China and the West

Crane, Stephen. The third violet. (New York, N.Y. : D. Appleton and Co., 1897).
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/19593/19593.txt.
He lay back in the long grass and contemplated the clouds. "You should have been a Chinese soldier of fortune," she said…
"I have always said that you should have been a Chinese soldier of fortune," she observed musingly. "Your daring and ingenuity would be prized by the Chinese."
"There are innumerable tobacco jars in China," he said, measuring the advantages. "Moreover, there is no perspective. You don't have to walk two miles to see a friend…
"No," she answered; "I had forgotten it completely. Did we ride behind your father's oxen?"
After a moment he said: "That remark would be prized by the Chinese…