i NEW BOOK
A Cumwese Misson—Being Reflexions 2 Gute: reality Behind. Appearance By Wlorence 'Ayscough, Hoo, Men Aslade Society With Urine Fuels Douglas, " London' Sons thin Cape bide new book by Mrs. Ayscough is sure to attract attention in Shanghai where she is 30. well known and where her researches into. Chinese lore have given her an honoured place amongst. those who interpret things Chinese. to those of us to whom the "realities Dehind appearances" are hidden by fan impenetrable -yell. A. Chinese mirror, Mrs. Ayscough tells twas expected to. reveal, from th depth, the reality behind any image projected upon its surface" 'The ame chosen for the book then, very appropriate for rs, Ayscough's aim has been, not only tell her readers many interest. {ing things about this great land with its hoary past, but to ex: plain to the uninitiated the reason for the many' incongruities stumble on in our daily. lives in China, The book is a handsome volume nine and a half inches. by six and a half, Te contains 400 Gdd pages, is very well printed and illustrated by numerous—black and white drawings of Chinese Frontiseiece To "A Eu weones, The contents are exceed- Chinese ingly varied, Mrs, Ayscough does ouch like the mentality of the rest not set out with a dry-as-dust list of Chinese subjects the inner meaning of which she intends to elucidate, Rather she takes us into her confidence and tells us how she build a Grass Hut by the Yellow Reach—the Huangpu. She explains to us that she is building her "Grass Hut," which is a house with throo living and three bedrooms, kitchen, pantry, bath-rooms,. servant's quarters, heating furnace green-house ete, and is set in the midst of a garden that cost 8 much to produce as the house self—in imitation of one built by the Chinese poet, Tu Fu, in Sze chuan 1164 years ago. The house, then, must have all the appurtonances that go: with such an establishment, So there are "Dogs Fo''=stone lions, to guard the door. 'A spiritzereen to ward off demons from the threshold. The poles of tthe scaffolding on which the builders are to stand must be topped with Branches of pine trees that the wandering, irresponsible demons ho float in mid air will be deceived into thinking that they are sailing over an ordinary forest and be unaware that some daring mortal thrusting the roof of her grass hut into their aerial preserves. In this way catastrophe is avoided and a lucky termination to the enterprise assured. Altogether, the building of the "Grass Hut" is a diverting story and we sce in the mirror some of the realities behind the appearances of things.
We also get a glimpse into the poetical soul of the gifted authoress, Had we been asked to state the reality behind the appearances ut building a house in China should have said that the most substantial reality was the difference between the actual cost of the various materials used in construetion and the price charged to the owner of the prospective grass hut, But that would prove us to be a sordid individual without a scintilof poetic thought in our constitution. Mrs. Ayscough listens to the coolies singing as they ram down the foundation of the house. This is what they say;— a abe tha Men Ab-ai x Ned wi A blu beggar would' throw away.
This is a coolie song and must not be taken as being true to type Chinese poetry. Many excellent translations of classical poems are given in the course of the story which meanders on delightfully and tokes us on a voyage up the Yangtse where, like the page of good King Wenceslaus, we put our fect in the footprints printed by the great men of old, Many Chinese tales are retold and every one east light on the mentality of the ese Minnon" by Miss which, to be sure, is very of the world, The reason why a certain rapid on the Yangtze is called the Sorceress Gorge is explained by the following tale;—
"Pormerly the First King of Eh' Journeyed. to the High Embankment. He felt weary snd lay down to. rest by day. Tne dream he saw a woman who said! "The Unworthy One. is the Thay othe Sorcereaemgntaing she 12°4 passer-by on the High Embanke ent," She hes, heard thatthe Prince travels here and she is willing to piece the''pilows and "spread" the" sleeping mat." Therefore, the King. loved her tenderly. When she was about "to and leave him. she said, "The Une worthy One. lives onthe Southern Slope of the Sorceress Mountain. Hi hills separate us. We can only: meet by means of the sunrise clouds and sunset showers. At every sunrise, at every. sunset I will wale below the Southern Terrace." At dawn shew: seen according to her words, fore, a temple was established—and called "the Cloud of Dawn.
We seem to remember a Greek myth in which the to wed Cos, the goddes of dawn, glory of the sum she fades away in the bright light of his coming. Again he woos hor in her sunset robes but t: e di ness swallows her and thonga ever seeking he never weds his clusive bride "though she is willing to place allows and spread the sleeping mat" for him. It is a little strange to find the familiar tale in a Chinese setting. Mrs. Ayscough's book contains a wealth of folk-lore and abundance of classical allusions which are not only interesting in themselves but of genuine help to those who seek "the reality behind appearances."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.