The Yellow River and Grand Canal
We had little difficulty in deciding which route to take from Tsinan to
Tientsin, as the railway journey to Tsingtao and by ship thence were
both equally disliked by us. We determined to strike across country
(travelling in the same way as to Küfow) as far as Tehchow on the Grand
Canal, and to go up it by boat to Tientsin--in all, a week’s journey.
The country is flat and not nearly so varied as the rest of the
province, but it contained one most interesting experience for us, the
crossing of the Yellow River. When we reached its banks we saw a far
more turbulent flood than that of the Yangtze, and of the same dull mud
colour. It took a little time to arrange for us to be ferried across
and then to get our cart and mules on board, and we had time to study
the route to be taken, as there was a large amount of traffic at this
point. It seemed strange that there was no bridge across, especially
when we saw the difficulty of navigating it; but it may be that, as the
river is so capricious in its choice of a bed, the authorities consider
it not worth while to build a bridge. The enormous amount of silt and
mud which it brings down with it soon fills up the bed and causes
frightful inundations. Dikes have to be built, and when they are broken
through by flood a most extraordinary method of repairing them is used.
A sort of gigantic pad of earth and stones, in a basket-work made of
_kaoliang_ (= sorghum) stalks and roots, is prepared and lowered into
the breach by means of ropes, thousands of coolies being employed on
the task. None but Chinese could devise or manage to execute such a
work. On one occasion over 4000 people were drowned by the breaking
down of a dike. Now the Government is seriously considering how to deal
with the difficulty of controlling the course of the river. When we
were safely on board the large ferry-boat, the boatmen towed us up the
river-bank for about half-an-hour till we came to a point at which we
could start, and then they came on board to row. It taxed their powers
to the utmost, and by dint of straining every nerve they landed us at
a point just opposite to that from which we originally started. Their
work looked the most arduous I have ever seen.
In the year 1852 the Yellow River took a new course (which was still
further changed in 1887) from the south of the province of Honan, in
a north-east instead of a south-east direction, so that now it falls
into the Gulf of Chili instead of into the Yellow Sea, to the south
of the province of Shantung. Its present mouth is some three hundred
miles distant from its former one. It has with good reason been named
“China’s Sorrow.” Like the Yangtze, it rises in the mountains of
Tibet, and follows a devious course of 2500 miles through northern
China; but unlike the Yangtze, the main highway of commerce, the Yellow
River or Hwang Ho is of no use for trade purposes. A decree has just
been issued granting ten sticks of great Tibetan incense to be burnt
at the altar of the Dragon King Temple (riverine deity) in token of
Imperial gratitude because there was a peaceful river last year.
This is done in response to the report of the Governor of Chili; and
rewards have been given to a number of officials for their vigilance in
connection with the Yellow River conservancy.
The following day we wanted to visit an American hospital a little more
than a mile off the high-road to Tehchow, and had no end of difficulty
in first persuading the men to permit the visit and then in finding
the road. We decided to let “Mr. Summer” and the luggage go straight
on to Tehchow, to get arrangements made for the boat, the kind Irish
postmaster at Tsinan having sent word to his subordinate there to
get us one. We progressed but slowly, asking every creature we met
which was the way. The Chinese peasant is a stolid being, doing his
task and taking little account of anything else, but at last we did
arrive, and spent a couple of hours seeing school, hospital, &c. The
result of our slow progress in the morning was that we did not reach
Tehchow till it was pitch-dark, and by mistake our men were not told
to go to the post-office for “Mr. Summer,” while we waited at the
mission-room of the people whom we had just visited. In vain we
tried to make the servant understand, and the evangelist’s household
was equally uncomprehending, but kindly brought us tea. After much
consultation over our affairs they fetched a young man who spoke
English beautifully, and he at once set about finding “Mr. Summer” and
getting food for us. He was a student from Peking, and asked what we
should have done if no one had been found who knew English, and after
a short time “Mr. Summer” and the postmaster turned up. They had been
hunting for us outside the city, and somehow had missed us in the dark.
[Illustration: OUR HOUSEBOAT, GRAND CANAL]
Next morning we went on board the house-boat, and had a comfortable
but somewhat tame journey up the Grand Canal, which hardly comes up to
its name. I spent nearly an hour sketching our house-boat in the rosy
light of sunrise before the men were ready to start; certainly the spot
was not very picturesque. This was by no means the first canal to be
made in China, though it is the one best known to Europeans. I shall
venture to quote at length an interesting description of a much earlier
canal from a paper read to the China Society in London by H. E. Lord Li
Ching-Fong, the Chinese Ambassador[5] to our own Court: “Once during an
inundation in China artificial channels were cut in order that the nine
rivers might carry all the surplus water to the sea. Even mountains
were tunnelled for the purpose of constructing canals. Henceforth the
ground was cultivated again and the havoc was avoided. To the sagacity
of Yew we attribute the merit of this undertaking, which we regard as
one of the most remarkable works of man. It was begun in 2283 B.C.
and ended in 2272 B.C.” The Grand Canal was begun in the thirteenth
century, and is over 2000 miles long, but where we entered it it is
really a small natural river, and we were either towed or rowed most
of the way to Tientsin, with not much assistance from the sail. It was
formerly used for the transport of grain (the imperial tribute), but
since 1900 the sea route has been used instead, and the value of the
canal decreases daily, owing to the continually increasing facilities
of transport, both by rail and by sea. We passed many villages, but
only one of the forty-one cities which lie on its banks. On the fourth
day we came to the custom-house outside Tientsin at 9 A.M., and
asked “Mr. Summer” to inquire if we could not go by ricksha to our
destination, as that would save time. He came back with the information
that it could not be done, so we resigned ourselves to wait. Afterwards
we learnt that it is _always_ done, and that it would have taken us
less than an hour to go by ricksha or steam tram, and saved us six
hours of passing through the dirtiest conceivable waterway, which our
noses told us was the sewer of the town! It is impossible to describe
the disgustingness of what we saw, really quite the nastiest thing in
China, and one could only feel thankful that at least a good deal of
the native quarter had been destroyed during the siege.
Tientsin is one of the most Europeanised towns of China, and it is
not only an active commercial port but is the centre of the Chinese
educational movement. This was vigorously and successfully organised
by Yuan Shih Kai. He made a complete system of primary and secondary
schools for both sexes, and besides the middle schools there are
special schools of engineering, languages, medicine, &c., including a
medical training-college for women, with a well qualified Chinese lady
doctor at the head of it, who was trained in America.
There is also an excellent Anglo-Chinese Mission College, founded in
1902, of which Dr. Lavington Harl, M.A., D.Sc., is the principal. Last
year the students numbered 320, of whom sixty were boarders and the
remainder day scholars. The curriculum now includes full training for
chemical analysts and a school of electrical engineering, while it is
intended to open a law school during the current year, 1909. Yuan Shih
Kai gave evidence of his broad-mindedness by contributing 6000 taels
to the building fund of the last block, opened in 1907. Some of the
students have found this college an excellent preparation for school
life in England.
Tientsin is the first city in the Empire to boast of municipal
government on Western lines, and for this also Yuan Shih Kai is
responsible. The Chinese are a wonderfully law-abiding people, and it
is only necessary to look at our neighbouring port of Wei-hai-wei to
see a remarkable instance of this. With an area of 285 square miles
and a population of 150,000 inhabitants, a force of fifty-seven native
police and three English inspectors is found quite sufficient to keep
perfect order.
It can be no matter for surprise that Tientsin is now to be made the
capital of the province of Chili instead of Paoting-fu, a city of much
less importance under the changed conditions produced by recent events.
Here we took leave of “Mr. Summer,” having already made arrangements
for another Chinaman to go with us from Peking to Burma.