Directory_and_Chronicle_1940 — Page 763

NINGPO

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60,000 men and 300 junks. The next attempt at trade was made by the East India Company towards the end of the 17th century, when a factory was established at the island of Chusan, some 40 miles from Ningpo, the nearest point at which foreign merchants were allowed to reside. The experiment, however, proved unsatisfactory and the factory was abolished in 1703. Thence, till 1832 when the "Lord Amherst" visited the port, Ningpo was visited only by two or three foreign vessels. When hostilities broke out between Great Britain and China in 1839, the fleet inoved north from Canton, captured Chinhai in the first week in October 1841 with some 2,200 men and 12 field pieces. On the 13th October. Ningpo city was peacefully occupied and a garrison stationed there. On 10th March, 1842 an attempt was made by the Chinese to re-take the city, but the British artillery repulsed them with great slaughter. Ningpo was, however, evacuated on 7th May, and, on the proclamation of peace in the following August, the port was thrown open to foreign trade. For some time, however, there were practically no foreign residents, but in December, 1843 the first British Consul was appointed, and took up his residence in the portion set apart for foreigners on the north bank of the river Yung. In 1857 attention was directed to the port through a repetition of the 1542 massacre of Portuguese, whose lawless piratical acts, after a lapse of three centuries, again drew upon themselves the vengeance of the injured natives on the 25th June in that year. From this blow Portuguese prestige and enterprise have never recovered. Ning po was easily captured by the Taiping rebels on the 9th December, 1861, its garrison then consisting of between 3,000 and 4,000 men with heavy artillery. The rebels displayed great anxiety to remain on good terms with foreigners, and an active trade in arms, rice, and silk at once sprang up. The native population, however, deserted the city, many of the inhabitants seeking refuge among the foreigners in their settlement. The British and French naval afficers commanding the men-of-war lying in the river were directed to protect this tract of land from any invasion by insurgents. Musket shots from a rebel battery on the city wall directed at this territory and the men-of war, however, eventually led to a bombardment of the city on the 10th May, 1862, and to its capture on the saine day by combined British and French forces. It was immediately handed over to the Imperial authorities, and eventually a monument on the city bund was built of the materials composing the battery and inscribed to the memory of those foreign troops who had fallen in the action. This monument was restored in 1906, and in June, 1932, was removed to the Foreign cemetery in the Campo, as the place set a part foreign residence is called. An official ceremony of re- dedication was held on May 6,1933.

Ning po is built on a plain which is surrounded by many small hills. The walls of the city, originally enclosed a space of some five miles in circumference, they were pulled down in 1931 and macadamised roads now occupy the entire site. Ningpo has the reputation of possessing the fourth library in the Republic of which the founder was Fan Chin () a high officer under the Ming Dynasty. There are also many beautiful temples. The Fukien temple of "Mother of Heaven" is famous for its carved pillars. The Nyo Wang († 1) and Tien Dong (X) monasteries, which are accessible by launches or motor bus, are situated in the hills some forty li from city. The former is celebrated for its "Holy Pearl" (✯ # *) and “Shining Pine-tree" (*) and the latter for its wealth. The railway to Hangchow is completed only as far as Pakuan () but there is a motor road to Hsiao Shan () near the bank of Chien Dong River (I) some 90 li from Shaohsing (). Four main bus routes starting from Ningpo are in operation: (1) The Ning-Feng Public Road (B**EAR) which joins Ningpo with Fenghua by motor transport of about 1 hours; (2) The Ning Chin - Tze Public Road (A) which starts from Ningpo, passe) Lotchiao(駱駝橋) and terminates at Kwei Hai Wei(觀海衛)in Tzeki (慈谿);(3) The Ning-Chuan Motor Bus Road (***) from Ningpo to Chuan Shan () along the coast, covering a distance of 42 kilometres; (4) The Ning-Huan Road() from Ningpo to Huangshan Pu. Passengers from Ningpo to Hangchow and vice-versa can make the journey in three ways: (1 by the combined method of rail, ferry and motor bus; (2) by motor bus via Kwei Hai Wei, Tsao-O (##) Shaohsing () and Asiao Shan() with the assistance of ferry boats when crossing the rivers; or (3) by motor hus via Fenghua (), Hsinchong (), Chen Hsien (4), Shaohsing and Hsiao Shan. There is also a landing ground for aeroplanes in T'uan Tang () outside the south gate, which was made by order of the Ministry of War in 1932, but no air traffic has yet taken place.