A little knowledge of the etiquette, customs, and language of an Asiatic people does more to smooth path in the Orient riy servants and an elaborate portfolio of passports. The Westerner's confirmed belief that Orientals are mysterious, secret mendacious beings, with whom a European can have no common interest, is largely the result of his own ignorance of the first principles of Oriental courtesy and his open contempt for the tastes and prejudices of the people.
The Chinese and the Turki of Turkestan seem as deliberately bent upon misunderstanding each other as the Chinese and Europeans of the Treaty Ports. The Turki say that the Kh'tai (Kitai or Cathay), as they call the Chinese, has 10 sense of politeness, decency, clean-lines or honour. And the Chinese scorn the Turki s mannerless.
gluttonous, and fanatical barbarians. Yet both these peoples are effusively polite among themselves and are delighted to take into their confidence anyone who shows intimacy with the courtesies which they appreciate so much from their own people and which they believe unknown to all other peoples.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.