THE EAST ADMONISHES THE WEST
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—That I am in no sense whatever an expert on China Mr. J. 0. P. Bland must, I feel sure, know as well as I know it my- self, and I can only surmise that, in crediting my " encyclo- paedic knowledge " with an extension to that country, he is pulling your readers' legs.
I am, however, sufficiently informed to realise that Mr. Lin Yutang's book " may be summed up " as being, in Mr. Bland's own words, " a vindication of China's traditional conception of life-values." It was, indeed, precisely in the light of such a vindication that I sought to present it in my review. But Mr. Bland's emphasis surely should be, as mine emphatically is, on the word " traditional," for Mr. Lin Yutang hints pretty freely that the young are not following his footsteps down the primrose path of an enlightened Epicureanism. I ventured to suggest, not out of my own knowledge, but from a reading of Red Star Over China, that Mr. Lin Yutang's hint represents, nay, more, that it understates the truth ; that, in fact, China is in the throes of moral and social revolution.
Mr. Bland suggests that there has never been a time when this was not true of China, and plays on the plus pa change, plus c'est la mime chose theme. He may be right, but I cannot deny myself the pleasure of asking him how long is it since he was himself in China, and how much does he know at first hand of the China that has arisen since he left ? I find it the more difficult to resist the temptation of putting this question as I have just read in a contemporary journal an article which has every appearance of being authoritative, and which begins with the following sentence : " It is already dear that the China which entered the present conflict will bear few resemblances to the one that survives it."
The writer then goes on to explain that recent events " have changed the social and political climate of China to such a degree that no one can predict the future."
It does not require the encyclopaedic knowledge of China which Mr. Bland is so mistakenly kind as to attribute to me to conclude that the opinion of the writer of the article is a priori only too probable.—I am, &c.,
C. E. M. Joan.
4 East Heath Road, Hampsteerd, N.W. 3.
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