The face of China

by E. G. Kemp

In the year 1852 the Yellow River took a new course (which was still further changed in 1887) from the south of the province of Honan, in a north-east instead of a south-east direction, so that now it falls into the Gulf of Chili instead of into the Yellow Sea, to the south of the province of Shantung. Its present mouth is some three hundred miles distant from its former one. It has with good reason been named “China’s Sorrow.” Like the Yangtze, it rises in the mountains of Tibet, and follows a devious course of 2500 miles through northern China; but unlike the Yangtze, the main highway of commerce, the Yellow River or Hwang Ho is of no use for trade purposes. A decree has just been issued granting ten sticks of great Tibetan incense to be burnt at the altar of the Dragon King Temple (riverine deity) in token of Imperial gratitude because there was a peaceful river last year. This is done in response to the report of the Governor of Chili; and rewards have been given to a number of officials for their vigilance in connection with the Yellow River conservancy.

The following day we wanted to visit an American hospital a little more than a mile off the high-road to Tehchow, and had no end of difficulty in first persuading the men to permit the visit and then in finding the road. We decided to let “Mr. Summer” and the luggage go straight on to Tehchow, to get arrangements made for the boat, the kind Irish postmaster at Tsinan having sent word to his subordinate there to get us one. We progressed but slowly, asking every creature we met which was the way. The Chinese peasant is a stolid being, doing his task and taking little account of anything else, but at last we did arrive, and spent a couple of hours seeing school, hospital, &c. The result of our slow progress in the morning was that we did not reach Tehchow till it was pitch-dark, and by mistake our men were not told to go to the post-office for “Mr. Summer,” while we waited at the mission-room of the people whom we had just visited. In vain we tried to make the servant understand, and the evangelist’s household was equally uncomprehending, but kindly brought us tea. After much consultation over our affairs they fetched a young man who spoke English beautifully, and he at once set about finding “Mr. Summer” and getting food for us. He was a student from Peking, and asked what we should have done if no one had been found who knew English, and after a short time “Mr. Summer” and the postmaster turned up. They had been hunting for us outside the city, and somehow had missed us in the dark.

OUR HOUSEBOAT, GRAND CANAL

Next morning we went on board the house-boat, and had a comfortable but somewhat tame journey up the Grand Canal, which hardly comes up to its name. I spent nearly an hour sketching our house-boat in the rosy light of sunrise before the men were ready to start; certainly the spot was not very picturesque. This was by no means the first canal to be made in China, though it is the one best known to Europeans. I shall venture to quote at length an interesting description of a much earlier canal from a paper read to the China Society in London by H. E. Lord Li Ching-Fong, the Chinese Ambassador[5] to our own Court: “Once during an inundation in China artificial channels were cut in order that the nine rivers might carry all the surplus water to the sea. Even mountains were tunnelled for the purpose of constructing canals. Henceforth the ground was cultivated again and the havoc was avoided. To the sagacity of Yew we attribute the merit of this undertaking, which we regard as one of the most remarkable works of man. It was begun in 2283 B.C. and ended in 2272 B.C.” The Grand Canal was begun in the thirteenth century, and is over 2000 miles long, but where we entered it it is really a small natural river, and we were either towed or rowed most of the way to Tientsin, with not much assistance from the sail. It was formerly used for the transport of grain (the imperial tribute), but since 1900 the sea route has been used instead, and the value of the canal decreases daily, owing to the continually increasing facilities of transport, both by rail and by sea. We passed many villages, but only one of the forty-one cities which lie on its banks. On the fourth day we came to the custom-house outside Tientsin at 9 A.M., and asked “Mr. Summer” to inquire if we could not go by ricksha to our destination, as that would save time. He came back with the information that it could not be done, so we resigned ourselves to wait. Afterwards we learnt that it is always done, and that it would have taken us less than an hour to go by ricksha or steam tram, and saved us six hours of passing through the dirtiest conceivable waterway, which our noses told us was the sewer of the town! It is impossible to describe the disgustingness of what we saw, really quite the nastiest thing in China, and one could only feel thankful that at least a good deal of the native quarter had been destroyed during the siege.

Tientsin is one of the most Europeanised towns of China, and it is not only an active commercial port but is the centre of the Chinese educational movement. This was vigorously and successfully organised by Yuan Shih Kai. He made a complete system of primary and secondary schools for both sexes, and besides the middle schools there are special schools of engineering, languages, medicine, &c., including a medical training-college for women, with a well qualified Chinese lady doctor at the head of it, who was trained in America.

There is also an excellent Anglo-Chinese Mission College, founded in 1902, of which Dr. Lavington Harl, M.A., D.Sc., is the principal. Last year the students numbered 320, of whom sixty were boarders and the remainder day scholars. The curriculum now includes full training for chemical analysts and a school of electrical engineering, while it is intended to open a law school during the current year, 1909. Yuan Shih Kai gave evidence of his broad-mindedness by contributing 6000 taels to the building fund of the last block, opened in 1907. Some of the students have found this college an excellent preparation for school life in England.

Tientsin is the first city in the Empire to boast of municipal government on Western lines, and for this also Yuan Shih Kai is responsible. The Chinese are a wonderfully law-abiding people, and it is only necessary to look at our neighbouring port of Wei-hai-wei to see a remarkable instance of this. With an area of 285 square miles and a population of 150,000 inhabitants, a force of fifty-seven native police and three English inspectors is found quite sufficient to keep perfect order.

It can be no matter for surprise that Tientsin is now to be made the capital of the province of Chili instead of Paoting-fu, a city of much less importance under the changed conditions produced by recent events.

Here we took leave of “Mr. Summer,” having already made arrangements for another Chinaman to go with us from Peking to Burma.