The times., 1898-11-20
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"China I'm Transformations -

itSS dbNbl AIt dA East. III NiAC ~ -
when great fortunes were made in the
India trade, there was a gentle interest
in the customs, products and possibilities
of Asiatic lands, and the A. B. C. +. NJ.
has fostered a sort of exotic concern about
the theology of India and China But
only within the past year has the aver
age American spent much time in study
ing Eastern conditions. He has there
fore much to learn. and new books ON the
Orient are meeting with warm recep-
ton.
That is one reason why China in Trans
formation" by Archibald r. Colquhoun,
has a claim upon the attention of the pub
lie The other reasons are that it is
good book and well written.
Its author says in his brief preface that
he makes no pretension TO having written
a book for the student The work is in
tended for men of business, politicians,
travellers and Others who wish informa-
ton regarding China. The history, litera-
ture, religion, manners and social Gus
toms OF the Chinese have already been
treated in works accessible to most peo-
pie. Mr. Colquhoun has lived in Buimah,
first as an engineer and then as deputy
commissioner. has visited Siam repeatedly
and has been in China as explorer, as
special correspondent of the London Times
and in connection with railway negotia-
tions. The freemasonry which exists
among English officials in the land of the
alien has caused II to happen that the
really earnest Englishman who desires
In, 1nfl
becomes acquainted with his subject.
Sometimes he accumulates stores of wis
dom which are simply vast. And it may
be admitted without hesitation that
though Mr.. Colquhoun naturally takes a
decidedly British view, he understands
his business. He expresses the English
opinion of the present situation in the
latter part of his preface, when he says:
The grand international problem presented by
the affairs Of China has been approached and
treated from the point of view OF the English
speaking and Teutunic races, because there Is an
obvious c immunity of interest as well as com
munity of sentiment among them, which may
be expected, in the long run. 10 constitute
permanent factor in the worlds AFFAIRS But
have endeavored 10 deal VITA facts and prOba-
bilties dspassionately, avoiding international re-
ordinations. which are entirely cut of place III
serious discussions.
The movements which are in progress in the
Far East are OF the greatest import, and ! have
not been able 10 resist the conviction that the
immediate dcstnos OF mankind are TO con-
siderable extent, dependent the issue of these
N, Movements. And although no race question be
directly involved one can scarcely avoid group
ing the powers in cofnbinst tions, which VIII
ultimately place the Tcutonic peoples on the one
Edc and the Slav-Latin On The otEer- This would
leave Japan as i mediating factor Of great in
fuence in the evolution of the Pacific States.
The onward march OF Russia cannot be stopped.
by her own rulers, unless il encounters A
he Nsnf,s ,sff 4HE 0f
that power seems certain TO confer on her the
mastery OF the world.
These are serious statements, especial
ly from an English writer. They show
that the fear which England has OF Rus
sia is something much more definite than
e. nightmare. This huge, semi-ciyi.ized.
semi-Oriental nation is a menace to the
England of today just as the Huns were
a menace TO the chivalry of the Middle
Ages. 1t is the ever recurring drama of
history-the old nation fearing and fight
ing the nation just 4 generation younger.
Russia moves slowly: that she shall con-
time sluggish and unprogressive is Eng
lands dearest hope.
Mr. Colquhoun's book contains fourteen
chapters followed by a glossary and
list of books consulted. Some of the
chapter headings are: THE Geographical
Question" Foreign Relations" "The
Communication "Englands Objection In
China Commercial Development"
Chinese Democracy" and THE Political
Question"
The misapprehensions Of Chinese char
acter and customs on the part of the
general public are quite innumerable
and this book should remove some of
them. The author is disposed to see all
that is good in the Chinese as individuals
tensely idealistic view as Lafcadio
Hearns view of the japanese. One of
the most important points in the book is
that the author continually discriminates
between causes and results and between
permanent and temporary traits and Gus
toms. For instance We are accustomed
TO talk OF Chinese exclusiveness" as If
II were innate, and had existed from
time immemorial. This. as Mr.. Colqu-
houn explains, is not true. The policy of
seclusion and anti-foreign sentiment dates
only from the seventeenth century, when
the Manchus completed their conquest of
China. In 1871, while in possession only
of Liao-tung. they issued an edict COM
pel!ing their Chinese subjects, under pen
atty of death, to adopt the Manchurian
mode of wearing the hair. In 1914 they
became the acknowledged and unques-
toned rulers of the country. and the au-
tnOr InlnkS II niSnlN prODdDle lIldl lnS
view of Hue, in 1.-The Chinese Empire,
is the correct one, and that the Manchus,
and not the Chinese are responsible for
the attempt to seal the Empire against
the intrusion of foreigner. He says,
quoting from Hue:
The Msnchus It is evident, were. on account
OF the smallness of their numbers in the midst
of this vast empire compelled to adopt stringent
measures to preserve their conquest. Fer fear
Hos, shn IN snatch flpir
prey from them. they have carefully closed the
ports Of China against them. thinking thus TO
secure themselves from ambitious attempts from
without: and in the interior OF the empire they
have sought TO keep their enemies divided by
their rapid and constant changes of public Off
GERS.
Then Mr.. Colquhoun adds:
Before the advent of the Manchus China main
tained constant relations with the countries OF
Asia, traders from Arabia, Persia, and India
traficked in Chinese ports and passed into the
interior. Missionaries from the West
were proplgating the Christian religion in the
eighth century; in the thirteenth Marco Polo not
only cordially received, but held office in the
empire, and at that time the Cnristian religious
ceremonies were tolerated at Peking, where there
was archbishop.
Another thing which will surprise the.
average readerJis the enormous value Of
China to the industrial world, as shown
In the chapter on 1.-THE Economic Ques-
ton" A few sentences on this subject
are as follows:
The central zone, stretching from the Yellow
River southwark TO the 26th degree of latitude,
has much milder winters than the northern, and
rice and wheat thrive well there. II POSSESSES
too, the better kinds of tea, the mulberry, the
cotton tree, the iuiube, the orange tree the su-
gar cane, and the bamboo. The eastern
part of this favored zone is celebrated for its
manufactures Of silk and cotton; the middle of
II is the granary of China, and might feed the
whole country from its enormous harvests Of
rice; the west abounds in valuable tmbers.
NJ .il.E e., L