THE CIVILISATION OF CHINA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14143, 19 August 1909, Page 6

THE CIVILISATION OF CHINA.

Mr. Yung Liang-Hwang, the Chinese Consul, in a lecture at Wellington on "The Civilisation of China," said that in the remote beginnings of advanced thought in his country there had been instituted definite marriage laws, and a complete system of writing antedating Western systems by so many centuries that comparison seemed impossible. Touching on the commercial arts in which China was preeminent before even the sword-makers of Damascus existed, he showed that the swordmakers of China had perfected a method by which they forged swords in the fiery heat of volcanoes, that scientists had measured the solar year into 365 days and six hours, had systematised the taking of meridian altitudes, and had calculated carefully the distance of planets, and had established astronomy on the basis upon which it rests to-day. When Noah existed the Chinese knew much about the celestial bodies. In the remote ages the Emperor—the " Son of Heaven" —was the Father of the People. He led the great family of families. Love of parent, of grandparent, of great-grand-parent, was the spring that controlled the Chinese. Obedience and family discipline were sacred. Men who saw chances of advancement and of wealth, refused to leave home because aged parents might need them. The lecturer touched on the old style of literary examination for Chinese. The thousands of students were carefully locked in a- great building with a high wall. Guards were set to watch them. The students were in cells, and they went to the examination hall with nothing but pen and ink. Then they were given a subject these examinations were purely literary—and they had to write essays. The success of the student depended on his knowledge of ancient Chinese lore and philosophy, and it took years to write an essay that would pass a man and get him an Imperial degree.