《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(tài)。

全書以27個主題章節(jié)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(xiàn)象。通過對比西方工業(yè)文明，著重探討東方特有的生存韌性，如環(huán)境適應力與疼痛耐受性。書中案例多源自山東鄉(xiāng)村生活經(jīng)歷，涉及衣食住行、孝悌觀念等主題，部分結(jié)論因宗教立場存在視角爭議。該著作開創(chuàng)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。

第十六章 生命力頑強

中國人極富生命力，這是中國人其他性格的一個重要背景，而這點本身就很值得思考。可以從以下四個方面加以考慮：中國人的繁衍能力，對不同環(huán)境的適應能力，延長壽命的能力和康復再生的能力。

一位外國旅行者對中國人生活狀況的第一印象就是人口過多。中國似乎到處都擠滿了人。它看上去是這樣，事實也正是如此。日本也是如此人口眾多，用不著一雙很有眼光的頭腦就能看出來，但日本的人口密度不如中國的人口密度大。

就人口的相對密度與絕對密度而言，比起其他國家來，中國更類似于印度。不過，印度是一個多民族、多語種的國家，而中國，除了那些影響不大的民族之外，幾乎就是一個單一民族的國家。在這個遼闊的國家，無論我們走到哪里，都可以看到人口過剩。就算是有些人口稀少的地區(qū)，我們一般也能輕易地找到印證這一判斷的證明。最近若干年，先是爆發(fā)了令人恐怖萬分的太平天國暴動，隨后是規(guī)模較小的回民暴動，1877-1878年，爆發(fā)了遍及五省的空前饑荒，使中國的人口總數(shù)大概減少了好幾百萬。我們看到，在中國，戰(zhàn)爭所造成的破壞并不像在西方那樣能得到很快修復。這是因為，中國人都不愿意離開自己的故鄉(xiāng)，不愿意遷徙到一個新的地方。盡管如此，人們還是不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，無論破壞力有多大，都不及修復力來得強大。我們堅信，只需維持幾十年的和平安定和農(nóng)業(yè)豐收，中國的每一塊地區(qū)就都會從本世紀那一連串災難的打擊中恢復過來。這種恢復的前提已經(jīng)充分具備，這是有目共睹的，無論是否愿意正視這個問題的人，都不得不接受這個事實。

在中國每一個地方，無論是城鎮(zhèn)還是鄉(xiāng)村，一個最引人注目的是成群成群的孩子，他們就像查爾斯·蘭姆在給過于驕傲的母親潑冷水時所說的，“密密麻麻地擠滿了每一條死胡同?！敝袊鐣袟l最令人不解的事情之一，就是這么多的孩子靠什么生存下來。必須記住的是，他們其中的許多孩子其實并沒有基本的“衣食”保障的。換個角度來說，那就是極度的貧窮顯然不可能導致中國人口的明顯減少。

想要控制中國人口的迅速增長，唯一有效的辦法就是采用鴉片，這對中國人來說，就像是諸如戰(zhàn)爭、饑餓、瘟疫之類的危險的敵人。完全不用去證明這點，中國人的繁衍能力之強，現(xiàn)有人口數(shù)量遠遠超過其他任何國家，這已是不爭的事實。即使按照我們最保守的估計，中國現(xiàn)有的人口總數(shù)也已達到約兩億五千萬。這個數(shù)字足以證明中國人生育能力強這個觀點。因為問題的關(guān)鍵并不僅僅在于人口的數(shù)量，更在于增長率。在缺乏可靠的統(tǒng)計數(shù)字情況下，我們只能靠籠統(tǒng)估算的方法來得出結(jié)論，不過幸運的是，這種結(jié)論幾乎不會出錯。中國人在年紀很小的時候就要結(jié)婚，除開對金錢的迷戀，傳宗接代是中國人普遍接受的占統(tǒng)治地位的強烈觀念。

中國人口不論在什么情況下都能迅速增長，與之相比，法國的人口狀況正好相反。其人口增長率是歐洲最低的，最近的報告顯示，其居民的絕對數(shù)呈下降趨勢。這個事實引起了人們對這個偉大國家未來的嚴重擔憂。而另一方面，中國人則相反，他們并沒有體現(xiàn)出任何比盎格魯撒克遜人更為明顯的衰退跡象。上帝給予人類的有據(jù)可查的指令中，最早有文字記載的是教導人類“在塵世間生養(yǎng)眾多，昌盛繁茂”。正如一位知識淵博的學者曾經(jīng)所評論的，這道命令“已經(jīng)為人類所遵從，并且這也是唯一得到人們遵從的上帝的指令”。而比起其他任何一個國家來，這在中國更加正確。

在前文我們已經(jīng)說過，中國幅員遼闊，幾乎擁有各種土壤、氣候和物產(chǎn)。無論是亞熱帶地區(qū)還是靠近北極圈的地區(qū)，這兩個地區(qū)之間任何的地方，中國人都能很好的生存下來。我們所能察覺的差別，主要是由于各地區(qū)本身的特征和該地區(qū)承受人口的能力所造成的，而不是由于各地區(qū)人民適應環(huán)境的能力有任何內(nèi)在的差異。來自廣東、福建兩省較小地區(qū)的中國僑民，他們會移居印度、緬甸、暹羅、東印度、太平洋群島、西澳大利亞、墨西哥、美國、西印度、中美洲或南美洲，我們一直聽說他們能夠很好地適應并融入各種環(huán)境的事。

與此相反的事情我們絕少聽說，我們能聽到的都是他們適應得又快又好，并且比當?shù)厝烁炭?、更?jié)儉，加之他們非常團結(jié)并很有凝聚力，以至于其他民族為了維護自身利益，紛紛喊出“中國人滾出去”這樣的口號來。正是在這種情況下，中國人就整體而言不再大規(guī)模地整體移居海外了。這對于其他民族內(nèi)心的安寧來說，無疑是一種巨大的幸運。如果今天這片滿是欲望的人的東亞大陸，要將他們的能量投向這個行星的其他地區(qū)，就像中世紀時代的中亞人所做的，那么未來將難以預料，或者我們堅信的“適者生存”的信念將變成何種結(jié)果。

由于缺乏任何一種統(tǒng)計資料，我們只能非常籠統(tǒng)地說一說中國人的長壽。所有的觀察者或許都會得出這樣的一個結(jié)論，中國各地都有非常多的長壽老人。老壽星們總是很受尊敬，長壽是一種極大的榮耀，被中國人列為“五?！敝?。他們非常注意記錄下自己出生的日期，甚至還精確到時辰，小心謹慎地記錄下來，以備需要時能隨時報出來。盡管他們通常所采用的計算方法并不嚴格，不準確，這在前面已經(jīng)說過，他們喜歡增加自己的實際年齡。墳墓的墓碑上會突出顯示死者的長壽。但是除了盛產(chǎn)石碑的附近地區(qū)以外，中國人只有很少墳墓有墓碑，因此，想從其他方面的資料入手來準確推斷死者的壽命，僅僅依靠墓碑的記錄實際上是不夠精準的。

中國人能活到百歲以上的并不多見，但百歲以下的高壽老者到處都能找到?？梢?，若有充足的營養(yǎng)，我們認為這個數(shù)字還會有不少。事實上，占中國人口最大部分的窮人，他們極度營養(yǎng)不良。若是考慮到這些因素在內(nèi)，那么，居然還有這么多的人活到如此長的歲數(shù)，這足以令人驚訝萬分了。眾所周知，本世紀以來，所有西方國家人口的平均壽命都在不斷提高。這要歸功于人們越來越注意保健的意識、不斷提高疾病預防的能力以及不斷改進醫(yī)療手段。需要看清的是，在中國卻不是如此，中國人的生活條件與哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)美洲時相比似乎沒有多大的變化。如果社會與醫(yī)藥科學能在中國發(fā)揮作用，就像過去的五十年里在英國發(fā)揮的那樣，那么，中國長壽老人的數(shù)目肯定還會有非常大的增加。

住在中國的外國人都知道中國人的共同性格：幾乎所有中國人都不懂得衛(wèi)生規(guī)則，即使了解這些法則，他們也公然予以漠視。這一直是外國觀察者想弄清的問題：那么，對自然法則的無知和違背而導致的各種疾病為什么沒能使得中國人滅絕呢？在中國，每年都有很多人死于那些原本完全可以預防的疾病。但事實上，這樣的人數(shù)并不是劇烈增長的。這一事實表明，中國人有一種神奇的抗病和康復能力。中國人稍微面臨一點小事刺激就要拼命，同時，又頑強地保存生命，這兩者都是中國人重要的性格。

我們已是多次不無遺憾地說道，由于缺乏至關(guān)重要的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)，我們不得不依靠外國觀察者所記錄的觀察結(jié)果。隨著外國人所開辦的診所和醫(yī)院不斷增長，這些記錄一年比一年更多，且一年比一年更有價值。為了舉例說明中國人的康復能力，哪怕只是一年度的醫(yī)學報告分析和整理，都是非常有用的工作，其結(jié)果肯定既新穎又有說服力。然而，我們只能簡簡單單地陳述幾個事實來略加說明。其中有兩件為筆者親歷的，而第三個例子則取自天津一家大醫(yī)院所發(fā)表的醫(yī)學報告。這些事例的說服力就在于它們是這樣毫無疑問的事實，并非孤立而是互相聯(lián)系，但又能與我們大多數(shù)讀者所觀察的事實相印證。

幾年前，筆者與一個中國人家庭同住一棟房子里。某日下午，我忽然聽到窗下傳來叫聲。那窗子是用磚坯砌成，底下有個洞，洞中有一個大蜂窩。一個才十四個月大的小孩正在那里玩耍，看見窗子下的這個洞，以為是一個好玩的地方，就魯莽地爬了進去。這個孩子剃了個小光頭，頭皮通紅。蜂群或許是被這突如其來的侵擾所激怒了，或許是把小光頭誤認為一朵大牡丹花，它們迅速地停在光腦袋上叮蜇，孩子被抱出來時，已被蜂群蜇了三十多下了。這個孩子哭了一會兒，就被放在炕上，不一會就睡著了。大人的手頭上沒有任何藥品，他皮膚上的患處也沒有敷任何東西。一整個晚上，這個孩子也沒有吵鬧。到了第二天，他頭上的腫包全都消失了，沒留下一點痕跡。

1878年，北京有一個外國人所雇傭的馬車夫患上了流行性斑疹傷寒。當時有許多人死于這種病。馬車夫患病，到了第十三天，他的病情已經(jīng)相當危重。這個病人突然變得很暴躁，一個人力氣大得能抵幾個人。三個負責照看他的人被弄得精疲力盡。就在那天晚上，這個病人被捆在床上，以防他逃走?？僧斂词卣呤焖瘯r，他卻設(shè)法解開繩子，完全光著身子逃了出去。大約凌晨三點，看守者才發(fā)現(xiàn)人不見了，于是整棟房子都搜了個遍。他們四處尋找，連水井也找過了，生怕他投井。

最終，大家在一堵約九十英尺高的院墻處發(fā)現(xiàn)了他的蹤跡。他先是爬上一棵樹，然后躍到高墻上，不知是跳下墻頭還是掉下，總之他落到了墻外的地上，并馬上沿著將漢人與滿清皇宮隔開的城墻護城河跑去。兩小時后，大家找到了他，只見他把頭伸進宮墻下涵洞的鐵柵欄內(nèi)。顯然，他是頭熱得不行，趕快想跑到這里降下體溫的。顯然，他已經(jīng)卡在這里很長時間了。在帶他回去的路上，發(fā)現(xiàn)他的熱病居然完全退去了，盡管腿上還有落下的一點風濕痛，但他肯定慢慢會好起來。

一個大約三十歲左右的天津人，以在中國軍隊的演習場去撿廢炮彈殼為生。有一次，他撿到一枚廢炮彈，就在他試圖把它拆開來時，炮彈爆炸了，并炸廢了他的左腿。他被送進醫(yī)院，實施手術(shù)，膝蓋以下的部分被截去。這個人本該放棄這種危險的營生，可他一旦病愈又立刻回去撿彈殼了。

大約六個月之后，類似的情況又發(fā)生了，炮彈爆炸了，他的整個左手掌被炸掉了，留下一個破爛的傷口。右臂上部被火藥嚴重灼傷，鼻梁和上嘴唇被炸裂，右邊臉頰、右眼的上眼皮，額骨的旁邊和右手腕被炮彈片劃傷，右小腿也被炸開很深的裂口，露出了骨頭。受了重傷的這個人倒在地上，一直處于半昏迷狀態(tài)，躺在地上達四個小時聽憑太陽暴曬。正好，一位大官看見了他，便命令一些苦力把他抬到醫(yī)院，他本人也護送著走了兩里路。抬的人顯然是非常疲憊，等到那位大官一離開，就把這個可憐的傷員扔進了一道小溝里，讓他在那里等死。

盡管因流血過多而精疲力盡，那位傷員還是從溝里爬了出來，單足跳了五百碼，來到一家糧店，討到一些吃的，并找到一個大糧筐，用他那只沒受傷的手推倒糧筐，鉆了進去。店主為了趕他走，只好用筐子把他抬到醫(yī)院門口，讓他在外面自生自滅。盡管由于失血過多幾近脫虛，脈搏也極其微弱，然而他神志清楚，還能清醒地說話。以前，他吸食鴉片成癮，到了無法戒除的地步，這對康復非常不利。然而，對于如此的重傷和感染，除入院第五、第六天有腹瀉和輕微的瘧疾外，這位病人完全沒有其他任何嚴重的癥狀。在四個星期之后，他拄著拐杖、帶著一條假腿被獲準出院了。

如果一個民族具有像中國人這樣的身體素質(zhì)，能夠擺脫戰(zhàn)爭、饑餓、瘟疫和鴉片的影響，而生存下來，如果他們能對生理和衛(wèi)生法則稍加留意，再依靠適宜的食物，保證均衡的營養(yǎng)，那么就完全有理由相信，這樣的民族將有自己足夠的能力來占據(jù)世界的主要一大片地區(qū)，甚至還會更多。

英文原版：

CHAPTER XVI. PHYSICAL VITALITY

That physical vitality which forms so important a background for other Chinese characteristics deserves consideration by itself. It may be regarded in four aspects: the reproductive power of the Chinese race, its adaptation to different circumstances, its longevity, and its recuperative power.

The first impression which the traveller derives from the phenomena of Chinese life is that of redundance. China seems to be full of people. It seems to be so because it is so. Japan, too, appears to have a large population, but the dense population of Japan bears no proportion to the dense population of China. In respect of relative and absolute density of population, China, more nearly resembles India than any other country. But the people and the languages of India are many and various, while the people of China, with some exceptions not materially affecting the issue, are one and the same. This first impression of a redundant population is everywhere confirmed, no matter in what portion of this broad Empire we set our foot. Where the population is in reality sparse, this is generally found to be due to causes which are susceptible of easy explanation. The terrible inroads of the great T'aip'ing rebellion, followed by the only less destructive Mohammedan rebellion, and by the almost unparalleled famine of 1877-78, extending over five provinces, reduced the total population of China, perhaps by many scores of millions. Nevertheless, it is not difficult to perceive that the forces of waste are not so powerful as the forces of repair. With a few decades of peace and good crops, almost any part of China would, we think, recuperate from the disasters which during this century have come in such battalions. The provision for this recuperation is visible to every one, and forces itself upon his notice whether he desires to contemplate it or not. In any part of the Chinese Empire the most conspicuous objects in the towns and villages are the troops of children, with which, as Charles Lamb says in his deprecation of overproud mothers, "every blind alley swarms." It is one of the standing marvels of Chinese society by what means such a vast army of little ones is fed and clothed; many of them are not "fed and clothed " to any extent. Extreme poverty does not apparently tend to diminish Chinese population.

The only permanent and effective check upon the rapid increase of the population appears to be the confirmed use of opium, a foe to the Chinese race as deadly as war, famine, or pestilence. Even if we take the lowest estimate of China's population, the reproductive capacity of the nation is striking. The Chinese marry at a very early age, and the desire for posterity is second only to the love of money among the general populace. Contrast the growth of China's population with that of France, where the population shows little to no growth, and sometimes even a decline. The Chinese show no signs of racial decay, just as the Anglo-Saxon peoples do. The ancient biblical command to "be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth" has been thoroughly followed in China.

The Chinese Empire spans a vast area, covering nearly every type of soil and climate, from subtropical to subarctic zones. The Chinese thrive equally well in all these regions. Where local conditions limit the population, it is the environment rather than an inherent lack of adaptability among the people. Emigrants from the coastal provinces of Guangdong and Fujian have settled across the globe, including India, Burma, Siam, the East Indies, Australasia, the Americas, and the West Indies. Wherever they go, they adapt rapidly and fully to new surroundings. Their industry, frugality, and strong group cohesion often make them formidable competitors for local residents. Fortunately for the rest of the world, large-scale emigration has never been the general choice of the Chinese people.

Regarding longevity, there is a lack of precise official statistics in China, yet every observer notes the large number of elderly people across the country. Old age is deeply respected in Chinese culture, and longevity is regarded as one of the five great blessings. While records of exact birth times are kept for some people, most ordinary folk rely on rough age estimates. Tombstone inscriptions offer partial evidence of long lifespans among commoners, though such records are limited in many regions. Considering the widespread poverty and inadequate nutrition for the majority of the population, the number of elderly people in China is truly remarkable. Modern medical and public health advances have extended lifespans in Western nations; if similar progress were applied in China, the number of long-lived people would surely surge.

Most Chinese have little knowledge of hygiene and often disregard basic health rules, yet the nation has a remarkable ability to resist disease and recover from illness. Though preventable diseases claim countless lives each year, the population as a whole does not perish from these afflictions. The Chinese possess a striking tenacity for life, alongside a tendency to risk their lives over trivial matters. Foreign medical missions and hospitals have accumulated countless cases demonstrating their extraordinary recuperative powers. A few typical examples will illustrate this trait.

Several years ago, while living with a Chinese family, the author heard desperate screams one afternoon outside the window. A fourteen-month-old toddler had crawled into an adobe beehive. The child’s head was completely shaved, and he was stung more than thirty times by bees. He cried briefly and then fell asleep. No medicine was applied, and by the next day, all swelling had vanished entirely.

Another case took place in Peking in 1878. A cart driver contracted typhus fever, a disease that claimed many lives at that time. On the thirteenth day of his illness, he became violently delirious. Three people struggled to restrain him throughout the day, and he was tied to his bed at night to prevent escape. In the middle of the night, he broke free from his restraints and fled the house naked. The household searched everywhere, including the wells, fearing the worst. He was eventually found trapped between the iron bars of a drainage culvert beneath the city wall, having climbed a ten-foot wall to reach the moat. He explained he had gone there to cool his fever. Though he suffered rheumatism afterward, his fever broke completely, and he made a slow but full recovery.

A third example involves a man from Tianjin who made a living collecting spent artillery shells. Once, a shell exploded while he was trying to open it, blowing off his left leg below the knee. He was taken to a hospital and underwent an amputation. Instead of abandoning this dangerous work, he returned to it soon after recovering. Six months later, another explosion occurred. His left wrist was blown off, his right arm severely burned, his face and legs covered in deep lacerations and puncture wounds. He lay exposed to the sun for four hours after the accident. A local official spotted him and ordered porters to carry him to the hospital, but the porters abandoned him in a ditch once the official left. The injured man dragged himself out and hopped five hundred yards to a grain store, climbing inside a grain basket for shelter. The shop owners then transported him to the hospital. This man was an opium user, a condition that hinders recovery, yet aside from mild diarrhea and intermittent malaria, he suffered no major complications. Four weeks later, he left the hospital walking on a wooden prosthetic leg.

If the Chinese people could be protected from war, famine, pestilence, and the ravages of opium, and if they paid proper attention to physiological and hygienic principles while enjoying adequate nutrition, their remarkable physical vitality would allow them to populate a far larger portion of the globe.