CHAPTER XXVIII. NEW YEAR VISITS OF CEREMONY TO THE HIGH MANDARINS OF AMOY
A Chinese Bride-Visit to the Te-tok, or Chinese Admiral; his Adroitness in escaping the British War; his recent Disgrace-The Cham-hoo, or military Commandant; his Discussion with the Missionaries, and Defense of Idolatry-The Taou-tai, or Prefect, a Manchoo Tartar-The Hai-quan, or Inspector of Customs, a Manchoo-The Hai-hong, or Lord Mayor-A Budhist Nunnery-The privileged incorporation of Beggars.

In the evening of the same day we were invited by Hok-ha, one of our neighbors, to pay a wedding-visit to his bride, to whom be was married on the preceding evening. He was a youth of about twenty-one years of age, apparently a sincere inquirer after Christian truth, and a constant attendant on the means of grace, both at the chapel and at Mr. Pohlman's family devotions. His father died eleven years ago, and he was now an assistant to his uncle, a ropemaker. The latter, on whom he was in a great measure dependent, had frequently shown his displeasure at Hok-ha's continual absence at the missionary services; and on one occasion Hok-ha had to take refuge for more than a week in the house of one of the missionaries from the harsh severity of his relative. He showed much gratitude, and was evidently attached to the missionaries. He was in an interesting state of mind, and lived in the daily habit of prayer. Seven years ago his widowed mother purchased for him a wife, who had lived in the family ever since, and was now sixteen years old. His mother commanded her son to celebrate the nuptials, though he would himself have preferred waiting for two years, till his prospects were brighter, and he became more independent of his uncle. But as the old lady was anxious to establish the family, Hok-ha being her only son, her commands were peremptory, and obedient submission to her authoritative will became his only alternative. Under the circumstances of the bride being already an inmate of the family, there was no marriage-procession to conduct her to the house of her husband; and there had been only the usual feast and nuptial ceremonies on the preceding evening.

We were ushered by the bridegroom up two or three flights of steps into his humble apartment, where we took our seats on a couch opposite a table covered with the remains of a feast. By the side of this table the bride stood, having her eyes cast toward the ground, and wrapped up in strict efforts to preserve propriety-custom not permitting a bride to speak to a visitor till after three days, nor to go out, except to the house of her parents, till after thirty days. She was a very pretty, interesting girl, with a profusion of artificial flowers forming a tiara on her head, and with a handsome, bright-red bridal robe, her face being covered with pearl-dust, rather beyond the limits of European taste. At her husband's suggestion she handed to us a plate of sweetmeats from a drawer, of which we partook by way of compliment. She continued to stand during the whole of our visit. A glass mirror lay on a dressing-table close by, into which she directed an occasional glance, to assure her mind of her strict preservation of appearances. Although my companion once or twice addressed her, she strictly preserved silence. She appeared, however, sometimes to experience difficulty in suppressing a simpering laugh, and to be in great danger of breaking through her affected seriousness. Hok-ha seemed greatly pleased with his bride. He had renounced idolatry, and stated his determination to have no idols in his own part of the house. In proof of his sincerity there were no idols or other symbols of idolatry in the room in which we were, and which was the only room exclusively belonging to himself.

Jan. 28th.-This being the second day of the new year, we formed a party of five missionaries, in order to make a visit, and to pay our respects to the high mandarins of the city. Entering the citadel, we soon approached the large open area, forming the entrance to the palace of the te-tok, or admira1. The first court into which we passed consisted of a large, inclosed, open space, with little outhouses or offices in a dilapidated state on either side. This was occupied for four or five days after the capture of Amoy by Sir Hugh Gough and the British troops, till their removal across to the island of Koo-lang-soo. The troops bivouacked in this open court; but on the first night, the buildings on the left were set on fire by the Chinese, The present te-tok, who also, during the British war, was in power, and possessed the highest authority, naval and military, was opportunely absent from the scene of warlike operations. Shortly before the capture of the city, he went out to sea with his fleet of war-junks, ostensibly to meet the English ships and sink them on the wide deep; but he contrived to miss the British fleet, and to escape the dreaded conflict.

When all the local authorities were cashiered and punished by the emperor for their pusillanimity in suffering the barbarians to capture the place, the te-tok, under these circumstances, received only a light punishment, being merely degraded three degrees of rank. But on his memorializing the throne, and representing that his absence from the scene of war was more his misfortune than his fault, and was, moreover, occasioned by his courage and zeal in the public service, he was restored to all his forfeited honors. Recently, however, he had again been involved in trouble, by having recommended an unsuitable candidate for military promotion to one of the national boards at Peking, and had been stripped of all the badges of his former rank, but not of the power or emoluments of office. We found, on inquiry from his secretary, that he was absent on some expedition along the coast, and would not return for six days. He was now absent probably in order to avoid the mortification of being seen at this holyday season without the usual badges of his rank, or to endeavor by some signal service at sea to regain favor at court, which his reported wealth was likely to insure at a very early period. His naval command extended along the coast of Fokeen and Chekeang. He had the character of being a confirmed opium-smoker, and had sometimes come fresh from the fumes, so as to talk rather wildly to the missionaries amid the confused state of his brain, boasting of his recent exploits against the pirates, and of his having cut off a hundred heads.

Our second visit, a few days later, which, for the sake of convenience and connection I here anticipate, was more successful. He received us with apparent cordiality. He was a decrepit old man of seventy years of age, without any of the usual ornaments of official rank, both he and his attendants being dressed in the plainest style, on account of his recent disgrace. He smoked tobacco incessantly, his conversation turning on his recent exploits in Che-keang, where he said that he had captured between thirty and forty pirates, and the same number also in the neighboring district of Tung-hwa. He spoke of the pirates being at this time very numerous. He next directed the topic of conversation to the price of our furs and dresses. He told us that his own fur came from Russia, and was of a very rare kind; acquainting us further with the price of the small piece of fur which faced his cuffs, which alone, be said, cost ten dollars. In reference to my intended voyage to England, he advised me to hasten my departure during the prevalence of the north winds, which he seemed to think would take me the whole voyage to Europe. It was currently rumored in Amoy that he wanted to resign his command, and to retire to his native place in the south-western part of Canton province, but that he could not yet obtain permission to abandon his post. He received, with expressions of thankfulness, St. Luke's Gospel and a tract; but appeared to possess very little intellectual capacity, being a very unfavorable specimen of a Chinese officer.

Our next visit was to the cham-hoo, or militay-commandant, whose official residence was situated near that of the te-tok. He came into an outer court to meet us, shaking hands with us separately, and conducted us into a large inner hall. He wore a light-blue knob on his cap, the badge of the third rank of military officers. He was the only resident officer of high rank who was a native of the neighborhood. He spoke the Tung-hwa variety of the local dialect, which enabled the missionaries to converse ¡êreely with him without the necessity of an intervening interpreter. Of this they took full advantage, the cham-hoo himself being also very friendly and communicative. Finding that some of our number bad been originally resident in Java, he inquired particularly about Calapa (Batavia) and the Chinese emigrants in that country. He requested information respecting the condition of the latter, and inquired whether they preserved their Chinese customs and dress. He also put several questions concerning the general character and policy of the Dutch government toward the Chinese settlers. He then inquired about a teacher named Boone, formerly at Amoy; and mentioned his having had some conversation respecting the United States with a Chinese, who had accompanied Dr. Boone from Amoy to America. He mentioned, also, the fact of his having been shown a daguerrotype likeness, taken in America, and inquired whether the missionaries had the apparatus for taking likenesses with such wonderful rapidity. He next wished to hear particulars about a nation of dwarfs, in America, of whom he had heard. An English missionary present, Mr. Young, who, through advantages in early youth, now possessed a tolerably perfect knowledge of the spoken dialect, drew the conversation to the subject of religion, and gave an outline of Christian doctrines. The cham-hoo, after listening for some minutes, replied, that their Chinese priests said almost the same things as the missionaries preached; and that the religions of both Chinese and foreigners were nearly the same. This led to a renewed explanation of our doctrines on the part of the missionary. The cham-hoo listened with politeness for a time; but on the mention of the fall of man, and the depravity of human nature, he made violent objections to the doctrine, asserting, with some degree of personal excitement, that his own heart was correct, and his moral disposition good. The missionary renewed his subject by the softening preface, "Let not your lordship be offended;" and proceeded to show that idolatry was sin, and a proof of the fall; that the pity of God extended to this fallen world; and that the mission and atonement of Jesus Christ were the divine remedy for the sins and sufferings of mankind. On this the cham-hoo asked who was Jesus-a god or a man? He afterward contended, with some warmth, that the Chinese did not worship idols, but merely made images in remembrance of good men, whose example they wished to imitate. In the course of his remarks, he instanced Ma-tsoo-po, the great Fokeen goddess of sailors. In a subsequent part of their conversation, the missionary asked him how it was that so many junks which carried her image, in order to consult the weather, and to obtain good luck, were lost at sea-goddess, crew, and all. He replied that none could resist "destiny" and the "decree of heaven;" and that those who worshiped Jesus were also unable to avoid calamity. He at length turned the conversation to other subjects; two of his attendants in the mean while appearing to be differently affected by the conversation, and slipping out of the room to conceal their laughter. He promised to receive and peruse some of our Christian books, and complimented us on the excellence of our objects, saying that our religion was calculated to unite all nations in the bond of peace. After the usual supply of tea and sweetmeats had passed round, we took leave of him in the outer court, to which he accompanied us.

Returning from the citadel into the outer city, we soon arrived at the residence of the principal civil mandarin, the hou-tai, a Manchoo Tartar, who was adorned with the insignia and opake blue knob of the fourth rank. Our cards having been sent in, he speedily made his appearance at a flight of steps in the outer court; and, after shaking hands, conducted us to an inner room, where he continued standing till we were all seated, and then himself occupied the lowest place. He lately served as che-foo in Szechuen province, and came to Amoy on his promotion. He made many inquiries about our respective countries, and seemed to he much impressed by the fact of our religion appearing to unite us in the bonds of fraternal affection, though we belonged to different nations. He inquired the number of years that had elapsed since the separation of the United States from Britain, and expressed a wish to obtain some maps of foreign lands, with the names written in Chinese characters, which I subsequently sent him as a present. Finding that, of the seven missionaries now resident at Amoy, three were English, he remarked that we were better off than he was in this respect, as he had only one Manchoo fellow-countryman, the hui-quan, besides himself at Amoy. He said that there were about thirty-four Ma-choos holding office in Fokeen province,-and also between four and five thousand Manchoo soldiers. He made inquiries about Mr. Abeel, who, he said, had supplied him with Christian books three years ago.

[The Chinese at the present time frequently express dissatisfaction with the diminished amount of encouragement which literature receives in the promotion of officers on the claims of literary merit. Under the preceding native dynasty, they say that all political offices were conferred on the literary graduates, but that under the present foreign dynasty, out of every ten offices of government, about three are given to Manchoos from birth, one to wealthy persons willing to purchase promotion by bribery, and only six to Chinese graduates, irrespectively of birth or wealth. The Manchoo dynasty is thus gradually closing up the only safety-valve for the ambition of native patriots, and is exposed to serious danger from this outrage on public opinion.]

The hai-quan, or inspector of customs, a Manchoo, whom we next visited, was absent from home; but, in common with the rest of the mandarins, sent his cards to each of us the next day, by way of returning our compliment. From this point we sailed in a boat to the suburb of Ha-mun-ka, to pay our respects to the Hai-hong. He received us with the same condescension and kindness which we experienced on a former occasion, inquiring our ages, and complimenting the medical missionary present on the benevolence and skill of his profession. He remarked that he had never seen any Roman Catholic books, though that religious sect had been for a long time in the country.

During our interview he voluntarily proposed that we should send him an assortment of our religious books, saying that, after reading them himself, he would circulate them among his people. We left, amid the shrill notes of c1arionets and pipes, and the rumbling, monotonous sounds of a kind of brass instrument, which only gave one note throughout the tune to the other instruments.

The next day a package of Christian books was carefully selected, and forwarded to each of the mandarins, who sent their cards to us in acknowledgment of the gift. The teacher who took the books, Tan seen-sang, was summoned into the presence of the cham-hoo, after the delivery of the books, and a series of questions was put to him respecting the nature of their contents, which, from his general acquaintance with Christian doctrines he was well qualified to answer. He entered into the details of our religion, and explained the nature of our books, especially meeting the cham-hoo's objections as to the different style of Chinese composition observable in them. He drew his attention particularly to the fact of our Bible being translated from the original languages in which it was written, which would account for its apparent contrariety to the Chinese literary style. He explained that the tracts and books, written and composed by the missionaries were original productions, and could, therefore, be more easily conformed to Chinese taste and style. The cham-hoo professed to enter into the distinction, as fully accounting for the difference of style, and said much to the teacher on the good objects of the missionaries and the excellence of Christian doctrines.

During the next few days I was engaged in accompanying some of the missionary brethren in their afternoon excursions among the people; and the temples, the city ramparts, opium-shops, and private houses, were in turn the scene of our visits. On one occasion we entered a Budhist nunnery, named Seen shan she, in which ten nuns and four senior abbesses resided. They brought us tea and sweet-meats, and afterward presented some to the little crowd which followed us into the interior; but the latter considerately declined receiving any, saying that the nuns would incur expense if so many received their kindness. Of the two abbesses, who waited on us, one was seventy and the other eighty years of age. The latter had been sold to the nunnery at the age of three years, where she had ever since lived. She was now toothless from age, hut seemed to receive a larger measure of respect from the by-standers than was usually accorded to this class of females. The entrance had its newly-posted lucky sentences to the following effect-"Shut out from the world," "Grandmothers in heart." In the temple in which we sat there were im-ages of the three precious Budhs, on a raised platform, and of the original disciples of Budh on either side, with every imaginable variety of expression depicted in their features. The two abbesses spoke of Mr. Abeel having been there in former times, and of his having given them some tracts, which they were able to read-a rare case of even the lowest degree of mental culture being perceptible among women, and especially among priestesses.

[Beggar Association]
Among the various matters of business observable at this time of the new year, was the almost universal practice of changing some small bills on the front of the houses. These papers, on inquiry, were found to refer to that numerous portion of the inhabitants of Chinese cities-the beggar population. The beggars at Amoy are enrolled by a system of laws and regulations, to which they are subject among themselves, and of which the law of the state also takes an indirect cognizance. A king of the beggars is duly elected from their number, who calls on each householder at the beginning of the year, and ascertains the monthly subscription which he is willing to give, in order to be free from the annoyance of their visits for alms, and the clatter of the sticks by which they implore relief. For the sum of five or six hundred cash a month, he gives a red piece of paper, inscribed with three copies of the characters for ¡°great good luck," inclosed within an outline of a jar or vase. This is affixed to the door-post as a sign of immunity, and is renewed at the commencement of every year. Any beggar overlooking this bill of exemption, and entering a shop for relief, may be seized by the householder, and be beaten on the spot. The king, after giving a certain proportion to the mandarins, and apportioning a certain fund for the support of the incorporated society of beggars, connives to appropriate the remainder to his own use, and to become a rich man. The beggars are covered with tattered rags, wear long, disheveled hair, and are not very particular in the mode of satisfying their hunger. I observed one pass the shop of a confectioner, and stealthily slip a cake into his hand, and thence into his sleeve. One of the partners, who saw the theft, ran out and followed the thief, caught him by the hair, made him restore the cake from the folds of his sleeve, and then, by a species of lynch-law very common in a country where ordinary law is expensive, and bribes must precede justice, gave the beggar a severe beating, and let him depart, amid the applause of the crowd, the good-humor of the tradesman himself, and a remarkable nonchalance on the part of the offender.

The initials
L. M. S. = London Missionary Society.
A. B. C. F. M. = American Board for Conduction Foreign Missions
A. B. B. F. M. = American Baptist Board for Conducting Foreign Missions.
Am. Ep. Ch. = American Episcopal Church
A. G. A. B. = American General Assembly¡¯s Board
C. M. S. = Church (of England) Missionary Society
E. B. M. S. = English Baptist Missionary Society.

A Narrative of an Exploratory Visit to each of the Consular Cities of China, and to the Islands of Hong Kong and Chusan, in Behalf of the Church Missionary Society, in the years 1844, 1845, 1846, by the Rev. George Smith, M.A., of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and Late Missionary in China

New York, Harper and Brothers Publishers, 52 Cliff Street, 1847

Scanned by Dr. Bill Brown Xiamen University MBA Center

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