le is enhanced by the different
characteristics observable in various regions of so vast a country. The
Chinese themselves, until the material superiority of Western
civilization forced them to a certain degree to conform to its
standards, looked down from the height of their superior culture with
contempt on the "Western barbarians." Nor was their attitude wholly
without justification. Their civilization was already old at a time when
Britain and Germany were peopled by half-naked barbarians, and the
philosophical and ethical principles on which it was based remain, to
all appearances, as firmly rooted as ever. That these principles have,
on the whole, helped to create a national type of a very high order few
Europeans who know the Chinese well would deny. The Chinese are
naturally reserved, earnest and good-natured; for the occasional
outbursts of ferocious violence, notably against foreign settlements,
are no index to the national character. There is a national proverb that
"the men of the Four Seas are all brothers," and even strangers can
travel through the country without meeting with rudeness, much less
outrage. If the Chinese character is inferior to the European, this
inferiority lies in the fact that the Chinaman's whole philosophy of
life disinclines him to change or to energetic action. He is
industrious; but his industry is normally along the lines marked out by
authority and tradition. He is brave; but his courage does not naturally
seek an outlet in war. The jealously exclusive empire, into which in the
19th century the nations of the West forced an entrance, was organized
for peace; the arts of war had been all but forgotten, and soldiers were
of all classes the most despised.

The whole social and political organization of the Chinese is based,
in a far more real sense than in the West, on the family. The supreme
duty is that of the child to its parent; on this the whole Chinese
moral system is built up. Filial piety, according to the teaching of
Confucius, is the very foundation of society; the nation itself is but
one great family, and the authority of the government itself is but an
extension of the paternal authority, to which all its children are
bound to yield implicit obedience. The western idea of the liberty and
dignity of the individual, as distinct from the community to which he
belongs, is wholly alien to the Chinese mind. The political unit in
China is not the individu