, which time itself is now
satisfactorily answering, was whether the Chinese language would be able
to assimilate the vast stock of new terminology which closer contact
with the West would necessarily carry with it. Two possible courses, it
seemed, were open: either fresh characters would be formed on the
radical-phonetic principle, or the new idea might be expressed by the
conjunction of two or more characters already existing. The former
expedient had been tried on a limited scale in Japan, where in the
course of time new characters were formed on the same principle as of
old, which were yet purely Japanese and find no place in a Chinese
dictionary. But although the field for such additions was boundless, the
Chinese have all along been chary of extending the language in this way,
probably because these modern terms had no Chinese sound which might
have suggested some particular phonetic. They have preferred to adopt
the other method, of which [Ch][Ch][Ch] (rise-descend-machine) for
"lift," and [Ch][Ch][Ch][Ch] (discuss-govern-country-assembly) for
"parliament" are examples. Even a metaphysical abstraction like The
Absolute has been tentatively expressed by [Ch][Ch] (exclude-opposite);
but in this case an equivalent was already existing in the Chinese
language.

A very drastic measure, strongly advocated in some quarters, is the
entire abolition of all characters, to be replaced by their equivalent
sounds in letters of the alphabet. Under this scheme [Ch] would figure
as _jen_ or _ren_, [Ch] as _ma_, and so on. But the proposal has fallen
extremely flat. The vocables, as we have seen, are so few in number that
only the colloquial, if even that, could possibly be transcribed in this
manner. Any attempt to transliterate classical Chinese would result in a
mere jumble of sounds, utterly unintelligible, even with the addition of
tone-marks. There is another aspect of the case. The characters are a
potent bond of union between the different parts of the Empire with
their various dialects. If they should ever fall into disuse, China will
have taken a first and most fatal step towards internal disruption. Even
the Japanese, whose language is not only free from dialects, but
polysyllabic and therefore more suitable for romanization, have utterly
refused to abandon the Chinese script, which in spite of certain
disadvantages has hitherto triumphantly adapted itself to the needs of
civilized intercourse.

See P. Premare, _No