Crimes & Mysteries

CHINESE CHARACTERISTICSCHAPTER III.  INDUSTRYIndustry is defined as habitual diligence in any employment—steady attention to business. In this age of the world industry is one of the most highly prized among the virtues, and it is one which invariably commands respect.The industry of a people, speaking roughly, may be said to unite the three dimensions of length, breadth and thickness; or, to use a different expression, it may be said to have two qualities of extension, and one of intension. By the quality of length, we mean the amount of time during which the industry is exercised. By th...

CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS CHAPTER II.  ECONOMYThe word Economy signifies the rule by which the house should be ordered, especially with reference to the relation between expenditure and income. Economy, as we understand the term, may be displayed in three several ways, by limiting the number of wants, by preventing waste, and by the adjustment of forces in such a manner as to make a little represent a great deal. In each of these ways, the Chinese are, pre-eminently, economical. One of the first things which impresses the traveller in China is the extremely simple diet of the people. T...

(1894 version) Chinese Characteristics CHAPTER I. FACEFace AT first sight nothing can be more irrational than to call that which is shared with the whole human race a "characteristic" of the Chinese. But the word "face" does not in China signify simply the front part of the head, but is literally a compound noun of multitude, with more meanings than we shall be able to describe, or perhaps to comprehend. In order to understand, however imperfectly, what is meant by "face," we must take account of the fact that as a race the Chinese have a strongly dramatic instinct. The t...

Chinese Characteristics (1894, Fleming H. Revell)CONTENTSCHAPTER I. FACECHAPTER II. ECONOMYCHAPTER III. INDUSTRYCHAPTER IV. POLITENESSCHAPTER V. THE DISREGARD OF TIMECHAPTER VI. THE DISREGARD OF ACCURACYCHAPTER VII. THE TALENT FOR MISUNDERSTANDINGCHAPTER VIII. THE TALENT FOR INDIRECTIONCHAPTER IX. FLEXIBLE INFLEXIBILITYCHAPTER X. INTELLECTUAL TURBIDITYCHAPTER XI. THE ABSENCE OF NERVESCHAPTER XII. CONTEMPT FOR FOREIGNERSCHAPTER XIII. THE ABSENCE OF PUBLIC SPIRITCHAPTER XIV. CONSERVATISMCHAPTER XV. INDIFFERENCE TO COMFORT AND CONVENIENCECHAPTER XVI. PHYSICAL VITALITYCHAPTER XVII. PATIENCE AND PE...

The True Story of Ah-Q Chapter 1: Introduction For several years now I have been meaning to write the true story of Ah Q. But while wanting to write I was in some trepidation, too, which goes to show that I am not one of those who achieve glory by writing; for an immortal pen has always been required to record the deeds of an immortal man, the man becoming known to posterity through the writing and the writing known to posterity through the man-until finally it is not clear who is making whom known. But in the end, as though possessed by some fiend, I always came back to the ide...