THE CHINESE PEOPLE

THE truth about China and its people breaks slowly on the mind of the West, in spite of our marvellous progress in means of communication. This may seem remarkable when we reflect that Europeans had a fair knowledge of the people of the Far East two thousand years ago. A considerable commerce took place with China under the ancient civilisations; and the great Roman geographer and natural historian, Pliny, was able to give his contemporaries an idea of the Chinese which, although it necessarily suffers from the great difficulty of travel and communication in ancient times, is nevertheless far nearer the truth than descriptions which were current in Europe in the nineteenth century. Archibald J. Little, in Through the Yang-Tse Gorges, p. 251, quotes from Pliny-Ammian, I, 23, c. 6-as follows:

"The Chinese, though of mild disposition, yet "having something of the brute nature, avoid intercourse with other mortals, but yet are ready to trade "and barter.

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"The Chinese live quietly, always keeping clear of "arms and warfare; and, as peaceful and quiet men "are fond of repose, they cause their neighbours no "trouble.

"They have a pleasant, healthy climate; a clear "atmosphere; gentle, favourable winds; in very "many places dusky woods (of mulberry trees), from "which, working the fleecy produce of the trees "with frequent sprinklings of water, they comb off a

"very delicate and fine substance-a mixture of the "down and moisture; and, sprinkling the thread of "it, they make silk, which was formerly only used by "the nobles, but now by the lowest classes without "any distinction.

"Nor are they less celebrated for a most delicate "wool (cotton), which they collect from the trees in "their own country, and send to all parts of the world "to be made into costly garments."

The later demoralisation of Europe almost put an end to this commerce of East and West; and, when it was resumed in the great age of navigation, the Christian prejudice was apt to warp the minds of visitors to China. When the missionaries found it necessary to obtain vast sums of money for preaching the Gospel to the Chinese, they naturally depicted the character of the "heathen" in the darkest colours they could venture to use. As a general belief existed in Europe that non-Christian peoples were necessarily at a much lower level than Christian, it was not difficult to give a very unflattering version of Chinese civilisation, religion, and morality; and the most absurd and calumnious ideas are still largely held in regard to the Chinese. But the increase of travel and the fact that many European travellers no longer hold the Christian faith have contributed to spread the truth, and a more just appreciation of the great Chinese civilisation is gaining ground. One or two missionaries, even, have been compelled to protest against the common slanders of the Chinese; and a large body of influential lay writers have paid very high tributes to the people, whom they have learned to respect. Of these writers Mr. Chester Holcombe, at one time Acting Minister of the United States at Pekin, is particularly authoritative and well informed,

Preparing Silk for the Market.

The Chinese were the first to cultivate the silk worm and to produce silken fabrics; and at the present time they produce vastly more silk than all the rest of the world. The illustration shows the chrysalides being destroyed by heat and the silk reeled.

To face p. 182.