×

Warning

JUser: :_load: Unable to load user with ID: 1064
Tuesday, 14 March 2017 05:26

Devils on the Loose

Written by
Rate this item
(0 votes)
Chinese junk Chinese junk Painting origin unknown

In my latest book, Dragons, Devils and Rebels, there's a chapter on what Chinese and westerners thought of each other in the early days of contact. The book's finished, but I've since been reading a biography of an Englishman who lived in Shanghai in the mid 1850's. To his shock, when he first arrived Shanghai had been overrun by rebels, and was under siege from imperial troops. Still, he was an intrepid traveller. One day he went on 'an interesting excursion' to Wusong, by boat down the Huangpu. He and his companions sailed into trouble on the way home.

 

He writes:

'...in the evening we were puzzled to know how we should pass the Imperial fleet in safety. They are somewhat random with their fire after dark, and might easily have taken us for Chinese, if not Rebel spies. Mr Edkins came to the rescue, proposing that we should sing as we passed them, that they might know we were foreigners. This suggestion seemed good and the boatmen were pleased with the idea... We approached some ships we took to be the fleet, and passed them singing lustily. But just as we were about to congratulate one another on our success, the boatmen shouted to us to recommence, as we had been mistaken in what we supposed to have been the fleet and were just coming within range of their guns. 

'So now we had to tune up again without delay...We concluded just opposite the largest ship of the fleet. It was now quite dusk.

'"What now?" cried Mr Edkins, as the alarm-gong struck on board the ship. 'There is not a moment to lose."

'He then commenced singing I know not what. Quaterman struck up a truly American tune...while I at the same moment raised a third with all the voice I could command. The men on the warship were shouting loudly, our boat's crew outdoing them if possible, and the whole thing was so ludicrous that I could control myself no longer. I burst into a fit of laughter most inappropriate to the occasion. 

'"Who goes there?" shouted a voice from the Imperial ship.

'"Bai-gui [white devils]," yelled our men, while we cried simultaneously, "Da Ying-guo" [Great Britain] and "Hua-qi-guo" which means Flowery Flag Country, or America. 

'After a little further explanation we were allowed to pass, upon which my companions began to lecture the boatmen for having called us 'white devils'. The poor men, who had not yet received their day's pay were very penitent.'

This story is taken from a letter by James Hudson Taylor of 20 September 1854, in Biography of James Hudson Taylor by Dr and Mrs Howard Taylor, Hodder & Stoughton, London 1983, pp111-112. 


Warning: count(): Parameter must be an array or an object that implements Countable in /home/alisonll/public_html/templates/rt_metropolis/html/com_k2/default/item.php on line 248
Read 3580658 times Last modified on Tuesday, 14 March 2017 09:51

254578 comments

  • Comment Link Henrybiz Saturday, 08 July 2023 07:19 posted by Henrybiz

    darknet links free dark web

    Report
  • Comment Link joker gaming Saturday, 08 July 2023 07:07 posted by joker gaming

    It is truly a nice and useful piece of information. I'm satisfied that you just shared this useful information with us.
    Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.

    Report
  • Comment Link Henrybiz Saturday, 08 July 2023 06:53 posted by Henrybiz

    tor market url tor marketplace

    Report
  • Comment Link Slot gacor Saturday, 08 July 2023 06:49 posted by Slot gacor

    Excellent post. I was checking continuously this blog and I
    am impressed! Very useful info particularly the last
    part :) I care for such information a lot. I was looking for this certain information for a long time.
    Thank you and best of luck.

    Report
  • Comment Link Ernestsnoms Saturday, 08 July 2023 06:44 posted by Ernestsnoms

    darknet market list tor markets links

    Report
  • Comment Link BobbyHOARM Saturday, 08 July 2023 06:39 posted by BobbyHOARM

    canadian pharmaceuticals online international pharmacy
    best online international pharmacies canada pharmacies
    walgreens pharmacy online https://pinshape.com/users/2658206-online-pharmacy

    Report
  • Comment Link pgsoft Saturday, 08 July 2023 06:29 posted by pgsoft

    Article writing is also a excitement, if you be acquainted
    with afterward you can write if not it is complex to write.

    Report
  • Comment Link HQ Porner RED Saturday, 08 July 2023 06:28 posted by HQ Porner RED

    My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net
    from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs.

    But he's tryiong none the less. I've been using Movable-type on several websites
    for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform.
    I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress
    content into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!

    Report
  • Comment Link Robertbycle Saturday, 08 July 2023 06:24 posted by Robertbycle

    darkmarket link deep web drug links

    Report
  • Comment Link Ernestsnoms Saturday, 08 July 2023 06:23 posted by Ernestsnoms

    dark websites dark web sites

    Report

Leave a comment

Make sure you enter all the required information, indicated by an asterisk (*). HTML code is not allowed.