New-York tribune., 1908-11-23
GHLNI.N AMIEENING'

The awakening of China must now he accepted
As an assured and indeed partially accom-
pshed fact. 1t differs widely in many respects
from the awakening of Japan. partly because "a
the difference in the manner and circumstancSk
of its achievement and partly. perhaps chiefly
because of the radical difference III the genius of
the neople hut il is no less real and IS likely
ia prove no less significant to the world. We
may daic il from the time Of the war between
Russia and Japan. and may credit II largely I"
that war as one of its unntended and perhaps
unexpected results There had been sporadic
symptoms of unrest and of uprising in China be
fore that hut since then the movement has pro
ceeded at . rate really startling 10 those who
have imagined the Orient to he necessarily aud
invariably conservative and slow.
The imperial army organized by Yuan Sbi kai
is not yet large Int for the first time in the his
tory Of China if is in equipment. organization,
discipline and perhaps even i'm efficiency compar-
able with any in the Western world. Under i'm
periaI direction the coast of China has been care
fully surveyed for naval purposes and eXcep-
tionay perfect maps have been officially filed
away nj Peking. Nearly thousand Of the
brightest young Cinnamon have been scattered
Throughout Europe and America as students. A
hundred of them arc maintained in London by
the Chinese Legation there. They are learning
all that Occidental civilization contains of law
medicine. engineering. politics and military and
naval science and will 20 back to he leaders in
their own land. IN every important provincial
city the government has established a sort of
peoples forum. in which the Governor or Vice
roy meets ali cOmers and hears their complaints.
requests debates and what-not. and reports the
gst of the popular opinion thus evoked 10 the
imperial government al Picking.
Nor is there now any lack Of public opinion in
China. Since the Russo-JapaneSe War hundreds
OF newspapers have been started all over the
empire. Peking. Shanghai. Canton and other
large cities have a dozen or more daies EACH
and there is not provincial capital without at
least one. And these. are printed not in the lit
erary language Of the mandarns. but In the YER
la cular Of the common people Thus now for the
first time the whole Chinese people nave laid he
fore them the news of the world, together with
the most free and frank comments thereon. No
dread of lese majesty Restraints the Chinese editor
from criticising even the Emperor himself The
prerepts and philosophy Of Confucus are sub
iected 10 unsparing higher criticism" The su-
pcrstitions of the people are ridicued ana ex-
posed The doctrines Of Rousseau and Monies
quien and OF many European aud American
thinkers of later date are discussed and taught
Above all. tie principle Of China for the Chi
nese is proclaimed with the persistence Of Cato's
condemnation Of Carthage
The Chinese nstion has awakened il is NOT
likely 70 relapse into slumher hnd it's arising
will be none The less complete and sikniftant
betause il Is orderly and gradual There ls no
doubt that the late Emperor snd the Empress
porager realized this fact. the former with
sratihcation. and the latter perhaps with re-