_Two days from Burma_. _Tropical wildness induces ennui_. _The River
Taping_. _At Hsiao Singai_. _Possibility of West China as a holiday
resort from Burma_. _Fascination of the country_. _Manyüen reached with
difficulty_. _The Kachins_. _Good work of the American Baptist Mission_.
_Mr. Roberts_. _Arrival at borderland of Burma_. _Last dealings with
Chinese officials_. _British territory_. _Thoughts on the trend of
progress in China_. _Beautiful Burma_. _End of long journey._
I was now two days' march from the British Burma border. The landscape
in this district was solemn and imposing as I trudged on again, very
tired indeed, after a day's rest at Chiu-ch'eng. In the morning heavy
tropical vapors of milky whiteness stretched over the sky and the earth.
Nature seemed sleeping, as if wrapped in a light veil. It attracted me
and absorbed me, dreaming, in spite of myself; ennui invaded me at
first, and under the all-powerful constraint of influences so fatal to
human personality thought died away by degrees like a flame in a vacuum;
for I was again in the East, the real, luxurious, indolent East, the
true land of Pantheism, and one must go there to realize the indefinable
sensations which almost make the Nirvana of the Buddhist comprehensible.
The river Taping farther down, so different from its aspect a couple of
days ago, where it rushed at a tremendous speed over its rocky bed, was
now broad and calm and placid, and extremely picturesque. The banks were
covered with trees beyond Manyüen. Near the water the undergrowth was of
a fine green, but on a higher level the yellow and red leaves, hardly
holding on to the withered trees, were carried away with the slightest
breath of wind.
At Hsiao Singai, on February 15th, I again had difficulty in getting a
room; so I waited, and whilst my men searched about for a place where I
could sleep, an extremely tall fellow came up to me, and having felt
with his finger and thumb the texture of my tweeds and expressed
satisfaction thereof, said--
"Come, elder brother, I have my dwelling in this hostelry, and my upper
chamber is at your disposal." And then he added with a twinkle in his
eye, "Ko nien, ko nien,"[BF] whereat I became wary.
Lao Chang, however, was more cute. Whilst I was assuring this
well-dressed holiday-maker that he must not think the stranger churlish
in not accepting at once the proffered services, but that I would go to
look at the room, he sprang past us and went on ahead. In a few moments
I was slowly going hence with the multitude. Lao Chang nodded carelessly
to the strange company there assembled, and passing through the room
with a soft, cat-like tread, began to ascend a dark flight of narrow
stairs leading to the second floor of the inn. And I, down below
startled and bewildered by mysterious words from everyone, watched his
blue garments vanishing upwards, and like a man driven by irresistible
necessity, muttered incoherent excuses to my amazed companions, and in a
blind, unreasoning, unconquerable impulse rushed after him. But I wish I
had not. There were several ladies, who, all more or less _en
déshabille_, scampered around with their bundles of gear--sewing,
babies' clothes, tin pots, hair ornaments, boxes of powder and scented
soap of that finest quality imported from Burma, selling for less than
you can buy the genuine article for in London!--and then we took
possession.
If once there is a railway to Tengyueh from Burma, a visit to West
China, even on to Tali-fu, for those who are prepared to rough it a
little, will become quite a common trip. A few days up the Irawadi to
Bhamo, through scenery of a peculiar kind of beauty eclipsed on none
other of the world's great rivers, would be succeeded by a day or two
over some of the best country which Upper Burma anywhere affords, and
then, when once past Tengyueh, the grandeur of the mountains is amply
compensating to those who love Nature in her beautiful isolation and
peace. From a recuperating standpoint, perhaps, it would not quite
answer--the rains would be a drawback to road travel, and it would at
best mean roughing it; but for the many in Burma who wish to take a
holiday and have not the time to go to Europe, I see no reason why
Tengyueh should not develop into what Darjeeling is to Calcutta and what
Japan is to the British ports farther East. Expense would not be heavy.
To Bhamo would be easy. As things now stand, with no railway, one would
need to take a few provisions and cooking utensils, and a camp bed and
tent, unless one would be prepared to do as the author did, and
patronize Chinese inns, such as they are. The rest would be easy to get
on the road. For three days from Bhamo dâk bungalows are available, and
to a man knowing the country it would be an easy matter to arrange his
comforts. To one who knows the conditions, there is in the trip a good
deal to fascinate; for in the lives and customs of the people, in the
nature of the country, in the free-and-easy life the traveler would
himself develop--having a peep at things as they were back in the
ancient days of the Bible--to the brain-fagged professional or
commercial there is nothing better in the whole of the East.
He would get some excellent shooting, especially in the Salwen Valley,
not exactly a health resort, however; and had he inclinations towards
botanical, ethnological, craniological, or philological studies, he
would be at a loss to find anywhere in the world a more interesting
area.
But a man should never leave the "ta lu" (the main road) in China if he
would experience the minimum of discomfort and annoyance, which under
best conditions is considerable to an irritable man. As I sit down now,
on the very spot where Margary, of the British Consulate Service was
murdered in 1875, I regret that I have sacrificed a great deal to secure
most of the photographs which decorate this section of my book. No one,
not even my military escort, knows the way, and is being sworn at by my
men therefor. How I am to reach Man Hsien, across the river at Taping, I
do not quite know. Manyüen, so interesting in history, is a native
Shan-Kachino-Chinese town untouched by the years--slovenly, dirty,
undisciplined, immoral, where law and order and civilization have gained
at best but a precarious foothold, the most characteristic feature of
the people being the gambler's instinct. But I remember that I am coming
into Burma, into the real East, where the tangle and the topsy-turvydom,
the crooked vision and the distorted travesty of the truth, which result
from judging the Oriental from the standpoint of the Europeans and
looking at the East through the eyes of the West, impress themselves
upon one's mind in bewildering fashion as a hopeless problem. Everything
is all at cross purposes.
However, although I lost my way from Manyüen to Man Hsien, I got my
photographs of Kachins, those people whose appearance is that they have
no one to care for them body or soul. Their thick, uncombed locks, so
long and lank as to resemble deck swabs, overlapped roofwise the ugliest
aboriginal faces I ever saw in Asia or America, and their eyes under
shaggy brows looked out with diabolical fire.
So much information is to be obtained from the <i<Upper Burma Gazetteer_
about the Kachins that it is needless for me to write much here,
especially as I can add nothing. But I feel I should like to say just a
word of praise of the remarkable work of the American Baptist Mission,
which has its headquarters at Bhamo, among this tribe in Burma. At the
time I arrived in the city the annual festival was being conducted at
the Baptist Church, and hundreds of Kachins were assembled in the
splendid premises of this mission. They had come from many miles around;
and to one who at previous times in his residence in the Far East had
written disparagingly about missionaries and their work, there came some
little personal shame as he looked upon the extremely creditable work of
the American missionaries in this district. Kachins are a somewhat
uncivilized and quarrelsome race, unspeakably immoral, and steeped in
every vice against which the Christian missionary has to set his face--a
most difficult people to work among. But there I saw scores and scores
of baptized Christians living a life clean and ennobling, endeavoring
honestly to break away from their degrading customs of centuries, some
of them exceedingly intelligent people.
I speak of this because I feel that in the face of untruthful and
malicious descriptions which in former years have got into print
respecting this very mission and the very missionaries on this field, it
is only fair that people in the homeland interested in the work should
know what their American brethren are doing here. I cannot praise too
highly this mission and the enthusiastic band of workers whom it was my
pleasure to meet. In Mr. Roberts, the superintendent of the field, the
American Baptist Board have a man of wonderful resource, who is not only
an ardent Christian evangelist and capable administrator, but a
gentleman of considerable business ability and a remarkable organizer. A
writer who, passing through in 1894, was indebted to Mr. Roberts for
many kindnesses, found that the only adverse criticism he could make of
the missionary was in respect to his knowledge of horses. My experience
is that in the whole of the Far East there can be found no more capable
pioneer missionary, and his friends in America should pray that Mr.
Roberts may be spared many years still to control the work on the
successful mission field in which he has spent so much of his labor of
love for the Kachins.
Kachins form the bulk of the population in the extreme north of Burma.
To the west they extend to Assam, and to the south into the Shan States,
as far even as latitude 20° 30'. By far the largest proportion of them
live in Burmese territory, but they also extend into Western Yün-nan,
though nowhere are they found farther east than longitude 99°.
Man Hsien is the last yamen place before reaching the British border. I
crossed the river Taping from Manyüen, being shown the road by a Burmese
member of the Buddhistic yellow cloth, who was most pressing that I
should stay with him for a few days. Again did I get a fright that my
manuscript would never get into print, for my pony, Rusty, probably
cognizant of the fact that he, too, was finishing his long tramp, nearly
stamped the bottom of the boat out, and threatened to send us down by
river past Bhamo quicker than our arrival was scheduled.
The large official paper given to one's military escort from point to
point was here produced for the last time, and great ado was made about
me. Reading this document aloud from the top of the steps, when he came
to my name the mandarin bowed very low, called me Ding Daren[BG] (a sign
of highest respect), asked if I would exchange cards, and then lapsed
unconsciously into profuse congratulation to myself that I should have
been born an Englishman. So far as he knew, I could be assured that the
existing relations between the administrative bodies of his contemptible
country and my own royal land were of a nature so felicitously mutual
and peaceful--in fact, both Governments saw eye to eye in regard to
international affairs in Far Western China--that he felt sure that I
should arrive at the bridge leading into Burma without personal harm. He
then, with a colossal bow to myself and a gentle wave of his three-inch
finger-nail, handed me over with pungent emphasis of speech to the
keeping of a Chinese and a Shan, who with a keen sense of favors to come
were to form my escort to Burma's border.
A low grunt of unrestrained approval came from the multitude. The
underlings--Chino-Kachino-Burmo-Shan people--who ran about in a little
of each of the clothing characteristic of the four said races, were all
busy in their endeavors to extricate from me a few cash apiece by doing
all and more than was necessary.
Then the great man rose. He condescended to depart. He passed from the
threshold, turned, paused, bowed, turned again, went down the steps,
bowed again--a long curving bow, which nearly sent him to the
ground--and then continued with a light heart towards that loveliest
land of the East. My men exhibited no emotion. That they were coming
into British territory was of no concern to them; they had come from far
away in the interior, and were the greenest of the green, the rawest of
the raw.
But soon I passed over a small bridge, a spot where two great empires
meet. I was in Burma.
* * * * *
So I have crossed from one end of China to the other. I entered China on
March 4th, 1909; I came out on February 14th, 1910.
I had come to see how far the modern spirit had penetrated into the
hidden recesses of the Chinese Empire. One may be little given to
philosophizing, and possess but scanty skill in putting into words the
conclusions which form themselves in one's mind, but it is impossible
to cross China entirely unobservant. One must begin, no matter how
dimly, to perceive something of the causes which are at work. By the
incoming of the European to inland China a transformation is being
wrought, not the natural growth of a gradual evolution, itself the
result of propulsion from within, but produced, on the contrary, by
artificial means, in bitter conflict with inherent instincts, inherited
traditions, innate tendencies, characteristics, and genius, racial and
individual. In the eyes of the Chinese of the old school these changes
in the habit of life infinitely old are improving nothing and ruining
much--all is empty, vapid, useless to God and man. The tawdry shell, the
valueless husk, of ancient Chinese life is here still, remains untouched
in many places, as will have been seen in previous chapters; but the
soul within is steadily and surely, if slowly, undergoing a process of
final atrophy. But yet the proper opening-up of the country by internal
reform and not by external pressure has as yet hardly commenced in
immense areas of the Empire far removed from the imperial city of
Peking. And the mere fact that the Chinese propose such an absurd
program as that which plans the building of all their railways without
the aid of foreign capital is sufficient to react in an unwholesome
manner economically.[BH][BI]
I cannot but admit that, whilst in most parts of my journey there are
distinct traces of reform--I speak, of course, of the outlying parts of
China--and some very striking traces, too, and a real longing on the
part of far-seeing officials to escape from a humiliating international
position, it is distinctly apparent that in everything which concerns
Europe and the Western world the people and the officials as a whole are
of one mind in the methods of procrastination which are so dear to the
heart of the Celestial, and that peculiar opposition to Europeanism
which has marked the real East since the beginning of modern history.
* * * * *
And now lovely, lovely Burma!
I had not been in Burma two minutes before the very box containing the
clothes into which I must change before I could enter into the social
life of Bhamo swung from the broken pole of one of my coolies, and
rolled rapidly towards the river. It was recovered after great trouble.
Thick jungle land lay out before me, fleecy clouds in the dense blue sky
hung lazily over the green hills, the heavy air was pregnant with that
delicious ease known only in the tropics--all was still and sweet. The
river flowed grandly from the interior through magnificent forest
country, receiving on either shore the frequent tribute of other minor
streams, and its banks were marvelous cliffs of jungle--tangles of giant
trees on crowding underwood, clinging vine and festooning
parasite--rising sheer from the water's brink. Now long clusters of
villages, deep in the shade of palm and fruit trees; now wide expanses
of grass-grown meadow, where the grazing grounds dip to the river, and
where the only echoes of China are the resting pack-horse caravans--the
banks cut into huge trampled clefts by the passage of the kine trooping
down to drink. Occasional wooded islands broke the monotony of the
river, and were just discernible from the magnificent English roads
which skirted the hills high up from the river, and yellow sandspits and
big wedges of granite and rock ran far out into its uneven course. By
day the joyous Burma sun smiled upon all, and at midday poured its
merciless heat down upon all mankind, unheeding the weary wanderer whose
tramp was now near done. At night the tropical moon turned all this
riverine world to the likeness of a very fairyland. Lying in a long
chair in the dâk bungalows one drank in the scenes which succeeded one
another in bewildering succession, and felt himself thrilled by an
almost fierce appreciation of eastern beauty. It was good to meet again
an Englishman, a sturdy, firm-featured Englishman, whose love of the
East, like mine own, was a veritable obsession. The sun glare of the
tropics had parched the color out of our white skin, and despite the
fact that malaria came back again here to taunt me, yet I was again in
the East that I loved, that had scarred and marked me ere my time
mayhap. And yet I, with many such of my own countrymen, despite her
rough handling, worship her.
* * * * *
In three days I was in Bhamo.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote BF: _i.e._ New Year, New Year.]
[Footnote BG: _i.e._Great Man. "Ding" is my Chinese name.]
[Footnote BH: I believe personally that the main object of the Yün-nan
provincial government in employing two American engineers, who at the
present moment (August, 1910) are surveying a route from Yün-nan-fu to
the Yangtze, is merely official bluff. It is preferable to pay two men a
monthly stipend if the official "face" can be preserved and the Chinese
dogged official procrastination be maintained, rather than to allow
foreigners to come in still farther.]
[Footnote BI: This was of course written long before the Four Nations
Loan was signed, and Tuan Fang appointed Director General of the
Railways in May, 1911. We should now see a speedy reformation of Railway
matters in China if Tuan is given an absolutely free hand.--E.J.D.]
END OF BOOK II.
[Illustration: THE SWITZERLAND OF WESTERN CHINA
To travel in China is easy over country like this, granted that the
traveler sticks to the main road, sample of which is seen at lower
right.]
[Illustration: RED CROSS WORK IN CHINESE REVOLUTION
Red Cross workers at mass graves of men killed during the the Chinese
Revolution.]
[Illustration: TEA FOR FOREIGN COUNTRIES
Coolies carrying tea packed for export; picture was taken in British
concession of Hankow.]
[Illustration: TEA FROM NATIVE DISTRICTS
Picture shows native tea dealers at Ku-kiang bringing in tea for
transport to the great tea factories in Hankow, where it is prepared for
export.]
[Illustration: AUTHOR ON NANKING CITY WALL
Taken during the Revolution, when Author was acting as war
correspondent for world-wide news agencies.]
[Illustration: AT HANKOWTHE CHICAGO OF CHINA
River-front scene at low water, showing junks that transport general
cargo down-river from the exporting districts. This is a typical
riverfront scene.]
[Illustration: A LONELY TRAVELER
This picture was taken far out in untraveled China Far West. For days
you meet no sign of human habitation, and woe betide you if the river
rises!]
[Illustration: EARNING HIS LIVING
This coolie, who carries 420-lb. bale of cotton, as seen in the picture,
from the ship in the river to the Hankow Bund, probably earns a dollar
and a half per week!]
[Illustration: TEA FOR FOREIGN LANDS
Foreign steamers being loaded with native cargoes for export; scene on
the Hankow Bund. The tea trade of China has lost considerable ground in
recent years.]
[Illustration: WILLOW PATTERN TEA HOUSE IN SHANGHAI
A famous landmark in the native city; said to be one of the oldest
tea-houses in China. Much business is transacted in these tea-houses all
over the country.]
[Illustration: THE PERIGRINATING BARBER OF ANCIENT CHINA
If there is an "artist" on this earth, it is the Chinese barber. An hour
in his chair makes you long for a week in bed to fully recover!]
[Illustration: AUTHOR'S HOUSEBOAT (WUPAN)
In which he passed eighteen days on the Yangtze-kiang; scene at one of
the rapids in upper reaches of river.]
[Illustration: AUTHOR'S MODEST CARAVAN IN SZECH'UAN
And a fine body of men they were, kept in order by the general factotum
in the foregroundeach of them earning about 25 cents a day.]
[Illustration: QUAINT CHINESE ORCHESTRA HALWAYS MEN
Typical old-time orchestra anywhere in China; the Chinese say, "Once a
musician, always a musician"so it usually runs in the family.]
[Illustration: SCENE ON THE UPPER YANGTZE
Author and the cook on the aft of the houseboat after all the dangerous
rapids had been passed. The ropes are made of bamboo. En route to
Chung-king.]
[Illustration: MOTLEY GROUP OF HUA MIAO MENFOLK
Picture gives an idea of how the Hua Miao in certain sections are being
gradually absorbed by the Chinese; these men are typical tenant farmers
of the Nou-su.]
[Illustration: RATHER A RARE PICTURE OF TRIBES
Three tribes are shown: White Bones (left), attending her mistress, a
Nou-su aristocrat (Black Bones); the children at the right are Hua Miao.]
[Illustration: AUTHOR'S CARAVAN ON THE MARCH
On the main road west of Chung-kingthe Author's four-man chair engaged
to "save his face," and his servant's two-man chair, followed by the
coolies.]
[Illustration: THE MEKONG BRIDGE
A drop occurs from 8,000 feet to 4,000 feet, and then a climb again over
precipitous mountainsvery hard goingto 8,000 feet. Shrines are at each
end of the handsome suspension bridge.]
[Illustration: THE AUTHOR IN YÜN-NAN
This picture was taken after convalescence in Tong-chu'aniu, just before
the journey commenced from that city to British Burma, as seen in the
second part of "Across China On Foot."
[Illustration: THE UBIQUITOUS WATER CARRIER
Drawing the water and hewing the wood are daily chores in China, mostly
carried out by womenthough this is a picture of a man, a half-wit.]
[Illustration: THE WELCOME FAMILIAR TEA-HOUSE
In many provinces of China, tea-houses, of which this one in Eastern
Szech'uan is typical, are to be found about every ten li (3 miles) on
the main road.]
[Illustration: SPECIMEN OF "MAIN ROAD" IN N.E. YÜN-NAN
Taken in the little-known part of Western China, far from any of China's
"great paved highways"; author is in saddle.]
[Illustration: THE OLD-FASHIONED SOLDIER
All foreign travelers are given an official escort in the interior. This
fu-song was a noble warrior! But not a bewilderingly efficient
protector! He was a very lazy rascal!]
[Illustration: FAREWELL TO THE TRAVELER
These people had never seen a white man, their faces show that, at
farewell after a very pleasant stay among them, they were not altogether
broken-hearted to see the author go!]
[Illustration: CONFUCIAN TEMPLE AT TONG-CH'UANFU
Where the Author's life was miraculously saved; first temple in which
the Author lived. Later, in Tibet, his life was again saved.]
[Illustration: ANCIENT TIBETAN PRAYER WHEELS
The prayer wheel plays an important part in religious observances in
Tibet, the ritual often resembling that of the ancient Christian church.]
[Illustration: WATCH YOUR STEP
Picture shows nature of main roads in certain sections of western
China; when the rains come, traveling is quite dangerous. Author seen on
boulder at right.]
[Illustration: FAR FROM THE MADDENING THRONG
Regimenting the whole village to bid a sad farewell; Samuel Pollard,
author's traveling companion on this trip in the wilds, stands under the
hat on the right.]
[Illustration: HAPPY FAMILY IN BACKWOODS
The Author spent two nights in this crudely-thatched home in the hills.]
Though poor, the people were extremely hospitableand invariably happy.]
[Illustration: PRIMITIVE COAL-MINING IN YÜN-NAN
Coal is abundant in many parts of Yün-nan, though production is small and
methods of mining very crude. Picture shows tunnel leading underground.]
[Illustration: WOMEN WEAVING HEMP GARMENTS
These two pictures show (below) the women stripping hemp and (above)
weaving it into the picturesque garments they are wearing. They were all
dressed up for the occasion. It is surprising what they can do with such
primitive appliances. Picture was taken in the hill country beyond
Chaotungfu. They are all Hua Miao.]
[Illustration: HUA MIAO WOMEN AND CHILDREN
Basket on woman's back shows general method of transportation in the
hilly country inhabited by this fascinating tribe.]
[Illustration: WASH DAY AMONG THE CHILDREN
Scene in the school grounds of the mission at Tongch'uanfu, the "City of
the Eastern Streams"and a very happy little band they are.]
[Illustration: TWO DAYS OUT FROM YUNG-CH'ANG-FU
An almost everyday scene in the western part of ChinaChina's
"Switzerland"on the main road from Chung-king to Upper Burma.]
[Illustration: THE ITINERANT NECROMANCER
Predicted the disappearance of the author in five days; was himself found
dead in village in three days.]
[Illustration: COPPER KETTLE LANE IN YÜN-NAN-FU
Copper is supposed to be a government monopoly, yet there is always
abundance of copper here! One of the most interesting streets in all
China.]
[Illustration: AUTHOR'S CARAVAN FOUR DAYS FROM JOURNEY'S END
And a snapshot of the bridge said by Chinese "to be possessed of a
demon!" because it ate up so much money in public subscription, and yet
was never in repair!]
[Illustration: TYPICAL SINGLE-SPAN BRIDGE OF INLAND CHINA.
Engineers say that China possesses bridges of more varied design than
any other country.]
[Illustration: Top left--Hua Miao, all men, of North-eastern Yün-nan. Top right--Ch'in
Miao, men, of Kweichow. Bottom left--Three Heh Miaoall women. Bottom
right--Hua Miaotwo women have their hair done up in shape of horn to
denotes that they are married; others man.]
[Illustration: A REAL ABORIGINAL FEAST
The man on the left scowled in anger as the Author snapped his
pictureotherwise, all were happy. For them an exceptional feast, not an
everyday affair.]
[Illustration: WHERE EAST MEETS WEST
Playfellows in Far Interior China. The little white girl is the daughter
of a missionary in Sui-fu, Szech'uan, where picture was taken on porch of
mission residence.]
[Illustration: BEAUTIFUL TONG-CH'UANFU IN YÜN-NAN
The city in which the Author rested for several months when his right
arm was broken; situated between two high ranges, Tongch'uanfu Valley is
extremely beautiful.]
[Illustration: TWO VERY PRACTICAL WOMEN
Though their tribes have lived on same range of mountains "for eighty
centuries," they speak different languages and lead different life
generally. (One carries baby.)]
[Illustration: IN UNSURVEYED AND LITTLE-TRODDEN YÜN-NAN
Picture shows into what a dilapidated condition the roads are allowed to
get; off courier roads, this is what you get.]
[Illustration: IGNORANCE AND POVERTY
Characteristic specimens of poor tribes found in wild areas off the
beaten path in the province of Yün-nan; their food is rarely above famine
conditions.]
[Illustration: THE TENGYUEH WATERFALL
Mountains opposite are about 4,000 feet higher than the Tengyueh Plain,
which is about 5,500 feet; over this waterfall one of author's ponies
"committed suicide," Chinese said.]
[Illustration: FAMILY SCENE IN HUA MIAOLAND
In many districts of this wild country nothing will grow except corn
(maize) and hemp; latter people weave for clothing.]
[Illustration: REFORMED HUA MIAO STUDENTS TAKING IT EASY
Picture shows how much they have benefitted under the missionary's
influence. Taken at the British mission compound in Tongch'uanfu.]
[Illustration: FAR IN THE WILDS OF UNSURVEYED YÜN-NAN
Picture gives only a scant idea of the difficulties of negotiating
country of this nature. When river is high, there is no bridge. Author
on bridge.]