Page:Illustrations of China and Its People vol. IV.pdf/15



IN my last volume I left the reader to find his way back to Shanghai from the rocky gorges of the Upper Yangtsze, and in order to beguile the time which he may be supposed to spend in the monotony of a downward voyage, I have introduced to his notice the high magnates of the Empire, some of whom, although exercising so wide an influence over the greatest people of Eastern Asia, are wholly unknown to European fame. It takes about three days to go from Shanghai to Chefoo, the passage being not un frequently a rough one, for this part of the northern coast is subject to breezy and boisterous weather. The harbour of Chefoo offers safe anchorage for the largest vessels, and its port — on the northern side of the Shun-tung promontory, and known to the natives as the town of " Ycntai " — is the only one open to foreign trade all along the coast, from the river Yangtsze as far as the Peiho. I gather from the Official Customs Report for 1872 that the trade of Chefoo, ever since the port was opened to foreign commerce, has been making steady progress, and more especially in the exportation of silk. Thus the Pongee silk, for which the place has now become noted, has regularly increased in quantity as a leading article of export, 650 ptculs of this commodity having been shipped in 1868 and 1,175 piculs in 1872. In like manner the wild raw silk has risen from six piculs in 1868 to 977 in 1872, and yellow silk from 289 in 1868 to 301 in 1872, while foreign imports, although they do not show so marked an advance, are still in steady demand. The duties collected during 1872 amounted in the gross to 330,972 tls. Of this sum British trade contributed considerably over one-third; and from these facts it will be seen that Chefoo, like all the other treaty ports of China, is a place of great importance to our own home trade. The spot is also a favourite resort for Shanghai foreign residents during the hottest months of summer, for cool breezes and sea-bathing may here be enjoyed in one of the finest bays on the coast of China; and close to the sloping sandy beach there is a foreign hotel, conducted on a scale suited to the requirements of the wealthy Shanghai merchants and officials who flock to this welcome sanitarium when jaded with toil and exhausted with the fierce midsummer heats.

The town of Chefoo, or rather the foreign settlement there, is not very picturesque in itself, and (see No. 6) I agree with Mr. Williamson in his opinion that the site, in so far as trading facilities and the comfort of foreign residents are concerned, has been badly chosen, being "exposed to the full blast of the north-west wind." I had my own bitter experience of that north-west wind. When I executed the illustration which I introduce to my readers I was standing in eighteen inches of snow drift. The thermometer being very low, I should say near zero Fahrenheit, I had engaged a group of coolies to hold my dark room down, for the wind threatened every moment to hurl it off its legs. When washing the plate free from cyanide of potassium the water froze on its surface, and hung in icicles around its edges, so that in order to save the picture I was forced to take it to a neighbouring native house, and there to thaw the ice above a fire.

The climate of Shun-tung to some extent resembles that of the more northern countries of Europe, although during two months of summer the maximum of heat is higher, while during winter the temperature is frequently very low. Nevertheless the seasons are so well defined as to enable the farmer not only to raise the fruits and cereals grown in warmer climes, but also to produce those common to colder latitudes, such as pears, apples, wheat, barley, and so forth. Some parts of the province are exceedingly fertile, and yield to the tillage of the labourer three or four crops a year.

The province of Shun-tung is about equal in area to Great Britain and Ireland, but it is not yet well known to foreigners, although the classic land of China. Here the labours of the great Yu were in part performed; Confucius was born in Shun-tung in 550 B.C., 2 and so also was Mcncius, i 79 years afterwards. Thus the one of these celebrities was cotemporary with Pythagoras, and the other with Plato. It is also interesting to note that Shakyamuni Gautama Buddha, the great reformer of Brahmanism and the founder of the Buddhist faith, is supposed to have died just seven years before the birth of Confucius. " It is now generally agreed upon by European scholars that the year 543 b.c. is most probably that in which Shakyamuni Gautama Buddha died." 3 We thus find two men flourishing at about the same epoch, whose religious and moral teachings have exercised for so many centuries a most powerful influence upon the Chinese.

The father of Confucius is said to have ruled over Yen-chow-foo, and the direct descendants of Confucius and Mencius are still to be encountered in the province of Shun-tung.

Taking steamer again to Tien-tsin, a short run across the Gulf of Peichihli brought us to the mouth of Peiho, where I visited the famous Taku forts, which command the entrance of the river. These mud strongholds have been often and well described. During the time of my visit the guns within their ramparts were badly mounted, and the