At first such applications were met by a puerile quibble
as to the effect of boring on the "pulse of the Dragon"--in their
eyes not the guardian of a precious deposit, but the personification
of "good luck." To find lucky locations, and to decide what might
help or harm, were the functions of a learned body of professors of
_Fungshui_, a false science which held the people in bondage
and kept the mines sealed up until our own day. Gradually the Chinese
are shaking off the incubus and, reckless of the Dragon, are forming
companies for the exploitation of all sorts of minerals. The Government
has framed elaborate regulations limiting the shares of foreigners,
and encouraging their own people to engage in mining enterprises.
"Give up your _Fungshui_;
It keeps your wealth locked up,"
says a verse of Viceroy Chang.
[Page 203]
A similar change has taken place in sentiment as regards railways.
At first dreaded as an instrument of foreign aggression, they are
now understood to be the best of auxiliaries for national defence.
It has further dawned on the mind of a grasping mandarinate that
they may be utilised as a source of revenue. If stocks pay well,
why should not the Government hold them? "Your railways pay 10
per cent.--that's the sort of railway we want in China," said one
of the commissioners at a banquet in England.
It would not be strange if the nationalisation of railways decided
on this spring in Japan should lead to a similar movement in China.
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