Forty Years in South China Part 2

"The text for today is 1 Pet. ii. 21. 'Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps.'

"Why should the Christian tremble at the prospect of suffering, or be impatient under its existence? 'The servant is not greater than his Lord.'

The 'King of Glory' suffered, and shall a sinful man complain? Besides, the Christian should be willing to suffer for the welfare of others. If he can benefit his fellow-men by running the risk of losing his own life, shall he hesitate to run that risk?"

"May 11. Since Sunday noon have made little progress."

On examining the record of the voyage which Mr. Talmage kept faithfully every day, we find that the ship had made only twenty seven knots in two days.

"June 18. For the last month we have not made rapid progress. We have experienced much detention from head-winds and calms. About a week ago we were put on an allowance of water, one gallon a day to each one on board.

This includes all that is used for cooking, drinking and washing."

"Have had quite a severe storm this afternoon and evening. The waves have been very high, and the wind--severe almost as a hurricane. This evening about 8 o'clock, after a very severe blow and heavy dash of rain, 'fire b.a.l.l.s,' as the sailors termed them, were seen upon the tops of the masts, and also on the ends of the spars, which cross the masts. They presented a very beautiful appearance.

"Brother Collins and myself have this week commenced the study of Pitman's System of Phonography." That Mr. Talmage became proficient in the use of it is evident from the fact that much of his journal was written in shorthand.

"On the Sabbath Brother Collins and myself spend two hours in the forecastle instructing the sailors. Many of them seem perfectly willing, some of them anxious to receive instruction."

"July 17. Sat.u.r.day evening. Today pa.s.sed to the eastward of Christmas Island (an island in the Indian Ocean). It is a small island about ten miles square. This is the first land seen since we left Boston. Of course, we gazed with much interest."

"July 22. About nine o'clock Tuesday evening we anch.o.r.ed off Angier. This is a village off the island of Java, bordering on the Straits of Sunda.

Remained at Angier until Wednesday afternoon. Capt. Patterson laid in a good supply of pigs, geese, ducks, chickens, yams, turtles, water, two goats, and fruits of various kinds in abundance."

"Aug. 6. Friday. Wednesday evening arrived at Macao. This morning set sail for Whampoa, twelve miles below Canton."

After a few days at Canton and Hongkong, Mr. and Mrs. Doty and Mr. Talmage embarked for Amoy on the schooner Caroline.

"Aug 21. The Caroline is a small vessel of about one hundred and fifty tons burthen. She was built, I suppose, for the opium trade. Our pa.s.sage from Hongkong was not very pleasant. Our quarters were close and our captain was far from being an agreeable companion. He drank freely and was very profane."

"We left Brother Collins and Brother White and wife at Hongkong. We had been so long in company with these brethren, that it was trying to part with them. On Thursday, the day before yesterday, we arrived safely at Amoy. The brethren gave us a very hearty welcome. The missionary company at this place consists of Brother Pohlman, of the A.B.C.F.M.; Mr. Alexander Stronach and wife, and Brown, of the Presbyterian Board. Mr. John Stronach also belongs to this station. He is at present at Shanghai."

III. THE CITY OF THE "ELEGANT GATE"[*]

[Footnote *: the meaning of the two Chinese characters composing the name Amoy.]

In a letter to the Sabbath-school of the Central Reformed Church, Brooklyn, Mr. Talmage thus describes the southern emporium of the province of f.u.kien:

"Amoy is situated on an island of the same name. The city proper or citadel is about one mile in circ.u.mference. Its form is nearly that of a rhomboid or diamond. It is surrounded by a wall about twenty feet in height, and eight or ten feet in thickness, built of large blocks of coa.r.s.e granite. It has four gates. The outer city, or city outside of the walls, is much more extensive. Its circ.u.mference, I suppose, is about six miles.

"The streets are not so wide as the sidewalks in Brooklyn. Some of them are so narrow that, when two persons, walking in opposite directions, meet each other, it is necessary for the one to stop, in order that the other may pa.s.s on. The most of the streets are paved with coa.r.s.e granite blocks, yet on account of the narrowness of the streets, and the want of cleanliness by the great ma.s.s of the inhabitants, the streets are usually very filthy.

"This part of Amoy island is rugged and mountainous, and interspersed with large granite rocks. Some of them are of immense size. It is in such a place that the city has been built. Many of these rocks are left in their natural position, and overhang the houses which have been built among them.

The ground has not been leveled as in Brooklyn, consequently the greater part of the streets are uneven. Some of them are conducted over the hills by stone steps. Near our residences, one of the public streets ascends a hill by a flight of thirty-six steps. On account of this unevenness of the streets as well as their narrowness a carriage cannot pa.s.s through the city of Amoy. Instead of carriages the more wealthy inhabitants use sedan chairs, which are usually borne by two bearers. The higher officers of government, called 'Mandarins,' have four bearers to carry them. The greater part of the inhabitants always travel on foot. The place of carts is supplied by men called 'coolies,' whose employment is to carry burdens.

The houses, except along the wharves and a few p.a.w.n-shops farther up in the city, are one story.

"There are no churches here, but there are far more temples for the worship of false G.o.ds, and the souls of deceased ancestors, than there are churches in Brooklyn.

"Besides these, almost every family has its shrine and idols and ancestral tablets, which last are worshipped with more devotion than the idols. In consequence of their religion the people are degraded and immoral.

One-third of all female children born in the city of Amoy are slain. In the villages throughout this whole region, it is supposed that about one-half are destroyed. They do not exhibit sympathy for each other and for those in distress, which is enjoined by the Bible, and which, notwithstanding all its defects, is the glory of Christian communities. I have seen a man dying on the pavement on a street, almost as densely thronged as Broadway, New York, and no one of the pa.s.sers-by, or of the inhabitants of that part of the street, seemed to notice him or care for him more than if he had been a dog."

DESCRIPTION OF AMOY AND AMOY ISLAND

Another letter to the same congregation a few months later reads:

"The first impression on the mind of an individual in approaching the sh.o.r.es of China from the south, and sailing along the coast, as far north as Amoy, is anything but favorable. So great is the contrast between the lovely scenery and dense vegetation of many of the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and the barren and worn-out hills which line the southern part of the coast of China, that in the whole range of human language it would seem scarcely possible to find a more inappropriate term than the term 'Celestial' whereby to designate this great empire. Neither is this unfavorable opinion removed immediately on landing. The style of building is so inferior, the streets are so narrow and filthy, the countenances of the great ma.s.s of the people, at least to a newcomer, are so dest.i.tute of intelligent expression, and the bodies and clothing, and habits of the mult.i.tudes are so uncleanly, that one is compelled to exclaim in surprise, 'Are these the people who stand at the top of pagan civilization, and who look upon all men as barbarous, except themselves?' Besides, everything looks old. Buildings, temples, even the rocks and the hills have a peculiar appearance of age and seem to be falling into decay. I am happy to say, however, that as we become better acquainted with the country and the people, many of these unfavorable impressions are removed. After pa.s.sing a little to the north of Amoy, the appearance of the coast entirely changes. Even in this mountainous region we have valleys and plains, which would suffer but little by comparison with any other country for beauty and fertility. I also love the scenery around the city of Amoy very much. The city is situated on the western side of an island of the same name. This part of the island in its general appearance is very similar to the coast of which I have spoken. It is rocky and mountainous and barren. There are, however, among these barren hills many small fertile spots, situated in the ravines and along the watercourses, which on account of their high state of cultivation form a lovely contrast with the surrounding barrenness. Wherever the Chinese, at least in this part of the Empire, can find a watercourse, by cultivation they will turn the most barren soil into a garden. The sides of the ravines are leveled by digging down, and walling up, if necessary, forming terraces or small fields, the one above the other. These small fields are surrounded by a border of impervious clay. The water is conducted into the higher of these terraces, and from them conducted into those which are lower, as the state of the crops may demand. Often a field of paddy may be seen inundated, while the next field below, in which perhaps the sweet potato is growing, is kept perfectly dry.

Among the hills there is much of picturesque scenery, and some that is truly sublime. The Buddhists have exhibited an exquisite taste for natural scenery, in selecting such places for the situation of many of their temples."

ANCESTRAL WORSHIP

"Their respect for ancestors is very great, so much so that the species of idolatry which has by far the strongest hold upon their minds is ancestral worship. This is the stronghold by which Satan maintains his supremacy over the minds of the people, and this we may expect will be the last to give way to the power of the Gospel of Christ. One may hold up their G.o.ds to ridicule and they will laugh at his remarks, but they do not love to hear the worship of their ancestors spoken against. This worship, after the period of mourning is over, consists chiefly in offering at stated times various articles of food to the spirits of the deceased, and in burning various kinds of paper, as a subst.i.tute for money, by which these spirits are supplied with that most convenient article. Natural affection and selfishness unite to strengthen their attachment to this worship. It is as necessary for the happiness of the souls of the dead, in the opinion of the Chinese, as is the saying of the ma.s.s in the opinion of a Roman Catholic. Without these attentions the souls of the deceased are in a sort of purgatory; wandering about in want and wretchedness. But if the desire of rendering their ancestors happy be not sufficient to secure attention to these rites, a still more powerful motive addresses itself to their minds.

These wandering spirits are supposed capable of bringing misfortune and inflicting injuries on their ungrateful and impious descendants. Thus if a family meet with reverses, the cause is often attributed to the want of attention to the souls of the deceased ancestors, or to the fact that the sites of their graves have not been judiciously selected, and the dissatisfied spirits are taking vengeance for these neglects or mistakes.

Another consideration which seems to exert much influence, is that if they neglect the spirits of their ancestors, their descendants may neglect them.

"For the present life they can think of no higher happiness than success in acquiring wealth, and the highest happiness after death consists in having sons to supply the wants of their spirits. These are the two objects that engross the highest aspirations of a Chinaman."

INFANTICIDE

"This will account in part for the barbarous custom of infanticide which prevails to so lamentable an extent among these heathen. Only female infants are destroyed. While the parents are living the son may be of pecuniary advantage to them, and after their death, he can attend to the rites of their souls, and even after his death, through him the parents may have descendants to perform the ancestral rites. A daughter on the contrary, it is supposed, will only prove a burden in a pecuniary point of view, and after she is married she is reckoned to the family of her husband. Her children, also, except her husband otherwise order, are only expected to attend to the spirits of their paternal ancestors."

"Some have denied the existence of the practice of infanticide among the Chinese, or, they have a.s.serted that if it does exist, the practice of it is very unusual. Every village which we visit in this region gives evidence that such persons are not acquainted with this part of the empire.

A few days ago a company of us visited the village of Kokia. It is situated on the northern extremity of Amoy Island, and contains, perhaps, two thousand inhabitants. After walking through the village we sat down for a short time under the shade of a large banyan tree. A large concourse of people soon gathered around us to see the foreigners and hear what they had to say. In this crowd we found by counting nearly a hundred boys, and but two or three girls. Also when walking through the village very few girls were to be seen. The custom of binding the feet of the girls, which greatly affects their power of locomotion, would account for more boys being seen than girls, but will not account for the disparity noticed. We therefore inquired the cause of this disparity. They answered with laughter that female children are killed. The same question has been asked again and again at the various villages we have visited and the same answer obtained. This answer is given freely and apparently without any idea that the practice is wicked, until they are taught so by us. The result of this one practice on the morals of the people may readily be imagined. It accustoms the mind to acts of cruelty and it prepares the way for impurity and wickedness in forms that are never dreamed of in Christian countries."

In this connection an extract from Dr. David Abeel's[*] diary may be of value.

[Footnote *: David Abeel was the founder of the American Reformed Mission at Amoy in 1842.]

"Today had a conversation with one of the merchants who come to Kolongsu for trade, on the subject of female infanticide. a.s.suming a countenance of as much indifference as possible, I asked him how many of his own children he had destroyed: he instantly replied, 'Two.' I asked him whether he had spared any. He said, 'One I have saved.' I then inquired how many brothers he had. 'Eight,' was the answer. I asked him how many children his eldest brother had destroyed. 'Five or six.' I inquired of the second, third and all the rest; some had killed four or five, some two or three, and others had none to destroy. I then asked how many girls were left among them all. 'Three,' was the answer. And how many do you think have been strangled at birth? 'Probably from twelve to seventeen.' I wished to know the standing and employment of his brothers. One, he said, had attained a literary degree at the public examinations; the second was a teacher; one was a sailor; and the rest were petty merchants like himself.

Thus, it was evidently not necessity but a cold inhuman calculation of the gains and losses of keeping them, which must have led these men to take the lives of their own offspring.

"Mr. Boone's teacher's sister with her own hand destroyed her first three children successively. The fourth was also a girl, but the mother was afraid to lay violent hands on it, believing it to be one of the previous ones reappearing in a new body."

"The names of the five districts in the Chinchew prefecture are Tong-an, An-khoe, Chin-kiang, Hui-an and Lam-an. Amoy is situated in the Chin-chew prefect.

"From a comparison with many other parts of the country, there is reason to believe that a greater number of children are destroyed at birth in the Tong-an district than in any other of this department, probably more than in any other of this department, probably more than in any other part of the province of equal extent and populousness. In the Tong-an district I have inquired of persons from forty different towns and villages. The number destroyed varies exceedingly in different places, the extremes extending from seventy and eighty percent to ten percent. The average proportion destroyed in all these places amounting to nearly four-tenths or exactly thirty-nine percent.

"In seventeen of these forty towns and villages, my informants declare that one-half or more are deprived of existence at birth.

"From the inhabitants of six places in Chin-kiang, and of four places in Hui-an, if I am correctly informed, the victims of infanticide do not exceed sixteen percent.

"In the seven districts of the Chiang-chiu prefecture the number is rather more than one-fourth or less than three-tenths.

"There is reason to fear that scarcely less than twenty-five percent are suffocated almost at the first breath."

It is altogether probable that this vice is just as prevalent now. The scarcity of girls in nearly all the towns and villages and the exorbitant rates demanded for marriageable daughters in some districts, only render sad confirmation to what Drs. Abeel and Talmage wrote two score and more years ago.