East Asian History NUMBERS 13/14· JUNE/D ECEMBER 1997 Institute of Adva nce d Stu dies Australian National University Edito r GeremieR. Barme Assi stan t Edi tor Helen Lo Editorial Board Ma rk Elvin (Conv enor) John Clark Andr ew Fraser Helen Hardac re Col in Jeffco tt W. ]. F. Jenn er Lo Hui- min Gavan McCo rmack Dav id Ma rr Tessa Morri s-Suzuki Micha el Underdown Design and Produc tion Helen Lo Bu sin ess Manag er Ma ri on Week s Print ed by Go anna Prin t, Fy shwick, ACT � Thi s double issu e of East Asian History, 13 /14, wa s printed in March 1999. Contribu ti on s to Th e Edi tor, East Asian History Division of Pac ific andAs ian Hi sto ry Research Schoo l of Pacific and Asian Studi es Au stralian National Univ ersity Canb erra ACT 0200, Au stralia Phone +61 26249 3140 Fax +6126 249 5525 email geremie@c oo mbs.anu. ed u.au Sub scrip tion Enquiries to Sub scription s, East Asian History, atth e above add ress Annua l Subscrip tion Au stra li a A$45 Ov erseasUS $45 (fo r two issu es) iii CONTENTS 1 The Memoir s of H. A. Gile s Charles Aylmer 91 The Date and Co mpilation of the Fengdao Kejie, the Fi rst Handbook of Mona stic Daoi sm Livia Kohn 119 The Mingyad, the jaqacin, the To ryud, the Qosud and the Caqar Ceveng (c. Z. Zamcarano) -translated by 1. de Rachewiltz and j. R. Krueger 133 Japane se Travellers in Korea Sonia Ryang 153 A Note on the Word Bartein the Secret History of the Mongols 1. de Rachewiltz iv Cover calligraphy Yan Zhenqing �Jt�,g�n, Tang calligrapher an d statesman Cover illustration Herbert Allen Giles (source: Gems of Chinese Literature [Shangh ai: Kelly & Walsh, 1922]) THE MEMOIRS OF H. A. GILES � Edited and with an Introduction by Charles Aylmer Introduction Now that sinology is an aca demic di scipline practise d by professional scholars writing for the most part only with other sinologists in min d, it may be salutary to recall an era, not so long ago but fast fa di ng from living memory, when knowle dge about China was acquire d not simply from the printe d page or brief vi sits to the country but by long years of toil "in the fiel d" as a consular officeror missionary. Re aders who ha ve no prejudice against a Professor of Chinese for whom, by his own admission, "close grammatical analogy ne ver had any charms " and who advo cate d "wide as oppose d to meticulous rea ding," may find enlightenment as well as di ve rsion in the perusal of these Memoirs. In these pages we make the acquaintance of a man who spent a quarter of a century in the Consular Service in China, and whose life's endea vour was to make the Chinese language and culture accessible to as many of his countrymen as possible. He publishe d some sixty books an d pamphlets, an equal number of journal articles an d book re views, and was a prolific contributor to newspapers. Hi s works inclu de a Chinese-English Dictionary which for many years was a stan dard work, the first general histories of Chinese literature and Chinese art, pioneering reference works which set new stan dar ds of accuracy, an d translations, many still not superse ded, which co ver an astonishingly wi de range of poetry and prose, philosophy an d religion. In addi tion to his scholarly acti vi ty, he was an outspoken contro versialist, with strongly hel d an dfearlessly expresse d vi ews on matters which are still of concern to day, such as opium addi ction, female infantici de an d Christian evangelism in China. Herbert Allen Giles was bornin Oxfor d on 18th December 1845, the fourth son of John Allen Giles (1808-84), an Anglican clergyman an d Fellow of Corpus Christi College. Hi s father had do ctrinal di fferences with the Church 1 2 CHARLES AYLMER Figure 1 HerbertAl len Giles, LLD. Aberdeen, D.Litt. Oxon. (184�1935). Professor of Ch inese in the Un iversity of Ca mbridge (1897-1932) (from Gems of Chinese Literature [Shanghai: Kelly & Wa lsh, 1922]) 1 Charterhouse register (1769-1872), p.157. an d served a term in prison for a minor infraction of ecclesiastical law. As a 2 Foreign Offi ce List (936): 470. cons eq u ence hewas oblig ed to mak e en ds meet with his pen, pro ducing a str eam of publications, many of a decidedly utilitarian nature, such as a seri es of "cribs" of Greek and Latin texts for schoolboys. It was as a contributor to th e latter that Herb er t Giles made his ea rliest foray into the worl d of lett ers. His lat er agnosticism an d anti-clericalism no do ubt ha d their origins in his fath er 's or deal at th e han ds of th e Church of Englan d. Aft er four years at Chart erhous e,l Gil es di d not, as might have been ex pect ed, proc eed to Oxfor d, but went insteadto Peking, ha ving pass ed th e comp etiti ve examination for a Stu dent Interpretership in China. His service as a consular offic er is summaris ed as follows2: THE MEMOIRS OF H. A. GILES 3 1867 pass ed comp etiti ve examination 3 Li Hung-chang (1823-1901), statesman February 2 appoint ed Studen t Int erpreter and diplomat. 1869 No vemb er 18 Third Class Assistant 4 FO 674/23 1872 July 20-August 31 Acting Consul Ti entsin 5 Chin hai kuan tao : Customs Taotai, an Decemb er 7 Secon d Class Assistant officialperforming the functions of Superin­ tendent of Customs at Tientsin. See Brunnert Act ed as Int erpreter at Ti entsin, Ningpo, Hankow, Canton and Hagelstrom, Present day politicalorgan­ 1876 August 4 Fi rst Class Assistant isation of Ch ina (Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, May 8-August 16Acting Consul Swatow 1912), p.423. 1879 Jun e 26Acting Consul Amoy (until 10 March 1881) 6 51.m3&�' J;)*IJ*T 0, Ch ou/yin 1880 February 25 H.M. Vic e-Consul Pago da Island te (Peking: Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1935), ching wen p . 45 . 1883 Jun e 11 transferr ed to Shanghai FO 674/23 1885 Novemb er 13 Acting Consul Tamsui (until Jun e 30 1886) 7 8 FO 670/165 1886 July 1 Consul Tamsui 1891 April 1 transferred to Ningpo 1893 Octob er 10 resign ed. Almost th e first of his official du ti es, ag ed tw en ty-s even an d with five years of Chinese stu dy behin d him, was to call on th e newly-appoint ed Governor-General of Chihli, Li Hung-chang *�J1i[,3 whom he accus ed, inter alia, of showing deliberat e di sresp ec t to th e British Consul at Ti entsin by referring to th e latter in an official communicationby th e relati ve pronoun kai � insteadof kuei ".4 Fo ur da ys lat er, aft er a demonstration of a stea m traction engin e, organis ed for local di gnitari es with a vi ew to possibl e sal es, th e Hai-kuan Tao-t'ai l'$ml��H1§15se nt a memoran du m to the Consul inclu d­ ing th e following delightful passag e as translat ed by Gil es: Musin g how ever on th e wond ers of th e Traction En gine, with its ad mirabl e pow ers of lo co mo tion, either fo rw a rd s orba ck wa rds, and other ex trao rdina ry perfo rman ces, th eTa ot'a i felt a regret th a t such a wo rk of art sh ould bewi th out a co rrespond in gly bea utiful na me ex plana tory of its ex cell ent design. It is written in th eBook of Ch ange "T ha t wh ich can draghe avy weigh ts to a distan ce is beneficial to th e wo rl d atla rge"6 and th ese wo rds are well ex empl ified by th e useful qual ities of th e Traction En gine, th erefo re it ma y bena med Li Yun g fljffl , a na me no t un wo rthy of th e ob ject fo r wh ich it is designed , and wh ich ma y perh ap s meet with th e Co nsul' s app ro ba tion. [Tun g- ch ih 11th year] 8th , mo on 9th day (11 September 1872)., 7 An opportunity to display such linguistic prow ess an d familiarity with literary allusion was an agreeabl e di version from th e monotony of consular routine. Th e surviving records of Gil es' last posting give a flavour of th e kind of matt ers which occupi ed a Consul's tim e. He was required to medi at e di sputes betw een British resi dents (many of th em missionari es) an d local Chinese, over land rights or petty larc eny such as th e th eft of th ree cows (th e th ie ve s were du ly apprehended an d punish ed).