CHINESE CHRONICLES AND LOCAL CELEBRITIES
Since February 1895 Weihaiwei has never been out of the hands of a
foreign Power. At the conclusion of the war the place was retained in
the hands of the Japanese as security for the due fulfilment of the
conditions of peace. Then followed the concerted action of the three
States of Germany, Russia and France to rob Japan of some of the fruits
of her victory. The moving spirit in this coalition was Russia, who
ousted Japan from Port Arthur and took possession of it herself. As a
result of this manœuvre Great Britain demanded that Weihaiwei should
be "leased" to her "for as long a period as Port Arthur remains in
the occupation of Russia." It may be noted that the original "lease"
of Port Arthur by China to Russia was for twenty-five years, which
period will not elapse till 1923. Another almost simultaneous attack on
Chinese integrity was made by Germany, whose long-sought opportunity of
establishing herself on the coast of China was thrust in her way by the
murder of two of her missionaries in Shantung. (Is it to be wondered
at that the Chinese have at times regarded European missionaries
as the forerunners of foreign armies and warships, in spite of the
missionary's assertion that he is the apostle of universal love and has
come to preach the Golden Rule?)
The Chinese in Shantung have a strange tale to tell of the murder of
those German missionaries. They say the outrage had its origin in the
kidnapping of a woman by an employee in a certain Chinese yamên. She
had influential connexions, who promptly demanded her restitution. The
kidnapper had the ear of the magistrate, who, turning a deaf ear to
his petitioners, or professing to know nothing about the matter, took
no action. The woman's relations then devoted their energy to bringing
ruin upon the magistrate; and after long consultations decided that
the surest and quickest method of doing so would be by killing the two
local missionaries. This, they knew, would infallibly be followed by
a demand from the foreign Government concerned for the magistrate's
degradation and punishment. They had no grudge whatever against the
missionaries, and merely regarded their slaughter as a simple means to
a much-desired end. They carried out their plan with complete success,
and the magistrate's ruin was the immediate result; but a further
consequence, unforeseen by the murderers, was that "His Majesty the
Emperor of China, being desirous of promoting an increase of German
power and influence in the Far East," leased to His Majesty the German
Emperor the territory of Kiaochou. Needless to say, an increase of
the power and influence of any great European Power in the eastern
hemisphere was, very naturally, the last thing to be desired by the
Chinese Emperor and his people. It seems a pity that modern civilised
States have not yet devised some means of putting an end to the ignoble
warfare that is continually waged by the language of diplomacy against
the language of simple truth.
The reader may be interested in some illustrations of the manner in
which the Chinese official chronicler arranges, in chronological
order, his statements of conspicuous local events. The following
lists of occurrences with their dates (which are merely selections
from the available material) are translated direct from the Chinese
Annals of Weihaiwei, Wên-têng, Jung-ch'êng, and Ning-hai. A few of
the meteorological and astronomical details are of some interest, if
their meaning is not always obvious. With regard to the comets, I
have made no attempt at exact verification, though the comet of 1682
was evidently Halley's, which is occupying a good deal of public and
scientific attention at the present time. That of 1741 may have been
either Olbers's or Pons's, and that of 1801 was perhaps Stephan's. But
these are points which are best left to the man of science. The Chinese
dates are in all cases converted into the corresponding dates of the
Christian era.
HAN DYNASTY.
40 B.C. A singularly successful year in the wild-silk industry, owing
to the abundance of silk produced by the silk-worms at Mou-p'ing Shan.
CHIN DYNASTY.
353 A.D. (about January). The planet Venus crossed the orbit (?) of
the planet Mars and passed over to the west. [This appears to be
unintelligible.]
386 (about July). The planet Jupiter was seen in the daytime in the
west.
T'ANG DYNASTY.
841. In the autumn, hailstorms destroyed houses and ruined crops.
SUNG DYNASTY.
990. Great famine.
YÜAN DYNASTY.
1295-6. Floods.
1297. Seventh moon. Great famine. [The Chinese year begins a month
or more later than the European year. The word "moon" is used as
an indication that the month is the lunar month, which alone is
recognised in China.]
1330. Great famine.
1355. Locusts destroyed crops.
MING DYNASTY.
1408. Earthquake, with a noise like thunder.
1506. Seventh moon, sixth day. Great floods, both from sky and ocean.
Crops destroyed and soil impregnated with salt.
1511. Wandering brigands entered the district. Hearing the sound of
artillery, they fled.
1512. Third moon, thirteenth day. The bell and the drum in the temple
of Ch'in Shih Huang-ti on Ch'êng-shan[39] sounded of their own accord.
Immediately afterwards, the temple was destroyed by fire, but the
images remained intact. On the same day a band of roving robbers
entered Wên-têng city.
1513. A flight of locusts darkened the sun.
1516. Drought and floods. No harvest.
1518. Famine and starvation.
1546. Floods. Ninth moon, second day: a hailstorm and an earthquake,
with a noise like thunder.
1548. Great earthquake. Countless dwelling-houses overthrown.
1556. Between five and six in the morning of the twenty-ninth day
of the twelfth moon (early in 1556) the sun produced four parhelia
(mock-suns) of great brilliance. The northern one was especially
dazzling. [The appearance of four parhelia was regarded as unusual
enough to merit special mention, but old inhabitants of Weihaiwei say
that two "sun's ears," as they are called, are comparatively often
seen at sunrise. According to the local folk-lore, a single "ear" on
the left side of the sun betokens high winds, while a single "ear" on
the right foretells rain. If "ears" appear on both left and right,
splendid weather for the farmers is to be expected.]
1570. Floods. All crops destroyed and houses flooded.
1576. Third moon, twenty-seventh day. Tremendous storm of wind and
rain, and ruin of young crops.
1580. Landslips on the hills.
1585. Great famine.
1597. Earthquake and rumbling noise. From this year to 1609 there were
no good harvests.
1613. Seventh moon, seventh day. At noon a black vapour came up from
the north-east. There was a fierce wind and a great fall of rain. In
the autumn there was a drought.
1615. A plague of locusts, resulting in the destruction of the crops.
1616. In spring, a great famine. Men ate human flesh. Free breakfasts
were provided by the district-magistrate of Wên-têng, Chang
Chiu-ching, and by the _chih-hui_ of Weihaiwei, T'ao Chi-tsu, whereby
thousands of lives were saved.
1620. Seventh moon, eighth day. A great storm, which tore up trees
and destroyed houses. Many people crushed to death. Ninety-six junks
wrecked on the coast and over one hundred men drowned.
1621. Fourth moon, eighteenth day. A rumour was spread that pirates
had landed on the coast. Many people were so terrified that they fled
to a distance of 800 _li_, and trampled each other under foot in their
efforts to escape. It was a false rumour. In the autumn there was an
earthquake.
1622. Locusts.
1623-5. Three years of excellent harvests.
1626. Fifth moon: storm with hailstones as big as hens' eggs.
Intercalary sixth moon: floods and destruction of crops. Seventh moon:
great storm that uprooted trees.
1639. Locusts darkened the sky. Famine.
1640. Drought. Famine.
1641. Great famine. More than half the people perished. Men ate human
flesh. Six hundred taels of money were given by the officials of
Ning-hai to relieve the people of that district.
1642-3. No harvests. Country pillaged by robbers.
CH'ING DYNASTY.
1650. Spring and summer: drought. Autumn: floods and crops inundated.
1656. Great harvest.
1659. Comet in the Northern Dipper [the stars α β γ δ in Ursa Major].
1662. At Weihaiwei the tide threw up a monstrous fish which was five
_chang_ high [over fifty-eight English feet], several tens of _chang_
long [at least three hundred and sixty feet], with a black body and
white flesh. The people of the place all went down and spent a couple
of months or so in cutting up the great beast but did not come to the
end of it. Those of the people who liked a bit of fun cut out its
bones and piled them into a mound; the large bones were about twelve
feet in circumference, the small ones about six feet. The small ones
were his tail bones. [Stories of monstrous fishes are not rare along
the Shantung coast, and--allowing for exaggerations with reference to
dimensions--they are based on a substratum of fact. We have seen (see
p. 27) that the bones of a vast fish were presented to the Kuan Ti
temple in Weihaiwei city, where they may still be seen; and another
set of fishbones adorn the canopy of a theatrical stage in the same
city. For other references to great fishes, see pp. 24 and 26.]
1664. Drought. Seventh moon: a comet with a tail twelve feet in length.
1665. Earthquake. Great drought. Land taxes remitted. A comet.
1668. First moon. The sun produced four parhelia. On the twenty-fifth
day a white vapour came from the south-west. On the seventeenth day
of the sixth moon there was a great earthquake, and there were three
noises like thunder. Parts of the city walls of Ch'êng-shan-wei and
Wên-têng collapsed, and many houses. A devastating wind for three days
spoiled the crops.
1670. Great snowstorm. Snow lay twelve feet deep. Intensely cold
weather. Men were frozen to death on the roads and even inside their
own houses.
1671. Great landslips on the hills. Sixth moon, rain and floods
for three days, followed by ruin of crops and partial remission of
land-tax.
1679. First moon: four halos appeared round the sun. Sixth moon, first
day, and seventh moon, twenty-eighth day: earthquakes.
1682. Fifth moon, sixth day: earthquake destroyed two portions of the
yamên of the district-magistrate, Wên-têng. Eighth moon, first day:
a comet [Halley's?] was seen in daytime, and did not pass away till
the eleventh day. In the same moon a violent storm occurred in one
locality, spoiling the crops.
1685. Third moon, twelfth day. A violent wind.
1686. Earthquake. Sixth moon, twenty-eighth day, a comet came from
the south-east as big as a peck-measure and as bright as the sun.
It threaded the Southern Dipper and entered the Milky Way, where it
became invisible. The sound of "heaven's drum" was heard four or five
times.
1688. Twelfth moon, seventh day. Earthquake.
1689. Spring: famine. Sixth moon, first day: earthquake.
1691. Seventh moon, tenth day. Locusts.
1696. Floods and famine. In winter the district-magistrate provided
free breakfasts.
1697. Government grain issued to save the people from starvation. Some
however died of hunger.
1703. Floods and drought and a great famine in 1703 were followed in
1704 by deadly epidemics. More than half the population perished.
The condition of the survivors was pitiful. They lived by eating
the thatch that roofed their houses and they also ate human flesh.
Land-tax remitted for three years.
1706. Great harvest.
1709. Rains injured crops. Famine.
1717. A great snowstorm at Weihaiwei on the twenty-sixth day of the
first moon. People frozen to death. Eighth moon, rain and hail.
1719. Seventh moon. Great floods. Houses destroyed and crops ruined;
the district-magistrate gave free breakfasts and issued grain for
planting.
1723. Great harvest.
1724. Remission of three-tenths of land-tax for three years. Great
snowfall in winter.
1725. In the second moon (about March) occurred the phenomenon of
the coalescence of sun and moon and the junction of the jewels of
the five planets.[40] [This has nothing to do with an eclipse.
It is a phenomenon which is believed to indicate great happiness
and prosperity, and good harvests. It is said to consist in the
apparent simultaneous rising of sun and moon accompanied by peculiar
atmospheric conditions. Some of the planets are supposed to go through
a similar process.] #/
1730. Twelfth moon, twenty-eighth day (about January or February
1730), at nine in the evening, some beautiful parti-coloured clouds
appeared in the north. They were resplendent with many tints
intricately interwoven, and several hours passed before they faded
away. Every one declared that the phenomenon betokened unexampled
prosperity.
1736. First year of the reign of Ch'ien Lung. Three-tenths of the
land-tax remitted. Eleventh moon, twenty-fourth and twenty-sixth days,
earthquakes.
1739. Drought and floods.
1740. Land-tax remitted and public granaries opened.
1741. Seventh moon. A comet came from the west and did not fade till
the twelfth moon. Great harvests.
1743. On the festival of the Ninth of the Ninth Moon a strange fish
came ashore near Weihaiwei. Its head was like a dog's, its belly like
a sea-turtle's. Its tail was six _ch'ih_ long [say seven English feet]
and at the end were three pointed prongs. On its back was a smaller
fish, about ten inches long, which seemed to be made of nothing
but spikes and bones. No one knew the name of either fish. It was
suggested that perhaps the smaller one had fastened itself to the big
one, and that the latter, unable to bear the pain of the small one's
spikes, had dashed for the shore.
1747. Seventh moon, fifteenth day. Great storm: crops ruined.
1748. Locusts hid the sun and demolished the crops.
1749. Tenth moon, twenty-second day. Great storm and many drowned.
1751-2. Floods. Crops damaged by water and a hailstorm. Many died of
starvation. Assistance given by Government, by the importation of
grain from Manchuria.
1753. Good harvests.
1761. Great snowfall. Many geese and ducks frozen to death.
1765. Second moon, eleventh day: earthquake. Sixth moon: great floods,
land flooded, houses destroyed, people injured.
1766. Great drought.
1767. Third moon, twenty-first day: great storm, trees uprooted and
houses destroyed. Sixth moon, twentieth day: earthquake.
1769. Autumn, a comet.
1770. Seventh moon, twenty-ninth day. In the evening the north quarter
of the sky became red as if on fire.
1771. Sixth moon. Continuous rain from second to ninth days. Crops
ruined; famine.
1774. Second moon, second day: great storm which made the sands fly
and the rocks roll, burst open houses and uprooted trees. Heaven and
earth became black. Eighth moon: locusts.
1775. Summer, great drought. Eighth moon, seventeenth day: earthquake.
1783. From first to sixth moon, no rain; food excessively dear.
1785. Eighth moon, tenth day. Earthquake.
1790. Tenth moon, sixth day. Earthquake.
1791. Tenth moon, ninth day. Earthquake.
1796. First moon, second day. A sound like thunder rolled from
north-east to south-west.
1797. Eleventh moon, second day. "Heaven's drum" was heard.
1801. Fourth moon. A star was seen in the north, of fiery red colour;
it went westward, and was like a dragon. Summer and autumn, great
drought: all grass and trees withered. Famine in winter.
1802. Tenth moon. Wheat eaten by locusts.
1803. Great snowfall.
1807. Seventh moon. Comet seen in the west, dying away in the tenth
moon. Good harvests.
1810. Floods. In spring, devastation was caused by wolves.
1811. Eighth moon. A comet was seen, more than forty feet long. There
was a great famine. During this year there were seventeen earthquakes,
the first occurring on the ninth day of the fourth moon, the last on
the sixteenth day of the ninth moon.[41]
1812. Famine in spring. The people lived on willow-leaves and the bark
of trees. Multitudes died of disease. The district-magistrate opened
the public granaries. The famine continued till the wheat was ripe.
1813. Wolves caused devastation from this year onwards until 1818. The
year 1816 was the worst, and the officials organised expeditions to
hunt the wolves with dogs.
1815. A comet was seen in the west.
1817. Fourth moon, eighth day. Earthquake and loud noise.
1818. Sixth moon, floods. People drowned. A kind of temporary lifeboat
service was organised by the officials.
1821. Famine. Locusts. A deadly pestilence in autumn. Fourth moon, a
repetition of the celestial phenomenon mentioned under the date 1725.
1823. Earthquake. #/
1835. Sixth and seventh moons. More than forty days of rain.
Government help given to the people.
1836. Famine. Food and seed provided by the officials. Abnormally high
tides this year.
1838. Fourth moon. A plague of locusts. The district-magistrate
collected the people of the country, and went out at their head to
catch and slay the insects. After a few days they utterly vanished.
Excellent harvest thereafter.
1839. From fourth to seventh moon, crops spoiled by excessive rain.
Tenth moon, twelfth day, a noisy earthquake. From the sixteenth to the
twenty-third of the same month rain fell unceasingly.
1840. Eclipse of the sun.
1842. Sixth moon, first day, an eclipse of the sun, during which the
stars were visible.
1844. Eighth moon, twenty-fifth day, at midnight, a great earthquake.
1846. Sixth moon, thirteenth day, at night, a great earthquake.
1847. Seventh moon. The planet Venus was seen in daytime.
1848. Drought and locusts.
1850. First day of the New Year, an eclipse of the sun.
1852. Eleventh moon, first day, an eclipse of the sun.
1856. Seventh moon, locusts. Great pestilence. On the first of the
ninth moon, an eclipse of the sun.
1861. Eighth moon, first day, same phenomenon as witnessed in 1725 and
1821.
1862. Seventh and eighth moons, great pestilence.
These extracts from the local chronicles are perhaps enough to prove
that the Weihaiwei peasant has not always lain on a bed of roses. When
we know him in his native village, and have learned to appreciate his
powers of endurance, his patience, courage, physical strength and
manly independence, and remember at the same time how toilfully and
amid what perils his ancestors have waged the battle of life, we shall
probably feel inclined either to dissociate ourselves forthwith from
the biological theory that denies the inheritance of acquired qualities
or to recognise that the principle of natural selection has been at
work here with conspicuous success.
The chief boast of the Promontory district, including Weihaiwei, is
or should be its sturdy peasantry, yet it is not without its little
list, also, of wise men and heroes. Weihaiwei, like other places, has
its local shrine for the reverential commemoration of those of its
men and women who have distinguished themselves for _hsien_, _chieh_,
_hsiao_--virtue, wifely devotion and filial piety; and the accounts
given us in the official annals of the lives and meritorious actions
of these persons are not without interest as showing the nature of the
deeds that the Chinese consider worthy of special honour and official
recognition.[42]
On the northern slope of Wên-têng Shan, near the city of that name, is
the tomb of _Hsien Hsien Shên Tzŭ_--the Ancient Worthy Shên. He was a
noted scholar of the Chou dynasty (1122-293 B.C.). The T'ang dynasty
honoured him (about one thousand years or more after his death) with
the posthumous title of Earl of Lu (Lu Pai). The Sung dynasty about the
year 1012 A.D. created the deceased philosopher Marquess of Wên-têng
(Wên-têng Hou). His descendants--no longer of noble rank--are said
to be still living in the ancestral village of Shên-chia-chuang (the
village of the Shên family), his native place. In 1723 a new monument
was erected at his grave by the district-magistrate of that time, and
the custom was established for the local officials to offer sacrifices
at the marquess's tomb three days before the Ch'ing-ming festival.[43]
Close to Wên-ch'üan-t'ang (the headquarters of the South Division
of Weihaiwei under British rule) is to be seen the grave of one
Yü P'êng-lun, who during the terrible period 1639-43 honourably
distinguished himself by opening soup-kitchens along the roadsides. He
also presented a free burial-ground for the reception of the bones of
the unknown or destitute poor who had starved to death. Free schools,
moreover, and village granaries were founded by this enlightened
philanthropist. After his death the Board of Rites in 1681 sanctioned
his admission into the Temple of Local Worthies.
In 1446 were buried close to Weihaiwei the remains of a great general
named Wei (_Wei chiang-chün_) who had done good service against the
Japanese.
Ch'i Ch'ung-chin, a native of Weihaiwei, is stated in the Chronicle
to have been by nature sincere and filial, and a good friend. He was
also zealously devoted to study. In 1648 he became an official and
occupied many posts in Yünnan and other distant provinces. He governed
the people virtuously, and conferred a great benefit on them during an
inundation by constructing dykes. He died at his post through overwork.
Pi Kao was a _chih-hui_ of Weihaiwei, and first took office in 1543. He
was afterwards promoted to a higher military post in Fuhkien, and in
1547 died fighting against the "Dwarfs" who had landed on the coast of
that province. He was canonised as one of the Patriot-servants of the
Empire (_chung-ch'ên_).
Ku Shêng-yen from his earliest years showed exceptional zeal in the
study of military tactics, and accustomed himself to horseback-riding
and archery. In 1757 he became a military _chin shih_ (graduate of high
rank) and was selected for a post in Ssŭch'uan.
Subsequently in Yünnan he took part in fourteen actions against the
Burmese. At Man-hua during a siege he was wounded in the head and had a
severe fall, from which he nearly died. He took part in the operations
against the Sung-p'an principality (in Ssŭch'uan), and in 1773 the
general commanding the imperial troops against the Chin-ch'uan rebels
in the west of Ssŭch'uan ordered him to lead the attack. This he did
with conspicuous success, capturing numerous strongholds, bridges
and outposts, and slaughtering enormous numbers of the enemy. He was
honoured by the Emperor with the Peacock Feather and the Bat'uru.[44]
Later on he received a wound from which he died. Further marks of
imperial favour were bestowed upon him on the occasion of his funeral.
Wang Yüeh of the Ming dynasty passed a very good examination and
was appointed a district-magistrate. For nine years he received no
promotion, so he threw up his official post and came home whistling
and singing with delight at having got his freedom. Among his writings
are "Records of Southern Travel" and a description of Weihaiwei. The
latter takes the form of an imaginary dialogue between a stranger from
Honan and a Weihaiwei native.[45] It is too long to translate in full,
but it begins thus: "From the far west came a stranger. Here at Weihai
he rested awhile, and as he gazed at the limitless expanse of hills
and ocean his feelings expressed themselves now in deep sighs, now
in smiles of happiness. Summoning to his side a native of Weihai he
introduced himself thus: 'I come from the province of Honan. No rich
man am I, yet I love to wander hither and hither, wherever there are
wonderful places or beautiful scenery to be visited. I have seen the
sacred hills of Hêng, Sung, Hua and T'ai;[46] the famous rivers and
lakes of the Empire, the Yangtse and the Han, the Tung-t'ing lake, the
Hsiang river, have all been visited by me, all their points of interest
examined and all their beauties seized. But methought that the great
ocean I had not yet seen, for it lay far to the east.'" He goes on to
describe by what route and under what difficulties he travelled, and "I
don't know how many thousand _li_ I haven't come," he said plaintively;
"my horse is weary and his hoofs are worn, my servant is in pain
with swollen ankles, and just see what a pitiable sight I am with my
tortured bones and muscles! However, here we are at last, and all I
want to do is to gain new experiences and behold new scenes, and so
remove all cause of future regret for things not seen."
The Weihai man points out to the stranger the various features of
interest of the place and gives a sketch of its history, and the
narration ends up with his loyal wishes for the eternal preservation of
his country and the long life of the Emperor.
Yüan Shu-fang took his degree in 1648 and received an appointment
in Yang-chou,[47] where he fulfilled his official functions with
wisdom and single-mindedness. He was fond of travelling about in the
south-eastern provinces and attracted round him numbers of people of
artistic temperament. After many years, continues his biographer, he
retired from the civil service and went home to Weihaiwei. There he
gave himself up with the greatest enthusiasm to the luxury of poetic
composition. Among his poems are "Songs of the South." He edited
and annotated the _Kan Ying P'ien_ [the Taoist "Book of Rewards and
Punishments"] and other works of that nature. A little poem of his
on the view of Liukungtao from the city wall is given a place in the
_Weihaiwei Chih_.
The number of Chinese officials who, like Wang Yüeh or Yüan Shu-fang,
have been glad to divest themselves of the cares and honours
of office under Government is surprisingly large. Disappointed
ambition; constitutional dislike of routine employment, official
conventionalities and "red tape"; a passion for the tranquil life of
a student; a love of beauty in art or nature: these, or some of them,
are the causes that have impelled multitudes of Chinese officials to
resign office, often early in their careers, and seek a quiet life
of scholarly seclusion either in their own homes or in some lonely
hermitage or some mountain retreat. Even at the present day retired
magistrates may be met with in the most unexpected places. I found
one in 1908 living in a little temple at the edge of the stupendous
precipice of Hua Shan in Shensi, eight thousand feet above the
sea-level. He was a lover of poetry and a worshipper of Nature.
Ting Pai-yün was for some time a resident in but not a native of
Weihaiwei. His personal name and native place are unknown. It is said
that he obtained the doctorate of letters towards the end of the
Ming period. His first official post was at Wei Hsien in Shantung.
Subsequently he took to a roving life and travelled far and wide.
When he came to Li Shan near Weihaiwei he was glad to find a kindred
spirit in one Tung Tso-ch'ang, with whom he exchanged poems and essays.
He devoted himself with the utmost persistence to the occult arts,
and succeeded in foretelling the date of his own death. He practised
his wizardry in the Lao mountains,[48] and people called him Mr.
White-clouds.
Wang Ching, Ting Shih-chü, Kuo Hêng, Pi Ch'ing and some others receive
honourable mention among the Weihaiwei worthies for their kindness and
benevolence towards the poor during various periods of famine. Some
writers are apt to assume that pity and charity are only to be met with
among Christian peoples. The mistake is serious, but perhaps it is not
an unnatural one, for we do not in Oriental countries see anything
comparable with the vast charitable organisations, the "missions" to
the poor and vicious, the free hospitals, infirmaries and almshouses,
that we see in Western countries. As a partial explanation of this
we should remember that in countries where individualism is supreme
there are more people who "fall by the wayside," lonely and helpless,
than there are in countries where the family ties are indissoluble.
The people of Weihaiwei consist of peasant-farmers--very poor from the
Western point of view: yet there is not a beggar in the Territory, and
if an almshouse or an infirmary were established there to-morrow it
would probably remain untenanted.
Ch'i Yen-yün was a graduate and a devoted student of the art of poetry.
He put his books in a bundle and trudged away to look for a Master.
He wandered great distances, and made a pilgrimage to the Five Sacred
Mountains. He was joined by a number of disciples, who came from all
directions and travelled about with him. A pilgrimage to the Wu Yüeh
or Five Sacred Mountains,[49] it may be mentioned, is regarded as a
performance of no mean merit, through which the pilgrim will infallibly
evolve mystical or spiritual powers of marvellous efficacy. These
valuable powers have not yet shown themselves in a foreigner from
distant Europe who performed this little feat in 1908-9.
Wang Ch'i-jui was famous among all the literates of the district for
his exemplary character. When he was only thirteen he and his whole
family were bought by a certain official as domestic servants. Wang
paid the greatest attention to his studies, and his master, seeing
this, put out his tongue in astonishment and said, "this boy is much
too good to be wasted." So he cancelled the deed of purchase and set
the boy free. In after-years he distinguished himself as a friend of
the down-trodden and oppressed, and during the troublous times that
marked the end of the Ming and the rise of the Ch'ing dynasty he
strenuously advocated the cause of the poor. Once he passed a certain
ruffian who was waiting by the roadside to waylay travellers. This
man was the most truculent swashbuckler in the whole countryside; but
when he saw Wang Ch'i-jui, and recognised him, he lowered his sword.
Subsequently through Wang's clemency this robber received a pardon for
his crimes.
The name of the patriot Huang Ch'êng-tsung of the Ming dynasty is
enrolled among both the _Hsiang Hsien_ (Local Worthies) and the _Chung
Ch'ên_ (Loyal Officials). The records say that though he came of a poor
family in Weihaiwei he showed a zealous and ambitious temperament even
from the days of childhood. Having taken his degree, he was appointed
to a post at Ch'ing-tu, where he distinguished himself as an able
official. In 1638, when rebel troops were approaching the city, he
placed himself at the head of the local troops and fought with great
heroism for ten days. Unfortunately a certain military graduate entered
into traitorous communication with the enemy and let them into the
city. When Huang was told the bad news he decided that, though defeat
and death were now certain, he was bound in honour to fight to the
last. He had a brave young son of eighteen years of age, named Huang
Chao-hsüan, who, learning what had happened, addressed his father thus:
"An official can prove his loyalty by dying for his sovereign, a son
his filial devotion by dying with his father." The two went out to meet
the enemy together. Huang Ch'êng-tsung was shot dead by an arrow while
he was fighting in the streets, and the son was slain at his father's
side.
This was not the end of the tragedy. Of Huang's wife, Liu Shih, the
story is told that as soon as news was brought her of her husband's
death she immediately turned towards the north and made an obeisance
in the direction of the Emperor. Then she took her little daughter and
strangled her, and immediately afterwards died by her own hand.[50]
Her dying wish was that her little girl should be placed beside her in
her coffin. Finally, a faithful servant of the family, named Huang Lu,
seized a dagger and killed himself. And so, says the local chronicle,
were brought about the pitiful deaths of a patriotic official, a filial
son, a devoted wife, a loyal servant.[51] No one who heard the story
but shed tears. The dead bodies were brought back to Weihaiwei and
buried at Nai-ku Shan, to the north of Weihai City.
FOOTNOTES:
[39] See p. 23.
[40] _Jih yüeh ho pi, wu hsing lien chu._
[41] The large number of earthquakes recorded in the Annals of this
region is remarkable. Only slight earth-tremors have been noticed since
the beginning of the British occupation, but the experience of former
days should prevent us from feeling too sanguine as to the future.
A recent writer has pointed out that though violent earthquakes are
not to be expected on "a gently sloping surface such as the ocean-bed
from which the British Isles arise," they may be expected on "the
steeply shelving margins of the Pacific Ocean." (Charles Davison in the
_Quarterly Review_, April 1909, p. 496.)
[42] In another chapter mention will be made of the Virtuous Widows and
other women of exemplary conduct whom the Chinese delight to honour.
[43] See pp. 186-7.
[44] A kind of Manchu D.S.O.
[45] Quoted in _Weihaiwei Chih_ (9th _chüan_, p. 69).
[46] See pp. 74, 391 _seq._, 396.
[47] A city on the Grand Canal in Kiangsu, well known on account of its
association with the name of Marco Polo.
[48] Close to the present German colony of Kiaochou.
[49] See pp. 71 and 391 _seq._
[50] A motive for this was doubtless the knowledge that the rebel
soldiers would soon be turned loose in the captured city.
[51] Apparently the poor daughter did not count, either because she was
a mere soulless infant or because her part in the proceedings was a
passive one.