ENGLISH IN CHINA.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1039, 31 January 1911, Page 6

ENGLISH IN CHINA.

COMPTJLSORY IN THE SCHOOLS.

Like the British Empire, China, witli her many different nationalities, is a land of not only innumerable dialects but also of many languages that have no points of similitude. with one' any other but the written or printed charao tors, and tho native of Manchuria finds it ijuito as difficult to understand the Chinaman along tho southern frontier of the. Empiro as does the mandarin from Peking or the merchant, prince' from Canton to hold any intercourse with the natives of Tibet and of the other extreme western provinces with- - out the assistance of an interpreter. Indeed, many Chineso from the northern ports communicate, with their' fellow' countrymen of the extreme southern, ports and with Chinamen at Singapore by means of pidgeon English. Now, while pidgeon English is all very well in its way, and in some respects both picturcsquo and entertaining, it is at the best a patois of limited vocabulary, devoid of literature and of no earthy _uso to the Chinese save when, dealing with foreigners who have • resided in China or else with fellow-. countrymen of their own from far dis-. tant Chinese ports open to foreign trade. It does not provide them with any means of access to the mines of Western lore and science to the found'in books. That is why. the Prince Regent of China, in deference to tho recommendations of his most enlightened advisers; has ordered the learning of English as part and parcel of the ordinary curriculum of compulsory studies in all the colleges, high schols, and Universities of the Empire. It has been demonstrated to him thatEnglish is the language which,. mora than any other, has obtained a foothold on what may be described as the* outer fringe of China; that it is the language most used in China's foreign trade, to such an extent ,indeed, that whert'anyvyoung Teutons'are sent out to the Orient to take up positions in the innumerable German houses of business and commercial agencies which •the Kaiser's lieges have founded in'. China during'tho last'forty years, they, are required immediately on arrival to master not the Chineso language, but .English, for use in all transactions with the Chinese merchant guilds and for dinary .business intercourse throughout the Chineso open ports, while, of course, a .smattering of pidgeon English is needed by them for their dealings with servants and with natives of the coali« class.

It was likewise brought home to the' Regont that English is the language not. only of Great Britain but ■ also of the TJuited States, of Canada, of Australia, of New.Zealand, and of all that part of Africa open to trade. It -is the official language of the Indian Empire, the language most familiar to seamen and to merchants, and finally it is the language in which the Imperial Chinese Government, ever since it first established regular diplomatic relations with tho outer world, has always carried on its officiiil dealings .with foreign powers. The Chinese are very patient and deliberate in adopting so radical an innovation as that contained in the Regent's ukase on the subject of English, and it may safely fco taken for grant-' ed that before the members of the Imperial Board of Education and • the other chief advisers of the Crown made 1 the recommendation to the Regent in favour of tho English language, they had examined' and compared the intrinsic merits of most other , European tongues, notably German, French, arid especially Spanish, which in olden times occupied tho place in international intercourse that is held to-day by English. .

There are two points which merit especial attention in this' departure of tho Chinese Empire. One is the necessity of securing the adhesion of the Celestial Government to the tional law on tho subject of copyright. The result of the Regent's edict will be an enormous, indeed, an overwhelming demand in China for all sorts of American and English books. If tho new American envoy at Peking, who has already managed to acquire so much popularity and esteem among the Chinese and foreigners alike since his arrival there, unites with the British envoy, Sir John Jordan, in inducing the Chinese Government to join the International Copyright Union, our publishers and, in natural consequence, our writers will derive much and sorely-needed benefit. Otherwise China is likely to be flooded' with native and unauthorised reprints of all our .best books, and literary piracy will assume proportions of absolutely fantastic size.

The other and moro important, point of the two is that the adoption of tho English language by the Chinese as 'a compulsory study gives "both to tho Americans and to the British ail enormous advantage orcr their oilier foreign competitors for the acquisition of Chinese trade and for pre-omincncc in ; Chinese markets. Nor is this all. i'or it will serve to establish closer political relations on tho part of China with tho United States and with England than with any other foreign Powers. Just in the same way that international animosities arise from international misunderstandings, so in the sanio way do mutual understandings' pave tho way for sympathy and friendship. Leaving asido any question of gratitude,- a Chinaman who by mastery of English has obtained access to all sorts of stores of' knoivlcdgo and of science contained in American and English books will always entertain a greater regard and goodwill for tho people whoso books are open to him than ior thoso whoso books aro closed by reason of his ignorance of their languago. This ia likely to prove of inestimable benefit, economically as well as politically, to tho English-speaking nations, for preTiy well all thoughtful mon and students of present conditions aro agro?d i-bni t'iina is destined in the :ioar future to become not moroly tho greatest market for foreign trados, but likewise 0110. of t:>o most"powerful factors in tin contort of nations. —"Weekly Scotsman,"