CHAPTER XIII

GETTING TOGETHER

There arrived in Peking in the fall of 1915 the members of a commission sent by the Rockefeller Foundation, to formulate definite plans for a great scientific and educational enterprise in China. They were Dr. Simon Flexner, of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, of New York; Dr. George A. Welch, of Johns Hopkins University; and Doctor Buttrick, the secretary of the Foundation. By early September, 1919, the cornerstone of the Rockefeller Hospital and Medical School in Peking had been laid.

The China Medical Board had acquired the palace of a Manchu prince. When their plans were first being formulated, the owner had just died, and this magnificent property could have been bought for $75,000 Mex. I cabled to New York at the time, advising quick action, but the organization had not been sufficiently completed to make the purchase. When, four months later, they were ready to buy, the price had risen to $250,000. The fact that a rich institution desired to acquire the property had undoubtedly helped to enhance the price; but real property was then so rapidly rising in value all over Peking, especially in central locations, that the price asked, as a matter of fact, was not excessive, and a similar site could not have been secured for less. A still further increase of values throughout the central portion of the city was soon recorded; in fact, in many localities of China land values have risen after the manner of an American boom town.

The stately halls of the palace had been dismantled and torn down because they did not suit the uses of the hospital. The materials recovered, however, were in themselves of great value. The Board had decided, in consonance with the judgment of the architects, that the Chinese style of architecture should be used, modified only sufficiently to answer the modern purpose of the buildings.

We gathered on a sunny day of early September, when the air of Peking has the fresh balminess of spring, to dedicate the cornerstone of the first building to be erected. Admiral Knight, who was visiting us at the time, accompanied me. Mr. Alston, the British chargé; Dr. Frank Billings, who had just returned from Russia where he had been chairman of the American Red Cross; and other representatives of the American and British community were present, together with many Chinese. Mr. Fan Yuen-lin, Minister of Education, represented the Chinese Government, and Bishop Norris, of the Anglican Church, offered prayer. I made a brief address in which I paid tribute to the achievements of American and British medical missionaries, and expressed my high idea of the value and significance, for science and human welfare, of the great institution here to be established.

Incidentally, it had seemed to me--and I so expressed to Doctors Welch and Flexner during their visit--that much of value might be found in the Chinese _materia medica_. In my own experience there had been so many instances where relief had been afforded in apparently hopeless cases that I thought it worthy of special study. For example, a new chauffeur whom I had engaged accompanied my old chauffeur in the machine one day; as he jumped out, his arm was caught between the door and a telegraph pole and crushed. We immediately had him taken to the hospital, where the doctors decided that only an immediate operation afforded any prospect of saving his arm, and that even a successful operation was doubtful. I was told that evening that his mother had taken the young man away, notwithstanding the entreaties of our Chinese legation personnel. We gave him up for lost. But within six weeks he reported for his position, only admitting: "My arm is still a little weak." A Chinese doctor had cured him with poultices.

Similar cases often came to my attention. Mr. Chow Tzu-chi had frequently suffered severely from rheumatism. He had tried every scientific remedy without avail. One day I was glad to find him chipper and in fine spirits. He said, "I am cured"; and he told me that a Chinese doctor had fixed golden needles in different parts of his body. Within a day his pains had disappeared. The empirical knowledge accumulated by Chinese doctors through thousands of years may be worth something.

In their hours of leisure from the scientific tasks of their mission, the members of the Rockefeller board saw much of Chinese life on the lighter as well as its more serious side. One evening we went together to a Chinese restaurant where we met some native friends and had an excellent dinner, of the best that Peking cooking affords. The American guests were delighted with the turmoil in the courts of a Peking restaurant. We were entertained after dinner by a well-known prestidigitator. This man often performs in Peking, where he is known among foreigners by the name of Ega Lang Tang. These words mean nothing, being only an arbitrary formula which he uses in his incantations. His tricks, many and astounding, culminate when, after turning a somersault, he suddenly produces out of nothing a glass bowl as large as a washtub two feet in diameter filled with water in which shoals of fish are gaily swimming about.

In another way American initiative of an educational nature was welcomed in Peking. Among officials and literary men were many who were interested in the scientific study of economic and political subjects. With them and with American and European friends I had often discussed the desirability of establishing an association devoted to such work. The old literary learning which had up to a very recent time organized and given cohesion to Chinese intellectual life had largely lost its power to satisfy men, whereas the scientific learning of the West had not yet become sufficiently strong to act as the chief bond of intellectual fellowship.

As all political and social action, and all systematic effort in industry and commerce, depend on intellectual forces, it is evident that disorganization and confusion would soon threaten Chinese life unless centres were formed in which the old could be brought into harmonious and organic relationship with the new, so as to focus intellectual effort. Such centres would wield great influence.

With the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Lu Tsen-tsiang, and a number of other friends who were equally impressed with the need for such a centre of thought and discussion, we decided in November, 1917, to take steps toward forming a Chinese Social and Political Science Association.

The first meeting was held at the residence of the Minister for Foreign Affairs on December 5, 1915, when plans were discussed. In an address which I made on this occasion I expressed my idea of the significance of the society as follows:

"The founding of the Society is an indication of the entry of China into full coöperation in modern scientific work. This initial step foreshadows a continuous effort through which the experience and knowledge of China will be made scientifically available to the world at large. The voice of China will be heard, her experience considered, and her institutions understood by the world at large; she will be represented in the scientific councils. At home the work of such an association, if successful, should result in a clearer conception of national character and destiny. The knowledge gained by its work would be of great value in constructive administrative reform. But its greatest service would lie in the manner in which it would contribute to a more deep and more definite national self-consciousness...."

Virtually all the Chinese officials, of modern education, as well as many teachers and publicists, interested themselves in the new society. The idea was supported by men of all nations; alongside of Americans like Doctor Goodnow, Doctors W.W. and W.F. Willoughby, and Dr. Henry C. Adams, were the British, Dr. George Morrison, Sir Robert Bredon, Professor Bevan, and Mr. B. Lenox Simpson; the French, M. Mazot and M. Padoux; the Russians, M. Konovalov and Baron Staël-Holstein; and the Japanese, Professor Ariga. The society thereafter held regular meetings, at which valuable addresses and discussions were given; it published a quarterly review, and it established the first library in Peking for the use of officials, students, and the public in general.

Through the assistance of the Prime Minister, Mr. Hsu Hsi-chang, a portion of the Imperial City was set aside for use by the library--a centrally situated enclosure, called the Court of the Guardian Gods. This had been used as a depository for all the paraphernalia of Imperial ceremonies, such as lanterns, banners, emblems, state carriages, and catafalques. When I first visited it, large stores of these objects still remained. They were not of a substantial kind, but such as are constructed or made over specially for each occasion; and, while they were quite interesting, they had no intrinsic value. That the officials and the Imperial Family should combine to set aside so valuable an area for a modern scientific purpose was an indication that China is moving.

Attached to the French Legation was the brilliant sinologist Paul Pelliot, whose explorations in Turkestan had secured such great treasures for the French museums and the Bibliothèque Nationale. Though he acted officially as military attaché, M. Pelliot really had a far broader function, being liaison officer between French and Chinese culture.

Before the war the Germans had an educational attaché. On account of the close relationship between Chinese and American education through the thousands of American returned students, I strongly urged the appointment of an attaché who could give his attention to educational affairs. I was so pressed with other business that hundreds of invitations to address educational bodies throughout China had to go unaccepted. If there had been an assistant who could have met the Chinese on these occasions, he could have been exceedingly helpful to them. But I was told from Washington that there was no provision for an attaché with such functions.

The intimate feeling of coöperation between the British and American communities expressed itself in many meetings, in some of which the Chinese, too, participated. Thus, on December 8, 1917, there was held a reception of the English-speaking returned students. The Minister for Foreign Affairs; a number of his counsellors; the British minister, Sir John Jordan, and his staff; the American Legation; the missionaries; all who had received their education in the United States or Great Britain, were here present. It was a large company that gathered in the hall of the Y.M.C.A., including a great many Chinese women.

The hum of the preliminary conversation was suddenly interrupted by a loud voice issuing from a young man who had hoisted himself on a chair in the centre of the room. He proceeded to give directions for the systematic promotion of sociability and conversation. The Chinese guests were to join hands and form a circle around the room, facing inward; within that circle the British and American guests were to join hands, forming a circle facing outward. At the given word the outer circle was to revolve to the right, the inner circle to the left. At the word "halt," everyone was to engage his or her vis-à-vis in conversation. To eliminate every risk of stalemate, the topics for conversation were given out, one for each stop of the revolving line, the last being: "My Greatest Secret."

The young man who proposed this thoroughly American system of breaking the ice had just come out from Wisconsin, and it was his business to secure the proper mixing in miscellaneous gatherings. The British seemed at first somewhat aghast at the prospect of this rotary and perambulatory conversation; yet they quite readily fell in with the idea, and when the first word of halt was given, I noticed Sir John duly making conversation with a simpering little Chinese girl opposite him.

A little later, in December, there was formed an Anglo-American Club, which celebrated its début with a dinner at the Hotel of Four Nations. This was the beginning of the closest relationship that has ever existed between the Americans and British in the Far East. In my brief speech I expressed my genuine feeling of satisfaction that this coöperation should have come about.

My relations with educational authorities and activities in Peking were most pleasant. When Commencement was celebrated at Peking University I had the distinction of an honorary LL.D. conferred upon me. This courtesy was performed in a very graceful manner by Doctor Lowry, my wise and experienced friend, under whose presidency this institution had been built up from small beginnings. I was so interested in the promise of this American university in the capital of China that I consented to act as a member of the Board, and I had interested myself in its development as far as my official duties would permit. To my great satisfaction, the university had at this time become interdenominational, representing four of the Christian mission societies active in China. A liberal spirit pervaded the university, inspiring its members with a desire to serve China by spreading the light of learning, without narrow denominational limitations, relying on Christian spirit and character to exert its influence without undue insistence on dogma. By a pleasant coincidence, I on that very date received a cablegram telling me that my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, had also given me the honorary LL.D.

An opportunity for general meetings of Americans and British, including, also, other residents of Peking, interested in things of the mind, was afforded by a lecture course arranged by the Peking Language School. I opened the course with an address on the conservation of the artistic past of China, which was given at the residence of the British minister. Sir John Jordan in his introductory remarks said that the time was at hand when foreigners residing in China would take a far deeper and more intimate interest in Chinese civilization than they had done before. I spoke of the danger of losing the expertness and the creative impulse of Chinese art and of the readiness it had always shown in the past to develop new forms, methods, and beauties. Subsequent lectures were given alternately at my residence and at the theatre of the British Legation, and the entire course emphasized our common interest in Chinese civilization.

During the height of the student movement in 1919 the Peking police closed the offices of the _Yi Shih Pao_ (Social Welfare), a liberal paper in Peking. The paper had made itself disliked by publishing news of the Japanese negotiations and criticizing the militarist faction. A number of Americans had previously interested themselves in the paper, because of its liberal tendencies and because of its devotion to social welfare work; they proposed to take it over, but the transfer had not yet been carried out. The Chinese editor of the paper appealed to me to assist him in the liberation of an associate who had been imprisoned. As no legal American interest at the time existed in the paper, however, it was not possible to use my good offices in its behalf, although I had at all times made the Chinese officials know that the suppression of free speech in the press was a very undesirable procedure. The suppression of the _Yi Shih Pao_ was a result of the desire of the reactionary faction in Peking to choke every expression favourable to the national movement; they had been encouraged to imitate the stringent press regulations of Japan.

Later on the Americans completed their purchase of the _Yi Shih Pao_. The question as to how far American protection should be extended over newspapers printed in Chinese, but owned by Americans, then came up for decision. As Americans had become interested in the _bona fide_ enterprise of publishing newspapers in Chinese, it was not apparent how such protection as is given to others for their legitimate interests could be refused in this case. I therefore recommended to the Department of State that no distinction be made against such enterprises, and several vernacular papers were subsequently registered in American consulates.

When I told the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs that American registry had been given the _Yi Shih Pao_, I informed him of the character of the American press laws, under which newspapers are in normal times entirely free from censorship, but are responsible in law for any misstatements of fact injurious to individuals. Many of the reactionary officials had persistently opposed the idea of having American-registered vernacular papers in China. But, manifestly, they could not make any valid protest against such an arrangement. In fact, we never had any expression of official displeasure; on the contrary, nothing could have been more welcome to the people of China and to the great majority of officials than to know that vernacular papers were to be published in China by Americans.

The publication in Peking of news from abroad was much facilitated by wireless. Early in 1919 I entertained at lunch several American newspapermen, with whom I had a conference on the press and news situation in the Far East. They were Mr. Fleisher, of the _Japan Advertiser_; Mr. McClatchey, of the _Sacramento Bee_; Mr. Sharkey, of the Associated Press; and Mr. Carl Crow, representative of the American Committee on Public Information. Mr. Walter Rogers, an expert in this matter, had been in Peking shortly before.

The great difficulty with which we were confronted in any attempt to develop the news service between China and the United States was the expense of telegraphing by cable, which made it impossible to transmit an adequate news service. We were therefore all agreed that it was essential to use the wireless and that every effort should be made for arrangements whereby the wireless system of the American Government would carry news messages at a reasonable rate.

The importance of a direct news service was demonstrated during the war, when under an arrangement by the Committee on Public Information a budget of news was sent by wireless daily to the Far East. For the first time in history had there been anything approaching a fairly complete statement of what was going on in the United States. The service of news of the Peace Conference was also particularly appreciated by everybody in China. China had never been so close to Europe before.

The only agency supplying news in China is Reuter's. Its news budget is made up in London. It proceeds to Spain, Morocco, and down the west coast of Africa to the Cape; thence up the east coast of Egypt, Persia, India, and Ceylon. At each of the main stations on the way items of only local interest there are withdrawn. What is left at Ceylon as of interest to the Far East is sent on to Singapore and Hong-Kong, as well as by another route to Australia. It is quite natural that with such a source and such a routing, this service should carry next to nothing about America. I once had it observed for a whole month in June, 1916, when the only American item carried was that Mr. Bryan had shed tears at the National Democratic Convention!