Australians Early Encounters with China: Inspirations from George Morrison and Frederic Eggleston

Transcription

1 ACSF theme 2018: Australia China Student Forum 2018 Title: Australians Early Encounters with China: Inspirations from George Morrison and Frederic Eggleston Theme: Understanding the history of Australians early encounters with China, and particularly learning the legacy of George Morrison s and Fredric Eggleston s visits in Chongqing Sub themes: What do you know about the history of Australians encounters with China during the late 1800s and the early 1900s? The era marked China in a grand transformation from the Qing Empire to the Republic, and Australia in between of the former British colonies and the formation of the Federation. What can you learn from George Morrison s travel and work in China in 1894 to 1919? What do you know about the allied history of Australia and China during the World War II, when the two countries both faced the aggressions from the Japanese military? What can you learn from Fredric Eggleston s experience of leading Australia s Chongqing legation from during the war? How do you understand the changed and the unchanged in the history of Chongqing city? Please reflect on Morrison s An Australian in China (1895), the exhibition of The Chungking Legation: Australia s diplomatic mission wartime China and your visit in Chongqing today. Relationsofstatesliesintheirpeoples 国之交在于民相亲, 民相亲在于心相通 In recent years, there was a catch phrase often quoted in Chinese narrative for the state s grand strategy of the Belt and the Road Initiative. It reads as: the key to sound relations between states lies in the affinity between their peoples, which largely stems from mutual understanding. However, this popular quote seemingly omits an implication, that the key to enhance the mutual understanding can only start from a process of acquaintance between peoples. For Australians, taking the first step to understand China is to be there and to see the real China. In this course, we have seen the Australian pioneers who had set their foot in Chinese soil. Notably, there are two incredible and inspiring stories from two Victorians, traveller and correspondent George Ernest Morrison ( ) and diplomat and scholar Frederic Eggleston s ( ). Interestingly, both visited the southwestern Chinese city of 1

2 Chongqing (as Chungking before), which has been the host city of the La Trobe University Australia China Student Forum (ACSF) since Beingadaringyoungexplorerandembracingtheopportunities:GeorgeMorrisonin China1894 Morrison s Chinese story can hint two pieces of valuable advice for young Australians today: daring to be a young explorer and being ready to embrace the burgeoning career opportunities in China. Born in Geelong, Morrison was an enthusiastic adventurer who travelled the world. In 1894, being a westerner almost without any Chinese literacy, the 32 years old Morrison embarked on his daring journey up the stream along the Yangtze River area, only accompanied by a couple of Chinese servants. He travelled from Shanghai to southwestern China until reaching Rangoon in Burma. It was said his travel only cost him for twelve pounds. His great China expedition was stamped in his travel note, An Australian in China (1895), which was well received at the time. Among his extensive descriptions of his travel stories, he had a chapter dedicated to the mountain city of Chongqing. In his eyes, Chungking is an enormously rich city. It is built at the junction of the Little River [Jialing River] and the Yangtse, and is, from its position, the great river port of the province of Szechuen [Sichuan]. Waterways stretch from here an immense distance inland. The Little River is little only in comparison with the Yangtse, and in any other country would be regarded as a mighty inland river. It is navigable for more than 2000 li (600 miles). The Yangtse drains a continent; the Little River drains a province larger than a European kingdom. Chungking is built at a great height above the present river, now sixty feet below its summer level. Its walls are unscalable.. Distances are prodigious in Chungking, and the streets so steep and hilly, with flights of stairs cut from the solid rock, that only a mountaineer can live here in comfort. All who can afford it go in chairs; stands of sedan chairs are at every important street corner. (p.44) CHINESE MAP OF CHUNGKING 2

3 Today Chongqing is a world class modern mega city possessing a population of eighteen million, that is teeming with skyscrapers. Notwithstanding, mountainous topography still determines the gene of the buildings and its people s lifestyle. Travel experience does have the potential to re shape people s mindsets. Morrison raised this meaningful change is his introduction: I went to China possessed with the strong racial antipathy to the Chinese common to my countrymen, but that feeling has long since given way to one of lively sympathy and gratitude, and I shall always look back with pleasure to this journey, during which I experienced, while traversing provinces as wide as European kingdoms, uniform kindness and hospitality, and the most charming courtesy.. (p.2) THE AUTHOR IN WESTERN CHINA ROUGH SKETCH MAP OF CHINA AND BURMA 3

4 Morrison s commitments to China undoubtedly was farther and more sophisticated than his 1894 travel. His other two career highlights were being The Times first permanent correspondent in Beijing (Peking) ( ), as well as acting as a political advisor ( ) for the first president, Mr Yuan Shikai, of the Republic of China. He was popularly known as Chinese Morrison. In 1932, the Chinese community in Australia established The George Ernest Morrison Lecture series "to honour for all time the great Australian who rendered valuable service to China." Today, the lecture is still under the auspice of China in the World Centre at The Australian National University. Defyinghardshipandopeningyourmind:EgglestonandAustralianLegationin Chongqing Four decades later, Sir Eggleton s Chinese story was characteristic of another unflinching adventure. He also profoundly enlightens the young Australians of today about the significance of encountering China and being curious about Chinese society and people. Sir Frederic Eggleston was a Melbournian born in Brunswick. In October 1941, already 67 years of age and badly crippled with an arthritic condition, he led a small group of Australians also arriving in China during the harshest time of the war of Japanese invasion of China. In contrast to Morrison s extensive travels in China, Eggleston and his team could only be trapped in the war torn city of Chongqing, the then alternate Chinese capital after the fall of Nanjing to Japanese occupation in Another difference is that, unlike Morrison s travel for personal interest, Eggleston was appointed as the first Envoy Extraordinary and Minister of Plenipotentiary to China, by which he oversaw the Australia s Chongqing Legation during the World War II. He acutely described his role as to interpret the Chinese viewpoint to Australia and the Australian viewpoint to China. His appointment also added the historical significance and proved the international prominence of the city of Chongqing from an Australian s perspective, because it was marked as Australia s third overseas diplomatic post, following Washington and Tokyo in Put into perspective, albeit the first Sino Japanese War at the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea regions in 1894, the young Morrison s 1500 mile of the trip was considerably peaceful in inland China. Contrastively, the elderly Eggleston s four year stay in Chongqing indeed fell on a harsher time. The Japanese had been bombing it [Chongqing] for some years, every summer, and the Chinese had virtually no anti aircraft guns and the Japanese planes simply came over and dropped their loads and turned and went home. Indeed shortly before I arrived 10,000 people had been killed in one air raid.one can t check their figures, but they had had very heavy raids two days before I arrived and there was scarcely a thing standing (Keith Waller, First Secretary, Australian Legation). 4

5 Eggleston outside the Foreign Ministry reception house in Chongqing Nevertheless, Eggleston defied this hardship and proved himself an able diplomat and he was seen as a cultured and learned representative of his country. Amid his official duties, the lawyer turned diplomat was also a well respected scholar and artist. Even in such adversity, Eggleston had been keeping broad and deep interests in Chinese society and culture in everyday life. Gunther Stein, a then correspondent, wrote about Eggleston, he takes a keen warm hearted interest in every phrase of Chinese life by conveying an objective picture of Australian from many concrete angles and by convincing all he meets of the sincerity of his belief that Australia must increasingly cooperate with China All his activities seem directed to finding the truth about China. Once, Eggleston s car broke down in a mountain road trip to Chengdu, and he had to be trapped in a shabby village hotel. Instead of feeling pitied for this misfortune, he used this opportunity to walk around, and remarked, I am glad of having seen a full 24 hours life in a small Chinese village. I saw farmers coming from the fields in the evening, going back to work in the morning, saw children going to school and all else that went on. I enjoyed it thoroughly. EngaginginbuildinganAustralia-Chinarelationtoday 心相通在于人相知 Admittedly, the relation of Australia and China has been going through quite a period of turbulence since 2017, albeit the still ongoing, robust as ever economic and trade ties. Nevertheless, the friendship between peoples is the foundation of state to state relations. The key lies in increased communication between the peoples of both nations. Particularly a call for more Australian contact with the real China is imperative. Statistically, only about fourteen thousand Australians are working and living in mainland China today, who mainly congregate in eastern cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and much less represented in southwestern cities like Chongqing and Chengdu. In contrast, early in 2001, 5

6 the number of Australians residing in Hong Kong already reached the overwhelming number of forty six thousand. For the young Australians of today, you may be inspired by Morrison s and Eggleston s Chinese stories and keenly compete for the opportunity of participating in ACSF China incountry program in A visit to Chongqing University and the metropolis of Chongqing will be your first step forward to better understand and engage with China today as a rejuvenating global economic powerhouse. This visit may not only be closely linked with your future career development, but may also help to put Australia on China s world map, where she has been used to a more or less blank space. Over seventy years later, this quote defining Sir Eggleston s job remains meaningful to you. References: George Ernest Morrison, An Australian in China. Project Gutenberg Australia, Kate Bagnall, The Chungking Legation: Australia s diplomatic mission wartime China. Chinese Museum, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 6