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Einstein described Chinese children as ‘spiritless’ and ‘obtuse’ but some Chinese say he depicted an accurate picture of the era.
Chinese internet users have defended Albert Einstein's recently published travel diaries in which the physicist calls the Chinese "industrious, filthy people."
Portions of the diaries from his travels in Asia in the 1920s were posted online this week and their content surprised Einstein fans.
"Chinese don't sit on benches while eating but squat like Europeans do when they relieve themselves out in the leafy woods," he wrote.
"All this occurs quietly and demurely. Even the children are spiritless and look obtuse."
The theoretical physicist, who once said racism was "a disease of white people", added: "It would be a pity if these Chinese supplant all other races. For the likes of us the mere thought is unspeakably dreary."
While some internet users called for a "boycott of Einstein" and said his observations proved "all humans, even Einstein, have a stupid, shallow side," most said the China Einstein witnessed is nothing like it is today.
Comment: See also: Hawking's Paradox: A brief history of Stephen Hawking and his legacy