Evening star., 1936-12-16
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
MARGARET GERMOND.
YANG AND YIN. BY Alice Teasdale
Hobart. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-
Merrill Co,

For the third novel in series Of four
which Mrs. Hobart has designed to show
the pattern of Chinese civilization under
the influence of the revolutionary ideas
of Western invaders, the ancient symbol,
yin and yang, has been adopted as in
dicative of the forces within that vast
and sorely troubled cradle of culture and
philosophy with which her story deals.
The theme follows in natural sequence
the subjects of the earlier novels, the
first one dealing with the introduction
of machinery and the second with the
invasions by big business corporations.
Reversal of the Chinese phrase in CIV
ing the book its title is explained by the
following from the authors foreword:
Yang and Yin deals with Western
and Eastern thought, the beauties and
excesses of each, the impact of one upon
the other. For its title I have used the
Eastern phrase. yang and yin, difficult
of literal translation, but meaning, in its
general sense, the two forces which
create life. 1t is indicative of the West
that have reversed these terms, placing
the active principle. yang. first. The
Chinese place first the passive principle,
yin"
symbol with its groups of lines, some
broken and some unbroken, is signifled
warmth and cold. thunder and GENTLE
ness, heaven and earth, the compile
mentary forces of all creation. light and
darkness, energy and inertia, motion and
repoSe, man and woman, spiritual and
material. and in the center yin and yang
locked together, inseparable opposites,
yet symbols of harmony. And it is from
the ponderous depths of these dominant
elements that Mrs. Hobart undertakes to
draw the distinction between West and
East and to present picture OF the
result of the impact of the former
against the latter.
The subject is one which has stumped
many scholars, and many more novelists.
But Mrs. Hobart avoids the most dam
gerous of the pitfalls by presenting her
exposition through the experiences OF
young American physician whose en-
thusiaSm for medical missionary work
soon changes to despair when pitted
against that unshakable ideal OF har-
mony which illustrates him at every turn.
Peter Fraser, in common with the ma
jority of enthusiasts who are confident
that their mission in life is to change the
living conditions, the thoughts and the
religious PHILOSOPHERS Of peoples in those
benighted lands where caste defines the
cultural, material and physical status OF
the human being, has more ardor than
useful knowledge. Impatience, bull
medicines, disgust, antagonism and,
most important of all, lack of under
standing, soon combine to cause trouble.
Centuries of culture. tradition and
philosophy cannot be thrown overheard
by the good will of any alien reformer
in any land, and this fact is one that
causes much of Peters trouble with
those who oppose his endeavors to con-
vert Chinese thought into Western be-
liefs in medicine and health and in
the betterment of the race through the
application of scientific knowledge.
The story of Peter is familiar one in
many respects. His hard work. his
ambitions, his discouragements, his mar
riage, the loss of his two children, his
difficulties in establishing research work.
his personal problem of sacrifice and
his determination not to lose the little
gains he has made are all major items
In the unfolding of the story, yet they
are but the framework around which
Mrs. Hobart attempts to present the
larger aspects of two inharmonious civili-
cations, two opposites which can never
unite as a creative force because the
elements of which each is comprised are
positive. Perhaps in a future too far
distant for the imagination to reach, one
of these forces may evolve into a mega
tive. Until so unlikely a change occurs,
hope and effort will continue to drive
onward.