CO129-338 - Public Offices & Others - 1906 — Page 221

CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案 All AI Reviewed

To Western minds all this sounds like an attempt

to make people virtuous by Act of Parliament, and

without showing any lack of appreciation of the ef-

forts of the Statesmen who are trying to cope with

what is undoubtedly a great and growing evil, it is

permissible to doubt whether the proposed remedies are

of a practicable nature.

It is true that the Chinese Government have in

recent years effected some far-reaching changes, of

which the abolition of the old Examination system is

perhaps the most striking instance, but to sweep away

in a decade habits which have been the growth of at

least a century and which have gained a firm hold upon

8,000,000 of the adult population of the Empire is a

task which has, I imagine, been rarely attempted with

success in the course of history. And the attempt,

it must be remembered, is to be made at a time when

the Central Government has largely lost the power to

impose its will upon the provinces.

The authors of

the movement are, however, confident of success and

China will deserve, and doubtless receive much sym-

pathy

OT

Edit History

2026-06-03 09:51:26 · NVIDIA / meta/llama-4-maverick-17b-128e-instruct
Live
View comparison
AI Proofread
To Western minds all this sounds like an attempt to make people virtuous by Act of Parliament, and without showing any lack of appreciation of the ef- forts of the Statesmen who are trying to cope with what is undoubtedly a great and growing evil, it is permissible to doubt whether the proposed remedies are of a practicable nature. It is true that the Chinese Government have in recent years effected some far-reaching changes, of which the abolition of the old Examination system is perhaps the most striking instance, but to sweep away in a decade habits which have been the growth of at least a century and which have gained a firm hold upon 8,000,000 of the adult population of the Empire is a task which has, I imagine, been rarely attempted with success in the course of history. And the attempt, it must be remembered, is to be made at a time when the Central Government has largely lost the power to impose its will upon the provinces. The authors of the movement are, however, confident of success and China will deserve, and doubtless receive much sym- pathy OT
Baseline (Original)
ats Jon bae,qurb add yol gaivero sasniño and Baw ji jedj won sew doldw ‚enido noqu ji sorot of exlasb a'bnslanI ainT .ofttend and to eonsunitnoo erit rol aldianogast .TM mort goldemtiinoo bevisser noljasup end to welv foldw anommod to sauoH and nt doseqs Jп909т a'yaltoM of merit of moitativni no es bourdanoo aesmido ent not saɛso add rot exfaeb Tisdj to vireonta 9d♬ svorq mulgo to Jroqmi netbal add to to Javooos eind bevis.91 I moɗw mort,gnot.TMM em viqqua bivoo,Jпanevom Jnsesïg odd to elesnog ont OJ STB doidw aqaja adj od as noitamrotni sijJIC AJIW -org to bordem sid Jud,Joiba edt sorotna of nexed ed Ja9297q je bojalumrol noad sed Ji as tel 08 eTubǝo to noijoubet Ieubery 8 staiqmetnoo od vinguor amese uaasq tray muiqo sviten to noljevidius to BOTA SAJ and to Toqmi edu ni saserosh gafbnoqzero e njiw ,aistoitto ti,guтh and to erexome .9[ɔij78 ngterol of dotdw ni adjnom xia Juoda to miej a nevig ed of ex8 od SIA SIqosą Vranibro saj bne,Jideri en 11o Neerd od galbroooe betruberg elese emid e no ddiw Jiseb od and of bajolbbs anooed even vedu doldw at «sergab ent .Jidad 216 To Western minds all this sounds like an attempt to make people virtuous by Act of Parliament, and without showing any lack of appreciation of the ef- forts of the Statesmen who are trying to cope with what is undoubtedly a great and growing evil, it is permissible to doubt whether the proposed remedies are of a practicable nature. It is true that the Chinese Government have in recent years effected some far-reaching changes, of which the abolition of the old Examination system is perhaps the most striking instance, but to sweep away in a decade habits which have been the growth of at least a century and which have gained a firm hold upon 8,000,000 of the adult population of the Empire is a task which has, I imagine, been rarely attempted with success in the course of history. And the attempt, it must be remembered, is to be made at a time when the Central Government has largely lost the power to impose its will upon the provinces. The authors of the movement are, however, confident of success and China will deserve, and doubtless receive much sym- pathy OT
2026-06-03 09:51:26 · Baseline
View content

ats

Jon bae,qurb add yol gaivero sasniño and Baw ji jedj

won sew doldw ‚enido noqu ji sorot of exlasb a'bnslanI

ainT .ofttend and to eonsunitnoo erit rol aldianogast

.TM mort goldemtiinoo bevisser noljasup end to welv

foldw anommod to sauoH and nt doseqs Jп909т a'yaltoM

of merit of moitativni no es bourdanoo aesmido ent

not saɛso add rot exfaeb Tisdj to vireonta 9d♬ svorq

mulgo to Jroqmi netbal add to

to Javooos eind bevis.91 I moɗw mort,gnot.TMM

em viqqua bivoo,Jпanevom Jnsesïg odd to elesnog ont

OJ STB doidw aqaja adj od as noitamrotni sijJIC AJIW

-org to bordem sid Jud,Joiba edt sorotna of nexed ed

Ja9297q je bojalumrol noad sed Ji as tel 08

eTubǝo

to noijoubet Ieubery 8 staiqmetnoo od vinguor amese

uaasq tray muiqo sviten to noljevidius to BOTA SAJ

and to Toqmi edu ni saserosh gafbnoqzero e njiw

,aistoitto ti,guтh and to erexome

.9[ɔij78 ngterol

of dotdw ni adjnom xia Juoda to miej a nevig ed of ex8

od SIA SIqosą Vranibro saj bne,Jideri en 11o Neerd

od galbroooe betruberg elese emid e no ddiw Jiseb od

and of bajolbbs anooed even vedu doldw at «sergab ent

.Jidad

216

To Western minds all this sounds like an attempt

to make people virtuous by Act of Parliament, and

without showing any lack of appreciation of the ef-

forts of the Statesmen who are trying to cope with

what is undoubtedly a great and growing evil, it is

permissible to doubt whether the proposed remedies are

of a practicable nature.

It is true that the Chinese Government have in

recent years effected some far-reaching changes, of

which the abolition of the old Examination system is

perhaps the most striking instance, but to sweep away

in a decade habits which have been the growth of at

least a century and which have gained a firm hold upon

8,000,000 of the adult population of the Empire is a

task which has, I imagine, been rarely attempted with

success in the course of history. And the attempt,

it must be remembered, is to be made at a time when

the Central Government has largely lost the power to

impose its will upon the provinces.

The authors of

the movement are, however, confident of success and

China will deserve, and doubtless receive much sym-

pathy

OT

Comments

Approved members can add comments, bookmarks, and private notes.

No comments yet.

Private Research Note

Private notes are available after approval.