''Keying'' (
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
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* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
: ,
p ''Qíyīng'') was a three-masted, 800-ton
Foochow
Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...
Chinese trading
junk which sailed from
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
around the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
and
Britain
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between 1846 and 1848.
History and voyages
''Keying'' had been purchased in August 1846 in secrecy by British businessmen in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, defying a Chinese law prohibiting the sale of Chinese ships to foreigners. She was renamed after the Manchu official
Keying. ''Keying'' was manned by 12 British and 30 Chinese sailors (the latter all
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
). She was commanded by Captain
Charles Alfred Kellett, also British.
Crew
*Captains (2):
Charles Alfred Kellett and So Yin Sang Hsi
* Mates (2): Mr G. Burton and Mr Edward Revett
* Chinese staff (26): Hia Siang, Sim Agu, Ung Ti, Ling Chensi, Kho Sing Thiam, Lia Lai, Lei Na Kung, Khor Per Le, Lip Hap, Chin Ten Yeng, Tam Sam Seng, Ung Tian Yong, Chein A Tai, Yer A Chin, Lim A Lee, Go Bun Hap, Che Va A Sa, Chi Va A Chan, Lim Tai Chong, Tan A Lak, Chia A Soey, Ong A Hiong, Chien A Te, Kho Te Sun, Ung A Cong and Sio A Chiok (Most of these Chinese names are not Cantonese, but Hokkien or Teochew names.)
* Mandarin (1): He Sing (希生 p. Xi Sheng)
* Ship's artist (1): Sam Shing
* Plus anonymous European and Chinese sailors.
Hong Kong
''Keying'' left
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
in December 1846. Before her departure she was visited by
Sir John Davis, the Governor of Hong Kong;
Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, and officers of the fleet, the Commander-in-Chief and most of the principal residents of the Colony.
Cape of Good Hope and St Helena
She rounded the
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa.
A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...
in March 1847, 114 days out, having been delayed by strong westerly gales, and a severe hurricane.
After 17 days at sea she anchored at
St Helena in April 1847.
New York
![Chinese Junk Keying](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Chinese_Junk_Keying.jpg)
She remained at St Helena for some time before taking course to Sandy Hooks and then arriving in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in July 1847. The ''Keying'' was the first ship from China to visit New York. She moored off the
Battery
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Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
on the southern tip of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and was received with great fanfare. No less than seven thousand visitors went on board of her every day.
She remained in New York for several months. The Chinese crew of ''Keying'' were understandably angry as they had signed on only for an eight-month voyage to
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
and
Batavia (now Jakarta). Twenty-six of them left ''Keying'' and returned to Canton on board the ''Candace'', which sailed 6 October 1847.
P. T. Barnum
Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was ...
had a copy of ''Keying'' built in
Hoboken
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...
(Barnum claimed he had it towed from China), and exhibited it with a crew which may have included some of the ''Keying'' Chinese. However the ''
Brooklyn Eagle
:''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently''
The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...
'' described Barnum's crew as "one third white and two thirds negroes or mulattoes", so probably no real ''Keying'' crew were present.
Boston
![JunkKeyingView70](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/JunkKeyingView70.jpg)
''Keying'' also moored in Boston on 18 November 1847, by the Charles River Bridge, according to the ''Boston Evening Transcript'' of 1847. She was visited by many people, with as many as four to five thousand on
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...
.
British visit
![KeyingMedal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/KeyingMedal.jpg)
''Keying'' next sailed on 17 February 1848 for Britain. A storm on 28 February wrecked her two boats, ripped the foresail, and disabled the hardwood ironbound rudder, which was hung in the Chinese manner without
gudgeon
A gudgeon is a socket-like, cylindrical (i.e., ''female'') fitting attached to one component to enable a pivoting or hinging connection to a second component. The second component carries a pintle fitting, the male counterpart to the gudgeon, ...
s or
pintles. During the repair of the rudder the second mate drowned.
''Keying'' was fast, as was noted by the press:
:The ''Keying'' next visited Boston, whence she sailed direct for London on 17 February last, and arrived in
St Aubin's Bay
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, on 15 March, having performed the voyage, from land to land, in 21 days - a short period even for the American
packet-ships. (''Illustrated London News'', 1848)
''Keying'' reached Britain in March 1848, and a medal was made in honor of her arrival. The obverse of the medal gives the following account:
:The first junk that ever rounded the Cape of Good Hope, or appeared in British waters. Her dimensions are length 160ft. Depth of hold: 19ft. Burden: 800 tons Chinese measurement. Rudder 7½ tons, mainsail 9 tons. Mainmast 85ft long from deck. The ship is built of teak wood. She sailed from Hong Kong 6 December 1846, arrived in England 27 March 1848, 477 days from Canton. "Captain Kellet", commander.
![KeyingFullArticle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/KeyingFullArticle.jpg)
''Keying'' was praised by the British as excellent in seaworthiness, and practically superior to their own:
:She proved herself an excellent sea-boat; and her powers of weathering a storm equal, if not surpass, those of vessels of British build. (''Illustrated London News'', 1848)
She lay in the Thames at Blackwall.
A multitude visited the ship, including
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
and other members of the Royal family.
The ''Illustrated London News'' of 29 July 1848 described the visits to the ''Keying'' as follows:
:The ROYAL CHINESE JUNK "KEYING" manned by a Chinese Crew. Visitors received by a Mandarin of rank and Chinese Artist of celebrity. Grand Saloon, gorgeously furnished in the most approved style of the Celestial Empire. Collection of Chinese Curiosities, &c. The "Keying" is now open for Exhibition, from Ten to six, in the East India Docks, adjoining the Railway and Steam-boat Pier,
Blackwall.—Admission, One Shilling.
:ADMISSION, ONE SHILLING.—During the limited period which the ROYAL CHINESE JUNK will remain in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, the charge for admission will be reduced to One Shilling. This most interesting Exhibition, which has been justly called "the greatest novelty in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
," has been visited by her Majesty the Queen, all the Royal Family, and an immense number of persons, including nearly all the nobility and foreigners of distinction in London. Junk Tickets, including fare and admission, are issued by the Blackwall and Eastern Counties Railways. Omnibuses direct, and conveyance also by Steam-boat from all the Piers between
Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
and
Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...
; fare 4d. Catalogues obtainable only on board, price 6d.
''The Times'' also reported ''Keyings visit:
:There is not a more interesting Exhibition in the vicinity of London than the Chinese Junk: one step across the entrance, and you are in the Chinese world; you have quitted the
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
for the vicinity of Canton.
Specifications
Keying's specifications was recorded differently between British and American sources.
Sale and final fate
The ''Keying'' was sold to Messrs Crippin & Forster of
Rock Ferry
Rock Ferry is an area of Birkenhead on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Administratively it is a ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. Before local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974, it was part of the county of Cheshire. At the 2 ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...
and towed from London to the river
Mersey
The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...
by the steam tug Shannon, arriving 14 May 1853. It was moored at the Rock Ferry slipway for public exhibition.
On 29 September 1853, ''Keying'' was preparing to leave for foreign ports in three weeks. But instead it was dismantled "for research" at the shipyard of Redhead, Harling, and Brown.
The ''Plymouth and Devonport weekly journal'' for Thursday, 6 December 1855 reported
:The Chinese junk once a most popular attractive exhibition, is now rotting neglected and uncared for on the shore at Tranmere Ferry opposite Liverpool.
Commemoration
![TsinTunJunks](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/TsinTunJunks.jpg)
A large-scale model of the ''Keying'' is on display at the
Hong Kong Maritime Museum
Hong Kong Maritime Museum is a non-profit educational institution funded by the international shipping community and the government in Hong Kong. It is located at Central Pier 8, Hong Kong. The museum was established on 8 September in 2005 and ...
, at Central Ferry Pier 8. This model was based on contemporary reports and images allied to a comprehensive analysis of traditional Fuzhou junk lines. The model was constructed on a 1 to 12 scale. The model was also intentionally aged to look like a vessel that had seen service prior to is famous journey.
The model is thought by some to be incorrect: the shape of the hull lacks the great curvature which is clearly and consistently shown in some of the many contemporary illustrations of the original vessel. However, the Currier print made at the time (part of the exhibit) does not show this. The exaggerations of other renditions probably resulted from western artists' being confused by the unfamiliar style of ''Keyings hull, particularly the high 'wings' either side of the bow, typical of the Fuzhou style, and the similarly elevated bulwarks of the poop deck.
The actual sheerline of Fuzhou junks is not so extreme. Much of the confusion with respect to the ''Keying'' may come from reported bow and stern heights above the waterline that may have been for the tops of 'wings' and 'poop', not of the weather deck at bow and stern. The exaggerated measurements in most contemporary reports suggest it was the former, not the latter.
The Museum model unquestionably fits the accounts of ''Keyings sea-keeping qualities better than a model with the bizarrely exaggerated curvatures shown in other contemporary illustrations. Such curvature was unknown in similar vessels: the acutely distorted waterlines that would result when heeled would have rendered the vessel unmanageable.
These large trading junks moored off the waterfront of Guangzhou towards the end of the 19th century would have been broadly similar to the Keying and give us a better idea of how she may really have appeared than the contemporary images of her by western artists.
See also
*
Tek Sing
The ''Tek Sing'' ( Chinese, "True Star") was a large three-masted Chinese ocean-going junk which sank on February 6, 1822, in an area of the South China Sea known as the Belvidere Shoals. The vessel was 50 meters in length, 10 meters wide and ...
, a larger Chinese junk sunk in Indonesia during the 19th century
*
''Princess Taiping'', a modern replica of a Ming-dynasty junk that sailed from Taiwan to San Francisco and (almost) back in 2009
Notes
References
*Brouwer, Norman. "New York's Unusual Chinese Visitor & the Junk Keying," ''Seaport Magazine'' 14, no. 2 (Summer 1980): 18–19.
*Borden, Charles A.''Sea quest: small craft adventures from Magellan to Chichester'' Philadelphia: McRae Smith Co., 1967,
Further reading
*Davies, Stephen. ''East Sails West. The Voyage of the Keying, 1846–1855'', Hong Kong University Press, 2014.
*Wright, R.N.J. "The Keying Medallions", Appendix 6 in his book ''The Modern Coinage of China 1866–1949: The Evidence in Western Archives'', Spink, 2012.
*Wittman, M.
Chinese Junk Keying Medals ''Pocket Change'' (the blog of the American Numismatic Society), 8 April 2015.
* Haddad, John. "A Floating Ethnology: The Strange Voyage of the Chinese Junk Keying" in The Romance of China: Excursions to China in U.S. Culture, 1776-1876, 2008.
External links
* {{Commons category-inline, Keying
*
ttps://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?people=213883 Keying medallions in the British MuseumKeying medallions in the American Numismatic Society
Qing dynasty
History of Hong Kong
Ships of China
China–United Kingdom relations
1840s in China