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Smith, Arthur H : Chinese Characteristics

Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, 1894

"Enlarged and Revised Edition with Marginal and New Illustrations." Original publisher's green cloth binding with gilt lettering on front cover and spine. Small green and white illustrations on front cover. One small gilt decoration on spine. A few leaves unopened. 6" x 8 1/4." 342 pages, complete. Black-and-white in-text illustrations and black-and-white printed photographic plates, complete. List of Illustrations in front. Index in back. Pages are virtually pristine and intact except for light age toning and very occasional faint marks. Covers are very clean and intact except for slight wear to edges and head and tail of spine, very slight bumping to tips, and minuscule rubbing. Binding is tight. A Fine copy. Descriptive account about Chinese people and culture from a Western missionary's perspective. Chinese Characteristics was written by Arthur H. Smith (1845-1932), an American missionary, and was arguably the most widely read book about China among foreign residents in the country until the 1920s. After being ordained into the Congregational ministry, Smith and his wife, Emma Jane Dickinson, set sail for China in 1872. They stayed in China until the Boxer Rebellion (Boxer Uprising), a subject which Smith, too, wrote a detailed account of. After returning to the United States, Smith retired in 1926. He passed away in California in 1932. In this book, Smith gives his impressions about Chinese people, culture, and customs. Many of his descriptions are his assessments of the personality traits and morals of Chinese people. While Smith, at times, criticizes Chinese people in general for purportedly having a penchant for specific vices, he also extols their virtues and what he believes are their strengths. Smith also provides counterpoints in which he conveys the opinions Chinese people have of European residents or visitors and Western culture. The following are the chapters which are organized overall by different aspects or attributes of Chinese people and culture: "Face" (in the sense of "saving face" or maintaining one's reputation), "Economy" (being economical and resourceful and wasting little), "Industry" (industriousness), "Politeness," "The Disregard of Time," "The Disregard of Accuracy," "The Talent for Misunderstanding," "The Talent for Indirection" (ambiguity), "Flexible Inflexibility," "Intellectual Turbidity," "The Absence of Nerves" (Smith says Westerners have a penchant for "nervousness" or being easily agitated or tense while he says Chinese people are "tireless, all-pervading and phlegmatic"), "Contempt for Foreigners," "The Absence of Public Spirit" (patriotism), "Conservatism," "Indifference to Comfort and Convenience," "Physical Vitality," "Patience and Perseverance," "Content and Cheerfulness," "Filial Piety," "Benevolence," "The Absence of Sympathy" (Smith describes pervasive abuse in China toward those with physical and mental disabilities and young Chinese women), "Social Typhoons," "Mutual Responsibility and Respect for Law," "Mutual Suspicion," "The Absence of Sincerity," "Polytheism, Pantheism, Atheism," and The Real Condition of China and Her Present Needs.". Book. Book Condition: Fine. Binding: Hardcover

Revised and Expanded Edition

SMITH, Arthur, H : Chinese Characteristics

Oliphant Anderson & Ferrier n.d

Enlarged and revised edition, a very good copy in original green pictorial cloth gilt.

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