| For more than three millennia China has beena land unknown to foreigners, an enigmatic and inaccessible country. The ignorance which exists among Westerners with reference to China and the Chinese in the mid-nineteenth century is remarkable. The erroneous views which Westerners and the Chinese mutually entertain of each other are due to a lack of reliable information: this lack has resulted in their separation and infrequent interaction.
This book provides a historical perspective of the Chinese Empire and its inhabitants, Confucius and Confucianism, the religions of China, religious rites and beliefs, superstitions and the science of Feng Shui, modes of divination, Chinese dialects, social customs, festivals and amusements that have distinguished the Chinese way of life for centuries.
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