China: its social, political, and religious life /

Part I. The Family

It has been said by celebrated men, such as Pascal, Leibnitz and Bacon, that the human race may be likened to a single individual, never dying and always acquiring fresh knowledge ; and this that they have asserted of humanity as a whole may, with equal truth, be applied to that section of it which we call a family.

Men of science are daily recording facts and observing events, a process to which they have given the name of Atavism, which go far to prove so close a connection to exist between one generation and another that there is but one step wanting to the unity and identity spoken of by Pascal, Leibnitz and Bacon, with whom may be included P. Leroux ; and if what they have asserted of humanity at large is true

B in the instance of a single family, it is a fortiori true of that larger family known as a nation.

Of all the nations of antiquity of which we have any record, one alone survives, and is thus the elder sister of all peoples now existing. But she is unknown.

It may, it is true, he asserted that as all nations inherit from their predecessors, so the origins of France, England and even Russia may be as remote as it is possible for the mind of man to conceive ; but while modern races are but the collateral successors of those of antiquity, the one with which I propose to deal is the direct heir of the generations which erected it, and it is in this that its deep and original interest consists. Its history shows the phenomena of heredity in regular succession, neither modified nor obstructed by change of medium, with the evolution of events and ideas — an evolution as regular as that of living beings, freely proceeding unshaken, and untroubled by any exterior influence by which its direction might have been altered or its development retarded ; and it is here, I repeat, that we find the deep and original interest of China, and perhaps also the secret of her extraordinary longevity.

The progress and organisation, in short the civilisation attained by humanity under such conditions of liberty of development, can scarcely fail to be an interesting study, and we propose to devote the following pages to its elucidation.

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Civilisation, as commonly spoken of, has different meanings and objects, according to the sense in which the speaker employs the word. We speak of that State as most civilised in which on a given area the largest possible number of human beings are able to procure and distribute most equally among themselves the most well-being, liberty, justice and security ; and we propose to deal firstly with the condition of China from these different points of view, and then with the means and principles under which that condition was attained.

I

According to this order, the extent of the population first presents itself for examination, and this amounts in the whole Chinese Empire to 537 millions, including the nomad tribes of Mongolia, and the more or less subject tribes of the neighbouring regions of Thibet and Annam, and forms in the aggregate more than the third of the population of our planet. We propose, however, to limit the field of our inquiry to the territory of China properly so called, bounded on the east and south by the sea, by the mountains of Thibet on the west, and by the Great Wall on the north, where a population of 400 millions exists on an area of 825 million acres, or from six to seven times that of France.

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Europe, on an area four or five times larger, contains scarcely 337 millions, while there are in China provinces as large as France and Germany, containing as many as three inhabitants per acre ; and there are districts as large as Belgium, where the density of population reaches as high as six and even seven souls on each acre.

In this respect no country in Europe, excepting perhaps the island of Jersey and the province of Valencia in Spain, can compare with China, and the extent of the population seems so extraordinary that the accuracy of Chinese statistics has been frequently contested.

But no traveller who has been fortunate enough to cross the vast territory of the Chinese Empire can have any doubt on the point. I myself frequently passed through cities containing from 500 to 1,500,000 inhabitants even up to the frontiers of Thibet ; while in the more distant provinces I travelled frequently with crowds proceeding to market, and blocking, to the number of fifteen to twenty thousand persons, roads on which perhaps on the previous evening an occasional innkeeper was the only person visible.

From one end of China to the other, so to speak, villages, hamlets and cottages followed each other so closely upon my line of route as to be comparable only to the suburbs of some of the great cities of Europe.

Frequently the water is converted into land, and the

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lakes covered with gardens and fields resting upon rafts, while the rocks furnish their share towards the harvest. Sugar, silk, tea, wax, and other products requiring much toil and care in their cultivation, are found everywhere, and the fertility of the soil is such that even the distant valleys render a return of twelve to fourteen thousand kilogrammes of rice, and give the land a value of 25,000 to 30,000 francs for each hectare.

In regard to population, therefore, the Chinese far exceed us, and while we complain of the extent of ours, which we endeavour to restrain by wars, celibacy, and voluntary sterilisation, the Chinese continue to multiply as if the earth were without limits.

Correctly enough, they have no fear of the result, for the fertility of the land depends not upon its extent but upon the extent and value of the labour applied to it. An excellent proof of this is afforded by China, where the provinces now containing the largest number of inhabitants originally neither possessed nor were capable of supporting a larger population than the districts now most sparsely inhabited, and where barren mountains and rocks have been converted into regular terraces of flowers and fruits.

Nor must it be forgotten that the Chinese are most economical in their use of all fertilising products, nor do they waste what would augment the wealth of their country by allowing the contents of their sewers to poison their rivers, but carefully collect them, and believe they are but obeying the laws of natural justice in carefully returning to the soil whatever they obtain from it.

Further, as roads, canals, and railways are less costly, the expenses of government less heavy, and waterways both larger and more easy of construction, in a thickly populated country, so it follows that in Chinese opinion an increase of population leads most surely to an increase of public and private wealth.

We may thence conclude that the expenses of a country are both in direct ratio to its extent and in inverse ratio to its population, and as a matter of fact, while the taxation in France amounts to 90 or 100 francs per head of the population, that of China comes to barely 3 francs. Even with this sum of taxation, innumerable and extensive public works are and have been constructed, and we may confess with shame that the roads, canals, railways, and other public works of the West, without taking into consideration their recent origin, compare very unfavourably with the innumerable canals, and with that wonderful and enormous hydraulic system of China which irrigates the land of the peasant over an extent of 800 leagues of country from the West to the sea. It may, be objected that the Chinese individually enjoy but moderate prosperity, but the extent of population is almost sufficient answer, for we may conclude that if the Chinese were unhappy in their condition they

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would, like us, have found some means of preventing an undue increase of their population, nor is there any more exact measure of the misery or well-being of a people than its criminal returns.

Here we have facts to deal with ; and I can state that in Hankow, a town in which I lived for some time, only one murder took place in thirty-four years ; and that in Chihli, a province containing 25,000,000 inhabitants, there were in 1866 to 1867 but twelve capital sentences. It should he noted that a third conviction for theft is punished with death, that no extenuating circumstances are admitted, and that Pekin, the capital of China, is situated in this province. The reader would he better able to judge of the condition of the Chinese population were I able to show him the small farms and the cottages of the peasants, who have so often extended their hospitality to me, and point out to him the cleanliness of the dwellings, the varnished furniture, and read over to him the records which I have collected of their wealth and resources.

I may quote the case of an individual owning a plot of land of the extent of three hectares and a half, who was able to save annually 1500 to 1800 francs, after providing for the subsistence of himself and his family ; while another, farming one hectare, saved yearly from 700 to 800 francs. I wish also I could enable the reader to see them at their meals, sufficient in quantity, and composed of much more varied materials than those forming the subsistence of our field labourers, while all, however poor their lodging may appear, are able to indulge themselves with a few cakes for dessert and to offer to a friend. Especially should I like to enable him to compare the light, frank and easy bearing of the first Chinese peasant he might meet with the heavy, overburdened, awkward and shamefaced demeanour of most of our small agriculturists and our petty farmers of Brittany, Sologne, Auvergne and Savoy, not to mention those of the South. Their very appearance shows that there exists between rich and poor, or rather the less well-to-do — between the countrymen and townsmen — much less distance and difference than among ourselves, and that there is amongst them an equality of long standing, in the atmosphere of which everyone moves and breathes easily, and which brings about a politeness and kindness in their relations with each other, with which a stranger cannot fail to he struck. The following example will show how they behave and speak to each other. Among the methods of locomotion employed in China, the most convenient in hilly districts where canals are rarely met with, is that of the coolie-chair or palanquin, in which I have travelled from six to seven hundred leagues.

Each palanquin requires four coolies, or porters, and a journey of eight or nine leagues a day can he easily accomplished, but every burden, even shared among four, becomes heavy in the long run, and this is a fact well known to the poor people of China. The following

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conversation is an example of the behaviour of those whom we happened to meet on our journey. 4 Sir,’ they would say, addressing one of our porters, 4 we have not been able to gain our livelihood to-day ; will you allow us to take your place and relieve you for a little ? * 4 With pleasure, sir ; but we earn little, and

cannot pay you much.’ 4 Do not let that be a hindrance ; we will leave that to you.’ The chance hearers would then, for one or two leagues, take the places of the others who, relieved of their burden, sang as they followed us.

It should he remarked that this title of 4 sir ’ — 4 sieu sen ’ — is only used between people unacquainted with each other ; among intimates it is usual to add the term brother to what we should style the Christian name. I should find it difficult to state how far this general politeness can extend towards the stranger, or the European who may have succeeded in obtaining the confidence of the Chinese — not an easy task to achieve, and one especially difficult at the time I first travelled in China. It was very shortly after our war with them, and after the execution of the treaty we forced upon them, and I suffered in consequence from a watchfulness on the part of the Chinese officials, which, however disguised, was the source of much inconvenience to me. But when once I had been able to persuade the authorities of the needlessness of this watchfulness in view of the inoffensive nature of my mission, and to obtain authority for my distant ex-

IO ploration of the districts bordering on Thibet, I hardly dare to tell the reader how the humble author of these pages was treated. Is not the right of pardon the highest and the most enviable of all the prerogatives of sovereignty ? That right was mine. The authority of the officials of any village I might enter disappeared before the rank which had been conferred upon me. They continued to govern and to administer justice, but it was in my name, and on leaving the house I had temporarily made my home, I found the convicted prisoners of the previous day, for whom I could obtain sometimes a free pardon, sometimes a mitigation of sentence. But far preferable to these honours were the simple and cordial reception, and the quiet and humble hospitality shown me in the villages and hamlets.

Often, leaving our baggage in our palanquins or boat, with directions to meet us at the next stopping-place, we wandered alone among the fields and paths, without taking any further precaution than that of wearing our Chinese costume ! 1

We used to walk leisurely, stopping as we liked and conversing with the first passer-by about the rain, the weather, the harvest, and kindred subjects. I remember well a certain tree, under which we had one day

1 I was accompanied on one of my journeys by M. L. Bourret, who had been appointed by the French merchants of Shanghai, at my request-, to study the commercial products of the countries I intended visiting.

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seated ourselves, exhausted with heat and fatigue. There was a little grass, real grass — a very uncommon object among the universal cultivation of the plains of China — around its roots, which made us a most delightful seat, on which we stretched ourselves with the greatest comfort. We had, however, unfortunately not noticed two women, slightly hidden by some shrubs, working in a little garden close by, who had not seen us. It must be remembered that it is unusual for strange men to stop long in the presence of women, and we knew we were not in. our proper place, but were unwilling to leave the shade for the sun. We tried to ward off the danger. * Good-morning, ladies,’ said the interpreter in his most seductive tones. ‘ Good-morning ; but what are you doing there ? Move on further.’

4 But, ladies,’ he observed, ‘ we are very tired, and the other trees are far off.’

‘ These are barbarians — they do not know how to behave. Move on further, and do not compel us to tell you again,’ said one of our neighbours.

We rose, abashed and confused, to go, when the interpreter, recollecting himself and showing his pipe, said, ‘ At all events you will be good enough to give me a light.’

‘ If you will move on it shall be brought you,’ was the reply.

We walked on slowly, and were soon overtaken by a small boy who brought us a light. I rewarded him with a small knife worth about fourpence, and we sat down again a few steps further on. In a few minutes the child reappeared, bringing four oranges. I gave him a packet of sewing needles and he went away, but we were not long alone, as he soon returned, accompanied by an old man and two or three others, who addressed us politely and invited us to rest in their house. We readily accepted the invitation, and before an hour had elapsed we were the best friends in the world.

The women unconcernedly went on with their occupations in our presence. One brought some food while the other prepared the table, whilst we conversed with the villagers, who had by this time joined our hosts. The subject of our conversation was, so to speak, the East and West and all that i3 interesting and proper to man between these two points. We spoke of Europe, and of our relations, for it is always thus that a conversation commences, and at last we took our leave of these good people, carrying with us a recollection of the day which twenty years have been unable to efface.

Nor shall I ever forget the welcome I received from a poor Chinese peasant who had emigrated to the border of the desert of Gobi from Mongolia on the far side of the Great Wall. We were travelling towards a village named Li-Wang-tse, having left Chang-kiakow about five o’clock in the morning, and up to eleven or twelve o’clock had been unable to find in that

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dismal country a single place or house where we could stop for rest and refreshment.

We had certainly passed through several miserable hamlets, but either because the inhabitants were occupied out of doors, and for some other reason, scarcely a single person was to be seen.

At last towards midday we arrived in the midst of a group of houses rather more considerable than those through which we had passed, but also with their doors closed.

We were standing there, men and animals, in the teeth of the wind, asking ourselves whether we should not be compelled to camp under some wall, when we perceived a peasant hastening towards us, who accosted us much in the following manner : —

‘ This village, sir, is very small and we are very poor, and you will search in vain for a house fit to receive you. I myself am poor and unworthy, but if you will do your younger brother the honour of stopping at his house, he will do his utmost for you. The house is there.’

The house was somewhat larger than the neighbouring ones, and was extremely clean. He left us as soon as we had entered, and we saw him chasing fowls, when, guessing his intention, we begged him to desist, assuring him that we had all necessary provisions and only required shelter; not, however, before he had killed two.

We had some conversation within while our meal was being prepared, and I could not help admiring his quiet and modest hearing and his manner of speaking, which was simple and dignified and respectful without being servile. When our meal arrived, he and his eldest son, a child of from ten to twelve years of age, attended upon us in such a charming manner that, in spite of myself, I could not help making comparisons which grieved me between them and the French peasantry.

When our meal was over and it was time to start I wished to bestow some remembrance of our visit upon our host, but I was unable to prevail on him to accept anything ; all he asked for being leave to introduce his family, consisting of a little girl of four years old, and another of two, besides the boy who had helped his father to wait upon us.

These little ones were as polite in their manners as the best educated grown-up persons.

II

It is the opinion of many Europeans that the government of China is essentially a despotism ; but a country can scarcely be styled despotically governed where there are but from twenty-five to thirtythousand officials to a population of five hundred

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million souls, and where the government relies for support upon an army of a hundred thousand Tartars, almost lost in such a crowd.

As a matter of fact, the government and administration of China is carried on by the Chinese themselves ; in the family by all the members of the family, and in the township by duly elected delegates, only presided over, so to speak, by the officials. Nor do they hesitate to dismiss the presidents should they have cause to complain of them, as they occasionally do after a somewhat original manner.

In one of the most populous departments of a province I once visited, the approaching arrival was announced of a prefect who had left an evil reputation behind him wherever he had been. The fact was well known, the people became excited, the Departmental Council was called together, and petition after petition was sent to the Viceroy begging him to reconsider his unfortunate choice.

The Viceroy, however, was obstinate, and it soon became known that the prefect was within a few leagues of the town. The Council thereupon reassembled, and caused a tent to be erected at the entrance of the city, where the usual repast and refreshments were prepared, and the customary escort ordered, while at the same time four palanquins with fresh and willing porters were made ready. On his arrival the prefect was courteously received, and invited to rest and refresh himself, being at the same i6 time plainly given to understand that the people would not receive him, that he could not he allowed to enter the town, and that three delegates of the Council intended to have the honour of escorting him on his return journey to the capital. This programme was carried out, and the ease with which it was accomplished shows plainly that, so far from being an exceptional instance, it was in accordance with the customs of the people. The opinion of their legislators and philosophers on this point is worthy of attention. The monarch, according to them, is hut the mandatory of the people, and any sovereign conducting himself contrary to their well-being and will, is regarded by them as a calamity, and may be dethroned in spite of the authority he possesses. This has been laid down by Confucius, the greatest and most popular of their philosophers, moralists, and legislators.

The Chinese, however, possess not only political liberty, but liberty of conscience, religion and education, and among all ranks of their officials are found Mohammedans, Jews, and Christians, as well as Buddhists and men professing no religion in particular except that perhaps of ancestral worship.

The Government never meddles with religious questions unless they are mingled with civil matters, and interfere with the civil government. From time to time the Chinese need to mistrust religions, singular as it appears to Europeans, may be read in the instructions addressed to the people by the Emperor,

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the viceroys, or the governors, and it is hence that the reproach of atheism levelled for a long time past at the Chinese nation has been derived. Farther on it will be seen that no reproach has less foundation. The Government is equally liberal in matters of public instruction. It is open to all to establish a school, and to avail themselves of it or not as they please ; and it is worthy of remark, the reason of which will shortly be given, that there is scarcely a single Chinese who is unable to read, write, cast accounts, and draw. Those desirous of pursuing a literary career, the opening to / the public service, are amenable only to examiners from the University of Pekin, which, though supported by the State, is absolutely independent of the Government. As far as freedom of meeting and association are concerned, I should imagine its right, at all events for several centuries past, has never been questioned by any Chinese Government. Public meetings take place, and associations are formed without notice or previous authority, and I believe that in no country in the world are associations of all kinds so frequent, so numerously attended, and so easy of access as in China. And in no country in the world, as I hope to show later on, do there exist such proofs of force and vitality as in China. Nor is there any limit to the freedom of the press. I made a collection during 1863, in the province of Sze-chuen, of proclamations of great violence against the Emperor and the Government after the execution of the treaty forced upon them by

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* i8 the Europeans after the plunder of the Summer Palace and the burning of the great library. The mandarins were content with causing their removal, they did not dream of prosecuting the authors.

Nor do passports exist in China, nor licences on industries or trade. There is no octroi except a tax of from five to eight per cent, ad valorem levied on certain articles of foreign manufacture at the entrance to each town. We have here the most real and complete freedom of industry, calling, trade and thinking, that it is possible to imagine.

I have deferred mentioning until now one particular form of freedom, perhaps the most exalted and delicate of all, the most ennobling to the conscience of man, and the one which in my opinion contains all others, though perhaps to us Europeans the most difficult of comprehension. I allude to the power of self-judgment, or what may be termed self-jurisdiction. I shall explain shortly how it is exercised by the Chinese. I confine myself for the present to stating its existence ; nor does the State interfere with its exercise unless especially called upon to do so ; and a strong proof that its intervention is neither so necessary nor so frequent as might be supposed, exists in the absence of any special magistracy. It would be impossible to bring forward more complete proof of the freedom enjoyed by the Chinese people than this very absence of all judicial, priestly, scholastic, and military caste.

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It has been stated above that there is nothing in my opinoin more capable of elevating the conscience, and developing the idea of justice, than the exercise of judiciary power.

It is well known that agriculture is, so to speak, the national profession of China, and that almost all Chinese may he said to be born peasants, while at all events there is not one who is not directly interested in the prosperity of agriculture. The cultivation of rice, which occupies two-thirds of the land, is the foundation of their agriculture, and this can only be carried on in water and by means of irrigation. Water being from its very nature easy to divert and steal, we may ask how it would be possible to cultivate rice without justice, and conclude that the regular distribution of water is in itself a proof of great loyalty to each other.

Michelet has laid it down that there can be no cultivation without order. Justice is born of the furrow; and Ceres, who at Thebes and Athens assembled the people and laid down the laws — Ceres, who seems no other than Themis — Ceres is the serious consideration of agricultural peoples. Nor is it only to rice that the Chinaman does justice, but to all the harvest, to the earth which produces, and to the buffalo and the ox which help him in his labours. He repeats the words of the ancient law of Russia, 4 Do justice to a plant, bull and horse ; be careful that the cow does not complain of you, and that you are not ungrateful to

c 2 the dog. The land has a right to he tilled, if neglected it becomes a curse, if manured it repays it with liberality. To him who has ploughed it from right to left and from left to right it will say, “ May your fields produce copiously and your villages he numerous and abound in all requirements.” * The Chinaman repeats to himself, 4 Work and sow; the man that sows with purity fulfils the law.’

Good faith or credit is another form of justice in the ordinary affairs of life. I can give several instances, as I was frequently compelled to refuse offers made to me by mandarins and rich inhabitants of loans without interest and on verbal security. ‘ Sir/ they would say to me, ‘it is a long time since you left your fellow-countrymen, you are probably in want of money; if so, make use of us/ Once even I was obliged to return to a mandarin a sum of 8000 francs which, in spite of my having declined his kindness, he had caused to be placed in an out-of-the-way corner of my lodging.

That I was a foreigner shows all the more clearly the prevalence of the idea of moral credit among the Chinese; in Europe no foreigner would be compelled to decline a similar offer. In China, however, I expect such offers are not uncommon, and, of course, much more frequent between persons well acquainted with each other. It is also a common custom with Chinese banks to advance to any of their clients who may request it double the amount standing to their credit,

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on current interest, for a term which may extend from three days to six months. But perhaps the best example of the extent to which the idea of personal credit extends among the Chinese is to he found in the numerous small societies of almost daily creation, which lend money without interest, or at low rates, to provide for all the wants of the people — the student too poor to complete his education ; the peasant in need of a buffalo for his holding ; the small shopkeeper starting in business ; up to the mother desirous of providing for the marriage expenses of her daughter.