SIX YEARS IN CHINA

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2173, 7 September 1920, Page 1

SIX YEARS IN CHINA

X,Z. PROFESSOR VISITS HOME.

EASTERN EDUCATION AND PROGRESS.

Dr. Clifford M. Stubbs, a graduate of Canterbury College, is revisiting Christchurch, after an absence of ten years, six of which he has spent as professor of chemistry at the Christian University ern China. Dr. Stubbs graduated M.A. at Canterbury College in 1910, afterwards proceeding,to Liverpool University, where he .obtained the degree of D.Sc. He left China for England last year, on furlough, and is now on his way back to the East,

The University -to which Dr. Stubbs is attached is tit Chengtu, a city of 500,000 people, situated a full six weeks’ journey from the nearest treaty port. It is maintained jointly by five different British and American missionary Societies, representing the Anglican, Methodist, Methodist Episcopal, and Baptist Churches, and the. Society of Friends. At present it has a staff of 20 professors and teachers, and a.bout 80 students besides a large number of pupils in the secondary grades. It was founded ten years ago, and, apart from an interruption caused by the revolution, has made steady progress ever since. The buildings are fine modern structures, but outwardly are Chinese in style, the object being to preserve all that is best in the local ideals of art. The principal subjects taught are languages, science, medicine, education, art, and theology. Dr. Stubbs rates the intelligence' and personal qualities of the_bettev class of Chinese very highly. They are beginning now, he says, to see the value of their country’s natural resources, especially in minerals, and it is a dillieult matter for foreigners to secure mining and other rights in the interior. The old superstitions prejudices against roads and railways have gone lor ever, and the Chinese welcome the new means of travel. The chief bar to progress, is the Central Government's incompetence and the interna! strife that has been in progress for some years now. The Provincial Governmenls are in some eases aide and efficient, and in others quite the reverse. Large areas in the inlcriov,. >ays Dr. Stubbs, are thinly populated, and. taking t hina as a whole, there is plenty of room for the natural growth of the population. Afforestation and heller agricultural methods will enable more people to be carried, quite apart from the setilenient ol new dr-tricls. China has all that she requires in (he wav of coal and minerals, and is really independent of the outside world. There is, therefore, no reason to suppose that her people will -•cek territory overseas tor mau\ years yet. A strong anti-Japanese feeling is common, especially, a - niongst the student elass, and the boycott of Japanese goods is still in force. The Shantung question has caused-a general dissatisfaction with the policy of the European Powers, and there is a rather ominous sign in the return of many students from Europe and America with the fixed idea that military power is (he only effective means of attaining national greatness. However, the average Chinaman seeks no more than the right to live in peace and lo follow his own line of industrv. His patriotism takes the negative form of a resentment against interference from outside, rather than of a desire to advance his country’s interests by hard work and ,self-sacrifice. This being so, there is no immediate prospect that Japan wilt lie able to make use of China in a military way for tier own purposes. Such a happening, however, should always be regarded as a possibility. The best remedy for the “yellow peril,” Dr. Stubbs thinks, will be found along the lines of mutual understanding and goodwill between the white peoples and China in regard, to trade and the treatment of Chinese subjects ahroad.

Intelligent Chinese are very anxious for European education, says Dr. Stubbs, but the country has a long way to go in this respect, for 90 per cent, of the people are wholly illiterate. The most sought-after subjects of study are modern languages (especially English, which is the commercial language of the East), history, geography, and applied science. The students take a great interest in polities, but are often inclined to abandon their earlier ideals when they leave college and set out to earn a living. However, the Chinese are by no means an effete people, and in Dr. Stubbs’ opinion, their character and traditions form a good basis for the building of an enlightened community, civilised in every sense.