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 THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 THE FOREIGNER IN FAR CATHAY.
 
 THE FOREIGNER 
 
 FAR CATHAY 
 
 BY 
 
 W. H. MEDHUEST, 
 
 H. B. M. CONSUL, SHANGHAE. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 SCRIBNER, ARMSTRONG AND COMPANY 
 1873-
 
 DS 
 
 ICFI 
 PREFACE. 
 
 This little book does not pretend to the 
 importance of a work on China. Its aim is 
 simply to enlighten the home public as to the 
 actual circumstances in which residents in 
 that remote region find themselves, and to 
 supply a few scraps of infomiation, part of it 
 new, and part of it hitherto misapprehended, 
 respecting the Chinese themselves. Existing 
 relations between China and the leading 
 Western powers are inevitably tending to- 
 wards results, the importance of which to both 
 sides cannot be exaggerated, and I shall con- 
 sider myself fortunate if the few words, which 
 I have herein ventured, should lead to a 
 better understanding in England of our true 
 position and interests in " Far Cathay." 
 
 W. H. Medhukst. 
 
 ATHENaiUM Club, August, 1872.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. — Introductory 1 
 
 II. — Position of Foreigners in China 5 
 
 III. — Character and Habits of Foreign Eesidents in China 19 
 
 rV. — Missionaries in China 33 
 
 T. — Consuls and Customs Authorities, Etc 52 
 
 VI. — Customs of the Chinese. — Shop Signs 59 
 
 VII. — Advertising in China 72 
 
 Vm. — Mandarin Yamens in China 81 
 
 IX. — Opium Smoking 90 
 
 X. — Infanticide 95 
 
 XI. — Eating and Drinking in China 103 
 
 Xn. — Chinese Social Institutions 108 
 
 Xin. — Correspondence and the Press 119 
 
 XrV.— Modes of Sepulture 126 
 
 XV. — Use of the Written Character for Decoration 137 
 
 XVI. — Chinese Proper Names 146 
 
 XVII. — Travelling and Porterage in China 152 
 
 XVm.— The Character of the Chinese 167 
 
 XIX. — Concluding Remarks 186
 
 THE 
 
 FOREIGNER IN FAR CATHAY. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Although numerous bulky volumes have 
 been written upon China and the Chinese, and 
 intercommunication with Western countries 
 has been vastly extended of late years, it is 
 marvellous how vague, and in some cases how 
 erroneous, are the popular notions prevalent 
 in Europe and America in regard to the coun- 
 try and om- relations with it. Every one be- 
 lieves, perhaps, and rightly, that China counts 
 her population by hundreds of millions, and 
 that her temtory occupies a very considerable 
 proportion of the Asiatic continent ; and misty 
 impressions are cherished no doubt as to the
 
 Introductory. 
 
 existence of evidences of an advanced state of 
 civilization in the way of a literature, a philo- 
 sophy, a highly-perfected social system, and 
 so on. But test the information a little fur- 
 ther, and it will be found that the prominent 
 idea with regard to a Chinaman is that he is 
 a quaint but stolid besotted creatm-e, who 
 smokes opium perpetually, and di-owns his 
 daughters as fast as they appear, whose every- 
 day food consists of puppies, kittens, rats, and 
 such like garbage ; whose notions of honor, 
 honesty, and courage, are of the loosest ; and 
 to whom cruelty is a pastime. This opinion 
 may not quite tally with the impressions as to 
 civilization and social advancement above al- 
 luded to, but no trouble is taken to explain 
 the contradiction, and the more ridiculous and 
 familiar fancy is indulged in. 
 
 Even less perhaps is known respecting the 
 communities of om* countrymen and other 
 foreigners who make China a place of resort 
 either for their own profit or for the benefit of 
 the natives. If speculations on the subject 
 take any shape at all, it is in a direction by no
 
 Introductory. 
 
 means complimentaiy to the persons con- 
 cerned. The merchants are set down as ad- 
 ventm-ers, with whom smiigghng* is a habit, 
 men of few scruples, violent, and ever ready 
 to plmige the mother-country into war to 
 serve their personal ends. Missionaries are 
 characterized as indiscreet, officious, over-zeal- 
 ous, and peculiarly partial to appeals to the 
 persuasive powers of the "inevitable gun- 
 boat ;" wdiilst consuls and naval commanders 
 are regarded as much too apt to abet both 
 classes of residents, instead of restraining them 
 within leo:itimate limits. It is nevertheless 
 imagined that notwithstanding these adverse 
 circumstances, contact with foreigners is on the 
 whole humanizing and improving the Chinese, 
 and that an appreciation of the benefits of 
 Western civilization and progress has taken 
 fast hold of their minds, and must in due time 
 bear useful fruit. 
 
 It will be seen from the following pages 
 that, although some of these notions may have 
 had their basis in fact, yet others of them are 
 entirely unfounded, whilst none can be ac-
 
 Introductory. 
 
 cepted without qualification. Foreign resi- 
 dents in China will be shown to represent their 
 native countries somewhat more worthily than 
 they have had credit for. Several of the cus- 
 toms of the Chinese which come more imme- 
 diately under the observation of their foreign 
 visitors will be described, and an attempt made 
 to prove that, with a few di^awbacks of charac- 
 ter, they exhibit many interesting and even 
 commendable traits ; and a few remarks will 
 then be ventured upon in conclusion as to the 
 results of the interconununication between the 
 two races thus far, and as to the hopes wliich 
 may be entertained in respect to the future.
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 POSITION OF FOREIGNERS IN CHINA. 
 
 Tradition and reading together have doubt- 
 less famiharized the minds of most Enghshmen 
 with the general outhne of the history of our 
 past intercourse mth China, and rendered it 
 needless to do more here than pass briefly in 
 review the more prominent featm'es which 
 have marked its com^se down to the present 
 date. How that centmies ago adventm^ous 
 travellers visited the coimtry at rare intervals, 
 and brought away those tales of its fabulous 
 wealth, the barbaric magnificence of its com't, 
 the high, but quaint civilization of its people, 
 and the excellence as well as oddity of its 
 wares, which have foimed the framework of 
 our notions about China ever since. How 
 that after awhiLe, Spanish, Portuguese, and 
 other na\dgators earned their clumsy but won-
 
 6 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 derful craft into Chinese ports, and laid the 
 foundation of a commercial intercourse, whilst 
 by their acts they sowed those fii'st seeds of 
 ill-will and distrust, the lamentable fruit of 
 which we are reaping in these days. How 
 that later on the British East India Company 
 extended its agencies to Canton, and founded 
 a trade which for success and mutual confi- 
 dence has scarcely been surpassed. How that 
 with this trade opium crept in to be a valuable 
 commodity of traffic, becoming in after years, 
 incidentally with other causes, the bone of con- 
 tention that plunged China into her first war 
 with a Em-opean power. How that the strug- 
 gle which ensued resulted in the freedom of 
 British subjects from native jurisdiction, and 
 the establishment of five centres of trade in 
 the place of one. Canton, as had been the 
 case up to that time. And how that sundiy 
 disputes and hostilities supervened from time 
 to time, which eventually culminated in a 
 second and third war, that secm^ed for us not 
 only an extension of trading privileges, but 
 the rio'ht of ministerial representation at the
 
 Position of Foreigners in China. 7 
 
 Chinese metropolis, Peking, as at this moment 
 enjoyed. 
 
 And here it may be remarked parenthetic- 
 ally that the succession of collisions with 
 Western powers, which has marked the his- 
 tory of China during the past thirty years, 
 has done her grievous harm. They have 
 gradually but effectually undermined the pres- 
 tige of the ruling powers, and so have led 
 directly to the series of devastating rebellions 
 which have ravaged the country of late years, 
 sapped its resom'ces, and brought the govern- 
 ment to the heljDless condition in which it now 
 practically lies. It may be argued that the re- 
 sponsibility of this result lies not so much 
 with foreign powers as with the Chinese, whose 
 extravagant assumptidiis, obstructive efforts, 
 and want of good faith, in every instance in- 
 duced the collisions which followed. To a 
 certain extent this may be true. But it must 
 be maintained that we — I say we, for after all 
 England has been the chief actor on the scene 
 — ^have been to blame, in that, when collision 
 was inevitable, the operations were not so car-
 
 8 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 ried tlirougli as that the lesson taught should 
 be effectual, leaving little or no likelihood of a 
 repetition on the part of the assailed of their 
 previous misapprehension or misconduct. It 
 has been our misfortune, in every desultory- 
 act of hostility against local Chinese officials, 
 as well as in every more serious process of 
 war with the nation itself, always to stop con- 
 tented with a momentary success, leave, as it 
 were, the coping-stone of the fabric unlaid, 
 and then to withdi'aw the pressm-e just when 
 it was beginning to tell, credulously taking it 
 for granted in either instance that the pledges 
 extorted by a temporary violence would be 
 faithfully kept. 
 
 An example or two in which this unhappy 
 fatality betrayed itself will suffice by way of 
 illusti-ation. When Captain Elliot attackod 
 the city of Canton, in 1840-41, after the re- 
 pudiation by the Emperor of the truce which 
 his minister (Keshen) had agreed to in the 
 Pei Ho River, on the condition that the British 
 squadi'on should forthwith retm*n to the South, 
 he easily succeeded, through the valor of our
 
 Position of Foreigners in China. 9 
 
 sailors and soldiers, in driving the enemy from 
 every stronghold romid the city in a few 
 hours' time, and this notwithstanding the 
 choicest of the Tartar and Chinese troops of 
 that day had been congregated from all parts 
 of the country for the express purpose of de- 
 fying our pretensions, and '' sweeping " us 
 from the soil of China. And how did om- re- 
 presentative use this happy success ? By en- 
 tering the city of Canton, so long proclaimed 
 as being too sacred for the foot of the foul for- 
 eigner, and occupying it until the ari'ogant as- 
 sumption had been withdrawn and redress ob- 
 tained? By no means. He accepted over- 
 tm-es of peace outside the walls, whilst actual- 
 ly contemplating them as limits of a forbidden 
 precinct, and withdi'ew his forces for a hand- 
 some pecuniary indemnity, leaving the Chi- 
 nese to crow over their success, and the iden- 
 tical work to be done all over again many 
 years after, at the expense of a vast amount 
 of blood and treasure. The mistake was re- 
 peated under the late Sir Henry Pottinger. 
 He took city after city on the coast, and
 
 10 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 routed aiiny after army in an incredibly short 
 space of time, and by appearing with a for- 
 midable squadi'on before Nanking, where a 
 foreign ship had never before been seen, he so 
 terrified the Chinese that they professed them- 
 selves ready to submit to any terms. The re- 
 sult was so far good, for he exacted the famous 
 treaty of Nanldng, which has been the basis 
 of om' extended commercial privileges since ; 
 but Sir H. Pottinger, too, withdrew his forces 
 , at the moment of triumph, and was deluded 
 by his wily antagonists into shifting the scene 
 of detailed negotiations back, as of old, to 
 Canton, instead of onwards to Peking, there- 
 by sacrificing all the practical benefits which 
 had been so dearly purchased on both sides. 
 In the wars of 1858 and 1860, which followed 
 as an only natural consequence, our diplomacy 
 was attended with similarly untoward results. 
 The ready acceptance by the late Lord Elgin 
 in the first instance of overtm-es of peace 
 whilst yet short of Peking, ended, as is well 
 known, in the fearful catastrophe of Taku, 
 which convinced Lord Elgin that the blow, to
 
 Position of Foreigners in CJiina. 11 
 
 be effectual, must be struck at tlie capital. 
 The accustomed courage and strategy of our 
 forces brought him there without difficulty ; 
 but he contented himself with occupying only 
 one gate of the beleaguered metropolis as a 
 temporary measm-e, and, like his predeces- 
 sors, he, too, hmiied away to claim the ment 
 of his success, leaving undetermined the cru- 
 cial question of access to the Emperor, which 
 in the eyes of the Chinese is the one all-im- 
 portant tm-ning point of their dispute with 
 foreigners as to international relations ; and 
 the solution of which may yet have to be ar- 
 rived at tlu-ough the expenditure of still more 
 blood and treasure. It were needless here to 
 discuss the arguments which have been ad- 
 duced in support of the necessity of that pre- 
 cipitate withdi'awal of our forces from Peking, 
 and the expediency of leaving the audience 
 question unsolved. I simply state the fact, 
 and deprecate the too probable consequences. 
 Far better would it have been, both in the 
 interest of China and in ours, had the earliest 
 blow been struck home whilst she was yet
 
 12 The Foreic/ner in Far Cathay. 
 
 comparatively strong, and had her inilers and 
 peo2:)le been taught in those days, whilst the 
 court had not yet succumbed to the influences 
 of luxury and vice, and corruption had not yet 
 wholly demorahzed the administrative depart- 
 ments, that intercourse with the foreigner, if 
 accepted at all, must be accepted on conditions 
 of entire equality and universality. China 
 possessed then many master minds, who had 
 not yet lost the traditions of the vigorous and 
 patriotic rule which had marked the reigns of 
 the earlier Emperors of tliis dynasty, and the 
 more complete contact with foreign progress 
 and civilization, which would undoubtedly 
 have ensued upon more efficiently conducted 
 operations, Avould, I am convinced, have had 
 better appreciation and utilization at the 
 hands of the statesmen of that day than it is 
 unfortunately receiving now. 
 
 To return to the position in which foreigners 
 find themselves in China at this moment. It 
 has been mentioned how that residence for 
 the purposes of commercial intercourse at 
 certain ports or depots was the result of the
 
 Position of Foreigners in China. 13 
 
 last two treaties. There are fourteen .in all, 
 eleven situated at intervals along a coast- 
 line of 1,800 miles, and three on the river 
 Yangtsze. In this category I do not include 
 Hong Kong, which is a British colony, and 
 consequently on an entu'ely different footing. 
 At some of these ports settlers have acquired 
 land for building puqioses as opportunity 
 may have offered, and the result is that their 
 dwellings lie isolated and scattered about here 
 and there. At others a particular site has 
 been set apart within which the foreign 
 merchants are permitted to acquire property 
 and build, subject to an insignificant rental to 
 the Emperor as lord of the soil. At others, 
 again, the later acquired ports more especially, 
 a concession has been made to the British 
 crown of a certain tract subject to a trifling 
 rental to the Chinese Government, and this 
 has been divided into convenient lots to suit 
 purchasers, subject to a lien on the land and 
 all property standing thereon for a crown 
 rental and any taxes which the majority of 
 the settlers may agree to levy for municipal
 
 14 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 pur]^)Oses. In the last two cases of course 
 facilities have been enjoyed and largely taken 
 advantage of for laying out the sites upon 
 attractive and commodious plans, and con- 
 siderable success has been attained in some 
 instances in erecting settlements which com- 
 bine architectm^al beauty with commercial 
 convenience, and even with appliances for 
 health and recreation. Not very many cities 
 can vie with Shanghae, for instance, in the 
 attractiveness and extent of the front view 
 from the aj)proach to it up the river, and in 
 its streets may be seen public and private 
 buildings equal in style and importance to 
 those that grace Eui'opean towns. Gas has 
 been laid down for some time past, and the 
 inhabitants have now under consideration the 
 introduction of a system of drainage and 
 water supply upon an extensive scale, and 
 scientific piinciples, which, when complete, 
 will go far towards rendering Shanghae the 
 healthiest and most agreeable residence in the 
 East. All this has been due not to Govern- 
 mental aid from home, or to the action of the
 
 Position of Foreigners in China. 15 
 
 Chinese authorities upon the spot, but to the 
 perseverance and enteqmse, individual and 
 general, of the foreign settlers themselves. 
 Municipal affairs are conducted by a council 
 elected yearly from amongst the residents, 
 and the importance of the trust committed to 
 their charge may be aj^preciated by the fact 
 that the budget presented for acceptance at 
 the last annual meeting exhibited a total 
 estimated receipt for taxes, dues, licenses, 
 post office, &c., of over £60,000. This is in 
 Shanghae alone ; other ports do not of com-se 
 boast a similar importance and wealth. But 
 at eacb much has been done to secm^e con- 
 veniences and advantages commensurate with 
 the wants and capabilities of the j)lace. 
 
 In the matter of amusement and recreation 
 there is no lack, even at the smaller ports. 
 Wherever Europeans and Americans congi-e- 
 gate together at a distance from home, be the 
 locality ever so remote and inhospitable, they 
 are certain to hit upon some method of finding 
 an outlet for their exuberant spii'its. Shanghae 
 is abundantly provided in this particular.
 
 16 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 There is a capital Club House, which from the 
 habit every one indulges in of visiting- it at 
 dusk, after a drive, ride, or walk, has also 
 come to be the Exchange of the place, where 
 business is discussed over a friendly glass of 
 sherry. There is a splendid Masonic Hall, 
 which although not exactly erected for pm*- 
 poses of recreation, possesses amongst its exten- 
 sive suite of rooms a lofty and capacious public 
 hall, which is frequently appropriated to balls 
 and concerts. There is a Philharmonic Society, 
 the perfoniiers in which, albeit mere amatem^s, 
 treat the public to concerts and promenade 
 music that would gratify the most accom- 
 phshed taste. There is a race-course, one of 
 the largest and most perfect in the East. 
 There are newspapers, theatres, libraries, read- 
 ing and lectm-e associations, fives and racket 
 clubs, billiard-rooms, bowling-alleys, gpnna- 
 siums, and indeed most, if not all, other of the 
 sources of amusement which usually distin- 
 guish the thriving, well-to-do town at home. 
 
 The police aiTangements, which, were 
 treaty principles earned out in their mte-
 
 Position of Foreigners in China. 17 
 
 grity, would properly fall to the share of the 
 Chinese authorities, have been entirely taken 
 in hand by the settlers themselves, and they 
 boast a highly-paid and efficient body of men 
 selected from amongst our London constabu- 
 lary, who, although numbering but seventy 
 in all, are wonderfully successful in maintain- 
 ing order amongst the 70,000 Chinese who 
 live within the foreign precincts. The roads 
 are macadamized u^oon the principle so long 
 adopted in England, and the traffic of car- 
 riages, breaks, and vehicles of all kinds, is 
 quite sufficient, especially of an evening, to 
 keep foot-passengers on the qui vive. 
 
 As regards religious privileges, the resident 
 of Shanghae has nothing to complain of The 
 chm'ch was projected in days when money 
 circulated far more freely than it does now, 
 and it is therefore in size and style everything 
 that a large and wealthy congregation could 
 desire ; but the community of the present 
 day are paying the penalty of their prede- 
 cessors' extravagant ideas, in having to forego 
 the luxury of a steeple, until time and circum-
 
 18 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 stance shall mayliap pave the Avay towards 
 the possibility of a further outlay. There 
 are two other churches, one especially devot- 
 ed to seamen, and a congregational chaj^el, all 
 likewise constructed and supported, with their 
 respective ministers, by the liberality of the 
 foreign residents. These remarks a]323ly, as 
 before, only to Shanghae ; but other parts have 
 their share of similar appliances for the pubhc 
 benefit in a social point of view.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CHARACTER AND HABITS OF FOREIGN 
 RESIDENTS IN CHINA. 
 
 Much misconception appears to prevail as 
 to the character of foreign residents in China, 
 a misconception which has unfortunately been 
 intensified of late by the condemnatory tone 
 which the home press has taken up in respect 
 to om- relations with the Chinese dming the 
 past four years. Communities in China may 
 be roughly divided into two main sections or 
 classes, merchants and missionaries, and to 
 these may be added as necessary concomit- 
 ants the consular and customs authorities and 
 unemployed persons or vagrants. 
 
 The terai "merchant," as applied to our 
 countr^mien in China, has been so long and 
 so constantly associated with traffic in opium, 
 and the alleged obtrusion of it upon the Chi- 
 nese by force, that it has become in England
 
 20 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 almost a synonym for '' adventurer," and even 
 '' smuggler," and the press has at times Hke- 
 wise distinguished it by such ej^ithets as " ra- 
 pacious," " aggressive," etc. It is unnecessary 
 to enter here into the question of the morahty 
 or otherwise of the opium traffic; suffice it to 
 say that no man who has the shghtest spark 
 of philanthrojDy in his heart but must depre- 
 cate the existence of the trade, and regret that 
 the production of the drug in British territory 
 is for the time being a pohtical necessity, or 
 that civihzed and Christian traders must needs 
 be the means of introducing it amongst a 
 heathen people. But it is essential that the 
 reader should dismiss from his mind the im- 
 pression that opium is smuggled into, or forced 
 upon, the country, or that any moral turpi- 
 tude of necessity attaches to the man who 
 deals in the drug. Even in the days of its 
 strict prohibition by the Chinese Govermnent 
 there were certain inlets for its introduction at 
 various points on the coast, which were recog- 
 nized for a consideration by the local authori- 
 ties, and known to exist by the higher officials,
 
 Foreign Residents in China. 21 
 
 who simply satisfied their sense of duty by 
 periodical memorials to the throne and fulmi- 
 nations against the trade. True, one of these 
 latter, the famous Commissioner Lin, earned 
 his indignation and patriotism to such a pitch 
 as to impound the entire stock of opium then 
 in the Chinese waters, and hence arose the as- 
 smnption, which has since taken so strong a 
 hold on the public mind, that the war which 
 shortly after ensued was waged with the un- 
 righteous object of forcing opium upon the 
 Chinese ; whereas the claim for the property 
 arbitrarily seized was but one out of several 
 grounds of complaint which then called for 
 redi-ess. 
 
 The importation has of late years been le- 
 galized by treaty, and the drug is now being 
 so extensively produced by the Chinese upon 
 their own soil as sensibly to affect the demand 
 for the Indian-grown commodity. It is a mis- 
 take to suppose, as many do, or to maintain, 
 as the American press is apt to do, that the 
 importation is confined to British fums alone. 
 They have the larger share of the trade in
 
 22 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 tlieir hands, as they have of every other 
 branch of commerce in the country ; but there 
 are few, if any, members of other nationah- 
 ties who can afford to throw a stone at '' John 
 Bull " in the matter. But be they who they 
 may on whom the responsibility rests, it can- 
 not be asserted that the association involves 
 any more demoralization of character to the 
 indi\ddual than a connection with the beer, 
 wine, or liquor trade is found to do in this 
 country. On the contrary, any one who 
 knows anything of the leading merchants in 
 China must have discovered from experience 
 that in intelligence, integrity, worth, and lib- 
 erality, they come behind none of the so- 
 called merchant princes of Great Britain. 
 
 As regards the mercantile residents in China 
 generally, it is almost an impertinence to ad- 
 vocate then* innocence of some of the charac- 
 teristics which have been ascribed to them. 
 Commercial integrity is perhaps as much the 
 rule with them as with communities of the 
 same class and like importance in this country. 
 As for any tendency to be aggressive against
 
 Foreign Residents in China. 23 
 
 the Chinese, it does not need much consider- 
 ation to be convinced of the fact that a state 
 of war cannot possibly promote the pecnniary 
 interests of any honest, Avell-estabhshed com- 
 mercial firm, whilst there is little opj)ortunity 
 for the development of individual aggressive- 
 ness, inasmuch as a British supreme coiu-t has 
 been established at Shanghae, with branch 
 provincial courts at the ports, and the Chinese 
 are only too ready to nse all the niceties of 
 Eng-lish law in the defence of their rig-hts. 
 Other treaty powers are more or less similarly 
 represented, so that a Chinese need rarely, if 
 ever, lack redi'ess from wrong done to him by 
 a foreigner. Unfortunately as much cannot 
 be said, were the case transposed. The native 
 system of procedure is at once so clumsy and 
 faulty, and coiTuption is so rife in every court, 
 high and low, whilst official antipathy against 
 the foreigner exerts so strong an influence, 
 that redress against a Chinese, be the case 
 civil or criminal, is only to be obtained after 
 persistent pressm-e, and frequently cannot be 
 secui'ed at all.
 
 24 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 So mucli for tlie character of the foreign 
 merchant in China. 
 
 His habits are very much what they are at 
 home. He builds himself a mansion in the 
 handsomest style that his firm or himself can 
 afford, and he furnishes it as a rule with home- 
 made furnitui'e, plate, glass, etc., all of tlie 
 best quality. For his business requirements 
 through the day the Shanghae resident gene- 
 rally keeps a Norwich car, brougham, or some 
 other convenient kind of vehicle, in which to 
 traverse the settlement in all its parts. For 
 evening exercise, if a subordinate, he goes to 
 cricket or rackets, or bowls, or takes a gallop 
 on a pet pony, or trots out his dog-cart or 
 phaeton. If a head of house or a mamed 
 man, he drives out some more pretentious ve- 
 hicle with a pair of Cape, Australian, or Cali- 
 fornian horses ; nearly everybody diives or 
 rides, and he must be a struggling creature 
 who cannot muster an animal or vehicle of 
 some kind. After the evening ailing comes 
 dinner, and it is at this meal that the foreign 
 resident in China concentrates his efforts to
 
 Foreign Residents in China. 25 
 
 forget that he is an exile from home. The na- 
 tive markets abound Tvdth fish, meat, poultry, 
 and vegetables, and the foreigner's own care- 
 fully-kept poultry-yard, pigsty, dairy, and kit- 
 chen garden assist materially in supplying him 
 with luxuries not prociu'able of the same qual- 
 ity amongst the Chinese. Of stores, such as 
 those knoTVTi at home as oilman's stores, he has 
 no lack, for he imports all these from England, 
 and there are foreign shops on the spot which 
 abound in dehcacies of all kinds, supplied to 
 them wholesale by Fortnum & Mason, Crosse 
 & Blackwell, and other large grocery estab- 
 lishments in this country. Wines of superior 
 quahty are as a rule placed on the table, all of 
 course imported from England ; and malt 
 liquors abound in every variety. Shanghae 
 can even boast its own brewery, in which an 
 old entei'prising resident, Mr. Evans, has suc- 
 ceeded, after years of effort, in producing ale 
 and porter not to be suipassed in quality and 
 flavor by the famous home brews. It may be 
 imagined therefore that, as far as the material 
 is concerned, the table of the foreign merchant
 
 26 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 need not suffer much in comjDarison with the 
 board of any well-to-do gentleman at home. 
 
 Hospitality is generally and liberally prac- 
 ticed, especially towards casual visitors from 
 other parts of the world ; and it is a rare table 
 which is not often sun'ounded by a genial, 
 chatty circle of friends. 
 
 Society has, however, always suffered a 
 great drawback in the paucity of ladies ; but 
 this want is being rapidly repaired, for a 
 manying mania has taken possession of our 
 so-called Chinese bachelors of late, so that 
 there are few who visit England but return 
 Benedicts. It is a fortunate circumstance that 
 it is so, for although oiu' countrymen in China 
 are, as has been described, good men enough 
 in themselves, still they are not such com- 
 mendable characters but that they need the 
 presence of a woman to humanize them, and to 
 counteract the demoralizing influences which 
 are inseparable from association with inferior 
 races, and absence from home ties and checks. 
 Any fair ladies who may contemplate going 
 out to China, may safely assm'e themselves
 
 Foreign Residents in China. 27 
 
 tliat tlieir lot need not l)e at all a subject of 
 commiseration with their friends. Ladies in 
 China, from their very paucity, are made so 
 much of, that it needs all the discretion of 
 which they are capable to sustain the ordeal 
 altogether unharmed, and the style of life is 
 such that, as has been explained, but for the 
 immediate surroundings of people, scenery, 
 and so on, they need never be oppressed by 
 the thought that they are residents in a com- 
 paratively barbarous country. 
 
 The domestic servants are wonderfully good 
 and clever in adapting themselves to foreign 
 notions. They are of course Chinese, and 
 men are employed, not women, unless it be 
 for ladies'-maids and nurses. They are always 
 called " Boys." There is generally a head, 
 or house-boy, who con-esponds to our butler 
 at home, and performs very much the same 
 duties ; under him come from two to three 
 younger men, called " No. 2 Boys," who look 
 after one's wardrobe, attend at table, answer 
 the bell, and so on. In larger establishments, 
 the '' head boy " is allowed to bring in one
 
 28 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 or two of his younger relatives, or friends, 
 who are called " learn-pidg-eon," i. c, appren- 
 tices, whilst they learn their trade. For 
 housemaids men are employed, called '^ cool- 
 ies," a lower class of servant, but none the 
 less intelligent and useful. The kitchen is 
 also presided over by a man, who has from two 
 to four mates under him, the real artists in 
 most cases. One may live in China for years, 
 and be perfectly satisfied'all. the while with the 
 style and skill with which his viands are 
 served up, without ever 'making the acquaint- 
 ance of his chef de cuisine. The fact is that a 
 good cook will often serve half a dozen esta- 
 blishments, receiving -wages from each, and 
 each employer congratulating himself upon 
 the possession of an admirable artist, wdiilst 
 all the while the man is simply educating a 
 number of mates and apprentices, wdio, in the 
 course of time, become chefs in their tm-n. 
 They cook, of course, in the best English and 
 French styles. I have seen dinners and ban- 
 quets laid out in China that would do credit 
 to home tables. If there be anything that a
 
 Foreign Residents in China. 29 
 
 Chinese has a special gift for it is cook- 
 ing. 
 
 They are, moreover, the hardiest servants 
 in the world in case of pressure or emergency. 
 A master of a house has often occasion to send 
 for his butler late in the afternoon, and tell 
 him that a nimiber of guests will be in at din- 
 ner that evening. The simple answer is, 
 " Very well, sir ;" and when the hour arrives, 
 there is the dinner, which, as far as abundance 
 or cookery goes, might very well have been 
 ordered some days beforehand. It is also 
 very much the habit, in the winter months, 
 for gentlemen to go in parties up country 
 shooting, and first-rate sport they have, with 
 pheasants, partridges, deer, pig, wild-fowl, etc., 
 free from the trammels of preserves, hcenses, 
 or game-laws. They go in cosily-furnished 
 house-boats, in which they spend a week or a 
 fortnight at a time. On these occasions the 
 Chinese servant is invaluable. The cook, 
 " boy," and " coolie," generally accompany 
 the party, and, although the space is some- 
 what cramped, still they succeed in providing
 
 30 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 their masters with meals and comforts precise- 
 ly as if they were at home on shore, and this 
 without a word of grumbling or discontent. 
 In short, when well selected and managed, 
 and when kindly treated, the Chinese " boy " 
 will perhaps match any servant in the world 
 for activity, docility, honesty, and general use- 
 fulness. The women servants are equally 
 good in their way. Ladies find them invalu- 
 able, and for the care of children they are 
 particularly well suited, being mild, patient, 
 gentle, and kindly to a fault. 
 
 I have dwelt thus much upon the character- 
 istics of the .servants employed by foreigners, 
 not only to show how they fare in this partic- 
 ular, but because these servants are the only 
 natives with whom the foreign merchant comes 
 more immediately into contact. The opinion 
 prevalent at home that foreigners mingle in 
 Chinese society generally is altogether a mis- 
 taken one. The conventional rules of the 
 Chinese are so constituted, and their habits of 
 thought and customs so peculiar, that there is 
 little or no encouragement to corn! acquaint-
 
 Foreign Residents in China. 31 
 
 ance on either part, even were the enth'e igno- 
 rance of each other's language not to present 
 a serious bar in the way of an interchange of 
 ideas. There is a class of Chinese brokers 
 and middle-men who haunt the offices of the 
 merchants, but they are mostly shi'ewd, clever 
 upstarts, whom the difficulties of interlingual 
 conununication have introduced into the trade, 
 and, with rare exceptions, they lay no claim 
 to respectability, even with the Chinese them- 
 selves. The language employed between 
 these brokers and the merchants is a jargon 
 made up of English, Portuguese, Chinese, and 
 Malay words, tortured into unrecognizable 
 shapes and constructions, and it is little fitted 
 to sustain any conversation beyond what ap- 
 pertains to the mere technicalities of trade. I 
 have frequently expressed to our merchants 
 the opinion that it is a pity they do not take 
 the trouble to learn the Chinese language. 
 Its acquirement in the spoken fonn to an ex- 
 tent sufficient for all practical pm-poses offers 
 no difficulties that an average intellect and a 
 moderate share of determination cannot sur-
 
 32 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 mount, and familiarity with it ^Aoiild have the 
 effect of freeing the foreigner from the domi- 
 nation of roguish brokers and compradores, at 
 whose mercy he now hes, whilst it would open 
 the way to a more extended acquaintance and 
 friendly intercourse to the mutual advantage 
 of both parties. There is perhaps no country 
 in the world, frequented by the Enghsh-speak 
 ing race, in which merchants are so lamentably 
 ignorant of the customs and resoui'ces of the 
 locahty in which they hve as they are at this 
 moment in China, and this is entirely to be at- 
 tributed to a want of famihaiity with the lan- 
 guage.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MISSIONARIES IN CHINA. 
 
 After the merchants of China, the mission- 
 aries next claim attention as an important ele- 
 ment of foreign society. In approaching this 
 part of my subject, I wish to premise that I 
 have no sympathy mth those who, for want 
 of consideration or from mere prejudice, think 
 hghtly of the work and character of the 
 missionar)^ The man who honestly devotes 
 his life and energies to the instruction of the 
 poor and ignorant at home, or to the con- 
 version of benighted heathen abroad, must 
 always meiit the profound respect of every 
 right-minded individual. It does not need 
 my feeble testimony to sustain the assertion 
 that there have been and now are many such 
 devoted men of all denominations of the 
 Chiistian Chmxh laboring in China, and if
 
 34 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 I ventui'e in any way to criticise the body, it 
 is not from any lack of appreciation of its 
 high and sacred objects, but simply because 
 missionaries are hmnan, and there cannot but 
 be many things in which those who look at 
 their proceedings from another standpoint 
 than their own, must find occasion for dissent 
 or remark. 
 
 Missionaries in China, like their co-religion- 
 ists in the West, are divided into two principal 
 sections, Romanist and Protestant ; and the 
 latter are again subdivided, unhappily, into 
 denominations numerous enough to puzzle 
 their fellow-Clu-istians, let alone the heathen 
 to whom they are accredited. It is very much 
 the fashion with persons who are only too 
 glad to find occasion for complaint against 
 Protestant missionaries to subject them to an 
 unreasoning comparison with their Romanist 
 bretlu'en, much to the discredit of the former. 
 This is, to say the least, unfair. The two 
 classes of laborers go out under such diame- 
 trically opposite systems of church organization 
 and discipline, and they pursue their objects
 
 Missionaries in China. 35 
 
 in such entirely different methods, that no 
 comparison, except as regards the several 
 results of their labors, can be either just or 
 accm'ate, and this it is next to impossible 
 to institute to any satisfactoiy degree. Even 
 to attempt it would be to launch upon a sea 
 of controversy as to what constitutes a con- 
 vert, and which is nearer the right, Romanist 
 or Protestant. I shall make it my endeavor 
 to avoid such invidious comjiarisons as much 
 as possible, preferring to treat of both parties 
 in their several relations to the people amongst 
 whom they labor. 
 
 The Romanist missionaries one sees but 
 little of, although, as compared to the Protes- 
 tants, their name is legion. Their system is 
 to penetrate deeply into the interior the 
 moment they arrive, to disassociate themselves 
 enth*ely from the mercantile classes of foreign- 
 ers, and to work disguised as natives, unob- 
 trusively and unremittingly, at the various 
 stations which have been occupied by them 
 for years ; in some cases, for centuries. Their 
 devotion is as remarkable as their success has
 
 36 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 been astonisliing, and I am one of those who 
 believe that they have been the means of 
 accompHshing and still do accomplish a vast 
 amount of good. They rely mainly upon 
 educational means for secuiing adherents, and 
 although the process must necessarily be a 
 slow one, yet the results, when these come 
 to exhibit themselves, are certainly more satis- 
 factory as regards the number and pemianency 
 of the conversions. Wherever a Romanist 
 missionary station is found in a town or village, 
 it is sure to be a nucleus of a more or less 
 extended circle of Cln-istian families, in many 
 of which the faith has been handed down 
 from generation to generation, and I have 
 been often struck by the quiet and respecta- 
 bihty which prevails amongst such communi- 
 ties as compared to the heathen around them, as 
 also by the respect and attachment shown 
 by them towards their " spuitual fathers," as 
 the priests are usually teraied. 
 
 It was, I think, an unfortunate incident in 
 the history of Roman Catholic missions, 
 and, by association, in that of Christian mis-
 
 Missionaries in China. 37 
 
 sions in China generally, when the French 
 Government initiated the measure of exacting 
 toleration of Chidstianity from the- Chinese as 
 a treaty right. It has had the effect of with- 
 drawing the Romanist laborers from the se- 
 clusion which until then had been a necessity, 
 of emboldening them to claim the restitution 
 of properties and privileges which had long 
 ago been forfeited on j)ohtical grounds, and of 
 encouraging them latterly even to go the 
 length of asserting judicial rights over the 
 native members of then- chm'ches, and seeking 
 to release them from their fealty to their pro- 
 per sovereign. As a natural consequence of 
 such high-handed proceedings, the jealousy of 
 the Chinese Government has been roused 
 against foreign propagandism in general, a 
 sympathetic enmity has taken hold of the 
 minds of the influential classes and hterati, 
 and both have not been slow to profit by the 
 occasion to incite the entire population against 
 foreigners and their faith. Hence the agita- 
 tions, persecutions, and massacres, which have 
 left their bloody mark upon the relations of
 
 38 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 the past few years, and which are but a fore- 
 taste, it is to be feared, of what we may yet 
 have to mom-n in the future. 
 
 Protestant missionaries pm'sue their object, 
 as has been remarked, upon a wholly differ- 
 ent principle. They go out as a rule married, 
 and the majority settle at the open ports, 
 where they build themselves foreign houses, 
 for the most part, in or near the concessions 
 common to all foreign residents, and mix more 
 or less in the foreign society of each place. 
 They are careful to disclaim the possession of 
 a common object or interest with the mer- 
 chants amongst whom they live ; nevertheless 
 it cannot but be that the natives fail to give 
 them credit for the self-sacrificing character of 
 their mission, and that as a consequence they 
 lose a certain amount of influence and respect. 
 As regards theh married condition, I am not 
 by any means prepared to condemn it, or to 
 advocate celibacy as a rule, for I know of 
 many devoted couples, whose united and ener- 
 getic efforts have been productive of great 
 good. At the same time I ventm-e to think
 
 Missionaries in China. 39 
 
 that a man or woman laboring single-handed 
 must of necessity prove a more effective mis- 
 sionary as far as China is concerned, for not 
 only is increased leism-e afforded for undivided 
 attention to the work, but more opportunity 
 and freedom are given for complete disassoci- 
 ation from foreign smTOundings, and a thor- 
 ough seclusion amongst the natives ; and there 
 is a greater likelihood moreover of earning 
 the good-will and resj^ect of the Chinese, in 
 whose eyes celibacy constitutes an important 
 element of self-sacrifice. 
 
 The Protestant missionaries, save in the 
 case of one particular denomination, retain 
 their di*ess and national habits, and they are 
 right. Disguise, although so universally and 
 successfully employed by the Romanists, must 
 be regarded as objectionable. It is calculated 
 to lower the individual in the opinion of the 
 natives, and where it is employed, as in the 
 exceptional case alluded to, by the female 
 members of the mission likewise, the effect is 
 even more mischievous. 
 
 The Protestant missionaries, again, have
 
 40 The Foreigner in Far Catliay. 
 
 shown no inclination to indulge the extrava- 
 gant pretensions which have been arcribed to 
 their Romanist co-laborers in regard to the 
 withdrawal of converts from native jurisdic- 
 tion. I have found, it is true, in my consular 
 relations with them, a tendency to beheve 
 their converts always to be in the right, when- 
 ever a dispute has occurred with the heathen 
 or the mandarins; but this is a pardonable 
 weakness, which is easily accounted for under 
 the circumstances, and any evil results likely 
 to arise out of it can always be checked by 
 the disinterested course of the Consuh 
 
 I am not in a position to state definitely 
 what are the results of Protestant missionary 
 labor amongst the Chinese so far. Their 
 practice of only reckoning as converts those 
 adults whom they conscientiously believe to 
 have been brought to a saving knowledge of 
 the truth, reduces their statistics of proselytism 
 to a very material extent ; but even with this 
 check, and taking into consideration, on the 
 one hand, the limited number of laborers, 
 and, on the other, the difficulty of bringing
 
 Missionaries in China. 41 
 
 the Chinese mind to appreciate abstract re- 
 ligious tiTiths independently of sensational 
 influences, I think I am only doing the 
 Protestant missionaries simple justice when I 
 state that their efforts have been attended 
 with exceptional success, and this although it 
 is but a short while ago since they ceased to 
 count their converts by mere hundreds. 
 
 Then' progress might have been yet more 
 marked, in my opinion, could they have been 
 content to leave denominational differences at 
 home, and could they have avoided the un- 
 happy controversies in respect to the best 
 rendering of the term for GtOD, which have not 
 only occasioned disunion amongst themselves, 
 but have tended to confuse the minds of the 
 natives as to the character and attributes of 
 the Deity. 
 
 They have eiTed likewise in other points 
 which it is necessary to call attention to as 
 bearing upon their influence mth the natives. 
 One is a propensity to erect pretentious 
 churches after the foreign style of architecture, 
 with tall steeples or towers that show out
 
 42 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 obtrusively over the uniformly low roofs of a 
 Chinese city. These towers are apt to create 
 ill-will in an entire population, the Chinese 
 idea being that any erection pointing upwards, 
 unless it be one of their own proj^itiatory pa- 
 godas, is calculated to bring down evil influ- 
 ences productive of ill fortune, disease, and 
 death, upon the entu-e neighborhood. A Chi- 
 naman, is, moreover, a timid creature, and it 
 is my behef that for one stranger who would 
 hesitate to enter a common-place native build- 
 ing supposed to be tenanted or used by a for- 
 eigner, three would shrink from being seen 
 to approach a construction the very architec- 
 ture of which would indicate its strange and 
 obnoxious pm-pose. Not that the Protestant 
 missionaries are alone open to criticism in this 
 particular. Since the governmental toleration 
 of Christianity, secured by the Romanists un- 
 der the French treaty, they have been much too 
 forward in marking concessions made to them 
 of plots formerly theu's by erecting thereon 
 cathedrals of obtrusive size and style of archi- 
 tecture, offending thereby not only the super-
 
 ^ Missionaries in China. 43 
 
 stitions, but the religious prejudices of the 
 natives, who naturally object to see Christian 
 places of worship raised upon sites for genera- 
 tions sacred to their own heathen shrines. 
 
 Another mistake which the Protestant mis- 
 sionaries have made is in confining their 
 efforts too exclusively to the acquirement of 
 local patois of the language, and to the 
 production therein of tracts and translations 
 of the Scriptm-es ; the result, as regards the 
 natives, being very much what might be 
 imagined in England were foreign pro23agan- 
 dists to attempt to preach and distribute 
 books in a Somersetshire, Yorkshire, cockney, 
 or any other dialect. Some missionaries, in 
 their over-estimate of the difficulty of acquu*- 
 ing the wiitten Chinese language for them- 
 selves, or of getting illiterate Chinese to 
 master it with sufficient facility to become 
 readers of their books within a reasonable 
 space of time, have even hit upon the novel 
 expedient of inventing a new written medium, 
 by "Romanizing," as they call it, the Chinese 
 language, that is, expressing it phonetically
 
 44 Tlie Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 by means of our alphabetical system, and 
 schools are now taught and books published 
 in this hybrid character. It is argued that, 
 owing to the comparative ease with which 
 this mode of writing Chinese is acquired, it 
 becomes the means of enabling the simplest 
 child or oldest crone to read the Bible in the 
 native tongue after a few lessons, a feat 
 neither could otherwise accomplish. And to 
 a certain extent this is tiTie. But it stands to 
 reason that for every child or old woman who 
 may thus be won over, there must be hun- 
 dreds of thousands left wholly unreached, and 
 the system nmst therefore fail of general or 
 practical utility. As regards preaching or 
 teaching in a local ^patois, it may secure atten- 
 tion and apprehension amongst the lower 
 classes in a particular neighborhood, but the 
 speaker, unless he acquire more than one pa- 
 tois — there being nearly one to every large 
 city — ^must be at a manifest disadvantage 
 elsewhere, whilst no respectable or educated 
 person A^ill demean himself to listen, save
 
 Missionaries in China. 45 
 
 perhaps for curiosity's sake, to a foreigner 
 speaking- in a vulgar dialect. 
 
 The same argument applies with even more 
 force to the publication of books in the collo- 
 quial. There is perhaps no people who are 
 more partial to reading than the Chinese, or 
 who better ap^oreciate beauty of composition 
 and purity of style in their books. Until the 
 missionaries study more than they have done 
 to gi'atify this taste, their publications must 
 fail to atti'act attention with the readino: 
 classes, and may even, by exciting contempt, 
 occasion more harm than good. A Chinese 
 statesman was not much mistaken when he 
 observed in a late memorial that native insti- 
 tutions and creeds had but little to fear from 
 the disturbing influences of missionary publi- 
 cations. It is only fair I should add that there 
 are exceptions to this rule ; some few mission- 
 aries having effected real good by placing be- 
 fore the Chinese translations of some of our 
 scientific works, as well as original composi- 
 tions on popular subjects, all in good scholas- 
 tic style, and they have been rewarded by the
 
 46 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 popularity that these works have earned in 
 even the best circles. 
 
 In connection with the limited results of 
 Protestant missionary teaching so far, I owe it 
 to the Protestant missionary body to state that 
 they themselves ascribe much of their want of 
 success to the demoralizing effects of the opium 
 trade, as well as to a failure on the j^art of 
 foreigners generally to support them in their 
 teachings by a conduct and example worthy 
 of the Christian profession. It cannot be 
 doubted that the opium traffic has much to 
 answer for in the way of neutralizing mission- 
 ary efforts, not only in its direct effects upon 
 the victims themselves, but in the hatred and 
 suspicion of everything foreign which it has 
 engendered in the minds of the natives gene- 
 rally. But as regards the other counteracting 
 influence which the missionaries plead in bar 
 of success, I think they are apt to take up a 
 too decided opinion. Residence in the East 
 and association with heathen and less civilized 
 races do not as a rule tend to elevate the 
 moral and mental standard to which the Euro-
 
 Missionaries in China. 47 
 
 pean may have been schooled in his own coun- 
 try. But foreign residents in China are, I 
 think, as Httle affected by this demorahzation, 
 if I may so term it, as perhaps any wanderers 
 into Eastern cHmes ; and if the Chinese take 
 the trouble to study them at all it is rather to 
 contemplate with wonder their (in the Chinese 
 idea) bizarre habits and notions than to draw 
 any deductions from their conduct in a moral 
 point of view. Individual instances no doubt 
 do occur in which the missionary finds himself 
 posed by allusions to laxity of conduct in his 
 own countrymen, but I question whether the 
 objection seriously presents itself to the minds 
 of the masses as an argument against Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 The whole missionary question is a pei'plex- 
 ing one. As has been already observed, the 
 proceedings of the Romanists, although found- 
 ed upon treaty rights, have tended to rouse the 
 hitherto dormant jealousy of the Chinese 
 Government and influential classes, and this 
 has led to the prevalence for the moment of a 
 state of feelings thoroughly hostile to foreign-
 
 48 The Foreigner in Far Catliay. 
 
 ers, and whicli tlie merest accident at any 
 point may so excite or intensify as to bring 
 about a dangerous outbreak when least ex- 
 pected. It is a mistake, however, to assert, 
 as some do, that this is but a phase of the 
 natural antipathy with which the Chinese 
 regard the foreigner, or to argue, as others 
 do, that it is his faith alone which is objected 
 to, and that all hostility would cease with the 
 retraction of the treaty rights of toleration, 
 and consequently of foreign inters^ention in 
 support of missionaries and their adherents. 
 To the mass of the people the position of 
 foreigners in the country is a matter of indif- 
 ference, and a foreigner may usually pass 
 tlnrough their most crowded haunts ^v^^th im- 
 munity from personal risk,"^ save where an 
 impression prevails that the local authorities 
 would wink at his being interfered with. 
 But with the mandarins and the class to which 
 they belong the case is different. They have 
 
 * An exception must be recorded against tlie province of Ho- 
 nan , the population of ■which has the character of being turbu- 
 lent, and has generaFy been found inimical by foreign travellers.
 
 Missionaries in China. 49 
 
 never been cordial, and some of them do not 
 care to conceal their dislike, or even hostility. 
 This feeling, nevertheless, as far as they are 
 concerned, has been merely personal to the 
 foreigner and the progress he represents, and 
 until lately has had little to do with his reli- 
 gion. On the contrary, it is my belief, based 
 upon the statements of those competent to 
 judge, that in the negotiations which imme- 
 diately preceded the conclusion of the British 
 treaty, the toleration clause was found to be 
 one of those most easily pressed upon the 
 acceptance of the Chinese Commissioners. 
 
 This comparative indifference, on the one 
 hand, to the foreigner, and on the other to his 
 f^ith, might have continued indefinitely, but 
 for the near approach of the period when 
 the re\'ision of the treaties was to take place, 
 when it was feared that innovations of all 
 kinds would be introduced by foreigners, in 
 the way of telegraphs, railways, and such like. 
 The anti-foreign party felt that the very exist- 
 ence of their time-honored institutions depend- 
 ed upon prompt action in a repellent direction
 
 50 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 A mission was organized, on tlie one hand, for 
 tlie express purpose of coaxing foreign powers 
 into foregoing, for the time being, any extra- 
 vagant demands, whilst on the other, tlie ill- 
 ad\ased pretensions of the Romanists, and their 
 practice of collecting infants for their orphan- 
 ages, were each in its way made a pretext for 
 disseminating all kinds of evil stories against 
 foreigners generally. The result has sliow^n 
 with how much of success this has been effect- 
 ed, more perhaps than the projectors at all an- 
 ticipated. The Government has since pro- 
 fessed its inability to stem the toiTent, the 
 floodgates of which, by means of a temporiz- 
 ing and feeble policy, it had been indirectly 
 instiamiental in opening; whilst it has pro- 
 posed, by way of solution of the difficulty, 
 that propagandism by foreigners should be 
 placed on a different footing for the future. 
 The Chinese officials are rather prone thus to 
 allow a desired public opinion to grow into 
 shape, and even to venture to encourage its 
 formation by the employment of government- 
 al appliances, and then to affect an inability
 
 Missionaries in China. 51 
 
 to pursue any coiTective policy that may be 
 suggested, on the plea that the very ojoinion 
 which they have been to a certain extent the 
 means of creating is too deeply rooted to be 
 lightly overruled. 
 
 It would be out of place for me to suggest 
 the best means of meeting the emergency. I 
 will only ventm-e to deprecate sincerely the 
 retraction of any existing treaty stipulations. 
 It would simply be to play directly into tlie 
 hands of those of the Chinese whose cherished 
 object is not so much to crush the missionary, 
 as to expel, or at any rate, to restrict the for- 
 eigner ; to endanger the whole fabric of treaty 
 relations, which has been erected at the cost 
 of so much blood and treasure ; and to 
 plunge us possibly into yet deeper compli- 
 cations. The treaty I believe to be entire- 
 ly equal to the satisfactory solution of any 
 difficulties which a missionary might per- 
 chance occasion by his excess of zeal or in- 
 discretion.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CONSULS AND CUSTOMS AUTHOEITIES, ETC. 
 
 Having tlius discussed the Mercantile and 
 Missionary sections of the foreign communi- 
 ties in China, it only remains to say a word or 
 two resjoecting the other classes of foreign 
 residents alkided to, namely, the vagrants 
 and the Consular and Custom House authori- 
 ties. 
 
 The vagrant or destitute foreigners consist 
 chiefly of deserters from ships, and mechanics 
 who have failed in the attempt to establish 
 themselves, or who, ha^ang established them- 
 selves in a small way, live a sort of hand-to- 
 mouth existence upon the wants of the sea- 
 faring men resorting to the port. This class 
 happily is not numerous, but it is worthy of 
 notice as being a fruitful occasion of misun- 
 derstanding with the Chinese authorities, owing
 
 Consuls and Customs AutJwrities. 53 
 
 to their reckless and aggressive bearing to- 
 wards the natives. The foreign authorities 
 have to keep them under strict surveillance 
 and check, and at times to proceed to the ex- 
 tremity of deporting them from the country, 
 for which j)urpose, in the case of the British, 
 special powers are given by local ordinances. 
 At Shanghae a refuge has been instituted by 
 voluntary contribution and with Consular co- 
 operation, and it is calculated to do much 
 good in ridding society of this dangerous 
 class. 
 
 Of Consular officials it does not befit me to 
 say much, being myself a member of that 
 body. I owe it, however, to my fellow-offi- 
 cials to state, that they are zealous and hard- 
 working servants of the Crown, (I am now 
 speaking of my own countrymen,) and that 
 they merit all the confidence that the Govern- 
 ment and the public can give them. Unlike our 
 Consular agents in European and other coun- 
 tries, they are charged with important judicial 
 functions under the Supreme Court at Shang- 
 hae, and, although in all international matters
 
 54 Tlie Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 they are entirely accountable to H.M.'s Minis- 
 ter at Peking-, tliey nevertheless are regarded 
 by the Chinese to some extent as representative 
 functionaries, and practically they exercise 
 considerable diplomatic influence in the sever- 
 al districts to which they are accredited. From 
 the distance at which they are removed from 
 their immediate superiors, and the m-gency 
 of the demand made upon their action when 
 needed, they are constantly placed in circum- 
 stances which call for the exercise of all their 
 faculties in the loyal and discreet solution of 
 difficulties, and I think the instances are rare 
 in which they have shown themselves unequal 
 to an emergency. There has been a tendency 
 of late with the press to characterize our Consuls 
 as officious, as aggressive, as fond of indulging 
 a little brief authority, and as being too ready 
 to claim naval assistance in the adjustment of 
 questions. But these are the random verdicts 
 of individuals who do not know our Consuls, 
 and are simply ignorant of the difficulties by 
 which they are beset. These latter cannot be 
 fully entered into here, but something of their
 
 Consuls and Customs AutTiorities. 55 
 
 nature may be imag-ined from the fact that 
 British Consuls have on the one hand to satisfy 
 the clamorings of their countrymen for the 
 full enjoyment of privileges under a treaty, 
 the penal stij^ulations of which Consular au- 
 thority is so fully empowered, as well as 
 stringently compelled, to enforce, whilst on the 
 other hand they find themselves met by the 
 Chinese authorities in a spirit which goes far 
 towards neutralizing their efforts to cany 
 out that treaty on principles of justice to both 
 parties. The above remarks entirely apply 
 to the Consuls-General and Consuls of other 
 Treaty Powers besides Great Britain, save in 
 the matter of accountability to the British 
 Minister and Supreme Court. 
 
 The Customs officials are foreign employes 
 under the Chinese Government. The system 
 was introduced years ago by Consul (now Sir 
 Rutherford) Alcock, at Shanghae. He found 
 his efforts to enforce strict adlierence to the 
 tariff on the part of British merchants so entire- 
 ly frustrated by the collusion of the native 
 Customs officials with a few of the less scrupu-
 
 5n The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 lous amongst the communitj, that he suggest- 
 ed to the Chinese the introduction of a foreign 
 element into their Customs staff, and they fell 
 in with the proposition forthwith. The experi- 
 ment, commenced in the first instance at Shang- 
 hae, was found to be attended with such suc- 
 cess in protecting the revenue from fraud, that 
 the Chinese were glad to extend it to all the 
 open ports, and a regular service has thus 
 grown into being, which is superintended by a 
 British Inspector- General at Peking, and offi- 
 cered, even down to tide-waiters, by foreign- 
 ers of all nations ; a thoroughly able and well- 
 educated body of men. Their perfect acquaint- 
 ance with the language, the acquirement of 
 which is made a condition of advancement, 
 the intimate relations in which they stand by 
 virtue of their functions towards the Chinese 
 Government and authorities, and the confi- 
 dence with which these officers have been 
 treated by the Govermhents to which they 
 severally belong, as well as by their own coun- 
 trymen, have all combined to place the foreign 
 Customs staff, and more especially its leaders,
 
 Consuls and Customs Authorities. 57 
 
 on a splendid vantage ground for convincing 
 the Chinese that their true interest lies in ex- 
 tending and consolidating their intercourse 
 ^^dth foreign nations, and in encoui'aging the 
 admission into the country of a more lively 
 progress, and more advanced civilization tlian 
 their own. For all that I can assert to the 
 contrary, efforts may not have been wanting 
 on then- part to promote these desu-able objects, 
 and something has been done towards meeting 
 the requirements of the trade by the construc- 
 tion of a few lighthouses, beacons, etc., on the 
 coast ; but the general results so far certainly 
 warrant me in stating that the magnificent op- 
 portunities thus enjoyed have not by any 
 means been improved as they might have 
 been. A late issue of '^ The Times " news- 
 paper has given publicity to the translation of 
 a memorial which the Inspector-General, Mr. 
 Hart, has addressed to Ihe Chinese throne, 
 calling attention to eiTors in the domestic and 
 foreign policies of the nation, and sugg 3sting 
 a more enlightened com'se of action in the in- 
 terest equally of China as of Foreign Powers
 
 68 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 I hail this representation as a step in the light 
 direction ; but I none the less regret that ef- 
 forts of the kind were not commenced at an 
 earlier period, and not more persistently cai'- 
 ried out since.
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 CUSTOMS OF THE CHINESE. SHOP SIGNS. 
 
 The first tiling that must attract tlie eye of 
 an observant stranger, upon finding himself 
 in a Chinese town, presuming him to have 
 recovered from the effects of the foul odors 
 which always infest the crowded suburbs lining 
 the approaches thereto, will be the pictm-esque 
 vista presented by the pei'petually recm-ring 
 series of smart shop-signs displayed in every 
 principal thoroughfare. The peculiar con- 
 formation of the Chinese character, and the 
 possibility of collocating the words either in 
 horizontal, perpendicular, or any other lines 
 without prejudice to legibility, renders them 
 particularly well adapted for decorative pm-- 
 poses ; and the Chinese exhibit much taste 
 and skill in turning this characteristic to
 
 60 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 advantage in advertising tlieii' business and 
 wares. 
 
 The sliop signs, it must be understood, are 
 not, as with us, displayed merely upon the 
 shop-fronts; but each establishment is fur- 
 nished with projecting eaves, frequently elab- 
 orately carved and decorated, and under these 
 at either corner next the street, is suspended 
 or erected a perpendicular board richly vai'- 
 nished, and inscribed on both sides with the 
 name of the concern and a notice of the com- 
 modities sold, so that it may be read at a dis- 
 tance by persons passing up or down the 
 street : very frequently a scroll of cloth also 
 inscribed on both sides is hung across the 
 street for the same purpose. It is the long 
 line of these gaudy signs, stretching overhead 
 and on both sides, and visible at times for a 
 full mile or more, that forms the very attract- 
 ive vista above alluded to. 
 
 Shops and business houses are not known 
 in China by the names of the proprietors or 
 finns, as in om- plain, common-sense country. 
 When Brown, Jones, and Robinson, or, to
 
 Customs of the CJiinese. 61 
 
 select patronymics con*espondingly common 
 in China, when King, Gold, and Stone, set 
 up shop or commence business, they assume a 
 style or designation, which is as a rule com- 
 posed of two words, the most felicitous in 
 their meaning that can be selected, such, for 
 example, as "Celestial affluence," '' Peq^etual 
 success^" '' Overflowing abundance," etc.; and 
 the concern is thenceforward known by that 
 title, all bills, notes, and business documents 
 being authenticated by its employment. 
 
 Some idea of the Avorking of this practice 
 may be derived from comparing it mth the 
 similar one connnon amonorst the French and 
 other continental nations, of giving fancy 
 names to then* establishments, such as " Au 
 bon diable," " Au fidele berger," "A la cor- 
 beille des flem-s," etc.; the only difference be- 
 ing that in the case of the Europeans the 
 names of the partners in the firm are employed 
 or displayed likewise, whereas with the Chi- 
 nese they never appear, not even in coiTes- 
 pondence. In many cases the same designa- 
 tion is proudly retained by the family for sev-
 
 62 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 eral generations, and not unfrequently tins 
 conceit is earned to the length of cherishing 
 and even exhibiting the original old sign-board 
 with which the ancestors laid the foundation 
 of the business, religiously protected from 
 paint or repairs. It may seem sti*ange that 
 any language should contain a sufficient num- 
 ber of felicitous terms to suit the wants of the 
 business portion of so vast a poj)ulation ; but 
 the difficulty does not exist in practice, and 
 although many characters must of necessity 
 be reiterated over and over again in the signs 
 of a single street, not to say town, yet so cle- 
 verly are the changes rung upon the class of 
 characters employed, and so excellently is 
 their distribution contrived, that it would not 
 occur to any one rambling through a town 
 that any sign he observes has met his eyes 
 before. 
 
 Let me now ask the reader to accompany 
 me in imagination on a ramble, say along the 
 main street of Ningpo, in order to see what 
 these signs say. Here is a remarkably hand- 
 some one, varnished jet black and inscribed
 
 Shop Signs. 63 
 
 with large boldly-penned characters in gold. 
 It reads, being interpreted, '' Limitless produc- 
 tion. Feasts prepared a la Tartare, or a la Chi- 
 noise," a distinction, it may be presumed, pos- 
 sessed of more importance to the Celestials 
 than to their foreign visitors. '' The delica- 
 cies of the season ; sea slugs smothered in ver- 
 micelli and trimmed with finely-slu*ed ham. 
 Forcemeat puiFs, meals of boiled rice, plain, or 
 w^ith cooked meats, ready at all hom-s." This 
 is on one side of the shop ; on the other is 
 displayed a smaller, but not less pretentious, 
 board suggesting the possession of " Delica- 
 cies from beyond the seas." Peeping into the 
 interior of the shop, may be observed another 
 attractive but smaller sign-board, tastefully 
 fitted in crimson and gold, which points out to 
 the sentimental or sociable wayfarer that he 
 may be supplied with " tete-a-tGte meals to 
 his fancy ;" and on another wall is displayed 
 the suggestive hint, also cleverly framed, that 
 *' famous wine from over the sea" is provided 
 for tliirsty customers. Eadi of these signs 
 has a band of scarlet silk flaunting loosely
 
 64 The Foreigner in Fair Cathay. 
 
 from the handle, a token that the shop has 
 been lately established or enlarged, or that 
 some accession of business or capital has ac- 
 crued to the firm, scarlet being the festive col- 
 or in China. Not infrequently coarse white 
 cotton or hempcloth may be observed similar- 
 ly mounted, a sign that death has invaded the 
 establishment, white being the color of mourn- 
 ing. At New Year time the sign-boards are 
 likewise ornamented with scarlet streamers, 
 more especially amongst the Cantonese. 
 
 Having taken a sip of their famous wine 
 and courteously eschewed the offer of a smoth- 
 ered sea- slug, we will pass farther up the 
 street. Here are a series of showy sign-boards, 
 backed by row upon row of heavily-tasselled 
 glass lanterns, all prettily painted with figures 
 of flowers and Chinese writing. It does not 
 nee.d any conversance with the language to 
 , discover the business done upon these premi- 
 ses, the odor of drags and aromatics being 
 sufficiently suggestive. Over the centre door 
 are displayed two characters, meaning " Dou- 
 ble-headed Phoenix." This, as in the case of
 
 Shop Signs. G5 
 
 the cliaracters representing " Limitless produc- 
 tion " at the eating- house just aUuded to, is the 
 designation or style of the shop. 
 
 Taking its other boards in their order, the 
 first sets forth that " Decoctions are prepared 
 with acciu'acy from fragrant materials," leav- 
 ing one to infer that " John Chinaman " likes 
 his doses characteristic as well as safe. The 
 next boasts of " Boluses, powders, ointments, 
 and pills carefully mixed." A third announces 
 *' Drugs from every province in the empire." 
 Then two others, by way of hint no doubt to 
 hard bargainers, declare that " Wares will be 
 found genuine, and prices true to value ;" and 
 that ''No two prices are asked " for the same 
 article. 
 
 The house next to the di'uggist's shows 
 sign-boards which betray the residence of a 
 physician, who, judging by their number and 
 high coloiing, must be a renowned and popu- 
 lar leech. We will call him Dr. Dry, this be- 
 ing the British equivalent of his Chinese sur- 
 name. On the one side of his gateway may 
 be read '' Dry Quartus, great-grandson of Dry
 
 66 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 Primus, of Ningpo, whose specialite is to treat 
 fractures, contusions and wounds, to set bones 
 and return dislocations." His method of per- 
 forming the last- mentioned operations is not 
 stated, but I imagine it would be considered 
 somewhat unprecedented and peculiar by om- 
 better-ti'ained practitioners, judging from a re- 
 ply I received from one of these gentlemen to 
 my inquiry as to the mode in which he re- 
 duced a fracture : " I simply rub the part well," 
 he assm-ed me, " with a specific ointment of 
 my own preparing, and the result is miracu- 
 lous." The sign-board upon the other side of 
 the entrance door repeats the practitioner's 
 name, and announces that he treats internal as 
 well as external complaints, cm-es affections of 
 the throat, administers acupunctm-e and the 
 moxa, and so on — more than it is convenient 
 to describe. Over the door are suspended two 
 complimentary slabs, given to the worthy doc- 
 tor, no doubt, by grateful patients. On the 
 one is inscribed the sentence, " Bent arm ; 
 three principles," in allusion to his skill in 
 feeling the pulse, wliich in China is touched
 
 Shop Signs. 67 
 
 with three fingers, the pulse in the right 
 v.'rist being regarded as intimately connected 
 with three of the internal organs of the hu- 
 man body, and that in the left with three other 
 organs. Ability to feel the pulse is considered 
 in this country as the true criterion of medical 
 proficiency. The other slab has on it the 
 words '' Excellent faculty, handed down by 
 family descent." Reference is here made to 
 the fact of the profession having been here- 
 ditary in the family, the practitioner's father 
 and grandfather having both been medical 
 men of renown at Ningpo. In the opinion 
 of the Chinese, occupation and fame derived 
 by inheritance aiford the most reliable evidence 
 of professional skill where physicians are con- 
 cerned. 
 
 The Chinese are a quack-ridden race, as is 
 evidenced by the number and size of their 
 druggists' shops, and the various extravagant 
 puffs which are exhibited uj)on the walls every 
 day. Of this, however, more anon. A pre- 
 tender has only to display in front of a tented 
 table by the wayside " The Doctor So-and-So,
 
 68 Tlie Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 a physician and sm'g-eon by descent for several 
 generations," and lie will rarely lack a patient. 
 Prescriptions are, as with us, written and pre- 
 sented to the druggist for making up, and, as 
 used to be the case with our ancestors of old, 
 great faith is put in the virtues of strange 
 herbs, woods and roots The Chinese neverthe- 
 less are fully alive to the properties of many of 
 the most valuable di-ugs and medicines which 
 figure in our pharmacopoeias. Physicians 
 frequently combine necromancy and fortune- 
 telling with the practice of medicine. I may 
 here mention a curious custom which prevails 
 everywhere in China, as regards the disposal 
 of the materials of which a j^rescription is 
 composed after having been made use of 
 Infusions and decoctions are the favorite rem- 
 edies, and when these have been j^rej^ared the 
 refuse is carefully deposited in the centre of 
 the street or highway, a superstitious notion 
 being prevalent that if the mess is sniffed at 
 by the horse on which the spirit of the T'ien-i 
 Star rides, the result will be certain to be 
 favorable for the patient. The T'ien-i Star,
 
 Sliop Signs. 69 
 
 or " Celestial cure," is supposed to have a 
 beneficial influence upon invalids, and the 
 spirit which inhabits it is believed to patrol 
 the streets nig-htly in order to keep watch 
 over the welfare of the inhabitants. 
 
 But to proceed with the sign-boards. There, 
 next to the physician, is what we should call 
 an optician, who gives out that he manufac 
 tures '^ crystal eye-glasses for young and old." 
 Then comes a tobacconist, who '^ imports for 
 the special use of his establishment tobacco 
 from Fuhkien, Chefoo, and Hangchow." Con- 
 veniently posted on the opjDOsite side of the 
 street is a pipe-maker, who gives out that he 
 has " pipes manufactured on piurpose for his 
 fiiTii out of Yunnan white coioper." Here 
 again is a tallow-chandler, who '' constnicts 
 dips fit for presentation as tribute to royalty." 
 Next comes a musical instrument maker, who 
 offers for competition organs, flutes, banjos, 
 guitars, fiddles, and all kinds of musical in- 
 struments. Next a " Christy," who '' makes 
 caps to suit every season of the year." Then 
 a "Hoby," who "embroiders boots in the new-
 
 70 The Foreigner in Far CatJiay. 
 
 est fashions." (The boots of a Chmese exqui- 
 site, it must be remembered, are made of 
 satin.) After him a dyer, whose " blues and 
 bhicks rival celestial coloring." Then another 
 chandler, who, more pretentious than his 
 rival higher up the street, declares that his 
 wares are " double-dipped and small wick'd," 
 and who even goes so far as to quote from 
 some poet a couplet which pictures the student 
 as '' laboring beside the midnight lamp." 
 And last, for the category must be ended 
 somewhere, is a silk mercer, whose sign is 
 worth quoting in full: ''We possess our o^vn 
 country agencies, whose selection is made for 
 the market of the finest sorts of silk, in the 
 manipulation of which neither time nor labor 
 is spared. We manufacture every suit of rich 
 and pure silk, thread and floss-silk, silk for 
 bow strings, tassels, and cords ; we give our- 
 selves especially to the weaving and plaiting 
 of parti-colored girdles and fittings of Court 
 caps in the newest Peking style. We also 
 make fringes for caps, handkerchiefs of all 
 kinds, damask or crape, head-bands and collars
 
 Shop Signs. 71 
 
 of satin or gauze." Shops of this last class, 
 i.e., drapers, haberdashers, etc., usually have 
 the designation printed upon the paper in 
 which customers' purchases are wrapped, with 
 conditions of sale attached ; such as, ^' Cus- 
 toms' Banier and transit duties payable by 
 purchaser," " No goods exchanged or received 
 back that have been folded, rumpled, or cut."
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ADVERTISING IX CHINA. 
 
 The large number of advertisements which 
 everywhere cover convenient walls would also 
 be likely to attract the eye of the foreign 
 visitor to a Chinese town. Advertising, al- 
 though very generally had recourse to in 
 China, appears to be confined to particular 
 classes of business, such as those of di'uggists, 
 eating-houses, lodging-houses, doctors, theatri- 
 cal corps, lecturers, fortune-tellers. In fact, it 
 is not considered quite the thing to advertise, 
 on the princii^le, it is presumed, that " good 
 wine needs no bush." An exception seems to 
 be made in favor of jewellers, silk and satin 
 mercers, dyers, biscuit bakers, piece-goods 
 vendors, and one or two others, who are per- 
 mitted by the rules of conventionality to ad- 
 Acrtise their establishments upon the occasion
 
 Advertising in China. 73 
 
 of opening shop for the first time, or after en- 
 largement or repair. Advertisements are both 
 piinted and wntten, and scarlet paper is the 
 material usually employed. A brief summary 
 of the contents of some of the most common 
 may perhaps interest the reader, if he will 
 again bear me company in imagination into a 
 Chinese street. Here is one issued by a con- 
 cern styling itself " a benefit to society," and 
 which undertakes to prescribe gratis for those 
 who are poor and feeble. A literal translation 
 of ' its 458 characters would be scarcely expe- 
 dient, although, in the matter of delicacy, the 
 advertisement might compare favorably with 
 many of a like kind found in newspapers in 
 our own language. Sufiice it to say that it 
 conveys various pledges to attack with success, 
 in an inconceivably brief space of time, all 
 kinds of diseases, disgusting and otherwise, 
 provided only the afilicted will swallow the 
 drugs, pills, etc., dispensed by the concern. 
 Here is another advertisement put forth by 
 a druggist, who invites the j^ublic to swallow 
 ''pills manufactured out of a whole stag
 
 74 The Foreigner in Far Catlmy. 
 
 slaug-htered with purity of purpose on a pro- 
 pitious day." Wealthy wholesale di'ugg-ists 
 not infrequently purchase large and handsome 
 stags, which they expose in a pen at the 
 entrance of the shop until a propitious day can 
 be selected for the animal's conversion into 
 medicine, when he is deliberately pounded en- 
 tire into a pulp, out of which pills are made. 
 These pills, it is believed; invigorate the sys- 
 tem, and dispel any distemper or evil humor 
 which may be lurking in the tissues. Here 
 again is another placard by a quack. He like- 
 wise styles himself a '' world's benefactor," 
 and he professes to be accessible only on the 
 even days of the month, and then only at 
 eight o'clock A. M. Whether he gives this 
 out in order to enhance the idea of his profes- 
 sional importance, or whether he devotes his 
 odd days and afternoons to other engagements, 
 does not appear. 
 
 Next comes the puff of a gentleman who 
 declares that he alone is conversant Avith the 
 true art of second sight, as practiced by means 
 of the circular mirror. This is a class of per-
 
 Advertising in China. 75 
 
 sons to whom victims of petty thefts are in tlie 
 habit of applying in order to discover lost 
 property. One of these performers was once 
 called in by my servants, on the occasion 
 of a theft of some articles of clothino- which 
 occm^red on my own premises. After various 
 incantations and bm-nings of incense and joss- 
 paper in a dark room, he selected one out of 
 two or three little boys who happened to be 
 standing by, and placed him before a looking- 
 glass. The child was then asked if he observed 
 anything ; on his replying in the negative, 
 another child was picked out and the same 
 process gone through. The little fellow peered 
 into the glass, and straightway declared he 
 saw something ; and he then proceeded to tell 
 how he could distinguish a man dressed in 
 a white jacket and blue trousers enter the 
 premises by such and such a door ; how he 
 could see the thief j)ass along such and such 
 a passage, enter such and such a room, open 
 such and such a box, take out therefrom so 
 and so, make it up into a bundle, throw it 
 out of a window, and then creep away to
 
 76 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 another part of the premises, and jump over 
 the wall into the road. The innocent and yet 
 earnest manner of the child, as he went 
 through these details, gave his story all the 
 weight of a supernatm*al revelation to the 
 wondering and credulous bystanders, and no 
 amount of banter on my part could succeed in 
 shaking their conviction that the process of 
 the theft had been correctly described, and 
 that the perpetrators would be eventually 
 traced out thereby. I must do the pretender 
 the justice to state that he showed himself 
 particularly anxious to persuade my own little 
 boy, of seven years old, to act as medium, and 
 would no doubt have employed him in that 
 capacity, but that he stoutly objected to be 
 made a tool of. An exactly similar method of 
 divining by means of a child looking into a 
 mirror or pool of water exists, it appears, 
 amongst the modern Egyptians ; and a very 
 interesting description of the process may be 
 found in Mr. E. W. Lane's work on the man- 
 ners and customs of that people. 
 
 Our next advertisement is a playbill. It
 
 Advertising in China. 77 
 
 piu'ports to be issued by a concern styling- it- 
 self " Tea-garden of the Crimson Olea fra- 
 grans." The name " tea-garden " is merely a 
 blind to keep the advertiser clear of police ex- 
 actions and interference, theatres being strictly 
 prohibited by Chinese law, and acto-rs being 
 regarded as the very scum of society. Evasive 
 and romantic designations are always given to 
 theatres. Here is a playbill, emanating from 
 a concern rejoicing in the name of ^' Fragrance 
 fills the Hall." Another is designated " The 
 Garden of the Three Exquisites ;" and a fom'th 
 styles itself '^ The Chamber of the Yellow 
 Olea." The '' olea," only known in England 
 as an exotic, is a highly-scented flower, much 
 prized jby the Chinese, and which consequent- 
 ly enters largely into their conceptions of the 
 delicate and beautiful. Om* particular play- 
 bill first suggests, in a persuasive tone, that 
 rainy or windy weather should not be per- 
 mitted to interfere with a punctual attendance. 
 It then describes the plot of the piece that is 
 to be represented, some episode in the life of a 
 martial hero of the olden time. Such scraps
 
 78 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 of the ancient history of the country, ren- 
 dered piquant by the insertion of comical and 
 often indehcate passages in the story of the 
 heroes and heroines, form favorite subjects for 
 the di'ama in China ; and it is amusing to ob- 
 serve the breathless interest depicted on the 
 countenances of the crowded audience as they 
 watch the repr.esentation through its tedious 
 progress towards denouement. 
 
 The establishment thus advertised is one of 
 several which Chinese speculators have opened 
 in the foreign settlement of Shanghae with 
 the assistance of foreign capital and under 
 cover of foreign surroundings; but as a rule 
 there are no buildings specially devoted to 
 theatrical representations as with us. Com- 
 panies of actors when formed travel about the 
 country and engage themselves to committees 
 of temples or guilds, or to wealthy individu- 
 als who may be festively inclined, for a week 
 or a month at a time ; and the representation 
 usually takes place in a raised, open pavilion 
 with which every temple or club-house court
 
 Advertising in China. 70 
 
 is pro\aded, and admission is given to the pub- 
 lic gratis ; no regular hours are kept, and the 
 play is carried on with short intermissions for 
 food and rest throughout the day and often 
 nights, accompanied always by the incessant 
 clanging of gongs and music of the most dis- 
 tracting character. Women are never seen on 
 the stage, the female parts being taken by men 
 who are educated to it from their childhood, 
 and who imitate the feminine gait and voice 
 to perfection. 
 
 One more advertisement is worthy of notice 
 before we leave the subject. It is that of a 
 lecturer who undertakes to give readings out 
 of the history of the Three Kingdoms, a chro- 
 nicle of a favorite era in the Chinese history, 
 which teems with martial and romantic inci- 
 dent. He likewise begs that '^ gentlemen will 
 condescend to come early, and not be deterred 
 by the inclemencies of the weather." Readings 
 of this kind are generally given in tea-shops. 
 They serve to collect custom for the establish- 
 ment, whose host, no doubt, makes it worth
 
 80 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 the while of the lectm-er to render his shop 
 attractive, independently of any stray cash 
 that may fall to the entertainer's share when 
 the hat is sent round.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MANDARIN YAilENS IN CHINA. 
 
 Peoceeding along a Chinese street a stran- 
 ger would not fail to notice its intersection now 
 and again by a large palisaded enclosure, with 
 a huge ornamental gateway of three doors on 
 the one side, and a high blank Avail facing the 
 gate on the other, the latter rudely daubed 
 with the picture of a rampant di'agon in red 
 and white paint. This is the entrance com't of 
 a Yamen^ or the residence, as well as public 
 office of a mandarin ; on either side, where 
 the street enters and leaves the enclosure, is 
 a roughly-constructed bamer-gate, one sur- 
 mounted by the characters "East office gate," 
 the other by " West office gate." In the case 
 of a high-class yamen, such as that of a 
 viceroy, the thoroughfare is turned so as to 
 go round to the back of the front wall, and a
 
 82 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 notice is stuck up to the effect that all officials 
 under a certain rank are to dismount from 
 their horses or leave their sedan-chairs at the 
 barrier gate. The main gate with the three 
 doors is always placed so as to face towards 
 the south, and where the street happens to 
 run north and south, a cross street is opened, 
 into which the yamen is made to face with 
 east and west entrances on the two sides. 
 Certain superstitious grounds, connected with 
 the supposed position of the sun, give occasion 
 to this arrangement, and even the Emperor 
 himself, when sitting in state, has his face 
 turned towards the south. The several barriers 
 and other gateways of a yamen are usually 
 surmounted with inscriptions which vary ac- 
 cording to the functions and grade of the 
 official, but are always couched in grandilo- 
 quent language. Those for instance placed 
 over the gates of the Taotae's yamen at 
 Shanghae are (translated into English) '' Pro- 
 tector and administrator of twenty cities," and 
 " Cleanser and purifier of three rivers," and 
 these may be taken as a fair sample of all
 
 Mandarin Yamens in China. 8ij 
 
 others throughout tlie country, the cherishing, 
 protecting, improving, purifying, and benefi- 
 cent characteristics ascribed to the incumbent 
 within, being only too frequently in marked 
 contrast to the reality, as far as the people 
 governed are concerned. The interiors of the 
 yamens consist of suites of rooms, arranged 
 after a stereotyj^ed notion for the public and 
 private needs of the retainers, who are always 
 very numerous. Some few yamens, more espe- 
 cially those belonging to high-class officials, 
 are richly-decorated, well-constructed build- 
 ings, but, as a rule, they do not bear looking 
 into ; and they are generally maintained in a 
 wretched condition of unrepair, as no man- 
 darin is understood to hold the same office 
 for a longer term than three years, and he 
 has of course no interest in expending money 
 upon his temporary domicile or offices during 
 that period. 
 
 Observe now the procession emerging from 
 the yamen. At the head of the ragamuffin 
 crew appear two or four lictors dressed in tall 
 black felt hats, and armed with whips with
 
 84 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 which they are supposed to flog the people 
 into reverential submission, whilst the great 
 man passes by. The tall hats and whips of 
 these rascals (for rascals they invariably are, 
 having to live by their wits, poor creatm^es) 
 may be seen hanging up at the gates of most 
 yamenSj ominous of what those who are unfor- 
 tunate enough to get dragged into the inner 
 precincts may expect. After the lictors come 
 a group of boys bearing red boards inscribed 
 with gilt characters. Some of these give the 
 several ranks and titles of the mandarin ; 
 others convey commands to be silent, to stand 
 back, etc. Then comes the umbrella inscribed 
 with the ten thousand names, a proof of pop- 
 ularity, which every mandarin covets, and 
 after that the sedan-chair, borne by four or 
 more bearers, according to the rank of the 
 official within. Military mandarins ride on 
 horses or mules, it being considered eff'eminate 
 and unsoldierlike to sit at ease in a sedan-chair. 
 After the dignitary himself, follow the secre- 
 taries, card-bearer, j)ersonal servants, etc., all 
 carried likewise in sedans, but of the most
 
 Mandarin Yamens in China. 85 
 
 sorry description and having only two bear- 
 ers each. The sedans used by the mandarins 
 are always covered with broadcloth, the color 
 of which is defined according to the rank, and 
 they are handsomely Hned and fitted within, 
 sometimes with expensive fm's. In Peking 
 and the northernmost Pro\dnces, two- wheeled 
 carts without spnngs are used mstead of se- 
 dans. 
 
 The general imj^ression out of China is that 
 a mandarin spends his days in idleness and 
 luxury, whilst he battens upon the booty 
 wrung by himself and followers from the un- 
 happy people over whom he is placed ; but 
 this is not altogether a correct view. Although 
 little can be said for the general results of 
 mandarin administration in the way of promot- 
 ing the best interests of the population, and 
 although the wretched pittances allowed by 
 the government as salaries lead to a vast 
 amount of peculation and rapacity, yet the 
 Chinese officials as a cktjss lead a laborious life, 
 and instances are not wanting of individuals 
 winning the esteem and even devotion of the
 
 86 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 people. Owing- to the peculiar system of ad- 
 ministration, duties, which, according to our 
 Western ideas, are best distributed amongst a 
 number of officials and departments, are in 
 China concentred in one individual, and what 
 wdth judicial business, both civil and criminal, 
 finance, police, transport, commissariat, and a 
 number of other heterogeneous duties, a man- 
 darin of any standing always has his hands 
 perfectly full. Office hours commence mth 
 the dawn and often only close with the cessa- 
 tion of demands upon the attention which 
 evening of necessity brings. Nor may an 
 official hope for any relief in the diversion 
 which society affords. A mandarin is not ex- 
 pected to have any friendships or intimacies 
 outside of his yamen, and he cannot encom-age 
 visitors or loiterers within its precincts without 
 laying himself open to a charge of favoritism 
 or corruption. He may not even go out of his 
 yamen openly for exercise or recreation. As a 
 rule his secretaries are all powerful, and in 
 cases where any venality is practiced it is al- 
 ways accomplished by or through these men.
 
 Mandarin Yamens in China. 87 
 
 A yamen is in fact practically closed to the 
 23ublic, save through the good offices of a sec- 
 retary or some other of the numerous under- 
 lings who continually haunt its gates and 
 com'ts. Consequently a mandarin with the 
 best intentions may, even without his privity, 
 become a cm-se to his neighborhood. 
 
 I can myself vouch for an instance in which 
 an opium merchant, who had decamped after 
 a large transaction in opium, for which he 
 paid in spmious paper, actually took refuge 
 in the Taotae's yamen, and successfully con- 
 cealed himself there for weeks, although the 
 Taotae and Consul together employed every 
 api^liance in their power for his captm-e, and 
 larofe rewards were offered for his detection. 
 He no doubt concluded his safest place was 
 under the very roof of the com-t whose war- 
 rants had been issued for his apprehension ; 
 and as far as the mandarin was concerned I 
 had no reason to imagine but that he acted 
 bona fide all the while. 
 
 It has been remarked that instances are not 
 unfrequent in which the pmity and patriotism
 
 88 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 of a mandarin receive appreciation at the 
 hands of the people, A common method of 
 expressing it is by the presentation of the 
 umbrella alluded to in connection with the 
 mandarin cavalcade. Foreigners call this 
 article an '^ umbrella," but it partakes more 
 of the nature of a circular canopy, being 
 carried on a staif in front of the mandarin 
 when he goes abroad, and held aloft over his 
 head whenever he alights from his sedan. 
 It is made of scarlet silk, and on the deep 
 borders which encircle it are embroidered in 
 yellow or black silk the names of the donors. 
 At other times tablets bearing com^^limen- 
 tary inscriptions are given as testimonials, and 
 these are much prized by the recipients, and 
 used to decorate their best receiving rooms, 
 another and more comical method of exhibit- 
 ing the public estimation of official probity 
 'and worth is for a deputation of the inhabit- 
 ants to wait upon a mandarin at one of the 
 gates of the city at the moment of his making 
 his farewell exit, and to beg the gift of his 
 boots, which are thenceforward reverently
 
 Mandarin Yamens in China. 89 
 
 cherished in some temjjle as piibHc pro^Jerty, 
 Chinese populations are equally ready at ex- 
 pressing their disapprobation of the conduct 
 of their public men when it happens to ob- 
 trude itself prominently upon their notice, or 
 when they become the victims to its conse- 
 quences. Lampoons are a favorite channel 
 for denunciation ; and not unfrequently the 
 poj)ular indignation is evinced by a positive 
 onslaught upon the mifortunate functionary, 
 either in his yamen or when he ventures 
 into the streets. On such occasions he is 
 certain to be reprimanded by his superiors 
 for inabihty to conciHate and restrain his 
 people, or to be transferred to another sphere 
 of duty.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OPIUM SMOKING 
 
 Neaelt every stranger wlio visits a Chinese 
 city considers his round of sight-seeing incom- 
 plete until he has witnessed the process of 
 oj)iuni smoking. The dens in which the drug 
 is doled out to its "victims, although numerous 
 enough in every city, are not easily distin- 
 guishable, its vendors not having yet got over 
 the fear of penal consequences, which, until 
 the import and sale of opium were legahzed, 
 always attended any connection with the traf- 
 fic. The vice, therefore, has not the concom- 
 itants of glitter and gewgaw to assist in attract- 
 ing its victims, which are found associated 
 with the similar bane of dnnking in our own 
 country. The reader will, perhaps, be inter- 
 ested in visiting in imagination one of these 
 establishments, and observing for himself what
 
 Opium Smoking. 91 
 
 is to be seen therein. Although situated in 
 a main thoroughfare with pretentious shops 
 and buildings on either hand, the opium den 
 is usually remarkable for the mean, filthy 
 front which it j^i'esents to the street, and the 
 only sign or mark which betokens its existence 
 to the uninitiated is a diminutive dirty pa^^er 
 lantern over the doorway, bearing the inscrip- 
 tion, " As you like it," or sometimes the an- 
 nouncement '' Foreign earth " is ventm'ed upon 
 in small characters upon a card stuck in a win- 
 dow. A step fm'ther over the threshold reveals 
 a dilapidated j)aper screen or two, placed 
 athwart the room so as to cut off the interior, 
 as far as possible, from outer observation. On 
 the other side of these screens, in a mui-ky, 
 dark atmosphere, lie the smokers stretched 
 upon a dozen wretched platforms, in all stages 
 of indulgence, whilst two or three foul, ragged 
 attendants stoop in corners over pans of the 
 seething mi:^tm'e preparing it for consumption. 
 When ready for use it has the appearance of 
 treacle, and is of the consistency of melting 
 india-rubber. In this condition it is presented
 
 92 The Foreigner in Far CatJiay. 
 
 to the smoker, who with the end of a silver 
 skewer twists up a small quantity about the 
 size of a ^^ea, which he places in the minute 
 aperture on the top of his pipe bowl, and then, 
 holding it to the flame of the lamp, he sucks 
 up the fumes. 
 
 Travellers are too apt, when treating of 
 opium smoking amongst the Chinese, to con- 
 vey the impression that it is employed in the 
 same way as tobacco. Nothing can be more 
 different than the two processes of smoking. 
 In the case of the drug, the fumes are inhaled 
 into the lungs, and such portion of them as is 
 rejected passes out of the nostrils. After long 
 habit some smokers manage to inhale the 
 greater part of the fumes. The pipe used, 
 moreover, is but of one kind, and it could not 
 be employed in smoking tobacco, the apertm-e 
 at the top of the bowl being only large enough 
 to admit a good- sized pin. 
 
 The effect upon the individual, when in- 
 dulged in habitually and to excess, is certainly 
 debasing, and there is, perhaps, no vicious 
 habit from which complete recovery is more
 
 Opium SmoVing. 93 
 
 difficult. At the same time I would caution 
 the reader against an unqualified acceptance 
 of the tales of horror one hears and reads of 
 in connection with opium smoking in China. 
 How that, for instance, every fifth, or tenth, 
 or twentieth, or even fortieth man in the em- 
 pire is a victim to the habit ; how that the 
 opium hells are as abundant as the provision 
 shops, and crowded day and night with hun- 
 dreds of infatuated wretches hun-ying to their 
 ruin; how that skeletons haunt the streets, 
 and whole families, beggared by di'ugged hus- 
 bands and fathers, may be seen dying in the 
 highways and fields ; and so on. There are 
 opium dens no doubt, and quite numerous 
 enough to sadden the philantlu'opic observer, 
 and the victims which the dimg drags to misery 
 and death are also, alas ! beyond all counting. 
 But what is tlie \dce, or where the country, of 
 which the same may not be said with equal or 
 approximate truth. Indeed, were I asked to 
 state candidly in which part of the world I 
 thought the effects of vicious indulgence are 
 more outwardly observable, socially speaking.
 
 94 Tlie Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 I certainly should not name China. Statistics 
 on the subject cannot be relied on. It is 
 known to a chest how much Indian-grown 
 di'ug is imj^orted into the country, but there is 
 no means of estimating the quantity of native 
 opium produced, and I do not believe that 
 there is any person sufficiently informed on 
 the subject to be able to state, with any ap- 
 proach to accuracy, what proportion the 
 smokers of the di-ug bear to the general popu- 
 lation. The most that can be asserted with 
 truth, is that the vice is a general one, more 
 especially prevalent in districts near the sea- 
 coast and great commercial centres, that a con- 
 side^'able proportion of its victims indulge to 
 an excess ruinous to health and prospects,- and 
 that it has been gaining ground upon the peo- 
 ple with rapid strides during the past few 
 years. It is, at any rate, a matter of congra- 
 tulation that a Chinaman confines his indul- 
 gence to opium smoking, and that drink does 
 not add to the vicious chains by which he is 
 enslaved. A ray of hope, too, for the Chinese 
 may be found in the fact, which I have before
 
 Opium Smoking. 95 
 
 stated, that the indigenous cultivation of the 
 drug- is gaining ground, for the material being 
 much inferior to that imported from India, it 
 is just possible that the depreciation may have 
 the effect in the end of decreasing the taste 
 for the article, or that the more general use of 
 it that must ensue may rouse the public to o 
 more earnest sense of the ruinous results at- 
 tending its indulgence, and, as a consequence, 
 to a determined e^ort of resistance to its se- 
 ductive influences.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 INFANTICIDE. 
 
 The Chinese have the credit amongst most 
 Enghshmen of being a nation of infanticides, 
 and the impression is to be attributed to the 
 stories which cm'sory visitors, and even ob- 
 serving travellers, are apt to bring home. 
 These will tell, it may be, of " baby towers," 
 standing in the vicinity of most towns, and 
 of suspicious little bundles noticed in pools 
 and canals ; of carts, which are said to go 
 round for the purpose of collecting castaway 
 childi'en ; of miniature coffins strewed about 
 the fields, etc. Such things have no doubt 
 intruded themselves upon the notice, but the 
 observers have not taken the trouble, or, 
 perhaps, from ignorance of the language, 
 have not always found themselves able to 
 inquire, how or why these remains came to
 
 Infanticide. 97 
 
 be so disposed of. Had tliey done so, they 
 would have learnt that the relics seen were by 
 no means in every instance, or even nearly 
 so, those of castaway or miu'dered infants, the 
 Chinese being one of those people who do not 
 consider it essential to give formal sepulture 
 to a child under a certain age. The truth in 
 this, as in most other cases, may be discovered 
 to lie between the two extremes. There are 
 towns and districts where infanticide is prac- 
 ticed, in some to an infamous extent, in others 
 to a less degree ; there are others again where 
 it is not known at all as a habit, and in the 
 majority of cities I am inclined to believe that 
 it is a crime no more indulged in than is the 
 case in some European towns, and then only 
 with the object of concealing another act 
 of frailty. If there is any distinction to be 
 made, it is in favor of the noiihera and 
 midland, as against the southern and coast 
 provinces. 
 
 But as a rule one has only to enter a 
 Chinese city or hamlet to be convinced that 
 the stories about infanticide nmst, to say the
 
 98 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 least, have been exaggerated, for the swarms 
 of childi'en of both sexes which lounge about 
 the doors and infest the gutters is something 
 remarkable. The Chinese, moreover, exhibit a 
 marked attachment for their offspring. At 
 every few steps in a Chinese street may be 
 encountered adelighted father, or a decrepit 
 grandame, proudly fondling a chubby child, 
 dressed in all the colors of the rainbow, and 
 loaded with as many amulets, charms, and 
 ornaments as it can well carry. It is a com- 
 mon practice to adorn infant caps and hoods 
 with texts, in gold and silver-gilt letters, 
 expressive of good wishes for the wearer's 
 health and welfare. A very favorite motto 
 of this kind is " Long life, wealth, and 
 honor ;'' another also much used is, "A safe 
 passage through all critical periods and ob- 
 noxious influences." Very often a row of 
 little gilt idols decorates the frontlet ; to repre- 
 sent the eight genii, a Taouist fancy, or the 
 eighteen saints, a Buddhist superstition ; the 
 idea in either case being to record the wish 
 that the chiklish wearer may, like the legeii-
 
 Infanticide. 99 
 
 daiy individuals represented, pass safely 
 through all the ills of its mortal life to a simi- 
 lar fr-uition of after-glory and beatitude. 
 
 Boys are very naturally more highly prized 
 than girls, but I have never observed the one 
 more lovingly cherished than the other where 
 there are a number of both in one family. 
 Boys, however, enjoy the advantage of edu- 
 cation, which the Chinese do not seem to 
 consider essential for girls. Women are con- 
 sequently seldom found able to read. Instances 
 do occur in which daughters of wealthy fami- 
 lies are educated simultaneously with the sons, 
 but these are unhappily exceptional, dress and 
 self- adornment, and sometimes music, being 
 regarded as the proper amusements of the Chi- 
 nese lady. 
 
 The practice of selling children is neverthe- 
 less tolerated, and it has become very preva- 
 lent of late years, owing no doubt to the vast 
 amount of poverty and wretchedness which 
 everywhere prevails. Scarcely a year passes 
 but some part of the country is devastated by 
 a flood or drought, and, the population being
 
 100 The Foreigner in Far Cathrj. 
 
 principal Iv agricultural, the amount of misery 
 occasioned is ahvays immense. The Supreme 
 Government and local executives at sucli con- 
 junctures profess great concern for the suffer- 
 ings of the people, and measures are set on 
 foot at times on an extensive scale to organize 
 schemes for relief, but inefficiency and cor- 
 ruption nearly always interfere to defeat the 
 most beneficent intentions, and lit; tie or noth- 
 ing is eventually effected beyond the bestowal 
 by Imperial favor of a new tablet upon a 
 River God, or the offering of a special sacri- 
 fice to propitiate some deity su})posed to be 
 offended. 
 
 The extensive rebellions which are peii3etu- 
 ally occuning are another fertile source of im- 
 poverishment to the country. The Taeping 
 insurrection, was, perhaps, the most fearful 
 scourge of this kind which ever fell upon the 
 unhapi^y people of China, and although years 
 have passed since it was quelled, the snd effects 
 of it are still everywhere ^nsible in Provinces 
 which were once the richest and most thickly 
 populated in China. I have often traversed
 
 Infanticide. 101 
 
 tlie 250 miles of country \jviig between Hang- 
 chow and Nanking", and of which the Grand 
 Canal and its numerous affluents are the prin- 
 cipal arteries, and I can conceive of no more 
 melancholy sight than the acres of ground 
 that one passes thi'ough strewn with remains 
 of once thriving cities, and the miles upon 
 miles of rich land, once carefully parcelled off 
 indeed into fields and gardens, but now only 
 growing long coarse grass and brambles, the 
 home of the pheasant, the deer, and the wild 
 pig. It is not to be wondered at then that 
 childi'en should be a burden upon millions of 
 poverty-stricken parents, and that even infan- 
 ticide should present a welcome relief from in- 
 evitable wretchedness. 
 
 Although it must be admitted that childi-en 
 are thus bought and sold in China, the slavery 
 which ensues is attended with but an infinite- 
 simal share of the evils which mark the insti- 
 tution in other countries. Boys are purchased 
 for adoption into families as sons or sons-in- 
 law, and not unfrequently to be brought up 
 as play-actors. Gnls are sought for as domes-
 
 102 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 tic servants in fomilies, as well as- for pm-poses 
 of prostitution. In neither case is the slavery 
 perpetual, and it is only where the girls are 
 consigned to the public markets that their fate 
 is to be deplored. Even then, if they possess 
 any attractions, or are fortunate enough to be 
 accomplished, (for a classical and musical edu- 
 cation is frequently accorded to members of 
 this unhappy class,) they often have the good 
 fortune to be selected by wealthy men as 
 wives, and so end their days in respectability 
 and comfort. Girls who are bougrht into fami- 
 lies as domestics constantly marry into the 
 family, or an equally suitable settlement is 
 eventually found for them by their proprietors 
 elsewhere.
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 EATING AND DRINKING IN CHINA. 
 
 Another fallacy which prevails in regard 
 to the Chinese, is that their food consists of 
 dogs, cats, rats, and other garbage, and I have 
 sometimes even been asked by persons, other- 
 wise well informed, whether foreign residents 
 in China are not unfortmiate enough to find 
 themselves restricted to the same diet. This 
 impression has, no doubt, got abroad from the 
 fact that early travellers have observed pup- 
 pies and kittens exposed for sale in the mar- 
 kets of Canton amongst articles for table con- 
 sumption, and have been led to infer, too 
 hastily, perhaps, that these animals are vended 
 for food, whereas they are thus sold for domes- 
 tic uses almost exclusively. I will not assert 
 that dogs and cats are never eaten ; for there 
 are poor, more particularly in the south, who
 
 lOi The Foreigner in Far CathaJj. 
 
 do not object to dine off a plump rodent when 
 they can procure nothing better, and there 
 are actually restam-ants, in Canton especially, 
 devoted to the preparation of canine dishes, 
 I'or the delectation of a particular class of 
 g-ourmands to be found in that city. There 
 are always strong suspicions, moreover, cher- 
 ished by foreign residents, who are unlucky 
 enough to lose their pet dogs, that these have 
 been purloined in view of their goodly condi- 
 tion, it being the Chinese idea that we foreign- 
 ers feed our canine pets upon the best of mut- 
 ton ; and as a proof that Chinese are to be 
 found whose appetites are not of the most fas- 
 tidious, I myself once saw a mob of boat- 
 people fight for the carcases of some horses 
 which our military had caused to be shot on 
 the river-side by reason of their being affected 
 with glanders. 
 
 Notwithstanding these facts, I must never- 
 theless maintain that the Chinese as a race 
 are not foul feeders. The truth is, that, unless 
 a Chinaman is at all well to do, he rarely in- 
 dulges in a meat meal at all, the usual food
 
 Eating and Drinking in China. 105 
 
 for the masses being, in the midland and south- 
 ern provinces, phiin boiled rice, with a relish 
 of pickled fish or vegetables, salted eggs, a 
 cm'd made of lentils, etc. When meat can be 
 afforded, pork is always the favorite dish, and 
 amongst the higher classes the bill of fare is 
 varied by the addition of mutton, poultry, 
 venison, or game. Sundry delicacies are also 
 introduced, which are almost unknown to Eu- 
 ropean palates, such as beche-de-mer, sea-weed, 
 shark's-fin, jelly fish, the edible bird's-nest, 
 ducks' tongues, pigeons' and plovers' eggs, etc. 
 Some of these can be recommended as well 
 worthy of introduction to our own tables, 
 where possibly they might be rendered even 
 more toothsome by the science and experience 
 which Eui'opean artists could bring to bear 
 upon their cooking qualities. There is a soup 
 common to first-class dinners in China, com- 
 posed of shark's-fin, bird's-nest, and sea slug, 
 with pigeons' or plovers' eggs floating entire 
 on its surface, which I consider quite equal, if 
 not superior, to any of our richest soups, ex- 
 cepting perhaps tm'tle. The great objection
 
 106 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 to a Chinese dinner is its wearisome length, 
 from the large number of courses of which it 
 is usually composed. The dishes, too, are apt 
 to be rich and greasy. 
 
 It has been observed that di'unkenness is 
 not a Chinese failing ; on the contrary, I am 
 happy to be able to bear witness that John 
 Chinaman is a most temperate creature. Dur- 
 ing the whole course of my many years' resi- 
 dence in the country I do not remember to 
 have seen a dozen instances of actual drunken- 
 ness. They do imbibe spirituous liquors man- 
 ufactured out of rice and other cereals, but it 
 is only occasionally at family gatherings, peri- 
 odical festivals, friendly dinners, and such like 
 occasions, and then they seldom get beyond 
 flushed faces, and cheerful clamor. They sel- 
 dom seem to take to drink as a habit. There 
 are exceptions, of course, but these are rare. 
 A public-house is an institution unknown. 
 Weak, tepid tea without the admixture of milk 
 or sugar is the prevailing beverage of all 
 classes, and teapots are placed within reach 
 everywhere to gratify this habit at frequent
 
 Eating and Drinking in China. 107 
 
 intervals during the day. This is especially- 
 observable amongst mechanics, with whom, be 
 the circumstances what they may, the tea- 
 pot may be seen as a never-failing companion. 
 Open tea-houses, somewhat on the principle 
 of the continental restaurant, abound in every 
 street and public garden, and these are fre- 
 quented not only by the thirsty passers-by, 
 but by persons wishing to have a half hour's 
 friendly or business chat. In some of these 
 public readers or lecturers may be found, for 
 the attraction or amusement of customers. In 
 the summer months wealthy folk cause huge 
 pans of ready-made tea to be placed at the 
 corners of streets or in crowded thorough- 
 fares, for the convenience of the poor ; very 
 much as permanent diinking-fountains are 
 now erected in om- cities.
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 CHINESE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Although, as has been stated in a previous 
 chapter, there is no such thing as social inter- 
 course between the Chinese and foreigners, it 
 cannot fail to strike even a cursory observer 
 that they are a sociable people amongst them- 
 selves, and that their courtesies are of a most 
 labored and punctilious character. Visiting, 
 for example, is a serious affair, and has to be 
 conducted in accordance with a conventional 
 code, which prescribes all kinds of formalities 
 varying with the respective positions of the 
 visitor and visited. Cards are extensively 
 used, but of a color and style far different 
 from Avhat we are accustomed to emj^loy as 
 mediums in the interchange of civilities. The 
 shapes and sizes, moreover, vary considerably 
 with the occasion and the individual. Tho
 
 Chinese Social Institutions. 109 
 
 common plain card used between equals con- 
 sists of a single slieet of crimson paper about 
 12 inclies long by 4 inches broad, with the 
 surname and name stamped or ^\T.'itten in 
 black ink, the more mammoth-like the cha- 
 racter the more imposing and respectable. 
 This is generally used amongst officials pre- 
 tending to some rank or position. A card of 
 about half the size is used by men of inferior 
 rank and commoners, or even by the higher 
 officials where the parties are on intimate 
 terms. Then there is the '' complete card," as 
 it is called, which is only employed on grand 
 occasions, such as new year calls, \asits of 
 congi'atulation on weddings, births, birthdays, 
 acquirement of literary degrees, and the like, 
 also of condolence on deaths, etc. This card is 
 folded, and must contain ten folds, each sheet 
 of which is as large as that of the first card 
 described. The name of the individual is in- 
 scribed on the right hand lower corner of the 
 first fold, prefixed by the words, '' Your stupid 
 younger brother," and followed by the compli- 
 ment, "bows his head and pays his respects."
 
 110 The Foreigner in Far Catlmy. 
 
 When the person visited belongs to a genera- 
 tion senior to the visitors, the latter styles him- 
 self, *'Yom' stupid nephew," if to two genera- 
 tions senior, the visitor writes, ''Your more than 
 stupid nephew." Should the individual visited 
 belong to a younger generation, the visitor 
 takes to himself the name of '' uncle " instead 
 of "nephew," retaining, however, the depreci- 
 atory appellative of " stupid." There are still 
 fm'ther varieties of self-designation, according 
 to the particular gradations of relationship, 
 Isut those I have quoted will suffice to give an 
 idea of the punctilious rules peculiar to Chinese 
 visiting ; I may add that the card last described 
 is, as a matter of etiquette, always understood 
 to be returned to the visitor ; it being, ^^re- 
 sumably, expensive to leave such voluminous 
 proofs of regard with a number of friends. 
 
 I have often been asked by inquisitive peo- 
 ple in England to say " How d'ye do f or 
 " Good morning," in Chinese, and have been 
 all but put down as an impostor because I was 
 unable to comply with the requisition. The 
 fact is the Chinese make use of neither ex-
 
 Chinese Social Institutions. Ill 
 
 pression when they meet. A bow, with the 
 mute foldmg of the hands together; is the usual 
 mark of recognition when friends encounter 
 each other on common occasions, and if any- 
 thiiag is said it is " Tsing, Tsing," meaning, " I 
 pray you, I pray you," which has been bar- 
 barized by us into " Chinchin." The intention 
 is on either part to entreat the other to take 
 the precedence, and much time is lost, when 
 visiting, in a friendly antagonism between host 
 and guest as to which should first take a seat, 
 or lift a cup of tea, or touch the proffered dish. 
 Inattention to this formality is regarded as a 
 discourtesy, and would stamp the offender as 
 a boor, unacquainted with the commonest 
 rules of polite society. Many and many a 
 time have I been rendered very uncomfortable, 
 when visiting Chinese officials in the company 
 of naval officers and others, who chanced to 
 be ignorant of this peculiarity in Chinese cus- 
 toms, by observing the disgust depicted on the 
 mandarins' countenances at seeing then- visitors 
 straightway take possession of the seats offered, 
 without making the shghtest deprecatory ges-
 
 112 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 ture, or waiting until the host could find his 
 own proper seat. Of coui'se nothing was fur- 
 ther from the intention of my friends than to 
 offend a prejudice, but I fear the effect was 
 none the less to confirm the preconceived opin- 
 ion on the part of the Chinaman that bar- 
 barism was after all essential to the foreign 
 nature. 
 
 Apropos of visiting and cards, and as illus- 
 trative of Chinese customs, I may here allude 
 to a most singular circumstance connected 
 with a card which I once received in China. 
 It was from a lady, intimating her i-ntention 
 to commit suicide at a specified date. She 
 was very young and attractive, and belonged 
 to a wealthy family. Unfortunately, the 
 Chinese gentleman, to whom she had been 
 affianced from childhood, had died just before 
 the date fixed upon for their nuptials, and 
 she gave out that she deemed it her duty to 
 render her widowhood irrevocable by dying 
 with her betrothed. So she sent cards round 
 to the neighboring gentry, giving notice of 
 the purpose I have mentioned. No attempt
 
 Chinese Social Institutions. 
 
 was made by lier relatives or by the local au- 
 thorities to frustrate the insane design, the gen- 
 eral opinion, on the contrary, being that she 
 was about to perform a meritorious act. I 
 even went so far as to appeal to the mandarins 
 to put a stop to the proceeding, but they as- 
 sm*ed me that interference on their part might 
 lead to a popular demonstration. Eventually, 
 on the day named, the woman did deliberate- 
 ly sacrifice her life in the presence of thou- 
 sands. A stage was erected in the open fields, 
 with a tented frame over it, from which was 
 suspended a slip of scarlet crape ; one end of 
 this she adjusted round her neck. She then 
 embraced a little boy, probably a little brother, 
 presented by a person standing by, and having 
 let fall a veil over her face, she mounted a 
 chair and resolutely jumped off it, her little 
 clasped hands saluting the assemblage as her 
 fast-faihng frame twMed round with the tight- 
 ening cord. 
 
 As far as I could ascertain the woman was 
 not di'ugged, neither was she hounded on to 
 her fate by a fanatic mob, as was, I beheve.
 
 114 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 the practice at Suttees in India, but the im- 
 molation was entirely a voluntary act on her 
 part. I confess I could not muster courage 
 to be present, but some friends who were 
 staying with me witnessed the proceeding, 
 and they all concurred in declaring it to have 
 been one of the most affecting sights that they 
 had seen. Sacrifices of this kind are not un- 
 common in certain districts, but they are not 
 always performed in public and with so much 
 of eclat. 
 
 Friendly and family gatherings are con- 
 stantly going on, and there is nothing that a 
 Chinaman or woman loves so well as a gossip 
 over a pipe and a cup of tea. A favorite 
 pastime is for literary men to meet at a 
 fashionable restaurant or at some romantic 
 retreat amongst sylvan scenery, and indulge 
 a friendly antagonism in the composition of 
 rhymes, one against the other, draughts of 
 wine being the forfeit incmTed by the least 
 successful. 
 
 Their women do not mix in society, but 
 their social influence is by no means limited,
 
 Chinese Social Institutions. 115 
 
 and the older ladies in families especially are 
 looked up to and treated with much deference 
 and consideration. Although confined very 
 much to the house, they ajDpear to be happy 
 enough in each other's companionship, if one 
 may judge by the merriment always to be 
 heard going on in what are termed '' the 
 inner apartments." Amongst shopkeepers, me- 
 chanics, agriculturists, and the lower cLis; es 
 generally, the women of necessity occupy a 
 more prominent positioji in the household, 
 and are consequently to be seen mixing more 
 freely with the men, and taking their fall 
 share of the daily labor. 
 
 Marriage ceremonies are conducted with 
 much formality, the rules for which vary ac- 
 cording to the rank and means of the parties, 
 and the particular province or district in which 
 they reside. The pledging by the couple of 
 each other in wine, and their united act of 
 obeisance to their several parents if alive, or 
 to their manes if deceased, appear to constitute 
 the really binding process in all cases. No 
 official registration nor religious rite is con-
 
 116 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 sidered necessary, the contract being- strictly 
 a civil one. The tie is held indissoluble and 
 sacred as a rule, but instances occur in which 
 a husband considers himself entitled to put 
 away his wife, and pubhc opinion sustains 
 bim in the proceeding. The grounds of 
 divorce are some seven in number, and one 
 or two of them would be regarded by us as 
 puerile to a degree, as for instance a persistent 
 habit of loquacity on the part of the lady. 
 On the other hand, there are certain circum- 
 stances in which divorce is not permitted 
 under any consideration. A man, for example, 
 who by some freak of fortune attains to wealth 
 or honor in after-life may not repudiate the 
 partner of his poorer years. Polygamy is 
 common amongst the well-to-do, but rather in 
 the shape of concubinage, the wife par excel- 
 lence always maintaining her position and 
 rights quoad the rest of the household; her 
 children likewise taking 23recedence of those 
 of the other wives. Early marriage is uni- 
 versal, and such a thing as an old maid or 
 b achelor is entirely unknown. But it is no
 
 Chinese Social Institutions 117 
 
 considered respectable for a widow to marry 
 again, and, where a betrothed girl loses her 
 affianced husband, it is regarded as extremely 
 mentorious for her to abjm-e the wedded state 
 altogether. So marked is public opinion in 
 this particular, that testimonials are often voted 
 by the peoj)le to commemorate such instances 
 of fidelity. 
 
 Prostitution exists in all the large cities, 
 but the law and j)ublic opinion combine to 
 keep it under a certain check, and the practice 
 of early maniage must have a salutary effect 
 in counteracting its baneful influences. 
 
 Matrimonial alliances between persons of 
 the same surname are not tolerated, it being 
 presumed that they must of necessity be re- 
 lated. Consequently, cousins by the father's 
 side may not interwed, although those by the 
 mother's side are permitted to do so. This is 
 perhaps as much a sentimental as a legal ob- 
 jection, and it is to be ascribed to the patri- 
 archal system, which has always prevailed in 
 China, of members of the same family or clan 
 congregating together in the same locality.
 
 118 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 This lias been so universally the practice for 
 ages past, that whole villages may be found 
 nowadays with inhabitants all bearing the 
 same patronymic, and according a deference 
 little short of loyalty to the aged leaders of 
 the clan. Yet, strange to say, the list of family 
 sm-names distributed amongst the hundreds of 
 millions who crowd the country numbers little 
 over four hundi'ed, so that the selection for 
 matrimonial purposes is exceedingly limited 
 as far as the similarity of surname is concerned. 
 Nevertheless, the restriction does not appear 
 to be found irksome.
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 COERESPONDENCE AND THE PRESS. 
 
 Correspondence by letter is very general 
 in China, the post being conveyed between 
 city and city by couriers, who earn their live- 
 lihood by carrying letters at a certain rate of 
 mileage, agreed upon by general consent. 
 Official communications are dispatched to and 
 fro by special messengers, who, in cases of 
 emergency, have horses pro\aded for them, 
 and so attain a speed of 150 to 170 miles per 
 diem. Carrier-pigeons, too, are largely em- 
 ployed by business houses. Governmental 
 post-offices and stamps are as yet a di-eam of 
 the future. Business letters are written upon 
 plain white paper, and folded very much as 
 om's used to be thirty or forty years ago, be- 
 fore envelopes came into vogue. No sealing- 
 wax is used, but the fold is fastened down by
 
 120 The Foreigner in Far Catliay. 
 
 moans of a little paste, and a seal bearing a 
 private monogram, or some lucky motto, is af- 
 fixed to the suture with coloring matter. 
 
 Friendly notes and billets are inscribed up- 
 on slips of delicately tinted paper, tastefully 
 embossed ^Yith flowers, vases, and sundiy 
 quaint devices peculiar to the Chinese, and 
 these are enclosed in decorated envelopes, a 
 convenience, by the way, which the Chinese 
 introduced long before it was thought of in 
 the West. The mammoth cards pre^dously 
 described are also used for scribbling notes on. 
 The language is always as flowery as the ma- 
 terial, and special care is taken to employ the 
 most euphemistic expressions possible, when 
 refen'ing to the indi^adual addressed, and the 
 most depreciatory when alluding to the writer 
 or to his belonofing-s. 
 
 Curiously enough signatures have not that 
 importance attached to them by the Chinese 
 which they possess in most countries and 
 amongst people of business habits. A com- 
 monplace letter is not closed with anything 
 like our conventional " Yours obediently," or
 
 Correspondence and the Press. 121 
 
 " faithfully," or " sincerely," or " affectionate- 
 ly," followed by the sign manual of the writer ; 
 but it ends with the subscnption, " written on 
 such and such a lucky day by younger brother 
 so and so." And where the identity of the 
 wiiter is a matter of moment, a small seal 
 containing a monogram of the name or of 
 some favorite motto is impressed upon the s]30t 
 covered by the date or the name. The only 
 approach to a signature used by the Chinese 
 is a device embodying two or three characters 
 in one, and written so rapidly as to be beyond 
 the possibility of counterfeit. This conceit is 
 mostly affected by literary men. Promissory 
 notes, bills, receipts, agreements, and such like 
 are authenticated by a stamp, bearing, not the 
 name of the concern, but the style or appel- 
 lation by which it is kno^^m in business. 
 
 In official communications the Chinese in- 
 dulge the identical weakness that we have for 
 the use of awe-inspiring stationery, although 
 perhaps they exaggerate it to a more formi- 
 dable extent. I have seen, for instance, an 
 official letter in folds measuring- toa'Cther some
 
 122 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 forty feet in length and inclosed in an en- 
 velope 24 iiiclies by 10. A book might be 
 written describing all the various forms of 
 letters and styles of addi-ess which official 
 etiquette prescribes to the several ranks and 
 departments of mandaiindom. As a rule the 
 communications do credit to the scholarship of 
 the \^1'iters as well as to the penmanship of the 
 secretaries. As in the case of common letters, 
 no signatm-e is ever attached, the official seal 
 being the sole mark of authentication. 
 
 The Chinese cherish a cm-ious veneration 
 for all written paper. A scribbler who does 
 not care to retain the scrap he has been writ- 
 ing on will not be seen to tear it up into bits 
 to be thrown heedlessly away. He 'will care- 
 fully crunch it up, and either put the ball into 
 the fii'st fire he may come across, or he will 
 pocket it until he finds a basket, which he is 
 sure to discover somewhere close by, placed 
 for the purpose, and the contents of which are 
 scrupulously burnt. Such receptacles may be 
 noticed here and there in the streets, and 
 devout persons frequently place urns covered
 
 Correspondence and the Press. 123 
 
 in by miniature temples on the wayside, for 
 the reception and decent disposal of written or 
 printed scraps, with the inscription over the 
 tiny doorway, '' Respect and treat kindly in- 
 scribed pajDer." There are also certain people, 
 who, by way of performing- a meritorious act, 
 hire collectors to go round a town with baskets, 
 and, on receiving their gleanings, heap these 
 together on a sacred bonfire. 
 
 The Press, which holds so important a posi- 
 tion in this and other Western countries, can 
 hardly be said to be even known in China. 
 One paper alone is in general circulation, a 
 sort of official gazette, which professes to pub- 
 lish the principal memorials of high function- 
 aries to the Emperor, the Imperial decrees and 
 rescripts, and lists of changes in official circles. 
 It is said to be printed in Peking, from wax 
 blocks, and is distributed thence by postal 
 couriers to all the Goverament offices in the 
 provinces, whence transcripts get abroad 
 amongst the common people. It contains no 
 original matter of any kind, and, curiously 
 enough, like the earliest newspaper issues in
 
 124 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 our own countiy, it is not in any way used as 
 an advertising- medium. Public opinion finds 
 no expression in its pages, save tlu'ough the 
 State papers which it contains, and some of 
 which, it must be confessed, are not wanting 
 in outspoken criticism, both of departments 
 and individuals, and at times even of the Im- 
 perial Com't itself In this respect at any rate 
 it may be said to be far in advance of oiu' own 
 early London Gazettes, which never contained 
 any intelligence that it did not suit the pur- 
 poses of the Court to publish. It is at the 
 same time a fact worthy of notice, that the 
 country in which the art of printing was ear- 
 liest known, and in which literature has had 
 an undoubted and influential sway for many 
 centuries, should at this moment be the only 
 one amongst nations making any pretence to 
 civilization, in which the press has no footing 
 as a vehicle of opinion. The fact is the more 
 remarkable, since the Chinese are essentially 
 a reading people, and show their ajipreciation 
 of newspapers by the avidity with which the 
 two or three native papers issued by the Shang-
 
 Correspondence and the Press. 125 
 
 hae foreign presses are read, and by the eager- 
 ness with which they seek to have the articles 
 in Enghsh papers translated for their informa- 
 tion. It is my con^dction that there is noth- 
 ing that would tend more sm-ely and speedily 
 to open the eyes of the Chinese Government 
 and people to a true sense of the advantages 
 of Western commerce, progress, and civiliza- 
 tion, and prepare the way for more extended 
 and friendly relations with foreigners, than a 
 few well-conducted newsj)apers in the native 
 language, and no channel for effecting the 
 change would prove more acceptable to the 
 people themselves. Much credit is due to the 
 partial attempts which have already been made 
 in this direction at Shanghae, but the pubhca- 
 tions turned out are still sadly lacking in the 
 composition and style which are needed to 
 ensure general acceptance with the reading 
 public.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 MODES OF SEPULTURE. 
 
 The neighborhood of a Chinese city is al- 
 ways remarkable for the vast number of tombs 
 which meet the eye in every direction. Wher- 
 ever there is a hill or elevation in a populous 
 district it is certain to be thickly covered with 
 earthen mounds, so thickly indeed that one 
 wonders where any futm^e dead will find room 
 to lie ; where the country is flat, mounds and 
 coffins may be seen scattered about the fields, 
 but as a rule a Chinaman prefers to lay his 
 bones upon a slope. The grave when planted 
 on a hillside is always placed so as to cause 
 the headstone to face down-hill, it being con- 
 sidered lucky for the remains to have a good 
 position with respect to the " Feng Shuy," 
 or geomantic influences of the locality. 
 Wealthy people spend months and years in
 
 Modes of Sejmlt'ure. 127 
 
 the selection of such a favorable spot, and 
 grudge no outlay in securing it when found. 
 Whether the remains receive all the benefit 
 intended may be a question, but such taste 
 is always exhibited in the selection of a point 
 from which the vista of hill and dale may be 
 seen to the best advantage that some of the 
 most lovely and romantic views in China may 
 be had by climbing to first-class tombs upon 
 the hillsides. 
 
 The Chinese modes of sepulture are various. 
 Wealthy families pm-chase plots of ground, 
 which they enclose and plant with pine, firs, 
 cypress, and other evergreens, and furnish 
 with temples, in which the ancestral tablets 
 are preserved, and the periodical sacrifices to 
 the manes of the departed performed. These 
 burial-places are reverently cherished for 
 generations, and are often most picturesque 
 and romantic spots. The tomb is generally 
 composed of one or more chambers construct- 
 ed of brick, laid with mortar so pecu- 
 harly prepared -with the admixtm-e of rice 
 and sugar as to harden into a marble, and
 
 128 The Foreigner in Far CatJimj. 
 
 defy the ravages of centuries. Over this is 
 placed a respectable mound, either covered 
 with plain sod and sm-mounted by some umbra- 
 geous evergreen, or cased with mortar. This 
 mound is encu-cled, except in front, by a low 
 substantial wall, which turns off to either side 
 at the entrance, and so describes as near as 
 possible the form of the Greek letter omega. 
 Fronting the entrance is the headstone, which 
 always bears a plain insciiption, of which the 
 following is a fair translated specimen, " The 
 tomb of A. B., of Ningpo, of the reign of 
 Tungchih, of the Tatsing Dynasty ; erected 
 on a propitious day in a vernal month of such 
 and such a year." The age, condition, or 
 history of the deceased is never given ; neither 
 do the inscriptions ever indulge in the eulo- 
 gistic comments or pathetic quotations so 
 common to epitaphs in Western countries. 
 In cases where the deceased was a person of 
 eminence, or a high public functionary, it is 
 customary to front the grave with an avenue 
 formed of several pairs of gigantic stone 
 figures of men and animals, which, although
 
 Modes of Sepulture. 129 
 
 but rude specimens of works of art, always com- 
 bine to give the scene an imposing and solemn 
 character. This must, however, have been a 
 practice more common in ancient times than 
 now, for 1 cannot remember ever having ob- 
 served any such monuments about the country 
 but what were hoary and ruinous with age. 
 The ancestor of the family and his spouse 
 always occupy the most commanding spot 
 in the enclosm-e facing the supposed " Feng 
 Shuy," and the other branches of the family 
 are assigned places on either side, the graves 
 advancing towards the main gate as the gene- 
 rations descend. I have seen them arranged 
 in one or two instances with all the order and 
 exactitude of a genealogical tree. 
 
 The middle and poorer classes are content 
 to inter their dead upon the apen hillside, 
 sometimes erecting a brick or stone tomb, as 
 above described, over the remains, and some- 
 times only a plain earth mound. In the plains 
 a not uncommon method of burial is to place 
 the coffin upon a stand a foot or two above the 
 ground, and to construct over it a brick and
 
 130 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 mortar casing covered with a tiled roof, or, 
 where the parties are veiy poor, a thatch or 
 straw covering. In the former case the brick 
 walls may often be observed perforated with 
 apertures in the shape of characters, with suit- 
 able meanings, such as, '' Happiness," " Lon- 
 gevity," ''Rest," "Beautiful City," "Last 
 abode," and such like. Children's remains, as 
 has already been stated, the Chinese do not 
 consider it necessary to afford sepulture to. If 
 those of mere infants, they are tied up in mat- 
 ting and deposited in a lone place, or thrown 
 into a canal or general receptacle for infant 
 dead. When the children are a little more ad- 
 vanced in years they are placed in roughly 
 constructed coffins, which are laid down in any 
 convenient solitary spot. A walk round the 
 walls of a Chinese city will afford the oppor- 
 tunity of observing many such a melancholy 
 relic. 
 
 Public cemeteries may often be seen out- 
 side the limits of a populous town, but these 
 are the properties of guilds or clubs instituted 
 by strangers resorting to said town for pur-
 
 Modes of Sepulture. 131 
 
 poses of business or otherwise. The Chinese 
 are a very clannish people,* and when a num- 
 ber of persons belonging- to the same province 
 or city find themselves congregated in a dis- 
 tant locality they invariably set up a club, un- 
 der the direction of a committee selected an- 
 nually from amongst its most influential mem- 
 bers. The institution serves the double pur- 
 pose of an assembly room, where the clans- 
 men can discuss public questions or hold high 
 festival, and a com't of arbitration to which 
 they can refer business disputes in preference 
 to appearing before the local authorities. One 
 of the duties such an establishment under- 
 takes is to inter at the public expense the re- 
 mains of any poor members, and hence the 
 necessity of a cemetery for the pui-pose. Most 
 of these cemeteries are furnished with a sacri- 
 ficial temple, to which are attached extensive 
 suites of rooms for the reception of the coffins 
 of the richer members, pending transmission 
 home to their own native districts ; for a Chi- 
 naman prizes beyond all things the privilege 
 of laying his bones near those of his fore-
 
 132 The Foreigner in Far Catliay 
 
 fathers. It is in such receptacles for the dead 
 that one can contem'plate that curiosity, a Chi- 
 nese coffin, in its perfection. It is seldom de- 
 corated save with tlie fi"-ure of the g-od of 
 longevity, or with the character meaning 
 " length of years " carved at either end. The 
 quality and ponderosity of the wood are the 
 main points looked to, and immense sums are 
 expended, sometimes even before death, in se- 
 eming" enormous blocks of the most desirable 
 mateiial j^rocurable. The lid is morticed on, 
 not screwed or nailed, and the utmost care is 
 taken to cement all joints, so as not to leave 
 the slightest cre\ice through which air can 
 enter or escape ; a small aperture is, however, 
 purposely drilled through that part of the lid 
 which covers the face of the occupant, so as 
 to leave a channel of exit and entrance for the 
 spirit at its option. The precautions thus 
 taken are so effectual, that one may wander 
 all over such an establishment without per- 
 ceiving any odor of decaying animal matter. 
 
 A Chinese is bound by custom and duty to 
 repair and sacrifice at the graves of his deceased
 
 Modes of Sepulture. 133 
 
 relatives on a certain day during the spring 
 of each year, and it is both an interesting and 
 cm-ious sight to see the hill-sides on that and 
 several succeeding days covered with parties 
 of people dressed in white or sackcloth attend- 
 ing to this duty. It consists in " sweeping and 
 sacrificing " as it is called, but actually weed- 
 ing and repairing the precincts of the grave, 
 and then burning a due quantity of paper 
 money specially constructed for currency in 
 the upper regions. Sometimes offerings of 
 meat, fruit, cakes, and liquor, are presented. 
 By some of the sacrificers the process is gone 
 through as a true labor of love, and more 
 respect and grief could not be exhibited were 
 the loss one but of a few days instead of years 
 old. But the majority perfomi the duty with 
 but small show of reverence or sorrow. In fact 
 the demeanor of the Chinese in respect to 
 their dead is often very contradictory. Women 
 will wail over a dead body in the house, and 
 even the men will blubber at one moment, and 
 at another they will be feasting, chatting, and 
 cracking jokes together, as if nothing had
 
 134 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 happened. A coffin will be allowed to lie under 
 a shed for months or out in the fields with but 
 a scanty covering of thatch, and suddenly 
 large expense will be incuiTed to give it de- 
 cent burial. Another coffin may be so worn 
 and rotten that the bones may be observed 
 protruding, and yet not the slightest effort 
 be made to repair or replace their receptacle ; 
 but let a cuiious foreigner be seen to take up 
 one of these bones in too inquisitive a manner, 
 and it may be the means of bringing down 
 upon him the vengeance of an enthe village 
 of people. 
 
 Posthumous testimonials of a public nature 
 form a notable feature in Chinese streets and 
 highways. They consist of square frames of 
 stone, boasting httle, if any, architectui-al 
 beauty, but often elaborately carved, and they 
 may be seen spanning the main thoroughfares 
 within a city, or lining the wayside at the 
 suburban entrances outside the gates. The 
 banks of the Grand Canal are abundantly 
 studded with such monuments. They are, as 
 a rule, testimonials to individual instances of
 
 Modes of Sepulture. 135 
 
 official probity, filial piety, female punty, and 
 conjugal fidelity, those representing the two 
 last being considerably in the preponderance ; 
 and they are erected either by the gentry of 
 the district, or at their instance and that of 
 the local executive by the Imperial command. 
 The inscriptions upon them are generally 
 limited to a record of the name of the indi- 
 vidual, the special virtue it is desired to com- 
 memorate, and the date of the erection. 
 Where the Emperor is the som'ce of the 
 honor confen-ed, one character, meaning "be- 
 stowed," is carved in a framework of dra- 
 gons over the inscription. The case, de- 
 scribed in a foiTner chapter, of the self-sacrifice 
 of an affianced girl, would probably earn for 
 the heroine such a mark of public or even 
 governmental approbation. 
 
 Mom-ning is of three kinds. There is the 
 three years' term, practically twenty-seven 
 months, which is worn for a parent or hus- 
 band. Then the one year, worn for a grand- 
 parent, wife, brother, paternal uncle, etc. 
 And third, the five or three months, worn for
 
 136 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 relations further removed on the male side. 
 Mourning- is not worn for any female relative 
 other than mother, grandmother, or wife. 
 At funerals, especially of important kindi'ed, 
 sackcloth is worn, but for permanent moui'n- 
 ing- white is the recog-nized color. Where 
 it is very deep, the cap and shoes are white, 
 and white silk instead of black is entwined 
 amongst the plaits at the extremity of the 
 queue. The contrast in this custom to our 
 own is not so very startling, when it is re- 
 membered that so lately as three centmies 
 ago white was the mourning color in Eng- 
 land and some parts of Em'ope.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 USE OF THE WRITTEN CHARACTER FOR 
 DECORATION. 
 
 Another interesting fact connected with the 
 Chinese, and one which has not received that 
 attention from writers upon the country which 
 it deserves, is the partiahty shown by the peo- 
 ple for their written character, and the extent 
 to which it is appHed for piu-poses of decora- 
 tion. Tlie taste exhibited in the advertisement 
 by tradesmen of their business and wares has 
 abeady been alhided to ; yet the shop signs 
 form but a small proportion of the inscriptions 
 which attract the notice whilst traversing a 
 Chinese city. Characters of all sizes and 
 colors appear to teem in every direction and 
 upon everything, until the careless traveller is 
 8,pt to weary of the perpetually recmTing hie- 
 roglyphic ; but to the inquiring mind there is
 
 138 The Foreigner iu Far Caihay. 
 
 an interest in speculating what it all means, 
 and the Chinese student will find in the collec- 
 tion a convenient opportunity for studying 
 and acquiring a considerable proportion of the 
 few thousand characters which should suffice 
 to give him a practical knowledge of the 
 lang-uao-e. 
 
 The wholesale manner in which some 
 churches are decorated nowadays with texts, 
 etc., will perhaps convey the nearest idea of 
 the extent to which the character is used in 
 the embellishment of public buildings and 
 dwelling houses. Scarcely a w^all, door, win- 
 dow, or pillar, but displays in some shape or 
 other its scroll, tablet, or device, bearing some 
 felicitous couplet, motto, or monogram, artistic- 
 ally inscribed. In the better class of houses 
 the principal room is decorated with movable 
 panelled doors, on each of which there is a 
 spirited sketch with accompanying inscription 
 in seal character or shorthand. The scrolls 
 mostly contain apophthegms or classical or 
 poetical quotations, or they are inscribed with 
 some impromptu sentiment, the autograph con-
 
 Written Character for Decoration. 139 
 
 tribution of a distinguished person or friend ; 
 where they are in pairs, antithesis in rhythm 
 and signification are always carefully studied, 
 as, for instance, if we should write in Eng- 
 Hsh: 
 
 The autumn breeze sighs through the pine trees, 
 The summer zephyrs fructify the peach blossom. 
 
 Over the entrance to the door is generally 
 wi'itten some sentence deprecatory of e^dl or 
 imploratory of good. A not uncommon in- 
 scription is, " May the five blessings descend 
 upon this door," — the five being contentment, 
 health, long life, wealth, success. Another 
 common insciiption is, " His Holiness Kiang 
 is here ; of nothing are we afraid." Kiang 
 was a famous general of the Chow Dynasty 
 who was peculiarly quick at discovering and 
 exposing villainy of every kind, and was sub- 
 sequently canonized in consequence. Panels 
 of doors and windows are frequently decorated 
 with the character '^ happiness." Another 
 favorite word is ''long life," and these two to- 
 gether, with a third, meaning " rich emolu- 
 ment," repeated in pei'petually recm'iing series,
 
 140 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 constitute a favorite device for borderings and 
 otherwise. Over shop doors of the humbler 
 class may be seen the inscription, " Peace be 
 to those who go out and come in ;" or again, 
 "May wealthy customers perpetually arrive." 
 On the opposite side of the street it is the cus- 
 tom to erect a blank, wall or fence facing the 
 door, so as to avert any evil influences from 
 entering in. Upon this is generally pasted a 
 slip of paper inscribed with the sentence : 
 " Opposite to me may wealth arise ;" or : '' On 
 opening the door may I see good luck ;" or : 
 " The Imperial beneficence is illimitable." 
 
 The temples teem with inscriptions, both 
 in the shape of antithetical scrolls and orna- 
 mental tablets suspended horizontally. These 
 are principally presented to the slmne by 
 grateful or admiring votaries, and they have 
 more or less reference to the attributes of the 
 particular deity complimented. Those given 
 to the temple to the tutelary divinity of 
 Shanghae, situated in the tea-gardens there, 
 will serve very -well as specimens of the rest. 
 Over the main entrance may be seen, " Uni-
 
 Written Character for Deeoratiou. 141 
 
 versal joy for the people," and " Be there but 
 a prayer, and the response must follow." 
 The latter maxim possesses an interesting 
 resemblance to our own Bible assiu-ance, 
 '' Ask, and ye shall receiye," etc., and it may 
 often be observed inscribed on little shrines 
 upon the roadside in country places, showing 
 the faith the people have in the efficacy of 
 prayer. Further within the city temple may 
 be observed several handsome slabs suspended 
 over the principal halls. One is inscribed 
 with the words, '' Protection given to all 
 people ;" a third, with " Power of protection 
 unlimited ;" a fourth, with the precept, " All 
 evil deeds avoid." It is considered a highly 
 meritorious act to present a temple with a 
 valuable inscription ; and, where the donor is 
 a person of note or influence, care is taken 
 to exhibit the gift in the most conspicuous 
 position the temple has at disposal. In most 
 temples a tablet may be seen placed in the 
 most prominent position upon the j^i'incipal 
 altar, inscribed with the loyal prayer, "Long 
 live the Emperor."
 
 142 Tlie Foreigner in Far Catliay. 
 
 The rocks adjoining temples in romantic 
 spots, which the Chinese, hke all idolaters, 
 are very partial to as localities for their 
 shrines, are frequently covered with fantastic 
 inscriptions in huge characters, deeply graven, 
 so as to defy time and Aveather, Some of 
 these are so ancient and so highly valued 
 that lengthy journeys are constantly under- 
 taken by antiquaries and others for the ex- 
 press purpose of obtaining rubbings, which 
 are afterwards handsomely mounted as scrolls, 
 and hung as we use pictures. 
 
 The large extent to which the character is 
 employed upon lanterns is a very noticeable 
 feature. A Chinaman and his lantern are in- 
 separable. Let him start on any errand which 
 is likely to occupy him until sunset, and his 
 lantern w^ill be the first article that he lays 
 hands on to carry Avith him. Even on the 
 brightest moonlight night he considers it his 
 duty to provide himself with artificial light ; 
 and it is a curious sight at a large fire at night 
 to see the crowds which fill the- streets, every 
 man with his lantern held aloft, although the
 
 Written Character for Decoration. 143 
 
 very heavens are all ablaze with light. This 
 practice owes its rise, no doubt, to the absence 
 of any system of public lighting- for the streets 
 and highways. The lantern has none the less 
 its uses in daylight ; suspended over doorways 
 and along the fronts of shops it declares the 
 surname of the proprietor within in huge 
 characters, and no respectable domicile is with- 
 out one. Indeed all lanterns, whether carried 
 in the hand or otherwise, are inscribed with 
 the surnames of their ow^ners, so that whilst 
 walkinof the street of a nio^ht a man can al- 
 ways discern that his friend Jones or Robin- 
 son is approaching, long before his figure is 
 discernible. Official persons show their titles 
 on their lanterns, not their names, a rule which 
 is frequently abused by vagabonds, who have 
 only to show a lantern inscribed wdth " The 
 Magistrate " to be able to extract money from 
 the weak or unwary. Wealthy families and 
 officials affect the large globular lantern, the 
 common classes a smaller one of cylindiical 
 shape. The characters are always inscribed 
 in red or black paint, save in time of mourn-
 
 1 44 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 iiig, when blue is employed. Lanterns form 
 an important adjunct in all processions, idola- 
 trous, lipneneal, and funereal; and on sucli 
 occasions the larger the lantern the more im- 
 posing is its effect considered. 
 
 The apparel of the Chinese again is con- 
 stantly to be seen decorated with the written 
 character. It is observable principally u]ion 
 the large cuff attached to the sleeves worn by 
 females and upon their little slioes, upon chil- 
 dren's caps and clothes, and upon the snuff- 
 bottles, tobacco-pouches, fan- cases, and girdle- 
 ends of the men. The sketches on the fans 
 used by both sexes are nearly always accom- 
 panied by inscriptions, and very often a speci- 
 men of caligraphy constitutes the sole orna- 
 ment of the article, the highly-prized auto- 
 graph of some relative, friend, or distinguished 
 individual. 
 
 Numerous examples of the universal em- 
 ployment of the character in the decoration of 
 articles for daily use may be seen in the cups, 
 saucers, plates, chopsticks, teapots, vases in- 
 cense-bm-ners, cabinets, and a hundi-ed other
 
 Written Character for Decoration. 145 
 
 things which find their way to this country 
 as cmiosities. Indeed, an entire book might 
 be filled with illustrations of the various deco- 
 rative pui-poses to which the Chinese character 
 is put, and a vast store of additional facts as 
 to the history, poetry, legendary lore, and 
 customs of the Chinese might thus be elicited. 
 Enough, however, has been advanced in this 
 and preceding chapters to show how highly 
 the Chinese prize their seemingly eccentric 
 and impracticable symbols, but to them beau- 
 tiful character, and that it is utilized by them 
 to an extent miprecedented in the practice of 
 any nation, ancient or modern ; unless it be 
 perhaps the Egyptians, to whose persistent 
 habit of recording every phase of their social 
 life in picture language upon their tombs, 
 monuments, temples, and otherwise, we owe 
 the wonderful insight into then* manners and 
 customs which indefatigable Egyptiologists 
 have obtained for us.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CHINESE PROPER NAMES. 
 
 Nothing perhaps can soiind more comical 
 to the miaccustomed ear than the monotonous 
 '' ching, chong, chow, fee, fo, fum," of which 
 somids, with others Hke them, the Chinese 
 syllabary appears principally to consist. Yet 
 the Chinese symbols possess a wealth of mean- 
 ing and expression of which few, if any, 
 languages can boast ; and in none perhaps are 
 the proper names so universally composed 
 of words which fonii part and parcel of the 
 language itself. Consequently Chinese names, 
 both of men and places, always have a mean- 
 ing, and a large proportion of them are repre- 
 sented by words in common use. 
 
 Chinese surnames, which, as I have re- 
 marked in a former chapter, are but limited 
 in number, are as a rule composed of but one
 
 Chinese Proper Names. 147 
 
 character. Names are generally made up of 
 two, and characters having a felicitous mean- 
 ing are always selected. The surname always 
 precedes the names. For example, supposing 
 a man's name to be Kung, " Palace," and his 
 names Pao Yeng, " Precious Rocompense," his 
 card would indicate him as Kung Paoyeng, 
 " Palace Precious Recompense." Another 
 man's smnamemaybe Wang, "King," and his 
 name Ta LeiiJi, " Great Six," probably from his 
 being a sixth child or son. He would be 
 styled Wang Taleuli. 
 
 In some pro^ances it is common amongst 
 intimates to add the familiar prefix of Ah to 
 the second character of the name : as, for 
 example, the two persons just named would 
 be severally called, Ahyeng and Ahlenh. And 
 this will account for the numbers of Ahfoos, 
 Ahchoivs, Ahlums, etc., to be met with amongst 
 the natives of Canton. It is the usual practice 
 with Chinese servants, especially those belong- 
 ing to that province, when engaging them- 
 selves to foreigners, to give in merely their 
 names with this familiar prefix, and many
 
 148 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 wealthy brokers and compradores in the trade 
 are thus known and designated amongst 
 foreigners. But the habit has its nse in the 
 contempt which the Cantonese affect to have 
 for foreigners, and it would not be tolerated 
 amongst themselves either between master and 
 servant or in business relations. Many and 
 many a time have I experienced the greatest 
 difficulty in inducing Chinese, who have come 
 before me to have agreements with British 
 subjects attested, to discover their proper sur- 
 names and names, there being such a rooted 
 aversion in their minds to commit themselves 
 by name to any arrangement entered into 
 with a foreigner. 
 
 Women's names are mostly selected from 
 amongst names of gems, flowers, vh*tues, and 
 suchlike, and are consequently quite in keep- 
 ing with the characteristics of the sex. On 
 marrpng, a woman takes the surname of her 
 husba^id, as with us ; but with the usual con- 
 trariety of the Chinese character, the affix 
 which marks the name of the married woman 
 is placed after the surname. The wife of Mr.
 
 Chinese Proper Names. 149 
 
 " Palace " would, for example, be designated 
 Kung She, or '^ Palace Madam." 
 
 Titles, official or otherwise, always precede 
 the name when stated in full. But when a 
 person is designated by his title familiarly in 
 coiiversation or ^vriting, as, for instance, where 
 we should say Colonel A., or Commissioner 
 B., the Chinese place the title after the name. 
 
 Names of provinces, districts, cities, rivers, 
 mountains, etc., derive theii' signification for 
 the most part either from some characteristic 
 of the locality or some legendary or family 
 association connected with it. And it is sel- 
 dom that any characters but those of a felici- 
 tous meaning are employed: Quangtung (an- 
 glicized into Canton) and Quangsi signify 
 "broad east" and "broad west;" Honan 
 means "south of the rivers;" Hufpeh, "north 
 of the lakes ;" Shantung, " east of the hills ;" 
 Hankow, " mouth (or port) of the Han ;" Shang- 
 hae, "ascending (or on) the sea;" Pekin, 
 " northern capital ;" Nankin, " southern capi- 
 tal ;" Neivchivang, " bullock farms ;" Foochow, 
 "happy district ;" Tientsin, " celestial harbor ;"
 
 150 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 Amoy, " summer gate ;" Chang Kea Khow, 
 *' the gate of the Chang family ;" Tien Shan 
 hu, " lake of the celestial hills ;" and so on. 
 
 The designations by which the various sorts 
 of tea are known in the market may be worth 
 notice, as coming under the more immediate 
 observation of dwellers at home. Congo is a 
 corruption of Kungfii, signifying labor, and 
 the Moning Congo advertised by tea-dealers 
 is simply a sort of the same tea grown at 
 Wuning, a district and city the name of which, 
 being interpreted, means " Military Rest." 
 Souchong signifies " little sprouts ;" Pekoe, 
 '' white down ;" Bohea is derived from the 
 Wuhee Hills on which it is produced ; Oolung 
 means ''Black Dragon ;" Hungmoey, "Red 
 Plum;" Campoi, "Selected firing;" Hyson, 
 " Fair Spring ;" Twankay takes its name from 
 Tunkee, or " Beacon Brook ;" what is called 
 " Young Hyson " is in Chinese termed Yiitse- 
 en, or " Before the rains ;" Grunpowder the 
 Chinese call Yuen choo, or " Round Pearls." 
 There are a number of other names given to 
 tea, but these will be recognized as those most
 
 Chinese Proper Names. 151 
 
 familiar to the European ear. Wliat are 
 teiined '' chop names " are the fancy designa- 
 tions given by Chinese dealers to their teas, 
 after having been made up into parcels of so 
 many hundred chests each. The tea is grown 
 in the first instance by small farmers, who 
 cany the produce of their respective gardens 
 to the nearest depot, where it is collected by 
 brokers, and by them made up into chests for 
 delivery to the dealers, who convey it for sale 
 to the foreign mart. These dealers are very 
 particular in the selection of high-sounding 
 and felicitous titles for their several parcels or 
 chops, and very often a particular chop acquires 
 such a fame as to be eagerly sought after for 
 each successive season.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 TRAVELLING AND PORTERAGE IN CHINA. 
 
 Scarcely one Eng-lishman in a, thousand, 
 doubtless, puts himself to the trouble of con- 
 sidering what means the Chinese have of 
 travelling- in their native country, or perhaps 
 cares whether they move about at all. Yet it 
 cannot but be an interesting question how so 
 vast a teiTitory is traversed by its teeming 
 population, and in what way the merchandise 
 of so active and commercial a people is con- 
 veyed to and fro. The true state of the case 
 may be told in a few words. There is per- 
 haps no spot on the face of the globe in which 
 locomotion is so general and traffic so large, 
 and yet where such clumsy and imperfect 
 means of conveyance are provided, either for 
 men or for goods. 
 
 Communication is carried on in China, as in
 
 Travelling and Porterage in China. 153 
 
 most partially civilized countries, by means of 
 roads and livers or canals. But of roads, 
 there is nothing at this moment that deserves 
 the name. Traces are everywhere to be seen 
 upon the great thoroughfares of the elaborate- 
 ly constructed highways of better days, but 
 these are now mere broken tracks, obstructed 
 throughout much of their com'se by the very 
 stones which once constituted their source of 
 utility and beauty. Bridges too, many of 
 them admirable as works of art, and others 
 curious from their rough and massive charac- 
 ter, span wide and rapid streams, but like 
 everything else in China, they tell the same 
 sad story of past energy and present decay. 
 With water communication, however, the 
 country is extraordinarily well supplied, and 
 although too many important channels show 
 signs of having suffered from sheer neglect or 
 wantonness, a vast network still exists which 
 will certainly prove of immense service when- 
 ever a new life is instilled into the people by 
 the introduction of foreign appliances and 
 entei'piise.
 
 154 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 These highways and streams are always 
 more or less alive Avith passengers and traffic 
 proceeding from city to city. The conundrmn, 
 '^ Why are wheeled vehicles scarce in China I" 
 with its reply, " Because there is only one 
 Cochin-China," more nearly represents the fact 
 than the would-be- witty compiler at all in- 
 tended, for no such thing as a can-iage is 
 known in the country. In the northern pro- 
 dances there is a sort of nnile-waggon much 
 in vogue, composed of a square body clumsily 
 set on two wheels, and without the semblance 
 of a spring, even in the shafts, and which the 
 natives seem to think perfection ; but the tor- 
 tures experienced by foreigners who have 
 been compelled to liave recourse to them are 
 described as being most excruciating. In the 
 midland and southern proAances sedan-chairs 
 are mostly used. This is a vehicle very simi- 
 lar to the ancient sedan in Europe, save that 
 the ends of the shafts, instead of being slung 
 on straps, are borne directly upon the shoul- 
 ders, and being made of bamboo or other elas- 
 tic material, they give an easy, springing mo-
 
 Travelling and Porterage in China. 155 
 
 tion to the conveyance. Wliere four bearers 
 are used, the shafts are slung to poles, one be- 
 tween each couple of bearers before and be- 
 hind, and the motion becomes even more 
 agreeable. The pace, however, never exceeds 
 a regular three to four miles an hour. The 
 use of ponies, mules, and donkeys, is likewise 
 universal, but it is seldom that an animal above 
 mediocrity in breed or condition is to be seen ; 
 and the vast majority are emaciated, over- 
 worked creatures. 
 
 Tea and rest-houses are to be found located 
 everywhere, at easy stages from each other, 
 many of them built or endowed by charitable 
 individuals for the benefit of the wayfarer. 
 Such establishments are sure to be met with 
 on the tops of toilsome or dangerous mountain- 
 passes, not unfrequently with a small shrine 
 attached, at which the traveller seldom omits 
 to offer up incense or a prayer to propitiate 
 the local deity into granting him a favorable 
 journey. 
 
 Another favorite conveyance in China, is 
 the wheelbarrow. Not anything like the
 
 156 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 veliicle known by that name amongst our- 
 selves, but a more convenient and scientific- 
 allv-constructed affair. The wheel measures 
 from tlu'ee to four feet in diameter, and is so 
 placed as to run under the centre of the body, 
 which is a mere framework, with a ledge on 
 either side, after the fiishion of an Irish car. 
 The passengers, for the machine will carry as 
 many as four, sit on either side the frame with 
 their legs outwards, or one or two will sit on 
 the one ledge, balanced by their luggage on 
 the other. The weight being thus poised 
 upon the wheel as a centre, the barrow-man, 
 who grasps a shaft in either hand, aided by 
 a strap over the shoulders, has little to do be- 
 yond pushing and guiding the vehicle. The 
 larger-sized baiTows often liave an extra man 
 harnessed to the front to assist in tracking, 
 and in the case of a long jom-ney, a tent of 
 matting or cotton cloth is stretched over the 
 top as a protection from the sun and rain, the 
 opening l}^ng backwards towards the driver. 
 In some parts of China these barrow-men, 
 when the wind happens to be strong and
 
 TraveU'mg and Porterage in China. 157 
 
 blowing in the right direction, convert it into 
 a useful ally, by rigg-ing out a couple of sprits, 
 on which they hang a piece of sacking, or a 
 patched coverlet, or an old jacket, or any 
 other article of clothing which may come con- 
 venient, by way of a sail, the general effect 
 being rather ludicrous, and scarcely worthy 
 the poetical picture by which Milton has 
 immortalized the practice. A. cm-ious inci- 
 dent connected with these same wheelbaiTows, 
 and indicative of the readiness with which the 
 Chinese will forego their old-established 
 usages, when it suits their pm-pose, occuiTcd 
 lately at Shanghae. BaiTows were not in 
 vogue at that port some fifteen years ago, their 
 use being confined to a neighboring district, 
 and that only in limited numbers. Suddenly 
 a demand for them arose with the growing 
 ti'affic of the settlement, and they increased so 
 rapidly within a brief space of time, that their 
 numbers and excruciating noise became an 
 intolerable nuisance, and stringent local ordi- 
 nances had to be enacted to limit their comple- 
 ment to the necessities of the place, and to
 
 158 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 oblige their drivers to apply grease to the 
 wheels and ply for hire only at particular 
 stands. 
 
 The conveyance most frequently employed 
 for ti'a veiling, however, is the boat, and it 
 must be admitted that, setting aside the one 
 element of speed, the Chinaman has carried 
 his notions of locomotion by water to a high 
 pitch of excellence. I refer of course only to 
 inland communication. The varieties of craft 
 employed in travelling are endless, from the 
 tiny little cockle, like an egg-shell with one 
 quarter cut out, to the huge two-storied 
 barge, built to accommodate a Viceroy with 
 all his belongings. Each variety of boat, 
 moreover, is pertinaciously made to retain 
 the stereotyped style of build which custom 
 and the particular requirements of each 
 district have assigned to it, and it is as 
 easy to a Chinese to name the class of boat 
 he needs, as it is for a Londoner wanting a 
 cab to hail a Hansom or a fom-- wheeler. 
 Boats cannot be engaged, however, as a rule, 
 save through properly recognized registrars,
 
 Travelling and Porterage in China. 159 
 
 appointed by tlie Government, and who are 
 held responsible for the good behavior of 
 the boatmen whom they employ. In the 
 majority of cases, unhappily, the an'angement 
 results in both boatman and traveller becom- 
 ing the subject of extortion, rather than in any 
 better adjustment of the passenger traffic. 
 
 Passenger boats, and indeed most of the 
 craft used in inland communication, are con- 
 structed of pine or other light material upon 
 a framework of box, teak, or camphor. Every 
 plank and rib is highly varnished, and the en- 
 tire economy of partitions and divisions is so 
 arranged as to be movable at pleasure. The 
 roofs are water-tight, but movable nevertheless, 
 and the sides are sufficiently supplied with 
 windows of glass, gauze, or oyster-shell, for 
 pui-poses of light and ventilation. In fact the 
 interiors of the larger-class boats are furnished 
 rooms in miniature, and they are wonderfull}^ 
 clean, convenient, and comfortable to travel 
 in. The one drawback is their drafty charac- 
 ter in winter weather, but in the summer they 
 are excellent conveyances where time is no
 
 160 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 object. The method of propulsion chiefly 
 rehed on is the single scull, slung upon a pivot 
 in the stern frame, and furnished witli a broad 
 long blade, which, being worked obliquely by 
 a number of men from side to side in t^e 
 water, drives the boat along nearly as effectu- 
 ally as does the European screw. When man- 
 darins travel they select the largest and hand- 
 somest passenger boats that can be procured, 
 and the moment the great man embarks a huge 
 flag is hoisted, proclaiming his official rank, 
 lanterns are perched upon the stem similarly 
 inscribed, and the scarlet boards bearing his 
 honorary titles, and convepng the commands 
 to be silent, to stand back, etc., which are usu- 
 ally carried in procession before him, are dis- 
 played on either side of the boat in order to 
 strike awe into persons passing by. Wlien the 
 individual is of imusually high rank, the local 
 officials of each several district throug-h which 
 he passes are expected to greet him as he ap- 
 proaches then' jurisdiction, to entertain him at 
 their expense whilst passing through, and to 
 escort him out again, each ceremony being ac-
 
 TraveUmg and Porterage in China. 161 
 
 companied by a loud banging of gongs and 
 discharge of crackers. On leaving the passen- 
 ger boat it appears to be the custom for the 
 official traveller to bequeath his titular banner 
 to the proprietor, for the sails and awnings of 
 this class of boats are always made up of a 
 patchwork of inscribed flags, as if to show the 
 number of great men who have honored them 
 by their patronage. 
 
 The slow pace at which these passenger 
 boats travel has necessitated the introduction 
 of express or despatch boats, the fastest of 
 which is undoubtedly the so-called '* foot- 
 boat " of Kiangsu, a sort of canoe capable of 
 containing but one passenger, and propelled 
 by a man sitting far back in the stern sheets, 
 who works a pair of sculls with the soles 
 of his naked feet, whilst his hands assist to 
 steer with a paddle. These little craft push 
 on day and night, successfully threading their 
 way through shallow channels or crowded 
 suburbs, where clumsier vessels could not 
 venture or move, and it is said that they can
 
 162 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 easily do tlieir seven miles an hour independ- 
 ently of mnd or current. 
 
 Merchandise is even worse off than are 
 travellers for the means of safe and speedy 
 transit. Junks along the coast, and boats, 
 barrows, and carts inland, are the only con- 
 veyances at disposal besides human and animal 
 labor. In sea-going craft the Chinaman does 
 not shine, although there are few better 
 sailors in the world than are to be found 
 amongst the population of the seaboard pro- 
 vinces, and the com'age and skill which they 
 exhibit in handling their clumsy crazy vessels 
 is something that needs to be seen to be be- 
 lieved. Their inland boats are very efficient 
 as far as convenience and carrying capacity 
 are concerned, and they are always most 
 ingeniously contrived to suit the exigencies 
 of the several streams in which they are 
 accustomed to ply ; but they necessarily lack 
 the essential element of speed, a deficiency 
 which even the Chinaman is sufficiently alive 
 to his interest to regret, and endeavor all in 
 his feeble power to repair. There is, more-
 
 Travelling and Porterage in China. 163 
 
 over, no system of insurance for inland craft, 
 and their flimsy construction, combined with 
 the numerous risks incident to river naviga- 
 tion, renders the transmission of goods by 
 them at all times more or less perilous. 
 
 The baiTOws of China have been already 
 described ; they are used indiscriminately for 
 the conveyance of passengers and merchan- 
 dise. They are skillfully contrived to cany 
 as much weight as can possibly be trundled 
 along upon one wheel, but the largest of them 
 is only equal to a load of some seven hundred- 
 weight, and the labor which it must cost to 
 push or track this for miles, even along a level 
 road, must be enormous. But in order fully 
 to realize the gigantic toil to which a Chinese 
 will patiently subject himself and his animals, 
 as well as the indomitable perseverance which 
 he is capable of exhibiting in the face of for- 
 midable obstacles, where trade is concerned, 
 the reader should for once see a cart-load of 
 heavy foreign bales being di-agged up a de- 
 clivity upon a main thoroughfare in the north 
 of China The cart is of the rudest construe-
 
 164 The Fweigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 tion possible, a mere raft of heavy, rough 
 planks lying upon an axle of unhewn wood, 
 and supplied with two wheels of solid timber. 
 In the ciTiel clumsy shafts is a mule, starved 
 and wi'etched to the last degree. Harnessed 
 haphazard in front or alongside of it are two 
 or three other soiTy animals, whose race it 
 were indeed hard to divine from their outward 
 appearance. Sometimes a bullock or a mar 
 is put in to make up the team. The wheels 
 of the machine stand jammed against a rough 
 slab of granite j^laced ages ago as a st3p]Ding- 
 stone, but now tilted up aslant, and only to 
 be surmounted at the lower end. The di-iver 
 of the cart utters an inhuman yell, cracks his 
 thonged Avhip, and the unhappy beasts with a 
 frantic rush and struggle manage to surmount 
 the obstacle, only to be brought up again a 
 yard or two farther in advance, when the same 
 process has to be repeated, and so on over and 
 over again at each successive step until the top 
 is reached. The descent on the other side can 
 be little less trying to the mule which has the 
 ill-luck to occupy the shafts ; and as for the
 
 Travelling and Porterage in CJilna. 1G5 
 
 goods, it is perhaps fortunate that they are 
 only manufactures, and are well protected by 
 strong- canvas packing. 
 
 More might be added on the subject of 
 coohes, then' capabilities, peculiar customs, 
 etc., but enough has been advanced to convey 
 a tolerably distinct idea of the manner in 
 which locomotion and carriage are accom- 
 plished in China, and to show, what after all 
 is my main object, how urgent a demand 
 there is, even in the interests of the Chinese 
 themselves, for the introduction of some of the 
 improvements in the conveyance of passengers 
 and goods which have rendered it so safe and 
 speedy a process in AYestern countries. That 
 the Chinese themselves possess sufficient intel- 
 ligence^ to appreciate this want has akeady 
 been abundantly proved by the readiness with 
 which they charter and ship in foreign vessels, 
 both coastwise and on the rivers, and by the 
 continually-increasing flow of passengers, who 
 prefer the security, certainty, and speed of 
 our steamers to the delay and loss incident to 
 the employ of their own craft. There can be
 
 166 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 little doubt that when railways can once 
 obtain a foothold in the country, the Chinese 
 will be as quick to learn their vastly supe- 
 rior advantages as they have been to avail 
 themselves of our steamers and sailing ships.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE CHARACTER OF THE CHINESE. 
 
 It was observed in tlie introductory chapter 
 that the prevalent impression with regard to 
 the character of the Chinese people seems to 
 be that they have no notion of honor, hon- 
 esty, or courage, and that they are by na- 
 tm^e a cruel, merciless race. This estimate is 
 erroneous, and needs to be con-ected. I do 
 not pretend to maintain that the Chinese are 
 free from the vices common to all humanity, 
 and I will even admit that they possess many 
 defects of character from which other peoples, 
 who have made even less progress than them- 
 selves, have been found to be exemjot. At the 
 same time it is hardly fair to judge them by 
 that code which an advanced state of intelli- 
 gence and civilization has taught us to set up 
 for our own guidance in respect to mental
 
 168 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 and moral qualities, and straightway to de- 
 nounce them as weak or reprobate because 
 theycannot fulfill all the requirements of such 
 a standard. It must be remembered that they 
 are at best but heathen, and that their advan- 
 tages have been confined entirely to what the 
 light of nature, and the teachings of sages 
 long since ancient could afford ; and taking 
 this circumstance into consideration, as well 
 as the fact of their many ages of isolation, 
 instead of there being any ground for special 
 condemnation against them, there is, I con- 
 ceive, much cause for marvel that they hold 
 virtue and its kindred characteristics in such 
 hicrh estimation, and that their standard of 
 what is good and commendable so nearly ap- 
 proaches that of more privileged and gifted 
 nations. 
 
 The moral qualities of a people can only be 
 judged of by such salient points in their char- 
 acter and conduct as come under the observa- 
 tion of those who study them, or are thrown 
 into more or less intimate association with 
 them ; and if this criterion be accepted as a
 
 Character of the Chinese. 1G9 
 
 just one, there is every reason for concluding 
 that the Chinese are not so prone to evil and 
 so dead to good as they have been made out 
 to be. Their sense of honor, for example, al- 
 though not of that nature which is ready to 
 resent the slightest insult by pugnacious de- 
 monstration, is nevertheless very keen, and 
 the educated classes especially are painfully 
 sensitive to insult or indignity. This has been 
 fully established by the numerous instances 
 which have occurred, even within the limits 
 of our brief acquaintance with the people, of 
 public functionaries, both high and low, who 
 have sacrificed their lives rather than desert 
 their posts or sustain disgrace. Cases have 
 not been wanting moreover in mercantile ex- 
 perience, where traders have been prepared to 
 forfeit considerable sums, or otherwise forego 
 valued interests, rather than belie their word, 
 or permit their own credit, or that of their 
 connections to suffer damage. The Chinese 
 have not, it is true, that delicate perception of 
 what the claims of tnith and good faith de- 
 mand which is so highly esteemed amongst us
 
 170 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 Westerners, but they know and prize both 
 characteristics, and practical illustrations there- 
 of are constantly observable in their relations 
 one with another, and with foreigners. Al- 
 though essentially a commercial people, for 
 example, they do not appear to take such ex- 
 traordinary precautions against fraud in the 
 course of business amongst themselves which 
 are thought necessary with us. Written con- 
 tracts do pass between man and man, but their 
 use is frequently dispensed with, and they are 
 never so formal in character as ours are. Even 
 in intercourse with foreigners cases constantly 
 happen where the Chinaman's honor is the sole 
 guarantee to the merchant for the fulfillment 
 of the agreement ; and in the common course 
 of foreign business, transactions of all magni- 
 tudes are usually closed by a simply entry in 
 the foreigner's book, to which the China- 
 man is supposed to attach his signature, al- 
 though he cannot read a word of what is in- 
 scribed. 
 
 Honesty, moreover, is by no means a rare 
 virtue witli the ( *hinese. Witness the magni-
 
 Character of the Chinese. 171 
 
 tucle of the pecuniary interests which are at 
 this moment confided by our merchants to 
 compradores, servants, and friendly tradcirs, 
 and although instances have occm'red in which 
 this trust has been betrayed, more especially 
 of late years, since the rapid extension of for- 
 eign commerce has induced a laxity in the 
 choice of servants by merchants, yet they can 
 safely be considered as altogether exceptional, 
 and attributable as much to the want of pre- 
 caution on the one part, as to dishonesty on 
 the other. Look again at the secuiity wdth 
 which merchants have often been able to com- 
 mit large sums to native hands in the interior, 
 notwithstanding the tempting facilities given 
 to embezzlement by distance, inaccessibility, 
 and the known hesitation of the native authori- 
 ties in detecting and punishing crime. Against 
 all this there is of course to be quoted the large 
 amount of litigation going on at all the ports 
 between foreigners and Chinese in consequence 
 of the failure of the latter to fulfill their en- 
 gagements ; but such suits may also be fairly 
 regarded as exceptional, when considered in
 
 172 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 relation to the enormous aggregate of the trade 
 carried on between the two peoples, and still 
 more so wdien it is remembered that the ma- 
 jority of the litigants on the eriing' side are 
 petty traders or brokers. 
 
 Nowhere perhaps is this tendency in the 
 main towards honesty more notable than 
 amongst the personal establishments main- 
 tained by foreigners at the ports. Their 
 houses are as a rule plentifully fmiiished with 
 articles of luxmy and vertu, often of consider- 
 able value, very mtich as is the case with well- 
 appointed residences in the West, and although 
 the occupants never think of locking up even 
 their jewehy, stray money, etc., yet it is rare- 
 ly that anything is missed through the fault of 
 the indoor servants. As far as my own expe- 
 rience of some thirty years' residence in the 
 country is to be relied on, I can vouch for 
 never having lost a single article save a small 
 revolver, and that was restored a few days 
 afterwards on my assembling the servants and 
 appealing to their sense of right not to allow 
 the stain of theft to rest on the household.
 
 Character of the Chinese. 173 
 
 They discovered the thief without difficulty, 
 and he was soon obhg-ed by the rest to leave 
 my service. I am alluding of course to well- 
 ordered estabhshments, where care is taken in 
 the selection of servants. There are residents 
 who do not take the precaution of being par- 
 ticular as to antecedents or character, and Who 
 are consequently perpetually being robbed, 
 and unfortunately the outcry raised by such 
 persons is apt to give a bad name to the entire 
 servant class. I have also heard complaints 
 made of joeculation of liquors, house stores, 
 and such like. But then it is much less the 
 habit in China to keep articles of this kind 
 under lock and key than it is in England, and 
 were similar latitude allowed in the latter 
 country, the result! apprehend, if I may judge 
 from what I have seen and heard of house- 
 keepers' troubles at home, might prove quite 
 as deplorable, if not even more so, than it is 
 found to be in China. The pilfering of por- 
 tions of merchandise in the course of transit 
 between the ships and warehouses on shore 
 has been also instanced as a proof of the dis-
 
 174 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 honest tendencies of the Chinese ; but when 
 it is remembered how few and feeble are the 
 precautions taken against theft in the matter 
 of landing and shipping cargoes in China, as 
 compared to the strict vigilance and scrutiny 
 exercised under similar circumstances at home, 
 anH. when moreover it is considered what crazy 
 cargo boats are employed, and how much of 
 the porterage to and fro is carried on by means 
 of coolies, who proceed unaccompanied through 
 crowded streets and by-lanes, it becomes rather 
 a matter of surprise that the peculation is not 
 far more extensive than it is. 
 
 Another practice to which the Chinese are 
 very prone is that of wrecking, accompanied 
 often by ill-treatment and even mui'der of the 
 helpless mariners who fall into their hands. 
 This is a crime which may be ascribed as 
 much to want of enlightenment as to any 
 natural propensity to dishonesty or cruelty ; 
 and the fact that it is not so lomg since similar 
 atrocities were common upon our own coasts, 
 and amongst people who at any rate had been 
 better taught, must present some ground of
 
 Character of the Chinese. 175 
 
 hope that tlie Chinese too may in time become 
 reformed in this particular. It is not gene- 
 rally known moreover that it is the custom in 
 China to regard waifs and strays as the right- 
 ful property of the finders, a primitive notion 
 it is true, but one not to be wondered at in a 
 countiy where might is still to a great extent 
 right, and where the laws of salvage have yet 
 to be framed. A Chinese would as soon think 
 of asserting his title as of right to a lost pro- 
 perty when found by another, as he would of 
 appropriating that person's property as his 
 own. I have seen large junks and timber- 
 rafts, which have broken away from their 
 moorings in the Yangtsze River, coolly taken 
 possession of by parties of men and broken up 
 or divided, even although some of the pro- 
 prietors might themselves be on board, and 
 the outrage would be quietly put up with by 
 the sufferers as a decree of fate. When the 
 British Consulate at Shanghae was burnt down 
 in 1870, there happened to be in my office 
 about £1,000 worth of enamels, which the curi- 
 osity dealers had sent there to be inspected by
 
 176 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 some naval officers, who were likely to be piir- 
 cliasers, and remembering these at the last mo- 
 ment when the fire had got the better of the en- 
 gines, I ran some personal risk in my endeavors 
 to rescue the articles from the flames. The 
 following morning, when the owners made 
 then' appearance, bemoaning their supposed 
 loss, they were as much astonished as my 
 servants were chagrined, at my delivering 
 the entire set back without charge or mulct of 
 any kind. And I heard afterwards that a 
 handsome present was sent to the latter in 
 consideration of the aid which they were 
 supposed to have given me in the removal of 
 the enamels out of the burning house. The 
 above instances will show what the native 
 notion is in respect to salvage, but there is no 
 reason why it should not yield to better teach- 
 ing and more stringent laws. Much may be 
 effected too in the way of prevention and 
 reform on the sea- coast, both by foreign men- 
 of-war and the foreign-built cruisers which 
 the Chinese are now building. And it would 
 always be wise in foreign governments to
 
 I 
 Character of the Chinese. Ill 
 
 mark the few instances of kindly treatment of 
 shipwrecked men whicli do at times occur, by 
 Hberal rewards to all concerned. 
 
 As regards the question of courage, again it 
 must be admitted that the Chinese possess 
 more of the quality than they have hitherto 
 had credit for. In almost every engagement 
 between our men and theirs during the time 
 that we were at war with them, instances 
 were observed of really valorous conduct 
 both in individuals and bodies of men, and 
 the opinion was often expressed by those 
 competent to judge, that had their araiies 
 and fleets been better foimd, armed; and of- 
 ficered, our successes might have been some- 
 what less easily won. This was clearly 
 exemplified by the coolness with which the 
 transport or " coolie corps," attached to oiu* 
 army in the Pekin campaign, was found to 
 go into action in the face of galling fires, as 
 well as by the steadiness and courage evinced 
 by the Chinese troops during the rebel cam- 
 paign under Colonel Gordon and his staff of 
 foreign officers.
 
 178 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 One element of courage, namely, careless- 
 ness of life or limb in the pursuit of an object, 
 is undoubtedly a Chinese characteristic. Dm'- 
 ing the occupations by our troops of Ningpo 
 and Chusan, instances repeatedly occurred of 
 Chinese ignoring the challenge of a loaded 
 sentry, and even braving bayonet or bullet for 
 some ridiculously tri\dal purj^ose, such as pur- 
 suing a long-accustomed path, or pilfering 
 some small article hardly worth the trouble 
 of carrying off. I myself was witness to te- 
 merity of this kind when stationed as inter- 
 preter with a small detachment of troojDS at 
 Chinhai in 1842. We were perched up in a 
 castellated joss-house on an isolated hill near 
 the coast, about three to four hundred feet 
 high, and being in the midst of the enemy, 
 and entirely removed for the time being from 
 all chance of succor, we were compelled to 
 draw a line round the foot of the hill, and to 
 give notice that every one who ventured 
 within the limits should be shot. Notwith- 
 standing this threat and our presumed read- 
 iness to put it into execution, fishermen
 
 Character of the Chinese. 179 
 
 would come daily at low water to pick up 
 shell-fisli on the beach, and would coolly per- 
 sist in continuing the operation in spite of 
 '' thud " after '' thud " of the sentries' bullets 
 in the mud alongside of them, until at last, 
 for mere humanity's sake, they had to be left 
 alone. A small brig of war that was block- 
 ading the mouth of the river close by had the 
 same trouble with the trading and fishing- 
 boats. The crews of these deliberately per- 
 sisted in trying to push in or out, notwith- 
 standing the round shot that would crash past 
 their junks and at times sink one or two of 
 their number. I have observed a similar 
 indifference to peril at Foochow when the 
 river is flooded, and its stream of some thou- 
 sand yards in width rushes madly through the 
 ancient and rough but sturdy stone bridge 
 which connects the two suburbs. Fragments 
 of timber-rafts and debris of all kinds will 
 then get tangled together so as to block the 
 narrow arches near the centre, and natives 
 will fearlessly leap on to the heaving mass, 
 and, detaching a large piece of timber here
 
 180 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 or there, will rush with it clasped in their 
 arms down through the surging torrent under 
 the bridge, in the hope of coming up safe at 
 the other side, and being able to make a few 
 coppers by the sale of their booty. I have 
 seen many accomplish the feat successfully, 
 but I was informed that cases of drowning 
 were by no means unusual. 
 
 It will be more difficult perhaps to defend 
 the Chinese from the charge of being cruel. 
 That they lack that sensitiveness which can- 
 not tolerate the idea of causing unnecessary 
 pain, is undoubtedly proved by the inhuman 
 character of their legal penalties, by the bar- 
 barous manner in wdiich they treat their pris- 
 oners, by the heedlessness with which they 
 will contemplate the infliction of torture or of 
 death in its most revolting forms, and even by 
 the merciless method in which they carry their 
 pigs, fowls, and other live stock to market. 
 Yet it cannot be rightly asserted that the Chi- 
 nese are naturally of a bloodthirsty disposition. 
 They are of too mild, gentle, and forbearing 
 a nature to admit of the charge being strictly
 
 Character of the Chinese. 181 
 
 applicable. They shrink with hoiTor from the 
 needless deprival of animal life, a notion per- 
 haps Buddhistic in its origin, but none the less 
 common to all the sects of the people ; and 
 the mere sight of a cut finger or broken nose 
 will occasion more bemoaning and fuss than a 
 fractured limb or a ghastly wound would be- 
 get amongst Europeans. On the other hand 
 this native gentleness and timidity disappear 
 when hoiTors present themselves wholesale 
 before the Chinaman's mind. Although he 
 will rouse the neighborhood if a little blood is 
 di'awn by accident or in a petty quarrel, yet 
 he will munch his rice unconcernedly whilst 
 human victims are undergoing tortm'e or de- 
 capitation by the score in the next street. 
 
 The truth is that both kindliness and cruel- 
 ty, gentleness and ferocity, have each its j)lace 
 in the Chinese character, and the sway which 
 either emotion has upon their minds depends 
 very much upon the associations by which 
 they are for the moment suiTOunded. When 
 in their oWn quiet homes, pursuing undis- 
 tm'bed the avocations to which they have been
 
 182 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 accustomed, there are no more hai-mless, wejl- 
 intentioned, and orderly people. They actu- 
 ally appear to maintain order as if by com- 
 mon consent, independent of all surveillance 
 or interference on the part of the executive. 
 But let them be brought into contact with 
 bloodshed and ra^Dine, or let them be roused 
 by 0]3pression or fanaticism, and all that is 
 evil in their dispositions will at once asseii; it- 
 self, inciting- them to the most fiendish and 
 atrocious acts of which human nature has 
 been found capable. It is not impossible that 
 they owe much of this tendency to the extreme 
 rigor of their code, and to the cruelty as well 
 as frequency with which they see«its penalties 
 canied into eifect, as also to the vast amount 
 of want and woe to which their minds become 
 habituated in the ever-recuiTing series of fam- 
 ines and rebellions that devastate the country. 
 Could their laws, which, altliough rigorous, 
 are after all well suited to the genius of the 
 people, but be more justly and humanely ad- 
 ministered, and could national disaster be ren- 
 dered less frequent or terrible in its effects by
 
 Character of the Chinese. 183 
 
 the exercise of a wiser and more vig-.orous 
 policy on the part of the government, there is 
 every reason to beheve that the better ten- 
 dencies of the people would soon gather 
 strength, and that the more ferocious part of 
 their nature would in time be tempered into a 
 true and manly corn-age. 
 
 But the phases of character in which the 
 Chinese possess the most interest for us West- 
 em peoples are those which so peculiarly fit 
 them for competing in the great labor market 
 of the world. They are good agriculturists, 
 mechanics, laborers, and sailors, and they 
 possess all the intelligence, delicacy of touch, 
 and unwearying patience which are necessary 
 to render them first-rate machinists and manu- 
 facturers. They are, moreover, docile, sober, 
 thrifty, industrious, self-denying, endm-ing, 
 and peace-loving to a degree. They are equal 
 to any climate, be it hot or frigid ; all that is 
 needed is teaching and guiding, combined with 
 capital and enterpiise, to convert them into the 
 most efficient workmen to be found on the face 
 of the earth In support of these assertions it
 
 184 Tlie Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 is only necessary to refer to our experience of 
 them in America, Australia, India, and the 
 Eastern Archipelago. Wherever the tide of 
 Chinese emigration has set in there they have 
 proved themselves veritable working bee?, 
 and made good their footing to the exclusion 
 of less quiet, less satisfied, less active, or less 
 intelligent artizans and laborers. Even in 
 China they have already proved their worth 
 by helping to construct, under foreign super- 
 intendence, men-of-war of first-class workman- 
 ship and foniiidable proportions ; and their 
 artificers are daily acquiring increased skill in 
 the arsenals now in active work at Tientsin, 
 Shanghae, and Foochow. The marvellous 
 energy of which they are capable as mere 
 laborers is moreover constantly exhibited at 
 the port of Shanghae, where they have been 
 known to accomplish the discharge of a ship 
 in less time, as I have been assm'ed, than can 
 be effected by dock-laborers at home, even 
 with all the appliances of cranes and otherwise 
 which these latter have at disposal. 
 
 This remarkable aptitude shown by the
 
 Character of the Chinese. 185 
 
 Chinese for skilled as well as physical labor 
 is worthy the serious attention of both employ- 
 ers and workmen in these days of strikes in ev- 
 ery department of British skill and industry. If 
 the Chinaman can thus compete with our art- 
 izans and working-men in his native country, 
 notwithstanding the many disadvantages which 
 must attend the exercise there of his intelli- 
 gence and strength, what will he not be able 
 to accomplish when encouraged and taught to 
 rival a foreign antagonist on his own ground, 
 and at a more moderate rate of remuneration 
 than the latter can afford to demand 1 Should 
 matters go on as they are now doing in Eng- 
 land, the laboring and manufactm^ing classes 
 must not wonder if they find themselves ere 
 very long displaced and distanced by the hith- 
 erto despised, but none the less practical, use- 
 ful, and labor-loving Chinaman.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 It will be seen from the foregoing chapters 
 how foreigners are situated in China, what po- 
 sition they hold relatively to the people amongst 
 whom they dwell, and what characteristics of 
 the latter come more prominently mider their 
 observation. It remains now to state the re- 
 sult of the intercommunication, thus far, be- 
 tAveen the two races, foreign and Chinese, and 
 to hazard a few conjectm-es as to what may be 
 looked for in the futui'e. 
 
 Two persons cannot be thrown into each 
 other's company for any considerable period 
 without an influence of some kind being exer- 
 cised by the one upon tlie other, either for 
 good or for evil. Witli nationalities the same 
 rule holds good, and it is well worth consider- 
 ing what has been the influence in this in-
 
 Concluding Remarks. 187 
 
 stance, and in which direction. As the strong-er, 
 more pushing, and more self-asserting- people, 
 foreig-ners, it might be taken for granted, would 
 be able to show the preponderance of influence 
 to have been on their side, and such has been 
 the case no doubt in a commercial and politi- 
 cal point of ^dew. A trade has been exacted, 
 which has developed itself, in spite of obstruc- 
 tions of a vexatious and persistent character, 
 into vast dimensions, and China has been com- 
 pelled to take up a definite position, relatively 
 to other nations, whether she likes it or no. 
 But the amount of good concomitantly effect- 
 ed is questionable. The Chinaman's favorite 
 motto, that " commercial intercourse enriches 
 nations," has certainly received practical illus- 
 tration in the material enrichment of various 
 toAA'ns and districts more immediately connect- 
 ed with tlie foreign trade. But it may be 
 doubted whether this good has not been more 
 than counterbalanced, in the one case, by the 
 immeasurable misery which has been occa- 
 sioned by the rebellions, indirectly brought 
 about (as has been demonstrated) by repeated
 
 188 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 collisions with Western powers, and, in tlie 
 otlier case, by the introduction of opium, the 
 sad effects of which have hitherto been ever 
 on the increase. There are the beneficial re- 
 sults of missionary teaching to be brought 
 into account, but these, it has been shown, are 
 so far infinitesimal as compared to the bulk of 
 the nation, and even they too would fail, I 
 fear, to bring the preponderance on the riglit 
 side. As for any moral influence that foreign- 
 ers may exercise by their mere presence in the 
 country, it may be regarded as simply nil. 
 Could a few fires be kindled here and there 
 on the edge of an iceberg, the results, in dis- 
 solving those portions of the frozen mass im- 
 mediately in contact with the flames might be 
 greater, comparatively speaking, than the 
 transforming effects which have as yet trans- 
 pired through the presence of the few liand- 
 fuls of foreiofners scattered amono^-st the mil- 
 lions of the Chinese. Indeed, if anything, 
 the influence has tended the other way, for I 
 have found as a rule that Chinese do not im- 
 prove by being brought into intimacy with
 
 Concluding Remarks. 189 
 
 foreigners, and by adoption, as a consequence, 
 of their habits and ideas. The few Enropean- 
 ized Chinese that are to be met with are, 
 with very rare exceptions, most insufferable 
 creatures. 
 
 The people generally of course know us 
 better than they once did, and the inhabitants 
 of those distiicts which have been most resort- 
 ed to by us would, I think, for the most part 
 be glad to increase this acquaintance, not only 
 on grounds of self-interest, but from their own 
 natural kindly feeling. But the ruling and in- 
 fluential classes still only tolerate our presence 
 in the country, and I firmly believe they 
 would hail the day when they could see (were 
 such a thing possible) the last foreign factory 
 razed to the ground, and the last ship dis- 
 missed the coast, malgre the loss to the nation- 
 al revenue, and the ruin of the districts de- 
 pendent on our trade that would certainly en- 
 sue. Experience of our more advanced civil- 
 ization and our improved appliances appears 
 to have taught the Chinese no peraianent les- 
 son as yet. Returning emigrants fall ba.ck in-
 
 190 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 stinctively into their native notions and con- 
 ceits, looking back npon their foreign sojourn 
 as an ordeal happily over. Even men of some 
 pretence to social position, who have of late 
 years Adsited the West in a quasi-diplomatic 
 capacity, have shown no sign of having been 
 impressed by w^hat they have observed, or 
 moved to introduce like innovations and ad- 
 vantages into their own country. Chung How, 
 the only really high-class mandarin who has 
 visited Europe, disappointed me keenly when 
 I was conversing with him last August, by ex- 
 hibiting the most listless indifference to my 
 sug-o-estions as to the vast collection of novel 
 and interesting sights which it would be well 
 for him to see wdiilst in this country. I hap- 
 pened to attend him at Shanghae when he em- 
 barked for the first time on board of one of 
 the finest vessels of the French Messageries 
 fleet, and took possession of his cabin for the 
 voyage. The next time wdien I met him was 
 in his handsome room at the Grosvenor Hotel 
 a day or two after his arrival. Yet on both 
 occasions he took as little heed of his novel
 
 Concluding Remarks. 191 
 
 sun'oundings as lie would have done when 
 stepping on board of one of his own wretched 
 Chinese junks or walking into one of his still 
 more primitive native hotels. To my mind 
 there must be something more in this than 
 an affected indifference arising out of simple 
 conceit. It must be the result of an inborn 
 incapacity in the untutored Chinese mind to 
 entertain any subject save by the particular 
 process of thought, or in connection with the 
 particular association to which it has been 
 schooled by custom and tradition. 
 
 To all this it may be replied that our 
 foreign steamers and ships have been largely 
 availed of by the Chinese, more especially of 
 late years, both for passage and conveyance 
 of merchandise ; and that at various points 
 upon the coast the Government has instituted 
 arsenals upon a considerable scale under 
 foreign superintendence, and capable of tm-n- 
 ing out formidable men-of-war, constructed 
 upon the newest models, as well as anns and 
 ammunition upon the most novel and destruc- 
 tive principles. This is so far true ; but as
 
 192 The Foreigner in Far Catliay. 
 
 regards Chinese passengers and shippers in 
 foreign vessels, I have repeatedly mixed with 
 and conversed with them when travelling in 
 their company, and I have never observed the 
 betrayal of a single emotion of admiration or 
 wonder at the amount of science, labor, or 
 means expended in the construction of the y^ 
 very vessels in which they or their goods 
 were being conveyed, although most of these 
 now plying on the Yangtsze River are speci- 
 mens of some of the largest and finest river- 
 steamers that the Americans can build. On 
 the contrary, I have heard the terms " bar- 
 barian " and " foreign devil " freely employed 
 at such times by Chinese conversing amongst 
 themselves. And I verily believe that most 
 of these travellers in first-class foreign vessels 
 have in every case retm-ned to their several 
 homes only to ridicule or sneer at the out- 
 landish people amongst whom they have for 
 the moment been thrown ; although fully 
 appreciating, doubtless, all the while, the 
 comfort and raj^idity with which they have 
 been carried, and the security and dispatch
 
 Concluding Bemarks. 193 
 
 attending- the transit of their merchandise. 
 The estabhshment of large and effective ar- 
 'senals by the Government loses much of 
 its value as an indication of influence in 
 favor of progress, from the fact, as I believe, 
 that the innovation has been adopted with the 
 object of so improving the offensive appliances 
 of the country as to place it in a position to 
 cope with foreign powers, when a favorable 
 opportunity offers for realizing that dream of 
 eventual ejectment, which still lingers in the 
 brain of the majority of Chinese statesmen. 
 
 There have been those who have asserted, 
 from high places and in authoritative style, 
 that the Chinese desire progress, and many 
 Enghsh and American newspapers have echoed 
 the sentiment. But it is a mistake ; and 
 those who initiated the cry too readily allowed 
 their eyes to be bhnded to the fact that it was 
 a mistake. One has only to live amongst the 
 people, to correspond and converse Avith the 
 mandarins, and to study the numerous memo- 
 rials addressed to the throne by leading states- 
 men, to convince oneself, that, however much
 
 194 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 portions of the trading section of the popula- 
 tion would like to see foreign relations extend- 
 ed, the ruling powers deprecate progress for its 
 own sake even at the slowest rate of advance, 
 whilst the mass of the people are altogether 
 indifferent to the subject. And that such 
 should be the case need not be a matter of 
 sui'prise. Progress to the Chinese mind re- 
 presents the free introduction into the country 
 of a pushing, self-willed, . impracticable, and 
 eccentric race, whose notions and habits are 
 utterly at vaiiance with anything to which 
 they have hitherto been accustomed. The 
 honest and patriotic mandarin can only dis- 
 cern in progress political complication, social 
 revolution, and perhaps general rebellion ; 
 whilst the unscrupulous official sees in it 
 an inevitable end to the monopolies and extor- 
 tions which he has been accustomed to regard 
 as legitimate sources of profit. The priest- 
 hood and literati can only discover in progress 
 an aggressive influence before which time- 
 honored institutions, superstitions, and usages 
 must in tirde give way. The mechanic, agri-
 
 Concluding Remarks. 195 
 
 tiirist, and carrier contemplate progress with 
 an indefinite fear that it cannot co-exist with 
 the means of livelihood on which they and 
 their fathers have depended for generations. 
 The merchant and shopman alone man fore- 
 see in progress a possible som-ce of advan- 
 tage in the increasing profits which an exten- 
 sion of trade may bring about, but so small a 
 proportion of these latter classes is as yet in 
 a position to experience the practical results 
 of an extended intercourse, and they are so 
 tied down by their conservative instincts and 
 by their associations with the other classes of 
 society, that they are not equal to even the 
 feeblest protest against the universal prejudice. 
 Added to all this, the general experience of 
 intercourse with foreigners thus far has not 
 been such as to encom'age the opposite way 
 of thinking. Under these circumstances who 
 can blame the Chinese for prefemng to re- 
 main as they are, as far as it is possible to do 
 so, and deprecating any innovation upon the 
 groove in which, as they imagine, they have
 
 196 The Foreigner in Far Catliaij. 
 
 moved so happily and successfully for thou- 
 sands of years past *? 
 
 But it by no means follows that progress is 
 to he desj^aired of in the future of China. 
 Further shocks and awakenings through col- 
 lisions with foreign powers must occm-, for the 
 Chinese government is as yet too much 
 wrapped up in notions of its strength and self- 
 importance to appreciate the expediency of 
 framing its policy so as to suit the times, and 
 it cannot go on shilly-shallying indefinitely, 
 one moment solemnly accepting international 
 obligations, and another moment covertly re- 
 ceding*from them. And whenever such col- 
 lisions take place, they must inevitably be fol- 
 lowed by the forcible introduction of new 
 ideas, to the disruption of old-established and 
 cheiished usages. We can only hope that 
 when the shock does come, the aggressive in- 
 fluence may be wielded by a wise and humane 
 power, and that it may be so directed as to 
 accomplish what is needed for the country 
 with the least possible amount of loss and 
 calamity to its unhappy people. At the same
 
 Concluding Remarks. 197 
 
 time I am not one of those who advocate an 
 ahnipt and unreasoning obtrusion of progress, 
 as we understand the term, upon the country, 
 either by force or persuasion. China is by no 
 means ripe for an instantaneous reception 
 tlu'oughout her entire tenitory of the highly 
 advanced condition of civihzation to which we 
 and other Western peoples have become ac- 
 customed. There is abundant material to 
 work upon, and that of the most plastic char- 
 acter ; only it needs to be approached with 
 caution, and worked with discretion ; other- 
 wise there is a risk of exciting suspicion, ex- 
 plosion will follow, and the cause of progress 
 will be thrown back for years. 
 
 There is no more intelligent and manageable 
 creature than the Chinaman, so long as he is 
 treated with justice and firmness, and his pre- 
 judices are to a reasonable extent humored. 
 He is distinguished moreover, like om-selves, 
 by strong commercial instincts, which he will 
 follow out even to the sacrifice of his native 
 obstnictiveness, conservatism, and conceit. 
 The experience of the past thirty years has
 
 198 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 shown how readily Chinese traders will fall in 
 with commercial ventui'es promoted or main- 
 tained by foreign capitalists, and it is easy to 
 foresee how, in the openings that are now 
 every day offering at the ports for the initia- 
 tion of new enterprises, om' merchants will 
 find abundant opportunities for turning this 
 love of trade to good pm-pose, by the introduc- 
 tion step by step of railways, steamers, and 
 telegraphs, those three great feeders of com- 
 merce and pioneers of progress. Their love 
 of literature, already alluded to, is another 
 weak point in theii* armor of obstructiveness, 
 against which efforts in the direction of pro- 
 gress may be usefully directed. Books on 
 popular subjects, and newspapers or other 
 periodical publications, pro\'ided the style is 
 pure and classical, will always be read with 
 avidity, and cannot fail to exercise a most bene- 
 ficial effect in dispelling prejudice and eiTor. 
 Missionaries, as I have said, have already done 
 something in this direction, but if they could 
 be induced to give more pains towards suiting 
 the style of their tracts to the attainments of
 
 Concluding Bemarks. 199 
 
 the educated classes, and to confine themselves 
 less to stiictly religious subjects, and if om* 
 lay linguists could be persuaded to employ 
 more of their spare time in Chinese com- 
 position, their united efforts would go far to- 
 wards promoting a progressive tendency. 
 
 But the ameliorating effects of an extending 
 trade and increasing knowledge, must ever be 
 seriously neutralized unless the Chinese Gov- 
 ernment and people are also rightly affected 
 by the policy which is pursued towards thetn 
 by the several foreign governments with which 
 they have international relations. This must 
 be firm and uncompromising in the mainte- 
 nance of treaty stipulations, and the exaction 
 of every right which foreigners resorting to 
 the comitiy are reasonably entitled to. No 
 shifts and excuses of any kind should be ad- 
 mitted. The interests of all foreign nations 
 in this particular are identical. The laxity 
 hitherto pennitted in the matter of a personal 
 audience of the Emperor, is one of the con- 
 cessions which have occasioned material pre-
 
 200 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 judice to foreign interests in China, and until 
 the demeaning position in which Western 
 powers are placed thereby is put an end to, 
 they cannot hope to secure for their respective 
 nationals that consideration with the officials 
 and people generally, which is alone compa- 
 tible ^\dth relations of a friendly and confiding 
 nature. Every coolie in the enijire is astute 
 enough to discern that so long as his emperor 
 and high mandarins do not consiler "oreigners 
 worthy of being met and entertained on equal 
 terms, there is no call for him to treat them 
 with civility. It is a mere evasion for the 
 Chinese to plead that Prince Kung and other 
 high functionaries of Peking receive and call 
 upon the foreign representatives, and so prac- 
 tically caiTy out the spirit of the treaty. It is 
 a compromise which is tolerated it is true, but 
 failing access to the fountain head, it is as 
 demeaning to the recipients in the eye of the 
 natives, as would be considered amongst us 
 the vicarious reception and entertainment of 
 a guest through a retainer or head-servant in
 
 Concluding Rtmarhs. 201 
 
 the house. If an excuse has been offered on 
 the ground of the minoiity of the Emperor, it 
 is more than probably a bhnd, put forward to 
 delay the evil day. Unless I am much mis- 
 taken, there is no honest intention to modify 
 the existing position when the majority does 
 occm*, and it will not be done eventually 
 unless the whole of the treaty representatives 
 take a combined and deteiTained stand against 
 any continuance of the indignity, or unless 
 some one of them is in a position to threaten 
 coercive measures. 
 
 A writer in a late Hong Kong paper has 
 very pertinently remarked, that although the 
 solution of the audience question in a du-ection 
 favorable to foreign views implies a \'iolent 
 wrench to every tradition suiTounding an an- 
 cient and illustrious throne, and that con- 
 sequently every sympathy is due to those 
 whose patriotic instincts will suffer thereb}'', 
 yet it cannot be admitted that the mass of 
 Chinese officials have any claim upon foreign 
 consideration in the matter. The ill-goveni-
 
 202 The Foreigner in Far Cathay. 
 
 ment of many a cycle, which is mainly attri- 
 butable to the difficulty hitherto existing- in 
 bringing matters to the immediate cognizance 
 of the emperors without the intervention of 
 interested officials, would alone justify in- 
 tervention in favor of a change ; but apart 
 from this consideration, foreign interests in 
 the country have now reached that magnitude 
 that they imperatively demand that the ex- 
 isting isolation of the Emperor should be done 
 away with at the very earliest opportu- 
 nity. 
 
 Another essential measure necessary to pro- 
 gress, and which has not had that attention 
 that it deserves, is the giving of official pub- 
 licity to every act of concession to a foreign 
 power. The treaties have not been j)romul- 
 gated and made law throughout the empire as 
 they ought to have been, although in some of 
 them publication to the people constitutes one 
 of the provisions stipulated for ; and the con- 
 sequence is that mandarins in the provinces 
 constantly profess ignorance of the existence
 
 Concluding Remarks. 
 
 of trading privileges, and the inhabitants need 
 not necessarily be aware of them. Even the 
 concession of the non-audience claims will fail 
 of effect, unless the fact that the Emperor has 
 admitted a foreign representative to his pre- 
 sence be proclaimed by Imperial edict, and an 
 injunction conveyed that all foreigners are to 
 be treated accordingly. Officials and people 
 alike will then see that their Government is in 
 earnest in admitting foreigners to friendly re- 
 lations on terms of entire equality, and will 
 readily do their part in making friendly ad- 
 vances. 
 
 To recapitulate. Let the commercial enter- 
 prise of the people be taken advantage of 
 to introduce the thin end of the wedge of 
 progress wherever and whenever the oppor- 
 tunity offers itself; let knowledge be sown 
 broad- cast throughout the land by means of 
 suitable and instructive publications in the 
 native language ; and let foreign powers com- 
 bine to treat China justly, and at the same 
 time see to it that she acts as justly by them,
 
 204 The Foreigner hi Far Cathay. 
 
 and not only will progress be possible, but no 
 long time need elapse before a regeneration 
 ensues, whicli shall at once satisfy the long- 
 ings of the diplomatist, the merchant, and the 
 missionary. 
 
 THE END.
 
 A NEW AND VALUABLE SERIES 
 For Readers of all Ages and for the School & Family Library 
 
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