Eminent sinologues
agree as to the impossibility of the conception of the Chinese mind and
character as a whole, so glaring are the inconsistencies of the Chinese
nature. And as one sees for himself in this great city, particularly in
official life, the businesslike practicability on the one hand and the
utter absurdity of administration on the other, in all modes and
methods, one is almost inclined to drop his pen in disgust at being
unable to come to any concrete conclusions.
Of no province in China more than of Yuen-nan is this true.
Reform and immovable conservatism go hand in hand. Men of the most
dissimilar ambitions compose the _corps diplomatique_, and are willing
to join hands to propagate their main beliefs; and when one writes of
progress--in railways, in the army, in gaols, in schools, in public
works, in no matter what--one is ever confronted by that dogged
immutability which characterizes the older school.
So that in writing of things Yuen-nanese in this great city it is
imperative for me to state bare facts as they stand now, and make little
comment.
THE RAILWAY
The Tonkin-Yuen-nan Railway, linking the interior with the coast, is one
of the world's most interesting engineering romances.
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