Page:Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook - Balfour, 1887.djvu/67

 CHAPTER IV.

A PHASE OF COURT ETIQUETTE.

amusing chapter in the history of official etiquette in China might be written under the heading of "The Emperor is Thanked." Many years ago the present writer was acquainted with a certain pedagogue, part of whose system of education consisted in extorting the formula, "Thank you, Sir," from his pupils in reply to any question or remark of whatsoever nature that might be addressed to them. If he asked a pupil what the time was, "Half-past two, Sir, thank you," was the correct rejoinder; and the same expression of gratitude was enforced even in acknowledgment of a severe rebuke or the imposition of a task. We may be permitted to doubt whether this practice was conducive to any very high standard of sincerity in the schoolboy mind, and to ask how much real value was attached to the compulsory employment of a formula so servile. The schoolmaster, however, was supported by a precedent of no small authority, had he only known it. The constitutional maxim that "the King can do no wrong" might be translated into the official language of China, "The Emperor can do nothing that is not benevolent." It is entertaining to study the circumstances under which thanks are offered to His Majesty, and the strange inversion of thought and language by which