The Project Gutenberg EBook of Peking Dust, by Ellen N. La Motte

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Title: Peking Dust

Author: Ellen N. La Motte

Release Date: August 1, 2008 [EBook #26162]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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[Illustration: Cover]

PEKING DUST

[Illustration: Loading coolies at Wei-Hei-Wei]

PEKING DUST

BY

ELLEN N. LAMOTTE
Author of "The Backwash of War"

ILLUSTRATED
WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

[Illustration]

NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1919

Copyright, 1919, by
The Century Co.

_Published, May, 1919_

INTRODUCTION

Two classes of books are written about China by two classes of people.
There are books written by people who have spent the night in China, as
it were, superficial and amusing, full of the tinkling of temple bells;
and there are other books written by people who have spent years in
China and who know it well,--ponderous books, full of absolute
information, heavy and unreadable. Books of the first class get one
nowhere. They are delightful and entertaining, but one feels their
irresponsible authorship. Books of the second class get one nowhere, for
one cannot read them; they are too didactic and dull. The only people
who might read them do not read them, for they also are possessed of
deep, fundamental knowledge of China, and their views agree in no
slightest particular with the views set forth by the learned scholars
and theorists.

This book falls into neither of these two classes, except perhaps in the
irresponsibility of its author. It is compounded of gossip,--the flying
gossip or dust of Peking. Take it lightly; blow off such dust as may
happen to stick to you. For authentic information turn to the heavy
volumes written by the acknowledged students of international politics.