An Address in Praise of Seah Eu Chin (1890)
The following text is reproduced in 《三州府文件修集》A Text Book of Documentary Chinese edited by G. T. Hare, published in 1894 by the Government Printing Office at Singapore (Vol. 2, Chapter 4, pg. 68–69, available online). This is a collection of various types of formal and bureaucratic writing, including proclamations, letters, and petitions, for the use of civil servants in the Straits Settlements government to learn Chinese. Most of them have been reproduced verbatim from real contemporary documents, and include personal names and details.
The English caption given by Hare to this text is:
An address presented to Mr. Seah Liang Seah by the Teochiu community in Singapore.
No date is given by Hare, but from the content of the text, it appears to be the text that was presented to Seah Liang Seah after resolving a legal dispute involving the estate of his late father, Seah Eu Chin. (see Property and Risks of Enterprise)
The suit was brought in 1890 by Yeo Kian Guan, the son of Yeo Kim Swee, who was a business associate of Seah Eu Chin. Eu Chin was named as an executor and trustee in Kim Swee’s will. However, after Kim Swee’s death, Eu Chin had bought property from the former’s estate, which would have been illegal if he had indeed acted as a trustee for Kim Swee. Kian Guan sued Liang Seah, who was the executor of Eu Chin’s will, to attempt to recover the property, but only seven years after Eu Chin’s death.
The case was decided in Liang Seah’s favour, and a large celebration was held at his house, where he was presented with “a silk scroll on which were set forth the virtues of the late Seah Eu Chin.” (One Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore, 1st ed., p. 262). This text hasn’t been mentioned elsewhere in the literature I have seen on Seah Eu Chin. It does not contain any real new information, and the style is formulaic, but it is nonetheless interesting to read a contemporary Chinese document that otherwise has not been preserved.
I have added punctuation and a rough English translation to the original.
— Brandon Seah, November 2024
Text
書曰：「作善降之百祥，作不善降之百殃」。誠以天道昭彰固無微而不顯也。
As the idiom goes, “Good deeds bring a hundred blessings, bad deeds bring a hundred disasters.” This is because the way of heaven is clear and evident, and nothing remains hidden.
如我蔚園佘翁，令先君大人，好義急公。遐邇感激解紛排難。里黨欽尊。
We address Mr. Siâ Uè-hn̂g [an alias for Seah Liang Seah]. His late father [Seah Eu Chin] was a great and public-spirited man. People far and wide are grateful to him for mediating disputes and resolving troubles. In the country they admire and respect him.
兼之品詣端方。學問純粹。詢當世之仁人君子也。
He was furthermore upright in his learning, pure in his scholarship. He was indeed a gentleman of morals for the ages.
當其弱冠來叻。挾計然術。白手起家。遂爲一坡領袖其生。平善事難以縷述。
In his youth he came to the Straits. He tested his skills and built up his business from scratch, becoming a leader on this island. His charitable deeds were too many to state.
所最者莫。如昔年粵人滋事。幾至釀成巨禍。賴公幹旋。一言而解。
Of note was when, in years past, the Cantonese people stirred up trouble, which developed into a great riot. He intervened, and was able to resolve the matter with a few words.
潮人旅叻亡者無歸。公乃創置義塚。俾有窀穸之安。所謂澤及枯骨者如是。
Many Teochew people who came to the Straits died here before they could return home. He founded charitable cemeteries to let their bones be able to lie in peace. It is just as is said, “it is a profound benevolence that extends to rotting bones.”
似此人德之。慕之。歌之。頌之。之不暇。
His virtues were admired, sung of, and praised to no end.
何來訟端生於不測。平地立起風波。
From whence, then, came this unexpected litigation? The level ground was upended by waves.
忽有人焉。妄以意外之圖。遽以冤謗之加。推波助瀾。譸張爲幻。豈知包藏禍心。
Suddenly there came a person with an absurd, unexpected plot, rapidly spreading malicious slander, pouring fuel into the fire, and spreading lies to trick people. Who knows what evil intentions he harbored?
難逃秦鏡。迨質之憲庭。煥然冰釋。涇渭遂分。
But it is hard to escape the mirror of truth. When questioned before the court of law, it melted away like ice. All was clearly separated like the rivers Jing and Wei flowing apart.
是雖衆口鑠金。無碍於質。浮雲蔽日不損其明。殊令人噴噴於口。
Despite the public clamour being hot enough to melt metal [i.e. spreading of rumors can obscure the truth], it did not tarnish [Seah Eu Chin’s] reputation. The floating clouds [idiom for evil deeds wrongfully harming loyal officials] did not obscure his brightness.
莫不謂天之報施善人固不爽也。某等託清陰於樾蔭發潛德之幽光。
There is no one that does not say that heaven does not reward good people. We wait in the cool shade of benevolence for the hidden virtue to shine forth.
一瓣心香表揚善行。勒之竹帛。播之管絃。足以耀當世而垂無窮。
We sincerely praise his charitable actions, and will engrave them in the annals of history, celebrate them with music, and richly cover in glory.
使後人■物思人而知善人。是富克昌厥後。誠非無自矣。
So that future generations will remember and recognise benevolent people. It is richness to flourish in the future. Sincerity does not be on its own [?].
是爲序。
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