“‘In all the treaties these foreigners have made with us, there is not one word concerning reverence for parents and elders or respect for the nine canons of virtue. There is no mention of the four principles, namely, the observance of ceremony, the individual’s duty to other human beings, integrity of character and a sense of shame. Instead, they speak only and always of commercial profit. Such men do not know the meaning of duty and ceremony, wisdom and good faith. Yet we expect them to behave as civilized men. They do not know the meaning of the five relationships, the first of which is that between sovereign and subject, and yet we expect them to behave as though they did know.’”
—Pearl S. Buck, Imperial Woman, (Wakefield, R.I.: Moyer Bell, 1956, 1999), p. 249.
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