TONKIN.
The intercourse between Siam and Tonkin requires special notice. The
exact extent of Tonkin is not known accurately, but all travellers
agree that it is a more densely populated country than France, and
some imagine that it is of equal extent.
Although situated in the tropics, it enjoys a climate of perpetual
spring, and the air which by rights should be burning hot is cooled by
the South and North winds which blow alternately for 6 months each in
the year. The rainy season begins in April and lasts until August. At
this season the leafy trees have their branches weighed down by masses
of fruit, the countryside luxuriates in vegetation and promises a rich
harvest of rice. There is neither corn nor grapes, but nature supplies
their lack by other products. It is true that at times the land is
stricken with sterility. The floods destroy the young crops and the
drought changes the fertile earth into arid dust.
A range of inaccessible mountains seems to act as a line of defence
against foreign invasion. These mountains are clothed with forests
containing many fruit trees and inhabited by tigers, deer, and
elephants. The interior of the country is occupied by rising ground.
The plains are watered by numerous rivers and canals form cheap and
facile means of communication. Although the country has so many
products of commercial value, the inhabitants give all their attention
to fishing.
Kankao is the chief town, and many travellers have compared it
favourably with the most populous cities of Asia. There are no
imposing edifices with the exception of the royal palace and the
arsenal, in other respects it is a confused collection of wooden huts.
The foreign trading establishments are the only brick buildings. The
ruins of an ancient palace, destroyed during the civil wars, are still
visible and the relics point to the pristine glories of the city. The
arsenal is a building that would command admiration in Europe. It is
furnished with artillery, ammunition and all kinds of warlike stores.
Here the physicist would be struck by the phenomenon of the tides, as
the sea ebbs and flows only once in the 24 hours and is only
appreciable at the first and last quarters of the moon.
The products are similar to those of other countries of the Indies,
but the fruits are finer and more delicious than those of any other
Asiatic country. The oranges are large and luscious, but the use of
the citron is unsafe as it supplies the mordant used in the dyeing of
cotton.
Cultivated fruits include sweet potatoes yams, bananas, mangos, limes,
cocoanuts and pineapples. The elephants are the largest and most
active of those found in Asia. Temperance is a national virtue and
their staple articles of diet are merely rice, vegetables, roots, and
salt fish. They observe festivals at which game of all sorts is eaten
and especially at weddings and funerals they indulge in all manner of
good cheer. They devour horseflesh buffalo and goat meat, dogs,
rabbits, rats, frogs, shell fish and all kinds of fish. For dessert
they have the most excellent fruits, the odour and colour and taste of
which are pleasing to all the senses. Cleanliness is noticeable in all
their dishes. The tables and crockery as well as they themselves are
perfumed. In formal feasts the guests keep profound silence, and
speech before the conclusion of the repast would be considered
impolite. This restraint during their meals might be attributed to
their voracious appetites. Their usual beverage is a kind of tea with
which on festal occasions they mingle arrack. They manufacture strong
drink from rice and other vegetables.
The Tonkinese have flat oval faces. Their teeth, naturally white, are
blackened so as to avoid the reproach that they resemble those of dogs
or elephants. Though of a swarthy complexion they are fairer than the
other inhabitants of the Indies. They have long thick black hair. They
are active and cunning and seem adapted by nature to be an
accomplished race; but idleness, the vice of the climate is a check to
industry and renders them poverty stricken. Their insensate passion
for gambling reduces the wealthiest to beggary. Having lost all their
money, jewels and other possessions, they will wager their wives and
children and even their horses to which they are greatly attached.
The dress of the Tonkinese consists of a long robe reaching to the
heels. The grandees are dressed in silk or English cloth. The populace
and soldiery wear robes of cotton stuff reaching to the knees.
Fishermen and workmen, who are obliged to spend their time out of
doors, wear hats made of straw or leaves. The King is the only person
permitted by law to wear shoes. The common people go bare-foot but
this is no discomfort in a land where the soil is sandy. This custom
is in vogue in Abyssinior and in all warm countries and only
foreigners find that it is distasteful. They however wear sandals as
do the officials and the learned men affect the same fashion. The
latter allow their nails to grow long as a sign of their rank. Men and
women used to be obliged to wear their hair bound up, as a mark of
their vassalage, during the time when this kingdom was a dependent
state of China, but at the present time they wear it loose over their
shoulders. The nation has borrowed its arts, science and etiquette
from the Chinese. Their language which is monosyllabic, greatly
resembles Chinese, and inflexions of the voice determine the
signification of the syllables. The Tonkinese have many guttural and
dental consonants which are very difficult to be pronounced by
foreigners. Their writing is in vertical columns, they make use of
similar writing implements to those of China and they use silk or the
bark of trees instead of paper. They have no taste whatever for art
and science. It is true they have poets and musicians who are fairly
successful in imaginative works. They have also made a certain amount
of progress in morality for which they have adapted the maxims in the
books of Confucius. They have teachers for all branches of
accomplishments but no school for scientific knowledge, and they have
only a very slight acquaintance with mathematics.
The healing art is very imperfectly understood in Tonkin, experience
is their only guide, and the doctors combine their profession with
those of surgeon and apothecary. Their medical books on the
preparation of drugs are most vague in their principles. Cupping
glasses and caustics are used in obstinate cases only. The usual
medicaments are made from gums, roots and herbs. They cure fever,
eruptions, jaundice and small-pox by dieting and infusions. Certain
diseases are attributed to fogs and exhalations. Astrology bars the
way to medical progress, certain days are supposed to be unlucky, and
on these days the patient is allowed to suffer rather than that
medicines should be administered. Their skill in the arts is shown by
their articles of lacquer ware, porcelain, and in the smelting of
metals.
The rivers and canals by which the country is intersected are
favourable to internal trade. Each town has its fairs and markets to
which many foreigners are attracted. But there is very little maritime
commerce, for the reason that their ships are too small to brave the
dangers of the stormy seas. Foreign imports are saltpetre, sulphur,
cloth, all sorts of woollen goods, spices, lead and guns. Foreign
currency only is used and no race is more skilful in the art of money
changing, as they are able to appreciate or depreciate the exchange
values at their pleasure.
Trade would be in a flourishing condition if the Tonkinese were as
active as they are industrious, but, sunk into the slough of idleness,
they divide their time between sleeping and eating. When they are not
actually eating, they smoke, dance or sing. By a cowardly policy, the
government puts obstacles in the way of industry, the vassal States of
the Empire are excluded from any participation in sources of wealth.
The rapacity of the tax-gathers is an effectual check to competition,
as people are not anxious to spend their energies on work, the fruit
of which is reaped by others. The Tonkinese by nature a suspicious and
distrustful race are somewhat chary of the overtures of foreigners and
being too fearful of danger are unable to gain any advantage. The
legislative code of Tonkin has been borrowed from China, and the
administration of the law is in the hands of corrupt persons who
sacrifice the innocent poor to the guilty rich. Each provincial
governor is judge in his own province. Polygamy is the rule all over
Tonkin and no woman can boast of the title "wife." The bonds of these
unions or rather of this concubinage, are easily broken. The man gives
the woman a writing of divorcement which restores the woman to all her
rights. The woman cannot obtain divorce no matter whether she have
just grounds or no, and if she is convicted of adultery she is
condemned to be trampled to death by elephants. Her paramour dies by
another form of torture. The eldest son, after his father's death,
receives the whole of the estate and the paternal authority on
condition that he provides for his brothers until they are married.
The daughters have no share in the heritage. Other laws are similar to
those in force in other countries of the Indo-Chinese peninsula. Their
love of display is noticeable in their marriage feasts. Actors of both
sexes perform dances to the accompaniment of a big drum, and the
performance is followed by a concert given by hired musicians. Few
ceremonies take place without a show of cock-fighting on which
considerable wagers are laid. Girls are married at the age of sixteen
and seventeen years, and parental consent is required to make the
union legitimate. The brides see their husbands on their wedding day
for the first time and priests are excluded from the ceremony and the
festivities.
Their funeral rites are the works of superstition, astrologers are
appointed to indicate the place of burial and the corpse is kept for
several months until some favourable omen indicates a suitable spot.
During this delay the relatives of the deceased offer the usual food
to the corpse as if it were still alive. It is kept in a room
illuminated by torches. Incense and gilt paper on which are painted
figures of various animals are burnt in its honour and the relatives
pay it a daily visit and prostrate themselves with every appearance of
woe.
Those who accompany the funeral procession are dressed in coarse
garments and walk barefoot. They support themselves with sticks and
their slow tottering step is a sign of their grief.
The nearest relative throws himself on the ground at intervals and the
corpse-bearers tread him under foot. The corpse is dressed in rich
attire and, as a safeguard against poverty in the next world, a piece
of gold and some pearls are placed in its mouth. On certain days in
the year offerings of food and incense are made at the tomb that the
dead may not lack support.
Although many festivals are celebrated, it seems that they are all due
to religious influences. The most noteworthy is the feast of tombs,
which is celebrated on the anniversary of the death of the persons in
question and bountiful feasts are offered to them. The King and the
nobility celebrate their birthdays with great pomp, and their marriage
days with dances, concerts, and theatrical performances. At a certain
festival, the King followed by all his court, blesses the produce of
the soil. He drives the plough and makes several furrows as a tribute
to agriculture. There is another ceremony at which exorcisms are made
to rid the land of evil spirits. New year's day is an occasion of
great rejoicings. Booths are set up where men and women perform
dramatic pieces and sing to the accompaniment of the orchestra.
Everybody appears to be mad with joy and no business is transacted.
All work is at a standstill, the halls of justice are closed and the
seal of state is put away in its case. Criminals have no fear of
punishment during the feast. The license which reigns supreme during
this season exposes the women to outrage and they never appear unless
with an ample guard.
The Monarch has but a semblance of real power, the commander-in-chief
is the real ruler and it is the latter whom the Europeans regard as
King. He has a large body-guard and is attended by a corps of 300
elephants, whereas the actual king, buried in the obscurity of his
palace with his wife and children, is served by faithless menials who
act as spies on his movements. It is surprising that the
commander-in-chief allows the existence of this phantom ruler, but the
Tonkinese have such veneration for the master that it would be a
dangerous matter to attempt to supersede him.
The commander-in-chief has usually a force of 150,000 infantry and
from 10,000 to 20,000 cavalry under his orders. Recruits are eager to
join the colours, but at the sight of the enemy their courage
evaporates and, as bravery is not one of their characteristics, they
are more ready to dig entrenchments than to make sorties therefrom.
The commander has no great confidence in his men, at least if we can
form an opinion from a letter written to the commander of the Dutch
forces in the Indies.
"I have," he remarks, "300,000 infantry 10,000 cavalry, 2,000
elephants, 30,000 musketeers and 1,000 pieces of artillery at my
disposal, I beg you to send 200 men and 3 ships to assist me." After
such a pompous display of the numbers under his command, one cannot
fail to draw the logical conclusion.
The majority of the military positions of trust are confided to
eunuchs, enervated by the luxury of court life. Ability is not the
road to success, although the posts are not obtainable by bribery, all
of them are put up for sale to the highest bidder, because in a
kingdom of vast extent in which the eye of the ruler is unable to
penetrate the remotest parts, the grandees are always the sharers of
intrigue and never of the worth that hides itself in the shade.
The whole strength of their united navy would be unable to hold its
own against one of our warships.
Their men-of-war are flat vessels about 70 feet long, and 10 amidships
and can be used for coast defence only. The soldiers who are the
rowers are directed in their movements by the sound of a drum.
The soldiery, scattered over the kingdom, is supposed to protect the
roads, but often by attacks on travellers, abuses the trust of the
governors to whom it is subordinated. In time of peace the soldiers
are armed with clubs which are formidable weapons in their hands and
they break the legs or thighs of those who resist or try to run away.
All civil disputes are summarily disposed of by the magistrates. The
offender is obliged to offer meat and drink to the other party in the
suit so that their differences may be forgotten over the feast. The
creditor is absolute master of his insolvent debtors whom he can treat
with every indignity. Criminals are punished in proportion to their
crimes. Theft is not punished by death, but by the loss of a limb or
of some part of the body. Murderers are condemned to death by
decapitation. They are led to the scene of the crime or to their house
as a place of execution. If there are several criminals, there are
several executioners who on a given signal decapitate their victims
simultaneously. The Tonkinese are the least cruel people of the Indies
in the punishment of guilty persons. By law life may be bought at a
price, and only the poor actually suffer the extreme penalty.
Although the eunuchs are objects of popular scorn, they have
considerable power, and as their misfortune smooths the path to
honours, it is often the case that self mutilation is practised by
ambitious men of advanced age without fearing the pain and _sequelae_
of the operation. Their surgeons perform the operation skilfully, and
they have a method by which many accidents are avoided. The patient is
thrown into a deep sleep which lessens the shock of the operation, and
experience has shown that the torpid state induced, is a protection
against fever and inflammation which so often occurs after such
operations.
At the age of 18 years every man is subject to a poll-tax in
proportion to his wealth. The magistrates, soldiers, and learned men
however are exempt and it is the poor man that bears the brunt of the
taxation as is usual in most countries. The taxes are collected after
the harvest and the inhabitants of the remotest parts of the kingdom
are forced to bring a certain quantity of fodder for the King's
elephants and horses to the store houses in the capital. Every man is
in addition obliged to work for six months on public works for which
he receives food but no salary. So great is the degradation of human
nature in these climates that the inhabitants, less privileged than
animals, seem only to exist on the earth for the purpose of watering
it with the sweat of their brows.
The grandees and the learned follow the doctrines of Confucius, but
its precepts are too simple to be adopted by the common people who can
only behold the workings of a deity in the marvellous. The principal
belief is that of Fo which is divided into various sects, the most
widespread of which was founded by a China man named Lauro who is
revered as one of the greatest wonder-workers of the East. His
followers give out that his mother carried him in her womb for 70
years without having lost her virginity. He boasted of his intimacy
with spirits who revealed the secrets of the future to him. The
priests, brought up in ignorance and superstition, attract the minds
of the populace by their fables and wonders. They live in extreme
poverty as they have none of the grandees for their disciples, and the
bounty of the common people is their only source of revenue. A certain
number of priests boast they can cure the most stubborn forms of
disease by means of charms. When summoned to the patient they make
their appearance in a most extraordinary manner in order to render the
performance more imposing. They make their exorcisms to the
accompaniment of drums, and trumpets. They jump about in the sick room
until the fate of the patient is decided either for death or life and
whenever the result proves the useless nature of their performance,
they have plenty of excuses ready for their non-success.
In Tonkin the gospel-harvest has been more fruitful than in any other
of the lands of the Indies. The scorn of the great for the idolatrous
priests has contributed to the success of the Missionaries, who have
more than 200,000 converts in this kingdom of whom more than 15,000
are under the charge of a French Missionary recently elevated to the
rank of Bishop of Agathopolis and who is assisted in his duties by
three French priests and four Chinese converts.
I must here recapitulate the causes that ought to be favourable to the
success of this undertaking. The aim of the Seminaries of the Foreign
Missions is the establishment of a clerical order in all countries of
the world. Sacred history tells us that the Apostles and their
successors ordained priests among all nations that they converted.
People are always more ready to give credence to their fellow citizens
who are well known to them rather than to foreigners whose motives are
often to them questionable. The native priests know the language
better, are better preachers, make themselves better understood and
are more readily listened to in the explanation of the mysteries of
religion. Knowing the manners and customs of the country they are
acquainted with the best methods of combating the natural inclinations
of the people and know how to gain their confidence. All the local
superstitions are well known to them, and it is easy for them to point
out their absurdity and falsity. With all these advantages they can
fight against error and triumph over ungodliness. The hierarchical
order established by the seminary, can alone inculcate a perfect type
of Christianity that will have no further need for foreign
intervention on its behalf.
Besides these general reasons there are particular reasons for the
Indies. The toils and dangers incurred in penetrating those distant
lands, the study of the Indian languages so difficult to learn and to
pronounce, the climate often deadly and always unpleasant to
foreigners, and the expenses of travelling, render the Indies
inaccessible to most of the priests and members of religious societies
who are zealous of making conquests for Jesus Christ. The incessant
wars that lay waste all the countries of the Indies do not allow the
missionaries to go from one country to another when needed to do so by
the church. Princes and people cannot understand their dogmas and
worship. The idolatrous priests cannot behold their gods trampled
underfoot without becoming enraged against men whom they consider
impious and sacrilegious. It is in these times of stress that the
flock has the greatest need of its pastor. Besides this in this Indies
the foreign priests can render no services to those who groan under
the sword of persecution. As soon as they appear, their complexions
and facial characteristics betray them and as soon as they are
recognised, they are haled off to durance vile.
These eastern lands are of such wide extent and so densely peopled
that all the priests and members of the religious societies of Europe
would hardly be sufficient to instruct such vast multitudes.
For these reasons the sovereign Pontiff has decided to appoint
Vicars-apostolic in order to form a national clergy for which the
interests of Religion and Politics demand the lasting prosperity.