My Lady of the Chinese Courtyard Part 8

Since hearing my husband talk I see those babies with other eyes, with eyes of knowledge and dislike. I see them becoming one of the two great cla.s.ses in j.a.pan-- merchants with grasping hands to hold fast all they touch, or men of war. There is no other cla.s.s. And, too, they have no religion to restrict them, irreverence already marks their att.i.tude toward their G.o.ds. They will imitate and steal what they want from other countries, even as their ancestors took their religion, their art, their code of ethics, even their writing, from other peoples. Their past is a copy of the East; their present is an attempt to be a copy of the West. They cannot originate or make a thing from within them-selves.

Their lives are coa.r.s.e and sordid when stripped of the elaborate courtesy and sham politeness that marks their dealings with the outside world. Their courtesy, what is it? This thin veneer of politeness is like their polished lacquer that covers the crumbling wood within.

But we have a proverb, "Even a monkey falls"; and some distant day the Western world that thinks so highly of j.a.pan will see beneath the surface and will leave her, and the great paG.o.da she has builded without foundation will come tumbling down like the houses of sand which my children build in the garden. It will be seen that they are like their beautiful kimonas, that hang so gracefully in silken folds. But take away the kimonas, and the sons and daughters of that Empire are revealed in all their ugliness-- coa.r.s.e, heavy, sensual, with no grace or spirit life to distinguish them from animals.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mylady19.]

Do I speak strongly, my Mother? We feel most strongly the action of the j.a.panese in this, our time of trouble. We have lost friends; the husbands, brothers, fathers of our women-folk are lying in long trenches because of training given to our rebels by members of that race. I should not speak so frankly, but it is only to thee that I can say what is within my heart. I must put the bar of silence across my lips with all save thee; and sitting here within the courtyard I hear all that goes on in Yamen, shop, and women's quarters. One need not leave one's doorway to learn of the great world. I hear my sons speak of new China, and many things I do not understand; my husband and his friends talk more sedately, for they are watching thoughtful men, trying hard to steer this, our ship of State, among the rocks that now beset it close on every side. My daughters bring their friends, my servants their companions, and the gossip of our busy world is emptied at my feet.

The clock strikes one, and all the world's asleep except, Kwei-li.

11 Dear Mother, She is here, my daughter-in-law, and I can realise in a small degree thy feelings when I first came to thy household. I know thou wert prepared to give me the same love and care that my heart longs to give to this, the wife of my eldest son. I also know how she feels in this strange place, with no loved faces near her, with the thought that perhaps the new home will mean the closed doors of a prison, and the husband she never saw until the marriage day the jealous guardian thereof. I have tried to give her welcome and let her see that she is heart of our hearts, a part of us.

She is different from the young girls I have seen these latter days, different from my daughters, and-- I may say it to thee, my Mother-- a sweeter, dearer maiden in many ways. She has been trained within the courtyards in the old-fashioned customs that make for simplicity of heart, grace of manner, that give obedience and respect to older people; and she has the delicate high-bred ways that our girls seem to feel unnecessary in the hurry of these days. She takes me back to years gone by, where everything is like a dream, and I can feel again the chair beneath me that carried me up the mountain-side with its shadowing of high woods, and hear the song of water falling gently from far-off mountain brooks, and the plaintive cry of flutes unseen, that came to welcome me to my new home.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mylady20.]

With her dainty gowns, her tiny shoes, her smooth black hair, she is a breath from another world, and my sons and daughters regard her as if she were a stray b.u.t.terfly, blown hither by some wind too strong for her slight wings. She is as graceful as the slender willow, her youthful charm is like the cherry-tree in bloom, and the sweet thoughts natural to youth and the springtime of life, flow from her heart as pure as the snow-white blossoms of the plum-tree. She does not belong to this, our modern world; she should be bending with iris grace above goldfish in the ponds, or straying in gardens where there are lakes of shimmering water murmuring beneath great lotus flowers that would speak to her of love.

We are all more than charmed, and gather to the sunshine she has brought. As they knelt before us for our blessing, I thought what a happy thing is youth and love. "Kings in their palaces grow old, but youth dwells forever at contentment's side."

But I must tell thee of the marriage. Instead of the red chair of marriage, my new daughter-in-law was brought from the house of her uncle in that most modern thing, a motor-car. I insisted that it should be covered with red satin, the colour of rejoicing; and great rosettes trailed from the corners to the ground. The feasting was elaborate and caused me much care in its preparation, as not only had been provided the many different kinds of food for our Chinese friends, but foreigners, who came also, were served with dishes made expressly for them, and with foreign wines, of which they took most liberally.

The Europeans, men and women, ate and drank together with a freedom that to me is most unseemly, and I cannot understand the men who have no pride in their women's modesty but allow them to sit at table with strange men close by their side. Behind the archway, we Chinese women "of the old school," as my daughter calls us, feasted and laughed our fill, just as happy as if parading our new gowns before the eyes of stranger-men.

Li-ti is delighted with thy gift, the chain of pearls. It is a most appropriate present, for "pearls belong of right to her whose soul reflects the colour of youth's purity"; and I, I am so happy in this new life that has come to dwell beneath our rooftree. I had many fears that she would not be to my liking, that she would be a modern Chinese woman; and another one, oh, Mother mine, would fill to overflowing my bowl of small vexations; but the place is perfumed by her scent, the scent of sandalwood, which represents the China that I love, and flowers of jessamine and purple hyacinths and lilies-of-the-valley, which speak to us of youth and spring and love and hope.

Thy daughter, who gives the messages from all thy family, who touch thy hand with deep respect.

12 My Dear Mother, I am sorry that thou hast been troubled by news of the fighting within the province. All is well with us, as we sent thee word by telegraph. If anything happens that touches any of thy household, we will send thee word at once.

This town is a hotbed of rebellion, and it is all because the rebels have been enabled to perfect their plans through the existence of the foreign settlements. How I dislike these foreigner adventurers! I wish they would take their gilded dust, their yellow gold, and leave us to our peace; but they walk our streets as lords and masters, and allow the plotting traitors to make their plans, and we are helpless. If I were China's ruler and for one day had power, there would not be one white man left within the borders of my country. We hear each day of friends who give their lives on the field of battle, these battles and this conflict which would not be present with us were it not for the foreign powers, who within these settlements, protect the low-browed ruffians who are plotting China's ruin.

Did I say I disliked these foreigners? How mild a word! Thou, in Sezchuan, far from the touch of the alien life, hast never seen these people who cause us so much trouble. How can I describe them to thee so that thou wilt understand? They are like unto the dragons of the earth, for ugliness. Men have enormous stature and mighty strength, and stride with fierce and lordly steps. Their faces have great noses between deep-set eyes, and protruding brows, and ponderous jaws like animals-- symbols of brute force which needs but to be seen to frighten children in the dark. We are the gentler race, and we feel instinctively the dominating power of these men from over the seas, who all, American, Russian, German, English, seem to be cast in the same brutal mould. Their women have long, horse-like faces, showing the marks of pa.s.sion and discontent, which they try to cover with the contents of the powder-jar and with rouge; they are utterly unlike the women of our race, who are taught to express no hate, no love, nor anything save perfect repose and gentleness, as befits true ladyhood.

One has but to see a Chinese gentleman, with his easy manners, composed, self-contained, with a natural dignity, to know that we are better trained than the people from the West. It is because we are true idealists. We show it in our grading of society. With us the scholar is honoured and put first, the farmer second, the artisan third, and the merchant and the soldier last. With them, these worshippers of the dollar, the merchant is put first, and the man to guard that dollar is made his equal! That is a standard for a nation! The barterer and the murderer; let others follow where they lead.

These foreigners rate China low, who have never met a Chinese gentleman, never read a line of Chinese literature, and who look at you in ignorance if you mention the names of our sages. They see no Chinese except their servants, and they judge the world about them from that low point of view. I know a lady here who is a leader in their society, a woman who has lived within our land for many tens of years; when asked to meet a prince of our house Imperial, she declined, saying she never a.s.sociated with Chinese. A prince to her was no more than any other yellow man; she said she would as soon think of meeting her gate coolie at a social tea. How can there be a common meeting-ground between our people and the average European, of whom this woman is a representative and who is not alone in her estimation of the people amongst whom she lives but whom she never sees. They get their knowledge of China from servants, from missionaries who work among the lower cla.s.ses, and from newspaper reports that are always to the disadvantage of our people.

More and more the West must see that the East and West may meet but never can they mingle. Foreigners can never enter our inner chamber; the door is never wholly opened, the curtain never drawn aside between Chinese and European. The foreign man is a materialist, a mere worshipper of things seen. With us "the taste of the tea is not so important as the aroma." When Chinese gentlemen meet for pleasure, they talk of poetry and the wisdom of the sages, of rare jade and porcelains and bra.s.s. They show each other treasures, they handle with loving fingers the contents of their cherished boxes, and search for stores of beauty that are brought to light only for those who understand. But when with foreigners, the talk must be of tea, its prices, the weight of cotton piece goods, the local gossip of the town in which they live. Their private lives are pa.s.sed within a world apart, and there is between these men from different lands a greater bar than that of language-- the bar of mutual misunderstanding and lack of sympathy with the other race.

Poor China! She is first clubbed on the head and then stroked on the back by these foreigners, her dear friends. Friends! It is only when the cold season comes that we know the pine-tree and the cypress to be evergreens, and friends are known in adversity. The foreigners who profess to be our friends are waiting and hoping for adversity to come upon us, that they may profit by it. They want our untouched wealth, our mines of coal and iron and gold, and it is upon them they have cast their eyes of greed.

The foreigners have brought dishonesty in business dealings to our merchants. At first, the trader from the foreign land found that he could rely on old-time customs and the word of the merchant to bind a bargain; but what did the Chinese find? There are no old-time customs to bind a foreigner, except those of bond and written doc.u.ment. He has no traditions of honour, he can be held by nothing except a court of law. For years the word "China" has meant to the adventurers of other lands a place for exploitation, a place where silver was to be obtained by the man with fluent tongue and winning ways. Even foreign officials did not scruple to use their influence to enter trade.

An old case has recently come before the Governor. It has been brought many times to the ears of the officials, but they have said nothing, for fear of offending the Great Government whose representative is involved in the not too pleasant transaction. One of our great inland cities had no water nearer than the river, several miles away. A foreign official with a machine of foreign invention digged deep into the earth and found pure, clear water. Then he thought, "If there is ater here for me, why not for all this great city of many tens of thousands?" Which was a worthy thought, and he saw for himself great gains in bringing to the doors of rich and poor alike the water from the wells. He told the Taotai that he would go to his country and bring back machines that would make the water come forth as from living springs. The official met his friends and the plan was discussed and many thousands of taels were provided and given into the hands of the official from over the seas. The friends of the Taotai felt no fear for their money, as the official signed a contract to produce water from the earth, and he signed, not as a simple citizen but as the representative of his government, with the great seal of that government attached to the paper. Of course our simple people thought that the great nation was behind the project; and they were amazed and startled when, after a trip to his home land and a return with only one machine, a few holes were made but no water found, and the official announced that he was sorry but there was nothing more that he could do. He did not offer to return the money, and in his position he could not be haled into a court of law; there was nothing for his dupes to do but to gaze sadly into the great holes that had taken so much money, and remember that wisdom comes with experience.

"When a man has been burned once with hot soup he forever after blows upon cold rice"; so these same men of China will think o'erlong before trusting again a foreigner with their silver.

Thy son has been trying to settle another case. Some men from America went to Ningpo, and talked long and loud of the darkness of the city, its streets dangerous in the night-time, its continual fires caused by the flickering lamps of oil that are being so constantly overturned by the many children. They told the officials that the times were changing, that to walk the streets with a lighted lantern in the hand is to lose step with the march of progress. They showed the benefits of the large lights of electricity blazing like a sun on each corner of the great city, making it impossible for robbers and evil-doers to carry on their work in darkness. They promised to turn night-time into day, to put white lights in Yamen, office, and house-hold. There should be a light beneath each rooftree, at no greater expense than the bean-oil lamp. They were most plausible, and many thousands of silver dollars were brought forth and given to the men as contract money. They left us to buy machinery; the years have pa.s.sed; they never have returned. Ningpo still has streets of darkness, men still walk abroad with lighted lanterns, the bean-oil lamp is seen within the cottage and-- will be until the hills shall fade, so far as the officials are concerned, who once dreamed dreams of a city lit by the light as of myriad suns.

How can the missionaries have the face to come here with their religion, when the dissolute white man is in every port manifesting a l.u.s.t and greed and brutality which Chinese are accustomed to a.s.sociate with the citizenship and religion attributed to Christianity.

No wonder it is hard for them to make converts among the people who have business dealings with these men from Christian nations.

But China will not forever bear the ill-treatment of men from Western lands. She is awake to all the insults; she has learned in the bitter halls of experience. She sleeps no longer; she will rise in self-defense and fight aggression; and the nations who have misused her must remember that when she moves it will be the movement of a mighty people aroused by the thought of their great wrongs. She is peaceful and long-suffering, but she is different from the old-time China. She has now a national spirit that has been brought about by better means of communication between provinces. In the olden time it was difficult for one part or the Empire to know the conditions in another. But now the telegraph and the daily newspaper come to all the smallest villages. I am sure that the watchman by thy outer gate reads as he guards thy household, and learns in far Sezchuan what has happened to-day in Peking, or the Southern city of Canton, and the news is discussed in the tea-shops and on corners by men from farm and shop and office.

The foreigners are mistaken in their belief that China can never be united. She has been one for centuries, in beliefs, in morals, in education, and in religion, and now she will be more united in her stand against the hated white man who covets her treasures. She may quarrel with her brothers within her borders; but that is nothing but a family feud, and in time of danger from outside, like all families, she will unite to fight for her own until the last red lantern fades and the morning star is shining. Enough of politics and bitterness! I hear thy son, who is coming for his evening cup of tea.

Thy daughter, Kwei-li.

13 My Dear Mother, The times here are very bad; people are fleeing from the inland cities and coming to Shanghai by the thousands. The place is crowded to suffocation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Mylady21.]

Wu Ting-fang was here and talked long into the night with my husband. My son, who, I am afraid, does not think too highly of this great man, says that he is with the party that is "on top," that he spends most of his time sitting on the fence-- whatever that may mean. I drove past his house the other day and did not see him sitting on the fence, but on his veranda, calmly drinking tea.

Sun Yat-sen has violated his word of honour and has joined the Southern forces. We feel he has acted most dishonourably and (my son again) should have "staid bought." Gossips say he received many millions of taels, presumably for the railroads, but that was only an excuse to slip the money into his wide and hungry pockets.

It is decided to send my son to Canton, into the office of the governor of that province. We are glad to get him away from Shanghai, which is a nest of adders and vipers, conspiring and raising their poisonous heads in the dark. One does not know whom to trust, or who may prove to be a traitor.

Li-ti, his wife, wishes to go with him, and weeps the whole day through because we will not permit it. She is not well, and we tell her she will not be really separated from her husband, because, as the poets tell us, people who love, though at a distance from each other, are like two lutes tuned in harmony and placed in adjoining rooms.

When you strike the kung note on one, the kung note on the other will answer, and when you strike the cho note on the one the cho note on the other will give the same sound. They are both tuned to the same pitch, when the influence of the key-note, love, is present.

I took my son apart the other night and said, "I am thy mother and I want to speak words to thee straight from the heart. Thou art to have the joy of work, and remember the pride of work lies in the thought, 'For me alone is the task.'" I tried to make him understand that praise, glory, and honours are good, but they do not make for long life, and especially in these times it is better to work quietly without attracting too much attention. It is more safe, for "he who raises himself on tiptoe cannot stand, and he who stretches his legs wide apart cannot walk."

His father was especially anxious that he be not pierced with the arrow of treachery that poisons the blood and finds the weak spot in the armour of so many of our young men. He told him to keep himself above suspicion, to avoid those entangled in the nets of double dealing of whom one is uncertain, because "the red glow of the morning sun seems to stain even the pure whiteness of the new-fallen snow."

Why, Mother-mine, didst thou send the old priest from the temple down here? He abides in the courtyard, squatting on his heels, serving the spirits neither of Heaven nor of earth, but he sits and talks and talks and talks with the women of the courtyards. There are some of them I would fain send to a far-off province, especially Fang Tai, the mother of our gateman.

"A woman with a long tongue is a flight of steps leading to calamity."

This priest of thine has been quarrelling with her now over the question of the son of Wong Tai, who is accused of being on too friendly terms with some of the leaders of the rebellion. He made the unfortunate remark that perhaps the man was innocent but "one does not arrange his head-dress under an apricot-tree, nor his foot-gear in a melon patch, if he wishes to be above suspicion," and this simple remark has called down upon his priestly head the wrath of all the women. I think he will go to the monastery within the city to pa.s.s the night-- at least if he has wisdom equal to his years.

Yesterday I thought that I might make some use of him, and I felt when he was working he would not be stirring up the courtyards. I bade him write the Sage's words upon a scroll of satin for my boy to take with him to his new home. He did it very beautifully, as he is a real artist with the brush. This is the reading of the scroll:

"There are three things for a man to guard against: The l.u.s.ts of the flesh in early years, The spirit of combativeness in middle-age, And ambition as the years go on.

There are three things to command your reverence: The ordinances of Heaven, Great men, and the words of the sages.

There are three times three things to be remembered: To be clear in vision, Quick in hearing, Kindly in expression, Respectful in demeanour, True in word, Serious in duty, Inquiring in doubt, Self-controlled in anger, And just and fair when the chair of success is before your door."

I made a roll of it and placed it upon his desk, and when he opened it he found within another scroll of silk, the same in colour, size, and finish, written by his most unfilial sisters, which read:

"Remember that thou art young.

What thou dost know is not to be compared, With what thou dost not know."

It made him angry at first, but I do not know but that the shorter scroll contains the greater wisdom.

I am anxious for this boy of mine, who is starting to sail his ship of manhood across the Broad River of Life in these most perilous times.