CHINA AS A NATION.

Otago Witness, Issue 3018, 17 January 1912, Page 105

CHINA AS A NATION.

THE WAYS OF RIVAL PROVINCES

DIFFERENCES IN DIALECT.

In discussing the possibilities of th« Chinese revolt (writes a correspondent of the Manchester Guardian) it is necessary to consider how far the homogeneity of aspiration is affected by difference in dialect, local custom, religious feeling, and so on. This may all be mad© clearer by. casting our eyes backward on the lines of Chinese development. It must be remembered that the oldest China (of which we have anyexact history) barely extended south of the S'ellow River, and, if further, then only as far as the River Yangtse in the region 100 mike east and west of Hankow; it seems also that offshoots of Chinese "civilisers" or colonists even spread across sthe Yangtse to the eastern lake Payang) and western lake (Tungting) regions, but not fa? from the water. It is easy to understand this; they floated down the River Han to Hankow, then up and down the Yangtse to the lakes, and down the innumerable branches of the Rjver Hwai towards the Lower Yangtse Valley; there were no "roads. There aire distinct mentions of the dialect differences so early at 500 8.C., but there is no reason to suppose that these differences were at all serious, or that interpreters were ever needed; it was one language with local nuances. There were no slight differences in the written character as used by the different- Federal States. But when the "First Emperor really so called annoxed all the federal States to his own (B.C. 220) and created for the first time a really centralised Government (practically that of to-day) he made it his special care to equalise weights, measures, cart axles, written characters, and laws, so that the fan like outward development ef Chinese civilisation from the old centre (Si-an Fu and Honan Fu region) towards the sea on the east and south, and towards the desert and India ;>n the west, received fresh impetus from this date (over 2000 years ago). Thus we find that even now (subject to quite minor variations) the one language (Kwanhwa or " public language," usually mistranslated "'mandarin language") takes you all over the Empire from the Russian, Afghan, Indian, and Korean frontiers to within a comparatively short distance of the coasts. It is only along the southern coasts—from Shanghai to Tonquin—that really impracticable languages or dialects exist : yet those are all purely Chinese in etymological value; it is only that during the process of absorption of aliens (or perhaps distant kinsmen) the original Kwanhwa has been superficially (not fundamentally) modified so far as spoken syllables, aspirates; tor.es, and so on are concerned; in a few oases even the construction of short sentences is lightly varied. Notwithtanding all this, when proclamations—of course, always in monosyllables—are posted, speakers of all dialects whatever have no difficulty in reading out those monosyllables, though where a Pekingese would say pea a Foochow man would say pake, a Cantonese put, a Hakka pit, and so on. No Chinese ever reads correctly in two dialects. These spoken differences are so serious along the coast that a Cantonese (and his group of sub-dialect speakers) cannot be understood at all by an Amoy man (and his sub-group); still kss can either of them be understood by a Foochow man (and hip sub-group); far away still less by a YVenchow man, who speaks a perfectly " etymological " but fearful jargon—this jargon becomes less market! at Ningpo, and much less marked again at Shanghai. Europeans in force first approached China from tho coast, and were consequently first confronted with "dialects." They generally thought these were forms of standard Chinese, and that the interior of China was a hqpelee? jumble of dialects. But that tis not the correct way of looking a,t it. The coasts are the Ultima Thule of the Chinese world, and the population as a whole does not regard them at all seriously. As in Europe before Latin dropped, modern languages were thought unworthy of literary notice. Mandarins from the coast, of course, all speak their native lingo, but they are ashamed of it, and will not readily do so in public; they must learn Kwan-hwa of some sort, for all civil mandarins aro obliged to make their bow at Peking. A great many mandarins not only fail to acquire Pekingese, but they fail to get hold of any one speciffio Kwan-hwa at all, and it is no exaggeration to say that, at the Foreign Office, for instance, none of the high officials who do not either come from the same neighbourhood or know how to imitate the Pekirgese brogue exactly ever perfectly understand what their colleagues eay. They usually speak a jumble or coppromise. Nay, more, all over the Empire there is a considerable vagueness in the comprehension of speech amongst officials (who always hail from other provinces) and travellers; the only persons! who really "confidently" understand each other are fellow-villagers, fellow-townsmen, fellowprefecturals, fellow-provincials, and so on in this order of perfection. It may he ex-

plained, that, the best Masses of the " old Chinese" having been gradually driven by Tartar dynasties over the Yangtse and through tihe Jakes, we now find Cantonese the diaJ ect which most closely, approaches ancient "Chinese and native standard dic J tiojiary Chinese, As t<r the ways of thinking prevalent in rival provinces, there are, of course, petty local customs, as there are in England,. but the Chinese nave always been very catholio in their naturalisation laws, or, rather, their tacit customs in that direction. Any savage, who" buttons his coat on the right," wears breeches, and (in Manchu £Lme«) "sports" a pigtail, is externally Chinese. If he performs his ancestral and family duties properly on the ancient Chinese baaie ho can find sureties and go up for examination, In duo course becoming an official, in which case, of course, he must acquire or feigtn a great admiration for Confucius. The first thing tho half-barbarous Man* chus did when they got to Peking was to start a "dynastic temple," invent a divine organ for themselves (though in their private histories they admit that the still more barbarous luchi were their forebears), show excessive tenderness to their grandmothers, and visit the anciont home of Confucius. In all essentials marriage and funeral " laws " are absolutely the same all over China; in any case, the "law" takes note of special local usages if the gentryguarantee the facts. Commercial law has no existence; the guilds make or declare that, and the " law " must recognise their dicta; they are one of the strongest forces in China, and local differences are mutually understood and tactily adjusted. Manchu ways in no respect clash with Chinese. The Manchu (i.e., including Mongol and Chinese " banner ") cantonments of Canton, Nanking and to a large extent even Peking, are a closed reserve, even more so than the British cantonments of India. The bannermen rarely leave the city; their families rarely leave the street. They might as well be a menagerie of strange animals for all the effect they exercise on local life; but they themselves are affected, for they must go to market: hence, while they always speak Pekingese, they, most of them, also speak the local dialect, and they are apt to interlard their Pekingese speech wttti local words. Until recent reforms thore were no political aspirations anywhere, or if thero were they were suppressed as dangerous, both voluntarily and officially. Tha view was: —"The mandarins do the governing trade; it is not our business." If this " trade " was overdone the people " struck," and all shops were instantly shut. But noir telegraphs and cheap newspapers have altered all that; all people's aspirations are the same—fair taxation, proper use of taxes, abolition of waste or useless Manchu pen-p-ioners (no Manchu works; all Manchus "eat" pensions), freedom of trade and transit, auditing of finance by populat representatives, and so on.