《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。
第十三章 公共匮乏
中国最古老的经典之一——《诗经》上有一句也许是农夫所说的祷告辞，大意是：“降雨先至公田，尔后再及私田（雨我公田，遂及我私）。”在周朝兴盛时期以及更悠远的年代，或许确实有这样的立场，但是现在是肯定不会有农夫或其他什么人祈求老天“先”降雨到“公田”了。我们常常被告之，中国实质上是采取家长制的统治方式，要求其臣民像子女一般服从于统治。一个种植园的黑奴听到一句格言：“人人为自己，上帝为人人。”可他并没有正确理解其含义，而把它改成：“人人为自己，上帝也为他自己！
普通中国人对权力本质的看法，与这个黑奴对古老格言的解释有着相似之处。作为一个普通百姓，他认为，“我能管好自己的事情就够了。”如果他真的能想到政府，大约也是这样认为的，“政府已经足够悠久，又强大无比，没有我的帮助，完全能照顾好自己。用不着我们去操心。”
另一方面，政府尽管是家长，但更多的是在照顾家长自己，而不是作为全家的家长照顾他的家庭。一般说来，若不是危急存亡，政府是不会为百姓着想的。而由于事先什么准备都没有，事情发生后，就必须做得更多。百姓清楚地明白，政府努力减轻诸如洪水泛滥灾害中损失，目的只是为了保证税收不受损失。而老百姓自己努力预防这类的灾害，则是出于自我保护的本能。因为百姓们深信，若是让政府来办理这类事，反而要给自己增加大量的苛捐杂税。
中国的道路状况很能说明政府对公共事务的不重视以及百姓公共精神的匮乏。在这个帝国，许多地方都曾有过以前帝国修筑的公路。这种公路不仅在北京附近的地区可以看到，就像湖南、四川这些边远的省份也同样可以看到。但这些道路，现在大多都已经损坏了。筑路需要花大笔的钱，而维护保养则相对要容易些。但是政府和百姓都忽略了维护保养，以至于让这类的大公路发生了损坏，现在已经严重妨碍了交通。最有甚者，整条路都报废了。有人估算，这些交通要道的毁坏，发生在明末清初的那个动荡年代。那么，考虑到政治动荡的那几年，至今少说也有二百五十年了，这么一段漫长的时光足以修复这些交通干线。但是，这种修复工作从未有过，甚至也没人提出过，其后果就是我们今天所熟悉的这种状况。
政府的态度与百姓的态度是相互影响的，如出一辙。百姓关心的只是个人不要遭受损失，而不顾公共财产到底会怎样。事实上，中国人就从没想过，一条路或其他什么东西是属于“公共拥有的”。“江山”（也就是整个帝国）被认为是当朝皇帝世袭的财产，他在位多久就拥有多久。道路也是他的，若要修复什么的，就让皇帝老爷自己去干好了。
但是，从另外的意义上说，穿过农田的那部分道路，又是不属于皇帝的。如果不提农民的农田也属于皇帝这个前提的话，实际上，农田若是农民凭力气开垦出来，那则属于他自己的，农民要怎么用就怎么用。田中那些不属于皇帝的路，给那些愿意走的人去走，也不必征得土地所有者的同意。
然而，尽管穿过农田的那部分道路归农民所有，但是，通过农田的那部分道路同其他田地一样，要支付税赋。因此，这部分道路的所有者所获得的好处并不比其他人更多。在这种情况下，显而易见的，农夫们要尽可能地挤占道路，他在道路两旁扩展沟渠和田埂，使道路越来越狭窄，交通也更为困难。若是夏季暴雨冲毁农田，道路和农田混在一起，农民会在路上重新开挖出自己的农田。这样，再加上自然的狂风暴雨，原来的道路最后成了一条水沟。对于我们所说的“路权”的概念，中国人是毫无想象的。
在京津之间的白河上乘船旅行，途经天津与北京的交界处时，偶尔会看到河面上有小旗。经打听才知道，这些小旗是用来指示，凡是立旗的下面均有水雷，过往船只必须绕开而行！我们还听说过，一支参加军事演习的中国部队，在进行军事演习时，居然直接把他们的大炮横在一条干道上打炮，其引发的结果是，交通中断，牲口受惊，很快导致了一场严重的事故。
一个马车夫想卸货，会在马路中间直接装卸货物，而过往的人只能等到他干完活才能通过。一个农夫突然想砍倒一棵树，他会把树横倒在路上，过往的人只能停下脚步，等到他把树砍断，搬开为止。
城市里对街道的侵占，其杂乱程度丝毫不比乡村里自由自在的生活方式差。北京宽阔的街道两旁摆满了各种货摊。这些地方本不是摆摊之处，如果皇帝偶尔打这条街道经过，这些货摊都会很快搬走。皇帝一走，小商贩们立刻又都回到原处，在大多数中国的城市里，狭窄的街道上排着各式手工作坊。杀猪的，理发的，肩挑卖吃的，做木工的，修桶的以及其他无数工匠，都插进小街的两旁大显身手。更有甚者，还会有女人们把家中被褥拿出来，摊开在大街上晾晒。因为她们的小院子远不如街道来得宽敞，中国人几乎没有不能摆到街上的东西。
阻塞街道交通的不仅仅是这些小商贩。木匠在其摊位前留下一堆木块，染色工把长长的布匹挂在高处，卖面条的沿街晒起面条。因为，在他们看来摊前的空地不是属于任何“公共”的，而是属于摊主的。但是既然道路被他们所占据，就需要有相应的维修的责任。可是现阶段，中国人根本没想过这一点。一个人即使想维修道路（这样的事情从来没有发生过），他也没时间和所需的一切。而许多人合在一起修整道路，那更是不可能的，因为每个人都生怕自己比别人干的更多而得到的好处却更少。其实，对于每个地方官员，如果他们去要求沿路的村庄能各自养护一段，保证所属范围里的道路四季通行，这一切都不是很难办的事情。但是，中国的官员能不能想到这一点，这是一个大大的疑问。
中国人对属于“公共的”一切不仅不当一回事，或不加爱护，或占用，甚至这些财产还成了偷盗的目标。铺路用的石子被人搬回家去用了，城墙上的方砖日渐减少。在中国的某个港口城市，有一座外国人的墓地。当人们发现那块墓地是无人看守时，它的围墙就被弄得一块砖也不剩下。就在几年之前，北京紫禁城里发生过一起惊天的案子。人们发现，某些建筑物屋顶的铜饰物被盗，这在皇宫里引起了一场非常大的轰动。中国人普遍持有这样的一个看法，在十八个省份中，遭到盗窃最多的人，就是贵有天下的皇帝本人。
中国人是否有爱国主义态度？这是一个经常被提出来的问题，同时也不是用一句话就能回答清楚的问题。中国人，特别是中国的文士阶层，无疑是具有强烈的民族感情的。因此他们对外国人普遍抱有敌对情绪，并认为西方人的发明源于中国。他们的这种敌意，很大程度上来自于这种民族感情。
近年来，湖南省出现大量排外的文章，恶意诽谤外国人，试图引起一场大混乱，把洋鬼子赶出天朝。在中国人看来，写出这些文章的举动是值得赞赏的，正如我们看待反对无政府主义的态度一样。这样的攻击举动其主要原因是由于误会，另一方面，也是由于中国人对西方国家的憎恨。也许有许多中国人认为，这场运动充分体现了爱国主义精神。但是，这些写文章的中国人除了为国效劳的需要之外，还为之获取了可观的名利报酬。而究竟是名利所致，还是爱国情绪的驱动，两种愿望孰轻孰重，这个问题需要有更多的证据才能说得清楚，而不能仅凭某一个了解中国的外国人的印象而下定论。
当前，一个中国人是爱国者可以不必非常关心鞑靼王朝的命运，但我们完全有理由认为，无论怎样改朝换代，中华民族的整体感情是与今天一样的——就是极度的漠不关心。对此，孔夫子曾含蓄地在《论语》中对关于人们面对公共事务时说了话：“不在其位，不谋其政。”在我们看来，这句意味深长的话一半是结果，另一半则在很大程度上是造成中国人对与自己无关的事漠不关心的原因，导致他们在与他们无关的事情上都不感兴趣。
对此，哈克·古柏查先生记录下了一个很好的事例：“1850年，道光皇帝驾崩。当时，我们正离京外出旅行。有一天，我们在一家客栈喝茶，和几个中国人坐在了一起。我们便和他们悄悄地攀谈起政治，谈到了皇帝在近日驾崩，这本是一桩肯定会引起每个人兴趣的重要事件。我们表达了自己的担忧，由于皇位的继承者还没有公布于世，政事充满了变数，于是就说道：‘你们中间谁能知道皇帝的三个皇子中哪一个会继承皇位？如果是大儿子，他会沿袭现行的政府体制吗？如果是小儿子，他还太小，据说朝廷中分为两大派系，他会倾向哪一派呢？’我们简要地提出各种猜测，目的在于激发这些善良的老百姓们提出自己的看法。但是，他们对我们所说的话根本提不起任何兴趣。
“我们一次又一次地向他们提出有关问题。这些问题，在我们看来是相当重要的，但他们只是摇头，只顾着各自抽烟、喝茶。他们的无动于衷的确激起了我们的不满。这时，这些可敬的中国人中有一个从凳子上慢慢站了起来，走到我们身边，完全是以一种长辈的架势拍拍我们的肩膀，更像是带着嘲笑的面容在说：‘我的朋友，听我说，你何必要为这些吃力不讨好的事操心劳神呢？自有那些当官的去关心国家大事，他们拿的是朝廷的俸禄，吃这碗饭。就让他们去挣他们的钱好了，我们别为与我们毫不相干的事烦恼，我们一个铜板都得不到，还傻乎乎地去关心政治，不是傻瓜么！’其他人也随声附和道，‘就是这么个理。’于是，他们又示意我们，我们面前的茶已经凉了，烟斗里的烟也抽完了，该走人了。”
人们还曾记得，1860年英国军队进攻北京的时候，用来拉物资的，就是从中国山东买来的骡子。天津和通州为了维护各自地方的利益，签订了投降条约，应允只要英法联军不侵犯这两座城市，他们同意提供所需的一切军需物资。为外国军队干苦力活的绝大多数是从香港雇来的中国人，这类苦力被中国军队俘虏后，被剪掉辫子又送还给英军——不难看出，如果说中国人的确存在着爱国主义精神，真有公共精神，那么这些词的含义，也应该不同于盎格鲁撒克逊人平素所使用该词时所理解的那个涵义。
当人们被迫起来反抗统治者的压迫和苛捐杂税时，总会有一些人站出来成为带头人。这样的情况并不罕见。在他们的领导下，抗议运动会搞得轰轰烈烈。此时，政府万般无奈，还是会做出妥协。但一旦事情过后，无论广大的“愚民”们被如何处置，政府总会报仇，那些带头人总难免为了正义而一死。为了正义甘冒危险、愿献生命，这才算得上是公共精神的最高体现。
在中国历史上的种种关键时刻，尤其是改朝换代时，总有一些怀有赤子之心的志士仁人挺身而出，担当起重任，义无反顾地献身于他们所崇敬的事业。这些人不仅是中国真正的爱国者，他们的行为本身也无可辩驳地证明，中国人能够在具有公共精神的领导人的带领下，激发出极大的英勇气概，做出慷慨的壮举。
英文原版：
THE Bookof Odes, one of the most ancient of the ChineseClassics, contains the following prayer, supposed to beuttered by the husbandmen : " May it rain first on our publicfields, and afterwards extend to our private ones." Whatevermay have been true of the palmy days of the Chou Dynastyand of those which preceded it, there can be no doubt thatvery little praying is done in the present day, either by husbandmen or any other private individuals, for rain which isto be applied "first" on the "public fields." The Chinesegovernment, as we are often reminded, is patriarchal in itsnature, and demands filial obedience from its subjects. Aplantation negro who had heard the saying, " Every man forhimself, and God for us all," failed to reproduce the preciseshade of its thought in his own modified version, as follows,"Everyman for himself, and Godfor himself!" This newform of an old adage 'contains in a nutshell the substance ofthe views of the average Chinese \\nth regard to the powersthat be. " I, for my part, am obliged to look out for myself,"he seems to think, if indeed he bestows any thought whateveron the government, and " the government is old enough andstrong enough to take care of itself without any help of mine."The government, on the other hand, although patriarchal, ismuch more occupied in looking after the Patriarch, than incaring for the Patriarch's family. Generally speaking, it willdo very little to which it is not impelled by the danger, if it does nothing at first, of having to do all the more at a laterdate. The people recognise distinctly that the prospectiveloss of taxes is the motive force in government efforts to mitigate disasters such as the continual outbreaks of irrepressible rivers.What the people do for themselves in endeavouringto prevent calamities of this sort, is due to the instinct of selfpreservation, for the people thus make sure that the work isdone, and also escape the numberless exactions which aresure to be the invariable concomitants of government energylocally applied.
No more typical example could be selected of the neglectof public affairs by the government, and the absence of publicspirit among the people, than the condition of Chinese roads.There are abundant evidences in various parts of the EmpireIthat there once existed great imperial highways connectingmany of the most important cities, and that these highwayswere paved with stone and bordered with trees. The ruinsof such roads are found not only in the neighbourhood ofPeking, but in such remote regions as Hunan and Szechuen.Vast sums must have been expended on their construction,and it would have been comparatively easy to keep them inrepair, but this has been uniformly neglected, so that the ruinsof such highways present serious impediments to travel, andthe tracks have been abandoned from sheer necessity. Ithas been supposed that this decay of the great lines of traffictook place during the long period of disturbances before theclose of the Ming Dynasty, and at the beginning of the present Manchu hne ; but making all due allowance for politicalconvulsions, a period of two hundred and fifty years is surelysufficiently long in which to restore the arteries of the Empire.No such restoration has either taken place or been attempted,and the consequence is the state of things with which we arebut too familiar.
The attitude of the government is handsomely matched by chat of the people, who each and all are in the position of one who has no care or responsibihty for what is done withthe pubhc property so long as he personally is not the loser.In fact, the very conception that a road, or that anything,belongs to " the public " is totally alien to the Chinese mind.The "streams and mountains " (that is, the Empire) are supposed to be the property in fee simple of the Emperor for thetime, to have and to hold as long as he can. The roads arehis too, and if anything is to be done to them let him do it.But the greater part of the roads do not belong to the Emperor in any other sense than that in which the farms of the peasants belong to him, for these roads are merely narrow strips of farms devoted to the use of those who wish to use them, not with the consent of the owner of the land, for thatwas never asked, but from the force of necessity. The entireroad belongs to some farm, and pays taxes hke any otherland, albeit the owner derives no more advantage from itsuse than does any one else. Under these circumstances, it isevidently the interest of the farmer to restrict the roads asmuch as he can, which he does by an extended system ofditches and banks designed to make it difficult for any one totraverse any other than the narrow strip of land which is indispensable for communication. If the heavy summer rainswash away a part of the farm into the road, the farmer goesto the road and digs his land out again, a process which, combined with natural drainage and the incessant dust-storms, results eventually in making the road a canal. Of what we mean by "right of way" no Chinese has the smallest conception.
Travellers on the Peiho River between Tientsin and Pekinghave sometimes noticed in the river little flags, and uponinquiry have ascertained that they indicated the spots wheretorpedoes had been planted, and that passing boats were expected to avoid them! A detachment of Chinese troops engaged in artillery practice has been known to train theircannon directly across one of the leading highways of theEmpire, to the great interruption of traffic and to the terrorof the animals attached to carts, the result being a seriousrunaway accident.
A man who wishes to load or to unload his cart leaves itin the middle of the roadway while the process is going on,and whoever wishes to use the road must wait until the pro'cess is completed. If a farmer has occasion to fell a tree heallows it to fall across the road, and travellers can tarry untilthe trunk is chopped up and removed.
The free and easy ways of the country districts are wellmatched by the encroachments upon the streets of cities.The wide streets of Peking are lined with stalls and boothswhich have no right of existence, and which must be summarily removed if the Emperor happens to pass that way.As soon as the Emperor has passed, the booths are in theirold places. The narrow passages which serve as streets inmost Chinese cities are choked with every form of industrialobstruction. The butcher, the barber, the peripatetic cookwith his travelling-restaurant, the carpenter, the cooper, andcountless other workmen, plant themselves by the side of thetiny passage which throbs with the life of a great metropolis,and do all they can to form a strangulating clot. Even thewomen bring out their quilts and spread them on the road,.for they have no space so broad in their exiguous courts.There is very little which the Chinese do at all which is notat some time done on the street.
Nor are the obstructions to traffic of a movable nature only.The carpenter leaves a pile of huge logs in front of his shop,the dyer hangs up his long bolts of cloth, and the flour-dealerhis strings of vermicelli across the principal thoroughfare, forthe space opposite to the shop of each belongs not to animaginary " public," but to the owner of the shop. The idea that this alleged ownership of the avenues of locomotion entails any corresponding duties in the way of repair, is not onewhich the Chinese mind, in its present stage of development,is capable of taking in at all. No one individual, even if hewere disposed to repair a road (which would never happen),has the time or the material wherewith to do it, and for manypersons to combine for this purpose would be totally out ofthe question, for each would be in deep anxiety lest he shoulddo more of the work, and receive less of the benefit, thansome other person. It would be very easy for each localmagistrate to require the villages lying along the line of themain highways, or within a reasonable distance thereof, tokeep them passable at almost all seasons, but it is doubtfulwhether this idea ever entered the mind of any Chineseofficial.
Not only do the Chinese feel no interest in that whichbelongs to the " pubhc," but all such property, if unprotectedand available, is a mark for theft. Paving-stones are carriedoff for private use, and square rods of the brick facing to citywalls gradually disappear. A wall enclosing a foreign cemetery in one of the ports of China was carried away till not abrick remained, as soon as it was discovered that the placewas in charge of no one in particular. It is not many yearssince an extraordinary sensation was caused in the Imperialpalace in Peking by the discovery that extensive robberies hadbeen committed on the copper roofs of some of the buildingswithin the forbidden city. It is a common observation amongthe Chinese that, within the Eighteen Provinces, there is noone so imposed upon and cheated as the Emperor.
The question is often raised whether the Chinese have anypatriotism, and it is not a question which can be answered ina word. There is undoubtedly a strong national feeling, especially among the literary classes, and to this feeling much ofthe hostiUty exhibited to foreigners and their inventions is to be traced. Within recent years the province of Hunan hasbeen flooded with streams of anti-foreign hterature full ofmaUgnant calumniations, and designed to cause riots whichshall drive the foreign devil out of the Celestial Empire.From the Chinese point of view the impulse which leads tothese publications is as praiseworthy as we should considerresistance to anarchists to be. The charges are partly due tomisapprehension, and in part also to that race hatred fromwhich Western nations are by no means free. Probably manyChinese consider these attacks thoroughly patriotic. But thatany considerable body of Chinese are actuated by a desire toserve their country, because it is their country, aside from theprospect of emolument, is a proposition which will requiremuch more proof than has yet been offered to seciu-e its acceptance by any one who knows the Chinese. It need notbe remarked that a Chinese might be patriotic without takingmuch interest in the fortunes of a Tartar Dynasty like thepresent, but there is the best reason to think that, whateverthe dynasty might happen to be, the feeling of the mass of thenation would be the same as it is now—a feeling of profoundindifference. The key-note to this view of public affairs wassounded by Confucius himself, in a pregnant sentence foundin the " Analects " : " The Master said : He who is not in anoffice has no concern with plans for the administration of itsduties." To our thought these significant words are partly theresult, and to a very great degree the cause, of the constitutional unwillingness of the Chinese to interest themselves inmatters for which they are in no way responsible.
M. Hue gives an excellent example of this spirit. "In185 1, at the period of the death of the Emperor Tao Kuang,we were travelling on the road from Peking, and one daywhen we had been taking tea at an inn, in company withsome Chinese citizens, we tried to get up a little political discussion. We spoke of the recent death of the Emperor, an Important event which of course must have interested everybody. We expressed our anxiety on the subject of the succession to the Imperial throne, the heir to which was not yetpubHcly declared. 'Who knows,' said we, 'which of the threesons of tlie Emperor will have been appointed to succeedhim? If it should be the eldest, will he piu-sue the same system of government? If the younger, he is still very young,and it is said that there are contrary influences, two opposingparties at court ; to which will he lean? ' We put forward,in short, all kinds of hypotheses, in order to stimulate thesegood citizens to make some observation. But they hardlylistened to us. We came back again and again to the charge,in order to elicit some opinion or other on questions that reallyappeared to us of great importance. But to all our piquantsuggestions they replied by shaking their heads, puffing outwhiffs of smoke, and taking great gulps of tea. This apathywas really beginning to provoke us, when one of these worthyChinese, getting up from his seat, came and laid his two handson our shoulders in a manner quite paternal, and said, smilingrather ironically : ' Listen to me, my friend! Why should youtrouble your heart and fatigue your head by all these vainsurmises? The mandarins have to attend to affairs of statethey are paid for it. Let them earn their money, then. Butdon't let us torment ourselves about what does not concernus. We should be great fools to want to do political businessfor nothing.' ' That is very conformable to reason,' cried therest of the company ; and thereupon they pointed out to usthat oiu: tea was getting cold and our pipes were out."
When it is remembered that in the attack on Peking, ini860, the British army was furnished with mules bought ofthe Chinese in the province of Shantung ; that Tientsin andTungchow made capitulations on their own account, agreeingto provide the British and French with whatever was wantedif these cities were not disturbed; that most indispensable coolie work was done for the foreign allies by Chinese subjectshired for the purpose in Hongkong; and that when thesesame coolies were captured by tlie Chinese army they weresent back to the British ranks with their cues cut off—it is notdifficult to perceive that patriotism and public spirit, if suchthings exist at all in China, do not mean what these wordsimply to Anglo-Saxons.
Upon the not infrequent occasions when it is necessary forthe people to rise and resist the oppressions and exactions oftheir rulers, it is always indispensable that there should be afew men of capacity to take the lead. Under them the movement may gather such momentum that the government mustmake some practical concessions. But whatever it does withthe mass of the "stupid people," the leaders are invariablymarked men, and nothing less than their heads will satisfy thedemands of justice. To be willing not merely to risk butalmost certainly to lose one's life in such a cause is the highestpossible example of public spirit.
At critical epochs in Chinese history, especially when thereis likely to be a change of dynasties, single-hearted and resolute men have often thrown themselves into the breach, witha chivalrous devotion to the cause which they espoused worthyof the highest praise. Such men are not only true patriots,but are irrefragable proofs that the Chinese are capable ofbeing stirred to the most heroic exertions in following publicspirited leaders.
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