^^f^^^^^/^^ . H TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. • • • •, • • • :•..• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •. • • • • • TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA J , , • J . , > THE PEOPLE, THE REBELS, AND THE MANDARINS. ) BY A BRITISH RESIDENT. life lUttstrations. EDINBURGH: THOMAS CONSTABLE AND CO. HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., LONDON. MDCCCLX. 53 • '• • A O i KDINBCRGH : T. CONSTABLK. rUINTER TO THE QUKKN, AND TO THE UNIVERSITY. \ PREFACE. In the absence of public information regarding late events in China, excepting from persons whose views would naturally, if not inevitably, be affected by the policy adopted by our Government, it seems to me a duty, in the present crisis, to narrate my experience during a residence of twelve years in that country, and the opinions I was led to form. In the light in which events appeared to me, they assumed a very different colour from that in which they have been painted by others. The *^ Foreign Factories" at Canton, on my firet arrival there in 1847, were enlivened by the presence of some of the troops forming part of the expedition hazarded by Sir John Davis to obtain the fulfilment of Treaty-rights. The chief results of that demonstra- tion were the building of a chupch and parsonage, and the closing of a disagreeable thoroughfare called Hog Lane. More important advantages were obtained upon paper, but owing to the faithlessness of Chinese oflScials they remained documentary. The parsonage was blown up at the destruction of the Factories ; the church was pulled down by the Chinese when the gardens were evacuated for the better concentration of the small foroe under Sir Michael Seymour; and Hog Lane was re- <4C95l VI PREFACE. opened over the site of the church, formiDg a melancholy pathway through the scene of desolation which marked the position of our famous old residences at Canton when I left China in 1859. During the interval many interesting events occurred ; some of these will be described in the following pages. In pursuit of business and health, or impelled by curio- sity, I saw more of the country and people than has fallen to the lot of most foreign residents in China. As I give some account of my experience in the follow- ing pages, the reader will be enabled to judge whether my opinion is of value. It is quite possible for a person to reside long in China, and yet know very little about it : even the best informed has much to learn. Native society is so constituted, that the people themselves are very ignorant upon many points relating to their country. I do not consider Government interpreters the best authorities on Chinese affairs ; much of their time is taken up in studying old classics and official forms, and a great deal of their information is derived from native teachers, who are frequently spies of the mandarins. During my residence in China, the empire has been disturbed by two distinct rebellions. Too little atten- tion has been paid to these ; the map which accompanies this volume will show how extensive they have been. One body of rebels proclaimed Christianity and the over- throw of idolatry, but as their doctrines were mingled with much error, and they pressed their religion by the power of the sword, it is natural that, however much Christian missionaries might hope for good to arise from the movement, they could not approve the acts of PREFACE. VU the insurgents. No attempt was made to remove their errors and to teach them truth ; the Bible they repub- lished has therefore been left unheeded among the mass of rubbish by which it was surrounded. Neutrality during the civil war was proclaimed by the British Government, but has not been adhered to. A British plenipotentiary, it must be remembered, had to take into consideration, that anarchy might en- danger the vast revenue derived from tea-duties ; and \ that as the Insurgents at first punished opium-smoking by death, the large revenue derived i'rom that source/ would have been lost had they gained the ascendency. Besides, our late plenipotentiaries have derived most of their information regarding political matters in China from one source. Mr. Wade has been their adviser and interpreter, and he cannot be considered impartial, having at one time held an appointment in the service of the Chinese Government. Lord Elgin availed himself of the services of Mr. Lay to assist Mr. Wade, though the former held at the time the post in the Chinese service vacated by the latter. I quite approve of the appointment they held in the Chinese service, but regret that Lord Elgin had not other assistance. Our own advantage has been the regulating principle of our policy ; we make exactions when it suits us, and do not enforce them when inconvenient. Our diplomacy j has resulted in confusion worse confounded ; we shall have probably now to overthrow a Government which we have been endeavouring to support. T^ empire is too weak to bear the double evil of foreign invasion and civil strife. Had we been more considerate in our de- Vlll PREFACE. mands upon the Government, and tried to do some good to the people, we should now have less to deplore. Little can be said in favour of the mandarins; the people deserve better rulers. When I first thought of publishing my views on China, shunning notoriety, I intended to let them go forth anonymously ; but I find that there are various matters on which I differ from other writers on recent events, — and that regarding events of such importance, that if any additional consideration can be obtained for my re- marks by adopting a different course, it is only right that I should make them openly. I am confident in my own opinion ; and though I have such distinguished men as Sir John Bowring and Lawrence Oliphant as my opponents, I cast these notes upon the general cur- rent of public opinion, hoping that if there is truth in them, it may drift into some powerful channel, and lead to greater results than my efforts single-handed are likely to attain. As it is yet possible that the threatened war with China may be averted, this does not appear, to be the time for discussing future operations should they ulti- mately be necessary. Publicity in such matters should be avoided. When it was considered necessary that Canton should be taken, as I was well acquainted with the neighbourhood of the city, and knew the style of defence adopted by Yeh when the rebels attacked the place, I made out a plan of the environs, giving roads, elevations, &c., on a large scale, described the whole, and the best point of attack to two of the principal officers, and placed the plan in the hands of the authorities. PREFACE. IX taking care to mention nothing of the affair to any one else. The attack was conducted almost in exact accord- ance with the plan, and the loss of life, numerically, was very small. A different result might have ensued had the plan been publicly discussed. These frequent wars in China are dangerous; the Chinese learn the art of warfare by experience. Every succeeding quarrel with them is likely to be more serious than its predecessor, and it must always be borne in mind that their climate is as powerful an enemy as their soldiers. JohW Scarth. Edinburgh, February 1860. ^-^^JJ Costumes, Mainland near Hong-Kong. " THE PLAN TO PURSUE IN CHINA IS THIS : DAEE TO ACT HONESTLY, AND DAEE TO TELL THEM TRUTH." Wingrove Cooke. CONTENTS. PAGE Introductory Notice, ....... 1 CHAPTER I. - SILK DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Departure from Shanghai — A metamorphosis — Province of Clie-Kiang y — Variety of boats — Peculiar mode of catching fish— Prodigious / population— A hint to high farmers at home— City of Kia-Hing— \ Mulberry leaves— Large factories rare in China — Distrust of assemblages of men — Chinese gambling — The author roughly handled — Reeling of silk — Various kinds — Large exportation — Native manufacture defective — Its antiquity— The wild worm — A French savant — Chinese children precociously sedate, . . t CHAPTER IL JOURNEYS IN THE COUNTRY. Meeting with Mr. Fortune, the Chinese traveller, at T'heen-Tung — f His good humour and curiosity — Insect-hunting— Promise and dis- appointment — A priest and pale ale— The Temple in decay — Petty pilgrimages — A laughing devotee — Silk -throwing in the Temple, 16 ^ CHAPTER IIL JOURNEYS IN THE COUNTRY. Chapoo — Trade with Japan — A mandarin "know-nothing"— A beau- tiful hawk — The sporting gentleman — Kite-flying — An empty shot — Adventure with a pirate-junk — Treacherous steersman — Trick with the compass — The soup drugged — Aroused to danger — Presence of mind — Danger averted by knowledge |of the langiiage — Necessity of encouraging its study, . , . . XU CONTENTS. CHAPTEK IV. PAOB Araoy, its forbidding aspect— The home of the missionary— Tradition of the Rock — Relish for traditions — Ride by the gun battery — Marks left by H. M. ship Cornwallis— Temple of Lampooto — Hos- pitalities — Dislike of cold drinks — Rotigh riding — White graves — Temple of the White Stag — Pony race upstairs — Fine view — Ruined villages — A washerman in petticoats— Koolangsoo — Sad effects of civil war — Early deaths of British chaplains — Trade of Amoy — Frequent disturbances — Aborigines of Formosa — Their ferocity — A Yankee exhibited by a Chinese Barnum, . . 28 CHAPTER V. FOOCHOW-FOO. Foochow-foo — Its important foreign trade — Chinese honesty — Beauty of the city — A quaint old chronicle — Taking portraits — Good female sitters — Small feet not general — Tartar women — Tartar soldiers inferior to Chinese — Bow and arrow practice — Feats of strength — Fishing with cormorants — Its dangers — Poetical names of places — British consvilate — Obstacles to foreigners obtaining land — A mandarin and his tail — Processions shabby and grand — Places worth visiting — Hot springs and tea-houses — Hot baths — Scanty ablutions, . . . . . . ,37 CHAPTER VI. Swatow — Its late rise into importance— Numerous wells — Primitive sugar-making — Waste and loss, yet extraordinary cheapness of production — Rival clans and predatory expeditions — Excess of males over females — Fine appearance of the men — Eating man- darins — A sketch — Shaking hands— A little rebellion and a great tragedy — Differences in manners and customs — Theatrical enter- tainment — A peep behind the scenes — Second visit to the theatre — The audience and the actors — An agreeable family — A Catholic missionary, ........ CHAPTER VII. NORTH-EAST PART OF KWANG-TUNG. North-east part of Kwang-Tung— Chaou-Chaou-Foo, a Quixotic expedi- tion—Stuck fast in mud— Mocking Birds— Eel-fishers— Sledge- CONTENTS. Xlll PAOE racing over mud— Launched again — Disturbed appearance of the country — Fighting preparations — Hoong-lo-Chee— Poultice verstts Precipitate— Young Braves and ladies — Opium-smoking — Civility of the people — Their surprise at first seeing foreigners — Pre- dominance of males — A beauty — Uses of a sketch-book — Mountain view — Opium-dealers, . . . . . .63 CHAPTER VIII. RELIGION IN CHINA. Religion in China— Statements of Hue and Meadows— Enlightened Chinese not idolaters — Taouist traditions regarding the Messiah — Rise of Buddhism — Belief in Supreme Being — Religion founded in fear — Injudicious proceedings of missionaries — Buddhist priests — Three classes of Buddhists — Idols — No State religion under exist- ing dynasty — Supremacy of the Emperor — Taouist priests — Pretty temple — Religious oflering — An emperor's definition of worship, . 74 CHAPTER X. CHARACTER OP THE CHINESE. First impressions corrected — Chinese character opposite to that of Euro- peans — Chinese school-book — The new religion taught by the Rebels — Fundamental principles of the old faith contrary to that of Christianity — Official rank open to all — Rule regarding mandarins — Indifference to circumstances — Potted ancestors — Cofiins for the living — Hired mourners-^ The famine at Shanghai — Stories of in- fanticide exaggerated^ — A tower full of bodies — Disreputable nuns — Canton fire-brigade — Stoicism of Chinese undergoing sentence of death — Suicide by order— Strange mixture of qualities, . 95 CHAPTER XI. TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE CHINESE. Cheating honestly — The compradore — Honesty of servants — Mercantile integrity — Chops of tea — Coolies, their fidelity — Open exposure of property— A pickpocket — Pawnbroking — No native gold or silver coin — Unwritten agreements faithfully observed — Rarity of drunk- enness — Eyes and tails— Costumes — Chinese cotton goods — Dress of coolies — Fishermen — Perfection in matters of utility — Cooking by steam — Healthiness of the people — Medical treatment — Monkey-soup, ....... 108 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. PAGB Chinese character — Chinese witness — Value of knowing the language — Great want of interpreters — Chinese employed by Europeans— Their satisfactory conduct — Chinese "Sepoys" — Growing rapidity of communication with Europe, ..... 124 CHAPTER XIII. THE MANDARINS. Emperor's description of his officers — Wickedness and baseness of the mandarins — Ho-Kwan's prodigious gains — Other degraded man- darins— Tlie Foochow bank failure — Wholesale execution of angry creditors — Murder of Englishmen — Attack on missionaries — Reso- lute conduct of the British Consul — Supported by a British naval captain— The offenders delivered up — Accounts of mandarins punished — The conduct of soldiery at Shanghai — A Chinese admiral pockets pay and avoids fighting — A Chinese battle a farce — Missionary hospitals, ; . . . . .131 CHAPTER.XIV. PRISONS AND PUNISHMENT. Horrors .of a Chinese prison — Prisoners nailed together — Prisoner in a cage — Starving to death — An address to the throne — Salutary.in- terference of Lord Elgin — Instances of fatal effects of ill-usage- Various kinds of torture — Imitation of official cruelty — A poor wretch saved — Curious customs regarding wives — Deliberate act of vengeance — Other instances of the like kind — Flogging big boys — A servant flogging his master — More cruelties — Life for life — Gods in the rain, . . . . . .145 CHAPTER XV. THE INSURRECTION. Frequency of former revolutions— Peculiar character of the actual insurrection — New kind of Christianity — Scepticism of foreigners regarding the religious character of the movement — Same feeling on the part of officials exposed and condemned — Difficulty of arriving at truth— Two distinct rebellions — Th_e_. Tria ds —The Dagger-men —Mode of recognition— Secret societies dreaded by CONTENTS. XV PAGB the mandarins — The English war and the internal troubles — Forces on paper — "V olunteers— Amour not love — Origin of insur- rection — The first converts — Effect of a missionary's tract — Preaching of Hung-siu-tsuen — Fung-yun-san's first congregation — Religious belief— Yang, the eastern king — Obligation on Chris- tians to consider the religious movement in China — Unjust inter- ference of foreigners, . . . . . .151 CHAPTER XVI. TAI-PING-WANG AND THE INSURRECTION. Tai-ping-wang and the progress of the insurrection — Who was the first rebel chief? — Teen-teh's execution — Connexion of th e Tai-ping movement with se£ret,^societies:;;:r The different leaders — Dead alive— Repression of vice in the rebel camp — Christian doctrines — Blasphemous assumptions of titles by rebel chiefs, and other anomalies, explained — Exaggerated acciisations — Expected re- sults of the movement, . . . . . ,162 CHAPTER XVII. THE MARCH ON PEKIN. The march on Pekin — Scarcity of grain excites anxiety in the capi- tal — First success of the insurgents — Favourable disposition of the people— Several towns captured — Jews of Kai-Fung — Panic in Pekin — Siege of Hwui-king— A descendant of Confucius slain by the insurgents— This event serves the Imperialists— Frequent defeats of the latter — Movements of the insurgents — Curious ex- posure of the state of the empire by a Chinese official— Anger of the Government — Difficixlty of obtaining contributions — Odd expedients to raise money — Poverty of the Government, and its possible results, . . . . . . .170 CHAPTER XVIII. THE AMOT REBELS. Movement not connected with Tai-ping-wang — Admiral Ma-gay ; his history— Cruelties of the Imperialists — Humane interference of English officers — A Chinese trial — An affecting incident — Battles arranged beforehand— Death of Ma-gay — The innocent and guilty punished alike— Rebels saved by a British ship, . . .181 XVI CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIX. THE REBELS AT SHANGHAI, PAGE Shanghai seized by a secret society — Docile character of the citizens — Tai-ping-wang acknowledged — Foreign property respected — A heroine — The siege operations — Singular details — A conchologist — Two marine deserters — Curious contrivances — Conspiracies in the city — Picturesque costumes — Rebels' penal code — Motley arms — Silk armo\ir — Desire for rank — Bribery — The leaders described, 187 CHAPTER XX. THE FRENCH ATTACK ON SHANGHAI. Proposals to the rebels by Admiral Stirling and Sir John Bowring— Their unfortunate failure — The French resolve on picking a quar- rel with the rebels — Hostilities commence — Imperialists attack at the same time — The author ventures into the beleaguered city- Preliminary politeness under difficulties — State of affairs within — Resolution to resist the French — Interview with the chief — Harmless shells — Return with answers — Objections on points of form — Another visit to the city— Camp-bearers of the chiefs — Dresses worse for wear and warfare — Wadded armour — The chiefs changed appearance — Diplomacy nearly baffled by a green- tea broker — Agreement at length signed — Foreigners in rebel pay — The French Admiral implacable — A skirmish — Another venture into the city, and offer of submission to the three Treaty powers brought back — French proclaim a strict blockade — Firing at an old woman — City bombarded — The great assault— The Imperialist assault — The Imperialists repulsed — French retreat — Boldness of the rebels— Attempt to starve the city — Fair treatment of pri- soners by the rebels — Visit to the wounded Chinese — Further and more fortunate communications with the rebel chief— Agreement to surrender made nugatory by the perverseness of the French admiral- Last efforts of the rebels— Entry of the Imperialists, who set fire to the city — Horrible atrocities — The Jinale, . .197 CHAPTER XXL SIEGE OF CANTON BY THE TRIADS. Heads and ears— A walk round Canton— Misera;ble appearance of the place— The braves— Author visits head-quarters— The commander and his crew — Appearance of the rebel army — The combat — Im- perialists retreat— Lies of the Pekin Gazette— Extraordinary cow- CONTENTS. X\'ll PAGE ardice— A charge with an umbrella— Mandarins' fear of the people retaliating the iniquities of their rulers — Closeness of the blockade — Ingeniously- conveyed despatches from the rebels — Executions— Attempts at visiting the rebels' camp — Odd artillery practice — The soldiers destroy what the rebels spare — Popularity of the rebel cause — Partial proceedings of the English in support of the governing powers — No means of opening communication with the rebels — Wide spread of the insurrection — The " Avenger of Sorrow" — Fearful scenes — Rising en masse — Defeat and reaction — A million perish in the province of Canton within a year, , 220 CHAPTER XXII. EVENTS ON THE COAST OF CHINA. Glance at the Chinese naval history — Marauding bands stop supplies to Canton, and cause deep distress — The Chinese admiral ordered to break the blockade— His imbecility — Rebels' blockade extended — Rebel fleet never molested foreign vessels — Proof to the contrary never shown — Vessels unjustly declared piratical — Instances of foreign vessels set free after seizure — British ships chartered to protect junks — Questionable attack by British ships — Destruction of rebel ships — An awkward error — Homicide by misadventure — Curious artifice — Heads and cocoa-nuts — Instances of unfair treat- meat of Chinese vessels — Question of the right of a Foregn Govern- ment to destroy the fleets of the Insurgents — Defence set up ex- amined—A claim for British law against British might — Great strength of the Insurgents — Author's motives for urging inquiry — Supported by instances of inconsiderate condemnation, . . 241 CHAPTER XXIII. CHINESE EMIGRATION. Chinese in California and Australia — Travelling corrects prejudices — Hard usage of Chinese insurgents — Cheerfulness at sea — Horror of burial at sea— Sharp dealing of a Yankee captain — Unfair treat- ment of coolies — Difiiculty of procuring them at present— Descrip- tion of coolies on board — Effect of good and of ill treatment upon them — Traits of character — Chinese prejudices not 'corrected by what they see abroad, . . - . . . . 254 CHAPTER XXIV. CRISIS OF THE INSURRECTION. Leaning of the English authorities to the mandarins, and to the main- tenance of the Imperial government— Gross error of the English 6 XVlll CONTENTS. PAGB in not recognising the Christian element that animated the Chinese rebellion — Lord Elgin's policy hiassed by the one-sided view of his intei-preters — Sir J. fBo wring's policy determined by the belief that British commerce with China depends upon the maintenance of the present dynasty — Difficulty of promulgating Christianity — Mr. Wade's animosity to the rebels contrasted with the opinions of others — Improbability of Lord Elgin's expedition up the Yang- tsze-Kiang being useful at present — A convincing proof given of the non-existence of the neutrality which had been proclaimed, . 261 CHAPTER XXV. THE DISPUTE WITH TEH. What lorchas are — Affair of the " Arrow" — Misunderstanding occa- sioned by want of interpreters — Stubbornness of Yeh — Sir Michael Seymour insists on an interview — Forces his way to Yeh's residence — The latter not at home— Yeh quarrels with the American Com- modore, who retaliates by destroying some forts — Autlior's visit to Canton — The people not against us — All against Yeh — Fort cap- tured by the British— Goodwill of the people — Burning of the Factories— Great efforts to subdue the fire— Burning of the Bank- Mr. Lane of the consulate killed — One house escaped being burnt —A friendly community broken up — War confined to the Canton waters — Honest conduct of Chinese merchants— The poisoned bread — Exaggeration on the subject corrected, . . . 280 CHAPTER XXVL LOKD ELGIN'S MISSION AND ITS RESULTS. Troops of the Chinese expedition required for India — French Alliance — Instructions to Lord Elgin — The opium trade — Proper course to pursue in China — Lord Elgin disregards instructions, and Mr. Lay gets promotion — Correspondence with Chinese officials — Attack ordered— Successful capture of the Takoo forts— The treaty signed —Unjust attack on Sir M. Seymour by Lord Elgin's secretary- Opinion of the foreign community in China— The expedition up the Yang-tsze-kiang— Remarks upon it— Conclusion, . .290 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. LiTHOGBAPHS. Title-page— Our Enemies in China. Silk-reeling, Che-kiang, 11 Foochow, Fokien, .... 37 Tartars, ..... 41 Foochow Women, Fokien, . 46 Costumes— Swatow, Kwang-Tung, 60 Macao, .... 107 Chair Coolies, . 117 Children, 124 Kebels at Shanghai, 187 Soldiers at Canton, 224 The Dutch Folly, .... 283 Map of the Chinese Rebellion. Wood Engkavinqs. Costumes, Mainland near Hong-Kong, ' . . . . ix Cotton Weeder, Kiangsoo, . 3 Woosung River, „ . . . 6 Female Labourers, „ 15 Amoy, from White Stag Temple, Fokien, . 32 Theatricals at Masoo, Kwang-Tung, 57 Baby Tower, Shanghai, Kiangsoo, 103 Caught Napping, Kwang-Tung, . 118 A Chinese Scull, Kiangsoo, 120 Bridge at the Hills, Kiangsoo, 136 Bridge near Shanghai, Kiangsoo, . 180 War Charger, .... 222 Slow but Sure, ..... 260 Chinese Plough, .... 289 Chinese Warrior, .... 323 TWELVE YEAES IN CHINA. INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. Though there have been many works published re- garding China, very little has been told compared with what may yet be related concerning this extraordinary portion of the globe, and its still more extraordinary people. The writings of Davis, Williams, Meadows, Fortune, Cooke, &c., have done much to bring the Chinese into notice, and the peculiar character of the principal insur- rection has also attracted attention to the country. The dispute with Yeh brought Chinese affairs prominently forward, but public attention was still more strongly directed to China when the disastrous news arrived of the unfortunate defeat at Takoo. War with China, upon a more extended scale than was ever before con- templated, appears inevitable. As the subject is there- fore likely to be interesting to many, and as I am not aware of any mercantile man having published any narrative of Chinese affairs, perhaps the views of such a one may, from this different light, form almost a new picture. Most of the books upon China have been written by men of official position — by missionaries and by persons who have seen but little of the natives in A INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. ;,^,d&>Uy. g\^nerai intercourse: the official stands upon his '''dignity find goes through the tedious forms of stiff diplomatic visits now and then ; most of his information is derived from people who are devoted to the manda- rins ; the missionary has better opportunities, mixes more with the people, and his informants are less con- nected with the rilling authorities, but, from his position, he sees the Chinese in a different light to most other observers. He endeavours to impress upon his Chinese hearers, in language which they often do not clearly understand, maxims they care little for, and gospel truths wliich they do not believe. Time, however, is improving these things, and ere long, we may look for some very interesting work from one or other of the intelligent missionaries who have lately done much to open up the country around Shanghai. There is a great portion of the veil which envelops China still unrent, and there is much to be said to the good people of England regarding the position of foreigners in China. In treating of the Chinese people, I have been guided chiefly by my own experience during a residence of more than twelve years. In commenting upon public affairs, I have endeavoured to make use of the most reliable sources of information. The sketches in the following pages are gathered from a host of drawings made in different excursions ; their only recommendation is that they are tolerably faithfid, though the costumes may often differ from pre-conceived notions of the Chinese. It is with much diffidence I place before the public my personal adventures, in the hope that the book may lead some to think better of the Chinese as a people, and less highly of the mandarins and officials than they did before. INTRODUCTORY NOTICE. 3 In my tours I confine myself chiefly to what 1 saw of the people, and purposely have not given descriptions of places which have already been visited and described by foreigners. In such scenes as have not been previously described by others, I have given notes of what I saw. Cotton Weeder. I CHAPTER I. SILK DISTRICTS OF CHINA. Departure from Sliaughai— A metamorphosis — Province of Che-Kiang- Va- riety of boats — Peculiar mode of catching fish— Prodigious population — A hint to high farmers at home^City of Kia-Hihg — Mulberry leaves — Large factories rare in China — Distrust of assemblages of men — Chinese gambling— The author roughly handled — Reeling of silk — Various kinds — Large exportation — Native manufacture defective — Its antiquity— The wild wonn — A French savant— Chinese children precociously sedate. In the spring of 1848, when few had extended their journeys to any great distance, I set off from Shanghai, accompanied by my Chinese teacher, a Singapore Chinese, as interpreter in case of difficulty, and a barber, who also acted as cook. My object being to see the country as well as could be without interruption, and to penetrate as far as possible into the silk districts, 1 adopted the^ Chinese dress, and after getting fairly under way. metamorphosed myself into a Chinaman, set the barber to work to make a clean sweep of my hair, and, at- tached to my cap, wore a thorough-bred tail of some son of Han, shaded the natural colour of my barbarian eyes by a huge pair of tea-stone spectacles, and marched forth without fear of recognition. On entering the province of Che-Kiang, we came upon the first line of mulberry trees. The leaves of many had been partially stripped, and the stunted branches bore a strong resemblance to leper's fingers. It was here the tide appeared to end. The banks of '}l 6 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. the canal were not much above the level of the water, ex- cept where mulberry plantations lined the margin of the stream. Wild strawberries were just beginning to bud, and the rich yellow of the vast fields of a species of pea enriched the view to a grand extent. The people used a different build of boat to what I had been accustomed to see ; and I have since noticed that in the various provinces there is a great dissimilarity in the craft employed on the water. In Kiang-soo, which is inter- laced by a complete network of large canals, the boats are broad and roomy, most comfortable for travelling in, perfectly snug ; and the better kinds make capital places of residence for a long trip, — it is like taking your house with you. I had two with me, that in case one were stopped I might get off in the othjer. In Ohe-Kiang the boats are built narrow and flat- sided, to go through the sluices that are frequent in that province. The wide streams of Canton boast of many descriptions, admirably adapted for all purposes. In Fokien we get out of the cotton region, and find mat sails in general use. The rapid streams in the north of STRANGE MODE OF FISHING. that part of China require the boats to be made of a 7 peculiar form, and an immense plank is placed far out of the stern of each, to act as a powerful rudder to aid the helmsman to twist the boat quickly from threatened dangers in the noisy rapids. It requires no small nerve to steer them evenly through the gaps in the far-famed bridge of Foo-chow-fou, where the tide runs like a mill- race, and has often a drop perpendicularly of several feet. The Kwangsi boats that come to Canton have to pass sluices which must be very steep, for the bows are made long and flat, at an angle of 45° from the floor, so as to form a guard to the boats rushing bodily under the water when launched down the sluice. Before reach- ing the city of Kia-Ching the first bridge is passed since we left Shanghai, — a fine granite arch rising boldly far above the plain. The canal then takes a direct line to the city, the long perspective view being ended by a beautiful pagoda rising up at the termination of a long vista of mulberry plantations which line the water high- way on each side. In walking along the banks we came upon a man fishing in a most peculiar way. He was perched on a low bridge leading over a stream that joined the canal. At first I thought he had hooked an enormous fish, but on closer inspection found that it was merely a live decoy. Its dorsal fin was laced to two small sticks, one on each side ; from these it was tethered to what I first took to be his rod. The poor fish sported about in the water, apparently doing its best to attract the attention of its finny fellows. The man held a small arrow- pointed trident, with which he dexterously struck any large fish that came wondering at the antics of the tethered decoy. The whole apparatus was so simple, that I wonder the same system is not applied elsewhere. 8 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. It would be a splendid thing for salmon in some of the clear streams in Scotland, and would give all the plea- sure of leistering without the confusion attending torches and night-work. Let any one sceptical of the immense population of China, pass between the towns of Kia-Ching and Kia- Hing, some eight miles apart, and his unbelief will be driven to the winds. There were boats in thousands, most of them employed in carrying mulberry branches ; for the leaves are not picked, the branches are bodily lopped off. Some of the small craft contain men gather- ing the rich mould and decayed vegetable matter where the " ling " has grown in the water. They use long bamboos, formed like a pair of scissors, with oval baskets at the end ; these baskets are shoved along at the bot- tom of the canal, and when full the scissors are closed, the contents drawn up, and deposited in the boats. The boat-loads are then heaped on the banks in large piles. The rich deposit undergoes a sort of putrefaction, emitting a most disagreeable smell. It is then used as manure, and greatly enriches the land. This may be a hint to " high farmers " at home. It took as many hours to pass through the densely crowded suburbs of Kia-Hing, a large city on the Grand Canal, on the way from Hang-Chow to Soo-Chow, two of the wealthiest cities of China. I noticed on the sign- boards, " Mulberry leaves sold here," which leads me to suppose that the rearing of silkworms is not confined to the villages, but that there are filatures in the towns. It is strange that there are scarcely any large factories in China. Labour is not concentrated, but divided into small workshops. This may arise from fear of having large numbers congregated together, where there might be difficulty in having a direct supervision of the work- AN ADVENTURE. 9 men. Where women and children are employed, such as in picking teas, sorting out the leaves, we find large groups working together. The same may be the case with the tending of silkworms and reeling of silk ; but where men are employed, it is rare that many are col- lected in one building. I did not venture into any of the shops, but sent the old teacher to make some purchases while we anchored the boats at an island in the canal, on which there was a pretty summer-house, used as a sort of cafe. A party of gamblers were assembled in it, evidently enjoying themselves. One man held up his fingers, the others shouting out the number they thought would be held up. The one that guessed right was the winner ; but how he was singled out in the awful hullabaloo they made was a mystery. The old teacher had been directed to buy something as a memento of the place, and we anxiously awaited his return. When nearly dusk he made his ap- pearance, bringing only a basket of green plums perfectly unripe, which, had I partaken of, would no doubt have given me reason to remember Kia-Hing. Perhaps he was afraid I might keep something that would have betrayed the visit, for in those days the Chinese were chary of taking us into the country beyond the prescribed limits. The neighbourhood of the canal was comparatively barren. One side alone showed signs of artificial work ; it was for some distance flanked by a wall of stone. At intervals there were splendid bridges, high enough y for the large grain junks to pass under, and these junks must be thirty or forty feet out of the water. In the villages we were civilly treated, though I was known to be a foreigner. At one place my boatmen wished to join in the spoil, and evidently tried to make the people tax \/ 10 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. me for seeing the silk process. When I was leaving, a large crowd collected round me demanding money, but I was determined not to give any. We were some dis- tance from the main canal, and up a narrow creek. I shouldered my way through the crowd, keeping in appa- rent good humour, though my dress was nearly torn from my back. A number of men had seized my boats, and things looked by no means pleasant. By dint of threats I got on board, and had some difficulty in clearing the people from the boat. When out, they kept her fast to the bank, and the crowd was fast increasing, until some hundreds must have collected. Being sure that the boat- men were at the bottom of my scrape, I set to work to force them to move. At last we got shoved off, but the villagers kept one of my men, a rascally-looking fellow, with a club-foot ; however, once free, we left him to his fate, and I hope he got a good pummelling for his pains. His colleagues insisted on waiting for him when we got a mile or two away ; by and by he came limping along in the rain, his club-foot sucking through the mud with a loud report at every step. It was fortunate the affair ended so well, for I was very roughly handled, at one time pinioned; but keeping quite cool, no harm was done, though I had a brace of loaded pistols under my dress all the time. Many foreigners have since made even more extended tours quite unarmed, and in their usual dress. The reeling of silk is very simple. The Chinese adopt several modes, and make various kinds of raw silk. Books are published containing full directions regard- ing it, and are copiously sprinkled with superstitious observances to insure success.^ The plan adopted in ^ Translations of two of the best are published, one in Chinese Repository, vol. xviiL ; the other in Shanghai Miscellany ; both give very useful hints. ^ ^ REELING OF SILK. U the north of Che-Kiang, where the best silk is made, may be briefly told. After the proper season has arrived for hatching the seed (as the eggs of silk moths are tech- nically called), the worm is brought forth by the seed being placed in the sun. The usual stages of voracious appetite and disease are gone through, and the worms, when ready for spinning, are placed on the " bush," which is generally made of a wisp of straw tied at both ends, and pressed slightly inwards so as to make it open and airy. When the cocoons are finished, and the worm has spun its silken house, they are reeled off as fast as pos- sible. This is a busy time for the industrious villagers ; they all look happy and contented ; the women and chil- dren generally manage the winding off the silk. This is done on an oblong stand ; at one end is the reel formed by four bars fastened on an X frame, which is turned by a handle ; the cocoons are placed in a bowl of water, which is kept constantly hot ; the heat loosens the natural gum which keeps the silk in its place. A boy stirs round the cocoons with a slight splitted switch, which gathers up the ends of the thread of some seven or eight cocoons ; these threads are passed over a guider, which has a horizontal motion given to it by an apparatus attached to the handle that turns the reel. This pre- vents the threads winding on to the reel one over the other at the same place, but crosses each thread when it is passed round the reel. The reason this is done is, that when the silk is wound off from the hank, or as we call it " moss," if a thread breaks it can easily be fol- lowed up, by turning the swift or reel on which it is placed, picking up each thread that is at the top of all the crossings, until the broken end is discovered, when it is again joined, thus preventing waste. When the 12 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. threads from the cocoons are gathered up, they are united into one, and the natural gum of the silk makes the whole number so collected pass onwards in one thread. By the time it arrives at the reel it is sufficiently cooled to prevent the threads sticking, except when there is a slight pressure where it comes against the arms of the reel. When a cocoon is wound off, the thread from another is dashed across the rest that are passing upward, and it immediately unites. The best raw silk is called tsatlee, or more properly tseihlee, meaning seven threads ; each of these is almost as fine as a spider's web. There is a class which is sometimes finer, and called ytien-faa, or ^' garden flower." This used to be beautifully fine ; but of late years some very common kinds have been introduced. It is so fine sometimes, and consequently so wasty, that there is difficulty in winding it oif, on account of the threads breaking. Another sort is tay- saara, or " large worm." This is generally a coarse silk, but is very useful, and the best kinds are often of beau- tiful quality. There are difierent descriptions of it ; some very long in the reel ; some made like tsatlee in the gum, the distinguishing characteristic, irrespective of quality, of the difierent classes. Where the silk wraps round the arms of the reel there is a pressure, and the threads adhere slightly together, owing to the natural " gum." The arms of the tsatlee reel are made almost sharp, so that the gum is very narrow ; in yuen-faa they are nearly an inch wide, and in taysaam nearly two inches. The coarser the silk, the gum appears to require a broader base. No article of commerce is so clean and beautiful to deal in ; few are so costly. The price in England of raw silk ranges from 8s. to 28s. per bound for China kinds ; and the export from Shanghai alone in one year is now EXPERIMENT IN HEELING SILK. 13 over 8,000,000 lbs. to England and France alone, by far the greater quantity going to England. This trade, from the produce of mere worms, now equals in its annual export to Europe alone, the value of the yearly produce of the Northumberland and Durham coal mines.^ I found the people very willing to give information, and after checking it at several villages, saw the cost of production was nearly equal to the prices we paid in Shanghai for raw silk. The making of this raw material is open to great improvements ; sufficient care is not taken to keep the threads regular in size, a great desideratum. Much finer silk can be made from the cocoons, and as the bulk of Chinese silk is pure white, China could rival all countries in the superiority of the article. The ex- periment has been tried on a small scale, and clearly proved ; but the difficulty of getting cocoons down from the country prevents the improvement being extensively made use of. I brought some back with me and reeled them off, making taysaam of fair size but inferior quality, as the cocoons were not good. However, I returned after- wards to the same village to see the silk the villagers had made, and found that the small lot reeled in Shanghai was worth nearly 2s. per pound more than the other. The experiment, however, was on a very diminutive scale. This valuable article is carried all through the country, and from Canton or Shanghai to England, merely packed in a cotton bag, covered with paper, oil paper, and matting. The finest silk is made in the north part of Che-Kiang, to the west of the southern part of the canal. It has ^ Within the last twelve years the export of China silk has increased enormously, and probably might be still augmented. It must be noted, however, that since the empire has been so much disturbed by civil war, much of the silk which would otherwise have been taken for native con- sumption has been available for foreign export. 14 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. been said that the search after the " Golden Fleece " may be ascribed to the desire to obtain silk. The priests who first took the eggs of the silk-moth to Europe most likely procured them in India, or, perhaps, in the pro- vince of Sze-chuen, the silk there being bright yellow or golden, as most of the European kinds are of that colour. But the generality of silks in China come from white cocoons ; the rearing of this description may have been brought about by attention to improving the colour, but if it was so, the improvement must have been effected long ago, for we find in the '' Tseen Tsze Wan," or thou- sand character classic, a work that has been a school-book in China for the last 1200 years, that an ancient sage of the name of " Mih," seeing the white silk coloured, wept on account of its original purity being destroyed. We must not pass over the wild kind of worm which feeds upon a species of oak, and spins a coarse, hard silk which makes a strong useful material when worked up. Some of the eggs of this description were sent overland to Paris, proving a source of considerable anxiety to the different parties who received them during transit, the instructions on the box, instead of simply stating that it contained the eggs or seed of the wild silkworm moth, was couched in the following manner by the French savant who forwarded them : — '^ Must be kept far from the engines ; this box contains savage worms." This species might be introduced with great advantage into Europe. There are many kinds of covered chrysalids that might be brought into use where a population is numerous; children and women can do all the work, as it is a healthy and profitable employment.^ 1 The Chiuese say that eight acres of mulberry plantation can l)e made as valuable as one hundred acres of farming land (''Tsan Sang Hoh pien," by Wan Choo). YOUTHFUL PRECOCITY. 15 In China, the children begin to work very early, almost too young ; they get serious and sedate, are won- derfully old-fashioned, and think for themselves very soon. Though there is great respect shown to old age, juveniles are not snubbed for being precocious ; on the contrary, I have often noticed the little fellows give their opinions freely before their elders. It is by no means rare to see children under twelve years of age with full charge of a shop or stall, and even sculling ferry-boats, the large scull enabling young bairns to move boat-loads of people ; they fight their way independently through crowds of boats, and are sometimes as cheeky as cabmen. Female Labourers. 16 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. CHAPTEK 11. JOURNEYS IN THE COUNTRY. Meeting witli Mr. Fortune, the Chinese traveller, at T'heen-Tung— His good 1mm our and curiosity— Insect-hunting— Promise and disappoint- ment — A priest and pale ale — The Temple in decay— Petty pilgrimages — A laughing devotee — Silk-throwing in the Temple. Mb. Fortune has described the beautiful country around Ning-po, and given a graphic account of the Bhuddist Temple at T'heen-Tung, which is situated so picturesquely among the hills that cover the eastern part of the province of Che-Kiang. We had the good fortune to meet this celebrated traveller there. He had taken up his quarters in a pleasant part of the Temple, and was busy securing botanical specimens, watching the manufacture of tea in the neighbourhood, and picking up all kinds of insects for the collection he was making. It was most amusing to go through the villages with him, he was always so good-humoured, and had made lots of friends among the little brats that ran about the cottages. They would run to meet him, crying out, " chung, chung,'' meaning that they had got some in- sects, and they would upset a host of black dirty-looking beetles out of the hollow part of a piece of bamboo. In the ruck there might be a good specimen or two ; some- times, probably, a new species. The children that brought good insects were rewarded. I nearly spoiled the market ; for one day, when shooting in the valley A PRIEST AND PALE ALE. 17 near T'heen-Tung, a smart little fellow brought me a splendid elephantine-looking beetle ; T never saw one so large before. Thinking it a good prize for Mr. Fortune's collection, I sent the little urchin to him in the wood opposite, telling him what I thought would be given for it. The poor little fellow came back to me for a present, much disappointed at not getting his hundred cash, — a sum that would have been all very well for a person to give who fell in with a fine insect or two, but quite out of the question for one who was collecting hundreds in a day. Our friend the traveller had just exhausted his supplies, so that our arrival with a good stock of pro- vender was most welcome. It turned out that the old one-eyed priest had re- tained possession of some beer and wine that I had left here eighteen months before. We had posted up some doggerel verses, directing the next visitor to appropriate the liquor ; but it appears the priest had lost the verses, and not knowing what to do with the beer and wine, held firm hold of them, and would not give up a single bottle for any consideration. Mr. Fortune had dis- covered the store, but in the midst of plenty could not get a drop of the " Allsopp's Pale." The honest old priest was with difiiculty persuaded even to give me back what was my own, as he did not recognise me until at last, when I pretended to sketch, to see if that would bring me to his recollection, he admitted my right at once, and faithfully handed over every bottle. This for a priest, one of a class that is the most degraded in China, was more than I expected. The temple at T'heen-Tung shows no signs of the religion being very popular : it is fast going to decay. Its fine avenues and gilded josses alike bear witness to the fast-coming ruin. The priests mumble through their 18 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. chants in a dreary, negligent manner, and go faster to the beating of the wooden fish, the signal for dinner, than to the gong and drum, the sounds for prayer. The main temple is very large — the Triune Bhuddah rising per- haps forty or fifty feet from the floor. Numerous spar- rows perch unceremoniously upon the idols, and plume themselves on the sacred nose of the great Foh, or build their nests in the ears of the God of War. Whether it was with a wish to get rid of these little pests, or to see the effect of foreign fire-arms, I know not ; but the priests pointed out to a pert little " sprug," perched on the shoulder of one of the chief josses, for one of the foreign- ers to have a shot at it. Whatever his motive was, it said very little for his idea of the sanctity of the build- ing or its monstrous images. It is melancholy to see some of the old women that come to the temple on petty pilgrimages, rattling away at a box of bits of wood to get a lucky piece for their satisfaction, — the priests being able to interpret it in any way they like, probably according to the fee paid. It is rare, very rare, to see China-men worshipping the idols, except on grand occasions : the women seem to be the chief frequenters of temples. The wives of mandarins are prohibited from going to the joss-houses, it is said ; but from the number of elegantly dressed ladies that visit particular temples shortly after the New Year, there seems to be some doubt upon this subject. I do not pretend to offer an opinion on the point. I may state, however, that when at T'heen-Tung, a most beautiful and splendidly dressed lady, with a considerable retinue, arrived. We met her again at another large temple some distance off, and when we were at the uppermost storey of the high pagoda at Ningpo, some days after- wards, were astonished to see her make her appearance. SlLK-THROWlNG. 19 She also seemed to be surprised at the coincidence, and was at a loss how to meet us, dropt all her reserve, and burst into an immoderate fit of laughter. Her features were quite Spanish ; fine eyes beaming brightly in her handsome countenance, and no Chinese characteristic in her face. We endeavoured to discover who she was, but only got some vague story that she was going the round of all the great temples chin-chining joss for a male child. In the temple attached to the pagoda at Ningpo, and also in several other large temples at Foo-chow and else- where, silk-throwing is carried on. The process would astonish a Macclesfield throwster. The silk is hung in long lines from one end of the temple to the other, the end of the threads hanging towards the ground from a wooden framework. To the threads is attached a bullet- shaped weight, with a small iron pin to which the silk is fastened. The people employed take in each hand a flat piece of wood, something like but rather larger than the castanets boys play with in England. With the fingers of one hand at the wrist of the other, one piece of wood is pushed sharply forward, and the other drawn back. The bullet, being between the two, has thus a rapid rotatory motion given to it. It spins round for a long time, and twists the silk attached to it ; but it does it too tightly for European notions, and the thrown silk brings a better price when the twist is less close. 20 TWELVE YEARS IK CHINA. CHAPTER III. JOURNEYS IN THE COUNTRY. Chapoo — Trade with Japan — A mandarin " know-nothing " — A beaiitiful hawk — The sporting gentleman — Kite-flying — An empty shot — Adven- ture with a pirate-jvmk — Treacherous steersman — Trick with the compass — The soup drugged — Aroused to danger — Presence of mind — Danger averted by knowledge of the language— Necessity of encouraging its study. Chapoo with its mud flats, city walls, strong tide, and canals, has been described by others ; in fact, one Chinese city is very much like another; but Chapoo has one addition, a trade with Japan. This, however, is fast dwindUng away, and two out of the four immense junks that go yearly to Nagasaki, have been lost or taken ; and now that foreigners trade there direct from Shanghai and other ports, the Chinese junks will have but little chance in the competition. Some few Japanese articles may be obtained in the shops •; the bulk of the cargoes appear to go to Soo-chow and Hang-chow. The trade of the place is chiefly in wood and fish ; the latter is brought from Ningpo and the sea, preserved in ice. The fish are distributed among it, laid on tiers of straw mats ; and the ice, though very thin, and frozen at very little below the freezing-point, keeps wonderfully well, serving with little replenishing for more than one voyage. There is great difficulty sometimes in getting boats here either to cross the Hang-chow bay to Ningpo, or to go to Shanghai by canal. The difficulties arise 21 from the high prices demanded, and the payment being required before starting. Once or twice I nearly got into serious disturbances among vast crowds, and only escaped by threatening to take to Shanghai the old official who has charge of the passage-boats. We had upon one occasion to write to the mandarins, and to take the letter and the junk-man to the custom-house, but could get no other answer than that " they couldn't receive our communication at that office, nor even know that we were there." However, the sailor, seeing we were determined to go to head-quarters, at last con- sented to take us. There are a great many Fokien men here ; they quite outnumber the Tartars, who form the garrison, and hold a distinct portion of the city. I saw a man here with a beautiful hawk, trained for hunting ; it had jesses, and a highly ornamented hood fastened with beautifully coloured silk strings. The bird was small and had bright ruby eyes. Though there was a large crowd round me, they were all civil, so I made a sketch of the hawk. The man held the bird on his wrist, in proper style, and was the only sporting gentleman I have ever seen in China, unless you call paper-kite flyers sportsmen. It is strange to see sober, sedate merchants tugging away at a long string, guiding a kite very eflPectually in the air. Some are made in the shape of birds, and the hovering of the kestrel, or the quick dive of the sparrow-hawk, are beautifully imitated by expert guidance of the string. The first I saw in Shanghai appeared so real that I got down a rifle to try a shot, but was told it was only a kite : " To be sure it is ; why not have a shot at it ?" and it was some time till I understood it was a paper not the bird kite. The Chinese beat us hollow in these things, especially in the that they send spinning up the string. 22 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. They send up prettily painted gigantic butterflies with outspread wings, at the back of which is a simple con- trivance to make them collapse when the butterfly reaches the kite, and so soon as they collapse, down comes the butterfly, sliding along the string ready to be adjusted for another flight. I look upon Chapoo with considerable interest, for once it appeared as if we should never get there alive. One flue September morning some years ago, J. C. S. and I started from Ningpo for the above place in a small junk ; the distance is about 100 miles across the bay. The tide runs with perfect fury, so much so, that beyond Chapoo there is a "bore." and it is stated that the steamer " Phlegethon," with steam up and two anchors down, actually drifted. It is a famous place for pirates. We were well armed, however, having, without revolvers, fourteen barrels between us ; these were all carefully loaded before leaving the Ningpo river. We had an unusually large crew for such a vessel, also a cook and two servants. Another junk kept company with us, but we had the better of it in sailing : it had two swivels in the bow. At noon, as they said the wind was con- trary, we came to an anchor ofi" Friendly Bluff", a high promontory on the south side of the bay. On inquiring what the other junk was, we were told that it had a mandarin on board going to Chapoo, and that he wished to keep near w^ for protection. We resolved to pay him a visit, as no time would be lost by it. I got out a bottle of brandy as a present, and we were just setting off*, when one of the sailors whispered to me in Chinese, not to go. I asked, "Why?" " Because he is a pirate ! " was the answer. We saw at once there was something wrong about our crew, and that there was some league with the other boat, PIRATE CONSORT. 23 but we fortunately kept cool and collected. It struck me, on looking at the land, that the wind was quite fair, and we had had no reason to anchor. I ordered the vessel to be put about ; no sooner did we round to, than about fifteen men rushed on deck on board our neigh- bour, and before we could think, bang, bang, went his two swivels ! All right ! he had to get up anchor and set sail, so we had a good start, and from what we had seen in the morning, we knew we could outsail him. Congratulating ourselves on our escape, we went to tiffin, taking the precaution to make our crew keep aft from the entrance to our cabin ; but, on again coming on deck, lo and behold ! there was the pirate junk fast getting up to us ; yet we appeared to be going faster than she did. Old Friendly Bluff was still visible far astern, and I noticed that the land "yawed" considerably,, proving that our helmsman was steering badly to let the pirate get up to us. I drew a pistol and threatened to shoot him if he didn't steer right, or if he let the other junk get up to us. With the greatest coolness, but with rather insulted dignity, he pointed to the com- pass as his guide, and told me to watch if he didn't steer due north. True enough he did ; but stepping in front of it, and still getting a glimpse of old Friendly, there was no doubt about it ; the compass was steady, but the land appeared to yaw from side to side. I snatched up the compass, and, directly below it, in a right line with the ship, discovered a large iron nail, which had nailed the compass with a vengeance ! It seems a wonder to this day that I didn't shoot the fellow on the spot ! We were in a nest of pirates, and there was no use getting into a rage ; so procuring a bowl of rice, and sifting it through my fingers to guard against being nailed again, I placed the compass in it, and kept guard over it to watch the 24 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. steering. We soon increased our distance, which was lucky, as night was coming on. We were not done wdth our friend yet, but there seemed to be no harm in getting dinner, as everything was thoroughly prepared for a fight, if it came to the worst. Pillows and mattresses were laid along the side to guard us from shot, and all the arms and am- munition laid out : our plan of defence was settled, J. C. S. bargaining for first rifle-shot at the pirate's steersman, and my account was laid with the man at our compass according to promise. The soup was served in a large China bowl, we using tea cups as plates. I helped my companion, and then upon tasting the dish myself, didn't like it, and passed it away after taking a few spoonfuls. Dinner went on, but before it was over poor S. was nearly asleep, and soon went fairly off, no doubt thoroughly drugged. I could scarcely keep awake, but used every effort to do so — a good start gave me a help. On looking out, there was the other junk within thirty yards to windward and tide ward, ready to run down on us in a moment : the front part was crowded with men. There was no time to lose. I hustled up S., who was on his mettle sooner than I had even hoped for : the start did him good too. Without a moment's hesitation, scrambling aft, I held the pistol at our helmsman's head, keeping well clear of him, and the crew, in case of accidents ; gave him to understand, in the best Chinese I could, that he was a dead man if the other junk didn't pass round our stern to leeward, and certainly dead if she fired a shot. There was per- fect stillness in both junks. Instead of hailing as I told him, our lowdali shouted out, " The two foreigners on board have a great many guns ;" then he went on jab- bering more Chinese, very little of which I could make CRITICAL SITUATION. 25 out, but it resulted in the junk going to leeward as directed. Right happy were we, for our fate seemed to be so nearly sealed, that we had actually at one time shaken hands as a last farewell before entering upon a contest in which God alone could save us. It would not have been prudent to have remained aft to watch the steering with all the crew around, and the drowsiness by no means gone. It was difficult to keep awake, even resting on my gun, and I nearly went off when leaning against the mast. The sensation was curi- ous : a sort of mesmeric slumber ; going to sleep against one's will ; feeling perfectly awake, but unable to prevent sleep coming on. We had determined not to give our- selves up. A short time before, in the same place, Mr. Lowrie, a missionary, had been attacked, got oft', and then the pirates returned and pitched him overboard to drown — a miserable death, far away from friends and home ! The night was beautiful. A clear harvest moon shone softly on the rippling waves as we rushed quickly past some rocky islets ; the tide grumbling loudly as it dashed past their storm-rent sides. I remember dis- tinctly our noticing this at the time, and saying what a fine sight this would be if it were not for the character of the junk in view, whose dark brown sails cast a long shadow on the waters as she still continued the chase, and how hard a lot it would be to be killed so far from borne by a parcel of Chinamen, who, I believe, only wanted the large stock of arms, which was probably, under Providence, our main salvation. At about ten o'clock the breeze freshened, our un- pleasant companion gained on us, and soon took up his old position to windward. We could see the lighted matches in the hands of the men at the swivels, both of which were now on our side of their junk. We had 26 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. a mattress against our bulwarks, and S. was ready to give them a barrel the moment they fired. I shouted to them to beware, and told our men to make them go right up to windward, the wind being a-beam, and I couldn't trust them with the chance of ranging past our stern again. There was a long parley ; they saw their plans had failed, and that we were ready to sell our lives dearly, so eventually sheered off into the wind. We watched their junk grow less and less in the distance. Notwithstanding the excitement we could hold up no longer, though we knew we had traitors among our crew. So after a strong warning that the first man who came forward would be shot, we barricaded the after door of the cabin, put our pistols handy, and in a moment were fast asleep. In the morning we awoke and found our junk aground at Chapoo, where we had evidently been for some time, yet the bustle of grounding at the pier had not awakened us. I never slept so soundly before. Nearly all the crew had gone, and we took no steps against the others for fear of getting the man into trouble who had be- friended us in the beginning : we were only too thankful to have escaped. This adventure shows how very useful even a slight knowledge of the language may prove. There can be very little doubt that had one of us not known what was said, or how to speak a little, both would have ended their career in this world in Hang-Chow Bay : it is surprising how few foreign residents make any at- tempt to learn Chinese ; and most of those who do, soon tire, owing to the difficulties attending it. It ought to be a rule in all mercantile establishments, that any of the assistants who choose to devote their attention to the language in leisure hours, should have every facility GOVERNMENT INTERPRETERS. 27 granted them, and the expense defrayed. When the country opens up, this would prove to be of incalculable advantage ; and if Government would only offer pay that would induce more young men to come to China to study the language, and allow those that do come to devote their whole attention to it, instead of employing them as clerks in the Consulates, or in Hong-Kong, there would be more justice done to the public service in China, and to the young men themselves. It is a fact that the salary paid to the Government supernumerary interpreters, who have to provide themselves with board, and lodgings too, in some places, is less than the pay of the youngest mercantile assistants in China, who are provided with house-room and all table expenses. The teachers and books should be provided at cost of Govern- ment ; and facilities granted, and permission obtained, for the young interpreters to take long trips into the country. 28 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. CHAPTEK IV. Amoy, its forbidding aspect — Tlie home of the missionary — Tradition of the Rock — Relish for traditions — Ride by the gun battery — Marks left by H. M. ship Cornwallis — Temple of Lampooto — Hospitalities — Dislike of cold drinks — Rough riding — White graves — Temple of the White Stag — Pony race upstairs — Fine view — Ruined villages — A washerman in petticoats — Koolangsoo — Sad effects of civil war — Early deaths of British chaplains — Trade of Amoy — Frequent disturbances — Aborigines of For- mosa — Their ferocity — A Yankee exhibited by a Chinese Barnum. A DRIZZLING rain is falling ; fit weather to view Amoy in. Why should sunshine visit such a forbidding-looking place ? There is not much to be seen ; let us name it over, and do it quickly. The horses are sent down to the outer part of the town, and we go to meet them by water, passing the long lines of junks, with their tower- ing sides and uncouth sterns, over which the lazy tur- baned sailors loll listlessly. We pass the foreign resid- ences, giants to the pigmy Chinese houses around them. The clean-looking houses of the missionaries have a comfortable appearance, showing that 1i07ne is not for- gotten in this scene of their weary, almost unprofitable labours. The telegraph on the hill signals a vessel in sight, so we must make haste with our lionizing, lest the ship be the one by which we are to leave. There is a large rock near the mouth of the harbour, formed between the islands of Amoy and Koolangsoo. It is supported by a pile of large stones to prevent its falling. Tradition says that when it falls the Tartar dynasty is VESTIGES OF THE LAST WAR. 29 over. Why did not the rebels accomplish their wishes by this easy process ? Perhaps their attempts to destroy a neighbouring pagoda prevented them. Their eflbrts there failed. The pagoda ruled the destinies of the city of Chang-Chow : that city would be taken when the pagoda fell. A barrel of gunpowder was sent to hasten the decrees of fate ; but the rebels gained nothing but the loss of their powder. The pagoda still stands, though robbed of some of its height. Chang-Chow fell, but the people did not relish their new rulers, and speedily expelled them. Every Chinese city is full of tradition. The superstitious nature of the Chinese has a relish for such legends. Nor do they let real historical events pass unnoticed. At the mouth of the harbour at Amoy is another stone, with a long Chinese inscription, said to give an account of the expulsion from Amoy of the Dutch or other foreigners long long ago. Leaving the boat we take to the saddle ; three sturdy little horses wait for our party, and off we gallop, away past the long two-hundred gun battery, which the " Cornwallis" peppered severely when Amoy was taken. Away we go over the dismantled guns, their trunnion- less sides stamping clearly the signs of disgrace and defeat upon the powerful battery. Why do not the Chinese hide such signs of foreign victory ? There lie the guns on the inside of the battery exposed to view ; outside are the hastily made graves of the thousands that were massacred when the rebels lost Amoy. Would there have been rebels had the government been more careful of its honour, and not suffered the symbols of its weakness to lie unheeded ? There is much room for thought here ; the very graves of the rebels seem to form steps by which the fort wall might be escaladed. Onward we gallop away across the sands, dashing over 30 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. little narrow stone bridges scarcely broader than the pony's back. At last we reach the Lam-poo-to joss- house, a fine temple, romantically situated beneath huge overhanging rocks, which look as black as Erebus after their drenching with the fast-falling rain. The temple is a capital model of Chinese architecture, the chief building in the centre especially. Outside are some large monumental slabs, with long inscriptions, each stone alternately in Chinese and Mantchoo. Leav- ing the ponies, we wander up into the grottoes at the back of the temple — capital places for a pic-nic ; the cool rocky dining-rooms take the place of temples, and a clear stream of water is conveyed past them to the temple through a granite duct — a step in civilisation be- yond the hydraulic apparatus met with at other temples in the north. The quiet old priests look quite contented and happy among their flowers in the little garden. Surely their camellias, strawberries, and oranges, their fan-tail pigeons, haverdevats, and pet white mice, give them ties to this life, ties which it is their religion to over- come. The march of civilisation has extended here ; we were offered some excellent preserves, and the tea given to us was svjeetened with beautiful clear lumps of sugar-candy. We, no doubt, have to thank some of the foreign ladies of Amoy for teaching the priests this luxury. I have heard of the Chinese, in some of the western provinces, using sugar in their tea, and of some who did eat the leaves, as the English did at first, as vegetables ; but strangest of all perhaps is, that the Chinese in some places do not take tea at all ; the poor people in the north of Kwang-tung seldom get it, and drink instead the water that rice is boiled in. It is kept hot ; cold drinks, especially cold water, being considered unwholesome by nearly all Chinamen. NATIVE GRAVES. 31 After a hurried sketch of part of the Lam-poo-to temple, we mount again and steer for the Telegraph Hill and theWhite Stag temple, in search of views. Away we go across the country, up the stone roads, down the stone steps — rough riding that would astonish a fox- hunter : never fear, the ponies are used to it ; never mind the holes, the ponies see them ; as for the steps, if they do not take them in their stride, they scramble up at a hand-gallop ; who cares though the stones are slippery, the ponies are not shod. Away we dash through the crowds, past the orange-stalls, our stirrups nearly scattering the fruit among the host of expecting boys ; round the sharp narrow corners of the streets, the people squeezing themselves flat against the walls as the harum- scarum cavalcade fly past. There is no time to wait, however, and the people enjoy the fun, if we may judge by their laughing faces as we pass them. No cry of " foreign devil" here ; the foreigners are evidently feared, perhaps respected. We ride on through a part of the country covered with tombs — in this part of the world strange-looking objects, difi'ering from any other graves that I have seen in China. The coffin is placed in the ground, covered over with earth, and then the earth is covered by a coating of lime — plastered in fact, so that at a distance the country has exactly the appear- ance of a large washing-green, or a links in Scotland : the graves look just like whins with clothes to dry hung upon them. The temple of the White Stag (the name is derived from a small stone figure of such an animal in a cave hard by) is approached by a high flight of stone steps. No ; I won't ride up these ; a fall would be no joke ; but the ponies seem to think nothing of it, and run up the stairs like lamplighters. From the temple there is a fine view of Amoy : the business part of the 32 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. town fills up the largest part of the picture ; the city is a small place, and of no great strength, yet the rebels held it for more than a year, I think. A banyan-tree shades the A¥hite Stag temple ; it is a wonder how it grows in such a rugged spot, — " Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly Lurl'd, The fragments of an earlier world." The ponies pick their steps carefully down the stairs, and, after their rest, gallop on as briskly as ever. It seems a shame to ride hastily on the rest of our journey, through mournful-looking, desolate, ruined villages. The inhabitants of some were utterly exterminated by the mandarins ; a few houses were slowly being re- inhabited, but the bulk were roofless — speaking monu- ments of the cruelty of Tartar rule. The same system of wiping out the stain of rebellion seems to be carried KOOLUNGSOO. 33 on here as at CantoD, but the quantity of blood shed only makes the stain the deeper. The roads, once crowded with villagers, we now gallop along with scarcely an interruption. Past the British Consulate (sadly in want of paint) we enter the city, and in two minutes are out again at the opposite gate ; there is nothing to be seen inside. Always anxious to find out new cos- tumes, I was surprised one morning while at Amoy by seeing a Chinaman clad differently to the usual custom ; down I posted, sketch-book in hand, to the well where he was. A closer inspection only confirmed my curiosity ; there was no making out the dress ; at last, upon ex- amination it proved to be an emblem of his calling : he was a washer-man. His head was covered with a tur- ban ; his body was enfolded in a comfortable English jersey, and his nether extremities were protected from the cold, keen north-easter by — a lady's flannel petticoat. There was no mistake about it ; the name was legibly written thereon ; and, horror of horrors ! he held in his hand a beautiful lace bertha (is not that the name ?), which he alternately rubbed with soap, then scrubbed it upon a hard piece of rough granite. I wish the owner had seen him ! These fellows play sad havoc with foreign wardrobes ; one would require almost two wives to keep an adequate supply of buttons. We caused no little excitement among the foreign ladies upon report- ing the occurrence, giving no clue to the name ; but they quickly singled out the unhappy owner of the lace as the latest arrival ; the older residents were too wary to run such risks. What would the old British residents at Koolungsoo think of the place as it is now ? I don't mean those old adventurers who were there at the beginning of the last century. Their tombstones on the island are all c 34 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. that is left to tell of their strange wanderings in those bygone days. Some good follower of Old Mortality has kindly cared for these mementos, and cleared away the intrusive grass that had well-nigh brought the stones to as dark an oblivion as the memories of those they tell of. What would the old residents, the officers and others who lived at Koolungsoo after the war, think of the place of their former sojourn if they saw it now ? War is a strange affair. The English held Koolungsoo; quartered some troops there ; repaired the buildings, and left them in good order. The people re-occupy their dwellings ; some are fairly built, substantial houses, not much the worse of the barbarians' visit. Yet the regimental let- ters which still point out the old quarters, frighten away some of the householders ; the barbarian devils have left their spirits there, and these alone shall occupy some fated houses till war again brings a change upon the scene. The civil war came ; it passed away, and Koo- lungsoo was covered with ruins. The houses left standing by the foreign foe are now made desolate by the vengeance of civil strife. The people, who were left unmolested by the western barbarians, are massacred by their own natu- ral protectors. 'Tis a sad sight to walk through these deserted vil- lages, and melancholy to think of the miseries they have witnessed. There is even a feeling of satisfaction, a congenial sensation, when we turn from such scenes into the neat burial-ground allotted to the unfortunate foreigners who end their days at Amoy. Tiie quietness is a relief after visiting the wreck caused by the unre- lenting power of the mandarins. We wander round the tombs, and sketch some of the gravestones of those who are known to some of our party ; slight sketches, that friends at home may see the last resting-place TRADE OF AMOY. 35 of those they are never more to welcome. Death has played sad havoc in this part of China. Out of the small community of Amoy, since 1843, we find tombs to three different British consuls. There is also one to the first chaplain. Strange that the first chaplains brought out by the foreign residents at Canton, Shanghai, and Amoy, should all have died almost immediately after their arrival. Those who were to point out the proper way to meet death were the first to suffer. Enough of this dismal subject. Let us cross the har- bour again to Amoy. It is a miserable-looking city, dirty in the extreme, surrounded by arid hills, burnt up, dry, and desolate. The rocks stand out roughly from the rugged mountains, reminding one of the plums in an over-boiled plum-pudding. The ground has much the appearance of the treacly paste of sailor's " duff." The town is well situated for trade ; its harbour is easily made, and few dangers surround it. What seems most wanted is wealthy native merchants to trade with. Cotton, cotton-yarn, and opium, as well as a fair quantity of Straits' produce, form the chief imports. The exports are unimportant so far as foreign trade is concerned. Consi- derable quantities of rice and sugar are exported to other parts of China. The city of Chang-Chow, thirty miles distant, up a partially navigable river, is the chief place of trade con- nected with Amoy inland, but the trade with Formosa is probably of more importance, and is rapidly being opened up by foreigners. The junk men are against this interference with their trade ; but the cupidity of the mandarins, and the natural trading propensities of the Chinese there, as elsewhere, lead to business in spite of prohibitions. The Formosan ports to which trade is directed, are Apes Hill, at the south ; Cok-si- 36 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. Kiang, a little farther north ; a sort of port to Taiwan, the capital (difficult of access) ; and Tamsuey, at the north-west part of the island. Sugar, rice, camphor, and sulphur, are exported from Formosa, the prices being generally very moderate. Civil commotions on the island keep it in a state of constant turmoil, and troops are always being sent over from Foochow; the soldiers having the promise of being brought back again to China — a pro- mise fulfilled to the letter, for even their corpses are re- turned. A Chinaman thinks it of more importance that his dead body should rest in China than that his living one should revisit it. The east side of Formosa is still held by the aborigines, a tribe similar in many charac- teristics to the Malays ; but little is known of them, as their side of the island is seldom or never visited, and such foreigners as have fallen into their hands have been murdered or grievously maltreated. The Chinese in Formosa had not, until recently, much to boast of in their treatment of foreigners. During the war two ships' crews were murdered by the Chinese officials ; the officers were tortured, and most of them died ; but this was the work of the mandarins. The chief actor was promoted by the emperor ; the people, however, seem to be less bloodthirsty, and are civil, though sometimes extraor- dinary. A stout gentleman, well known in China, was lately feted at Taiwan for two or three days, the " observed of all observers," he being an immense man, and a good specimen of a Transatlantic Anglo-Saxon ; but the series of crowded visits he received at last became troublesome, and he found he was being made too much of. The fact was, he was heing exhibited ! a charge being made for the exhibition. rP FOOCHOW-FOO. 37 CHAPTER Y. FOOCHOW-FOO. Foocliow-foo — Its important foreign trade — Chinese honesty — Beauty of the city — A quaint old chronicle — Taking portraits — Good female sitters — Small feet not general— Tartar women— Tartar soldiers inferior to Chinese — Bow and arrow practice — Feats of strength — Fishing with cormorants — Its dangers — Poetical names of places — British consulate — Obstacles to foreigners obtaining land — A mandarin and his tail — Pro- cessions shabby and grand — Places worth visiting — Hot springs and tea- houses — Hot baths — Scanty ablutions. FoocHOW-FOO, the capital of Fokien, and residence of the governor-general of that province, is rapidly gaining great importance as a place of foreign trade. The in- terruptions occasioned to the inland transit of tea to Canton and Shanghai, owing to the disturbances in Hoonan and other parts of the empire, led to this port becoming one of the chief stations for procuring teas that otherwise would have been destined for the above cities. Foochow should naturally be the principal place to ob- tain tea ; but either the restrictions caused by the native officials, the difficulties of the port, or its small trade in imports, left it comparatively neglected till the rebellion broke out, and even then great risks had to be incurred on the part of the foreign merchants in sending funds into the tea districts in charge of Chinese, — risks not being limited to the honesty of those employed, but extending to dangers arising from disturbances, not to say anything of the quality of the produce purchased by 38 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. the men sent to procure it. Much to the credit of the Chinese, howei^er, so far as honestly taking care of both produce and money was concerned, they proved very faithful to the trust. Canton may well boast of its Pearl Kiver, with its numerous branches, bearing the products of a teeming commerce past many wealthy cities ; and Shanghai is even more favoured in its position, placed as it is at the confluence of a series of navigable streams, winding like veins through the richest provinces of the empire to an extent unequalled in the whole world. Foochow is not so happily situated. Standing some distance from the mouth of the river Min (a large river, but difficult of navigation, and passing through a mountainous country), Foochow can never become an important place for im- ports. The Min leads to few large cities, and does not extend beyond the Fokien province ; but the hills past which it winds its tortuous course, and the mountains from whence its waters flow, besides bearing large quantities of timber, are dotted with innumerable plan- tations of tea, which will always make Foochow an im- portant station for the foreign trade, now that it is at last fairly opened. It is a large and beautifully-situated city, surrounded by tine mountains. It is built around three small hills, and the line of its walls forms a plan in shape something like the ace of clubs. A long suburb extends from the city to the river, which is about two miles ofi*. The Min is here crossed by the celebrated stone bridge of about 100 arches, — not arches exactly, the piers being joined by large slabs of granite. It is a very rough piece of work, and numerous petty hucksters' stalls upon it de- tract from the utility of the structure, as well as from its appearance. The tide rushes through, and the shallow- EXTRACT FROM MENDOZA. 39 ness of the stream prevents large vessels coming up within ten miles from the city. The residences of the foreign merchants are situated on the south bank of the river, Foochow being on the north. The population is estimated at 600,000, but I think it is scarcely so great. If we are to take all for truth that the first missionaries who visited it say, it must have fallen off amazingly. These old accounts are so quaint and amus- ing, I cannot resist giving some extracts : — " They were a good houre and a halfe before they coulde come vnto the citie, and seemed vnto them that they had trauelled two leagues in the suburbes ; the which was so well peopled, so fair houses, and many shoppes full of merchandise, that if it had not beene told them, they would not haue beleeued it to be the suburbes but the cittie itself " This cittie is the richest and the best provided that is in all the kingdome, &c., &c. The people that were at the windowes and in the streete, betwixt the houses and the soldiers, were so great a number, that it seemed to be doomes-day, and that all the people in the worlde were there ioyned together in that streete. " In the cittie of Fucheo there is a towre right against the house of the king's chiefe receiver, and it is affirmed by those that have scene it to surmount any building that hath beene amongst the Komans ; the which is raised and founded vppon fortie pillars, and everie pillar is of one stone, so bigge and high that it is strange to tell them, and doubtful to the hearers to beleeue it ; for which cause I iliinke it best not to declare it in par- ticular ! " They sawe a bridge all of mason's worke, and the stones verie well wrought, and of a mightie biggnesse ; they measured some of them that were 20 and 22 foote 40 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. long and five foote brode, and seemed vnto them that it was a thing impossible to be layde there by man's hands." And writing of an adjacent city, Chin-chew : — " All things that you will desire to be eaten be so good cheape, that it is almost bought for nothing !" ^ In looking about for information regarding the trade of the place, and seeing all the sights, I spent six weeks very pleasantly ; found the people remarkably civil, especially in the villages at some distance from the city : making a point of always going into one of the public eating-houses in order to see as much of the people as possible, my sketch-book began to fill rapidly. It was amusing to see the conceit of some of the fellows as they set themselves in attitude, or stroked down their mous- taches when they saw their faces appearing on paper. The women were by no means bashful, and their fine sturdy figures, prettily decked hair, and peculiar costume, made capital subjects. They do most of the carrying work, and, considering their occupation, are remarkably neat and clean in appearance. The folds in their little white aprons were carefully puckered out, and the fine healthy bloom on the faces of some reminded me of the girls about a farm-steading in the Lowlands. Don't imagine that all deserved such praises ! Some were poor miserable wretches, earning a scanty subsistence by cutting grass on the hill-sides ; and any of you who have depicted to yourselves the women of China toddling about upon small feet, should see the firm, free step displayed by the female peasantry of Foochow, as they walk off with a burden of more than 100 pounds weight, making nothing of it. A woman will carry two chests of tea at a time from the city to the river, each chest weighing about 100 pounds. 1 Mendoza, vol. i. p. 27 ; vol. ii. pp. 60, 80. 4 4 TARTARS. 41 In Canton, it is a rarity to see a woman with small feet compared to those who have their natural " under- standings ; " and as for the small feet at Shanghai and Ningpo, as well as through all the country districts that I have been in, they are swaddled up in a host of dirty cloths until they appear larger than they would natur- ally have been. Few things look so disagreeable ; the wrappings have an old look about them, as if the women always slept in them, which indeed they probably do. Chinese ladies by right, ladies by courtesy, and courte- zan ladies, have the real small feet, and wear the dimi- nutive shoes that are wondered at in England. But in Foochow, there are a good many Tartars ; they have a quarter to themselves, and their wives have all natu- ral-sized feet. These women dress differently from the Chinese. The hair is all drawn back from the forehead and fastened in a knot behind, with a sort of skewer stuck through it, at the end of which is a flower ; their robe is a long affair, something like a man's dressing- gown ; they wear unmentionables, which appear to be tucked into wide, loose stockings, generally very dirty, and their shoes are thick flat-soled affairs, often worn down at the heels. I know nothing of their gala dresses ; but the above answers to the description of all I saw, and I frequently went into the Tartar quarter to get sketches of them. There was a peculiarity in their faces which was very striking ; they all had square, sensual-looking jowls — an appearance which I did not remark in the Tartar men. The men, who form the Tartar garrison, are a dirty, lazy-looking set, have a slip-shod, forbidding sort of look, and would stand a poor chance with some of the Chinese soldiers we saw there. In one of the guard- houses on the walls we frequently stopped to see some 42 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. of the Chinamen practising with bow and arrow, not for aim, but for strength of arm to pull the bow. They had a target consisting of several thick sheets of soft leather hung from a beam, and fired at this with the arrow-point within a yard of the target, the arrow merely throvving the leather back, then falling. One of the men could draw the bow-string to his ear, with the bow outstretched in his left hand ; we could not get it half the distance. This man exercised his arms by lifting up and twisting about over his head a heavy beam loaded at each end with two large pieces of stone ; some of our party, stout men too, could not lift the beam from the ground. The Canton Coolies amuse themselves in this way, but I never saw them use an instrument nearly so heavy as the one above described. One of the strangest sights at Foochow are the cor- morant fishermen, standing erect, each on a little raft of bamboos, not over two feet wide, directing their birds and propelling their raft with a long bamboo, in a fierce tideway, with eddies surrounding them, that threaten almost certain death in case of accident. They appear to be wholly intent on the work of their sagacious birds, who dive about in all directions after their prey. But the best place to see the fishing cormorant is in the clear streams in Che-Kiang. It is very pretty to see the birds chasing the fish under the water— the pace they go at is wonderful ; and when they are swimming along near a rough, stony bottom, it is quite marvellous to see the rapidity with which they crane their necks from side to side in the crevices of the rocks as they rush through the water. They seem quite proud when they get hold of a good fish, and bear it triumphantly to their master. He generally has a pet bird, and places relative values on each of his flock ; for some, less than a dollar is asked. CORMORANT FISHING. 43 I think the ring placed round the neck of the cormorant by the fishermen is not to prevent Iheir swallowing the fish, but to distinguish the birds belonging to each fisherman ; for when several boats have been together, I have noticed that each lot had different marks, and sometimes a boat-load had no rings. They know their masters readily, and rarely make a mistake in taking the fish to a wrong boat. I once got four or five lots sent into the water at once, all together, and the men being told to call back their birds, they returned without a mistake. When in the boat they are disagreeable, stupid looking birds, and being fed upon fishes' entrails, have a disgusting smell. When they reach the side of the boat the men shove a bamboo under them, on which they perch, and are lifted on to the boat. It is only at Foochow that I have seen rafts used by the fishermen.^ This is strange, because the wood that is used to build the boats elsewhere nearly all comes from that place. The chief native trade of Foochow is in timber ; huge rafts are brought down and are guided under the bridge with surprising cleverness, by very few hands for such cumbersome contrivances. The timber junks go to sea from Foochow with wood lashed on each side, and piled up, making the vessel look three times as broad in the beam as she really is. Some of the timber brought down to Foochow is very finely scented, and a rich gummy oil exudes from every pore when it is cut. The Chinese set great value on this wood, which they use for coffins, giving as much as a thousand dollars for a single coffin ; judging from the grain of the wood, it appears to be a kind of pine. The Chinese are full of poetry in their names of places. Foochow is known by them as the " Banyan 1 Subsequentlyj I saw rafts used at sea, near Swatow, 44 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. Tree City ; " it is quite green with these trees ; there are some beautiful specimens in the courts of a temple near the British consulate in the city. Though they send down shoots, these do not take root, but form light- looking pendants which are very graceful. The old consulate is beautifully situated on a wooded rocky hill within the walls, and commands a splendid view. Mr. Alcock laid out the grounds with great taste ; but the sporting ideas of one of his successors have allowed the gardens to grow into jungle, as cover for a carefully preserved brood of pheasants. There were many incon- veniences arising from the consulate being within the city, and far away from mercantile establishments ; so when the trade increased the consulate was removed. The shutting of the city gates at sunset was a great drawback to a residence there, as it was no joke to clamber over the walls at night. When the tea trade opened out, some difficulty was experienced in getting houses ; the missionaries for a consideration turned out of theirs, but still they were very inferior sort of places, and roughing it was then the order of the day. Fine houses and spacious warehouses are now erected. The authorities raise great hindrances in the way of foreigners buying land, excepting in a situation which would be inconvenient for business. They certainly had right on their side, as it was a local regulation that no warehouses should be built below the custom-house ; but thanks to the activity, firmness, and perseverance of Mr. Acting- Consul Gringell, the difficulties were removed. His Excellency Sir John Bowring, when he visited the viceroy at Foochow, had hosts of promises made to him ; but promises in China, like lovers' vows elsewhere, are made to be broken. I saw a good many processions when at Foochow, MONASTERY AT KOO-SHAN. 45 ehiefly ofiScial. A mandarin never moves about with- out a "tail" of followers at least equal to a Highland chieftain, and very likely as ill paid. There are lictors, soldiers, messengers, secretaries, pipe and standard bearers, &c. &c., as dirty-looking fellows as you will see in any country, but still they must be there. Some of them look as if l;hey had just been borrowed from the jail, and ragged official dresses thrown over them for the occasion. The pictures sent from China give a vQijfine idea of a procession here ; the originals gene- rally give a very difiPerent notion. The only really grand procession I ever saw in this country was one in Canton in honour of Shangte. It was splendidly got up, and a number of children dressed as mandarins of different ranks were a very interesting part of it. Some unfortu- nate women, who were dressed up in grand style, seemed to take the part of tableaux vivants. There are some beautiful places in the neighbourhood of Foochow ; the Pih-Ling range of mountains at the north contains some fine, bold, well-wooded scenery ; and the great temple at Koo-Shan is well worth the climb- ing needed to reach it. The monks in China, like " the monks of old," generally manage to pick out good sites. From Koo-Shan the valley of the Min forms a beautiful panorama ; the priests are remarkably civil, and offer comfortable quarters to foreigners seeking the temple as a sanatarium — a purpose for which it is admirably adapted from the coolness of its situation, and the *' shadowy walks" in the adjacent woods. We were conducted into a fine airy apartment appropriated to visitors, and I was rather astonished to notice the cau- tion written in Chinese at the entrance, " Beware of the Dog!" — rather a damper to the hospitality-seeking stranger, forming a striking contrast to the European 46 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. notion of the monastic dog, — St. Bernard's, for ex- ample. At the east side of the city are hot springs which the Chinese use for baths, and believe to be efficacious in curing skin diseases. The water is very hot, but clear, and not only rises from the ground, but bubbles up out of the beds of streams in the neighbourhood. There are tea-houses built over some of the largest of the springs, and a number of bathing-rooms are attached, but these have a seedy, deserted appearance. The baths most used are square tanks in the open air ; the poor people take the benefit of them. They are sometimes thickly packed with naked celestials being parboiled into a state of cleanliness, if not of heal thfuln ess. There was some satisfaction in seeing Chinamen being made thoroughly clean, for nine-tenths of them are contented with a hot damp cloth being passed over their face and necks as the sole ablution. The baths are near the Tartar part of the city outside the w^alls. There is no division between the Chinese and Tartar quarters, as in Canton and Chapoo, but the streets of the former have quite a different appearance, no trade being carried on, and a general idleness pre- vailing. The Loo-chooans have a factory at Foochow; their residence is a miserable broken-down sort of barrack ; they do a small trade in grain, soy, paper, &c. ; their dress is in the old Chinese style ; some wear chintz pattern robes, and have the hair drawn up into a small knot at the crown, fastened by a silver or gold pin, like the Japanese. They have an underhand, deceitful ex- pression of countenance that does not contrast well with the Chinese. I asked one to write his name on a sketch of himself ; he wrote it in Chinese characters. .# ^m < UJ \^e U) be elili • is very ho;., .,,-. *ound, but bubbles i.libourhood. •0 OL LLe largest of rooms are attached. The baths oi tiie city ^U..... f].,. i ae raiice, now; their .: . of lur ... r.i^ . !>pr, <%c. II L'X- ;i with .sketch .^ • • • • • .J • • •• SWATOW. CHAPTER VI. SWATOW. Swatow — Its late rise into importance — Numerous wells — Primitive sngar- . making — Waste and loss, yet extraordinary cheapness of production — Rival clans and predatoiy expeditions — Excess of males over females- Fine appearance of the men — Eating mandarins — A sketch — Shaking hands— A little rebellion and a great tragedy — Differences in manners and customs — Theatrical entertainment — A peep behind the scenes — Second visit to the theatre — The audience and the actors — An agreeable family — A Catholic missionary. SwATOW is, strange to say, a new place in China. A few years ago it was merely a small fishing village with a fort. Then the foreigners had an opium station at Namoa ; but when the receiving-ships moved over to the island of Masoo at the entrance of the Han, the village of Swatow, about five miles up the river, gradually assumed the proportions of a town. In the early part of 1856, I found it growing into a place of trade, new buildings springing up along the banks of the river, and land being reclaimed ; more than a hundred large junks were anchored off the place ; and though it was not legally a port of trade, the enterprise of foreigners, in conjunc- tion with the commercial propensities of the Chinese, had brought about a thriving trade, and seven foreign vessels were at anchor in the harbour. The local mandarins finding this a source of increased revenue for themselves, raised no objections, but quietly pocketed all they could get, and permitted the foreigners 48 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. to appropriate the island of Masoo as a place of resi- dence, which speedily became covered with dwelling- houses and godowns. The worthy officials receiving a ground-rent, paid sometimes by the potent medium of opium balls, the seductive nature of the drug attract- ing their cupidity, while its narcotic effects, perhaps, let them watch with apathy the irresistible progress of the wedge which is being daringly driven by foreign influ- ence into the very vitals of the empire. The right bank of the river is rugged and moun- tainous for some distance from Swatow ; but the north, or left bank, is a fine delta-like plain, richly cultivated. Kice, sugar-cane, and wheat are the chief products, and the low land is easily irrigated. In the valleys on the south side, where water is not so abundant, every field has its well. The water is drawn up by a lever placed at the top of a high pole, and the bucket is suspended by a long straight piece of bamboo. These wells have a strange appearance ; the numerous poles distributed throughout the valleys, give them the appearance of stunted decayed forests. The same mode of raising water is employed in Syria, and I have noticed it also in Eg}^pt. The end of the lever is weighted with a stone. Every village has its series of sugar-mills, rude, but efficient constructions. The cane is pressed between two perpendicular granite cylinders, one being turned by oxen, giving a motion to the other by means of cogs cut in the granite, and shod with hardwood at each cog. The cylinders are supplied with cane by a man who stands in a hole cut in the ground ; this hole is stuffed with straw, and makes a comfortable warm berth for his legs. The cane is passed twice through the cylin- ders, and the juice expressed is collected in a tub sunk SUGAR-MAKING. 49 into the ground at the side of the press. Four bullocks are yoked abreast to the lever beam which turns the press, — the largest animal being on the outer part of the circle, the smallest inside. Teams of assorted sizes wait in readiness as relays. The sugar boiling-house is close by the mill, and the fire is fed by the refuse cane. There must be a great loss of sugar from the cane being so imperfectly pressed, owing to the rudeness of the machinery ; and much might be made out of the hegass or waste. The Chinese do not appear to make any spirits from the sugar ; at any rate, none is ofiPered for sale, perhaps the best criterion in China.^ Let us enter a boiling-house. In a low cottage build- ing we find a cloud of steam filling the room, though it has a means of escape by a large hole in the roof. The place would be unbearable if the fire were inside, but the Chinese know their climate too well for that, and supply the fuel from the exterior. The stout mus- cular-looking fellow with a long-handled colander sort of ladle, stops his skimming to watch the barbarians, and the troop of little boys (the foreigners' pest in China) crowd round to watch the progress of the sketch, as I put down the triple boiler ; each of the pans spread- ing from a common centre like a clover leaf. The first pan nearest the door receives the sugar direct from the tub at the press. It boils fiercely up, and is carefully skimmed from time to time by the jolly Herculean- looking fellow. When he is satisfied with this part of his work, he takes up a little of the sugar in the third or last pan upon his finger, much to our astonishment, as it is boiling, struggling, as it were, to get away from the fire below. One application is not enough ; he watches ^ In the account of Lord Macartney's embassy a sort of mm shrub is mentioned as being made from sugar. D 50 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. intently the caking of the sugar, as he blows the end of the finger on which it is ; and after two or three attempts at this strange ordeal by touch, he seems to think the boiling is complete. " You can't carry water in a basket," we say in England ; but the Chinese not only carry liquids, but will even carry oil in their well- made baskets, and our sugar friend ladles out the hot syrup with one, pouring it into a wooden shallow case, about six feet by four, until he has nearly emptied the pan. Before all is out, however, he replenishes it from pan No. 2, filling it from No. 1, so that the sugar juice undergoes three successive boilings. The syrup spread out on the shallow case is of a rich dark brown, and is covered with a lot of small lumps just now. What are they ? The little boys are intent upon them. We saw the man put a little lime into pan No. 1, but that was to correct the acidity in the sugar ; and he put some grease into No. 3, but it was to keep the boiling down, perhaps to make it boil more strongly below the grease ; and we did not notice him put in any lumps of any kind, though we watched the process intently. The little urchins had been after something ; they wanted their tit-bit, and took advantage of the boiling syrup to cook something for themselves. How they rush at the lumps with their chop- sticks ; the syrup is too hot for their unpractised fingers ; they must be cautious even with the chop-sticks. One fellow has a small basin filled with the lumps ; they look like beans ; but as he picks up one on his chop-sticks, and crams it almost into my mouth before I can see what it is, I notice that it is a large grub, just like a beetle with its skin boiled off, — perhaps it is one. How the rascals enjoyed them ! They had brought them here to cook for their evening meal. COST OF RAW SUGAR. 51 Now comes the Herculean work of our strong friend. He seizes a spade-like implement, and bending over the hot mass of syrup, begins to spread it about and mix it in all directions. As it cools it thickens ; his work gets harder and harder ; over the side, up the middle and down again, backwards and forwards he works the stiffening sugar until it loses its liquid state. Then he takes up a short thick piece of wood with two upright handles ; holding these, he commences to rub over the sugar hard, very hard. You see the labour by the working of his powerful muscles. Gradually the stuff assumes a sand-like appearance, its colour gets lighter and lighter ; and within an hour from its being merely sap in the cane, the juice is expressed, boiled, cooled, and made into sugar, — real Muscovado. The sugar- boiler turns round his happy-looking face, streaming with perspiration, evidently proud of his work, and glad to see himself and apparatus all jotted down in the sketch-book. Everything is most primitive and simple : well need it be so. There is first the sugar to be planted, after the cane-ends have been soaked in water till they sprout. The Chinese give all their seeds this soaking before planting them, and it seems to answer well with rice, wheat, and cotton. I wonder it is not more fre- quently done at home. The ground has a week longer for its old crop, or to lie fallow, or can be worked up while the seeds sprout. Well, there is the planting, cultivating, cutting, bringing to the mill, and all the above process to go through, and the sugar produced only brings about three-farthings the pound sold wholesale ! so the worker of the sugar probably only gets about a half- penny the pound for it. The white kinds, which go through a sun-drying and a lot of other processes. 52 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. is worth about twice as much ; but it is made from better cane, and also loses a great deal of weight in the drying. I beheve that the sugar-cane of the south of China is different to the Sorghum saccharatum, which has lately been grown with some success in different parts of Europe for sugar, as well as for food for cattle. The seeds are now procurable in England. Sugar-cane is well adapted for giving as extra food to horses, to bring their coats into fine condition, and to put flesh on the bones. Hard work is not all that the sugar-boiler in China has to encounter. Why are these long spears at his door ? The place does not hold out strong inducements for any one to attack it ; everything is old, common, and rude ; and who would care to steal and carry off sugar that was only worth about two dollars the hundredweight ? But there are the spears. Perhaps the sugar trade is a bad one at these prices, and the strength of our friend is sometimes applied to other purposes. The fact is that this northern portion of the Kwang-Tung province is occupied by hosts of rival clans ; predatory expeditions are made from one village to another ; we meet men returning from their work, one of the party generally carrying a spear or long knife, perhaps both. Each man holds his own by the strength of his arms. The male population predominate ; the women form a fruitful source of plunder ; and there is little doubt that to save trouble, or perhaps to prevent misery, many female children hereabouts meet an early death from the hands of their natural protectors. But everything goes by contraries in China. Strange as it may appear, this desperate state of clannish anarchy has proved to be the sole safety of this part of China from worse anarchy at the hands of HOW THE AKMY IS KEPT UP. 53 the rebels. The people were so given to quarrelling that they would not agree to fight. At one time the rebel- lion seemed likely to prosper here, if we may judge of the fact by the decay of the mandarin power. The people are a fine race ; splendid men, big burly fellows, especially the fishermen on the coast, and larger than any other men I have seen in the East. They would make capital grenadiers; but unfortunately, though very good fellows, they are sometimes wild and in- tractable. It is said when one city in this neighbour- hood was taken by them, they killed twelve mandarins, boiled them, and ate them ! The mandarins seem to have no power. I met with a lazy jolly-looking fat one the other night (I am writing from Masoo) ; he puffed and blew, and looked quite complacently on the foreign devils that were about him. What did lie care for save to make money while he had a chance. There is a big Malakoff-looking fort on the hill. He is supposed to be living there in command of 100 men ; but the barracks are roofless, the fort is breached in two places from sheer decay and neglect, and he lives snugly in a temple ; his body-guard consists of two very pretty Namoa girls, and perhaps he bought them with the money that should have paid for the 100 soldiers. He pays for his berth, and must make money out of it. His superior paid 17000 for the office he holds, though he knew he was only to have it for ten months ; but no doubt the fat centurion and his fellows aided in making up his pay. The other day we were at the town of Swatow, and got a glimpse of this superior. He had held a review ; for there are rumours of rebels and rebellion not far hence. But what a set the soldiers were ; what arms and what dresses ! One sailor-like fellow, with a turban on, could not be persuaded to take 54 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. it off, for the weather was bitterly cold ; so he popped his soldier's cap on the top of the turban, and shivered in chattering concert with his cold-looking comrades. We marched right into the fort, not one of us armed, among a set of rapscallion soldiers — the three mandarins were standing waiting by their baggage ready for a start — and, " shaking hands" at him, paid our respects as if we had a right to be there. In China, people don't shake each other's hands, each man shakes his own ; not a bad arrangement in a country where skin diseases abound. The mandarins in this part of the country are to be pitied. Their resources are drained at head-quarters, and disturbances progress ; in fact, the people get inde- pendent before the mandarins can prevent them. One fellow, called Heng-Soon, an opium smuggler, was chief of a clan at Go-swa (1 give local names). He had heard of rebellion, and thought he would try it too ; so raised his clan, and marched against the neighbouring places. The other clans did not aid him, and he had to fortify himself in Go-swa, a town about ten miles from Namoa. The mandarins for some time could do nothing against him. They had no resources in themselves ; could get no assistance by the coast, as it was in the hands of rebels or pirates ; ^ and the mandarins inland had enough to do to hold their own. At last the Governor-General was made aware of the necessity of doing something, lest matters should get worse. The people, too, in some of the large cities aided, and eventually a British ship brought up a lot of dollars, and a few men and some ' A paper on the Sinoan district was read before the Asiatic Society in Hong-Kong : it stated that the mandarins there let out their " men-of-war" to hire, and that not long ago one junk belonging to the Imperial navy was actually taken as a pirate ! The pirates again are often bought over into the Imperial service. AN INDEPENDENT REBELLION. 55 arms, for the mandarins at Foo-Seah, as the people here call the prefectural city of Chaou-Chaou. Then, the Government, having the sinews of war, made a demon- stration, and collecting men, marched against Go-swa, but feared to go further than Masoo for some time, and ran out of provisions there ; but getting a supply through a foreign source, proceeded, and after letting the rebels escape, took the place. The chief and his brothers made their way through foreign interest to Hong-Kong ; his wife did not escape, and perceiving that she was likely to be taken, collected her children around her, and placing a barrel of gunpowder in the room, when the soldiers arrived at the door, blew herself and the whole family to atoms. The town was rased to the ground, and the people of Go-swa, numbering now only a few hundred families, live in mat huts near the sea. Those who were in arms have all dispersed, some in fleets which were classed as pirates, and killed in hundreds by British men-of-war. Such is the history of a small rebellion. It was begun by foreign connexion, quashed by foreign aid, the leaders rescued by foreign connivance, and the followers destroyed by foreign power. Who says we have no influence in China ? But does our influence predominate for good or evil ? Two years afterwards the foreigners at Masoo had to protect themselve's from threatened attacks of the Go-swa people and their neighbours. The Chinese are a curious puzzle, and it is difficult to solve the riddle of their character. There are, too, so many varieties in their manners and customs at differ- ent places. The people of the Chaou-Chaou district, though sometimes so troublesome among themselves, are very friendly to foreigners. This may arise from many of them having been abroad. It is this district, in con- 56 . TWELVE YEARS IK CHINA. junction with Fokien, that supplies most of the Chinese settlers in the Straits settlements. It is curious to be addressed by a labourer in the fields in the Malay lan- guage. He sees a foreigner, and thinks he should know- that foreign dialect. Numbers of the people here speak Malay. There was a grand sing-song or theatrical en- tertainment going on one day at Masoo. Crowds were admiring the performance ; all civil and even polite to us when among them. I was anxious to see behind the scenes of a Chinese theatre, and scrambling up a ladder in the dark, at the back of the pavilion that had been erected for the performance, was at once face to face with the actors in their green-room — a very dirty, dingy place. We were received by a knowing-looking fellow, with his face strangely painted all red, with a blotch of white across the eyes ; he gave us a hearty reception in Malay. My companion and kind host, being well acquainted with that language, commenced a conversation with him, and we were standing at ease on the boards of a Chinese stage. The actors had seen me sketching them when I was in front, and were anxious to see the product of my pencil. It was long before I could get my book back ; at last I discovered it in the midst of " the band," the leaves being turned over by one man, while the others examined the pictures as they went on with the music. True to their usual contrariety, the Chinese have their orchestra at the back instead of the front of the stage. Banging and clashing went the drums and cymbals, making a terrible noise, especially when the striking or fighting scenes were going on ; for, in order to give force to the blow, whenever a man was struck, bang went the drum, and another crash of music was given as the victim fell on the ground. It was THEATRICALS. 67 curious to see the pompous mandarin, in all the glory of satins, silks, and golden ornaments, strutting on the stage, and then on his retiring come hastily over to see what We were after. I got crushed up in a corner, and had numerous applicants pushing their strangely-decked heads forward to be sketched, all at the highest pitch of good humour. Here are some of my theatrical friends, and a sketch of their little theatre. It was a roughly got-up affair, as the temple was not large enough for a first-rate " sing-song." The actors were really very good in their way, and doubtless had performed in many finer places. The dresses were capital, and the wardrobe ex- tensive. Three performances were given every day for three days in succession, and were in honour of the Mother of Heaven, the presiding saint over the welfare of sailors, — the contributors of the entertainment being 58 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. three merchants, who had just received the returns of a lucky venture. Most of the actors could speak the mandarin dialect. Their heroines were, of course, men, and made very fair specimens of Chinese beauty. One in particular acted remarkably well ; and the studied attitudes, even to the position of the fingers, were ad- mirable when seen from the front, but from behind the scenes, or rather, where the scenes should be (for there are none in Chinese theatres), we were let into too many secrets of dress, &c., to give full credit to all the glitter and sentimentality. In one furious scene, where the heroine had been going through a terrific piece of fierce declamation, in a high falsetto, she threw herself (or rather himself), in the height of injured innocence, into a chair, and hiding her face from the spectators, as if in the deepest grief, quietly expelled her quid, invisibly to them, but bringing the sublime too near to the ridiculous as seen from our side of the house. Unfortunately some of the players, appearing next day in the garden of the house at which I resided, and being in mufti^ were taken to be trespassers, and were pelted out. This was a great pity, after their civility. I had promised to colour the sketches I had taken of them, and show them to the actors next even- ing, but was rather doubtful of my reception. However, thinking it only right to try to explain, I resolved to repeat my visit, at the risk of a disturbance. So I went alone, putting full confidence in the fellows. It was very dark, and I was not noticed till I was fairly among them at the back of the stage. I was not disappointed. They received me politely, but at once assailed me with questions about the stone-throwing, and were satisfied when told that being in plain dress they were not recog- nised, but that I was sure, had they appeared in their THE ACTORS. 59 " Ta-ming " hats, no one would have troubled them. The comic genius got so interested in his portrait, and a cigar, that he had to be called twice to take his place on the stage, the play hanging fire meanwhile. He soon set matters right, and gave me a knowing wink from the stage when he had appeased the audience. There is no use attempting to describe a Chinese play. Grand dresses, marches, processions, Jcotoivmg, fighting, and love-making are jumbled up in inexpressible confusion. The actors, in absence of play-bills, coolly walk forward and proclaim who they are ; sometimes even hold up a placard with their title on it ; make no difficulties about distance ; pretend to get on a horse, no horse being on the stage, and then say, I am now arrived at such a place. Most of the plays relate to old Chinese times, the costumes being almost invariably such as were used prior to the Tartar invasion. Their travelling apparatus is well arranged. The wardrobe and property are all packed in large gaudily painted boxes. The boxes form seats behind the stage, and one I noticed was fitted up for cooking; another as a dressing-stand for washing and painting the face. Some of their faces are most curiously painted to represent demons or some other terrible creatures. This theatrical performance apparently made a great sensation. The position was beautifully chosen in front of a small temple, surrounded with magnificent ban- yans stretching widely around, covering a space that might encamp a regiment of cavaliy ; the fine dark foliage of the trees being relieved by the long, grace- ful, slender stems of a grand clump of giant bam- boos, rearing their tops tar higher than the flagstafi' that bore the yellow banners in front of the little joss- 60 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. house — the j^eliow contrasting pleasingly with the trees around. Then there were the little mat sheds, put up as private boxes for the female portion of the spectators. But by far the best of the whole affair were the people and their varied costumes ; the men, — fine sturdy fellows most of them, in turbans of dark-blue nankeen ; and the women in most picturesque dresses, all of the gayest colours. The head-dresses are charming, especially those of the young girls — many very pretty — their hair plaited in a long tail, which is wound round and round the head, terminating in a tassel behind. A broad black silk or velvet band encircles the upper part of the fore- head, and has generally a gaudy jewel in the front. A fine flower jauntily placed at one side of the head, completes one of the prettiest head-dresses imaginable. Others have the hair curiously worked up into shape. Handsome gold ornaments, and flowers tastefully placed about them, give the head of a pretty girl a fine appear- ance. Sketches give but a faint idea of the effect which I would wish to describe, but the accompanying may aid the description. The old women that have small feet have strange ways of dressing them. Some cover them with a sort of white flounce at the ankle ; others wrap the whole ankle and calf tightly with red bandages, making them walk as if they were going on razeed bed- posts. But the variety of fashions would be tedious to enumerate. The dresses of the women and children show great ingenuity, and yield a whole budget of sketches. The ladies are rather bashful and difficult to be jotted down, but the children are delighted to have their pic- tures taken. I paid a visit to a large town, Tai-hop-po, on the sea- coast, between Breaker Point and a promontory which '£^-^Mm : ' TrO sturdy j\ 'C the - illy those ; n air plaited .] round the black IV placed ; others sea- iiich ^ • • • • • • • .« • • • •• • A CATHOLIC MISSIONARY. 61 rejoices in the name of the Cape of Good Hope. We were invited into one of the best houses in the place. The owner had a large family of good-looking sons, all handsomely dressed. One was a remarkably sharp little fellow. Upon his being called down to see the barba- rians, he marched up to us just like a grown-up man. He looked very precocious, and made the prettiest salu- tation or kotoiu that I ever saw. He was scarcely nine years old, but came in with the air of a perfectly polished gentleman. His father was evidently greatly pleased at his manner ; I begged to be allowed to put the little fellow down upon paper, and did so. Of his brother, a delicate child with beautiful soft eyes, I also took a good likeness, and coloured it on the spot, much to their amusement. They were all kind ; and so pleased with the little pictures, that I could not help leaving the sketches with them. A large crowd had collected at the door as we went out ; but though we walked more than a mile through the town (a poor, miserable sort of place, with a riff-raff" sort of populace), not the slightest insult was offered. Fish, rice, and cotton shops denoted the chief trade of the place. On our way to the town we passed a small village, where a worthy Catholic missionary resided. He had about 200 converts. His house was just like the other cottages in the village, — all the villagers being of a poor class. Chinese Catholic calendars decked the walls, and a small altar-piece (apparently) was hid in a niche in the wall. Poor man ! he had just got out of prison, yet had re- turned to his flock. He seemed to be much respected, but was too delicate-looking for his task. He was about to proceed some thirty miles off to visit a sick man. His intelligence had at once given him an ascendency 62 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. among the poor ignorant villagers ; and he seemed bent on doing good. It is a pity that all missionaries are not equally self-sacrificing ; but it is hard to call upon intelligent men to tear themselves from civilized European habits, to plunge into poverty and obscurity in a Chinese village. KWANG-TUNG. 63 CHAPTER VII. NORTH-EAST PART OF KWANG-TUNG. North-east part of Kwang-Tiing — Chaou-Chaou-Foo, a Quixotic expedition — Stuck fast in mud — Mocking Birds — Eel-fishers — Sledge-racing over mud— Launched again — Distm-bed appearance of the country — Fight- ing preparations — Hoong-lo-Chee— Poultice versus Precipitate — Young Braves and ladies — Opium-smoking — Civility of the people — Their sur- prise at first seeing foreigners — Predominance of males — A beauty — Uses of a sketch-book — Mountain view — Opium-dealers. I WAS disappointed with the general appearance of the country near Chaou-Chaou-Foo, and had been greatly- misled as to its importance as one of the rich districts of China. In the far distance we saw from Swatow a high range of blue-looking hills ; the prefectural city was at their foot, and a long day's journey, with a fair wind, would bring us nearly to it. The question was, how far was such a visit practi- cable ? The country was«by no means quiet, the people always at war with each other, and noted as the greatest rascals in China. As for the government, it had no power, no control over them. For this latter reason I thought it would be safe to go as far into the interior as possible, until, in fact, we got to where the government had real power. We were told that the river at Swatow was navigable nearly to the Tung-Kiang, which leads into the Canton river below Whampoa ; that it had many fine cities upon 64 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. it, among others, the prefectural city Chaou-Chaou-Foo ; the boats that now and then arrived at Masoo brought people from that place. So we were determined to go there, or, at any rate, as far as we could. A boat was put at my disposal, with a dozen men for a crew, and well armed with small swivels. I had the good fortune to get two gentlemen to accompany me, both of whom knew something of the local dialect, one speaking it well. Our cabin was about seven feet square and four feet high, barely room enough for us to lie down in ; however, we made up our minds to rough it, and off we started, after having first made the attempt in two pleasure boats, a Quixotic expedition which nearly ended in the wreck of both vessels in a severe gale. How it blew ! We beat up under close-reefed mainsail and jib, until the water made clean sweeps over us, and it was with no small danger we got the boat round and back as far as Swatow, where we got good quarters in a Chinaman's house for the night. The native boats are far the best to travel in, especially in rivers, they draw so little water. The Han is deep, and is a broad fine river, excepting about six miles from its mouth, where it widens into a large lake, with several outlets to the sea. This lake is about thirty miles in circumference, and is shallow, except in one channel This we missed in the night, and after we saw the crew prepare the guns, each man hang his powder-horn round his neck, matches lighted, and all ready to meet pirates at a noted place for them, we had the satisfaction to find that we were hardly moving, and shortly after midnight we stuck hard and fast. The cabin was so wretchedly small that I got quarters in the hold among the crew, but one of them snored so loudly there was no rest to be had. It appeared as if daylight would never come ; at MUD SLEDGES. 65 last, slowly and sadly, we arrived by the growing light at the melancholy certainty that we were somewhere, but where, we could not tell. There was no water in sight ! mud, mud, nothing but mud for miles. By our minutest calculation we had gone aground on the great mud flat at the very top of high water. The wild geese, curlew, teal, and long-necked cranes were in flocks, just out of gunshot, and when a bird flew past within shot, it was sure to be only a gull. I could have sworn the birds chuckled at our position as they hooted apparently at us. We turned all our crew overboard to find the near- est line to the deep channel ; and as the sun rose, we could make out we were about a mile from it, and likely to lose the day before we had a chance of getting ofl". In desperation I double-charged my gun for a long shot at the geese, but even that did no good. Soon, however, our attention was attracted by specks in the distance, coming quickly to us. These proved to be men ; eel- fishers, a queer race ; they flew along the mud, though it was so soft that a man sank above his knees. Each of these eel-hunters had a sort of sledge, the size and shape of the stave of a large cask ; in the middle of this was a small railing, about eighteen inches high ; he had a small basket for his fish, and an adze-shaped spade with a handle about two feet long. With one foot, or sometimes kneeling with one knee upon the sledge, and holding on by the rail, with the hands well down, "jockey fashion," the man propelled the sledge forward with the other foot. On the fellows came at racing-pace. It was quite wonderful to see the speed at which they progressed. The mud is so soft, that when the men kneel with one knee on the sledge, their toes hang over the stave, dragging in the mud. It is as soft as hasty- pudding, and twice as slippery. To catch the eels or E 66 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA, other fish that are in the mud, the men appear to watch for an*-bubbles, and then dig about them. They are very- quick at their work, and it employs a large number. We shouted until about a couple of dozen came to the boat, and after a great deal of bargaining we arranged that they should make a sledge of our boat, and push it until they got into the river. The men were evidently accustomed to find people in a similar fix ; for no sooner was the bargain settled, than they surrounded us, and after a good shout, walked away, slipping the boat along the mud quite easily ; we might have been sailing. They stopped once or twice to try extortion, but that would not do ; and eventually launched us into the river just as a shoal of large white porpoises rolled past. The channel was wide and deep, passing at one side of the extensive fiat, a great part of which had apparently been reclaimed. The river then divides two small ranges of hills, guarded by forts on each side. No guns were visible, and the forts were falling rapidly into decay. Within twenty miles we counted eight forts. The posi- tions chosen in most cases were very favourable for de- fence against an enemy on the river ; but on land the rear could be easily battered. This, however, would not be a correct way to fight, according to Chinese notions : the British did not fight fairly, they say, when they got into the forts at the Bogue by the back. There seemed to be very little for the fortresses to guard ; we saw no trading boats on the fine river, except at one town where a few were at anchor. Dyeing was the chief trade of the place ; but very little trade could be comfortably carried on. -All the neighbouring country was in a state of chronic anarchy ; the villages, towns, and hamlets were all walled, and each seemed prepared to fight with its neighbour. There were villages, certainly not a quarter CLAN FIGHTS. 67 of a mile distant from each other, both surrounded with distinct walls about sixteen to twenty feet high, — the house-tops inside were just visible ; the walls gene- rally formed a square ; there were no butresses or places from which a flanking fire could be directed along the walls, nothing but architectural fortification in its most primitive form. . After proceeding about forty miles up the river, the scenery in some places being pretty but not grand, we discovered that there appeared to be good cause for the means of defence each place had provided itself with ; for, on branching off into the stream which led towards Chaou-Chaou-Foo, we found the people rush- ing about with guns, spears, and flags in great excite- ment, evidently making ready for a fight. Some shots were fired, and at one time we thought the intention was to stop us. We waited patiently to be fired at, being quite prepared to return the compliment if need be ; but they were so intent on their own squabble that we moved past almost unheeded, and shortly afterwards stopped at a village where the stream again divided. The people were quite civil, and invited us to land. We now began to skirt some small hills, which lay like islands in the midst of the flat lowland that stretched around them in all directions. Some of the villages were beautifully situated in bamboo groves at the side of the) hills ; but they all bore a poverty-stricken, de- serted look, an appearance rather increased by the melan- choly droop of the bamboos over the rugged walls. It was a fine warm day in spring ; the land on the plain .was bleak and fallow, waiting for the rice to be planted ; now and then there was a gloriously bright green patch where the grain was thickly sown with a view to trans- planting ; but these bright spots only made the rest look 68 TWELVE YEAES IN CHINA. more sad and gloomy. The dark-looking walls of the numerous villages had a forbidding appearance, especially those that were at some distance from the river ; for the heat rising from the ground created a mirage which hung over the land just about the height of the walls, and while it made them look dim and darker, seemed to drag them out in line till one village joined another, and a long hazy-looking wall apparently surrounded the foot of the hills, marking as it were the boundary of our journey. It would have taken something having greater powers of resistance, however, to keep us back, and on we went until we arrived near a place called Hoong-lo- Chee. The chief man there had been doctored by my companions, and fortunately had recovered, more by good luck than good guidance. One pinned his faith upon poultices for sores '; the other swore by red precipitate. Fortunately, when this worthy chief was at Masoo, he got into the hands of the red precipitate doctor first, so that the poultice came in afterwards to cure ; but there would perhaps have been a different story if the red precipitate had followed the poultice. The Chinese have great faith in Europeans for any surgical operation or for sores: the man above alluded to had gone to Masoo to try if he could get his foot cured. Ship cap- tains are generally doctors, and they and their officers have good practice, often very successful, among the Chinese. We found out the patient by sending in my card with a flag painted upon it, the well-known St. Andrew's cross, and at once were hailed as friends. I He took us through several villages, where we were ; feted in the chief houses, got some excellent tea, and were squeezed almost flat in the crush of natives who ; flocked to see us. The kindness was too pressing. One part of the chief village was a good deal damaged / VILLAGE BRAVES. 69 by shot. We asked the head man how that happened, and he coolly pointed to the next village, saying in Chinese, " These fellows did it." He could command 15,000 men, and from what we saw of them they would make a formidable force at guerilla warfare. There was not a man that had not the matchlock mark on the cheek, caused by firing with the butt against the cheekbone. In some cases the mark was fresh and bleeding, for these fellows appear always to be firing. In every village there were targets marked off against walls and joss-houses. The hits were not generally what would be called good shots, and the distance fired from was short. The young " braves" had a dashing \ hap-hazard style about them ; and their hair, being \ plaited with a third of scarlet silk or thread, mixed with I the hair, and hanging in a large tassel at the side of / the head, added to the jauntiness of their appearanc^ / The men all remarked upon the gun my Scotch friend [ carried, and the women seemed to be chiefly attracted by our mode of dress. Their own attire came in for a good deal of my attention, and I noted their costume in my sketch-book whenever there was an opportunity. The chief peculiarity in this district was a sort of leathern shoe worn on the head, to protect the hair pro- bably, but perhaps to save the trouble of making it up every day into the fantastical shapes that are in vogue in China. The people were poor-looking, and on the verge of squalidity ; the houses had few comforts in them, except the opium-pipe and a bed in the best of , them. This drug was openly smoked among the sur- j \ rounding crowd in nearly every village we visited, and/^ / was offered to us as the chief act of politeness. In the three days we were in this part of the country we must have passed through thirty villages ; some were equal to 70 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. large market-towns. We stopped at shops, went into temples, stood in the crowd at theatres, and never met with a single term of abuse. When we went from one place to another where the people were not on good terms, we were passed on by a neutral party ; and at one place, where we were advised not to enter, and even to have our arms prepared in passing, the people came out and asked us to go in. Entering these walled places is rather like going into a trap ; however, though the guide we had that morning told us not to go, I thought it was better to show the people that we trusted them. The women were at their doors, which was a sure sign that no mischief was intended ; so in we marched and passed through, with thanks from the people. No foreigner had at that time ever been in this part of China, so that we were quite a show ; in fact, we drew away most of the people from a theatre in one place, and when M — , who was a capital shot, brought down a swallow on the wing, we evidently rose greatly in the estimation of the young village ^' braves," and they came with us further than usual towards the next village. It was rare that people from one place followed us to the next. The clans keep themselves very distinct, and their chief battles arise from kidnapping women and childretu The proportion of males over females was quite remark- able. W"e had good opportunities of judging; and it was the more extraordinary, as this district supplies a great many soldiers, a great number of emigrants to the Straits, &c., nearly all males, and the women do not get such hard labour as in other parts of China. As this poor district is essentially a fighting country, male children must necessarily be looked upon as the greatest gift, and I have no doubt female infanticide is carried on to a large extent. This is a point that A WEAPON OF DEFENCE. 71 is not readily ascertained ; and although in a book of Chinese dialogues, for the use of Englishmen who study Chinese, there is the question, '' Do the people of this place kill their female children or not ?" I did not consider that my curiosity should master politeness by asking the question in a place where I had been so civilly treated. So far as we could judge by appearances, the i^'^^tty girls must all have been made away with while infants. I only saw one that was really good-looking ; she was certainly very handsome, quite a child, and, for a wonder there, had large feet, — I mean they were not bandaged into deformity. We got her imprisoned in a crowd of little boys at a temple, and succeeded in run- ning off a sketch of her as she nestled up in a pretty group of flowers with which the old joss-house was orna- mented. A sketch-book is the best weapon to travel with in China. In the first place, it at once gives the people your motive for wandering about ; and as it keeps them in good humour, there is nothing to fear. It is advisable to use a bound book for drawing in ; the sketching-blocks are ill adapted for the purpose, because the loose sheets are asked for, and the drawings have often to be handed about among a crowd of people, whose cleanliness is near akin to their godliness. It is difficult to refuse giving a man his own portrait after he has patiently sat for it ; so that, without the excuse of the leaves being bound up in a book, many sketches are apt to be lost. There is a degree of harmlessness associated by the Chinese with an artist's handicraft, and I often found that women and children would come up to me when sketching, who would certainly have run away had I been otherwise employed. When we reached the end of the navigation of the 72 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. stream that led towards the prefectural city, we left our boat, and were kindly provided by a fine old fellow, the elder of the township, with a shallop to proceed farther. We eventually reached the foot of the mountains, which were to be the limit of our journey, and being joined by a few men from a village near which we lauded, made for the highest peak. The mountain was bleak, bare, and uninteresting — no easy one to ascend ; however, in course of time we got to the top ; it might be about 2000 feet high. All the difficulties of the ascent were amply repaid by the view. In the far distance to the east we could just distinguish the high peak of JSTamoa towering out of the sea ; to the south and north were wild ranges of fine hills ; and towards the west, the chain of moun- tains, at the end of which we were, piled themselves up peak upon peak in rugged grandeur to the far distant clouds. We were upon the Ow-Ling range, or the eastern part of the Meiling mountains : I had never seen such desolate-looking hills. There was not even a bird in view, — not a bush, not a tree, only a burnt-up, coarse sort of grass ; even wild-flowers seemed to shun the place, and the scanty stream which oozed out of the hill-side exposed not even a pebble to reward our search. We could not expect much on the mountain, when it granted such a glorious view /rom it ; but its barrenness was so striking, that I should not wonder if some hidden mine of coal or gold were some day brought to light from beneath its bleak exterior. We counted fiwe pagodas in sight from the summit ; one at Chaou-Chaou-Foo, at Kip- chooey, at XJmpo, at Keih-Ying, and at Ta-Chea. The plain below was abundantly watered by the numerous branches of the Han, some of which appeared to join wdth the river which passes by Chaou-Chaou, and forms swampy ground between the sea and that city. /The A MISSIONARY MADE PRISONER. 73 Chaou-Chaou river is a large and important stream, and / if it is navigable must form one of the best routes by which to reach the province of Kiangsi. Opium is conveyed from the above city into that pro- \ vince. We saw it being unpacked, and put into pillow \ ; boxes, rice-baskets, &c., quite openly, ready to be carried 1/ into the city. We were asked to go in by the opium- j dealers, bul did not relish making our entry in such doubtful society. They appeared jolly, respectable sort of men, and were very civil. After our pleasant trip we returned to Swatow in safety. The Kev. Mr. Burns, who visited Chaou-Chaou- Foo the following year, was taken prisoner by the man- darins and sent to Canton. Mr, Burns has since returned to Swatow, where his philanthropic exertions have been of service in mitigating some of the evils of the coolie j j emigration trade. 74 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. CHAPTER VIII. EELIGION IN CHINA. Eeligion in China — Statements of Hue and Meadows — Enlightened Chinese not idolaters — Taouist traditions regarding the Messiah — Rise of Bud- dhism — Belief in Supreme Being — Religion founded in fear^ — Injudicious proceedings of missionaries — Buddhist priests — Three classes of Bud- dhists — Idols — No State religion under existing dynasty — Supremacy of the Emperor — Taouist priests— Pretty temple — Religious offering — An emperor's definition of worship, ^^ From all that we have said concerning the present condition of the various modes of worship recognised in China, and the position of their ministers, it is allowable to conclude, that the Chinese are living absolutely with- out religion. There remain among them a few super- stitious practices, to which they yield, rather from habit than conviction, and from which they are very easily detached. No account whatever is taken of religious belief by the legislature ; and the magistrates only speak of it to turn it into ridicule."^ ^' M. Hue asserts that the Chinese are destitute of re- ligious feelings. If by this he means nothing more than that the Chinese show no ready aptitude to embrace his form of Christianity — no alacrity to desert the Confucian tablet or the Buddhist idol for the images of the saints and the Virgin, I fully and thoroughly agree with him. And if Protestant writers mean, when they ^endorse' 1 The Chinese Empire (Hue), vol. ii. p. 210. DECLINE OF BUDDHISM. 76 such opinions, that the Chinese display little intellectual or moral promptitude to adopt their several creeds, which less enforce the great truths of Christianity, as ^ Peace on earth, and good-will towards men,' than they plant repulsively before the unprepared mind of the heathen the bare results of some centuries of doctrinal disputes and sectarian bickerings, — then with them like- wise I am fully agreed. . . . But if by ^ want of religious feelings' they mean to assert that the Chinese have no longing for immortality, — no cordial admiration of what is good and great, — no unswerving and un- shrinking devotion to those who have been good and great, — no craving or yearning of the soul to reverence something high and holy ; then I differ from them en- tirely, and emphatically contradict their assertion."^ I have headed this chapter with two extracts from the works of Hue and Meadows. The opinions of both are in some respects correct, though differing from each other in material points. I shall endeavour to show that enlightened men amongst the Chinese are something better than mere idolaters. The Taouists, it is said, heard of the birth of the Messiah, and sent some of their " wise men of the east " to learn something of the new religion. Their emissaries, it is supposed, never reached Jerusalem, but on their way picked up the principles of the Buddhist doctrine, and returned with them to China. These new prin- ciples, Frankenstein-like, grew ; they usurped the Taou- ist doctrines of their introducers almost entirely. The Buddhists have now commenced their decline. The num- ber of their demigods crowd upon the principal deity, crushing it from the influence it originally had. Shall 1 The Chinese and their Rehellions (Meadows), p. QQ. X^ 76 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. we see the same revolution continue, and pure Chris- tianity triumph over the tottering dogmas of existing religions, by the pureness of its simplicity, or by the avenging hand of a jealous God ? Shall we see the Chinese as a nation discard their auxiliary deities which they scarcely worship even in form, and earnestly turn to the Supreme Grod, whom they already acknowledge in spirit ? In asserting that those Chinese who think at all about religion are not idolaters, in the real sense of the word, it may be right to state the reasons from which the assertion is drawn. There is no doubt that the majority of the Chinese of any intelligence believe in a Supreme Being. Some may have a lingering superstition of the power of idols, but it is only as auxiliaries to a higher worship, when they worship at all. Their religion is not one of love^ but solely oifear. Believing that sin draws down mis- fortunes, they are kept under moral obligations, without which society would be intolerable. In fact, such a be- lief is necessary to the wellbeing of a people. It has been said by Chinese scholars, that the misfortunes which befall them are attributable to accidental sin, and not to any wilful act. But do not multitudes of pro- clamations, in which the wrath of heaven is invoked to punish the disturbers of public tranquillity, prove the contrary ? What old resident in China could not point out hosts of instances where the Chinese profess to be deterred from bad actions by the fear of heaven, or where they reason on man's misfortunes being sent by heaven deservedly for his sins ? A vast proportion of the Chinese do not worship images at all, and are perfectly open to the belief that their Supreme Being is the same as ours ; but while we AN INTELLIGENT PRIEST. 77 try to persuade them against their theology, and endea- vour to debase it in their eyes, and substitute what we call a new doctrine, or perhaps, like one distinguished missionary, think we do good by physically overturning the images, we can expect to see little good arise from the labours of foreigners. The whole number of Pro- testant missionaries in China probably exceeds the number of converts who are not actually in their pay. This I think is traceable to their way of introducing religion. The Buddhist religion, as it is understood in China, is a mere blank in the present day ; most of the priests are ignorant of the mummeries they go through in a lan- guage foreign to their own. We rarely see the people congregated together in the temples for any other pur- pose than to see a theatrical representation, excepting on a few days in the year, when the priests lay out the sacri- fices. We never see a priest exhorting the people to any other good deed than to give contributions. A worthy missionary at Shanghai tells us, in a small work printed at the mission-press there, that " the chief priest at the monastery of Tsing-leang-sze, was found to be a very intelligent and agreeable old gentleman. He readily understood our object, conversed with us freely on the subject of religion, and entered into a discussion on the differences which existed between us, without the least loss of temper. He maintained that Buddha was be- fore all things, and superior to Heaven, while his appear- ance in our world was merely his taking upon himself a body, for the purpose of enlightening and saving the host of human beings. His statements were, however, not based on evidence, and had to be received by those who believed them on his assertion only. It seemed to be a pure matter of faith. . . . We asked him about 78 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. image-worship ; whether the prayers he offered were to Buddha or the image ? He said, ' To Buddha.' ' Why, then, was the attention directed to the image ? ' ' Only to fix the mind ; as soon as the thought was once fixed, the image was no longer of use.' ' All,' he said, ' rested with the heart ; if that was right, all was well.'" At another Buddhist monastery, when the conversation turned upon the real object of worship amongst the Buddhists, whether it was Buddha himself, or the image that represented him, — the priests asserted that Buddhists were divided into three classes. The superior class worshipped Buddha without the intervention of any image ; the middling class worshipped through the medium of images ; and the inferior class never wor- shipped at all. " For themselves," they said, " they could worship without any image, and they thought it best to do so. We asked them what was the need of images ? " They said, " For the vulgar who could not be induced to attend to religion without such aids." ^ It has been said that Buddha rather represents the Saviour than the Almighty. Sometimes he is figured with numbers of arms, all ready to stretch forth to save ^ The Rev. Joseph Edkins, in his interesting little work, TJie Religious Condition of the Chinese, published since the above was written, states, " They have not been led to look at religious truths and duties as com- municated and enjoined directly from God. This renders it hard to per- suade them that idolatry is a sin, as forbidden by Divine authority. They consider idols to be symbols, and nothing more." — Page 115, chap, vii., on " Confucian and Buddhist notions of God." " We have seen Buddhism attempting to subvert the faith of mankind in God, placing as a substitute on His throne a self-elevated, self-purihed sage called Buddha ; and yet it could not prevent this personage from be- coming dehumanized, clothed with Divine attributes, and so coming to be worshipped as God by the multitude in all Buddhist countries. So far is this the case in Mongolia, that in the Protestant translation of the Bible into the language of that country, Buddha, or, as it is called, Borhau, is used for God." — Rev. J. Edkins' Religious Condition of the Chinese, page 168. PET DEITIES. 79 his followers. By a gradually increasing complication of the Buddhist heavens and Buddhist deities, the reli- gion has become so confused it is scarcely understood at all even by many of the priests. But take some of their idols as they are understood. K wan- Yin represents Mercy; Wen-Chu, ^Mom; and Pu-Hien, ZTotpjomess. These three gods are frequently in the chief position in the temples, and each is prayed to as representative of the separate attribute of the high power believed in by the devotee. In the same way there are pet deities for different diseases, and even for certain trades and occu- pations. The sailors are very particular on this point ; their protectress is the " Mother of Heaven." There is " Wy-do," who represents the protector of the temples : this is artistically the handsomest of all the images. No one who has entered a Chinese Buddhist temple when " service'^ was being performed will forget the continued muttering of the priests, and the constant recurrence of " 0-me-to-foh, 0-me-to-foh ! " this is the name of the image which represents one of the highest divinities, the one who has charge of departed souls in their future paradise. At Pootoo, I saw engraved on a stone some writing which I believed to be Sanscrit, with a sentence in Chinese characters meaning, " Disquiet me not, Amida Buddha :" a sort of Chinese " reqmescat in pace." Under the existing dynasty there is no settled religion of the State ;^ the people are enjoined to keep the laws 1 The Chinese State doctrine is this : — " The Emperor is the Son of Heaven, nobles and statesmen are the sovereign's children, and the people are the children of nobles and statesmen. The sovereign should serve heaven as a father, never forgetting to cherish reverential thoughts, but exerting himself to illustrate his virtue, and devoutly receiving from heaven the vast patrimony which it confers ; thus the emperor will daily increase in felicity and glory. Nobles and ministers of state should serve their 80 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. . of the empire, and to cherish reverential thoughts to- wards the nobles and ministers of state. It is only the emperor who is considered exalted enough to serve heaven directly ; but this rule is merely a political one to raise the emperor in the eyes of his people. Just in the same way, and for the same purpose, Tai-ping-wang, of whom we shall speak more hereafter, assumes a direct relationship with the heavenly Father ; but the usurper declares a religion of the St^te, and calls upon all people not to worship any other than God Almighty. It may not be a difficult thing to introduce a State religion when its place is not pre-occupied. The Tar- tars, it is true, have the Grand Lama as the chief of their religion, but this is not prominently brought for- ward in China. The Emperor goes first to one temple and then to another, not to worship certain deities, but to pray to High Heaven. He is even superior to the images in the temple, and has recently conferred higher titles upon some of those who are supposed to have aided the Imperial cause. We cannot, therefore, look upon these deputy-spirits, who are represented by images, as anything more than auxiliary saints or representa- tive demons. In Shanghai, besides a large number of Koman Catholics, there are many missionaries of other denomi- nations — Protestants, Lutherans, Calvinists, or Cal- vinistical Seceders, Baptists, Sabbatarians, &c. It may be doubted whether they could be brought to adopt sovereign as a father, never forgetting to cherish reverential thoughts, not harbouring covetous and sordid desires, not engaging in wicked and clan- destine plots, but faithfully and justly exerting themselves ; thus their noble rank will ever be preserved. The people should never forget to cherish reverential thoughts towards the nobles and ministers of state, should obey and keep the laws, should not excite secret or open sedition, nor engage in insurrection or rebellion ; then no great calamity will befaJl their persons." AN EARNEST PRAYER. 81 the opinion of an old Buddhist priest in the monastery at the top of the Hwa-ting hill, who laid it down that " the differences between religions he considered to be a species of denominational diversity, something like that which he had observed between the Romanists and Protestants at Ning-po ! " Some of the best parts of Chinese morality may be traced to Confucius ; no wonder he has had so many followers, and been almost deified by them. The Taouists have but little power, though they pro- fess that their doctrines are founded on reason. Th6 Taou-sze (Taouist priests) are generally a dirty-looking set ; they seem to be absolved from shaving the head, or wearing the hair after the manner of the Tartars ; they have it drawn up to a knot on the crown, not un- like the ancient style of Chinese head-dress, or the one which the Loo-Chooans adopt. There is a very pretty Taouist temple between Canton and Whampoa, on the south side of the river. The situation is charmingly chosen ; the temple and an observatory are perched on the top of a small rocky hill, commanding a beautiful view across the valley of the Pearl River. The place is neatly decked with shrubs, and some fine specimens of the dwarf bamboo, and is almost entirely shut in by a large plantation of high trees which surround it ; the tops of the trees reaching just to the roof of the temple, so that the view from the entrance is through the wide- spreading branches — a lovely and appropriate situation for religious retirement. It is difficult to define the religion of the Taouists ; it is largely connected with astronomy. One of their chief divinities is Yuh-Hwang Shang-te, the God of Heaven. During a very severe flood at Shanghai, when the waters were at their height, a Taou- F 82 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. sze came down to the banks of the river close to our house ; he made a small offering, then knelt down, prayed most earnestly, and, with his face turned to the rushing waters, bowed to the ground in the most abject supplication. The tide never passed the ashes of his offering, and, doubtless, he thought that his prayers for the stay of a public calamity had been kindly answered. This was the only act of apparently real religion that I ever saw performed by an unconverted Chinese. The purest act of unmitigated idolatry that ever came under my notice was at a short distance from Canton. An old woman knelt on the ground half wailing, half praying, before a paltry paper figure not eighteen inches high. This figure she had placed at the side of the path, at some distance from any house ; in front of it burned three wretched little candles, the position of which she changed from time to time — for luck : not content with this, however, she left the extraordinary shrine at which she had been worshipping, and tried her fortune by toss- ing up some copper coins, watching the manner in which they fell upon the ground, and again reverted to her genuflexions before her paper god. We should be more correct, perhaps, in believing that the Chinese have no real religion they care for, than in giving them credit for caring for any at all. Huc^ tells us of the funeral of a mandarin where Buddhist, Taouist, and Lama priests were invited to officiate. Yet a supreme being is not only acknowledged but worshipped. The emperor, Kang-hi, who was the most tolerant of all the rulers of China, and paid some attention to the different systems of religion, told the Koman Catholic priests that the sacrifices he offered were to the creator of the universe, and not to the visible and material heaven.^ ^ Chinese Empire, voL ii p. 220. , * The Chinese (Davis), vol. ii. WOESHIP OF ANCESTORS. 83 A really intelligent Chinaman is as rational a being as any other man, quick to observe, clever in reasoning ; he is not to be imposed upon by gods that he can see manufactured. Even the pet point of many Chinese, the worship of ancestors, which would not be unnatural among a people whose rule of life and government is founded upon filial piety, is accounted by many mission- aries, perhaps sometimes correctly, as one of the most conclusive evidences of their idolatry. We are indebted to M. Hue for information on this point ; information which can be verified by any one in China : — " One day we asked a mandarin, a friend of ours, who had just offered a sumptuous repast at the tomb of a deceased colleague, whether, in his opinion, the dead stood in need of food .? " "How could you possibly suppose I had such an idea ?" he replied, with the utmost astonishment. " Could you really suppose me so stupid as that ?" " But what then is the purpose of these mortuary repasts ?" " We intend to do honour to the memory of our relations and friends ; to show that they still live in our remembrance, and that we like to serve them as if they were yet with us. Who could be absurd enough to believe that the dead need to eat ? Amongst the lower classes, indeed, many fables are current, but who does not know that rude, ignorant people are always cre- dulous ?" " We are inclined to think," says the experienced missionary, " that all tolerably well-informed Chinese, a little accustomed to reflection, would be of the same opinion as this mandarin, with respect to the practices to which the multitude attach superstitious ideas.'' ^ ^ The Chinese Empire, vol. ii. p. 220. 84 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. Armed with the instances herein given of some of the ideas of Chinese regarding religion, and without compli- cating matters by entering into the details or forms taught by any particular sect, I hold to the assertions I have made, that the Chinese are not such determined pagans as they are generally imagined to be. Conse- quently, there may be less difficulty in making them Christians, by whatever means so happy a consummation shall be brought about. The more we try to make them believe themselves to be pagans, the less likely are they to become Christians. We have purposely abstained from including the worship of Kwang-te, the god of war ; the sacrifices made by the mandarins to propitiate this canonized general are merely political, and may be considered in the same relation to the empire of the Mantchoos, as the annual sacrifices offered by the local officials of each city, are to the tutelary spirit which is supposed to preside over it. The Greek and Eoman Christian churches have saints which may be classed in a similar category. The Chinese are as little likely to imagine that their graven images require of necessity the sacrifices offered to them, as they are likely to believe that the mortuary feasts set before the tombs of their ancestors will be partaken of by the mouldering remains. The mock silver and gold which is so lavishly scattered by the Chinese to propitiate good or evil spirits, is so palpably unreal, that the requirements or discernment of the spirits addressed, must be held in very light estima- tion by the distributors. The only religion inculcated by the State, is obedience to the Emperor and his officers.^ The emperor is the great high-priest who supplicates heaven. His officers » See Note, p. 79, IMPERIAL EDICT ON RELIGION. 85 publicly sacrifice only to the lesser divinities or saints ; the Supreme Being governs all, but is thought too high to be publicly worshipped by the people ; and special edicts have been issued against the Chinese indulging in any other religion than the one above stated. The commentary to the Shing-Fu, sacred edict, says, '^ All these absurd tales about keeping fasts, collecting assemblies, building temples, and fashioning images are feigned by those sauntering priests of Buddha and Taou, to deceive you ; still you believe them, and not only go yourselves to worship, but also suffer your wives and daughters to go. ... I see not where the good they talk of doing is : on the contrary, they do many shameful things that create vexation, and give people occasion for laughter and ridicule.''^ But these edicts neither keep the people from attending the temples, nor prevent them from thinking that their actions are under the supervision of the most high Power. The ignorant are doubtless imposed upon by the priests, but when we look into the position of a people, and their standing among mankind, we must not judge of their enlighten- ment by taking the lower classes for our standard. It would be of very little interest to an English reader, were I to give the Chinese names of all the different festivals set apart for propitiating the various good and evil spirits on their respective birthdays : such as " Fuh-hoo Heuen-tau," the tiger-quieting spirit ; the " Too-shin,'' gods of the ground ; half a dozen spirits that are supposed to have influence with thunder ; there is, in fact, scarcely a day that cannot boast of its being the birthday of some canonized personage, the seasons being cleverly fixed upon, so as to happen at appropriate times. Hwa-Kwang-ta-te, the genie of fire, has his day * Chinese Repository , vol, L p. 307. 86 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. ill November, just when the Chinese begin to dread the fearful fires that ravage their slenderly-built dwellings. Tsew-seen, the spirit that presides over wine, has his festival in the autumn. Shang-te, is, of all their deities, so far as I can learn, the only one that is honoured (and it is an honour in China) by having devotions paid to his supposed progenitors ; for the Chinese must have a reason for everything, and they seem to think that even this supreme being must have had a father and mother ; festival days are granted to them a few days previous to the grand one given to Shang-te, but none of the three, father, mother, or the high ruler, are represented hy any image, but deified in spirit only. The term Teen (Heaven), perhaps has even a higher signification than Shang-te. When the Jesuits first came to China, they used both these terms, but eventually quarrelled with other Koman Catholic missionaries about the correct one. Affairs became so troublesome, that the Emperor Kang-hi wrote to John v. King of Portugal, to get the Pope to interfere, and the Roman primate settled the point, by ordering the priests to use the term Teen-clioo, or Lord of Heaven. Before concluding this subject (which I have entered upon with much diffidence, and which would have been better conducted by a clerical man), and having unin- tentionally been drawn so far into it, I offer some of the quotations given by Morrison from the Chinese classics, as having been used when the Roman Catholic contro- versy was at its height, to prove why Teen and Shang-te were proper words to be used for the Deity. " When Heaven (Teen) created mankind, it made them princes and teachers, and said to them. Assist the Most High Ruler (Shang-te) in showing loving-kindness to every region." " Heaven (Teen) produced all things to nourish TRADITION OF CANTON. 87 man." " If Heaven (Teen) calls me to live, man cannot hurt me. If Heaven calls me to die, man cannot save me." " A good man Heaven will no doubt reward. A bad man Heaven will no doubt punish." " Whether man's heart be good or not, man does not know ; but no doubt the Lord of Heaven knows." For God the supreme and sole Kuler, both Shang-te and SJmi are used, Shin apparently meaning the Great Spirit ^^ar excellence. When the terms for gods are used, neither shang-te nor teen are made use of, but genii have the expression shin attached to them ; for instance, the gods of the hills are called sJian-shin. The Bud- dhists have the term poo-sa for their divinities ; and the common classes in some districts employ this, even giving it the sound boo-sah, which may be derived from Bud- dha. The country people call many things by this term, not only the images, but even the sun and moon ; yet all acknowledge Teen, Heaven. Among a people like the Chinese there are, of course, many strange and superstitious traditions, some of which are partly verified by existing materials. Canton is some- times called the " City of Rams." Five genii, clothed in robes of five different colours, and riding on rams of five different colours, met together at the place now occu- pied by Canton. Each ram carried a stalk of grain, having six ears, and presented them to the people of the distiict, to whom the genii said, " May famine and death never visit your markets." Having uttered these words, they immediately disappeared, and the rams were changed into stone. A temple in the city was called after the five genii ; it is near one of the gates, which is also named after them, and in it are the five stone rams to be seen to this day ! Certainly not very good represen- tations of these animals. 88 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. In this temple there is the sacred place, from which it is said that the genii ascended, and the footprint in the rock of a gigantic Chinese shoe is exhibited as the exact spot ! The wishes of the genii, however, were not accom- plished. Canton has several times suffered from famine, and been dependent on other places for its supplies. In looking at the *^ Chinese as they are," we cannot but contrast their present position with some former periods of their history. Before the Sung dynasty as- cended the throne, the condition of the people must have been debased in the extreme. In Kwang-tung, men were sacrificed to demons ; witches, wizards, and sorcery existed, and temples were erected for the practice of superstitious rites. The courts of justice were, if possible, more cruel than we now see them. " Criminals were boiled, and roasted, and flayed, and thrown on spikes, and were forced to fight with tigers and elephants." On the other hand, we find that under the reign of emperors for nearly two centuries, perhaps the most prosperous era of the empire, the Nestorian Christians were not only tolerated, but the State actually built their churches. The Nestorian monument at Sin-gan-foo, gives an account of the Christian Church in China in the seventh and eighth centuries, and it was only when the Christian priests apparently took part in politics, that their church first fell to the ground. Whether it was the Nestorians or the Komanists who endeavoured to aid the Mongols, or whether it was both, I cannot say ; but it appears pretty certain that Christianity was driven out of China with the Mongols. How strange will it be if it again gain power at the expulsion of the Mantchoos ! The Emperor alone addresses Hwang-Teen — the im- perial heaven ; the people can pray to Shang-te, Is the TOLERANCE OF CHRISTIANITY. 89 first expression to be considered more honourable than the second, or are the two denominations different ? We find the Chinese say — " When Teen created man- kind it made them princes and teachers, and said to them, Assist Shang-te in showing loving-kindness to every region ; " but again, we find Confucius says, *' For him who has sinned against heaven (Teen), there is noije to whom he can pray." It appears that we may class the terms as those of State etiquette, and that the individual ideas of different emperors cause changes which are difficult to follow. The Emperor Kiang-hi declared that " Teen means the true God, and that the customs of China are political." After the English war, the French procured permission* from Taou-Kwang, the last emperor, for Christians to carry on their worship unmolested, but certain clauses in the edict granting this permission, apparently limited it exclusively to the Koman Catholics. It was only granted to the followers of Teen-choo^ the lord of heaven. As the Protestant missionaries did not use this term, the French Plenipotentiary was asked whether he intended his application to extend to all denominations of the Christian religion ? The answer was satisfactory, and Kiying, the Imperial Commissioner, explained it. " Ori- ginally, I did not know that there were among the nations these differences in their religious practices. Now, with regard to the religion of the Lord of Heaven, no matter whether the crosses, pictures, and images be reverenced or not reverenced, all w^ho, acting well, practise it, ought to be held blameless." In a future proclamation from the emperor himself, restoring various properties belonging to the Roman Ca- tholics, that body is not treated with the respect they might have expected, if we may judge from the follow- 90 , TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. ing sentence : " If after the promulgation of this decree, the local officers persecute and seize any of the followers of the religion of the Lord of Heaven, ivho are not ban- dits, upon all such the just penalties of the law shall be inflicted." Of the Jews at Kai-fung-foo, apparently the last rem-, nant of the Israelites in China who formed a synagogue, Williams mentions, that " they pay homage to Confucius as the Chinese do. They say Adonai for the inefiPable name, and render it in Chinese by Teen, and not by Sha,ng-te. With all these different terms, we may surely grant that some of the Chinese use one or other as expressive of the Supreme Being. Let them use them as they will according to court etiquette, it is very evident that the difference is merely one of denomination alone, and that their highest Deity is the Almighty Ruler. Why, then, should we endeavour to rake up their demi-gods from the depths of their mythology, and search through their accumulating pantheon for fresh subjects wherewith to tax them with idolatry ? But beyond all, why should foreign missionaries add to the confusion by multiplying in their various sects the terms used to designate the one God Almighty ? If the rebellion is unsuccessful, is the Shang-te of the rebels to be cast aside ? It is no small matter to tamper with the Holy Name. We use many different terms for it, why should not the Chinese ? It is the multiplicity of their various demi-gods that has led them into a state of wild confusion, ending at last in a species of apathy, perhaps the most favourable condi- tion for the propagation of true religion, which might be rendered as simple as possible in the outset. If we turn to the early days of Buddhism, or the first flashes of reasoning of the Taouists, or Rationalists, we THE SABBATH IN OHiNA. 91 find a simplicity and even goodness that doubtless led to many converts ; and it was only when superstition and error were heaped up that a settled decay commenced. Disengaging Taouism from the imaginary traditions which beset it, and which doubtless have been added from time to time, their god, Yuh-Hwang Shang-te, is denominated " The Pure and Immaculate One, self- existing, of highest intelligence ;" and they believe that the virtuous, when dead, are rewarded by being reunited with their Maker. Buddhism is lost in traditionary legends- It admits the absolute mystification and obscurity of every legend anterior to the close of the sixth century before Christ, when Prince Siddhato, son of the sovereign of Magadha, or Bahar, began his reign of righteousness and wisdom, under the name and character of Gotama Buddha;^ and it was not till 400 years after that time that even his tradition was put into writing. Some Chinese believe in Buddha's worship of a Supreme Being, something higher than Buddha (say. Teen or Shang-te), because at Pekin, in the chief Buddhist temple, there is a relic, Williams tells us,^ of a curious nature, proving this. It is a scab from the forehead of Buddha, caused by his earnestly bowing down his head to the ground when worshipping ! The Sabbath, or rest on the seventh day, so necessary to the wellbeing of man, is unknown in China, unless it is still observed in the insurgent camp, where at one time it was strictly kept. A Chinese, who had once been my teacher, was at Nankin with the American Plenipotentiary : he told me, that while liding there, the 1 Sir J, E. Tennant's Christianity ui Ceylon, page 202. ^ Williams' Middle Kingdom, a book full of the most valuable informa- tion regarding China. 92 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. party passed a Notice in Chinese — " To-morrow is the Sabbath ! " The rebels requested them to dismount and walk respectfully past the simple announcement. The Chinese people, however, have no day of rest, and but few holidays, except at the time of the Chinese new year. Yet the people have gone on multiplying for ages, and though they have not advanced much in civilisation for hundreds of years, I do not believe they have degenerated. Their minds, however, do not expand and soar to the high regions of thought of Christian philosophers. A Chinaman thinks of little but what concerns himself individually, or his own peculiar employment. History is comparatively a blank ; science finds few disciples and scarcely any encouragement ; the fine arts, such as they are in China, are a mere matter of trade ; not one in a thousand knows the correct geography of the empire, or even of his own province. Politics are a sealed book to all except such as hazard their existence in the dangerous study, or aim at promotion under the fickle will of a despotic monarch. Oratory in a country where the spoken language is so varied is almost impossible. Even education is kept at a fixed standard, aiming only at the excellence of bygone ages. May not this backwardness in civilisation, and the decline of the Chinese as well as other empires, be traced to this want of a day of rest to the mind, and account for its inability or unwillingness to trouble itself with affairs which do not immediately concern it ? I leave others to reply, as I bring forward this and other remarks in the present chapter with much diffidence ; my object in alluding to them is chiefly to show the Chinese in a different light to that in which they are generally pre- sented, thinking, as I do, that they are entitled to more consideration than has hitherto been granted to them as a A CHINESE IDEA OF EELIGION. 93 people : most of their faults are attributable to their rulers and authorities. There may be objections to the judg- ment I have formed of the Chinese character, but I claim the indulgence of critics, as my observations are thus made public in the hope that if they be fortunate enough to meet with attention they may do good. I have mentioned that a small sect of Jews existed in China : there are also followers of Mahomet considerably more numerous than the Chinese Jews. Taking these, and many of the disciples of Confucius, we count up a goodly number of Chinese who are not idolaters ; but in reality, many of the natives, probably the majority, no matter whether they believe in a Supreme Being or not, pay so little attention to religion that they may be classed with one who, reasoning with me on the subject, said, — " I think many men are fools ; suppose one is a good man, what is the use of his praying to God ? suppose he is a 5ac? man, what is the use of his praying, God won't care for him I " However, there is not such a bad groundwork to build upon as most people imagine ; and in addition to what I have stated, I quote from Williams' Middle Kingdom a few remarks with which I thoroughly agree. He says, — "Although they are a licentious people in word and deed, the Chinese have not endeavoured to sanctify vice, and lead the votaries of pleasure — falsely so called — further down the road of ruin by making its path lie through a temple, and under the protection of a goddess. Nor does their mythology teem with the disgusting relations of the amours of their deities, which render the religious stories of the Hindus and Greeks so revolting ; on the contrary, they exalt and deify chastity and seclusion as much as the Romanists do, as a means of bringing the soul and body nearer to the highest ex- cellence. Vice is kept out of sight as well as out of 94 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. religion, in a great degree. ... If the irresponsible authority of the Governor of the world be acknowledged in the establishment and removal of the kingdoms of the earth, and His declared detestation of these things be regarded as one reason for destroying those who prac- tised them, then may not one reason be found for the long duration of the Chinese people and government, in their comparative freedom from these abominations ? . . . One pagan nation has come down from ancient times, and this alone is distinguished for its absence from religious slaughter of innocent blood, and the sanctified license of unblushing lust." The same author is also disposed to connect the long existence of the Chinese as a nation with their general regard for filial piety, and the promise made to the observers of the fifth commandment: " Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." There is much food for reflection in all this ; and when the true gospel of salvation gains a favourable entrance, and is sown throughout the length and breadth of the land which God has given to the Chinese, I think there is reason to hope for a speedy harvest. Great responsibilities attach to the governments which are now entering upon a war with China. If extreme prudence and caution be exercised, we may yet see good results grow out of an apparent evil. FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 95 CHAPTER X. CHARACTER OF THE CHINESE. First impressions corrected — Chinese character opposite to that of Euro- peans — Chinese school-book — The new religion taught by the Rebels — Fundamental principles of the old faith contrary to that of Christianity — Official rank open to all — Rule regarding mandarins — Indiflference to circumstances — Potted ancestors — Coffins for the living — Hired mourners —The famine at Shanghai — Stories of infanticide exaggerated — A tower full of bodies — Disreputable nuns — Canton fire-brigade— Stoicism of Chinese undergoing sentence of death — Suicide by order — Strange mixture of qualities. On my first arrival in China, thirteen years ago, the contrariety of the native modes of doing anything struck me as most amusing, and a long list of the " opposites" of the Chinese manner and character to ours was soon made out ; but on giving deeper study to the subject, there is less reason to be proud of the general superiority of the European means than to feel abashed at our ideas of vaunted perfection. The Chinese character is the exact opposite to that of Europeans generally. It is, however, changing from its old stereotyped existence, owing to circumstances that formerly could not have influenced it ; but even in the reason for changing, there is much cause for wonder. If a new plan is adopted, it is from contrary reasons to those which would affect the mind of an European. It takes a long time to learn the native character, and 9G TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. much study is required to do it full justice. We are far too apt to judge it from our own standards of civilisa- tion, education, and morality, instead of doing the Chinese the justice of looking upon them according to their own ideas as much as possible. Few foreigners have had patience to take the trouble to do this, nor will I attempt to make you believe that I am able to study them as they deserve to be. To give a fair idea of the Chinese mind, it may be well to tell what they are taught when young, before we criticise their acts or customs. Let us look at the first Chinese school-book : the work is uni- versally used throughout the empire. Every child is taught it by rote, even before it is understood ; and the maxims it contains have been learned by the Chinese youth for bygone ages. This Chinese Primer, called the San-Tsze-King , or Three-Character Classic, is composed in rhyme, probably to assist the memory, and begins with the bold announcement : — " Men at their birth are by nature'pure !" But qualifies the assertion, — "In this all are alike, but they differ in practice." *' If left uneducated, nature deteriorates." In thus looking upon the train of Chinese thought, we find, at the very commencement, the whole structure resting on a perfectly different foundation to our ideas of human nature. We believe that we are born in sin, and that we are improved by education. The people have no knowledge of any direct laws proceeding from God (it is only in the camp of Tai-ping-wang that God's commandments are proclaimed). Now, let me ask those who have rashly judged of Chinese character, if they have ever taken this matter into consideration ? What a vast difference there must be in the whole tenor of the 97 thoughts of men so brought up from those educated like the English ! Many Chinamen, unless they actually break the laws of the empire, do not acknowledge that they are sinners. The Chinese compare man to an un- wrought gem^ and say — " A gem un wrought is a useless thing ; So a man unlearned is a senseless being." Filial piety, of course, forms one of the earliest portions of the lesson : — " First practise filial and fraternal duties, next See and hear." But perhaps the most difficult to understand of all their teachings is the trijuncture of what they call " the Three Powers/' — " Heaven, earth, and man." What the power of the earth can be, I am at a loss to comprehend, and man being put upon an equality with heaven seems strange to European ideas ; but the ancient sages are classed in the equality, " because they teach men more than heaven or earth do !" — " There are three ties (or regulators) : That of prince and minister, Justice. Of father and son, .... Affection. Of husband and wife, . . Kindness." " The upright prince in his palace is the regulator of his ministers ; the upright father at home is the regu- lator of his children ; and the upright husband is the regulator of his wife : these three being upright, then the prince will be imnpaculate, the minister good, the father compassionate, the son dutiful, the husband kind, the wife submissive, the empire quiet, and nations at peace." The Chinese are tausrht that the earth is one vast 98 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. plain, and that the points of the compass indicate its centre. Not content with this alteration of the universal economy, they transpose the *' airts" themselves, and be- lieve that the needle points to the south. Confucius says east is left^ and west right ! " South and north, west and east, These four points converge to the centre." They say east-north for nor'-east, &c. &c. The Classic points out a course of study, and gives a summary of Chinese history. The whole forms a perfect example for an educational work, and one that might be followed with advantage in some points in other countries. One of the iSrst books published by the Tai-ping rebels was a trimetrical classic, to take the place of the original San-Tsze~King. A translation of the rebel pamphlet appeared in MM. Callery and Yvan's History of the Insurrection. The original classic containing many points that did not agree with the new religion the in- surgents attempt to propagate, they set it aside, and had the boldness to publish a new one, — probably the most daiing innovation they could have made. This com- menced : — " The great God Made heaven and earth, Both land and sea. And all things therein, In six days ;" and continued with a brief history of the Israelites ac- cording to the Bible, but omits any mention of the first fall of man. A clear account is given of the escape from Egypt, and God's favouring protection to the Israelites, doubtless to inculcate the belief that similar protection would be vouchsafed to the believers in the new faith. It makes mention of the Ten Commandments: — THE FALL OF MAN. 99 " He himself wrote tliem, And gave them to Moses : The celestial Law Cannot be altered." After this, as a warning to evil-doers, the fall of man, who " was endowed with glory and honour," is first mentioned, and in the following terms : — " In after ages, The celestial Law was sometimes disobeyed Through the devil's temptations, When men fell into misery." " But the great God, Out of pity to mankind, Sent his first-born Son To come down into the world. His name is Jesus, The Lord and Saviour of men. Who redeems them from sin." These extracts will show that the original pure nature of man is not confined to the first parents, even by those Chinese who have adopted a species of Christianity, and that inborn natural sin is not one of their beliefs. The rebel classic goes so far as to state, that " The Chinese, in early ages. Were regarded by God ; Together with foreign states They walked in one way. From the time of Pwan-Koo Down to the Three Dynasties, They honoured God, As history records." It will be seen how the chiefs considered it necessary to make the new religion appear to be ancient, so as to suit Chinese prejudices ; and some trouble is taken to point out that idolatry was more modern than the new religion practised. To arrive at a proximate insight into the Chinese, we must not only look at their education while children, but 100 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. likewise at the doctrines they are taught and study as men. The Taouist and Buddhist faiths may be passed over for the present, as they seem to be tottering under the bad guidance of debased priests. The followers of Confucius, however, include many zealous students of the works of this great sage ; his maxims and doctrines are treasured, and their author almost deified ; in fact, almost worshipped : doubtless they have had an immense influence on the Chinese character. Sound and good as they must have been, to form the guiding-star for mil- lions during many ages, they are void of some essential ingredients to constitute what we would call really good men ; for Confucius, the greatest oracle and standard of virtue, not only omits to teach forgiveness of injuries, but actually preaches revenge. Dr. Morrison says, that Confucius and Choo-Tsze were doubtful of the existence of gods, and these sages leave their followers under simi- lar doubts ; and Mencius writes, that " none of the good principles are infused into us from without : they are in- herent to ourselves." Why wonder, then, at the arrogance of the Chinese ? Why be astonished at the small progress of Protestant missionaries, when one of the first things they have to teach these self-proud unbelievers is the sinfulness of man ? Every Chinese who can procure an education is theoretically entitled to aim at the highest position, but practically, it is generally great interest or bribery that leads to official rank ; however, it is open to all, and some of the best judges give this as the reason why the empire has been so long maintained. " A prophet hath no honour in his own country," and a mandarin is not allowed to hold ofiSce in his native district. It is the pride of an Englishman to be a mag- nate in the place of his birth ; but the English trust to a ^'' POTTED ANCESTORiS.!* 'i '>! \ V . 'iO'l'; man's honour until he is proved udwo?)!^ cf'ccmfitoii?^' The Chinese, on the contrary, proceed upon the assump- tion, that clannishness, or family instinct, must lead him to partiality. There is nothing in the Chinese character more strik- ing than the apathy with which they undergo afflictions, or the resignation with which they bear them. There is so much elasticity in their disposition, that the most opposite changes in their condition produce but little effect. A coolie can admirably ape the dignity of the mandarin when promoted, and a disgraced official, or ruined merchant, who formerly had lived in luxury, appears little to regret the change he has undergone. There is no fear of death amongst them, though they ) have a character for cowardice. It is true they have the relics of the dead constantly before their eyes. The country is covered with graves, and in many places about Shanghai the coffins are openly exposed in the fields. They are even kept in the houses till a propitious day arrives for the burial, months passing by sometimes before the body is removed. When the coffin is decayed, the bones are carefully gathered ; and in a country walk one very often comes upon jars containing *' potted an- cestors." Money is saved for the purchase of a coffin, and it is put by till ready for use. The first time I saw this was in a little cottage near Shanghai ; there was an old cob-webbed coffin in the corner ; I asked a young lad why it was there ; he quietly pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to his grandmother, standing close by, and said it was for her ! She was very old, and was nearly wearing out the coffin before she was put into it. At funerals, females are hired to do the " inconsolable grief" parts of the performance. It seems very ridiculous that such a custom should be kept up when it is known y 'JiW *• : t'' ^T^JTELVE YEARS IN CHINA. I jb^' jBfverybDdy.th^t .the mourners howl for hire; they j certainly work hard for their money, and their piteous I moans would be heart-rending if they were real. / During the famine in Shanghai, after the rainy years I I of 1848 and 1849, the poor people were reduced to the \ *< greatest misery. The women from the villages in the neighbourhood flocked daily in large numbers into the city, there to be supplied with food from the soup-kitch- ens that were established. They begged tickets during the day, and if they got more than they wanted, sold the balance to others, apparently caring little for the morrow. It was a wretched time ; people died at our doors. One morning two poor women were passing down the road ; one staggered and fell, and her companion left her : she was dead. The hand of Providence was against them ; and calmly and solemnly they waited their fate. There were no robberies, no disturbances of any kind, except at one place, where the taxes were attempted to be levied during the distress. The mandarin got his house pulled about his ears. Much was done by foreigners, — by the missionaries especially, to alleviate the afflictions of the people. The wealthy natives subscribed largely to the " benevolent society." They carried bundles of soup- tickets at their girdles to give away to the poor ; but a single ticket was merely for a meal of thin rice and water, and perhaps it only protracted wretchedness. I shall never forget the look of a poor widow, with a little daughter by her side, when I threw her a whole bundle of tickets in riding past ; it seemed to break the spell of her fortitude, for, perhaps, she had made up her mind to die. Much has been said of infanticide in China, but it ap- pears to be exaggerated. Children are generally worth something ; parents might sell them, or at any rate could THE BABY TOWER. 103 take them to the foundling hospital, of which there is generally one in every city ; but during the famine alluded to, there were doubtless many mothers who were unable to supply the natural nourishment to their off- spring, and the infants died, or perhaps were put an end to. It struck me at the time that many infants must be destroyed, and I went to the small tower, not far from Shanghai, into which the bodies of children are cast. The tower covers a well, and stands about twenty feet high ; at the upper part are two small arched windows, through which the children are thrown. On climbing up to look down through the windows, I was horrified to find, that not only was the well full, but the tower piled to the top with bodies ! The keen frosty weather pre- vented putrefaction giving earlier notice of the dead pile there accumulated. The infants were wrapped in mats or old clothes ; but there was nothing to lead to the belief that they were thrown there alive, or that they had been killed; and without better evidence than exists, the Chinese at Shanghai should have the benefit of the doubt, and we may believe that most of the children died a natural death, and were deposited in this recognised re- ceptacle*for their corpses, to save the expense of a regular burial. At the foot of the tower remains of small fires were visible, showing that offerings had been made to "joss" through that most glaring of cheats, paper sycee. The strongest evidence against the tower is its proximity 104 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. to a Buddhist nunnery ; these are often most disreput- able places. There was one at Foochow, in which the nuns behaved so grossly, that they were put to death, and the funds of the nunnery confiscated to the government. The nuns may make use of the tower to get rid of ille- gitimate children, which they dare not possess ; but bad as the Chinese mothers may be in selling their own offspring, I don't think they often destroy them. If you saw the hubbub in the Canton river when a child falls amongst the boats, though it may be protected with a gourd tackled to it as a life-preserver, or be tethered to the boat, you would not say that none cared to save the poor little wretch. Deformed children may perhaps be made away with, and it is said that many of the poor blind girls that go in strings along the streets of Canton are purposely deprived of sight ; but consideripg the disease, filth, and poverty existing in many parts of that city, we may readily believe there would be a large pro- portion of blind children without such diabolical practices being resorted to. It is extraordinary to see how these poor wretches thread their way through the narrow crowded streets, none of which are broader than the pavement in the Strand, and are nearly, if not quite, as much crowded, besides being roughly paved. In 1854, trade was sometimes quite at a stand-still in Canton. The shopkeepers sat lazily behind their counters, seeming rather to be taking advantage of the quiet that reigned, than regretting the loss of busi- ness. The fact is, the Chinese can live upon so little, bad times don't affect them much. There was a large fire in the suburbs of Canton one day, in a most danger- ous neighbourhood — the houses and their contents were so inflammable. The streets were barricaded, the roofs were covered with people looking on, but very little ex- A FIRE. 105 ertion was made to remove property, though the benefits of fire insurance were not known. We got the soldiers to let us pass, and pushed our way up to the burning houses ; passed through several shops, in which not an attempt was made at packing up. Cisrtainly th^ fire was being got under ; still there was considerable danger, and a good deal of excitement among some of the people who feared incendiaries. ^Tlie rebels were besieging_ the city at the time, and all mischief was laid to their account. In this case, however, the fire was accidental ; nor is it likely that men who were try- ing to gain the favour of the people would think of burning their houses. Four hundred were destroyed. The fire-engines and brigades were admirably managed, but there was more fun than serious working among the Chinamen — they worked with such a will ; and though it is rare for foreigners to 'move about on such an occasion, my companion and I got on capitally, and were received very good-humouredly, though many around us roust have sufi'ered loss. We got hold of a fire-engine, and pumped away for a short time ; and as we returned were recognised by the brigade. They set up a shout, and redoubled their exertions, till, just as I put my hand on the engine for another spell, the force was too much for the hose, and it burst right over their heads, drenching the whole of the men. A new hose was attached in a moment, and they worked away as briskly as ever. The fire-brigades in Canton are admir- ably arranged : the men wear distinguishing uniforms, work with a will, and understand their business. But the Chinese character when under suffering, is best seen at executions. The victims are carried, bound hand and foot, in baskets, and tumbled out into the blood of the last sufferers, hustled up on their knees in 106 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. long lines, and in five minutes a hundred headless bodies lie weltering in their gore. Not a murmur or a groan to be heard, though none are gagged. Mr. Meadows, in his Notes on China, a most interesting book, mentions the cruel execution of an innocent man, and states, that as he was carried to the execution-ground, the people heard him proclaiming his innocence, and warning them from interfering with him, as the mandarin would only ruin them too. This is the only instance of the kind I have heard of. Out of a large number I saw beheaded, more than half of whom were stated to be perfectly innocent, not one uttered a cry. They may have been drugged. A striking case is related of a man that was being flayed alive railing at his tormentors to the last ; and one of the rebels at Shanghai, who was being cut to pieces, got his death-blow sooner than was intended, owing to his bearing before the executioners. He was a Canton man, and his countrymen at Shanghai spoke of it with pride. After the rebels were unsuccessful in the Canton pro- vince, the mandarins erected pavilions at different places, supplied with every convenience for people committing suicide according to their individual taste. Those who had taken part in the rebellion were invited to destroy themselves, and thus have the privilege of a burial by their friends, which would not be permitted if they were caught and beheaded, even if their friends could pick them out from the mass of headless trunks that covered the execution-ground, after one of these brutal displays of the mandarins' vengeance. Suicide is the usual resort of a luckless official after a defeat. The history of the first English war in China proves this too clearly. Wells were found with whole families drowned in them ; and many people drowned themselves before the eyes of the soldiers. THE MACAOESE. 107 There is a curious mixture of cowardice and fortitude blended in the Chinese character^ with a sort of half fatalism, that is peculiar to the sons of Han. They have courage without bravery, and pride mixed with servility ; excessively clannish, but this feeling is only second to selfishness. In a gale of wind their sailors bear themselves boldly for a time, until an accident be- falls them, when their courage fails, and they will give themselves up to their fate. Yet pirates have been known to blow up their junk rather than be taken. At a large fire which occurred at Macao early in 1856, burning nearly 1000 houses, there was a good opportunity to watch the difference of character of the Chinese and Europeans. While the fire was raging, and there was little chance of their property being saved, the Chinese got away all they could, and set to work in a business-like manner, as if there was something to be done. There was no tearing of hair or dread of far- ther misfortune ; the accident had happened, and they had to make the best of it. The Portuguese, on the contrary, frightened themselves with all sorts of rumours of incendiaries, piratical attacks, &c., called out the militia, guarded the streets, not letting the Chinese move about, and by some bungling managed to have a lot of Chinese shut up in a cul-de-sac^ occasioning the loss of many lives. Some passenger-boats were landing their passengers on the wharf near the fire. " The Ladrones ! the Ladrones !" was at once the cry. Down rushed the valorous militiamen to greet them with a volley, but as the supply of ammunition served out hap- pened to be limited to the single cartridge that was fired, and this fact suddenly striking the brave Macaoese, they did not wait to see the result of their fire, but bolted as fast as they could to a place of safety. 108 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. CHAPTEK XL TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE CHINESE. Cheating honestly — The compradore — Honesty of servants— Mercantile integrity — Chops of tea — Coolies, their fidelity — Open exposure of pro- perty — A pickpocket — Pawnbroking — No native gold or silver coin — Unwritten agreements faithfully observed — Rarity of drunkenness— Eyes and tails — Costumes — Chinese cotton goods — Dress of coolies — Fisher- men — Perfection in matters of titility— Cooking by steam — Healthiness of the people — Medical treatment — Monkey-soup. After many years' experience in the north and south of China, I may state with safety that the greatest con- trariety to ourselves marks the Chinese in their ideas of honesty and cheating. They cheat honestly ! It is a paradox solved. You engage a compradore as chief of the Chinese in the household. He is generally supposed to be accountable for the honesty of the other servants; he is thoroughly correct in all his transactions, — often has very large dealings himself. You know he came to you not worth a hundred dollars perhaps, yet he is soon worth thousands. The system is recognised : he gets a bonus some way or other on all payments, and in some transactions pays a percentage of it to all the other ser- vants in the house. I knew a man, nominally in receipt of 125 per month, who, after six years' servitude, on being asked to be- come security for a relation of his own, replied, that he THE COMPRADOKE. 109 would guarantee hira — a fellow only worth the clothes upon his back— for $10,000 ! ! I have seen instances over and over again where there was positive inducement for undiscovered fraud, but the ordeal was passed through with most perfect honesty. Some of the compradores conduct most of the transac- tions in the sale of opium and other highly valuable produce during great fluctuations in the market. In Canton, the compradores' quotations for gold and silver, in which the transactions are immense, have scarcely any check ; and yet in some houses and banks they conduct nearly all the purchases. They pack up the money, and I never knew a single instance in which the weights or amounts turned out intentionally incor- rect, though they pack it, seal it, and often ship it off without a foreigner in the establishment ever having seen it. Sometimes a few inferior dollars may be re- turned, but the amounts are almost always correct. Money is received in untold sums ; it is counted or weighed, a deficiency in the quantity that should be received is rarely to be found, and if there is an error it is generally discovered to be a mistake on the part of the sender. Silver plate is on the table before the servants nearly all day ; there may be a large party with numerous servants from other houses, as each guest brings his own valet; yet it is rarely known that an article is lost. The servants are answerable to the compradore, and the compradore to the master. Sometimes, but rarely, there is an actual robbery : but then the robber decamps. When I first went to Shanghai, I had a young rascal that made a clean sweep of all the silver, and took even the watches and valuables out of my bedroom. He got clear away, and was never heard of afterwards : he had been made 110 TWELVE YEARS TN CHINA. the instrument of a greater rogue than himself. None of the others in the house were to blame for the theft. I took the lad on the recommendation of a foreigner, and not of our own compradore ; good servants were then very difficult to be had, and he had none to recom- mend. It has lately become a custom in Shanghai and Foo- chow, and to a small degree in Canton also, to intrust very large sums of money to Chinese for the purchase of tea and silk in the interior. The money is lost sight of for months Id a country where a foreigner could not follow ; yet, such is the honesty of the Chinese that the instances are rare in which the man intrusted with it has made off. He may have been robbed by others, and instances are known where the money has been deposited in safe hands en route for fear of robbers known to infest the locality, till safe transit could be insured. I know an instance. where a large sum had been sent to the tea districts near Foochow in different sort of coin. It was found that part of it would not pass current except at a heavy discount ; the bulk was left up the country, and a man sent back with $8000 to get them changed, and return with the coin that suited the tea-men. Opium is even sent up the country for sale ; it often goes to Soochow on foreign account. Here is a great oppor- tunity for fraud, for the article passes through the hands of men we should call smugglers ; it has to be sold not openly, and in a market which we cannot reach. There must be great honesty, and the plan must answer, for it has continued for years, I believe, without the property being lost, or the prices tampered with. Many manu- factured goods are sent there ; indeed one house estab- lished a sort of agency at Soochow for the sale of Man- chester goods. And so little is the risk of dishonesty LAYING DOWN TEA. Ill thought of, that in money sent to the silk districts on constituents' account, the charge has sometimes heen made of only 2J per cent, for guarantee. There is a certain degree of security in the known respectahility of the Chinese, through whom the business is conducted ; but it cannot be expected that he is in all cases answer- able for robbery. There is doubtless immense risk when the money gets into districts where the rebels are, — anarchy is let loose, and the vagabonds of the place take every advantage of the overthrow of the local authorities. In one of the insurgent proclamations we find this com- plained of Large sums on foreign account were in the Ho-How tea district when the rebels were there, but the losses were few, if any. Out of a " chop " of some five or six hundred packages of tea bought in Canton, seldom more than one per cent. used to be examined throughout. The tea goes to Eng- land, the few chests opened being taken as a criterion of the whole, and excepting from accidents on the way, or indifferent care in storage, damaging the tea, the whole proves to have been faithfully packed. Now and then a chest has been plundered and filled with rubbish, but considering the quantity of tea that is shipped from China, such cases are very rare when the tea is bought from the regular Canton merchant. There are few articles where systematic fraud could be better concealed than in tea — scented teas especially, where the number of packages is great in one purchase, and the mani- pulation and scenting of the tea is the most expensive part. Certainly the tea-taster has the whole " chop " to choose from, and he picks out any package he likes. The tea is " laid down," i. e., every package is flat on the floor, our friend the "Chaa-sze," as the tea-taster is called, walks into the warehouse, jumps on the top 112 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. of a package, and walks across the whole chop, making a mysterious halt now and then, shouting out " tarer," and a rush is made to the chest he stands on by a half- naked Chinaman, who writes some chalk-marks on the package and off it is taken. Some few chests are hurried away as ^'tarers," and others pounced on to weigh whole, these being marked differeutly by the fussy naked individual with the chalk; down jumps Mr. Chaa-sze from the chests, and takes note of the w^eighing. His short-cut walk over the packages is an understood thing, and something may be gained by it, especially from the " tarers.'' When he steps upon a firm, hard, solid sort of chest, off it goes to be emptied and stand for tare ; when a fragile, thin-wooded, light package gives under his weight, away it is sent to the scales, to act as a repre- sentative for the chop. The tea is weighed, off to the office goes the Chaa-sze, the chests are coopered, and he sends marks down for them. The Chinese do this in first-rate style ; put the tea in the boats, take it some twelve miles to the ship, are generally out all night with it ; it is taken on board and goes off to England or else- where, arrives generally without a suspicion of fraud, neither the tea-taster, merchant, nor any one belonging to the establishment, having ever seen anything more of it from the time it was weighed. Valuable silk piece- goods are sent off in the same way. In Shanghai there is this difference, that the tea and silk are shipped from jthe foreigners warehouse; there are often a hundred dirty vagabonds packing perhaps £10,000 or £20,000 worth of silk, every pound weight being worth about a month's wages to the scurvy-looking coolies that are handling it ; yet .there is rarely false packing or theft. Some silk was once going overland to Southampton via Hong-Kong ; a bale on arrival proved to have been SECURITY. 113 plundered, and the space filled up. A claim was made for loss in weight, but it appeared so curious that a theft had been managed when such an occurrence was so rare, that the claim was refused until the articles used to re- place the silk were mentioned. The answer came that the space had been filled up with stones and jute ! In Shanghai you can hardly find a stone to throw at a dog, and certainly no jute to make a rope to hang him with. In all places in China you may see a string of coolies rushing through the streets carrying loads of money ; there is not a policeman to be seen, except occasionally at the gates, or in time of trouble. You may see a shrofi"^ with a lot of dollars in a flat tray, examining them intently as they pass click, click, over his thumb, sometimes a posse of idlers, consisting of chair-bearers, coolies, cooks, and servants, all looking on. There does not seem to be even the suspicion that any one might attempt to kick the tray over, and bolt with what he can get in the scramble. Why, even in that nest of iniquity, Hong-Kong, you may see at the door of that most comfortable of buildings, the Oriental Bank, a lot of Chinamen counting and examining, per- haps, thousands of dollars that are being paid to them,^ and some of the greatest scoundrels unhanged passing constantly: perhaps they think that the men in the street would most likely be honest enough to catch them, but it is rather doubtful if they dare. Money and valuables are exposed in a way that would never be dreamed of in England ; and the similarity of dress, the narrowness and crowded state of the streets in China, all would aid in the escape of a robber. In Canton there are a great ^ " Shroff," one who examines money. 2 It is only lately that iron-guard railings have been put iip between the open place of examination and the street. H 114 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. many pickpockets ; I never heard of them elsewhere. One afternoon, while passing through the hack streets, I lost a pocket-handkerchief. I knew the exact spot, hut could not make out the thief. I returned to the factories and got another, fastened it in my pocket, and passed the place again in hopes of getting " a nibble ; " the fellow was on the look-out, and did it beautifully, — " filched the fogle " with the finest hand, but, feeling it was fastened, let go and made ofP. I never felt his touch, but saw the 'kerchief hanging down to my heels, then just caught the fellow's eye as he looked round to see if he was detected ; he knew his position at a glance, and being about twenty yards from me, and about as many people between us, he ducked and dived into a recess in front of a banker's shop. I wondered at his going into such a respectable place, and when I got there could not see him ; at last he was discovered, and to the astonishment of the banker I hauled him out, and having provided myself with a good vine-stick, made him feel the weight of it smartly, and helped him out, en reverse. The wretch tried to get up a row out- side, and to advise the crowd to mob me, but on making a dash at him he bolted, having had enough of the vine. Pawnbroking is carried on to a larger extent in China than in any other country. This may show how greatly , the Chinese trust each other. There are very extensive \ banking establishments in most large cities ; interest being allowed on deposits. The interest on loans varies much. Men in business get it at moderate rates ; the range is generally one-half to three-quarters per cent, per month, in ordinary times ! but during the rebellion , in the Canton province, the wealthy men withdrew their I funds from the banks, put their money into gold, and secreted it. Much money must have been lost in this way SILVER MONEY. 115 as the owners frequently suffered either from the rabble or the soldiers. A number of the chief places of trade were partly destroyed by fire ; the burnt houses were laid bare by plunderers. They had a clever way of finding out where money was stored under the floors : most of the lower looms are paved with tiles or bricks ; the rubbish was ch ar d away, and quantities of water poured over the / ground, and where it sunk fastest, the floor was opened, 1 and the ingenuity of the searcher often rewarded. / The Chinese have no silver or gold coin of their own. Silver in ^^ shoes" of various sizes, generally about fifty taels (£16 worth), and gold in bars or leaf, are used where foreign money is not current. The banker puts his stamp upon it, and the "touch" is thereby suffi- ciently guaranteed. Any tampering with the quality is rare, but, of course, roguery is sometimes attempted. As a general rule, however, perfect trust may be placed on the value ; a slight examination satisfies the shroffs. The reliance placed by the Chinese upon the stamp or chop of the bankers may be gathered from the fact, that in Canton, foreign dollars are so marked by the guaran- teeing stamps of those who pay them away, that the original character of the coin is often obliterated. And in the north, where Carolus dollars unstamped are pre- ferred, it used to be the custom to mark them with the banker's seal in ink. In sales to the Chinese, it is rare that any written document passes between the Chinaman and foreigner. The ti'ansaction is entered in the foreigner's book, and considered closed. The goods may not be delivered or paid for till some time after, but I don't remember an instance of the price being disputed, even when the market had fallen. It is the same with purchases, though sometimes the petty traders in ^Shanghai are 116 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. called upon to produce a chop, showing that they are empowered to sell the produce. No cognizance is taken in the consular courts of opium transactions. Millions of dollars' worth are sold in a year ; and though it is contrary to the general rule to deliver the opium before the cash is paid, there are many instances, especially among the Indian native merchants, where credit is allowed ; and the sums are nearly always duly paid, though there could have been no claim against the Chinese by law. This subject could be indefinitely extended, but the above will show, that as far as honesty is concerned, the Chinese do not deserve the bad character generally laid to their charge. I question much if the worthy colonists in Melbourne, or the citizens of San Francisco, could bear comparison with the Chinese for uprightness in their dealings, and yet they try to expel them from their neighbourhood, as if their presence were contamination. Of the enormous amounts of gold sent to India every year, the greater part is guaranteed by a certain touch ; and though fraud in this article could readily be carried on without much fear of discovery, if the quality were only slightly tampered wdth, it is rare indeed that any such act is attempted. There were many palpable attempts at such fraud in the first lots of gold dust sent from California. The Chinese are models of propriety and quietness in their towns and daily avocations of life ; disturbances rarely occur, a drunkard is seldom seen, and one up- roariously drunk, never. There is seldom such a thing as a policeman to be seen in a Chinese town. What a contrast to Hong-Kong ! where there are daily fights among drunken sailors, and uproar at night — in spite of police fully armed — enough to awaken the dead. HEADS AND TAILS. 117 There is one point in the appearance of the Chinese at variance with the usual European ideas of them : they are generally depicted with slanting eyes pointing downwards to the nose. This may be a characteristic of the race, but the majority of Chinese that have come under my observation (and I have sketched hundreds) show no such peculiarity. The inner part of the upper eyelid turns down a little, but the eye, though small, is oftener horizontal than otherwise. The fishermen on the coast have the eye frequently drooping downwards at the outei" angle. This arises no doubt from the man- ner of half-shutting the eye to avoid the glare at sea. There is another point on which persons who have not been in China form an erroneous notion. The tail of a Chinaman is not a little tuft on the crown of the head, but is formed of hair suffered to grow luxuriantly in a mass, at least four inches in diameter. The hair is smoothed down, and the tail, plaited from it, begins at the nape of the neck, and hangs below the waist, often to the ankles. Labouring men, while at woik, generally have it wrapped round the head. There are so many '> styles of dress in China, that a great variety of sketches \ might be made of them. Among the valets there are j several styles ; among the dealers many different tastes ; \ and as for the soldiers in general, " motley is the only \ wear." The dress of all classes is always loose and com- ; fortable, well adapted to the climate, and remarkably cheap, except in winter, when some indulge in very ex- j pensive furs, which are well preserved. The Chinese, / even rich persons, frequently pawn their winter clothes / during summer, and summer clothes during winter, being / assured that they will be well taken care of. There is one point I would draw attention to. Not- withstanding the large import of English and American 118 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. cotton goods (and the majority of Chinese are clothed in cotton), it is seldom we see a man dressed in foreign cotton manufacture. Our goods are not so lasting, nor are they so warm as the native hand-woven nankeens. The Chinese surpass us in making good cheap cottons, strong and durable. This is the more strange, as the *' staple" of the native cotton is remarkably short. Their cloth is very narrow, only about eighteen inches wide. This may admit of the shuttle being thrown with more telling power, and partly account for the strength and durabihty of the material. Of all dresses well adapted for a warm climate there is none more comfortable than that of the Chinese coolie. The neck left bare to the collar bone ; a free, loose jacket reaching to the thighs ; and wide trousers, double at the waist, and folded double across the stomach, thus secur- ing warmth there ; leather or grass-straw sandals, com- plete the costume. The head-dress in summer is the Caught Napping. broad-brim peaked rush hat. Often in hot weather the jacket is discarded, and the nether covering reduced to the smallest limits. The fellows look like savages, and VARIETIES OF BOATS. 119 some of the lowest class have a debased, almost a brutish expression — mere beasts of burden. Upon the coast the poorer classes are still more savage-looking. The fishing- boats are manned by men often perfectly naked. I have seen them, even in cold weather, out at sea in an open boat without a rag of clothing to protect them. These men are quite brown from exposure. It is a fine sight to see a fishing fleet off Namoa, beating out to sea ; as many as five hundred boats in sight at once, all the same rig, and well matched in sailing. Their crews, poor devils ! must have a hard life. I have heard of one place losing 150 boats, its whole fleet, in a typhoon ; not one ever heard of. They are wonderfully good judges of the weather, however, and generally know when a gale is coming on, but are very superstitious. A fine new boat was picked up at sea, upset, with some men inside. They were cut out, and the boat taken in to Namoa by one of the coasting schooners ; but the men would have nothing more to do with her, nor would any one buy her, though she was exactly similar to the other boats. Their boats vary in rig and build, nearly every fifty miles up the coast. The coasting captains can generally tell where they are in fogs or thick weather, if they fall in with a Chinese fishing-boat. And so well adapted are the various boats for the water and kind of seas in which they are used, that the boat of each district can outsail those from an outside place. At Amoy, the boats are peculiarly ugly, but have extraordinary sailing powers. They are shaped just like a spoon. Ningpo boats were got up to Shanghai at one time by foreigners, as they appeared to be the fastest and most comfortable ; but it was found that Shanghai boats of equal size could out- sail them there. 120 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. The Chinese have been jogging on so quietly for ages, without alteration in their institutions, that they have brought all the material appliances of life to perfection ; that is, they obtain their ends with the least possible waste of power and materials, at the cheapest cost. Their dress is the most comfortable and the cheapest ; their vessels suit all their wants, and have had water-tight partitions for ages — a discovery we are only beginning to appreciate. They make the most beautiful silks with a loom that is simplicity itself. Take the tools they work with : their saw requires far less iron than ours ; their bellows gives a constant draft of air, and is merely an oblong or cylindrical box, with a piston worked in it. But I never saw a windmill in China, not even a picture of one. In their water-mills for grinding flour, there is no trouble or expense in keeping the machinery in order while at work. To each pivot or axle a small bamboo pipe constantly supplies a dropping of water, which pre- vents all heating from friction. In propelling their boats the powerful scull admits of a child doing as much work as a man could do with our stupid methods. Take the keelmen on the Tyne, or the bargemen on the Thames ; if their boats were fitted with a long, bent, well-balanced Chinese scull, hung only on a small iron pivot, and with COOKERY — HEALTH. l2l a rope on board to give extra purchase, one man would do the work of at least two, without half the exertion.--^ Watch how the Chinese cook their food ; they will cook a dinner for a dozen with a mere handful of fuel. Their boiler is cone-shaped and large ; say two feet in diameter by one foot deep ; it covers the whole of the fire merely with a small portion of the lower part of the cone, but the heat and flames enfold the rest. Water and rice are put at the bottom, with an open frame over them about half the depth of the pan ; on this are placed dishes of fish, fowl, or vegetables to boil ; the whole is covered with a wooden cover, in the centre of which is a round hole about four inches in diameter, and in this another bowl is often placed, the contents of which are cooked by the steam. In the erection of their houses the Chinese get quite sufficient strength and solidity by building the walls hollow. It would be an easy though a tedious task to show how they have, by long experience, brought almost everything to a certain degree of perfection ; and this has made them self-sufiicient and averse to all innova- tions : but while the intellect and science of the nation may have suffered, the character of the people as a hard- working, industrious race, has thus been carefully main- tained. As a people they are generally a healthy race ; epi- demics are not frequent, and severe diseases are not common. This may be accounted for by their usual moderate diet, but 1 am inclined to believe that the health of their large cities, where filth unbounded is collected together, arises much from the purifying effects of charcoal, the chief fuel of the Chinese. The abstin- ence from cold drinks, and the use of tea, has probably a beneficial effect ; and I cannot but think that the free 122 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. exposure of the neck prevents attacks of catarrli and sore throat, so common among Europeans. The thick felt soles to their shoes must also be conducive to the health of the Chinese, and are admirably adapted to their houses and the climate. If we knew more of their medical science we might find many useful remedies : the Chinese have long ad- ministered arsenic as a cure for fever and ague, and European doctors now find that it is almost the only certain remedy. Their system of acupuncture and counter-irritation is doubtless worthy of study. In Europe it is becoming the practice not to bleed in cases of fever. The Chinese have always opposed it ; they say, " The body is on fire, why take away the liquid re- quired to cool it ? " They have a slight knowledge of electricity, but they do not understand it. I once saw an itinerant doctor in Canton at work curing a man of a pain in his arm ; he put on two or three lumps f warm tar or pitch, then holding the arm straight out, dragged his hand down it, pressing strongly with his thumb on the inner part of the arm, as if trying to work all the blood down towards the hand ; the fingers did assume a sort of gouty pink appearance, and the doctor called a bystander to put his finger in front of those of the patients, and certainly there was an appear- ance as if electric sparks were being drawn from the man. In skin diseases the Chinese doctors are very successful, probably from their having large practice, as such cases are very prevalent ; and in a kind of itch they apply an ointment to the part affected, which causes a small worm to come out of each pustule. They have a method of extracting teeth without drawing them, and many external applications as remedies for various diseases, which it might be useful to know. MONKEY SOUP. 123 They drench their patients with ridiculons decoctions, and whole piles of physic, but probably the really beneficial medicine in each could be discovered. The late intelli- gent Dr. Harland, of Hong-Kong, told me of a strange cure they adopt for that sickness in infants where the child wastes away almost to a skeleton and dies. The Chinese put faith in a monkey, which they bring for the child to play with, and after they have got friendly to- gether, in a few days the unfortunate monkey is boiled down into soup, which is given to the rickety infant, and in two instances that are known to have been tried, a cure has been effected ! 124 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. CHAPTEK XIT. Chinese character — Chinese witness — Value of knowing the language — Great want of interpreters — Chinese employed by Europeans — Their satisfactory conduct— Chinese '^ Sepoys" — Growing rapidity of communi- cation with Europe. I WAS present at the trial of a civil case in the Hong- Kong supreme court, which brought to light curious phases of Chinese character. It was a dispute about the purchase and delivery of some tea. By a Hong-Kong ordinance it is not necessary to siuear Chinese witnesses, they placed so little value on the oaths that used to be administered ; they are now merely reminded of the penalties for perjury, and are subject to them if they make a false declaration in court. One witness appeared to be greatly puzzled by a long cross-examination by the Attorney-General ; the interpreting seemed unsatisfac- tory ; a Portuguese translating English questions into Chinese, and again translating the answers, according to his own notions. The jury, of which I was one, thought the witness had made a very clear story ; we could quite understand the nature of the transaction. The Attorney- General was of a different opinion ; he called upon the judge to commit the man for perjury, and the man becoming confused, the judge committed him on the spot, and he was taken out of court to go to jail for six months, with hard labour. The case was a very long one, and the plaintiff having thus lost his best CHINESE WITNESS. 125 witness, was likely to lose a large sum of money. The defendant, to make his case stronger, brought forward a witness, who, after giving rather adverse than favourable evidence, was seized in court upon information that he had in his possession a paper showing that he had been bribed by the plaintiff. The evidence on this point was' not very satisfactory, and we were of opinion that there was a conspiracy against the plaintiff, and, much to the astonishment of the Court, gave a verdict in his favour. I then asked the Court's permission to put a question to the interpreter : What do you call " defendant " in Chinese ? He told me. But I said, ^^ That is not the name you used when interpreting." He replied, " No ; I called him by his nick-name, ' Sam-Kwei-Choo.' " " But you called the other, interpreter, about whom the whole confusion of evidence was, by his nick-name too." " Yes, his nick-name is Sam-Kwei." " Well, then, the perjured witness may have mistaken between Sam-Kwei and Sam-Kwei-Choo, which was the real point of the perjury." " Yes, sir, I think that it is very probable !" This happened on the day subsequent to the poor man's committal. The whole jury gave it as their opinion that the man was innocent, and the good judge at once ordered him to be released. It turned out that the plaintiff would have been ruined had the jury not* acted as they did. I was astonished some days afterwards, by several children coming into my office, and falling on their knees before me, the plaintiff with them, to return thanks in gratitude for the part I had taken in the matter. I felt very thankful that my slight knowledge of the language had been so useful, and that it had saved an honest man from six months' imprisonment among the rascals that burden Hong-Kong jail. Several respectable Chinese 126 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. spoke to nie about the case afterwards, being delighted that the defendant had been defeated. The difficulty, above all others greatest in China, is to get good interpreters. Government should offer every I inducement to young men, especially military officers, to I study the language ; even if they only learn a little, it ; would often prove of incalculable benefit. In fact, it is ; scarcely fair to enter into any great military operation [ against China, while we have such a small stafip of inter- ; preters. There is no saying what the result of active warlike operations may be. Even when we took Canton, I it was thought imprudent to attempt to govern it, and j by putting the Chinese officers again in power, the chief I moral effect of taking the city was lost. The attempt 1 should have been made, even if all the Chinese had to be driven out. As it was, Chinese plunderers ravaged the ; city in all directions, and no one could tell who were the ] rightful owners of property that was allowed to be taken away. Of course the foreigners are blamed for all that was lost. No time should be lost in having officers, and even some of the men, taught at least a little Chinese. \ With steady application, enough to make a man very ( useful can be learned in six months. Even a few I sentences may be of great benefit. Certain classes might . be formed for the Canton dialect, others for the man- ■ darin, and high prizes or staff appointments be given to \ all who made satisfactory progress. No man-of-war ' should be without an interpreter. In many expeditions ' against pirates, I have no doubt, numbers of innocent i people have been killed, because we are always ready to 1 fight though often not prepared to speak. To prevent I difficulties, it has too often been the custom to burn, kill, I and destroy, taking care not to bring back any prisoners. , Hong-Kong is notoriously badly off for interpreters, and YACHTING AND BOATING. 127 the local government has apparently made no effort to effect any improvement in this respect. Pirate vessels i are fitted out in the harbour, plunder sold in the streets ; a proper class of interpreters would have prevented this mighty disgrace long ago. It is most interesting to watch the development of the Chinese character when associated with European affairs. For several years many Chinese have been em- ployed in steamboats as deputy engineers and stokers, and have given great satisfaction ; their sobriety and carefulness being quite exemplary. As pilots of steam- boats and foreign- rigged vessels they are excellent ; quickly learn sea-terms ; and many can " handle a vessel" in first-rate style. Those employed in yachts about the Canton river understand their business so well that full charge is given over to them in regattas. As oarsmen they are second to none, after a little prac- tice ; and the style with which some practised crews pull is well worth seeing. In Canton there are several boys who pull sculls in tiny wager boats through a crowded river steadily, and with perfect confidence. As boat- builders, few can equal the Chinese. They will build a racing cutter, or a wager boat, as light and true as Biffin or Searle ; the amateurs in Canton getting " the lines" from England, or improving upon them. The boat-house in Canton, before the war with Yeh, had as fine a show of racing-boats as any single establishment in the world. As ship-carpenters, when under foreign superintend- ence, it would be difficult to find better workmen ; and lately, some who have been employed in setting up iron steamers, speedily learnt to perfection the art of riveting, under the guidance of a clever engineer, sent out by Messrs. E. Stephenson and Co. 128 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. A ship-captain, who took home some Fokien boatmen as sailors, said, on his return, that they were the best men in his ship. It would be well worth the considera- tion of Her Majesty's Government to employ Chinese as firemen and supernumeraries in steamboats while cruis- ing within the tropics on the east side of the Cape of Good Hope. With proper training they would make excellent sailors, and there would be little difficulty in making good soldiers of them/ The day may come when China, or a part of it, may undergo the fate of India, and be under the rule of the Anglo-Saxon race, governed by a second East India Company. The opportunity at any rate will not be wanting. Chinese " Sepoys" would astonish the world if well led ; and from what we have seen of the bravery of the celestials under plucky leaders, Asia may congratulate herself on the peace-policy of China, for with its teeming millions there would be armies sufficient to rival the conquests of the most ambitious monarchs, especially if science had fair play in China. As assistants to medical men in hospitals, as ware- house keepers or shopmen, as mechanics, wood-engravers, stewards, and cooks, with proper teaching, they become exceedingly useful. With a little looking after they make capital grooms, and will keep a horse in first-rate condition. It would be difficult to find better garden- ers, when they have been w^ell trained, and it would be well worth the attention of the colonists in Australia and New Zealand to get labourers of this kind from China. 1 Since writing the above we have had experience of the " Bamboo rifles," as the Chinese coolies in the military train were called. Lord Elgin brings this subject under the notice of the Government in his despatches from China. A LONG RACE. ]29 Some of the Protestant missionaries in China have lately been distributing works in Chinese upon the steam-engine, and other scientific subjects ; and if the country were not cursed with a laggard good-for-nothing Government, we might see the glorious rivers of the empire made doubly valuable by the impetus steam would give to commerce in all its branches. The Chinese, who have bought steamers and foreign ships, have, however, been particularly unfortunate, paying extravagantly high prices for indifferent craft ; it is a pity that their enterprise should have met with such ill luck at the outset. They have not yet learned the value of despatch, and the time lost in making up their minds, and haggling about price, makes sad havoc with profits. Some years ago it was the custom not to send away new teas until the month of October, when the monsoon changes ; but year by year the teas have been hurried down from the country, and at present we see new teas shipped in the month of June ; and so much has the style of ships improved, that more rapid voyages are now made against the monsoon than were formerly made with it. Each year there is a gigantic race of magnificent ships all the way from China to England. The finest specimens of naval architecture are engaged, and the most experienced captains employed. The douceurs now given to captains in the event of suc- cess, exceed the former annual wages, and the result is watched with intense anxiety. The Chinese begin to appreciate this feature of foreign character, and the energy with which some set to work when despatch is necessary, is quite cheering to witness. They only require example, and to see the benefit to be derived from it ; then they are capable of almost any 130 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. demand made upon their energy. What a vast field has yet to be opened here to European enterprise ! When will the millions of China be roused from their trance and take their place in the march of progress, and their share in the toils and anxieties which surround the rest- less couch of modern civilisation ? THE MANDARINS. 131 CHAPTER XIII. THE MANDARINS. Emperor's description of his officers — Wickedness and baseness of the man- darins — Ho-Kwan's prodigious gains — Other degraded mandarins— The Foochow bank failure — Wholesale execution of angry creditors — Murder of Englishmen- — Attack on missionaries — Resolute conduct of the British Consul — Supported by a British naval captain — The offenders delivered up — Accounts of mandarins punished— The conduct of soldiery at Shanghai — A Chinese admiral pockets pay and avoids fighting — A Chinese battle a farce — Missionary hospitals. We shall first take the Emperor's account of his officers Pih-che-le, in which province Pekin is situated, and therefore the one we may expect to find under best command. When the rebel army entered it, and before the cold weather had destroyed their hopes of capturing Pekin, city after city rapidly fell into the hands of the then victorious insurgents. The imperial officers behaved with such cowardice that the Emperor issued orders that if such conduct continued the commander- in-chief should " behead the offender with one hand, and write the report of it with the other ! " So indignant was the sovereign at the conduct of his head-officers, that he addressed to them a special edict. First exhorting them earnestly, he concludes, — " After all, the influence of reasoning may have little or no force with you, and you officers, great and small, may deem it too much trouble to acknowledge right principle, thinking that to deceive 132 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. US at the head of the State is an easy matter ; but lift up your heads higher, and think of high heaven intelligently inspecting all below, and see if there be not something to be dreaded there !" Deception, exaggeration, and false- hood, characterize the acts of those mandarins who have played a prominent part within the last few years. I would say nothing against the Emperor, nor do the people ever venture to whisper a reproach against him further than that he is young. A few say he is dissi- pated — in a regal way ; but deep, deep, are the anathemas against the mandarins. Very few do we find as their apologists ; in [fact, there is only one Chinese of my acquaintance who has persuaded himself that they have acted correctly : he gloried in the executions at Canton ! No wonder insurrections occur when the people have to endure the wholesale extortions of the mandarins. When Ho-Kwan was degraded, he had, besides his horses, lands, and immovable property, as one account, probably not without exaggeration, says, 80,000,000 taels, or £27,000,000 in bullion or gems in his treasury. We must remember, too, that there are parts of China where the government has little or no control. About twenty years before the present revolution assumed its vast proportions, Le, the , Governor-General of Kwang-Tung and Kwang-se, was transported for life because his miserable army was defeated by the clans from the mountains that separate these provinces from Hoo-nan. He-gan was sent to retrieve the losses ; he did not go with soldiers, but money ; paid 900,000 taels, or £300,000 to buy a peace, when the high officers, &c., were allowed to withdraw unmolested. These men have never been conquered, and their hills and valleys form a rallying point for the Canton rebels. Here the forces of more than one rebel army have been recruited, ready again to \ GENEKAL CHARACTER OF MANDARINS. 133 march against the imbecile troops of the rotten govern- ment of China, and wrest their ill-gotten gains from the mandarins who so basely serve it.^ Were there a redeeming point in their character there would be more pleasure in writing about them. The character of the mandarins is generally so well known, that it seems almost superfluous to seek proofs of their arrogance, their injustice, and their cruelty. However, to satisfy those who may read these assertions with doubt, I shall give the opinion of those who have had dealings with them. Lord Napier says, in a letter to Lord Grey in 1834, that " the Tartar government being in the extreme degree of mental imbecility and moral degrada- tion, deeming themselves to be the only people on the earth, being entirely ignorant of the theory and practice of international law, that government is not in a position to be dealt with or treated by civilized nations according to the same rules as are acknowledged and practised among themselves." Sir John Davis, Sir George Bon- ham, and Lord Elgin, have had ample proof what faith is to be put in promises, even when signed and sealed by solemn treaty. The official organ, called by foreigners the Pekin Gazette, is a tissue of exaggerations and false- hoods, issued for the purpose generally of deceiving the people. Poor Keying was about the best of the manda- rins that foreigners ever came in contact with. The Emperor and his advisers, while acknowledging the decay of the government and the demoralization of the people, degraded him as a wretch without shame, guilty of cowardice and incapacity to the last degree. He was appointed one of the Imperial High Commissioners, deserted his post at Tientsin, to make explanations to the 1 For more information regarding Chinese officials, the reader is referred to the works of Staunton, Davis, Meadows, and Hue. 134 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. Emperor, and was sentenced to death while Lord Elgin was in China. There was Sen, the Viceroy of Canton ; to him may- be attributed nearly all the trouble of the empire ; he reported the rebellion quelled, and prevented steps being taken to stop it, just as it was getting to its height. He reported victory upon victory, instead of defeat after defeat. It was this mandarin who prevented the entrance of foreigners into the city of Canton, when, by treaty, the English had right of access ; for this he was held in honour by those who are inimical to foreigners, and five splendid triumphal arches to commemorate the event were, by Imperial permission, erected around Canton. Some of these were destroyed after Canton was captured. It was under his administration that Governor Amaral, of Macao, was basely murdered, and the proofs of Sen's participation are circumstantial. At Foochow, bank notes are current, and there, as elsewhere, it sometimes happens that the bankers are unable to meet their engagements. In 1855, several banks were in this position, and as the people were heavy losers, they clamoured vociferously at the ofiSces, and even commenced pulling down the houses; the mob was too strong for the mandarins. On the first day, the soldiers, who should have been ready, could not be mus- tered, but enough were assembled next day to clear the streets, which they did effectually by beheading those who were the largest holders of notes, and taking the others prisoners ! The beheading was openly performed in the public streets, without trial, and caused great con- sternation. A petition was got up and presented to the viceroy, demanding the release of the other prisoners, but no attention was paid to the request. Monsieur Callery, who should know a good deal of the ASSAULTS ON MISSIONARIES. 135 mandarins, having had intercourse with them when at- tached to the French Legation in ChinHj and has had ample opportunities of learning from numerous Eoman Catholic missionaries who have resided in the country, says, "An ordinary Chinese lies often: a mandarin always lies." Of the cruelties of the mandarins we shall have samples enough when we treat of the insurrection ; and some of their unmitigated falsehoods will then be clearly exposed. A case that created a considerable sensation at the time will serve to illustrate their character, and at the same time show the broad contrast between the English and Chinese officials. At the latter part of 1847, at a time when the mandarins had been instigat- ing the people against us, six Englishmen were basely murdered near Canton. This caused great excitement among all foreigners in China ; and at Shanghai, where the people had been very peaceable, we were congratulat- ing ourselves that we did not run such risks as those that beset our fellow-countrymen in the southern part of China. The congratulatory feeling had scarcely passed away when we were disturbed by some vagabonds be- longing to the Grand Canal grain junks, which had been thrown out of work by some damage to the canal, owing to which the grain tribute had that year, contrary to custom, to go to Pekin by sea. The Kev. Dr. Med- hurst, accompanied by Dr. Lockhart, and some other missionaries, were at Tsingpoo, a city near the hills, about twenty-four miles from Shanghai ; a band of these grain- junk vagabonds were in the neighbourhood, and had been plundering the poor people. They attacked the worthy missionaries, and very nearly killed Dr. Med- hurst. All were considerably, but not dangerously hurt. They got back to Shanghai, however, and complained 13G TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. to the British consulate. The consul, Mr. Alcock, an officer possessing a thorough knowledge of the Chinese character, demanded that the ringleaders should be seized, identified, and punished. The mandarins pleaded inabi- lity and weakness, stating that the rioters were a power- ful body of men, and could not be loosely treated with ; Bridge near Tsing-poo. but Mr. Alcock insisted on the men being taken, and, in conjunction with Captain Pitman of H.M.S. *^ Childers," arranged that the port should be blockaded until the culprits were brought forward. The Taou-tai was told that not one of the four hundred junks, with grain for the Imperial tribute, should leave the port. Mr. Inter- preter Parkes, who has since greatly distinguished him- self at Canton, boldly delivered a notice to the above effect on board of each of the junks. It must be borne in mind, that at this crisis there were only the "Childers" and a merchant vessel in port, and the foreign commu- nity did not then number 100 souls. The crews of the BOLD BLOCKADE. 137 Government grain junks must have numbered 15,000 men. After the blockade continued some days, the man- darins produced ten men, but none could be recognised. Another batch was afterwards brought forward with like results : the prisoners were probably old jail-birds. Mr. Alcock desired the captains of the opium-receiving ships at Woosung to be in readiness to move up to Shanghai, to protect foreign property in case of need. The junks attempted to move, but the first were boarded and sent back. Other vessels, not containing grain, were allowed to depart. The mandarins at length hit on the expe- dient of despatching some of the junks empty down the river, and sending grain to them in boats. This was discovered, and many a hard chase had the " Childers'" boats after them, firing blank charges to bring them to. H.M.S. " Espiegle" luckily arrived, and relieved us of a good deal of anxiety by adding to our force ; but as no satisfaction could be got from the local authorities, Mr. Alcock boldly decided on despatching her to Nankin (that city had not then been taken by Tai-ping-wang), with the vice-consul and Mr. Parkes on board, to com- municate to the Governor- General his desire that the offenders should be produced, and that the Imperial Government would be minus the grain until they were forthcoming. No sooner had the " Espiegle" sailed, and her desti- nation become known, then the Taou-tai found that his deceit was discovered, and that he must be on his mettle to get the right men in their right places. There was great excitement; some of the junks made an attempt to force the blockade; but Captain Pitman, who had displayed exemplary patience for nearly a fortnight and who, with his men, had worked hard in the boats night and day, at length thought the time had arrived 138 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. for serious action and round-shot. Down came coolly one or two of the junks to pass the " Childers/' as if there had been no blockade, when bang went a shot across the bows, splashing the water over her bluff entrance ; round she came, and over went her anchor ; a boat boarded the next, and down went her anchor too. It was rare fun to see the jolly-boat, with two boys and a middy, dash up to a huge junk, and to see it come round instanter. One or two of the junks were placed in-shore of the brig, and kept close prisoners. The Taou-tai had managed by force or bribery to get hold of nine of the delinquents. They were identified, tried, and sentenced to a month in the cangue, had to parade the foreign ground daily, and then to go to the " cold countrie." Fine-looking fellows they were, standing nearly six feet, with more of the Tartar look than of the Chinese. An officer, high in rank, came down to Shanghai after the " Espiegle" visited Nankin. He was a jolly-looking fellow, but appeared to be incog., as he was not in the mandarin dress when he made his complimentary visit. The blockade was taken ofi", and the junks got under weigh. Mr. Alcock and Captain Pitman received the thanks of the community, and both deserved much credit for their able management of an unpleasant affair. There was no further trouble about this matter ; we moved about the country in all direc- tions without the slightest difficulty. Had the same bold and dignified attitude been taken at Canton, our relations with the Chinese officials there might have been on a very different footing, and another war possibly averted. The list of high officials who misconducted themselves during and since the first war with the English might be "multiplied ad infinitum. Davis says — "The man- FATE OF IMPERIAL GENERALS. 139 darins were by no means loth to be the disbursers of the vast sums raised to protect the country, as they con- trived to embezzle thousands themselves." EleepoOj one of the commissioners at Nankin for the English treaty, was a Tartar. The Chinese charged him with cruelty. Sir John Davis gives him credit for being honest to a certain degree. He called for his own punishment for being forced to submit to the English ; and was banished as a common convict. Yen- Puh -Yuen, another of the commissioners (a Chinese), was executed. Keshen, at one time acting at the head of the army on the north bank of the Yangtze-Kiang, has had his share of good and bad fortune. He had been an imperial commissioner, and amassed immense wealth by extor- tion, &c. He was degraded ; his fortune, estimated at ten millions sterling, was confiscated ; he lost all his family ; his whole seraglio was put up to auction — wives, concubines — and all ! After this he got a post of honour at Thibet, where we had news of him through M. Hue. He has been degraded since the Kebellion began. Yeu-Keen, another Tartar, during the English war, Davis calls "the most savage and remorseless brute that among several others disgraced his name and nation." He flayed one of his English prisoners alive. This wretch poisoned himself. Yeh-Shan, a Tartar, commissioner at Canton, was sent as a criminal to Pekin, and banished. Lin ^ tilled the same office ; and during that time several thousands died in prison. * GutzlafF, in his Life of the Emperor Taou-Kwang, tells us of Lin's doings in an insurrection in the west : " He marched against the people, who, according to his own confession, had been excited to insurrection hy 140 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. Since the Revolution began there is not a single man- darin of any note, who has been opposed to the rebels, that has not been degraded. Seu-Kwan-Tsin, after holding the highest posts, was sentenced to be beheaded. Sai-Shang-ah, the next Tartar general, met the same fate ; but in both cases, I believe, the sentence was re- mitted. Heang-Yung, the Chinese general at Nankin, was several times deprived of his rank. The reports these generals and others sent to Pekin are most ridiculous, if we may judge of them by the samples published in the Gazette. The Viceroy of Pih- che-le, and the redoubted Shing-Pou, who were chiefly employed in the north, exterminated all the rebels several times ; and when they were sent to retake Ching- Kiang-foo were, of course, successful, but '^ on account of the narrowness of the streets, the general thought it more prudent to encamp outside of the barrier ! That happened in July 1853. The rebels held it for four years afterwards. At Yang-Chow, Keshen once reported a great victory. The rebels, he said, made an attack witb 1000 men, out of which he killed upwards of 1000, and took 400 prisoners ! Heang-Yung had only 17,800 men ; Keshen, and the Viceroy of Pih-che-le, had only 17,000, and Hwuy-Ching had only 11,000. The moving army of rapacious functionaries. His whole course from first to last was marked by blood-thirsty treachery. He inveigled the people into his power by false promises, and then butchered them, or burned them alive. Thus he expected to quell the insurrections, but the aborigines fought with despera- tion, and he was obliged to return several times to finish the work of ex- termination. It was a costly war ; the Chinese soldiers were cut off by hundreds, and the victory would have been doubtful, if the never-failing panacea, silver, had not been properly applied." — Page 242. IRREGULAR REGULARS. 141 Tartars, &c., to check the rebels as they went north, numbered only 24,000. In June 1853 the besiegers of Nankin, Yang-Chow, &c., report the slaughter of 15,850 rebels in one month, while the rebels in fact at that time were nearly always victorious ! Le-Suy, who commanded Tchang-Chow, the city nearest to Shanghai, was called a cowardly and in- capable general, because he reported that the walls were in a dilapidated condition and useless for defence. He was degraded to the rank of captain. Yeh-Kee, a cousin of the Emperor, was degraded to the condition of a common soldier for cowardice when the rebels were near Tien-tsin. The Lieutenant-Gover- nor of Hoopeh was beheaded because the rebels took Woo-Chang, its capital, a second time. The general commanding near the Poyang Lake, early in 1855, was ordered to be executed for reporting a victory when he had actually been defeated. We can put little faith in what the generals report, but credit may be given to the following proclamation, as most surely it would not have been issued without cause ; it represents the troops to have been as bad as the generals, and was posted for the instruction of the soldiers near Ching-Kiang-foo. " Besides the scamps who follow the army, and, in the name of the troops, perpetrate gross outrages, there are many in the army whose conduct is perfectly detestable. Every day I hear complaints of robbery and rape by the regular soldiers. Eobbers even, who have nothing to eat, and have no wives, are thought unfit to live when detected in committing crimes ; but you, soldiers, who eat the people's taxes, who have money and wives, how can you, so much less excusable than robbers, expect to escape death if you persist in such flagitious misdemean- 142 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. ours ? Are your hearts at ease ? Dare you look up to heaven ? If your property were carried off and your wives ravished, would you not be incensed ? I exhort you to repentance. If you do not give heed to what I say, but continue your evil practices, you certainly will be put to death !"^ The soldiers around Shanghai were equally bad. The country was almost desolated in their neighbourhood ; the Chinese flocked to the foreigners' quarters for pro- tection. The poor people who could not afford to leave their little farm-steadings endeavoured to make known that they were under foreign protection, by pasting on their doors, paper with foreign writing on it ; no matter what it was, such as marks from tea-chests, pages out of ,an old Illustrated News, and other scraps of paper. The French Consul allowed the tricolor to be hoisted over villages occupied by Eoman Catholics. One Sun- day we met two men struggling with each other on the foreign ground ; on going up to see what was the matter, one of them said he was going to take the other to the camp, as he had stolen his hat. I asked him rather to take the man to the British Consulate, but the fellow insisted, and unbuttoning his coat, showed a soldier's dress. I persuaded him to go to the militia guard-house close by ; he promised to settle the matter there, and we went on. When we returned we found a man lying close to the spot where we had left the two in dispute ; he was not recognisable, for, unfortunately, his head was off ! I have no doubt a military act of summary juris- diction had been executed, and the soldier got his reward for bringing in the head of a " traitor." A Chinese battle is as good as a farce. Some of the little fights at Shanghai were very amusing. One day, * Dr. Macgowan's Notes^ published in North China Herald. LUCKY ESCAPE. 143 when a great many soldiers were out, I saw more of the combat than was pleasant. Having got into the line of fire, I was forced to take shelter beliind a grave, the bullets striking the grave from each side every second. Why they came my way it was difficult to discover, for they ought to have passed on the other side of a creek, about twenty yards distant, to the people they were in- tended for ; but to see the dodging of the soldiers, then of the rebels, each trying to evade the other, was almost amusing. One fellow, ready primed and loaded, would rush up the side of a grave-hillock, drop his matchlock over the top, and without taking aim, blaze away. There is no ramrod required for the shot they use, the bullet or bar of iron is merely dropped in loose upon the powder. There was a fine scene on an occasion when the Shang- hai rebels made a sortie : one of the men was cut off by an Imperial skirmisher, who had his piece loaded. The rebel had no time to charge his, so he ran round and round a grave, which was high enough to keep his enemy from shooting him when on the opposite side. Hare- hunting is nothing to it: Ked-cap described hosts of circles, and the Koyalist was fast getting blown, when the gods took pity on his wind, for, by some unlucky chance, the rebel tripped and fell ! The soldier was at him in a moment, and, to make sure of his prize, put the muzzle of his matchlock to Red-cap's head, fired, and took to his heels as fast as he could go ! It is difficult to say who was most astonished, when Mr. Red-cap did exactly the same ! The bullet that dropped down readily on the powder, fell out as easily when the barrel was depressed. The rebel got off with a good singeing of his long hair. There were frequently, however, some very ugly wounds ; and where surgery is at such a discount, the 144 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. poor wounded must suffer severely. The Chinese rarely, if ever, amputate. They use strong drawing plaster to extract the ball. The missionary hospitals at Canton and Shanghai, under the able charge of their indefatig- able managers, Drs. Hobson and Lockhart, as also that under the good care of Dr. Parker, late plenipotentiary for the United States to China, did great good. Indeed it is impossible to tell what grand results may follow the labours of these gentlemen ; their hospitals were often crowded with wounded, soldiers chiefly being benefited by their skill. There were frequently fights close to Dr. Lockhart's hospital, and men of both parties have been carried thither. Dr. Hobson relieved upwards of 1000 Canton soldiers, and his reputation is far spread. Even the mandarins have deigned to notice his aid. True to their usual policy towards foreigners, they give the bar- barian no credit ; but his services were so great that they could not be passed over ; so they selected a Chinese lad, who was a sort of medical pupil, and paid assistant at the hospital, and dubbed him mandarin of the sixth rank. A grant of land for an hospital would have done more good. HORRORS OF A CHINESE PRISON. 145 CHAPTER XIV. PRISONS AND PUNISHMENT. Horrors of a Chinese prison — Prisoners nailed together — Prisoner in a cage — Starving to death — An address to the throne — Salutary interfer- ence of Lord Elgin — Instances of fatal effects of ill-usage — Various kinds of torture — Imitation of official cruelty — A poor wretch saved — Curious customs regarding wives — Deliberate act of vengeance — Other instances of the like kind — Flogging big boys — A servant flogging his master — More cruelties — Life for life — Gods in the rain. Justice is depicted blind, but in China, Holq bandage that darkens the eyes should cover the ears also. The horrors of a Chinese prison are so great that prisoners, deeming death an escape, go with apparent contentment to the place of execution. In Shanghai, I have seen them crammed like wild beasts in a cage, rolling about in the midst of filth and disease, begging for food. In the depth of winter, prisoners are chained to each other in strings, one of them not un frequently hanging dead to his comrades ! Once a party of pirates were seized and landed near the foreign houses ; there had been a defi- ciency of chains, so the poor wretches were joined together with a large nail clenched through the hand of each ! At Foochow, I met a prisoner whom they were carrying into the city, in a cage barely large enough to contain his body, cramped up in a sitting posture ; two of the bars at the top had been cut to allow his head to pass through, every jostle or stop in the movement of his K 146 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. bearers causing his neck or face to be dashed against the broken bars. It is in the recollection of Canton resi- dents, when four men were placed in the cangue with a guard around them, and publicly starved to death in the open streets ! No matter how good the laws may be; let us see how they are carried out, and not judge of the country by its maxims or its rules. I will not even grant that these are always correct. Sir George Staunton gives us the following translation of an address to the throne from the Foo-Yuen of Canton regarding the prisoners in that city : — '^ Among the prisoners, many had been brought up from the country imder charges of theft, murder, and the like, accompanied by the ivitnessea and accusers respectively concerned, — the cognizance of their o'ffences having been referred to the magistrate of the provincial capital ; but whether the parties were more or less implicated, the charges serious or trifling, it was usual to expose them for many months, or even a year, to the hardship of a tedious and indiscriminate confinement, in authorized places of detention. These were employed to enforce by oppression and arbitrary confinement, nothing less than a system of fraud and extortion. I hastened to remedy this grievance, but already many persons had perished under confinement, and the inhuman nefarious practice has been so long established, that it is difficult to ascertain the year in which it originated, or conjecture how many lives have been lost by its contrivance. To two women curators, all the female prisoners who had not yet received sen- tence or been discharged were committed; and the younger part of them were not unfrequently let out for prostitution, and the wages thereof received by the curators as a part of their regular profits." The character VARIOUS KINDS OF TORTURE. 147 of the present holders of similar appointments leads us to suppose that the practice referred to still exists in many- places. It even existed for some time after the British flag waved over Canton, until Lord Elgin insisted upon the Chinese governor putting a stop to it.^ Out of 500 banditti some years ago in the prisons of Nanshaou (Kwang-Tung), 300 sickened. Huudreds ot prisoners are reported to die annually from ill-usage in the jails. In 1829, the Governor of Canton reported that one of the prisons had been burnt through careless- ness, along with twenty-one of the prisoners confined in it. The Emperor suspected "that illegal torture had been applied to the prisoners, or that something had been done by the governmental oflScers, the traces ot which they wished to obliterate by consigning all to the flames." He must have had a fine opinion of his officers ! During the famine, when I was in Shanghai, in the winter of 1849, the prisoners were put upon such short allowance that they actually threatened to break out if more food was not given to them. Poor wretches, how were they to break off their chains ! The tortures for confession are too revolting to enu- merate, and many of the punishments are worse, — dis- membering, emasculation, flogging in all its horrible varieties, kneeling on hot chains, &c. &c., form but a mild portion ; the most frequent is bambooing on the inside of the thighs, and exposure in the cangue. The people sometimes ape the cruelties of their rulers. I remember an instance of the creditors of a man hang- ing him up by his great toe to extract payment ; and I once cut down a poor wretch I discovered with his hands tied behind his back, and hung up by his thumbs. He 1 Mr. Wingrove Cooke's "^ China, 1857-1858/' gives most interesting par- ticulars of the Canton prisons. 148 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. had been in this state for six hours, could hardly get his arms back to their usual position, and his hands were purple, the fingers as thick as wrists : he had only been suspected of going to steal ! There are some curious customs existing in China regarding punishments to unfaithful wives, and concern- ing marriage generally. Men, on leaving home for a long period, sometimes sell their wives, or lend them during their absence ; this, however, is only among the poorer classes. I know a man that killed his wife. She was young and handsome, but he doubted her faithful- ness. Tlie gay Lothario suspected was the son of one of his most intimate friends. He pretended he was called away on business, made all the preparations for a long journey, and invited his friends, including some relations of the suspected party, and him also, to a feast at an ad- jacent tea-house. Supper being over, he started for his boat, bidding the guests good-bye. Late at night he returned home, armed, and with two trustworthy ser- vants, he had arranged for his entrance into the seraglio ; his other wife was sister of the young lover, and connived at the connexion. His worst fears were confirmed. He stabbed to the heart the son of his friend, and dreading to slay his faithless wife with his own hand, made his servants destroy her, and then having cut off the heads of the guilty couple, marched off with them to the magistrate to report the occurrence. An extraordinary trial then took place, by order of the mandarin, to prove the truth of the man's testimony. A large tub was pro- cured ; in this was placed a quantity of water and some lime. The two heads were then put into the tub, and the water quickly stirred round. The result was satisfac- tory. The guilty heads spun round in the centre, with their faces lovingly towards each other, and the unfortu- FLOGGING BIG BOYS. 149 nate husband returned tranquilly to his deserted home, the mandarins rewarding him with 20,000 cash for doing an act of justice. He is now a wealthy merchant in CantoUj a native of Chin-Chew, and rather a fine-looking Chinaman. Many of the oldest residents in Shanghai will remem- ber the man who dragged his wife into the water at the Soochow Creek, and held her there till she was drowned, the Chinese not interfering. Husbands have a certain power of life and death over their wives, and fathers over their children. The children, how^ever, seem to behave very well, and it is rare to see them punished. I once saw a very old man give his great lout of a son, a full grown man, a good sound thrashing. The fellow otiered no resistance, nor did he attempt to run away, stood quietly, but blubbering like a child while his father laid on with a stick. It was ridiculous to see the great booby crying ; but the northern men are very much given to it. When there has been a fight in the street, you gene- rally find the combatants in tears ; and if there is a coolie doing something particularly vexatious, and an angry foreigner gives him a good " punch in the ribs," the Chinaman will drop down and have his cry. The southern people are different, and will even resist a blow\ There is a story told of a gentleman in Canton, with a stronger mind than body, who attempted to chastise his servant, but the celestial valet locked the door, and gave the master more than he bargained for. The cruelties perpetrated by high government officers, under the head of punishment, are startling. It is sufficient to allude to the shocking case of Captain Stead, whom that wretch Yeh-Shun skinned alive. Some of the rebels at Shang- hai, when captured, were tatooed to death. The people are almost as bad when their evil passions are let loose, 150 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. though they are generally peaceable. The six young Englishmen who were killed by them at Hwang-Chu- Kee, in 1847, were barbarously murdered ; but at that time the authorities had been instigating the people against foreigners. In mentioning this last case, we can- not too strongly press on the public notice the dangerous precedent that was then allowed to be established. Our authorities acknowledged or acted upon the Chinese principle of life for life. Six Englishmen were killed: tlie Chinese said they had killed two natives, and made up the balance of six by four prisoners out of the jails, as it is supposed. Now, it should not have been ^' life for life" that we should have exacted, for hundreds must have been guilty, and scarcely one suffered. The village should have been razed to the ground at the time — a blot of desolation left as a monument, over the ground once occupied by Hwang-Chu-Kee. But enough of this dismal subject. Before closing, how- ever, we must not forget to tell that the gods themselves sometimes come under man's displeasure, and suffer punishment. The Chinese are a most practical people, and have their own way of doing things. While distress existed in the neighbourhood of Ningpo, in 1849, on account of inundations and continued rain, the magis- trates went frequently to a temple to implore the gods to be more sparing of their watery bounties. At last, when the weather looked as if it were about to clear, the priests recommended an unfailing remedy ; they told the magistrates to put the gods out in the rain, and see how they liked it ! This was accordingly done, and fair weather follow^ed ! FREQUENCY OF EEVOLUTIONS. 151 CHAPTEK XV. THE INSURRECTION. Frequency of former revolutions— Peculiar character of the actual insurrec- tion—New kind of Christianity — Scepticism of foreigners regarding the religious character of the movement — Same feeling on the part of officials exposed and condemned — Difficulty of arriving at truth — Two distinct rebellions — The Triads — The Dagger-men— Mode of recognition— Secret societies dreaded by the mandarins — The English war and the internal troubles — Forces on paper — Volunteers — Amour not love — Origin of insurrection — The first converts — Efiect of a missionary's tract — Preach- ing of Hung-siu-tsuen — Fung-yun-san's first congregation — Religious belief— Yang, the eastern king — Obligation on Christians to consider the religious movement in China — Unjust interference of foreigners. Though the empire of China has existed for so many ages, and its line of emperors can be traced back almost to the days of Peleg and the "confusion of tongues," it, too, has had its share of troubles, caused by the ambi- tion or the wickedness of man. No country has under- gone so many revolutions. It has spread gradually like circles in water disturbed by the throwing of a pebble ; and, like these circles, as its extent increased, the line of its boundary became less distinct. There are tributary princes and tribes, then chiefs, who merely occasionally own the sway of the Chinese emperor, -and on the outer borders are those who dispute it. From contentions among themselves, then from the Mongols, and at last from the Mantchoos, the Chinese may be said never to have enjoyed peace. With an elasticity of character peculiar to themselves, and without being fatalists, they 152 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. talve little heed of any distant commotion, and seem to think that " sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Blessed with the forms of a government which, in theory^ is considered perfect, the Chinese have seen their conquerors adopt the same groundwork, and no leader of an insurrection has ever dared to dispute the theo- retical correctness of the constitution, but has based his reasons for the overthrow of the throne he would usurp, on the plea that it was held by a tyrant, a debauchee, or a foreigner. All despots run equal risks. When we consider that the majority of the first rulers of China endeavoured to improve the condition of the people, and the brightest periods of Chinese history have been co- temporaneous with the rule of native princes, we need not wonder at their pertinacious adherence to ancient forms. A country that chronicles the institution of government works which were undertaken before the Greek or Eoman empires existed, and can even point to large public undertakings for the common good, begun so early as the days of Abraham, may well be expected to look with reverence on bygone days. But within the last few years, a poor scholar has struck a blow against the reigning dynasty that has made it totter on its throne ; not only does he revolt against the government, but he has preached a crusade against idolatry — his followers carrying out his icono- clastic measures with the utmost rigour. Strangest of all, a species of Christianity was preached by them, as consistent in its form as that of some sects known in England. This phase of the revolution is so strange, that we find, especially in China, more foreigners dis- posed to question the possibility of the Chinese becoming Christians, than to rejoice in happy appearances justify- ing a contrary anticipation. SCEPTICISM OF FOREIGNERS. 158 Would that I had power to write more strongly than I do against those who hold up the Chinese to such scorn, that they believe none are good enough to become even " almost Christians/' Some there are, too, who look on the Chinese as mere parcels of humanity to make money out of, and while charging them with dishonesty, yet trust them more than they would their own brothers. We cannot be surprised at mercantile men railing against the revolution, as, doubtless, it interferes with their trade, and would especially do so, if the rebel prohibitions of opium- smoking were carried out. The earnest zeal of those really good men who remain as missionaries in China, striving to do good while surrounded with difficulties, is partly encouraged by the flickering sparks of good that emanate from some of the rebel publications. The backwardness of some of our government officials has prevented these sparks being fanned into a blaze of light. They have most aided in attempting to prove that error was blasphemy ; and instead of fostering the flame, have endeavoured to hide the light, and let China remain almost in pagan darkness. Their ideas of their own power and opinions seem to cast Providence into the shade, and the extraordinary proceedings of the rebels in publishing God's Word, in a country where it was all but a sealed book, is looked upon by them more as a crafty device on the part of the leaders, than as an act that is likely to be of everlasting importance to the Chinese race. What will be the feelings of the people whose countries they represented, should the result of the insurrection prove that it was the beginning of a real Christian crusade, scoffed at and doubted, while we waited for tangible proof of its success ? Who will have to answer 154 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA, for the tardiness of the aid which might have saved so much bloodshed ? And in after years, when this revolu- tion is commented upon by historians, what answer will they find to the inquiry,]" Why Christian nations did not rather encourage, in some way, a people who pro- claimed Christianity and the Decalogue, than render assistance to their opponents, in more ways than one ? " The blight of expediency grows like a parasite about our politicians, pressing down that power of doing right with might, which was once the Briton's boast. We have seen the rebellion struggle on in spite of all diffi- culties, and if it be eventually smothered, when shall we again see such an opportunity for doing good in China ? Uncertain and meagre are the accounts of the com mencement or progress of the insurrection ; the theoretical conclusions of MM. Callery and Yvan do not aid usv The superficial notice of the foreign plenipotentiaries has given some assistance to our researches, but what can we expect from the hasty visits of Sir George Bonham and Mr. Maclean to Nankin, or even from Lord Elgin's expedition up the Yangtze-Kiang, which I refer to elsewhere. To constant communications with many intelligent Chinese, merchants, tradesmen, and literary men, both in the north and at Canton ; to the copious translations that have from time to time been made by intelligent Sinologues, and to many other sources on which depend- ence could be placed, I have had recourse before forming the following opinions on the rise of the Rebellion. In the first place, it must be distinctly understood that there are, or were, at one time two Rebellions, the chief of which is that headed by Tai-ping-wang. This has a moral as well as political reformation as its basis. The other is formed by a host of leaders of secret so- SECRET SOCIETIES. 155 cieties, which have long been established to subvert the Tartar dynasty, and for the mutual assistance and pro- tection of its members. Glancing first at the last-named of these, it is suffi- cient to state that the societies bear the various deno- minations — San-ho-hwui, or Triads ; Seou-taou-hwui, or Dagger Society ; Pih-leen-keaou, or White Lily Society, now almost extinct ; and the Hung-kea, or Hung-clan. They have secret terms and slang words, which can be used by the members ; signs, too, made by the hand, such as prominently using three fingers to lift cups, &c., and leading questions, hy which they can distinguish members who reply.^ These societies have long been a terror to the mandarins ; but the secrecy with which their proceedings are conducted, has led to a want of unity between the different lodges, thus causing great disorder when they took up arms against the Govern- ment. Each lodge had its proper officers, but there was no real head. It was arranged that whichever chief first took Canton should be the leader of all the bands. The first success of the Kebellion may be mainly attri- buted to the system of corruption and deceit practised by the mandarins. They pocketed the pay of an army that was supposed to exist, but which consisted only of mock muster-rolls on paper. There was no force suffi- cient to withstand the increasing forces of Tai-ping-wang. He marched through the heart of the empire, from Kwang-si to Nankin, in a few months. During the progress of the Rebellion, we have seen that the Government soldiers have been of little use, and that the chief checks sustained by the rebels have been from bands of volunteers, induced, by the high pay of wealthy men, to engage themselves against the enemies ^ From Triad book of instructions, found on a prisoner. 156 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. of the Emperor. At Tien-tsin it was the volunteers who saved Pekin, when it was almost in the grasp of the in- surgents. It was these " braves " who routed the Canton rebels, and inflicted their chief disasters ; and even the much-vaunted Tartar troops brought from the Amour,^ were defeated the first time they met Tai-ping's followers. The province of Kvvang-si, where the insurrection originated, is naturally difficult to govern. The country is intersected by chains of high mountains ; the inhabi- tants, like nearly all Highlanders elsewhere, have an independent spirit, and will not submit to exactions or oppression, as the defiles of their native hills form secure places of retreat, from which they can defy the powers that be. Not only were the independent tribes under no restraint, but the people of different districts were scarcely under subjection. Local disturbances and clan- nish feuds were only increased by the disorderly military forces which were sent to quell them. Bribery served the purpose of the mandarins when affairs looked serious, and ill-judged oppression kept the sore from entirely healing. In seasons of scarcity, immediately anterior to the outburst of the revolution, one village robbed its neighbour, and the troops helped to rob both. In the country places, anarchy was let loose ; but it was not till the early part of 1850 that any of the unsettled people had force to take towns. The southern portion of the province was then in a state of complete disorganization. Numbers of different factions were in existence, but with- out any general leader. Kwang-Tung predatory bands infested some parts of the province, and villages formed by settlers from other districts, were looked upon with distrust by the people of Kwang-si. In a small hamlet in Kwang-si were a few families, * In a recent work on China, innocently translated " Love„" THE LEADERS OF THE INSURRECTION. 157 who, led by the teaching of two Canton men, had em- braced the worship of the true God, discarded idols, and encouraged by the teaching and precepts of these two young men, humbled themselves before Shang-te, the Supreme Ruler, taking portions of the Scriptures, the Ten Commandments, and some fanatical ideas of their teachers, as their guide. Hung-siu-tsuen, the elder of these two men, had accidentally received a missionary's tract, which awakened the wild ideas of his excitable imagination. The good seed had fallen on fruitful ground. It only Wanted careful culture to bring it to perfection ; but this was wanting. Earnestly striving to gather in- formation upon the all-engrossing topic of his mind, Hung-siu-tsuen procured further publications that had reference to it, and it is said even sought instruction from one of the foreign missionaries. The result was, that Hung-siu-tsuen converted many^ people to his doctrines, and established congregations in the mountains of Kwang-si ; bringing them to his way of thinking partly by the merit of the doctrines them- selves, and partly by working upon the superstitious / fears of the people. His assistant teachers were Fung- ' yun-san, a young man, native of the same district which gave birth to the leader, — to him the credit appears due of having first formed a congregation ; Yang-siu- tsing, the Machiavelli of the future insurrection, mar- ried to a sister of the chief; and Seaou-Chaou-Kwei, a Kwang-si man, who married another sister. Their doctrine spread, and soon included among its adherents some leading men, who had both rank and influence ; one was a literary graduate of high class, and another brought a number of his clan to join the worshippers of Shang-te. We find at one time ten of this clan (Wei) in high command. 158 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. It may naturally be supposed that in the disturbed state of Kvvang-si this new sect would soon become implicated with some of the contending parties. Many who were in danger elsewhere took refuge among the followers of the new religion, willingly giving up the worship of their idols, and conforming to the rules estab- lished in their asylum. Such a change mighjteadily be made by any Chinese except an actual priest, rer there is so little real religion in the hearts of the people of this country, that conformity with the maxims laid down by the ancient sages is more thought of than the power of any idols. Long experience has proved to me that the Chinese, as a nation, are not idolaters in the strict meaning of the word. This may be a bold asser- tion, but when we find that all the blessings and calami- ties of the Chinese are traced by them to be rewards and punishments emanating from Heaven, that they implore the universal Creator to relieve them from their misfor- tunes, and beseech Him to endow them with plenty; when we consider that they have from time immemorial acknowledged a Supreme Power, and that their chief tribute is paid to Shang-te, the invisible God, there is good reason to place the graven images that some bow down to, merely in the same category as the saints and relics which meet with adoration as auxiliaries in even Christian religions. There is no real religion of the State, nor is there any religion of the heart among the people beyond the sway that is held over their minds by an all-searching Providence. Their temples and idols are propitiated by offerings ; but when the hand is opened for charity, what other deity than Heaven is supposed to witness it; and there are few eastern nations more charitable than the Chinese. rT3y some strange infatuation, foreign missionaries. 159 jealous of the doctrines they wished to propagate, have tended greatly to confuse the minds of the Chinese by the complication of the terms used for the Almighty in the native language. The Koman Catholics ignored the Supreme Ruler (Shang-te of the Chinese), and preached their doctrines, using the title Lord of Heaven {Teen- choo). Then came the Protestants, who — strange as it may appear — evidently wished the Chinese to believe that they did not worship the same God as the Roman Catholics, and therefore chose a different term, but could not agree which term to use ; the one party contending for the word Sliang-te^ while this was repudiated by the others, who upheld Teen-cJioo. One party wished the word Shin to be used, as it was more significant of a spiritual existence ; but again it was argued that this word Shin meant evil spirits as well as good.) A dis- tinguished linguist, after a very short residence m China, and merely a slight knowledge of the language, came to the rescue, and proposed introducing a new word, and, to make the matter still more difficult, voted for the capital letter of the Greek ©eo? being introduced for that pur- pose. The Chinese use something very like this charac- ter already, when they wish to obliterate writing, or end a sentence ! Shang-te seemed, however, to be the term most in use, and was freely used in missionary tracts, &c.^ The God-worshippers adopted Shang-te as their sole Gocl, adding and employing the words, " Heavenly Father." This digression brings us to a point at which the Insurrection became deeply interesting. The mandarins, being suspicious of the growing influence of the new sect, ^ The Protestant missionaries in Shanghai, in their address to Lord Elgin, suggested that the term " Yay-Soo-Keaou," or the religion of Jesus, should be employed to describe the Protestant religion, as distinguished from the "Teen-Choo-Keaou" (religion of the Lord of Heaven), the desig- nation of the Eoman Catholics. 160 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. seized one of the members ; a reaionstrance was made, but without avail, and eventually an expedition was sent to seize the leaders. This resulted in open defiance of the Government. The different congregations were called upon to assist. Kebel or robber bands joined the fast in- creasing forces ; a city was taken, and eventually a stand was made at Yung-ngan, and the revolution began in jarnest, — the empire was the prize ; Nankin was the goal. rf^ The haughty ambition of Hung-siu-tsuen, or his con- /viction of his Divine mission, is the groundwork from f which we may yet see rise a glorious structure of heavenly \jight. God grant that so it may be ; but the wild growth of insidious error seems to check in the bud the ripening of the fruit so strangely planted. To Yang, afterwards Eastern King, may be traced all the bad points of the insurgent's creed, and to him are the impositions ascribed. He acted the part of the hidden priest in their Delphic Oracle, speaking as if he had the gift of prophecy, even personating the Heavenly Father, and for a time assum- ing, probably in ignorance of its meaning, the sacred title of the Holy Ghost ! He was at one time the most prominent character in the whole rebellion, and evidently had great power over the other chiefs, who, when fortune did not follow so fast as it did in the early part of their career, seem to have lost much of their original enthusi- asm and simple-hearted goodness ; or perhaps like Yang, as they grew in power, learned to be presumptuous. " Of all that breathes or grovelling creeps on earth, Most man is vain ! calamitous by birth : : To-day, with power elate, in strength he blooms ; The haughty creature on that power presumes : Anon from Heaven a sad reverse he feels ; Untaught to bear, 'gainst Heaven the "wretch rebels ; For man is changeful, as his bliss or woe : Too high when prosperous ; when distrest, too low." — Pope, Tlie Odyssey. THE GOOD TIME COMING. 161 Time will show whether the strange mixture of good maxims and dangerous error introduced by the self- taught propagators of a religion they scarcely understand, will be the commencement of a new era in China. Will God's Word, which has been rudely opened and dis- seminated by this wonderful faction, lie fallow and un- cultivated, till it be properly taught to those who as yet only ignorantly believe ? The time is most propitious ; the Chinese are well prepared for some eventful change occurring to relieve them from the troubles in which their country is enthralled. It is only now that their language is becoming properly understood by an intelli- gent staff of Protestant missionaries ; and it remains for the English Government to lead the way, by insist- ing on the withdrawal of restrictions, to let foreign enterprise open up China both to our commerce and our religion. 162 TWELVE YEARS TN CHINA. CHAPTEK XVI. TAI-PING-WANG AND THE INSUREECTION. Tai-ping-wang and the progress of the insurrection — Who was the first rebel chief? — Teen-teh's execution — Connexion of the Tai-ping movement with secret societies — The different leaders — Dead alive — Repression of vice in the rebel camp — Christian doctrines — Blasphemous assumptions of titles by rebel chiefs, and other anomalies, explained — Exaggerated ac- cusations — Expected results of the movement. Whether the first name publicly mentioned as that of the rebel chief really represented more than a myth, or whether Teen-teh was the leader of a separate revo- lution, which may at one time have joined with Hung- siu-tsuen, is of little importance now. That character, if he ever existed, has passed into oblivion, and the celestial kingdom of Tai-ping, " universal peace," has taken the place of that which was to have borne the title of " heavenly virtue."^ Let us now trace the progress of the new faith, and watch the extraordinary delusions that arose from the ignorance of the teachers. At Yung-ngan, Hung-siu-tsuen formed his court ; the leader took upon himself the title of emperor, or Tai- ping-wang ; and, according to Gallery's version of Teen- teh's confession, the latter held a short-lived second position in the affairs of state ; but Yang-si u-tsing, who was dubbed the eastern king, was the chief that had V. * For further information regarding the commencement of the insurrec- tion, see Appendix A. ' THE DEAD ALIVE. 163 taken second rank to the new emperor. Fung-ynn-san, one of the original teachers, was made king of the south. He was a literary graduate of the rank of Siu-tsai, ■Seaou-chaou-kwei, the first western king, and Wei-ching tlie northern king, quite young men, were both natives of Kwang-si. The first-named is reported to have been , killed accidentally by the explosion of a cannon at the ' siege of Chang-sha ; but his name appeared in the rebel publications some time after the date of the above siege ; / and though his body was disinterred, and his remains ; scattered to the winds, according to the Imperial gazettes | of March 1853, he w^as making proclamations in Nankin ; in May 1854 ! The assistant king, Shih-ta-khai, the Imperial edict says, ran away and was killed ; and that the southern king was nowhere to be found. His Impe- rial Majesty is mistaken again. Fung-yun-san was in Nankin in February 1855 ; and Shih-ta-kai has been for several years one of the most active generals in the rebel army. After the court was formed and the army embodied, there was a regular appointment of officers. We can scarcely expect that a hastily collected body of men . should at once become converts to the religion of the ' leaders, and conform to the strictness of the rules incul- cated ; but nothing seems impossible to Chinamen ; and when the fear of punishment hangs over them, they will perform extraordinary actions. There appears to have \ been no punishment in the rebel camp but death ; and, J with determined men to execute it, an army of bold men will soon be formed when they know what awaits \ them if they run away. Plunder, rape, opium-smoking, \ and even the use of tobacco and wine, were prohibited J under the same penalty. The Ten Commandments were ^ similarly enforced. 164 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. A belief in the heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ as the Saviour, was enjoined ; and there is nothing what- ever in the rebel publications or proclamations that can be cavilled at by any liberal-minded Christian, so far as the doctrine taught is concerned^ and if it were not for the titles the chiefs have adopted, we might hail with gladness the promulgation of the religion preached and taught by the insurgents. The chief Tai-ping-wang taking the rank in the universe next to the Saviour, and pretending a direct descent from heaven, may not have appeared strange to the Chinese mind, considering the titles the Chinese emperors have always assumed. That he even pretended to such a relationship v^'hen he called himself the second son of God, was, doubtless, only done to assist his power, for knowing that he had real relations and connexions in the camp, and a host of original fol- lowers, who knew him as a poor teacher, how could he suppose his title would have been admitted, except as a title of rank ; and further, when the other kings have the titles conferred upon them, of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sons of the Most High, not one being related to the other, why should we charge the men with blas- phemy, when it is only their mode of showing their superiority to others in the world, who are daily taught to call upon the Almighty as " Our Father who is in heaven." Why should we scout the cause on account of an ignorant assumption of titles, which, perhaps, drew respect to men who were fighting a hard fight to pro- claim tl.e worship of the one true God ? "The heavenly Father is the Holy Father in heaven; the heavenly Elder Brother is the Holy Lord, the Saviour of the world. Only the heavenly Father and the heavenly Elder Brother are holy. From this time forth let the WORSHIP OF THE EMPEROR FORBIDDEN. 165 troops address Us as Lord ^ simply ; they must not entitle Us holy, thereby offending against the heavenly Father and heavenly Elder Brother." ^ We know that they published and spread broadcast the Holy Scriptures as given to the Chinese by Protestant missionaries — distributed tracts that are almost exact counterparts of those issued from the mission-press ; did this not only among their own followers, but even floated numbers of their publications in tiny barks down the stream among the fleets of their enemies ; when we know that they destroyed idols wherever they were found, can we doubt that they were trying to pave the way for a change which the most sanguine Christian never expected would be accomplished for ages ? but which may yet happen in our day. They used new words for " soul," for the " Spirit Father," and also coined a new word as a title for Yang. As they used a term for the Spirit Father difl'erent to that by which they called Yang, the Holy Spirit and Comforter, it shows that the meaning given to the apparently blasphemous title of Yang, had not the importance we attach to it. Thus we see the diffi- culties they have had to encounter, having to create new words to express their ideas, and it must be remembered, too, that the books of Scripture which they possessed were by no means perfect translations, for it can scarcely be expected that the missionary translators have mas- tered all the difficulties of the Chinese language ; and even in rendering translations of the rebel publica- tions, the difficulties have again to be encountered. I 1 Choo in the original. It means sovereign, when used of kings and emperors. — Meadows' Chinese and their Rebellions, p. 424. 2 Extract from edict of Tai-ping-wang. The Chinese Emperor is self-styled king of the universe. " Heaven rules above, the emperor rules below." As he does not appoint officers to rule mit of China, his kingdom, for which Tai-ping-wang aims, may naturally be only considered to be in the " Celestial Empire." 166 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. do not hazard this opinion without good authority, for Mr. T. T. Meadows, who has studied Chinese as deeply as any one, states not only that the Scriptures are badly translated,^ but shows, that by the use of the term heavenly kingdom to represent heaven, the Tai-pingites were led by it to infer that China was meant, and Tai- ping is used to render the " peace on earth " which the heavenly host sang at the birth of Jesus.2 Some cavil at Tai-ping-wang having a harem ; but do they consider that such is part of the supposed requisite state of a Chinese emperor ; do they expect that these men are to become pure Christians before they have had time almost to read through the Bible, even supposing that they possess the whole of it ? As far as we know, they have not published farther than to the book of Joshua, and of the New Testament, merely the Gospel of St. Matthew. Were there no harems mentioned in the Old Testament as part of the household of even the most righteous kings ? Are the foolish questions or ridiculous answers of some of their raw followers, to be taken as criterions to judge of the good that may ultimately result from the propa- gation of the gospel among a people to whom it is strange ? We should get curious replies if we questioned some of our own soldiers or sailors on the subject of theology. Let the religious creed of the insurgents stand on its own merits. It is perhaps well that foreign nations have not interfered. Should the movement prove suc- cessful, none can lay claim to any of the honour attend- ing it, or rob Him of the glory to whom it will be due. We shall be contented if foreign nations abstain from aiding the enemies of the revolutionists. ^ Chinese and their Rebellions, p. 79. ^ jn^^ p. 462. NEUTRALITY ADVOCATED. 167 Some people have scouted the insurgents for their massacre of the Tartars in Nankin, and murdering the Bhuddist priests ; it has been proved that both of these acts were greatly exaggerated : but even supposing that the sanguinary deed was no fiction, we have no right to judge the rebels by our own standard of mercy to the vanquished. We have only to look back to the history of men who were not further advanced in civi- lisation than the Chinese are at present, and we shall find many parallel cases, or even more frightful massacres. Take the Bible history of the Israelitish victories ; it would be difficult to find a more detailed statement of wholesale massacre than is to be found in the 10th chapter of Joshua — a book the rebels are known to possess. It is not a small matter with which we have to deal : it is the wonder of the age, and the destiny of millions is at stake. " Experience shows," says Locke, " that the knowledge of morality by mere natural light (how agreeable soever it be to it) makes but a slow progress, and little advance in the world. The greater part of mankind want leisure or capacity for demonstration, nor can carry a train of proofs, which in that way they must always depend upon for conviction, and cannot be required to assent to till they see the demonstration. Whenever they stick, the teachers are always put upon truth, and must clear the doubt by a thread of coherent deductions from the first principle, how long or how intricate soever that be. And you may as soon hope to have all the day-labourers and tradesmen, the spinsters and dairy-maids, perfect mathematicians, and to have them perfect in ethics this way ; hearing plain commands is the only course to bring them to obedience and practice ; the greater part 168 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. cannot hnoiv, so they must believe." I contend, there- fore, that at the commencement of the revolution, it matters little what are the abstruse doctrines believed in by the leaders (these can be remedied hereafter), so long as their followers are not troubled with the difficulties of the religion, but are taught to practise and obey the simple and sacred parts of the faith which they profess to believe. The fact tliat they have published, and are still publishing, many parts of the Scriptures, is a striking one, and is difficult to account for on any hypothesis, but that those who do so are sincere believers in the book. No political prophet could have foretold that a body of revolutionists in China would have spread their opinions by the printing and circulating Christian books. We never expect to hear of Hindus or Malays, when . commencing a warlike movement, adopting such a method of propagandism. To show that the effect of these books, and of the religion they teach, has been something more than ordinary on the moral condition of these people, we shall detail an interview with a former follower of Tai-ping-wang, whom we met at Shanghai. His name was Wang-fung-tsing. He had come into the city to join the rebel force that then held it ; but we believe he soon left them, dissatisfied with the state of affairs prevailing among his new friends. We met him in one of the Protestant Chapels. He told ns that he had been baptized by Dr. Gntzlaff seven years before. A con- vert in Hong-Kong had taken in hand to instruct him in Christianity, had supplied him with a little money, and recommended him to unite himself to Dr. GutzlafTs Christian Union. He became a member of that body till the death of its founder. He then proceeded, by the advice of his old friend, the convert, in search of other members of the Christian Union, who had then joined Tai-ping-wang, and were engaged in organ- izing an armed opposition against the Government. He joined them in time to be with the Tai-ping army on its march through the interior pro- vinces to the important city of Woochang-foo. Favoured by a shower of snow, they took possession of that city, with the two adjoining ones, Han- \ Yang and Han-Kow, and then descended the Yangtsze-Kiang to Nanking From this point _he returned to Hong-Kong, and afterwards found his way to Shanghai. (He told us, in answer to inquiries, that there is the ad- ministration of baptism in the Tai-ping army to men and women, old and young, by sprinkling. They have the Lord's Supper every month, and not upon the Sabbath day. At this ceremony they use wine made with grapes — a curious circumstance, grape Avine scarcely ever being seen in A MISSIONARY ON THE INSURRECTION. 169 China (except in some interior provinces), showing the anxiety of these Christians to maintain as exactly as they know how, the creed and practice of Christianity. They admit new applicants for baptism after not more than a day's instruction. Twenty-four elders or chang-loou have the office of preaching assigned to them. There are also priests who superintend the sacrifices. The practice of offering sacrifices, they have unquestionably adopted from reading the Old Testament without guidance as to what parts of it are, and what are not, intended for imitation by Christians. He told us he met several men w^ho had been baptized by Dr. Gutzlaff, holding posts of influence in the Tai-ping official staff. Bfe denied, when asked, that he smoked opium, saying that it was forbidden strictly in the regulations of Tai-ping-.wang. When the question was re- peated, he replied, " How could I tell a lie, who am a disciple of Jesus ?" The effect of this interview w^as to strengthen our impression of the extent to which the imitation of Christian preachers was carried by these people. — Kev. J. Edkixs, Religious Condition of the Chinese. Routledge, London. 1859. 170 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. CHAPTER XVII. THE MARCH ON PEKIN.» The march on Pekin — Scarcity of grain excites anxiety in the capital — First success of the insurgents — Favourable disposition of the people- Several towns captured — Jews of Kai-Fung — Panic in 'Pekin — Siege of Hwui-king— A descendant of Confucius slain by the insurgents — This event serves the Imperialists — Frequent defeats of the latter^ — Movements of the insurgents— Curious exposure of the state of the empire by a ■■ Chinese official— Anger of the Government— Difficulty of obtaining contributions — Odd expedients to raise money — Poverty of the Govern- ment, and its possible results. Early in 1853, the northern part of Kiang-Soo and the province of Shang-Tung suffered severely from famine, — many of the people died in consequence of the great distress. A deficiency in the supplies of grain caused much anxiety in Pekin, and the Gazette at this period has many warnings to dilatory officers in Che-Kiang and elsewhere to hurry on supplies. It was even re- commended hy one censor, that a guaranteed fixed price should be given at Tientsin, the port of Pekin, for rice from Kwang-Tung and Fokien, so as to induce exports from these provinces. Under these circumstances, the rebel army made a bold dash across the Yangtsze-Kiang, opposite Nankin, within two months from the capture of that city. There appears to have been no resistance until a large portion of the array of the north had passed ; but when addi- 1 In place of giving a written account of the march to Nankin, I have provided a chart of the Rebellion, in which will be found particulars of the route. This will show how much more serious the insurrection has been than is generally imagined. THE JEWS AT KAI-FDNG-FOO. 171 tional men were being sent, a Tartar force of picked troops was sent against them ; tliese were utterly routed, and all their camp materiel fell into the hands of the insurgents. Shortly before the northern march was attempted, there had been some local disturbances in the districts between Fung-yang and Nankin, and it was through these districts the route was taken. Up to this time, the people there seem to have had a leaning towards the new regime, for small parties of rebels passed to and from Lew-chow to Nankin, apparently unmolested, until they reached the camps of the be- siegers at the former city, which was long held for Tai- ping-wang.^ Town after town was taken ; a resistance was made at Kwei-teh, where three generals were slain. Kai- fung-foo, the capital of Honau, fell an easy conquest to the victorious rebels, though their forces were divided before arriving thus far, one division securing an advance over the Yellow River (Hoang-Ho), by seizing the fords or passage near Y-Fang, a position which it would appear they retained to protect their retreat, and keep up their line of communication with the chiefs at Nankin. A glance at the map will show what a wise choice was made ; reinforcements could be sent either by the western route, or by the canal, and it will be seen hereafter how admirably this was arranged. The city of Kai-fung-foo, famous for its Jewish synagogue, was inhabited by a small remnant of Israel- ites, who possess the traditions and writings in Hebrew of ancient date. This city has rapidly fallen from its former grandeur. The inroad of the rebel army must have completed the ruin of its dilapidated walls. It is many years since the synagogue existed in full 1 The insurgents. left Lew-chow at the end of 1855., 172 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. power. Persecutions and religious restrictions probably went far to thin the ranks of the followers of the Taber- nacle. An interesting account of the Jews at Kai-fung has been published at the mission press of Shanghai. Though the sect has nearly died out. as such, there are many Chinese of evidently Jewish origin ; in Canton, especially, I have noticed their peculiar physiognomy ; and it is stated that the rearing of silk-worms was for- merly a trade confined almost entirely to Jews. How strange it must have been to those in Kai-fung- foo, who had seen the decadence of the Jewish congre- gation, to find their city suddenly beleaguered by a power- ful army, marching successfully towards the capital, proclaiming obedience to the same ten heavenly rules that were held sacred by the insignificant sect which the insurgent publications held up as the people of the Great God's especial care ! It was here that a limit was put to the successful ad- vance of the northern army. The Yellow River was crossed in the middle of summer; and the wondrous speed of the rebel marches bid fair to place Pekin in their power ere the autumn ended. There was panic, distrust, and almost despair in the capital. Thirty thou- sand families had left it. In Canton the city of Pekin was considered doomed. r For some unknown reason the rebel army made a j long siege of the city of Hwui-king, and thus lost so I much time that their campaign in the north was ex- Vtended into the winter. Their men must have suffered ' far more from the severity of the weather than from the force that was brought against them. It appears very probable that the siege of Hwui-king was purposely prolonged to attract troops from Pekin, which it did, though not to the extent expected. BOLDNESS OF THE CENSORS. 173 The piercing cold of a northern winter, equal in seve- rity to that of St. Petersburg, must have been a bitter enemy to the southern rebels, and militated against an attack on the capital. The disorganized state of Pekin at this time, as shown by the paper given in the follow- ing chapter, would have gone far to aid the insurgents in their siege. But no attack was attempted. Appropriating the translation which appeared in the Shanghai newspaper, of a remarkable memorial published in the Pekin Gazette, we find what appears to be the true position of affairs in the capital. The memorial was printed without permission, owing to some irregu- larity, and caused no little stir among the officials con- nected with the Gazette. The boldness of some of the censors in exposing the real state of affairs, is not unusual, though they often suffer for their temerity. Some of the most interesting documents relating to the Chinese are to be found in tlie outspoken criticisms of the honest censors. They doubtless often speak the real feelings of the people, and deserve much credit for openly exposing abuses, and not secretly making a tool of them for their own benefit. We see the seeds of true patriotism sprouting forth from the cold soil of a discouraged heart. While the rebels were within seventy miles from Pekin, the censor, Fung- paou, inspector of the central district of that city, humbly sets forth '^ the want of discipline in the military prepa- rations for the defence of the capital, and the distressed condition to which the inhabitants are reduced. These matters he begs leave, with the utmost earnestness, honestly to set forth for the Imperial inspection." The memorialist proceeds carefully to state the real circum- stances of the present time. " Now the things which are most confided in, to relieve the mind from apprehension. 174 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. are the civic guards and the trained bands. All that the trained bands are good for, is just to catch a few paltry thieves, and all the guards accomplish consists in the apprehension of a few rebels ; but should any un- foreseen emergency arise, both would be insufficient for defence. The soldiers of the capital, whether belonging to the Chinese or Tartar regiments, exist chiefly in name ; and since the approach of the insurgents to the neighbourhood of the metropolis, the best of these troops have been ordered off to the seat of war. Those which remain are merely such as have been considered un- serviceable, together with those men temporarily en- gaged to supply vacancies. When the memorialist was on a tour of inspection, he observed that the number was deficient at every guard-house. This was the case wherever he went. Sometimes the watchmen and guards were found to be weak and incapable men, and when the memorialist remonstrated, the officers paid no attention to his remarks. When he came to look at the soldiers on guard at the different gates, he found them standing daily, from morning to evening, shivering with cold and hunger, exposed to the wind and the snow in a most distressed and miserable condition. On exa- mining the weapons piled up there, he found that the greater part of them were useless. " At present, the rebel camp is only seventy miles from the capital. Shing-paou and Tsang are by no means agreed in their views, and they have not yet succeeded in ariy plan for exterminating the insurgents. Tuh • Lew (the rebel encampment) is only an insignificant place, and it may be easily conceived that the rebels will not remain there long. According to the confession of the spies, who are being apprehended every day, it appears that very many have come to the capital, where DESERTION OF PEKIN. 175 they hire houses, and secretly try to enlist persons in their cause. . . . "Ever since the spring (of 1853), the officers em- ployed about the court have been inventing excuses to get away from the capital ; and the rich inhabitants have removed, with their houses, to the extent of 30,000 families. In every street, nine out of ten houses are empty, and the residents are daily diminishing. Even in the north quarter of the city, where the population was previously very dense, in 1852. it was rated at 18,000 families, and now, though scarcely a year has elapsed, the number of families in the quarter in ques- tion does not exceed 8000. From one quarter, we may form some idea of the rest. " On the 24th December, the memorialist had to superintend the distribution of cotton-wadded garments to the poor, when he found that the applicants were much more numerous than in former years, — especially in the eastern and northern quarter, where they had increased. When he inquired into the cause of this, he found that it originated in the absence of the rich families from the capital, in consequence of which the poorer classes could find no employment ; and the means of subsistence being procured with difficulty, poverty was the consequence. In fact, those who could not afford to remove, were obliged to starve and die. Moreover, the Board of Ke venue being straitened for means, had petitioned the throne to be allowed to take a percentage from all rentals. The memorialist having to collect this percentage, has frequently seen with his own eyes the distressed and impoverished inhabitants, who had been accustomed to depend on the rental of a few small houses, in consequence of having no money, actually tendering their tenements in payment, saying, 176 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. that tliey found it difficult to procure food and clothing, and, therefore, had no power to pay the percentage. This is the case in every quarter of the city. Eecently, he has seen poor old women, almost naked, bringing, with tears in their eyes, the cotton-wadded garments which they had received in charity, to offer as money in payment of the demand. If at such a time as this, when it is difficult to know whether to be severe or lenient — if the heads of the wards would inquire into the circumstances of each family, they might carry out the system of percentage ; but when the regular taxes sometimes run short, it is not very suitable to be urgent in demanding these extraordinary payments. . . . Taking the five quarters of the metropolis, the sum total collected during the month of December, from both large and small houses, barely amounted to 15,000 strings of cash" (not 10,000 dollars) ; "now, if it be impolitic uselessly to harass the people, without much benefiting the Government, how much more impolitic must it be to harass the people, and weaken the Govern- ment at the same time .? The memorialist having been a personal witness of these distresses, has felt deeply grieved, and has frequently remonstrated with his brother officers in their meetings for consultation, on the above topics, when they merely looked at each other, and fetched an empty sigh. Now, the memorialist con- ceives that the capital is a most important position, and should be most strictly guarded ; the soothing of the miserable and distressed inhabitants is also a matter of extreme importance : he thinks that if he were to study his own ease, and maintain silence from day to day, he should be placing himself beyond the pale of the imperial protection : and if he were to dread the animadversions of his superiors in rank, he should MEMORIAL PRINTED BY MISTAKE. 177 be making a very ungrateful return for all his majesty's bountiful favours. He therefore ventures to intrude on the Emperor's attention, with an honest statement of his views, requesting his majesty carefully to receive the admonitions afforded by heaven, and condescend to in- quire into the condition of the people, reflecting at the same time on the difficulty with which his royal ancestors established the fortunes of their families, and the ex- tremely important interests of the country at the present crisis/' The good Fung-paou then makes some sugges- tions, and concludes thus, " The imperial protection and benevolence will then be duly appreciated by the people, and the blessing of heaven will descend equally on the monarch and on his subjects, which will cause the re- bellion to be speedily quelled. The memorialist, relying on the sage-like intelligence of his sovereign, does not heed the animadversions of his fellow-officers, but sends up a faithful report in all honesty and simplicity, while with the most trembling anxiety he implores that the imperial glance may be cast upon it." This is an interesting peep behind the scenes, and gives a valuable addition to our information of the state of the empire. The Gazette of the third day following the appearance of the above memorial, stated that it had been published without proper authority, and ordered a strict investiga- tion into the affair, naturally leading people to believe that the printer had added to and altered the statement sent in by Fung-paou. All the printers were seized, and several other parties examined. It appears that another censor had given in the document by mistake to be printed. Fung-paou must have been a sort of Joseph Hume ; when he found out an abuse, he stuck to M 178 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. it. He was called up to give an explanation how the memorial got into the Gazette, but leaving Government to find this out through their own resources, he set to work, and brought forward a host of evidence, of papers that should have been published, not having appeared at all ; reports of battles ; Imperial orders, &c., all omitted. He did not deny a word of the memorial that was printed under his name. A month later, the Gazette reported provisions to be scarce, because the soldiers made a practice of seizing the conveyances, and not paying for them, whereupon the carriers would not bring either their carts or camels to the capital. Kice became scarce, money too was wanting, and various methods were proposed to meet the difficulty. Iron, lead, and paper, were all mentioned as good sub- stitutes for the ordinary currency. The taxes throughout the empire came in slowly, and the principal reliance was on contributions. The system of obtaining contributions in times of difficulty is a curious one. I have had it all fully ex- plained to me by men who were contributors, but I never expected to see it openly set forth in the Pekin Gazette. Tsang-Kwo-fan, an officer of Kiang-si, pro- posed it early in 1854, and his recommendation was adopted. His plan was to give out 4000 blank receipts to certain officers for distribution to contributors to the wants of the empire. Half of these receipts should be entitled to certain minor offices, and the other half pro- mised nominal literary honours. There was a new order of merit established, too, at a later date, to in- veigle subscribers, but the Gazette does not explain the working of these plans. In the Canton province, where the exactions were probably higher than in any other BUYING RANK. 179 the mandarins held a series of blank receipts, that is, receipts filled in for certain amounts, say 2000 to 10,000 taels, but the name of the payer left blank. Most of the wealthy men of the province had already bought honours to their hearts' content, so there was little in- ducement for them to contribute farther until the new plan was adopted. The richest people were called upon for money, and, to relieve themselves, they might point out other men of means, who were also squeezed to a certain extent ; and in proportion to their payments, they got blank receipts, which entitled, them to honours or rank they already possessed, but the name being left blank, they were enabled to sell these honours to others, certainly not getting nearly so much as they paid for them, but still receiving something, and preventing their contribution being a total loss. For instance, a button of mandarin rank, that cost at one time $10,000 is now procurable for about $2500. The rich man who pays this $2500, anxious to get part of his money back, sells his blank receipts for from $400 to $1000, to a man desirous of the rank, and just fills in his name ; he pays his respects to the mandarins, receipt in hand, and is a blue- buttoned dignitary without further trouble, so that a rank which formerly cost $10,000, is now procurable for a mere percentage of that sum. When Shanghai was besieged, Keih-ur-hang-ah, general in command, once asked the chief native merchants to a grand enter- tainment; the excuses were numerous, as it was known to be a meeting for the sale of buttons, and likely to prove a dear dinner. After the breaking out of the insurrection in Kwang- Tung, and its subsequent spreading to Kwang-si, the tribute available for the imperial treasury must have 180 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. been small indeed out of the revenues collected by the now celebrated Yih, then viceroy of the two Kwang. It was stated, however, in Canton, that he spent nearly the whole of his private fortune before appropriating any of the funds properly intended for imperial tri- bute. Many other provinces were also in arrears with their taxes ; the insurgents held many of the most im- portant points in the empire ; and the drying up of the Grand Canal must also have crippled the resources of Hien-Funo:. Bridge near Shanghai. TRAINING FOR AN ADMIRAL. 181 CHAPTER XVIII. THE AMOY REBELS. Movement not connected ' ^\^th Tai-ping-wang — Admiral Ma-gay ; his history — Cruelties of the Imperialists — Humane interference of English oflficers^A Chinese trial — An affecting incident — Battles arranged before- hand—Death of Ma-gay — The innocent and guilty punished alike- Rebels saved by a British ship. There are so many conflicting accounts about the rising in Fokien, in 1853, that it is difficult to give any correct account of it. It had no direct connexion with Tai-ping-wang. At first the people were in favour of the overthrow of the Government, but when they had ex- perience of the sort of rebels they had to deal with, and the cool appropriation of property for the common good, it was only the fear of punishment that kept them in arms. The insurrection died a natural death. The fight- ing chiefs were men of no standing. Their admiral at Amoy, one Ma-gay, had been a pot-boy in the service of a store-keeper on Koolang-soo, when the English troops held that island ; his military service consisted in serving the soldiers with grog and nuts. Afterwards he was under a renegade Neapolitan in a lorcha, and thus learned the naval tactics which brought him into supreme command of the rebel flotilla. When Amoy was attacked by the Imperial fleet, and the people and houses w^ere suffering from the shot, he sent a message to the Chinese 182 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. admiral challengiDg him to an engagement of the two fleets at a distance from the town, so that the poor in- habitants might not suffer. The Imperial admiral was of a different opinion, and throughout the siege showed strong symptoms of cowardice, lost many good chances, and shirked fighting, '^ either from want of wind or in- clination." When the rebels first came to Amoy, nearly all the people joined them : for this they afterwards suffered severely. The mandarins showed no mercy. Women had their breasts cut off, and as for heads and ears they were as plentiful as buttons. One man was put into a hole dug in the ground and packed up to his neck with quick lime ; the lime was then slaked, and the flesh burnt off his bones while he was alive. Supplies fell short, and the rebels had to clear out ; many got away in their fleet, but the people were seized, and a wholesale massacre began. There was at first no trial : every one was considered guilty. The Imperial fleet was crowded with prisoners, whose heads began quickly to be severed from their bodies, and the corpses thrown overboard. Captain Fishbourne, of H.M.S. " Hermes," was there at the time : this was too much for him, and he threatened to fire into any of the junks that con- tinued the slaughter. The foreign residents, and a party landed from the ^' Hermes" and " Bittern,'' endea- voured to stop the beheading that was going on in front of the foreign houses. The men were being driven down like sheep, their heads hacked, or partially cut off, and a most horrible scene going on at the beach. One smart little middy, of the name of Tweeddale, took a couple of marines and charged the executioners and soldiers, clearing the street of the bloodthirsty wretches. Many of the semi-decapitated men were taken under' the A CHINESE TRIAL. 183 care of the foreign doctors, and some wonderful recoveries effected : hundreds were saved, and the exertions in the cause of humanity have added much to the natives' re- spect for foreigners. But the craving of the mandarins for blood was not appeased, though 2500 had been beheaded in one day. People were seized daily, and mock justice administered. From an eye-witness I have an account of one of these trials. The mandarin sat in state, surrounded by his staff of lictors, executioners, &c. The poor prisoner was dragged in and forced down on his knees before the judge. There was no prosecution, no witnesses ; the whole evidence was, that ^' the fellow had been caught, supposed to be a rebel." He was asked his name, and then made to give the name of his father and mother, their place of residence, and number of their family, a list which would only serve to add to the bloody sacrifice of ruthless revenge. He was then asked if he was. a rebel. His defence was taken, but only answered by the charge being reiterated against him. The judge then ordered him to receive twenty-five blows of the thick bamboo upon the inner part of the leg and thigh. He still maintained his innocence. The order was given for twenty-five blows more ; and after receiving about a hundred blows, his flesh being beaten almost to a jelly, the poor fellow, helpless, and regardless longer of life, stammered out an extorted false or real confession, which doomed him to decapitation next day. Some died be- fore the time for execution, and some would boldly declare their guilt at once, and suffer for their crimes with the stoicism of heroes. From the same authority I heard, that on one occasion, when a host of prisoners were sent down and executed, a poor woman rushed forward, and threw herself over the headless trunk of her husband. 184 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. No one attempted to seize or molest her as one attached by relationship to a rebel ; she and her husband were well known. He, poor fellow, had just been incarcerated for debt, and in the confusion had been hurried out to death in the midst of the rebel prisoners. Inquiry was set on foot, her tale proved true, and the charitable con- tributions raised by foreigners for her future maintenance may have partly alleviated her cruel distress. People at home little think of the sufferings we wit- nessed during the troubles in China, and the heavy claims upon foreign benevolence ; otherwise the missionaries would less frequently have to pass by, disregarding the misfortunes their means are unable to relieve. The risks run by foreigners have sometimes been fearful, and have often been ill repaid. With many instances of earnest gratitude, I could mention numbers of cases of cold for- getfulness, enough to steel man's heart against aiding the Chinese in future. There is one curious circumstance in Chinese warfare exhibited at Amoy as well as at Shanghai. The day and hour of most of the fights were coolly arranged before- hand. The fighting men on either side would often give notice when there was going to be a better skirmish than usual. They were certainly worth seeing as farces ; but as military displays they were sadly deficient. Their whole system of military tactics is at variance with ours. There is rarely an account given in the Pekin Gazette of a victory gained, that the general does not say he divided Ms forces, and so accounts for success. The end of the Amoy rebels who escaped can be traced in various directions. A good many of the junks got to Singapore ; the leader wanted to sell them for his own benefit, but his plans were frustrated by the owners put- ting in their claims. Ma-gay was shot by accident off PIRATES ON GOVERNMENT PAY. 185 Macao ; his fleet got divided during the night, eacTi part n:iistaking the other, and a severe engagement ensued. Some of the rebels live unmolested in foreign employ. One lorcha was manned by them, the owner merely having to find them in food and clothing : he sailed her himself. Others became pirates off Formosa. It was lucky this rebellion, which seems to have been distinct from all the others, was so thoroughly broken up. With the Fokien rebels, as with many of those in Shanghai, the bettering of their own condition was their chief aim. Their real leader kept aloof ; he was a man of consider- able influence, and is still at liberty. The city and suburbs appear to have suffered but slightly, when we compare their state with the position the mandarin troops left the surrounding villages in. The power of the destroying angel could scarcely create more direful results : such cowardly acts of destruction vented against the innocent as well as the guilty, by the Chinese troops, causes us to forget the acts of the rebels, making them pass into insignificance before the unparal- leled atrocities of their miserable foes. Captain Fish- bourne, who was present when the rebels left the city, tells us that nearly all the fighting men got away, but that the mandarins set the pirates that were in Govern- ment pay to kill all the people they could, giving them six dollars a head, innocent or guilty. It fills one with indignation to find himself working hand .in hand with officers of such a Government. Why, they, actually begged assistance to prevent their own rascally liired pirates from attacking them after the rebels had gone ! One of H.M.'s steam-ships going on a cruise about this time, fell in with some thickly-manned junks that tried to evade her ; so she fired upon them, dismasted and took one, and found it was full of Amoy rebels. 186 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. The disabled state of the junk left her at the mercy of the winds and the mandarins, and she was towed into Amoy. The Chinese officials applied for the men ; but no ; a mistake had been made. They were taken away and set at liberty at what was considered a safe place. SEIZURE OF SHANGHAI. 18( CHAPTER XIX. THE REBELS AT SHANGHAI. Shanghai seized by a secret society— Docile character of the citizens — Tai-ping-wang acknowledged— Foreign property respected — A heroine — The siege operations — Singular details — A conchologist — Two marine deserters — Curious contrivances — Conspiracies in the city — Picturesque costumes — Rebels' penal code — Motley arms — Silk armour— Desire for rank — Bribery — The leaders described. There is very little doubt, that had no insurrection troubled other parts of this celestial empire, Shanghai would have remained in peaceful quietude. The re- bellion was both the cause and the excuse for the capture of the city. Many people deny the right of a political status to the men that held Shanghai against the government for eighteen months ; as the narrative pro- ceeds, we shall learn how far these people are correct. It was taken on the 7th September 1853, by members of a secret society, with wide ramifications, and who, it was well known, aimed at the overthrow of the Tartar dynasty. The local government had no power to lesist ; indeed, the body-guard of the Taou-tai appears to have been in league with the captors. The Che-heen^ was killed, an officer not likely to be favoured by the men who aided in his assassination, as, doubtless, not a few had felt the weight of his power. The people of Shang- hai, a quiet peaceable race, had nothing w^hatever to do with the outbreak, the whole being planned and carried ' Equivalent to a mayor, but appointed by the Government. 188 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. out by Canton and Fokien men, sailors from the junks belonging to the latter province forming the chief part of the force. Property was at first strictly protected, a local government formed by the rebels, and Tai-ping- wang (unauthoritatively) acknowledged as Emperor. The Taou-tai being a Canton man, and probably once one of the brotherhood, was spared, and eventually per- mitted to escape. The government offices were sacked, and the custom-house on the foreign ground was pil- laged. In this the people took part when they found there was nothing to fear from the mandarins. Part of the rebel force was detached and sent to occupy some of the small towns in the neighbourhood. At Tsing- poo there was a separate rising, but it was soon suppressed. The country people resisted at some places, but a tem- porary settlement was made at several points of mere local importance. It will suffice for the present to state that the foreign officials proclaimed a species of neu- trality, and took upon themselves to withhold payment of duties, but collected them in the shape of promissory notes from the foreign merchants — a highly creditable and honourable proceeding, but subsequently greatly abused and mismanaged by both the British and Ameri- can plenipotentiaries. However, the rebels did not get the duties, though they sent down a guard to protect the custom-house when they learned that it was in the hands of a mob. They also guaranteed a guard for the protection of foreign property, gave up all goods belong- ing to foreigners and stored in the city. Many of the native merchants took advantage of this to get their valuables placed in safety in the warehouses of their foreign friends, for the rebels laid an embargo on every- thing within the walls. They eventually appropriated a good deal of property, and shipped it off in Fokien junks. FOREIGN MERCENARIES. 189 These junks being gone, the naen that remained to stand the siege must have counted on assistance from other sources, if not from the insurgents at Nankin. They had opportunities of getting away with a goodly stock of plunder, had they so chosen, but there appeared to be a determination to fight the mandarins — a feeling which began to infect the natives. A woman, who had lost either father or husband by some unjust sentence of a mandarin, and who was said to have been wealthy, recruited a corps of northern men, paid and commanded them herself Many Ningpo men attached themselves to the cause, and were good fighting men. A number of boys were trained to arms and afterwards did con- siderable service. In addition to the government stores, large supplies were collected from the country, and a goodly amount of provender was supplied by foreigners and Chinese in their employment ; to these latter sources the rebels were indebted for most of their arms and mu- nitions of war. They likewise got powerful assistance from deserters from the ships in harbour. If I am not much mistaken, the bad odour the rebels fell into from those acts of their foreign mercenaries went far to bring them at last to ruin. The history of the siege as it progressed might prove tedious ; but as much of the character of the Chinese was seen at this period, it may be interesting to relate some of the events that bear more strongly on that subject. Some of their appliances and resources are curious ; we had many opportunities of observing them, as visits to the city and to the camp were frequent ; some ladies even ventured to satisfy their curiosity thus far. The Imperialists opened a battery within a hundred paces from the walls, on the north-west side, and wasted a good deal of powder against them. The walls are of v/ 190 TWELVE YEAES IN CHINA. brick, and about thirty feet high, backed by a thick em- bankment of earth, rising two-thirds of the height. The top of this earth-work forms a road round the city. At intervals there are bastions that would throw a flankinc^ fire along the walls. Outside these is a broad moat, and the whole surrounding country presents an endless plain as far as the eye can reach ; numerous hillocks, contain- ing graves, relieving the monotony of the interminable flat. The land rises but little above the level of the sea, and water is found on digging a few feet under the sur- face. Notwithstanding the difficulties to be contended with, the Imperialists actually mined under the moat, itself a water-course, and carried their sap beneath the city walls, and effected a large breach by springing a mine. Their object was efiected thus : they dug deep wells to drain the water from the mine, and pumped them by means of chain-pumps working on an incline. The workmen suffered greatly, and many died. They had to work in the mine on all-fours, carrying forward the drain they made by successively getting forward a sort of cask, with the ends knocked out. A series of these mines must have been made, because the rebels discovered some of them, and took a curious way to countermine ; they set chain-pumps to work, and carried a stream of water over the wall, flooding the ground over the mines, and readily destroyed them. There were no less than six different breaches made by the springing of mines — good practicable breaches ; they were gallantly defended ; on one or two occasions the soldiers got within the walls, but suffered severely for their temerity. At one time a -picked body of Cantonese troops formed the forlorn hope ; they dashed onwards over the moat, and up the breach, but the cowardly hounds that should have followed, truly Chinese-like, did as no other people SINGULAR DETAILS. 191 on the earth would have done, hauled back the Ijridge that was thrown over the moat, that their Canton com- rades might be forced to fight. Poor fellows, the greater part never returned ! At the south gate, portions of the wall, many tons in weight, were hurled some distance by explosions, and so extensively was that part of the city mined, that the rebels built an inner wall, a sort of breastwork, so that when a breach was made no rebels were to be seen, but a rattling fire could be poured upon their enemies. Batteries were built upon a level with the city wall, and even liiglier, within fifty yards of the walls ; yet the rebels rebuilt the outer wall, strongly, whenever a breach was made. Their bullet-moulds were original : they polished two bricks smooth on one side, cut two semi-globes on each, accurately adjusted with a channel for the molten lead. One man held the bricks firmly together, while another poured in the lead ; two bullets were quickly made in this way. Saltpetre was extracted from old bricks by a process said to have been taught the rebels by a deserter from Nankin. They made shells, but being ignorant of the way to cast iron, they made them in brass or zinc, welding the hemispheres together. A man that was said to have been a marine managed to make the fuses, and load the shells. He was one of the cold cal- culating class, doing everything for dollars ; a quiet, sanctimonious-looking fellow, and like anything but a rebel ; alvvays demanding more pay, and threatening to join the Imperialists ; which he eventually did, but tired of their service, and went back to his old quarters in the city. He arrived there at a critical time, when few that had served the rebels badly need expect good treat- ment. He was seized, put in chains, and cast into prison. The half a dozen other foreigners in rebel em- 192 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. ployment remonstrated, but without avail. They found afterwards that his prison was changed, and could not tell where he had been put. After living on rice and water for three days, the *' conchologist," as he was nick- named, managed to work off his irons, got hold of some Chinese clothes, and escaped, not only out of prison, but over the city walls, where he was assisted by two rebels that were deserting. It was reported by some of the naval officers that two marines, who deserted in one day, could not agree which of the contending forces they should join, and at last, with haphazard carelessness, parted company, to try their fortunes, one to join the rebels, the other to the Imperial camp. They met in a skirmish, and one shot his old comrade dead. Kound the city walls, and in front of other defences, there were pit-falls, some very large, and at the bottom a plentiful crop of sharp-pointed bamboo spikes. The ditches surrounding the Imperial camps were similarly provided, making an admirable defence, when the sandal- like shoes of the fighting men are taken into account, and promised a horrible death to any one that fell into them. The worst kind consisted of small holes, about a foot in diameter, in which the spikes were placed on the sides, with the points slanting inwards towards the bottom, so that any one who " put his foot in it'' was regularly entrapped. But the most ingenious defence was made use of in the houses that formed the inner line of defence ; they were loop-holed, and the exterior whitewashed : over each loop-hole there was a sheet of white paper pendant on the outside, so that a musket could be pushed through, and aim taken ; but when it was withdrawn, the similarity of the paper to the colour \ of the wall prevented any loop-hole from being seen, SORTIES AND SKIRMISHES. 193 SO that no return shot from small fire-arms need be feared. The Imperialists planned a grand scheme for taking the city. Large inclined planes were made in the camps, on a scaffolding as high as the walls ; these were to be secretly conveyed to the ramparts, and the troops to charge up them, and " annihilate the stinking horde." It was an amusing sight to see these immense machines in the camp — the Trojan steeds of this Chinese Troy. " Practice makes perfect ; " so the troops boldly charged up them day by day, but as there was no wall at the other end, the charges in camp ended in a vain flourish of arms in empty air, and the troops became equally ac- complished in rushing down again — a portion of their exercise they did not forget. Frequently the rebels made sorties against the camps, and sometimes were successful in destroying one or two. Rarely more than 200 or 300 insurgents were engaged. They retreated when a large force was collected against them, but generally kept up a good fight against some thousands, until the imperialists got pretty near the walls. These retreats were curiously managed, the whole fight being carried on in skirmishing order : the rebels had two young fellows, one entirely clothed in red, kept on the right, and another in blue, on the extreme left ; it was the duty of these men to keep moving on each flank, so that they might be seen as much as possible, while the rest kept up a fire on the enemy from the centre, as much under cover as they could. The greater part of the imperialist shot was directed at the two men on the flanks, who daringly ap- ])eared at intervals in some prominent position, flourish- ing their flags. I have seen them do this within twenty yards of the foe, then quickly retreat. N 194 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. The uniform was most picturesque — fine gaudy- colours, red turbans or red sashes. The people called the rebels Hung-Tovj, or "red heads" (foreigners are called " red-hair men ") ; but the best way to explain the dresses, is to refer you to the sketches. The hair was long, and gathered up into a knot on the crown, in a similar way to the ancient style in China, before the Tartar conquerors forced the Chinese to adopt the tail. It is said that the Tartars took this extraordinary mode of showing their power over the Chinese from policy, that the Chinese might not be able to see how few Tartars were among them, and be led to attempt a revolt, both people being made to dress alike. The style of the Shanghai rebel dress was doubtless taken from the Nankin rebels, or the ancient dress of the Chinese, in some particulars, but the foreign dress gave several additional hints which were adopted, such as pockets, belts, &c. Chin-ah-Lin, one of the leading ' chiefs, wore English shoes and stockings. Some of the others had boots, and many wore foreign gloves, but the latter are getting into great vogue in the north, among the Chinese generally ; the native glove being like a baby's mitten. The arms of the rebels were of a most motley descrip- tion, — muskets, matchlocks, horse-pistols, and revolvers (Colt's being preferred) ; some Minie rifles, with sword j bayonets. Regarding rifle-balls, the rebels stated a curious circumstance. As a protection against them 1 they wore dresses thickly padded with floss silk ; they said that while the ball had a twist in it, revolving in its course, it caught up thesilk and fastened itself in the garment. One man told me that he took out six so caught, in one day after a severe fight. The experiment '^\might be worth trying ; they said the dress was of more TRIAD LAWS. 195 use within a hundred yards than at long range, when the ball had lost its revolving motion. The laws in the city were those of the Triad society, a mixture of common sense added to a strong tincture of Lynch justice. The men were under considerable control, and property was respected. Papers with the Tai-ping seal on them were pasted over doors and windows ; these served as guards, and were for a long time quite effectual. After the city was recovered, one of the missionaries found his house and furniture in exactly the same state it had been left. The churches were respected, though a good deal damaged by shot from the Imperialists and French. At one time the Shanghai rebels renounced idolatry, and proclaimed the worship of the True God ; but there may have been little sincerity in this ; it was probably done to curry favour with foreigners. The laws of the brotherhood consisted chiefly in terrific penalties for injury done to any of the members of the society, and were as horrible as those of other secret societies. They were sworn to on oath. Each chief had them drawn out on a large yellow sheet of parchment. One of the leaders pretended to read them to me one day ; but as 1 knew he scarcely could tell a single cliaracter, it was rather a farce ; however, he knew them by rote, and when he had gone through them, as there was nothing but penalties and no rewards, I ob- served that all their rules were intended to govern bad men, and that more people would be induced to join the rebel standard if the laws promised good rather than evil. This staggered him. I forgot at the time that our own code is entirely penal, and that with all our boasted enlightenment, we have no honours for probity or chastity. 196 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. When speaking of the class of men that are rebels, it must be taken into account that there is no class in China corresponding to our gentry ; all are either work- men, tradesmen, or in official employment. The literati rank rather as officials than as a distinct profession. They are all expectants. It will be seen, therefore, that it must be the lower classes who become rebels, the majority of whom have little to lose. The disaffected and dissohite of the Shanghai and Ningpo men joined the ranks, but the force was recruited chiefly by Canton and Fokien adventurers. Many of the wealthy Canton and Fokien men who remained outside, were anything but neutral, and aided the rebels in many ways. The chief who ultimately took command, was Lew, a Canton sugar-broker, who had started the Triad lodge many years before, at Shanghai. Another leader was a green- tea broker. The best fighting chief was a young groom who had served in the British Consulate stables at Amoy, Foochow, and Shanghai, and been in the employ- ment of others in the latter place. There were several servants of foreigners among the rebels, and tradesmen that had formei'ly been accustomed to deal on the foreign ground, but there was no one of any standing. They were something like the Chartists of England, with this exception, that the class from which they sprung is relatively much larger in China than the Chartist class at home. One thing is to be remarked, the people made no active opposition to them. ATTACK ON SHANGHAI. 197 CHAPTER XX. THE FRENCH ATTACK ON SHANGHAI. Proposals to the rebels by Admiral Stirling and Sir John Bowring — Their unfortunate failure — The French resolve on picking a quarrel with the rebels — Hostilities commence — Imperialists attack at the same time — The author ventures into the beleaguered city— Preliminary politeness under difficulties^State of affairs within — Resolution to resist the French — Interview with the chief — Harmless shells — Return with answers — Objections on points of fomi^ — Another visit to the city — Camp-bearers of the chiefs — Dresses w^orse for wear and warfare — Wadded armour— The chief's changed appearance — Diplomacy nearly baffled by a green-tea broker — Agreement at length signed — Foreigners in rebel pay — The French Admiral implacable — A skirmish— Another venture into the city, and offer of submission to the three Treaty powers brought back — French proclaim a strict blockade— Firing at an old woman — City bombarded — The great assault— The Imperialist assault— The Imperialists repulsed — French retreat — Boldness of the rebels- Attempt to starve the city — Fair treatment of prisoners by the rebels — Visit to the wounded Chinese — Further and more fortunate communica- tions with the rebel chief — Agreement to siirrender made nugatory by the perverseness of the French admiral— Last efforts of the rebels — Entry of the frnperialists, who set fire to the city — Horrible atrocities — The Ji7iale. It was a sad day for the rebels when the French admiral Laguerre eventually found a casus belli against them. Admiral Stirling and Sir John Bowring had at one time, with the best intentions, made proposals to get the city of Shanghai given up, and offered an asylum to the rebels. The negotiations, however, unfortunately were not carried out. As the men were under the impression that the leaders were arranging merely for their own 198 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. safety, tliey were unwilling to trust to promises of an amnesty, granted at the solicitation of foreigners. Kank and rewards were several times offered to the chiefs by the Chinese ofiQciais if they would surrender, but the contending factions of the Canton and Fokien men were always distrustful of each other, and it is probable that the devotion and fidelity of the chiefs were often as much compulsory as sincere. The ground allotted to the French at Shanghai for mercantile purposes is situated close to the city, on the north side, consequently the French were nearest of the three treaty powers to the rebels. They kept their ground intact. The British, owing to some official bungling, lost command over the portion allotted to them, and it came at last under a sort of municipal government formed by the foreign residents themselves. But these are merely local matters not woithy of being particularly detailed. The French consulate, and the re- sidence and shop of a Parisian watchmaker, were the only foreign premises on the French ground ; but at the south side of the city, outside, was the Catholic cathedral, with its buildings attached. Whether it was from this unpleasant proximity to the city, or from some petty squabbles about the rights of Chinese Christians, or per- haps from accidents to the French ships of war, entailing a cost of 1100,000 while at Shanghai, or because " the time was out of joint," the French admiral had long been desirous of picking a quarrel with the insurgents. At length, upon their forming a battery or breastwork to cover the retreat of small sorties from the city, opposition was shown by the admiral, as he stated that shots fired against the breastwork might reach the two French houses. The rebels were prevented taking out a field-piece, and a man with the gun was shot. Two THE FRENCH BOMBARD THE CITY. 199 days after this (December 1854), Admiral Laguerre sent an armed party to protect workmen in demolishing the rebel battery, as the rebels would not take it down when ordered. A blank shot was fired over the work- men, to make them desist. Upon this, the French opened fire, the rebels returned it with effect, and the foreign community were soon in an excited stata Neither the British nor American commanders would violate their neutrality, by assisting the admiral in his hasty act of doubtful justice. There were two rows of houses between the battery and the French ground, so that the danger to the French residences must have been imaginary upon this side, though bad shots from the Imperialist guns on the opposite side of the river which passes Shanghai, sometimes struck the consulate. At two P.M., the French steam-ship Colbert opened fire upon the city with shot and shell. The French lines w^ere alive with sharp-shooters, but the rebels kept re- markably quiet. We expected they would surrender, or attempt something desperate. It was a horrid sight to see the shot flying along, tearing down the roofs of the houses, smashing in the walls, and at last setting fire to two temples on the ramparts ; it w^as heart-rending to see this done when the city contained probably some twenty thousand poor innocent people whom the rebels would not allow to come out, as the supplies brought to the city depended much upon the Shanghai natives having friends inside. Knowing well what a quiet unwarlike people the Shanghai folks were, it appeared cruel to kill them in this w^ay ; and while the French kept up an active fire from the east and north sides, the Imperialists attacked from the west. Small chance of escape would the poor people have if the soldiers once effected an entrance. The foreign ground was strictly 200 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. guarded, and the French cut off all conimunication. I went to a place where it was likely some of the poor people would fly to ; there were about fifty old women crying for assistance ; the bridge being cut down, they were unable to cross the stream. The sentry said he had no orders to prevent the people crossing, but that the French had cut away the bridge. Meeting with ready assistance from Chinese lads^ I quickly got a raft floated over, and had the satisfaction of seeing the poor old creatures brought safely across. There was no sign of surrender, and the crashing fire still poured into the devoted city. It appeared probable that a satisfactory arrangement might be made with the chiefs if they could be communicated with, or be induced to write to the foreign consuls. There was no time to be lost. I at once determined to go to the city, thinking I might have some influence with the chiefs. Informing one of the English officers of my intention and my mo- tives, in case any accident befell me, I crossed the stream and made for a part of the walls just between the French and Imperialist attacks. I could soon see that the rebels were at their batteries in force, and, as I got nearer, saw them training a gun to bear on me, and lots of small arms pointed in the same direction. Walking unhesi- tatingly forward, raising my hat and motioning for them not to fire, I soon got to the moat. They hailed in Chinese to know if I was a Frenchman, and I quickly gave them a satisfactory answer, for the guns were raised from the unpleasant level in which they had been directed. None of the men at the bastion could speak English. I told them to send for one of the chiefs, from whom I could get a letter to the consuls, to see if some arrangement could not be entered into. They asked me to wait, said the French were very bad, but seemed to care little A RASH ADVENTURE. 201 for the Imperialists, who were getting alarmingly near, almost cutting off my retreat. Sitting down behind a tree, in case any stray shot came across me, I could calmly examine the state of affairs. A large temple was burning furiously about a quarter of a mile to my left, and the sharp crack of the Minie rifles from the French wall sounded very telling. The boom of the Imperialist guns rung on my right, and I could see the shells bursting in the air. After waiting about half-an- hour an active young fellow was let down the wall by a rope, and a stool thrown over to him. Taking a cautious look around, he brought the seat, using it as a bridge to cross the half-dry stagnant moat, and politely asked me to sit down. This was an act of coolness and kindness I scarcely expected, and made me feel more confident. He said it would be far better if I would go into the city, that the chiefs might see what I wanted. As my object was to save life, thinking that the poor people must be suffering from the continued bombardment, I thought there could be no harm in running the risk, and confidently trusted that I should get back in safety. Crossing the moat, the rope was let down from the walls, and, to show full confidence in the rascally-looking set that were staring down at me, I unbuckled my revolver, and, unsolicited, gave it to the young rebel, and was ])alled up. Jumping down among the fellows, I was at once surrounded by an eager throng of hasty questioners. The pistol was offered to me, but refused, and choosing the young fellow as my guide and guard, I set off to find one of the chiefs. The sight that met me as I went along the walls surprised me not a little. Expecting to see fear and disorder, the determined, cool look of the mcD, all armed to the teeth, prepaied for the worst, quite astonished me. " When are the Frenchmen com- 202 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. iog?'' "Why don't they try to come into the city?" was often asked, and all seemed ready for a fight. One or two of the foreign mercenaries came up too with their questions. I told them they had better get out of the mess as soon as they couUi, but they said they were ready to die rather than give in to the Frenchmen. Well protected by the embankment from shot, the insur- gent force was not to be despised ; and I felt assured that if the French did attempt to escalade, they would be defeated. Passing into the streets, the poor people were all at their doors dressed in their best clothes, probably thinking the time of their deliverance was at hand ; they seemed to guess my mission, and thanks were showered upon me as I passed. On the way I could see the temple that was burning, now nearly destroyed. Two lads went by at a sharp trot, carrying between them, suspended from a gaily-decked pole, a large French shot as a present to Chin-ah-Lin. In the tea-gardens we crossed over the debris of a wall just rattled down by a shot from the " Colbert." We soon renched the quarters of the chief. I thought to have found him among his men on the walls ; but no, there he was at home as cool as possible, just returned from his station quietly to take his dinner, which was laid out ready for him. English plates and spoon s^ and a hot dish of rice and mince collops, with wine-glasses and wine on the table. He wanted to know why the French attacked them ; but I told him there was no time for explanations, that he must get a letter sent to the English and American consuls to see if they could not settle affairs with the French, and if need be arrange that the city should be given up. All I wanted was that the Imperial soldiers should not run riot in the city while so njany of the Shanghai people were there. He said they '.vere LETTEES FROM THE CHIEFS. 203 not afraid of the French, and would wait for them and fight if they came ; that they would not be the aggres- sors. However, a little reasoning got him to order the letters to be written. The French firing had now ceased, and this not only made me feel safer, but had some effect in making them think that my arrival was the cause of the cessation. While waiting for the letter to be written, I got some account of the fight. The rebels had only lost one boy, who was killed early in the day, and a horse : thirteen of the natives had been reported as killed. I certainly saw neither killed nor wounded. There was the broken part of a French shell upon the table. It was of curious construction, and had evidently been of a detonating nature ; the screw of the fuse was perfect, and it had two passages through it, both ap- parently filled with lime when it had struck. It is curious how few of the shells exploded : in the yard near the house there was quite a collection of shot and a good many howitzer shells that had not gone off. For each brought in the bearers got a small reward. Chin-ah-Lin said that when they first took the city the men ran away when a shot came near them, but now they almost fought with each other for who should get the shot ! Having got the letter duly wrapped up in a grand envelope, with " Tai-ping-wang" on it, I set off. Just as I was leaving, a man galloped up on horseback, and asked if I was the person who came to get letters from the chiefs, and on being answered in the affirmative, handed me a despatch from Lew, the principal chief, but who had then less real power than Chin-ah-Lin, as he had not so many followers. Taking the despatches, I hurried off to the walls, was let safely down, got back my pistol, and, wading through the moat, reach- ing the foreign settlement without a shot from the 204 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. French guard, sent off the letters to their destination. Negotiations being set on foot, I had the satisfac- tion to see that there was no renewal of hostilities the next day. I was told semi-officially that the letters were written in too ^' bumptious" a strain, the chiefs writing as ^' generals in command of forces under Tai-ping- wang/' and was told that if any good was to he effected, the letters should be written as if from chiefs of the brotherhood in possession of Shanghai, and that one should be addressed to the French consul. Having entered into the affair, it was only right to carry it out. Though I had made arrangements for having answers to the former letters sent into the city, I bad no notice of any having been sent. However, as no very strict blockade was kept up, I got into the city over the walls, and found everything comparatively quiet, and with great difficulty persuaded Chin-ah-Lin to drop his assumed titles, and have the letters written in the names of the chiefs of the brotherhood. He offered to use Lew's name as he held his seal, but I insisted on visiting Lew accompanied by Ah-Lin, that I might see the communication was hondjich from the chiefs in council. Much time was lost by the presence of a party who, I feared, was a spy for the French ; and it was nearly dusk before the retinue started for Lew's Ya-mun. Ah-Lin walked by my side, thougli he had his horse with yellow saddle-cloth led in his rascally-looking train. War and ill-usage had brought the grand gala dresses of his followers into a beggarly condition, looking all ihQ worse for the gaudiness of the colours. The long straggling hair, standing out from beneath the head- dresses, gave a wild look to the fellows ; and as it was known that Lew's men were not on the best of terms PERSUASION BETTER THAN FORCE. 205 with Ah-Liu's braves, the visit was rather exciting. The people ill the streets all stood still as we passed ; those who had been seated rose. Men that came suddenly round a corner upon us, gave one of the Triad signs, some of which are similar to those of the brotherhood that is '' veiled in allegory/' Arrived at Lew's, we did not wait to be announced. There was a general flurry about the house as Ah-Lin marched in, hunting-whip in hand, and proceeded directly up stairs. What a differ- ent appearance the room now presented to that when I last was in it ! Then it was the hospitable residence of Mr. Consul Alcock. I had seen Lew only once before ; he was then on horseback in great state ; patent-leather holsters, gold sword hung across his back, and lots of jew^ellery. Now he looked an emaciated little wretch, slovenly dressed, as if he had just turned out from an opium smoke. His quick eye was the only sign of energy about him. He listened quietly for about five minutes to what I had to say in the way of persuading them to put the city in the hands of the three treaty powers, and seemed inclined to comply, but a low, forbidding-looking fellow, not dressed as a rebel, and whom I had known as a green-tea broker, argued strongly against it. He said the French were only a small people ; and he worked up his enthusiasm to such a pitch, that Lew said he would sink the men-of-war at their anchors, and that we foreigners had better not interfere or we should suffer too. Fortu- nately I kept cool, and began quietly to explain what I thought the French could do; gave some statistics of their army and fleet at random ; said the English were their allies, and would perhaps assist them at Shanghai ; would certainly do so if the rebels committed any act of aggression ; and then wound up by a strong appeal 20G TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. against the arguments of the green-tea broker, and ex- pressed my wonder that the rebels should follow the advice of a fellow who would not assume their dress, and who, while calling on them to fight to the last, would be the first himself to skulk away. I gradually brought matters round by taking a high hand in abusing this fellow, until Lew signed the letters for the three consuls, asking what could be done to settle affiiirs. The secretary at Ah-Lin's wanted to put the French name on a lower line than either the English or Ameri- can, which would have been a direct insult ; fortunately I noticed it, and got the letters all re-written. It was quite dark when I left the city. Outside I met two of the foreigners in pay of the rebels, and tried to induce them to leave with me, but they flatly refused, and marched on in their dangerous patrol. There were six of these men in the rebel pay ; one, however, was bedridden ; the other five were magnified into nearly a hundred by most of the foreigners, the officials especi- ally, few giving the Chinese credit for being able to fight, even after eighteen months' hard experience. The letters seemed to have little effect with the hot- tempered admiral. He moved his frigate off the city ; could not be persuaded by the consuls to listen to reason ; kept quiet one day, but next morning, under cover of a fog, surprised the rebel battery at the little east gate. The boats went in cautiously, and were not per- ceived ; it was well managed, and the attack was com- pletely successful ; the rebel guard were all killed. No prisoners were taken ; and the rebels appearing in force, the French retreated orderly and coolly, keeping up a fire on the battery for some time to prevent its being manned. The guns were all spiked, and the flags taken away. The rebels lost fifteen men killed; one was a BRAVADO. 207 Canton petty chief, wlicse loss was much deplored by bis clansmen. In a day or two the spikes were out of the guns, some larger ones placed in the battery, and the flag of Tai-ping-wang hoisted again under a salute of three guns ! Still I thought, as it was certain the city would be taken, this might be mere bravado, so deter- mined on another visit to try and persuade the leaders to surrender without farther bloodshed. The affair at the battery had evidently damped their ardour. Fortu- nately I found Ah-Lin alone, and proving to him by the lost battery that the French showed best generalship, I at last succeeded in persuading him to surrender to the three treaty powers on the same conditions as they had previously made to him ; but he would not surrender to the French alone, and said he would fight to the last rather than give in to the mandarins. He pledged his word that he had full power to bring all the others to his own views. He would not give his promise in writing, but offered, if the proposal came from the foreign officials, that it should be at once met. On leaving the city I told the British consul how affairs stood, but he seemed disinclined to interfere, and in the kindest manner re- commended me to desist from interference also. Seeing no good could be done, I did not return any answer to the chiefs. Next day the French proclaimed a strict blockade, and shot down all that attempted to hold communication with the rebels. We saw one evening a poor old woman that had been attempting to take a basket of food for some poor person in the city, struck by a ball from the French lines ; her thigh was broken, and she lay helpless on the ground. How horrible did war appear when the sentry levelled his rifle again, and fired at the poor old creature, driving up a shower of earth close to her side ; another shot, and another, were 208 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. fired ; at last she was hit again in the back ! It was a pitiable sight. She cried to us for help, but we could render no assistance, except by sending to report the cir- cumstance at head-quarters. Shot after shot was tired. There were some rebels watching the butchery from the walls ; they could see us distinctly. We were within rifle distance, and feeh'ng that if I were in their position, I would shoot at every foreigner I saw while foreigners were committing such acts, I went away really for safety's sake, sick at heart to see such monstrous cruelty. The woman, it was afterwards reported, lay on the spot moaning till nearly midnight, when her cries ceased, and it was supposed some of the rebels had got her into the city out of the way of further immediate harm. A short time after the blockade was notified, the "Colbert" and "St. Jean d'Arc" again bombarded the city, but there was still no surrender. The French then built a breaching battery close to the walls, ceitainly within a hundred yards. A constant relay of riflemen kept up a sharp fire at any rebel that appeared ; but one place in the lines was kept open to admit the escape of any who could leave the city ; a considerable number of women and old people got out. The French battery being in readiness, the attack began in good earnest one morning at daylight. It was a fine frosty morning. The keen bracing air of the Shanghai winter, cold as it was on that day, did not deter most of the foreigners leaving their comfortable beds at daybreak, when the heavy booming of the guns from the two ships of war and the battery gave warning that the end of the Shanghai rebels was close at hand. A body of four hundred men was landed, and about half that number told off as the forlorn hope. The Imperialists came from their camps in great force, and were distin- THE ATTACK. 209 guished by blue sashes, to prevent the French taking them for insurgents when they got into the city. A party of fresh militiamen were to be the van of the Im- perialist forces, and had the north gate appointed as their place of attack. The breach was close to the French ground, and was soon considered practicable. The gallant Frenchmen dashed out, and by the aid of scaling-ladders and scram- bling, soon gained the top of the ramparts, but were met by a sharp fire from the rebels under cover. About forty men were detached to clear the way for the Imperiahsts at the north gate. Seeing such a good example, in flocked the soldiers by hundreds, their gay banners float- ing over the walls as they marched along. Crash went the shot from the frigates into the unfortunate city ; the sharp crack of the rifles was ceaseless, and soon the work of the soldiers was seen by the blazing mass of houses they were destroying. I got into the French lines to see the fighting that w^as still going on at the breach. The brave band of sailors held it firmly, though soon some of their number were liors de combat. What a scene must have been going on within the walls ! A rascally- looking soldier came up to the lines, bearing the severed head of one of the rebels, or probably one of the poor natives, as they too had to wear long hair. Holding up the head by its gaunt locks, the wretch boasted of his trophy to the French sailors. Wo worth the day that they had such allies ! Craven cowards that could not retain the advantage that was so bravely won for them ! The soldiers began to plunder, got disorganized, and were beaten back to the walls. Nearly every one thought that the fate of the city was certain ; but I had seen before how the insurgents o 210 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. were likely to behave, and still insisted that they would maintain their ground. Proceeding to the guard-house that overlooked the north gate, we could see the soldiers still pouring in, but their energy was damped by the number of wounded, some fearfully slashed, that were being brought back. After the battle had lasted four hours, and the rebels had beaten off the Imperialists at the west side, we saw their yellow flags upon the wall near the north gate : on they came, pouring in a telling fire upon the unlucky soldiers, who found that the place was too hot for them. Then fol- lowed a terrible scene. Panic seized upon the troops, and huddled together in a crush, they were driven over the walls. Down came men, arms, and banners, in wild confusion. Some made for the breach ; the French tried to encourage them, but they, void of all discipline, fired upon the French, who had already suffered severely. As no reliance could now be placed on their Chinese allies, the French made an orderly retreat from the place they had so gallantly held, but where they should never have been, had their admiral shown proper judgment and tem- per. Out of 250 who went into the breach, four officers and about sixty men were killed or wounded. Of the Im- perialist force, it is said, 1200 were left dead in the city, and about 1000 wounded carried away. The rebels kept under cover nearly all the time where they were exposed to the French, and their loss was comparatively trifling. The daring of these fellows, when they saw their success, was wonderful ; they pulled the scaling-ladders into the city, and even in front of the French lines, succeeded in getting a ladder in over the breach. They collected the bodies of the Imperialists, it was reported, and placing them in a large temple, burned the edifice to the ground. That the temple was fired there is no doubt, and the STARVING THE CITY. 211 final offering made within it may have been composed of the victims of the day. After this display, on the part of the insurgents, of a bravery that was not expected, and in consequence of the loss sustained in attacking them, it was determined to starve them into submission. The Imperialist camps were drawn nearer to the city, batteries were erected, and a long line of circumvallation was extended completely round the city, to prevent any supplies of provisions entering. But there is no doubt that the soldiers themselves assisted the rebels. Under the pretence of taunting them with food, the Canton troops hung ducks, fowls, &c., at the end of their spears, and I daresay, took means to lose them when near the city at places where they could be found. One mandarin, who had been taken prisoner, was ransomed by his obtaining for the rebels a large quantity of powder, and being successful in this instance, the insurgents established a sort of system of kidnapping, which was carried on at one time by their foreign mercenaries, till at last it brought them into such bad odour, that the foreign community, ofiScials especially, were against them. The Imperialists were allowed upon the "foreign ground" (from which, for their bad conduct, they had previously been expelled), and even erected a battery upon it. Houses were pulled down, by order of the British Consul, on the pretence of making a road. But it was very humiliating to see this subterfuge placarded about the streets, side by side with the mandarins' proclamations ordering that the houses should be pulled down, and even saying that the British Consul ordered it, that the "rebels might be exterminated." Several hundred families were thus rendered houseless in the depth of winter, and it went much against the feeling 212 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. of a true English heart to see the British Vice-consul ofiSciously superintending the destruction of houses, the owners of some resorting to suicide to escape from their distress. Great allowance is to be made for the difficult posi- tion in which the English and American Consuls were placed ; but the very inconsiderate zeal which charac- terized the conduct of Mr. Lay, the then acting vice- consul, and Mr. Wade, at that time one of the officials in the Chinese custom-house service, and the open manner in which these gentlemen lent their aid to the mandarins, was strongly commented on by nearly all the foreign community. Leave w^as granted by the French Admiral to two English gentlemen to enter the city for the purpose of finding out a missing servant among the kidnapped prisoners. Ah-Lin received them, and gave them per- mission to enter the prison. There were about twenty men in confinement ; they complained of only getting rice and water, but had not been maltreated, further than by the loss of some of their clothes. The servant was not to be found, but the prisoners earnestly begged to be released. One man, a carpenter, who had been seized because he made gun-carriages for the late Taou- tai, was begged off on the plea that the rebels afterwards got the use of the guns. All the other prisoners were offered to be given up to the two foreigners, if they would give their word that they would do nothing against the rebels when they were let loose. The carpenter was released upon these conditions; his solemn promise being given to his foreign liberators. The fellow went and gave information against certain people as soon as he got out, and acted openly against his word. The wretched Chinese soldiers could not be again in- THE CHIEF LIBERATES THE POOR PEOPLE. 213 duced to make an attack ; the temples near Shanghai had been filled with their wounded, who were but poorly cared for. I visited some a day or two after the great repulse, and found the poor fellows lying on the ground, closely packed ; their wounds had been stanched with cotton-wool, and some suffered severely ; one or two were in the height of fever, others were able to sit up and were writing to their friends for assistance ; most of the worst cases were among the Ningpo militia. They were most grateful for the little assistance afforded them to buy medicine, and the attendants were very assiduous in pointing out those who required it most. Some of the poor people who got away from the city gave melancholy accounts of the distress within. The rebels had put the natives upon short allowance, and some were reported as starving. I was surprised one day to receive a letter, which proved to be from the chief Chin-ah-Lin ; he stated that they could get no supplies into the city, and were in great distress. He entreated me again to interest myself on his behalf, and implored heaven to reward me for the trouble I had already taken. His messenger had had a narrow escape in bringing out the letter, I was told, but a reply could be sent in at night. In hopes that some good might arise from opening up communication, I replied that evening, using all the arguments I could to induce him to surrender, in order that the people might be spared, and told him that he could not expect any one to befriend the rebels while they kept the poor people in the city running the risk of a massacre, if the Imperialists got inside. Judge of my satisfaction at the result ! After my note was re- ceived, free exit was granted to nearly all the women and children who wished to leave, and next morning, 214 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. they poured into the foreign ground in hundreds, some looking hale and hearty enough, throwing discredit on the want which had been reported ! I was so pleased with the result of my note, that T vowed to do all I could to save more lives, letting my motives stand bail for the risk. Several notes passed, and at last it was arranged that a certain signal should be made on the city walls when the chiefs found themselves compelled to sur- render, and that, then, I should communicate with Admiral Laguerre, informing him that the surrender of the city would be guaranteed to him if I were per- mitted to tell the chiefs that he would accept it. The communications had been carried on with the greatest care — the letters written on slips of paper that could be concealed in the bearer s nostril ; but I was rather taken aback one evening, when walking through the Imperialist camp, to see the bearer of my message coolly walking among the soldiers : of course I took no notice of him, but for prudence' sake, went away. No doubt the rebels were in regular communication with the soldiers who blockaded them. This circumstance put me on my guard, and luckily the whole arrangements about the signal were settled by verbal message, but the messenger mistook the exact position for the signal. Certainly, the flag agreed upon w^as there, only it was exhibited at the wrong place. To be assured no error occurred in a matter of such importance, I let a whole day pass, so that notice might be given at night to have the signal at the proper position. In the morning, the fate of the city seemed sealed, the red flag was on the wall in the appointed place ! No time was lost, and ac- companied by Mr. Wade, I waited upon the Admiral. The whole story of my communications was explained, and the crowning point made known by pointing to the THE REBELS EVACUATE THE CITY. 215 red banner in front of the French lines. Admiral La- guerre would accept an unconditional surrender, and would even consider the prisoners as his ; his ire was particularly directed against one, and I felt, that when I went into the city, it would be to save all but the very one who had arranged so well for the rest. However, I was told the risk was too great ; and in spite of all entreaties, could not persuade his Excellency to permit me to trust myself among the rebels in their present position. I was allowed to write, informing the chiefs that their surrender as prisoners to the French was accepted, but was not permitted to take my letter to the walls. I subsequently learnt that the letter never reached. Had I been allowed to take it, what misery might have been prevented ! The flag had been up two days, and the chiefs could restrain their men no longer. It was New Year's day ; ^ the greatest festival of the Chinese year. At midnight, fires were seen at various places round the city walls, and shortly after, the whole city, from east to west, was a mass of flame, throwing out a long, heavy curtain of dense smoke far away into the eastern horizon. There appeared to be no hope, and with a heavy heart, I thought the rebels had all met a fearful end, but it was no small consolation to remember that there were scarcely any of the poor people left to suffer by the heartless butchering of the soldiers. In the morning the truth came out. The bulk of the rebels had cut their way through the Imperialist camp ; some 200 or 300 had surrendered to the French Admiral (who after- wards gave them over to the Chinese !) ; a few escaped into the foreign ground — about fifty of them getting \ 17th February 1855. 216 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. into the American guard-house, where they were most kindly treated. One of these was a wounded chief; he made his exit from the city on horseback, his followers lost him, but finding that he had not reached a place of safety, they returned from the guard-house, notwith- standing the danger, and brought him in in spite of the risk. The Chinese behaved admirably, and did all they could to assist in saving some who would have been speedily executed if the slightest information had been given. I had opportunities of seeing most extraordinary instances of devotion, as I did all I could to save life. The scene in the city was a disgrace to the Chinese soldiers ; they plundered everything that was left ; and a quiet-looking, respectable man, entreating some of us to make the soldiers desist, said, " The rebels were bad but these soldiers are worse." When the rebels began their move in the early part of the previous night, the soldiers feared to enter before their enemies had evacuated the city. The Imperialists fired the town, so as to drive the rebels from their hiding- places. It would be needless and painful to recount the scenes witnessed in the city. Even the coffins were opened and corpses decapitated. Most of the rebels were hunted down in the country. In the course of three days about 1500 men were beheaded, many being first mutilated in the most horrible manner. Lew w^as beheaded five times, or five men were beheaded for him, for he escaped. Chin-ah-Lin was reported taken, but a subsequent re- ward of |1 5,000 for his head, gave the lie to this ; besides, it is pretty w^ell known that he passed through the Imperial camp with six of his body-guard in dis- guise, and reached the foreign ground, eventually get- SYMPATHY AND KINDNESS OF THE PEOPLE. 217 ting safe away to Singapore. Some of the men had narrow escapes. One lay hid in the city for three days after it was taken. A schooner, going from Woo- sung to Hong-Kong, was suspected of being about to take Chin-ah-Lin and several other of the city people ; a force, consisting of Chinese troops and some English marines, accompanied by the acting vice-consul (who seemed to be imbued with some extraordinary motives), went down to search the vessel. This was discovered ; but those desirous of preventing further bloodshed quietly continued, notwithstanding, in the work they were determined upon, getting the unfortunate men away from danger, following the force to Woo-sung, passing it in the night, and sending away the vessel with her refugees before the Chinese soldiers had a chance of making any seizures. The foreign mercenaries nearly all came to the end they deserved. I rejoiced that some of the rebels escaped. The extreme devotion some of them showed to their chiefs and their cause, braving dangers most imminent, making sacrifices beyond be- lief, and manifesting, in spite of all that their previous career might indicate, a goodness of heart and sincerity of gratitude that would bear comparison with like qualities among the most civilized people. It was very gratifying, too, to see the anxiety of some of the Chinese, who were quite unconnected with the rebels, to try and screen such as they could see attempts were being made to save. Shanghai, Ningpo, Fokien, and Canton men, who had opportunities of bringing some of the rebels to grief, and thereby being well re- warded, were as true in the cause of humanity and charity to the wretched fellows as if they had been rebels themselves. There was no good leader of standing to guide them. 218 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. Their foreign friends often sought more after their own gain than the rebels' good ; but I doubt much if men of a similar stamp, acting in armed defiance of legal authority, in any other country, would have behaved as well, and maintained order in a manner equal to the Shanghai rebels, who throughout the siege exhibited traits which showed that they only wanted good leaders to become first-rate soldiers. That they wished to join the insurgents at Nankin there can be no doubt. I have seen two letters that were received by them from that place ; and when the city was evacuated, it was the intention of the rebels to fight their way to Ching-Kiang-Foo. Chin-ah-Lin took especial charge of the son of the southern king, and had him by the hand when the Imperialist outworks were passed, but the lad was lost when the confusion began. Lew's strength failed him in the retreat, and though his fellow-chief gave him his own shoes to assist him in walking, he had at last to be carried. I have heard that Lew was saved by a Buddhist nun giving him a disguise. Seaou-Kin-Tsze, one of the fighting chiefs, got away ; he was a Shanghai man, so his knowledge of the dialect would aid him. One or two more of the leaders escaped. Ignorant of the fate of their fellows, and with- out being aware of what their colleagues had said, their respective narratives of the evacuation of the city con- firmed each other, and have assisted me in the above relation. After the dispute with Yeh, Chin-ah-Lin came to Hong-Kong, and offered to assist in any way against the above imperturbable mandarin, but his overtures were of course rejected. He was apparently leagued with some powerful party in the island connected with the rebel or piratical fleets. HOW THE MANDARINS GOT FOREIGN HEADS. 219 He came one day and told me that Ma-chow-wang, or some mandarin agent, was kidnapping sailors, or people were doing it to get money from the manda- rins for their heads. He explained that the men were engaged to go to Macao in lorchas, and when out at sea were seized and taken to Namtow, a place be- tween Hong-Kong and Canton, where they were beheaded. I at once went and informed the police, urging that a warning notice should be put out to caution sailors, but no notice was published. Shortly afterwards, however, Commodore the Hon. C. B. Elliot attacked Namtow, and seized the Chinese admiral's junk with some valuable papers. Translations of some of these were printed in the Hong-Kong Gazette, and by them it appeared that a number of heads of foreigners had been procured and sent up to Canton for the reward. When the rebels that were taken by the " Niger" near Hong-Kong were given up to the Chinese by the police, the Shanghai ex-leader went away, dreading a similar fate. We heard of him as a compradore at Siam, doing a good business, giving two horses to one of the kings. It was said he took to piracy ; but he seemed to have a charmed life, for there he is still, though probably his end will be in prison, for his taste of independent life has doubtless made him unfit for any settled employ- ment or honest occupation. He is a curious specimen of a Chinaman, and as such has taken up more space in these pages than either his doings or his cause would otherwise have warranted. 220 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. CHAPTER XXI. SIEGE OF CANTON BY THE TRIADS. Heads and ears — A walk round Canton — Miserable appearance of the place — The braves— Author visits head-quarters — The commander and his crew — Appearance of the rebel army — The combat — Imperialists retreat — Lies of the Pekin Gazette — Extraordinary cowardice— A charge with an umbrella— Mandarins' fear of the people retaliating the iniquities of their rulers — Closeness of the blockade — Ingeniously-conveyed de- spatches from the rebels — Executions— Attempts at visiting the rebels' camp — Odd artillery practice — The soldiers destroy what the rebels spare — Popularity of the rebel cause — Partial proceedings of the English in support of the governing powers — No means of opening communication with the rebels — Wide spread of the insurrection — The " Avenger of Sorrow" — Fearful scenes — Rising en masse — Defeat and reaction — A million perish in the province of Canton within a year. I RESIDED at Canton when the city was besieged by the Triad rebels. There were horrible tales current of the slaughter committed on rebels by the Imperial troops at the north side of the city. Thousands killed, and so many executed, that the baskets sent for the heads were not sufficient to carry the whole, so that the mandarins determined on sending to the Governor-General boxes containing only the right ears ! Every one agreed in their terrific accounts ; but I was sufficiently interested in the subject to venture on an expedition to verify for my own satisfaction the actual state of the case. It was a fine hot afternoon in July ; I was accompanied by two good friends, and relied on their superior knowledge of the language to get us out of any difficulties that might arise : one of my companions THE BRAVE ARMY. 221 was a first-rate Chinese scholar, and was accompanied by his servant ; this made the excursion less dangerous. We set off, and as we walked briskly through the long narrow streets, how deserted they looked ! Beggars seemed to be in the majority, generally poor wo-hegone looking women, with the haggardness of care deep- rooted in their melancholy faces ; how brimful has been the cup of misery in this unhappy province ! At in- tervals we had to crush through the barricades formed in the streets. At each was a guard of picked men in the pay of the householders in the neighbourhood. They were by far the best-looking of all the soldiers. The village braves were the next best ; long lanky fellows they were, poorly armed, and badly dressed, — the leg naked to the thigh, but dashing-looking men. And how different from the ragamuffin vagabonds that were ranked as soldiers, hang-dog, cut-throat, cowardly wretches, better fitted for a massacre than a fight. There was no redeeming feature in their appearance ; they were dirty, and evidently earned their livelihood in their present occupation, being unfit for anything else, and not adepts even at that. The city walls had been repaired, and the creepers that had grown upon them were removed, taking away the picturesque appearance the ramparts formerly had at the west side of the city. We stopped at a large guard-house, from which we had a distant glimpse of the troops moving about among the barren hills near the north road ; there was some firing, and an extensive display of flags. The forts surrounded by tents pre- sented a martial look ; they were strongly guarded ; the face of the hills had been scarped, and thickly studded with sharp-pointed bamboo spikes to prevent a sudden attack. We were not satisfied with our position ; and 222 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. as the soldiers were civil we pushed onwards, until we ^arrived at the pretty Mahometan mosque, about a mile from the city. This appeared to be the head- quarters of some of the leading mandarins, their post being where least danger might be expected. Another body of officials was stationed on a hill to our right, but the governor-general and principal officers were in the five-storied pagoda, making out all they could by the aid of their "thousand-mile inspector" in the shape of English telescopes. There was a queer medley of people about the mosque, ragged-looking soldiers from all parts of the province, rascally Chaou-chaou men, and a host of dirty coolies, with a batch of sedan chairs for the man- darins, and mountain chairs for the wounded. There War Charger. were some Tartar steeds that would have astonished Mazeppa, and from their size would have had hard work to carry him ; there was little of the Ukraine breed about them. The pompous mandarins stalked about in all the glory of badger-tailed white-button caps, their long robes inelegantly tucked up behind, and their tails braced in by their yellow girdles. The variety of arms was a wonder— matchlocks, gingals, swords single and THE BATTLE. 223 double, sabres, pistols of the most ancient construction, one or two old flint muskets without ramrod or bayonet. The mosque within looked quiet and peaceful. There were boards and ornaments with Chinese and Arabic inscriptions hanging round the walls. A welcome sup- ply of cold tea was politely oflPered us by perhaps the attendant priest. It is strange that this sect should still exist in China. There is a tradition that an uncle of the great prophet is buried near this mosque. These matters did not trouble us much during this visit : the firing was pretty close to us, but we could not make out the rebels, so we pushed onwards among some soldiers, and passed different groups, all apparently anxious for anything but fighting, in fact, looking perfectly indif- ferent, being at a safe distance. Bang went a heavy shot from the forts, whistling with a peculiar sort of hum over our heads at the rebels on a hill about a mile off". Before the year was out I got pretty well used to standing under fire. We at last got well forward, and had a good look at the rebels. Their main body was on a small hill among a cluster of flags ; another force was behind a wood to their left, near the village of San- yuen-le, and in front they had a cloud of skirmishers who were getting forward under cover of their shields. The Imperialists had many men in like order to meet them, but there was no firing in volleys or charging in companies, — the w^hole afiair was a large skirmish with strong supports in the rear. If the rebels had run, the large straggling forces of the Imperialists would have followed them, but as they were rather advancing, the brave soldiers of the empire began to waver. I placed a telescope on a soldier's head that I might have a view of the advancing rebel skirmishers, who were cautiously creeping through a field of young paddy, 224 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. when a gradually increasing hum of many voices passed through the ranks ; there was an evident inclination for a run, and no attempt to stop it. Chinese troops are guided by flags carried by the mandarins' standard- bearers, and by the sound of the drum or gong. They may have tried a rally, but when we learned that the confusion among the troops was caused by a cry from the Governor-Generars men calling for powder, we thought it better to move off. We had not got far when the rebels shouted and moved nearer ; there were screams of Tall ! Tah ! on all sides. The troops poured back towards the city in a long stream along the north road. We shuffled up to the mosque, and in the general retreat missed one of our party among the crowd of soldiers. Leaving the one who remained with me at the city side of the mosque, I forced my way through the retreating men, and found our lost friend among some mandarins, who were entreating him to stop, as they made out the soldiers were following us, and if we stopped, his men would " do battle ! " We had seen supplies of powder and buckets of tea going out to re- plenish and refresh the troops ; ' the coolies had gathered together with their burdens, and the men on getting their powder seemed less inclined to retreat. They began to extend their line on the flanks, and peppered away, we could not see at what, as the rebels did not push their advantage. The soldiers began to return, and as evening came on the rebels re-entered their camps, and thus the Governor-General had gained another victory I an account of which appeared in the Pehin Gazette, this trustworthy authority stating that 11,000 rebels had been killed in the victories around Canton that week. I tried to ascertain if any shots told, but never saw a ^■V" I"' ""^^^ X ^ ^ EXTRAORDINARY COWARDICE. 225 man drop on either side ; one or two were carried past on chairs, about half a dozen soldiers taking advantage to get off the field by acting as guards to each chair. There was one man badly hit in the head, and a smart looking young lad had a shot in his chest, and bled pro- fusely ; we found him dead as we returned. I don't believe the loss on both sides rose to fifty men hors de combat. I never saw such a pack of cowards in my life, and would not believe that men with arms in their hands could be such fools if I had not seen it ; a score or two of school-boys armed with stones would run a fair chance of gaining a victory over the same number of Chinese soldiers. The rebels, too, showed little pluck, bnt some days before, had made a dashing attack on the forts during a storm ; they are said to have gone into action naked, and counted upon the rain preventing the fort guns being fired. The rebels were dressed like labouring men. Some had red sashes, but I did not see red turbans. Some days after the fight that I had witnessed, three or four Canton foreigners and myself went out to see the ground in the hope of getting a glimpse of the rebel camp. We voted that none should carry revolvers or arms of any kind, as in case of a mishap, our small party could do little against thousands. It was fortunate we came to this conclusion as the sequel will show. What a different scene did the mosque now present : utter solitude, not a living thing visible ; the tent-clad hills crowned with forts looked down in quietness, and the space between the city and the rebel camp lay there as dull and silent 'as the graves which strewed the ground. The fields were trodden down, and the crops destroyed by those whose watchwords \vere order, obedience, and justice ! After passing the mosque we heard shouts in our rear ; p 226 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. a mandarin with a hundred men had been sent out to stop us. He besought us to return, told us we were in great danger, and that the rebel devils rose out of the ground. We assured him we could not see any ; he then gave a wave of his arm and said, " They are every- where." He grew so earnest that we thought if we moved on we might get into a scrape with him when we came back, so out of apparent deference to his wishes we returned, greatly disappointed, for we were within half a mile of the rebel outposts. Our guardian man- darin marched us off in the midst of his soldiers as if we were prisoners ; but as the men he commanded were a rascally-looking set, we told him to keep them back whilst we marched on in front. They gathered about the sides of the road and were not over civil, till, getting worse and worse, w^e were at last surprised by a great shout beside us ; the vagabonds drew their swords and rushed at us with their infernal cry of Tah ! Tah ! Perhaps they did it to frighten us, but if they had had the pluck they might easily have given us the coup-de- grdce. None, however, drew blood ; for, without a moment's hesitation, when I heard the Tah ! I levelled my umbrella to the charge, and went right through them until I reached the frightened mandarin ; we surrounded and seized him, and compelled him to send his followers forward, whilst we kept the worthy gentleman within easy distance of a knock-down blow. We went through the camp, the Fokien and Chaou- chaou men looking perfect demons in the dim light of the lanterns hung about their tents ; gambling was going on to a great extent, and we observed, that as there was no fight that day, these respectable guardians of the public peace were not permitted to have fire-arms of any kind. The mandarins of Canton have much to answer for. PRECAUTION OF THE MANDARINS. 227 The soldiers, that year by year they had taxed the people for, where were they when the danger really came ? They must now disburse their ill-gotten gains, and gather men from all the surrounding towns to fight their battles, leaving other cities unprotected ! What , misery have-thesajcities not endured ! Capture and re- cajiture, fire, rapine, and destruction. The blood of thousands may be laid to their account, and a day of woful retribution is at hand. Anxiety, poverty, and disgrace are small matters compared to the heavy reckoning that will follow. They may gain a temporary triumph, and trumpet forth successive victories ; but were they ten times more fortunate, their acts will stand a lasting monument of execration, deeply graven in the hearts of an injured people. The people of Canton were governed by terror. Jus- tice was left out of the question. Lies were not only spoken, but acted. If prisoners could not be taken in battle, innocent people were brought in for execution ; the citizens must be made to believe in the power of the mandarins, and most successfully were they deluded. The mandarins feared them, more than they feared the mandarins. For months the gates were closed, and only opened at certain places, with vast precautions. The people were made to wear badges, bearing their name, age, and residence ; all entering the city from the suburbs were at one time examined, and, doubtless, with reason, for had not the strictest caution been ob- served. Canton would have been taken by its own citi- zens. The panic was very great, — shops closed, trade suspended ; there was scarcely any communication with places in the neighbourhood. The streets were barri- caded, and besides this, in the suburbs, platforms were raised over the streets, so that, in case of fire or an attack, the people could move from one place to the 223 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. other over the houses. Look-out stations were thickly scattered high above the streets in commanding places, and careful watchmen placed therein. So close was the blockade, that provisions became enormously dear ; and so strict was the examination of people passing the gates, that they even stripped females. One case was reported of a rebel-despatch being found under a plaster over a pretended sore on a woman's leg ! The trunks of a certain high mandarin were examined as they passed the gate, and papers were discovered, showing he was in league with the rebels, or had been in correspondence with them. He was taken prisoner, examined at first by one Ya-mun or court, and then by another ; at last was taken to the Tartar general's, and there assassinated. I went one day before the rebels laid siege to Canton, to see an execution of one of the rebel chiefs with some threescore men ; the former was to be flayed alive. Though the streets were filled with soldiers, the chief, for the third time, was taken back to the cell, after being led part of the way to the ground ; so great was the fear of a rescue. The rest suffered without any attempt at interference. These were curious times to live in, and we saw ex- traordinary sights. There was little business doing, and a good deal of leisure. At first few foreigners ventured outside the factory-wall, but when some did so with impunity, others followed the example, and even long excursions, never dreamt of in time of peace, were now undertaken. • All the soldiers were not such a bad set ; some were even fine-featured, sharp-looking fellows. Many of them had never seen a foreigner before, and doubtless weie a good deal astonished to behold a couple of bar- barian devils walking up to them, examining their arms, and trying to get up a conversation with the lew sen- PAY OF THE SOLDIERS. 229 tences at their command of the Canton dialect. I went two or three times out to the camp at the east side of the city ; the rehels were in large force some three or four miles off, and were visible from my bedroom windows ; we endeavoured to get out to them, especially after a fight, for we could see them fighting from the factories. We heard of thousands slain ; but I walked over the ground several times, and all that was visible of the remains of a combat was some few drops of blood on the road by which the wounded had been carried back, some bullets, and one piece of bloody rag. The ground was very rough, and had many points where wounded men might have been concealed, or dead passed over, but none were to be seen, even an hour after the fight. The Imperial outposts on the hills at the east of Canton were occupied by a few fine young- fellows from Sin-iuJmi, a city attacked by the rebels. There was one man, the heau-ideal of a light infantry soldier. They were well armed, and had very high pay, 17 or $10 per month ; soldiers of the main body were in receipt of but half this amount. Their post was one of great danger and importance ; but no mandarin risked his valuable person there. They let us pass their lines, and watched with interest our movements towards the rebels ; but we never could get to the " patriots." Their scouts retreated as we advanced, until they got into a bamboo plantation, into which we did not care to follow them, lest the rebels should not like our appearance or our approach, as they might easily have seen us when speaking to the soldiers. After the rebels were driven away from Canton, we visited their encampments ; the village had been utterly destroyed on all sides. To the eastw^ard they had held an old Tartar camp, the intrenchments of which, and a a long mound, formed their advanced defence : the chief 230 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. camp was on the side of a steep hill, with a plain in front. I cannot understand how the rebels lost this position ; it was strong, and there were two streams which might have been made available between them and the city. On the north side they had a far worse position, but had strong supports to fall back upon at some twenty miles in their rear. I don't think they were actually driven away, but ^treated from both places, the man- darins burning all the villages they had occupied. It was a heart-rending sight to see these deserted desolate ruins. Some of the villages were as large as many small towns in England. Some foreigners went over to see them after the rebels were driven out; the poor people were in a sad plight, and bitterly railed against the soldiers. Old men, and even little children, came up to show the foreigners the brutal dealings of the ruffianly troops. Some had both ears cut off. One poor old man had two pretty flower-jars lying in the wreck of his house ; they now adorn the porch of a friend of mine in Hong-Kong, who was anxious to get them, and offered a high price for them. " Take them, take them," said the old man ; ^^ they are yours ; I can die, I do not want your money ; of what use is it to me now ?" Of such a scene, it is only riglit to speak with reverence. Pity for the country that is so cursed, so rotten at the core ; and yet, the people contain all the elements to make the Chinese one of the finest nations on the earth. Their institutions are good, their maxims and moral code unobjectionable ; but the whole is neutralized by the deceit, the cupidity, and cowardice of their rulers. The great historian. Gibbon, in writing of the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius, says, " Their laws, with few exceptions, breathe often the most admirable sentiments, and the wisest political principles ; but this proves no WERE THE MANDARINS NOT BLAMEWORTHY ? 231 more than that there were some men of abilities who were employed in framing them ; it was another thing to enforce their observance, and while this was neglected, the words were but empty sounds, to which the public ad- ministration of government was a daily contradiction." How applicable similar remarks would be to Chinese laws, may be gathered from many passages in these pages, and from the Chinese Emperor's instructions to his ambassador to the Tourgouths, which contained, according to Staunton's translations, the following words: — "In our empire, fidelity, filial piety, 'charity, justice, and sincerity, are our ruling principles, the objects of our veneration, and the constant guides of our conduct!" It excites the indignation of every right- thinking foreigner in China, to see the representatives of Christian countries pandering to officials whom they know to be corrupt, making no attempt to advance the cause of true civilisation, except by breaking treaties themselves, and passively bearing insults from a power Jthat is tottering to ruin by the uprising of its people to avenge their wrongs, — wrongs to which our officials appear to be most callous, while proclaiming themselves " the bulwarks of freedom," and the " rescuers of the oppressed." The very weakness of the revolutionists might have been an additional inducement for us to assist them, if we acknowledge that they had good grounds for desiring and endeavouring to overthrow the tyranny that weighed upon them. Willing though the wealthy may be to see a bad government changed, they will not risk their wealth until the new power is strong enough to protect it ; consequently, a revolution must be commenced by those who have little to lose, and their force kept up by contributions and exactions, while their progress, from one place to another must often leave the people of the city they have left subject to the 232 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. avenging laws of the existing power. Land, mean- while, remains uncultivated, famine follows, trade is disarranged, and eventually the rebels are driven to plunder for an existence, and the last state of the people is worse than the first. We have witnessed such scenes in the Canton province, and other fair portions of the Chinese empire : provinces each as large as our own happy England have suffered unbounded calamities from the vengeance of blood- thirsty mandarins. Let us not be told that the rebels were mere bands of plundering villains ; would that they had 1 we should not then have to mourn that humanity liad been disgraced by the indiscriminate slaughter of thousands of innocent people. The very numbers that have been executed in cold blood proclaim not only that the revolution was wide-spread and popular, but that the government that destroyed them no longer deserved to exist ! It is sad to stain paper with the records of cruel- ties committed in the Canton province, and still worse to record them to our own disgrace, when it is patent to all that we might have prevented them. We pretended neutrality, but carried on communications with one side only, and took for granted statements that were made, though we knew that our informants had often previ- ously deceived us. The large and populous town of Fuh-shan, equal to Canton as a place of trade, was taken by the lebels. After it had been held some time, it was reported that they had burned the whole place, with all its wealth, and had been driven by the Imperial troops to a village in the neighbourhood. As such an event was of great importance to foreign trade, inquiry was made at the British Consulate to see if the repoit were true, and it was confirmed. Doubting this, or being desirous ITvlP TO FUH-SHAN. 283 of more certain information, a party was formed, and we set off to endeavour to reach the place, as it was only about twelve miles' distant from Canton. We could notget up to the town that day, but went sufficiently far to learn that the Imperialists had burned a small suburb, and that the rebels were still in possession ! Next day the United States' acting-consul went up with two armed boats from the United States' ship Vandalia, and found that the Imperial flotilla was some distance from the town. After communicating with one of the mandarins, the boats approached the rebel outworks, the consul wishing to have some communication with the rebels ; but unfortunately using a white flag, and waving it as a flag of truce, the rebels took this as a defiance, a white flag being the signal for war, and the waving of it a challenge ; the boats were fired on, and returned the fire before retreating. Being anxious to discover the real state of affairs, and if possible to communicate with the rebels to get information, a friend and myself arranged to go to Fuh-shan in a fast six-oared gig. Just as we were starting, the United States' consul returned and advised us not to go by a particular route, as the Chinese admiral had told him the people there were all disaffect- ed ; the gentleman who accompanied him as interpreter, told my friend that they had to use fire-arms ; but, as I asked if they had seen any fighting, and was told '^ a little, but only one man was killed," considered that the fighting was between the contending parties, and that my friend, who was a foreigner, might have been mis- taken as to the American boat having been engaged. We therefore started to discover, if we could get to Fuh- shan by another route, and took the main branch of the river, passed some places where the rebels had been, and found the whole river deserted, though in ordinary times it is the highway of numerous boats of all sizes. We 234 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. saw several dead bodies, but scarcely a living creature until we came to the fleet blockading Fuh-shan. Before ] proceeding farther, we thought it best to inquire about the American boats, and found that they had really had a skirmish with the rebels, and that two of the latter liad been shot. Under these circumstances it would not have been prudent to go farther, but we found that the rebels were still in full possession, and they held the ])lace for a long time after, even driving off the Imperial fleet. On our return we met a large reinforcement going to join the government forces ; they let us pass without question, and we safely reached Canton by tlie route the (Chinese admiral had stated to be so dangerous. The British consul, with right good feeling, requested that we would not again venture on such an expedition. You will see, therefore, that there was almost no opportunity for communication with the rebels. Admiral Sir James Stirling subsequently had interviews with the rebel chiefs at Whampoa, and was so far satisfied with their inten- tions, that he promised perfect neutrality ; — a neutrality which Sir John Bowring did not countenance,^ as he would not agree to a blockade of Canton, so far as Chinese boats were concerned, though the rebels intimated that no hindrance would be offered to our vessels passing ; but they objected to our towing or convoying Chinese craft containing cargo or provisions. There may be little said in favour of the men the rebels had as leaders of their forces ; but that they were as good, if not superior, to the soldiers of the Government there can be no doubt. Many of the wealthy men of Canton, and indeed most of the people of that city, as it was the head-quarters of the mandarin power, professed to disown all connexion with the movement, and contributed large sums towards the ' Yell applied to f^ir J. Bowring for assistance to protect Cant(ni. See p. 278. WIDE SPREAD OF THE INSURRECTION. 235 Gov^ernment troops ; but there was scarcely one who did not condemn the practices of the Imperial officers, and dreaded, perhaps not without reason, the advent of the rebels, for it was from Canton that nearly the whole power of the mandarins proceeded. It would be easier to state the names of places which were not under rebel rule, than to number the cities in their possession. At one time, in the Canton province, there was scarcely a city they did not hold; but as the province is intersected with numerous large branches of rivers, and the Imperialists were more powerful on water than the insurgents, the greater part of the best portions of the country were subject to invasions from the Im- perial forces. The villagers could not cultivate their lands from fear of seizure, thousands being carried off, and after the revolution had run its disastrous course for more than a year, the rebel forces were gradually compelled to retreat ; ill success militating against them more by its influence with the people, than the reported successes of the troops. The chiefs still have numerous followers with them, and bid defiance to the mandarins from the borders of the province ; and as the exactions and cruelties of the latter still exist, we may again see a revolution through Kwang-Tung, to avenge with ten- fold severity the atrocities that have been committed. When it does come, God grant that it may be done quickly ! and that it be not brought about by men like the Canton revolutionists, but that a moral, as well as a political change, may be effected in this part of China. There is but little fear of trade becoming worse ; it has lain fallow so long, that the natural wants of the country must soon cause it to shoot forth, and its pre- vious dormant state will only make it rise with greater vigour. The first outbreak occurred at Shih-lung, a large trad- 236 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. ing place, second only to Fuh-shan ; and situated in the Tung-kwan district on the Tnng-kiang river, about thirty miles from Canton, is a small village called Sze-ma. The people here had a dispute with the local authorities, who collected a large force, and surrounded the village, but those who had been in arms escaping, the women and children were put to the sword, root and branch, — all exterminated. The fields for a mile around the vil- lage were laid waste, and the houses razed to the gronud. It is said that Ho-Alnk, one of the Canton chiefs, and a leading member of the Triad Society, lost a brother in this massacre ; probably only a " brother" of the Triad Society. He himself was in the service of the mandarins, having charge of about a dozen large heavily-armed ves- sels that were used by the worthy official at Shih-lung to carry on a smnggling trade with the outer waters, — a trade that is quite respectable among the mandarins, if we may judge by the number engaged in it. The triumph of the Government was short-lived. Ho-Aluk raised the rebel standard : taking upon himself the title of the Avenger of Sorrow, he collected a considerable band,'' raised chiefly in the Tung-kwan district. The towns of Shih-lung and Tung-kwan were soon in their possession ; but their first efforts were by no means successful. It wanted some additional atrocity on the part of the man- darins themselves to give the crowning point to the suc- cess of the rebels. A large force was sent against Tung- kwan from Canton, and closely besieged it. The rebels were few in number, and as yet but indifferently organ- ized. The people of Tung-kwan felt they had but little chance, single-handed, against the forces of the man- darins ; so they petitioned that Wa, a former governor of the city, and a man much respected, should be re- stored to the government ; and on this condition they agreed that the city should be given up. Ho-Aluk and CRUELTY OF THE MANDAllINS. 237 Yang, the other leader, made their escape, and got away most of their guns, but lost nearly all their boats. While the mandarins' fleet was proceeding to Tung- kwan, and before it dared attack the rebels, day by day vast numbers of prisoners were sent in for decapitation. I saw sixty-three beheaded in less than four minutes ! — poor people picked up on the river or in country villages, all slaughtered indiscriminately. But wh^n Tung-kwan v/as taken possession of, so nuuierous were the victims, that in one day three boxes of right ears were sent up to the Grovernor-General in lieu of heads. These fear- fid scenes served only to add fuel to the flame. The Triads rose en masse.t In one short month, city after city was taken, and before the end of the year Canton was about the only place from which the mandarins had not been expelled. Then difficulties began. The first great defeat was near Whampoa : the rebels had divided their forces, and when a large detachment was absent, the village braves, collected by some of the wealthy people in Canton, were sent against the body of insurgents in Blenheim Reach. When the attack began the detachment was returning ; but, unfortunately, H.M.S.S. " Styx" got up steam, and the river steamer *' Sir Charles Forbes," turned from the course to give the passengers a good view of the fight. These circum- stances caused some apprehension in the rebel fleet ; the forces never joined ; a hurried retreat was made, the Canton boats keeping up a brisk running fire, and cap- turing a fort and some of the rebel craft. Ho-Aluk got clear away, boldly fighting to the last, and keeping in a position that enabled him to protect the rear-guard of the insurgent flotilla. I have this fact from an eye- witness. Now commenced the downfall of the prestige of the insurgents in the province of Canton, and with it the most bloodthirsty acts of the mandarins — acts at 238 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. which humanity shudders. I shall not detail them. Suffice it to say, that in the city of Canton alone, during six months, 70,000 men were executed ! In Shaou-hing, that number was exceeded. At other places thousands were put to the sword, hundreds cast into the river, tied together in batches of a dozen. 1 have seen their putrid corpses floating in masses down the stream, — women, too, among the number. Many were cut to pieces alive. I have seen the horrid sight, and the limbless, headless corpse, merely a mass of flayed flesh among headless trunks, that lay in scores covering the whole execution- ground. It is estimated that more than a million perished in the province within a year after the revolution began ; upwards of 100,000 must have been beheaded in the Canton field of blood, which, strange to say, is a " pot- ter's field." I have ventured past the place where the sufferers were buried ; it is beyond the leper village on the east side of the city. At first each corpse had a separate grave, and a paltry new coffin, but the number became so great that at last they were merely cast into pits, the executioner making the same coffin serve for many burials, thus gaining no small sum from the allowance for interment. There could not be a more revolting sight than to see the long string of coolies carrying out their ghastly burdens on the otherwise deserted road ; the bodies plainly visible through the broken planks that were loosely huddled around them ; the blood dro})S marking their course to the grave. It tried one's patience to see the coolies going laughing along with the blood-sodden coffins, joking with their fellows whom they met returning with the empty boxes that had con- veyed the first batch of corpses. Truly they " had no feeling of their business." And yet the greater part of SUICIDE ENCOURAGED. 239 those who had been in arms escaped, and many of them bear them still. The victims executed were chiefly men who had submitted to the rule of the insurgents- This is no rash assertion ; the information is confirmed from many sources, and among others from mandarins them- selves.^ The Government went so far as to erect pa- vilions to encourage suicide among the people who were in favour of the rebellion, and supplied these places with different means of causing death, proclaiming that those who thus sacrificed themselves, and escaped the disgrace of decapitation, would save their families from participating in the punishment of their guilt. Several men quite unconnected with the rebels, or at all events safe from the mandarins, are known to have arranged for their sale as insurgents, that their friendxS might get the reward offered for the capture of a victim ! A gentleman thoroughly acquainted with the southern Chinese, goes so far as to state that a man gave himself up as a chief when he knew he would be cut to pieces alive, though he was perfectly innocent, choosing to re- present that character, as the reward was considerable. This is hard for us to believe, but it is well known that in China a substitute can be bought for a small sum to undergo capital punishment. It must be acknowledged that the remissness of the mandarins, as well as the bad conduct of their subordi- nates, did much to bring about a revolution in Canton province : for not only were the people allowed to arm too freely under pretext of protecting their country from the English barbarians (see Lin's proclamation pub- lished relative to the opium trade) — but the government officials, relying on the prowess of the village braves, to save their own pockets, neglected the regular troops, thus leaving cities unprepared for any attack ; and actu- ' See Memorial of Tsang-waiig-yeu at tlie en enable him to treat upon the several subjects detailed in the letter of the undersigned to the Chief Secretary of State, Yu-Ching, of the 11th February. In this hope he has been disappointed. A later communication from Count Pontiatine has but strengthened his conviction of the futility of any far- ther attempt to open negotiations at the mouth of the Peiho."! On receipt of the second communication from the Russian ambassador on the 17th May, as it stated that the Emperor would not receive any foreign ambassador at Pekin, a conference was called. The allied chiefs met on the 18th, and decided that the forts should be taken. Next day, Lord Elgin gave his instructions to the admiral to summon the forts of Takoo, and if the summons was disregarded, to take them by force. On the following day (20th May), the whole of the forts had been gallantly captured with but slight loss ; they were first well shelled, and the men were then landed to occupy them. ^' The forts were backed by a large body of troops, supposed to be the elite of the Imperial guard." The Chinese had done much to complete their defences, and trusted to the forts and barriers keeping out the troublesome barbarians. No preparations to resist were made at Tien-tsin, or at other points on the river ; the Chinese evidently thought that their defences at Takoo were sufficient ; the delay in the attack doubt- less helped to confirm them in this opinion. This was the best thing that could have happened ; their energies were directed entirely to strengthen the forts, which by good management were readily taken, and Tien-tsin being undefended, was reached without further opposi- _ . * All this is omitted in Mr. Oliphant's narrative. THE TREATY SIGNED. 303 tion. Much harm would have resulted had it been necessary to attack that city with a small force. It was not until the 1st June, that Lord Elgin wrote to the major-general in the south for a " respectable land force " to be sent to his assistance ; two days afterwards, Imperial commissioners, duly qualified to treat, arrived at Tien-tsin, and by the end of the week, they had agreed, with some qualifications, to most of the terms proposed by Lord Elgin, but they could not be induced to sign the new treaty until the 26th June, and the Emperor's assent was not procured until the commis- sioners were informed, a week later, that the reinforce- ments written for had arrived from Hong-Kong. To carry out Lord Elgin's reiterated threat of going to Pekin, Tien-tsin must have been occupied, the city of Toong-chow taken and held, a land march of many miles accomplished, and then the capital of the empire be- sieged wdth a force which, even after the men arrived, who were only written for on the 1st June, would not have been at the largest computation above 1500 strong. At Tien-tsin our officers had experience how the popu- lation, naturally well disposed, could be excited against foreigners by the mandarins. What could such a small force have been able to do in an enemy's country, sixty miles from the base of operations, which must have been at Tien-tsin ? With the force that Lord Elgin had in China to support him, troubles at Canton, and the Indian mutiny unsubdued, how could he ever have expected to force an entry to Pekin, and arrive there with an army strong enough to insist upon his demands, no matter if the whole fleet of gun-boats had arrived with him at the Peiho on the 14th April. I have been very particular in giving the dates and circumstances relative to the events at the Peiho and 301 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. Tien-tsin, as reports injurious to Sir Michael Seymour have been busily circulated, and blame has been cast upon him for not joining the plenipotentiary with the gun-boats at an earlier date. Had the whole of the official correspondence been published in the Blue Book of Lord Elgin's mission, a complete justification of the admiral's conduct would have appeared ; and Mr. Oli- phant's remarks on this subject proved to be most unjust. Even from the Secretary's own account of these trans- actions it is difficult to understand how the admiral had impeded the advance, or rendered it more difficult. After his arrival, Lord Elgin twice entered into com- munication with the Imperial Commissioners, and twice six days were given to enable properly qualified persons to be sent to treat ; and it was not until all these attempts had proved abortive that ofi'ensive operations were determined upon. Sir Michael Seymour, it was understood, held the opinion, the correctness of which was proved by the results, that, so long as the Chinese directed all their attention to the defences at the mouth of the river, the advance on Tien-tsin, after the capture of these, would be a complete success. In China, Sir Michael Seymour's high qualities as a naval com- mander had ere this been put to the test and fully appreciated ; and the opinion throughout the whole foreign community was, that to him was mainly to be attributed the success of our operations at the mouth of the Peilio, and the subsequent advance on Tien-tsin — successes without which Lord Elgin's treaty would never have been obtained. How far this is shown in his Lordship's Secretary's narrative the reader can judge for himself A copy of the letter to the commissioner (of which I have given an extract), relative to the reasons for the UNJUST ATTACK UPON THE ADMIRAL. 305 delay in attacking after the second reply had been re- ceived from him, was sent to Sir Michael Seymour, so that the admiral possesses that document to refute Mr. OUphant's assertion, though that gentleman studiously avoids all mention of it.^ And with regard to any delay in attacking the forts after the reply had been received to Lord Elgin's first communicationj sent on the 24th of April with those from the other plenipotentiaries, Mr. Oliphant evidently wishes the public to infer that an immediate attack had been determined on, ior lie says, — " The only course left seemed to be to send an ultimatum to Tan (the commissioner), stating that the plenipotentiaries had now placed the matter in the hands of the allied naval authorities." There appear to have been no instructions given by Lord Elgin to that effect ; there is no mention of it in the Blue Book ; but there we have the following letter from the British Plenipoten- tiary in reply to that received from Tan : — " May \st, 1858. " The undersigned begs to acknowledge the Imperial Commis- sioner's letter of yesterday. As that letter contained no satisfactory answer to the question put by the undersigned in his letter of the 30th ult., he did not meet the Commissioner as he had intended to-day. The Imperial Commissioner will presently hear more at length from the undersigned. (Signed) " Elgin and Kincardine." Lord Elgin accordingly did write more at length on the 6th, giving six further days to the Imperial Com- missioner. The circumstances after that time elapsed have been described as above. When it is known that no complaint whatever was made by Lord Elgin directly to Sir M. Seymour of any inconvenience arising from the unavoidable delay in 1 Blue Book, p. 307. U 306 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. getting the gunboats earlier to the Peiho, and that the admirars conduct in his arduous command was appre- ciated by the Government, and rewarded by his Sove- reign, T think enough has been said to show the in- justice that has been done to one of the most gallant and judicious officers in Her Majesty's navy. The late Takoo disaster proved how necessary it is to be fully prepared before attacking even Chinese forts. This fact alone should have prevented Lord Elgin's secretary from publishing his aspersions, especially as no good can now result from trying to attach blame to the admiral, — the treaty having been concluded, however politic it might have been to be ready to throw^ all blame upon him, while Lord Elgin's success was still doubtful. To show in how great esteem Sir Michael Seymour was held by the mercantile community in China, I take this opportunity to publish a copy of the address pre- sented to him upon his retiring from command. It was eagerly signed by every British merchant in Hong- Kong : — " His Excellencij Sir Michael Seymour, K.C.B., Rear- Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Naval Forces in the East India and China Seas. '' Hong-Kong, IQth March 1859. "Sir, — We, the undersigned British merchants, and other re- presentatives of British trade and interests in China, do ourselves the honour of waiting upon your Excellency, to express our pro- found appreciation of your Excellency's public services and personal worth. " As the period draws near which is to terminate your Excellency's arduous command in these seas, we should be doing injustice to our own feelings were we to allow it to pass without placing upon record some memorial of them, however inadequate. " It would be travelling beyond our province and the necessary limits of this address to attempt even to sketch that extended series OPINION OF THE MERCANTILE COMMUNITY. 307 of naval and military operations conducted under your Excellency's auspices, and which have been instrumental in accomplishing such vast political results. " It will suffice to say that, commencing with the demolition of eveiy stronghold upon the Canton River in 1856, and ending with the capture of the Peiho fortresses in 1858, they materially con- duce to those concessions which have been hailed with such en- thusiasm by the whole western world. " But there is one part of your Excellency's career upon which we dwell with especial pleasure. When your Excellency, unin- formed of the sentiments of Her Majesty's Government, and acting mainly on your own responsibility, had to encounter the pressure of the formidable crisis which so unexpectedly occurred in the winter of 1856, — suddenly called upon, with a force ill adapted to the purpose, to assume coercive measures against a stubborn Vice- roy, sheltered within a densely populated city, — your Excellency's high Christian feeling induced you to spare it at a moment when the reckless obstinacy of its own ruler abandoned it to its doom ; and, when a certain amount of destruction became unavoidable, it was confined by your Excellency's forbearance within the narrowest possible compass, and fell on that quarter alone where it was most righteously incurred. " Let us hope that this city, so long the stronghold of irrational hate and intolerance, taught by the disastrous and humiliating lessons it has received, will henceforth entertain a wholesome re- spect for that power which it has hitherto affected to despise and defy. " When we were driven from it upwards of two years ago by the burning of our houses — when a price was put upon your Excel- lency's head, as weU as our own — when assassination took the place of war, and poison and incendiarism became its familiar weapons, — we remember your Excellency's great and untiring exertions, not only in guarding against a descent upon this island from the sea, but in preserving the river approaches to Canton from permanent obstruction, and so keeping them open for the access of that peace- ful commerce which is now returning to it. " We, more than any other section of the British community in China, are in a position to estimate the protection rendered by your Excellency to the trade of these seas, both in the prompt desf)atch of succour to ships in distress, as well as in the energetic c 308 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. repression of piracy ; and we take this opportunity of recording our warmest acknowledgments for the benefits thus conferred. " To mark our sense of these great services, and the respect we entertain for your Excellency personally, we now do ourselves the honour to request your acceptance of a Service of Plate, commemo- rative of the benefit you have conferred on foreign interests, and the lustre you have shed on British arms in China. " For this purpose we shall remit to a committee in London, by the outgoing mail, the sum of Two Thousand Guineas, with in- structions to defer entirely to your Excellency's judgment as re- gards the selection of our memorial. "It now only remains for us to bid your Excellency a most cordial farewell, to wish you many years of health and happiness in less trying spheres, and to assure you that you carry with you, not merely the respect, but the personal regard of this whole com- munity. — We have the honour to remain, your Excellency's most obedient servants, " Jardine, Matheson, & Co. — Dent & Co. — Lindsay & Co. — Fletcher & Co.— W. H. Wardley & Co.— Lyall, Still, & Co. — Turner & Co. — Birley & Co. — Oriental Bank Corporation (P. Campbell, manager). — Mercantile Bank Corporation (John Costerton, manager). — Agra and United Service Bank (Henry Turner, manager). — D. W. Mackenzie & Co. — HoUi- day. Wise, & Co. — Gilman & Co. — Gibb, Livingston, & Co. — David Sassoon, Sons, & Co. — Framjee, Byramjee, Metta, & Co. — Cowasjee, Pallenjee, & Co. — P. & D. N. Camajee & Co.— Max. Fischer.— A. Wilkinson.— D. N. Mody & Co.— P. F. Cama & Co. — Ameeroodeen, Jafi'erbhoy, & Co.— Judah & Co.— Gifford & Co.— Walker, Borradaile, & Co.— Smith, Kennedy & Co. — Hormusjee & Eustomjee. — E. H. Camajee & Co., p.p. J. Pestonjee. — Eduljee Framjee, Sons, & Co. — Stephenson & Co. — Y. J. Murrow. — E. Macgregor & Co. — G. H. Heaton. — John Lawrence. — Henry Eutter. — A. Wil- son. — W, Tarrant. — E. A. Long Phillips. — B. Kenny. — Chas. Jameson. — M'Ewen & Co.— T. Piccope. — C. S. Lun- grana & Co.— Ebrahim Goomer.— Nowrojee & Co. — F. B. Cama & Co. — Dhurumsee Poonjeebhoy. — Cassumbhoy Na- thabhoy & Co. — Smith & Brimelow. — Muncherjee Pestonjee Setna. — Aspunderjee Tamooljee.— D. Lapraik. — Lane, Craw- ^ ^ ford & Co. — Bowra & Co. — John Lamont." IMPROBABILITY OF THE TREATY BEING OF VALUE. 309 In China we had no official information given us of the contents of the Treaty of Tien-tsin, though we were the principal parties directly interested in it, until it arrived from England. Some of the particulars oozed out, and in general it was considered satisfactoiy, if it could he carried out ; but most people doubted this, as we felt that it had been extorted by force rathei- than by argument. The article which called upon the Chinese to receive communications in English, appeared the one most unlikely ever to have been agreed to by Chinese. Accord- ing to their letter to Lord Elgin,^ and which confirms the first information we had on the subject, the Imperial High Commissioners gave their entire consent, " that in official correspondence the English character shall hence- forth be employed, the British Government, for the pre- sent, accompanying the original with a Chinese version, which practice it will discontinue as soon as Chinese, selected by the Chinese Government to study the Eng- lish written and spoken language, shall have thoroughly acquainted themselves therewith ! ! " This appeared to be such an improbable concession on the part of the Chinese, that few ever believed that the Treaty of Tien-tsin was intended to be kept in good faith. In the treaty, however, the wording was somewhat modified. I have had occasion to notice how much Lord Elgin was guided by his interpreters, Messrs. Wade and Lay ; they did not, in fact, act merely as interpreters, but became the negotiators of the treaty, and were employed in this manner to an extent far beyond what we credited in China. By the papers furnished to Parliament, it would appear that Mr. Lay, then an officer in the Chinese service, was the principal party employed in arranging the points of the treaty directly with the 1 Blue Book, page 330, 310 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. Commissioners, and at their own request. Point by point was discussed by this gentleman with these high officers. Sometimes they appear to have gained partial concessions from him by flattery ; sometimes his patience left him when he could not gain a point he wished ; the result of all being, that the Commissioners, by his repre- sentations, agreed to most of the terms stipulated, pro- vided nothing was settled to be to our advantage at once : their concessions and the treaty became, in fact, a pro- missory note, the settlement of which was to be at a future date. Take the propositions as first agreed to. The letter of the Commissioners, it must be remembered, was written at the dictation of Mr. Lay.^ The Commissioners agreed : Istf " That every port along the river, from its source to its mouth, shall be open to trade ; that in every pro- vince British subjects shall be free to go into the interior with passports ;" foreigners awaiting the termination of the civil war before going into provinces which were in a disturbed state, and no definite time being fixed for the arrangements coming in force. 2d, " That between us and persons of the British (i.e. Christian) persuasion, inasmuch as these are not offen- sive, there shall be peace." Sdj That there should be a modification of the tariff, and reform of customs' administration. All to be settled hereafter. 4th, " That measures shall be concerted for the sup- pression of pirates." A proposition much more useful to the Chinese than to ourselves. 5th, " That the English chai-acter should be employed in official correspondence." Like all the others, " by and bye." » Bine Book, page 328. MR. LAY AND THE COMMISSIONER. 311 The Canton indemnity question was conveniently transferred to Canton, as no other province had any con- cern in it. As to the residence of a plenipotentiary at Pekin, " there is properly no objection." " Unfortunately a collision has occurred with the vessels of war of your Excellency's Government, and as the dignity of ours would perhaps be outraged by (the minister's) proceed- ing at once (to Pekin), his visit might, we think, be postponed. Her Majesty's plenipotentiary might live in Tien-tsin, and an official residence could be appointed him in the capital." In the conversation between Mr. Lay and the High Commissioner, Kwei Leang,^ it is reported " He prayed Mr. Lay to aid in getting the proposition for a resident minister at Pekin withdrawn. To allow all nations free access to the capital would be fraught with evil to China ; and he appealed to Mr. Lay to say, from his knowledge of the country, whether what he said was not correct. Mr. Lay could not help, to a certain extent, acquiescing in Jiis Excellences argument. He explained that there would not be any objection to admitting the minister of Great Britain, though there was to the admission of the ministers of all four nations. He was an old man of seventy-four years of age ; if he did not settle this point in accordance with the wishes of his Majesty, he would be inevitably degraded and punished. He, therefore, again invoked Mr. Lay's kind offices, that some compromise might be made by which the proposal should be waived for the time at least." The flattery, and appeal to Mr. Lay's sympathy, appear to have had the desired effect. Well, the treaty was signed, and had the Emperor's assent, as I have said before. It was a mere make-shift, ^ Blue Book, page 327. 312 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. and I believe never was intended to be carried out. Lord Elgin and all the forces left Tien-tsin. Here was the great mistake ; and the subsequent concession, that no merchant should go to Pekin to trade, explains it. Among our officials in China, especially among some of the interpreters, there exists a jealousy of the mercantile community coming into connexion with the Chinese officials. Every obstacle was thrown in the way of any British merchant being consul for a foreign state. Whether the objections arose from the British consuls not wishing merchants to have the same title as them- selves, I cannot say, but there was a determination to try to keep us away from the mandarins. Even Tien-tsin was too near the capital for us ; and instead of a consul a^ once being appointed to that port, ships of war wereTeft there to keep the river free, so that we might keep the advantage which had been gained. Tien-tsin was not to be an open port,^ but two others, less important, in the north of China, were fixed upon before either the one or the other had been visited ! It may be said that there were only eleven feet over the bar of the Tien-tsin river ; greater difficulties exist at one of the other ports, and if such vessels as the " Cormorant" and " Nimrod" could cross the bar at Takoo, the merchants in China were quite prepared to send vessels there if permitted. In the meantime, affairs at Canton had again become troublesome, the Chinese had threatened to retake the city, and renewed their attempts at assassination, some- times successfully. The principal part of the force which had enabled Lord Elgin to get the treaty signed was sent to the south. The British plenipotentiary went ' The Commissioners were given the choice of fixing on Tien-tsin or New-chwaiig, hundreds of miles off in Manchuria : they of course fixed wjton the port most distant from the capital. See Blue Book, p. 338. MR. BRUCE AND THE COMMISSIONERS. 313 to Shanghai, thence to Japan, and completed another treaty there, which has since been ratified. He returned to Shanghai to meet the Commissioners who were to arrange about the tariff. The particulars of that part of the negotiations, however interesting they may be to a merchant, would not claim much attention from the general reader. Great credit is due to Mr. Wade and his colleagues for the patience, tact, and discrimination with which this part of their business was conducted. Nothing had been agreed upon in the treaty regarding Erkatum. Page 312, line 15, for " ships of war were left," read "ships of war were not left." blame, for Lord Elgin had written to the Commissioners requesting them to remain at Shanghai until he returned from Canton, as there were several matters still to discuss, and he again used his threat of proceeding to the capital if they would not remain to meet him. They did re- main, but he never returned. They waited until Mr. Bruce arrived, some months afterwards, and then he would not meet them there, but desired that they should go to Pekin, where he was going. When it is considered that these officers were men of the highest rank in the empire, it would have been courteous to have seen them ; and had difficulties occurred, he would have been better 312 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. and I believe never was intended to be carried out. Lord Elgin and all the forces left Tien-tsin. Here was the great mistake ; and the subsequent concession, that no merchant should go to Pekin to trade, explains it. Among our officials in China, especially among some of the interpreters, there exists a jealousy of the mercantile community coming into connexion with the Chinese officials. Every obstacle was thrown in the way of any British merchant being consul for a foreign state. Whether the objections arose from the British consuls not wishimr jneriiliants to Vinv/^ iha oo^^.- +^*^i -^i- such vessels as the " Cormorant" and " Nimrod" could cross the bar at Takoo, the merchants in China were quite prepared to send vessels there if permitted. In the meantime, affairs at Canton had again become troublesome, the Chinese had threatened to retake the city, and renewed their attempts at assassination, some- times successfully. The principal part of the force which had enabled Lord Elgin to get the treaty signed was sent to the south. The British plenipotentiary went ' The Commissioners were given the choice of fixing on Tien-tsin or New-chwang, hundreds of miles off in Manchuria : they of course fixed upon the port most distant from the capital. See Blue BooJc, p. 338. MR. BRUCE AND THE COMMISSIONERS. 313 to Shanghai, thence to Japan, and completed another treaty there, which has since been ratified. He returned to Shanghai to meet the Commissioners who were to arrange about the tariff. The particulars of that part of the negotiations, however interesting they may be to a merchant, would not claim much attention from the general reader. Great credit is due to Mr. Wade and his colleagues for the patience, tact, and discrimination with which this part of their business was conducted. Nothing had been agreed upon in the treaty regarding the legal importation of opium : by the new tariff it was settled that it might be imported upon payment of a rather higher rate than the amount previously obtained by the mandarins for sanctioning its importation. The concession made at Shanghai, that no British merchant should be allowed to go to Pekin for the pur- poses of trade, may have had some influence upon the mandarins, in subsequently trying to gain their point of refusing entry of a British plenipotentiary to the capital. On this point, I think that the conduct of Mr. Bruce in not meeting the Commissioners at Shanghai to discuss the matter of his reception at Pekin, is not without blame, for Lord Elgin had written to the Commissioners requesting them to remain at Shanghai until he returned from Canton, as there were several matters still to discuss, and he again used his threat of proceeding to the capital if they would not remain to meet him. They did re- main, but he never returned. They waited until Mr. Bruce arrived, some months afterwards, and then he would not meet them there, but desired that they should go to Pekin, where he was going. When it is considered that these officers were men of the highest rank in the empire, it would have been courteous to have seen them ; and had difficulties occurred, he would have been better 314 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. prepared to act when he went to carry into execu- tion the threat of going to Pekin, and in which he so signally failed. He was badly advised, when the man- darins offered to receive him at a place only eight miles distant from Takoo, in not sending to communicate with them there before having recourse to arms. The Takoo disaster would never have occurred had Tien-tsin been opened as a port when the treaty was signed ; but with advisers such as Mr. Lay and Mr. Wade, who appear to have thought that it would be dangerous to the empire if foreigners obtained admission to Pekin, I am not surprised that Lord Elgin lost a golden oppor- tunity, and that the Chinese hearing a foreigner admit that it would be dangerous if foreign merchants went to the capital, would be anxious to try to keep them out, even after the permission for their entry had been extorted. Under a proper system of passports, I cannot see what danger there would be to the empire, if foreigners had the right of trade in any part of it, but it might prove inconvenient to mandarins if their illegal taxations on the transit of goods in some districts were discovered. I would condemn the unrestricted navigation of the rivers, and think that good might be done if the naviga- tion on the coast were restricted also ; for there is a class of adventurers who scarcely deserve any protection, who own and sail lorchas, employing them often in the most illegal acts along the whole seaboard of China, under whatever flag may be most convenient, and if these craft had the right to go at will up all the rivers of China, great harm might be done. Especially, as many mere matters of detail regarding customs' affairs are inserted in the treaty, any dispute relative to these petty matters thus becomes of undue importance as a treaty right. It was not only in their capacity of custom-house THE INTERPRETERS* TEACHERS. 315 officers to the Chinese, that Lord Elgin's principal advisers saw affairs in a different light to most of the foreign community. Every point in Chinese has been discussed by them with their teachers, their chief in- formants on Chinese affairs. It is well known that any Chinaman you pay, will tell events to you in such a way as he thinks will be most agreeable to your ideas, and accordingly, the information imparted by these teachers may be taken for what it is worth. But not only this, these men have stories to tell to suit other masters, and they ply their pupils with these to serve other purposes. It has often been suspected that the teachers and in- formants of many of the Government interpreters, were spies in the service of the Chinese mandarins. Some light is thrown on this by an extract from one of the papers seized among official documents when Canton was taken. Among these was one reporting a conver- sation held between the Emperor and an ex-judge of Kwang-Tung, brother of one of the four principal secre- taries of State. The Emperor asks, "How are you in- formed of what passes in foreign countries?" He is answered, " In foreign parts {lit. in the outer seas) there are newspapers. In these, everything that concerns any nation is minutely recorded, and these we have it in our power to procure, and as the barbarians cannot dis- pense with our people in the work of interpretation, Sen and Yeh manage to make their employees furnish them privately every month with all particulars. We are thus enabled to know everything that concerns them." Emperor, — " How is it that persons in bar- barian employ, will, notwithstanding, furnish us with intelligence ?" Answer, — "It merely costs a few hundred dollars more a year to bestow rewards on them. For these they are well pleased to serve us. Then, again, if 316 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA the news received from any one quarter appears unsatis- factory, there is more sent in from other quarters, and if the reports from different quarters agree, the informa- tion is of course entitled to full credit/'^ This is too circumstantial to be false. Just about the time the treaty was signed, one of the teachers was promoted to the rank of a mandarin. Mr. Wingrove Cooke gives some most valuable remarks upon the information and opinions the interpreters hold. Mr. Oliphant tells us, speaking of one of Mr. Wade's teachers (I think it was the same one who was promoted), " He was a not unfavourable specimen of the literary class in China, a good scholar, an efficient spy in behalf of his own Government, a gentleman in his man- ners, a great humbug, and a confirmed opium-smoker."^ I know that my opinion on this point agrees with that of many others in China ; and, however ignorant of Chinese affairs foreigners generally may be, too much weight should not be given to the political ideas of our interpreters, at least when they are so strongly biassed on one side or other. It must be borne in mind, that not only has Mr. Wade been chief informant to Sir George Bonham, Sir John Bowring, and Lord Elgin, but his leisure was employed in supplying the public with information through the press, so that most of the general opinions formed upon Chinese events have been derived from one source. It is a difficult work to attempt to change opinions once formed ; but I have considered it to be my duty, in the absence of any one else undertaking the task, to endeavour to show that there may be some doubt whether the opinions that have thus been formed are correct. I know all the T Blue Book, p. 235. 2 Narrative of Lord Elgin's Mission, vol. i. p. 441. LORD Elgin's neutrality. 317 principal interpreters in China, and believe that no others would have influenced Lord Elgin's opinions in the same direction as Messrs. Wade and Lay. Nothing shows more clearly how Lord Elgin's acts were governed by the views of these gentlemen, than the events which took place in the latter part of his mission, when he undertook the expedition up the Yang-tsze-Kiang. No immediate good could have re- sulted from' it while the rebels were still unconquered. Yet Lord Elgin sends forward a gunboat, while his other vessels were passing through the Imperial fleet investing Nankin. There is no attempt made to communicate with the rebels on shore. The gunboat advances ; the other ships follow ; the former is fired upon for breaking the blockade without giving any notice. She hoists a flag of truce which is not understood ; in China many of the fighting flags of the Imperialists are white.^ Some few more shots are fired. The whole of the ships engage the forts, and force the passage. Not contented with this, Lord Elgin sanctions the return of the ships next day to " hammer the forts into ruins," and they only cease — though the rebels scarcely attempted to resist — when the Imperial fleet, with a steamer in Chinese ser- vice, came up to join in the attack. At other places, the same heartless policy was adopted ; and as if there had not been sufficient bloodshed in China, Mr. Oliphant tells us that at one place '* a large crowd had collected outside the gate, chiefly composed of rebel soldiers watch- ing the proceedings. We sent them a ten-inch shell just to give them some idea of our armament." ^ When, however, the chief object to be gained was to procure supplies, Mr. Wade was sent on shore to communicate ^ One of the banners of the eight great Tartar brigades is wl)ite. ^ Narrative of Lord Elgin's Mission, p. 318. 318 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. at Woohoo, also held by the rebels. " The authorities were most anxious to do all in their power to show us civility." ^ A letter was sent in return by them, ad- dressed " to the younger brethren of Jesus," and all such supplies as were wanted were procured. I have entered upon this subject elsewhere, but have yet another ex- ample to give of how the fleet acted even after this. At Ngan-king, where they arrived when they " knew that it was impossible " that news of what had happened at Nankin could have reached, still no attempt was made to communicate, and they determined to force a passage, even though, at the time, the Imperial soldiers were attacking the city, which was held by the rebels, and the ^.ountry people running into it on both sides for protec- tion. Some slight opposition was shown. " This was a piece of absurd impertinence, which involved another ten minutes' bombardment as a punishment. It came upon them too hot and strong to admit even of a third shot. The battery was speedily silenced, and after trying our range at some of the most imposing-looking public buildings in the centre of the town, and bursting a shell or two in the streets, by way of a warning, we left Ngan- king behind us, and with it got clear of the last strong- hold of our not very agreeable friends, the rebels. On this side of the city, as on the other, country people were running in before the advancing Imperialists." Mr. Oliphant's account of the expedition up the Yang-t?ze- Kiang is very interesting. Some curious circiyfetances, however, are brought to light in his narrative, even though written with a strong bias against the rebels, and in support of Lord Elgin's proceedings, which are strongly corroborative of my view of the question. He shows that all the cities which had been recaptured by the Im- 1 Narrative of Lord Elgin's Missioji, p. 326. WHO ARE THE DESTROYERS ? 319 perialists were in a deplorable state of ruin. Chin- Kiang-foo, Kew-Kiang-foo, Hwang-Chow, Han-Yang, and Woo-Chang-foo, appear to have suffered most ; and wherever large numbers of Imperial soldiers are men- tioned as collected together there is the greatest destruc- tion, and the people have left the places to their mercy, and not ventured to return, apparently shunning their presence ; for at other places, such Hwang- Shih-kang and Han-kow, more free from soldiers^ and unprotected even by city ivalls, the people congregate together in the largest numbers and carry on the most thriving trade ! Han-kow had been more than once in the possession of the rebels, and at one time had been destroyed, probably upon its first recapture. In reference to this Mr. Oliphant relates a curious fact, that the people who rebuilt the place did not erect the usual shrines in the houses, — " there ivas not one to he seen^ in deference, doubtless, to the iconoclastic propensities of the long- haired men." One would rather infer from this that the houses were rebuilt when the rebels were there ! There are other incidents related which point to the Imperial soldiers being the principal agents of destruction. For instance, at Woo-Chang-foo, where he mentions that not a third of the place is built upon or inhabited, large tracts of ground being strewed with ruins, though the palace of the governor-general " had been spared by the insurgents ;" it seems probable, that if the destruction was due to the rebels, that building would have been the last they would have spared. The Imperial soldiers, as usual, may have destroyed houses occupied by the people who lived there while the rebels were in pos- session, but they would scarcely attempt to destroy the palace of their viceroy ! In the descriptions given of places in the hands of the 320 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. rebels, but besieged by the Imperialists, the suburbs are described as in ruins ; but excepting Woohoo, the cities themselves appear to be in comparatively good preser- vation, as no mention is made of ruins at Tai-ping, Che-chow, or Ngan-king ; on the contrary, some attempt seems to have been in progress to keep them in repair notwithstanding that the population was confined chiefly to the motley followers of Tai-ping-wang. At Nankin, Mr. Oliphant states, " the number of houses standing is very great." And again : " Several respectable houses are occupied by persons with high-sounding titles, mem- bers of the new nobility, and official establishments. Li said the latter had several ' myriad ' yamuns (official residences), and we certainly saw some score of building^^ more or less smartened with paint and gilding, some of them in very good Chinese style." The rebel city, Too- cheaou, " presented a very un-Chinese appearance of whitewash and cleanliness." At Ngan-king, when the country people were running in to the rebels for protec- tion before the advancing Imperialists, " Columns of black smoke rising in various directions proved to us that the work of destruction was progressing, and that houses and villages were being reduced to ashes far and wide." Surely the country people would not be running in to the rebels ior protection if their houses were being destroyed by them. This ought to be sufficient proof of who it is that creates the destruction which is so fre- quently attributed to the hands of the rebels ! Mr. Oliphant gives a most amusing account of the difficulty of getting the Chinese to answer questions upon different subjects, and the uncertainty of the information arrived at when they were not quite sure what answer is required. Lord Elgin, in his despatch to Lord Malmes- bury relative to the expedition up the Yang-tsze-kiang, CHINESE INFORMANTS. 321 writes as follows : — " Chinamen of the humbler class are not much addicted to reflection, and when subjected to cross-examination by persons greedy of information, they are apt to consider the proceeding a strange one, and to suspect that it must be prompted by some exceedingly bad motive. Moreover, having been civilized for many generations, they carry politeness so far, that in answer- ing a question it is always their chief endeavour to say what they suppose their questioner will be best pleased to hear."^^ This is especially true when the conversation is held with strangers. Now, when it is considered that all the people addressed by Lord Elgin's, mission were strangers, and that the principal " cross-examination" was carried on by Messrs. Wade and Lay, it is not sur- prising that Lord Elgin and the gentlemen of his suite did not hear much in favour of the rebels. The appear- ance of foreign men-of-war, the attendance of mandarin soldiers, the visits with the high Chinese authorities, the Government notifications that foreigners were about to arrive, the news of the attacks at Nankin and Ngan- king, the presence of a mandarin on board the " Furious,'' and Mr. Wylie's residence on board the " Eetribution" at the Imperial town of Kew-heen, all must have had some influence upon the Chinese who imparted informa- tion, and certainly would keep them from saying any- thing to the foreigners against the mandarins. Suppose the case to have been possible that Lord Elgin had gone up the river with a large force, in company with an army of insurgents, and commenced to clear away all the Im- perial soldiers, to whose presence the people appear to have had so great a repugnance, we probably would have heard as much against the Imperialists as Mr. Oliphant and Mr. Wade have been able to relate against the in- ' Blue Book, page 442. X 322 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA. snrgents. If Lord Elgin's secretary had been better acquainted with China, his opinions would probably have been very much modified. 1 judge Lord Elgin by the words of his own secretary. No attempt was made to prevent bloodshed. On the contrary, there appears to have been some anxiety to destroy human life, and fight against men who were willing to be our friends.^ I am not stating too much when I say this ; for when Lord Elgin was deprived of the assistance of his larger vessels, and had to return past Ngan-king, close to the same batteries, only with a small gunboat, then he thought right to send in to com- municate. His messenger, Mr. Wade, was favourably received. The rebels regretted that any collision had taken place, offered to send presents of oxen and other provisions, and bade good-bye, wishing them "good luck."^ The chiefs at Nankin also sent a letter, stating their regret that any misunderstanding had occurred. In fact, it was well known that they would have been friendly had they been told that we had no intention to interfere with them. Would matters have been conducted in the same spirit by Lord Elgin had he really intended and wished to be neutral ? Neutrality had been enjoined by the British Government, but in this instance as well as in every other which could be made favourable to the Imperial Government, and the views of his interpreters, the general tenor of his instruc- tions do not appear to have guided him. It is difficult to point to any good results of Lord Elgin's mission, if the Treaty be not carried out in its integrity, or be suffered to remain a mere document, negotiated as it was — as the Imperial Commissioners sub- ' Narrative of Lord Elgin's Mission, vol. ii. page 364. 2 Ihid. page 451, RESULT OF THE MISSION. 323 sequently declared to his Lordship at Shanghai — when there was a pressure of an armed force, — " Weapons of war were constraining ; there was a state of crackling fire and rushing water." Lord Elgin left China without having brought any point to a definite conclusion. I think that we sometimes expect too much from the Chinese. They certainly have brought a good deal of difficulty to their own doors by endeavours to repel us, so that when we force an entrance we take the run of the house. Many of our doings in China do not present good examples of the Christian religion as explained by Lord Elgin in the Treaty. He says, " The Christian re- ligion, as professed by Protestants or Roman Catholics, inculcates the practice of virtue, and teaches man to do as he would be done by." Confucius has a somewhat similar precept, which might well be brought forward by the Chinese. He says, " Do not to others what you would not that they should do to you." APPENDIX. On the first outbreak of the great insurrection, the rumours and reports were so vague and contradictory, it is not unlikely that the chief who disturbed the dis- tricts nearest to Canton, where the name was in the greatest vogue, was entitled " Teen-teh/' The districts of Tsing-yuen and Yin-teh, in Kwang-tung, were at one time in danger ; and when the disturbers of tranquillity were dispersed, there is good reason to believe that they joined with Hung-siu-tsuen at the city of Yung- ngan, on the eastern side of Kwang-si. When the rebels left that place on its being closely besieged, they went out by three different routes. One party was almost entirely cut off ; aiid as it was here the Impe- rialists made boast of taking Teen-teh prisoner, it is most likely there is some truth both in his execution and confession. The details entered into in the latter document are so circumstantial, and have in so many points been confirmed, that we see no reason to doubt the truth of most of the statements in the confession. Until the city of Nankin was taken, the rebel proclama- tions were dated under Teen-teh's reign. He was called Tai-ping-wang in some proclamations, where his sur?- 7 name was said to be Choo, a descendant of the Ming dynasty. The names of his generals^ have not since appeared as members of the Kwang-si rebellion. Nor was that movement originated in any of the secret so- ^ Seu-cliaiig-pan and Cliing-wan-yuen. 326 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA cieties. There is, however, a singular coincidence, which deserves notice when treating of this point. Himg-siu- tsuen's family name is represented by the same character as is used to designate the Hung-clan, which is so pro- minently mentioned in all documents relating to the secret societies. The Shanghai and Amoy rebels had it in the centre of their badges of membership ; the Triads have it in their seal : '' First firmly connect the house of Hung, and next secure the brethren." " The celestial dynasty will be established, and Hung exalted." " The five lodges, taking their respective parts, all engage in full chorus, bearing on their persons the emblem of Hung, which is unknown to others." It would be strange if Hung-siu-tsuen went to Kwang-si to head an insurrection of Triads, when he did not join any lodge in that pro- vince ; and we know that before he was interfered with by the Grovernment, the society he constituted was called the " Shang-te-whui" (" God worshippers," as it has been translated), and remained two years undisturbed, the members living upon a common fund. The inter- marriage and connexion of the families of the chief s^ who were all different from the Kwang-Tung Triad adven- turers, proves the high standing they had over those who joined them from other societies, and the bond of union that existed between those of the Shang-te. We can trace some of the Triads among the smaller chieftains who remained faithful for a long time ; but when some of the Fokien lodges joined, some misunderstanding oc- curred. There was disaffection ; and upon part of the force deserting, the rest were put to the sword. The Fokien men of the " Hung-kea," finding the expedi- tion that had been sent had resulted in this way, and dreading that they would not come in for a share of tlie spoil when the empire was overthrown, organized another revolution, and commenced by taking several cities in APPENDIX. 327 the south of Fokien, Amoy among the number. On hearing this through rebel sources, the incident seemed extraordinary ; but lately seeing part of the story con- firmed in Dr. Macgowan's notes, there is reason to credit it. In one of Yang's (the eastern king) proclamations, ad- dressed to the people soon after the rebels began their march on Nankin, he says : '^ Moreover, you valiant men are many of you adherents of the Triad society, and have entered into a compact that you will exert your united strength and talents to exterminate the Tartar dynasty. Who ever heard of men joining in a solemn compact, then turning their backs upon their foes ?" Had he been a Triad chief, he would have used very different terms. Lo-ta-kang, the lieutenant-general of the advance guard, and at one time commander at Ching-kiang, is said to be a Triad, and has easy communication with members of that society, who are in Imperialist pay. This man was at one time in an opium-receiving ship at Lintin ! The high post he held in the command of such an im- portant station as Ching-kiang, shows that he was trusted and useful. This is all we can trace of the connexion of the Tai- ping movement with any of the secret societies. We may therefore conclude that its whole foundation rests on an attempt of a few Chinese to propagate a religion for the benefit of their countrymen, and that religion founded in Scripture.^ 1 In Gutzlaif's posthumous work, The Life of Taou-Kwang, there is mention made of the leader of the insurrection in 1849. " This pretender," he says, " promised exemption from taxes, and an entire freedom from all restraints ; and great numbers of idle fellows joined his standard ; but he had reckoned upon the svpjwrt of foreirjners ; and as he did hot find it, he was obliged to fly for his life. Several hundreds of his adherents were killed on the spot (the author does not say where), and the whole band dispersed." It is to be regretted that more information was not given be- 328 TWELVE YEARS IN CHINA." How far this is shown by the publications of the rebels, the following translations of their verses, intended for repetition on Sundays, will serve as an example : — " We praise and glorify Shang-te, as the Heavenly, Holy Father ; We praise and glorify Jesus as the Saviour .of the world — the Holy Lord ; We praise and glorify the Holy Spirit as the Holy Intelligence ; — We praise and glorify the Three Persons as the united, true God : The true doctrines assuredly differ from worldly doctrines — They save man's soul, and lead to his enjoyment of happiness without end. " The wise joyfully receive them as a means of happiness ; The foolish, when awakened, have by them the road to heaven opened. The Heavenly Father, in his vast goodness, great and without limit. Spared not his Eldest Son, but sent him down into the world, Who gave up his life to redeem our iniquities ; If men will repent and reform, their souls will be enabled to ascend into heaven."^ How dangerous it is to let this religion be propagated without giving it the attention it deserves, may be un- derstood from the following circumstance which has come to my knowledge since this volume has gone to press. A native Christian convert lately went to visit his relations on the borders of Kiang-si. He had in his possession a Chinese Bible received from the mission- aries. He was seized as having books similar to the insurgents, and cast into prison at Ta-po as a rebel ! In the same prison were many long-haired rebels. fore Dr. Gutzlaff s death, as conjectures have been entertained that some of those connected with Tai-ping-wang had been pupils at Gutzlaff's Chinese school, Mr. Hamberg's Visions of Hung-siu-tsuen give no light on this subject at the date named, but state many interesting circumstances. ' Meadows' Chinese and their Rebellions, p. 428. nntNBURGH : T OONSTABtE, PRINTER TO THB QUEEN, AND TO THE UNIVERSITT. WORKS PUBLISHED BY THOMAS CONSTABLE AND CO, I HoRM SuBSECiv^. Locke and Sydenham ; with other Occasional Papers. By John Brown, M.D., F.E.S.E., F.R.C.P.E. Second Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 9s. This volume is, in its way, a remiirkable one. It is full of sagacity, sense, and high feeling. It is evidently the production of one of those men who are the salt of the society in which they are found, and of the profession to which they belong. 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No one wUl read this work without having what is best in him refreshed and quickened ; and most will agree with ua in thinking that they carry off from it somethings at once new and true, and precious — real nuggets — treasure-trove. — Scotsman. Memoirs of Frederick Perthes ; or, Literary, Religious, and Political Life in Germany from 1789 to 1843. From the German of C. T. Perthes, Professor of Law in the University of Bonn. Third Edi- tion. Two vols. 8vo, price 21s. Full of interest, containing a picture of a German citizen of the very best class, strong in his own rectitude, and, therefore, strong to the last in his hope of a great future for Germany. . . . When the wives of Germany have their Walhalla, Caroline Perthes will hold a place there such as our own Lady Rachael Russell and Lucy Hutchinson occupy in the Pantheon of noble Englishwomen. — Athenceum. Life and Times of Frederick Perthes. 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They indicate the traits of mind and heart which render " The Christian Life" so intensely suggestive and vitalizing, and at the same time display a critical power seldom equalled in comprehensiveness, depth of insight, candid appreciation, and judicial integ- rity. The author enters at once into the heart of his subject ; his standarc^s of judgment are never lost from sight, or warped in their application to the case in hand ; and his verdicts appear, not as the result of individual caprice, but as justified by the clear and full statement of the grounds on which they are pronounced. — North American Review. Life, Religious Opinions, and Experience of Madame de LJ^ Mothe GuyoN ; together with some account of the Personal His- tory and Religious Opiniofts ofFEXELON. By Thomas C. Upiiam. Edited by a Clergyman of the Church of England. AVith a Portrait of Madame Go YON, by R. J. Lane, Esq., A.R.A. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. t3d. Letters from Cannes -and Nice. With Ten Illustrations by a Lady. By Margaret Maria Brewster. Handsome 8vo, cloth extra, price 12s. The visitor to the neighbourhood of Caimes will not find a better guide. — Examiner. The full and free details of the writer's own proceedings and experience supply all the information that can possibly be required by ttie tourist or the invalid. ... An enter- taining and useful volume. — Literary Gazette. The descriptions of the people, the neighbourhood, and the occurrences of the journey, are agreeable, from the well-bred kindliness of the writer, that beams through her pages, and made many friends en route and during her ^oiomn—Speetatw. The Exiles of Italy. By C. G. H., Author of ''The Curate of Linwood," &c. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 7s. 6d. A pious, gentle spirit runs through the hook, and there is a studious abstinence from exaggeration of either fact or sentiment. — Aihenceum. The more extensively the story is circulated, the better will the public in England understand why the most beautiful coimtries of the world are the most unhappy, the most discontented, and the least disposed to obey when wisdom whispers, " Peace, be still !" — Leadtr. Tragic Dramas from Scottish History. Heselrig : Wal- lace : James the First of Scotland. Extra Fcap. 8vo, price Ss. The author is capable of portraying dramatic character, and dealing with dramatic action, in a spirited and forcible manner. Scene after scene rises in interest, and our sympathies are strongly excited for the heroes engaged in their country's conflict. In the story of James the First of Scotland the author riots in description, and revels in weird sentiment, or moral declamation. — Leader. EDINBURGH: THOMAS CONSTABLE AND CO. HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., LONDON. U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES ■I RETURN CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT TOi^-^ 202 Main Library LOAN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS /WAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 1 -month loans moy be renewed by colling 642-3405 6-month loons may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation Desk =newals and recharges may be mode 4 days prior to due dote DUE AS STAMPED BELOW ■^ 9K ■p WORKS PUBLISHED BY THOMAS CONSTABLE AND CO. The Christian Life: Social and Individual, in the Pre- sent Time. By Peter Bayne, A.M. Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d. In those parts of the work devoted to the discussion of principles, we find ourselves in contact with a deep and powerful mind, which brings equally a sound philosophy and an intense religiousness to the exposition of its themes The author's culture is large and rich ; his sympathies are free and genial ; his spirit is that of the better orde- of minds in his own age. — Nonconformist. Essays : Biographical, Critical, and Miscellaneous Petek Bayxe, a.m. Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d, They indicate the traits of mind and heart which render " The Christian Lif intensely suggestive and vitalizing, and at the same time display a critical power f equalled in comprehensiveness, depth of insight, candid appreciation, and judicial rity. The author enters at once into the heart of his subject ; his standart^s of ji are never lost from sight, or warped in their application to the case in hand verdicts appear, not as the result of individual caprice, but as justified by the full statement of the grounds on which they are pronounced. — North Amcricar Life, Religious Opinions, and Experience o^ DE L^ MoTHE GuroN ; together with some account of th*- tory and Religious Opiniofts of Fenelon. By Thomas C. by a Clergyman of the Church of England. With a P GuYON, by R. J. Lane, Esq., A.R.A. Third Editiov price 7 s. Gd. Letters from Cannes -and Nice. WitV by a Lady. By Margaret Maria Brewst' extra, price 12s. The visitor to the neighbourhood of Cannes will not fi The full and free details of the writer's own pr- information that can possibly be required b" ' taining and useful volume. — Literary G'^ The descriptions of the people, tb are agreeable, from the wel' ' and made many