Anecdotes of Chinese Anglers 
T HE Chinese, in common with the Japanese, 
are great lovers of the contemplative 
man's recreation, and, though the latter 
are possibly the more skillful, the former are 
probably the more patient brethren of the angle. 
As the practice of the gentle craft tends to the 
peaceful maturing of all human reflections, it 
is therefore thoroughly in harmony with the 
pursuits of the elevated as well as of the humble 
Celestial, reflection being a remarkable char¬ 
acteristic of every class of Chinamen. Nor are 
these Eastern craftsmen devoid of humor, for 
their sayings and doings not unfrequently dis¬ 
play a keen, if not a satirical form, of wit; in¬ 
deed, it may be held that their quaint conceits 
are quite on a par with those of good Master 
Walton. Be this as it may, angling has been a 
persistently followed branch of sport by the 
Chinese of all ranks, and not a little love is con¬ 
nected with the pursuit of this art in the land 
of the sun. 
A frolicsome fisherman of Tsoukiang, who 
existed on the sale of wine in addition to the 
price his victims brought him, was in the habit 
of drinking his fill of an evening, after which 
he would dance and sing in his boat. He ac¬ 
counted himself the happiest man on earth, and 
frequently told his acquaintances so. The pre¬ 
fect, who imagined that the man’s happiness pro¬ 
ceeded from some hidden secret, one day asked 
him if he was a bona fide fisherman or an illus¬ 
trious and wealthy person in disguise. “Never 
you mind,” was the angler’s reply; “illustrious 
persons fish for titles and fame; I fish for fish.” 
1 chang-1 sen, a celebrated philosopher, was a 
keen lover of the rod, and used to spend every 
day of his life on the banks of the River Han. 
He was a man of such profound learning and 
probity that the cunning Prince of Tchon sent 
an ambassador to him to beg him to enter politi¬ 
cal life for the good of the State. When the 
ambassador proclaimed his mission to the philos¬ 
opher, the latter, rod in hand, began speaking 
to the fish in the River Han upon every imagin¬ 
able subject, without deigning to give the min¬ 
ister a reply. When the ambassador was tired 
of repeating his mission to the philosopher, he 
left him. It is possible that Tchang-Tsen’s wis¬ 
dom exceeded his politeness. 
Lu-Chan, another philosopher, who lived in 
earlier times, took a different view of matters 
from the last named embodiment of eccentricity. 
He used to fish from early morn till late eve in 
the River Pien. One day the wise emperor, 
\\ en-Ouang, went to him to beg him in person 
to become one of the great councillors of State. 
Lu-Chan listened in silence and watched his 
float. The Emperor named one post after an¬ 
other to which he would name the angler, pro¬ 
vided he would serve as desired. 
At last the Emperor appointed him guardian 
of the sovereign, which was the nearest dignity 
to the reigning monarch. Lu-Chan deliberately 
landed a fish that he had hooked, quietly signified 
his acceptance of the office, and straightway ac¬ 
companied the Emperor to the seat of govern¬ 
ment. It must have cost him a sharp pang to 
tear himself away from his favorite sport, but 
he did it forthwith, after the placid manner of 
the long-headed Chinee. So successfully did this 
fisherman establish the basis of government that 
the dynasty lasted 800 years after he had held 
office. His emperor was the first monarch of 
China that earned the name of saint. The peo¬ 
ple were never more happy or prosperous than 
under his reign. So great .was the prosperity 
of the country at that time that even in the 
present day, when the Chinese wish to describe 
the contented people of a wisely-governed nation, 
they allude to them “as if they were walking 
under the reign of Weng-Ouang.” 
During the Thang dynasty, a celebrated man 
of letters, Thiang-Tsen-Ho by name, withdrew 
himself in solitude to a houseboat on the river 
for the purpose of following exclusively his 
favorite sport. He gave himself a title, which, 
being interpreted, means “Fisher in the midst 
of the waves and the mist.” When he was not 
angling he used to write songs for fishermen 
which were extensively published. His songs 
were replete with delicate feeling and natural 
sentiment and brought their refining influence 
into every Chinese home. He was in the habit 
of singing these songs on his angling excursions, 
and his hearers would stand entranced with the 
harmonious effect of voice and word. 
fl he Emperor esteemed him very highly, and 
in order to relieve his solitude, sent him a pres¬ 
ent of a young man and a beautiful young girl 
as servants. The angler-recluse gave the name 
of Fisherman to the young man and that of 
Shepherdess to the young woman, then caused 
them to marry that they might be happy in their 
new life. 1 he man looked after his fishing 
tackle and rowed his boat when he went in quest 
of sport, and the woman was engaged in attend¬ 
ing to the houseboat and in gathering wood and 
bamboos in the forest to cook his food. 
Thiang-Tsen-Ho’s beautiful songs are still 
sung by the fishermen of the Celestial Empire, 
who revere his memory as that of a tender lover 
of nature and a vanished master whose gentle 
spirit still lingers near them. 
1 he Chinese possess a goddess of the water, 
whose history is romantic, and whose memory is 
held in the greatest reverence by the reigning 
monarch and downward to the humblest fisher¬ 
man. She was the daughter of a poor angler 
who dwelt on the Mei-Tcheon shore near the 
town of Fou-Tcheon. Every day her father and 
her two brothers took each of them a boat and 
went out fishing, while she remained at home 
with her mother, employing the time in spinning 
lines and weaving nets. As she was an only 
daughter and very beautiful, she was much be¬ 
loved by her parents and brothers. 
One day while the men of the family were out 
fishing as usual, a violent thunderstorm came on, 
which made her drowsy and eventually caused 
her to sleep over her work. It is not unusual 
for thunder to affect people thus in Eastern 
countries. She dreamed that she was standing 
on the troubled waters close to her father’s boat 
which was about to sink in the angry waves. 
She put out her hand and took hold of the 
painter to draw the boat to the shore. Just then 
she noticed that the boats in which her brothers 
were seated were also sinking. Putting the 
painter of her father’s boat between her teeth, 
she caught hold of the two others, one in each 
hand, and hastened through the waters toward 
the land. Before she had reached—in her dream 
—the shore, she began to groan and cry, when 
her mother straightway began to shake her and 
call her by name. In order to reply to her 
mother she opened her mouth, when the painter 
of her father’s boat fell from between her teeth. 
On completely awakening, she naturally ascribed 
her experiences to nightmare, but on the return 
of her brothers late at night she learned that 
her father’s boat had sunk and that he had been 
drowned. So great among the Chinese is the 
filial love toward a father and so strong was 
this young girl’s attachment to her parent, that 
she was in despair at not having been able to 
save him, and the impression that he had died 
through her imprudence in having dropped the 
painter of his boat in her dream, took forcible 
possession of her mind. Without giving the 
slightest warning to her mother or brothers, 
she rushed out of the house, threw herself into 
the water and was immediately carried away 
by the flood. Frequently after this tragic occur¬ 
rence, fishermen in distress would see the beau¬ 
tiful daughter in a vision, and it was noticed 
that whenever she thus appeared the dangers of 
the deep were conquered. 
In gratitude the many fishermen who attributed 
their safety to these visions built a little temple 
in her honor on the shore of the Mei-Tcheon. 
Strange as it may seem, it was later on held 
by the nation that the State was indebted to the 
spirit of the fisherman’s daughter for her guid¬ 
ance and care, and for each real or imaginary 
service done to the State a title was conferred 
on her. Little by little her fame grew greater 
and greater, until she became known through¬ 
out the length and breadth of the land by the 
designation of Holy Mother. It is said that her 
greatness is now established forever, and even 
the Chinese princes of the present century take 
a pardonable pride in honoring the memory of 
the humble fisherman’s daughter who entered 
paradise through the waters of the Mei-Tcheon. 
All the fish laws of the United States and 
Canada, revised to date and now in force, are 
given in the Game Laws in Brief. See adv. 
