CHINA--AS SHE WAS
The contrast between the China of antiquity--hoary with age--and
the new China--just awakening into life--is so great as to suggest
the treatment of the two periods in different articles. And if the
contrast between China of yesterday and the China of to-day is
great, what shall we say of the contrast between the Flowery Kingdom
and our own country? The same stars shine overhead and the same laws
of nature operate on the earth, but in mode of living, appearance,
customs and habits of thought, the Chinese people could scarcely be
more different from ours.
First, a word as to the land which they occupy; its very vastness
impresses one, unless he has recently consulted his geography. While
the eighteen provinces which constitute China proper have something
less than two million square miles, yet the Chinese empire with its
tributary states has an area of about five million three hundred
thousand square miles, and extends over thirty degrees north and
south and seventy degrees east and west. We hardly realize when we
speak of China that her emperor holds sway over a territory nearly
twice as large as the United States; that his decrees are law to a
population estimated at from two hundred and fifty to four hundred
millions; that her climate is like that of Russia in the north,
while in the southern provinces her people live under a tropical
sun; and that she has so many mountains and such mighty deserts that
more than half of her population is crowded together upon a plain
which contains but a little more than two hundred thousand square
miles. Williams, in his work entitled "The Middle Kingdom," calls
this district "the most densely settled of any part of the world of
the same size," and estimates that upon this plain--less than three
times the size of Nebraska--one hundred and seventy-seven millions
of human beings dwell.
The harbors of China are hardly what one might expect on so extended
a line of sea coast. While the harbor at Hong Kong is an admirable
one--one of the best in the world--the one at Shanghai has no hills
to protect it, the one at Chefoo is open to the storms and the one
at Taku does not deserve to be called a harbor at all. In leaving
Shanghai we went an hour and a half by launch in order to reach a
steamer of only six thousand tons; at Chefoo a still smaller ship
was delayed a day because the lighters could not unload it in the
wind, and at Taku, the seaport of Tientsin and Pekin, we spent a day
on the bar waiting for ten feet of water.
The capital of the empire has until recently been so difficult of
access that comparatively few tourists have visited it. The large
ocean steamers stop at Shanghai and Hong Kong only, making it
necessary for one desiring to visit Pekin to take a smaller boat and
risk indefinite delays on account of wind and tide.
Since the completion of the railroad from Hankow to Pekin it is
possible to accomplish the journey from Shanghai to Pekin in less
time, and, in addition, enjoy the advantage of a trip inland. When
the projected road is completed from Hankow to Canton, the tourist
can land at Shanghai, take a river boat six hundred miles up the
Yangste Kiang to Hankow, then go by rail to Pekin, about eight
hundred miles north, then back through Hankow to Canton nearly as
far south, from which point there are daily boats to Hong Kong.
This trip, covering nearly a thousand miles of river travel and
about fifteen hundred miles of railroad travel (not including the
return trip from Pekin to Hankow) can be made in the time formerly
spent in travel along the coast and furnishes an infinitely better
opportunity for the study of the country and the people. As a matter
of precaution I ought to add that Pekin is so far north that before
the opening of the railroad it was extremely difficult to visit it
after the first of December, and even now it is desirable that the
trip should be made before the middle of November.
China is well watered; the largest river, the Yantse Kiang, which
empties into the ocean at Shanghai, is three thousand miles long,
drains more than half a million square miles. Seven hundred miles
above its mouth carries a volume of water estimated at five hundred
thousand cubic feet per second. It is one of the great rivers of the
earth and is navigable for large vessels for more than a thousand
miles.
The Yellow river, or, in Chinese, the Hwang Ho, drains a basin
almost as large and is nearly as long, but does not carry so large
a volume of water. This is the river whose overflows have been so
disastrous as to earn for it the name of "The Great Sorrow." This
river carries down so much deposit that within recent times it
has choked its original outlet and formed a new channel, entering
the ocean some three hundred miles farther north. At that time
thousands of villages were swept away and the loss of life was
estimated at several millions. The current of the Yellow river is
so shifting, the sandbars so numerous and the volume of water so
changeable that the river is practically useless for navigation.
[Illustration: A GROUP OF CHINESE--PEKIN]
Besides these, there are a number of rivers of less importance and
tributaries of these two large rivers, which only seem small by
comparison.
As if inspired by the numerous and extensive natural waterways, the
Chinese people centuries ago connected the great water systems by
an immense canal, which with the streams utilized by it, gave water
communication between Pekin and Canton. This canal, sometimes known
as the Transit river, is nearly twice as long as the Erie canal and
is not only the greatest work of its kind in Asia, but at the time
of its construction was the greatest in the world.
Before speaking of the people, a word should be said in regard
to the great wall. It extends from the ocean westward along the
northern boundary of China proper for a distance of about fifteen
hundred miles, climbing in its tortuous course hills and mountains,
one more than five thousand feet high. It is about twenty-five feet
thick at the base and fifteen at the top and varies from fifteen to
thirty feet in height. It is made of earth with a shell of stone or
large brick to hold the earth in place. The watch towers, built at
intervals along the line, add to its imposing appearance and make
it an object of historic interest, although a large part of the
wall has fallen into decay and in some places only a ridge of dirt
remains. This wall was constructed about two hundred years before
the Christian era as a protection against the hostile tribes of the
north, and for many centuries it answered its purpose, although
to-day it only suggests a tremendous waste of labor.
But the great wall, imposing as it is because of its length, is
inferior in height, thickness and construction to some of the city
walls. The wall of the city of Pekin, for instance, is about sixty
feet high and forty feet wide at its base, and is kept in excellent
repair. The wall encloses what is known as the Tartar city and
is nearly four miles square. Huge watch towers rise above each
gate, and to give still greater security, the gates open into an
enclosed square. While the walls of the city of Pekin are the most
substantial in the empire, the walls of Nanking, the former capital,
enclose nearly four times as much ground. There was a double object
in making the walls of the city so extensive. First, to provide for
future growth; and, second, to enable the people to withstand a
longer siege. How well the second purpose was served is shown by
the fact that during the Taiping rebellion the city of Nanking was
besieged for thirteen years. Just outside the walls of the city may
still be seen the earthworks thrown up by the imperial army, which
sometimes numbered thirty-five thousand.
[Illustration: THE WALL AT PEKIN]
But it must not be understood that the capital cities were the only
ones protected by walls. On the contrary, all the cities are walled;
one sees fifteen or twenty of these walled cities on the railroad
from Pekin to Hankow and a number of others on the ride down the
river to Shanghai.
The agricultural population, instead of occupying individual farms,
as in America, is gathered into little villages, each home being
enclosed in its own wall. During the summer the people swarm out
from the cities and villages and cultivate their little tracts of
land with the most primitive tools, carrying the farm products back
to their homes on wheelbarrows or in baskets balanced on poles.
In the north of China the camel is used for long distance travel,
and in the south we saw the water buffalo drawing the plow, but in
China less than anywhere else we have been, has man supplemented his
strength by the strength of domestic animals.
In the cities the streets are so narrow that travel by ordinary
vehicles is impossible. In Pekin there are a few wide streets
leading from the gates through the city, and on these a peculiar
heavy-wheeled, springless cart is used, but most of the streets are
more like alleys in which two 'rikishas can hardly pass. We did not
see a full sized horse in the capital city. Some ponies have been
brought down from Manchuria (Manchuria is regarded as the personal
property of the imperial family and there is a royal monopoly in
ponies) but the most popular saddle animal is the patient donkey. It
looks ludicrous to see a fat Chinaman perched upon the rump of one
of these tiny beasts, but there seems to be entire harmony between
the two and the donkey trudges along with little thought of change.
In Canton the streets are not wide enough for the 'rikisha, and
both the pony and the donkey are conspicuous by their absence. The
sedan chair, borne by coolies, was the only conveyance we saw in a
day's tour of the city, and it required some engineering to make any
headway with it when two parties met.
Although the business buildings are seldom more than two stories
high (the residences are usually only one story), the streets are
so narrow and so filled with signs and advertising banners that the
sun can scarcely find its way to the pavement. The stores are
narrow little stalls with the entire front open to the street. Often
there is a little shrine outside the door where incense is burned,
and innumerable gods of wood, brass and stone are to be seen.
[Illustration: A STREET IN PEKIN]
While in their style of dress and in their institutions the Chinese
are much the same throughout the empire, they differ considerably in
size and color according to the latitude, and in features according
to race history. In the north the people are lighter and larger than
in the south, while the men and women of Manchuria have coarser and
stronger faces than the Chinese. The people in the north seem to be
more vigorous and warlike and less artistic than the people of the
south.
[Illustration: CHINESE EMPEROR.]
The shaved forehead and the queue were prescribed by the Manchurian
rulers two hundred and fifty years ago as a sign of subjection,
but they are now a source of pride, and no greater humiliation can
be inflicted upon one than to cut off his queue. In the northern
provinces the men, women and children wear padded clothes, generally
of dark blue cotton. The breeches of the men are tied at the ankles
and the long, narrow coat reaches almost to the feet. In China
the women also wear trousers, but they are more like the American
article and the coat worn by the women is considerably shorter than
that worn by the men. China is a great place for furs, and the right
to wear sable is conferred as a mark of distinction upon the higher
officials.
The Manchu women and the Chinese women differ materially. The
Manchus, whose ancestors came from Manchuria, still retain the
customs peculiar to their section. The hair is stretched over
a broad, winglike frame and three hours are required for its
arrangement. Flowers, natural and artificial, and ornaments made of
feathers, beads and tinsel are profusely used in hair decoration.
The Manchu women, except the widows, employ paint and powder with
a boldness which would put to shame the most inveterate user of
cosmetics in America. In the painting here there is no suggestion of
a delicate glow of health; it is a generous application of bright
red in two streaks, running from above the eyes to the corners of
the mouth. The rest of the face is whitened with rice powder, which
does not harmonize with the yellow skin of the neck.
But if the Manchu women show more vanity in the treatment of the
face, they at least do not imitate the Chinese women in the binding
of the feet, though by wearing skirts and a shoe resting on a block,
shaped like a French heel, the size of the foot is concealed.
[Illustration: THE FATHER OF THE CHINESE EMPEROR.]
Foot-binding is probably the strangest form that human pride has
ever taken, and it is hard to believe that Chinese women from time
immemorial have endured the agonies of foot-binding and forced it
upon their daughters. It is not known certainly how the custom
originated. One tradition is that it began with a club-footed queen;
another that it was designed to distinguish the upper class women
from the coolies; and a third tradition has it that it was a scheme
devised by the men for keeping the women at home. But whatever
causes may have led to the inauguration of the custom, it has
become so firmly established that a prominent Chinaman told me that
being opposed to foot-binding, he had, when a young man, tried to
find a wife with natural feet but was not able to do so. He has in
recent years persuaded his wife to unbind her feet and has kept his
daughters from undergoing the ordeal.
[Illustration: EMPRESS DOWAGER--CHINA]
The process, as described by a physician and as shown in a
photograph and model which I secured, is as follows: At the age
of five or six the little girl's feet are tightly bandaged; the
second, third, fourth and fifth toes being gradually brought back
under the sole of the foot; the heel is then drawn forward under the
instep and the natural growth of the foot entirely arrested. The
medical missionaries report instances in which the foot has rotted
away because of lack of circulation. On one of the boats we met an
intelligent Chinese merchant who, after condemning the practice of
foot-binding and telling us that, in opposition to his wife's wishes
and in opposition to the girl herself, he had saved one daughter
from foot-binding, compared this custom to that of lacing, affirming
that the latter was much more injurious. He also ventured to suggest
that Chinese women do not expose their health and their shoulders in
decollete gowns, but perceiving that he had discovered a weak spot
in our own social armor, I hurriedly changed the subject. But I must
reserve for another article the discussion of other characteristics.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE PRINCIPAL STREETS OF PEKIN]