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Attempted Explanations
H. Smith Chinese Characteristics, 1894
The history of foreign diplomacy with China is largely a history of attempted explanations of matters which have been deliberately misunderstood.
Shanghai Expat Costs
(Written by an expat around 1900)
Observation and experience have led to the belief that for foreign residents the average cost of living in Shanghai is about the same as for similar living conditions in the cities of the United States. The old days of a free and easy Orient are gone. The cost of food is now at its highest mark on record. The shortage of foreign accommodations has forced rents to a high point. Servants, popularly supposed to be very inexpensive, are cheaper than domestic help in America, but wages are steadily increasing and this, together with the necessity of maintaining several to do the work of one American servant, makes this item one of importance to the householder.
Nothing We Lack
Emperor Qian Long's letter to the King of England in 1793
There is nothing we lack, as your principal envoy and others have themselves observed. We have never set much store on strange or indigenous objects, nor do we need any more of your country's manufactures.
The Taipan's Creed
A trader to the British consul in Shanghai
In two or three years at farthest I hope to realize a fortune and get away. And what can it matter to me if all Shanghai disappear afterwards in fire or flood? You must not expect men in my position to condemn themselves to prolonged exile in an unhealthy climate for the benefit of posterity. We are money-making, practical men. Our business is to make money, as much and as fast as we can - and for this end all modes or means are good which the law permits.
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