Some of the Chinese proverbs on international politics are the following:
“He who doesn’t follow up his words with deeds is no more terrible than the wind on painted water.”
“If you have to guess at roads, the middle one will average up best.”
“Go slow; only the turtle is equipped to draw his head in suddenly.”
“Don’t cross a river with your feet in two boats.”
XI
CHINESE INTERNAL POLITICS
Almost the oldest book in China, the Chou Li, provided for village management at the same time that sacrifices were instituted, thousands of years before the Christian era. The oldest man of the clan-village, bearing the title of “hsiang lao” (village old-one) takes charge at a salary of about one hundred and fifty dollars a year, and hires say twenty police in the smaller villages. This “hsiang lao”, when necessary, deals with the district “siunkian”, who is the government’s lowest mandarin. The people express their views in an open “hsiang” meeting, which is the same as the old town meeting of New England, on which present democratic institutions in America are based; an “open primary”, for that matter.
In the guild councils of the cities, the more experienced tradesmen have had political experience in their dealings with the “taotai”, a higher class of mandarin. From “hsiang” and guild meetings, the next step was to send delegates to viceroys, or even delegates to the Board of Censors at Peking, accusing viceroys. China, therefore, had some experience in politics before the reformers of 1898 induced the impressionable young Emperor Kwang Hsu to issue his famous edicts, which started a wave that rolled on, lifting provincial assemblies, parliaments, and revolutionists into view; and the wave is rolling onward still. Kwang Hsu as early as 1891 issued an edict praising and protecting missionaries. He was never permitted to travel, but learned from books, brought to him by Kang Yu Wei and the other new spirits, what was going on in the outside world. In 1894 Kwang Hsu sent to the American Bible Society at Peking a request for copies of the two Testaments, “such as are sold to THE PEOPLE”. His immortal edicts began to appear in the Peking Gazette on June 23, 1898, and ended in September of that year, when he was imprisoned by the empress dowager and Yuan Shih Kai. During the issuance of the edicts the dowager was at the summer palace, eight miles northwest of Peking, where she was preparing her reactionary plans. The edicts covered the following:
1. New learning for much of the old classical essays. This reform is in force.
2. Modern army, navy, railways, telephone, telegraph. The slow progress of the Lu-Han (Peking to Hankau) Railway was commented on. These reforms are under way, and full of promise.
3. Publicity of national and provincial figures of receipt and expenditure; i. e., a budget. This reform was instituted by the National Assembly in 1911, and will be adopted by the republicans.
4. All citizens to have the privilege of memorializing the Throne independent of the Censor Board.
5. Extension of mail service. This is being brought about by the extension of the railway service, and the government taking over private post routes of guilds.
6. Prince Ching to secure assistance from foreigners in establishing a national university, with branches in provincial capitals. Departments of universities at Peking, Canton, Shanghai, Nanking, Paoting, Tientsin, Hankau, etc., have been established. The English universities, acting under the suggestions of Sir Robert Hart and Lord Cecil, will assist, as will also America. This is secular education. The mission schools are, of course, extending to many new cities.