RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1962
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f
44 

CURRENCY PROBLEMS 

27 

consideration. Though the official rate of exchange was issued by the Chamber of Commerce, considerable manipulation was possible on fluctuation, scale, and the grading of the cash. For instance, it was a foregone conclusion that the weight of the piece of silver you offered for exchange, would not agree on the shop scales with your own scales. For the law allowed the exchange shop to weight their scales up to 2% against the customer to defray "exchange expenses". Anything over 2% was an infraction of the law and punishable by such. Therefore the exchange transaction was always preceded by a long wrangle on the question of weight. A very good story is related by Abbé Huc in his "Travels in Tartary & Thibet" in which he tells of the "guileless" Mongol who visited a cash shop in the big city in order to exchange a large "shoe" of silver. The "shoe" had been doctored but this was not apparent to the smart young shop assistant who served him. The assistant took care to effect a considerable discrepancy in weight in favour of the shop. Finally the Mongol professed himself as satisfied but asked for a written statement of the weight and exchange rate so that he would be able to clear himself with his master. The assistant complied and the Tartar returned to his camp with his camels laden down with cash, the proceeds of the deal. When the accounts were made up at the end of the day the assistant presented his returns with considerable pride expecting fulsome commendation from his master for the amount he had been able to fleece the innocent Mongol. What was his surprise, then, to be met with a storm of abuse at his denseness in having failed to detect the adulteration. The following morning the assistant rode out to the Mongol camp and haled the offending Tartar to the court of the district magistrate where he was charged with having circulated spurious currency. When the shoe of silver was produced in court the wily Mongol asked that it might be weighed on the official scales. When this was done he produced the cash shop's own receipt and claimed that the shoe produced could not possibly be the one he had exchanged as the discrepancy in weight far exceeded the 2% allowed by law. The Magistrate was forced to dismiss the case and the exchange shop was only too glad to drop the matter before they attracted further unwelcome publicity.

44
================================================================================
RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v
62

J. L. CRANMER-BYNG

allow them to reside there temporarily is already improper. If by any chance they are allowed to occupy it permanently and build additional houses it would be all the more improper.

We have repeatedly explained this to him tactfully. According to the barbarians' statement, if they are not to reside at Prince I's palace they must be given Duke Ch'ï's palace in Ch'ang-an Street in the eastern part of the city. He still wants to build additional houses. Furthermore, he states that each year they are willing to pay a rent of one thousand five hundred taels. At present we are still attempting to dissuade him, and not to let them reside in a nobleman's palace. Instead we are looking for another palace for them. Whether they will listen to us or not we will act as occasion demands.

In a memorial submitted in the second year of the reign of the Emperor Tung-chih (1863) Prince Kung wrote: "Prince Kung and others further memorialize that ever since England ratified the treaty in the tenth year of the Emperor Hsien-feng (1860) it has been using the palace of Duke I-liang as an official residence."

Also in a subsequent memorial about the French Legation buildings Prince Kung wrote: "Moreover the English envoy, before withdrawing his troops inside the An-ting gate occupied the Palace of Duke I-liang on his own initiative*" 自行” (i.e., without authorization from Chinese officials)."

* Chou-pan i-wu shih-mo ##** Hsien-feng, chüan 68, 2b-3a. Hereafter cited as IWSM.

4 IWSM, T'ung-chih, chüan 20, 36a. I-liang was the fourth son of Mien-ch'ing ✈, [a direct descendant of the Emperor K'ang-hsi]. In the eighteenth year of Tao-kuang's reign he was created a "general guarding the state" of the third rank. In the first year of Hsien-feng's reign (1851-2) he succeeded to the title of “duke guarding the state" # 2. In the eleventh year of T'ung-chih's reign he was granted the title of pei-tzu Я† (a Manchu title bestowed on the sons of imperial princes). He died in the thirteenth year of Kuang-hsü's reign (1887-8), Ch'ing-shih kao ***, Huang-tzu shih-piao 2 *** 'genealogies of the sons of the Emperors, 于世 piao 4, 9b.

IWSM, T'ung-chih, chüan 20, 37a, column 5. The An-ting Men gate of established peace', is the easterly of the two gates in the north wall of the Tartar City, and the starting point of the road to Jehol. It was occupied by the British in 1860 who dragged their guns up the ramp and positioned them on the wall in order to command the city.
================================================================================
RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v
BRITISH LEGATION AT PEKING

69

had now come for Dr. Rennie to leave Peking, since he had been appointed Senior Medical Officer of the British Forces. He left in April 1862, and one of the last pen-pictures he gives us in his diary is of a Mrs. Wright, a milliner at Shanghai, whom he met on the road between Peking and Tungchow, riding in a cart with a friend, Mrs. Innocent, the wife of a missionary, these two good ladies being on their way to the Legation to stay with the house-keeper, Mrs. Reynolds, since the three had been old friends in Shanghai.

Only a few years later the Legation was in disrepair. A. B. Freeman-Mitford, who was a member of the Legation staff from 1865 to 1866, described it as it appeared to him in June 1865.

Our Legation is situated in the southern part of the Tartar city. We occupy a most picturesque palace called the Liang Kung Fu, or Palace of the Duke of Liang, which, like all Chinese buildings of importance, covers an immense space of ground. There are courtyards upon courtyards, huge empty buildings with red pillars, used as covered courts, state approaches guarded by two great marble lions, and a number of houses with only ground floor, each of us inhabiting one to himself. When the Legation first came to live here the whole place was put into repair, and redecorated in the Chinese fashion with fluted roofs of many colours, carved woodwork, kylins of stone and pottery, and all the thousand and one fancies with which the Chinese cover their buildings. Unfortunately the repairs were badly executed, and nothing further has been done to keep matters straight, so the Legation, which ought to be as pretty as possible, is really a disgrace to us. The gardens are a wilderness, the paving of the courts is broken, the walls are tumbling down, and the beautiful place is going to rack and ruin. In this climate of extreme heat and cold a stitch in time saves ninety-nine. Fancy a residence in the heart of a great and populous city where foxes, scorpions, polecats, weasels, magpies, and other creatures that one expects to find in the wild country, abound. That will give you an idea of how space is wasted in Peking.

12 A. B. Freeman-Mitford. The Attaché at Peking (London, 1900), 66-7. The author, who later became the first Baron Redesdale, spent the years 1866-70 as a member of the British Legation in Japan.
================================================================================
RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1970
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/ww72j0241
42

H. J. LETHBRIDGE

unsatisfactory. Instead, the system was adopted in the early 1880s of sending cadets to Peking where they learned Mandarin, which was little used in Hong Kong.24 Finally, in the late 1880s cadets were sent to Canton to learn Cantonese, and this arrangement continued in force until the Second World War.

Cadets at Canton were billeted in the former residence of the Tartar General, which was taken by Britain after the war of 1857-60 and became His Britannic Majesty's Yamen. When the Consulate was transferred to Shameen, the area of original European settlement, the Yamen was turned over as a place of residence for cadets of the Malayan and Hong Kong Civil Services learning Chinese. Some cadets also resided in Shameen. In the early 1920s, according to Victor Purcell,25 who was then a Malayan cadet, there were in Canton usually about 15 or so cadets, the majority from Malaya, but a few from Hong Kong, and one or two police probationers, who were taught Chinese by a small band of Cantonese teachers... with a core of about half a dozen stalwarts who had taught generations of cadets in the past'. Sir Alexander Grantham, who was also a cadet in the 1920s, tells us that in his day there were about half a dozen cadets living in the Yamen.26 It is clear from his memoirs that the Hong Kong Government exercised little supervision over its protégés in Canton. So long as the cadets passed their examinations—four examinations taken at six-monthly intervals—cadets had two years of glorious freedom in a very free and easy Chinese city.

Cadets appointed to the Hong Kong Civil Service, or transferred from other colonial territories in Asia, had much in common. All were British subjects of pure European descent and all entered the Colonial Service at approximately the same age. They were educated at fee-paying schools, but most had their schooling at minor public and obscure private schools, not listed in the Public Schools Yearbook: only one Etonian, one Wykehamist, two Rugbeians and two Harrovians are to be found among the eighty-five. The majority proceeded to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge but a substantial contingent—over 30 per cent—came from universities in Scotland and Ireland; only a handful—nine in all—were from London or English provincial universities.27 A few—Cecil Clementi, R. F. Johnston, J. H. Stewart Lockhart, F. H. May and A. M. Thomson28—had outstanding academic records; yet even the rest were above average.
================================================================================
RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1972
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/gm80qf99h
TRADITIONAL CHINESE REGIONAL ARCHITECTURE

139

In Chekiang there is a peasant home of recent date which has a courtyard leading up to the entrance.15 A visitor, however, must make a few turns before coming opposite the front door. The animal pens, built onto part of the house front, also add a measure of privacy to the living areas. There is another small courtyard which extends into the living quarters. This open area has two inside doors from which one can either go into a living room with a kitchen, or into the bedroom. The outside walls are windowless and have been constructed of pounded or rammed earth. The roof is thatched with bamboo rafters which are supported by timber posts.

Another house in Chekiang province near the city of Hangchow is more complex, yet extremely compact. The entrance is through a small passageway on one side of which is a garden and on the other a terrace. In the living area, there is a small courtyard. The open space is surrounded on three sides by a low (3') wall which has a wide counter surface which can be used as a work space. Half of the house is two storeys while the rest is only one storey. Upstairs there are high windows on the north side of the house which permit good ventilation. In a space less than five square meters, there are four bedrooms. This family realizes the need to economize their living space in order to maximize the size of their fields and gardens.

These houses in Chekiang illustrate that although in a tightly compact situation, the Chinese try to have as much privacy and open space as is possible within their homes. They carefully avoid using any more of the scarce arable lands than is absolutely necessary.

From the mountainous regions of Chekiang province one travels southward into the provinces of Fukien and Kwangtung and finds the homes of a particular group of people, the Hakka, besides those of other dialect groups. According to the chroniclers, the Hakka or "guest people" lived on the Central Plain in modern Honan and Shantung provinces during the Ch'in dynasty (221-206 B.C.) and the period of the Three Kingdoms (220-265 A.D.). During the Tartar invasions of the fourth and ninth centuries, they migrated South to escape alien oppression. During the successive mass migrations of the Chinese people, the Hakka sought refuge in the mountains of South China. The Hakka people are farmers who have been forced to struggle for subsistence on the poor soil of the highlands.
================================================================================
RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794
155

ity of the released allied prisoners themselves in a note which states that "those who were restored to liberty gave their share of the indemnity money to the families of the murdered captives.” 58.

In the later issues of The Illustrated London News during this period, there is also a continuing attempt to add to the readers' knowledge of China, as for instance, the brief explanation given on 4 May 1861: "The capital of the Chinese empire contains a great number of palaces and temples decorated with numerous works in marble; but a considerable portion of the area of the city is occupied by squares, gardens, ponds, and even fields. Pekin consists... of two cities, one named the Tartar, and the other the Chinese, besides twelve populous suburbs. The Tartar or Northern City is divided into three distinct parts - a central block called the prohibited city, containing the Imperial palace and the grounds belonging to it; the Imperial city, surrounding it; and the General city. In this last division are situated the university buildings and those of the Russian mission." 59

The cover story of The Illustrated London News on 13 April 1861 carried in response to the return of Lord Elgin from China (his wife had travelled to Marseilles to meet him) is interesting for three things: its recapitulation of the causes of the recent hostilities; its discussion of the considerations that the writer represented as having been weighed during the recent hostilities; and its tribute to Lord Elgin's moral qualities: "No disaster of modern times ever excited a more stinging feeling of chagrin in this country than that which occurred at the mouth of the Peiho to the allied squadron intended to give both dignity and protection to the British and French Embassies to Pekin. [The reference is to Elgin's earlier attempt to make his way up to Peking, in June 1859, and the defeat of the British navy at the Takoo Forts, referred to above.] It took the public wholly by surprise. It appeared to destroy at a blow all the fruits which we were preparing to gather from the Tien-tsin Treaty. It inflicted a lamentable loss of life. It seriously damaged the prestige of our arms throughout the East. It threw us once more into the midst of the difficulties and uncertainties necessarily attendant upon a war carried on at a distance of 15,000 miles, with an immensely populous, although an essentially unwarlike, empire. It conjured up before us a vague prospect, equally perplexing and inglorious - perplexing, for who could tell by what means and at what risk the Imperial Court could best be reached and reduced to reason? – inglorious,
================================================================================
RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1998
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/1g05n0794
392

for that area. Our local guide quite unabashed, led us straight into the main courtyard, where we took photographs before a polite message from the Admiral, relayed to us by a staff officer, advised us that he was shortly expecting visitors.

i

NOTES

Zhoushan Island, as with many other cities and areas in China, is now rapidly undergoing industrialisation with plans for an airport, factories and container terminals. There has even been talk of building a bridge across to the mainland. Zhoushan is romanised using the current Chinese pinyin system. Formerly it was known as Chusan using the western system devised by British scholars during the late 19th century.

i China was published in 1844, illustrated by Allom and referred to in general as Allom's China; however, a former missionary, the Reverend Wright, wrote the text.

iii

Folk memory can be short, especially when it suits the authorities, and in 1998 people in Wei-hai under the age of seventy either looked blank and disbelieving when we told them of the British lease, or corrected us saying that we were mistaken. They explained that it was the colony of Hong Kong which had been handed back in 1997 and that the British had never been near Weihai.

iv Other pedants may wish to note that the word Tatar tends to be 'misspelled' as Tartar. The original word in Chinese is Dada'er in pinyin and Ta-ta-erh in Wade-Giles. My history professor used to bark that tartar is on teeth!

A Chinese historian writing during the late 1950s described the progression of the British forces up the South-east coast of China in a very abbreviated history and mentioned in a few words that "the local people in Amoy [Xiamen] had dislodged the British occupationists and forced them to evacuate the port city. The Chinese defenders made a gallant stand at Tinghai [Dinghai]. Fierce fighting continued for six days and nights. The British suffered heavy casualties. Although General Ko Yun-fei [Ke Yunfei] was covered with more than forty wounds, he fought till he breathed his last. Hei Shui Tang [Black Waters], a people's armed unit, also inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy". [Tung Chi-ming: An Outline History of China: Foreign Languages Press: Peking: 1959; P 215].
================================================================================
RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2002
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278
281

small boys were always at hand to do the beating, gun-carrying, ditching and picking up. It often occurred, under these circumstances, that a few dust-shot were put into the calf of a man's leg, and occasionally even an eye was injured. A fairly definite tariff gradually established itself; so much so that people used to dodge behind bushes or lurk in the ditches, so as to be ready to raise their hands and yell the instant a gun went off in their direction. Very few Chinese rustic skins were without an assortment of sores and bruises; and nothing was easier than to rub a shot or some powder in and pretend that an ‘internal injury' had occurred. With irate villagers gathering around timid or non-Chinese-speaking sportsmen were often only too glad to compromise on the spot; especially if a few old women with buckets of liquid manure joined in the discussion.

Zhenjiang, some twelve to fourteen hours sailing upstream from Shanghai, was yet one more of the points of call on the Yangzi. Ships only stayed a matter of 30 or so minutes and tied up alongside one of the hulks or pontoons. These belonged mostly to foreign shipping or trading companies, though there were one or two hulks owned by Chinese businessmen, moored off the concession, from which it was reached by a bridge as there are pronounced seasonal differences in level. Passengers landed and were quickly cleared by the Customs House. The city, at the back of the foreign concession, was the prefectural capital with a Daotai, a Prefect or Circuit Intendant, and the Dantu, the County Magistrate. A Co-Prefect in charge of coast defences and a Prefect of Police were also located in the city, and in addition to the Manchu [Tartar] garrison stationed in Zhenjiang, under the command of a Lieutenant-General there was the ordinary Chinese garrison under a Lieutenant-Colonel, consisting of several battalions of local militiamen and trainbands [bodies of citizens trained in the use of arms].

Law and order was maintained in the settlement up to the turn of the 20th century by a body of British-officered Sikh policemen. Tall, imposing and forbidding-looking, they despised the Chinese and were equally heartily feared and disliked by them. The Chinese, amongst other things, complained bitterly about the iniquitous rates of usury charged by the Sikhs!

At the age of 65, the indomitable traveller and writer Isabella Bird,
================================================================================
RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390
32

could see, and it seemed as if it were one vast garden'."

Parkinson, Trade in the Eastern Seas (1937) writes: "When the whole [EIC] China fleet was collected there, twelve or sixteen of the largest merchantmen in the world, together with the country ships, the spectacle must have been magnificent." He records that sometimes the Viceroy at Canton would come down to visit the fleet. The ships would be decked to receive the great man, with yards manned and officers in full dress.12

Canton

Canton was, and is, the capital of the Guangdong Province. One of the larger and richer cities of the Chinese Empire, and dating back to pre-Han times, it had long been a major sea port for overseas trade, notably in the Tang Dynasty when it had a significant Arab and Muslim population. During the turmoil which accompanied the change of dynasty from Ming to Qing, it upheld the Ming, endured an eleven-month siege in 1650, and suffered a wholesale massacre of its inhabitants. However, it recovered, and by the mid-nineteenth century was credited with a population of around one million persons. It was renowned for its manufactories, carried on by human industry, without the aid of machinery, particularly in silk and cloth, women and children included, whilst trade - international and regional trade - was described as being 'the great business of life'.13

Canton was a walled city (actually two walled cities in one, the Old and the New) with major suburbs along the Pearl River, and to the West.14 As befitted its status, it contained the yamens (office-residences) of many senior government officials, including those of the governor-general of the two linked provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi, the governor of Guangdong, the Canton prefect, two county magistrates, the Tartar general, the provincial naval commander, and the like, as well as those officials with charge of other, specialised concerns, and (of special status, since he was responsible directly to Beijing) the Hoppo or Superintendent of Maritime Customs, who oversaw the foreign trade and its accruing revenue.

The Foreign Factories (British, French, Swedish, Spanish, Danish and Dutch) of the river suburb were so-called from their being the
================================================================================