Reading the book, readers get a glimpse of the emperors, the poor, the greedy and the religious living amidst the turmoil of the country and its customs, its politics and the everyday life of a people whose main aim of living is to work, bribe or kill their way to a higher level of the society.
China was, and perhaps still is, a country of contrast with heart-rending beauty. In the past, its populace had lived amongst the most appalling brutality, even to themselves. Where else in the world would a mother show his seven-year-old son how to kill himself quickly when approached by an unbeatable enemy?The book also shows that the country is ruled by “invisible” Emperors whose power is the “mandate of Heaven”. It is a land such as this that British traders and missionaries faced when they arrived. The commodity the traders valued most was opium which was used liberally by the natives as well as by the wealthy noble class, including the emperor.
The British government freely allowed traders to deal in the drug, which brought them huge fortunes. One of the major characters in the story, John Trader, married into a wealthy family and bought himself a Scottish castle and estate and lifelong respectability from his earnings in the opium trade.Trader came to China in 1839. He arrives just as the First Opium War breaks out, and Rutherfurd devotes long chapters detailing the British and Chinese military maneuvers and how these affect the Chinese and British economies and, consequently, Trader’s fortune.
Along the way, Rutherfurd introduces a number of Chinese characters, including a pirate named Nio, and a eunuch in the emperor’s palace who uses the pseudonym “Lacquer Nail” because he is the manicurist for the emperor’s favourite concubine, who later adopted the name Empress Cixi.Rutherfurd’s text flows easily between the different nationalities, but it is the beliefs of the Chinese aristocrats that tend to hog the limelight. One such belief is the painful foot binding for female children so they can, as women, procure a good marriage. This practice is revealed in all its vicious detail.
As an excellent storyteller, Rutherford manages to develop the lives of his characters through the years and eventually entwines them in the end, in a climactic showdown.China is a challenging book, and the more you read the more intriguing it becomes.
Nonetheless, Rutherfurd’s historical detail is impeccable. Readers who enjoy military history or who want to know more about the Opium Wars will be happy.