The Chinese

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 29, 1909

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 50.

“The Chinese.” By John Stewart Thompson. Illustrated from photographs. 442 pages. Price, $2.50 net. The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Indianapolis, Ind.

This is a book which one wishes to read clear through from beginning to end when its reading is once commenced. It covers in condensed form what one wishes most to know about the Chinese. Incidents of daily life among them, Chinese wit and humor, political and picturesque China, Chinese art and literature, modern commerce and business in China, climate and diseases of South China, Chinese religion and superstition, Japan’s commercial example and its effect upon China, the life of foreigners in China, and many other things are covered and elucidated in Mr. Thompson’s work.

We know of no book which gives in the same space so much information on China. It, too, is a timely work. Just now is China coming to the front among the nations of the world. Her seclusion for centuries has been cast off for some time; and yet people are just beginning to learn the Chinese character, the wealth and resources of the great empire, and the real worth and stability of a civilization which has existed so long, mixed tho it may be with a religion which is of no worth in moral regeneration of character.

Mr. Thompson’s book ought to have a tremendous circulation, and, if it is read, will give very much information on the empire. The illustrations are typical, helpful, and illuminating. The book is well printed, and invites the reader continually on. There is also an excellent map of the Chinese Empire.