Tangku

Tangku

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 塘沽 (Tánggū).

Proper noun

Tangku

1. Alternative form of Tanggu
   • 1901, Hallett Abend, “Story of the Taku Forts Bombardment”, in The Boxer Rising: A History of the Boxer Trouble in China‎, 2nd edition, Shanghai Mercury, Ltd., page 33:

     I left Shanghai in the s.s. Hsinfung on Tuesday, 12th instant, for Tientsin, where, according to wires received, things were very unpleasant owing to the Boxers. After passing through a fleet of about 31 war-ships outside the Taku Bar, which made a splendid show, we finally reached Tangku on Friday in time to catch the last train leaving at 5 p.m.

   • 1922, H. Stringer, The Chinese Railway System‎, Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, Limited, page 2:

     This locomotive replaced the mules and was the beginning of the railway system of the country, for it amply demonstrated to those in authority at the time the economy of rail transport. This great advance made, it was a short step to eliminate the canal altogether with the result that by 1888 the mule tramway had been converted into a railway of 40 miles giving the mines direct access to the sea at the port of Tangku, on the Peiho, about 40 miles below Tientsin, which was also reached by the railway in 1888 (October).

   • 1943, Hallett Abend, My Life In China 1926-1941‎, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, page 204:

     One of the most humiliating spectacles I ever witnessed was at the dirty little port of Tangku, at the mouth of the Hai River below Tientsin, on the morning of May 31st, 1933. It was a day of muggy, oppressive heat. On a siding at the Tangku station stood a long train without locomotives. At each end of the train were two armored cars, and between them a long string of Wagons-Lits compartment coaches, with all blinds drawn. The guns of the armored cars were turned away from the river.

   • 1968, Russell D. Buhite, Nelson T. Johnson and American Policy Toward China, 1925-1941‎, Michigan State University Press, page 90:

     On May 31, about a week after the discussions began, the terms of the agreement signed at Tangku were made public. Known as the Tangku Truce, this agreement provided that China immediately withdraw all her troops to districts south and west of a line connecting Yenching, Changping, and Kaoliying, and not advance beyond this line.