INTO THB CHINESE COUNTRY

Graves — Beating against the wind — Fields — Bridges — Pagoda — ^The bills — Ming Hong Temple — Village fiictoiy — Praying for sick people— Bringing home the bride .... 40

A N expedition up the river is one of the -^^ pleasures of Shanghai life. People's faces brighten as they talk of "going to the hills," And there being no roads, the only way of really getting into the country is either to take a houseboat, and wind in and put of the various creeks, or with a yacht drop down to Woosung, or sail up the Huang Pu. We did the latter one winter's day, and the expedition left me rather meditative. Just as in the north I decided the graves were the only liveable-in places, being the only spots sheltered from sun and wind by trees, so here I foimd the graves were the only things, that made any variety in the landscape of flat alluvial plain, all cultivated, with every here and there a grave mound! It suggested irresistibly that the lives of those aroimd were all flat, full of labour, varied but by deaths, and those not tragic, nor even specially interesting. We sailed on and on, beating against the wind as A. said no yacht in England could, only a Shanghai yacht with its ingenious adaptation of the Chinese rig. We passed Ming Hong with its picturesque Lekin (Inland Taxes) and Life Saving Station, its pretty pavilion-topped gateway, and Bund, all facing south along the river side. No other boats ventured against the strong north-west blow, and the river felt lonely as we neared the Pagoda of Ta Kong. It seemed a pity not to land and look at something.

深入中國鄉村

墳墓——迎風行駛——田野——橋樑——寶塔——山丘——明洪寺——鄉村工廠——為病人祈禱——迎娶新娘 .... 40

一次沿河遠征是上海生活中的一大樂趣。 當人們談論「去山裡」時，臉上都會露出光彩。由於沒有道路，真正進入鄉村的唯一方式要麼是乘坐舢板船，蜿蜒穿過各種小溪，要麼是乘坐遊艇，順流而下到吳淞口，或者沿著黃浦江航行。我們選擇了後者，這是在一個冬日進行的遠征，而這次遠征讓我陷入了沉思。就像在北方時，我認為墳墓是唯一可以居住的地方，因為它們是唯一有樹木遮蔽陽光和風的地方，而在這裡，我發現墳墓是平坦的沖積平原景觀中唯一的變化，它們散落在完全被耕作的土地上，點綴著墳塚！這讓人不禁聯想到，周圍人們的生活都是平淡無奇的，充滿了勞動，唯一的變化就是死亡，而這些死亡既不悲劇，甚至不特別引人注目。我們逆風航行，不斷前行，正如A所說，這是英國任何一艘遊艇都無法做到的，只有上海的遊艇能夠如此巧妙地適應中國式帆裝。我們經過了明洪寺，那裡有風景如畫的厘金（內陸稅收）和救生站，美麗的亭閣頂門樓和沿河的外灘，所有這些都面朝南邊的河岸。沒有其他船隻敢於在強勁的西北風中逆風航行，當我們靠近大崗寶塔時，河面顯得十分孤寂。我們感覺不登陸看看周圍的景色有些可惜。

40 INTO THE CHINESE COUNTRY 41

So we landed! Fields without hedges and without trees, fields of rice recently cut down, and consequendy with their mud all dry t The walking was good enough, which it would not have been at any other time of year, and the fields being quite dry did not smell. Every now and then we crossed a creek by a bridge of .a single plank, or, worse still, of two quite narrow planks not in any way joined together, only placed alongside, so that one could if one liked put one foot on each, and walk across, each plank vibrating differently. Every now and then we came across cosy - looking homesteads with curved roofs and projecting eaves, looking very picturesque against the evening sky, and actually with a few trees round them, also great comfortpromising stacks of rice straw. But we knew only too well that, as we got near each, the smeOs . must make us wish we had not. Finally a village somewhat especially odoriferous, as if its whole business were to provide fertilisers for the surrounding country! And at the back of it with no particular approach of any kind the Pagoda ! It was locked up and ruinous. When someone put a ladder on to the roof, and climbed up, and unlocked one of the doors from the inside, I was sorry, for it seemed a duty then to go up and look at the view of the plain and the kills, and yet it hardly looked safe. Clearly it would not do to lean against the railings round the balconies of the Pagoda. They were crumbling away. I thought then it would be curious to know when that Pagoda was built, and why it had never been repaired if it were worth while to build it. But now I know it never is considered worth while to repair anything in China. A public benefactor builds a bridge and has his name inscribed on a stone tablet forming part of it. But you cannot have your name immortalised for simply year by year replacing a damaged brick or two. We climbed three of the seven storeys, thereby procuring a great deal of excitement for me. For with boots with heels, and petticoats, one shrinks from going down a ladder backwards, and getting off it on to another ladder starting in a directly opposite direction. Otherwise there was not much gained by going

up. We certainly saw the hills, and we certainly saw the plain. The hills looked a little bigger than the grave mounds, and one satisfactorily ascertained for one's self that otherwise the plain was all the same, as far as one could see. The people of the village all congregated below the Pagoda, and stared at us when we came down. They looked very poor and ignorantr I do not know what we looked to them. But I certainly did observe that with the exception of one boy they all had the good sense not to ascend their own Pagoda.

INTO THE CHINESE COUNTRY 43

於是我們登陸了！ 這裡的田野沒有樹籬和樹木，稻田剛剛收割完，因此泥土已經乾透了。這時的路況還算不錯，這在一年中的其他時間是不可能的，田地乾燥，也沒有異味。我們時不時地要通過一座橋來跨越溪流，這座橋只是由一塊木板構成，甚至更糟的是由兩塊非常狹窄的木板拼成，它們並沒有連接在一起，只是並排放置，因此如果你願意，可以一腳踩在一塊板上，另一隻腳踩在另一塊板上走過去，但每塊板的震動頻率不同。我們不時經過一些看起來很舒適的農舍，它們有著彎曲的屋頂和突出的屋檐，在晚霞的映襯下顯得十分美麗，周圍還有幾棵樹，還有堆滿稻草的稻草堆，這些都讓人感覺到一種大的舒適感。但是我們非常清楚，一旦靠近這些農舍，氣味一定會讓我們後悔靠近它們。最後，我們來到了一個異常臭氣熏天的村莊，彷彿它的整個業務就是為周圍的農田提供肥料！而在村莊後方，沒有任何特別的通路就是那座寶塔！寶塔已經鎖上並且破敗不堪。有人把梯子搭在屋頂上，爬上去，從裡面打開了一扇門，我感到有些遺憾，因為這似乎讓我們有了義務去爬上去看看平原和群山的景色，儘管它看起來並不太安全。顯然，倚靠寶塔陽台的欄杆是不行的，因為它們已經在逐漸崩壞。我當時就想，如果能知道這座寶塔是什麼時候建的，以及如果當初認為值得建造它，為什麼從未有人認為值得去修繕它，那會很有趣。但現在我知道在中國，沒有人認為修繕任何東西是值得的。一個公共利益者建造了一座橋，並將他的名字刻在石碑上成為橋的一部分。但你不能指望只因為每年更換一兩塊損壞的磚頭而讓自己的名字不朽。我們爬了七層中的三層，這讓我非常緊張。因為穿著帶跟的靴子和裙子，人們很難倒退著下梯子，然後又從梯子上下到另一個方向相反的梯子上。除此之外，爬上去並沒有多大意義。我們確實看到了山丘，確實看到了平原。山丘看起來比墳墓的土堆大了一些，而我們確信在視線所及的範圍內，平原都是一樣的。村裡的所有人都聚集在寶塔下面，當我們下來時，他們盯著我們看。他們看起來非常貧窮和無知。我不知道我們在他們眼中是什麼樣子。但我確實注意到，除了有一個男孩以外，他們都很明智地沒有爬上自己的寶塔。

深入中國鄉村 43

We dropped down stream in the moonlight, and next morning early landed at Ming Hong. Again flat alluvial plain only varied by grave mounds! But here the river has raised the surrounding country sufficiendy for cotton, not rice, to be grown, and great is the difference in the appearance of the people. Far the best-looking Chinamen I had yet seen thronged the streets of Ming Hong. And they appeared thriving and prosperous. There is a temple near to the town, that almost looks as if someone sometimes went and prayed in it. When you go into the inner temple there is a grave and rather beautiful Goddess of Mercy over the high altar, looking like a Russian Madonna. The roof is fine inside as wdl as out with great big beams and dragons. But the entrance temple, or Ting-ehr, was very comical. For there sat a gilded Buddha apparently in supreme enjoyment of the good things of this life, and on either side of him four gigantic idols, who had all had their legs either broken away, or worn away, and who had in other ways suffered change at the hands of time. At what should have been their feet sat a poor beggar begging lamentably with legs horribly swollen, and covered with sores which he was very anxious to exhibit But it seemed pleasanter for all parties to give something than to look !

We walked along a path, where, marvellous for China, two people could walk abreast, and crossing a variety of creeks in a variety of ways came upon the ruins of a camp, finally arriving at two tall chimneys, a landmark in the scene. Our puzzle was what fuel they could possibly find to bum inside those tall chimneys. It turned out to be rice husks. A man sat on the ground and with one hand worked a bellows, thus making forced draught, while with the other he threw on a tiny handful of rice husks, not enough to choke the bright flame roused by the draught. Another man weighed out crushed cotton seeds into a little basket, emptied them into a vessel on the fire till it just boiled, then emptied them again into another vessel — if you can call it such — a frame of split bamboo twisted, kneaded it all hot as it was with his feet, and then piled it up ready to be pressed, always with a bit of basket work weighting down the top. We waited to see the cakes pressed. They were like cheeses, each with their twisted bamboo rings round them. When as many as could be were fitted into a trough, then by putting in wedges the bulk was reduced to rather less than half what it at first appeared, during which time a constant stream of oil was flowing from the trough. A man hammered the wedges, towards the end using a stone hammer so heavy I could only just lift it. It was rather amusing to see the politeness of these men. One of them wanted to smoke, but before doing so he offered his pipe both to my husband and to myself quite with the air of expecting his offer to be accepted, I had on an ulster, and they all admired the material of it very much, saying each in turn they were quite sure it was/t' ckt, long ells I There were buffaloes crushing the cotton seeds, walking round and round with basket-work blinkers over their poor eyes. Curiously enough the heavy millstones they wheeled round, all of hardest granite as they were, yet were decorated with carvings. One had the key pattern, also characters very carefully carved to the effect that it was the Fairy Carriage and the Dragon's Wheel.

翻譯：

我們在月光下順流而下，第二天一大早在明洪登陸。又是平坦的沖積平原，唯一的變化就是墳塚！不過這裡的河流已經使周圍的土地變得足夠高，可以種植棉花而不是稻米，這使得當地人們的外觀大不相同。我在明洪見到的中國人是迄今為止最英俊的，他們看起來非常興旺和繁榮。城鎮附近有一座寺廟，幾乎看起來像是有人時常去那裡祈禱。當你進入內殿時，會看到一座莊嚴且美麗的觀音像，坐落在高高的祭壇上，看起來有些像俄羅斯的聖母。這座寺廟的屋頂內外都很精美，巨大的橫梁上裝飾著龍。然而，入口處的廟宇（或稱為「亭兒」）卻非常滑稽。那裡有一尊金色的佛像，看起來對世間的美好事物享受得十分愜意，而在他兩側的四尊巨大偶像則要麼腿部已斷裂，要麼腿部已被磨損，並且隨著時間的推移在其他方面也發生了變化。就在這些偶像本應有腳的地方，坐著一個可憐的乞丐，悲慘地乞討著，他的雙腿腫脹且滿是瘡疤，他急切地想展示給我們看。不過對所有人來說，給他一點施捨而不看他的瘡疤似乎更為愉快！

我們沿著一條小路走，在中國這樣的小路上，能讓兩個人並肩行走真是不可思議，途中穿過了多條溪流，最終來到了一片營地遺址，最終抵達了兩座高高的煙囪，成為了景象中的一個地標。我們好奇的是他們如何在這些高高的煙囪中找到燃料。結果發現燃料是稻殼。一個人坐在地上，一手操作風箱，從而產生強勁的氣流，另一手則往火中撒一小把稻殼，稻殼的量不多，卻足以在氣流的助推下引起明亮的火焰。另一個人將壓碎的棉籽稱重後放入一個小籃子中，然後將其倒入火上的容器中，直到剛好煮沸，再將其倒入另一個容器中——如果可以稱之為容器的話——其實就是一個由劈開的竹子編織而成的框架，他用腳將其熱揉好，然後堆放起來準備壓榨，每次都用一塊編織好的籃子壓在上面。我們等著看壓榨好的棉籽餅。它們像奶酪一樣，每個周圍都套著扭曲的竹環。當盡可能多的棉籽餅被裝入一個槽中時，通過插入楔子，體積被壓縮到原來的一半左右，在此過程中，槽中會不斷流出油。一個人用錘子敲打楔子，最後他使用了一把非常重的石錘，我只能勉強舉起它。看到這些人的禮貌真是有趣，其中一個人想抽煙，但在抽煙前，他禮貌地將煙管遞給我丈夫和我，表現得彷彿真希望我們能接受他的好意。我穿了一件厚外套，他們都很喜歡這件外套的材質，每個人都讚不絕口地說，他們非常確信這是「f't ckt, long ells！」有幾隻水牛在碾碎棉籽，牠們戴著籃子做的眼罩，不斷地繞圈走。很奇怪的是，這些水牛拉動的沉重石磨，雖然都是用最堅硬的花崗岩製成，卻還是被裝飾上了雕刻。其中一個石磨有鑰匙圖案，還有小心雕刻的字體，寫著「仙車龍輪」。