Page 127 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

113.

foreign residents and appeared very quickly if any situation
" 22
eir ac
seeme d to warran t th . tion. Considering the number of
Chinese compared to that of foreigners at Canton and the anti­

foreign attitude of many Cantonese, few incidents involving

foreigners occurred during this period.

There were nevertheless instances of Chinese not only

hurling ridicule at Americans but also bombarding them with

bricks and stones. Such hostile actions happened only away

from the Factories and the police. The usual perpetrators of

such actions were Chinese youths. They enjoyed yelling at the

foreigners, throwing missiles at them, and chasing them back

toward the Factories. Sometimes, especially after the Opium

War, older men joined the youths. Some Americans, generally
the younger pursers, found amusement in enticing the Chinese

to start an incident. These clerks enjoyed the excitement and

exercise of trying to escape a crowd running after them. Such

activity became a pleasant diversion from the dull and tedious
23
routine of life in the Factories. Yet even Americans who

indulged in this type of entertainment neither condoned nor

liked the "anti-foreign" behavior of the Chinese. Awareness

of this sort of feeling among the populace reinforced the

frustration and resentment Americans felt for the conditions

surrounding them. As one young American wrote home, "I began

when I first came here, thinking that Fukee fI.e. the Chines�7

22
Abeel, Journal, p. 91.
2 3
Hun t er, Bl s f Old C h. i na, pp. 66 67 . Journal of P.S.
-
. t o

Forbes, Dec. 19, 1843, Forbes MSS.