在中国屏风上中毛姆笔下的中国人
    《在中国屏风上》通过游记的形式，展现了二十世纪二十年代的中国。毛姆以深邃的观察力和犀利的文笔，描写了在中国的所见所闻所感，构筑了一个别样的中国。本文对书中毛姆笔下的形形色色的中国人的形象进行了分析，通过分析其笔下中国官员、学者、平民等中国人的形象，了解到毛姆对当时中国人作为“群体”的同情和批判，亦探讨了毛姆笔下人物形象背后的其“隔着屏风看中国”的看法及态度。屏风，亦是阻碍，挡在毛姆和现实的中国之间。
关键词  《在中国屏风上》, 毛姆, 中国人形象，同情，批判,  
1  Introduction 1
2  Chinese Images in Maugham’s Eyes2
2.1  Hypocritical Chinese Officials 2
2.2  Pedantic Scholars 4
2.3  Struggling Civilians 6
3  Maugham Saw China Through A Screen9
Conclusion 11
Acknowledgments 12
References13
William Somerset Maugham was born in a family of lawyers on January 25, 1874 and lived in Paris until he was ten. When Maugham was young, his parents died early, then he was raised by his uncle in England. Maugham was educated at King’s School, Canterbury, and at Heidelberg University. He spent some time at St.Thomas’ Hospital with the idea of 1897, won him over to letters. Of Human Bondage, the first of his masterpieces, came out in 1915, and with the publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence his reputation as a novelist was established. At the same time, he was a successful playwright and short story writer. His other works include travel books, criticism, essays and the autobiographical. In 1927, Maugham settled in the South of France and lived there until his death in 1965.
     After First World War (1914~1918), Britain, as a “sun never set” empire, exploited and plundered China. China, with long history of being invaded, had to accept foreign culture, technology and thought. The impact of colonialism made China had a huge change. During this time, there were many compradors and coolies in China, which was one of China’s characteristics at that time. Maugham traveled to China in 1920s and recorded the scenes of China at that time. During this time, the accumulation of more than 50 articles constituted a painting of the China trip——On A Chinese Screen. On A Chinese Screen is a travel note. It is also a collection of essays, which described the Chinese people, landscape and some happenings in China. In the form of essay, the author showed us a state of devastation of Chinese society in 1920s. He depicted the luxury of government and society, which built a different kind of image of China. The New York Times once said that On A Chinese Screen is a fascinating book: vivid, thoughtful and colorful. In the preface of On A Chinese Screen, Maugham wrote that he hoped these essays can provide readers with a real and vivid picture of China that he had seen, and contribute to their own imagination of China. Maugham had a deep interest in Chinese culture, which will be seen through the scenery, events, and characters in his works. For instance, in the story of The Cabinet Minister, there were priceless porcelains, bronzes and Tang figures; in the story of The Rising of the Curtain, Maugham described the row of hovels, crumbling city wall and stout gentlemen. Maugham paid more attention to Chinese traditional culture. He was familiar with Chuang-Tzu and able to skillfully used Chuang-Tzu’s words in his works. Maugham was such a writer. “If you have no contact with his works, you are likely to ignore him. However, when you pick up his works, you will find unconsciously that you have been in the introduction to the world he had carefully constructed.” (Hu Shuiqing, 2009:18)
    This paper will focus on analyzing Chinese images: the Chinese official in the upper class, the Chinese scholar in the middle class, and the Chinese civilian in lower class. This paper aims to discuss causes behind and explain Maugham’s inaccurate reading of China, by analyzing Chinese images in Maugham’s eyes.
 2  Chinese Images in Maugham’s Eyes
 Maugham said that “in writing the important thing is less richness of material than richness of personality.” (Maugham, 2000:7) He was curious about life phenomena more than natural scenery. Mixing lively writing with a keen eye for the telling details, Maugham described various Chinese images. He narrated people’s countenance and characters vividly in stories. In the story of The Cabinet Minister, Maugham described an official who seemed gentle and refined, but hypocritical in fact. In the story of The Philosopher, Gu Hongming had fund of knowledge. He received western education, but still been trammeled by feudal thought. In the story of The Best of Burden, the civilians struggled with the life and nature. Maugham was an observer and critic of human nature, but not an indifferent spectator. He described these coolies, who went on eternally, from awn till dusk, year in year out, from childhood to old age. “Their effort oppresses you. You are filled with an useless compassion.” (Maugham, 2000:46)
In On A Chinese Screen, Maugham described three types of Chinese people from different classes, which showed the state of China and characteristic of people at that time. “These articles criticized the common problem of human nature, such as greed, vanity, selfishness, hypocrisy and so on.” (Tang Jianqing, 2013:174) These three types of Chinese people included hypocritical Chinese officials, pedantic scholars and struggling civilians. This paper will analyze these Chinese people in detail.  
2．1  Hypocritical Chinese Officials
    In the upper class of China, the official is the representative personage. It can be said that the description of the image of Chinese official in twentieth Century is well-rounded in On A Chinese Screen. “The image of Maugham’s Chinese officials is complex. They looked very polite, refined and cultured. But actually, they were greedy, shameless and deceitful.” (Li Junrong, 2006:51) In Maugham’s works, there were two typical examples.
2.1.1  The Cabinet Minister
In the story of The Cabinet Minister, Maugham described the cabinet minister in detail. The description of the cabinet minister’s appearance was gentle and cultivated. “He was a thin man, of the middle height, with thin, elegant hands.” “He looked at me with large dark and melancholy eyes.” “His smile was very sweet.” (Maugham, 2000:8) The cabinet minister seemed like a man with graceful words, courteous manners and profound intelligence. In the cabinet minister’s room, there was a green Brussels carpet, rosewood chairs and oil paintings, which showed that the cabinet minister had a good taste in art. But actually, Maugham said that “he was a rascal. Corrupt, inefficient, and unscrupulous, he let nothing stand in his way.” (Maugham, 2000:10) The cabinet minister had acquired a large fortune by the most abominable methods. There were many works of art in the room, such as priceless porcelains, bronzes, and Tang figures. “He was a master of the squeeze.” (Maugham, 2000:10) As an official, he was greedy. “ When the cabinet minister held a little vase, the author saw greed and desire from his face.” (Zhang Yue, 2014:70) It can be said that Maugham described the type of the official , who exploited common people and accumulated wealth for themselves by abominable methods.
In the article, the cabinet minister talked to Maugham with melancholy of the state of China. He lamented the downfall of China. He thought that “the students who came back from Europe and from America were tearing down what endless generations had built up.” “They had no love of their country, no religion, no reverence.” (Maugham, 2000:9) The cabinet minister censured students, as a critic. But he had certainly had a share in reducing China to the desperate plight.
2.1.2  An Official in The Inn
In Democracy, Maugham depicted a vivid image of a Chinese official who had a rest in the inn. “He wore a long black robe of figured silk, lined with squirrel, and on his head a square fur cap.” (Maugham, 2000:87) The costume of the official showed that he was honorable. At the beginning, the official was much annoyed, just because the best apartment in the inn was already taken. He performed so pompous and self-important. After that, the official sat at a table in front of the inn with coolies. “They were chatting amicably and the official quietly smoked a water-pipe.” (Maugham, 2000:87) The comparison of the official’s behavior obviously showed his affectation and hypocrisy. “He had made all that to-do to give himself face.” (Maugham, 2000:87) In addition to this, the official’s attitude had changed obviously. At the very start, the official turned to the landlord and addressed him “in authoritative tones”. Later, when the official talked with coolies, “his manner was perfectly cordial and there was in it to trace of condescension.” (Maugham, 2000:88)
    Maugham’s attitude towards officials was criticism and sarcasm. On the surface, Chinese officials were gentle and refined. They were good at chatting with people. In fact, they were hypocritical. They exploited people and accumulated wealth for themselves. Through the comparison of characters’ behavior, nature and attitude, Maugham also criticized the Chinese bureaucracy (a style work that keeps out of the masses and exploit people by unfair means) at that time.
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