HOW I WENT TO SHANGHAI.
About forty years ago, there came to this country under the auspices
of the Rev. Dr. Brown, an American missionary in China, a Chinese
youth—who was destined to exert a potent influence on the future of
the Chinese Empire. Many have heard of him or read about him; his name
is Yung Wing. Inspired by a lofty ambition, he worked his way through
preparatory school and college, graduating from Yale in 1854 with high
honors.
He went back to China soon after his graduation and engaged in business
at Shanghai. But business with the incidental pleasure of money making,
did not entirely absorb his attention. China was at that time having
troublesome diplomatic negotiations with foreign powers, and was
being taken advantage of right and left for want of men in office
who understood the customs, the laws and the civilization of Western
countries.
Dr. Wing, indignant at the wrongs which China had suffered and was
suffering at the hands of so-called “Christian” and “enlightened”
nations, sought for a remedy, and conceived the brilliant project of
educating a number of Chinese boys in America for future service at the
government expense.
He made his plan known to prominent Chinese officials. At first he met
with no sympathy, no encouragement. Still, he persevered; and after
twelve years of patient waiting and active labor, he succeeded in
convincing two of the most powerful ministers at the court of Pekin of
the feasibility of his scheme. In consequence, an edict was issued by
the emperor to enforce its execution.
A school was established at Shanghai to receive candidates, and
announcement made that the government had appropriated a large sum of
money to educate one hundred and twenty boys in America, who were to
be sent in four detachments, in four successive years, beginning with
1872; and that a candidate, on his election after a term of probation
at the school, should have the cadet’s button and rank conferred on
him; and that after fifteen years of residence in America, during which
period the government promised to defray all expenses and exercise
parental care over the youths, they were to return for entrance into
its service.
Such an offer was un-heard-of. People doubtless were dazzled by its
splendor, as many as came in view of it. But as no newspapers existed
there, excepting at Pekin and some of the treaty ports the news did
not spread far. Only faint and vague rumors reached the inland towns.
Hence, comparatively few candidates presented themselves and these
hailed, for the most part, from the maritime provinces. In fact,
parents were not over-eager to send their sons away so far, for so long
a time, and to a land unknown to them, the inhabitants of which they
heard and believed were barbarians.
A cousin of mine, however, who was in business then at Shanghai,
thought differently; and was not deterred by any such considerations.
He came home with glowing accounts of the new movement; and so painted
the golden prospects of the successful candidate that he persuaded my
mother to let me go. I was then twelve years old; my father had died
three years before and my mother had assumed the sole charge of her
three sons. But she was not going to force me to go, whether willing or
unwilling; and so left the matter to me to decide.
I was more or less adventurous in disposition. A chance to see the
world was just what I wanted. I said yes without hesitation. My mother,
if she had any misgivings, wisely kept them to herself; and, like a
brave woman who has resolved to deny herself for the good of her child,
she set to work to prepare me for the journey to Shanghai.
For a whole month, I reveled at the sight of new clothes that were
made for me. Friends and relatives made presents of food for the
voyage, sweetmeats predominating. At last, after bidding farewell to
all my uncles, aunts and cousins, with others of my kith and kin, I
paid my last respects to my mother in the conventional way. I did not
embrace her and kiss her. O no! that would have been un-Chinese and
undignified. What I actually did was to bow my head four times to the
ground upon my knees. She tried to appear cheerful, but I could see
that her eyes were moistened with tears. I did not think much of it
then, but I remembered it in after-time. Ah! a mother’s love is strong
wherever it is found. She gave me some pocket-money and bade me be a
good boy and write often.
With those words ringing in my ears and the memory of that sad face
fresh in my mind, I walked briskly by the side of my cousin down to the
wharf at which the junk was moored, which vessel, of a style well-known
by picture to American boys and girls, was to carry us to Hongkong,
whence we expected to take steamer for Shanghai. We sailed down the
narrow river with a stiff breeze in our favor, after offerings had been
made to the river-god, and the gong had announced to the world that “we
were off.”
The river was so serpentine with its numerous bends that the men often
had to take a run on the banks to pull the boat along. The sun was
just tinging the western cloud-castles with crimson and gold and as
we went further and further from the town a panorama of great beauty
passed before our eyes. Mountains and stream, and fields wavy with
golden grain, and towering pagodas, all gemmed by the setting sun,
composed this kaleidoscopic scene. But I had no heart to enjoy it.
I was homesick for the first time in my life. A sense of solitude,
of desolation—a feeling of loss possessed me—and I retired into
the small cabin to weep unseen. Before long, a tossing of the boat
announced the awful presence of the sea, and soon after I realized what
seasickness meant.
We arrived at Hongkong the next morning. It was a wonderful place to
me. I never wearied with gazing at the vessels, which were of all
sorts and all nationalities. The foreigners too were strange sights.
How I stared at them and wondered how they could move with their
“strait-jackets and tight pantaloons!”
I had an adventure which I can never forget. My cousin left me behind
with friends while he went to the theatre. I inwardly rebelled at this
treatment, and, against the advice of the people at the store where
we stayed, set out in that strange place to find the theatre, taking
the money which my mother had given me to buy a ticket. I walked
quite a distance, stopping frequently to gaze at the show windows
and at the foreigners, till I came upon one at last. Although I had
seen theatrical performances before, I had never been in a permanent
theatre, so I was determined to enjoy my new experience. But alas!
no enjoyment came to me. I felt uneasy the whole time and looked all
over the auditory to see if my cousin was there. But he was nowhere
to be seen. Scared and trembling for the consequences, I left the
building before the grand climax when one hero was to distinguish
himself by killing another and went my way back to the store. My
cousin returned before long and, being informed of my escapade gave me
a sound whipping. In two days we went on board a steamer and arrived
at Shanghai after a four days’ journey from Hongkong, without any
incident or accident.