New Forces in Old China: An Inevitable AwakeningBrown, Arthur Judson
History
New Forces in Old China: An Inevitable Awakening
Brown, Arthur Judson
China -- Commerce; China -- Foreign relations; China -- Politics and government; Missions -- China
Saturday found me in Tsing-tau, and Monday, I turned my
face inland, accompanied by the Rev. J. H. Laughlin and Dr.
Charles H. Lyon, and, as far as Wei-hsien, by the Rev. Frank
Chalfant, all of the Presbyterian mission, besides Mr. William
Shipway of the English Baptist mission, who was to accompany
us as far as Ching-chou-fu. To-day, the traveller can journey
to Chinan-fu, the capital, in a comfortable railway
car, but I shall always be glad that my visit occurred in the old
days when the native methods of transportation were the sole
dependence, for at that time the new German railway was in
operation only forty-six miles to the old city of Kiao-chou.
The modes of conveyance in the interior of China are five--
the donkey, the sedan chair, the wheelbarrow, the cart and the
shendza (mule litter), and naturally the first problem of the
traveller is to decide which one he shall adopt.
The donkey is all right to one accustomed to horseback
riding. But there is no protection from the sun and rain and
foreign saddles are scarce. The traveller piles his bedding
on the animal's back and climbs on top, sitting either astride
or sideways. In either case, the feet dangle unsupported by
stirrups. It is hard to make long trips in this way, to say
nothing of the consideration that a man feels like an idiot in
such circumstances. ``The outside of a horse is indeed good
for the inside of a man,'' but a mattress on top of a donkey is
a different matter.
The chair is comfortable for short distances, but it is comparatively
expensive and, as no change of position is possible,
one soon becomes tired sitting in the fixed attitude. In pity to
your coolies, you walk up-hill and you are exposed to inclement
weather unless you hire a covered chair. This, however,
is not only hot and stuffy, but it makes people think you an
aristocrat, as only officials or the rich use such chairs in the
country, though in cities they are a common means of conveyance.
Besides, I had travelled in a chair in Korea and I
wished to try something else in China.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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