Surveying the past 50 years and especially what has been done within the 20th century, it is well to show still further wherein the Chinese and Japanese are alike or different from each other, and also wherein they have human traits in common and systems in harmony with or in contrast to the nations of the West. We may appraise changes actually wrought and see how far these movements or evolutions are to be attributed to agencies within or without these countries. There are those who consider Japan almost wholly a self-reformed nation, while ethers think t all transforming des have come from without. The truth lies in the golden mean between these extremes of opinion. China's vastness of area and density of population prevent even keen western ob servers and students and certainly the average Occidental, from any clear perception of leav ening principles and transmuting elements within so large and venerable a body politic. They may note what is phenomenal, while they are usually blind to the psychic changes in the Far East. Hence, for example, the real energies of the native secret societies and sects within the Chinese empire cannot be definitely gauged, yet that they have been for centuries a real force, frequently showing themselves in both blood less and bloody manifestations, the Boxer insurrection of 1900 and the Republican revo lution of 1912, demonstrate. That these sects yet exist in great potency is certain. Until western diplomatists discern that China, equally with Turkey or Russia, and what survives of old Japan, is a church nation, with a fixed creed upheld by the government and main tained by force, and that China always has been, and is still, a persecuting nation, there can be no sound diplomacy. Failure to see this adds mystery to the Chinese problem and ac counts largely for the discreditable surprise at the Boxer outbreak in 1900, foreseen by the missionaries, but to the approach of which so many diplomatists in Peking were blind. This politico-ecclesiasticism, based on the Confucian writings and philosophy, is the foundation of a social system that has survived the fall of over 30 imperial dynasties, and is still most potent check upon and the choicest weapon of government, whether by pure Chinese or alien rulers like the Manchus were. Hence to attack that dogmatic system is treason in a native, a horrible offense in a foreign mission ary, and only tolerable in the Mohammedans be cause they are so numerous and powerful. The maintenance of this dogma by the sword of the normal magistrate, himself ex officio an orthodox Confucian, has been the cause of persecutions during the ages with bloodshed abundant. This is the real reason of so many reactions and of. repeated disappointments. China has again and again raised hopes among Occidental people that she was about to mod ernize her laws and people, only to dash the expectation of optimists to the ground. Even in this 20th century she has, after founding schools and universities, apparently on modern lines, even appointing American and European officers and teachers, cast these persons aside, and neutralized their methods, ostensibly be cause natives or Japanese were preferred, but in reality to maintain her dogma of Confucian orthodoxy, because the degrees from Peking demand adherence to Confucianism. Whatever modifications China has made in her system are as yet external, nor will there be any real progress in the western sense of the word until Chinese bigotry and persecution are aban doned and the union of church and state given up. The plea of China is that innovators under the pretext progress are seditious and that reforms by natives mean revolt, anarchy, and de struction of established government. But this is only another phase of that Chinese indirection of mind, which Dr. Arthur Smith in his book on (Chinese Characteristics> has exposed with such masterly skill. The certainty of the Chi nese union of church and state, the instances of bigotry and bloody persecution, and the great slaughter of Chinese in the name of orthodoxy during past ages, making the Chinese govern ment a shedder of blood for opinion's sake, quite equal to Russia or the mediaeval states of Christendom are shown by that life-long scholar of Chinese, J. J. M. DeGroot of Leyden, in his monograph, (Sectarianism and Religious Persecution in China.' In weight of scholar ship based on original research this work out weighs all that has thus far been written on the subject of China's politico-religious status. In the future these sects will doubtless play a very important part, and probably with more effect on China's internal structure, than either the Tai Ping rebels or the 'Boxers* (q.v.). Such possibilities must exist as long as China re presses thought and opinion for conscience' sake by her absolutism in religious matters. Nor is it likely that she will find any better solvent for her problems than the complete separation of church and state and the granting, not only of academic freedom, but of perfect liberty of conscience to her people. So long as she refuses to grant such liberty, both in the school and to the masses, there will be no end to internal disorders and to foreign complica tions. In this matter of self-reformation, as the past has already proved, the elements tending to reconstruction and the evolution of the Chi nese along more modern lines are most likely to arise from among the natives who have been educated or helped by the teachers from for eign countries. The overwhelming majority of such men of modern mind are Christian, though others are far from lacking. Almost all the knowledge of China by the western world comes from aliens, who have studied, surveyed, and described the country, and who in addition to propagating their dogmas have given the Chinese pretty nearly all the exact science they possess. One cannot ignore the services of those physicians, engineers, advisers, financiers, customs officers, who, with or without Chinese pay, have for a century or more served China's people. It was an American, Ward, who showed the possibilities of the Chinaman as a soldier. What other Americans have done in China is set forth in the book 'America in the East.' It was an American, S. R. Brown, ((A Maker of the New Orient,* for example, who established the first (Protestant) Christian school in China, brought the first Chinese stu dents to America, and demonstrated the ability of the Chinese youth to absorb western learn ing and methods. Among his pupils was Yung Wing, who, after graduating with honors from Yale College, brought to the United States under government patronage, six score Chinese lads as students, one of whom, Sir Liang Chang, has since been - Chinese envoy at Washing ton. In a word the efforts of the lay and cler ical teachers, helpers and healers of the Chi nese, especially since the opening of the ports, and within the last 60 years, reveal a force that has in the peaceful American, rather than the conquering European, way helped to give cred ibility to the prophecy of one of the greatest of China's foreign teachers, S. Wells Williams: 'The regeneration of China will be accom plished like the operation of leaven in meal, without shivering the vessel.* • The Japanese are not compacted wholly of Oriental stuff. They differ from the Chinese physically and psychically. Though they form a race having in it many elements, Tartar, Korean, Malay, Nigrito, etc., their basic aborig inal stock, the Ainti, is very probably a branch of the Aryan family of humanity, and the Japanese are thus allied in some measure with the 'white* races. In mind and temperament they differ from the Chinese, not only as insu lar people dwelling on volcanic soil constantly shaken by earthquakes may be supposed to differ from continentals inhabiting stable lands in river valleys, but also in culture and aims. So long as that half of Asia dominated by Con fucian and Buddhist culture was virtually iso lated from Christendom and the West, jhe na tions of China, Korea and Japan were hermits, who had little to do with each other. The activities that mark Occidental diplomacy were unknown. It was*Japan's frank facing modern requirements and her determination to shirk no responsibilities that compelled China to awake from her sleep and aloofness. Her release of the Chinese coolies, in Yokohama harbor, from the Peruvian ship Mario Lae, in 1873; her descent on Formosa to chastise the murderous savages in 1874; her treaty with Korea in 1876 and recognition as a sovereign state, stirred China to look after her own peo ple abroad, to recognize international obliga tions by establishing legations and consulates. Finally, China even yielded to General Grant's suggestion in 1879, to settle the irritating mat ter of the Riu Kin Islands by a joint high com mission. Unfortunately, however, race pride, colossal conceit and a chronic tendency to re action prompted China in August 1880 to cancel the treaty commission, a proceeding which so outraged Japan that Japanese statesmen fore saw war with China and began to prepare for it When in 1894, this war broke out, it was evident that both nations had made vast prog ress in both material civilization and in those gains which are associated with the triumph of mind in law and morals, revealing dearly by startling contrast both the homogeneousness and thoroughness of the progress of the smaller and the looseness of organization in the larger country. Japan, quickly responsive to a central will, seemed like an athlete in possession of all his powers, while on the other hand there was with ((the boneless giant' progress only in lines and spots, the work of partially modernizing China having been chiefly that of a few reso lute men, while the great body politic seemed to be insensitive and vigorous for offense and defense only in portions. Strictly speaking, there never was any war between Japan and China, but only a war between all Japan and a few of the maritime provinces of China. The
American, Ward, and the Englishman, Gordon, had shown what the average Chinaman could make of himself as a soldier, when properly drilled, commanded and influenced by example. Under these men, Li Hung Chang (q.v.) was converted to the value of the material forces in western civilization. Adopting these, and being viceroy of provinces nearest to the capital, he organized an army drilled by German offi cers and had the promontories of Wei-hai wei and Port Arthur, guarding the sea gates of the capital, fortified and the Taku forts com manding the Pei-ho River rebuilt according to Modem principles of defense and engineering. Gradually an efficient fleet of battleships, cruis ers and gunboats was organized. A beginning had also been made in China of railways and steamship lines. One part of China's vast sys tem of revenues, ((the imperial customs') of the empire, elaborated since 1863 under the British Sir Robert Hart and honestly administered, has given China her surest source of cash in come for general purposes and the purchase of foreign equipment of every sort. For an indi vidual or government service to be free from bribery and routine corruption seems to the normal Chinaman something unearthly, and the imperial customs under Sir Robert Hart have won unbounded admiration from the Chinese. In 1894, when the war broke out which did so much to prick the bubble of Chinese prestige of greatness and mass, and which, paradoxical as it may seem, evoked mutual respect and drew the Chinese and Japanese more closely to gether in reciprocal understanding, China had, in addition to her military mobs in the various provinces, the beginnings of scientific military system. This in time might have become national. Even then as seen to undiscerning for eigners China appeared from a point of view invincible. On the humane side of provision for sick and wounded soldiers and in the nobler features of civilization, China was woefully deficient. As soon as hostilities broke out the vast difference between the two nations was manifest. China went to war without sur geons, hospitals, nurses or the manifold appa ratus of civilization for protecting non-com batants, saving life and mitigating the horrors of war. China had not yet become a signatory to any of those conventions of nations in the interests of mercy, nor was there a Red Cross organization within her borders. Her recog nition of the international code of war was slow and her acceptance of it slight. On the contrary Japan, having her object lessons given by Christian missionaries, had provided hos pitals, surgeons, Red Cross Society and equip ments for surgery, healing and hygiene, and these were in splendid condition, while 1,400 trained nurses were ready for work Japan had in 1:.:7 signed the Geneva and other conven tions and had diligently educated her army offi cers in the commentaries and usages of the signatory nations, while her naval commanders i were well versed in the laws of search and cap ture. When in 1894 her fleets and armies went forth into Korea, Manchuria and China proper, there was with each field-marshal, besides a hospital corps ready to minister to friend or foe, an expert lawyer, versed in international law, who went as adviser to see that nothing was done by the Japanese which should infringe the laws of nations. Two notable books, 'In ternational Law During the Chino-Japanese War,) by S. Takahashi, and (La Guerre Sino Japonaise au Point du Vue du Droit Interna tionale,) by Professor N. Ariga, the one from the military and the other from the naval col lege in Tokio, :.re the literary monuments of this habit of the Japanese, which, in 1904, has developed into a college of five international law experts. These, after being consulted at all points during the progress of the negotia tions of 1903-04, have gone upon deck and field with the military and naval men into Man churia to in every detail, harmony with the laws of nations.
The war of 1894-95, which wrought such great results for the world at large, is worth reviewing in its main outlines, since it blew to pieces and forever China's doctrine of Whang ti, or world-sovereignty, the tenacious adher ence to which over Korea had brought on the war. After being again served by China as they had been in the Riu Kiu matter, the Japan ese determined to take no further chances with her rulers. In Korea, after the bloody struggle in Seoul between the native Liberals and Re actionaries in 1884, followed by the armed con flict between the Japanese and Chinese troops, a convention was made dated 7 May 1885 be tween Li Hung Chang and the Marquis Ito, that both governments withdrawing their troops would not again land soldiers in Korea without mutual agreement. For awhile there was peace in the Land of Morning Calm, but when the Tong Hak uprising took place, the soldiers from Seoul were overcome and the whole kingdom seemed to be in danger of anarchy, the pro-Chinese faction at court asked for aid from Peking to put down the rebels. Then to the amazement of the world the Chi nese government violated the treaty of 1885 by first forwarding troops and then notifying the Japanese minister in Peking, using the words ((our tributary state') concerning Korea. China thus reasserted her ancient claim of suzerainty over Korea as a vassal state, notwithstanding that Korea had been recognized as sovereign and independent by Japan and other nations. The government in Tokio interpreting this as a direct insult, on 12 June 1894 announced the despatch of a body of troops under strict disci pline to Seoul and five days later invited China to undertake with Japan financial and adminis trative reforms in Korea in order to preserve the peace of the Far East. The Peking government curtly refused and demanded the recall of the Japanese troops. The reply from Tokio was that pending an amicable settlement of questions in dispute, any further despatch of Chinese forces into Korea would mean war. China had already ordered her soldiers in Manchuria to cross the Yalu River and having chartered the British ship Kow-Shing despatched 1,100 sol diers to reinforce the Chinese camp at Asan in Korea.
What follows the world knows. With as tonishing secrecy and celerity, the armies of Japan occupied Korea and after the decisive battle of Ping Yang drove the Chinese out of the peninsular, crossed the Yalu and in Man churia conquered an area larger than their own empire, while her navies wiped the Chinese fleet off the ocean and captured the great fortresses of Port Arthur and Wei-hai-wei. After an nihilating nearly all the drilled troops of China at Ping Yang, the Japanese fought military mobs, making war chiefly with the forces of only a portion of the empire. During the war the majority of the Chinese people Scarcely knew that there were any real hostilities adverse to their empire, nor did they learn for years afterward just what had happened, but the military success of Japan opened the eyes of Europe and enlightened some of the Chinese mandarins and scholars. To-day we find China with a new army, formed on modern principles and drilled chiefly by Japanese officers, while in June 1904, having become a signatory to the Geneva and other conventions made to mitigate the horrors of war, she has entered still the pale of civilization, which means the world in brotherhood.
The Japanese stung to the quick, because neither China nor western nations had recog nized them as highly civilized people, were con firmed in their pride and resolve to make the so-called white race understand and appreciate them, when Russia, France and Germany join ing to deprive them of the lawful fruits of con quest, forcibly compelled them to be satisfied with the cession of Formosa and indemnity in money. Had the Japanese been possessed of four battleships, they would in 1895 have de clared war against Russia. As it was, they who never forgive an insult, resolved to nurse their wrath, keep it hot by buying battleships, and in cool science and unwearied persever ance began to invent explosive powders, perfect munitions and equipments and enlarge an army and a fleet that should some day wipe out the insult and show that the Japanese count none on earth as their superiors. Meanwhile, China, profiting by her fresh experience in humiliation, began to inquire more earnestly into the secrets of western power. A tremendous impetus was given to the reading of all kinds of in formation about Japan and the western nations, to the building of railroads and to the renova tion of educational methods. The ferment of ideas caused something like a great reform movement in 1897, which, led by progressive literati and apparently sanctioned and even con trolled by the young emperor, seemed apparently about to sweep over the whole empire. New schools and universities were planned and a newspaper called Chinese Progress was pub lished. The purchase and sale of official rank was to be abolished. The stirring and patriotic brochure °China's Only Hope,* recommended by the emperor, fed the flaming zeal of the reformers who were led by Kang Yu Wei. Even the abolition of the queue, the changing of the Chinese national dress, the adoption of the Christian religion, the calling of a national parliament and a journey of the emperor and empress dowager to Japan to see for them selves the pitiful condition of China were advocated in memorials. Reform seemed to be ready to spread like a prairie fire, when suddenly in September, Li Hung Chang was dismissed from office and the Emperor virtually dethroned by the Empress Dowager. This act 'carried within itself the fruitful seeds of the Boxer outbreak.* Yet although the missionaries felt what was in the air, the diplomatists looked on the episode as a 'Manchu family quarrel,* and ignored the warning of those living close to the masses of the people.