Scenes From Chinese Life

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 189, 12 August 1939, Page 10 (Supplement)

Scenes From Chinese Life

Books In Review

JT is ironical that general interest among Western peoples in Chinese culture and civilisation is awakening only now, at a time when it is apparent that if that culture survives at all, it will be in «• "»mil 111 <>< 111 if, I form. In "The Hoine '•! K \ ill'" N. Mil W'ii In prod need " H'HI'I tllill I I .I r> I II .Mi11,,.| 1,,-,.) -I'll'' l : ill il .111 \ 111, • i i. , 111 w 11 r 11; i ii gi\es I lII'-I f) 111 I >;i I li.-1 i, .1... .1111 t of i 1,,. ii'il.v lit'' of .i ( 11iii.**. 1 I -,• 111,|,|. uliicli she Iv iii- w :i~ .in a, 1.. | >t r, I daughter. N'mv .• i■ 111<• ~. h i,in ;111■ >I 111* i \ 1111-1 ii-ii ii » i i I'" . " I', ,i 11 ,i i: < in.iii a I hiinve >itii|l i 11 ,i i t.i i,, . In l '.l i/.a hel h I- ■ «r.-niii ii Lewis. liii- a 111' i., r who has hail 11 I' • M -_r .1111 l \ il I* 11 ■ 11 I-S | >. ■ I i <■ IK i,f ( liilii'fi' Ii ll', ha already mail,' a niiiiit' for In 1 i'hc 11' with 1 ii ii »Us a ; ',uit ( liinese • liihlren, w i- i t: I'M I'.'i- American ami KiiL-licli i-li i 1.1 i mi. In a mm ii'. nt' nine 1111 l ITU t <• r .Indies. I'll .■ 11 Mill' dl' w Ii il 11 in n li IV history nf ~iii' nt' tin. ( hinese types, wi' hit shown tin' disruption of I lii'ir civilisation under | lie strain of iiioilitii warfare. "('hinese civilisation through most of iln history has lii'i'ii I,nil! of tin- social i»t riict lire of four main ,|.i — writes Mrn. Lcw.s; "Si'liolh iv, farmers, artisans and merchants. Tin' scholar lll'lll I i I'M t plllCP 1 lI'I'H IIH 1 Ills 111 1 111 || I*B con - triluitofl lo tlif ininil Mini spirit of the tintion ; tlii* fnrnii'i", second. for sustaining tin- hoily; the artisan thinl. for fashioning beauty ami utility from material* «1111 pIi.• <I by others: iiml the merchant fourth, since he merely exchanged in harter the product of other men's toil." These four types, ami several others, -lie studies. and through them i vc s ii pii-t ui'i* of the quietly dignified cult iii'iil system which lias been

evolved hv centuries, a system in which a man finds it difficult'to move from one caste to another; in which the highest honour which any family can attain is that of having one of its members pass the arduous and e.vten-

sive competiti\e examination which gives entrance to the Civil Service; a culture which values |K>ace, dignitv and philosophy ahme all things, and so iihhors haste that it has been slow to rally itself to take seriously the present aggression; a nation which is so permeated by tradition ami philosophical teaching that millions of individuals

have been able to tolerate with grace and equanimity some of the 'most deplorable living conditions in the world.

Whether this great civilisation is now doomed, or not, such sympathetic records as this are of inestimable value. Each of Mrs. Lewis' sketches is preceded by an explanatory passage, and each is accompanied, moreover, bv an exquisite portrait by Virginia Holl'inger Stout. This is a book which should be read by all who wish to gain a background of knowledge by which to interpret present events in the East; and also for pure literary pleasure.