Li Hungchang (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Li Hungchang

The biographer of a Chinese statesman is at a distinct disadvantage compared with the writer of the life of a European notability. For him no kind friends produce packets of letters, in which the subject of the biography has expressed his thoughts and opinions for the benefit of his friends and relations. No diaries are forthcoming, in which is recorded the passage of events, with criticisms upon them; nor does any literary acquaintance lighten the labours of the biographer by publishing personal reminiscences. So far as the outside world is concerned, a Chinese statesman appears only in the light of a public character. He is never to be seen but en grande tenue, and is to be met with only at formal interviews and public functions.

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