" In all this they
differ greatly from more advanced nations, and particularly from
America; it never occurs to them to treat opinions as if they were
soaps. And they have no admiration for ruthlessness, or love of bustling
activity without regard to its purpose. Having thrown over the
prejudices in which they were brought up, they have not taken on a new
set, but have remained genuinely free in their thoughts, able to
consider any proposition honestly on its merits.
The younger men, however, have something more than the first generation
of modern intellectuals. Having had less of a struggle, they have
retained more energy and self-confidence. The candour and honesty of the
pioneers survive, with more determination to be socially effective. This
may be merely the natural character of youth, but I think it is more
than that. Young men under thirty have often come in contact with
Western ideas at a sufficiently early age to have assimilated them
without a great struggle, so that they can acquire knowledge without
being torn by spiritual conflicts. And they have been able to learn
Western knowledge from Chinese teachers to begin with, which has made
the process less difficult. Even the youngest students, of course, still
have reactionary families, but they find less difficulty than their
predecessors in resisting the claims of the family, and in realizing
practically, not only theoretically, that the traditional Chinese
reverence for the old may well be carried too far.
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