On a Chinese Screen · Chapter
XX: The Beast of Burden explained
The chapter reflects on the figure of the Chinese coolie, initially seen as a picturesque element of the landscape but gradually revealing the harsh reality of relentless physical labor, suffering, and dehumanization.
What happens
The chapter reflects on the figure of the Chinese coolie, initially seen as a picturesque element of the landscape but gradually revealing the harsh reality of relentless physical labor, suffering, and dehumanization. The narrator contrasts the initial aesthetic appreciation with the grim truth of exhaustion, sores, and malformation, ultimately expressing a futile compassion and quoting a Chinese mystic on the pitiful nature of such a life.
Themes in this chapter
Cultural Clash and Misunderstanding
The narrator's initial admiration for the coolies is met with the dismissive attitude of old residents, illustrating a clash between empathetic observation and ingrained colonial stereotypes.
Futility of Western Superiority
The chapter challenges the notion of Western superiority by revealing the coolies' endurance and the narrator's useless compassion, questioning the moral authority of the observer.
Loss of Tradition and Modernity
The coolies' timeless, unchanging labor from childhood to old age reflects a tradition of suffering that persists despite modernity, highlighting the loss of individual dignity.
Key passages
“At first when you see the coolie on the road, bearing his load, it is as a pleasing object that he strikes the eye.”
Initially, the sight of a coolie carrying a burden seems aesthetically pleasing.
Sets up the contrast between initial perception and later realization of suffering.
“You will be told with a tolerant shrug of the shoulders that the coolies are animals and for two thousand years from father to son have carried burdens, so it is no wonder if they do it cheerfully.”
Long-term foreign residents dismiss the coolies' endurance as mere animal instinct, a result of centuries of inherited labor.
Highlights the dehumanizing colonial attitude.
“You see the poor tired heart beating against the ribs: you see it as plainly as in some cases of heart disease in the outpatients’ room of a hospital.”
The coolie's exhaustion is so extreme that his heartbeat is visibly pounding against his chest, like a medical symptom.
Emphasizes the physical toll and the narrator's distress.
“In China it is man that is the beast of burden.”
In China, humans are used as pack animals.
Central thesis of the chapter, contrasting with the use of animals elsewhere.
“To labour without ceasing, and then, without living to enjoy the fruit, worn out, to depart, suddenly, one knows not whither—is not that a just cause for grief?”
To work endlessly, die without enjoying the results, and vanish into the unknown—isn't that truly tragic?
Quotes a Chinese mystic to underscore the existential grief of the coolie's life.