3
80
4.
1 take this opportunity of urging once again
that the policy of regional recognition is the only
practicable method of solving the Chinese problem now
confronting us. It must always be borne in mind that
China is, not a nation, but a civilization. The vast area
labelled "China" on a map of the world is not comparable with areas labelled "France" "Spain" or "Italy", but rather with the continent of Europe. As in Europe the alphabetic script has been universally adopted, while the
spoken languages differ; so in China the ideographic
script has been universally adopted, but the spoken
languages differ. As certain social customs, for example
monogamy, are common to Europe; so are certain social
customs, such as polygamy, common to China. As the
Christian ethical system permeates Europe, so does the
Confucian ethical system permeate China. But it is no
less misleading to think of China as a nation than it
would be to think of Europe as a nation. There have been,
in the past, periods during which the Eighteen Provinces
were ruled by a single Emperor, just as in Europe there have been the ancient Roman Empire, the Holy Roman Empire and the Napoleonic Empire. But these periods of domination by a central Government have no more made China into a nation than they have made Europe into a nation: and the most that can be hoped for in China by
way of unification, and that not in the near future,
is some form of loose federation or entente between war
Lords of various Chinese provinces or groups of provinces. At present the slogans acclaimed in Southern China are
"Canton