THE FAR EAST.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 62, 6 December 1907, Page 8

THE FAR EAST.

■ {HINA , AND' CONSTITUTIONAL ' ■]• GOVERNMENT; 'AN' INTERESTING INTERVIEW. ; onii special correspondent.) -;i,.:':.,.-, ' .'' ■Hong-,Kong, Novomber 7., '-'. Tho.'otner' afternoon, it- was my privilege to hayo,'a*'.lohg t-aikV with : a well-informed a rid intensely patriotic Chinaman. Wo discussed . tho-prcsent interesting condition of matters national in China, and it was an education to hear 'my: informant's criticisms.. Ho is a Chinaman well informed on most matters, end a keen student of history, and ho likened thoi present stato of China to that of England when William-the Conqueror came over to England and. placed French noblemen on ■English'.lands ami niado them English Lords. Talking of China. to-day, ho said the Central Government at Peking recognised-that two : thingswere necessary to avert a great crisis. . One'was the substitution of a constitutional government for tho present system; the other was something that'would make for an amalgamation of the Chinese and Maiiclra races. Tho Emperor and the Empross■Dowager:'favoured'■ both these reforms, , and all tho:progressive -Ministers thought likewise, but there were..many opposed to them • —especially so were the Manchurian nobles and. Ministers. - . ,-.■. ■'. ■-. . ■' •■ It:; was,, ho said,. very doubtful if" tho peoplo of China w.ero ready for a constituwere not educated up to tlio standard'of aviation that was to. bo so governed. The Throno had'wisely proposed "the Introduction of municipal, governments, in different -'cities of various provinces as'a "moans of educating tho people in matters', political: But not alone were the masses . ignorant — tho nobles were, in many cases, equally unready for the tasks that:constitutional government would ask of them. ' The -Emperor had, therefore, been advised to open schools for.. tho education of Manchurian Jiobles'j so that they could qualify for places in the "House of Lords when the reform came about. China is .always a place ■of contradictions'," and, therefore, it is,not surprising' . that the principal agitator for the removal of;tho'bresent system is a.Manchu Prince— .. D.ukp.Tsak. ~ ;•' : ->\'-. . V: :\ ■ DIFFICULTIES.- \. ■ • It is,, howevor, quite a mistake to imagine tliat everywhere in China there is a cry-for-reform, or:<that there is a general ie- . volution: 'Millions of Chinese-peasants know :Bothiug about tho-'movenient, and they will iprobably be liohetho wiser when.it has been about. ' The cry for reforni has been :• chiefly • urged by these Chineso who foav.o. lived abroad, and , they fully comprehend tho enormous difficulties that beset tho rulers .who attempt to introduce constitutional government into China. Tho Chineso of one' -.province speak a-different dialect to another, ,end each ;looks upon .'all outsiders—white or yellow—as foreigners. A Cantonoso who 'to"Shanghai -is 'treated no hotter than af.he.camo from': Europe. If ho does not know the Mandarin-langu.igo ho cannot possibly, makohimsolf .understood by the'nativesof Shanghai.' Tho'language difficulty was. tho. great'.blook,. my- informant said,, in the path of constitutional government. : If the Central Government mado it compulsory to .havo Mandarin/taught in schools all over China, and if every, Chinaman decided to ilearn' it, 'something ~'might be accomplished, cut; ho; was not hopeful. , .'. ' " PROVINCIAL FEELING: '-/ Vlf-ithose'Chinese who have been educated nbioad.would but, show some patriotism .and help their ■ ignorant 'nationals,.'..much, good : would,accrue," ho said; " but unfortunately many of, thorn consider themselves superior to their own countrymen. Their manners and habits have become almost entirely foreign.' Consequently, they .aro averse to anything thoir own countrymen do differently from what they have been taught abroad'as bomg right. I say it is the duty of these . men, with thoir enlightenment "from the West, to take the trouble to teach • their countrymen, and . to,. point out tho. .proper paths, which they should walk; But thoy. do not recognise their.duties,.and many treat . their'-brother Chinese with more indifforenco than do friendly-Europeans. In tho old days of China, the-sages' went' about tho Empire lecturing and helping the people/ China has / need for sonie such sages/to-day." . ; ' THE MjVNCHU QUESTION. ' 'A splieme having for its object the creation of- <v. better, feeling between the Manchus and the-.Chmese has ■ been ' sanctioned by' : tho Throno..:-This is- tho abolition of the allow-' ance that for many'years has been granted :to l the'Manchu bannermen. .'These mori'are a 'l''descendants^: ! of "'Manchurian conquerors and.'Chineso traitpfs who went over .to.-tho Manchus when they first'came over to China. . Their ostensible duty was to garrison different towns, but their offices were sinecures,, and they, served' only to act as a reminder to tho Chinese of the atrocities that.theirancestors committed 200 years ago. They have always been an-eyesore, and while their upkeep ; was imposed on the Chinese no : good feeling-between the two races ■ could ' ever comp. about. Another attempt is to be made - to. create a■.better feeling by giving to the .' 'Chinese, many.posts for.merl/- held only by Manchus. ."To r day you'cannot toll unless you look back which of .your English nobles are descendants of the French Lords created by William of Normandy. It will later,bo . tho same in China. There will be a fusion of the Chinese,. and Manchu races.'.' Such were the closing words of a most educative interview. A CHINESE DINNER. - • "Tho longest dinner must come to /an . end", is a Chineso saying. And a Chinese dinner" is interminable from the point of viowiof'.;a European. Guests from the West 'seldom,.see-one..-through. Tho writer attended; orib the other evening. It was given by a : number. of Chinoso merchants intor-est'ed-'in the 'Australian flour trade. ''"The meal—or rather meals, for there wore throe "sittings"—was : preceded,by a theatrical:'entertainment. : '.Ah orchestra—mostly ' brans gongs—played all through, as'though theywere unconscious of the fact that the hero- - ine was pleading with tho villain for money to bury her father. When tho "book" was translated to an American near me, ho offered to "-subscribe the necessary funeral expense if ho got , an assurance' that the boater of the gongs would'be buried also I The first disli,on tho menu'was shark iin soup/Thbn followed pigeon's' eggs and a queor salad. . It is the advice born of nxperioiico not'to ask the' names of; tho dishes placed before you at a Chinese dinner; If you are told, yOii will probably be very sorry that you , asked.- ■; l'ho greatest trouble is to endoat votir to appiiur ' at' oaso while manipulating a'pair of chop-sticks. But it is no' breach of etiquette to spear a savoury morsol with a r queer little "wire fork, or to scoop , it up with 'a big spoon. Thoro arc plenty of toasts at a Chinese dinner; ' Each guest drinks to each man at his table. When you have gone right round once, your neighbour starts. olf, and when ;ho finishes the next man to him makes the circuit. Then probably the host comes along with a decanter of sham su—Chinese wine —and another toast follows." By this time your programme is pretty full,- and while" you wonder what tho doctor will prescribe for you on the morrow, the host says something in (Jhincso. It is something of a shock to you when yon arc-told that yon are to ciino again in an hour's time. ■ While yon are waiting, the Bond with the gong, and his demon brother; with a one-stringed liddlo, make; vile discords. Meantime, the Chinese guests amuse themselves with' a , peculiar game: Each '-swings his right hand to tho front' as high" as his breast, pointing ono, two/:or three" fingers. Thcfcat is to-guess tho: aggregate'of the finders pointed oh both hands. Tho man who loses has to'drink! TliO' gamo possesses marvellous possibilities for-a thirsty soul. My advice as .to'not seeking -to know the contents of the dishes is ".repeated;''and-a second piece of advice iS: "Don't go near the kitchen if you wish to onjoy' the condiments at a Chinese dinnor.'-' ■'.-.•■•■■■'■- ■ ■ •