should be harmoniously and properly set, and that the characters

should be adapted to the piece as a whole, it is none the less important
that a moral should be enforced by it. The practical lesson

to be learned from the play should never be lost sight of.
In Chinese plays the moral is always prominent. The villain is punished,

virtue is rewarded, while the majority of the plays are historical.
All healthy-minded people will desire to see a play end with virtue rewarded,

and vice vanquished. Those who want it otherwise are unnatural
and possess short views of life. Either in this life or in some other,

each receives according to his deserts, and this lesson
should always be taught by the play. Yet from all the clever dramas

which have been written and acted on the Western stage from time to time
what a very small percentage of moral lessons can be drawn,

while too many of them have unfortunately been of an objectionable nature.
Nearly everyone reads novels, especially the younger folk;

to many of these a visit to a theater is like reading a novel,
excepting that the performance makes everything more realistic.

A piece with a good moral cannot therefore fail to make
an excellent impression" target="_blank" title="n.印刷；印象；效果">impression on the audience while at the same time

affording them amusement.
I am somewhat surprised that the churches, ethical societies

and reform associations in America do not more clearly appreciate
the valuable aid they might receive from the stage. I have been told

that some churches pay their singers more than their preachers,
which shows that they have some idea of the value of good art.

Why not go a step further and preach through a play? This does not mean
that there should be no fun but that the moral should be well thrust home.

I have heard of preachers who make jokes while preaching,
so that it should not be so very difficult to act interesting sermons

which would elevate, even if they did not amuse. People who went to church
to see a theater would not expect the same entertainment

as those who go to the theater simply for a laugh.
In China we do not expend as much energy as Americans and Europeans

in trying to make other people good. We try to be good ourselves
and believe that our good example, like a pure fragrance, will influence

others to be likewise. We think practice is as good as precept,
and, if I may say so without being supposed to be critical of a race

different from my own, the thought has sometimes suggested itself to me
that Americans are so intent on doing good to others,

and on making others good, that they accomplish less than they would
if their actions and intentions were less direct and obvious.

I cannot here explain all I mean, but if my readers will study what
Li Yu and Chuang Tsz have to say about "Spontaneity" and "Not Interfering",

I think they will understand my thought. The theater, as I have already said,
was in several countries religious in its origin; why not use it

to elevate people indirectly? The ultimate effect, because more natural,
might be better and truer than more direct persuasion. Pulpit appeals,

I am given to understand, are sometimes very personal.
Since writing the above I have seen a newspaper notice of

a dramaticperformance in the Ethical Church, Queen's Road, Bayswater, London.
The Ethical Church believes "in everything that makes life sweet and human"

and the management state that they believe -- "the best trend
of dramatic opinion to-day points not only to the transformation of theaters

into centers of social enlightenment and moral elevation,
but also to the transformation of the churches into centers

for the imaginativepresentation, by means of all the arts combined,
of the deeper truths and meanings of life." Personally,

I do not know anything about this society, but surely
there is nothing out of harmony with Christianity in these professions,

and I am glad to find here an alliance between the two greatest factors in
the development of Western thought and culture -- the church and the theater.

The newspaper article to which I have referred was describing
the "old morality play, Everyman" which had been performed in the church.

The visitor who was somewhat critical, and apparently unused
to seeing the theater in a church, wrote of the performance thus:

"Both the music and the dressing of the play were perfect,
and from the moment that Death entered clad in blue stuff

with immense blue wings upon his shoulders, and the trump in his hand,
and stopped Everyman, a gorgeous figure in crimson robes and jewelled turban,

with the question, `Who goes so gaily by?' the play was performed
with an impressiveness that never faltered.

"The heaviest burden, of course, falls on Everyman, and the artist
who played this part seemed to me, though I am no dramatic critic,

to have caught the atmosphere and the spirit of the play.
His performance, indeed, was very wonderful from the moment when

he offers Death a thousand boons if only the dread summons may be delayed,
to that final tense scene, when, stripped of his outer robe,

he says his closing prayers, hesitates for a moment to turn back,
though the dread angel is there by his side, and then follows

the beckoning hand of Good Deeds, a figure splendidly robed
in flowing draperies of crimson and with a wonderfullyexpressive mobile face.

"At the conclusion of the play Dr. Stanton Colt addressed a few words
to the enthusiasticaudience, `Forsake thy pride, for it will

profit thee nothing,' he quoted, `If we could but remember this more carefully
and also the fact that nothing save our good deeds shall ever go with us

into that other World, surely it would help us to a holier and better life.
Earthly things have their place and should have a due regard paid to them,

but we must not forget the jewel of our souls.'"
I have, of course, heard of the "Passion Play" at Oberammergau in Germany

where the life of Jesus Christ is periodically represented on the stage,
but I say nothing about this, for, so far as I know, it is not performed

in America, and I have not seen it; but I may note in passing
that in China theaters are generally associated with the gods in the temples,

and that the moral the play is meant to teach is always well driven home
into the minds of the audience. We have not, however,

ventured to introduce any of our sages to theater audiences.
The theater in China is a much simpler affair than in America.

The residents in a locality unite and erect a large stage
of bamboo and matting, the bamboo poles are tied with strips of rattan,

and all the material of the stage, excepting the rattan,
can be used over again when it is taken down. Most of the audience

stand in front of the stage and in the open air, the theater generally being
in front of the temple; and the play, which often occupies three or four days,

is often performed in honor of the god's birthday. There is no curtain,
and there are no stage accessories. The audience is thus enabled

to concentrate its whole attention on the acting. Female parts
are played by men, and everything is beautifully simple. There is no attempt

to produce such elaborate effects as I have seen in the West,
and of course nothing at all resembling the pantomime,

which frequently requires mechanical arts. A newspaper paragraph
caught my eye while thinking of this subject. I reproduce it.

"The Century Theater in New York City has special apparatus
for producing wind effects, thunder and lightning simultaneously.

The wind machine consists of a drum with slats which are rotated
over an apron of corded silk, which produces the whistling sound of wind;

the lightning is produced by powdered magnesium electrically ignited;
thunder is simulated by rolling a thousand pounds of stone, junk and chain

down a chute ending in an iron plate, followed by half-a-dozen cannon balls
and supplemented by the deafening notes of a thunder drum."

Although, however, Chinese play-goers do not demand
the expensive outfits and stage sceneries of the West, I must note here

that not even on the American stage have I seen such gorgeous costumes,
or robes of so rich a hue and displaying such glittering gold ornaments

and graceful feathers, as I have seen on the simple Chinese stage
I have just described. Western fashions are having a tendency

in our ports and larger cities to modify some things that I have stated
about Chinese theatricalperformances, but the point I wish especially

to impress on my readers is that theatricalperformances in China,
while amusing and interesting, are seldom melodramatic,

and as I look back on my experiences in the United States,
I cannot but think that the good people there are making a mistake

in not utilizing the human natural love for excitement and the drama
as a subsidiary moral investment. And, of course, all I have said of theaters

applies with equal force to moving-picture shows.
Chapter 15. Opera and Musical Entertainments

Opera is a form of entertainment which, though very popular
in America and England, does not appeal to me. I know that those

who are fond of music love to attend it, and that the boxes in an opera house
are generally engaged by the fashionable set for the whole season beforehand.

I have seen members of the "four hundred" in their boxes
in a New York opera house; they have been distinguished

by their magnificent toilettes and brilliantjewelry; but I have been thinking
of the Chinese drama, which, like the old Greek play, is also based on music,

and Chinese music with its soft and plaintive airs is a very different thing