese men and women listened to a sermon in their own language delivered by an American missIonary On lug ing da day we ate dinner at the Presby Presbyterian Presbyterian terian mission an and during our travels through China met a number ot of minIs minIsters i physicians and teachers They I all testified to the stimulus given to the spread of religion OJ by the fidelity shown by the Chinese Christians dur during durins ins ing the Boxer troubles Professor I Isaac T Headland of the Methodist university at Peking has bas published a I volume entitled Chinese Heroes in which he givES a number of in instances Instances I stances of conse consecrated rated devotion on the part of the Chinese to the ChrIstian I faith and why should not China be bea I Il a l promising ing mi mison son fied Buddhism has here done its perfect work and cannot reasonably ask for a further trial the philosophy of the sages has also been shown impotent for tor the bar har harmonious development of the threefold man China has followed an ideal and followed it with a diligence rarely ex exhibited exhibited but that ideal has been weighed in the balance and found wanting It is often said in defense of Con Confucianism that its founder gave to his disciples the golden rule stated In its form but too little emphasis has been given to the difference be between between tween the doctrine of Confucius Do Donot Donot not unto others as you would not have others do unto you and the doctrine of the Nazarene Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even evenso so to them There is a world of dif ference between negative and positive s and ChrIsti ChrIstianity Christianity anity could well afford to rest its case cas against Confucianism on the son of these two doctrines In the Anal Analects ts of Confucius th is asked Is there on oi word wh ch may serve as a rule tr r practice or 01 an all ones life Ufe He vai answered Is not reciprocity such L word IIer dere we have hac the doctrine II selfishness a as plausibly presented a as aswill i I will e ever tr be again Life is described a aa s sa a balancing of favors a 3 nice of good done and good received The Thet Theis Thetis is no suggestion here of a heart OVet flowIng with love no intimation of a t blessedness to be found in giving At another time throe some one asked Co What Vh t do you say the principle that injury should b recompensed with kindness He re n replied plied With what then will you rp re kindness Recompense injun with justice and recompense kindness with kindness In reply to another quem question ion he goes ces so far as to c that one who returns good food for evil I 1 Ia a man that is careful of his person Eow different these precepts are from fron those of the sermon on the mount mOUn Christians are accused of failure to Ii up to the hIgh i ideal eal presented by Jesu and t the e accusation is jU junt and ye although the nations fall f 1 i short of the measure which they then thern selves r recognize though although Christians reflect hut imp imperfectly toP the rays mys which fall faU upon them from the of righteousness they are leading leadIn tJ ti world in all that is ennobling and u lifting and China gives silent re tion to the superiority of the west ni ideal in every reform which she ur Copyright 1906 b by Joceph T e h B B Bowle wl Copyright in Great 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