nocent form of deception, which deceives nobody, is carried
out when two officials, seated in sedan-chairs, have to pass one
another. If they are of about equal rank, etiquette demands that they
should alight from their chairs, and perform mutual salutations. To
obviate the extreme inconvenience of this rule, large wooden fans are
carried in all processions of the kind, and these are hastily thrust
between the passing officials, so that neither becomes aware of the
other's existence on the scene. The case is different when one of the
two is of higher rank. The official of inferior grade is bound to stop
and get out of his chair while his superior passes by, though even now
he has a chance of escape; he hears the gong beaten to clear the way
for the great man, whose rank he can tell from the number of consecutive
blows given; and hurriedly turns off down a side street.

An historical instance of substituting the shadow for the reality is
that of the great general Ts'ao Ts'ao, third century A.D., who for some
breach of the law sentenced himself to death, but satisfied his sense
of justice by cutting off his hair. An emperor of the sixth century,
who was a devout Buddhist, and therefore unable to countenance any
destruction of life, had all the sacrificial animals made of dough.

The opium question, which will claim a few words later on, has been
exhaustively threshed out; and in view of the contradictory statements
for and against the habit of opium smoking, it is recognized that any
conclusion, satisfactory to both parties, is a very remote possibility.
The Chinese themselves, who are chiefly interested in the argument, have
lately come to a very definite conclusion, which is that opium has
to go; and it seems that in spite of almost invincible obstacles, the
sincerity and patriotism which are being infused into the movement will
certainly, sooner or later, achieve the desired end. It is perhaps worth
noting that in the Decree of 1906, which ordered the abolition of opium
smoking, the old Empress Dowager, who was herself over sixty and a
moderate smoker, inserted a clause excusing from the operation of the
new law all persons already more than sixty years of age.

CHAPTER IX--THE MONGOLS, 1260-1368

Lack of patriotism is often hurled by foreigners as a reproach to the
Chinese. The charge cannot be substantiated, any more than it could be
if directed against some nation in Europe. If willingness to sacrifice
everyt