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History of the Pirates Who Infested the China Sea From 1807 to 1810. Various

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foreign nations, we see, on the contrary, both the want of enquiry, and the childish[Pg xxxviii] remarks of unenlightened and uncultivated minds.15

      YING HING SOO's PREFACE

      In the summer of the year Ke sze (1809),16 I returned from the capital, and having passed the chain of mountains,17 I learned the extraordinary disturbances caused by the Pirates. When I came home I saw with mine own eyes all the calamities; four villages were totally destroyed; the inhabitants collected together and made preparations for resistance. Fighting at last ceased on seas and rivers: families and villages rejoiced, and peace was every where restored. Hearing of our naval transactions, every man desired to have them written down in a history; but people have, until this day, looked in vain for such a work.

      Meeting once, at a public inn in Whampo,18 with one Yuen tsze, we conversed together, when he took a volume in his hand, and asked me to read it. On opening the work, I saw that it contained a History of the Pirates; and reading it to the end, I found that the occurrences of those times were therein recorded from day to day, and that our naval transactions are there faithfully reported. Yuen tsze supplied the defect I stated before, and anticipated what had occupied my mind for a long time. The affairs concerning the robber Lin are described by the non-official historian Lan e, in his Tsing yĭh ke, viz. in the History of the Pacification of the Robbers.19 Respectfully looking to the commands of heaven, Lan e made known, for all future times, the faithful and devoted servants of government. Yuen tsze's work is a supplement to the History of the Pacification of the Robbers, and you may rely on whatever therein is reported, whether it be of great or little consequence. Yuen tsze has overlooked nothing; and I dare to say, that all people will rejoice at the publication. Having written these introductory lines to the said work, I returned it to Yuen tsze.20

      Written at the time of the fifth summer moon, the tenth year of Tao kwang, called Kăng yin (September 1830).

      A respectful Preface of Ying hing Soo, from Peih keang.

       KING CHUNG HO's PREFACE. 21

      My house being near the sea, we were, during the year Ke sze of Këa king (1809), disturbed by the Pirates. The whole coast adjoining to our town was in confusion, and the inhabitants dispersed; this lasting for a long time, every man felt annoyed at it. In the year Kăng yin (1830) I met with Yuen tsze yung lun at a public inn within the walls of the provincial metropolis (Canton). He showed me his History of the Pacification of the Pirates, and asked me to write a Preface to the work; having been a schoolfellow of his in my tender age, I could not refuse his request. Opening and reading the volume, I was moved with recollections of occurrences in former days, and I was pleased with the diligence and industry of Yuen keun22 The author was so careful to combine what he had seen and heard, that I venture to say it is an historical work on which you may rely.

      We have the collections of former historians, who in a fine style described things as they happened, that by such faithful accounts the world might be governed, and the minds of men enlightened. People may learn by these vast collections23 what should be done, and what not. It is, therefore, desirable that facts may be arranged in such a manner, that books should give a faithful account of what happened. There are magistrates who risk their life, excellent females who maintain their virtue, and celebrated individuals who protect their native places with a strong hand; they behave themselves valiantly, and overlook private considerations, if the subject concerns the welfare of the people at large. Without darkness, there is no light; without virtue, there is no splendour. In the course of time we have heard of many persons of such qualities; but how few books exist by which the authors benefit their age!

      This is the Preface respectfully written by King chung ho, called Sin joo min,24 at the time of the second decade, the first month of the autumn, the year Kăng yin (September 1830) of Tao kwang.25

      BOOK FIRST

      There have been pirates from the oldest(1 r.) times in the eastern sea of Canton; they arose and disappeared alternately, but never were they so formidable as in the years of Këa king,26 at which time, being closely united together, it was indeed very difficult to destroy them. Their origin must be sought for in Annam.27 In the year fifty-six of Këen lung (1792), a certain Kwang ping yuen, joined by his two brothers, Kwang e and Kwang kwŏ, took Annam by force,(1 v.) and expelled its legitimate king Wei ke le.28 Le retired into the province Kwang se, and was made a general by our government. But his younger brother Fuh ying came in the sixth year of Këa king (1802) with an army from Siam and Laos,29 and killed Kwang ping in a great battle. The son of the usurper, called King shing, went on board a ship with the minister Yew kin meih, and Meih joined the pirates, Ching tsih, Tung hae pa, and others, who rambled about these seas at this time. The pirate Ching tsih was appointed a king's officer, under the name of master of the stables. King shing, relying on the force of his new allies, which consisted of about two hundred vessels, manned(2 r.) with a resolute and warlike people, returned in the twelfth moon of the same year (1803) into that country with an armed force, and joined by Ching tsih, at night time took possession of the bay of Annam. The legitimate king Fuh ying collected an army, but being beaten repeatedly, he tried in vain to retire to Laos.

      Ching tsih being a man who had lived all his life on the water, behaved himself, as soon as he got possession of the bay of Annam, in a tyrannical way to the inhabitants; he took what he liked, and, to say it in one word, his will alone was law. His followers conducted themselves in the same manner; trusting to their power and strength, they were cruel and violent against the people; they divided the whole population among themselves, and took their wives and daughters by force. The inhabitants felt very much annoyed at this behaviour, and attached themselves more strongly to Fuh ying. They fixed a day on which some of the king's officers should make an attack on the sea-side, while the king himself with his general was to fight the van of the enemy, the(2 v.) people to rise en masse, and to run to arms, in order that they should be overwhelming by their numbers. Fuh ying was delighted at these tidings, and on the appointed day a great battle was fought, in which Ching tsih not being able to superintend all from the rear-guard to the van, and the people pressing besides very hard towards the centre, he was totally vanquished and his army destroyed. He himself died of a wound which he received in the battle. His younger brother Ching yĭh, the usurper, King shing, and his nephew Pang shang, with many others ran away. Ching yĭh, their chief, joined the pirates with his followers, who in these times robbed and plundered on the ocean indiscriminately. This was a very prosperous period for the pirates. So long as Wang pëaou remained admiral in these seas, all was peace and quietness both on the ocean and the sea-shore. The admiral gained repeated victories over the bandits;(3 r.) but as soon as Wang pëaou died, the pirates divided themselves into different squadrons, which sailed under various colours. There existed six large squadrons, under different flags, the red, the yellow, the green, the blue, the black, and the white. These wasps of the ocean were called after their different commanders, Ching yĭh, Woo che tsing, Meih yew kin, O po tai, Lëang paou, and Le shang tsing. To every one of these large squadrons belonged smaller ones, commanded by a deputy. Woo che tsing, whose nick-name was Tung hae pa, the Scourge of the Eastern Sea,30 was commander of the yellow flag, and Le tsung hoo his deputy. Meih yew kin and Nëaou shih, who for this reason was called Bird and stone, were the commanders of the blue flag, and their deputies

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<p>15</p>

It may be remarked, that Cosmas, about the middle of the sixth century, had a better idea concerning the Chinese empire, or the country of Tsin, than the Chinese have even now of Europe. Such an advantage was it to be born a Greek and not a Chinese. Cosmas seems very well informed concerning the articles of trade which the Chinese generally bring to Serendib, or Serendwîpa (Ceylon). He remarks, that farther than China there exists no other country; that on the east it is surrounded by the ocean; and that Ceylon is nearly as far from the Persian gulf as from Tziniza or China. See the description of Taprobane, taken from the Christian Topography, and printed in Thévenot, "Relations de divers Voyages," vol. i. pp. 2, 3, and 5. The Chinese about Canton have a custom of ending every phrase with a long a (a is pronounced like a in Italian) which is merely euphonic, like yay (11980) in the Mandarine dialect. If a Chinese should be asked about his country, he would answer according to the different dynasties, Tsin-a, Han-a, Tang-a, Ming-a, &c. Tsin-a is probably the origin of Tziniza. It is a little strange that Rennel takes no notice of the statements of Cosmas. (See the Geographical System of Herodotus I. 223, Second Edition, London, 1830.) Is it not very remarkable, that this merchant and monk seems to have also had very correct information concerning the north-west frontier of China, and of the conquest which the Huns (in Sanscrit Hūna) have made in the north-west part of Hindostan? He reckons from China, through Tartary and Bactria to Persia, 150 stations, or days' journies. About the time of Cosmas, an intercourse commenced between China and Persia.

<p>16</p>

In prefaces and rhetorical exercises, the Chinese commonly call the years by the names employed in the well-known cycle of sixty years. The first cycle is supposed to have begun with the year 2697 before Christ. In the year 1804, the ninth year of Këa kïng, was the beginning of the thirty-sixth cycle. – Histoire générale de la Chine, XII. p. 3 and 4.

<p>17</p>

The Mei ling mountains, which divide the province Kwang tung from the province Këang se. See Note in the beginning of the History of the Pirates.

<p>18</p>

The place where European ships lie at anchor in the river of Canton, and one of the few spots which foreigners are allowed to visit.

<p>19</p>

I translate the Chinese words Wae she, by non-official historian, in opposition to the Kwŏ she, or She kwan, the official historiographers of the empire. Both Yuen tsze, author of the following History of the Pirates, and Lan e, author of the work which is referred to in the preface, are such Public historians, who write – like most of the historians of Europe – the history of their own times, without being appointed to or paid for by government.

Lan e gives the history of the civil commotions under Këa king, which continued from the year 1814 to 1817, in six books; the work is printed in two small volumes, in the first year of Tao kwang (1820), and the following contains the greater part of the preface:

"In the spring of the year Kea su (1814), I went with other people to Peking; reaching the left side of the (Mei ling) mountains we met with fellow travellers, who joined the army, and with many military preparations. In the capital I learned that the robber Lin caused many disturbances; I took great care to ascertain what was said by the people of the court, and by the officers of government, and I wrote down what I heard. But being apprehensive that I might publish truth and falsehood mixed together, I went in the year Ting chow (1817) again to the metropolis, and read attentively the imperial account of the Pacification of the Robber-bands, planned the occurrences according to the time in which they happened, joined to it what I heard from other sources, and composed out of these various matters a work in six books, on the truth of which you may rely."

Lan e begins his work with the history of those rebels called Tėen le keaou (the Doctrine of Nature). They were divided into eight divisions, according to the eight Kwas, and placed under three captains, or chiefs, of whom the first was called Lin tsing– the same Lin who is mentioned in the preface of Soo. These followers of the doctrine of Nature believed implicitly in an absurd book written by a robber, in which it was stated, that the Buddha who should come after Shakia (in Chinese called Me lĭh, in Sanscrit Maëtreya) is in possession of three seas, the blue, the red, and the white. These seas are the three Kalpas; we now live in the white Kalpa. These robbers, therefore, carried white banners. Tsing yĭh ke, B. i., p. i.

<p>20</p>

The Translator thinks it his duty to observe, that this preface, being printed in characters written in the current hand, he tried in vain to make out some abbreviations; he is, therefore, not quite certain if the last phrase beginning with the words: "Yuen tsze has overlooked nothing," &c. be correctly translated.

<p>21</p>

The names of authors of Prefaces, as well as of works themselves, which are not authorized by government, are often fictitious. Who would dare to publish or recommend any thing under his own name, which could displease any of the officers of the Chinese government? The author of the following Preface has a high-sounding title: "He, whose heart is directed towards the people."

<p>22</p>

Keun, or Tsze, are only titles, like those of Master and Doctor in the European languages. Keun is, in the Canton dialect, pronounced Kwa, which, placed behind the family names of the Hong, or Hing (3969) merchants, gives How qwa, or How kwa, Mow kwa, &c., which literally means "Mr. How, Mr. Mow."

<p>23</p>

I presume that the author of the Preface alludes to the twenty-three large historical collections, containing the official publications regarding history and general literature. I have brought with me from Canton this vast collection of works, which are now concluded by the History of the Ming. It must be acknowledged that no other nation has, or had, such immense libraries devoted to history and geography. The histories of ancient Greece and Rome are pamphlets in comparison with the Url shih san she of the Chinese.

<p>24</p>

See the first Note to this preface.

<p>25</p>

In the original Chinese now follows a sort of Introduction, or Contents (Fan le), which I thought not worth translating. It is written by the author of the History of the Pacification of the Pirates, who signs by his title Jang sëen.

<p>26</p>

This prince was declared Emperor on the 8th February 1796, by his father the Emperor Këen lung, who then retired from the management of public affairs. – Voyage of the Dutch Embassy to China, in 1794-5; London edition, I. 223. Këa king died on the 2d of September 1820, being sixty-one years of age. His second son ascended the Imperial throne six days after the death of his father; the years of his reign were first called Yuen hwuy, but soon changed to Taou kwang—Illustrious Reason. Indo-Chinese Gleaner, vol. iii. 41.

<p>27</p>

Annam (Chinese, Annan) comprehends the country of Cochin-China and Tung king. There have been many disturbances in these countries within the last fifty years. The English reader may compare the interesting historical sketch of modern Cochin-China in Barrow's Voyage to Cochin-China, p. 250.

<p>28</p>

The origin of this family may be seen in a notice of Cochin-China and Tung king by father Gaubil, in the "Lettres Edifiantes," and in the last volume of the French translation of the Kang măh. Annam had been conquered by Chinese colonies, and its civilization is therefore Chinese. This was already stated in Tavernier's masterly description of Tunking, "Recueil de plusieurs Relations," Paris, 1679, p. 168. Leyden, not knowing Chinese, has made some strange mistakes in his famous dissertation regarding the languages and literature of Indo-Chinese nations. Asiatic Researches, vol. x. 271, London edition, 1811.

<p>29</p>

In Chinese Lung lae (7402, 6866 Mor.); this name is taken from the metropolis of this kingdom, called by the European travellers in the beginning of the seventeenth century, Laniam, Laniangh, or Lanshang. Robt. Kerr, General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Edinburgh, 1813, vol. viii. 446, 449. – The Burmas call this country Layn-sayn; "Buchanan on the Religion and Literature of the Burmas." Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. 226, London edition, 1810, 4to. The kingdom of Laos was conquered about the end of the year 1828, by the Siamese; the king, his two principal wives, his sons, and grandsons, amounting in all to fourteen persons, were cruelly killed at Bangkok. The Protestant missionaries, Thomlin and Guzlaff, saw nine of the relations of the king in a cage at Bangkok, the 30th of January, 1829. The First Report of the Singapore Christian Union, Singapore, 1830, Appendix xv. Is Lang lae a mistake for Lăh lae, which is mentioned in the Hae kwŏ hëen këen, p. 214? There occurs no Lung lae in this work; where the Indo-Chinese nations are described under the title Nan yan she; i.e. History of the Southern ocean.

<p>30</p>

People living in the same state of society, have usually the same customs and manners. It is said of the celebrated Buccaneers, that they laid aside their surnames, and assumed nicknames, or martial names. Many, however, on their marrying, took care to have their real surnames inserted in the marriage contract; and this practice gave occasion to a proverb still current in the French Antilles, a man is not to be known till he takes a wife. See the Voyages and Adventures of William Dampier, and History of the Buccaneers, p. 87. Women cut the characters for common Chinese books; and, therefore, the Chinese say, so many mistakes are found in ordinary publications. The character pa (8123) in Tung hae pa is by such a mistake always written pĭh (8527).