The Provinces of China

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Excerpt from The Provinces of China: Together With a History of the First Year of Hsuan Tung, and an Account of the Government of ChinaAlthough the story may not be strictly true, it is well known how colossal, until the last few years, has been the ignorance of all matters Chinese in England. Geographically, physiologically, philologically and politically China has remained until a year or two ago an almost unknown quantity to millions of otherwise well informed dwellers in Europe and America.If we do acknowledge the fact that the transformation of the Middle Kingdom from its present hopelessly chaotic condition into a modern nation can ever be accomplished, it is necessary that a far wider knowledge of its resources, peoples and present day life be encouraged amongst those interested in such a consummation.To enquirers unacquainted at first hand with the China of to-day it is frequently a matter of wonder what the sinister influence may be which seems always to retard progress. On the face of the problem there would appear to be few things wanting to China which are usually considered necessary to the makings of a great nation.First amongst the adjuncts to national prosperity, economically speaking, comes an abundant population. Now, nowhere in the world do so many industrious workers call one man their national ruler. Secondly, a frugal healthy people. What European nation or Eastern race can compare physically with the average Chinese peasant? As to resources, to mention one or two of the most valuable - gold, silver, iron and coal: in what country in the globe does such a vast store of mineral wealth lie buried? No: it is not the absence of such things as these which hinders all attempts at progress in this unfortunate land. Those who know China and its ruling classes know that one must seek elsewhere for the bar. On the reverse side of the national shield, writ large, so that even superficial observers may read, are imprinted the crying needs which call for reform.As to which of these is the most important opinions will naturally differ, though out of a dozen reform schemes drawn up by competent foreign critics there would probably be absolute unanimity in naming the major reforms.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.