John Thomson

“ This, however, soon wears off; he feels the necessity of rest after a hard day's work in a hot, trying climate, and marks the happy, contented faces of the sturdy chair-bearers who clamour, all unconscious of degradation, for the favour of his regular patronage, and for the trifle which is to be paid for his fare. Chair-stands are to be found at all the hotels, at the corners of the chief thoroughfares, as well as on the wharves, where the eager chair-coolies pounce upon each freshly-arrived stranger as he lands at the port. ”

“ The Great Wall seems to me to express a national characteristic of the Chinese race. All along that people loved to dwell in their own land in seclusion, pursuing the industries and the arts of peace, and to them China has ever been the central flowery land. Within it everything worth having is concentrated, and outside of it, on narrow and unproductive soils, dwell scattered tribes of barbarians ever bent on predatory excursions into the paradise of the Celestial Empire. ”

“ If married, she has a separate suite of apartments for herself, children, and maid servants. If she pays a visit, a sedan chair conveys her from her own door ; silken curtains screen her from the public gaze ; and thus protected, she is borne to the ladies' quarter in her friend's home, with jealous privacy and concealment. When seated among her friends she partakes of tea and a pipe, and displays in her conversation a far greater knowledge of the outer world than one might at first have expected. ”

“ The inner harbour is on the north-west side of the peninsula, and here the oldest part of the town is to be found. A number of narrow dingy lanes lead from the Praya to the main streets in the upper part of the town; and here the houses wear an interesting, antique appearance, greatly marred, however, by a variety of bright colours with which the owners daub their dwellings, alike regardless of symmetry and harmony of combination. To a European the effect is as distasteful as a glowing patch of carmine on the shrunken cheeks of a faded beauty. ”

“ Western nations have woke the old dragon from her sleep of ages, and now she stands at bay, armed with iron claws and fangs of foreign steel.
It may be a long time yet before she will take her place among the powerful nations of the earth, but the civilizing agencies which now operate on the Central Flowery Land all tend to further the accomplishment of an end which, in the Chinese interest, is so much to be desired. The tide of civilization, too, which now annually carries labourers by their tens of thousands towards other shores, is not without its influence on the parent country. ”

“ I have heard the industry and aptitude of the Chinese school-boy highly praised by those who have had experience in teaching European children and natives of the country side by side; and I am assured that notwithstanding the obvious disadvantages under which the native labours in having to acquire a foreign language and foreign habits of thought, his capacity for learning is so great that it will sustain him neck and neck in the race with his European rival. ”

“ These arsenals are not the only signs that light is breaking in upon the long night in which the Chinese race seems to have been sleeping in the bony embrace of her dead philosophers, for this exclusive but sagacious people are not only educating their students in the foreign arts and sciences, but are sending them abroad to foreign universities, in the hope that they may bring back with them the secrets of Western power. ”

“ As we cross the marble bridge, and enter the wide portal to explore the multitude of courts and dormitories, the romance of the scene vanishes in the thick vapours that float above the altars, and which veil the smiling or glaring gods or goddesses, emblems of the holy ones, or of the fierce guardians of the Buddhist faith. ”

“ There are a number of wheelbarrow stands scattered over the settlements, for these conveyances are in constant demand among the natives, and present a striking feature on the Bund, when the hours of business are at an end. Then the Chinese merchants and their servants are wheeled along in their bright silks and satins to enjoy the cool breezes off the river, their faces aglow with good humour and enjoyment. ”

“ Then merry guests troop in, the old and infirm to squat and cackle round the blazing logs that redden the coppercoloured group, crowning the sombre palms with golden crests, and shedding a weird reflection on the bamboo foliage around. The elders pile on reeds and wood, and the young men and women dance in the firelight to the time of a wild song, until the night is far advanced. The inner raised platform serves, however, for other purposes than these, and one of the most important is to keep the house dry during the wet season, when the surrounding fields are flooded. ”

“ The Portuguese of the Kwang-tung province had done much by their own duplicity to damage the reputation of foreigners, and to confirm the Chinese maxim, that " The barbarians are like beasts, and not to be ruled on the same principle as citizens. Were any one to attempt to control them by the great maxims of reason, it would tend to nothing but confusion. The ancient kings well understood this, and accordingly ruled barbarians by misrule. Therefore, to rule barbarians by misrule is the true and the best way of ruling them." ”

“ On the wives and daughters of the household falls the business of superintending the various delicate operations connected with the production of the silk — their duty it is to collect the eggs, to watch with care the process of hatching, which takes place in April, to nourish with the tender mulberry-leaves the tiny worm as he accomplishes his marvellous labours, and then, when he has finished his silken fabric, to arrest his career of industry, and wind off the cocoons for exportation to the looms of Europe. We owe much to China ”

“ The lanes of Taiwanfu are commonly between two cactus hedges gay with the major convolvulus, the fuchsia and many other wild flowers. Their blossoms show out brilliantly against the background of green, while overhead the bamboo rears its stately plumes and branches to form a pointed arch of shade above the path. The slender stems nod to every passing breeze, and fitful gleams of sunshine light up the flowers and foliage beneath. A scene more bright and beautiful could rarely be found. ”

“ This is among the most startling characteristics of China, and one viewed by a foreigner with continual surprise, accustomed as the latter is to Western progress, and inspired with an insane desire for novelty, as the Chinese themselves might describe him. These men of China, at some distant period of the past, must have had people of inventive genius among them who devised their present simple mechanical appliances, each one, in its own sphere, adapted to do a certain kind of work in a way which left nothing to be desired by succeeding generations. ”

“ It figures extensively in the social economy of the people throughout the length and breadth of the Empire. Were every other means of support withdrawn, except bamboos and rice, these two plants would supply the necessaries for clothing, habitation, and food, indeed, the bamboo alone, as I propose to show, would bear the lion's share of the burden. No tending is needed for this hardy-natured plant, nor is it dainty in the choice of its locality, for it grows with equal vigour on the thin soil of rocky hill-sides, and in the well-tilled fields or gardens of the valleys below. ”

“ In the one, progress is being fostered with a swift and nervous energy, with an impetus that may carry it too far, while the other remains almost in statu quo, or else adopts, with proud reluctance, those tardy measures of reform which have been pressed upon her by a closer intercourse with foreign nations, while, with rare exceptions, her rulers and people remain blindly wedded to their ancient petrified policy of exclusive ness, looking back for inspiration to the doctrines which their dead sages have handed down. ”

“ To each trade its special locality or street has been assigned, and each shop is a perfect counterpart of its neighbour. Here we find none of the display, none of those desperate efforts to secure the lion's share of custom, which competition has fostered in European towns ; and nothing fills a foreigner with more surprise than the drowsy indifference among the shopkeepers of China with regard to the disposal of their wares. ”

“ A second difficulty arises from the strong dislike entertained by the people against admitting strangers into the inner courts of their dwellings; for these they hold to be sacred and inviolate. To such an extent, indeed, has this idea of privacy and family isolation been carried, that Chinese homes have for ages been constructed, on all occasions, after a model which seems to aim at perfect family seclusion from relatives even, and friends, no less than from strangers. ”

“ It is a matter of regret that, while we note with satisfaction the unmistakable signs of progress in China, more especially in those parts which have been brought face to face with the civilizing influences of Western intercourse, we at the same time cannot avoid remarking the equally manifest symptoms of decay which too frequently present themselves in the interior of the country. There we find bad roads, bridges and embankments broken and abandoned, and a poverty-stricken population. Much of this state of affairs is attributable to the niggardliness and rapacity of the officials. ”

“ I suppose, in this way, inventive genius and its efforts at improvement must have been suppressed; and so the Chinese, having at an early time brought everything to comparative perfection, have rested since from generation to generation, content to go on, in filial piety, doing as their forefathers did. Perhaps they have found more true happiness in their simple ways than our civilized millions of people can realize in the glorious nineteenth century. ”

“ The mat sails, with their ribs of bamboo, still look like the spread wings of a huge bat, or the fiery dragon of the Celestial Mythology. Her rig, however, is not so unmanageable as appearances would imply; with a fair and willing crew the sails can be set with care and speed, while they will fall if the ropes be unfastened, and furl, without an effort, of themselves. The anchor is of hard wood that has a greater specific gravity than water. ”

“ When that time arrives, the Chinese will find the elements of all they are in search of at the foreign settlements in Shanghai, where the schools, the splendid commerce, the merchant palaces, the fleets of steamers, the local foreign government, the opulence of the inhabitants, and the condition of the streets and dwellings, offer an instructive contrast to the condition of the Chinese walled city which lies to the south of the foreign settlements. The labour of centuries has brought this city to its present state, and the result is little to the credit of the authorities who rule there. ”

“ The hills of the locality are nothing more by nature than barren granite rocks. This granite is sometimes in a state of decomposition, but much of it also consists of solid boulders, bare and exposed, and resting like monuments on the tops and sides of the hills. In spite of these disadvantages, the rich soil of the plain has been imported, and round the foreign houses the sterile slopes and valleys have been transformed into flower gardens and close cropped lawns. As might have been anticipated, a thriving village has sprung up in the neighbourhood to supply the wants of the foreigners. ”

“ Summer after summer, when the mountain snows have melted in the north, the flooded streams have burst their banks, and carried death and destruction over the vast and fertile districts of the plains below; indeed it appears to me that the prevention of disaster, and the security of the Empire in prosperity and peace, have always been directly dependent upon the exercise, by the government, of a vigilant and effective supervision over the watercourses and embankments throughout the country. ”

“ The footpaths, close to the shops, exhibit a scene of great interest. One has frequently to follow along a narrow space left by a number of coal-laden camels, whose drivers are refreshing themselves at the nearest tea-shop, or else to make a dttottr to avoid damaging the wares which some shop-keeper has spread out upon the ground. Occasionally we brush past the cloth-covered sedan of some high mandarin, whose bearers and followers are shouting that the way must be cleared for the approach of The Great. After this, perhaps, a Tartar lady is encountered, rich in her Jewels and her silken attire. ”

“ A LIVING TOMB.
WHEREVER the Buddhist faith prevails it is deemed a work of great merit to erect a new temple, or to restore an old one, and more especially so if the accomplishment of these objects involves acts of self-denial or penance. In Siam, where the Buddhism is of a type purer than in China, the rich make it their custom to rear new temples and monasteries, in order that the soul of the builder after death may transmigrate into some being of a still higher and holier mould. ”