CHANGING CHINA

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 110, 5 November 1935, Page 10

CHANGING CHINA

NEW LAMPS FOR OLD

RAPID MODERNISATION

AN INFORMAL TALK

"The new life movement" in China was the subject of an informal talk with Mr. Feng Wang, Chinese Consul In New Zealand, on behalf of "The Post." This movement, as Mr. Feng Wang outlined it at the recent Chinese | national day celebration, is an "at- j tempt to create a new national consciousness and to develop an artistic mode of living for all the Chinese people." It was learned during the tal": that Western ideas of China and the Chinese needed —even now—considerable revision. No' longer could it be said of China that it belonged to "the Changeless East"; on the contrary, China was changing with extraordinary rapidity and seemingly heading in a westerly direction all the time. For instance, in former days the interview with a Chinese of official rank was opened with the exchange of compliments in flowery terms and the asking of questions of an irrelevant and often personal character, all as a matter of courtesy. Again, the host would sit in one high-backed chair and his visitor in another, side on, and a table between them and above and behind them, a great scroll-painting of some mythical personage, also a servant in attendance with tea. . The interview with Mr. Feng Wang was in his office, businesslike in its severity—just an office with a cigarette box On the table and ash trays at the corners. There was none of the old-time formality in the interview, but a coming at once to the point. "As you may be aware," remarked Mr. Feng Wang, "roads—to say nothing of railroads—were almost non-existent in China less than a hundred years ■ago. Communications .inland were by footpaths and rivers and canals on which passenger and goods traffic was heavy, and • there were, of. course, paved and narrow streets in the villages and cities. But today the making of modern-surfaced motor roads :is proceeding in all directions and that with remarkable celerity." A GREAT ROAD POLICY. Then he spread out a map of the National Good Roads Association of China,, of which Dr. C. T. Wang, a former Minister of Foreign Affairs, is president. It showed surfaced and earth roads already built and roads projected, also railroads built and under construction in the great and populous provinces of Kiangsu (in which Nanking and Shanghai are situated), Chekiang, and Anhwei. Some of these roads, especially in Chekiang, were, built under great engineering difficulties with country not unlike mountainous parts of the North Island main roads with hairpin bends to be dealt with. "The policy of this association," Mr. 'Feng Wang said, "is to cover the whole of China with a network of highways for transport purposes of commerce and defence, the military and local authorities co-operating in construction. ■ "The National Good Roads Association has been at work since 1921, and it has accomplished wonders, as you can see in these pictures." Mr. Feng Wang then exhibited several photographs'of motor roads over mountain ranges and through deep gorges, now in full use by service vehicles carrying mails, passengers, and goods. Coming to building construction Mr. Feng Wang would not have it that China was selling its old architectural lamps for new, "We are," he said, "keeping strictly to the Chinese architectural motif in most of our new public buildings. True, some commercial structures are essentially modern in their severity of • style, but look at these pictures." He then showed some large photographs- of the Administration Buildings at Nanking and the municipal buildings in the new civic centre of Greater Shanghai. They were quite modern in their methods of construction and planning, yet they preserved the ancient Chinese style in their high-pitched tiled roofs and the upturned corners of their eaves. The enclosing walls and approaches and many courtyards of the old-style buildings of China were dispensed with, but the decorative features within and without were definitely Chinese in pattern, colour, and symbolism. On the other hand all industrial buildings such as electric generating stations, mills, and factories were identical with similar structures in Great Britain or the United States. They did not lend themselves to ornate treatment as would be suitable and desirable in buildings for' colleges and generally cultural purposes in China. CHINESE MANUFACTURES. Again, Chinese manufactures were no longer confined to goods required for the Chinese markets.- Evidence was produced showing the wide range of goods made and that were exportable and being exported to some foreign countries. Among them were steel work for bridges, steel shafting, girders, and rods and bars, carpets and rugs; modern lavatory fittings and glazed tiles; Portland cement; cinema pictures, entirely Chinese; commercial alcohol and wines and spirits; tobacco; soap; matches; fountain pens; clocks; • surgical instruments. Chinese companies were producing electric light, heat, and power, and of the total capital employed in this single industry in China half was Chinese. Silk and tea, of course, were ancient exports from China, and would continue .to be in demand in foreign countries. Mr. Feng Wang was asked if China was making such great progress in civil engineering, manufactures, trade, and education, was it not exchanging its old ideals for new? He did not think so. The modern movement in China as to the arts and crafts was towards blending the best of the old with the best of the new in education and in culture generally. He then described the greater Shanghai Development Scheme and referred to drawings and photographs to illustrate his remarks. This scheme is to serve a population of 3,400,000 and its object is to create a great new city centre, and a new harbour, near Woosung. at the mouth of the Whangpoo River, some ten or twelve miles nearer the sea than the existing shipping berths at foreign settlements and the old city of Shanghai are situated. AN AMBITIOUS SCHEME. Some of the municipal buildings of the greater Shanghai scheme have already been erected and are in occupation. Those of the new civic centre, according to pictures exhibited by Mr. Feng Wang, show how ingeniously Chinese architects, who have been trained in America and other foreign countries, have in some instances preserved the Chinese style of decoration and yet have designed buildings that are quite modern in every other respect. Among the features in this ambitious scheme will be a municipal museum, a great library, sports stadium, gymnasium, all standing in their own grounds, a vast swimming pool, and a medical centre with a very large

hospital planned on the latest- approved American principles of hospital construction.

MARRIAGES EN MASS,

How changing are the social customs of China was illustrated by pictures of mass marriages conducted >by the Mayor of Greater Shanghai, General Wu. Several of these great marriage celebrations have now been held, the brides being attired in white (once the colour of mourning), their dresses being modelled on conventional Western lines, but the bridegrooms wore the native dress of silk jackets over long silk gowns.

After the marriages the brides are seen arm in arm with their husbands — another significant change in custom; but marriages in European evening dress are far from rare.

The "tariff" for the massed marriages is 5 dollars Mexican each, about 9s 6d in sterling. Marriages have been made in batches of 50 to 60 or more couples at a time. The ancient style of wedding was picturesque but generally costly, even for poor people, and for the rich it was very expensive. The new style of massed marriages is cheap, simple, and dignified. Brides and bridegrooms assemble—men on one side and women on the other —at the great Civic Hall. Ten ames of a couple are called out, and bride and bridegroom approach the dais where the Mayor presides. Both bow three times before the portrait of Sun Yatsen, bow once to each other, then bow to the Mayor, who then hands the bridegroom a certificate and presents the bride with a souvenir medal; then the marriage contract is read over to the couple and agreed to. That is all. But the wedding march from "Lohengrin" or -that of Mendelssohn is also played by a band—a striking contrast to the ancient Chinese music at weddings.

These mass marriages are.held in various parts of China from Tientsin to "anton. Out of the 5 dollars Mexican is defrayed the cost of a box of chocolates and a bouquet for the bride, and two for the couple at the great reception following the nuptials. "One could go on ad infinitum," said Mr. Feng Wang, "to show how quickly and how far-reaching are the changes being made in China today. The country is by no means the 'inert mass,' as it used to be described. China as a nation is very wide awake and moving swiftly along the road of material progress, but it is not dispensing with anything that is sound, tested, and good in its ancient social, moral, and aesthetic fabric."