The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-01-09
THROUGH CHINESE EYES.

By Harry II. Tomlins.

100000 sI.I..I.I..I.YsK.I.X.Xs ,sXssssYsS.i.
of the Chinese drama. Our critics ac-
knowledge the superior richness of our
stage decorations, but the spirit of our
theater they regard as exceedingly OBJ
! 1eetionable. The masterpieces or the
classic drama are rarely placed on the
boards The favOrite plays are those
! that teach no moral lesson, and de-
! pend tor their power on enlisting the
IIsdt ihd IIon on the side OF the lower
! passions. In many instances little is
! leIt Tor the imagination to supply;
! scenes that ought to be withheld from
| modest eyes are represented in detail
and the wealth and fashion of the land
are drawn together by the charms of
women of doubtful reputation. If a
| woman with some pretensions to beauty
| Is fortunate enough to win the atten-
| lions OF prince, and in consequence
! TO Inquire IN the divorce courts rival
| theaters immediately compete for her
| services. Voice and acting are sec
ondary considerations; her secret his
| tory and her. voluptuous person are
the things that draw. The Chinese
theater is not immaculate, but if it
does not always keep to its profession
of intoxicating the cardinal virtues, it is
at least free from the charge of cor
ruptlng youth by the unseemly dis
plays of female profigacy. The COM
m1ssloners certainly will not advise
| the repeal of the law that forbids a
woman to appear on the stage in
J China.
We Americans are justly reproached
with neglecting out ancestors. In our
public cemeteries we erect for them
magnificent mansoleums, but in our
dwellings one would search in vain for
any vestige of former generations
Once buried they are forgotten, ana
the soul abhors oblivion Chinese
sages teach their people not only to
bury their dead with suitable rites, but
to keep them in remembrance by peri
odlcal offerings. On the first count |
Americans stand requitted, but the |
second exposes the weakest link in |
our social system. Our ancestors, as |
such, have no hold on our affections. |
When a member of the family is laid |
in the tomb, we follow him for time |
with tender regrets and floral offer |
lngs; then years may elapse without a |
visit to his resting place. Why, say
our critics, do we not inculcate in the
minds Of our children that for body, |
mind and character they are beholden
to those who have gone before2 And |
why do we not, like them, assemble at
the graves of our fathers at least
twice IN the year in order to cherish
a sense of these obligations? No won
der that the sheaf of arrows fall asun-
der, that brothers strive about their
patrimony. and that cousins are looked
on as aliens.
We have in our books a sacred
maxim which commands US to honor
father and mother; but with US that
duty never goes beyond our immediate
parents, whereas with the Chinese 1t
becomes a religion which extends its
hallowed sentiment like self-diffusing
fragrance to every link in the family
succession. In China the law favors
the parent, with US it is partial to the
child. The founder of our faith de- |
nounces the Jews for inventing the
corban by which a man was released
from ministering to the wants of his
parents; yet our laws release him from
any such obligation at the age of
AS soon as he is capable
IF gaining his livelihood he is free to
forsake the parental roof and accumu-
ate property On his own account. He
may even become rich while his father :
remains in penury. Nature requires
The aid OF law, and centuries of dis
,ipline can not fail to leave their i'm
Dress on the character of a race. For
his reason, doubtless the Chinese en-
er the world more richly endowed
han others with that quality of rev.
.rence which disposes them not merely
% honor their ancestors, but to show
respect to civil authority. =
''The family say the Chinese
'ages, ''is the root of the state;" and
is therefore as natural in
he latter as in the former. Who ever
heard of a republican family? In
America the bonds of government are
Is lax as those Of kindred. The Amerl>
AN family is a grass whose seed IS
dispersed to the four winds and takes
DOT wherever it finds a favoring soil;
he Chinese is banyan, whose boughs {
bend reverently down and plant
themselves around the parent stem, the
rital union remaining unbroken from
age to age. Theirs is incontestably the Z
lobler type; and the same, they main =
ain, is true of their government. The
most ancient that exists on the face
II the earth it rises before us as ven
rable as Egypt's pyramids, and
;corns comparison with a mushroom
epublic. Their throne is filed by in
leritance instead or being made the
,rize of a quadrennial conflict. So
ledged about by law and custom is
he exercise of imperial power that
title room is left for arbitrary action
md their public affairs move on with
S much steadiness as is attainable
nder the best balanced constitution
With far more than in country like
his, which does not possess even the
udiments of a civil service, and where
he people live in perennial dread of
ONE political convulsion. While their
overeigns are schooled in the doctrine
hat the throne exists for the good OF
he people, the people, on their part,
re attached to the government by
easonable assurance that its highest
mces are held as the rewards of
lerit. Aspirants for office, instead of