Customer Reviews

They Called Us White Chinese: The Story of a Lifetime of Service to God Mankind

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They Called Us White Chinese is an autobiography of the late Robert N. Tharp, missionary to China in the early 1900's. I read the book cover to cover. It is extraordinarily well written, detailed, and full of interesting stories. It covers his boyhood which details Chinese construction techniques, social/cultural aspects of village life, provincial wars and his life and adventures in general. His capture during WWII and take over of the Communists follows. The trials of him and his wife in escaping the country are almost incredible. Mr. Tharp had a long career in linguistics in the U.S. working for military and intelligence services, which he describes in the latter third of the book. The book is anything but overedited and Mr. Tharp may carefully describe a particular adventure in vivid detail so that it becomes a short story in itself. I also appreciate the almost complete lack of "self-analysis" or abstract social commentary etc... This book is also a great aid to understanding Chinese history and culture. Highly recommended.

I should note that in 1994 when I first bought this book I was amazed and delighted to find myself mentioned in it (on page 751.) I was one of Bob Tharp's USAF Chinese students, recruited out of basic training in the summer of 1955. Years later, after finishing my Air Force tour (in Korea, using everything I'd been taught at Yale's Institute of Far Eastern Languages by Bob Tharp and his colleagues)and finishing college and law school, I found myself back at Yale, assisting Bob in the same USAF program while I took a correspondence course for the Michigan bar exam.

I wish that I had known just a portion of the information that's in this great work of a book about Bob's early life when I first met him - I would have held him in even higher regard, if that's possible.

This book paints an amazing picture of a tumultuous time in Chinese (and American) history, and the latter portions show clearly the contributions that Bob and Eva Tharp and their colleagues made to US security. He trained hundreds of air intelligence specialists, and many of them, like myself, found our lives forever changed and enhanced by our exposure to Chinese language and culture.

As a former student of Robert Tharp, I was interested in his new book, "They Called Us White Chinese". The title seems a little bit funny until I learned that due to the fact that he and his wife, Eva, were interned by the Japanese during WWII they lost all their identity papers, and when they came to the US, immigration officials stamped on their visa that they were, "White Chinese". Thus brings to an end their saga that comprises of almost 900 pages of the most beautiful coffee-table book I have ever seen. This book should cost three times as much. Contemporary Chinese history has never been explained as well as through the eyes of a "Westerner" born and raised in China. A Must Buy!

This book takes you through a journey of a man's life in his service to God. From the first page, you're introduced to Robert Tharp, son of a missionary in China. Slowly, you're taken through a concise narrative of the daily routine in Manchuria, detailing events as broad as the various warlords who entered the city to as detailed as how the local mastrigate ate plumbs.

The pictures in the book add to the book by showing what people did. Rarely are there books with such quantity of pictures.

There are wonderful anecdotes of everyday life and experiences Bob had. He has an entire section devoted to chinese humor, which are incredibally difficult to translate, but he does it with style.

Anyone with interest in what life in China was like, this book is a must read.

I only knew of his book when it was given to my mother as a gift from Eva and Bob. They were our neighbors for many years in Branford, Connecticut and I knew him growing up as "Uncle Bob". This is how he wanted to be addressed by all the neighborhood children. I watched he and his wife do hard physical work, such as digging a foundation for a house by hand with only wheelbarrow and shovel or building a porch using only hand tools. He would let us assist on his project as long as it was not dangerous for us and took us sailing on his boat in Branford Harbor and Long Island Sound. I knew he was a professor at Yale University teaching Chinese history, but knew nothing of his linguistics and cryptograph expertise. He and his wife moved to Monterey, California where his wife opened a Chinese bakery. We lost touch after their move however my Mom kept in touch by occasional letters and cards. My mother informed me of his death in 1993 while I was living in Florida. I recently discovered that Eva passed away in 2004. They were wonderful neighbors and friends. Their door was always open to everyone. They were both very kind and gentle people and to my knowledge they had no children, but as I have mentioned the entire world were their friends and relatives. There should be many more people like Eva and Bob, as they would make the world a far better place. I have not completed reading his book, however I have found the photos to be quite interesting as it depicts he and Eva as young people growing up in a world and time in history most people never experienced. They will be sorely missed.

David Rovaldi [...]

When I first learned Chinese at DLI, I had heard the legends of Robert Tharp. I had to listen to his rapid fire drills in Chinese and I was thoroughly impressed. When I heard about this book, I knew I had to have it. It took years before I could find one though. When I ordered this book, I've seen copies going for a large sum of money. I got this one for a great price and I expected a slim volume. No, this puppy is HUGE and chock full of great tidbits from the life of Mr. Tharp. If you are interested in modern Chinese history, the beginnings of the Chinese Language Program at DLI or anything Chinese related, this book is for you.

The book, "They Called Us White Chinese",although advertised as "used" arrived in pristine condition. It also arrived very promptly. This purchase from Amazon is irreplaceable and will be passed down through generations of scholars of the Chinese language.

When the air force sent me to the Institute Of Far Eastern Languages at Yale University, the author headed up a staff of native Chinese instructors. While the instructors would have us on a daily basis, once a week Bob Tharp would conduct a class in which he would drill us in rapidly spoken Chinese (called "Rapid Fire"). All of the students who went through his course remembered how he ended each class with the question (in British accent):

"Isn't it absolutely amazing how much Chinese you know?"

When this book was first published I ordered an advance copy. 945 pages, a wealth of experience and "word pictures", and much insight into Bob and Eva and how they experienced the times they lived in.

The book begins with conditions in China before they were born, describes their growing up into missionary service, surviving the Japanese occupation in WWII (Bob was interned while Eva was permitted to remain at home), Bob's participation in Intelligence after release by the Japanese and departure from China, and more.

Because they never claimed their British citizenship, they were classified as "White Chinese", that stuck with the Japanese and that's what they were classified as for immigration to the U.S.

This copy ordered from Amazon, I intend to donate to a library. Publication was limited and this book will likely become a rare one. Well worth ordering to read for yourself and possibly donate to a church that does missionary work. Part of the title is: "A Lifetime Of Service To God And Mankind".

Having known Bob and Eva Tharp a little, and having read this book, those two lived that ideal "to the hilt".

A friend of mine introduced this book to me. All he said was true about the precious piece of history of northeast China from the prospective of a missionary in the early to mid 20th century. Mr. Tharp was like a living witness to the tradition and local history happened in that particular part of China and in that particular time of history, where everyone was struggling for survival and no one even paid any attention to what was going on, not to mention to record them as part of the history. I happened to be from that part of the China and my grandparents happened to be in that part of the China during that period of time, which makes this book special to me.