ABOUT CHINA.*
Mn. DYER BALL must have made good use of his opportunities as a Hong Kong Civil Servant, for there cannot be many people who blow the "inner man" of the Chinese as he does. He tells us that he has dwelt among the "Men of Tong," i.e., the Southern Chinese, for forty-six years, and the result is a volume of extraordinary and vivid interest. He seems to us very just and broad in his judgments, and does not shirk the truth, considering, of course, the limits of a popular book. To English eyes the Chinaman is perhaps a somewhat bewildering problem. Did we hunt the world over we could not find a people possessed of so many fine ideals, yet so utterly opposedto us in many respects. He is the most economical person in the world, and we are the most wasteful, not even exceptingthe Americans. They are fond of children, yet they kill the girls. They value everything but human life, yet they are the most unsoldierly race alive. Civilized from immemorial times they have retained traits of the most grotesque barbarism. When we use the word-" Oriental" as a nickname we mean the Chinaman, yet he is trustworthy according to our code. Mr. Dyer Ball goes thoroughly into the Chinese character and gives us some entertaining and illuminating glimpses of their mental attitude. What he tells us about the home and married life of the "Man of Tong" ought to be read by every one at this very critical period in Chinese. history. The old order is going, slowly and painfully, but none the less surely; and it is on the social framework of China that her destiny will depend. For the Chinaman of one province is an absolute stranger in another. Solidarity is unknown, yet who doubts now the continuation of the Chinese Empire ? To understand this remarkable people is given to no one. Even Sir Robert Hart, who could think in Chinese, had to admit his inability to do that. However, if our readers wish to equip themselves for the study of the Chinese, they cannot do better than consult Mr. Ball's profoundly interesting book, which is fairly well written, and, though full of details, is never wearisome.
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