The Chinese Repository/Volume 1/Number 5/Encyclopaedia Americana
REVIEWS.
The article on Canton is the only part of this "popular dictionary," which we wish now particularly to notice. Few, if any, works are so often referred to, or allowed to maintain such high authority, as encyclopedias. Written, as they usually are, by men of the greatest reputation for learning,—and embracing every variety of subjects, they have, indeed, a very just claim to the rank they hold. It becomes the more exceedingly desirable, therefore, that such works should be kept free from incorrect statements; which, when they have once found a place on their pages, are not, usually, soon corrected, and are often the means of great injury. These remarks are applicable to every species of writing, but specially to those of the popular kind, such as the conversations-lexicon, travels, journals, and voyages.
The editor of the Encyclopædia Americana, in perfect accordance with the spirit of the times, takes care to show, that his work is a little superior to any thing of the kind that has ever been presented to the public, and that it will be "found satisfactory" where others have been "very deficient." We have no disposition to question these pretensions, nor to practise the "cut-and-dry system " of reviewing; nor yet to intrude our own opinions and statements of facts, except where we can correct error, or add our mite to the general stock of useful knowledge.
"The last half century, particularly the latter part of it," Mr. Lieber very justly remarks, in his preface, "has probably been more fertile in memorable events, and important discoveries and inventions, than any equal period in history. How many extraordinary changes have we witnessed in both hemispheres, as well in politics, in the sciences and in opinions, as in the individuals who have borne a conspicuous part in the affairs of the civilized world during that time! How important have been the results of the numberless voyages of discovery, the revolutions of states, and the wars, which have excited so intense an interest during that period—an interest which has been the more constantly kept up, as the facility of communication between all the branches of the great human family seems, at the same time, to have gone on increasing in proportion to the multitude of events and circumstances which have thus influenced their destiny. Formerly, years would elapse before the most important facts could pass the barriers which an imperfect navigation of the ocean, or a diversity of languages, had thrown between nations. NowtJie, even the petty quarrels and frolics of students in a German or French university find their way, in the course of a few weeks, into the columns of an American newspaper. Then, a century would pass by, before even a Shakspeare was justly estimated beyond the confines of his native land; while now, we daily find, on title pages, the united names of publishers in three or four different nations, and on both continents. Thus rapidly does knowledge of every kind now diffuse itself over the globe, and extend the circle of civilization."
But the last half century, it should be remembered, has by no means been so fertile in memorable and extraordinary events, among the Chinese and other nations of this further east, as among the Christian nations of the west. Reasons can be given why this is so. Liberty and freedom, both intellectual and moral, are enjoyed here only in a very limited degree. The spiritual man is darkened, his heart petrified, and his affections—alienated from his fellows and from his maker—are all centred and riveted on that which he calls his own. Nor is this all;—more correct accounts must be sent abroad, more just views entertained, and a deeper interest felt by Christian philanthropists, generally, before the desired changes can take place. What has caused the abolition of suttees in British India? What is now sweeping away other ancient usages, abhorrent alike to God and man? A wider and more general extension of knowledge, especially of that which has come down to us by divine revelation, will instrumentally accomplish, what no physical force can achieve; and, it may be relied on, when that knowledge shall have spread, like a flood of light, over this hemisphere, changes will come in as bright and glorious a train, here, as in any other part of the globe.
We will only add, before proceeding to review the article in question, that we think the work in which it stands is fully equal to any of the class to which it belongs, and that the article itself is a fair specimen of what has been published by modern writers on China: we speak of course, generally, and allow that there may be exceptions. As the article is brief, we quote it entire, that our readers may judge of it for themselves.
"Canton, principal city of the Chinese province of the same name, otherwise called Quang-tung, or Koanton, is situated in 23 deg. 30 min. N. lat., and 113 deg. 2 min. 45 sec. E. lon., on the banks of the river Taho, which is here very wide. This city, distinguished for size, wealth, and a numerous population, is the only seaport in China open to the ships of Europe and America. The estimate of missionaries, that it contains 1,000,000 of inhabitants, is exaggerated. The number is probably nearer 750,000. The circuit of the walls, which are of a moderate height, is over nine miles. Only about a third part, however, of the space enclosed is covered with buildings; the rest is occupied, with pleasure-gardens and fish-ponds. The neighbouring country is very charming, hilly towards the east, and presenting, in that quarter, a beautiful prospect. The houses are mostly of one story; but those of the mandarins and principal merchants are high and well built. In every quarter of the town and the suburbs are seen temples and pagodas, containing the images of Chinese gods. The populous streets are long and narrow, paved with flat stones, and adorned at intervals with triumphal arches. Shops line the sides, and an unbroken range of piazza protects the occupants of the houses, as well as foot-passengers, from the rays of the sun. At night, the gates are closed, and bars are thrown across the entrances of the streets.
"The traders express themselves with sufficient fluency in the languages of their European and American customers, with whom they deal almost exclusively, selling them porcelain, lackered wares, &c. The Americans trade here to a greater extent than any other nation: next to them come the English. The greatest part of the silver, which is carried from America to Europe, eventually circulates through China, by means of the ports of Canton and Batavia, to which large supplies of the productions of the empire arc transmitted. The principal articles of export are tea, India ink, varnish, porcelain, rhubarb, silk and nankeen. A company, consisting of 12 or 13 merchants, called the Cohoug, is established here, by order of the government, for the purpose of purchasing the cargoes of foreign ships, and supplying them with return cargoes of tea, raw silk, &c. This society interferes, undoubtedly, with private trade, but adds greatly to the security of the foreign dealer, as each member is answerable for all the rest.
"Carriages are not used here, but all burdens are transported on bamboo poles laid across the shoulders of men. All the inhabitants of distinction make use of litters. Chinese women are never seen in the streets, and Tartar women but seldom. The European factories, to wit, the Dutch, French, Swedish, Danish and English, are situated on a commodious quay, on the bank of the river. Nearly a league from Canton is the boat-town, which consists of about 40,000 barks, of various kinds, arranged close to each other in regular rows, with passages between them, to allow other vessels to pass. In this manner they form a kind of floating city, the inhabitants of which have no other dwellings, and are prohibited by law from settling on shore. As this is the only emporium in the empire for foreign commerce, which is carried on not only by Europeans and Americans, but also to a great extent by the Chinese themselves, with almost all the ports of India and the eastern archipelago, the number of vessels frequently seen in the river, at once, is said to exceed 5000. An American paper, issued twice a month, called the Canton Register, has lately been established at Canton.
"The following table gives the amount of imports from Canton into the ports of the U. States, also the exports of domestic and foreisrn ^oods from the U. States to Canton, from 1821 to 1827.
| Years. | Imports. | Dom. Exp. | For. Exp. |
| 1821 | $ 3,111,951 | $ 388,535 | $ 3,902,025 |
| 1822 | 5,242,536 | 429,230 | 5,506,138 |
| 1823 | 6,511,425 | 288,375 | 4,347,686 |
| 1824 | 5,618,502 | 330,466 | 4,970,705 |
| 1825 | 7,573,115 | 160,059 | 5,410,456 |
| 1826 | 7,422,186 | 242,451 | 2,324,193 |
| 1827 | 3,617,183 | 290,862 | 3,573,543 |
"The climate of Canton is healthy, warm in summer, but pretty cold in winter. Provisions, including various luxuries, are abundant."
To an individual perfectly ignorant of Canton, this account might be "found satisfactory;" but any one at all familiar with the place, might be reminded by it of the pictures of the cow and the horse,—to which the master, when he had completed them, found it necessary to add, 'this is the cow,' and 'this is the horse.' For if, by some accident, the name and figures which mark the situation of the place should be obliterated from the account, it would be difficult, not to say impossible, to recognize the city from the above quoted description,—: almost every sentence of which is more or less erroneous.
In the first place it is stated, that "the city is situated on the banks of the river Taho, which is here very wide."—The river here is not called Taho (great river), but Choo-keang, "Pearl river;" nor does it much, if at all, exceed fifty rods in width. The city is, indeed, distinguished for size, wealth, and a numerous population; and (if we except Amoy, which, by some, is supposed to be still open to Spanish ships) is the only port in China to which the ships of Europe and America are admitted to trade.
"The estimate of missionaries, that Canton contains 1,000,000 of inhabitants, is exaggerated. The number is probably nearer 750,000." But how does it appear that this estimate of missionaries is exaggerated, and that the number is 'probably' nearer 750,000?—If, indeed, it be a correct statement, that "only about a third part, of the space enclosed (by the city walls) is covered with buildings,"—then it may be true also, that the "estimate" of missionaries is exaggerated; but that the "pleasure-gardens and fish-ponds" occupy two thirds, or one third, or even one half of one third, we deny. It is often very convenient to make statements, which, though they are most palpably false, it is not easy to prove so, except by placing assertion against assertion; in this way we could show, that the "estimate" of the encyclopedist is untrue, and that the number is "probably" nearer 1,000,000. And then, if we should go on to say, that the houses of the city are five, six, or even more stories high (which account would be as near the truth as what is said concerning the "space covered" with buildings), there would be some evidence, according to our own showing, that our statement was correct.
The truth in regard to this matter is, that no foreigner knows, or has the means of knowing, what is the exact amount of population in Canton. Du Halde, who wrote about a century ago, says, "the number of inhabitants of Canton is computed to exceed a million of souls." No man had better means of knowing the truth, in this case, than Du Halde; and, in our opinion, no work, among all those which have been written by foreigners concerning China, is more worthy of credit than his. We are nevertheless inclined to the opinion, that Du Halde's statement was, at the time he made it, too great; but when we keep in mind that nearly a century has passed since he published his account, that the population of the empire has been constantly and rapidly increasing, and that, in addition to this, the growing commerce of the port has drawn hither, from the neighbouring country and provinces, numerous persons, who with their families have become permanent inhabitants of the city; also, that the extent of the suburbs has been considerably enlarged;—these and other considerations, which might be mentioned, constrain us to doubt the truth of the statement given in the encyclopedia. But we waive this point and suspend our opinion, until we come to give a particular account of Canton city and its inhabitants.
"The houses are mostly of one story; but those of the mandarins and principal merchants are high"—some of them full two stories!—"and well built. In every quarter of the town and suburbs are seen temples and pagodas. "—There are in the "town and suburbs," only three pagodas, and one of them is a Mohammedan mosque. The temples contain images; the pagodas, properly so called, do not. The difference between the Chinese temple, meaou, and pagoda, ta, is very remarkable; the meaou is always a low building, and seldom, if ever, has more than one story; the ta is high, and has three, five, and sometimes nine stories. The temple is inhabited,—usually by priests or beggars; the pagoda is always without inhabitant.
The account of "triumphal arches," and of an "unbroken range of piazza," is not without some shadow of truth, though it is incorrect. The "arches" in question have, indeed, some resemblance to the triumphal, and so have they likewise to turnpike-gates; and they might as well be called by the one name as the other. These structures have generally inscriptions upon them; but they are commemorative of meritorious actions, unconnected with victories or conquests. What was intended by the "range of piazza," it is difficult to conjecture, unless it be the narrow space between the shops and the streets, which, guarded by a kind of palisade, affords room for niches,—wherein are placed small jars for burning incense,—but which gives no more protection to foot-passengers than the narrow eaves of an ordinary house.
That the "traders" express themselves with "sufficient fluency,"—not in the "languages" of their foreign customers, but in a jargon which is neither English nor Chinese, we admit; yet, "as this is the only emporium in the empire for foreign commerce, which is carried on, not only by Europeans and Americans, but also to a great extent by the Chinese themselves, with almost all the ports of India and the eastern archipelago,"—and as "the number of vessels frequently seen in the river, at once, is said to exceed 5000," we cannot admit that the Chinese here "deal almost exclusively" with Europeans and Americans. For some centuries past, the Chinese have sent no vessels so far west as Calcutta, and only a very few beyond the straits of Malacca. The whole number of foreign vessels which arrived at the port of Canton, during the last season, did not exceed one hundred.
"The Americans trade here to a greater extent than any other nation; next to them come the English." A few figures will put this matter in a clear light. We give the accounts for four seasons, according to statements which have been prepared here, under the inspection of gentlemen familiar with the trade. The commerce of the Dutch, and other European states, except the English, is small, and need not be brought into the account.
| Seasons. | Amer. Imp. | Eng, Imp. | Amer. Exp. | Eng. Exp. |
| 1828-29 | $ 4,065,670 | $ 21,313,526 | $ 3,878,857 | $ 19,360,626 |
| 1829-30 | 4,341,282 | 22,931,372 | 4,209,810 | 21,257,257 |
| 1830-31 | 4,223,476 | 21,961,754 | 4,344,548 | 20,446,699 |
| 1831-32 | 5,531,807 | 20,536,227 | 5,999,731 | 17,767,486 |
The "inhabitants of distinction" make use of sedans—not "litters;" and Chinese, as well as Tartar women, are sometimes seen in the streets. The boat-town, "nearly a league from Canton," is quite out of place. The river runs parallel to the wall on the south side of the city, and distant from it not more than thirty or forty rods; it is on the waters of this river, and directly opposite to "the town and suburbs," that the "floating city" is situated; so that, instead of being three miles, it is scarcely a stone's-throw from that which occupies terra firma. The inhabitants of these 40,000 "barks" are not, and but a few of them ever were, "prohibited by law from settling on shore." A great majority of the "barks," we may remark in passing, are nothing more than little tanka ("egg-house") boats, containing only four or five poor women and children. The "American paper," issued twice a month, called the Canton Register, "which has lately been established" here, was commenced in the autumn of 1827; and except the editorial department, for a few weeks, the work has never been in the hands of Americans.
We might extend this critique, and point out other errors; but we deem it unnecessary, inasmuch as we expect soon to traverse the same ground, and will then lay before our readers such accounts concerning the 'provincial city,' as the interest of the subject, and the circumstances of the case seem to require.