China yesterday and to-day / Edward Thomas Williams

Includes bibliographical references and index.

What is China -- The Beginnings of China -- The Family -- Marriage and the Status of Woman -- The Farmer -- The Village Republic -- The City -- The Craftsman -- The Guilds -- The Calendar and its Festivals -- Confucius and his teaching -- Confucianism in the home -- Confucianism as a State Religion -- Chinese Buddhism -- Taoism -- Chinese Art -- Chinese Literature -- Early Foreign Intercourse -- Opening the Gate of China -- The Apotheosis of an American -- Burlingame and Oriental Immigration -- Spheres of Interest -- The Era of Reform -- Setting up of the Republic -- The Struggle for Democracy -- Foreign Trade.

Our interest in a foreign land fastens itself chiefly upon those features in which it differs from our own, When the writer first went to China he was told by Chinese acquaintances that all foreigners looked alike him all Chinese were so alike that it was with difficulty that he could tell one from another it was the peculiarities of physiognomy and costume, shared in the main by all those of one nationality, that attracted the notice of men of the other nationality. The Chinese, however, are more uniform than Europeans in color and facial features, although there is considerable difference between the people of the northern and those of the southern provinces in physiognomy. To most people in the Western World China is a faraway land of such strange customs that one is inclined to believe very readily tales told concerning its inhabitants that have no real foundation in fact, think of it as a land of mighty, walled cities, of lofty pagodas, of quaint, curved temple roofs, resting upon brilliantly colored bracket cornices, of curious costumes and strange products;-precious silks and satins, fragrant teas, beautiful porcelains and lacquered wares.