WESTERN CHINA: ITS PRODUCTS AND TRADE

Western China is no longer the terra incognita from which, until quite recently, rare travellers alone lifted the veil at long intervals, to be followed by relapses into absolute seclusion. Since the outbreak of the great Mahometan revolt in 1856, and the subsequent establishment of a Panthay Sultan in Ta-li-fu, up to the present day, public attention has been increasingly directed to this region, until now an extensive literature has grown up around it. Its latent resources and its actual trade not seldom form the theme of economists and newswriters, while the interest felt in the great Chinese race is now so general, that no apology is any longer needed for approaching what was once a recondite subject, and for presenting to the general reader fresh pictures of the varied regions that go to make up the Empire of China. If it cannot be said literally of a lady of fashion of our day, as was said in Juvenal's Rome, —

中國西部不再是那個直到最近仍鮮為人知的「未知之地」，過去只有少數旅行者偶爾揭開其神秘面紗，隨後又陷入完全的隔絕狀態。自1856年大規模回教叛亂爆發，以及隨後在大理府建立潘泰蘇丹國以來，直至今日，公眾對這一地區的關注日益增加，如今已形成了豐富的相關文獻。其潛在資源和實際貿易經常成為經濟學家和新聞工作者討論的主題，而對偉大的中華民族的興趣如今已變得如此普遍，以至於我們不再需要為接觸這個曾經深奧的話題而道歉，也不需要為向普通讀者呈現構成中華帝國的各種地區的新鮮畫面而辯解。儘管我們無法像尤維納爾筆下的羅馬那樣，字面上說今日的時尚女士——

“ Haec eadem novit quid toto«fiat in orbe.

Quid Seres quid Thraces agant,"

at least the spirit of enquiry is abroad, and the metropolis of the modem world is as anxious for news from beyond the pale of European civilisation as it is dependent upon these outlying regions for the daily supply of its material wants. China alone rivals the wide British dominion in populousness and in the industry and activity of its inhabitants, and every step that brings us nearer together is deserving of careful record and attention. Progress in this direction is necessarily slow, but so far it has been persistent. We cannot force the ultra-conservatism of the Chinese with a rush ; we must make up our minds to a long siege, and be content to sit down before the walls watching for every opportunity, and not failing to make the most of each one as it occurs. China holds geographically a position on the Eurasian Continent analogous to that of the United States on the American Continent, while in actual area and in the extent of her natural resources she even exceeds the possibilities of the Great Republic. But her resources lie largely undeveloped, and her means of intercommunication are still lamentably deficient. With continued peace, and a consequent growth of confidence in the goodwill and in the aims of the European nations that now touch her frontiers, and with whom she has only so recently become acquainted, we may expect many changes in advance in the coming generation. What has been done in this respect in the past generation many writers have tried to describe to us. Of the eighteen provinces of China proper, Szechuan is the largest and the finest, and, until quite recently, was that least known to Europeans. Marco Polo was the first traveller who gave any description of Western China to the outside world, but his memoirs lay practically dormant and discredited until resuscitated, only a few years back, in the admirable edition of his travels published by the late Colonel Yule. The story of the adventurous journey of the Abbe Hue and Father Gabet in 1844 across China to Lhassa was the next to tell us of the richness and beauty of this distant land. In 1861, Captain Blakiston, in his attempted expedition from Shanghai to Tibet, traversed the province of Szechuan as far west as Ping-shan, the head of navigation on the Upper Yangtse, and incidentally gave us a peep into the wealth and populousness of the West. The late T. T. Cooper followed a few years later over the same ground, and, though foiled in his endeavour to get beyond Bathang, he has left us an amusing picture of the people in his Pioneer in Pigtails and Petticoats. The expedition of Margary in 1875 may, however, be said to mark the era of the real commencement of a practical interest in this region, and the rise of a sustained endeavour to render it available as a field for European enterprise. In that year the Indian Government, in a laudable anxiety to open up a trade route through Burmah to South- Western China, despatched an expedition, under Colonel Horace Browne, to proceed via Bhamo to Yunnan-fu.

西部中國已不再是那個直到最近仍充滿神秘的「未知之地」，過去只有少數旅行者偶爾得以窺探，隨後又陷入完全的隔絕。自1856年大規模回教叛亂（Mahometan revolt）爆發以來，並且在大理府（Ta-li-fu）建立了潘泰蘇丹國（Panthay Sultan），這一地區日益受到公眾的關注。至今，圍繞這片土地的文獻已經十分豐富。其潛在資源與實際貿易價值經常成為經濟學家和記者討論的話題，如今對於偉大的中國人種（the great Chinese race）的興趣已變得如此普遍，討論這一曾經神秘的主題已無需任何藉口，現代讀者可以自由地探索和了解中國帝國（Empire of China）各個不同地區的新面貌。

如果說今日的一位時尚女性無法像尤維納爾（Juvenal）所描繪的羅馬那樣「她知道整個世界發生的一切。」——「知道塞爾人和色雷斯人在做什麼，」，那麼至少現代世界的首都對於來自歐洲文明圈外的消息充滿了好奇，並依賴這些外圍地區來滿足日常物質需求。中國龐大的人口與居民的勤奮程度與大英帝國（British dominion）相媲美，每一步拉近兩者的進展都值得謹慎記錄與關注。儘管這一進程不可避免地緩慢，但它已經持續不斷。我們不能指望以強硬手段打破中國人極端保守主義（ultra-conservatism），而必須做好長期圍困的準備，耐心等待每個機會，並在機會來臨時充分加以利用。

從地理位置上看，中國在歐亞大陸（Eurasian Continent）上的位置與美國（United States）在美洲大陸（American Continent）上的位置相似，而在實際面積和自然資源的豐富程度上，她甚至超過了美國的潛力。然而，中國的資源大多尚未開發，其交通方式也極為缺乏。如果能夠保持持續的和平，隨著對歐洲國家的善意和目標增長信心——這些國家如今接觸到她的邊界，並且直到最近才與她建立聯繫——我們可以期待未來一代的顯著變革。許多作家已經嘗試向我們描述過去一代在這方面的進展。

中國內地的十八個省中，四川省（Szechuan）是最大且最優秀的，直到最近仍是歐洲人知之甚少的地區。馬可波羅（Marco Polo）是第一位向外界介紹中國西部的旅行者，但他的回憶錄在幾年前由尤爾上校（Colonel Yule）出版的精美版重新問世之前，幾乎被遺忘且質疑。接下來是1844年阿貝·許（Abbe Hue）和加貝神父（Father Gabet）跨越中國到達拉薩（Lhassa）的冒險之旅，向我們展示了這片遙遠土地的富饒與美麗。1861年，布雷基斯頓上尉（Captain Blakiston）從上海（Shanghai）向西藏（Tibet）進行探險，穿越了四川省，最遠抵達了屏山（Ping-shan），這是長江上游的航行終點，他也讓我們瞥見了西部的富饒和人口稠密。幾年後，已故的T. T. 庫珀（T. T. Cooper）也走過相同的路線，儘管他未能越過巴塘（Bathang），但在他的《辮子與裙子中的先驅》（Pioneer in Pigtails and Petticoats）一書中，他為我們留下了當地人生活的生動描繪。馬格里（Margary）1875年的探險可以說標誌著這個地區真正引起實際興趣的時代的開始，並標誌著將其作為歐洲企業場地的持久努力的興起。

Margary, an officer in the British Consular service in China, was deputed to meet the expedition from the China side, and to act as its interpreter, and guide it across the frontier. He proceeded through the province of Yunnan in safety, and met Colonel Browne at his halt in the wild Kakhyen country, midway between Bhamo and Ta-li-fu, but on returning to China to announce the advent of the expedition he was foully murdered at a place called Momein or Teng-yueh-chow, a town situated on the head waters of the Salween, some distance within the Yunnan frontier. The fact of his having been murdered by Chinese soldiers, — stabbed in the back without any quarrel or fracas, — coupled with that of the hostile attack by well-armed Kakhyens and Chinese the following day on Colonel Browne's party, which was only saved from total destruction by the determined stand made by his Sikh guard, leaves little doubt that the Chinese Government instigated the opposition, leaving the local authorities to devise the means. This is an old story in our intercourse with the Chinese. The Central Government, driven into a corner, gives a reluctant assent to the general proposition, and then sets to work to defeat its consequences in detail. And in this case, as in many others, the tortuous policy has succeeded. Although Bhamo has since fallen into our possession by the conquest of Upper Burmah, and the British Indian frontier now marches coterminous with the Chinese, no further steps to improve this route have yet been taken.

那一年，印度政府（Indian Government）為了開闢一條通過緬甸（Burmah）通往中國西南（South-Western China）的貿易路線，派遣了一支探險隊，由霍雷斯·布朗上校（Colonel Horace Browne）率領，經由八莫（Bhamo）前往雲南府（Yunnan-fu）。英國駐中國的領事官員馬格里（Margary）受命從中國一側迎接探險隊，並作為翻譯和嚮導，協助探險隊穿越邊境。他順利穿越了雲南省，並在克欽人（Kakhyen）地區與布朗上校會合，該地位於八莫和大理府之間。

然而，在返回中國向當局宣布探險隊的到來時，馬格里在一個名為孟密（Momein，或稱騰越州 Teng-yueh-chow）的地方遭到殘忍謀殺。這座小鎮位於薩爾溫江（Salween）上游，距離雲南邊界不遠。馬格里被中國士兵從背後刺殺，現場沒有發生任何爭吵或騷動。翌日，克欽人和中國士兵對布朗上校的隊伍發動了武裝襲擊。布朗的隊伍僅靠其錫克（Sikh）衛兵的堅決抵抗才得以倖存。

這些事實，加上中國政府一貫以拖延戰術阻撓外國勢力的記錄，無疑表明這次反對行動受中國政府的操控，並由地方當局負責具體實施。

GLEANINGS FROM CHINA

The investigation into the facts of Margary's murder was undertaken by Messrs. Grosvenor and Baber, who, in accordance with the agreement entered into by our Minister in Peking with the Chinese Government, were ordered to make inquiries on the spot. This expedition gave us further valuable knowledge of the country in their journals and in the Blue-books which resulted, while leaving little doubt that the murder was the result of an atrocious plot on the part of the Yunnan Viceroy. The demand of our Government for redress ended in a meeting to discuss the matter, held in Chefoo, between Sir Thomas Wade and the trusted counsellor and envoy of the Chinese Government, Li Hung-chang. The representative of the British Government, fortified by the report of the Grosvenor Commission of Enquiry, originally demanded an examination into the conduct of the Yunnan Viceroy, Tsen Yii-ying, in whose jurisdiction the murder had been committed, but he ultimately yielded to the representations of Li as to the impossibility of the Chinese Government putting a Viceroy on his trial, and accepted the compromise known as the Chefoo Convention. By this Convention, which was signed at Chefoo in the summer of 1876, the Chinese paid 10,000/. blood money to the relatives of the murdered consular agent, and agreed to open five new ports to foreign trade, of which Pakhoi on the west coast of Kwang«*--«j^ung, Wen-chow in JTukion, with Wu-hu and I-chang on /the Yangtse river, were opened unconditionally. Not one of these ports has, so far, justified by its trade the maintenance of the Consul which its opening to British residents has been held to necessitate. The last concession, and in our opinion the only valuable one of the whole, was the opening of Chungking as soon as it should have been proved accessible to steamers. This most unfortunate " condition precedent " robbed the only real equivalent, offered for our abandonment of the demand that Margary's murderers should be brought to trial, of half its value, while it opened the door to that endless quibbling in which Chinese diplomatists are past masters.

WESTERN CHINA 5

對馬格里（Margary）謀殺案的調查由格羅夫納（Grosvenor）和巴伯（Baber）先生負責，他們奉我們駐北京大使與中國政府達成的協議，奉命在案發地進行調查。這次探險在他們的日誌和隨後的藍皮書中，為我們提供了關於該地區的更多寶貴知識，同時也幾乎毫無疑問地證明，這起謀殺事件是雲南總督（Viceroy of Yunnan）岑毓英（Tsen Yu-ying）策劃的一個殘酷陰謀。我們政府要求中國政府對此進行賠償，最終導致了湯瑪斯·威妥瑪爵士（Sir Thomas Wade）與中國政府的信任顧問兼特使李鴻章（Li Hung-chang）在煙台（Chefoo）召開會議討論此事。英國政府代表在格羅夫納調查委員會（Grosvenor Commission of Enquiry）報告的支持下，最初要求對岑毓英總督的行為進行審查，因為謀殺案發生在他的管轄範圍內。然而，最終在李鴻章的說服下，考慮到中國政府無法審判一位總督，英國接受了被稱為《煙台條約》（Chefoo Convention）的妥協方案。

根據1876年夏天簽署的《煙台條約》，中國向被謀殺的領事官員的親屬支付了10,000英鎊的血債賠償金，並同意開放五個新港口進行外國貿易，其中包括位於廣東西海岸的北海（Pakhoi）、福建的溫州（Wen-chow），以及長江上的蕪湖（Wu-hu）和宜昌（I-chang），這些港口無條件對外開放。然而，迄今為止，這些港口中的任何一個都未能通過其貿易額證明設立領事機構的必要性。

最後的讓步，也就是我們認為唯一有價值的讓步，是允許重慶（Chungking）開放，但前提是需要證明該港口對蒸汽船是可達的。這一不幸的「先決條件」使得本應是對放棄審判馬格里兇手要求的唯一真正補償大打折扣，並為中國外交家們擅長的無盡狡辯開了門。