Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia/Series 1/Volume 4/A visit to the City of Chiang Chau
A VISIT TO THE CITY OF CHIANG CHAU.
By the Rev. A. STRONACH.
As the large inland city of Chiang-chau has been but seldom visited as yet by any European, a short account of a visit which I paid to it lately may not perhaps be altogether uninteresting That city lies in a westerly direction, or west by north, about 35 or 40 miles from the city of Amoy, and is the chief city of the large district of Chiang-chau in the province of Hokkien. This was the second time I had been there, so the scenery which presented itself to my view, though still full of exciting interest, appeared divested of much of the strangeness which its whole aspect bore on my first visit.
It was on the morning of Friday the 28th of December last, that with a few friends I went before daylight on board a Chiang-chau fast boat which we had previously engaged, and at once we com- menced sailing up the inner harbour of Amoy. When day began to dawn we found ourselves opposite Pagoda Island, and already passing it lying on our left. The wind and the tide both being in our favour we soon left the island far behind us, and were proceed- ing rapidly in a westerly course across the expansive bay towards the mouth of the Chiang-chau river. Our boat-men knew the course well, otherwise we should have been somewhat at a loss to know whither to steer, as nothing appeared before us for a long time but a seemingly unbroken boundary of land. But on approaching nearer, the river gradually opened out before us, the winding direction of its course behind the rising ground having previously hidden it from our view. While proceeding up the river we saw traces all along of its having formerly spread itself over a wide extent of ground lying at each side of its course. But now extended embankments keep it within narrower limits, and the recovered land is usefully employed in the production of paddy, or of a long sort of grass from which ropes and mats are made. Still sailing rapidly with the tide up the river, we soon arrived opposite the large and picturesque-looking town of Hai-teng; and after about another hour's sailing we reached the town of Chioh-bey. This town lies about half way between Amoy and Chiang-chau; and both it and Hai-teng are on the south side of the Chiang-chau river. Chioh-bey is a long and narrow but very populous town, the houses generally forming nearly parallel rows running along in the direction of the river. I have been twice visiting the people of that town, and have found them,—like the generality of the inhabitants of the towns and villages around Amoy,—always very affable and friendly. In increasing crowds they followed us walking along their streets; eagerly they accepted the Christian tracts or books in their language which we had taken with us for distribution; and as a dense living mass they stood still and listened eagerly to us while we preached to them the gospel.
Leaving Chioh-bey on our left, after having proceeded about two miles farther we saw the town where the famous pirate Koxinga used to reside. At the northern bank also, the ruins of what was once a fort belonging to him still meet the passenger's eye as he goes up or down the river.
The views of the country which presented themselves to us all along our course were full of varied beauty. Green hills were all around, some low and gently sloping, others higher and more abrupt, while some of them were adorned with pine trees ranged in rows up to their very summits, appearing, as seen between us and the clear blue sky beyond them, like earth-weaned pilgrims travelling up- wards towards heaven.
But the most interesting feature of the landscape was the perpetual recurrence, at short intervals of distance from each other, of those clusters of green shady trees which always indicate the locality of a village, or of a smaller or a larger town, showing that the whole district was densely peopled by members of the family of man.
We procceded by water till we came to within two miles of the outskirts of the ancient and still flourishing city of Chiang-chau. It was then about one o'clock P. M. when we found that the tide had receded so much as to leave the water too shallow for our somewhat bulky boat getting any further up at that time, so taking with us a large supply of Chinese tracts, we landed and walked the rest of of the way by the river side.
On arriving at the suburbs of the town we walked straight on without meeting with any sort of hindrance to our progress. Many persons came near and gazed at us as we passed, and soon we were surrounded and followed by large companies of people, but their words and their looks evinced only feelings of pleasing wonder; and the wonder and the pleasure which they manifested visibly increased when they heard us speak to them in the familiar tones of their own language. We distributed many tracts among the more intelligent looking of the people who crowded upon us eager to receive them; and repeatedly we stood on high steps in front of the warehouses and preached to them of Him whose grace our tracts unfold.
Having passed along several streets and under two or three high arched ornamental stone gateways, commemorative of famous men or of virtuous women of olden times, we arrived opposite the court of the chief magistrate of the city. There two or three of the city police came forward and offered to conduct us to any place which we might wish to sce; but it was evident enough that they wished us to make our stay in the city as short as possible. We told them we wished to walk along the top of the city walls, as we knew we should be less crowded and could more pleasantly look around us there. We ascended above the eastern gates and walked over half the extent of the city's boundary walls, looking down upon the crowded streets, the various public buildings, and the more secluded dwelling houses of the rich: and towards the west of the city our eyes were gratified with a sight of some beautiful parks and fruit and flower gardens.
Passing out of the city by the western gate, we ascended a gently rising hill beyond it whence excellent views may be obtained of the city and the country around. This hill is called K'aig- wan; it has three separate summits at short distances from each other, and each of them is surmounted by a covered porch. Standing under those porches, and enjoying the pleasing shade which they yielded us, we contemplated in various aspects the city which lay opened out to our view as a vivid picture, and we looked with much interest on the widely extended prospect before us. The plain on which the city is built stretches far to the north- ward and to the east-ward before it reaches the high hills by which it is bounded; and over that wide plain we traced towns and villages almost innumerable.
From the fact that the cities of China are all built after one model, we feel that the sight of one makes us acquainted with what all the rest are like ; some cities are larger and more opulent than others, and the scenery around each has its own specific character, yet the general appearances of the houses, the shops, the public buildings, &c., are so much alike, that the impression of mysterious- ness may pass off from our minds in thinking of the multitude of cities in the interior of China to which no foreigner has yet had access.
But the more we see of the real state of the people, who, in numbers almost without number, are spread abroad over the face of this vast land, the more fervently should our desires ascend to heaven for the speedy evangelization of China.
Amoy, 8th February, 1850.