He appears to be what he is not. Now our ancient wise men felt
that pretense of any sort must have a dangerous reactionary influence
on the character. If a man learns how to be a clever actor on the stage
he may be a skilled deceiver in other walks of life. Moreover,
no one to whom sincerity is as the gums are to the teeth,
would wish to acquire the art of acting as though he were some one else.
Hence actors in China have from ancient times been looked down upon.
Actresses, until the last decade or so, were unknown in China,
and a boy who became an actor could never afterward occupy
any position of honor. He, his children and his grandchildren
might be farmers, merchants or soldiers, but they could never be teachers,
literary men or officials. The Chinese feeling for sincerity,
amounting almost to worship, has caused the profession of an actor in China
to be considered a very low one, and so until the new regime
the actor was always debarred from attending any literary examination,
and was also deprived of the privilege of obtaining official appointment;
in fact he was considered an outcast of society. No respectable
Chinese family would think of allowing their son to go on the stage.
As a natural consequent the members of the Chinese stage have, as a rule,
been men who were as much below the level of moral respectability
as conventionalism had already adjudged them to be below the level
of social respectability. Regard anyone as a mirror with a cracked face
and he will soon justify your opinion of him.
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