《中国人的性格》是美国传教士阿瑟·史密斯（明恩溥）基于1872年赴华传教期间的社会观察撰写的著作，首版英文名《Chinese Characteristics》于19世纪末问世，。作者在华生活逾五十年，书中融合人类学视角与传教士立场，记录了晚清民众的性格特征与文化形态。
全书以27个主题章节剖析中国人行为模式，包含“保全面子”“省吃俭用”等生活哲学，以及“漠视精确”“因循守旧”等社会现象。通过对比西方工业文明，着重探讨东方特有的生存韧性，如环境适应力与疼痛耐受性。书中案例多源自山东乡村生活经历，涉及衣食住行、孝悌观念等主题，部分结论因宗教立场存在视角争议。该著作开创西方研究中国国民性先河，被译成多国文字，成为近代中西文化互鉴的重要文本。
第三章 勤劳刻苦
“勤劳”指的是努力不懈、勤勉地去做任何工作——即对事务坚持不变的关注。在当今的世界上，勤劳是最值得高度赞美的美德之一，是永远受到尊敬的美德。
一般来说，一个民族的勤劳，大致可以由三个方面来衡量：长度、广度和强度；换句话说，它可以分解为两个表示规模一个表示力度的性质。所谓长度，是指保持勤劳的时间范畴；所谓广度，是指真正可以算做勤劳者的数量；所谓强度，是指“投身于勤奋”和“专心致志”的精力。这三个因素综合作用，才会有所成就。
通常看来，偶尔到中国游玩的旅行者与长期定居此处的侨民，两者对于获得的印象是不尽相同的，但是他们都确实相信中国人的勤奋。初到中国的人，他们对中国人的第一印象是，这个民族的人正认真履行着约翰·卫斯理的格言：“全力以赴，始终如一。”在中国，懒汉是非常难得一见的，似乎每个人都在忙什么。中国社会自然也会有不少富人，尽管他们在全部人口中所占的比例非常低，他们也可以不用干事而过着富裕的生活。然而，他们的生活并不像外国人在表面上所看到的那样。中国的有钱人仍然像他在白手起家时那样，专注于他的事业，他们工作起来很努力，不会有丝毫的放弃。
中国人把自己分为：士、农、工、商。让我们分别看一看不同的阶层所体现的勤劳美德。
西方人很难认同像中国那样的教育模式。这种体制的整体的弊端是非常明显的，但仍有一点却总是引起人们的注意，那就是在这种学习体制中能很好锻炼“只为勤奋、不求回报”的精神。对于那些有钱人购买学位和官衔，这种后门永远敞开。这点，似乎会挫伤一些读书人的热情。但买卖官职的不公正行为并不影响大局。每一个省份都在抱怨，从最低级别的考场，到最高级别的考场，每一个职位上的合格考生远远多于空缺的职位。所有各级的考场都是人满为患，经常是一万多人竞考一个职位。
只要我们去估算一下中国的读书人，为了能进入这样的考场而花费的心血，就会鲜明地感受到他们的勤奋。在《三字经》中所提及的传统读书人勤奋的典型，或者如借着萤火虫的微光读书，把书本绑在耕牛角上一边犁田一边温习，时至今日依然被中国各地成千上万的读书人所效仿。在很多情况下，不少人能获得诸如“秀才”这样的初步学衔就开始放弃走读书这条路了。但是中国人根本不把此类人当做“士”。而把这一荣耀的称呼留给那些在充满荆棘的狭窄小路上不断奋斗直至学业有成的人。除了在中国，我们又能在世界其他什么地方可以看到祖孙三代为了做官参加同样的科举考试竞争，经过漫长的不屈不挠的努力，终于直到八十岁时才能获得盼望已久的荣誉？
1889年春，北京的《邸报》上刊登了一些资料，其中有关于各省科举中老年考生的事。在福建巡抚的报告中说，福州秋季乡试的考场，有九位考生超过八十岁，有两位考生超过了九十岁。他们都通过了规定的考试，他们提交的文章结构严谨，书法有力、准确。他还说，这些老年考生中秀才时已年过六十，在此期间已参加了三次乡试，如果这第四次再不通过，当被授予一个名誉学衔。河南巡抚也以同样报告说，有十三位超过八十岁的考生，一位超过九十岁的考生。他们全部“经历为期九日之科察，其文笔精练，行文甚佳，并无垂暮之气也”。这个报告已经很惊人，但更令人吃惊的是安徽省，那里有三十五位考生超过八十高龄，十九位考生超过九十岁！除了中国，还有哪一个国家能见到这样的奇观呢？
如果说，中国的读书人始终勤奋不止，那么，农民的勤奋则丝毫不亚于他们。中国农民的劳作如一位庄园大管家所操的心那样，没完没了。在北方各省里，除了冬至前后有一小段的空闲时间之外，一年到头，农民们根本没有闲的时候，总有大量的活要干。无疑，其他各国的农民也多少都是很忙碌的，但是，中国农民的勤劳是其他民族所难以比拟的。
农民阶级是这样，那些长期过着非常贫困的日子、在无尽的折磨中度过一生的劳工同样也是如此。一个农民要细心照料他的每一棵白菜，小心地清除掉叶子上各种害虫。同样，一名劳工也同样要照料好他的工作，这样才能填饱他自己的肚子，也填饱他一家人的肚子。那些偶尔经由乡间行走的人，往往过了半夜就要起身赶路；他们说这是一种风俗。无论你何时走在乡间的路上，都可看见手拿粪耙，肩背背篓的农民矮小的身影，在弯腰拾粪。当没有其他的活计可干的时候，这是一桩不变的、永远做不完的事。
人们还经常为了养家糊口，寻找两份不同的工作以互相衔接。这种情景在中国也是比比皆是。天津的船夫在河水封冻没事干时，就拉冰橇，搞搬运，赚点小钱。这种冰橇可以提供价格极低的运输。同样，某些地区的大多数农民会充分利用农闲时间编制帽子，编织穗带，如今这种帽子已经作为大宗出口产品外销。中国妇女总是不停歇地手纳鞋底，即使是在村口闲聊时，她们也不会停下手中的活计；除此之外，她们还在纺棉线，以备纺成纱织成布。总之，她们从来不会闲着无事。
上面所提及的那两个阶层的勤勉，在商人及其雇员身上也得以充分体现。即使是在西方，身为商店职员的生活也不是清闲的。但相比较起来，中国店员要更加忙碌，他们的工作永远没个头。他们几乎没有任何节假日，活计很是繁重，只是在相对不忙时才可稍停片刻。
中国的店铺总是开市很早，打烊很晚。那种记账制度采用传统的复式簿记法，非常复杂，使得账房先生为了获得收支和平衡的账目，常常要忙到深夜。实在无事可做，店员们就坐下来，挑拣收进来的铜钱，寻找那些能卖出大价钱的上古时代的铜板。
令人吃惊的是，在中国，劳动强度最大的阶层，乃是最让人羡慕，每一个有志的中国人都梦寐以求的官僚阶层。中国的各层各级官员，都需要亲自埋头于各种公务，且都必须对每桩事理论上和实践上的成败负责到底。而此类公务数量之巨、事务之繁杂，同样令人吃惊。如今，正为每天八小时工作制而斗争的我们的工会组织，看到下面的这张日程安排，会做何感想呢？
这份日程表摘自北京外国使馆的一位翻译对中国一位政治要员的采访报告：“我曾经询问过一位中国内阁大臣，每天究竟有多少的要务需要处理。因为他一直抱怨日常事务太过于繁忙，使他过于疲惫和劳累。他说，他每天凌晨两点钟从家里出门，因为三点至六点他要在宫中值班。作为军机大臣，六点至九点他要在朝中内阁议事。他是兵部大臣，九点至十一点要在兵部办公。他又是刑部的要员，每天十一点至下午两点要在刑部办公室。他还是总理衙门的资深大臣之一，每天下午两点至五六点要在总理衙门办公。这些还只是他每天的例行公务。除此之外，他在工作的空隙，还要参加其他一些特别或者临时的会议，他得见缝插针地为这些临时事务和其他的部门工作。因此，他很少在傍晚七八点钟之前到家。”
据说，在与这位外国翻译官做了此次访谈的六个月之后，那位官员就因劳累过度而感到心力交瘁，不久去世了。我听到这个消息后并不感到奇怪，在中国，那些仍能为政府效劳的官员身上，发生此类的事件并非不可能。显然，若他们能坚持下去，自然对政府而言是很有益的事情。
在前文，我们已经说过，所谓勤劳的外延是指勤劳者的人数以及勤劳所持续的时间长度。正如我们所看到的那样，中国人的勤劳在这两个方面是很广大的。中国人的一日，开始于天色未明之时，甚至常常是后半夜时分。正当欧洲各国的宫廷还沉睡在睡梦之神墨菲斯的怀抱里，中国的皇帝已经开始准备一天的早朝。这对西方人来说，简直是不可思议，而对中国人来说则是世界上最自然不过的事情。
天子的一言一行不同程度地被各地臣民效仿，如风靡草，举国上下，皆是如此。广州的铜匠、福州的锡匠、宁波的木雕匠、上海的磨坊伙计，以及北方各省的纺织匠和筛面公都是睡得晚、起得早。天亮之前很久，旅行者就会在集市上遇到卖菜的村民，他们早已从数里路以外的家里赶来，伫立在黑暗之中等待着天亮。天一亮，他们就可以出售自己的蔬菜了！
西方人吃早饭的时候，中国人的早市早已经结束。在某个夏季清晨的五点半过后，如果沿着上海的主要街道走走，就更能充分感受到东西方两种生活方式的强烈反差了。那些在黄浦江边的高楼洋房里办公、做生意的慵懒欧洲人，此刻还毫无动静，而亚洲人却挤满了街道，并且这种状况已经持续很久了。再过上几小时之后，当西方人开始挤上人行道，轻松自在地与中国人擦肩而过去上班时，当地人已经干完了他们半天的活计。
约翰·戴维斯爵士关于中国人“热爱劳动”的评价是完全正确的。他认为，中国人永远愉快地进行着自己的劳动，这标志着中国政府在使人民满足于自己的现状方面是相当成功的。这种热爱劳动的素质，是中国人最显著的性格之一，但要正确地理解它，则需要得到长期的高度重视和细致的推敲。
接下来，关于中国人勤劳的内涵，值得再说上几句。中国人是典型的亚洲人。他们的工作模式也是典型的亚细亚式的。试图以我们的模式对这个生机勃勃的民族进行改造，那将只是一种徒劳。在我们看来，他们显然缺乏我们所高度尊崇的诚信。盎格鲁撒克逊人用不着《圣经》的指点，便能知道竭尽全力做好自己应当做的事是非常的重要。但是尽管有悠久的宗教和哲学交替影响，中国人却很难改变他们固有的步伐。他们受益于几千年以来所积累的经验，就像是荷马史诗里的诸神一样，他们从来都是不慌不忙。
人们不禁想到，有朝一日，当白种人与黄种人之间不可避免地展开一场空前激烈的竞争，哪一方将会败下阵来？
勤劳的双手可以致富，这正是所罗门王所叙之经济格言。假如这一格言是完全正确的，那么，中国人理所应当能够成为地球上最兴旺的民族。毫无疑问，如果他们能有一种全面的美德，用以克服品德素质发展不平衡的问题，比如他们缺乏诸多如信仰之类“恒久美德”的基本素养。那么，这个民族的兴旺，更是毫无疑问指日可待的了。无论如何，当中国人的道德意识中求真和诚信这样的品质重新恢复其应有的地位时，那么中国人将会（在不久的将来）获得因他们的无与伦比的勤劳所带来的圆满的回报。
英文原版
CHAPTER III. INDUSTRY.
INDUSTRY is defined as habitual diligence in any employment—steady attention to business. In this age of theworld industry is one of the most highly prized among thevirtues, and it is one which invariably commands respect.
The industry of a people, speaking roughly, may be said tounite the three dimensions of length, breadth, and thicknessor, to use a different expression, it may be said to have twoqualities of extension, and one of intension. By the qualityof length, we mean the amount of time during which the industry is exercised. By the quality of breadth, we mean thenumber of persons to whom the predicate of industrious maybe fairly applied. By intension, we mean the amount ofenergy which is displayed in the " habitual dihgence," and in" steady attention to business." The aggregate result will bethe product of these three factors. It is by no means alwaysthe case that the impressions of the casual traveller and thoseof the old residents are the same, but there can be little doubt,that casual travellers, and residents of the longest standing,will agree in a profound conviction of the diligence of theChinese people. The very first glance which a new-comergets of the Chinese, induces him to think that this people iscarrying out in social affairs the maxim which John Wesleynamed as the rule for a successful church—"All at it, andalways at it." Idleness in China is not conspicuous. Everyone seems to be doing something. There are of covurse plenty of wealthy persons, albeit a mere microscopic fraction of thewhole community, who can abundantly live without doing anywork, but their life is not ordinarily of a kind which is externally visible to the foreigner. Wealthy people in China donot commonly retire from business, but devote themselves toit with the same kind and degree of attention as when theywere poor.
The Chinese classify themselves as Scholars, Farmers, Workmen, and Merchants. Let us glance a*: each of these subdivisions of society, and see what they have to say for the industryof the people.
it is exceedingly difficult for Occidentals to enter sympathetically into such a scheme of education as that of theChinese. Its gross defects are not Hkely to be overlooked,but one feature of it is adapted to thrust itself on the attentionat all timesYr^—it has no real rewards, except for diligence. Themany back doors which are always open to those who havethe money to purchase degrees would seem well calculated todampen the ardour of any student, but such is not the maineffect of the sale of office. The complaint is made in all theprovinces that there are far more eligible candidates for everyposition than there are positions to be filled. All the examination halls, from the lowest to the highest, seem to beperpetually crowded, and the number of students who compete in any single prefecture often rises to above ten thousand.When we consider the amount of mental toil which the mereentrance to any one of these examinations involves, we get avivid conception of the intellectual industry of the Chinese.The traditional diligence of the standard heroes mentioned inthe Trimetrical Classic, who studied by the light of a glowworm, or who tied their books to the horns of the ox withwhich they were ploughing, is imitated at the present day,with various degrees of approximation, by thousands in allparts of China. In many cases this industry begins to disappear with the initial success of the first degree, but theChinese do not consider such a one a scholar at all, but reserve this title of honour for those who keep on in the narrowand thorny path, until at length their perseverance is crownedwith success. In what land but China would it be possibleto find examples of a grandfather, son, and grandson all competing in the same examination for the same degree, age andindomitable perseverance being rewarded at the age of eightyyears by the long-coveted honour
*In the spring of 1889 various memorials appeared in thePeking Gazette relating to aged candidates at the provincialexaminations.The Governor-General reported that at theautumnal examination in Foochow nine candidates over eightyyears of age, and two over ninety, went through the prescribedtests and sent in essays of which the composition was goodand the handwriting firm and distinct. Aged candidates, hesays, who have passed through an interval of sixty years fromattaining their bachelor's degree, and who have attended thethree last examinations for the higher, are, if unsuccessful thefourth time, entitled to an honorary degree. The Governorof Honan in like manner reported thirteen candidates overeighty years of age, and one over ninety, who all "wentthrough the whole nine days' ordeal, and wrote essays whichwere perfectly accurate in diction and showed no signs of failing years." But even this astonishing record was surpassed inthe province of Anhui, where thirty-five of the competitorswere over eighty years of age, and eighteen over ninety!Could any other country afford a spectacle like this ?
If the life of the scholar in China is one of unremitting diligence, that of the farmer is not less so. His work, like that ofa housekeeper, is never done. With the exception of a comparatively brief period in the middle of the winter, throughoutthe northern provinces there never appears to be a time whenthere is not only something to do, but a great deal of it.
Doubtless this is more or less true of farming everywhere,but the Chinese farmer is industrious with an industry whichit would be difficult to surpass.
That which is true of the farmer class, is true with stillgreater emphasis of the mere labourer, who is driven by theconstant and chronic reappearance of the wolf at his door tospend his hfe in an everlasting grind. As the farmer bestowsthe most painstaking thought and care upon every separatestalk of cabbage, picking oR carefully each minute insect,thus at last tiring out the ceaseless swarms by his own greaterperseverance, so does the labourer watch for the most insignificant job, that he may have something for his stomach andfor his back, and for other stomachs and backs that are whollydependent upon him. Those who have occasion to travelwhere cart-roads exist, will often be obliged to rise soon aftermidnight and pursue their journey, for such, they are told, isthe custom. But no matter at what hour one is on the way,there are small bodies of peasants patroUing the roads, withfork in hand and basket on their back, watching for oppor.tunities to collect a little manure. When there is no otheiwork pressing, this is an invariable and an inexhaustible resource.
t is by no means uncommon to see those who are hardssed to find the means of support, following two differentlines of occupation which dovetail into each other. Thus theboatmen of Tientsin, whose business is spoiled by the closingof the rivers, take to the swift ice-sled, by which means it ispossible to be transported rapidly at a minimum cost. In thesame way, most of the rural population of some districts spendall the time which can be spared from the exigencies of farmwork in making hats or in plaiting the braid, now so large anarticle of export. Chinese women are not often seen withouta shoe-sole in their hands on which they are perpetually taking stitches, even while talking gossip at the entrance of their alleys ;or perhaps it is a reel of cotton which they are spinning.But idle they are not.
The indefatigable activity of the classes which have beennamed is well matched by that of the merchants and tlieir employes. The life of a merchant's clerk, even in Western lands,is not that of one who holds a sinecm^e, but as compared withthat of a Chinese clerk it is comparative idleness. For to thework of the latter there is no end. His hoHdays are few andhis tasks heavy, though they may be interspersed with periodsof comparative torpor.
Chinese shops are always opened early, and they close late.The system of bookkeeping by a species of double entry appears to be so minute that the accountants are often keptbusy till a very late hour recording the sales and balancingthe entries. When nothing else remains to be done, clerkscan be set to sorting over the brass cash taken in, in quest ofrare coins which may be sold at a profit.
It is a matter of surprise that the most hard-worked classof the Chinese race is that class which is most envied, and; 1 \into which every ambitious Chinese strives to raise himself—towit, the official. The number and variety of transactions withwhich a Chinese official of any rank must occupy himself, andfor the success of which he is not only theoretically but verypractically responsible, is likewise surprising. How would ourLabom- Unions, who are so strenuous about the coming EightHours a Day, relish a programme of a day's work such as thefollowing, which is taken from a statement made to an interpreter in one of the Foreign Legations in Peking by an eminent Chinese statesman? <^I once asked a member of theChinese cabinet, who was complaining of fatigue and overwork, for an account of his daily routine. He replied that heleft home every morning at two o'clock, as he was on dutyat the Palace from three to six. As a member of the PrivyCouncil, he was engaged in that body from six until nine.
From nine until eleven he was at the War Department, ofwhich he was President. Being a member of the Board ofPunishment, he was in attendance at the office of that bodydaily from twelve until two, and, as one of the senior Ministers of the Foreign Office, he spent every day, from two tillfive or six in the afternoon, there. These were his regulardaily duties. In addition to them he was frequently appointedto serve on special boards or commissions, and these he sandwiched in between the others as he could. He seldomreached home before seven or eight o'clock in the evening."It is not strange to be told that this officer died six monthsafter this conversation, from overwork and exhaustion, nor isit at all unlikely that the same state of things may put an endto many careers in China the continuance of which would havebeen valuable to the interests of the government.
The quality of extension, of which we have spoken, appliesto the number of those who are industrious, but it also appliesto the extent of time covered by that industry, which, as wehave seen, is very great. The Chinese day begins at a dimperiod, often not at a great remove from midnight. TheEmperor holds his daily audiences at an hour when everyCourt of Europe is wrapped in the embrace of Morpheus. Toan Occidental this seems simply inexplicable, but to a Chineseit doubtless appears the most natural thing in the world. Andthe conduct of the Son of Heaven is imitated more or lessclosely by the subjects of the Son of Heaven, in all parts of hisEmpire. The copper workers of Canton, the tinfoil workersof Foochow, the wood-carvers of Ningpo, the rice-mill workersof Shanghai, the cotton-cleaners and workers in the treadmillfor bolting flour in the northern provinces, may all be heardlate at night, and at a preposterous hour in the morning.Long before daylight the traveller comes upon a countrymanwho has already reached a distance of many miles from hishome, where he is posted in the darkness waiting for the coming of dayhght, when he will begin the sale of his cabbages!
By the time an Occidental has had his breakfast, a Chinesemarket is nearly over. There are few more significant contrasts than are suggested by a stroll along the principal streetin Shanghai, at the hour of half-past five on a summer's morning. The lordly European, who built those palaces whichhne the water-front, and who does his business therein, isconspicuous by his total absence, but the Asiatic is on handin full force, and has been on hand for a long time. It will be hours before the Occidentals begin to jostle the Chinesefrom the sidewalks, and to enter with luxurious ease on theirround of work, and by that time the native will have finishedhalf his day's labour.
Sir John Davis was quite right in his comments on thecheerful labour of the Chinese, as a sign that their governmenthas succeeded in sectu"ing them great content with their condition.This quality of their labour is one of its most strikingcharacteristics, and to be comprehended must be long observedand well weighed.
It remains to say a word of the quaUty of intension in Chinese industry. The Chinese are Asiatics, and they work assuch. It is in vain to attempt to make over this virile race onthe model of our own. To us they certainly appear lackingin the heartiness which we esteem so highly. The AngloSaxon needs no scriptural hint to enable him to see the importance of doing with his might what his hand finds to do,but the Chinese cannot be made to change his pace, though the combined religions and philosophy of the ages were brought to bear upon him. He has profited by the accumulated experience of millenniums, and, like the gods of Homer,he is never in a hurry.
One cannot help forecasting a time when the white and the yellow races will come into a keener competition than any yet known.When that ijieyitable day shall have arrived, whicly^of them will have to go to the wall?
Surely if Solomon was right in his economic maxim that the hand of the diligent maketh rich, the Chinese ought to beamong the most prosperous of the peoples of the earth. Andso they doubtless would be, if there were with them a balanceof virtues, instead of a conspicuous absence of some of thosefundamental qualities which, however they may be enumeratedas " constant virtues," are chiefly " constant " in their absence.When, by whatever means, these qualities of honesty and sincerity shall have been restored to their theoretical place in theChinese moral consciousness, then (and not sooner) will theChinese reap the full reward of their unmatched Industry.
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