Chinese

"In late March 1943, we set out from Shanghai. At the time of departure we only knew the general route; as for how long the whole journey would take, what means of transportation we would use, and where we would stay along the way, we had only incomplete and uncertain information that my father had inquired about. The first leg of the trip was the most reliable: taking a train to Nanjing, then transferring to a train to Xuzhou. Xuzhou was in Japanese hands at that time, but it was already very close to the front line where the Chinese and Japanese forces were fighting. After passing Xuzhou, the goal was Luoyang. Luoyang was in Chinese hands, so from Xuzhou to Luoyang we had to cross the battle line."

"His role wasn’t just translating language; he got to interpret culture for wealthy executives and travel well beyond the usual tourist meccas. All his previous conversations about culture were suddenly relevant. Repeatedly he’d find himself explaining different modes of thinking to frustrated Western clients. “We Americans have a phrase, ‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me,” he’d tell his clients. “The Chinese version of that is a little different. The general explanation of it is, ‘If I cheat you and you don’t catch me, it’s your fault.’ ”"

"The concept of saving face was one he’d constantly clarify. Sometimes Americans would think of Chinese people as bad drivers because if they were cut off, the offending motorist could seem oblivious of the whole situation. “We’re just misunderstanding the way that they think about driving,” he says. “If I look at you and apologize for cutting you off, I lose face—I’ve acknowledged my error. The best way to avoid losing face is to not acknowledge the error. So if I cut you off in traffic, I just don’t look at you.”"

"Røed gestured with his hands. "I agree, but don't try to teach the Chinese how to do business. It looks random, but everything indicates that it is going well. They have many connections we can't even imagine. But forget it. Dolly had an interesting proposal today. She knows that I dream of starting on my own with a ship, and she offered to help with the financing. You know, she has a liking for me for some reason.""

"Stokes quickly worked out a couple of things many Western businesspeople didn’t. One was not to look at his interpreter but at the person whose words she was translating. ‘And I never said I’d “teach” anything to people with a culture that was thousands of years older than mine.’ Instead, he told the Chinese he wanted to share his experiences with them, the way friends and equals do."

"The Taoist philosophy, as it filtered through to me, was about power; how the emperor can best control his country. One of the principles was that if the people know the law, the people are strong; if they don’t know the law, the emperor is strong. I later understood that this idea formed the basis of the communist system; if the law was whatever the leaders said it was on the day, the people lived in terror. The Chinese, meantime, had a great civilisation yet it never crossed their minds to give people a vote or to worry about the opinions of the peasants; it was all about power and running empires. Coming from a normal Western environment, where democracy was everything and giving voters what they wanted seemed to be our only purpose on earth, this was a fantastic awakening; it opened my mind. I loved political science."