CHAPTER XIII POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE

“Decadent” or “Primitive”—A Dream of White Saviours¹ from the West.

Whether the Formosan aborigines are a “decadent” people, in the sense suggested in the last chapter, or whether they are “primitive,” in the sense that they are at the beginning of what would be a long racial life—a life with possibilities of intellectual and social evolution—were they given opportunities for the unhampered development of that life, is a question that will probably never be answered. No race, whatever its virility² or potentiality for development, can long survive the military despotism of a conquering people; especially when that conquering people is consistently ruthless in the methods it adopts for crushing out the racial individualities of the peoples whom it conquers.

It seems probable that under the dominance of the Japanese the aborigines of Formosa will in a few decades, or, at the longest, in a century or two, have ceased to exist as a people. Unless, indeed, their dream of being rescued from the rule of both Chinese and Japanese by “White Saviours from the West” ever come true; and of this there seems no prospect³ at the present time. Nor has[199] the white man—if one face the matter honestly—always proved a “saviour” to the aboriginal⁴ races with whom he has come into contact. As Bertrand Russell has recently intelligently remarked (Manchester Guardian⁵ Weekly, Friday, December 2, 1921) apropos⁶ of Japan’s policy in China: “Japan has merely been copying Christian⁷ morals.”[101]

The faith of the aboriginal Formosans, however, both in the power and the goodness of the white man—and white woman—is touching⁸ in the extreme. This does not happen to be due to the efforts of present-day missionaries⁹, since the efforts of the latter are, as has been previously¹⁰ stated, confined to attempts at Christianizing Chinese-Formosans (those who are usually known as “Formosans”). The reverence¹¹ among the aborigines for the white race is the result of the Dutch occupation of three hundred years ago—a tradition which has been handed down from generation to generation.

1 saviours   

n.救助者( saviour的名词复数 )；救星；救世主；耶稣基督

参考例句：

• No saviours are on the ballot. 选举没有救世主。 来自互联网

2 virility   

n.雄劲，丈夫气

参考例句：

• He wanted his sons to become strong,virile,and athletic like himself.他希望他的儿子们能长得像他一样强壮、阳刚而又健美。
• He is a tall,virile man with rugged good looks.他是个身材高大、体魄健壮、相貌粗犷英俊的男子。

3 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

4 aboriginal   

adj.（指动植物）土生的，原产地的，土著的

参考例句：

• They managed to wipe out the entire aboriginal population.他们终于把那些土著人全部消灭了。
• The lndians are the aboriginal Americans.印第安人是美国的土著人。

5 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

6 apropos   

adv.恰好地；adj.恰当的；关于

参考例句：

• I thought he spoke very apropos.我认为他说得很中肯。
• He arrived very apropos.他来得很及时。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

9 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

11 reverence   

n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• We reverence tradition but will not be fettered by it.我们尊重传统，但不被传统所束缚。