Manners Customs Of The Chinese At Macao

Author : George Tradescent Lay, Esq.
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781330311486
Total Pages : 120 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (114 download)

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Download or read book The Chinese as They Are written by George Tradescent Lay, Esq. and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-15 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Chinese as They Are: Their Moral and Social Character, Manners, Customs, Language; With Remarks on Their Arts and Sciences, Medical Skill, the Extent of Missionary Enterprise, Etc;; Containing Also, Illustrative and Corroborative Notes, Additional Chapters on the Ancient And China has long presented a most interesting field for inquiry and research, second to no other country on the globe. Recent event have contributed to invest it with an additional interest, and have awakened a spirit of inquiry which it is the object of this work, in a measure, to gratify. Owing to many circumstances the remoteness of the country, the jealous character of the people our knowledge of this peculiar and interesting empire has hitherto been extremely limited. Most of the accounts that have reached us, from the time of Marco Polo to the present, have been extremely imperfect and unsatisfactory. Those of the Catholic Jesuits, who in their world-wide enthusiasm were the first to penetrate into the unknown regions of Cathay, though in many respects valuable and interesting, were not free from error and exaggeration. The hurried works of persons connected with the various embassies from European powers were necessarily deficient, not to say, in many points, incorrect; while those emanating from residents in the commercial ports of Canton and Macao, where the character of the Chinese had materially deteriorated, were fruitful in error. Nor have adventurers been wanting, dealing largely in absurdities, whose accounts, well suited to the popular taste for the wonderful and extravagant, have gained very general credence. Hence it is not at all surprising that ignorance and misconception in relation to China, its people, its government and religion, should have been so general. Recent investigations, nevertheless, more especially on the part of the Protestant missionaries, have thrown a flood of light upon the actual state and condition of the country, and corrected many of the mistakes into which the civilized world had fallen. With a perseverance and energy characteristic of men feeling the importance of their mission, these missionaries have penetrated into the country, and by mingling familiarly with the people, with none of the forced pomp of the, ambassador attending them, have been enabled to form a just estimate of the Chinese character an estimate which the resident in the commercial cities, or the court, could never form. The results of the inquiries and observations of these men must, therefore, be looked for with interest. Among the works issued by persons having enjoyed these advantages, one recently published in England, under the title of The Chinese as they are, by 6. Tradescent Lay, Esq., a gentleman well known in the scientific world, has commanded an extraordinary degree of attention. Speaking from his own personal observation, Mr. Lay invests his subject with an interest which we look for in vain in other works, written under less favorable circumstances, and by individuals less competent to the task. He sketches the character and manners of the Chinese with a bold, free hand, and the very vividness of the picture forms the surest guaranty of its accuracy. With less minuteness of detail, and fewer pretensions to deep research, this work, nevertheless, is better calculated to convey a clear and accurate conception of the Chinese as they actually are, than any other now before the American public. The information which it also embodies in relation to the great missionary and philanthropic movements in China, and the prospects there opened to the enlightened world, cannot fail to recommend it to the attention of those interested in the progress of humanity, as well as of those who seek a more familiar acquaintance with this peculiar people. The editor therefore feels confident in presenting this work, in itself, to his country-men, that he is conferring a favor which will, at least, palliate ...