ned with the
young people mentioned above, but they did not agree with me, and I had
to conclude that love is blind.

Before leaving this subject I would add that the system of marriage
which has been in vogue in China for so many centuries has been
somewhat changed within the last few years. This is due to the new
spirit which has been gradually growing. Young people begin to exert
their rights, and will not allow parents to choose their life partners
without their consent. Instances of girls choosing their own husbands
have come to my knowledge, and they did not occur during leap-year.
But I sincerely hope that our Chinese youth will not go to the same
lengths as the young people of America.

The manner in which a son treats his parents in the United States is
diametrically opposed to our Chinese doctrine, handed down to us from
time immemorial. "Honor thy father and thy mother" is an injunction of
Moses which all Christians profess to observe, but which, or so it
appears to a Confucianist, all equally forget. The Confucian creed
lays it down as the essential duty of children that they shall not only
honor and obey their fathers and their mothers, but that they are in
duty bound to support them. The reason is that as their parents
brought them into the world, reared and educated them, the children
should make them some return for their trouble and care. The view of
this question which is taken in America seems to be very strange to me.
Once I heard a young American argue in this way. He said, gravely and
seriously, that as he was brought into this world by his parents
without his consent, it was their duty to rear him in a proper way, but
that it was no part of his duty to support them. I was very much
astounded at this statement. In China such a son would be despised,
and if he neglected to maintain his parents he would be punished. I do
not believe that the extreme views of this young man are universally
accepted in America, but I am inclined to think that the duties of
children toward their parents are somewhat ill-defined. American
parents do not apparently expect their children to support them,
because, as a rule they are, if not rich, at least in comfortable
circumstances; and even if they are not, they would rather work for
their livelihood than burden their children and hinder their success by
relying on them for pecuniary aid. It may have escaped my observation,
but, so far as I know, it is not