The Savannah morning news., 1900-08-20
A CHINESE PARADOX.
Fearless of Death and Yet Afraid in
Rattle
From lac London saturdav Reriew.


exaggerate the cordition of grotesque per
piexity produced in the mind OF an Eng
lishman, Frenchman or American by the
thought of a nation, who, on the one hand
! are possessed of the most modern ar,il-
lery, and are themselves capable of manu-
featuring ammunition for it, and who are
yet, as a nation, in state of such abtect
superstition as to think that the most APP
palling calamity that could possibly befall
their country would be to dig up the
bodies of the ruling family's ancestors
But yet more puzzing. or. at all events
a better known popularity of the Chi
nese character is to be found in the sin
gulsf fact that it is possible in China for
q criminal condemned to death to buy a
substitute who shall suffer the supreme
penalty in his place The devotion of T.r
chinese to their families, and their views
IS TO future stat, may supply us with
q logical explanation of conduct which
seems so paradoxical. This aspect of the
question ii is not our purpose to discuss
But such conduct, Whatever its logical ex
PIN alton may be. shows at all events
that the Chinese generally fear death
much less than the Western nations. New
erth"iess-and here is the point on which
we desire especially 10 insist-the Chinese
are ss'd to be by no means exceptionally
courageous.
That such should be the case seems 10
many people inexplicable. If death seems
to man so little 60 he dreaded that he
VIII sell his life. in cool blood, in order
that the price of il may go to his rela-
lions, we may reasonably ask why he
should not be absolutely reckless in bat
tie we may ask how the idea of danger
can have any possible meaning for him
And IN asking this, we shall be justified
py the conduct of certain other nations
Ihe Mohammedan idea that death in bat
tie against the infidel is a sure passport
10 an eternal Cremorne or Mabilie, where
thee" Is no safety and nothing whatever
| 10 pay, does as fact produce amongst
the Solclery OF the prophet the precise eff
rect which in logical fitness it ought to do
| 1t invests them with the courage that
arises from a true Indifference to death
| Why then, do not the Chinese, to whom
death in itself is not more formidable.
eAhlhlt courage of the same spontaneous
KIND? To many minds this question ap-
| pears unanswerable. We venture to think
that it is not as mysterious a $ IT seems.
! or az any rate the fact 10 which il re-
fers II mysterious a all, is not peculiar
! TO the Chinese Il is merely an example
somewhat bizarre in its details-of a GER
! tain paradoxical trait common to human
| nature II is an example of the fact that.
athough, in the great majority of in
stances. action is governed by conscious
or unconscious belief, just as one piece
| of machinery may be governed by another
piece to which il is geared. yet there
are many in 0ortant kinds of conduct. ac-
| zion or behavior with regard to which this
! gearing breaks down or becomes discon-
| nected.
That such is the case with regard to
ethical conduct is attested by authorities
| as different as Ovid and St Paul; and
| they both take note of the fact in almost
the same language. But the phenomenon
! is not confined to the sphere of what is
| commonly called ethics. It is equally OBJ
servabla in the sphere Of self-interest and
common sense Many preachers. dwell
| ing solemnly on The four last things tell
us that it would he imposs bic for Chris
! usns to continue in habitual sin If they
only believed. with a living belief in hell.
! And whatever may be said to the con-
trary by certain superficial philosophers,
! there is no doubt that the fear of future
| punishment has had an im me nse effect on
| the conduct of the Chris ian world. 1t is,
however, equally true that great as this
! effect has been, il ought on logical
| grounds to have been very much greater:
and hat though the efficacy Of this fear,
within certain limits is indubitable, the
extent to which it has faile1 TO be eff
ficient is of all facts connected with it the
most remarkable. 1t deters some men
from this forbidden course without de-
terring him from that. This irregularity
OF action no doubt in part depends on
the differ mt degrees Of belief in different
men, or in the same man at different
times. This expana ton, however, is only
partial 1t may easily be shown that in
the efficacy of belief in hell the vivid
ness of the relief is by no means the
ma'n d termining factor. Thu be'ief is
| constantly disregardCd by those who have
no doubt of its ruth, whilst It constantly
| influences others who by no means con-
slider it as a certainty.
Should any reader be inclined 70 receive
this statement with incredibly we may
convince him of his error most easily, by
asking him to direct his attention to anal.
ogous examples of the influence of be-
lief in action, taken from the sphere OF
| ordinary thought and conduct. Let us
begin with a mans expenditure on his
establishment, or on his personal pleas
ures. If men, when they hired houses
engaged servants and ordered furniture
food, wine, carriages. clothes and so forth
were not influenced to some extent by
the knowledge that they would have tC
pay for them. or would if they failed &c
| pay for them, be what is called ruined
every householder would try TO live like
miliionalre; everybody, tradesmen IN
cuded. excepting mhionaires would bc
bankrupt; and society under existing con.
ditons could no longer hold together
And yet obvious this fact is, il I.
equally notorious that Individual men are
constantly living in way which mus
in few years, reduce them to complete
beggary. They know that this result mus
ensue-they believe II to he absolutely in.
evitabie. as wildly as any Christian II
the medieval age of faith believed thai
hell would he the portion of those who
deliberately lived in sin. Yet their knowl
edge. founded as it is on intellect or
common sense, on their personal obser.
vations of the retribution that is dailN
overtaking Others. has on their own con
duct no restraining influence.
There is another set of examples ever
more forcibie than this-those offered by
the conduct of many men in respect Of
their own dict. Nothing is commonel
than to see intelligent persons who fol
low, in many respects, the dictates Of
reason ignore reason altogether in Il.
bearing on what they eat. and drink. or
hot day in summer they ma,
know that draught is pleasant
to them; but they will forego thu
momentary pleasure II they know that Il
will be followed by rheumatism. The,
may feel strong inclination TO recon
mend themselves 90 some married lady
but a wholesome fear of the divorce cour
viii do what religion cannot. and keer
them true 10 the practice, ii not to th,
principles of virtue. But these same mer