years, between A.D. 600-900.  One little difficulty will vanish with the queue.  A Chinese coolie will tie his tail round his head when engaged on work in which he requires to keep it out of the way, and the habit has become of real importance with the use of modern machinery; but on the arrival of his master, he should at once drop it, out of respect, a piece of politeness not always exhibited in the presence of a foreign employer.  The agitation, now in progress, for the final abolition of the queue may be due to one or all of the following reasons.  Intelligent Chinese may have come to realize that the fashion is cumbrous and out of date.  Sensitive Chinese may fear that it makes them ridiculous in the eyes of foreigners.  Political Chinese, who would gladly see the re-establishment of a native dynasty, may look to its disappearance as the first step towards throwing off the Manchu yoke.

On the whole, the ruling Manchus have shown themselves very careful not to wound the susceptibilities of their Chinese subjects.  Besides allowing the women to retain their own costume, and the dead, men and women alike, to be buried in the costume of the previous dynasty, it was agreed from the very first that no Chinese concubines should be taken into the Palace.  This last condition seems to be a concession pure and simple to the conquered; there is little doubt, however, that the wily Manchus were only too ready to exclude a very dangerous possibility of political intrigue.

CHAPTER VI—­LITERATURE AND EDUCATION

The Chinese people reverence above all things literature and learning; they hate war, bearing in mind the saying of Mencius, “There is no such thing as a righteous war; we can only assert that some wars are better than others;” and they love trade and the finesse of the market-place.  China can boast many great soldiers, in modern as well as in ancient days; but anything like a proper appreciation of the military arm is of quite recent growth.  “Good iron is not used for nails, nor good men for soldiers,” says the proverb; and again, “One stroke of the civilian’s pen reduces the military official to abject submission.”  On the other hand, it is admitted that “Civilians give the empire peace, and soldiers give it security.”

Chinese parents have never, until recent days, willingly trained their sons for the army.  They have always wished their boys to follow the stereotyped literary curriculum, and then, after passing successfully through the great competitive examinations, to rise to high civil office in the state.  A good deal of ridicule has been heaped of late on the Chinese competitive examination, the subjects of which were drawn exclusively from the Confucian Canon, and included a knowledge of ancient history, of a comprehensive scheme of morality, initiated by Confucius, and further elaborated by Mencius (372-289 B.C.), of the ballads and ceremonial