Intimate China: The Chinese as I Have Seen Them

“For my part, I shall endeavour to make the reader see China and the Chinese as I have seen them in their homes and at dinner parties, and living long, oh!, such long summer days among them, and yet wearier dark days of winter.”

Combining translations of Chinese documents, excerpts and essays from other authors, as well as her own views, Mrs Archibald Little covers a range of topics in this book, being at once a travelogue, memoir, and political commentary. Arriving in China in 1887, she and her husband travelled throughout the country as he sought out new trade channels. This extensive travel allowed her to view the more “intimate” parts of China and its people. She was by this time already an established writer, and her powers of description shine through—from the vivid accounts of the flowers at the Shanghai public gardens to their detailed adventures in Tibet and traveling up the Yangtze by boat. However, her powers of narration are not limited to the scenic, and the book includes chapters on soldiers and students, opium smoking, Chinese dress, monasteries, the tea trade, Chinese painting and porcelain, and much more. While in China, Little took a firm stance against foot-binding, co-founding the Natural Foot Society, also described in this book. She includes translated excerpts from multiple news sources, including the Peking Gazette, North China Daily News, and China Mail. The latter third of the book deals exclusively with “affairs of state”, detailing information about the Emperor, efforts towards reform, and the coup d’etat by the Empress Dowager.

Little’s writing is lavishly supplemented with maps and photographs throughout the text. The writing itself is compelling and carries with it a witty undertone, particularly in her characterisation of “the-twenty-years-in-China-and-not-know-a-word-of-the-language-men”. The book will undoubtedly be of interest to readers hoping to get a glimpse into the innermost corners of China through the lens of a nineteenth century novelist and social campaigner.