OBSERVATIONS

Northern Advocate, 16 July 1938, Page 1 (Supplement)

OBSERVATIONS

By “THE MAN ON THE LOOK-OUT”

W E are hearing a great deal about social security just now. Much of it is very sensible, for there can be no question that social security in old age, if we could but be sure of it, would lighten the load of countless thousands of people who, as it is, are condemned to toil and moil long after their service to family and country has earned for them a period of rest and quietness. JT is also unfortunately a fact that the only security one can obtain, except for the quiet of the spirit, is that which comes from the possession of money. It is a pity that this should bo so, but nevertheless it is true. That is, unless the comfort which can be provided by the family which parents have brought up is to be considered as security. JN China, by the way, this reliance upon relatives is universally regarded as constituting social security. There fs a Chinese proverb, which runs: “Even the Emperor has strawsandalled relatives.” What is more, there is also the obligation to house and feed them, to get them jobs, to bury them and to ■ marry their cr-.n-dren off. rpHE family, as understood by the Chinese, comprises not merely parents, brothers, sisters and children, but actually all members of the same clan The male children of “small wives” (concubines) have equal rank with the legitimate sons, thus further swelling the amazing number of persons entitled to fill their stomachs out of the common rice-bowl.

t clan members may have emi•a grated to other Provinces long ago, and may never have been heard 6 of since. Yet they can lay claim to 3 the family’s loyalty. Due to this systern, a rich man in China has infinitely s more obligations than a rich man in the West. In the moment of his rise to fame and fortune, he may suddenly v find his house overrun with distant 7 relatives, of whom he did not even t know the names before. A s it is impossible to kick them out, the only thing to do is to give them, in as graceful a manner as pos- -- sible, as little as is decently possible. 3 x FOREIGNERS, as 1 read the other j day, have not been the only ones t to blame much of the corruption in . China to the family system. There is 3 an ever-increasing number of Chinese j who also feel keenly that under modern conditions it simply will not do to consider the personal allegiance of a job-seeker, instead of his ability. It would be quite mistaken, however, to consider China more corupt than ’ the West. Her civilisation is older, 1 and, therefore, corruption is better organised, that is all. S / \ FTER all > 3t does not make a xre ‘ 5 mendous difference to the effici- ‘ ency of any given administration whether jobs are handed out to relatives or to political supporters of the 2 top dog. T V\7ITH all its drawbacks, the family 3 system has stood the test of the 1 war. A recent writer recalls the circ cumstances in which he dropped in on v a Chinese friend immediately after - the day of horror, August 14. It was t during a particularly violent air raid, and the house, which normally was

■ neat and well-kept, looked distressj ingly topsy-turvy. The room was lit- [ tered with clothes, and a surprising » number of children were parked on . the floor. While the vicious din of ’ the anti-aircraft guns outside drowned L all other sounds, a number of elder > people were quietly sipping tea. ■ “A LL these are my relatives from Hongkew and Chapei,” the friend said philosophically when he noticed the visitor’s astonishment in the face of this invasion. Actually, the house gave shelter to exactly three times the former number of tenants. JN the same manner, millions of refugees have survived who would have been utterly lost without the family, : system. Only those who have no re--1 latives are considered really destitute. > They go to camps. The others live s either on their families, or are repa- ' triated to their villages, where again : the family takes care of them. JN China, it has been pointed out, relatives take the place of social insurance, though this does not of necessity make life more abundant. If sons and grandsons live up to their obligations, there is no need to save. If they do mischief, the family is financially responsible, and may thus easily get rid of its wealth. “If your sons and grandsons are virtuous, why do you need money? If they are not virtuous, of what use is money?” the Chinese ask. FHINA was at one time regarded as an ultra-conservative country of - which no notice should be taken. Time ■ brings changes in public opinion, as i in everything else, and it is now being ’ realised that the age-long customs and ; philosophies of the Chinese people are , worthy of Western imitation in more > ways than one. I have mentioned one.