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  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    Sir Alexander Heathcote received the Chinese Statue when he was in China. It was bequeathed to his first born, Major James Heathcote and Sir Alexander had also mentioned it in the will that, after his death, the statue should pass to the eldest born in the family and not to be sold off, until and unRead more

    Sir Alexander Heathcote received the Chinese Statue when he was in China. It was bequeathed to his first born, Major James Heathcote and Sir Alexander had also mentioned it in the will that, after his death, the statue should pass to the eldest born in the family and not to be sold off, until and unless the family’s honour was at stake. Everything went on smoothly till the statue was passed into the hands of Alex Heathcote. Alex, who was a spendthrift, gambled away all his money and fell into serious debt. Unable to overcome his debt, he decided to sell the statue to save himself. So he took the family heirloom to Bond Street and delivered it to Sotheby. This was how the statue found its way to the auction room.

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  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder

    The moral of the story is to not to judge a book by its cover. Sir Alexander Heathcote prides himself to be knowledgeable in art but at the end he is fooled into believing that the Chinese Statue is real when it was the ordinary base which is priceless. The concept of appearance versus reality is poRead more

    The moral of the story is to not to judge a book by its cover. Sir Alexander Heathcote prides himself to be knowledgeable in art but at the end he is fooled into believing that the Chinese Statue is real when it was the ordinary base which is priceless. The concept of appearance versus reality is portrayed through this.

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  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder

    The Chinese Statue, acquired by Sir Alexander Heathcote, was regarded as a family heirloom and was to be always passed on to the first born in the family after Alexander’s death. Fate changed when the statue finally came into the hands of Alex Heathcote, the great-great grandson of Alexander. Alex wRead more

    The Chinese Statue, acquired by Sir Alexander Heathcote, was regarded as a family heirloom and was to be always passed on to the first born in the family after Alexander’s death. Fate changed when the statue finally came into the hands of Alex Heathcote, the great-great grandson of Alexander. Alex was a spendthrift who gambled away all his money and to get out of his debt, sold the statue at an auction, from where the narrator bought it.

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  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder

    Sir Alexander Heathcote, a gentleman, had been exact from an early age, as became the only son of a general. But unlike his father, he chose to serve the Queen in the diplomatic service. He progressed from a shared desk at the Foreign Office in Whitehall to third secretary in Calcutta, to second secRead more

    Sir Alexander Heathcote, a gentleman, had been exact from an early age, as became the only son of a general.

    But unlike his father, he chose to serve the Queen in the diplomatic service. He progressed from a shared desk at the Foreign Office in Whitehall to third secretary in Calcutta, to second secretary in Vienna, to first secretary in Rome, to Deputy Ambassador in Washington and finally to minister in Peking.

    When he was invited to China, Sir Alexander Heathcote had taken some considerable time to look through the art of the Ming dynasty. An opportunity to observe in their natural habitat some of the great statues, paintings and drawings was always welcomed by him.

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  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder

    in the swinging sixties, when casinos opened in Britain, Alex Heathcote was convinced that he had found the ideal way of earning a living without actually having to do any work. He developed a system for playing roulette with which it was impossible to lose. He did lose, so he refined the system andRead more

    in the swinging sixties, when casinos opened in Britain, Alex Heathcote was convinced that he had found the ideal way of earning a living without actually having to do any work. He developed a system for playing roulette with which it was impossible to lose. He did lose, so he refined the system and promptly lost more but he didn’t try to stop and work hard to make a living anymore.

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  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder

    Being an exact man, Sir Alexander Heathcote wrote a long and detailed will in which he left precise instructions for the disposal of his estate, including what was to happen to the little statue after his death. He bequeathed the Emperor Kung to his first son requesting that he do the same, in orderRead more

    Being an exact man, Sir Alexander Heathcote wrote a long and detailed will in which he left precise instructions for the disposal of his estate, including what was to happen to the little statue after his death. He bequeathed the Emperor Kung to his first son requesting that he do the same, in order that the statue might always pass to the first son, or a daughter if the direct male line faltered. He also made a provision that the statue was never to be disposed of, unless the family’s honour was at stake.

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  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder
    This answer was edited.

    According to the old Chinese custom that when a stranger has been generous, one must return the kindness within a calendar year. So in order to reciprocate the old man’s generosity, Sir Alexander Heathcote planned out a surprise for him. First he transferred his funds and then with help and permissiRead more

    According to the old Chinese custom that when a stranger has been generous, one must return the kindness within a calendar year. So in order to reciprocate the old man’s generosity, Sir Alexander Heathcote planned out a surprise for him. First he transferred his funds and then with help and permission of the Queen, executed his plan. Almost a year to the day the minister, accompanied by the Mandarin, set out again from Peking for the village of the Ha Li Chuan. On arriving there, he requested the old man to accompany him on a short journey . They travelled for two hours up a thin winding path into the hills behind the craftsman’s workshop and only stopped when they reached a hollow in the hill from which there was a magnificent view of the valley all the way down to Ha Li Chuan. In the hollow stood a newly completed small white house of the most perfect proportions. Two stone lion dogs, tongues hanging over their lips, guarded the front entrance. This was gift, sanctioned by the Queen, given to the old craftsman for his generosity to Sir Alexander.

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  1. Amelia mazumder
    Amelia mazumder

    The Chinese tradition mentioned by the Mandarin was that when a stranger has been generous, one must return the kindness within the calendar year. Read summary of The Chinese Statue

    The Chinese tradition mentioned by the Mandarin was that when a stranger has been generous, one must return the kindness within the calendar year.

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