馬建忠のインド紀行、「南行記」 : 一八八一年、アヘン貿易漸減案打診の旅

Abstract

Ma Chien-chung 馬建忠 (1844-1900), the author of Ma-shih wen-t'ung 馬氏文通, a pioneer modern book of grammar, has been known as a capable administrator and negotiator in the service of Li Hung-chang 李鴻章, and also as a sophisticated French-trained reformist thinker. The collection of his writings, Shih-ko-chai chi-hsing 適可齋記言記行 (preface, 1896) contains eleven occasional memoranda or treatises dealing with such topics as economic policy, diplomatic service, naval training or modern railways, and five accounts of his missions as emissary, investigator or political agent. Perhaps the most remarkable of these latter five accounts is Nan-hsing chi 南行記, which is an account in the form of day-to-day journal of Ma's mission to India in 1881. Ma was sent to India by Li Hung-chang in order to obtain information on the opium question, especially the opium revenue system, and also to sound out the government of India on the possibility or practicability of gradually reducing and eventually terminating the opium trade to China by agreement. On his way to Simla, the summer capital of British India, and from Simla back to China, he visited Shanghai, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, Penang, Calcutta, Bombay, Poona, Colombo, and again Penang, Singapore, and Hong Kong. His travel account is valuable not only as material for the study of his official activities during the mission, but also as records of his observations on the Chinese and Westerners he met with and the places he visited. In particular, Ma's image of India as represented in the account might be of some interest to any student of Asian history. It shows how India as of 1881 was seen by an educated Chinese traveller, moreover by one who was vigorously engaged in government service and who knew both Europe and China. Ma Chien-chung had a travel companion in the young educated man named Wu Kuang-p'ei 吳廣霈 (1855-1919). Wu had studied the so-called yang-wu 洋務 and wanted to serve abroad as a diplomat or consul. This man also wrote a detailed journal of the journey, entitled Nan-hsing jih-chi 南行日記. While Ma's account is mainly concerned with the official side of the journey, Wu's journal describes cities and landscapes of the places visited and manners and customs of local inhabitants. It also records social contacts that Ma and he had with Chinese friends in Shanghai, Hong Kong or Singapore. Thus, by reading both and comparing them, we can have clearer understanding of the various aspects of this journey.