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XIX
Chinese Princes and Officials
In any estimate of the forces which lead and control public
opinion in China, everywhere from the knot of peasants in the
hamlet to the highest officers of state and the Emperor himself,
the literati, or educated class, must be given a prominent
position. They form an immense body, increased each year by the
government examinations. They are at the head of the social
order. Every civil officer in the empire must be chosen from
their number. They constitute the basis of an elaborate system of
civil service, well equipped with checks and balances which, if
corrected and brought into touch with modern life and thought,
would easily command the admiration of the world.
--Chester Holcomb in "The Real Chinese Question."
XIX
CHINESE PRINCES AND OFFICIALS
One day while the head eunuch from the palace of one of the
leading princes in Peking was sitting in my study he said:
"It is drawing near to the New Year. Do you celebrate the New
Year in your honourable country?"
"Yes," I replied, "though not quite the same as you do here."
"Do you fire off crackers?"
"Yes, in the matter of firecrackers, we celebrate very much the
same as you do."
"And do you settle up all your debts as we do here?"
"I am afraid we do not. That is not a part of our New Year
celebration."
"Our Prince is going to take on two more concubines this New
Year," he volunteered
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