Chinese Characteristics

by Arthur Henderson Smith

Chinese Characteristics (1894) was the most widely read American work on China until Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth (1931). It was the first to take up the task of analyzing Chinese society in the light of scientific social and racial theory. Written as a series of pungent and sometimes comic essays for a Shanghai newspaper in the late 1880s, Chinese Characteristics was among the five most read books on China among foreigners living in China as late as World War I and it was read by Americans at home as a wise and authentic handbook. The book was quickly translated into Japanese and just as quickly into Chinese. It was accepted by the Chinese — and has maintained its authoritative status for over a century — as the quintessential portrait of the Chinese race drawn by a Westerner. Indeed, the Chinese edition(s) of Chinese Characteristics have never gone out of print in China. Lu Xun, the most prominent Chinese cultural critic of the early twentieth century, urged his students to study and ponder Smith’s message, which was very widely debated in Chinese student circles. Within the last decade (the 1990s), two different, new translations of Smith’s book were published in China and both editions have enjoyed wide distribution and readership. In the West, particularly since World War II, Chinese Characteristics has been widely quoted (though seldom read) as an example of Sino-myopia and Orientalism. Despite such Western pseudo-intellectual bias, Smith’s arguments retain the power to provoke critical introspection among Chinese and, for the honest, among Westerners as well.

Genres: China, History, Nonfiction, Social Science

342 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1894

About the author

Arthur Henderson Smith was a missionary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions noted for spending 54 years as a missionary in China and writing books which presented China to foreign readers. These books include Chinese Characteristics, Village Life in China and The Uplift of China. In the 1920s, Chinese Characteristics was still the most widely read book on China among foreign residents there.

Reviews

[Wei Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wanted to shout the R word, but then had to concede most of he wrote was true. Still is, unfortunately.

[Andy C Lee]

Loose thoughts: It's very hard to rate a book like this given that it's a 19th century mix of race science and early sociology. Much of the "characteristics" described are more attributable to rural/non-industrial society than any particularity of Chinese culture. As the author himself notes, his observations are also very heavily colored by the fact that he is a colonizer in a foreign land. While this second point is acknowledged the first never really is. In the intro the author notes that his work is full of contradictions. At once Chinese people are claimed to be downtrodden and joyous, scheming and content, spiritual and atheistic. These observations may very well be true but and are no doubt partially due to Chinese culture but are also inevitable in any population in the hundreds of millions. What's incredibly frustrating is that the author acknowledges all this but then does no further analysis. There is no question as to why there are so many contradictions and only a passing interrogation of how his status as a foreign power colors his views. I'm not sure what the author's prior background in Chinese history was but his work would have greatly benefited from a deeper connection to Chinese political history, especially legalist thinking. Currently there is a large focus on religion and spirituality alone. In fact the prescription given for fixing Chinese culture is Christianity.
These criticisms are not to say the book is without any truth. Many of the observed behaviors could be described as "trashy", like if a Chinese writer based their thoughts on Western romance off Love Island or the Bachelor.
Best section was the intro.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as an English teacher in China. It was given to me by my department as a gift, and sat on my bedside for a few weeks before I actually opened it. I now regret waiting so long.

As stated in the preface, it is impossible to write about China in general terms- so if there is a failing here, it is in the title. "Chinese Characteristics" instead focuses on his own personal experiences in China. It is full of remarkable insight, shared with both frankness and delicacy, and a fair amount of self-awareness, as Smith attempts to weave spiderwebs of theme between his (astute) observances. I think his greatest success was to ignore "science" as it were, and to focus instead on individuals, families, and custom. This is not to say that the book lacks secondary research.

"Chinese Characteristics" was ahead of its time in terms of its humanity and insight. Late 19th century nonfiction is riddled with pseudo-scientific, sweeping over-generalizations made by westerners about other cultures (Native Americans, Africans, etc) which simply do not hold up to a serious read in the 21st century. This book is, I think, an exception. China's general acceptance of the book as accurate and respectful, even today, is proof of Smith's resounding success.

[Sheng Wang · Rating 4 out of 5]

快速浏览了一遍，感觉这一类题材的文章，很多时候都是以偏概全。
包括后来的辜鸿铭写的《中国人的精神》，其实都存在着以偏概全的现象。

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

(1) Face, (2) Economy,
(3) Industry, (4) Politeness,
(5) Disregard of Time, (6) Disregard of Accuracy,
(7) Talent for Misunderstanding, (8) Talent for Indirection,
(9) Flexible Inflexibility, (10) Intellectual Turbidity,
(11) Absence of Nerves, (12) Contempt for Foreigners,
(13) Absence of Public Spirit, (14) Conservatism,
(15) Indifference to Comfort and Convenience, (16) Physical Vitality,
(17) Patience and Perseverance, (18) Content and Cheerfulness,
(19) Filial Piety, (20) Benevolence,
(21) Absence of Sympathy, (22) Social Typhoons,
(23) Mutual Responsibility and Respect for Law, (24) Mutual Suspicion,
(25) Absence of Sincerity, (26) Polytheism, Pantheism, Atheism.

Smith drew his characteristics from observations of family and village life. This is a sociology of impressions, not data or fieldwork or surveys, which were hardly conceived of a century ago. Smith's introduction to the work addressed many of its potential shortcomings, so while there is generalization, Smith aimed to be free of dogmatism and arrogance. Readers can judge how successful he was.....end quote from Donald.

[Dina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book overall, but reader be aware - this book is full of contradictions. The main message that I get from the book is that China should be left alone. The dumbfounding thing is that despite starving and having no money, the people will continue to reproduce because its their Filial piety. I understand the book describes the "old" China, where due to sheer numbers, most of Chinese treat suffering, pain and poverty as something normal. But really, instead of reducing their numbers they continue to reproduce, and continue to suffer all that comes with too many people and not enough food. That explains why despite the famines, and the opium, Chinese are standing at 1 billion people.

Anyway, one needs to actually read, but what I get is that author loves and hates China at the same time, but most importantly he totally fails to understand it.

[Yong Liang · Rating 4 out of 5]

一百多年了，中国人还是那个样子。

[Rippen Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, written in 1897, is fascinating and feels like time-traveling. It feels like a modern man time-travelled to 1897 and writes about the then Chinese society as he sees it modern tones.

The author, Arthur Henderson Smith, was a preacher from the US, and had lived in China for 54 years until 1926. The abundant examples, anecdotes together with the critical and rather objective mindset are what made this book immersive and quite insightful to see Chinese society from 130 years ago, even for a Chinese like me. It’s as if you are actually living in that period, observing local people with the words put together some 130 years ago. And when ‘history’ doesn’t feel like history but rather reality, somehow it felt ‘normal’, as if the tumultuous, brutal and blood-filled histories soon following it didn’t exist. This is when you realize how ruthless human progress has been, when you zoom out on the time horizon.

As to the content and analysis themselves, China is one of the oldest civilizations and the only one that has never been disconnected, and inevitably it’s highly complicated. Therefore, unavoidably, the author would not attribute correctly the reasons behind certain behaviors or characteristics, because he was observing from only a dot in a long string of history.

China is huge and has been ruled by 1 entity most of the time, completely unlike Europe. It is hugely complicated, and even most Chinese for their whole life can’t fathom the complete picture. This distinct trait from the western history has led to huge differences in choice of ruling, definition of safety and power, ideology on society, and so on. Therefore, my perspective is we shouldn’t come to a quick judgment of a certain group of people being of certain characteristics, but rather see the broader context on what has led so. After all, we are all just human on this planet, with the exact same body parts and not so different natures.

[Sheng Peng · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some pretty amazing anecdotes. Fun to read.

[Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

此书提升了我对自己生存现状的认知度

[Tianxiao Zhang · Rating 5 out of 5]

极其有趣、易读。了解晚清臣民生活状态的一个绝佳视角。百余年过去，中国人身上依稀还残存许多历史的影子。

[Yiwei · Rating 3 out of 5]

微信读书｜起初感觉作者带有少许偏见，但阅读时Xiao Hong、Lu Xun笔下的好几个人物浮现在我眼前。可能作者还是很大程度还原了那时的中国人吧。对“孝道”“仁善”分析得到位，措辞辛辣。

[Jintong Shi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to understand China and Chinese people, then this book published over 100 years ago is a must read.

Someone said this book is a required-reading for US Department State for training diplomats.

I got this book from the library, printed 100+ years ago, it is really critical about Chinese. Reading this help me understand myself, and my culture and people .I asked my friend in the United States to buy a copy for me, printed 100+ years ago.

Yet, I am proud of my nomadic blood, many times, I want to change the stereotype of Chinese from my behavior...My ancestors conquered China, and conquered all the way to Europe...we should be proud.

[Guangyang · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun and sharp view of Chinese people, but in 19th century.

I think the author put too much thing into people's characteristics, like some of them are actually due to the economy level at that time, some are human nature in that specific condition, some are even the result of the political system and government system running over a thousand year, etc. Some conclusion still work for Chinese people nowadays, but also lots of the features have been vanished decades ago. What we are seeing in China, under the globalization and westernization, is a group of more interesting, culture mixing people.

[Alan Tsuei · Rating 4 out of 5]

對一個近百年前成書而且又是出自外國傳教士之手的書來說，在那個沒有網路，交通資訊都極不方便的年代，能對中國人有這般程度的瞭解實在相當令人欽佩��雖如後記所言，並不是每一點都符合事實，但作者的確花了許多的心思與觀察，加上文筆幽默風趣，讓每一段文字都充滿了畫面性，對任何一位對晚清社會與過去中國人們有興趣的朋友們來說，都是不可多得的好作品。