Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 102 (Color Image)

0102	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

72 PEKING TO LHASA

The native priest is an excellent man, but he is a

child in modern ways and requires supervision and

direction. When he can take the place of the

foreign priest and run the Mission on his own, then

will be the time when the Chinese have got up-to-

date. And then the foreigner living in the interior

will be able to welcome the abolition of extra-

territoriality and be able to resign himself with

confidence to Chinese jurisdiction.

Foreigners who talk of Chinese being educated

do not realise that this is far from being the case.

The foreigner who lives at Peking, Shanghai or

the seaports lives in a foreign environment. He

rarely if ever travels in the interior and knows

little about the conditions there. He is either

sincere in admiring the Chinese for their many

good qualities and, carried away by his enthusiasm,

does not realise how little true progress in modern

ideas has been made in the interior, or else he is in

the pay of the Chinese, and carried away by their

kindness to him sees things in too roseate a hue

and, indeed, it may be for his own personal interest

to advocate Chinese views.

In military matters the Chinese have only been

able to educate themselves up to the point of

making an outward show ; but beyond this they

are unable to go. The Japanese, on the other

hand, threw themselves whole-heartedly into the

work. When they decided that they must go in

for modern ideas the most capable men led the

way, and, sinking their pride, they started like

children under the best European instructors until

they could manage their own affairs. But the

Chinese cannot master their old pride and work

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