From Pole to Pole

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

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The Chinese language is as singular as everything else in the great
kingdom. Every word is unchangeable. While we say "go, went, gone, will
go, should go, going," the Chinese always say simply "go." The precise
meaning is shown by the position of the word in a sentence or by the
help of certain auxiliary words, as, for example, "I morning go," "We
yesterday go," where the future or past tense is indicated by the words
"morning" and "yesterday." A single word, _li_, for instance, may have a
number of different significations, and what it denotes in any
particular case depends on the tone and pronunciation, on its position
in the sentence, and on the word which comes before or after. The
language is divided into many different dialects, of which the principal
is the mandarin or the dialect of the educated. Every word has its
particular written sign, and the Chinese language accordingly possesses
24,000 different written characters; only one man in twenty and one
woman in a hundred can read and write it.

Chinese literature is exceedingly rich, almost inexhaustible. At a time
when the bronze age still reigned in northern Europe, the Chinese had a
highly cultivated literature. From the fifth century B.C. down
to our own day it has run an uninterrupted course through centuries and
ages. When the northern vikings were executing their plundering raids by
sea and setting up their runic stones, a geographical hand-book was
published in China called a "Description of all the Provinces" and
abundantly illustrated by maps. Thanks to their chronicles we can follow
the history of the Chinese for 4000 years back. And the most remarkable
feature of these annals is that they are distinguished by the strictest
accuracy and reliability. All kinds of subjects are alluded to, even the
most insignificant events. Chinese books are very cheap, and every one
who can read can provide himself with quite a large library. Of the
numbers of books we can have some conception when we hear that the
Emperor Kieng Lung had a library so large that the catalogue of his
books filled 122 volumes.

THE BLUE RIVER

The Blue River, or Yang-tse-kiang, the Mekong, and the Salwin all rise
in eastern Tibet and flow quite close to one another southwards through
deeply excavated parallel valleys. But while the first two continue
their southerly course all the way to the sea, the Blue River turns off
sharply eastwards in western China and divides the Middle Kingdom in
two.

It is only Europeans who sometimes call the largest river of China the
"Blue" River. The Chinese themselves call it the "Great" River, or the
"Long" River, or, far up the country to the west, the "River of Golden
Sand." Only three rivers in the world are longer, namely, the Nile, the
Mississippi, and the Amazon. The Obi and Yenisei are about the same
length, 3200 miles. The Blue River discharges 244 times the volume of
water of the Thames.

In one respect the Blue River is far superior to all the waterways of
the world, for on this river and its tributaries, or, in short, in the
area of its drainage basin, live not less than 180 millions of human
beings, or an eighth of the total population of the world. The parts of
China proper situated on the Blue River are called the River Provinces.
The viceroy of two of these, namely Hupeh and Hunan, has more subjects
than any country in Europe, except Russia. The most westerly province of
China, Sze-chuan, traversed by the Blue River, is in area and population
equal to France. Europe shrinks up to nothing before such comparisons.

On the Blue River stands a series of famous old towns. Chungking is the
capital of Sze-chuan, and thus far European steamers ascend the river.
Hankow is the largest commercial town in the interior of China. Nanking,
near the mouth, was formerly the capital of China. South-west of Hankow
a large lake lies on the southern bank of the Blue River. _Hu_ means
lake in Chinese, _king_ is a capital city, _pe_ signifies north, and
_nan_ south. Peking, therefore, means the "northern capital," and
Nanking the "southern capital"; Hupeh signifies "north of the lake," and
Hunan "south of the lake."

The province of Hunan, south of the lake, is one of the most noteworthy
in all China. Its people are a vigorous and independent race, and make
the best soldiers in China. They are more hostile to foreigners than
other Chinese, and the capital of Hunan, Chang-sha, has been of old a
centre of opposition to foreigners and of revolutionary agitations.

Even large ocean liners ascend to Hankow, and smaller steamboats to the
capital of Sze-chuan. The latter are formidable competitors to the
junks, many thousands of which have from time immemorial provided for
the transport and traffic on the great river. There are many different
kinds of junk. Some are large, others small; some are built for the
lower, quieter waters of the river, others for the rapids in Hupeh and
Sze-chuan. But they are all well suited to their purpose, and are an
ornament to the grand beauty of the constantly changing landscape
through which the river has cut its valley.

In some districts the junks are built of cypress wood, in others of
oaken planks. This is to make the boats more elastic and supple, and to
diminish the risk of springing a leak among the rapids. Where the danger
is unusually great a pilot is taken on board, but still it is reckoned
that one junk in ten runs aground, and one in twenty is totally wrecked.
To go from Hankow to Chungking takes thirty-five days, and to come down
in the opposite direction with the stream only nine days. The voyage
down the river is much more dangerous, and on this voyage most of the
shipwrecks occur.

Every large junk has a small dinghy to convey passengers and goods to
and from the shore. A large junk is 40 feet long. It is high at the
stern, and here stands a kind of cabin roofed with plaited straw or
grass matting. A junk going upstream carries a cargo of two and a half
tons, one going down six tons. The vessel is propelled by oars, some of
which are so large that they require eight men each. These are needed
most in drifting with the current, when the boat must be controlled by
the steering oars. The junk has also a mast and sail which is used in
going upstream with a favourable wind, and is lowered when coming down
with the current. Only the bow is decked.

It may well be asked how it is possible to get such a large heavily
laden boat up against the strong river current, for it is evident that
however favourable the wind might be, the vessel would be carried down
the rapids. A long rope of twisted bamboo a hundred yards long is
fastened to the bow of the junk, and with this the vessel is dragged up
by some sixty men who run along the bank. The bank, however, is usually
steep, with dangerous rocks projecting out into the river, and over
these the men have to scramble like monkeys, still pulling at their
rope. Often neither the boat nor the river is visible from the rocky
path, but the skipper of the boat is in constant communication with the
towing men by means of drums on board. Six men are always ready to clear
the rope if it catches against any projection, and others, who are stark
naked, do the same work in the water. On the cliffs along the river,
grooves and marks have been worn out by the ropes, for towing has here
been practised for thousands of years. There is always a score of men on
board to steer and fend off the boat with poles. They have also bamboo
poles with hooks at the end to help in dragging the boat up against the
current.

These men work like galley-slaves, and their work is both dangerous and
exhausting. Week after week they walk with bent backs struggling under
the towing rope. They are covered with bruises, which scarcely heal up
before they are torn open again, and especially on the shoulders the
marks of the rope are visible. They have a hard life, and yet they are
cheerful. They are treated like dogs, and yet they sing. And what wages
do they receive for a journey of thirty-five days up the river? Three
shillings, besides three meals of rice a day, and meat three times
during the journey! For the down journey, when the work is much easier
and the time only one-fourth, they receive only a shilling. These
labourers earn about 1-1/4d. for ten hours' work.

In February the river is lowest and the water clearest. Then the towns
and villages stand 160 feet above the surface of the river. Their walls,
staircases, gates, and pagodas stand up in the flat triangles of the
valley openings. Every inch of hill and valley is covered with fields or
woods. Later in the spring the river begins to rise, and in summer is a
huge rolling volume of chocolate-brown or greyish water. At certain
places where the valley is narrow the water may rise a hundred feet
higher than in February. A voyage on it is then more dangerous, for
banks, boulders, and reefs are covered with water and form whirlpools
and seething eddies.

Below the towns and villages shoals of junks lie moored waiting for
work. Every cliff, every bend has its name--Yellow Hat, Sleeping Swine,
Double Dragon, etc. Nor are pirates wanting. They have their haunts
among the mountains, and fall upon the junks at convenient points.
Sometimes large white notices are seen on projecting rocks. They may be
"The waterway is not clear," or "Small junks should anchor here." Thus
the boatowners are warned of danger.

The earnings of a boatowner are not large, and he is glad enough if he
can bring his boat back to Hankow in safety after a voyage up and down
the river. With anything but pleasure he sees the large Russian vessels
lying at Hankow and taking in tea. Hankow is the greatest tea port of
China, and China is the home of the tea plant. It is not more than 250
years since tea was first known in Europe, where it is now in general
use, as also in many other parts of the world. In England and Russia it
is a national drink, and the Russians used formerly to transport their
tea to Europe by caravans through Mongolia and Siberia. Now the export
of tea from China has declined, and the Middle Kingdom has been
outstripped by India and Ceylon.

IN NORTHERN CHINA

In the north-westernmost province of the kingdom, Kansu, is a famous old
town, named Si-ning, surrounded with a fine stone wall. I had completed
my first journey through Tibet and came to Si-ning on November 23, 1896,
accompanied by my servant, Islam Bay.

When we left Si-ning we had a riding horse each, and six mules with
their three drivers. They accompanied us for some days as far as a small
town, where we exchanged them for two large, heavy carts on two wheels
and covered with a tilt of straw matting. In one we packed all our
things, in the other I took my seat, while Islam rode. Each cart was
drawn by a mule and two horses, driven by a pleasant Chinaman. I had no
interpreter, and had to get along with the few words I had managed to
pick up.

For six days we travelled northwards through the Kansu mountains, going
up and down all the way over stony passes and over frozen rivers with or
without neck-breaking bridges. The carts creaked and rocked through
narrow hollow roads where it would have been impossible to pass a cart
coming from the opposite direction. In such places, therefore, one of
our drivers went on in front shouting to keep the road clear.
Fortunately we were in the company of other carts. When two carts meet
where the road is narrow, it is customary for the smaller one to back
and leave the road open for the larger.

We set out just after midnight, and drove on till noon. In spite of furs
and rugs I was almost frozen through. Islam preferred to go on foot, and
the drivers who ran beside the wagons also managed to keep themselves
warm.

At break of day on December 10 we came to the bank of a stream which
falls into the Yellow River (Hwang-ho). It was frozen quite across, and
a path of sand showed where the route crossed the river. Our companions
were to go over first in one of their carts with a team of three horses.
They dashed at full gallop out on to the ice, but had not gone far
before a wheel cut through the ice and the cart was held fast as in a
vice. The whole load had to be taken out and carried over to the farther
bank, and after much trouble the empty cart was hoisted up.

At a broader place the men cut up the thin ice in the middle of the bed
where the water was three feet deep, and when another cart tried its
luck it pitched suddenly down into the opening and remained fast. Two
additional horses were attached, and all the men shouted and cracked
their whips. The horses reared, fell, were nearly drowned under the ice,
threw themselves about and jumped up on to the ice, only to drop back
again into the hole. A young Chinaman then threw off every stitch of
clothing and went into the water, 18 deg. below freezing-point, to pull
away the pieces of ice and stones which held back the wheels. I cannot
tell how it was that he was not frozen to death. He afterwards warmed
himself at a fire made by Islam Bay. We struggled for four hours before
at last the irritating river was behind us.

In Liang-chau, a town of 100,000 inhabitants, with a quadrangular wall,
handsome gates, and broad, busy streets, we stayed with some
missionaries. Here we had to wait twelve whole days before we could
procure nine camels and two men who were willing to take us to the town
Ning-hsia on the Yellow River, nearly 300 miles off. The missionaries
had no other guest-room than their chapel, which was rather cold; on
Christmas Eve the temperature inside was 3 deg.

For twenty days we travelled through a country called Ala-shan, which
for the most part is inhabited by Mongols. We followed a desert track
and encamped at wells. Certain belts were buried in drift sand which
formed wave-like dunes. Here we were outside China proper and the Great
Wall, but we frequently met Chinese caravans. Two horsemen had been
assigned to me as an escort by the last Chinese governor, for the
country is unsafe owing to robbers. All, however, went well, and we came
safely to Ning-hsia on the Yellow River.

[Illustration: MAP OF NORTHERN CHINA AND MONGOLIA, SHOWING JOURNEY FROM
TIBET THROUGH SI-NING TO PEKING, AND FROM PEKING TO KANSK (pp. 172-179).

At the time of Dr. Hedin's journey through Mongolia, the Trans-Siberian
Railway did not extend east of Kansk.]

From Ning-hsia we had 267 miles to the town Pao-te, and now we had to
cross the Mongolian district of Ordos, between the Great Wall and the
northern bend of the Yellow River. In summer it is better to travel by
boat down the river, which rises in north-eastern Tibet and falls into
the northern bay of the Yellow Sea after a course of 2500 miles. The
river owes its name to its turbid yellow water, which makes the sea also
yellow for some distance from the coast. Elsewhere the Yellow Sea is no
yellower than any other.

At that time, in January, the Yellow River was covered with thick ice,
and where we crossed it with our nine camels its breadth was 380 yards.
Then we made long days' marches through the desert, and had a very hard
and troublesome journey. We had indeed with us enough mutton, bread, and
rice, and there were wells along the road. One of them was 130 feet deep
and was walled round. But we suffered from cold. Sometimes the
temperature was only 1.5 deg. at noon, -27 deg. at night, and 16.5 deg.
in the tent. Besides, it blew steadily and with the velocity of a
hurricane. Fortunately I had bought a small Chinese portable stove, which
kept me from freezing. It is not larger than an ordinary teapot and has a
perforated cover. A few pieces of glowing charcoal are embedded in ashes
in the tin, which is thus kept warm all day. Up on the camel I had this
little comforting contrivance on my knees, and at night I laid it among
my rugs when I crept into bed. One day there was such a furious storm
over the level and exposed country that we could not move from the spot.
We sat wrapped up in our furs and rugs and simply froze.

On arrival at Pao-te I had still 430 miles to travel to the capital of
the kingdom, Peking. I was eager to be there, and resolved to hurry
forward by forced marches. I hired a small two-wheeled cart, and had no
servant with me but the Chinese driver. Islam with an interpreter was to
follow slowly after with our baggage.

On this route no fewer than sixty-one Swedish missionaries were at work,
and I often stayed in their hospitable houses. At other times I put up
in the country inns. They are incredibly dirty, full of noisy
travellers, smoke, and vermin. The guest room where you sleep at night
must be shared with others. Along the inner wall stands a raised ledge
of bricks. It is built like an oven and is heated with cattle-dung
beneath; and on the platform the sleeper, if not half suffocated, is at
any rate half roasted.

In Kalgan (Chang-kia-kau), where the Great Wall is passed, I exchanged
my cart for a carrying chair on two long poles. It was borne by two
mules which trotted along over the narrow mountain road leading to
Peking. Sometimes we were high above the valley bottom, and met whole
rows of caravans, carts, riders, and foot passengers, chairs with mules,
and every one was in constant danger of being pushed over the edge.

At last, on March 2, I arrived at Peking, after 1237 days of travelling
through Asia, and passed through one of the fine gates in the city walls
(Plate XVIII.).

MONGOLIA

Between China in the south and Eastern Siberia on the north, stretches
the immense region of inner Asia which is called Mongolia. The Chinese
call it the "grass country," but very large parts of it are waterless
desert, where drift-sand is piled up into dunes, and caravan routes and
wells are far apart. The belt of desert, one of the largest in the
world, is called by the Mongols Gobi, a word which in their language
denotes desert. The Chinese call it Shamo, which signifies sandy desert.

Mongolia is subject to China, and the Mongols' spiritual superior or
pope is the Dalai Lama. They have also a number of Lama monasteries, and
make yearly pilgrimages in large parties to Lhasa. An extraordinary
proportion of the male population of the country devote themselves to a
religious life and become monks. The Chinese are glad of it, for the
peaceful cloister life causes the formerly savage and warlike Mongol
hordes to forget their own strength. Services before the image of Buddha
in the temple halls lead their thoughts in other directions, and they
forget that their people once held the sceptre over almost all Asia and
half Europe. They do not remember that their forefathers, the Golden
Horde, forced their way seven hundred years ago through the Caucasus,
levied tribute throughout Russia, and alarmed all the rest of the West.
They have forgotten that their fathers conquered all the Middle Kingdom
and digged in yellow earth the Grand Canal on which the junks of the
Chinese still ply. The sword has rusted fast in its sheath, and the
Mongolian chiefs, whom the Chinese call vassals or dependent princes,
encamp peacefully on the steppes under their eight _bans_.

The Mongols are nomads. They own large flocks of sheep and goats, and
live on mutton, milk, butter, and cheese. Among their domestic animals
are also the two-humped camel and a small, hardy, strongly built horse.
Their life is a perpetual wandering. They move with their flocks from
one steppe to another. If the herbage is dried up in a district, or
all the pasture is eaten up, they put their tents on camels and set out
to find better grazing. Their tents are exactly the same as those of the
Kirghizes of the Pamir and the Kirghiz Steppe. They are shaped like
haycocks, and consist of a framework of tough ribs covered with black
felt.

[Illustration: PLATE XVIII. GATE IN THE WALLS OF PEKING.]

The Mongols are a good-tempered and amiable people. I made acquaintance
with them on the outskirts of their wide domain, and once I travelled
right through Mongolia. My starting-point was Peking, and my direction
due north-west. It was in the end of March and the beginning of April,
1897. At that time the Trans-Siberian Railway was not completed farther
than to Kansk, a small town east of the Yenisei. That was the longest
drive I ever took in my life, for from Peking to Kansk the distance is
1800 miles, and I only rested a day on the whole journey, namely at
Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia.

In Peking I provided myself with all that was necessary for a journey to
the Russian frontier. First and foremost a Chinese passport, which
authorised me to call out Mongols and their horses, and, if I wished, to
put up in their tents. Then provisions had to be bought--tinned meats,
bread, tea, sugar, etc. From the Russian Legation I obtained an escort
of two Cossacks, who were very delighted to have this chance of
returning to their homes in Siberia after completing their time of
service in Peking.

In Mongolia the traveller does not drive in the usual way. There is no
driver on the box, and you do not lean back comfortably in a
four-wheeled carriage on springs. To begin with, there is no road at all
and no rest-houses; but horses must be changed frequently, and this is
done in the Mongolian villages. The Mongols, however, are nomads, and
their villages are always on the move. Therefore you must know first of
all where the villages happen to be, and in the second place must give
the people notice to have a certain number of horses ready. A mounted
messenger is sent on in advance for this purpose and then the horses are
never wanting. Only the Mongols themselves know where the next villages
are situated, and so at every village a fresh retinue of Mongols is
provided. And because the villages are being constantly moved you can
only travel in a straight line between them, and cannot follow any
determined route. You drive along over desert and steppe, and usually
see no vestige of an old wheel rut.

The vehicle in which you travel is a very simple contrivance. It is a
cart on two medium-sized wheels, closed all over with a rounded tilt
covered with blue cloth. A small window in front and two side windows
allow you to see over the steppe; the window glass is fixed into the
stretched cloth so that it cannot be cracked by the jolting. The cart
has no springs, and its bottom rests directly on the axles. There is no
seat, and the traveller sits on cushions, furs, and rugs, and there is
only room for one person. The cart is of the usual Chinese pattern with
shafts for a mule or horse. In China the driver sits on one of the
shafts or runs alongside. I had my bags strapped on to the base of the
shafts. My large baggage was forwarded on camels, and it reached
Stockholm six months after I did.

The style of harnessing is the most curious of all. A loop of rope is
fastened to the extreme end of each shaft, and a long, rounded cross-bar
is passed through the two loops. Two mounted Mongols lay the bar across
their knees in the saddle, but no draught animal is put between the
shafts. A rope is fastened to each end of the cross-bar and two other
riders wind these ropes twice round their bodies. They have all riding
whips, and when all is ready the four riders dash at full speed over the
steppe, dragging the cart after them.

Twenty other Mongols ride on each side, half hidden in clouds of dust.
Suddenly two of them ride up beside the men who hold the cross-bar on
their knees. Of their own accord the two fresh horses slip their heads
under the bar, letting it fall on to the riders' knees, while the men
who are relieved hold in their horses and let the cart roll on. These
then join the rest of the troop. The cart does not stop during this
change of horses, which is accomplished in a couple of seconds, and a
furious pace is always kept up. In the same way the two front riders and
their horses are relieved without stopping. When one of them is tired, a
fresh rider comes forward and winds the rope round his waist.

After two or three hours a village of several tents is seen on the
steppe ahead of us. About thirty horses are held in readiness by the
headman of the village, who has been warned the day before by the
messenger. At every stage a few roubles[16] are paid to the Mongol
attendants. This payment has always to be made in silver roubles, for
the Mongols will not take paper money or small coins.

Thus we go on and on, it would seem interminably, over the boundless
steppe--each day the same bumping and jolting, each day the same
monotonous landscape. In northern Mongolia, however, snow lay deep on
the ground, and here the cart was drawn by men on camels. By this time I
was so bruised and worn out with the continual jolting that it was a
pleasure to drive on the soft snow.

MARCO POLO

In 1162 was born in Mongolia a chief of the savage mounted hordes who
bore the name of Jenghiz Khan. He subdued all the surrounding tribes,
and the whole Mongol race was collected under his banner. The more his
power increased, the more extensive regions he desired to conquer, and
he did not rest till practically all Asia was reduced under his rule.
His motto was "One God in heaven and one Great Khan on earth." He was
not content with a kingdom as large as that of Alexander or Caesar, but
wished to reign over all the known world, and with this aim before his
eyes he rode with his horsemen from country to country over the great
continent. Everywhere he left sorrow and mourning, burnt and pillaged
towns in his track. He was the greatest and most savage conqueror known
in history. When he was at the height of his power he collected treasure
from innumerable different peoples, from the peninsula of Further India
to Novgorod, from Japan to Silesia. To his court came ambassadors from
the French kings and the Turkish sultans, from the Russian Grand Dukes
and the Khalifs and Popes of the time. No man before or since has caused
such a stir among the sons of men, and brought such different peoples
into involuntary communication with one another. Jenghiz Khan ruled over
more than half the human race, and even in many of the countries which
he pillaged and destroyed his memory is feared even to this day.

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