《中國人的性格》是美國傳教士阿瑟·史密斯（明恩溥）基于1872年赴華傳教期間的社會觀察撰寫的著作，首版英文名《Chinese Characteristics》于19世紀末問世，。作者在華生活逾五十年，書中融合人類學視角與傳教士立場，記錄了晚清民眾的性格特征與文化形態。

全書以27個主題章節剖析中國人行為模式，包含“保全面子”“省吃儉用”等生活哲學，以及“漠視精確”“因循守舊”等社會現象。通過對比西方工業文明，著重探討東方特有的生存韌性，如環境適應力與疼痛耐受性。書中案例多源自山東鄉村生活經歷，涉及衣食住行、孝悌觀念等主題，部分結論因宗教立場存在視角爭議。該著作開創西方研究中國國民性先河，被譯成多國文字，成為近代中西文化互鑒的重要文本。

第七章 誤解的才能

一個外國人學了不少漢語并足以表達自己的思想時，他首先發現的是中國人在某些方面有著非同尋常的天賦。這位外國人會倍感驚訝和痛苦的是，你所說的漢語，別人聽不懂。于是，他就回頭更加勤奮重新學習。幾年之后，他終于可以自信地與公眾或者任何一個人交談各種復雜問題了。但是，如果與他交談的是一個完全陌生的人，尤其是與一個從未見過外國人的人，那么，他就會像最初說漢語時那樣依然感到驚訝和痛苦。對方顯然是什么都聽不懂，而且他顯然也是不想去聽懂。他很明顯就沒在意你在說些什么，也不試圖理清跟你談話的思路，而只會打斷你的話說：“你說的，我們聽不懂。”

他面帶著一種具有優越感的微笑，就像看著一個聾啞人費盡努力想開口說話一樣，好像是在說：“你說的話誰能聽懂呢？你天生就沒有一個能講中國話的舌頭，這是你的不幸，卻不是你的過錯。可是，你應當承認你無能為力。別用這種事情來為難我們了，因為你所說的，我們聽不懂啊。”在這種情況下，很有可能你無法始終保持一種平靜態度，很自然地，你要沖著你的對手發怒發火，說：“這一刻，我所說的話，你應該懂了吧？”“不，”他回答說，“我沒聽懂你所說的！”

中國人的誤解才能還能達到這樣一種地步，即便他們聽清楚你所說的每一個語詞，但由于沒有注意到某些細節，還是不能弄懂你所表達的意思，至少說沒有全部地搞懂。比如，“一個遠東的外國人”這個短語，需要放在大量表達“在這種條件下”、“條件是”、“根據這種條件”之類的一堆短語之后。的確，中國人事實上并不用這類短語，也覺得沒什么機會用這些短語，這與一個外國人大相徑庭。同樣情況也存在于時態的使用上，中國人也不用時態，不關注時態，而外國人就一定要注意時態。

在中國，在與人交往所要注意的問題中，最需要防止發生的問題是，不要在錢上造成誤會。當外國人要為所購買的商品付錢時（在中國人看來，這是外國人的主要作用），將來完成時態就像“軍需用品”。“你在干完活之后，你就將會得到錢。”但是，漢語中沒有將來完成時態，也沒有說有任何描述某事在什么時候發生的時態。中國人只是簡單地表達：“干活，掙錢。”在他的心目中，后句是主要的，并且是不受“時間關系”的限制。

因此，當一個中國人給外國人干活時，希望馬上能拿到工錢，這樣才能有飯“吃”，似乎如果不是偶爾遇到這個工作，他就會連一點吃的都沒有。我們必須反復告誡大家的是，在中國做生意，特別要避免在金錢上造成誤會。誰收的錢，什么時候該收，收多少，收的是銀錠還是銅錢，若是銀錠，其成色如何，重量多少，若是銅錢，“一貫”有多少個——諸如此類的細節，在一般情況下，是不可能說得太周詳的。若是與營造商、經銷商和船主簽訂一個合同，對方該做哪些事，要履行哪些條款，預先就必須做大量精準的說明。否則，就會一團糟。

“害己又累人”，這種事情在中國是太常見了，并不會引發當事人多大的注意。一位船夫或車夫受雇于外國人，本該按照雇主的要求干活，但他卻時常突然拒絕履行合約。在這種場合里，中國的車夫固執得就像他的一匹騾子。那匹騾子躺在泥濘之中，隨心所欲地洗泥土澡，車夫用鞭子抽打著騾子，直至精疲力盡，仍無濟于事。而騾子卻視鞭子抽打如蒼蠅撓癢癢。看到這一情景，不禁使我們想起德·昆西對中國人的評論。他諷刺中國人“像騾子一樣固執”。他的說法，顯然有些過了頭，其實，中國人并不像騾子那樣固執，因為騾子不會改變它的脾氣，而任性的車夫則不然。受雇的車夫雖然在半路上不聽從他的雇主，甚至對于雇主明確警告要扣掉他的全部“酒錢”也不予理睬，但過了半天時間到達終點時，他卻對自己在半路上的所作所為予以辯解，并且賠不是。旅行者與他的車夫、船夫立下一個字據，通常是明智之舉，這樣就不會因可能的誤會而帶來麻煩。

“有言在先、事后不悔。”這是中國人的一句至理名言。然而有些時候，在人們絞盡腦汁，即使費盡心思達成了協議，也還是會有出現誤會的時候。在中國的外國人碰到這種情況時，無論你如何小心翼翼對待各種協議，都會發現錢是引起你煩惱的重要原因，可能超過任何其他問題。至于對方是受過教育的學者，還是一字不識的苦力，這幾乎沒有多大差別，所有中國人天生地擁有在誤解中占得便宜的天賦。他們善于發現這些誤解，并立即加以利用。他們就像元月的北風能夠發現門上的一道縫，也像河水能夠發現船上的一個窟窿那樣，迅速且不費勁。

某方面，盎格魯撒克遜民族為了適應需要也獨立地發展出這一中國人的天賦。這正如古波斯人大多具有擅拉長弓和講真話兩種重要的技能一樣，盎格魯撒克遜人具有對敵人和對朋友都同樣誠實可信、做事公正的天性。對此，中國人不久就注意到了這一點。對中國人來說，這些品質似乎就像提圖斯時的羅馬人發現猶太人曾有過的某種獨特的習慣。羅馬人發現，猶太人在采取軍事行動時，無論形勢多么緊迫，每隔六天都必定要暫停一次做禮拜，羅馬人利用了猶太人的這一習慣擊敗了他們，中國人同樣也會善于利用盎格魯撒克遜人的那種天性。

1860年之前，外國人與中國人進行了一個世紀的外交。這一過程中，充分表現了中國人易于誤解的習慣。在接下來的年頭里，這種習慣并沒有消失。但無論情況怎樣，外國人總是遵守諾言的，這在中國人心中深深扎根，盡管也有少數的例外。他們同樣非常相信外國人辦事公正（盡管也有某些個人和國家可以給出恰恰相反的例子）。但是，正是基于這個固定的看法，中國人有能力對付即使是最頑固的外國人，“你明明是這樣說的”，“不，我不是這樣說的”，“但我認為你是這樣說的，我們都是這樣去理解你的意思的，請原諒我們的愚蠢，不過你還是得付錢，是你自己說過要給的”。這就是中國人與外國人千百次爭論的實質，而最終百分之九十七的結果是外國人付了錢，中國人心里很清楚，外國人為了表現自己的誠實和公正是會給錢的。在以下的三個事例中可以看到，中國人如何利用其他手段達到目的，而且是三次中有兩次會獲得成功。

有過豐富經歷的讀者會發現日常生活中有大量各種誤解的例子，足以組成一個軍團。你吩咐一個苦力清除掉院子里的雜草，而把開始抽芽的草皮留著，從而使你能夠看到渴望已久的一片珍貴的草地。可是，這只漫不經心的野牛卻拿著鋤頭，把所有的綠草都鏟除了，使之成了荒地，還說這樣才干凈。他沒有“理解”你的意思。你支使廚子到很遠的那個唯一的菜市場去買一條鯉魚和一只雞。他回來了，卻沒買魚回來，手里提著三只大鵝，他認為你就是這么吩咐的。他不“理解”你的意思。你派送信人在收發室下班前把一包重要的信件送到法國領事館。他回來說，法國領事館不收這份信件，原來他把信件送到了比利時領事館。這時，收發室下班的時間也到了，誤了信件。他不“理解”你的意思。

筆者的一位朋友的親身經歷，可以作很好的說明，可憐的外國人是多么容易產生誤解，多么容易被人誤解。這位朋友去拜訪一家中國的銀行，銀行的老板與他關系良好。當說到最近銀行附近發生的一場災難性的大火時，這位外國人為大火沒有蔓延到銀行而向這位銀行家表示慶賀。對此，這位銀行家立刻覺得尷尬，并生氣地說：“這是什么話？這么說不合適吧！”

過了很久，這個外國人才發現，他之所以冒犯了朋友，在于他的話里包含這樣的暗示：大火如果再近一點，就可能把他的銀行燒了，那才是最不幸的。因此，盡管是表示慶賀，包含這樣的暗示，也屬不吉利的。一位剛到京城不久的外國人看到一支駱駝隊，其中有只小駱駝，就對那位長年受雇于外國人的車夫說：“你回家的時候，告訴我的孩子，讓他出來看看這只小駱駝。他從來沒看過駱駝，這一定會令他非常高興。”車夫沒有立即回答，像是在掂量著最終審判，經過了深思熟慮，車夫很貼心地說：“就算你要買下那只駱駝，可也不能這么抬舉它——那樣它很快會死掉！”

有一次，筆者曾參加過一個有中國人參加的禮拜，牧師正在布道，講的是有關先知以利撒治愈乃曼的故事。牧師描繪了當時的情景，亞蘭大將軍來到以利撒門前，其隨從人員爭相叫門。為了盡可能說得形象生動，布道者如演戲般，模仿亞蘭的仆人喊道：“門衛，開門，亞蘭大將軍來了！”令牧師大為吃驚的是，一位坐在后排的人此刻突然不見了，好似被槍給打倒了一樣。事后才搞清楚，這人完全是誤解的受害者。他是教堂的門衛，由于沒有注意到前面所講的故事，當突然聽到有人叫他開門，就迅速地沖了出去，讓乃曼進來。

還有個例子是另外一些聽眾給某省的牧師留下的深刻印象。這位傳教士為了讓他的聽眾有深刻的印象，就用幻燈機放大顯示一只普通的寄生蟲。這只蟲子顯現在屏幕上，其龐大的身軀完全就像是一條埃及的鱷魚。這時，人們聽見一位觀眾以一種敬畏的口氣，小聲地道出了他的一個新發現：“看啊，外國的虱子真大！”

英文原版：

CHAPTER VII. THE TALENT FOR MISUNDERSTANDING

THIS remarkable gift of the Chinese people is first observed when the foreigner knows enough of the language to employ it as a vehicle of thought. To his pained surprise, he finds that he is not understood. He therefore returns to his studies with augmented diligence, and at the end of a series of years is able to venture with confidence to accost the general public, or any individual thereof, on miscellaneous topics. If the person addressed is a total stranger, especially if he has never before met a foreigner, the speaker will have opportunity for the same pained surprise as when he made his maiden speech in this tongue. The auditor evidently does not understand. He does not expect to understand. He visibly pays no attention to what is said, makes no effort whatever to follow it, but simply interrupts you to observe, "When you speak, we do not understand." He has a smile of superiority, as of one contemplating the struggles of a deaf-mute to utter articulate speech, and as if he would say, " Who supposed that you could be understood? It may be your misfortune and not your fault that you were not born with a Chinese tongue, but you should bear your disabilities, and not worry us with them." It is impossible to retain at all times an unruffled serenity in situations like this, and it is natural to turn fiercely on your adversary, and inquire, " Do you understand what I am saying at this moment ? " " No," he replies, " I do not understand you."

Another stage in the experience of Chinese powers of misunderstanding is reached when, although the words are distinctly enough apprehended, through a disregard of details the thought is obscured even if not wholly lost. The foreigner in Far Cathay needs to lay in a copious stock of phrases which mean " on this condition," " conditionally," " with this understanding," etc. It is true that there do not appear to be any such phrases, nor any occasion for them felt by the Chinese, but with the foreigner it is different. The same is true in regard to tenses. The Chinese do not care for them, but the foreigner is compelled to care for them.

Of all subjects of human interest in China, money is the one most exposed to misunderstandings. If the foreigner is paying out this commodity (which often appears to be the principal function of a foreigner as seen from the Chinese standpoint) a future-perfect tense is a military necessity. " When you shall have done your work, you will receive your money." But there is no future-perfect tense in Chinese, or any other tense. A Chinese simply says, " Do work, get money," the last being the main idea which dwells in his mind, the time relation being absent. Hence when he is to do anything for a foreigner he wishes his money at once, under the assumption that if he did not get this job he would have nothing to eat. Eternal vigilance is the price at which immunity from misunderstandings about money must be purchased in China. Who is to receive payment, when payment is due, the sum to be paid, whether in silver ingots or brass cash, the quality and weight of silver, the number of cash in a string — all these points demand the clearest possible agreement. If a contract involves builders, compradores or boatmen, no amount of preliminary explanation and precision will prove excessive.

To " cut off one's nose to spite one's face " is a common practice in China. A boatman or carter who signs on to go wherever his employer directs will sometimes flatly refuse to carry out the agreement. The stubbornness of such carters is well illustrated by their mules. When a mule reaches a dusty spot on the road, it will deliberately lie down for a dust-bath, while the driver flogs it to the utmost in vain. The mule is as indifferent to the blows as if they were mere flies. De Quincey once wrote that the Chinese are as obstinate as mules, but this comparison is inaccurate. A mule is stubborn all the time, while a Chinese carter may defy you mid-journey, yet later grovel and beg for mercy and extra tips when the trip ends. Travellers in China would do well to put all agreements into writing, for misunderstandings over oral promises are inevitable.

The Chinese have an instinct for taking advantage of misunderstandings, much as a keen nose detects every crack in a door or a leak in a ship. Anglo-Saxons are known for their love of truth and fair dealing, and the Chinese are quick to notice this trait, and turn it to their own use. For the century prior to 1860, foreign dealings with China were one long series of deliberate misunderstandings. Even afterwards, the problem persisted. The Chinese generally assume that a foreigner will keep his word and act fairly, and they use this belief as leverage. A typical dispute runs like this: "You said you would do this." "I did not." "But we all understood you to say so. Please pay up as you promised." In ninety-seven cases out of a hundred, the foreigner pays to uphold his reputation for honesty and justice. The remaining three cases will still be resolved in the Chinese side's favour through other means.

Examples of everyday misunderstandings are countless. A gardener is told to pull weeds but leave the young grass untouched. He hears the words, then cuts down every green plant in the yard, claiming he did not understand. A cook is sent to market to buy a carp and a young chicken. He returns with three tough geese and no fish, insisting he followed the order as he heard it. A messenger is dispatched with urgent letters to the French Consulate before the post closes. He delivers them to the Belgian Consulate instead, and the mail departs, all because he "misunderstood the address".

A friend of the author once visited a Chinese merchant, shortly after a major fire had broken out nearby. He politely remarked that he was glad the fire had not spread to the merchant's shop. To his surprise, the merchant looked embarrassed and then angry. Later he learned that in local custom, even mentioning a possible fire near one's shop is considered a terrible omen and an insult. Another foreigner saw a baby camel while riding with a Chinese driver, and told the driver to let his young son come out to see the strange animal. The driver pondered the words for a long time, then replied solemnly: "If you buy this camel, it will surely die."

On another occasion, a preacher was telling the story of Naaman the Syrian in Chinese. He vividly described how Naaman's servants came to the gate of Elisha's house and called for entry. As he cried out the line, "Gatekeeper, open the door for General Naaman!", a man at the back of the hall suddenly rushed outside. It turned out the man was the actual gatekeeper of the building, and hearing himself addressed, he rushed to open the door in all earnest, completely missing the context of the story.

In yet another instance, a missionary used a magic lantern to show an enlarged image of a common parasite to a rural audience. The creature looked huge and hideous on the screen, resembling a crocodile. One villager whispered in awe to those beside him: "Look! That is the foreign louse!"