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U.S. NAYt^
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'Il"l'"""lllllll'"'"'lll'""l""lllll' IIIIIIMIIIIIIimiH"lll"llllllllllllllilHlllllilMll IIIIIIIIIIIJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII.IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHMII,
CANTON
DITTY BOX GUIDE BOOK SERIES
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION
NAVY DEPARTMENT
Legend
® Chong-Yuen-Fong | (g) Cheung-Shau-Tsi fTempie 0* Urgevit/I
® Y M.CA. (7) Chen-Hoi-Lao ( F.^e-sfonel) F^oda)
@ Wa^Tai-IOcUgooil FlowtrPagodJ® Ho.-Tung-Tsi ( Buddh.at Temple)
WalfamTszl Temple o( 500 Gods), Location of Former WaJIs of Canton
© Ng-Sin-Kwa/.(TempleofFi,eCenii)
r
A CHINESE JINRIKISHA RUNNER WITH HIS RAIN-PROOF COAT
CANTON
CHINA
Published by
BUREAU OF NAVIGATION
under authority of the
Secretary of the Navy
\ \
GIFT
Contents
Page
Introduction --------.. ...._ii
The River Pirates -__ j5
Sunrise in Canton -------.___... 10
A Battle for Life ---------....2''
On Shameen Island --------.....95
Coffins and Gongs --... .98
The Passing Walls ^^
Celestial Temples -----...._. ..2c
The City of Death 2S
"Rats, Cats, and " -------.... .49
Idols and Pottery ---..... «/:
The Chinese Fleet ._.,<«
Wati and Honan ----.-_. SO
Clipper-Ship Days --------.....51
4.'3S67i
Foreword
INCE warships flying the .Vmorican flag havo made the world
Sof waters their cruising grounds and since they carry with
them scores of thousands of seagoing ^imericans, the per-
sonal interest of the Nation in ports, far and near, is ever
increashig in recent years.
In order to furnish valuable information to officers and
enlisted men of the Navy who visit these ports, the Bureau
of Navigation is preparing individual guidebooks on the
principal ports of all (piarters of the globe.
Although every effort has been made to include accurate information
on the most important subjects connected with this port, it is realized
that some important facts may have been omitted and that certain
details may be inaccurate. Any information concerning omissions or
inaccuracies addressed to Guidebook Editor, Bureau of Navigation, will
be appreciated. The information will be incorporatetl into revised
editions.
Acknowledgment is made to the National Geographic Society for its
suggestions, both as to editorial ])()licy and the int(>r(>sting details con-
cerning this port and its environs.
Acknowledgment is also made to Underwood & Underwood and
Publishers' Photo Service for the following photographs, which are <'opy-
righted.
Nine
Introduction
P TITE artery of yellow water, which runs to the China
Sea from' the heart of Kwangtung Province, the traveler
finds the river port of Canton, where he sees many
mibelievable things — unhelieva])le from the occidental
vicnvpoint — even though he views them through the
unclouded windov/s of nis own inquisitive Western soul.
Canton is a city of walls and temples; narrow streets
and lanes of water; flower boats and other river craft;
jostling humanity and high-pitched voices; sedan chairs and perspiring
coolies; native merchants and prodigal sons; foreign merchants and
diplomats — an old, old city, whose lower classes think cockroaches in
honey and snakes in broth a rare combination well suited to the most
fastidious tastes.
Those travelers who bide a while in Hongkong before embarking on
the water journey to Canton will be rewardecl with a colorful glimpse of
Chin(>se life; })ut the island has been under British rule for so long a time
that it is more European than oriental. In Canton the reverse is true.
As Hongkong is British, so Canton is Chinese — deliberately, stubbornly,
patiently Chinese.
The noses in Canton have never been counted, for the Government has
found it impossible to carry out a census with any degree of accuracy.
Eleven
The Chinese population has been estimated at 1,250,000; but the guess
is much too conservative in the opinion of the stranger just arrived in
Canton, for there seem to be more yellow men within the ancient city
than in all the rest of the round world.
Chinese here, Chinese there, Chinese yonder — so many Chinese that the
impressionable traveler in Canton dreams o' night of shuffling, felt-clad
feet, oblique eyes, saffron faces, singsong voices, cotton trousers, and
voluminous shirts; not to mention the clash of Chinese cyml)als and the
wailing of mourners in the frequent funeral processions and other common
sights in this river port of wSouth China, in the Province of Kwangtung.
Canton is so old that even the native custodians of local tradition
have lost count of the years since it was founded. Some of the ancient
coolies crouching near the wharves and sunning their wrinkled skins look
as if they might be able to tell the age of their city; but a whimsical
question elicits only a request for alms, mumbled with a mouth which
nas lost its teeth, so that the owner meets withdilhculty in chewing even
the small portions of food needed to keep the spark of life aglow in his
shaky body.
Canton is one of the most important trade centers of China, loeingthe
fimnel through which tlie exports of Kwangtung and Kwangsi provmces are
poured in the hohls of waiting ships and carried to the foreign markets.
Scores of thousands of coolies are engaged in the task of handling the
great volume of trade which comes through Canton. They toil the long
Twelve
day through for the gain of a few cents; and apparently never dream of
makhig further wage demands on thoh' foreign and high-caste employers.
Or if the coolies dream such dreams of sudden wealth, they keep them
to themselves, for they have labored under the same conditions all their
lives, and th(nr fathers and grandfathers did the same before them. So
they believe — do the coolies — that they are fortunate in earning enough
to keep the wolf from the door; they toil by day and by night, with hardly
a word of serious complaint. They are a fatalistic people, many of them
willhig, curiously enough, to work all their lives for the purchase money
of a coffin in which their bodies can rest after death.
Occasionally a coolie acquires wealth, either by a stroke of luck in his
own locality or by emigrating to another country, where he succeeds in
making enough to live in comfort for the remainder of his life. If such is
the case, he usually returns to Canton, is soon drawn into the whirlpool of
native life, and lives an envied life of leisure as an independent Cantonese.
The most important exports of Canton are tea, silk, paper, and pre-
serves, and firecrackers — most of them going to the United States,
where they are used, for the most part, in helping the small boy make
himself heard on the Fourth of July.
In former years a majority of the imports and exports of Canton
were carried in British bottoms, but with the amazing growth of the
American merchant marine it is expected our countrv will take over a
Thirteen
groat deal of the trade which has hitherto been monopoHzed by the
British — although the occupation of Hongkong in 1842 by our ally in
the World War puts us at a disadvantage, which, however, should be
largely overcome by American initiative.
Canton communicates by steam with Hongkong, Shanghai, and
Macao. Present conditions necessitate the passage through the former of
nearly all commodities sent to Canton from the United States and Europe.
A plan to establish a free port near Macao has been considered for several
years, and the carrying into effect of such a plan would doubtless lessen
the present importance of Hongkong.
Canton is about 100 miles by rail from Hongkong, and the trip can
be made in five hours' time; but many strangers prefer to travel by way
of the Chukiang River, since the view is incomparably better and less
tiresome. So in the following pages we shall travel up the Chukiang
River to Canton, experiencing some of the thrills which come from the
presence of river pirates, who pui-sue with dihgence the ancient profession
of their f()r(>fathers of more barbaric days and against whom ships must
ever ])e on guard.
After tlie interesting river trip we arrive in the harbor of Canton.
Making our way among the innumerable and strangely-fashioned boats,
we struggle thi'ough the throngs of chattering men and boys who swarm
along the water front, and proceed to make the best of our visit in this
Chinese port.
Fourteen
CANTON
THE RIVER PIRATES
HE cruise to Canton be-
gins, in this instance,
from the Harbor of Hong-
kong around the evening
hour of ten, when the vel-
vety bhickness of the
hot oriental night has
settled around the trav-
eler, makinw him feel a bit uncomfort-
able — as if he were shrouded in a thick,
woolen blanket and confined in a warm
room on a July day.
Tn the city of ^'ict()ria. resting on the
rim of tli(> harbor, there gleams a profu-
sion of lights which silvers in ])laces the
mist hanging over the island. The liglits
are constantly flickering, some dyin^ nil
of a sudden and others blazing torth
where tlie fingers of night had been piling
up dark siiadows just a moment before.
A weird ciy aris(^s from the water
front and is flung ])-?:-k by the multifold
echoes. The cry comes from a group of
men engaged in a dispute on one of the
piers. The echo seems to startle them,
for they run, bending low and glancing
over their backs. The clump, clump of
police boots is heard, and a thread of
light from a flash-liglit travels through the
gloom. A spurt of orange-colored flame
and a staccato "crack-crack." Some one
is being reckless.
A broad beam of li^ht from a search-
light on a warship, whose outlines are
vaguely discernible in the distance, at-
tracts the attention — ^since all men re-
semble moths, in that they are more or less
fascinated ])y light. The warship fiashes
a signal to an invisible receiver. The
flood of liglit is checked as suddenly as it
was released. Points of reflected light
glisten from the tops of small waves in
the harbor. It's a question whether the
light comes from tlie city or from the
crescent moon which hangs from a
wreath of clouds in the sky.
The voyage begins, and after cross-
ing the harbor the river steamer is lost
for a time in a tortuous channel A\Tiggling
in and around tlie maze of small islands
between Hongkong and the mainland.
In al)()ut two hours' time the ancient
Bogue fortresses come into view, and the
Fifteen
CANTON
Across Canton River
steamer soon finds itself in the brown
waters of tlic; Chukiang liiver — or the
Pearl, or the Canton J?iver, as it is some-
times called by foreigners. It is on the
Chukiang Jliver that the crews of pas-
senger boats take all possible precautions
Sixteen
against attack by Chinese pirates, who
resemble criminals the world over, in that
they are more prone to operate at night
than in daytime. But the sim never
renders the Chinese cousins of "(\i|)'n
Flint" so timid as to keej) them from
attacking a steamship in broad (hiylight
if the opportunity presents itself.
The local governments have found it
impossible always to protect shij)s against
the danger of assaults by river pirates; so
the steamship companies, in self-defense,
place armed guards on board tlie Canton
boats. The guards are equipped with
rifles, revolvers, and sometimes shot-
guns, which often serve to scare off, at
long range, suspicious looking individuals.
The value of life is not so great in this
particular stretch of country as in the
Occi(kmt, and the guards take no risks,
preferring to shoot first and ask questions
afterwards a course of action reminiscent
of early days on the American frontiers.
The guards are on the al(M-t. although
no pirates have shown themselves on tlu^
river for weeks, and the possibility of a
skirmish lends spice to what would other-
wise be an uneventful trip.
CANTON
On either side of the muddy river are
phintations devoted to tlie cultivation of
rice and hananas. and at intervals little
groujis of houses come into view — shadow^^
through the dark curtain of night which
has definitely fallen over the land.
The river pirates do not make them-
selves heard or seen on this particular
trip: but the passengers, assured that it
might well have happened otherwise, are
told that fully 20.0()() pirates live along
the Ohukiang P.iver and in and near Can-
ton. Occasionally the outside world hears
of passengers and crew being murdered
and a ship burned by the pirates on the
Chukiang River; then all precautionary
measures are redoubled.
Expeditions are sometimes sent out by
the Government in search of river pirates.
Upon the successful conclusions of such
trips scores of the half- wild captives are
executed. Sometimes the Government
raiders are defeated, and the pirates,
emboldened by their success, make
further forays against steamships and
drive, for a time, many of the smaller
craft from the Hongkong-Clinton river
trade.
Low-Caste Women in Rice Fields
There are three or four companies
o]) crating steamers between Hongkong
and Canton, one of them being known as
the British Line (the Hongkong and
Macao Steamboat Compan}'). Steamers
Seventeen
CANTON
River Boats Alive with Native Passengers
owned by this line — the KinsTian, Ileung-
shan, Honan, and Faishan— leave Hong-
kong at 10 p. m., arriving in Canton at
6.30 o'clock in the morning.
Steamers from Hongkong to Canton
and return are also operated by a Chinese
Eighteen
'v-. ,
company, whose rates are cheaper than
the Britisli company's. Its ships, the
Kivangtung and the Kvxingsai, arc often
patronized by tourists. These boats leave
Hongkong at 9 p. m., arriving in Canton
at G.30 o clock the next morning.
The traveler desiring to visit Canton
by rail should board the train at Kowloon,
the terminus of the Canton-Hankow
Railroad. The line, built by the Chinese,
was extended by the British, who plan
eventuall}' to make it a direct line to
Paris.
SUNRISE IN CANTON
lAYING eluded the river
pirates, the steamer
makes rapid headway up
the Chukiang Iliver, and
as the sky l)rushes the
darkness from its face
and the sun sends great
streamers of crimson and
purple light from behind tlie gray clouds
massed on the eastern horizon, the out-
skirts of Canton come into view, and there
is a rush of work on the deck as the pas-
sengers make ready to land, all thoughts
CANTON
of murderous river pirates momentarily
banished from their minds.
The sun is still hesitating below the
rim of the earth when the steamer from
Hongkong breasts the muddy waters of
that part of the river whicli flows through
the fringes of Canton.
Most of the buildings in Canton croucli
low, as if apprehensive of an angry, sweep-
ing blow from the typhoons brewed occa-
sionally in the atmospheric kettle of the
China Sea. They are more humble, these
buildings, than the skyscrapers of the
American continent. One of the lords
among them is the five-storied Pagoda
which looks calmly down on other struc-
tures from its superior height.
Seasoned travelers prefer to arrive in
Canton early in the morning, for then the
life of the city may be observed under
more favorable conditions. The maxim
"early to bed and early to rise" is ob-
served in Canton as well as in the service,
for, as the steamer approaches the wharf,
the river seems to be alive with scores of
craft, ranging from unwieldy junks to
small sampans, which dart in and out
among the slower moving, more sedate
Funeral Boats, Canton
boats, as children })lay tag aroimd a crowd
of their elders.
Every boat paddler appears to be
trying his best to throw his or her voice
across the river, and the range varies
Nineteen
CANTON
astonishingly — from the bass of the doep-
chostpd moiiiitainpor on the rail of a
near-by junk, to the sereechy, nerve-rend-
ino; falsetto of the ano;rv Chinese woman
in the fnel-ladeji sampan, as she beats
her son. The sampan, it appears, has
just escaped being rammed by a junk
under full canvas, and the unfortunate
son is blamed for the near collision.
The monotonous singsong of Chinese
voices is silenced for tlie moment by a
sudden outbui'st from the native sailors
on a funeral boat ancliored near the shore.
The crew evidently believes the only way
to mourn the dead is by constant, per-
sistent, never-ending lamentations. Very
shortly the uproar is augmented by the
dashing together of gr(\-it cymbals. The
inquisitive passengers on the steamer are
inf'()rm(>(l that the crew isfriglitening away
evil sj)irits, who thrive on quiet, and who,
if left in peace, miglit bring harm to the
bo(Hes of the dead on board the funeral
boats. •
A questionable whifl' from another
funeral boat, hard by the bank farther
up the stream, is resj)onsible for a ques-
tion. The travehM- hears, by way of reply,
Twenty
that some of the dead have been on the
boat for five or six months. They will
remain there until the time is auspicious
for burial.
Each of the funeral boats seems to be
trying to outdo the others in making the
welkin ring. The din soon grows so deaf-
ening that the traveler lialf expects to see
tlie dead arise and poke their heads above
the lacquered sides of their coffins on the
deck of the funeral l)oat.
Across tlie river from Canton the trav-
eler sees the cities of Wati and Honan,
where he will view many sights almost as
strange as those in Canton if he chooses
to spare the time necessary for a visit in
the two suburban districts: but, as a rule,
the majoritv of strangers find Canton so
indescribalily fascinating that they hesi-
tate to roam through the neighlioi'ing
sections in s(\ir('h of attractions, which
must iiidubitably prove less interesting
tlian those of Canton.
The ship passes more funeral boats,
more junks and sampans, and now and
then the j^assengers see small fishing boats
rowed by native women, who dip nets into
the muddv waters of the river and crv out
CANTON
angrily when the fisli evade the trap tliiis
set for them. And, since the dripping
nets come out of the water empty more
often than not, the reader can imagine
the crescendo of feminine screams which
assails the ears just as easily as if l;e him-
self were there to see and to hear the
fisher women call down the wrath of
Heaven on hoth the fish and any humans
who may happen to be within screaming
distance.
Tlie crews on the fishing boats seem
to fear the wrath of th.ese Chinese Amazons
as much as the people of medieval times
feared the wrath of bedraggled, hook-nosed
witches, who were supposed to spend most
of their time concocting strange brews in
three-legged kettles and riding in the
clouds astride brooms all hung with cob-
webs.
There is something weird and uncanny
about it all — funeral boats, screaming
fisher women, brass c\Tnbals, junks, sam-
pans, river pirates, lacquered coffins, half-
naked men, howling mourners, cock-
roaches in honey, and snakes in broth.
It is almost unbelievable, alm:)st impos-
sible of conception to us Americans who
usually live a sane, well-ordered sort of
existence. The people of an American
city, were they to live their lives in sucli
a fashion as do those in Canton, would be
considered eccentric, if not actually mad ;
but the Cantonese take their mode of
livi:ig and their customs as calmly as
3'ou please and find nothing unusual or
strange about them. And it is tliis feel-
ing; which makes Canton so enchanting to
trousered, shirted, shoe-wearing, soap-
using Americans. In Canton we find once
more the eternal truth of that trite,
shrewd observation: "One-half of the
world knows not how the other half
lives." The least that can be said for
Canton is that it is different. Exceed-
ingly, strikingly, abrupt Iv different. Can-
ton is Canton, just as >\ow York is New
York, and Paris is Paris, and Mexico is
Mexico. It couldn't be otherwise.
A breeze has sprung up by this time,
and the surface of the river is broken into
iiuni])eiiess ripples which dance a sort of
listless, rhythmic, measured dance, and
cause the smaller boats to move up and
down as the bol)ber on a fishing line rocks
in the watery bed upon which it is rest-
Twenty-One
CANTON
Good View of Canton Across Canton River
iiig— always on the alert and ready to
ilash the signal which tells of a tentative
nibble at the hook below.
The steamer continues up the river
and, as the sun finally shakes itself clear
of the horizon and steps out on the roof
Twenty- Tiro
of the world, the landing place comes
into view and the passengers make ready
for their venture into the unknown high-
ways and byways of life in the city of
Canton.
After a period of maneuvering along
the water front, the steamer — as if afraid
of crushing the smaller boats which clutter
up its path — moves slowly into its berth;
the gangplank is thrown out, the passen-
gers walk from the steamer and almost
immediately become engaged in what is
apparently a desperate light for life and
security of limb.
A BATTLE FOR LIFE
N American who has lived
in his own country and
has become accustomed
to seeing the Chinaman
as a quiet, unassuming,
stoical, and perhaps a ])it
comi)lacont. sort of a per-
son, is apt to be ai)ruptly
disillusioned — in one respect at any rate —
when he lands from the Hongkong steamer
at the Canton wharf. A majority of the
CANTON
Chinese in Canton are just what the Chi-
nese one ordinarily sees in the United States
are not. As Canton is dilTerent, so the
Chinese in Canton are different. The
arrival of a steamer is usually the signal
for an onslaught by howling, cursing men
and boys who appear to be either direct
descendants or near relatives of the river
pirates hiding along the banks of the
Chukiang River on the road to Canton.
They come by way of land and they come
by way of water. Some hop nim])ly from
sampan to sampan ; others climb the rail-
ing ofTicially considered as being an ade-
quate barrier against trespassers. They
screech and yell in such a ferocious manner
that the more timid among the passengers
turn pale and wonder whether they have
survived the voyage from Hongkong only
to meet a greater danger in Canton.
The crowd of yelling, half-naked Clii-
nese is reinforced by others attracted by
the din which silences even the brassy
clatter of native musical instruments on
the funeral boats drifting along in mid-
stream.
vSome of the natives finally succeed in
reaching the side of the steamer, and as
Street in Canton
the passengers, in doubtful mood, cau-
tiously walk down the gangplank, the
Chinese fall uj)on them, and for a while it
appears that a race riot of respectable
proportions is brewing.
Twenty- Three
CANTON
Crowds of Chinamen Watching Passengers at Pier,
Canton
All occidental list is douhlrd. It falls
upon an oriental chin. And if the air
were filled with shouts and yells a moment
ago, it is now Hooded with llie same.
The men passen^^ers prepare to light to
the last gasp for the women and children —
Twenty-Four
their hearts being filled with the same
ardor possessed by the berserkers of old
who, it is said, had quite a reputation for
bravery in their time.
It is a hattle for life, apparently. The
travelers appeal to the ship's officers who
endeavor to make themselves heard above
the uproar. But the exercise of so many
vocal organs has temporarily crippled the
sense of hearing, and the officers' words go
all unheeded by their charges.
Another occidental fist is d(ml)led,
and its possessor (a grim, red-faced man
resembling a traveling salesman) uses it
to such good advantage that another
oriental is tumliled over, but is less for-
tunate than the first, inasmuch as he sails
head over heels into the river and is fished
out by a screaming fisher woman who vol-
leys curses on the heads of the excitable
"foreign devils."
'fli(^ score is now two to nothing, the
occidentals being in the lead, and further
casualties are in the ofhiig, when a short
breathing spell enal)les the now hoarse
ship's officers to make themselves heard
to the i)assengers.
CANTON
''Stop," they shout. "Stop! Don't
do that." And they rush to the rescue
of a passenger engaged in an international
argument ^^'ith tvro giant natives. The
rescue is effected, and the ship's officers
turn to the passengers. ''These natives
are not cutthroats, nor bandits, nor river
pirates," they say, "but just porters and
sedan-chair coolies. They're looking for
customers, not blood."
The travelei's, some angry and some
a]:)prehensive before, now cast slieepish
grins at one another. The grim, red-
faced man (resem])ling a traveling sales-
man) gives a dollar to the native whom
he had thrown into the river and the first
casualty among the natives is given a
similar amount. The peace is no longer
disturbed.
The renewal of shouts, cries, and yells
among the porters and sedan-chair coolies,
a crash of cym])als from the funeral l)oat
on the river, and the wail of a fisher woman
who has just lost a catch of fish by reason
of a broken net, signals the end of the
battle for life on the Chukiang River at
the port of Canton shortly after break
o' day.
ON SHAMEEN ISLAND
T SEEMS that the porters
and sedan-chair coolies,
who so valiantly stormed
the steamboat at the
landing, are to be dis-
appointed after all, for
arrangements have been
made ^\'ith the Victoria
Hotel to send chairs and coolies for the
passengers, and the early arrivals among
the natives obtain only one or two patrons
from the entire company of travelers on
the ship.
The sedan chairs from the hotel are
quickly occu])ied, the porters take up tluMr
burdens of luggage, and the travelers are
carried along tlie Bund, across a bridge,
and find tliemselves on the island of Sha-
meen, wliich serves as a place of residence
for a majority of the foreigners living and
visiting in Canton.
The island of Shameen — "built on
sand" — was constructetl ])etween the years
18.59 and 1862 by joint action of the
British and French. Slightly less than
one-third of the island is under the control
Tuenty-Five
CANTON
Banyan Trees on Shameen Island, Canton
of the French while the remaiiuUn- is gov-
erned hy the British.
Before the French and British engi-
neers l)egan their task of improving the
island and making it hahitahle for foreign-
ers, Shameen was a low sand bank in the
Twenty-Six
river and hardly in tne category of places
fit for human residence. Bnt the inge-
nuity of the engineers transformed the
island into a healthful, heantiful, residen-
tial district, and Shameen is now consid-
ered the best section of Canton, although
as far as the picturesque is concerned it is
surpassed by the native districts of the
city.
Shameen is well protected against pos-
si])Ie attacks by bandits or river pirates.
The bridges leading to the island from tlie
mainland are guarded day and night,
while barbed-wire entanglements stand on
the shores, evidently for the purpose of
discouraging marauders irom among the
river population.
Natives are forbidden to go on the
island miless permission is granted by the
British or French, and the few natives
who pass back and forth are searched for
weapons by the guards at the bridges.
Europeans, howevei*, ai'e seldom stop])ed
by the sentries.
Probal)ly the best view of Canton is
obtainable from the island of Shameen,
and many travelers prefer to see the city
from across the river, rather than mingle
CANTON
with the natives in the hot, dusty streets
or along the narrow passages of water
M'hich thread hoth the residential and
business quarters of Canton.
But the stranger who has traveled all
the way from the other side of the world
to see something of manners and customs
in Canton, does not hesitate to leave the
hotel in Shameen, recross the river, and
ride by sedan chair above the heads of the
thrones in the streets ; and when his indi-
vidual tour of inspection is completed he
can say with truth that he has had his
hand on the heart of Canton and has felt
the throb of life along its narrow streets
and alleys and waterways. In seeing
Canton he will have seen much that is
typical of China — for the foreigner has not
gained the foothold here that he has in
Hongkong, and the Cantonese, for tlie
most part, dress and act and speak as their
ancestors did centuric^s ago. Only most
of them have discarded the cpieue since
the establishment of the Republic, and the
feet of the women are not l)oujid so gen-
eralh' as in the days of the Empire. But
with very few other changes the major
part of the population of Canton has.
Figures Clothed with Growing Plants in the Gardens
played a conservative part in the game of
life, dis])laying their respect for their fore-
fathers by doing as then- forefathers did.
If Americans were to follow the same cus-
tom, we would still be wearing powdered
wigs, knee breeches, embroidered coats,
Tuenty-Seven
CANTON
ruffles, buckled shoes, and rapiers; or
coonskin caj)s, leather coats, and leggings
with buckskin fringes, moccasins, and car-
rying powder horns and long squirrel
rifles — Daniel Boone style.
COFFINS AND GONGS
HE traveler steps into his
sedan chair, which is
promptly lifted to the
shoidders of the sturdy
coolies, and he begins his
journey through the na-
tive clistricts of Canton
via the same bridge over
which he passed on his trip to the island
of Shameen.
Visitors occasionally venture into Can-
ton afoot, but seldom repeat the experi-
ence, inasmuch as many of the natives
on the streets are stripped to the waist,
and since the pedestrian is invariably
jostled about in the narrow streets he
finds his clothing the worse for wear after
it has ])een in contact with the bodies of
the half-naked Chinese.
Twenty-Eight
The change from the wide thorough-
fares, shaded by tamarind trees, of Sha-
meen to the narrow evil-smelhng streets
and alleys of Canton is depressing for the
traveler sensitive to odors: but the trip
will have its redeeming features, for he
will view sights more weird on his journey
about that city than he viewed on his
cruise up the muddy waters of the Chu-
kiang River.
The traveler is prepared for one of the
strangest of his many experiences in this
city by the Chukiang River. Hardly is
the trip through the heart of Canton be-
gun wlien it is halted by the interruption
of traffic on the street over which the
coolies are proceeding, and by the now
familiar clatter of gongs and the wail of
oriental voices^ — some weak, some strong,
some tearful, and some jo}"fuL
A word of inquiry brings the answer
that a funeral procession is passing
througli the streets, that all traffic is
halted out of respect for the dead. The
interruption of traffic appears, from an
American viewpoint, to be the only mark
of respect for the dead, inasmuch as the
mourners conduct themselves in a manner
CANTON
that would he considered sacrilegious in
an occidental country.
It apj)ears that a funeral of a promi-
nent merchant of Canton is taking place.
As the procession comes into view the
populace cranes its necks in morl)id curi-
osity, not hesitating to make critical re-
marks ahout the appearance of the cofhn,
the price which must have heen paid for
it. and so on.
Ahead of the hicr marches a Chinese
hand, the memhers playing on all sorts of
alleged musical instruments, whose value
is evidently determined hy the noises pro-
duced through frenzied manipulation of
the keys, slides, and strings. Several of
the handsmen are pounding on metal
drums whose "music" suggests the din in
a hoiler factory, and every now and then
the advance guard reluctantly ahandons
its playing on the instrimients to let forth
hlood-curdling screeches, which send shiv-
ers frolicking up the backs of the by-
standers.
Several coolies come next in the pro-
cession, staggering under the weight of
great loads of flowers, whose fragrance
drowns, for a m.oment, the odor of sewage
Cantonese Girl
(lowing down the middle of the street.
P'ollowing the "flower coolies" are others
bearing i)latform affairs on which are
ari'angcd trays of food, principal among
them being one which supports a whole
roast pig, fat and brown. One American
Twenty-Nine
CANTON
Leaving Canton in Sedan Chairs, China
spoctutor remarks that lie will never,
never a":ain permit the serving of roast
pork at his table on Christmas day.
The male relatives of the dead mer-
chant are next in line. The}'' walk afoot
and are followed 1)V the female relatives
in sedan chairs. The first contin<j;ent of
mourners are fairly quiet, hut its Tack of,
Thirty
assistance in making the welkin ring is
more than made up for by the ofTicial
mourners, who, although they are only
interested in the fiuieral so far as it
means the receipt of a few cents in tlie
way of w^ages, are apparently overcome
by grief. Next in line is an embroidered
canopy, supported in the hands of ten or
fifteen men, who appear to be the pall-
bearers. Under the canopy is the cofTm,
hidden from the public gaze by side cur-
tains which drop nearly to the ground.
Behind the canopy march the official
mourners, and the old fisher woman who
called down the wrath of Heaven on the
heads of the "foreign devils" on the
steamer that morning would have bowed
her head in shame had she been there to
see how her ability for noise making was
surpassed by the absolute talent, in that
respect, of the official mourners. Neither
the death chant of the American Indians
nor the voodoo songs of the tribes of
darkest Africa have ever reached such a
pinnacle of weird melancholy as the
funeral songs of Canton, and the traveler
who hears the professional mourners ply
their trade will have the picture indelibly
CANTON
imprinted on his mind, and even after the
passage of years will find his ears ringing
with the sound (tf screeching Chinese
voices.
A numher of the mourners in the pro-
cession caiTV towels of the generously
proportioned, fuzzy, Turkish variety, and
use tliem to wipe away copious tears
which woidd otherwise actually pour in
trickling streams on the street. Tiiey are
the finest kind of crocodile tears.
■ Ai-ai-ai-e-e-e-e-c-l" the mourners
scream. And shed more tears, with a
furtive glance now and then at the pedes-
trians lining the streets — as if they are
anticipating something in the way of
approval for their excellent acting.
The sound of music from the head of
the procession has almost died away when
^ new chorus of rattles, hangs, and
crashes enlivens the spectacle. More
necks are craned, and the guides inform
the travelers that the end of the funeral
procession is in sight.
There is a fanfare of drums and then
the most unrestrained, unmusical, and
harharic noise imaginahle breaks out.
The traveler is reminded of the steam
Canton, the Vast Metropolis of China
calliope at the end of the circus parade at
home. The comparison is irreverent, of
course; hut still, is true, and that is the
excuse for making it.
The din continues. It grows rather
than slackens. "Gongs!" remarked the
Thirty-One
CANTON
collide improssively. "Most glorious fu-
neral ! ' ' And gongs they were, as the gnide
Ixad said. Gongs of all sizes and descrip-
tions, most of them made of brass and
(♦thers, apparently, of tin. They were car-
ried by ])ersi)iring Chinese, who stopped
their clanging now and then to emit a most
ferocioiis chorus of hair-raising veils.
'Clang! Clang! llattle-rattle! Bang!"
The gong men, it a])peare(l, were receiving
a generous wage on this occasion and were
so grateful as to make a brave effort to
earn their money.
Finally, the gong men passed in the
wake of the funeral ])roc(>ssion, followed
by one or two moi'e bands, and as the
ordinary activities of daily routine were
renewed and the roar of trallic was once
more heard on the streets, the guide
volunteered the information that the
corpse was being taken to the "City of
Death," where, like the corpses on the
river, it would be kept until the proper
time for burial, prol)ably some months
ahead. The "City of Death"— a most
interesting place to those morbidly in-
clined will be touched upon in a later
chapter.
Thirty- Tvn
THE PASSING WALLS
ANTOX, for several cen-
turies, w^as surrounded by
a wide, brick wall, near-
ly six miles in circum-
ference, surmounted by
towers, and pierced at
intervals by gateways,
through which tlie inland
traffic of the ages ebl^ed and flowed — •
never ceasing through the birth and di^ath
of generation after generation of oblique-
eyed celestials.
The wall was erected on a granite and
sandstone foundation ; its width was about
30 feet and its height from 20 to 40 feet.
The Cantonese very probably breathed a
sigh of rehef after the comnletion of the
wall, for then, they thouglit, their city
would be adequately protected against
the depredations of the Manchu armies
enviously looking down from the north at
this prosperous city in the south of China.
But the wall, despite its appearance of
solidity and strength, did not keep the
Manchus from capturing Canton in l()o2 —
somewhat over a century after its com-
CANTON
j)leti()iK and, in the resulting battle
within the city, there were scenes enacted
which, in comparison, make the atrocities
in European wars appear as the frolicking
of children. Over 100,000 Cantonese-
men, women, children, and smooth-faced
bahies — were massacred by the invading
armies, and trathtion relates that the
screams of the victims as they fell before
the swords and spears of the conquerors
were as the sound of the winds shrieking
through the passes of a mighty mountain,
so many there were who abandoned their
earthly bodies in the same moment.
Wliile the walls around Canton re-
mainetl in existence until some centuries
after the city was stormed by the Man-
clius, it M'as never considered an adequate
(h'fense ao;ainst determined and organized
attack. In later years it was tolerated
more for its picturesqueness and its use-
fuhiess against raids by pirates than for
its value iji case of a major onslaught.
Several years a^o the greater portion
of the Canton wall was razed and its
foundation converted into boulevards,
the action marking one of the striking
features of present-day progress in Cliina.
Old Wall, Canton (now demolished)
Here and there along the l)Oulevards
the traveler sees the crumbling ruins of
gates and towers, with heaps of jagged
rock showing above the surface of the
earth to mark the location of the wide
Thirty- Three
CANTON
wall, once the hope, and ultimately the
despair of the defenders of Canton.
Nearly every old Chinese city has its
\\'all. Many of them are more or less
famous, but the most famous is the
'Great Wall of Qiina," which origi-
nally extended for a distance of over
1,500 miles across the Chinese Empire
and resembled, in the distance, a huge
serpent stretching its length as far as the
eve could see — from one horizon to the
other. The "Great Wall" was built as a
d(»f(Mise against the Manchu armies in the
fourteenth century, but, as with the
Canton wall, proved of little avail against
the determined advance of the conquering
troops.
Since the rise of the Manchu dvnasty,
in 1644, the "Great Wall" has fallen into
decay, exc(^pt at a immber of points where
it is maintained as an aid to the customs'
service. The wall is about 22 feet high,
20 feet thick, with 40-foot towers at inter-
vals of several lunuh'ed yards. It is com-
posed of a brick or granite casing filled
witli earth and covered with a surface of
bricks embedded in lime.
Tliirtij-Four
The "Great Wall" follows a more or
less irregular course over mountains and
hills, through valleys, and over plains.
The wall is still intact for scores of miles,
although here and there some of the
towel's have disappeared and the brick
facing has fallen away, giving the wall
the venerable appearance of ancient ruins.
In the third century B. C, between
1,500 and 2,000 yeai-s before the days of
the "Great Wall," a system of earthworks
was raised along approximately the same
route as that followed by the wall. The
earthworks were used l)y the (liinese in
defending their country against the Tartar
hordes and, tradition relates, served as a
fairly adequate means of defense until
replaced by the "Great Wall."
Many of the walls surrounding the
cities of China are passing, just as those
formerly around the city of Canton, and
with the lapse of years it is expected
the greater number of the ancient and
medieval structures will be torn down, to
li\-e only in the nuMuories of t]ios(> Chinese
who mourn the passing of the old order
of things.
CANTON
CELESTUL TEMPLES
jROBABLY the most nota-
ble temple of the 400 or
more in the city is the
Temple of the Five Hun-
dred Gods, or Wa Tarn
Tsz, in the western sub-
urbs, where natives have
worshiped beyond the
memory of the most wrinkled coolie in
the streets of Canton. The temple is
fashioned after the approved style of
arcliitecture in China, with roofs and cor-
nices whicli ajipear to be strangely warped
l>y the weatlier, but which, of course, are
formed that way by the builders.
There are numbers of idols in the
Temple of the Five Hundred Gods, many
of them arranged in prim rows along the
walls, most of them with hands compla-
cently folded; some with oriental faces,
others with countenances wliich would be
countenanced by few nations; some with
beards, others with smooth jowls; some
grave and dignified, othei-s smihng enig-
matically with their stone lips; all clad
in flowing robes of stone.
A..
.^.M
A Small Temple Near Whampoa Pagoda, Canton
De\'otees, while visiting the temple,
purchase lighted punk sticks from the
priests and place the sticks in front of the
idols, laugliing and talking all the whUe,
api>arently never aware of theii- sacri-
legious conduct^sacrilegious from the
Thirty- Fire
CANTON
The Chun-Ka-Che Ancestral Hall, Canton
Western j)()iiit, of view. In fact, tlu
Cliinese idea of propriety is often the
Thirty-Six
American and European idea of im-
propriety, and vice versa. Witness tlie
custom of laughing and talking \vhile at
worship: the burying of the dead with an
accompaniment of wild outbursts of
deafening music, and the practice of eating
cockroaches in honey and snakes in broth.
Canton is indeed a most unbelievable
city, where the ya^nling, sleepy-eyed trav-
eler finds himself yawning and sleepy-eyed
no longer, but as wide-eyed as the small
bo}' at a circus.
The Chinese in Canton as a rule seldom
take the question of worship in the tem-
ples as seriously as they might, and many
of the buildings have fallen into disre-
pair, the courtyards and ponds being
filled with rubbish and the interiors of
the temples bein<( furnished with sliabby,
soiled fixtures — all in striking contrast with
the dignity and neatness of American
churches.
Few natives visit the temples. Most
of those who do place food and buin
prayer papers and punk on tlie altars.
The prayer paper, it seems, is supposed to
take the place of sj^cdvcn prayers, and the
natives have considerable faith in the
CANTON
ofTicacv of tliis particular dovico, thereby
showing another cf tlie countless differ-
ences between the customs of orientals
and occidentals. Imagine an American
clergyman burning a piece of paper in
place of reading his Bible!
One of the most jiretentious temples in
and near Canton is the Buddhist struc-
ture, known as lloi-tung-tsz, on the island
of Ilonan. The grounds cover an area of
five acres, are divided into numerous
courts, and peopled by scores of Bud-
dhist priests.
Tlio Temj^le of the Five Genii, or Ng-
sen-kwan, on Great Market Street; the
Temple of Longevity, or Chung-shan-tsz,
in the western suburbs; and the ancestral
temples of the Chen and the Chun-ka-che
families, are prominent among tlie places
of worship in Canton. The Chen temple
is better kept than most of the temples in
Canton, wliile the Chun-ka-cho t(^mj)l(v
just outside the city proper, is one of t\io,
most imposing buildings of its kind in all
(Miina.
Besides the temples there are numer-
ous pagodas in Canton, including the Five-
I lie Iliiwir Pagoda, Canton
Stori(Hl Pagoda, or Chen-hoi-tan. and the
Wa-tap. or octagonal flower pagoda, wliich
stands in one of the most pleasing and
restful |)laces, from the occidental view-
point, in the city.
Thirly-Seven
CANTON
THE CITY OF DEATH
OMBINING temple, ceme-
tery, and morgue, the
''Cityof Deatli.'^or"The
City of the Dead," as it
is variously known in
Canton, is one of the
strangest of the many
strange ])la<'es in this
amazing capital of the province of Kwang-
tung, CTiina.
There are scores and sometim(^s liun-
dreds of dead })()dies in cofhns placed in
stalls arranged along narrow aisles, which,
in turn, are flanked by altars; banners in-
scribed with Chinese diameters; pa])er
creations of many sizes and shap(^s, coated
with gilt; p()rc(^lain jars, and masses of
flowers whose lieavy odor makers the air
seem sickish sweet.
Some of the bodies have been in the
"City of Deatli" for weeks, some for
months, and some even for years. The
sojourn of the dead in this OTuesome place
is determined, evidently, oy the wealth
of the respective relatives or friends who
are called upon by priests and sorcerers
Thirty-Eight
to pay for the privilege of keeping the
bodies in the stalls of the ''City of Deatli."
The time for removal of the bodies
from the "City of Death" is decided upon
by the priests after solemn consultations.
The time arrives, usually, when either the
purse or the patience of the dead person's
family is exhausted. One traveler relates
that he viewed a cofRn containing a man-
darin's body wliicli had been placed in
one of the stalls immediately after death
seven years before and had since remained
there in charge of the Chinese priests.
There is no more morbid, unnatural
place in tlie world than the "City of
Death" in Canton, unh^ss it be the cata-
combs under l^aiis, whei-e th^e boiu^s of six
millions ol' i^eophi are buried; or the ghoul-
ish room in tlu^ European church, so gra])h-
ically descril)cd by Mark Twain, where the
walls are decorated with skulls and delicate
frescoes made from human finger bones
and where niclu^s in the walls are occupied
bymumniilied bodies of men long dead.
Prol)ably th^ lK)dies of the dead would
not I'cmain in this combination of temple,
morgue, and cemetery in Canton for so
long, if some arrangements were made
CANTON
whereby tho native priests and sorcerers
could ])e kept from both collecting the
lont and deciding the ''favorable" time
for regular burial. But so long as the
keepers of the "City of Death" are al-
lowed to receive the tainted "rent money/'
just so lon^ will the bodies of the dead —
with wealtliy relatives — continue to re-
l^ose undisturbed in their stalls along the
naiTow aisles — flanked by altars, banners,
porcelain jars, and flowers — of the ''City
of Death."
The people of Canton are persuaded
to place their dead in the ''City of Death"
because they believe in doing so they will
|)lease the spirits whicli might otherwise
bring harm to the loved one who has
joined the 'silent multitude." And this
brings us naturally to the religions of tlic
country.
China is a land of five religions — Con-
fucianism. Taoism. Buddhism. Mohamme-
danism, and also Christianity, which
gained a foothold in the country over a
thousand years ago and has recently made
raj^id progress because of the devoted, un-
tiring labors of the missionaries of all
Christian churches in China.
Ancient Stone Guardian of Five-Story Pagoda
Confucianism. Taoism, and Buddhism,
in order named, are far ahead of the others
in China, however, mainly because their
philosophies — at the present time — appeal
most strongly to the Chinese nature, and
also because they have a start of centuries
over other religions in China.
TIn'rtii-Nhie
CANTON
Cantonese Girls on Bund
With Coiifuciunisin, Taoism, and Bud-
dhism there is a shari)ly defined l)olief in ,
Fori)/
good and evil spirits, and those who em-
brace the three religions believe it is neces-
sary — for tlieir o^^'n good — to propitiate
both good and (nnl s|)irits for the pm-poso
of keeping a l)alanco l)etwcen them.
Ancestor worshi]), which involves the
(piestion of a])peasing l^oth good and evil
spirits, is regarded as being the main-
spring of China's religious life, while Con-
fucianism serves as a moral code, and
Buddliism and Taoism furnish the "rit-
uals or outward forms of ol^servance."
An interesting ])hase of Buddliism is
the stan(hirds its devotees must u))hold
''if tlu^y are to live happily in anotlior
life." The Hxg great commandments of
Buddhism prohibit "killing, stealing,
adultery, lying, and drunkenness." Bud-
dhists must also maintain the ''ri^ht view,
right jud<;ment, right language, ri^jht ]nn'-
pose, right profession, right application,
right memory, and rigiit meditation."
Other virtues especially commended by
the Buddhist religion are "almsgiving,
purity, patience, c()urag(v charity, con-
templation, and knowledg(\"
The progress of Christianity in China
was slow for nianv centuries, but the
CANTON
West on Central Promenade, Place of Foreign
Legations
patience and pei-scverance of the mis-
sionaries have had tlieir effect, and the
well-known ''heathen Chinee" is not such
a heatli(>n as in former years.
Christianity was introduced into China
in the sixth century. The Jesuit fathers,
Shappat l*<) Street, Where European Shops Are Found,
Canton
Kuggiaro and Ricci, went to Asia in 1579
and loSl. A Protestant mission, h<d by
Robert Morrison, landed at Canton Sep-
tember, 1807. According to the latest
estimates the Roman CathoHc Church
has 1,363,697 converts, 59 bishops, 1,426
Forty-One
CANTON
Chinese Mother and Child
foi-cign and 701 native priests in China,
while the Protestants have about 325,000
converts in China.
One of the principal niissions in Canton
is the Canton Christian College, main-
Ferty-Two
tained by the American Union Missions.
The Roman Catholic Cathedral stands in
Canton proper, and the .Vnglican chapel
on the island of Shameen. Seminaries
and schools are supported in Canton by
the American Baptist and rr(>sl)vterian
Churches. The Y. }\. C. A. building on
the Bund — the main thoroughfare, run-
ning along the water front — was erected
as a memorial to Robert >\rorrison. the
first Protestant missionary in Canton.
"RATS, CATS, AND "
ERY pr()l)ably the credulity
of the r(vi(l(^r has been
sorely tried at times in
the reading of previous
chapters, for, haA'iug lived
the fairly w(41-ordered life
of the occidental, he finds
it dillicult to believe in
the authenticity of some of the incidents
intended to show something of manners
and customs in Canton. In the present
chapter his faith will possi])ly l)e even
more sorely tried, and perhaps his cre-
dulity will turn to incredulity, because this
CANTON
is the strangest and most unbelievable
chapter of them all. Still, he may accept
(he customs described in the following —
as well as those described in the preceding
chapters — as the entire truth, for that is
what they are. Canton , surely, has earned
the name of "Canton the Unbelievable!"
This chapter has to do with the
culinary tastes of the Cantonese. One
thing which surprises the traveler in
Canton is that chop suey and other pre-
sumably native Chinese dishes are not
native (Hiinese dishes at all, but concoc-
tions ])repared by Chinese restaurants in
the Occident and intended almost solely
for .Vmerican and European consumption.
The percentage of the people in Canton
who eat chop suey is prol)ably not as
great as the percentage of occidentals '
who eat it in their o^ai countries.
In all probai)ility the foods most fa-
vored — hi Canton at any rate — would
find little favor with any iVmcrican, and
were the Chinese restaurants in the
United States to serve food most highly
relished by many of the Cantonese, they
would find themselves without patrons in
short order. And so for that reason,
Imperial Post Office, Canton
peihaps, the Chinese restaurant keepei's
in the United States are justified in in-
venting their special preparations and
serving them to trustful Americans, who
labor under the delusion that they are
dhiing on native Chinese foods.
Forty- Three
CANTON
A Fuchow Maid on the Bund, Canton
The reader lias already learned that
cockroaches in honey and snr.kes in ])roth
are favorite foods with some classes of
Forty- Four
people in Canton, but these strange
dishes are not the only ones of their kind
enjoyed by the Cantonese. Rats, cats,
and young dogs are highly prized by epi-
cureans of one class or another in Canton;
and so the old jingle about ''Rats, cats,
and puppy-dog tails" is not very much
amiss when applied to Canton.
In recent years rat eating has been for-
bidden in Canton, since the authorities
have come to realize that the creatures
spread several dang(n'ous diseases, the
most dread among them l)eing the bubonic
plague; but even now, many of the people
ni the lower classes find it impossible to
resist the temptation offered l)y the sight
of fat, gray rats, and go ahead and eat
them despite all laws and regulations to
the contrary.
The upper classes never favoretl the
commion gray rat particularly, but ate a
species of field rat^quite different from
the other kind and declared to be most
appetizing. However, the practice of
rat eating is not so general in China as
formerly. As a rule, it is indulged in
only by people who can not afford other
kinds of meat.
CANTON
Young dogs and old cats are still
relished by tlie Cantonese, who value
them as lelicacies suited to the most
jKirticular palate, and the lives of dogs
are as insecure in the city as the lives of
dogs in Indian camps during times of
famine, while many a cat has sung its
midnight song on a Chinese fence and
gone to make a Chinese stew before the
night again succeeds the day.
Despite the popularity of rats, cats,
and dogs as food in Canton, there is
another creature whos(> flesh is considered
as ])eing even more delicious ])y many of
the nativ(>s, both high and low caste,
and that creature is the snake, which has
been mentioned in previous chapt(>rs.
Some of the Cantonese prefer to have the
snakes served in broth, while others prefer
them roasted to a crisp. It is a moot
question among travelers as to which
style of cooking is most highly favored by
the natives. Xonpoisonous snakes are
the most popular, the finest specimens
hrino-ino; ss or S9 in the markets.
The people of Canton understand per-
fectly well the gastric qualms of occi-
dentals who hear of some of the favorite
The Old Executioner and If is Knife, I-xecution Grounds
Canton
Chinese dishes; hut they do not permit
such gastric qualms to change their eating
Forty- Five
CANTON
Government Officials who Coin China's Fifty-cent Silver
Dollars, Imperial Mint Gardens, Canton
habits. "Some Anioricau and European
foods are as revolting to us as snakes,
dogs, and cats — as food — are to you,"
they say, "and there is no more reason
why wo should deny ourselves these
Forty-Six
culinary dainties than you should deny
yourselves your favorite dish(>s because
thev niay happen to l)e out of harmony
with our sense of tastes."
IDOLS AND POTTERY
|AXTOX, besides bt'ing one
of the strangest cities in
the Orient, from the trav-
eler's viewpoint, is also
one of the pi'incipal manu-
facturing cities of the
counti'v. A majority of
the in.lustries in Canton
are carried on by the 75 or SO trade guilds,
some of whom have entire districts devoted
to tiie proihiction of their respective wares.
The outj)ut of the Canton trade guilds
includes humh"eds of articles of UKTchan-
dis>', ]-anging from idols to ])()ttery, and
running the whole ganuit of export goods —
from hair, silk, (Mnbroitleri(>s, jade, carved
woods, candied ginger, and other Chinese
sweetmeats, to fans and lacfjuer ware.
The district of the l)lackwood-cutters'
guild ofTei-s one of the most interesting
sights in Canton. Few travelei-s ever
visit the city without directing their sedan-
CANTON
chair coolic^s to carry them along Yiick
Tszo and Tai-son-kai Streets, and the Ohl
Factory (Hstrict where most of the shops
in tlie guihl are located.
Solenm Cliinamen squat in front of
partially completed idols, whose mys-
terious faces are hardly more strange than
th(^ saffron countenances of their makers.
The idol carvere, after putting the finish-
ing touches on the images, cover them
with gold leaf or gilt, and dispose of them
to native purchasers, and sometimes to
souvenir-seeking foreigners.
Natives engaged in turning out ca])i-
nets, chairs, l)uffets, tahles, and other
articles of the sort, will tell the visitor —
with iliokers of pride in their usually ex-
pressionless faces — that their ancestors
worked in the same shop, making the same
kind of articles, long before the "foreign
devils" ever came to China. Wlien the
faltering hand of an aged father dropped
the carving tools, leaving, say, an idol or a
chair half completed, the youthful hand
of his son would pick up the carving tools,
and the son would cany on the work
wlier(> his father left off — just as his
father carried on the work after his grand-
fatlun-, and his grandfather carried on the
work after his great grandfather, and so
on down through the centuries. It is a
fatalistic, initiative-destroying custom —
typical of the strange manners and cus-
touis of old China.
Buddhist images and pi<'ture frames
are sold in Siu-sen-kai ; ivory and turquoise
goods in Tai-sen-kai, Yuen-sek-hong, and
Yuk-tsz-hong; sandalwood products in
Hou-pun-kai; feather fans and embroider-
ies in Chong-yuen-f ong ; sandalwood prod-
ucts and porcelain in Sen-tau-lan; and
ivory, lacquer ware, and silver vessels in
Sai-hing-kai.
Pottery manufactured in Canton is
exported to neai'ly every country in the
world, and doubtless many of the Ameri-
cans and Em'opeans visiting the city ate
their pon-idge or bread and milk from
dishes made in Canton before the}^ were
old enough to know there was such a city.
The Cantonese make many kinds of
pottery, from the delicately designed egg-
shell variety to the stm'dy sort designed
for us(^ in restaurants and nurscuies (\\-nere
an al)ility to stand hard knocks is one of
the qualities most desired in dishes).
Forty-Seven
CANTON
Missionary Children and One American Girl, Canton
The soft clay is jnodolcd into ninneroiis
designs, peculiarly and quaintly oriental.
The utensils are baked to a stone hardness
in red-hot kilns, after which they are
painted with many colors, ])lue and red
predominating, and then baked again
Forty -Eight
until the colors are firmly attached to the
pottery. Probably the best pottery shops
in Canton are in the Sha-kee-tai-kai dis-
trict, near the island of Shameen.
THE CHINESE FLEET
HILE the Chinese ileet, in
the minds of many people
not acquainted with tlie
astonishing progress made
in China during the past
few years, is as nonexist-
ent as the nayy of Swit-
zerland, the traveler in
China finds that the Government niain-
tains a small, but quite ellicient, force of
ships, manned by highly intelligent and
fairly well-trained native sailoi"s.
During the rule of the Maiichu dynasty
each province controlled its own navy and
worked independently of the central Gov-
ernment; but, with the formation of the
Republic, a reorganization was effected,
and in August, 1912, the Chinese fieet
was ])lace(l under the control of the
Ministry of the Navy.
The Government hoped, by bringing
about an amaliramation of the naval
CANTON
units, to evolve a navy capahle of dealing
with domestic as well as loreign quarrels.
It also planned to increase the efficiency of
the navy by sending cadets abroad —
especially to the Ignited States and Eng-
land — for the purpose of training them in
the methods of modern naval warfare.
"The number of the personnel of the
Navy," says the Statesman's Yearbook,
"can not he stated exactly. Experience
proves that the Chinese ])luejackets, with
training and discipline, can rank with
any bluejackc^ts in the world." In 1916,
according to the China Yearbook, there
were 20 gunl)oats, ranging from 300 to
l,r)00 tons, in the Chinese fleet; and also
11 torpedo boats, ranging from 26 to
50 tons, and 2 transports of 700 and
1,700 tons, respectively.
The Chinese Navy is now mainly under
the control of the Peking Government —
although some of the ships give their loy-
alty to the Government at Canton — an(
very frequently travelers on the Chukiang
River are given the novel i)rivilege of
viewing a Cliincse war vessel, manned by
Chinese sailors, and commanded by Chi-
nese officers, sailing up a Chinese river.
Victoria Hotel, Canton
Frequently the warshii)s cruise up and
down the stream in search of pirates, and
after a taste or two of Chinese shell —
Fort u-N VIC
CANTON
Grim Executioner Taking Head to Exhibit as a
Warning, Canton
which of course hurts as much when it
hits as American or Enghsh or any other
shell — the ])irates are only too glad to
seek refuge among the hills and swamps.
The pirates captured on such expeditions
Fifty
are usually taken to Canton and beheaded
by the official executioners.
During the reign of the Empress Hsi-
Tai-Hou, the Government appropriated
S50,000,000 for the building of ships for
the Chinese fleet. Tradition relates that
instead of using the money for the pur-
pose intended, the Empress built a magnifi-
cent summer palace, easing her conscience,
in her own way, by building a marble
boat near the palace.
WATI AND HONAN
jATI, a subiu'b of Canton,
standing on the south
bank of the Chukiang
River, contains among
other industries a ship-
building plant, where sam-
gans and other native
hinese craft are built
M.
jf
~.
for use by the river population of Canton.
The city of Honan, really a section of
Canton, stands on an island of the same
name rising from the CMiukiang River
near Shameen and Namkwan. llonan
has a population of about 100,000 peoi)le,
most of them natives, employed in small
CANTON
factories, shops, warehouses, in the ship-
yards — whore sampans, small and large
steamers are built — and in the river tracle.
Wati and Ilonan are hoth as old as Can-
ton, because Chinese legends tell of the two
islands being settled at about the same
time Canton was founded by the Cliinese.
Canton, itself, is known as the 'Tity
of Rams," because of the ancient legend
which claims that its founders — five
Genii, clad in garments of five colors,
rode through the air on five rams, each
bearing five varieties of grains, which they
presented to the people of Canton upon
their arrival in the vdlage or settlement.
' 'Canton' ' is the English mispronuncia-
tion of "Kwangtung" — the ))rovincc in
which the port is located. The real
Chinese name for the city is ''Kwong
Chow," the name dating back to the
period of the three states, 220-280 A. 1).
Before that time Canton was known as
"Nam Hoi."
Canton was incorporated into the
Empire of China during the dynasty of
Chin-Chi-Wong, the Emperor who l)uilt
the Great Wall and burned the Chinese
classics in 218 B. C.
CLIPPER-SHIP DAYS
N THE early days of the
last century, when the
American merchant
marme sailed in the first
rank of the trading fleets
of the world, largely be-
cause of the porfection to
which tlie clipper ship had
been brought by shipbuilders and de-
signers. Canton was the destination of hun-
dreds of sailing vessels from the United
States and other countries.
American clipper ships sailed from the
f)orts of Boston, Salem, and New York —
aden with cotton goods and other Ameri-
can products proceeded through the
Straits of Magellan to the Pacific Coast,
where they traded their cargoes for furs,
and sometimes stopped at Hawaii where
they traded their cargoes for sandalwood.
Sandalwood and furs, prized by theChi-
nese, were taken in the clipper ships across
the Paeific to Canton, and tnere exchanged
for silk and tea. The voyage usually re-
quired two or three years, and when the
clipper ships returned to their respective
Fi/ty-One
CANTON
Examination Hall Rows of 12.000 Cells— Where the
Ku-Yan Tuenneal Examinations Occur, Canton
ports, and their cargoes of tea and silk were
disposed of, the owners often found they
had made a fortune on tlie singk> vo^'age.
Prosperity came to American ports as
well as to Canton (hn'ing tlie days of the
fast cli[)per ships, and Chinese, as well as
Fiftij- Ti'o
Americans, mourned when the advent of
the steamer spelled tlie end of the clipper.
For many years trade between Canton and
American ports continued to decline as a
logical result of the decline of the Ameri-
can merchant marine; but now that the
flag is again seeking out new trade routes,
as in days of old, trade between Canton
and other Chinese ports and the I'nited
States is beginning to assume something
of its former proportions.
History relates that the iirst traders to
enter Canton came from Arabia more than a
thousand years ago, at which time they built
the minaret known in Canton as the ''Plain
Pagoda." Besides engaging in trade with
the Cantonese, the Arabians introduced
Mohamme(hinism to the natives, and now,
althougli the Arabian trade with Canton
stopped many years ago, the religion of
Mohammed still remains in the port.
Portuguese traders entered Canton in
the early part of the sixteenth century
(1511). Tliey were ft)llowed about a
century later by the Britisli, who sent
ships to Canton from Liverpool, as the
Americans later sent clipper ships from
Boston, Salem, and New York.
WASIIINCTOX : (loVKItXMENT rRIXTI.NG OFFICE : 1920
THE FAMOUS SEDAN CHAIR OF CHINA
Fi/ly- Three
CANTON
MEMORANDUM
These blank pages should be used to note items of interest to which you will want to refer
Fifty-Five
CANTON
MEMORANDUM
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