Across Asia on a Bicycle by William Lewis Sachtleben (ebook reader .TXT) 📕
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“Didn’t you find the roads very bad in China?”
This question was creditable to the viceroy’s knowledge of his own country, but to this subject we brought the very best Chinese politeness we could muster. We said that inasmuch as China had not yet adopted the bicycle, her roads, of course, were not adapted to that mode of locomotion.
[pg 230]The viceroy then asked us to describe the bicycle, and inquired if such a vehicle did not create considerable consternation among the people.
We told him that the bicycle from a Chinese point of view was capable of various descriptions. On the passports given us by the Chinese minister in London the bicycle was called “a seat-sitting, foot-moving machine.” The natives in the interior had applied to it various epithets, among which were yang ma (foreign horse), fei-chay (flying-machine), szüdzun chay (self-moving cart), and others. The most graphic description, perhaps, was given by a Chinaman whom we overheard relating to his neighbors the first appearance of the bicycle in his quiet little village. “It is a little mule,” said he, “that you drive by the ears, and kick in the sides to make him go.” A dignified smile overspread the viceroy’s features.
[pg 231]“Didn’t the people try to steal your money?” he next inquired.
“No,” we replied. “From our impoverished appearance, they evidently thought we had nothing. Our wardrobe being necessarily limited by our mode of travel, we were sometimes reduced to the appearance of traveling mendicants, and were often the objects of pity or contempt. Either this, or our peculiar mode of travel, seemed to dispel all thought of highway robbery; we never lost even so much as a button on our journey of over three thousand miles across the Chinese empire.”
“Did the governors you met treat you well?” he asked; and then immediately added: “Being scholars, were you not subjected to some indignity by being urged to perform for every mandarin you met?”
“By nearly all the governors,” we said, “we were treated very kindly indeed; but we were not so certain that the same favors would have been extended to us had we not cheerfully consented to give exhibitions of bicycle riding.”
There was now a lull in the conversation. The viceroy shifted his position in his chair, and took another whiff from the long, slender Chinese pipe held to his mouth by one of his body-servants. One whiff, and the pipe was taken away to be emptied and refilled. After a short respite he again resumed the conversation, but the questions he now asked were of a personal nature. We enumerate a few of them, without comment, only for the purpose of throwing some additional light on the character of our questioner.
“About how much did the trip cost you? Do you expect to get back all or more than you spent? Will you write a book?
“Did you find on your route any gold or silver deposits?
[pg 232]“Do you like the Chinese diet; and how much did one meal cost you?
“How old are you? [One of the first questions a Chinese host usually asks his guest.] Are you married? What is the trade or profession of your parents? Are they wealthy? Do they own much land?” (A Chinaman’s idea of wealth is limited somewhat by the amount of land owned.)
“Will you telegraph to your parents from Shanghai your safe arrival there?
“Were you not rash in attempting such a journey? Suppose you had been killed out in the interior of Asia, no one would ever have heard of you again.
“Are you Democrats or Republicans?” (The viceroy showed considerable knowledge of our government and institutions.)
“Will you run for any political office in America? Do you ever expect to get into Congress?
“Do you have to buy offices in America?” was the last inquiry.
There was considerable hesitancy on the part of us both to answer this question. Finally we were obliged to admit that sometimes such was the case. “Ah,” said the viceroy, “that is a very bad thing about American politics.” But in this censure he was even more severe on his own country than America. Referring to ourselves in this connection, the viceroy ventured to predict that we might become so well-known as the result of our journey that we could get into office without paying for it. “You are both young,” he added, “and can hope for anything.”
During the conversation the viceroy frequently smiled, and sometimes came so near overstepping the bounds of Chinese propriety as to chuckle. At first his reception was more formal, but his interest soon led him to dispense [pg 233]with all formality, and before the close of the interview the questions were rapidly asked and discussed. We have had some experience with examining attorneys, and an extended acquaintance with the American reporter; but we are convinced that for genuine inquisitiveness Li-Hung-Chang stands peerless. We made several attempts to take leave, but were interrupted each time by a question from the viceroy. Mr. Tenney, in fact, became fatigued with the task of interpreting, so that many of the long answers were translated by the viceroy’s son.
The interview was conducted as nearly as possible in the foreign fashion. We smoked cigarettes, and a bottle of champagne was served. Finally the interview was brought to a close by a health from the viceroy to “Ta-mā-quo” (the great American country).
In conclusion we thanked the viceroy for the honor he [pg 234]had done us. He replied that we must not thank him at all; that he was only doing his duty. “Scholars,” said he, “must receive scholars.”
The viceroy rose from his chair with difficulty; the servant took him by the elbows and half lifted him to his feet. He then walked slowly out of the room with us, and across the courtyard to the main exit. Here he shook us heartily by the hand, and bowed us out in the Chinese manner.
Li-Hung-Chang is virtually the emperor of the Celestial Empire; the present “Son of Heaven” (the young emperor) has only recently reached his majority. Li-Hung-Chang is China’s intellectual height, from whom emanate nearly all her progressive ideas. He stands to-day in the light of a mediator between foreign progressiveness and native prejudice and conservatism. It has been said that Li-Hung-Chang is really anti-foreign at heart; that he employs the Occidentals only long enough for them to teach his own countrymen how to get along without them. Whether this be so or not, it is certain that the viceroy recognizes the advantages to be derived from foreign methods and inventions, and employs them for the advancement of his country. Upon him rests the decision in nearly all the great questions of the empire. Scarcely an edict or document of any kind is issued that does not go over his signature or under his direct supervision. To busy himself with the smallest details is a distinctive characteristic of the man. Systematic methods, combined with an extraordinary mind, enable him to accomplish his herculean task. In the eastern horizon Li-Hung-Chang shines as the brilliant star of morning that tells of the coming of a brighter dawn.
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