Evening star., 1923-12-03
EAST is EAST
BY FRANK Fl. HEDGES

There seems to exist In America
curious ignorance Of the fact that
Japan and China are entirely sepa-
rate nations: that in all probability
the two peoples are not OF the same
parent stock; that their customs and
mode of living differ greatly. It is
not meant to say that any American
Is under so great a misapprehension
as to believe that Japan and China
are under the same government. but
his distinction between the two ma
ttons and the two peoples ceases with
this fact. save that he Is accustomed
to accrediting the Japanese with an
almost diaboIical cleverness and the
Chinese with a simple honesty and
friendliness
The returned traveller from Japan
Is credited by his friends in America
with fun and accurate knowledge
of China. The American who has
spent some time in the great Asiatic
republic Is believed to be an author
tty on the island empire.
No assumption could be more in
accurate. The points Of difference
between the two peoples are probably
greater than the points of resem-
blance. and the foreign resident in
one-sided and incomplete view OF the
netghboring nation. Unfortunately
certain Americans who have spent
considerable period of time in but
one or the countries are almost as
ignorant as their friends at home
of their own lack of knowledge. This
is, ] believe. more true of the Amer
lean resident in China than in Japan.
probably because Japanese activity
is more apparent in the republic than
n itTitr In hA p,,NIr
n +
1t is true. Of course. that a large
part of present-day Japanese culture
finds its roots in the civilization of
ancient China. The Japanese is prone
to boast that fourteen hundred years
ago his nation acquired the civiliza-
ton and culture of China and then
Japanese needs. He uses this Illus
tration as a parallel Of what Japan
will do with the vast influx from
America and Europe that is today
reshaping life in Japan. I am in
clined TO disagree with his view. A
study Of the history of the empire, OF
the culture that existed before COM
munication with China and of the
changes that followed such communi-
cation. seems to show that Japan
took over Chinese culture bodily
There was an apish imitation of all
things Chinese From this as a base
however Japan has evolved along
her own national lines. and the nat
ural growth and evolution Of the
Japanese people have worked out
quite differently from the original
growth and evolution of the Chinese
from the same common base have
reached their present stage.
Just as Mexican. German and
American institutions and life find
common roots in Greece and Pales-
tine so do Chinese and Japanese
find them in ancient China. But the
differences between the Chinese and
the Japanese are greater than those
between the Mexican and the Amer
lean between the German and the
American or between those of any
kindred people and the people of this
country. The study in detail OF
those differences is interesting in it
self, but the elimination of the con-
fusion of China and Japan in the
American public mind is, perhaps,
more important.
1t is partly mental Iaziness and
partly poor methods of information
that have given rise to the con-
fusion. To thousands In this coun-
try neither China nor Japan is a
very definite and concrete idea. A
news story dealing with China, espe-
cially if 1t contains Chinese names,
is quite apt to be skipped by the |
reader OF the paper, unless il be so
sf rf1 m nd hnt iG
attention in spite of himself. This
is only half due to his own refusal
to read what is apparently uninter-
esting and difficult to understand;
the other half of the blame lies on
the shoulders OF the writer and pub
Usher for not having made the story
interesting and so simple that IL
would be readily understood. The
result. however, is that the average
reader has a very 'hazy notion of
what is going on in China, of what
the Chinese people are like and of
the background Of Chinese life
The same holds true in regard to
Japan. And then, because he knows
that both Japan and China lie some
where in that part of the world
called the far east, that both are
oriental nations. that both are diff
ferent from his own country. he
jumps to the hasty conclusion that
both are alike and that to know one
is to know the other.
The American living in Japan is
apt to realize that he learns very
little of China in that country. He
knows that much he sees In Jap
anese culture originated in China,
China itself it is difficult to dis
tinguish the native from the foreign
growth. He is seldom thrown into
direct contact with China or the
Chinese. and he returns to America
from Kobe or Yokohama or Sendai
confessing that the Chinese puzzle
is as much of puzzle to him as
ever, and when his friends ask if
the Japanese still bind their feet he
learns TO answer tolerantly.
+ y X
Not so with the American who
makes his home in some Chinese city
for a time He has called at a Jap
anese port or two on his way out
and has had a glimpse for at least
a day or more of Japan. More i'm
portant, Japanese activities in China
make him constantly conscious of
that empire. Since 1914 Japanese
governmental policy in China has
been such as to arouse intense an
tagonism on the part of the Chinese.
The anti-Chinese boycott, the stu
dent demonstrations regarding the
leased territory in Shantung province
and similar inctdents are familiar
story. The Chinese do possess the
valuable faculty of winning friend
ship and Of rousing sympathy. so
that 1t is but natural that Americans
resident in China should join with