My Country and My People

by Lin Yutang

He wrote this during the 1930s after China’s Opium Wars. A lot of people were trying to understand what was going on in China so Yutang wrote the book to explain. For many people it became the standard text to read on the subject if you wanted to understand the key characteristics of Chinese people and China’s history.

 林语堂的这本书写于上世纪30年代，主要关注鸦片战争之后中国的变革。对于很多人而言，这本书是理解中国人与中国历史之关键特征的重要文本。他试图解释为什么中国人在失去了帝王这一中国式上帝后陷入了迷失。他认为失去了上帝之后我们除了期待一个新的上帝之后别无所求——这就是为什么当末代皇帝在20世纪退位时出现了立新君的动荡。我80年代在大学里读到此书，我惊喜地看到了他用英文向西方人描绘的中国人。