[Illustration]
The West River sinks into insignificance when compared with the
Yangtze, the great river over which is carried the greater portion of
the commerce of China. From Wusung, the port of Shanghai, to
Hankow--six hundred miles inland--battleships can be navigated, and
some direct foreign trade is carried on by the cities upon its banks,
though Shanghai is the great centre of foreign trade for all the
Yangtze region. The history of the Yangtze is given annually by that
most complete and interesting epitome of statistical knowledge--the
returns of trade and trade reports by the various Commissioners of the
Imperial Maritime Customs. Here everything is dealt with that bears
upon the general condition of the country, and one can read at a
glance the causes of fluctuations in supply, demand, and prices. In
one report we read that production was interfered with by rebellion
following a drought. The insurgents, to the number of ten thousand,
had armed themselves with hollowed trees for guns, and jingals as well
as swords and spears. In the first encounters the insurgents got the
better of the Government "troops," who were probably of the ancient
type, but on the appearance of two thousand foreign drilled troops
they were dispersed. The hollowed trees that did duty for guns was a
device not uncommon in old China. The same substitute for cast-iron
was tried by the Philippine insurgents in the uprising against Spain;
but they had taken the precaution of adding iron rings. They had also
large numbers of wooden imitations of Snider rifles, beautifully made,
that must have looked formidable, so long as no pretence was made to
shoot. The jingal is still in common use in remote districts in China,
and was used against our troops in the slight engagements that took
place when, under agreement with the Imperial Chinese Government, we
proceeded to take over the leased territory of Kowloon. It is a
matchlock, the barrel being ten feet long and the bore one inch. In
the event of the spherical ball finding its billet, the wound would be
of no light matter; but the chances in favour of the target are many,
for the jingal requires three men for its manipulation, two of whom
act as supports for the barrel, which rests on their shoulders, while
the third primes the pan and manipulates the match. When the gun is
fired, and the crew of three recover from the shock, it is carried to
the rear for reloading, an operation that cannot be performed in a
hurry. In the event of a rapid retreat the jingal remains to become
the spoil of the captor. At short range, and used against a crowd, a
number of jingals would probably be effective, and would present a
formidable appearance; but the heroic days of short ranges, waving
flags, cheering masses, and flashing steel have passed, and the
trained soldier of to-day looks to his sights and to his cover.
[Illustration: A SUMMER HOUSE.]
[Illustration]
If one could follow the ramifications of our trade through the coast
ports and rivers and creeks of China, the various products of cotton
and velvets, woollen goods, copper, iron, tinned plates, cement, dyes,
machinery, oil, railway materials, pepper, sugar, and tea dust, with a
host of other things, what an immense mass of useful and interesting
information one would acquire. From the ship to the junk, from the
junk to the boat, from the boat to the wheelbarrow, or the mule, and,
lastly, to the toiling coolie, who alone can negotiate the dizzy paths
of the more remote villages, or the frail means of transport over the
raging torrents of the mountain districts. I have said that seaweed is
almost unknown on the Chinese coast, and, curiously enough, seaweed
is imported in considerable quantities, being used as a food, as in
Ireland. The rock seaweed (called dillisk) and carrageen moss are
used. For these imports are exchanged a long list of commodities,
including eggs, hides (cow and buffalo), skins of all animals (from
ass to weazel), silk, tea, tobacco, wood, sesamum, and opium, the
latter, mainly from the provinces of Shensi, Szechwan, and Yunnan,
being among the most important of the exports. I find on looking over
the annual returns of trade for the Yangtze ports for 1906, that the
imports of opium for the year amounted to sixty-two thousand one
hundred and sixty-one piculs, while the quantity exported amounted to
six hundred and forty-three thousand three hundred and seventy-seven
piculs. It would be interesting to know if the arrangement entered
into by the British Government, that the export of opium from India
shall diminish by one-tenth annually until it has ceased, is
reciprocal, in so far that not alone shall the exports of the drug
from China be diminished in the same proportion, but the area under
poppy cultivation be similarly controlled. If no such arrangement has
been made, China will have once more demonstrated her astuteness in
dealing with unconsidered outbursts of European sentiment. The
statements made from time to time by anti-opium enthusiasts have been
made in all sincerity, and generally with a desire to approach
accuracy as nearly as possible; but, nevertheless, they are merely
general statements, made under no authority of reliable statistics,
and not seldom unconsciously coloured by an intense desire to
emphasize an evil that they consider it impossible to exaggerate. But
while it would be extremely difficult to examine systematically into
the actual state of opium consumption and its effects upon the
population as regards moral degradation and physical deterioration in
any Chinese district, these inquiries have been made and reliable
statistics obtained in Hong Kong and Singapore, and calculations based
on the known consumption of opium in China have been made by competent
persons, the result being to show that the statements so loosely made
as to the destructive effects of opium-smoking in moderation are not
borne out on close examination. My own observation of the Chinese in
Hong Kong--a practically Chinese city where every man was free to
smoke as much opium as he could afford to purchase--tallies with the
conclusion of the exhaustive inquiries since undertaken by order of
the home Government. The mass of the Chinese population are very poor,
and can support themselves and their families only by incessant
labour. When the day's work is done, the coolie who indulges in
opium--a very small percentage of the whole--goes to an opium shop,
where, purchasing a small quantity of the drug, he retires to a bench
or couch, sometimes alone, sometimes with a friend, in which case they
lie down on either side of a small lamp and proceed to enjoy their
smoke, chatting the while. The pipe is a peculiar shape, looking
like an apple with a small hole scooped in it, and stuck on the
mouth orifice of a flute. Taking with a long pin looking like a
knitting-needle a small quantity (about the size of a pea) of the
viscous-prepared opium from the box in which it is sold, the
smoker roasts it over the flame of the small lamp until it is of a
consistency fit to be placed in the bowl of the pipe, on the outer
portion of which the pellet has been kneaded during the heating
process. Then placing the bowl to the flame, two or three deep whiffs
are taken and swallowed, which exhausts the pellet, when the bowl is
cleared out and the process repeated until a state of dreamy slumber
or complete torpor is reached, on awaking from which the smoker leaves
the place.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
When one remembers the exhausting nature of coolies' work in a seaport
town it is clear that if opium were smoked to excess the results would
be apparent in opium-sodden loafers and beggars; but the contrary is
the case, for in no town on earth is the population more efficient and
industrious.
A valuable report has lately been issued by the Commission appointed
by the governor, to whom the following questions were referred.
(1) The extent to which excessive indulgence in the smoking of opium
prevails in the Straits Settlements.
(2) Whether the smoking of opium
(a) in moderation
(b) in excess
has increased in the said Settlements.
(3) The steps that should be taken ... to eradicate the evils arising
from the smoking of opium in the said Settlements.
The Commission included a bishop, three members of the Legislative
Council, including the Chinese member, and three independent
gentlemen. They examined seventy-five witnesses, including every class
in the population, twenty-one of whom were nominated by the anti-opium
societies, and presented a report of three hundred and forty-three
paragraphs, from which I cull the following excerpts.
Par. 76. We are firmly convinced that the main reason for
taking to the habit of smoking opium is the expression
among the Chinese of the universal tendency of human nature
to some form of indulgence.
Par. 77. The lack of home comforts, the strenuousness of
their labour, the severance from family association, and
the absence of any form of healthy relaxation in the case
of the working classes in Malaya, predispose them to a form
of indulgence which, both from its sedative effects and in
the restful position in which it must be practised, appeals
most strongly to the Chinese temperament.
Par. 91. In the course of the inquiry it has transpired
that life insurance companies with considerable experience
of the insurance of Chinese lives are willing, _ceteris
paribus_, to accept as first-class risks Chinese who smoke
two chees (116 grains) of chandu a day, an amount that is
by no means within the range of light smoking, and we are
informed that these insurance companies are justified in
taking these risks. It appears therefore that, in the view
of those remarkably well qualified to judge, the opium
habit has little or no effect on the duration of life, and
there is no evidence before us which would justify our
acceptance of the contrary view.
Par. 96. We consider that the tendency of the evidence
supports us in the opinion we have formed, as the result of
our investigations, that the evils arising from the use of
opium are usually the subject of exaggeration. In the
course of the evidence it has been pointed out to us that
it is difficult even for a medical man to detect the
moderate smoker, and it is improbable that the moderate
smoker would obtrude himself upon the attention of
philanthropists on whose notice bad cases thrust
themselves. The tendency of philanthropists to give undue
prominence to such bad cases, and to generalize from the
observation of them, is undoubtedly a great factor in
attributing to the use of opium more widely extended evils
than really exist.
Par. 106. The paralysis of the will that is alleged to
result from opium-smoking we do not regard as proved, many
smokers of considerable quantities are successful in
business, and there is no proof that smokers cannot fill
positions of considerable responsibility with credit and
reliability.
[Illustration]
Referring to statements made that the dose must inevitably be
constantly increased, the report observes as follows in
Par. 112. We have, further, evidence given in many concrete
cases that the dose has not been increased during
considerable periods, and we have the remarkable absence of
pauperism that should be strikingly prevalent if the
theories mentioned above were reasonably applicable to
local indulgence in opium.
On the question of enforcing prohibitive legislation, the report
observes in
Par. 133. The poppy is at present cultivated in India,
China, Turkey, and Persia, and it may, we consider, be
assumed that short of universal suppression of the
cultivation effectively carried out, prohibition in one
would lead to extended cultivation in others.
The report goes on to deal with the substitution of morphia for opium
as demanding the gravest consideration, its effects being infinitely
more deleterious than the smoking of opium.
It will be interesting to see how the International Commission that
has recently met at Shanghai has dealt with the question. The Imperial
Chinese Government has issued drastic regulations, and an Imperial
edict has decreed that the growing of the poppy and the smoking of
opium shall cease; but the people of China have a way of regarding
Imperial edicts that clash with their customs as pious aspirations. If
it succeeds, it will have effected a change more complete than any
that has taken place since the adoption of the shaved head and the
queue at the command of the Manchu conquerors.
[Illustration: A QUIET GAME OF DRAUGHTS.]
[Illustration]
The proportion of the volume of trade under the various foreign flags
shows of late years a considerable diminution of our trade and an
increase of that carried in German bottoms; but this difference in the
supply of commodities, while it shows a loss to our shipping, is more
apparent than real as regards the commodities themselves. For the last
half century or more a large quantity of cotton and other goods
ordered through British houses was procured in Germany and shipped
from English ports. But with the passing of the Merchandise Marks Act,
a change was soon observed. When the astute Chinese trader saw printed
upon his cotton cloth the advertisement that it was made in Germany,
he asked the German Consul about it, and concluded that it would be
better business to order it from the maker direct, which he did. The
equally astute German arrived at the conclusion that as this large
direct trade had developed it would be well to build the ships to
carry it under its own flag, and save the transport and turnover in
England. The result was a great increase of German shipping to the
East, and with the increase of German argosies came the proposal, as a
natural sequence, that a German navy should be created to ensure
their protection. Thus the Act that was hailed with such appreciation
became the greatest and most valuable advertisement ever given by one
nation to another, and German technical knowledge, thoroughness, and
business capacity have taken full advantage of the situation. Ten
years ago the German flag in Hong Kong harbour was comparatively
infrequent. To-day the steamers of Germany frequently outnumber our
own in that great port.
The life of town and country is more sharply divided in China than in
Europe, for the absence of local protection drives all wealthy men to
the security of the walled towns and cities. The aspect of all the
great cities south of the Yangtze is pretty much the same, and there
is not much difference in the life of the communities. The cities are
encircled by walls about twenty-five feet high and from fifteen to
twenty feet on top, with square towers at intervals, and great
gateways at the four cardinal points. The north gate at Hangchow, at
the extremity of the Grand Canal, is the most beautiful that I have
seen in China. Eight stone monoliths supported an elaborate structure
of three stories narrowing to the summit that was finished by a
boat-shaped structure with ornamental ends and a curved roof. Every
portion of the great structure of stone was beautifully carved, the
upper portions being perforated. The carved work was exquisite,
figures standing in bold relief, and flowers and foliage being
undercut so that a stick could have been passed behind them. The walls
of Nanking and Suchow are each thirty-six miles in circumference, but
within the walls are large areas that have probably never been built
over. The vacant spaces may always have been used for agricultural
purposes, the crops enabling the inhabitants to withstand a siege.
Many of the splendid buildings of these old cities have disappeared or
are now in ruins, but here and there the tiled roofs, beautiful in
their curved design and brilliant glaze of green or yellow enamel,
remain to testify to the innate artistic feeling of the Chinese
people. The Ming tombs at Nanking, with the mile-long approach through
a double row of elephants, camels, chitons, horses, etc., each ten and
a half feet high and carved from a single block, are monuments that,
unlike the great bronze astronomical instruments that erstwhile
adorned the walls of Peking, no conquering host could carry away. On
the back of each of the elephants is a heap of stones, every Chinese
who passes feeling it a religious duty to wish, generally either for
wealth or a son, when he casts up a stone. If it remains, the answer
is favourable; if not, he continues his course in sadness, but not
without hope. The porcelain tower of Nanking has disappeared, but the
bronze summit, fifteen feet in diameter, remains on its site.
Inside the city walls the streets are narrow and sometimes filthy.
Smells abound, but Chinese are apparently oblivious to what we
consider offensive smells; and from a hygienic point of view it is
certain that foul smells are better than sewer-gas, which, though it
cannot be characterized as dirt, is decidedly matter in the wrong
place.
[Illustration]
Peking is unlike any of the southern cities. Its streets are wide, and
the mixture of peoples from the north gives variety and colour to the
street scenes. Here one meets long strings of laden camels bearing
their burdens from Mongolia, and issuing grumbling protests as they
follow the bell of their leader. Peking carts with richly ornamented
wheels but no springs ply over the raised centre of the broad but
filthy streets, the mud of winter and the dust of summer assuaging the
jolting of the picturesque but uncomfortable vehicles. Sometimes in
the carts are richly apparelled ladies, who are attended by mounted
servants. Now and again may be seen immense funeral biers bright with
red lacquer and gilding, and resting upon a platform of bamboos large
enough to admit from twenty to fifty or sixty bearers. Should the
funeral be that of a high official, as many as a hundred bearers are
sometimes engaged. This is a form of ostentation impossible in the
narrow streets of the southern cities. Peking is really four cities
within the immense outer walls, which are fifty feet high and
probably thirty or forty feet broad on top. On the portion of the wall
commanding the legations some of the hardest fighting of the siege
took place. The Temple of Heaven and the Temple of Agriculture are
situated to the right and left of the south gate of the outer wall.
Each temple stands in a park, and in the one the Emperor on the first
day of the Chinese New Year offers a sacrifice on the great white
marble terrace, and prays for blessings upon all his people, while in
the Temple of Agriculture the Emperor, attended by all the great
officials, attends on the first day of spring for the performance of
the ceremonies, as laid down by ancient custom. This ceremony in
honour of the opening of spring is one of the principal functions of
the year. The Emperor, with all the Court, attends at the Temple of
Agriculture in state to plough a furrow. The buffalo that draws the
plough is decorated with roses and other flowers, and the plough is
covered with silk of the Imperial yellow. The ground has been
carefully softened, and a hard path arranged on which the Emperor
walks while he guides the plough, before doing which he removes his
embroidered jacket and tucks up the long silk coat round his waist, as
a carpenter does when he wants to get his apron out of the way and
leave his legs free. After his Majesty has ploughed his furrow, three
princes, each with a buffalo and plough decorated with red silk,
plough each three furrows, followed by nine of the principal
officials, whose ploughs and buffaloes are decorated like those of the
princes. A rice is then sown called the red lotus, which when reaped
is presented as an offering--half on the altar at the Temple of
Agriculture, half on that before the tablets of the Imperial family in
the royal ancestral hall.
This ceremony is of very ancient date, and indicates the high position
held by the agriculturist in the estimation of the Chinese. In the
books of Chow, written probably about 1000 B.C., in writing against
luxurious ease, it is written, "King W[)a]n dressed meanly, and gave
himself to the work of tranquillization and to that of husbandry."
To Peking, as the centre of Chinese official life, flock all the
higher mandarins from time to time, each high official--viceroy,
governor, or taotai, or lower ranks--to give an account of their
stewardship at the expiration of their term of office, and to solicit
a renewed appointment. Should a viceroy have acquired, say, three
millions of dollars during his three years' term of office, it will be
necessary for him to disburse at least one million in presents to
various palace officials before he can hope for an audience and for
further employment. Many of the officials put their savings into
porcelain rather than invest them in speculation, or deposit them in
savings banks. Some of this porcelain is buried or concealed in a safe
place, and when the owner requires money he disposes of a piece. It is
thought in England that great bargains of valuable porcelain can be
picked up in any Chinese town. This is a mistake. Of course, great
bargains may possibly be picked up anywhere, but good porcelain is
highly valued in China as in Europe. Shown a very fine vase by the
principal dealer in curiosities of Peking, he quoted the price at
seventeen thousand dollars. The result of the Chinese custom of buying
porcelain as a savings bank investment, and its re-sale when money is
required, is a constant traffic in good porcelain, which can generally
be procured, at its full value.
[Illustration]