《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。
第七章 误解的才能
一个外国人学了不少汉语并足以表达自己的思想时，他首先发现的是中国人在某些方面有着非同寻常的天赋。这位外国人会倍感惊讶和痛苦的是，你所说的汉语，别人听不懂。于是，他就回头更加勤奋重新学习。几年之后，他终于可以自信地与公众或者任何一个人交谈各种复杂问题了。但是，如果与他交谈的是一个完全陌生的人，尤其是与一个从未见过外国人的人，那么，他就会像最初说汉语时那样依然感到惊讶和痛苦。对方显然是什么都听不懂，而且他显然也是不想去听懂。他很明显就没在意你在说些什么，也不试图理清跟你谈话的思路，而只会打断你的话说：“你说的，我们听不懂。”
他面带着一种具有优越感的微笑，就像看着一个聋哑人费尽努力想开口说话一样，好像是在说：“你说的话谁能听懂呢？你天生就没有一个能讲中国话的舌头，这是你的不幸，却不是你的过错。可是，你应当承认你无能为力。别用这种事情来为难我们了，因为你所说的，我们听不懂啊。”在这种情况下，很有可能你无法始终保持一种平静态度，很自然地，你要冲着你的对手发怒发火，说：“这一刻，我所说的话，你应该懂了吧？”“不，”他回答说，“我没听懂你所说的！”
中国人的误解才能还能达到这样一种地步，即便他们听清楚你所说的每一个语词，但由于没有注意到某些细节，还是不能弄懂你所表达的意思，至少说没有全部地搞懂。比如，“一个远东的外国人”这个短语，需要放在大量表达“在这种条件下”、“条件是”、“根据这种条件”之类的一堆短语之后。的确，中国人事实上并不用这类短语，也觉得没什么机会用这些短语，这与一个外国人大相径庭。同样情况也存在于时态的使用上，中国人也不用时态，不关注时态，而外国人就一定要注意时态。
在中国，在与人交往所要注意的问题中，最需要防止发生的问题是，不要在钱上造成误会。当外国人要为所购买的商品付钱时（在中国人看来，这是外国人的主要作用），将来完成时态就像“军需用品”。“你在干完活之后，你就将会得到钱。”但是，汉语中没有将来完成时态，也没有说有任何描述某事在什么时候发生的时态。中国人只是简单地表达：“干活，挣钱。”在他的心目中，后句是主要的，并且是不受“时间关系”的限制。
因此，当一个中国人给外国人干活时，希望马上能拿到工钱，这样才能有饭“吃”，似乎如果不是偶尔遇到这个工作，他就会连一点吃的都没有。我们必须反复告诫大家的是，在中国做生意，特别要避免在金钱上造成误会。谁收的钱，什么时候该收，收多少，收的是银锭还是铜钱，若是银锭，其成色如何，重量多少，若是铜钱，“一贯”有多少个——诸如此类的细节，在一般情况下，是不可能说得太周详的。若是与营造商、经销商和船主签订一个合同，对方该做哪些事，要履行哪些条款，预先就必须做大量精准的说明。否则，就会一团糟。
“害己又累人”，这种事情在中国是太常见了，并不会引发当事人多大的注意。一位船夫或车夫受雇于外国人，本该按照雇主的要求干活，但他却时常突然拒绝履行合约。在这种场合里，中国的车夫固执得就像他的一匹骡子。那匹骡子躺在泥泞之中，随心所欲地洗泥土澡，车夫用鞭子抽打着骡子，直至精疲力尽，仍无济于事。而骡子却视鞭子抽打如苍蝇挠痒痒。看到这一情景，不禁使我们想起德·昆西对中国人的评论。他讽刺中国人“像骡子一样固执”。他的说法，显然有些过了头，其实，中国人并不像骡子那样固执，因为骡子不会改变它的脾气，而任性的车夫则不然。受雇的车夫虽然在半路上不听从他的雇主，甚至对于雇主明确警告要扣掉他的全部“酒钱”也不予理睬，但过了半天时间到达终点时，他却对自己在半路上的所作所为予以辩解，并且赔不是。旅行者与他的车夫、船夫立下一个字据，通常是明智之举，这样就不会因可能的误会而带来麻烦。
“有言在先、事后不悔。”这是中国人的一句至理名言。然而有些时候，在人们绞尽脑汁，即使费尽心思达成了协议，也还是会有出现误会的时候。在中国的外国人碰到这种情况时，无论你如何小心翼翼对待各种协议，都会发现钱是引起你烦恼的重要原因，可能超过任何其他问题。至于对方是受过教育的学者，还是一字不识的苦力，这几乎没有多大差别，所有中国人天生地拥有在误解中占得便宜的天赋。他们善于发现这些误解，并立即加以利用。他们就像元月的北风能够发现门上的一道缝，也像河水能够发现船上的一个窟窿那样，迅速且不费劲。
某方面，盎格鲁撒克逊民族为了适应需要也独立地发展出这一中国人的天赋。这正如古波斯人大多具有擅拉长弓和讲真话两种重要的技能一样，盎格鲁撒克逊人具有对敌人和对朋友都同样诚实可信、做事公正的天性。对此，中国人不久就注意到了这一点。对中国人来说，这些品质似乎就像提图斯时的罗马人发现犹太人曾有过的某种独特的习惯。罗马人发现，犹太人在采取军事行动时，无论形势多么紧迫，每隔六天都必定要暂停一次做礼拜，罗马人利用了犹太人的这一习惯击败了他们，中国人同样也会善于利用盎格鲁撒克逊人的那种天性。
1860年之前，外国人与中国人进行了一个世纪的外交。这一过程中，充分表现了中国人易于误解的习惯。在接下来的年头里，这种习惯并没有消失。但无论情况怎样，外国人总是遵守诺言的，这在中国人心中深深扎根，尽管也有少数的例外。他们同样非常相信外国人办事公正（尽管也有某些个人和国家可以给出恰恰相反的例子）。但是，正是基于这个固定的看法，中国人有能力对付即使是最顽固的外国人，“你明明是这样说的”，“不，我不是这样说的”，“但我认为你是这样说的，我们都是这样去理解你的意思的，请原谅我们的愚蠢，不过你还是得付钱，是你自己说过要给的”。这就是中国人与外国人千百次争论的实质，而最终百分之九十七的结果是外国人付了钱，中国人心里很清楚，外国人为了表现自己的诚实和公正是会给钱的。在以下的三个事例中可以看到，中国人如何利用其他手段达到目的，而且是三次中有两次会获得成功。
有过丰富经历的读者会发现日常生活中有大量各种误解的例子，足以组成一个军团。你吩咐一个苦力清除掉院子里的杂草，而把开始抽芽的草皮留着，从而使你能够看到渴望已久的一片珍贵的草地。可是，这只漫不经心的野牛却拿着锄头，把所有的绿草都铲除了，使之成了荒地，还说这样才干净。他没有“理解”你的意思。你支使厨子到很远的那个唯一的菜市场去买一条鲤鱼和一只鸡。他回来了，却没买鱼回来，手里提着三只大鹅，他认为你就是这么吩咐的。他不“理解”你的意思。你派送信人在收发室下班前把一包重要的信件送到法国领事馆。他回来说，法国领事馆不收这份信件，原来他把信件送到了比利时领事馆。这时，收发室下班的时间也到了，误了信件。他不“理解”你的意思。
笔者的一位朋友的亲身经历，可以作很好的说明，可怜的外国人是多么容易产生误解，多么容易被人误解。这位朋友去拜访一家中国的银行，银行的老板与他关系良好。当说到最近银行附近发生的一场灾难性的大火时，这位外国人为大火没有蔓延到银行而向这位银行家表示庆贺。对此，这位银行家立刻觉得尴尬，并生气地说：“这是什么话？这么说不合适吧！”
过了很久，这个外国人才发现，他之所以冒犯了朋友，在于他的话里包含这样的暗示：大火如果再近一点，就可能把他的银行烧了，那才是最不幸的。因此，尽管是表示庆贺，包含这样的暗示，也属不吉利的。一位刚到京城不久的外国人看到一支骆驼队，其中有只小骆驼，就对那位长年受雇于外国人的车夫说：“你回家的时候，告诉我的孩子，让他出来看看这只小骆驼。他从来没看过骆驼，这一定会令他非常高兴。”车夫没有立即回答，像是在掂量着最终审判，经过了深思熟虑，车夫很贴心地说：“就算你要买下那只骆驼，可也不能这么抬举它——那样它很快会死掉！”
有一次，笔者曾参加过一个有中国人参加的礼拜，牧师正在布道，讲的是有关先知以利撒治愈乃曼的故事。牧师描绘了当时的情景，亚兰大将军来到以利撒门前，其随从人员争相叫门。为了尽可能说得形象生动，布道者如演戏般，模仿亚兰的仆人喊道：“门卫，开门，亚兰大将军来了！”令牧师大为吃惊的是，一位坐在后排的人此刻突然不见了，好似被枪给打倒了一样。事后才搞清楚，这人完全是误解的受害者。他是教堂的门卫，由于没有注意到前面所讲的故事，当突然听到有人叫他开门，就迅速地冲了出去，让乃曼进来。
还有个例子是另外一些听众给某省的牧师留下的深刻印象。这位传教士为了让他的听众有深刻的印象，就用幻灯机放大显示一只普通的寄生虫。这只虫子显现在屏幕上，其庞大的身躯完全就像是一条埃及的鳄鱼。这时，人们听见一位观众以一种敬畏的口气，小声地道出了他的一个新发现：“看啊，外国的虱子真大！”
英文原版：
CHAPTER VII. THE TALENT FOR MISUNDERSTANDING
THIS remarkable gift of the Chinese people is first observed when the foreigner knows enough of the language to employ it as a vehicle of thought. To his pained surprise, he finds that he is not understood. He therefore returns to his studies with augmented diligence, and at the end of a series of years is able to venture with confidence to accost the general public, or any individual thereof, on miscellaneous topics. If the person addressed is a total stranger, especially if he has never before met a foreigner, the speaker will have opportunity for the same pained surprise as when he made his maiden speech in this tongue. The auditor evidently does not understand. He does not expect to understand. He visibly pays no attention to what is said, makes no effort whatever to follow it, but simply interrupts you to observe, "When you speak, we do not understand." He has a smile of superiority, as of one contemplating the struggles of a deaf-mute to utter articulate speech, and as if he would say, " Who supposed that you could be understood? It may be your misfortune and not your fault that you were not born with a Chinese tongue, but you should bear your disabilities, and not worry us with them." It is impossible to retain at all times an unruffled serenity in situations like this, and it is natural to turn fiercely on your adversary, and inquire, " Do you understand what I am saying at this moment ? " " No," he replies, " I do not understand you."
Another stage in the experience of Chinese powers of misunderstanding is reached when, although the words are distinctly enough apprehended, through a disregard of details the thought is obscured even if not wholly lost. The foreigner in Far Cathay needs to lay in a copious stock of phrases which mean " on this condition," " conditionally," " with this understanding," etc. It is true that there do not appear to be any such phrases, nor any occasion for them felt by the Chinese, but with the foreigner it is different. The same is true in regard to tenses. The Chinese do not care for them, but the foreigner is compelled to care for them.
Of all subjects of human interest in China, money is the one most exposed to misunderstandings. If the foreigner is paying out this commodity (which often appears to be the principal function of a foreigner as seen from the Chinese standpoint) a future-perfect tense is a military necessity. " When you shall have done your work, you will receive your money." But there is no future-perfect tense in Chinese, or any other tense. A Chinese simply says, " Do work, get money," the last being the main idea which dwells in his mind, the time relation being absent. Hence when he is to do anything for a foreigner he wishes his money at once, under the assumption that if he did not get this job he would have nothing to eat. Eternal vigilance is the price at which immunity from misunderstandings about money must be purchased in China. Who is to receive payment, when payment is due, the sum to be paid, whether in silver ingots or brass cash, the quality and weight of silver, the number of cash in a string — all these points demand the clearest possible agreement. If a contract involves builders, compradores or boatmen, no amount of preliminary explanation and precision will prove excessive.
To " cut off one's nose to spite one's face " is a common practice in China. A boatman or carter who signs on to go wherever his employer directs will sometimes flatly refuse to carry out the agreement. The stubbornness of such carters is well illustrated by their mules. When a mule reaches a dusty spot on the road, it will deliberately lie down for a dust-bath, while the driver flogs it to the utmost in vain. The mule is as indifferent to the blows as if they were mere flies. De Quincey once wrote that the Chinese are as obstinate as mules, but this comparison is inaccurate. A mule is stubborn all the time, while a Chinese carter may defy you mid-journey, yet later grovel and beg for mercy and extra tips when the trip ends. Travellers in China would do well to put all agreements into writing, for misunderstandings over oral promises are inevitable.
The Chinese have an instinct for taking advantage of misunderstandings, much as a keen nose detects every crack in a door or a leak in a ship. Anglo-Saxons are known for their love of truth and fair dealing, and the Chinese are quick to notice this trait, and turn it to their own use. For the century prior to 1860, foreign dealings with China were one long series of deliberate misunderstandings. Even afterwards, the problem persisted. The Chinese generally assume that a foreigner will keep his word and act fairly, and they use this belief as leverage. A typical dispute runs like this: "You said you would do this." "I did not." "But we all understood you to say so. Please pay up as you promised." In ninety-seven cases out of a hundred, the foreigner pays to uphold his reputation for honesty and justice. The remaining three cases will still be resolved in the Chinese side's favour through other means.
Examples of everyday misunderstandings are countless. A gardener is told to pull weeds but leave the young grass untouched. He hears the words, then cuts down every green plant in the yard, claiming he did not understand. A cook is sent to market to buy a carp and a young chicken. He returns with three tough geese and no fish, insisting he followed the order as he heard it. A messenger is dispatched with urgent letters to the French Consulate before the post closes. He delivers them to the Belgian Consulate instead, and the mail departs, all because he "misunderstood the address".
A friend of the author once visited a Chinese merchant, shortly after a major fire had broken out nearby. He politely remarked that he was glad the fire had not spread to the merchant's shop. To his surprise, the merchant looked embarrassed and then angry. Later he learned that in local custom, even mentioning a possible fire near one's shop is considered a terrible omen and an insult. Another foreigner saw a baby camel while riding with a Chinese driver, and told the driver to let his young son come out to see the strange animal. The driver pondered the words for a long time, then replied solemnly: "If you buy this camel, it will surely die."
On another occasion, a preacher was telling the story of Naaman the Syrian in Chinese. He vividly described how Naaman's servants came to the gate of Elisha's house and called for entry. As he cried out the line, "Gatekeeper, open the door for General Naaman!", a man at the back of the hall suddenly rushed outside. It turned out the man was the actual gatekeeper of the building, and hearing himself addressed, he rushed to open the door in all earnest, completely missing the context of the story.
In yet another instance, a missionary used a magic lantern to show an enlarged image of a common parasite to a rural audience. The creature looked huge and hideous on the screen, resembling a crocodile. One villager whispered in awe to those beside him: "Look! That is the foreign louse!"
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