[
    {
        "id": 209264,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1981",
        "page_number": 167,
        "title": "RAS-1981",
        "content_text": "JUAN YUAN'S MANAGING OF SINO-BRITISH RELATIONS IN CANTON, 1817-1826 153\n\nThree days later, on 2 December, when official communications arrived, the British announced that Pigott had \"absconded\" during the early morning hours on the day before.32 Chinese officials were permitted to search the London (in contravention to the Company's stand in the case involving the Wabash two years before) as well as the Duke of York, another Company ship at Whampoa, secured by Chunqua. After Chinese officials left, Barrowcliff, the butcher on board the Duke of York, who had no visible connection with the case or with Pigott, suddenly went berserk and slashed his own throat. It was under these circumstances that the British seized upon the idea of selling to Juan Yüan the story that Barrowcliff had been the murderer at P'an-yü, and that his suicide had taken place because he was fearful of Chinese justice. The hong merchants, enthusiastic towards this suggestion, went together at once to the factory. By this switch, much trouble could be saved for all parties concerned.\n\nThe plan was thus communicated through the hong merchants to Juan Yuan, who, while preferring a live culprit to a dead one, \"privately\" was willing to accept Barrowcliff instead of allowing the incident to develop into a major crisis.3 Dr. Morrison had been sent for from Macau, indicating the seriousness with which foreign merchants were viewing this case. In actuality, from the Chinese point of view, the substitution of a criminal by another person was acceptable under the concept of collective responsibility. This was a case of paying for one life with another. On the other hand, Juan Yüan was not willing to let the hong merchants and foreign traders get away so easily. On 4 December, communications went out to the hong merchants for them to inform the supercargo of the Company that \"he must immediately deliver the foreign murderer, if not, then not only Cameron's ship [the Duke of York], but every English ship shall have her port clearance stopped\". This communication already indicated Juan Yuan's willingness to accept the plan of making use of the dead Barrowcliff as he had changed the name of the offending ship from the London to the Duke of York in his communication.\n\nThereupon, Chinese officials were permitted to board the Duke of York to hold an inquest of the death of Barrowcliff in the presence of the ship's captain, Cameron. Meanwhile, families and friends of the dead and the injured at P'an-yü \"were carefully instructed so that they testified to the truth and nothing but the truth, but not necessarily the whole truth\". That Barrowcliff had indeed taken his own life in a fit of remorse after murdering the Chinese at P'an-yü was accepted by the investigating officials at the inquest. Based on their verdict, legally arrived at from",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 209265,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1981",
        "page_number": 168,
        "title": "RAS-1981",
        "content_text": "154\n\nWEI PEH-T'I\n\nthe Chinese point of view, Juan Yuan reported Barrowcliff as the guilty party in his memorial to the Emperor dated 12 December 1820. It was at this time that he wrote the secret memorial proposing strong measures to control the British, and receiving in return instructions from the Emperor to hold to a more moderate line.**\n\nPerhaps Juan Yuan only displayed the willingness to make the best of a situation in the Barrowcliff case, the kind of co-operative spirit that led the British to refer to him as a “man of singular moderation and wisdom”35 only because no opium was involved. The next major crisis over jurisdiction took place not quite a year later. By then, the new Emperor had proclaimed a policy to strengthen the law prohibiting importation of opium and exportation of silver. In October 1821, Terranova, an Italian seaman serving on an American ship, the Emily, accidentally killed a Chinese boat woman. He was sacrificed to Chinese justice in order to prevent the Canton government from investigating further into the cargo of opium that was on various foreign ships in port at that time. This is a well-known case in the West and is often cited as an example of the barbarity of Chinese justice. Terranova, who had been turned over to Chinese officials, was strangled to death as punishment for having taken a life.\n\nThe incident arose when on 29 September, a boat woman, Kuo-Liang shih (surnamed Kao née Liang), who spoke \"pidgin\", sculled her sampan to the Emily, peddling fruit. Terranova, leaning against the railing of the ship above her, lowered her five copper cash in a basket. Not satisfied with the number of oranges and bananas he had been given by the woman, he negotiated further. Somehow, the argument became heated, ending with Terranova throwing a pottery jar at the woman, hitting her on the head, cracking her skull, causing her to fall into the water, and resulting in her death. This was a serious matter, for, in addition to murder, there were other violations. Terranova, as a foreigner, was buying goods from a Chinese directly without going through the regular channel of the hong merchants. The security merchant of the Emily was Exchin, but, as in other serious cases over jurisdiction, Puiqua, as head of the hong merchants, was also involved.\n\nJuan Yüan's investigations showed that the act of the jar striking Kuo-Liang shih on the head had been witnessed by another woman, Ch'en-Li shih, who had shouted for help. A worker for the Canton customs, Yeh Hsia, in a boat nearby, attempted a rescue, but failed. The body of the dead woman was not pulled out of the water until her husband arrived at the scene of the accident. The injury on the woman's",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1981.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ff36bt18m",
        "rank": 0
    }
]