Chinese Rural Life - Western Perception of China

Author: Ming Enpu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: What kind of life did the Chinese people live at the turn of the last century? What turmoil and changes did they experience? What cultural traditions and outdated customs did they uphold? What were the specific conditions of cities, rural areas, and all levels of society? This series of books will answer these questions. The authors of this series were Westerners who resided in China a century ago and had a deep understanding of Chinese culture. With the unique perspective and insight of outsiders, they observed and examined this mysterious land, documenting their observations and amazements in vivid and descriptive language. Each book preserves a wealth of old photographs, allowing us to take a more and clearly look back at the traumatic years of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.
To observe what is happening inside a house, one of the best methods is to lift the roof, but the premise is that you cannot disturb the people inside. If we want to understand the Chinese, we must lift their roof to see what is happening inside. Of course, this is extremely difficult for the Chinese. However, they can imitate the Chinese by placing a wet finger on a paper window, leaving a small hole through which they can observe at least something.
Although this book consists of several heterogeneous, disjointed, and rather unattractive chapters, they are all studies on actual life phenomena of the Chinese. The observation of these phenomena, as mentioned above, relies on this "peeking through the hole."