China and the West

Gu Hongming sent to Leo Tolstoy through the intermediary of the Russian Consul-general his two works Papers from a Vieroy's yamen and Et nunc, reges, intelligite ! : the moral causes of the Russo-Japanese war.
Tolstoy, Leo. Letter to a Chinese (1906). [Letter to Gu Hongming].
"I have received your books and read them with great interest, especially the Papers from a Vieroy's yamen. The life of the Chinese people has always interested me to the hightest degree, and I have taken pains to become acquainted with the things in Chinese life which were accessible to me, for the most part Chinese religious wisdom : the books of Confucius, Mencius, Lao Tzu, and the commentaries on them. I have also read on Chinese Buddhism, as well as the books of Europeans on China.
The Chinese people, who have suffered so much from the immoral, crudely egoistic, and avaricious cruelty of the European peoples, have up to the present replied to all the violence committed against them with a majestic and wise composure, and have preferred patience in the struggle against force. I speak of the Chinese people and not of their government.
The successes of some thieves provoke the envy of others, and the seized prey becomes an object of wrangling and thus brings the thieves themselves to ruin. So it is with dogs, and so also it is with people who have lowered themselves to the level of animals.
I believe, that a great upheaval in the life of humanity is taking place in our time, and that in this upheaval China, at the head of the peoples of the Orient, must play an important rôle. It seems to me that the rôle of the oriental peoples of China, Persia, Turkey, India, Russia, and perhaps also Japan (if it is not completely entangled in the net of the corruption of European civilization) consists in showing to the world the right way to freedom, for which, as you write in your book, the Chinese language has no other word than 'Tao', a way, that is, an activity, which agrees with the eternal fundamental law of human life.
In our time, I believe the turn has now come likewise for orientals in general and Chinese in particular to become aware of the utter harm caused by despotic rule and to seek a means of liberation from it, since under present conditions of life it has become intolerable. I know that it is taught in China that the highest ruler, the Emperor, must be the wisest and most virtuous man, and if he is not, his subjects can and should refuse him allegiance. But I believe that this doctrine represents only an excuse for despotism. The Chinese people cannot know whether their emperor is wise or virtuous.
Especially is this true of China because of the peace-loving character of its people and the poor organization of its army, which give Europeans the opportunity to plunder Chinese territory with impunity under the pretext of various clashes and disagreement with the Chinese government. Thus the Chinese people cannot but feel the necessity of changing their relation to the ruling power. And here I can see from your book, as well as other sources of information, that some light-minded people in China, called the reform party, believe that this change should consist of doing just what the European nations have done, that is, of replacing a despotic government by a republican one, and establishing the same kind of army and industry as those of the West. This decision, which seems at first glance the simplest and most natural, is not only light-minded but very stupid, and, from all that I know about China, quite unnatural for the wise Chinese people.
As soon as people recognize human power as superior to that of God and of His law (Tao), they then become slaves ; all the more so when that power becomes increasingly comples (as in the case of a constitution which they establish and obey). Freedom can exist only for that people for whom the law of God (Tao) is the only supreme law, to which all other laws are subordinate. If you, by refusing to bey your government, will give no help to the foreign powers in their aggressions agains you, and if you refuse to serve them, whether it be in a private, civil, or military capacita, then there will be none of those disasters from which you now suffer.
May the Chinese people but continue to live their peaceful, industrious, agricultural life as they have before, behaving in accordance with the fundamentals of their religions : Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, all three of which basically agree on liberation from all human power (Confucianism), not doing to others what you do not wish to be done to yourself (Taoism), and self-abnegation, humility and love to all people and creatures (Buddhism). Then all those disasters from which they supper will automatically disappear, and no power will be enough to conquer them."