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

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.

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.

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."

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."

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.

See the first Note to this preface.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

He called himself Hëo hëen (3728, 3676,) after having received a recompense from government for his robberies. See p. 75.

Our author anticipates here a little; this will be clear by a subsequent paragraph, p. 13.

Shan is a mountain in Chinese; Ling is a chain of mountains or sierra . The Chinese geographers say, the Mei ling mountain branches out like a tree; and they describe in particular two, the south-east and the south-west branches from Canton. They speak likewise of Woo Ling, or five sierras, in reference to five different passes by which these mountains are divided; but there are now more passes. See a compilation, already quoted, regarding Canton, made by order of the former governor Yuen , and printed at Canton last year, 1830, in eighty books, under the title Ling nan y ung shuh : i. e. Memoirs regarding the South of the Sierra , book 5. vol. ii, p. 1.

The Chinese possess itineraries and directories for the whole empire, for every province, and for every large town or place; I shall therefore always extract the notices which are to be found in the Itinerary of the Province Kwang tung ( Kwang tung tsuen too ,) referring to the places mentioned in our text.