Evening star., 1923-07-23
EAST is EAST
BY Frank III. Hedges

DR.. Jacob Gould schurman, Ameri-
can minister to China, gains face"
for the United States because he is
a scholar. In a land where learning &
Is venerated as highly as in China.
the scholar stands on pedestal by
! the very virtue Of his scholarship.
Confucius, Mencius and Lao TIE are
the three greatest figures that China
has produced in the eyes OF the
Chinese themselves. The national
/ hero of a western nation may be a
| warrior statesman, but in China he
/ Is the scholar and teacher. An early
emperor, one who probably did more
to consolidate the empire than any
other, Is held in contempt because
| he also ordered the destruction of all
| books, mistakenly believing that the
world would thus begin anew with
/ his reign. Today the lowest Chinese
coolie spits upon his grave as he
| passes 1t.
Scholarship is not held as the pri-
| mary qualification of an American
diplomat, but 1t was d happy choice
| for the nations prestige when the
president of one of Americas greatest
universities was chosen as our rep
resentative in Peking. incidentally,
DR.. Schurman has often been called
upon to deal with Chinese statesmen.
who, in previous years, We're students
| under him. During the period that
Alfred SEE, Cornell graduate, held the
portfolio of foreign affairs, the for
! mer teacher and student addressed
notes to each other that began with
the formal salutation of: Your Ex-
cellency."
Liang Chi-chao, an old man in par
tial retirement in Tientsin, is credited
with having done more than any other
one person to Illustrate the mon
archical ambitions of the first presi-
dent of the republic. The president.
realizing the tremendous influence
welded by this scholars writing
brush. had attempted to persuade him
| to compose essays advocating the re-
turn TO a monarchy with the presi-
dent as the founder of a new imperial
/ house. Liang Indignantly refused and
| turned his talents. instead. to oppo-
sing the presidents ambitions. Be
cause he was a scholar, perhaps the
greatest living Chinese scholar.
Liang's indictment of the scheme is
credited with having proved the most
effective weapon against it.
Although times have changed some
what in China. learning was formerly
the primary requisite to high office
I in that country. Unless q man were
- scholar Of the first rank, he was
! considered unit to become coun-
| cilor Of the emperor or to head the
army. If he were a scholar, he needed
! no other qualification, save that ii
was still often necessary to play
| palace politics in order to receive the
| appointment at the hands of his i'm
perial majesty.
Not only in the person of the pres
| ent minister to Peking but in the
! emphasis consistently placed on edu-
| cation by this country has America
gained face" with the people of
| China. Even those who oppose for
cign education pay tribute to the
American spirit which has placed mis-
/ sion schools throughout the length
and breadth of the land. The remis-
| sion of part Of the American share
| Of the Boxer indemnity. in itself q
graceful and friendly gesture, was
enhanced by the fact that the money
| thus returned was to be used for edu-
| cationaI purposes. That the United
| States has profited tremendously by
this remission can no longer be ques-
| toned. The gain has come not only
/ in the friendly feeling created on the
| part of the Chinese. but in the very
concrete purchase OF American manu-
factured goods by those students edu-
Gated in this country who have re-
turned to their homeland.
Much Of the criticism directed at
the Chinese educated abroad takes the
form of denouncing. not their west
ern training, but their lack OF Chi
nese scholarship. The Chinese who
spires to public office and does not
know the classics Of his own people
is sadly handicapped. 1t is felt by
many Chinese that he is not qualified
to serve the nation. no matter how
much science or other knowledge he
may have acquired from alien peoples.
IL is true that pure Chinese learning
proves q heavy burden that often
STILES original thought. 1t is con-
sidered more important to quote some
famous sage correctly or to be able
to recognize instantly such a quota
tion than It il to devise a practical
scheme for meeting practical prob
lem. The tremendous task of mem
orizing Chinese ideograps. a separate
one for each separate word. consumes
q major part of the Chinese student :
time, and the Chinese probably takes
more pride in the brush strokes with
which he makes these characters than
he does in any other accomplishment.
A signature in China is of more value
than one in this country. and price
less gift from friend is n scroll
written with his own hand. Even the
so called Christian General" today
one of the dominant figures in the po-
Iitical arena but yesterday only an
unlettered soldier, takes great pride
in his writing. He signs the photo
craps of himself that he gives to ad-
mirers, but the true Chinese scholar
SCOTS at what he considers the clum sy
formation of the characters that make
up the generals name. Writing in
China Is closely akin to painting and
other forms of art. We of the west
link painting and sculpture, but the
/ sons of China place painting and
calIigraphy on the same plane.
There is Renaissance under way
| in China today, a movement led by
the brilliant young scholar Hu Shih
graduate of Columbia University, but
also a Chinese scholar of the first
rank He seeks to substitute grad
ually for the thousands of old Chi
neSe characters a phonetic alphabet
based upon them but adaptable for
all words. He is wise enough not TO
discard Chinese ideographs and at
tempt to Introduce a purely foreign
alphabet, but takes the characters OF
old China as his point of departure
He is writing poetry in the vernacu-
lar. in the language Of the streets
rather than in that of the ancient
classics so loaded with literary allu-
sions that only the scholar can un-
, derstand and appreciate it. Several
magazines are being issued under his
direction, original books and dramas
are being produced. while Dickens and
other western authors are being
translated in such a form that the
middle and lower classes of China
with a comparatively minor educa-
ton can read them.