Or the many virtues which the inese possess none is more conspicuous than civility; and of the many they are taught to practice, tone perhaps more important than that of dignity. The former is illustrated by their extraordinarily complicated etiquette; the latter by their terror of " losing face." The etiquette of the Chinese is so subtle and detailed that only years of the closest intercourse with them will enable a European to master it, if even then; whilst their terror of "losing face" hedges them about with all manner of precautions. Those who have lived long enough in China to lay aside their feelings of strangeness, and to use their powers of observation, will agree that the polite equanimity: of the Chinese would stand far sterner tests than that of the most highly polished European. However trying the ireumstances may be, and however great the inconvenience to which he be put, the Chinese will still retain his urbanity. He will assure his host that hours of waiting have not in the smallest degree sharpen-td his appetite; or he will receive dismissal from his employer with the gracious serenity that he would tvinee upon an increase of salary. Ithe feels the need of a holiday he Will not dream of expressing: it by crude request for leave of absence, but will sorrowfully intimate that sickness has visited the household, or that death has deprived him of near relative.
And his polite-towards others is heightened the respect in which he -holds unself. He would suffer anything rather than appear ridiculous or undignified. The manifold situ: tions, which the unfortunate complexity of life create, have all to he stage-managed in such a way that no one in the audience shall be able to a derisive laugh. For, such a laugh would be, to the Chinese, a stinging hiss under which his very body would writhe like an animal's under the lash. Thus the entries and exits have to be carefully studied, the lights judiciously thrown, the curtain appropriately raised or dropped. Personal dignity must never be compromised, and the stage of life must always be trodden with a proud front, a dignified bearing and a perpetual calm.
On the other hand, in view of their passion for money, it is difficult for the European to believe that the colossal dignity of the Chinese is anything more than a sham. The practice of "squeeze," with all the dishonesty it entail: reveals the Chinese in anything but a dignified attitude. For in China money "appears to be absolutely omnipotent, capable purchasing anything from a catty of tea, or a bowl of rice, to the honour of women and the verdict of a judge. Money forms the main subject of thought, the main object of conversation and the main end of life. Tt will purchase silence, or loosen tongues, it will smooth an insult or right a wrong. it will heal a wound or regain a loss. The rest. coolie d the wealthiest merchant take a keener interest in gaining a cash than they take in anything else. Only a compara sot Chinese live with any higher aim than that of obtaining money. It is true that Eh is not the only place where mon an object of eager pursuit. Most of us hav tation which has his price. that what Walpole nev true, the truth would not statement that most of us ceptions which we would h sacrifice for any monetary reward, however large. The less sceptical amongst us would go further than this and say that most of us enter-proof against any tempia financial nature. Honest isthe main basis upon which the personal dignity of the European rests; and when a European loses his sense of honesty, the rest of his fellows say that he has lost all sense of personal dignity. When therefore the European sees the universal practice of "squeeze," when he knows that it leads to di honesty in all classes of the popul tion, it is not strange if become to the conclusion that Chinese dignity i utterly meaning whole doctrine of "face" is only an elaborate and grotesque attempt to keep up appearances. When he knows that not only he himself is made the victim of what he considers to be fraud, but that the hand of every Chinese is raised just as readily against any and every member or his own nationality, he condemns Chinese dignity as a farce, which would be entirely ridiculous if it were not also peculiarly painful.
we must either admit Chinese dignity is, as "a matter of fact, nothing more—than a sham, or we must show that it is independent of his attitude towards money. Professor Giles has made the paradoxical but penetra tion that, whilst the Eh nation of liars, they are not of thieves, and this statement fur-rushes a key to the difficulty with which we are dealing. For if we examine the character of Chinese morality we see how. it while in Burope the one propensity is generally held to inseparable from the other, in China there is " them explanation of the towards Iii To up in Tyarposes upon the wor-Ne
whereas Euro pean morality prospective, and its touchstone is the welfare of descendants. Where Confucius would judge a man's actions by the iginal from
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.