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China and the Chinese
Herbert Allen Gilles – illustrious sinologist and British diplomat – has given a series of insightful lectures at Columbia University, talking about the importance of conducting further studies on China and various aspects of the Chinese language.
Largely the central theme points of the otherwise unrelated lectures, these are further developed by Gilles, who has reserved a large section on the writings of ancient China, and focuses heavily on the Chinese language of today, presenting major and minor writings, as well as their historical background.
Although written by an expert on Chinese culture and literature at the start of the 20th century, China and the Chinese is an extremely readable and well-documented work. It is presented in terms that the laymen may understand, and outlines the essential points of what Gilles was trying to convey: to bring a historically accurate and detailed depiction of the Chinese culture that allows us to dive deeper into the somewhat obscure understanding of the country’s past and present development (at that time).
There is a total of six lectures included in the book, each with its own specific central theme. While the first one simply addresses the structure, form, content and phonetics of the Chinese language, Gilles moves further on to describe topics such as Taoism, China’s governmental structure and even various customs, manners and traditions associated with the country.
The lectures are extremely thorough and well-referenced. You will find detailed contents and examples given to back up Gilles’ various claims and a myriad of multi-layered connections made between the various aspects of China’s culture.
Largely the central theme points of the otherwise unrelated lectures, these are further developed by Gilles, who has reserved a large section on the writings of ancient China, and focuses heavily on the Chinese language of today, presenting major and minor writings, as well as their historical background.
Although written by an expert on Chinese culture and literature at the start of the 20th century, China and the Chinese is an extremely readable and well-documented work. It is presented in terms that the laymen may understand, and outlines the essential points of what Gilles was trying to convey: to bring a historically accurate and detailed depiction of the Chinese culture that allows us to dive deeper into the somewhat obscure understanding of the country’s past and present development (at that time).
There is a total of six lectures included in the book, each with its own specific central theme. While the first one simply addresses the structure, form, content and phonetics of the Chinese language, Gilles moves further on to describe topics such as Taoism, China’s governmental structure and even various customs, manners and traditions associated with the country.
The lectures are extremely thorough and well-referenced. You will find detailed contents and examples given to back up Gilles’ various claims and a myriad of multi-layered connections made between the various aspects of China’s culture.
126 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1902
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181 people want to read
About the author
Herbert Allen Giles
354 books16 followersEducated at Charterhouse, Herbert Allen Giles was a British diplomat and author of books on China and the Far East. He served as British Vice-consul at Pagoda Island from 1880 to 1883 and at Shanghai from 1883 to 1885. He then became Consul at Tamsui in 1885 and in 1891 at Ningpo. He taught Chinese at Cambridge and, in 1902, became a senior lecturer at Columbia University. His works include Chinese Sketches (1876), Historic China (1882), The Remains of Lao Tzu (1886), China and the Chinese (1902), The Civilization of China (1911), Confucianism and Its Rivals (1915) and The Second Hundred Best Characters (1922).
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December 1, 2017
Written by one of Cambridge University’s earliest sinologists. A bit racist, but overall fascinating for its first-hand accounts of 1800’s China. (I've listed last in my notes what Giles starts with : the university’s priceless library collection.)
-----------------
“The Chinese are withal an exceptionally law-abiding people, and entertain a deep-seated respect for authority.”
“Every trade, every calling, even the meanest, has its guild, or association, the members of which are ever ready to protect one another with perfect unanimity, and often great self-sacrifice.”
“Every one who has lived in China, and has kept his eyes open, must have noticed what a large measure of personal freedom is enjoyed… Any Chinaman may travel all over China without asking any one's leave to start, and without having to report himself, or be reported by his innkeeper, at any place at which he may choose to stop. He requires no passport. He may set up any legitimate business at any place. He is not even obliged to be educated, or to follow any particular calling. He is not obliged to serve as a soldier or sailor… Outside the penal code, which has been pronounced by competent Western lawyers to be a very ably constructed instrument of government, there is nothing at all in the way of law, civil law being altogether absent as a state institution… So long as a man keeps clear of secret societies and remains a decent and respectable member of his family and of his clan, he has very little to fear from the officials.”
“Many petty offenses which are often dealt with very harshly in England pass in China almost unnoticed. No shopkeeper or farmer would be fool enough to charge a hungry man with stealing food, for the simple reason that no magistrate would convict. It is the shopkeeper's or farmer’s business to see that such petty thefts cannot occur.”
“All together the Chinese people may be said to be lightly taxed… there are no municipal rates to be paid, no water-rate, no poor-rate, and not a cent for either sanitation or education. And so long as the Imperial taxes are such as the people have grown accustomed to, they are paid cheerfully, even if sometimes with difficulty, and nothing is said.”
“It is not uncommon for an accused person to challenge his accuser to a kind of trial by ordeal, at the local temple. Kneeling before the altar, at midnight, in the presence of a crowd of witnesses, the accused man will solemnly burn a sheet of paper, on which he has written, or caused to be written, an oath, totally denying his guilt, and calling upon the gods to strike him dead upon the spot, or his accuser, if either one is deviating in the slightest degree from the actual truth.”
“The study of Chinese presents at least one advantage over the study of the Greek and Roman classics; I might add, of Hebrew, of Syriac, and even of Sanskrit… to acquire a practical acquaintance with a living language, spoken and written by about 1/3 of the existing population of the earth…”
“The comparatively recent introduction of Sanskrit was received in the classical world, not merely with coldness, but with strenuous opposition; and all the genius of its pioneer scholars was needed to secure the need of recognition which it now enjoys as an important field of research. The Regius Professorship of Greek in the University of Cambridge, England, was founded in 1540; but it was not until 1867, more than three centuries later, that Sanskrit was admitted into the university curriculum. It is still impossible to gain a degree through the medium of Chinese…”
“"There is in the universe an Aura, an influence which permeates all things, and makes them what they are. Below, it shapes forth land and water; above, the sun and the stars. In man it is called spirit; and there is nowhere where it is not.”
- Wên T’ien-hsiang
“.. The memory of Han Yü remains, a treasure for ever. In a temple which contains his portrait, and which is dedicated to him, a grateful posterity has put up a tablet bearing the following legend, "Wherever he passed, he purified."
“The last Emperor of the Ming dynasty…. who had refused to flee, slew the eldest Princess, commanded the Empress to commit suicide, and sent his three sons into hiding… His Majesty then ascended the well-known hill on the Palace grounds, and wrote a last decree on the lapel of his
robe… He then hanged himself, and the great Ming dynasty was no more.”
“… in China the men use fans… begin dinner with fruit and end it with soup; shake their own instead of their friends' hands when meeting; have huge visiting-cards instead of small ones; prevent criminals from having their hair cut; regard the south as the standard point of the compass; begin to build a house by putting on the roof first…”
“In the words of the philosopher Chu Hsi, of the 11th century, "Buddhism stole the best features of Taoism; Taoism stole the worst features of Buddhism. It is as though one took a jewel from the other, and the loser recouped the loss with a stone."
“A Chinaman cannot wear a beard before he is forty, unless he happens to have a married son. He also shaves the whole head with the exception of a round patch at the back…”
“…. the Japanese borrowed their dress, as well as their literature, philosophy, and early lessons in art, from China. The Japanese dress is the dress of the Ming period in China, 1368-1644.”
“False queues are to be seen hanging in the streets for sale. They are usually worn by burglars, and come off in your hand when you think you have caught your man. Prisoners are often led to and from jail by their queues, sometimes three or four being tied together in a gang.”
“It is a distinct breach of Chinese etiquette to wear spectacles while speaking to an equal. The Chinese invariably remove their glasses when conversing…”
“When two friends meet in the street, either may put up his fan and screen his face; whereupon the other will pass by without a sign of recognition. The meaning is simply, "Too busy to stop for a chat…”
“No subordinate can ever meet a higher mandarin in this way; the former must turn down some by-street immediately on hearing the approaching gong of his superior officer. A mandarin's rank can be told by the number of consecutive strokes on the gong, ranging from 13 for a viceroy to 7 for a magistrate.”
“Here comes another most important and universal rule: in handing anything to or receiving anything from an equal, both hands must be used.”
“Women take no part in Chinese social entertainments except among their own sex. It is not even permissible to enquire after the wife of one’s host. Her very existence is ignored. A man will talk with pleasure about his children, especially if his quiver is well stocked with boys.”
“… infanticide exists to an enormous extent everywhere in China… alongside many a pool in South China may be found a stone tablet bearing an inscription to the effect that "Female children may not be drowned here.”
“Every Chinese youth, when he reaches the age of eighteen, has a sacred duty to perform: he must marry. Broadly speaking, every adult Chinaman in the Empire has a wife; well-to-do merchants, mandarins, and others have subordinate wives, two, three, and even four. The Emperor has seventy-two.”
“About the year 235 A.D., women were actually admitted to official life, and some of them rose to important government posts. By the 8th century, however, all trace of this system had disappeared.”
“A mandarin's seal of office is his most important possession. If he loses it, he may lose his post. Without the seal, nothing can be done; with it, everything. Extraordinary precautions are taken when transmitting new seals from Peking to the provinces. Every official seal is made with 4 small feet projecting from the 4 corners of its face, making it look like a small table. Of these, the maker breaks off one when he hands the seal over to the Board. Before forwarding to the Viceroy of the province, another foot is removed by the Board. A third is similarly disposed of by the Viceroy, and the last by the official for whose use it is intended. This is to prevent its employment by any other than the person authorised. The seal is then handed over to the mandarin's wife, in whose charge it always remains, she alone having the power to produce it, or withhold it, as required.”
“In every Chinese house stand small wooden tablets, bearing the names of deceased parents, grandparents, and earlier ancestors. Plates of meat and cups of wine are on certain occasions set before these tablets, in the belief that the spirits of the dead occupy the tablets and enjoy the offerings.”
Of the University's Sinology Library :
---------------------
“There is the mystic 'Book of Changes'… These trigrams are said to have been copied from the back of a tortoise by an ancient monarch… Confucius said that if he could devote 50 years to the study of this work, he might come to be without great faults..”
“…Lao Tzŭ, flourished at an unknown date before Confucius. Some of these (books) are deeply interesting; others have not escaped the suspicion of forgery—a suspicion which attaches more or less to any works produced before the famous Burning of the Books, in B.C. 211, from which the Confucian Canon was preserved almost by a miracle. An Emperor at that date made an attempt to destroy all literature, so that a fresh start might be made from himself.”
“ 'The Historical Record' was produced by a very remarkable man named Ssŭ-ma Ch'ien, sometimes called the Father of History, the Herodotus of China, who died nearly 100 B.C… Starting with the five legendary Emperors, some 2700 B.C., the historian begins by giving the annals of each reign under the various more or less legendary dynasties which succeeded, and thence onward right down to his own times… about 700 B.C…”
“These biographies are by no means confined to virtuous statesmen or heroic generals.. The Chinese historian took a much broader view of his responsibilities to future ages, and along with the above… he included lives of famous assassins, of tyrannical officials, of courtiers, of flatterers, of men with nothing beyond the gift of the gab, of politicians, of fortune-tellers, and the like.”
“.. 'Biographies of Eminent Women' … fills 4 extra-large volumes, containing 310 lives in all. The idea of thus immortalising the most deserving of his countrywomen first occurred to a writer named Liu Hsiang, who flourished just before the Christian era… Each biography is accompanied by a full-page illustration of some scene in which the lady distinguished herself — all from the pencil of a well-known artist.”
“... the 'San Ts'ai T'u Hui', issued in 1609, which is bound up in 17 thick volumes… Under 'Tricks and Magic' we see a man swallowing a sword, or walking through fire... an acrobat is bending backward and drinking from cups arranged upon the ground… the chapters on Drawing are exceptionally good; they contain some specimen landscapes of almost faultless perspective, and also clever examples of free-hand drawing. Portrait-painting is dealt with, and 10 illustrations are given of the 10 angles at which a face may be drawn. The first shows 1/10th of the face from the right side, the second 2/10ths and so on, waxing to full-face 5/10ths; then waning sets in on the left side, 4/, 3/, and 2/10ths, until the 10/10th shows nothing more than the back of the sitter's head.”
.
-----------------
“The Chinese are withal an exceptionally law-abiding people, and entertain a deep-seated respect for authority.”
“Every trade, every calling, even the meanest, has its guild, or association, the members of which are ever ready to protect one another with perfect unanimity, and often great self-sacrifice.”
“Every one who has lived in China, and has kept his eyes open, must have noticed what a large measure of personal freedom is enjoyed… Any Chinaman may travel all over China without asking any one's leave to start, and without having to report himself, or be reported by his innkeeper, at any place at which he may choose to stop. He requires no passport. He may set up any legitimate business at any place. He is not even obliged to be educated, or to follow any particular calling. He is not obliged to serve as a soldier or sailor… Outside the penal code, which has been pronounced by competent Western lawyers to be a very ably constructed instrument of government, there is nothing at all in the way of law, civil law being altogether absent as a state institution… So long as a man keeps clear of secret societies and remains a decent and respectable member of his family and of his clan, he has very little to fear from the officials.”
“Many petty offenses which are often dealt with very harshly in England pass in China almost unnoticed. No shopkeeper or farmer would be fool enough to charge a hungry man with stealing food, for the simple reason that no magistrate would convict. It is the shopkeeper's or farmer’s business to see that such petty thefts cannot occur.”
“All together the Chinese people may be said to be lightly taxed… there are no municipal rates to be paid, no water-rate, no poor-rate, and not a cent for either sanitation or education. And so long as the Imperial taxes are such as the people have grown accustomed to, they are paid cheerfully, even if sometimes with difficulty, and nothing is said.”
“It is not uncommon for an accused person to challenge his accuser to a kind of trial by ordeal, at the local temple. Kneeling before the altar, at midnight, in the presence of a crowd of witnesses, the accused man will solemnly burn a sheet of paper, on which he has written, or caused to be written, an oath, totally denying his guilt, and calling upon the gods to strike him dead upon the spot, or his accuser, if either one is deviating in the slightest degree from the actual truth.”
“The study of Chinese presents at least one advantage over the study of the Greek and Roman classics; I might add, of Hebrew, of Syriac, and even of Sanskrit… to acquire a practical acquaintance with a living language, spoken and written by about 1/3 of the existing population of the earth…”
“The comparatively recent introduction of Sanskrit was received in the classical world, not merely with coldness, but with strenuous opposition; and all the genius of its pioneer scholars was needed to secure the need of recognition which it now enjoys as an important field of research. The Regius Professorship of Greek in the University of Cambridge, England, was founded in 1540; but it was not until 1867, more than three centuries later, that Sanskrit was admitted into the university curriculum. It is still impossible to gain a degree through the medium of Chinese…”
“"There is in the universe an Aura, an influence which permeates all things, and makes them what they are. Below, it shapes forth land and water; above, the sun and the stars. In man it is called spirit; and there is nowhere where it is not.”
- Wên T’ien-hsiang
“.. The memory of Han Yü remains, a treasure for ever. In a temple which contains his portrait, and which is dedicated to him, a grateful posterity has put up a tablet bearing the following legend, "Wherever he passed, he purified."
“The last Emperor of the Ming dynasty…. who had refused to flee, slew the eldest Princess, commanded the Empress to commit suicide, and sent his three sons into hiding… His Majesty then ascended the well-known hill on the Palace grounds, and wrote a last decree on the lapel of his
robe… He then hanged himself, and the great Ming dynasty was no more.”
“… in China the men use fans… begin dinner with fruit and end it with soup; shake their own instead of their friends' hands when meeting; have huge visiting-cards instead of small ones; prevent criminals from having their hair cut; regard the south as the standard point of the compass; begin to build a house by putting on the roof first…”
“In the words of the philosopher Chu Hsi, of the 11th century, "Buddhism stole the best features of Taoism; Taoism stole the worst features of Buddhism. It is as though one took a jewel from the other, and the loser recouped the loss with a stone."
“A Chinaman cannot wear a beard before he is forty, unless he happens to have a married son. He also shaves the whole head with the exception of a round patch at the back…”
“…. the Japanese borrowed their dress, as well as their literature, philosophy, and early lessons in art, from China. The Japanese dress is the dress of the Ming period in China, 1368-1644.”
“False queues are to be seen hanging in the streets for sale. They are usually worn by burglars, and come off in your hand when you think you have caught your man. Prisoners are often led to and from jail by their queues, sometimes three or four being tied together in a gang.”
“It is a distinct breach of Chinese etiquette to wear spectacles while speaking to an equal. The Chinese invariably remove their glasses when conversing…”
“When two friends meet in the street, either may put up his fan and screen his face; whereupon the other will pass by without a sign of recognition. The meaning is simply, "Too busy to stop for a chat…”
“No subordinate can ever meet a higher mandarin in this way; the former must turn down some by-street immediately on hearing the approaching gong of his superior officer. A mandarin's rank can be told by the number of consecutive strokes on the gong, ranging from 13 for a viceroy to 7 for a magistrate.”
“Here comes another most important and universal rule: in handing anything to or receiving anything from an equal, both hands must be used.”
“Women take no part in Chinese social entertainments except among their own sex. It is not even permissible to enquire after the wife of one’s host. Her very existence is ignored. A man will talk with pleasure about his children, especially if his quiver is well stocked with boys.”
“… infanticide exists to an enormous extent everywhere in China… alongside many a pool in South China may be found a stone tablet bearing an inscription to the effect that "Female children may not be drowned here.”
“Every Chinese youth, when he reaches the age of eighteen, has a sacred duty to perform: he must marry. Broadly speaking, every adult Chinaman in the Empire has a wife; well-to-do merchants, mandarins, and others have subordinate wives, two, three, and even four. The Emperor has seventy-two.”
“About the year 235 A.D., women were actually admitted to official life, and some of them rose to important government posts. By the 8th century, however, all trace of this system had disappeared.”
“A mandarin's seal of office is his most important possession. If he loses it, he may lose his post. Without the seal, nothing can be done; with it, everything. Extraordinary precautions are taken when transmitting new seals from Peking to the provinces. Every official seal is made with 4 small feet projecting from the 4 corners of its face, making it look like a small table. Of these, the maker breaks off one when he hands the seal over to the Board. Before forwarding to the Viceroy of the province, another foot is removed by the Board. A third is similarly disposed of by the Viceroy, and the last by the official for whose use it is intended. This is to prevent its employment by any other than the person authorised. The seal is then handed over to the mandarin's wife, in whose charge it always remains, she alone having the power to produce it, or withhold it, as required.”
“In every Chinese house stand small wooden tablets, bearing the names of deceased parents, grandparents, and earlier ancestors. Plates of meat and cups of wine are on certain occasions set before these tablets, in the belief that the spirits of the dead occupy the tablets and enjoy the offerings.”
Of the University's Sinology Library :
---------------------
“There is the mystic 'Book of Changes'… These trigrams are said to have been copied from the back of a tortoise by an ancient monarch… Confucius said that if he could devote 50 years to the study of this work, he might come to be without great faults..”
“…Lao Tzŭ, flourished at an unknown date before Confucius. Some of these (books) are deeply interesting; others have not escaped the suspicion of forgery—a suspicion which attaches more or less to any works produced before the famous Burning of the Books, in B.C. 211, from which the Confucian Canon was preserved almost by a miracle. An Emperor at that date made an attempt to destroy all literature, so that a fresh start might be made from himself.”
“ 'The Historical Record' was produced by a very remarkable man named Ssŭ-ma Ch'ien, sometimes called the Father of History, the Herodotus of China, who died nearly 100 B.C… Starting with the five legendary Emperors, some 2700 B.C., the historian begins by giving the annals of each reign under the various more or less legendary dynasties which succeeded, and thence onward right down to his own times… about 700 B.C…”
“These biographies are by no means confined to virtuous statesmen or heroic generals.. The Chinese historian took a much broader view of his responsibilities to future ages, and along with the above… he included lives of famous assassins, of tyrannical officials, of courtiers, of flatterers, of men with nothing beyond the gift of the gab, of politicians, of fortune-tellers, and the like.”
“.. 'Biographies of Eminent Women' … fills 4 extra-large volumes, containing 310 lives in all. The idea of thus immortalising the most deserving of his countrywomen first occurred to a writer named Liu Hsiang, who flourished just before the Christian era… Each biography is accompanied by a full-page illustration of some scene in which the lady distinguished herself — all from the pencil of a well-known artist.”
“... the 'San Ts'ai T'u Hui', issued in 1609, which is bound up in 17 thick volumes… Under 'Tricks and Magic' we see a man swallowing a sword, or walking through fire... an acrobat is bending backward and drinking from cups arranged upon the ground… the chapters on Drawing are exceptionally good; they contain some specimen landscapes of almost faultless perspective, and also clever examples of free-hand drawing. Portrait-painting is dealt with, and 10 illustrations are given of the 10 angles at which a face may be drawn. The first shows 1/10th of the face from the right side, the second 2/10ths and so on, waxing to full-face 5/10ths; then waning sets in on the left side, 4/, 3/, and 2/10ths, until the 10/10th shows nothing more than the back of the sitter's head.”
.
May 3, 2020
classic read
August 25, 2013
This book collects a set or series of lectures given by Giles to Columbia University. The lectures don't connect to one another, so there is no central theme in mind and there is no desire to provide a foundation for study of China, although the topics are not esoteric and Giles provides sufficient background so that a layman will still enjoy it.
Instead, it's an odd sampler of topics that one may expect from a visiting expert with no agenda other than the one he repeats constantly: that more research and more experts are necessary, and that study of China is no less a topic for expertise than the classics. This appears to be a sore point, as it makes the entire set sound unnecessarily defensive, especially when he expends an entire lecture connecting aspects of Chinese culture or learning or even agriculture with that of ancient Greece.
The thing I will take away is the second lecture, "A Chinese Library", which outlines the meticulous organization surrounding the written word in ancient China: massively indexed reference guides that list major and minor writings, detailing contents, historical context, the provenance of copies turned in to Imperial hands by edict, and critiques by experts.
Instead, it's an odd sampler of topics that one may expect from a visiting expert with no agenda other than the one he repeats constantly: that more research and more experts are necessary, and that study of China is no less a topic for expertise than the classics. This appears to be a sore point, as it makes the entire set sound unnecessarily defensive, especially when he expends an entire lecture connecting aspects of Chinese culture or learning or even agriculture with that of ancient Greece.
The thing I will take away is the second lecture, "A Chinese Library", which outlines the meticulous organization surrounding the written word in ancient China: massively indexed reference guides that list major and minor writings, detailing contents, historical context, the provenance of copies turned in to Imperial hands by edict, and critiques by experts.
May 14, 2012
This series of lectures was given in 1902, but are very readable today. Interesting information on the history, language, and philosophies of China. I wanted more!
April 5, 2015
读Herbert Allen Giles的汉学作品China and the Chinese笔记整理
Wikipedia英国著名汉学家Herbert Allen Giles（翟理斯）简介：
翟理斯（英语：Herbert Allen Giles，1845年－1935年），汉学家、前英国驻华外交官。他与威妥玛一起发明了汉语罗马化的威妥玛拼音（就是目前台湾还在用的Wade-Giles Romanization for Mandarin Chinese)。一生翻译了许多孔子、老子等中国古代思想家著作。
翟理斯是英国国教牧师约翰·艾伦·翟理斯之子。在查特豪斯公学就学，之后在1867至1892年间被派到中国作外交官，1885至1888年间在台湾新北市红毛城度过。是外交官翟比南（Bertram Giles）、翟兰思，汉学家翟林奈以及伊迪斯（Edith）、马布尔（Mable）之父。1897年成为剑桥大学第二位汉语教授（前一位是威妥玛）。 在他担任剑桥大学教授期间，校内只有他这一个汉学家，他整理了许多威妥玛搜集的汉语文献，并将之译出。
履历：
英国驻马尾区副领事 （1880–1883）
英国驻上海副领事（1883–1885）
英国驻淡水领事（1885–1891）
英国驻宁波领事（1891–1893）
1.Practically, there are about eight well-marked dialects, all clearly of a common stock, but so distinct as to constitute eight different languages, any two of which are quite as unlike as English and Dutch.
2.It may here be noted that there was a tendency to curves so long as the characters were scratched on bamboo tablets with a metal stylus. With the invention of paper in the first century A.D., and the substitution of a hair-pencil for the stylus, verticals and horizontals came more into the vogue.
3.Translated into English, the work would be one-third as large again, 100 pages of Chinese being equal to about 130 of English.
4.Thus in a descending scale we have the Emperor, the viceroys and governors of the 18 provinces, the intendants, or Tao-t’ais, of the 80 circuits, the prefects of the 282 prefectures, the magistrates of the 1477 magistrates, the myriad headboroughs and the people.
5....the Tartar generals, as they are called, ranking nominally just above the viceroy of the province, over whose actions they are supposed to keep a careful watch.
6.What can the people be made to pay?
The answer to that question will be somewhat of a staggerer to those who from a distance, or from want of close observation, regard the Chinese as a down-trodden people, on a level with the Fellahin of Egypt in past times. Fro the answer so far as my own experience goes, is that only so much can be got out of the Chinese people as the people themselves are ready and willing to pay. In other words, with all their show of an automatic ruler and a paternal government, the people of Chinese tax themselves.
7. Every one who has lived in China, and has kept his eyes open, must have noticed what a large measure of personal freedom is enjoyed by even the meanest subject of the Son of Heaven. Any Chinaman may travel all over China without asking any one’s leave to start, and without having to report himself., or be reported by his innkeeper, at any place at which he may choose to stop. He requires no passport. He may set up any legitimate business at any place. He is not even obliged to be educated, or to follow and particular calling. He is not obliged to serve as a soldier or sailor. There are no sumptuary laws, nor even any municipal lows. Outside the penal code, which has been pronounced by competent Western lawyers to be a very ably constructed instrument of government, there is nothing at all in the way of law, civil law being altogether absent as a state institution. Even the penal code is not too rigidly enforced. So long as a man keeps clear of secret societies and remains a decent and respectable member of his family and his clan, he has very little to fear from the officials. The old ballad of the husbandman, which has come down to us from a very early date indeed, already hints at some such satisfactory state of things. It runs thus: --
Work, work, -- from the rising sun
Till sunset comes and the day is done
I plough the sod,
And harrow the clod,
And meat and drink both come to me, --
Ah, what care I for the powers that be?
8. In marriage, we find the Chinese aiming, like the Greeks, at equality of rank and the fortune between the contracting parties, or, as the Chinese put it, in the guise of a household word, at a due correspondence between the doorways of the betrothed couple. As in Greece, so in China, we find the marriage arranged by the parents; the veiled bride; the ceremony of fetching her from her father’s house; the equality of man and wife; the toleration of subordinate wives, and many other points of contact.
9. The first (Confucianism) is not , and never has been, a religion, being nothing more than a system of social and political morality.
10. Mohammedanism appeared in China in 628 A.D., and is there to this day, having more than once threatened the stability of the Empire.
11. In the twelfth century the Jews had a synagogue at K’ai-feng Fu, in Central China, but it is not absolutely certain when they first reached the country. Some say, immediately after the Captivity; others put in much later. In 1850 several Hebrew rolls of parts of the Pentateuch, in the square character, with vowel-points, were obtained from the above city. There were then no professing Jews to be found, but in recent years a movement has been set on foot to revive the faith.
12. Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish,” -- do not over do it. Do not try to force results. The well-known Greek injunction, “not to go beyond one’s destiny,” might well have fallen from Lao Tzu’s lips.
13. And when subjective and objective are both without their correlates, that is the very axis of Tao. And when that axis passes through the centre at which all infinities converge, positive and negative alike blend into an infinite One.
14. From many centuries the attempt to turn base metal into gold occupied a leading place in the researches of Chinese philosophers. Volumes have been written on the subject, and are still studied by a few.
15. Previous to 1644 the Chinese clothed their bodies and dressed their hair in the style of the modern Japanese, -- of course I mean those Japanese who still wear what is wrongly known as “the beautiful native dress of Japan,” --wrongly, because as a matter of fact the Japanese borrowed their dress, as well as their literature, philosophy, and early lessons in art, from China. The Japanese dress in the dress of the Ming period in China, 1368-1644.
16. False queues are to be seen hanging in the streets for sale. They are usually worn by burglars, and come off in your hand when you think you have caught your man. Prisoners are often led to, and from, gaol by their queues, sometimes three or four being tied together in a gang.
17. ...it is an historical fact that a famous Empress, who set aside the Emperor and ruled China with an Elizabethan hand from A.D. 684 to 705, used to present herself in the Council Chamber, before her astonished ministers, fortified by an artificial beard.
18. In England it has been successfully maintained that the roadway belongs to all equally, foot-passengers, equestrians, and carriage-passengers alike. Not so in China; the ordinary foot passenger is bound to “get out of the way” of the lowest coolie who is carrying a load; that same coolie must make way, even at great inconvenience to himself, for sedan-chair; an empty chair yields the way to a chair with somebody inside; a chair, inasmuch as being more manageable, gets out of the way of horse; and horse, chair, coolie, and foot-passenger, all clear the road for a wedding or other procession, or for the retinue of a mandarin.
19. Then again, it is the rule to place the guest at one’s left hand, though curiously enough this only dates from the middle of the fourteenth century, previous to which the right hand was the place of honour.
20. A local Pharisee tried to entangle the great Mencius in his speech, asking him if a man who saw his sister-in-law drowning might venture to pull her out. “A man,” replied the philosopher, ”who failed to do so, would be no better than a wolf.”
21. This woman, who was a Christian, and the widow of a native preacher, had large, i.e. unbound, feet. Nevertheless, she bound the feet of her only daughter, because, as she explained, it is so difficult to get a girl married unless she has small feet.
22. Many years ago, the prefect of T’ai-wan Fu said to me, in the course an informal conversation after a friendly dinner, “Do you foreigners fear the inner ones?” --and on my asking what was meant, he told me that a great many Chinese stood in absolute awe of their wives. “He does,” added the prefect, pointing to the district magistrate, a rather truculent-looking individual, who was at the dinner party; and the other guests went into a roar of laughter.
23. One reason why the China remains a mystery to so many is due, no doubt, to the vast amount of nonsense which is published about him.
Wikipedia英国著名汉学家Herbert Allen Giles（翟理斯）简介：
翟理斯（英语：Herbert Allen Giles，1845年－1935年），汉学家、前英国驻华外交官。他与威妥玛一起发明了汉语罗马化的威妥玛拼音（就是目前台湾还在用的Wade-Giles Romanization for Mandarin Chinese)。一生翻译了许多孔子、老子等中国古代思想家著作。
翟理斯是英国国教牧师约翰·艾伦·翟理斯之子。在查特豪斯公学就学，之后在1867至1892年间被派到中国作外交官，1885至1888年间在台湾新北市红毛城度过。是外交官翟比南（Bertram Giles）、翟兰思，汉学家翟林奈以及伊迪斯（Edith）、马布尔（Mable）之父。1897年成为剑桥大学第二位汉语教授（前一位是威妥玛）。 在他担任剑桥大学教授期间，校内只有他这一个汉学家，他整理了许多威妥玛搜集的汉语文献，并将之译出。
履历：
英国驻马尾区副领事 （1880–1883）
英国驻上海副领事（1883–1885）
英国驻淡水领事（1885–1891）
英国驻宁波领事（1891–1893）
1.Practically, there are about eight well-marked dialects, all clearly of a common stock, but so distinct as to constitute eight different languages, any two of which are quite as unlike as English and Dutch.
2.It may here be noted that there was a tendency to curves so long as the characters were scratched on bamboo tablets with a metal stylus. With the invention of paper in the first century A.D., and the substitution of a hair-pencil for the stylus, verticals and horizontals came more into the vogue.
3.Translated into English, the work would be one-third as large again, 100 pages of Chinese being equal to about 130 of English.
4.Thus in a descending scale we have the Emperor, the viceroys and governors of the 18 provinces, the intendants, or Tao-t’ais, of the 80 circuits, the prefects of the 282 prefectures, the magistrates of the 1477 magistrates, the myriad headboroughs and the people.
5....the Tartar generals, as they are called, ranking nominally just above the viceroy of the province, over whose actions they are supposed to keep a careful watch.
6.What can the people be made to pay?
The answer to that question will be somewhat of a staggerer to those who from a distance, or from want of close observation, regard the Chinese as a down-trodden people, on a level with the Fellahin of Egypt in past times. Fro the answer so far as my own experience goes, is that only so much can be got out of the Chinese people as the people themselves are ready and willing to pay. In other words, with all their show of an automatic ruler and a paternal government, the people of Chinese tax themselves.
7. Every one who has lived in China, and has kept his eyes open, must have noticed what a large measure of personal freedom is enjoyed by even the meanest subject of the Son of Heaven. Any Chinaman may travel all over China without asking any one’s leave to start, and without having to report himself., or be reported by his innkeeper, at any place at which he may choose to stop. He requires no passport. He may set up any legitimate business at any place. He is not even obliged to be educated, or to follow and particular calling. He is not obliged to serve as a soldier or sailor. There are no sumptuary laws, nor even any municipal lows. Outside the penal code, which has been pronounced by competent Western lawyers to be a very ably constructed instrument of government, there is nothing at all in the way of law, civil law being altogether absent as a state institution. Even the penal code is not too rigidly enforced. So long as a man keeps clear of secret societies and remains a decent and respectable member of his family and his clan, he has very little to fear from the officials. The old ballad of the husbandman, which has come down to us from a very early date indeed, already hints at some such satisfactory state of things. It runs thus: --
Work, work, -- from the rising sun
Till sunset comes and the day is done
I plough the sod,
And harrow the clod,
And meat and drink both come to me, --
Ah, what care I for the powers that be?
8. In marriage, we find the Chinese aiming, like the Greeks, at equality of rank and the fortune between the contracting parties, or, as the Chinese put it, in the guise of a household word, at a due correspondence between the doorways of the betrothed couple. As in Greece, so in China, we find the marriage arranged by the parents; the veiled bride; the ceremony of fetching her from her father’s house; the equality of man and wife; the toleration of subordinate wives, and many other points of contact.
9. The first (Confucianism) is not , and never has been, a religion, being nothing more than a system of social and political morality.
10. Mohammedanism appeared in China in 628 A.D., and is there to this day, having more than once threatened the stability of the Empire.
11. In the twelfth century the Jews had a synagogue at K’ai-feng Fu, in Central China, but it is not absolutely certain when they first reached the country. Some say, immediately after the Captivity; others put in much later. In 1850 several Hebrew rolls of parts of the Pentateuch, in the square character, with vowel-points, were obtained from the above city. There were then no professing Jews to be found, but in recent years a movement has been set on foot to revive the faith.
12. Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish,” -- do not over do it. Do not try to force results. The well-known Greek injunction, “not to go beyond one’s destiny,” might well have fallen from Lao Tzu’s lips.
13. And when subjective and objective are both without their correlates, that is the very axis of Tao. And when that axis passes through the centre at which all infinities converge, positive and negative alike blend into an infinite One.
14. From many centuries the attempt to turn base metal into gold occupied a leading place in the researches of Chinese philosophers. Volumes have been written on the subject, and are still studied by a few.
15. Previous to 1644 the Chinese clothed their bodies and dressed their hair in the style of the modern Japanese, -- of course I mean those Japanese who still wear what is wrongly known as “the beautiful native dress of Japan,” --wrongly, because as a matter of fact the Japanese borrowed their dress, as well as their literature, philosophy, and early lessons in art, from China. The Japanese dress in the dress of the Ming period in China, 1368-1644.
16. False queues are to be seen hanging in the streets for sale. They are usually worn by burglars, and come off in your hand when you think you have caught your man. Prisoners are often led to, and from, gaol by their queues, sometimes three or four being tied together in a gang.
17. ...it is an historical fact that a famous Empress, who set aside the Emperor and ruled China with an Elizabethan hand from A.D. 684 to 705, used to present herself in the Council Chamber, before her astonished ministers, fortified by an artificial beard.
18. In England it has been successfully maintained that the roadway belongs to all equally, foot-passengers, equestrians, and carriage-passengers alike. Not so in China; the ordinary foot passenger is bound to “get out of the way” of the lowest coolie who is carrying a load; that same coolie must make way, even at great inconvenience to himself, for sedan-chair; an empty chair yields the way to a chair with somebody inside; a chair, inasmuch as being more manageable, gets out of the way of horse; and horse, chair, coolie, and foot-passenger, all clear the road for a wedding or other procession, or for the retinue of a mandarin.
19. Then again, it is the rule to place the guest at one’s left hand, though curiously enough this only dates from the middle of the fourteenth century, previous to which the right hand was the place of honour.
20. A local Pharisee tried to entangle the great Mencius in his speech, asking him if a man who saw his sister-in-law drowning might venture to pull her out. “A man,” replied the philosopher, ”who failed to do so, would be no better than a wolf.”
21. This woman, who was a Christian, and the widow of a native preacher, had large, i.e. unbound, feet. Nevertheless, she bound the feet of her only daughter, because, as she explained, it is so difficult to get a girl married unless she has small feet.
22. Many years ago, the prefect of T’ai-wan Fu said to me, in the course an informal conversation after a friendly dinner, “Do you foreigners fear the inner ones?” --and on my asking what was meant, he told me that a great many Chinese stood in absolute awe of their wives. “He does,” added the prefect, pointing to the district magistrate, a rather truculent-looking individual, who was at the dinner party; and the other guests went into a roar of laughter.
23. One reason why the China remains a mystery to so many is due, no doubt, to the vast amount of nonsense which is published about him.
June 27, 2017
This was an interesting book at some points. Unfortunately, it drones on for pages in other parts. I skimmed about 1/4 of it because it was way too boring sometimes. This was apparently written by an intellectual associated with Columbia University. Their library includes historical texts relating to the China of the past going back before the time of Confucius. This is a worthwhile read if one is eager to broaden their background in Chinese history. It did not extend beyond the Imperial period.
November 7, 2017
I am not aware of the factual truths written in this book, because a lot of the facts could be outdated, since this book was written in 1902. Nevertheless, it is intriguing to see how a foreigner who has mastered the Chinese language could understand Chinese culture and history so well and analyze and explain it in a Western fashion.
Great and easy to read and understand if you want to unveil a tip of China and the Chinese. Even today!
Great and easy to read and understand if you want to unveil a tip of China and the Chinese. Even today!
July 20, 2022
The real interesting part of this short book is that it is a small glimpse into a pre-People's Republic of China. Being published in 1902, the perspective is during China’s Great Qing, its final Imperial dynasty. There is also the charm of seeing how the country was viewed from a westerner of the time period in general - Herbert Giles being a diplomat, Sinologist and professor of Chinese.
January 18, 2023
It's alright, not very in depth. He also says that in China there must be more women born than men if their female infanticide is in place, most people marry at 18 and plenty of men have concubines. Don't think he really thought this part through.
April 20, 2021
outdated but interesting.
March 8, 2024
The Chinese Language
A Chinese Library
Democratic China
China and Ancient Greece
Taoism
Some Chinese Manners and Customs
A Chinese Library
Democratic China
China and Ancient Greece
Taoism
Some Chinese Manners and Customs
December 14, 2024
Great book, I listened to the audiobook version on YouTube. I will leave the link below so that everyone can enjoy it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oEhr...
July 30, 2014
Giles' China and The Chinese is a series of six lectures on various topics related to China.
Lecture I addresses The Chinese Language, from its structure, content, Pidgin-English forms, written form and phonetics, and so on... Inclusive of specific examples, this particular lecture, though written in the start of the 20th Century, provides an useful introduction to the language that can give the reader an idea of what they might expect should they decide to study Chinese.
Lecture II addresses the topic of A Chinese Library, and outlines the most important Chinese language works as known and valued in the start of the 20th Century. Giles mentions an overview of the titles, content of each work and various particularities of each. I would be quite intrigued to find out if the copies that he mentions where in Cambridge library are still there (and whether or not they are accessible?)!
Lecture III is titled 'Democratic China' and gives an overview of Chinese government structure as was contemporary and relevant to the early 20th. China at the time was still imperial in structure, which makes the title that much more interesting and Giles' description of the system of government presents intriguing notions of how the Chinese functioned as a people and nation on the political level.
Lecture IV addresses the topic of 'China and Ancient Greece', drawing fascinating parallels between the two cultures and arguing a commonality on the basis of coincidences in language, literature and behaviour. I have no quarrel with the notions of travel being widespread and interaction between cultures being a common thing and this section's argument presents a rather compelling notion to examine.
Lecture V is on the topic of Taoism and is rather instructive in terms of describing the religion, its development and its philosophies.
Lecture VI is on the topic of certain manners and customs, including the queue, social life, street etiquette and so on. This is one of the most interesting of the lectures as it addresses a number of topics that most people may have only vague knowledge of and that Giles expands somewhat further (topics such as foot-binding, eating dogs or male-female relations).
Overall, as with Giles' other works on China, this is a very useful book that provides a lot of detail about a lot of topics. Definitely something to read if you are into China and Chinese culture.
Lecture I addresses The Chinese Language, from its structure, content, Pidgin-English forms, written form and phonetics, and so on... Inclusive of specific examples, this particular lecture, though written in the start of the 20th Century, provides an useful introduction to the language that can give the reader an idea of what they might expect should they decide to study Chinese.
Lecture II addresses the topic of A Chinese Library, and outlines the most important Chinese language works as known and valued in the start of the 20th Century. Giles mentions an overview of the titles, content of each work and various particularities of each. I would be quite intrigued to find out if the copies that he mentions where in Cambridge library are still there (and whether or not they are accessible?)!
Lecture III is titled 'Democratic China' and gives an overview of Chinese government structure as was contemporary and relevant to the early 20th. China at the time was still imperial in structure, which makes the title that much more interesting and Giles' description of the system of government presents intriguing notions of how the Chinese functioned as a people and nation on the political level.
Lecture IV addresses the topic of 'China and Ancient Greece', drawing fascinating parallels between the two cultures and arguing a commonality on the basis of coincidences in language, literature and behaviour. I have no quarrel with the notions of travel being widespread and interaction between cultures being a common thing and this section's argument presents a rather compelling notion to examine.
Lecture V is on the topic of Taoism and is rather instructive in terms of describing the religion, its development and its philosophies.
Lecture VI is on the topic of certain manners and customs, including the queue, social life, street etiquette and so on. This is one of the most interesting of the lectures as it addresses a number of topics that most people may have only vague knowledge of and that Giles expands somewhat further (topics such as foot-binding, eating dogs or male-female relations).
Overall, as with Giles' other works on China, this is a very useful book that provides a lot of detail about a lot of topics. Definitely something to read if you are into China and Chinese culture.
January 14, 2011
I'd come across this book several times since I've lived in Asia, and decided that I should read it...despite my lack of intrest in nonfiction, this was a great book.
It was divided into 6 lectures, all of which were interesting, though I probably liked the one about religion and manners the most. There were lots of interesting anecdotes and the writer's voice is very easy to get pulled in by. A definite plus for me with this style of book.
I love history, especially ancient, but this book discusses China only a hundred years ago. While it informs the reader of what the people of that time were like, its not really a good history book. And while I'm also sure that it give some insight into the people today, I don't think that it would be super benefical to a person visiting the country.
So, it didn't meet my wish of being loaded with history and mythology or as a useful guide into the modern country. BUT! It was still captivating enough to merit 4 stars from someone who has less than 10 books on his "nonfiction" list.
It was divided into 6 lectures, all of which were interesting, though I probably liked the one about religion and manners the most. There were lots of interesting anecdotes and the writer's voice is very easy to get pulled in by. A definite plus for me with this style of book.
I love history, especially ancient, but this book discusses China only a hundred years ago. While it informs the reader of what the people of that time were like, its not really a good history book. And while I'm also sure that it give some insight into the people today, I don't think that it would be super benefical to a person visiting the country.
So, it didn't meet my wish of being loaded with history and mythology or as a useful guide into the modern country. BUT! It was still captivating enough to merit 4 stars from someone who has less than 10 books on his "nonfiction" list.
October 26, 2022
A sympathetic American perspective of China at the start of the 20th century. Brief overviews of Chinese history and culture which any person with a developed understanding of China won't find new.
However the "current day" perspective from a early 1900s American was interesting in itself as you could identify changes in both American and Chinese culture from then till now.
Most utilitarian advice from this book is:
- China has only mildly changed some areas of its culture beyond the past thousand years. Hence, don't expect it to change its culture so rapidly in the present day (relative to other peoples of this world). Even the cultural revolution of the 1960s didn't kick off some fundamental Confucian values.
- According to this book, Chinese men fell from high society into the criminal world from three things. Opium, gambling and (more rarely) alcoholism. It happened then, it still happens now. Perhaps don't partake??
While enjoyable to read, it was not a profound read. There's definitely better content related to your interest in China.
However the "current day" perspective from a early 1900s American was interesting in itself as you could identify changes in both American and Chinese culture from then till now.
Most utilitarian advice from this book is:
- China has only mildly changed some areas of its culture beyond the past thousand years. Hence, don't expect it to change its culture so rapidly in the present day (relative to other peoples of this world). Even the cultural revolution of the 1960s didn't kick off some fundamental Confucian values.
- According to this book, Chinese men fell from high society into the criminal world from three things. Opium, gambling and (more rarely) alcoholism. It happened then, it still happens now. Perhaps don't partake??
While enjoyable to read, it was not a profound read. There's definitely better content related to your interest in China.
September 28, 2012
Pretty interesting stuff. It's a little dated being around a century old, so what he talks about in the present as far as customs and courtesies are probably antiquated today and considered something that they really don't do anymore. I'm under the distinct impression from other readings that China is a bit more Westernized at this point in time and you would probably have a difficult time even in the backwaters of China finding a village that lives in the way described here.
That said, it's no less enjoyable a read and helps reconcile the present Chinese culture in a way to be able to envision where they came from. I would recommend this to anyone interested in China as a whole and not a specific part of it. I would recommend this to someone going to China as something to potentially read after reading other more relevent and current things.
That said, it's no less enjoyable a read and helps reconcile the present Chinese culture in a way to be able to envision where they came from. I would recommend this to anyone interested in China as a whole and not a specific part of it. I would recommend this to someone going to China as something to potentially read after reading other more relevent and current things.
February 7, 2015
A 1902 collection of lectures about China by an English scholar. The book presents various insights into the Chinese culture, e.g. construction of Chinese language and writing, list of the most valued and oldest books in China, historical organization of public administration that managed the country, Chinese sense for justice, notes about Lao Tzu, his book Tao Te Ching (6th century BC) and Taoism, Chinese etiquette and customs... All of this is neatly described and wonderfully expanded by author's comments about actual historical events related to each topic and quotes from other books (mostly Chinese), thus helping the reader to better grasp the specifics of Chinese culture. As the book was published in 1902, it allows the reader to compare China then and today.
June 24, 2022
This guy actually gives Anglo "China hands" a good name. Not sure that good name is broadly deserved though. Almost all books about China that I read nowadays are written by Chinese people living in China. That's the way to go as there's now a plethora of such texts available in English. But Giles is Giles and his desire for his fellow countrymen to appreciate and comprehend this "foreign land" warm every page. He's an idealistic fin de siècle hero that I wish every Anglo journalist writing on China today would have the humility and wisdom to emulate. Til then when it comes to today's China I'll be sticking with the Chinese writers themselves thanks.
December 7, 2015
interesting to compare the lectures of one of the first sinologists about XIXth century China to its modern disciples. This Sinologist also has a breadth of knowledge about other empires which enriches his discussion.
Herbert also makes the point that one should consider similarities (as well as differences) between our culture and Chinese culture. Makes the point that Chinese culture is not monolithic at 1902, rather cultures could differ according to region.
Herbert also makes the point that one should consider similarities (as well as differences) between our culture and Chinese culture. Makes the point that Chinese culture is not monolithic at 1902, rather cultures could differ according to region.
October 26, 2014
It was very interesting to compare the lectures of one of the first sinologists about XIXth century China to its modern disciple. I recommend it not only for people interested in China but also for everyone who would like to achieve basic knowledge about Chinese civilization, its distinctive features that did not change that much during an century.
March 8, 2016
Mildly interesting, and slightly dated.
June 22, 2016
(lido em Chengdu, China)
June 9, 2019
Absolutely a must read if you are interested in China! Timeless piece!
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