From Pole to Pole

S >> Sven Anders Hedin >> From Pole to Pole

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37

PENANG AND SINGAPORE

The _Delhi_ holds her course for Penang, a town on a small island close
to the coast of the Malay Peninsula. At length land is sighted straight
ahead, and the letter-writers make haste to get their correspondence
ready. We glide into a beautiful sound, the anchor rattles out, and we
are at once surrounded by a swarm of curious boats which come to
establish communication between the vessel and the town.

The main street of Penang--with its large buildings, hotels, banks,
clubs, and commercial houses--presents much the same appearance as
almost always meets the eye in the port towns on the south coast of
Asia. The small single-seated "ricksha" is drawn by a Chinaman in a
loose blue blouse, bare-legged, and with a pointed straw hat on his
head. We go out to the Botanical Gardens, and find them really
wonderful. There are trees and plants from India, the Sunda Islands, and
Australia, all labelled with their English and scientific names. Monkeys
climb actively among the trees, and sit swinging on the boughs, and a
high waterfall tumbles down a cliff surrounded by dense luxuriant
vegetation.

Darkness falls suddenly, as always in the tropics, and is accompanied by
pelting rain. In a few moments all the roads are under water. The rain
pours down, not in drops but in long streams of water, and we are wet
through long before we reach the pier where the launch is waiting.

Soon after we get on board, the _Delhi_ moves out into the night down
the Strait of Malacca. Singapore is only thirty hours' voyage ahead, and
the steamer follows closely the coast of the Malay Peninsula. At sunrise
on October 24 we arrive. Singapore is the chief town of the Malay
Peninsula, which is subject to Great Britain, and contains nearly a
quarter of a million inhabitants--Europeans, Malays, Indians, but mostly
Chinese. All steamers to and from the Far East call at Singapore, which
is also the chief commercial emporium for the Sunda Islands and the
whole of the Dutch Archipelago. It lies one degree of latitude north of
the equator, and the consequence is that there is a difference of only
three degrees of temperature between winter and summer. It is always
warm, and rain falls almost every day.

At five o'clock the same afternoon the _Delhi_ steams out again,
accompanied by a swarm of light canoes rowed by naked copper-brown Malay
boys. These boys swim like fishes, and they come out to the steamers to
dive for silver coins which the passengers throw into the sea for them.
When the _Delhi_ increases her pace, they drop behind and paddle back to
the harbour with the proceeds of their diving feats. The sound gradually
widens out, and as long as twilight lasts the land and islands are in
sight. Then we turn off north-eastwards, leaving the equator behind us,
and steer out over the Chinese Sea after having doubled the southernmost
extremity of the Asiatic mainland.

UP THE CHINA SEA

In two days we had left Cochin-China, Saigon, and the great delta of the
Mekong behind us, and when on October 27 we came into contact with the
current from the north-east which sweeps along the coast of Annam, the
temperature fell several degrees and the weather became fresher and more
agreeable. The north-east monsoon had just set in, and the farther we
sailed northwards the harder it would blow in our faces. We had then to
choose between two routes--either out to sea with heavy surge and
boisterous wind; or along the coast, where the current would similarly
hinder us. Whichever way was chosen the vessel would lose a couple of
knots in her speed. The captain chose the course along the coast.

The eastern part of the peninsula of Further India consists of the
French possessions, Cambodia, Cochin-China, Annam, and Tonkin. Hanoi,
the capital of Tonkin, is the headquarters of the Governor-General of
all French Indo-China. To the south Saigon is the most important town;
it is situated in the Mekong delta, which is increasing in size every
year by the addition of the vast quantities of silt carried down by the
great river. The country abounds in wild animals, elephants, tigers,
rhinoceroses, alligators, poisonous snakes, monkeys, parrots, and
peacocks. In area the French possessions are about half as large again
as France itself, and the population is about 20 millions.

[Illustration: MAP SHOWING VOYAGE FROM BOMBAY TO HONG KONG (pp. 152-160).]

A large part of Further India is occupied by the kingdom of Siam, which
lies between the lower courses of the Mekong and the Salwin, both of
which rise in eastern Tibet. Siam is about two-thirds the size of French
Indo-China, but has only 9 million inhabitants of various
races--Siamese, Chinese, Malays, and Laos. Bangkok, the capital of the
King of Siam, contains half a million inhabitants, and is intersected by
numerous canals, on which a large proportion of the people live in
floating houses. There are many fine and famous pagodas, or temples,
with statues of Buddha. Some of them are of gold. In Siam the Buddhist
religion has been preserved pure and uncorrupted. The white elephant is
considered sacred, and the flag of Siam exhibits a white elephant on a
red field. The Siamese are of Mongolian origin, of medium, sturdy build,
with a yellowish-brown complexion, but are not highly gifted. They are
addicted to song, music, and games, and among their curious customs is
that of colouring the teeth black.

[Illustration: PLATE XVI. ON THE CANTON RIVER.]

On the morning of October 29 we steam past a fringe of islets, the
beautiful and charming entrance to Hong Kong. The north-east monsoon is
blowing freshly, and the salt foam hisses round the bow of the _Delhi_
and falls on the deck in fine spray lighted by the sun. There is little
sea, for we are in among the islands which check and subdue the violence
of the waves. At noon we glide in between a small holm and the island
into the excellent and roomy harbour of Hong Kong, well sheltered on all
sides from wind and waves. A flotilla of steam launches comes out to
meet us as we glide slowly among innumerable vessels to our anchorage
and buoys. Here flutter in the wind the flags of all commercial nations;
the English, Chinese, Japanese, American, and German colours fly side by
side. The water in the harbour basin is so shallow that the turn of the
propeller stirs up the greyish-brown mud from the bottom.

Victoria is the chief town of Hong Kong, and contains nearly the half of
the population, which amounts to 440,000 souls, most of them Chinese.

There are five important points on the sea-route to the Far
East--Gibraltar, Aden, Colombo, Singapore, and Hong Kong--and all of
them are in the hands of England.

Hong Kong has been a British Crown Colony since 1842, and it is now an
extraordinarily important port. Vessels with an aggregate tonnage of
nearly 20 millions pass through Hong Kong annually, and the little
island surpasses in this respect even London, Hamburg, and New York.
Regular lines of steamers connect Hong Kong with countless ports in
Asia, America, Europe, and Australia, and the trade of the port is
immense. It is also a station for the east Asiatic squadron of the Royal
Navy--with fine docks and berths, a coal depot, arsenal, and barracks.

Ninety miles north-west of Hong Kong lies the second city of China,
Canton (Plate XVI.). It stands near the mouths of two rivers which give
access to the interior of the country, and Canton is therefore an
important commercial town, surpassed only by Shanghai. The famous
Chinese silk is exported from Canton in larger quantities than from any
other town, and the industries of silk-weaving, porcelain, and other
manufactures are flourishing. Canton is one of the thirty-seven Chinese
"treaty ports"--that is, those which are open to foreign commerce. It
has 900,000 inhabitants, and is the capital of the southernmost of the
eighteen provinces of China proper and the residence of a viceroy. Its
streets are so narrow that no wheeled vehicle can pass through them. A
large part of the inhabitants live on boats moored to posts on the
river. A railway 1200 miles long connects Canton with the capital of the
empire, Peking.

FOOTNOTES:

[13] This is the vessel which was wrecked on the coast of Morocco, near
Cape Spartel, on December 13, 1911, having the Duke and Duchess of Fife
(Princess Royal) on board.

XII

CHINA[14]

TO SHANGHAI

From Hong Kong the _Delhi_ ploughs her way along the Chinese coast, and
next day (October 31) we are right out in the track of the north-east
monsoon. The sea is high and dead against us, and the wind is so strong
that we can hardly go up on deck. It becomes steadily cooler as we
advance northwards.

To the east we have now the large island of Formosa, which was annexed
by Japan sixteen years ago. It is about twice the size of Wales, and
marks the boundary between the China Sea and the Eastern Sea, which
farther north passes into the Yellow Sea. The coast and its hills are
sometimes seen close at hand, sometimes far off, and sometimes they
disappear in the distance. With a glass we can distinguish the
lighthouses, always erected on small islands off the mainland. The
Chinese coast is dangerous, being full of reefs, holms, and shallows.

Hong Kong and the adjoining seas are visited from the middle of July to
the middle of September by the destructive whirlwinds called typhoons.
The vortices, spinning round with tremendous rapidity, are usually
formed far out in the Pacific Ocean, and gradually advance towards the
mainland. They move at a rate of nine miles an hour, and therefore the
weather stations on the Philippines, and other islands lying in the
track of the typhoons, can send warnings by telegraph to the Chinese
coast. Then the black triangle is hoisted on a tall mast in the harbour
of Hong Kong, for instance, and is visible for a long distance. Every
one knows what it means: a typhoon is on the way. The Chinese junks make
in towards land, where they find shelter under the high coast, and all
other vessels strengthen their moorings.

On November 2 we know by the yellowish-brown colour of the water that we
are off the mouth of the Blue River, as the Yang-tse-kiang is called by
Europeans. A pilot comes on board to take us through the dangerous,
uncertain fairway, and a little later we have flat land on both sides of
us, and are in the estuary of the river.

Shanghai is situated on a small affluent which runs into the
Yang-tse-kiang close to its mouth, and large ocean steamers cannot go up
to the town. After the _Delhi_ has dropped its anchor we proceed up the
river in a steam tender. The low banks soon become more animated, the
houses stand closer together, factories appear amongst them, and Chinese
vessels lie moored on both sides, including two sorry warships of wood,
relics of a time gone by. They are high in the bow and stern, and from
the mast floats the blue dragon on its yellow field.[15] At length the
stately "bund" of Shanghai comes into sight with a row of fine, tall
houses. This is not China, but a bit of Europe, the white town in the
yellow land, the great and wealthy Shanghai with its 12,000 Europeans,
beside the Chinese town inhabited by 650,000 natives.

Next day, November 3, occurred two noted birthdays, those of the Dowager
Empress of China and of the Emperor of Japan. They were both remarkable
for their powerful minds and wisdom, and have made their names immortal
in the extreme East. The Consul-General of Japan held a reception, and
the Governor of Shanghai a brilliant dinner.

We saw much that was curious and interesting, and our time was fully
occupied during our short stay in the largest shipping and commercial
port of China. From the European streets with electric light and
tramways, churches, clubs, merchants' offices, and public buildings,
tidal docks and wharves, we reach in a few minutes the Chinese town,
pure, unadulterated Asia. It swarms with yellow men in blue coats and
black vests with small brass buttons, white stockings, black shoes with
thick, flat soles, a small black skull-cap with a red button on the
head, and a long pigtail behind. There dealers sit in their open shops,
smoking long, small pipes while waiting for customers. The tea-houses
are full. A noise and tumult beyond description, a constant going and
coming, a continual exchange of coin and goods.

The religion of the Chinese is a mixture of different doctrines and
rules of wisdom. China has had more wise men than any other old country
in the world. Foremost among them is Confucius, a contemporary of Buddha
and Socrates. He wrote a book of three hundred odes, and called it
_Purity of Thought_. Twelve disciples gathered round him, and a larger
circle of three thousand. "Do not to others what you would not that they
should do to you" was one of his precepts. When Confucius was asked how
he had contrived to acquire deep knowledge of so many things, he
replied, "Because I was born poor and had to learn." He considered
wealth a misfortune and knowledge power. The Chinese reverence his
memory, and regard him not as a god but as the wisest man of all ages.

Along with Confucianism, Taoism exists in China. The sublime teaching of
the founder has, however, been corrupted and degraded to jugglery and
superstition. At the commencement of our era Buddhism was introduced
into China, and now is spread over almost all the country. There is,
however, no clearness in the religious conceptions of the Chinese. A
Taoist may perform his devotions in the morning in a Buddhist temple and
in the evening be deeply interested in the writings of Confucius. Many
therefore have an equal respect for all three systems.

The basis, however, of Chinese religious thought is ancestor worship.
Whether they are Confucians, like most of the mandarins, or Taoists or
Buddhists, like the common people, Chinamen always cherish the same
reverence for the souls of their forefathers. An altar in their honour
is raised in even the simplest house. The graves may not be disturbed,
and nothing but respect is cherished for the memory of the departed. In
the seventeenth century the Manchu emperor, Kang Hi, ruled China for
sixty-one years with a power and wisdom which made him one of the
greatest monarchs of any age. His grandson, Kien Lung, inherited all his
excellent qualities, and when he had ruled China for nearly sixty-one
years he abdicated simply in order that, out of respect to his ancestor,
the years of his reign might not exceed his grandfather's.

One consequence of this ancestor worship is that enormous areas of China
are covered with graves. The Mongol emperor, Kublai Khan, who reigned at
the end of the thirteenth century, roused furious opposition by ordering
that all the burial-grounds should be broken up and turned into fields.
At the present time, when new railways are spreading mile after mile
through China, the sanctity of the graveyards is one of the greatest
obstacles to engineers. The Chinese will not disturb the slumbers of
their forefathers, and therefore the railway has often to pass round a
hallowed place or avoid it by means of a bridge. The Emperor himself
travels to Mukden simply to make offerings at the graves of his
ancestors. Kang Hi and Kien Lung are buried in Mukden, and their
dynasty, the Manchu, still rules over the country.

The Chinese feel this association with a past life more strongly than
with the future, and the worship of their ancestors almost takes the
place of affection for their fatherland. They certainly love their own
homes, but what goes on in other parts of the country is a matter of
indifference to them. To the Cantonese it matters not whether the
Russians take Manchuria or the Japanese Korea, provided only that Canton
is left in peace. Ancestor worship may be said, indeed, to be the true
religion of the Chinese. For the rest they are filled with an
unreasoning fear of spirits, and have recourse to many different gods
who, they believe, can control these influences for good and evil. They
are very superstitious. If any one falls sick of fever and becomes
delirious, his relations believe that his soul has gone astray. They
carry his clothes round the spot where he lost consciousness in order to
bring his soul into the right track again; and at night they go up to
the roof and wave a lantern to guide the soul home.

"THE MIDDLE KINGDOM"

The first things a Chinese schoolboy is taught are that the sky is
round, the earth quadrangular, and that China is situated in the middle
of the earth, and on that account is called the "Middle Kingdom." All
other countries lie around China and are its vassals.

The Emperor is called the "Son of Heaven," and holds the supreme
spiritual and temporal power in his hands. On his accession he gives an
arbitrary name to his reign, which also becomes his own. He chooses
his successor himself from among his sons. If he is childless he chooses
one of his nearest relations, but then he adopts his future successor
that the latter may make offerings to the souls of himself and his
ancestors. The yellow robe and the five-clawed dragon are the emblems of
the imperial house. The Emperor is immeasurably superior to his people,
and the mortals who may speak to him are easily counted. A few years ago
the European ambassadors in Peking exacted the right to see the Emperor
every New Year's Day. This they did, but had no talk with him.

[Illustration: PLATE XVII. THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA.]

China is the oldest, the most populous, and the most conservative
kingdom in the world. In the time of Nineveh and Babylon it had attained
to a high civilization, and has remained the same through 4000 years. Of
Nineveh and Babylon only rubbish heaps are left, but China still shows
no sign of decay. Western Asia is like a vast graveyard with innumerable
monuments of bygone times. There devastating migrations of peoples took
place, and races and dynasties contended and succeeded one another. But
China is still the same as ever. The isolated position of the country
and the objection of the people to contact with foreigners have
contributed to this. The reverence for the old state of things and for
the memory of their forefathers makes a new generation similar to the
preceding.

During the twenty-two centuries before the birth of Christ three
imperial families ruled in China in succession. Two and a half centuries
before our era a powerful and far-sighted emperor built the Great Wall,
the mightiest erection ever completed by human hands (Plate XVII.). This
wall is 1500 miles long, 50 feet high, and 26 thick at the bottom and 16
at the top. Towers stand at certain intervals, and there are gates here
and there. It is constructed of stone, brick, and earth. It is in parts
much ruined, especially in the west, and in some places only heaps of
earth are left.

Why was this immense wall erected? The Chinese are a peaceful people,
and they surrounded themselves with walls to prevent intrusion from
outside. In China there are 1553 towns enclosed in massive stone walls,
and the great emperor in the third century B.C. naturally
thought of building a wall in the same way all round his extensive
kingdom. It was principally from the north that danger threatened. There
lived the nomads of Eastern Turkestan and Mongolia, savage, brave, and
warlike horsemen. To them the Chinese wall was an insurmountable
obstacle. But precisely on that account this wall has also affected the
destiny of Europe, for the wild mounted hordes, finding the way
southwards to China barred, advanced westwards instead, and in the
fourth century, in conjunction with the Alans, overran extensive areas
of Europe.

The Great Wall, however, could not protect China for ever. In the year
1280 the country was conquered by Jenghis Khan's grandson, Kublai Khan,
Marco Polo's friend and patron. He, too, was a great builder. He
constructed the Grand Canal (see map, p. 174) between Peking and
Hang-chau, immediately to the south-west of Shanghai. His idea was that
the rice harvest of the southern provinces should also benefit the
northern parts of the country. Previously the rice had been freighted on
junks and carried along the coast, where it was exposed to the attacks
of Japanese pirates. Now the junks could pass safely through the country
by the new canal. The imperial canal is 840 miles long, crosses the
Yellow and Blue rivers, and is still in use. It is a memorial of the
hundred years' rule of the Mongols.

In 1644 China was conquered by the Manchu dynasty, which still reigns.
Exactly a hundred years earlier the Portuguese had seized Macao, not far
from Hong Kong. Since then, and particularly during recent decades,
Europeans have encroached on Chinese soil. The French possessions on the
peninsula of Further India were formerly under Chinese protection. The
Great Powers have made themselves masters of some of the best harbours
in China. On two occasions, the latter during the Boxer insurrection in
1900, Peking has been entered by the combined troops of European
nations.

The "Middle Kingdom" is China proper, but the "Son of Heaven" also rules
over four dependencies, Eastern Turkestan, Mongolia, Manchuria, and
Tibet. The area of the Chinese Empire altogether is thirty-five times
that of the British Isles, and its population is ten times as numerous,
being about 433 millions; indeed, every third or fourth man in the world
is a Chinaman.

Owing to the situation of the country the climate is good and healthy.
The differences of temperature between winter and summer are large; in
the south reigns almost tropical heat; in the north, in the districts
round Peking, the winter is bitterly cold. The soil is exceedingly
fruitful. Tea, rice, millet, maize, oats, barley, beans, peas,
vegetables, and many other crops are grown. In the southern provinces
the fields are full of sugar-cane and cotton bushes. The whole country
is intersected by large rivers, which serve for irrigation and the
transport of goods. In the west rise lofty mountains, forming
continuations of the Tibetan ranges. Eastwards they become lower. The
greater part of China is a mountainous country, but lowlands extend
along the coast. Six of the eighteen provinces border on the coast,
which abounds in excellent harbours.

The "Middle Kingdom" is, then, a fortunate country, one richly endowed
by nature in every respect. In the mountains lies inexhaustible wealth
of minerals, and China possesses larger coal-fields than any other land
in the world. Its future is, therefore, secured, and China's development
may some time surpass that of America.

It is well known that a country which has deeply indented coasts gains
an early and extensive development. Thus Greece was in old times the
home of learning and art; and thus Europe now dominates the rest of the
world. For a people which dwells within such coasts comes sooner and
more easily than others into contact with its neighbours, and by
commercial intercourse can avail itself of their resources and
inventions. But in this, as in so many other respects, China is an
exception. The Chinese have never made use of their coast. They have, on
the contrary, avoided all contact with foreigners, and their development
within their own boundaries has therefore been exceedingly peculiar.
Their culture is different from anything else, and yet it is most
estimable and refined.

Two thousand years before Christ the Chinese had written characters.
Later they invented the hair pencil, which is in use to this day. They
grind down a jet-black ink, in which they dip the brush, and hold it
vertically when they write. The manufacture of the ink is their secret,
and the "Indian ink" which we use in Europe is obtained from them. A
hundred years after Christ paper was made in China. In an ancient town
at Lop-nor, where wild camels now roam, I found a collection of Chinese
letters and documents on paper which had remained buried in the desert
since A.D. 265. In A.D. 600 the Chinese had invented the art of
printing, which in Europe was not invented until 850 years later.
The Chinese were acquainted with the magnetic needle 1100 years
before Christ, and made compasses, and they knew of gunpowder long
before Europeans. Three thousand years ago the Chinese were proficient
in the art of casting bronze. In the interior of the country are still
to be found most beautiful objects in bronze--round bowls on feet
decorated with lions and dragons, vases, dishes, cups, and jugs, all of
dark, heavy bronze executed with the finest and most artistic detail.
The porcelain manufacture attained its greatest excellence in the time
of Kang Hi and Kien Lung. Then were made vases, bowls, and dishes of
such exceeding perfection that neither the Chinese themselves nor any
other people at the present time can produce their match. The
arrangement of colours and the glaze excite the admiration of all
connoisseurs. Porcelain articles of this period are now extremely rare,
and fetch enormous prices. In Japan I saw a small green Chinese bowl on
three feet, with a cover, which had cost eleven hundred pounds. Compared
to the Kang Hi vases, the finest porcelain that can be produced nowadays
is mere rubbish.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37