GREATNESS OF CHINA

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20509, 27 May 1938, Page 9

GREATNESS OF CHINA

LIFE OF THE FAMILY EDUCATION AND LEARNING PROGRESS MADE WITH SCHOOLING [The following- is the third or a series of articles written for the Waikato Times by Captain E. Roberts, or Hamilton, who has recently returned after spending- six years in China.— Copyright.] The arrival of a boy is the greatest possible event in the life of a Chinese family. It means that an heir has come to carry on the family name, to be the pride and sqpport of his parents in old age, and above all to carry on the worship of the family’s forefathers. To a Chinese man this last is the supreme duty of life, for without the gifts of food and drink, of paper money and paper houses, and the constant thought and reverence of the living, those who are dead would suffer privation and disgrace in the spirit world. Preference for Boys There is a saying, “There are three forms of filial impiety, and the greatest of these is to have no son.” Hence early marriage is universal, large families are desired, and among the wealthy secondary wives or concubines are taken to insure sons in plenty. Should all else fail and a home be without a son, the child of a relative of the same surname will be adopted, or even a child o-utside the clan. He then takes the name of his adopted father and carries on the family worship.

Daughters do not count, because when a girl marries she enters her husband’s family. An unmarried woman is practically unknown in China. It must not be thought that parents do not love their daughters. While it is a terrible fact that sometimes poor people kill their girl babies because they cannot afford to rear them, yet little girls are often as tenderly loved in China as anywhere. When a daughter reaches the age of six or seven the mother takes a long piece of cloth and tightly binds up the little one’s feet. No more careless running about for her. The little feet can never gTow any more, and the coming years are full of torture because of the ceaseless pain in the poor deformed limbs. The custom is very slowly dying out, but as yet only a small fraction of the mothers have the courage to refuse to bind the feet of their girls. Why? Because “no self-fespecting man would marry a girl with big feet, and if he found that his bride had unbound feet he could sent her home.” It rests with the enlightened men to refuse to marry women who have bound feet. General Care of Children The affection of the Chinese father for his child is very reaL. The world hears much of the Chinese reverence for parents, but does not realise the great affection the Chinese possess for their children. At dusk, when the day’s work is over, the father may be seen at the door of his house, or strolling in the street with his infant son in his arms. The sedan chair bearers push their way ruthlessly through crowded city streets, knocking people to either side. But let a tiny child suddenly toddle across the road in front of them, and they will stop with a “Look out, kiddie I” The Chinese mother knows nothing of hygiene, and it is a marvel that not more children die in infancy. The mortality is very heavy, eight out of every ten children born dying in childhood. Children are seldom bathed and the result is terrible suffering from boils, sore eyes, ulcers, and other dirt diseases. Smallpox is a common complaint among children. Should a child fail to get it over during his first year or two, the mother will expose him to infection, to insure his having it while he is still very young, for smallpox leaves few scars on infants’ faces-

Children’s clothing is a copy of their parents’, and it is ludicrous to see a little urchin of a year old toddling about in trousers and jacket like his father’s. Much care and money are spent on these garments. The father and mother may be in rags, but they can deck out their child with embroidered shoes, satin jacket, and woollen cap on festive occasions. Toys and Games The Chinese have a genius for making pretty and amusing toys out of scraps of coloured paper, hen feathers and bits of string and bamboo. In the spring everyone Aies a kite; some of the dragon kites are thirty feet long and very beautiful. The little girls play a game with a shuttlecock, made of a copper cash covered with cloth and three hen feathers. They strike it into the air with the side of the foot, and are adepts at keeping it from falling to the ground. There are some organised games like prisoner's base, but the average child does not run about or romp much. From an infant he is taught to keep out of the way and to play quietly, and too soon lias to take a share in the work of the house. In their games they use many quaint rhymes, which the mothers repeat to. them. Share in Work at Home One must not forget the influence of the activities of the home upon young children. In all but wealthy homes, nearly everything used in the house is prepared there, and the child takes his part in providing for his own wants- Except in the heart of a city, the youngest children in the family have the task of gathering fuel for cooking. They tend the fire and help in the cooking. The family clothes, except “ceremonial clothes,” are made by the mother. She may even spin tiie thread and weave the cloth. She makes cloth shoes and white cotton stockings for all. If the furniture needs mending, some one does it with a nail or a bamboo strip. Necessity has made the Chinese marvellously handy and re-

From Ihe first. I lie heritage of the past is shared with the child, lie is told of the heroes of Hie past and urged to copy their example. One story is that of a boy who was a model of filial piety. His parents were 100 poor to buy mosquito curtains for 11 ioil* bed. so the little fellow used to lie naked <O, the bed ilia! the mosquitoes might least on Idm and spare his parents. Another boy.

famous throughout China, was once Given a large pear. He immcdiatel.' handed it lo Ids brother. When asked why he did this he replied, “My

brother is older than I. It is my duty to give way to my elder brother.” More in line with our ideas, perhaps, is the story of a great man of olden times, who was approached by a statesman with a bribe to induce him to do what he knew was wrong. The bride was refused. "But,” expostulated the other, “It is dark and no one knows.” The reply was very noble- “Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know. How can you say no one knows.” Such stories have had much influence in keeping the nation true to moral ideals. In a land where the home is often dark, squalid, and over-crowded, and where the climate is mild, naturally much of the life is lived out-of-doors. In town and city all but the wealthy homes open directly on to the street, and in the day-time the whole front of the house is removed. Privacy is almost unknown. Learning by Imitation The life of the street, whether in oitv or in country, is very fascinating to the child, and is a great factor in his education. The shops, like the houses, are open to the street. Carpenters, blacksmiths, confectioners, tinsmiths, coffin-makers, idol-makers, tailors, bakers—all ply their trade in full sight, and the child as he watches learns the elements of all the trades.

One of the most famous stofies in China is that of the mother of Mencius, the philosopher. Left a widow with one son, she lived at first near a grave-yard; but finding that her son played at nothing but funerals she removed to the town. Here a neighbour was a butcher, and to her dismay her son played constantly at butchering. Once more she moved, this time next door to a scholar. Her son soon began to imitate his love of books, and grew up to be a great scholar. Down the street comes a weird wailing. It is a blind singer, accompanying himself on a one-stringed violin. For a few cash he will stay and sing ballads. The old men sitting in the sun tell stories of olden days. In the theatre in a neighbouring temple the boy is familiarised with the exploits of the heroes of the past- At night a “preacher” may take his seat near by. These street-preachers are paid by private gifts and expound a well-known book of practical exhortations to good living called the “Sacred Edict.” The time-worn maxims are illustrated with copious tales and the preacher is sure of a small crowd. The Tea-shop Perhaps no single institution in China has. such influence as the teashop. It is the public library, the restaurant, the drinking saloon, and the club-room of China all in one. At night it is crowded with men gathered about the square tables, where for six cash a man may have a bowl of tea replenished with hot water as often as he wishes, and usually he sits there all the evening. Before the days of the newspapers it was the chief means for the communication of news; to-day the newspapers only serve to supply a wider range of subjects for discussion in the teashop.

One of the most valuable innovations of the 'Republic is the public lecturer. He is the modern representative of the street preacher. He is paid out of public funds, and lectures on modern subjects to whoever will iisten. A recent daily paper in Chengtu announced the following subjects for one day: “The Advantages to be Derived from the Construction of Railways;" "A comparison Between Hand Labour and Machinery;” “The Origin of Society;” “The Advantages of Opening New Industries;” “Departments of the Government.” For these lectures, which are given daily, in many cases lecture halls have been erected, and in others temples are used. School For the vast majority of the Chinese, education involves only that common experience which I have attempted to outline. For many children the hard work of life begins very early, with tending the baby, gathering fuel, and assisting in the household duties. One has seen lads of ten years staggering under a heavy load of coal, and by twelve years of age, the average boy is working day after day on his father’s farm, or as an apprentice in a shop. What schooling he gets is over by then, while for the girl, in all but the exceptional home, there was until recent years no prospect of any chance to study; she was simply a household drudge. Even to-day, girls’ schools are few in number.

When the day comes for the boy, at the age of six or seven, to go to school, his mother dresses him in his best clothes, and he trudges .off hand in hand with his father. In school he gets his ideas of the world, and his whole attitude of life differs according to the spirit of the schoolIn the old style school he is taught to copy the old; the aim is to develop a slavish imitation of the hand-writ-ing, the literary style, the thought of ancient times.

The new school opens the pupil’s mind to the thought of the West. It teaches the value of the body; formerly the scholar was round-shoulder-ed and consumptive, and thought it a disgrace to soil his hands with work, letting his finger-nails grow long to show that he did not use his hands, while to-day football, cricket and track athletics are immensely popular, and the Chinese student is learning to help himself and to be of service to others. It introduces him to science; the scientific spirit, while at first it tends to make him despise all his former beliefs as superstitious, is inculcating a love for “the truth,” and a patient search for it, that is a new thipg in China. It helps him to share the life of the whole world, so that he no longer thinks of China as the Middle Kingdom, the centre of culture, but sees that his country has in many ways been outside the main current of the world's civilisation. College From the primary and secondary school, the boy, if he has the means, passes on to college, a College of Arts and Science, or a Technical, Commercial, Bailway, Agricultural, Law or Normal College. The great fault with them all is that they have retained something of the old idea that manual work is degrading, and they are turning out men whose one desire is to become “Directors of Labour.” No one wishes to do the hard grind of work necessary to carry on business, schools, industry or commerce. The supreme reward for good work in a college is a travelling scholarship in Europe or America for furl her study there. Men trained in foreign lands can command, when they n't urn after four or six years, nigh salaries ami inlluencia] positions. But. throughout modern Chinese life ihere is needed much more emphasis on Hie dignity of labour and the honourableness of service.