Sidelights on Chinese Life

Through a series of illustrated essays and sketches, the author presents observations of daily life, customs, and institutions across urban and rural settings, examining habitual character traits, family relations and child-rearing practices including foot binding, religious beliefs and funeral rites, the roles of servants and officials, education and schools, common occupations and amusements, and the seamy or morally ambiguous trades. Attention is paid to adaptability, social tactics, and the tension between tradition and survival, while descriptive vignettes of streets, markets, farms, and homes convey routine, ritual, and the networks that organize communal life.