THE CENTRAL KINGDOM, CONTINUED

GO BACK TO THE PREVIOUS PERIOD HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1800

Although the punishments for dope smuggling in China were increased and an anti-opium trade offensive was begun, the smuggling of suspicious vegetable substances would remain uncontrollable.

Stewart Dean, an in-law of John Jacob Astor, became captain of the China trader Severn, sailed from New- York harbor to Canton with a shipment of furs and pelts, cochineal and American ginseng, and would return the following year.

CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1802

February 17, Wednesday: Issachar Jacox Roberts was born in Sumner County, Tennessee. After learning to read and write in “occasional sessions in country schools” in the western part of the American south, he would study for about 6 months at a Baptist institution of education in Greenville, South Carolina known as “Furman University” but would be expelled for erratic behavior, and after that there would be no formal education of any sort. Although he would lose his connection with the Southern Baptist Convention of the Baptist faith, he would nevertheless become a Christian missionary to China.

“HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE” BEING A VIEW FROM A PARTICULAR POINT IN TIME (JUST AS THE PERSPECTIVE IN A PAINTING IS A VIEW FROM A PARTICULAR POINT IN SPACE), TO “LOOK AT THE COURSE OF HISTORY MORE GENERALLY” WOULD BE TO SACRIFICE PERSPECTIVE ALTOGETHER. THIS IS FANTASY-LAND, YOU’RE FOOLING YOURSELF. THERE CANNOT BE ANY SUCH THINGIE, AS SUCH A PERSPECTIVE.

March 11, Thursday: Colonel Robert Patton took over as Governor of St. Helena (he would serve until July 13, 1807 and would recommend to the East India Company that it import Chinese coolies for a rural workforce).

Fall: Joseph Smith, Sr., who would be the father of Joseph Smith, Jr., was beginning a business in the crystallization of ginseng (considered a remedy for the plague) and its exportation through the port of New- York to China. His shipment would not succeed and by the late spring of the following year the family would have lost not only this venture but also its farm in Tunbridge, Vermont.

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1803

An American factory was established at Guangzhou (Canton) in China.

THE TASK OF THE HISTORIAN IS TO CREATE HINDSIGHT WHILE INTERCEPTING ANY ILLUSION OF FORESIGHT. NOTHING A HUMAN CAN SEE CAN EVER BE SEEN AS IF THROUGH THE EYE OF GOD.

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1804

May: John Jacob Astor became full owner of the China trader Severn.

“NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1805

Under Ching Shih, a former prostitute from the Canton area born in 1775 who had made herself a great pirate leader, the 5 most powerful crime families in China combine into a single syndicate. The syndicate defined zones of influence, and created an elaborate series of hand signs, passwords, and initiation rites to reduce the risk of accidental confrontations between unsuspecting fellow criminals. (Ching Shih bore sons to one pirate leader, Zheng Yi, then married his adopted son Zhang Pao following his death. Cutting a deal with the Chinese government in 1843 according to which of her navy of 17,318 pirates only 126 were executed for crimes and only 250 others awarded any sort of punishment, she would retire to Canton and take charge of a gambling and prostitution house.)

Linear regression analysis, perhaps one of the oldest topics in mathematical statistics, a way in which to approximate the solution of overdetermined systems (sets of equations in which there are more equations than unknowns) began in this year when the least squares method was published by Adrien-Marie Legendre. Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss, who would begin to publish about this in 1809, who was generally recognized as the Princeps mathematicorum or greatest mathematician since antiquity, actually had been using this technique of analysis since his calculation of the orbit of Pallas in 1795 but had not considered it as any big deal (until in this year Legendre made a really big deal about being 1st to proclaim it and asserted priority as himself having pioneered the technique). Both Gauss and Legendre applied the method to the problem of determining, from astronomical observations, the orbits of bodies about the sun (non-linear regression analysis is a whole lot more difficult to calculate and would need to wait for a later timeframe). CHINESE

“MAGISTERIAL HISTORY” IS FANTASIZING: HISTORY IS CHRONOLOGY

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1807

September 4, Friday: Robert Fulton initiated regular steamboat service between New-York and Albany.

The Reverend Dr. Robert Morrison, initial Protestant missionary to China, arrived at the Portuguese settlement of Macao at the mouth of the Pearl River leading to Canton.

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 6th day 4th of 9th M 1807 / Nothing of note has occur’d that I recollect that is worth inserting, & some may think it wholly superfluous for me thus to journalize but there is a peculiar satisfaction in it to me, & I have believed it right for some Years Spent the evening At Aunt Martha Goulds & C R’s, while setting at both places, as well as at times thro’ the day, my mind was Solemnized so that I felt but little disposition to join in conversation - Oh saith my soul at this time, may an holy solemnity cover my mind at all times & on all occasions RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

NEVER READ AHEAD! TO APPRECIATE SEPTEMBER 4TH, 1807 AT ALL ONE MUST APPRECIATE IT AS A TODAY (THE FOLLOWING DAY, TOMORROW, IS BUT A PORTION OF THE UNREALIZED FUTURE AND IFFY AT BEST).

September 7, Monday: A Presbyterian missionary sent to China by the London Missionary Society, the Reverend Dr. Robert Morrison, had declared his intention to be the bringing of “the light of science and revelation” to “peacefully and gradually shed their lustre on the Eastern limit of Asia and the islands of the rising sun,” lands which up to that point had been very much in the dark. He stood fresh off the boat on a Canton dock with the bee in his bonnet to convert all these teeming multitudes of Chinamen to the truth and power of Christianity and thus earn an entire galaxy of stars for his heavenly crown — and he bore in his hand a letter of introduction from then Secretary of State James Madison. He was wondering who to show this precious letter to first. Let us have a moment of silence, and contemplate the possibilities. [Moment of Silence]

In result of the bombardment of Copenhagen that had proceeded from August 16th to September 5th, and in return for an understanding that the British would attempt to leave Copenhagen within six weeks, Denmark signed a capitulation document surrendering all its navy and naval stores.

Under threat from France, King Gustaf IV Adolf ceded Pomerania to the French.

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA 7 day / This Afternoon rode to Portsmouth with couzin Z C, spent the evening at P L’s with my dear H then returned & lodged at Z C’s the next morning returned to P L’s & walked with him to meeting where my mind was favord with access to the spring of life & to me is was a very favor’d tho’ silent meeting, Oh! that I may render due thanks from the heart to him from whom cometh every blessing, & those of this kind I esteem the greatest — After meeting, J Rodman & I went to H Almys & dined. I made a pleasant visit there, & left J & returned to P L, again where I lodged & this / 2 day [Monday] / morning rose at a little past 4 OClock & walked home in about two hours - It has been a day of tumult the Militia has paraded the Streets with the sound of Drums & Fifies which with their appearance allways affect my mind with seriousness & put me to inspecting the ground of my faith in the Christian Religion, & I have thought this day that my objections to appearing as a military man is founded & something more than meer traditional Religion, for I think I have seen that wars & fightings are an offence to the Almighty & that he hath no delight in them, Oh that the pure spirit of Christianity may more & more abound in my heart —- Called at Earls, & Sarah introduced me to a man who lived in the other part of the house that had a Galvance machine I examined it & took several Shocks, it is a wonderful thing & past my finding out that a few peaces of metal Should have such an effect on the human frame, but it is like many other things, that we are but ignorant beings, & to impress on our minds with the Greatness & goodness of God — Spent the remained of the evening at C R: with a precious covering over my mind. Oh that I may be thankful — RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1808

The balance of foreign trade began to turn against China. Prior to this point, the rate of exchange between the silver of the Chinese de facto legal tender, the sycee, and the copper of the cash coinage, had remained quite stable in the vicinity of the statutory par of 1,000 cash to one tael of silver, often with a bias slightly favoring the copper, but from this point forward silver would begin to flow out of Canton.

HISTORY ISN’T MADE OF WOULD. WHEN SOMEONE REVEALS, FOR INSTANCE, THAT BY 1856 SILVER EXPORT WOULD HAVE RISEN FIRST TO 1,200-1,300 CASH PER TAEL AND THEN TO 2,000 CASH PER TAEL, S/HE DISCLOSES THAT WHAT IS BEING CRAFTED IS NOT REALITY BUT PREDESTINARIANISM. THE RULE OF REALITY IS THAT THE FUTURE HASN’T EVER HAPPENED, YET.

On the plains of north-central China, a government official complained, “There are many vagabonds and rowdies who draw their swords and gather crowds. They have established societies of various names: the Obedient Swords, Tiger-Tail Whip, the Boxers United in Righteousness, and Eight Trigrams Sect. They are overbearing in the villages and oppress the good people. The origin of these disturbances is gambling. They go to fairs and markets and openly set up tents where they take valuables in pawn and gather to gamble. They also conspire with clerks who act as their eyes and ears.”

The story of the younger François André Michaux’s 1801-1803 adventures in the New World, VOYAGE A L’OUEST DES MONTS ALLÉGHANYS DANS LES ÉTATS DE L’OHIO, DU KENTUCKY ET DU TENNESSÉE, ET RETOUR A CHARLESTON was published in Paris.

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA From this, Henry Thoreau would extrapolate information on firewood to use in his chapter “House-Warming”:

WALDEN: It is remarkable what a value is still put upon wood even PEOPLE OF in this age and in this new country, a value more permanent and WALDEN universal than that of gold. After all our discoveries and inventions no man will go by a pile of wood. It is as precious to us as it was to our Saxon and Norman ancestors. If they made their bows of it, we make our gun-stocks of it. Michaux, more than thirty years ago, says that the price of wood for fuel in New York and Philadelphia “nearly equals, and sometimes exceeds, that of the best wood in Paris, though this immense capital annually requires more than three hundred thousand cords, and is surrounded to the distance of three hundred miles by cultivated plains.” In this town the price of wood rises almost steadily, and the only question is, how much higher it is to be this year than it was the last. Mechanics and tradesmen who come in person to the forest on no other errand, are sure to attend the wood auction, and even pay a high price for the privilege of gleaning after the wood-chopper. It is now many years that men have resorted to the forest for fuel and the materials of the arts; the New Englander and the New Hollander, the Parisian and the Celt, the farmer and Robinhood, Goody Blake and Harry Gill, in most parts of the world the prince and the peasant, the scholar and the savage, equally require still a few sticks from the forest to warm them and cook their food. Neither could I do without them.

FRANÇOIS ANDRÉ MICHAUX

June 8, Sunday, 1851: In F.A. Michaux i.e. the younger Michaux’s Voyage A l’ouest des Monts GINSENG Alléghanys –1802 printed at Paris 1808 … Ginseng was then the only “territorial” production of Kentucky which would pay the expense of transportation by land to Philadelphia. They collected it from spring to the first frosts. Even hunters carried for this purpose, beside their guns, a bag & a little “pioche” From 25 to 30 “milliers pesant” were then transported annually & this commerce was on the increase. Some transported it themselves from Kentucky to China i.e. without selling it the merchants of the seaboard– Traders in Kentucky gave 20 to 24 “sous” the pound for it. They habituated their wild hogs to return to the house from time to time by distributing corn for them once or twice a week– So I read that in Buenos Ayres they collect the horses into the corral twice a week to keep them tame in a degree CHINA François André Michaux. VOYAGE A L’OUEST DES MONTS ALLÉGHANYS DANS LES ÉTATS DE L’OHIO, DU KENTUCKY ET DU TENNESSÉE, ET RETOUR A CHARLESTON. Paris, 1808

July: New York’s US Senator Samuel Latham Mitchell requested that Thomas Jefferson grant permission for stranded Chinese businessman Punqua Wingchong to slip through the embargo to return to Asia aboard John Jacob Astor’s ship Beaver. Local merchants suspected, however, that this was a ruse, so Astor could ship goods to China. Permission was not obtained, for this businessman’s servant Quak Te to travel back home with him, and eventually this stranded Chinese servant, in despair in a rented room in Nantucket, would hang himself. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM August 17, Wednesday: A well-dressed crowd gathered on the Hudson River side of Lower Manhattan Island on this hot afternoon of August 17, 1808 to view the new steamboat of Robert Fulton, which he had named the North River (this was the riverboat that is now referred to as the Clermont).

Construction was beginning in this year, of five D-shaped sandstone forts in defense of New-York harbor: Fort Wood on Bedloes Island, Fort Gibson on Ellis Island, three-tiered Castle William on Governors Island replacing or supplementing Fort Columbus, and, at the edge of the city itself, the North Battery and the “South- West Battery.” The north battery would be constructed at the foot of Hubert Street and the south-west battery, which would have 28 ports for its bronze cannon, would be constructed on a small island off the beach at the tip of Manhattan and its garrison would be linked to the shore only by way of a 200-foot causeway equipped with a drawbridge.1 These defensive fortifications would be completed in 1811.

The Battle of Rolica, during the Peninsular Campaign: The British forces under Wellington had landed in Portugal and moved south to Obidos, and had observed that the French forces under General Delaborde had taken up defensive positions four miles to the south, in front of the village of Rolica, which lay in the center of a horseshoe of steep hills a mile wide and two miles long. Wellington had spent the night of August 16th in

1. In 1815 this little fortress would be renamed Castle Clinton. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA the small square palace in Obidos. The British had attacked opposite the French positions, simultaneously engaging a pincer mover to the west. The French had withdrawn to avoid the trap. As Wellington repeatedly attacked the French then carefully withdrew behind a strong cavalry screen. Wellington pressed south to Vimiero. When we now visit the beautiful Moorish town of Obidos, we can view from the northern ramparts of the town wall the scene of the skirmish action that preceded this battle. Then from the southern ramparts of this town wall we can view the scene of the French positions before Rolica three miles to the south as Wellington had on this day. We can visit the crest of the ridge along which the French had taken their initial positions, then the crest of the second ridge, south of Rolica, on which the French had taken their subsequent positions. We can visit, on the high ground north of Serranos, a monument that marks the spot where Colonel Lake and four companies of the 1/29th met their deaths. Here is an account by Rifleman Harris: The Rifles, indeed, fought well this day, and we lost many men. They seemed in high spirits, and delighted at having driven the enemy before them. Joseph Cochan was by my side, loading and firing very industriously, about this period of the day. Thirsting with heat and action, he lifted his canteen to his mouth. ‘Here’s to you, old boy,’ he said as he took a pull of its contents. As he did so a bullet went through the canteen, and perforating his brain killed him in a moment. Another man fell close to him almost immediately, struck by a ball in the thigh. Indeed, we caught it severely just here, and the old iron was also playing its part amongst our poor fellows very merrily. I saw a man named Symmonds struck full in the face by a round shot, and he came to the ground a headless trunk. Meanwhile, many large balls bounded along the ground amongst us so deliberately that we could occasionally evade them without difficulty. I could relate many more of the casualties I witnessed on this day, but the above will suffice. When the roll was called after the battle, the females who missed their husbands came along the front of the line to inquire of the survivors whether they knew anything about them. Amongst other names I heard that of Cochan called, in a female voice, without being replied to. The name struck me, and I observed the poor woman who had called it, as she stood sobbing before us and apparently afraid to make further inquiries about her husband. No man had answered to his name, or had any account to give of his fate. I myself had observed him fall (as related before) whilst drinking from his canteen, but as I looked at the poor sobbing creature before me I felt unable to tell her of his death. At length Captain Leech observed her, and called out to the company, ‘Does any man here know what has happened to Cochan? If so, let him speak out at once.’ Upon this order I immediately related what I had seen, and told the manner of his death. After a while Mrs Cochan appeared anxious to see the spot where her husband fell, and in the hope of still finding him alive asked me to accompany her over the field. She trusted, notwithstanding what I had told her, to find him yet alive. ‘Do you think you could find it?’ said Captain Leech, upon being referred to. I told him I was sure I could, as I had remarked several objects whilst looking for cover during the skirmishing. ‘Go, then,’ said the captain, ‘and show the poor woman the spot, as she seems so desirous of finding the body.’ I accordingly took my way over the ground we had fought upon, she following and sobbing after me; and quickly reaching the spot where her husband’s body lay, I pointed it out to her. She now soon discovered all her hopes were in vain. She embraced the stiffened corpse, and after rising and contemplating his disfigured face for some minutes, with hands clasped and tears streaming down her cheeks, she took HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM a prayer book from her pocket, and kneeling down repeated the service for the dead over the body. When she had finished she appeared a good deal comforted; and I took the opportunity of beckoning to a pioneer I saw near with some other men, and together we dug a hole and quickly buried the body. Mrs Cochan then returned with me to the company to which her husband had been attached, and laid herself down upon the hearth near us. The company to which Cochan had belonged (bereaved as she was) was now her home; and she marched and took equal fortune with us to Vimiera. She hovered about us during that battle, and then went with us to Lisbon, where she succeeded in procuring a passage to England.

Margaretta Wedderburn’s “The Sky, or a Description of a fine Evening: August 17. 1808”: With rapture and delight I oft admire Jehovah’s works that come within my view, Himself exceeding admiration’s ken, Or ought that I could fancy that is great, Is good, is glorious, without compare. The season this, when Autumn richly pours Prolific bounty o’er this fav’rite isle. Here universal peace and plenty reigns, While beasts, and birds, and insects feed around. And when their thirst is quench’d at limpid stream, In sportive gambols spend the live-long day. Till sober eve invites to rural walk, By humble hedge-row, deck’d with foliage green, To smell the fragrance of the scented briar. Now ev’ry scene looks gay, it yields delight, And fits the mind to wonder and adore. Among the branches, feather’d choristers Have sung their ev’ning lay, and are retir’d To rest their downy wings, till morning dawn. All but sweet philomel, her notes prolong’d Swell with the breeze, in charming symphony, To sooth the lover’s woe, that wanders forth, (When absent from the maid his heart holds dear,) Alone to vent his plaint. Pensive and sad He seeks the shade, and shuns each vulgar joy. Thy song, sweet bird, hath lull’d his griefs to rest, While pleasing hope restores his fancied bliss. And now retard my wond’ring eyes this eve, With divers hues, and beauties manifold. The sky in azure clad, serene and clear, By sun’s decline, just tinged with florid gold; And not the most elaborate assay Of skilful artist, when his pencil’s dip’d In ev’ry varied tint he hath prepar’d, A form so lovely ever could produce To gazer’s eye, as that I now behold. But as I upwards look again, how chang’d! The clouds seem hov’ring round, with moisture fill’d, From vapours gather’d and laid up for use, (By sov’reign will of him who all commands,) And liberal sends on earth their copious show’rs, The water ev’ry flow’ret, tree, and plant, That else would languish, wither, and decay, If long withheld from vegetation’s store, The liquid juice that makes all nature bloom. But while my thoughts o’er various prospects rove, Or fix’d intent on some peculiar space, HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Behold the day’s most splendid visitant, His pow’rful beams withdrawn to other climes, And cheering warmth hath left our hemisphere. But in his absence not without solace, The moon appears with milder radiance, Her influence benign and fainter glow, With each revolving planet as it rolls, Performs her destin’d circuit through the sky, Tho’ not like sparkling emanation, Of dazz’ling, grand, majestic god of day, When he shines forth in full meridian blaze; Or when his rising beauties streak the east, And brightness gilds the lofty mountain’s brow; Yet peaceful and serene, she sheds her light Around the globe, diffusing happiness, With less obtrusive unoffending lustre. Also those twinkling stars re-animate, With their resplendant rays, the dusky night. Throughout the vast expanse, those gems appear, (Beneficent that Power that plac’d them there,) When they withdraw, darkness reigns absolute, And throws around a joyless total gloom. One lucid orb, more glitt’ring then the rest, ’Tis called the star of eve, and strikes the eye, Amidst the num’rous throng, with circled sphere, Surpassing, and more refulgent brightness. Annexed to the Sky, a Paraphrase.—August 18, 1808. But shone superior in degree, That Morning Star so bright, Which rising on our darken’d world, Dispell’d the gloom of night. Transcendently illustrious, Appear his rays divine; The mist of error to disperse, And make each virtue shine. Hard sayings to elucidate, Each myst’ry to unfold, Which handed down, from age to age, By prophets were foretold. Till then the mind of man was held, In ignorance obscure, With superstitious rites profan’d, His intellectual power. Idolatrous impiety, Completely envelop’d; Freed from its baneful influence, He scarcely could have hop’d. Until that beauteous Star arose, The Gentiles to enlight, And of his people Israel, The glory, strength, and might. To whom ever be ascrib’d, All praise in earth and heaven, But whose exalted name is far. Above all blessing given.

John Jacob Astor’s ship Beaver sailed from New-York harbor, bound for China.

At the Battle of Roliça, British troops compelled the French to retreat from the heights between Caldas and Obidos north of Lisbon.

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 4th day 17 of 8 M / We are now as the saying is laying upon our Oars, but expect to commence housekeeping next week - How we shall get along is very uncertain, but I trust if our dependence is rightly placed, & our own exercions continued, we shall be HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM enabled to get forward, at least with a comfortable degree of peace, & I can honestly say I ask no more than peace of mind with a comfortable subsistance, & a little for emergencies, believing beyond all doubt that Riches, adding house to House & field to field, is nothing short of a corrosive sublimate to that peace which is pure & springs from within, then how necessary is a double watch - And Oh how is it to be longed for, & prayed for, that the Mind is all things & on all occasions be kept from the hurtful mixtures of the World, & preserved in that which will enable us to perfor Jerusalem as the chiefest Joy, then shall we be enabled to meet with christian patience, fortitude & resignation the, the vicisitudes & cross occurrences incident to us in passing thro’ this (which may indeed be called) a Vail of tribulation & tears -I dont know that it will be assuming too high language to Say, that my mind while writing, is bowed under a sense of them, & that a prayer is raised, that I may stand firm, & fast in that which will enable us to endure to the END - My beloved H spent the Afternoon & part of the eveng at my fathers the connection being new & she naturally diffident I felt much sympathy for her - RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

September 21, Wednesday: British forces occupied Macao.

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 4th day 21 of 9 M 1808 / This eveng the mind rather depressed, the times are dull in the outward, & Allmost dead in the inward Sister Mary spent part of the day with us — & kind calls from Father R & Brother D - Sister E set the eveng — In the eveng I met a little while at Wm Pattens with the African Benevolent Society Directors —— RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1809

John Jacob Astor’s ship Beaver returned from China, the first ship entering New-York harbor since the previous year’s embargo began. Possibly, the profit was as great as $200,000. In approximately this year Astor was purchasing the brig Sylph for the China trade. Its 1st cargo would consist of $92,000 in specie, and pelts, cotton, ginseng, and cochineal dyes.

LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD? — NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES. LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD.

Feng Kuei-fen was born in Soochow in the Kiangsu province of China.

The Reverend Joshua J. Marshman’s THE WORKS OF CONFUCIUS; CONTAINING THE ORIGINAL TEXT, WITH A TRANSLATION. VOL. 1ST. TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A DISSERTATION ON THE CHINESE LANGUAGE AND 2 CHARACTERS. BY J. MARSHMAN was published by the Mission Press of Serampore, India.

JOSHUA J. MARSHMAN LIGHT FROM CHINA

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project

2. According to Lyman V. Cady, this is one of the works which would be utilized by Henry Thoreau as a source for Confucian inserts in WALDEN. This book would also be consulted repeatedly by Waldo Emerson.

THOREAU AND CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

Pirates were active on the China coast: HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA HISTORY OF THE LADRONE PIRATES AND THEIR DEPREDATIONS ON THE COAST OF CHINA: WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE ENTERPRISES AND VICTORIES OF MISTRESS CHING, A FEMALE PIRATE3

The Ladrones as they were christened by the Portuguese at Macao, were originally a disaffected set of Chinese, that revolted against the oppression of the Mandarins. The first scene of their depredations was the Western coast, about Cochin China, where they began by attacking small trading vessels in row boats, carrying from thirty to forty men each. They continued this system of piracy, and thrived and increased in numbers under it, for several years. At length the fame of their success, and the oppression and horrid poverty and want that many of the lower orders of Chinese labored under, had the effect of augmenting their bands with astonishing rapidity. Fishermen and other destitute classes flocked by hundreds to their standard, and their audacity growing with their numbers, they not merely swept the coast, but blockaded all the rivers and attacked and took several large government war junks, mounting from ten to fifteen guns each. — These junks being added to their shoals of 3. THE PIRATES OWN BOOK, OR AUTHENTIC NARRATIVES OF THE LIVES, EXPLOITS, AND EXECUTIONS OF THE MOST CELEBRATED SEA ROBBERS, by Charles Ellms (Portland: Published by Sanborn & Carter; Philadelphia: Thomas, Comperthwait, & Co., 1837. This would be republished in 1842 by A. and C.B. Edwards of New-York & Philadelphia, and in 1844 in Portland by Sanborn & Carter, and in 1855 by A. and C.B. Edwards of New-York, and in 1924 by Marine res. of Massachusetts, and in 1996 by Random House of New York.) HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM boats, the pirates formed a tremendous fleet, which was always along shore, so that no small vessel could safely trade on the coast. When they lacked prey on the sea, they laid the land under tribute. They were at first accustomed to go on shore and attack the maritime villages, but becoming bolder, like the Buccaneers, made long inland journeys, and surprised and plundered even large towns. An energetic attempt made by the Chinese government to destroy them, only increased their strength; for in their first encounter with the pirates, twenty-eight of the Imperial junks struck, and the remaining twelve saved themselves, by a precipitate retreat. The captured junks, fully equipped for war, were a great acquisition to the robbers, whose numbers now increased more rapidly than ever. They were in their plenitude of power in the year 1809, when Mr. Glasspoole had the misfortune to fall into their hands, at which time that gentleman supposed their force to consist of 70,000 men, navigating eight hundred large vessels, and one thousand small ones, including row boats. They were divided into six large squadrons, under different flags; — the red, the yellow, the green, the blue, the black and the white. “These wasps of the Ocean,” as a Chinese historian calls them, were further distinguished by the names of their respective commanders: by these commanders a certain Ching-yih had been the most distinguished by his valor and conduct. By degrees, Ching obtained almost a supremacy of command over the whole united fleet; and so confident was this robber in his strength and daily augmenting means, that he aspired to the dignity of a king, and went so far as openly to declare his patriotic intention of hurling the present Tartar family from the throne of China, and of restoring the ancient Chinese dynasty. But unfortunately for the ambitious pirate, he perished in a heavy gale, and instead of placing a sovereign on the Chinese throne, he and his lofty aspirations were buried in the yellow sea. And now comes the most remarkable passage in the history of these pirates — remarkable with any class of men, but doubly so among the Chinese, who entertain more than the general oriental opinion of the inferiority of the fair sex. On the death of Ching-yih, his legitimate wife had sufficient influence over the freebooters to induce them to recognize her authority in the place of her deceased husband’s, and she appointed one Paou as her lieutenant and prime minister, and provided that she should be considered the mistress or commander-in-chief of the united squadrons. This Paou had been a poor fisher-boy, picked up with his father at sea, while fishing, by Ching-yih, whose good will and favor he had the fortune to captivate, and by whom, before that pirate’s death, he had been made a captain. Instead of declining under the rule of a woman, the pirates became more enterprising than ever. Ching’s widow was clever as well as brave, and so was her lieutenant Paou. Between them they drew up a code of law for the better regulation of the freebooters. In this it was decreed, that if any man went privately on shore, or did what they called “transgressing the bars,” he should have his ears slit in the presence of the whole fleet; a repetition of the same unlawful act, was death! No one article, however trifling in value, was to be privately subtracted from the booty or plundered goods. Every thing they took was regularly entered HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA on the register of their stores. The following clause of Mistress Ching’s code is still more delicate. No person shall debauch at his pleasure captive women, taken in the villages and open places, and brought on board a ship; he must first request the ship’s purser for permission, and then go aside in the ship’s hold. To use violence, against any woman, or to wed her, without permission, shall be punished with death. By these means an admirable discipline was maintained on board the ships, and the peasantry on shore never let the pirates want for gunpowder, provisions, or any other necessary. On a piratical expedition, either to advance or retreat without orders, was a capital offence. Under these philosophical institutions, and the guidance of a woman, the robbers continued to scour the China sea, plundering every vessel they came near. The Great War Mandarin, Kwolang-lin sailed from the Bocca Tigris into the sea to fight the pirates. Paou gave him a tremendous drubbing, and gained a splendid victory. In this battle which lasted from morning to night, the Mandarin Kwolang-lin, a desperate fellow himself, levelled a gun at Paou, who fell on the deck as the piece went off; his disheartened crew concluded it was all over with him. But Paou was quick eyed. He had seen the unfriendly intention of the mandarin, and thrown himself down. The Great Mandarin was soon after taken with fifteen junks; three were sunk. The pirate lieutenant would have dealt mercifully with him, but the fierce old man suddenly seized him by the hair on the crown of his head, and grinned at him, so that he might provoke him to slay him. But even then Paou spoke kindly to him. Upon this he committed suicide, being seventy years of age. After several victories and reverses, the Chinese historian says our men-of-war escorting some merchant ships, happened to meet the pirate chief nicknamed “The Jewel of the Crew” cruising at sea. The traders became exceedingly frightened, but our commander said, — This not being the flag of the widow Ching- yih, we are a match for them, therefore we will attack and conquer them. Then ensued a battle; they attacked each other with guns and stones, and many people were killed and wounded. The fighting ceased towards evening, and began again next morning. The pirates and the men-of-war were very close to each other, and they boasted mutually about their strength and valor. The traders remained at some distance; they saw the pirates mixing gunpowder in their beverage, — they looked instantly red about the face and the eyes, and then fought desperately. This fighting continued three days and nights incessantly; at last, becoming tired on both sides, they separated. To understand this inglorious bulletin, the reader must remember that many of the combatants only handled bows and arrows, and pelted stones, and that Chinese powder and guns are both exceedingly bad. The pathos of the conclusion does somewhat remind one of the Irishman’s despatch during the American war, — “It was a bloody battle while it lasted; and the searjent of marines lost his cartouche box.” The Admiral Ting River was sent to sea against them. This man was surprised at anchor by the ever vigilant Paou, to whom many fishermen and other people on the coast, must have acted as friendly spies. Seeing escape impossible, and that his officers stood pale and inactive by the flag-staff, the Admiral conjured them, by their fathers and mothers, their wives and children, HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM and by the hopes of brilliant reward if they succeeded, and of vengeance if they perished, to do their duty, and the combat began. The Admiral had the good fortune, at the onset, of killing with one of his great guns the pirate captain, “The Jewel of the Crew.” But the robbers swarmed thicker and thicker around him, and when the dreaded Paou lay him by the board, without help or hope, the Mandarin killed himself. An immense number of his men perished in the sea, and twenty-five vessels were lost. After his defeat, it was resolved by the Chinese Government to cut off all their supplies of food, and starve them out. All vessels that were in port were ordered to remain there, and those at sea, or on the coast ordered to return with all speed. But the pirates, full of confidence, now resolved to attack the harbors themselves, and to ascend the rivers, which are navigable for many miles up the country, and rob the villages. The consternation was great when the Chinese saw them venturing above the government forts. The pirates separated: Mistress Ching plundering in one place, Paou in another, and O-po-tae in another, &c. It was at this time that Mr. Glasspoole had the ill fortune to fall into their power. This gentlemen, then an officer in the East India Company’s ship the Marquis of Ely, which was anchored under an island about twelve miles from Macao, was ordered to proceed to the latter place with a boat to procure a pilot. He left the ship in one of the cutters, with seven British seamen well armed, on the 17th September, 1809. He reached Macao in safety, and having done his business there and procured a pilot, returned towards the ship the following day. But, unfortunately, the ship had weighed anchor and was under sail, and in consequence of squally weather, accompanied with thick fogs, the boat could not reach her, and Mr. Glasspoole and his men and the pilot were left at sea, in an open boat. “Our situation,” says that gentleman, “was truly distressing — night closing fast, with a threatening appearance, blowing fresh, with a hard rain and a heavy sea; our boat very leaky, without a compass, anchor, or provisions, and drifting fast on a lee-shore, surrounded with dangerous rocks, and inhabited by the most barbarous pirates.” After suffering dreadfully for three whole days, Mr. Glasspoole, by the advice of the pilot, made for a narrow channel, where he presently discovered three large boats at anchor, which, on seeing the English boat, weighed and made sail towards it. The pilot told Mr. Glasspoole they were Ladrones, and that if they captured the boat, they would certainly put them all to death! After rowing tremendously for six hours they escaped these boats, but on the following morning falling in with a large fleet of the pirates, which the English mistook for fishing-boats, they were captured. “About twenty savage-looking villains,” says Mr. Glasspoole, “who were stowed at the bottom of the boat, leaped on board us. They were armed with a short sword in either hand, one of which they layed upon our necks, and pointed the other to our breasts, keeping their eyes fixed on their officer, waiting his signal to cut or desist. Seeing we were incapable of making any resistance, the officer sheathed his sword, and the others immediately followed his example. They then dragged us into their boat, and carried us on board one of their junks, with the most savage demonstrations of joy, and, as we supposed, to torture and put us to a cruel death.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA When on board the junk they rifled the Englishmen, and brought heavy chains to chain them to the deck. “At this time a boat came, and took me, with one of my men and an interpreter, on board the chief’s vessel. I was then taken before the chief. He was seated on deck, in a large chair, dressed in purple silk, with a black turban on. He appeared to be about thirty years of age, a stout commanding-looking man. He took me by the coat, and drew me close to him; then questioned the interpreter very strictly, asking who we were, and what was our business in that part of the country. I told him to say we were Englishmen in distress, having been four days at sea without provisions. This he would not credit, but said we were bad men, and that he would put us all to death; and then ordered some men to put the interpreter to the torture until he confessed the truth. Upon this occasion, a Ladrone, who had been once to England and spoke a few words of English, came to the chief, and told him we were really Englishmen, and that we had plenty of money, adding that the buttons on my coat were gold. The chief then ordered us some coarse brown rice, of which we made a tolerable meal, having eaten nothing for nearly four days, except a few green oranges. During our repast, a number of Ladrones crowded round us, examining our clothes and hair, and giving us every possible annoyance. Several of them brought swords, and laid them on our necks, making signs that they would soon take us on shore, and cut us in pieces, which I am sorry to say was the fate of some hundreds during my captivity. I was now summoned before the chief, who had been conversing with the interpreter: he said I must write to my captain, and tell him, if he did not send an hundred thousand dollars for our ransom, in ten days he would put us all to death.” After vainly expostulating to lessen the ransom, Mr. Glasspoole wrote the letter, and a small boat came alongside and took it to Macao. Early in the night the fleet sailed, and anchored about one o’clock the following day in a bay under the island of Lantow, where the head admiral of Ladrones (our acquaintance Paou) was lying at anchor, with about two hundred vessels and a Portuguese brig they had captured a few days before, and the captain and part of the crew of which they had murdered. Early the next morning, a fishing-boat came to inquire if they had captured an European boat; they came to the vessel the English were in. “One of the boatmen spoke a few words of English, and told me he had a Ladrone-pass, and was sent by our captain in search of us; I was rather surprised to find he had no letter. He appeared to be well acquainted with the chief, and remained in his cabin smoking opium, and playing cards all the day. In the evening I was summoned with the interpreter before the chief. He questioned us in a much milder tone, saying, he now believed we were Englishmen, a people he wished to be friendly with; and that if our captain would lend him seventy thousand dollars till he returned from his cruise up the river, he would repay him, and send us all to Macao. I assured him it was useless writing on these terms, and unless our ransom was speedily settled, the English fleet would sail, and render our enlargement altogether ineffectual. He remained determined, and said if it were not sent, he would keep us, and make us fight, or put us to death. I accordingly wrote, and gave my letter to the man belonging to the boat before mentioned. He said he could not return with an HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM answer in less than five days. The chief now gave me the letter I wrote when first taken. I have never been able to ascertain his reasons for detaining it, but suppose he dared not negociate for our ransom without orders from the head admiral, who I understood was sorry at our being captured. He said the English ships would join the Mandarins and attack them.” While the fleet lay here, one night the Portuguese who were left in the captured brig murdered the Ladrones that were on board of her, cut the cables, and fortunately escaped through the darkness of the night. “At day-light the next morning, the fleet, amounting to above five hundred sail of different sizes, weighed, to proceed on their intended cruise up the rivers, to levy contributions on the towns and villages. It is impossible to describe what were my feelings at this critical time, having received no answers to my letters, and the fleet under-way to sail — hundreds of miles up a country never visited by Europeans, there to remain probably for many months, which would render all opportunities for negotiating for our enlargement totally ineffectual; as the only method of communication is by boats that have a pass from the Ladrones, and they dare not venture above twenty miles from Macao, being obliged to come and go in the night, to avoid the Mandarins; and if these boats should be detected in having any intercourse with the Ladrones, they are immediately put to death, and all their relations, though they had not joined in the crime, share in the punishment, in order that not a single person of their families should be left to imitate their crimes or avenge their death.” The following is a very touching incident in Mr. Glasspoole’s narrative. “Wednesday the 26th of September, at day-light, we passed in sight of our own ships, at anchor under the island of Chun Po. The chief then called me, pointed to the ships, and told the interpreter to tell us to look at them, for we should never see them again! About noon we entered a river to the westward of the Bogue. Three or four miles from the entrance we passed a large town situated on the side of a beautiful hill, which is tributary to the Ladrones; the inhabitants saluted them with songs as they passed.” After committing numerous minor robberies, “The Ladrones now prepared to attack a town with a formidable force, collected in row-boats from the different vessels. They sent a messenger to the town, demanding a tribute of ten thousand dollars annually, saying, if these terms were not complied with, they would land, destroy the town, and murder all the inhabitants: which they would certainly have done, had the town laid in a more advantageous situation for their purpose; but being placed out of the reach of their shot, they allowed them to come to terms. The inhabitants agreed to pay six thousand dollars, which they were to collect by the time of our return down the river. This finesse had the desired effect, for during our absence they HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA mounted a few guns on a hill, which commanded the passage, and gave us in lieu of the dollars, a warm salute on our return. “October the 1st, the fleet weighed in the night, dropped by the tide up the river, and anchored very quietly before a town surrounded by a thick wood. Early in the morning the Ladrones assembled in row-boats, and landed; then gave a shout, and rushed into the town, sword in hand. The inhabitants fled to the adjacent hills, in numbers apparently superior to the Ladrones. We may easily imagine to ourselves the horror with which these miserable people must be seized, on being obliged to leave their homes, and everything dear to them. It was a most melancholy sight to see women in tears, clasping their infants in their arms, and imploring mercy for them from those brutal robbers! The old and the sick, who were unable to fly, or make resistance, were either made prisoners or most inhumanly butchered! The boats continued passing and repassing from the junks to the shore, in quick succession, laden with booty, and the men besmeared with blood! Two hundred and fifty women and several children, were made prisoners, and sent on board different vessels. They were unable to escape with the men, owing to that abominable practice of cramping their feet; several of them were not able to move without assistance. In fact, they might all be said to totter, rather than walk. Twenty of these poor women were sent on board the vessel I was in; they were hauled on board by the hair, and treated in a most savage manner. When the chief came on board, he questioned them respecting the circumstances of their friends, and demanded ransoms accordingly, from six thousand to six hundred dollars each. He ordered them a berth on deck, at the after part of the vessel, where they had nothing to shelter them from the weather, which at this time was very variable — the days excessively hot, and the nights cold, with heavy rains. The town being plundered of everything valuable, it was set on fire, and reduced to ashes by the morning. The fleet remained here three days, negotiating for the ransom of the prisoners, and plundering the fish-tanks and gardens. During all this time, the Chinese never ventured from the hills, though there were frequently not more than a hundred Ladrones on shore at a time, and I am sure the people on the hills exceeded ten times that number. “On the 10th we formed a junction with the Black- squadron, and proceeded many miles up a wide and beautiful river, passing several ruins of villages that had been destroyed by the Black-squadron. On the 17th, the fleet anchored abreast four mud batteries, which defended a town, so entirely surrounded with wood, that it was impossible to form any idea of its size. The weather was very hazy, with hard squalls of rain. The Ladrones remained perfectly quiet for two days. On the third day the forts commenced a brisk fire for several hours: the Ladrones did not return a single shot, but weighed in the night and dropped down the river. The HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM reasons they gave for not attacking the town, or returning the fire, were, that Joss had not promised them success. They are very superstitious, and consult their idol on all occasions. If his omens are good, they will undertake the most daring enterprises. The fleet now anchored opposite the ruins of the town where the women had been made prisoners. Here we remained five or six days, during which time about an hundred of the women were ransomed; the remainder were offered for sale amongst the Ladrones, for forty dollars each. The woman is considered the lawful wife of the purchaser, who would be put to death if he discarded her. Several of them leaped overboard and drowned themselves, rather than submit to such infamous degradation. “Mei-ying, the wife of Ke-choo-yang, was very beautiful, and a pirate being about to seize her by the head, she abused him exceedingly. The pirate bound her to the yard-arm; but on abusing him yet more, the pirate dragged her down and broke two of her teeth, which filled her mouth and jaws with blood. The pirate sprang up again to bind her. Ying allowed him to approach, but as soon as he came near her, she laid hold of his garments with her bleeding mouth, and threw both him and herself into the river, where they were drowned. The remaining captives of both sexes were after some months liberated, on having paid a ransom of fifteen thousand leang or ounces of silver. “The fleet then weighed,” continues Mr. Glasspoole, “and made sail down the river, to receive the ransom from the town before-mentioned. As we passed the hill, they fired several shot at us, but without effect. The Ladrones were much exasperated, and determined to revenge themselves; they dropped out of reach of their shot, and anchored. Every junk sent about a hundred men each on shore, to cut paddy, and destroy their orange- groves, which was most effectually performed for several miles down the river. During our stay here, they received information of nine boats lying up a creek, laden with paddy; boats were immediately despatched after them. Next morning these boats were brought to the fleet; ten or twelve men were taken in them. As these had made no resistance, the chief said he would allow them to become Ladrones, if they agreed to take the usual oaths before Joss. Three or four of them refused to comply, for which they were punished in the following cruel manner: their hands were tied behind their backs, a rope from the masthead rove through their arms, and hoisted three or four feet from the deck, and five or six men flogged them with their rattans twisted together till they were apparently dead; then hoisted them up to the mast-head, and left them hanging nearly an hour, then lowered them down, and repeated the punishment, till they died or complied with the oath. “On the 28th of October, I received a letter from Captain Kay, brought by a fisherman, who had told him he would get us all back for three thousand dollars. He advised me to offer three thousand, and if not accepted, extend it to four; but not farther, as it was bad policy HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA to offer much at first: at the same time assuring me we should be liberated, let the ransom be what it would. I offered the chief the three thousand, which he disdainfully refused, saying he was not to be played with; and unless they sent ten thousand dollars, and two large guns, with several casks of gunpowder, he would soon put us to death. I wrote to Captain Kay, and informed him of the chief’s determination, requesting, if an opportunity offered, to send us a shift of clothes, for which it may be easily imagined we were much distressed, having been seven weeks without a shift; although constantly exposed to the weather, and of course frequently wet. “On the first of November, the fleet sailed up a narrow river, and anchored at night within two miles of a town called Little Whampoa. In front of it was a small fort, and several Mandarin vessels lying in the harbor. The chief sent the interpreter to me, saying, I must order my men to make cartridges and clean their muskets, ready to go on shore in the morning. I assured the interpreter I should give the men no such orders, that they must please themselves. Soon after the chief came on board, threatening to put us all to a cruel death if we refused to obey his orders. For my own part I remained determined, and advised the men not to comply, as I thought by making ourselves useful we should be accounted too valuable. A few hours afterwards he sent to me again, saying, that if myself and the quarter- master would assist them at the great guns, that if also the rest of the men went on shore and succeeded in taking the place, he would then take the money offered for our ransom, and give them twenty dollars for every Chinaman’s head they cut off. To these proposals we cheerfully acceded, in hopes of facilitating our deliverance. “The Mandarin vessels continued firing, having blocked up the entrance of the harbor to prevent the Ladrone boats entering. At this the Ladrones were much exasperated, and about three hundred of them swam on shore, with a short sword lashed close under each arm; they then ran along the banks of the river till they came abreast of the vessels, and then swam off again and boarded them. The Chinese thus attacked, leaped overboard, and endeavored to reach the opposite shore; the Ladrones followed, and cut the greater number of them to pieces in the water. They next towed the vessels out of the harbor, and attacked the town with increased fury. The inhabitants fought about a quarter of an hour, and then retreated to an adjacent hill, from which they were soon driven with great slaughter. After this the Ladrones returned, and plundered the town, every boat leaving it with lading. The Chinese on the hills perceiving most of the boats were off, rallied, and retook the town, after killing near two hundred Ladrones. One of my men was unfortunately lost in this dreadful massacre! The Ladrones landed a second time, drove the Chinese out of the town, then reduced it to ashes, and put all their prisoners to death, without HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM regarding either age or sex! I must not omit to mention a most horrid (though ludicrous) circumstance which happened at this place. The Ladrones were paid by their chief ten dollars for every Chinaman’s head they produced. One of my men turning the corner of a street was met by a Ladrone running furiously after a Chinese; he had a drawn sword in his hand, and two Chinaman’s heads which he had cut off, tied by their tails, and slung round his neck. I was witness myself to some of them producing five or six to obtain payment! “On the 4th of November an order arrived from the admiral for the fleet to proceed immediately to Lantow, where he was lying with only two vessels, and three Portuguese ships and a brig constantly annoying him; several sail of Mandarin vessels were daily expected. The fleet weighed and proceeded towards Lantow. On passing the island of Lintin, three ships and a brig gave chase to us. The Ladrones prepared to board; but night closing we lost sight of them: I am convinced they altered their course and stood from us. These vessels were in the pay of the Chinese Government, and styled themselves the Invincible Squadron, cruising in the river Tigris to annihilate the Ladrones! “On the fifth, in the morning, the red squadron anchored in a bay under Lantow; the black squadron stood to the eastward. In the afternoon of the 8th of November, four ships, a brig, and a schooner came off the mouth of the bay. At first the pirates were much alarmed, supposing them to be English vessels come to rescue us. Some of them threatened to hang us to the mast-head for them to fire at; and with much difficulty we persuaded them that they were Portuguese. The Ladrones had only seven junks in a fit state for action; these they hauled outside, and moored them head and stern across the bay, and manned all the boats belonging to the repairing vessels ready for boarding. The Portuguese observing these manoeuvres hove to, and communicated by boats. Soon afterwards they made sail, each ship firing her broadside as she passed, but without effect, the shot falling far short. The Ladrones did not return a single shot, but waved their colors, and threw up rockets, to induce them to come further in, which they might easily have done, the outside junks lying in four fathoms water, which I sounded myself: though the Portuguese in their letters to Macao lamented there was not sufficient water for them to engage closer, but that they would certainly prevent their escaping before the Mandarin fleet arrived! “On the 20th of November, early in the morning, discovered an immense fleet of Mandarin vessels standing for the bay. On nearing us, they formed a line, and stood close in; each vessel, as she discharged her guns, tacked to join the rear and reload. They kept up a constant fire for about two hours, when one of their largest vessels was blown up by a firebrand thrown from a Ladrone junk; after which they kept at a more respectful distance, but continued firing without intermission till the 21st at night, when it fell calm. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA The Ladrones towed out seven large vessels, with about two hundred row-boats to board them: but a breeze springing up, they made sail and escaped. The Ladrones returned into the bay, and anchored. The Portuguese and Mandarins followed, and continued a heavy cannonading during that night and the next day. The vessel I was in had her foremast shot away, which they supplied very expeditiously by taking a mainmast from a smaller vessel. “On the 23d, in the evening, it again fell calm; the Ladrones towed out fifteen junks in two divisions, with the intention of surrounding them, which was nearly effected, having come up with and boarded one, when a breeze suddenly sprang up. The captured vessel mounted twenty-two guns. Most of her crew leaped overboard; sixty or seventy were taken, immediately cut to pieces, and thrown into the river. Early in the morning the Ladrones returned into the bay, and anchored in the same situation as before. The Portuguese and Mandarins followed, keeping up a constant fire. The Ladrones never returned a single shot, but always kept in readiness to board, and the Portuguese were careful never to allow them an opportunity. “On the 28th, at night they sent eight fire-vessels, which, if properly constructed, must have done great execution, having every advantage they could wish for to effect their purpose; a strong breeze and tide directed into the bay, and the vessels lying so close together, that it was impossible to miss them. On their first appearance, the Ladrones gave a general shout, supposing them to be Mandarin vessels on fire, but were very soon convinced of their mistake. They came very regularly into the centre of the fleet, two and two, burning furiously; one of them came alongside of the vessel I was in, but they succeeded in booming her off. She appeared to be a vessel of about thirty tons; her hold was filled with straw and wood, and there were a few small boxes of combustibles on her deck, which exploded alongside of us without doing any damage. The Ladrones, however, towed them all on shore, extinguished the fire, and broke them up for firewood. The Portuguese claim the credit of constructing these destructive machines, and actually sent a despatch to the Governor of Macao, saying they had destroyed at least one-third of the Ladrone’s fleet, and hoped soon to effect their purpose by totally annihilating them! “On the 29th of November, the Ladrones being all ready for sea, they weighed and stood boldly out, bidding defiance to the invincible squadron and imperial fleet, consisting of ninety-three war-junks, six Portuguese ships, a brig, and a schooner. Immediately after the Ladrones weighed, they made all sail. The Ladrones chased them two or three hours, keeping up a constant fire; finding they did not come up with them, they hauled their wind, and stood to the eastward. Thus terminated the boasted blockade, which lasted nine days, during which time the Ladrones completed all their repairs. In this action not a single Ladrone vessel was HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM destroyed, and their loss was about thirty or forty men. An American was also killed, one of three that remained out of eight taken in a schooner. I had two very narrow escapes: the first, a twelve pounder shot fell within three or four feet of me; another took a piece out of a small brass-swivel on which I was standing. The chief’s wife frequently sprinkled me with garlick-water, which they considered an effectual charm against shot. The fleet continued under sail all night, steering towards the eastward. In the morning they anchored in a large bay surrounded by lofty and barren mountains. On the 2d of December I received a letter from Lieutenant Maughn, commander of the Honorable Company’s cruiser Antelope, saying that he had the ransom on board, and had been three days cruising after us, and wished me to settle with the chief on the securest method of delivering it. The chief agreed to send us in a small gun-boat till we came within sight of the Antelope; then the compradore’s boat was to bring the ransom and receive us. I was so agitated at receiving this joyful news, that it was with difficulty I could scrawl about two or three lines to inform Lieutenant Maughn of the arrangements I had made. We were all so deeply affected by the gratifying tidings, that we seldom closed our eyes, but continued watching day and night for the boat. “On the 6th she returned with Lieutenant Maughn’s answer, saying, he would respect any single boat; but would not allow the fleet to approach him. The chief, then, according to his first proposal, ordered a gun- boat to take us, and with no small degree of pleasure we left the Ladrone fleet about four o’clock in the afternoon. At one P.M. saw the Antelope under all sail, standing towards us. The Ladrone boat immediately anchored, and dispatched the compradore’s boat for the ransom, saying, that if she approached nearer they would return to the fleet; and they were just weighing when she shortened sail, and anchored about two miles from us. The boat did not reach her till late in the afternoon, owing to the tide’s being strong against her. She received the ransom and left the Antelope just before dark. A Mandarin boat that had been lying concealed under the land, and watching their manoeuvres, gave chace to her, and was within a few fathoms of taking her, when she saw a light, which the Ladrones answered, and the Mandarin hauled off. Our situation was now a critical one; the ransom was in the hands of the Ladrones, and the compradore dare not return with us for fear of a second attack from the Mandarin boat. The Ladrones would not wait till morning, so we were obliged to return with them to the fleet. In the morning the chief inspected the ransom, which consisted of the following articles: two bales of superfine cloth; two chests of opium; two casks of gunpowder, and a telescope; the rest in dollars. He objected to the telescope not being new; and said he should detain one of us till another was sent, or a hundred dollars in lieu of it. The compradore, however, agreed with him for the hundred dollars. Every thing HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA being at length settled, the chief ordered two gun-boats to convey us near the Antelope; we saw her just before dusk, when the Ladrone boats left us. We had the inexpressible pleasure of arriving on board the Antelope at seven, P.M., where we were most cordially received, and heartily congratulated on our safe and happy deliverance from a miserable captivity, which we had endured for eleven weeks and three days. (Signed) “RICHARD GLASSPOOLE. China, December 8th. 1809." “The Ladrones have no settled residence on shore, but live constantly in their vessels. The after-part is appropriated to the captain and his wives; he generally has five or six. With respect to the conjugal rights they are religiously strict; no person is allowed to have a woman on board, unless married to her according to their laws. Every man is allowed a small berth, about four feet square, where he stows with his wife and family. From the number of souls crowded in so small a space, it must naturally be supposed they are horridly dirty, which is evidently the case, and their vessels swarm with all kinds of vermin. Rats in particular, which they encourage to breed, and eat as great delicacies; in fact, there are very few creatures they will not eat. During our captivity we lived three weeks on caterpillars boiled with rice. They are much addicted to gambling, and spend all their leisure hours at cards and smoking opium.” At the time of Mr. Glasspoole’s liberation, the pirates were at the height of their power; after such repeated victories over the Mandarin ships, they had set at nought the Imperial allies — the Portuguese, and not only the coast, but the rivers of the celestial empire seemed to be at their discretion — and yet their formidable association did not many months survive this event. It was not, however, defeat that reduced it to the obedience of the laws. On the contrary, that extraordinary woman, the widow of Ching-yih, and the daring Paou, were victorious and more powerful than ever, when dissensions broke out among the pirates themselves. Ever since the favor of the chieftainess had elevated Paou to the general command, there had been enmity and altercations between him and the chief O-po-tae, who commanded one of the flags or divisions of the fleet; and it was only by the deference and respect they both owed to Ching-yih’s widow, that they had been prevented from turning their arms against each other long before. At length, when the brave Paou was surprised and cooped up by a strong blockading force of the Emperor’s ships, O-po-tae showed all his deadly spite, and refused to obey the orders of Paou, and even of the chieftainess, which were, that he should sail to the relief of his rival. Paou, with his bravery and usual good fortune, broke through the blockade, but when he came in contact with O-po-tae, his rage was too violent to be restrained. O-po-tae at first pleaded that his means and strength had been insufficient to do what had been expected of him, but concluded by saying, — “Am I bound to come and join the forces of Paou?” “Would you then separate from us!” cried Paou, more enraged than ever. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM O-po-tae answered: “I will not separate myself.” Paou: — “Why then do you not obey the orders of the wife of Ching-yih and my own? What is this else than separation, that you do not come to assist me, when I am surrounded by the enemy? I have sworn it that I will destroy thee, wicked man, that I may do away with this soreness on my back.” The summons of Paou, when blockaded, to O-po-tae was in language equally figurative: — “I am harassed by the Government’s officers outside in the sea; lips and teeth must help one another, if the lips are cut away the teeth will feel cold. How shall I alone be able to fight the Government forces? You should therefore come at the head of your crew, to attack the Government squadron in the rear. I will then come out of my station and make an attack in front; the enemy being so taken in the front and rear, will, even supposing we cannot master him, certainly be thrown into disorder.” The angry words of Paou were followed by others, and then by blows. Paou, though at the moment far inferior in force, first began the fight, and ultimately sustained a sanguinary defeat, and the loss of sixteen vessels. Our loathing for this cruel, detestable race, must be increased by the fact, that the victors massacred all their prisoners — or three hundred men! This was the death-blow to the confederacy which had so long defied the Emperor’s power, and which might have effected his dethronement. O-po-tae dreading the vengeance of Paou and his mistress, Ching-yih’s widow, whose united forces would have quintupled his own, gained over his men to his views, and proffered a submission to Government, on condition of free pardon, and a proper provision for all. The petition of the pirates is so curious a production, and so characteristic of the Chinese, that it deserves to be inserted at length. “It is my humble opinion that all robbers of an overpowering force, whether they had their origin from this or any other cause, have felt the humanity of Government at different times. Leang-sham, who three times plundered the city, was nevertheless pardoned, and at last made a minister of state. Wakang often challenged the arms of his country, and was suffered to live, and at last made a corner-stone of the empire. Joo-ming pardoned seven times Mang-hwo; and Kwan-kung three times set Tsaou-tsaou at liberty. Ma-yuen pursued not the exhausted robbers; and Yo-fei killed not those who made their submission. There are many instances of such transactions both in former and recent times, by which the country was strengthened, and government increased its power. We now live in a very populous age; some of us could not agree with their relations, and were driven out like noxious weeds. Some, after having tried all they could, without being able to provide for themselves, at last joined bad society. Some lost their property by shipwrecks; some withdrew into this watery empire to escape from punishment. In such a way those who in the beginning were only three or five, were in the course of time increased to a thousand or ten thousand, and so it went on increasing every year. Would it not have been wonderful if such a multitude, being in want of their daily bread, had not resorted to plunder and robbery to gain their subsistence, since they could not in any other manner be saved from famine? It was from necessity that the laws of the empire were violated, and the merchants robbed of their goods. Being deprived of our land and of our native HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA places, having no house or home to resort to, and relying only on the chances of wind and water, even could we for a moment forget our griefs, we might fall in with a man-of-war, who with stones, darts, and guns, would knock out our brains! Even if we dared to sail up a stream and boldly go on with anxiety of mind under wind, rain, and stormy weather, we must everywhere prepare for fighting. Whether we went to the east, or to the west, and after having felt all the hardships of the sea, the night dew was our only dwelling, and the rude wind our meal. But now we will avoid these perils, leave our connexions, and desert our comrades; we will make our submission. The power of Government knows no bounds; it reaches to the islands in the sea, and every man is afraid, and sighs. Oh we must be destroyed by our crimes, none can escape who opposeth the laws of Government. May you then feel compassion for those who are deserving of death; may you sustain us by your humanity!” The Government that had made so many lamentable displays of its weakness, was glad to make an unreal parade of its mercy. It was but too happy to grant all the conditions instantly, and, in the fulsome language of its historians, “feeling that compassion is the way of heaven — that it is the right way to govern by righteousness — it therefore redeemed these pirates from destruction, and pardoned their former crimes.” O-po-tae, however, had hardly struck his free flag, and the pirates were hardly in the power of the Chinese, when it was proposed by many that they should all be treacherously murdered. The governor happened to be more honorable and humane, or probably, only more politic than those who made this foul proposal — he knew that such a bloody breach of faith would for ever prevent the pirates still in arms from voluntary submitting; he knew equally well, even weakened as they were by O-po-tae’s defection, that the Government could not reduce them by force, and he thought by keeping his faith with them, he might turn the force of those who had submitted against those who still held out, and so destroy the pirates with the pirates. Consequently the eight thousand men, it had been proposed to cut off in cold blood, were allowed to remain uninjured, and their leader, O-po-tae, having changed his name to that of Hoe-been, or, “The Lustre of Instruction,” was elevated to the rank of an imperial officer. The widow of Ching-yih, and her favorite Paou, continued for some months to pillage the coast, and to beat the Chinese and the Mandarins’ troops and ships, and seemed almost as strong as before the separation of O-po-tae’s flag. But that example was probably operating in the minds of many of the outlaws, and finally the lawless heroine herself, who was the spirit that kept the complicate body together, seeing that O-po-tae had been made a government officer, and that he continued to prosper, began also to think of making her submission. “I am,” said she, “ten times stronger than O-po-tae, and government will perhaps, if I submit, act towards me as they have done with O-po-tae.” A rumor of her intentions having reached shore, the Mandarin sent off a certain Chow, a doctor of Macao, “Who,” says the historian, “being already well acquainted with the pirates, did not need any introduction,” to enter on preliminaries with them. When the worthy practitioner presented himself to Paou, that friend concluded he had been committing some crime, and had come HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM for safety to that general refugium peccatorum, the pirate fleet. The Doctor explained, and assured the chief, that if he would submit, Government was inclined to treat him and his far more favorably and more honorably than O-po-tae. But if he continued to resist, not only a general arming of all the coast and the rivers, but O-po-tae was to proceed against him. At this part of his narrative our Chinese historian is again so curious, that I shall quote his words at length. “When Fei-heung-Chow came to Paou, he said: ‘Friend Paou, do you know why I come to you?’" “Paou. — ‘Thou hast committed some crime and comest to me for protection?’" “Chow. — ‘By no means.’" “Paou. — ‘You will then know how it stands concerning the report about our submission, if it is true or false?’" “Chow. — ‘You are again wrong here, Sir. What are you in comparison with O-po-tae?’" “Paou. — ‘Who is bold enough to compare me with O-po- tae?’" “Chow. — ‘I know very well that O-po-tae could not come up to you, Sir; but I mean only, that since O-po-tae has made his submission, since he has got his pardon and been created a Government officer, — how would it be, if you with your whole crew should also submit, and if his Excellency should desire to treat you in the same manner, and to give you the same rank as O-po-tae? Your submission would produce more joy to Government than the submission of O-po-tae. You should not wait for wisdom to act wisely; you should make up your mind to submit to the Government with all your followers. I will assist you in every respect, it would be the means of securing your own happiness and the lives of all your adherents.’" “Chang-paou remained like a statue without motion, and Fei-heung Chow went on to say: ‘You should think about this affair in time, and not stay till the last moment. Is it not clear that O-po-tae, since you could not agree together, has joined Government. He being enraged against you, will fight, united with the forces of the Government, for your destruction; and who could help you, so that you might overcome your enemies? If O-po- tae could before vanquish you quite alone, how much more can he now when he is united with Government? O-po-tae will then satisfy his hatred against you, and you yourself will soon be taken either at Wei-chow or at Neaou-chow. If the merchant-vessels of Hwy-chaou, the boats of Kwang-chow, and all the fishing-vessels, unite together to surround and attack you in the open sea, you will certainly have enough to do. But even supposing they should not attack you, you will soon feel the want of provisions to sustain you and all your followers. It is always wisdom to provide before things happen; stupidity and folly never think about future events. It is too late to reflect upon events when things have happened; you should, therefore, consider this matter in time!’" HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Paou was puzzled, but after being closeted for some time with his mistress, Ching-yih’s widow, who gave her high permission for him to make arrangements with Doctor Chow, he said he would repair with his fleet to the Bocca Tigris, and there communicate personally with the organs of Government. After two visits had been paid to the pirate-fleets by two inferior Mandarins, who carried the Imperial proclamation of free pardon, and who, at the order of Ching-yih’s widow, were treated to a sumptuous banquet by Paou, the Governor-general of the province went himself in one vessel to the pirates’ ships, that occupied a line of ten le off the mouth of the river. As the governor approached, the pirates hoisted their flags, played on their instruments, and fired their guns, so that the smoke rose in clouds, and then bent sail to meet him. On this the dense population that were ranged thousands after thousands along the shore, to witness the important reconciliation, became sorely alarmed, and the Governor-general seems to have had a strong inclination to run away. But in brief space of time, the long dreaded widow of Ching-yih, supported by her Lieutenant Paou, and followed by three other of her principal commanders, mounted the side of the governor’s ship, and rushed through the smoke to the spot where his excellency was stationed; where they fell on their hands and knees, shed tears, knocked their heads on the deck before him, and received his gracious pardon, and promised for future kind treatment. They then withdrew satisfied, having promised to give in a list of their ships, and of all else they possessed, within three days. But the sudden apparition of some large Portuguese ships, and some Government war-junks, made the pirates suspect treachery. They immediately set sail, and the negociations were interrupted for several days. They were at last concluded by the boldness of their female leader. “If the Governor-general,” said this heroine, “a man of the highest rank, could come to us quite alone, why should not I, a mean woman, go to the officers of Government? If there be danger in it, I take it all on myself; no person among you need trouble himself about me — my mind is made up, and I will go to Canton!” Paou said — “If the widow of Ching-yih goes, we must fix a time for her return. If this pass without our obtaining any information, we must collect all our forces, and go before Canton: this is my opinion as to what ought to be done; comrades, let me hear yours!” The pirates, then, struck with the intrepidity of their chieftainess, and loving her more than ever, answered, “Friend Paou, we have heard thy opinion, but we think it better to wait for the news here, on the water, than to send the wife of Ching- yih alone to be killed.” Nor would they allow her to leave the fleet. Matters were in this state of indecision, when the two inferior Mandarins who had before visited the pirates, ventured out to repeat their visit. These officers protested no treachery had been intended, and pledged themselves, that if the widow of Ching-yih would repair to the Governor, she would be kindly received, and every thing settled to their hearts’ satisfaction. With this, in the language of our old ballads, upspoke Mrs. Ching. “You say well, gentlemen! and I will go myself to Canton with some other of our ladies, accompanied by you!” And HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM accordingly, she and a number of the pirates’ wives with their children, went fearlessly to Canton, arranged every thing, and found they had not been deceived. The fleet soon followed. On its arrival every vessel was supplied with pork and with wine, and every man (in lieu it may be supposed, of his share of the vessels, and plundered property he resigned) received at the same time a bill for a certain quantity of money. Those who wished it, could join the military force of Government for pursuing the remaining pirates; and those who objected, dispersed and withdrew into the country. “This is the manner in which the great red squadron of the pirates was pacified.” The valiant Paou, following the example of his rival O-po-tae, entered into the service of Government, and proceeded against such of his former associates and friends as would not accept the pardon offered them. There was some hard fighting, but the two renegadoes successively took the chief Shih Url, forced the redoubtable captain, styled “The scourge of the Eastern Ocean” to surrender himself, drove “Frog’s Meal,” another dreadful pirate, to Manilla, and finally, and within a few months, destroyed or dissipated the “wasps of the ocean” altogether. I have already noticed the marked intention of the Chinese historian, to paint the character of Paou in a poetical or epic manner. When describing the battle with Shih-Url, he says: — “They fought from seven o’clock in the morning till one at noon, burnt ten vessels, and killed an immense number of the pirates. Shih-Url was so weakened that he could scarcely make any opposition. On perceiving this through the smoke, Paou mounted on a sudden the vessel of the pirate, and cried out: ‘I Chang Paou am come,’ and at the same moment he cut some pirates to pieces; the remainder were then hardly dealt with. Paou addressed himself in an angry tone to Shih-Url, and said: ‘I advise you to submit: will you not follow my advice? what have you to say?’ Shih-Url was struck with amazement, and his courage left him. Paou advanced and bound him, and the whole crew were then taken captives.” “From that period,” says our Chinese historian, in conclusion, “ships began to pass and repass in tranquillity. All became quiet on the rivers, and tranquil on the four seas. People lived in peace and plenty. Men sold their arms and bought oxen to plough their fields; they buried sacrifices, said prayers on the tops of the hills, and rejoiced themselves by singing behind screens during day-time” — and (grand climax to all!) the Governor of the province, in consideration of his valuable services in the pacification of the pirates, was allowed by an edict of the “Son of Heaven,” to wear peacocks’ feathers with two eyes! HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1810

In this year in which King George III was being recognized to be insane and in which, under pressure from Britain, the Portuguese were agreeing to the gradual abolition of their trade in slaves, a sea battle took place, Terry-and-the-Pirates style, between the allied forces of Chinese imperial, British naval, and Macanese warships, on the one side, and the famed pirate Cheung Po Tsai on the other, near an island Chek Lap Kok near an island now known as Victoria. HONG KONG

George III 1760 1820

The Prince 1811 1820 Regency

George IV 1820 1830

William IV 1830 1837

Victoria 1837 1901

THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1811

Jean-Pierre Abel-Rèmusat had been educated for the medical profession, but his attention had been attracted to a Chinese herbal in the collection of the Abbé Tersan, to the extent that he had spent five years learning enough Chinese to be able to consult this volume. In this year he was able to produce ESSAI SUR LA LANGUE ET LA LITTÉRATURE CHINOISES, and a paper on foreign languages among the Chinese, and came under the patronage of Silvestre de Sacy.

At about this point Chinese White Lotus sectarians were using the phrase san-ts’ai to describe the “three powers” of Heaven, Earth, and Man. Also, at about this point, the Sam Hop Hui or “Three United Society” was springing up in Malaya. These Sam Hop practitioners were mostly middle-class people from the Three Counties region around Canton, but some of them were not above torturing or offing members of the general public who seemed reluctant to pay for their own protection.

Dr. John Marshman and Joannes Lassar undertook a task they would not complete until 1820, a translation of the New Testament into Chinese characters.

“By the newly invented corsets we see, in 8 women out of 10, the hips squeezed into a circumference little more than the waist; and the bosom shoved up to the chin, making a sort of fleshy shelf disgusting to the beholders and certainly most incommodious to the wearer.”4

4. Of course the heathen Chinese were binding women’s feet to indicate that they were of such high status that they needed to do no work — but that custom was of course barbaric and shows no points of similarity. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA The founding in Boston of the firm of Samuel Russell & Co., which for a period of 30 years or so would be one of the dominant hongs in Hong Kong.5

SAMUEL WADSWORTH RUSSELL OF MIDDLETON CT

5. In the Orient, Russell’s of Boston went under a Chinese name that translates out as “The Flag Prospers.” The name does not indicate of course which national flag it was that was intended to prosper. This hong had paddle-wheelers on the Chinese rivers. One of the six partners of this hong was Warren Delano, a grandfather of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This hong was utterly racist and quite disapproved of some other hongs which were allowing their junior white officers to mingle over dinner with their yellow comprador assistants: “blustering away among the Chinamen ... [hobnobbing] with every unwashed devil in the place.” Russell’s eventually would be destroyed by a conspiracy among the other hongs in Hong Kong, led by the hong of a former Yorkshire businessman, John Samuel Swires. An interesting question is the relationship between this firm of Samuel Russell & Co. and the firm of Russell & Sturgis, since George R. Russell would be a founding member of the Boston Vigilante Committee. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM May 11, Saturday: Birth of the conjoined twins Chang and Eng (the source doesn’t state their family name) Chinese parents near Bangkok. They were joined stomach to stomach. They were bright babies.

BILLY BUDD: Now envy and antipathy, passions irreconcilable in reason, nevertheless in fact may spring conjoined like Chang and Eng in one birth.

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 7th day 11th of 5th Mo// Nothing material to insert, save that the mind has been in a serious mood, on some subjects of importance. ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

WHAT I’M WRITING IS TRUE BUT NEVER MIND YOU CAN ALWAYS LIE TO YOURSELF

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA June 22, Saturday: The British East India Company had up to this point been able to maintain a monopoly over the sale of opium to China. That situation changed on this day when the American brig Sylph out of Philadelphia docked at Macao with a cargo of opium from Smyrna, Turkey. The United States and Portugal would become players in this game.

The Emperor Napoléon decreed that all members of his family currently reigning as kings were reduced to princes of France.

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 7th day 22 of 6 Mo// It has been a very warm day which relaxes the body & mind. - Thos Scatteergood & S Horn are persuing their visits. ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1812

February 17, Monday: Ellen Sturgis was born in Boston, daughter of the wealthy China trader William F. Sturgis with Elizabeth Marston Davis Sturgis, daughter of a prominent Boston jurist.6 From her poem “Life a Duty”: I slept, and dreamed that life was Beauty; I woke, and found that life was Duty. Was thy dream then a shadowy lie? Toil on, poor heart, unceasingly; And thou shalt find thy dream to be A truth and noonday light to thee.

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 2nd day 17 of 2 Mo// Thos Gould called to see me, & spent Some time in the Shop — In the evening I called at Aunt M Gs a little while ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT

6. Her sister “Cary” [Caroline Sturgis Tappan] would not be born until 1819. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1813

Dr. Robert Morrison and Dr. W. Milnes undertook a task they would not complete until 1823, a translation of the New Testament into Chinese characters.

White Lotus rebels trained in ch’uan fa and armed with knives and iron bars attacked the town of Tsao, near Beijing. Finding that the town watchmen were armed with muskets, they retreated through the far gate of the town. Some of these rebels were able to penetrate the Forbidden City, but there Prince Mien-ning and his cousin Mien-chih had fowling pieces and used these to kill at least four, while with their swords accounting for several others.

THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1814

The baptism of Ts’ai Kao, who probably was the 1st Chinese convert to Protestant Christianity. (Unfortunately, he would not be the last.) CHINESE CIVIL WAR

FIGURING OUT WHAT AMOUNTS TO A “HISTORICAL CONTEXT” IS WHAT THE CRAFT OF HISTORICIZING AMOUNTS TO, AND THIS NECESSITATES DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN THE SET OF EVENTS THAT MUST HAVE TAKEN PLACE BEFORE EVENT E COULD BECOME POSSIBLE, AND MOST CAREFULLY DISTINGUISHING THEM FROM ANOTHER SET OF EVENTS THAT COULD NOT POSSIBLY OCCUR UNTIL SUBSEQUENT TO EVENT E.

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA January 1, Saturday: On the New York side of the Niagara River, Youngstown, Lewiston, Manchester, Schlosser, Black Rock, and Buffalo had been put to the torch. By holding Fort Niagara the British were in control not only of the mouth of the river but also of a safe haven for their warships and supply vessels.

The Emperor Napoléon replied favorably to the allied offer of December 15th.

Hung Hsiu Ch’üan was born. After being disappointed in the Confucian civil service examinations, he would have visions and come to the conclusion that he must be Jesus Christ’s younger brother on a mission to redeem China (don’t laugh, 25,000,000 Chinese are going to die rancid deaths on account of this fantasizing).7 CHINESE CIVIL WAR

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 7th day 1st of 1st M 1814 / Recd this eveng a leter from my beloved friend Micajah Collins Dated 12 M 23rd - which was a very agreeable NewYears gift.——8 RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

7. For all that he was JC’s little brother, this guy wouldn’t actually have much use for anything peculiar to the New Testament — such as for instance kindness, or forgiveness, or redemption. Instead his Christianity was going to be long on obedience, and proper worshipfulness, and his dad was to be construed as a God of vengeance. But the Tai-p’ings did have a useful list of prohibitions: there was to be no prostitution in their Kingdom of Heaven, or even divorce, there was to be no enslavement or even foot-binding, there was to be no recreational use of opium or wine or tobacco — and of course there was to be no gambling! Both the Chinese Communists of the PRC (People’s Republic of China, on the mainland) and the Chinese Nationalists of the ROC (Republic of China, on Taiwan) now claim that they originated as this nativist resistance movement against the Manchu overlords in Beijing. 8. Stephen Wanton Gould Diary, 1812-1815: The Gould family papers are stored under control number 2033 at the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections of Cornell University Library, Box 7 Folder 11 for July 1, 1812-August 20, 1815; also on microfilm, see Series 7 HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1815

With the creation of a chair in Chinese at the Collège de France, organized French Sinology began. (It would never end.)

At about this point Hung gar or “Red Boxing” wushu appeared in Fukien Province. While the name would suggest ties to the South Chinese triad societies, this form of personal combat was more likely named after its creator, the southern Shaolin boxers of Hung Shi-kuan. New northern styles also appeared about this time, the most famous of which would be the mei-hua or “Plum Flower boxing” that had been seen during the Eight Trigrams rebellion of 1813. While the most famous practitioner of this style was the White Lotus boxer Feng Ke-shan, the name referred simply to the springtime fairs at which boxing matches were frequent. The 19th- Century Chinese used such boxing arts to improve fitness or health, make money for gamblers or reputation for prizefighters, and attract new members to esoteric religious cults.

December 20, Wednesday: James Legge was born at Huntly, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. He would be educated at Aberdeen Grammar School and then Kings College, Aberdeen. After studying at the Highbury Theological College, London, he would go as a missionary to China.

BETWEEN ANY TWO MOMENTS ARE AN INFINITE NUMBER OF MOMENTS, AND BETWEEN THESE OTHER MOMENTS LIKEWISE AN INFINITE NUMBER, THERE BEING NO ATOMIC MOMENT JUST AS THERE IS NO ATOMIC POINT ALONG A LINE. MOMENTS ARE THEREFORE FIGMENTS. THE PRESENT MOMENT IS A MOMENT AND AS SUCH IS A FIGMENT, A FLIGHT OF THE IMAGINATION TO WHICH NOTHING REAL CORRESPONDS. SINCE PAST MOMENTS HAVE PASSED OUT OF EXISTENCE AND FUTURE MOMENTS HAVE YET TO ARRIVE, WE NOTE THAT THE PRESENT MOMENT IS ALL THAT EVER EXISTS — AND YET THE PRESENT MOMENT BEING A MOMENT IS A FIGMENT TO WHICH NOTHING IN REALITY CORRESPONDS.

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1816

The mission of Lord Amherst to China failed over the ceremonial issue of the kowtow. (Hey, dude, what is it about bumping your head three times on the floor that you don’t get? –If you’re not going to be polite, do we want to be in the same room with you?)

Liang Fa, a Chinese engraver of woodblocks working for Dr. Robert Morrison, accepted baptism as a Christian. Eventually he would serve as an ordained minister.

THE FALLACY OF MOMENTISM: THIS STARRY UNIVERSE DOES NOT CONSIST OF A SEQUENCE OF MOMENTS. THAT IS A FIGMENT, ONE WE HAVE RECOURSE TO IN ORDER TO PRIVILEGE TIME OVER CHANGE, APRIVILEGING THAT MAKES CHANGE SEEM UNREAL, DERIVATIVE, A MERE APPEARANCE. IN FACT IT IS CHANGE AND ONLY CHANGE WHICH WE EXPERIENCE AS REALITY, TIME BEING BY WAY OF RADICAL CONTRAST UNEXPERIENCED — A MERE INTELLECTUAL CONSTRUCT. THERE EXISTS NO SUCH THING AS A MOMENT. NO INSTANT HAS EVER FOR AN INSTANT EXISTED.

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1817

Spring: In Yunnan, China, the famine due to the eruption of Mount Tambora continued, and high in the Val de Bagnes of Switzerland the new lake behind the ice dam that had formed below the Giétro Glacier continued to threaten despite engineer Ignaz Venetz's efforts to induce this impounded water to drain (this ice formation would collapse catastrophically on June 16, 1818).

The pirate Louis Michel Aury, who was recognized by Mexico as its resident commissioner at Galveston Island, was away from the island convoying the filibustering expedition of Francisco Xavier Mina to the Santander River, and the pirate Jean Lafitte was undermining the skeletal “government” he had left behind.

DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD.

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1818

Thomas Nuttall’s GENERA OF NORTH AMERICAN PLANTS, the first generic plant list for North America, was published in Philadelphia (American and English books on plant hunting were naturally emphasizing the United States and China/Japan because these are partly temperate lands with plants that can also be grown in the eastern United States and England).

BOTANIZING

A parasol termed the “Pagoda” or the “Chinese” became popular in the West.9

9. “Pagoda” did not then mean to Westerners what it now means. For instance, when Arthur Schopenhauer went shopping for a white porcelain statuette of a fat, laughing Buddha, he referred to such a decorative object as a “Pagoda.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1819

The British East India Company’s opium trade in China had reached 10,000 chests annually: The Central Kingdom had begun to chase the dragon.

DOPERS

Professor François Pierre Guillaume Guizot and Mme. Pauline de Meulan Guizot produced a son. He was appointed general director of communes and departments in the ministry of the interior (he would lose this office during February of the following year, due to the fall of the government of prime minister Élie Decazes).

Creation of the review Conservateur littéraire, of the brothers Hugo.

Claude Bernard Petitot’s COLLECTION COMPLÈTE DES MÉMOIRES RELATIFS À L’HISTOIRE DE FRANCE, DEPUIS LE RÈGNE DE PHILIPPE-AUGUSTE, JUSQU’AU COMMENCEMENT DU DIX-SEPTIÈME SIÈCLE: AVEC DES NOTICES SUR CHAQUE AUTEUR, ET DES OBSERVATIONS SUR CHAQUE OUVRAGE (52 volumes, Foucault, 1819-1827).

Jean-Antoine Claude, comte Chaptal de Chanteloup’s DE L’INDUSTRIE FRANÇAISE.

Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi’s NOUVEAUX PRINCIPES D’ÉCONOMIE POLITIQUE, OU DE LA RICHESSE DANS SES RAPPORTS AVEC LA POPULATION.

Jean-Pierre Abel-Rèmusat’s “Note sur quelques épithétes descriptives du Bouddha” appeared in the Journal des Savantes. His DESCRIPTION DU ROYAUME DE CAMBODGE PA R UN VOYAGEUR CHINOIS QUI A VISITÉ CETTE CONTRÉE À LA FIN DU XIII SIÈCLE, PRÉCÉDÉE D’UNE NOTICE CHRONOLOGIQUE SUR CE MÊME PAYS , EXTRAITE DES ANNALES DE LA CHINE (Imprimerie de J. Smith). HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA In Bangkok, Siam, the father of Chang and Eng died, and so they became peddlers in and around that port city.

As time went on they would become well-known in that country (now Thailand) as “The Chinese Twins.” Chang, who it was turning out was shorter by about an inch, needed to have inch-thick soles on his boots so his brother could stand up straight. They began an arrangement by which, alternately, each would defer to the other for a period of three days. They began to educate themselves. They learned to swim. “SIAMESE TWINS”

August 1, Sunday: King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and King Friedrich August I of Saxony met in reconciliation at Pillnitz.

The East India Company had, on the island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic, 700 to 800 Chinese workmen. They had divided into factions and began to struggle among themselves, with the whites on the island presuming this to amount to some sort of religious dispute. They formed, in Upper Jamestown near Plantation House where Napoléon Bonaparte was being kept, into three or four bands of about 150 each, and arming themselves with bamboo sticks, spears, knives, etc., “rushed upon each other with frightful ferocity ... uttering piercing cries.” The post at High Knoll despatched “some St. Helena sharp-shooters, for the most part drunk, all young lads who were impatient to finish the affair, and who, without waiting for anybody’s orders, started shooting wildly. There were some killed and a good many wounded. The commanding officers will be courtmartialed.”

The Coroner would report two deaths as “wilful murder” but the shooters would be acquitted.

Herman Melville was born as “Herman Melvill” at 6 Pearl Street on Manhattan “Island of the Hills,” in New- York, to importer Allan Melvill and Martia Gansevoort Melvill, daughter of Revolutionary War general Peter Gansevoort.10 Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 1st day 1st of 8 M 1819 / Our Meeting was solid & D Buffum was favor’d in a lively & pertinent testimony to the efficacy of the Truth In the Afternoon J Dennis Anne Greene & H Dennis were all engaged

10.See Jay Leyda’s THE MELVILLE LOG: A DOCUMENTARY LIFE OF HERMAN MELVILLE, published in 1951. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM in short testimonies RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

August 25, Wednesday: James Watt died near Birmingham, England.

On the island of St. Helena in the south Atlantic, the battalion of St. Helena sharp-shooters who had fired upon the Chinese workmen who had been rioting among themselves near where Napoléon Bonaparte was being kept, killing some killed and wounding a good many, had their courtmartial and were uniformly found not guilty. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1820

Dr. Lewis Caleb Beck botanized extensively in eastern Missouri and in nearby regions of Illinois. After returning to New York, he would prepare a gazetteer of that region’s mineral and botanical potential.

French chemists isolated quinine (an alkaloid) from the bark of Cinchona, making possible the production of a purified chemical treatment for malaria. PLANTS

The new British commissioner of Cooch Behar in India discovered that the Camellia sinensis tree was growing in Assam on these southern slopes of the Himalayas just as it grew in China, where kept as shrubs it was the source of Chinese tea. He sent samples down to Calcutta, to Nathaniel Wallich, the newly appointed botanist of the government of India. It would require only the passage of 30 years, before tea would be being produced in the valley of the Brahmaputra on a truly massive scale, and with unheard-of economies. The Chinese monopoly would be ruined. BOTANIZING

During this decade our medical profession would be beginning to take a more relaxed attitude toward the imputed perils of tea because, due to an increasing expense of the leaves at three shillings, four shillings, and even five shillings the pound, our teasips were beginning to brew their caffeine fix not nearly so strong. The doctors, of course, should have been doing everything within their power to increase the drinking of Chinese tea, especially in the USA, because the more of this tea infusion people consumed during this period the less ethanol they would be consuming — and alcoholism was of course one of our most major killers. DOPE

According to the economic historian Angus Maddison, at this point China was producing 29% of the world’s total annual gross economic product, and India was producing 16%. (I don’t know, but would like to know, what %age was being produced by the USA.)

Dr. John Marshman and Joannes Lassar completed a task they had undertaken in 1811, a translation of the New Testament into Chinese characters. Dr. Livingstone and Dr. Morrison founded a medical clinic in Macau. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM April 5, Wednesday: A setting of the Agnus Dei by Carl Maria von Weber was performed for the initial time, as part of Carlo, a play by von Blankensee, in Berlin.

Day Five of Scotland’s “Radical War”: some gunfire, some arrests.

The British officer assigned to watch Napoléon Bonaparte on St. Helena reported to London that “General Bonaparte remained out until two o’clock yesterday and finished the sod wall. The four Chinese, who have been constantly employed in the garden, got angry at the General having given a bottle of wine to each of the Chinese that are employed in the house and did not give them the same indulgence. They therefore refused doing what the General wanted them to do, which put him in a great rage, and he ordered them off instantly. General Bonaparte is hard at work this morning in the same garden. He has cut a large hole like an embrasure in the sod wall facing my side window, in which they are now fixing a large tub, half up the wall, to form a sort of cascade into the long tank in the garden.”

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 4 day 5 of 4 M / Rode with my H to Portsmouth on buisness went to A Cundels & showed her the Farm Uncle Stanton has Bought & dined & spent the Afternoon at Anne Anthonys — RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

September 2, Saturday: Death of Jiaqing, Emperor of China.

October 3, Tuesday: Min Ning succeeded Jiaqing as Emperor of China.

The defense of Lady Caroline Amelia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess of Wales opened before the House of Lords. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1821

On the following screen is a map of China created in this year by J. Souter in London. (We note that the map includes the existing Canton and Macao, but of course lacks as-yet-nonexistent Hong Kong.) HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Opium use had become endemic among the Fenish peoples of Britain, where use was tolerated but was successfully controlled by informal social mechanisms. Concerns were growing, however, over increasing use, particularly in the sedation of infants. Facing competition from other poppy Papaver somniferum growers, the British stepped up their efforts to increase their exports to China.

Thomas De Quincey went to London to dispose of some translations from German authors, but was persuaded first to write and publish an account of his opium experiences, which soon appeared in the London Magazine and proved to be even more popular with the reading public than Lamb’s ESSAYS OF ELIA, which were then appearing in that periodical. THE CONFESSIONS OF AN ENGLISH OPIUM-EATER would soon appear also in book form.

His translation of Friedrich Schiller’s “The Sport of Fortune” appeared in Blackwood’s Magazine. However, he quarreled with William Blackwood. In this year he had conversations with John Keats’s friend Richard Woodhouse. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1822

President James Monroe wrote to Tao Kwang, the Emperor of China, asking politely for the return of a damaged ship pillaged in southern China, and its cargo of money and opium. This letter, several drafts of which had been reviewed before a final copy striking the right tone was signed, has recently fetched almost $20,000 at a Sotheby’s auction — because it is suspected to represent the 1st official attempt at contact between a US president and an emperor of China. It is not known whether the letter succeeded of its object: Pondering upon this, your wise and benevolent disposition, I have resolved to write this letter to Your Majesty to inform you with my own hand of the wrong said to have been done to my brethren by those children of wickedness unworthy of the name of your subjects.

Printing of the New Testament as translated into Chinese characters by Dr. John Marshman and Joannes Lassar, in an edition of 500 copies. (Distribution would not be allowed.)

Feng Yün-shan was born in Hua-hsien, in the Kwantung province of China. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Jean-Pierre Abel-Rèmusat founded and became the first secretary of the Société asiatique. His ÉLÉMENS DE LA GRAMMAIRE CHINOISE, OU, PRINCIPES GÉNÉRAUX DU KOU-WEN OU STYLE ANTIQUE: ET DU KOUAN-HOA C’EST- À-DIRE, DE LA LANGUE COMMUNE GÉNÉRALEMENT USITÉE DANS L’EMPIRE CHINOIS (Imprimerie Royale).

The lectures of Professor François Pierre Guillaume Guizot were interdicted. From this year into 1830, however, the former professor of modern history of the Sorbonne would be preparing and issuing two important collections of historical sources, to wit, his memoirs of the history of England in 26 volumes, and his memoirs of the history of France in 31 volumes. In addition, busy as a bee, he would be providing a revised translation into French of the plays of Shakespeare, and a volume of his own essays on the history of France.

Nicholas Marcellus Hentz’s A MANUAL OF FRENCH PHRASES, AND FRENCH CONVERSATIONS: ADAPTED TO WANOSTROCHT’S GRAMMAR ... (Boston: Richardson and Lord, J.H.A. Frost, Printer).

Louis Choris’s VOYAGE PITTORESQUE AUTOUR DU MONDE, AVEC DES PORTRAITS DE SAUVAGES D’AMERIQUE, D’ASIE, D’AFRIQUE, ET DES ILES DU GRAND OCEAN; DES PAYSAGES, DES VUES MARITIMES, ET PLUSIEURS OBJETS D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE (Paris: Impr. de Firmin Didot). HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM February 6, Wednesday: The seagoing 3-masted Chinese junk Tek Sing sank on a reef of the Belvidere Shoals in the South China Sea, in the Gaspar Strait between the islands of Bangka and Belitung, with approximately 1,600 passengers and 200 crewmembers.

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 4th day Morning rode to town with Moses in the sleigh & attended Select Meeting — We had not long been quietly Seated, before Benj. Shaw a young man of a Ranting spirit came in & took his Seat & tho’ previously Kindly & affectionatley invited to retire, but he refused & we were obliged to carry him out by main Strength, letting his limbs hang as nerveless as a dead man, he was placed on the Step of the door, but afterwards he made an attempt to come in, when the doors were fastened —- This circumstance so unsettled my mind that I scarcely had any enjoyment of the Meeting tho’ quiet was generally restored & we were favoured to transact the Affairs of our department of the Church, with a good degree of solemnity - the meeting sat longer than usual. — Dined at O Browns - then called on a woman by the name of Anna Power & her Sister Ruth Marsh on buisness for the Marsh family in this town — then went out to Moses Browns & lodged. — RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

February 7, Thursday: An English East Indiaman vessel, captain James Pearl, was able to take aboard about 190 of the numerous floaters from the Tek Sing (another smaller vessel was able to take aboard 18 of the floaters, but the balance of the Chinese victims would of necessity be left to drown).

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 5th day — After Breakfast Walked to Town when I got into the Yard, was informed that Benj Shaw who has been disowned by Lynn Moy [Monthly] Meeting for his disorder, had taken his seat at the head of our Meeting — I went in & found it so, several [— spoke?] to him & invited him to take a low seat & I among the rest - but all to no effect, he obstinately insisted in keeping his seat — most of the friends [—]note were consulted & all agreed that it would have a very pernicious effect to allow him to sit so by encouraging him to disturb his friends - Obadiah Brown stood up & spoke to that effect, when it was concluded to take him by the Arm & carry down, which it fell to my lot to do, assisted by Adam Comstock, a friend well qualified to manage him — while we were doing this Alanson Potter a friend of his own spirit, said he had no unity with what was doing, but we quietly & as Silently as Possible persisted, after he had, been removed, under pretence of being uncomfortable from the heat of the Stove he wanted to remove his seat & Adam followed him & again took his seat by his side — After the meeting was settled & the people quiet, James S tt stood up & reflected on friends, at having given way to a Spirit of War - & Grasa Haniford a friend also of the Ranting Spirit from Cape Elizabeth in one of the lower Quarterly Meetings, stood up twice & cast reflections on friends —— After which, quiet seemed to be restored & Micajah Collins was engaged in a living & powerful testimony which had a great HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA reach on the Audience - Then Obadiah Davis had considerable to say & was measurable favoured, after which - G Haniford said a little in the same temper as at first & B Shaw attempted to rise but was prevented by Adam Comstock - When the Meeting broke - After the shutters11 were Let down B Shaw kept his seat, The Meeting was informed that an individual was present who was not a member & he was requested to with draw by a friend appointed to the oversight of Meetings from the Select Meeting, but he kept his seat & after considerable entreaty from several friends it appeared that he was determined not to go out thereupon Adam Comstock & Wm Jenkins took him & carried him gently out & the Meeting proceeded on the buisness with its usual Dignity & firmness. —notwithstanding, several interruptions from G Haniford & J Scott - but the Meeting ended in the Authority, & I believe Truth was exalted. — I dined at O Browns - spent the forepart of the eveng & took tea at Wm Jenkins - then with [-] Rodman walked out to Moses Browns & lodged.— RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

November 1, Saturday: Fire began in Canton and would destroy much of the city.

11. The moveable barrier in the meetinghouse, to separate it into a men’s portion and a women’s portion. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1823

At the age of 6 Charles Henry Appleton Dall was packed off to live in Boston with his father’s brother and sister William and Sarah Dall, and study at the Franklin School. He would not be visiting his parents in Baltimore for 9 years.

An indigenous bush producing leaves that contained caffeine was found growing in Upper Assam. This, eventually, would break the Chinese monopoly on tea. The 1st agricultural laborers in tea in northern India would be Chinese accustomed to work on Chinese tea plantations, who would be enticed by Charles Bruce out of China to transplant young native bushes into nursery beds.

Warren Delano sailed from Boston for Canton on behalf of Russel & Co. He would return after traffic in opium had made him a wealthy man. He well knew that opium was “black dirt,” but defended his conduct by pointing out that alcoholic beverages were also being imported into America — and nobody was barfing at that. In 1851 he would settle in Newburgh, New York, where he would give the hand of his daughter in marriage to James Roosevelt (father of Franklin Delano Roosevelt).

The fuchsia had been first noticed by Fuchs in 1501. The scarlet fuchsia had been introduced from Chile in 1788 and the slender fuchsia in 1822, and in this year the tree fuchsia was obtained from Mexico.

Printing in Malacca of the New Testament as translated into Chinese characters by Dr. Robert Morrison and Dr. W. Milnes, in an edition of 2,000 copies.

Li Hung-chang was born in the Anhwei province of China.

Abel Remuset’s memoir on Lao-tze, in French. TAO TÊ CHING LIGHT FROM CHINA TAOISM HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1824

During this year Waldo Emerson mentioned things Chinese in his journal for the 1st time, by recording the following couplet anent the current Western fascination with things Chinese, and with their supposed great antiquity which supposedly was of great merit: I laugh at those who, while they gape and gaze, The bald antiquity of China praise.

The following misleading message appeared on http://webteach.ubalt.edu/ECON640ALUMNI, posted by James V. Kolmansberger , evidently at the University of Baltimore: The March 30th edition of the Baltimore Sun contained a short article that accused Ralph Waldo Emerson of taking many of his writings from the letters and diaries of his aunt, Mary Moody Emerson. The accusations were contained in a book about Mary Moody Emerson, written by professor Phyllis Cole. The level of truth to this story is unknown, but if it is indeed true, the credit may need to go to Aunt Mary for the Self-Reliance theory. I have no knowledge of what the Baltimore Sun has produced in the way of a book review of this book, but it is an absolutely fine production and in no sense can it be said that such a scholarly monograph would be leveling a straightforward charge of immoral plagiarism against Emerson. It is true that in 1824 Mary Moody Emerson wrote to her nephew a sentence which he copied into his journal and then into his “MME1” notebook which would in 1859 resurface, practically verbatim but without any attribution or quotation marks, in his essay “Culture” for the late book CONDUCT OF LIFE:

Solitude, the safeguard of mediocrity, is, to genius, the stern friend, the cold, obscure shelter where moult the wings which bear it farther than suns and stars.

This 1859 printed Waldo sentence had appeared in 1824 as his aunt’s holographic comment:

Solitude, w’h to people, not talented to deviate from the beaten track (w’h is the safe gaurd of mediocrity) without offending, is to learning & talents the only sure labyrinth (tho’ sometimes gloomy) to form the eagle wings w’h will bear one farther than suns and stars.

In fact when Miss Mary’s biographer Phyllis Cole remarked in her new book upon this evidence, she leveled no charge whatever of plagiarism. The description of this would fall squarely within the realm, instead, of influence scholarship: One sentence might seem inconsequential, but this one defines his essential stance of solitary, transcendent genius. It echoes across the decades separating this origins [circa 1824] from his closing reflections [circa 1859]. Even in the proclamation of self-reliance, Waldo never wholly outgrew or left behind this “benefactor.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM February: Waldo Emerson to his journal:

The theological notions of a Chinese are anomalous I trust in besotted perversity. The godhead that infests his thoughts is a certain cleverness & skill that implies no merit in the divinity but of which the yellow man may avail himself as he would of the swiftness of a horse or the fecundity of the earth. So he prays to his God for an event; if his prayer be answered he puts a copper or two on his shrine; if not, he curses & kicks him; the day, it may be, is not distant when the huge & sluggard wave of oriental population shall be stirred & purified by the conflict of counter currents, when the Resurrection of the East shall cast off the incubus that has so long ridden its torpid mind. Metaphysicians are mortified to find how entirely the whole materials of understanding are derived from sense. No man is understood who speculates on mind or character until he borrows specific imagery of Sense. A mourner will try in vain to explain the extent of his bereavement better than to say a chasm is opened in society. I fear the progress of Metaphysical philosophy may be found to consist in nothing else than the progressive introduction of apposite metaphors.

CHINESE

March: Waldo Emerson had recourse in his journal, in this year in which a prisoner would hang in Boston for murder, to the very available metaphor of hanging as a conventional vehicle for the expression of contempt or HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA annoyance toward China and things Chinese:

The Celestial Empire — hang the Celestial Empire! I hate Pekin. I will not drink of the waters of the Yellow Sea.... I hate China. ’Tis a tawdry vase. Out upon China. Words! Words.

Nowadays, of course, to express such a sentiment of contempt or annoyance, we would likely utilize instead of a piss metaphor, “drink the waters of the Yellow Sea,” a sexual metaphor that would be equally questionable, and exclaim “China — fuck China! I hate Beijing.”12

12. Actually, my sister-in-law, who as a simultaneous translator used to have to fly CAAC into Beijing several times a year, used to be saying this constantly — Cantonese has a whole lot of very expressive swear words. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM How different this is from the manner in which Thoreau would speak of the Celestial Empire:

WALDEN: I have always endeavored to acquire strict business PEOPLE OF habits; they are indispensable to every man. If your trade is with WALDEN the Celestial Empire, then some small counting house on the coast, in some Salem harbor, will be fixture enough. You will export such articles as the country affords, purely native products, much ice and pine timber and a little granite, always in native bottoms. These will be good ventures. To oversee all the details yourself in person; to be at once pilot and captain, and owner and underwriter; to buy and sell and keep the accounts; to read every letter received, and write or read every letter sent; to superintend the discharge of imports night and day; to be upon many parts of the coast almost at the same time; –often the richest freight will be discharged upon a Jersey shore;– to be your own telegraph, unweariedly sweeping the horizon, speaking all passing vessels bound coastwise; to keep up a steady despatch of commodities, for the supply of such a distant and exorbitant market; to keep yourself informed of the state of the markets, prospects of war and peace every where, and anticipate the tendencies of trade and civilization, –taking advantage of the results of all exploring expeditions, using new passages and all improvements in navigation;– charts to be studied, the position of reefs and new lights and buoys to be ascertained, and ever, and ever, the logarithmic tables to be corrected, for by the error of some calculator the vessel often splits upon a rock that should have reached a friendly pier, –there is the untold fate of La Perouse;– universal science to be kept pace with, studying the lives of all great discoverers and navigators, great adventurers and merchants, from Hanno and the Phoenicians down to our day; in fine, account of stock to be taken from time to time, to know how you stand. It is a labor to task the faculties of a man, – such problems of profit and loss, of interest, of tare and tret, and gauging of all kinds in it, as demand a universal knowledge.

JEAN-FRANÇOIS DE GALOUP I offer, however, that it is worth taking into account, in this Emersonian usage of the expression “hang” to express contempt or annoyance, “hang the Celestial Empire,” that hanging is not only a practice of American state murder, but is also a practice of American household torture. For instance, in this same year of 1824 in which Emerson is sitting in his study in Concord employing that locution in his journal, farther south, at Holm Hill

Farm where he had been born to Lloyd Plantation on the Wye River, a six-year-old slave named Freddy (later to be better known under the name Frederick Douglass) is observing his young and pretty Aunt Hester being tortured by Aaron Anthony –the white owner who, apparently, was Freddy’s father– by being suspended from HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA a joist in the kitchen and horse-whipped.

The child notices how his father/owner rolls up his sleeves before beginning to lash his aunt. He runs and hides in a closet not so much out of horror at the sight of the splattering gore, he says, as out of terror of being himself suspended and whipped, for as a child would see such things primally, “I expected it would be my turn next” HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM to be thus hung from the kitchen ceiling and lashed:

The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest. He would whip her to make her scream, and whip her to make her hush; and not until overcome by fatigue, would he cease to swing the blood-clotted cowskin. I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition. I was quite a child, but I well remember it. I never shall forget it whilst I remember any thing. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1825

In London, work began on a Thames Tunnel.

In London, the opening of the Grosvenor Canal running approximately between the current Chelsea Bridge and the current Victoria Station.

In London, on the site of the Old Buckingham House which had been erected in the mulberry garden and which had been settled upon Queen Charlotte by King George III in case she should survive him, work began on a new Buckingham Palace (Queen Victoria would take possession of it on July 13, 1837 after expenditures totaling nearly £1,000,000).

In London, work began on the Hammersmith Suspension Bridge.

In London, the 1st horse-drawn omnibuses.

In London, a Zoological Garden was created in Regent’s Park.

At about this point London became larger than Beijing, and thus became the largest city in the world. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1826

The 1st distribution of the New Testament in Chinese characters.

Jean-Pierre Abel-Rèmusat’s IU-KIAO-LI, OU LES DEUX COUSINES, ROMAN CHINOIS ( ), one of the first Chinese novels known in Europe (the Chinese original is a minor work, a copy of which somehow had made its way into a Continental library).

Dr. Lewis Caleb Beck became Professor of Botany and Chemistry at the Vermont Academy of Medicine.

Professor William Jackson Hooker’s BOTANY OF [CAPTAIN WILLIAM EDWARD] PARRY’S THIRD VOYAGE (J. Murray).

Paxton left the Royal Horticultural Society garden to become head gardener to the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth.

Jussieu resigned his post as director of the National Museum of Natural History.

Twigs (apparently predominately of basket willow) had long been utilized in England to record tax payments. Notches made in each twig indicated the amount of tax paid. Once split the notched twig yielded two records HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA of payment. When the tax records went to paper transaction in this year, the archive of twigs was burned. The resulting fire escaped control and took with it the Houses of Parliament.

Leopoldo Nobili invented a galvanometer.

The unexploited forests of Burma gave impetus to the British conquest of that country. The first area opened (Tenasserim) “was stripped of teak within twenty years.” By the end of the century about 10,000,000 acres of Burma forest were cleared. PLANTS

An act of the US Congress set off the mania of planting the Chinese silkworm mulberry Morus multicaulis, a short-lived industry. SILK

(On the following screen is a depiction of the annual ceremonial picking of mulberry leaves by the empress, as processed through the imagination of a German lithographer.)

August 17, Friday: China ceased production of iron shuriken (bladed weapons, to be thrown). HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1827

In South China, the young Confucian scholar-wannabee Hung Hsiu Ch’üan failed the government Mandarin examinations the 1st time he took them — as was ordinarily to be expected.

IU-KIAO-LI: OR, THE TWO FAIR COUSINS. A CHINESE NOVEL ( ). FROM THE FRENCH VERSION OF M. ABEL REMUSAT. IN TWO VOLUMES (London: Hunt and Clarke, York-Street, Covent-Garden).

THE TWO FAIR COUSINS

This would be examined by Thomas Carlyle, Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Stendhal. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM It was in this year that Benjamin Disraeli coined the word “millionaire.” (At that time, with money worth much more than it is now, there were actually quite a few fewer millionaires than today there are billionaires, even in Hong Kong.)

Speaking of millionaires: William “Iron Head Rat” Jardine, a partner in a Chinese trade merchant house who had previously been an employee of a Parsi (Zoroastrian) firm that distributed opium grown in Malwa, and James “Ta-pi-tze” Matheson, who had been retailing opium by ship along the coast of China, entered into a

Iron Head Rat Ta-pi-tze

partnership to create a fleet of the fastest “Clipper” ships and thus slip past the junks of the Mandarin customs authorities.

DOPERS

July: A Chinese woman was placed on display at the Grand Salon, 94 Pall Mall, London to display her tiny bound feet. The admission fee was one shilling. (There’s no mention in the surviving literature of a fee for lap dances.) HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1828

The Reverend David Collie had been serving for four years as head of the Anglo-Chinese College in 13 Malacca. At this point his THE CHINESE CLASSICAL WORK, COMMONLY CALLED THE FOUR BOOKS was published by the Mission Press there.14 REVEREND DAVID COLLIE LIGHT FROM CHINA

Leang-afa was the Dr. Robert Morrison’s 1st real (as opposed to “rice-Christian”), convert in all of China to the truth and power of Christianity, in all the hard years of struggle since this missionary had debarked from an American ship in 1807 in Canton with in his hand his precious letter of introduction from then Secretary of State James Madison. Things were looking up!

Peter Stephen DuPonceau was more than a century ahead of his time in attaining the insight that in general, the characters or logographs of the Chinese written language typically indicate spoken syllables rather than concepts conveying ideas directly to the mind (a factoid that had been well understood in China since at least the era of Xú Shèn, which is to say during the Hàn period corresponding to the start of the 2d Century in the West). DuPonceau himself was not particularly proficient in Chinese, and attained this premature insight by generalization from a discovery that the Vietnamese were employing written Chinese characters primarily on the basis of their sound while quite disregarding any meaning that such inscriptions might possess for native speakers of that language. Another century would elapse before Western scholars of the Chinese language would generally15 clue into this (our loaded terms “pictogram” and “ideogram” spring to mind). DuPonceau’s jibe, in regard to this egregiously mistaken understanding, was succinct: One step more, and hardly that, and written characters must have been invented before men learned to speak.

13. The charter of this institution was the reciprocal cultivation of Chinese and European literature and the diffusion of Christianity. The college was as open to Chinese students of European literature as it was to European students of Chinese. Proselytization was not encouraged and precious few of the Chinese students would convert. In 1843 the Reverend James Legge would relocate this institution to Victoria Island of Hong Kong, where it would come to be known as the Ying Wa College. 14. This edition would be in the personal library of Waldo Emerson. It is the source for the “Chinese Four Books” piece that would appear in THE DIAL for October 1843, a piece that we tentatively ascribe to Henry Thoreau. According to Lyman V. Cady this was one of the works which would be utilized by Thoreau as a source for the quotes of Confucius in WALDEN, but other scholars have suggested that Thoreau obtained the material from a French translation by G. Pauthier. THOREAU AND CHINA 15. By “generally” I mean “not universally” — and cite the cases of Ernest Fenollosa and Ezra Pound. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM April 22, Tuesday: Samuel Taylor Coleridge met James Fenimore Cooper.

A month after she moved to St. Petersburg, Maria Szymanowska performed at the palace of Count Kushelev- Bezbrodka.

Issachar J. Roberts, who had attended the Furman Theological Institution of Greenville, South Carolina without receiving any certificate, was at this point somehow ordained as a Baptist preacher at Edgefield, South Carolina. He would preach for some time in Mississippi, where he owned property, and would organize the “Roberts Fund” and the “China Mission Society.” However, when he would apply to a missionary society for its sponsorship, three out of the four ministers that Roberts named would make negative comments and so his application would need to be rejected (the ministers commenting on his lack of education and poor preaching skills, and in addition a “difficult character”).

November 10, Monday: Wang T‘ao was born in China under the name Wang Libin. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1829

One of the things Chang and Eng were into was playing intense chess against one another. An American ship captain, seeing the manifest possibilities, enticed the brothers to Europe. They were leaving a world in which they were the Chinese twins and entering a world in which they would be the Siamese twins. They were leaving a world in which they were Other and entering a world in which they were Other.

New-York merchant David Washington Cincinnatus Olyphant sent the missionaries David Abeel and Elijah Bridgman to China, promising to support their efforts for a year.

April 1, Wednesday: The American ship Sachem left Bangkok carrying the Chinese conjoined twins Chang and Eng, to Boston and their career in show-biz.

Edward Everett set out to discover what sort of western country it was, that had spawned a personage such as Andrew Jackson.

According to an almanac of the period, “General Guerrero inaugurated as President of the Mexican Republic at Mexico.” CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

(Which is to say, Vicente Ramon Guerrero Saldana succeeded Guadealupe Victoria.)

Edward James Young was born, the initial child of the Reverend Alexander Young with Caroline James Young. He would attend the Chauncey Hall School and then the Boston Latin School, and when he matriculated at Harvard College he would discover that during the Freshman year “his education was chiefly a drill in memory.”

Back home in Providence, Rhode Island, Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 4th M 1st 1829 / Today Daniel Puckett from Indiana & his companion Charles Lippincot from Jersey left Providence in the Steam boat for NYork intending to attend the Yearly Meeting approaching at Philads & from thence Daniel expects to return home - Daniel has made several visits at the School, & his testimony, has had a remarkable reach on the mind of some of the children. — I accompanied him to Swanzey to an appointed meeting there, & was well satisfied with his communication. — It is now a longer time than has occured in many years since I have written regularly in my journal, & as I do not feel satisfied with the omission, conclude to attend more to it in future than I have for the Month past. RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1830

At the end of the journal entries for this year, Waldo Emerson listed his recent readings in Oriental materials: “Plotinus; Confucius, Zoroaster, and Mahabarat, (apud DeGérando).”16 In his journal for the year, Waldo had noted that the Golden Rule, so markedly a part of Christianity, actually was to be ascribed to Confucius, and that THE FOUR BOOKS contained “promising definitions” of Nature, Law, and Instruction. THOREAU AND CHINA

During the decade of the 1830s, more than 30 malt-shops and breweries were thriving in and around the town of Saffron Walden.

By this point there were fully one thousand temperance societies in the United States of America.

Facing competition from other Papaver somniferum growers, the British again, as they had in 1821, stepped up their efforts to increase their exports to China.

Opium importation to England had reached an annual total of 22,000 pounds, 80 to 90% of it from Turkey, where the USA also filled the preponderance of its demand. In the region east of Smyrna this was a family cash crop. There were three sowings, in November, in December, and in February/March, so that the labor- intensive harvesting of the sticky white sap from the maturing poppy pods by all members of the family could proceed over a longer period of time. Farmers had to be careful to protect their children from the vapors produced by the 6-to-8-foot-tall plants, and these vapors were especially pervasive during the night. The product was transported inside Turkey in two-pound brownish-black slabs wrapped in leaves and packed in gray calico bags in fitted wicker baskets. The purest export opium from Smyrna was stamped “24 Carat,” and loaded into wooden crates that had been lined with zinc to make them airtight. At this point product from Persia, in the form of sticks, was mixed in with the Turkish product. In contrast, product from Egypt came to brokers in Mark Lane and Mincing Lane in London as flat round cakes, and, from India, as chests of 1 mangowood with two rows of ten compartments, having a 3 /2-pound ball the size of a smallish grapefruit in each one of the 20 compartments. Garraway’s Coffee House, near the Royal Exchange, held regular auctions of these provisions and the stocks were carefully supervised by the British government to ensure proper purity and weight — nobody likes to get burned on a drug deal!

DOPERS

16. M. DeGérando. HISTOIRE COMPARÉE DES SYSTÈMES DE PHILOSOPHIE. Four volumes, Paris, 1822 HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

The South China Mission of the American Board of Missionaries began operation in the port of Canton as the Christian Union; it would make use not only of American but also of British missionaries. According to Murray A. Rubinstein,17 in this period the general American attitude toward China was one of guarded admiration, but by 1860 the reports sent home by these white Protestants, the first “China watchers,” had caused this attitude to shift into one of contempt for the “perishing heathen” Chinaman. The reason for this would be simple: the gatekeepers for this flow of information were activists whose agenda was to recruit a flow of young white Christian men, and the best way to maintain this interest was to select the sort of information which would portray South China as the best opportunity for your magnificent gesture of Christian condescension.

17. “American Board Missionaries and the Formation of American Opinion toward China, 1830-1860” on pages 67-83 of Goldstein, Jonathan, Jerry Israel, and Hilary Conroy, AMERICA VIEWS CHINA: AMERICAN IMAGES OF CHINA THEN AND NOW (Cranbury NJ: Associated University Presses, 1991). HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM The US Secretary of the Treasury, Richard Rush, urged in a widely distributed “Rush’s Letter” that the nation develop a silk industry. Up to this decade most New England silk was produced by feeding silkworms on the leaves of the native white mulberry Morus alba,

rather than on the Chinese variety Morus multicaulis. This Chinese variety, however, it was being claimed, could produce two crops of leaves per year. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1831

G.W.F. Hegel, in his LECTURES ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY, opinioned that China was outside the development trend of progressive human history.

Foundation, in Macao, of the CHINESE REPOSITORY. A Prussian missionary sent out by the Netherlands Missionary Society, the Reverend Charles Gutzlaff, was shocked at the obscene discourse of half-naked Chinese sailors.

Hsien Feng, the 7th Manchu to rule China, was born to Emperor Tao Kuan and a concubine from the Niuhuru clan of Mongols.

The Chinese “Siamese Twins” Chang and Eng were being reared in the home of Captain Abel Coffin and Mrs. Coffin at Newburyport MA. Their physician, Dr. John Brickett, also lived in that town. During this year they began to exhibit themselves. However, rather than allowing themselves to be exploited by circus impresarios such as Phineas Taylor Barnum, they would manage their own tours and pocket their own receipts. Eventually –bright, affable, provident, and increasingly well-to-do– they would make themselves bona fide US citizens in that era before it became quite impossible for yellow people to be considered for citizenship. “SIAMESE TWINS”

Samuel Griswold Goodrich’s book by “Peter Parley,” PETER PARLEY’S METHOD OF TELLING ABOUT GEOGRAPHY TO CHILDREN, shows a sun and a moon of the same size, and indicates quite clearly that the pagoda had already become an identified symbol for the Orient: HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA PETER PARLEY'S METHOD OF TELLING ABOUT GEOGRAPHY TO CHILDREN. WITH NINE MAPS AND SEVENTY-FIVE ENGRAVINGS PRINCIPALLY FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS HARTFORD: H. AND F. J. HUNTINGTON. CARTER, HENDEE AND BABCOCK, BOSTON; COLLINS AND HANNAY, NEW YORK; TOWER, J. AND D. M. HOGAN, PHILADELPHIA; PLASKITT AND CO., BALTIMORE; THOMPSON AND HOMANS, WASHINGTON. 1831. In this illustration, the outside margin of the planet is dotted with tiny sailing ships that project outward, and a volcano is erupting in Greenland, reminiscent of the event which had occurred in 1815. The pagoda projecting on the right out of China, if to scale, would reach far above the upper reaches of the earth’s atmosphere, into the orbit of satellites such as Sputnik.

March 4, Friday: The Chinese “Siamese Twins” Chang and Eng arrived at New-York for the 2d time.

March 15, Tuesday: The Chinese “Siamese Twins” Chang and Eng again opened their exhibit in New-York. Philip Hone went to see them on that day.

Aaron Dwight Stevens, who would become John Brown’s drillmaster, was born in Lisbon, Connecticut. His father was the church choirmaster. This family was of old Puritan stock, and Aaron’s great-grandfather had been a captain in the Revolutionary army. A man’s man, he would not marry although he would have pleasant relations with women.

“NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY

March 31, Thursday: After struggling at Dembe-Wielkie from 5 in the afternoon until 10 at night, Polish forces routed Russian forces.

Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 5th day 31 of 3 M / Attended the Moy [Monthly] Meeting held in Newport -Ruth Freeborn preached comfortably & the buisness of the Meeting was conducted with the usual regularity & weight with which that Meeting conducts its buisness But from some circumstances it was a season of depression. — RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Aaron D. Stevens HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

Frederick Brown (1) died at New Richmond, Pennsylvania.

Professor Charles Dexter Cleveland and Miss Alison Nisbet McCoskry, a daughter of Dr. Samuel A. McCoskry, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania and a grand-daughter of Dickinson College’s 1st president, Charles Nisbet, were wed. The couple would have nine children: Alison Nisbet Cleveland, Charles Dexter Cleveland, Samuel McCoskry Cleveland, Alison Nisbet Cleveland, Dexter Cleveland, Treadwell Cleveland, Wilberforce Cleveland, Eliza Cleveland, and Lucy Cleveland.

James Hale, in charge of exhibiting the Chinese “Siamese Twins” Chang and Eng Bunker, wrote from New- York: “We have not had forty ladies since we opened — they you know are our best customers, if we can get them — Our receipts have averaged but $20 per day— and two nights at the Theatre paid $50 per night amounting in all — 15 days to 425 dollars ... I expect to go to Philadelphia on Sunday next and try it there, and feel afraid on coming back we shall have to come down to 25 cents to make money.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1832

On the Isle of Jersey in the English Channel, there was an outbreak of the Asian cholera.

James Fenimore Cooper, in Paris with his family when the scourge hit that metropolis, commented upon how the gardens of the Tuileries suddenly became deserted.

In America, white settlements were not enjoying good health but the Mandan and Hidatsa were being utterly destroyed. Take a look at the discussion by Richard Batman beginning on page 320 of James Pattie’s WEST: THE DREAM AND THE REALITY (in hardcover, titled AMERICAN ECCLESIASTES: THE STORIES OF JAMES PATTIE. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1986) having to do with the new and terrifying plague of cholera sweeping the settled east about the same time. Physicians would reject the contagion theory (with the exception of smallpox), until in the latter part of the 19th Century work on cholera finally would show that it and other such diseases were indeed, like smallpox, contagious.

Dr. James Ellsworth De Kay returned from Turkey to New-York, where he began to prescribe port wine as a remedy for cholera and quickly earned for himself a nickname, “Dr. Port.” Saloon customers would be able to ask the bartender to pour them “a Dr. DeKay.” Soon he settled at Oyster Bay on Long Island, where he would study natural history, contribute to New-York newspapers, and cultivate literary friendships. Among the HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA romantic literary types whom he would seek to cultivate would be Washington Irving, Joseph Rodman Drake, James Fenimore Cooper, and Fitz-Greene Halleck.

(You will notice instantly that the exigencies of class would make it quite impossible for him ever to cultivate the likes of Henry Thoreau as part of such a clique.)

When the 1st person died of the cholera in his town, Friend John Cadbury the chocolate maker insisted on following in his “broad-brimmed hat and flowing Quaker frock-coat” as the hired laborers carried the coffin to the graveyard. This was at a time when other people were shunning the victims of the infection. Such burial workers smoked tobacco constantly while on such details, as their effort to ward off the disease or at least somewhat relieve their anxieties.

Friend John had installed a window made of panes of plate glass in his shop (rather than using the conventional panes of crown glass), one of the 1st local businesses to do so, and was employing an authentic Chinaman attired in an authentic Chinese national costume, to sit on display in the window and weigh and pack his tea. Hoo-hah! GLASS WINDOWS HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

George W. Warren would write of the activities of his father Josiah Warren (1798-1874) the anarchist, during the public crisis of this year: Then in 1832 the cholera first made its appearance, and I well remember how my father set up his type and printed hand-bills cautioning the people how to live during the prevalence of that disease. These bills described the symptoms and how to treat them. Then I was allowed to go with my father to scatter the bills of caution along the streets, and I remember how proud I was when those who saw what my father was doing, shook hands with him so warmly. What with his work of printing precautionary notices and attending a large number of funerals with masonic lodges, firemen and other organizations requiring bands, my father was kept busy for days and weeks and months; there was scarcely an hour that a funeral didn't take place. Time went on, so did deaths, but our family lived through it. Fortunately the writer, being only six years of age, could not realize the state of affairs, nor the horror of the situation — he trotting along, scattering [and] broadcasting the “caution” notices, proud of telling how many papers he had given to the people each day. If the city records of 1832-1834 were not destroyed during the destruction of the court house some years ago, the thanks of the city alderman to him will be found recorded to Josiah Warren if I mistake not. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

A New York City peddler brought cholera up the canal to Rochester, New York, population 11,000, and 400 to 500 of them died, filling many of the city’s small cemeteries such as the 3 1/2 acre graveyard on Buffalo Street. One local resident, Ashbel Riley, buried 80 of the victims unaided. The Rochester Board of Health was established. The Monroe County Jail, called the “Blue Eagle Jail,” was built off Court St. between the west bank of the river and the Carroll-Fitzhugh raceway. It had a walled courtyard not only for prisoner exercise but also for executions.

Professor Richard Harlan was a member of a commission of Philadelphia physicians to Montréal, to collect information on the effective treatment of cholera. He became surgeon to the Philadelphia hospital. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

In this year Friend Charles Farquhar, Sr. graduated from the Medical School of the University of Pennsylvania and opened a practice in Alexandria, Virginia, where the city council immediately put this new physician in charge of their town’s struggle to deal with the ongoing epidemic.

The cholera outbreak of this year would give rise to at least one monument. It is atop a hill in Sheffield, England and commemorates 402 victims buried in grounds between Park Hill and Norfolk Park adjoining Clay Wood. The monument was designed by M.E. Hadfield and sculpted by Earp and Hobbs and would be complete in 1835. Its plaque names John Blake, Master Cutler, one of the victims, and notes that the foundation stone was laid by a poet, James Montgomery:

Formation of the Royal Asiatic Society.

The Reverend Elijah Bridgman began “a small school of Chinese lads.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

It has been said that religion can function as an opiate for the masses, but in this year a religion-book was being prepared by a recently hooked Chinaman, Liang Afa, that would have made Karl Marx proud for its dopey influences. This Liang Afa had been the 1st Chinese convert to Christianity, in 1828, of the Dr. Robert Morrison who had in 1807 been sent to Canton by the London Missionary Society in an American ship with a letter of introduction provided by then Secretary of State James Madison. His treatise QUANSHI LIANGYAN or GOOD WORDS TO EXHORT THE AGES described in a manner which could be understood in China the basic elements of the belief structure, such as proselytization, I’m right and you’re wrong, etc.

Such truth-proclamation of course works almost everywhere. In this same year the Reverend Charles Grandison Finney was becoming the minister of the 2d Free Congregational Church and beginning an almost continuous revival in the city of New-York.

In a different category altogether was the publication in this year in London of the 2d edition of Rammohan Roy’s TRANSLATION OF SEVERAL PRINCIPAL BOOKS, PASSAGES, AND TEXTS OF THE VEDS, AND OF SOME CONTROVERSIAL WORKS ON BRAHMUNICAL THEOLOGY.18

This was not pap, or warmed-over Christian righteousness.

From the 12th page of this treatise, Henry Thoreau would extrapolate the following material for A WEEK:

A WEEK: It is necessary not to be Christian to appreciate the PEOPLE OF beauty and significance of the life of Christ. I know that some A WEEK will have hard thoughts of me, when they hear their Christ named beside my Buddha, yet I am sure that I am willing they should love their Christ more than my Buddha, for the love is the main thing, and I like him too. “God is the letter Ku, as well as Khu.” Why need Christians be still intolerant and superstitious?

GAUTAMA BUDDHA

18. Rammohan Roy would be cited by name in draft E of the of WALDEN manuscript in late 1852 or in 1853 based upon Henry Thoreau’s reading of this material in April 1850. Refer to William Bysshe Stein’s 1967 recovery of the reference in TWO BRAHMAN SOURCES OF EMERSON AND THOREAU, published by Scholars’ Facsimiles & Reprints of Gainesville FL. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

TRANSLATION

OF SEVERAL

PRINCIPAL BOOKS, PASSAGES, AND TEXTS

OF THE VEDS,

AND OF

SOME CONTROVERSIAL WORKS

ON

BRAHMUNICAL THEOLOGY.

————

BY

RAJAH RAMMOHUN ROY.

————

SECOND EDITION.

————

LONDON: PARBURY, ALLEN, & CO., LEADENHALL STREET. —— 1832. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

TIMELINE OF A WEEK

Also, from page 21 Thoreau would extrapolate the following materials (and the materials on the succeeding screens) for his WALDEN chapter on “Higher Laws”:

WALDEN: But to tell the truth, I find myself at present somewhat less particular in these respects. I carry less religion to the table, ask no blessing; not because I am wiser than I was, but, I am obliged to confess, because, however much it is to be regretted, with years I have grown more coarse and indifferent. Perhaps these questions are entertained only in youth, as most believe of poetry. My practice is “nowhere,” my opinion is here. Nevertheless I am far from regarding myself as one of those privileged ones to whom the Ved refers when it says, that “he who has true faith in the Omnipresent Supreme Being may eat all that exists,” that is, is not bound to inquire what is his food, or who prepares it; and even in their case it is to be observed, as a Hindoo commentator has remarked, that the Vedant limits this privilege to “the time of distress.”

TIMELINE OF WALDEN

(Rajah Rammohan Roy, unlike Thoreau, moved in the circles of power. He vigorously supported the Reform Bill — which was enacted. He visited Paris — and had an audience with King Louis Philippe.) HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

WALDEN: The other day I picked up the lower jaw of a hog, with white and sound teeth and tusks, which suggested that there was an animal health and vigor distinct from the spiritual. This creature succeeded by other means than temperance and purity. “That in which men differ from brute beasts,” says Mencius, “is a thing very inconsiderable; the common herd lose it very soon; superior men preserve it carefully.” Who knows what sort of life would result if we had attained to purity? If I knew so wise a man as could teach me purity I would go to seek him forthwith. “A command over our passions, and over the external senses of the body, and good acts, are declared by the Ved to be indispensable in the mind’s approximation to God.” Yet the spirit can for the time pervade and control every member and function of the body, and transmute what in form is the grossest sensuality into purity and devotion. The generative energy, which, when we are loose, dissipates and makes us unclean, when we are continent invigorates and inspires us. Chastity is the flowering of man; and what are called Genius, Heroism, Holiness, and the like, are but various fruits which succeed it. Man flows at once to God when the channel of purity is open. By turns our purity inspires and our impurity casts us down. He is blessed who is assured that the animal is dying out in him day by day, and the divine being established. Perhaps there is none but has cause for shame on account of the inferior and brutish nature to which he is allied. I fear that we are such gods or demigods only as fauns and satyrs, the divine allied to beasts, the creatures of appetite, and that, to some extent, our very life is our disgrace.– “How happy’s he who hath due place assigned To his beasts and disaforested his mind! *** Can use his horse, goat, wolf, and ev’ry beast, And is not ass himself to all the rest! Else man not only is the herd of swine, But he’s those devils too which did incline Them to a headlong rage, and made them worse.” All sensuality is one, though it takes many forms; all purity is one. It is the same whether a man eat, or drink, or cohabit, or sleep sensually. They are but one appetite, and we only need to see a person do any one of these things to know how great a sensualist he is. The impure can neither stand nor sit with purity. When the reptile is attacked at one mouth of his burrow, he shows himself at another. If you would be chaste, you must be temperate. What is chastity? How shall a man know if he is chaste? He shall not know it. We have heard of this virtue, but we know not what it is. We speak conformably to the rumor which we have heard. From exertion come wisdom and purity; from sloth ignorance and sensuality. In the student sensuality is a sluggish habit of mind. An unclean person is universally a slothful one, one who sits by a stove, whom the sun shines on prostrate, who reposes without being fatigued. If you would avoid uncleanness, and all the sins, work earnestly, thought it be at cleaning a stable. Nature is hard to be overcome, but she must be overcome. What avails it that you are Christian, if you are not purer than the heathen, if you deny yourself no more, if you are not more religious? I know of many systems of religion esteemed heathenish whose precepts fill the reader with shame, and provoke him to new endeavors, though it be to the performance of rites merely. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

I hesitate to say these things, but it is not because of the subject, –I care not how obscene my words are,– but because I cannot speak of them without betraying my impurity. We discourse freely without shame of one form of sensuality, and are silent about another. We are so degraded that we cannot speak simply of the necessary functions of human nature. In earlier ages, in some countries, every function was reverently spoken of and regulated by law. Nothing was too trivial for the Hindoo lawgiver, however offensive it may be to modern taste. He teaches how to eat, drink, cohabit, void excrement and urine, and the like, elevating what is mean, and does not falsely excuse himself by calling these things trifles.

May 11, Friday: Greece was recognized as a sovereign nation.

The Chinese “Siamese Twins” being reared by Captain Abel Coffin and Mrs. Coffin at Newburyport MA, Chang and Eng came of age and, as young people will, they rebelled.

BILLY BUDD: Now envy and antipathy, passions irreconcilable in reason, nevertheless in fact may spring conjoined like Chang and Eng in one birth. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1833

When officials of the Chinese court suggested that the prohibition of opium be dropped as ineffective, this proposal was rejected by the emperor. Unhappy with the lack of growth in the China market in general, the British government took over control of the China trade from the East India Company. The Chinese vigorously enforced its anti-opium policy by ordering the executions of all smokers and dealers.

The monopoly of the British East India Company, on the supplying of opium to China, expired. However, the Brits continued to sell the bulk of the opium purchased in China, perhaps because their supplies from Patna were regarded as a cut above the Portuguese supplies from Malwa and the American supplies from Turkey. At this time opium was the most valuable single trade commodity in the world.19 During the years 1828-1836 China shipped away $38,000,000 worth of silver due to its trade deficit, and yet without opium its trade deficit would have been a substantial surplus.

September: In Canton, China, a flood did much damage to life and property.

At his parents’ home in Paris, 49 rue de Verneuil, Alexis de Tocqueville began writing DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA. It was simply incomprehensible to him: how could any of those 18th-Century French thinkers, the Physiocrats, have been so misled as to have had admiration for this American culture — a culture that was featuring an absolutist reign of terror such as they had been observing only in such retarded places as China. From what he had just observed during his travels in the actual place, America, Chinese mentality would need to be characterized as almost as unfortunately situated as the systematically circumscribed American mentality! When he wrote: I know of no country in which there is so little true independence of mind and freedom of discussion as in America.

— obviously, what he intended by “no country” was, leaving aside places of great barbarism such as China, no nation that really counted — no Western nation, no civilized nation. For it was clear to him that the minds of the USers he had been directly observing were approximately as terribly circumscribed and straited as, according to accounts of visiting Westerners which he had perused, the minds of the terrorized Chinese populace.

19. The economics of illegal drug traffic can easily become just overwhelming. For instance, the marijuana grown illegally in northern California now has a greater market value than the rest of the agricultural commodities grown in California all lumped together — despite the fact that California produces like a 10th of the entire amount of food consumed in the US. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1834

William John Napier arrived in the port city of Canton as the chief superintendent of British trade with China.

J. Mathison, D.W.C. Olymphant, Elijah Bridgeman, and Charles Gutzlaff founded a Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, the function of which would be the bringing of the arts and sciences from the West into China.

June 4, Wednesday: The missionary Dr. Peter Parker sailed for China aboard New-York merchant David Olyphant’s Morrison.

July 21, Monday: Lord Napier landed at Canton with the intention of dealing with the local Viceroy. He took up residence with British merchants. When his secretary attempted to deliver a letter to Viceroy Lu K’un, no Chinese official could be induced to accept it.

August 16, Saturday: The Liberator.

Charles Darwin was clambering up Mount Campana in Chile.

In Canton, Viceroy Lu K’un restricted trade with foreigners.

There was white rioting in Columbia, Pennsylvania that evening, with windows in the homes of some of the colored residents being shattered.

Richard Henry Dana, Jr. sailed away on his excellent adventure as a common seaman.

AND NOW, FOR SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT, A REPORT FROM OUR SAILOR: The next morning was Saturday, and a breeze having sprung up from the southward, we took a pilot on board, hove up our anchor, and began beating down the bay. I took leave of those of my friends who came to see me off, and had barely opportunity to take a last look at the city, and well-known objects, as no time is allowed on board ship for sentiment. As we drew down into the lower harbor, we found the wind ahead in the bay, and were obliged to come to anchor in the roads. We remained there through the day and a part of the night. My watch began at eleven o’clock at night, and I received orders to call the captain if the wind came out from the westward. About midnight the wind became fair, and having called the captain, I was ordered to call all hands. How I accomplished this I do not know, but I am quite sure that I did not give the true hoarse, boatswain call of “A-a-ll ha-a-a-nds! up anchor, a-ho-oy!” In a short time every one was in motion, the sails loosed, the yards braced, and we began to heave up the anchor, which was our last hold upon Yankee land. I could take but little part in all these preparations. My little knowledge of a vessel was all at fault. Unintelligible orders were so rapidly given and so immediately executed; there was such a hurrying about, and such an intermingling of strange cries and stranger actions, that I was completely bewildered. There is not so helpless and pitiable an object in the world as a landsman beginning a sailor’s life. At length those peculiar, longdrawn sounds, which denote that the crew are heaving at the windlass, began, and in a few moments we were under weigh. The noise of the water thrown from the bows began to be heard, the vessel leaned over from the damp night breeze, and rolled with the heavy ground swell, and we had actually begun our long, long journey. This was literally bidding “good night” to my native land. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

September 2, Tuesday: Viceroy Lu K’un stopped all trade with foreigners in Canton.

That midnight in Columbia, Pennsylvania a mob descended upon the home in Front Street of a black citizen. As the occupants fled, its porch and a part of its frame were torn apart. The white men then proceeded to the coal and lumber office of Stephen Smith, on Front street below the present roundhouse, broke through its windows and doors, and rifled the desk, scattering papers about the pavement. After making an unsuccessful attempt to upset the structure, they marched off declaring “glory enough for one night.”

The following advertisement would be placed in the Columbia Spy: NOTICE. I offer my entire stock of lumber, either wholesale or retail, at a reduced price, as I am determined to close my business at Columbia. Any person desirous of entering into the lumber trade extensively can have the entire stock at a great bargain; or persons intending to open yards along the line of the railroad, or builders, will find it to their advantage to call on me or my agent at my yard, as I am desirous of disposing of the above as soon as possible. I will also dispose of my real property in the borough, consisting of a number of houses and lots, some of them desirable situations for business. All persons having claims against me are requested to present them for payment, and all indebted are desired to call and discharge the same at my office in Columbia, or in Lancaster, as I intend being there every Saturday for that purpose. Stephen Smith HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA September 7, Sunday: Two Royal Navy vessels forced their way up the Pearl River at Canton, putting three Chinese forts out of commission (amicable relations would be speedily re-established).

During his initial week back in St. Petersburg, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka met his future wife Maria Ivanovna Petrovna for the first time.

Richard Henry Dana, Jr. discovered that what the Sabbath amounted to, aboard many a ship, was pudding day.

AND NOW, FOR SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT, A REPORT FROM OUR SAILOR: Sunday, September 7th. Fell in with the north-east trade-winds. This morning we caught our first dolphin, which I was very eager to see. I was disappointed in the colors of this fish when dying. They were certainly very beautiful, but not equal to what had been said of them. They are too indistinct. To do the fish justice, there is nothing more beautiful than the dolphin when swimming a few feet below the surface, on a bright day. It is the most elegantly formed, and also the quickest fish, in salt water; and the rays of the sun striking upon it, in its rapid and changing motions, reflected from the water, make it look like a stray beam from a rainbow. This day was spent like all pleasant Sabbaths at sea. The decks are washed down, the rigging coiled up, and everything put in order; and throughout the day only one watch is kept on deck at a time. The men are all dressed in their best white duck trowsers, and red or checked shirts, and have nothing to do but to make the necessary changes in the sails. They employ themselves in reading, talking, smoking, and mending their clothes. If the weather is pleasant, they bring their work and their books upon deck, and sit down upon the forecastle and windlass. This is the only day on which these privileges are allowed them. When Monday comes, they put on their tarry trowsers again, and prepare for six days of labor. To enhance the value of the Sabbath to the crew, they are allowed on that day a pudding, or, as it is called, a “duff.” This is nothing more than flour boiled with water, and eaten with molasses. It is very heavy, dark, and clammy, yet it is looked upon as a luxury, and really forms an agreeable variety with salt beef and pork. Many a rascally captain has made friends of his crew by allowing them duff twice a week on the passage home. On board some vessels this is made a day of instruction and of religious exercises; but we had a crew of swearers, from the captain to the smallest boy; and a day of rest and of something like quiet, social enjoyment, was all that we could expect. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1835

Dr. P. Parker founded an Ophthalmic Infirmary in Canton, South China.

Bronson Alcott would have in his library a volume published in this year, THE PHENIX: A COLLECTION OF OLD AND RARE FRAGMENTS: VIZ. THE MORALS OF CONFUCIUS, THE CHINESE PHILOSOPHER; THE ORACLES OF ZOROASTER, THE FOUNDER OF THE RELIGION OF THE PERSIAN MAGI; SANCHONIATHOS’S HISTORY OF THE CREATION; THE VOYAGES OF HANNO ROUND THE COAST OF AFRICA, FIVE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE CHRIST; KING HIEMPSAL’S HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN SETTLEMENTS, TRANSLATED FROM THE PUNIC BOOKS; AND THE CHOICE SAYINGS OF PUBLIUS SYRUS (New-York: Published by William Gowan, in Chatham Street). THE PHENIX: A COLLECTION

David Henry Thoreau may f1st have encountered the Chinese wisdom tradition as a college student through references in such compilations as this one, and a list of his reading while at Harvard College does include “The Phenix,” identified as “a collection of old and rare fragments,” which included the Life of Confucius, The Morals of Confucius translated from the Chinese by R.F. Prospero Intorcetta and Father Couplet, and a note on the writings of Confucius, taken from Sir Henry Ellis Amherst’s Embassy to China. Waldo Emerson also accessed such a compilation. An English adaptation of part of the Intorcetta/Couplet “The Morals of Confucius” had been published in 1691, and this was the version Thoreau would have encountered in THE PHENIX. It is considered that Thoreau probably read in the Chinese wisdom literature at first in English rather than in French or Latin. Only later did he read the Confucian classics in translations one generation closer to the original, which is to say, in French and Latin versions rather than in English versions created out of these French and Latin versions. After he had considered Couplet, Collie, and Marshman in English, he would turn to Rémusat, Pauthier, and others. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA At Xinhai in Sichuan province in the interior of China, a well was dug for brine, and for the natural gas to boil this brine and transform it into edible salt, which reached the incredible depth of over one kilometer: 1,001 meters.20 At this time, in the West, the deepest wells were on the order of about 370 meters.

At the time at which, as Henry Thoreau would recount in the initial chapter of WALDEN; OR, LIFE IN THE WOODS, a crazed fellow of Concord was undertaking to dig down to China, the Chinese of Sichuan province were busily

20. When L.J.M. Imbert, a French missionary, had attempted to inform Western engineers of the deep drilling in Sichuan province in the 1820s, communicating detailed information in regard to the techniques employed, his letters had not been found credible in Europe. Attempts to duplicate Chinese cable drilling succeeded in reaching depths of only in the range of a hundred meters during the 1840s, because the Western engineers substituted local rope for the Chinese bamboo. Samuel A.M. Adshead, SALT AND CIVILIZATION, Macmillan, 1992; Hans Ulrich Vogel, “The Great Well of China,” Scientific American 268 (June 1993):116-121. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM digging up toward Concord:

WALDEN: The religion and civilization which are barbaric and PEOPLE OF heathenish build splendid temples; but what you might call WALDEN Christianity does not. Most of the stone a nation hammers goes towards its tomb only. It buries itself alive. As for the Pyramids, there is nothing to wonder at in them so much as the fact that so many men could be found degraded enough to spend their lives constructing a tomb for some ambitious booby, whom it would have been wiser and manlier to have drowned in the Nile, and then given his body to the dogs. I might possibly invent some excuse for them and him, but I have no time for it. As for the religion and love of art of the builders, it is much the same all the world over, whether the building be an Egyptian temple or the United States Bank. It costs more than it comes to. The mainspring is vanity, assisted by the love of garlic and bread and butter. Mr. Balcom, a promising young architect, designs it on the back of his Vitruvius, with hard pencil and ruler, and the job is let out to Dobson & Sons, stonecutters. When the thirty centuries begin to look down on it, mankind begin to look up at it. As for your high towers and monuments, there was a crazy fellow once in this town who undertook to dig through to China, and he got so far that, as he said, he heard the Chinese pots and kettles rattle; but I think that I shall not go out of my way to admire the hole which he made. Many are concerned about the monuments of the West and East, –to know who built them. For my part, I should like to know who in those days did not build them, –who were above such trifling.

MARCUS VITRUVIUS POLLIO DE ARCHITECTVRA LIBRI DECEM EGYPT

THOREAU AND CHINA

We may wonder whether at the top of this well in Xinhai, it might not have been possible for the Chinese, by listening carefully, to overhear Concordians informing their neighbors of their failings. Seriously, folks, we may wonder what literary use Henry might have made of the fact of the brine wells of Sichuan province, had news of their existence reached him. Certainly, he would have excised, from the ending of WALDEN, his embarrassingly conventional, Emersonish tropes presuming the stagnation of the Chinese! HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA The Church of St. Paul in Macau, which began in 1602, at this point burned (its façade yet survives).

Some 1687 work by a Jesuit missionary in China, Father Couplet, was recycled by William Gowan, a printer of New-York, as “The Morals of Confucius” in a volume entitled THE PHENIX: A COLLECTION OF OLD AND RARE FRAGMENTS, VIZ. THE MORALS OF CONFUCIUS, THE CHINESE PHILOSOPHER; THE ORACLES OF ZOROASTER, THE FOUNDER OF THE RELIGION OF THE PERSIAN MAGI; SANCHONIATHO’S HISTORY OF THE CREATION; THE VOYAGES OF HANNO ROUND THE COAST OF AFRICA, FIVE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE CHRIST; KING HIEMPSAL’S HISTORY OF THE AFRICAN SETTLEMENTS, TRANSLATED FROM THE PUNIC BOOKS; AND THE CHOICE SAYINGS OF PUBLIUS SYRUS.21

For Zoroaster’s Chaldean Oracles, refer to:

http://www.hermetic.com/texts/chaldean.html HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

21. According to Lyman V. Cady, this is one of the works which would be utilized by Henry Thoreau as a source for the quotes of Confucius in WALDEN. A copy is to be noted, in the inventory taken of Bronson Alcott’s library at the point of his death. This volume contains a “Life of Confucius,” an “Introductory Dissertation” on the System of Morals, a “The Morals of Confucius” that has been translated from Chinese by R.F. Incorcetta and Father Couplet, a note on the writings of Confucius from Sir Henry Ellis’s AMHERST’S EMBASSY TO CHINA, and “The Chinese Sacred Edicts. In Sixteen Maxims.”

LIGHT FROM CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

CHALDÆAN ORACLES HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

A WEEK: It is remarkable that Homer and a few Hebrews are the most PEOPLE OF Oriental names which modern Europe, whose literature has taken its rise since the decline of the Persian, has admitted into her list of A WEEK Worthies, and perhaps the worthiest of mankind, and the fathers of modern thinking, — for the contemplations of those Indian sages have influenced, and still influence, the intellectual development of mankind, — whose works even yet survive in wonderful completeness, are, for the most part, not recognized as ever having existed. If the lions had been the painters it would have been otherwise. In every one’s ÆSOP youthful dreams philosophy is still vaguely but inseparably, and with XENOPHANES singular truth, associated with the East, nor do after years discover its local habitation in the Western world. In comparison with the philosophers of the East, we may say that modern Europe has yet given birth to none. Beside the vast and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagvat-Geeta, even our Shakespeare seems sometimes youthfully green and practical merely. Some of these sublime sentences, as the Chaldaean oracles of Zoroaster, still surviving after a thousand revolutions and ZOROASTER translations, alone make us doubt if the poetic form and dress are not transitory, and not essential to the most effective and enduring expression of thought. Ex oriente lux may still be the motto of scholars, for the Western world has not yet derived from the East all the light which it is destined to receive thence. It would be worthy of the age to print together the collected Scriptures or Sacred Writings of the several nations, the Chinese, the Hindoos, the Persians, the Hebrews, and others, as the Scripture of mankind. The New Testament is still, perhaps, too much on the lips and in the hearts of men to be called a Scripture in this sense. Such a juxtaposition and comparison might help to liberalize the faith of men. This is a work which Time will surely edit, reserved to crown the labors of the printing-press. This would be the Bible, or Book of Books, which let the missionaries carry to the uttermost parts of the earth.

A WEEK: The life of a wise man is most of all extemporaneous, PEOPLE OF for he lives out of an eternity which includes all time. The cunning mind travels further back than Zoroaster each A WEEK instant, and comes quite down to the present with its revelation. The utmost thrift and industry of thinking give no man any stock in life; his credit with the inner world is no better, his capital no larger. He must try his fortune again to-day as yesterday. All questions rely on the present for their solution. Time measures nothing but itself. The word that is written may be postponed, but not that on the lip. If this is what the occasion says, let the occasion say it. All the world is forward to prompt him who gets up to live without his creed in his pocket.

ZOROASTER PERSIUS

The firm of H.D. Robinson in New-York (No. 94 Chatham street) put out an anonymous volume titled THE MORAL SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS, A CHINESE PHILOSOPHER, WHO LIVED ABOUT SIX HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE THE CHRISTIAN ERA; AND WHOSE MORAL PRECEPTS HAVE LEFT A LASTING IMPRESSION UPON THE 22 CHINESE NATION. The soldier comforted himself with this reflection. “A soldier HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA has lost his buckler, but a soldier of our camp has found it; he will use it.” “It had been much better spoken,” replies Confucius, “if he had said, ‘A man has lost his buckler, but a man has found it.’” [The text reads as follows: “A soldier of the kingdom of Ci,” said they unto him, “lost his buckler; and having a long time sought after it in vain, he at last comforts himself upon the loss he had sustained, with this reflection: ‘A soldier has lost his buckler, but a soldier of our camp has found it; he will use it.’” “It had been much better spoken,” replies Confucius, “if he had said, ‘A man has lost his buckler, but a man will find it;’” thereby intimating that we ought to have an affection for all the men of the world.] We may note that Thoreau would refer to this soldier who lost his buckler at the end of the 8th chapter of WALDEN,

WALDEN: I was never molested by any person but those who represented the state. I had no lock nor bolt but for the desk which held my papers, not even a nail to put over my latch or windows. I never fastened my door night or day, though I was to be absent several days; not even when the next fall I spent a fortnight in the woods of Maine. And yet my house was more respected than if it had been surrounded by a file of soldiers. The tired rambler could rest and warm himself by my fire, the literary amuse himself with the few books on my table, or the curious, by opening my closet door, see what was left of my dinner, and what prospect I had of a supper. Yet, though many people of every class came this way to the pond, I suffered no serious inconvenience from these sources, and I never missed any thing but one small book, a volume of Homer, which perhaps was improperly gilded and this I trust a soldier of our camp has found by this time. I am convinced, that if all men were to live as simply as I then did, thieving and robbery would be unknown. These take place only in communities where some have got more than is sufficient while others have not enough.

and to the basin of King Tam in the 2nd chapter of WALDEN: We must not here forget a remarkable thing which Cemcu relates, touching a basin wherein King Tam used to bathe and wash himself. He says, that these excellent words were there engraved — “Wash thyself; renew thyself continually; renew thyself every day; renew thyself from day to day.”

22. “The Life and Morals of Confucius, a Chinese Philosopher ... being one of the Choicest pieces of Learning and Morality Remaining of that Nation” is merely a new edition, edited by Josephus Tela in 1818, of the originary French treatise of the ANALECTS in Latin that had been put out in 1691 in English as THE MORALS OF CONFUCIUS, A CHINESE PHILOSOPHER. Tela’s English translation had appeared in the January 1, 1818 issue of THE PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY: BEING A CURIOUS COLLECTION OF THE MOST RARE AND VALU AB L E PRINTED WORKS AND MANUSCRIPTS, BOTH ANCIENT AND MODERN, WHICH TREAT SOLELY OF MORAL, METAPHYSICAL, THEOLOGICAL, HISTORICAL, AND PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRIES AFTER TRUTH. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

WALDEN: Every morning was a cheerful invitation to make my life PEOPLE OF of equal simplicity, and I may say innocence, with Nature herself. WALDEN I have been as sincere a worshipper of Aurora as the Greeks. I got up early and bathed in the pond; that was a religious exercise, and one of the best things which I did. They say that characters were engraven on the bathing tub of king Tching-thang to this effect: “Renew thyself completely each day; do it again, and again, and forever again.” I can understand that. Morning brings back the heroic ages.

THE GREAT BATHTUB HOAX AURORA

November 29, Sunday: Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 1st day 29th of 11th M 1835 / Our Morning meeting was an uncommon good one to me, & the afternoon not the worst, but did not come up in my feeling to the Morning - Father had short communications in both. — In the evening visited Francis Carr & wife RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS

A baby that would one day be the empress of China was born, we have no idea where. Since we have no way to know what her name was, we will simply refer to her in this contexture as Tz’u-hsi .23

Over the millennia there have been but three women to reign over the Celestial Kingdom. One of these was in control of the most populous nation on earth during the later part of Thoreau’s florut:

Dynasty Period Person Florut

Han 206BCE-220 The Empress Lü 195BCE-180BCE

T’ang 618-907 The Empress Wu Hou 660-705

Ch’ing 1644-1911 The Empress Dowager Tz’u-hsi 1861-1908

23. She is called by this name, and the other empress dowager is called Tz’u-an, literally “Old East” and “Old West,” simply due to confusion over naming systems for females, and because these two influential ladies had their respective apartments in the east and west wings of the palace. She is sometimes termed Lady “Yehenara” but this name designates not her but her entire clan of origin. A more formal and up-to-date naming system would differentiate the two ladies as Ci Xi or “Motherly Auspiciousness” and Ci An or “Motherly Peace.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Photography had yet to be invented and she didn’t yet look like this: HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1836

At the end of the journal entries for this year, Waldo Emerson listed his recent readings in Oriental materials: 24 “Code of Menu; Confucius, apud Marshman ; Arabian Nights.” While perusing Marshman’s CONFUCIUS, he had copied many sentences ascribed to Confucius into his journals. One of these sentences, “How can a man remain concealed,” would appear in his 1st volume of essays.

CHINA

John Francis Davis (1795-1890)’s THE CHINESE: A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE EMPIRE OF CHINA AND ITS INHABITANTS was issued in London by the firm of C. Knight for the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge of Great Britain. (Sir John would become governor of Hong Kong in 1844.) Eventually this treatise would be consulted by Waldo Emerson. CHINA

24. Joshua J. Marshman’s CONFUCIUS may be the same book as the reference to the SHEKING BOOK OF ODES. EMERSON AND CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA At about this point it was published that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had dismissed the idea that China was involved in world civilization. Johann Peter Eckermann, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s conversational partner, pointed out that the lightness of wicker furniture might be the most appropriate symbolic representation for the import of Chinese culture.

In Canton in South China, the budding scholar Hung Hsiu Ch’üan encountered a fortune-teller who soothed him with “You will attain the highest rank. Do not be anxious about it for anxiety will make you ill. I congratulate your virtuous father!” Then the next day, some Christian missionary or other gave him a treatise which described the basic elements of Christianity: QUANSHI LIANGYAN or GOOD WORDS TO EXHORT THE AGES. The young man did not at this point look at the gift book at all carefully, being a whole lot more interested in doing well than in doing good — but of course books were valuable items and so he didn’t just discard it.25

When officials of the Chinese court in Beijing again suggested, as they had in 1833, that the ineffective restraints upon the importation of opium be relaxed, this proposal was again rejected by the emperor, and the idea would ultimately be discarded.

At about this point it was published that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe had dismissed the idea that China was involved in world civilization. Johann Peter Eckermann, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s conversational partner, pointed out that the lightness of wicker furniture might be the most appropriate symbolic representation for the import of Chinese culture.

In Canton in South China, the budding scholar Hung Hsiu Ch’üan encountered a fortune-teller who soothed him with “You will attain the highest rank. Do not be anxious about it for anxiety will make you ill. I congratulate your virtuous father!” Then the next day, some Christian missionary or other gave him a treatise which described the basic elements of Christianity: QUANSHI LIANGYAN or GOOD WORDS TO EXHORT THE AGES. The young man did not at this point look at the gift book at all carefully, being a whole lot more interested in doing well than in doing good — but of course books were valuable items and so he didn’t just discard it.26

March: In his home county of Hua in South China, Hung Hsiu Ch’üan passed the rural qualifying exams for the Confucian state exams to be held in Canton. –On to the big time, and to big-time dreams.

25. This book had been written in 1832 by Liang Afa, who had been the very 1st convert, in 1828, of the Dr. Robert Morrison who had in 1807 been sent to Canton by the London Missionary Society in an American ship with a letter of introduction provided by then Secretary of State James Madison. What goes around comes around! 26. This book had been written in 1832 by Liang Afa, who had been the very 1st convert, in 1828, of the Dr. Robert Morrison who had in 1807 been sent to Canton by the London Missionary Society in an American ship with a letter of introduction provided by then Secretary of State James Madison. What goes around comes around! HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM Early Spring: In South China, Hung Hsiu Ch’üan went for the Confucian state exams in Canton, and failed.

April: Here is an editorial which appeared in the Canton Register, the English-language newspaper of the outer barbarians who traded in furs, cottons, woolens, and opium coming from outside China, and in teas, silks, and silver coming from inside China, but traded most of all in opium which was legal in England (laudanum) but quite illegal in China: If the lion’s paw is to be put down on any part of the south side of China, let it be Hong Kong: let the lion declare it to be under his guarantee a free port, and in ten years it will be the most considerable mart east of the Cape. The Portuguese made a mistake [Macau]: they adopted shallow water and exclusive rules. Hong Kong, deep water and a free port forever! HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA December 5, Monday: David Henry Thoreau had previously checked out, from Harvard Library, three of the six volumes of the Reverend Henry John Todd’s THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN MILTON. At this point he checked out the 7th and final volume of the Charles Symmons edition of THE PROSE WORKS OF JOHN MILTON (London: for J. Johnson et al., 1806).

Thoreau supplemented his borrowings from the college library by checking out, from the library of the “Institute of 1770”, the November 1836 issue of American Monthly Magazine (New Series, Volume I, Boston and New-York, 1836),27 containing:

• a review of Orville Dewey’s THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEW • F.W.S.’s translation of Horace’s ODE (Book I, Ode V) • G.S.S.’s “Sketches of the South Santee,” about slavery in the American South • “Chao Kang: An incident in Chinese History” • “Sacred Music” • “Einleben,” a translation of a romantic tale by Gottesgabe von Thiergarten • S.A.C.’s “The Morality of Shakespeare” • “Wild Scenes Near Home,” an article about nature in the Hudson River Valley and on Long Island • “Scenes in the Levant” • “Byron and his Traducers,” an article taking to task Thomas Carlyle, Henry Taylor, and others who had criticized George Gordon, Lord Byron

27. Refer to Kenneth Walter Cameron’s “Thoreau Discovers Emerson: A College Reading Record” in the Bulletin of the New York Public Library 57, no. 7 (June 1953): 319-334. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1837

The Reverend Issachar J. Roberts, a Tennessee Baptist fresh off the boat in China, brought ashore with him a printed volume containing the Four Gospels in Chinese characters, purchased during a stopover at Batavia in Java. Taking the name Lo Hsiao-ch’üan or Lo Heáou-tsuen, he would be preaching for some five years in a Macao leper colony (evidently himself contracting the disease). He would need to work as a saddler in this Portuguese colony, since he was unaffiliated with any missionary society. Meanwhile, in Canton, Hung Hsiu Ch’üan was for the 3d time taking and for the 3d time failing in his all-important government Mandarin examinations. When he collapsed in delirium an old man with a golden beard explained to him that this world was overrun by demons. There could be but one more attempt at the examination.

THE TAEPING REBELLION The young scholar-wannabee had at this point already attained his full altitude and was not by further thought going to be able to add cubits unto his stature (see below). Well then, was the “uncouth” Reverend Roberts going to be able to help this Hung heathen in need? Stay tuned! HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM Table of Altitudes

Yoda 2 ' 0 '' Lavinia Warren 2 ' 8 '' Tom Thumb, Jr. 3 ' 4 '' Lucy (Australopithecus Afarensis) 3 ' 8 '' Hervé Villechaize (“Fantasy Island”) 3 ' 11'' Charles Proteus Steinmetz 4 ' 0 '' Mary Moody Emerson per FBS (1) 4 ' 3 '' Alexander Pope 4 ' 6 '' Benjamin Lay 4 ' 7 '' Dr. Ruth Westheimer 4 ' 7 '' Gary Coleman (“Arnold Jackson”) 4 ' 8 '' Edith Piaf 4 ' 8 '' Queen Victoria with osteoporosis 4 ' 8 '' Linda Hunt 4 ' 9 '' Queen Victoria as adult 4 ' 10 '' Mother Teresa 4 ' 10 '' Margaret Mitchell 4 ' 10 '' length of newer military musket 4 ' 10'' Charlotte Brontë 4 ' 10-11'' Tammy Faye Bakker 4 ' 11'' Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut 4 ' 11'' jockey Willie Shoemaker 4 ' 11'' Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 4 ' 11'' Joan of Arc 4 ' 11'' Bonnie Parker of “Bonnie & Clyde” 4 ' 11'' Harriet Beecher Stowe 4 ' 11'' Laura Ingalls Wilder 4 ' 11'' a rather tall adult Pygmy male 4 ' 11'' Gloria Swanson 4 ' 11''1/2 Clara Barton 5 ' 0 '' Isambard Kingdom Brunel 5 ' 0 '' Andrew Carnegie 5 ' 0 '' Thomas de Quincey 5 ' 0 '' Dorothy Wordsworth 5 ' 0 '' Stephen A. Douglas 5 ' 0 '' Danny DeVito 5 ' 0 '' Immanuel Kant 5 ' 0 '' William Wilberforce 5 ' 0 '' Dollie Parton 5 ' 0 '' Mae West 5 ' 0 '' Pia Zadora 5 ' 0 '' HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

Deng Xiaoping 5 ' 0 '' Dred Scott 5 ' 0 '' (±) Captain William Bligh of HMS Bounty 5 ' 0 '' (±) Harriet Tubman 5 ' 0 '' (±) Mary Moody Emerson per FBS (2) 5 ' 0 '' (±) John Brown of Providence, Rhode Island 5 ' 0 '' (+) John Keats 5 ' 3/4 '' Debbie Reynolds (Carrie Fisher’s mother) 5 ' 1 '' Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) 5 ' 1 '' Her Royal Highness The Princess Margaret 5 ' 1 '' Bette Midler 5 ' 1 '' Dudley Moore 5 ' 2 '' Paul Simon (of Simon & Garfunkel) 5 ' 2 '' Honoré de Balzac 5 ' 2 '' Sally Field 5 ' 2 '' Jemmy Button 5 ' 2 '' Margaret Mead 5 ' 2 '' R. Buckminster “Bucky” Fuller 5 ' 2 '' Yuri Gagarin the astronaut 5 ' 2 '' William Walker 5 ' 2 '' Horatio Alger, Jr. 5 ' 2 '' length of older military musket 5 ' 2 '' 1 the artist formerly known as Prince 5 ' 2 /2'' 1 typical female of Thoreau’s period 5 ' 2 /2'' Francis of Assisi 5 ' 3 '' Volt ai re 5 ' 3 '' Mohandas Gandhi 5 ' 3 '' Kahlil Gibran 5 ' 3 '' Friend Daniel Ricketson 5 ' 3 '' The Reverend Gilbert White 5 ' 3 '' Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev 5 ' 3 '' Sammy Davis, Jr. 5 ' 3 '' William Laws Calley, Jr. 5 ' 3 '' Truman Capote 5 ' 3 '' Kim Jong Il (North Korea) 5 ' 3 '' Stephen A. “Little Giant” Douglas 5 ' 4 '' Francisco Franco 5 ' 4 '' President James Madison 5 ' 4 '' Iosef Vissarionovich Dzugashvili “Stalin” 5 ' 4 '' Alan Ladd 5 ' 4 '' Pablo Picasso 5 ' 4 '' Truman Capote 5 ' 4 '' HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

Queen Elizabeth 5 ' 4 '' Ludwig van Beethoven 5 ' 4 '' Typical Homo Erectus 5 ' 4 '' 1 typical Neanderthal adult male 5 ' 4 /2'' 1 Alan Ladd 5 ' 4 /2'' comte de Buffon 5 ' 5 '' (-) Captain Nathaniel Gordon 5 ' 5 '' Charles Manson 5 ' 5 '' Audie Murphy 5 ' 5 '' Harry Houdini 5 ' 5 '' Hung Hsiu-ch'üan 5 ' 5 '' 1 Marilyn Monroe 5 ' 5 /2'' 1 T.E. Lawrence “of Arabia” 5 ' 5 /2'' average runaway male American slave 5 ' 5-6 '' Charles Dickens 5 ' 6? '' President Benjamin Harrison 5 ' 6 '' President Martin Van Buren 5 ' 6 '' James Smithson 5 ' 6 '' Louisa May Alcott 5 ' 6 '' 1 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 5 ' 6 /2'' 1 Napoleon Bonaparte 5 ' 6 /2'' Emily Brontë 5 ' 6-7 '' Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 5 ' ? '' average height, seaman of 1812 5 ' 6.85 '' Oliver Reed Smoot, Jr. 5 ' 7 '' minimum height, British soldier 5 ' 7 '' President John Adams 5 ' 7 '' President John Quincy Adams 5 ' 7 '' President William McKinley 5 ' 7 '' “Charley” Parkhurst (a female) 5 ' 7 '' President, General Ulysses S. Grant 5 ' 7 '' Dr. Sigmund Freud 5 ' 7 '' Henry Thoreau 5 ' 7 '' 1 the average male of Thoreau’s period 5 ' 7 /2 '' Edgar Allan Poe 5 ' 8 '' President Ulysses S. Grant 5 ' 8 '' President William H. Harrison 5 ' 8 '' President James Polk 5 ' 8 '' President Zachary Taylor 5 ' 8 '' average height, soldier of 1812 5 ' 8.35 '' 1 President Rutherford B. Hayes 5 ' 8 /2'' President Millard Fillmore 5 ' 9 '' HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

President Harry S Truman 5 ' 9 '' 1 President Jimmy Carter 5 ' 9 /2'' 3 Herman Melville 5 ' 9 /4'' Calvin Coolidge 5 ' 10'' Andrew Johnson 5 ' 10'' Theodore Roosevelt 5 ' 10'' Thomas Paine 5 ' 10'' Franklin Pierce 5 ' 10'' Abby May Alcott 5 ' 10'' Reverend Henry C. Wright 5 ' 10'' 1 Nathaniel Hawthorne 5 ' 10 /2'' 1 Louis “Deerfoot” Bennett 5 ' 10 /2'' 1 Friend John Greenleaf Whittier 5 ' 10 /2'' 1 President Dwight David “Ike” Eisenhower 5 ' 10 /2'' Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots 5 ' 11'' Sojourner Truth 5 ' 11'' President Stephen Grover Cleveland 5 ' 11'' President Herbert Hoover 5 ' 11'' President Woodrow Wilson 5 ' 11'' President Jefferson Davis 5 ' 11'' 1 President Richard Milhous Nixon 5 ' 11 /2'' Robert Voorhis the hermit of Rhode Island < 6 ' Frederick Douglass 6 ' (-) Anthony Burns 6 ' 0 '' Waldo Emerson 6 ' 0 '' Joseph Smith, Jr. 6 ' 0 '' David Walker 6 ' 0 '' Sarah F. Wakefield 6 ' 0 '' Thomas Wentworth Higginson 6 ' 0 '' President James Buchanan 6 ' 0 '' President Gerald R. Ford 6 ' 0 '' President James Garfield 6 ' 0 '' President Warren Harding 6 ' 0 '' President John F. Kennedy 6 ' 0 '' President James Monroe 6 ' 0 '' President William H. Taft 6 ' 0 '' President John Tyler 6 ' 0 '' Captain John Brown 6 ' 0 (+)'' President Andrew Jackson 6 ' 1'' Alfred Russel Wallace 6 ' 1'' President Ronald Reagan 6 ' 1'' 1 Venture Smith 6 ' 1 /2'' HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

John Camel Heenan 6 ' 2 '' Crispus Attucks 6 ' 2 '' Franz Liszt 6 ' 2 '' President Chester A. Arthur 6 ' 2 '' President George Bush, Senior 6 ' 2 '' President Franklin D. Roosevelt 6 ' 2 '' President George Washington 6 ' 2 '' Gabriel Prosser 6 ' 2 '' Dangerfield Newby 6 ' 2 '' Charles Augustus Lindbergh 6 ' 2 '' 1 President Bill Clinton 6 ' 2 /2'' 1 President Thomas Jefferson 6 ' 2 /2'' President Lyndon B. Johnson 6 ' 3 '' Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. 6 ' 3 '' 1 Richard “King Dick” Seaver 6 ' 3 /4'' President Abraham Lincoln 6 ' 4 '' Marion Morrison (AKA John Wayne) 6 ' 4 '' Elisha Reynolds Potter, Senior 6 ' 4 '' Thomas Cholmondeley 6 ' 4 '' (?) William Buckley 6 ' 4-7” Franklin Benjamin Sanborn 6 ' 5 '' Peter the Great of Russia 6 ' 7 '' William “Dwarf Billy” Burley 6 ' 7 '' Giovanni Battista Belzoni 6 ' 7 '' Thomas Jefferson (the statue) 7 ' 6'' Jefferson Davis (the statue) 7 ' 7'' 1 Martin Van Buren Bates 7 ' 11 /2'' M. Bihin, a Belgian exhibited in Boston in 1840 8 ' Anna Haining Swan 8 ' 1''

In THE PICKWICK PAPERS, Charles Dickens seemed to suggest that it would be nonsense to expect a Chinese morality.

September: The Reverend James Legge entered Highbury College in Middlesex, where he began studies toward a master of divinity degree. Drawn to the foreign missions since his childhood, before long he would make a commitment to the London Missionary Society, and embark upon the study of Chinese in London under a returned missionary, Samuel Kidd. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1838

The beginning of the Medical Missionary Society in China.

In this year the British government disassociated the East India Company from obligations into which it had entered, to maintain the temples of India. Forget your promises, that’s an order!

The Reverend William Adam abandoned India and joined his family in the United States. He would further journey from Boston to London, to attend the initial meeting of an antislavery group, the British India Society.

James Robert Ballantyne’s A GRAMMAR OF THE HINDUSTANI LANGUAGE (Edinburgh).

Monier Williams matriculated at King’s College School, Balliol College of Oxford University.

At the end of the journal entries for this year, Waldo Emerson listed his readings in Oriental materials during the period: “Hermes Trismegistus; Synesius; Proclus; Thomas Taylor; Institutes of Menu; Sir William Jones, Translations of Asiatic Poetry; Buddha. Zoroaster; Confucius.”

Again Emerson copied extracts from the Confucian canon into his journals, extracts such as “Action, such as Confucius describes the speech of God.” EMERSON AND CHINA

M.J. Pauthier translated the TAO TÊ CHING into French.28

LIGHT FROM CHINA TAOISM

28. Lyman V. Cady’s inference that Henry Thoreau could not have encountered Taoism, based as it was on incomplete evidence about the sorts of Taoist reading material available in Indo-European languages during Thoreau’s lifetime, must now be subjected to reexamination. A Latin version of the TAO TÊ CHING would be created by Jesuits, and two German translations would appear, during the 1840s. These were all, of course, languages that Thoreau could read. David T.Y. Ch’en has become convinced on the basis of new evidence of the 19th-Century availability of such translations, and on the basis of detective work among several strands of converging internal evidence, and on the basis of a series of seven paradoxes written into Thoreau’s journal on June 26, 1840, that Thoreau had as of that date just been perusing one or another of the translations of Lao-tze, most likely this one by Pauthier. – For more information, refer to that entry for June 26, 1840. CHINA THOREAU AND CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM On the other side of the globe, the new viceroy in Canton was destroying the illegal opium imports of the British East India Company, a total of 2,640,000 pounds of suspicious vegetable substances, and in consequence Britain was going on the warpath, seizing Hong Kong, forcing trade concessions, and garnering much loot. Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, the governor was William Sprague II and Perry Davis was removing

from Westport, Massachusetts to Pawtucket and then to Taunton, Massachusetts while engaged in the development of his invention, of a mill for grinding grain. In Taunton he would fall ill and would study the effects of certain drugs upon the human system, and he would experiment in the various uses of these drugs, mostly ethanol and opiates, until he became able to concoct a dose capable of curing his own maladies. This Mr. Davis would later vend the following story: “I told my wife that she could not expect to have me with her much longer. A cold settled on my lungs. A hard cough ensued, with pains in my side. My stomach soon became sore, my digestive organs became weak, consequently my appetite failed; my kidneys had become affected. The canker in my mouth became troublesome.... I searched the globe in my mind’s eye for a cure during my illness and selected the choicest gums and healing herbs. These were carefully compounded creating a medicine to soothe the nerves and a balm to heal the body. I commenced using my new discovered medicine with no hope other than handing me gently to the grave.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

December 12, Wednesday: In the US House of Representatives, the Atherton gag resolution in regard to discussion of the slavery issue, a resolution based upon the principle of states’ rights, was enacted by a vote of 126 over 78.

“Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made.”

— John Godfrey Saxe

In Canton, local officials were preparing to crucify the proprietor of an opium den when some off-duty American sailors destroyed their cross. A riot ensued but dissipated upon the arrival of police.

Waldo Emerson lectured in Boston. This was the 2d lecture of his series, “Home.” THE LIST OF LECTURES HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1839

Father Évariste Régis Huc, sent by his order, the Vincentians or Lazarists, landed in Macau. He would pass through South China, Peking, Hei-shui some 300 miles north of that capital, and Lhasa, Tibet before returning to Canton in Kwantung province in September 1846 and writing a book about his travels that would be consulted by Waldo Emerson.

Lieutenant Thomas James took his 21-year-old wife Maria Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, whose stage name would be “Lola Montez,” to Simla, India with him. There he abandoned her for another woman.

Maharajah Ranjit Singh of Baroda died. This maharajah had been a fan of combative sports, supportive of a court wrestler named Sadika Gilgoo or “Man Mountain.”

James Robert Ballantyne’s A GRAMMAR OF THE MAHRATTA LANGUAGE (Edinburgh), PRINCIPLES OF PERSIAN CALIGRAPHY, ILLUSTRATED BY LITHOGRAPHIC PLATES OF THE NASKH-TA'LIK CHARACTER (London and Edinburgh), and ELEMENTS OF HINDĪ AND BRAJ BHĀKHĀ GRAMMAR: COMPILED FOR THE USE OF THE EAST- INDIA COLLEGE AT HAILEYBURY (London and Edinburgh: Sold by J. Madden and Co., 8, Leadenhall Street, London; C. Smith, 87, Princes Street, Edinburgh; and at the Military Academy, Lothian Road).

In the previous year the British government had disassociated the East India Company from obligations into which it had entered, to maintain the temples of India. Forget your promises, that’s an order! In this year the Reverend Robert Spence Hardy’s pamphlet THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT AND IDOLATRY IN CEYLON would cry out again for an end to the “unnatural, sinful, and pernicious connexion between the British Government of Ceylon and idolatry.” Just as the sole purpose for the existence of the Roman Empire way back then obviously had been to facilitate the initial flourishing of Christianity in the known world, he argued, the sole purpose of the British Empire in the present era obviously must be to consolidate and hegemonize this entire globe under the sway of Christianity. The issue was that when the British had taken possession of Ceylon in 1815 their emissaries had done so with the explicit pledge, made to the Buddhist sangha and the Kandyan chiefs, that they would be responsible for maintenance of the Tooth Relic in Kandy — the ceremonies attendant upon this annual act of idolatry were at the present time costing the crown the unholy sum of £15.19.9½ per year! (Although such an expense might seem to be small potatoes in the eyes of some, it amounts to a jab in the eye of God — God will not be mocked!) It was “the bounden duty of the government of the country, from its possession of Truth, to discountenance the system [of Buddhism] by every legitimate means.” Buddhism must be confronted in a struggle that can end only “in the discomfiture of those who have risen against the Lord and his Christ.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

Opium was India’s largest export.

Commissioner Lin Tse-hsü arrived at Canton to take charge of the prohibition of the opium traffic. The first war between the British and the Chinese over the opium trade began.

A very popular medical book that had first appeared in 1830, Dr. John C. Gunn’s DOMESTIC MEDICINE OR POOR MAN’S FRIEND, IN THE HOUSE OF A FFLICTION, PAIN AND SICKNESS, reached its 9th edition despite being all of a thousand pages. A feature of this medical treatise was a sizeable section titled “Of the Passions” which attempted to deliver advice on mental health, religion, and love. The “passions” analyzed were those of: • fear •anger • love • jealousy •joy •grief • intemperance

Thankfully, the remedies which the popular Dr. Gunn commended to his self-medicants for their “passions” were not drugs such as opiates but amounted instead to: •religion • education • self-discipline

ONE COULD BE ELSEWHERE, AS ELSEWHERE DOES EXIST. ONE CANNOT BE ELSEWHEN SINCE ELSEWHEN DOES NOT. (TO THE WILLING MANY THINGS CAN BE EXPLAINED, THAT FOR THE UNWILLING WILL REMAIN FOREVER MYSTERIOUS.)

Enoch Cobb Wines’s PEEP AT CHINA IN MR. DUNN’S CHINESE COLLECTION: WITH MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES RELATING TO THE INSTITUTIONS AND CUSTOMS OF THE CHINESE, AND OUR COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH THEM.

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM James Legge was ordained at Trevor Chapel, London and got married with Mary Isabella Morison (1817- 1852). The newlyweds set out on a sailing vessel for the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca, an institution for the education of Chinese and Malayan youth that had been established in 1818 by the pioneering protestant missionary Robert Morrison (1782-1834). He would remain at Malacca, coming to be in charge of the college, for 3 years. When, subsequently, the college would remove to Hong Kong, the Reverend Legge would live there for nearly 3 decades. Keuh Agong, a Christian, would accompany Legge on his move to Hong Kong in 1844.

When Chinese “water-braves” laid claim to an ability to walk along the sea-bottom and remain hidden there all night were audited by government officials, it turned out not to be possible for them to validate their claims (although they were pretty good underwater, it remains a fact that although we know of people who can remain underwater for fully five minutes, we have never observed anyone reach the sixth minute, and it remains a fact that no-one can expect to swim underwater for more than about 70 yards laterally, max, before being forced to the surface to take a breath).

Father Évariste Régis Huc, sent by his order, the Vincentians or Lazarists, landed in Macau. He would pass through South China, Peking, Hei-shui some 300 miles north of that capital, and Lhasa, Tibet before returning to Canton in Kwantung province in September 1846 and writing a book about his travels that would be consulted by Waldo Emerson. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA March: By the decade of the 1830s, it has been estimated, opium had become not only the main event of the British-sponsored trade between India and China, but the single most lucrative item of all international commerce. Then in this year a new mandarin arrived in Guangzhou (Canton), Imperial Commissioner Lin Tse- hsü who had been governor of Hubei and Hunan provinces, and he had been the victor in an anti-opium purity campaign in government circles in Beijing and had won a mandate from the Court of Heaven to extirpate this unlawful wholesale recreational-drug traffic by foreigners which was proving to be so debilitating to the citizenry and to the economy of the Central Kingdom and thus correct the outflow of the Chinese supply of silver:

Lin Tse-hsü in 1850 In this month Lin demanded that 20,291 chests of the controlled substance, on hand in the warehouses (godowns) of the British and their compradors, be surrendered. The Danish, German, American, and Spanish traders immediately accommodated themselves to this new regulation and Lin confiscated and destroyed 20,283 opium chests,29 but British traders were infuriated. The British Chief Superintendent of Trade, Captain Charles Elliot R.N., who had previously been the commander of a hospital ship and the Protector of Slaves in British Guiana, acceded to Imperial High Commissioner Lin and handed over the opium chests, which were promptly destroyed. The merchants withdrew to their “hell-ships” anchored in the harbor, where they would be safe, Lin refused to sell them food or water, Captain Elliot fired on three Chinese war-junks, and hey presto: both nations had ample reason to be at war.

29. Each chest contained 40 balls of opium wrapped in poppy leaves. Each ball weighed three pounds. Each ball had to be completely dissolved in noxious chemicals and flushed away into the harbor in such manner as to ensure that it would not be salvageable, as such psychotropic materials could not merely be burned without toxicity and as there existed a established secondary market for merely sea-damaged opium balls. All in all we’re talking about a lot of hard work. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM Implementing the “forward policy” recommended by the Scottish merchants William Jardine and James Matheson,30 Foreign Secretary Palmerston of Lord Melbourne’s whig government in London decided that the

imperialist lackeys:

matter could be settled by putting gunboats on the major Chinese rivers.31 This would open up the Central Kingdom both to Free Trade and to Christianity. Gladstone warned that this policy was “at variance both with justice and religion” but succeeded only in isolating himself from other Members of Parliament in opposition. After a few skirmishes it became clear that the British military equipment and organization could handily defeat and destroy the Chinese war-junks, and so the Chinese agreed to cede to Britain a small, rocky island at the sea mouth of the Pearl River, for their use as a commercial base. This island of 26 square miles had been in use as a source of fresh water for ships, and was variously known at Incense Port, Fragrant Harbor, Aunty Heung, Herukong, Shiankang, and Hong Kong.

During this year Samuel Russell & Co. of Boston and Hong Kong was giving up its opium trade.

SAMUEL WADSWORTH RUSSELL OF MIDDLETON CT

May: An unusually cold and wet month in New England spoiled many acres of newly sprouted Chinese mulberry seedlings and damaged many of the newly planted cuttings. Soon the speculative craze would be over. SILK

30. In 1939, Mao Zedong would list the “Opium Wars” as the first of “twelve historical landmarks” of the “struggle by the Chinese people against imperialism and its lackeys” (SELECTED WORKS, Beijing 1967, Volume II, page 314). 31. One was always able to trust Henry John Temple, Lord Palmerston (1784-1865), “Lord Pumice-Stone,” to always leave a situation worse rather than better. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA May 14, Tuesday: At Macao, the scholar administrator Wei Yuan ordered that river ferries be examined at departure and arrival: “Smuggling must be stopped but the passengers’ personal effects will not be disturbed.” Dent and other named foreigners who had obtained his approval would be allowed to pass through the Custom Houses without examination, but those he had not pre-authorized would be “brought back and punished together with their Linguist and Hong merchant. If the boat people assist foreigners to escape they will wear the cangue on the river bank”

Tuesday– At intervals when there was a suitable reach in the river — we caught sight of the Goffstown mountain — the Indian Un-can-nu-nuc rising before us, on the left of the river– “The far blue mountain.” {One-fourth page blank} We soon after saw the Piscataquoag emptying in on our left — and heard the falls of Amoskieg above. It was here according to tradition that the sachem Wonolanset resided, and when at war with the mohawks his tribe are said to have concealed their provisions in the cavities of the rocks in the upper part of the falls The descent is 54 feet in half a mile. The manchester manufacturing company have constructed a canal here — through which we passed. Above the falls the river spreads out into a lake — stretching up toward Hooksett– We could see several canal boats at intervals of a mile or more standing up to Hooksett with a light breeze. With their broad sails set they moved slowly up the stream in the sluggish and fitful breeze — as if impelled by some mysterious counter current — like Antediluvian birds. A grand motion so slow and steady. For the most part they were returning empty, or at most with a few passengers aboard. As we rowed near to one which was just getting under way, the steers man offered to take us in tow — but when we came along side we found that he intended to take us on board, as otherwise we should retard his own voyage too much — but as we were too heavy to be lifted aboard — we left him and proceeded up the stream a half a mile to the shade of some maples to spend our noon In the course of half an hour several boats passed up the river at intervals of half a mile — and among them came the boat we have mentioned, keeping the middle of the stream and when within speaking distance the steers man called out if we would come along side now he would take us in tow. But not heeding their taunts we made no haste to give chase until our preparations were made — by which time they were a quarter of a mile ahead. Then with our own sails set — and plying our four oars, we were soon along side of them — and we glided close under their side, we quietly promised if they would throw us a rope that we would take them in tow. And then we gradually overhauled each boat in succession untill we had the river to ourselves again.

[Tuesday of WEEK. American Passenger Pigeons Ectopistes migratorius near the mouth of the Souhegan River.] During the heat of the day, we rested on a large island a mile above the mouth of this river, pastured by a herd of cattle, with steep banks and scattered elms and oaks, and a sufficient channel for canal- boats on each side. When we made a fire to boil some rice for our dinner, the flames spreading amid the dry grass, and the smoke curling silently upward and casting grotesque shadows on the ground, seemed phenomena of the noon, and we fancied that we progressed up the stream without effort, and as naturally as the wind and tide went down, not outraging the calm days by unworthy bustle or impatience. The woods on the neighboring shore were alive with pigeons, which were moving south, looking for mast, but now, like ourselves, spending their noon in the shade. We could hear the slight, wiry, winnowing sound of their wings as they changed their roosts from time to time, and their gentle and tremulous cooing. They sojourned with us during the noon-tide, greater travellers far than we. You may frequently discover a single pair sitting upon the lower branches of the white pine in the depths of the woods, at this hour of the day, so silent and solitary, and with such a hermit-like appearance, as if they had never strayed beyond its skirts, while the acorn which was gathered in the forests of Maine was still undigested in their crops. We obtained one of these handsome birds, which lingered too long upon its perch, and plucked and broiled it here with some other game, to be carried along for our supper; for, beside provisions which we carried with us, we depended mainly on the river and forest for our supply. It was true, it did not seem to be putting this bird to its right use to pluck off its feathers, and extract its entrails, and broil its carcass on the coals; but we heroically persevered, nevertheless, waiting for further information. The same regard for Nature which excited our sympathy for her creatures nerved our hands to carry through what we had begun. For we would be honorable to the party we deserted; we would fulfill fate, and so at length, perhaps, detect the secret innocence of these incessant tragedies which Heaven allows. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM August 23, Friday: The British took control of an isolated island hosting an assortment of fishing villages, near the sea outlet of the Pearl River passage toward the port of Canton (to be known henceforward as Victoria Island).32

Hot news flash: Information as to the chemical means that M. Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre was using in Paris to achieve such remarkable images appeared in London, in the evening edition of The Globe:

32. In 1841, after a flag-raising ceremony at Possession Point on Victoria Island, Queen Victoria would write to King Leopold of Belgium “Albert is so amused at my having got the island of Hong Kong” (Cantonese hèung-gáwng, fragrant harbor). HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA August 25, Sunday: Fearful of the Chinese, the last of 57 British families abandoned Macao for Victoria Island (Hong Kong, Cantonese hèung-gáwng, fragrant harbor).

The La Amistad blacks wandered from one isolated home to another, on the shore of Culloden Point, attempting to use the few gold doubloons they had discovered on their ship to purchase water and supplies for their journey back to Africa.

(While on this provisioning expedition, at least according to the Spielberg movie, they perhaps caught sight on Long Island of a Draisienne, an early bicycle prototype — and so it needs to be mentioned that although such a sighting would have been possible, in fact in this Year of our Lord 1839, the design of the ordinary pedaled bicycle we know and love was already in the process of being refined.)

As they had been sailing along the eastern coast of the continent, several pilot boats had already run across La Amistad and the Columbian Centinel had already printed a report by Captain Seaman of the pilot boat Gratitude: She spoke the long, low, black schooner twenty-five miles East of Fire Island and about eighteen miles from the land, standing E.N.E. The Gratitude ran within a few yards of her with the intention of putting a pilot aboard. Two or three of the blacks, who appeared to be the ringleaders and kept the others in awe, made signs to the pilot not to come. One had a pistol in one hand and a cutlass in the other, which he flourished over his head to keep the others down. These appeared to be very anxious to receive a pilot and when the eye of the fellow who had the pistol was aft of them, they would beckon the pilot to come aboard. The schooner held a name on her stern which they took to be Almeda. She had a small gilt eaglehead. The latest news from the suspicious vessel is that on Saturday at sunset she was

off the end of Long Island, Montauk Point, North by East, twenty miles distant. She was standing east with HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM sail she was able to make.

THE FALLACY OF MOMENTISM: THIS STARRY UNIVERSE DOES NOT CONSIST OF A SEQUENCE OF MOMENTS. THAT IS A FIGMENT, ONE WE HAVE RECOURSE TO IN ORDER TO PRIVILEGE TIME OVER CHANGE, APRIVILEGING THAT MAKES CHANGE SEEM UNREAL, DERIVATIVE, A MERE APPEARANCE. IN FACT IT IS CHANGE AND ONLY CHANGE WHICH WE EXPERIENCE AS REALITY, TIME BEING BY WAY OF RADICAL CONTRAST UNEXPERIENCED — A MERE INTELLECTUAL CONSTRUCT. THERE EXISTS NO SUCH THING AS A MOMENT. NO INSTANT HAS EVER FOR AN INSTANT EXISTED.

China “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA September 4, Wednesday: According to the journal of Friend Thomas B. Hazard or Hafsard or Hasard of Kingstown, Rhode Island, also known as “Nailer Tom,”33 there had been “strange Northern lights last night.”

AURORA BOREALIS The Chinese having ignored a British ultimatum to turn over needed supplies to British civilians in Hong Kong, British warships opened fire on Chinese naval junks. Although the British got the better of this gunfire the Chinese would continue to refuse to hand over any supplies.

Sept 4th [Wednesday of WEEK] As we shoved away from this rocky coast, before sunrise, the smaller bittern, the genius of the shore, was moping along its edge, or stood probing the mud for its food, with ever an eye on us, though so demurely at work, or else he ran along over the wet stones like a wrecker in his storm-coat, looking out for wrecks of snails and cockles. Now away he goes, with a limping flight, uncertain where he will alight, until a rod of clear sand amid the alders invites his feet; and now our steady approach compels him to seek a new retreat. It is a bird of the oldest Thalesian school, and no doubt believes in the priority of water to the other elements; the relic of a twilight antediluvian age which yet inhabits these bright American rivers with us Yankees. There is something venerable in this melancholy and contemplative race of birds, which may have trodden the earth while it was yet in a slimy and imperfect state. Perchance their tracks, too, are still visible on the stones. It still lingers into our glaring summers, bravely supporting its fate without sympathy from man, as if it looked forward to some second advent of which he has no assurance. One wonders if, by its patient study by rocks and sandy capes, it has wrested the whole of her secret from Nature yet. What a rich experience it must have gained, standing on one leg and looking out from its dull eye so long on sunshine and rain, moon and stars! What could it tell of stagnant pools and reeds and dank night fogs! It would be worth the while to look closely into the eye which has been open and seeing at such hours, and in such solitudes its dull, yellowish, greenish eye. Methinks my own soul must be a bright invisible green. I have seen these birds stand by the half dozen together in the shallower water along the shore, with their bills thrust into the mud at the bottom, probing for food, the whole head being concealed, while the neck and body formed an arch above the water.

Thoreau’s smaller bittern, the Green Heron, like all members of the heron family, catches its food with quick stabs of its bill. It does not probe the mud as do many species of shorebird. Since Green Herons often feed in still, shallow water, reflections may have caused Thoreau to think their bills were thrust into the mud. It must be remembered that Thoreau had no optical equipment at this time to aid his observations. –Cruickshank, Helen Gere. THOREAU ON BIRDS (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964)

33. He was called “Nailer Tom” because his trade was the cutting of nails from scrap iron, and in order to distinguish him from a relative known as “College Tom,” from another relative known as “Shepherd Tom,” and from his own son who –because he had fits– was known as “Pistol-Head Tom.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM Sept 4th Wednesday. Hooksett east bank 2 or 3 miles below the village, opposite mr. Mitchels.

On Thursday, Thoreau and his brother halted at a point east of Uncannunuc Mountain near Manchester, New Hampshire. They hung their tent and buffalo robes in a farmer’s barn to dry and then continued on foot up the Merrimack until it became the Pemigewasset and then the Wild Amonoosuck to its very fountainhead. This part of the adventure is not included in the book. However, Thursday morning as the brothers lay in their tent listening to the rain, they found such enjoyment in birds as those who never venture into a wet world can never know. –Cruickshank, Helen Gere. THOREAU ON BIRDS (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1964) HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

A WEEK: The small houses which were scattered along the river at intervals of a mile or more were commonly out of sight to us, but sometimes, when we rowed near the shore, we heard the peevish note of a hen, or some slight domestic sound, which betrayed them. The lock-men’s houses were particularly well placed, retired, and high, always at falls or rapids, and commanding the pleasantest reaches of the river, –for it is generally wider and more lake- like just above a fall,– and there they wait for boats. These humble dwellings, homely and sincere, in which a hearth was still the essential part, were more pleasing to our eyes than palaces or castles would have been. In the noon of these days, as we have said, we occasionally climbed the banks and approached these houses, to get a glass of water and make acquaintance with their inhabitants. High in the leafy bank, surrounded commonly by a small patch of corn and beans, squashes and melons, with sometimes a graceful hop-yard on one side, and some running vine over the windows, they appeared like beehives set to gather honey for a summer. I have not read of any Arcadian life which surpasses the actual luxury and serenity of these New England dwellings. For the outward gilding, at least, the age is golden enough. As you approach the sunny doorway, awakening the echoes by your steps, still no sound from these barracks of repose, and you fear that the gentlest knock may seem rude to the Oriental dreamers. The door is opened, perchance, by some Yankee-Hindoo woman, whose small-voiced but sincere hospitality, out of the bottomless depths of a quiet nature, has travelled quite round to the opposite side, and fears only to obtrude its kindness. You step over the white-scoured floor to the bright “dresser” lightly, as if afraid to disturb the devotions of the household, –for Oriental dynasties appear to have passed away since the dinner-table was last spread here,– and thence to the frequented curb, where you see your long-forgotten, unshaven face at the bottom, in juxtaposition with new-made butter and the trout in the well. “Perhaps you would like some molasses and ginger,” suggests the faint noon voice. Sometimes there sits the brother who follows the sea, their representative man; who knows only how far it is to the nearest port, no more distances, all the rest is sea and distant capes, — patting the dog, or dandling the kitten in arms CAT that were stretched by the cable and the oar, pulling against Boreas or the trade-winds. He looks up at the stranger, half pleased, half astonished, with a mariner’s eye, as if he were a dolphin within cast. If men will believe it, sua si bona norint, there are no more quiet Tempes, nor more poetic and Arcadian lives, than may be lived in these New England dwellings. We thought that the employment of their inhabitants by day would be to tend the flowers and herds, and at night, like the shepherds of old, to cluster and give names to the stars from the river banks.

[The full Latin expression that goes with “sua si bona norint” is “O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint,” which means “0 more than happy, if they only knew their advantages,” and was used by Virgil to describe those who led the rustic bucolic agricultural life. We can say, therefore, that Virgil is a presence not only in Thoreau’s WALDEN, but also in A WEEK.] HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT

After September: British men-of-war blockaded and shelled the port of Canton. The port of Tinghai at the mouth of the Yangtze River was occupied. What would be known as the 1st Opium War, which would lead to the initial humiliating “Unequal Treaty” of Europeans with China, had begun. HONG KONG

December 6, Friday: An advertisement in the local gazette:

On the coast of South China, Imperial Commissioner Lin Tse-hsü ended trade with Great Britain “forever.”

The People of A Week: Thales of Miletos “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1840

By this point the port of New-York had taken the China trade away from the port of Boston, and ships out of Boston had been reduced to what business they could find on the Baltic Sea and at the ports of South America. It would be during this period that a letter would surface in a Dutch archive, dating to November 1626, that had been from Peter Jansen Schagen of the West India Company in Amsterdam to the States-General in The Hague conveying hearsay off a vessel had just arrived at the port of New Amsterdam that “our people ... have purchased the island Manhattes from the Indians for the value of 60 guilders; — tis 11,000 morgens in size.” Prior to this decade none of us had had any clue as to the validity of any of the white claims to title to Manhattan Island. —It is lucky for us that possession counts as nine-tenths of our law, for the size stated in said hearsay attestation does not approximate the size of the island we today refer to as Manhattan.34

34. Not to mention that the “60 guilders” mentioned sounds less like a purchase price than like an undocumented claim for a Hostess Gift on one of today’s corporate expense accounts. Did these lads submit a receipt? HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM Publication of M.J. Pauthier’s CONFUCIUS ET MENCIUS. LES QUATRE LIVRES DE PHILOSOPHIE MORALE ET POLITIQUE DE LA CHINE, TRADUITS DU CHINOIS, PA R M.G. PAUTHIER (Paris: Charpentier, Libraire-Éditeur, 29, Rue de Seine), a complete translation into French of THE FOUR BOOKS with Chu Hsi’s commentaries, as part of LES LIVRES SACRÉS DE L’ORIENT in Paris. CONFUCIUS ET MENCIUS

(Ezra Pound would base his poetic rendering known as the “Confucian Cantos” upon a 1915 encounter with this book.) CONFUCIUS MENCIUS CHINA LIGHT FROM CHINA

The Reverend Issachar J. Roberts , despite his lack of any training in the Chinese language, had picked up enough to be able to create by this point four tracts, Tzu Pu Chi Chieh or “Explanation of the Radical Characters,” Chen Li Che Chiao or “The Religion of Truth,” Chu Shih Chu Yeh-su Hsin I Chao Shu or “New Testament of the Saviour Jesus,” and Wen Ta Su Hua or “Catechism in the Macao Dialect.” This last tract included a small map of Asia with its surrounding lands and seas.

The Opium Wars ended mandarin control of British trade with China. (This would be followed by the 1842 Treaty of Nanking which would cede Hong Kong to the British and open numerous ports to Europeans and Americans. Under a further 1858 treaty, foreigners would be enabled to travel anywhere in the interior of the empire. That the Chinese were humiliated by this was irrelevant.)

It had become apparent that opium use was on the increase in Britain, but there was not agreement as to how harmful this was. On the whole the dangers of the use of this substance were being downplayed, and few people saw any parallel with the Chinese situation. Concerns over abuse did not rise to the same level as the British concern over the abuse of alcohol.

Thomas De Quincey’s “Style” and “The Opium and the China Question” appeared in Blackwood’s Magazine. De Quincey was again prosecuted for his debts.

David Livingston graduated from the University of Glasgow as a doctor of medicine and a minister of the gospel simultaneously, and was seized upon by the London Missionary Society. Since he preferred China they consigned him to Africa.35

35. But of what earthly use might a white Christian leader from elsewhere have been in China, a nation that already had its own homegrown yellow Christian leaders such as Hung Hsiu Ch’üan the Heavenly King of the Tai-p’ing longhairs? HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

January 5, Sunday: The emperor of China declared the English to be outlaws.

February: The British government appointed Rear Admiral George Elliot as 1st commissioner and plenipotentiary to China, to punish the Chinese officials for their resistance to the British traffic in opium.

“This black mud is good for you.” Or, rather, “Get a clue, opium for you is good for me.” (For some reason, the Chinese nation still holds a terrible grudge about this.)

February 21, Friday: Andrew Stuart died at Québec.

The British Parliament began to hear rumors that there had been skirmishes between two frigates of the Royal Navy, and Chinese war-junks, on the waters of the Pearl River estuary. William Jardine, a

e-n-t-r-e-p-r-e-n-e-u-r (d-r-u-g d-e-a-l-e-r)

Scottish entrepreneur, influenced the British Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, to respond to this national “insult” with national “firmness and energy,”36 and orders were dispatched to India to prepare an expeditionary force. OPIUM

April 7, Tuesday: The Whig government in London survived a Tory assault led by Sir Robert Peel, based on the immorality of helping Chinese sustain a drug habit that was, in their own nation, illegal. The successful defense of the government’s secret conduct was based on the principle of free trade, that the Chinese people had a right to purchase whatever they were “disposed to buy,” and what “other people were disposed to sell them” — even if whatever that was might be an enormously profitable but enormously dangerous substance such as opium.37

Edmund Quincy Sewall, Jr. wrote in his diary (per the Sewall Family Papers at the American Antiquarian Society): 36. Henry John Temple, Lord Palmerston (1784-1865), who was frequently referred to in the period as “Lord Pumice-Stone,” was, shall we say, ever eager to express his personal abrasiveness with firmness and energy. 37. On our contemporary American political scene, this stance is known as libertarianism. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM Tuesday. Went to another lecture from the same man on the organs of Alimentiveness, Vitativeness, Combativeness, Destructiveness, Secretiveness, Constructiveness, Cautiousness, Love of Approbation, and Self Esteem. I think he said that the next lecture would be on the ^superior impulses^ of man and would be very interesting.

June: In the deep strait off Hong Kong, an expeditionary force of 16 British warships assembled. They sailed on up the Pei Ho river with 4,000 troops to express British contempt for Chinese local rule. The Qing court sent the mandarin Qishan, governor of Qili, to negotiate to prevent this foreign army from approaching the capital of the nation in Beijing. OPIUM

It was during this year of deep international tension that the newly minted Reverend James Legge was becoming the representative of the London Missionary Society in Malacca and Hong Kong (until 1873).

June 26, Friday: David T.Y. Ch’en has become convinced on the basis of research into the 19th-Century availability of translations from the Chinese, and on the basis of detective work among several strands of converging internal evidence, and on the basis of a series of seven paradoxes written into Thoreau’s journal on this day, that our guy had just been perusing one or another of the translations of Lao-tze, most likely the one by M.J. Pauthier. Do any changes or developments in Henry Thoreau’s patterns of thought hinge on this period?38 THOREAU AND CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

There is a Taoist concept, tzu-jan, that we ought to be investigating in connection with research into such “Thoreauvian” attitudes. It is that ideal state of human existence which would proceed from a life which, because wholly spontaneous, would be in complete harmony with all the realities of nature. This world is constantly being made and unmade and made and unmade, therefore we should offer no resistance whatever to the process of making and unmaking. Question: what would be the primary Chinese sources in which we should study such an attitude, and when did these sources become available in the Western world which Thoreau inhabited? Question: To what extent was Lin Yu-t’ang’s endorsement of Thoreau as Chinese in his writing and in his thought processes merely an identification of Thoreauvianism with this sort of tzu-janism?

June 26. The best poetry has never been written, for when it might have been, the poet forgot it, and when it was too late remembered it; or when it might have been, the poet remembered it, and when it was too late forgot it. The highest condition of art is artlessness. Truth is always paradoxical. He will get to the goal first who stands stillest. There is one let better than any help, and that is, — Let-alone. By sufferance you may escape suffering. He who resists not at all will never surrender. When a dog runs at you, whistle for him. Say, Not so, and you will outcircle the philosophers. Stand outside the wall, and no harm can reach you. The danger is that you be walled in with it.

38. “Thoreau and Taoism,” pages 410-11: We must also ask ourselves questions about possible readings of translations of Chuang- tze for, according to Ch’en’s reading, Thoreau’s personality was more like Chuang-tze’s than like Lao-tze’s. Ch’en notes

that there are more affinities between Thoreau and Chuangtse than there are between Thoreau and Laotse.... [T]he fundamental teaching of Laotse was humility. He often praised the virtue of gentleness, resignation, non-contention and the wisdom of lying low. Chuangtse, on the other hand, was inclined to speak of the virtue of quiescence, of keeping and preserving men’s spiritual power through tranquility and rest. Therefore, while Laotse regarded water, the softest of all substances, as a symbol of the wisdom of seeking lowly places, Chuangtse often compared it to the tranquility of the mind and clarity of spirit: “Calm represents the nature of water at its best. In that it may serve as our model, for its power is preserved and is not dispersed through agitation.” In another instance, Chuangtse likened the mind of the perfect man to a mirror: “The mind of the perfect man is like a mirror. It does not move with things, nor does it anticipate them. It responds to things, but does not retain them. Therefore, he is able to deal successfully with things, but is not affected.” In like manner, Thoreau wrote of Walden symbolically: “Walden is a perfect mirror.... Nations come and go without defiling it. It is a mirror which no stone can crack, whose quicksilver will never wear off, whose gilding Nature continually repairs; no storms, no dust, can dim its surface ever fresh; –a mirror in which all impurity presented to it sinks, swept and dusted by the sun’s hazy brush, –this the light dust-cloth, –which retains no breath that is breathed on it, but sends its own to float as clouds high above its surface, and be reflected in its bosom still.” On the surface, this passage is a beautiful description of the pond. But when we look beneath, we shall find that the limpidity of its water is intended to signify the transparency of Thoreau’s character.

(After becoming aware that Thoreau retained this perspective, unchanged, for the remainder of his short life, we may wonder when this perspective developed, and from whom he “absorbed” it.) HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM November 24, Tuesday: John Gordon Bennett of the New York Herald celebrated England’s “Opium War” attack on China as

another movement of the Anglo-Saxon spirit in the remotest east, against the barriers of semi-barbarians and a half-civilized race, who have been stationary for twenty centuries or more.

Evidently opium was the medication the Chinese needed to give them some good old Anglo-Saxon get-up- and-go.

A little more opium, Mr. China? HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM

1841

Charles Dickens finished BARNABY RUDGE and OLD CURIOSITY SHOP and embarked for the USA to publicize the International Copyright Convention with the hope that a triumphant authorial tour would enhance the legal situation in regard to the constant brazen infringements. For at that time the USA was in the same situation with regard to Great Britain in which China now exists with regard to the USA: we were copyright pirates without any sense of shame or restraint. We may find the record of Dickens’s disillusionment in his AMERICAN NOTES of 1842 and in his MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT of 1843-1844: basically, we paid no more attention to Dickens then than the People’s Republic of China paid to President William Jefferson Clinton. Here is Dickens describing segregation of American railroad facilities: There is a gentlemen’s car and a ladies’ car; the main distinction between which is that in the first everybody smokes; and in the second, nobody does. As a black man never travels with a white one, there is also a negro car, which is a great, blundering, clumsy chest....

Ephraim George Squier went to Albany and got work at a unionist magazine, the New York State Mechanic. While employed there he would attempt to start a Poet’s Magazine, and would attempt to secure a diplomatic posting to China. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

The Reverend James Legge took over as principal of the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca, published his A LEXILOGUS OF THE ENGLISH, MALAY, AND CHINESE LANGUAGES; COMPREHENDING THE VERNACULAR IDIOMS OF THE LAST IN THE HOK-KEEN AND CANTON DIALECTS, and began a project to translate, in many volumes, the Chinese classics. During his decades of residence in the Orient, he would be translating classic literature into English with the help of Wang T‘ao. (This was the year in which Captain Charles Eliot was landing on an island then known as Heung Gong.)

M.J. Pauthier’s CONFUCIUS ET MENCIUS. LES QUATRE LIVRES DE PHILOSOPHIE MORALE ET POLITIQUE DE LA CHINE, TRADUIT DU CHINOIS PAR M.J. PAUTHIER, which had been published in Paris in the previous year as part of LES LIVRES SACRÉS DE L’ORIENT, was republished in this year as a separate volume. It would be from this source that, as Hongbo Tan would point out in 1993, perhaps in the year 1843 but not earlier than the month of April Henry Thoreau would translate 96 paragraphs of Confucius into 23 pages of his 1st Commonplace Book, now at the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library.39 MENCIUS CHINA LIGHT FROM CHINA

In “Spiritual Laws” in his book of essays published during this year, Emerson had written: If you would not be known to do any thing, never do it. A man may play the fool in the drifts of a desert, but every grain of sand shall seem to see. He may be a solitary eater, but he cannot keep his foolish counsel. A broken complexion, a swinish look, ungenerous acts, and the want of due knowledge, — all blab. Can a cook, a Chiffinch, an Iachimo be mistaken for Zeno or Paul? Confucius exclaimed, — “How can a man be concealed! How can a man be concealed!” EMERSON AND CHINA

During this year Waldo Emerson made uncritical use, in his essay “The Conservative,” of the current Western prejudice and presumption about “Chinese stagnation”: I understand well the respect of mankind for war, because that breaks up the Chinese stagnation of society. EMERSON AND CHINA

39. Bradley P. Dean believed 1849 to be a more likely date for this translation activity than 1843. THOREAU AND CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM January 20, Wednesday: Captain Charles Elliot and Commissioner Qishan of the Central Kingdom signed the Convention of Chuanbi (a village near Guangzhou), by which the Dynasty of Purity (Ch’ing ) ceded the rocky island of Hong Kong to the outer barbarians in perpetuity.40

Documentation of the international slave trade, per W.E. Burghardt Du Bois: “Message from the President ... communicating ... copies of correspondence, imputing malpractices to the American consul at Havana, in regard to granting papers to vessels engaged in the slave-trade.” –SENATE DOCUMENT, 26 Cong. 2 sess. III. No. 125. (Contains much information.) W.E. Burghardt Du Bois: A somewhat more sincere and determined effort to enforce the slave-trade laws now followed; and yet it is a significant fact that not until Lincoln’s administration did a slave-trader suffer death for violating the laws of the United States. The participation of Americans in the trade continued, declining somewhat between 1825 and 1830, and then reviving, until it reached its highest activity between 1840 and 1860. The development of a vast internal slave-trade, and the consequent rise in the South of vested interests strongly opposed to slave smuggling, led to a falling off in the illicit introduction of Negroes after 1825, until the fifties; nevertheless, smuggling never entirely ceased, and large numbers were thus added to the plantations of the Gulf States. [President] Monroe had various constitutional scruples as to the execution of the Act of 1819;41 but, as Congress took no action, he at last put a fair interpretation on his powers, and appointed Samuel Bacon as an agent in Africa to form a settlement for recaptured Africans. Gradually the agency thus formed became merged with that of the Colonization Society on Cape Mesurado; and from this union Liberia was finally evolved.42 Meantime, during the years 1818 to 1820, the activity of the slave-traders was prodigious. General James Tallmadge declared in the House, February 15, 1819: “Our laws are already highly penal against their introduction, and yet, it is a well known fact, that about fourteen thousand slaves have been brought into our country this last year.”43 In the same year Middleton of South Carolina and Wright of Virginia estimated illicit introduction at 13,000 and 15,000 respectively.44 Judge Story, in charging a jury, took occasion to say: “We have but too many proofs from unquestionable sources, that it [the slave-trade] is still carried on with all the implacable rapacity of former times. Avarice has grown more subtle in its evasions, and watches and seizes its prey with an appetite quickened rather than suppressed by its guilty vigils. American citizens are steeped to their very mouths (I can hardly use too bold a figure) in this stream of iniquity.”45 The following year, 1820, brought some significant statements from various members of Congress. Said Smith of South Carolina: “Pharaoh was, for his temerity, drowned in the Red Sea, in pursuing them [the Israelites] contrary to God’s express will; but our Northern friends have 40. This document would later be repudiated both by the government of China and by the government of the barbarians, and both Elliot and Qishan would be dismissed. 41. Attorney-General Wirt advised him, October, 1819, that no part of the appropriation could be used to purchase land in Africa or tools for the Negroes, or as salary for the agent: OPINIONS OF ATTORNEYS-GENERAL, I. 314-7. Monroe laid the case before Congress in a special message Dec. 20, 1819 (HOUSE JOURNAL, 16th Congress 1st session, page 57); but no action was taken there. 42. Cf. Kendall’s Report, August, 1830: SENATE DOCUMENT, 21st Congress 2d session, I. No. 1, pages 211-8; also see below, Chapter X. 43. Speech in the House of Representatives, Feb. 15, 1819, page 18; published in Boston, 1849. 44. Jay, INQUIRY INTO AMERICAN COLONIZATION (1838), page 59, note. 45. Quoted in Friends’ FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS ON THE SLAVE TRADE (ed. 1841), pages 7-8. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA not been afraid even of that, in their zeal to furnish the Southern States with Africans. They are better seamen than Pharaoh, and calculate by that means to elude the vigilance of Heaven; which they seem to disregard, if they can but elude the violated laws of their country.”46 As late as May he saw little hope of suppressing the traffic.47 Sergeant of Pennsylvania declared: “It is notorious that, in spite of the utmost vigilance that can be employed, African negroes are clandestinely brought in and sold as slaves.”48 Plumer of New Hampshire stated that “of the unhappy beings, thus in violation of all laws transported to our shores, and thrown by force into the mass of our black population, scarcely one in a hundred is ever detected by the officers of the General Government, in a part of the country, where, if we are to believe the statement of Governor Rabun, ‘an officer who would perform his duty, by attempting to enforce the law [against the slave trade] is, by many, considered as an officious meddler, and treated with derision and contempt;’ ... I have been told by a gentleman, who has attended particularly to this subject, that ten thousand slaves were in one year smuggled into the United States; and that, even for the last year, we must count the number not by hundreds, but by thousands.”49 In 1821 a committee of Congress characterized prevailing methods as those “of the grossest fraud that could be practised to deceive the officers of government.”50 Another committee, in 1822, after a careful examination of the subject, declare that they “find it impossible to measure with precision the effect produced upon the American branch of the slave trade by the laws above mentioned, and the seizures under them. They are unable to state, whether those American merchants, the American capital and seamen which heretofore aided in this traffic, have abandoned it altogether, or have sought shelter under the flags of other nations.” They then state the suspicious circumstance that, with the disappearance of the American flag from the traffic, “the trade, notwithstanding, increases annually, under the flags of other nations.” They complain of the spasmodic efforts of the executive. They say that the first United States cruiser arrived on the African coast in March, 1820, and remained a “few weeks;” that since then four others had in two years made five visits in all; but “since the middle of last November, the commencement of the healthy season on that coast, no vessel has been, nor, as your committee is informed, is, under orders for that service.”51 The United States African agent, Ayres, reported in 1823: “I was informed by an American officer who had been on the coast in 1820, that he had boarded 20 American vessels in one morning, lying in the port of Gallinas, and fitted for the reception of slaves. It is a lamentable fact, that most of the harbours, between the Senegal and the line, were visited by an equal number of American vessels, and for the sole purpose of carrying away slaves. Although for some years the coast had been

46. ANNALS OF CONGRESS, 16th Congress 1st session, pages 270-1. 47. ANNALS OF CONGRESS, 16th Congress 1st session, page 698. 48. ANNALS OF CONGRESS, 16th Congress 1st session, page 1207. 49. ANNALS OF CONGRESS, 16th Congress 1st session, page 1433. 50. Referring particularly to the case of the slaver “Plattsburg.” Cf. HOUSE REPORTS, 17th Congress 1st session, II. No. 92, page 10. 51. HOUSE REPORTS, 17th Congress 1st session, II. No. 92, page 2. The President had in his message spoken in exhilarating tones of the success of the government in suppressing the trade. The House Committee appointed in pursuance of this passage made the above report. Their conclusions are confirmed by British reports: PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS, 1822, Vol. XXII., SLAVE TRADE, Further Papers, III. page 44. So, too, in 1823, Ashmun, the African agent, reports that thousands of slaves are being abducted. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM occasionally visited by our cruizers, their short stay and seldom appearance had made but slight impression on those traders, rendered hardy by repetition of crime, and avaricious by excessive gain. They were enabled by a regular system to gain intelligence of any cruizer being on the coast.”52 Even such spasmodic efforts bore abundant fruit, and indicated what vigorous measures might have accomplished. Between May, 1818, and November, 1821, nearly six hundred Africans were recaptured and eleven American slavers taken.53 Such measures gradually changed the character of the trade, and opened the international phase of the question. American slavers cleared for foreign ports, there took a foreign flag and papers, and then sailed boldly past American cruisers, although their real character was often well known. More stringent clearance laws and consular instructions might have greatly reduced this practice; but nothing was ever done, and gradually the laws became in large measure powerless to deal with the bulk of the illicit trade. In 1820, September 16, a British officer, in his official report, declares that, in spite of United States laws, “American vessels, American subjects, and American capital, are unquestionably engaged in the trade, though under other colours and in disguise.”54 The United States ship “Cyane” at one time reported ten captures within a few days, adding: “Although they are evidently owned by Americans, they are so completely covered by Spanish papers that it is impossible to condemn them.”55 The governor of Sierra Leone reported the rivers Nunez and Pongas full of renegade European and American slave-traders;56 the trade was said to be carried on “to an extent that almost staggers belief.”57 Down to 1824 or 1825, reports from all quarters prove this activity in slave-trading. The execution of the laws within the country exhibits grave defects and even criminal negligence. Attorney-General Wirt finds it necessary to assure collectors, in 1819, that “it is against public policy to dispense with prosecutions for violation of the law to prohibit the Slave trade.”58 One district attorney writes: “It appears to be almost impossible to enforce the laws of the United States against offenders after the negroes have been landed in the state.”59 Again, it is asserted that “when vessels engaged in the slave trade have been detained by the American cruizers, and sent into the slave-holding states, there appears at once a difficulty in securing the freedom to these captives which the laws of the United States have decreed for them.”60 In some cases, one man would smuggle in the Africans and hide them in the woods; then his partner would “rob” him, and so all trace be lost.61 Perhaps 350 Africans 52. Ayres to the Secretary of the Navy, Feb. 24, 1823; reprinted in FRIENDS’ VIEW OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE (1824), page 31. 53. HOUSE REPORTS, 17th Congress 1st session, II. No. 92, pages 5-6. The slavers were the “Ramirez,” “Endymion,” “Esperanza,” “Plattsburg,” “Science,” “Alexander,” “Eugene,” “Mathilde,” “Daphne,” “Eliza,” and “La Pensée.” In these 573 Africans were taken. The naval officers were greatly handicapped by the size of the ships, etc. (cf. FRIENDS’ VIEW OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE (1824), pages 33-41). They nevertheless acted with great zeal. 54. PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS, 1821, Vol. XXIII., SLAVE TRADE, Further Papers, A, page 76. The names and description of a dozen or more American slavers are given: PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS, 1821, Vol. XXIII., SLAVE TRADE, Further Papers, A, pages 18-21. 55. HOUSE REPORTS, 17th Congress 1st session, II. No. 92, pages 15-20. 56. HOUSE DOCUMENT, 18th Congress 1st session, VI. No. 119, page 13. 57. PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS, 1823, Vol. XVIII., SLAVE TRADE, Further Papers, A, pages 10-11. 58. OPINIONS OF ATTORNEYS-GENERAL, V. 717. 59. R.W. Habersham to the Secretary of the Navy, August, 1821; reprinted in FRIENDS’ VIEW OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE (1824), page 47. 60. FRIENDS’ VIEW OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE (1824), page 42. 61. FRIENDS’ VIEW OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE (1824), page 43. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA were officially reported as brought in contrary to law from 1818 to 1820: the absurdity of this figure is apparent.62 A circular letter to the marshals, in 1821, brought reports of only a few well-known cases, like that of the “General Ramirez;” the marshal of Louisiana had “no information.”63 There appears to be little positive evidence of a large illicit importation into the country for a decade after 1825. It is hardly possible, however, considering the activity in the trade, that slaves were not largely imported. Indeed, when we note how the laws were continually broken in other respects, absence of evidence of petty smuggling becomes presumptive evidence that collusive or tacit understanding of officers and citizens allowed the trade to some extent.64 Finally, it must be noted that during all this time scarcely a man suffered for participating in the trade, beyond the loss of the Africans and, more rarely, of his ship. Red-handed slavers, caught in the act and convicted, were too often, like La Coste of South Carolina, the subjects of executive clemency.65 In certain cases there were those who even had the effrontery to ask Congress to cancel their own laws. For instance, in 1819 a Venezuelan privateer, secretly fitted out and manned by Americans in Baltimore, succeeded in capturing several American, Portuguese, and Spanish slavers, and appropriating the slaves; being finally wrecked herself, she transferred her crew and slaves to one of her prizes, the “Antelope,” which was eventually captured by a United States cruiser and the 280 Africans sent to Georgia. After much litigation, the United States Supreme Court ordered those captured from Spaniards to be surrendered, and the others to be returned to Africa. By some mysterious process, only 139 Africans now remained, 100 of whom were sent to Africa. The Spanish claimants of the remaining thirty-nine sold them to a certain Mr. Wilde, who gave bond to transport them out of the 62. Cf. above, pages 126-7. 63. FRIENDS’ VIEW OF THE AFRICAN SLAVE-TRADE (1824), page 42. 64. A few accounts of captures here and there would make the matter less suspicious; these, however, do not occur. How large this suspected illicit traffic was, it is of course impossible to say; there is no reason why it may not have reached many hundreds per year. 65. Cf. editorial in Niles’s Register, XXII. 114. Cf. also the following instances of pardons: — PRESIDENT JEFFERSON: March 1, 1808, Phillip M. Topham, convicted for “carrying on an illegal slave-trade” (pardoned twice). PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, I. 146, 148-9. PRESIDENT MADISON: July 29, 1809, 15 vessels arrived at New Orleans from Cuba, with 666 white persons and 683 negroes. Every penalty incurred under the Act of 1807 was remitted. (Note: “Several other pardons of this nature were granted.”) PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, I. 179. Nov. 8, 1809, John Hopkins and Lewis Le Roy, convicted for importing a slave. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, I. 184-5. Feb. 12, 1810, William Sewall, convicted for importing slaves. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, I. 194, 235, 240. May 5, 1812, William Babbit, convicted for importing slaves. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, I. 248. PRESIDENT MONROE: June 11, 1822, Thomas Shields, convicted for bringing slaves into New Orleans. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 15. Aug. 24, 1822, J.F. Smith, sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and $3000 fine; served twenty-five months and was then pardoned. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 22. July 23, 1823, certain parties liable to penalties for introducing slaves into Alabama. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 63. Aug. 15, 1823, owners of schooner “Mary,” convicted of importing slaves. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 66. PRESIDENT J.Q. ADAMS: March 4, 1826, Robert Perry; his ship was forfeited for slave-trading. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 140. Jan. 17, 1827, Jesse Perry; forfeited ship, and was convicted for introducing slaves. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 158. Feb. 13, 1827, Zenas Winston; incurred penalties for slave-trading. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 161. The four following cases are similar to that of Winston: — Feb. 24, 1827, John Tucker and William Morbon. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 162. March 25, 1828, Joseph Badger. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 192. Feb. 19, 1829, L.R. Wallace. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 215. PRESIDENT JACKSON: Five cases. PARDONS AND REMISSIONS, IV. 225, 270, 301, 393, 440. The above cases were taken from manuscript copies of the Washington records, made by Mr. W.C. Endicott, Jr., and kindly loaned me. HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM country. Finally, in December, 1827, there came an innocent petition to Congress to cancel this bond.66 A bill to that effect passed and was approved, May 2, 1828,67 and in consequence these Africans remained as slaves in Georgia. On the whole, it is plain that, although in the period from 1807 to 1820 Congress laid down broad lines of legislation sufficient, save in some details, to suppress the African slave trade to America, yet the execution of these laws was criminally lax. Moreover, by the facility with which slavers could disguise their identity, it was possible for them to escape even a vigorous enforcement of our laws. This situation could properly be met only by energetic and sincere international co- operation....68

January 26, Tuesday: Charles Eliot, a naval captain, landing on an island then known as Pirate Island or as Heung Gong, declared himself to be its governor. At 8:15AM, Captain Edward Belcher planted the Union Jack at a position on the north-west shore of the island of Hong Kong facing Victoria Strait, where it could be seen from the mainland of China. This location would first be known as “Possession Point” and later, after landfill around the shrinking harbor, as Holywood Road Park.69 This tiny piece of parkland acquired again a certain significance at the stroke of midnight on June 30, 1997, when Hong Kong for the 2d time was reduced to the status of a colonial possession of a foreign great power. However, it wasn’t large enough for an appropriate ceremony, so they built an immense building on landfill specially for this handover.

The first rule and regulation of the Brits was that no variety of torture would ever again be permitted on this island.70

February: James Matheson71 began construction of a warehouse on the north shore of Hong Kong Island. CHINA OPIUM

May: The fleet of British men-of-war shelled the walled city of Canton and obtained a ransom of $6,000,000. The Chinese then counterattacked, but the only weapons at their disposal were such items of desperation as rafts which they would set on fire and attempt to direct into the paths of the warships. OPIUM

August: Henry Pottinger replaced Rear Admiral George Elliot and began a campaign which seized the Chinese districts of Amoy, Ting-hai, and Ning-po. OPIUM

66. See SENATE JOURNAL, 20th Congress 1st session, pages 60, 66, 340, 341, 343, 348, 352, 355; HOUSE JOURNAL, 20th Congress 1st session, pages 59, 76, 123, 134, 156, 169, 173, 279, 634, 641, 646, 647, 688, 692. 67. STATUTES AT LARGE, VI. 376. 68. Among interesting minor proceedings in this period were two Senate bills to register slaves so as to prevent illegal importation. They were both dropped in the House; a House proposition to the same effect also came to nothing: SENATE JOURNAL, 15th Congress 1st session, pages 147, 152, 157, 165, 170, 188, 201, 203, 232, 237; 15th Congress 2d session, pages 63, 74, 77, 202, 207, 285, 291, 297; HOUSE JOURNAL, 15th Congress 1st session, page 332; 15th Congress 2d session, pages 303, 305, 316; 16th Congress 1st session, page 150. Another proposition was contained in the Meigs resolution presented to the House, Feb. 5, 1820, which proposed to devote the public lands to the suppression of the slave-trade. This was ruled out of order. It was presented again and laid on the table in 1821: HOUSE JOURNAL, 16th Congress 1st session, pages 196, 200, 227; 16th Congress 2d session, page 238. 69. Queen Victoria would write to King Leopold of Belgium “Albert is so amused at my having got the island of Hong Kong” (Cantonese hèung-gáwng, fragrant harbor). 70. Well, torture was banned anyway as a mode of inquiry, if not as a technique of motivation. The flogging of Chinese vagrants who were without visible means of support would obviously not, for instance, be considered to fall under the rubric “torture.” 71. Opinioned this factor Matheson, accurately enough: “We have every respect for persons entertaining strict religious principles, but we fear that very godly people are not suited to the drug trade.” The very godly need not apply. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

September 6, Tuesday: The Reverend Issachar J. Roberts was commissioned as a Baptist missionary to China.

During this year the Hillman Brothers Shipyard of New Bedford had constructed the Charles W. Morgan, named after the Quaker businessman Charles Waln Morgan who was paying the cost of $52,000. Most of the 80-year whaling career of this vessel would be on behalf of the firm of J.& W.R. Wing & Co. (1863-1913), a career which would involve 37 whaling expeditions ranging from 9 months to five years duration over the entire Pacific, Indian, and South Atlantic oceans and which would return 54,483 barrels of oil and 152,934 pounds of whalebone. Typically, she would sail with a crew of 33 men. She would never venture to the Arctic oceans, and at least 5 of her 21 masters would bring their wives and children along on its voyages.

This map of New Bedford’s harbor would be created in 1846: HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1842

With the opening of China to the West as a result of the First Opium War, the London Missionary Society moved its base of operations to several treaty ports along the coast. Eventually the Reverend James Legge would be put in charge of the society’s mission house in the new colony of Hong Kong.

The Reverend Issachar J. Roberts, who at this point was forced to acknowledge that his abilities in the Chinese language were “feeble,” helped open a Baptist mission in Hong Kong, then moved to Canton.

Steam shipping to China began. Naushon Island in the Elizabeth Islands was purchased in its entirety by John Murray Forbes and William W. Swain, largely with money from the China trade, opium money, for instance (Forbes would soon buy out Swain).

By this point England’s opium trade in China had reached 40,000 chests annually. The government of China, attempting to interdict opium traffic and thus prevent its citizens from debilitating themselves by “chasing the dragon” as so desired by foreign enemies, seized and destroyed bales of opium belonging to English merchants. Naughty naughty!

When the dust of the 1st Opium War had settled later on in this year, China had been re-opened to the English opium traffic by the initial one of the “Unequal Treaties” into which it was coerced by overwhelmingly powerful and insolent and paternalistic Westerners. Trade restrictions were removed. In a decade the trade HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA volume would double. Having been chastened by the lion and unicorn of Great Britain, the Central Kingdom would be obliged for many years to “chase the dragon” for the greater profit of Englishmen (who would eventually be mailing postcards home to their loved ones from Hong Kong, postcards showing picturesque scenes of the indescribable debasement of Orientals, obtained from filthy opium dens).

Let us pause for a moment and savor this situation. Naushon is a remote bucolic island near Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. –And, it was a significant part of the reward some New Englanders gave themselves for the creation of one of the driving forces of our contemporary world, the absolute fury with which the Chinese still contemplate the manner in which their nation had been humiliated during this period! HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Well, but drugs aren’t all bad. For instance, in this year C.W. Long of Jefferson, Georgia first used nitrous oxide gas as an anesthetic during an operation. Some have attested this to be the first such use of any anesthetic during an operation. The effect of shock upon patients had been such a great killer that the rule of thumb of the time was, that if a surgeon took longer than 15 minutes to complete an operation the patient was gonna die. Therefore surgeons needed not only the eye of an eagle, the hand of a lady, and the heart of a lion (the saying in those days), but also the speed of a weasel: it had been said in praise of a particularly swift British sawbones, Dr. Astley Cooper, that:

DENTISTRY For operating with alacrity, and well at the same time, I have never known his equal.

A little more opium, Mr. China? HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Translation of the PILGRIM’S PROGRESS into Chinese.

In this year (as James Legge would belatedly discover) a translation of the TAO TÊ CHING was made, from the Chinese characters into French — but this effort by Stanislas Julien would not be published, it would be stuck into a drawer in England, so there’s not a chance that Henry Thoreau might have been in any way influenced by it.

THOREAU AND CHINA

William Thomas Green Morton left the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery without graduating to study dentistry in Hartford, Connecticut under Dr. Horace Wells, with whom he would share a brief partnership.

Death of Thomas De Quincey’s son Lieutenant Horace De Quincey in China at the age of 22.

January 6, Thursday: Joseph Smith, Jr. “got married with” Agnes Moulton Coolbrith, widow of his brother Don Carlos Smith.

Waldo Emerson delivered the 6th lecture of his series “On The Times” at the Masonic Temple in Boston: “Character.” THE LIST OF LECTURES

Clarence Rivers King was born in Newport, Rhode Island to James Rivers King, a China trader, and Florence Little King. This socially prominent family traced its ancestry accurately or inaccurately to 3 of the signers of the Magna Carta, but Clarence would eventually come to lead a double life, at most times and places acknowledging himself as a white man but –upon his marriage to a young black woman from Georgia, Ada Copeland, and the production of five children of mixed race– while with his family presenting himself as a light-skinned Pullman porter named “James Todd” — revealing his family origins and true name, even to his wife, only on his deathbed. Mrs. Todd, or Mrs. King, born just at the end of the Civil War, would at the point of her death on April 14, 1964 be able to lay claim not only to having been the wife of a white man who had pretended to be a black man, but also to being one of the last of the former American slaves.72

Outbreaks had been continuous throughout Afghanistan, and the British had begun to discuss terms for their withdrawal with Dust Mohammad’s son Akbar Khan, but then the British political agent, Sir William Hay Macnaghten, had been killed during a parlay. On this day some 4,500 British and Indian troops, with 12,000 camp followers, attempted a march out of Kabul, only to be swarmed by bands of Afghans. Left without their protection, Shah Shoja was immediately killed. (This may have generated the newspaper headline mentioned in Melville’s MOBY-DICK; OR, THE WHALE.)

72. Refer to Martha A. Sandweiss’s 2009 Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line (Penguin Press). HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

MOBY-DICK: Finally, I always go to sea as a sailor, because of the wholesome exercise and pure air of the forecastle deck. For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim), so for the most part the Commodore on the quarter-deck gets his atmosphere at second hand from the sailors on the forecastle. He thinks he breathes it first; but not so. In much the same way do the commonalty lead their leaders in many other things, at the same time that the leaders little suspect it. But wherefore it was that after having repeatedly smelt the sea as a merchant sailor, I should now take it into my head to go on a whaling voyage; this the invisible police officer of the Fates, who has the constant surveillance of me, and secretly dogs me, and influences me in some unaccountable way — he can better answer than any one else. And, doubtless, my going on this whaling voyage, formed part of the grand programme of Providence that was drawn up a long time ago. It came in as a sort of brief interlude and solo between more extensive performances. I take it that this part of the bill must have run something like this: “Grand Contested Election for the Presidency of the United States”

“Whaling Voyage by one Ishmael”

“BLOODY BATTLE IN AFGHANISTAN” Though I cannot tell why it was exactly that those stage managers, the Fates, put me down for this shabby part of a whaling voyage, when others were set down for magnificent parts in high tragedies, and short and easy parts in genteel comedies, and jolly parts in farces — though I cannot tell why this was exactly; yet, now that I recall all the circumstances, I think I can see a little into the springs and motives which being cunningly presented to me under various disguises, induced me to set about [Page 6] performing the part I did, besides cajoling me into the delusion that it was a choice resulting from my own unbiased freewill and discriminating judgment.

March 10, Thursday: Chinese troops attempting to recapture Ningpo from the British were beaten back with heavy losses.

On the way from Milan to Bologna, Gaetano Donizetti, who has been silent during the trip, suddenly to the amazement of his companions shouted “Oh, that Nabucco! Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful!”

In Hamburg during his wife Clara Schumann’s concert tour, Robert Schumann left this “undignified situation” to return to Leipzig while Clara continued on to give promised performances in Copenhagen. According to her, this was “the most miserable day of our marriage up to now; we parted, and it seemed to me that I would never see him again.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA May: With reinforcements from India, the fleet under Henry Pottinger took Wu-sung, Shanghai, and what is now Chen-chiang.

July 15, Friday: The Liberator.

July 17, Sunday: British ships began bombarding Chinkiang in China.

July 21,Thursday: British troops assaulted and captured Chinkiang in China.

July 22, Friday: The Liberator.

August 5, Friday: Near Nanking, China, the local Qing-dynasty leaders agreed to negotiate with the irresistible British fleet on their river. Negotiations would take place in a little Jing Hui temple, marking the place from which 5 centuries earlier the famed explorer Cheng Ho had begun his sailing expedition to Mogadishu. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA August 26, Friday: The Liberator.

Britain and China signed a peace treaty.

On this day and the following one Frederick Douglass, Abby Kelley, Erasmus Darwin Hudson, and John A. Collins were lecturing in Rochester, New York. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA August 29, Monday: In Berlin, incidental music to Schmidt’s play Uranias Festmorgen by Albert Lortzing was performed for the initial time. This work celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Urania amateur theatrical company of which Lortzing’s parents had been founding members.

Joseph Smith, Jr. returned to Nauvoo, Illinois from his hideout in Iowa and sent out 300 Mormon elders to travel nationwide, distributing a broadside (that’s a newspaper consisting of 4 pages, made from one folded sheet of paper) full of affidavits and certificates, and giving their own personal word that their leader was not practicing polygamy.

The agreement of January 20, 1841 having been repudiated by both sides but the 1st Opium War having been fought to a conclusion, with the British having occupied Chou-shan Island, Ningpo, Chapu, and Wusung and sailed up the Yangtze to Nanking, Sir Henry Pottinger (as emissary of Lord Palmerston) and Commissioner Qiying, a Manchu mandarin of the Dynasty of Purity (Ch’ing ) of the Central Kingdom signed the 1st of the “Unequal Treaties” between China and the Western colonialists, by which the city of Nanking was forced to capitulate and its indemnity was set at $21,000,000 (65 tons of silver to be delivered by ship to Portsmouth, England during this year and carted directly to the Royal Mint) in compensation for the opium supplies which Chinese authorities had torched. Victoria Island was again ceded in perpetuity to the British:73

The island of Hong Kong shall be possessed in perpetuity by Her Majesty Queen Victoria and her successors, and shall be ruled as they see fit.

According to the political principal known as “lose a few, win a few,” this treaty was signed in the captain’s cabin of the warship HMS Cornwallis (named of course in honor of that English general whose incompetence had caused their loss of the North American continent), while that ship was moored in the Yangtze River off Nanking.

Secretary of State Daniel Webster wrote to the ambassador to France, Lewis Cass: Mr. Webster to General Cass. Department of State, Washington, August 29, 1842. Sir,— You will see by the enclosed the result of the negotiations lately had in this city between this department and Lord Ashburton. The treaty has been ratified by the President and Senate. In communicating to you this treaty, I am directed by the President to draw your particular attention to those articles which relate to the suppression of the African slave-trade. After full and anxious consideration of this very delicate subject, the government of the United States has come to the conclusion which you will see expressed in the President’s message to the Senate accompanying the treaty. Without intending or desiring to influence the policy of other governments on this important subject, this government has reflected on what was due to its own character and position, as the leading maritime power on the American continent, left free to make choice of such means for the fulfilment of its duties as it should deem best suited to its dignity. The result of its reflections has been, that it does not concur in measures which, for whatever benevolent purpose they may be adopted, or with whatever care and moderation they may be exercised, have yet a

73. We are referring here to Victoria island, the land mass itself, not to Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not something which was created as of 1842 by an agreement between England and China. It is something that would be created later by English people whose energies were liberated from the control of England by great distance and by the presence of Chinese people, and by Chinese people whose energies were liberated from the control of China by the presence of English people. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA tendency to place the police of the seas in the hands of a single power. It chooses rather to follow its own laws with its own sanction, and to carry them into execution by its own authority. Disposed to act in the spirit of the most cordial concurrence with other nations for the suppression of the African slave- trade, that great reproach of our times, it deems it to be right, nevertheless, that this action, though concurrent, should be independent, and it believes that from this independence it will derive a greater degree of efficiency. You will perceive, however, that, in the opinion of this government, cruising against slave-dealers on the coast of Africa is not all which is necessary to be done in order to put an end to the traffic. There are markets for slaves, or the unhappy natives of Africa would not be seized, chained, and carried over the ocean into slavery. These markets ought to be shut. And, in the treaty now communicated to you, the high contracting parties have stipulated “that they will unite, in all becoming representations and remonstrances, with any and all powers within whose dominions such markets are allowed to exist; and that they will urge upon all such powers the propriety and duty of closing such markets effectually, at once and for ever.” You are furnished, then, with the American policy in regard to this interesting subject. First, independent but cordially concurrent efforts of maritime states to suppress, as far as possible, the trade on the coast, by means of competent and well- appointed squadrons, to watch the shores and scour the neighboring seas. Secondly, concurrent, becoming remonstrance with all governments who tolerate within their territories markets for the purchase of African negroes. There is much reason to believe that, if other states, professing equal hostility to this nefarious traffic, would give their own powerful concurrence and co-operation to these remonstrances, the general effect would be satisfactory, and that the cupidity and crimes of individuals would at length cease to find both their temptation and their reward in the bosom of Christian states, and in the permission of Christian governments. It will still remain for each government to revise, execute, and make more effectual its own municipal laws against its subjects or citizens who shall be concerned in, or in any way give aid or countenance to others concerned in this traffic. You are at liberty to make the contents of this despatch known to the French government. I have, &c. DANIEL WEBSTER. LEWIS CASS, ESQ., &c., &c., &c. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1843

Observing that we change our administration every 4 years without major bloodshed, Hsü Chi-yü considered Washington DC to personify the Chinese political ideal of “voluntary abdication.”

The silver outflow from Canton reached its peak in this year, with, temporarily, one tael of silver fetching 2,300 cash copper coins.

US sailors and marines from the USS St. Louis were landed in Canton after a clash between Americans and Chinese at the trading post there. US MILITARY INTERVENTIONS

In Canton, Hung Hsiu Ch’üan for the 4th and final time attempted, and flunked, his all-important government Mandarin examinations. When a friend pulled a forgotten book on Christianity off his bookshelf and was looking at it, the book QUANSHI LIANGYAN or GOOD WORDS TO EXHORT THE A GES describing the basic elements of Christianity, by Liang Afa, which had been given him by some Christian missionary or other, the distraught Hung decided that the book explained the experience which he had had under delirium in 1837, when he had failed his examinations for the 3d time. An old man with a golden beard had spoken to him in his dream, telling him that this world was overrun by demons. That old man must have been the Christian God. Then in the dream he had met a middle-aged man. That must have been Jesus Christ. Instead of being a failure in life, a reject, a retard, Hung actually had been selected for a most unique greatness!

Most impressed by the self-servingness of this sort of thinking, Hung proceeded to baptize himself (although, just between you and me and that lamppost over there, I would have preferred that he had proceeded to hang himself).

The New York State Mechanic failed, putting Ephraim George Squier out of a paycheck. He got a job as the editor of the Whig Daily Journal of Hartford, Connecticut. He prepared for publication George Tradescent HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Lay’s THE CHINESE AS THEY ARE; THEIR MORAL AND SOCIAL CHARACTER, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, LANGUAGE: WITH REMARKS ON THEIR ARTS AND SCIENCES, MEDICAL SKILL, THE EXTENT OF MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE, ETC. BY G. TRADESCENT LAY, ESQ., NATURALIST IN BEECHY’S EXPEDITION, LATE RESIDENT AT CANTON, AUTHOR OF “THE VOYAGE OF THE HIMMALEH,” ETC. CONTAINING ALSO, ILLUSTRATIVE AND CORROBORATIVE NOTES, ADDITIONAL CHAPTERS ON THE ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY, ANCIENT AND MODERN INTERCOURSE, POPULATION–GOVERNMENT–CIVILIZATION–EDUCATION–LITERATURE–ETC. OF THE CHINESE. COMPILED FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES. BY E.G. SQUIER. ALBANY: PUBLISHED BY GEORGE JONES, MUSEUM BUILDING. BURGESS AND STRINGER, AND M.Y. BEACH, NEW YORK: REDDING AND CO. BOSTON: G.B. ZEIBER, PHILADELPHIA: WM. TAYLOR, BALTIMORE. THE CHINESE AS THEY ARE

The volume contained many illuminations, such as the following: The head of a Chinese is broad behind and narrow in front, when compared with the general standard of Europeans. If, according to a very general opinion, the forepart of the head represents intellectual capability, the advantage is in our favor; a conclusion which is warranted by everything that research brings to light.

In Hong Kong, the Governor was Sir Henry Pottinger. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Waldo Emerson translated Dante’s VITA NUOVA.

At the end of the journal entries for this year, he listed his recent readings in Oriental materials: “Plotinus; 74 Iamblichus; Synesius; Proclus; (Thomas Taylor’s translations); Thomas Taylor; Sheking ; THE FOUR BOOKS (Chinese Classics); Vishnu Sarna; Saadi; Desatir (Persian).”

Emerson had recorded during this year the fact that “My Chinese book does not forget to record to Confucius, that his nightgown was one length and a half of his body.” He may on some unknown occasions have caught a glimpse of one or another Chinaman and one or another Jew (or one or another giraffe), for he also opinioned in his journal that “The Chinese are as wonderful for their etiquette as the Hebrews for their piety.”

(This is in Volume VI, page 418. The Sage of Concord might of course as well have been expressing an informed opinion that “The lion is as wonderful for its ferocity as the ant for its diligence” or that “The negroes are as wonderful for their sense of rhythm as the English for their sense of propriety”!)

Emerson copied many sentences from the translation by the Reverend D. Collier of THE FOUR BOOKS, published in Malacca, into his journals for inclusion in his later works, and in fact he would insert into almost

74. THE BOOK OF ODES. Presumably this was borrowed from Samuel Gray Ward of Lenox MA, as there is a reference in this year to “Ward’s Chinese book.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA every book he would issue, at one point or another, a few such Chinese sayings, which (I will parenthetically remark) he was deploying clearly for mere purposes of color and never delving into in any interesting manner. In radical contrast with the serious manner in which Henry Thoreau would consider his Confucian extracts, Emerson used such materials as mere “throwaways,” inserted into his materials for reader titillation — for him Chinese wisdom was merely opportunistic as opposed to religious, and was so impoverished by Eastern inertia and quietism that it was not to be taken seriously. Chinese philosophy boiled down to Confucius, and that guy, in Emerson’s view of the matter, had been no originator, no innovator, no creator — but a mere “middle man.” The writings of Confucius, Emerson suggested, were to Eastern philosophy as the writings of General Washington were to Western philosophy — merely a record of practicality and of practice. In this year Emerson made some permissive remarks about the go-ahead spirit of the Americans: EMERSON AND CHINA THOREAU AND CHINA

5. Now these things are so in Nature. All things ascend, and the royal rule of economy is, that it should ascend also, or, whatever we do must always have a higher aim. Thus it is a maxim, that money is another kind of blood. Pecunia alter sanguis: or, the estate of a man is only a larger kind of body, and admits of regimen analogous to his bodily circulations. So there is no maxim of the merchant, e. g., “Best use of money is to pay debts;” “Every business by itself;” “Best time is present time;” “The right investment is in tools of your trade;” or the like, which does not admit of an extended sense. The counting-room maxims liberally expounded are laws of the Universe. The merchant’s economy is a coarse symbol of the soul’s economy. It is, to spend for power, and not for pleasure. It is to invest income; that is to say, to take up particulars into generals; days into integral eras, — literary, emotive, practical, of its life, and still to ascend in its investment. The merchant has but one rule, absorb and invest: he is to be capitalist: the scraps and filings must be gathered back into the crucible; the gas and smoke must be burned, and earnings must not go to increase expense, but to capital again. Well, the man must be capitalist. Will he spend his income, or will he invest? His body and every organ is under the same law. His body is a jar, in which the liquor of life is stored. Will he spend for pleasure? The way to ruin is short and facile. Will he not spend, but hoard for power? It passes through the sacred fermentations, by that law of Nature whereby everything climbs to higher platforms, and bodily vigor becomes mental and moral vigor. The bread he eats is first strength and animal spirits: it becomes, in higher laboratories, imagery and thought; and in still higher results, courage and endurance. This is the right compound interest; this is capital doubled, quadrupled, centupled; man raised to his highest power.

By the Sino-French treaty of Whampoa, the Catholic Church acquired the privilege of constructing churches in China.

Two supplements to the Unequal Treaty of Nanking were negotiated between the Chinese and the British. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Professor Sir William Jackson Hooker’s NOTES ON THE BOTANY OF THE ANTARCTIC VOYAGE OF THE EREBUS AND TERROR.

Publication of the final volume of Professor John Torrey’s A FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA (NY: Wiley & Putnam, 1838-1843), with Professor Asa Gray as a full collaborator. FLORA OF NORTH AMERICA

John Lyons’s A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CULTIVATION OF ORCHIDACEOUS PLANTS (a 2nd edition would arrive in 1845), the 1st book on orchid culture.

Jerome Increase Case, a 24-year-old farmer from upstate New York, introduced a threshing machine. The J.I. Case Company would become the largest thresher producer in the world.

James Robert Ballantyne’s THE PRACTICAL ORIENTAL INTERPRETER, OR HINTS ON THE ART OF TRANSLATING READILY FROM ENGLISH INTO HINDUSTANI AND PERSIAN and CATECHISM OF PERSIAN GRAMMAR (London and Edinburgh).

Robert Fortune made the first of four journeys to China (until 1860), initially for the Royal Horticultural Society, then for the East India Company (he would send 23,892 young tea plants and 17,000 germinated seedlings to northern India), and then for the US government. The tea plants Fortune would send to Washington DC would not succeed, in part due to our preoccupation with civil war. He used the newly devised “Wardian Case,” and the result would be that never before had so many Chinese plants survived all the way to England. He would forward the balloon flower, bleeding heart, golden larch, Chinese fringe tree, cryptomeria, hardy orange, abelia, weigela, winter honeysuckle, and other plants. PLANTS

BOTANIZING

January 16, Monday: At the Anglo-Chinese College in Malacca, China, Tkin Shen and Mêng-mei Ho prepared an English translation THE RAMBLES OF THE EMPEROR CHING TIH IN KËANG NAN: A CHINESE TALE with an introduction by the Reverend James Legge, president of that college. VIEW THE PAGE IMAGES

April: Opening of the display of Chinese artifacts of Nathan Dunn, at Hyde Park Corner in London. Until May 1851, passers-by would be able to view a set of utensils intended for the smoking of opium, and shoes intended for tiny bound feet.

April: In this month and the following one, two articles on Buddhist thought by Professor Eugène Burnouf were appearing in La Revue Indépendante, a prominent French journal which was presumably being stocked by Miss Elizabeth Palmer Peabody at her bookstore in downtown Boston. This month’s article was entitled Fragments des Prédications de Buddha. Professor Burnouf was the 1st to translate the LOTUS SUTRA from Sanskrit into a European language and eventually Henry Thoreau would possess a personal copy of the 1852 edition of his LE LOTUS DE LA BONNE LOI, TRADUIT DU SANSCRIT, ACCOMPAGNÉ D’UN COMMENTAIRE ET DE VINGT ET UN MÉMOIRES RELATIFS AU BUDDHISME, PAR M. E. BURNOUF (Paris: Imprimerie nationale). An English translation of this French translation of Chapter V of the Sanskrit of THE LOTUS SUTRA would appear in THE DIAL for January 1844, and presumably either Thoreau or Peabody, busy as beavers, prepared that translation — which would amount to the very 1st presentation of any part of this essential Buddhist scripture in the HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA English language! THOREAU AND CHINA

Thoreau edited this issue (Volume III, Number 4) of THE DIAL. THE DIAL, APRIL 1843

“A. Bronson Alcott’s Works,” by “C.L.” (Charles Lane), appeared in this issue on pages 417-454 (thanks to Thoreau’s editorial pruning, it is considered the best short account of Alcott’s work).

The issue carried 21 quotes in its “Ethnical Scriptures: Sayings of Confucius” section, but these are not the ones which Thoreau would (probably later in this same year) retranslate from the French of M.J. Pauthier’s CONFUCIUS ET MENCIUS. Thoreau was still relying upon English editions, at least three of which he had at this point perused, and the translation he was relying upon at this point was one made in 1809 by the Reverend Joshua J. Marshman.75 JOSHUA J. MARSHMAN

Heaven speaks, but what language does it use to preach to men, that there is a sovereign principle from which all things depend; a sovereign principle which makes them act and move? Its motion is its language; it reduces the seasons to their time; it agitates nature, it makes it produce. This silence is eloquent. (ANALECTS or LUN-YÜ, one of THE FOUR BOOKS), Book XVII, Chapter 19)

MENCIUS LIGHT FROM CHINA

75. We know he read the English translation by Father Couplet, a Jesuit in China from 1658 to 1680, which had been in 1687 the very first notice of the writings of Confucius for an European audience, in an 1835 edition, plus two by a Baptist missionary in India in 1809, the Reverend Joshua J. Marshman, and one done in 1828 by David Collie, a member of the London Missionary Society who was at one time the principal of the Protestant Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Ethnical Scriptures. Sayings Of Confucius.

1. Chee says, if in the morning I hear about the right way, and in the evening die, I can be happy. 2. A man’s life is properly connected with virtue. The life of the evil man is preserved by mere good fortune. 3. Coarse rice for food, water to drink, and the bended arm for a pillow — happiness may be enjoyed even in these. Without virtue, riches and honor seem to me like a passing cloud. 4. A wise and good man was Hooi. A piece of bamboo was his dish, a cocoa-nut his cup, his dwelling a miserable shed. Men could not sustain the sight of his wretchedness; but Hooi did not change the serenity of his mind. A wise and good man was Hooi. 5. Chee-koong said, Were they discontented? The sage replies, They sought and obtained complete virtue;—how then could they be discontented? 6. Chee says, Yaou is the man who, in torn clothes or common apparel, sits with those dressed in furred robes without feeling shame. 7. To worship at a temple not your own is mere flattery. 8. Chee says, grieve not that men know not you; grieve that you are ignorant of men. 9. How can a man remain concealed! How can a man remain concealed! Have no friend unlike yourself. 10. Chee-Yaou enquired respecting filial piety. Chee says, the filial piety of the present day is esteemed merely ability to nourish a parent. This care is extended to a dog or a horse. Every domestic animal can obtain food. Beside veneration, what is the difference? 11. Chee entered the great temple, frequently enquiring about things. One said, who says that the son of the Chou man understands propriety? In the great temple he is constantly asking questions. Chee heard and replied– “This is propriety.” 12. Choy-ee slept in the afternoon. Chee says, rotten wood is unfit for carving: a dirty wall cannot receive a beautiful color. To Ee what advice can I give? 13. A man’s transgression partakes of the nature of his company. Having knowledge, to apply it; not having knowledge, to confess your ignorance; this is real knowledge. 14. Chee says, to sit in silence and recall past ideas, to study and feel no anxiety, to instruct men without weariness; —have I this ability within me? 15. In forming a mountain, were I to stop when one basket of earth is lacking, I actually stop; and in the same manner were I to add to the level ground though but one basket of earth daily, I really go forward. 16. A soldier of the kingdom of Ci lost his buckler; and having HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA sought after it a long time in vain; he comforted himself with this reflection; “A soldier has lost his buckler, but a soldier of our camp will find it; he will use it.” 17. The wise man never hastens, neither in his studies nor his words; he is sometimes, as it were, mute; but when it concerns him to act and practice virtue, he, as I may say, precipitates all. 18. The truly wise man speaks little; he is little eloquent. I see not that eloquence can be of very great use to him. 19. Silence is absolutely necessary to the wise man. Great speeches, elaborate discourses, pieces of eloquence, ought to be a language unknown to him; his actions ought to be his language. As for me, I would never speak more. Heaven speaks, but what language does it use to preach to men, that there is a sovereign principle from which all things depend; a sovereign principle which makes them to act and move? Its motion is its language; it reduces the seasons to their time; it agitates nature; it makes it produce. This silence is eloquent.76

76. This last of the Marshman translations which Thoreau inserted into THE DIAL is now considered to have been a Taoist inclusion in the Confucian ANALECTS, so we cannot ever allege that Thoreau had no contact whatever with Taoism. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Dark Ages.

WE should read history as little critically as we consider the landscape, and be more interested by the atmospheric tints, and various lights and shades which the intervening spaces create, than by its groundwork and composition. It is the morning now turned evening and seen in, the west, — the same sun, but a new light and atmosphere. Its beauty is like the sunset; not a fresco painting on a wall, flat and bounded, but atmospheric and roving or free. In reality history fluctuates as the face of the landscape from morning to evening. What is of moment is its hue and color. Time hides no treasures; we want not its then but its now. We do not complain that the mountains in the horizon are blue and indistinct; they are the more like the heavens. Of what moment are facts that can be lost, — which need to be commemorated? The monument of death will outlast the memory of the dead. The pyramids do not tell the tale that was confided to them; the living fact commemorates itself. Why look in the dark for light? Strictly speaking, the historical societies have not recovered one fact from oblivion, but are themselves instead of the fact that is lost. The researcher is more memorable than the researched. The crowd stood admiring the mist, and the dim outlines of the trees seen through it, when one of their number advanced to explore the phenomenon, and with fresh admiration, all eyes were turned on his dimly retreating figure. It is astonishing with how little cooperation of the societies, the past is remembered. Its story has indeed had a different muse than has been assigned it. There is a good instance of the manner in which all history began, in Alwakidi’s Arabian Chronicle. “I was informed by Ahmed Almatin Aljorhami, who had it from Rephaa Ebn Kais Alamiri, who had it from Saiph Ebn Fabalah Alchatquarmi, who had it from Thabet Ebn Alkamah, who said he was present at the action.” These fathers of history were not anxious to preserve, but to learn the fact; and hence it was not forgotten. Critical acumen is exerted in vain to uncover the past; the past cannot be presented; we cannot know what we are not. But one veil hangs over past, present, and future, and it is the province of the historian to find out not what was, but what is. Where a battle has been fought, you will find nothing but the bones of men and beasts; where a battle is being fought there are hearts beating. We will sit on a mound and muse, and not try to make these skeletons stand on their legs attain. Does nature remember, think you, that they were men, or not rather that they are bones ? Ancient history has an air of antiquity; it should be more modern. It is written as if the spectator should be thinking of the backside of the picture on the wall, or as if the author expected the dead would be his readers, and wished to detail to them their own experience. Men seem anxious to accomplish an orderly retreat through the centuries, earnestly rebuilding the works behind, as they are battered down by the encroachments of time; but while they loiter, they and their works both fall a prey to the arch enemy. It has neither the venerableness of antiquity, nor the freshness of the modern. It does as if it would go to the beginning of things, which natural history might with reason assume to do; but consider the Universal History, HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA and then tell us— when did burdock and plantain sprout first ? It has been so written for the most part, that the times it describes are with remarkable propriety called dark ages. They are dark, as one has observed, because we are so in the dark about them. The sun rarely shines in history, what with the dust and confusion; and when we meet with any cheering fact which implies the presence of this luminary, we excerpt and modernize it. As when we read in the history of the Saxons, that Edwin of Northumbria “caused stakes to be fixed in the highways where he had seen a clear spring,” and “brazen dishes were chained to them, to refresh the weary sojourner, whose fatigues Edwin had himself experienced.” This is worth all Arthur’s twelve battles. But it is fit the past should be dark; though the darkness is not so much a quality of the past, as of tradition. It is not a distance of time but a distance of relation, which makes thus dusky its memorials. What is near to the heart of this generation is fair and bright still. Greece lies outspread fair and sunshiny in floods of light, for there is the sun and day-light in her literature and art, Homer does not allow us to forget that the sun shone — nor Phidias, nor the Parthenon. Yet no era has been wholly dark, nor will we too hastily submit to the historian, and congratulate ourselves on a blaze of light. If we could pierce the obscurity of those remote years we should find it light enough; only there is not our day. — Some creatures are made to see in the dark. — There has always been the same amount of light in the world. The new and missing stars, the comets and eclipses do not affect the general illumination, for only our glasses appreciate them. The eyes of the oldest fossil remains, they tell us, indicate that the same laws of light prevailed then as now. Always the laws of light are the same, but the modes and degrees of seeing vary. The gods are partial to no era, but steadily shines their light in the heavens, while the eye of the beholder is turned to stone. There was but the eye and the sun from the first. The ages have not added a new ray to the one, nor altered a fibre of the other. T. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA THE CULT OF NOTHINGNESS

Here is a review describing how Buddhism was being mis- appreciated, in the West during Thoreau’s lifetime. It is important to understand that Thoreau had no share whatever in any of the various mis-appreciations of Buddhism which are here described. Roger-Pol Droit. THE CULT OF NOTHINGNESS: THE PHILOSOPHERS AND THE BUDDHA. Translated by David Streight and Pamela Vohnson. Chapel Hill NC: U of North Carolina P, 2003 Reviewed for H_Buddhism by David R. Loy, Bunkyo University Published by H_Buddhism in December 2003 In May this year media headlines announced the discovery that Buddhists are happier. Smaller print summarized the results of new research into the effects of meditation on brain activity, behavior, and even immune responses to flu vaccine. Richard Davidson, director of the Laboratory for Affective Neuroscience at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and a participant in Dharamsala meetings with the Dalai Lama, used new scanning techniques to examine the brain activity of experienced meditators. MRI scanners and EEGs showed dramatic changes in brain function, including high activity in brain centers associated with positive emotions. Similar results were also achieved with new meditators. Although still provisional, these findings led the philosopher Owen Flanagan to comment in New Scientist magazine: The most reasonable hypothesis is that there’s something about conscientious Buddhist practice that results in the kind of happiness we all seek.77 Such scientific results show a rather different perception of Buddhism than the understanding that horrified Westerners throughout most of the nineteenth century. Buddhism today is usually seen as a kind of pragmatic therapy that cures or reduces suffering, but from approximately 1820 to 1890 –the period of focus for Droit’s book– Europe was haunted by the nightmare of an alternative religion that denied existence and recommended annihilation. THE CULT OF NOTHINGNESS: THE PHILOSOPHERS AND THE BUDDHA summarizes and analyzes the history of this (mis)understanding. He concludes that it had less to do with the rudimentary state of Buddhist studies during that period than with Europe’s fears about its own incipient nihilism, which would later ripen into the horrors of the twentieth century. “Thinking they were talking about the Buddha, Westerners were talking about themselves” (p. 21). At the end of the eighteenth century, new translations of Indian texts were exciting European intellectuals, giving rise to hopes for another Renaissance greater than the one that had resulted from the late-medieval rediscovery of Greek texts. But it never happened. About 1820, when scholarly research first clarified the distinction from Brahmanism, “Buddhism” became constructed as a religion that, amazingly, worshiped nothingness, and 77. The research results are summarized in Dharma Life 21 (Autumn 2003): pp. 8-9. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA European commentators reacted in horror. In their descriptions of nirvana, earlier scholars such as Francis Buchanan and Henry Thomas Colebrooke had been careful to deny that it was equivalent to annihilation. Their influence, however, was overwhelmed by the philosophical impact of Hegel and later the unsurpassed authority of Eugene Burnouf at the Collège de France. Hegel established the strong link with Nichts that would endure throughout most of the century. Instead of benefiting from the best scholarship then available, he relied on earlier sources such as de Guignes and the Abbots Banier and Grosier, evidently because their views of Buddhism fit better into his equation of pure Being with pure Nothingness. In Hegel’s system this equation signified the advent of interiority, a “lack of determination” that was not really atheistic or nihilistic in the modern sense — more like the negative theology of Rhineland mystics such as Meister Eckhart. Later, Burnouf’s INTRODUCTION A L’HISTOIRE DU BUDDHISME INDIEN (1844) was immensely influential because it provided the first rigorous study of the Buddha’s teachings, thus taking Buddhist studies to a new level of sophistication, but one which firmly established the nihilistic specter: despite making cautious qualifications due to the West’s still-limited knowledge, Burnouf did not hesitate to identify nirvana with total annihilation. Burnouf’s scholarly objectivity was soon supplemented by apologetic and missionary ardor. Catholic preachers such as Ozanam declared that, behind his serene mask, the Buddha was Satan himself in a new incarnation. The Buddha’s cult of nothingness aroused in Felix Neve’s soul the need to liberate Buddhist peoples from their errors, weakness, and immobility. Victor Cousins, who played a major role in establishing philosophical education in mid-century France, and who proclaimed that Sanskrit texts were worthy of Western philosophical attention, nevertheless followed Burnouf in reacting against the Buddhist system: it was not only an anti- religion but a counterworld, a threat to order. His follower Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire took a further step and denied that such a “deplorable and absurd” faith could be philosophically relevant, even asking whether such a strange phenomenon meant that human nature in India “is still the same nature we feel within ourselves,” since Buddhism’s “gloomy meaning” led only to “moral suicide” (pp. 122-23). Ernest Renan called Buddha “the atheistic Christ of India” and attacked his revolting “Gospel of Nihilism” (p. 120). Schopenhauer discovered in Buddhism many of his favorite themes –renunciation, compassion, negation of the will to live– but relatively late, so, according to Droit, Buddhism had no significant influence on his system. However, his annexation of Buddhist principles brought the Buddhist challenge back to Europe, from missionary conversion to counteracting home-grown nihilism. Ever the philosopher, however, Schopenhauer was careful to say that nirvana could only be nothingness “for us,” since the standpoint of our own existence does not allow us to say anything more about it. Would that other commentators had been so sensible! The nihilistic understanding of Buddhism had a significant impact on Arthur de Gobineau’s Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (1853), which would become enormously influential HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA for the Nazis and other twentieth-century racists. For Gobineau, humanity was rushing to perdition and nothingness due to degeneration caused by intermingling of the races. He viewed Buddhism as the effort of an inferior people to overthrow the racially superior Aryan Brahmins. The failure of this attempt – the fact that Buddhism was largely eliminated from India– was somewhat inconsistent with his own historical pessimism, which accepted the inevitability of decline; but it may have encouraged the Nazis to attempt their own program of extermination for the sake of racial purity. Nietzsche, too, accepted the view of Buddhism as aspiring to nothingness, although for him it was the similarity with Christianity, not the difference, that was the problem. Despite the undoubted value of Buddhism as a moderate and hygienic way of living that denied transcendence and viewed the world from more rigorous psychological and physiological perspectives, in the end the choice is between Buddhism, Schopenhauer, India, weakness, and peaceful inactivity, or strength, conflict, Europe, pain, and tragedy. Buddhism’s spread in Europe was unfortunate, Nietzsche believed, since “Nostalgia for nothingness is the negation of tragic wisdom, its opposite” (p. 148). About 1864 the annihilationist view of Buddhism began to decline. Carl F. Koppen’s THE RELIGION OF THE BUDDHA (2 vols., 1857- 59), very influential in the 1860s and 70s, emphasized the Buddha’s ethical revolution, which affirmed a human deliverance and proclaimed human equality. Although literary fascination with the worship of nothingness continued, by the early 1890s emphasis was on Buddhism as a path of knowledge and wisdom, a “neo-Buddhist” view attacked by a still-active Burnouf. In place of Christian apologetics, there was a growing tendency to think of different religions as converging, as Vivekananda argued at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago (although elsewhere he imagined Buddhism as responsible for various spiritual degenerations). As Droit summarizes: “The cult of nothingness was ending.... The time of wars was soon to come. Another cult of nothingness was beginning” (p. 160). He argues persuasively that the issue at stake was always Europe’s own identity. With “Buddhism” Europe constructed a mirror in which it dared not recognize itself. (Here perhaps Droit could have strengthened his case with some more reflections on Darwin, the death of God, and Europe’s own hopes for/fears of a religion of Reason without transcendence.) When the question of the Buddha’s atheism arose, it was the atheism of the Europeans that was really in question. No one really believed, and almost no one ever said, that the beliefs of the Buddhists on the other side of the world were going to come and wreak havoc among the souls of the West. It was not a conversion, a corrosion, a “contamination” of any kind that was threatening, coming from outside. It was in Europe itself that the enemy, and the danger, were to be found. (p. 163) This was not only a threat to the foundations of one’s personal belief-system, but a challenge that threatened to undermine social order. “The nothingness of order corresponded to the nothingness of being. Once again, this nothingness was not the equivalent of a pure and simple absence. It was supposed to undo and disorganize. It was dangerous because it shattered, it leveled, it instigated anarchy” (p. 165). HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Tragically, the decline of this nihilistic view of Buddhism was accompanied by the unprecedented triumph of a more active nihilism in the following century, with well over a hundred million war-dead, two-thirds of them civilian non-combatants. Today, to say it again, Buddhism for us has become a pragmatic and non-metaphysical kind of therapy that reduces suffering. But how confident should we be about this view, given how well it reflects the postmodern West’s own pragmatic, anti- metaphysical, therapeutic self-understanding? If we cannot leap over our own shadow, must we resign ourselves to “misinterpretations” of Buddhism that always reflect our own prejudices? Or is “Buddhism” better understood as the still- continuing history of its interpretations? Interpretations that must reflect our prejudices because they reflect our own needs. THE CULT OF NOTHINGNESS: THE PHILOSOPHERS AND THE BUDDHA concludes with a 65-page chronological bibliography of Western works on Buddhism, most of it derived from a more extensive (15,073 titles!) bibliography compiled by Shinsho Hanayama and published by the Hokuseido Press in 1961. Droit claims that his own bibliography is almost complete for 1638-1860, omitting only more specialized works on archaeology, philology, etc. for 1860- 1890. The translation is clear and fluent, although I have not compared it with the French original. And, although not a specialist in this field, I do not doubt that this work is indispensable to anyone studying the history of the Western reception of Buddhism.

June/July: Waldo Emerson to his journal:

CHINESE The Chinese are as wonderful for their etiquette as the Hebrews for their piety. Those men who are noised all their life time PHOTOGRAPHY as on the edge of some great discovery, never discover anything. But nobody ever heard of M. Daguerre until the Daguerrotype appeared. And now I do not know who invented the railroad. HISTORY OF RR We used to read in our textbooks of natural philosophy an illustration of the porosity of bodies, from a barrel of cannon balls, whose interstices were filled with grapeshot, whose interstices again were filled with small shot, and theirs again with powder. It is an emblem of nature whose problem seems to have been to see how she could crowd in the most life into the world & for every class of eaters which she inserted, she adds another class of eaters to prey on them, & tucked in musquitoes among the last like an accommodating stage-coachman, who, when twelve insides are jammed down solid, puts in a child at the window, & guesses there will be room for that. Fools & clowns & sots make the fringes of every one’s tapestry of life, & give a certain reality to the picture. What could we do in Concord without Bigelow’s & Wesson’s barrooms & their dependencies. What without such fixtures as Uncle Sol and old Moore who sleeps in Dr Hurd’s barn? And the red charity house over the brook? Tragedy & comedy always go hand in hand. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

June 26, Monday: By an exchange of instruments, the governments of the Central Kingdom and of the outer barbarians ratified the Treaty of Nanjing of August 29, 1842. Hong Kong was created a British crown colony.

July: The British considered that Canton had been declared open to them — but Chinese locals still were obstinately resisting the gwailo’s entry inside that walled city’s wall.

November 7, Tuesday morning: A school was being taught by Joseph C. Cole in the hall above the Red Brick Store, a very warm and pleasant room, and Elders Willard Richards and William W. Phelps needed this room so that they might continue working on the Prophet’s history undisturbed. They moved the tables out of that room, but Mr. Cole moved them back in so they went to Joseph Smith, Jr.’s mansion to complain. The Prophet determined that their reasons were good and instructed them to take the room and advise this schoolteacher that he would need to look out for himself. MORMONISM

The Treaty of Nanking, by which the island of Hong Kong had been obtained by Great Britain on August 9, 1842 –which incidentally was the initial such treaty document to be photocopied– was made available to the public in English in the London Gazette (the document, in both English and Chinese, would be printed in Canton in the Chinese Repository for August 1844).78

The island of Hong Kong shall be possessed in perpetuity by Her Majesty Queen Victoria and her successors, and shall be ruled as they see fit.

November 7, Tuesday, 1843: When Ossian personifies the sun and addresses him, it is unnecessary to suppose, as his editor does, that he believed the sun to be an animated being,” like the deer or lion. Wherein are we more believers in a God than the heathen, with their mysterious magic rites? as if one name were not as good as another. It is time to have done with these follies. I confess to more sympathy with the Druidical and Scandinavian, as handed down to us, than with the actual creeds of any church in Christendom. They have been reproached for worshipping the ghosts of their fathers rather than any unsubstantial forms; but do we not worship the ghosts of our fathers? It is the characteristic of all religion and wisdom to substitute being for seeming, and to detect the anima or soul in everything. It is merely an evidence of inner faith when God is practically believed to be omnipresent. None of the heathen are too heathenish for me but those who hold no intercourse with their god. I love the vigorous faith of those heathen who sternly believed something. I say to these modern believers, “Don’t interrupt those men’s prayers.” How much more do the modems know about God and human life than the ancients? the English than the Chaldeans, or than the Tartars? Does English theology contain the recent discoveries? Ossian feels and asserts the dignity of the bard. His province is to record the deeds of heroes. I straightway seize the unfutile tales And send them down in faithful verse. An heroic deed is his star in the night. The simple, impressive majesty of human life as seen through his mists, is that Ossian we know and remember. Who has discovered any higher morality than this? any truer philosophy? — a simple, brave, persevering life adorned with heroic deeds. The reserved strength of Ossian, and moral superiority to most poets of what is styled a barbarous era, appears in the fact that he can afford to pass over the details of the battle, leaving the heroism to be imagined &om what has already been described of the character of the hero, while he hastens to hint at the result. Most heroic poets of a rude period delight mainly in the mere sound of blows and the flowing of blood. But 0ssian has already described the result of the battle when he has minted the character of the heroes. See an example in Callon and Colvala: When I heard who the damsel was Frequent dropped the warrior’s tears. 78. We are referring here to Victoria island, the land mass itself, not to Hong Kong. Hong Kong is not something which was created as of 1842 by an agreement between England and China. It is something that would be created later by English people whose energies were liberated from the control of England by great distance and by the presence of Chinese people, and by Chinese people whose energies were liberated from the control of China by the presence of English people. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

The final page of the Chinese version of the treaty document HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA I blessed the radiant barn of youth, And bade the bard advance. Dweller of the mountain cave, Why should Ossian speak of the dead? They are now forgot in their land, And their tombs are seen no more, etc.; or in Ca-lodin: We engaged, and the enemy won; Or in Croma: We fought down the narrow vale; The enemy fled; Romarr fell by my sword. No poet has done such justice to the island of foggy fame. What a contrast between the stern and desolate poetry of Ossian and that of Chaucer and the early English bards! The bard indeed seems to have lost much of his dignity and the sacredness of his profession. He does not impose upon us. He has lost all his sternness and bardic fun, and but conceives the deed which the other has prepared to perform. It is a step from the forest and crag to the fireside, — from the hut of the Gael or Stonehenge with its circles of stones to the house of the Englishman. No hero — stands at the door, prepared to break forth into song or heroic actions, but a homely Englishman who has begun to cultivate the comforts of a roof; or a studious gentleman who practises the art of song. He possibly may not receive us. There is not room for all mankind about his hearth. He docs not love all things, but a few. I see there a yellow fireside blaze, and hear the crackling fuel, and expect such heroism as consists with a comfortable life. In the oldest poems only the most simple and enduring features of humanity are seen; such essential parts of a man as Stonehenge exhibits of a temple. We see the circles of stone, and the upright shafts of the man; we cannot tell whether this was civilized or savage; truly it was neither. For these simple, necessary traits are before and after civilization and are superior to it. All the culture that had a beginning must in the world’s history have an end. It is like the fashions of France; like the tricks taught to a few tame bears and monkeys. How wise we are! how ignorant the savage! we with our penknife with a. hundred blades, he with his gnarled club. Ask his senses if they are not well fed, if his life is not well earned. When we come to the pleasant English verse it seems as if the storm had all cleared away, and it were never to thunder and lighten any more. These stern events are traditionary. We darkly behold (in the poetry of the obscurest eras) the forms of men, —such as can be seen afar through the mist, — no costume, no dialect, but for language you have a tongue itself. As for costume — we can dispense with that, —the skins of beasts or bark of trees are always to be had, — what if the man is naked? The figurative parts of Ossian are like Isaiah and the Psalms, — the same use is made of gaunt Nature. He uses but few and simple images; but they are drawn from such objects as are familiar to men in all ages. To the poet who can use them greatly in his song, and make them convey his thoughts, the elements and stars seem to be nearer and more friendly. And other men involuntarily relinquish to him somewhat of their claim on Nature. The sun and the sea and the mists are his more than ours. Let two stand on the highway, and — it shall be known that the sun belongs to one rather than to the other; the one will be found to claim, while the other simply retains, possession. The winds blow for one more than another; and on numerous occasions the uncertain or unworthy possessors silently relinquish their right in them. The most doubtful claimants have paid their money and taken a deed of their birthright, but the real owner is forever known to all men wherever he goes, and no one disputes his claim. For he cannot help using and deriving the profit, while to the dishonest possessor an estate is as idle as his parchment deed of it, and that is all he has purchased. Wherever the owner goes, inanimate things will fly to him and adhere. What a fame was it that these Ossianic bards and heroes sought? To Fingal, Swaran says: The hunter coming from the hills, As he rests on a tomb, will say: Here the mighties, Fingal and Swaran, Joined battle, with their hundred bands. Thus will the weary hunter speak And our fame will abide forever. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1844

In Peking, Li Hung-chang was beginning his career of service to the central government of China.

The Baptist Reverend Issachar J. Roberts was allowed to live outside the restricted “factory” area in Canton (there’s always a first time for things to happen).

Upon the conclusion of the Opium War between Great Britain and China, Caleb Cushing led a formal mission to China and brokered a Treaty of Wangxia, securing trading privileges for American merchants and opening new Chinese ports to American vessels. Dr. Elisha Kent Kane served aboard the Brandywine during this expedition.

Wei Yuan printed his ILLUSTRATED GAZETTEER OF THE MARITIME NATIONS, an attempt to engage with China’s failure in the war of 1839-1842. The explanation would be proposed, that Jesus must have had the Confucian canon translated into Latin, and must have used this as the basis for his new Christian religion.79

79. An early manifestation of the ever-popular idea, that China originated civilization. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA The historian George Bancroft, from his summer “cottage” Roseclyffe at Newport (see following screen), weighed into Rhode Island’s “Dorr War” on the side of Governor Thomas Wilson Dorr. BANCROFT AND DORR

The Reverend John Stetson Barry began to serve the Universalist congregation of Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

At the foot of Meeting Street at the corner of Town Street, the Friends put what had been their 2d meetinghouse in Providence (Moshasuck), Rhode Island on heavy sledges and had it tugged (by a team of horses, we are told, although perhaps it was oxen) over snow down Town Street, then up Wickenden Street on Fox Point, and then uphill to 77 Hope Street, where it became a 2-family residence. Thus its century-and-a-quarter old foundation was cleared, to hold up the west half of a new larger meetinghouse (the east half of this 3d structure would be on top of a crawl space). This 3d meeting house would last us 112 years, until the city of Providence needed a central site for a proposed new Fire Station. Another site would be available to the city, but a brick building on it would be more expensive to clear and its location between North Main Street and Canal Street would HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA offer inferior access for fire equipment. So we would sell our lot to the City, and erect a 4th-generation brick meetinghouse with a slate roof at the top of College Hill, at the corner of Olney and Morris on Friend Moses Brown’s donated property, in about 1952.

Belatedly recognizing the dangers of freebasing in your home kitchen in the presence of your children, Perry Davis purchased a building on Pond Street in which to mix up his patent vegetable painkiller consisting of opiates and ethanol. It would be asserted that freebie “cases of Davis’ medicine were shipped with every Baptist missionary bound for India and China.”

(Doesn’t that seem a bit like carrying coal to Newcastle? But it is not at all unusual –or so I have heard– for drug pushers to offer young people free samples in order to get them on the hook.)

In South China, the newly self-baptized “Christian” Hung Hsiu Ch’üan and those of his persuasion were destroying the tablets to Confucius in the village schools in which they were teaching, and were of course as a consequence of this being terminated, whereupon he and his buddy Feng Yün-shan went off together on a preaching mission into the province of Kwangsi. Hung eventually would make himself the T’ien-wang, the Heavenly King, of the Chinese Christian movement that had been nurtured there by Feng, while Feng would remain the movement’s Nan-wang or Southern King and general of the advance guard. Setting out to do good, they would indeed do well, including the accumulation of quite sizeable harems.80 In “Character” in the collection of essays which Waldo Emerson published in this year, he commented that he found it more credible “that one man should know heaven, as the Chinese say, than that so many men should know the world” (whatever that may mean), and then went on to cite the context in which he had discovered this supposedly Chinese “knows heaven” idiom: “The virtuous prince confronts the gods, without any misgiving. He waits a hundred ages till a sage comes, and does not doubt. He who confronts the gods, without any misgiving, knows heaven; he who waits a hundred ages until a sage comes, without doubting, knows men. Hence the virtuous prince moves, and for

80. The harems did not constitute the offensiveness which the white missionaries to China found so utterly offensive. The abomination committed by the Chinese Christian movement was that instead of remaining under the paternal guidance of the kindly white fathers from the other side of the planet, they began to provide themselves with yellow ministers of the gospel of their own local manufacture. You see, white overlordship wasn’t an incidental and temporary artifact of the missionary position, it was its essential element. It wasn’t the Apostles’ Creed which was the whole banana, it wasn’t the Lord’s Prayer which was the whole banana, it wasn’t the Sermon on the Mount which was the whole banana, and it wasn’t who got or who didn’t get a harem which was the whole banana. The missionary position, which is to say, white overlordship, was the whole banana. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA ages shows empire the way.” EMERSON AND CHINA

In “Experience” in that collection of essays published in this year, Waldo Emerson quoted the sage Mencius in urging us to achieve maximum power in life by “going with the flow” of our natural energies, so to speak: Fortune, Minerva, Muse, Holy Ghost, — these are quaint names, too narrow to cover this unbounded substance. The baffled intellect must still kneel before this cause, which refuses to be named, — ineffable cause, which every fine genius has essayed to represent by some emphatic symbol, as, Thales by water, Anaximenes by air, Anaxagoras by () thought, Zoroaster by fire, Jesus and the moderns by love: and the metaphor of each has become a national religion. The Chinese Mencius has not been the least successful in his generalization. “I fully understand language,” he said, “and nourish well my vast-flowing vigor.” — “I beg to ask what you call vast-flowing vigor?” — said his companion. “The explanation,” replied Mencius, “is difficult. This vigor is supremely great, and in the highest degree unbending. Nourish it correctly, and do it no injury, and it will fill up the vacancy between heaven and earth. This vigor accords with and assists justice and reason, and leaves no hunger.” — In our more correct writing, we give to this generalization the name of Being, and thereby confess that we have arrived as far as we can go. Suffice it for the joy of the universe, that we have not arrived at a wall, but at interminable oceans. Our life seems not present, so much as prospective; not for the affairs on which it is wasted, but as a hint of this vast-flowing vigor. Most of life seems to be mere advertisement of faculty: information is given us not to sell ourselves cheap; that we are very great. So, in particulars, our greatness is always in a tendency or direction, not in an action. It is for us to believe in the rule, not in the exception. The noble are thus known from the ignoble. So in accepting the leading of the sentiments, it is not what we believe concerning the immortality of the soul, or the like, but the universal impulse to believe, that is the material circumstance, and is the principal fact in the history of the globe. Shall we describe this cause as that which works directly? The spirit is not helpless or needful of mediate organs. It has plentiful powers and direct effects. I am explained without explaining, I am felt without acting, and where I am not. Therefore all just persons are satisfied with their own praise. They refuse to explain themselves, and are content that new actions should do them that office. They believe that we communicate without speech, and above speech, and that no right action of ours is quite unaffecting to our friends, at whatever distance; for the influence of action is not to be measured by miles. Why should I fret myself, because a circumstance has occurred, which hinders my presence where I was expected? If I am not at the meeting, my presence where I am, should be as useful to the commonwealth of friendship and wisdom, as would be my presence in that place. I exert the same quality of power in all places. Thus journeys the mighty Ideal before us; it never was known to fall into the rear. No man ever came to an experience which was satiating, but his good is tidings of a better. Onward and onward! In liberated moments, HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA we know that a new picture of life and duty is already possible; the elements already exist in many minds around you, of a doctrine of life which shall transcend any written record we have. The new statement will comprise the skepticisms, as well as the faiths of society, and out of unbeliefs a creed shall be formed. For, skepticisms are not gratuitous or lawless, but are limitations of the affirmative statement, and the new philosophy must take them in, and make affirmations out-side of them, just as much as it must include the oldest beliefs.

The Growth of the White Community in Shanghai

1844 50

1846 134

1848 159

1849 175

1850 210

1851 265

1854 250

1860 569

1865 5,129 (due to foreign troops fight- ing the Taipings)

In Hong Kong, the Governor was Sir John Davis.

The college supervised by the Reverend James Legge at Malacca, the Anglo-Chinese College, was moved to Hong Kong. A Chinese Christian, Keuh Agong, accompanied the Reverend on this move. Legge would be residing in that coastal British protectorate for nearly 3 decades. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA In this year appeared two German versions of the TAO TÊ CHING of Lao-tze that, according to the Reverend James Legge, were very different from each other.

CHINA THOREAU AND CHINA

(We don’t know that Henry Thoreau came across either of these.) HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA April: John James Dixwell (would he have been a descendant of the John Dixwell AKA James Davids who had been a regicide of King Charles I but had managed to marry and live out his life unmolested in New Haven, Connecticut?) arranged for William Gardner to build two clipper ships at Baltimore, one a 140-ton schooner to be named the Dart, to be used as a coaster making opium deliveries along the China coast, and the other a 200-ton brig (actually it would weigh in at 209 tons displacement) to be named the Frolic, equipped with hermaphrodite rigging and sails, which is to say, square rigged on the foremast but fore-and-aft rigged on the mainmast, to be ready for a China run by about the beginning of September.81 I have tried to describe a world system that ultimately linked Pomo Indians with Boston businessmen, Baltimore shipbuilders, Bombay opium merchants, smugglers on the coast of China, and newly rich consumers in Gold Rush California. What follows, then, is a tale about a little known and awkward chapter in American history: a story of American participation in the opium trade. Early in the spring of 1844, George Basil Dixwell wrote from Canton, China, to his brother, John James Dixwell, in Boston, asking him to have two fast vessels built for use on the China coast. George had been in China since the fall of 1841, when, at age 27, he joined Augustine Heard & Co., a newly established partnership of American commission merchants. The Dixwell brothers and Augustine Heard already had extensive commercial experience in India and China. Now George Dixwell, the company’s opium specialist, wanted fast ships to give his firm a competitive edge in the drug trade. If the company had its own fleet to transport opium from India to China and to distribution points along the China coast, the increased drug consignments from native dealers in India would yield large profits from both transport fees and commissions on sales. While the opium trade was prohibited by the Chinese government, it did not contravene any United States law of that time. Indeed, medicinal preparations containing opiates were legal and routinely consumed in nineteenth-century America by much of the population. In any case, American shippers were accustomed to walking a fine line between legal and illegal ventures. They had, after all, already been active in the slave trade, blockade running, and privateering. Further, as we shall see, by the second quarter of the nineteenth century opium had become the primary commodity by which the Western world balanced its trade with China.

July 3, Wednesday: The Treaty of Wanghia between China and the USA put in place another part of the treaty-port system.

August: The Treaty of Whampoa between China and France put in place another part of the treaty-port system.

81. Eventually the owner of the Frolic, John James Dixwell of Boston, an associate of the China trading firm of Augustine Heard & Co., would have her re-rigged as a standard brig, which is to say, square rigged on both her masts. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1845

An American consulate was established in Hong Kong. CHINA

A ruffian named Ingood who specialized in rolling drunken sailors attained the distinction of being the 1st white man to be hanged in Hong Kong. CHINA

March 28, Friday: The Frolic arrived in Bombay to begin its work in the opium trade. She would be found capable of making three round trips per year between India and China. Under favorable conditions she would be able sail from Hong Kong to Bombay in but 35 days. However, at the moment, she was delinquent, she had arrived in Bombay after schedule, and the opium that had been reserved for her had already been released to another buyer.

May 3, Saturday: Fire broke out in a theater in Canton, China and 1,670 were consumed. TIMELINE OF ACCIDENTS

WALDEN: If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter, –we never need read of another. One is enough.

“The only lesson of history is that there are no lessons of history.” — A.J.P. Taylor HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

The cadaver of Nicolò Paganini was placed in unconsecrated ground at Villa Gaione, Parma.

Death of Thomas Hood at Devonshire Lodge on Finchley Road in London after long illness, at age 46.82

A couple of weeks earlier President Tyler had vetoed a bill that would have prevented him from allocating federal funds to construct revenue cutters without prior approval from Congress. This was the 10th occasion on which President Tyler had exercised his veto power under the Constitution, making him and President Jackson by a considerable extent the most frequent users of this power. On this day the federal Congress for the 1st time by the necessary 2/3ds vote exercised its override power under the Constitution.

Waldo Emerson climbed 3,000-foot Mount Monadnock, near Peterborough in New Hampshire, during the night, and remained on the summit composing poetry from dawn until 10AM.

82. When belatedly his and his wife Jane Hood’s grave in Kensal Green would be graced with a stone, it would be inscribed HE SANG THE SONG OF THE SHIRT. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA May 8, Thursday: Caroline Ward Osgood, new infant of Mrs. Ellen Devereux Sewall Osgood and the Reverend Joseph Osgood, died. Isaac Hecker wrote to the Reverend Orestes Augustus Brownson.

Captain Edward H. Faucon (sketched below by a Chinese artist during this year) sailed the Frolic out of Bombay Harbor and headed for Macao anchorage.

To demonstrate her worthiness, he arranged to race against the Anodyne, a 275-ton brig formerly of the Royal Yacht Squadron but at that point in the possession of the merchant empire of Jardine, Matheson & Co. of Hong Kong.

merchant princes:

The near-shipload of opium which had been rounded up for this new ship from various sources had cost the owners more than $400,000, although it was not monopoly opium produced in Patna and exported through Calcutta by the British East India Company, but opium of considerably lower grade produced independently in the Malwa uplands and exported through Bombay by Parsee (Indian Zoroastrian) and Hindu merchant trading houses. It was necessary to keep very close tabs on the quality of such bootleg drug, as it frequently had been “extended” by the addition of inert ingredients such as cowshit, fruit juices, clay, etc., a process which could be repeated a number of times by a number of different middlemen. INDIA

May 11, Sunday: The Anodyne started for the anchorage at Macau on the 3rd day after the Frolic had departed from Bombay Harbor. (Fair’s fair: this three-day head start would be added in, of course, in determining the outcome of the sailing contest.) INDIA HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA June 13, Friday: Captain Edward H. Faucon brought the Frolic to anchorage near Macau after a 4,470-mile passage from Bombay by way of Singapore. Her sailing time had been 34 days. If the Anodyne arrived anytime during INDIA the following two days, it would mean defeat.

On the last leaves of a book of ITALIAN EXERCISES, the Concord schoolteacher Miss Martha Emmeline Hunt was keeping a journal of sorts prior to her suicide in the Concord River. On this day her jottings included the following: O, my God, art thou indeed my Father, who doth thus desert me! O! What have I done? I must indeed be worse, than the worst of living beings, for thine infinite perfection hath condescended to the lowest sinners — but I am so lost! The earth is a thousand pointed dagger, without a friend who careth for me —myself against myself— everything arrayed in the bitterest reproach against me — and for what? Not for what I have done, but for what I have not done.

June 16, Monday: It was becoming clear that Captain Edward H. Faucon’s Frolic had won over the Anodyne. INDIA CHINA

1 June 25, Wednesday: The Frolic departed Macau for Bombay, in her hold some 8 /2 tons of silver ingots and coins worth more than $270,000. That was nowhere near a full load and Captain Edward H. Faucon was able to transit the China Sea, against the southwest monsoon winds, in only 51 days, dropping anchor at Bombay on August 17th. INDIA HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA 1 August 17, Sunday: The Frolic arrived in Bombay Harbor with her some 8 /2 ton cargo of silver ingots and coins worth more than $270,000. Captain Edward H. Faucon’s transit time was a mere 51 days, in radical contrast with a competitive vessel named the Sultana which had been heading in the same direction at the same time, which would be at sea not for these 51 days but for an embarrassing 108. There was no question about it, this skipper was a ruthless, relentless, driving skipper, one who would risk running his ship into a submerged rock or directly, under heavy canvas, into waves that might at any moment drive down its bow and swamp it. He would be able to make three full roundtrips per year between India and China, carrying relief for all the world’s aches and pains. CHINA INDIA

December 23, Tuesday: Frederick Douglass delivered an address in Belfast, Ireland, “Baptists, Congregationalists, the Free Church, and Slavery.” This address would be reported in the Belfast News Letter and the Belfast Northern Whig. Mr. Frederick Douglass then presented himself, and was received with loud plaudits. He spoke as follows— Ladies and gentlemen, one of the most painful duties I have been called on to perform in the advocacy of the Abolition of Slavery, has been to expose the corruption and sinful position of the American Churches with regard to that question. That was almost the only duty which, when I commenced the advocacy of this cause, I felt inclined to shrink from. Really, any attempt to expose the inconsistencies of the religious organisation of our land is the most painful undertaking. I have always looked upon these churches as possessing, in a superlative degree, the love of virtue and of justice —the love of humanity —the love of God. I had not supposed that they were capable of descending to the low and mean act of upholding and sustaining a system by which three millions of people have been divested of every right and privilege which they ought to enjoy. (Hear.) But, in examining into the character of these churches, I was led to see, that unless the deeds of these ministers were made known — unless the light of truth should be permitted to shine into their dark recesses, there will for ever be a sink of iniquity in the midst of them. The only way of purifying our church from the deep damnation into which she was plunging, was to expose her deeds to the light. But, in exposing these deeds, I do not wish to place myself in the position of an enemy. Let no man rank me among the enemies of the church, or of religion, because I dare to remove the mask from her face, and give the nations of the earth a peep at her enormities. It is for her salvation and purification I do it, and for the redemption and disenthralment of my race. (Hear.) I was exceedingly pleased to hear, at the meeting before the last, that the minister who occupies the pulpit of this house, (Mr. Hodgens,) welcomed me to this platform, within these walls — before these people, to expose the corruptions of the Congregational Church of America. It was a noble act, which must identify that rev. gentleman with the friends of truth. It displayed a conscientiousness of innocence on his part, or, at least, an openness and a magnanimity that are ever associated with innocence —(hear, hear)— and a willingness for self- examination seldom displayed. Innocence, you know, lives in the sunlight —it rushes out into the day— it asks to be examined, and searched, and tried. (Hear, HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA hear, hear.) This is its language. You never hear it crying “Rocks, cover us; and, Mountains, on us fall, and hide us from the face of Truth and Justice!” This is the language of guilt — of those convinced of their own iniquity. Innocence never bolts and bars its meeting-house doors, to shut out the light, nor hides itself behind some “important engagement.” (Hear, and laughter.) It never does any such thing as this. It rushes forth to be seen. Its element is the light. It opens its own eyes and is willing to have the eyes of the world opened on itself. It is glorious, and I love it. The nature of guilt was never set forth more clearly in a few words than by the Blessed Redeemer, when he said, that “it hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest its deeds be revealed.” Eighteen hundred years ago, as it is now, was the reason of this obvious— because God looks on sin with no degree of allowance; and truth will not hold that man guiltless who, in the light of the nineteenth century, upholds American Slavery, in any shape or form whatever. (Cheers.) Before entering on the subject of my discourse at large, I beg to say a few words as to my own position among you. One among the many means taken to destroy the influence of these lectures, has been that of circulating insidiously a suspicion, that I am not a really sincere person — that my character is not good. “He may be an impostor,” has been the word. I am not an impostor. If those who insinuate that I am one can prove it, I shall be as ready as any one to give way. Besides, I would inform this audience that the story that I am here without credentials is absolutely false. I have any quantity of testimonials you may demand from the most distinguished Abolitionists of the day. I have no fears of being examined. I have been in Ireland four months, and have delivered upwards of fifty lectures in different parts of the country, and it was not until I reached Belfast, that I had been even asked for credentials. No enquiries were made of me in Dublin, for I had been known to the Abolitionists of that city for the last four years, through the American papers. They knew me, and understood me, and had heard all about me, and I had no need of showing to them even a letter of introduction. I had no need of one. But, what sensible people you are in Belfast! (Laughter.) How cautious lest they should make a mistake! How prudent they are, and how desirous of being placed on a sure footing, lest they should take into fellowship such characters as won’t bear examination — especially how they receive a fugitive slave. But when the Free Church of Scotland is —(hear, hear.)— Well, I won’t say another word about them. One of the prevalent apologies for the American slave-holders is, that the laws of the States, or at least of several of them, are such as to deprive the masters of the privilege of emancipating the slaves. This is the objection made by every apologiser for Christian union with the slave-holders. My motto is, “No union with the slave-holder.” (Cheers.) Because, I believe there can be no union between light and darkness. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Justice can have no fellowship with injustice. Liberty can have no fellowship with slavery. But those who go for uniting with slave-holders, must always have some strong cause for their conduct. Such as this — there are, it appears, a number of good Slave-holders in the States, whose breasts are overborne with sorrow on being placed in such an unhappy relation to their slaves —(hear)— and there are HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA “circumstances over which they have no control,” and so forth, and so forth. (Laughter at the droll manner in which the speaker intonated his words.) “Persons situated as these slave-holders are,” and so forth —(laughter)— “cannot be held accountable for the evil, when they cannot help themselves,” and so forth; “but they would very gladly get rid of it if the laws——,” and so forth. (Continued laughter.) I pronounce this apology to be a falsehood. There is not a slaveholder in any State, who may not, if he will, emancipate his slaves, by taking them across Mason’s and Dixon’s line, and all the apologies built upon this supposition — all the arguments founded upon it — must fall to the ground. When they presume to offer this excuse, tell them of Brisburn of South Carolina, who, when he became sensible of the guilt of holding slaves, took them to Ohio, and went to work with his own hands, like an honest man. (Cheers.) If any other instances are required, take that of James G. Birney, who emancipated his slaves, and a hundred of others. But, besides this, there are, in fact, only two or three States in which it is necessary to remove slaves which are emancipated. There are twelve States in which the master may emancipate his slaves on the spot. Another system is, the slave-holder is responsible for the future maintenance of the emancipated slave. There is no such thing. It is not true; and they who tell you so ought to know better, for the facts are all on the other side. (Hear.) They are always glad to receive emancipated slaves in New England, and even if the Northern States were not disposed to take them, thank God, the British lion asserts dominion in the Western hemisphere. (Cheers.) Canada is open to them, and, I am sure, will not charge brother Jonathan with the expense of their keeping. So much for the story that these men cannot get rid of their slaves. Oh, what a vast amount of reasoning it takes to uphold a bad cause. Truth needs but little argument, and no long drawn metaphysical detail to establish a position. There is something in the heart which instantly responds to its voice. You feel differently when even the term slavery is mentioned, from the way you feel when the word freedom salutes your ears! Freedom! the word produces a thrill of joy even in the bosom of the slave-holder himself — in the absence of his slaves. Then the term is musical to his ear, but when it is mentioned in the slaves’ presence, then is the slave-holder stung to the very quick, and he behaves more like a demon than a man. Oh, yes — our hearts leap up to the very name of freedom, while we recoil with horror at the sound of slavery. We feel, then, that the slave-holder is a wrong- doer, and we know that wrong-doers can have no fellowship with the meek and lowly Jesus. It is said, we ought not to enter into peoples motives. I don’t want to do so. I only speak what I know. I may be told, “judge not, that ye be not judged?” I admit the truth of this part of Scripture, but those who read it to me, should read a little further, where it is said, “by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Cheers.) I do not judge you when you cut me, if I cry out that you hurt me. (Hear.) It is not judging the state of your soul, when I tell you, that you have done me an injury. I know that, by injuring me, you are acting contrary to Christianity, and when you tell me that there are some Christian slave-holders in the States, I tell you, as well might you talk of sober- HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA drunkards. (Laughter.) Just as if the lash in the hands of a Christian is not as injurious to my back as it would be in the hands of a wicked man. (Hear, hear.) As far as my experience goes, I would rather suffer under the hands of the latter, and, I tell you, as I have mentioned in my narrative, that next to being a slave, there is no greater calamity than being the slave of a Christian slave holder. (Hear.) I say this from my own experience, and it is further proved by theory. There is a reason for it. When the finest — the most excellent bodies are decomposed, they become the most corrupt and offensive. So, when the most excellent element is perverted to a base use, it becomes the basest and most hateful in itself — so the religious element raises up and stamps man with the image of God, when pure — but, when perverted, it makes him a fallen angel and sinks him among demons. A man becomes the more cruel the more the religious element is perverted in him. It was so with my master. Some persons have taken offence at my saying that Slaveholders become worse after their conversion, and it was thought that I was thereby injuring the cause of religion; but I say this is the same principle upon which Christ denounced the Scribes and Pharisees, when he said that they would compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and after they had made him he was ten times the Child of Hell that he was before. They do make proselytes, and convert men to what they call religion, but their converts are still in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. Why is it, if this be not the case, that if they are women- whippers, cradle-plunderers, and man-stealers before their conversion, they are women-whippers, cradle-plunderers, and man-stealers after it —(hear)— and that “religion” is to them but an additional stimulant to re-enact these atrocious deeds? The “religious” slaveholder is a man from whom I have been myself happily delivered,” so that I am not to be told that it is a good thing to have a “religious” slaveholder for a master. I beg now to introduce to your notice a little of the doings of one or two of the Churches of America, and I shall begin with the Baptist Church. (Hear.) This Church is congregational in its organization and government, but its congregations are united by what is called a Triennial Convention, the object of which is to spread the Gospel among the heathen. At the last but one of these conventions, in the City of Baltimore, the Rev. Dr. Johnston, of South Carolina, presided, and he on this occasion asserted the doctrine that when any institution becomes established by law, a Christian man may innocently engage to uphold it. The President of the Baptist convention is a slaveholder himself. He is a man-stealer. (Hear.) The Secretary of the convention is another man-stealer, and most of the other office-bearers were manstealers — were thieves. During the progress of the business, there was one man in one of the committees, who was found to be an Abolitionist — Elon Galusha. This man is now, I trust, in Heaven. He dared to say that a slave was a man, and that slavery ought to be abolished. For this, the members of his church cut him off —(hear)— though he was a man of talent and of unblemished character, and, as a minister of the gospel, unparalleled. Another great Baptist minister, the Rev. Lucius Bowles, congratulated his brethren that there was “a pleasing degree of unity among the Baptists through the land, for the southern brethren were all slave-holders.” Slave-holders! Oh, my friends, do not rank the slave-holder as HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA a common criminal — as no worse than a sheep-stealer or a horse stealer. The slave-holder is not only a thiever of men, but he is a murderer; not a murderer of the body, but, what is infinitely worse, a murderer of the soul —(hear, hear, hear)— as far as a man can murder the soul of his fellow-creature, for he shuts out the light of salvation from his spirit. (Mr. Douglass then read an advertisement which appeared in the American papers, by the legal representatives of the Rev. Dr. Furman, another eminent Baptist minister, who, in his lifetime, had asserted that the Scriptures warranted the holding of slaves. The advertisement was to the effect, that, on a certain day, would be put up to auction the property of the late Dr. Furman, consisting of land to a certain extent, “together with twenty seven negroes —some of them very fine —a library chiefly theological —two mules and an old waggon!” The reading of this advertisement created considerable merriment.) Mr. Douglass proceeded— Oh, my friends, instead of smiling and laughing at this, we should be sadly weeping to think that such a man ever lived as this Dr. Furman— this “Doctor of Divinity” —to think that Christianity should be so degraded by one of its professing ministers! Yet, that man was reckoned among the pious of the earth, and would have been received among the Baptists here as a good Christian minister. What a shame! but I must hasten. We have here a specimen of the Baptist Church of America in one quarter. I have now to speak of them in the State of Virginia, where men regularly enter into the raising or breeding of slaves, as a business, (hear), just as cattle are raised for the Smithfield market; and where the marriage institution is set aside. In some cases it becomes the interest of the slave holder to separate two slaves (male and female) already married. When the question was proposed to the Baptist Society there, whether parties thus separated might marry again, the answer was, that this separation being tantamount to the civil death of either of the parties, to forbid the second marriage in either case, would be to expose to Church censure those who did so for disobedience. (Great sensation.) Here we find a deliberate setting aside of the Marriage Institution, and the deliberate sanction of a wholesale system of adultery and concubinage; and, yet the persons who authorise and enforce such wickedness calling themselves Christians! (Hear, hear.) I might go on, giving fact after fact, relative to the doings of the Christian slaveholders in America; but, after what I have said, I wonder who will say in Belfast that a Christian can innocently associate with these men? (Hear.) The Rev. Doctor S—— has been over here a few months. He is one of those who, like Dr. Chalmers, looks on slavery as an evil, that though wrong in itself, nevertheless, is not sufficiently important to exclude persons from Christian Union. He finds it necessary to keep communion with slaveholders, because he gets not a little of his support from them. These people “feel that they must live.” George Bradburn tells an excellent thing illustrative of his apology. Bradburn was very deaf, and one of these apologists said to him, “you seem to overlook the fact that ministers must live.” Said Mr. Bradburn, (Here the speaker imitated the nasal twang of the old man, in a style curiously characteristic of the negro passion for mimicry.) “I deny any such necessity — I dispute your premises. I deny that it is necessary for any man to live, unless he can live honestly.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA These slave-holders ever urge this overwhelming argument of necessity. But they are under a great mistake. What should render it necessary for a man to live by plunder? (Hear.) Why, the very watches in the pockets of these men — the very coats on their backs are the price of blood. (Hear.) And they know this. We understand their difficulty about getting rid of their slaves; it means that they are afraid of getting rid of their fat salaries. (Hear.) And yet, it is my belief, that a minister will be better paid, when there are no slaves. (Cheers.) It is curious, that the higher we go in ecclesiastical rank, in the churches, the colder we find the ministers in the cause of freedom. The most ardent friends of the slaveholders are in the highest grade of church office, while those in an inferior station, are invariably on the side of humanity and Christianity.... But he wanted to say a few words with regard to the Congregational denomination, or Independents, as they were called here. They were mostly to be found in the Northern States. But the way in which they were implicated in the crime of slavery was the same as that in which the Free Church of Scotland was implicated. A large number in the New England States had taken a good stand as to slavery; but the leading Ministers and the leading papers all took the side of slavery. And was it not a singular fact, that the farther they went up, the higher grades of ecclesiastical officers were almost invariably to be found the most ardent defenders of the slaveholder; while the brethren that were below them were on the side of humanity and Christianity? It was so, even in the days of our Saviour. They read of a man that fell among thieves, and was wounded, and left on the road-side, half dead; that a Priest, high in ecclesiastical distinction was journeying along the road where the man was lying; and that he passed by without noticing him; that a Levite came up after, who adopted a middle course. He went and looked on the wounded man,— and no doubt there was a struggle in his breast between humanity and office; the latter, however, prevailed, and he followed the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor, — and he (Mr. Douglass) was sorry it turned out that he was willing to follow the Priest, rather than to interfere in the cause of humanity. But they read of another who was journeying the same way, not of the school of the Priesthood, but rather a worshipper in what they believed in a wrong place — a Samaritan; and, when he heard the groans of the poor man, he had compassion upon him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, set him on his own beast, and took him to an inn; gave the host two pence, and told him to take care of him, and that whatever he spent more, when he returned he would repay him. So it was even in Belfast; the people were on the side of the slave, — there would be no difficulty in getting from them an expression of their feelings in favour of the slave —(hear)— it was only in the higher or upper classes — the class [of] “Civis” — (alluding to a writer in The Banner) that such a difficulty would arise. The leading Doctors of Divinity in America, and the Professors in the Colleges, were in favour of slavery. There was Professor Stewart, of the Andover seminary, one of the first Biblical schools in New England — that gentleman had committed to him the instruction of the Ministers of a large portion of the congregational denominations, and he was an advocate for HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA slavery. The Rev. Dr. Fisk, who some time ago, was welcomed by the Methodist Church, in Dublin, though they had shut him (Mr. Douglass) out, — this Doctor Fisk became uneasy, when he heard it said that slavery was a sin, and, not willing to commit himself on the question, wished to have the opinion of Doctor Stewart on the subject. This man, who would have said that sheep- stealing was a sin, and would have decided so at once, had to consult a learned Doctor as to whether man-stealing was a sin — (hear, hear)— but, then, they knew that it was necessary that he should live, and he could not do so, independent of his Congregation. (Laughter.) Doctor Stewart sent him a reply, in which he referred to the case of Onesimus, whom he stated Paul had sent back to Philemon for life. He (Mr. Douglass) would be glad to know where Dr. Stewart learned that Onesimus was sent back into slavery for life; was it, he would ask, from the law? If it was, he (Mr. Douglass) would tell him, that Jewish slavery was not for life; there was no such thing known among the Jews as slavery for life, except it was desired on the part of the servant himself. What did the Apostle say himself? He said, he sent back Onesimus greater than a servant; and told Philemon to receive him as he would receive him, Paul; not as a slave who could be sold in the market, but as a brother beloved. After alluding to the case of a Mr. Jonathan Walker and a Mr. Tory, who were branded and cast into prison, for aiding some slaves to escape; and to the case of John L. Brown, who was sentenced to be executed for a similar offence against American law, but which sentence the voice of Great Britain prevented from being carried into effect, he observed, with regard to Brown it was said, there stood Brown, and there stood the law; and did not Brown know that he was violating the law? He (Mr. Douglass would answer, that Daniel knew he was breaking the law, when he would not worship as he was desired — (hear, hear) and so did Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when they refused to worship the golden image which the King had set up. He was sometimes led to think, that if some of the Clergymen of the present day had been their advisers, they would have advised them to bow down, but not to worship the image; they would have told them that they had to live; that they should be very cautious, being the only Ministers among the heathen; that if they lost their lives there would be no Minister of the Lord among them, and that then they would be left in the dark, to grope their own way. (Hear.) Such was the kind of wisdom they saw displayed by the Free Church of Scotland; but God was confounding the wisdom of the crafty, he was exposing the sophism of the worldly. He hoped the unanimous cry of the people of Belfast, to the Free Church of Scotland, and all the other Churches, would be, “Have no communion with the American slaveholders;” and that the next thing the Free Church should do would be to send back the blood- stained money which they had received. That was the only safe course. They should tell the Americans that they saw the slave at their feet, they saw him dying, and divested of every religious opportunity; and that, therefore, they could not fellowship with them; that they would gladly do so, but that the blood of the slaves forbade them to do so. If they would do this, they would give slavery a blow that it would stagger under, among a large class of religionists in America. Mr. Douglass then HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA resumed his seat, loudly cheered.)

Tuesday Dec. 23d The pond froze over last night entirely for the first time, yet so as not to be safe to walk upon.

After December 23: I wish to say something tonight not of and concerning the Chinese and Sandwich CHINESE Islanders as to and concerning those who hear me –who are said to live in New England. Something about your condition –especially your outward condition or circumstances in this world –in this town. what it is –whether HAWAII it is necessarily as bad as it is –whether it can’t be improved as well as not. It is generally admitted that some of your are poor find it hard to get a living –haven’t always something in your pockets, haven’t paid for all the dinners you’ve actually eaten –or all your coats and shoes –some of which are already worn out. All this is very well known to all of you by hearsay and by experience. It is very evident what –a mean and sneaking life you live always in the hampers –always on the limits –trying to get into business –and trying to get out of debt –a very ancient slough called by the Latins aes alienum anothers brass –some of their coins being made of brass –and still so many living and dying and buried today by anothers brass –always promising to pay –promising to pay –with interest tomorrow perhaps and die –to day –insolvent. Seeking to curry favor to get custom –lying –flattering voting –contracting yourselves into a nutshell of civility– or dilating into a world of thin and vaporous generosity –that you may persuade your neighbor –to let you make his {Nineteen leaves missing}{One-fifth page missing} him to be –that these “Letters & Speeches” now for the first time we might say –brought to light –edited –& published together with the elucidations, have restored unity and the wanting moral grandeur to his life. So that we can now answer for ourselves and other wherefore–, by what means, and in what sense he came to be protector in England. We learn that his actions are to be judged of as those of a man who had a steady religious purpose unparalled in the line of kings Of a remarkable common sense and practicalness yet joined with such a divine madness, though {One-fifth page missing} There is a civilization going on among brutes as well as men– Foxes are Indian dogs. I hear one barking DOG raggedly, wildly demoniacally in the darkness to night –seeking expression laboring with some anxiety – striving to be a dog –struggling for light. He is but a faint man –before pigmies –an imperfect –burrowing man.– Goules are also misformed, unfortunate men. He has come up near to my window attracted by the light, and barked a vulpine course at me –then retreated. {Six leaves missing} Reading suggested by Hallam’s Hist. of Literature.83 1 Abelard & Heloise 2 Look at Luigi Pulci –his Morgante Maggiore (published in 1481 “was to the poetical romances of chivalry what Don Quixote was to their brethren in prose.” 3 Lionardo da Vinci –the most remarkable of his writings still in manuscript –for his universality of Genius – “the first name of the 15th century.” LUDOVICO ARIOSTO 4 Read Boiardo’s Orlando Innamorato –published between 1491 –& 1500 –for its influence on Ariosto –and its intrinsic merits– Its sounding names repeated by Milton in Paradise Regained {One-fourth page blank} RICHARD HENRY HORNE Landor’s works are WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR 1st A small volume of poems 1793 out of print next Poems of “Gebir” “Chrysaor”, the “Phocaeans” &c The “Gebir” eulogized by Southey & Coleridge Wrote verses in Italian & Latin. The dramas “Andrea of Hungary” “Giovanna of Naples” and “Fra Rupert.”

83. Henry Hallam’s INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERATURE OF EUROPE IN THE FIFTEENTH, SIXTEENTH, AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES (4 volumes; London: John Murray, 1837-1839). HALLAM’S LITERATURE, I HALLAM’S LITERATURE, II HALLAM’S LITERATURE, III HALLAM’S LITERATURE, IV HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA “Pericles & Aspasia” “Poems from the Arabic & Persian” 1800 pretending to be translations. “A Satire upon Satirists, and Admonition to Detractors” printed 1836 not published Letters called “High & Low Life in Italy” “Imaginary Conversations” “Pentameron & Pentalogia” “Examination of William Shakspeare before Sir Thomas Lucy, Knt., touching Deer-stealing.” {One-fourth page blank} Vide again Richard’s sail in “Rich. 1st & the Abbot” Phocion’s remarks in conclusion of “Eschines & Phocion” “Demosthenes & Eubulides” In Milton & Marvel speaking of the Greek poets –he says “There is a sort of refreshing odor flying off it perpetually; not enough to oppress or to satiate; nothing is beaten or bruized; nothing smells of the stalk; the flower itself is half-concealed by the Genius of it hovering round.” Pericles & Sophocles Marcus Tullius Cicero & his Brother Quinctus in this a sentence on Sleep and Death. Johnson & Tooke for a criticism on words. {Three-fifths page blank} It is worth the while to have lived a primitive wilderness life at some time –to know what are after all the necessaries of life –and what methods society has taken to supply them– I have looked over the old day Books of the merchants with the same view to see what it was that men bought– They are the grossest groceries –salt is perhaps the most important article of all.– most commonly bought at the stores. Of articles commonly thought to be necessaries –salt –sugar –molasses –cloth &c by the Farmer.– You will see why stores or shops exist / not to furnish tea and coffee –but salt &c here’s the rub then. {One-fifth page blank} Have you seen my hound sir– I want to know What –Lawyer’s office –law Books if you’ve seen anything of DOG a hound about here– why, what do you do here? I live here. no I have’nt haven’t you heard one In the woods anyplace O yes I heard one this morning– What do you do here– but he was someway off– Which side did he seem to be– Well I should think there this other side of the pond.– This is a large dog makes a large track –he’s been out hunting from Lexington for a week. How long have you lived here– Oh about a year Some body said there was a man up here had a camp in the woods somewhere and he’d got him Well I dont know of any body– There’s Brittons camp over the other road– It may be there– Is’nt there anybody in these woods– Yes they are chopping right up here behind me– how far is it– only a few steps –hark a moment –there dont you hear the sound of their axes. Therien the wood chopper was here yesterday –and while I was cutting wood some chicadees hopped near pecking the bark and chips and the potatoe skins I had thrown out– What do you call them he asked– I told him –what do you call them asked I– Mezezence I think he said. When I eat my dinner in the woods said he sitting very still having kindled a fire to warm my coffee –they come and light on my arm and peck at the potatoes in my fingers– I like to have the little fellers about me– Just then one flew up from the snow and perched on the wood I was holding in my arms and pecked it and looked me familiarly in the face. Chica-a-dee–dee-dee-dee-dee, –while others were whistling phebe–phe-bee – in the woods behind the house. {Three-fifths page blank} “It is related that the ancient Loeri, a people of Greece, were so charmed with the sound of the Cicada, that they CICADAS erected a statue to its honor.” Davis’ notes to Morton’s Memorial. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1846

By this point the main Oriental office of Samuel Russell & Co. of Boston had been relocated from Hong Kong to Shanghai.

SAMUEL WADSWORTH RUSSELL OF MIDDLETON CT

Hugh Mackay opened a Daguerreotype studio in China.

Ida Pfeiffer’s travel journal was published in Austria. She used the returns from VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND, EGYPT, AND ITALY to finance a new adventure into Iceland. Unlike other travelers to Iceland of the time, she was alone and on a tight budget. She relied upon the local pony carts and for some six months lived as the Icelanders did. She sold the plant and rock collections she had made to museums. Her observations would become JOURNEY TO ICELAND, AND TRAVELS IN SWEDEN AND NORWAY. Then, still in the same year, she embarked on a Danish ship with the destination being Rio de Janeiro on the coast of South America. She hired a guide and went into the rain forest to visit the Puri. Then she continued on around the world by way of Cape Horn, her entire journey consuming three years and completing in Vienna only in November 1848. Along the way she became HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA just outraged at the open sensuality of Tahitian females.84

She rode up the river from Portuguese Macau aboard a cargo junk and at Canton she crossed paths with Professor Louis Agassiz. CHINA

For several months she traveled in India with a leather pouch for water, a small pan for cooking, some salt, and bread and rice. INDIA

Continuing on to Baghdad she joined a camel caravan for the 300-mile trek through the desert to Mosul, and then went into Persia, to Tabriz, where she amazed the British consul. Joining a caravan going toward Russia, she was of course briefly detained as a spy and jotted in her journal, “Oh you good Arabs, Turks, Persians, Hindoos! How safely did I pass through your heathen and infidel countries; and here, in Christian

84. In America during this year, Herman Melville’s narrative of his sailor sojourn on an island in Polynesia was being republished (it had already appeared in England under the title NARRATIVE OF A FOUR MONTHS’ RESIDENCE AMONG THE NATIVES OF A VALLEY OF THE MARQUESAS ISLANDS; OR, A PEEP AT POLYNESIAN LIFE) by Wiley and Putnam, as TYPEE: A PEEP AT POLYNESIAN LIFE. Melville was “dedicating” this book to his father-in-law Judge Shaw, who had been advancing the cause of racial fairness from the bench. Henry Thoreau read this new book (it may be the only thing by Melville that he ever read) and stuck a reminder to himself into a journal notebook he was keeping that fall, that he would use in his writings about his Maine adventures and then put into his 1st draft of WALDEN, a reminder to cite this work by Melville as proof that elderly people in primitive societies are healthier than their civilized counterparts. Longfellow was praising Melville’s “glowing description of Life in the Marquesas,” and Amos Bronson Alcott was referring to the volume as “charming.” Nathaniel Hawthorne, who by the influence of his friends Horatio Bridge and Franklin Pierce in the Democratic party, had secured a morning job, “Surveyor of Port,” at the Salem Custom House, was provided with a review copy by Evert Duyckinck and commented in the Salem Advertiser that he knew of “no work that gives a freer and more effective picture of barbarian life.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Russia, how much have I had to suffer in this short space.”

WALDEN: When Madam Pfeiffer, in her adventurous travels round the PEOPLE OF world, from east to west, had got so near home as Asiatic Russia, WALDEN she says that she felt the necessity of wearing other than a travelling dress, when she went to meet the authorities, for she “was now in a civilized country, where ... people are judged of by their clothes.” Even in our democratic New England towns the accidental possession of wealth, and its manifestation in dress and equipage alone, obtain for the possessor almost universal respect. But they who yield such respect, numerous as they are, are so far heathen, and need to have a missionary sent to them.

IDA PFEIFFER Madame Pfeiffer continued through Turkey, Greece, and Italy to her home in Vienna and reunion with her two sons.

January: Évariste Régis Huc and Joseph Gabet and their Tibetan convert to Christianity reached Lhasa, Tibet. They were well received by the Tibetans themselves, but —does this remind you of any news story of more recent vintage?— nevertheless Chinese Imperial commissioners obtained their expulsion.

During this month and the following 2 months, Emily Dickinson was writing confessional letters to her female friend Abiah Root.

January 1, Thursday: Yucatan declared its independence from Mexico.

Concerto for piano and orchestra op.54 by Robert Schumann was performed publicly for the initial time, in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Clara Schumann at the keyboard, conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Clara was 8 months pregnant.

Waldo Emerson lectured in Boston. This was the 4th lecture of his series, “Montaigne, or the Skeptic.” THE LIST OF LECTURES

When the commission of the Reverend Issachar J. Roberts as a missionary to China was discontinued, he transferred to the Southern Baptist Convention. THE TAEPING REBELLION HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

Late Summer: Henry Thoreau was making a study of the BHAGAVAD-GITA while Emily Dickinson, 16 years old, who had just withdrawn from Amherst Academy on account of ill health, was on tour in Boston. She saw Mount Auburn Cemetery, Bunker Hill, the Horticultural Exhibit, and the Chinese Museum. She attended two concerts, commented she was “not happy, but contented,” and was glad to return to her family and friends in Amherst MA. She would not be eager to repeat such a visit.

At some point Emily wrote about this museum visit, reporting that she had been particularly impressed with the two former opium eaters who had left behind family and friends and come to America to overcome their addiction: “There is something peculiarly interesting to me in their self denial.”

The Emersons reorganized their home as a boardinghouse under the management of Mrs. Marston Goodwin, with the Emersons as boarders. During the year and a half that this experiment lasted there were 16-18 boarders at any given time. [WOULD THIS LADY HAVE BEEN RELATED TO JOHN GOODWIN ??] HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA September: After expulsion from Tibet by the Chinese Imperial commissioners there, Évariste Régis Huc arrived at the port of Canton in the Kwantung province of South China.

Winter: Frederick Townsend Ward, unsuccessful in obtaining an appointment to West Point, had attempted to enlist in the US Army to go on its attack against Mexico. Therefore upon reaching the age of 15, his father allowed the recalcitrant youth to ship out for China as a 2d mate on the clipper Hamilton, the captain of which was a relative. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1847

March: Hung Hsiu Ch’üan went with a cousin to Canton and while there paid a visit to the Baptist missionary Reverend Issachar J. Roberts .85

April: Hung Hsiu Ch’üan the scholar-manque would study Christianity for a couple of months under the tutelage of a Reverend Issachar J. Roberts , a Tennessee Baptist who had been in China since 1837, and then (upon being belatedly informed that his new status in the Christian community would definitely not include his being the recipient of any pecuniary compensation whatever) joined the movement known as the Pai Shang-ti Hui or The God Worshipers’ Society which had been initiated among the peasantry of Kwangsi province by his friend Feng Yün-shan . He would become successful beyond the wildest dreams of any Tennessee Baptist, as the T’ien-wang –the Heavenly King– of a far-flung Chinese Christian movement. He would be able to plot an entire galaxy of stars in his heavenly crown right up to the point at which, at the unfortunate conclusion of the largest and bloodiest civil war our planet has ever known, he would need to off himself.

THE TAEPING REBELLION Andrew Twombly Foss became an agent of the Baptist Church North. He would later serve the American Anti- Slavery Society and the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society as an agent, lecturing widely in the North and West till the US Civil War. (There is an article by Guy S. Rix on his life, at The New England Historic Genealogical Society.)

The terminal degree in the Mandarin examinations was earned by Li Hung-chang.

85. A Hakka like Hung could ordinarily make out what a Cantonese was saying, pretty well, but Roberts would definitely not have been able to understand any word of what a Hakka would have to offer. His linguistic skills were so limited that he failed to grasp the tonal system of spoken Chinese and, when he shopped, was reduced to pointing at things. When he preached, his listeners commented to other missionaries that they understood less than half of what he said. These two, in particular, because of the difference in spoken dialect, would therefore in communicating with one another have needed to make frequently resort to writing down this or that Chinese character on a scrap of paper, or forming the character in the air with a finger. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA US ocean mail service was begun between New-York and Havana and Aspinwell, New Grenada (today’s Colon, Panama). The contract called for the 2,000-mile trip to be made 24 times a year.

51,887 tons of pond ice were shipped in this year out of Boston harbor bound for various coastal cities between Philadelphia and Galveston, Texas. In addition, 22,591 tons was shipped to foreign ports in Cuba, the West Indies, South America, England, Hong Kong, and Calcutta. Generally speaking, not much ice went to London, because Norway ice was so much cheaper, and, after 1831, almost no Boston ice was being delivered to New-York because its ice was brought down the Hudson River from Rockland Lake. CHINA COOLNESS

The American ship captain S. Shaw opinioned that although these Chinamen were capable of imitation of the products of Western fine art, what they did not possess was “any large portion of original genius.”

Formation of a Shanghai branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.

The beginning of New-York’s Chinatown, with the arrival of the 35 passengers and crewmen of the junk Kee Ying. The sea voyage from Canton had required 212 days. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA The 5 volumes of Doctor James Cowles Prichard’s project of RESEARCHES AS TO THE PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MAN finally were complete.

During this year Waldo Emerson contributed the following deeply profound thought about our human trajectory to his journal:

It is not determined of man whether he came up or down: Cherubim or Chimpanzee.

At the end of the journal entries for this year, Waldo listed his recent readings in Oriental materials: “Plotinus; Synesius; Proclus; Institutes of Menu; Bhagavat Geeta; Vishnu Purana; Confucius; Zoroaster; Saadi; Hafiz; Firdusi; Ferradeddin.”

The culture of the Imagination, how imperiously demanded, how doggedly denied. There are books which move the sea and the land, and which are the realities of which you have heard in the fables of Cornelius Agrippa and Michael Scott. Sweetness of reading: Montaigne, Froissart; Chaucer. Ancient: the three Banquets [Plato, Xenophon, Plutarch]. Oriental reading: [HE FORGOT TO FILL THIS OUT] Grand reading: Plato; Synesius; Dante; Vita Nuova; Timæus (weather, river of sleep); Cudworth; Stanley. All-reading: Account of Madame de Staël’s rule; Rabelais; Diderot, Marguerite Aretin. English reading: Clarendon; Bacon; Milton; Johnson; Northcote. Manuals: Bacon’s Essays; Ben Jonson; Ford; Beaumont and Fletcher. Favorites: Sully; Walpole; Evelyn; Walton; Burton; White’s Selborne; Aubrey; Bartram’s Travels; French Gai Science, Fabliaux. Tonic books: Life of Michael Angelo; Gibbon; Goethe; Coleridge. Novels: Manzoni. Of Translation: Mitchell. Importers: Cousin; De Staël; Southey.

Emerson also incidentally mentioned in his journal for this year someone he had been reading, Charles Kraitsir, mentioning all the languages in his head. A few pages later he included something that Kraitsir had written, that “All the languages should be studied abreast.” HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA April 17, Saturday: More than 4½ months after setting out from Hong Kong, the Kee Ying, a pole junk built of ironwood, 148 feet long with a 93-foot mast, arrived at St. Helena. Due to the size of the rudder of this sort of ship, to make an alteration to its course sometimes a group of 20 needed to push and pull together on the rudder beam.

June 29, Tuesday: President James Knox Polk entered Boston at a little after 1PM, escorted from Brookline over the Milldam by the local unit of mounted Lancers. At the west end of Beacon Street there was an oration in the rain by Mayor Josiah Quincy, Jr. and a response in the rain by the President, after which both the local panjandrum and the national panjandrum seated themselves in a superb light barouche drawn by six magnificent black horses and drove off while the populace delivered three cheers. Since the procession required about an hour to pass any given point in its itinerary from Pleasant Street to Washington Street to State Street to Commercial Street to South Market, Merchants’ Row, Ann, Blackstone, Hanover, and Court Streets, winding up at the Revere House on Bowdoin Square, it was estimated that it must be about three miles in length.

In Canton, Alexander Hill Everett died.86

Fall: Frederick Townsend Ward returned from China and, for a time, studied at a military academy in Vermont.

Hung Hsiu Ch’üan , while on his way to meet with followers in Kwangsi, passed a “Nine Demons Temple” and on its wall inscribed a poem to the effect that he had been sent by God to drive away such imps.

November 15, Monday: HENRY THOREAU wrote, on behalf of Mrs. Emerson, on behalf of Mr. Emerson, to Abel Adams of the railroad investment fund.

[OCR-scan letter from THE CORRESPONDENCE OF HENRY DAVID THOREAU, ed. Walter Harding and Carl Bode, 1958, and insert here.]

86. He had been for a number of years the editor of the North American Review, and had been posted as Commissioner to China. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA November 18, Thursday: The Chinese junk Kee Ying sailed into Boston harbor. The view of the harbor from this junk must have been most impressive, especially after such a long time on the high seas!

BOSTON/BUNKER HILL, FROM THE EAST FROM THE DORCHESTER HEIGHTS HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

1848

Sir J.F. Davis’s THE CHINESE — A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE EMPIRE OF CHINA, a book that would be read by Waldo Emerson, was published in New-York by Harper Brothers. (Might this have been the collection of 200 Chinese sayings in about 30 pages known as CHINESE MORAL MAXIMS that was first published by Sir John Davis in 1823 in Macao? Might this be the CHINESE NOVELS produced by John F. Davis in 1822? There was a Sir John Davis who was an 1844 governor of Hong Kong.)

Hung Hsiu Ch’üan had another vision, one in which the Heavenly Father commissioned him to “circulate the true doctrine for the regulation of the whole country.” Reading the portions of the Old Testament that were available to him and recognizing therein a powerful denunciation of idolatry, he inferred that his mission would be to destroy every idol in China.87

The American missionary to China S. Wells Williams opinioned, in his MIDDLE KINGDOM, that the Chinese mandarin could not possibly function as an agent of change. The British missionary to China W.H. Medhurst opinioned that it was simply “not in the nature of the Chinese to initiate reform or carry it honestly and steadily out.”

Wu T’u, an illiterate corporal in the Chinese army stationed in Amoy, converted to Christianity. Soon his family would follow him. The Westerners called him Go T’o.

In YING-HUAN CHIH-LÜEH (A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE OCEANS AROUND US), Hsü Chi-yü attempted to correct the general Chinese impression that all Dutchmen had red hair. He pointed out that until Europeans had lived in China for some time, and had thus acquired black hair like the Chinese, their hair tended to be not red but brown. He also warned his readers of another peculiarity of the Westerners, that they needed to bathe each and every day.

During this year the Emperor of China sat for his official portrait:

87. Does this remind you of the Red Guards, or does it remind you of the Taliban? HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA

The Growth of the White Community in Shanghai

1844 50

1846 134

1848 159

1849 175

1850 210

1851 265

1854 250

1860 569

1865 5,129 (due to foreign troops fight- ing the Taipings) HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA The City of London had had its own Commission of Sewers since 1669, that had closed approximately 200,000 cesspools within the city limits, connecting house drains directly to sewers that emptied directly into the Thames River — but it lacked jurisdiction over waters flowing into the city from elsewhere. In this year a Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was formed by the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act to control the situation outside London, and this new body ordered that all cesspits within its expanded jurisdiction should be closed and that all these house drains should also be connected directly to sewers that would empty directly into the Thames River (the cholera epidemic of 1848/1849 would kill 14,137 Londoners, and then would come the “Big Stink” of 1858).

The junk Keying arrived from Hong Kong via St. Helena and New-York to Gravesend on the Thames near London, and there at the East India Dock was visited by Charles Dickens and the Duke of Wellington. The purpose of the voyage was publicity, for the common impression in the British ruling caste was, that if “viewed as a place of trade,” this Hong Kong outpost of empire must be considered to be “small, barren, un-healthy and valueless.” There were too many Chinese present in the community, and compared to Sierra Leone it was “less healthy, less amusing and less near England.” Also, the English could not help but note that their proud contempt for all things Chinese was matched by the proud contempt that these superstitious and ignorant subjects of the Celestial Empire held for all things European.

WALDEN: I have always endeavored to acquire strict business PEOPLE OF habits; they are indispensable to every man. If your trade is with WALDEN the Celestial Empire, then some small counting house on the coast, in some Salem harbor, will be fixture enough. You will export such articles as the country affords, purely native products, much ice and pine timber and a little granite, always in native bottoms. These will be good ventures. To oversee all the details yourself in person; to be at once pilot and captain, and owner and underwriter; to buy and sell and keep the accounts; to read every letter received, and write or read every letter sent; to superintend the discharge of imports night and day; to be upon many parts of the coast almost at the same time; –often the richest freight will be discharged upon a Jersey shore;– to be your own telegraph, unweariedly sweeping the horizon, speaking all passing vessels bound coastwise; to keep up a steady despatch of commodities, for the supply of such a distant and exorbitant market; to keep yourself informed of the state of the markets, prospects of war and peace every where, and anticipate the tendencies of trade and civilization, –taking advantage of the results of all exploring expeditions, using new passages and all improvements in navigation;– charts to be studied, the position of reefs and new lights and buoys to be ascertained, and ever, and ever, the logarithmic tables to be corrected, for by the error of some calculator the vessel often splits upon a rock that should have reached a friendly pier, –there is the untold fate of La Perouse;– universal science to be kept pace with, studying the lives of all great discoverers and navigators, great adventurers and merchants, from Hanno and the Phoenicians down to our day; in fine, account of stock to be taken from time to time, to know how you stand. It is a labor to task the faculties of a man, – such problems of profit and loss, of interest, of tare and tret, and gauging of all kinds in it, as demand a universal knowledge.

JEAN-FRANÇOIS DE GALOUP After its tourist potential was more or less exploited, the junk was sailed to Liverpool and torn apart, and its ironwood used to construct ferry-boats for the River Mersey. A mandarin tourist aboard this junk would remain in England for a period, would attend the opening of the Crystal Palace in 1851 by Queen Victoria, and –as he HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA was taken to be an Ambassador of the Celestial Empire– for the official portrayal of the solemn event would be positioned in front of the British diplomatic corps.

The following rancid remarks have been extracted from OLD AND NEW LONDON by Thomas Walford (Cassells, 1898): Not very far from where “The Folly” was moored a century and a half ago, there was seen anchored in our own day a wonderful vessel which had crossed the Indian Ocean and sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, and so up the whole length of the Atlantic — a veritable “Chinese junk.” It made the voyage, small as it was, without suffering wreck or disaster, and arrived in the Thames in 1848. For a time it lay off Blackwall, where it was visited by thousands — among others, by Charles Dickens. Afterwards, when the London season began, it was brought up just above Waterloo Bridge, and moored off the Strand. Dickens describes the impression of a visit to the junk as a total, entire change from England to the Celestial Empire. “Nothing,” he writes, “is left but China. How the flowery region ever came into this latitude and longitude is the first thing one admires” and it is certainly not the least of the marvel. As Aladdin’s palace was transported hither and thither by the rubbing of a lamp, so the crew of Chinamen aboard the keying devoutly believed that their “good ship would turn up quite safe at the desired port if they only tied red rags enough upon the mast, rudder, and cable.” Somehow they did not succeed. Perhaps they ran short of rag; at any rate they had not enough on board to keep them above water; and to the bottom they would have undoubtedly gone if it had not been for the skill and coolness of half-a-dozen English sailors, who brought them over the ocean in safety. Well, if there be anyone thing in the world that this extraordinary craft is not at all like, that thing is a ship of any kind. So narrow, so long, so grotesque, so low in the middle, so high at each end, like a china pen-tray; with no rigging, with nowhere to go aloft; with mats for sails, great warped cigars for masts, dragons and sea-monsters disporting themselves from stem to stern, and on the stern a gigantic cock of impossible aspect, defying the world (as well he may) to produce HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA his equal — it would look more at home on the top of a public building, or at the top of a mountain, or in an avenue of trees, or down in a mine, than afloat on the water. As for the Chinese lounging on the deck, the most extravagant imagination would never dare to suppose them to be mariners. Imagine a ship’s crew without a profile amongst them, in gauze pinafores and plaited hair, wearing stiff clogs a quarter of a foot thick in the sole, and lying at night in little scented boxes, like backgammon or chess pieces, or mother-of-pearl counters! But, by Jove! Even this is nothing to your surprise when you get down into the cabin. There you get into a torture of perplexity; as, what became of all those lanterns hanging to the roof, when the junk was out at sea; whether they dangled there, banging and beating against each other, like so many jester’s baubles; whether the idol Chin Tee, of the eighteen arms, enshrined in a celestial Punch’s show, in the place of honour, ever tumbled about in heavy weather; whether the incense and the joss-stick still burnt before her, with a faint perfume found a little thread of smoke, while the mighty waves were roaring all around? Whether that preposterous tissue-paper umbrella in the corner was always spread, as being a convenient maritime instrument for walking about the decks with in a storm? Whether all the cool and shiny little chairs and tables were continually sliding about and bruising each other, and if not, why not? Whether I or anybody on the voyage ever read those two books printed in characters like bird-cages and fly-traps? Whether the mandarin passenger, He Sing, who had never been ten miles from home in his life before, lying sick on a bamboo couch in a private china closet of his own (where he is now perpetually writing autographs for inquisitive barbarians), ever began to doubt the potency of the Goddess of the Sea, whose counterfeit presentiment, like a flowery monthly nurse, occupies the sailor’s joss-house in the second gallery? Whether it is possible that the second mandarin, or the artist of the ship, Sam Sing, Esquire, RA. of Canton, can ever go ashore without a walking-staff in cinnamon, agreeably to the usage of their likenesses in British tea-shops? Above all, whether the hoarse old ocean could ever have been seriously in earnest with this floating toy-shop; or had merely played with it in lightness of spirit roughly, but meaning no harm — as the bull did with another kind of china-shop on St. Patrick’s-day in the morning. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA January: Scientific American magazine reported that a committee of the House of Commons had estimated the value of British imports into China at $43,296,782 per annum, of which the Chinese were paying out some $23,000,000 per annum for opium alone. “Large quantities are used in other countries, Siam, Hindostan, &c. Its horrid effects are seen in the sallow, sunken cheeks, the glassy, watery eyes, the idiotic look and vacant stare, and all the loathsome ruin that vice can bring upon the human body and soul.”

sallow, sunken cheeks glassy, watery eyes idiotic look and vacant stare loathsome ruin of vice

February 2, Wednesday: The 1st shipload of Chinese arrived at San Francisco harbor.

A treaty between the United States of America and Mexico, termed a “treaty of peace, friendship, limits, and settlement,” was signed at Guadalupe-Hidalgo. READ THE FULL TEXT

General Stephen W. Kearny charged Alexander William Doniphan to write a code of civil laws to be used in the lands annexed from Mexico (this would be known as the “Kearny code”) in both English and Spanish.

A bill would be introduced into the House of Representatives on February 18, 1848 to authorize our nation to borrow $16,000,000 in order to complete its prosecution of the war, and it seeming an excellent investment, this would be approved in the US House of Representatives and then considered be the US Senate. The Treaty would, with the advice and consent of the US Senate, be ratified by our President on March 16, 1848. HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA Subsequent to its signature and ratification, further war measures would be considered and adopted by our federal congress. According to the Treaty, almost half the land area of Mejico was to be surrendering by that nation to the United States of America. That is to day that during this year in which the cornerstone was being laid for the Washington Monument, using slave labor of course, by a treaty made possible through hostile invasion and occupation of foreign territory, we were obtaining TX, CA, NM, AZ, NV, UT, and parts of CO and WY for our federal union at a compensation of merely $15,000,000. TEXAS

We note in passing that Senator James Mason was already deploying the US Constitution as a bulwark for the practice of human enslavement.

Upon learning the terms imposed, Friend John Greenleaf Whittier would write the following:

THE CRISIS. ACROSS the Stony Mountains, o’er the desert’s drouth and sand, HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA The circles of our empire touch the western ocean’s strand; From slumberous Timpanogos, to Gila, wild and free, Flowing down from Nuevo-Leon to California’s sea; And from the mountains of the east, to Santa Rosa’s shore, The eagles of Mexitli shall beat the air no more. O Vale of Rio Bravo! Let thy simple children weep; Close watch about their holy fire let maids of Pecos keep; Let Taos send her cry across Sierra Madre’s pines, And Santa Barbara toll her bells amidst her corn and vines; For lo! the pale land-seekers come, with eager eyes of gain, Wide scattering, like the bison herds on broad Salada’s plain. Let Sacramento’s herdsmen heed what sound the winds bring down Of footsteps on the crisping snow, from cold Nevada’s crown! Full hot and fast the Saxon rides, with rein of travel slack, And, bending o’er his saddle, leaves the sunrise at his back; By many a lonely river, and gorge of fir and pine, On many a wintry hill-top, his nightly camp-fires shine. O countrymen and brothers! that land of lake and plain, Of salt wastes alternating with valleys fat with grain; Of mountains white with winter, looking downward, cold, serene, On their feet with spring-vines tangled and lapped in softest green; Swift through whose black volcanic gates, o’er many a sunny vale, Wind-like the Arapahoe sweeps the bison’s dusty trail! Great spaces yet untravelled, great lakes whose mystic shores The Saxon rifle never heard, nor dip of Saxon oars; Great herds that wander all unwatched, wild steeds that none have tamed, Strange fish in unknown streams, and birds the Saxon never named; Deep mines, dark mountain crucibles, where Nature’s chemic powers Work out the Great Designer’s will; all these ye say are ours! Forever ours! for good or ill, on us the burden lies; God’s balance, watched by angels, is hung across the skies. Shall Justice, Truth, and Freedom turn the poised and trembling scale? Or shall the Evil triumph, and robber Wrong prevail? Shall the broad land o’er which our flag in starry splendor waves, Forego through us its freedom, and bear the tread of slaves? The day is breaking in the East of which the prophets told, And brightens up the sky of Time the Christian Age of Gold; Old Might to Right is yielding, battle blade to clerkly pen, Earth’s monarchs are her peoples, and her serfs stand up as men; The isles rejoice together, in a day are nations born, And the slave walks free in Tunis, and by Stamboul’s Golden Horn! Is this, O countrymen of mine! a day for us to sow The soil of new-gained empire with slavery’s seeds of woe? To feed with our fresh life-blood the Old World’s cast-off crime, Dropped, like some monstrous early birth, from the tired lap of Time? To run anew the evil race the old lost nations ran, And die like them of unbelief of God, and wrong of man? Great Heaven! Is this our mission? End in this the prayers and tears, The toil, the strife, the watchings of our younger, better years? Still as the Old World rolls in light, shall ours in shadow turn, A beamless Chaos, cursed of God, through outer darkness borne? Where the far nations looked for light, a blackness in the air? Where for words of hope they listened, the long wail of despair? The Crisis presses on us; face to face with us it stands, With solemn lips of question, like the Sphinx in Egypt’s sands! This day we fashion Destiny, our web of Fate we spin; This day for all hereafter choose we holiness or sin, Even now from starry Gerizim, or Ebal’s cloudy crown We call the dews of blessing or the bolts of cursing down! HDT WHAT? INDEX

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By all for which the martyrs bore their agony and shame; By all the warning words of truth with which the prophets came; By the Future which awaits us; by all the hopes which cast Their faint and trembling beams across the blackness of the Past; And by the blessed thought of Him who for Earth’s freedom died, O my people! O my brothers! let us choose the righteous side. So shall the Northern pioneer go joyful on his way; To wed Penobscot’s waters to San Francisco’s bay; To make the rugged places smooth, and sow the vales with grain; And bear, with Liberty and Law, the Bible in his train: The mighty West shall bless the East, and sea shall answer sea, And mountain unto mountain call, Praise God for we are free! WAR ON MEXICO HDT WHAT? INDEX

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1849

Having lost an ironworks fortune in the recent trade depression, John Bowring accepted an appointment as British consul at Canton (Guangzhou), and superintendent of trade in China. He would hold this post for four years.

Whites in Cuba were enforcing segregation in public places as a means of emphasizing their powers of control. Yucatecan Indians were being imported from Mexico for slave labor. Attempts were being made to recruit white Spaniards to come from Spain and work alongside the black slaves. At the same time, Chinese contract workers, known as coolies, were being brought from South China in considerable numbers. Their eight-year labor contracts were not indentures, in that their masters were not obligated to teach them any trade or provide them with work tools at the completion of the contract. The contracts, interestingly, did not offer them return transportation to China — upon completion of work they would need to find their own way back around the globe.

Norman Asing of Charleston, South Carolina, who wore his queue under a stovepipe hat, opened the 1st Chinese restaurant in the USA, in San Francisco. The restaurant would be known as the “Macao and Woosung.”

Some Chinese arrived on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean to serve as indentured servants.

The first major influx of the “coolie trade” Chinese to the west coast of the US, arriving at the port of San Francisco. This was of course, in the Chinese language, referred to as the “piglet trade.” The organizers of these gangs of coolie recruits from the south of China typically paid $80 in Mexican coinage or $40 in US coinage per head, and got their money back out of the wages of the gangs. Such a price for transit was possible because in this “human cargo” manner the shipmasters could avoid the dead loss of returning to the US with an empty hold.

The Growth of the White Community in Shanghai

1844 50

1846 134

1848 159

1849 175

1850 210

1851 265

1854 250

1860 569

1865 5,129 (due to foreign troops fight- ing the Taipings) HDT WHAT? INDEX

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The British finally yielded, in their insistence begun in 1843 that they be allowed to pass inside the city wall of Canton. This was something which the local authorities just were not going to allow to happen, not anytime soon, nor ever.

Upon relocating from mainland China to the coastal island of Hong Kong, Wang Libin changed his name to Wang T‘ao. Under that monicker he would for the following 13 years be doing translations for the London Missionary Society Press.

The Reverend Issachar J. Roberts , who had returned to the United States due to the “opium-war” disturbances, remarried with Virginia Young at East Hickman, Kentucky in a ceremony presided over by the Reverend William Buck. This marriage, and Mrs. Roberts’s sojourn in China, would prove unfortunate: Among the other missionaries whom [the Baptist missionary couple Tarleton Perry Crawford and Martha Foster Crawford] met in Shanghai and with whom they were to work were I.J. and Virginia Roberts. Martha concluded that Mrs. Roberts was a mental case, for she refused to be left alone with Chinese people. Virginia constantly clung to Martha, becoming agitated when the latter left her by herself in a room. Loathing the sight of the Chinese, as Virginia did, she was a most unhappy person. She even threatened to commit suicide. On one occasion the Crawfords found her beating her head against a wall. The Robertses quarreled often, and Virginia made it clear that if she ever returned home, she would not come back to China, whether or not her husband did. Martha came to regard Roberts as a cruel man and blamed him for Virginia’s “advanced case of insanity.” The question remains: which of the Robertses was more insane?

May 14, Monday: Prussia ordered its deputies removed from the German National Assembly.

A Revolutionary Executive Committee for Baden was established in Karlsruhe and Rastatt under Chairman Lorenz Brentano.

When Franz Liszt arrived at his home in Weimar he found Richard Wagner and decided to help his fellow composer hide from the authorities. Liszt would organize a false identity and an escape to Switzerland and Paris. Before departing, Wagner would be able to hear Liszt conduct a rehearsal of Tannhäuser, scheduled to be performed on May 20th. Wagner would reminisce, “I was astounded to recognize in him my second self....”

Henry Thoreau’s “Resistance to Civil Government” and, it has been alleged, Charles V. Kraitsir’s language theories,88 appeared in the ÆSTHETIC PAPERS of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and to some Westerners at that time, “go-ahead” Americans,

THOREAU AND CHINA 88. I am at a loss for how to substantiate this allegation unless it refers to the article “Language. — The Editor” that occupies pages 214-223. HDT WHAT? INDEX

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“RESISTANCE TO CIVIL GOVERNMENT”: If a state is governed by the principles of reason, poverty and misery are subjects of shame; if a state is not governed by the principles of reason, riches and honors are the subjects of shame. HDT WHAT? INDEX

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Confucius’s reasoning (straight out of the ANALECTS or LUN-YÜ, one of THE FOUR BOOKS) was not CHINA seeming particularly persuasive:

I think that Mr. Thoreau has got into better company than he deserves and doubt if there is much in him.

Better company than he deserved: Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (in 1878)

But there were in addition those were impressed, for the Boston Daily Chronotype, edited by Elizur Wright, Jr., would comment on its page 2 that ÆSTHETIC PAPERS contained an essay by H.D. Thoreau on resistance to civil government which was

a very interesting paper, and quite radical — beautifully so. HDT WHAT? INDEX

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Nathaniel Hawthorne took “Main Street” (and several other stories) out of the future editions of his THE SCARLET LETTER, and included it in his sister-in-law’s volume. (He definitely knew how to recycle: he would also include this story “Main Street” in his 1852 volume THE SNOW-IMAGE AND OTHER TWICE-TOLD TALES.) HDT WHAT? INDEX

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THE SCARLET LETTER: A portion of his facts, by-the-by, did me good service in the preparation of the article entitled “MAIN STREET,” included in the present volume. The remainder may perhaps be applied to purposes equally valuable hereafter, or not impossibly may be worked up, so far as they go, into a regular history of Salem, should my veneration for the natal soil ever impel me to so pious a task. Meanwhile, they shall be at the command of any gentleman, inclined and competent, to take the unprofitable labour off my hands. As a final disposition I contemplate depositing them with the Essex Historical Society. But the object that most drew my attention to the mysterious package was a certain affair of fine red cloth, much worn and faded. There were traces about it of gold embroidery, which, however, was greatly frayed and defaced, so that none, or very little, of the glitter was left. It had been wrought, as was easy to perceive, with wonderful skill of needlework; and the stitch (as I am assured by ladies conversant with such mysteries) gives evidence of a now forgotten art, not to be discovered even by the process of picking out the threads. This rag of scarlet cloth –for time, and wear, and a sacrilegious moth had reduced it to little other than a rag– on careful examination, assumed the shape of a letter.

Also appearing in ÆSTHETIC PAPERS was the Reverend Sampson Reed’s “Genius”: The world was always busy; the human heart has always had love of some kind; there has always been fire on the earth. There is something in the inmost principles of an individual, when he begins to exist, which urges him onward; there is something in the centre of the character of a nation, to which the people aspire; there is something which gives activity to the mind in all ages, countries, and worlds. This principle of activity is love: it may be the love of good or of evil; it may manifest itself in saving life or in killing; but it is love. The difference in the strength and direction of the affections creates the distinctions in society. Every man has a form of mind peculiar to himself. The mind of the infant contains within itself the first rudiments of all that will be hereafter, and needs nothing but expansion; as the leaves and branches and fruit of a tree are said to exist in the seed from which it springs. He is bent in a particular direction; and, as some objects are of more value than others, distinctions must exist. What it is that makes a man great depends upon the state of society: with the savage, it is physical strength; with the civilized, the arts and sciences; in heaven, the perception that love and wisdom are from the Divine. There prevails an idea in the world, that its great men are more like God than others. This sentiment carries in its bosom sufficient evil to bar the gates of heaven. So far as a person possesses it, either with respect to himself or others, he has no connection with his Maker, no love for his neighbor, no truth in his understanding. This was at the root of heathen idolatry: it was this that made men worship saints and images. It contains within itself the seeds of atheism, and will ultimately make HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA every man insane by whom it is cherished. The life which circulates in the body is found to commence in the head; but, unless it be traced through the soul up to God, it is merely corporeal, like that of the brutes. Man has often ascribed to his own power the effects of the secret operations of divine truth. When the world is immersed in darkness, this is a judgment of the Most High; but the light is the effect of the innate strength of the human intellect. When the powers of man begin to decay, and approach an apparent dissolution, who cannot see the Divinity? But what foreign aid wants the man who is full of his own strength? God sends the lightning that blasts the tree; but what credulity would ascribe to him the sap that feeds its branches? The sight of idiotism leads to a train of religious reflections; but the face that is marked with lines of intelligence is admired for its own inherent beauty. The hand of the Almighty is visible to all in the stroke of death; but few see his face in the smiles of the new-born babe. The intellectual eye of man is formed to see the light, not to make it; and it is time that, when the causes that cloud the spiritual world are removed, man should rejoice in the truth itself, and not that he has found it. More than once, when nothing was required but for a person to stand on this world with his eyes open, has the truth been seized upon as a thing of his own making. When the power of divine truth begins to dispel the darkness, the objects that are first disclosed to our view—whether men of strong understanding, or of exquisite taste, or of deep learning—are called geniuses. Luther, Shakspeare, Milton, Newton, stand with the bright side towards us. There is something which is called genius, that carries in itself the seeds of its own destruction. There is an ambition which hurries a man after truth, and takes away the power of attaining it. There is a desire which is null, a lust which is impotence. There is no understanding so powerful, that ambition may not in time bereave it of its last truth, even that two and two are four. Know, then, that genius is divine, not when the man thinks that he is God, but when he acknowledges that his powers are from God. Here is the link of the finite with the infinite, of the divine with the human: this is the humility which exalts. The arts have been taken from nature by human invention; and, as the mind returns to its God, they are in a measure swallowed up in the source from which they came. We see, as they vanish, the standard to which we should refer them. They are not arbitrary, having no foundation except in taste: they are only modified by taste, which varies according to the state of the human mind. Had we a history of music, from the war-song of the savage to the song of angels, it would be a history of the affections that have held dominion over the human heart. Had we a history of architecture, from the first building erected by man to the house not made with hands, we might trace the variations of the beautiful and the grand, alloyed by human contrivance, to where they are lost in beauty and grandeur. Had we a history of poetry, from the first rude effusions to where words make one with things, and language is lost in nature, we should see the state of man in the language of licentious passion, in the songs of chivalry, in the descriptions of heroic valor, in the mysterious wildness of Ossian; till the beauties HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA of nature fall on the heart, as softly as the clouds on the summer's water. The mind, as it wanders from heaven, moulds the arts into its own form, and covers its nakedness. Feelings of all kinds will discover themselves in music, in painting, in poetry; but it is only when the heart is purified from every selfish and worldly passion, that they are created in real beauty; for in their origin they are divine. Science is more fixed. It consists of the laws according to which natural things exist; and these must be either true or false. It is the natural world in the abstract, not in the concrete. But the laws according to which things exist, are from the things themselves, not the opposite. Matter has solidity: solidity makes no part of matter. If, then, the natural world is from God, the abstract properties, as dissected and combined, are from him also. If, then, science be from Him who gave the ten commandments, must not a life according to the latter facilitate the acquirement of the former? Can he love the works of God who does not love his commandments? It is only necessary that the heart be purified, to have science like poetry its spontaneous growth. Self-love has given rise to many false theories, because a selfish man is disposed to make things differently from what God has made them. Because God is love, nature exists; because God is love, the Bible is poetry. If, then, the love of God creates the scenery of nature, must not he whose mind is most open to this love be most sensible of natural beauties? But in nature both the sciences and the arts exist embodied. Science may be learned from ambition; but it must be by the sweat of the brow. The filthy and polluted mind may carve beauties from nature, with which it has no allegiance: the rose is blasted in the gathering. The olive and the vine had rather live with God, than crown the head of him whose love for them is a lust for glory. The man is cursed who would rob nature of her graces, that he may use them to allure the innocent virgin to destruction. Men say there is an inspiration in genius. The genius of the ancients was the good or evil spirit that attended the man. The moderns speak of the magic touch of the pencil, and of the inspiration of poetry. But this inspiration has been esteemed so unlike religion, that the existence of the one almost supposes the absence of the other. The spirit of God is thought to be a very different thing when poetry is written, from what it is when the heart is sanctified. What has the inspiration of genius in common with that of the cloister? The one courts the zephyrs; the other flies them. The one is cheerful; the other, sad. The one dies; the other writes the epitaph. Would the Muses take the veil? Would they exchange Parnassus for a nunnery? Yet there has been learning, and even poetry, under ground. The yew loves the graveyard; but other trees have grown there. It needs no uncommon eye to see, that the finger of death has rested on the church. Religion and death have in the human mind been connected with the same train of associations. The churchyard is the graveyard. The bell which calls men to worship is to toll at their funerals, and the garments of the priests are of the color of the hearse and the coffin. Whether we view her in the strange melancholy that sits on her face, in her mad reasonings about truth, or in the occasional convulsions that agitate her limbs, there are symptoms, not of life, but of disease and death. It is not strange, then, that genius, such HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA as could exist on the earth, should take its flight to the mountains. It may be said, that great men are good men. But what I mean is, that, in the human mind, greatness is one thing, and goodness another; that philosophy is divorced from religion; that truth is separated from its source; that that which is called goodness is sad, and that which is called genius is proud. Since things are so, let men take care that the life which is received be genuine. Let the glow on the cheek spring from the warmth of the heart, and the brightness of the eyes beam from the light of heaven. Let ambition and the love of the world be plucked up by their roots. How can he love his neighbor, who desires to be above him? He may love him for a slave; but that is all. Let not the shrouds of death be removed, till the living principle has entered. It was not till Lazarus was raised from the dead, and had received the breath of life, that the Lord said, “Loose him, and let him go.” When the heart is purified from all selfish and worldly affections, then may genius find its seat in the church. As the human mind is cleansed of its lusts, truth will permit and invoke its approach, as the coyness of the virgin subsides into the tender love of the wife. The arts will spring in fall-grown beauty from Him who is the source of beauty. The harps which have hung on the willows will sound as sweetly as the first breath of heaven that moved the leaves in the garden of Eden. Cannot a man paint better when he knows that the picture ought not to be worshipped? Here is no sickly aspiring after fame,—no filthy lust after philosophy, whose very origin is an eternal barrier to the truth. But sentiments will flow from the heart warm as its blood, and speak eloquently; for eloquence is the language of love. There is a unison of spirit and nature. The genius of the mind will descend, arid unite with the genius of the rivers, the lakes, and the woods. Thoughts fall to the earth with power, and make a language out of nature. Adam and Eve knew no language but their garden. They had nothing to communicate by words; for they had not the power of concealment. The sun of the spiritual world shone bright on their hearts, and their senses were open with delight to natural objects. In the eye were the beauties of paradise; in the ear was the music of birds; in the nose was the fragrance of the freshness of nature; in the taste was the fruit of the garden; in the touch, the seal of their eternal union. What had they to say? The people of the golden age have left us no monuments of genius, no splendid columns, no paintings, no poetry. They possessed nothing which evil passions might not obliterate; and, when their “heavens were rolled together as a scroll,” the curtain dropped between the world and their existence. Science will be full of life, as nature is full of God. She will wring from her locks the dew which was gathered in the wilderness. By science, I mean natural science. The science of the human mind must change with its subject. Locke's mind will not always be the standard of metaphysics. Had we a description of it in its present state, it would make a very different book from “Locke on the Human Understanding.” The time is not far distant. The cock has crowed. I hear the distant lowing of the cattle which are grazing on the mountains. “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? The HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA watchman saith, The morning cometh.”

August 14, Tuesday: Caught in a typhoon, Captain Edward H. Faucon had to chop off the masts of the Frolic in order to save it from being driven ashore by the winds. The rigging would need to all be replaced after towing the vessel to Hong Kong. During the repairs it would be found that her bottom also needed to be re-coppered, and a rotten portion of her keelson would be replaced. CHINA

Henry Root Colman had sailed again for England for his health, but died on this day in Islington, England soon after going ashore.

December 5, Wednesday: On its front page, Elizur Wright, Jr.’s Boston Daily Chronotype made a final mention of Henry Thoreau while remarking the “irrepressible good humor and wit” to be found in James Russell Lowell’s review in the Massachusetts Quarterly Review of a “pleasant book on the Concord and Merrimack.”

The Frolic sailed one last time from the port of Hong Kong on the coast of China to the port of Bombay on the coast of India to pick up a cargo of opium. The plan was that after this last trip she would be loaded with luxury items, taken to California, and, if the proper opportunity arose, sold there as no longer large enough or fast enough for the opium trade.89

CONTINUE TO READ CHRONOLOGICALLY

89. The plan to grant Captain Edward H. Faucon power of attorney to sell the Frolic once it had reached San Francisco and been unloaded did not take account, of course, of a fact not known either to the firm members in Asia or to the firm members in Boston, that the Golden Gate was clogged at this point with vessels which had been abandoned by their crews so the crews could participate in the frenzy of gold digging. (It seems clear that the coming wreck of the vessel was not a staged thing, not intended merely for collection of insurance money.) HDT WHAT? INDEX

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CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM COPYRIGHT NOTICE: In addition to the property of others, such as extensive quotations and reproductions of images, this “read-only” computer file contains a great deal of special work product of Austin Meredith, copyright 2016. Access to these interim materials will eventually be offered for a fee in order to recoup some of the costs of preparation. My hypercontext button invention which, instead of creating a hypertext leap through hyperspace —resulting in navigation problems— allows for an utter alteration of the context within which one is experiencing a specific content already being viewed, is claimed as proprietary to Austin Meredith — and therefore freely available for use by all. Limited permission to copy such files, or any material from such files, must be obtained in advance in writing from the “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project, 833 Berkeley St., Durham NC 27705. Please contact the project at .

“It’s all now you see. Yesterday won’t be over until tomorrow and tomorrow began ten thousand years ago.” – Remark by character “Garin Stevens” in William Faulkner’s INTRUDER IN THE DUST

Prepared: March 22, 2019 HDT WHAT? INDEX

THE CENTRAL KINGDOM CHINA ARRGH AUTOMATED RESEARCH REPORT

GENERATION HOTLINE

This stuff presumably looks to you as if it were generated by a human. Such is not the case. Instead, someone has requested that we pull it out of the hat of a pirate who has grown out of the shoulder of our pet parrot “Laura” (as above). What these chronological lists are: they are research reports compiled by ARRGH algorithms out of a database of modules which we term the Kouroo Contexture (this is data mining). To respond to such a request for information we merely push a button.

Commonly, the first output of the algorithm has obvious deficiencies and we need to go back into the modules stored in HDT WHAT? INDEX

CHINA THE CENTRAL KINGDOM the contexture and do a minor amount of tweaking, and then we need to punch that button again and recompile the chronology — but there is nothing here that remotely resembles the ordinary “writerly” process you know and love. As the contents of this originating contexture improve, and as the programming improves, and as funding becomes available (to date no funding whatever has been needed in the creation of this facility, the entire operation being run out of pocket change) we expect a diminished need to do such tweaking and recompiling, and we fully expect to achieve a simulation of a generous and untiring robotic research librarian. Onward and upward in this brave new world.

First come first serve. There is no charge. Place requests with . Arrgh.