Chapter I: Preface

These journeys in China [concluding in 1897], of which the following pages are the record, were undertaken for recreation and interest solely, after some months of severe travelling in Korea. I had no intention of writing a book, and it was not till I came home, and China came very markedly to the front, and friends urged upon me that my impressions of the Yangtze Valley might be a useful contribution to popular knowledge of that much-discussed region, that I began to arrange my materials in their present form. They consist of journal letters, photographs, and notes from a brief diary.

In correcting them, and in the identification of places, not an easy matter, I have been much indebted to the late Captain Gill’s _River of Golden Sand_, _The Gorges of the Yangtze_, by Mr. A. Little, three papers on “Exploration in Western China,” by Mr. Colborne Baber, in the _Geographical Journal of the Royal Geographical Society_, and very specially to the official reports of H.B.M.’s Consuls at the Yangtze ports. I have denied myself the pleasure of reading any of the recent literature on China, and it was only when my task was done that I glanced over some of the later chapters in _The Break Up of China_, and _China in Transformation_. For a great part of my inland journey I have been unable to find any authorities to refer to, and as regards personal observation I agree sadly with the dictum of Socrates—“The body is a hindrance to acquiring knowledge, and sight and hearing are not to be trusted.”

I cannot hope to escape errors, but I have made a laborious effort to be accurate, and I trust and believe that they are not of material importance, and that in the main this volume will be found to convey a truthful impression of the country and its people. The conflicting statements made on every subject by well-informed foreign residents in China, as elsewhere, constitute a difficulty for a traveller, and homogeneous as China is, yet with regard to very many customs, what is true in one region is not true in another. Even in the single province of SZE CHUAN there is a very marked unlikeness between one district and another in house and temple architecture, methods of transit, customs in trade, and in much else.

I have dwelt at some length on “Beaten Tracks”—_i.e._, treaty ports and the Great River—though these have been described by many writers, for the reason that each one looks at them from a different standpoint, and helps to create a complete whole. The illustrations in this volume, with the exception of the reproductions of some Chinese drawings, and nine which friends have kindly permitted me to use, are from my own photographs. The spelling of place names needs an explanation. I have not the Chinese characters for them, and in many cases have only been able to represent by English letters the sounds as they reached my ear; but wherever possible, the transliteration given by Consul Playfair in his published list of Chinese Place Names has been adopted, and with regard to a few well-known cities the familiar but unscholarly spelling has been retained. To prevent confusion the names of provinces have been printed in capitals.

I am painfully conscious of the many demerits of this volume, but recognising the extreme importance of increasing by every means the knowledge of, and interest in, China and its people, I venture to ask for it from the public the same kindly criticism with which my former records of Asiatic travel have been received, and to hope that it may be accepted as an honest attempt to make a contribution to the data on which public opinion on China and Chinese questions must be formed.

ISABELLA L. BISHOP

_October, 1899._

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I. GEOGRAPHICAL AND INTRODUCTORY 1
II. “THE MODEL SETTLEMENT” 15
III. HANGCHOW 29
IV. THE HANGCHOW MEDICAL MISSION HOSPITALS 44
V. SHANGHAI TO HANKOW (HANKAU) 55
VI. THE FOREIGNERS—HANKOW AND BRITISH TRADE 61
VII. CHINESE HANKOW (HANKAU) 67
VIII. HANKOW TO ICHANG 83
IX. ICHANG 95
X. THE UPPER YANGTZE 104
XI. RAPIDS OF THE UPPER YANGTZE 114
XII. RAPIDS AND TRACKERS 128
XIII. LIFE ON THE UPPER YANGTZE 138
XIV. THE YANGTZE AND KUEI FU 150
XV. NEW YEAR’S DAY AT KUEI-CHOW FU 160
XVI. KUEI FU TO WAN HSIEN 166
XVII. CHINESE CHARITIES 181
XVIII. FROM WAN HSIEN TO SAN TSAN-PZU 194
XIX. SZE CHUAN TRAVELLING 207
XX. SAN-TSAN-PU TO LIANG-SHAN HSIEN 214
XXI. LIANG-SHAN HSIEN TO HSIA-SHAN-PO 223
XXII. HSIA-SHAN-PO TO SIAO-KIAO 240
XXIII. SIAO-KIAO TO HSIEH-TIEN-TZE 249
XXIV. HSIEH-TIEN-TZE TO PAONING FU 264
XXV. PAONING FU AND SIN-TIEN-TZE 282
XXVI. SIN-TIEN-TZE TO TZE-TUNG HSIEN 296
XXVII. TZE-TUNG HSIEN TO KUAN HSIEN 316
XXVIII. KUAN HSIEN AND CHENGTU 338
XXIX. KUAN HSIEN TO SIN-WEN-PING 361
XXX. SIN-WEN-PING TO LI-FAN TING 373
XXXI. LI-FAN TING TO TSA-KU-LAO 395
XXXII. THE “BEYOND” 404
XXXIII. THE MAN-TZE, I-REN, OR SHAN-SHANG-REN 443
XXXIV. FROM SOMO TO CHENGTU FU 455
XXXV. DOWNWARD BOUND 460
XXXVI. LUCHOW TO CHUNG-KING FU 477
XXXVII. THE JOURNEY’S END 490
XXXVIII. THE OPIUM POPPY AND ITS USE 506
XXXIX. NOTES ON PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN CHINA 518
CONCLUDING REMARKS 530
ITINERARY 545
APPENDICES 546
INDEX 549

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE Tibetan Lamas masked for a Religious Dance (Lal Singh) _Frontispiece_ Zig-zag Bridge and Tea House, Shanghai 27 A _Pah_, or Haulover 33 West Gate, Hangchow 35 Pavilion in Imperial Garden, Si-hu 39 God of Thunder, Lin-yang 42 C.M.S. Mission Hospital, Hangchow 45 A Street in Hankow (John Thomson, F.R.G.S.) 69 Hankow from Han Yang 73 Coffins awaiting Burial 76 Female Beggar in Mat Hut 78 A Travelling Restaurant 80 Chinese Soldiers 87 Military Officer 88 A Fisherman and Plunge Net 90 The Tablet of Confucius 97 Entrance to Ichang Gorge 107 The Author’s Boat 111 Bed of the Yangtze in Winter, Ta-tan Rapid 116 The Hsin-tan 120 Ping-shu Gorge, Hsin-tan 125 The Mitan Gorge 129 Temple near Kueichow 133 Trackers’ Houses 143 Author’s Trackers at Dinner 158 A Chinese Punchinello 161 Temple of Chang-fei 167 Pagoda near Wan Hsien 169 Guest Hall, C.I.M., Wan Hsien 173 Bridge at Wan Hsien 179 A Chinese Burial Charity 185 Baggage Coolies 197 A Pai-fang 199 Granite Dragon Pillar 203 Pass of Shen-kia-chao 215 Wayside Shrine 218 A Chinese Chatsworth 225 Bridge and Inn of Shan-rang-sar 229 A Porcelain Temple 233 The Water Buffalo 235 Ordinary Covered Bridge 237 A Group of Kuans (Mandarins) 255 Lady’s Sedan Chair (Chinese Propriety) (Dr. Kinnear) 259 A Sze Chuan Farmhouse 267 A Sze Chuan Market-place 271 Pedagogue and Pupils 275 Recessed Divinities, Chia-ling River 281 Temple of God of Literature, Paoning Fu 283 The Right Rev. Bishop Cassels, D.D., Paoning Fu 287 Chinese Protestant Episcopal Church, Paoning Fu 289 C.I.M. Sanitarium, Sin-tien-tze 293 Entrance to a Market-place 297 Author’s arrival at a Chinese Inn 303 An Ox Mill 306 A Hand Mill 307 The Ta-lu 309 Woman Reeling Silk 317 The Rev. J. Heywood Horsburgh, M.A., in Travelling Dress 322 Water Mill, Chengtu Plain 325 Bridge at Mien-chuh 328 Treadmill Field-pump (Captain Gill) 332 Wooden Bridge, Kuan Hsien 335 Roof of Erh-wang Temple 341 Oil Baskets and Wooden Purse 344 Barrow Traffic, Chengtu Plain 345 Poppy Field in Blossom 349 The White Opium Poppy (F. S. Mayers) 351 The Author in Manchu Dress (Moffat, Edinburgh) 353 Divinity in Wen-shu-yuan Temple, Chengtu 359 Entrance to Grounds of City Temple, Kuan Hsien 363 Double Roofed Bridge 368 Tibetan Rope Bridge (Captain Gill) 370 Human Pack Saddle for Timber 374 Bamboo Suspension Bridge, Weichou 379 Ancient Towers at Kanpo 383 Kan-chi 387 Rock Temple, Li-fan Ting 391 Village of Wei-gua 397 Street of Tsa-ku-lao 401 A Sugar-loaf Mountain, Siao Ho 405 Revolving Prayer-Cylinders 408 Bridle Track by the Siao Ho 411 View from Chuang Fang 414 Castle at Chu-ti 416 Headman’s House, Chu-ti 417 Altar of Incense on Man-tze Roof 418 Sick unto Death 420 Lama-serai and Headman’s House, Mia-ko 421 Elephantiasis (Dr. Christie) 427 Chinese Officer and Spearmen, Mia-ko 432 Village of Rong-kia 434 Canyon of the Rong-kia 435 Square Tower, Somo 438 Distant View of Somo 439 A Man-tze Village 444 Somo Castle (back view) 447 Entrance and Judgment-seat, Somo Castle 453 Heshui Hunter, and Notched Timbers 456 A Heshui Family, Ku-erh-kio 457 A Dragon Bridge 459 Village on the Min 462 West Gate, Chia-ling Fu 465 Frieze in Rock Dwelling, Min River 468 Boat on the Min (Dr. Causland) 469 Town on the Yangtze 472 Suburb of Sui Fu 473 Tsiang Ngan Hsien, with entrance to Rock Dwelling 476 Pagoda near Luchow 479 The Author’s _Wu-pan_ 483 Method of carrying _Cash_ and Babies 486 Fishing Village, Upper Yangtze 487 Wall of Chung-king, with Gate Towers 491 Chung-king Soldiers, Customs Guard 494 Gala Head-dress, “Dog-faced” Woman (Dr. Kinnear) 498 The Author’s last _Wu-pan_ 500 “Stone Precious Castle,” Shi-pao-chai 502

ERRATA.

Page 2. Third line from bottom, for “140” read “263.”

„ 177. Footnote, third line from bottom, after “illustration” read
“on page 498.”

„ 415. Eleventh line from bottom, for “_Tu-sze_” read “_Tu-tze_.”

„ 495. Eighteenth line from top, for “88°” read “87°.”

„ 518. Eleventh line from bottom, for “six thousand” read “8875.”

THE YANGTZE VALLEY