VILLAGE LIFE IN CHINA.
Village Life in China. By Arthur H. Smith, D.D. (Oliphant, Anderson, and Ferrier, Edinburgh. 7s. 6d.)—Few more interest- ing and readable books on China have been written than this. The author has the faculty of "gently scanning his fellow-man," and in addition he "has by an extended experience in China come to feel a profound respect for the numerous admirable qualities of the Chinese, and to entertain for them a high per- sonal esteem." In addition Dr. Smith commands a style which is almost as simple as Mr. Barrie's, and is remarkably effective for the purposes of word-photography. For example, a really considerable amount of information is conveyed in this descrip- tion :--" The most conspicuous object in a Chinese village is generally a temple, and this building often gives its name to the hamlet. Thus the wall surrounding a temple is covered with red plaster, and the village is dubbed Red Temple. In a few years
the plaster falls off, but the name sticks. Temples are frequently associated with the families which were prominent in their con- struction, and the name of the village is very likely to be derived from this source, as Wang Chia Miao, the temple of the Wang family ; the Hun Chia Tsii, the monastery of the Hua family. If there happen to be two temples of a similar appearance, the village may get the title of Double Temple, and in general any peculiarity in edifices of this sort is likely to be stereotyped in the village name." In this simple but lucid fashion Dr. Smith deals with all aspects of the village life,—the roads, the ferry, the shop, the theatre, even higher education, loan societies, societies for watch- ing the crops, and weddings and funerals. Dr Smith is not, of course, without what Mr. Herbert Spencer would term his " bias," and indicates it with sufficient clearness in his concluding chapter on "What can Christianity do for China?" But, as he argues moderately, his views will be listened to with respect, as when he says : "Chinese customs will not be rashly invaded, but the ultimate tendency will be to postpone marriage to a suitable age, to consider the preferences of the principal parties—so far as they may have any—and to make wedlock a sacred solemnity instead of merely a social necessity." Besides, Dr. Smith subordinates his hobbies to his pictures of actual life. These are delightful, and the pleasure of them is enhanced by the illustra- tions with which his book abounds.
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