EAST OF ASI A MAGAZINE

By 1VRON c. WILCOX, PH. D.

0NCE upon a tim e a mtss tonary, just home from Ceylon, had the

honour of bein g introduced to an aud ience in a bout these words: " H e who is to address us this evening comes from the land where every prospect pleases, but only man is vi le; you will now have the pleasure of li s tening to him." Whether he made a n ad /zominem

application of these complimentary remarks to himself is not stated , but I

want to say something about a region to which these lines from Bishop Heber certainly apply, a nd about a city wh ich [bn Bata tu , the ce lebrated Arabian travell er, desc ribed in the middl e of the fourteenth century as" a large and handsome place situated in a pla in and surrounded with ga rdens

something like the plain of Damascus."

A\I ER !CAN CONSU LATE.

F oochow (ffl mM ) is in round numbers four hundred miles from S hangha i and

live hundred from H ong kong. [ t is

not only the capital

o f F ookien Province but the res idence of the V iceroy of that province and of its

no rthern ne ig hbour , Chekiang. Fook ien

has been a ppro­

priately called " the Switzer l and o f

China." F ew tourists see thi s beautiful part o f the country on account of the incon venience o f tra nsfe rring to "coasters" a nd the infreq uency

with which steamers of the through lin es call at Pagoda Anchorage. But

those who do vis it this region neve r forget the Min River, or the charming

EAST OF ASIA MAGAZINE

scenery that nearly everywhere fringes its banks and extends in e ither direc­tion as far as the eye can reach. H aving ascended this s tream for several hundred miles one can bear witness that the scenery grows more a nd more rug­ged and sublime the farther one penetra tes into the interior by this waterway.

.. :

FOOC HOW C I. UB AND OFF ICES OF BR ITISH CONSULATE .

There is evidence that the Arabs- who first came to China in A.D. 678, and are mentioned by Mat­wanlin as late as A.D.

1 265- fr equ e ntly visited Fook ien, but there is reason to believe that they had

little, if any, com­mercial intercourse with Foochow, Chin­chew being in early days the chief trading

mart of that part of Chin a. A t t he time of Marco Polo the name Chonka was applied to Fookien by its people, because thi s province had from 709 to 754 formed a virtually independent kingdo m whose capita l was Kienchow (#I 5!), the Kienning (fii ~) of to-day. This early kingdom was called Kienkuo, the original undoubtedly of Chonka.

Accord in g t o M.

Pauthier, Foochow, ~~~~~~~~~ji~~ under the Mongols, I L~~'"'~'".,.

was the chief town of the circuit of th at name- F ooc h ow fu , which was established

in I 278. Three years NEA R VIEW OF GR.-\N !T E IWrDG l•:

later these conquerors removed the seat of governm ent from Chinchew, where it had long been, to Foochow. In 1282 they tran sfe rred it back to Chinchew, but " in r 285," says M. Pa uthier, " it was incorpora ted with the government of K iangtsche wh ich had its headquarters at H angchow."

FOOCHOW AND THE RIVER JV!IN 73

In 1273 the office of collector of customs, which had for ages been a t

Chinc!1ew, was re moved to Foochow, to which city the L oochoo tribute­bearers were ord ered the reafte r to take their tribute.

The fact tha.t Bohea, Congo u, and other kinds o f tea a re g rown in th e region of Foochow and were carried overl a nd to Canton by a diffi cult route of six hundred miles wa<;, of course, long known to foreign traders. Con­

sequently, in r 830, the East India Company made representations in favour of opening the former place to British trade Nothing was , however, accom­

plished until 1 84~. whe n the Treaty of Nank in g opened the" Fi ve Ports" in whi ch Foochow was included . In June, I 843 , Mr. George Tradescant L ay unfurled the British fl ag over the first cons ul ate esta bli shed he re. It is an interesting fac t that hi s son, Mr. W alter T. Lay, recently served as

Commissioner of Customs at thi s port.

MIDDLE ISLAND AND THE TWO BRIDGES

During a number o f years a fte r F oochow became accessible to fore ig ners,

commerce was " up-hill business." The re was no market fo r imports; several

anti-foreign attacks by the pop ulace re ndered the p ort a n unsafe place of residence, and the sta te o f the ri ver was such that vessels- except those of very light draft- we re unabl e to ascend as fa r as th e present fo reign settl e­ment. Unfortunately, the na tural shall owness of the ri ver in places has been increased through shoaling caused by a barrier, built in 1841 , to prevent

British warships from reaching the city. H e nce tea and othe r co mmoditi es

have to be tra nsported by cargo boats to and from Pagoda An~horage, the

74 EAST OF rl S l.4 .1/.riG .-IZIVE

limit o f navigation for ocean steamers. As F oochow is diffi cult o f access

from the land s ide, it was entire ly unmolested durin g the Tai'ping rebellion, bu t in r 86 5 fears for the safety o f the city led th e auth oriti es to seek the assis ta nce of British offi cers for the in st ru ction of a body of t roops in the use of foreign a rm s. An offi cer a nd some men were according ly

sent to F oochow, where a camp of in struction was formed a nd severa l hundred Tartar soldi ers we re very

creditably drill ed . L e t us now im<~gin e our­

selves on board a steamer

from S hanghai o r H ong kong. Soon a fte r passing Matsoo fsla nd, in the former case. o r in the l<tt ter, the White

D ogs- one of which petty islands is ma rked by a lig hthouse - our vesse l begin .· to head for the na rrow

cha nn el lead in g into th e Min. Before ente ring the ri ver our steamer may

be cl el<tyed fo r hours un t il the ri s in g tid e enables it to cross the bar- a

C:E l{!\I AN CONSULA T E.

" H eaven-sent ins titution "

in the eyes of the Chinese. Away to our right we

can make out Sha rp Peak, a small rocky is land con­

taining severa l sanitariums, a lso a residence a nd offi ces o f the E. E. A. & C. T ele­

g raph Co. F oochow, it may be here sta ted, is thirty- four mil es from the mouth o f the Min and

about ten mil es above Pagoda A nchorage.

Th e e nt ra nce to the r ive r is bordered on each side by a range of hil ls whose steep sides a re beaut ifull y te rraced 111 the in terest o f agri culture. Thi s striking feature, which so e nha nces th e berwty o f Chinese scenery, is

J-?()()Cf-!0 IV , /ND THE RIVER JI!!I N 75

noticeable not onl y a long the ri 1·e r but whe rever hill s a nd mounta in s e x ist .

Se1·cn or eight mil es from its mouth the stream suddenly contracts into what

is call ed Kinpai Pass ( ~!¥ -ft' ), whi ch is form ed by roc ky wall s on eith e r s ide. T he

scenery at this poin t is, howe1·e r, surpassed by tha t o f Minngan ( !/1 !M) ), fart he r up the ri ver. H ere the towe ring cliffs, terraced hill s ides, a nd curi ously perched fortifi cations reca ll to E uropea n t rave ll ers the mounta in de fil es of the Rhin e.

Four or fi ve miles hig her we com e

to Losing Isla nd (~ m ) which is crowned by a sma ll pagoda that sug­

gested the foreig n name fo r the Ail­chorage. H ere we ha ve to transfe r to a steam la un ch o r sa il boat. ln the summer of I sg4 the Fre nch, a t

the time of their in vas ion, destroyed

the arsenal and shipya rd j ust abo ve Pagoda [s\and , he nce those we see

are the creations of a la te r day. The arsenal, as is well kn ow n, is now under French con tro l. O n a hill

not far away a British Aag Aoats proudl y to the breeze, rem in d in g 11s

that there is here a bran ch offi ce o f

the Foochow Consulate o f that na­tionality in cha rge of a Vice-Consul. On the south s ide of the ri ve r a re the build ings of the l mpe ri <Ll C us­

tnms, also residences a nd schools

of the Ameri can Board Missi on. r;N i\ R 1.1•:1> BA N \ ' AN Tl< K l( A N I l S H R I N ~: .

A littl e higher th a n Pag·oda A nch ;:J rage the ri ver is divided into two branches by an island which extends to a point a bout seven miles above

Foochow. As we ascend the no rth bran ch o f the ri ver, Ku sha n ( Ll.J :i'ft), or Drum Mountain , ri ses bo ld ly away to the ri gh t. R eceding still farth e r. and forming p<t rt o f the amphitheat re in which F oochow is situated, is the

Drum Range, or Kulia ng, a favourite summer resort. A dozen mil es to the le ft our atten tion is a ttracted by " Tiger

Head Mounta in ," which has been nickn a med " L over's L eap " by some sentimental foreig ner. Long ages ago a prophet dec la red that wh en this mountai n fa ll s the city will be des troyed. T o prevent such a

catastrophe two stone lions. which face the dan gerous ]Jrec ipice. have

been set up within the walls .

EAST OF ASIA MAGAZINE

Soon after our boat rounds Kushan Point, two pagodas, which are 111

the city, loom up five or six miles ahead of us. Another prominent landmark is a watch-tower situated at the extreme northern angle of the city wall and christened "Noah's A rk." As we continue to ascend the river we discern, · several miles ahead, some saw-mill s and a match factory, erected during recent years. Tea hongs and other foreign buildings also appear. On a hill, running parallel with the ri ver, we can soon point out the Foochow Club, the British Consulate, and the Methodist Mission Compound and Publishing House, near which is Tieng Ang Dong- " Church of H eavenly Peace "- where worship one of the largest native congregations in the land. Farther west are the British Episcopal Church, the buildings of the Anglo-Chinese College-founded by a wealthy native Christian- and the American Consulate. Now our boat approaches the solidly-built Bund near the fine establish­ment of Messrs. J ard ine, Matheson & Co., and the main building of the Imperial Customs. Going ashore here we find ourselves in a very important section of the busi­neps community.

Beyond the hill spoken of above are residences, several c4l\rches and schools, a woman's hospital and other quilclings, also the race-course and recreation ground. Here jJ.lso are the three foreign cemeteries, in one of which our a ttention is especially drawn to the beautiful angel­monument over the graves of the Missionaries who, on

HEAD-DRESS OF FIELD WOMAN.

August 1st, 1895, lost their lives in the massacre at Hwashan, near Kucheng. The island on which the foreign settlement is located is the principal native burying-ground for F oochow city . The horse-shoe, or omega-shaped g raves so common in this part of China, a re objects of interest to travelle rs.

FOOCHOW AND THE RIVER JVIIN 77

I RRI GATI NG P UM P.

The Min is here divided into two streams by Chung­

chow ( ~1-J J:ft ) or " Middle Island," the spot where the American Board a nd Met h odis t Episcopal Missions first gained a foot­ing in this. region. The river is here span ned by two re­markable bridges. The shorter one

~~~t.__ ___ J reaches southward

from Middle Island to the forei gn settlement while the longer-the " Bridge of T en Thousand Ages" (:fi ~ ~) extends north ward from the island to the mq.in­land. The. e bridges and the" Bridge of the Cloudy Hill ," five or six mlles farther up the river, a re sim ilarly constructed, being built entirely of gran ite, The bridges near the foreig n settlement have doubtless been in exi sten~e

more than eight centuries. The bridge ofTen Thousand Ages, which is r 350 feet long, has thirty-fivt:~

buttresses, placed at irregular intervals, a number of them being forty-eight feet apart. Reach­ing from each but­tres to the next are four immense sleepers laid side by side. Most of them are as much as three feet square, and several are more than forty­five feet long. The uneven flagstone FOOCHOW HILL WOMAN - AN ABORIGI NE.

EAST OF ASIA .11AGAZINE

Aoor is la id crosswise upon the s leepers. A long each side o f the bridge ex tends

a balust rade consisting o f Aat g ranite s labs about twelve feet long, two feet wide,

and four inches thi ck. Their ends a re set in heavy stone posts, the summits o f wh ich a re cut into various shapes, some being o rn a mented (?) with li ons.

"H ow were those imm ense sleepers lifted into pos iti on ?" is a question asked b_1· .~t ranger.~ . .-\ 11 is s imple e noug h when it occurs to them that the tides

~OOCHOW LA UY~ HE AD ORNAMENTS.

we re com pel led to per­form the he rculea n task.

Still, these structures are

monuments of the m­genuity of those early builde rs. They are, how­ever, mere foot-bridges,

beca use this part of the country is too rough and

hill y even for a whee l­barrow. Goods of a ll kinds have to be carried

on the shoulder.~ of men and women, the mode of land tra1·el being by

sedan-cha ir. The multi­farious traffic conducted

in the small booths on each side of the entire leng th of those bridges

and the noisy, bustling crowds always surg ing back and forth across them- except at dead of nig ht- a re good illustra-

tions of O riental life. Whe n crossing he re, [ have sometimes ha lted to watch the p rocess of

fi shing for cormorants, call ed by the Chin ese (~ ~~) . The fi sherman sta nds on a ra ft fifteen o r t wenty feet long and made in half-a-dozen la rge bamboos fastened firmly together. The birds crouch s tupidly on the raft until the fi sherman beg ins operations by pushing or throwing one of the m into the water. When it declines to clive and sw ims back towards the boat, the man

beats the water with his paclcl le o r strikes the bird a lig ht blow, so it is g lad to keep beyond his reach. It ri ses to the surface after catching a fi sh, which

POOCHOW AND THE RIVER M.lN 79

it is prevented from swa ll owin g- unless the fi sh is la rge- by means of a ring arounds its neck. When it se izes a la rge fi sh, a hard struggle takes pl ace

between the would-be captor a nd captive, a nd eager crowds often watch the issue, i.e., whether the fi sh wi ll succeed in ext ricat ing itself from the bird's beak in time to regain its libe rty . For at this juncture the fi sherm an paddles rapidly towards the scene of combat a nd , when near e noug h, clextrously scoops up both bird a nd fi sh in a net-lik e bag, which is attached to th e end of a long

pole. The bird is th en forced to relinq uish its p rey, but receives as its reward a

mouthful or two of food which it can swallow when the rin g is properl y adj usted.

!'LIG HT OF STEPS LEADTN(; TCJ KUS H Ai\' TDIPLE.

Extending along the north bank of the ri ver a nd some dis tance back, is a thickly-pop ulated area. In this section is the Provincial Mint, whi ch occupies a fo reig n house near the ri ver. A long, narrow suburb, traversed

most of the way by a sing le street, ex te nds from the bridg·e to the south gate

of the city proper, a di stance of nearly two miles. Let us take a chair and wend our way a long thi s thoroug hfa re. As the shops a re entirely open in front during the day, we can see their contents and activit ies while our bearers push their way through the crowds. H ere before our eyes is ma nufacturing in the literal sense of the word. Wire-pu llers, brasiers, button and comb

makers, makers o f images, lamps, trunks, shoes, and umbrell as, ca rpente rs,

wood-turners, curriers, ta il ors, gold- and silver-leaf beaters, cotton beaters,

So EA 5;T OF ASIA MAGAZINE

weavers, s tone-cutte rs, eng rave rs, decora to rs, and other busy a rtifi cers are working away before the publi c gaze, supply ing. the necess ities and lu x uri es of Chinese civilisation. Our a ttention is especia lly attracted by g roups of as many as four bl acksmiths, who, with a lmost t he rap idity of a trip-hammer,

.....--=--,;:;;:.,are a lternating their heavy blows on the same part

tlN TH I': ROAil 1'0 K US H AN

of a piece of red -hot iron as it res ts on an anvil. Nor do we fail , whil e passi ng a long, to adm ire the curio es tabli shments a nd the gay porcela in and

silk shops. I may here mention th at a mong the curios

made at F oochow are fi g ures, vases, models of templ es, widows' a rches, pago las, etc., carved in what is commonly, but erroneously, known as soap-stone, the correct name being agalm atolite or pagocl i te. Its structure is qua rtzose, yet it is so suft and unctuous as to resembl e talc or steatite. It is opaque, generall y of a redd ish o r g rey ish

~ I ONASTERv. white, a nd sometim es veined with a deeper tint. Among other objec ts of interest in the shops are

exqu isitely executed artifi cial fl owers, made from th e vegetable pith known as rice-pape r ; also curious fi g ures of birds, coloured as to represent the li vin g o rig in a l. lacq ue ring, as prac­ti sed h e r e, was deri vee! from the J apanese. A family in the city has long possessed the secret and the monopoly o f m ak in g " th e genuine Foochow lacquer," considered as unsurpassed, and sold a t exceed ing ly hi g h prices.

The native city is

carved in cha rcoal and so It i ~ said tha t the art of

surrounded by a TEMPLic: .-\ND ~WNATE RY, K US H AN.

massive stone wall ,

nearly seven miles in extent. It is fl anked a t intervals by bastions and each of its seven gates is s urmounted by one of those high s tructures which make

flO OCHO WAND THE RIVER MIN Sr

such an imposing appearance. Ark " which we saw when com 111

the watch-tower, "Noah's From this elevation of over

(;l{A \ ' ES OF TH ~ KUC HENG MA RTYI{S.

LOG RAFTS FROM TH~ I NTE RJOl{.

three hundred feet the eye takes in the magnificen t amphithea tre in which Foochow is situated . With the exception of the north side, the city is

EAST OF A SIA MAGAZI NE

surrounded , fo r g-reate r or less d istan ces, by a somewhat level t ract, intersected

by cana ls a nd by the wind in g branches o f the Min and clotted with a multitude o f h<un le ts and vill ages. F a rthe r a\v~l"y on afl ·sides a rampart of

mo un tain s and hil ls adds to t he g rande ur ,j f the scene whi le, near at hand , is the city and its imm ed iate subu rbs. W ith in the wall s few buildings rise

.\ VERV ANC II~NT P, R I D(',J~ .

above t he one-story le\'e l to break the monotony of t il e roo fs, pagodas being about t he oPly prom in ent structu res,

t houg h the ey e is ar res ted by ''mandarin

po les" in fron t of the d ifferent yamens. Prom inent in the south-western pa r~

of the city is Black Rock Hi ll ( W "fi .~ ) ,

which is about three h und red feet high. In the ea rl y days of the port th is spot was

one of t he places of res id ence for the British

Cunsu 1, whose house and off·ices we re, however, in the fo reig n settl ement. T hi s pl a n was adopted in orde r to check al l attempts to im itate in F oocholl'

t he e :-:c lusive poli cy so long carri ed out i" the nati ve city o f Canton. Much t rouble was caused long ago by our V iceroy , who memorial ­

ised the T hrone to the effec t that certa in fo reigne rs ought not to be permi tted to e rect m iss ion bu il d in gs on B lack R ock Hill, becau se of

the alarnri·ng fact t ha"t ··-a

~reat D ragon res ts under­neath Foochow a nd supports the city; and that, at th is parti cula r spot, hi s ,·eins a nd

a rteri es come so nea r the surface that h is circulat ion

wo ul d be impeded by the we ight o f the buil d in gs, th us excit ing hi s disp leasure and Jall in g down d ire e ,·ils upon the peop le. ·

Neverthe less, some si :-: or

. . I ~· ....,_

<:R AV ES A:\' 1> \VliH 1VV:i ' A RC J-I E~ :\ Er\ 1{

Ti ll·: FOKE I C~ S I ·:T"l"l.l-: ii i i ·:~ T

Ieven yea rs ago, the lad ies o f the Ameri can Method ist M ission b ught a site on this m uch-d iscussed hill for a hospital, with the un de rstand ing that i1: wou ld be · used fo r thi s pu rpose only. For, strange to say, though Fengshui and the D ragon ha,·e a st rong ant ipathy to chu rches a nd chapels,

the healing a rt does not, as a rul e, seem to arouse th e ir ire. l t must be

add eel , however, tha t their representat i ,·e, the local gent ry , ha ve thus fa r

success full y opposed the stamping of t he deed to thi s fin e site.

[n the south ­

east part o f t he city is the Hill

of the Nine Geni i

( Ul fliJ JL). t-; ear t hi s a nd t h e \Vhite P agoda

are the premises of the American Board Mission,

in c ludi n g· th e Foochow Coll eg-e and a hospital

for women and

children. F ooc how is

ca ll ed the " Ba n­

FOOCHO fV AND THE RIVER MIN

I< US II A?\ TF.~ Il ' Ll~ AN D \IONASTER\·.

yan City" UJJX m) as trees of this orde r a re num erous there, but other 1·arieti es of shade trees a lso abound and g ive certa in sec ti ons of the city th e

appearance of be in g embowered in extensive g roves.

The T arta rs occupy part o f th e eastern ha lf o f the city . Jus t outside of the east wall and near the Tang Men, or " H ot \!Vater Gate," are spr ings whi ch a re

used ex tensively for ba thin g· pmposes by the Chinese. ll'h o regard them as

IJ O RS~- llOE OR OME(;A-Sl-JAPED (;RAVE.

cura ti ve for skin

di seases. Th e

water is ho t a nd

clear. r t ri ses not

only in one spot , but bubbles up

from the beds of st reams in the

n e ig hbourhood .

Bathing houses have been built

over some of the; sp rin gs, whil e others are more simply utili zed bymeansoftanks

in the open air.

EAST OF A SIA MAGAZI NE

Thousands of women in F oochow and vicinity a re employed in fa rming and as burden beare rs, but never as chair-bea re rs. The coiffu re of this class of women attracts at ten tion on account of their enormous hairpin s, which are sometimes made of sil ver. This robust class of women form a s triking

BRIDGE OF T EN THOUSAND AGES.

contrast to their sisters of the so­cal led hi g h e r c lasses w h o, when they appear at all , go hob­bling about on their tiny, bound feet. In some

secluded vill ages in the hill s, a dozen mile s n or th- wes t of F oochow, a re the remnants of a tribe of abori­

g ines whom I visited a year ago. The men appeared like the Chinese, but the women, who were very shy, are objects of curios ity, because they do up their ha ir in such a strange looking frame.

Few public buildings in Foochow are sufficiently unique to justify a visit , especia lly if one has seen the g reat temples a t H angchow, Canton, and elsewhere. It may be mentioned, however, that the T emple

to the Goddess of H eaven (Fo 7( or

~ 1J iiill ,!!; ), which is in t he subu rbs, is one of the mos t ri ch ly adorned places of worship in this region. This deity is the specia l protec tor of sa ilors.

The attraction of sport and the pictur­esque scenery of the out-lying districts- most of which can be reached by houseboat­render exc ursions a fa vourite mode of re laxa­tion. Tiger hunting in the Kucheng Moun­tains and elsewhere has also been indulged in, but one of the mos t interesting trips in Fl b:LD WO J\IAN.

.FOOCHO W AND THE RIVER M I N ss

the neighbourhood of F oochow is to Ku shan. A celebra ted Buddhist Temple is built at a he ig·ht o f some 2,0 00 feet, o r about 1 ,ooo feet below the summit of the mountain . A well-paved road about six feet wide leads from the foot of the mounta in to the gate of the temple. The to ilsome ascent is a mply repa id by the charming views of Foochow, its suburbs, th e valley of the Min , and the hill s and mountains beyond, as di sclosed on success ive stages of the journey. The chief attraction which draws multitudes to this shrin e is a re lic

popul arly beli eved to be one of the teeth o f Buddha, who. e sacred jaws y ielded precious deposits for a lmos t every temp! of note in the Chinese Empire, not to speak of other lands. Many of the Chinese, however, ascend Kushan in order to witness a sunrise from its summit- a glori ous sight, indeed , especi a ll y as from tha t e levation the ocean, the rugged coast-line, and adjacent island s are visibl e.

N EW C.M.S. GfRLS' SCH OOL.

Some years ago a gentleman, when describing his experience in try ing to "hustl e the East," wrote some lines which are, perhaps, worth quoting here. All residents of this place would ag ree tha t his " poem " is a libel on the city and people he claims to describe;-

86 E AST OF A SIA Jl!fA GAZI N E

·My fri ends, have you heard of the town of Foochow,

On th e bank of th e River Slow, \Vhere bl ooms the wait-a-whi le fl ower fa ir,

vVherc: th e som e-time-or-oth er scents th e a ir . . -\ nd th e so ft go-easys grow ?

It li es in th e vall ey o f \'Vha t's-th e-use

In the province of L et-her-slide, And " th at- tired-feeling" is na ti ve th ere :

It's th e home of the reckl ess-1-don't-care. \>\There the give-it-ups abide.

lt stands a t th e botto m of Lazy Hill , .-\nd is easy to reach, I decla re.:

You ' ve onl y to fold up your hand s a nd glide Down th e slope of Weak-will 's slippery-sli de

T o be landed qui ckly th ere.

The to wn is as old as th e human race

.-\nd it grows ''"ith th e fli ght of years : I t is wrapped in th e fog o f idl er's dreams: Its streets a re paved with di scarded sche mes

. \nd sprinkled with use less tears.