Directory_and_Chronicle_1842 — Page 343

1842.

Mustrations of Men and Things in China.

325

ART. V. Illustrations of men and things in China: the term Fan-

kwei; mode of sharpening edge tools; bean curd; sonnets of Yuen Yuen; military medals.

The term Fankwei.—This opprobrious epithet has become in this country a synonym for foreigner, and we may almost expect erelong to see it entered in our dictionaries, and defined a "term for a fo reigner in China.” We were asking a respectable native gentleman the other day what he supposed was the reason for the application of this term Fán kwei or ' Fán devils' to foreigners. He replied, “that he did not think kwei meant devil or demon in this connection, but some- thing outlandish, uncouth, bizarre, something in short that was not celestial, i. e. Chinese. Fán was a terra given to the petty, groveling island savages living in the southern ocean, as mán, í, tỉ, &c., were the names of people dwelling on the northern and other frontiers of the empire.

When foreigners first came to the shores of China, their close fitting dress, their squeaking shoes and cocked hats, their blue eyes and red hair, their swords, their unintelligible talk, their overbearing carriage, and the roaring guns of their ships, all astonish- ed the people, who exclaimed kwei! kwei! Thus the term came into use, and gradually acquired circulation until it has become the general appellative of all far-traveled strangers." This explanation is probably somewhat near the truth, but must be considered rather ex parte evi- dence, and is, we think, really illustrative of Chinese contempt for other nations. The term is, however, the only one in common use among the people in this region to denote foreigners, and although it may be in many cases used without any intended disrespect, yet if the people entertained any particular respect for us, they would soon find a better term. It is not so much used in direct address to a foreigner, (which is a tacit confession of its rudeness,) as it is a des- criptive term for them and everything belonging to them, when they are the subject of remark. Hundreds of natives know no other ap- pellation. We heard a friend say, that he was once walking the streets of Canton, and one youngster among the crowd around him hooted after him so obstreperously, that turning suddenly he caught the urchin, and was about to teach him better manners, when the lad, turning up the white of his eyes, exclaimed, 'If I do'nt call you fankwei, what shall I call you?' And thus escaped. The ideas en- tertained among the lower class of natives regarding foreigners are