Democratic Sentinel, Volume 4, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 November 1880 — Chinese Soldiers. [ARTICLE]

Chinese Soldiers.

Capt. Gill, of the British army, in his narrative of a journey through China and Eastern Thibet, gives the following estimate of the military capacity of the Chinese : “With European officers, as under Col. Gordon, we know how well the Chinese have fought, while, unlike most Orientals, they have not been utterly demoralized by a check. Properly led, they would make magnificent troops, for by nature the Chinese are singularly obedient to authority, and would not question the commands of those who had once established an influence over them. In this they are like other Easterns, but more than others their national character renders them particularly incapable of military combinations. A Chinaman can learn anything, but he can conceive nothing. He may readily be taught any number of the most complicated military maneuvers, but place him in a position slightly different from what he has learned, and he will be found utterly incapable of conceiving any modification to suit the altered circumstances. This national characteristic is the growth of centuries of a narrow education; its roots are deeply seated, and lie in the insane reverence for antiquity, which is almost the beginning and end of a Chinaman’s belief. Prompt action, readiness of resource, ability to seize on the smallest advantage, or to neutralize a misfortune, and the power to evolve fresh combinations—these are the qualities that make a soldier, and these are the very qualities that cannot coexist with the Chinese want of originality. This is no unimportant matter, for it proves that the Chinese cannot be feared as a military nation, but that, with a large number of European officers, their almost unlimited number, their obedience to authority and personal bravery, when properly led, would make them almost irresistible.”