Life and sport in China

The British public is greatly handicapped in forming an intelligent appreciation of happenings in China by a lack of that initial experience which can only be gained by residence in the country.

In this little work I have endeavoured to place before readers a sketch of things as I saw them, and to convey to their minds an idea of how Europeans live there, of their amusements, of their work, and of those things which are matters of daily interest to them, so that my book may serve as a kind of preface to that enthralling volume, the current history of China, as it is daily revealed in the press, in magazines and in learned works.

While confining myself herein to the lighter side of narrative, I am not unconscious of those intricate problems and deep studies connected with the Far East, but to which profound research and matured judgment must be applied, though information thereon, even when collected and published, would appeal mostly to the narrow circle of experts on matters Chinese.

The vast Empire of China with its hundreds of millions of toiling slaves, with its old, old civilisation reaching back for untold years prior to the dawn of history in the West, with its manners and customs so worn into the national character that they almost form the character itself, with its fertile plains, its sandy deserts, its lofty mountains, its mighty rivers, its torrid heat and arctic cold, its devastating floods, its cruel famines and loathsome epidemics, represents a mass, the contemplation of which staggers the mind and makes one ask, "What is Europe trying to do here? Does she hope to conquer, to change or to purify?"

After a residence of twelve years in various parts of the country I instinctively feel that while military occupation by the Great Powers may be possible, not only is China in a sense unconquerable, but that she is eminently a conquering nation, though not by clash of arms. Insidiously, remorselessly and viciously she will subdue apostles of the West who are sent to her, and unless persistently restrained will overflow into adjacent lands and conquer there by cheap labour and unremitting toil.

For the photographs I am indebted to the generosity of Mrs T. Child, as well as to T.T.H. Ferguson, A.J.E. Allen, Carlos Cabral and the late H. Hall, Esquires.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

I. ANGLO-CHINESE LIFE 1

II. SERVANTS AND TRADESMEN 26

III. SHOOTING 46

IV. RIDING 73

V. SAILING 96

VI. JAMBOREES 119

VII. AROUND PEKING 139

VIII. HERE AND THERE 169

IX. THE MARRIAGE TIE 197

X. DISCUSSED POINTS: PEOPLE, LANGUAGE, MISSIONARIES, CHANCES 212

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PHOTO BY

PAGODA NEAR HANKOW H. HALL Frontispiece

THE BRITISH CONCESSION, HANKOW Chinese To face page 3

HOUSE-COOLIE, BOY, COOK, AND "NO. 2." T.T.H. FERGUSON " 37

HOUSE-BOAT ON THE YANGTSE A.J.E. ALLEN " 50

THE CAB OF NORTHERN CHINA A.J.E. ALLEN " 75

THE OLD GRAND-STAND, HANKOW RACES, 1888 Chinese " 87

FOOCHOW JUNK, SHOWING EYE T.T.H. FERGUSON " 98

PLAYING FANTAN IN PRIVATE HOUSE CARLOS CABRAL " 133

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA T.T.H. FERGUSON " 158

AVENUE OF STONE FIGURES, MING TOMBS T.T.H. FERGUSON " 161

A TYPICAL FARM-HOUSE H. HALL " 177

FISHING-JUNKS IN MACAO HARBOUR AT CHINESE NEW YEAR CARLOS CABRAL " 189

BUDDHIST PRIEST AND ACOLYTE HOLDING BOOK T. CHILD " 228

VOCABULARY