Gu Hongming

“ Now to go against what is right to get the praise of the people, is what I have called the worship of the mob, and to trample upon the wishes of the people to follow your own desires, is what I have called the worship of might. But with this Magna Charta of Loyalty, the responsible ministers and Statesmen in a country will feel themselves responsible not to the mob, not to the crowd of plain men and women, but to their King and their Conscience and this will protect them from the temptation to go against what is right to get the praise of the people,-in fact protect them from mob worship. ”

“ A Chinese, when he dies, is not consoled by the belief that he will live a life hereafter, but by the belief that his children, grandchildren, great-grand-children, all those dearest to him, will remember him, think of him, love him, to the end of time, and in that way, in his imagination, dying, to a Chinese, is like going on a long, long journey, if not with the hope, at least with a great "perhaps" of meeting again. ”

“ In short what I want to call the attention of the people of Europe and America to, just at this moment when civilisation seems to be threatened with bankruptcy, is that there is an invaluable and hitherto unsuspected asset of civilisation here in China. The asset of civilisation is not the trade, the railway, the mineral weath, gold, silver, iron or coal in this country. The asset of civilisation of the world to-day, I want to say here, is the Chinaman,—the unspoilt real Chinaman with his Religion of good citizenship. ”

“ I say it will be easy then for a man like President Wilson to make a successful appeal for peace because, I believe, in order to make peace, the only important thing the rulers of the countries now at war will have to do is, to build a special lunatic asylum and arrest and clap into it the few absolute incurable lunatics,—men like Professor Dickinson who have the panic of the mob in the brain,—the panic for the integrity and security of the British Empire and the future peace of Europe! ”

“ Matthew Arnold, "it is through the apprehension, either of all literature,—the entire history of the human spirit,—or of a single great literary work, as a commected whole that the real power of literature makes itself felt." Now how little, we have seen, do the foreign students conceive the Chinese literature as a whole! How little, therefore, do they get at its significance! How little, in fact, do they know it! How little does it become a power in their hands, towards the understanding of the character of the people! ”

“ I say therefore, if the German nation at this moment the true, rightful and legitimate guardian of the modern civilisation of Europe to-day, is not to perish and the modern European civilisation is to be saved,—the German nation, the German people must find a way to put down their over-intense, narrow, hard, rigid hatred of unrighteousness which makes them believe so absolutely in and worship might; in fact they must find a way to put down their absolute belief in and worship of might which makes them so inconsiderate and tactless. ”

“ In fact, the German nation, I may say, found themselves surrounded on all sides by the mob, mob-worship and mobworshippers encouraged by Great Britain in all Europe and this made the German nation believe more and more in might, made the German nation worship might as the only salvation for mankind. This worship of might in Germany created by the hatred for the Religion of mob worship in Great Britain, thus created the enormous monstrous German Militarism which everybody now hates and denounces. ”

“ You will remember what Carlyle, I told you, said—that the right of a king to govern us is either a divine right or a diabolic wrong. Now this fraud of the modern lawyer, politician, magistrate and president of a republic is what Carlyle calls a diabolic wrong. It is this fraud, this Jesuitism of the public men in modern society, who say and act on the principle that there is no morality, no sense of honour in politics and yet plausibly talk of the good of society and the good of the country ”

“ If you will consider what a great service the man who first instituted the sacrament and established the inviolability of marriage in the world has done for humanity and the cause of civilisation, you will then, I think, understand what a great work this is which Confucius did when he instituted this new sacrament and established the inviolability of the contract of allegiance. The institution of the sacrament of marriage secures the stability and permanence of the Family, without which the human race would become extinct. ”

“ There is in the true Chinese type of humanity an air, so to speak, of a quiet, sober, chastened mellowness, such as you find in a piece of well-tempered metal. Indeed the very physical and moral imperfections of a real Chinaman are, if not redeemed, at least softened by this quality of gentleness in him. The real Chinaman may be coarse, but there is no grossness in his coarseness. The real Chinaman may be ugly, but there is no hideousness in his ugliness. The real Chinaman may be vulgar, but there is no aggressiveness, no blatancy in his vulgarity. ”

“ And never again! you rulers, soldiers and diplomats, you who through the long agony of history have conducted the destinies of mankind and conducted them to hell, we do now repudiate you. Our labour and our blood have been at your disposal. They shall be so no more. You shall not make the peace as you have made the war. The Europe that shall come out of this war shall be our Europe. And it shall be one in which another European war shall be never possible. ”

“ Because the Chinese people before this Revolution behaved themselves; knew how to behave themselves; knew how to behave themselves as good citizens. But now after this Revolution—there is less liberty in China, and why? Because the modern queueless, up-to-date Chinamen, the returned students have learnt from the people of Europe and America,—learnt from the European mob in Shanghai how to misbehave themselves; to behave themselves not as good citizens, but as a mob—a mob encouraged, coddled and worshipped by the British diplomats and the British Inspector General of Customs in Peking. ”

“ Indeed to people who talk of the immorality of concubinage in China, I would say that to me the Chinese mandarin who keeps concubines is less selfish, less immoral than the European in his motor car, who picks up a helpless woman from the public street and, after amusing himself with her for one night, throws her away again on the pavement of the public street the next morning. The Chinese mandarin with his concubines may be selfish, but he at least provides a house for his concubines and holds himself for life responsible for the maintenance of the women he keeps. ”

“ In fact, the chief end of a woman in China is not to live for herself, or for society; not to be a reformer or to be president of the woman's natural feet Society; not to live even as a saint or to do good to the world; the chief end of a woman in China is to live as a good daughter a good wife and a good mother. ”

“ The politeness of the Japanese, on the other hand, although elaborate, is not so pleasing, and I have heard some foreigners express their dislike of it, because it is what may be called a rehearsal politeness—a politeness learnt by heart as in a theatrical piece. It is not a spontaneous politeness which comes direct from the heart. In fact the politeness of the Japanese is like a flower without fragrance, whereas the politeness of a really polite Chinese has a perfume like the aroma of a precious ointment—instar unguenti fragrantis—which comes from the heart. ”

“ A thorough-bred Arab horse understands his English master not because he has studied English grammar nor because he has an instinct for the English language, but because he loves and is attached to his master. This is what I call human intelligence, as distinguished from mere vulpine or animal intelligence. It is the possession of this human quality which distinguishes domesticated from wild animals. In the same way, I say, it is the possession of this sympathetic and true human intelligence, which gives to the Chinese type of humanity, to the real Chinaman, his inexpressible gentleness. ”

“ The Spirit of the Chinese People is not even what you would call a mentality—an active working of the brain and mind. The Spirit of the Chinese People, I want to tell you, is a state of mind, a temper of the soul, which you cannot learn as you learn shorthand or Esperanto—in short, a mood, or in the words of the poet, a serene and blessed mood. ”

“ The real Chinaman, I have shown you, is a man who lives the life of a man of adult reason with the simple heart of a child, and the Spirit of the Chinese people is a happy union of soul with intellect. ”