Smith wrote Chinese Characteristics, and it became the most widely read book on China in the world for more than thirty years. In it, Smith divided the traits of the Chinese into twenty-six categories including “face,” politeness, disregard for time, disregard for accuracy, an absence of nerves, and an absence of sympathy. Predictably, he concluded that the only way to “save” China was through Christ. Smith’s message that there was something wrong with the Chinese would later be labeled as racist by Western scholars. But it struck a chord with the May Fourth generation as they searched for the
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