Herbert Giles was one of the most prominent Sinologists of the late 19th century and early 20th century and China and the Chinese was in its era one of the best-selling and most authoritative books on the topic. Originally published in 1902, Giles' commentary on all thing Chinese, based on six lectures delivered at Columbia University in New York, still has a remarkable value for anyone trying to figure out the conundrum that is China.With a new foreword by long-time Chinese resident and observer, Graham Earnshaw.