19.20. 20. Explanation of a Paradox relating to the Chinese.
It is very remarkable that the Chinese, whose lives are guided by rites, are
nevertheless the greatest cheats upon earth. This appears chiefly in
their trade, which, in spite of its natural tendency, has never been
able to make them honest. He who buys of them ought to carry with him
his own weights;
[23]
every merchant having three sorts, the one heavy
for buying, another light for selling, and another of the true standard
for those who are upon their guard. It is possible, I believe, to
explain this contradiction.
The legislators of China had two objects in view: they were desirous
that the people should be submissive and peaceful, and that they should
also be laborious and industrious. By the nature of the soil and
climate, their subsistence is very precarious; nor can it be in any
other way secured than by industry and labour.
When every one obeys, and every one is employed, the state is in a
happy situation. It is necessity, and perhaps the nature of the climate,
that has given to the Chinese an inconceivable greediness for gain, and
laws have never been made to restrain it. Everything has been forbidden
when acquired by acts of violence; everything permitted when obtained by
artifice or labour. Let us not then compare the morals of China with
those of Europe. Every one in China is obliged to be attentive to what
will be for his advantage; if the cheat has been watchful over his own
interest, he who is the dupe ought to be attentive to his. At Sparta
they were permitted to steal; in China they are suffered to deceive.
Footnotes
[23]
Lange, Journal in 1721 and 1722; in "Voyages to the North," vol. viii, p. 363.
