What You Should Know About China, Information of Importance to personnel of the United States Forces in the China Theater, 1945, Printed at the Indian Press Ltd, Calcutta.
你應當知道的中國：給在中國戰區之美國軍事人員的重要資訊。民國34年（主曆1945年），加爾各達，印度出版有限公司印製《Black Water Museum Collections | 黑水博物館館藏》
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CHINA was prepared prior to the Japanese surrender. Publication has been made, because of the continuing value of the contents. To you "Old China Hands" who are on your way home, as well as replacements just coming into the theater, this booklet has much to offer. No matter what your status may be, WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT CHINA will give you a better appreciation and understanding of the nation and the people that fought the Japanese to a virtual standstill during eight long years of war.
FOREWORD
Before the war, American tourists paid a small fortune for a trip to China. They hired guides, rented cars, visited the beautiful old palaces, stayed in luxury hotels and went to all of the places and did all of the things for which Americans paid good money. No one knows how many of these famous places will be left when the Japs are finally driven out.
Few American tourists, however, have been in the Provinces of China which you see and live in, as a member of the United States Forces in the China Theater.
Because you are in the parts of China where few foreigners have been and foreign ways almost unknown, there are certain things you should know about this country and your place in it as an American soldier or officer.
This is not a guide book; it does not attempt to give all of the answers. Its purpose is to help you get along better with the Chinese people around you, and with whom you work, so that both of you can do a better job.
Chungking, 1945.
The Stilwell Road is one of the amazing engineering feats of the war. It brings much-needed supplies over the hump, usually equipment of a weight and size not always suitable for air lift.
Our Special Status
If you have been in the Pacific, Europe or the Mediterranean, you know that our job has been to lick the Japs and the Nazis with our men and our own equipment.
Now that America and her Allies have knocked out the Nazis, you know that the Army, Navy and Marines are going "all out" to finish up the Japs.
That is your job in China too-but in a very special way.
The majority of American troops are not up in the front lines in China fighting the Japs. With the exception of our Air Force, the Chinese are doing the holding and the fighting, hundreds of thousands of them, with Americans at the front aiding and advising. The Air Force is backing up the Chinese Army by bombing and strafing and doing the job superbly.
America's present position in China - and therefore yours is to aid China to keep fighting and keep those Jap Divisions busy, while our forces are pushing toward Tokyo in the Pacific.
Don't think of yourselves as "saviours" of China. We are here as allies, working toward a common goal to bend the Jap to his knees.
We are really guests in China." That puts you-and every other officer and en- listed man in the United States Forces in the China Theater in a very special status; that of a guest in China.
In order to be a tactful, popular guest in a strange country, there are certain things you must understand and specific rules based on theater policy which must be observed. Rule No. 1 is:
Act like a Guest in China
The China Theater Commander sets the example. Greeting a young Chinese lady at an Airport in the interior of China.
The Chinese kid is selling cigarettes, and the Lieutenant is having a good time trying to make a deal on a pack. After one try at a Chinese cig, however, you'll want to stick to the PX ration. Some of the labels may look the same, but the taste does not always satisfy.
Our Mission Vital To America
United States Forces are in China to help train and advise the Chinese Armies, and aid in supply- ing them, so that they can fight better for their country and for us. This saves American lives, it saves Chinese lives, it means killing more Japs and shortening the war.
It also makes you as an individual important to our total war effort in China. Whether you work behind a desk, drive a truck, act as liaison with or aid in training Chinese Armies, or carry out some other field assignment you can do Ame- rica's job in China a thousand times better and easier by making the Chinese like you and have confidence in your judgement, ability and personal behavior.
For this you must realize that every minute of the day hundreds of eyes are watching and judging the U. S. and what we claim it stands for-by watching and judging you.
You are their only measuring rod of "Mei Kuo," (America) just as the Chinese people you see are a large part of your idea of China. You can't escape it. That is why part of your task here is to live up to the best that America means to all of us. Close military, political and economic co-operation with China is our basic American policy; im- portant to you personally because it is important for the future of your country. It is cemented Logether only by a friendship based on understand- ing between individual Chinese and Americans.
A lasting peace, through international co-opera- tion and goodwill among the peoples of the earth, is what we want out of this war. The success of any international organization depends upon how well we understand the other peoples of the world and how well they understand us.
You are laying the groundwork for that under- standing and that goodwill.
So, doing everything possible to be a good Am- bassador for the United States, is also part of your mission. Thus in contacts with the Chinese-all Chinese and while you are in their country, remember Rule No. 2:
America is Judged by You. Be a Good Ambassador
Except for the San-Pans this could be the scene of a dozen places at home-but it isn't.
To Hell With What The Japs Want
America has been fighting the Japs since Pearl Harbor. China has been fighting them for eight years.
Of course China could have taken the "easy way". She could have accepted Japan's oft- repeated invitation to join the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere ". She could have accepted Japan's "protection ".
China, however, chose to fight. She turned thumbs down on Japan's smooth proposals. With poor equipment, but with great spirit, she has harried and pinned down the Jap. Scores of China's cities have been ravaged; more than 5,000,000 of her soldiers and civilians have been killed.
The Japs realize what it means to them in this war, and what it can mean to the future of Asia and the world in the peace, to have China, with her population comprising a quarter of all the peoples on earth, friendly to America. Japanese propaganda-much of it crude but some of it clever is aimed at breaking up this friendship.
The enemy has had plenty of evidence to convince him that cooperation between the United States Forces and the Chinese Army means more dead
Japs, and plenty of live ones needed elsewhere, tied up in China.
The information that follows should be helpful in understanding China and the Chinese, and to hell with what the Japs want. Thus Rule No. 3 is:
Get along with the Chinese-and to hell with what the Japs want
This is what the Japs DO NOT want Lieutenant General A. C. Wedemeyer, Commanding General, U. S. Forces in the China Theater, is also Chief of Staff to the Generalissimo. This photo shows one of the frequent combined staff meetings. They upset the Jap no end-in more ways than one.
You might not visit the more glamorous parts of China you have seen in the movies, or read about, for some time, but there are still plenty of quaint and interesting scenes, such as this canal near Kunming.
This Is Not The China Of The Movies
You have seen the travelogues on China with the wide boulevards of Shanghai, the fine buildings of Hongkong, the golden-roofed palaces of Peiping, the beautiful temples, ancient gardens, lovely porcelains, delicate paintings and the charming scenes of Chinese life.
The Japs occupy those parts of China right now both the places famous for their beauty and the great ports. When you are in Kunming or Chung- king you are really in the ancient parts of China largely opened to modern life only in the past few years. The people are mostly local folks and the towns are swollen with thousands upon thousands of refugees, all kinds of people from all kinds of places. This is not the China you may have read about or seen in the movies.
Perhaps the Chinese clerk you see in the office used to be a successful business man in Shanghai or Canton, with servants and a car like yours at home. Now he is eking out a living and his greatest desire is to return to his birthplace and when he dies, be buried in the ground of his ancestors.
The laborer you see on the street may have come from thousands of miles away; his main interest in life is getting enough work to earn his daily "Bowl of rice ".
It is important to remind yourself once in a while that the country, and for the most part the people where Americans are stationed, are mostly "back country" folks, like you will find in some sections at home, plus refugees, many of whom are living from hand to mouth. They are poor what little they had, they have lost.
When a friendly crowd gathers on the street as you park your jeep, or someone just stops and stares at you, you must pinch yourself and realize that you are a foreigner to the Chinese, just as Chinese visiting America are foreigners to us. No wonder you are strange to most Chinese, your looks, customs, habits, dress, language, and methods of fighting and working are naturally foreign to them. In some instances, you may be the first American they have seen. You are still a curiosity in China.
This is particularly true in the part of the country where Americans are now living and working. If you understand these things, you will understand the local people, you won't be critical of others, and you will watch rule No. 4:
Don't be critical, Foreigner
You are still a curiosity in China. A crowd may quickly gather around your jeep for no reason at all but to stare at you. If you have a camera, as the Sergeant in the picture. you will be a double-feature. Take it with a smile and every- one will have a good time.
"They Could Learn Something From Brooklyn"
That's what one young American said when he saw Kunming, and couldn't find pure running water or wide paved streets and saw people in rags and kids without shoes.
The Chinese could probably learn something from Brooklyn-and no doubt they would like to. But when Kunming was laid out originally it was pretty good for its purpose a great frontier garrison post for the rich tribute in jade, ivory. precious stones, medicines, from the lands of southeast Asia to the Imperial Chinese court. It was ancient when Marco Polo passed through 750 years before the first GI arrived. Age sits heavily on most of the great cities in China.
What this American didn't realize was that China's ports are in Jap hands, and even if the Chinese Government were in a position to purchase civilian supplies and materials, it couldn't get them here. The only things that come over the Hump and up the Stilwell Road are vital for war.
Don't be fooled by Chinese dress or lack of it. No matter how shabby they might look, the Chinese are proud people and have a right to be. Theirsis the longest continuous culture still existing on the earth today. Archeology can tell us about Chinese life of 5,000 years ago-in many ways. similar to that of today.
China has given to the world paper and printing in the form of movable type; the Mariner's Compass; Tung oil, used in all varnishes, shellacs and lacquer; Chaulmoogra oil, the only known treatment for leprosy; the peach, the apricot and many other citrus fruits; playing cards; paper money even wallpaper, and the folding umbrella. Her works of art from the best periods have never been equalled.
The Chinese are a people with a great sense of personal dignity. The craftsman is proud of his job-and he wants to do it well.
The carrier with his load of from 90 to 100 pounds is proud of the fact that he can do his work travelling 30 to 40 miles per day.
The farmer is proud of his home even if its one room, with the animals and chickens there with the kids. If you can retain an innate sense of pride with rags on your shoulders and no shoes on your feet, that is the greatest dignity of all. The Chinese average man is anxious to better him- self and has done so in the more prosperous areas along the coast.
Remember that before you started for China you formed many impressions of the Chinese. Like- wise they had impressions of you. Fortunately they have gained good impressions in the past, for our charitable foundations have built hospitals and sent doctors to China. Americans have brought Christianity, sanitation and learning to many parts of the country, and the American people have been whole-hearted and generous in their contributions to Chinese War Relief.
The people of China have been waiting for us to come for a long time. They know the fine record that American fighting forces have made across the world. They know that our leaders, speaking for the American people, long ago took China's battle as our battle. Long before you hit China, you and your buddies were called "ding hao "- very good".
And then the Yanks in China have done some pretty nice things in addition to their routine military duties. While it is true that there has been disagreement and bad feeling no one's trying to kid you along it is also true that the Chinese newspapers have carried many incidents illustrating the fine personal actions of American forces in the Theater.
Our neatness, our generosity, our frank curiosity, our obedience to military rules, our promptness in taking traffic victims to the hospital, our working efficiency, our readiness to laugh-these are some of the things, that have made the American forces liked in the China Theater.
You can break down much of this goodwill-yes, YOU, the individual officer or enlisted man-if you do not act the part of a gentleman under any and all circumstances. Perhaps as the young American said, the Chinese could learn something from Brooklyn, but, at any rate, let's behave so that when we pull out of here the citizens are going to say, "Come back any time. You've shown us that 'Asia only for the Asiatics' is a lot of bunk." This makes rule No. 5 all-important:
Be a Gentleman-First, Last and Always
"Street scene" in China, with the usual crowd of friendly jeep-gazers.
Speaking of faces, this Chinese reflects the wisdom of the ages in his crackled smile. He might not look like Fifth Avenue, but he has a quiet dignity all his own. He can prob- ably out-work you five-to-one, but you wouldn't last very long on his diet.
About "Face"
"Face" is one of the most important things you. have to learn if you are going to win friends and influence people in the Orient.
And "face" is not the personal property of the Chinese. If you stop and think a moment, you'll see that we have "face" just like the Chinese- we just don't call it that.
If you get bawled out in front of someone else, you feel pretty cheap. The same would be true if you tried to put over a fast one and then had to back down. You say you have been humiliated- the Chinese says you have lost "face".
Similarly, when you give a large donation to the Red Cross at home, the Chinese would say you gained "face". When an American company, for example, promotes an incompetent manager to the post of vice-president, they may be getting him out of the way, but at the same time they are saving his "face".
If you laugh at the Chinese, criticize or make fun, yell at them from your jeep to clear the way, try to order them around in an overbearing manner or make promises you can't keep, then you'll lose "face" and you may make them lose "face".
You lose "face" if you whistle at a girl, conduct yourself in an undignified manner, get drunk, are seen with a woman of questionable reputation-or probably most important of all-lose your temper. You cause the Chinese to lose "face" if you embrass them or if you do not act like a gentleman in their presence.
So you see, "face" is nothing new-it's funda- mentally the same the world over. But it's immensely important to the Chinese. Being an American, you automatically have "face" in China. That's quite a compliment to you and your country. Don't do anything that would make you unworthy of it. You'll get along much better in China if you keep to Rule No. 6:
Don't Lose "Face"-Help the Chinese to keep "Face"
These Chinese kids haven't got very much, but by and large, they are happy, even though the youngster at this moment is letting out a yell. He was probably afraid of the camera, having never seen one before.
Ask Any San Franciscan
San Francisco has one of the oldest and largest Chinese populations outside of Asia. San Franciscan what he thinks about the Chinese, and he will usually tell you he not only likes them, but that they are the most honest of all peoples. He knows the Chinese pay their debts, and that their word is as good as their bond.
But take the GI, who said at an airport in China the other day:
"I don't like the Chinese."
"Why not?" asked his companion.
"I just don't like them-they're not what I expected."
"What's the trouble?"
"Well," said the soldier, "a Chinese stole my watch. I left it in the washroom and when I came back it was gone. I don't like the Chinese."
Sure, some Chinese steal, just as some Americans and English and all other kinds of people steal. Unfortunately we've had thieves from the beginning of time, and our jails back home are still bulging with those of the American variety, a goodly supply of murderers, embezzlers, and other kinds of criminals included. Leave a watch in most washrooms in America-and try to find it fifteen minutes later.
It's no different in China - yes, it is a little different. The people of Free China, the back country people, the refugees the Japs have driven from their homes, and the others who have crept through the Jap lines, are poor desperately poor.
The watch that you are careless enough to leave around may represent three or four years wages to the average Chinese. That's a pretty big temptation to put before a half-starved coolie, or a lad whose monthly earning is equivalent to a few dollars gold. It can mean food for him and his family for months.
They may take it for granted that you don't prize your things too highly if you are careless where you leave them. They might snitch some- thing, perhaps even as you have done when you were a kid.
So don't leave things around carelessly where you can tempt others who have so little. Lock your stuff up. Watch your luggage just as care- fully as you would travelling through any strange country. If you lose something, it may well be your own fault, but not if you follow Rule No. 7:
Don't tempt-Keep your Stuff Locked Up
City scene. Interesting, yes and a bit different from San Francisco. But dangerous-if you should eat any food or drink any unboiled water in one of the little cafes you will find in places like this.
What About Politics In China?
Yes, what about politics? You are not in China to get into politics or discuss politics.
There will be plenty of time for you to talk polities when you get back to your home town- and there may be more need for it there than here. It is not question of freedom of discussion, it is one of knowing that you are talking about-and who can become "expert" on Chinese politics in a few months? Loose talk can only jeopardize our relations with the Chinese Government.
In fact, by order of the Commanding General, U.S. Forces, China Theater, you are NOT to discuss Chinese politics, or make any promises or give aid to any particular group or party, except on Army orders.
In this matter, you are concerned with only one fact: The Chinese Government is our ally, and by our choice.
We are damned glad that they are with us, that they have raised millions of men to fight the Japs, and have caused the Japs plenty of grief.
While you are in China your policy-as far as Chinese political questions are concerned is to carefully follow the orders of the Commanding General, embodied in four words in Rule No. 8:
Don't Talk Chinese Politics
The best kind of politics are those that kill Japs. The Chinese Government (Republic of China) is our ally, and by our choice, and we're damn glad they are with us and have caused the Japs plenty of trouble.
You'll find that most of the girls in China do a man's work. However, this one seems to like it. Did you ever try polling a good-sized boat down-or up-a river all day long?
Something About The Girls
There are all kinds of girls in China, just as there are all kinds of girls back home.
The war, of course, has let down many of the old customs. Normally you wouldn't have to "worry" about Chinese girls. But with the war and the loosening of all barriers, you'll find "vic- tory girls" and their sisters in China, just as you will in the States. Many of the Chinese girls whom you will be fortunate enough to meet socially speak good English and have an excellent education and you'll find them interesting and charming. You'll get along best, of course, by treating them with respect and being a gentleman.
Then there's the "other kind," and brother- look out! It may be difficult for you to tell some- times, because you are a stranger and won't know the Chinese very well, and a pretty girl may look
-"just like a pretty girl." If you can "pick her up"; if she is out at night alone; sitting around a cafe; an inmate of a house, or just "easy to date" brother, look out!....
You must take all the precautions-before and after. Still you may get a disease followed by various kinds of complications, which can stay with you all of your life despite the best medical care of the Army or your own doctor at home.
The Surgeon, China Theater, reports that many of these women have from two to three kinds of venereal diseases at the same time.
The medics have not yet found one prostitute who is completely free of disease and the cure for some hasn't been found yet, despite sulfa and penicillin.
There have been men in this theater who, despite all of the best medical care, will be suffering for the rest of their days with recurring disease. There have been men who, when drunk, have been dragged out of some unspeakable dives; and when they sobered up, they lived to regret a night's fun that turned into a lifetime of tragedy. It is not a question of having to do it-don't. Keep your head and hold your liquor and also keep Rule No. 9 where you won't forget it:
If you can make her-it's 1000 to one she has VD(Venereal Disease)
This is rather a placid, quiet scene showing the great Yangtze River flowing past Chungking. But typhus and cholera breed in those waters, and plenty of other dangerous germs beyond the shore-so watch your health precautions.
How To Stay Healthy In China
China has all the diseases that exist in the other countries of the Orient.
They come to man in two chief ways: first, by what you take in of your own free will, and second, by what bites you when you are not looking.
While you cannot "go native" entirely, there are some tricks that you can pick up locally from the folks that have lived in China, picked up from generation to generation over 4000 to 5000 years.
Most of these precautions apply to food, i.e., what you take in of your own free will. If you follow the Chinese rules plus those of the Army, you can't miss. You will go back home without. the discomforting traces of dysentary, cholera and other things that can weaken you for years.
First, never drink water unless it has been boiled at least ten minutes. Halazone pills are not enough to kill these germs-you have to boil them to death. If you don't like boiled water alone, throw in some tea leaves.
Second, never eat any cold food. This includes candy, ice cream and cakes bought in a civilian store, and don't let your Army food or stuff sent from home lie around open to flies. Flies carry dysentary, typhoid and cholera by making a short hop from the toilet to your candy bar or drinking glass. When your food is cooked, the germs are killed.
Third, never eat in any civilian restaurant which doesn't have an "In bounds" sign.
In brief, eat only hot food, eat only in an IN BOUNDS restaurant, but preferably an Army mess, and never drink water that hasn't been boiled.
If you are out in the field and find it necessary to eat in a restaurant, there are certain rules to follow ask the proprietor for a bowl of boiling water; immerse your dishes and utensils in this boiling water until they have been scalded. If you cannot get the boss to understand you, the hot tea will do the trick only pour it away when you finish washing everything.