Pekingese

“ TIBETAN PILGRIMS
After crossing the bridge the road leads along127 the right bank of the Ta Tu for a distance of nearly 20 miles. Villages are few and the population is scanty. In the hamlet of Ta P'êng Pa I rested in an eating-house kept by a Chinese, who, to my surprise, greeted me in Pekingese. As I sipped my tea he cheerfully informed me that he had been a Boxer, and had left Peking immediately after the allies had entered it. I fancy he must have done so under a cloud ”

“ According to treaty all Westerners in Peking still live within the Legation Quarter. But the foreign community has long since outgrown such limited accommodations. Chinese with houses to rent, merchants with goods to sell, every caste and variety of Pekingese who covets some of the contents of foreigners’ plump purses, is glad to overlook this fiction in practice, so that brass name-plates in Roman letters, and flagpoles flaunting various Western colors, are widely scattered within the Tartar City. ”

“ For the transcription of Chinese words I use the modern Peking pronunciation as represented in Giles's Dictionary. It may be justly objected that of all dialects Pekingese is perhaps the furthest removed from ancient Chinese and therefore unsuited for historical studies and also that Wade's system of transcription employed by Giles is open to serious criticism. But, on the other hand, I am not competent to write according to the pronunciation of Nanking or Canton all the names which appear in these chapters and, if I were, it would not be a convenience to my readers. ”

“ To the Chinese ear, the difference between the two is very marked. It will be found, as a rule, that an Englishman imparts a slight aspirate to his p’s, t’s, k’s and ch’s, and therefore has greater difficulty with the unaspirated words in Chinese. The aspirates are better learned by the ear than by the eye, but in one way or another it is essential that they be mastered by any one who wishes to make himself intelligible to the native.
The influence of the Mongolian population, assisted by the progress of time, has slowly but surely diminished the number of vocables in Pekingese. ”

“ BUT there is neither East nor West, Border nor Breed nor Birth "when great ladies of the Occident decree that dogs of the Orient are worthy of acquisition. Thus it comes about that one of the most popular toy dogs of the day is the Pekingese—-the Palace dog of his own land, treasured and guarded by many generations of Emperors and Empresses. Even to-day in China the task of collecting individuals outside the Royal palaces is attended with the utmost difficulty, and great must be the amazement of any untravelled Chinaman who sets foot in this country for the first time on seeing so many about. ”

“ Men as a class are drawn towards the sporting dogs, terriers, setters, pointers, hounds, spaniels, but no woman yet set eyes on one of these midgets without succumbing to its attractions. Rapid though the advances made by the Pekingese have been, the Pomeranian has not lost ground in any sense. ”

“ But, Oh, Mate, if I could only make you see the gilded walled city, in which history of the ages is being laid in dust and ashes, while the power that made it is hastening down the back alley to a mountain nunnery for safety! Peking is like a beautiful golden witch clothed in priceless garments of dusty yellow, girded with ropes of pearls. Her eyes are of jade, and so fine is the powdered sand she sifts from her tapering fingers it turns the air to an amber haze; so potent its magic spell, it fascinates and enthralls, while it repels. ”

“ They are China; China of the raw North, and the great, sandy, alluvial plain in the midst of which the gar- dens of Pekin bunch out in huge, green-plumed masses ... when seen from the wing of the sparrow’s flight. For it is the garden, and not the house which is the castle of the Pekinese; and so, as we walk through the streets of Chinese town and Tartar town, as we look toward the Mei-shan—the so-called “Coal Hill”—which crowns the Imperial City, no gardens are visible, but only solid house-fronts, knit together with plaster, bamboo, and scarped stone. ”

“ A macrocosm in herself, Pekin is the symbol and interpreter of China’s inner being. In her soul, which is the soul of all the East, are the strength of the trees, the dignity of the rocks, the power of the wind ... ”

“ PEKING, for ages the center of art and culture, the pride of an ancient and glorious civilization, has within its crenelated walls the best that China has ever produced in literature, art, and architecture. To appreciate China, therefore, one must first see Peking. To have seen Peking is to have seen something far more than a mere town inclosed by mammoth walls. The great Northern Capital possesses individuality. It radiates an atmosphere that is "different." It is like nothing else on earth, and that is in itself a rare merit. ”

“ One never realises how great a part soap and water play in one's scheme of things until times like these. With upturned Peking carts blocking the ingresses to our quarter; with everything disgruntled and out of order; with native Christians crowding in on us, sensible heathen servants bolting as hard as they can, ice running short, we, the eleven Legations of Peking, await with some fear and trepidation and an ever-increasing discomfort our various fates under the shadow of the gloomy Tartar Wall. ”

“ Those that are hardest up will sell their daughters into bondage, and there will be an end of the matter.
The hills west of Peking are the Switzerland of Northern China. They are not very high nor extraordinarily beautiful, but there are some very pretty gorges and valleys, richly wooded, and at any rate the air is fresh and pure. Every gorge has a perfect nest of temples, built by the pious emperors of the Ming dynasty and the earlier Tartars, for which good deeds the Corps diplomatique at Peking cannot be too grateful. ”

“ In short, we are working gradually into winter. In another fortnight the trees will all be bare, and Peking, throwing off the green clothes which it puts on in summer, in order to delude stray visitors into the idea that it is a pretty place, will stand naked, dirty, and ashamed. The last month has been very pleasant—neither too hot nor too cold; and the early morning rides, before wind or dust has arisen, and when the evil smells of the town, which are beaten down by the night dews, have not had time to assert themselves again, put fresh life into us after the great heats. ”

“ Viewed from the walls Peking looks like a city of gardens. Few crowded neighbourhoods are visible, and the characteristic features of the scene which meets the eye are the upturned roofs of temples, palaces, and mansions, gay with blue, green and yellow glazed tiles, glittering among the groves of trees with which the city abounds. It is fortunate that the city is not close-built or crowded, for since the first advent of foreigners in Peking in 1860 nothing whatever had been done until 1900 to improve the streets or the drainage. ”

“ Their contempt for the Miao is unbounded and out of all proportion. Our interpreter was astonished to find how different they were from all that he had ever heard, and decided that he must enlighten Peking on the subject when he returned home!
The character of the people is in striking contrast to that of the Chinese. They are warlike, frank, lawless, primitive, open-hearted, opposed to trading and city life: some are great riders, but we never saw one on horseback. ”

“ They go on all day and drive one nearly distracted. Sometimes one can hardly hear oneself speak, but the Chinese delight in them, and my teacher told me the story of their introduction as if he had been speaking of an importation of nightingales. Happily at Peking they declined to flourish; there we have only a lesser and more piano sort, which it is an Imperial amusement at certain times of the year to catch off the trees with long bamboo rods tipped with bird-lime. The Chinese certainly find pleasure in what are to us very disagreeable noises. ”

“ The population of Peking is reckoned to be about 1,000,000, a number which is out of all proportion to the immense area enclosed within its walls. This disparity is partly accounted for by the facts that large spaces, notably in the Chinese city, are not built over, and that the grounds surrounding the imperial palace, private residences, and temples are very extensive. Viewed from the walls Peking looks like a city of gardens. ”

“ We turn back to that oasis in the wilderness of Peking, that fairy palace, the Ying-kuo Fu. We reach once more the beautiful perspective, that makes us long for 473 the British Minister to stand in state with his following, holding a reception of Chinese mandarins, that we might see them all grouped according to their dignities against such a picturesque background. Then looking at the blue and green and golden dragon beams, at the sunshine and the stillness of the courtyards, we feel inclined, like Germans, to evolve the rest of Peking out of our own inner consciousness. ”

“ Though the peculiarities of foreigners amuse the Chinese as much as theirs do [59] us, it is singular how their natural courtesy prevents their showing it in the offensive manner that every Englishman has experienced in some foreign countries. I had expected to find the country on this side of Peking flat, ugly, and barren. Flat it certainly is, but there are plenty of trees and rich fields, and it cannot be called ugly. The villages and graves argue an immense population. It is not till one is under the very walls of the town that one sees Peking. ”

“ From this bird's-eye view, Peking appears so buried in trees, that it is hard to believe that its teeming streets, with a population variously estimated at from 400,000 to 800,000, is immediately below. We are so far above it, that even the street cries and calls come up in a softened murmur. ”

“ If we add to this the insolent effrontery of the Chinese themselves and the nickname of Kwei-tsz, i.e. 'foreign devils,' with other opprobrious epithets, which they bestowed upon us, it may readily be imagined that Peking is not the pleasantest place in the world for a stroll. To complete the picture, collectors of manure are continually moving about plying their trade with baskets on their arms ”

“ NDOUBTEDLY the most fascinating spot in all Peking is the lovely Yi Ho Yuan, or "Garden of Peaceful Enjoyment." Formerly known as Un the Wan Shou Shan, it was renamed thus by Her Imperial Majesty, a Tzū Hsi, who rebuilt and beautified it during the later years of her long regency. The Empress Dowager was an artist to her verg finger-tips; and in this quiet spot by the lakeside, where nature so kindly lends itself to art, she gave full expression to her innate sense of the beautiful In all Chinese art three things predominate. They are always there-mountains, trees, and water. ”

“ When we speak of the "social" life of Peking, it must be understood as referring exclusively to that of the foreign residents among themselves, for between them and the natives there was no such intimacy. ”

“ PEKING, APRIL, 1912. Back once again, Mate, in the City of Golden Dusts. Glorious spring sunshine, and the whole world wrapped in a tender haze. Everything has little rainbows around it and the very air is studded with jewels.
Soldiers are still marching; flags are flying; drums are thumping and it is all to the tune of Victory for the Revolutionists. But best of all Jack is well! To me Peking is like that first morning of Eve's in the Garden of Eden. ”

“ So soon as we had passed the dusty streets and suburbs obstructed by carts and camels, whose bells and dull tramp irritate one’s ears, while the dust they shuffle up blinds and chokes one, the ride became delightful. The fresh green of the budding trees and young spring crops and the tints of the distant hills were new life to eyes tired with the monotonous grays of a Peking winter. ”

“ Peking stands at the end of the great seacoast plain as you go up from Tientsin by railway or by boat. Beyond rise the Hsi Shan (Western Mountains) and the Mongolian plateau and mountains. It is the most expansive city in the republic, because it is more built up than spacious Nanking; a court, a legation, a trading, an art, an educational, a health center in autumn, a military, but not a manufacturing center as yet, though it will be. It is more Mongolian and Manchu, perhaps, than pure Han Chinese. ”

“ And what is the Great Wallthe greatest of the Seven Wonders of the world, but the theme throughout the ages that has called forth a thousand plaintive and protesting songs that bemoan the tragic fate of its numberless and nameless slave-laboters and condemn the wars and territorial ambitions that necessitated its building and rebuilding To the Western visitor, all these artistic and moralistic prejudices ate a thing apart He, on his first arrival, falls in love with Peking. ”

“ And then your gaze travels along the wall, to where, dimly outlined against the horizon, you discern the empty frames of the wonderful astronomical instruments that were once the glory of Peking, now adorning a Berlin museum, set up for the German holiday-makers to gape at. After all, there are discordant notes in Peking.
Down in the streets there is plenty of life and variety. Mongol and Manchu and Chinese jostle each other in the dust or mud of the broad highways. The swift rickshaws thread their way through the throng with amazing dexterity. ”

“ There is yet another and a more unpleasant drawback to be met with, in going about the streets of Peking. The Chinese, but particularly the Tartar and Manchu part of the population, dislike Europeans, and openly insult us as we pass along, jeering and laughing in a most offensive manner, and obviously making the rudest observations. Even the little children come out and call us foul names, of which Barbarian and Foreign or Red-Haired Devils are the mildest terms—language which they must have become familiar with by hearing it used by their parents. ”