Vol 1 No 34 – Sat 6th September 1828
Imperial Edict:
“Before the Muslim regions were included in our Empire, the people were ill-used by their leaders and robbed by the Puluti tribes. Since the Ching conquered Turkestan the peoples’ compulsory services to the state are reduced and exactions have become small. Many of the Puluti have also settled down and live tranquil lives. Some of the original rebels still exist outside our frontier but they lead a fugitive life. Formerly Samusaki and others tried to stir up trouble outside our frontier but it never amounted to anything until Jehangir united with the Puluti tribes to make war. Gantseyen also assisted him.
“The Muslim cities have received our kindness for 60 years. Why did they follow an outsider? They were deceived by the descendants of Ho Cho who were not entirely exterminated. Some Muslims understand propriety but many are easily deceived. Now the leader has been destroyed and the area tranquillised. Let everyone be aware of the consequences of rebellion. Let them not again be duped by others.”
Vol 1 No 34 – Sat 6th September 1828
No investigative development has occurred in the search for the murderers of the Frenchmen. It now seems possible that they will escape retribution. It is especially regretted that the foreign community did not combine in confronting the government and demanding redress which might then have been obtained.
We have learned that some British ship masters, who were at Macau when the news arrived, offered to pursue the murderers but their offer was declined.
Vol 1 No 34 – Sat 6th September 1828
Canton trade report, 6th September - Cochineal has been over-supplied to Bombay and has been on-shipped here in such quantities that the price has materially fallen. Ebony has also been over-supplied and dropped to $4 per picul. Cotton cloth and English cotton yarn are so over-supplied they are unsellable. Now the Company’s ships are starting to arrive, the prices of Nankeens have risen.
Vol 1 No 34 – Sat 6th September 1828
Sycee silver FOB Lintin is 5 – 5½% premium. Gold leaf has been in demand and risen to $25.25
Chests of opium sold in August – Patna 1,830, Benares 385, Malwa 3,834. Several junks arrived at Lintin in early September and are daily taking supplies away. 50 piculs of Turkish opium was recently sold at $770 – 800. All the Turkish is now in Chinese hands.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
On 5th September, Pak Qua, the late security (Hong) merchant, commenced his journey to Ili to start his banishment. The chop boat anchored off the factories to await the tide during which time several of the foreign merchants who had done business with him took the opportunity to visit and condole. As misfortune rather than fraud is the cause of Pak Qua’s fate, he is expected to return in 3-4 years.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
On 13th September the Merope returned to Lintin after a 4 month voyage up the coast as far north as Ningpo selling opium. She succeeded in converting most of her cargo into silver.
Her commander Captain Parkyns reports that at Chuan Chow in Fukien, near Amoy, he learned that the murderers of the crew of the Navigateur had been identified and arrested. They will be brought to Macau for punishment. They had burned and sunk their junk to avoid detection.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Local news:
Later this month some 10,000 students will assemble in Canton to sit the provincial examinations. Various officials have issued edicts proscribing ghost-writing of essays and warning petty-fogging attorneys not to extort money by subpoena-ing students as witnesses in trials. Candidates are secluded for the duration of the examinations and may not be called to inferior courts. These annual and triennial examinations excite as much interest amongst the gentry as an election does in England or America.1
A leading literatus in Canton kicked his servant to death last year. The Viceroy and his staff covered up the matter until a few days ago when an order from the criminal board arrived. It is supposed that the upright Judge Yau discovered the concealment and reported privately to Peking.
A short while ago on Honam Island, opposite the foreign factories, a policeman arrested a youth for salt smuggling. The boy’s father attempted to intercede with the policeman but was kicked and died instantly. The policeman is in prison pending a decision on his fate.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Macau report - There is a small market here for the sale and purchase of slaves.2 36 slaves recently deserted their Macanese masters and formed a group for their own protection. They have gone into the hills beyond the last fort in Macau and live in the caves there during the day, descending on the town at night to plunder for food. The Procurador sent men who tried to smoke out the ex-slaves unsuccessfully. Now a more resolute official has captured them. Their leader is said to be an abandoned man.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Trade report - The large numbers of junks from all along the China coast that trade with the Straits have been bringing back such a load of betelnut, pepper and tin this year that all these markets are ruined.
Its impossible to do business with the outsidemen. Even if you did agree to sell something to him, you cannot buy the main products required in western markets from him as they are restricted to the Hong merchants.
Without the bulk of the value of trade being absorbed in barter, none can trade with a shopman.3
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Opium – Those Chinese buyers who contracted in July and August for forward delivery and advanced the prices have now caused a drop. Retailers are fully stocked and no sales have been made for weeks. Deliveries however are brisk.
We hear from Bombay that there has been rioting in Malwa. Opium agents at Pali, south of Jodhpur, the collection centre for the entire export crop with whom the Damaun traders do all their business, say two brothers who are Rajahs of adjoining lands are in dispute and have each raised a levy on his people to finance a war. It is feared the harvest will be reduced and Damaun traders talk of 600 – 800 chests as the entire production next year. Some chests are in transit to Damaun but are detained by seasonal rains. Communications with Pali are disrupted by the fighting and no reliable news has come out for weeks.
The drug is harvested around Malwa and collected at Pali from whence it is sent overland via Hyderabad to Karachi and shipped to Damaun. The Maratha Rajah occupying the lands between Malwa and Pali is oppressing the passing merchants with onerous taxes or completely plundering their goods. There is another route, called the upper route, that bypasses this Rajah but it is longer, more difficult and inconvenient.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Macau news:
Died at Macau on 6th September, the Armenian trader Mr C Cachatoor, one of the longest resident foreigners in the local community.
James Matheson arrived back at Macau from Calcutta per HCS Sir David Scott on 13th September.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Local news - The following Edict allots 7 years for repayment of Man Hop’s debts by the remaining members of the Co-Hong. For many years an impost, called the Consoo charge, has been levied on the foreign trade precisely for the settlement of such debts. Had the fund not been misappropriated it would have sufficed to settle these claims.
Yen the Hoppo has told the Hong merchants he has received a message from the Viceroy. The Nam Hoi magistrate Lok Heung Yung reported to His Excellency. “I assembled the Hong merchants, How Qua Jr and others, to identify the shortest period for repayment of Man Hop’s debts and to assess the merits of the charge that Man Hop with Wong Sei Kuen and others used foreigners goods to pay off older debts. I summoned Wong Sei Kuen and the others and confronted them with Man Hop. After this I called Ng Shih Cheung (Cantonese Romanisation of How Qua Jr’s name), Mow Qua, Chang Qua, Pun Ke Qua, Go Qua, Kin Qua and Fat Qua (the Hong merchants) and examined them. All the merchants said trading conditions had been very difficult this last few years and they are paying off other prior debts. They note Man Hop’s debts are large and they entreated me for a period of 8 years to pay. The foreign creditors are claiming about $1,000,000. Eight years, when compared with the precedent cases, is not excessive. After all, these are not their debts and there are only 7 Hongs at present. They have paid or are paying the debts of Con Se Qua, Lei Shing and Chung Tai and $300,000 remains outstanding from those old cases. If a shorter repayment period is insisted on, it could ruin the remaining Hongs. But the foreigners press strongly and I have accordingly cut one year off the requested period. I hope this will not be too onerous for the Hongs while at the same time be acceptable to the foreigners. I suggest repayments commence at the beginning of next year and that no excuse for delay be entertained.”
I the Governor agree and order the Judge and Treasurer to order the Nam Hoi magistrate to instruct the Hongs accordingly. I copy this order to the Hoppo to order the Hong merchants accordingly.
The Hoppo did so on 18th August. The Nam Hoi Yuen did so on 3rd September.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Parsees dying at Canton are commonly exposed on Dane’s Island.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Letter to the Editor - A young Chinese just returned from England to which country he had accompanied an Englishman, again left his wife and family in Macau after only one day, to visit Canton.
His wife was so distressed by this repeated departure that she committed suicide. The young man was informed and returned to be abused by the officials who suspected him of impropriety and requested a bribe. We hear that Chinese females not uncommonly destroy themselves in similar circumstances.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Opium report - Some of the forward sales have been cleared and others extended but little cash business has been done. A great many futures contracts expire this month and in October and these deliveries will effect prices.
Some 100 chests of Turkey were delivered to the French ship Chunqua at $750 – 790 per picul and only the 200 chests imported by the Augusta remain.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Local news - The Chinese life cycle is 60 years and its completion is a cause for celebration. We remember the great festivities in Peking when his late Majesty reached that age. This year the senior Hong merchant (How Qua Jr), the Rothschild of China, will be 60. He is mentally clear and esteemed by all. He is too rich to involve himself in commercial fraud but in the politics of commerce he avails himself of the privilege of all diplomatists.
He is expected to spend lavishly on the celebrations. We have seen a List of Presents that includes tripod drinking cups, official cups for the first rank, an official vest, Peking boots, longevity candles, cakes and peaches and several exotic foods (beche de mer, sharks’ fins) as well as suckling pig, mutton hams, roast geese, pork hams and a jar of Siu Hing wine.
On 4th October a few people, disguised as the Kwangchow Foo and his retinue, proceeded with cards and $50 of presents to the Hong merchant’s house. How Qua was so pleased he performed devotions and rewarded the bearers with ten times the amount they gave. This group had scarcely left the gate when the real Kwangchow Foo arrived. How Qua says to prosecute such a case ‘no have handsome lookey’ and the entire community think its a good joke.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
On 23rd September the Hong Merchants published a reward of $500 to any person giving information on breaches of the new regulation dividing trade between the Hongs and the outside men (the shopmen).
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
On 4th day of 5th moon a flooding occurred at King Tak Chun in Kwangsi. Six hundred houses, in which the manufacture of porcelain takes place (there is an immense source of kaolin nearby), were destroyed. Traders are expecting late delivery and reduced quantities of china-ware this year.4
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
The 15th day of 8th moon (23rd September this year) is a popular Chinese holiday (mid-Autumn Festival) and lanterns were erected above the tops of most houses in Canton. They were lit for three nights. This festival is one of the account-settling festivals and the great scarcity of money amongst the Chinese has caused anxiety for merchants.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
General Chang Ling has been appointed Secretary for the Frontiers by the Emperor. This more or less equates with a Foreign Minister’s job.
Yanguchun, the Chinese General taken ill at Kashgar, who thereby lost the opportunity for honours in the capture of Jehangir, is a Roman Catholic Christian from Szechuan.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
We recently mentioned that the Damaun opium supply may be disturbed this year by insurrection in the growing districts. Readers may be interested in better details of Pali from whence the supply comes. It is a large market town in Marwar on the edge of the desert and several days south west of Jodhpur (26N, 73E) which itself is the capital of one of the Rajput states that is allied with the Company since 1818.
Englishmen have seldom visited Pali but one traveller recently reported the ready availability of English cottons and all sorts of other goods at reasonable prices. From Ujjain in Malwa the distance to Jodhpur is 200 miles. From Jodhpur to the Indus is another 200 miles across the Thar desert. This 400 miles is travelled by camel caravans that assemble at Pali. From the Indus is a 150 mile river trip down to the seaport of Karachi from whence the opium is shipped to Damaun (this route avoids the Company’s tax stations)
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
Local news: 5
Lancelot Dent arrived at Whampoa from Calcutta on the British ship Jane 2nd October.
C Marjoribanks Esq arrived from Madras on W. Fairlie on 13th October.
The old Hong merchant (How Qua Jr) pretended sickness to excuse himself from business on 1st day of 9th moon (9th October this year) and worshipped Ursa Minor instead (his 60th birthday approaches). The Chinese call it the ‘nine Emperors’ constellation’. He lit candles at noon and presented bread and fruit before them. He expects to receive longevity and prosperity. This star-worship normally lasts 9 days and requires fasting and prayer.
Vol 1 No 35 – Sat 20th September 1828
The literary examinations for the second degree were completed at Canton on 30th September. 4,800 students attended from 18th September. Three examinations, each lasting three days, were held behind locked gates. The Governor presided and afterwards dined with the Manchu General.
A slight disturbance occurred when the chief examiner declined to ‘pass’ people on a list of names given him by a truculent provincial officer. Since then a placard against the examiner has been published in the streets. Its contents were discussed at the Governor’s dinner and the irritated examiner was provoked into a long and indignant speech at the end of which he threw his wine cup to the floor and shattered it. This is tantamount to an oath. The other guests were distressed and left soon after.
At the last examination 46 students were expelled for violating the rules of composition. These are an endless list of restrictions on candidates.
The theme for the first exam was taken from the four books – Chuangtse’s aphorism ‘to possess ability and yet ask those who do not, to know much but enquire of those who know little, to own and yet appear not to own, to be full and yet appear empty’. The second was ‘He took hold of things by the two extremes and, in his treatment of the people, maintained the golden mean’. The third was from Mencius ‘In childhood study right principles. In manhood put them into practice’.
The next part of the examination – verse composition with 5 characters per line – was on the theme ‘the sound of an oar, the green of the hills and water’.
This was the course for the first three-day exam. The candidate proceeds to the second and third exams. Finally on the last day there is an examination of written questions on the ancient classics, interpreting abstruse passages; geography and history of China and the biographies of eminent national statesmen and former Cantonese officials.
On 10th October the 75 successful applicants will be identified and their best essays published. All these candidates seek for political office – they are not examined for scientific knowledge.
Vol 1 No 38 - Mon 3rd November 1828
We approach the first anniversary of this newspaper and we hope in review that we have provided useful information to our readers. We permit contrary opinion such as the letter of Hardface whose pro-Chinese sentiments are not typical of the English community at large.
His assertion that merchants have a low position in Chinese culture is repudiated by us. Lord Amherst did not make a ‘political error’ as Hardface says. Whilst Governors of provinces may not welcome the company of merchants, they do accept it from time to time. For example the present Viceroy is friendly with a salt merchant and the senior Manchu army officers visit and dine with one of the Hong merchants (facilitated by the rank which that merchant has purchased).
Vol 1 No 38 - Mon 3rd November 1828
Junior Canton officials have been interfering with European recreations and interrupting our correspondence by intercepting the letters of ship masters at Whampoa to their principals in Canton. The Select Committee has remonstrated with the Viceroy and some relief has been obtained from him via the Hong merchants. Interestingly these advantages were only obtained when we presented the petition at the city gate. The reply was astonishingly quick – after one day – and conceded all that had been asked.
How Qua Jr told us the Viceroy had agreed to redress future grievances and he offered an explanation for the annual publication of an offensive placard.6 It seems if we address the Viceroy in a manly way we get results.
Vol 1 No 38 - Mon 3rd November 1828
A criminal gang is operating in Macau, based at the English cemetery. They were attacked there by a force of negroes acting for the Portuguese and a few were captured. Several placards, said to contain treasonable expressions against the Emperor, were seized and are being translated but they are believed to be just a simple gang of apolitical robbers from one of the neighbouring islands.
It is speculated that they might attack the foreign community when the murderers of the French seamen arrive for punishment.
In 1826, when a slave was executed, the occasion was used for anti-foreign rioting and this may be a repeat. The Chinese officials in Macau have warned the Portuguese to be on guard and guns have been distributed to strategic places. Citizens throughout the town are arming.
Vol 1 No 38 - Mon 3rd November 1828
Peking Gazettes:
The Emperor has approved a new supply of arms to Fukien for the maintenance of order on Taiwan.
The King of Korea, on hearing of Chinese success in Turkestan, sent a congratulatory embassy to the Emperor which has been graciously received.
Vol 1 No 38 - Mon 3rd November 1828
Local news - Judge Yau has published a notice prohibiting suicide. He says the Cantonese are foolish and cruel and always in dispute with their neighbours. They view death as a return to one’s proper place. Suicides in Canton are thought to comprise 80-90% of all untimely deaths and, of those attempting it, 60-70% are women. Some hang themselves in an unoccupied room, others throw themselves in the river, others use knives to cut their own throats and a few take the joo poison.
The Judge has found that the event precipitating these suicides is usually something trivial. Some wives are disobedient to their mothers- or fathers-in-law and cannot tolerate being reproved by their husbands, others assert an injustice and hope the investigation of their deaths will identify and correct it.
The proclamation is very long and contains detailed reasoning on why suicide is not an approved course of action. The Judge notes some women bind themselves into sisterhoods that profess a disregard for life. They say being born a woman is a punishment for sin in a former life as is being married to a poor husband.
The Judge says suicide is a wicked custom of the coastal communities and must be stopped. He says death is not preferable to womanhood or poverty. He points out that a death without marks of violence on the body is unlikely to be investigated or result in punishment of the provocateur. Women should remember that their bodies will be exposed at a Coroner’s enquiry.
He mentions a 20 years old woman in Macau whose relatives had systematically stolen her husband’s property. He complained to the wife. She then put on her best clothes and drank poison prepared by a servant girl. The local magistrate was then examining another case of suicide by a young man so there was no investigation until the girl’s relatives intervened at the funeral procession and caught and beat the husband at the city gate. He fled to the house of an Englishman. Her coffin was left in a field several days until a traditional booth was erected and suitable Buddhist rites performed.
We have just heard of another case in Wai Chow (Huizhou). A woman’s father-in-law asked her to lend dresses to his daughter for her wedding. The woman was reluctant and instead prepared a poison for the other woman which was mistakenly drunk by the father. When the son found out, he killed himself. The local magistrate was bribed by the wife’s relatives but the facts still came out. The woman has reportedly been judicially dismantled in the market place.
Judge Yau is sufficiently disturbed as to wish to execute the magistrate. Fortunately for that gentleman he is a relative of both the Governor and the Manchu General. As the General is unfriendly to the Judge he cannot ask for favours but the Governor has told the Judge that officials should help each other. The Judge says he can do only what the Emperor would approve.
Vol 1 No 38 - Mon 3rd November 1828
How Qua’s 60th birthday on 4th October was shared with his wife. They are both 60. The birthday hall is a spacious room with an altar, behind which is a screen listing in gold letters all the honours received by the family from successive Emperors. Their family eminence results from foreign trade. Relatives, friends and some acquaintances kow-tow before the screen. Next to the hall is a dining room and a theatre where opera is performed throughout daylight hours. Three plays are performed, the first showing astrological benefits on the family, then a mime about obtaining high office and finally a play about a young man with 12 women, one of whose children ascends into the sky and becomes a star - a wish for numerous progeny. One celebration involves prayer for the ancestors. Vast numbers of the House of Ng (Wu) have been wined and dined and since then two parties for How Qua’s European and American friends have been held, including a theatrical performance.
Vol 1 No 38 - Mon 3rd November 1828
Opium report – 2-3 junks arrived at Lintin this week requiring about 150 chests of Patna, otherwise everything is quiet. Turkey has maintained $750 but the Indian supply has fallen in price.
Monthly sales (October)
At Lintin - Patna 403 chests, Benares 52 chests, Malwa 775 chests
On the east coast (at a 6-7% premium) – Patna 98, Benares 72, Malwa 30.7
Vol 1 No 38 - Mon 3rd November 1828
Trade news - The India Company treasury was opened 1st – 25th October for the sale of Bills on Calcutta and received subscriptions of $2,000,000
The local grocer for foreign victuals in the Canton factories is M/s Markwick and Lane. The firm sells salt meats, wines and champagne and this newspaper.
Vol 1 No 39 – Sat 15th November 1828
Edict of Viceroy Lee to the Hong merchants:
“Plowden has petitioned complaining that the Poon Yu marine police intercepted a letter. There are long-standing regulations for correspondence. I asked the Poon Yu magistrate to check and explain. He says the army officers at Whampoa seized Chan Ah Hei who carried a foreign letter from Captain Farrer. Chan received it from the ship’s comprador To Wah Ying who was acting on Farrer’s orders. To Wah Ying is accordingly also arrested on suspicion of treason. I have ordered the Hong merchants to translate the letter and, if it refers solely to commercial matters, to return it.
“Sending letters in this way is improper. In future, foreigners sending letters will give them to the ship’s comprador who will personally arrange delivery. Compradors may not delegate this duty to others. The Hong merchants will enforce this instruction and be responsible for performance.
“Plowden also complains the inconvenience of reporting to the Customs House for a pass and being cleared before travelling on the river. These requirements were made by Viceroy Cheung in the 19th year of the Ka Hing Emperor (1814) to combat smuggling. They are long-standing and have hitherto been observed. They will continue.
“Chan Cheung and others at the Praia Grande Custom House say foreigners refuse to allow inspections and land their own cargo alleging the Customs staff extort money and make false accusations. The statements of the foreigners differ from those of the Customs staff - one must be false. The Hoppo is requested to examine Chan Cheung and the compradors and ascertain the truth. Whoever is lying, Chinese or foreigner, will be punished.
“Not long ago I received a complaint that the foreigners sail and row their boats on the river for amusement and cause anxiety to native boat operators. I instructed the foreigners to cease so injury might be avoided. I simply prohibited regattas for sporting purposes. Whenever the foreigners have a proper reason for boating back and forth it is approved.
“The foreigners must attend to the regulations. They are drafted in clear language. The content is not for discussion. They should peacefully obey the law and the Hong merchants are ordered to explain everything to them. The foreigners are here for trade and they must obey the law to avoid bringing trouble on themselves.”8
Vol 1 No 39 – Sat 15th November 1828
An emissary from Nepal has arrived in Szechuan.
Vol 1 No 39 – Sat 15th November 1828
The Liu family of Chang Yuen near Canton had one troublesome son of 16 years age. The neighbours complained of his thefts which brought shame on his parents and the father agreed to execute him. He strangled the lad that night and interred the body on common land outside the village.
Everyone knew about it. An old Chinese on hearing of the matter recalled he had a grandson who had been similarly dispatched (fathers have the power of life and death over their children in certain circumstances).
Vol 1 No 39 – Sat 15th November 1828
Peking Gazettes:
Yuen, the late Viceroy of the Two Kwang, is now in Yunnan and reports that salt production from the mines is reduced and the fixed government tax must be re-assessed. The Emperor agrees.
Another ex-Viceroy (during Admiral Drury’s invasion), Na Yen Ching, is at Kashgar and governs Turkestan. He has asked for a reduction in local court fees. It transpires the officials previously distressed the Muslims with extra charges which they kept for themselves. The Emperor has agreed. A stone post is to be erected with the fees engraved upon it so the Muslims will know and an appeal mechanism to the Chinese Resident is also approved. An aggrieved person may further appeal from the Resident’s decision to Peking once a year.
The Emperor left Peking on 17th October to visit his ancestral graves and examine progress in construction of his own tomb. Work on the Imperial mausoleum commenced 8 years ago. The Emperor has discovered that the superintendents ignored geomantic advice and sited the tomb so low on the hill that it fills with water. All the superintendents and hundreds of inferior officers are to be punished.
Vol 1 No 39 – Sat 15th November 1828
This week’s Prices Current must be considered nominal as there is a great scarcity of money amongst the Chinese. Sycee is 6% premium, dollars 1% premium and gold at $26 per ounce.
10th November Robert Morrison’s wife had a baby daughter at Macau.
The remaining 1828 issues are missing.
Vol 2 No 1 – 3rd January 1829
Thomas Dent and Company announce the admission of Mr Thomas Wilkinson to the partnership w.e.f. 1.1.29.
The interest in the firm of Mr Charles Bright ceased on 30th June 1827
Vol 2 No 1 – 3rd January 1829
The partnership established for three years and trading as The Widow Payva and Sons has expired. The company’s outstanding business will be liquidated by the managing partner Sr. Joaquim Joze Ferreira Vieiga.
Sgd Joaquim Joze Ferreira Vieiga and Ignacia Vicencia de Payva.
Vol 2 No 1 – 3rd January 1829
The new Governor has received his seals of office and issued a proclamation:
“Good government depends on the extensive collection of public opinion. An official must constantly attend to all affairs. I have been an official for twenty years. Wherever I serve I investigate what it is that tends to the advantage and disadvantage of the people. Now as Foo Yuen my eyes and ears must stretch to the 13 foo districts and the 3 chow departments. (Here follows a list of major things he must attend to – all administrative things excluding spiritual welfare). I require the help of the people and the officials. You must all advise me what you think benefits and injures the people. This is not merely a form letter.”
Editor’s comment – our own legislature asserts it is impossible to govern without oaths. They need the church as a tool of the state. In China they tolerate religion rather than harness it, but there is spiritual feeling.
The Governor, whose proclamation above has provoked these comments, recently went 20 miles down river to pray at the Nam Hoi Temple. When the old Foo Yuen left recently he went with the Viceroy to another temple on Ho Nam Island (which we Europeans call the Ho Nam Josshouse) but that was mainly for a meal (they took their own cooks with them). Chinese monasteries often provide board and lodging. At Macau recently there have been celebrations to Tin Hau, the Queen of the Sea. They were commenced by the port admiral who donated $100 to a fund which accumulated $11,000. It is a popular festival. The temple is on the rocky promontory near the Bar Fort and was recently rebuilt in granite. The old image of the Queen, which was a foot high and was burnt in a fire, has been replaced with a new one of the same size. In the celebration, the eye of the image was vivified with a dab of red ink. Then all the people, great and small, offered incense and sacrifices.
The appearance of the Queen of Heaven is derived from a young Fukienese virgin named Lin who lived about 600 years ago. She was deified in a previous dynasty but it was during the Ching that she was raised to a national religion. Her abode in Macau is honoured as an Imperial chapel to which the Emperor sends an official annually to offer incense and prayer.
Vol 2 No 1 – 3rd January 1829
The Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca has Sir George T Staunton for its patron. It was founded on 11th November 1818. Now, ten years later, its sixth report has been published. Its objects are to cultivate Chinese and English literature in the Far East and spread Christianity. It is non-denominational and amongst its students have been Catholics and atheists. An American youth (W C Hunter) studied Chinese there. The Chinese language teachers are both European and Chinese people.
It lost its first two principals – Drs Milne and Collie – whilst they were still young. Marjoribanks visited the college a few months ago and, finding good progress, made a handsome donation. On his return to England he initiated a subscription for the college.
The present principal has now asked us to publish his thanks to the English Factory at Canton, and some other people, for their support.
Vol 2 No 1 – 3rd January 1829
A large shipment of sandalwood has arrived in Canton from the Sandwich Islands. This has become a staple export from those islands. The Sandwich Islanders are improvident. Having sold their wood to the foreigners they have not been replanting and now the supply is finishing.
Vol 2 No 1 – 3rd January 1829
Opium – prices declined until the arrival of some Chuen Chow junks but are expected to continue trending down.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
On Tung Jeet (Winter Solstice) the civil and military officials, all in court dress, go to the Man Sau King at 3 or 4 am to do the three kow-tows. The common people make rice pies with pork in them and large round cakes. Everyone prepares special food and sacrifices to ancestors before feasting.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
Eleven Japanese sailors have been rescued in Chekiang after being blown ashore. They had two Loo Choo fishermen with them whom they had themselves previously rescued. The Chekiang Governor says there was no contraband in their ship and he will care for them and send them back to Japan when the annual Chinese fleet from Chapu goes there for copper. The 2 Loo Choo men are to be sent home via Fukien which has occasional trade with the islands.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
Peking Gazettes of 22nd December report a rebellion in Yunnan under Chow Ying Lung and Lee Yang Chu. Their accomplice Wong Sze Lin engraved an Imperial seal and published a manifesto on the border inviting revolution in Tong King. A man named Lee gave information against them to Governor Yuen and two were arrested and executed but Chow escaped into Annam.
Editor - There appears to be a disposition amongst part of the people to expel the Manchus but they are poorly led and recent revolutions have failed.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
We have a report from Macau on progress against the murderers of the French sailors on Le Navigateur:
The survivor has been presented with $100 to buy warm clothing. He has all along been receiving 3 Taels a month for subsidence from the Viceroy and various other small sums from sundry officials. On 15th August the magistrates of Casa Branca in Heung Shan and Macau and two naval officers went to the Great Ladrone Island. The survivor, an interpreter and another Portuguese went along as well. They found no trace of the bodies.
Letter of Liu, the Heung Shan heen, to the Procurador of Macau. “I have been asked by the Viceroy to detain the survivor Francisco Mangiapan for identification of the criminals and the Tso Tong has been ordered to provide for him. You will conform with this order.”
The Casa Branca magistrate offers a reward of $200 for the heads of the criminals whose descriptions are given. A reward of $50 is offered to each person giving information. Two are - Yu Tien from Chuan Chow, Fukien and Lin Ah Hang of Fuk Chow. (junk crewmen)
The Casa Branca magistrate reports that the Governor of Amoy received intelligence of the junk but it left before he could take action. It sailed to Tung Ting Island where it was destroyed on the rocks. 11 crew men were rescued and confirmed that the French had been on board. They had agreed to rob the Frenchmen when passing the Ladrones. They killed 12 but two got away. They then shared out the goods and money. One man had killed three and four others had killed one each. Six denied involvement. He will send all the men to Macau for adjudication.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
The governor of Kirin reports that the issue of licences to people to dig ginseng (an Imperial monopoly) in his Province this year is 104 less than last year. He suspects the Emperor’s ginseng harvest and revenue will be reduced.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
There is an officer in Peking called the Tung Ching Sze through whom all correspondence to and from the Emperor passes. Our estimable Judge Yau of Canton has just been appointed to this post.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
Admiral Liu Kei Tung of Fukien has visited the Peng Hu Islands (Pescadores) and Taiwan and reviewed all the Chinese stations at each place.
He degraded one officer for want of skill but said the others and the troops were alert and their arms in good condition.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
The Imperial Commissioner at Kashgar is Na, who when Viceroy of Canton in 1809 refused to see Admiral Drury. He has interdicted most of the local trade to keep Muslims out. The Hau Han tribe continue to operate a market under the gaze of 200 Chinese soldiers. All sale prices are fixed by the officials. No Chinese money may be taken out of China and all trade is by barter. If cash is used, it and the goods are confiscated and the traders punished. The Emperor fears enforcement of these arrangements will soon become lax. He charges Na and his officers to be diligent.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
Two handbills have been posted in Canton concerning child stealing. A 13 years old boy and a 13 years old slave girl are missing and rewards are offered for information and/or their return. One bill has been posted for three months.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
Lee, the Governor has published a new law on long leases. Houses and lands can only be leased for a maximum 9 years. They may be renewed by agreement after that time. If not, the property is transferred to the tenant. Lee complains longer leases cause quarrels when the owner tries to recover the property.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
During the recent fire at Whampoa, a building belonging to one of our house compradors caught fire. Whilst everyone stood looking at the burning front, a group slipped around the back and removed contents. The army fortuitously caught some and discovered that they were relatives of the comprador who had assured neighbours they were merely removing family heirlooms to safety.
The comprador will not support their prosecution and has instead issued a notice that he will himself redeem whatever of his property is in pawnbrokers’ hands (where the relatives disposed of the loot). This support for family honour before self-interest is being praised as virtue.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
Lee Lok Yay, the great salt merchant and confidant of Viceroys, has taken the son of an army officer to his home to marry his daughter. Normally the daughter goes to the husband’s house but the reverse occurs with the daughters of rich people.
Vol 2 No 2 – Sat 17th January 1829
We are reliably informed that an acceptable plan for the liquidation of the insolvent Hong merchant Man Hop’s debts and compensation for Magniac’s stolen cotton has been agreed. Repayment will be made over six years. This shows the utility of perseverance.
Vol 2 No 3 – Monday 2nd February 1829
On 24th January the Navigateur criminals were brought to Canton for trial in the Hong merchants’ Consoo House. The prisoners began to arrive in cages (3’ x 3’ x 2’) before noon. A round hole in the roof of each cage allowed the head to protrude. They each had light chains around their necks, legs and wrists. On each cage was written the occupant’s name and his punishment. Each one was emaciated and most appeared sick. Some showed signs of torture wounds. One man, a 50 years old prisoner named Chai Kung Chow, gestured that he wished to speak through an interpreter. A foreign sinologist (Robert Morrison) spoke privately with him. He said he was falsely accused. He said he spoke only Fukienese whilst the others spoke different languages. The others had accused him of killing 3 Frenchmen and under torture he had confessed.
The prisoners were brought up in groups of three and five and confronted by the foreign survivor Francisco. Most of them he readily recognised. He hesitated on two and on another said he had been present but had not taken part. Francisco had often spoken previously of his deliverer – a crewman who had exposed the plot to him and helped his escape. This turned out to be Chai.
In the course of the investigation 47 suspects were arrested and 35 were produced at Court. Two died in prison. Chai will still be punished, probably banishment, as he was aboard the ship but Francisco agreed to send a note to the Viceroy requesting clemency. The court proceedings were dignified and impressive with the exception of the filthy lictors who shouted and abused the prisoners.
On 30th January 17 prisoners who were principals in the massacre were executed. Executions are done in an open yard 200 feet long and 30 feet wide. The avenue to the place from the riverbank was lined with soldiers. Two crosses were erected for the condemned but one was taken away. The swords used were heavy – about 3 feet long and 2 ins wide and incredibly sharp. At 10 a.m. the judge and magistrates arrived and sat at one side. Then the prisoners were carried-in in their cages. They had previously been stopped at the gate where a piece of pork, four cakes and two cups of spirits were offered to each as a sacrifice. Some ate and drank these offerings. Each had his name and sentence inscribed on a long slip of wood on his back. They were placed about eight feet apart immediately in front of the foreigners and, after confirming that the French survivor was present, they were decapitated immediately. Each prisoner had his arms bound to his sides. Each was well clothed and clean. They believe they will be wearing these clothes in the after-life so they invariably select their best. In fact the clothes were stolen from the bodies soon after death. A Guard held the convict’s upper arms from behind and thrust him forward to receive the blow. Six executioners did the work. One convict lamented and another peered around but all the others displayed total resignation. The one affixed to the cross (for an abbreviated form of Ling Chi) received quick cuts to his forehead and arms and then a sword thrust to the heart. Not a moan was heard.
The skilful executioners importuned the foreigners for cumshaw but were not obliged. They are Chinese soldiers from the small Customs House on the creek adjacent to the foreign factories. They have devoted themselves to this service and receive 50 cents for every head. For Ling Chi they get 3 Taels. They removed the heads with a single blow except in two cases which were finished off with a knife. Against the wall was a railed cage containing about 100 heads from previous executions. Two gentlemen in crimson satin and green trim appeared. They are the official executioners but take no part in the proceedings. One of these had previously told foreigners that he has executed over 10,000 men since taking office. He receives a commission per head from which he remits a little to the soldiers. He said during the years of active piracy a while back he was executing 1,000 men each year. One remarkable thing was that the culprits were positioned to face the foreigners leaving their backs towards the seated officials. Normally a condemned man must face to the north, towards the Emperor, to acknowledge the justice of his sentence.
A man with no brothers can sometimes evade execution as there is no-one to carry forward his family line. In this execution one young man was proved to be an only son and his family had been preserved for three generations by only sons. On this evidence he was spared by the Governor.
The governments of two Provinces have given us good service in this case. So has Sr. Veiga, the late Procurador of Macau. It was he who suggested the Chinese commence their investigation with the Chinese passengers who disembarked before the massacre.
Vol 2 No 3 – Monday 2nd February 1829
A plague of small-pox has spread through the community at Canton and several Europeans are afflicted.
Vol 2 No 3 – Monday 2nd February 1829
A few years ago a Buddhist priest was cangued in public in Canton and a pair of small women’s shoes were nailed to the cangue to indicate the nature of his offence.
Vol 2 No 3 – Monday 2nd February 1829
Law in China flows from the Emperor. His decision becomes national law until he next considers similar facts. Here is a new law from Issue No 121 of one of the Peking Gazettes:
‘When several people in a family are murdered leaving no male heir alive, the son(s) of the murderer will be presented to the keepers of the Imperial harem in prospect of castration and the Emperor will be requested to make a ruling on the case.’
Vol 2 No 3 – Monday 2nd February 1829
The censor Chang Tsang has informed the Emperor that foreign copper cash, with Chinese characters written on it, circulates in Canton and Fukien provinces. The Emperor instantly forbade it.
The censor says as much as 70% of the circulation is made up of these coins (they come from the provinces that comprise present-day Vietnam). They are introduced by overseas Chinese. They are prohibited because they are foreign but they have Chinese characters on them.
Vol 2 No 3 – Monday 2nd February 1829
The Emperor has signed 789 autumn death warrants this year. These are exclusive of provincial executions. 90 men from Yunnan will be executed. The province contains some new territories and three people from those are to die. An additional 111 from Szechuan, 95 from Canton and 24 from Fukien are scheduled for execution this autumn.
Vol 2 No 3 – Monday 2nd February 1829
The superintendents of the Imperial mausoleum have been sentenced. Ying Ho, late minister of state, is condemned to be decapitated but the Emperor says he will just banish him to Huk Lung Kong (the Black Dragon or Amur River). The other officers are to be transported to Ili or the northern frontier.
Vol 2 No 3 – Monday 2nd February 1829
Last year the Emperor’s younger brother gave sanctuary to a eunuch who had been involved in the coup d’Etat of 1813. He was disgraced with demotion.
On that earlier occasion his present majesty, who was then in the harem, saw two rebels climbing over a wall and shot them. Their accomplices were intimidated and no more tried to enter the palace harem.
Now the Emperor has forgiven his younger brother and restored his rank.
Vol 2 No 3 – Monday 2nd February 1829
A sudden and substantial rise in opium prices has shocked the market and has since been attributed to the impending departure of the Imperial tribute boats for Peking (tribute boats may not be searched). The fleet will leave this month.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
Chinese news publications are limited to the Peking Gazettes, which report mainly the events at Peking and the Emperor’s responses to them, and to the daily Court Circulars of the provincial Governors which list the governor’s schedule, details of people arriving and departing, treasure remittances to Peking, occurrences of fires, executions and the like. Little background information is provided (the relative absence of public media contributes to Chinese reliance on word of mouth)
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
The seventeen heads of the murderers of the French crew of the Navigateur have been sent to Macau and placed in small wicker cages suspended from poles that have been erected on the hill above the Bar Fort.
The result of this investigation has been a triumph for Chinese justice but it is well known that many innocent people, including women and children, were arrested, incarcerated and tortured before the evidence was obtained that led to the arrests. Even then, one convict denied involvement right to the end.
It seems provincial officials are as concerned to produce a good-looking report for Peking as exercise justice for their people. The An Cha Sze, the criminal judge of the province, still wished to execute Chai because of his confession (extracted under torture) but the Kwongchow Foo, whom Robert Morrison beseeched for mercy, was able to over-rule him.
The Chinese were first shocked then pleased with Morrison’s intervention. Morrison has previously on several occasions pleaded for mercy on behalf of foreigners accused of murder (in cases we consider as manslaughter or justifiable homicide). Now his intervention on behalf of Chai suggests he is impartial.
Nevertheless, it seems likely, now that 17 Chinese have been executed for these French deaths, that our future attempts at mitigating the absolute requirement of a life for a life will become more difficult.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
The Governor has ‘recognised’ the French Consul M. Gernaert and will send him the property recovered in the Navigateur case for disposal.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
On 2nd November the first dividend on Man Hop’s liquidation, amounting to one sixth of his debt, was paid by the Co-Hong.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
Yee, the word we normally translate as barbarian, is used in one of the books of Tao to describe a member of a cursed race with bald heads, deep-set eyes, long noses and fat smelly bodies.
All of these physical characteristics and the unfortunate place of their birth are said to result from Karma, having sinned in former lives. This insight makes our understanding of yee even more objectionable that hitherto.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
The progress of Canton as a centre of foreign trade is evidenced by the rise of marine insurance. The risks are underwritten by the merchants of India and China as joint shareholders. Payment of claims is usually done in one of the presidencies in India but some pay in London, Bombay, Bengal and China. Premiums are not much higher than Lloyd’s. Here is a list of the free-trade’s agencies for insurance:
|
Local Agent A Pereira J R Latimer - L Calvo & Co Magniac & Co - - - - - - Robertson Cullen & Co Thomas Dent & Co - - - |
Principal Hindoostan Insurance Society Asiatic Insurance Office Ganges Insurance Office Casa de Seguros de Manila 8th Canton Insurance Office Bengal Insurance Society Bombay Insurance Society Calcutta Insurance Office Equitable Insurance Society Hope Insurance Co Phoenix Insurance Office Commercial Insurance Co Bombay Insurance Co Calcutta Insurance Co Globe Insurance Office India Insurance Co |
Liability Limit $ 50,000 50,000 70,000 40,000 70,000 45,000 40,000 84,000 60,000 84,000 60,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 50,000 70,000 |
The Manila Insurance Office has limited annual claims to the amount of its capital of $266,000 plus the premiums it earned in the relevant year.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
The latest Registro Mercantil of Manila publishes a notification from the King of Spain authorising opium cultivation in the Philippine Islands. There is currently a prohibition on the import and use of opium to Manila and all the proposed production will be for export. Farmers are to be licensed annually and only fields near Manila will be used where guards can readily be deployed during the harvest. The precautions are similar to the arrangements for the Philippine tobacco monopoly.
Renewal of licence will depend on the farmer’s performance. The first licences are offered to existing producers of sugar, indigo, cotton etc. After production, the raw opium is to be crated and placed in the Customs House under three locks. The keyholders are the Intendant of Manila, the Collector of Customs and the opium farmer/owner. Duty will be 25% of the opium price (valued on the Prices Current published at Canton).
Editor – This Spanish initiative, if successful, will annihilate the Indian product. The Philippine soil and climate are suitable. The Government plan appears broadly workable. Whether they yet have enough experienced people to produce a big crop is uncertain. In India young boys and girls incise the capsules and are expert. British industry and ingenuity must be employed to preserve our trade.
There are historical parallels to this Spanish initiative. The silk worm was smuggled to the Near East and thence to Piedmont and France where it has long been cultured and forms an important part of the national product. Recently the worm has been exported from France for cultivation elsewhere.
Another example is tutenague which was previously sourced solely from China and its export severely restricted but is now mined to excess in Silesia and India. Tea is the major natural product with which the Chinese have maintained their monopoly. Attempts to introduce the plant into other countries have so far failed but will eventually succeed.
Cochineal seems to be a monopoly of Central America as production in the East produces little colouring effect.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
Opium was imported to China long ago as a dutiable commodity (for medical use). It was only when people started using it for luxury and dissipation that it was proscribed.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
The population of China is now estimated at nearly 200 million and nearly all of them profess to be Confucians.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
Na Yen Ching at Kashgar has been honoured by the Emperor with a double peacock’s feather for his management in suppressing Chang Ki Hur’s rebellion.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
Indian cotton imports to China 1828:
Bombay - 142,431 piculs, Bengal - 58,326 piculs, Madras - 13,643 piculs
Export of silver from China 1828:
To Bombay - $3,427,680 (mainly broken dollars) and Tls 233,620 sycee
To Bengal - $ 465,468 and Tls 84,260 sycee
To London - $ 150,000 and Tls 122,615 sycee9
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
China trade this season is slow with little demand for imports and no cash to pay for them. This lack of silver may be exacerbated by the restrictive Hong Merchant system and the new restraint on the shopmen.10 Bringing all our goods to one port drives down import prices on each ship’s arrival. If more ports were opened we would get a better return.
The extra profits that the Hongs make is partially expended on the higher duties payable at Canton for inland transit. On the other hand exports have been buoyant. This is due to the Company not selling Bills this year. Few other Bills (Danish, Dutch) are available; thus merchants take their profits in return cargo.
Vol 2 No 4 – Thurs 19th February 1829
Opium sales have picked up since Lunar New Year. Both cash and 30 days business is better but some caution is still displayed. Several Chuan Chow and other junks are expected. Much Turkish has been sold at $650 per picul.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
It is proposed to form a British Museum in China to display curiosities of natural history and art. We cannot study natural history without specimens and this museum will provide them. Commerce is the forerunner of scientific discovery and nowhere else in the world does such a small community do so much trade as here in China. We also regularly meet with ship captains who know much about foreign countries and might become our principal donors of exhibits. These men have already made the richest contribution to the cabinets of Europe. Every city in Europe has some Association for the study of natural history. Europe, America and Africa have been ransacked for specimens.
Now British conquest has opened Asia. China has provided the painted pheasant and the golden carp, the most beautiful bird and fish yet known. It has given us the orange, the first of fruits, the silk worm and tea.
The natural history of China, which extends over all the temperature zones of the northern hemisphere, is little known. Hitherto the country has been closed to us and the few specimens we have obtained have been from natives who, not knowing our purpose, have often provided mutilated animals. They do supply the demand for live birds satisfactorily but when they see a cabinet of stuffed animals they will better understand our intentions and provide uninjured samples. The Chinese are skilled in keeping live fish and birds for food and fun. Perhaps they will adopt our penchant for stuffing and displaying them. The chief objection is that the local climate will make preservation a problem but Calcutta is humid and has maintained a museum for many years. We invite contributions from private people. We will need a fund to secure premises and pay a Chinese caretaker.
We want all sorts of animals either stuffed or in spirits, paintings of them, skeletons, details of the local names and habitations, dried flora and paintings thereof, mineral specimens and details of location, Chinese books, arts and costumes, local construction techniques – buildings, bridges, tombs, boats, machinery - and examples of all sorts of industrial processes.
This initiative is approved and supported by the Company in a letter of 22nd January. The museum is to be established in Macau. It will be supported by British subscriptions but open to all who survive a ballot for membership.
Several specimens have already been received including a substantial collection from an American. A statement of the project has been translated and passed to the Hong merchants for distribution to the tea, salt and silk merchants in the hope they will donate samples.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
A man who has importuned the foreign community at Canton for donations for Chai, the innocent man in the Navigateur case, has been identified as a prison officer. He has terrified Chai into compliance with his scheme.
One of the security merchants has now taken Chai under his own protection and the story has come out. This sort of villainy provokes interest in China while elsewhere it would excite disgust.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
Local news:
The new Foo Yuen Loo of Canton transferred here from Shansi. The new An Cha Sze is Woo. Both were recently interviewed by the Emperor. They will arrive in March.
The Kwongchow Foo (the Canton city magistrate) has proscribed killing bullocks for food.
A reward is offered for information about two stolen girls aged 12 and 13 years.
Several schools are advertising for students.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
The shopkeepers of China Street (within the foreign factories) say they were repeatedly burgled last year. They have erected a placard publishing their refusal to pay either the watchmen provided by the Hongs or the police. The constables have retaliated alleging all the thefts were inside jobs and the shopmen have not controlled their servants. After discussion, the shopmen still refused to pay and the watchmen and police have withdrawn their services.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
Peas and potatoes in China are called Holland peas and Holland yams as the Dutch introduced them. They are both now ubiquitous and in Peking a favourite dish is green pea soup. Another import is pearl barley.
Considering this and the demand for birds’ nests, spices and opium, China will soon become as trade-dependent on foreigners as we are on her for tea.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
The Poon Yu magistrate has issued an order against the Hakka people who have a ghetto in the eastern part of Canton city. He says whenever they find a piece of vacant roadside land, one erects a matshed on it and lives there alone briefly. When the locals have become accustomed to his presence he brings his wife and later brings other relatives and insidiously his land holding grows and grows.
Most Hakka are industrious farmers but some are bandits.11
The magistrate also complains that whenever Hakkas locate a neglected grave they assume there are no descendants, exhume and dispose of the bones and sell the site. One year’s failure to sweep the grave can produce this result. They work progressively, first taking the altar stone and only proceeding if no complaint arises.
The Poon Yu magistrate has complained these activities to the police.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
The Whampoa magistrate complains about pirates in the river stealing cargo. They usually come alongside cargo boats and aver they are Customs officers searching for contraband. Recently a government boat carrying silver for the Governor was stopped above Canton by people claiming to act for the Hoppo. The Governor’s men declined to be searched and a fight ensued in which the pirates were beaten off.
Another treasure boat en route from Canton to Peking was stopped on the great imperial canal in Shantung and a treasure box removed. That case is reported in the latest Peking Gazettes.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
A young local man, who was trying to stop smoking opium, dissolved some in alcohol intending to drink it when the urge to smoke came upon him. His non-addicted brother returned home and, seeing the spirit bottle, drank some, sank into a coma and died.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
The only coin minted in China is the Tung Cheen (the copper cash). In Cochin-China they have a similar coin which has their king’s name on one side in Chinese characters. It is said they intend to put the same name in Manchu writing on the obverse. This Cochin-China cash has been heavily imported into China and now comprises about half the copper cash in circulation.
A censor recently told the Emperor who has forbidden the use of foreign cash. Coinage is an Imperial prerogative and a coin with a foreign king’s name on it is intolerable. This will be inconvenient for retail trade.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
H H Lindsay left Whampoa for Batavia on 24th February with J Jackson and R B Huddlestone.
Vol 2 No 5 – Mon 2nd March 1829
All the Indiamen have left and the American ships are leaving. Patna and Benares are not selling. The dealers are clearing their time engagements and only ordering the occasional chest to meet day-to-day demand. They await the new crop. Malwa is doing better and remaining stock is small.
Tea consumption in New South Wales colony now amounts to 25 chests per day and augurs well for our mutual exchange of goods. Sandalwood has been discovered in that part of the world.12
Vol 2 No 6 – Mon 16th March 1829
A smallpox plague is raging at Canton. Several thousand Chinese are sick and amongst the adults infected, a majority have died. Some foreign crewmen have also died but the cowpox vaccination procedure is reducing the toll.
Vol 2 No 6 – Mon 16th March 1829
How Qua Jr keeps the remains of his father and grandfather in sealed coffins in a room adjoining his house. A fire is kept burning in that room all year to keep the place dry. All who enter must kow-tow to the ancestors.
Vol 2 No 6 – Mon 16th March 1829
Chinese worship the harvest moon on 14th day of 8th month and eat yuet beng (moon cake) to celebrate. The day is called jung chau jeet (mid-Autumn Festival). During the day they offer food and fruit as sacrifices and light candles and incense. At night they kneel to pray to the moon then eat the sacrificial foods. They also eat a whelk called sek lor. They expose their faces to the moonlight as much as possible in order to receive clear sight.
Vol 2 No 6 – Mon 16th March 1829
The Magian religion that was adopted in Persia at the time of Cyrus, posits two opposing eternal forces of light and dark continually competing for supremacy. It is like the oldest recorded human epics of the sun competing with the moon.
This Magian religion is similar to the Chinese belief in Yin and Yang. Prosperity and adversity are ascribed to one or other of these causes by Chinese Imperial historians, but both are subservient in the Chinese system to a first cause called Tai Kei under which both Yin and Yang might occasionally co-operate.
Vol 2 No 6 – Mon 16th March 1829
It was during the Hong Hei Emperor’s reign that movable type was first used in China. Characters were engraved on copper in his reign. The technique has not been improved upon and is still inferior to wood block printing. The daily Canton Court Circular is printed from wood blocks. We suspect the officials do not promote printing because they have no wish to increase popular knowledge (it might be used to publish treasonable documents).
Movable type can readily be broken up and removed making the identification of the printer more difficult whereas wood blocks remain unless the manufacturer is prepared to tolerate the loss of burning them. Thus does autocracy prevent the free diffusion of knowledge.
What is needed in China is punches and mathematically-true cast fonts at moderate prices. The press at the Anglo-Chinese College uses engraved Chinese fonts but they are very expensive.
Vol 2 No 6 – Mon 16th March 1829
His Majesty the Emperor has again published an edict about the defeat of Chang Ki Hur. It is to be published throughout the Empire. An increased number of officials in all the provinces are required to sacrifice. All military men charged with misdemeanours are forgiven and people charged with serious offences will receive mitigated awards. Some receive holidays, others get extra pay. Roads are to be repaired at government expense. People are urged to recognise the blessings of peace and tranquillity.
Vol 2 No 6 – Mon 16th March 1829
On his recent visit to the Imperial tombs, the Emperor had an escort of 2,500 cavalry. The eunuchs and attendants had 600 horses. The baggage train comprised 297 camels.
Vol 2 No 6 – Mon 16th March 1829
The new opium crop is expected to start arriving soon and sales of existing stock are very slow. Some junks are expected from the coast but Patna and Benares are at reduced price and only Malwa is firm.
The Company plans to auction 7,709 chests of Patna/Benares this year, that is about 2,000 chests at each of the four auctions (Dec 28, Jan, Mar and Apr 29). Each auction will offer 1,408 chests of Patna and 509 of Benares on average. The Bombay sales of Company Malwa will be restricted to 4,000 chests this year.
Turkey sold during the last year (1828) totalled about 1,600 piculs
Vol 2 No 6 – Mon 16th March 1829
D W C Olyphant arrived per Beaver from New York 3rd March 1829
Vol 2 No 7 – Sat 4th April 1829
M/s Markwick and Lane of Canton announce a public auction in Macau, on the instructions of the French Consul M. Bernard Gernaert, of the recovered cargo from the Navigateur. This is wine, brandy, liqueurs, beer, preserved fruits, pickles, ladies’ dressing tables, French silk, printed cottons, hats, jewellery etc
Vol 2 No 7 – Sat 4th April 1829
The annual payment by Hong merchants of import duties collected on behalf of the Hoppo is about to occur. The arrears are heavy and the amount required is slowing trade. Sycee silver has become very scarce.
Vol 2 No 7 – Sat 4th April 1829
The opium market is very slow. Chinese have large holdings of the Bengal drug but Europeans have a monopoly on Malwa.
Opium sales for the year Apr 28, 1828 – Mar 29, 1829 (in numbers of chests, below) showed an increase of 3,657 chests over the previous year. The habit has become more widespread in China and officials have concurrently been less diligent in its suppression:
|
- Canton/Lintin Macau Stock at Lintin Stock at Macau |
Patna 4,744 87 403 25 |
Benares 1,130 - 170 - |
Malwa 7,040 } 131 } 644 60 |
Sale Value $ - ($12,533,115) - - |
Vol 2 No 7 – Sat 4th April 1829
Died at Macau on 17th March - Cursetjee Framjee of Bombay, aged 50 years, supplier of Bombay produce to Forbes and Co., and nephew of both Jamsetjee Bomanjee the celebrated shipbuilder and Hormasjee Bomanjee the trader. He has visited Canton annually for trade for many years and was well known and connected.
A representative of the Select Committee, a British doctor and a few European traders attended near the grave but had to leave before the last rites were performed, which was accomplished exclusively by Parsees.
Vol 2 No 8 – Sat 18th April 1829
Local news:
A military graduate of Tung Kwoon has been making false accusations of social crime against upright people for extortion. He is on bail until next year.
Printers in Canton have produced miniature editions of the four classics which students might secret in their sleeves for use in the Imperial examinations. The court has ordered all the wood-blocks to be found and destroyed.
Gamblers who inveigle landowners into ‘fixed’ games and then request their land in payment are to be punished for entrapment.
Vol 2 No 8 – Sat 18th April 1829
The Heung Shan heen has published an Order in Macau requiring foreigners to use only Chinese porters and not black slaves. The Order is to reduce smuggling. Previously the Chinese coolies asked for too much money and tried to charge per boat-load so we stopped patronising them. Now the heen requires them to charge per picul times the distance, fixed at a rate of 1 candareen per picul per li. This works out to 2 - 3 times what we pay now. From Leal Senado to Praia Grande is 3 li; the inner harbour Customs House to the new village is 7 li.
Vol 2 No 8 – Sat 18th April 1829
An Imperial envoy (Yam Chai) named Wong has arrived in Canton with the Emperor’s proclamation of mitigated punishments of offenders (in celebration of the victory over Chang Ki Hur – Jehangir).
Vol 2 No 8 – Sat 18th April 1829
Spring sacrifices were performed on 2nd day of 2nd moon to To Dei and Pusa. Wooden images of an old couple are exposed everywhere. If images are unavailable, a tablet is set up at one’s shop- or residence-door inscribed with the two names. Incense is burned before the tablet morning and evening. This is all to increase prosperity. Plays are performed, music is played, fireworks are set off and feasting continues. An especially large rocket called a ‘flower rocket’ (fa pau), costing $10 - $100, carries a soft ball high into the air which the people endeavour to possess when it floats down. The successful recipient will be particularly prosperous through the coming year and, in return for that forecast, agrees to donate the rocket for next year’s festival. Neither Buddhist nor Taoist priests are involved in this Spring festival.
Vol 2 No 8 – Sat 18th April 1829
Apart from the goods for sale in the forthcoming auction of the Navigateur’s cargo, the French Consul has also received $3,000 from the Canton officials being the income from the sale of the property of the beheaded culprits.
We now hear that some of the wives of the culprits have committed suicide and the families say they have actually lost some $150,000 in property confiscated or bribes paid. In China, any connection with a culprit is sufficient to warrant a shakedown.
Vol 2 No 8 – Sat 18th April 1829
Mr Chai Kung Chou, the man who warned the French crew of the Navigateur of the planned attacks, has, together with the French survivor received $1,500 in donations from the English community at Macau. He is a native of Tung Kan in Chuen Chow, Fukien. He was in the army for 24 years but cannot read or write. He has a wife, 2 daughters and 2 sons. The eldest son is a 30 years old opium addict who lives in Singapore.
The father had gone on the junk alone intending to find his son in Singapore and bring him home but the vessel was blown off course and landed in Cochin China. A Fukienese broker there named Yang Chee Hea arranged the return passage of the foreigners to Macau. The junk master required $3 per package of cargo and allowed the 13 French crew to travel free. The captain asked for a prepayment of $450 but was refused. The French eventually boarded, whether they paid first or not is unknown, and the plot to murder them and steal their cargo was more or less instantly hatched.
The first attempt was made on 27th July and fought off. A second attempt was made two days later and also failed. On 31st July the junk neared Macau and a passing fishing boat was hailed to take them in. The Chinese passengers were landed and the French were also told to leave but decided to stay another night and disembark the following morning. That night the crew succeeded in killing all the French except the one who jumped overboard. They then continued their voyage to Amoy where those crew members who were not involved were allowed to leave. 54 men continued to Tien Tsin to sell the goods but the junk was dismasted in heavy weather, returned to Amoy and the master put the stolen property in his own house.
Meanwhile Tsai reported the case to the Amoy magistrate who accused him of attempting to use the legal process to extort money from the junk captain. He was beaten and kicked out. He then presented his complaint to the Amoy Tao Tai who officially took the case up. 13 culprits were arrested and 6 innocent men were added to make weight. Eventually totally 42 persons were arrested and sent to Canton for trial. The four owners and captains were imprisoned. One died in prison and two were executed at Canton.
A sequel to the judicial execution came to light when one of the executioners showed Europeans a gall bladder which he had excised from one of the junk captains. He inserted raw rice into the organ which soaked up the gall fluid. He ate a few grains each day in the belief he would ingest the courage of the dead man.
Vol 2 No 8 – Sat 18th April 1829
Letter to the Editor - Macau is a place of no natural resources that relies solely on trade for its existence. It has degenerated under misrule. How fortunate that the new Judge Dr Jose Felippe Pires da Costa renders equity without cronyism. Sgd William R
Vol 2 No 8 – Sat 18th April 1829
The arrival of the Louisa from Calcutta with Patna opium has enlivened a dull market. Brokers have been buying without waiting for the customary check on quality and weight. The smokable extract has been assessed at 50% and the ball weight is 114 catties as opposed to last year’s 116 catties. The only Malwa selling has been delivery of time sales. Some small sales of Turkish have occurred.
Vol 2 No 8 – Sat 18th April 1829
The duty on foreign imports for last year is assessed at 489,817 Taels and the Hong merchants are told to pay this up. There is also 160,000 Taels in outstanding Customs fees that is due from bankrupt hongs. The continuing Hongs have to pay this too.
Vol 2 No 9 – Sat 2nd May 1829
The Rev Dr Morrison proposes to publish his English / Cantonese vocabulary this summer. It will also contain some useful proverbs and phrases that are appropriate to particular situations. The previous publications all dealt with Mandarin which is unknown to the common people and shopmen of Canton. Our ignorance of the local language causes many of the misunderstandings that arise.
Vol 2 No 9 – Sat 2nd May 1829
Macau has lately started holding horse races again (on the open area south of the barrier with Heung Shan). Previously it was divisive and inharmonious. We hope that is behind us. The new races started on 20th April. On 21st April there were five races of $50 - $150. Four races had two horses, one had three. Finally three winners raced and Mr James Innes’ Jeanie Deans won. The Macau Tso Tong attended and much enjoyed himself.
Vol 2 No 9 – Sat 2nd May 1829
Local news:
Viceroy Lee went to Wai Chow on 21st April to review the garrison.
The Whampoa magistrate has warned against thieves who set fire to houses to cause confusion thus facilitating their burglary.
Lok Tai Ya, the Nam Hoi heen is called to Peking to attend the Emperor’s Spring levee. He will temporarily be replaced by Tsui who comes from Kow Ming district west of Canton.
The Viceroy has paid rewards to an army unit that scoured the hills in N E Canton and rounded-up 300 bandits recently.
In the western suburbs of Canton several empty shops have opened as gambling houses under police protection. Some disaffected person has reported this development and yesterday the Nam Hoi heen came out to see. Several gamblers were arrested.
A house owner in a village near Canton reported a case of daylight robbery to the Whampoa magistrate. He was obliged to amend his report to clandestine theft before it could be accepted.
Vol 2 No 9 – Sat 2nd May 1829
Peking Gazettes:
Na Yen Cheng at Kashgar is required to cut-off all trade of Chinese produce with the tribes to the west of the Chinese frontier. The trade is now widely stigmatised as nefarious and treasonous.
The Hwan Ho (torrent river) that flows east across Turkestan is shifting its course and serious flooding could occur. Na Yen Cheng applied to build new cantonments near the principal cities and far from the river. The old ones on the banks were being progressively washed away. The costs are to be paid out of the property seized from the recently defeated rebels. Muslim soldiers near Kashgar are being given land to cultivate and are raising abundant crops.
Na reports that many local people received buttons from Chinese army generals denoting the 5th, 6th and 7th ranks of Chinese distinction. They were issued in the recent war but without Peking’s authorisation. The Chinese resident at each of the four great cities of Turkestan is to investigate every case and pluck out the peacock’s feather of any impostors. Members of the Pik Kih tribe who show talent are to be reported to the Emperor.
Tribute from the cities of Turkestan is comprised of dried fruits and a type of cloth with gold thread through it. The area also sends an officer to Peking annually. Now the Emperor has instructed that the tribute and the officer should come at the same time each year.
A man who killed the male heirs of a family has been executed and his children are to be emasculated and enrolled as eunuchs at Peking. This is a new development in the law derived from one of the To Kwong Emperor’s recent decisions. It may be applied to future cases
In Gan Hwuy province two gangs of salt smugglers fought and six died. One of the fighters, a Muslim, took the body of Liu Ta Ho, dismembered it and threw the pieces in the river. He was sentenced to strangling after confinement. This award is usual for cases of death following affrays but often the strangling is remitted. The Emperor is dissatisfied with the award and has requested to know the precedents. He has now learned that there is no fixed penalty for this type of offence and has ordered that Ma Yu Lee (the Muslim13) be immediately executed and that beheading become the tariff for murder in affrays.
The junks that make-up the grain tribute fleet enjoy a privilege of being allowed to tow logs to Peking for timber. Apparently the quantity of logs being towed has become huge and Peking officials plan to limit the quantity.
A Chinese soldier on Taiwan ‘insulted’ a local woman and was ordered to stand trial but politicised his friends and commenced a riot instead. The Emperor now orders he be pilloried for two months and banished to the northern frontier to do hard labour. His colleagues are to be transported 4,000 Chinese miles away from their homes for their ‘detestable behaviour’.
The Emperor has informed the Korean court of the new title Hwui recently awarded to his mother, the Empress Dowager. Korea sends an annual tribute mission to Peking and is considered the most cooperative of the vassal states.
Annual expenditure in training and maintaining the Yellow River runs at 6,000,000 Taels. Extraordinary appropriations to deal with floods have amounted to 10,000,000 Taels since the accession of the To Kwong Emperor who suspects he is being cheated and has issued a serious threat.
Many families from Shantung have emigrated by sea and land to Manchuria. Peking has now ordered that no-one else can go there without a passport from his local magistrate. Any migrants found in the Manchu homelands without passes will be sent home.
The Emperor usually holds cabinet in the Yang Sin Tien. Hereafter officials of over 65 years may enter by the right hand door behind his Majesty. This facilitates their not kow-towing and exhibits the Emperor’s compassion for older statesmen.
The Peking Gazettes are full of an affray at Tung Chow (near Peking) between the crews of the government grain boats and a party of Chekiang boatmen. Reportedly weapons were used and fatalities occurred.
Vol 2 No 9 – Sat 2nd May 1829
The Viceroy sent police runners to Macau last week to catch Chang Shing Sum who makes copper crucifixes. Customs officers reportedly complained against him after he refused to pay them off. The Emperor long ago made the possession of Christian books and paraphernalia an offence.
Vol 2 No 9 – Sat 2nd May 1829
Chinese infanticide is induced by hard-hearted scepticism not religious superstition (like Suttee). Three years ago the murder of a young man in Macau was precipitated by the belief that a meal of human flesh would restore a dying man. We recently mentioned the Cantonese ‘executioner of 10,000’ as carrying a human gall bladder in which he soaked rice grains which he ate daily in fixed numbers.
From the Chinese legal code we find a man named Liu from Heung Shan was brought to justice some years ago after procuring a piece of human gall bladder for 120 Taels. In 1811 a man named Chang from Chekiang was convicted for killing 11 young girls over a 16 years period and drinking fluids from their bodies to provide him with greater vigour. The 12th girl escaped and brought the matter to light and Chang was awarded the slow death.
There is a Chinese belief that brave people produce copious gall fluid while fearful ones produce little or none. It is said a greater quantity of fluid can be recovered if execution can be accomplished without distressing the victim. The inference from these examples is that a Chinese believe a man can increase his own courage by ingesting the gall fluid of others.
Vol 2 No 9 – Sat 2nd May 1829
The Dona Carmelita arrived recently from Calcutta with some Patna opium and has reversed the decline in prices by reporting the high rates obtained in the first Calcutta auction.
These duplicate the high prices at Bombay for Malwa. The Bombay auctions are fixed for Feb, Mar Apr and May. At the first sale 1,000 chests were offered and produced an average CR 1,566.
There is a small opium stock at Lintin that is being increased as ships arrive with the new harvest.
Vol 2 No 9 – Sat 2nd May 1829
Most cotton at Canton is Company cotton from India and is in the hands of Chinese buyers but is not selling in spite of good quality. There is also 9,000 piculs of tin, 6,000 of pepper and 30,000 of betelnut in store. All of this is yet to find a market. Whampoa is clear of foreign shipping for the time being.
Vol 2 No 10 – Mon 18th May 1829
Advertisement - M/s Markwick and Lane’s Europe Bazaar at 3 Imperial Hong in the Canton Factories and their warehouse for European produce at Campo San Francisco, Macau have stock of good French claret.
Vol 2 No 10 – Mon 18th May 1829
The Macau horse races ended last week and it is hoped to hold them every year. They were held on 2nd and 21st April and 14th May. The races were usually between two sometimes three horses around a sand track near the barrier. The fastest horse is Innes’ Jeanie Deans which wins whenever Innes wants her to.
Vol 2 No 10 – Mon 18th May 1829
Capt Philips has brought a pair of mocking birds from Philadelphia to Macau for Thomas Beale’s collection of flora and fauna (for the proposed museum).
Vol 2 No 10 – Mon 18th May 1829
A few days ago a smuggling boat with 10 chests of opium was captured by Customs officers en route to the Fau San dealers and only released on payment of $4,500. Incidents like this have become rare of late indicating how little effort the provincial government is making against the trade.
Vol 2 No 10 – Mon 18th May 1829
The Imperial censor Mu Wei Tse has protested against four types of misrule which, he says, is directly contrary to the wishes of the Emperor:
First, rural magistrates use every excuse to spend their time in their provincial capital trying to get promoted instead of dispensing justice at their workplace.
Second, a provincial governor is supposed to employ and pay his own administrators but generally uses military and naval officers who are already paid by the central government. These people both prey on the people and eventually get the governor’s recommendation for higher posts.
Third, Governors often promote ignorant lictors into temporary posts which they milk assiduously until their unfitness becomes undeniable.
Fourth, Governors put up worthless people for Imperial honours and high office.
Vol 2 No 10 – Mon 18th May 1829
Theatres are arising at the north and south of Macau as the opera season approaches. People from the neighbouring villages of Heung Shan are pouring in. Europeans find Cantonese opera unintelligible and the din intolerable. They prefer the northern variety which they find more harmonious. Our difficulty in appreciating the plays results from our failure to penetrate the language. Nevertheless, the Cantonese love opera and part of the tax revenue of every village is earmarked for performances once or twice a year. The village headmen appoints people to visit each householder for donations. Failure to pay would instantly become public and be considered niggardly. The expenses are for the players and the erection of the matshed theatre.
There are 30 troupes in Canton and 10 more from ‘beyond the river’, as the northern parts of the province are known. A company may have 40 – 70 people of whom 10 – 12 take the principal parts receiving $300 – 1,000 p a. The supporting actors get $20 – 130 p a. The usual cost to hire a troupe of actors, their extravagant clothes and erection of the matshed theatre for 6-7 plays in the course of a week is $60-70.
A local law prohibits performances within Canton city after 6 p.m. but this is not applied in the country (the troupes have acrobats who are very versatile but they are forbidden to perform within the city since an accident ten years ago when several people died). There is a custom of sending gifts to the stage for a performer one particularly admires. Rich people may hire a troupe for private performance - commonly the players sing while the family dines. The cost for private performance is a little more than for village performances.
Many Cantonese troupes will attempt to perform Peking operas but their Mandarin is so poor that only local people can enjoy it. Some of the troupes are travelling troupes who arrange their schedules to arrive at temples before the birthday of the god to whom the temple is dedicated.
Vol 2 No 10 – Mon 18th May 1829
The new Malwa quality is good and the market has opened at $950 but demand is trifling. Patna dealers have been making considerable forward purchases which is bringing the price up. Old Patna is now $1,000. Turkey is $660 with little interest.
Vol 2 No 10 – Mon 18th May 1829
Owing to the scarcity of saltpetre a few parcels have recently been sold at Lintin at $12.14
Vol 2 No 11 – Tues 2nd June 1829
Viceroy Lee of the Two Kwang proclaims – “in serious offences against the person it is lawful for the aggrieved persons to seek for justice by kneeling at the roadside (in front of my yamen or on my route) and presenting petitions. Bandits are using this concession for dunning activities, gathering in mobs and extorting money.
“I now restrict the right of roadside petition to those people who have already sought justice from the lower courts and failed. They may kneel, hold up a statement of facts and wait until my officer approaches them. If they overstep the bounds of propriety they will be bamboo’d and their petitions rejected. If they make riot, obstruct my chair or unilaterally throw a petition into it, then such acts illustrate a perverse contempt for the law. Not only will I reject the petition but I will also bastinade and pillory the petitioner.”
Vol 2 No 11 – Tues 2nd June 1829
Governor Loo of Canton has proclaimed that he always pays the market price for goods and if any servant or comprador (mai pan) comes to a shop claiming to represent him and asking for a special price, he is to be caught and brought to Loo’s office for a chat. (Editor – all officials publish this edict from time to time. What shopman would dare assume such risk for a few cash?)
Vol 2 No 11 – Tues 2nd June 1829
Now the Macau horse racing is concluded, the Heung Shan heen has issued a proscription against it. Magistrate Liu notes that during the first ten days of the 3rd moon he visited Macau and saw foreigners racing horses for sport on the sands at the Barrier. There is a road through that area with much pedestrian traffic (it is the only land route from Heung Shan to Macau city – the path which the Macanese sought to make into a horse road). An accident would cause disturbance between the Chinese pedestrians and the foreign horse owners/ riders/ spectators. The Macau Linguist will instruct the Barbarian eye (Procurador) to prohibit racing. The foreigners must obey the laws of China and not run races for sport.
(Editor – The Macau Tso Tong attended the races but he would say he was not there to enjoy himself but to check what the unfathomable foreigners were doing. The Heung Shan heen’s subsequent proscription protects both of them should racing recur. This Edict may be compared with the annual proscription of Dragon Boat racing)
Vol 2 No 11 – Tues 2nd June 1829
The Emperor has been reading the Edicts of his predecessor. At the time of Admiral Drury’s invasion of Macau, when Na Yen Ching was Canton Viceroy, the old Ka Hing Emperor found that apart from the government prisons at Canton and Whampoa, there were private prisons operated by the police where minor offenders, people awaiting trial and witnesses were kept. There were 53 in Nam Hoi and 11 in Poon Yu. The inmates had to call relatives to pay for their keep. Many unconvicted people and other innocents starved and died in these unofficial gaols. There were separate private prisons for women from whence suitable inmates were selectively rented out for debauchery.
Now the present Emperor suspects that other provinces may indulge in the same practice. He has ordered all governors to investigate with their magistrates and ascertain if there are any private prisons in their provinces.
About 6 years ago 130 prisoners in the government prison at Canton died of exposure in a sudden spell of winter weather.
Vol 2 No 11 – Tues 2nd June 1829
The Emperor is trying to enforce a law against His own clansmen who enjoy watching private theatricals at Jehol in which Chinese Gods are portrayed. He says Gods deserve awe and respect while representations on the stage by comedians incite contempt. These plays are performed all over China. He has ordered punishments for watching them.
A new ballad has been written which combines the events of the Muslim rebellions of 1813 and 1828 in Turkestan and praises the Ching Emperors.
Vol 2 No 11 – Tues 2nd June 1829
An assay of South American dollar coins (Mexican, Peruvian and old Spanish) at Calcutta has revealed that coin weights of 231-232 Taels contain the silver equivalent of 205-206 silver rupees.
Vol 2 No 11 – Tues 2nd June 1829
From a Chinese domestic guide, published c. 1730:
Get up early, wash your self, dust the tables, sweep the floor and prepare tea for visitors. Every one in the household should have a job so there is no idleness. The sounds of spinning and weaving are to be encouraged.
Wives and daughters should be kept illiterate. Do not allow plays or gambling in your house. Do not allow your family to wear jewellery in public - it attracts unwanted attention. Hold parties in the afternoon not the evening. When insulted do not respond angrily. Never borrow or lend. Conceal people’s vices and publish their virtues. Never contradict someone to their face - this always produces ill will. Go to bed early. In winter you can stay up a little after sunset.
Vol 2 No 11 – Tues 2nd June 1829
A parcel of South American copper has been sold at Lintin for $25.50 per picul.
Vol 2 No 11 – Tues 2nd June 1829
Opium sales:
|
- April May - |
Patna $318,567 $427,680 $746,247 |
Benares $100,800 $126,280 $227,080 |
Malwa $217,120 $333,450 $550,570 |
Stock at Linton Patna/Benares 3,106 chests, Malwa 1,105
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
High tides at Canton have created unprecedented flooding and many streets are only navigable by boat (due to increased flow descending the West River – it last occurred 16 years ago in the 18th year of the Ka Hing Emperor). Small boats have to remove their canopies to get under the arches of the river bridges. The terrible flood of 16 years ago has been exceeded this time by 3-4 inches.
Villagers upstream are flooded out of their houses and are unable to obtain or prepare food for their infants. They have been placing them in floating containers and launching them downstream with notices providing the names and addresses of relatives in Canton who will take care of them. A hundred have been received so far.
Flooding in some areas was so rapid that 2,000 – 3,000 people are feared drowned. Some boats have sunk and a theatrical troupe lost. It is estimated that a third of the local rice crop will be lost. The Canton silk industry is badly effected and the 2nd crop will also be lost. All Hongs are flooded and foreign business has stopped. The value of lost property exceeds the loss at the great fire of 1822.
The disaster occurred at the time of Dragon Boat Day (Wat Yuen’s festival) in which two boats overturned and several men drowned.
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
13 shipwrecked Japanese have arrived at Macau. They say they were travelling from Idsu and Nagasaki to Manila for trade and were blown off course. They spent 90 days on the wreck eating the cargo of raw rice before rescue. They will presumably return to Japan on the Nanking junks or on the annual Dutch ship from Batavia but their crime of visiting foreign countries will be exposed.
A Cochin China junk master has also been shipwrecked in course of smuggling rice from his country to China for two Chinese businessmen. He has been delivered to Macau. The captains of both ships can write Chinese imperfectly.
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
Local Chinese have been excited by the arrival of a European-style frigate belonging to the King of Cochin China (some Portuguese are building ships for him on the Saigon River). As the frigate approached the Salt River entrance where many junks were anchored, the Chinese became anxious.
The ship has brought a tribute mission but the captain is taking the opportunity to trade which, in the circumstances, should be duty-free.
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
The Singapore Chronicle reports that 8 Chinese junks have arrived this season, 5 from Canton and 3 from Amoy. They are 250 – 400 tons with up to 100 crew each. They leave China in January with earthenware, tiles, granite slabs, waxed paper umbrellas, noodles, dried fruit, joss sticks, tobacco, nankeens and raw silk and ride the winter monsoon down. The Canton junks also carry tea, sugar candy, tin, agar-agar, 10 chests opium each and camphor. Cargo value is $30,000 – 60,000. They carry 7,000 – 8,000 piculs. The owners routinely remain in China and allow the captain some space for his own cargo, not unlike the Company’s system. The officers and crew get about 1,000 piculs for their own trade. Return cargoes are beche de mer (trepang), birds’ nests, sharks’ fins, sandalwood, ebony, leather and some European goods. They trade exclusively with the Chinese merchants at Singapore. The Chronicle says that without the resident Chinese merchants, the trade of the port (which was $7 millions last year) would be negligible.
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
Peking Gazettes - Some Chinese men in Turkestan have cut off their queues, and adopted Muslim dress after marrying non-Chinese (they have necessarily adopted the Muslim religion). His Majesty orders they be punished although the offence does not appear in the Chinese law so far as we know.
Some foreign nomadic shepherds whose flocks have been grazing near Kokonor are ordered to be expelled.
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
Local news - Long Foot, one of the opium brokers who negotiates with the foreign smugglers in the receiving ships, who last year stabbed a boatman and had to pay handsomely to cover-up the affair, is again in trouble. Some plays are being staged in Macau in honour of Tien Hau and Long Foot set up a gambling table outside one theatre to serve the passing trade.15 He had no fear of the police and had some ‘heavies’ for protection.
A passing policeman asked for a bribe and Long Foot was so incensed at the inequity of this additional demand that he stabbed him. The policeman has now gone to the Military Commander at Casa Branca and reported he was injured trying to arrest illegal gamblers. Long Foot has disappeared.
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
Mad men in China are supposed to be reported to the local magistrate who will decide if the family can care for him or if he should be restrained. In Southern China they look after their own and no-one makes this report. If the deranged man causes damage or injury, the family are jointly responsible for it. If he murders he is imprisoned for life and never gets the benefit of an amnesty. There is mention in the penal code of a mad man who killed his father and 2-3 other relatives. He was beheaded on the order of Kien Long who felt mere madness cannot place a man beyond the reach of His law.
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
Letter to the Editor - The word barbarian, which the Greeks used indiscriminately for all their neighbours, appears to come from the natives of Barbary on the north African coast. These were the original nomadic occupants before the Saracens displaced them.
Recent scholarship suggests the race originated in Syria and the people might have been common in Middle East and Africa. The original Greek references to Barbaroi are likely connected with these people.
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
Trade - Flooding has prevented the distribution of opium and sales have been reduced. $200,000 in new South American silver coins has arrived and is selling at a premium of 1½%. Sycee is unavailable at Lintin even at 7% premium.
Vol 2 No 12 – Thurs 18th June 1829
The wife of Richard Turner (of Turner & Co) had a son at Macau on 9th June.
Vol 2 No 13 – Thurs 2nd July 1829
In spite of the injury to the rice and sweet potato crops from flooding (sweet potato is so widely used by the Cantonese that it is a staple), the government permits no increase in the retail price of rice and thus avoids augmentation of popular distress. The senior Hong merchant How Qua Jr has donated 20,000 Taels to alleviate local suffering.
Vol 2 No 13 – Thurs 2nd July 1829
It is reported that Viceroy Lee has been demoted three ranks as a result of a secret report sent in by our Judge Yau. The Viceroy is known to be on intimate terms with the salt merchant Lee Lok Yay (who frequently visits him and is believed to be his collector), and as a result he is suspected to have connived at the Lintin trade. Another ground for the Judge’s complaint is that the Viceroy did not scrupulously examine some murder cases.
The Heung Shan heen and Macau Tso Tong have both been recalled for conniving with triads. On 14th June about 70 new triad recruits were sworn in at Macau before an image of Kwan Tai on his anniversary celebrations. They cut themselves in a blood ritual of initiation. In the course of the festivities a message was sent out to all the flower boats to each send a couple of girls to enliven the party. Only two boats refused and were later violently attacked. The police turned out but were reluctant to intervene until the attackers had completed their destruction.
The rivers of Canton are infested with pirates who, apart from piracy, have a non-violent trade - the sale of safe-conduct passes to trading boats. Several traders have been murdered for resisting the pass system.16
Governor Loo has received a letter of congratulations from the Emperor.
Vol 2 No 13 – Thurs 2nd July 1829
Local news - 10th May was Buddha’s Birthday and the provincial treasurer proclaimed that no animal was to be killed that day for food and no criminal case dealt with at the public offices. The day before, Governor Loo had performed a great sacrifice of sheep at the round altar dedicated to Heaven.
The Viceroy’s birthday has also occurred and all the local dignitaries have handed in their cards at his yamen despite his absence.
The annual literary examination is being held in Canton and a flood of proclamations to candidates have been published. The students are all locked away for the three days and two nights of the exam.
Poor scholars in China often teach the children of gentry on ‘no degree, no pay’ terms, or act as representatives in legal matters on ‘no cure, no pay’ terms, but they have to eat and drink so some pecuniary advantage is essential. They usually ask for an advance at an early stage of their employment which, in the event of a wrong result, they assiduously avoid repaying.
Vol 2 No 13 – Thurs 2nd July 1829
Ten ink drawings of battles in the late campaign against Jehangir have been seen and approved by the Emperor and sent to Canton for painting.17 The provincial government has instructed the Hong merchants to get foreigners to provide engravings on copper plate. We suppose these Canton painters adopt western artistic techniques to make pictures more natural than the northern painters and that is why the Emperor sends his drawings here. A second supposition is that China does not have engraving technology. Many of their books are said to be printed on copper plates but this is actually a euphemism for high quality wood blocks.
There is a precedent – the Emperor’s grandfather Kien Lung had pictures of his victories over the Ghurkhas engraved in France and the Chinese do agree that Europeans are technically proficient with their clockwork devices.
Vol 2 No 13 – Thurs 2nd July 1829
Information from Cochin-China – An anecdotal source says Ming Ming, the young King of Cochin China, is incrementally falling under Chinese influence. He has appointed a Chinese Minister of State and is introducing the entire Ching legal system (Ta Tsing Lut Lee) to the country. The last King forbade Chinese residents of his country from petitioning in Chinese characters; they had to use the modified language of Cochin China. Now it is a requirement that all official documents be in Chinese.
The new King has been dissuaded by his Chinese minister from involving himself in trade. He has been told traders do not like to do business with monarchs because they set the prices without reference to commercial conditions. He has told the King that it is undignified for a monarch to seek for money through trade.
The army is conscripted when required by a levy of one youth in three. Some people are said to maim themselves rather than be conscripted.
Chinese residents are forbidden to export rice from Cochin China but we recently had a native boat come to Canton with a rice cargo so the proscription is either racist or the trade laws are irrelevant.
Most books in Cochin China are from China
There are some Portuguese working on the Saigon River building new ships for trade in order to export the King’s sugar (he has a monopoly on the production)
Vol 2 No 13 – Thurs 2nd July 1829
Peking Gazettes:
A tributary ship bringing envoys has arrived at the port of Peking and brought back four young students who had attended the Peking National College last year and been blown off course on their return to Hainan. One of the tributary envoys died en route to Peking.
The Emperor has issued a law intended to prevent his relatives from profiting from litigation. Royal Family members have hitherto indulged in the practise of attaching their names to one or other litigant in certain expectation of influencing the Court’s decision. He has ordered that any clansman whose name appears in an action that does not directly concern him and who is found to have joined the action for profit, will get 100 blows. If the affair does concern them, but they conspire with witnesses to pervert justice, they will be beaten and transported to Kirin. Those who try to influence the outcomes of trials will be pilloried for three months and sent to the frontier. This law is to be published to all the Manchu tribes wherever they might be.
That part of the trade at Kashgar that is permitted by the Chinese,
is taxed at one thirtieth part of the value of goods bought and
sold. Recently the portion was reduced at the solicitation of the
traders and with the approval of the Resident. Occasionally all duty
is waived. Now the Emperor has ordered that the 1/30th
duty is reasonable and must be collected in full.
After the war
with Jehangir there were 6,500 Chinese troops left in Turkestan.
2,000 were to be withdrawn after 3 years and 2,000 more after
another 2 years. Na Yen Ching says everything is quiet and the
withdrawal can proceed more quickly. The Emperor agrees.
The Emperor has requested for an annual report on public affairs North of the Tien Shan Mountains at Ili. Every officer newly appointed to Ili is to send in a report on conditions 3 months after arrival. Every divisional military officer is invited to send in reports whenever he has something His Majesty should know. The Emperor is particularly concerned to stamp-out extortion by civil servants.
Two magistrates have been dismissed for failure to discover the real
facts of murder cases before them.
In the first case in Keang
Si, the nephew of a murdered man, Liu Sin Fan, went to Peking and
told the court of appeal that the murderer of his uncle was Yuen
Keung Wai and others, not the two men under sentence, who had
nothing to do with it but had admitted responsibility in return for
financial support of their families.
In the second in Gan Hwuy,
Wang Yiu Kei was accused of adultery with the wife of Fan Wei Kwan
and of the murder of her husband. Fan’s son has established that
his father was in debt and had tried to kill himself. He had
‘swallowed gold’, stabbed himself and thrown himself in the
river. Fan’s wife and Wang were then arrested and tortured until
Wang confessed but soon died of his injuries. The prosecution case
rested on the confession. One of the involved magistrates has been
banished to Ili to do hard labour.
Leung Joo Yuen, a heen magistrate of Szechuan, is posted to upper Tibet. His principal function is to collect the land tax there.
Ching Shen, a member of the royal family, has reported his wife committed suicide. He says they lived in harmony but she became ill. Her son-in-law Kan Siu now says the couple did not live in harmony and the deceased’s body had injuries on the back. The Emperor has ordered an examination of the two.
Chow Tien Cho, a country magistrate of Gan Hwuy, arrested two
criminals and nailed them through their hands to wooden boards. One
pulled his hands off the board and was then nailed up again with
larger nails. He later died. Magistrate Chow was equipped with many
tools of his profession - iron beds (for heating), spikes (also
heated), boiling water (for interrogation) and knives (to cut off
toes and sever Achilles tendons). He had maimed over a hundred
suspects and killed another twenty.
Chow has been investigated
by his fellow magistrates who find that, while there is some basis
to the allegations he was over-zealous, they have been exaggerated.
Chow Tse who died after being re-nailed to the board, was guilty of
seven robberies and one rape. He was contemptuous at trial and
ordered to undergo further torture. Lee Kin was accused of robbery
with concealed arms. His punishment was to be attached to a long
iron bar by rings around his neck and leg. He sawed off the pin at
the top of the bar as a preparatory step to releasing himself but
the warder told the magistrate who then pinned the bar to his hand.
On hearing his bitter cries, the lictor was moved to desist.
The
only grounds that his fellow magistrates found for faulting Chow
concerned a man he was sending to another court. He cut the Achilles
tendons of that chap to prevent his running away. For this they
recommend he be subjected to enquiry at Peking. But the Governor of
Gan Hwuy says Chow loves the people and hates criminals. He says
severity in Gan Hwuy is imperative to reduce crime. The Emperor
agrees.
Vol 2 No 13 – Thurs 2nd July 1829
The first attempt to produce a code of laws in China was made by Lee Kwai of the State of Wei who examined the ordinances of the surrounding states and classified them into six divisions. The first dealt with crimes of property. When Wei was conquered by Tsin, the new rulers adopted Lee’s code and developed it over succeeding years. The six divisions grew into 900 divisions. At the beginning of the 3rd century AD it was thought there were too many capital offences. By the 7th century the Han had established set punishments for most offences. This is the legal system that is still adopted.
Maiming (Jau Hing or flesh punishment), except cutting the Achilles tendon, is disallowed by the Ching. The approved punishments are the bastinado, transportation and death. Torture during questioning is allowed. For bastinading, they use bamboo or a cudgel on Chinese freemen and a scourge on slaves. For the Manchus themselves, who claim to be a law-abiding tribe, only whipping and death are permitted.
The Lut Lee consists of the Lut – the old body of law - and the Lee - the subsequent precedents. It was introduced in the Ming. The whole body of law is occasionally reviewed. The Kien Lung Emperor ordered a review every ten years and the To Kwong Emperor accelerated reviews to every five years. All judges and magistrates must enforce the latest code and not the laws of previous reigns. The interpretation of law lays with the Emperor to whom all uncertain cases may ultimately be referred. In addition to this general body of law, each province makes law for its particular needs. These might acquire national significance when referred to Peking for approval.
Most of the regulations promulgated at Canton for foreign trade are provincial as are some of the restrictions on private trade.
At village level the elders evolve rules for their communities and the central government usually respects these. The laws all have as their object the saving of life. Benevolence and justice go hand-in-hand in the Chinese system just as we westerners say that justice and mercy must act in concert.
A Chinese Court might be conducted by the magistrate or his proxy, it might sit by day or by night. No legal representatives or jury is required. If the plaintiff or defendant have advisers, they are not permitted to address the magistrate. Evidence, confessions and punishments are recorded in a way that makes the judicial decision appear just but appeals to a higher court are always possible. When forced to alter a decision by a senior, the magistrate will represent his change-of-mind as an act of mercy so as not to encourage further appeals.
Vol 2 No 13 – Thurs 2nd July 1829
Customs officers have been catching the fast crabs to/from Lintin again and the smuggling fleet has retired to Macau roads.18
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
The existing Hong merchants are reluctant to act as sureties for new merchants as required by law. The Hoppo notes the number of Hong merchants has decreased while the number of foreign ships arriving has increased. He has asked the Emperor for authority to appoint some merchants to the Hong on a temporary basis without sureties.
He commends that, if they obtain the confidence of the foreign traders and pay their revenue collections timely, then they might be licensed to continue in trade with only the surety of one or two merchants, not the whole Chung Sheung (the representative group of all Hong merchants).
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
The Coolie Trade - The Singapore Commercial Register reports the ships Frances Charlotte and Guardian have been chartered to take some 400 Chinese from Singapore to Mauritius to work as freemen on the sugar plantations. Until now the sugar has been farmed by slave labour but its an embarrassment to the British government which retained Mauritius after the Napoleonic War to exclude France from Asia. Britain wishes to end slave trading and this new arrangement promises to make an improvement.
Chinese are skilful in domestic arts and always industrious. They are good carpenters, ironmongers, blacksmiths, boat-builders, shoemakers, tailors, dyers, farmers and fishermen. They do not tolerate foreigners to act despotically towards them. Wherever they settle they become valuable members of the community.
On a former occasion many Chinese emigrated to Trinidad19 but soon returned expressing an aversion to the black females. If they can overcome this dislike and make the attachments necessary to settle down, it will fix their future abode.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
The district of Nam Hoi in Canton is said to contain 10,000 slaves. Some are born into slavery (slave children are their master’s property) and others are enslaved as punishment. Another type of person voluntarily sell himself.
On the death of a slave owner, the property passes to his heirs. A slave may only marry another slave. They are forbidden to wear certain coloured clothes or wear square-toed shoes. Beating a slave to death merits 60 blows and 18 months transportation, the same as killing a son or grandson.
Many of the criminals sentenced to banishment are enslaved to the soldiers on the frontier, who are said to be oppressive masters.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
A volume of salacious songs has been published for use in the flower boats. The authors are a group of dissipated graduates led by Chiu Chi Yung who is a young magistrate in a northern part of Kwangtung. Poon Ching Hang, the son of Hong merchant Poon Ki Qua, was also involved in the production.
Chiu sold the book for $1 per copy and made a great profit. The young students at the examinations were the main market. Prices now are 25¢ or less. The songs are all in Cantonese.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
The silk from Soochow and Hangchow that was ordered to be sent as Imperial presents to the non-rebellious Muslims of Western Tartary has been found to be so inferior it cannot be made-up into garments. The Emperor says if the Chekiang merchants do it again they will be punished.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
A censor says that to control thefts it is necessary to first control the police. Many thieves are not punished because the police take the loot and/or ransom the thief. They often arrest old thieves (who have been branded for their former offence and are readily identifiable) and put them up as culprits in recent cases. In the cases last winter, of 101 accuseds, 78 were widely said to be innocent ex-convicts.
The censor says what is required are accurate lists from the courts of the names of defendants showing how many are in custody and how many at large. It will then become clear where the problem lies.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
14,787 camels, supplied by the Mongol tribes to China for use in the war in Turkestan, are being returned but 200 starved on the road from Koputo to Urumchi.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
The distribution of a father’s estate amongst his sons is occasionally done by lot. The estate commonly comprises land and buildings which are difficult to value and divide. The names of the various items in his Estate are written on scraps of paper, rolled up and put in a bowl from which the sons withdraw them in order of seniority one by one using chopsticks. The whole family attends the draw. In this way the youngest might receive the best lot and the national belief in fortuity as an important influence on the quality of existence is fortified.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
There is a lottery that the police connive at. They licence a man to open a stall and sell tickets at 3 cash each. The tickets each have 80 characters of which the purchaser marks ten. On the day of the draw the ticket holders assemble and the raffle organiser writes one of the characters on each of 80 slips and divides them into four heaps of twenty. He destroys three heaps and the remaining twenty are the winning characters.
If you have selected six or more of these 20 characters on your slip, you win some of the available money. If you have all ten characters you might win up to $100 for your 3 cash. This excites a gambling fever that affects all the neighbourhood. It is said there are people who sell clothes or pawn their mosquito nets to enter the raffle.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
A procedure used by Hong merchants to make one of their number responsible to dispose of an unwanted item of commerce at the necessary (but unmarketable) price is to use a dice and throw for the highest number.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
There are three sorts of land tax in China. The highest rate applies to ponds containing fish or water lilies. The second is on arable land and the third on building land. Ponds pay 7 mace 2 candareens per year plus 6 candareens for the official paper receipt. At the time of tax collection the government sends collectors to the Hall of Ancestors in each village who deal either with individual farmers or more commonly with a representative on behalf of them all.
Collections are sometimes delayed due to individual reluctance or poverty. It used to be the case that part of the tax could be paid in produce but in Canton that is not now allowed. The landowner is responsible to pay the tax, not his tenant farmers. The tax is divided into ten parts to be paid at stated dates through the year. The grain tribute to Peking is part of the land tax.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
The Chinese are a thoroughly fatalistic people. Although they may want this and that, they all believe that success comes solely from luck. A doctor will tell his patient he offers to cure disease but has no medicine to alter fate. Another saying is ‘if it is your destiny to own one hundred do not strive for one thousand’.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
Not long ago a treasure chest was stolen whilst en route to the Imperial treasury from the south. The governor of the relevant province (Shantung) has now implicated Pi Lee in its disappearance as he has suddenly and miraculously displayed great wealth. He has bought fur coats, plays repeatedly with flower girls and cannot explain the source of his funds.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
Some coasting junks have arrived at Lintin and report high prices in the interior which has stimulated demand and increased prices for the last few days. Company Malwa is their preferred purchase although in fact no Damaun Malwa has yet been offered. Some enquiries for Turkish, which is all in the hands of Russell & Company, have been received.
It is rumoured that officials intend to make a determined assault on the smuggling trade at Lintin. A few nights ago a smuggling boat was pursued by officials and two men were shot but the boat and cargo escaped.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
His Excellency Colonel Cabral d’Estifique has arrived per Angelica from Damaun to assume the government of Macau.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
The Canton government has proclaimed against grain merchants hoarding rice and driving up prices.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
At the end of the 4th moon a smuggling boat carrying 30 chests of opium was intercepted by war junks near Lan Keet20 and fired on. The fire fight continued for an hour and several smugglers were killed and injured. They eventually ‘escaped’ with half their cargo.
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
Page 73 of this edition of the Canton Register (dealing with fraud in the opium trade) is missing from the copy available from the Centre for Research Libraries. The article continues on Page 74 from whence it is apparent someone has faked a Delivery Order (evidencing payment has been received by the foreign importer in the Canton factories and directing the master of a receiving ship in the estuary to deliver opium to the holder of the Order). Five chests were delivered. The fraud was discovered later. The Chinese brokers and dealers must know who is responsible but they are not talking.
The foreigners responded by stopping sales for several days. The brokers then implicated one of Lancelot Dent’s servants in the theft. Then a broker, on being promised a reward of $500, implicated another broker. Then the foreigners’ agreement to stop sales broke down and trade resumed.
Hope remains that the five chests will be returned. The foreign smuggler has no protection from this government; only his lawful trade with Hong merchants is protected.21
Vol 2 No 14 – Thurs 16th July 1829
The Spanish governor of Manila has ordered a heavy poll tax on the Chinese residents of that city starting January 1830. Coolies are to pay $2 per month, shopkeepers and clerks $4 and wholesalers $10-12.
This was called for by the Spanish and Filipino residents whose lack of industry is to be neutralised by a handicap on the industrious. The government will collect some $400,000 per annum from this tax. It will be one of the most productive taxes.
The Governor has also proscribed foreigners from visiting the interior of the country. When the Spanish arrived there was a native language and literature in Manila but the study of it has been suppressed. Even the use of native books is forbidden.
Vol 2 No 16 – Wed 2nd September 1829
Local News:
The Hong merchants have agreed to contribute 400,000 Taels to the costs of the late war in Turkestan, to be paid in ten annual instalments. This sort of payment by the Hong merchants can only be recovered from the foreign trade.
One of the Hong merchants is widely said to be in financial difficulty and expected to become bankrupt. Extensive foreign interests are concerned. This will further diminish the facilities for foreign trade.
A Linguist who under-reported an import cargo of frankincense and myrrh in order to reduce the applicable duty has been arrested and fined $3,000.
The last Hoppo Yen, before his death, threatened to make Wong Ho Ling a Hong merchant. Wong bribed Yen to forego the idea. Now Yen is dead, Wong has complained of his importunity to the Viceroy who directs Wong to let matters rest. It is thought Wong merely wished to get the matter on record to deter a recurrence by the replacement Hoppo.
The copper coins imported from Cochin China that have Chinese characters on them and which so annoyed the Emperor have not been delivered to the government. The Nam Hoi Yuen says he will not make a strict search as it will disturb the small people and cause social unrest.
The burgeoning group of sturdy ‘beggars’ who disrupt marriages and funerals until they have been bought off are to have their activities made punishable at law.
Chang Ting Fang and others have opened a medicine store in Canton to dispense free advice to all and provide free medication to the poor. The gesture has excited so much attention that Chang has called on Hu, the city mayor, for regulation. He has arranged for male patients to attend one day, women and children on another. The vagabonds who had caused trouble are now legally punishable.
The Whampoa magistrate Poon says kidnapping of women and children for sale in his area is getting out of hand and any one caught will be rigorously punished.
200-300 junks were lost in the typhoon on 9th August. One was known to carry 80 chests of opium and some treasure.
Vol 2 No 16 – Wed 2nd September 1829
The five chests of opium that were stolen under a faked Delivery Order have been returned but the culprit remains unidentified.
Vol 2 No 16 – Wed 2nd September 1829
A book was published in Chinese some 12 years ago which indicates where the Chinese government revenue comes from :
land tax,
gabelle,
ginseng licensing (collection &/or sale without a licence is a capital offence),
inland transit duty on goods,
taxes on reeds and tea,
sale of licences to trade on the western and northern frontiers.
a tax on grain. (Hong Hei removed it to make food cheaper but after a few years it was apparent that the grain dealers pocketed the equivalent of the tax and left the retail price unchanged. He then re-established it.)
Taxes on the procurement of all metals.
Tax on fisheries, houses and pawnbroking.
The confiscation of Estates of venal government servants.
In emergencies the government requests contributions from trade bodies and other centres of wealth.
The sale of honours to civilians and commissions in the military.
Expenditure is on allowances to the extensive royal family, costs of the military, building and maintenance of canals and bridges, training the Yellow River etc.
Vol 2 No 16 – Wed 2nd September 1829
Peking Gazettes:
Old Sung, the official who befriended Macartney in 1793, who has
been rumoured dead several times, has been appointed to act as
Governor of Peking and receive the seals of Na Yen Ching (the
suppressor of Jehangir’s insurrection) who is now arriving at
Peking. Na was previously Governor of Chih Li and will likely return
to that post.
Sung loves the rapture of wine and occasionally
attends court with cold towels wrapped around his head. He has been
appointed and dismissed from office some twenty times. He survives
because he is patently honest and poor and because he gave a
daughter to the harem of the Ka Hing Emperor who has become
sufficiently well-connected to protect him.
Bandits are common in Szechuan and lurk in the hills. When the army was sent against them recently the bandits opened fire and killed 10 soldiers. Now the gang has been caught and its leaders executed. The Emperor expresses satisfaction.
The Gazette mentions two cases in which suspects have died under torture. The involved magistrates have been dismissed.
Vol 2 No 16 – Wed 2nd September 1829
Opium sold in large quantities on 26th – 28th September but sales have since stopped.
Vol 2 No 16 – Wed 2nd September 1829
Trade – The new Chuen Chow sugar candy is arriving in coastal junks daily and sells at $13.25 – 14.00 per picul.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
The Canton government is tightening its regulation of foreign trade:
It has issued an order that any foreign ship arriving in Canton for
trade must commit to take an export cargo before it can either
offload and sell its imports or get a Hong merchant to go security
for her. The order is aimed at the country trade. This system of
responsibility, one for another, is fundamental in the Chinese
system.
Any foreign ship must find a Hong merchant to go
security for it to the government for the good conduct of the
officers and crew. No ship can open hatches until it has been
secured. Now the country ships will have to commit to an export
cargo as well before they can get a Hong merchant to go security.
Another new regulation is that no Chinese, except Hong merchants and Linguists, can go to the foreign factories. Even tailors and shoe makers are excluded. It is suspected that disaffected Chinese may provide secret information to the foreigners.22 The provincial police, Hong merchants and linguists are required to watch the foreigners and report anything remotely suspicious.
A third edict lists new regulations for cargo lighters (chop boats).
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
We are pleased to note a new hotel has opened in the Canton factories. There was one before which closed a few years ago. We hope the new proprietors will get it right. Having a hotel here, where foreigners are unwelcome and restrained, requires public support and we hope there will be adequate patronage.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
It is rumoured that Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Bombay, intends to permit the import of contraband Malwa to Bombay and thus take some profit from the Portuguese exporters at Damaun. They receive it by sea from Karachi23 after it has been caravanned overland. The contraband supply is expected to be about 4,600 chests this year. Clearly the British Indian government cannot control the Maratha princes or the supply from their lands.
We think there will be no relaxation of the controls that prevent the native drug travelling direct to the coast but smuggled Malwa is taken beyond the Company’s lands. We can derive a profit from it by providing it with an entrepot at Bombay. This appears to be Malcolm’s intention.
Bombay is the most convenient port for this purpose. The major opium traffickers would welcome a new system that pre-empts the need for the vexatious reporting presently required. It would additionally boost Bombay shipping which is in the doldrums. A duty of 100 Rupees per chest would equate with the great costs of transport on the overland route and would produce 400,000 – 500,000 Rupees annually to the Presidency.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
Chinese law for the regulation of society is contained in 28 volumes of the Ta Tsing Wui Teen (family law). The thrust of this work is that if the people are skilful and diligent, everything will be well; if they are not, social conditions will deteriorate. Then illegalities, insurrection and distress will arise and the people will be fined, degraded, dismissed etc.
As a result of this, the people usually try to conceal facts from officials. They settle disputes amongst themselves and seldom report mal-administration.24 The suppression of the Canton pirates in 1811 was largely effected in private meetings in accordance with this way.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
The Hong Hei Emperor made a law that punishment for non-capital crimes committed in the heat of summer (June, July or August - when people become irritable from heat and humidity and the consequent inability to sleep well) should be reduced from the normal tariff.
The law was abused and finally withdrawn until this summer when the To Kwong Emperor revived it. The Canton government has been told to not use the pillory in summer and to release all minor offenders on bail until cool weather returns.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
Peking Gazettes:
The Emperor requires 2,000 camels for his annual hunting expedition
to Manchuria but only 1,100 are available. He complains that he
supposedly has a stud with 4,500 breeding camels which should be
plenty.
Timber is also required to repair the road to Manchuria
before the hunting party can depart. For this purpose some officials
unauthorisedly cut down trees on the land of Mr Yang Che in Yung
Ping Foo, Chih Li who has now complained.
The Governor of Keangnan has told the Emperor that Soochow stands at the junction of roads to nine provinces and should have an additional 1,000 men in its garrison. The Emperor requires the military authorities to consider the proposal.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
Dr John Livingstone, formerly the Company’s Doctor at Canton has died. He left China in 1827. Since then first his son, then his wife and now he himself have died.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
A government coast guard boat that was smuggling 16 chests of opium last week was pursued and caught by another government boat manned by Customs officers. Government surveillance at Lintin has been close and little sycee silver is able to get through.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
Lord Macartney reported in 1793 that China’s population was 333 millions. He was widely disbelieved. The Imperial map of China published in 1790 put the pop at 143 million taxable citizens and 7 million untaxable.
We have now seen a passage in the Ta Tsing Wui Tien (the family law) in which the Kien Lung Emperor said the pop in 1710 was 23.3 million after the devastation of conquest but by 1784 had recovered to 307.4 millions. From this it appears that China has doubled its population every 20 years since the accession of the Ching dynasty.
Kien Lung was concerned because the size of the country is fixed but the population increases.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
The Whampoa magistrate says most thefts from houses are accomplished by thieves who come over the roofs. He says the usual short weapons of defenders are ineffective in an attack from the roof and urges householders to use spears or hooks attached to bamboo poles. This suggests it is legal to use weapons to prevent theft although firearms are not mentioned.
Theft has become so widespread at Whampoa that the magistrate says no compassion will be offered. The thief’s Achilles tendons will be cut to deter escape pending for trial and he will receive the full legal punishment.
The Nam Hoi magistrate, Sen, says the Cantonese are addicted to gambling, lotteries, opium and flower girls. All these vices have become habitual. Bandits open gambling dens, opium divans or brothels and young men fall into the trap. He blames the local police who connive at social crime. He calls on fathers and brothers to support their relatives and suppress vice.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
The Ka Hing Emperor surprised the then Viceroy of the Two Kwang with a request for a Chinese interpreter of European languages. He had assumed that, amongst the many Chinese dealing with foreigners at Canton, some one or two would be suitably qualified. The officials searched diligently and located old Dr Lee then about 80 years old who had spent 50 years in Macau and was believed to have earlier lived in Malaya. He was sent off to Peking. Then a youth who had been trained at the Catholic college at Naples was identified and sent up as well, but he has since returned as we have seen him on the streets of Canton.
Now the To Kwong Emperor has also requisitioned an interpreter and the Viceroy has asked How Qua Jr to find someone. How Qua has discovered a youth from Sze Chuen who studied at the Catholic college in Penang and later the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca. The Peking government first sent down some Russian papers in Latin, which they had previously had translated, and the young man rendered a fair approximation of the meaning. He was provided with a boat and official flag, taken to Peking and is now appointed at 100 Taels per month. We hope he will tell the Emperor of our school at Malacca.25
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
Peking Gazettes:
The fourteen ranks of royalty in the Ching Imperial family are all permitted to keep eunuchs, as are great officers of state. No other people are allowed the privilege. The number of eunuchs permitted to officials decreases with rank. Eunuchs are not trusted by the Ching as they recall their role in the downfall of the Ming. They were also involved in the attempt on the Ka Hing Emperor’s life.
A race of non-Han people called Miao live in the mountains of various provinces. Those in Hunan have just been lent seed-grain by government as their crops have failed.
Vol 2 No 17 – Fri 18th September 1829
Some opium sales have been made to take advantage of the vessel that will carry the late Hoppo’s remains to Nanking for burial. Such transits are unmolested by Customs officials en route.26
Vol 2 No 19 - Sat 17th October 1829
Advertisements:
John C Whiteman commenced business at Canton as Whiteman & Co on 1st Oct and operates inter alia as the Ganges Insurance Company’s agent in China
The partnership Robertson Cullen & Co in China will be dissolved on 1st Nov by consent of Alexander Robertson and Robert Downie Cullen. Claims should be sent to A Robertson and John C Whiteman (attorney of R D Cullen)
Vol 2 No 19 - Sat 17th October 1829
Peking Gazettes - Chung Cheung, the silk commissioner at Soochow, has been appointed Hoppo of Canton. The Privy Council allows him 40 days to complete the journey.
Vol 2 No 19 - Sat 17th October 1829
The Peking court has ordered the Viceroy to more effectively stop the smuggling of sycee silver out of China and the entry of contraband. The provincial government has accordingly issued a proclamation and ordered the civil and military officers along the coast to be alert.
A few days ago the Manchu General (Cheung Kwoon) published a proclamation against anyone attempting to smuggling opium in the General’s baggage when he is travelling (the servants of officials are inveterate smugglers of opium as their masters are never searched). The Cheung Kwoon avers there are junior staff who first induce people to smuggle and then give information against them.
Vol 2 No 19 - Sat 17th October 1829
A Korean envoy is to accompany the Emperor and his retinue on their visit to the Imperial tombs. They departed 13th September for Mukden and other places in Manchuria.
The regular troops who were employed at Aksu collecting copper from
the hills for the war, are to be withdrawn as they are inefficient
and the local Muslims work quicker. The tax that was levied on the
residents is commuted to 16,200 catties of copper p. a. Two senior
Muslims have been made responsible for collecting, smelting and
supplying this.
The Chinese Resident has been told to oversee
the process and ensure these two do not oppress the people.
Vol 2 No 19 - Sat 17th October 1829
The Attorney General of Dutch Java has filed a Writ at the Supreme Court there indicting Johannes Hendrikus Bletterman for corruption while Netherlands Consul at Canton. The Java Gazette of 29th Aug 1829 records the complaint and Bletterman’s defence:
The Indictment:
Negotiating government Bills at poor exchange rates.
Entering false Bonds against the government in his books
Charging the government with a Bond in favour of the Hong merchant Con Se Qua that was assigned to Mr Rabinal and should have been to his credit.
Obtaining a piece of land at Canton through his official position and then alleging it had no value.
Defence:
I made debts due to me appear on the books as due to others because my government pays outsiders more quickly than its own staff.
The obligation to Con Se Qua was transferred to Rabinal during settlement of accounts. My only fault was in allowing the Bill to be transferred in the original creditor’s name.
Vol 2 No 19 - Sat 17th October 1829
The Company organised a regatta at Tung Ku27 on Thurs 8th Oct. Sweepstakes were held on single-banked and double-banked cutter races.
Vol 2 No 19 - Sat 17th October 1829
Silver is again very scarce amongst the Chinese merchants. Opium prices are declining and only 1 - 2 chests are sold daily. Some of the reasons assigned to the diminished trade are 1/ the capture of some small smuggling boats returning from Lintin, 2/ the Company’s ships gathered at Tung Ku and 3/ the general lack of funds. The Viceroy has ordered the Customs boats to be manned with younger, stronger men who row faster and can catch more smugglers. No seizures have been made.
Some Turkish has arrived from Batavia but is locally so scarce that sales have been made at $700 per picul.
Chinese merchants who had contracted to deliver sycee silver at Lintin have postponed their engagements due to the increased policing. New dollars are very scarce and are selling at 1% premium.
Vol 2 No 20 – 3rd November 1829
Peking Gazettes:
Chang Ling, the Chinese General who defeated Chang Ki Hur in
Turkestan, has taken up his new post as Governor of one of the gates
of Peking.
He has arrested some opium smugglers trying to bring
170 Taels (14 lbs) of opium into the capital. The three smugglers,
Chan, Loo and Lin, together with their opium and smoking materials,
have been handed over to the criminal board which commends the
General for his vigilance.
Ho Shan Heen in Loo Kan Chow of Gan Hwuy province produces a ‘bud’ tea that is especially esteemed. 700 catties are sent to Peking each year but were late arriving this year and the Board of Rites recommends that the local magistrate be prosecuted for neglecting his duty.
The new Hoppo Cheung, who is on his way to Canton to take up his duty, has told the Emperor that the tribute silk from Chekiang is sent by Soochow, Hangchow and Keang Ning in turns and this year it is the turn of Soochow (the people who sent the shoddy to the Muslims in Turkestan).
The Emperor, the Empress dowager (his mother) and much of the Court continue to prepare to visit the Imperial tombs in Tartary. They were supposed to leave on Sunday 13th October.
The Chinese have a popular love of their country and its form of
autocratic government. Recently Soo Kwok Ping stuck-up a poster on
the Premier’s Wall in Peking (a place where public comment is
allowed) addressed to the Emperor and proposing some methods to
enhance peace and prosperity.
He was detained while his
proposals were placed before the Emperor for information. The Peking
Gazettes do not say what they were but report that Soo has now
been transported to the most remote frontier for writing about
things that should not concern him.
In the recent war in Turkestan, the To Kwong Emperor gave plenipotentiary28 powers to General Chang Ling to bring the matter to a conclusion.
The censor Sung Chao Kuh has complained of the sale of women and children in Kwei Chow province. It is long forbidden by Peking but the provincial authorities connive at it. He says government employees sell women prisoners to the traffickers.
Vol 2 No 20 – 3rd November 1829
Necromancy is practised in China. Male necromancers are called Sze Kung and female ones Sze Po or Man Kwai Po (‘ask the ghost’ women). They tell exotic stories and sell charms. The Sze Kung prescribes prayers and charms for a mad or unlucky person to use. If the patient recovers, the Sze Kung has done his job; if he does not, the man and his relatives have failed to follow the instructions precisely.
Shopmen and traders who allow their businesses to fail (commonly through their own laziness or debauchery) often seek the help of a Sze Kung to worship and prophesy and to explain their misfortune and reverse it. It is a thoroughly commercial transaction – the more money you pay the better luck the Sze Kung promises for you.
Women approach a Sze Po for news of dead relatives. The Sze Po prepares an altar, lights three joss sticks and prays to the gods for directions. She then explains the deceased’s difficulties which can invariably be overcome by buying foo chow charms from the Sze Po to be burnt before a Buddha image and thus procure His help in rescuing the deceased and bringing about his rebirth.
Vol 2 No 20 – 3rd November 1829
Local news - The Tung Ku regatta featured two subscription races on the 2nd day (15th October) which were exciting to watch. There are two more days of racing which we will report on soon.
Vol 2 No 20 – 3rd November 1829
Some small opium holders have forced their stock on the market and depressed prices. Damaun Malwa is now $795 and Company Malwa and Patna were both $810 (the latter has since improved). Considerable deliveries were made from Lintin in October.
Vol 2 No 20 – 3rd November 1829
The Select Committee has ordered all Company captains and officers to leave Canton and return to their ships. Even the damaged Bridgewater is to go to Tung Ku once her repairs are complete. The Hong merchants are shocked.
This purported unilateral withdrawal from business is the first step in a new Company ploy to redress grievances flowing from trade restrictions. We require perfect reciprocity of justice.
Vol 2 No 21 – Wed 18th November 1829
Advertisement: Capt Ino Burd in the Danish ship Norden will depart Whampoa for Copenhagen in early December. Passengers for England can disembark in the English Channel. For passages apply Magniac & Company.29
M/s Markwick and Lane will be selling a variety of lamps and chandeliers by auction on 28th November at their sale room at 3 Imperial Hong, Canton.
Vol 2 No 21 – Wed 18th November 1829
The Company’s negotiations with the Canton government for reform of trading terms continue. Most of the traders (English, Parsee, Dutch and Spanish) have complaints but the Americans have declined to be involved. It has been agreed amongst the effected merchants that whatever redress the English can get will apply to all nations uniformly so the Americans and others are keeping their reputations clean. The restrictive system promotes corruption which the Viceroy admits. Any redress we obtain will be due to the Select Committee withdrawing Company shipping to Tung Ku and negotiating for the end of all grievances not just those affecting their own trade. They have suggested new regulations and the Viceroy seems to accept the merits of some of them.
An early indication of success is given by the Danish ship Norden which was required to pay only $200 in ship’s comprador fees instead of the usual $750. We understand all the exactions are being reviewed with the intention of reducing them. Magniac & Co’s petition for the country trade and Governor Lee’s response to are shown below:
“We are reporting the bad trading conditions. Extortions increase every year. Formerly when trade was good there were no difficulties. Now trade is reduced there are complaints. Before there were twelve Hong merchants but now there are seven of whom only two will deal with country merchants. Must we let these two merchants combine and give whatever prices they chose? To become a merchant costs 40,000 – 50,000 Taels. Then the Hoppo’s secretary (King Shing) and all the Customs officers extort from the merchant without compassion. Hong merchants are not allowed to retire when they get old. If their sons are not capable, their business suffers. No-one wants to be a Hong merchant. How can good men be obtained? We wish to trade with anyone and to rent warehouses to store our goods, to buy and sell as we like. The difficulties of the Hong merchants have increased for over 70 years. We need fifty Hong merchants to make conditions tolerable.
“We particularly complain the law that makes all the Hong merchants severally liable for the debts of any one of them. This distresses the Hong merchants and the foreign merchants. Any Hong merchant may become insolvent through no fault of his own. 18 months ago, Man Hop Hong failed owing over $1,000,000. It is widely believed that Man Hop took the money to pay old debts and appropriated the balance to his own use. The debts were laid on the other merchants to pay in six years without interest. The remaining Hong merchants forthwith increased the duties payable on foreign trade to make-up the threatened deficit. Now another Hong merchant Chung Qua has emulated Man Hop, perhaps in consideration of Man Hop evading responsibility so easily. He has transferred $500,000 of foreigners’ money to nominees and sold his property to pay debts. He has no assets remaining in his own name. If Chung Qua is not recalled and his debts paid, many foreign firms will become insolvent. We do not agree to let Chung Qua go and leave the remaining merchants to pay his debts over six years.
“The duties levied on the foreign trade are extortionate but the revenue gets little benefit. The approved duty on cotton is 1 mace 5 candareens (per picul) but the Hong merchants tax us at 1 teal 5 mace. The ‘present’ money on each ship, big or small, entering port is 1,950 Taels. This fee must be removed. When a Hong merchant secures a ship, the Customs house staff, the Linguist and ship comprador request excessive fees for their services. If a comprador is not required, still the fee must be paid. This is unjust. We do not wish to trouble you but this state of affairs cannot continue.”
Sgd Fox Rawson and Co, Ilberry Fearon & Co, Magniac & Co, Thomas Dent & Co, Whiteman & Co, James Innes, John Brightman, R Turner, D Manson, W Morgan, A de Souza, W Bruce, Archibald Hogg, Thomas Wills, W A Woods and George Horback.
The Viceroy’s reply:
“This should be examined. Previously the Indian merchants, Dorabjee and others, complained against the 1 Tael 5 mace duty on cotton and I have already ordered the Hong merchants to report. They say the duty is collected together with other expenses for boats and off-loading costs and is not excessive. They say a full account of charges is provided to each ship. They say cotton is a major item of commerce but trade in it has been poor in recent years. The shopmen are not allowed to receive it so sales must be through the Hongs and are often delayed. Because the ships have to leave when the wind is from the north, the security merchants are obliged to buy the cotton by advancing the price at that time although they have no buyers in hand and the value might daily decrease. They have consequently often lost money and their businesses have failed. This is why the price they are willing to pay declines.
“Concerning Plowden and others foreigners, and their request to increase the number of Hong merchants, I have asked the provincial Treasurer and Judge to report. The foreigners should now keep quiet until I give my orders on the subject. Do not send more dunning and whining petitions. 15th Oct 1829.”
The Viceroy’s answer to Dorabjee Hormusjee and other Parsee merchants:
“It is a fixed law of China that foreigners deal through the Hong merchants. There are two who are competent to buy everything. Chung Qua’s staff say their proprietor will return in 11th moon. If he does not come I will send for him. The ‘present’ (cumshaw) money on ships entering port and the measurement fee are regular duties and must be paid. The Consoo charge is an old charge and no-one complained before but I will check with the Hong merchants and let you know. The extortion by compradors is nothing to do with the government.30 You can pay or not pay as you like.”
The Viceroy’s reply to Koleena, for the Spanish (Luzon) traders:
“You foreigners should be grateful for the gracious treatment you receive in Canton and implicitly obey the commands of government. Hong merchants are established to conduct foreign trade. The payment of duties and measurement dues, the allowances for shrinkage in turning foreign dollars into pure silver, the cost of carriage etc, these are all old charges that have been fixed for many years. Do not expect any alteration.
“At the beginning of this month the English chief Plowden and others petitioned for several changes but it is difficult to grant their wishes. Nevertheless I agreed to consult the treasurer and judge to show my impartiality instead of rejecting their requests outright with reprimands. No suggestion that their selfish views will be entertained should be implied. Now other foreigners are following their example. The other day the Parsees and the Dutch joined in. Dorabjee, Magniac and van Caneghem presented petitions. Now you Spanish send in the same mad and incoherent nonsense. It is worthy of the deepest detestation.
“China has abundant harvests and mountains of wealth. Her treasury is overflowing. We are independent of you barbarians and your goods. If you offend us you will be expelled and excluded from the benefits of trade with China. I suspect some Chinese merchants have put you up to this and you have unwittingly become their tool. It is correct the Hong merchants are not allowed to retire. The Emperor has so ruled. It is done in compassion for the foreigners so their debts will all be paid. If the Hoppo permitted a merchant to retire, you would petition for his continuance in business. Affluent merchants are ipso facto successful. If they retire who will you trade with? Clearly some merchant who wants to retire has put you up to this and you foolish foreigners have obliged him. Do not be fooled. Rouse yourselves and examine everything carefully. Do not wildly produce a new complaint without thinking carefully about it or I will investigate and identify the traitorous Hong merchant and the foreign merchants who are his tool and prosecute all of you. Tremble at this.” 27th October 1829.
The Viceroy’s reply to a foreign lady:
“Your husband died some years ago and the foreign community subscribed $8,000 for your upkeep which Magniac & Co placed on deposit with Chung Qua so you could live on the interest. This year you say when Magniac applied for the annual interest they were told after considerable delay that Chung Qua had absconded taking $500,000 with him including your $8,000. I have ordered the Judge and the Nam Hoi magistrate to investigate and obtain restitution for you. They have told the Hong merchants you will come and sit in their factories and cry until they pay you. They would then lose face. The Hong merchants are therefore commanded to restore all your money without delay.” 18.Oct.29
Vol 2 No 21 – Wed 18th November 1829
Local news:
The 3rd and 4th days of the Tung Ku regatta were held on 21st and 22nd October, one race on the first day and three on the second.
The Editor has received a letter from a man calling himself Nauticus who suggests the Company officers should use their idle time at Tung Ku to survey the bays and islands.
Many visitors from the Indian presidencies and in the Company’s fleet at Tung Ku are holding elegant amusements at Macau and we would like details for insertion in the paper.
Vol 2 No 21 – Wed 18th November 1829
The heightened demand for opium continued into the beginning of this month and several small sales were made. Patna reached $845 and Company Malwa $820 but interest has since reduced and prices have now fallen back.
Coast Guard boats are cruising around Lintin disrupting the trade. Extraordinary vigilance is being exerted elsewhere.31 Sycee is in short supply.
Vol 2 No 22 – Thurs 3rd December 1829
Local News:
The Viceroy and Foo Yuen have received an order by express mail to send the Provincial Judge and Treasurer to Peking. No reason is given.
The Dutch consul has tried to submit a petition to the Viceroy. He wrote it in French and had it translated into Chinese by a resident Frenchman but, as the translator is not a member of the consul’s staff and thus not under his control, the Viceroy declined to receive it. (In this respect the English factory enjoys the unique distinction, courtesy of Staunton, of being allowed to submit petitions in Chinese.) The Dutch consul persisted and finally the Viceroy directed that one of the Linguists provide a translation but it is a poor job.
The Viceroy’s reply to the Select Committee is a fine document –
moderate, and carefully reasoned. It is a novelty in provincial
diplomacy but it denies each and every request. The Governor says he
has ordered that additional Hong merchants be appointed who will be
exempt from the usual heavy fees. He says if none come forward he
can do no more. An invitation to be a Hong merchant is an invitation
to self-destruction and the unwillingness of traders to apply
reveals the viciousness of the system. It is rumoured that two
applicants have come forward although our Chinese friends tells us
to place no reliance on the Viceroy. He does not obligate himself or
the Hoppo to reforms (the Hoppo’s department is primarily
responsible for the extortions. Since the death of the incumbent a
few months ago, he is temporarily represented by the Viceroy).
Nevertheless junior officials have become more civil in their
administration of the practical affairs of the port and a mention of
appeal to higher authority now gets their attention.
Vol 2 No 22 – Thurs 3rd December 1829
Peking Gazettes:
The envoy from Cochin China with two assistants and seventeen attendants recently passed through Hu Kwang on his way to Peking. The governor gave a banquet and reminded the embassy of the tender mercy of the Emperor to men from afar. They then crossed the Yangtse and continued overland to Peking.
Work on the banks of the Yellow River has been costed at Peking and it is suggested that 487,000 Taels more than necessary have been spent. The responsible officers are to be prosecuted for recovery.
The Chinese resident at Aksu in Kansu has asked for 38,000 Taels to pay his garrison of 1,800 men.
The officer Pa Hi Tan Ko who was ordered to take troops from Ili to Kashgar to fight Jehangir last year and who failed to arrive, allowing Jehangir to escape, was sentenced to wear the heavy wooden cangue for a year and then be transported to the Amur River (Heilongjiang) to do hard labour for the rest of his life. The Emperor requested for a report on him every three years and has just been told he is still alive.
Vol 2 No 22 – Thurs 3rd December 1829
Local news - On 26th October all the merchants, officials and many commoners of Canton made sacrifice to the spirit of How Qua Jr’s late son. How Qua only recently paid $300,000 to transfer the name of his Hong into his son’s name and be exempted from personal attendance at the office. That is now to no avail. The son was aged 41 years and profligate. His dying wish was for gold and silver offerings to enjoy in the after-life. If you make an offering of about $10 to his manes you can recover $8 in return presents if you are a poor man but $20 if rich or important. How Qua is thought to have spent $50,000 – $100,000 on the funeral. He spent as much on his 60th birthday celebrations.
Vol 2 No 22 – Thurs 3rd December 1829
The Company’s unilateral withdrawal from trade has been prejudiced by its ship’s officers on the Bridgewater sending their private trade up to Canton for sale. The Hong merchants now know the private trade of ships’ officers is permitted and they expect the others to follow. They suppose the Company’s consignments will then be unloaded.
Notwithstanding the attempted trade suspension, the tea merchants in their direct trade with the Americans, are holding our for the prices established by the Hong merchants.
Vol 2 No 22 – Thurs 3rd December 1829
A junk recently arrived from the coast to buy opium. Some excitement was felt but no other junk came and the market has since relapsed into inactivity. Deliveries have however been considerable except Turkish which is in short supply. Some of the Damaun Malwa deliveries are of very inferior quality.
Vol 2 No 23 – Sat 12th Dec 1829
The new Hoppo Chung Cheung has sent part of his retinue on to Canton and says he will arrive on 23rd December.
The Canton Salt Superintendent has called on the Viceroy and notified receipt of the Judge’s seals of office. Judge Wu is the man who dealt with the Navigateur case. He has been ordered to Peking.
Vol 2 No 22 – Thurs 3rd December 1829
The foreign traders have received an edict of the Viceroy on 3rd December:
“The Viceroy as acting Hoppo has received your petition. You say some Hong merchants have ceased business and only seven remain. The Emperor permits new Hong merchants to be appointed. I have twice ordered the continuing Hongs to submit names so their bonds may be received and they can commence business. All the customary fees of the Hoppo are to be remitted and the Hoppo’s servants forbidden to extort.
“Following receipt of the report of the Judge and Treasurer, I order that when new merchants become numerous the old ones may apply to retire. I expect the new Hoppo will ratify this.
“I am issuing this proclamation to assure new merchants that they will not have to fruitlessly expend large sums nor will they be unable to retire. Men of substantial property may apply and will be investigated and approved. All the Hoppo’s fees on them will be remitted. When they become merchants, trade will improve and they will not want to stop. But if they cannot manage it or the others dislike them, they may retire without requesting leave. This is to reinstate the affairs of the Hong merchants. Do not be suspicious.” 1.12.29
Vol 2 No 22 – Thurs 3rd December 1829
Local news:
Magistrate Ching Sing Leen was deprived of rank for allowing a murderer to escape but was kept at his post to effect a recapture. He has failed to do so but has arrested 50 other criminals and executed more than 20 of them, exhibiting some of their heads in baskets. As a result the Viceroy requests his rank be restored.
The late Hoppo tried to convince Wong Ho Ling to be a Hong merchant. He is rich from farming and money-lending. Wong is the only son of a widow and declined. The Hoppo then commended the Treasurer to arrest and torture Wong for suspected tax evasion whereupon the mother made it known she would report the matter to the Emperor. The Viceroy freed Wong and dismissed the Treasurer.
The Viceroy and some magistrates have issued proclamations against arsonists who set fire to premises and, when the occupants flee, steal contents. This is the dry season and fires are common. At Yen Poo village near Canton during the recent performance of a Cantonese opera, the stage caught fire and 200 people died.
Some of the Canton jade carvers have had their wages reduced. They have held a meeting of their Union and decided that deductions from their pay must cease. If any man works for less than the Union tariff he will pay a forfeit to the other members.
The Viceroy has proscribed all wearing of Imperial yellow clothes, the colour of autumn. It is reserved to the Emperor and is an offence in Ching law. Some students at the last examinations wore yellow vests and sashes. The Viceroy says if they do so again they will be expelled.
The Nam Hoi heen has issued an order. Harvest time is approaching. Bandits must not molest the farmers or steal their grain.
The farmers themselves squabble over land holdings, disputing
boundaries and going in large numbers to cut down each other’s
crops and fight.
At Canton, Whampoa, Shun Tak, Tung Kwoon, Macau
and Sun Wui the farmers are distressed by bandits who request money
to forego violence against the people and their crops. Proclamations
are to be published everywhere and the police and army are to patrol
by sea and land, day and night, to ensure compliance and seize
offenders. If officials connive at extortion they will be severely
punished.
Vol 2 No 22 – Thurs 3rd December 1829
Peking Gazettes:
The privately printed news-sheets we call Peking Gazettes
record what is sent to or from the Emperor. It is surprising how
trivial some of the matters are.
For example, Na Yen Ching, who
is now governor of Chih Li, has sent in a long report about a junior
army officer who married a prostitute. The woman squabbled over a
gambling debt and the officer chastised the other woman.
The 888 civilian inhabitants of Kashgar and the 118 at Yarkand who died during Jehangir’s insurrection are to be given military honours.
At Kit Siu Soo, a region of Tibet occupied by the 39 clans, a tremendous snowfall last Spring smothered the cattle and the natives and some Mongols who also live there suffered. The Emperor has remitted 39,000 Taels being the value of the annual tribute of horses. He has also sent officers to distribute money subscribed by merchants and sent the usual silk, tea and cloth notwithstanding that he has received no tribute.
The Miao (ear of grain) people live in the mountains of several provinces – in both of the Kwangs, in Kweichow, Yunnan, Hu Kwang and Sze Chuen. The Miao have a great variety of names, dress and Customs. There are 80 clans. Some are nomadic like gypsies, collecting mountain herbs as they travel. A long list of their supposed habits is given.
Vol 2 No 24 – 22nd December 1829
Advertisement - The Dutch consul Mr S van Caneghem is returning to Europe and offers for sale a billiard table still packed as received from the Netherlands, a carpet 10 yards x 7 yards from the Royal Factory at Tourney and a marble chimney piece, with or without stove, adapted to burn either wood or coal. All items have never been used.
Vol 2 No 24 – 22nd December 1829
Local news - The new Hoppo was installed in office on 13th December. Within a few days he placed a demand on the Hong merchants for 2,000 Taels from each to buy a pearl for his grandson’s cap. At the same time, he notified them that his grandfather’s birthday is approaching and he thought 10,000 Taels would be an appropriate gift.
These exactions will have to be recovered from the foreign trade. It makes a mockery of the discussions we are having with the Viceroy on reforming the Customs and makes his promise, to not extort from new merchants, meaningless. Nevertheless we print in this edition details of correspondence between the Select and the merchants concerning the negotiations:
Vol 2 No 24 – 22nd December 1829
The country merchants, European and Indian, have applied to Plowden and the Select as the appropriate party to make representations to the Viceroy. They say exactions on trade have insidiously increased and now threaten its continuance. They consider the main cause of the problem to be the reduced number of Hong merchants, few of whom have the capital to transact business. Most have withdrawn from handling Indian imports and focus on tea exports and those other items that return payment in silver dollars.
We are restricted to the Hong – they should not be allowed to withdraw from portions of the trade. Only two Hongs will trade Indian goods and both have little capital. The market for Indian cotton is particularly affected. It all arrives at the same time so we force this glut on the market or warehouse it with one of the Hong who then claims an equitable right to market it thus reducing competition and encouraging the lowest sale prices. We must have more Hong merchants to stimulate competition. If they cannot be found we should be allowed our own warehouses and permitted to trade with whoever we like.
The country merchants then refer to the Hong Yung (the Consoo fund) which is amassed from a small charge on all imports and exports and is supposed to discharge insolvent Hong merchants’ debts.32 It is reportedly exhausted by rapacious demands of officials although some $1,000,000 is said to be collected annually. Whenever a Hong merchant fails, the fund does not respond as intended. Instead we have other additional charges which once raised are never taken off. This was told by the Chairman of the Company in a presentation to parliament.33 These impositions on many commodities have become so numerous that all expectation of profit is removed.
A good example is cotton on which the formal duty is 1 mace 5 candareens per picul. This is first slightly increased by converting it into sycee (by adding the assaying and refining fee). 40 years ago the charge had risen to 6 mace 5 candareens which was just tolerable. Today the Hongs charge 1 Tael 5 mace per bale, ten times the Imperial duty. Each time a Hong becomes insolvent and an agreement for repayment made, the charge increases.
Another example is the debts which are paid off without interest over several years so that creditors ultimately receive only the equivalent of the interest and none of the principal. We want to know what has happened to the Consoo fund and why the Consoo charge continually increases. The charge should be forthwith reduced and the fund properly managed.
Finally there is the matter of charges on visiting ships. The cumshaw (present money) is now 1,950 Taels and deters small ships from coming up to Whampoa. The Hong merchant securing a ship requires $500 – $600 even on rice cargoes that are excluded from measurement tax. He charges several hundred dollar fees for the appointment of house and ship compradors. The heavy mulcts inflicted on Hong merchants, as they tell us, for every trifling irregularity discovered, all ultimately return to the ship for settlement. There is a continual difficulty in getting Linguists to serve small ships - they say it is unremunerative. These impositions have turned a profitable trade into an oppressive one. Some fees have been charged for years and whilst business was good they were tolerated. Now commerce is poor they form a serious grievance and we believe many of these charges have no legal basis.
The managing partner of Chung Qua Hong has retired taking the firms funds with him and the company is about to fail. This money belongs to foreigners and if repayment is demanded forcefully it cannot fail to be obtained.
Sgd Thomas Dent & Co, Magniac & Co, Rawson & Co, Ilberry Fearon & Co, R Turner, Saboodeen Guttay, Dorabjee Hormuzjee, Dorabjee Tamuljee, Sorabjee Cowasjee, Dhunjeebhoy Byramjee, Cursetjee Dhunjeebhoy.
Vol 2 No 24 – 22nd December 1829
Two foreigners going to Whampoa from Canton in a comprador’s boat were stopped on the river by a man in official dress. These junior officials always display great insolence. The comprador and his men were beaten by the official’s crew and the Europeans threatened with being enchained and thrown in the river. They agreed to pay $300 but were detained until the money actually arrived. The two men that the official sent to collect the money were in turn captured by the European who was supposed to pay, and handed over to the Hong merchants and Linguists who refused to receive them.
A complaint was then made to the Viceroy requesting that the foreigners be either tried or released. The Viceroy sent his own men and 24 hours after their arrest, during which time they were held in a small room, the Europeans were released to the Nam Hoi Yuen. This magistrate is newly appointed and three days passed without any other action. The entire European community at Canton then complained to the Viceroy again.
The Hong merchants declined to present this petition but got word through to the Nam Hoi Yuen who dispatched an armed boat at midnight to capture all but one of the new official’s party on the 7th day. The Yuen came to Canton, examined the involved foreigners through a Linguist and dismissed them. The official and his crew were taken to prison in chains. Their trial is delayed to provide opportunity to catch their missing companion who has previously been to England and speaks our language quite well. He acted as the official’s interpreter and proposed several schemes for the two Europeans’ release.
The new Hoppo has since issued the following Edict on 18th December which may relate to this matter:
“Foreigners travelling up and down the river are not required to pay duty on their food, bedding or clothes. Only cargo is chargeable for duty. It is the practise of foreigners to use compradors for all matters and they are to report extortions occurring on the river. Greedy and selfish people are creating disturbance. It is strictly prohibited and by this notice I advise all foreigners of the fact. Smuggling is not allowed. All proper duties must be paid. If foreigners meet people requesting Customs duty on their meals they may bring the facts to the attention of the government so prosecution and punishment follow.”
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
The new Hoppo was installed in office in an extravagant ceremony on 13th December. The Hong merchants and Linguists were present to congratulate him. The Hoppo’s daughter was an embroideress in the Emperor’s harem and is said to be skilled in social arts.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
The Cochin China Embassy arrived in Peking by early September. The ambassador’s name is listed amongst the guests attending a play in the Garden of Mutual Delight. He wanted to return by sea to Canton and thence to Saigon but the request did not conform with former arrangements.
English readers will recall Duke Ho told the Amherst embassy that the Chinese government did not permit change.
By the by, Amherst told the Emperor that his King’s mother (Queen Charlotte) was old and used ginseng in large quantities. The Emperor gave him a catty.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
A fire occurred on the bamboo stage of a theatre performing a religious play in a Canton village a few days ago, according to government sources, and over 200 people died, either from the fire and smoke or the stampede to escape.
Another play was staged near the north gate of Canton on 28th of last moon. A boat with food for the actors was being unloaded when some beggars attempted to help themselves. The actors saw what was happening and rushed to protect their meal. The beggars fled into the city with some of the food pursued by the actors. Soldiers at the gate attempted to stop them and two were hurt. Then the actors took fright.
Some gypsy families from Chiu Chow who are often at the north gate came forward and drove all the Cantonese inside the gate. A scuffle ensued and several people were wounded. The army arrived and arrested four men.
Meanwhile the actors fled back to their boat and abandoned the performance leaving their chests of theatrical dress on the stage. The army has seized them pending for claim.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
Pirates have been active along the Chekiang coast and the governor of that Province has complained to the Emperor that his coast guard officers are incompetent. The Emperor orders the buttons be removed from their caps and they be given three months to solve the problem or they will be dismissed and prosecuted.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
An Imperial censor says triad society members abound in Keang Si. The provincial government is afraid of them and neglects complaints from their victims. If it has to prosecute it gives only light punishment. The Emperor orders the viceroy of Keang Nan and Keang Si to use the army to put down the triads. Those members who have been forced to join are offered pardons if they confess and give information.
These triad societies exist wherever Chinese exist. They levy a fee on all Chinese going abroad and persecute those who decline to subscribe. On one occasion the Bangkok branch offered to propagate Christianity for a missionary in return for payment.
They resemble free masons in so far as they recognise each other by secret signs.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
Recently the governor received information of a certain notorious opium smuggler who used a particular fast boat, which appearance was described to him. He ordered the Customs officers to catch the man in six days. They had no wish to succeed and towards the end of the period decked out another boat to resemble the governor’s description and pursued it outside the Bogue and seized it after a sham fight. The governor was satisfied and the Customs were satisfied. Thus matters are glossed over.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
Two arsonists who were caught in Canton last week were paraded around the city with little wires in their ears from which tiny flags fluttered. A chain was around their necks and they were followed by a man beating a gong. Afterwards they received their real punishment.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
Yuen, the late Viceroy of the Two Kwang, is now governor of Yunnan. He recommends an officer who, in six months work, has extracted 1,000,000 more catties from the copper mines than was requested by government, the lesser figure having previously been represented as the maximum that could possibly be extracted. Yuen was awarded the brevet rank of Che Foo for his officer’s achievement.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
Some hills in Chekiang are known to be the haunt of bandits and are difficult for police to patrol. The government accordingly prevents settlement there to avoid distress to the settlers. To progress this aim, the government annually fires the grass on these hills to deny forage to cattle.
Last year due to strong wind, 13 soldiers who were burning grass were caught and incinerated in their own fire by a wind change. Their commanding officer is demoted and the dead men are to be honoured as though they died in battle.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
The Editor has seen an old record (The 21st volume of the 21 historians) stating the population of China in 200BC was 59,594,000 people in 12,233,000 families.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
It is the custom in China to offer rewards for lost property. A few days ago the following notice was seen on the walls of Canton:
Chang Chow Lai lives in Great Tranquillity Lane near the south gate where he operates a shop selling incense to drive away mosquitoes. On the evening of 12th December two of his workmen – Nee Ah Hung and Ah Tik - used a stupefying fuming drug to cause all the business partners to fall asleep and then robbed the shop of money and clothes. When the owners awoke the two had disappeared with the property.
$4 is offered for information on their whereabouts. $10 is offered if both men and the property are delivered to the shop. Nee Ah Hung is about 20 years old short with white face and no beard. Ah Tik is over 20 years, tall with sallow face and no beard.
Editor’s comment – the use of fuming drugs to stupefy victims is common in China.
Another example:
Tang Sui lives in a small lane behind the treasury office. He is seeking for two missing concubines aged 26 and 27 years. They both wore long blue upper garments and double trousers, the outer light blue and the inner white. One is named Mrs Sei (four). She wore a tight sleeved red silk frock, has gold ear-rings with inset pearls and bound feet. The other is Mrs Ngoi (love) from Keang Se. She wore a tight sleeved blue frock, wore gold ear-rings set with iridescent green beetles and has bound feet.
On 18th December there was a fire in the vicinity of the house and they both went outside but have not since returned. All their property remains in the house. Searching has not located them. Anyone with good information will get $30 for each lady located. If you both catch and return them you will get $70 each. The money will be delivered as soon as their faces are seen.
Editor’s comment – this street behind the treasury is a resort of blacklegs and police runners. These ladies have been missing for four days. There can be little hope of recovering them in the same condition as previously.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
A district in the western suburbs of Canton has enacted its own social law enforced by the temple wardens. Their association is a means of combating bandits and excluding bad people from their community. In the daytime their area is infested with cut-pockets who press against their victims, cut away their purses and flee. At night there are burglars who creep across the roofs and make holes in the walls.
There are also quarrelsome troublemakers, drunks, importunate beggars and people posing as police runners who use endless excuses to extort money. Worst of all are the arsonists who burn houses and rob them after the occupants flee. These people leave canisters of combustible material behind.
The mutual defence arrangements require $1 from each household. There is also a subscription of $3 - $10 per household. Anyone catching a criminal gets a reward from the fund regardless of whose house is involved. Those who catch no-one pay a forfeit. The fund pays the doctor’s bills for treatment of injuries received on duty and funeral expenses for people killed defending property.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
The opium market has fallen and some small-holders have sold out to cut losses. Damaun is $720 for 102 catties. Patna is $825 a chest but few buyers. Deliveries last month of 1,123 chests were mostly forward sales. The stock of Indian is now considerable but little Turkish is available.
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
One of the principal pearl dealers has failed and the Canton market is in disarray.34
Vol 3 No 1 – 4th January 1830
The barque Jamesina (Hector) arrived from Calcutta bringing James Matheson.
C Bovet (of the famous watchmaking family) has arrived on the Johanna Cornelia from Rotterdam.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
A deputation of the Select Committee arrived at Canton from Macau yesterday together with many British country traders and an armed escort of 180 sailors. It was an astonishingly large party. They marched to the city gate and threw in a petition to the Emperor, a letter to the Viceroy and another to the Hoppo. We understand these papers are in the nature of an ultimatum.
The gate officer at first objected to receive the Petitions. An official then appeared and, the Kwong Heep claiming sickness, all papers were given to him. Actually the Kwong Heep was nearby commanding his militia who were brandishing their swords but he refrained from approaching the gate presumably because he knew some foreigners wore side arms. Thus he feigned sickness for the preservation of the peace.
Several of the European party had slips of paper on which was written in Chinese that their Memorial was for the Emperor. They hoped to make use of a Chinese law forbidding interference with letters to the Emperor.
The letter to the Viceroy was from the creditors of Man Hop complaining against the Co-Hong’s delay in paying the second dividend as agreed. They also complained that private debts were mingled with Company debts which they felt revealed dishonest intent of the Co-Hong and tended to destroy confidence in them as merchants.
The Select Committee has instructed all country ships not to enter the Bogue. The Company’s armed ship Duke of Sussex is placed at the river entrance to effect the blockade. The remainder of the Company fleet is said to be leaving Chinese waters. A report is to be sent to the Bengal government.35
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
On 2nd January Viceroy Lee went south-east of Canton reportedly to inspect the troops. He returned on 9th after having viewed the foreign shipping in the estuary. On 14th January the official seals are to be locked-up preparatory to Lunar New Year which commences on 25th January. Business will resume on 13th February.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
The approaching Lunar New Year holiday is blamed for a rise in piracy on the rivers around Canton. It is said to have occurred previously at this time of year. Various magistrates have issued orders to boat-operators to anchor near a fort rather than travel overnight.
A European was recently robbed near the Nine Islands by a ship decked out as a revenue cutter.36 He lost his clothes, money and gold watch. The clothes, being unsuitable for Chinese use, were soon recovered.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
Peking Gazettes - The Supreme Criminal Board has recommended eight days be set aside for executions in the autumn execution season. The largest number on any one day is 108, all from Szechuan. On all other days the tally varies from 71 – 87 per day. The last day is for state criminals of whom there are six. The total number to be executed this year is 579.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
The Emperor visited Mukden in November. It is also called Shing King (rich city). He said the land is fertile and the people simple and honest. He permitted an extra number of applicants from the city for the literary examinations this year and ordered that 1,000,000 Taels be sent to the city treasury, not for any specific purpose, but just to be kept there in perpetuity to evidence it is a rich city.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
His Majesty has received a special horse imported across the frontier at Ili. He has given it an auspicious name and sent silk and embroidered purses to King Cheang, the commander of the Ili garrison.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
A Korean envoy met the Emperor at Mukden and received pieces of silk with prosperity or longevity written on them by the Emperor himself.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
Man Hop Hong has made an appearance in the Peking Gazettes. Man Hop means literally ‘10,000 united’. The Hong merchant’s father was a coolie who carried goods and amassed wealth from smuggling to became a Hong merchant. His son succeeded him.
Now the son’s name has appeared in the Gazette. He is ordered to be transported to Ili and perform hard labour for failing to pay revenue he collected for the government.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
The Criminal Board at Peking reports that the development of law under the To Kwong Emperor this last decade has been so extensive that the code and judicial interpretation of it no longer correspond. It seems the law is not as immutable as the Canton officials repeatedly tell us. The Board asks for a new edition of the code.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
There are about 10,000 bodies at Canton which have not been interred. Canton attracts people from all over China and those from other provinces who die here are encoffined and put in a temple by friends to await collection by relatives who should take them to the ancestral tombs in their native villages.
Many are never collected and the Governor has now raised $10,000 by a subscription from provincial officials to buy land for the local burial of these abandoned bodies. Women will be buried in one field and men in another unless they are a couple and their coffins are stored near each other in which cases they will be buried together.
The sum raised has temporarily been placed with pawnbrokers at interest.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
A murder has been committed at the border of Si Ngon and Tung Kwoon counties and the two district magistrates are quarrelling over jurisdiction.
The governor orders a new survey to be made so the maps can be up-dated, the boundary delineated and the correct authority identified.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
Each province is supposed to send rice money to the Criminal Board each year for the upkeep of their prisoners at Peking. This year Gan Hwuy, Kwang Si, Yunnan, Keang Se, Fukien and others have not paid and the deficit is 33,000 Taels. The Emperor requires the Governors to remit the money.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
The Chinese Resident (Amban) at Lhasa requested a special title for one of the Dalai Lama’s entourage but the Emperor thinks it unbecoming and declined.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
A doctor of letters named Koot Sung Yi sat the Chin Sze examination and had his essay rejected. The examiner wrote a criticism of the first paragraph and returned the essay without apparently reading the remainder. Koot thought his essay meritorious and the criticism inappropriate. He printed and circulated the paper to show how unjust the examiner had been.
A censor reported this action as perverse and the Emperor agreed. A candidate may appeal against an unjust examiner to the proper authority but not to the public. Koot is to lose his degree but the examiner is to be examined.
Vol 3 No 2 – Tues 19th January 1830
There is a very widespread scarcity of money in Canton and the distress caused is pitiable.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
The Indiaman Bridgewater, which has been performing the Company’s blockade of the Pearl River, sailed for England on 31st January taking Plowden back to report to the court of directors. He will brief them on his attempt to change the law on foreign trade.
The provincial government has received instructions from Peking for the future conduct of foreign trade. They are said to be mild and conciliatory.
Its recent correspondence with the Select is in the same tone but minor concessions will not satisfy us – we need an increased number of Hong merchants.
The Viceroy is to reply today and the Hong merchants are waiting in Macau to receive his proclamation. The ships are ready to sail and only await this reply.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
The cutter of the Company’s Indiaman Atlas overturned on 18th January whilst en route from Lintin to Tung Ku. 3rd Officer Hawkins and surgeon Middlemass both of the Company’s ship Mangles, together with 7 seamen were lost.
The two European bodies have been recovered and interred in the Company’s (Protestant) cemetery in Macau.
The long boat of the Indiaman Duke of York was passing and heard the cries but on arrival found only hats and boat stretchers floating, no people.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
The New Year celebrations have produced two fires in Canton on 26th and 28th Jan 1830. The second was at Sha Meen Island and destroyed all the houses erected along the water’s edge. Forty female bodies were found in the debris. These female deaths aroused little pity amongst the citizens. Flower girls are often robbed and sometimes enslaved and carried off to distant provinces.37
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
The USS Vincennes (Finch) has arrived from Manila. The Macau Keunmin Foo Kwok has published an Edict on 10th Jan forbidding compradors to secretly carry provisions to her.38
The pilot has told him the Vincennes encountered heavy weather and anchored off the Nine Islands for shelter. Kwok sent civil and military officers to keep watch and tell the captain to go away. He will severely punish anyone supplying the Vincennes.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
Editor - The Englishman Madden has published a book about Turkey in which he says the Turks salute the One God by knocking their heads on the ground nine times. It seems kow-towing to the Emperor of China may be a comparable recognition of his divinity.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
Fan Ching Kwang is a rich gentleman from Fau Kong village. He does not support his extended family in the village and his relatives decided to rob him. On 16th day of 11th moon they disguised themselves, blacked their faces and attacked his house at night. They stole $800, 6,500 cash, 52 precious ornaments, 173 misc garments, 13 pairs of shoes, 21 kerchiefs and sashes, 80 flowered handkerchiefs, 6 pieces of cloth and 5 catties of cotton.
They shared it all out and with the left-overs held a feast of meat and wine. The father of one robber, Ching Ah Shing, has since confessed to the Kwongchow Foo and the whole gang has been caught. Ten are to be immediately beheaded, others are to be beaten and transported.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
All Chinese towns allot a piece of waste land for the burial of poor people who cannot themselves afford to buy a plot. This kindness is usurped by ‘grave dogs’ - men who take over the field and sell plots for their own profit.
The Poon Yu magistrate has complained these people and said anyone claiming a plot may obtain an official permit to authorise burial.
He also complains of pettifogging lawyers who stir up actions, accuse the innocent and waste magistrates’ time.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
At New Year it is usual to have extra police patrols at night. The magistrate has directed them to equip themselves with long spears (to deal with rooftop burglars) and man road-blocks to question the passers-by.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
Ping Yuen district prison was set on fire due to the carelessness of the prison officers. Twenty one prisoners were chained inside and died.
The governor has reported to the Emperor who speculates that the officers were covering their illegal use of torture or some other crime. He orders the local magistrate to be arrested and examined by the governor together with his police and prison officers.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
The Canton magistrates have jointly complained about various types of criminal behaviour:
First are groups of 3-5 robbers, armed with swords and iron bars, who trouble the local people night and day to extort money.
Second is the formation of criminal gangs by ceremonies in which applicants swear an oath of allegiance. They say hundreds of thousands of people have been punished for this offence by banishment or strangulation but still the people do it. He says they should dread death.
A third edict is against people protecting thieves and receiving stolen property
A fourth is against arsonists who fire houses to plunder them
A fifth is against pirates who force coastal farmers and fishermen to buy protection.
A sixth is against those actors who set off large rockets which lately have caused fires and deaths. The theatricals are usually held on the river bank and people, fleeing the fire to escape the heat and smoke, also drown in the water. When these fires occur, chaos results and opportunist thieves capture women and children for sale. The Poon Yu magistrate Hu says only plays to the Gods in Spring and plays thanking the Gods in Autumn are permitted. Large rockets are forbidden.
A seventh Edict is against the slaughter of cattle used for agriculture. Killing one’s own buffalo earns 80 blows and the cangue for a month. The punishment for selling beef is the same as stealing cattle – 100 blows and transportation 3,000 li.
The eighth is against sturdy beggars who extort money at marriages and funerals.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
The Chinese tung cheen (English cash, Portuguese sapecas), resemble the copper coin of Cochin China sufficiently to permit mistakes. The court at Peking has issued strict orders to stop the circulation of foreign coin but it continues.
Now the Nam Hoi magistrate has reported the capture of a boat in the river containing a cargo of foreign copper coins for sale. The boat is confiscated and offered for sale by the magistrate for 56 Taels, 3 mace, 6 candareens. The crew are to be punished.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
Yang Yu Chun, the governor of Kansu, has told the Emperor he has no spare money to send to the four Muslim cities of Turkestan. The Emperor asks the Board of Revenue to check if neighbouring provinces can send 332,000 Taels to Kansu for the purpose.
Vol 3 No 3 – Wed 3rd Feb 1830
The Cantonese have enjoyed mild weather for their New Year holiday this year and business is returning to normal but no foreign trade is occurring while the Select Committee continues its negotiation with the Viceroy.
Opium sales have been slow but some junks from the east coast are expected soon. We do not know if they will buy stock or clear old time bargains.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
The dispute between the Select Committee and the Viceroy has been settled and the Company ships are now discharging at Whampoa. Plowden and Astell left China for England shortly before. Chinese reluctance to change their system can only be met by withdrawal of trade. We have not gained all we sought but some points have been conceded:
The Viceroy promises to review the regulations.
A new merchant has already joined the Hong and we are told numbers will be increased to 12 – 13. We must have competition between Hongs and no monopoly.
The Viceroy has also agreed to procure the return of Chun Qua Sr.
We have not won the right to our own warehouses but the Viceroy assures us we can use the security merchants’ facilities and appears to suggest an indemnity against loss by fire, theft and flood is available.
The measurement duty on small ships is to be mitigated.
Comprador’s fees and the other extortions of the Linguists and local officials are to be reduced. This will require firmness by both sides. When the Company fleet came up to Whampoa an attempt was made to charge the old fees but a complaint to the Viceroy stopped it.
This is the first time our concerted action has produced an improvement in trading conditions. Both the Hong merchants and the Viceroy seem sincere in wanting a resumption of trade.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
When the Hong merchants recently came to Macau, officially to say goodbye to Plowden at la Palacio, two of them, who are Fukienese, attended the Tien Hau temple at Bar Fort to pray for an early resumption of trade. Tien Hau is a Fukienese Goddess.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
The Chinese call Hong merchants Kwan Sheung (licensed merchants). They call security merchants Po Sheung (safety merchants). The term Kwan Sheung also applies to pawnbrokers, indeed, it refers to all merchants who need a government licence to trade. The Hong merchant interfaces between the provincial government and the foreigners. He should be responsible to both.
The present arrangements are not conducive to increasing trade or good relations. As Bonaparte had his admirers amongst English republicans, so commercial despotism has its apologists here.39 The Hong merchants are part of the Chinese government. They should be more active in protecting the trade.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
A brief outline of the historic duties payable by foreign shipping:
Measurement duty – this is assessed on the length of the ship between the centres of the mizzen mast and fore mast and the width immediately aft of the main mast. These measurements are multiplied together and the product divided by ten to give the capacity in cubits. The duty is 4.7.8.8. on ships under 125 cubits, 6.8.4.0 on ships over 125 cubits and 7.7.7.8 on ships above 154 cubits.40
‘Present’ money (cumshaw) is 1,950 Taels on all except French ships which pay 2,050 Taels.
Linguist and comprador fees are $473 for every ship.
The security merchant will usually require $200 – $600 for his services.
Ships carrying only rice are exempt from measurement duty and cumshaw but pay the security merchant $300 - $500 and pay the tariff for comprador and Linguist, totally about $1,000.
The Viceroy has agreed to review all these charges. Once the new figures are available we will report them.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
We mentioned recently that the 2nd instalment of Man Hop’s debt was overdue for payment. The creditors have complained to the Viceroy against the Hong merchants. Once the petition was presented, the Hong merchants were ordered to pay instanter and have done so. A précis of the correspondence follows:
The free traders’ complaint to the governor:
Before Man Hop failed he transferred over a million dollars of our goods to Chinese businessmen in payment of old debts. We complained and after lengthy correspondence agreed your arrangement to settlement in six equal instalments without interest. We got the first tranche on 30th December last. The 2nd tranche is due in 4 days but the Hong say they cannot pay owing to non-performance by the India Company of its tea contracts.
This has nothing to do with us. All Hongs agreed to be jointly liable to pay. Now they refuse. Your Excellency and ourselves both find this breach of good faith intolerable. In one of your recent Edicts stuck on the walls of the foreign factories you tell us to ‘contemplate the celestial Empire, her abundant harvests and her national treasury full to overflowing’. We cannot reconcile this prosperity with the Hongs’ non-payment. Please order immediate payment of the instalment now falling due. Sgd Creditors, 18th January 1830.
Explanation of the Hongs:
This Spring the Company contracted with us for black and green tea. We advanced money to the teamen and sent our own buyers to the hills with money to buy more. Large Hongs spent over a million dollars and small ones several hundred thousands. The foreigners have not yet taken delivery and our capital remains tied-up in tea stocks. After you buy the tea we will immediately pay the 2nd dividend on Man Hop’s debt.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
Viceregal proclamation: Bandits pretending to be government servants intercept traders by land and sea and under the pretext of searching for contraband they commit robbery.
Viceroy Lee and the Foo Yuen now order that no Chinese trader is to be searched except at the Customs House. No goods are to searched on land or water whilst in transit. People attempting to search in such circumstances should be seized, bound and brought before a magistrate. If they are armed they may be resisted and killed under the law permitting resistance to bandits. People convicted of robbery by searching might be executed.
These powers are given to the people to protect their property. Traders are cautioned not to abuse this protection by making it a basis to smuggling.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
Governor’s Edict:
The long drought has caused many wells in Canton to run dry. Water is being sold for 50 cash a picul but much of the local river water is tidal and salty and unfit for cooking.
The large wells that are each covered with a massive stone slab and are intended for fire fighting may be used temporarily by the citizens.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
Taiwan – Various reports say an insurrection against the Chinese is occurring in Taiwan. Troops from Fukien have been sent to quell the disturbances.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
Kashgar – the Chinese government is erecting barriers to restrict entry from the west and control traders crossing the boundary.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
The Emperor is at Mukden meeting numerous Manchu and Mongol Kings. He has been giving them cash presents of 100 – 15,000 Taels. Some of these gifts must have appeared quite trifling.
Half a year’s pay has been lent to some soldiers. These gifts and loans cost 95,000 Taels of which the gifts comprised 45,000 Taels and the remainder is to be paid back in four instalments over ten years.
The Emperor has also been imitating a habit of his grandfather Kien Lung in handing out pieces of silk to the wives of officers who attend Court. We have met people who received gifts of porcelain and silk from the Emperor. They are quite inferior-quality goods. When the silk weavers of Soochow, who are part of a cartel on the trade, sent inferior silk to the chieftains of western Tartary who fought the Emperor’s battles there, a virtuous Chinese complained.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
The force remaining at Kashgar totals 4,200 men. A suggestion to reduce the garrison was rejected as being inexpedient and unsafe. Some Manchu soldiers who were captured by Jehangir have been returned safe.
They have been pardoned but are dismissed from the army and disallowed the usual pay of Manchu soldiers.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
The Emperor, on the advice of Cha Lung O, the Manchu Resident at Kashgar, has appointed several new leaders amongst the Muslims in Turkestan. Two are described as commercial leaders.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
During the Emperor’s progress along the road into Manchuria his train passed people kneeling by the roadside hoping to present petitions. All were women, although one was a girl and another a Buddhist nun.
All four were counselled to the Judge of the law court that accompanies the Emperor on his travels.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
A Fukienese has gone to Peking to complain of injustice. His accent was found as puzzling in Peking as the Company’s administrators find it in Penang.
They learned his only son was killed by a hostile clan which then bribed the police with $2,000 (foreign money – they might be smugglers) to take no action. When the magistrate issued an arrest warrant the police would not enforce it.
Vol 3 No 4 – Mon 15th Feb 1830
Bengal opium has improved in price. Patna has reached $940 and Benares $920, both for cash, but Malwa sales are slow which keeps its price down. Very little Turkish is on hand. The India Company has opened its treasury for 30-day Bills on Bengal at the low rate of 202 Sicca Rupees per $100 Spanish.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
Advertisement – The beautiful and fast schooner Sylph will commence a ferry service on 10th March 1830 for passengers between Canton and Macau. The following Charter rates will apply:
|
Canton to Macau Canton to Lintin Canton to Macau via Lintin Canton, Lintin, Macau, Canton Canton, Lintin, Canton Each day demurrage Each additional passenger |
$30 $25 $35 $50 ( 7 day round trip) $40 (5 day round trip) $7 $5 |
Letters at 10¢ each and small light packages pro rata but no heavy baggage or cargo, furniture or stores. Each passenger limited to one trunk under 1 picul. The Sylph is also available for charter for pleasure trips. Details from M/s Markwick & Lane.
NB – The Gravesend-built hatch-boat Petrel continues to run on the same ferry routes at the usual times. Details also from M/s Markwick & Lane.41
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
Auction 7th March 1830:
The ship Eugenia with her stores ‘as is’ at Lintin,
A few dozen bottles of Port wine,
Four half chests of old Madeira,
One English cow in full milk.
Details from Markwick & Lane, 3 Imperial Hong, Canton
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
Two new Hong merchants have been enrolled and many other candidates are spoken of. One of them was sanctioned by the Viceroy but not by the Hoppo who was unwilling to forego the opportunity for his usual extra fees. The Select Committee immediately brought the matter to the Viceroy’s attention and the applicant was inducted into the Co-Hong without further delay.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
The insurrection on Taiwan has resulted in the death of a Heen magistrate and the occupation of his district.
The insurgents are both Taiwan aboriginals and Chinese.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
Someone at Peking has told the Emperor that Viceroy Lee is succeeding in preventing the import of opium and export of sycee. An order by express has arrived as follows:
“The foreigners’ money called ‘big head’, ‘small head’, ‘dishevelled head’, ‘bat’, ‘double pillars’ and ‘sword & horse’ all pass as currency and is used to buy our sycee silver in Canton, Fukien, Keung Si, Chekiang and Keung Soo up to the Yellow River. Foreign money is often presented to pay the land tax and for trade. Foreigners pretend they bring money to trade but they use it to buy our sycee so our silver diminishes and foreign money increases. This may explain why our silver has become so expensive.
“The influx of opium and the increased numbers of those who smoke and sell it is causing damage like a great fire. This is worse than the silver problem and is consequent on foreigners bringing opium to Macau, Amoy and elsewhere, anchoring at the river mouths or connecting with government clerks who take bribes to introduce it. Even the coast guard patrols smuggle it in and sell it for the foreigners or take bribes to permit the foreigners to sell it to merchants of all the provinces. Every day the quantity is greater. The police and soldiers make seizures. They keep some and sell the rest.
“Opium is worse than foreign money. It must be prohibited before the responsible villains lose all respect for the law. Previously I proscribed the Cochin China cash. That was a small thing compared with the foreign silver. We are giving our pure silver for the foreigners ‘smelly shit’.
“Now we have received Lee’s secret memorial concerning the English request to change the conditions of foreign trade at Canton. He and his colleagues must know all about the abuses. They should know how to stop the foreign money and opium being distributed and overcome the craftiness of the foreigners. I expect Lee and his colleagues to understand my wishes.”
Lee forthwith ordered the Treasurer and Judge to deliberate on the nefarious practices of the foreigners and report how opium and foreign money importation can be stopped and their internal distribution prevented. “Deliberate secretly and report so I may answer the Emperor.”42
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
Another rebellion on the north-west frontier (western Tartary) has ended with 12 ringleaders being executed. The sale of rhubarb and tea to foreigners at Ili has been prohibited.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
The Governor of Fukien Sun Ah Chun required those of his officers who are posted to Taiwan, to raise money for military operations on the island last year. He then asked the Emperor to honour Chin Ah Hing, the magistrate of Hea Poo heen, who raised a great revenue.
This is the magistrate who was killed at the outset of the new rebellion.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
Kwangchow Foo stands at the boundary between Nam Hoi and Poon Yu heens. The magistrate of Poon Yu has interdicted the kidnapping of children.
He says Canton is extremely crowded and the children of poor people play in the streets. Then bandits come, seize the boys and girls and carry them off for sale. By the time the parents report to the police it is already too late. The children are never seen again by them. Most are supposedly sold as domestic workers. The rest become actors or prostitutes. A few resentful ones are whipped and bambooed and sometimes die.
I, the magistrate, have now discovered a clue to the detection of this evil business. I have caught Luk Ah Kai, Chu Tei Han, Lee Ah Ching, Tao Ah Kiu and others who are in my prison awaiting strangulation.
Obey the law. Do not take a chance with your life for petty gain.
Editor – we had one of these Edicts last year. It is issued for form.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
Letter to the Editor - English pride is high but Manchu pride may exceed it. In the recent correspondence between the Company and the Viceroy, How Qua was called in to check a translation and rendered ‘England and China, two nations’ as ‘England and Canton, two places’ in the translated documents. This appears to establish that the English do not pretend to nationhood where China is concerned.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
The Company sold all its Bengal cotton at 11 Taels per picul but is withholding its Bombay and Madras cotton for a better price. The commanders of the Bombay ships have been unable to sell their personal cargo and the Select have given them 40 days from completion of their own sale of their Bengal supply to pay-off their bonds. The commanders of the Bengal ships were able to get 10.6 – 10.8 per picul on their own supplies.43
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
An agreement amongst the Bombay country merchants that none of their ships will use the eastern route (Sunda Straits) is disbelieved by the Chinese.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
The early arrival of opium from Bengal has surprised the market. The new Patna is nearly as good as the excellent quality last year but many balls are mis-shaped and dented, outer coverings cracked and the resinous contents leaking out. The nett weight per chest is 114 – 115½ catties. The new Benares is 116 – 117½ catties. This ball damage will cause difficulty in delivery. Patna prices opened at $850 and slipped to $840-845. Old Patna is nominally $920 but no buyers. Malwa has dropped to $760-765 and is selling well lately. Several junks are expected from the coast and there are numerous time sales to clear
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
The American ship Roman (Lavender) arrived from New York on 20th February with the following passengers :
Rev David Abeel, Rev Elijah Bridgman, M/s G W and G A Talbot, W C Hunter and Frederick Bookee.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
We have had several foreign ladies residing in the Canton factories this season in contravention of the law prohibiting their presence. No new females are expected as the hot weather is about to commence and Macau is a more suitable summer abode but we predict more will come next year and improve the society of the factories.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
On 5th March the Kwangchow Foo with the Nam Hoi and Poon Yu magistrates came in front of the factories with 80-100 soldiers and lancers. In the procession were chopping instruments suspended from long poles. The Hong merchants and Linguists went out and it was satisfying to observe the Linguists performing the kow-tow on the wet stones.
This event was to formally authorise the filling up of the gap between the quay and the new seawall. Old residents will remember that after the great fire of 1822 most of the fire debris from the Canton suburbs was brought to the river side and dumped. Since then it has accumulated at our landing place which has become shallow, Identifiable bits of fire debris remain along the shore even today.
The English, finding their chop boats could not approach the seawall opposite their warehouse at low tide with complete safety, sought to extend the quay beyond the mud flat where they built a new seawall. They could not use the space in front of the American flagstaff as it houses a dunghill and a leper house with its associated cemetery. The Hoppo’s men eventually complained this work, bribes could not be agreed, and they took the matter to the Governor. The whole complaint was managed by How Qua Jr and the government was led to anticipate large fees from the foreigners for increased land use but all payment was refused and consequently filling up the space between the old quay and the new wall was forbidden.
Then a temporary bamboo structure with wooden planks was erected and since then cargo has been worked by coolies carrying goods on planks across the void between the two walls. Now the bamboo and planks are wearing out and an order has finally been given to fill up the space properly with soil. The officials say the foreigners have been very naughty in the whole affair.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
Letter to the Editor – China’s relations with the rest of the world require submission to the Emperor as a pre-condition. Much of the social organisation of the country is based on master/slave considerations whereas the westerners are all Christians. It is difficult to find common ground.
Some western countries have histories of resistance against despotism and oppression. Will the foreign merchants at Canton ever resist the tyranny of China or should we continue to submit?
I think we should resist oppression or we will be trampled underfoot. We have no human rights here. Wealth and power dominates. We must retain the right to petition, to remonstrate, to resist in all oppressive cases. Anonymous.
Editor’s note – there is a Chinese saying that the official who works near the Emperor is like a man who sleeps with a tiger.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
The Spring sacrifice to Confucius is set for 2nd March at the Temple of Letters. The Viceroy, Foo Yuen, Manchu General and other officials, even the acrobats and musicians, will practice for four days to honour the sacrifice.
The performers will get 1 mace each per day. The sixteen dancers are actually students and the best dancer will get a certificate (equivalent to bachelor of arts degree) regardless of his performance in the formal examinations.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
A 26 years old man named Tin Tin Kea has been ordered by his mother to appeal at Peking against the Gan Hwuy provincial authorities. Four years ago his father Tin Tin Kau issued a complaint against a litigious attorney Teen Mei who then went to Tin Tin Kau’s house and committed suicide. Teen Mei’s son, Teen Teen Shun, accused Tin Tin Kau of forcing his father to die. The authorities examined his complaint and dismissed it.
Two years later Tin Tin Kau left home on horseback for the neighbouring village of Chang Kea and later that night his wife saw Teen Yun Kwok riding her husband’s horse. Fearing the worst she followed her husband’s route with her son and found his robbed and dead body at the road side with eleven stab wounds. Two knives lay nearby.
She took the knives to the magistrate and implicated Teen Yun Kwok who confessed to the murder and robbery with Teen Teen Shun. One was sentenced to beheading, the other to strangulation. The horse was ordered to be returned. Then the murderers’ relatives claimed the murder was in revenge for their father’s death, i.e. an honourable murder, and the punishments have not yet taken place. The matter is now before the criminal board for consideration.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
The Superintendent of the Yellow River reports that although the river has risen considerably this Spring his works have kept it within its banks.
The Emperor orders he be sent 10 sticks of Tibetan incense to burn on the altar to the river god.
Vol 3 No 5 – Wed 3rd March 1830
We can give a clear idea of this port’s fine facilities by mentioning that during February 12 ships, each of around 1,400 tons, arrived, discharged, loaded and left. It is expected that all this season’s ships will have left by next month.
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
On 18th March the Hong merchants formally reported details of the revised trading system that is to be bestowed on the foreign community:
In the last five years business has been difficult and four Hongs have failed, mainly because of the requirement they pay the debts of others. Last year Plowden asked for new regulations to improve the situation. The Treasurer and Judge have now issued a report with which the Viceroy and Hoppo concur.
Foreigners must only trade in goods with Hong merchants. They may not lend money to Hong merchants. All the trade is by exchange of commodities and at the end of each season the foreigners will advise the Hoppo of any balances due to/from Hong merchants. The Hong merchants will give their own annual reports of their debts to the Hoppo, vouching for their veracity by a bond. These two reports will be examined and compared. If thereafter a Hong merchant fails and the foreign claims have been reported to the Hoppo they will be apportioned amongst the remaining Hong merchants for payment. If the claims have not been reported, they will not be paid.
If foreigners lend money to Hong merchants they will have no legal redress.
We now recite the government orders:
Foreigners should not trust Hong merchants excessively. The system of mutual responsibility is revised. If one Hong merchant incurs debts the others will not automatically be mutually responsible for them.
Several new Hong merchants have been appointed but are not secured by the existing Hong merchants. Foreigners may deal with them as they like but any debts involve the creditor and debtor only. It is the same in respect of any new debts that the existing Hong merchants may assume. No mutual responsibility for them is accepted.
Sgd by the Hong merchants - How Qua Jr., Mow Qua, Chung Qua, Puan Ke Qua, Go Qua, Fat Qua, King Qua.
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
We have also seen part of a memorial that the governor sent to the Emperor on 28th November concerning our recent stoppage of trade, as follows:
Foreign ships first anchor at Macau or Lintin and then proceed through the Bocca Tigris to Whampoa where they anchor and discharge their cargoes. They all speak different languages but are generally cooperative except the English who are uniformly domineering and unruly. The English delayed to discharge their cargoes on three previous occasions – in 13th and 19th years of Ka Hing and 1st year of the To Kwong Emperor. They make disturbances.
Recently the Hong merchants have become financially embarrassed and some have closed their business. Tung Tai Hong closed in the 7th year of To Kwong. Fuk Lung Hong closed in the 8th year. Both were heavily indebted. The foreigners complained and a scheme was agreed for settlement of debts over several years although the foreigners were discontented at receiving only their debts without any element of interest.44
In the summer of 1829 Tung Sheung Hong became indebted and could not pay. Plowden and others complained against Lew Ching Shoo of Gan Hwuy, the proprietor of Tung Sheung Hong, and I have requested the governor of that province to return him here.
Between the 7th moon and 6th day of 10th moon (about three months) 22 foreign ships arrived. One was damaged by heavy weather and came straight up to Whampoa to refit. 21 ships remained outside. On 9th day of 9th month Plowden and others sent in a petition saying that, as several Hongs were bankrupt, they wanted to arrange matters. They suggested that no security merchants or compradors should in future be required and that they be permitted to rent their own warehouses.
Now the purpose of the regulations is to prevent Chinese and foreigners from collaborating. These points could not be granted. But they also suggested that the duty levied on foreign ship arrivals should accord with the size of the ship. This seems reasonable but it is a very old regulation and we await the Emperor’s direction on it.
I ordered the two Sze magistrates to examine the whole document and distinguish between what was permissible and what was not. I then instructed the Hong merchants to inform the foreigners but they still delayed entering port and finally on 26th day of 10th moon they again petitioned, reciting the former requests. This required my severe reply and injunction.
Since the 8th year of the To Kwong Emperor, the English ships arrive early and unload in 9th and 10th moons whereas in the 5th – 7th years of To Kwong they were still arriving in the 11th and 12th moons. During this last season they finally entered port in 11th moon and it is not too late to trade. Tranquillity may be preserved but I suspect if their wishes are not granted they will cause trouble.
By withholding their imports, they wish to coerce us into reducing the Imperial duties. It would not be too severe to cut them off and prohibit their future trade. Should it come to that I will first request Your Majesty’s pleasure.
I have checked the disposition of the foreign ships off Macau and we should be prepared against them. I have ordered the Port Admiral Lee to have the military stations around Macau brought to a state of readiness in case they land troops at Macau as they did in the 13th year of the Ka Hing Emperor. But this dispute is basically a money matter and not so serious. As it involves foreigners and our national honour, I have dealt with the foreigners firmly but justly whilst secretly taking protective action. I wish to avoid a rupture but am determined not to lose respectability. I have at all times consulted with the Foo Yuen Lu who agrees with me. I now make this secret report to the Emperor.
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
Memorial - The Viceroy, Foo Yuen and Hoppo jointly and secretly report to the Emperor concerning His request that we consider how to reduce the Port Entrance fees:
“When the English ships did not enter port we reported our responses to you. The law concerning foreign ships was first set for the Portuguese. There are three classes of ships according to size on which the measurement fee is fixed. The fee is assessed on the length and breadth of the ship.
In the 24th year of the Hong Hei Emperor, the Revenue Board asked us to consider fixing the charge on Western Ocean ships at the same level as applied to the Eastern Ocean ships and we accordingly reduced the fee on Western ships by 20%. First class ships pay 1,100 – 2,200 Taels; second and third class pay between 400 – 800 Taels.
“Duties on goods are levied according to the quantity and quality.
“Besides these, there is a fixed entry fee on all ships. Formerly it was kept by the local officers to defray their expenses. In the 4th year of the Yung Ching Emperor (1727), the Foo Yuen Yang Wan Keen started paying it to the Public Treasury and it was then entered in the printed list of Customs fees wherein it was fixed at 1,125 Taels 9 mace and 6 candareens and levied at a 10% discount. After a century, the foreigners now request to reduce it! We note it exceeds the measurement fee for 2nd and 3rd class ships so it may be considered on the high side. We should also reconsider the measurement fee on 1st class ships in light of the different circumstances of the foreign nations. The Americans send 10 – 30 ships a year of which only 10% are 1st class. The country ships number 20 – 30 per year and 50 – 60% are 1st class. The Dutch and French send 3-5 ships of which maybe one or two is large. The Company’s ships exceed 20 per year and are all 1st class.
“If we do not change the fee, the countries with large ships get an advantage over countries with small ships. This does not correspond with the benevolence of the sacred Dynasty.
“We suggest that the port entrance fee on 1st 2nd and 3rd class ships be reduced by 20% for all countries.
“The Port Clearance Fee of 500 Taels (less customary discount of 10%) is a smaller sum that is remitted to the Revenue Board along with the regular duties. Another fee of 130 Taels for departure is reported to the Board but applied to the local fund for public (free) burial. Neither of these require reducing.
“These are our secret recommendations on which we solicit His Majesty’s advice. If the Emperor agrees, we will fix the day for commencement of the new tariff on the day that his orders are received.”
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
New and full moons are days of worship in China. On the 1st day of 2nd moon the governor worshipped at the Temple of Letters, then the Temple of the Dragon King before making his usual rounds. All civil and military officers make their obeisances before breakfast.
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
Ex-minister Ying Ho who permitted the Emperor’s mausoleum to be built on an undrained slope and was accordingly banished to the Huk Lung Kong (Amur River), is ordered to stay a further three years after which his case will again be reviewed.
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
In the village of Kau Kwei on Honam Island (opposite the factories) is the shrine of the Profit-Sharing God. 18 other villages surround Kau Kwei. On the God’s anniversary on 13th day of 2nd moon residents of the 18 villages make sacrifice in turn. At the end of each year an auspicious day is selected and the village responsible for the ceremony that year prepares its altar and a chariot for the God. Before the anniversary, they walk to the temple and carry Him back to their village. The week before the anniversary all the villages hold processions in which the God is paraded by men of the responsible village. Everyone wears their best clothes. At night ornamental lamps are lit and plays performed in the vicinity of the altar. Then the entire populace, young and old, go to the temple to give thanks for anticipated rewards. Whatever one asks for is granted. The festival has become so popular that an immense market has developed each year.
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
Being generous or liberal in the Cantonese vernacular is foot meaning wide or thick. Being stingy is ‘thin’. Generosity lengthens life while stinginess shortens it.
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
On 25th March 1830, Thomas Dent arrived on the Brig Elizabeth from New South Wales.
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
The Select Committee has agreed to sell the Company’s Bombay cotton at 9 Taels 7 mace per picul and their Madras cotton at 11 Taels.
All the cotton stock of 63,700 bales (22,700 Bombay, 27,386 Bengal and 13,614 Madras) is now in the hands of the Chinese and much activity is going on between the dealers.
Vol 3 No 7 – Monday 29th March 1830
The opium market is flat. The last of the Turkish was sold out at $755 per picul
Vol 3 No 8 – Thurs 15th April 1830
Commissioner Na, formerly the Governor of Canton and more recently Viceroy in Turkestan, established ‘Government Shops’ at Kashgar (along the lines of the Hong merchants in Canton) for the sale of tea and purchase of sheep and horses. His successor Cha Lun Ko has told the Emperor that tea cannot be sold, even for a low price, and sheep and horses are not being brought-in for sale. The Emperor has ordered the shops to be closed and the Muslim traders permitted to buy and sell as they wish but under surveillance of the officials.
(Editor - we should withdraw from trade more often)
Vol 3 No 8 – Thurs 15th April 1830
Letter to the Editor – It seems the Hongs are to maintain their monopoly under the revised regulations whilst being relieved of their joint responsibility for debts. The foreigner is still unable to trade until the Hong merchant goes security for him and his ship. Worse, the foreigner must copy his accounts to the provincial government if he wants to qualify for compensation when a Hong fails.
It seems the Viceroy made these new Regulations on his own authority. They will soon become part of the ‘immutable law’ of the Celestial Empire.
Vol 3 No 8 – Thurs 15th April 1830
General King Pau, the Manchu General of Canton, has told the Emperor that he is daily increasing his forces (to deal with the threat that the Viceroy envisages from the English). He needs an increased allocation of funds for the increased garrison and suggests he borrow 80,000 Taels from the Canton provincial treasury which he will lend to merchants at 10% p. a. producing 8,000 Taels a year. He will use this interest to refund 3,000 Taels a year to the government and apply the balance to the deficit in his military funding.
In 26 years the debt will be repaid and thereafter the (now unused) 3,000 Taels will become part of the Imperial surplus while he all along will have an increased 5,000 Taels to maintain his extra expenses.
Vol 3 No 8 – Thurs 15th April 1830
Servants of officials occasionally rise to become officials themselves. We have recently seen an account of a servant’s duties and it seems they are not a lowly class of people like our own servants but are often noble and honourable men.
Domestics of a Viceroy or Governor are called ‘officers of the court’ while a magistrate’s servants are called cheung shui (constant followers). They occupy a middle place between the officials and the common people, assist in the management of public business, dress well and carry themselves in a dignified way. They are constantly attentive to their master’s needs and understand the usages on all formal occasions. They know the names and histories of all their masters’ colleagues and contemporaries, they know the routes around the Empire both by land and water and they are familiar with the famous products of each county and province.
These superior servants are graded. The first grade are descendants of poor officials who, having no education or property or trade, travel to distant parts and throw themselves on a rich family. With care and skill they make themselves indispensable. They are invariably scrupulously honest and straightforward. The second grade are the sons of bankrupt merchants who, knowing the ways of the wealthy and having been served themselves, readily understand the requirements. The third grade is comprised of uneducated but street-wise nomadic types who know how to please a master and readily adapt to his requirements. A fourth grade is made up of artisans whose trade has not provided them with a livelihood due to natural disasters and the like. They seek the employment for board and lodging. Finally there are a few of those dissolute uneducated fellows who merely want fine clothes and food and adopt every trick to improve their personal circumstances.
Vol 3 No 8 – Thurs 15th April 1830
Canton trade – Few ships remain in port, trade is dull and money is becoming scarce as the time for annual payment of the Government import duties approaches and the tea merchants start to depart.
Patna and Malwa have been selling well in small lots
Vol 3 No 8 – Thurs 15th April 1830
The last year’s sales of opium (in piculs) in China 1.4.29 – 31.3.30
|
- Chests sold Value Sold at Macau Value Stock remaining |
Patna 5,441 $4,713,930 123 $ 106,518 428 |
Benares 1,565 $1,317,355 14 $ 11,774 170 |
Malwa 6,542 $5,696,050 315 $ 271,590 704 |
Total 13,548 $11,667.335 452 $ 389,822 1,302 |
Vol 3 No 9 – Sat 1st May 1830
British trade in China (1.4.29 – 31.3.30):
Cotton imports Bengal 78,488 piculs, Bombay 266,604, Madras 30,869.
|
Silver exports to
|
England Calcutta Bombay Elsewhere Total |
$ 659,383 $2,018,023 $2,243,458 $ 143,941 $5,064,805 |
sycee 256,574 Taels sycee 400,020 Taels sycee 539,298 Taels sycee 49,791 Taels sycee 1,245,683 Taels |
Dollars taken back were predominantly defaced coin.
Vol 3 No 9 – Sat 1st May 1830
The paddle-steamer Forbes (Henderson) has just arrived from Calcutta, the first such steam-powered vessel seen in China.45 She had to sail across part of the China Sea due to fuel shortages and heavy weather but still made 4-5 knots under canvas.
Vol 3 No 9 – Sat 1st May 1830
The Proprietor of Man Hop Hong left Canton on 5th April to go into banishment at Ili. The missing merchant Chun Qua Sr has returned and is at large but has avoided the company of foreigners.
Vol 3 No 9 – Sat 1st May 1830
Complaint of Magniac & Co to How Qua Jr on behalf of the Hong merchants, dated 24th April 1830:
“The recent notification from the Consoo that Hongs will no longer be liable for debts is a derogation from the immutable Imperial laws to have them accord with a local Edict.
“You Hong merchants have a monopoly of the foreign trade and have always been responsible for insolvencies amongst your group. You take over the bankrupt’s property to first pay off the Imperial duty and then settle the foreign claims, native traders having no recourse on continuing Hong merchants. Foreign debts have usually been paid by annual instalments without interest. The money comes from a duty on foreign trade that is levied expressly for that purpose. Effectively, in each case of bankruptcy, you return our own money which you had previously arbitrarily levied on our trade. It is reasonable that the Consoo Duty (the Hong Yung fund for discharging a bankrupt Hong’s debts) must cease.
“You know some Hongs are presently deeply indebted to foreigners. We have no notice that these debts are recorded in the Consoo books. If you now repudiate them on the grounds they have not been reported, we have no security for them. We have claims on more old Hong merchants which we will not identify here. These claims are well evidenced in our accounts. Should any debtor Hong fail we consider the Co-Hong is responsible for our debts.
“We accept that the new Hongs are not and should not be made responsible for the debts of former Hongs.
“We are shocked at the way the Canton Provincial Government readily varies laws intended for our protection whilst claiming other laws of a degrading nature are fixed and immutable.” Sgd Magniac & Co et al
Vol 3 No 9 – Sat 1st May 1830
Reply of the seven Hongs to Dent, Jardine and others, 27th April 1830:
“Last year Plowden and others requested the commercial regulations be changed. The Viceroy and Hoppo then decreed that foreign merchants should not give much credit to Hongs. Every year foreigners will account to the Hoppo showing any Hong debts due to them. Only such reported debts will be admitted in a case of bankruptcy. We informed you of this in writing.
“You replied that we omitted to say anything of the old debts of the old merchants, which you called improper, but you accept that the new Hongs should not be bound to pay the debts of old Hongs. Our not stating clearly how the old debts were to be discharged was an oversight. We now inform you that in respect of debts owed by Hong merchants to foreigners, you are to account for all such debts to the Hoppo for approval.
“Now we Hongs have fixed a limit on debts. Any debts that you claim before this correspondence commenced (i.e. before the new regulation) should be listed distinctly, whether for cargo sold or money lent, and submitted during the 4th moon to the Hong Merchants’ Hall (Consoo house) where they will be agreed and made known to all traders so future dispute can be avoided. The debtor Hong will be required to start repayment and, at the end of the year in accordance with the new regulations, you will report to the Hoppo the balance due. This is to prevent new debts being changed into old debts. If any more Hongs fail, those debts they incurred before this correspondence, which debts have been reported, will be jointly paid by us in instalments as in former times. But should a foreigner press loans on a Hong or fail to report those indebted to him, he will not be paid.
“Circulate this letter amongst yourselves and make out your lists of debts. Send them to the Consoo house for examination and agreement. This will prevent new debts being remade as old debts. For the period since this correspondence began the new regulations will apply and you should not overly trust Hong merchants with either goods or money. If you do we will most decidedly not reimburse you.”
Sgd How Qua, Mow Qua, Puan Ke Qua, Chung Qua, Go Qua, Fat Qua and King Qua.46
Vol 3 No 9 – Sat 1st May 1830
Turkish opium imported last season totalled only 800 – 900 piculs.
Vol 3 No 9 – Sat 1st May 1830
H H Lindsay arrived on the American Brig Lancaster from San Blas on 18th April.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
The Viceroy publicly stated last year that the Hoppo’s fees for the licensing of ships compradors should be reduced. This year on the arrival of the country ships, the Compradors and Linguists both demanded an increased allowance.
The former fee of $300 has now advanced to $450. The two ships that have arrived have sought to put-off the demands saying they will pay whatever is eventually fixed. They hope to avoid embarrassing their constituents. We (the Editor) are researching the matter and will report further.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
Viceroy Lee has interdicted the unlicensed manufacture of iron goods, whether for cooking or agriculture. Transporting iron to the coast and selling it to ships merits strangulation under a law proscribing taking military weapons to sea. Accomplices (porters, boatmen) will get 100 blows and transportation. Boats will be confiscated and furnaces destroyed.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
Some Puluti tribesmen in Turkestan have been discovered exchanging piece goods with gold thread for Chinese tea. Both the sellers and the Chinese buyers have been arrested and the Chinese are said to be liable to transportation. The Puluti Tartars will wear the cangue or be pilloried for three months. They will then be sent to Yunnan or Canton (called ‘the unhealthy regions’). The Emperor’s decision is to be inserted in the penal code as a perpetual precedent.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
The Nam Hoi Yuen has complained of night thieves in Canton. He has caught many but never recovers the loot. He concludes the receivers must be numerous. To intimidate criminals, and make landlords take better care of their rented properties, he orders that the ownership of all houses in which stolen goods are found will be assigned to the informant. He also sanctions residents shooting at people seen on the rooftops at night. Cantonese usually dry their clothes on the roof and a watchman is often posted there. Clothes-drying is permitted in the 1st watch but shooting can commence in the 2nd watch. The projectiles however are not to be iron balls but uncooked rice grains.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
Not long ago the magistrates complained of the advertisements of doctors who promote all sorts of aphrodisiacs using explicit graphics. The police went round and whitewashed the advertisements. Now not only have the old advertisements been replaced but there are many new ones describing the application, uses and effects of various medicines in explicit language which make Canton appear to be a vast brothel.
Government proclamations achieve only a few days compliance then the people revert to their old ways. Sometimes the police pull down a mat-shed on some disallowed place and within hours it is re-erected.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
Those Russian students who are officially permitted in Peking have been examined in Chinese by old Sung and Po Chang. Fifteen wrote essays on a theme of the Emperor’s and ten were ranked 1st class while five were 2nd class.
The essays were put before the Emperor with translations from the Russian and he confirmed the examiners’ decision. At the same time two Chinese were rewarded for progress in translating some official Russian (or possibly Latin) documents.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
A group of Miao people have come down the West River to Canton in tiny boats. They bring some vegetable oil to barter for betelnut and opium.
They speak a form of Mandarin but say their language is quite unlike any Chinese dialect - it is unwritten and they have no books. They have no religion either but celebrate New Year following the Chinese style. The few rich men amongst them have several wives. They neither shave the front of their heads nor grow queues but coil their hair on their heads rather like Chinese women.
They have spent a month travelling here and some Cantonese say they have rebelled against the Empire. Some were brought to meet European ladies and gentlemen in the factories and were given small presents.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
180 prisoners are held in the Canton gaol pending for the Autumn assize. They were examined by the Foo Yuen and other officials the other day and each was given a few coppers and a rush fan and remanded.
A recent Peking Gazette says there are 10,500 people convicted of capital offences who have been spared and the Emperor has ordered the Criminal Board to check each case to see if He might exercise clemency to some few.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
Last month the Treasurer went to White Cloud Hill north of Canton to get Holy Water (consecrated by a Buddhist priest). He passed it to the Foo Yuen who next day sprinkled it on the altar of the City God and requested rain. The Foo Yuen went on five successive days to the altar to request for rain.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
The magistrates have interdicted the storage of rice by grain merchants. They want to control the price. Last year’s harvest was good. Rice is daily arriving down the West River from Kwong Si and some foreign supply is also imported. Although there is little rain the rice supply should be adequate.
Nevertheless the price rises daily due to speculation. The monopolists are now threatened with corporal punishment and confiscation of their rice. The magistrates invite everyone to report any hoarding.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
The river fleet carrying copper from the Yunnan mines to Peking via the Yangtse has been found to also carry several ten thousand catties of smuggled salt. When the military searchers discovered it, the boatmen resisted and accused the searchers of stealing their copper and rice etc.
The officer in charge of the fleet believed his boatmen and struck some soldiers. He was seized and handed over to the Governor of Sze Chuen for investigation of his knowledge of the salt.
Vol 3 No 10 – Sat 15th May 1830
There is no Turkish to be had in Canton. All last year’s Patna and Benares is in Chinese hands. New Patna and Benares sold well recently but has since stopped. Some junks are expected which should revive the market. Some Malwa has been sold but not to the extent of the Bengal drug.
Vol 3 No 11 – Tues 1st June 1830
We have some information on the history of Macau that we gleaned from old documents in the Leal Senado. The first Portuguese attempt on China was in 1522 when three ships under Martin Affonso de Mello attempted to take the Bocca Tigris but were defeated by a large Chinese fleet and forced to flee. de Mello continued along the coast eventually receiving a welcome at Ningpo in Chekiang where he was permitted to settle near the town. From there the small Portuguese community traded with Japan and, with increasing wealth and marriage to local girls, it grew to 1,000 people.
In 1542 in response to an unrecorded danger, the Chekiang Viceroy sent 60,000 men and 400 junks against the Portuguese town. They burned the 75 Portuguese lorchas and killed 800 Europeans and Eurasians. The remainder were allowed to flee.47
By 1544 the survivors had established themselves on the Fukienese coast where they remained 3 years but, by repeated acts of encroachment, they exasperated the locals who then burnt 13 of the Portuguese ships and killed about 470 of the 500 population. The few remaining men fled south, trading with the islanders they met for provisions, until they arrived at St Johns (San Chuan), south west of Macau. The major source of their continuing income was the Japanese trade which they had contrived to maintain throughout their adversities.
This small community established a trading station at St Johns where the Straits and Indo-China junks could trade with Europeans, avoiding the fees at the principal Chinese ports like Canton. The small Portuguese community was more than once destroyed but was an important and well-sited intermediate base for the Goan shipping to Japan and was accordingly always rebuilt.
By 1554 the Canton provincial government decided the island base had become notorious from the Portuguese presence. They required the foreigners to remove to Sam Pa Chau, an island 86 miles west of Macau, where they remained for 3 years.
In the late 1550s a pirate named Tang Sai Lao was ravaging the South China coast. On the application of the Canton government, his group was destroyed by the Portuguese after several battles. For this service the Portuguese community leaders were presented to the Governor in Canton and, requesting for a permanent place to dry their stores, they were allowed to use the deserted tip of Heung Shan, which they named as Macau. They built houses and settled with their mostly Japanese wives. Later other Portuguese came from Malacca to join them. They say the Camby Emperor then granted them the use of the whole peninsula. By 1568 the population was 900 Portuguese and several thousand slaves.
At about this time the Portuguese Viceroy at Goa sent an embassy to China under Gil de Gayo but it was not permitted to enter China. The Porta Cerco was built by the Chinese in 1574 at a conveniently narrow neck of land to prevent unregulated Portuguese access to Heung Shan by land. The Portuguese contrarily say it was to fix a northern limit on their enclave. In 1582 it was proposed to constitute a senate for the better governance of the place and the present senate house was then built. In 1586 the Viceroy at Goa, Dom Duarte de Menezes, granted all the present privileges to the local administration. The first Portuguese military governor was sent to Macau in 1616.
In 1622 Macau was attacked by a Dutch fleet of 15 ships under Cornelius Rogers. He bombarded the place throughout 23rd June then landed a party of 900 soldiers in three columns the following day at Cacilhas Bay. Seeing only some 150 Portuguese, Rogers advanced towards their buildings but was met by the entire population. During a spirited fight some 300 of the Dutch were killed and four of their captains captured. Many of their flags, swords and pikes etc were taken. The Portuguese and Spanish losses were heavy and after this experience they started the construction of a city wall with forts at appropriate places. Having no cannon they brought an engineer from Manila who arrived and supervised the casting of all the required cannon. The following year Don Francisco Mascarenhas was nominated Governor of Macau.
By 1822 the population was:
|
Free Portuguese men Portuguese children Women Slaves Chinese |
604 473 2,693 537 45,000 (app) |
Vol 3 No 11 – Tues 1st June 1830
Some sand has been discovered in bales of Indian cotton sold to the Chinese. It has made onward sale difficult.
The 2nd rice crop this year has failed due to the unusually dry weather and imports from Manila have been easily sold at good profits.
Vol 3 No 11 – Tues 1st June 1830
The new crop of Company’s Malwa is good quality and each chest weights 104 – 104½ catties. 60 piculs of Turkish has also just arrived. It was sold at $850 and on-sold by the Chinese buyer at very high prices.
It is widely said that the Chinese have been cultivating the poppy in Kwangtung and other provinces but they are only getting about 20% of smokable extract and the taste is poor. They are said to be mixing it with Turkish. This cultivation cannot be secret – it must be done in collusion with the authorities.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
Advertisement - The Agency at Canton for the Asiatic Insurance Company will be conducted from 1st June 1830 by John Templeton.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
Horse racing has again been held in Macau on 6th and 20th April. The Tso Tong was invited but did not come. He sent some runners who indicated where to mark the course. Afterwards the party adjourned to the Company’s Palacio where subscriptions were called for future races. One was for Manila horses. Residents of the Albany offered $100 for a brace of Chinese horses and $400 for any Arab or Indian horses to be raced on the first racing day of 1832. These encouragements to importation delighted the group.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
The elder Chun Qua is rumoured to have agreed to personally supervise his Hong and will liquidate the foreign debts early. He has given security for the outstanding revenue due to government.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
The Nam Hoi magistrate is still tackling the problem of burglary. He ordered the inhabitants to affix pointed bamboos on their walls to deter night thieves from passing from house to house but few complied. They said it did not look nice or it detracted from their fung shui. Whilst they ignore his recommendations they continue to complain of thefts. It is widely surmised that when they lose a little, they report a lot.
Now he has recommended sharp bits of broken tile stuck in lime on the tops of walls. It is not readily apparent from street level. If the householders will not do this, he threatens to punish the policemen who are supposed to enforce his will. The locals think the magistrate’s proposals are unrealistic.
They say sharp bamboos can easily be cut away or might be burned increasing the risk of fire spread. They say everyone except the magistrate knows broken tiles are not as sharp as broken chinaware.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
Some bandits residing in the hills near Shun Tak recently descended on a shop, robbed its contents, and seized three men whom they held for ransom.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
Small pox is spreading throughout the villages of Heung Shan and many fatalities have occurred. It is rumoured 400 children have died so far.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
The Peking Gazettes report success against the insurgency in Taiwan and several officers are to be honoured.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
The Emperor suspects a defect in the administration of justice. Cases are being delayed. Unjust decisions provoke appeals. Attempts at accommodation satisfy neither party. The cases are decided one way and, on appeal, the other way. Then new witnesses are found. One party is imprisoned to await the appearance of the other. Finally the matter comes to the Supreme Court in Peking. In this way the law is used to encourage discord and the simple people get caught in a legal trap from which they cannot withdraw.
The present system of rewarding the vigilant magistrate and sending unproved accusations to Peking is insufficient to exhibit justice. Viceroys and Foo Yuens are ordered to have all cases settled quickly in their provinces. If they start to accumulate, the magistrates must be dealt with severely and the Emperor informed. In this way merit and demerit will become apparent and all time-wasting will be abandoned. False imprisonment will cease.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
James Matheson arrived on 31st May on the British barque Sherbourne from Calcutta. The other foreign passenger was Mrs White.
Vol 3 No 12 – Thurs 15th June 1830
Prices of the Indian drug, particularly Malwa, have been declining and almost no sales have been made this last few days. Some small holders have been bartering opium for silk and other Chinese products. This practice hurts the regular (smuggling) trade and injures the Drug importer and dealer.
Malwa was sold yesterday at $650 and it is dragging Patna and Benares down with it. The Chinese will replenish stocks at these low prices and there will again be stagnation in the near future. The importers are holding out for $820-825 for Patna and Benares. Turkish is $850 – 870 (one of those rare occasions when Turkish costs more than all other types)
Most of the Bengal supply that was sold at the 4th Calcutta auction arrived here on the Isabella Robertson on 11th June. Both the quality and packing vary from usual. This will cause uncertainty and make sales difficult. Previously opium was sold on its appearance and marks. It was as reliable as specie. When these are changed for economy, confidence is weakened.
Sycee has advanced considerably amongst the Canton dealers and will soon affect those exporters who want to buy it for their returns.48
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
The Linguists have tried to combine to charge $600 per foreign ship for their services but How Qua Jr has opposed them. He says he will name the instigator to the Viceroy if the foreigners complain. The instigator, whose name we know, keeps a dozen concubines, many in separate houses.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
The Thai embassy has arrived back in Canton from Peking and has been entertained by the Viceroy and Foo Yuen.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
On the anniversary of Waterloo (18th June), a tributary dinner was given to all the traders at Canton by M J Senn van Basel, the Netherlands Consul. Good food and wine was provided and an hilarious evening ensued.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
There are six Supreme Courts in Peking and the volume of new law passing through these courts has increased to the point that publishing a new code every ten years is inadequate. Wily litigators who track developments sometimes use the new law or the old law depending on where the advantage lies and the courts cannot keep up with them.
The Emperor has decreed that instead of revising the law every ten years, the courts should try to make less new law but, when they do, it should be reported to the Emperor for approval and promulgated.49
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
Wat Yuen’s festival was celebrated last week. The weather was fine but the numbers of dragon boats on the river were few owing to the distress caused by the paucity of the 2nd annual rice harvest.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
We recently reported that the Nam Hoi magistrate permitted inhabitants to fire at thieves on rooftops after dark. Apparently there has since been constant gunfire at night and everyone is disturbed.
He now proclaims that firearms are illegal and only the most serious case can excuse their use. If the inhabitant is certain the target is a thief and certain he cannot catch him any other way, then he may fire.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
The Poon Yu magistrate notes that students for the provincial examinations have commenced arriving in Canton. Every year when they come, thieves and pick-pockets follow them. These bandits rent rooms at high prices in which to store their loot. Householders should take care when renting rooms to generous tenants. If the house is later found to contain thieves or stolen property, it will be seized by government and given to the main informer and the owner will also be punished for his carelessness. Take care.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
There are 7,000 barbers in Canton (tai tau lo – head shavers, in Cantonese). 6,000 of them come from the three eastern districts of Wai, Chau and Ka where all the rough and violent people live.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
The government is redoubling its efforts to stabilise the price of rice. Several rice merchants have been seized for demanding high prices. One local thinks this action will drive dealers out of the market and could make matters worse.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
Mrs Fei Chung Po is 67 years old. She is the widow of a tea merchant who died young and left her in poverty. Her daughter sold a small house and gave Mrs Fei the proceeds for her livelihood. The old woman used this gift to rent a house and set it up as a posh gambling den for men and women. She bribed the police and very soon had a distinguished clientele and an increasing fortune.
Recently the son of the Poon Yu magistrate Hu started visiting her tables and on one night lost $1,000. He became angry and left but returned later to try and win back his loss. Mrs Fei counselled him not to bet more, fearing the matter might get out of hand. Young Hu laid a plot to entrap Mrs Fei but when he revealed her business to his father, it backfired under questioning, and the true story came out. Now Mrs Fei is in prison and none of her friends can help her.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
Na, the hero of Kashgar and now Governor of Chih Li, reports that it is a commonplace that men arrested by the police in his province for social crimes (usually gambling) are liberated by other members of the public who thrash the policemen. He details two recent cases. In one a Heen magistrate was roughed-up.
He says disrespect for the law is the first step to rebellion. He has beheaded two offenders but he also transferred the involved magistrate to another district.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
The commander of Mukden says there are 300 members of the royal family resident there, all unemployed. He asks that they may be admitted as candidates for jobs in the Courts.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
We have been reading a book by a Chinese who travelled in western Tartary about 50 years ago. He says N W of Ili is a large country called Ha Sa Ki that is occupied by two tribes. The people live in tents and have no houses. They grow no grain and live as herdsmen. The grass there grows about 6” tall and has a white root - animals fatten easily upon it. Rich people may own 10,000+ cattle and horses and their sheep are innumerable. Several men share one wife. When a male reaches 16 years he is given some cattle and provides for himself. They eat camel, horse, cow and sheep. They make a wine from mare’s milk.50 Their eating utensils are of wood. They wear many garments even in summer as these reveal one’s wealth. They prize Chinese earthenware and tea highly.
In 1756 the Kien Lung Emperor entered this country and the ruler of the southern half, Khan Opoolai, submitted to China. His lands and people were incorporated into China. Every year they gave tribute to China of 1 cow per hundred and 1 sheep per thousand. The Chinese governor at Ili collects this tribute from the King who first collects it from his people. At first they were reluctant to pay tribute but now they tolerate it. The people of the northern part of Ha Sa Ki have no relationship with China.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
The temple to Chuangtse, a contemporary of Confucius, in Shantung has not been repaired for a century and is nearly in ruins. The Emperor has now ordered a thorough refurbishment to evidence his piety.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
Rumours of a bumper supply of Malwa from Damaun have knocked prices down to $530 for small lots. This must be the bottom of the market. Yesterday some parcels sold at slightly more. Patna also dropped to $770 but has since revived slightly. Deliveries last month were enormous and many forward buyers have forfeited their deposits rather than lose more by paying the old prices. Many Chinese dealers have been very unlucky in their speculations.
Vol 3 No 13 – Sat 3rd July 1830
John Morrison and his daughter arrived per Fort William from Bombay on 16th June.
Vol 3 No 14 – Sat 17th July 1830
The Viceroy has unequivocally instructed the magistrates to oppose gaming houses. They have set about a suppression and all are temporarily closed. This diversion of their manpower has permitted some 40 daring robberies to occur at the same time. Both the Nam Hoi and Poon Yu magistrates are consequently threatened with a report of incompetency to the Emperor.
Recently a consignment of Imperial treasure was robbed at the north gate of the city and the guards did nothing. The matter is being hushed-up and the Viceroy is searching for a replacement supply of silver to send.
Vol 3 No 14 – Sat 17th July 1830
Kin Ah Cheah is a successful robber of Poon Yu whom the police know all about (and secretly admire) but do not catch. After the recent spate of robberies, the governor learned his name and ordered his capture and the magistrate was obliged to offer a $3,000 reward.
Such a large reward inevitably ensured his capture as it was sufficient to allow for his parents to be seized and conceivably tortured for information. To avoid this he surrendered. The policeman he chose to surrender to is called Kau Mo (Dog’s Hair). On getting the reward, the policeman paid $1,000 to Kin Ah Cheah to benefit his family after his inevitable execution.
Vol 3 No 14 – Sat 17th July 1830
The Nam Hoi magistrate has received a petition for help from the widow Wai Ping, 63 years. She is the mother of three sons. The eldest teaches reading and supports her. The youngest is dead and the other, Ah Keen Soo, is a wastrel. He does not work but gambles and fornicates all day. He ignores the admonitions of the eldest son and recently took-up opium smoking. He has stolen everything in the house to finance his social habits and duns his mother daily for more money. When she reproved him, he appeared ready to strike her. She petitions for official assistance.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
The French ship Euphemie sank off the N W coast of Lintin on 24th July in a typhoon. She struck the rocks with her stern and suddenly sank in 10 fathoms bow-first. One man was drowned. The wreck was sold ‘as is’ at Lintin for $4,900.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
The Proprietor of Man Hop is reported to have died en route to Ili to commence his banishment. He is rumoured to have smoked too much opium at the outset of his journey and run out half-way.
Pak Qua, the merchant who was cheated out of all he possessed en route to Ili, has since arrived there and a letter has recently been received from him.
Judge Ching (now at Canton but before at Kansu when Pak Qua passed through that province) made him rector of a temple at Ili and Pak directs all his friends to bow to the Judge for his great kindness.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
We hear the government investigation into Chun Qua has produced securities for his debts to the revenue but no-one is trying to recover his foreign debts.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
16th Nov at Macau – The compradors have presented a list of reduced fees for services to Company ships of any size. The items listed are many. They refer to payments at Customs Houses at Whampoa, 1st and 2nd bar and at various forts. Large ships that previously paid $534 - 1,165 will in future pay $74 – 763.
Many annual charges are reduced by about a third and others are cancelled (such as the $1,100 p a for 11 days of theatricals for the Whampoa Customs House staff; the $20 fee for both casting and weighing anchor, and $8 per ship for idol worship costs).
The charge on small ships is reduced from $847 to $496. The comprador says the old fee of $1,165 for a large ship will now be $763 and the annual charges for each ship in the fleet will be reduced from $2,352 to $602.
Country merchants fear these new fees will not be applied to their country ships as the list specifies Company ships.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
The Hoppo has amended port charges on 11th May.
To the Hong merchants - “You know the Emperor sanctioned a reduction in Port Entrance fees. You now ask how much it is. The old fee was 1,125.96 Taels less 10% = 1,013.36 Taels. This is reduced a further 20% to 810.691 Taels.
Previously there were three classes of ship. That is cancelled. Everyone will pay 810.691 Taels. Previously, the French, single eagle and double eagle (possibly Prussia and Austria) countries paid 100 Taels more and Sula (?) ships paid 100 Taels less. Now their entry fees are also reduced 20%. All these fees are subject to a 6% sycee weighing fee and a 0.6% transportation fee (to send the sycee to the Treasury).
Port Clearance fees will remain as hitherto for all foreign ships. That is 480.42 Taels per ship regardless of size. Opening the barrier, payable to the Leung Tau (the grain superintendent) continues unchanged at 116.424 Taels on each ship. No charge for weighing or transporting the sycee is allowed.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
Complete list of revised fees and charges for foreign ships at the Port of Canton (in Spanish dollars)
|
- Fee to Customs for applying for food permit Fee to Customs head for providing food permit Fee for stamping the permit Fee for introducing comprador to Customs head Fee for delivering food Fee for extra food General fee on provisioning Shoe money for Customs House runners Fees to Customs House servants Fee to Tsung Chun Customs (between the Follies) Fee to Eastern fort Customs (at French folly) Fee to Sai Ho (the Creek) Customs house Fee to Customs house in front of factories Fee to Poon Yu magistrate for bond Fee to Sze Office at Kau Tong, Whampoa Fee to Ag/Magistrate at Weng Ting for bond Monthly fee for Customs officers on Dane’s Island Policemen guarding warehouse foundations Fee for witnessing anchoring Fee for witnessing anchoring Clerks recording anchoring Anchoring fee Raising anchor fee Autumn festival charge Fee for clerks at Autumn festival Governor’s officer to guard larboard Hoppo’s officer to guard starboard Annual general charge per ship Additional charge per country ship Various other misc charges Total |
Old Fee 120.00 75.00 15.00 26.00 40.00 56.00 32.00 2.00 30.00 31.00 18.00 1.00 1.36 8.00 8.30 3.36 3.662 1.10 5.00 5.00 8.00 27.56 27.56 10.00 3.00 18.36 16.00 10.00 9.00 balance 672.00 |
New Fee 60.00 38,00 7.36 16.00 24.00 34.00 20.00 2.00 18.00 16.00 10.00 1.00 1.36 8.00 8.30 3.36 3.662 1.10 5.00 5.00 8.00 27.56 27.56 7.00 3.00 11.00 10.00 10.00 9.00 balance 410.00 |
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
In a local news-sheet it is said there are 1,600 brothels in Canton and each pays a tariff bribe of $200 per month to the police.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
Some wealthy businessmen in Canton are retailers of charcoal and wood. They have 1,700 shops in Canton and a guild to fix regulations.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
The five Heens surrounding Canton are Nam Hoi, Poon Yu, Tung Kwoon, Shun Tak and Heung Shan. Each has about 1,000 unpaid police runners. Middle sized districts have 300-400. Small districts have 100-200. All of these receive what income they have to prevent or connive at crime.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
Letter to the Editor - I was an early subscriber to your paper. In the first two numbers you said you would be publishing matters of local interest and information. All we have had recently have been immoralities and indecencies, crime and punishment. Why are you reporting domestic Chinese scandals, the truth of which you have no idea?
I do not care if a Linguist has 12 wives - I only care about his ability to translate. The celebratory dinner for the anniversary of Waterloo was a private affair. We all know what transpired better than you. To others it is of no interest.
Sgd Sincerity
Editor - The Canton Register is not a money-making concern. Principle not profit originated and will continue it. We have received another letter like Sincerity’s from a man calling himself Vindex but we will not publish it.
Note - The shipping lists in Canton Register show most American ships arrive from Manila and a few from Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). They commonly sail from Boston and New York round the Horn, take seal skins in the South Atlantic, trade at Chile and Peru for silver, barter blankets and iron utensils for sea otter pelts off Oregon, continue to Hawaii for sandalwood, then through the South East Asian islands where they buy and boil beche-de-mer and obtain other exotic goods, thence to Manila (for rice &/or sugar) and thus come up to Macau/ Lintin, buying and selling all along the way.
Occasionally an American ship arrives Canton from London and Gibraltar. These bring the Turkish opium and visit London for financial reasons.
Most American ship captains are in their twenties.
Vol 3 No 15 – Mon 2nd August 1830
There has been no activity for a fortnight until yesterday when the brokers suddenly bought much Malwa both for cash and on time sales. Prices have revived a little. Bengal opium has declined slightly and Turkish is $790-800 per picul. A lot of Malwa has been delivered to Lintin his month. Sycee is at 5¾-6% premium and difficult to obtain.
The present stagnation in trade has surprised us all. No similar event can be recalled.
Vol 3 No 16 – Wed 18th August 1830
Imperial rescript – the revenue from internal transit dues has long been fixed and no deficiency is allowed. In recent years the statements of various Customs superintendents have shown a shortfall.
Hang Kei at Hai Kwan pass is 69,000 Taels short; Wan Chiang at Hiu Yai pass is 60,000 Taels short. This is laziness. When will it stop?
The Lui Wu Fu will draft rules for each pass so we can distinguish merit from demerit and reward or punish accordingly. Dated 29th April 1830
Vol 3 No 16 – Wed 18th August 1830
Brokers have made repeated enquiries, mainly for Malwa, which have encouraged importers to quote higher prices without any sales actually occurring. Some trade in Damaun Malwa has been done for cash and on 30 and 60 days terms but the prices have been low and the trade (a few hundred chests) is only amongst foreigners.
We have had nearly 800 chests delivered in the first half of August. Much of the Damaun Malwa is inferior and complaints are received daily.
Vol 3 No 16 – Wed 18th August 1830
Some country ships have recently left port fully loaded but the Company fleet remains outside the river at Kowloon anchorage and the investments of the commanders and officers are accordingly being kept out of the market. It seems the Select remains dissatisfied with the revised terms of trade.
Vol 3 No 17 – Wed 25th Aug 1830
Chung the Hoppo sends the following order dated 3rd August to the Hong merchants to advise Jardine:
Hitherto duties on imports were levied three months after the annual settlement at the Customs House and a further three months after that the whole amount was sent to the Emperor in Peking. This year when the time arrived to dispatch the money, many small sums were still owing by several merchants. Over the next six months more foreign ships entered port and, to make up the account, some weak merchants were induced to transfer duties received for the new cargoes to make up the shortfall on the old. Then, when they came to account for the next annual duty, they borrowed from foreigners and your claims increased with interest. Unless this problem is addressed the debts will continue to increase as the likelihood of repayment decreases.51
The law is that the Hong merchant receiving foreign goods pays the import duty when the ship sails. In future it will be the duty of the Security Merchant to distinguish which Hong has bought which goods and what remains unsold. Duties on goods already sold will be paid by the buying Hong. Duties on unsold goods will be paid by the foreigner to the Security merchant and paid by him to government. The foreigner must exchange goods for goods. There can be no money lent on interest. The Hong merchants are required by law to conduct trade by barter. They may not amass debts to foreigners.
When a ship requests for Port Clearance it will have to show that the duty on all its import cargo has been paid. The foreign ships usually discharge their cargoes within a month of arrival but they wait 4-5 months for the new teas and other return cargo. If it was a rule that all ships pay duty on leaving, those that remain long might use the duty money for another purpose. Hereafter foreign ships requesting port clearance within 1-2 months of arrival must evidence prior payment of import duty. But those staying five months may not wait until departure to pay. Instead within three months of examination of their imports, they must pay all the duty and the Security merchant and Linguists will be responsible to ensure it is done. In this way the import duties will always become available within the six months allowed and the practice of transferring new receipts to pay old duty will be ended.
I have discussed this with the Viceroy and Foo Yuen and it has been reported to the Emperor. I have ordered the head Linguist Tsai Mo (ah Tam), also known as Old Tom, to instruct his group to obey this.
14th day of 8th moon is the date that land tax is payable. All import duties on cargo must in future be paid in accordance with this order. The former law, requiring import duties to be levied three months after completing the Customs House accounts, is hereby annulled. You are ordered to report in the manner specified above. Implicitly obey.
Vol 3 No 17 – Wed 25th Aug 1830
The edict of the Hoppo suggests his reluctance to authorise new Hong merchants. He sets the financial requirements high and prevents several interested small businessmen from applying. He is suspected of wanting to keep the number low so he can control them more easily. It is his exactions that oppress the foreign trade. That must be his intention.52
The new Hoppo Ching Cheung was previously the Customs Superintendent at Hai Kwan pass (between Manchuria and China). It is one of the places recently identified by the Emperor as having a shortfall in its receipts. The total shortfall in 6th, 7th and 8th years of the current reign was 217,596 Taels. Ching Cheung has been ordered to settle the shortfall himself. He has already paid two instalments of 10,000 Taels each and has indicated willingness to pay another 30,000 Taels by depositing that sum in the Poo Ching Sze at Canton. The Emperor orders that as the Hoppo is unable to pay all at once, he agrees to wait until the 6th and 7th years shortfalls have been paid before receiving the 8th year shortfall.
Editor’s comment – this might well explain the new Hoppo’s posting here. He has to dun the Hong merchants for money to settle the Emperor’s demands. This will be passed on to the foreign trade in full.
Vol 3 No 17 – Wed 25th Aug 1830
The Chinese government professes that all persons may petition for redress of grievances. In practise officials create obstacles to petitioning and recently (in the dispute over Man Hop’s debts) the Viceroy threatened to cancel the right altogether. This problem has existed at least since the restrictive trade system was adopted in 1759. As a result of that unilateral initiative,53 the Company wrote the Canton government in 1761 notifying various grievances, one of which was the difficulty in making complaints to government.
They said ‘… last year our supercargoes wished to put a case before the Hoppo but were prevented from seeing him. We request that if there is a case, we should be permitted to make it to the Hoppo’.
Here is the then government’s response to that complaint:
“When foreign ships enter port and come to Whampoa, the Hoppo is legally required to go and superintend the measurement of the ships. He should also make presents of cattle 5-6 times each season to foreigners. If the foreigners have any matter for the Hoppo, they should use these times to present it. Actually the Hoppo says any foreign merchant can always appear before him. If the foreigner cannot wait until the next of the 5-6 stated times, he may go with his Security merchant and Linguist to present his petition and the watchmen are not allowed to prevent it.”
Vol 3 No 17 – Wed 25th Aug 1830
A dispute over weights has occurred between the fishermen who supply the fishmongers in the markets. The fishermen wished to make a change but the market retailers declined to buy and, as fish are readily perishable, the boatmen gave in first. Later when the markets had no fish, the retailers repeated their demand. Then the watermen’s union stepped in and fined the involved boatmen one day’s street play expenses (contributions for staging public theatricals) and ordered they bring in the fish as before.
Vol 3 No 17 – Wed 25th Aug 1830
Wang Chu, an Imperial censor, has complained of the extortions of police runners. When a witness summons is issued, the runners dun Plaintiff and Defendant for money to serve or not to serve the process. They often charge $100 or more for process service. The magistrate’s clerks, being more important, must receive double what the lictors get or they will create procedural difficulties for the Plaintiff.
These lictors create complaints against any wealthy person purely to extort from him. They have connections with the gutter lawyers whereby one lawyer complains and another offers to defend and thus they both make money.
In murder cases, where many relatives and neighbours must be interviewed, the police runners importune shamelessly over all sorts of unrelated matters that come to light during questioning.
They have agreements with bandit groups to connive at robberies for reward.
The censor Wang Chu depicts the police in this light and the Emperor acknowledges it. He says he selects the best officials by examination, appoints them as officials to preserve the peace and comfort the people, but the greatest cause of popular suffering is the magistrate’s staff who act under the control of these carefully selected officials. He orders the local magistrates to exercise greater vigilance in controlling their staff.54
Vol 3 No 17 – Wed 25th Aug 1830
Commercial News – two new Security Merchants have been appointed, details later.
Vol 3 No 17 – Wed 25th Aug 1830
The American ship Bashaw arrived from London 24th August bringing back Mr J P Cushing.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
The East River has overflowed, the foo of Waichow has been inundated and 1,000 houses and shops have been swept away. Up to 5,000 people are feared drowned.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
The To Kwong Emperor is reportedly enamoured with the daughter of Siu Shih, a Hau Kwan (Chinese army) officer. The army assisted the Manchu’s in their conquest of China. The lady sings and excels at poetry.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
About 2 months ago Chin Ting Ta, the street leader of Sei Hin Fong (a street name) in Canton, was robbed of 3,000 Taels by a gang of well-armed thieves. The following night the same gang raped several women.
Then on 1st September the government got some information and arrested Lee Cheung who has confessed to being the leader and has identified 30 associates. They are all to stand trial.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
Siu, the doyen of the literati in Canton, is not a rich man. Having achieved success in the social organisation of the arts, he is belatedly trying to obtain wealth by selling literary degrees. A Siu Tsai degree costs $8,000 and Siu is expected to gross over $100,000 but it is illegal and the risks of shakedown and/or Imperial wrath are great.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
Lt Col de Lacy Evans, in his book quantifying the risk of a Russian or French attack on India, has appended some interesting comments on future British trade with China. He says in 20-30 years it will be necessary to have free and unrestricted commercial access to the Chinese Empire.
A force of 10,000 men and a cost not exceeding that previously thrown away on useless embassies, should suffice to obtain the objective. The Colonel is so pleased with his plan that he never questions its morality either in terms of our justice or our religion.
He says killing a few thousand people to obtain tea at a fair price is a ‘simple process’. One wonders whether, if all the trade could be had at the sacrifice of just the Colonel’s life, he would still be willing to pursue his ‘simple process’. He should instead have Jeremy Bentham print off a few million pamphlets in Chinese on the ‘greatest happiness’ principle and the concept of free trade. If that gets no result he might send a school master to inculcate understanding.
Only then, in the event of failure after 20-30 years of effort, may the bayonet be used to force the Chinese to be ‘free and happy and buy and sell without limitation’.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
There are 25,000 cobblers in Canton, 16,000 furniture makers and carpenters, 15,000 weavers and 7,000 gem setters. There are 18,000+ trading boats on the river between Canton and Whampoa. There are 50,000+ Tanka (Soi Serng) people. All these pay an annual licensing fee to police.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
The scholar Yuen Yuen, late Viceroy of the two Kwong, was transferred to be Governor of Yunnan concurrent with the India Company’s recent war with Burma.
He has just reported the suppression of an insurrection of foreign barbarians in his province.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
Macau – a new temple has been built by the Chinese in the Campo at Waterlily Creek and from 4th – 15th August daily processions have been held to bring-in (cheng) the new idols. A temple in this vicinity has long existed and been adequate for the poor residents but last year the geomancer Leung visited Macau and persuaded some wealthy men that the old site was unlucky while the opposite bank of the creek was auspicious.
Macau has experienced frequent fires and bad trade for several years so they agreed to finance the building and a subscription from locals made up the balance (including a large donation from a Junior Hong merchant who also donated the land). The processions were financed by the various trades of Macau who all hope to become prosperous as a result – first the rice dealers, then the tailors, then carpenters, bricklayers, dealers in foreign goods and pork butchers. These were followed by the villagers of Sha Le Tau, Mong Ha etc.
The police were on the alert and three pickpockets were arrested and immediately pilloried on the spot.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
All Chinese esteem, admire and love their country. The government selects the best talents for its service by examination. Successful applicants enter the lower ranks of the administration. As they are promoted through the ranks, they amass experience in the art of governing. The senior officials are expert in their understanding of human nature and its management for government purposes. Those Chinese who have been abroad infinitely prefer the home system. Those who have not been abroad, but to whom a description of the western system is given, likewise think China is better.
They acknowledge our technical superiority without valuing it much. They deplore our etiquette which they consider uncivilised. In the following translation will be seen what the Chinese expect of an official – patriotism, justice, knowledge and religion:
Shao Pung Wan said most officials wish only to satisfy themselves and their families. They fear only punishment for their crimes. One cannot find a good official in a hundred. Let all officials consider their lives according to the following rules….. (There follows a lengthy passage on patriotism, justice, knowledge and religion)
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
There have been a few trades of Bengal drug recently, mostly between foreigners. The Chinese have been selling their Malwa holdings, sometimes at a loss. Complaints against the quality of the Damaun supply are heard daily and several orders have been returned to the detriment of the trade.
Some Turkish has arrived (on the American ship Bashaw on 24th August) and pulled the price down to $700 per picul with little demand.
The Merope has returned from the East Coast. She sold a few chests of opium but met a typhoon off Taiwan, lost all her anchors and cables and had to return.
Vol 3 No 18 – Mon 6th September 1830
The purchasers of the French ship Euphemie (which sank off Lintin in a typhoon) have recovered most of her cargo and stores.
Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830
Cheung, the Viceroy of Keangnan (the old name for Keang Su and Gan Hwuy, but he also administers Keang Si), who was Canton governor during Lord Amherst’s embassy, has requested the Emperor’s permission to retire to his estate. If approved the Hong merchants expect the present Viceroy Lee will replace him and our Foo Yuen Loo will be elevated to Viceroy here.
Note:
The French consul in Canton is M Gernaert. He is mentioned in Canton Register Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830 concerning the loss of the Euphemie.
Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830
A great Buddhist ceremony has been held for How Qua’s wife who died last year. It must have cost over $10,000. After this ceremony her remains will be buried.
Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830
Some ex-convicts from Ili who were amnestied after fighting for China against Jehangir, have complained that they only received the amnesty without the cash bounty. They say the regular troops were weak and fearful and it was the 10,000 convicts who carried the battle and obtained victory. As evidence, they note that 4,000 of their number died.
Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830
An Oriental Institute is opened at St Petersburg University to study Asian languages inter alia Chinese. They will study for 5 years then attend the Russian school in Peking.
Robert Peel was asked to create a Chinese chair at Oxford in 1825 but declined. Now Peel has been succeeded as Chancellor by Sir Robert Inglis (one of the Company’s MPs) we expect Chinese will be studied there.
France, Prussia and now Russia have all encouraged Chinese studies but England does nothing.
Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830
Lee Yuen Fong lived with his wife and son in Poon Yu. Eleven years ago he argued with one of the Keen clan, a rich family in the area, over ownership of a grave site and sued the clan for an order confirming his own family’s title. The Keens bribed the Poon Yu magistrate who found for the defendants. Lee boldly protested in open court that he would never admit such untruth even they beat him to death (the magistrate had ordered him to sign a paper acknowledging Keen’s ownership of the site). Without the form being signed the case could not be closed so, to make Lee more accommodating, the magistrate gaoled him. The Keens then solicited the gaolers to accomplish Lee’s death and after a month they duly reported he had died of disease.
The widow appealed to first the Foo court then the Sze court but both times was referred back to the Poon Yu magistrate so the matter lapsed. The widow awaited her son maturing before having him seek for justice for the family. The Keens, learning of her intention to persevere, obtained police agreement to arrest the boy on some charge. This made the widow desperate. This summer she walked to Canton to petition the Foo Yuen. She applied three times but was always rejected. This month she went again to his gate when he coincidentally was coming out. She pressed the petition on him but he threw it away. She then took out a knife and cut her own throat. The wound appeared fatal but she did not die instantly. The Foo Yuen directed that, if she recovered, he would reconsider her case. By-standers were incensed and indignantly spread the report throughout the city. The story is being circulated as a ‘lamentable case, extremely oppressive’.
Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830
Chin Shui Yu, grain superintendent of Shensi, has reported to Peking that while travelling on duty he saw a body floating in a river. He asked the local people why they did not tell the magistrate and they said there are many bodies found floating in the river but its better to leave the corpse to be eaten by fish or dogs. If they tell the magistrate he will require the owner of the land where the corpse is brought ashore to pay for a coffin. The magistrate’s writers and lictors will force us to identify the body, locate relatives and secure their attendance at the magistrate’s yamen. They may do other unpleasant things unconnected with the case. Thus it is more prudent for us to not become involved.
As this case should involve the magistrate, I nevertheless sent word to him and continued with my work. Three weeks later I again passed that spot and the same corpse was still there together with a new one further along the river. I again informed the magistrate. The new corpse was in a different district and that was soon examined and buried but the old corpse was ignored and, solely because of my interest, the local people brought it ashore and buried it themselves.
Now the place where the corpse was found is not far from the magistrate’s office. He should have heard of it if the people trusted him. What they said about keeping back information is very likely true. I was told that many are drowned in 4th and 5th months when the river flow increases and again when the grain junks arrive many merchants and coolies are jumping on and off boats and more people are drowned. Yet no-one informs the magistrates of these deaths.
The burial of people should be important to a benevolent government. The deceased people may be the victims of ‘who knows what’. Please instruct the Governor of Chih Li and the Yuen of Shun Tin district to have their policemen attend to drowned bodies, prohibit the writers and runners of officials from extorting money and give the magistrates adequate expenses to bury unidentified corpses.
Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830
Peking Gazettes:
The police in Kwei Chow are accused of causing or permitting the death by maltreatment of six men in prison. Four died in a single month. The son of one victim is the Petitioner.
A Buriat chief, one of those who assisted in the defeat of Jehangir, has sent a fine horse to Cha Lung O, the resident at Kashgar, and Cha asks Imperial permission to bestow official rank (a button and peacock’s feather) on the donor. His Majesty approves a button of the 6th degree.
The Chinese resident at Kashgar reports that the baggage train of
the army that fought Jehangir was abandoned in Turkestan and the
carters, camel drivers etc have become vagrants in all the Muslim
cities. He drives them away but they have nowhere to go and keep
coming back.
He proposes to obtain their agreement to return to
China in return for a catty of flour a day for each man. He asks
that any Chinese requesting passes to travel west through Kea Yu
Kwan into Turkestan be refused unless they be traders.
Wang Chau, the censor of Hu Kuang, has complained the practice of
provincial governors sending their ageing officials to Peking to
work in the boards there. He says important posts are increasingly
held by senile idiots.
Editor – this subject is in vogue
amongst the officials. There are daily orders to old men to retire.
The Governor of Szechuan, who is over 70 years, has been ordered to
step down. At least he keeps his rank and emoluments. Another old
officer had to petition the Emperor for half-pay as he cannot
continue without something.
A Caravan of Tibetan traders has been attacked on the Szechuan border by bandits. An army unit sent to restore order was likewise attacked by the same bandits. Several thieves were caught and beheaded on the spot.
The stolen property comprising goods, cattle and horses, was sold and the proceeds given to the surviving Tibetans.
Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830
H H Lindsay has arrived on the French ship Camille from Manila on 7th September.
Vol 3 No 19 – Sat 18th September 1830
Only time bargains are being taken up recently. Few cash sales have occurred. The inferior quality of the recent Damaun Malwa is keeping prices down and unsettling the market. A little Turkish has been sold at $680 per picul
Vol 3 No 20 – Sat 2nd Oct 1830
The business of Remington Crawford & Co of Bombay will from 31st July be renamed as Crawford & Co.
Vol 3 No 20 – Sat 2nd Oct 1830
There was a fight in the Dutch Hong on Thursday night (30th Sept) and Capt F MacKenzie of the Dutch ship Vrouw Helena died yesterday of wounds received. Several foreigners have formed a jury at the Netherlands Consulate to hold an Inquest into the matter. They have determined that death was due to blows from three Parsees named Nowrojee, Framjee and Jamsetjee, all employees of Merwanjee Hormajee.
The Netherlands Consul immediately applied to H H Lindsay, the only member of the Select now present in China, to apprehend the Parsees for murder. Their employer and another Parsee have given security to deliver them should proceedings commence. It appears Capt MacKenzie had attempted to intervene in a dispute between the Parsees and was fatally injured.
Vol 3 No 20 – Sat 2nd Oct 1830
Peking Gazettes:
In the four coastal provinces of Kiangnan, Chekiang, Fukien and Kwangtung, army officers may transfer to the navy. The number of such transfers has increased in recent years and a Censor has alerted the Emperor that something ‘inappropriate’ is going on. He asks the Emperor to order the respective governors to examine officers applying for transfer to learn their true reasons.
Editor - the suspicion is that they are profiting from our east coast smuggling.
In Chinese administration it is the Board of Appointments in Peking
that selects officers for provincial posts. Recently a large number
of new officials were created by purchase in order to pay for the
war with Jehangir. Although the number of officials has increased,
the number of posts has remained constant.
Now there is a
surfeit of officials in all the provinces. The Governor of Szechuan
has asked the Emperor to instruct the Board to send no more ‘waiters
for office’ as his present supply will last many years.
The Emperor recognises that delayed justice is injustice. He finds the courts have too much discretion and have not properly addressed the problem of delay. He has fixed periods of 10 or 20 or 30 days in which all ordinary cases are to be decided and orders that the limits be incorporated in the body of laws. They are to take perpetual effect.
A Pekinese lady named Yee Chaou claims to be enabled by the Buddha to cure disease by charms. She has placed a tablet over her gate and affixed the names of her more famous clients to it on pieces of yellow paper.
For this effrontery, she and her assistants are ordered arrested by the Emperor. They are to be handed over to the criminal board for adjudication.
The Chinese government allows a right of petition but disallows representative petitions. The governor of Hunan has received just such an objectionable petition and asks the Emperor if he may order Hunan police to identify the author and bring him before the governor for chastisement.
Vol 3 No 20 – Sat 2nd Oct 1830
Local News:
The
Nam Hoi Yuen’s runners went to a village to arrest a man for debt.
They (illegally) fettered and chained him and threw him in the
bottom of their boat. The man’s wife and concubine, one of whom
was pregnant, came to the river bank and tried to physically prevent
the boat from casting off.
The runners cast-off and both women
fell in the water and drowned. Now the head runner has run away and
the magistrate is trying to hush-up the affair.
An officer in Heung Shan is under suspicion. A squire dined with him and on returning home became ill. His body became discoloured and he soon died.
Opium market - Only time bargains are being completed. The inferior Malwa in the market has caused small holders to sell and prices remain low. Patna and Benares are doing better but the late importation of Turkish was large and its price has dropped.
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
The Chinese have belatedly asked for the surrender of the three Parsees in the Dutch Hong affray but they have already been sent-off to Bombay.
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
The Cantonese government recognises consuls as headmen of each nationality. The Dutch and French appoint consuls and numerous other European countries employ honorary consuls. So far as the Canton government is concerned, the Select is effectively the consul for the British, although the officers and crews of some country ships repudiate the Company’s authority. This is a difficulty.
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
Sau and Lo, superintendents of the river in Nam Hoi and Poon Yu districts respectively, remind everyone that the laws separating foreigners from Chinese are strict. Foreigners who go up and down the river have their own boats as well as boats provided by Hong merchants. Ordinary boatmen are not allowed to ferry foreigners about. This ensures that traitorous people cannot mix with foreigners and excite disturbances.
We know that boatmen on Honam and elsewhere have been ferrying foreigners east and west for pleasure at all hours of the day and night. How can we insure that traitors will not connect with them and buy prohibited goods? You boatmen just covet money and have no sense of shame. You are all warned that the runners will prevent this activity.
If you are caught you will be seized and imprisoned and your boats will be confiscated. Oppose not. 10th September 1830
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
The Hoppo Chung proclaims that foreigners come to Canton and reside in the factories and some traitorous people (the shopmen) with a smattering of foreign language befriend them under the pretext of selling small things and they thus avoid paying the Imperial duty.
“I warn you I have sent out spies to identify offenders. If anyone enters the foreign factories they will be seen and arrested and treated severely. The responsibility lies with the Hong merchants and the Linguists. If you connive at disobedience you will regret.”55
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
Order of the Hoppo – foreigners bringing cargo to Canton are not delivering all of it to their Hong merchant. Some is provided to shopmen and no-one is responsible to pay the duty on it. Again when the foreign ship leaves, only a few chops of cargo are disclosed for duty and again the revenue is defrauded. This is all illegal.
I now order the Hong merchants that they must distinctly report what cargo is being exported on each foreign ship and give proof to the relevant security merchant. It is illegal for a ship to depart without buying an export cargo. Captains who will take no export cargo must be driven out and not permitted to loiter. If Hong merchants and Linguists rashly become security for a ship without first checking is she will take a full export cargo, I shall examine them without any indulgence. If the foreigners oppose and do not give a full statement they will be punished. 20th September 1830
Editor’s comment - The above Edicts are for appearances. The foreigners’ daily connections with shopkeepers, tradesmen, compradors and servants continue unabated.
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
A notice hanging at the end of Hog Lane is the hated annual Proclamation of the Viceroy and Hoppo to the foreigners:
“The spoken and written languages of the foreigners differ from Chinese and local people do not understand them. The foreigners do not understand Chinese culture or our proprieties and laws. Hence the Hong merchants and Linguists are employed to liaise with foreigners in their commercial transactions. They repress the foreigners’ pride and help them to trade legally. The Hong merchants are respectable persons of property and should guard their reputations by ensuring trade is continued justly. Thus the foreigners gain confidence.
“In previous years the Hong merchants were shameless. They provided the foreigners with young boys as servants and flower boat girls for fornication. Now the foreign ships are arriving for the new season and we fear the old habits will resurface. We warn them to patrol and watch in the front of the factories and at the end of Hog Lane. Tanka boats are not allowed to anchor opposite those places. When the foreigners come and go to Whampoa, Tanka boats or boats with families aboard are not allowed to carry them. Foreigners already bring their own servants with them. They are not allowed to employ natives for any purpose. If they take Chinese friends and young boys down to the Tanka boats to drink, or to pass the night with courtesans, or if they bring flower girls into the factories, the constables should seize them and they will be severely punished.
“If the constables accept bribes to connive at such practices, they will spend a month in the pillory in front of the factories before being executed. There will be no indulgence and no deviation from the law. Do not experiment but obey tremblingly.”
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
The latest Singapore Commercial Register prints a new circular from Calcutta:
The Board of Customs, Salt and Opium will cease supplying Malwa for sale in Bombay. The opium agent at Malwa has been ordered to cease purchases.
A new system is commenced whereby the Bombay government will issue passes at both Malwa and Bombay to people wishing to bring opium to Bombay.
Sgd H M Parker, 31st July 1830
(The passes are priced to recover the Damaun trade to Bombay)
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
A few days ago a group of Fukienese traders travelling by boat from Macau to Canton for trade were attacked near the Bogue and robbed of $6,000.
In the last three months some 400 thieves in Canton have been beheaded, strangled or banished.
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
James (Rajah) Brooke arrived 4th October on the Company ship Castle Huntly from Madras.56
Vol 3 No 21 – Sat 16th Oct 1830
Malwa continues a drag on the market. A little Damaun has been sold but Bengal supply is selling satisfactorily and the price is up to $835 for cash with many time sales at proportionate rates. The quantity now on hand is far less than last year so there is expectation of a revival.
The Company’s Treasury has started selling Bills on Calcutta at 200 Sicca rupees per $100 Spanish.
Vol 3 No 22 – Tues 2nd November 1830
The Canton office of Perkins & Co has ceased business on the death of Thomas T Forbes (drowned in the river shortly after arrival). Creditors should present their bills for payment. Debtors may adjust their claims through Russell & Co which will liquidate all outstanding affairs. 27th October 1830.57
Vol 3 No 22 – Tues 2nd November 1830
Public Notice of the Select Committee:
Consequent on the government’s threat to use armed force to seize British subjects in the factories (a reference to the Viceroy’s threat to eject foreign women who did not leave peacefully), a body of seamen will be posted to the Company’s premises for protection.
Sgd Wm Baynes, Chas Millett, J Bannerman, J N Daniell, 20th October 1830
Editor’s note – the recent appearance of Chinese with drawn swords and cannon at the factories has produced the above revival of an old custom that has been in abeyance for several decades. The Chinese soldiers are there to demand the surrender of the three Parsees.58 We think the recent Edicts were merely an attempt to gauge our firmness as the Hong merchants say the governor did not intend a breach. Neither is he, we think, prepared to pursue the matter of foreign ladies residing at Canton although he may fulminate against them in writing. He has now given express assurance of the inviolability of the factories and the sailors were returned to their ships on 31st October.
Vol 3 No 22 – Tues 2nd November 1830
A Foo magistrate in Kwong Si attempted to deal with the scarcity of rice by compelling rice merchants to sell at reduced prices. They hid their stock until part of it spoiled. The starving people were incensed and beat the magistrate. The Kwong Si Foo Yuen intervened, degraded the magistrate and executed 3-4 villagers. This made matters worse and a general insurrection is said to have followed. Four Heen magistrates have been murdered and 3,000 Manchu troops are being sent from Canton.
Vol 3 No 22 – Tues 2nd November 1830
On 1st February 1827 J H Bletterman, the old Dutch consul, rented the entire Dutch Hong to Marvanjee Hormajee for $1,400 (Spanish) p a. The agreement provides for a porter at the front gate to close both that door at 10pm daily and a locked gate onto Old China Street, to which Hormajee has the key, but which will be bolted on the inside after 10pm as well.
(This information came out in the MacKenzie inquest, see below, and throws a little light on Bletterman’s own prosecution by the Dutch government)
Vol 3 No 22 – Tues 2nd November 1830
The jury in MacKenzie’s inquest was selected from more or less the entire Canton community and finally comprised John MacVicar (foreman), Samuel Russell, J R Latimer, Thomas Fox, E de Otadui, C N Talbot, Wm S Spawforth. Lancelot Dent, George Parkyns, John W Graham, Wm Pigott and P Ammidon Jr.59
The body was laid out at C Bovet’s premises and identified.
Bovet says he was taking tea with MacKenzie and Capt Auger at his house (4 Dutch Hong) at about 7pm when a Chinese servant of Marvanjee Hormajee requested for a key to the Old China Street door to which he agreed. He has held the back-door key for 4-5 days since the watchman disappeared. Shortly afterwards Hormajee’s clerk Mr Damiao de Noronha arrived with the same request and got the same answer. Noronha asked Bovet not to lock the door at 10 pm as usual or if he must do so, to give him the key. Bovet did not deliver the key as he insisted it be returned to him to which the clerk did not agree.
Noronha returned a second time and met Bovet on his way back from locking the back door early. He took Bovet aside at the top of the stairs and warned him if he went outside he would be attacked by a group of Parsees.
Later Bovet heard sounds of the back gate being broken open and went out to prevent it. In view of what Noronha had said, he carried a sheathed sabre with him. He found 4-5 Parsee servants breaking the door. They had been drinking. Bovet told them to stop and accompany him to Mr van der Meulen’s comprador to whom he would deliver the key. One Parsee seized Bovet’s sabre and the others fell on him with iron bars. He ran back inside and told Capt MacKenzie he would load the guns, fearing the Parsees would follow and make an attempt to enter the house. He heard a disturbance outside as he was running upstairs and looked out seeing a noisy crowd of Parsees and some Chinese.
He was still loading the guns when Capt Auger brought MacKenzie upstairs. He was bleeding profusely. Bovet was shocked and retired to his room for an hour and a half to recover. Then he tended MacKenzie frequently during the night. He was unconscious until about 7 am when he died.
The next witness was Wm Haylett. He was sitting in Fearon’s house when he heard the back door being broken and Bovet’s voice scolding the people outside. He looked out and saw Bovet had a sabre which he tried to draw but the three Parsees took it off him. A short fight ensued and Bovet ran away with the Parsees chasing.
Dr J H Bradford tended MacKenzie at 7.40 pm. He had several head wounds bleeding heavily; skull fractured. He debrided the wounds, dressed them and put him to bed. MacKenzie was not fully conscious. He saw him again at 11 pm - headache and nauseous but pulse weak so did not bleed him. Visited again after midnight – the same. Visited again at 2 am – delirious and feverish. Bled him copiously. Did not see him alive again.
James Ilberry Jr was in Fearon’s house. He heard the disturbance and went to the window. Looking down he could see three Parsees arguing with Bovet in Portuguese. He thought none of them were drunk. One Parsee had a lantern and had any of them looked up he might have recognised them, but they did not.
Marvanjee Hormajee said after the dispute commenced and Bovet clearly would not surrender the key, he told his servants to break the door if it was locked as his contract says it will not be locked before 10pm.
Ah Kau, house comprador to Ilberry Fearon & Co was sworn (by cutting off a chicken’s head). He saw two Parsees breaking the back door. Bovet approached with a sword followed by a third Parsee. There was a fight. Bovet’s sword was seized. Bovet ran home. A European with dark clothes came out of Bovet’s house with an umbrella and struck a Parsee with it. All three Parsees then set upon him and knocked him down. Ah Kau could not look.
Ah Kiu was sworn (another chicken) with W C Hunter again interpreting. The European with the umbrella struck first. He was then overcome and beaten down by the three Parsees using clubs.
The Jury concluded MacKenzie’s death resulted from blows from the three Parsees.
Vol 3 No 22 – Tues 2nd November 1830
A considerable part of the inferior Damaun has now been disposed of although an early improvement in Malwa is not expected. There is little demand for Turkish. New dollars are scarce and at a 1¼% premium. Sycee delivered Lintin is at a 6¼% premium. Ships for Calcutta have little return cargo.
Several insurance agencies have reduced premiums on general risks by ½% for 6 months cover since 20th October.
Vol 3 No 23 – Mon 15th November 1830
J R Morrison, son of Rev Dr Morrison, has been appointed translator to the British Factory This should help to ameliorate misunderstandings.
Vol 3 No 23 – Mon 15th November 1830
Letter to Wm Baynes, President of the Select Committee:
The Viceroy has published two notices on the factory walls – one the annual proclamation about servants and the other prohibiting foreigners from using sedan chairs. They are couched in offensive language and designed to bring contempt upon us. We will not submit to indignity. We hope you will remonstrate with the Viceroy.
Sgd James Innes etc on behalf of some British residents, 16th October 1830
Baynes’ Reply:
A party of Company ships’ officers have presented a strong remonstrance at the City Gate to the Viceroy as requested. If you do likewise we will co-operate.
Viceroy’s Lee’s response:
I have received complaints from both the Select and the British country merchants. The barbarians bring foreign women to Canton. These women were formerly allowed to stay on ships. Later for compassion they were allowed to live at Macau. They are not allowed in Canton and all the nations have hitherto respected this law.
In 1751 the Dutch merchant Lau Lin brought a foreign woman into the Swedish Hong. She was seized and sent to Macau. In 1769 the English merchant Fei Shun brought a foreign woman secretly into Yee Wo Hong (the predecessor to How Qua’s factory). She was also arrested and sent to Macau. The Hong merchants, Linguists, compradors etc of the day were all chastised and degraded. Foreign women found in Canton will always be sent back to Macau. For years the foreigners have not tried to bring women to Canton. It showed they understood the law and respected it.
Now Baynes brings his foreign woman (fan foo) to live in Canton. Having been ordered to remove her he introduces the matter of Chinese government officials being escorted by their families. Officials must be resident in their Courts before they can have their families with them. When they go about on public business they may not take their wives etc. This is a fixed law. It is like Baynes being sent to work in Canton - his argument is specious. He should remove his woman to Macau to avoid severe scrutiny.
Foreigners are not allowed to use chairs. If it is raining or they are sick they may be supported by others. This is not something to argue about.
Since the reign of Kien Lung, foreigners are not allowed to connect with Chinese to avoid breaches of the law. This is for your protection but you misunderstand it as an insult. You are really too stupid. These are old laws that have always been respected. Comply so there will tranquillity. Do not create disturbances. Do you come here to trade or to make trouble? Send your woman back to Macau where she may stay temporarily. Do not be presumptuous and ask for chairs. Obey the law in future.
The Hoppo on the same subject:
Baynes for the Company and Innes for the country merchants both present petitions in Chinese. Foreigners are allowed to trade in China since the commencement of the Ching dynasty. For over a century their conduct at Canton has been strictly regulated. The language, dress and customs of foreigners and Chinese are different. To trade here you only have to obey the law. If you object to the law, you are not obliged to come.
Since 1792 we have annually published the notice that Baynes now objects to. He has lived here several years. How can he profess ignorance? Perhaps in your country you are important men but here in Canton you act as merchants. You must awaken your sense of propriety. Riding in chairs and bringing women to the trading factories is forbidden. Your fixed place is in Macau. Your women can reside there temporarily. You come to Canton solely to trade. There is no place for women here. If you need to attend to your families you can apply for a passport and visit Macau. Why do you make trouble over every little thing? The Wah Yan (Chinese) and the Yee (Barbarian) must be separated. You must think about this over and over until the meaning penetrates your minds. Do not be fooled by troublemakers. The Hong merchants are to enjoin this on the foreigners.
Next the Manchu General King’s reply:
The laws of China are fixed and foreigners have long known them. From time to time officials make proclamations so you are not ignorant of legal requirements. These proclamations are for your benefit so that traitorous natives dare not make disturbances but you misunderstand the purpose of disallowing your use of chairs and forbidding foreign women to come to Canton. As a result you whine and present petitions.
I am not involved in the management of barbarians but your egregious petition must be refuted. Foreign women have never been allowed in Canton. You alone come here to trade. You should stay quietly in your factories until your goods are sold and your requirements bought and then go away. Sitting in sedan chairs is not for you. All this difficulty is because of your limited understanding.
Vol 3 No 23 – Mon 15th November 1830
A memorial to Viceroy Lee from Peking reveals he has mentioned the costs of building a new fort at the Bogue.60
“The Fu Hau (tiger’s mouth – the Bocca Tigris or Bogue) in Tung Kwoon guards the sea entrance to Canton. In the east is Sha Tsui hill; on the south side is Tai Tsui. There are two forts in the east and one opposite. You wish to build another one to reinforce the pincers. It will cost about 7,500 Taels together with barracks and officers’ houses etc. The Hong merchants should pay government for it as it is necessitated by the presence of foreigners and you will disburse funds to the artisans and workers so the works are completed quickly. Appoint officers to take charge and report when it is done.”
Vol 3 No 23 – Mon 15th November 1830
Edict of the Emperor:
Viceroy Lee has reported that the foreigners bring foreign money and exchange it for sycee silver which they take away. And they bring opium. Lee was ordered to consult with his colleagues and identify steps to ban silver export and opium import. Now he has provided a clear statement on six topics.
He says opium is a poison and deserves more attention than silver. The governor has established rules and should order his staff to put them into practice. If they fail they will be punished. This is not a chance to merely show literary merit – real action is required.
Vol 3 No 23 – Mon 15th November 1830
A few sales have been made. Some junks came for Patna and Benares but Malwa is still not in demand. The smuggling boat owners complain that the coast guard has maintained a strict vigilance and appears genuinely intent on intercepting their shipments.
Vol 3 No 24 – Sat 4th Dec 1830
Jehangir’s son and his wife’s brother have commenced an insurrection of all the Muslims in Turkestan. A caravan of convicts en route from Canton to Ili has turned back until travel is safer. The Canton Treasurer has been ordered to send 1,000,000 Taels to fund renewed war.
At the same time a revolutionary group calling itself Ching Lin (pure lotus) Wui has arisen in Shensi.
Vol 3 No 24 – Sat 4th Dec 1830
Editorial - On 23rd October the company’s ship “Ann and Amelia” arrived from Calcutta with the Governor General’s orders for the removal of the President of the Select (Wm Baynes) and his two principal officers (Millet and Bannerman).
They are replaced by Charles Marjoribanks and John Francis Davis who now form the Select with the previous fourth, James Nugent Daniell, and a new man Thomas Charles Smith (who soon becomes sick and leaves).
Although the change is deeply regretted, the new men bring a wealth of experience. It is difficult to assess the damage flowing from this demonstration to the Chinese that the former Select’s actions were not approved. The chief merit of the old Select’s policy was to prove the fallacy of Chinese indifference to trade. That had been the main lever by which they exercised their oppressive policy. Indeed we heard it rumoured that at the conclusion of last season’s negotiations, after the Viceroy had threatened to return the company’s petitions unopened, he had the Hongs solicit the Select for a renewal of trade.
Several advantages were obtained by the dismissed officers:
The apparent attempt to reduce the Co-Hong to 2-3 members, as occurred in 1814, was frustrated and the numbers have now been nearly doubled;
The port dues have been reduced and recovery of overcharges is easier;
The duty on cotton, which was increased to pay for Man Hop’s failure, has been returned to its original level, and
Finally we won the privilege of the country merchants to address officials in Chinese (previously only the Select could do that).
When we consider that the rules had been characterised as immutable and that two British Embassies were considered as tribute missions, we can see the value of the Select’s actions. We had even been hopeful of senior company men becoming British consuls in China. We append below the Address of the British country merchants to the departing Select members:
“We regret your retirement. Your efforts to increase the prosperity of the Company’s trade have also helped us. Your policy has stopped the encroachments of local officials. They oppress when they can, but yield to firmness. You obtained relief for us from onerous conditions that threatened the continuance of trade. You have removed some indignities so derogatory to Britain and your efforts to allow family life at Canton were welcomed.”
Sgd 17 English, 5 Parsee and 2 Portuguese traders and by 7 ship owners and masters.
Baynes replies:
“The trying circumstances in which we find ourselves are alleviated by your kind words and the knowledge we have done our duty. You residents of China best understand the imperative need for the actions we took.” 30th November.
Vol 3 No 24 – Sat 4th Dec 1830
Editor - Given this local attitude, the comment in the London Times below is absurd:
“The Select has been recalled because they fomented a dispute with the Cantonese officials to protect their personal interests rather than those of the Company. The company’s officers are supposed to be excluded from the lucrative private trade and this will now be strongly enforced.”
Vol 3 No 24 – Sat 4th Dec 1830
Accusation of the country traders to the Viceroy:
“Publishing proclamations in Chinese to the local people forbidding foreigners to consort with prostitutes and other libellous statements are calculated to bring the foreign community into disrepute with your people. Your purpose is to disgrace us before the populace.”
Vol 3 No 24 – Sat 4th Dec 1830
Letter to the Editor - It is pleasant to see the Americans, who have for so long submitted passively to the Chinese, joining the general cry to allow families to reside together in Canton - husband with wife, parent with child.
Several English ladies have long resided at Canton with their husbands and the government seems to tolerate it. It was the heavy guns and 150 sailors outside the British factory that accomplished this.
I am a visitor but I think the English community at Canton is itself to blame for most of its problems. If the community was united and abjured national and commercial jealousy it could obtain reasonable conditions.
Vol 3 No 24 – Sat 4th Dec 1830
Peking Gazette No 97, 25th Aug 1830. Shau Ching Wui, censor of Keangnan (which capital is Nanking) requests the Imperial will:
Opium comes from overseas and has been included from time to time amongst our medicines. Then villainous people found another way to use it and it has spread over the whole country. Chinese are now planting the poppy to produce native opium. In Tai Chow, in my native province of Chekiang, the farming has become most widespread. It is also carried on in nearby Ningpo, Shao Hing, Yenchow and Wanchow.
The seed is sown in the 10th month. In the 4th month of following year the capsule has developed and is cut open. Some white juice is extruded and one mow (Chinese acre) can produce 4-5 catties of this white juice. This is then boiled to make a thick syrup.
Others use Osmanthus (Kwai Fa, translated in the text as hollyhock) and Hibiscus sap for the same purpose. They all produce types of opium.