《中国人的性格》第十二章　鄙夷外人

《中国人的性格》是美国传教士阿瑟·史密斯（明恩溥）基于1872年赴华传教期间的社会观察撰写的著作，首版英文名《Chinese Characteristics》于19世纪末问世，。作者在华生活逾五十年，书中融合人类学视角与传教士立场，记录了晚清民众的性格特征与文化形态。

全书以27个主题章节剖析中国人行为模式，包含“保全面子”“省吃俭用”等生活哲学，以及“漠视精确”“因循守旧”等社会现象。通过对比西方工业文明，着重探讨东方特有的生存韧性，如环境适应力与疼痛耐受性。书中案例多源自山东乡村生活经历，涉及衣食住行、孝悌观念等主题，部分结论因宗教立场存在视角争议。该著作开创西方研究中国国民性先河，被译成多国文字，成为近代中西文化互鉴的重要文本。

第十二章　鄙夷外人

一位第一次到广州旅行的欧洲商人会很难认同这一事实，即中国的这一商业中心与欧洲已有三百六十年的频繁交往。在这一段的时间里，各个民族的西方国家与中国人打交道，几乎没有得到什么令我们有理由感到骄傲的成就。外国人无论抱着何种目的来到中国，中国人通常对待他们的态度就像古希腊人对待其他非希腊人一样，把他们看做是“夷蛮人”来对待。即使在中国的官方文件中，也一直习惯于用“夷蛮人”而不用“外国人”来指称外国人。只是到了1860年，才在某个条约 中列出了一个特别的条款规定，才开始不允许使用“夷蛮人”这个词来指称外国人。

说到与中国人对待西方外来民族的这种态度，我们必须时刻清晰地认识到，多年以来，中国人的邻国一直是一些非常弱小的民族和国家，因而他们一直被危险地奉承着。尽管这些奉承无非是花言巧语、不怀好意，但却是最为有效的。他们发现，他们对所接触到的外国人交替使用哄骗和威胁，就可以按照中国人的意愿行事。他们确信自己具有无法形容的优势地位，并且一直是按照这种理论去处事。他们的这种姿态，一直到北京被占领，才被迫发生了改变。从那以后，尽管只是刚刚过去了一代人，中国已经发生了很大的变化。

可以说，中国人如今终于充分地意识到了外国文明和外国人的全部价值。然而，不必对中国人作更广泛、更密切的了解，任何一个无偏见的观察者都会得出这样的印象来。目前中国人对外国人的态度，心里想的，行为表现出来的，官方的和非官方的，都还并非是一种尊敬。即使一个中国人实际上并不轻视我们，但他们好像总是带着某种恩赐的态度对待我们，且往往是不经意之间的。这就是我们目前所要面对的现状。

中国人在打量外国人时，首先感到奇怪的是他们的服装。尽管我们并不认为自己的服装有什么值得骄傲的。的确，东方人的所有服装，在我们看来都是那么的臃肿，摆来摆去，限制了“个人自由”。但这是因为我们要求动作灵便，而与任何东方人的服饰观完全不同。当我们考察到东方人的服装式样是否适合于东方人时，我们不得不承认，这种服装完全适合于东方人。但是，东方人，特别是中国人，在看我们的服装时，却不会露出丝毫的赞赏，他们发出的更多的是批评，以及不用说的嘲笑。

东方人的服装要求宽松，穿在身上，可以掩盖住身体的线条。一位体面的中国绅士是不敢穿着短上衣到公共场所去露面的。而在中国任何一个外国租界里，经常可以看到许多外国人穿着紧身的短上衣随处招摇过市。外国人所穿的那种短上衣，双排纽扣的礼服大衣（上面所有的扣子都没有什么实际用处），尤其是既难看又没样子像畸形儿一样的燕尾服。这些对中国人来说，都是莫名其妙；特别是有些上衣外套穿起来无法全部遮住胸脯，还露出一些内衣，更是不可理解，他们还看到外国人大衣后面的尾部肯定钉着两粒纽扣，可那个地方没有什么可扣的，扣子放在那里既不美观，也不能起到装饰作用。

如果说，外国人的男装，在普通的中国人看来是不伦不类、荒唐可笑的。那么女装就更是这样。不管怎么说，外国女士的服饰在许多方面都有悖于中国人的道德观念，更谈不上体面了。考虑到西方文明是伴随着男女之间两性的自由交往而产生的。只要我们看一下中国人对男女之间自由交往的限制，就会自然地感觉到，只依据传统的道德标准和礼仪，中国人自然完全有可能误解和曲解他们所看到的一切。

外国人听不懂中文，也是中国人产生优越感的主要原因之一。比如，一个外国人即使他能够流利地说现代欧洲各国的语言，但只要他听不懂一个不识字的中国苦力所说的话，那么这个苦力就会瞧不起他。的确，苦力若是这样，只能进一步表明他自己的无知，但他那毫无道理的优越感却是实实在在的。

如果这位外国人与这种环境抗争，想在其中待下去，并努力地去掌握中国人的语言，那么，他一定会不断地遭受到蔑视，就连自己的仆人也会在一旁说悄悄话：“哦，他听不懂的！”其实听不懂的唯一障碍在于中国人自己说得不清楚。但中国人并不会承认这个事实，即使承认了，也不会降低他的天生的优越感。这种情况，所有学习中文的外国人都经常而且永远会碰到。因为，无论他的中文水平有多么高，都总还有他未曾知道的新大陆。这个看起来是一种普遍性的体验，尽管有时的感觉并不一致。

外国人在中国积累了一定的经历后，就不会因为他偶尔才知道某事而感到不好意思，更不会因为他对某事全然不知而感到不光彩。中国人在对外国人所表现出来的有关中国语言文学方面的知识进行评价时，往往可以借用约翰逊博士对女人唠唠叨叨的布道所说的一句话来形容。约翰逊博士在谈到妇女布道时说过女人的布道，就像一条狗直起身体用两条后腿走路——那是无法做好的，但人们后来又惊奇地发现，居然做好了。

一个外国人对中国人的风俗一无所知，也是中国人产生优越感的另一个原因。任何人都有可能对他人熟悉的东西有所不知，但中国人几乎不相信居然会有人不知道他们早已知道的事。

一个外国人常常不知道自己在遭受着中国人的故意冷落。这就导致中国人愈加故意地轻视我们这些被蒙在鼓里做牺牲的外国人。“土著人”认为我们带有轻蔑地在冷落他们，结果我们会因为这种种的误会受到相应的惩罚。

许多中国人会有意无意地采取一种逗趣的方式对待外国人，这种好奇心还伴随着一些贬意，这就像利特默先生对待大卫·科波菲尔时似乎心里总不停地在嘀咕：“这么小，先生，这么小！”当然，并非说每一个外国人在中国都会遭受这种情况。那些在中国的机敏的外国人们随着经验的不断积累，迟早会成为明察秋毫的观察者。而那时，情况就会有所不同。然而，一个人无论经验多么丰富，总还有他没听说过的或者第一次听到的事。因此，总有许多细节是他所不知道的。

任何一个普通的中国人都会很容易做到的事，外国人却不会做，这就导致中国人看不起我们。我们吃不下他们所吃的东西，我们经不起太阳的曝晒，我们无法在嘈杂的人群中入睡，也不能没有新鲜的空气。我们不会用他们的橹划船，也不会喊“吁！吁”让骡子听从我们的使唤——有这样一个广为人知的事情，1860年，英军的炮兵部队在去北京的路上，雇来的当地车夫在河西附近开了小差，使得英军无人驾驶的马车队搞得束手无策，因为，英国军队中没有一个人能够叫中国的牲口往前再挪动一步！

在各种仪式中，我们无法适应中国人的观念和礼仪，以及其他更重要的规矩。这也是中国人毫不掩饰地轻视我们的理由，他们认为我们是一个在他们看来没有“礼貌”或不懂“礼貌”的民族。其实，不是外国人不会鞠躬，而是他们大多数人总觉得用中国人的方式鞠一个中国式的躬很难，不仅难在生理上的，心理上也很难接受。外国人不把礼仪规范当一回事，常常举止随意，表现出漫不经心的样子，也常常缺乏耐心。即使他是一个很有耐心的人，但面对一场繁琐的礼仪的大战，其结局事先已经确定，并为双方所知晓，就算只有二十分钟，他也会不耐烦的。外国人不愿意花上“老半天”的时间去闲聊。对他们来说，时间就是金钱。但对中国人来说，事实与之截然相反。因为在中国，每个人都有很多时间，但却不是每个人都有钱。中国人不知道，他所浪费的时间是他自己的时间，而不属于任何其他人的时间。

外国人由于倾向于避免大量令人厌烦的繁文缛节，而把时间用于其他方向。这样一来，与过分讲究礼节的中国人相比，外国人显得非常单薄，甚至连外国人自己也这么看。与中国官员富丽堂皇的长袍和温文尔雅的举止形成对照的是外国来访者只会笨拙地行一个屈膝礼。面对这种鲜明的对比，即使最有礼貌的中国人也难免会笑出声来。在这种情况下，与之相关的必须要指出，对付中国人轻视外国人的最有效方法是，对东方人所看重的官员身份不屑一顾。如果中国人见到的是“大美利坚皇帝”，比如说格兰特将军，并曾见过他穿着市民的服装，叼着雪茄，在大街上散步，那么中国人的心里又会怎么想呢？一个外国领事，其级别相当于一个中国的道台。假如这位外国领事为调解一桩国家间的纠纷，前往某省会与其巡抚会晤。那么，肯定会有成千上万的中国人涌上街头，想亲眼目睹这位外国大官的浩荡车队。结果，他们看到的只是两辆马车，几匹马，一名翻译，一位中国的跟班，还有厨师等几人。东方人看到这种场面，自然会从诧异变为冷淡，再变成轻视，这并不奇怪。

我们认为自己在某些方面肯定比中国人优越，但这些优越之处，并不能如我们所想象和所期望的那样给他们留下印象。他们承认，我们在机械设计发明方面占优势。即使许多发明领先于他们，但是这些技术却被轻易地看做是莫名其妙且没有实际用途的戏法，是某种超自然力的结果。值得注意的是，孔夫子是闭而不谈奇迹的。很多到过中国的承包商人发现，中国人对蒸汽机和电力应用的奇迹是那么的不放在眼里，因而感到失望。除了很少的几个例外，中国人是反对一切都模仿外国人的（尽管有时也不得不采用）。他们不关心环境卫生和居室通风设备，也不关心生理学。他们喜欢接受一些西方进步的成果，但不采纳西方人的方法，若要他们采纳西方人的方法，他们宁可把进步的成果也抛弃掉。中国渴望成为，也能够立刻成为一个“强国”，但目前只有这样一种可能性，其他的一切只能有待于将来。

任何改良，如果缺乏一种“时代精神”，中国人真实的优越就会相差很远，它在各方面的改进都有可能被抛在一边。某些中国学者和政治家显然意识到中国的劣势，但他们又认为，西方各个民族所采用的知识，只不过是利用了古代中国人的知识。古代的中国人在高度发展数学和自然科学中积累到了相当高的水平，而当代的中国子孙却不幸让这些关于自然的秘密被西方人盗走了。

中国人显然对单个的外国人在应用领域方面的实干能力不很感兴趣。撒克逊人欣赏“能人”，正像卡莱尔指出的，这样的人喜欢别人都称他为“王”。大家也崇拜这样的人，并将他推上王位。对中国人来说，外国人的某些技艺既令人感兴趣，又令人吃惊，而且以后若用得着，他们不会忘记和拒绝使用。但是，如果进一步把这位外国人作为模仿对象，成千上万的中国人中也许不会有一个人有这样想法。对于他们来说，一个理想学者就是书呆子，文字化石。这种人什么都学，什么都不会忘记，拥有多个学衔，学习刻苦，废寝忘食。他努力读书以免挨饿，手指上的指甲有几寸长，其他什么事情都干不了（除了教书）。正是这样，才保持了内心与肉体的统一，成了不食人间烟火的超人，因为“君子不器”。

总的来说，西方国家并没有使中国人意识到自己事实上落后于西方各国。前任中国驻大不列颠大使郭大人的所言，很能说明这一点。当时有人问他，里格博士认为英国人的道德状况比中国的要好，他对此有何看法。这位大人并没有立刻对此作出评价，而是富有感情色彩地说“我感到非常震惊”。这种肤浅的比较是得不出任何结论来的，尤其是从外交的观点看，是不成功的。要做出正确的比较，要涉及到对这两个国家内部生活的深入了解和对现状的各种原因进行分析。我们在此无意于进行任何诸如此类的比较，也不是我们的目的。

如今可以清晰感觉得到，对于很多外国人来说，必须承认的是，中国的文人学士是最主要对手。那些外国人怀揣着各种各样的机械技术，但仍被中国的文人学士认为没有足够的能力欣赏中国伦理道德之伟大。在那些“头长在宋代，脚站在现代”的典型中国学者，能充分体会这种轻视所包含的敌意。就是这个阶层的人，在近年以来，不断撰写并散发了大量极力排外的文章，这些文章形成的浪潮铺天盖地，把整个中国都淹没了。

曾经人们会认为，中国可能会被西方的各种发明所占据。刀叉、长筒袜、钢琴会从英国漂洋过海运到中国。这会使得人们产生这样印象，在这种作用下，中国将会被“欧洲化”。如果说有一天中国会被这种方式所占据，那么这只能是很久以前的某一天，而目前，决不可能有过这样的一天。中国不是一个可以被人攻占的国家，中国人也不是一个可以被人奴役的民族，无论以何种方式去攻打它。

要想让中国人对作为一个整体的西方人保持稳固而持久的尊敬，唯一的途径是通过可信的客观事实向他们表明，基督教文明无论在总体上还是在细节上都取得了巨大的成就。这一成就，是中国已有的文明所不能与之相比的。如果没有这些可信的事实，中国人仍会在与外国人的接触中表现出无端的轻视和俯就的态度。这也并非没有理由的。

英文原版：

IT is difficult for the European traveller who visits the cityof Canton for the first time, to realise the fact that thisChinese emporium has enjoyed regular intercourse with Europeans for a period of more than three hundred and sixtyyears. During much the greater part of that time there wasvery little in the conduct of any Western nation in its dealingswith the Chinese of which we have any reason to be proud.The normal attitude of the Chinese towards the people ofother lands who chose to come to China for any purposewhatever, has been the attitude of the ancient Greeks to everynation not Grecian, considering and treating them as "barbarians." It is only since i860, by a special clause in thetreaties, that a character which signifies "barbarian," andwhich the Chinese had been in the habit of employing in official documents as synonymous with the word " foreign," wasdisallowed.

It must always be remembered in connection with the behaviour of the Chinese towards outside nations of the West,that the Chinese had for ages been surrounded only by themost conspicuous inferiority, and had thus been flattered inthe most dangerous because the most plausible and thereforethe most effective, way. Finding, as they did, that the foreigners with whom they came into contact could be alternatelycajoled and bullied into conforming to the wishes of the Chinese, the latter were but confirmed in their conviction of their own unspeakable superiority, and invariably acted upon thistheory, until compelled by the capture of Peking to do otherwise. Since that time, although only a generation has passedaway, great changes have come over China, and it might besupposed that now at length foreign civilisation and foreignerswould be appreciated by the Chinese at their full value. Novery extended or intimate acquaintance with the Chinese people is needed, however, to convince any candid observer thatthe present normal attitude of the Chinese mind, official andunofficial, towards foreigners, is not one of respect. If theChinese do not feel for us an actual contempt, they do feelcondescension, and often unintentionally manifest it. It isthis phenomenon with which we have now to deal.

The first peculiarity which the Chinese notice in regard toforeigners is their dress, and in this we think no one will claimthat we have much of which we can be proud. It is true thatall varieties of the Oriental costume seem to us to be clumsy,pendulous, and restrictive of "personal liberty," but that isbecause our requirements in the line of active motion areutterly different from those of any Oriental people. Whenwe consider the Oriental modes of dress as adapted to Orientals, we cannot help recognising the undoubted fact that forOrientals this dress is exactly suited. But when Orientals,and especially Chinese, examine our costume, they find nothing whatever to admire, and much to excite criticism, not tosay ridicule. It is a postulate in Oriental dress that it shallbe loose, and shall be draped in such a way as to conceal thecontour of the body. A Chinese gentleman clad in a shortfrock would not venture to show himself in pubhc, but numbers of foreigners are continually seen in every foreign settlement in China, clad in what are appropriately styled " monkeyjackets." The foreign sack-coat, the double-breasted frockcoat (not a single button of which may be in use), and especially the hideous and amorphous abortion called a " dresscoat," are all equally incomprehensible to the Chinese, particularly as some of these garments do not pretend to cover thechest, which is the most exposed part of the body, made stillmore exposed by the unaccountable deficiencies of a vest cutaway so as to display a strip of linen. Every foreigner inChina is seen to have two buttons securely fastened to the tailof his coat, where there is never anything to button, and wherethey are as little ornamental as useful.

If the dress of the male foreigner appears to the averageChinese to be essentially irrational and ridiculous, that of theforeign ladies is far more so. It violates Chinese ideas ofpropriety, not to say of decency, in a great variety of waysTaken in connection with that freedom of intercourse betweenthe sexes which is the accompaniment of Occidental civihsation, it is not strange that the Chinese, who judge only fromtraditional standards of fitness, should thoroughly misunderstand and grossly misconstrue what they see.

Foreign ignorance of the Chinese language is a fertile occasion for a feeling of superiority on the part of the Chinese.It makes no difference that a foreigner may be able to converse fluently in every language of modern Europe, if he cannot understand what is said to him by an ignorant Chinesecoolie, the coolie will despise him in consequence. It is truethat in so doing the coolie will only still further illustrate hisown ignorance, but his feeling of superiority is not the lessreal on account of its inadequate basis. If the foreigner isstruggling with his environment, and endeavouring to masterthe language of the people, he will be constantly stung by theair of disdain with which even his own servants will remarkin an audible " aside," " Oh, he does not understand/ " whenthe sole obstacle to understanding lies in the turbid statementof the Chinese himself. But the Chinese does not recognisethis fact, nor if he should do so would it diminish his sense ofinnate superiority. This general state of things continues indefinitely for all students of Chinese, for no matter how muchone knows, there is always a continental area which he doesnot know. It seems to be a general experience, though notnecessarily a universal one, that the foreigner in China, afterthe preliminary stages of his experience are passed, gets littlecredit for anything which he happens to know, but rather discredit for the things which he does not know. The Chineseestimate of the value of the knowledge which foreigners display of the Chinese language and Chinese literature is frequently susceptible of illustration by a remark of Dr. John-,son's in regard to woman's preaching, which he declared to!be like a dog's walking on its hind legs—it is not well done,but then it is a surprise to find it done at all!

Foreign ignorance of the customs of the Chinese is anothercause of a feeling of superiority on the part of the Chinese.That any one should be ignorant of what they have alwaysknown, seems to them to be almost incredible.

The fact that a foreigner frequently does not know wheiKhe has been snubbed by indirect Chinese methods, leads the \Chinese to look upon their unconscious victim with consciouscontempt. Scornful indifference to what " the natives " may /think of us, brings its own appropriate and sufficient punishment

Many Chinese unconsciously adopt towards foreigners anair of amused interest, combined with depreciation, like thatwith which Mr. Littimer regarded David Copperfield, as ifmentally saying perpetually, "So young, sir, so young!"This does not apply equally to all stages of one's experiencein China, for experience accumulates more or less rapidly forshrewd observers, as foreigners in China are not unlikely tobe. Still, whatever the extent of one's experience, there aremultitudes of details, in regard to social matters, of whichone must necessarily be ignorant for the reason that he hasnever heard of them, and there must be a first time for everyacquisition.

Foreign inability to do '.vhat any ordinary Chinese can dowith the greatest ease, leads the Chinese to look down upon us.We cannot eat what they eat, we cannot bear the sun,we cannot sleep in a crowd, in a noise, nor without air tobreathe. We cannot scull one of their boats, nor can we cry" Yi! yi!" to one of their mule-teams in such a way that theanimals will do anything which we desire. It is well knownthat the artillery department of the British army, on the wayto Peking in i860, was rendered perfectly helpless near Hohsi-wu by the desertion of the.native carters, for not a man inthe British forces was able to persuade the Chinese animals totake a single step!

Inability to conform to Chinese ideas and ideals in ceremony, as well as in what we consider more important matters,causes the Chinese to feel a thinly disguised contempt for arace whom they think will not and cannot be made to understand " propriety." It is not that a foreigner cannot make abow, but he generally finds it hard to make a Chinese bow ina Chinese way, and the difficulty is as much moral as physical.The foreigner feels a contempt for the code of ceremonials,often frivolous in their appearance, and he has no patience,if he has the capacity, to spend twenty minutes in a politescuffle, the termination of which is foreseen by both sides withabsolute certainty. The foreigner does not wish to spend histime in talking empty nothings for " an old half-day." To him time is money, but it is very far from being so to a Chinese, for in China every one has an abundance of time, and very few have any money. No Chinese has ever yet learnedthat when he kills time it is well to make certain that it istime which belongs to him, and not that of some one else.

With this predisposition to dispense as much as possiblewith superfluous ceremony because it is distasteful, and because the time which it involves can be used more agreeablyin other ways, it is not strange that the foreigner, even in his own eyes, makes but a poor figure in comparison with a ceremonious Chinese. Compare the dress, bearings, and actionof a Chinese official, his long, flowing robes and his gracefulmotions, with the awkward genuflections of his foreign visitor.It requires all the native politeness of the Chinese to preventthem from laughing outright at the contrast. In this connection it must be noted that nothing contributes so effectively tothe instinctive Chinese contempt for the foreigner as the evident disregard which the latter feels for that official display sodear to the Oriental. What must have been the inner thoughtof the Chinese who were told that they were to behold the" great American Emperor," and who saw General Grant incitizen's costume with a cigar in his mouth, walking along theopen street? Imagine a foreign Consul, who ranks with aChinese Taotai, making a journey to a provincial capital tointerview the Governor, in order to settle an international dispute. Thousands are gathered on the city wall to watch theprocession of the great foreign magnate, a procession which isfound to consist of two carts and riding horses, the attendants of the Consul being an interpreter, a Chinese acting as messenger, and another as cook! Is it any wonder that Orientals, gazing on such a scene, should look with a curiosity which changes first to indifference and then to contempt ?

The particulars in which we consider ourselves to be unquestionably superior to the Chinese do not make upon themthe impression which we should expect, and which we could desire.They recognise the fact that we are their superiors in mechanical contrivances, but many of these contrivancesare regarded in the light in which we should look upon featsof sleight-of-hand—curious, inexplicable, and useless. Ourresults appear to them to be due to some kind of supernaturalpower, and it is remembered that Confucius refused to talk ofmagic. How profoundly indifferent the Chinese are to thewonders of steam and electricity practically applied, an army of disappointed contractors who have been in China havediscovered. With few exceptions, the Chinese do not wish though they may be forced to take) foreign models for anything whatever. They care nothing for sanitation, for ventilation, nor for physiology. They would like some, but by nomeans all, of the results of Western progress without submitting to Western methods, but rather than submit to Westernmethods they will cheerfully forego the results. Whateverhas a direct, unmistakable tendency to make China formidableas a "power," that they want and will have, but the rest must wait ;and if there were not a Zeitgeist, or Spirit-of-the-Age,superior to any Chinese, other improvements might wait long.Some Chinese scholars and statesmen, apparently realising theinferiority of China, claim that Western nations have merelyused the data accumulated by ancient Chinese who cultivatedmathematical and natural science to a high degree, but whosemodem descendants have unfortunately allowed the secrets ofnature to be stolen by the men of the West.

The Chinese do not appear to be much impressed by theundoubted ability of individual foreigners in practical lines.Saxons admire the man who "can," and, as Carlyle was sofond of remarking, they make and call him "king." Theskill of the foreigner is to the Chinese amusing and perhapsamazing, and they will by no means forget or omit to makedemands upon it the next time they chance to want anythingdone ;but so far from regarding the foreigner in this respectas a model for imitation, it is probable that the idea does noteven enter the skull of one Chinese in ten thousand. To themthe ideal scholar continues to be the Hterary fossil who haslearned everything, forgotten nothing, taken several degrees,has hard work to keep from starvation, and with claws on hishands several inches in length, cannot do any one thing (except to teach school) by which he can keep soul and bodytogether, for " the Superior Man is not a Utensil."

Western nations, taken as a whole, do not impress educatedChinese with a sense of the superiority of such nations toChina. This feeUng was admirably exemplified in the replyof His Excellency Kuo, former Chinese Minister to GreatBritain, when told, in answer to a question, that in Dr. Legge'sopinion the moral condition of England is higher than that ofChina. After pausing to take in this judgment in all its bearings. His Excellency replied, with deep feeling, " I am very much surprised." Comparisons of this sort cannot be successfully made in a superficial way, and least of all from a diplomatic point of view. They involve a minute acquaintance with the inner life of both nations, and an ability to appreciate the operations of countless causes in the gradual multiplication of effects. Into any such comparison it is far from'tbeing our purpose now to enter. It is now well recognised that the Literati of China are the chief enemies of the foreigner, who, though he may have sundry mechanical mysteriesat his disposal, is held to be wholly incapable of appreciating China's moral greatness. This feeling of jealous contempt isembodied in the typical Chinese scholar, "with his head inthe Sung Dynasty and his feet in the present." It is men ofthis class who prepared and put in circulation the flood ofbitter anti-foreign literature with which in recent years centralChina has been inundated.

It was once thought that with Western inventions China,could be taken by storm. Knives, forks, stockings, and pianos were shipped to China from England, under the impression that this Empire was about to be " Europeanised." If thereever had been a time when the Chinese Empire was to betaken by storm in this way, that time would have been longago, but there never was such a time. China is not a country, and the Chinese are not a people, to be taken by stormwith anything whatsoever. The only way to secure the solidand permanent respect of the Chinese race for Western peoples as a whole is by convincing object lessons, showing thatChristian civilisation in the mass and in detail accomplishesresults which cannot be matched by the civilisation whichChina already possesses. If this conviction cannot be produced, the Chinese will continue, and not without reason, tofeel and to display in all their relation to foreigners both condescension and contempt.