Suamship in Chbia—By Gideon hen, Professor of Economics, Yenching University. Published by the Department of Bconomics, Yen~ ching. University. (Sales - Agent: Frenth Bookstore, Peiping) $1.00.
The course of events in China following the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 were naturally vividly coloured by the happenings leading up to and culminating in that treaty. One rect result was a determination on the part of some of the leaders of the country to make use of the foreign instruments that had contributed to China's defeat, pazticularly foreign guns and ships. The rat opportunity to use these instruments appeared In the Taiping Rebellion, and, as the leader of the "scholar generals" of that period, Tseng Kuo-fan played an important part in the agitation for and the development of vessels of war. As a result of his war time experiences along this latter line, which had not by any Tseng developed an interest steamships, particularly for naval what remained with him Until his death, and being in high ficial position he was able to exploit his hobby.
The first steamship to appear in Chinese waters probably arrived as early a5 1828, but it was not until twenty-five oF thirty years later that the Chinese Government began tuse them for military and commercial purposes. In 1862 one was purchased by Teen Kuo-fan and delivered at Anking, his official residence. How-fever, as one might have expected, the ignorance of the buyer had been taken advantage of and the ship was worthless. Nevertheless the foreign owned steamers came to be more and more used by Tseng and his men in travelling up and down the river, the reason being suggested in the following from the former's "Dia On April 12th, 1862, Chu-chuang tone of Teeng's assistants) "went Shanghel from Anhui and returned yesterday, April Zand. Tt took him Tse than two days each way, and he remained sh of seven days in Shang.
Hak. Lat the speed of the foreign shir The second step in the chronicle of the steamship in China resulted from Teeng's ambition to see them built In China by the Chinese. Thus in January of 1863 he records the progress made as follows:
T went out of the city, to riverside, to. see the small steam vessel built by Teal Kuochsteng.. The teamer "i about "ata speed of mty-aix i am hour This steamer. is only a model after Which many larger ones wilt be con The third stage in the development of the steamship in China was the founding of the Shanghai Machine Shop. better known as the Kiangnan Arsenal, which began to build ships 1868, Tseng Kuo-fan and his technical experts" were the originators and developers of this project, aided by Yung Wing, the first Chinese returned student "from America, who had graduated from Yale in 1054," The latter was entrusted with the purchasing of the machinery, for which task his know-Tedge of foreign countries and his general education, rather than his technical ability, was his chief asset. The success of the venture, however, is shown in the fact that between Yea and 1871 five steamships were built "at Shanghai. The following statement of Tseng's evidences that was happy in the culmination of his plans:
November 19h, 1871. (Wu) Tung:
yuin sent two large steamers to wel Some me (to Shanghal)....On arrival went ashore and slayed at 1 itiachine shop in the same room which T lived tu 1868.
'November 20th. Inspected the mac-me shop. and. walked around. the rounds, more than two li. The fifth 'Steamer' wil soon be completed, with Only four months later, before the faith steamer could be finished even, Tseng Kuo-fan died, a man who, though brought up with all of the conservatism of nineteen-century China, nevertheless recognized the significance of invention, and of China's need for adopting invention. And, what is more important, a man who acted upon his belief.
This brochure, the second of a series of publications regarding "The Pioneer Promoters of Modern Indus trial Technique in China," combines industrial history and biography in pleasing and entertaining manner. Perhaps not the least interesting section to regular readers of the *North-China Daily News" and "Herald" are the quotations in the on "Tseng Kuo-fan and the taken from the "Heralds" of 1868, 1871 and 1872 in which the Editors of that time analyze, st first not too correctly it would seem, the mind of Toong in regard to the West
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.