The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-10-26

mouth Of every Chinese river, but the
government will not permit them to
be removed because they are heaven
sent barriers" to keep out foreign mem
of-war. To command . ship q man
must pass an examination on the max
inns Of Confucius and the philosophy Of
Mencius, but It is not necessary for him
to know anything about geography or
navigation. To command an army one
must be able to write treatise upon
the morals Of the ancIents and the wis.,
dom of the ages, but Il !s not necessary
for him to have any conception of ord
nance or explosives.
Commands are given to their soldiers
by officers of the Chinese army In the
English language. They shout "shoul-
der arm" right wheel and halt" just
as we do, for there are no terms In the
native tongue to describe these move
ments.
Schools and Literature.
In the schools nothing but Chinese
literature 10 taught and that from books
that are centuries old. No geography,
no arithmetic, no spelling. no grammar,
but students are required TO commit to
memory vast volumes Of the classics
that contain poems. parallels, incidents
in ancient Chinese history and the
moral philosoih ny. ethics and etiquette
taught by tfe great mOnarchs. There
is no source OF light for the Chinese peo-
Ile except through the missionary
schools, fe.tered and imprisoned as
they are by tradition. by the isolation
OF their country. by the poverty and
antiquity Of their language and by the
peculiar narrow limits OF their system
of instruction. There Is no feature OF
public policy. domestic economy. social
intercourse, that IS not based upon
some precept Of Confucius What he
said Is conclusive and puts an end to
all further discussion.
The machinery of the government
and the system of education, like the
Topography Of the country and the
climate. have undergone no change for
? eco years They remain the same as
they were az the time of Christ and the
description Of the cities and the GUS
toms of the people given by Marco Polo,
VINO vi2!te' Cl!na In 1880 answers very
well for today, although there has been
much decay since the reign of Kublai
Khan, the great conquerer Tartar chief
tain. who subdued the Chinese and
made himself the monarch OF all that
lay between the tral mountains and
the borders OF the sea.
There Is no geography In the Chinese
language. There are no words TO ey-
press modern IDEAS or articles OF mod
ern invention or processes In science
and mechanics that have come into use
during the last century or two. There
fore. II Is impossible to teach science
in the Chinese schools.
There some volumes OF travel in their
literature. One was written about a
century ago. and In ls4l Commissioner
Llu. who visited Europe, published an
abridged translation OF Murray's Clclo-
pedia OF Geography. In 1850 Sen Kf
fu made a compendium OF brief no.
tices OF foreign nations like the States
mans Year Book for official purposes,
hut its use Is limited TO the officials
OF the foreign Offices, and II contains all
of the information accessible to the
grand council of the empire. the men,
pers OF which are expected not only 10
govern the country, but to direct Its
intercourse with other governments
Hence Prince Kung and his associates
and even the emperor himself have no
means of learning about the outside
world, even II they desired to do so.
There are many publications devoted
to the Topography. geography and his
tory of China. Their records and print
ed Information concerning their own
country are practically complete and
are scarcely equaled by any nation OF
Europe or America. There are perhaps
10000 volumes devoted to the different
provinces. For instance, the province
Of Chen Kiang is described minutely In
q treatise OF forty large volumes, while
the historical and statistical description
that accompanies 1t fills ls2 volumes.
although there IL much legendary mat
ter and philosophical discussion.
There Is not a book in the Chinese
language, except those printed by the
missionaries. that can give the en-
peror any idea even of the location OF
England or Germany or the United
States. or any account OF their gov
ernments or people. He once under
took 10 learn English in order to read
foreign books. but gave It Up as a bad
Job. and now depends entirely upon the
informal ton that is filtered through sew
eral irresponsible interpreters.