VISITS TO STRANGE NATIONS.
17th century a.d.
[The following extracts from the Ching Hua Yüan give an imaginary account of some portions of the travels of a party of friends, undertaken in the year a.d. 684 as a protest against the frivolous and aggressive policy of the then reigning Empress, coupled with a strong flavour of commercial enterprise. They are included in this volume not because of any grace of style in the original text, but as specimens of literature akin to such works as “Gulliver’s Travels,” though lacking the philosophic motive which underlies Swift’s work.]
THE COUNTRY OF GENTLEMEN.
Imagine that, instead of preferring to buy things at low prices, men habitually preferred to give high prices for them; and imagine that, conversely, sellers rejoiced in getting low prices, instead of high ones.―Herbert Spencer.
THEY sailed along for many days until they arrived at the Country of Gentlemen, where they went on shore and proceeded at once to the capital city. There, over the city gate, T‘ang and his companions read the following legend:―
Virtue is man’s only jewel!
They then entered the city, which they found to be a busy and prosperous mart, the inhabitants all talking the Chinese language. Accordingly, T‘ang accosted one of the passers-by and asked him how it was his nation had become so famous for politeness and consideration of others; but to his great astonishment the man did not understand the meaning of his question. T‘ang then asked him why this land was called the Country of Gentlemen, to which he likewise replied that he did not know. Several other persons of whom they enquired giving similar answers, the venerable To[1] remarked that the term had undoubtedly been adopted by the inhabitants of adjacent countries, in consequence of the polite manners and considerate behaviour of these people. “For,” said he, “the very labourers in the fields and foot-passengers in the streets step aside to make room for one another. High and low, rich and poor, mutually respect each other’s feelings without reference
- ↑ A sobriquet meaning “Much,” and referring to the old man’s learning.
