y responsive, and oftentimes
even grateful for being taken simply as men and not as extraordinary
specimens of another humanity.

The dominating factor of their lives is "face." Whatever happens, so
long as a man can save his face he has always the chance of righting
himself. We continually hear of their commercial integrity, which is
undoubtedly very great, though not springing from any innate
principles of fair-dealing but from a desire to save face. I have very
little doubt but that a Chinese merchant would immediately "do" you if
he could be perfectly sure of not being found out, and so losing face,
and that too without in any way violating his own feelings. "Face," or
otherwise "appearances," is a Chinaman's passport to respectability,
and therefore of great commercial value, but has nothing whatever to
do with the hidden principles of honour and morality. That honesty
pays better than dishonesty is a fact well known and firmly adhered to
by merchants in a large way of business. To those in a small way of
business, honesty does not pay, and consequently does not exist, but
instead ability in squeezing is accepted as the gauge of capacity.

The first essential in dealing with Chinese is control of temper. I do
not mean that one should not possess a temper, on the contrary, it is
a distinct advantage to have one, only it must be kept well in hand. A
man of irritable, rasping temperament quickly loses respect and
weakens control, while he who can keep calm under any circumstances,
and only very rarely gives rein to a fierce outburst at the
psychological moment, invariably compels admiration and obedience,
for, it is reasoned, if a man who has command of his temper gets angry
it is because he has just cause, and the fault must necessarily lie
with those who call his anger forth.

Under no circumstances, except in actual self-defence, strike a
Chinaman. The pain or insult it may cause him is as nothing in
comparison with the lowering effect it will have on your own status in
native eyes. From being well-considered you will at once become an
object of contemptuous dislike.

The empire of China is considerably larger than the whole of Europe,
contains limitless natural resources, and is inhabited by a hardy race
of some four hundred million souls who are bound together by ties of
blood, language, tradition and religion. This race, which until quite
modern times existed as a world apart and was sufficient unto itself