Directory_and_Chronicle_1900 — Page 581

TIENTSIN

津天

Tien-tsin

Tientsin is situated at the junction of the Yun Ho or Hwae River, better known as the Grand Canal, with the Pei-ho in Lat. 39 deg. 4 min. N., Long. 117 deg. 3 min. 56 sec E. It is distant from Peking by road about 80 miles, but the bulk of the enormous traffic between the two cities is by the river Pei-ho as far as Tungchow (13 miles from Peking) and thence by carts and wheelbarrows over the once magnificent but now dilapidated stone causeway. The traffic is now, however, being rapidly diverted to the railway, which was opened in 1897, and the line doubled in November, 1898. Tientsin was formerly a place of no importance and till recently had few historic associations; till the end of the Ming dynasty (1644 A.D.) it was only a second rate military station, but at the northern terminus of the Grand Canal it gradually assumed commercial importance, and by the end of the seventeenth century had become a great distributing centre. The navigability of the Pei-ho for sea going junks ceases at Tientsin, and this made it the emporium for the very large quantities of tribute rice yearly sent up to the capital, after the Grand Canal shoaled up so as to be unfit for carriage in bulk. The trade of the city is now imperilled by the silting up of the Pei-ho. A river improvement scheme of some magnitude was inaugurated in 1898 under Mr. A. de Linde, and is now rapidly approaching completion. It is however generally believed that no lasting success will attend the remedial measures until steps are taken to deal with Taku Bar by permanent dredging; meanwhile it is hoped that by closing the canals and creeks which take off most of the flood tide, the navigation of the river will be restored to its normal state before the year 1900,

The expeditions of the allies in 1858-61 greatly enhanced the importance of the city, as it then proved to be the military key of the capital and an excellent base. It was here on June 26th, 1858, that Lord Elgin signed the treaty which was to conclude the war but which unhappily led to its prolongation. The temple in which the treaty was signed is about a mile distant from the West gate, and is now inclosed in a small arsenal (Hai Kwan Tze) and surrounded by factories for the manufacture of small arm ammunition. It is worth a visit if only to see the large bell which, as usual, has an interesting tradition associated with it.

During the long satrapy of Li Hung-chang the trade and importance of the city developed exceedingly. Li, by the vigour of his rule, soon quelled the rowdyism for which the Tientsinese were notorious throughout the empire, and as he made the city his chief residence and the centre of his many experiments in military and naval education, it came to be regarded as the focus of the new learning and national reform. The foreign affairs of China were practically directed from Tientsin during the two decades 1874-94.

The city will ever be infamous to Europeans from the massacre of the French Sisters of Mercy and other foreigners on June 21st, 1870, in which the most appalling brutality was exhibited; as usual the political agitators who instigated the riot

off. The Roman Catholic Cathedral Church, which was destroyed on that occasion, has since been rebuilt, and the new building was consecrated in 1897. The building occupies a commanding site on the river bank. All the missions and many of the foreign hongs have agencies in the city.

The population is reputed to be 1,000,000, but there is no statistical evidence to justify such large figures. The area of the city is far less than that of the Portsmouth boroughs with their 180,000, and the houses without exception are one storied. The suburbs, however, are very extensive, and there is the usual vagueness as to where the town begins and ends. The city walls are quadrate and extend about 4,000 feet in the direction of each cardinal point. The advent of foreigners has caused a great increase in the value of real estate all over Tientsin, and as new industries are introduced every year, the tendency is still upward.

Li Hung-chang authorised Mr. Tong Kin-seng to sink a coal shaft at Tong Shan (60 miles N.E. of Tientsin) in the seventies; this was done and proved the precursor of a railway, which has since been extended to Shanhaikwan for military purposes, and from thence round the Gulf of Liau Tung to Kinchow; 1900 will see this line pushed in to New chwang. In 1897 the line to Peking was opened, and proved such a