The Chinese Statue opens in the present with the Lot item number

103 coming up for sale. The item is a ‘delicate piece of ivory.’ Now we go back in
time to 1871 when the statue was first acquired after the Opium wars and
subsequent treaties of the British with China.
Sir Alexander Heathcote who is described as being very precise and exact is
serving as a diplomat in China. It is also mentioned that he has an amateur
interest in the art of the Ming dynasty.
Sir Alexander after arriving in Peking meets the Empress Tzu-His and gives
her a letter from Queen Victoria. The Empress then wishes him success in his
term in office and he is escorted out of the Imperial Palace by a Mandarin ( a
bureaucrat).
As Alexander walks out he admire the collection of ivory and jade statues that
adorn the Imperial Palace. Alexander’s appointment in China is only for three
years so he decides to use his time wisely and decides to travel. On his travels
he is accompanied by a Mandarin who acts as an interpreter and also a guide.
On such a journey Alexander comes across the small village of Ha Li
Chuan. He stumbles onto an old craftsman’s workshop and finds magnificent
works of jade and ivory. Alexander expresses his desire to view the craftsman’s
work and admires the old craftsman’s skill for over an hour. He is full of praise
and admiration for the craftsman.
As Alexander begins to reveal his love and knowledge of the Ming dynasty the
old craftsman makes a confession that he has an ivory statue from the Ming
dynasty which has been in his family for seven generations. The statue is
brought before Alexander and he is convinced that the statue is of Emperor
Kung and was crafted by the great Pen Q near the end of the 15th Century. The
only blemish of the statue is its missing ivory base and in its stead it has a
small stick jutting out from the bottom.
Alexander admires the beauty and craftsmanship of the statue and expresses a
desire to possess the statue. As the Mandarin translates Alexander’s words he
realizes that in Chinese tradition the request of an honoured guest if accepted
would result in the growth of the person in the eyes of his fellow men. The old
craftsman though sad presents the statue to Alexander. The craftsman gives a
final touch to the statue by adding a base before presenting it to Alexander.
On Alexander’s return to Peking the Mandarin inform him Chinese tradition
also states that is some stranger has done a good deed that favour must be

1
returned within a year. Alexander now begins to assess the value of the statue
using the Embassy’s library and comes to the conclusion that the statue is
worth about three years’ salary for an employee of the British Empire.
Alexander now wishes to repay the old craftsman so he writes to his
bankers, Coutts & Co. in London and requests them to send him a large
portion of his savings. He also finds more about the old craftsman and
discovers that his family have been craftsmen for over five hundred years and
the name of the craftsman is Yung Lee. The craftsman now wishes to retire to
the hills above the village where his ancestors have always died and leave the
workshop to his son.
Nearly a year after the statue came in possession of Alexander, he sets of once
again accompanied by the Mandarin to visit the old craftsman and says he has
come to repay his debt and asks the old craftsman to accompany him on a
short journey.
They set off and after travelling for two hours reach the village of Ma Tien where
they stop near a newly completed small white house of perfect proportion which
Alexander says is his gift to the craftsman. The craftsman is fearful as it was
forbidden for an artisan to accept gifts from a foreigner but Alexander explains
that the Empress herself had sanctioned this request. Alexander is satisfied
with his deed and rides back to the Embassy content.

The Chinese Statue by Jeffery Archer is a short story which takes us on a

fascinating journey of different people spanning across many generations and
their interaction with a mysterious statue. Jeffery Archer in his distinctive style
provides us with a unique ‘twist in the tale’ at the end of the story. The twist is
a common occurrence in many of Jeffery Archer’s short stories and even his
longer novels. ‘The Chinese Statue’ is part of a collection of short stories titled
‘A Quiver full of Arrows’.

The Chinese Statue | Summary

The Chinese Statue opens in the present with the Lot item number
103 coming up for sale. The item is a ‘delicate piece of ivory.’ Now we go back in
time to 1871 when the statue was first acquired after the Opium wars and
subsequent treaties of the British with China.
Sir Alexander Heathcote who is described as being very precise and exact is
serving as a diplomat in China. It is also mentioned that he has an amateur

2
interest in the art of the Ming dynasty.
Sir Alexander after arriving in Peking meets the Empress Tzu-His and gives
her a letter from Queen Victoria. The Empress then wishes him success in his
term in office and he is escorted out of the Imperial Palace by a Mandarin ( a
bureaucrat).
As Alexander walks out he admire the collection of ivory and jade statues that
adorn the Imperial Palace. Alexander’s appointment in China is only for three
years so he decides to use his time wisely and decides to travel. On his travels
he is accompanied by a Mandarin who acts as an interpreter and also a guide.
On such a journey Alexander comes across the small village of Ha Li
Chuan. He stumbles onto an old craftsman’s workshop and finds magnificent
works of jade and ivory. Alexander expresses his desire to view the craftsman’s
work and admires the old craftsman’s skill for over an hour. He is full of praise
and admiration for the craftsman.
As Alexander begins to reveal his love and knowledge of the Ming dynasty the
old craftsman makes a confession that he has an ivory statue from the Ming
dynasty which has been in his family for seven generations. The statue is
brought before Alexander and he is convinced that the statue is of Emperor
Kung and was crafted by the great Pen Q near the end of the 15th Century. The
only blemish of the statue is its missing ivory base and in its stead it has a
small stick jutting out from the bottom.
Alexander admires the beauty and craftsmanship of the statue and expresses a
desire to possess the statue. As the Mandarin translates Alexander’s words he
realizes that in Chinese tradition the request of an honoured guest if accepted
would result in the growth of the person in the eyes of his fellow men. The old
craftsman though sad presents the statue to Alexander. The craftsman gives a
final touch to the statue by adding a base before presenting it to Alexander.
On Alexander’s return to Peking the Mandarin inform him Chinese tradition
also states that is some stranger has done a good deed that favour must be
returned within a year. Alexander now begins to assess the value of the statue
using the Embassy’s library and comes to the conclusion that the statue is
worth about three years’ salary for an employee of the British Empire.
Alexander now wishes to repay the old craftsman so he writes to his
bankers, Coutts & Co. in London and requests them to send him a large
portion of his savings. He also finds more about the old craftsman and

3
discovers that his family have been craftsmen for over five hundred years and
the name of the craftsman is Yung Lee. The craftsman now wishes to retire to
the hills above the village where his ancestors have always died and leave the
workshop to his son.

Nearly a year after the statue came in possession of Alexander, he sets of once
again accompanied by the Mandarin to visit the old craftsman and says he has
come to repay his debt and asks the old craftsman to accompany him on a
short journey.
They set off and after travelling for two hours reach the village of Ma Tien where
they stop near a newly completed small white house of perfect proportion which
Alexander says is his gift to the craftsman. The craftsman is fearful as it was
forbidden for an artisan to accept gifts from a foreigner but Alexander explains
that the Empress herself had sanctioned this request. Alexander is satisfied
with his deed and rides back to the Embassy content.
Upon completing his duty in Peking the Empress awards him the Silver Star of
China and the Queen awards him the K.C.V.O. (Knight Commander of the
Royal Victorian Order) and he retires to his native Yorkshire where the statue
occupies the centre of the mantelpiece of his home. After the death of Sir
Alexander he wills the statue to his firstborn son or daughter and request that
they too pass it to future generations.
The next character that we are introduced to is Major James Heathcote, who
is serving the Queen in the Boer War and he decides to loan the statue to the
regimental mess at Halifax so that his brother officers can appreciate it. Later
when James becomes a Colonel he places the statue on the table alongside the
trophies won at different locations. The Ming statue remained there till James
retired to Yorkshire and the Emperor once again occupied the mantelpiece.
The statue after the Colonel’s death passes on to his first-born, Reverend
Alexander Heathcote and he places the statue on the mantelpiece of the
vicarage, where it is appreciated by a few people. Later when Alexander
becomes the Right Reverend the statue finds its way into the Bishop’s palace
and it gathers all the admiration it deserved. Many find the story of how the
Bishop’s grandfather acquired the statue fascinating. The Bishop too before
death wills the statue to his son Captain James Heathcote who is serving in

4
his grandfather’s (Colonel James Heathcote) regiment and returns it to the
mess table at Halifax. The Second World War begins and Captain James
Heathcote is killed during the Dunkirk evacuations and the statue is passed on
to the two-year-old son of the captain.
Alex Heathcote is not made of the same mettle as his ancestors and has no
desire to serve anyone but himself. Alexander’s mother on providing everything
for her young child manages create what the grandmother calls ‘a spoiled,
selfish little brat.’
Alex leaving school Alex cannot seem to hold down to a job and Alex turns to
gambling. He tries to find a system where he cannot lose. However he loses
much of his money and has to borrow to cover his losses. As the debts start
piling up Alex decides to sell the statue of the Ming Emperor.
The head of the Oriental department at Sotheby’s is convinced that the statue
is a fine example of Ming dynasty work. However after a week when Alex
returns to find the value of the Ming emperor he is informed that the statue is a
copy and is no more than 250 years old, and is worth no more than seven to
eight hundred pounds. However the base of the statue which is in fact a work of
Ming dynasty was valued at a much higher price. The base is entered as Lot
No. 103 and is sold for twenty-two thousand guineas while the statue is
obtained by the narrator for seven hundred and twenty guineas.

The Chinese Statue | Title

The title of the story is the Chinese Statue and tells us the story of a Chinese
Statue through several generations. The story of the statue begins with Yung
Lee the old craftsman’s family having possessed the statue for several
generations. The statue is then passed on to Sir Alexander Heathcote who
decides to pass it on to his firstborn as a family heirloom. This tradition is
maintained by all successive generations of Heathcotes till it reaches the hands
of Alex Heathcote who has to sell it to pay his debts for excessive gambling. The
story takes us on a trip through time from Imperial China to the British
Invasions and subsequent treaties with China.

5
The Chinese Statue | Themes
Imperialism
As the East India Company became wealthier, it started looking for other
trading opportunities and sought to expand and encourage trade with China,
establishing a base in Singapore to help coordinate this trade. The East India
Company was interested in the tea and silk from China but the Chinese were
only interested in receiving payments in silver from the British.
The East India Company produced no products of interest to the Chinese
authorities. However, there was one product that was of interest to some in
Chinese society; Opium. The English East India Company preferred to sell this
addictive drug rather than using its cash resources for trading with China. This
would eventually put Britain on a collision course with Chinese which resulted
in the Opium Wars of the 1840s and late 1850s. By this time, the industrial
power of Britain with its cutting edge military technology meant that it held a
decisive advantage over China.
The resulting wars were fought ostensibly for ‘Free Trade’ principles but in
reality were to allow Britain to continue its exploitative trading relationship over
the Chinese. Britain was to receive Hong Kong as a base to ensure that it had
access to Chinese trade and ports. This port would grow to become an
important trading posts connecting the British Empire to the resources of
China.
In the story the British Ambassador Alexander takes the ancient Chinese
Statue from the old Chinese craftsman……
Rise and fall of the British Empire
The story the Chinese statue is set in 1871, after the Opium wars with China,
when the British Empire was at the height of its power. Sir Alexander is an
Ambassador to China and his duty is to maintain diplomatic relations with the
Empress of China. Sir Alexander’s son Major James serves in the Boer war,
which was fought between the British Empire and the South African Republic
(1899-1902). The British Empire is still strong and continues to add more
colonies to its Empire.
By 1913, the British Empire ruled over 412 million people, 23% of the world

6
population at the time, and by 1920, it covered 24% of the Earth’s total land
area. At the peak of its power, the phrase “the empire on which the sun never
sets” was often used to describe the British Empire, because its expanse
around the globe meant that the sun was always shining on at least one of its
territories.
Reverend Alexander Heathcote dies somewhere around the time of the Second
World War and this is the major turning point for the British Empire. Having
already fought a First World War which had much effect on the resources of
Britain a Second World War proves devastating to the British Empire.
Captain James Heathcote dies on the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940 where the
British troops are retreating after they are unable to free France from Germany
and risk getting annihilated. This signals the end of the British as the world’s
most powerful country and new contenders Germany, U.S.A. and Japan and
Russia challenge the dominance of the British Empire. After the war as young
Alex Heathcote grows up, much of Britain’s Colonial Empire has disintegrated
and Alex turns to gambling to earn money and has to sell the family heirloom
as the family honour is now at stake.
Appearance and Reality
The theme of appearance and reality is the underlying theme of the entire story.
The statue of the Chinese Emperor is falsely believed by Sir Alexander to be of
very high value and is passed on as a family heirloom. However it is not the
statue which proves to be the one of high value but the base of the statue which
the old craftsman assembles onto the statue in a hurry. Alex Heathcote even
thinks of buying a gun to shoot himself when he realizes the value of the statue
is no more than 700 pounds. However fortune smiles upon him and the ivory
base is bought by an American for more than double of what he expected for
the statue.