At the turn of the 20th century, there were few places left in Asia, Africa or the Pacific that had not succumbed to the intense wave of European and U.S. imperialism. The two largest polities that had managed to retain their independence were the Ottoman Empire and China, though both were feeling the pressure of the imperial powers. This time, our traveler is from China, the philosopher and poet Kang Youwei who visited Istanbul in 1908 believing that, due to their comparable situations, there was much that China could learn from the Ottomans.
Youwei was born into an elite scholarly family in Guangdong, southern China 1858. He was educated traditionally but turned against it and came to regard highly the achievements and the intellectual approach of the West. In the political sphere, he was a reformer who wished to strengthen the traditional imperial system by modernizing it. In 1898, Kang influenced the emperor into embracing reform, but as Tim Summers notes: "This reform period was short-lived, and has since become known as the Hundred Days Reform." A countercoup had the emperor chastised and Kang had to flee China to Canada. In the long period of exile, Kang traveled widely, himself claiming that "I saw all the habits and lifestyles of all the countries in the world," with one of his travels bringing him to Istanbul. He wrote up that visit as a travelogue, "Chinese Witness of the Young Turk Revolution," translated and edited by Giray Fidan. It is to this book that I owe much of what follows.
Kang in Türkiye
Kang approached Istanbul from the north, from across the Black Sea. When he first saw Türkiye, he exclaimed: "I behold the country with these magnificent lands; I feel like singing." His reason for coming was not a joyous one, though. As he stated, "to see the collapse of the Turks." Elsewhere he expressed his view that their "country would fall apart." Kang feared for the future of the Turks. This was not simply due to his positive feelings for Türkiye, which will be looked at below, but because he also feared for the future of his native country.
How these two were connected for him was made clear in a piece he wrote in 1898, a decade before he visited Istanbul. In it, Kang expressed his belief that following the situation in the Ottoman Empire is of use in China because: "It is ... better to compare ourselves to our close counterparts rather than to distant ones ... I observed many countries and when I compared them to us, I found that Türkiye is the closest one to us, and could also serve as the best example."
Affirming that "China’s sickness is also the sickness of the Ottoman Empire," Kang saw three specific areas of similarity between the two states. The first was that he regarded them as having failed to modernize in both intellectual and material terms. The second and third were linked in that he saw them as having incurred an enormous debt and that foreign powers interfered in their countries. This piece represents Kang as a political thinker who examined his impressions of Istanbul and then looks at his views on the Constitutional Revolution that took place in the Ottoman Empire in 1908, under which Sultan Abdulhamid II agreed to end his autocratic rule and cede some of his power to a parliament and grant specific guaranteed personal freedoms.
Istanbul: General view
Kang’s general impression of Istanbul was very positive. He regarded the city as "the most spectacular place in the world." To him, it was superior to the great capital cities of Europe and he affirmed that a comparison between them "is like comparing the heavens and the earth." Moreover, compared to anywhere in Asia, "you cannot find a place in China, India, and Iran as beautiful and unique as Istanbul."
Kang thoroughly explored the city, revealing that "I touched" its "ruins and stones, which is stunning." He was though not simply a poet overwhelmed by an incomparable city but an intellectual who wanted to understand it. Hence, he also provided statistical information on its size and population, which he listed as 1 million.
The two cities
That late Ottoman Istanbul was divided into two cities by the Golden Horn has been touched upon in other articles in this series, such as the one on Eugene Flandin. Kang noted it too. In addition to old Byzantine and Ottoman palaces, Kang describes the old city of Istanbul: "This place is a nice location by the sea. In this location, together with Hagia Sophia and Süleymaniye, there are many chapels, prisons, police stations, schools, museums and the Grand Bazaar. All the historical artifacts and the true Turks are in (the old city of) Istanbul. Therefore, if you want to understand the real life of Turks, you should visit (the old city of) Istanbul; otherwise, you have never been to Türkiye."
As for the other part of the city, Kang notes that, "Europeans and senior civil servants live" there and that "this is the most populous and lively part of the city."
Sights of Istanbul
Sultanahmet in the old city of Istanbul is regarded by Kang as "the most important place in the Turkish capital." What particularly impressed him here is Hagia Sophia. He exclaims, "I believe there is no structure in the world that surpasses it," and he gives this opinion, having seen many beautiful buildings in his travels, including the Taj Mahal.
He sees Haghia Sophia in use as a mosque, noting that it is "open to all." Setting the scene, he relates that inside, "here are countless lamps, which are oil lamps, thousands of female and male worshippers come to pray." In its interior, "the beauty and the greatness of the gold mosaics make it unique," while outside, the minarets impress him. He exclaimed, "They are so high, it is as if they touch the clouds."
Across from Hagia Sophia in Sultanahmet Square, he saw the Wilhelm Fountain, which I have described in my piece on the Kaiser. Kang also perceptively notes that "it is huge and majestic; one can understand the great ambition of Wilhelm from this structure."
As for the other wonders of Istanbul, Kang noted that, "In the Turkish capital, there are a total of 300 mosques," and he particularly admired the Beyazıt Mosque. He was also interested in the palaces, which since the 19th century, could be found in both parts of the city. He claimed that the "main palace ... is 1,000 years old" and that it "is full of pavilions." He, of course, was mistaken here, as the Turkish presence in Istanbul only goes back to 1453. Kang also contradictorily feels that while "the palaces of the Turks and very tall and majestic" and that "their decorations are splendid," they are also "very small and not worth visiting." Even if most visitors would be unlikely to describe the palaces of Istanbul as "very small," it must not be forgotten that Kang hailed from China, where the massive palace complex of the Forbidden City takes up an area of 74 hectares
Europeans in Pera, Galata
Kang noted that 225,000 Europeans live in the part of the city to the north of the Golden Horn, known as Pera and Galata. Here, he noted, "restaurants and coffee houses abound," but he also sees the economic domination of the Europeans in the Ottoman capital, with banking being exclusively in their hands. Kang notes a Western disdain for Turks. He avers that "because their country is weak, Europeans despise them."
Nevertheless, it was the part of the city that Kang stays in. Much like John Dos Passos, he stayed in the Pera Palace Hotel, "which is the best hotel of the Turkish capital," but also, like Dos Passos, saw a contrast with the environs of the hotel with "dust and dirt on the roads" as well as hungry "stray dogs" and "the streets" being "full of beggars."
The poor condition of Istanbul
This led to one element that Kang certainly did not like in Istanbul: its dirt, which is the same north or south of the Golden Horn. Kang asserted that, "There is no other place in Europe that is in such a bad condition as the Turkish capital." He noted that, "People clean (their houses) day and night and throw their trash into the roads, which is one of the causes of pollution." The houses are dilapidated; the roads are either cobbled with potholes or dirt tracks from which "dust gets kicked up on rainless days, blinding people and when it rains, mud is everywhere." Also, he noted the very indigent go shoeless and clothed in rags.
He blames poverty because "the Turks’ taxes are very burdensome." In contrast to Europe, he notes a "lack of industry and trade," seeing this as "the most important reason for high taxes and poverty of the people." For him, the Turks had declined; he noted that "Turks were once the dominant power, but today they are weak" and "not as strong as the Europeans." What Kang believed to be a particular problem was that the Turks themselves did not understand why they were in their current situation. He claimed they "always talk about the beautiful and good aspects of Europe every day, but do not know and study Europe in-depth" and, as such, "do not know why the Europeans are advanced," which means "they only imitate them," preventing any fundamental deep-seated change.
He views the physical condition of Istanbul as akin to the situation in China, stating that "we have a great deal of these circumstances in my country. We are in the same predicament as the Turks."
Comparisons with China
This comment demonstrates the unsurprising fact that, as a Chinese visitor, Kang compares the Ottoman Empire and China. He feels that "our country is more backward than here." Although he has noted a patronizing Western attitude toward the Ottomans, he also avered "there is nothing wrong comparing Türkiye and Iran with my country by Europeans and Americans" since "all have bad systems of government" in that "the politics of these old civilizations and countries has become obsolete." He noted that reforms have been made recently in the empire but regards the changes as superficial rather than substantial. He stated: "Those who changed the laws only changed inconsequential things such as the clothing style but did not make any changes based on their work. What is the use of changing clothes? This is a matter of concern."
Turkish people
Nevertheless, this change meant that in Istanbul, save for the fez, "the sultan and all the ordinary people wear European-style clothes." However, that is not the case for certain officials, and "the poor people of Istanbul wear old Turkish clothes." He also noted that the elite furnished their homes in a European style.
Kang was not impressed by the gender differences that he witnessed in Istanbul. He noted that "the Turks favor men; they keep women subjugated." He avered that, "There is a great boundary between a man and a woman. Women must cover their faces when they go out," even arguing that, "They exceed our country in putting pressure on women." However, he also noted that "there is no street prostitution by Turkish women, only European women" and that "the rate of rape in Türkiye is very low" while "it is common in Europe and America."
How Kang could claim that "Turkish women are beautiful" is unclear in light of his remarks as to their veiling. As for Turkish men, he noted that they "are strong and tall," but he also found them "somber." In terms of cuisine, he had nothing but praise for Turkish food, which he said was "superior" to that of Europe due to its "many spices" and the fine cutting of its meat, and he also avered that Turkish "cookies and bakery products are very delicious."
As for music, he stated: "In Turkish music, the Oud has twenty-three strings; a music group consists of four people, and there are two fine drums. They’re like the Spaniards; sometimes they sing alone, others sing together, and sounds are multi-layered and harmonious, but they are not pathetic songs like in India, Java, and Myanmar. Their songs are very complex."
The constitution
Kang witnessed Istanbul at the time of the constitution's ratification, claiming that he arrived in the city on that very day. He noted the ecstatic air of celebration in the capital as "tens of thousands of people cheered" and that "all the men and women in the city sang and danced with happiness (as) they celebrated the reforms." Kang, though unable to share in the celebrations, instead found the new situation ominous.
The problem was that he felt that people embrace the idea of freedom without understanding its implications. For him, they believed it enabled them to "do whatever they wanted," but this conflicted with what he sees as the need for "a government’s management system." Moreover, the limitless and conflicting demands unleashed by the revolution could not possibly be fulfilled, which ensured tension "between the rulers and the ruled." Those who are consequently left "not satisfied ... become furious and rebel," which is why for him, "chaos still continues."
Hence, Kang saw lawlessness in revolution, believing that the wholesale "abrogation of laws" in a revolution created chaos as "everyone from the top to the bottom must be governed by law." For him, only "the idea of administration by law" can ensure domestic peace. He also opposed instantaneous change because, for him, "if the old governing methods are suddenly abandoned, people’s habits would clash with the new reality." Thus, it was the speed of the change and not the goal that he objected to. He still felt that the age-old systems in both the Ottoman and China were no longer fit for purpose, but they must be reformed "gradually."
As a postscript, it is worth noting that in his travelogue, Kang expressed his fear that "the end of the Turkish emperor will be like Louis XVI," who was guillotined in the French Revolution. Although the imperial system did end in Türkiye in the 1920s, there was a peaceful dethronement, unlike the recent horrific end of the last Russian Tsar and his family. The imperial system also ended in China in 1911, but its last emperor also survived, ending his life as a simple gardener, the whole journey of his life being beautifully portrayed in Bernardo Bertolucci’s masterpiece, the film "The Last Emperor." There was a failed attempt by Kang, who had returned to China in 1913, to place this last emperor of China back on the throne. Afterward, however, Kang busied himself with political matters and writing until he died in Qingdao in 1927.