China and the West

Letter from John Dewey to Albert C. Barnes
Shanghai May 30th [1920]
Dear Barnes, …
I left Peking early in April. For six weeks I was at Nanking, teaching, or rather lecturing, wuite different, in the Govt Teachers College ther[e]. For the last week two weeks Ive been on tour, three interior places and then a week here, and then four or five other places before the first of July. All in this province and in the neighboring one. These are about the most prosperous and progressive provinces in China, but China, barring Shanghai, is still most decidedly China. It is interesting to get these glimpses of interior towns; two places were not treaty towns, and hence had no foreigners in them except doctors and missionaries and mission teachers. Everything in China is a contradiction. China needs foreign influence badly, foreign industrial methods etc, and yet the individual Chinese seem batter off, honester and more selfrespecting where foreigners dont go in large nos. In some ways one gets a better impression of missionary work in the smaller towns than in the big centres. The hospital and medical work awkanes [awakens] enthusiasm, and they take with them, the missionaries and teachers, a certain social spirit and public interest which is much needed. I stayed at a Chinese Youngs Mens Club at one of these places a useful institution, but it is safe to say that it wouldnt have been started without the example of the Y M C As. Many Chinese say that China is now going thru a period of rather indiscriminate admiration of all things foreign after having had so long a contempt for everything foreign, and is in danger of losing its own best things. I dont know of course. The Chinese seem to be very Chinese, and likely to stay so, tho in my judgment they really assimilate foreign ideas more internally than the Japanese. I have a theory that the situation in China now is much like that in Japan fifty years ago, and that there was a time when Japan might have turned in either direction. The Japanese continue to invade Siberia—and to promise complete withdrawal of all troops "when". They doubtless will when they get all the economic concessions they want—otherwise when the Russians get strong enough to put them out. Mr [Frank A.] Vanderlips party has been drowned in Japanese courtesy and palaver. Only one had strength enough to get up to the surface again and come over to China to see for himself. Mr Lamont at least has force, and isnt decieved. Dont think the consortium is all bad or exploitation. It might even be the salvation of China politically speaking, not only as the means of protecting China from further competitive exploitation which means partition ofr complete Japanese domination. Without foreign supervision of her finances China will surely go bankrupt and an international supervision is better than a compettive scramble—which is the reason Japan, or one reason, why Japan so opposed the consortium.
I shall get back to Peking early in July I suppose. Mrs. Dewey and the two girls stayed in Peking a month or so after I did but we are now going about together.
Sincerely yours, John Dewey—