Post by NZBC on Jun 16, 2013 16:10:13 GMT 12
The Story of the Canton Village Mission of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand
1901 to 1926 Semi jubilee
Edited by Rev William Mawson M A
Dunedin: Published by the Foreign Missions Committee 1926
Excerpts from the Book
Chapter 1. The Field and the People
Canton is in the south east, and just borders on the Tropic of cancer. It is the capital of the famous province of Kwong-tung, one of the 22 provinces of China. If you look at the map you will see that it is situated on the banks of the Pearl River, which is formed by the confluence of the West, North and East Rivers. These rivers merge their waters in the pearl in the vicinity of Canton, spreading out again in an intricate network of streams over the Canton Delta. Near the mouth of the delta is the British island of Hong Kong about 90 miles from Canton.
The Kwong-tung province is divided up into 79 districts, or counties. The field of the Canton Villages Mission cover the greater part of four of thsese, lying immediately to the north and north-west of Canyon City – The P’oon Yue, Ts’ung Fa, Naam Hoi and Fa districts.
In the 1920s we also took over responsibility for mission work in the section of Canton City, lying immediately North of Shameen, and have established a chapel there…
The field is bounded on the north, east and west by ranges of high hills. The upper part constitutes the basin of the Ts’ung Fa River, which rises from the mountainous county in the north-east, and flows through narrow fertile valleys that open out onto a broad plain, until it empties into the canton River about ten miles above the city. On the west the plains continues until the Fa district, and to the south the country merges into the delta region of the Naam Hoi district. The field varies from 15 to 25 miles in width, and is about 100 miles in length.
The Villages.
Scattered all over the plain and in the Ts’ung Fa valleys are hundreds of villages, large and small: while between the villages are the fields where thousands of people toil to win their daily rice. The smaller villages have from 100 to 1000 inhabitants, while the larger ones run up to 10,000, 15,000 and even 20,000. The largest village - Ah Won – has an estimated population of 26,000. The houses in the villages are built close together, with narrow lanes running between. In this way they economise in land, and feel more secure from robber bands. The sense of security is strengthened in may cases by surrounding the village with high walls. Large false banyan trees are often found in open spaces inside the village, and also on the outskirts. In hot weather the old men will sit beneath their shade for hours enjoying a yarn and smoke. Every village too, has its pond, where fish are bred and animals slake their thirst, but drinking water is normally drawn from the wells.
Market Towns:
Very similar to the villages are the market towns. The former are residential, while the latter are business centres for groups of villages. Instead of rows of dwelling houses are rows of shops, instead of the temple the pawnshop, instead of the ancestral hall the council chamber, and in place of the village pond is a large open square in the centre of town, with shelter and booths provided for traders to set forth their wares for market days. Most of the markets in the C V M districts do business every fifth day, and the day is so arranged that it does not clash with markets within a reasonable distance. For instance, in the Upper P’oon Yue district Ko T’ong market is on the 1st and 6th, 11th and 16th, 21st and 26th of the moon; Yun Who market is on the 2nd and 7th, 12th and 17th, etc: Lung Kwai observes the 3rd and 8th etc; Chung Lok T’aam the 4th and 9th, etc; and Chuk Liu the 5th and 10th, etc. Thus every day of the month is a market day in one town or another within a limited area, and may shops will sne out buyers and sellers to every market. To anyone walking through the district it is very apparent at which place the market is being held. In the morning the roads are black with people all going in one direction, leading oxen, pushing wheelbarrows, and carrying on their bamboo poles baskets of sweet potatoes, peanuts, rice, taros, ginger-roots, live fish in shallow tubs, and dried fish, pots and pans, buckets, farming implements, basket-ware, pigs, bundles of grass, candles, incense sticks; in short everything the villager produces, and everything he wants. In the afternoon one meets the throngs returning to their homes laden with their purchases. To anyone living in a market town, market day is still apparent. From 9am to 5pm the air resounds with noises of various descriptions; the squeak of wheelbarrows coming and going, the squeals of pigs, the arresting cries of vendors, the eager voices of buyers and sellers as they bargain, the shrill voice of a mother looking for a stray child. All these and many other sounds combine to make the place a veritable Babel. Although these market towns have a very small population – perhaps 500 or 600 – yet on market days thousands gather there to do business. Hence their significance as distributing centres of the Gospel and their importance from an evangelistic point of view.
Buildings.
The houses in the villages are mostly low, one storied buildings, as no dwelling hous is allowed to raise its gable above that of the local temple. Sun-dried bricks, concrete made od sand, lime and clay, fire-burnt bricks of several grades, are all used for the walls as fiancés allow. The roofs are generally made of light tiles laid on pine rafters. As little wood as possible is used on account of the ravages of white ants. The floors are either of clay or paved with large, square brick tiles. There are no windows in the houses, lest these should give entrance to evil spirits or evil men. Chimneys are also seldom seen. Lack of ventilation makes these houses very unhealthy, and one often wonders how the inmates can live in them in the hot weather. Sometimes men who have returned from western countries wish to build two-storied houses with windows and balconies - the kind of house that is best suited to the climate – but rigid custom is against them, and after having plans prepared and foundations laid they are forced by the clan to revert to the old, unhealthy type of building. This, of course applies to conservative village districts, and not to the cities. It says much for their toleration of the foreigner that they will often allow him to build homes to their own liking, when they refuse a similar liberty to their own countrymen. In striking contrast to the plain, low dwelling-places are the large airy, ornamental temples in the villages, and the high, fortress-like pawnshops that tower far above the shops in the market towns.
Cemeteries.
From the homes of the living one turns naturally to the abodes of the dead. Where ever there is a piece of rising ground or hillock in the vicinity of a village, it is generally covered by little tumuli, which marks the resting place of the dead. These tumuli grow a a few inches higher every year, when, at the season of “Ts’ing Ming” (worship of the graves), the male members of the families sally forth to the hills and show their respect for the dead by tidying up the graves, pouring out libations of wine, burning imitation paper money, tapers and incense sticks, and finally capping the graves with newly dug sods of earth.
Fields.
The C V M districts are essentially farming districts. They lie around the northern fringe of the delta; are flat, well watered, fertile, and consequently specially fitted for growing rice. The land is divided up into very small sections, perhaps one –eighth or a quarter of an acre. There are no fences, but field is divided from field by a low, narrow ridge. As the blades of rice shoots up, the boundaries are soon hidden from view, and the countryside takes on a bright green hue. Then in the early summer and late autumn – the two seasons of rice harvest – the colour changes, and the long, flat stretches between the villages are like one vast sea of golden grain. Fields that are not suitable for growing rice are used for other purposes. Peanuts, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, taros, water chestnuts, and lotus roots are grown in large quantities, as well as many other kinds of vegetables. Fruits are also widely cultivated, the chief being bananas, mandarins, oranges, persimmons, lichees, pomelos, and peaches.
Communications. The main line of communication is the railway running north from Canton. This line is ultimately to connect to Hankow, which is already linked to the Trans-Siberian line…..
The line runs right through the heart of the district, and from it we can branch out by road to the right and the left. The roads range from one foot to six feet in width, being very narrow where they run through the rice fields, but widening out where the land is not so valuable. Much of the travelling is done n foot, and that is the most dependable and independent way of getting around….
If the distance is great or the weather very hot or very wet, a mountain chair can be requisitioned. These chairs consist of a small bamboo seat, suspended between two bamboo poles about eight feet long. A narrow board dangles in front of the seat for a foot rest. The chairs are carried by two coolies, one at either end of the poles. They travel at the rate of five miles an hour. One would hardly use these chairs for a joy ride, but they are often very convenient.
The other means of locomotion is by boat. In the early days of the mission, before there were residences in the country, the long, shallow-draught boats that slowly work their way up the Ts’ung Fa River were frequently used by the missionaries. …
Climate.
Canton being just on the northern borders of the tropics, the climate in the C V M districts is sub-tropical. Spring is very wet and steamy. In the summer the fierce heat of a tropical sun is tempered by occasional downpours. Autumn is warm and dry, and when at the end of September the cool northerly winds commence to blow this season is most enjoyable. Early winter is cool and crisp, but in January, when the rains commence, it is cold and raw. Frost is very rare, being seen only at intervals….
Clans.
The members of a clan are united around a common ancestor, to whom all do reverence. Some clans are very ancient, and date their ancestry back hundreds of years. For instance, the Tsang clan, in Upper P’oon Yue, goes back 2400 years, and claims as its ancestors one of the most distinguished disciples of Confucius. Sometimes a clan will have a whole village to itself; sometimes several clans will unite together to form a village. But each clan has its own ancestral temple, where the tablets of the ancestors are enshrined and worshipped. While the clan system has many advantages, simplifying as it does the government of millions of people, and ensuring to some extent the care of the poor and destitute, yet it presents a big stumbling block to the progress of Christianity. …
Village Government.
Chinese villages are practically self governed, the form of government being patriarchical. Every member of the clan passing the age of 50 becomes a village elder. His influence depends largely on scholarship, wealth, and character. These elders meet at stated seasons in the ancestral temple, and over wine, fat pork and rice discuss the affairs of their little world. Then there is an official styled the “local protector”, who is responsible to the Government for the good conduct of the village. If villagers pay the yearly tax of corn they are left to practically to look after themselves. Night watchmen are employed, who march armed with gong and drum, beating out the hour of the night, and letting thieves and robbers know where they are – or not….
Languages.
The language spoken by our villagers is Cantonese. This is the language spoken by the great majority in the Kwong-tung province, as against Mandarin, which is used in the northern provinces of China….
Occupations: Farmers
The majority of villagers are farmers with very small holdings. The man with an acre farm is considered quite a large farmer. The heavier work, such as ploughing and harrowing, planting and reaping rice, is done by the men, while much of the lighter work, such as weeding, hoeing, picking up peanuts etc is shared by the women. Water buffaloes usually draw the plough, and sometimes a small yello ox is used. Farming implements are primitive and simple; but they are better suited to working the small, wet rice fields than are our heavy, up to date machinery. The farmers are kept busy for about nine months in the year. They slacken off during the three months of winter, which are spent mostly in the preparation and enjoyment of Chinese New Year festivities. As a rule they are industrious, frugal, simple-minded and peaceable.
Artisans.
Then we have the artisans – the carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths, coopers, potters, weavers, dyers, tailors, and makers of a hundred and one kinds of articles that are manufactured to meet the needs of man. Some of them are highly skilled, and their handiwork is quite as good as, and often better, than that produced by Westerners.
Under the old system manufacturers were largely carried out as home industries, and in numberless small workshops one might see master and men busy at work together. In the city each industry was controlled by its own guild, and in Canton, the combined “72 Guilds” exercised a very large influence in municipal affairs.
To-day the industrialisation of China along modern lines has already begun. With its vast resources of coal, iron and raw materials, and it unlimited supply of cheap labour, the manufacturing possibilities are tempting indeed. Capitalists, bot foreign and Chinese, have not been slow to realise their opportunities, and large factories with modern machinery for the manufacture of silk, cotton, and other good have been opened up in treaty ports and elsewhere. Iron works and ship building are making rapid strides. In some of these concerns the labourers number thousands. With the advantages of better wages and cheaper goods the evils of modern industrialisation have also made an appearance. The guild system is giving place to trade unionism, and strikes are of frequent occurrence.
Boat people.
The numerous waterways of the district are busy thoroughfares, and we have thousands of boat people engaged in transporting goods and passengers from place to place, and between city and country. These are a class apart, hard working, but generally very ignorant and superstitious. The only home they know is on the water. Then there are numerous fisher folk, who supply the markets with fish from the rivers.
Shopkeepers.
In the market towns are the business people, trading in local products and imported goods. They are quick and alert. Their skill in driving bargains may be gauged from a common saying – “when the Cantonese enters the Aberdonian had better retire.”
Coolies
Coolies are the burden-bearers, the hewers of wood and drawers of water. Very poor, and with practically no education, they are driven back upon their native wit. They take their poverty very philosophically, and seldom forget how to smile. They do not go about with that woebegone, hangdog look that is so characteristic of many of the poor in Western lands. On the contrary, they keep all their wits about them, and if engaged by a foreigner the latter never has a cause to reproach himself for having underpaid them. The coolie sees to that.
Gentry.
In striking contrast, to these busy, toil-worn farmers, artisans, shop men and coolies, are the leisured gentry, immaculate in their dress and punctilious in their manners. They are not very numerous in the CVM district, but such as there are have great power. Learned in the Chinese classics, and thoroughly versed in the customs and traditions of their ancestors, these gentlemen are held in high honour, and are frequently appealed to in matters of both public and private welfare. They often show a strong prejudice against Westerners and Western learning, and a re a frequent stumbling block in the way of Christian progress.
The Village Teacher.
The village teacher of to-day are not a distinct type as formerly. They range in knowledge from the gentry type, who is a splendid Chinese scholar, but knows nothing of Western learning, down to those who have a smattering of everything and trade on the credulity of parents. The village teacher is changing, and must change. The demand for education in Western learning, in addition to Chinese literature, which is so imperative in the big cities, is finding its echo in the villages, with the result that there is a growing demand for teachers of a liberal education….
Robbers.
Since members of the C V M band have more than once suffered from the depredations of the robbers a short reference to this class should not be out of place. Most of them come from the villages and market towns in the district. Some have been professional robbers most of their lives; some have been driven to it through sheer poverty; with many it has been the natural sequence in reckless gambling; while others take it on occasionally for the sake of wild excitement. They are usually well armed with the most up-to-date weapons. Compared with robbers in some districts, however, the C V M ones are gentlemen. As a rule they require merely your money or your life, not your money and your life. But if the former is not forthcoming, little mercy is shown. During normal times, when soldiers are fairly well distributed throughout the district, they remain discreetly in the background; but at periods of unrest, when the soldiers are required elsewhere, they carry on their nefarious tarde boldly and shamelessly, sometime reducing the whole countryside in a state of terror by bullets and blackmail.
Characteristics.
The powers of endurance, capacity for work, both physical and mental, skill in arts and crafts, patience and contentment, love of peace, commercial instincts, and other traits of character that are found in Chinese, are also found in our villagers.
Women and Children.
The Chinese woman, while suffering many disabilities as compared with British women, is not the down trodden creature that many imagine her to be. It is true that little girls are sometimes not wanted, that at least 95 percent of the women are uneducated, that in the affairs of the clan women have no vote, and that oftentimes they are looked upon merely as chattels; but nevertheless women are frequently found with natural gifts and a strength of character that give them considerable influence in the community. The young women has little power, but when she attains to the dignity of mother in law, and begins to exercise authority over a gradually-increasing household, her character develops rapidly, and others besides her daughter-in-law are frequently made to feel the lash of her tongue.
The number of children is legion, despite the fact that, according to some estimates, there is an infant mortality of over 70 percent. In the past the girls seldom received any education- custom and poverty are against the – but from infancy to marriage they are taught and made to work so as not to be a drag on family finances. ..
The boys are better off, and a fair percentage are taught to read and write. Many, however, on account of extreme poverty, have to start work at a very early age. The standard of intelligence of both boys and girls is equal to that of European children.
Religion in Village Life.
It is often said that there are three religions in China – Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, but the fact is that the people are not divided into three sects, but follow more of less the teachings and practices of all three, as custom and the various occasions of life demands.
Buddhism and Taoism.
The temples, in shrines at the village gates the number if idols is legion. In villages and by the wayside, idols and tablets are set up as symbols of the presence of spirits who are able to bless those who worship and curse those who neglect them.
Forms of Worship.
On the market towns the shop hands as a rule live and eat on the premises. Each shop has its own cook (a man), and upon the cook devolves the duty of performing the rites of worship. On the 1st and 15th of the moon, he gets up during the 5th watch (2-5am), makes tea and pours three cups out in front of the idols as a libation. He then burns three incense sticks, two candles, and some imitation paper money before each idol, finishing up by firing off crackers. Then in the evening of the same day, before meal time, he offers before the idols a tray bearing food. After the idol has satisfied itself with the spiritual essence of the food, incense, candles and paper are burnt again as in the morning, and the food itself is taken away and eaten
1901 to 1926 Semi jubilee
Edited by Rev William Mawson M A
Dunedin: Published by the Foreign Missions Committee 1926
Excerpts from the Book
Chapter 1. The Field and the People
Canton is in the south east, and just borders on the Tropic of cancer. It is the capital of the famous province of Kwong-tung, one of the 22 provinces of China. If you look at the map you will see that it is situated on the banks of the Pearl River, which is formed by the confluence of the West, North and East Rivers. These rivers merge their waters in the pearl in the vicinity of Canton, spreading out again in an intricate network of streams over the Canton Delta. Near the mouth of the delta is the British island of Hong Kong about 90 miles from Canton.
The Kwong-tung province is divided up into 79 districts, or counties. The field of the Canton Villages Mission cover the greater part of four of thsese, lying immediately to the north and north-west of Canyon City – The P’oon Yue, Ts’ung Fa, Naam Hoi and Fa districts.
In the 1920s we also took over responsibility for mission work in the section of Canton City, lying immediately North of Shameen, and have established a chapel there…
The field is bounded on the north, east and west by ranges of high hills. The upper part constitutes the basin of the Ts’ung Fa River, which rises from the mountainous county in the north-east, and flows through narrow fertile valleys that open out onto a broad plain, until it empties into the canton River about ten miles above the city. On the west the plains continues until the Fa district, and to the south the country merges into the delta region of the Naam Hoi district. The field varies from 15 to 25 miles in width, and is about 100 miles in length.
The Villages.
Scattered all over the plain and in the Ts’ung Fa valleys are hundreds of villages, large and small: while between the villages are the fields where thousands of people toil to win their daily rice. The smaller villages have from 100 to 1000 inhabitants, while the larger ones run up to 10,000, 15,000 and even 20,000. The largest village - Ah Won – has an estimated population of 26,000. The houses in the villages are built close together, with narrow lanes running between. In this way they economise in land, and feel more secure from robber bands. The sense of security is strengthened in may cases by surrounding the village with high walls. Large false banyan trees are often found in open spaces inside the village, and also on the outskirts. In hot weather the old men will sit beneath their shade for hours enjoying a yarn and smoke. Every village too, has its pond, where fish are bred and animals slake their thirst, but drinking water is normally drawn from the wells.
Market Towns:
Very similar to the villages are the market towns. The former are residential, while the latter are business centres for groups of villages. Instead of rows of dwelling houses are rows of shops, instead of the temple the pawnshop, instead of the ancestral hall the council chamber, and in place of the village pond is a large open square in the centre of town, with shelter and booths provided for traders to set forth their wares for market days. Most of the markets in the C V M districts do business every fifth day, and the day is so arranged that it does not clash with markets within a reasonable distance. For instance, in the Upper P’oon Yue district Ko T’ong market is on the 1st and 6th, 11th and 16th, 21st and 26th of the moon; Yun Who market is on the 2nd and 7th, 12th and 17th, etc: Lung Kwai observes the 3rd and 8th etc; Chung Lok T’aam the 4th and 9th, etc; and Chuk Liu the 5th and 10th, etc. Thus every day of the month is a market day in one town or another within a limited area, and may shops will sne out buyers and sellers to every market. To anyone walking through the district it is very apparent at which place the market is being held. In the morning the roads are black with people all going in one direction, leading oxen, pushing wheelbarrows, and carrying on their bamboo poles baskets of sweet potatoes, peanuts, rice, taros, ginger-roots, live fish in shallow tubs, and dried fish, pots and pans, buckets, farming implements, basket-ware, pigs, bundles of grass, candles, incense sticks; in short everything the villager produces, and everything he wants. In the afternoon one meets the throngs returning to their homes laden with their purchases. To anyone living in a market town, market day is still apparent. From 9am to 5pm the air resounds with noises of various descriptions; the squeak of wheelbarrows coming and going, the squeals of pigs, the arresting cries of vendors, the eager voices of buyers and sellers as they bargain, the shrill voice of a mother looking for a stray child. All these and many other sounds combine to make the place a veritable Babel. Although these market towns have a very small population – perhaps 500 or 600 – yet on market days thousands gather there to do business. Hence their significance as distributing centres of the Gospel and their importance from an evangelistic point of view.
Buildings.
The houses in the villages are mostly low, one storied buildings, as no dwelling hous is allowed to raise its gable above that of the local temple. Sun-dried bricks, concrete made od sand, lime and clay, fire-burnt bricks of several grades, are all used for the walls as fiancés allow. The roofs are generally made of light tiles laid on pine rafters. As little wood as possible is used on account of the ravages of white ants. The floors are either of clay or paved with large, square brick tiles. There are no windows in the houses, lest these should give entrance to evil spirits or evil men. Chimneys are also seldom seen. Lack of ventilation makes these houses very unhealthy, and one often wonders how the inmates can live in them in the hot weather. Sometimes men who have returned from western countries wish to build two-storied houses with windows and balconies - the kind of house that is best suited to the climate – but rigid custom is against them, and after having plans prepared and foundations laid they are forced by the clan to revert to the old, unhealthy type of building. This, of course applies to conservative village districts, and not to the cities. It says much for their toleration of the foreigner that they will often allow him to build homes to their own liking, when they refuse a similar liberty to their own countrymen. In striking contrast to the plain, low dwelling-places are the large airy, ornamental temples in the villages, and the high, fortress-like pawnshops that tower far above the shops in the market towns.
Cemeteries.
From the homes of the living one turns naturally to the abodes of the dead. Where ever there is a piece of rising ground or hillock in the vicinity of a village, it is generally covered by little tumuli, which marks the resting place of the dead. These tumuli grow a a few inches higher every year, when, at the season of “Ts’ing Ming” (worship of the graves), the male members of the families sally forth to the hills and show their respect for the dead by tidying up the graves, pouring out libations of wine, burning imitation paper money, tapers and incense sticks, and finally capping the graves with newly dug sods of earth.
Fields.
The C V M districts are essentially farming districts. They lie around the northern fringe of the delta; are flat, well watered, fertile, and consequently specially fitted for growing rice. The land is divided up into very small sections, perhaps one –eighth or a quarter of an acre. There are no fences, but field is divided from field by a low, narrow ridge. As the blades of rice shoots up, the boundaries are soon hidden from view, and the countryside takes on a bright green hue. Then in the early summer and late autumn – the two seasons of rice harvest – the colour changes, and the long, flat stretches between the villages are like one vast sea of golden grain. Fields that are not suitable for growing rice are used for other purposes. Peanuts, sweet potatoes, sugar cane, taros, water chestnuts, and lotus roots are grown in large quantities, as well as many other kinds of vegetables. Fruits are also widely cultivated, the chief being bananas, mandarins, oranges, persimmons, lichees, pomelos, and peaches.
Communications. The main line of communication is the railway running north from Canton. This line is ultimately to connect to Hankow, which is already linked to the Trans-Siberian line…..
The line runs right through the heart of the district, and from it we can branch out by road to the right and the left. The roads range from one foot to six feet in width, being very narrow where they run through the rice fields, but widening out where the land is not so valuable. Much of the travelling is done n foot, and that is the most dependable and independent way of getting around….
If the distance is great or the weather very hot or very wet, a mountain chair can be requisitioned. These chairs consist of a small bamboo seat, suspended between two bamboo poles about eight feet long. A narrow board dangles in front of the seat for a foot rest. The chairs are carried by two coolies, one at either end of the poles. They travel at the rate of five miles an hour. One would hardly use these chairs for a joy ride, but they are often very convenient.
The other means of locomotion is by boat. In the early days of the mission, before there were residences in the country, the long, shallow-draught boats that slowly work their way up the Ts’ung Fa River were frequently used by the missionaries. …
Climate.
Canton being just on the northern borders of the tropics, the climate in the C V M districts is sub-tropical. Spring is very wet and steamy. In the summer the fierce heat of a tropical sun is tempered by occasional downpours. Autumn is warm and dry, and when at the end of September the cool northerly winds commence to blow this season is most enjoyable. Early winter is cool and crisp, but in January, when the rains commence, it is cold and raw. Frost is very rare, being seen only at intervals….
Clans.
The members of a clan are united around a common ancestor, to whom all do reverence. Some clans are very ancient, and date their ancestry back hundreds of years. For instance, the Tsang clan, in Upper P’oon Yue, goes back 2400 years, and claims as its ancestors one of the most distinguished disciples of Confucius. Sometimes a clan will have a whole village to itself; sometimes several clans will unite together to form a village. But each clan has its own ancestral temple, where the tablets of the ancestors are enshrined and worshipped. While the clan system has many advantages, simplifying as it does the government of millions of people, and ensuring to some extent the care of the poor and destitute, yet it presents a big stumbling block to the progress of Christianity. …
Village Government.
Chinese villages are practically self governed, the form of government being patriarchical. Every member of the clan passing the age of 50 becomes a village elder. His influence depends largely on scholarship, wealth, and character. These elders meet at stated seasons in the ancestral temple, and over wine, fat pork and rice discuss the affairs of their little world. Then there is an official styled the “local protector”, who is responsible to the Government for the good conduct of the village. If villagers pay the yearly tax of corn they are left to practically to look after themselves. Night watchmen are employed, who march armed with gong and drum, beating out the hour of the night, and letting thieves and robbers know where they are – or not….
Languages.
The language spoken by our villagers is Cantonese. This is the language spoken by the great majority in the Kwong-tung province, as against Mandarin, which is used in the northern provinces of China….
Occupations: Farmers
The majority of villagers are farmers with very small holdings. The man with an acre farm is considered quite a large farmer. The heavier work, such as ploughing and harrowing, planting and reaping rice, is done by the men, while much of the lighter work, such as weeding, hoeing, picking up peanuts etc is shared by the women. Water buffaloes usually draw the plough, and sometimes a small yello ox is used. Farming implements are primitive and simple; but they are better suited to working the small, wet rice fields than are our heavy, up to date machinery. The farmers are kept busy for about nine months in the year. They slacken off during the three months of winter, which are spent mostly in the preparation and enjoyment of Chinese New Year festivities. As a rule they are industrious, frugal, simple-minded and peaceable.
Artisans.
Then we have the artisans – the carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths, coopers, potters, weavers, dyers, tailors, and makers of a hundred and one kinds of articles that are manufactured to meet the needs of man. Some of them are highly skilled, and their handiwork is quite as good as, and often better, than that produced by Westerners.
Under the old system manufacturers were largely carried out as home industries, and in numberless small workshops one might see master and men busy at work together. In the city each industry was controlled by its own guild, and in Canton, the combined “72 Guilds” exercised a very large influence in municipal affairs.
To-day the industrialisation of China along modern lines has already begun. With its vast resources of coal, iron and raw materials, and it unlimited supply of cheap labour, the manufacturing possibilities are tempting indeed. Capitalists, bot foreign and Chinese, have not been slow to realise their opportunities, and large factories with modern machinery for the manufacture of silk, cotton, and other good have been opened up in treaty ports and elsewhere. Iron works and ship building are making rapid strides. In some of these concerns the labourers number thousands. With the advantages of better wages and cheaper goods the evils of modern industrialisation have also made an appearance. The guild system is giving place to trade unionism, and strikes are of frequent occurrence.
Boat people.
The numerous waterways of the district are busy thoroughfares, and we have thousands of boat people engaged in transporting goods and passengers from place to place, and between city and country. These are a class apart, hard working, but generally very ignorant and superstitious. The only home they know is on the water. Then there are numerous fisher folk, who supply the markets with fish from the rivers.
Shopkeepers.
In the market towns are the business people, trading in local products and imported goods. They are quick and alert. Their skill in driving bargains may be gauged from a common saying – “when the Cantonese enters the Aberdonian had better retire.”
Coolies
Coolies are the burden-bearers, the hewers of wood and drawers of water. Very poor, and with practically no education, they are driven back upon their native wit. They take their poverty very philosophically, and seldom forget how to smile. They do not go about with that woebegone, hangdog look that is so characteristic of many of the poor in Western lands. On the contrary, they keep all their wits about them, and if engaged by a foreigner the latter never has a cause to reproach himself for having underpaid them. The coolie sees to that.
Gentry.
In striking contrast, to these busy, toil-worn farmers, artisans, shop men and coolies, are the leisured gentry, immaculate in their dress and punctilious in their manners. They are not very numerous in the CVM district, but such as there are have great power. Learned in the Chinese classics, and thoroughly versed in the customs and traditions of their ancestors, these gentlemen are held in high honour, and are frequently appealed to in matters of both public and private welfare. They often show a strong prejudice against Westerners and Western learning, and a re a frequent stumbling block in the way of Christian progress.
The Village Teacher.
The village teacher of to-day are not a distinct type as formerly. They range in knowledge from the gentry type, who is a splendid Chinese scholar, but knows nothing of Western learning, down to those who have a smattering of everything and trade on the credulity of parents. The village teacher is changing, and must change. The demand for education in Western learning, in addition to Chinese literature, which is so imperative in the big cities, is finding its echo in the villages, with the result that there is a growing demand for teachers of a liberal education….
Robbers.
Since members of the C V M band have more than once suffered from the depredations of the robbers a short reference to this class should not be out of place. Most of them come from the villages and market towns in the district. Some have been professional robbers most of their lives; some have been driven to it through sheer poverty; with many it has been the natural sequence in reckless gambling; while others take it on occasionally for the sake of wild excitement. They are usually well armed with the most up-to-date weapons. Compared with robbers in some districts, however, the C V M ones are gentlemen. As a rule they require merely your money or your life, not your money and your life. But if the former is not forthcoming, little mercy is shown. During normal times, when soldiers are fairly well distributed throughout the district, they remain discreetly in the background; but at periods of unrest, when the soldiers are required elsewhere, they carry on their nefarious tarde boldly and shamelessly, sometime reducing the whole countryside in a state of terror by bullets and blackmail.
Characteristics.
The powers of endurance, capacity for work, both physical and mental, skill in arts and crafts, patience and contentment, love of peace, commercial instincts, and other traits of character that are found in Chinese, are also found in our villagers.
Women and Children.
The Chinese woman, while suffering many disabilities as compared with British women, is not the down trodden creature that many imagine her to be. It is true that little girls are sometimes not wanted, that at least 95 percent of the women are uneducated, that in the affairs of the clan women have no vote, and that oftentimes they are looked upon merely as chattels; but nevertheless women are frequently found with natural gifts and a strength of character that give them considerable influence in the community. The young women has little power, but when she attains to the dignity of mother in law, and begins to exercise authority over a gradually-increasing household, her character develops rapidly, and others besides her daughter-in-law are frequently made to feel the lash of her tongue.
The number of children is legion, despite the fact that, according to some estimates, there is an infant mortality of over 70 percent. In the past the girls seldom received any education- custom and poverty are against the – but from infancy to marriage they are taught and made to work so as not to be a drag on family finances. ..
The boys are better off, and a fair percentage are taught to read and write. Many, however, on account of extreme poverty, have to start work at a very early age. The standard of intelligence of both boys and girls is equal to that of European children.
Religion in Village Life.
It is often said that there are three religions in China – Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, but the fact is that the people are not divided into three sects, but follow more of less the teachings and practices of all three, as custom and the various occasions of life demands.
Buddhism and Taoism.
The temples, in shrines at the village gates the number if idols is legion. In villages and by the wayside, idols and tablets are set up as symbols of the presence of spirits who are able to bless those who worship and curse those who neglect them.
Forms of Worship.
On the market towns the shop hands as a rule live and eat on the premises. Each shop has its own cook (a man), and upon the cook devolves the duty of performing the rites of worship. On the 1st and 15th of the moon, he gets up during the 5th watch (2-5am), makes tea and pours three cups out in front of the idols as a libation. He then burns three incense sticks, two candles, and some imitation paper money before each idol, finishing up by firing off crackers. Then in the evening of the same day, before meal time, he offers before the idols a tray bearing food. After the idol has satisfied itself with the spiritual essence of the food, incense, candles and paper are burnt again as in the morning, and the food itself is taken away and eaten