《中國(guó)人的性格》第十二章　鄙夷外人

《中國(guó)人的性格》是美國(guó)傳教士阿瑟·史密斯（明恩溥）基于1872年赴華傳教期間的社會(huì)觀察撰寫(xiě)的著作，首版英文名《Chinese Characteristics》于19世紀(jì)末問(wèn)世，。作者在華生活逾五十年，書(shū)中融合人類(lèi)學(xué)視角與傳教士立場(chǎng)，記錄了晚清民眾的性格特征與文化形態(tài)。

全書(shū)以27個(gè)主題章節(jié)剖析中國(guó)人行為模式，包含“保全面子”“省吃?xún)€用”等生活哲學(xué)，以及“漠視精確”“因循守舊”等社會(huì)現(xiàn)象。通過(guò)對(duì)比西方工業(yè)文明，著重探討東方特有的生存韌性，如環(huán)境適應(yīng)力與疼痛耐受性。書(shū)中案例多源自山東鄉(xiāng)村生活經(jīng)歷，涉及衣食住行、孝悌觀念等主題，部分結(jié)論因宗教立場(chǎng)存在視角爭(zhēng)議。該著作開(kāi)創(chuàng)西方研究中國(guó)國(guó)民性先河，被譯成多國(guó)文字，成為近代中西文化互鑒的重要文本。

第十二章　鄙夷外人

一位第一次到廣州旅行的歐洲商人會(huì)很難認(rèn)同這一事實(shí)，即中國(guó)的這一商業(yè)中心與歐洲已有三百六十年的頻繁交往。在這一段的時(shí)間里，各個(gè)民族的西方國(guó)家與中國(guó)人打交道，幾乎沒(méi)有得到什么令我們有理由感到驕傲的成就。外國(guó)人無(wú)論抱著何種目的來(lái)到中國(guó)，中國(guó)人通常對(duì)待他們的態(tài)度就像古希臘人對(duì)待其他非希臘人一樣，把他們看做是“夷蠻人”來(lái)對(duì)待。即使在中國(guó)的官方文件中，也一直習(xí)慣于用“夷蠻人”而不用“外國(guó)人”來(lái)指稱(chēng)外國(guó)人。只是到了1860年，才在某個(gè)條約 中列出了一個(gè)特別的條款規(guī)定，才開(kāi)始不允許使用“夷蠻人”這個(gè)詞來(lái)指稱(chēng)外國(guó)人。

說(shuō)到與中國(guó)人對(duì)待西方外來(lái)民族的這種態(tài)度，我們必須時(shí)刻清晰地認(rèn)識(shí)到，多年以來(lái)，中國(guó)人的鄰國(guó)一直是一些非常弱小的民族和國(guó)家，因而他們一直被危險(xiǎn)地奉承著。盡管這些奉承無(wú)非是花言巧語(yǔ)、不懷好意，但卻是最為有效的。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，他們對(duì)所接觸到的外國(guó)人交替使用哄騙和威脅，就可以按照中國(guó)人的意愿行事。他們確信自己具有無(wú)法形容的優(yōu)勢(shì)地位，并且一直是按照這種理論去處事。他們的這種姿態(tài)，一直到北京被占領(lǐng)，才被迫發(fā)生了改變。從那以后，盡管只是剛剛過(guò)去了一代人，中國(guó)已經(jīng)發(fā)生了很大的變化。

可以說(shuō)，中國(guó)人如今終于充分地意識(shí)到了外國(guó)文明和外國(guó)人的全部?jī)r(jià)值。然而，不必對(duì)中國(guó)人作更廣泛、更密切的了解，任何一個(gè)無(wú)偏見(jiàn)的觀察者都會(huì)得出這樣的印象來(lái)。目前中國(guó)人對(duì)外國(guó)人的態(tài)度，心里想的，行為表現(xiàn)出來(lái)的，官方的和非官方的，都還并非是一種尊敬。即使一個(gè)中國(guó)人實(shí)際上并不輕視我們，但他們好像總是帶著某種恩賜的態(tài)度對(duì)待我們，且往往是不經(jīng)意之間的。這就是我們目前所要面對(duì)的現(xiàn)狀。

中國(guó)人在打量外國(guó)人時(shí)，首先感到奇怪的是他們的服裝。盡管我們并不認(rèn)為自己的服裝有什么值得驕傲的。的確，東方人的所有服裝，在我們看來(lái)都是那么的臃腫，擺來(lái)擺去，限制了“個(gè)人自由”。但這是因?yàn)槲覀円髣?dòng)作靈便，而與任何東方人的服飾觀完全不同。當(dāng)我們考察到東方人的服裝式樣是否適合于東方人時(shí)，我們不得不承認(rèn)，這種服裝完全適合于東方人。但是，東方人，特別是中國(guó)人，在看我們的服裝時(shí)，卻不會(huì)露出絲毫的贊賞，他們發(fā)出的更多的是批評(píng)，以及不用說(shuō)的嘲笑。

東方人的服裝要求寬松，穿在身上，可以掩蓋住身體的線(xiàn)條。一位體面的中國(guó)紳士是不敢穿著短上衣到公共場(chǎng)所去露面的。而在中國(guó)任何一個(gè)外國(guó)租界里，經(jīng)常可以看到許多外國(guó)人穿著緊身的短上衣隨處招搖過(guò)市。外國(guó)人所穿的那種短上衣，雙排紐扣的禮服大衣（上面所有的扣子都沒(méi)有什么實(shí)際用處），尤其是既難看又沒(méi)樣子像畸形兒一樣的燕尾服。這些對(duì)中國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，都是莫名其妙；特別是有些上衣外套穿起來(lái)無(wú)法全部遮住胸脯，還露出一些內(nèi)衣，更是不可理解，他們還看到外國(guó)人大衣后面的尾部肯定釘著兩粒紐扣，可那個(gè)地方?jīng)]有什么可扣的，扣子放在那里既不美觀，也不能起到裝飾作用。

如果說(shuō)，外國(guó)人的男裝，在普通的中國(guó)人看來(lái)是不倫不類(lèi)、荒唐可笑的。那么女裝就更是這樣。不管怎么說(shuō)，外國(guó)女士的服飾在許多方面都有悖于中國(guó)人的道德觀念，更談不上體面了。考慮到西方文明是伴隨著男女之間兩性的自由交往而產(chǎn)生的。只要我們看一下中國(guó)人對(duì)男女之間自由交往的限制，就會(huì)自然地感覺(jué)到，只依據(jù)傳統(tǒng)的道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和禮儀，中國(guó)人自然完全有可能誤解和曲解他們所看到的一切。

外國(guó)人聽(tīng)不懂中文，也是中國(guó)人產(chǎn)生優(yōu)越感的主要原因之一。比如，一個(gè)外國(guó)人即使他能夠流利地說(shuō)現(xiàn)代歐洲各國(guó)的語(yǔ)言，但只要他聽(tīng)不懂一個(gè)不識(shí)字的中國(guó)苦力所說(shuō)的話(huà)，那么這個(gè)苦力就會(huì)瞧不起他。的確，苦力若是這樣，只能進(jìn)一步表明他自己的無(wú)知，但他那毫無(wú)道理的優(yōu)越感卻是實(shí)實(shí)在在的。

如果這位外國(guó)人與這種環(huán)境抗?fàn)帲朐谄渲写氯ィ⑴Φ厝フ莆罩袊?guó)人的語(yǔ)言，那么，他一定會(huì)不斷地遭受到蔑視，就連自己的仆人也會(huì)在一旁說(shuō)悄悄話(huà)：“哦，他聽(tīng)不懂的！”其實(shí)聽(tīng)不懂的唯一障礙在于中國(guó)人自己說(shuō)得不清楚。但中國(guó)人并不會(huì)承認(rèn)這個(gè)事實(shí)，即使承認(rèn)了，也不會(huì)降低他的天生的優(yōu)越感。這種情況，所有學(xué)習(xí)中文的外國(guó)人都經(jīng)常而且永遠(yuǎn)會(huì)碰到。因?yàn)椋瑹o(wú)論他的中文水平有多么高，都總還有他未曾知道的新大陸。這個(gè)看起來(lái)是一種普遍性的體驗(yàn)，盡管有時(shí)的感覺(jué)并不一致。

外國(guó)人在中國(guó)積累了一定的經(jīng)歷后，就不會(huì)因?yàn)樗紶柌胖滥呈露械讲缓靡馑迹粫?huì)因?yàn)樗麑?duì)某事全然不知而感到不光彩。中國(guó)人在對(duì)外國(guó)人所表現(xiàn)出來(lái)的有關(guān)中國(guó)語(yǔ)言文學(xué)方面的知識(shí)進(jìn)行評(píng)價(jià)時(shí)，往往可以借用約翰遜博士對(duì)女人嘮嘮叨叨的布道所說(shuō)的一句話(huà)來(lái)形容。約翰遜博士在談到婦女布道時(shí)說(shuō)過(guò)女人的布道，就像一條狗直起身體用兩條后腿走路——那是無(wú)法做好的，但人們后來(lái)又驚奇地發(fā)現(xiàn)，居然做好了。

一個(gè)外國(guó)人對(duì)中國(guó)人的風(fēng)俗一無(wú)所知，也是中國(guó)人產(chǎn)生優(yōu)越感的另一個(gè)原因。任何人都有可能對(duì)他人熟悉的東西有所不知，但中國(guó)人幾乎不相信居然會(huì)有人不知道他們?cè)缫阎赖氖隆?/p>

一個(gè)外國(guó)人常常不知道自己在遭受著中國(guó)人的故意冷落。這就導(dǎo)致中國(guó)人愈加故意地輕視我們這些被蒙在鼓里做犧牲的外國(guó)人。“土著人”認(rèn)為我們帶有輕蔑地在冷落他們，結(jié)果我們會(huì)因?yàn)檫@種種的誤會(huì)受到相應(yīng)的懲罰。

許多中國(guó)人會(huì)有意無(wú)意地采取一種逗趣的方式對(duì)待外國(guó)人，這種好奇心還伴隨著一些貶意，這就像利特默先生對(duì)待大衛(wèi)·科波菲爾時(shí)似乎心里總不停地在嘀咕：“這么小，先生，這么小！”當(dāng)然，并非說(shuō)每一個(gè)外國(guó)人在中國(guó)都會(huì)遭受這種情況。那些在中國(guó)的機(jī)敏的外國(guó)人們隨著經(jīng)驗(yàn)的不斷積累，遲早會(huì)成為明察秋毫的觀察者。而那時(shí)，情況就會(huì)有所不同。然而，一個(gè)人無(wú)論經(jīng)驗(yàn)多么豐富，總還有他沒(méi)聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)的或者第一次聽(tīng)到的事。因此，總有許多細(xì)節(jié)是他所不知道的。

任何一個(gè)普通的中國(guó)人都會(huì)很容易做到的事，外國(guó)人卻不會(huì)做，這就導(dǎo)致中國(guó)人看不起我們。我們吃不下他們所吃的東西，我們經(jīng)不起太陽(yáng)的曝曬，我們無(wú)法在嘈雜的人群中入睡，也不能沒(méi)有新鮮的空氣。我們不會(huì)用他們的櫓劃船，也不會(huì)喊“吁！吁”讓騾子聽(tīng)從我們的使喚——有這樣一個(gè)廣為人知的事情，1860年，英軍的炮兵部隊(duì)在去北京的路上，雇來(lái)的當(dāng)?shù)剀?chē)夫在河西附近開(kāi)了小差，使得英軍無(wú)人駕駛的馬車(chē)隊(duì)搞得束手無(wú)策，因?yàn)椋?guó)軍隊(duì)中沒(méi)有一個(gè)人能夠叫中國(guó)的牲口往前再挪動(dòng)一步！

在各種儀式中，我們無(wú)法適應(yīng)中國(guó)人的觀念和禮儀，以及其他更重要的規(guī)矩。這也是中國(guó)人毫不掩飾地輕視我們的理由，他們認(rèn)為我們是一個(gè)在他們看來(lái)沒(méi)有“禮貌”或不懂“禮貌”的民族。其實(shí)，不是外國(guó)人不會(huì)鞠躬，而是他們大多數(shù)人總覺(jué)得用中國(guó)人的方式鞠一個(gè)中國(guó)式的躬很難，不僅難在生理上的，心理上也很難接受。外國(guó)人不把禮儀規(guī)范當(dāng)一回事，常常舉止隨意，表現(xiàn)出漫不經(jīng)心的樣子，也常常缺乏耐心。即使他是一個(gè)很有耐心的人，但面對(duì)一場(chǎng)繁瑣的禮儀的大戰(zhàn)，其結(jié)局事先已經(jīng)確定，并為雙方所知曉，就算只有二十分鐘，他也會(huì)不耐煩的。外國(guó)人不愿意花上“老半天”的時(shí)間去閑聊。對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，時(shí)間就是金錢(qián)。但對(duì)中國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，事實(shí)與之截然相反。因?yàn)樵谥袊?guó)，每個(gè)人都有很多時(shí)間，但卻不是每個(gè)人都有錢(qián)。中國(guó)人不知道，他所浪費(fèi)的時(shí)間是他自己的時(shí)間，而不屬于任何其他人的時(shí)間。

外國(guó)人由于傾向于避免大量令人厭煩的繁文縟節(jié)，而把時(shí)間用于其他方向。這樣一來(lái)，與過(guò)分講究禮節(jié)的中國(guó)人相比，外國(guó)人顯得非常單薄，甚至連外國(guó)人自己也這么看。與中國(guó)官員富麗堂皇的長(zhǎng)袍和溫文爾雅的舉止形成對(duì)照的是外國(guó)來(lái)訪(fǎng)者只會(huì)笨拙地行一個(gè)屈膝禮。面對(duì)這種鮮明的對(duì)比，即使最有禮貌的中國(guó)人也難免會(huì)笑出聲來(lái)。在這種情況下，與之相關(guān)的必須要指出，對(duì)付中國(guó)人輕視外國(guó)人的最有效方法是，對(duì)東方人所看重的官員身份不屑一顧。如果中國(guó)人見(jiàn)到的是“大美利堅(jiān)皇帝”，比如說(shuō)格蘭特將軍，并曾見(jiàn)過(guò)他穿著市民的服裝，叼著雪茄，在大街上散步，那么中國(guó)人的心里又會(huì)怎么想呢？一個(gè)外國(guó)領(lǐng)事，其級(jí)別相當(dāng)于一個(gè)中國(guó)的道臺(tái)。假如這位外國(guó)領(lǐng)事為調(diào)解一樁國(guó)家間的糾紛，前往某省會(huì)與其巡撫會(huì)晤。那么，肯定會(huì)有成千上萬(wàn)的中國(guó)人涌上街頭，想親眼目睹這位外國(guó)大官的浩蕩車(chē)隊(duì)。結(jié)果，他們看到的只是兩輛馬車(chē)，幾匹馬，一名翻譯，一位中國(guó)的跟班，還有廚師等幾人。東方人看到這種場(chǎng)面，自然會(huì)從詫異變?yōu)槔涞僮兂奢p視，這并不奇怪。

我們認(rèn)為自己在某些方面肯定比中國(guó)人優(yōu)越，但這些優(yōu)越之處，并不能如我們所想象和所期望的那樣給他們留下印象。他們承認(rèn)，我們?cè)跈C(jī)械設(shè)計(jì)發(fā)明方面占優(yōu)勢(shì)。即使許多發(fā)明領(lǐng)先于他們，但是這些技術(shù)卻被輕易地看做是莫名其妙且沒(méi)有實(shí)際用途的戲法，是某種超自然力的結(jié)果。值得注意的是，孔夫子是閉而不談奇跡的。很多到過(guò)中國(guó)的承包商人發(fā)現(xiàn)，中國(guó)人對(duì)蒸汽機(jī)和電力應(yīng)用的奇跡是那么的不放在眼里，因而感到失望。除了很少的幾個(gè)例外，中國(guó)人是反對(duì)一切都模仿外國(guó)人的（盡管有時(shí)也不得不采用）。他們不關(guān)心環(huán)境衛(wèi)生和居室通風(fēng)設(shè)備，也不關(guān)心生理學(xué)。他們喜歡接受一些西方進(jìn)步的成果，但不采納西方人的方法，若要他們采納西方人的方法，他們寧可把進(jìn)步的成果也拋棄掉。中國(guó)渴望成為，也能夠立刻成為一個(gè)“強(qiáng)國(guó)”，但目前只有這樣一種可能性，其他的一切只能有待于將來(lái)。

任何改良，如果缺乏一種“時(shí)代精神”，中國(guó)人真實(shí)的優(yōu)越就會(huì)相差很遠(yuǎn)，它在各方面的改進(jìn)都有可能被拋在一邊。某些中國(guó)學(xué)者和政治家顯然意識(shí)到中國(guó)的劣勢(shì)，但他們又認(rèn)為，西方各個(gè)民族所采用的知識(shí)，只不過(guò)是利用了古代中國(guó)人的知識(shí)。古代的中國(guó)人在高度發(fā)展數(shù)學(xué)和自然科學(xué)中積累到了相當(dāng)高的水平，而當(dāng)代的中國(guó)子孫卻不幸讓這些關(guān)于自然的秘密被西方人盜走了。

中國(guó)人顯然對(duì)單個(gè)的外國(guó)人在應(yīng)用領(lǐng)域方面的實(shí)干能力不很感興趣。撒克遜人欣賞“能人”，正像卡萊爾指出的，這樣的人喜歡別人都稱(chēng)他為“王”。大家也崇拜這樣的人，并將他推上王位。對(duì)中國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，外國(guó)人的某些技藝既令人感興趣，又令人吃驚，而且以后若用得著，他們不會(huì)忘記和拒絕使用。但是，如果進(jìn)一步把這位外國(guó)人作為模仿對(duì)象，成千上萬(wàn)的中國(guó)人中也許不會(huì)有一個(gè)人有這樣想法。對(duì)于他們來(lái)說(shuō)，一個(gè)理想學(xué)者就是書(shū)呆子，文字化石。這種人什么都學(xué)，什么都不會(huì)忘記，擁有多個(gè)學(xué)銜，學(xué)習(xí)刻苦，廢寢忘食。他努力讀書(shū)以免挨餓，手指上的指甲有幾寸長(zhǎng)，其他什么事情都干不了（除了教書(shū)）。正是這樣，才保持了內(nèi)心與肉體的統(tǒng)一，成了不食人間煙火的超人，因?yàn)椤熬硬黄鳌薄?/p>

總的來(lái)說(shuō)，西方國(guó)家并沒(méi)有使中國(guó)人意識(shí)到自己事實(shí)上落后于西方各國(guó)。前任中國(guó)駐大不列顛大使郭大人的所言，很能說(shuō)明這一點(diǎn)。當(dāng)時(shí)有人問(wèn)他，里格博士認(rèn)為英國(guó)人的道德?tīng)顩r比中國(guó)的要好，他對(duì)此有何看法。這位大人并沒(méi)有立刻對(duì)此作出評(píng)價(jià)，而是富有感情色彩地說(shuō)“我感到非常震驚”。這種膚淺的比較是得不出任何結(jié)論來(lái)的，尤其是從外交的觀點(diǎn)看，是不成功的。要做出正確的比較，要涉及到對(duì)這兩個(gè)國(guó)家內(nèi)部生活的深入了解和對(duì)現(xiàn)狀的各種原因進(jìn)行分析。我們?cè)诖藷o(wú)意于進(jìn)行任何諸如此類(lèi)的比較，也不是我們的目的。

如今可以清晰感覺(jué)得到，對(duì)于很多外國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，必須承認(rèn)的是，中國(guó)的文人學(xué)士是最主要對(duì)手。那些外國(guó)人懷揣著各種各樣的機(jī)械技術(shù)，但仍被中國(guó)的文人學(xué)士認(rèn)為沒(méi)有足夠的能力欣賞中國(guó)倫理道德之偉大。在那些“頭長(zhǎng)在宋代，腳站在現(xiàn)代”的典型中國(guó)學(xué)者，能充分體會(huì)這種輕視所包含的敵意。就是這個(gè)階層的人，在近年以來(lái)，不斷撰寫(xiě)并散發(fā)了大量極力排外的文章，這些文章形成的浪潮鋪天蓋地，把整個(gè)中國(guó)都淹沒(méi)了。

曾經(jīng)人們會(huì)認(rèn)為，中國(guó)可能會(huì)被西方的各種發(fā)明所占據(jù)。刀叉、長(zhǎng)筒襪、鋼琴會(huì)從英國(guó)漂洋過(guò)海運(yùn)到中國(guó)。這會(huì)使得人們產(chǎn)生這樣印象，在這種作用下，中國(guó)將會(huì)被“歐洲化”。如果說(shuō)有一天中國(guó)會(huì)被這種方式所占據(jù)，那么這只能是很久以前的某一天，而目前，決不可能有過(guò)這樣的一天。中國(guó)不是一個(gè)可以被人攻占的國(guó)家，中國(guó)人也不是一個(gè)可以被人奴役的民族，無(wú)論以何種方式去攻打它。

要想讓中國(guó)人對(duì)作為一個(gè)整體的西方人保持穩(wěn)固而持久的尊敬，唯一的途徑是通過(guò)可信的客觀事實(shí)向他們表明，基督教文明無(wú)論在總體上還是在細(xì)節(jié)上都取得了巨大的成就。這一成就，是中國(guó)已有的文明所不能與之相比的。如果沒(méi)有這些可信的事實(shí)，中國(guó)人仍會(huì)在與外國(guó)人的接觸中表現(xiàn)出無(wú)端的輕視和俯就的態(tài)度。這也并非沒(méi)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.