《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。
第二十章 仁爱之心
“仁”向来被中国人列为“五常”之首。“仁”字在汉字中由“人”和“二”两部分组成，可能是想表明，仁产生于两个人的相互交往。对文字本身的意义，我们没必要深究，因为它并不能代表生活——聪明的观察家应该了解的是现实生活。不过，尽管有一些本该了解真相的人常常作出浅薄的论断，认为中国人不具备仁慈的品质，这绝不是事实。孟子曰：“恻隐之心，人皆有之。”儒教教人温良，佛教劝人慈悲，这不能不对中国人产生显著的影响。更何况，中国人有强烈注重实际的天性。他们一旦要“行善”时，肯定会找到大量行善的机会，并做出各种“善事”来。
中国人引以为荣的慈善行为有设立保育堂，建立麻疯病院、老人收容院和免费学校等。因为中国缺乏实用的户口统计，现在可能还不知道这类机构究竟有多少。戴维·希尔牧师曾调查过中国中部的一些地方，发现杭州城有三十家慈善机构，每年的开支大约为八千英镑。但是，冒昧地说，这些慈善机构仍然相对不足，因为中国人口众多，尤其是大闹市区人口密集，他们需要大量慈善机构。
中国发大水或闹饥荒时，各地普遍设立施粥棚，也为穷人捐赠衣物。这些事也不全由政府来做，民众自己也互相帮助，共度难关。这类耗资巨大的事例并不罕见。灾荒年头，逃荒的灾民潮水般地涌进城市，相当必要时，他们被允许在车棚里、空房子里住下来。因为假如这些成群结队的灾民遭到拒绝，他们就会采取行动，实行报复。这时，让步是最明智的做法。
另外，各省在外地设立的同乡会也属于慈善机构。它主要照顾离乡在外，穷困潦倒的人，或者客死他乡、遗体无法运回家乡的人。这是一种保险性质的日常性事务机构，中国人大概也这样认为。
在一些劝人行“善”的书中。有的人对自己做过的恶事直言不讳，引以为耻，也宣扬自己做过的善事，并引以为荣，善恶的结果会在判官的生死簿上显示出来，并决定着他们的来世。这种简单的报应观念清楚地反映了中国人注重实际的天性，就像我们已经讨论过的，他们总是执着地为来世考虑。在他们眼里，来世不过是现世的伸展与延续。大部分中国人乐于行善的目的是期望获得回报。有时，公开善行背后利己的动机，会带来不可思议的后果。1889年4月，杭州的官吏为帮助因黄河泛滥而受灾的难民，试图通过对城中茶馆卖出的每杯茶水抽税来筹集资金。但古都的民众对这一做法的态度就像1773年波士顿市民对茶税的态度一样。官吏贴出告示：“行此无上善举，必得善报。”他们想以此来赢得民众的支持。可是，民众与茶馆联合起来，进行抵制，终于使这一计划彻底破产。满城居民如此团结一致，共同抵制强制人获得的“善报”，对我们来说，确实罕见。
为穷人提供棺材；把暴露野外的人骨头收集起来并重新埋葬；烧掉捡到的字纸，以免它们遭亵渎；买活鱼、活鸟，把它们放回大自然；还有些地方，为需要者赠送神秘的膏药，免费种痘，低价出售或赠送劝世良言，这些都成了中国人行善的主要内容。因此，也正如我们所看到的一样，真正对人怀有善良意愿的行为就退居其次了。而这些陈旧的做法又几乎如出一辙，千篇一律，做的人也极少动感情，动头脑。站在岸边，看渔人撒网、捡鱼，撤网、捡鱼，当然比帮助站在家门口的乞丐容易多了。
况且，对注重实际的中国人来说，有一点是十分重要的，那就是鱼一人水，鸟一出笼，它们就自谋生路去吧，他们应做的已经做完了。鸟儿或鱼儿们不能指望放回它们的人会为它们提供更好的生活条件。对人来说，他们只是在积德，在做自己的事，至于鱼或鸟以后的命运，他们可管不了。
在中国，“善门难开”，关上更难。没有谁能预料到愿望良好的行为在将来会有什么样的结果，也没人知道因此而招来承担更多责任的危险。明智的做法就是对自己的行为时刻谨慎。一个住在中国内地的传教士，曾应当地一些绅士的请求，帮助一个双目失明的乞丐，为他治眼，其实，不过是小小的白内障而已。后来，乞丐的眼痊愈了，他重获光明。然而，那些绅士知道之后，却说传教士砸了乞丐的饭碗，因为，他现在不能再讨饭了。因此，传教士应该养活他，雇他看门。有时，一个很少与其他人交往的慈善的老太太，款待其他的老太婆——她们看起来似乎应该得到周济，但是她却会成为这些人残酷榨取的牺牲品。我们曾听说过这类事情，虽然只有一例，但估计并不罕见。我们不能不承认，中国人很少有发自内心的仁慈，哪怕是那么一丁点儿也没有。
瘟疫、饥荒爆发或黄河大决口时，地方政府或中央政府迟早总会派人到灾区，试图帮助灾民。不过，他们从不采取长久性的、大规模的防范措施，仅仅是采取一些权宜之计，似乎这种事只会发生一次。对灾民的帮助也经常在关键时刻偏偏中止了。比如说，人们经过长期痛苦的煎熬，好不容易挺到了早春，这是个最容易发病的季节，可是政府只给一点儿救济就把他们打发了，要他们赶快回家，老实干活。理由不用说，谁都知道：政府的钱用完了，田里还正需要人干活。麦收前，只要他们有吃的，就足够了。政府也很清楚，如果不给一点救济，天气转暖，瘟疫就可能爆发，人们大批地死去要比小灾难更令人注意，更易引起麻烦。
“腊八舍粥”也一样，是典型中国式的慈善活动，它也只注重活动的表面形式。腊月初八这天，平时没机会行善的人，早已准备好要慷慨施舍。按照风俗，他们一整天会向所有来讨粥的人施舍，不过，这些粥都是最便宜、最难让人下咽的。这就是所谓的“行善”，人们以此来积德。如果某一年碰巧丰收，可能就没有人来讨粥了，因为即使穷光蛋在家里也可以吃到同样或更好的饭食。即便如此，仍不足以使施粥者停止舍粥，或换上更好的食物。一天过去了，没有一个人来讨粥，它们最终被倒进了猪槽。而行善的富人们也带着悠悠的满足感回屋睡觉去了。今年的义务他己尽了，良心也得到了满足，他是个仁慈的人。但假如遇到了坏年头，米价暴涨，他们就没心思行善积德了，因为他们“行不起善”。
前面，我们说过对乞丐的施舍，在中国，成群的乞丐随处可见。他们所得的施舍有点保险的性质。众所周知，城里的乞丐常常组成强大的帮派，他们远比与自己争斗的任何帮派都更强大，因为他们一无所失，也无所畏惧，这可是无与伦比的优势。如果一个小店主拒绝了一个乞丐的乞讨——他会像日内瓦仲裁那样镌而不舍，就会有成群的乞丐前来骚扰。就连一个精神麻木的中国人也会感到这是个沉重的负担，乞丐们要等到自己不断升级加码的要求完全满足之后，才让店主继续做生意。店主和乞丐对拒绝的结果都很清楚，因而使得这类善行就像涓涓细流，绵延不绝。
对经常可以看到的，川流不息的难民，人们也同样对待。通过这些，你将认识，这不仅仅是使难民受惠，更重要的是行善者以为自己因此可以获得福报，中国人施惠的每一个对象，都可被看成“小情人”，行善者的一切行为目的只是使自己在现在或未来生活得更好些。
对于中国人这种扭曲的慈善行为，应该再加上重要的一点，即无论何种事情，好事也罢，恶事也罢，都不能逃脱日益萎缩衰退的中国政体的压榨，而且这种压榨和政府的其他计划一样组织严密。想知道一个中国人把赈济款据为己有的全部细节，简直比登天还难。不过，在一些紧急关头，如大饥荒中，可以充分肯定，即使民众的深重苦难也不能阻止元耻的官吏侵吞手中的赈济款。此时，人们的注意力都集中在民众的苦难及赈济款上，如果外界既不知道款子的筹集情况，也不知道其使用情况，结果就可想而知了。
当中国人开始更多地了解西方文明的时候，他们所了解的只是西方人强迫他们接受的西方文明中最坏的成分。在他们看来，基督教世界遍布非基督教世界无法比拟的慈善机构，这肯定是件了不起的事。这也可能会促使他们去探求隐藏在这一意味深长的事实背后的东西。我们还应该提醒中国人去注意一个令人深思的细节：表示“仁”的汉字与其他和感情有关的汉字不同，它没有以心字作偏旁，这说明，它代表的美德通常是缺少诚意的，其结果，我们已经知道了。慈善活动应是一种本能，无论有无明确的必要，都要找机会表现出来。中国人完全缺乏这种精神，这的确不是人类的进步。如果中国人想创造出真正的慈善，就必须经历西方人过去的经历，把仁慈变成人生的重要成分。
英文原版：
XX.BENEVOLENCE
HE Chinese have placed the term" "at the head of their list of the Five Constant Virtues.The char- acter which denotes it,is composed of the symbols for"man" and“two,”by which is supposed to be shadowed forth the view that is something which ought to be devel- oped by the contact of any two human beings with each other. It is unnecessary to remark that the theory which the form of the character seems to favour,is not at all substantiated by the facts of life among the Chinese,as those facts are to be read by the intelligent and attentive observer.Nevertheless, it is far from being true,as a superficial examination would seem to indicate,that there is among the Chinese no benevo- lence,though this has been often predicated by those who ought to have known the truth."The feeling of pity,"as Mencius reminds us,"is common to all men,"widely as they differ in its expression.The mild and in some respects really benevolent teachings of the Buddhist religion have not been without a visible effect upon the Chinese people.There is, moreover,among the Chinese a strong practical instinct in every direction,and when the attention has once been directed towards the"practice of virtue,"there is a great variety of forms in which there is certain to be abundant scope for the exercise of benevolence.
Among the kinds of which have commended themselves to the Chinese may be named the establishment of foundling hospitals,refuges for lepers and for the aged,and free schools.As China is a land which for most practical pur- poses is quite free from a census,it is impossible to ascertain to what extent these forms of benevolent action are to be found.Rev.David Hill,who has investigated the charities of central China,reports thirty benevolent institutions in the city of Hankow,expending annually some eight thousand pounds sterling.But it is hazarding little to say that such establish- ments must be relatively rare;that is to say,as regards the enormous population,and the enormous aggregation of that population in huge hives,where the needs are greatest.
The vast soup-kitchens which are set up anywhere and every- where when some great flood or famine calls for them are fam- iliar phenomena,as well as the donation of winter clothing to those who are destitute.It is not the government only which engages in these enterprises,but the people also co-operate in a highly creditable manner,and instances are not uncommon in which large sums have been thus judiciously expended. The ordinary streams of refugees which swarm over the coun- try in a bad year are also allowed to camp down in cart-sheds, empty rooms,etc.,but this is to a considerable extent a neces- sity.When such refugees come in extensive bands,and meet in all quarters with repulses,they are certain to be provoked into some form of reprisal.Common prudence dictates some concessions to those in such circumstances.
We do not reckon among the benevolences of the Chinese such associations as the provincial clubs for the care of those who may be destitute at a distance from home,and who with- out this help could not return,or who,having died,could not otherwise be taken home and buried.This is an ordinary business transaction of the nature of insurance,and is probably so regarded by the Chinese themselves.
In some of the books which have for their express object exhortations to"virtue,"an account is opened,in which the individual charges himself with every bad act which he can remember,and credits himself with every good act.The balance between the two exhibits his standing at any particu- lar time in the account books of the Chinese Rhadamanthus. This system of retributive bookkeeping exhibits clearly the practical character of the Chinese,already remarked,as well as their constant and irrepressible tendency to consider the next life,if there be one,as only an extension and an amplifi- cation of the present state of existence.The apparent motive for a large percentage of Chinese is therefore the reflex benefit which such acts are expected to insure to the man who indulges his benevolent impulses.The open avowal of a selfish motive in all acts of merit sometimes leads to curious results.In the month of April,188g,the prefect of Hangchow attempted to raise funds for the sufferers from the Yellow River floods,by levying a tax on each cup of tea sold in the tea-houses of that great city.To the people of that ancient capital this assessment presented itself in a light simi- lar to that in which the Bostonians of I773 regarded the tea tax of their day.The prefect endeavoured to win the people over by a proclamation,in which they were informed that "happiness was sure to be their reward,if they cheerfully con- tributed to so excellent a cause."The people,however,boy- cotted the tea-shops,and were in the end entirely victorious. It is not every day that we are treated to the spectacle of a cityful of people banded together to resist compulsory"hap- piness"!
Among the acts by which merit is to be accumulated may be named the providing of coffins for those too poor to buy them;the gathering of human bones which have become ex- posed,and their reburial in a suitable manner;the collection of written or printed paper that it may be burned to save it from desecration;and the purchase of live birds and fish, that they may be restored to their native element.In some places plasters of a mysterious nature are also given to all applicants,free vaccination is(theoretically)furnished,and “virtue books”are provided for sale at a price below cost, or are even given away.While such works of merit occupy a very prominent place in Chinese benevolence,so far as our observation goes,acts of kindly good-will to men and women occupy a very subordinate place.When such acts occur they are almost sure to be on some stereotyped pattern,involving a minimum of trouble and thought on the part of the doer. It is much easier to stand on the brink of a river,watch a fisherman lower his net,pay for his entire catch,and throw it back again into the water,than to look into the cases of the needy at one's doors,and give help in a judicious manner.
Moreover,to the mind of the practical Chinese there is a very important difference.As soon as the fish touches the water or the bird skims the air they are on a wholly self-sup- porting basis,and that is the end of the work.They will not expect the man who has released them to provide them and their numerous families with means of subsistence. For the man it only remains to register his virtuous act and go about his business,sure of no disagreeable consequences. But in China"virtue's door is hard to open,"and it is still harder to shut.No one can possibly foresee all the remote conse- quences of some well-meant act of kindness,and knowing the danger of incurring responsibility,the prudent will be wary what they undertake.A missionary living in an interior province was asked by some native gentlemen to do a kind act for a poor beggar who was totally blind,and restore to him his sight.It proved to be a case of cataract,and excel- lent vision was secured.When the result became certain,the missionary was waited upon by the same gentlemen,and told that as he had destroyed the only means by which the blind man could get a living,that is,by begging,it was the duty of the missionary to make it up to him by taking him into em- ploy as a gatekeeper! Sometimes a benevolent old lady who is limited in the sphere of her activity makes a practice of entertaining other old ladies who seem to be deserving,but who are victims of cruel fate. We have heard of one case of this sort—and of one only—and they may not be so rare as is supposed.But after all abatements,it must be admitted that“real kindness kindly expressed”is not often to be met in Chinese life.
When a vast calamity occurs,like the great famine,or the outburst of the Yellow River,the government,local or gen- eral,often comes to the front with a greater or less degree of promptness,and attempts to help the victims. But instead of doing this on any uniform and extensive scale,such as the perpetual recurrence of the necessity might seem to suggest, it is done in a makeshift way,as if the occasion had never before arisen and might never arise again. The care of the refugees is moreover usually abandoned at the very time when they most need help,namely,in the early spring,when,having been weakened by their long suffering and by atrocious over- crowding,they are most liable to disease.It is then that they are sent away with a little ready.money,to make the best of their way home,and to get back into their normal state of life as best they can.The excuses for this are apparent:the funds are usually exhausted;there is work to be done on the farms,if the workers can but get food till wheat harvest. The government knows that they will die of pestilence if they remain till warm weather where they are,and destruction in detail seems to the officials to be a less,because a less con- spicuous,evil than death in masses.
The same spirit is evinced in the curious ebullition of chari- tableness,which is known as the“twelve eight gruel.”This performance may be regarded as a typical case of the most superficial form of Chinese benevolence. On the eighth day of the twelfth moon it is the custom for every one who has accumulated a quantity of benevolent impulses,which have had no opportunity for their gratification,to make the most liberal donations to all comers,of the very cheapest and poorest quality of soup,during about twelve hours of solar time.This is called"practising virtue,"and is considered to be a means of laying up merit.If the year happens to be one in which the harvest is bountiful,those who live in the country have perhaps no applicants for their coarse provender, as even the poorest people have as good or better at home. This circumstance does not,however,lead to the pretermis- sion of the offer,much less to the substitution of anything of a better quality.On the contrary,the donors advertise their intentions with the same alacrity as in other years,not to say with greater,and when the day passes,and no one has asked for a single bowl of the rich gruel designed for them,it is merely put into the broken jars out of which the pigs are fed, and the wealthy man of practical retires to rest with the proud satisfaction that however it may be with the poor wretches who would not come to his feast,he at least has done his duty for another year,and can in good conscience pose as a man of and virtue. But if,on the other hand,the year should be a bad one,and grain rises to a fabulous price,then this same man of means and of virtue fails to send out any notices of the“practice of virtue”for this particular year,for the reason that he“cannot afford it”! We have already referred to the gifts to beggars,of whom one almost everywhere sees a swarm.This donation also is of the nature of an insurance.In the cities the beggars are, as is well known,organised into guilds of a very powerful sort,more powerful by far than any with which they can have to contend,for the reason that the beggars have nothing to lose and nothing to fear,in which respects they stand alone. The shopkeeper who should refuse a donation to a stalwart beggar,after the latter has waited for a reasonable length of time,and has besought with what the Geneva arbitrators styled“due diligence,”would be liable to an invasion of a horde of famished wretches,who would render the existence even of a stolid Chinese a burden,and who would utterly pre- vent the transaction of any business until their continually rising demands should be met.Both the shopkeepers and the beggars understand this perfectly well,and it is for this reason that benevolences of this nature flow in a steady,be it a tiny rill.
The same principle,with obvious modifications,applies to the small donations to the incessant stream of refugees to be seen so often in so many places.In all these cases it will be observed that the object in view is by no means the benefit of the person upon whom the“benevolence”terminates,but the extraction from the benefit conferred of a return benefit for the giver.Every such object of Chinese charity is regarded as a "little Jo,"and the main aim of those who have anything to do with him is to make it reasonably certain that he will “move on.”
To the other disabilities of Chinese must be added this capital one,that it is almost impossible for any en- terprise,however good or however urgent,to escape the with- ering effects of the Chinese system of squeezes,which is as well organised as any other part of the scheme of Chinese government.It is not easy to possess one's self of full details of the working of any regular Chinese charity,but enough has been observed during such a special crisis as the great famine, to make it certain that the deepest distress of the people is no barrier whatever to the most shameful peculation on the part of officials entrusted with the disbursement of funds for relief. And if such scandals take place under these circumstances, when public attention is most fixed on the distress and its re- lief,it is not difficult to conjecture what happens when there is no outside knowledge either of the funds contributed or of their use.
When the Chinese come to know more of that Occidental civilisation of which too often only the worst side obtrudes itself upon them,it will certainly seem to them not a little re- markable that all Christendom is dotted with institutions such as have no parallel out of Christendom,and then it will per- haps occur to them to inquire into the rationale of so significant a fact.They may be led to notice the suggestive circumstance that the Chinese character for benevolence,unlike most of those which relate to the emotions,which generally have the heart radical,is written without the heart. The virtue for which it stands is also too often practised without heart,with the general results which we have noticed.That state of mind in which practical philanthropy becomes an instinct,de- manding opportunity to exhibit its workings whenever the need of it is clearly perceived,may be said to be almost wholly wanting among the Chinese.It is not,indeed,a human de- velopment.If it is to be created among the Chinese,it must be by the same process which has made it an integral con- stituent of life in the lands of the West.
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