Evening star., 1923-11-12
EAST is EAST
BY FRANK II. HEDGES

Better death than desecration!
Rather than permit the entrance of
foreign devils" in to the sacred
precincts of the Forbidden city In
Peking. the palace home OF the de-
posed boy emperor. the officials Of
the old Manchu court who hold sway
over that plot Of ground allowed
the flames to take their toll Of
gorgeous buildings and of ancient
records. American marines, the first
on the scene to offer help when the
sky above the Forbidden city was
colored by the glare of the fire, were
politely informed that no foreigner
might cross the moat, no matter
how desperate the need.
It was a concession that must have
old d-fashioned pumps from the Italian
legation were permitted to force
water across the purple walls Of the
little inclosure, but only Chinese
were allowed to man the lines of
hose that ran from the pumps to the
stayed before the whole Of the For
bidden city had been destroyed, which
is not surprising, since the buildings
are of brick, form Of adobe, earthen
tiles and very little woodwork.
The Manchu princes, dukes and
minor officials who guard the person
Of the deposed boy emperor of China
are, perhaps, the worlds greatest re-
dictionaries. The present means but
little to them and the future less.
They live entirely in the past. Their
dreams are not dreams of a great
and reunited republic Of China, TAX
ing her place at the council tables
Of the world on equal footing with
all other powers. Instead, they
cherish memories of the day when
and the west was still the unknown
land of the barbarian. To this they
would return, but they cannot.
Much as the American, the Briton
or the French man may consider his
country and his civilization superior
to that Of China, his conceit Is as
nothing beside that OF the Chinese
reactionary. Superior as many may
feel to what they choose to call,
wrongly. 'uncivilized China" it is as
nothing compared with the self
assurance Of the Chinese regarding
the superiority of his own civilization
over that of the west. His is an
ancient land that has endured
through the centuries. an ancient
culture that was built up before the
days of Athens and Rome, system
while others have crumbled and per-
ished. What mas the young, young
west to teach him?
This is not true of all Chinese, but
it is true of the educated reaction
aries and of the mass of uneducated
hn E hut 0f
nation save their own. The Chinese
who visits America readily recognizes
the merits and benefits Of certain
aspects of our civilization. particu-
larly of our mechanical culture.
Although he may still believe the
tenets of Confucius superior to any
system of ethics enunciated else
where. he is not blind to the ad-
vantages of the railroad, the tele-
phone, the automobile and all the
harnessed the vast power of steam,
electricity and gas to serve mankind.
He recognizes their worth and he
longs to transplant them to his
native land SO that his countrymen
may be served likewise by nature.
But in attempting to do so he en-
counters blind antagonism. At
first the Chinese who believes that
his race alone has produced the good
things of this earth is stubbornly
opposed to innovation. The returned
Chinese student from America, how
ever, makes a small beginning, and
the Chinese are quick to grasp the
offered them. The trains
on the few railways of the republic
are crowded in way that would not
Psking and other cities there is a
demand for telephones so great that
it cannot be supplied. Motor cars
are seldom seen outside the port
cities. ii is true. but China must first
learn that good roads are essential
to automobiles.
x X x
1t is a slow and difficult process.
this meeting and partial mingling Of
two great civilizations, and forms
the most fascinating problem in the
world today. 1t is a problem that
calls for infinite wisdom. 1t is
neither wise nor best that China
should blindly adopt as ner own that
which the west has to give. In
many respects the Chinese is right
in the belief in the superiority of
his own peculiar culture, especially
The foreigner who would impose his
institutions and customs on an
ancient people is foolishly near
sighted. 1t cannot be done sue
ceSSfully, nor is 1t desirable that 1T
should be done. The Chinese reac-
tionary who rejects all that the west
has to offer is quite as foolish in his
partisanship as is the jealous for
eigner. China can no longer live
without the west, nor is it good that
she attempt to do SO.
The course that must be taken lies
between these two extremes, but 1t
is a course that is difficult to follow
and that is veiled in the mists of
ignorance and lack of experience.
The reactionary must swallow his
bitter prejudices and the foreigner
must forget his blind faith in the
superiority of his way of doing
things. Together. but with the
Chinese leading, they must take the
customs and institutions that have
come down through the centuries,
and, using them as base. rear a
new structure on the farther shores
of the Pacific. 1t must be process
of adaptation, not of adoption, of
using the tools that the west has
fashioned for the shaping of the
blocks of marble produced by China,
of taking only that which is best
from the west and blending it with
that which is peculiarly Chinese so
that the result may be an enduring
mortar that will hold in place the
enormous stones of ancient China
that the China of today is building
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