A winter in north China



ARTHUR PROBSTHAIN
Oriental Bookseller
41 Gt. Russell Street
LONDON, W.c. 1


















4

I,


I


T
WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
BY THE
REV. T. M. MORRIS
OF IPSWICH
AUTHOR OF 'SERMONS FOR ALL CLASSES,' 'THE MYSTERY OF
THE BURNING BUSH,' ETC., ETC.
WITH AN INTRODUCTION
BY THE
REV. RICHARD GLOVER, D.D.
OF BRISTOL
WITH A MAP
LONDON:
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
56 PATERNOSTER Row, 65 St. Paul's CHURCHYARD
AND 164 PICCADILLY
1892


DS
700
.M88 .
LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.


INTRODUCTION
I ACCEDE with great pleasure to the request of Mr.
Morris that I should be associated with him in this
book, which describes the journey which we took
together, and conveys the conclusions on matters of
supreme importance which concurrently we reached.
There is room for a variety of works describing
other lands and other peoples. The works of those
long resident in foreign lands who have made a calm
and complete study of all they have seen, carry of
necessity the highest authority, and are charged with
elements of deeper interest. But it is obvious that
part of what is gained in force is lost in freshness.
By the time they write, they are so accustomed to
the usages of the people that they have ceased to
feel, and cannot therefore communicate, an interest
in what at first struck them as so peculiar. The first
impression has its own judicial value. There is,
therefore, room for the work of those who write what
they see, when they see it, with all the freshness of
their own surprise.
Such is the special quality of the letters which are
here presented to the reader. They interested a
very large circle of readers from time to time during


6
INTRODUCTION
our journey, and they will, I doubt not, extend and
deepen that interest; for they deal with varied
themes, some of them the most interesting that the
devout Christian can ponder. It fell to our lot, for
instance, to see in the Sandwich Islands how much
barbarism the Gospel could convert; and the respec-
tive merits of the progress created by the Gospel
and the progress created by mere civilization could
be studied side by side. In Japan we were permitted
to mark how the Gospel could lay hold on a mobile,
artistic, but withal sensual people, and commend itself
to thousands as the best guide for nations and for
men ; while in China all sorts of questions of keenest
interest met us at every turn. The sociologist, the
geologist, the student of history, the student of com-
parative religion, the statesman, the Christian—all find
there a field replete with interest. So that we had
opportunities enough of seeing numbers of things, all
new and of deepest interest.
Every reader of these letters will see at once that
Mr. Morris is a careful and shrewd observer of all
that comes within his ken. I can testify to his
extreme solicitude to verify his facts, and to give
above all things the exact truth concerning that of
which he writes.
I trust that China as here disclosed will engage
the deepest interest of Christian hearts. Containing
one-third of mankind, united for ages by a common
government, literature, and religion, it presents the
largest single community lying outside the empire
of Christ. Yet though through thousands of years
China has lived an imperial hermit amongst the


INTRODUCTION
7
nations of the world, there never seems to have
been a period in which she was not ready to receive
new ideas.
Dr. Edkins points out in one direction traces
of the Zoroastrianism of Persia, in the universal
recognition of a principle of Dualism as pervading all
things. India gave Buddhism to China. In Central
Asia one section of Buddhism adopted from Mediaeval
Catholic missions a great many papal usages and things,
amongst them an infallible pope—the Grand Lama
of Thibet, whose sway extends over tens of thousands
of monks in this land. The worship of Amita
Buddha in Japan, Mid-China, and in some of the sects
of North China, has elements which must have come
from a Christian source. The doctrine of transmi-
gration is held as keenly as by the disciples of
Pythagoras 2400 years ago, while a survival of an
ancient theism still gives peculiar sanctity to the
Altar of Heaven at Peking.
What the conversion of a nation of such strength
to the Gospel would mean for mankind it is im-
possible to imagine. But it is an event of little less
moment than the conversion of Europe has proved.
That they will accept the Gospel was impressed most
profoundly on the mind of Mr. Morris and myself by
many things: such as the aching void caused by the
absence of all higher religious faith; the spiritual
eagerness for light shown by some of the more
religious of the secret sects; the lack of motive-
power in the dominant Confucianism; the benign
services rendered by all the missions, and valued by
the people; and the great success that has already


X
INTRODUCTION
attended almost all Christian missions both in the
north and south of that great empire. At the present
moment our attention is held acutely by the popular
commotions which have risen against the mission-
aries in the Yang-tze Valley. Whether they will prove
political rebellions, or merely religious persecutions,
time only will show.
It is deeply to be lamented that the doctrine of
transubstantiation should have been carried to China.
To the people there it suggests that Christians are
cannibals; and they see in the numerous orphanages
which Roman Catholic piety has established through-
out the land, only the means of supplying the Lord's
Table with the revolting meal. Such awful mis-
conceptions render the work of the Christian Church
in securing foothold there immensely difficult. It is
to be regretted also that the undue patronage of
Roman Catholic missions by France, and an over-
rcaclinc.ss on the part of the Roman Catholic missions
to appeal to Treaty rights, and to carry things with
a high hand, has awakened dislike amongst the
official classes almost as strong as that aroused by
the misconceptions of the people. It is further deeply
to be lamented that as a people we are identified
with the nefarious opium traffic, which, finding a great
nation free from the opium vice, has so inoculated
them wifch it that we have developed a vice as awful
as drunkenness, and as common among the four
hundred millions of China as drunkenness is amongst
our thirty-eight millions at home!
But, in spite of all these things, Truth never faileth:
and Love never faileth: and the beauty of the Gospel


INTRODUCTION
teaching, the splendour of its consolations, its suf-
ficiency to give deepest peace and to quicken purest
love,-all impress the people profoundly. So that
in a little over forty years the half-dozen converts
whom Dr. Legge found in China when he went have
become nearly forty thousand. And these converts
enjoy the respect of the missionaries (the best judges)
for their constancy in the midst of persecution, and
their purity and integrity in the midst of abounding
temptation.
We went out fairly well informed of the statistics of
Christian missions ; but we were not prepared to find
such a measure of success as both in north and south,
in our own and in other missions, we were permitted
to behold. Shall we pursue this task to the complete
success with which God waits to crown the earnest
labour of all who work for Him there, or shall our
hearts be feeble and our hands be slack ?
It were greatly to be wished that in this year,
which marks the centenary of English missions, there
could be a revival of the imperial compassion which
the grace of Christ works in every heart that yields
itself to its influence. It needs to be recognized that
work for others is the business of the Church of
Christ, and that the best lives of the Church should
be consecrated to the work that is most difficult. In
the revival which the Jesuit Missions in the sixteenth
century brought to the Church of Rome, the men
who went to China were the noblest men that the
Church possessed. They left their professorships in
the universities of France and Italy to carry the
Gospel, as they understood it (and some understood


IO
INTRODUCTION
it well), to that distant land. Their success, their
sufferings, their mistakes, their consecration, are all
'writ large' in the world's history and in the Book
of God's remembrance. Why should our purer
Gospel be unable to secure the consecration of those
who are manliest and godliest in our Churches to:day?
When the number sent to China must necessarily
be so very small in proportion to the work to be
done, we want those for the work who are fitted by
nature, by grace, and by culture, to be leaders of
leaders of men. Whatever enlarges men's understand-
ing of the ways of God and of men, and increases
men's power of understanding men, is of supreme
importance in the training of missionaries.
What results will come of our efforts, and in what
order, it is not for us to speculate. That great
persecutions will attend any very wide success of the
Gospel, is almost certain; and the men we send out
should be men strong enough to exhort men to choose
Christ in face of death, and strong enough, if need
be, to die with them. But beyond the troubles which
will attend a wider success, there gleams the bright
day which God's promise assures to us, and the
infinite reward of all well-doing.
May the testimony of the following pages cherish
a higher faith and hope in our Churches, and thus
hasten the day when this great people will see and
adore the glory of God as it streams on them through
the face of Jesus Christ!
Richard Glover.



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AUTHOR'S PREFACE
The question of sending out a deputation to China
had long been considered by the committee of the
Baptist Missionary Society, and our missionaries in
China had been long asking that a deputation should
be sent. 'Our work,' they said, 'has been criticized
by those who have never seen it, and who have known
little or nothing of the circumstances in which and
the conditions under which that work is being carried
on. Our work has never been described but by
ourselves, and there are many who think, and some
who say, that we are not the fittest people to estimate
the value of our own work. Send out, then, two men
in whom you have confidence, and in whom we shall
have confidence. Let them visit our stations and see
our work with their own eyes, and on their return give
a faithful, unbiassed report of what they have seen
and heard. With that report, whatever may be its
character, we shall be satisfied, and we trust you will
be satisfied.'
The request was felt to be reasonable, but it was
one which could not be easily complied with. In
1890, however, the committee felt that a deputation
ought to be sent out without further delay, and Dr.
Glover and myself were asked to undertake the work.
For myself, I may say that I never entered upon any


AUTHOR'S PREFACE
'3
Chinese river-boats, amid all the dirt and discomfort
of Chinese inns. They recorded, from time to time,
impressions made upon me by what I saw and heard.
We travelled for the most part in the interior, visit-
ing places which have never been visited save by the
missionary, wearing Chinese clothes, living with the
missionaries as they live, moving about in Chinese
conveyances with them in their work, mixing freely
with the people among whom they labour—and we
were able thus to form some idea of the nature and
value, difficulties and encouragements, of their work.
From the time we left Tien-tsin until we came on
our return journey to Peking, we did not meet with a
single foreigner except the missionaries. It will be
seen from the following pages that missionaries in the
interior do not live easy, self-indulgent lives. They
are not Sybarites, living in luxury by day and sleep-
ing on beds of rose-leaves by night. Their work is
hard, oftentimes trying to faith and patience. Many
of them have to work on for many months without
intercourse with foreigners, and in the presence of
great forces of heathenism with which they feel in
themselves little able to deal.
The letters indicate the many serious difficulties and
inconveniences of Chinese travel; but the reader will
kindly remember two things: the one, that in our
journeying everything was done that could be done
by our missionary friends to mitigate our sufferings,
and so it came to pass that, through their thoughtful
kindness and constant attention, we travelled with
much less discomfort than that which they ordinarily
experience, and of which they never complain. The


'4
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
other is the fact that we made our journey in the
winter. We had to safeguard ourselves against the
cold, which was often extreme; but for a variety of
reasons, which need not be specified, the cold of winter
is, by the foreigner travelling in China, generally much
preferred to the heat of summer.
We were nearly five months in the interior, travel-
ling by cart, wheel-barrow, mule-litter, and other
strange conveyances not less than 1800 miles. We
moved at the rate of not more, often considerably
less, than three miles an hour, the roads in many
places being in such a condition that it was to us a
matter of surprise not so much that we moved slowly,
as that we moved at all. In addition to this, we
travelled by coast and river steamers and Chinese
boats more than 3000 miles. We spent most of our
time in the three great provinces of Chih-li, Shantung,
and Shansi, but we paid passing visits to six other pro-
vinces, and we saw the larger number of the treaty ports.
As a deputation from an important Missionary
Society, we enjoyed great advantages which would
not otherwise have fallen to our lot. Everywhere
we met with a most hearty welcome and abounding
hospitality, and friends connected with different
missions in China, both American and European,
freely placed at our. disposal the information we
were seeking to obtain, and sought in every possible
way to aid us in our work. And this opportunity
is taken of publicly expressing our thafiks for the
great kindness which was shown to us by missionary
and other friends, not only while we were in China,
but also in our journey to and fro. We would also


AUTHORS PREFACE
express our obligations to the two anonymous friends
who so generously defrayed the entire cost of the
special mission which is here described.
With regard to China, I have sought faithfully to
describe what I saw, adding only this word of caution
—that any description of China and of Chinese life
and manners must be judged strictly in relation to
that part of China which is professedly described.
The China of the ports is altogether different from
the China of the interior. Northern and Southern
China, Central China, Eastern and Western China,
each has its own distinguishing features and pecu-
liarities; and a description which may be fairly
accurate as applied to one district would be grossly
inaccurate if applied to another.
In the supplementary chapters an endeavour has
been made to furnish, in compendious and unpreten-
tious form, information as to some of those things
concerning which the deputation have been most
frequently questioned since their return. Should the
curiosity of any reader be stimulated by the little
that is said, additional information is easily obtain-
able by those who may wish to make a study of any
special subject.
These letters having been hastily written and sent
home without any idea of republication, the author
regrets that he has not been able to give references to
the particular authorities and sources of information
on which h'e depended at the time.
If what is written serve to awaken or deepen
interest in China and the work of God in that great
empire, the writer will be ever thankful.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
21
CHAPTER 1.
FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA.
Chinese population in California-China-town-Mission work-
Prohibitive legislation—The Pacific voyage- Reasons for
calling at the Sandwich Islands—Honolulu–Marvellous
change in these islands since their discovery by Captain
Cook-Yokohama—Tokyo-The Pagoda of Towers-Shiba
and its temples-Zojyoji—Vries Island–Kobe and Hiogo-
Sunday in Kobe- Mission work-Productions—Civilization
CHAPTER II.
CHEFOO AND TIEN-TSIN.
The Inland Sea and Corea-Nagasaki-Buddhist temple-Mission
school-Fusan-Jinsen, or Shemulpoo, a Corean village-
Corean funeral customs-Voyage to China-Chefoo—Yentai
- Chinese filth-Chinese curiosity-Market gardens-Ances-
tral burial-places- Mission work- American Presbyterian
Mission-China Inland Mission, Voyage to Tien-tsin—Taku
-Railway-ride — Tien-tsin-Missionary work—Meeting of
missionaries and mission workers--Flood and famine-
Visit to famine villages-Extreme destitution—Chinese good-
nature · · · · · · · · · ·
CHAPTER III.
FROM TIEN-TSIN TO TSING-CHOW-FU.
Journey to Tsing-chow-fu-Chinese cart-Chinese roads—Chinese
inns-Discomfort of Chinese travel - Approach to Tsing-
chow-fu-Meeting with native Christians outside the gates-
Cordial welcome . . . . . . . . .
CHAPTER IV.
TSING-CHOW-FU.
City of Tsing-chow-fu-Baptist Mission—The province of Shan-
tung-Birthplace of Confucius and Mencius-Tai-shan-
Buddhist monastery - Funeral of the abbot-Confucian
temple-Hill of the Cloudy Gate-Buddhist heaven and
hell-Intercourse with native Christians-Sunday services at
country stations-Chinese food-Respect for grey hairs .
42
SO
65


18
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER V.
CHOW-PING. ,
Chow-ping-Journey on Chinese wheel-barrow-Description of
wheel-barrow-Arrival at Chow-ping—Christmas Day in
China-Kao-Yuen-Detained by rain-Mule litter or shen-
tzu, Po-sing–Chinese hospitality-Chinese feast-An in-
teresting service-The last night of the year-An out-of-door
service . . . . . . . . . .
75
CHAPTER VI.
CHI-NAN-FU.
A bonfire in an inn-Arrival at Chi-nan-fu—Good shops—Streets
crowded with wheel-barrows — The lake -- Mahommedan
mosque-American Presbyterian Mission-Farewell to Shan-
tung--Departure for Shansi—Pleasant experience of Chinese
respect for age—Chi-nan-fu again-Refugees from Chou-
ching-chou-Riot there, and expulsion of American Presby-
terian missionaries—Pang-chuang—Station of American
Board-Hsiao-Chang-London Mission-Welcome of un-
expected guests—Perils of robbers—Missionaries mistaken
for robbers, .
· · · · ·
·
86
CHAPTER VII.
THE GREAT PLAIN OF CHINA.
Its size-Appearance-Monotony-Poverty—Industry and isola-
tion of the people—The Hwang-ho- China's sorrow'-
Grand Canal-Roads of China-Donkeys and pack-mules-
A Chinaman inquiring about the doctrine-Approach to
Hwai-lu–China Inland Mission-A Chinese market—The
To-chiao-A new conveyance--Multitude of donkeys-A
pitiable spectacle-Mountain gorges—The great wall of
China-Loëss villages and inns-A narrow escape—The
province of Shansi - Mineral productions – Large coal-
measures—The Loëss formation-Richtoven's theory-Great
productiveness of the soil . . . . . . .
98
CHAPTER VIII.
T'AI-YUEN-FU.
T'ai-yuen-fu—Capital of province-Centre of both Baptist and
China Inland Mission work-Sunday services—The Chinese
New Year-In what way celebrated-Kitchen-god-Ancestral
worship-The worship of the emperor-Worship of Confucius
-Start for Hsin-chow-Intercourse with native Christians-


TABLE OF CONTENTS
19
PAGE
Chi-tsuen—Visit to a Chinese house-Hsiao-tien-tzu-
Pleasant time with native Christians-Chinese mottoes—The
feast of lanterns—Noisy celebration-Curious legend-Most
brilliant festival of the year-Grand display of lanterns and
fireworks — Taouist temple — Oracular responses — Return
journey-Snow on the mountains—Chinese mules—Opium
largely consumed–The use of it increasing-Never defended
by a Chinaman—Chinese agriculture-Pao-ting-fu— American
Board Missions-Great stone bridge-Imperial stone road-
Singing girls
. . . . 117
CHAPTER IX.
PEKING.
Approach to the city-Multitude of camels-Busy spectacle
Description of the city-Chinese city—Tartar city-Car.
nation prohibited city'-The 'unspeakably dirty city'-
The ‘land-ship of mercy'-Funeral processions—The Altar of
Heaven—The Altar of Earth-The astronomical observatory
-Examination Hall-Lama monastery-Great Bell Temple
-Imperial college-Missionary and philanthropic work-
Dr. Blodgett and the American Board-Methodist Episcopal
Mission-London Missionary Society-American Presby-
terian Mission-Society for the Propagation of the Gospel -
Roman Catholic Missions-Portuguese cemetery . . .
139
CHAPTER X.
AN INTERVIEW WITH LI-HUNG-CHANG.
Return to Tien-tsin-A rough ride-Tung-chow-American Board
Mission-Its educational work-Down the Peiho in a Chinese
boat-Good Friday in Tien-tsin-Arrangements for interview
with the viceroy-Courtesy of Lo-Fung-lu-Reception at the
Yamen-Interview with Li-Hung-Chang–Cordial welcome-
Careful and minute inquiries as to mission work-Reference
to Roman Catholic Missions—Inquiries as to opium traffic,
and the relations of the missionaries to it—The conduct of
the British Government in respect of it-Medical missions-
The viceroy's strong approval of them–His wish that more
medical missionaries might be sent out-Departure from
Tien-tsin .
· · · · · ·
157
CHAPTER XI.
SHANGHAI.
Shanghai—The Yang-tze-Kiang—The first view of Shanghai-
Apparent wealth and prosperity–Municipal council — The
Anglo-Chinese town-Important missionary centre-St. Luke's


20
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Hospital—Chinese Hospital-American Presbyterian Mission
Press—Union Church-Native city-Departure for Hankow
-The Yang-tze-Kiang—The changes in the river-bed-
Nanking–River scenery—Water-buffaloes . . . .
168
CHAPTER XII.
HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON.
The three cities—Hankow, Hanyang, and Wuchang—Hanyang
Hill—The viceroy's iron-works and cotton factory-Native
cities and foreign settlements — Tea-trade-Brick-tea — A
Russian factory- Italian Roman Catholic Mission school-
Wesleyan Mission at Hankow–Blind school-Hospital work
-London Mission Medical work—Margaret Hospital-
Meeting of native preachers-Scottish Bible Society Press,
Chin-Kiang-American Southern Baptist Missions-From
Shanghai to Hong-Kong-Approach to Foo-chow-River
Min-Foo-chow the capital of Fukien province -The native
city-Foreign settlement called Nantai–Mission work of
the Church Missionary Society and the American Board
-Amoy—Fine harbour-London Mission-English Presby.
terian Mission-Swatow-English Presbyterian Mission-
American Southern Baptist-Hong-Kong to Canton-City
of Victoria-Island of Hong-Kong—Beautiful situation,
Kowloon–Mission work-Canton-Pearl River—The Fat-
shan–River scenery-Boat-population of Canton-Wesleyan
Mission-Trade .of Canton-Shameen-Narrow streets •
179
CHAPTER XIII.
THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA.
Chinamen blend all religions—Conduct of the Viceroy of Shansi
-Ancestral worship-Chief features of this worship—The
ancestral tablet-Significance of the worship-It is a great
hindrance to Christianity — Confucianism - Taouism-'
Buddhism · · · · · · · · · 202
CHAPTER XIV.
FUNG-SHUI.
Description of the superstition . . . . . . 229
CHAPTER XV.
MISSIONARY WORK AND METHODS IN CHINA.
Evangelistic work—Educational work—Medical work—Women's
work among women · · · · · · · 235
APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . 256


· WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
CHAPTER I.
FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA.
Chinese population in California-China-town-Mission work-Pro-
hibitive legislation—The Pacific voyage-Reasons for calling at
the Sandwich Islands Honolulu-Marvellous change in these
islands since their discovery by Captain Cook-Yokohama-
Tokyo-The Pagoda of Towers-Shiba and its temples—Zojyoji-
Vries Island-Kobe and Hiogo-Sunday in Kobe-Mission work
- Productions—Civilization.
I PASS over, without remark, our pleasant Atlantic
voyage, and our rapid run across the American
continent, in which we saw just enough of that
wonderful country to awaken the desire to see more.
The only matter on which I would touch, as related
to the errand on which we were going forth, is the
short visit we paid to what is called China-town. In
the State of California there is a Chinese population
of 35,000, and of these more than 15,000 are resident
in San Francisco. These are all huddled together in
one quarter by themselves, and it is very difficult to
understand how so many people can contrive to
live in so small a space. This part of the city is


22
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
so exclusively occupied by the Chinese, that as you
walk through its streets, and see all the peculiarities
of Chinese life about you, you can scarcely bring
yourself to believe that you are not in a Chinese city.
But there, side by side, Chinese and American life
touch each other at many points, not intermingling,
but each retaining all its characteristic differences.
We called at the head-quarters of the Episcopal
Chinese Mission. The clergyman in charge was not
at home, but we had a pleasant talk with the matron
of a female school and home, which seems to be doing
a good work among Chinese women and girls, in a
quiet and unobtrusive way. We were guided to this
mission-house by a young lady, whom we encountered
in the street, and who is working among the Chinese
in connection with the Baptist Mission. The Chinese
are creating a difficulty in San Francisco and all
along the Pacific coast. They seem to be a quiet,
sober, industrious, and pre-eminently frugal people,
who can live and save money where others would
starve. But they live by themselves as a distinct
people. Their ambition is to save money and return
to their own country, or, at all events, they would
like to be buried at home. There were several coffins
on board the ship by which we went to China.
The difficulty with the Chinese is a labour difficulty.
They undersell the labour of the United States, and,
in consequence, a very bitter feeling is displayed
against them by the labouring classes, and this feeling
is so decided and widespread that it has secured
legislative interference. The entrance of Chinese
labour is prohibited. The Chinese already in the


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 23
United States may remain, but no more must come
in. The Chinese are not only a very industrious, but
also a very persistent and a very ingenious people,
and thus it happens that those who have the adminis-
tration of this prohibitive law have need of all their
wits to keep the Chinese out. Many of the most
intelligent people I met with in these parts strongly
condemn this legislation as unnecessary and harmful,
and they did not hesitate to say that America cannot
afford to dispense with Chinese labour. And in this
legislation, which is designed to prevent Chinese im-
migration, we have another of the many expressions
of the American love for protection. This prohibitive
legislation has naturally excited a very bitter feeling
in China.
On October 9, 1890, about noon, we went on board
the steamship China, but our start was delayed until
nearly seven p.m. It was a splendid afternoon, and
though we grew a little impatient because we should
not get through the Golden Gate by daylight, we
much enjoyed the varied scenery which stretched
away from us in every direction as we lay at anchor
in the beautiful Bay of San Francisco.
After getting on board, we found we were not to
proceed directly to Japan, but to call at Honolulu.
There was a sufficient reason for this detour, which
added several days to the length of our voyage.
The China, on its way to San Francisco, ought to
have landed at Honolulu a large number of Chinese;
but, having come from a cholera-infected port, the
authorities would not allow them to land without
subjecting them to a lengthened quarantine. The


24 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
captain could not spare time for this, and so carried
his Chinese cargo on to San Francisco, to be dis-
charged at Honolulu on his way back!
We had about eighty saloon passengers—a few
missionaries and missionary ladies, proceeding to
their different fields of labour, a considerable number
of Americans, and a few English, travelling for
pleasure; a good many Japanese, several Chinese,
and a Corean gentleman, who had been acting as
the Corean Minister at Washington, all of whom
were returning to their respective countries after
more or less lengthened absence from them. We
were made to feel that, not Europe or America, but
Asia, was the great object of interest to the majority
of our fellow-passengers, for, besides those of the
saloon passengers who were Asiatic by birth, or had
commercial or social relationship to that great con-
tinent, there were seven hundred and fifty Chinese
in the steerage. The crew was almost entirely
Chinese, the servants Chinese and Japanese in almost
equal proportions, so that we had an Oriental atmo-
sphere about us, and received a Chinese education
before we reached China. The more we saw of this
wonderful people, the deeper was our interest in them.
Several of the Orientals on board had been led
formally to embrace Christianity during their resi-
dence in Europe or America, and were intelligent
and earnest Christians; and others were deeply in-
terested in the Christian religion, and favourably
affected towards it, though at present, with several
of them, it was chiefly an intellectual preference, they
regarding Christianity as one of the most potent


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 25
factors of our Western civilization, of which the
Japanese especially seem enamoured. My colleague
and myself had many long and interesting conver-
sations with this section of our fellow-passengers,
who were thoroughly well-educated men, and very
conversable. They talked in a perfectly free and
unconventional way, and with almost childlike sim-
plicity, of their own position and experience, and of
the light or lights in which our civilization and religion
presented themselves to them.
The first Sunday service was conducted by my
colleague. The congregation, though small—forty
or fifty people—was a representative one, including
many nationalities, and all seemed interested. Let
us hope that the seed sown may spring up and bear
fruit. The great Sower has many different ways of
scattering His seed. The second Sunday the preacher
was a Canadian Presbyterian minister; and in the
evening, after dinner, we had a very pleasant de-
votional service, an American Baptist presiding, who
had been some ten years missionary in Japan, and
who was returning to his work there. On the third
Sunday the author conducted the service, preaching
to a congregation not quite so large as on the previous
Sundays, owing to the almost suffocating heat.
On October 16 we approached the Sandwich
Islands, our destination being the port of Honolulu,
on the island of Oahu. This group of islands has
been spoken of as the Paradise of the Pacific. It
seems strange, looking upon what we see to-day, to
remember that they were discovered only a little
more than a century ago, and were then the abode


26
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
of savages and cannibals. But so it is. In a place
called Kanwaihoa a monument has been erected to the
memory of Captain Cook—a plain obelisk of concrete
—in the centre of a small enclosure surrounded with
chains, supported by old cannon. The monument was
put in its place in 1874, and bears this inscription:—
IN MEMORY OF
CAPTAIN JAMES COOK, R.N., .
THE GREAT CIRCUMNAVIGATOR,
WHO
DISCOVERED THESE ISLANDS
ON THE l8TH OF JANUARY, A.D. 1778,
AND FELL NEAR THIS SPOT
ON THE I4TH OF FEBRUARY, A.D. 1789.
THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY SOME OF HIS
FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN.
As we entered the tropics, we were not only sensible
of the increased heat, but we were struck by the
intense blue of the ocean. In approaching Oahu we
passed to the windward of the island of Molokai, the
leper island, associated with the name and labours
of Father Damien. The leper settlement of Molokai
is maintained by the Hawaiian Government, and is
well managed. They spend upon it nearly 100,000
dollars a year. There are seven hundred lepers and
three hundred relatives and assistants of the sick—
about 1000 in all. The lepers are not allowed to
leave the place, and strangers can only visit the
island with special permit of the Board of Health.
As we think of the poor lepers who form this settle-
ment, it is with feelings of pity and compassion, and
thankfulness that as much is being done as can be
done to ameliorate their condition.


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 27
The appearance which Oahu at first presents is not
very prepossessing. Of volcanic origin, the mountain
heights look drear and barren, but once round the
bold headland known as Diamond Hill, the beauties
of the island began to appear, and we felt that we
were drawing near to one of those isles of Paradise
of which we had often heard and read.
'I sailed beneath a burning sun,
By coral reefs and isles of balm,
Where orange groves and silvery palm
By faint spice-winds were gently fanned,
Until I reached a tropic land.'
The islands which constitute this group consist of
Hawaii, Oahu, Molokai, and Kanai. In these the
bulk of the inhabitants are found and the chief
industries carried on. There are several smaller
islands, which need not be named.
At Honolulu we were obliged to anchor in deep
water outside the coral reefs, upon which the waves
broke in long lines of surf. There is only twenty-
two feet of water over the bar, and our ship drew
twenty-four or twenty-five feet. Honolulu presents
a very beautiful appearance, nestling at the foot
of the mountains which form the background of the
picture, and embowered in tropical vegetation. I
was especially struck by the colours of the sea—
every shade of blue—indigo, ultramarine, lapis lazuli
—while nearer the shore there was an expanse of
the most brilliant emerald green, and there, sweeping
over the coral reefs, are the combers, as they are
called, rushing over or breaking upon the hidden
reefs, leaving only a comparatively narrow and
tortuous entrance to the harbour proper, in which


28
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
were lying two American men-of-war and many
other vessels.
Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, is the capital of
the Hawaian kingdom, the seat of government, and
the great commercial centre. It is a town of con-
siderable size, with a population of about 25,000.
As we were lying off a considerable time—thirty
hours—an opportunity was afforded of going ashore,
of which most of the passengers availed themselves.
Steam-tugs, sailing-vessels, and shore-boats were the
means of conveyance.
The population of these islands probably exceeds
at present 90,000. Of these there are about 20,000
Chinese, 15,000 Japanese, and 11,000 or 12,000 Portu-
guese. The Chinese and Japanese are largely engaged
on the sugar plantations, the principal industry of these
islands. The Hawaian nation has a complete system
of national education, sustained by several grants
from the national revenue, the total number of schools
being a hundred and seventy-eight, with io,oo6scholars,
mostly taught in English; number of teachers, three
hundred and sixty-eight, of whom two hundred and
fifty-two are foreigners, and a hundred and sixteen of
Hawaian birth. The public schools are free, while
the private schools charge a fee of from fifty cents to
one dollar a year for each pupil.
The Havvaians have their own postal system,
which is said to be well managed—a telephonic
system, which is much more largely used than in
any European city of the size. There are over 1100
subscribers in connection; the cost is very small.
Railways also have been recently introduced.


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 29
Honolulu is well supplied with churches-Con-
gregational, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Christian
Chinese. Some of the church buildings are of con-
siderable size and architectural pretensions. The
great attraction to visitors to the Sandwich Islands
is, of course, the volcano in Hawaii, which for the
size and depth of its crater has a place by itself
among the volcanoes of the world. The crater is
nine miles in circumference, and the depth varies
from eight hundred feet to 1100 feet in different
years, according as the molten sea is at ebb or flood.
The Sandwich Islanders are nearly amphibious, and
seem as much at home in the water as out of it.
As I was standing on the deck of the tug which was
to take us back to our ship, I watched for some time
the graceful movements of a Kanaka boy, who was
swimming about in the clear and deep water. A
gentleman threw over a ten-cent piece; he dived
after it and caught it before it reached the bottom,
and came up with it between his teeth.
This week was marked by an incident novel to most
of us—the leaving out of a day from our reckoning
when we reached a hundred and eighty degrees longi-
tude. So that we have had a week of only six days.
We were all anxious in our approach to Japan to
get as good a view as possible of the Holy Mountain
-Fuji-yama—of which we had heard and read so
much, and it was somewhat a disappointment to be
told by the captain that we should come within sight
of it about five o'clock the next morning. If you
wish to get a good view of it,' he said, “you must
be up very early. I was on deck before daylight,


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 31
beautifully situated on the shore-front, commanding
a full view of the bay, which is a very fine one.
After tiffin, or lunch, as we call it, we chartered two
jinrikshas, and after attending to pressing business,
had a long and very beautiful ride, of about six
miles, round by the race-course and Mississippi Bay,
back through rice-fields, which were being cleared of
their crops, pausing for a short time for a rest in a
characteristic Japanese village, where we had tea in
Japanese style, and were regarded with quite undis-
guised curiosity by about half a dozen young
Japanese women, who stood round us while we drank
our tea, chattering and laughing, taking up our caps
and looking at them, and feeling the texture of our
clothes. Yokohama is of considerable size and
importance, and from being only a small fishing
village in 1859, has grown to be a town with a
population in 1890 of 80,000 natives, and 3737
foreigners, of whom 2487 are Chinese, five hundred
and eighty-seven British, two hundred and twenty-
eight citizens of the United States, one hundred
and sixty Germans, one hundred and nine French.
There are many marks of Western civilization—
churches, schools, newspapers, telegraphs, railways.
Yokohama may be divided into three districts—the
settlement, the Bluff, and the native town. In the
settlement there is the English Hatoba, the prin-
cipal landing-place of the port, stretching away from
which to the east is the Bund, some 1200 yards
in length, where are the principal steamship offices,
business places of different kinds, and hotels. It
seems to be the principal promenade, where you see


32
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
a crowd of jinrikshas, many people on horseback,
and a few driving in carriages. If a lady is in the
carriage, you will be nearly sure to see her handling
the reins. With every carriage of any pretension
you will see a betto—an outrunner—and these men
keep near the head of the horse, at whatever pace he
may be going; he is certain to be there when the
carriage draws up. The Bluff is a hill overlooking
the town and harbour, whence many fine views are
obtained, and on which have been erected a consider-
able number of good and pleasantly situated houses.
The native town is of large extent, composed of low,
slightly built houses—the open shop in front and the
living-room in the rear, with the construction and
general appearance of which all are familiar who saw
the Japanese village which was a popular exhibition
in London some years ago.
The following day we visited Tokyo, the capital
city of Japan, and distant from Yokohama eighteen
miles. We travelled by rail, and made the journey
each way in about three-quarters of an hour. The
railway is well appointed and well managed, and a
large number of persons seem to be constantly
travelling between Yokohama and Tokyo. Leaving
the Yokohama station a fine view is obtained of
Noge Yama, and on the hill is seen a large and
somewhat famous Shinto temple. On our way to
Tokyo we pass several towns of no particular
importance, but within a mile and a half of the
Tokyo station is the village of Ikegami, in which is
a very famous temple, dedicated to the worship of a
well-known Buddhist priest, Nichiren, who lived some


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 33
six hundred years ago. The place, we were told,
is of great interest, but we were obliged to content
ourselves with a rapid and passing glance at it.
Tokyo is a very large city, with over a million
of people residing in it. It is nine miles long and
eight miles broad. The foreign inhabitants are few
—in the official return of 1885 only one hundred and
ninety-seven; these have to reside in the settlement
of Tsukiji. According to recent statistics there are
no fewer than two hundred and thirty-four Shinto
and 3081 Buddhist temples in the city.
On our arrival we walked some distance through
the principal business street, and called on one of
the missionaries, at whose house we met several
others. On the way we paid a visit to a large
Buddhist temple, remarkable, so far as I could learn,
for nothing except that the empress frequently
worships there. Having spent the morning in
making what inquiries we could as to the progress
of mission work in Japan generally, and Tokyo in
particular, we bade adieu to our missionary friends,
and under the care of our Japanese guide, started
off in jinrikshas to a distant part of the city which
we were recommended to visit, and we went through
several miles of streets. Everything had a strange
Oriental look, the people with their picturesque and
many-coloured clothing, many not overburdened with
clothing of any kind, but all apparently having some-
thing to do. The shops are so numerous that one
wonders where the customers can come from;
and I may here say that these streets look more
picturesque by night than by day—the shops, being
C


34
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
perfectly open to the street, have a bright and
attractive appearance with their paper lanterns and
illuminated signs. After a long ride through the busy
and crowded parts of the city, we came to what is the
official district, large residences and offices stretching
along the river-side, the river being about as wide as
the Thames at Westminster. We drove for some dis-
tance along the broad and well-planted road which runs
by the river-side, and which we were told is a favourite
promenade for the people of Tokyo on holidays.
We then returned and crossed the river, that we
might visit a celebrated temple—the Pagoda of
Towers—which we could see from the river walk.
This temple, which is one of the most celebrated in
Japan, is known by the name of Kin-Ryu-Zan, but
it is more commonly distinguished by the name of
tho goddess, Kwannon Sama, to whose worship the
temple is especially devoted. The representation
of Kwiinnon is a small image of pure gold, only two
inches in height; it is kept in the most sacred part
of the temple, and is seldom seen by any except the
priests. Besides the principal temple there are many
subordinate ones, and a large number of different
shrines and idols, before which you may see the
worshippers devoutly kneeling. These shrines are
so numerous that the visitor whose stay is brief gets
completely bewildered by them. There are, among
many smaller erections, a pagoda, an octagon
building containing an immense number of idols,
and a large hall for the performance of religious
rites, and there are many representations of the
miracles wrought by Kwannon, the merciful goddess.


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 35
The approach to this temple is by a long and broad
stone-paved walk, lined on either side by shops,
devoted to the sale of a great variety of articles,
especially toys, books, sweetmeats, ornaments of
different kinds; and when we passed, this approach
was crowded with people going to and returning
from the temple. At the end of this walk is a huge
red building, the entrance or gate-hall of the temple,
while on each side of the broad approach are two
immense colossal gods, protected by iron screens.
They are the guardians of the gate, and are called
NI-0 (two kings). One stands ready to welcome
those who repent of their sins, while the other
welcomes the birth of an infant destined to become a
good man. The visitdr will notice in the courtyard
of this, and, indeed, of all temples, a large number
of tame pigeons. They are held sacred, and to give
piously inclined persons the opportunity of feeding
them, you will see women offering for sale rice and
peas in small earthen pots. People do not visit
Asakusa for religious purposes only, but for pleasure
also, and pleasure of a very ordinary kind. In the
temple grounds you will find a theatre, circus,
archery galleries, tea-booths, shops, and an immense
variety of shows, to which admission is obtained at a
very slight cost. These grounds were so crowded that
we had difficulty in making our way through them.
We now made the best of our way to the division
of the city called Shiba, the garden of Tokyo. The
roads here are clean, good, and wide, with trees
planted on either side, and priests variously attired
are met at every turn. The chief interest of this
<


36 - A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
district centres in its temples, all of which are pro-
bably well worth visiting, the most celebrated and
the one we were most anxious to see being the
Zojyoji. We reached this temple just as it was being
closed for the night, and we were afraid at first that
we should not get a sight of it; but our Japanese
guide, who was a Buddhist, said he would try and
arrange that for us, and he went forward to interview
some of the priests, and came back with the announce-
ment that though the principal gateways could not
be .opened till the morning, if we did not mind making
a little detour we might get in another way; and so,
yielding ourselves up to the guidance of a priest, we
were led along in a way so tortuous that I am sure if
he had suddenly left us we should never have found
our way out alone. The Zojyoji contains the tombs
of the Shogun, which are of great splendour. It was
the custom to bury the Shogun of the Tokugawa
family alternately at Shiba and Ueno. The remains
of seven lie at the former, and five at the latter place.
We passed through a long pebbled court, which con-
tains two hundred large stone lanterns, stone pillars
about eight or nine feet in height, with an enclosed
space near the top for the light to be placed in : these
are offerings to the deceased by some of their vassals,
called Fudai Daimyo. Those of a much higher grade,
called Kokusho Daimyo., presented the numerous
bronze lanterns seen there, while six of large size,
and conspicuous a^s standing by themselves, were
presented by three princely families, called Go-San-Ke.
We felt almost like thieves and robbers, as with shoe-
less feet we proceeded in ghostly silence, and in


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 37
absolute darkness, save so far as it was mitigated by
the light of the paper lanterns carried by the priests,
and one or two paper lanterns of the temple which
they lighted up. With such light as we had we
could only see very imperfectly the wonderful con-
tents of the temple, but we saw a little of the bronze
and lacquer, gold,and silver work, which we should have
been glad to examine at greater leisure and with a
better light. After a busy day we just managed to
catch our train and reach our hotel in time for dinner.
The next morning at eleven we had to leave for
Kobe. Our first idea was that we should cross the
island by rail; but when we found that this meant
a tedious journey of twenty hours, and that while
incurring additional fatigue we should save but very
little time, we determined to go by sea, and secured
berths on board the Omari Maru, and we had no
reason to regret our decision.
We arrived at Kobe about four o'clock on the
Saturday afternoon. Kobe and Hiogo together
practically form one town of about 120,000 people,
stretching along the bay, and at the foot of a range
of moderately high hills, up the lower slopes of which
the town creeps. As in Yokohama and Tokyo, there
is the foreign settlement and the native town, with
its unchanged customs a/id strange foreign and
Oriental look—everything reminding you that you
are in Japan—and yet, with al^ this, a wonderful
intermingling of things imported from the West.
Shops in which not a single thing is sold which
would be familiar to a European or American,
lighted with the electric light, and other shops in


38
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
which you would see a strange medley of things of
native manufacture and use, side by side with others
which have avowedly come from Europe or America
After dinner two of the missionaries came down to
the hotel, and gave us a very interesting account of
the work of Christian missions in Japan, and one
of them kindly undertook to act as our guide the
next day.
On Sunday morning, soon after nine o'clock, we
started and went first of all to the Wesleyan chapel,
to see the school which is carried on there before the
public service. We were pleased to see a goodly
number under instruction, senior scholars all of them,
and we had a pleasant talk with some of the teachers,
who were very glad to see friends from England who
were interested in their work. We then went to the
native Congregational chapel, a much larger build-
ing, where a large Sunday school of adult scholars
was being taught. The children assemble for instruc-
tion at an earlier hour. This church interested us
as one which has not only a native membership of, I
believe, nearly five hundred, but is under native
management, and has, or had, a native pastor. They
are now seeking a pastor. We then went to the
chapel which has been built on the compound of
Mr. Thompson, the American Baptist missionary.
It has a native congregation, and the service was
being conducted by a native of great natural elo-
quence. We then hurried down to the Union church
in time to hear a great part of the sermon, that day
preached by a Baptist; it is the church sustained
and attended by the English-speaking foreign resi-


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 39
dents, who, judging from that Sunday, do not attend
in such numbers as they should.
Soon after three we went to the native Congre-
gational chapel again, as we were wishful to see a
real native service. The building, seating about five
hundred, was quite full, and we were almost the only
Europeans. We heard two addresses given with
much freedom, and listened to with great attention.
It was the communion Sunday, and we should
have remained, but had promised to attend a
meeting of missionaries at half-past four. It
was a very enjoyable gathering for prayer and
praise. Mr. Glover and myself were asked to speak,
which we did very briefly, and one or two of the
missionaries expressed their views in reference to
their work, arid their relation to the churches at home.
Our visit to Japan was so brief, and our oppor-
tunities of personal inspection and inquiry so small,
that I do not feel able to say much about the position
and prospects of Christian rriissions. There can be
no doubt that a great and good and solid work has
been done, the extent and value of which cannot
easily be estimated; and if we inquire as to the
beneficial changes which have taken place, there
are but few well-informed people who would not be
prepared to allow that Christianity has been one
of the most potent factors in the production of
results the reality of which no one can question, and
in the advantage of which an immense number
of people participate who do not in the slightest
degree recognize their obligations to Christianity.
One great discouragement—and perhaps the most


40 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
serious hindrance to mission work—is the non-
religious, or positively irreligious, character of a large
part of the foreign and nominally Christian popula-
tion; another, operating in a different way, arises
from the unreliable character of - the native race.
They have many estimable features of character, but
steadfastness, sincerity, and truthfulness would not
be reckoned among the distinguishing virtues of the
Japanese. They are an easily impressible and essen-
tially imitative people, quick to take up any new
'thing, and not reluctant to abandon it for something
more new. Notwithstanding this, the testimony of
the missionaries is that the Japanese Christians have
stood well, and that, too, in the presence of opposi-
tion and active persecution.
The educational work carried on by several
missions is extensive in its character, and, so- far as
we could gather, satisfactory in its result. We called
at one educational establishment — that of the
Methodist Episcopal Church at Nagasaki. There
are two large schools, one for boys, and another for
girls, in which they have had at one time nearly four
hundred pupils, and we were pleased to find that all
the pupils pay for their board, and, in addition to
that, a small sum for tuition. The results of these
educational efforts will appear in the next generation.
For many years the ambition of Japan has
been to imitate and reproduce Western civilization.
Foreigners who could teach them anything, or do
anything for them, which they were unable to do for
themselves, were welcomed. Everything foreign was
popular; considerable numbers of young Japanese


FROM SAN FRANCISCO TO YOKOHAMA 41
were sent to America and Europe at public cost
to learn all that they could learn, that coming back
they might place their acquisitions at the disposal of
their country. Since about 1888, feeling has been
flowing more and more strongly in another and
opposite direction; there has been a strong con-
servative reaction. The cry now is, Japan for the
Japanese; there is a distinct and growing anti-foreign
feeling, and instead of welcoming foreigners, there is
the determination to get rid of them as soon as
possible, i.e. as soon as they can find Japanese
qualified to fill the places which have been occupied
by foreigners. This reaction is affecting ail mis-
sionary work. Christianity, which was popular as a
part of Western civilization, is popular no longer,
and while the cold shade of unpopularity rests upon
it, fewer adherents will be gained, and some professed
friends will probably fall away. I do not at all think
that this is to be regretted. During the time that
everything foreign was so popular, the success of
missions was phenomenal. This altered tone of
feeling will probably act as a salutary check to a
too rapid growth, and prove a time of sifting, from
which religious movements in. the end take no harm.
Of the indirect results of Christian missions, I may
mention the increased observance of Sunday. The
Japanese Government have made it a public holiday.
A great deal of work is completely stopped on that
day, and in Kobe, while a great deal of work is going
on, the difference between the state of the streets
on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning was as
great as that discernible in some parts of London.


42
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
CHAPTER II.
CHEFOO AND TIEN-TSIN.
The Inland Sea and Corea-Nagasaki—Buddhist temple-Mission
school-Fusan-Jinsen, or Shemulpoo, a Corean village-Corean
funeral customs—Voyage to China-Chefoo—Yentai-Chinese filth
-Chinese curiosity—Market gardens-Ancestral burial-places-
Mission work-American Presbyterian Mission-China Inland
Mission-Voyage to Tien-tsin-Taku-Railway-ride-Tien-tsin-
Missionary work—Meeting of missionaries and mission workers-
Flood and famine-Visit to famine villages-Extreme destitution-
Chinese good nature.
WE left Kobe in a coasting steamer, making several
calls at Japanese and Korean ports on the way to
Chefoo, Tien-tsin being her destination. Our course
lay through the Inland Sea. This sea is in its widest
part some forty miles across, and in other parts very
narrow, and we were for miles threading tortuous
channels not more than one or two cables' length in
breadth. The sea is not studded, it is in places
simply crowded with islands, mountainous and rocky,
always picturesque, and, except when we are out in
the more open parts, thronged with junks, sampans,
and fishing-boats of every kind. Some of the
narrow straits through which we passed reminded
me of the Kyles of Bute, and for hundreds of miles


CHEFOO AND TIEN-TSIN
43
we had scenery far exceeding the finest parts of the
West Coast of Scotland.
Our first calling-place was Shimonoseki, where we
only waited long enough to leave and receive mails,
and we then went on to Nagasaki, where we remained
thirty-six hours. We arrived at Nagasaki about
nine p.m. It was a splendid starlight night, and the
appearance of the harbour—one of the finest in the
world—was very striking. The harbour itself is about
two or three miles long, and completely shut in by
steep hills of considerable height. The town, with
a population of 30,000, is built round the upper
part of the harbour, the houses in places creeping
a little way up the hillsides. When we arrived,
there seemed to be a light in every house, while the
almost innumerable junks and sampans each had its
own paper lantern, the general effect being very
striking. The next day we spent on shore exploring
the native town, and visiting a shop celebrated for
the manufacture of articles of different kinds in tor-
toiseshell. We had the opportunity of seeing the
process of manufacture, which is very interesting, and
many of the results, which are beautiful and costly.
We paid a visit to a Buddhist temple, to reach which
you have to climb some two hundred steps, and if
there is not very much to be seen in the temple,
when you get to it you obtain an exceedingly fine
view of the town and harbour. After that we had
a longer and more difficult climb up to the mission
school, getting back to our ship, after a long day's
work, at nightfall. At nine a.m. we were off again,
and were thus able to admire the wonderfully beau-


CHAPTER II.
CHEFOO AND TIEN-TSI
The Inland Sea and Corea—Nagasaki—Buddhis1
school—Fusan—Jinsen, or Shemulpoo, a Con
funeral customs—Voyage to China—Chefoo—
—Chinese curiosity—Market gardens—Ances
Mission work—American Presbyterian Miss
Mission—Voyage to Tientsin—-Taku—Railwa
Missionary work—Meeting of missionaries and
Flood and famine—Visit to famine villages—Ej
Chinese good nature.
We left Kobe in a coasting steamer>
calls at Japanese and Korean ports d
Chefoo, Tien-tsin being her destination!
lay through the Inland Sea. This sea
part some forty miles across, and in ot
narrow, and we were for miles threa<
channels not more than one or two ca
breadth. The sea is not studded, it
simply crowded with islands, mountainous
always picturesque, and, except when we a
the more open parts, thronged with junks, si
and fishing-boats of every kind. Some o
narrow straits through which we passed rem
me of the Kyles of Bute, and for hundreds of


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to it* pwifMa
it has ohk i


CHEFOO AND TIEN-TSIN
45
some work was going orj, and in the shop, or on
the roadway in front, some articles were exposed
for sale. The Coreans are a good-looking people,
with a peculiar and picturesque style of dress. The
married men wear their hair worked up into a kind
of top-knot; the unmarried men have it hanging
down their backs in a very loose plait. They were
all dressed in white, which they wore on account of
"the death of their queen, which took place about
seven months ago. This mourning has to be worn
for three years. I was told that white has become
their customary dress, so that they are ready for a
season of public mourning whenever it comes.
At Fusan a party of Coreans, one of them a noble,
came on board our vessel, having in charge two
coffins with the bodies of dead Coreans, which they
were conveying to Shemulpoo to place in their
fathers' sepulchre. They made a little shelter for
themselves on deck, and during the forty-eight hours'
voyage they watched their dead night and day, two
at a time. For a certain number of days, at the
commencement of a season of mourning, they wear
a hempen sackcloth over their white garments, and a
peculiarly shaped mourning-cap of the same material.
Corea has been only open to foreigners about seven
years, and was known as the Hermit nation, so self-
secluded was it. Owing to its position relatively to
China, Japan, and Russia, it has come a good deal
to the front of late. Seoul, the capital of Corea, is
about twenty-eight miles from this port, and has, I
am told, a population of 300,000 people: The Roman
Catholics have a strong mission there, dating from


46 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
the old Jesuit missions, and several Protestant
Churches are represented.
We left Shemulpoo about three o'clock on Tuesday
afternoon, and being delayed by bad weather, dropped
anchor in Chefoo harbour at 11.30 on Wednesday
night, eight hours after time.
Chefoo is a misnomer. The town of Yentai is
the port to which this name has come to be applied;
while Chefoo is a harbour in the neighbourhood
of Yentai, but has really no connection with it.
When the town was first occupied by merchants of
other nations, it was in the possession of French
troops, and no foreign settlement was marked out
The consequence is that no plan has been adopted
for the arrangement of the houses of foreign residents,
and they are mixed up in some degree with native
houses. The climate of Chefoo is considered very
healthy, as compared with other parts of China, and
it is being increasingly used as a health-resort during
the hot summer months. During the winter the
Peiho is frozen, and merchandise and mails for Tien-
tsin and the more northern cities are landed here.
Chefoo is celebrated as the place where Sir Thomas
Wade and the Grand Secretary, Li-Hung-Chang,
concluded the Chefoo Convention, in September, 1876.
The native city is squalid and uninteresting, and is
a place of considerable size, with an estimated popu-
lation of 29,000. It is surrounded with a wall, erected
in the time of the Taiping rebellion, and the gates of
the city are closed every night soon after sunset. We
saw a great deal of the native city during our short
stay. The streets are so narrow that in many places


CHEFOO AND TIEN-TSIN
47
you can touch the shops, which line them on either side,
with your outstretched hands. In the centre there is
a narrow causeway of stones very roughly laid, and on
each side an accumulation of filth: There is a total
and universal disregard of everything in the shape of
sanitary precautions and arrangements, and as the
Chinese seem destitute of all sense of smell, they live
contentedly in the midst of odours which to an
Englishman are almost unbearably disgusting. Yet,
strange to say, the Chinese declare that one reason
for their dislike of us is that they do not like the
smell of us—we smell like sheep. The Chinese not
only live in the midst of dirt; they are dirty them-
selves. As a nation, they suffer from hydrophobia.
It fills them with astonishment and dismay to see
Englishmen use water so freely for purposes of
ablution. The Chinese differ very much from the
Japanese in this particular. There is a saying in
these parts that it is as difficult to get a Chinaman
into a bath as it is to keep a Japanese out of one.
The houses in the native town are low wooden
erections, with an upper story; the shops are open
to the street. In them you see people working at
their various industries, quite undisturbed by the
presence of those who are looking on. In perhaps
the majority of these shops—certainly in an immense
number of them—you see people engaged in the
manufacture, cooking, or sale of food. Many of the
things offered for sale appear to foreigners very
remarkable compounds. They are, however, eagerly
purchased, and with evident approval consumed by
the Chinese. These streets during the business hours


48 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
of the day are crowded, people standing round the
shops, some being purchasers, and more interested
spectators; the paved causeway in the middle of the
street is thronged with files of coolies carrying burdens,
and ponies, mules, and asses engaged in the same
useful work. Riding in a chair, it is often a matter
of some difficulty to get along. You see everywhere
dogs, who seem harmless enough, though they occa-
sionally lift up their voices in anger or surprise
as you pass; and pigs, always black, are constantly
encountered, luxuriating in the abominations of
the street, or, where there is room enough to allow
it, lying by the roadside in.lazy enjoyment of the
sunshine. The Chinese are as much distinguished
for undisguised curiosity as the Japanese and Coreans.
If you pause for a minute or two in front of a shop,
you immediately have a crowd about you. If two
foreigners meet to have a brief conversation, they
have forty or fifty people gathered about them,
listening with as. much appearance of interest as
though they understood every word that was spoken.
Walking or riding in the outskirts of the town, we
are struck by the diligence and skill of the Chinese
as gardeners, and the amount of produce they get off
small pieces of ground is simply astonishing. This
is explained by what they put into it. Everything
which can be used as manure is carefully collected
and treasured, and you cannot go far in any direction
without coming upon small heaps of manure, care-
fully plastered over with clay to prevent evaporation.
And you see as frequently other heaps that might
easily be mistaken for potato-pits, to which are


CHEFOO AND TIEN-TSIN
49
skewered down small pieces of paper with inscrip-
tions. These, we were told, were ancestral graves—
often of great antiquity.
Our conveyance was usually the chair carried by
two bearers, a convenient and cheap mode of loco-
motion; and by these we were carried up and down
steep and rugged paths, where we should have been
inclined to say two men could not keep their feet
carrying a fairly heavy burden in such a way, but
they are to the manner born.
- Important missionary work is done at Chefoo by
the American Presbyterian Church and the China
Inland Mission, and, in addition to evangelistic work,
there are hospitals and schools maintained, which
are rendering valuable service. We had the oppor-
tunity of seeing something of both the medical
and educational work done, and were exceedingly
pleased with what we saw. We attended a native
service in the Presbyterian church, a good-sized
building, with a projecting wing at the pulpit end,
in which the women sit, so that while they have a
full view of the minister, they cannot see or be seen
by the male part of the congregation. The building
was well filled with Chinese men and women. The
service was altogether in Chinese. The hymns that
afternoon were, 'Just as I am,' 'My faith looks up
to Thee,' 'Art thou weary?' and the Doxology.
At the close of the service the ordinance of the
Lord's Supper was observed; there were about one
hundred communicants. At the close Dr. Corbett
told the congregation who we were, and what was
our errand, and proposed a resolution to the effect
D


50 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
that they sent, through us, their thanks to English
Christians for the interest they had shown in the
evangelization of the Chinese, and their hope that
they would 'continue to give them their sympathy,
help, and prayers. The whole congregation stood
up as a token of their acceptance of Dr. Corbett's
resolution, arid remained standing in token of their
interest in and respect 'for us as Christian brethren
who had come all the way from England to see them.
The American Presbyterian Mission has been
carried on in Shan-tung for about thirty years. They
have done a very fine work, and have at present a
church membership of about 3000, and about 1000
candidates for church membership. The China In-
land Mission is represented in Chefoo by Dr. Douth-
waite, a medical missionary, who has a hospital and
dispensary under his charge, and acts as local
superintendent of the mission. They have also a
large and well-conducted school for the children «
of their missionaries, and a sanatorium, to which
missionaries can resort when a change is needful.
When we reached Chefoo it was with the idea,
according to arrangement entered into before leaving
England, that we should go at once up to Tsing-chow-
fu, but we were compelled to alter our arrangements,
and go to Tien-tsin instead. We left in a coasting
steamer, which landed us at Taku, whence we pro-
ceeded by rail to Tien-tsin.
The line runs through a perfectly flat country,
which was to a large extent under water, the result
of recent disastrous floods. On our arrival at Tien-tsin,
or rather the railway terminus, which is some distance


CHEFOO AND TIEN-TSIN
51
from it, we found ourselves on the platform looking
after our baggage, in the midst of a clamorous crowd
of coolies, who were eager to act as porters, and we
unable to speak a word of Chinese. While we were
doing the best we could for ourselves, the Rev. T.
Richard appeared on the scene, and saved us from
all further anxiety. We crossed the river, and were
soon under the shelter of his hospitable roof, our
mggage following.
Tien-tsin is a large and important place, distant
eighty miles from Peking. The city within the walls
is small compared with the suburbs, which are of
great extent, and in these suburbs a number of
foreigners dwell. The foreign concession on the
south side of the river is largely taken up, and is
divided into two parts—the British and the French
settlements. The Bund is a busy scene. In addition
to business of a more general kind, immense quantities
of rice are being received and despatched; lying on
what we should call the quay you can see from
100,000 to 120,000 piculs—the picul is about 130 lbs.
The foreign settlement contains many good houses
and business premises, and is managed by a public
body, which has for its use what is called the Muni-
cipal Buildings—an edifice of some pretensions.
Tien-tsin is well known in connection with the
treaty signed by Lord Elgin in a temple since called
Elgin's Temple, or Elgin's Joss House, on June 25,
1858, and known as the Treaty of Tien-tsin. It made
itself notorious by the cowardly massacre of the French
Sisters of Mercy and other foreigners on June 21, 1870.
The town is connected by telegraph with Peking and


52 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
Shanghai. Its estimated population is 950,000; this
estimate is, many think, somewhat too high.
The London Missionary Society, the New Con-
nexion Methodists, the American Episcopal Metho-
dists, and the American Board have here important,
well-staffed and well-equipped centres of work, and
we met, very pleasantly and profitably, with a large
number of able and zealous Christian men and
women engaged in the missionary work, some of
whom have been labouring here for thirty years.
We devoted some time to the inspection of hospital
and educational work, and we were much pleased
with what we saw. One evening, missionaries, mission
workers, and friends specially interested in mission
work were invited to meet us for conference at the
house of Mr. Richard, and a large number responded
to the invitation. A representative of each mission
gave an account of the work under his or her charge,
and then we proposed a number of questions as to
missionary operations in China, to which the ladies and
gentlemen present gave replies. We obtained much
valuable information, and the meeting was felt to be
a very pleasant one by all who were present.
While in Tien-tsin we had a remarkable and
valuable experience. The annual rainfall in Chih-li
is twenty-eight inches spread over many weeks. In
July, 1890, between the first and twenty-second,
there was a rainfall of thirty-eight inches. Owing
to these excessive rains a large part of the Chih-li
plain was inundated, the water spreading with un-
usual rapidity, and of the drainage basin of the
Peiho, estimated at 60,000 square miles, one-tenth


CHEFOO AND TIEN-TSIN 53
part was completely submerged. Information is
imperfect as to the extent of mischief done, but it
is supposed that not less than 4,000,000 people will,
until the wheat harvest of next May, be entirely
dependent on charity. Imperial and provincial
authorities and native benevolent societies are
putting forth strenuous efforts to provide needful
resources. The foreign residents in Tien-tsin, how-
ever, felt that they should take an active part in this
work of benevolence, and they elected a relief com-
mittee, which issued a circular appealing to foreign
residents in China, Japan, Corea, and the Straits
Settlements, it being deemed inexpedient to send
the appeal beyond these limits. The Chinese
authorities assigned to them ten or twelve villages
in the neighbourhood of Tien-tsin, for which they
held themselves responsible. A deputation from the
committee was appointed to visit these villages to
check the official reports, and to ascertain as exactly
as possible the condition of things, with a view to
the early distribution of relief. My colleague and
myself were invited to go with these gentlemen, and
we very gladly accepted the invitation. The villages
were divided amongst those who went forth. I was
attached to a party which had to inspect and report
upon two villages. Though the flood had subsided
to a large extent, our road lay along an embank-
ment, from which water extended in every direction,
the villages being almost surrounded with it. In
some instances the only means of approach was
by boats. The country had the appearance of a
great inland sea, the villages on slightly higher



CHEFOO AND TJEX-TSIX- $5
had a lame knee, and in consequence experienced
occasional difficulty in the rougher parts of the road,
and ascending and descending broken steps, and
help was pressed upon me on all sides. Sometnnes
they almost quarrelled among themselves as to who
should offer me an arm, and they at last took almost
complete possession of me I was a great object of
curiosity, and there they were crowding and chatter-
ing around me like a lot of children. When they
helped me up or down steps they uttered a funny
little cry, as though they were lifting or lowering a
heavy load, and then there would be a laugh, in
which they evidently expected me to join. I in-
quired through my friend why they were showing
me all this attention, and the reply was that having
come so far to see them they did not mean to let me
come to any harm in their village; and when we
started for home there was quite a crowd of the elders
of the village talking to me in words which I could
not understand, but which, I was told, meant that they
were likely to perish from hunger, and that their hearts
were full of joy that we had come to help them.
When we went to Tien-tsin, it was with the idea
of going on to Shansi at once, by way of Peking.
Hearing, however, that a large number of the repre-
sentatives of the native church had been convened
to meet us, we were obliged, after all, to go to
Shantung first, as we originally proposed, and make
the seven days' journey to Tsing-chow-fu, riding from
early morning till late at night in a Peking cart.
Mr. Harmon, our escort to Shantung, arrived a little
earlier than we expected, and our departure was at
last somewhat hurried.


A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
CHAPTER III.
FROM TIEN-TSIN TO TSING-CHOW-FU.
Journey to Tsing-chow-fu-Chinese cart—Chinese roads—Chinese inns
- Discomfort of Chinese travel-Approach to Tsing-chow-fu-
Meeting with native Christians outside the gates-Cordial welcome.
IN prospect of this long journey, and with the view
of minimizing our fatigue and discomfort, our friends
made great endeavours to secure for us mule-litters,
or shent-zus, as they are called here; but they are not
used in Chih-li, and none happening to be in the city
when we wanted them, we were, as some one said,
condemned to the cart.
Now, the Chinese or Peking cart, while a very
venerable and respectable institution, is, regarded as
a mode of conveyance, neither commodious nor
luxurious. It is a small but very heavy and strong
tilted cart on two wheels; the whole conveyance is
built of very strong, tough wood, the wheels heavily
tyred with iron, and further protected on the outside
with iron bosses ; the axle-tree is of large dimensions
and great strength, and the axle projects on each side
of the cart some six or seven inches. On the bottom
of the cart there are several wooden projections, fitting


FROM TIEN-TSIN TO TSING-CHOW-FU 57
the axle-tree, so that it can be put forward or back-
ward according to the load carried—the same principle
as in an English dog-cart, though the altered position
is secured by lifting instead of a screw—and the body
of the cart, when got into position, is secured to the
axle-tree by strong ropes; the shafts run through the
cart, so as to form the support of a rack in the rear,
on which heavy luggage can be placed, and to stop
the cart at a convenient angle when it is tilted up in
the inn yard or elsewhere.
The internal dimensions are two feet six inches in
width, by four feet in length, and the height is
sufficient for you to sit on the floor of the cart and
have a little space left between your head and its
covering, which is semicircular in shape. It must
not, however, be supposed that the whole of this space
is devoted to the use of the inside passenger—if he
gets two-thirds of it he is fortunate. Smaller articles
needed on a long journey are carefully stowed away
in the rear of the cart, and then one-half your mattress
forms a seat, while the other half is bent up against
the packages in the rear of the cart, so as to form a
support for your back; and into this partially filled
cart you have to creep and get as comfortably seated
as you can, your feet extending so as to touch the
tail of the mule, and resting on a board like the foot-
board of our English carts, the centre of which forms
a leg-rest for the passenger, and the ends seats for
the driver and Chinese attendant. Such were the
conveyances in which we were to travel some two
hundred and seventy miles.
We form quite a little caravan—four carts, eight


58 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
mules, and eleven persons, four of them English—our
two selves', Mr. Harmon, who came from Shantung
to conduct us thither; Mr. Farthing, who came from
Shansi, thinking we should visit that province first,
and who will remain with us during our visit to
Shantung, and act as our escort when the time for our
visiting Shansi arrive; our four muleteers and three
Chinamen, who render us different kinds of service
on the road. The mules are driven tandem; two
animals could not run side by side through many of
the roads by which we had to travel. There are rope
reins, or guiding lines, but they are little used. The
driver has a long bamboo rod, like a fishing-rod, with
a long, light thong, and he guides the mules with
whip and voice. The. leading mule runs two or three
yards ahead of the one in the shafts, the reason for
which arrangement soon becomes apparent: the mule
in the shafts has its position determined by circum-
stances—the leading mule can choose its own ground
to some extent, and so give help which could be given
in no other way. Again and again our road has been
a bog, in which the cart sank up to its axle, and the
mule in the shafts would be over its fetlocks. The
leading mule climbs the bank, and on firm ground
pulls away, and so after much labour we get through
on to dry ground again. No words can describe the
feelings of a passenger in a Chinese cart.
The roads of China can only be characterized as
bad and worse. I believe there are no good roads in
China, except in the foreign settlements; all the others
I have seen are unutterably bad. The very bad
roads are, I think, on the whole easier to travel on


6o A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
and find yourself in a fair-sized, often an immensely
large, courtyard. As it is dark, you are not immedi-
ately impressed with all the beauties and conveniences
of the place. The yard itself is a perfect Babel; the
shouts of drivers and servants, the braying of donkeys
and mules, the barking of dogs, confuse rather than
delight you. Chinese lanterns are constantly moving
about, perplexing instead of assisting your vision.
You, however, finally discover that the yard is sur-
rounded with low sheds, some of which are open to
the yard, for the shelter of the cattle, and others of a
slightly superior character, which are for the shelter
of travellers, are enclosed.
You are at last conducted to one of these apart-
ments. This is the guest-chamber, which has neither
been swept nor garnished. The provision most
commonly met with is two rooms about ten feet
square, connected by a doorway, but not separated
by a door; mud floor, indescribably dirty walls, an
open roof with blackened rafters, and the reed thatch
not always hiding the stars. The only furniture on our
first arrival is a small and always very dirty table, on
which stands a lamp of a pattern which dates back
probably to the time of Confucius. The lamp itself
is a small metal, shell-shaped vessel, with bean oil, in
which is placed a cotton wick, the kindled end of
which rests on and hangs slightly over the edges of
the shell, which rests upon a support somewhat like a
candlestick. But though the lamp is on its stand, it
does not give much light to those who are in the
house. Its illuminating power is equal to about one-
half of an average night-light. We are extravagant,


62 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
One of our difficulties was to find our way; three
'of our drivers had never been that way before, and
the one who had, had lost all recollection of it, it
was so many years ago. You travel for miles with
nothing to guide you but cart tracks, and when you
come to a place where cart tracks branch off in
different directions, even after careful examination of
their rival claims with the aid of a Chinese lantern,
you do not feel absolutely sure that the direction in
which you ultimately determine to move is the right
one; on several occasions we found it was not. We
had in one journey to ford several small rivers, and
were glad to find that we were able to do so. Two
rivers we had to cross by means of barges. The
most important passage was that of the Yellow
River, which at the point where we crossed is a mile
wide, and we had to go about two miles up the stream
to get to our landing-place; the carts and half our
party were on one barge, and the eight mules and
the rest of our party on another. Embarkation, dis-
embarkation, and crossing took up about three hours.
At one town where we stopped for breakfast the
chief magistrate of the district sent down to our inn
two mounted soldiers, who were instructed to act as
our escort till we reached our inn at night. They
were well mounted, but poorly armed. As far as we
could learn from them, there had been assaults made
on travellers by bands of robbers, and hearing of us
as a party of foreigners the magistrate was anxious
that no complications should arise in the district over
which he had jurisdiction. At the end of our journey
we offered them a small gratuity, which they at first


FROM TIEN-TSIN TO TSING-CHOW-FU 63
hesitatingly refused, and at last graciously accepted.
They told us that they were instructed to go with us
or provide us an escort for the rest of our journey;
but we assured them we had no fears, and were
unwilling to take them from more important duties,
and showing them our passports and sending our
cards to the magistrate with our compliments and
thanks, they did no more than get up early enough
to see us start the next morning. The only mis-
adventure we met with was the overthrow of the
cart in which my colleague travelled; he was not in
the slightest degree injured. This first journey took
us seven days and a half, and these were not short
days: we were on the road at three, four, or five
o'clock every morning, and reached our inn at night
at different times between six and eight o'clock.
As we drew near to Tsing-Chow-Fu, the thought-
ful kindness of the friends we were about to visit
became apparent. Two or three miles from the city,
several of them came out on their ponies to meet
us with two sedan chairs, to which Dr. Glover and I
very gladly transferred ourselves, and the luxury of
resting in which we fully appreciated after seven days'
jolting in the Peking carts. As we approached the
city gate, a still further and most pleasant surprise
awaited us. A large party of the native Christians,
who were then assembled in Tsing-Chow-Fu, attend-
ing the autumnal conference, came forth to meet us,
and bid us welcome in the name of the Lord. After
exchanging greetings with them; they accompanied
us to our abodes, which we were very glad to reach,
and after a hot bath and a good night's rest in a


( )
(65)
65 CHAPTER IV.
TSING-CHOW-FU.
.
.
City of Tsing-chow-fu-Baptist Mission—The province of Shantung
– Birthplace of Confucius and Mencius-Tai-shan-Buddhist
monastery-Funeral of the abbot-Confucian temple Hill of the
Cloudy Gate-Buddhist heaven and hell-Intercourse with native
Christians—Sunday services at country stations—Chinese food-
Respect for grey hairs.
THE city of Tsing-chow-fu has a population of
about 30,000, and, like many other cities we have
seen, was evidently more populous and prosperous
in former times than it is now. This city is the
centre of the Baptist Society's mission work in this
part of Shantung. It was commenced here in 1874
by the Rev. Timothy Richard, who was afterwards
joined by the Rev. A. G. Jones. In the great famine
of 1876–1877, Messrs. Richard and Jones, with self-
sacrificing devotion, gave themselves up to famine-
relief work, and, by the valuable and loving service
they rendered to the suffering and starving natives, won
for themselves a place in their esteem and affections
from which they have never been dislodged. The
famine opened up a way for the preaching of the


66
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
Gospel, and prepared the hearts of many to listen to
and welcome the good news. Some of those who
were first gathered in have fallen away, and yet a
large proportion of them have remained faithful.
This mission-—subsequently reinforced—has been
carried on with encouraging success. There are six
foreign missionaries and seven native pastors, six of
whom were ordained during our stay in the city.
Work is carried on around Tsing-chow-fu within
a radius of thirty or forty miles in seventy-nine
different places, the foreign missionaries and native
pastors being assisted by a considerable number of
evangelists and other helpers.
At the time of our arrival large numbers of the
leaders and elders of the native church were gathered
for conference, and we had repeated opportunities of
meeting and holding intercourse with them, of which
we very gladly availed ourselves. They were a
very fine set of men, earnest, simple-minded, strong
in faith, and well qualified to render valuable service
to the church with which they are associated.
Before, however, entering upon this it will not
be out of place to give a little information con-
cerning the province of Shantung. The area is
about equal to that of England and Wales, and
the estimated population is 29,000,000. The name
Shantung means 'East of the hills,' as that of
Shansi, which we are next to visit, means 'West of
the hills.' It possesses a very large sea border, and
is traversed by the Grand Canal, which furnishes, or
should furnish, an important means of intercommuni-
cation. The larger part of the province is level, the


TSING-CHOW-FU
67
hilly region being broken up into a series of chains of
hills—we should call them mountains—running across
the promontory. The longest and highest of these
ranges runs with the general trend of the coast in
Taingan-fu. Some peaks are over 5000 feet in height,
but most of them are about 3000. The inter-vales are
highly cultivated, and the soil generally productive,
except near the sheres of the Pe-cheli Gulf, where it
is nitrous. Two crops annually are produced here, as
in other parts of North China. The wheat crop is
gathered about the middle of May, millet the end of
August, beans and cotton the end of September.
The willow, aspen, oak, locust, and mulberry are
common here, as are nearly all the conifera with
which we are familiar; and I am told that silkworms
are fed on oak as well as mulberry leaves. But the
silk in this district is of a common and coarse kind.
Shantung is celebrated in Chinese history, and was
the scene of many remarkable events previous to
2000 B.C. It was the birthplace of both Confucius
and Mencius, and the Shantung people are very
proud of their province. The high mountain called
Tai-Shan, the 'great mountain,' is situated near
Taingan-fu. This peak is mentioned in Shu King as
that where Shun sacrificed to Heaven (2254 B.C.).
This mountain is celebrated for its historical as well
as religious associations; it towers above all the
other peaks of the range, and is set as 'an ensign
among the mountains, and as a beacon among the
hills.' Large numbers of pilgrims resort to it, and
every religious sect is represented there by shrines,
temples, and idols. During the spring the roads


68 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
leading to the Tai-Shan are crowded with pilgrims,
who in long caravans go up to the sacred spot, that
they may perform their devotions and supplicate
the deities for the various blessings they are supposed
to be able to give to their devotees.
The people are very poor; outside the cities and
towns the country is mostly occupied by small
peasant proprietors, holding on an average not more
than ten mou, which would be about equal to three
English acres. This land is held under the Crown
on the payment of a small annual tax. The families
depending on these small holdings are usually larger
than English families, the patriarchal system prevail-
ing, and in each family you would find ordinarily
three generations represented. In a good season they
manage to subsist in a state of what we should
regard as extreme poverty; when crops are destroyed
by flood or drought, there is utter and hopeless desti-
tution. I had some opportunity of looking into
hospital and dispensary work, and I found that the
most common ailments were those occasioned by the
miserable conditions under which these people live.
The men are many of them tall and well grown;
the women seem to be of an inferior type. They live
in mud and stone houses of small proportions and
of the very rudest construction, most of them con-
sisting of a single apartment, or at the outside two
apartments, and with little or no furniture except
the mud or brick k'ang, and a small arrangement
for cooking. The articles for household use and the
implements of husbandry are the same in form as
those used by their ancestors 2000 years ago.


7o A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
was made for burning incense before it. We went
into several different buildings devoted to worship, and
one large building in which there was an elaborately
carved shrine, measuring nearly forty feet in width,
and I should think nearly twenty feet in height. The
monks were pleasant and intelligent men, with whom
we had a good deal of conversation through our
missionary friend, who acted as interpreter. One of
them inquired to what country we belonged, and
when he was told we were English, he said he knew
Mr. Richard, and asked if we belonged to the same
religion, and seemed very pleased to hear that we
had quite recently been staying at Mr. Richard's
house.
We subsequently went to a Confucian temple—a
large structure—in which were images of Confucius
and Mencius, and a number of their most worthy
and distinguished disciples. There is nothing
imposing about these edifices, all of which are
noticeable for what I should call the three D's of
China—Decay, Dirt, Dilapidation. The idea of
keeping anything in a state of good repair seems
never to enter the Chinese mind.
One day we had a very pleasant excursion to
a celebrated temple in the neighbourhood of Tsing-
chow-fu. It is situated on the top of a lofty hill,
a few miles outside the city, named the Hill of the
Cloudy Gate, so called because of a large gateway
said to be cut through the hard limestone of the
summit, though I am inclined to regard it as a
natural opening, passing through which a magnificent
panorama bursts upon your view. In this temple


TSING-CHOW-FU
7i
there is nothing very remarkable, beyond the
exceptional beauty of its situation, and some gigantic
figures of gods and goddesses cut in the rock. There
is also on the other side of the summit a cave of
somewhat difficult approach, which we visited, in
which is a large figure, cut out of the limestone, of
the sleeping Buddha, his head resting on a pile of
books. This Hill of the Cloudy Gate is about 1000
feet high. We went on chairs and mules as far as
we could, and then I managed to scramble up the
remaining few hundred feet, with the aid of two
trusty Chinamen, who seemed pleased to render me
the service. I may here mention a fact which will
give some idea of the great difference between the
night temperature and the temperature at mid-day
in the sun. On Friday night my thermometer regis-
tered twelve degrees of frost in my bedroom; at
twelve o'clock on Saturday we were eating our lunch
in the open air, under the shelter of the rock on
the hill summit, and the sunshine was so hot that I
was glad to screen myself from it.
Another day we visited two Buddhist temples in
the city. In the former of these I was impressed
by some very beautiful inscriptions, which were
translated for my benefit. In the porch of this
temple there was suspended a large model of the
abacus — which is universally used in China for
purposes of money calculation—and the inscription
over it was: 'Man has many reckonings; Heaven
has but one.' And on two pillars which stood on
either side of the principal doorway were these
inscriptions: on the one, 'Man's goodness man


72 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
despises, but God does not despise;' on the other,
'Man's evil man fears, but God fears not.' We
then went to the other temple, containing a repre-
sentation of the Buddhist heaven and hell. These
are represented by groups of full-sized figures, which
occupy the sides of a large courtyard, the symbolical
representations being protected by a roof from the
weather, and from the too near approach of visitors
and votaries by open railwork, through which every-
thing can be clearly seen. The first group repre-
sents the proceedings of a court of justice; and
in all that follows you see in successive groups of
figures the results of these proceedings. First there
is a group who, judging from their countenances,
may be supposed to represent penitence and piety;
then a group of persons sitting down to the
heavenly feast, under the form of a Chinese banquet
to which they have been admitted; and then follow
representations of cruel torture inexpressibly horrible
—a huge cauldron, over which preside two monsters
with human bodies, the one with a horse's head
and the other with a cow's, while a deformed and
hideous fiend is acting as stoker. Further on there
is a woman going head first into the hopper of a
mill, while a lean and hungry-looking dog is lapping
up the blood which trickles from the millstones.
And so on with scenes equally horrible; for one
group representing heavenly bliss, there were, I
should think, a dozen representing scenes of in-
describable suffering. Another thing impressed me
—that this was the only temple which I have so
far visited at which any considerable number of


TSING-CHO W-FU
73
worshippers was found. Here also as at every
temple, whether Buddhist or Confucian, which we
have visited, the priests and attendants have been
ready to give us the information we asked for, and
that with no expectation of a gratuity.
Our intercourse with the native Christians was
most interesting and instructive. They are, so far as
we could see, earnest, devoted, and simple-minded
Christian people, anxious to extend among their
countrymen a knowledge of the doctrine which they
have been led to accept . In this district there are
nearly ninety Christian communities in connection
with our. mission, representatives of which were
assembled in Tsing-Chow-Fu at their autumnal
conference! On the Tuesday after our arrival the
conference met. On a later day six men, who had
been trained in Mr. Whitewright's Institution, were
ordained to serve the Church as pastors; they are a
fine set of men, earnest and capable, well qualified to
do good work in the districts in which they are to
labour. Dr. Glover gave the charge to the newly
ordained pastors, while I addressed the representatives
of the native Churches.
The first Sunday I went out on a wheel-barrow to a
village called Ma-Sung-li-Chia-Chuang; the journey
took about five hours there and back. The room in
which the service was held would accommodate about
eighty people, and was quite full, some standing
round the door. The service was introduced by the
missionary who accompanied me (Mr. Couling), who
acted as my interpreter when I preached, and in the
intercourse which I had with the people. The natives


74
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
were delighted at the visit of the Lao-mou-Shi (the
venerable pastor or teacher), who had travelled so far
to see them. The next Sunday, accompanied by Mr.
Medhurst, I spent eight hours on the wheel-barrow
going to and returning from a village called Ying-tzu,
the resident pastor being Wung-pao-l'ai, one of the
recently ordained pastors—a man of exceptional
devotion and ability. After the service they told us
that though foreigners did not usually like Chinese
food they had heard from the city that the deputation
had partaken of it, and that they therefore had
ventured to prepare food for us, as a token of their
esteem and gratitude, of which they hoped we would
partake. A simple feast was then spread for us; and
though I should have preferred the sandwiches we
brought with us, I used my chopsticks, and ate the
food they set before us, if not with a keen relish, yet
with a deep and pleasant sense of the kindly feeling
which they thus expressed. At both these Sunday
services affectionate greetings were sent from these
Chinese Christians to the Christians at home.


( 75 )
CHAPTER V.
CHOW-PING.
Chow-ping-Journey on Chinese wheel-barrow-Description of wheel-
barrow-Arrival at Chow-ping-Christmas Day in China—Kao-
Yuen-Detained by rain-Mule litter or shen-tzu—Po-sing-
Chinese hospitality-Chinese feast-An interesting service—The
last night of the year-An out-of-door service.
OUR pleasant visit to Tsin-Chow-Fu at last came to an
end, as all pleasant things must, and on the Tuesday
before Christmas Day we were obliged to bid farewell
to our friends there, of whose exceeding kindness we
shall long retain grateful recollections. On Decem-
ber 23, we took our departure for Chow-ping, a two-
days' journey, where we were to spend Christmas Day.
I found the wheel-barrow so great an improvement on
the Chinese cart that I resolved to use it again on this
occasion, and one of the missionaries placed his barrow
at my disposal. The wheel-barrow is one of the most
important and useful of Chinese institutions, and is
in this part of China more largely employed for
various purposes than any other mode of conveyance,
or, even of all other conveyances combined. Nearly
everything is carried on wheel-barrows, and by the poor


CHOW-PING
77
and rolled me out; but as the ground was level and
not exceptionally hard, the only inconvenience I
experienced was the trouble of getting in again. Had
the accident occurred elsewhere, I might have been
thrown down an embankment or into a ditch. These
barrow-men often choose what seems to the passenger
a very perilous, though to them convenient, way, to
avoid the rough road: they take the barrow-track on
the top of a high bank—a track often not more than
a foot or eighteen inches broad. You soon, however,
acquire confidence in the skill with which these men
do their work, and console yourself with the hope
that, should the barrow overturn, it will be where the
road is soft and dry.
Between four and five o'clock on the afternoon of
December 24 we reached Chow-ping, and met with
a warm welcome from the brethren there. After
dinner we held a short service—their usual Wednesday
evening service, which, of course, had a character
impressed upon it by the season which was passing
over us. On Christmas morning there were Christmas
cards oh my breakfast-table,, and at twelve o'clock a
native service in the chapel. After luncheon some of
us went out on a pleasant little excursion to see a
temple on a neighbouring hill, from the top of which
a very fine view was obtained. We went as far as we
could on barrows and mules ; the rest of the way I
walked, with the assistance that is always so kindly
given. On our return we found that the mail had
come in—the great event in a missionary settlement
in the interior. I need not say how glad I was to get
my letters from home, having had—owing to the mis-


78
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
carriage of letters—no intelligence for three months.
We had a Christmas party at the house of one of
the missionaries, who provided a regular Christmas
dinner, and except for the absence of those with whom
we should so gladly have been, we could almost
have fancied ourselves at home in Old England.
On the Friday morning we were off again on our
journey—I keeping to my wheel-barrow—arriving in
Kao-Yuen the same night, and putting up at a large
Chinese house built many years ago by a rich
mandarin at great expense, and now hired by a
missionary at less than the rent of a moderate-sized
English cottage. As in China every one travels with
his own bed and bedding, it is not so difficult to
accommodate guests in a nearly empty house; a
couple of trestles and two or three boards will make
a bedstead, and failing that, there is always a floor
to rest on.
We were detained at Kao-Yuen, at which we
proposed to tarry only for a night, by heavy rain
which lasted a whole day—the only rain we had so
far seen in China. A few hours' rain renders progress
impossible. The traveller is hindered not only by
the badness of the roads, but by the unwillingness
of the Chinese to expose themselves to heavy rain.
As soon as the rain began to fall, we saw our Chinese
servants busily engaged preparing their waterproofs—
which consist of a sort of straw thatch, which gives
them a very comical appearance, but which I am told
very effectually throws off the water, keeping the
wearer quite dry.
The following day we were able to resume our


CHO W-PING
79
journey, but the roads had become so bad that further
progression by means of the wheel-barrow had become
impossible, and I was obliged to engage a mule litter.
It is not easy to give an English reader a distinct
idea of a mule litter or shen-tzu. It is of rudest con-
struction, and if the materials are at hand can be put
together in a short time, and at small expense. It
consists really of two scaffold poles, or what might be
used as such. These are kept apart at a suitable
distance by two cross pieces of wood, firmly tied by
rope, the intermediate space being the framework for
the body of the carriage, while the projecting ends of
the poles form the shafts between which the leading
and following mules are placed. The lower part of the
litter is made of a network of ropes, hanging down
a foot or eighteen inches below the level of the poles,
while the upper part consists merely of an arch of
bent bamboos, covered with grass matting. The
packing of the litter requires skill and practice.
Boxes and more solid baggage form the substructure,
which is placed upon the network, and upon it is
placed the bedding, so arranged that you can sit
and lean back on the softer articles, which are piled
up in the rear. The internal dimensions are if any-
thing rather larger than those of a Chinese cart
The poles are attached to a strong wooden saddle
with four legs—I can think of no better term—which
keep the shen-tzu with the underhanging network
just clear of the ground when it is off the mules'
backs.
Into the shen-tzu you creep, and get comfortably
settled while it is standing on the ground, and then,


80 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
when all is ready, four men lift the poles of one end
high enough for the mule to receive the wooden saddle
attached to the poles into another wooden saddle
already suitably fixed on the mule's back. The same
process is then gone through at the other end, and
then you are off; and in the litter you remain till it
is lifted off the mules' backs again. This mode of
travel is more restful than the cart; there is more
movement, but less vibration, and there is little that
can be called jolting, except when the mules make a
sudden rush up a steep bank, or a plunge down one.
The movement is peculiar, and not absolutely plea-
sant; it is movement on one plane—longitudinal,
lateral, diagonal, in no fixed order of succession—and
the result is that your whole internal economy is sub-
jected to a constant and not very gentle churning pro-
cess, and many persons are much inconvenienced the
first day or two by a complaint similar in character
and effect to what voyagers call sea-sickness. From
that, however, I was happily preserved.
In such conveyances we set out for Po-sing, a good-
sized place only some twelve miles distant from Kao-
Yuen, but with bad roads, taking us a long four hours'
journey to reach. Starting early, however, we arrived
in time for the Sunday service, for which arrangements
had been made, and which was largely attended by
native Christians, many of whom had come long dis-
tances, notwithstanding the bad condition of the
roads. The Sunday evening we spent in pleasant
intercourse with the native Christians who crowded
our room, finishing the evening with an English
service, in which we did not forget it was the last


CHOW-PING
8:
Sunday of the year, and our friends at home, who
were spending it in the same spirit, but under very
different outward conditions. The next morning we
had another service, which was more largely attended
than the Sunday one—a good many Christians coming
in from neighbouring villages who had been hindered
by the water the day before. That service over, we
returned to Kao-Yuen, where we were to meet the
native Christians the next day.
I here must mention what was to us a very pleasant
incident. A gentleman of the city, a banker, who
is not a Christian, hearing of our expected advent,
intimated to our missionary, Mr. Drake, his wish
to show his good feeling towards us by sending us
in food, as the Chinese express it. The offer was
accepted with thanks, and accordingly a Chinese feast
was sent from this gentleman's kitchen soon after our
arrival, of which we partook with chopsticks, the art
of using which with greater or less dexterity you
soon acquire. The next day Mr. Drake invited this
gentleman and several others to dine with us, a
Chinese repast being sent in from a cook's shop.
These gentlemen paid us a complimentary call early
in the. afternoon of the day on which they were to
dine with us, and we found them then, as afterwards
at dinner, intelligent, well-informed men in many
directions, glad of the opportunity of meeting us
foreigners, eagerly receiving any information we could
give to them, and ever ready to reply to the inquiries
with which we plied them.
I should like to give my readers some idea of a
Chinese feast, but I am afraid I cannot. The guests,
F


82 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
with the host, about six in number, sit at a small
table about three feet square, on which there is no
cloth. There is placed for each guest a very small
wine-cup, and a porcelain spoon, in which is a small
quantity of vinegar. Certain savoury morsels which
are consumed in the earlier part of the feast can be
dipped into the vinegar before the spoon will be
required for the soups, which are placed on the table
later on. When the guests are seated, after a few
minutes' conversation, the host lifts the small wine-cup
—or tea-cup, if tea is used—and, with a grave and slight
inclination of his head, takes a sip or two. I may say
the wine, which tastes like weak sherry and water
sweetened, is served hot from a tea-pot. In the centre
of the table are several dishes, or saucers, with cold
preparations—meat, fish, and sweetmeats. The feast
begins with sweatmeats—they form the first course.
The host leads off, taking his chopsticks and striking
them on the table to get the ends even. He then helps
himself, and the guests imitate his example. The chop-
sticks are then laid down, and conversation resumed,
or pipes lighted up. Fresh dishes are brought in, and
so the feast goes on with much deliberation and cere-
mony at first, but with much less of it after a while.
It is quite in good form for the host—or, indeed, any
of the guests—to take up and offer you some delicate
morsel, dipping the morsel in the vinegar, should it
need to be so flavoured ; and the portion which is thus
graciously offered you must gratefully receive. The
only way of escape is by passing it on to your neigh-
bour. It also consists with the proprieties of life, if
you happen to take into your mouth anything which


84 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
pleasant intercourse with them both before and after
the service, and then pushed on again for our next
stopping-place, where we were to be the guests of
one of the native Christians, a man who is there
considered a well-to-do farmer, with about ten English
acres. He provided us with shelter; we had our
own bedding and stores. He also let us have some
fish caught in the neighbouring river. The native
Christians crowded our room, and kept us in con-
versation till it was time to retire, when we were
conducted across the yard to a shed devoted to the
protection of agricultural implements, at one end of
which was a very rude construction, on which our
bedding was spread; and there we slept, thankful
that we had a resting-place so good.
The next morning we were up in good time, as
after breakfast we were to meet a large number of
native Christians who were coming in from neighbour-
ing villages to meet us. There was no room nearly
large enough to accommodate us, and so we were
obliged to have an out-of-door service in the court-
yard. About a hundred and twenty were present.
In the shade there was twenty-six degrees of frost,
but in the sun it was warm and pleasant, and though
the service lasted two hours, what with the sun and
my furs, I had no sensation of cold. We had a most
interesting service; the length is to be explained by
the circumstance that two addresses had to be trans-
lated, and I reckon that a quarter of an hour's address
means more than half an hour when thus rendered.
The Chinese, however, are infinitely patient, and you
run a much greater risk of disappointing them by


88 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
merchandise, and it is no uncommon sight to see one
of these long, narrow streets blocked by two lines of
barrows, reaching from end to end of the street. The
immense carrying-trade of a great city like this is
done by wheel-barrows, pack-mules, donkeys, and
ponies, and men carrying burdens on bamboo-poles.
The whole place has a strange, Oriental look, the
articles which are offered for sale are mostly un-
familiar, and the use of which you know nothing
about; you meet with continual surprises, and move
about among strange things and strange people like
one in a dream.
There are many things of great interest in this
city, several of which we saw. Within the city walls
is a large lake, about one mile in length by half a. mile
in breadth. On this we spent a little time. It is
traversed by broad public water-ways, on either side
of which are enclosures belonging to different persons,
so that the lake is divided into compartments by
banks, which rise a foot or eighteen inches above the
water level. In summer, when these banks are clothed
with waving reeds, and these enclosures with the
leaves and flowers of the lotus, it must have a very
pleasant look, and on the islands are summer or tea
houses, to which the inhabitants of Chi-nan-fu resort
in large numbers. When we saw it it had a rather
desolate look, the only people there besides ourselves
being a few men who were engaged in fishing and
getting up lotus roots, which are largely used as a
vegetable, and dried and ground to form a sort of
arrowroot. We visited several Buddhist temples, one
or two of them of large size. One of them is in the


90
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
we had a social religious service at the house of Dr.
Neil, a medical missionary, attended by the mission
families in the city, Dr. Watson, of Tsing-chow-fu,
Mr. James, a member of the Society for the Propaga-
tion of the Gospel, who was staying at the house of
one of the Presbyterian missionaries, and ourselves
—the largest gathering of Christian foreigners ever
held in that city; and we did not forget our friends
elsewhere, and the week of special prayer. The next
morning we started on our return journey to Chow-
ping, where arrangements had been made for holding
a final conference with our Shantung missionary
brethren ere we set off on our long journey to
Shansi.
After a lengthened and pleasant conference with
brethren, in whose society and inspecting whose work
in different parts of Shantung we had spent more
'than six weeks, we regretfully bade them farewell,
and set off for Shansi, leaving Chow-ping on our way
thither early on Friday morning, January i6, 1891.
One incident of our journey shows the respect which
is paid to age In China, and even such appearance
of age as distinguishes Dr. Glover and myself. We
arrived later than usual one night at a miserable
little village inn, where we were obliged to break our
journey, and on our arrival found the inn yard nearly
filled with heavily laden barrows, and the only guest-
room occupied by a dozen barrow-men. A lengthened
and rather loud-voiced conversation took place between
our servants, the innkeeper, and the representative .of
the barrow-men, during which the mules remained in
the conveyances, in case we might be obliged to go


CHI-NAN-FU
91
further in quest of a resting-place. The purport of
this conversation was afterwards explained to me.
The barrow-men were at first, and quite naturally,
disinclined to give up the room of which they had
taken possession ; but it was urged upon them by our
servants and the innkeeper that we were Lao-mou-
shis of almost preternatural antiquity, and that it
would be a great shame not to offer us the best
accommodation of the inn; and they at last, recog-
nizing the force of the appeal, good-naturedly turned
out that we might turn in.
The sacrifice was not so great as the reader might
imagine; they were nearly as well off in one of the
sheds as they would have been in the guest-room,
which was a wretched place; and we should have
thought ourselves well off indeed could we have
spread out our bedding on the floor of a hayloft or
loose-box of a fairly good English stable. It was
an open room, from which the cold could not be
excluded, and for warmth there was no provision
beyond the two candles we were extravagant enough
to burn. My thermometer showed fifteen degrees of
frost inside, and only twenty outside. The cold
nights of which we sometimes complain are not,
however, without their compensating advantages.
We are not stimulated to engage in those entomo-
logical pursuits which are the nightly occupation,
though not the entertainment and solace, of those
whose lot it is to travel in the hot season; though
even in winter one of the common and not most
pleasing sights in China is that of the modern
Nimrod, sitting in the sun by the wayside, divested


92 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
of his padded jacket and shirt, if he have one, dili-
gently hunting his legitimate prey, of which at other
times he is the unconscious or irritated victim.
We broke our journey, according to previous
arrangement at Chi-nan-fu, becoming the guests for
the Sunday of the friends in that city belonging
to the American Presbyterian Mission. When we
arrived there on the Saturday night we found con-
siderable excitement prevailing, and that arrange-
ments for our accommodation had to be reversed
and altered, owing to the arrival a few hours
before of a number of refugees from Chou-ching-
Chou. In this city—the largest and most important
in the province after the capital, Chi-nan-fu—the
Presbyterians have been carrying on occasional work
for some years, and they finally decided on establish-
ing a station there, for which purpose they rented a
house as the residence of such missionaries as might
be sent. Tuesday, January 6, Dr. and Mrs. Hunter
and family and Mr. Neal arrived at the city, and
took lodgings for a few days at an inn, while their
house was being prepared for their reception. They
soon found that a very intense anti-foreign feeling
had developed, .and that a decided and strenuous
opposition would be offered to their settlement. The
gentry and literary classes were evidently organizing
a movement which should result in driving them
away. The excitement increased, riotous crowds
assembled, which became more and more insolent
and threatening in their bearing, and at last a large
and armed mob gathered before the inn in which
the missionaries were, broke into it, and threatened


CHI-NAN-FU
93
to tear it down. Dr. and Mrs. Hunter and their
children, with Mr. Neal, had to escape over a wall in
the rear, and find shelter in the homes of some
Mahommedan neighbours, who treated them very
kindly. They appealed to the magistrate, who
refused to protect them, and while he would not tell
them to go, told them that he would not take any
responsibility upon himself if they remained. In
these circumstances they felt that it would be wise to
retire, and this they did on Tuesday, the 13th, just
a week after their arrival.
We were all very thankful that they suffered no
personal injury, though it is a bitter disappointment to
them not to be able to carry forward the work upon
the doing of which they had set their hearts. About
eighteen months before, the German Roman Catholic
bishop and his staff were driven out by a riotous
mob, and their success on that occasion probably
encouraged the natives to organize this opposition to
the Presbyterian Mission. Dr. Hunter is a medical
missionary. He has just published, at his own cost,
in handsome quarto form, A Manual of Thera-
peutics and Pharmacy in the Chinese Language,
being mainly a translation of Squire's Companion
to the British Pharmacopoeia, with additions from
the United States, Indian and Chinese Pharma-
copoeias; and the work is regarded as such an im-
portant and valuable addition to Chinese medical
literature that an appreciative and commendatory
preface of some length has been written by the
Viceroy Li-Hung-Chang—the most prominent and
influential public man in China. It is sad and


9+ A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
strange that a man like Dr. Hunter, whose services
have been publicly commended by a viceroy of the
empire, should be ejected from a Chinese city, and
that he who would only be a benefactor should be
treated as a criminal.
On the Sunday night I conducted a service in
English, at which there was a larger number of
Christian foreigners present than had ever before
been gathered together in that great city of Chi-
nan-fu, and yet we could all meet in a single room
of one of the missionary houses.
Monday morning we resumed- our journey, and
after further experience of Chinese inns, we turned
aside to tarry for a night at the mission station of
Pang-Chuang, connected with.the American Board—
a society corresponding fn character with that of our
London Missionary Society—and here, though we
arrived as uninvited and quite unexpected guests,
we were received by Dr. and Mrs. Porter, and Mr.
and Mrs. Smith, with that warm and overflowing
welcome which seems ever waiting for the wandering
foreigner in China. This station is situated in an
out-of-the-way rural district, with a number of
villages within easy reach, but far away from any
considerable city or centre of population. And there
is wisdom shown in the choice of such a 'location,'
to use an American phrase. In the early days of
Christianity the villagers—pagans^were the last to
receive the Gospel, and the great triumphs of Chris-
tianity were in the towns and cities. The very reverse
is true in China. The country people are not only
more accessible than dwellers in large towns, but they


CHI-NAN-FU
95
seem more ready to receive the truth, and have much
less to fear and lose if they should openly profess
Christianity.
The next day we bade a reluctant adieu to our
kind friends, and resumed our pilgrimage, moving
slowly on till on Friday night we reached Hsiao-
Chang, a station occupied by the London Missionary
Society, most worthily represented by Dr. and Mrs.
McFarlane, and Mr. and Mrs. Rees. Here there is a
work similar in character to that at Pang-Chuang, in
or near to a quiet country village, and with a large
number of villages and hamlets within a short dis-
tance, in many of which evangelistic work is carried
on with much success. The work in this district
was conducted for some years from the Tien-tsin
centre; it has only been a residential mission for the
last two years and a half. . The Medical Mission
work here and at Pang-Chuang cannot be too highly
commended; indeed, everywhere it seems to be one
of the most important and encouraging departments
of the great missionary enterprise.
This district is infested by bands of robbers. The
night before our arrival at Hsiao-Chang a large
party of robbers broke into a village inn, with lighted
torches, guns, and pistols, and other weapons, and
carried off some eight hundred taels in silver and
other property from travellers who were staying there
that night . There seems to have been some resistance,
as several persons were seriously wounded. The
robbers did not know that three Englishmen were
peacefully sleeping in an unprotected village inn
not two miles away, or they would probably have


96
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
honoured us with a visit. On starting for Hsiao-
Chang, we arranged to start very early in the morning,
so that we might reach there in good time. To our
surprise and mortification, we were not called till
six o'clock, and, on inquiring the reason, found that
the magistrate had sent word to the inn that we
were not to depart before dawn, unless we went with
a military escort, and as such an escort had not been
arranged for, he told our servants not to call us before
six o'clock.
Our late start was the occasion of an amusing
incident. When we stopped for lunch we found that
we could not reach Hsiao-Chang till seven o'clock or
after, and we felt that the hour would be too late
for a large party to drop in unexpectedly, so we
sent on one of our servants on the spare donkey to
prepare for our advent. On receiving this message
about an hour prior to our arrival, Dr. McFarlane
and Mr. Rees at once saddled their horses and went
forth in company with our servant to meet us, as the
roads were somewhat difficult and intricate. Having
ridden out several li, they saw at a distance a Chinese
cart, which they thought must belong to our party,
and raised at the top of their voices a good English
halloa, which they felt sure would arrest it if any
Englishmen were in it. Instead of stopping, the
cart went on at a more rapid rate, whereupon our
friends rode after it till they saw that a mule, a
donkey, and a bullock were harnessed to it, and
they knew from that it was not one of our carts;
they then left the cart to hurry on its way, they
walking their horses leisurely back to the village;


CHI-NAN-FU.
97
on reaching which they found considerable excite-
ment, the occupants of the cart having made it
known that they had been chased by two mounted
robbers, and the men of the village were turning
out, according to custom, to go in pursuit of them.
Our friends on coming up inquired as to what
had happened. On being informed, they were able
to quiet alarm by announcing that they were the
supposed robbers, and everything ended in a good-
natured laugh. This matter being satisfactorily settled,
Dr. McFarlane and Mr. Rees went out on another
road, and this time met us a few li from the house,
where a most hospitable welcome was awaiting us.


THE GREAT PLAIN OF CHINA 99
the plain you see trees, you may be nearly sure
that they mark the site of some town or village,
or the margin of some stream, or some burial en-
closure. In China burial-grounds are private, and
are met with everywhere, and evergreen trees, such
as the pine, arbor vitae, and cypress, are planted
in double rows round the burial-places of wealthier
families. The graves of the poor are marked by
nothing more than conical heaps of earth about the
size of an English haycock. The naturally barren
appearance of the plain at this season, when the
wheat is only a few inches above the ground, is
increased by the fact that animals seem to be freely
allowed to nibble off the tops of the growing plant.
The almost complete absence of timber in so large
a district obliges the poor to use as fuel almost
everything that can be consumed, and you constantly
meet with men and boys and women with their
baskets and bamboo rakes, gathering up every piece
of millet root or dry grass that they can discover.
Another illustration of the poverty of the people and
the cheapness of human labour is the fact that you
cannot go many hundred yards on any frequented
road in this part of the empire without seeing men
and boys with baskets and ingenious little five-
pronged forks, eagerly collecting manure for the
fertilization of their small plots of ground.
Travelling over this plain you are impressed, or
rather depressed, by its dead level uniformity and
monotonous and dreary appearance. The villages,
towns, and cities, which are numerous, being composed
almost exclusively of one-storied houses, and sur-


too
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
rounded with earthen or brick walls, the exact colour
of the plains, would not engage attention till you are
close upon them, were it not for the trees, not often
tall trees, which grow within them. The people in-
habiting those portions of the plain which we visited
were distinguished by what seems to an Englishman
extreme poverty, and a quiet contentment arising
from complete ignorance of any better conditions
than those under which they have always lived.
Hoping for nothing better, they are in constant dread
of something worse—the famine which so certainly
follows both drought and flood ; they are always on
the very verge of destitution, and often suffering from
it. They live on from one generation to another, with
manners and customs that are practically unchanged.
At each end of the village you see the public thresh-
ing-floor, and here and there in the village street the
mill, to which the families may bring their little stores
of grain, the mill being nothing more than a stone
roller working on a circular bed of stone. In the
interior it is more than ever manifest that the life of
this great nation has been practically untouched by
Western ideas and influences, save where mission
stations have been planted. The natives round about
these stations become acquainted with foreigners,
whom they at first regard with suspicion and dislike,
but who at last, by quiet acts of Christian benevolence,
win their confidence, and even their affection.
The extreme poverty of a great part of the district
can be traced to the frequent overflowings of the
Yellow River (the Hwang-ho), which runs through it
—a river which has earned the name of 'China's


102 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
desolating floods ; at immense cost and with immense
labour vast embankments have been reared ; but very
little engineering skill has been displayed in the
erection and arrangement of them, and still less care
is bestowed upon the maintenance of them in good
repair. Again and again, at road-crossings, I have
seen them worn down nearly to the level of the plain
they were intended to protect . From what I have
seen I should be inclined to say that nothing is
needed but money and engineering skill to save the
country from these floods, which have so often
occurred, and which, if things remain as they are,
must inevitably occur again.
Before leaving this part of China, a word or two
should be said about one of the greatest, and what
should be one of the most useful, of the public works
of the empire—the Grand Canal. This we crossed
several times, and by the banks of it we travelled
many miles. This canal was designed to be, and
ought, at any cost, to have been maintained as the
great artificial waterway of the empire, reaching as
it does from Peking to Shanghai, and running through
some of the most important provinces of China.
But, like nearly everything else in China, it has fallen
into a state of disrepair. The provisions for maintain-
• ing a sufficient supply of water are inadequate, while
in many places the canal has been so neglected that
navigation has become difficult and almost impos-
sible. The shifting of the Yellow River from its old
bed to its new has virtually intersected the canal, so
that boats cannot pass from the canal to the river,
or vice versd, except at high water.


THE GREAT PLAIN OF CHINA 103
Owing to the absence of canal and railway accom-
modation, the more public and important roads of
China present a very busy appearance. On the plain,
wheel-barrows of large size, and strong though rough
construction, are much used for the carriage of freight;
it is astonishing what loads they carry. One of
these larger wheel-barrows, with two men, and a
donkey or mule, will go on day after day with the
load of half a ton. I one day had the curiosity to
count the wheel-barrows we passed and met; on an
important public road I counted four hundred and
sixty-five. There is no danger of a barrow passing
you without notice. Every Chinese barrow has a
scream or screech of its own ; and a Chinaman would
think it a sign of misfortune if his barrow did not
thus speak to him by the way. To this four hundred
and sixty-five you must add a considerable number
that we should have passed or met in the hour and
a half during which we and our beasts were resting
in the middle of the day; and besides barrows there
were many carts, pack-mules, and donkeys, and men
carrying heavier or lighter burdens suspended from
shoulder-poles.
Of this journey across the plain I have but little
of interest to record. Day after day was occupied
with a long and wearisome pilgrimage, beginning and
ending in the dirt and discomfort of a Chinese inn.
One pleasing incident occurred. At one place we
learned on inquiry that there were three possible
routes by which we could reach Hwai-lu, and as we
were anxious to select the best, we took our innkeeper
into our confidence, and consulted him. He was a


104 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
fine specimen of a Chinaman, about thirty-five years
of age, and seemed pleased that we should consult
him. After he and our travelling companion and
friend, Mr. Farthing, had been consulting the Chinese
map, and had finally determined which road would be
best for us to take, our innkeeper inquired if we had
anything to do with the 'doctrine,' by which phrase
Christianity is everywhere spoken of in China. On
being told who we were, and what was our errand,
he expressed a wish to learn something about it,
upon which Mr. Farthing asked how it was that he
knew anything about it; when he said that about
ten years before a foreigner had stayed at the inn
and spoken to him about the ' doctrine.' He could
say but little about the interview; but it would seem
that he, ever since then, had a wish to learn some-
thing more. The opportunity of doing so had at
last presented itself, and of this he gladly availed
himself, and he and our companion had a long and
interesting conversation. We then handed him over
to the care and instruction of one of our servants—
an intelligent Christian man—who presented him with
his own New Testament. Let us hope that, while
the innkeeper helped us to find our way to Hwai-lu,
the instruction he received during our short stay at
his inn may help him to find his way to that better
city which hath the foundations, whose Builder and
Maker is God.
We at last drew near to Hwai-lu, and were glad
to come within sight of the mountains again after
the dreary flatness of the plain. When about fifteen
li from the city my attention was engaged by the


THE GREAT PLAIN OF CHINA
most remarkable mountain outline I ever saw; it is
that of a recumbent figure of gigantic proportions—
the forehead, nose, mouth, and chin forming a perfect
profile—while another range of hills in the rear fits
in with an outline of the body, all standing out in
clear relief against the unclouded clearness of the
western sky. We had taken the precaution of sending
on one of our servants to announce our approach to
Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, who occupy that city as
representatives of the China Inland Mission; and
long before we reached the city gate we met Mr.
Simpson, who had come forth to bid us welcome, and
conduct us to his house. Whatever faults may be
laid at the doors of Chinese missionaries, no one can
say of them or their wives that they are 'forgetful
to entertain strangers.'
Hwai-lu is a city of considerable size, with a popu-
lation of some 30,000 people, and it owes much of its
importance to its position, being situated at or near
the junction of two great roads running respectively
north and south and east and west, standing at the
very entrance of the great mountain-pass by which
we were to travel, and which is one of the great high-
ways connecting east and west. Here for the first
time we met with camels, which are largely used
as beasts of burden, coming in laden with products
of Thibet and Mongolia, and going back laden with
the products of the plain. We were obliged to stay
twenty-four hours in this city, having to dismiss our
shentzus and muleteers, and engage what are called
to-chiaos (to-jios), a sort of sedan chair of large
size suspended between poles, like the mule-litters.


io6 A WIXTER IX XORTH CHIXA
W e needed to have both men and mules accustomed
to the mountain-roads by which we were to travel
for the next five cays and a half. Reaching Hwai-lu
abo-t one o'clock in the afternoon, we did not leave
tHI the same hour the next day.
On the morning of our departure, Mr. Simpson
took os out to see the market or fair, one of the largest
i- North China, and exceptionally large on this occa-
sion. being held so near to the Chinese New Year.
The market is held on a plain, which stretches between
the m\ stern wall of the city and the foot of the hills,
which plain was crowded with an immense assem-
blage of people, many of whom belonged to the city,
bo; the larger number being made up of those who
had come in from towns and villages for many miles
round. It was one of the busiest and strangest scenes
I ever witnessed. Most of the goods offered for
sale were spread out on the ground—immense quan-
tities of goods of different kinds. articles of household
use, which were nearly all strange to us—in fact,
everything was strange,—and all this buying and
selling was carried on with an amount of noise pecu-
liar to a Chinese market One of the strangest
and saddest sights of the morning was a criminal
carrying a heavy iron bar, about six feet long, and
nearly as thick as a man's wrist, to which he was
chained at the neck, wrists, and ankles. He could only
move a few feet at a time, so heavily was he ironed,
and how he could get any rest was more than I could
discover. I had before this seen prisoners wearing
the cangue—the well-known wooden collar. That
punishment was baa enough, but this was far worse.


7 HE GREAT PLAIN OF CHINA
107
On Friday, January 30, we started afresh on our
journey, using to-chiaos, which are decidedly more
comfortable than shentzus, and though we at once
entered upon a mountain-road, we were struck by the
immense traffic which crowded and at times almost
choked it. Leaving the plain, barrows disappear,
and goods are carried almost exclusively by pack-
mules and donkeys by day, and long trains of camels
by night. The road is such that scarcely any other
mode of conveyance is available, although a few
adventurous carts find their way across the moun-
tains. The road is often so rough, and the gradients
in places so steep, that you wonder how any animal
heavily laden can keep its feet. Donkeys and mules,
however, are almost as sure-footed as goats. At one
place where the road was for the time impassably
crowded, my mules took it into their heads to climb
to the top of a half-broken-down stone wall, over the
uneven surface of which they carefully picked their
way for a couple of hundred yards as complacently
as if they had beneath their feet a good macadamized
road. It was a satisfaction to me when they con-
descended to the lower and, as I thought, safer level.
No effort is made to remedy the defects or remove
the obstacles from Chinese roads; the traffic is merely
turned on one side till the road becomes useable
again. On one occasion, as we were going along a
dusty and stoneless road, I saw a large boulder lying
before me, and I wondered how long it had been
there, and how much longer it would remain. While
I was thus wondering, my hinder mule stumbled over
another and similar obstacle and fell, and my to-chiao


io8 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
came down with a great crash and shock, though
without any injury to myself. Fortunately enough
our party was within call to extricate the mule and
set us going again; and it must be remembered
that it requires five men to do this—four to lift the
shafts of a loaded to-chiao, and one to put the mule
into them.
We stopped the first night at Yu-Shui, and, starting
the next morning two hours before daylight, we met
and passed nearly four hundred camels; indeed, in
places the road was so thronged with trains of camels
passing eastward and westward that we could with
difficulty get along. As soon as it was daylight
the road was crowded with pack-mules and donkeys,
three-fourths of them laden with coal and rough iron
castings from the mines and iron works, which are
found among the hills, the remainder Carrying other
merchandise. I amused myself by counting the
number we passed and met in the three different
hours during the day. The numbers were—three
hundred and eighty-nine, two hundred and thirty-
five, and six hundred and fifty-one; and the road
was» thus crowded for about half the distance to
T'ai-yuen-fu; after that the traffic was very con-
siderably less. We passed one pitiable spectacle—a
man who in a fit of drunken frenzy had murdered
six persons, several of them belonging to his own
family. He was carried on a sort of tray, suspended
from a shoulder-pole, by two men; he was firmly
bound, and clothed in such a way as to" show to
passers-by that he was a criminal of the first degree.
He was being thus conveyed to T'ai-yuen-fu to be


THE GREAT PLAIN OF CHINA 109
publicly executed. As there are no newspapers to
give information, we heard nothing more of him.
The road by which we travelled from Hwai-lu to
T'ai-yuen-fu is remarkable in many respects. For
many miles we went through loess gorges, which form
so striking a feature of this part of the country, the
road in many places not wide enough for two Chinese
carts to pass, while on either side, rising precipftously
to a great height, are the loess cliffs; then perhaps
for several miles #the path lies across a sandy plain
shut in by mountains, then along some rock-paved
or boulder-strewn river-bed, then through some
mountain-pass as wild and desolate-looking as Glencoe,
and every now and then we came quite unexpectedly
on a good-sized city or town nestling among the
hills.
On our way we passed through the Great Wall of
China. This was not the main line of wall, but an
extension or spur from it, designed to guard the
mountain-passes of this Shansi range. According to
Dr. Edkins, the wall separating Shansi and Chih-li
dates from the time of the contending states, Chan-
kow, B.C. 300, when the Chan kingdom separated
itself from the Yen kingdom by a wall—Shansi was
Chan, and Chih-li, Yen. Such strength as it has now
is owing to the exertions of the Ming dynasty to
keep itself in security against the Mongols.
This wall is the most remarkable of all the public
works of China. According to Chinese records, it
was finished two hundred and five years before
Christ, and is said to be, with its extensions, nearly
1600 miles long. It is from twenty-five to thirty


H2 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
the door and sundry broken panes of paper. Several
times during the evening we thought we detected
sulphurous fumes, and sent out to inquire if charcoal
were burning, but we were assured that only wood
and coal had been used in warming the k'ang, and
that its flue opened out somewhere in front of the
dwelling.
With this assurance we retired to rest, and fell
asleep; but early in the morning I awoke with a
strange feeling of oppression and general discomfort;
but knowing how valuable sleep is on such a journey,
I was unwilling to disturb my neighbours. Between
four and five our servants called us, and on comparing
notes we found that we all had been suffering from
the same symptoms, and when we got up we were so
dazed and stupefied that we could scarcely stand and
attend to our very simple toilets. With breakfast
nearly untouched we set out on our journey, hoping
that the fresh morning air, with the thermometer
nearly down to zero, would soon set us right again.
It was, however, many hours before I recovered
from the effects of the cA'i, as the sulphurous smoke
from the k'ang is called. We had had a very narrow
escape of our lives, and we were told afterwards that
many lives are lost every winter in these ill-ventilated
sleeping-places. A very grim suggestion appeared
in a native paper just afterwards—recommending
parties of travellers to secure the company of an
elderly man, who, being a light sleeper, will probably
wake up before the point of suffocation is reached.
We entered Shansi a few li to the east of the
Customs Barrier, which is maintained in the narrowest


THE GREAT PLAIN OF CHINA 113
part of the mountain-pass, not far from the Great
Wall. Shansi is a province of China with an area
nearly equal to that of England and Wales, and with
an estimated population of nineteen millions. The
Yellow River bounds it on the west and partly on the
south; the Great Wall forms most of its northern
boundary, while on the east it is shut off from the
Great Plain by a range of lofty mountains. With the
exception of two large stretches of table-land, some
thousands of feet above the sea-level, its surface is
rugged and mountainous, presenting a striking con-
trast to the vast plains of Shantung and Chih-li. This
province is very rich in minerals, with large coal and
iron formations. The coal is of varying quality, and
the mines are worked in a very simple and primitive
fashion. The supply of anthracite and bituminous
coal is practically inexhaustible—indeed, experts
have affirmed that the coal-measures of North China
are the largest in the world. The two great plateaux
to which I have referred are covered by the re-
markable loess deposit—a deposit which varies in
depth from a few feet to five or six hundred.
For the following particulars as to this interesting
deposit, I am indebted to Dr. Williams' Middle
Kingdom, to which I would refer my readers for
additional information. The loess beds, covering a
great part of North China, are among the most
interesting of all geological formations. Attention
was first directed to this deposit by Pumpelly (the
American geologist) in 1864, since which time the
formation and extent of these beds have been care-
fully examined by geologists, especially by Baron
H


114 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
von Richtoven, whose theory as to this deposit is
now pretty generally accepted. The part of China
more or less completely covered by this deposit lies
between 99 and 115 deg. long, and 33 and 41 deg.
lat, though there is reason for believing that it
extends far beyond the limits of China proper in a
northerly and easterly direction. This formation
has been found in Shansi at a height of 7200 feet
above the sea-level; it is also found in the Rhine
valley and several other parts of Europe, but no-
where as it is found here. One peculiarity of the
loess is that its cleavage is invariably vertical. The
consequence of this is the splitting up of its mass
into sudden and multitudinous clefts, which cut up
the country in every direction, and render observa-
tion as well as travel extremely difficult. The clefts
carved by erosion vary from cracks measured by
inches to canons half a mile wide and hundreds
of feet deep. They branch out in every direction,
ramifying through the country after the manner of
tree-roots in the soil, from each root a rootlet, from
these other small fibres, until the system of passages
develops into a labyrinth of far-reaching and inter-
mingling lanes. Were the loess throughout of the
uniform structure seen in single clefts, such a region
would be absolutely impassable, the vertical banks
becoming often precipices of more than a thousand
feet. The fact, however, that loess exhibits all over
a terrace formation renders its surface not only
habitable, but highly convenient for agricultural
purposes.
Different theories have been advanced in explana-


THE GREAT PLAIN OF CHINA
"5
tion of this curious formation. Richtoven's theory
that it is a sub-aerial deposit is now most generally,
though not universally, adopted. It is enough to
say that the loess gives to this part of the world
quite a unique appearance. Looking up from the
deep cut of a road below, you see nothing but walls
of loam, and tier after tier of loess ridges. If you
ascend some lofty height, you will find a succession
of broader or narrower terraces, all of them carefully
cultivated with (in the season) green fields and waving
crops. -
The extreme ease with which the loess is cut
away tends at times seriously to embarrass traffic.
Dust made by the cart-wheels in the highway is
taken up by the high winds during the dry season
and blown over the surrounding lands, much after
the manner in which it was originally deposited here.
This action continuing over centuries, and assisted
by occasional deluges of rain, which find a ready
channel in the roads, has hollowed the country
routes into depressions of often fifty or a hundred
feet. This formation is very productive. The farmer
here has a harvest two and even three times a year
with constant tillage. There is no exhaustion of
the soil, and the only manure needed is a sprinkling
of its own loam obtained from the nearest bank, and
mingled with a little of that manure which is so
industriously gathered from the highways. From
a period of more than 2000 years before Christ the
province of Shansi has borne the name of the
'Granary of the Empire,' while its yellow earth
(hwang-tu) is the origin of the imperial colour. The


n6 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
peculiar character of the soil, however, is associated
with one very serious drawback—a copious rainfall
is more necessary here than elsewhere, and drought
and famine are synonymous terms.
Before arriving at T'ai-yuen-fu, we stopped for a
night at Shih-Tieh, a recently commenced station
under the care of Mr. Morgan; it has a population
of about 3500, and, being situated in the midst of
a somewhat thickly peopled district, it does a con-
siderable trade. Mr. Morgan came out from T'ai-
yuen-fu to meet and entertain us, and we spent the
evening in very pleasant intercourse with several
intelligent and well-informed natives connected with
the Christain community there.


( 117 )
CHAPTER VIII.
T'AI-YUEN-FU.
T'ai-yuen-fu—Capital of province-Centre of both Baptist and China
Inland Mission work-Sunday services—The Chinese New Year-
In what way celebrated-Kitchen-god-Ancestral worship-The
worship of the emperor-Worship of Confucius-Start for Hsin-
chow-Intercourse with native Christians-Chi-tsuen— Visit to
a Chinese house-Hsiao-tien-tzu — Pleasant time with native
Christians—Chinese mottoes—The feast of lanterns—Noisy cele-
bration-Curious legend—Most brilliant festival of the year-
Grand display of lanterns and fireworks—Taouist temple-Oracular
responses-Return journey-Snow on the mountains—Chinese
mules-Opium largely consumed–The use of it increasing-
Never defended by a Chinaman-Chinese agriculture-Pao-ting-fu
- American Board Missions-Great stone bridge-Imperial stone
road-Singing-girls.
T'AI-YUEN-FU, the capital of this province, lies on
the northern border of a large and fertile plain, about
3000 feet above the sea-level, and with an area of
some 2000 square miles. It is difficult to get at
the population of Chinese cities. Comparing it with
others I have seen, I should estimate the population
at about 60,000. The natives give a much higher
figure, but Chinese statistics are proverbially un-
reliable. T'ai-yuen-fu is the centre of the Baptist
Mission work in Shansi, and though we approached


u8
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
the city in a driving snowstorm, the missionaries
and a number of native Christians, according to
Chinese custom, came forth to meet us and bid us
welcome.
On Sunday we had the opportunity of seeing
something of both the Baptist and China Inland
Missions. As the China Inland Mission native
service is held an hour earlier than our own, we were
able to spend a little time with them. Afterwards,
at our own service, we had a very enjoyable time,
Dr. Glover and myself addressing the natives, who
seemed very pleased to see and hear us. In the
evening we had an English service, at which the
resident families of both missions were present, with
two or three missionaries who were passing through
the city. Our time in T'ai-yuen-fu was largely taken
up with the conferences which we held with our
brethren about mission work. They would have
been glad if our visit had fallen at some other
time than the Chinese New Year. It is so complete
and universal a holiday that it is difficult to get
people together, and in consequence the congrega-
tions have been smaller than they would have been
at any other season. We, however, had the op-
portunity of witnessing the new year's festivities in
this large city; and what we saw here may be
regarded as fairly representing what takes place on
a larger or smaller scale in every part of this vast
empire.
The Chinese New Year is a movable festival, and it
fell in 1891 on February 9, according to our calendar.
The Chinese divide their year into twelve lunar


TAI-YUEN-FU
tig
months, with an additional month introduced as
required, two of these intercalary months coming in,
I believe, within every period of five years. But
while the year is divided into lunar months, the
commencement of the year is determined by the sun,
the year dating from the first new moon after the
sun enters Aquarius. New Year's Day may, therefore,
fall on any day between January 21 and February 19.
The great holiday extends from the first to the
fifteenth day of their first month. Indeed, all public
business is at a standstill till the twentieth of the
month, in token of which fact all official seals and
documents are locked up during the whole of this time.
On the morning of the twentieth these seals are
brought out again with great ceremony, though the
actual business of the new year does not commence
till the next day. To a great extent there is during
this holiday-time the cessation of private as well as
public business, shops and warehouses being generally,
and for some days, universally closed. After the first
few days, however, the cessation of business is not
so complete as I was led to expect, small and
impecunious traders being obliged to yield to the
pressure of circumstances, and open their shops one
after another, while wealthier shopkeepers show their
independence by keeping their establishments closed
for a longer time. Still, with all these variations, it
is a longer and more complete holiday season than
can be found in any other nation. The New Year's
Day itself is the great day, and its advent is
announced by a demonstrative and noisy celebration
throughout the night preceding. There is an almost


i2o A W'INTER IN NORTH CHINA
constant discharge of squibs and crackers, and the
streets are the next morning almost covered with the
cases of these exploded fireworks, and for several
days these crackers are going off, though not in
equal numbers. It is a comical sight to see a middle-
aged or elderly Chinaman deliberately put down a
large cracker on the road, ignite it with his incense
stick, and, with solemn and unmoved face, watch the
explosions that ensue, and then retire to his house
like a man who feels that he has adequately dis-
charged one of the most important duties of life.
The last month of the old year is largely taken up
with preparations for the new year. In almost every
house in China such work of preparation is going
forward. The not unnecessary work of house-cleaning
is at last attended to—most houses are swept and
garnished. The filthy accumulations of eleven months
are in some way or other disposed of—got out of
sight in this last month of the year. The people
re-paper the windows, and put up new paper mottoes
on doors, doorposts, and lintels. Costly garments,
only used on important occasions, are got out in
readiness for the new year, and it is the great time
when all who can afford to do so provide themselves
with new clothing. Those who cannot afford to buy,
borrow smart-looking dresses, with which they make
an imposing appearance during the holiday.
It is a busy season with all tradesmen ; the accounts
of the year have to be made up before its close, all
outstanding liabilities must be met, and all outstanding
debts, if possible, must be got in; for if not paid by
the new year there will be but little chance of getting


T'AT-YUEN-FU
121
them in before the next new year. The rule in China
is that all debts must be paid before the end of the
year, and a man is said to 'lose face,' i.e. character
or reputation, if he does not square up with his
creditors by that time; but in China, as elsewhere,
there are many people who have not much reputation to
lose in that particular, and those tradesmen and others
to whom accounts are owing have a busy time of it
for a week or two before New Year's Day, and
especially the last few days of the year, hunting up
defaulters.
The twenty-third day of the last moon is one of
special significance in every Chinese home. The
kitchen-god then returns to the spirit-world, to give
his account of the doings and misdoings of the house-
hold over which he has presided. This god is usually
represented by a sheet of thin paper with two important
and several subordinate personages rudely depicted
on it. This picture is hung up over the cooking-stove,
and from that position he keeps the proceedings
of the household under observation, sending brief
monthly reports to his superior; but at the close of
the year he departs to render in person a more minute
account of all that has transpired during the year,
and, with the hope of propitiating him, offerings of
sweetmeats and wine are set before him. The sweet-
meats are smeared over his lips, so that they may
impede utterance, and he is steeped in wine, so that,
being intoxicated, he may fail to remember what he
intended to say, or give such an incoherent account
of what he has seen, that little attention will be paid
to it. Having taken these precautions, the paper is


122
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
burned, and the kitchen-god is supposed to enter the
spirit-world with his annual report.
Immediately before the new year great labour is
expended in the preparation of food, and especially
in the manufacture in immense quantities of the
famous pien-shehs, of which every family partakes at
the New Year's morning meal. These pien-shehs are
small boiled dumplings, about the size of a walnut,
or rather larger, filled with finely chopped meat and
vegetables. Pieces of money are placed in several of
these, and whoever obtains one. of these is supposed
to have a prosperous future before him.
One of the things to be attended to on New Year's
Day is worship before the ancestral tablets, after which
the children of the household pay homage to their
parents. There is also the formal reception of the
kitchen-god, who is set up in his place, and is sup-
posed to have come down from heaven, but who was
really purchased for a few cash a day or two before.
-Another ceremony of New Year's Day, practised
throughout China, is the worship of the emperor. A
gentleman who was present gave me the following
account of what took place in the emperor's temple, as
it is called, in T'ai-yuen-fu. The provincial governor
and all the subordinate officials assembled there, and
before a throne made in imitation of the dragon
throne, and on which is a tablet bearing the inscription,
'May the emperor reign ten thousand years and ten
times ten thousand years,' they prostrated themselves
nine times. They then retired to an outer court,
where tea was served, and the provincial governor
having been saluted by all subordinates, and New


12+ A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
have been pleasant but for the dust with which at
times we were almost smothered. I was surprised at
seeing so large an amount of heavy traffic on the road
thus early in the new year. In this part of China,
goods are carried almost exclusively by heavy freight
carts, the usual two-wheeled carts, upon which immense
loads are packed. These are drawn by one mule in
the shafts, and two or three loosely harnessed in front.
The leading animals are attached by strong rope
traces, not to the shafts, but to the axletree of the cart.
We were greatly interested in what we saw of the
mission work in Hsin-chow. We spent several hours
after our arrival in having interviews with the natives,
who came in in small parties of four or five at a time,
for all were anxious to see and have a chat with the
Lao-mou-shihs, who had come so many thousand li to
visit them. One of their number, as representing the
rest, intimated that they would have liked to provide
food for us, but the shops being closed they could not
do so. They, however, begged our acceptance of two
boxes of confectionery. On the Sunday morning we
had a native service, at which about a hundred were
present, and in the afternoon a communion service.
On Monday morning we set off again to visit an out-
station—Chi-tsuen—about half a day's journey from
Hsin-chow. On our way we stopped by invitation at
the house of a well-to-do Chinese family, to a member
of which Mr. Dixon, one of the Baptist missionaries,
rendered an important surgical service some time ago,
by which he has endeared himself to the whole house-
hold. They seemed delighted to see us, and to have
the opportunity of entertaining us. A bountiful repast


TAI-YUEN-FU
125
was set before us, and at another table and in another
room food was provided for our servants and muleteers.
You would have been amused to see us squatting on
the k'ang, our food on a k'ang table, and we perform-
ing with our chopsticks in the presence of a large
number of onlookers who knew so much better how
to' use them than ourselves. We were conducted
over the large establishment, and were glad of the
opportunity of seeing the domestic arrangements of a
well-appointed Chinese house.
Near this village, which is situated at the foot of
the mountains which form the north-west boundary
of the Hsin-chow plain, there are two very noticeable
conical hills, which from their shapes and relative
positions have gained for themselves the name of the
Breasts of Hsin-^how; the summit of each hill is
crowned with a temple, while near the base of one
there rise some springs of tepid water, with which
another temple is associated. There is an interesting
work carried on in the little market town of Chi-tsuen.
We had in the evening a well-attended service, though
here, as elsewhere, several who are usually present at
the services were away, owing to the New Year's
holiday. The next day we returned to Hsin-chow,
and then, after a short rest, to T'ai-yuen-fu.
From T'ai-yuen-fu I went over to one of the out-
stations, a small market town known by the name
of Hsiao-tien-tzu. This meant starting early, and
spending seven hours in a Chinese cart . In every
village through which we passed we saw much to
remind us that the New Year's holiday was not over,
and that the Feast of Lanterns, which practically


126 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
brings that holiday to a close, was near at hand.
As I drew nearer to the town I saw on the top of
a disused tower a number of men, and wondered what
they were doing there. I presently learned that they
were representatives of the native Christians, who had
been for some time on the watch for our approach,
so that, seeing us at a distance, they might be pre-
pared to go forth to meet and welcome us. We had
a goodly gathering at the service; the natives were
delighted to see us, expressed their wonder that men
so old should have come so far, and wished us to
convey their greetings to their Christian brethren in
England. After partaking of a meal of native food,
we returned to the city, tired, but delighted with
what we had seen and heard. Altogether we had a
very pleasant time with the Chinese Christians.
One thing that strikes a stranger travelling in
China is the number of mottoes, usually written or
printed on red paper, pasted up on walls, doors, shop-
fronts, and even on carts and wheel-barrows. At the
new year old ones are removed, and new ones put up.
From time to time I asked my travelling companion
to translate a few of these inscriptions. Two or three
may be taken as a sample: 'Agriculture is the
fountain from which gold flows,' over a shop for sale
of agricultural implements. 'The Hall of life's
renewal,' over native opium refuge. * The Spring
of everlasting righteousness,' the motto over a shop
of a general dealer, where for any article you would
at first be asked at least double the amount which
the tradesman expected ultimately to receive. On
another shop door-post we read, 'A spice of honesty


T'AI-YUEN-FU
127
makes life peaceful as a river.' On another shop
door, 'The budding promises of wealth are more
numerous than the blossoms of spring.' A wayside
inn was designated,' The inn of obedience and good
instruction.' Over the door of a private house we
read, 'May the dwellers in this house have long
life, great prosperity, and many male children.' On
another, 'One door and five blessednesses,' i.e. may
the five Chinese beatitudes pass in through that one
doorway. One of the most curious of these mottoes
was over the door of an undertaker: 'To die is but to
go home.' Many of these inscriptions are very striking
and beautiful; but if any one wishes to be convinced of
the powerlessness of mere moral sentiment to elevate
and regenerate society, let him go to China.
The Chinese Feast of Lanterns is announced by a
more profuse discharge of squibs and crackers than
occurs the night before New Year's Day. My bed-
room being separated from the street by only a wall,
I was kept awake by the almost continual discharge
of these crackers, some of them going off with a very
violent explosion. The day falls on the fifteenth of
the first moon. There is a very remarkable tradition
prevailing in Shansi, but I could not ascertain if it
were only a local tradition. In the ages long gone
by, a god looked down upon the world, and saw that
it was wholly given up to wickedness, and determined
to destroy it by fire, fixing the fifteenth day of the
first moon for the fulfilment of his purpose. Some
in his court, however, sent a messenger secretly to
declare to the world what their lord was about to
do, and to advise that on the evening of that day one


128
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
or more lights should be placed in the doorway of
every building, and fires kindled before the houses,
so that the god on his approach, seeing the unusual
glare, might suppose that his purpose was already
accomplished, and go back quietly to his abode. The
advice was acted upon, and so the world was saved, and
from that time to this the Feast of Lanterns has been
observed in commemoration of this great deliverance.
It is a great day throughout China, and is certainly
the most brilliant festival of the year. For days
before extensive decorations, chiefly of coloured
paper, are put in their proper places, and not only
does the great city, but every miserable collection
of mud huts, and indeed every solitary dwelling, join
in the celebrations. One of the earliest ceremonies
of the day is the worship of Confucius by the Fu-tai
(provincial governor) and all subordinate officials;
a ceremony similar in character to that already
referred to as performed on the first day of the
month. During the day, processions, larger or
smaller, composed of men and boys fantastically
•dressed, are moving about the streets of the city,
some of them reminding me of those which are still
seen in our streets on Guy Fawke's Day, and which
some of us remember to have seen in earlier days on
the 1st of May in the procession of chimney-sweeps.
These, however, are more elaborate affairs, and are
regarded with the utmost seriousness by on-lookers,
as constituting important and significant parts of a
great national celebration. These, to me, unmeaning
processions of mummers represented, I was told, scenes
in well-known historical plays.


TAI-YUEN-FU
129
All that occurs during the day, however, is only
intended to lead up to and prepare the way for the
festivities of the evening. That we might with the
least inconvenience witness the display, we engaged
carts, and were driven through the more important
streets of the city; had we wished to do so, we could
scarcely have made our way on foot, as there had
been a thaw during the day, and the roadway, which
occupies nearly the entire width of a Chinese street,
was covered to a depth of three or four inches with
liquid filth, and besides that it would have been a
matter of great difficulty for a party of foreigners to
elbow their way through a Chinese street on such an
occasion. As it was, our white faces and white hair
secured a great deal of attention, and elicited many
expressions of good-humoured astonishment. Every
house was more or less effectively illuminated with
lanterns of various sizes and shapes—round, square,
oblong—while some are fashioned to grotesquely
represent different animals, real and imaginary; some
lanterns were very ingeniously constructed with
moving figures representing fishes swimming or a *
procession of camels, the movement being secured by
the action of the heated air. The lanterns were chiefly
covered with paper of various colours, the prevailing
colour being red, the symbol of joy and festivity.
The grandest display was in the principal business
street, a long, straight, narrow street in which every
shop on either side was adorned with a large number
of paper lanterns; and besides, these many shops
had ingeniously constructed transparencies showing
either appropriate mottoes or historical scenes. The
I


i3o A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
long line of street thus illuminated presented a very
brilliant appearance. In addition to these house-
illuminations there were, every few yards, large
blazing bonfires, which were carefully fed with wood
and coal, and displays of fireworks let off in the
middle of the streets, some of which were very
effective, while squibs and crackers were being fired
in every direction. The narrow footways were
crowded with people, who seemed to have two objects
in view—the one to see all there was to be seen, the
other to avoid being pushed off into the indescribable
filth of the roadway. The roadway itself was almost
as much crowded with carts, conveying sightseers like
ourselves, as the sideways were with foot-passengers.
I admired very much the unmoved equanimity
of the mules. My mule would stand perfectly un-
disturbed with his nose only a few yards from a
fountain of fire rising up in front of him, and crackers
exploding on every side. The illumination began as
soon as it was dark, and was all over by nine o'clock.
While in T'ai-yuen-fu I paid a visit to* a Taouist
temple. I went there with the expectation of seeing
a performance corresponding in character with the
planchette performance of modern spiritualists. It is
effected by means of an iron rod or pencil suspended
from the roof of the temple over a large plate of sand,
upon the smooth surface of which it inscribes what
are accepted as oracular responses coming through
that medium from the presiding deity. On reaching
the temple, we found that the practice had been dis-
continued. So-called oracular responses are, how-
ever, still i vouchsafed. These are distributed into


rAI-YUEN-FU
«3"
several different classes—remedies for diseases, direc-
tions for business, family matters, etc.—and there are as
many cylindrical vases, made of sections of bamboo,
about ten inches in height, containing thirty or forty
slips of wood separately numbered. Corresponding
with these, in their different classes, are the responses,
printed on yellow paper, and hung in small bundles
on the walls of the temple. What I saw while in the
temple will afford some idea of the way in which the
responses are obtained. Two respectable women
arrived in a cart about the same time as ourselves,
apparently mother and daughter. They first of all
presented their offering, burned their bundles of
incense-sticks, and prostrated themselves, bowing with
their heads to the ground nine times; the younger
woman then received from the priest one of the vases,
and, kneeling down, she shook it till one of the sticks
fell to the ground; the priest then picked it up and
gave it to the boy in attendance, who removed from
the wall a paper with the number corresponding with
that on the stick. The young woman then went
through the same ceremony for her companion, who
was apparently too old to perform it for herself, and the
two went away seeming quite satisfied with the result
of their visit. I may add that the ceremony described
commences with the sounding of a gong, to call the
attention of the god to those who are waiting at his
shrine. Outside the temple we met a man who was
going away with one of these yellow pieces of paper.
He told us that he had been ill for some time, that
the native doctors had failed to cure him, and that he
had obtained now a recipe from the gods, which he


132 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
should take to a chemist's and have made up. The poor
fellow looked as though he needed effective treatment.
The day after the Feast of Lanterns we had a
heavy fall of snow, which continued the next day,
so that the evening before the day fixed for our de-
parture our friends questioned if we should be wise
to start on our mountain journey. The head muleteer,
predicting slow progress,, expressed his willingness
to go if we wished; and near the appointed time
we started on our fortnight's journey to Peking, Mr.
Morgan accompanying us: When we got among the
mountains, our progress was slower than it would
have been without snow, but we enjoyed our journey
notwithstanding. The broken masses of limestone,
granite, and sandstone, with the equally broken but
more regularly interrupted loess formation, with its
terraces and precipices clothed or flecked with snow,
presented a succession of pictures the beauty of
which amply compensated us for any little delay or
inconvenience occasioned by the snowstorm. Had
the snow caused us much greater inconvenience, we
should have welcomed it, as conferring a great boon
upon many millions of anxious people. With scarcely
any snow in the earlier winter, there would have been
an almost utter failure of the wheat harvest in May, had
not this snow come; as it was, it came just in time.
The road from T'ai-yuen-fu to Hwai-lu, after the
first stage, is a wild mountain-pass, and the track—
you can scarcely call it a road—often runs along the
edge of a precipice, the loess cliffs rising to some
height above you on one side, and falling several
hundred feet on the other. The mules, guided only


rAI-YUEN-FU
by. their own sweet will and the voice of the driver,
who walks by their side, have a way of taking the
more perilous side of the road, as it appears to the
passenger. In these circumstances you are powerless.
A foreigner can by no words at his command convey
his wishes to a Chinese mule, and he experiences
almost as much'difficulty in dealing with a Chinese
muleteer. I only once ventured on a remonstrance,
and then without satisfactory result. At a sharp,
bend in the road (not on this journey) my mules
came to stand at the tail end of a long line of carts
which preceded us, hindered by some block in the
road further on. Looking out, I found my con-
veyance, an erh-ma-ju, a sedan chair suspended
between poles, like the mule litter, was projecting
an inch or two over a precipice one hundred and fifty
or two hundred feet in depth. Had this been the
only standing ground, complaint would have been
unreasonable; but in the curve on the off side the
mules might have taken up their position, leaving a
yard and a half of road between them and the abyss.
I tried to persuade the muleteer to lead them into
that place of safety, pointing to the precipice and
the unoccupied roadway and the mules, employing
gesticulations which occurred to me as appropriate
and suggestive, but all to no purpose. There the
good fellow stood, showing his white teeth, and
smiling all over his face, and protesting, I have no
doubt, his willingness, and even anxiety, to do what-
ever I wished; but the one particular thing which I
did wish I utterly failed to make him understand.
On our way to Hwai-lu we met no fewer than


134 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
thirteen coffins slung between poles, on the same
principle as the mule litters. These were being
conveyed to ancestral burial-places in Shansi or
other provinces beyond the hills. On each of these
coffins, with three exceptions, I noticed a small
bamboo cage, containing a white cock. This cock,
I have been told, represents one of the three spirits
which the departed was supposed to possess, and was
to render service by driving away evil spirits, and,
by crowing, to let the dead man's spirit know when
they start, that it may not be left behind. The cock
is, I believe, in some instances sacrificed at the grave-
side. These customs have apparently different inter-
pretations in different districts.
Shansi is one of the great opium-consuming and
opium-producing provinces, and the streets of T'ai-
yuen-fu show many cadaverous and emaciated faces
belonging to opium-smokers. On the other hand, some
who have taken opium for years show the effects of it
very slightly in their faces. It is difficult to ascertain
what proportion of the population of Shansi indulge
in this habit. A very intelligent native told me that
he thought there would be six or seven opium-smokers
out of ten men in the city, while in the country the
proportion would not be more than three to ten.
He also said that when he was a boy—he was nearly
seventy years of age—opium was consumed, but that
the habit of using it was not a common one, and an
opium-smoker was pointed at and talked of as quite
an exceptional character. The practice, he told us,
had grown up chiefly during the last thirty years.
Native-grown opium is almost exclusively used in


TAl-YUEN-FU
*35
Shansi. Being much cheaper than foreign, it is also
less potent, and therefore, we may hope, less harmful.
The practice—which, I fear, is on the increase—
every one admits to be most harmful; and it so
weakens the moral nature and will power that to
break away from the habit is most difficult. Many
say that scarcely any lasting cures are effected, save
where powerful religious motives are brought into
operation. There is considerable diversity of opinion
as to the value of opium refuges. I should think,
from all I have heard, that they render valuable
service where they are under skilled and responsible
management. In Chih-li and Shantung opium is
smoked, but to a much smaller extent than in Shansi.
As a set-off to opium-smoking, there is no visible
drunkenness in the interior of China; in the parts, at
least, I have visited I have not seen a drunken man.
I have scarcely seen a - Chinaman taking anything
stronger than the weakest of weak tea or hot water.
The Chinese never think of drinking cold water;
and, seeing the amount of filth existing in immediate
proximity to the wells from which their water is
ordinarily taken, it is a very fortunate thing that
the drinking water in China is almost invariably
boiled before it is consumed.
The journey from T'ai-yuen-fu to Peking was long
and interesting. We left the mountains at Hwai-Ju,
but travelled within sight of them during the greater
part of the journey, so that when we grew weary with
the monotony of the plain we could get immediate
refreshment by looking to the rugged outlines stand-
ing out distinctly from the unclouded sky on the


136 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
western boundary; in many places we. could discern
the snowy sides and summits of a loftier and remoter
range. All through the journey we had evidence of
the return of spring, and could watch the different
agricultural processes with which Chinese farmers and
labourers were everywhere busy.
The implements of husbandry are of the most
simple and primitive kind, and yet seem well
adapted to the light and easily worked soil of the
district. The plough is of exceedingly light construc-
tion—a man could carry one home on his shoulder.
The harrow is a small wooden frame with iron teeth,
so light that it would of itself scarcely scratch the
soil, but the Chinaman saves himself the labour of
walking, and gives the teeth of the harrow the neces-
sary penetrating power by balancing himself on the
frame as it is dragged across the field. It may interest
agricultural readers to know that the Chinese have a
winnowing machine working with a fan, in principle
precisely like that with which East Anglian farmers
are familiar—we probably borrowed the idea from the
Celestials. These machines, however, are only used
by the better-to-do farmers; the earliest and simplest
method is still commonly employed. The threshed
grain is tossed in the air, and the wind drives away
'the chaff of the summer threshing-floor.'
We spent a part of Saturday and a very pleasant
Sunday at Pao-ting-fu (pronounced Bodingfoo), a
large and important city, the capital of the province
of Chih-Ii. It is a very important business centre,
situated at the intersection of several of the great
roads of China, and, when the river is not frozen up,


T'AI-YUEN-FU
having water communication with Tien-tsin and the
coast. During our . stay we were the guests of Dr.
and Mrs. Merritt, of the American Board of Missions.
The work at this station is of a very encouraging
kind. On the Sunday I spoke to the natives in the
morning, and my colleague addressed them in the
afternoon. There were large and apparently interested
congregations. It is impossible to over-estimate the
importance of these centres of Christian influence
and of a higher civilization, which are multiplying all
over China. Here, as in many otuer places, we were
made to feel how important a part medical missions
are playing in the evangelization of this great empire.
After leaving Pao-ting-fu we passed through several
places of importance, among which we may mention
Chow-chow, a busy place, with two fine pagodas, near
which there is a long stone bridge adorned with lions
and elephants, while further on we came to the still
finer bridge of Loo-Kow-Chian, which is celebrated
for the two hundred and eighty stone lions which
crown the parapets, and the stone elephants which
keep guard at either end. At the time of our visit
there was but little water in the river which the
bridge spans, but we were told that in the rainy
season it swells into a mighty stream. We were
interested in noticing at this bridge the most serious
attempt at substantial repairs that we had anywhere
met with. We then crossed several miles of country
where everything bore witness to the desolating
force of those floods which so often lay waste the
low-lying districts in the neighbourhood of Chinese
rivers. And then we came to an imposing-looking


138
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
Pailow, which seemed intended to form the commence-
ment of the imperial stone road which for about seven
miles constitutes the approach to the city of Peking—
a road which has been so worn by the traffic of many
generations that its surface has become distressingly
unequal; and as all the traffic to and from the west
and south-west passes over this road, it was, when
we saw it, more crowded with passengers and trains
of animals laden with merchandise than any road on
which we have travelled in China.
This once magnificent road is, like all the other
public works of this great empire, falling into a state
of almost hopeless dilapidation and decay. No
private person has a right to repair an imperial road,
and there is no public authority which seems to take
public convenience into account. When complaining
of inn accommodation in Shantung and Shansi, we
were told that we should find better accommodation
on the road to Peking. The difference, however,
between the best and the worst is not very consider-
able. And on this high-road to Peking we ex-
perienced an annoyance which we only encountered
once in all our previous _ travels, and that is, the
invasion of the innyards by singing girls of ques-
tionable character, who force their way into the rooms
of the guests if the doors are left open or unbarred,
and who are not easily got rid of if they once enter.
Night after night we were disturbed by their not very
melodious songs and the twanging of their guitar
accompaniment. We complained to the landlords
of these inns, but, while they made us fair promises
that we should not be annoyed, we experienced no
abatement of the nuisance.


HO A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
spectacles I ever witnessed. It is of great breadth,
and lined with shops on either' side; in the centre
is a raised causeway—the road proper; imme-
diately in front of the shops on either side is a
small space reserved for foot-passengers, while the
spaces between the road and foot-ways, averaging
not less than fifty feet on either side, are occupied
with the stalls of traders, or more frequently the
goods offered for sale are spread out on the ground.
Almost every inch of unoccupied ground was taken
up with sellers and buyers, or interested spectators.
Through the densely crowded streets we slowly, very
slowly,^passed—I in my erh-ma-jii (a kind of con-
veyance not often seen in Peking), and we excited a
great deal of interest, and many remarks—whether
complimentary or otherwise my knowledge of Chinese
does not enable me to say.
Peking {i.e. the northern capital, as Nanking is the
southern capital) is situated on a sandy plain about
twelve miles south-west of the Peiho. Though dis-
tinguished by the decay and dilapidation every-
where visible in China, there are traces and remains
of former magnificence which cannot fail to interest
and impress every visitor. It is a large city—
the area within the walls is nearly twenty-six square
miles; the suburbs are small and unimportant. The
population is estimated at about 1,000,000, made
up of Mongols, Manchus, and Chinese, the Chinese
probably far outnumbering all the others. In former
times there is reason for believing that the popula-
tion was much greater than it is at present. The
Chinese regard Peking as one of their ancient cities,


PEKING
141
but it was not made the capital of the whole
empire till Kublai established his court here in 1264.
It was then called, in Chinese, Ta-tu, 'the great
capital,' and in Mongol, Khanbalih, 'City of the
Khan.' It might well be called the great capital, not
only because of its extent, but because it was the
metropolis of one of the largest empires ever ruled
over by a single man. On the overthrow of the
Mongol dynasty, Nanking was made the capital city,
and remained so until Yunglo established his court
in Kublai in 1409, calling it Peking, 'The Northern
Capital,' and it has continued to be the capital city
of the empire from that time to the present.
Peking consists of two cities, known by the Chinese
as Inner and Outer, but by foreigners spoken of as
Tartar and Chinese cities. These are only divided
by a wall, pierced by three gates, and they form in
reality only one city. The southern (or Chinese) city
is a parallelogram, about five miles long- by two broad;
the wall which encloses it is twenty-two feet high and
fifteen feet broad at the top, and a little over nine
miles in length, the northern boundary of the Chinese
city being formed by the southern wall of the Tartar
city. The Tartar or (Manchu) city is enclosed by
the finest wall surrounding any existing city. It is
forty-five and a half feet high, and forty-seven and a
quarter feet broad at the top. The surface is paved
with large brick flags, and protected by a battlemented
parapet on each side. Buttresses (or towers) occur
every sixty yards, each projecting fifty feet, and every
sixth one being twice the size of the others. The
wall is pierced by nine gates—three on the south side


142 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
and two on each of the remaining sides. Each gate-
way is surrounded by a large semicircular wall or
enceinte, and is surmounted by a lofty tower over a
hundred feet in height, similar towers standing at each
of the four corners of the city. As no buildings in
the city are lofty, the only thing that breaks the
monotonous level is the enclosing wall with its bastions
and towers.
The southern city is chiefly occupied by Chinese.
It is densely populated, and most of the business of
Peking (wholesale and retail) is done here. The banks
and more important mercantile houses are crowded
together near the central gate (or Chien-Men), as
the Chinese call it; the streets are lined with shops,
in which, if you' look for it, almost everything you
want can be obtained. Different streets, or sections
of streets, seem to be devoted to special lines of
business. Some of the shops are very elaborately
decorated with wood carving and gilding, but as a
rule they have a dismal, uninviting appearance.
There is no window display such as Englishmen are
accustomed to. All the shops open up to the street.
The goods are stored away on shelves, and in drawers
or boxes in the rear. The salesmen stand on the in-
side of the counter; the purchasers stand (or sit) on
the outside, everything being open to the observation
and criticisms of the crowd that speedily gathers. A
foreigner is often surprised at the large collection of
costly goods to be found in a shop that makes no
display whatever. In the broad spaces on either side
of the central roadway are booths and stalls for the
sale of different kinds of merchandise, and there are


PEKING
'43
many itinerant salesmen who have not a stall to
cover their goods. A large trade is done in the sale
of cooked food of all descriptions, and by means of a
variety of ingenious contrivances this cooking is done
in the open streets. Another feature of Peking is the
way in which tradesmen on either side of the street
take possession of large spaces in front of their own
places of business—timber, stone, and bricks being
piled up in large quantities. One of these streets,
seen in the busiest part of the day, is a sight to be
remembered. Besides the local traders, there is an
immense number of pedlars and itinerant salesmen—
cooks who carry their establishments with them,
barbers who are shaving heads and plaiting pigtails
by the wayside, sellers of fruit and flowers and
vegetables, tapes, ribbons, old shoes, and older clothes,
with all that they contain—each wandering trades-
man proclaiming his existence by means of his own
distinctive rattle or gong. In the vacant spaces that
are left, one sees showmen, acrobats, conjurers, story-
tellers, with a larger or smaller crowd around them;
while in every place there are the beggars, who con-
stitute a distinct profession, with parti-coloured rags
which scarcely cover their nakedness, and which are
artistically arranged to display to the fullest extent
their dirt, disease, or deformity. These beggars ply
their 'calling' with an amount of audacity and
pertinacity which makes them the plague of Peking.
While the sideways are thus thronged, the central
roadway is crowded with mules, donkeys, camels, and
carts, of which we were told there are probably
nearly 20,000 plying for hire in Peking.


PEKING
'45
bill, raised, it is supposed, of earth dug out of the
neighbouring lakes. It is known as the Coal Hill,
because, tradition says, a large quantity of coal is
stored away in it, to provide against a possible winter
siege. It was on this hill that the last emperor of the
Ming dynasty hanged himself just before the Manchus
took Peking. On the west side of the palace and
Prospect Hill are the imperial pleasure lakes, spanned
by a splendid marble bridge six hundred and sixty
feet long. Of this lake we only got a glimpse through
an open gateway.
In Peking a very large number of important
officials dwell. You often meet them in their yellow,
green, or red sedan chairs, with a large number of
attendants; there must be a large number of fine
residences, but the visitor sees nothing of them but
the decorated roofs and enclosing walls. In the
residential parts of the city you may go for miles
through streets and narrow lanes with nothing but
blank walls on either side, broken by occasional
doorways. No Chinese house has windows opening
out on the street or road. This gives to Peking,
when you .are out of its great business thoroughfares,
that dreary, monotonous appearance which is cha-
racteristic of all Chinese cities. From the top of the
outer wall, the city appears to the greatest advantage.
You see the yellow roofs of the imperial palace, the
green roofs of princes and high officials, the loftier
elevations of towers and temples, with an immense
number of finely grown trees, with which the gardens
and courtyards are planted, altogether forming a very
pleasant picture; and if this were the only view
K


146 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
obtainable, you would question if Peking deserved to
be spoken of as the 'unspeakably dirty city.' After
closer inspection, however, you are little inclined
to rob it of this unenviable distinction. The streets,
except at the bridges and gateways, are not paved,
but are merely hard-trodden earth, covered with a
thick layer of dust in dry weather and a thick layer
of mud in wet weather; all the refuse of the neigh-
bouring houses is thrown into the roadway, while on
either side of the raised cart-track in the centre of
the street are trenches—so many cesspools, in which
liquid abominations are left to seethe and fester.
The more important thoroughfares are regularly
watered, the sewage from adjacent cesspools being
lifted up in buckets and distributed over the dusty
road by the city police, who are about as dis-
reputable-looking a set of men as ever held office in
an imperial city. This street-watering is attended
to every afternoon between four and six o'clock, and
the foreigner who passes through the streets at this
time wishes he were as destitute of the sense of smell
as the Chinese appear to be. The habits of the
common people are as disgusting as the sanitary
provisions are defective. Probably in no other civi-
lized city in the world are the common decencies of
life so unblushingly disregarded.
I was not out early enough to see it, but I was
told that every morning a buffalo-cart, called the
Lu-ti-tsz-hang (or ' land-ship of mercy'), goes through
each ward of the city, collecting the bodies of chil-
dren that have died since it made its previous round;
these, wrapped in straw or matting, or placed in


PEKING
H7
rough wooden boxes, are carried forth and deposited
in a pit prepared for the purpose, without ceremony
or service. Funerals are the most costly things in
which the Chinese indulge. We saw, - while at
Peking, two funeral processions of persons in good
position, but not of distinguished rank; in each case
a large number of men and boys, the ragamuffins of
the city, were employed carrying the hearse—or,
rather, a huge and highly decorated covered bier—
tablets, umbrellas, and a great variety of things, the
significance of which I did not understand. The
sedan chairs in which the deceased had ridden,
the horses which had carried him, and even (on a
tray) the opium pipe which he had smoked—all had
place in the procession; the undertaker provides
everything, even the persons who attend the funeral.
Each of those processions we saw was more than
half a mile in length. The funerals of high officials
are very imposing, and the processions so long that
they take two or three hours to pass a given point.
The persons employed by undertakers to carry the
different symbols are a very miscellaneous lot, not by
any means equal in appearance to the men and boys
used to carry sandwich boards in England, their only
personal distinction being a small tuft of red feathers,
which for the occasion they stick in their ragged and
greasy caps.
So far as we could spare time for that purpose, we
saw the principal objects of interest in Peking; the
city itself we saw in visiting the different missions.
Perhaps the most interesting sight in the city is the
Tien-Tan—the Altar of Heaven. The enclosure con-


PEKING
149
a magnificent triple-roofed edifice, known by foreigners
as the Temple of Heaven. This was roofed with
blue tiles and surmounted with a golden ball. This
fine structure was struck by lightning a year and a
half ago, and utterly consumed. Outside the Tartar
city, on the north side, is the Altar of Earth, where
the emperor worships at the summer solstice. We
obtained a view of this from the northern wall. In
the eastern suburb there is an altar to the sun, while
on the west side is an altar to the moon. All these
altars are placed within large walled enclosures.
One day we paid a visit to the astronomical
observatory, which is built against and rises a few
feet above the south-east wall of the Tartar city. It
is the oldest observatory in the world; it was founded
by Kublai, about the year 1279. The older instru-
ments have been removed from the wall, and are
placed below in the front court. They are very fine
specimens of bronze casting, and represent the most
advanced astronomical knowledge of the period. On
the observatory itself are the instruments which were
made under the direction of. Verbiest, the Jesuit
missionary; there are still finer bronze castings,
modelled, it is supposed, after Tycho Brahe's in-
struments. The same day we visited the great
Examination Hall, or yard. Each candidate is during
the three days' examination confined to his own cell,
in which he works, eats, and sleeps. These cells, of
which there are many thousands, are arranged in rows,
and form long and very narrow alleys. All official
appointments are reached by way of examination,
public and competitive. Among other places of


150 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
interest visited by us, I may mention the Hall of the
Classics. In the cloisters which flank the two sides
of the court are two hundred stone slabs, on which
the whole of the Confucian classics are engraved.
One day we went out to a large Lama monastery
called the Huang-sz, in the west court of which is
a very fine white marble cenotaph, erected by the
Emperor Chien-lung to the memory of a high lama,
who ranked next after the Dalai Lama, or Pope of
Thibet. Visiting Peking at the invitation of the
emperor, he died while there of small-pox. His
body was carried back to Thibet, but his clothes
were buried under this monument, the right side of
which is covered with sculptured representations of
different scenes in his life. Every Mongol who visits
Peking is expected to worship at this shrine. From
this monastery we went to the great Bell Temple, in
which is an immense bell, measuring fourteen feet in
height, twenty-four feet round, and nine inches thick
at the rim. It is a very wonderful piece of casting;
it is completely covered inside and out with Chinese
characters, extracts from the Buddhist classics, every
character being as clear and sharply cut as if the bell
had only been made yesterday. There is a similar
bell in the Bell Tower, near the north gate of the
Imperial city; it was made at the command of the
Emperor Yunglo, and it is struck at midnight, to
mark the time for the city watch. In connection
with this bell a touching legend is told. 'Two
attempts to cast this bell had failed. The emperor
was enraged, and threatened Kuan-yin (the officer in
charge) with death if he failed again. Kuan-yin's


PEKING
153
memory. The work is now carried on in two districts
of the city, Dr. Blodget having charge of the Domestic
and South Street Chapels, and his colleague, Rev.
W. S. Amant, having charge of the North Street
Chapel and country work. The chapels are open
daily. I went into the South Street Chapel one
afternoon, and found between forty and fifty men
present, listening with apparent interest to the
preaching of a native. Dr. Blodget has a daily
morning class for the benefit of helpers and inquirers,
while during the winter Mr. Amant and Mr. Aiken
have a number of men under instruction.
There is an important educational work carried on.
There are two boys' day schools and a girls' boarding
school, founded many years ago by Mrs. Bridgman,
and called the Bridgman School. This school has
thirty-six pupils—bright, intelligent-looking girls—
and is under the able management of Miss Chapin,
who has been working here since 1872. There is a
good work carried on in this mission among the
women. There is also a mission press—the only one,
I believe, north of Shanghai. This is under the
management of Dr. Blodget, and I think that, with so
good an office and plant, the Board would be wise to
utilize them to a larger extent than they do at present.
The mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church
occupies very large premises, the largest Protestant
mission premises in Peking. They go in strongly
for educational work, and have obtained from
America a charter for establishing an institution,
which is to be distinguished by the somewhat
ambitious title of the Peking University. We are


154 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
told that the proposal to found a university in Peking
will arouse American enthusiasm, and call forth
American liberality, as a more modest proposal
would not. At present the institution is smaller than
its name. It is doing good and useful work, but not
on what are commonly regarded as university lines.
We must not, however, despise the day of small
things. Rome was not built in a day. They have
good boys' and girls' schools, and important medical
work is carried on by Dr. and Mrs. Dr. Jones. The
evangelistic work has two centres, one in the north,
the other in the south of the city. This mission is
conducted under the superintendence of the Rev.
H. A. Lowry, an able and energetic man.
The London Missionary Society is doing a good
work in Peking. It was commenced in 1861 by Dr.
Lockhart and the Rev. Dr. Edkins. This mission
carries on its work in two districts of the city. The
East City Mission is under ther care of the Rev-
G. Owen, and the chapel is the largest of all the
Protestant places of worship in Peking. There is
a boys' school, and also a boarding-school for the
daughters of converts, in this branch of the mission.
The West City Mission is under the care of the Rev.
S. E. Meech; the Rev. J. Stonehouse has charge of
the country work. In the East City Mission there
is very valuable hospital and dispensary work done
under the care of Dr. E. T. Pritchard, while in the
west some dispensing work is done by Miss Pearson.
I gather from the 1889 report that three hundred and
nineteen in-patients were treated, and that nearly
20,000 visits were paid by out-patients to the dis-


PEKING
'55
pensary. There is a strong appeal for funds for the
reconstruction of the hospital buildings, which are in
an unsanitary condition, and for extending medical
mission work in the west city. From what I saw
I should say the appeal has not been made too soon,
and I hope it will secure the needed funds.
The American Presbyterians carry on their work
in two different parts of the city, north-east and north-
west, and they too are doing good work—educational,
medical, and evangelistic. We also visited the mission
of the S.P.G. This is the smallest and least important
of the missions in Peking. It is a pity that it should
shut itself off from all kinds of religious association
with the other Protestant communities of the city. .
The Roman Catholics, who have been in China some
three hundred years, have a very considerable number
of adherents, and their ecclesiastical edifices are
among the most noticeable buildings in Peking.
There is a fine diurch in the part of the city in
which we dwelt, the interior of which is very grandly
decorated. The towers rise high above the roofs of
all surrounding buildings, and were often useful to us
as landmarks. There is also a cathedral in the north-
east of the Manchu city, to which we paid a visit.
It was erected a few years ago, in the place of an
older building, which was near to the emperor's
residence; its proximity giving great offence, it was
at last purchased by the Chinese Government, who
gave the Roman Catholics the site for the present
cathedral and the large establishment connected with
it, with a very large sum of money—more than
enough to cover all their outlay. We were conducted


156 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
over the cathedral and the large educational establish-
ment attached to it by a very courteous French priest,
who knew enough English to make his meaning plain,
and who seemed delighted to see visitors from Europe.
There is another cathedral of greater historical
interest, known as the Portuguese Cathedral, which
has been standing some two hundred years, and in
connection with which educational and hospital work
is carried on. Here we were treated very court-
eously, and our visit was regarded as a welcome one.
We were much impressed by the self-denying Sisters
who had charge of the hospital, which accommodates
one hundred patients. On the afternoon we were
there, a young Englishman, who had come up from
Tien-tsin on business, was lying ill of small-pox. He
was a Roman Catholic, we were told; but two of our
party, hearing he was an Englishman, went in to see
him. He was nearly unconscious then; he died that
night, and was buried before noon the next day.
From what we saw, we are sure that he received
every attention. However strongly we may dissent
from Roman Catholic doctrines, we cannot but
admire these deeds of mercy.
One day we went out to see what is known as the
Portuguese Cemetery, which is a little way outside
one of the west gates of the city. It is the place
where Ricci, Schaal, Verbiest, and other great Jesuit
missionaries lie buried. Here, too, an educational
work is carried forward, and preparations were being
made for building a new church.


( 157 )
CHAPTER X.
AN INTERVIEW WITH LI-HUNG-CHANG.
Return to Tien-tsin-A rough ride—Tung-chow-American Board
Mission-Its educational work-Down the Peiho in a Chinese
boat-Good Friday in Tien-tsin-Arrangements for interview with
the viceroy-Courtesy of Lo-Fung-lu-Reception at the Yamen-
Interview with Li-Hung-Chang–Cordial welcome--Careful and
minute inquiries as to mission work-Reference to Roman Catholic
Missions-Inquiries as to opium traffic, and the relations of the
missionaries to it-The conduct of the British Government in
respect of it-Medical missions—The viceroy's strong approval of
them—His wish that more medical missionaries might be sent out
-Departure from Tien-tsin.
AFTER a very pleasant stay in Peking we set out on
our way once again on Saturday, March 21. We
started on that day in order that we might spend
a Sunday at Tung-Chow, an important mission
station of the American Board. Tung-Chow, which
is really the port of Peking, is a large and important
place, with a population of 100,000. It is on the
Peiho, and an immense quantity of merchandise is
brought up as far as this by Chinese boats of small
draught and considerable burden. The goods are
here unshipped, and conveyed by cart, barrow, and
otherwise to Peking, over the stone road. Persons
travelling between Tung.chow and Tien-tsin usually


158 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
travel by the house-boats, which in large numbers
ply on this part of the river.
It is a very important mission centre, in connection
with which a large and varied work is carried on.
There is a theological school, or college for the train-
ing of young men for the ministry, boys' and girls'
schools, daily preaching in the street chapel, and a
very good work among the women. The educational
work is that for which this mission is chiefly dis-
tinguished—it is the educational centre of the
American Board's Mission in North China. The
last report of the American Board, speaking of the
educational work at this station, says, 'We may
hope to raise up a body of educated, clever young
men, as preachers and teachers, fitted for any of the
emergencies of the Church of Christ in China in the
future.'
On Monday morning, soon after eight o'clock, we
embarked for our voyage to Tien-tsin ; the distance is
about seventy miles by road and a hundred and
twenty by water. This was our first experience of
river travelling. We engaged what is called a house-
boat—a flat-bottomed vessel about forty-three feet
long, ten feet wide in the widest part, tapering to four
feet six inches fore and aft. In the centre of the
boat is the house, which consists of three apartments
of the width of the boat, less a narrow footway on
either side of about twelve inches. As neither
servants nor sailors knew a word of English, one
could speak without restraint, though every word
said in one apartment is distinctly heard in the next.
These vessels, with a fair wind, use a large rectangular


AN INTERVIEW WITH LI-HUNG-CHANG 159
sail, which is kept distended by means of splines of
bamboo, which run across at intervals of about
eighteen inches; if there is no wind, or a contrary
wind, they are worked by means of a peculiar kind
of scull, the long and broad blade of which is lashed
at a very obtuse angle to a long handle, which is
slung on an upright fixed in the boat's side. This
imparts to it a semicircular motion. Used by strong
and skilful hands, it is a very effective means of
propulsion, and is everywhere used in the East—we
saw it in the Sandwich Islands, Japan, Corea, and it
is used everywhere in China. Two of these were
worked in the fore part of our little vessel, and one
aft. We had a strong head wind nearly all the way
—for some hours it blew a gale, so that we had to
lay up. We reached Tien-tsin about 6.30 on the
Wednesday evening; with a favourable wind we
should have reached our destination the night before.
Most of our time in Tien-tsin was spent in paying
hasty visits to those friends by whom we were so
kindly entertained during our longer stay in
November last. When we were in Tien-tsin before,
it was suggested that it would be well that we should
have an interview with Li-Hung-Chang, the Viceroy
of Chih-li and the Grand Secretary of the Empire—
by far the most important and influential man in
China, after the emperor. He may be fairly spoken
of as the Prime Minister of China. We of course
said that we should be very pleased to have an
interview with the viceroy, should he express himself
willing to receive us. In November his time and
ours was so much occupied that an interview could


160 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
not be arranged. Our friend Mr. Richard, however,
knowing that we should return through Tien-tsin,
made arrangements for an interview with his excel-
lency, through Loh-Fung-lu, the Secretary of the
Admiralty, and private secretary to Li-Hung-Chang.
We first of all called on Loh-Fung-lu, and had a long
and very interesting conversation with him. He has
visited England, and would like to visit it again; he
speaks good English, though with some deliberation,
as one who is looking about for the exact phrase,
which he nearly always gets. He is a great reader
of Western, and especially English literature, has a
taste for science, and if he does not belong to, he
inclines towards the Herbert Spencer school of
thought. He has made a study of the religions
of the world, and regards Christianity as one of the
most important factors of Western civilization. He
treated us with great consideration. For instance,
our interview was fixed for 5 p.m. He found,
however, that two important Chinese deputations
were to await upon the viceroy immediately before
that time, and would probably delay our reception;
so he called to inform us of the fact, that we might
not be kept waiting at the Yamen, and he remained
for us, keeping up an interesting conversation till it
was time to go, when he set off in his official chair,
with his attendants, and we in our swifter but less
dignified jinrickshas.
We reached the Yamen two or three minutes
before the great man, and arriving in so undignified
a way, were received with supercilious indifference
by the crowd of servants who thronged its portal,


AN INTERVIEW WITH LI-HUNG-CHANG 161
and our friend Mr. Richard could scarcely get an
answer to his inquiries as to the proper way of
entrance. It was amusing to see how this almost
insolent superciliousness was instantly changed into
solicitous and almost servile attention when these
subordinate officials saw Loh-Fung-lu step out of his
chair, and at once cross the courtyard to welcome us,
and take us under his own charge.
The Yamen, i.e. the official residence of the viceroy,
is an immense establishment, consisting of many court-
yards, surrounded with buildings that are used as
offices and dwellings, forming altogether quite a little
town. We passed through several courtyards, and
along several corridors, and at last came to the private
apartments of the viceroy, where we were shown
into a very plainly furnished waiting-room, with
uncarpeted floor. All round the room were seats
covered with red cloth, and divided every few feet
by broad elbow-rests, which serve as small tables for
the waiting guests. Almost immediately after our
arrival, servants came in and placed cups of tea at
our side, and matches, should any wish to smoke.
Then a very grand officer of state came in, a kind of
chamberlain, I should think, who was introduced to
us by Loh-Fung-lu, and remained in conversation
for a few minutes. He took our cards, and made a
number of inquiries—whom we were, and what we
had been doing in China, and then retired, conveying
the information thus obtained to the viceroy. After
a few minutes had passed, another officer made his
appearance, whose duty it was to conduct us into his
excellency's presence.
L


162 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
After passing through another room and a long *
corridor, we came to two rooms connected by a large
opening in the intervening wall, such as would be
occupied in England with folding doors. As soon
as our names were announced the viceroy came into
the outer room and cordially welcomed us, shaking
us by the hand quite in English fashion, and then
himself conducting us to seats, which had been
placed for us on either side of the table, at the head
of which he sat. These rooms were somewhat
sparsely furnished. The outer and larger one was
- lighted with Chinese lanterns, and the furniture was
partly Chinese and partly American and European.
The inner room (the viceroy's private room) was
furnished throughout in foreign style—the floor
covered with a Brussels carpet; there was one gas
pendant with two lights, and several European
lamps; oil paintings hung on the walls, of no great
value. Li-Hung-Chang sat in an easy-chair at the
head of the table, and we sat close to him on either
side. Soon after we were seated, tea was again
served, and cigarettes for those who liked to smoke.
His excellency took one, but soon had his water-
pipe brought in, his servant holding it by his side,
and he taking an occasional puff. He kept plying
us with questions as to our mission, our missionaries,
ourselves, why we had come out, what we had seen,
where we had been, and what were our general
impressions of the country, the people, and the work
which we had come out to inspect. The questions
were those of a shrewd, clever man, accustomed to
deal with men and things. Had our society head-


AN INTERVIEW WITH LI-HUNG-CHANG 163
• quarters in London? Who were the directors?
How were they appointed? Had the English
Government anything to do with us, or we with it?
Were we subsidized by the Government or by any
public fund?
He seemed to have some difficulty in understanding
how large numbers of people should band themselves
together and subscribe what seems, even to a rich
Chinaman, an immense sum of money to send out
missionaries. We told him that we believed that the
Gospel had done more for us as a country than any-
thing else, and that we wished that China and the
other nations of the world should share as largely as
possible the blessings which we enjoyed. He inquired
if we had anything to do with Roman Catholics, or
sustained any kind of relations to them. We assured
him that we had no relations with them, and strongly
disapproved of very much in Roman Catholicism.
He told us that he understood as much before, but
that he was very glad to receive that assurance from
our lips. He said that he knew intimately many
provinces of China, and that, so far as his knowledge
extended, the Roman Catholics had excited very
strong prejudices against themselves, but he believed
that the Protestant missionaries were good men,
anxious to do good. We told him that it was the
wish of our society to avoid all occasions of friction
between themselves and the Chinese authorities, and
that we believed that the attitude of our missionaries
was conciliatory: we felt sure that good Christians
would be good subjects. He then told us that he had
received a deputation some time before presenting


164 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
two numerously signed petitions against the opium
traffic, and he asked us if those petitions had origin-
ated in any way with our society. We said that the
petitions had not originated with us, but that the
friends and supporters of our society were strongly
opposed to the use of opium, and were anxious to do
all that could be done to lessen its use. He said,
'You have been in Shansi, where opium is very
largely consumed; what do you think of the effects
of it, so far as you have observed them?' We
replied that it was impossible for any one to visit
the province, even for so short a time as we did,
without feeling that opium was a great curse, and
that we had constantly met with those who were
evidently its victims; and, so far as we had con-
versation with the people, those who took opium
admitted it to be an evil, though their will-power was
so enfeebled by its use that they felt themselves to
be powerless to shake off the habit. He asked us
what was the attitude of our missionaries in respect
of its use. We said it was one of absolute and un-
compromising opposition, and that no opium-smoker
was allowed to be a member of our Churches. He
then asked if our missionaries had been really suc-
cessful in saving any from this habit. We told him
they had, and that, from all that we could hear,
nothing but the Gospel was potent enough to deal
with this evil. Then he asked how we knew that
those Church members who professed to have aban-
doned the habit did not secretly indulge in it. We
replied that the habit was such that it could scarcely
be kept a secret, and that where any lapse became


AN INTERVIEW WITH LI-HUNG-CHANG 165
known the offender was subjected to the discipline of
the Church.
The conversation then turned upon the conduct of
the British Government in reference to the opium trade,
and especially their conduct in forcing opium upon
the Chinese. We freely admitted that we regarded
the conduct of England in this matter as indefensible,
and assured him that an ever-increasing number of
people at home looked back upon it with feelings of
shame and regret . The viceroy said that he was
glad to hear that we took so just a view of the
question, and somewhat satirically added that, as we
were sending out missionaries to convert the Chinese,
we might try to convert our own Government. We
told him that public opinion was being educated on
this question, and that we quite hoped to convert the
Government. He laughed, and said he supposed that
there was the money difficulty in the way, and that
it was always hard to convince a government of the
propriety of relinquishing a certain source of income,
however questionable its moral character might be.
We were then asked our opinion as to medical
missions. We told him that we had been greatly
'pleased by what we had seen of their work, and that,
viewed in relation to our evangelistic enterprise, it
had rendered valuable service in lessening prejudice,
and that anti-foreign feeling which was so formidable
an obstacle to the spread of the Gospel.
The viceroy seemed pleased when I told him that
I had read the preface which he had written for Dr.
Hunter's translation of the British Pharmacopoeia,
upon which he said that he valued very highly the


166 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
labours of medical missionaries, but wanted to know
if we could secure the services of first-class medical
men at the salaries we paid. We replied that they
were missionaries as well as medical men, and that
they came out, not to make money, but to render
service to a cause to which they were prepared to
sacrifice the prospects and possibilities of money-
making. The viceroy then said, 'We are Confucian-
ists—that is good for us; you are Christians—that
is good for you. We Confucianists think that we are
able to look after our own souls, but we cannot so
well look after our own bodies. Our native doctors
do not know much about our bodies, but your foreign
doctors know a great deal, and I hope that you will
send out a great many more medical missionaries.'
We said that we quite hoped to send out more
medical missionaries, but that they would feel it was
their work to heal the souls of men as well as their
bodies.
Towards the close of our visit champagne was
served to those who liked to take it. The viceroy
kept his glass before him untouched for some time;
at last he raised it to his lips, bowing to each of us.
This was evidently the sign that the interview was
at at end. Loh-Fung-lu almost immediately after-
wards intimated that we were obliged to take our
departure. The viceroy rose and accompanied us to
the outer door of his private apartments, bidding us
farewell with more English hand-shaking, telling us
that he valued the information as to missionary work
which we had given him. He is a fine-looking man,
tall and somewhat spare. We were told before we


168
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA.
CHAPTER XI.
SHANGHAI.
Shanghai—The Yang-tze-Kiang—The first view of Shanghai-Apparent
wealth and prosperity-Municipal council—The Anglo-Chinese
town-Important missionary centre-St. Luke's Hospital–Chinese
hospital-American Presbyterian Mission Press—Union Church-
Native city-Departure for Hankow—The Yang-tze-Kiang—The
changes in the river-bed - Nanking — River-Scenery — Water-
buffaloes.
LONG before we reached Shanghai, the discoloured
state of the water reminded us that we were approach-
ing the mouth of the Yang-tze-Kiang, one of the
great rivers of the world, and which places within
reach of the coast immense districts of Central and
Western China. After entering the river, there is
for a long way but little to interest the passenger
beyond the enormous stretch of yellowish-brown
water, faintly outlined, where the coast is visible, by
low-lying land, hardly distinguishable from the river
which it bounds. After steaming up the Yang-tze-
Kiang for some distance, we came to the mouth of
the Hwang-poo, on which Shanghai is situated.
Having a small draught, we had no difficulty in
crossing the bar at Woosung, and we pursued our


SHANGHAI
169
voyage without interruption for abo^t ten miles,
when we were unmistakably reminded that, though
we were on a Chinese river, we were drawing near to
a great foreign settlement. As we moved on we met
with multiplying proofs of the fact that Western, and
especially British, wealth, energy, and enterprise had
been doing their accustomed work.
Shanghai, approached by the river, presents a very
striking appearance, and there are many things so
home-like that one can scarcely believe that it is a
Chinese river. But, amid all the signs of Western
civilization, there are many things to convince you
that you are in China still. The Hwang-poo, though
small compared with the great river of which it is an
affluent, is a very fine body of water, and as you draw
near to Shanghai you have a long stretch of it before
you, crowded with craft of many different nationalities,
large numbers of native junks, and some ocean-going
steamers and foreign men-of-war, while for miles
along one bank there runs what is called the Bund—
the river frontage of the foreign settlements. Beyond
the wharves and jetties immediately adjacent to the
river there is a finely kept public road, which always
presents a busy scene, with crowds of coolies carrying
their heavy burdens on bamboo poles—nearly all
the porterage is done in this way—innumerable
jinrickshas, and private and public carriages.
Beyond the roadway is a long line of splendid
buildings, stretching in either direction as far as eye
can reach—warehouses such as are seen in London,
Liverpool, or Glasgow; banks, offices of different
shipping companies, and of great firms of merchants;


i7o A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
buildings that are palatial in their appearance; while
on one part of the Bund are some well-kept public
gardens, with hothouses and conservatories. All this
met our eyes and filled us with astonishment and
admiration as we slowly steamed up to our landing-
stage, which was at the upper part of the Bund. As
we drew near to it we were invaded by a perfect
swarm of coolies, who came out in sampans, and
climbed up the ship's sides like squirrels. Some were
touting for hotels and boarding-houses; most of them
were eagerly offering their services as porters. The
landing-stage and wharf were crowded with coolies,
and interested or disinterested spectators, and we
were very glad to distinguish in the crowd the friends
who had come down to meet and welcome us.
There are three foreign settlements in Shanghai,
stretching along the river front^the British, with the
American on the one side and the French on the other,
the British being the largest, most important, and most
prosperous. In 1842 Shanghai was seized by the
British, but not permanently occupied as a possession
of the Crown, and from that time large numbers of
foreigners, chiefly British, settled down there for
trading purposes—first of all in the native city, but,
after a few years, removing to the more salubrious site
on which the foreign settlement gradually grew up,
until it has attained its present vast proportions. With-
out any formal treaty, I believe, the Chinese authorities
have quietly recognized the three settlements which
I have named—the British, American, and French.
Public affairs in the British and American settle-
ments are managed by a sort of municipal council,


SHANGHAI
173
Presbyterian Mission maintains a very important
printing establishment. Last year they issued
552,395 copies of different publications, with a total
of 37,750,625 pages. It is under very careful and
effective management. Many of the workmen are
members of the Church ; they carry on a Thursday
afternoon prayer-meeting among themselves. At
one of these I was present, and gave an address.
The American Methodist Episcopal Mission carries
on an extensive educational work, which I had the
opportunity of inspecting. The evangelistic work
carried on by the different missions is similar in
character to that which I have referred to as going
on in other centres. On the afternoon of the Sunday
I spent in Shanghai, at the invitation of the Rev. W.
Muirhead, I attended a native service in connection
with the London Mission. The large chapel was
filled, and the congregation was an interesting one.
One day I called at the Street Chapel in the native
city, but not at the hour of service. They have a
good attendance there every day. There was much
other work which I should have been glad to visit
had my time allowed. On the Sunday I preached
morning and evening at the Union Church, of which
the Rev. T. R. Stevenson is the pastor. It is a
handsome building, and there is a good congregation.
On the following Monday I had the pleasure of
meeting all, or nearly all, the missionaries of Shanghai
at their weekly prayer-meeting, and gave, at their
request, an account of our travels in China, and my
impressions of missionary work.
On the Monday night I went on board the Kiang-


174 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
yu, a fine vessel of 2000 tons, belonging to the China
Merchants Company, built for service on the Yang-
tze-Kiang river, and arranged to carry a heavy cargo
and a large number of Chinese passengers, with very
good accommodation for a small number of saloon
passengers, who are for the most part Europeans
or Americans. We were obliged to embark over-
night, as she was to start before daylight the
next morning. Our saloon party was small—a
young lady belonging to the Presbyterian Mission,
who was going up to Nanking; an Irish gentleman,
a Commissioner of Customs; the Archimandrite of
the Greek Church in China; and an old Chinese
gentleman, who had been in England, and could
speak very good English, and who turned out to be
the father-in-law of a young Chinaman with whom
we had become quite friendly in our voyage from San
Francisco to Yokohama. These were the visible
saloon passengers, but besides these one or two cabins
were occupied by well-to-do Chinamen and their wives,
of whom we saw scarcely anything during the voyage.
The Yang-tze-Kiang, which is navigated by steam-
boats for about 1100 miles, is a magnificent river,
and in its broad expanse seems more like an arm
of the sea than a river. You are impressed by
the magnitude of the mighty flood which it is ever
pouring into the sea ; but beyond that there is little
to interest, the land on either side being flat and
monotonous. After a while the river narrows, and
we pass a great peach-growing district, and for a
long distance look upon an almost unbroken mass
of peach-blossom. The trees seemed to be com-


SHANGHAI
paratively small, but were clothed with bloom and
growing quite near to the water's edge. We stop
successively at Tung-chow, Kiangwin, and Tin-sen-
chow—places that are mere names to me, but which
are full of interest to many of my fellow-voyagers.
We then come to Chin-Kiang, one of the treaty
ports and a great depot for tea. Here we drop a
good many of our Chinese passengers, and take in
a good many more. Some distance from the river
is Golden Island, which was originally an isolated
rock covered with temples and a slender pagoda on
its summit. In 1823 it was an island on the north
shore; in 1842 it was in the centre of the river, and
our fleet sailed round it on its way up to Nanking;
it is now on the south bank two miles from the
shore. This serves to illustrate the changes that are
ever taking place in the bed of the Yang-tze, and
which render its navigation uncertain and often
perilous. The leadsman never ceases from his work,
and I am getting quite used to the monotonous and
melancholy cry with which he announces the number
of fathoms. We gradually work up the river against
a strong tide and a stronger headwind till we come to
Nanking. It was once, for a time, the actual capital
of the entire empire, and a place of great commercial
prosperty and political importance. It is, if we have
regard to history, one of the famous cities of China.
It was taken possession of by the British in 1842,
and suffered much in the Tai-ping rebellion. The
enclosed space is of vast extent, the circuit of the
walls being some twenty-five miles. We sailed within
a short distance of its southern wall for miles, but it


176 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
seemed to enclose nothing but wild and uncultivated
country—not a house being visible. The inhabited
part of the city enclosure was quite out of view, on
the other side of some low hills.
After leaving Nanking, the river scenery becomes
much more varied and beautiful, improving as we
proceed; fine ranges of hills or mountains coming
into view in the distance, while rising immediately
from the river are grass-covered hills or precipitous
rocks. In one place there rises up in the midst of
the river a small but exceedingly beautiful island of
rock, called the. Little Orphan. This mass of rock,
which rears itself to a considerable height almost
precipitously, is clothed to a large extent with
luxuriant vegetation, and seems to be the chosen
home of a large number of river-birds—fishing-
hawks and cormorants—many of which were sweep-
ing rouhd it as we passed. On this very small
island is a temple, with several priests, who go out
in their sampans and ask for contributions from the
junks that go up and down the river. The little island,
in the glow of the evening sun, with the swift river
eddying round its base, and a perfect swarm of swift-
winged birds sweeping round its summit, forms one
of the most beautiful pictures to be seen in China.
After leaving Nanking, we stop at Wuhu, Tatung,
Ngan-Kin, and then come to Kiu-Kiang, a treaty
port through which nearly all our green tea reaches
us, and which is also the most important centre of
the Chinese porcelain trade. As we do not reach
Kiu-Kiang till 10.20 p.m., I can see little beyond the
two hulks which form the very convenient floating


( 179 )
CHAPTER XII.
HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON.
The three cities-Hankow, Hanyang, and Wuchang—Hanyang Hill
—The viceroy's iron-works and cotton-factory-Native cities and
foreign settlements—Tea-trade-Brick-tea-A Russian factory-
Italian Roman Catholic Mission School—Wesleyan Mission at
Hankow — Blind school - Hospital work — London Mission-
Medical work—Margaret Hospital—Meeting of native preachers
-Scottish Bible Society Press—Chin-Kiang—American Southern
Baptist Missions—From Shanghai to Hong-Kong—Approach to
Foo-chow-River Min-Foochow the capital of Fukien province-
The native city-Foreign settlement called Nantai–Mission work
of the Church Missionary Society and the American Board-
Amoy-Fine harbour-London Mission-English Presbyterian
Mission - Swatow - English Presbyterian Mission — American
Southern Baptists—Hong-Kong to Canton-City of Victoria-
Island of Hong-Kong - Beautiful situation–Kowloon-Mission
work-Canton-Pearl River—The Fatshan–River scenery-Boat-
population of Canton-Wesleyan Mission-Trade of Canton-
Shameen-Narrow streets.
I SPENT four days very pleasantly at Hankow,
during which time I was the guest of the Rev. Arnold
Foster, of the London Mission. The river opposite
the Bund is at least a mile wide, and looking up the
river you see it crowded with Chinese junks and
sampans, and on the same side as the Bund the native
cities of Hankow and Hanyang, separated by the
large river Han, which here joins the Yang-tze, and


180 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
on the other side of the Yang-tze is the city of
Wuchang. These three cities, which have grown up
on the banks of the two rivers, while separate as civic
communities, form one great centre of population, and
it is, or has been, one of the most important com-
mercial centres of the empire. The population of
the three cities has been very variously estimated;
we probably should not be very far out if we were to
put it at something between a million and a million
and a quarter. Remembering how closely the poor
Chinese herd together, no one can look upon1 these
cities without feeling that they contain an immense
number of people. Besides those who dwell in the
cities and suburbs, there is a very large boat popu-
lation: the river Han presents the appearance of a
perfect forest of masts.
One afternoon, in company with Mr. Foster, I
ascended Hanyang Hill, from the summit of which
a very remarkable view is obtained. The country
for many miles round is flat and uninteresting, and
in the flood season to a large extent under water.
Through this plain you can see the mighty river
Yang-tze running in a north-easterly and south-
westerly direction, till it is lost in the dim distance,
while from the north-west you can trace the river
Han, as it pursues its tortuous course, till it divides
the cities of Hanyang and Hankow (Hanmouth),
emptying itself into the Yang-tze, while on the
other side of this larger river, at the distance of
a little more than a mile, there spreads out within
walls that you can distinctly trace the large and
populous city of Wuchang, the monotony of the


HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON 181
plain being broken here and there by hills of incon-
siderable size. From this hill you see these three
cities, separated from one another by two rivers,
forming one great centre of population and com-
mercial activity like New York, Brooklyn, and New
Jersey. From this hill we looked down upon what
must be regarded in China as a strange spectacle—
the preparations which are being made on a very
large scale for the establishment of iron-works. Many
acres of ground between the foot of the hill and the
river Han have been enclosed by lofty and carefully
constructed embankments, to protect the works from
the summer floods; through this already runs a
tramway. Large works are being erected under
foreign superintendence, and large quantities of
foreign machinery are being imported, There is
plenty of iron ore on one side of Hankow, and plenty
of coal on the other, and these works will be in a
comparatively short time in full and, let us hope,
successful operation. The viceroy is also starting a
cotton-factory at Wuchang. An immense amount of
money has been already sunk in them, the prime
mover in this undertaking being the Viceroy of
Hoopeh, H. E. Tsang—an intelligent and far-seeing
man. He is a man much in advance of his country-
men, and is using his great influence not only in
starting these works, but in projecting sundry railway
and mining schemes, which if carried out will open
up the country, and render available some of its
magnificent and almost inexhaustible resources. He
has thus awakened a great deal of interest, and what
we trust will prove to be well-grounded expectation.


HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON 183
Hankow the great tea mart; there do tea-buyers for
the tea-consuming people of the world congregate.
Towards the middle of May the tea - season com-
mences, and from that time till it closes, a month or
five weeks later, there is one constant and exciting
rush of business; everyone is working under high
pressure. According, however, to common consent,
the tea trade of Hankow is not what it used to be.
Indian and Ceylon teas are to an ever-increasing
extent taking the place of China teas in the English
market, and are likely to do so more largely in the
future, unless the Chinese are stirred up by declining
trade to a more vigorous competition. In Hankow
the Russian merchants seem to occupy the first place,
and they hold completely in their own hands an
important branch of the tea trade of which little is
known in England. I allude to the manufacture of
brick-tea—tea compressed into hard cakes and con-
sumed in large quantities in Mongolia, Siberia, and
some parts of North China. This brick-tea is not
only an important article of commerce and con-
sumption, but in the districts referred to a common
medium of exchange. This business, which was
formerly limited to small manufacturers in the
country, is now carried on exclusively by large
Russian firms, with all the appliances of Western
machinery, at Hankow and Ku-Kiang. The presence
of these huge manufactories is made known by a
powerful and all-pervading odour, distinguishable in
every part of the settlement . Just as in brewing
towns like Romford or Burton you have everywhere
the smell of beer, so here you have everywhere thp


184 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
smell of tea—not the delicate fragrance of fresh-made
tea, but the smell that prevails in the kitchen of a
school where tea in large quantities is being prepared
for a school festival. *
By the kindness of Dr. Griffith John, I was con-
ducted over one of these large Russian factories,
and I saw the process of manufacturing brick-tea
from beginning to end, and was presented with a
brick of tea as a memorial of my visit. I first of all
went into a large room in which many men were at
work making the wooden moulds into which the pre-
pared tea is pressed, then to a room where the tea is
reduced to a fine powder; this powder is then placed
in bags, and these bags of tea-dust are placed in per-
forated metal cylinders, and exposed to the action
of steam just long enough to become sufficiently
moistened. The tea is then placed in the moulds
and subjected to great pressure, coming out in appear-
ance very much like a black paving-tile, about nine
inches by six inches, and one inch thick or nearly so.
They are then carefully examined; imperfect ones
are thrown on one side to be ground up again; the
others are dried and packed separately in paper, done
up in neatly covered packages of sixty or seventy each,
and in due course sent to North China, Siberia, and
Mongolia. They also manufacture the same articles
into small tablets, very much like our chocolate cakes.
That part of the establishment, however, was not in
work the day I was there. This factory employs
about 1400 hands, and sends out about a quarter of
a million of these larger bricks, and in addition a
large number of tablets.


HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON 185
Among other places I visited was the large Italian
Roman Catholic Mission School, which takes in, feeds,
clothes, and educates some six hundred children.
The lady superior, an Italian, speaking good English,
received me most kindly. I told her that I had
been visiting our own missions, and should like,
while in Hankow, to see the work which was carried
on under her superintendence. She said she should
be pleased for me to see all there was to be seen, and
she herself conducted me over the establishment. In
one room there were a number of babies in cradles, in
another a number of little things that had not long
left the cradle behind. As soon as the children are
eld enough to use their fingers they are set to some
useful employment, their work being arranged and
graduated according to their ages and capacities.
Take, for instance, the work with cotton. There were
some poor blind women picking the cotton wool;
then there were girls spinning with the old-fashioned
spinning-wheel that we now only see in pictures;
in other rooms you would see girls working at the
hand-loom, making the cotton cloth so largely used
for Chinese dress. Some were making tapes and
towellings. A large number of the girls were engaged
in crochet-work and lace-making—some exceedingly
beautiful specimens of lace-work were shown me—
while others were engaged embroidering silks and
satins. Some splendid specimens intended for church
decoration were exhibited, and some which were
being made to order for the decoration of the rooms
to be occupied by the Czarewitch during his antici-
pated visit to Hankow. A considerable sum is earned


186 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA.
by the sale of lace and other things made in the
mission school. The girls are taught to wash—to do
household work of different kinds and cook; the
lady superior told me that sixteen girls were told off
for the morning and sixteen for the afternoon cook-
ing. At the back is a large pond or small lake, well
stored with fish, and I saw on a projecting bamboo
stage a girl busily engaged in catching fish. The
lady superior called the young fisher-girl, who seemed
very pleased to show me her good-sized basket well
filled with fish, which were to be cooked for that
day's dinner. The large dormitories are clean and
well arranged. In passing through one large room
I saw an old China woman busily engaged with
shallow baskets, in which was a quantity of green
material, which looked like chopped mint or spinach.
She held out one of the baskets for my inspection,
and I was about to take up a handful of the green
stuff more closely to examine it, but was deterred
by her look and cry of horror, and I found that the
green stuff was carefully chopped mulberry-leaves,
upon which a perfect swarm of little silkworms were
feeding—in that stage of their existence not larger
round than a medium-sized sewing-needle—and I
was told that the large room would be fully occupied
by them in the later stages of their existence. Alto-
gether I spent a very pleasant time in this institution,
and could not but admire the Christian benevolence
of these good women who were so nobly devoting
themselves to the service of these poor children in
a strange land. It is an industrial rather than an
educational establishment: the teaching only occu-


HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON 189
strength of a mission should be given to the preach-
ing of the Gospel, and he attaches the greatest im-
portance to the work carried on daily in the street
chapels. The inclemency of the weather did not allow
me to see the ordinary week-day congregation at one
of these chapels. The work done at .them, I am told,
is very encouraging in its character.
The medical work of this mission is carried on
under the care of Dr. Gillieson, in connection with
two hospitals. One is for men, capable of receiving a
considerable number of patients ; and there is a small
and beautiful women's hospital, called the Margaret
Hospital, in memory of the late Mrs. John. Im-
portant evangelistic work is done in connection with
the medical work.
On the afternoon of my last day in Hankow, I
spent the time with a number of native preachers and
helpers, who had assembled for a short conference,
on lines similar to those on which our own Church
leaders meet in Shantung. They were strong, intelli-
gent, self-reliant men—just the kind of men we want
to take the lead in the native churches. They were
pleased to meet with me as representing the Chris-
tians of England, to whom they feel they owe so
much. There are several schools maintained by this
mission, and Mr. and Mrs. Foster have under their own
care a small number of very interesting and promising
Eurasian girls. Altogether this mission, placed as it
is in an important centre of population, is one of great
promise.
I had the opportunity of seeing the press of the
Scottish' Bible Society, which is under the able


igo A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
management of Mr. Archibald, who, though not a
practical printer, has introduced a number of small
inventions, which contribute to the economy and
efficiency of the establishment
.
We stopped at all the ports going down the river,
and for some hours at Chin-Kiang. The British
forces captured this place in 1842, and the Tai-ping
rebels occupied it from 1853-1857. The city was
almost destroyed by the rebels ere they evacuated it,
and it has not yet recovered from the effects of that
rebellion. The city lies between one of the entrances
of the Grand Canal and the bank of the Yang-tze.
Most of the houses are built on the level, but some
are on the hill-slope, and viewed from the river it
presents a pleasant and attractive appearance. The
foreign settlement stretches along the river front
from the Grand Canal, with the customary Bund
and foreign-built houses and warehouses; and, as at
other points on this river, old P. and O. hulks form
very convenient and commodious floating wharves.
It was at one time anticipated that a very important
trade would be developed here. These hopes were,
however, for a time disappointed. The closing of the
Grand Canal in i853,when the Yellow River changed
its lower course from the eastward to the northward,
and the consequent interference with the through
traffic between Peking and the great cities of the
south, almost extinguished the trade.of this port,
while the opening of Hankow as a great tea-export-
ing centre interfered with it in another way. Of
late years, I was told, the trade has been improving,
notwithstanding these serious drawbacks.


HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON 191
I availed myself of the opportunity afforded by our
short stay at this port of visiting the mission station.
I saw first that connected with the China Inland
Mission, and then that of the American Southern
Baptists. There is also a mission of the American
Methodist Episcopal Church, which I had not time
to reach. There was a very serious riot in this
place in the early part of 1889, when the British
Consulate and many of the foreign residences were
burnt down, and the residents had to escape for their
lives. There seems to be a good missionary work
doing here, and new and commodious buildings have
taken the place of those which were destroyed.
I reached Shanghai on the Friday about noon, and
late that night got on board the Hae-shin, which
was to sail the next morning before dawn for
Foo-chow.
In our voyage to Foo-chow we scarcely lost sight
of China, or the islands that skirt its coast. These
rocky islands are very numerous, forming quite an
archipelago. The city of Foo-chow is situated on the
left bank of the river Min, about thirty-four miles
above the entrance. To this river there are three
main approaches from the sea, and the navigation
is exceedingly difficult, owing to the many rocks and
strong currents. Sea-going vessels have to anchor at
Losing Island, or, as it is generally called, Pagoda
Island; above that the river is only navigable by
steam-launches and native craft drawing little water.
On the river Min the scenery is more beautiful than
anything which we have seen in China.
Foo-chow, the capital of Fu-Kien province, is nine


A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
miles above the Pagoda Island entrance, where we
had to transfer ourselves from the steamer to a small
steam-launch. The port was opened to foreign com-
merce by the Treaty of Nanking. The native city is
built on a plain, and is about three miles from the'river-
side, with which it is connected by immense suburbs,
containing, I should say, a larger population than the
walled city itself. The attention of foreigners was
early directed to Foo-chow as a likely place for the
shipment of Bohea tea. Before the port was opened,
this was carried overland to Canton—a long, difficult,
and expensive journey. As early as 1830 the East
India Company made strong representations in favour
of opening this port, but without effect; it remained
closed till 1842. After the opening of the port but
little business was done for some considerable time;
but after a while the trade rapidly developed, #nd
Foo-chow became one of the chief tea-ports of the
empire.
The native city is built around three hills, and
surrounded by a wall, the circuit of which is between
six and seven miles; but though the streets are not
less narrow and dirty than in other Chinese cities,
the large number of fine-grown trees which adorn
the grounds of private and official residences, and the
well-wooded hills which rise up in the midst of the
city, impart to it a pleasant and almost picturesque
appearance. Near the east gate are several hot
springs, which are used by the natives for skin
diseases, and are believed to be efficacious. Let us
hope that they are, for cutaneous affections are not
less common-here than in other places we have visited.


19\ A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
whom we were most kindly received and entertained.
The Church Missionary Society carries on a very
important and most encouraging work, both educa-
tional and evangelistic. They have a women's school,
a boys' school, a girls' school, and a training college
for those who are looking forward to the Christian
ministry, and the work in Foo-chow is merely the
centre of a great work carried on in the Fu-Kien
province for many miles around. Archdeacon Wolfe
not only acted as our guide while we were inspecting
the work of the Church Missionary Society, but
rendered us the additional service of conducting us to
and over that carried on by the American Methodist
Episcopal Church, which here, as elsewhere in China,
is distinctively an educational work, for the carrying
on of which they are splendidly provided with build-
ings and all necessary equipment. These buildings
have been almost entirely furnished by private donors,
by far the largest benefaction having been received
from a wealthy and converted Chinaman interested
in the education of his countrymen. In the after part
of the day the archdeacon's colleague, Mr. Lloyd,
conducted us to the Mission of the American Board,
at the head of which is Dr. Baldwin, one of the oldest
missionaries in China. To reach this we had a chair
ride of more than three miles through the street.
This work is carried on within the walled city, and
divides itself into three branches—evangelistic, educa-
tional, and medical; and our friends at this mission
seem to have much to encourage them. We visited
a large girls' boarding-school belonging to the Church
Missionary Society, and were deeply interested Fri -


HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON 195
what we saw there, and then returned to spend a
pleasant evening with Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd and one
or two other mission workers.
The English Presbyterian Mission is doing a very
fine work in this part of China, Amoy and Swatow
being the controlling centres. 'The native Church,'
the report says, ' gives us a leverage which, by the
power of the Spirit of God, is producing great results,
and which must in the future produce still greater.'
The Amoy Mission has of late years developed in the
most encouraging way. There are eight organized
and thirty-nine not yet organized congregations, with
1006 communicants; while at Swatow there are
nine organized congregations and eighteen not yet
organized, and 1100 Church members. Thirty years
ago there were only three communicants; now a
native Church with twenty-seven congregations, 2000
persons under its charge; a native moderator, Rev.
Lim Huang; native contributions amounting to 1897
dollars; and the Church has started its own Mis-
sionary Association, and has chosen the island of
Namoa as its first field. This mission also maintains
a large printing establishment and good educational
work; which and the women's work, under the care of
Miss Ricketts, is very valuable. One very interesting
fact was mentioned by Dr. Lyall—that a Chinese
merchant (not Christian, I believe) had offered 2000
dollars to help in establishing a women's hospital.
After making these pleasant calls on the coast, we
drew near to Hong-Kong. This island is a Crown
colony, ceded by the Chinese Government in 1841.
It is eleven miles long by from two to five miles


196
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
broad, and twenty-seven miles in circumference. It
consists of a broken ridge of lofty hills, with but little
ground which admits of cultivation, not one-twentieth
part of the surface being available for agricultural
uses. The harbour has an area of ten square miles,
and divides the island from the mainland. It is shut
in with lofty hills, set as it were in a frame of the
most diversified and picturesque scenery. Victoria
itself far exceeds as a city anything which is to be
seen elsewhere in China. The city is well built, and
the streets are broad and well kept. There is both
gas and electric illumination, a well-ordered police
force, many important and some imposing-looking
buildings, public and private. The Hong-Kong and
Shanghai Bank occupies finer premises than any bank
in London. The hills rising almost immediately from
the harbour, the city spreads along the shore, and
some of the streets which climb the hillside are so
steep that no wheeled carriage can be used on them,
and they are broken at short distances by flights of
steps. Jinrickshas are used in great numbers on the
more level roads. To ascend the Peak the only avail-
able conveyance is the chair, carried by coolies.
During our stay in this city, Dr. Glover was the
guest of Mr. Bonfield, the minister of the Union
Church, while I was entertained by Dr. Chalmers,
one of the oldest representatives of the London
Mission in China. We saw as much as our time
would allow of the work of the London Mission, the
Basle and Berlin Missions, and the Church Missionary
Society. The Sunday we spent in Hong-Kong was
fully occupied, Dr. Glover and I taking the services


HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON 197
at Union Church morning and evening, and in the
afternoon we addressed a large gathering of Chinese
Christians in one of the chapels of the London Mis-
sionary Society. While we were glad that the time
of our return, and the prospect of meeting with our
friends at home, was drawing near, I think we both
had a feeling of regret that after that service v/e
should have no further opportunity of meeting with
Chinese Christians, with whom in different parts of
this great empire we have had such frequent and
pleasant intercourse.
While at Hong-Kong we availed ourselves of the
opportunity of paying a visit to Canton, probably
the largest and certainly the most picturesque and
characteristic city in China. We made the journey
up the river Pearl in a very fine English-built boat
called the Fat-Shan, of immense beam for her length,
small draught, and burden of 2000 tons. There were
only four or five European travellers, and for these
excellent accommodation was provided. There was
a larger number of Chinese intermediate passengers,
and a very large number of third-class Chinese
passengers, who are carried at a low rate. As it
can never be known but by the event who are the
passengers thus carried, every possible care is taken
to prevent what is now happily of rare occur-
rence, the piratical seizure of the vessel. They are
all stowed away on the lower deck, and over each
communication with the upper deck a heavy iron
grating is fastened, not to be removed till the vessel
reaches its destination, and at each of these a well-
armed foreigner keeps guard, while in the saloon is


198 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
a stand of arms—rifles and bayonets—ready for use,
should they be needed for self-protection.
Approaching Canton by river, two things impress
the traveller—the size of the city and suburbs, which
spread along the river for some miles, and the enor-
mous boat-population. The sides of this wide river
and the adjacent creeks are simply crowded with
boats of different kinds—junks, sampans, slipper-
boats—many ranks deep, and in these people are
born, marry, bring up families, and die. It is supposed
that the boat-population numbers a quarter of a
million.
The population of the city and suburbs is put down
at 1,600,000. Chinese statistics, however, must always
be taken with some measure of reserve. Many of the
boats which are moored by the river-side are fixtures,
and are used as places of entertainment and refresh-
ment. They are known as flower-boats, and many of
them are places of very questionable reputation. The
boats which ply for hire are, to a large extent, worked
by women, who are strong and healthy-looking, and
skilful in the exercise of their calling. It is a very
common sight to see a woman standing at the oar,
which she vigorously plies, while her baby is slurig at
her back. We were taken up the river some miles by
a woman known as 'Susan,' recommended to us by
the captain as quite trustworthy—the mother of seven
children ; five of them were on board, and the mother
and eldest daughter worked the boat, and did it well.
The native city of Canton is about two miles in
breadth and ten miles in circumference, the enclosing
wall being broad and high. There is a partition wall


200 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
difficulty to make your way through them, and you
are continually obliged to turn aside—so far as an
aside is possible—and make way for a string of blind
beggars, or coolies with their burdens swinging from
their bamboo shoulder-poles, or for some sedan chair
which is forcing its way along. The strangely dressed
and still more strangely undressed people, the wonder-
ful exhibitions in the shops, the gleaming tablets, the
rush of vigorous and noisy life, is exhilarating, fasci-
nating, bewildering, and, as you find after a few hours'
experience, very exhausting. The streets did not
strike me as exceptionally dirty ; they are paved with
transverse slabs of stone, not closely joined, and
beneath flows or stagnates the drain. This arrange-
ment has the advantage that the pavement can easily
be kept comparatively clean, and the disadvantage of
allowing the disgusting odours which rise from the
festering filth beneath to assail the nose of every
passer-by.
We saw a little of the work of the Wesleyan Mission
and of the American Presbyterian, finding here as
elsewhere that the most encouraging work was done,
not in the city itself, but, working from the city as a
centre, in the country for many miles round about.
A good work is also doing at Fat-Shan, especially in
connection with the hospital, which accomodates fifty
patients. Last year 3000 in and out patients were
treated, and two hundred operations performed. The
popular appreciation of the work done may be gathered
from the fact that during the past year more than
1ooo dollars were received in fees. Canton is inte-
esting to all who are interested in Chinese missions


HANKOW, HONG-KONG, AND CANTON 201
as being the place to which the first Protestant
missionary (the Rev. Robert Morrison, of the London
Missionary Society) was sent. He arrived there in
September, 1807, and he died in Canton in 1834.
What a wonderful change has been wrought since
1807, and even since 1834!
We went back to Hong-Kong by the Fat-Shan,
to spend one more day there, and then left China,
and the many friends who have rendered our visit
so pleasant, for our homeward journey on April 30,
1891.


2©8 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
imposed by the chief mandarin. These red dots are
then covered with dots of black ink by the same
person and with the same ceremonies. The consecra-
tion of the tablet being now finished, it is returned to
its casket, which is then closed.
'The chief mourner, after this, takes the tablet
from one of the attendant magistrates in both hands,
in a very reverential manner, and sets it upright upon
a small table in front of the coffin. The magistrate
who has imposed the dots then comes forward with
his four associates, and while all are kneeling on a
mat before the tablet, pours out three chalices of wine
as a libation, after which the five prostrate themselves
three times before the tablet, bringing the head each
time to the ground. Then all retire, their duty being
accomplished.
'The tablet thus consecrated is carried out the
next day to the cemetery, on a pavilion adorned with
hangings of silk, its place in the funeral procession
being some distance in front of the catafalque. At
evening it is returned to the home of the eldest son,
where incense is burned before it morning and even-
ing, and the customary offerings are made during the
three years of mourning. When these are finished,
the tablet is transferred to the ancestral hall, to be
worshipped with the other tablets of the clan, with
the customary libations and offerings, on the days set
apart for such service.
'Such is the ancestral tablet in its consecration
and uses. Among the common people there is less
ceremony and expenditure of money, while the rich
and those high in rank lavish their wealth on this


THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA
209
and all that pertains to funeral rites. The customs
above described vary in different parts of the country,
but the essential things are the same. There is a
kind of incorporation of the spirit in the tablet as. its
visible home, where it receives offerings and prayers,
and manifests its good will or disapprobation. This
is implied throughout in the preparation and uses of
the tablet.'
Dr. Blodget, whose description of the ancestral
tablet I have now given, freely admits that those
who practise these rites may differ widely in intent,
and he distributes the Chinese who worship their
deceased ancestors into four classes:
First.—Those who do this in the belief that their
ancestors still exist, that they have power for good
or evil over their descendants, and that they may be
appeased by offerings, or offended by the withholding
of them.
Second.—Those who are agnostic in regard to
these points, who not only do not profess to know,
but who think that nothing can be known in regard
to deceased ancestors and their relations to the living.
If such persons be asked why they sacrifice to the
dead, they will reply that they do this to manifest
their filial piety.
Third.—Those who deny the continued existence
of their deceased ancestors and all objective reality
in their worship. Their reason for maintaining such
worship would be the same as that just mentioned.
Fourth.—The fourth and by far the largest class
is composed of those who worship their ancestors,
without inquiry or thought as to the reasonableness
O


214 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
afraid lest unfilial sons would leave their parents
unburied. You need not wish to know whether the
dead have knowledge or not. There is no present
urgency about the point. Hereafter you will know
for yourself." In such ignorance as regards the
future he lived himself, and in such ignorance he
left his followers.'
There are great differences of opinion among
competent Chinese scholars as to the views enter-
tained by Confucianists as to the being and worship
of God, and whether, when they speak of worshipping
Heaven, they have any idea of a supreme, invisible,
and personal Ruler of the universe. It is a question
difficult to determine. The great majority of those
with whom I conversed upon this subject in China
had the impression that when the Chinese talk of
adoring "heaven and earth, they have no idea of a
personal God, but are worshipping and serving the
creature rather than the Creator.
While in Shansi we had a long and very interesting
conversation with a Chinese gentleman, to whom
our missionary friend had rendered important
medical service. He was a pronounced Confucianist,
a literary graduate of some standing. Among other
things we spoke to him about God and God's love,
and asked him whether he believed that God loves
us. Upon which he rose from his seat, and in
apparently eloquent terms, certainly with much
apparent earnestness and many gesticulations, he
told us what his creed was. 'Of course,' he said,
'God loves us. Heaven is our Father, and Earth
is our Mother. Here is Heaven overarching us all,


THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA 215  ■
and we are, whether we think of it or not, always
in the embrace of our Father; and here is Earth
stretching out everywhere underneath us, and, whether
we think of it or not, we are always resting on the
bosom of our Mother.' - But so far as I could gather
his meaning as given us by our interpreter, he was,
when speaking of heaven and earth, thinking of two
divinities, and not of that one God who is both in
heaven above and on earth beneath, making Himself
known by the things that He has made. At the
close of the conversation he reminded us with
Confucian self-complacency that his religion was
good enough for him. 'It teaches us,' he said,
'the proprieties, and it will be well with us now and
always if we but observe them.'
A great deal is said about the Chinese system of
morals, and there can be no doubt that it is a very
remarkable one, and such as can be found nowhere
else apart from the teaching of Christianity. From
the most remote antiquity a number of very admirable
maxims and proverbs have been handed down, and
China's greatest sage—Confucius—has formulated a
system of morals which is confessedly one of great
beauty and worth, and which, however little carried
out in practice, is in China to-day theoretically held
in very high esteem.
Dr. Edkins—one of our most reliable authorities
on all such questions—says, 'What is the Confucian
morality on which such high encomiums have been
passed? A follower of that sage would probably
reply to this question by referring to the San-Kang-
woo-chang," the three relations, and the five constant


2i6 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
virtues." The three relations, to which belong
corresponding duties, are those of prince and subject,
father and son, and husband and wife; the five
virtues, whose obligation is constant and universal,
are benevolence, uprightness, politeness, knowledge,
and faithfulness. Politeness includes, in the Chinese
meaning of the word, compliance with all social and
public customs transmitted by wise men and good
kings. The native term for knowledge means rather
the prudence gained by knowledge. The word for
faithfulness means both to be trustworthy and also to
trust to, and refers chiefly to friendship.'
Virtue is defined as consisting in following our
nature, and vice as deviating from it.
And 'what,' says Dr. Edkins, 'has the result been
on the Chinese of the Confucian morality? It has
not made them a moral people. Many of the social
virtues are extensively practised among them, but
they exhibit to the observer a lamentable want of
moral strength. Commercial integrity and speaking
the truth are far less common among them than in
Christian countries. The standard of principle among
them is kept low by the habits of the people. They
do not appear to feel ashamed when the discovery is
made that they have told an untruth. Falsehood is
too often a favourite weapon of the diplomacy in
social life. There is a palpable lack of sensitiveness
on this and other points which indicates the want of
honourable principle in the national character. This
renders the nation feeble in war, and open to new
temptations—such as, for example, the use of opium.
Another cause of moral weakness among the Chinese


218
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
Han dynasty passing the spot, a bullock was slain, to
be presented to him as a sacrifice. It is now universal
to offer a bullock with other animals to Confucius in
every Chinese city. No priests are employed. It is
an official act, forming a part of the annual duties of
the city magistrate and other resident officers.'
Taouism.
Taouism lays claim to an antiquity equal to that
of Confucianism. Lao-tsze, the founder of this re-
ligion, was born, it is commonly supposed, about fifty
years before Confucius, and must, therefore, have been
an old man when China's great sage began to claim
the attention of his countrymen. Of the personal
history of Lao-tsze no historical record has been
preserved; but, as is so often the case, where history
fails legend sets itself to supply the deficiency, and
China is full of marvellous tales of the birth and
career of the old philosopher. According to one
legend, he was born an old man eighty years of age,
and was called Lao-tsu, the ' old boy,' or Lau-Kinu,
the 'venerable prince.' It seems generally agreed
that he was 'keeper of the archives,' or 'keeper of
the treasury,' in the imperial court of Chow, and that
at least on one occasion Confucius had an interview
with him, and soon after this Lao-tsze resigned his
office, and in retirement from the world gave himself
up to the cultivation of Taou (the way) and Tih
(virtue).
It is exceedingly difficult to determine the exact
position occupied by Lao-tsze as a religious and
philosophical teacher. 'In the Taou-tth-Kingj says


THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA 221
contempt, and only such of their beliefs as have
received the approval of the-government at different
times, for various causes, are in any way recognized
by any but the most ignorant of the people. By
law, candidates for the priesthood should go through
a course of study extending over five years, at the
end of which time they take the vows, and receive
a licence from the local mandarins. But practically
their novitiate is spent in serving the priests, who
impart to them only such knowledge of chicanery
and fraud as they themselves possess, and a smatter-
ing of ethical science, to enable them to prompt the
oracular responses of the gods to the inquiries of the
sick and dying. The social morality of the priests
is of the most degraded kind, and the nunneries,
which, in imitation of the Buddhists, they have
established throughout the empire, are by common
report described as the haunts of every vice. With-
out a belief in any god apart from deified men,
without the purer motives which influence the
Buddhists in their endeavour to reach a higher life,
having drifted, century after century, further and
further away from all that is noble, unselfish, .and
true, the modern Taouists have sunk lower in the
estimation of their fellow-men than any but the most
degraded of idolaters.'
Buddhism.
Buddhism was brought into China from India in
the first century, or rather, perhaps, it should be said
that it then first struck its roots into Chinese soil


A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
and life. That time may be regarded as marking
the commencement of that vigorous growth which
made it one of the great religions of China. It is
said that so early as the year 250 B.C. Buddhist
missionaries found their way into China. But
Buddhism as a religious system cannot be said
to have effected a real lodgment in the land until
it was officially recognized by the Emperor Mingti
of'the Han dynasty. It is said that in the year
61 A.D. this emperor had a dream which very
powerfully impressed him; he saw a foreign god
entering his palace, and he was led to regard this
dream as affording him a divine intimation that he
should introduce the Buddhist religion to the land
over which he ruled. Thereupon he despatched
ambassadors to India, who were instructed to make
all needful inquiries, and who on their return brought
back with them an image of Buddha and a number
of priests.
These were received with much favour by the
emperor, and, sustained by the influence of the
imperial court, they set to work to make known
the principles of Buddhism, and to urge its claims.
This, we are told, they did with so much success, that
in a comparatively short time Buddhist temples and
priests were to be seen in almost every part of the
empire. This system, however, did not uninter-
ruptedly enjoy the favour of the court, and its
adherents had on several occasions to endure severe
persecution; but the opposition it had to encounter
failed to check its growth, and, according to a census
taken at the end of the thirteenth century, there


224 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
but even the more orthodox southern Buddhists
in Ceylon, Burmah, and Siam, decline to accept
this doctrine of practical annihilation. And later
Buddhism, constrained by this revolt, has elaborated
a system of twenty-six tiers of heavens ; the lower
levels being full of light, purity, and placid con-
templation, and thus lying more within the reach of
immortal but conscious spirits; and the higher
soaring stages are ignored by popular Buddhism.
- The doctrine of the Paradise of the Far West is
directly connected with Amidabha Buddha. . . .
Now in China every Buddhist monk or nun, and
every devout worshipper, repeats morning, noon, and
night the name of Amidabha, as the great charm
against evil—the sure way of access to the heaven
of light where Amidabha sits in glory, discoursing
on religion.
'" Good morning," says a priest. "Amidabha"
(o tnee do fuh). "Have you had your rice? Ami-
dabha." "What is your honourable age? Amida-
bha." "It looks like rain. Amidabha." "I have a
severe headache! Amidabha." "If you wish to
reach the city quickly, take the first turn to the right
and the second to the left: Amidabha." "Farewell.
Amidabha ;" and (aside), "What a queer fellow, that
foreigner! Amidabha."
'This special Buddha, and his western land of bliss
and of beauty, . . . this is popular Buddhism; this
forms one great dream of heaven for many Buddhists.
Yet even this reformed and reconstructed Buddhism
does not satisfy the practical Chinese. Their souls,
cleaving to the dust of demand^ and supply of this
m


THE RELIGIONS OF CHINA 227
and there are some large lama monasteries in Peking
and other places in North China. Prayer-wheels are
often placed at the gates of their temples. 'On each
wheel a prayer is recorded, and the votary who is
passing by, or who is unable to remain in the temple
till the service is concluded, repeats once the prayer
that he is about to set in motion, and then turns the
wheel and goes his way. The wheel is supposed to
waft the prayer to heaven, and the petition is con-
sidered to be repeated as often as it revolves.' Woo-
tai-shan, in Shansi, is a great centre of Lamaism,
to which large numbers of pilgrims flock. Dr. Edkins,
who has given a very interesting account of a
visit he paid to Woo-tai-shan, tells us that at that time
there were 1000 Mongol lamas and 2000 Chinese
lamas and Hooshangs resident there. It is said that
many of the ceremonies of Lamaism have been
borrowed from the Roman Catholic Church. How-
ever that may be, it is generally admitted that there
are some very remarkable points of resemblance,
which cannot be overlooked by any one who com-
pares the ceremonial of Roman Catholicism with
that of Buddhism as it prevails in Thibet.
With the existence of all these different forms
of religion, the one thing that impressed me while
in China, more than almost anything else, was the
apparent absence of deep and real religious senti-
ment. In Japan we found temples well kept and
well frequented. In China, temples of all kinds are ill
kept, and, except on certain days, without worshippers.
There is the worship of idols ; but the Chinese almost
without exception seem to feel that there is not much


( 229 )
CHAPTER XIV.
FUNG-SHUI.
Description of the Superstition.
No one can be long in China without hearing some-
thing of that gigantic and wonderful system of super-
stition known as Fung-shui, which, perhaps, more
than anything else, dominates the Chinese people,
holding many of them in a state of miserable bondage.
You everywhere meet with evidences of its existence
and influence; but, however carefully you inquire, you
fail to get any very intelligible definition or descrip-
tion of it. You try. and ascertain the reason for some
peculiar arrangement in building, the demolition of
some recently erected structure, or the continuance
of some great accumulation of refuse, which is a dis-
figurement and nuisance to a large district, and you
are told that the reason has something to do with
Fung-shui; but if you push your inquiries, and ask
what this Fung-shui is, almost every person you ask
will give you a different answer. The dark thread
of this superstition is woven warp and woof into the
very fabric of Chinese life. It reveals its existence
everywhere, and it seems to blend in various and
mysterious ways with everything.
Archdeacon Moule, in his New China and Old


FUNG-SHUI
231
Su, the numerical proportions of Nature in ancient
and modern Fung-shui literature are at variance. At
the time of the Yik-King, the most ancient of the
Chinese classics, they recognized, instead of five, six
elements. The modern system of Fung-shui, formu-
lated by Choohe (the great commentator on Conr
fucius), and by others during the Sung dynasty (a.d.
1126-1278), endeavoured to harmonize the two; and
taking io, or twice 5, as the sacred number for
heaven, and 12, or twice 6 (or 8 + 4. the number
of the two sets of mystic diagrams known to the
ancients), as the sacred number for earth, they con-
stituted ten heavenly stems, and twelve terrestrial
branches, and from their combination composed the
cycle of sixty names, which is used now to designate
successive years. A clever geomancer, well versed
in this intricate but meaningless array of formulae,
imposes with ease on his ignorant and superstitious
customers.'
Archdeacon Moule refers to the curious fact that
the profession and practice of this great and popular
system of Fung-shui is denounced in the Sacred
Edict as a capital crime.
This superstition is closely .linked with the graves
of China; and as these are found everywhere, it is
almost impossible to interfere with the existing order
of things without exposing oneself to the very
serious charge of disturbing the Fung-shui of the
district. It is the universal belief that the spirits of
the dead maintain very close and real relations to the
living; and if they find themselves involved in any
discomfort, because a favourable site for their graves


234 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
another place may mean the opening of a way for
the invasion of evil and malign influences.
You constantly see a small cross wall built a little
distance from the doorway of a house, either inside
or outside, or both—serving as a. screen—the inten-
tion of which is to safeguard the family against the
ingress of evil spirits or influences, which, as they
always move straight forwards, and never turn a
corner, are effectually shut out by these interposed
obstacles. The objection so strongly urged by the
Chinese against- the erection of lofty buildings by
foreigners, rests on the ground that they will interfere
with the Fung-shui.
The Fung-shui explains what occurs to us as a
very strange custom common in some parts of China.
Trouble comes upon a Chinese family, and it is
declared by those who profess to know that the mis-
fortune has resulted from the bad Fung-shui of the
ancestral burial-ground; and so the bones of the dead
are taken up and deposited in earthen jars, in which
they are kept, sometimes for years, till a new and
more suitable burial-place has been selected.
Belief in this curious superstition of the Fung-shui
is, we were assured, universal. We were constantly
meeting with proofs of its widespread influence;
and large numbers of Fung-shui men, astute pro-
fessors of this mysterious art, practise upon the
credulity of their countrymen, with much profit to
themselves, but to the serious loss and impoverish-
ment of their victims. It is only as men enter into
the liberty of the Gospel that they are liberated from
the bondage of these superstitious fears.


2 3 6
WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
omitted or neglected without serious loss and detri-
ment to that great enterprise upon the success of
which our hearts are supremely set.
Evangelistic Work.
Every mission feels that its work is to evangelize
China; but with oneness of aim and intention there is
diversity of method. Where missions are located in
large or considerable centres of population, there is
the use, almost, I think, without exception, of the
street-chapel, in which frequent, often daily, services
are held. These services are somewhat free and easy
in their character, the Chinese coming in and going
out at their pleasure. We were present at many of
these services, and were greatly interested in what we
saw. The testimony of many of the oldest mission-
aries in China, American and English, with whom we
conversed, was very distinct as to the value of these
services. The knowledge of the gospel is thus often
carried, by those who come in as casual hearers, far
beyond the limits of the city where it is preached;
and missionaries in the interior frequently meet with
those who have some knowledge of the 'doctrine'—
who, when asked where they first heard of it, will
refer to a street-chapel or book-shop in a city, distant,
perhaps, hundreds of li from the place of their abode.
After what we saw, and especially after what we
heard from such men as Drs. Blodget, Corbett,
Griffith John, Chalmers, and the Revs. Arnold
Foster, W. Muirhead, and many others, we felt
strongly that, whatever other methods of evange-


MISSIONARY WORK AND METHODS 237
lization might be adopted, preaching in the street-
chapel should not be neglected.
In addition to the street-chapel or preaching-hall,
to which outsiders are invited, there is, usually, the
Domestic Chapel, as it is called, devoted to the use
of Christians and professed inquirers, and in which
the more regular religious services are conducted.
Another way of reaching the Chinese in large
towns and cities is by the book-shop. This is a
shop, which should be situated in a good position in
an important business street, where books and tracts,
and sometimes small articles of stationery, are sold.
In China you are at perfect liberty to enter a shop,
and look round, and spend some time in it, though
you have no intention of purchasing anything. And
many well-to-do and educated Chinese, who would
never think of entering a street-chapel, will readily
enter a book-shop, and gratify their curiosity by
looking at the books and tracts, the maps and
pictures, that are exposed for sale, and will freely
enter into conversation with the person or persons
in charge, who have thus the opportunity of preach-
ing the gospel across the counter.
But besides the shop, and screened off from it,
there is, or should be, another room, comfortably
furnished as a guest-room, into which the more
interested inquirers can be invited, and there, with
the inevitable cup of tea, and the almost as inevitable
pipe of tobacco, such inquirers will sit for the hour
together, receiving further instruction concerning the
things of the kingdom. Where well conducted, the
book-shop is a most valuable agency. Large num-


MISSIONARY WORK AND METHODS 239
statement simply because it is made in a publication.
The books thus distributed among the people form
the subject of frequent conversation, and thus the
name at least of our Saviour becomes familiar to
many. This in itself is no small gain. It always
makes one feel more certain that the message will
be understood, where many Christian books have
preceded the preacher, than in places where even
the names and titles of the Saviour have to be
explained.'
In addition to the work which is done (as it were
incidentally) in those lengthened journeys which
missionaries are from time to time compelled to
take, there are carefully arranged and regularly
recurring itinerating tours; and many missionaries
spend a large portion of their time and energy in
this itinerating work—work which in many parts of
China has been crowned with very distinguished
success.
A great deal of the evangelistic work is carried
on by the natives themselves; and in the future
native agency must be employed to an ever-increas-
ing extent . Every one feels that, if China is to be
evangelized, it must be by the Chinese themselves.
The work can never be overtaken by foreigners. The
great aim of the foreign missionary is, or should be, to
make the work as largely as possible, and as speedily
as possible, self-supporting and self-propagating; to
awaken and strengthen in the minds of the natives
a sense of responsibility; and to make them feel
that, in receiving the gospel for themselves, they
have been put in trust with it for others. That


240 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
missions can be made to a large extent self-support-
ing and self-propagating, the records of the" Amoy
and Shantung Missions abundantly prove. We had
the opportunity of looking carefully into the work
of the English Baptist Mission in Shantung, which
is to a larger extent than any other mission we
saw self-supporting and self-propagating. Both in
the Tsing-Chow-fu district and the Chow-ping dis-
trict the work is done chiefly by the natives them-
selves; and so many and so widespread are the
native communities under their care, that our foreign
missionaries can do little more than exercise an
episcopal influence and superintendence. In the
Tsing-Chow-fu district there are seventy-nine centres,
where Christians and inquirers meet. There are
1200 Church members and many inquirers, un-
equally distributed over a district as large as York-
shire. In Chow-ping, where the work is much more
recent, there are, in a district of about the same
size, ninety-nine centres, some 1100 enrolled in-
quirers, and several hundred Church members. All
the work within the Church area is done by the
natives themselves, and entirely at their own cost.
About a dozen evangelists are paid by the society
for work done outside that area, and they are paid
such small sums that the most suspicious of their
fellow-countrymen would not entertain the idea
that they engage in the work for the sake of the
remuneration they receive.
The question as to the employment of a paid
native agency is a difficult one, and one as to which
opinion is somewhat divided. That the millions of


242 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
work; while some other societies, not entirely neglect-
ing it, bestow upon it a disproportionately small
measure of attention. Missionaries in China, as eke-
where, have this work forced upon them. If there is
to be a strong, self-supporting, se.lf-propagating Church
established in China, the work of education cannot
be neglected. There must be a fairly well-educated
class trained up, from which the leaders and teachers
and pastors of the Church shall ultimately be taken.
When, since my return, I have spoken about the
importance of educational work in China, I have
been met again and again with the inquiry as to
whether there was any very urgent need for it.
Are not the Chinese a well-educated people? it
has been asked. This idea is a very prevalent one.
In the Multum in parvo Atlas for 1890 I read, 'In
China Proper few are unable to read and write.'
This is a great mistake. In a paper read by the
Rev. J. C. Gibson before the Shanghai Conference
this question is carefully dealt with; and, according
to him, if by reading we are to understand the intelli-
gent perusal of a simply written and non-technical
book, not more than ten per cent, of the men of
China can read, and not more than one per cent,
of the women. This is considered a very liberal
estimate. Dr. Martin, of Peking, gives a much lower
one—five per cent, of men, and one in 10,000 of
women. In mixing with native congregations we
were struck by the considerable number who seemed
to be able to use Hymn-book and Bible; but we
were assured that the great majority of these had
learned to read after they became Christians.


MISSIONARY WORK AND METHODS 243
In the Baptist Mission we have not gone very
largely into educational work. What is done divides
itself into three branches—village day-schools with
native teachers, one-half of whose small salary is
provided by the parents of the children; a boarding-
school, in which a more advanced education is given
to selected children of native Christians, whose
parents pay one-third of the cost of their board—
five out of fifteen dollars, the amount which would
about keep them at home. We have also a small
training-college to fit teachers, evangelists, and
pastors for their work, to the support of which
institution the native Church has liberally con-
tributed out of its extreme poverty. In our Mission
instruction is only given in the Chinese language.
This saves the pupil from the temptation to use a
knowledge of English as a mere marketable com-
modity, and obliges him to live among his people
and exert his influence upon them. Another advan-
tage is that a strictly Chinese education, given in
a school where all live in Chinese fashion, has
little tendency to lift its possessor above the level
of the people with whom he will have to live, and
those extremely simple and frugal modes of life
to which he will have to conform himself. There
is room for all kinds of work in China; but, from
all we heard and saw, we were led to feel strongly
that missionaries would be wise to limit themselves
to education in the Chinese language, and to avoid
everything which shall have even a tendency to
make the pupils discontented with the unadorned
simplicity and plain and frugal fare of the homes


244 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
in which they have been brought up, and of those
in which of necessity they must hereafter dwell.
Medical Work.
This, again, is a very important branch of mission
work in China, and, like educational work, while it
receives much more attention from some societies
than others, it is, so far as we know, entirely neg-
lected by none. Having been for many years some-
what closely associated with hospital work in England,
I naturally availed myself of every opportunity that
presented itself of inquiring into and inspecting
hospital and dispensary work in China; and I am
glad to be able to bear testimony to the great
value of that work, not only as a medical and bene-
volent, but also, and still more as an evangelizing,
agency. Before going to China, I shared in some
degree the fears entertained by many, that the
medical missionary, in the enthusiastic prosecution of
his medical work, is in danger of forgetting that he
is a missionary as well as a medical man, and that
after a while, though working as an agent of a
missionary society, he will be little more than a
medical man, doing good, useful, much-needed work,
but not missionary or evangelistic work. But now,
having met and conversed with many medical
missionaries, having lived in their homes, having spent
many hours with them in their hospital, dispensary,
and evangelistic work, I feel how utterly groundless
that fear was. Some of the most devout, devoted,
enthusiastic men we met were medical missionaries—
men in whom scientific and medical enthusiasm was


MISSIONARY WORK AND METHODS 245
not quenched, but men whose souls were aflame with
love for Christ, and love for the perishing around
them for whom Christ died. We did not meet with
a single man in connection with any society who
did not evidently feel that he was first of all a mis-
sionary. To use the words of one of the finest men
we met with,' the medical missionary is not merely
a doctor—he is an evangelist; and if faithful to
Christ, he will be blessed to the salvation of souls.'
No one who has not been to China can form any
idea of the extent and urgency of China's need in
this particular, and how largely this special form of
Christian benevolence has been appreciated by the
Chinese people. But we value the work not only
because of the enormous amount of suffering it has
been the means of alleviating, but also and especially
because it is one of the most useful of the evangelizing
agencies employed. Large numbers, who would not
and could not have been reached in any other way,
have been brought under Christian instruction, and
within the range of Christian influence, through the
instrumentality of the medical missionary. The
work thus done breaks down prejudice, weakens
opposition, inspires confidence, and makes a way for
the Gospel into many a Chinese home and many a
Chinese heart, into which otherwise it would not
have gained an entrance. And if we limit our
attention to direct spiritual results—cases of conver-
sion which issue in baptism and Church membership
—medical missions will compare very favourably
with any other branch of mission work.
In speaking of medical missions, I ought not to


246 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
be silent as to the valuable service rendered by our
medical missionaries, and missionaries with some
measure of medical knowledge, in dealing with the
great opium curse. It is impossible to say what
proportion of the people are addicted to this vice.
In the province of Shansi, one of the great opium-
producing provinces, the habit is fearfully common.
I only refer to this subject now, that I may remind
my readers that in all the hospitals of China large
numbers of opium-patients are treated; and, in addi-
tion to hospital work, there have been established in
different parts of the empire many opium-refuges,
into which those who are anxious to be set free from
the bondage of this vile habit are received. In our
intercourse with foreigners we met occasionally with
those who attempted to justify the trade in opium,
insisting that the effects of its use were not so bad
as some represented them to be; but, on the other
hand, we were impressed by this remarkable fact, that
while in the course of our travels we spoke with many
who used opium, we never met a Chinaman who had
a word to say in defence of -the practice. As to the
feeling of the Chinese themselves in reference to this
habit, I would quote a sentence or two from a paper
by Dr. Dudgeon, a great authority. He says, 'The
Chinese government and people, smokers and non-
smokers alike, regard it as a vice, a curse, and their
greatest plague. Not one word is ever spoken in
defence of it. It is universally condemned in the
most unqualified manner. The very devotees of the
drug feel ashamed that they are addicted to the
slavery. The Chinese of no class regard opium as


248 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
The report of 1889. shows that 20,279 out-patients
were treated, and five hundred and eleven in-patients,
including one hundred and thirty surgical cases, and
this at a cost of rather less than $2000.
C. I. M. Hospital, Chefoo. One hundred and twenty
in-patients, chiefly surgical, and 6000 out-patients,
at a cost of $550.
And it should be remembered not only that these
institutions are worked in an extremely simple and
economical manner, but that a very large proportion,
in some instances the entire amount, of even this
small cost is met by local subscriptions, foreign and
Chinese. Altogether there was scarcely any depart-
ment of missionary work which impressed us more
favourably than that carried on by the medical
missionaries in the hospitals and dispensaries we
had the privilege of visiting.
Women's Work among Women.
An increasing measure of attention is being directed
to this important branch of work by all the mission-
ary societies in China. We came away from China
profoundly impressed with the splendid opening
there is for women's work, the urgency of the need
for it, and the fact that there is a great deal of work
that can only be done by devoted and duly qualified
women who shall be specially set apart for the
doing of it. There is a very prevalent idea in this
country that the need for women's work in China
is not nearly so great and urgent as in India;
whether that be so or not I cannot say, for I have
never been in India, but I can say that the need


MISSIONARY WORK AND METHODS 251
cherish an interest in things beyond the four walls of
their homes. That those who need help most should
be helped first, is a truth as old as the hills, and as
trite and undeniable as that two and two make four*
My countrywomen should have the first claim on the
attention, sympathy, and charity of Christian people
in more favoured lands. That they have not had the
consideration they deserved in the schemes for the
evangelization of China, is inexplicable to me. The
seed of a man's faith in the providence of God is
planted in his heart by his mother, and no one else
can do it half as well. And it is needless to say
that the surest way of bringing China into line with
America and Europe is by giving to her daughters
the advantage of a Christian education.' The need,
the claim, of the girls of China could not be better
put. The work has been commenced—may it go on
and prosper! We had many opportunities of inspect-
ing girls' day and boarding schools carried on by
different missionary societies, and we were delighted
by what we saw.
One of the most important and successful branches
of women's work in China is the medical work, for
which there is great room and great need. For
while, yielding to the urgency of painful and long-
continued disease, Chinese women will consult and
submit to the treatment of a foreign and male phy-
sician, there can be no doubt that they do so very
reluctantly, and would much prefer to be treated by
doctors of their own sex. And medical work among
the women, perhaps even more than among the
men, is a most important evangelistic agency. In


MISSIONARY WORK AND METHODS 253
labours of Christian men and women, and to the
touch of Christian influence, as she has never been
before. And the question which presses upon us as
Christian people is this: whether, with this splendid
opening for service, and this loud and imperative call
to service, we are ready to go in and possess the land?
No one can visit China, live in China, even for
so short a time as we did, without feeling not only
what a magnificent opportunity is presented to us,
but also the greatness and urgency of China's
spiritual need. There are many who question the
existence of such a need; there are some who deny
it. They say to us,' Have not the Chinese a splendid
system of morality? Are not the Chinese people,
according to your own admission, a law-abiding,
contented, industrious people, with some good
features of character which Western people might
with some advantage imitate? And their super-
stitions, if foolish, are they not comparatively inno-
cent and harmless? They have got on fairly well
without you for 4000 years; why push yourselves
in where your presence is not wished for or needed?'
A visit to China would, I think, convince any one
not wilfully blind that she needs the Gospel fully
as much as any nation under heaven, and that the
Gospel is able to give to China and do for China
what nothing else can. The Chinaman is practi-
cally, if not professedly, a secularist, an agnostic,
with certain superstitious and idolatrous additions,
which are accepted and observed out of a pru-
dential regard for self or a politic consideration of
others; and with this prevailing agnosticism, the



254 A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
moral conscience of the people is not so much per-
verted as paralyzed. One who knows China well
has said,' What the Chinese lack is not intellectual
ability. It is not patience, practicability, or cheer-
fulness, for in all these qualities they greatly excel.
What they do lack is character and conscience.'
And I need scarcely say that nothing else than the
Gospel, nothing less than the Gospel, will meet
China's need.
And now there is the further question, How far
is the Gospel, as sent to China, and as preached in
China by the different missionary societies, meeting
that need? How far are Christian missions touching
the life of the nation, effecting any real change, con-
ferring any real benefit? In a word, how far are
they able to justify their existence by pointing to
tangible, visible, appreciable results? I have sought
to answer that question in what I have written.
And I can only say again what I have said before,
that what we saw, for extent, character, and worth,
far exceeded our largest expectations, and, so far from
feeling that we had been deluded by exaggerated
and garbled statements, we felt, as we passed from
one mission station to another, that the half had not
been told us.
A strong appeal is being made by all missionary
societies for large and speedy reinforcements. In
the presence of the great opportunity which is pre-
senting itself, it will be a grievous pity if through
lack of funds the men and women needed for the
service of Christ in this great empire are not sent
out. It will be a still more grievous pity if all the


MISSIONARY WORK AND METHODS 255
men and women needed for this service are not forth-
coming at the call of duty and of Christ. We cannot
believe that we have exhausted the resources of the
Church, or that we have reached the limit of Christian
willinghood. May we not hope that, on the necessities
of the case becoming more widely known, there will
be no lack of men or women or money?
China needs the Gospel. The door of this great
empire, long closed against us, has, in God's provi-
dence, been thrown wide open, and the question
which is pressing upon us and waiting for our reply
is, Are we ready to go in and take possession of
the land in Christ's name? There are difficulties,
there are hindrances many and great, many things
doubtless will occur to try both faith and patience;
but there is opportunity for service, there is the
unmistakable call to service, and He who calls us to
engage in His service has given us the promise of
all needed assistance in it, and the assurance of
victory and reward. % When we think only of China's
millions, and the difficulties which seem to rise
mountainous and insurmountable in our way, we are
ready despondingly to exclaim, 'Who is sufficient
for these things?' But when we remember that it
is in the Lord's name and in the Lord's strength
that we engage in this great enterprise, we can say,
'Who art thou, O great mountain? Before a
Church divinely inspired and divinely sustained
thou shalt become »a plain;' and 'He shall bring
forth the headstone thereof with shoutings of Grace,
grace unto it,' for 'It is not by might, nor by
power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.'


256
A WINTER IN NORTH CHINA
APPENDIX.
SUMMARY OF PROTESTANT MISSION WORK IN CHINA,
FROM REPORT OF THE SHANGHAI CONFERENCE,
MAY, 1890.
94
22
FOREIGN MISSIONARIES.
Churches.
Men . . . . 589
Organized Churches . · 522
Wives . . . . 391
Self-supporting-
Single Women
. 316 Fully
One-half. .
Total . 1,296 One-third . . . 27
Total . ; . 665
Native HELPERS.
BIBLE DISTRIBUTION.
Ordained . . . 211
Bibles . .
1,454
Unordained . . . 1,266
New Testaments . 22,402
Female Helpers . . 180
Portions . . . 642,000
Total . 1,657 Total . . 665,856
Tract Distribution . 1,287,227
MEDICAL WORK.
Religious Journals .
12
Hospitals . . .
Pupils in Schools 16,836
Dispensaries . . . 44 | Communicants . 37,287
Native Students . . 100 | Contributions by Native
Patients in 1889 348,439 Christians in 1889 $36,884.54
GROWTH OF MISSION WORK IN CHINA.
(Dr. Morrison went to China in 1807.)
In 1842 there were
6 Communicants.
„ 1853
350
, 1865
2,000
„ 1876
13,035
, 1886
28,000
„, 1889
37,287
. .
. .
.
.
LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.


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Rey I
DR. EDERSHEIM'S BIBLE HISTORY.
Complete in 4 vols. 16s. the Set, or in separate vols. as below.
1. The World before the Flood, and | 5. Israel and Judah from Solomon
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MAHOMET AX& ISLAM.
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