《中國人的性格》第二十一章 缺乏同情

《中國人的性格》是美國傳教士阿瑟·史密斯（明恩溥）基于1872年赴華傳教期間的社會觀察撰寫的著作，首版英文名《Chinese Characteristics》于19世紀末問世，。作者在華生活逾五十年，書中融合人類學視角與傳教士立場，記錄了晚清民眾的性格特征與文化形態。

全書以27個主題章節剖析中國人行為模式，包含“保全面子”“省吃儉用”等生活哲學，以及“漠視精確”“因循守舊”等社會現象。通過對比西方工業文明，著重探討東方特有的生存韌性，如環境適應力與疼痛耐受性。書中案例多源自山東鄉村生活經歷，涉及衣食住行、孝悌觀念等主題，部分結論因宗教立場存在視角爭議。該著作開創西方研究中國國民性先河，被譯成多國文字，成為近代中西文化互鑒的重要文本。

第二十一章 缺乏同情

我們已經考察了中國人的慈善活動。仁慈是一種善良的天性，同情也建立在它的基礎上，我們姑且認為中國人的確做了些慈善事業，下面所要闡明的是中國人明顯缺乏同情。

我們要時刻牢記，中國人口眾多，各地會定期發大水或鬧饑荒。很多國家的事實都表明，社會條件是控制人口增長的重要因素，但在中國，似乎不怎么靈驗。傳種接代是中國人的首要愿望。最窮的人家也要在兒子很小時就給他們娶媳婦，隨后這些孩子又生出一大堆孩子，就好像他們生活有保障一樣。還由于一些其他原因，結果使得中國人的生活簡直就是干活，吃飯，吃飯，干活，幾乎就像一個短工，這已經難以避免。如果一個外國人不能馬上意識到，幾乎所有的中國人都缺錢，他就不可能長期與中國人相處。事情一開始做，他們就要錢，因為他們一無所有，給了錢，做事的人才有飯吃。即使是小康人家，急需用錢的時候，也很難籌集到起碼的數目。中國有個意味深長的說法，用以形容辦喪事、打官司時被迫借錢的窘狀：“過賤年”，就是說好像一個饑餓的人，不顧一切地尋求幫助。除了境況較好的人家外，誰都不可以指望能在孤立無援的情況下，獨立操辦這類事情。令人絕望的貧窮是帝國最突出的現實，它使得人與人之間明顯變得冷漠。在物質困乏的壓力下，人們已形成一些固定的習慣，即使是直接的生活需求不再緊迫時，他們仍保持艱苦的生活水平。中國的生活就像一個橢園，錢和糧是它的兩個圓心，一切社會生活都圍繞著它們旋轉。

帝國民眾的極度貧困、他們為生活所需而進行的長期艱苦的抗爭，以及在各種難以想像的條件下所遭受的令人同情的苦難，都是世人皆知的。中國人的慈善行為無論是出于何種動機，也都只不過是想從令人絕望的痛苦中解脫出來，哪怕是千分之一那么一點點。這些苦難一直沉重地壓迫著他們，要是遇到災荒年頭，還不知要糟多少倍呢！中國的有識之士應該意識到他們那些緩和痛苦的辦法是徹底行不通的。無論是靠個人的慈悲，還是靠政府的干預，即使做得再好，也只能改善表面的癥狀，對于根除疾病完全無效。就像發冰塊給傷寒病人一樣——每個人就這么多，沒有醫院，沒有飲食，沒有藥物，沒有護理。因此，一點也不奇怪，中國人沒有變得更慈善，而是在全然缺乏制度、預見和管理的情況下，一直保持行善的習慣。我們都清楚，即使一個有教養的人，長期面對既無法阻止又無力幫助解決的災難，會產生什么樣的結果。現代的戰爭就是一個明證。第一次看見血，會精神緊張，產生難以消除的印象，但它很快就消失了，人也變得麻木了。對有經驗的人來說，對血的恐懼一生只有一次。中國經常發生戰爭，人們對戰爭的結果也早已習以為常。

對殘疾人的態度也能說明中國人缺乏同情；中國人一般認為，呆子、瞎子、尤其是獨眼龍、聾子、禿子、斗雞眼都應該避而遠之。似乎生理上有缺陷，道德上也一定有缺陷。據我們觀察，人們不會對這些人冷酷無情，但總是缺少同情。就像古猶太人認為的，這些人肯定暗中犯了罪，因此才遭到這樣的懲罰。相反，西方人會對這種人產生發自內心的同情。

一個不幸殘疾的人，無論是先天的還是后天的，不能忍耐嘲諷就不能活下去。對他最溫和的方式是描述他的缺陷，以引起眾人的注意，藥鋪的伙計會對一個病人說：“麻子老兄，你是哪村的？”一個斜眼人聽到“眼斜心歪”也不足為奇，假如是個禿子，就會聽到：“十個禿子有九個是騙子，最后一個如不啞巴，也一樣。”這些不幸的人終生都必須逆來順受，只有當他聽到長年不斷的嘲弄而不再溫怒時，才能夠安于生活。

對精神有問題的人，中國人同樣坦率得過分。旁觀者會說：“這孩子是個笨蛋！”可實際上，他也許并不笨。不斷地重復說他不長腦子，很容易摧殘他未發育完全的智力。以這種方式對待精神病患者或其他病人，也十分普遍。也許恰恰就是這種方式導致了疾病的產生，并使之更為嚴重。他們所有的毛病、生活的細節成了公眾的談資，而他們自己所能做的只是完全習慣于被稱為“瘋子”。“二百五”、“蠢貨”等等。

在一個重視生男孩的民族中，因沒有孩子而遭到譴責與嘲罵，一點兒也不奇怪。就像傳說中先知撒母耳的母親，“為了激怒她，仇敵觸動了她的痛處。”不管有意無意，一個母親悄悄地悶死了她的一個孩子，人們對此并不大驚小怪，那一定是個女孩。

婚禮中新娘的遭遇也是中國人缺乏同情的典型例證。新娘一般都很年幼，也很害羞膽怯，突然置身于那么多陌生人當中，難免感到恐懼。盡管各地風俗差別很大，但都任憑眾人盯著這些可憐的孩子，完全漠視她們此刻的心情。有的地方，人們可以隨意拉開轎簾，盯著新娘看；還有的地方，新娘會成為尚未出嫁的姑娘們取樂的對象。她們站在新娘經過的道旁，大把大把地向她頭上撒草籽或谷糠，新娘的頭發是費了好長時間，仔細油過的，那些東西會牢牢地粘在上面。在公婆門前，新娘一下轎子，就立刻成了人們品評的對象，仿佛一匹剛買來的馬，此時此刻，＊注：撒母耳，《圣經》中希伯萊的士師與先知。新娘的心情當然是不難想像的。

中國人一方面特別注意細節，另一方面又會做出對別人顯然不合時宜的事。我的一位中國朋友，就說過一些失禮的話，可他一點兒都沒覺察到。他描述他第一次見到外國人時，說他感到最驚奇的是他們臉上長滿了胡子，像猴子一樣，然后他還再三保證說：“我現在已經非常習慣了。”老師則會當著學生的面評價學生：靠門的那個最聰明，二十歲時一定會高中，而鄰桌的那兩個的確是他所見學生中最愚蠢的，這種評價會對學生產生何種影響，從來沒人想過。

中國人缺乏同情還表現在他們的大家庭生活方面。盡管各家情況不同，我們仍然可以輕而易舉地發現，他們的家庭生活并不幸福。他們也不可能幸福，因為缺少感情上的結合，而這一點在我們的現實生活中恰恰是至關重要的。中國人的家庭只是個人組成的團體而已，他們持久穩定地結合在一起，有共同的利益，也有不同的利益。這種家庭在我們看來根本不是家庭，因為家庭成員之間沒有同情心。

在中國，女孩一出生，多多少少總不受歡迎。她們的遭遇中有大量有意義的事例，可以說明中國人缺乏同情。

在中國，母親和女兒共同住在封閉狹窄的小院子里，難免會發生爭吵，由于平時很少受到約束，她們便往往惡語相加。中國俗話說：“再罵總是親閨女。”對于想了解中國家庭的人，這句話確實很有意味。女兒一旦結婚，除血緣關系，就與娘家沒多少關系了，將她的名字從家譜中抹去，是出于一種根深蒂固的觀念：她不再是我們家的女兒了，而是別人的媳婦了。但人的天性又促使女兒隔三差五回娘家走親戚，這也是地方風俗，某些地方，女兒經常回娘家，而且住的時間很長；而另外一些地方，女兒則應盡量少回娘家，如果娘家人全死了，她就幾乎再也不回去了。不管這些風俗有多少細微的差異，人們普遍認為，媳婦是婆家人。女兒回娘家，嚴格說來，是出于一種做活的考慮。她們常常帶上婆家的一大堆針線活，而娘家的人必須幫她做完，每次還要盡量帶上自己的孩子，這樣，既可以避免自己不在時沒人照看，最重要的是孩子能在姥姥家吃喝花銷。對于女兒較多的家庭，頻繁的造訪會令全家人感到很可怕，簡直是一種嚴重的盤剝。因此，父親與兄弟常常阻擋女兒回來，母親卻暗中支持。但根據當地風俗，如正月里的某些日子，尤其還有節日，女兒回娘家是不能限制的。

女兒回婆家時，就像諺語中講的賊，從未空手而歸。她應給婆婆帶些禮物，一般是些吃的。假如忽略了這一點，或者沒能辦到，婆婆就會演戲似地發一通脾氣，女兒嫁到窮人家里，或者后來家道衰落了，假如她有一些結了婚的兄弟，她將會發現，回娘家就仿佛醫生說的，“處置不當”。娘家的媳婦和已出嫁的女兒之間就會爆發戰爭，就像非利士人和以色列人一樣，都把家看成自己的領地，把對方看成入侵者。如果媳婦在家里足夠強大，她們就會像非利士人那樣，對不能統統消失或趕走的仇敵索取貢品。媳婦在整個家庭中的地位，嚴格地說，形同奴仆。找仆人，當然要找健壯的，發育良好的，而且還要懂得烹調、縫紉等生活技藝，不論當地人如何謀生，她們總比沒有力氣和辦事能力的孩子要強得多。因此，我們就明白了，為什么一個十歲左右瘦弱的男孩會要一個健壯豐滿。二十歲的姑娘作媳婦了。婚后很長一段時間，姑娘還要盡心盡力照看生天花的小丈夫，天花是一種幼兒病。

中國媳婦的苦難簡直罄竹難書。中國婦女一般結婚很早，她們一生中相當一部分時間是受婆婆的絕對控制，由此，人們大概可以想像出媳婦在倍受虐待的家庭中，遭受了多么令人難以忍受的痛苦。做父母的，在女兒遭受虐待時。只能對她的婆家表示抗議，或在女兒受虐自殺后，索取高昂的送葬費，除此之外，他們完全保護不了自己的女兒。如果丈夫嚴重傷害、甚至殺死了妻子，只要說她對公婆“不孝”，就可以逍遙法外了，我們有必要重復一遍，年紀輕輕的媳婦自殺，在中國司空見慣，有些地方，各村都會接二連三發生這類事。一位母親曾責備已出嫁的女兒自殺未遂：“你有機會，怎么會死不成？”痛哉斯言！

在幾年前的北京《邸報》上，河南總督偶然披露了一種情況：不僅父母殺死孩子不需要負法律責任，而且作婆婆的殺死媳婦只需交一筆罰金就行了。在報告的案例中，有一位婦女用香柱燒她的童養媳，用燒紅的火鉗烙她的雙頰，最后又用滾燙的開水把她烹死。這位總督的奏折里還提到了其他類似的例子，其可靠性是勿容置疑的。這類極端野蠻的行徑大概并不多，不過，殘酷的虐待導致自殺或企圖自殺卻是常見的。

中國有許多婦女嫁給人作妾，她們的生活也十分痛苦。她們生活的家庭，極少是幸福的，總是不斷發幸爭吵和公開的打斗。一位在中國住了很久的外國人寫道：“我所居住的那個城市的長官，是個大富翁、大學者，詩人，也很有才干，通曉經典教義；但他任意欺騙、詛咒、搜刮和體罰百姓，以滿足自己罪惡的欲念。他的一個妾逃跑了，抓到后，被剝光了衣服倒吊在梁上，嚴刑拷打。”

在中國這樣的國家，窮人可不能生病。女人、孩子病了，男人根本不把它當做一回事，任其發展，到最后常常都是病人膏盲，因為男人沒時間照料他們，有時是因為“付不起醫藥費”。

我們前面討論的孝順觀念把年輕人看得無足輕重。他們的價值只在未來，而不是現是。西方的許多做法在中國常常是被反其道而行之。三個旅行者當中，最年輕的要吃苦在前。最年輕的仆人也一律最辛苦。百姓的生活窮困難熬，孩子們經常會因苛刻的壓制而離家出逃。在外頭，他們一般都能發現生存的希望，因為可以與別人合伙謀生。。出逃的原因多種多樣，但據觀察，最普遍是因為不堪虐待。我知道一個男孩，最近斑疹傷寒初愈，很想吃東西——這種病人一般都是這樣。他覺得家里的粗糙的黑窩頭實在難以下咽，就跑到街上，非常奢侈地買了大約兩毛錢的點心吃了，但因此受到父親的嚴厲責罵，于是一氣之下，跑到東北去了，從此，杳無消息。

喬治·Ｄ·普林蒂斯說，男人是支配者，女人只不過是“細枝末節”。這話用來形容妻子在中國家庭中的地位，非常恰當。人們認為，婚姻對女方家庭是為了不再撫養她，擺脫一個負擔，對男方家庭則是為了傳種接代。除非深究潛在的動機，人們對此都是閉口不談。但是在中國，沒有誰對此心里不清楚。

婚姻的這一目的，在較窮的階層表現得更突出。寡婦再嫁，人們會說：“現在她不會餓死了。”俗話說：再嫁再娶，為了肚皮；沒吃沒喝，拆灶散伙。災荒年頭，丈夫拋棄妻兒，任其乞討或餓死，己是司空見慣，有很多家庭把兒媳婦趕回娘家，由娘家贍養，或最終餓死。他們說：“你們的女兒，你們自己養活吧。”有時，發給哺育嬰兒和婦女的特殊救濟糧，會被男人吞吃，盡管這種事可能并不多，可總在發生。

僅僅通過災荒年頭的現象評價一個民族，顯然有欠公允，然而，重要的是，特殊的歲月常常是檢驗社會基本原則的試金石，和平時相比，可能會更準確，更確實，在中國，賣妻賣兒，并不只發生在災荒年頭。只不過，這時人似乎忘記是在從事人口交易。了解真情的人都知道，早幾年，很多災區，買賣婦女兒童就像買賣牲口一樣公開，唯一的區別就是前者不用趕到集市上去。1878年，大災荒幾乎席卷了整個東三省，并向南蔓延，買賣婦女隨處可見，十分普遍。大量的婦女被運往內地。有的地方，運輸都出現了困難，甚至連一輛馬車都雇不到。人販子千方百計轉運剛買到的婦女，把年輕的從災區或人口過剩的地方運往因造反而人口減少、或多年娶妻困難的地區。令人感到悲哀的是，這一奇怪的交易對買賣雙方可能都是最好的出路。盡管賣方妻離子散，天各一方，但買者與賣者畢竟都能活下去。

我們說過，中國人之所以對病人熟視無睹，是因為他們“只不過是女人和孩子”。天花，在西方被當成可怕的災禍，可中國人對它一點兒也不重視——盡管在中國經常有人染上這種病，而且幾乎無人能逃，這也只因為害天花的主要是孩子。因害這種病而雙目失明的人十分普遍。中國人對嬰兒生命價值的忽視程度，令西方人難以想像。他們強烈反對毀壞人的尸體，但對嬰兒的尸體經常不加掩埋。嬰兒死了，人們都是說：“扔掉”，用蘆席松松地卷了，拋到荒野里，不久就被野狗吃掉了。有的地方，還流行一種恐怖的習俗，把嬰兒塞進亂墳崗的死人堆，以免“鬼魂”回家騷擾。

我們感到天花可怕，中國人卻不在乎。可他們對斑疹傷寒與傷寒的恐懼，如同我們見了猩紅熱一般。一個人離家在外，得了上述其中任一種病，都難以得到妥善的護理，甚至一點護理也得不到。向其他人請求幫助，得到的回答肯定是：“那病傳染。”盡管傷寒多少有些傳染，可在云南的一些山溝里，它可能是最令人膽寒的災難。巴伯先生描述說：“患者不久變得虛弱不堪，接著一連幾小時，渾身疼痛難忍；隨后神志不清，胡言亂語，患了這種病，十之八九，性命不保。”據當地人說：“病人房間的各個角落都被鬼占據了，桌子和床在里面四處移動，發出聲音，清楚地回答人們的提問。”可是，很少有人冒險進屋。傳教士向我證實，大多數情況下，由于害怕傳染，人們像對待麻瘋病人一樣將病人丟棄不問。如果家里的老人患了這種病，最好的照顧就是把他挪進一間孤零零的小屋子，放上一碗水，鎖上門。掛念他的親人每天兩次戰戰兢兢地從門縫往里看，用棍子捅捅病人，看他是不是還活著。中國人性情溫和，在這樣一個民族，每個家庭中肯定存在友愛行為，不過我們沒有發現而已。疾病與災難尤其容易喚起人類天性中最美好的一面。在一家為中國人開的西方醫院里，我們耳聞目睹了很多實例，不僅父母與子女，丈夫與妻子真誠相愛，就連陌生人之間也彼此愛護。一位中國母親見到失去母親的嬰兒，很愿意用自己的乳汁喂養他，因為不忍心看著他餓死。

除非有特殊的原因，沒人愿意幫助別人，這是中國多重社會關系表現出來的一個特點。比如，一個聰慧的男孩，經過考慮，想去讀書，即使他沒機會入學堂，這也非常合乎清理。可他周圍的很多讀書人，寧愿閑著無事，也不愿教他識字。他一流露出讀書的愿望，就會招來無窮的嘲諷，這些人曾經年累月待在學堂里，他們似乎認為：“這家伙憑什么走捷徑，我們費了好多年時間辛辛苦苦學來的東西，怎么能教他，讓他很快學會呢？還是讓他和我們一樣請老師吧。”盡管個別人可以自學，但是很少有人能真正學到知識，哪怕是最基本的識字也不可能。

見人落水，竟袖手旁觀，所有在中國的西方人都對此大為震驚。幾年前，一艘外國汽輪在揚子江上著火，岸上擠滿了觀望的中國人，但沒人營救落水的乘客與船員。最后，那些拼命游到岸邊的人，很多都被搶劫一空，甚至身上的衣服也被剝去了，還有一些人被當場殺死。不久前，英國也曾發生沉船事件，但沒有出現不營救的現象，我們應該將這些事比較來看。1892年秋天，英國一艘龐大的汽船在中國海岸擱淺，當地漁民和政府官員都盡全力救助幸存者。不過，中國人對災難麻木不仁，這是個普遍的事實，尤其離家在外，俗話說：在家千日好，出門一時難。

在中國旅行，人們普遍發現，沿途的人對陌生人缺乏友善與幫助。夏天遇到暴雨，無法繼續旅行時，需要前進的人會發現，這時天公和人在合伙捉弄他。即使你走的路通向泥潭，也沒人會提醒你。你走入泥潭，與附近修路的人無關。我們說過，中國人不重視公路建設。所有的路在任何時候都布滿了深坑，旅行者一旦陷進去就難以自拔。這時，周圍立刻會聚滿看熱鬧的人，他們都像一句成語所說的：“袖手旁觀”。直到答應給錢，旁觀者中才會有一位站出來，幫你一把。不僅如此，當地的居民還經常故意在難走的地方挖一個深坑，這樣，陷進去的旅客不得不花錢請他幫忙。在這種情況下，一個人若不了解道路情況，最好不要聽當地人的勸告，只管照直往前走，只要不能肯定所走的是一條絕路，就比接受他們的“幫助”好得多。

可是，我們還聽說過，一家外國人搬到中國內地的一個城市，受到了人們的熱誠歡迎，鄰居甚至主動借家具給他們，直到他們把家具備齊。類似的事情無疑還有，不過，誰都明白，這只是例外。人們一般除了對新搬來的人感到好奇外，更多的是表示冷漠，就好像肥鵝注定會招來貪婪與陰沉的敵意，最終被拔光羽毛。還沒聽說過，外國人遇到天災人禍，中國人自愿幫忙的先例，當然，也可能出現過。我們只聽說，曾有一些海員嘗試從天津到煙臺、從廣州到汕頭作陸上旅游時，自始至終沒人給過他們一碗飯，或留住一宿。

在中國，將客死他鄉的人運回家，途中住店非常困難，一般是住不成，我們曾聽說，一位死者的兄弟，因店主不讓住店，不得不在街頭過夜。請擺渡者將尸體運過河，也會被狠狠地敲一筆。我們還曉得，有些人為免引起懷疑，就把尸體層層包裹，再外扎草席，使它看起來像一包貨物。據說，前幾年的一個寒冬，山東維縣的一家店主因為怕幾個快要凍僵的旅客死在店里，拒絕他們住店。結果，這幾位旅客都凍死街頭。

中國人作惡犯罪，很少有人告發，部分原因是沒錢告狀，另外也不愿惹人注意，通奸案一般私下了結。插足者會遭到一大幫人的毒打，中國人相信“人多勢眾”。有時，這個人的腿會被打折，有時是胳膊，更多的情況是被用生石灰弄瞎雙眼。筆者知道幾個這方面的例子，這類事情一點兒也不罕見。有一位聰明的中國人，他不了解西方人的思想“方式，當他聽到外國人抗議這種極為殘酷的做法時，毫不掩飾他的驚訝，他說，這種處理方法在中國已是“非常寬容”的了，就像他自己，僅僅殘廢而已，否則，早被殺死了。

“為什么老是到我家吃飯？”作嫂子的會對小叔子這樣說，他已離家多年，在外頭干了見不得人的事，雙眼被人用生石灰弄瞎了，“這兒沒地方讓你住，硬的，有刀；軟的，有繩，你只配要這些！”這是那位無法醫治的盲人偶然告訴我的，如果有希望，他還想獲得一絲光明；若是沒希望，他暗示說，無論“硬的”，還是“軟的”，都可以讓他解除痛苦。我們很少聽說過，這類暴行的受害者告官成功過。對他們不利的證據已經壓倒了一切，而且官員們十之八九認為他們活該，罪有應得，甚至還應該加重懲罰。即便他打贏了官司，處境也不會有所改善，只會變得更糟。他的鄰居會更加憤怒，那時，他連命也難保了。

中國人把人視為神圣的，但生活中很少重視人的價值、人的尊嚴。在中國，偷盜是最易惹人憤怒的罪惡之一。因為人口眾多，而且經常瀕臨無法生存的境地，偷盜就被視為對社會的嚴重威脅，其危害僅次于謀殺。在一次救災中，一位分發救濟品的人，發現一位婦女像瘋狗一樣被鎖在石磨上，她是個盜竊狂，早已精神錯亂。如果一個人被發現是小偷，或因某種原因而被公眾唾棄，他就可能在簡單訊問后被公眾處死，這和弗吉尼亞早些年治安維持會的做法沒什么兩樣。有時用刀子刺死，更多是活埋。有人形象地稱之為“吞金”，其實，這非常殘酷。筆者認識四個人，曾差點被這樣處死。有兩例是已被捆上，有一例是坑已挖好，后來由于族人中一些長者的干預，才沒有被活埋。另有一例，發生在筆者很熟悉的一個小村子里，一個年輕人偷東西，已經不可救藥，人們也知道他神經不正常。他本家的一些人和他母親“商量（！）”了一下，就在村口的小河上砸了個冰窟窿，把他捆緊，塞了進去。

太平天國起義鬧得最兇的那段日子，到處都很緊張。一張生面孔，一旦有嫌疑，就會被抓起來，遭到嚴厲的盤查。若不能交待清楚，使抓他的人滿意，馬上就會遭殃。在離盤查點幾百碼遠的地方，文告上寫著將近二十年前發生的兩件慘事。當時，官吏們發現，他們自己幾乎無力執法，就發布了一個半官方的告示，讓百姓捕捉所有的可疑人物。一次，村民們發現，一個人騎著馬向村子里走來，不像是本省的。盤問中，那人怎么也說不清自己的來歷，接著又發現他的包裹中塞滿了珠寶，這顯然是偷來的，村民們就把他捆起來，挖坑活埋了。這時，又看見一個人驚恐地從田野中跑過，有人猜測他可能是同伙，索性連他也一起埋了。有時，陌生人還被迫自己挖坑。在無法無天的時代，所有的人都會變得膽大妄為。一些老人回憶說，那時候，像這類事數不勝數。1877年，爆發了一場不可思議的剪辮運動，當時，大半個帝國都被白色恐怖所籠罩，許多有嫌疑的人都被活埋了。當然，特殊情況下，任何民族都會產生這樣的恐怖時期，我們也不能太苛求中國人。

中國人缺乏同情，最突出的表現是殘酷。他們一般認為中國的穆斯林比他們自己更殘酷。盡管可能真的如此，但了解中國人的人，肯定都認為，對別人的痛苦漠然置之，世界上幾乎沒有任何文明國家能與中國相比。就拿孩子來說，在家里，他們幾乎無拘無束；一旦開始上學，這個充滿溫情的天國就消失了。《三字經》是帝國最常用的啟蒙教材，這本書中有句話，叫做：“教不嚴，師之情。”老師的性情與學生的天資都會影響老師對學生的態度。不過一般來說，都非常嚴厲。我們曾見過一個剛被老師懲罰過的學生，那情形就像在街頭打了一架，頭破血流。老師讓他掌握寫應試文章的秘訣，他沒做到。老師發火，學生挨罵，更是常事。另外，不幸受罰的孩子還會遭母親的毒打，一位平時拿孩子出氣的母親，遇到特別刺激時，更會殘酷地對待自己的孩子。

中國人缺乏同情還表現在他們的刑法制度中，根據帝國的法典，很難判斷哪些刑罰合法，哪些刑罰不合法，因為有一些不符合法令條文的做法會得到社會習俗的認可與支持，最能說明這一點的是打板子的數目，它們常常高出法律規定數目十倍，有的多達百倍。這里，我們沒機會公正地評價中國人對囚犯慘無人道的嚴刑拷打。在像《中央王國》或者《胡克游記》這類有關于中國的優秀著作中，這樣的事例不勝枚舉，《胡克游記》的作者提到，他曾親眼看見一批囚犯手被釘在囚車上，押往衙門，因為解差忘了帶腳鐐。囚犯沒有錢來打通關節，平時就會受到蓄意的殘酷折磨，中國人雖有“心腸”，卻肯定沒有“慈悲”，還有比這更有力的證據嗎？幾年前，上海的報紙報道了一個案子。兩個老囚犯向一個新囚犯索取“孝敬費”，結果地方官員判他們重打兩、三千大板，又用鐵錘敲碎他們的腳踝骨。中國有諺語云：死不進地獄，活不進衙門。我們大概不會對此感到奇怪吧？＊

既然上文中，那些出人意料的結論是從表面上可靠的韓因章（HANYINZHANG）先生，一位在美國學習法律的中國留學生，他曾在一家重要的宗教雜志上發表過一篇論文，論述中國法治。前面在討論中國人“不緊不慢”時已經引用過這篇文章。該文認為中國人并不把自己的刑罰當成殘酷的。可我們對此不敢茍同，不能忘了，他們是中國人，他們的法律、習俗也是中國人的。他們在個人權利方面不進行徹底改革，他們的刑罰也許永不會有任何實質性的改善。在道德力量有條件充分發揮作用之前，一定不能放棄物質力量。例證得出的。下面我們將引用1888年2月7日北京《邸報》譯文中的一段：

“據云南總督報告，該省的一些農村，流行一種可怕的陋習：抓到偷糧食的人，要活活燒死。同時，還強迫他的親人書面表示同意這種做法，并要親自點火，以免日后歸罪于他人。有時，只不過折斷莊稼的一個枝莖。有的出于怨恨，僅憑莫須有的罪名，就把別人置于死地，乍一聽，這種殘酷的做法實在令人難以置信。它也曾助長了云南的叛亂。政府一直努力鏟除這一陋習，至今仍未成功。”

福州附近的一個地區，還有強迫寡婦自殺殉夫的惡習。幾年前，當地的中國報紙曾作過詳細的描述。鄉人先是逼迫寡婦自縊，然后焚燒尸體，并建造一座牌坊，以彰其節。政府不斷努力阻止這一殘酷的做法，除了個別地方一時奏效外，基本上徒勞無功。

中國需要的東西很多，政治家認為需要海軍、陸軍和兵工廠，友邦人士認為顯然需要貨幣、鐵路和科學指導，但若進一步分析帝國的境況，難道她最深切的需要不是多一些人類的同情心嗎？她需要對孩子同情，盡管人類從前沒發現它，可十八世紀以來，它已成為人類最寶貴的財富。她需要對妻子和母親同情，這種同情十八世紀以來已經獲得長足發展，并深入人心。她需要把人當做人來同情，懂得仁慈之情有如天國的甘霖，既降臨于祝福者，也降臨于被祝福者——只有它才使人類最接近于上帝，塞內加稱這種神圣的情感為“智力的缺陷”，但基督教培育的仁慈之花，要一直等到開滿全世界才會停止。

英文原版：

XXI.THE ABSENCE OFSYMPATHY

ATTENTION has been directed to that aspect of Chinese life which is represented by the term"benevolence,"the very first of the so-called Constant Virtues.Benevolence is well-wishing.Sympathy is fellow-feeling.Our present object, having premised that the Chinese do practise a certain amount of benevolence,is to illustrate the proposition that they are conspicuous for a deficiency of sympathy.

It must ever be borne in mind that the population of China is dense.The disasters of flood and famine are of periodical occurrence in almost all parts of the Empire.The Chinese desire for posterity is so overmastering a passion that circum- stances which ought to operate as an effectual check upon population,and which in many other countries would do so, appear to be in China relatively inefficient for that purpose. The very poorest people continue to marry their children at an early age,and these children bring up large families,just as if there were any provision for their maintenance.The result of these and other causes is that a large proportion of the population lives,in the most literal sense,from hand to mouth.This may be said to be the universal condition of day-labourers,and it is a condition from which there appears to be no possibility of escape.No foreigner can long deal with the ordinary Chinese whom he everywhere meets,without at once becoming aware of the fact that hardly any one has any ready money.The moment that anything whatever is to be done,the first demand is for cash,that those who are to do it may get something to eat,the presumption being that as yet they have had nothing.It is often very hard even for well-to-do people to raise the most moderate sums of money when it suddenly becomes necessary to do so.There is a most significant expression commonly employed on such oc- casions,which speaks of a man who is obliged to collect a sum with which to prosecute a lawsuit,to arrange for a funeral,and the like,as"putting through a famine,"that is,acting like a -,0 and the bearing of this fact upon the relations of the people to one another must be evident to the most careless observer. The result of the pressure for the means of subsistence,and of the habits which this pressure cultivates and fixes,even after the immediate demand is no longer urgent,is to bring life down to a hard materialistic basis,in which there are but two prominent facts.Money and food are twin foci of the Chinese ellipse,and it is about them as centres that the whole social life of the people revolves.

The deep poverty of the masses of the people of the Chinese Empire,and the terrible struggle constantly going on to secure even the barest subsistence,have familiarised them with the most pitiable exhibitions of suffering of every conceivable variety.Whatever might be the benevolent impulses of any Chinese,he is from the nature of the case wholly helples to relieve even a thousandth part of the misery which he sees about him all the time—misery multiplied many times in any year of special distress.A thoughtful Chinese must recognise the utter futility of the means which are employed to alleviate distress,whether by individual kindness or by government in- terference.All these methods,even when taken at their best, amount simply to a treatment of the symptoms,and do abso- lutely nothing towards removing disease.Their operation is akin to that of societies which should distribute smallpieces of ice among the victims of typhoid fever—so many ounces to each patient,with no hospitals,no dieting,no medicine,and no nursing.It is not,therefore,strange that the Chinese are not in practical ways more benevolent,but rather that,with the total lack of system,of prevision,and of supervision,be- nevolence continues at all.We are familiar with the phenom- enon of the effect,upon the most cultivated persons,of con- stant contact with misery which they have no power either to hinder or to help,for this is illustrated in every modern war. The first sight of blood causes a sinking of the epigastric nerves, and makes an indelible impression;but this soon wears away, and is succeeded by a comparative callousness,which, even to him who experiences it,is a perpetual surprise.In China there is always a social war,and every one is too accustomed to its sickening effects to give them more than a momentary attention.

One of the manifestations of Chinese lack of sympathy is their attitude towards those who are in any way physically de- formed.According to the popular belief,the lame,the blind, especially those who are blind of but one eye,the deaf,the bald,the cross-eyed,are all persons to be avoided.It appears to be the assumption that since the physical nature is defective, the moral nature must be so likewise. So far as our obser- vation extends,such persons are not treated with cruelty,but they excite very little of that sympathy which in Western lands is so freely and so spontaneously extended.They are looked upon as having been overtaken by a punishment for some secret sin,a theory exactly accordant with that of the ancient Jews.

The person who is so unfortunate as to be branded with some natural defect or some acquired blemish will not go long without being reminded of the fact.One of the mildest forms of this practice is that in which the peculiarity is employed as a description in such a way as to attract to it public attention. "Great elder brother with the pockmarks,"says an attendant in a dispensary to a patient,“from what village do you come?” It will not be singular if the man whose eyes are afflicted with strabismus hears an observation to the effect that“when the eyes look asquint,the heart is askew";or if the man who has no hair is reminded that“out of ten bald men,nine are de- ceitful,and the other would be so also,were he not dumb.” Such freaks of nature as albinos form an unceasing butt for a species of cheap wit,which appears never for an instant to be intermitted.The unfortunate possessor of peculiarities like this must resign himself (or herself)to a lifetime of this treat- ment,and happy will he be if his temperament admits of his listening to such talk in perpetual reiteration without becoming by turns furious and sullen.

The same excess of frankness is displayed towards those who exhibit any mental defects."This boy,"remarks a bystander, "is idiotic."The lad is probably not at all"idiotic,"but his undeveloped mind may easily become blighted by the con- stant repetition in his presence of the proposition that he has no mind at all.This is the universal method of treating all patients afficted with nervous diseases,or indeed with any other.A ll their peculiarities,the details of their behaviour, the method in which the disease is supposed to have originated, the symptoms which attend its exacerbations,are all public property,and are all detailed in the presence of the patient, who must be thoroughly accustomed to hearing himself de- scribed as“crazy,""half-witted,"“besotted in his intellect,” etc.,etc.

Among a people to whom the birth of male children is so vital a matter,it is not surprising that the fact of childlessness is a constant occasion of reproach and taunts,just as in the ancient days,when it was said of the mother of the prophet Samuel that“her adversary also provoked her sore,for to make her fret.”If it is supposed for any reason,or without reason,that a mother has quietly smothered one of her children, it will not be strange if the announcement of the same is pub- licly made to a stranger.

One of the most characteristic methods in which the Chinese lack of sympathy is manifested is in the treatment which brides receive on their wedding-day.They are often very young,are always timid,and are naturally terror-stricken at being sud- denly thrust among strangers. Customs vary widely,but there seems to be a general indifference to the feelings of the poor child thus exposed to the public gaze.In some places it is allowable for any one who chooses to turn back the curtains of the chair and stare at her.In other regions,the unmarried girls find it a source of keen enjoyment to post themselves at a convenient position as the bride passes,to throw upon her handfuls of hay-seed or chaff,which will obstinately adhere to her carefully oiled hair for a long time.Upon her emerg- ence from the chair at the house of her new parents,she is subjected to the same kind of criticism as a newly bought horse,with what feelings on her part it is not difficult to imagine.

Side by side with the punctilious ceremony which is so dear to the Chinese heart is the apparent inability to perceive that some things must be disagreeable to other persons,and should for that reason be avoided.A Chinese friend,who had not the smallest idea of saying what would be deficient in politeness,remarked to the writer that when he first saw foreigners it seemed most extraordinary that they should have beards that reached all round their faces just like those of monkeys, but he added,reassuringly,“I am quite used to it now!”The teacher who is asked in the presence of his pupils as to their capacity,replies before them all that the one nearest the door is much the brightest,and will be a graduate by the time he is twenty years of age,but the two at the next table are certainly the stupidest children he ever saw.That such observations have any reflex effect upon the pupils,never for a moment enters into the thought of any one.

The whole family life of the Chinese illustrates their lack of sympathy.While there are great differences in different households,and while from the nature of the case generalisa- tion is precarious,it is easy to see that most Chinese homes which are seen at all are by no means happy homes.It is impossible that they should be so,for they are deficient in that unity of feeling which to us seems so essential to real home life.A Chinese family is generally an association of individuals who are indissolubly tied together,having many of their interests the same,and many of them very different. The result is not our idea of a home,and it is not sympathy.

Daughters in China are from the beginning of their existence more or less unwelcome. This fact has a most important bearing on their whole subsequent career,and furnishes many significant illustrations of the absence of sympathy.

Mothers and daughters who pass their days in the nar- row confinement of a Chinese court under the conditions of Chinese life,are not likely to lack topics of disagreement,in which abusive language is indulged in with a freedom which the unconstraint of everyday life tends to promote.It is a popular saying,full of significance to those who know Chi- nese homes,that a mother cannot by reviling her own daughter make her cease to be her own daughter! When a daughter is once married she is regarded as having no more relations with her family than those which are inseparable from com- munity of origin.T here is a deep-seated reason for omitting daughters from all family registers.She is no longer our daughter,but the daughter-in-law of some one else.Human nature will assert itself in requiring visits to the mother’s home,at more or less frequent intervals,according to the local usage.I n some districts these visits are very numerous and very prolonged,while in others the custom seems to be to make them as few as possible,and liable to almost com- plete suspension for long periods in case of a death in the family.But whatever the details of usage,the principle holds good that the daughter-in-law belongs to the family of which she has become a part.When she goes to her mother's home, she goes on a strictly business basis.She takes with her it may be a quantity of sewing for her husband's family,which the wife's family must help her get through with. She is ac- companied on each of these visits by as many of her children as possible,both to have her take care of them and to have them out of the way when she is not at hand to look after them,and most especially to have them fed at the expense of the family of the maternal grandmother for as long a time as possible.In regions where visits of this sort are frequent,and where there are many daughters in a family,their constant raids on the old home are a source of perpetual terror to the whole family,and a serious tax on the common resources. For this reason these visits are often discouraged by the fathers and the brothers,while secretly favoured by the mothers. But as local custom fixes for them certain epochs, such as a definite date after the New-Year,special feast-days, etc.,the visits cannot be interdicted.

When the daughter-in-law returns to her mother-in-law,it is true of her,as the adage says of a thief,that she never comes back empty-handed.She must take a present of some sort for her mother-in-law,generally food.Neglect of this established rite,or inability to comply with it,will soon result in dramatic scenes.If the daughter is married into a family which is poor,or which has become so,and if she has brothers who are married,she will find that her visits to her mother are,in the language of the physicians,"contra-indicated."

There is war between the daughters-in-law of a family and the married sisters of the same family,like that between the Philistines and the children of Israel,each regarding the territory as peculiarly its own,and the other party as interlopers.If the daughters-in-law are strong enough to do so,they will, like the Philistines,levy a tax upon the enemy whom they cannot altogether exterminate or drive out.A daughter-in-law is regarded as a servant for the whole family,which is precisely her position,and in getting a servant it is obviously desirable to get one who is strong and well grown,and who has already been taught the domestic accomplishments of cooking,sewing,and whatever industries may be the means of livelihood in that particular region,rather than a child who has little strength or capacity.Thus we have known of a case where a buxom young woman of twenty was married to a slip of a boy literally only half her age,and in the early years of their wedded life she had the pleasure of nursing him through the smallpox,which is considered as a disease of infancy.

The woes of daughters-in-law in China should form the subject rather for a chapter than for a brief paragraph.When it is remembered that all Chinese women marry,and generally marry young,being for a considerable part of their lives under the absolute control of a mother-in-law,some faint conception may be gained of the intolerable miseries of those daughters-in-law who live in families where they are abused.Parents can do absolutely nothing to protect their married daughters,other than remonstrating with the families into which they have married,and exacting an expensive funeral if the daughters should be actually driven to suicide.If a husband should seriously injure or even kill his wife,he might escape all legal consequences by representing that she was “unfilial”to his parents.Suicides of young wives are,we must repeat,excessively frequent,and in some regions scarcely a group of villages can be found where they have not recently taken place.What can be more pitiful than a mother's reproaches to a married daughter who has attempted suicide and been rescued:“Why didn't you die when you had a chance?”

The Governor of Honan,in a memorial published in the Peking Gazette a few years ago,showed incidentally that while there is responsibility in the eye of the law for the murder of a child by a parent,this is rendered nugatory by the provision that even if a married woman should wilfully and maliciously murder her young daughter-in-law,the murderess may ransom herself by a money payment.The case reported was that in which a woman had burned the girl who was reared to become her son's wife with incense sticks,then roasted her cheeks with red-hot pincers,and finally boiled her to death with kettlefuls of scalding water.Other similar instances are referred to in the same memorial,the source of which places its authenticity beyond doubt.Such extreme barbarities are probably rare, but the cases of cruel treatment which are so aggravated as to lead to suicide,or to an attempt at suicide,are so frequent as to excite little more than passing comment.The writer is personally acquainted with many families in which these occurrences have taken place.

The lot of Chinese concubines is one of exceeding bitterness.The homes in which they are to be found—happily relatively few in number—are the scenes of incessant bickerings and open warfare."The magistrate of the city in which I live,"writes a resident of China of long experience,“was a wealthy man,a great scholar,a doctor of literature,an able administrator,well acquainted with the good teachings of the Classics;but he would lie and curse and rob,and torture people to any extent to gratify his evil passions. One of his concubines ran away;she was captured,brought back, stripped,hung up to a beam by her feet,and cruelly and severely beaten.”

In a country like China the poor have no time to be sick. Ailments of women and children are apt to be treated by the men of the family as of no consequence,and are constantly allowed to run into incurable maladies,because there was no time to attend to them,or because the man“could not afford it."

As we have noticed in speaking of filial piety,it is a constituent part of the theory that the younger are relatively of little account.They are valued principally for what they may become,and not for what they are. Thus the practice of most Western lands is in China reversed.The youngest of three travellers is proverbially made to take the brunt of all hardships.The youngest servant is uniformly the common drudge of the rest.In the grinding poverty of the mass of the people,it is not strange that the spirit even of a Chinese boy often rebels against the sharp limitations to which he finds himself pinned,and that he not infrequently runs away.The boy who has made up his mind to go will seldom fail to find some slight thread by which he may attach himself to some one else.The causes for this behaviour on the part of boys are various,but so far as we have observed,the harsh treatment of others is by far the most common.In a case of this sort,a boy recently recovered from a run of typhus fever, being possessed by the hearty appetite common to such patients, and finding the coarse black bread of the family fare hard eating,went to a local market and indulged in the luxury of expending cash to the value of about twenty cents.For this he was severely reproved by his father,upon which the lad ran away to Manchuria,an unfailing resort of lads all over the northeastern provinces,and was never heard of again.

It was a saying of George D.Prentice,that man was the principal object in creation,woman being merely“a side issue.” The phrase is a literal expression of the position of a wife in a Chinese family.The object had in view in matrimony by the family of the girl is to get rid of supporting her.The object on the part of the husband's family is to propagate that family. These objects are not in themselves open to criticism,except on the ground of a too complete occupation of the field of human motives. But in China no one indulges in any illusions on the subject.

That which is true of the marriages of those in the ordinary walks of life is pre-eminently true of the poorer classes.It is a common observation in regard to a widow who has remarried,that“now she will not starve.”It is a popular proverb that a second husband and a second wife are husband and wife only as long as there is anything to eat;when the food-supply fails each shifts for himself.In times of famine relief cases have often been observed where the husband simply abandons the wife and the children,leaving them to pick up a wretched subsistence or to starve.In many instances daughters-in-law were sent back to their mothers'family to be supported or starved as the event might be."She is your daughter,take care of her yourself.”In other cases where special food was given by distributers of famine relief to women who were nursing small infants,it was sometimes found that this allowance had been taken from the women and devoured by the men,although these instances were probably exceptional.

While it would be obviously unfair to judge a people only by the phenomena of such years as those of great famine,there is an important sense in which such occasions are a species of touchstone by which the underlying principles of social life may be ascertained with more accuracy and certainty than on ordinary occasions.The sale of wives and of children in China is a practice not confined to years of peculiar distress, but during those years it is carried on to an extent which throws all ordinary transactions of this nature into insignificance.It is perfectly well known to those acquainted with the facts,that during several recent years in many districts stricken with famine,the sale of women and children was conducted as openly as that of mules and donkeys,the only essential difference being that the former were not driven to market.During the great famine of 1878,which extended over nearly all parts of the three most northern provinces,as well as further south,so extensive a traffic sprung up in women and girls who were exported to the central provinces that in some places it was difficult to hire a cart,as they had all been engaged in the transportation of the newly purchased females to the regions where they were to be disposed of.In these cases young women were taken from a region where they were in a condition of starvation,and where the population was too redundant,to a region which had been depopulated by rebels, and where for many years wives had been hard to procure. It is one of the most melancholy features of this strange state of affairs,that the enforced sales of members of Chinese families to distant provinces was probably the best thing for all parties,and perhaps the only way in which the lives,both of those who were sold as well as the lives of those who sold them, could be preserved.

We have referred to the common neglect of sickness in the family because the victims are“only women and children.” Smallpox,which in Western lands we regard as a terrible scourge,is so constant a visitor in China that the people never expect to be free from its ravages. But it is not much thought of,because its victims are mainly children! It is exceedingly common to meet with persons who have lost the sight of both eyes in consequence of this disease.The comparative disregard of the value of infant life is displayed in ways which we should by no means have expected from the Chinese,who object so strongly to the mutilation of the human body.Young children are often either not buried at all,an ordinary expression for their death being the phrase"thrown out,"or if rolled in a mat,they are so loosely covered that they soon fall a prey to dogs.In some places the horrible custom prevails of crushing the body of a deceased infant into an indistinguishable mass,in order to prevent the“devil”which inhabited it from returning to vex the family!

While the Chinese are so indifferent to smallpox,our fear of which they fail to appreciate,they have a similar dread of typhus and typhoid fevers,which are regarded much as we regard the scarlet fever.It is very difficult to get proper attention,or any attention at all,if one happens to be taken with either of these diseases when away from home. To all appeals for help it is a conclusive reply,"That disease is contagious.”While this is true to some extent of many fevers,it is perhaps most conspicuous in a terrible scourge found in some of the valleys of Yunnan,and described by Mr.Baber:* "The sufferer is soon seized with extreme weakness,followed in a few hours by agonising aches in every part of the body; delirium shortly ensues,and in nine cases out of ten the result is fatal.”According to the native accounts:"All parts of the sick-room are occupied by devils;even the tables and mattresses writhe about and utter voices,and offer intelligible replies to all who question them. Few,however,venture into the chamber. The missionary assured me that the patient is, in most cases,deserted like a leper,for fear of contagion.If an elder member of the family is attacked,the best attention he receives is to be placed in a solitary room with a vessel of water by his side.The door is secured,and a pole laid near it,with which twice a day the anxious relatives,cautiously peering in,poke and prod the sick person to discover if he retains any symptoms of life.”

Among a people of so mild a disposition as the Chinese there must be a great deal of domestic kindness of which nothing is seen or heard.Sickness and trouble are peculiarly adapted to call out the best side of human nature,and in a foreign hospital for Chinese we have witnessed many instances of devotion not merely on the part of parents towards children, or children towards parents,but of wives towards husbands and also of husbands towards wives.The same thing is even more common among strangers towards one another. Many a Chinese mother nursing an infant will give of her overflowing abundance to a motherless child which else might starve

Unwillingness to give help to others,unless there is some special reason for doing so,is a trait that runs through Chinese social relations in multifold manifestations. It is a common and in many cases a perfectly valid excuse which is made when a bright boy is advised to try to learn to read a little,although he has no opportunity to go to school,that no one will tell him the characters,although there may be plenty of reading men within reach who have abundant leisure.The very mention of such an ambition is certain to excite unmeasured ridicule on the part of those who have had the longest experience of Chinese schools,as if they were saying:"By what right does this fellow think to take a short cut,and pick up in a few months what cost us years of toil,and then was forgotten in half the time which we took to get it?Let him hire a teacher for himself as we did.”It is very rare indeed to meet with a genuine case of one who has anything which can be called a knowledge of characters,even of the most elementary description,which he has“picked up”for himself,though such cases do occasionally occur.

The general omission to do anything for the relief of the drowning strikes every foreigner in China. A few years ago a foreign steamship was burned in the Yang-tze River,and the crowds of Chinese who gathered to witness the event did little or nothing to rescue the passengers and crew.As fast as they made their way to the shore many of them were robbed even of the clothing which they had on,and some were murdered outright.Yet it should be remarked in connection with such atrocities as this,that it is not so very long ago that wrecking was a profession in England.On the other hand,in the autumn of 1892 a large British steamer went ashore on the China coast,and both the local fishermen and the officials did everything in their power to rescue and relieve the survivors. It remains true,however,that there is in China a general callousness to the many cases of distress which are to be seen almost everywhere,especially along lines of travel.It is a common proverb that to be poor at home is not to be counted as poverty,but to be poor when on the high-road,away from home,will cost a man his life.

It is in travelling in China that the absence of helpful kindness on the part of the people towards strangers is perhaps most conspicuous.When the summer rains have made all land travel almost impossible,he whose circumstances make travel a necessity will find that“heaven,earth,and man”are a threefold harmony in combination against him.No one will inform him that the road which he has taken will presently end in a quagmire.If you choose to drive into a morass,it is no business of the contiguous tax-payers.We have spoken of the neglect of Chinese highways.When the traveller has been plunged into one of the sloughs with which all such roads at certain seasons abound,and finds it impossible to extricate himself,a great crowd of persons will rapidly gather from somewhere,"their hands in their sleeves,and idly gazing,"as the saying goes. It is not until a definite bargain has been made with them that any one of these bystanders, no matter how numerous,will lift a finger to help one in any particular. Not only so,but it is a constant practice on such occasions for the local rustics to dig deep pits in difficult places,with the express purpose of trapping the traveller,that he may be obliged to employ these same rustics to help the traveller out! When there is any doubt as to the road in such places,one might as well plunge forward,disregarding the cautions of those native to the spot,since one can never be sure that the directions given are not designed to hinder rather than help.

We have heard of one instance in which a foreign family, moving into an interior city of China,was welcomed with apparent cordiality by the people,the neighbours even volunteering to lend them articles for housekeeping until such time as they might be able to procure an outfit of their own.Other examples there doubtless are,but it is well known that these are wholly exceptional.By far the most usual reception is total indifference on the part of the people,except so far as curiosity is excited to see what the new-comers are like;a spirit of cupidity to make the most of the fat geese whom fate has sent thither to be plucked;and sullen hostility.In the case of foreigners who may have been reduced to distress, we have never heard of any assistance voluntarily given by Chinese,though of course there may have been such cases We have known of instances in which sailors have attempted the journey overland from Tientsin to Chefoo,and from Canton to Swatow,and during the whole time of their travel they were never once given a lodging or a mouthful of food.

It is often difficult,and frequently impossible,for those who are taking a dead body home to secure admission to an inn. We have known a case of this sort where the brother of the deceased was obliged to stand guard all night in the street,because the landlord would not allow the coffin to come within the gate. An extortionate price is exacted for ferrying a corpse over a river,and we have been cognisant of several instances in which a dead body has been doubled up into a parcel and tied with mat wrappings,to make it appear like merchandise,to avoid suspicion.It was reported during a recent severe winter in Shantung,that the keeper of an inn in the city of Wei Hsien refused to allow several travellers who were half dead with cold to enter his inn,lest they should die there,but turned them into the street,where they all froze to death!

There are some crimes committed in China for which the perpetrators are often not prosecuted before a magistrate, partly on account of the difficulty and expense of securing a conviction,and partly because of the shame of publicity. Many cases of adultery are thus dealt with by the law of private revenge.The offender is attacked by a large band of men,on the familiar Chinese principle that“where there are many persons,their prestige is great."Sometimes the man's legs are broken,sometimes his arms,and very often his eyes are destroyed by rubbing into them quicklime.The writer has known several instances of this sort,and they are certainly not uncommon.A very intelligent Chinese,himself not unfamiliar with Occidental ways of thought,upon hearing a foreigner remonstrate against this practice as a refinement of cruelty,expressed unfeigned surprise,and remarked that in China such a mode of dealing with a criminal is thought to be“extremely mild,”as he is thus merely maimed for life,when he really ought to be killed!

“What do you keep coming here to eat for?”said a sister-in-law to her husband's brother,who had been away for several years,and having got into trouble had had his eyes rubbed out with quicklime."We have no place for you.If you want something hard,here is a knife;and if you want something soft,there is a rope;so get along with you."This conversation was mentioned incidentally by an incurably blind man,as an explanation of his desire to get a little sight if that were possible,but if not,he intimated that either the“hard”or the“soft”could be made to adjust his difficulties.It is rare to hear of any instances in which the victim of such outrages succeeds in getting a complaint heard before a magistrate.The evidence against him would be overwhelming, and nine officials out of ten would probably consider that the man who had been thus dealt with deserved it all,and more. Even if the man were to win his case,he would be no better off than before,but rather the worse,as the irritation of his neighbours would only be increased,and his life would not be safe.

It must be understood that despite the sacredness of human life in China,there are circumstances in which it is worth very little.One of the crimes which are most exasperating to the Chinese is theft.In a crowded population always on the edge of ruin,this is regarded as a menace to society only less serious than murder.In a time of famine relief one of the distributers found an insane woman,who had become a kleptomaniac,chained to a huge mill-stone as if she were a mad dog.If a person becomes known as a thief or in other ways is a public nuisance,he is in danger of being made away with by a summary process,not differing essentially from the vigilance committees of the early days of California.Sometimes this is done by stabbing,but the method most frequently adopted is burying alive.Doubtless there are those who suppose this expression to be a mere figure of speech,as when (according to some)one is said“to swallow gold.” It is,on the contrary,a very serious reality.The writer is acquainted with four persons who were threatened with death in this form. In two instances they were bound as a preliminary,and in one case the pit was actually dug,and in all cases the burial was only prevented by the intervention of some older member of the attacking party.In another instance,occurring in a village where the writer is well acquainted,a young man who was known to be insane was an incorrigible thief.A party of the villagers belonging to his own family only“consulted”(!) with his mother,and as the result of their deliberations he was bound,a hole made in the ice covering the river flowing near the village,and the youth was dropped in

During the years in which the refluent waves of the great T'ai-p'ing rebellion overspread so large a part of China,the excitement was everywhere intense.At such times a stranger had but to be suspected to be seized,and subjected to a rigorous examination.If he could give no account of himself which was satisfactory to his captors,it went hard with him. Within a few hundred yards of the spot at which these lines are written two such tragedies occurred,little more than twenty years ago. The magistrates found themselves almost powerless to enforce the laws,and issued semi-official notifications to the people to seize all suspicious characters.The villagers saw a man coming on a horse,who looked as if he were a native of another province,and who failed to give adequate explanations of his antecedents.His bedding being found to be full of articles of jewellery,which he had evidently plundered from somewhere,the man was tied up,a pit was dug,and the victim tumbled into it. While this was going on another was seen racing across the fields in a terrified manner,and it needed but the suggestion of some bystander that he was probably an accomplice,to secure for the second victim the same fate as the first.In some cases the strangers were compelled to dig their own graves.Any native of the provinces of China principally affected by the lawlessness of those lawless times,old enough to recollect the circumstances, will testify that instances of this sort were too numerous to be remembered or counted.In the epoch of terror caused by a mysterious cutting off of cues,in the year 1877,an intense panic seemed to pervade a large part of the Empire,and there can be no doubt that many persons who were suspected were made away with in this manner.Such periods of panic,however,under certain conditions,are common to all races,and must not be laid to the charge of the Chinese as a unique phenomenon.

One of the most striking of all the many exhibitions of the Chinese lack of sympathy is to be found in their cruelty.It is popularly believed by the Chinese that the Mohammedans in China are more cruel than the Chinese themselves. However this may be,there can be no doubt in the mind of any one who knows the Chinese that they display an indifference to the sufferings of others which is probably not to be matched in any other civilised country.Though children at home are almost wholly ungoverned,yet the moment their career of education is begun the reign of mildness ceases.The"Trimetrical Classic,"the most general of the minor text-books of the Empire,contains a line to the effect that to teach without severity is a fault in a teacher.While this motto is very variously acted upon,according to the temperament of the pedagogue and the obtuseness of his pupils,great harshness is certainly common.We have seen a scholar fresh from a preceptor who was struggling to induct his pupils into the mysteries of examination essays,when the former presented the appearance of having been through a street fight,his head covered with wounds and streaming with blood.It is not rare that pupils are thrown into fits from the abuse which they receive from angry teachers.On the other hand,it is not unusual for mothers whose children are so unfortunate as to be subject to fits,to beat them in those paroxysms,as an expression of the extreme disgust which such inconvenient attacks excite. It is not difficult to perceive that mothers who can beat children because they fall into convulsions will treat any of their children with cruelty when irritated by special provocation.

Another example of“absence of sympathy”on the part of the Chinese is their system of punishments. It is not easy, from an examination of the legal code of the Empire, to ascertain what is and what is not in accordance with law,for custom seems to have sanctioned many deviations from the letter of the statutes.One of the most significant of these is the enormous number of blows with the bamboo which are constantly resorted to,often ten times the number named in the law,and sometimes one hundred times as many. We have no space even to mention the dreadful tortures which are inflicted upon Chinese prisoners in the name of justice. They may be found enumerated in any good work on China, such as“The Middle Kingdom,"or“Huc's Travels.”The latter author mentions seeing prisoners on the way to the yamen,with their hands nailed to the cart in which they were conveyed,because the constables had forgotten to bring fetters. Nothing so illustrates the proposition that though the Chinese have"bowels,"they certainly have no“mercies,"as the deliberate,routine cruelty with which all Chinese prisoners are treated who cannot pay for their exemption.A few years ago the press of Shanghai chronicled the infliction upon two old prisoners in the yamen of the District Magistrate of that city of a sentence for levying blackmail on a new prisoner. They received between two thousand and three thousand blows with the bamboo,and had their ankles broken with an iron hammer. Is it strange that the Chinese adage advises the dead to keep out of hell and the living to keep out of yamens? *

Since the preceding paragraphs were written an unexpected confirmation of some of the statements made has appeared from a most unimpeachable source.The following is an extract from a translation of the Peking Gazette of February 7, 1888:

"The Governor of Yunnan states that in some of the country districts of that province the villagers have a horrible custom of burning to death any man caught stealing corn or fruits in the fields.They at the same time compel the man's relations to sign a document,giving their consent to what is done,and then make them light the fire with their own hands, so as to deter them from lodging a complaint afterwards. Sometimes the horrible penalty is exacted for the breaking of a single branch or stalk,or even false accusations are made, and men put to death out of spite. This terrible practice, which seems incredible when heard,came into use during the time of the Yunnan rebellion;and the constant efforts of the authorities have not succeeded in extirpating it since.”

Native Chinese newspapers have within a few years contained detailed accounts of an enforced suttee practised in a district near Foochow.Widows are compelled to strangle themselves,and their bodies are then burned,after which ornamental portals are erected to their virtuous memory! Magistrates have in vain endeavoured to stop this cruel custom,but their success has been only local and temporary.

China has many needs,among which her leading statesmen place armies,navies,and arsenals.To her foreign well-wishers it is plain that she needs a currency,railways,and scientific instruction.But does not a deeper diagnosis of the conditions of the Empire indicate that one of her profoundest needs is more human sympathy?She needs to feel with childhood that sympathy which for eighteen centuries has been one of the choicest possessions of races and peoples which once knew it not.She needs to feel sympathy for wives and for mothers,a sympathy which eighteen centuries have done so much to develop and to deepen.She needs to feel sympathy for man as man,to learn that quality of mercy which droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven,twice blest in blessing him that gives and him that takes—that divine compassion which Seneca declared to be“a vice of the mind,” but which the influence of Christianity has cultivated until it has become the fairest plant that ever bloomed upon the earth, the virtue in the exercise of which man most resembles God.