l x i v I N T R O D U C T I O N T O V O L U M E 1 3 “neither conspicuous poverty, nor a lack of money,” yet piecework was “dreadfully ill-paid.” He believed Japan “will become increasingly industrialized” and “it will become necessary to organize the working classes but not opposition for the sake of opposition (as in Europe)” (Doc. 426). But the tour led to political controversy in Germany. The German ambassador Wilhem Solf informed his Foreign Ministry that on 15 December the Japan Adver- tiser had published a report according to which the journalist and critic Maximilian Harden had testified at the trial in Berlin of his would-be assassins that “Professor Einstein went to Japan because he did not consider himself safe in Germany.”[34] Solf feared this report might adversely impact “the extraordinarily beneficial effect of Einstein’s visit for the German cause” and requested that Einstein allow him to deny this allegation by cable.[35] In reply, Einstein admitted that Harden’s statement had exacerbated his situation in Germany, and that “it is not completely correct, but it is not completely wrong either.” He conceded that a threat to his life did exist. And while a “yearning for the Far East” had played a significant role in his accept- ing the invitation to Japan, the “need to get away for a while from the tense atmo- sphere in our homeland ... which so often places me in difficult situations,” had been a factor as well. After Rathenau’s assassination, he had welcomed “an oppor- tunity for a long absence from Germany, taking me away from the temporarily heightened danger without my having to do anything that could have been unpleas- ant for my German friends and colleagues” (Doc. 402). In contrast to Einstein’s highly successful lecture tour in Japan, plans for a sim- ilar visit to China were hampered from the start by serious miscommunication.[36] Chenzu Wei, the Chinese ambassador in Berlin, had apparently heard of Einstein’s upcoming tour of Japan and had understood that Einstein would also be available for a longer tour in China, with Beijing as a first stop (Doc. 101). Einstein, unable to accept either the financial terms or the long duration initially proposed, appeared in March 1922 to agree to a two-week visit (Doc. 111). In early April, Yuanpei Cai, rector of Peking University, proposed a course of lectures and a monthly honorar- ium of 1,000 Chinese dollars (about 540 US dollars Doc. 135). Einstein restated his willingness to lecture, but requested a significantly higher honorarium (Doc. 177). By late July, the Imperial University in Beijing had accepted his con- ditions (Doc. 305). However, political turmoil in China weakened Einstein’s resolve (Doc. 331). In early December, well into the Japan tour, Cai inquired about Einstein’s expected day of arrival, enthusing that “the whole of China is ready to welcome you with open arms” (Doc. 392). Two weeks later, Einstein replied that, “despite every good intention and despite earlier formal promises,” it was now too late to accept an in- vitation. He had waited in vain for five weeks for a message from Beijing, and had
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