CHINESE CIVILISATION: ACTUAL AND IDEAL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 11548, 30 August 1900, Page 2

CHINESE CIVILISATION: ACTUAL AND IDEAL.

Western students of Chineso life and ; letters aro surprised at the lofty ideals of government, of the family, and a society set forth in tho ancient classical iiteralurej which from generation to generation has exerted an ennobling influence upon the thoughts of the people. But they are also surprised that these ideals hai c be n rea ised to fo small an extent in government, in the family, and in society, says D. Z. Sheffield in the July Forum. Ancient Chinese literature Is a witness to the nobility of human nature in its best thoughts and aspirations. The sages taught that man is made for virtue : "To be benevolent is to be a man." They taught that virtue distinguishes mea from animals, and that when men fail to be virtuous they cease to be men. The heart of man tends towards goodness as water tends to flow downward. Water may ba forced upward, but that is notita tendency ; in like manner men may bo driven to evil, but it is not according to their nature. The mountain clothes itself with forest and verdure, but axemen come from the neighbouring city and CUT DOWN THE TEEES; fresh shoots spring up from the Jiving roots, but the cattle browse them dowu until the mountain is bald and desolate, and men say it is the nature of the mountain to be b.ild and desolate. Not so; ita condition is the result of violence to ita nature. Thus man's nature seeks to clothe itself with virtue, but it ia assailed by external evils, till finally the recuperative powers of the heart become para* lysed, and we look upon the evil man and say it is his nature to be evil. Not soj his trne nature has been overcome by the evil that is alien to it. ' l The end of learning is "to recover -the lost heart," which is the " child heart " that all meo have in common. Confucius tersely describes the ideal condition in human relations as realised '* when the prince acquits himself as prince, the minister as minister, the father as father, and the son as son"; that is, when men in erery rank in society discharge faithfully the duties belonging to their place. The " law o& Heaven " is the law of right, the LAW OF DUTY, and wisdom consists incorrectly applying this law in the relations of life. Confucius taught that the end of learning was to develop and, make manifest the innate virtue, to renovate the people, and to rest in the highest goodness. Chinese history has not been without examples of upright rulers and faithful citizens, of '• compassionate fathers and filial sons ; " but the ideal State, the ideal family, bare been, for the most part, themes to be talked about, to be -written of in elegant essays, but not to be striven after, or experienced. The " Son of Heaven " has usually proved to be a eon of earth in his bondage to its passions and allurements. Ministers have been eyes and ears and hands, not for the service of their princes, but for the service of their own ignoble appetites and ambitions. Society has not been ruled by the law of benevolenc°, but by the Jaw of selfishness, The operation of this law is also seen ia family life. Parents regard children a3 given to them to command ; children in turn have few rights in the presence of their parents. There is a popular saying that "parents are the family gods," and too often they rule in their households with the authority of gods. The disciple of Confucius learned through observing the relations between the sage and his son that "the superior man is not intimate with bis children/ In general the hard and selfish rule of parents begets a formal and selfish service in children. Falsehood and duplicity take the place of truthfulness and candour, and unloving authority is met by unloving obedience. The interest of Great Britain and its dependencies in the trade of China is a very largo one. Mr Ritchie, when replying to Mr Drage in the House of Commons on June 25, said that according to the Chinese returns of trade the value of the trade in China with the British Empire in 1899 was £43,054,000. The division of this amount into trade with the United Kingdom, India, and the colonies could not be accurately made, because more than one half of the total was entered as trade with Hong-Kong, and the ultimate destination of the trade could not be stated. The Chinese returns show the value of the direct trade with the United Kingdom to be £8,147,000, with British India £5,064,000 with other British colonies and possessions (excluding Hong-Kong) £1,283,000, and with Hong-Kong £28,590,000. A certain part of the last mentioned amount is destined for countries outside the British Empire.