It was Montesquieu, was it not? who wrote the oft-quoted aphorism: "Happy is the nation whose annals are tiresome" (of course with no prophetic reference to the politics of China to-day!). And had Ko lived ju this land, he might have extended that felicity to the traveller whose inland journey proved devoid of dramatic episode. Indeed, a journey of "perfect tranquillity, with nothing happening" is a Chinese ideal, Just now one has little to relate concerning a 20-mile tramp, with genial chats at wayside tea-booths and a hearty reception at the end of the walk; a six-mile trudge next day over slippery mud, and renewed intercourse with old friends in a rural village; then, after a night there, an eight-mile sail with two of those friends, a little boat with a semi-gale blowing across the river, followed by nine hours on the upper deck of a public steam-launch, in very close contract with Chinese humanity; or the return journey, broken here and there at this city or that town,—in early October. But in the season of the year itself, there may be material that is not without a subdued interest to a reader who is, in the old-fashioned sense of the phrase, "a aman of feeling."
A RerresHment or Sovt.
Chinese sentiment with regard to autumn is of two contrasting kinds, arising either from the physical and_ material, or else from the aesthetic point of view. When the former is dominant, autumn comes as a manifest relief and refreshment of soul, "Fearsome og the summer sun {AE 0 BP) is an ancient phrase for a harsh government that penetrates with scorching—violence. And the metaphor is well chosen og regards Central China, The character for "evening" (Bi) is made up of (J) "sun" and "escape." It should be normally a time of coolness. But in these latitudes midsummer evenings (or midnights, for the mattter of that) merely mean an escape from sun-glare, not from the heat thereof. The breeze drops, but the temperature does not. Thus, the advent of autumn sunshine in the stead of tyrannous torridity, and of cool nights in place of sultry breathlessness, means a blessed relief to millions of folks in general, and to nursing mothers and little children in particular.
Then autumn to the farmer is the season when his latest crops are gathered in, and the gains of a year's toil translated perks into 2 repaired or enlarged dwelling, into a new outfit for his family, and solid cash in hand to pay his way- So that, if the crops are good, or even passable, he knows nothing of the sombre and pathetic side of the season.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.