Page:Essays on the Chinese Language (1889).djvu/350

336 the best known and the most used was kung-pan-wei or kung-pan-ya (公班衙 or 牙), In this as in several other cases the Chinese adopted a foreign expression for which they had a native equivalent, "Company" being explained as another name for kung-ssŭ (公司), which denotes a mercantile association. The native designation alone has in this case survived, "Company" having ceased to be used by the Chinese. But traces or rather fragments of it still remain not only in books but also in the common language. The characters for kung-pan-wei were used to denote as well the Netherlands as the English East India Company, the first and greatest Companies with which the Chinese became intimately acquainted. When used without any qualifying word these characters denoted only the English East India Company. Now certain commodities imported by this Company were regarded by the Chinese as much better than like articles sold by other foreign merchants. Hence a native dealor in foreign wares was wont to use the word Company as an epithet of his goods when he wished to make it known that these were of the best quality. But the three characters in which the word was transcribed were tedious and awkward to write, and so it came that only one or two of them at most were retained in common business. Thus we find pan-pu (班布), Company's cloth, to denote the best calico; kung-pan (or more usually kung only) with t‘u or yen added (公 or 頁班土 or 烟) for the best opium, and kung-t‘u in this sense is still in common use throughout the empire.

Another mercantile term which the Chinese adopted in recent times is "insure." With the Cantonese merchants this word becomes in-shoh and is written 燕梳 and in several other ways. Lately, however, a new native phrase—pao-an—has been introduced and been made to translate "insure," and in consequence the English term is not widely known and is perhaps passing out of use. Again the Chinese have a native term corresponding to our word "cheque," but the Cantonese who dealt with foreigners found it expedient to use the English name. They pronounce it chik (writing it 則) and make hybrid expressions like ngan-chik (銀則), money cheque, and yat-chiong-chik, that is, one cheque.