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    February 10 , 1855 . ] T H E X E A D E & . 137

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    his doctrine is one of the great moral and educational powers of the country at this moment ; and he is far more universally known among them than Shakspeare among the English . It is very natural that public opinion among us should look with suspicion on all accounts attributing high civilisation to people so remote . Brahmins talking like Fenelon or Bishop Berkeley , now only amuse people m the pages of Voltaire . Public opinion suspects the Chinese civilisation— -and the vu lgar notion of a mandarin is taken from the figures in the tea-shops . The English , it would seeui , are destined to acquire their first and most deeply-rooted notion of all foreigners through the medium of the retail trade . Our Sultan is a " Saracen ' s Head" over a tavern "; our Highlander stands at the door of a tobacconist , in company with oTir Negro ; our Red Indian is always luring youth to bow-and-arrow establishments ; and our Chinese nods with everlasting pigtail among boxes of the tea which we adulterate under his nose 1 .

    Hence , we have been very careful in the perusal of M . Hue—not to be too eager to believe the Chinese very highly civilised—and we must now bestow * a paragraph on the result of our observations . It is not very easy to define what " civilisation" is . Gray thought the age of Froissart " barbarous "—in which opinion we venture to differ from Gray . Mr . Disraeli thinks that -we ourselves have " mistaken comfort for civilisation , " and that none but Hebrew gentlemen have yet emerged from the savage state . While opinion is so unsettled as to the nature of civilisation , it is not eaajr to pronounce on its presence or absence ; but we certainly know no definition which could fairly include Europe , and yet exclude Cathay . If by civilisaitthe

    tion be meant ( and this is what the mass of people mean by ) having convenient houses , trade , facility of transport , reading and writing , novels , shows and plays , tea parties , and good worldly conversation—why , the Chinese have all these . But if we take a far higher view , we shall find that we must admit them within the pale too . Their great empire is essentially governed by Traditions , and Ideas—real moral forces . All rests there —at last—sis M . Hue shows—on the idea of the family—on the filial relation . No people in existence more honours the memory of their sages , or is more familiar with their sayings and their histories . Then , take one little fact pregnant with interest . After all the fuss we have made in Europe about theiiducation question , what shall we say ( considering our own conduct ) to this?— EDUCATION IN CHINA . Of all countries in the world , China is assuredly the one in -which primary instruction is most widely diffused . There is no little village , not even a group of farms , in which a teacher is not to be found . He resides most frequently in the Pagoda ; and for his maintenance he has usually the revenue of a foundation , or sometimes a kind of tithe paid by the farmers after the harvest . The schools are rather less numerous in the northern provinces ; it almost seems as if the intellects of the people were " rendered duller and heavier by the rigour of the climate . _ " * -The people of the south , on the contrary , are acute arid lively , and devote themselves with ardour to literary studies . With some few exceptions , every Chinese knows how to read and write , at least sufficiently for the ordinary occasions of life . Thus the workmen , the peasants even , are capable of taking notes concerning their daily affairs , of carrying on their own correspondence , of reading the proclamations of the Mandarins , and often also the productions of the current literature .

    Primary instruction has even made its way into the floating ^ dwellings , which cover by thousands the rivers , lakes , and canals of the Celestial Empire . One is sure of finding in their little barques a writing-desk , an arithmetical machine , an annual register , some of the little brushes that supply the place of pens , and some pamphlets which in their moments of leisure the mariners amuse themselves by deciphering . Then , let us consider the following : —

    HOW CHINA IS GOVERNED ; - - - ~ The Emperor being the son of Heaven , and consequently , according to the Chinese expression , Father and Mother of the Empire , has a right to the respect , the veneration , the worship even of his children . His authority is absolute : it is ho who makes and who abolishes the laws , who grants privileges to Mandarins or degrades them , to whom alone belongs the power over life and death , who is the source of all administrative and judicial authority , who has at his disposal the whole power and revenues of the empire—in one word , the state is the Emperor . His omnipotence , indeed , extends even farther , for he can transmit this enormous power to whom he pleases , and choose his successor among his children , without any law of inheritance imposing a restraint upon him in his choice .

    The sovereign power in China is , then , in all respects absolute ; but it is not , as has bscn supposed , for - that reason despotic . It is a strong and vast system of centralisation . The Emperor is the head of an immense family ; and the absolute authority that belongs to him is not absorbed , but delegated to his ministers , who in their turn transmit their powers to the kiferior officers of their administrative governments . The subdivisions of authority thus extend gradually dowawards to groups of families , of which the fathers aro the natural chiefs , and just as absolute within their sphere as any other . It may well bo supposed that this absolute power , being thus infinitely divisible , is no longer equally dangerous ; and besides , public opinion is always ready to check any excesses on the part of the Emperor , who would not ,

    without exciting general indignation , dare to violate the rights of any of his subjects . He has also his private and general councils , the members of which have the right of expressing their opinions , and oven remonstrating with him on matters both of public and private concern . One may read in the annala of China how the censors have often acquitted themselves of their duty with a freedom and vigour worthy of all praise . Finally , these potentates , the objects of so much homage during their lives , are often after death , like the ancient kings of Egypt , subjected to a trial , the verdict from which is attached to their names and descends to posterity . By these posthumous names only do they become known to history ; and as they are always * either eulogistic or satirical , they servo to give a brief estimate of the character of their roign .

    The greatest counterpoise of the Imperial power consists of tho literary aristocracy , or corporation of men of letters ; an ancient institution , which haB been established on a solid basis , and tho origin of which is at least as early as the eleventh century before our era . It may be said that tho administration receives ull its real and direct influence from this sort of literary oligarchy . Tho Emperor can only choose his civil agents among tho lettered class , nnd in conformity with established arrangements . * Every Chinese may present himself for the examination for the third literary degree : and those who obtain this may then becomo candidates , for tho second , which opens tho way to ofllcial employment . To fill tho higher offices tho prize must bo obtained in tho competition for tho first degree .

    Mr . Carlyle considers it infinitely honourable to John Bull that he is a " born Conservative .... slow to believe in novelties . " We have been much amused by the following passage—illustrative of the natural conservatism of John Chinaman , as sailors call him . In the opening of the paragraph , -we have some account of a " leading journal , " in those parts , too :

    TRANQUILLITY OF THE CHINESE MIND . The official gazette of Pekin may also be counted among the organs of the administration . It is a real Moniteur Universel , in which nothing can be printed which has not been presented to the Emperor , or which does not proceed from the Emperor himself ; the editors of it would not dare to change or add anything , but under penalty of the severest punishment . This Pekin gazette is printed every day , in the form of a pamphlet , and contains sixty or seventy pages . The subscription to it does not amount to more than twelve francs a year ; and it is a most interesting collection , and very useful in making one acquainted with the Chinese Empire . It gives a sketch of public affairs and remarkable events ; the memorials arid petitions presented to the Emperor , and his answers to them ; his instructions to the Mandarins and the people ; the judicial proceedings , with the principal condemnations and the pardons granted by the Emperor ; and also a summary of the deliberations of the sovereign courts . The principal articles and all the public documents are reprinted in the official gazettes of the provinces .

    Papers thus edited certainly serve to keep the Mandarins and the people acquainted with public affairs , but they are little calculated to excite or encourage political passions . In ordinary tunes , and when they are not under the influence of any revolutionary movement , the Chinese are not at all inclined to meddle with affairs of government . They are a delightfully quiet people to deal with . In 1851 , at the period of the death of the Emperor Tao-kouang , we were travelling on the road from Pekin , and one day , when we had been taking tea at an inn in company with some Chinese citizens , we tried to get up a little political discussion . " We spoke of the recent death of the Emperor , an important event , which of course must have interested everybody . We expressed our anxiety on the subject-of the

    succession to the Imperial throne , the heir to which was not yet publicly declared . " Who knows , " said we , " which of the three sons of the Emperor will have been appointed * to succeed him ? If it should be the eldest , will he pursue the same system of government ? If the younger , he is still very young ; and it is said there are contrary influences , two opposing parties , at court—to wMch avill he lean ? " We put forward , in short , all kinds of hypotheses , in order to stimulate these good citizens to make some observation . But they hardly listened to us . We came back again and again to the charge , in order to elicit some opinion or other on questions that really appeared to us of great importance . But to all our piquant suggestions they replied only by shaking their heads , puffing out whiffs of smoke , and taking great gulps of tea .

    This apathy was really beginning to provoke us , when one of these worthy Chinese , getting up from his seat , came and laid his two hands on our shoulders in a manner quite paternal , and said , smiling rather ironically : — " Listen to me ,-my friend ! Why should you trouble your heart and _ fatigue your head by all these vain surmises ? The Mandarins have to attend to affairs of State ; they are paid for it . Let them earn their money , then . But don ' t let us torment ourselves about what does not concern us . We should be very great fools to want to do political business for nothing , " , . - " That is very conformable to reason , " cried the rest of the . company ; and thereupon they pointed out to us that our tea was getting cold and our pipes ^ were out . fullest information thos

    One object of M . Hue ' , to present the on e points on which Europeans adopt traditionary misinformation about this people . In so doing , he sometimes alters to their advantage—sometimes to their disadvantage . That he has a kindly feeling for them—the result of fourteen years' intercourse—is very evident ; but he does riot spare them , either . He tells us—and on his authority we tell our readers—that they treat their women very ill—that they are given to lying and insincerity , and jobbing , and trickery in trade . But before we come to consider the present prospects of the country , we shall extract a few passages illustrative of " their manners . Let the reader note the excellent remark o £ Confucius , which we have marked- in italics , and -which . could . only ha , ye . come , from _ a . very superior thinker : — ceremonies . ¦ . m , The Chinese have been much reproached for their absurd attachment to frivolous ceremonies , and the minutios of etiquette . People have been pleased to represent them as always moving in a grave , solemn manner , after the fashion of automata , executing in their friendly salutations only certain manoeuvres prescribed by the law , and addressing eacli other in stiff formulas of courtesy learnt by heart from the ritual . The Chinese of the lower class , the palanquin bearers , and street porters of great towns , have been supposed to be always prostrating themselves to each other , and asking ten thousand pardons , after having been abusing or oven knocking each other down . These extravagancies are not really to be met with in China ; they are to be found only in the accounts of Europeans , who seem to think themselves obliged , in speaking of a country so litlo known , to relate many strange things . Setting aside all exaggeration , however , it is certain that urbanity is among the Chinese a distinctive sign of national character .

    A fondness for polite and decorous observance may be traced among them from tho remotest antiquity , and their ancient philosophers never fait to recommend to the people a strict " observance of the precopts established for the relations of society . Confucius said that ceremonies are the symbols of virtue , and destined to preserve it , to i ecal it to memory , and even sometimes to supply its place . These principles being among tho earliest inculcated by schoolmasters on the minds of their pupils , it is not surprising that wo find in all ranks of society manners which display more or less of that politeness which is the basis of Chinese education ; and even tho country people and peasants certainly treat each other with more respect and decorum than

    would bo manifested among tho laborious classes of Europe . In their official reports , and on solemn occasions , the Chinese have certainly too much of stiffness and bombastic grimace , and are too much tho slaves of ceremonious etiquette . Tho regulation tears and groans of their funeral ceremonies , their emphatic protestations of affection , respect , and devotion to people they despise and detest , the pressing invitations to dinner , given on condition of not being accepted—all those are excesses and abuses common enough , but which were oven noticed and blamed by Confucius himself . This rigid observer of " Tho Kites " has somewhere said that , with respect to ceremonies , it is better to bo a miser than a prodigal , especially H in practising them ono has not tho feolJug in tho heart that alono confers on them merit

    and importance . . , i i i * Apart from theso public demonstrations , in which there is often a good deal of constraint and affectation , the Chinese aro not deficient in openness and freedom of deportment . When they have pulled off their satin boots , and laid aside their robes of state and their official hat * , they become men of tho world ; and in the habitual intercourse of daily life they know how to release themselves from the bonds of etiquette , and indulge in social recreation , in which the conversation is seasoned , as among

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 10, 1855, page 137, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2077/page/17/