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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
bearing of the Canton authorities. Better
a warlike spirit. Of course, there was some times, however, were coming, and we find the
excuse for the Company desiring above all Protector Cromwell in 1654 entering into a
things not to be involved in political mesher, treaty with John IV of Portugal, giving on the which would sooner or later necessitate the part of each nation to the other free access to employment of force. This had already all its ports in the East, but owing to the high-resulted in their enforced assumption of political banded action of the Home Government in rule in India, a state of affairs it recognised making the Company disgorge as a forcad loan
could not be with any prospect of success be £50,000 received as an indemnity from the repeated in China, where the central power was Dutch, and a delay in renewing its charter, the strong. Company was unable for the time to take advantage of the opening.
[October 5, 1907.
they did not have their linguist. They per 89vered, and after waiting a considerable time
the grest man, who directed them to hand their polition to his secretary, and then without perusing it, told them they should deal with the responsible merchants and pay their due
This seems to bave bean the last interview, for the next time they made the attempt only the secre tary appeared who roundly rated them, and told them that in future they must address them. selves to the merchants. On their mildly re- monstrating, and suggesting that the abuses to which they were asked to submit might oblige the Company to abandon their trade with Canton, he told them plainly “they might go if they pleased; other ships would come," and
Still anxious to carry out the project of having a settlement of its own from which to carry on trade with China, the Company about this period assayed to open intercouse with tongking, but mat with even worse indignities this to the Court, which in its self-inspired called their complaint "troubling him with a
trifling affair."
[To be continued.]
The Committes at Canton, with the experience gained on the spot, saw that a tame submission to all the whims of the individual officials with whom they had to come in contact could only result in exciting contempt, and represented
than at Canton. In 1689 Amy, with which
wisdom rejected the statement as impertinent. Aome trade still survived under the old regime, Up to the commencement of the eighteenth *nbmitted to the new dynasty and the Man-century the Hoppo in person used to visit the chus distrasting their Chinese subjects, and ships on their arrivals and make arrangements themselves despising trade, made exclusion for their discharge, but about this time an their fundamental policy towards foreigu in favour of one man who was to be called the attempt Was made to create a monopoly nations, while at home they did their best to isolate each of the provinces from its neigh. Emperor's merchant: it turned out that the Emperor's merchant was a man of straw, and wholly unable to provide the necessary funds, whereupon on a complaint to the Chi-fu the man was displaced, but not until he had exacted a squeeze of some six thousand taels per ship. The exeriment was not forgotten by the officials, and from that time the business wAS to be distinctly impress d on the diverted to marchants selected by the officials, the solidity of the national chɩracte" finds
bours. The old iudustri-s of the nation were
discouraged, except so far as they administered to the luxuries of the conquerors, the roads permitted to fall into disrepair, and the mines olosed. For convenience sake foreign trade was indeed, to be permitted at Cinton, that being the extreme southerly port of the Empire, but
it was
foreigner that it existed only ou sufferance, and in no way for his benefit. Above all things the Emperor at Peking was no to disneb d by any references, and to efi ctually carry thisont, I he handed over the superintendence of the
whole to a special commissioner quite inde- pendent of the provincial authorities, who was allowed his own
separate staff, an was
responsible to the Emperor direct.
who alone were permitted to deal in foreign goods; and this practise finally grew into the hateful Houg System. Gradually all inter- course with the authorities direct was permitted to lapse, and the Hong Merchants became the sole mediam of communication between the
Company's factors and the Chinese Govern.
ment,
The usual course of proceeding at this time on the arrival of the Company's ships in China waters was for the Supercargoes to proceed to Maceo to ascertain how ffairs stood at Canton, fthefound they ware safactory, the ships
We with our accumulated experience can see that such an arrangement could not be permaneut, but this was by no means equally evident at the time; and in my case the cond of the English and Dutch Logmania Lat that while tled to the Bogue, where some of the Luat of the Puntuguese adventurend deficiencies in in the China seas, was not such as to induce Luc officials who represented the Chinese Emperor to place any higher estimate on the Powers that ly behind than on the half civilised races who lay around, and whom they had conquered almost without a struggle We have perhaps been more diffase in our description of the early condition of our intercourse with China than the occasion would seem to warrant, On the other hand the causes that rought about modern conditions have been long continued, and deep- seated; and to rightly understand the conduct of both parties, native and foreign, during the three centuries of what may be called incubation some notice must be taken of anterior events.
With the renewal under the Great Seal by the Protector Cromwell of the charter of the East India Company, a little more life s ems to bava been infused into the languishing trade, At this period the Company s headquarters for its Far Eastern trade was fixed at Bautam in Java close to the Straits of Sunds, where both English and Dutch Companies had factories, In August, 1682, the Dutch captured Bantam, and the Company had perforce to transfer its headquarters to Surat in India. This was by no
means so favourable a site on account of the
enormous distance, and the absence of any better means of communication than was afforded by sailing vessels; and one of the consequences was that from that period there was an absence of "touch" between the Council at Surat and th Committee of Supercargoes in China.
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MODERN EDUCATION IN CHINA.
Written for the Daily Press. |
(Continued from last week.)
BUILDINGS AND EQUIPMENT. Que is struck at once with the sup›riority of the new school buildings of China over those of Japan. There are very few brick school buildings in Japan outside the Universities. Ia China not only the wealth of the country but
expression in the substantial character of its school buildings. They are all of brick. Many f them are really imposing structures One is led to hope that this external appearance is indicative of the character of the work that is to be done in them. The school rooms are larges
airy, and well lighted. All the schools have
maps, obart, and blackboards, and all the higber grades have some physical and chemical apparatus, and a number of them have manikins and even artificial skeletons for teaching anatomy and physiology. The great defect one observes is the too general absence or inadequacy of the grounds for recreation and drill, purons; in connection with school buildinge.
PASSING OF THE EXAMINATION HALLS. Simultaneously with the abolition of the Examination system the halls in which those examinations had been held became useless.
Hoppo's officers came on board; whereupon the Supercargoes announced their intention of all- ing upon that officer, who as a rule admitted tulis willingly to a personal interview. After the usual complimen's a series of bargainings went ou, and regular articles were proposed and agreed The fact to these ar being torn down and to on both sides, The trade was to be free with the grounds devote to other uses is a pledge of whomsoever they chose. They ware to be at China's bona fide committal to the modern iden liberty to employ what servants they liked. Each of education. In Canton the grounds are being side was to pauish its own people in accordance occupied by the new buildings of the higher will well custom established. There were to be Normal school. The Paking grounds will no embargoes put on the purchase of stores. accommodate the military College. In Na- Goods not sold were not to be charged with duty.king it is proposed to convert the old examina. Their boats with an officer on board and dying tion grounds into a market lacs, and apply the the flag were not to be molested, and no persons! income from rental of stalls towards the run. searches were to be mad. The Hoppo wouldning expanses of the new University. It is protect them against any attacks from the people and from illegal exactions on the part of the other Mandarins, who were not to be permitted to meddle with the ships or traders. These stipula tions were formally agree to each season, and the ships were then permitted to go on with their trading.
It will thus be seen that as the Manchu rule continued in its primitive state of efficiency. except that the agreement had to be made suew each season, there was little to complain of The trouble commenced with the necession of the dark and suspicious, yet withal weak prince Yungchang, the anthor of the elebrated “Amplification" of the Sacred Edict, with the reactionary precepts. Advantage had been taken of the accidental shooting of a boy by a petty officer of one of the ships to levy a pre- In part this was endeavoured to be remedied posterous squeez, and this having been weakly by the employment in the trade of the Com-paid, the next encroachment was to send a petty pany's own ships instead of the "country" ships engaged at high freights at Bantam, ut the Council at Surat conceiving that the sole risɔn d'être of their intercourse with China was trade, and unable to comprehend the calm indifference, with which, up to at least the end of the 17th From that time the intercourse was of the century, the warlike Manchus regarded trade
most unsatisfactory nature; in 1729 the charges and traders, instructed their supercargoes having been arbitrarily raised to ton per cont to submit to any indignity and exotion the Supercargoes remonstrated, and determined rather than by protestations endanger the se under the old regime they had been authoris. stoppage of the trade. Following to its lagi-ed. to see the T'sungtu whom by strange timate conclusion this line of argument it alliteration the record calls the Isontock. They refused to consider, or even listen to, the well
were ordered out of their chairs at the city gates, founded remonstrances of those on the spot, and with difficulty made their way to the Yamen; which it affested to look upon as an indication of here they were told they could not be admitted as
official on board to take stock of the guns, small arms and powder. The affair was simply
"try on"; the officer came, loɔked at a fow guns laid out on deck, and the lost ground was never to be recovered.
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likely that before another decade the last vestiye of this most significant relic of the old order will have disappeared entirely and forever. One's regret at the passing away of the old landmarks is decidedly relieved by the satisfao- tion one feels in the certainty with which it point towards a new and better state of being for the millions of Chius
US OF CHINESE AND ENGLISH IN SCHOOLS.
Both the Japanese and Chinese student is seriously bandicapped in securing an education by the difficulty of acquiring a mastery of the Chinese ideographs used by both peoples. Mr. Pieters estimates that the Japanese graduate is, by reason of this disadvantage, at least two- or three years in arrears of the western student in his general knowledge of literature, history and the sciences. Both governments appre- ciate this difficulty, at least to some extent. Ia Poking a year or so ago a system of phonetic writing of Chinese was devised and received
official sanction. Schools were started to tasch the new method of writting. But the interest in this particular systəm was not sustained, and it appears to be doomed to failure. But unquestionably the question of a written re- presentation of the language will have to be very seriously considered by the sathorities if the students of China are to`pompete on an even footing with those of the rest of the world in the fieldsof modern learning.
The regulations require the study of forsigu languages in all schools above the elementasy grade. This is done in the interssin of the diplomatic servios, of acquisition of soienes, and
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