Manners and Customs of the Chinese [Hardcover]

Vaughan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1992

Although books on the Malays of the Archipelago and Peninsula written by sympathetic European observers abound, those written on the Chinese in the region during the 19th century are few and far between - no doubt a result of problems of language. One of the few to appear was the present volume, whose author was a Victorian Englishman who embarked on a career in the navy, and then transformed himself after a considerable spell as a colonial administrator into a lawyer. His residence of almost half a century in the Straits settlements, particularly in Penang and Singapore, provided him with the knowledge and experience of the Chinese resident in these places. Although replete with the prejudices of his countrymen and of his age with regard to the Chinese and their characteristics, his writings also reveal an underlying respect and appreciation of these people on whose enterprise, skill and energy the economic development of the region depended.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`His contribution to our knowledge of the mid-nineteenth century Chinese communities in the Straits, based as it is on observation and a measure of perspicacity, cannot be dismissed.' Asian Affairs

About the Author

Vaughan was a colonial officer in the Straits Settlements in the 19th century.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 135 pages
• Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr (June 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195885813
• ISBN-13: 978-0195885811
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,990,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)