CHINA AND HER PEOPLE 319 



have been achieved. Throughout the East he controls the business 

 of whole communities, and in the banks and financial institutions 

 throughout India, China, Japan, and the Malay Archipelago the 

 Chinese ''»S'Arr;//'" is the business center around which flourishes the 

 vast commerce of the richest portion of the civilized world. Testi- 

 mony to the Chinaman s business integrity is unvarying, and while 

 it is true that no one is keener in driving a bargain, as soon as the 

 terms of that bargain are settled tlie Chinaman may be depended on 

 to carr}^ out his agreement without a murmur, even though circum- 

 stances ma}' have so changed as to threaten tiniincial ruin. All 

 through tiie East one is always told that a "Chinaman's woi-d is as 

 good as a bond." Under all circumstances he is commercially honest. 

 In mechanical abilitv and skill tlie Chinaman stands exceptionallv 

 high. In the foreign shops and factories of tlie East the native artisan 

 compares favorably with the workman of any other nation. I refer en- 

 tirely to western tools, methods, and machinery. In a broader sense, 

 in the erection of bridges, construction of temples, roads, canals, in 

 the wide sense of the engineer, the Chinaman compares well with his 

 fellows in more civilized lands. Manv of his bridges are marvelous 

 not only for their l)eauty and accuracy of construction, but in the 

 dithculties overcome and in the solidity of their foundations. Here 

 the Chinaman's characteristic of thoroughness expresses itself. '' The 

 Chinaman builds for all time; the rest of the world l)uilds for today." 

 The [)osition of woman in the Celestial Empire is difficult for the 

 western inquirer to grasp, and as the legal and political. status of the 

 sex is very low, it is hard to understand the immense social and com- 

 mercial influence possessed by the wives of the better class of China- 

 men. I say '• wives " designedly, because plurality is the rule rather 

 than the exception. In general knowledge of affairs the women of 

 China compare favorably with their husbands. Women are educated 

 tlirough a system of private instruction. 



In these notes on China and her i)eople it has l)een the intention of 

 the writer to touch on ))oints of })ersonal or indiviilual interest. The 

 genius of the native Chinaman cannot be grasped in a day, nor is it 

 easy to acquire a knowledge of the family life of these people. Dis- 

 trust of the '• western Ijarbarian " has become a part of the China- 

 man's nature, and not until long acquaintance ripens into friendship 

 does the real man appear. My opportunities for ol»servation and com- 

 ment extended over a period of nearly forty months, and I count the 

 friendship of several Chinamen of the upper class among the plcas- 

 antest memories of a cruise on the Chin;! station. 



