Introduction:
While this book is by no means famous, it is a remarkable chance to
look at America of 1914 through the eyes of an outsider. Wu Tingfang
shows evidence of having thought through many issues of relevance to the
United States, and while some of his thoughts are rather odd -- such as his
suggestion that the title of President be replaced by the title of Emperor;
and others are unfortunately wrong -- such as his hopes for peace, written
on the eve of the First World War; they are all well-considered and
sometimes show remarkable insight into American culture.
Even so, it should be remarked that he makes some errors, including
some misunderstandings of American and Western ideas and an
idealization of Chinese culture, and humanity in general, in some points --
while I do not wish to refute his claims about China, I would simply point
out that many of the things he praises have been seen differently by many
outside observers, just as Wu Tingfang sometimes looks critically at things
in America which he does not fully understand (and, unfortunately, he is
sometimes all too correct) -- in all these cases (on both sides) some leeway
must be given to account for mutual misunderstandings. Still, his
observations allow us to see ourselves as others see us -- and regardless of
accuracy those observations are useful, if only because they will allow us
to better communicate.