Transcriber’s Note: Italics are enclosed in _underscores_. Additional
notes will be found near the end of this ebook.
THE FACE OF
CHINA
[Illustration: THE AUTHOR AS CHINESE “FEMALE TRAVELLING SCHOLAR”]
THE FACE OF
CHINA
TRAVELS IN EAST, NORTH, CENTRAL
AND WESTERN CHINA ¶ WITH SOME
ACCOUNT OF THE NEW SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES,
MISSIONS, AND THE OLD
RELIGIOUS SACRED PLACES OF CONFUCIANISM,
BUDDHISM, AND TAOISM
THE WHOLE WRITTEN & ILLUSTRATED
BY E. G. KEMP, F.R.S.G.S.
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
DUFFIELD & COMPANY
1909
_All rights reserved_
THIS BOOK
_IS DEDICATED TO THE FRIEND_
TO WHOSE SUGGESTION AND ENCOURAGEMENT
IT OWES ITS EXISTENCE
PRINCIPAL MARCUS DODS, D.D.
PREFACE
Every intelligent person that I have met whose good fairy has led him
to the Celestial Empire has fallen under the spell of that marvellous
people and marvellous land. I am fired with the ambition to cast that
spell even on those who have never been there, by showing them as
accurately and vividly as I can, with pen and brush, what the face of
China actually is.
People _may_ describe with success the soul of a people, provided it
is sufficiently near the surface, but the foreigner who has known
and loved China for a lifetime would be the first to repudiate the
possibility of doing this in the case of China. I would rather take
Browning’s view--“Nor soul helps body more than body soul”--and try to
set down faithfully the things I have seen, that they may lead others
to study China for themselves.
It may be objected that the picture is too much _couleur de rose_,
because I have not dwelt on the dark side of things: but there is a use
for eyelids as well as for eyes.
This book is the result of a year spent in Shansi, 1893–94, and six
months spent in travel through the provinces of Shantung, Chili, Hupeh,
Szechwan, and Yünnan during 1907–8. The former visit was mainly spent
at a medical mission at Taiyüanfu, which was then remote from Western
influences; now everything has changed, and I travelled from north-east
to south-west of the Empire and found no village untouched by the
great awakening. On the first occasion I was always conscious of a
certain hostility in the attitude of the people towards foreigners;
this time it was quite the reverse. Considering the behaviour of many
travellers towards the Chinese, this seems to me really astonishing;
but they are very sensitive in their appreciation of mental attitude,
and they responded unhesitatingly to the call we made on their chivalry
by placing ourselves unreservedly in their hands. We were repeatedly
warned not to do this, but our confidence was justified by the event.
In no European country could we have been more courteously treated, and
in very few have I travelled so happily and so free from care.
The journey was one long series of pleasant surprises, and my friend
expressed the feelings of both of us when, on crossing the frontier
into Burma, she exclaimed: “If only we could turn round and go all the
way back again!” If any one is induced by reading this book to make
personal acquaintance with China, it will not have been written in
vain.
NOTE
There is so little in this volume which is drawn from other sources
than personal observation, and information obtained from our Chinese
and missionary friends on the spot, that I have thought well not to
burden the reader with foot-notes. The various details as to the
religions of China are mainly drawn from an interesting little volume
by Giles, “Religions of Ancient China,” Smith’s “Uplift of China,” and
Hackmann’s “Buddhism as a Religion”; while the account of the railways
is from Kent’s “Railway Enterprise in China.”
The spelling of Chinese names is according to the most recent standard
map, giving the orthography of the Chinese Imperial Post Office.
CONTENTS
Preface vii
Note ix
I. Shanghai 1
II. Shantung, the German Sphere of Influence 13
III. A Day in the Country (Shantung) 20
IV. Shantung Silk 27
V. Tsinan 31
VI. The Sacred Shrine of Tai Shan 45
VII. The Home of Confucius: Küfow 53
VIII. The Yellow River and Grand Canal 66
IX. Journey into Shansi in 1893 73
X. Taiyüanfu 81
XI. Peking 92
XII. The Péhan Railway: from Peking to Hankow 106
XIII. On the Yangtze: Ichang to Wanhsien 116
XIV. Szechwan High-roads 145
XV. Chengtu 161
XVI. The Min River 173
XVII. Mount Omi 182
XVIII. From Szechwan into Yünnan 195
XIX. The Road to Yünnan Fu 208
XX. Yünnan Fu 218
XXI. Tali Fu 234
XXII. Tali Fu to Teng Yueh 241
XXIII. From China into Burma 252
XXIV. The Present Situation in China 257
Table of Dynasties 271
Index 273
ILLUSTRATIONS
_Coloured Plates_
Portrait of Author as Chinese “Female Traveling Scholar”
(p. 236) _Frontispiece_
Tea-House in Old Shanghai 6
A Suburb of Weihsien 16
A Village School 24
Official (Court Dress) 30
Mountain Chair 46
Tai Shan 48
Private House: Küfow 54
Confucian Temple 56
Mounted Military Escort 64
Our Houseboat, Grand Canal 69
Camel Inn 74
Opium Refuge 80
Theatre Stage 82
Pagoda 84
Tiger Brave 86
Scholar--Southern Servant 91
City Wall of Peking 92
Temple of Heaven 96
A Lady of Quality--An Official 100
Boxer--Kachin Woman (p. 253) 104
Mr. Ku 106
The Brakeman on the Péhan Railway 108
Ancestral Tablet 120
Blue Dawn 122
Yeh Tan Rapid 124
Village and Junk 132
The Look-out on the Yangtze 134
Camel-back Bridge 144
Szechwan Highway 150
Sunlight and Mist in the Mountains 158
Buddhist Monastery 166
Military Yamen 171
House on Min River 179
Otter Fishing on Min River 181
Mount Omi Bridge 187
Summit of Mount Omi 192
Copper Idol, Sui Fu 196
Cormorants on the Cormorant River 198
Laowatan River 201
Wha Miao 206
Bridegroom--Funeral Pagoda 213
Temple of the God of Literature 221
Fellow-Travellers 226
Tomb of a Philosopher among Rice-fields 229
Tali Fu 235
Shan Woman 249
_Sepia Drawings_
Cemetery of Confucius 61
Old Examination Buildings 88
Great Wall 110
Chinese Graves 116
River-side Shrine 141
The Chef on the Yangtze 141
City Gate: Chengtu 160
Police Boatman: Min River 181
Signboard of Inn 181
Buddhist Monk beating Fish Gong while Chanting 189
Tiger Shrine 189
Our Military Escort 203
“Orphan Spirit” Shrine 203
Tower of Refuge 204
“Omi to fu” Shrine 204
Miao Woman 206
Upland Village 208
Uh Chai 208
Yünnan Hat 211
Lolo Woman 211
Village Screen Wall 233
Carrying-Chair 233
Suspension-Bridge 243
Bridge made of Creepers 244
THE FACE OF CHINA
CHAPTER I
Shanghai
My first voyage to China was unspeakably distasteful, and as we neared
Hong Kong we were suddenly caught up in the tail of a typhoon and
carried for forty-eight hours wherever it pleased to take us. Most
of that time we were without food, and could not even get a cup of
tea; while we found it hard work to cling to a seat. When we emerged
from the storm, and steamed into the wonderful bay of Hong Kong, it
seemed like Paradise; it looked to my eyes the most beautiful harbour
I had ever seen: and I have seen nearly all the most celebrated ones,
without feeling tempted to change my opinion. The first introduction
to a new country, if it happens to be when the faculties are specially
quickened, makes an indelible impression, and from this time China has
been to me a land of infinite charm and beauty. The more I have seen
of it, the more I have realised its fascination; even its ugliness is
interesting.
Hong Kong lies along the shore, with a steep cliff rising abruptly
behind it, called the Peak, and the typhoon had laid parts of it in
ruins, and unroofed many of the houses, so that it was by no means
looking its best. British pride swelled within me as I thought of the
transformation that had taken place in half a century. When it was
ceded to the British it was a barren island, with a population of 5000
inhabitants; now it is the second largest port in the Empire, with
a population of 238,724. There is an immense boat population; whole
families have lived from generation to generation in their boats along
the shore. In Hong Kong, East and West live happily together, learning
to appreciate one another. Chinese merchants are members of its council
and take an active part in its government. It has become not only the
greatest shipping but also the greatest banking centre of the East, and
it is a significant fact that it contributes annually £20,000 to the
British Treasury as its military contribution.
From Hong Kong to Shanghai is but a step, and at first sight the
latter seems almost as European as the former. The landing, after
coming up one of the mouths of the Yangtze River, is in the centre of
a promenade, with broad grass borders between it and the road, along
which lie the finest commercial buildings of the city for the distance
of more than a mile. This is the Bund, the most imposing part of the
concession. It may be well to mention what a “concession” is, as this
is a term continually used with regard to the treaty ports, such as
Tientsin, Hankow, and Shanghai. It is a right granted to Europeans to
inhabit a certain defined area, to possess property in it (no private
individual except a Chinaman has the right to buy land for building
on, in China, although it is occasionally done in the interior), to
live under European law, to have their own police and manage their own
affairs. The Shanghai concession was mapped out in 1843 by Sir George
(then Captain) Balfour, and is on a broad cosmopolitan basis: later
on the French obtained one adjoining it, and then the Americans. Many
Europeans live outside the concession, especially in a quarter where
the English have laid out a charming shady road, perhaps the most
tortuous in existence--so as to avoid desecrating graves; it is called
the Bubbling Well Road. The concessions have their own post-offices,
where you call for letters, if you happen to expect any from the
country to which they belong. We found the Russian post-office up a
staircase in a thoroughly unofficial-looking house.
The traveller, however, on landing at Shanghai ought not to drive along
the Bund to the pleasant Astor House Hotel, but should make a détour
into the Chinese streets Nankin Loo, or Foochow Loo, densely thronged
streets, where nineteen out of every twenty people wear blue robes,
varying in shade from deepest ultramarine to palest aquamarine. One is
accustomed to think of the Chinese as quiet, slow-going people, but the
traffic of Shanghai is so great that I know no place where you are
more conscious of business bustle. The crowd in the streets is almost
entirely composed of men and boys, so that it is hard to imagine where
room is found for the women and children, even the balconies and shops
as well as streets being packed with men. It is estimated that Shanghai
has 160,000 inhabitants to the square mile. It is necessary to visit
old Shanghai really to see what it _can_ be, and it is a mistake to
be deterred from doing this (as many visitors are) on account of its
special squalor and dirt, or by the absurd statement that all Chinese
cities are alike.
You pass into the real Shanghai through two low gateways, set at right
angles from one another, where no vehicle is ever allowed to enter;
indeed, such a thing is practically impossible. The streets are so
narrow and tortuous that it is hard even for carriers to force a
passage through the crowd. The houses are fairly high, and innumerable
signboards (long, narrow boards covered with gilt characters which read
from bottom to top) hanging overhead block out the light and hinder
any current of air from driving away evil smells. The entrances to
the shops are lined with Chinese lanterns of every shape, size, and
colour: when lit, they cast a kindly glamour over the celestials below,
very different from the pitiless glare of electric light. There is no
gaudy display of goods in shop windows, for there are no windows; just
an open counter on which a few specimens may be lying, probably in a
glass case. The walls are lined from floor to ceiling with shallow
drawers, filled with endless little parcels containing the rest of the
stock-in-trade. Despite the squalid surroundings and the tininess of
the shops, this may be very valuable (for the Chinese are great lovers
of curios), jade, bronze, ivory, china, or silver. Along with such
things are mixed the most absurd rubbish, mainly European goods. Many
shops contain a row of finely carved chairs to accommodate purchasers,
and elaborately decorated woodwork, such as screens with beautiful
groups of figures at one end. We should have liked to buy many things,
but this is not to be done lightly, and several days of diplomatic
dealing are required before purchaser and seller can come to terms in
the orthodox way. No Eastern would be satisfied with the monotony of
our Western methods. The whole street is interested in the performance,
and looks on as at a play. The amount of business transacted appears to
be in inverse proportion to the number of shops.
We threaded our way through a maze of lanes till we came to the centre
of the town--the original of the celebrated willow pattern[1]--and
as picturesque a spot, in the mellow evening light, as you could
possibly imagine. A weed-covered pond, fringed by willows, surrounds
the group of tea-houses, which are reached by a zigzag bridge, across
which passes a ceaseless stream of blue-robed passengers: gentlemen
carrying their birds out for an airing; mothers with babies in their
arms, wearing gaily coloured caps surmounted by scarlet tufts; coolies
with heavy loads; children dangling sundry purchases, such as a bit
of meat or vegetables, from the end of a string or blade of grass--a
fascinating throng to watch, if not to be absorbed into!
Close to the garden is a mandarin’s palace, into which we gained
admittance after much hammering. The reception-rooms were lofty and
dignified, furnished only with Chinese lanterns, some handsomely
carved chairs, alternating with little tables (just large enough to
accommodate tea-things) set in two rows facing one another, and scrolls
on the walls. The garden was entirely composed of rockwork, with the
greatest possible length of pathway comprised in the smallest possible
area. One of the stairways led up to a handsome summer-house with a
balustrade consisting of a sinuous dragon, some forty feet long, carved
in stone. Beside his gaping jaws sat a little stone frog, preparing
to leap in--a good specimen of the humour which makes Chinese art
so attractive. A few willows and shrubs adorned the garden, but no
flowers--a feature characteristic of Chinese gardens, where design and
architectural work such as summer-houses, bridges, and walls are the
most important matters. On different parts of the inner walls of this
garden were stone medallions, representing scenes in the Mandarin’s
life.
[Illustration: TEA-HOUSE IN OLD SHANGHAI]
On emerging from the garden by a different door from the one we came
in at, we were confronted by a row of images, and found it was a
joss (= worship) house; the few worshippers present were prostrating
themselves--two at a time--before the altar, behind which stood the
gods. The air was laden with the smell of incense, joss-sticks burning
in a stand on the altar; and huge stone lions guarded the door. It was
apparently the quietest and least frequented part of the city.
In the courtyard was a fine bronze monument, said to be over 2000
years old, round which a market was going on; the people sitting on
the ground, surrounded by their wares, mainly vegetables. By way of
variety there was a man with a large assortment of coal-black tresses
of hair for sale, as even the poorest Chinaman is not above improving
his queue with a false addition: also there was a large basket full
of grasshoppers in cages about an inch square, “shrilling” at the top
of their voices. From this courtyard ran a street full of shops of
cooked meats. Above the counters hung split dried ducks, which looked
as if they had been petrified in the act of flying with outstretched
necks and wings. Below them were baskets full of eggs, black with age,
preserved in a mixture of straw and lime, esteemed a great delicacy,
as also seaweeds and sea-slugs--the most revolting, evil-smelling
things--like fat caterpillars. Rows of little dishes contained various
kinds of relishes, and there were piles of white square steamed flour
dumplings, which is the Chinese form of bread.
Passing up the street, you come to a vegetable stall, the most
exquisite harmony in reds and yellows; scarlet persimmons, bananas,
pomeloes like yellow cannon-balls, yellow and scarlet capsicums,
all sorts of nuts, a yellowish fruit shaped like a hand and called
“Buddha’s fingers,” and baskets of dingy-coloured grapes, were some of
the things for sale. Rotten pears cut in half seemed to find a ready
sale; and _à propos_ of pears, I must tell how a lady in Peking peeled
one for my sister with her finger-nail! and how another, in describing
the shocking extravagance of her neighbour, ended as a climax with the
statement, “She actually throws away her pear skins!”
The next street was full of coffin shops, particularly dear to the
Chinese heart, as a coffin is a complimentary gift from a son to his
father. They were mostly black, and would probably be ornamented with
gilt lettering; but in Canton scarlet coffins are the fashion.
Nauseous smells rose from the open gutters. Myriads of mosquitoes are
wont to settle upon hapless visitors, but a solution of eau de Cologne
and pyrethrum rubbed over face, ankles, and other vulnerable spots kept
us fairly immune.
Leaving old Shanghai, you come into a whirling throng of carriages,
wheelbarrows, and rickshas, of which there are thousands darting
about. When an Englishman happens to be the occupant, the speed of the
ricksha is automatically accelerated. Whole families of Chinese women
and children, dressed in every colour of the rainbow, manage to pile
themselves on the barrows. At the street corners stand Sikh policemen,
tall handsome men with dazzling white turbans, who contrast finely with
the celestials. There is a greater variety of vehicles in use here than
in any other place that I have visited in the East, and they all go
much too fast for the safety of passengers, considering the narrowness
of the roads. The slightest push upsets a barrow. The swiftest of all
the vehicles is a sort of low victoria, drawn by a rat-like pony. This
is specially used by stockbrokers, who dash out of an office into it,
one foot in the carriage and one on the step: they never think of
sitting down, but are whisked away to another office, into which they
dash like lunatics, and so on _ad infinitum_. A feverish activity seems
to possess all the business population, and every movement says “Time
is money.” It is only in the evening that the business folk of Shanghai
may be seen strolling along the Bund or sitting on the benches, which
are labelled “Europeans only.” Hard by is the public garden, where no
Chinaman is allowed to enter--an offensive piece of insolence as long
as other Eastern races can strut about in it; but it is in keeping with
the attitude, unfortunately, of a large number of Europeans towards
the race among whom they dwell. Not long ago a notice might have been
seen, “No Chinamen or dogs admitted.”
It may seem strange that the Chinese post-office is in the foreign
concession, but the reason is that it is under European management
together with the customs, which are under the same roof. If you wish
to send off a parcel to Europe, you must first take it to the Customs
House, where it has to be opened for examination. If you happen to be
a lady you are shown into a division marked “Ladies only,” and the
Chinese officials save you all further trouble: they do your parcel
up with a dexterity which makes you envious, and seal it according to
regulation; and it is all accomplished with a swiftness and courtesy
that might well be copied at home.
One day we drove to the fine American college of St. John’s, about
five miles from the city. We passed along the Nanking Road, where the
most beautiful Chinese shops are. The façades are of handsome carved
gilt woodwork, with balconies in which there were parties of men
drinking tea. Unfortunately, these shops are gradually being replaced
by European shops with plate-glass windows, and soon this part of
the city will be quite spoilt. Gay carriages were following the same
direction as our own, the Bubbling Well Road, and we were amused to
see in one a party of Chinese girls evidently returning from school,
and with their little handmaiden hanging on to the perch behind, where
you would expect to see a boy in livery. Inside the carriage was a
mirror and a sort of dressing-table and a flower-vase, as the custom
is at Shanghai. On arrival at the college, we were taken first to
see the orphanage, where tiny little creatures of about two or three
years old came and solemnly bowed to us, with folded hands. The two
youngest members of the establishment were babies, one of whom had been
rescued from destruction. The father and mother had both been born
on unlucky days, and when the baby girl had the same misfortune they
utterly refused to have anything to do with it. She was accordingly
taken to St. John’s at two days old, and has thriven capitally. We
visited successively the boys’ and girls’ schools, and finally were
taken round the college by the principal, Dr. Pott, to whom is mainly
due the great success it has achieved. There are about 120 scholars,
all of whom have to pass an entrance examination in English, and they
pay what are considered somewhat heavy fees, so that the bulk of the
expense has not got to be met from mission funds (American Episcopal).
At present the only two final schools of the college are theology and
medicine, but many of the students go on to America for further college
courses. We visited the dormitories, and were interested to compare the
boys’ belongings with those of English schoolboys. Each boy has his own
teapot, and can always get a supply of boiling water. Many of them had
musical instruments, some flowers, some birds, some crickets. They are
fond of having “cricket matches”--that is to say, with live crickets.
In winter the boys all bring hand-warmers into class, and Nelson’s
ink-bottles are the most approved for this purpose.
As regards games, Dr. Pott said that it was with the utmost difficulty
that Chinese boys can be got to exert themselves; but they are
gradually getting keener, and the average of attainment is steadily
rising. On a board in the college they have a list of honours won,
and this keeps up the interest. In answer to a geography examination
question, “What are the five principal races?” the answer was, “Fifty
yards, hurdle race, &c.”! The college has a fine library, alumni
hall, chapel, and playing grounds, but the laboratory leaves much
to be desired. It is affiliated to an American university, and has
the highest reputation of any educational establishment in China.
Certainly, to judge by one of its students, who travelled with us for
six months as interpreter, it is worthy of the highest praise.
Since our visit a new hall has been added to it, and there will be
accommodation for another 100 students when the building is completed.
The cost is being largely defrayed by Chinese well-wishers, £600 having
been already contributed by them.