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Show STRICT RULES OF FR0PRIETY Orientals Have an Elaborate Formula i of Courtesy, Which Foreigners Should Learn. I One of tho saylngi of Confucius ls "If you do not learn -tho rules of pro-I pro-I prloty, your character ennnot be estnb-I estnb-I llshcd." Unfortunately for tho for-1 for-1 clener, tho' "rules of propriety," ac-, cording to Chlnoso usago, aro often diametrically opposed to the customs, of the west. The European gontlo-j gontlo-j man, even It ho hai a university education edu-cation and polished manners, teems a more boor to tho Chinaman, nnd oft fends nt every turn against the strict etiquette that, lu Its main points, lu obsorved by tho lowest coollo. Wherever ho goes the foreigner helps to confirm this opinion of htm: Ho is traveling in tho Intorior, it may bo on horseback, and ho rides through tho quiet country hamlet ns he would' at home, at a rapid pace As ho parson a group of men ho calls out, "Which Is tho way to X?" IIo prcbably gets no rpply, and rides on, thinking what unmannerly louto theso Chlneso yokels arc. A rough, uneducated countryman U tho next traveler. IIo pulls in his horse to a slow amble as he enters tho, lllagc; this Is one ot the "rules of propriety." On reaching tho group of villagers, ho dismounts rulo No. 2. ".May I borrow your light?" ho nsks. This is an apology tor troubling them, rulo No. 3. Then ho, too, inquires tlio way toX, nnd receives ready help; If need bo, a man will oven accompany accom-pany him to point out tho way. Thereafter There-after theso same yokels not unnaturally unnat-urally romnrk to each other what un-mnnnerly un-mnnnerly louts foreigners are, ignorant ignor-ant of tho most elementary rules of propriety. From "Thirty Years In Mukden," by Dr. Dougald Chrlstlo. |