Untitled

I
FILIAL DEVOTION. 316
GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.
Theoretically the State is a large family. The Emperor is at onco '
Father and
Mother " of his children, and the affection due by them to him is that of a
twofold filial piety. If he commands, all hasten to obey ; if he requires
the life
or property of a citizen, both must be surrendered with a sense of thankfulness.
He may even control land, water, and the air, for the invisible genii all execute
his mandates. He is the " Son of Heaven," the Sovereign of the " Four Seas "
and of the " Ten Thousand Peoples." He alone has the privilege of sacrificing to
heaven and earth as the High Priest and Head of the great Chinese family. He
speaks of himself in lowly language, as an " imperfect man," and is even
distinguished amongst the grandees of his court by his modest garb ; but he
accepts the most extravagant expressions of worship. Present or absent, he
receives from his
subjects divine honours, and the highest dignitaries fall
prostrate before his empty throne, or before his yellow silk umbrella adorned with
the five-clawed dragon and the turtle, emblems respectively of good fortune and
power.
In the provinces the mandarins burn incense on the receipt of an imperial
dispatch, and strike the ground with their head turned towards Peking. So
hallowed is his name, that the signs used in writing it can no longer be employed
for other words without being modified by a diacritical mark. " Tremble and
obey !
" is the formula invariably terminating all his proclamations. Under him
all are slaves, and his representative in Tibet during the expedition of Hue and
Gabet wore the chains of a criminal in the form of a gold necklace concealed
under his robes, in token of the imperial displeasure.
FIMAI. DEVOTION TO THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY AND OF THE STATE.
The veneration of the people for their " Father and Mother " is not merely a
political
fiction. All the national institutions are so constituted as to establish
a perfect parallelism between the duties of the son and those of the subject.
From his childhood upwards the Chinese learns that the paternal authority
belongs to the head of the great family,
as well as to the head of the smaller
family of which he is a member. Even in the school a coffin inscribed with the
word " happiness " reminds him that his first duty will be to appease the manes of
his parents.
" Unruly conduct implies a lack of filial duty, as do also treason to
the sovereign, negligence in the exercise of the magisterial functions, insincerity
towards our friends, cowardice under arms." The father is always regarded in the
family as representing the emperor; hence domestic revolt is punished in the
same way as high treason. The national annals are full of incidents which bear
witness to the care taken by the Government to uphold this fundamental principle
of the empire. Sons guilty of crimes against their parents are put to death, and
their houses demolished ; the magistrates of the district lose their office, and
the examination halls are closed. The spot where the crime took place remains
accursed, and whole communities have even been displaced, as was the city of