has been the means of
making nudity popular in musical farce would beyond question incur the
lady's very reasonable wrath. But it is none the less true. When the
bare-legged classic dancer made her appearance in opera houses, and on
concert platforms with symphony orchestras, it was the cue for every
chorus girl with an ambition to undress in public. First of all we had
a plague of Salomes. Then the musical comedy producers, following
their usual custom of religiously avoiding anything original, began to
send the pony ballets and soubrettes on the stages without their
hosiery and with their knees clad in nothing but a coat of whitewash
(sometimes they even forgot to put on the whitewash, and then the sight
was horrible). The human form divine, with few exceptions, is a
devilish spectacle unless it is properly made up. Some twenty years
from now managers will discover what audiences found out months ago,
that a chorus girl's bare leg is infinitely less beautiful than the
same leg when duly disguised by petticoats and things."

[1] In his discussion of actors, Wu Tingfang does not seem to be aware
that the idealization of actors in the West is comparatively recent,
and that historically, and even now in some parts of society, actors
and the acting profession have been looked down upon in the West for
many of the same reasons he gives for the same phenomenon in China.--A.
R. L., 1996.

[2] Wu Tingfang is quite correct to deplore this statement as a
description of Chinese music. However, in all fairness, it is an
accurate description of how a Western ear first hears CERTAIN types of
Chinese music. After successive hearings this impression will fly
away, but until then CERTAIN types are reminiscent of two alley-cats
fighting in a garbage can. This is not meant as a degrading comment,
any more so than Wu Tingfang's comments on opera. Some music is an
acquired taste, and after acquirement, its beauty becomes not only
recognizable but inescapable. Certain other types of Chinese music can
easily be appreciated on the first hearing.--A. R. L., 1996.

Chapter 16. Conjuring and Circuses

After what I have said as to the position of the actor in China my
readers will not be surprised at my saying that the performance of a
conjuror should not be encouraged. What pleasure can there be in being
tricked? It may be a great display of dexterity to turn water into
wine, to seem to cut off a person's head, to appear