The New York herald., 1922-11-19

OF CHINA. BY sun Yat-sen. G.. p Put
MANS Sons
II ERTRAND RUssELL's latest vol
n ume is to be prescribed as an anti
dote for those of us who eompla-
Gently believe that the culture of the white
man is the highest product of civilization.
For, with the wit. irony. and farsighted
analytical power that eharacterizes his
work in general Mr. Russell demonstrates
that in many respects we are not the su-
periors but the interiors of the yellow
man. He indicates plainly that the wisdom
dominating the civilization of the Chinese
is incomparabIy above that which governs
our own civilization; that the Chinese
have a greater patience. a broader per-
spective of events, and a more human
philosophy than the nations of the West.
What they lack is Occidental science and
standards of efficiency; what we lack is
their ethical outlook upon life, their sensi-
tive artistic conscience. and their whole
hearted ability to derive enjoyment from
life.
For the Chinese, in Bertrand Russelrs
conception, are "a nation of artists; they
are fundamentally imbued with an appre-
citation Of that which is beautiful: they
are more inclined to reach toward the ideal
than toward material things: to them the
ornamentation of a temple or the attain
ment of righteousness would seem of more
Importance than the driving power of pro-
jectiles or the tonnage of battleships In
| -.
sell terms "the mechanistic outlook; they
are not in the habit of regarding men as
mere commercial articles. to be manipu-
lated like cards for the benefit of industry:
| they have never been threatened. like the
people of Samuel Buffers "Erewhon." with
becoming slaves to machines or to me-
chanical processes; they have never fallen
a prey to the hideous and pathetic fallacy
| that affiicts all western civilization-the
fallacy of mistalxing the means of culture
| for the end. and of assuming that the goal
| OF life is industry rather than that in
| dustry is a mere tool that should be en-
ployed to make life better worth living.
Indeed. the vaunted achievements OF the
white man have for the most part been
/ employed as the instrumentalities of
wretchedness and destruction rather than
| of happiness. Mr.. Russell states the case
| well when he ironically declares: THE fact
that Britain has produced Shakespeare
and Milton, Locke and Hume and all the
other men who have adorned literature
and the arts. does not make US superior
to the Chinese. What makes US superior
is Newton and Robert Boyle and their
scientific successors. They make us SUI
perior by giving US greater proficiency in
the art of killing. 1t is easier for an Eng
lishman to kill a Chinaman than for
Chinaman to kill an Englishman There
| fore our civilization is superior to that Of
/ China"
In China Mr.. Russell sees the sole hope
| for the future. Because of excessive energy
and aggressive policies. he predicts. the
western nations are likely to destroy one
another within the next few centuries; ac-
cOrdingly. the only possible source OF SAL
vation will be China. provided that she
remains immune from the menace of mill
tarism and Of a predatory industrialism.
/ Even now these foes of civilization are
pounding at her doors. but just as in the
past she has Outlived great conquering
empires to which she seemed an easy prey,
so in the future she may survive the peril
Of the white man. But contends Mr. Rus
| sell. il China is To be preserved to fulfill
her function, she must be protected against
capitalistic exploitation. and the only pos
sibility of preventing such exploitation is
. through international socialism