Читать книгу Peeps Into China; Or, The Missionary's Children - E. C. Phillips - Страница 4

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THE FIRST PEEP.

HE missionary's family party had set sail, and the steamship, in which they were passengers, was now fairly out at sea.

As far as money was concerned, Mr. Graham had no anxieties, for being the only son of a very wealthy man, who had lost his wife some time before he died himself, Mr. Graham had, at his father's death, inherited the whole of his large fortune.

"Now, father, don't you think it's high time you began to tell us about old Peking?" Leonard said, a few days after they had sailed. "I did not ask you at first, because we had plenty to do to look about us, but now that there's nothing in the world but water to see anywhere, we should so like to hear some stories; so please begin, if it won't trouble you too much."

And sitting on deck, with Sybil on his right and Leonard on his left, Mr. Graham did as he was requested, and gave his children what they considered a very interesting description of a portion of that vast empire which they were so soon to visit. "The Chinese," he began, "are a very ancient race, so ancient, indeed, that the origin of their monarchy is not known."

"Do you mind waiting one minute, father, just to tell me a thing I have forgotten, and you told me once?" Leonard asked. "What does the word China mean?"

"The ancient name for China, Tien-sha, means 'inferior only to heaven.' Chinese history begins with the fabulous ages, two or three million years ago, when the Chinese say that no land but theirs was inhabited, and gods reigned upon the earth, which was made for them. After the gods, they tell us, came mythical kings, who were giants, had the power of working miracles, and lived for thousands of years; but it is really supposed that the first people who passed beyond the deserts of Central Asia settled in the province of Shen-si, which borders on Tartary, and here laid the foundation of the present monarchy of China.

"Some Chinese historians think that their first mortal Emperor was Fuh-hi, whose date of coming to the throne is fixed as early as 2,852 years b.c. He is described as possessing great virtues, and was called by his subjects the 'Son of heaven'—a title which is still given to Emperors of China, who are foolishly supposed, by some of their subjects, to be of celestial origin. He is said to have taught them how to keep laws and to live peaceably, also to have invented the arts of music and numbers. Certainly the Chinese have understood music from very early ages, and class it among the chief of the sciences.

MUSICIANS.

"They have at least fifty different kinds of wind and string musical instruments, made of wood, stone, or metal, and they play a great deal, but especially upon their fiddle instruments. They do not like our music at all.

"But now we must go back to a little more Chinese history. There is nothing to prove that the Chinese existed as a nation before the time of Yu the Great, whose date of accession is said to be 2,285 years b.c., and he is also included in the Legendary Period to which Fuh-hi belongs. After the Legendary Period came the Semi-Historical Period in Chinese history; the really Historical Period dating from the early part of the eighth century before Christ.

"Different dynasties succeeded each other, till from the years 500 to 200 b.c. many petty kings, reigning over various provinces, waged war against one another. At length a fierce warrior, named Ching-wang, went to war with, and conquered, all of them, and made himself master of the whole empire, about 200 years b.c., his government comprising about the northern half of modern China. He was the first monarch of the dynasty called Tsin, or Chin. Next he turned his arms against the Tartars, who were a portion of those people whom we read of in history by the name of Huns, and who were now making constant inroads into China. They were capital soldiers—I believe every Tartar has now to be a soldier—and as the Chinese dreaded them very much, the Emperor thought out a way to keep them off. He erected a great wall along the whole extent of the northern frontier of China, of very great height, thickness, and strength, made of two walls of brick many feet apart, the space between them being, for half the length of the wall, filled up with earth, and the other half with gravel and rubbish. On it were square towers, which were erected at about a hundred yards' distance from one another. Some say this wall extended 1,500 miles from the sea to the most western provinces of Shen-si; McCulloch says it is 1,250 miles in length. It was carried over mountains and across rivers. Six horsemen could ride abreast upon it. But there was great cruelty practised in its construction, for the Emperor obliged every third labouring man in the kingdom to work at this wall without payment.

GREAT WALL OF CHINA, GULF OF PE-CHI-LI.

"It took five years to finish, and has now existed for more than two thousand years. It is called Wan-li-chang, or Myriad-mile Wall."

"And did it keep out the Tartars?" Leonard asked.

"No; the little Emperor Tsai-tien, born in 1871, and now on the throne, is, I believe, a descendant of theirs. He is called Kwang-su, which means 'Continuation of glory.'"

"Does the Emperor's eldest son always reign?"

"No; the ablest or best son is generally chosen. Ching-wang seemed to think that he was master of the whole universe, and called himself Che-Hwang-ti, or First Emperor; and then to try to show that he was the founder of the monarchy, he had, as he thought, all the historical documents burnt that could prove otherwise, but did not succeed, for some that had been hidden behind the walls of houses were found after his death."

"What a quantity of stuff it must have taken to build the wall!" said Leonard.

"Yes; the material in the Great Wall, including the earth in the middle of it, is said to be more than enough to surround the circumference of the earth, on two of its great circles, with two walls of six feet high and two feet thick. Guards are stationed in the strong towers by which the wall is fortified; every important pass having a strong fortress."

"And what is the height of the wall, father?" asked Leonard.

"About twenty feet; and there are steps of brick and stone for men on foot to ascend, and slanting places for the cavalry."

"I shall like to see Chinese soldiers," Leonard said. "Did you ever see them at drill, father?"

CHINESE ARTILLERY-MEN, PEKING.

"I remember very well seeing a regiment of artillery at gun-drill one day, but I believe there has been a new armament of Chinese artillery since my time. I suppose you know, children," then said Mr. Graham, "that Peking ranks——"

"For the number of its inhabitants," Sybil said quickly, "as the second city in the world, only London having more inhabitants, Paris about the same number."

"Yes; and it has——"

"About two million inhabitants."

"Yes; and as Peking was built many centuries before the Christian era, it is a very old city. The name Peking means Court of the North. After the conquest by the Tartars of the kingdom of Yen, of which Peking was the capital, it became only a provincial town, when, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, it was again made the capital of China. The Chinese sovereigns used to live at Nanking, but when the Tartars had so often invaded the country, they removed to the northern province, to enable them the more easily to keep out the invaders."

"On our Chinese umbrella that we had in the dining-room fireplace at home," said Sybil, "there was, I remember, a picture of Peking, and some water was close by it, but I cannot remember what river Peking is on."

"It is situated in a large sandy plain on the Tunghui, a small tributary of the Peiho. This city is again divided into the Chinese and Tartar cities, the Imperial city, in which live the Emperor and his retainers, and another in which the court officials have their residence.

"Like all other Chinese cities, they are surrounded by high walls. At the north, south, east, and west sides of towns are large folding-gates, which are often further secured by three inner gates. The one in the south is that of honour, through which the Emperor passes, but which is usually kept closed at other times.

CIEAN-MUN, OR CHEAN-GATE AT PEKING.

"The wall of Peking, which is sixteen miles round, has two gates on three sides and three on the other, of which the principal is Chean-Mun, at the south of the Tartar city. Over the gate is a building occupied by soldiers, who are there for purposes of defence.

CHINESE SOLDIER.

STREET OF HATA-MÈNE -TA-KIE, PEKING.

"The streets in Peking are very broad; we shall find them much narrower in the south of China. They are raised in the centre, and covered with a kind of stone, to form a smooth, hard surface. In summer they are often, I remember, very dusty, and during the rainy seasons very dirty. At the end of each street is a wooden barrier, which is guarded day and night by soldiers. The barrier is closed at nine o'clock at night, after which time the Chinese are only allowed to pass through if they have a very good reason to give for being out so late.

"Order is well kept in the streets of Peking by the soldiers and police, who may use their whips on troublesome customers whenever they think it necessary to do so.

"The principal streets, or main thoroughfares, extending from one end of the city to the other, are its only outlets. Trees grow in several of these streets. Houses, in which the inhabitants live, are in smaller streets or lanes, the houses themselves being often shut in by walls.

"Pagodas (which, you know, are temples to heathen gods, built in the form of towers), monasteries, and churchyards, are all outside the walls, and the city itself is principally kept for purposes of commerce."

"We know what pagodas are like," Leonard said, "because we had two at home for ornaments. I think we know many things through being so fortunate as to have a father who has travelled."

CHINESE BARBER.

"There is a great noise in some of the streets," Mr. Graham went on: "for instance, in the Hata-mène-ta-kie, where many people are to be seen bustling about and talking very loudly to one another. Tents are here put up in which rice, fruit, and other things are sold, and any one wishing for a pretty substantial meal can be supplied with it in the Hata-mène-ta-kie, for before stoves stand the vendors of such meals, who have cooked them ready for purchasers. Other tradesmen carry hampers, slung across their shoulders, in which they keep their goods, whilst they call out, from time to time, to let people know what these hampers contain. Carts, horses, mules, wheel-barrows, and sedan-chairs pass along, the whole place seeming to be alive with buyers and sellers. The cobbler is sure to be somewhere close at hand in his movable workshop, and first here and then there, as may best suit himself and employers, the blacksmith pitches his tent, which sometimes consists of a large umbrella; whilst, again, people can refresh themselves, if they do not care for a heavier meal, with some soup or a patty at a soup stall.

"And the barber does not forget that he is a very useful person. There, in the open streets, he communicates, by the tinkling of a little bell, the fact that he is ready to shave the heads and arrange the cues or pig-tails of those who may require his services; and as one man after another takes the seat that has been put ready for him, the barber not only shaves and plaits, but also frequently paints his customer's eyebrows and gives his clothes a brush."

"Father, why do Chinamen wear pig-tails?" here broke in Leonard, who, with Sybil, was very much interested in what he heard.

"After they were conquered by the Tartars they were obliged to wear them, to show that they were in subjection to their conquerors; but now the pig-tail is held in honour, and the longer it will grow the better pleased is the Chinese gentleman who wears it. Some very bad criminals have their tails cut off as a great punishment and disgrace.

"Well, what should you like to hear now?" Mr. Graham asked, after a little pause.

"What Chinese shops are like, I think," said Sybil.

A SHOP IN PEKING.

SIGN-BOARD OF A CUSHION AND MATTING MANUFACTORY.

"Most of those in China are quite open in front; where we are going I suppose we shall see very few, if any, shop-windows at all, but in Peking many of the shops have glass windows. In China there are certain streets for certain shops, where the different branches of trade have generally their own sides of the road. A shop is called a hong. Sometimes the master sits outside, waiting for his customers to arrive.

"At the door of each hong are sign-boards, upon which are painted in gold, or coloured letters, a motto instead of a name, and what the shop offers for sale.

"I do not think," Mr. Graham then said, drawing, as he spoke, a little representation of a sign-board out of his pocket-book, "that I ever showed you this."

"Oh no!" both the children answered. "And what do those characters mean?"

On another piece of paper Mr. Graham pointed out to them the following interpretation:

Teën
Yee
Shun
Fung	Poo
Seih	Tian
Tëen

"The three first large characters, which form the motto, may be taken to signify that 'Heaven favours the prudent.' The other smaller characters designate the nature of the business, a cushion and matting manufactory; the last character, without which no sign-board is complete, meaning shop or factory."

"I shall like to see these sign-boards very much when we get to China," Sybil said. "I should think they must make the streets look very pretty."

A TWO-WHEELED CART.

Mr. Graham had illustrated several things which he had told the children by some pictures which he had brought on board with him.

A YOUNG FARMER AND HIS PARENTS.

Leonard was now looking again at that of Chean Mun, or Chean Gate, for Mun means gate.

"I have been noticing, father," he then said, "that all the carts in this picture have only two wheels."

"I never saw any in China with more," was the answer. "Both shut and open carts (the latter being used as carriages) have all two wheels. Those in common use are made of wood, the body of the cart resting on an axle-tree, supported by the wheels. Horses and mules are very little used in China, except for travelling and for conveying luggage long distances. I remember also noticing that horses and ponies require very little guiding in China. Sometimes they go without reins, when their masters will perhaps walk beside them, carrying a whip. I have also seen very polite drivers, who, whenever they met a friend, jumped off their carts and walked on foot to pass one another.

A CHINESE JUNK.

FLYING KITES.

"Government servants generally use ponies, but as China is so densely populated—having, it has been estimated, about four hundred million inhabitants, and people find it so hard to obtain enough to support themselves and families—they keep as few beasts of burden as possible. The farmer employs the bullock a great deal, and in the north of China the camel is also much used.

"Much trade is carried on by boats, and where there is no water, and farmers are without other conveyances, they will sometimes push their wives along the roads in wheel-barrows, sons giving their parents similar drives. There are but few carriage-roads in many parts of China."

"I wonder the Chinese do not make more, then," said Leonard.

"They cannot afford to do so, because to make them bread-producing land would have to be done away with."

"What a number of rivers and bays there are in China!" said Sybil, who was again examining her map. "And I see the Great Wall crosses the Hwang-ho."

"And that's the fifth largest river in the world," Leonard answered. "Only the Amazon, Mississippi, Nile, and Yantze-kiang are larger; and the Grand Canal in China is the very largest canal in the world."

"I learnt once, too, that Hwang-ho meant 'Chinese sorrow.' Why is it called that?"

"Because it has altered its course, which has caused great loss and inconvenience to the Chinese."

"And what does 'Yantze-kiang' mean?"

"The son that spreads; this is their favourite river."

Geography was one of Leonard's favourite studies.

"Why do so many Chinese rivers end in ho and kiang?" he then asked, looking over Sybil's map.

"Both words mean river—the Yantze and the Hwang rivers. And the Chinese have all kinds of boats for use on their rivers. Here, my boy, is a picture of a Chinese junk. Look at it well, and see if you can discover anything peculiar about it."

Leonard looked for some time. "It has sails," he answered, "like butterflies' wings."

"Yes; that is how the Chinese make many of their sails."

"But the kites are what I want to see so much," said Leonard, as though the sails had reminded him of them again. "What are the most peculiar of them like?"

"Like birds, insects, animals, clusters of birds, gods on clouds: all kinds of things, in fact, are represented by these kites, which the Chinese are most clever in making, and also in flying. I have seen old men, of about seventy years of age, thoroughly enjoying flying their kites. The Chinese do not care much for your, and my, favourite games, Leonard: cricket and football."

"What games do they like?"

"They are very fond of battledore and shuttlecock, but instead of using a battledore they hit the shuttlecock with their heads, elbows, or feet. Seven or eight children play together, and nearly always aim the shuttlecock rightly. Girls play at this game too, in spite of their small feet. Tops, balls, see-saws, and quoits are also favourite toys and games amongst the Chinese."

"I remember," Sybil said, "a girl at school having a Chinese shuttlecock, and that was like a bird."

"Well, father, go on, please. What other amusements have they?" asked Leonard.

"Puppet-shows for one thing I remember, which they exhibit in the streets, as we do 'Punch and Judy.' The pictures in these shows are exhibited by means of strings, which are either worked from behind or from above the stand, and as the people look through a glass, the views are displayed to them. A man standing at the side calls out loudly, and beats a little gong to summon people to attend the show. And now I think, as I am rather tired for to-day, I shall beat a little gong to dismiss you from the show," Mr. Graham said, smiling, as he turned towards his children, who never seemed to grow tired of listening.

"Very well, father; we will go now, and let you rest," Sybil replied, standing up. "Thank you so much. To-morrow, you know, we shall come to the show again, so please remember to sound the gong in good time." And off they bounded, leaving Mr. Graham at liberty to go and seek his wife, who was then lying down in her cabin.