Impressions of Pekin.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 184, 4 August 1900, Page 1 (Supplement)

Impressions of Pekin.

(By Alfred Edmonds.) [In the "Wide World Magazine," September. 1899.]

Pekin, of course, abounds in curiosities which may, with the prosaic advance of railways, "fade into the light of common day"; but until the city is. brought into closer contact with Western civilisation,, it must always possess an air of mystery for Occidental minds.

Before the railway line was laid from the Taku forts to Tien-tsin, the journey from the coast was generally made in a steamer up the Peiho River one of the most difficult streams to navigate in all China. Owing to the enormous amount of silt carried down, and the bad condition of the banks, the bed is exceedingly -treacherous, and fresh mud-banks are continually being formed. In this a steamer may get hopelessly stuck; and although her engines are reversed, she finds it impossible to extricate herself. Not infrequently, lots are drawn amongst the passengers as to who shall ride to Tien-tsin for assistance. The person on whom the lot falls hires a pony in the neighbourhood, and on reaching Tien-tsin sends down lighterslong, flat-bottomed craft—which relieve the steamer of .lust so much of its cargo as will enable her to ge^ afloat once more.

The long and dreary overland journey from the city of Tien-tsin to the capital is usually performed either on horseback or. in springless carts, which threaten with every revolution of their wheels to dislocate the joints of the unhappy traveller. Good horsemen, with relays of ponies, have been known to cover the ground in one day; but in carts it takes two days, a night having to be spent in a Chinese inn, where the traveller has to sleep on a kang (a low structure of bricks), and where he is usually "hush'd with buzzing night flies" to his slumber.

By the extension of the railway from Tien-tsin to Lukachiou,' however —a town within a few miles of Pekin —the cart journey is obviated, and the great city can now be reached in half a day from the coast.

A stone road rims right through what is known as the Chinese City, to the gates of the Tartar City. On the right of this road, immediately at the entrance, is the Temple •of Heaven, where the Emperor proceeds once a year to worship his ancestors; and on the left is the Temple of Agriculture, where he annually guides the plough at the commencement of the season. Centuries of traffic have made huge ruts in the great boulders which form this road. These are frequently a foot aad a-half.in depth, making travelling over —or rather through—, them in a cart positively dangerous. But no attempt appears to be made to repair the "thoroughfares," though money is annually set aside by the metropolitan authorities for this purpose. When the Emperor proceeds to the annual ceremony, the ruts are filled up with mud, so as* to-induce-him to believe that the road is kept in proper impair. But in this land of make-believes-painted "dummy" cannons and i the like—this is not a matter of'surprise.

The chief gateway into Tartar City froin'the Chinese City is called Ch-ien-men. On either side are . hucksters exhibiting their wares for sale. It is no uncommon thing to find among the mass of rubbish offered for sale some really choice bit of porcelain; but the betrayal of the slightest anxiety on the part of the intending purchaser will cause the dealer instantly to put a fancy price on the article. Expert buyers generally offer one-fourth of they sum asked, and, finally a bargain is usually struck, when about 50 per cent. •of the original price is taken off. ' i

It should be mentioned that the wall consists of a stone foundation, and then two brick walls filled with mud. That of the Northern, or Tartar City, is 40ft high, 50ft thick at the base, and 36ft at the top; and it is strengthened by massive buttresses at intervals of 300 yds. It has nine gates, each of which has on the outside a semi-circu-lar or square enceinte in which a smaller tower stands opposite to the gate tower. ' It is computed that there are about 8000 Eoman Catholics in the city—descendants of the converts made by the Jesuit missionaries in the seventeenth •and eighteenth centuries.' Few things are more impressive, than the sigbfc of a huge congregation of Chinese worshipping in one of the Catholic cathedrals, though to the European there is at first sight something ludicrous iri the idea of a pig-tailed .priest. The devotional attitude of'the whole of ; the worshippers, however, speedily, dissipates this idea. They^ murmur their Latin prayers with the facility' of a congregation at St. Peter's; and the alniond-eyed priests comport themselves at the altar with the grave dignity of a cardinal. There are no seats in the -body of the cathedral; the women sit on the floor on one side of the aisle, and the men on the other.

The Peldn Observatory, orKwang* hsiang-tai—one of the great sights—is situated on the eastern wall of tho Tartar City. Chinese astronomers, we may say, have not been generous in their conclusions. All tho world, under Heaven, in their opinion, is China; and the constellations exist for that world's especial benefit. The observatory establishment dates back to the reign of the famous Kublai Khan, and is mentioned by Marco Polo. It consists of a terrace abutting on the qity wall, and a small court-yard at the Jk)ttom. Two planispheres and an astrolabe ai;e among the older instruments. They are of great sisie^and are made of bronze, supported by huge dragons; and they are considered to be the finest specimens of ancient bronze workmanship) to be found in tlte whole of Eastern Asia. A number of astronomical instruments, less elaborate, but of greater scientific interest, are erected on the .terrace, and' rise above the wall. .

No one expects to get an Hotel Cecil or Waldorf in Pekin; but though, the Hotel de Pekin—the only European hostelry of any pretensions in the Cfefelstlal City—cannot boast, of the splendour o fthese palaces of gas-tx-oriomy, it is nevertheless very comfortalile, and is regarded as a positively; luxurious ; establishment ,by fhpse =who have experienced the;verminous .and other horrors of a Chinese

inn. The front part of.the building ia devoted to a large store| where most European comestibles can bo obtained at fairly moderate'price's. It is 'only during a long and severe winter ttist* any fear of a dearth of food-stuffsvii entertained; and the European inhabitants have not yet been; known to re-, sort to birds-nest soup. For some months, however, the coast is icebound, and no supplies can be got hy sea. During one winter the Legations ran short of , soda-water, and the wily landlord of this hotel, hearing of it, got enormous prices for the small stock he had in hand. ■ The bedrooms are in a court-yard at the rear of the store, and are moderately well furnished; while the attendance of the Chinese servants is in every re-

spect admirable. The charge for accommodation is about six Mexican dollars, or twelve shillings a day, exclusive of wines; and the meals- are well prepared.

Pekin after rain is a nightmnre. Pools 3 feet and 4 feet deep are often formed, and children are ■ sometimes drowned in them! But the utter callousness of the Chinese with regard to human life is frequently observable in the celestial city. For example, a stranger never attempts to save either a drowning man or child, for fear of being saddled with the burial expenses should the unfortunate creature die; and very rarely will even the relatives come to the rescue.

A typical Pekin street presents a most brilliant and picturesque appearance on a fine day. a The streamers across the road are painted in vermilion and gold and a variety of colours, setting forth in grandiose terms the surprising characters of the goods to be obtained in the shops. The scroll shops, by the way, are very attractive to the Western stranger on account of the wealth of colour displayed in the production of their wares. Cloisonne stores and snuff-bottle shops are also centres of interest. ~',

The formidable-looking characters on the wall would strike the Chinese eye much in the same way that huge pictorial posters would arrest the ..at-

tention of a European in his own country. Not satisfied ,with merely advertising his goods, the average Chinese tradesman will place on his signboard . his birthplace, and ' also some such expressions as the following: "This is the abode of generosity and kindness"; "We live but to serve others" —excellent sentiments,, which, ■ un-

fortunately, are more honoured in the breach than in the observance. . A doctor will boldly assert on his' signboard that he will cure patients'of any' disease in three days, and will restore them to perfect health in seven. Many of the boards bear the characters "Pu er chia," which, literally translated, mean, "No two prices."- The shopkeeper, however, will not hesitate to charge a foreigner double the" advertised price of an article, in the hope that the purchaser is ignorant of-the' Chinese language; and even when detected he simply .laughs ■ and says, "Fixed prices are not intended fair foreigners.", ... The medical system -in China is, according to tradition, as ancient as the monarchy itself; and its, followers are generally unsuccessful literary candidates or*-poor scholars, :who must ■" do something to earn a livelihood. jThe leader of the art is a:1 gentleman who rejoices in the name of Chin Che Chun Ching. He has written •■■forty volumes on the subject of the r curing of ills. Of these, seven, are devofed to s nosology, eight tp pharmacology, five to pathology, six to surgery; and fourteen, to the diseases of women jand children.., ifore than' any other Avork in any other land i^ possesses the quality of originality. • According1 to the writer, the human ■body consista of water, fire, wood, metal and earth; and as long as the . equilibrium between these elements is maintained .the body enjoys perfect, health. When, however,, one component- becomes predominant sickness ensues.. Curious that this never appears to have occurred to our doctors. The .prescriptions are equally origina}. Sudden faintness, paleness and tremor are to-be relieved by pouring theblood of an animal, when still warm, down the throat of. the suffereiv True, under this kind-of treatment,, instant death, is by no means uncommon, but such accidents create little sensation,,because it is dying according to the system established by the ancients. And there is a lot in that; the Chinese are a most conservative race.., One of the drollest treatments is that for persons under the influence of demons. > They are to.have their nose, twisted, their face spat upon, their feet bitten, anii their elbows burnt. Trying, no doubt, but wonderfully efficacious;, .that sort of thing should rouse any demon. The Chinese really. ( possess many excellent herbal; remedies, and there is scarcely a shrub, leaf, or root which has not been adopted as an ingredient of medicine. V • No characteristic of the Celestial ia more marked than "his. reverence for the dead, and funerals are consequently very solemn and elaborate ceremonies, enormous expense being gone to in the provision of the coffin and the hesirse. Frequently the hearse is preceded by the family Joss, a huge figure, of sinister cast,of countenance, dressed in the costliest of silk, and supported by an iron frame, a. sort of colossal maiden aunt, in fact. Among the poorer classes the chief mourner, precedes the coffin, clad in a long garment of unbleached calico, and carrying in: his hand a bunch of flowers. At intervals he falls to. the ground in an uncontrollable fit of weeping, and with great difficutly, iB induced to proceed to the burial-place. China might well be called tne Land of Graves. They are . everywliere ■; to be seen—in fields, in : gardens,* and on the roadside. Ther wealthier erect tablets over the graves of -. their.dead, but the majority of the, tombs are mud-mounds, similar in shape to the hut of a Hottentot; so 'that most fields look like the kraals of Af ricam chieftains. * , • • ,

If there i& one thing more than another that ■"• makes a, visit to' the lower quarters of-Pekin unpleasant

to the stranger, it "is" the crowd of beggars by whom he is■' surrounded on every hand. The, majority of these hMeou,3 ■ gentry suffer from the most frightful, diseases, and the; only way to keep them at arm's length is by distributing among them a plentiful supply of copper "cash." Begging is as much a profession in China as is the calling, of the medicine' man;

and the mendicants, form themselves into Sftrong guilds whbse ramifications extend throughout the /whole of the Empire. Tradesmen. contribute , towards the support of these vagabonds in the hope that they will abstain from troubling customers—

the beggars' blackmail^ in fact! 'It is related of a. tradesman in Shanghai, 'that because he refused, to support the ragged brotherhood iiiey crowded round his shop to such an extent as effectually to keep away a.ll customers, and so they ruined his trade,