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EAST ASIA.
nation is quickened more by the pressing interests of life than by the rigorous
performance of a symbolic ceremonial. The struggle for existence prevents the
masses from seeking a sanction for their acts in the conduct of the Emperors Yao,
"
Shun, and Yu. The son," says the national proverb, " resembles the times more
"
and the times bring about constant changes,
than he does his father and mother ;
10*
Fig. 68. LANDS WASTED KY THE TAIPINO INSURRECTION.
Original Seat of the Insurrection.
Zone of the Greatest Devastation.
Scale 1 : 22,500,000.
E ofG 120
Zones of the Spread of the Insurrection.
300 Miles.
if not in the moral code, at all events in the real life of the people. The oft-
repeated statement that China has been exhausted by its precocious development is
false, for no other race recovers more rapidly from apparently overwhelming
disasters. The distinctive features of the national character are none the less
faithfully reflected in the profound changes continually taking place. In Europe
the initiative comes mostly from the individual ; in China from the hui, or
2CT