The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-04-16
CHINA WAKES UP.
.T5elGI-
" WI Ting Fang Tells
Of Her Pro
gress.
.F rtH =.
OPEN DOOR POLICY.
Will Treat All Nations Alike
and Demands Similar
Treatment.

WI Ting Fang, the Chinese minister
to this country, is a remarkable man.
1t is commonly supposed that the dl-
plomatic representative of the fowery
Kingdom is a semi barbarian, but a
better educated statesman than this
Celestial is hard to find. Not only does
he speak fluent English, but it is with
out the slightest perceptible trace of a
foreign acceut His words are well
chosen and would do credit to a pro-
q. lessor of rhetoric. His knowledge of
the European languages and of science
lis, extensive. AS a diplomat he is hard
to equal
His address on "China's relations
with the west" delivered before the
American Academy of Political and So
cial Science IN Philadelphia las. Satur-
day. Is, interesting as showing the
views of an educated Chinaman on the
subject Of the proposed dismember-
ment1of his nation by the European
powers. =. 49,
We have all read about the dispute
between two ancient knights over a
shield, one claiming it to be gold and
the other claiming it to be silver. The
story is san. old one, but the lesson 1t
teaches is worth remembering. 1t is
the failure to look at the other side of
the shield that has given rise to all the
misunderstanding in the intercourse
between ~the east and the west. The
different nations in the west, have,
within the present century, advanced
SO much in science, knowledge ana
wealth. that is has become the fashion
torSpeak of them as the most civilized
nations on the face of the earth and TO
consider the nations in the east as
much below them in ciVlllzatlon-ln
fact, as barbarouS or seml-c1Vlllzed.
1t has been too much the habit to
ignore the good points the eastern ma
lions possess, and to leave out of ac-
count what they have done. This is
hardly Just The east also has civil
ization of it's own.
OF that civilization China is the
chief exponent Among its achieve
.1nents- may be mentioned the invention
of the mariners compass gunp9Woer
and printing. 1t is not civilization OF
mushroom growth. There is not ma
ton standing todya that can trace its
history as far back as China
During the forty centuries of her eX-
istence there have gradually grown up
institutions and laws adapted to the
needs and character of the people; a
literature as extensive ana varied as
that of ancient and modern Europe; a
system of morality that can challenge
comparison with any other the world
has ever produced, and those useful
arts that have never ceased to excite
the wonder and admiration of the world
You may ask why Egypt, Persia
Greece, and even mighty Rome, have
successfully succumbed to the raVages
of time, while China alone has sur
vived. The answer is not far to seek
1t is the survival of the fittest. The
fact that China is standing today shows
conclusively that she has not outlivec
her usefulness to the cause of civiliza-
tion.
Thus Chinese civilization has been
weighed in the balance of time and not
found wanting. But the conditions that
have fostered that civilization have in
recent years been greatly modified by
steam and electricity. With the Him.
alayas on the west, vast deserts on the
north. and large bodies of water on the
east and south, China was country
extremely difficult to approach from
all sides in days not very long ago.
There she was left for centuries to work
out her destiny practically free from
outside influence and foreign mOlesta-
"a tion. But the steamboat and telegraph
have changed the whole situation OF
things. and rendered it impossible for
her to lead such national life as she
could before. 1t has taken her some
time to awake to this fact. On this ac-
count she has been called an unprogres-
sive nation This sentiment is voiced
by Tennyson when he says: Better