I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 3 l i x with the leader of Singapore’s Jewish community, Manasseh Meyer, whom he de- scribed as “the Jewish Croesus of Singapore,” who eventually donated 500 British pounds for the Hebrew University.[27] During a brief stop in Hong Kong a week later, Einstein was struck by the plight of the Chinese who “are severely punished for their fecundity by the heartless eco- nomic machine. I think they hardly notice it in their lethargy, but it is sad to see.” He crossed into mainland China, whose inhabitants he described as “industrious, dirty, numbed people.” He proceeded to remark that “it would be a pity if these Chi- nese were to push out all other races. For the likes of us the mere thought is un- speakably boring” (Doc. 379, [p. 13]). Yet, on his return visit to Hong Kong in early January, he described the Chinese as the “[m]ost pitiful of people on Earth, cruelly mistreated and worked to death in reward for modesty, gentleness, and frugality” (Doc. 379, [p. 30]). The Einsteins arrived in Shanghai on 13 November. It was here that they met Morikatsu Inagaki, a staff member of Kaizo-Sha, and his wife, Tony, who would accompany them on the final leg of their voyage to Kobe, Japan. They were also greeted by the German consul Fritz Thiel, who apparently urged Einstein that “he must not pass over” the German communities in Japan. Einstein clarified that Kaizo-Sha had a monopoly on his schedule of appearances, and that all additional public engagements had to be approved by them.[28] It was upon his arrival in Shanghai that Einstein learned from a telegram sent by Christopher Aurivillius, secretary of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize (Doc. 384). He had received the first hint that he was to become a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics for the year 1921[29] from the acting chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics, Svante Arrhenius, around 17 September: “It will probably be very desirable that you come to Stockholm in December and if you are in Japan then that will surely be impossible. The invitation to Stockholm cannot be sent out to you before the middle of November” (Doc. 359). The next day, his friend and colleague Max von Laue also alluded to the prize: “According to reliable news I received yesterday, events could be taking place in November that would make your presence in Europe in December desirable.” He therefore advised that Einstein reconsider his trip to Japan (Doc. 363). While neither of these communi- cations mentioned the Nobel Prize explicitly, it is safe to assume that Einstein un- derstood what was afoot. Nevertheless, he wrote Arrhenius that he was contractually bound to embark on the lecture tour and would not postpone the trip (Doc. 365). Aurivillius followed up his telegram with a letter, informing Einstein that the Academy had chosen to award him “the previous year’s Nobel Prize in physics (for