Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-08-06
EAST is EAST
By Frank H. Hedges

China has never been governed.
Perhaps the fundamental fault of the
present republic is in it's attempt to
govern.
From the dawn of history in the
celestial empire down to the day
when that empire ceased to exist
and became a republic the rulers of
China had not interfered with the
life of the people. The emperor. the
Son of Heaven, sat on the dragon
throne. and. to him all China did
obeisance. His authority was not
only temporal but spiritual and he
alone had the right to intercede with
the supreme power, or heaven. For
subject to have worshiped heaven
directly would have been sacrilege.
He could worship It only through the
person of the emperor. OF the very
Son of Heaven.
***
This religious privilege of the
reigning monarch constituted. in the
eyes of the masses. his right to rule.
When the first president OF the re-
public was confronted with the ques-
ton of whether he or the deposed
drously beautiful Temple of Heaven in
Picking and there sacrifice to the
supreme deity. he decreed that this
privilege belonged to the actual
earthly ruler of China. and so with
great ceremony went to the grounds
of the temple. There. on the three
TERED marble terrace that rises TO
the sky. he went through the ancient
rites, but the republican president
was not truly the Son of Heaven. and
what should have been a sacred and
awesome ceremony became tawdry
From that day to this no man has
dared worship there. and the temple
buildings stand in disrepair. their
beauty revealed only to the gaze OF
curious tourists or to those few who
can appreciate and feel the part they
have played in the l'fe OF great
people.
The emperor worshiped at the
Temple OF Heaven; he appointed the
grand council. the provincial vice
roys and other OF the higher officials;
he received the tribute and taxes Of
lead a life of pomp and ceremony.
of luxury and ease. in the many pal
aces that made up his home Gov
eminent. in the sense understood by
US of the western world. did not
exist In ancient China. The regula-
politics and of daily habits and Gus
toms was left almost entirely in the
hands of the people.
In China the family. rather than
the city. the province of even the
nation. has always been the unit Of
society and the state. but IT has been
the family as constituted in China.
men hold to the ties of blood and a
simple family often makes up whole
village or group Of villages. II is
doubtful II any family In China num-
bers less than 5000 members. II a
dispute arose among two individuals
of the 5000, II was taken to the fam
lily elders for settlement. If the dis
pute were between members Of neigh
boring families. IL was taken to a
joint council of elders. Rarely in
deed was the decision of such a
council contested. for then. and then
the courts. The magistrate in one
district of South China twenty years
ago did not average one case at law
year. In the larger cities the
guilds of merchants and tradesflen
exercised this unofficial but never
China prospered. All was not we'll
in ancient China, 1t is true. There
was much of corruption and no little
of cruelty and injustice. but the ma
ton was not constantly torn by civil
strife among its politicians and mill
tarists as Il Is now. Politicians OF
that day confined their activities to
palace intrigue. and there were vir-
tually no militarists. China, the
great hulking mass Of China. gov
erned itself and allowed its nominal
rulers TO levy tribute and to bask in
glory.
But China touched elbows with the
west. The empire fell and with 1t
went many institutions of the CEN
turtles. The new masters of the coun-
try looked across the Pacific and to
Europe and attempted to ape what
they found there. For the first time
nation. A parliament was created,
but many of its duly elected members
knew no more of the function OF a
parliament than their electors knew
of the ballot. Laws were enacted.
and a whole mushroom structure of
surface democracy erected. The re-
sult-look at China in 1928.
With almost one blow the revolu-
tionists of twelve years ago wiped
out the machinery of a carefully bal
arced and nicely adjusted govern
mental system that had been built up
through centuries of experimentation.
The rchial-patriarchial system
of control was abolished, and in it's
place was injected a skeleton bor-
rowed from abroad. The people were
familiar with the old methods. They
were accustomed to governing them
selves in all matters which vitality
affected their daily lives. and were
content to leave to the emperor the
glory and the tribute which were
almost his sole possessions.
The new leaders. those who founded
the republic. sought to impose what
they considered self-government on
the people of China They insisted
that the nation would be governing
itself after the most approved fashion
if the nation would only delegate
large powers to Picking and then per-
NIT Peking in turn to impose it's will
on every man, woman and child.
disagreement has, ii is true
evolved along these lines in the west
ern world, but 1t has been an evolu-
ton. a process as vitality necessary
to governments as to individuals, and
its adoption in China has not meant
self but oligarchical government. re-