‘an unwholesome diet…’ Wilson, Medical Notes, p.21.
12.
‘But Lockhart had not.. save their soul’ MR, Oct 1841, p.465.
‘little messengers of grace’ MR, Mar 1842, p.139.
13.
‘The handing back of… Christian tracts’ MR, Mar 1843, p.142.
‘Kate, then just fifteen… 1841’ CWM, List of Missionaries (384) and MS380645/2.
‘very beautiful in her mother’s eyes’ CWM MS380645/1, insert from Kate herself in a letter from Dinghae 29/6/1843.
14.
‘break the fallow ground… blossom as the rose”’ CWM LMSMA, letter from Morrison in Macao 22/3/1841 (quoting Isaiah 35:1).
15.
‘Mary Ann Aldersey’ The story of Mary’s life is in Reason, The Witch of Ningbo.
‘one of the most zealous workers…’ Gützlaff, Gaïhan, letter of 12/6/1843.
16.
‘Born into a nonconformist… heaven’ Female Agency among the Heathen.
‘Who but a woman…?’ ibid.
‘Since monkeys and parrots…’ The Rev. David Abeel, An Appeal Addressed to Christian Ladies.
‘They are the slaves…’ Gützlaff, Voyages p.384.
17.
‘bought a passage to the East’ Mary’s work in the East Indies is in Female Agency, p.242ff.
18.
‘Through her landlord… island’s society’ ibid., p.251.
‘Its menfolk did not impress her’ ibid.
‘a surviving illustration’ Female Agency has a colour facsimile.
19.
‘Gützlaff was thankful to set foot again…’ Gützlaff sets out an account (often suspiciously subjective) of his work on Chusan in Gaïhan. Schlyter provides a good analysis in Karl Gützlaff als Missionär in China.
‘Was it just simple chance…?’ Gützlaff, Gaïhan, letter of 12/6/1843.
20.
‘pamphleteering… Sermon on the Mount’ ibid., letter of 17/10/1842.
‘In February 1843… British’ For official Chinese complaints over Gützlaff’s social policies and the behaviour of British troops towards the islanders, see e.g. FO17/65(28), FO17/66(201ff) and FO17/66(369ff).
‘On December 29th last year…’ The original Chinese documents are in YPZZZZS pp.548-52. There are translations of some of them in FO17/66(209), FO17/67(116) and FO17/69(36, 92).
21.
‘a census of Tinghae’ Gützlaff, Gaïhan, letter of 12/6/1843.
‘(he put the population… city)’ Davis, Chinese Miscellanies. Tinghae’s population was to swell to 35,000 by the end of British rule.
‘foundling hospital… Song dynasty’ The foundling hospital was well built and roomy and in July 1840 had contained fifty children (CWM LMSMA, Lockhart’s journal, 3/2/1841).
22.
‘Distinguishing in stark terms… genuine need’ Davis, Chinese Miscellanies.
‘He had once commented… Jesus loved him’ Gützlaff, Gaïhan, letter of 16/3/1843.
‘two or three beggars’ CWM MS380645/1, Lockhart writing from Dinghae 29/6/1843.
‘Everything Gützlaff undertook… ointment’ see e.g. Schlyter’s account of Gützlaff’s mission.
‘Lord’s Vineyard’ Gützlaff, Gaïhan, letter of 16/3/1843.
‘We await the coming of the Lord…’ ibid. This was the Great March Comet of 1843, which was visible for two months around the globe.
23.
‘A small building in Tinghae’ ibid.
‘Still struggling… Who is Jesus?’ BUL KGC DA19/3/1/1/1-4(2).
‘When time allowed… abandoned the islanders’ Gützlaff, Gaïhan, letter of 16/3/1843.
‘Gützlaff persisted… same paths’ ibid., letter of 10/7/1843.
‘I have not the least doubt…’ ibid., letter of 16/3/1843.
24.
‘Yet three months later… disbelief’ ibid., letter of 12/6/1843.
‘There was every prospect of real famine’ ibid; EMC, 9/8/1843.
‘The lamentations were truly heart-rending… blossoms’ Gützlaff, Gaïhan, letter of 10/7/1843.
‘one single member… turned him down’ ibid., letter of 28/8/1843.
25.
‘Yesterday I had a crowd of my women…’ ibid.
26.
‘Father Danicourt’ The details of Danicourt’s life and work on Chusan, though partisan, are in Danicourt, Vie de Mgr Danicourt.
‘he would even visit Gützlaff’s home’ Gützlaff, though he thought him a clever man, had rather barbed views on Danicourt’s hailing ‘seemingly from the lower classes’: Gaïhan, letter of 17/10/1842.
‘It was a game… shuffle along’ Fay, ‘The French Catholic Mission in China’, p.118.
27.
‘Father Jean de Fontaney’ BL IOR G/12/14.
28.
‘Catholic chapel… Mary Immaculate’ Danicourt, Vie.
‘Before the year was out… seminarians’ endeavours’ APF, 2/1/1843.
29.
‘Chusan Hospital for Europeans’ APF, 13/10/1844.
‘Monsieur Tcheou’ APF, 2/1/1843.
‘In little more than a year… twenty Chusanese’ APF, 13/10/1844.
30.
‘On Easter Monday of 1845…’ Danicourt, Vie.
‘After a decade… up close’ APF, 2/5/1854.
31.
‘Luckily…’ Danicourt, Vie.
32.
‘It is more or less certain…’ ibid.
Chapter 19
1.
‘George Smith… move to China’ BUL CMSA C.CH.L1 p.38ff and C.CH.M1 p.11ff contain the CMS’s account of the mission and, along with Smith’s Narrative, are the source for this section.
‘Church Missionary Society’ The background to the mission is in Moule, The Story of the Cheh-Kiang Mission.
‘An anonymous donation…’ The voyage alone demanded substantial funds: when the missionary G.T. Lay travelled from London to Chusan via Suez his passage cost £270, a five-figure sum today (FO17/71(126)).
2.
‘There was, however… Chinese town’ Smith, Narrative p.255.
‘It would have argued…’ ibid. p.271.
3.
‘taxes’ EMC, 19/12/1842.
‘pirates’ Phillimore, p.532.
‘Frequent deeds of violence…’ Smith, Narrative p.272.
4.
‘The absence of any marked feelings…’ ibid. p.276.
5.
‘During 1845… departed swiftly’ Missionary Register, Mar 1848 p.122.
‘it requires no prophetic wisdom…’ BUL CMSA C.CH.M1.
6.
‘A very general impression…’ FO17/100(1), Davis to Aberdeen, 2/6/1845.
‘Some played it safe… blown over’ Smith, Narrative p.317.
7.
‘young Bosphorus’ BL Pears, 3/9/1840.
‘Tinghae’s baffling races’ e.g. FO17/49(342), George Elliot to the Admiralty, 21/10/1840.
8.
‘long letter to the FO’ FO17/90(96).
‘If we willingly abandon…’ JMA reel 580 2/10/1840.
9.
‘This is a most beautiful island…’ Masefield, p.105.
‘Chusan is very much improved…’ Mountain, p.190.
‘Lieutenant Shadwell… back home’ BL Shadwell, letter from Chusan 11/7/1845.
10.
‘Chusan, from its insular situation…’ IJMPS, 1845.
11.
‘healthiest British possession’ FO17/89(3), 21/10/1844.
‘There are few islands…’ Power, p.239.
‘Numerous villages…’ ibid.
12.
‘Everyone now seemed…’ Fortune, Wanderings, p.314.
13.
‘the certain and deserved…’ China Mail, 27/11/1845.
‘inglorious retention…’ CR, vol.14 p.550.
‘the fruits we should gather…’ ibid. p.552.
14.
‘The Chinese Repository… her p
romises’ ibid. p.545ff; FO17/96(201) covers the advice to Davis over Canton.
15.
‘But others… breach of faith’ ibid., conveniently laying out the various newspapers’ positions.
16.
‘would soon become…’ Friend of India, 18/9/1845.
‘a gentleman better known…’ China Mail, 27/11/1845.
17.
‘Robert Montgomery Martin’ King, Survey Our Empire! is the source for the biographical detail on Martin and of much of the secondary material on his views regarding Hong Kong and Chusan (pp.220-75) which informs this section.
18.
‘Amoy… dollars that never came’ Forbes, p.365ff has tables of goods passing through Chusan and Shanghai in 1845: at less than £50,000 in total, Chusan’s trade was a tiny fraction of Shanghai’s £2.3 million.
‘a year later… each month’ Smith, Narrative p.275.
19.
‘Mistakenly believing… expertise’ BL Peel-RMM, (11).
‘Report on the Island of Chusan’ Published by order of the Commons in 1857. Noting that many of Martin’s points were similar to Gützlaff’s, it was suspected that Gützlaff might have been behind Martin’s Report. The Report, though, is far less balanced than Gützlaff’s letter to the FO, and Martin was quite willing to advocate the retention of Chusan contrary to the Treaty of Nanking, a move which Gützlaff did not countenance.
‘a letter to… Robert Peel’ A copy is in FO17/91(172-177).
‘quite mad’ In FO17/100(63), Davis makes this and other points concerning Martin’s disparagement of Hong Kong.
‘must sacredly be preserved…’ FO17/90(100).
20.
‘The prime minister… Report’ BL Peel-RMM, (17) 8/2/1845.
‘The suggestion… utmost weight’ BL Peel-RMM, (20) 9/2/1845.
‘I doubt not…’ FO17/54(200), 16/11/1841.
21.
‘Hong Kong is ours…’ BL Peel-RMM, (20) 9/2/1845.
22.
‘We cannot obtain Chusan…’ ibid., (24) 10/2/1845.
23.
‘Remarks on the Advantages…’ Preserved in BL Peel, 10/3/1845.
‘infiltrators working undercover’ After his appointment as provincial governor in 1844, Liang Baochang gathered intelligence from sources in Tinghae and forwarded updates on troop movements, shipping, etc: YPZZZZS p.417ff.
24.
‘The French… British left’ BL Peel, letter of 14/8/1844.
‘joked that France… herself’ Power, Recollections.
‘speaking in earnest’ Davis, China vol.2 p.126.
‘neither loved nor feared’ Times, 4/11/1845.
‘the occupation… United States.’ FO17/100(228).
25.
‘We must religiously…’ BL Peel, Graham to Peel, 18/10/1845.
‘laughing stock of Europe’ BL Aberdeen, f.61.
‘ridicule so overwhelming… war’ ibid., f.67.
‘France was now aware…’ ibid.
‘If there were proof… permanently’ FO17/96(78).
‘France had no plans’ The French seem to have been sanguine over Chusan’s worth, and understanding of Britain’s decision: Ambassador Lagrené had already reported to Guizot, the French foreign minister, that ‘From a political and military point of view, we might doubt that Hong Kong has any reason to envy Chusan, so much so that doubtless in a few years public opinion in England will be completely in line with the farsighted and profound thinking which fixed the limits and the conditions of British territorial power in these waters’ (Wei Tsing-sing, p.413).
‘This satisfied Graham… rivals’ BL Aberdeen, f.83.
‘It is a very strong measure…’ ibid., f.87.
26.
‘needed something in writing’ The FO’s correspondence with Davis over the question of a foreign power occupying Chusan, of its possible retention, and of the latitude given to Davis in negotiating its retention is to be found in FO17/96.
27.
‘Aberdeen familiarised… position’ FO17/96(78).
Chapter 20
1.
‘A flurry of official letters’ The documents detailing the mutual suspicion over Canton and the talks which led to the Davis Convention are in FO17/88(e.g.135), FO17/102, FO17/109(11-69), FO17/111(e.g. 6), FO17/112. The Chinese documents which passed between Davis and Qiying are found in FO682/1978/56-65 and FO682/1979/1-57a.
2.
‘The year 1846… Union Jack still flying’ ADM 101/105/2.
‘a disgrace and a slight’ FO17/109(20).
3.
‘Although it is possible…’ FO17/96(251), FO to Davis, 24/10/1845.
4.
‘lever what concessions he could’ Davis had suggested this to Aberdeen in a letter of 27/6/1845, FO17/100(90).
5.
‘If on account…’ FO682/1978/66.
6.
‘Davis reiterated… binding force’ Davis had proposed the idea of a secret treaty to Aberdeen in September: FO17/101(128).
7.
‘rather false position’ FO17/111(6).
8.
‘What if your Excellency…’ FO682/1979/19.
‘I have written to you…’ FO682/1979/24.
‘If, despite having received…’ ibid.
9.
‘On March 14th… handover’ FO682/1979/39.
‘Qiying at the last minute…’ FO17/112(57)
10.
‘A new era has commenced…’ FO17/113(100).
11.
‘It survives… National Archives’ FO93/23/3.
12.
‘Friday, June 5th, 1846…’ Accounts by Davis and Campbell of the handover are in FO17/113.
‘there were none who were not moved…’ YPZZZZS, p.441 DG26/5/29.
13.
‘Xian Ling publicly thanked…’ A translation of Xian Ling’s address is recorded in Shadwell, p.138.
‘For several years now…’ YPZZZZS, p.448 DG26/7/6.
14.
‘Sir John Davis… encroachment’ FO17/113(93, 97); Shadwell, Life of Colin Campbell, p.136.
15.
‘It was understood… with the British’ In FO17/112(140), Gützlaff’s Extracts from Chinese State Papers.
16.
‘It is a matter of apprehension…’ FO17/89(28), Davis to Aberdeen, 23/10/1844; FO17/96(27), FO to Davis, 22/2/1845. FO17/100(5) has Davis’ proclamation to the islanders assuring them of British protection.
‘A few people… Ningbo’ Davis, China vol.2 p.144.
‘Ordinary individuals…’ FO17/113(100).
17.
‘Waterhouse and Davidson’ Forbes, p.365.
‘work went on to disentangle…’ The details of the departure are in FO17/113(93).
18.
‘newly built suburb’ Davis, Miscellanies notes that a British-built trading suburb to replace the one burned in 1840 had grown up at Donggangpu, the furthest navigable point on the river which crossed the Vale of Tinghae.
19.
‘meanwhile, Karl Gützlaff…’ Gützlaff, Gaïhan, letter of 4/8/1846, written on his return to Hong Kong.
20.
‘ceremonies to end the annual drought’ ibid.
‘bring the wooden deities’ Forbes, p.169.
‘the ground shook’ Dinghai Xianzhi, DG26/6/13.
‘Chusan has been restored…’ CR, vol.15 p.376.
Chapter 21
1.
‘Though he avoided… shrines’ Memorial of DG26/8/4, YPZZZZS, p.450
‘Statues of saints… Buddha’ APF, 13/10/1844.
‘ban on growing rice’ NM, 1843 p.820.
‘By the middle of 1847…’ YPZZZZS, p.462 DG28/2/12.
‘The farmers are tending…’ ibid.
2.
‘Each summer… American audience’ CUL Loomis, letters of 2/8/1849 and 4/7/1849.
3.
‘The passing of just four years… praise’ Fortune, Journey p.340ff.
4.
‘At the present time…’ CUL Loomis, letter of 4/7/1849.
5.
‘the outward signs… had vanished…’ Fortune, Journey p.344.
6.
‘This is a most charming island…’ Walrond, Letters & Journals p.233.
7.
‘Sir Daniel Brooke Robertson’ Coates, The China Consuls has a brief biography.
‘a memo to the FO’ The Expediency of Acquiring the Island of Chusan is in FO17/343.
8.
‘‘It is useless now…’ Robertson would be proved right when in the 1980s the time came to discuss the end of Britain’s lease on the New Territories: a factor that weighed heavily in the decision to hand back Hong Kong island and Kowloon, both of which had been acquired in perpetuity, was their utter reliance on the territory north of Boundary Street.
9.
‘On April 14th, 1860…’ The accounts of the brief 1860 occupation which inform this section are found in Swinhoe, p.6ff; Kendrick, p.83ff; Knollys, p.55ff; Rennie, p.9ff; Wolseley, p.17ff; Lane-Poole, vol.2 p.333 and Dunne.
‘Soon after daylight… surrender’ Wolseley.
‘Harry Parkes’ Lane-Poole.
10.
‘Instead a throng… factotums’ Rennie, p.9.
‘a tall, gentlemen-like fellow…’ Wolseley.
‘short, vulgar-looking…’ ibid.
11.
‘Early the next day… new home’ ibid.
‘Chinese arsenals’ ibid.
‘The shopkeepers… occupied’ FO17/337(293)
‘Signboards’ Dunne; Rennie, p.9.
‘They were dressed… a better place’ Wolseley.
12.
‘no show deer, no catchee dollar’ Dunne, 18/5/1860.
‘dinner receptions’ ibid., 2/6/1860.
‘drug habit’ ibid., 3/6/1860. The image is in the National Army Museum.
13.
‘despite a brief… possession’ PRO30/22/49(213), Lord Elgin in Peking to Lord John, 31/10/1860.
14.
‘Illustrations of Tributaries to the Qing’ Huangqing Zhigong Tu, vol.1 p.46.
15.
‘famous for their construction of guns’ Wolseley, 23/4/1860.
Epilogue
1.
‘Western missionaries’ Lockhart, Gützlaff, Danicourt and the rest would be delighted to discover that Christianity did in the end take root on Zhoushan, with Catholic and Protestant congregations to be found right across the island today.
2.
‘Singkong Gazette’ Cree, vol.7 13/3/1843.
3.
‘a melancholy spectacle…’ Isabella Bird, The Yangtze Valley and Beyond.
4.
‘Afah’ Bernard, Narrative p.xiii.
Chusan Page 36
