THE AWAKENING EAST.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 103, 24 January 1908, Page 3

THE AWAKENING EAST.

CHINESE STUDENTS IN ENGLAND. • ■ SOME SIGNIFICANT .MOVES. Li Chfhg'Fo'ng has-iUTived in London. 'The fact (writes the "Sydney Morning Herald's" correspondent, .under date • December 13) would be of no special importance, perhaps, if Li Ching Fong were an'ordinary Ambassador, for the Chinese Legation must necessarily have an occupant. But Li Cliing Fong is iio ordinary Ambassador. On the contrary, his appearance hero is one of the most portentous signs of : the times, imaginable. He . witnesses to the approaching second awakening of the East, aii awakening beside which the Japanese renaissance, of the past three decades will - fade into insignificance—so it is .thought. He., has been;' iont to represent the. Imperial Government of China, and lie is:known to be.a Progress sive of the Progressives, , imbi/ed with the imperative necessity of his country's assimi- • lation of "Western civilisation and Western modes ,of thought: Hp is thus, the first Chinese Minister to represent ideas that are known to' have been simmering towards expression in .the ancient and mysterious Asiatic Empire, and in that fact alono his coming is of supreme importance, for. it demonstrates that the hour of dofinite expression is_ at hand. Following him,, directly; come 150 young Chinese students, representative of the Empire's aristocracy, who will live in England under Ins supervision. It is expected that they, in turn, will be followed by companies of young 'men connected with the great merchant corporations of China, who will be distributed among the commercial centres of Great Britain. Upon these young men, and those, the . future government of China will largely devolve. These facts are surely significant, for they are really facts and not illusions. That, surely, and least of all by Australians, will not.be counted as the dissolving fabric of some merely fantastic vision, if for long centuries . tho mysterious East has been content .with the darkness of an ancient tradition, is it to be always so? Sir Thomas Sutherland was at least in the. realms of hard fact- this week, when, at the annual meeting of the P. and 0. Company, he stated that their once flourishing cargo trade between Bombay and Japanese ports had now been practically wiped out by the development of the Japanese mercantile marine. That is a suffi- • ciontly concrete example of tendency. And there are many other tilings far removed from and infinitely more important, than freights, that offer suggestions of what the awakening of China, may' yet mean to our own country. With these in mind the coming of Li Clung Fong .may well be regarded as the supreme event of tho week in London for Australians. . Li is a man of aristocratic descent, and of wk|o culture. He i.i the son of a great father, the'late Li Hung CJhnng. Ho learntEnglish in his boyhood ,and' has travelled widely in Europe. He is a strong advocate, of England as a training ground for theyounger generation of Chinese, and of the English language as the best possible medium of their reform in the direction of liberty of thought and political freedom: He is first cousin to an English family by tho marriage of its late head. Sir Halliday Macartney, to Li Hung Chang's niece, whose son by that marriage, Mr. George Macartney. is the British Ambassador at. Kashgar, India, and the most, accomplished linguist, in tho service of the Indian Government, speaking with fluency Chinese, French, German, English, Russian, Hindustani, and Persian, besides numerous Central Asian dialects. 'Li Ching Fong is of middle age, and medium height. He wears Chinese costume, including the queue. He is well read in European liters turn. and even appreciates Western mur.ir. He has many decorations of the firstcla-'.». in (lie way of Peacocks. Dragons, etc.. and lie is one of the wealthiest men in the wo"ll. having inherited six millions sterling frorojus late father. He has made his how to Tv ing Edward, and has taken up his quarters at the. Legation. His work will be watched with uncommon interest.

Tho Mahomcdans in London celebrated the feast of Uamazan at the Holborn restaurant. Egyptians," Indians, Turks and Persians were ani/ix>a i.I»o romnanff.