The 
 
 JAMES A. THOMAS 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
 DUKE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 DURHAM, N. C. 
 
 Date 
 
 (MM)^j^ij^30 
 
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TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 DESCRIPTIONS, OBSERVATIONS, AND COMPARISONS, 
 MADE AND COLLECTED 
 
 IJJ THI COURSE OF A SHORT RESIDENCE AT THE 
 
 IMPERIAL PALACE 
 
 OF rUEN-MIN-rUEN, 
 
 AND ON 
 
 A SUBSEQUENT JOURNEY THROUGH THE COUNTRY, 
 
 FROM 
 
 PEKIN TO CANTON: 
 
 IN WHICH IT IS ATTEMPTED TO APPRECIATE THE RANK THAT 
 
 THIS EXTRAORDINARY EMPIRE MAY BE CONSIDERED TO 
 
 HOLD IN THE SCALE OF CIVILIZED NATIONS. 
 
 Non culvis honiini contingit adire Corinthum." 
 It is the lot of Jevj to go to Pekin. 
 
 BY JOHN BARROW, Esq. 
 
 LATE PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE EARL OF MACARTNEY, AND OMS 
 
 or HIS SVITE AS AMBASSADOR FROM THE KING OF GREAT 
 
 BRITAIN, TO THE EMPEROR OF CHINA. 
 
 THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PRINTED AND SOLD BY W. F. M'LAUGHLIN, 
 
 NO. 28, :;oRTH second-street. 
 
 1805. 
 

 €^^ CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 PEELIMIJVJRY MATTER. 
 
 INTRODUCTION.— General View of what Travellers are likely 
 to meet with in China. — Mistaken Notions entertained with re- 
 gard to the British Embassy — Corrected by the Reception and 
 Treatment of the subsequent Dutch Embassy. — Supposed Points 
 of Failure in the former, as stated by a French Missionary from 
 Pekin, refuted. — Kien Long's Letter to the King of Holland. — 
 Difference of Treatment experienced, by the two Embassies ex- 
 plained. — Intrigues of Missionaries in Foreign Countries. — Pride 
 and Self-importance of the Chinese Court. — List of European 
 Embassies, and the Time of their Abode in Pekin. — Conclusion 
 of Preliminary Subject. ..... i-acs. 1 
 
 CHAP. n. 
 
 OCCURRENCES AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE NAVIGATION 
 OF THE YELLOW SEA, AND THE PASSAGE UP THE PEI- 
 HO, OR WHITE RIVER. 
 
 Different Testimonies that have been given of the Chinese Charac- 
 ter. — Comparison of China with Europe in the sixteenth Century. 
 — Motives of the Missionaries in their Writings. — British Em- 
 bassy passes the Straits of Formosa. — Appearance of a Ta-fung. 
 — Chusan Islands. — Instance of Chinese Amplification. — Various 
 Chinese Vessels — System of their Navigation — their Compass, 
 probably of Scythian Origin — Foreign Voyages of. — Traces of 
 Chinese in America — in an Island of tlie Tartarian Sea. — in the 
 Persian Gulf — traded probably as far as Madagascar. — Commerce 
 
 172743 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 of the Tyrians. — Reasons for conjecturing that the Hottentots may 
 have derived theirOrigin from China.— .Malays of the same descent 
 as the Chinese. — Curious coincidences in the Customs of these 
 and the Sumatrans. — Cingalese of Chinese Origin. — One of the 
 Brigs dispatched to Chu-san for Pilots. — Rapid Currents among 
 the Islands. — Visit to the Governor. — Difficulties iu procuring 
 Pilots-. — Arbitrary Proceeding of the Governor. — Pilots puzzled 
 ivith our Compass — Ignorance of — Arrive in the Gulf of Pe-tche- 
 lee. — \^isit of two Officers from Court, and their Present — enter 
 the Pei-ho, and embark in convenient Yachts — Accommodating 
 Conduct of the two Officers. — Profusion of Provisions. — Appear- 
 ance of the Country — cf the People. — Dress of the Women. — 
 Remarks on their small Feet — Chinese an uncleanly and frowzy 
 People. — Immense Crowds of People and River Craft at Tien-Sing. 
 — Decent and preposessing Conduct of the Multitude. — Musical 
 Air sung by the Rowers of the Yachts. — Favourable Traits in the 
 Chinese Character. — Fape and Products of the Country. — Multi- 
 tudes of People Inhabitants of the Water. — Another Instance of 
 Arbitrary Power. — Disembark at Tong Tchoo, and are lodged in 
 » Temple. - - - _ . - - pace 17 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH THE CAPITAL TO A COUNTRY VILLA 
 OF THE EMPEROR. RETURN TO PEKIN. THE IMPE- 
 RIAL PALACE AND GARDENS OF YUEN-MIN-YUEN, AND 
 THE PARKS OF GEHOL. 
 
 Order of Procession from Tong-choo to the Capital. — Crowd assem- 
 bled on the Occasion. — Appearance of Pekin without and within 
 the Walls. — Some Account of this City. — Proceed to a Country 
 Villa of the Emperor. — Inconveniences of. — Return to Pekin. — 
 Embassador proceeds to Tartary. — Author sent to the Palace of 
 Y'uen-min-yuen. — INliserable Lodgings of. — Visit of the President 
 and Members of the Mathematical Tribunal. — Of the Bishop of 
 Pekin, and others. — Gill's Sword-blades. — Hatchett's Carriages. — 
 Scorpion found in a Cask packed at Binningham. — Portraits of 
 English Nobility. — Effects of Accounts from Tartary on the Offi- 
 cers of State in Pekin. — Emperor's Return to the Capital. — In- 
 spects the Presents. — Application of the Embassador for Leave to 
 depart. — Short Account of the Palace and Gardens of Yuen-min- 
 
CONTENTS. 5 
 
 5'uen. — Lord Macartney's Description of the Eastern and West- 
 ern Parks of Gehol. — And his general Remarks on Chinese Land- 
 scape Gardening. ------ fjcE 59 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE STATE OF SOCIETY IN CHINA. MAN- 
 NERS, CUSTOMS, SENTIMENTS, AND MORAL CHARACTER 
 OF THE PEOPLE. . 
 
 Condition of Women, a Criterion of the State of Society. — Degraded 
 State of in China. — Domestic manners mifavourable to Filial Af-" 
 fection.— .Parental Authority. — 111 Effects of separating the Se^fes. 
 — Social Intercourse unknown, except for Gaming. — Their Wor- 
 ship solitary. — Feasts of New Year. — Propensity to Gaming. — 
 Influence of the Laws seems to have destroyed the natui'al Cha- 
 racter of the People Made them indifTerent, or cruel. — Various 
 
 Instances of this Remark in public and in private Life. — Remarks 
 on Infanticide. — Perhaps less general than usually thought. — Cha- 
 racter of Chinese in Foreign Countries. — Temper and Disposi- 
 tion of the Chinese. — Merchants. — Cuckoo-clocks. — Conduct of a 
 Prince of the Blood. — Of the Prime Minister. — Comparison of the 
 Physical and Moi-al Characters of the Chinese and Man-tchoo 
 Tartars. — General Character of the Nation illustrated. pace 93 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 MANNERS AND AMUSEMENTS OF THE COURT. RECEP- 
 TION OF EMBASSADORS. CHARACTER AND PRIVATE 
 
 LIFE OF THE EMPEROR. HIS EUNUCHS AND WOMEN. 
 
 General Character of the Court — Of the Buildings about the Palace. 
 — Lord Macartney's Account of his Introduction. — Of the Cele.T 
 bration of the Emperor's Anniversary Festival — Of a Puppet- 
 Shew. — Comedy and Pantomime. — Wrestling. — Conjuring and 
 Fire-Works. — Reception and Entertainment of the Dutch Em- 
 bassadors from a Manuscript Journal — Observations on the State 
 of the Chinese Stage. — Extraordinary Scene in one of their Dra- 
 mas. — Gross and indelicate Exhibitions. — Sketch of Kien-Long's 
 Life and Character. — Kills his Son by an unlucky Blow. — con- 
 ceives himself immortal. — Influence of the Eunuchs at the Tartar 
 Conquest — their present State and Ofllccs. — Emperor's Wife, 
 Queens, and Concubines — How disposed of at his Death. t29 
 
 172743 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 LANGUAGE. LITERATURE, AND THE FINE ARTS. 
 
 SCIENCES. MECHANICS, AND MEDICINE. 
 
 Opinion of the Chinese Language being hieroglyphical erroneous. — 
 Doctor Hager's mistakes. — Etymological Comparisons fallacious, 
 — Examples of. — Nature of the Chinese written Character. — Dif- 
 ficulty and Ambiguity of. — Curious Mistake of an eminent Anti- 
 quarian. — Mode of acquiring the Character. — Oral Language. — 
 Mantchoo Tartar Alphabet. — Chinese Literature. — 'Astronomy. — 
 Chronology. — Cycle of sixty Years. — Geography. — Arithmetic. — 
 Chemical Arts. — Cannon and Gunpowder. — Distillation. — Pot- 
 teries. — Silk Manufactures. — Ivory. — Bamboo — Paper. — Ink. — 
 Printing. — Mechanics. Music.' — Painting. — Sculptui'e. — Archi- 
 tecture. — Hotel of the English Embassador in Pekin — The Great 
 
 Wall The Grand Canal. — -Bridges. — Cemeteries. Natural 
 
 Philosophy Medicine. Chinese Pharmacopoeia Quacks. — 
 
 Contagious Fevers. — Small-pox. — Opthalmia. — Venereal Disease. 
 Midv/ifery — Surgery. — Doctor Gregory's Opinion of their Medi- 
 cal Knowledge. — Sir William Jones's Opinion of their general 
 Character. page 159 
 
 CHAP. vn. 
 
 GOVERNMENT LAWS TENURES OF LAND AND TAXES 
 
 REVENUES CIVIL AND MILITARY RANKS, AND ES- 
 
 TABLISHMENTS. 
 
 Opinions on which the Executive Authority is grounded. — Principle 
 on which an Emperor of China seldom appears in public. — The 
 Censorate. — Public Departments. — Laws. — Scale of Crimes and 
 Punishments. — Laws regarding Homicide. — Curious Law Case. 
 — No Appeal from Civil Suits. — Defects in the Executive Go- 
 vernment. — Duty of Obedience and Power of personal Correction. 
 — Russia and China compared. — Fate of the Prime Minister Ho- 
 chang-tong — Yearly Calendar and Pckin Gazette, engines of 
 Government. — Freedom of the Press. — Duration of the Govern- 
 ment attempted to be explained. — Precautions of Governnnent to 
 prevent Insurrections. — Taxes and Revenues. — Civil and Military 
 
CONTENTS. ' 7 
 
 Establishments. — Chinese Army, its Numbers and Appointments. 
 — Conduct of the Tartar Government at the Conquest — Impolitic 
 Change of late Years, and the probable Consequences of it. 239 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 CONJECTURES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE. — THEIR 
 RELIGIOUS SECTS, TENETS, AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 Embassy departs from Pekin, and is lodged in a Temple. — Colony 
 from Egypt not necessary to be supposed, in order to account for 
 Egyptian Mythology in China. — Opinions concerning Chinese 
 Origin. — Observations on the Heights of Tartary. — Probably the 
 Resting-place of the Ark of Noah. — Ancients ignorant of the Chi- 
 nese. — Seres.— First known Intercourse of Foreigners with China. 
 — Jews. — Budhists. — Nestorians. — iMahomedans — Roman Catho- 
 lics — Quarrels of the Jesuits and Dominicans. — Religion of Con- 
 fucius. — Attached to the Prediction of future Events. — Notions 
 entertained by him of a future State. — Of the Deity — Doctrine 
 not unlike that of the Stoics — Ceremonies in Honour of his Me- 
 mory led to Idolatry. — Misrepresentations of the Missionaries 
 with regard to the religion of the Chinese. — The Tao-tze or Sons 
 of Immortals. — Their Beverage of Life. — The Disciples of Fo, or 
 Budhists. — Comparison of some of the Hindu, Greek, Egyptian, 
 and Chinese Deities. — The Lotos or Nelumbium — Story of Osi- 
 ris and Isis, and the Isia compared Avith the Imperial Ceremony 
 of Ploughing. — Women visit the Temples. — Practical Part of 
 Chinese Religion. — Funeral Obsequies. — Feast of Lanterns. — 
 Obeisance to the Emperor performed in Temples leads to Idola- 
 try. — Primitive Religion lost or corrupted. — Summary of Chinese 
 Religion. r.iCK 281 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 JOURNEY FROM TONG-CHOO-FOO, TO THE PROVINCE OF 
 CANTON. FACE OF THE COUNTRY, AND ITS PRODUC- 
 TIONS. BUILDINGS AND OTHER PUBLIC WORKS. 
 
 CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. STATE OF AGRICULTURE, 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 Attentions paid to the Embassy. — Observations on the Climate and 
 Plains of Pc-tche-lee. — Plantsof. — Diet and Condition of the Peo- 
 l)le.—Burying-place.— Observation on Chinese Cities. — Trackers 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 of the Yachts. — Entrance of the Grand Canal.— The Fishing Cor- 
 vorant. — Approach to the Yellow-River. — Ceremony of crossing 
 this River. — Observations on Canals and Roads. — Improvement 
 of the Country in advancing to the Southward. — Beauty of, near 
 Sau-choo-foo. — Bridge of ninety -one Arches. — Country near Hang- 
 choo-foo. — City of. — Appearance of the Country near the Po-yang 
 Lake. — Observations in Proceeding through Kiang-see. The Ca- 
 mellia Sesanqua. — Retrospective View of the Climate and Produce, 
 Diet and Condition of the People, of Pe-tche-lee. — Some Obser- 
 vations on the Capital of China. — Province of Shan-tung. — Of 
 Kiang-nan. — Observations on the State of Agriculture in China. 
 — Rice Mills — Province of Tche-kiang. — Of Kiang-see. — Popu- 
 lation of China compared with that of England — Erroneous Opi- 
 nions entertained on this subject. — Comparative Population of a 
 City in China and in England — Famines accounted for — Means 
 of Prevention — Causes of the Populousness of China, pace 330 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH THE PROVINCE OF CANTON. SITU- 
 ATION OF FOREIGNERS TRADING TO THIS PORT. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Visible Change in the Character of the People. — Rugged Moun- 
 tains. — Collieries. — Temple in a cavern. — Stone Quarries. — Va- 
 rious Plants for Use and Ornament — Arrive at Canton — Expense 
 of the Embassy to the Chinese Government. — To the British 
 
 Nation Nature and Inconveniences of the Trade to Canton 
 
 The Armenian and his Pearl. — Impositions of the Officers of Go- 
 vernment instanced. — Principal Cause of them is the Ignorance of 
 
 the Language Case of Chinese trading -to London — A Chinese 
 
 killed by a Seaman of his Majesty's Ship Madras — Delinquent 
 saved from an ignominious Death, by a proper Mode of commu- 
 nication with the Government — Conclusion. - page 4,01 
 
 ADVERTISETvlENT. 
 
 CCj* 1'HE sentivients advanced in the present Work, and the point of view in 
 •mJiich some of the facts are considered, being so very different from the alm.ost uni- 
 versally received opinion, and soine of them from the opinion of those to luhose 
 friendship the Author is particularly indebted for various literary cominunications, 
 he thinks it right to declare, that they are the unbiassed conclusions of his own 
 mind founded altogether on his own observations ; a/idhe trusts that the Public, in 
 considering him alone responsible, 'uiill receive them v/ith its ttsual candour. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 PRELIMINARY MATTER. 
 
 Introduction. — General View of what Travellers are likely to meet with in Chi- 
 na. — Mistaken Notions entertained with regard to the British Embassy — 
 corrected by tlie Reception and Treatment of the subsequent Dutch Embas- 
 sy — Supposed Points of Failure in the former, as stated by a French Mission- 
 ary from Pekin, refuted. — Kien Long's Letter to the King of Holland. — DitTer- 
 ence of Treatment experienced by the two Embassies explained.. — Intrigues 
 of Missionaries in foreign Countries. — Pride and Self-importance of the Chi- 
 nese Court. — List of European Embassies, and the Time of their Abode in 
 Pekin. — Conclusion of Preliminary Subject. 
 
 IT is hardly necessary to observe that, after the able and 
 interesting account of the proceedings and result of the Bri- 
 tish embassy to the court of China, by the late Sir George 
 Staunton (^^■ho \\as no less amiable for liberal it}- of sentiment, 
 than remarkable for vigour of intellect), it would Idc an idle, 
 and indeed, a superfluous undertaking, in any other person 
 who accompanied the embass}-, to dwell on those subjects 
 which ha\ e been treated by him in so masterly a manner ; or 
 to recapitulate those incidents and transactions, ^vhich he has 
 detailed with equal elegance and accuracy. 
 
 But, as it \\ill readil}' occur to tvcry one, there are still ma- 
 ny interesting subjects, on ^hich Sir George, from the nature 
 of his work, could only barely touch, and others that did not 
 come ^A'ithin his plan (one great object of A\"hich was to un- 
 fold the y'ltw's of the embass}-, and to shcA\' that CAcry thing, 
 which could be done, was done, for promoting the interests of 
 the British nation, and supporting the dignity of the British 
 character), the author of the present ^\•ork has ventured, 
 though ^^'ith extreme diffidence, and with the consciousness of 
 tlie disadvantage under which he must appear after that *' Ac- 
 " count of tlie Embassy," to lay before the public the point 
 of vie\v in A\-hich be sa\v the Chinese empire, and the Chinese 
 
 A 
 
o TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 character. In doing this, the same flicts will sometimes neces- 
 siirily occur, that have already been published, for reasons that 
 it would be needless to mention ; but ^^•hene^•er that liappens 
 to be the case, they will briefly be repeated, for die purpose of 
 illustrating some position, or for deducing some general infe- 
 rence, 'rhus, for instance, the document given to die embas- 
 sador of the population of China will be noticed, not however 
 imder the colour of its being an unquestionably accurate state- 
 ment, but, on the conti-arj^, to she^v that it neidier is, nor can 
 be, correct ; yet, at the same time to endeavour to pro^^e, by 
 facts and analogy, tliat, contrar}^ to the received opinion, the 
 Countr}'^ is capable of supporting not only three hundred and 
 thirt}'-tliree millions of people, but diat it might actually af- 
 ford the means of subsistence to twice that number. The 
 confirmation, indeed, of new and impoitaiit facts, though very 
 different conclusions be drawn fi'om them, cannot be entirely 
 unacceptable to the reader ; for as different persons will gene- 
 rally see the same things in different points of ^ie^^ so, per- 
 haps, by combining and comparing the different descriptions 
 and colouring that may be given of the same objects, the pub- 
 lic is enabled to obtain the most correct notions of such mat- 
 ters as can be leanied only fi-om the report of travellers. 
 
 With regard to China, if we except the work of Sir 
 George Staunton, and the limited account of Mr. Bell of 
 Antermony, which was not written by himself, it may be 
 considerecl as unbeaten gi-ound by Britons. We have heai'd 
 a gi'eat deal of Chinese knaver^^ practised at Canton, but, ex- 
 cept in the two works abo\ ementioned, we have not yet heai'd 
 the sentiments of an Englishman at all acquainted with the 
 manners, customs, and character of the Chinese nation. 
 The voluminous communications of the missionai'ies are by 
 no means satisfactory ; and some of their defects will be no- 
 ticed and accounted for in the course of this work ; the chief 
 aim of which will be to shew this extraordinaiy people in their 
 proper colours, not as their own moral maxims would repre- 
 sent them, but as they really are — to divest the court of tlie 
 tinsel and the tawdry varnish with which, like tlie palaces of 
 the Emperor, die missionaries have found it expedient to co- 
 ver it in their ^^Titings ; and to endeavour to ckaw such a 
 sketch of the manners, the state of society, the language, 
 literature and fine arts, die sciences and ci\'ii institutions, the , 
 religious \\orship and opinions, die population and progress 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 3 
 
 of agriculture, the civil and moral chai-acter of the people, as 
 may enable the reader to settle, in his own mind, the point <f 
 rank which China may be considered to hold in the scale 
 of civilized nations. 
 
 The stability of the Chinese government ; the fc^v changes 
 that have been made in its civil institutions for such a nimiber 
 of ages; the vast extent of empire and immense population, 
 forming one societ}^ guided by the same la\\s, and go^•erncd 
 by the will of a single individual, ofter, as Sir George 
 Staunton has observed, " tlie gnmdest collecti\'e object that 
 can be presented for human contemplation or research." The 
 customs, habits and manners, the wants and resources, die 
 language, sentiments and religious notions, of " the most 
 ancient society and the most populous empire existing 
 amongst men," ai-e, without doubt, most interesting sub- 
 jects for the investigation of the philosopher, and not unworthy 
 the attention of the statesmim. But the expectations of the 
 man of science, the artist, or the naturalist, might perhaps be 
 rather disappointed, than their curiosity be gi-atified, in tra- 
 velling through this extensive countn'. It ciui boast of few 
 works of art, few remains of ancient grandeur. The great 
 wall, that for a time defended its peaceable inhabitiints against 
 the attacks of the roving Taitai's, the \Aalls of its numerous 
 cities, with their squai'C to\^■ers and lofty gates, and here and 
 there an old pagoda, are its only architectural antiquities ; and, 
 when these iire excepted, there is not perhaps a single building 
 in tlie whole extent of China that has withstood the action of 
 three centuries. There are no ancient palaces, nor otlicr 
 public edifices, no paintings nor pieces of sculpture, to airest 
 the attention of the traveller, unless it might be from the no- 
 velty of their appearance. In travelling over the continent of 
 Europe, and more especially on the classic ground of Italy 
 and Greece, every city, mountain, riAcr, and ruin, are ren- 
 dered interestina: bv somethins: on record which concerns 
 them ; the theme of some poet, the seat of some philosopher 
 or lawgiAcr, the scene of some memorable action, they all in- 
 spire us with the liveliest sensations, by re^ iving in the mind 
 diose pleasures ^^hich the study of their histor}- afibrded in 
 eai'ly life. To Europeans the histoiy of China has hitherto 
 furnished no materials for such recurrence, and the counti'v 
 itself is therefore incapable of communicating such impres- 
 sions. In vain should ^ve here look for the massy and stupen- 
 
4 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 dous fabrics that appear in the pyramids aiid the pillars of the- 
 ancient Eg} ptians ; the beautiful and symmeti'ical works of art 
 displayed in the temples of the Greeks ; the grand and mag- 
 nificent remains of Roman ai-chitecture ; or that combination 
 of con\'enience and elegance of design wliich chai'acterize the 
 modem buildings of Em'ope. In China eveiy city is nearly 
 the same : a quadrangular space of ground is enclosed with 
 v.alls of stone, of brick, or of eaith, all built upon the same 
 plan ; the houses within them of the same construction ; and 
 the streets, except the principal ones that run fiom gate to 
 gate, imariably naiTow. The temples ai-e, nearly, ail alike, 
 of the scone a^^'k^^■al"d design as the dwelling-houses, but on 
 a larger scale ; and the objects tliat are known in Europe by 
 the name of pagodas, ai'e of the same inelegant kind of archi- 
 tecture, from one extremity of the empire to the other, differ- 
 ing onl}^ in the number of rounds or stories, and in tlie mate- 
 rials of which they ai'e constmcted. The manners, the dress, 
 the amusements of the people, are nearly the same. Even the 
 surface of the countiy, as far as regaixls the fifteen ancient 
 provinces, is subject to little Aaiiation, and especially those 
 paits over \vhich the grand inland navigation is caiTied ; the 
 only parts, in fact, that foreigners ti^avelling in China liave any 
 chance of visiting. 
 
 In this route no ^ery gi'eat \ariety nor number of subjects 
 occur in tlie depaitment of natuml history. Few native plants, 
 and still fewer wild animals, are to be expected in those parts 
 of a countiy that are populous and well cultivated. Indeed 
 the rapid manner in which the present journey was made, was 
 ill suited for collecting and examining specimens even of tliosc 
 few that did occur. 
 
 On these considerations it is hoped that the indulgence of 
 the reader will not be withheld, where information on such 
 points may appear to be defective. A French critic * (i:)erhaps 
 ^vithout doing him injustice he may be called a h3^percritic) 
 \\ho happened to visit Canton for a few months, some fifty 
 years ago, has, with that happy confidence peculiai* to his na- 
 tion, not only pointed out the eiTors and defects of the in- 
 formation communicated to the world b}" the English and the 
 Dutch embassies, but has laid down a syllabus of tlie subjects 
 the}' ought to have made themseh^es completely acquainted 
 
 * Monsieur (I beg' his pardon) Citoyen Charpentier Cossigny. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 5 
 
 with, which, instead of seven months, would seem to require 
 a residence of seven yeai's in the countr}-. But the author of 
 the present work rests liis confidence in the English critics 
 being less unreasonable in their demands ; and that their in- 
 dulgences will be proportioned to the dilHculties that occuiTcd 
 in collecting accurate information. ^Vith this reliance, the 
 descriptions, observations, and compai'isons, such as they 
 ai'e, he presents to the public, candidly acknowledging that 
 he is actuated ratlier by the hope of meeting its forbeai-ance 
 tiiaii b}' the confidence of deserving its approbation. 
 
 Perhaps it may not be tliought amiss, before he enters on 
 the more immediate subject of the work, to correct, in this 
 place, a very mistaken notion that pre^"ailed on the return of 
 the embassy ; which was, that an unconditional compliance 
 of Lord Macartney, wiUi all the himiiliating ceremonies which 
 the Chinese might have thought proj^er to exact fi-om him, 
 would haA'c been productive of results more favoiu'al^le to the 
 views of the embassy. Assertions of such a general nature 
 are more easil}'^ made than refuted, and are, indeed, unworthy 
 of attention ; but a letter of a French raissionaiy, at Pekin, 
 to the chief of the Dutch factory at Canton, is deserving of 
 some notice, because it specifies the reasons to which, ac- 
 cording to the -WTiter's 0]^inion, was owing the 'supposed 
 failure of the British embassy. In speaking of this subject he 
 observes, " Never was an embassy deserving of better suc- 
 *' cess ! whether it be considered on account of the experi- 
 " ence, the wisdom, and tlie amiable qualities of Lord Ma- 
 " cartney and Sir George Staunton; or of the talents, the 
 *' knowledge, and tlie circumspect beha^ iour of the gende- 
 *' men who composed dieir suit; or of the valuable and cu- 
 " rious presents intended for the emperor; — and yet, strange 
 " to tell, never was there an embassy that succeeded so ill ! 
 
 " You may be curious, perhaps, to know the reason of an 
 " event so unfa\'Ourable and so extraordinary. I will tell you, 
 " in a few words. These gentlemen, like all strangers, who 
 " know China only from books, were igniorant of the manner 
 " of proceeding, of the customs and the etiquette of diis 
 " court ; and to add to their misfortune, they brought with 
 " them a Chinese inteq^reter still less informed tlian them- 
 " selves. The consequence of all whicli ^vas, that in the first 
 " place, they came without any presents for the minister of 
 " state,, or for the sons of dx emperor. Secondly, They re- 
 
6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " fused to go through the usual ceremony of saluting the em- 
 " peror, without offering any satisfactory reason for such re- 
 " fusal. Thirdly, They presented themselves in clothes that 
 " were too plain, and too common. Fourthly, They did not 
 " use the precaution to fee (gi-aisser la patte) the several per- 
 *' sons apjiointed to the superintendence of their affairs. 
 *' Fifthly, Their demands were not made in the tone and style 
 *' of the countiy. Another reason of their bad success, and, 
 *' in my mind, the principal one, was owing to the intrigues 
 *' of a ceitain missiomuy, who, imagining tliat this embassy 
 " might be injurious to the interests of his own country, did 
 " not fliil to excite unfavourable impressions against the En- 
 " glish nation." 
 
 The points of failiu'e, enjunerated in this letter of M. Gram- 
 mont, -were so many spurs to the Dutch factor}^, to try their 
 success at the court of Pekin, the following year. No sooner 
 did Mr. Van Braam receive this dispatch, by the return of the 
 English embassy to Cimton, than he prepai*ed a letter for the 
 commissai'ies general at Batavia, in which he informed them, 
 that as it "was the intention of the different nations who had 
 factories established in Canton, to send embassador to the 
 capital, for the purpose of congratulating the Emj^eror on 
 his attaining tlie age of eighty-four years, which would be in 
 tlie sixtieth year of his reign, he had resolved to proceed on 
 such a mission, on the part of the Batavian Republic ; and re- 
 quested that he might be furnished, without delay, with suita- 
 ble credentials. To this application the commissaries general, 
 who had been sent out, the same year, to retrench the ex- 
 pences of the company in their Indian settlements, and to re- 
 form abuses, returned for answer. That, however low and 
 inadequate their finances might be, to admit of extraordinary 
 expences, yet they deemed it expedient not to shew any 
 backwardness in adopting similar measures to those pursued 
 by other Europeans trading to China ; and that they had, ac- 
 cordingly, nominated Mr. Titsingh as chief, and himself (Mi*. 
 Van Braam) as second embassador to the Court of China. 
 
 Mr. Titsingh lost no time in repairing to Canton ; and these 
 two embassadors, determining to a\ail themselves of the hints 
 thrown out in M. Grammont's letter, and thereby to avoid 
 splitting on the same rock which, they took for granted, the 
 British embassador had done, cheerfully submitted to every 
 humiliating ceremony required from them by the Chinese, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. f 
 
 who, in return, treated them in the most contemptuous and 
 indignant manner. At Canton they were ordered to assist in 
 a solemn procession of Mandaiines, to a temple in the neip-h- 
 bourhood, and there, before the emperor's name, jminted on 
 cloth, and suspended above the altar, to boA\^ their heads nine 
 times to the ground, in token of giatitude for his great con- 
 descension in pemiitting them to proceed to his presence, in 
 order to offer him tribute. They submitted e\'en to the de- 
 mands of the state officers of Canton, tliat the letter, A\ritten 
 by the commissaries general at Batavia, to the Emperor of 
 China, and ti*anslated tJiere into the Chinese language, should 
 be broke open, and the contents read bj- them ; and tliat they 
 should further be allowed to make therein such alterations and 
 additions as they might think proper. The embassador, re- 
 solving not to be wanting in any point of ci\^ility, requested 
 to know when he might have the honour of pacing his respects 
 to the viceroy ; and received for answer, that the customs of 
 the countr}^ did not allow a person, in his situation, to come 
 witliin the Malls of the viceroy's palace ; but that one of his 
 officers should receive his visit at the gate ; v.hich visit to the 
 gate was literally made. Mr. Van Braam, in relating this 
 circumstance in his journal, observ^es, that the viceroy '* as- 
 sured his excellency, he ought not to take his refusal amiss ; 
 as the same terms had been prescribed to Lord Macartnc}', the 
 preceding }ear." Mr. Van Braam knew \^vy v\ell that Lord 
 Macartney never subjected himself to an}- such refusal ; and 
 he knew, too, that die same viceroy accompanied his Lord- 
 ship, in a great part of his journey from the capital ; that he 
 partook of a repast, on the invitation of Lord Macartnev^ at 
 the British factory ; when, for the first time, Mr. ^"an Braam, 
 and the supercai-goes of all the European nations, had been 
 pennitted to sit down in the presence of one of his rank. 
 
 At Pekin they were required to humiliate themselves at 
 least thirty different times ; at each of which they were obli- 
 ged, on their knees, to knock their heads nine times against 
 the gi'ound, ^hich Mr. Van Braam, in his journal,' v^ery 
 coolly calls, performing the salute of honour, '■'/aire le salut 
 d'honncur.'''' And they were finally dismissed, with a few 
 paltry pieces of silk, without having once been allowed to open 
 their lips on any kind of business ; and without being permit- 
 ted to see either their friend Grammont, or an>' other Euro- 
 pean missionaiy, except one, who had special leave to make 
 
8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 tliem a ^isit of half an hour, the day before their departure, 
 in j^resence of ten or t^^ehe officers of go\^eniment. On their 
 arrival in tliis capital, they -were lodged, literally, in a stable ; 
 under the same co\er, and in the same apartment, \^"ith a 
 pcU'cel of cart horses. Mr. Van Braam's OAvn Avords are, 
 " Nous loilt dnnc^ a notre arrii^ee, dans la celebre resi- 
 " dence imperiale^ logh dans iine espece d''e curie. Nous 
 " serious nous attcndus d une pareille ai^anture P'' 
 
 After such a -vile reception and degrading treatment of the 
 Dutch embass}' , \\\\2X advantages can reasonably be expected 
 to accrue from a servile and unconditional compliance with 
 the submissions required by this haughty government? It 
 would rather seem that then- exactions are proportioned to the 
 comph'ing temper of the persons \^ith whom they have to 
 treat. For it appears, not only from Mr. Van Braams's own 
 account of the embassy, but also from two manuscript jour- 
 nals in the author's possession, one kept by a Dutch gentle- 
 man in the suite, and the other by a native Chinese, that the 
 embassadors from the Bata^ ian Rq^ublic ^^'ere fully prepared 
 to obviate ever}" difficulty that might aiise from the supposed 
 points of failure in the British embassy, as directed to their 
 notice by M. Grammont. In the first place, they not only 
 canied presents for the ministers of state, but they calmly 
 suffered these gentlemen to trick them out of the only curious 
 and -valuable ailicles among the presents intended for the em- 
 peror, and to substitute others, of a mean and common na- 
 ture, in their place. Secondh', they not only complied with 
 going through the usual ceremony of saluting the emperor, 
 but also of saluting the emperor's name, painted on a piece 
 of silk, at least fifty times on their journey to and from the 
 capital : \\hich degi-ading ceremony they even condescended 
 to perform before die person of the prime minister. With 
 regaixl to the third point, it certainly appears that no expence 
 had been spared in providing themselves with splendid robes 
 for the occasion ; but, unfortunately, they had but few oppor- 
 tunities of making use of them, their baggage not arriving at 
 the capital till many da}-s after they had been there. Nor does 
 it seem that tlie dress of a foreign embassador is considered 
 of much consequence in the eyes of the Chinese ; for, when 
 these gentlemen Mashed to excuse themseh'es from going to 
 court, on account of their dusty and tattered clothes, in which 
 they had performed a most painful journey, tine master of the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 9 
 
 ceremonies observed that it ^vas not tlieir dress, but their per- 
 sons, which the emperor, Iiis master, \vb.s desirous to see : 
 and, it can hai'dly be supposed diat they would omit observing 
 the fourtli article, which, M. Grammont is of opinion, \\-as 
 neglected by Lord Macartney. And, in tlie last place, they 
 stand fully acquitted of any \\:ant of humility, in tiie tone and 
 style of their communications, after ha\ing allowed dicir cre- 
 dentials to be ne^v modelled by the officers of government at 
 Canton ; from ^\"hich city they had also an inteq^reter, a very 
 proper one, no doubt, appointed to attend tlicm. 
 
 Their mission, it is true, was not well calculated for making 
 tenns or rejecting proposals. The Chinese were not unac- 
 quainted with tlie declining finances of the Dutch ; they knew 
 very well diat the embassy had originated in Canton, and tliat 
 it Avas accredited only from their superiors in Batavia. In 
 their journey they were harrassed beyoiid measure ; some- 
 times they were lodged in WTCtched hovels, \vithout furniture 
 and A\ithout co^er ; sometimes the}^ \\ ere obliged to pass the 
 night in the open air, when the temperature was below the 
 freezing point ; frequently, for four and twenty hours, they 
 had nothing to eat. Viui Braam observes tliat, owing to the 
 fatigues of the journey, the badness of the -v ictuals, their 
 early rising, and exposure to the cold, he lost about five 
 inches in the circumference of his body. Being rather coq^u- 
 lent, and not very expert in performing the Chinese ceremon}-, 
 at their public introduction, his hat happened to fall on the 
 ground; upon Avhich the old Emperor began to laugh — 
 " Thus," says he, " I received a mark of distinction and 
 predilection, such as never embassador was honoured witli be- 
 fore. I confess," continues he, " that die recollection of my 
 sulFerings from the cold, in waiting so long in die morning, 
 was very much softened by this incident." No man will cer- 
 tainly envy this gentleman's happy titni of mind, in receiving 
 so much satisfaction in being laughed at. 
 
 The tone of the emjoeror's letter, with which they were 
 dismissed, while it spcLiks the \'ain and arrogant sentiments of 
 diis hauglity government, shews, at the same time, how well 
 acquainted they were "with the circumstances that gave rise to 
 the mission, and the dcf^Tee of estimation in which they held 
 it. It was Avritten in the Taitar, Chinese, and Latin languages ; 
 from the last of A\'hich, as rendered bv the mission:iries, the 
 following is a literal translation. The contents were ad- 
 
10 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 dressed to the Couneil of India ; but, on tlie outside wrapper, 
 " To the King of Holland." It may serve, at the same 
 time, as a specimen of Cliinese composition. 
 
 " I ha\e recei\ed from Heaven the sceptre of this vast em- 
 *' pire. I have reigned for sixty years, witli gloiy and hap- 
 *' piness ; and have established the most profound peace upon 
 " the four seas* of the said em.pire, to the benefit of die na- 
 " tions bordering upon them. The fame of my majesty, and 
 " proofs of my magnificence, have found their way into eveiy 
 " part of die ^vorld, and they constitute the pride and die 
 " pleasure of my vast domains. 
 
 " I consider my o\mi liappy empu^, and other kingdoms, 
 " as one and the same family ; the princes and the people are, 
 " in my eye, the same men. I condescend to shed my bles- 
 " sings over all, strangers as well as natives ; and there is no 
 " country, however distant, that has not received instances of 
 " m.v bene\'olence. Thus, all nations send to do me homage, 
 " and to congratulate me incessantl}\ New and successive 
 " embassadors airive; some di'a^vii in chariots, over the land, 
 " and others traverse, in their ships, the immensity of the 
 " seas. In fact, I attend to nothing but the good admi- 
 " nistration of my empire. I feel a ii\'ely joy in observ- 
 " ing the anxiety ^\dth which they flock together, fron^ 
 " e\'ery quaiter, to contemplate and admire the wise ad- 
 " ministmtion of my government. I experience the most 
 *' agreeable satisfaction in paiticipating my happiness with 
 '' foreign states. I applaud, therefore, }-our government, 
 *' which, although separated from mine by an immense ocean, 
 '' has not failed to send me congratulatory letters, accompa- 
 *' nied '\vith tributar}^ offerings. 
 
 " Having perused your letters, I observe diat they contain 
 *' notliing but what 1 consider as authentic testimonies of 
 *' your gi'eat veneration for me ; from whence I conclude that 
 *' ^ou admire my mode of go\'erning. Li fact, you have 
 *' gi-eat reason to applaud me. Since you have cairied on 
 *' your trade at Canton, and it is now^ many years, stnmgers 
 " have always been well treated in my empire ; and they ha^e 
 " individuLiily been the objects of my love and aftection. I 
 
 • This expression alludes to the ancient c^inion, that China was surrounded 
 by the sea, and that the rest of the world was made up of islands. Yet, though 
 ttey now possess a tolerable notion of geography, such is their inveterate adhe- 
 i-icw'ce to ancient opinion, that they prefer retaining the most absurd errors, rather 
 thwn change one single senthnent or expression that Confucius has wiitten. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 11 
 
 " might call to witness the Portuguese, the Italians, the Eng- 
 *' lish, and others oF the same sort of nations, who ai'e iill 
 " equally esteemed by me, and have all presented me with 
 *' precious gifts. All have been treated, on my part, after the 
 " same manner, and \\ithout p:ii-tiality. I give abundantly, 
 " even when those things I received from them ixrc of no \a- 
 *' lue. My manner of doing these things is undoubtedly 
 " known in )our countr}-. 
 
 " Concerning your embassador, he is not, properly speak - 
 " ing, sent by his king ; but you, who are a company of mer- 
 *' chants, have supposed yourselves autliorized to i)ay me this 
 *' respect. Your sovereign, however, having directed you 
 *' to chuse a favourable mom.ent of my reigii, you have now 
 *' sent to felicitiite me accordingly, in the name of your said 
 " sovereign. The sixtieth year of my reign was about to be 
 *' completed. You, a comp:iny, too distant from }Our so- 
 '' vereign, could not announce it to him. Interpreting tliis 
 *' to be liis plciisure, you have undertaken to send, in his 
 " name, to do me homage ; and I ha\e no doubt diis prince 
 " is inspired towards me with the same sentiments which I 
 *' have experienced in you. I ha\ e, therefore, reccix'cd )-our 
 " embassador, as if he had been sent immediately by Ms king ; 
 " and I am desirous you should be made acquainted, that I 
 *' have remarked nothing, in the person of yoiu' emJ)assador, 
 " but \\hat bore testimony of his respect for me, and of his 
 *' o\vn good conduct. 
 
 " I commanded my great officers to introduce him to ni)- 
 " presence. I ga^'e him several entertainments, and ])ermitted 
 " him to see the gi'ounds and the palaces that are within my 
 *' vast and magnificent gardens of Yuen min Yuen. I have 
 " so acted, that he might feel the effects of my attention, di, 
 " viding with him the pleasures which the profound peace of 
 ■" my empire alloAvs me to enjoy. I ha^e, moreover, made 
 " valuable presents, not only to him, but also to the officers, 
 ^' interpreters, soldiers, and servants, of his suite ; gi^'i^g 
 *' them, besides what is customM*)-, many other ailicles, as 
 " may be seen by the catalogue. 
 
 " Your embassador being about to return to the presencA^ of 
 " his sovereign, I have diiected him to present to this prince 
 " pieces of silk and other valuable ailicles, to which I have 
 " added some antique vases. 
 
la TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " Ma}- your king receive my present ! May he govern his 
 " people ^\■ilh ^^■isdom, and give his sole attention to this 
 " gTond object, acting always with an upright and sincere 
 *' hcait! And. lastly, may he always cherish tlie recollection 
 *' of m\' beneficence ! May this king attentively watch over 
 " the ajfairs of his kingdom ! I recommend it to him strongly 
 " aiid earnestly. 
 
 *' The twent)--fourth day of the first moon of tlie sixtieth 
 *' year of the reign of Kien Long." 
 
 The xtry different treatment which the English embassy 
 received at the court of Pekin is easily explained. The Chi- 
 nese are well mformed of the superiorit}^ of the English, over 
 all other nations, by sea ; of the great extent of their com- 
 merce ; of tlieir vast possessions in India, w hich they have 
 long regarded with a jealous e}'e ; and of the character and inde- 
 pendent spirit of the nation. They perceived, in the manly 
 and open conduct of Lord Macartney, the representative of a 
 sovereign in no way inferior to the emperor of China ; and 
 tliey felt the propriety, though they were unwilling to avow 
 it, of exacting only tiie same token of respect from him, to- 
 wards their sovereign, that o!ie of their own countr3-men, of 
 equal rank, should pay to the portrait of his Britannic majesty. 
 It must, howe^'er, liave been a hard struggle between personal 
 pride and national importance, before they resolved to reject 
 so fair a proposal, and consent to wave a ceremony which had 
 never, on any former occasion, been dispensed with. It is 
 easy to conceive how strong an impression the rcfusal of an 
 individual to comply vvith the ceremonies of the country, was 
 likely to mcJvC on the minds of the emperor and his court. 
 How much the}- must have suffered, in their o\mi opinion, and 
 how gi'eatly must their pride have been mortified, to find that, 
 by no trick, nor artifice, nor stretch of power, could tliey pre- 
 vail on an English embassador to forego tlie dignit}- and respect 
 due to the situation he held at their court, whither they were 
 now cominced he had not come, as was signified, in painted 
 letters, on the colours of the ships that transported the embassy 
 up the Pei-ho, " to offer tribute to the Emperor of China." 
 
 With regard to the inti'igues of the Portuguese missionaiy , 
 mentioned in M. Grammont's letter, Lord Macartney was 
 sufficiently awai-e of them, long before his arrival in the capital, 
 and took such measures, in consequence of die infonnation, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 13 
 
 as were most likely to be effectual in count^ractiiig any influ- 
 ence that he might secretly exert, injurious to the interests of 
 the British nation. But the intrigues of churchmen are not 
 always easily ob\'iated, especially where they are suspicious of 
 their errors being exposed, or their ignorance detected. It 
 is a painful truth (and is noticed here widi reluctance, on ac- 
 count of the many worthy members of the society) that the 
 ministers of a ceilain branch of a religion, whose distinguish- 
 ing feature is meekness and forbearance, should have so far 
 perverted the intention of its benevolent author, as to have 
 produced more intiigues, cabals, and ix^rsecutions, than even 
 the relentless Miihomedans, ^vhose first article of faith incul- 
 cates merit in desti'0}ing those of a different i:)ersuasion. 
 Their political intrigues, and interference in state affairs, have 
 done materiiil injiny to the cause of Christianit}', in almost 
 every countiy into which theii' missions haxc extended. 
 
 The malignant spirit of this same Portuguese missionary 
 was not confined to tlie f-aming of falsehoods and misrepre- 
 sentations, ^^ ith regard to tlie views of the British embassy, 
 but has continued to exert its influence at die court of Pekin, 
 in the same secret and dishonourable way, ^vhcne\er an op- 
 portunity occurred tliat seemed favourable for raising un\\'ar- 
 rantable suspicions in tlie minds of the Cliinese against the 
 English nation. Towards the close of the last ^\'ar, "v^'hen it 
 was found expedient to take possession of some of the Portu- 
 guese colonies, and an expedition for this purpose Mas actu- 
 ally sent out to secure the peninsula of Macao, this missionaiy 
 lost no time in suggesting to the Chinese court, that tlie de- 
 signs of the English, in getting possession of Macao, might 
 be of the same nature as those they had already practised in 
 India ; and that, if they were once suffered to get footing in 
 the countn', China might experience the same fate as Hin- 
 dostaii. Fortunately for the concerns of the British East 
 India Company, this oflicious interference, and the malevolent 
 insinuations of Bernardo Almeida, took a ver}- different tuiTi 
 fi*om Avhat he had expected. The intelligence of a hostile 
 force, so near the coast of China, coming first from an Eu- 
 ropean missionary, implied a neglect in the viceroy of Canton ; 
 and an angTy letter was addressed to him fi-om court, order- 
 ing him to give immediate and accurate information on the 
 subject. The viceroy, nettled at the oflicious zeal of the 
 Portuguese, positively denied the fact of any hostile intention 
 
14 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 of the English, ^' who, being a bra\e peoj^le, and terrible in 
 *' arms, had intimidated the Portuguese at Macao, though 
 " \^ ithout reason, as their ships of war, as usual, came only to 
 " protect tlieir ships of commerce ag-ainst their enemies." 
 When this dispatch of the viceroy reached Pekin, the empe- 
 ror was so exasperated, to think diat the court had suffered it- 
 self to be misletl by an European missionar}-, that he ordered 
 Almeyda to appear before the master of the household, and, 
 on his knees, to ask forgiveness of a crime, which, he was 
 tdd, deserved to be punished witli deatli ; and he was dismis- 
 sed, "with a caution, never more to interfere with the state- 
 aJEiirs of China. The whole of this curious transaction is 
 published in the Pekin gazette of last year ; so that the Eng- 
 lish have gained a considerable degree of reputation by it ; 
 so much, indeed, that the Chinese at Canton (and a great deal 
 depends upon their representations) would have no objection 
 to see the English in possession of Macao ; for they cordially 
 hate, I believe it is not too much to say they despise, the Por- 
 tuguese ; and tliey speak ^vith hon'or of tlie French. What a 
 moment, then, is this, for England to turn to its advantage 1 
 
 Independently, however, of the machinations of missiona- 
 ries, such is the pride and the haughty insolence of the Chi- 
 nese government, that, in no instance on record, but that of 
 the British embassy, has it ever relaxed from its long-esta- 
 blished customs, nor acquiesced in any demands of foreign 
 embassadors, whether the tone in which they were made was 
 supplicating or authoritati\e. The forms of the court they 
 contend to be as immutable as were die la\\'s of tlie Medes and 
 Persians. E^'ely thing must be conducted by prescriptive 
 usage ; and no deviation is alloAved from the rules \\hich, for 
 ages, ha\-e been established by law, and registered by the 
 council of ordinances ; much less the remission of any duty 
 that might derogate from the reverence and res}>ect which ai'e 
 considered to be due to the person of the emperor. 
 
 It may be imagined, then, that an event so new as a refu- 
 sal to submit to the degrading ceremony required from an 
 embassador, at liis public introduction, could not fail of mak- 
 ing a very strong impression on the minds of those about the 
 person of his imperial majesty; who, as Mr. Van Braam 
 says, were (and A\ithout doubt they A^ere) much better satis- 
 fied with the complying temper of tlie Dutch, than with the 
 inflexible pertinacity of the English. Yet, they did not ven> 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 15 
 
 ture to lodge the latter in a stable, nor tliink proper to perse- 
 vere in demanding unreasonable homage. Neither was any 
 pique or ill-nature apparent in any single instance, after the 
 departure of the embassy from the capital, but \'ei-}- much tlie 
 contrary. The officers, appointed to conduct it to Canton, tes- 
 tified the most earnest desire to please, b}- a ready attention to 
 every minute circumstance that might add to die comforts of 
 the travellers, or allcAdate, if not entirely remove, any little 
 inconvenience. It was a flattering circumstance to the em- 
 bassador to observe their anxiet}- lor the finourable opinion of 
 a nation they had no\v begun to tiiink more highl}- of, and of 
 whom, in measuring \\ ith diemselves, it was not difficult to 
 perceive, they felt, though too cautious to a\ow, tlie supe- 
 riority. 
 
 The British embassy was a measure ^vliich it was absolutely 
 necessar}' to adopt, for reasons tliat are stated, at full length, 
 in the first chapter of Sir George Staunton's ^■aluable \\ ork ; 
 and the foundation it has laid, for future advantages, more than 
 counterbalances the trifling expence it occasioned to the East 
 India Company, which did not exceed two per cent, on the 
 annual amount of their trade from Engkuid to Canton. Those 
 who had formed immoderate expectations must have little un- 
 derstood the laws and customs of Cliina, which admit not the 
 system of mutual intercourse between distant nations, by means 
 of embassadors or resident ministers at the respecti\^e courts. 
 Their custom is to rccei\e embassadors with respect and hos- 
 pitality ; to consider them as visitors to the cmpci'or, and to 
 entcitain them, accordingly, as liis particular guests, from 
 die moment they enter the country till they return to die 
 boundaiies of his empire. This being necessarily attended 
 with aji enormous expence, * the court of ceremonies has 
 prescribed forty da}'s for the residence of foreign embassadors, 
 eitlier in the capital, or where\'er the court ma}- happen to be ; 
 though, on particular occasions, or by accident, the term may 
 boiijictimes be extended to double that time. 
 
 Thus, by consulting the accoimts of the diflferent European 
 embassies that have been sent to China in die two last centu- 
 ries, it will be found diat the residence of none of them wiis 
 extended to diiice die term fixed by the court of ceremonies ; 
 and t^\•o of them did not remain the period allo\\cd. 
 
 • The exi)ence occasioned to tlie coiu^ of Cliina by the British embassr, will 
 be stated in a subsequent ch-aplcr. 
 
16 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The first embassy, sent by the Dutch, arrived in Pekint 
 the 17th July, 1656, and departed the 16th October follow- 
 ing ; having remained ninet}'-one days. 
 
 The second Dutch embassy arri\-ed in Pekin the 20th June, 
 1667 ; and departed tlie 5th August ; having resided forty-six 
 days. 
 
 The first Russian embassy arrived at the capital on the 5th 
 November, 1692, and left it on the 17th Februarys, 1693; 
 having remained there one hundred and six days. 
 
 The second Russian embassy arri^'ed at Pekin on the 18th 
 November, 1720, and did not lea\e it till the 2d March, 
 1721 ; being one hundi'ed and fourteen days. 
 
 These tAvo embassies were immediately connected with the 
 commercial concerns of the two nations, \Ahich \vere then 
 transacted in the capital of China, but now confined to the ad- 
 joining fi'ontiers. ' 
 
 The Pope's embassy anived in Pekin on the 15th Decem- 
 ber, 1720, and departed the 24tii March, 1721; being ninety- 
 nine days. 
 
 The Portuguese embassy entered Pekin tlie 1st May, 1753, 
 and left it the 8th June following ; being only thiity-nine days. 
 
 The British embassy arrived in Pekm the 21st August, 
 1793, and depaited the 7th October; being forty-se^^en days. 
 
 The third Dutch embassy entered the capital the lOtli Ja- 
 nuar}', 1795, and left it the 15tli February ; bemg thirty-six 
 days. 
 
 On the AA hole, then, it may be concluded, that neither M. 
 Grammont, nor they "\\^ho conceived that an unconditional 
 and sen ile compliance, on die pait of the British embassador, 
 would liaA^e been productive of more favourable results, were 
 right in their conjectures. On the contrary', it m.ay, perhaps, 
 be rather laid doAMi as a certain consequence, that a tone of 
 submission, and a tame and passive obedience to the degrad- 
 ing demands of this haughty court, ser^-e only to feed its 
 pride, and add to the absurd notions of its oami vast im- 
 portance. 
 
CHAP. II. 
 
 OCCURRENCES AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE NAVIGATION OF 
 THE YELLOW SEA, AND THE PASSAGE UP THE PEI-HO, OR 
 WHITE RIVER. 
 
 Different Testimonies that have been given of the Cliinese Character. — Compa- 
 rison of China with Europe, in the sixteentli Century. — Motives of tlie Mission- 
 aries in their Writings. — British Embassy passes the Straits of Formosa. — Ap- 
 pearance of a Ta-fung'. — Chusan Islands. — Instance of Chinese Amplification. — 
 Various Chinese Vessels. — System of their Navigation — their Compass, proba- 
 bly of Scythian orig'in — foreig-n Voyages of — Traces of Chinese in America — 
 in an Island of the Tartarian Sea — in the Persian Gulph — traded probably as 
 far as Madagascar. — Commerce of the Tvrians. — Reasons for conjecturing that 
 the Hottentots may have derived their Origin from China. — Malays of the same 
 Descent as the Chinese. — Curious Coincidences in the Customs of these and the 
 Suniatrans. --Cingalese of Cliinese Origin. --One of the Brigs dispatched to Chu-san 
 for Pilots. — Rapid Currents amongtlie Islands. — Visit to the Governor. — Difficul- 
 ties in procuring Pilots. — Arbitrary Proceeding of the Governor. — Pilots puzzled 
 with our Compass. — Ignorance of. — Arrive in the Gulph of Pe-tehe-lee. — Visit of 
 two Officers from Court, and their Present. — Enter the Pei-ho, and embark in 
 convenient Yachts. — Accommodating Conduct of the two Officers. — Profusion 
 of Provisions. — Appearance of the country — of the People. — Dress of the Wo- 
 men. — Remarks on their small Feet. — Chinese an uncleanly and frowzy People, 
 — Immense Crowds of People and River Craft at Tien-Sing. — Decent and pre- 
 possessing Conduct of the Muhitude. — Musical Air sung by the Rowers of the 
 Yachts. — Favourable Traits in the Chinese Character. — Face and Products of 
 the Country. — Multitudes of People, Inhabitants of the Water. — Another In- 
 stance of arbitrary Power. — Disembark at Tong Tchoo, and are lodged in a 
 Temple. 
 
 "IF any man should make a collection of all the inven- 
 " tions, and all the productions, that e\x'iy nation, ^vhich now 
 " is, or ever has been, upon the face of the globe, the whole 
 *' would fall fiu- short, either as to number or quiiiity, of what 
 " is to be met vn ith in China." These, or something similai', 
 are the words of the learned Isaac Vossius. 
 
 The testimony given b}' the celebrated authors of the Ency- 
 clopedie des Connoissances Humaines is almost equally strong ; 
 
 c 
 
18 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " The Chinese Avho, by common consent, are superior to all 
 *' the Asiatic nations, in antiquity, in genius, in the progress 
 " of tlie sciences, in wisdom, in government, and in true phi- 
 " losophy; may, moreover, in the opinion of some authors, 
 " enter the Hsts, on all these points, vnxh the most enlightened 
 " nations of Europe." 
 
 Hovv flattering, then, and gratifying, must it l"iave been to 
 the feelings of those few favoured persons, vvho bad the good 
 fortune to be admitted into the suite of the British embassador, 
 then prepaiing to proceed to the comt of that sovereign who 
 held the government of such an extraordinary nation ! How 
 gi'catly must they have enjo)-ed the prospect of experiencing, 
 in their ovvii persons, all that v\as virtuous, and povverful, and 
 gi'and, and magnificent, concentrated in one point — in tlie 
 city of Pekin ! 
 
 And if any doubts might have arisen, on consideration that 
 neither the learned canon of ^Vindsor, nor the celebrated 
 authors of the Enc}xlop6die, were ever in Cliina ; that the 
 first was wonderfully given to the marvellous, and the latter 
 Iiad no other authorities than those of the Jesuits, and other 
 missionaries for propagating the Christian faith ; yet, such 
 doubts were more inclined to yield to the favourable side, as 
 being supported by the almost unanimous concurrence of a 
 multitude of testimonies, contained in the relations that have, 
 at various times, been published, not onl}' by the missiona- 
 ries, but also by some other travellers. 
 
 The late Sir William Jones, indeed, 5\ ho deservedly took 
 the lead in Orient-al literature, had observed, in speaking of 
 the Chinese, that " By some they have been extolled, as the 
 " oldest and wisest, as the most learned, and most ingeni- 
 *' ous, of nations; whilst others have derided their preten- 
 " sions to antiquit}", condemned their government as abo- 
 *' minable, and arraigned their manners as inliuman ; without 
 " allowing them an element of science, or a single art, for 
 " which they have not been indebted to some more ancient 
 " and more civilized race of men." 
 
 It is true, also, the reseaiehes of Mr. Pauw, the sagacious 
 philosopher of Berlin, and the narrative of the elegant and im- 
 pressive vvTiter of Lord Anson's voyage, convey to the rea- 
 der's mind no very favourable ideas of the Chinese character ; 
 yet, as the enquiries of the one vv ere entered upon in a spirit 
 of controversy, and directed to one single point, and the an- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 19 
 
 thor, as justly has been observed of him, delights sometimes 
 to take a sAvim against the stream, many deductions A\-cre 
 clearly to be made from the conclusions of Mr. ^imw. And 
 with regard to the narrati\'e of Mr. Robins, it may be remai-k- 
 ed, that, to decide upon the general character of the Chinese, 
 from the dealings Lord Anson had with them in the port of 
 Cmiton, would be as unfair as it w ould be thought presunip- 
 tuous in a foreigner to draw the character of our oavii nation 
 from a casual visit to Falmouth, Killybcggs, or Aberdeen. 
 The same remark A\ill apj^ly to the accounts giAcn of this nation 
 by Torccn, Osbeck, Sonncrat, and some others, \\ho have 
 visited Ciuiton in trading ships ; none of whom were five 
 hundred yai'ds beyond the limits of the European factories. 
 
 It would also ha\'e been highly illiberal to suppose, that a 
 body of men, remarkable, as the early Jesuit missionaries 
 were thought to be, for probit)-, talent, and disinterestedness, 
 should studiously sit down to compose fabrications, for the 
 mere puipose of deceiving the world. E\'en Voltaire, who 
 had little partialit}' for the sacerdotal character, is A\-illing to 
 admit, that their relations ought to be considered as the pro^ 
 ductions of the most intelligent travellers that have extended 
 and embellished the fields of science and philosophy. This 
 remai'k, \vith proper allowances being made for the age in 
 which they were \\ ritten, may perhaps be applied to the nar- 
 ratives of the early missions to China, though not exactly to 
 some others of a more modern date. All the praises bestoAV- 
 ed by tlie former on this nation, the latter, it would seem, 
 have, injudiciously, considered themselves bound to justify ; 
 without taking into account the progressive improAcments of 
 Europe A\"ithin the last century and a half. 
 
 That Cliina was civilized, to a certain degree, before most 
 of die nations of I^urope, not CAcn Greece excepted, is a fact 
 that A\-ill not adniit of a doubt ; but that it has contiiuied to 
 improve, so as still to \ie with many of the present European 
 states, as the missionm'ies would have it supposed, is not, by 
 any means, so clear. From the middle to the end of tlic six- 
 teenth century, compared with Europe in general, it had 
 gready the superiority, if not in science, at least in arts and 
 manufactures, in the co'nvenitncies and die luxuries of life. 
 The Chinese A\ere, at that period, prett}'- much in die same 
 state in \\hich they still are ; and in A\'hich diey are likely to 
 continue. When die first Europeans visited China, they were 
 
20 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 astonished to find an uni\'ersal toleration of religious opinion ; 
 to observe Lamas and Tao-tzes, Jews, Persees, and Maho- 
 medans, living quietly together, and each folloA\ ing his own 
 creed, \^ ithout molestation ; \\ hilst most of the countries in 
 Europe were, at that time, torn in pieces by religious schisms ; 
 and man was labouring, i^ith entliusiastic fur}", to destroy his 
 fellow-creatures, in honour of his Creator, for a slight differ- 
 ence of opinion in matters of no real importance, or even for 
 a different acceptation of a word. In China, every one was 
 ailo^\'ed to think as he pleased, and to chuse his own religion. 
 The hoiTid massacre of tlie protestants, in Paiis, had terrified 
 all Europe. China knew nothing of internal commotions, but 
 such as were sometimes occasioned by a partial scarcity of 
 grain. The art of improving vegetables, by paiticular modes 
 of culture, was just beginning to be known in Europe. All 
 China, at that time, ^^•as comparatively a gaixlen. When tlie 
 king of France introduced the luxury of silk stockings, which, 
 about eighieen years afterwards, was adopted by Elizabeth 
 of Engiand, the peasantry of the middle provinces of China 
 v/ere clothed in silks, from head to foot. At this period, few 
 or none of the little eleg-ancies or conveniencies of life were 
 kiiOMii in Europe ; the ladies' toilet had few essences to gratify 
 the sense of smell, or to beautify, for a time, the complexion ; 
 the scissars, needles, pen-knives, and other little appendages, 
 were then unknown ; and rude and ill-poiished skewers usurp- 
 ed the place of pins. In China, the ladies had their needle- 
 work, their paint-boxes, their trinkets of ivory, of silver in 
 fiilagree, of mother-pearl, and of tortoise-shell. E-v^en the 
 calendar, at tiiis time so defective in Europe, in which Pope 
 Gregoiy was urged to the bold undertaking of leaping over or 
 annihilating ten days, was found to be, in China, a national 
 concern, and the particular cai'e of government. Decimal 
 arithmetic, a ne^v and useful discovery of the seventeenth cen- 
 tuiy in Europe, was the only system of arithmetic in use in 
 China. In a word, when the nobility of England \^ ere sleep- 
 ing on stra"w, a peasant of China had his mat and his pillow ; 
 and the man in office enjoyed his silken matti'css. One can- 
 not, therefore, be surprised if the impressions made upon 
 these holy men were powerfully felt, or if their descriptions 
 should seem to incline a little towards the marvellous. Nor 
 may, perhaps, their relations be found to be much embellished, 
 on a %ir comparison of the state of China ^\l\h that of Eu- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 21 
 
 rope in general, from the year 1560, to the close of the same 
 century. 
 
 These religious men, however, might ha^'e had their mo- 
 tives for setting this Avonderfiil people in the fairest point of 
 view. The more powerful and magnificent, the more learned 
 and refined they represented this nation to be, the greater 
 vv'ould be their triumpli in the event of their effecting a change 
 of the national faith. It may also have occurred to tliem, that 
 common prudence required they should speak fa\ourably, at 
 least, of a nation, under whose power and protection they had 
 voluntarily placed themselves for life. There is every reason 
 to suppose, that, in general, thc}^ mean to tell the truth, but, 
 by suppressing some part of it, or by telling it in such a man- 
 ner as if thev expected it A\'Ould one day get back to China in 
 tlie language of that country, tlieir accounts often appear to 
 be contradictoi-}- in themselves. In the same breath that they 
 extol the A\onderful strength of filial piety, they speak of the 
 common practices of exposing infants ; the strict morality and 
 ceremonious conduct of the people are followed by a list of 
 the most gross debaucheries ; the \'irtues and the philosophy 
 of the learned are explained by their ignorance and their vices. 
 If, in one page, they spealv of the excessive fertility of the 
 countiy, and the amazing extension of agi'iculture, in the 
 next, thousands are seen perishing by want ; and whilst they 
 extol with admiration the progress the}" ha\e made in the arts 
 and sciences, they plainly infonn us that, without the aid of 
 foreigners, thev can neither cast a cannon nor ailculate an 
 eclipse. 
 
 Upon the whole, however, the British embassy left Eng- 
 land under a fa\ourable impression of the people it v/as about 
 to A'isit. \\^hether the expectations of all those who composed 
 it, independent of any political consideration, were realized, 
 or ended in disappointment, may partly be collected from the 
 following pages. The opinions they contain are di'awn from 
 such incidents and anecdotes as occuiTcd in the course of an 
 eight months visit, and from such as seemed best calculated 
 to illustrate the condition of the people, the national character, 
 and the natiu'e of tb.e goNcniment. A short residence in the 
 imperial palace of Yiien-min-yuen, a gi'cater shai'c of liberty 
 than is usually pennitted to strangers in this country, \'.dth the 
 assistance of some litde knowledge of the language, afforded 
 me the means of collecting the facts and obser\'ations Avlath I 
 
22 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 now lay before the public ; and in tlie relation of wliich I have 
 endeavoured to adhere to that excellent rule of our immortal 
 poet, 
 
 " Notliing extenuate, 
 
 " Nor set down aught in malice." 
 
 And as the qualities of good and evil, excellence and medio- 
 crity, in any nation, can only be fairly estimated by a com- 
 parison M'ith those of the same kind in others, ^vherever a si- 
 militude or a contrast in the Chinese character or customs with 
 those of any other people, tmcient or modern, occurred to my 
 recollection, I have considered it as not wholly uninteresting 
 to note the relation or disaOTcemcnt. 
 
 The dispatches from China, received by the British embas- 
 sador on his arrival at Batavia, communicated the agreeable 
 intelligence that his imperial majesty had been pleased, by a 
 pul^lic edict, not only to declare his entire satisfaction with the 
 intended ei^ibassy, but that he had likewise issued strict or- 
 ders to the commanding officers of the several ports, along the 
 coast of the Yellow Sea, to be particularly careful that pilots 
 should be read}% at a moment's notice, to conduct the English 
 squadron to I'lensing, the nearest port to tlie capital, or to any 
 other which might L'e considered as more convenient and suit- 
 able for the Britisli ships. 
 
 By this communication a point of some difficulty was now 
 considered to be removed. It was deemed a desirable cir- 
 cumstance to be furnished with the means of proceeding di- 
 rectly to Pekin through the Yellow Sea, and thus to avoid any 
 intercourse with the ]>ort of Canton ; as it was ^vell kno^vn the 
 principal officers of the go\^ernment there Avere prepai'ed to 
 throw every obstacle in the way of the embassy, and if not 
 effectually to prevent, at least to counteract, any representa- 
 tions that might be made at the imperial court, '^vith regard to 
 the abuses that exist in the administration of the public affiiirs 
 at that place, and more especially to the exactions and impo- 
 sitions to which the commercial establisjiments are liable, of 
 the different nations, whose subjects liave established flietories 
 in this southern emporium of China. It could not be sup- 
 posed, indeed, that their endeavours would be less exerted, 
 in this pjir-ticular instance, than on all former occasions of a 
 similar nature. 
 
 Tlie navigation of tlic Yellow Sea, as yet entirely unknown 
 to any I'.uropean nationj ^\"as considered as a subject of some 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 23 
 
 importance, from the infomiation it A\oiild aflbrd the means of 
 supph' ing, and "\^ hich, on any future occasion, might not only 
 lessen the dangers of an unkno\vn passiige, but prevent also 
 much delay, by superseding die riccessity of running into dif- 
 ferent ports in search of Chinese pilots, whom, by experience, 
 we afterAvards foinid to be more dangerous than useful. 
 
 We passed dirough the sti-ait (3f t'ormosa, without seeing 
 any part of the main land of China, or of the island froni 
 whence die strait derives its name, except a high point towards 
 the northern extrcmitw The A\'eather, indeed, during three 
 successive days, the 25th, 26th, and 27th July, was so dai'k 
 and gloomy, that the e}e could scarcely discern the largest ob- 
 jects at the distance of a mile, }-et the diennometer A\as from 
 80 to 83 deg. the gi-eater pait of these days. A heavy and al- 
 most incessant tall of rain A\as accompanied widi Aiolent squalls 
 of ^^'ind, and frequent bursts of diunder and flashes of light- 
 ning ; \\-hich, \\ ith the cross and confused s^^•ell in tlie sea, 
 made the passage not only uncomfortably irksome, but also 
 cxtremcl}' dangerous, on account of the miuiy islands inter- 
 spersed in almost eveiy pait of the strait. 
 
 On the evening of the 25th the sun set in a bajik of fog, 
 which made the \\ hole \\-esteni side of the horizon look like a 
 blaze of fire, and the bai*ometer M-as obser\ed to have M\en 
 near one third of an inch, which, in these latitudes and at sea, 
 is considered as a certain indication of a cliange of weather. 
 There v.erc on boai'd some Chinese fishermen, who had Ixen 
 driven out to sea in one of the East India company's ships, 
 which we met with in the straits of Sunda. These men assur- 
 ed us that the appearance of the hea\ens prognosticated one of 
 those tremendous gales of Axind Axhich are well knoAMi to 
 Europeans by the name of Ty-phoon, and \x liich some inge- 
 nious and learned men have supposed to be the same as the 
 Typhon of the Egyptians, or Tvcput of the Gi'ceks. The 
 Chinese, hoAxever, ha^e made use of no mythological allu- 
 sion, in naming this huiTicane. They call it Ta-fung, which 
 literally signifies a gi"eat ^ind. The wind was certainly high 
 the whole of the night and the follo"\\'ing da}', the thunder and 
 lightning dreadfi.il, and the Aariable squalls and rain frequent 
 and heavy ; the depth of the sea from 25 to 30 fathoms. 
 
 The charts, howcAcr, of this passage into the Yellox\' Sea, 
 constructed by Europeans a\ hen the Chinese pennitted foreign 
 nations to trade to Chu-san, are considered as sufiiciendy ex- 
 
24 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 act for skilful na\igators to avoid the dangerous rocks and 
 islands. By tiie help of these chails our squadron ventured 
 to stand through tlie still more intricate and narrow passages of 
 the Chu-san Archipelago, A\here, in the cont nictedspaceof 
 about eight hundred squLU'e leagues, the surface of the sea is 
 studded '^^ith a cluster, consisting, nearly, of four hundred 
 distinct islands. 
 
 These islands appeared to us, in sailing among them, to be 
 mostly uninhabited, extremely biin^en of trees or shrubs, and 
 m>any of them destitute even of herbage, or ^-erdure of any 
 kind. In some of the creeks we perceived a number of boats, 
 and other small craft, at the upper ends of w-lxich were villages 
 composed of mean-looking huts, the dA^ellings m.ost probably 
 of fishermen, as there was no appearance of cultivated ground 
 near them to furnish their inhabitants Vvitli the means of sub- 
 sistence. 
 
 The squadron having di"opped anchor, we landed on one of 
 the largest of these islands ; and wiiiked a very considerable 
 distance before ^ve saw a human being. At length, in de- 
 scending a \allcy, in the bottom of VA'hich was a small village, 
 we fell in ^vith a young peasant, whom, with some difficulty, 
 by m^eans of an inteq^reter, we engaged in conversation. 
 EmbaiTassed in thus suddenly meeting with strangers, so dif- 
 ferent from his ov.ti countrymen, in dress, in features, and 
 complexion, liis timidity might almost be said to assume the 
 appearance of terror. He soon, ho\\ever, g-ained confidence, 
 and became communicati\e. He assured us that the island on 
 which Ave ^vere, and of which he Avas a native, was the best 
 in the whole groupe, and the most populous, except tliat of 
 Chu-san ; the number of its inhabitants being ten thousand 
 souls. It was discovered, ho^^■ever, before we had been long 
 in the countn', that Avhen a Chinese made use of the monosyl- 
 lable VAN, which in his language signifies ten thousand, he 
 was not to be understood as speaking of a determinate or pre- 
 cise number, ])ut only as m.aking use of a term that implied 
 amplilication. A state criminal, for example, is generally 
 condemned to urxdergo the punishment of being cut into ten 
 tliousand pieces ; die great wall of Chma is called the van-lee- 
 tchin, or wall of ten thousand lee, or tliree diousand English 
 miles ; a length just double to that which the most authentic 
 accounts have given of it. But when he means to inform any 
 one tliat tlie eriiperor has ten thousand ku'ge \essels, for the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 2S 
 
 purpose of collecting taxes paid in kind, on the gi-and c?.nal, 
 instead of the monosyllable van he invaiiably makes use of 
 the expression nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, as 
 conveying a fixed and definite number, and, in this case, he 
 will be understood to signify literally ten thousand. In this 
 manner, I suppose, ^ve were to understand the population of 
 tlie island Lo-ong. 
 
 At the sight of our large ships, so different in tlieir appear- 
 ance from any of those belonging to the Chinese, a vast 
 number of boats, issuing from every creek and cove, pre- 
 sently crowded together, in such a manner, and with so little 
 management, as to render it difficult to pass through, \\'ith- 
 out danger of oversetting or sinking some of them ; a danger, 
 however, to which they seemed quite insensible. Vessels of 
 a larger description, and various in the shape of their hulls and 
 rigging, from twenty tons binxlen and upwards, to about two 
 hundred tons, ^vcre obser\'ed in considerable niunbers, sailing 
 along the coast of the continent, laden generally ^\ith small 
 timber, wliich \\'as piled to such a height upon their decks, 
 that no extraordinarj' force of ^vind would seem to be required 
 to overturn them. Beams of wood, and other pieces that were 
 too long to be received upon the deck of a single ship, A^^ere 
 laid across the decks of t^o \'cssels lashed together. We saw 
 at least a hundi'ed couple thus laden in one fleet, keeping close 
 in with the coast, in order to be read}% in case of bad ^veather, 
 to put into the nearest port ; being ill calculated to resist a storm 
 at sea. The ships, indeed, that are destined for longer voy- 
 ages, appear, from their singular construction, to be very un- 
 fit to contend \vith the tempestuous seas of China. The ge- 
 neral form of the hull, or body of tlie ship, above water, is tliat 
 of the moon, wlien about four days old. The boA\', or fore- 
 part, is not rounded as in ships of Europe, but is a square flat 
 surface, the same as the stern ; without any projecting piece of 
 wood, usually known by the name of cutwater, and without 
 any keel. On each side of the boAV a large circular eye is 
 painted, in imitation, I suppose, of that of a fish. The two 
 ends of tlie ship rise to a prodigious height abo\e the deck. 
 Some cany two^ some three, and others four masts. Each 
 of these consists of a single piece of wood, and consequently 
 not capable of Ixing occasionally reduced in length, as those 
 of European shij)s. The diameter of the mainniiist of one oS* 
 the larger kind of Chinese vessels, such as trade to Batavia, is 
 
 D 
 
26 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 not less than tliat of an English man of ^\■ar of sixt}'-four gims ; 
 and it is fixed in a bed of massi\'e timber laid across the deck. 
 On each mast is a single sail of matting, made from the fibres 
 of the bamboo, and stretched by means of poles of that reed, 
 running across, at the distance of about two feet from each 
 other. These sails ai'c frequently made to furl and unfurl like 
 a fan. When Avell hoisted up, and braced almost fore and aft, 
 or pai-allel ^\ith the sides of the ship, a Chinese vessel will sail 
 "vntliin three and a half or four points of the wind ; but they 
 lose all this ad^^antage o^er ships of Europe by their drifting 
 to leeward, in consequence of the round and clumsy shape of 
 the bottom, and their v\ant of keel. The rudder is so placed, 
 in a large opening of the stern, that it can occasionally be 
 taken up, which is generally done on approaching sands and 
 shalloAvs. 
 
 Tlie Chinese, in fact, are equally unskilled in naval arclii- 
 tecture, as in the art of navigation. They keep no reckoning 
 at sea, nor possess the least idea of drawing imaginar}^ lines 
 upon the surface of tlie globe, by the help of which the posi- 
 tion of any paiticular spot may be assigned ; in other words, 
 they have no means v/hatsoever of ascertaining the latitude or 
 the longitude of any place, either by estimation from the dis- 
 tance sailed, or by observation of the heavenly bodies, with in- 
 sti'uments for that purpose. Yet they pretend to say, that 
 many of their early navigators made long voyages, in Avhich 
 they "were guided by chaits of the route, sometimes drawn on 
 paper, and sometimes on the convex surface of lai-ge gourds 
 or pumpkins. From tliis circumstance, some of the Jesuits 
 have inferred, that such chans must have been more correct 
 than those on flat surfaces. If, indeed, the portion of the 
 convex surface, employed for the purpose, vi^as die segment 
 of a sphei'e, and occupied a space liavmg a comparative rela- 
 tion to that pait of the surface of the earth sailed over, the in- 
 ference might be allowable ; but this would be to suppose a 
 degree of knowledge to which, it does not appear, the Chinese 
 had at any time attained, it being among them, in eveiy pe- 
 riod of tlieir liistoiy, an universally received opinion, that the 
 earth is a square, and that the kingdom of Cliina is placed in 
 the very center of its flat surface. 
 
 The present system of Chinese navigation is to keep as near 
 tlie shore as possible ; and never to lose sight of land, unless 
 in voyages tliat absolutely requi):e it ; such as to Japan, Batavia, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 27 
 
 aiid Cochin-China. Knowing the bcaiing or direction of the 
 port intended to be made, let the wind be fair or foul, they 
 endeavour, as nearly as possible, to keep the head of the ship 
 al^vays pointing towiirds the port, bj' means of the compass. 
 This instriniient, as used in China, lias every appeai'ance of 
 originality. The natives know nothing, from history or tra- 
 dition, of its first introduction or discovery ; and the use of 
 the magnet, for indicating the ]3oles of the earth, can be traced, 
 from their records, to a period of time ^vhen tiie greatest part 
 of Europe \vas in a state of baibaiism. It has been conjec- 
 tured, indeed, that tlie use of the magnetic needle, in Europe, 
 was first brought from China b)^ the famous tra\eller Marco 
 Polo, tlie Venetian. Its appeai^ance immediately after his 
 death, or, according to some, \vhile he was yet li\ing, but at 
 all events, in his ouii counti-}-, renders such a conjecture ex- 
 tremely probable. The embassies in which he was employed 
 by Kublai-Khan, and the long ^ o\'ages he performed by sea, 
 could scarcely hxve been practicable ^\•ithout tlie aid of tlic 
 compass. Be this as it may, the Cliinese were, A\ithout 
 doubt, \vell acquainted vvith this instrument long before the 
 thiiteentli centuiy. It is recorded in their best authenticated 
 annals merel}- as a fact, and not as any extraordinary circum- 
 stance, that the emperor Chung-ko presented an embassador 
 of Cochin-China, ^\ho had lost his way in coming by sea, 
 with a Ting-nan-tchin, " a needle pointing out the south," the 
 name ^^hich it still retains. E\'en this idea of the seat of 
 magnetic influence, together >\ith the construction of the com- 
 pass-box, die diAision of the card into eight principal points, 
 and each of these again subdi^ ided into three, the manner of 
 suspending the needle, and its diminutive size, seldom ex- 
 ceeding in length three quarters of an inch, ai'e all of them 
 sti'ong presumptions of its being an original, and not a bor- 
 ro\\ed, invention. 
 
 By some, indeed, it has been conjectured, that the Scythi- 
 ans, in the northern regions of Asia, A\ere acquainted a\ ith the 
 polarity of the magnet, in ages antecedent to all historj^ and 
 that tlie A'irtue of diis fossil Avas intended to be meant by the 
 flyhig an*o\v, presented to Abaris by Apollo, about the time 
 of the Trojan war, with the help of Mhich he could transport 
 himself wherever he pleased. The abundance of iron ores, 
 and perhaps of nati\'e iron, in e^ery piut of Tartary, and the 
 
98 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 very early period of time in which the natives were acquaint- 
 ed with the process of smelting these ores, render the idea not 
 improbable, of the northern nations of Europe, and Asia, (or 
 the Scythians) bcmg first acquainted ^ith the poku'ity of tlie 
 mag-net. 
 
 Yet, even with tlie assistance of the compass, it is surpris- 
 ing how tlie clumsy and ill-constructed ^ essels of the Chinese 
 can perfonn so long and dangerous a voyage as that to Bata- 
 via. For, besides being thro\Mi out of their course by every 
 contrai"}^ ^^ ind, their \vhole construction, and particulai'ly the 
 vast height of their upper works, above the water, seems little 
 adapted to oppose those violent tempests that prevail on the 
 China seas, known, as we liave already observed, by the name 
 of Ta-fung. These humcanes sometimes blow with such 
 strengtli that, according to the assertion of an experienced and 
 intelligent commander of one of the East India company's 
 ships, " Were it possible to blow ten thousand trumpets, and 
 " beat as many drums, on the forecastle of an Indiaman, m the 
 *' height of a Ta-fung, neither the sound of tlie one nor the 
 " other v^'ould be heard by a person on the quarter-deck of the 
 '' same ship." In fact, vast numbers of Chinese vessels are 
 lost in these heavy gales of wind ; and ten or twelve thousand 
 subjects, from the port of Canton alone, are reckoned to perish 
 annu:iliy by shipv»Teck. 
 
 When a ship leaves this port on a foreign voyage, it is con- 
 sidered as an equal chance that she will never return ; and when 
 the event proves favoui'able, a general rejoicing takes place 
 among the friends of all those who had embarked in the 
 hazardous entei-prise. Some of these ships are not less than a 
 thousand tons burden, and contain half that number of souls, 
 besides the passengers that leave tlieii- country, in the hope of 
 making their fortunes in Batavia and Manilla. A ship is sel- 
 dom the concern of one man. Sometimes forty or fifty, or 
 even a hundred, different merchants, purchase a vessel, and 
 divide her into as many compartments as there are partners, 
 so that each knows his o\'sii pmticular place in the sliij), which 
 he is at liberty to fit up and to secure as he pleases. He ships 
 his goods, and accompanies them in person, or sends his son, 
 or a near relation ; for it rarely happens that they will trust 
 jeach other with property, \\ here no family connexion exists. 
 Each sleeping-place is just tlie length and breadth of a man, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 29 
 
 and contains only a small mat spread on the floor, and a pillow. 
 Beliind the compass is generally placed a small temple, with 
 an altai', on which is continually kept burning a spiral taper, 
 composed of wax, tallow and sandal-Mood' dust. This holy 
 flame answers a double puipose ; for while the burning of it 
 fulfils an act of piety, its tAveh e equal divisions serve to mea- 
 sure the tv\eh'e portions of time, which make up a complete 
 day. It should seem that the superstitious notions inculcated 
 in the people have led them to suppose, that some particular 
 influence resides in the compass ; ibr, on ever}' appem-ance of 
 a change in the \\eather, they burn incense before tlie magne- 
 tic needle. 
 
 The losses occasioned among die ships that were employed 
 to transport tlie taxes, paid in kind, from the ports of the 
 southern and middle provinces to the northern capital, were so 
 great, at the time of the Tartar concjuest, in the diiiteenth 
 century, that the successors of Gcngis-Khan were induced to 
 open a direct communication betv\een the t\\o extremes of the 
 empire, by means of the rivers and canals ; an undertaking 
 that reflects the highest credit on die Mongul Tartars, and 
 wliich cannot fail to be reg-arded with admiration, as long as it 
 shall continue to exist. The Chinese, however, say, tliat the 
 Tartai-s only repaired the old works that were tallen into 
 decay. 
 
 Six centuries previous to this period, or about the seventh 
 century of the Cliristian sera, the Chinese mercharis, accord- 
 ing to the opinion of the learned and ingenious M. de Guigiies, 
 carried on a trade to the west coast of North America. That, 
 at this time, the promontory of Kamskatka was know n to them, 
 under the name of Ta-Shan, many of their books of travels 
 sufficiently testify ; but their journeys thither were generally 
 made by land. One of the missionaiies assured me that, in a 
 collection of travels to Kamskatka, by various Chinese, the 
 names of the several Tartar tribes, their manners, customs,, 
 and characters, tlie geogi^aphical descriptions of lakes, rivers, 
 and mountains, were too clearly and distinctly noted to be^ 
 mistaken. It is, however, extremely probable that, as furs and 
 peltr}^ were ah\'a}-s in great demand, they might also have some 
 communication widi the said promontorv', from the isles of 
 Jesso, to vvhich they were knovvii to trade v\ith their sliipping ; 
 and which are only a very short distimce from it. iVI. de 
 puigiies, in support of his opinion, quotes the journal of a 
 
3a TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 Bonze, as the priests of Fo have usually been called, who 
 sailed eastward from Kamskatka to such a distance as, in his 
 mind, puts it be}'ond a doubt that the country he arrived at 
 A\ as no other than the coast of California. The Spanish writers, 
 indeed, of* the eaily ^•oyages to this country, make mention of 
 \arious WTCcks of Chinese Acssels being found in different parts 
 of the ^vestcm coast of the n€^v continent ; and they observe 
 that the natives here were, in^-ariably, more civilized than in 
 tlie interior and eastern parts of America. 
 
 E^ en those on tlie eastern coast of South America have a 
 veiy strong resemblance to the Chinese in their persons, though 
 not in their temperament and manners. The viceroy of the 
 Brazils retains a dozen of these people in his ser\dce, as rowers 
 of his barge, \vith the use of which he one day honoured us, 
 to make the tour of the ^rand harbour of Rio de Janeiro. 
 We observed the Tartar or Cliinese features, particulai'ly the 
 eye, strongly marked in the countenances of these Indians ; 
 the copper tinge Vv^as rather deeper than the darkest of the Chi- 
 nese ; but their beards, being mostly confined to the upper lip 
 and the point of tiie chin, together with tlieir strong black hair, 
 bore a -^cry near resemblance. 
 
 The island of Tcho-ka, or Saghalien, in tlie Tartarian sea, 
 opposite the mouth of the Amour, has evidently been peopled 
 b}- the Chinese. When Monsieur la Perouse visited this island, 
 he found the inhabitants clothed in blue nankin, and " the 
 " form of theii- dress differed but little from that of the 
 '' Chinese; their pipes were Chinese, and of Tootanague;. 
 " they had long nails ; and they saluted by kneeling and pro- 
 " stration, like the Chinese. If (continues the navigator) they 
 " ha^^e a common origin \^iththe Tartars and Chinese, their 
 *' separation from these nations must be of very ancient date, 
 " for they have no resemblance to them in person, and little in 
 *' manners." Yet, from his own account, it appears that both 
 |lie:r manners and customs have a veiy close resemblance. 
 
 The Chinese, at one period, carried on a very considerable 
 commerce with Bussora and other sea-ports in the Persian 
 gulph, paiticularly Siraff, near wliich some small islands, as 
 well as several remarkable points and headlands of the coast, 
 still bear Chinese names. In some of the voyages it is ob- 
 served that a colony of Chinese had apparently settled in the 
 kingdom of Soffala, the descendants of Avhom were, in the 
 time of the ^niters, easily distinguished from the other natives^ 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 31 
 
 by the difference of their colour and their features. The 
 early Portuguese navigators also observe that, on the island 
 St. Laurence, or Madagascar, they met Avith people mIio re- 
 sembled the Chinese. That the celebrated traAeller, JNIarco 
 Polo, visited Madagascar, in a Chinese vessel, there can he 
 little doubt, unless indeed, like his owti countrymen, \vc 
 chuse rather to reject the probable parts of his narrative as 
 fabulous, and to believe the miracles performed by the Ncs- 
 torian Christians, in Armenia, as the only truths in his book. 
 
 It is impossible not to consider the notices given bv this 
 early traveller as curious, interesting and \:iluable ; and as far 
 astheyregard the empire of China, they bear internal e\idence 
 of being generally coiTCCt. He sailed li'om Cliina in a fleet 
 consisting of fourteen ships, each canying four masts, and 
 having their holds partitioned into separate chaml^ers, some 
 containing thirteen distinct compartments. Tliis is the exact 
 number of divisions into vihich all the holds of those sea- 
 faring vessels AAcre partitioned, that transported the presents and 
 baggage from our own ships, in the gulph of Pe-tche-lee, in- 
 to the river Pei-ha; and we observed many hundreds, of a 
 still larger description, tliat are employed in foreign \o\-agcs, 
 all canying foiu' masts. Such vessels, our sailors, Avho arc 
 remarkable for metamoq^hosing foreign names, usually call 
 Junks, from Tchuan, wliich signifies a ship ; the Tsong-too, 
 or viceroy of a province, is called by them John Tuck. 
 
 Not only the form of the ships, but the circumst.inces of 
 tlie voyage, taken notice of by this ancient na^•igator, stamp his 
 relation \vith authenticity^ ; the strong current between Mada- 
 gascar and Zanzebar rendering it next to impossible for ships 
 to get back to the northward ; the black natives on that coast; 
 the products of the countrj^ which he enumerates ; the true 
 description of the giraffe or camelopardalis, at that time con- 
 sidered in Europe as a fabulous animal; are so many and such 
 strong e\idences in favour of his narrative, as to lea^■e little 
 doubt that he either ^vas himself upon the east coast of Africa, 
 or that he had received veiy correct information from his Chi- 
 nese shipmates concerning it. Yet, doctor Vmccnt has assert- 
 ed, in his Periplus of tlie Erjthrean Sea,* that in the time 
 of this Venetian traveller none but Arab or Malay \essels na- 
 
 • In tlie very next page (202) he however corrects himself, by obsenin^ that 
 eitha- the Chinese or Malays navigated as fai" as Madagascar. 
 
52 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 vigatcd the Indian ocean. With all due deference to such 
 high ail thorit}' I cannot forbear observing that the simple re- 
 lation of INIai'co Polo bears internal and irresistible evidence 
 that the fleet of ships, in which he sailed, were Chinese, of 
 the same kind, to all intents and purjDOses, as they now are. 
 Nor ha^'C we any reason for doubting the authority of the two 
 Mahomcdans who visited China in the ninth centur}', when 
 diey tell us, that Chinese ships traded to the Persian gulph at 
 tliat time. In a chart, made under the direction of the Vene- 
 tian traveller, and still preserved in the church of St. Michael 
 de Murana at Venice, the southern part of the continent of 
 Africa is said to be distinctly marked down ; though this, in- 
 deed, might have been inserted after the Cape of Good Hope 
 had been doubled by the Portuguese. 
 
 Whether the prince of Portugal had seen or heard of this 
 chart, or consulted the Arabian geogi^aphers, or had read of 
 the circumnavigation of Africa, in the first translation of He- 
 rodotus, that made its appearance but a few years before the 
 discovery of the southern promontory of this continent by 
 Bartholomew Diaz ; or whether the voyages were undertaken 
 at that time on a general plan of discovery, authors seem not 
 to have agreed ; but the opinion, I understand, among the 
 Portuguese is, that Henry had good grounds for supposing 
 that the circumnavigation of Africa M^as practicable. 
 
 And whether the Phoenicians did or did not, in the earliest 
 periods of history^ double the Cape of Good Hope, there is 
 abundant reason for supposing they were well acquainted with 
 the east coast of Africa, as fcir as the Cape of Currents. Nor 
 is it probable that the extent and flourishing condition of the 
 trade and commerce of Tyrus should have been limited to 
 that part of the Indian ocean to the south-w^ard of the Red 
 Sea, \vhich is a more difl&cult navigation than to the north- 
 ward. That this commerce \Aas extensi\'e, we have the au- 
 thority of the prophet Ezekiel, who, in glowing terms, has 
 painted its final destruction, and who, it may be remarked, is 
 supposed to have lived at the veiy time the Phoenicians sailed 
 round Africa, by order of Necho. " Thy riches and thy fairs, 
 *' thy merchandize, tliy mariners and thy pilots, thy caulkers, 
 *' and the occupiers of thy merchandize, and all thy men of 
 " war that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the 
 " midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas, in the 
 " day of thy ruin." It is probable, therefore, that the navi- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. « 
 
 gation of the eastern seas was kno^v-n in the earliest periods of 
 histor)-^ ; and there seems to be no reason for supposing that 
 the Chinese should not hsLvc had tlieir share in it. 
 
 Without, ho^^•ever, making any enquir}- into die probabi- 
 lity that an ancient intercourse might have subsisted bct\veen 
 China and the eastern coast of Africa, either by convention for 
 commercial purposes, or that Chinese sailors might ha^e iDeen 
 tlirowTi ontliat coast, either in Phcenician, or Arabian, or their 
 OAvn vessels, I happened to obser^■e in a foiTner publication of 
 " Travels in Southern Africa," as a matter of f.ict, " that the 
 " upper lid of die eye of a real Hottentot, as in that of a 
 " Chinese, Avas rounded into the lower on the side next the 
 *' nose, and that it formed not an angle, as in the eye of an Eu- 
 " ropean — that from this circumstance tliey \\ere knoA'.n in 
 *' the colony of die Cape by the name of Chinese Hottentots." 
 Further obsei"vations liavc conlirm.ed me in tlie very striking 
 degree of resemblance between them. Their physical charac- 
 ters agree in iilmost every point. The forni of their persons, 
 in the remai'kable smalbiess of the joints and the extremities, 
 dieir voices and manner of speaking, their temper, their co- 
 lour and features, and, in particular, that singularly ^sliaped eye, 
 rounded in the comer next the nose, like the end of an ellipsis, 
 probably of Tartar or Scythian origm, are nearly alike. They 
 also agree in the broad root of the nose, or great distancebe- 
 tvveen die eyes : or in the oblique position of these, which, 
 instead of being horizontal, as is generally the case in Euro- 
 pean subjects, are depressed tov.ards the nose. A Hotten- 
 tot, who attended me tra\clling over Soudiern Afiica, was so 
 ver}' like a Chinese serA'ant I had in Canton, both in person, 
 features, manners, and tone of Aoice, tliat I almost always, 
 inadvertently, called him by the name of the latter. Their 
 hair, it is ti'ue, and diat only, differs. This, in a Hottentot, 
 is rather harsh and a\ iry than woolh", neidier long, nor short, 
 but twisted in hard curling ringlets, resem.bling fringe. I 
 possess not a sufficient degree of skill in physiology to say 
 what kind of hair the offspring w^ould have, of a Chinese man 
 and a Mosambique Avoman ; much less can I pretend to ac- 
 count for the origin of the Hottentot tribes, insulated oi^-the 
 narrow exti'emity of a large continent, and differing so re- 
 markably from Jl their neighbours ; or where to look for dieir 
 primitive stock, imlcss among the Cliinesc. 
 
 £ 
 
34 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 I am a\\ are it will appear rather singular, to those who may 
 liave attended to tlie accounts that generally have been given 
 of these t\\ o people, to meet \\-)th a comparison between the 
 most polished and the most barbarous, the wisest and the most 
 ignorant, of mankind ; and I am, therefore, the less surprised 
 at an observation made by the \\Titers of the Critical Review, 
 " that the foetus of the Hottentot may resemble the Chinese, 
 " as the entrails of a pig resemble those of a man; but on 
 " this topic our ingenious author seems to Avander beyond the 
 *' circle of his knowledge." I hope these gentlemen will not 
 be offended at my talving this occasion to assure them that tlie 
 comparison was not even then made on loose grounds, although 
 no inference was dra^'^ n from it ; and that, on a closer exami- 
 nation, I am the more convinced of their near resemblance in 
 mental as v»"ell as physical qualities. The aptitude of a Hot- 
 tentot, in acquiring and combining ideas, is not less than of a 
 Chinese ; and their powers of imitiition ai-e equally great, al- 
 lowance being made for the difference of education ; the one 
 being continually, from his infancy, brought up in a society 
 \\ here iJi the arts and conveniencies of life are in common use; 
 the other among a miserable race of beings, in constant want 
 even of the common necessaiies of life. 
 
 Indeed, the people that have derived their origin from the 
 same stock with the Chinese, are more widely scattered over 
 the Asiatic continent and the Oriental islands than is generally 
 imagined. All those numerous societies, known under the 
 common name of Malays, ai'e unquestionably descended from 
 the ancient inhabitants of Sc}1:hia or Tartary ; and it may, 
 perhaps, be added, that their connxction with the Arabs, and 
 their conversion to Islamism, first inspired, and have now 
 rendered habituiil, tliat cruel and sanguinary disposition for 
 \\ hich the}' are remarkable ; for it has been observed that the 
 natives of those islands, to which the baleful influence of this 
 religion has not extended, have generally been found a mild 
 and inoffensive people ; as was the case with regard to the 
 natives of the Pelew islands, ^vhen discovered by captain 
 Wilson. 
 
 ' *he perusal of Mr. Marsden's excellent history of Sumatra 
 Ica^'cs little doubt, on my mind, that a Chinese colony, at 
 some eai-ly period, has settled on that island. This author 
 observes that the eves of tlie Sumtitrans are little, and of the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 35 
 
 same kind as those of the Chinese ; tliat they suffer tlieir nails 
 to gi'ow long ; that they excel in working fillagTce, makirjv 
 gunpowder, Sec. that they register events, b}- making knots 
 on cords ; that they count decimally ; ^nitc with a sUle on 
 bamboo ; that they haAC little hair on their bodies ar.d beads, 
 which little, like the Chinese, they extract. In. tlicir Lmguage, 
 many words, I perceive, ai'c similar ; and the coircsponding 
 words express the same idea in botli languages ; but, on ct}-- 
 mological compaiisons I Mould be uridcrstood to lav little 
 stress, for reasons which A\ill be assigned in the sixth chapter. 
 The similitude of a religious ceremom- is much stronger 
 ground to build upon ; and the coincidence is sufficiently re- 
 markable, that the manner practised by the Sumatrans, in 
 taking a solemn oath, should exactly agree with the same 
 ceremony which is used in giA'ing a solemn pledge among the 
 common people of Chhia, namel}', by A\Tingir.g off the head of 
 a cock. Captain Mackintosh told me that, having once occa- 
 sion to place great confidence in the master of a Chinese "\ es- 
 sel, and doubting lest he might betray it, the man felt him- 
 self considerably hurt, and said he would p^'ivc him sufficient 
 proof that he was to be trusted. He immediately procured a 
 cock, and, falling down on both knees, wrung off his head ; 
 then, holding up his Iiands towai'ds hea\'en, he made use of 
 these words : " If I act otherA\ise than as I have said, do 
 *' thou, O Tien, (Heaven) deal widi me as I have dealt widi 
 *' diiscock!" 
 
 I have since been informed, from tlie best authorit}-, that 
 whenever, in the course of die concerns of the British ]i,ast 
 India Company with the merchants of China, it may be neces- 
 sary- to administer an oadi to a Chinese, the same ceremony 
 is gone tlirough, of UTinging off the head of a cock ; Avhich is 
 by them considered, in a Aciy serious light, a sort of incan- 
 tation, the effects of which upon their minds are not unlike 
 those produced by supposed magic spells, once common in 
 our o\\ii country ; by a\ hich the vulgiu" ^\eTc persuaded that 
 the devil was to be made to appeal' before them. In a Chinese 
 court of justice an oath is never administered. In a late affair, 
 where a Chinese was killed by a seaman of a British m*n of 
 war, and the captain w^as about to administer an oath to two 
 of his people, whom he produced as evidences in a Chinese 
 court of justice, tlie chief judge was so shocked, that he 
 ordered the court to be instantly cleared. 
 
36 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The Cingalese are, unquestionably, of Chinese origin. 
 Those who are acquainted uith the Chinese manners and 
 character vrill immediately perceive the very close resem- 
 blance, on reading Mr. Boyd's relation of his embassy to the 
 king of Candy. Sin quo, kingdom of Sin, (from whence 
 Sina, or China) are Chinese words ; the termination is Eu- 
 ropean. So also is the name of the island Chinese, See-Ian, 
 See-long, or See-lung, the Western Dragon, in conformity 
 to an invariable custom of assigning the name of some animal 
 to every mountain. 
 
 Having no intention, however, to investigate minutely the 
 extent of Chinese navigation and commerce, in ancient times, 
 but rather to confine my observations to their present state, 
 I return from tliis digression, in order to proceed on our 
 vo}'age. 
 
 One of the small brigs, attending the expedition, was dis- 
 patched, without loss of time, to the port of Chu-San, to take 
 on board the pilots that, agreeably to the order contained in 
 the imperial edict, were expected to be found in readiness to 
 embaik. In some of the passages, fcrm.ed by the numerous 
 islands, the currents ran with amazing rapidity, appearing 
 more like the impetuous torrents of rivers, swelled by rains, 
 than branches of the great ocean. The depth, too, of these 
 naiTOAv passages was so gi-eat as to make it difficult, dangerous, 
 and ii'equentiy impossible, for ships to anchor, in the event of 
 a calm ; in which case they must necessarily drive at the 
 mercy of the stream. As we approached, in tlie Clarence 
 brig, the high rocky point of the continent called Kee-too, 
 which juts into the midst of the cluster of islands, the wind 
 suddenly failed us ; and the current hurried us witli such ve- 
 locity directly towards the point, tiiat we expected momenta- 
 rily to be dashed in pieces ; but on coming widiin twice the 
 length of the ship of the perpendicular precipice, which was 
 some hundred feet high, the eddy swept her round tln'ce se- 
 veral times, with great rapidity. The captain vrould have 
 dropped the anchor, but an old Chinese fisherman, whom we 
 had taken on board to pilot us, made signs that it was too 
 deep, and, at the same time, that there was no danger, ex- 
 cept that of the bowsprit striking against the mountain. The 
 Chinese vessels have no bowsprit. At this moment the lead 
 was tliro\Mi, but we got no soundings at the depth of one 
 hundred gjid twenty fathoms ; yet the yellow mud was brought 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 37 
 
 up from the bottom, in such quantities, tliat the Nile, at the 
 height of its inundations, or the gieat Yello\\- Ri\er of Cliina, 
 could not be more loaded ^^•ith mud than the sea ^a as in die 
 whirlpool of Kec-too point. The cuirent, in the Strait of 
 Faro, setting directly upon die rocks of Scylla iind the \\hirl. 
 pool of Chaiylxlis, those celebrated objects of dread to ancient 
 na^'igators, could not possibly ha\c been more a\Aful!)- terrific, 
 thougli perhaps more dangerous, than tlie cuirents and the 
 eddies that boiled tumultuously round this promontoiy of the 
 Chinese continent, where, 
 
 " When the tide rushes from her rumbling caves 
 *' The I'ough rock roars ; tumultuous boil the waves { 
 " They toss, tliey foam, a wild confusion raise, 
 " Like waters bubbling- o'er the fiery blaze." 
 
 The second whirl removed us to a considerable distance 
 from the point, and, after the third, we were swept rapidly 
 along in a smooth uniform cuiTcnt. Our intei-preter, a Chi- 
 nese priest, who had been educated in the college De Propa- 
 ganda Fide, at Naples, wns not quite so comjjosed as his 
 country-man die pilot. The poor fcllo-w, indeed, had nearly- 
 been thrown overboard by the boom of the mainsail, in the 
 first (vrliich was the most rapid) \^ iiirl of the ship ; the same 
 blow striking a sailor, tossed his hat overboard ; and it af- 
 forded some amusement, in our supposed perilous situation, 
 to hear the different ejaculations of these two persons on die 
 same occasion. Sanctissima Maria ! est miraculum, est mi- 
 raculum ! exclaimed the priest, ^\•ith great eagerness ; whilst 
 the sailor, rubbing his head, and talking away, with much 
 composure, observed, that the d — n'd boom had carried away 
 his fore-top- gallant cap ! 
 
 The Chinese, it seemed, had already been apprised of our 
 arrival ; for we had not proceeded far before a lai'ge vessel bore 
 dovMi tovvards us, and, hailing die brig in their ovmi language, 
 desired we vvould bring her to anchor, and that they would 
 conduct us early the following morning into the harbour of 
 Chu-san. Some of die officers came on board, were extremely 
 civil, and presented us with a basket of fruit ; but they affected 
 to know nothing of the occasion that had brought us thither. 
 Our old fishemian took out of the sea (among diousands that 
 had floated round our vessel) one of diose animal substimces 
 which, I believe, we vulgarly call sea blubbers (Mollusc a 
 
c 
 
 38 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 medusa poipita). It was, at least, a foot in diameter. Hav- 
 ing; dressed it for his supper, and seeing it Aveai' the in^.ating 
 appearance of a transpai-ent colourless jelly, I was tempted to 
 taste it ; but tiic effect produced by diis, or the fruit, or both, 
 was a severe sickness, which continued for several days. 
 
 We weighed anchor at day-bi^.ak, and, with a pleasant 
 breeze, sailed in company with the clumsy-looking junk, 
 which, how■c^ er, to the sl!l^^rise of our seamen, sailed quite 
 as well as the smart-looking Clai^encc. 
 
 Having ancliored before the to\vn, in a spacious" bason 
 formed by sc^-eral islands, and ]>aid the usual compliment of a 
 salute, a few Mandarines (officers of government so named 
 by the early Poituguese, from jiandar, to command) came 
 on boaixl. To every question, that led to the main point of 
 our ^isit, these people gave us e\-asive answers, affecting the 
 most complete ignorance of every thing relating to the affairs of 
 the embass}'. They said the Tsung-ping, or militaiy gover- 
 Txor of the island, w^as then absent, but that he would return in 
 the course of tlie day, and would be happy to see us on shore 
 the following morning. Chmese etiquette, I suppose, re- 
 quired.tliat a day should elapse before our reception in form. 
 
 Accordingly, at an early hour in the morning the gentlemen 
 cf the embassy, who had been sent on tliis business, went on 
 shore, and were received by the governor, with great polite- 
 ness and abundant ceremony, in his hall of public audience, 
 wiiich, as a building, had little to atti'act our notice. The 
 usual minute enquiries being gone through, which, it seems, 
 Chinese good-breeding cannot dispense -with, such as the 
 health of his visitors, of their parents and relations, and par- 
 ticularly the name and age of each person, the object of our 
 \isit Avas explained to him, and at the same time a hope ex- 
 pressed that there ^vould be no delay in getting the pilots on 
 board. The old gentleman appeared to be much surprised at 
 such violent liaste, and talked of plays, feasts and entertain- 
 ments, that he meant to gi\'e us. Pilots, however, he said, 
 ■\vcre ready to take charge of the ships, and to caiTy them along 
 the coast to the next province, -where others would be found 
 to condiK?t them still fartlier. On being told that such a mode 
 of navigation was utterh* impracticable for the large English 
 ships, and that such pilots w ould be of no use to us, he beg- 
 ged to be allowed the remainder of the day to enquire for 
 others. We little expected to have met with any difficulties 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 39 
 
 with regai-d to pilots, in one of the best and most frequented 
 ports in China, where, at that time, se\'ei-al hundied \esscJs 
 were l}'ing at anchor. The remainder of die day was spent 
 in a visit to the city of Ting-hai; but the crowd became so 
 numerous, and die day was so excessively hot, that before 
 we had passed the length of a street, ^^e were glad to take re- 
 fuge in a temple, where the priests very ciA'ill}' enteit:iined us 
 with tea, fruit, and cakes. The oflicer who attended us ad- 
 vised us to return in sedan chairs, an ofler which we accepted ; 
 l)ut die bearers ^vere stopped e\ery moment by the crov>cl, 
 in order diat every one might satisfy his curiosity, by thrust- 
 ing his head in at the window, and exclaiming m it'h a grin, 
 *'Hung-mau! Englishman!" or, literally, " Rcdpate ! " Ra- 
 ther disappointed dian gratified, we ^^"ere glad, after a fatiguino- 
 day, to throw oiu'sehes into our cots, on boaixl the Ckuencc. 
 
 When we went on sliore, die foilo\ving morning, we found 
 the militaiy gOAcrnor, attended by a civil magistrate, b}- w horn, 
 after the usual compliments, we Avere.addressed, in a long ora- 
 tion, delivered apparently with a great deal of solemnity; the 
 intention of w hich was to convince us diat, as it had been the 
 })ractice of the Chinese, for time immemorial, to navigate from 
 port to port, experience had taught them it was the best. 
 Finding, however, that his eloquence could not pre^'ail on his 
 heiu-crs to relinquish their own opinions on the subject, the 
 go\ ernor and he consulted togedier for some time, and at 
 length resolved that a general muster should be made of all the 
 persons in diat place, who had at any time Aisited by sea tiie 
 port of I'ien-sing. 
 
 A number of soldiei-s A\'ere accordingly dispatched, and soon 
 returned, with a set of the most miserable-looking WTCtches I 
 e\er beheld, who were dii-ust irito the hall, and, dropping on 
 their knees, were examined, in tiiat atdtude, as to their quali- 
 fications. Some, it appciu-ed, had been at the -port of Tien - 
 sing, but were no seamen ; others followed the profession, but 
 had never been at that port; and several were hauled in, who 
 had never set a foot on board a vessel of any description \vliat- 
 soe^^er. In short, the greater part of tlie day was consumed, 
 to no purpose ; and we were about to conclude that we had a 
 great chance of leaving the central and much- frequented har- 
 bour of Chu-san, witliout being able to procure a single pilot, 
 when two men were brought in, ^vho seemed to ansv,er the 
 purpose better than any Avhich had yet been examined. It ap- 
 
40 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 pearcd, however, tliat they had quitted the sea for many years, 
 and being comfortably settled in trade, had no desire to en- 
 gage in the present service ; on the contrar}% they begged, on 
 their knees, that they might be excused from such an under- 
 taking. Their supplications were of no avail. The emperor's 
 orders must be obeyed. In vain did they plead the ruin of their 
 business by their absence, and the distress it would occasion to 
 their wives, their childi'cn, and their families. The governor 
 V. as inexorable ; and they were ordered to be ready to embark 
 in the course of an hour. 
 
 This ai'bitrary proceeding of the go^'enlor conveyed no very 
 exalted ideas of the justice or moderation of the government, 
 or of the protection it afforded to the subject.- To drag away 
 from his family an honest and industrious citizen, settled in 
 trade, and to force him into a service that must be ruinous to 
 his concerns, was an act of injustice and violence that could not 
 be tolerated in any other tiian a despotic govemment, where 
 the subject knows no laws but the will of the tyrant. But we 
 are yet on a distant island of the great empire, remote from the 
 fountain of authority ; and delegated power, in all countries, 
 is but too liable to be abused. Besides, a Chinese might be 
 impressed with sentiments equally unfavourable of our govern . 
 ment, v. ere he informed of the manner in which imperious 
 necessity sometimes requires our navy to be mmmed. 
 
 One consideration, however, mJght "with safety be drawn 
 from the occurrences of this day, Vvhich v.as this — ^that long 
 voyages aie never undertaken where the}' can be avoided ; but 
 tliat the com.merce of tlie Yellow Sea is carried on from port to 
 port ; and that the aiticles of merchandize, so transported, 
 must necessaiily have man}' profits upon them, before they 
 comx to the distant consumer ; which ma}', in some degree, 
 account for the high prices many of the products of the coun- 
 try, as we afterwards found, bore in the capital. In like man- 
 ner was the inland commerce of Asia conducted by caravans, 
 proceeding from station to station, at each of which were mer- 
 chants to pay or exchange commodities with each other ; 
 tlio&e at the limits of the jouniey having no connection nor 
 communicalionv.h.aisceverv.ith ojie another ; \\hich will piutly 
 explain the ignorance of the Greeks with regard to the eastern 
 couiitries, from, \thence they derived their precious stones, 
 perfumes, and odicr vrJuable articles. ^ 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 41 
 
 The old governor was evidently relieved fi"om a load of 
 anxiety at his success, and the tears and entreaties of the poor 
 men ser\'ed only to brighten up his countenance. From ci- 
 vility, or curiosity, or perhaps both, he returned our visit on 
 boai'd the brig, ^vhich had been crowded with the natives from 
 morning till night, since her first arrival in the haibour. The 
 want of curiosity, wluch has been supposed to foiTn a pait of 
 the Chinese chiu'acter, was not perceived in this instance ; but 
 it \A'as that sort of curiosity, which appeared rather to be incit- 
 ed by the desire of looking narrow ly at the persons of those a\ ho 
 were to have the honour of being presented to their great em- 
 peror, than for the sake of giatihing the eye, or tlie mind, by 
 the acquirement of information or ne^v ideas. The vessel, 
 although so very different from their own, was an object of 
 little notice ; and although eager to get a transient glance at 
 the passengers, tlieir curiosity was satisfied in a moment, and 
 was generally accompanied with some ^•ague exclamation, in 
 which the words Ta- whang-tee occurred; and the maindiift of 
 which seemed to imply, " is this person to appeal' before our 
 " gi-eat emperor ?" This was still more remarkable in the 
 crow d of I'ing-hai ; nothing scarcely was tliere heard but the 
 words Ta-v\hang-tee and Hung-mau, the emperor and tlie 
 Englishman. 
 
 The squadron had scai'cely got under way, and cleared the 
 narrow passages between the islands into the Yellow Sea, when 
 it \vas perceived how very little advantage it A\as likely to 
 derive from the Chinese pilots. One of them, in fact, had come 
 on board without his compass, and it \\ as in vain to attempt to 
 make him comprehend ours. The moveable cai'd was to him a 
 paradox, as being contn\ry to the universal practice witli them, 
 of making the needle traverse the fixed points, and not the 
 points described on the card to move ( by the needle being 
 attached to the card), as in those of Europe. The other was 
 furnished with a compass, about the size of a common snuff- 
 box, being an entire piece of Avood, \vith a circular excavation 
 in the centre, just large enough to admit the vibration of a veiy 
 fine steel neecUe, not quite an inch in length, Avhich, however, 
 might be found sufficiently useful, in their short voyages, b}- 
 means of a peculiar contrivance for presen ing the centre of 
 gravity, in all positions of the ship, in coincidence nearly with 
 the centre of suspension. Nor is it necessaiy , in so short and 
 fine a needle, to load one end more than the other, in order to 
 
42 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 counteract tlie dip, or tendency that the magnetic needle is 
 kno\Mi to have, more or less, towards the horizon, in different 
 parts of the ^vorld. The Chinese, however, do not seem to 
 ha^■e adopted their small needle from any knowledge eitlier of 
 vai'iation or of the inclination of the magnetic needle. Al- 
 though the needle be in\'ariably small, yet it sometimes happens 
 that the mai"gin of the box is extended to such a size, as to 
 hsLve from twenty to thirty concentri(^. circles, containing 
 ^■arious characters of the language, constituting a compendium 
 of their astronornical (perhaps more properly speaking, astro- 
 logical) knowledge. As numbers of such compasses are in the 
 museums of Europe, it ma}' not perhajjs be Avholly unaccept- 
 able to gi^'e some notion, of \^ hat these circles of characters 
 contain. 
 
 1 . Central circle, or the needle. 
 
 2. Eight mystical characters, denoting the first principles 
 
 of matter, said to be invented by Fo-shee, the founder 
 of the monarch}'. 
 
 3. The names of the 12 hours, into mIucIi the day is di- 
 
 vided. 
 4 and 5. Names of the circumpolar stars. 
 
 6. Chai'acters of the 24 principal meridians of colures. 
 
 7. The 24 subdivisions or seasons of tlie }cai-. 
 
 8. The characters of the cycle of 60 years. 
 
 9. Numerical characters relating to the abo\'e cycle. 
 
 10. Chai'acters denoting the 28 signs of the Zodiac. 
 
 11. Certain astrological chai'acters. 
 
 12. Eight sentences, explanatoiy of the 8 mystical charac- 
 
 ters on the second circle. * 
 
 13. A different arrangement of the Chinese cycle. 
 
 14. Characters of the five elements. 
 
 15. Repetition of the characters on the eighth circle. 
 
 16. Repetition of the eighth circle. 
 
 17 and 18. Characters of obscure mythology. 
 
 19. Names of 28 constellations, and dieir places in the hea- 
 
 vens. 
 
 20. Relates to the sixth and fifteenth circles. * 
 
 21. The world divided according to the sidereal influences. 
 
 22. Corresponds Vvitli the cightli and sixteenth circles. 
 
 23. Contiiins the same as the abo\'C, with the addition of 
 
 the fourteenth circle. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 43 
 
 24 and 25, are inexplicable, eAcn by the Clibiese. 
 
 26. An arrangement of eertain characters and marks for 
 calculating lucky, unlucky, and neutral days. 
 
 27, is the same as the nineteenth,and sun-ounds the whole.* 
 
 The greatest depth of the YelloAv Sea, in the track of the 
 ships, did not exceed thirty-six fathoms, and it was frequently 
 diminished to ten fathoms. The \\eathcr, as usiialh^ happens 
 in shallow seas, was generally haz}'. In doubling the project-"" 
 ing promontoiy of the pro^■ince of Shan-^tung, tiie land \\as 
 hidden in thick fogs. And on these, fortumitely, dissipating, 
 it was percei\ed that the whole squadron 'was A\'ithin four miles 
 of tlie main land, and one of the ships close upon a rock}^ 
 island. The pilots were as ignorant of our situation as the 
 meanest sailor in the squadron. Proceeding to the '\\est\\-ai-d, 
 a ciipacious bay was clisco\ered. One of the pilots, after a 
 minute examination of the land, a\ hich was now clear, asserted 
 that he knew^ the place ^'ery wqU ; that it was the ba}' of 
 Mee-a-taw. The confidence \\ith wliich he spoke, and the 
 vast concourse of people, cro\\ding down tow-ards the 
 shore, as if expecting our arri^•al, induced the commander to 
 steer directly into the ba\- ; but die depth of v»ater diminish- 
 ing to ^ive fathoms, and land appearing on every side, it Avas 
 thought piTident to let go the anchor. Several baits from 
 the shore w-ere presently along-side ; and \\e were soon con- 
 vinced how little we had to trust to the knov\ledgc of our 
 pilots, even widiih sight of huid. Wc \\ ere informed that the 
 bay was called Kee-san-seu, and that Mee-a-taw was, at least, 
 fifteen leagues faither to the westA\ard. 
 
 The hills along this southern coast of the gulph of Pe-tche- 
 lee have a very peculiai' character. Tliey are all of the same 
 form, and ncLU'ly of the same size, being regular coiies, \^ith 
 smooth sides, as if fashioned by art, and entiiTh' detached, 
 each standing on its proper bcise, resembling in their shapes 
 the simimcr caps worn by the officers of go^'emn1ent ; and 
 ha\ing, as yet, no European names, they were noticed in the 
 
 * If any arg-timent were wauting' to prove tlie orip^inalily of the ma^ietic 
 needle, as used in China, the circumstance of their liaving inpji'afted upon it their 
 most ancient and favourite mytholog'y, tlieir cycles, constclhitions, elements, and, 
 in sliort, an abstract of all their astronomical or astrological science, is quite suffi- 
 cient to settle that point. Those who arc acqi\aintcd with the Chinese cha- 
 racter will not readily admit that their lonpr-established suiierstit^ons i^hoiilii 
 be foiuid incorporated on an ii.stntmcnr of Uarharian invention. 
 
44 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 journals by the appellation of the first, second, third, &c. 
 mandarine's bonnets. 
 
 Determining now to a^^ail ourselves of the ad\'ice given by 
 the magistrate of Chu-san, and to navigate fi'om port to port, 
 we here procured t^vo new pilots to cany the ships to Mee- 
 a-taw. They brought us, indeed, to this place, but, instead 
 of a harbour, we. found only a narrow strait, \vith a rapid tide 
 setting tlirough it, and rocky anchoring- ground. On the 
 hiiore of the continent was a city of considerable extent, under 
 tlic walls of which, next the sea, w^s a bason or dock, filled 
 vvith vessels, tlie capacity of which might be fi-om ten to one 
 liundred tons. 
 
 The governor of this city (the name of which we learned 
 to be Ten-tchoo-foo) paid his respects to the embassador on 
 boDjd the Lion, and obser\'ed, in the course of conversation, 
 that his orders from court were to render all the service in his 
 power to the embassy, and to provide proper means of con- 
 ve}-ance, either by land or by sea. He seemed to be about the 
 age of fi\^e and thirty, a man of frank and easy manners, cour- 
 teous, intelligent, and inquisiti\'e. He stood higher in the 
 opinion of all of us tlian any we had }"et seen. The followig 
 morning he sent off ■v\'hat he was pleased to call a trifling re- 
 freshm.ent, Avhich consisted of four bullocks, eight sheep, 
 eight goats, fi^'e sacks of fine v/liite rice, five sacks of red rice, 
 two hundred pounds of flour, and several baskets of fi^uit and 
 vegetables. 
 
 We have always been taught to belie\^e that the Chinese 
 consider us as Barbai'ians ; but we have hitlierto no reason to 
 say that they treated us as such. At all events it was ob^dous 
 that the expected aiTival of the British embassy had made no 
 slip;ht impression on the court of Pekin. 
 
 Here we once more ventured on another pilot to carry the 
 ships across the giilph of Pe-tche-lee to Tien-sing. He was 
 an old man of 70 years, and seemed to possess a perfect know- 
 ledge of all the bays aud hai'bours in the gulph. He drew, 
 on paper, the sketch of a port on the western coast, to which 
 he undertook to carry the ships. Fortunately, however, for 
 us, it was considered rnore safe to send the small brigs a-head 
 to sound, than to place any confidence in men who had al- 
 ready so often deceived us. They had scarcely depaited, 
 before the signal of danger was made; a new course was 
 steered for the night, and eai'ly the following morning, the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 45 
 
 same signal was repeated. No land was now in sight, yet the 
 water had shallowed to six fathoms ; it was, therefoie, deemed 
 prudent to come to an anchor. It was a very unusual situation 
 for such large ships tp ride thus at anchor in the middle of a 
 strange sea, imd out of sight of land, yet liable,' in case of 
 blowing weather, to strike against the bottom. 
 
 The commanders of the ships were exasperated against tlie 
 pilots, and these, on their piut, were almost petrified Avith 
 fear. The poor creatures had done their best ; but they pos- 
 sessed neither skill nor judgment, or, perhaps, it may l^e 
 more chai-itable to suppose that they were confused by the 
 novelty of their situation. It was in vain to endeaAOur to 
 make them comprehend the difference in the draught of 
 water, between their OAvn ships and ours, which, in the lat- 
 ter, was as mimv fathoms, as feet in the former, although they 
 Av^re palpably shoA\'n, b}- a piece of rope, the depth that Avas 
 required. 
 
 As it was evidently impracticable to proceed fartlier Avitli 
 our OA\n ships towards the land, ^^ hich a\\^ now from twelve 
 to fifteen miles distant, and so very low as not to be A'isible 
 from the deck, one of the tenders A\'as dispatched to the 
 mouth of the Pei-ho, or wliite riAcr, to report oiu* arri\'al. Here 
 two officers from the court had already embarked, to wint on 
 tlie embassador, ccirrying \\ith them a present of refreshments, 
 consisting of bullocks, hogs, sheep, poultry, wine, fruit, and 
 vegetables, in such quantities, as to be more tlian sufficient 
 for a week's consumption of the Avhole squadron, amounting 
 nearly to six hundred men. It consisted in twenty small bul- 
 locks, one hundred hogs, one hundred sheep, one thousand 
 fowls, three thousand pumpkins, as many melons, apples, 
 pears, plums, apricots, and other fruits, with an abundance 
 of culinary vegetables. The wine was contained in large 
 earthen jars whose co\'crs A\-ere closely luted. Numbers of 
 the hogs and the fow Is had been bruised to death on the pas- 
 sage, \\ Inch \\ere thrown overboard from the Lion with dis- 
 dain, but the Chinese eagerly picked them up, washed then) 
 clean, and laid them in salt. 
 
 The number of vessels tliey had dispatched to take on 
 shore the presents and the baggage was between thirty and 
 forty, the capacity of each not being less, and many of them 
 more, dian two hundred tons ; so im|x?rfect a judgment had 
 tliese people formed of die quantit}' of luticlcs to be ti'anship- 
 
46 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 ped. These were the \'essels whose holds were divided into 
 thirteen distinct compartments, separated by partitions of two 
 inch plank, the scams of which were caulked \\ith a prepa- 
 ration of fine lime, made from shells and fibres of bamboo, in 
 order to render them water-tight. Their sails, cables, rig- 
 ging and cordage Mere all made of bamboo ; and neither pitch 
 nor tar was used on tliese or au}^ part of the wood- work. 
 
 We detained about fifteen of these vessels, to take on shore 
 the embassador's suite, the presents for the emperor, and the 
 baggage ; after ^vhich the British ships returned to Chu-san, 
 without the assistance of the Chinese pilots, whose skill in 
 navigation w'as held very cheap, by the lowest seaman on 
 boai'd. 
 
 On entering the Pei-ho we observed a number of buildings 
 erected on the right bank, with roofs of matting, but decor- 
 ated in the most fantastical manner, with difterent coloured 
 ribbands and variegated silks ; and about three hundred sol- 
 diers in their uniforms (which appeai^ed to our eye not much 
 adapted to military purposes) were drawn out, with a band of 
 music, near a temporary landing-place, constructed of wood; 
 all of ^^"hich we understood had been hastily prepared for the 
 reception of the embassador ; but as his excellency was desi- 
 rous of reaching the capital without delay, he declined going 
 on shore, preferring to step into the accommodation-}^achts at 
 once, tliat were ready to receive him, a little higher up the 
 ri"V'cr, the moment that the presents should be transhipped 
 into the river craft. The officers \vho were deputed to conduct 
 hun to the capital obser\ ed, that so much haste ^vas not at all 
 necessar}'', as tlie emperor's birth-day ^\'as yet distant ; these 
 people ha\dng no other idea of an embass}^, as it seemed, than 
 that of its being a mere compliment to their sovei-eign. The 
 vellow flags displayed at the mast-heads of the river-fleet, 
 laden M-ith the presents, and consisting of se\'enteen sail, g^ve, 
 indeed, a more extended meaning of such a mission. These 
 flags, in broad black cliaracters, bore the folloAving inscrip- 
 tion : " The English embassador carrying tribute to tiie em- 
 peror of China." 
 
 We found the yachts, that were destined to convey us, ex- 
 ceedingly convenient ; more so, indeed, than any I have seen 
 on our canals of England. They are flat-bottomed, and 
 draw^ onl}'^ about fifteen inches of water. Tb.eir upper works 
 are high, appearing like a floating house. T'hey have three 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 47 
 
 apartments for the accommodation of passengers ; the first an 
 antichambcr for the scnants and baggage ; the middle a com- 
 modious sitting imd dining room, about fifteen feet square ; 
 and the third dh ided into two or three sleeping rooms. Be- 
 hind these is the kitchen ; and still faither aft, small places, 
 like dog kennels, for the boatmen. Sometimes there is a 
 kind of second stor}-, upon tlie q:>iu-tments, divided into little 
 cells, that are just the length and breadth of a man. A Chi- 
 nese sailor requires no room for luggage, his A^•hole \\-ardiobc 
 being general!}- on his back. In tlie dift'erent operations em- 
 ployed for making the yachts proceed, diey gi^'e no interrup- 
 tion to the passengers. A projecting gang^\ ay on each side 
 of the vessel, made of broad planks, senes as tlie passage 
 fi^om one end to the otlier. 
 
 The t^\•o officers that Mere sent from court, to conduct the 
 embassador to the capitiil, piiid a visit to ever}- yacht, and shew- 
 ed the most earnest desire to please and to m:ike us comforta- 
 ble. Their names were Van and Chou, to ^\ hich the}- annex- 
 ed tlie title of Ta-gin, or gi'eat mtui. \'an had the rank of a 
 lieutenant-general in the aimy, and Chou >\ as the go\ enior of 
 a district in Pe-tchc-lec. We observed, in tlieir manners, no 
 indication of tliat stiff and ceremonious conduct, which cus- 
 tom obliges them to put on in public. On the conti-ai-}-, they 
 sat down to table \\ ith us, endea^oin big to leani the use of the 
 knife and fork, and made themselves extremely agi'eeable ; 
 lamented they were not able to hold con\'ersation \^ ith us, in 
 our o\\n language ; and, on going away, shook hands with 
 us, like Englishmen. 
 
 Provisions, fruit, and wines, such as the countr}- affoids, 
 were sent on boaid, in such profusion, that I really believe 
 the Chinese boatmen, in tlie course of die passage up this 
 ri\ er, were enabled to lav by their \\ inter's stock from the 
 sui'pliis. In tiiith, as Sir George Staunton has observed, the 
 hospitality, attention, and respect, we hitherto experienced, 
 were such as strangers meet -widi only in the eastern jxirts of 
 the world. 
 
 Nothing that could convc}- the idea of extraordinar}'- wealth 
 or comfort among the inhabitants, or of extraordinary abun- 
 dance and fertility in the country, (unless in the copious sup- 
 plies of our pro\ isions) had }et occun'cd, either at Chu-san 
 or in the first three da}s' sail up the Pei-ho towards the capital. 
 The land, on botli sides, was low and flat; and instead of 
 
♦8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 hedge-rows, trenches were dug to mark the boundaries of 
 property. A small proportion only \vus under cultivation. 
 The greater part appeared to be sour s\^ ampy ground, cover- 
 ed Avith coarse grass, rushes, and the common reed. There 
 were few ti-ees, except near the villages, which were of mean 
 appearance ; the houses generally consisting of mud walls, one 
 stoiy in height, and thatched with straw or rushes. Here and 
 there a solitar}- cottage intervened, but nothing that bore any 
 resemblance to the residence of a gentleman, or that could even 
 be called a comfortable fami-house. And although villages 
 were numerous, no assemblage of houses \\'ere perceived, that 
 properly could be classed under the name of a town, except 
 that of See-koo, near the mouth of the river, and Ta-koo, a 
 few miles higher, until we proceeded to the distance of about 
 ninety miles, when we entered the subm'bs of the lai'ge city 
 of Tien-sing, stretching, like London on the Thames, for 
 seveiTd miles along each bank of the river Pei-ho. But nei- 
 ther the buildings nor the river would bear any comparison, 
 even with those parts about RedrilFe and Wapping. Every 
 tiling, in fact, that we. had mcherto seen, vrore an air of poverty 
 and meanness. After a long confinement on board a ship, to 
 those at least who are not accustomed to it, almost any country 
 appears to possess the charms of a paradise ; yet, on our first 
 landing in this celebrated empire to the present place, which 
 is no great distimce fi-cm the capital, 1 am persuaded, that 
 every individual of the embassy felt himself rather disappoint- 
 ed in the expectations he had fomied. If any thing excited 
 admiration, it was the vast multitudes of people tliat, from our 
 first anival, had daily flocked down to the banks of the river, 
 of both sexes and of all ages. Their general appearance, how- 
 ever, Was not such as to indicate any extraordinary degree of 
 happiness or comfort. The best dressed men wore a sort of 
 \clvet cap on their heads ; a short jacket, buttoned close round 
 the neck, and folded across the breast, the sleeves remarkably 
 wide ; the materials cotton cloth, black, blue, or brown silk, 
 or European camblet ; they wore quilted petticoats, and black 
 satin boots. The common people were dressed in lai"ge straw 
 hats, blue or black cotton frocks, wide cotton trowsers, and 
 thick clumsy shoes, sometimes made of straw. Some had 
 coarse stockings of cotton clodi ; the legs of others ^verc 
 naked. A single pair of ckawers constituted, indeed, the 
 whole clothing of a great portion of the crowd. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 49 
 
 Never were poor women fitted out in a style so disad\'an- 
 tageous for setting off their charms as those who made their 
 appeai'ance on the banks of the Pei-ho ; and we after\yards 
 found that the dress of these, with some slight variations, 
 was the common mode of the countr}^ Bunches of large 
 artificial flowers, generally resembling asters, ^\'hose colours 
 were red, blue, or yellow, were stuck in their jet-black hair, 
 which, without any pretensions to taste or freedom, was 
 scrcAved up close behind, and folded into a ridge, or knot, 
 across the crouii of die head, not \'ery unlike (except in the 
 want of taste) to the present mode in which die young ladies 
 of England braid their locks. T\vo bodkins of silver, brass, 
 or iron, were conspicuously placed behind the head, in the 
 form of an oblique cross, \\hich is the common mode of Ma- 
 lay Axomen. Their fiices and necks were daubed \\ ith wliitc 
 paint, the eye-brows blackened, and, on the centre of the 
 lower lip, and at die point of the chin, were two spots, al^out 
 the size of a small \vafer, of a deep vermillion colour. A blue 
 cotton frock, like that of the men, reaching in some to the 
 middle of the thigh, in others to the knee, was almost uni- 
 versal. A piiir of Avide ti'o\vsers, of different colours, but 
 commonly either red, green, or yellow, extended a little be- 
 low the calf of the leg, where they A\^ere drawn close, in order 
 the better to display an ancle and a foot, AA'hich, for singularity 
 at least, may challenge the Avliole Avorld. This distorted and 
 disproportionate member consists of a foot that has been 
 cramped in its growth, to the length of four or five inches, 
 and an ankle that is generally swollen in the same proportion as 
 the foot is diminished. The little shoe is as fine as tinsel and 
 tawdry can make it, and die ankle is bandaged round AAith 
 party-coloured clothes, ornamented with fringe and tassels ; 
 and such a leg and foot, thus dressed out, are considered, in 
 China, as superlatively beautiful. 
 
 The constant pain and uneasiness that female childi'en must 
 necessarily suffer, in the act of compressing, by means of ban- 
 dages, the toes under the sole of the foot, and retaining diem 
 in that position until they literally grow into and become a part 
 of it, and by forcing the heel forwaixl, until it is entirely ob- 
 literated, make it the more wonderful how a custom, so un- 
 natural and inliuman, should lia\'e continued for so many 
 ages ; at least, such is the opinion, that its origin is entirely 
 
 G 
 
50 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 iiiikno^\Ti, or explained b}' such fabulous absurdities as ai'C 
 too ridiculous to assign for its adoption. 
 
 Yew sa\agc trllx^s are without the unnatural custom of 
 maiming or lopping oil' some pait of the human body ; as 
 boring the lips and the caitilege of the nose, drawing or 
 colouring the teeth, cutting off a joint from the fingers or toes, 
 and otherwise practising, as they must suppose, impro^■cments 
 on nature. But on this consideration it would scarcely be fair 
 to conclude, that maiming tlie feet of the Chinese ladies de- 
 rived its origin from a period of time "v^hen they were yet in 
 a savage state, since we ai-e in the daily habit of obsei^'ing the 
 most civihzed and enlightened societies studying to find out 
 beauties in defects, and creatinfjc them where nature had in- 
 tended perfection. The Chinese ^vould no doubt be equally 
 surprised at, and consider as egi-egiously absurd, the custom 
 of circumcision, as practised by a great portion of Asiatic 
 nations ; nor iiave we any reason to think tlirey "\\'ould not 
 condemn the refinemicnt of docks and crops among our horses 
 as an absurd custom, not less ridiculous in their eyes than the 
 little feet of their ladies are in ours. If they could not refrain 
 from bursting into fits of laughter, on exam.ining the grease 
 aiid powder with which our hair v^'as disfigured ; and if they 
 sometimes lamented that so much oil and flour had unneces- 
 Siiriiy been wasted ; we miglit, perliajDS, in the i-anity of self-, 
 im.portance, affect to pity their taste : but, setting custom and 
 prejudice apart, we had certainly no great reason to despise 
 and ridicule the Chinese, or indeed any other nation, merely 
 because they differ from us in the little points of dress and 
 manners, seeing how very nearly we am match them ^^•ith 
 similar follies and absurdities of our 0"\mi. 
 
 T'he silence of die earliest travellers into China, on so ex- 
 traordinar}' a custom, would almost wan-ant a conjecture that, 
 notwithstanding the pretended ignorance of the Chinese with 
 regard to its origin, both the fashion and die sentiment of its 
 being vulg-ar for ladies to be seen abroad were only adopted 
 within die period of a few centuries. The Venetian traveller, 
 although he makes frequent mention of the beauty and 
 dress of the Avomen, takes no notice of this singular fa- 
 shion ; and he observes that on the lake of Hang-tchoo-foo 
 the ladies are accustomed to take their pleasure with their 
 husbands arfd theu* families. The enirbassadors also of Shah 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 51 
 
 Rokh, tlic son of Tamerlane, who, in the year 1419, were 
 sent to congratulate the emjx^ror of China, siate, in the niura- 
 tive of their expedition that, at their pubhc reception, there 
 stood two young ^'irgins, one on each side of the thron.e, with 
 their faces and bosoms uncovered ; that they ^\ere I'umishcd 
 with paper and pencils, and took down, with gi'eat attention, 
 every word that the emperor spoke. These embassadors saw- 
 also numbers of women in open baths, neai' the Yellow river ; 
 and, in one city, diey remark that " there were many tavems, 
 *' at the doors of which sat a number of young girls of extiTi- 
 " ordinar}^ beauty." Nor do the travels of two Mahomedans 
 into China, in tlie ninth centuiy, published by IVIr. Renaudot, 
 make any mention of tlie uhnatunil smallness of tlie women's 
 feet ; and they aie not, by any means, deficient in th<?ir obser- 
 vations of the manners and customs of tliis nation, at that time 
 so ^'ery little kno\m to die rest of the world. Almost ca cry- 
 thing they have related concerning China, at this eai'h' period, 
 is found to be true at the present da}" ; and its the}" particularh- 
 notice the dress and ornaments w^orn b}- the Avomai, one would 
 think they would not have omitted a custom sa singular in its 
 kind as diat of maiming the feet, if it had then been as common 
 as it now^ is. 
 
 This monstrous fashion has generally been attributed to the 
 jealousy of the men. Admitting tliis to have been tlie case, 
 the Chinese must be allowed to be well versed in the manage- 
 ment of the sex, to have so far g-ained the ascendancy o\er 
 them, as to prevail upon diem to adopt a fashion, which re- 
 quired a \oluntary rclinquishmelit of one of the greatest plea- 
 sures and blessings of life, the foculty of locomotion ; and to 
 contrive to render this fashion so universal, diat an}- dcAiation 
 from it should be considered as disgraceful. The desire of 
 being thought superior to the rest of his fellows sometimes, 
 indeed, leads a man into strange extravagancies. Upon this 
 principle the men of learning, as the}- are pleased to style 
 diemselves, suffer the nails of their little fingers to gi'ow* some- 
 times to the enormous length of three inches, for tlie sole piii-- 
 pose of gi^■ing oculai* demonstration of the impossibility of 
 their being employed in Liny sort of manvml labour ; and upon 
 die same principle, perhaps, the ladies of China ma}- be 
 mduccd to continue tlie custom of maiming dieir female 
 ji;fants, in order that dicli- childi'en may be distinguished froui 
 
52 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 tliose of the peasaiitr}-, who, in most of the pro\ inces, are 
 condemned to submit to the diTidgen- of the field. 
 
 The interior ^vrappers of the ladies' feet are said to be seldom 
 changed, remaining, sometimes, until tliey can no longer hold 
 together ; a custom tliat conveys no veiy favourable idea of 
 Chinese cleanliness. This, indeed, forms no part of their 
 character ; on the contrary, they are wliat Swift would call a 
 frowzy people. The comfort of clean linen, or frequent 
 change of under-gai'ments, is equally unknown to the sove- 
 reign and to the peasant. A sort of thin coai'se silk supplies 
 tlie place of cotton or linen next the skin, among the upper 
 ranks ; but the common people wear a coarse kind of open 
 cotton cloth. These vestments are more rarely removed for 
 the pui'pose of ^^^ashing than for that of being replaced witli 
 new ones ; and the consequence of such neglect or economy 
 is, as might naturally be supposed, an abundant increase 
 of those vermin to whose production filthiness is found to be 
 most favourable. The highest officers of state made no hesi- 
 tation of calling their attendants in public, to seek, in their 
 necks, for those troublesome animals, which ^\\l"ien caught, they 
 \^ery composedly put between their teeth. They carry no 
 pocket-handkerchiefs ; but generally blow their noses into small 
 squai'e pieces of paper, which some of their attendants have 
 ready prepared for the pui'pose. Mai-.y are not so cleanly ; 
 but spit about the rooms, or against the walls, like the French ; 
 and diey \\ipe their diity hands in the sleeves of their go^^ns. 
 They sleep at night in the same clothes that tliey wear by 
 day. Theii- bodies are as seldom washed as their articles of 
 dress. They never make use of the bath, neither warm nor 
 cold. Notwithstanding the vast number of rivers and canals, 
 Avith which every pait of the country is intersected, I do not 
 remember to have seen a single groupe of boys bathing. 
 The men, in the hottest day of summer, make use of warm 
 water for washing the hand s and face. They are unacquainted 
 with the use of soap. We procured, in Pekin, a sort of 
 barrilla, Avith ^\'hich, and apricot oil, vie manufactured a suffi- 
 cient quantity of this article to wash our linen, which, how- 
 ever, we were under the necessity of getting done by our own 
 sei'vants. 
 
 On approaching the town of Tien- sing we observed a pro- 
 digious number of large stacks of salt, piled up m sacks of 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 53 
 
 matting. The quantity thus stored Avas found, on rough 
 calculation, to be suificient for the consumption of thirty milli- 
 ons of people, for a w^hole year. Such a surprising ap^gre- 
 gateof one of the useful and almost necessary articles oi life, 
 was a preparative, in some measure, for the \ast mukitudes of 
 people which appeared on our passing this northern emporium 
 of Cliina. The gabelle, or duty on salt, which the government 
 here, as \\ell as elsewhere, had found convenient to impo3e on 
 one of the indispensable articles of life, partly accounted for 
 such an extraordhiary accumulation. 'I'he collector of the 
 salt duties of Tien-sing held one of the most lucrative appoint- 
 ments in the gift of the croun. 
 
 The cro\\'ds of liu-ge vessels, lying close together along the 
 sides of the river ; the various kinds of craft passing and 
 repassing ; the towii, manufactories, and WcU"ehouscs, extend- 
 ing on each bank, as far as the eye could reach, inchcuted a 
 spirit of commerce, far beyond any thing •we had hitherto met 
 witli. The large vessels, the small crait, the boats, the shores, 
 the walls surrounding the houses, the roofs, "\\-ere all co\'ered 
 with spectators. Our bai'ges, being retai-ded in the naiTO)v 
 passages among the shipping, were at least two hours in reach- 
 ing the head of the town. During the whole time the popu- 
 lace stood in the M'ater, the front rank up to the middle, to get 
 a peep at the strangers. Hitherto, among the spectators, there 
 had generally appeai'ed full as many of the fair sex as of the 
 other ; and the elderly dames, in particuku", had been so cuj-i- 
 ous as to dip their little stumps into the water, in order to 
 have a peep into the barges, as they glided slowly along; but 
 here, among tlie ^^"hole crowd, not a single female wlis visible. 
 Although the day was extremely sultr\-, the thermometer 
 of Fahrenheit being 88° in the shade, as a mutual accomoda- 
 tion, their heads were all uncovered, and their bakl pates ex- 
 posed to the scorching rays of the sun. It Wiis an uncommon 
 spectacle, to see so many bronze-like heads, stuck as close 
 togethej', tier above tier, as Hogarth's groupe, intended to dis- 
 play the difference between cliaracter an.d caricature ; but it 
 lacked the variety of countenance which this artist b.as, in an 
 inimitable manner, displayed in his picture. 
 
 The' deep sounding gong, a sort of brazen kettle struck with 
 a mallet, and used in the barges to direct the motions of the 
 trackers on shore, the kettle-drums and the trumpets in tr^c 
 military band, the slirill music and squalling recitative in tlie 
 
54 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 theatre, A\hich ■v\-as entirely open in front, and facing the 
 ri^cr, in full view of the cro\vd ; the number of temporary 
 booths and buildings, erected forthe useof the viceroy, governor^ 
 judges, and other officers of government, and gaily decorated 
 Avith ribbands and silken streamei's ; the buzz and merriment 
 of tlie crowd ; had, altogether, so striking an affinity to the 
 usual enteitiiinments of liiutholomew fair, that no extraordi- 
 nary stretch of the imagination was required to suppose our- 
 jieh es for the moment to have been tnmspoited into Smithfield. 
 Wc instantly accjuitted the Chinese of any want of curiosity. 
 TiTC aiTival of Eifi Bey in London drew not half the crowd ; 
 and }'et the Chinese account us much greater Barbai'ians than 
 we pretend to consider the Mamelukes. The old viceroy of 
 the province, a Taitai' of mild and winning manners, had pre- 
 pared for us a most magnificent entertainment, with wine, 
 fruits, and great Miriety of pastiy and SAveetmeats, together 
 with presents of tea, silk, and nankins, not only to the embas- 
 sador and his suite, but also to the serxiuits, musicians, and 
 soldiers. 
 
 The cheerful and good-natured countenances of the multi- 
 tude Avere extremely prepossessing ; notless so theii' accommo- 
 dating behaviour to one another. There was an innocence 
 and simplicity in their features, that seemed to indicate a happy 
 and contented turn of mind. This, however, being a sort of 
 gala day, we might, on account of the extraordinary occasion, 
 perhaps, haAC \ iewed them to the best advantage ; yet the same 
 cheerflil and willing mind had constantly sh(3\Mi itself on all 
 occasions, by all those who were employed in the service of tlie 
 embassy. On board the yachts constant mirth and good 
 humour prevailed among the seamen. When the A\eather was 
 calm, the vessels were generally pushed on by means of two 
 ku'ge sculls, or oai's, turning upon pivots, that were placed in 
 projecting pieces of wood neai- the bow of the vessel, and not 
 the stem, as is the practice of most other nations. From six 
 to ten men are required to Avork one of these oars, ^^-hich, instead 
 of being talc en out of the A\ater, as in tlie act of rowing, are 
 moved back^^-ai-ds and forwards under the surface, in a similar 
 raanncr to what in England is understood b}' sculling. To 
 ii,9;hten their labour, and assist in keeping time widi the strokes, 
 the following rude air was generally sung by the master, to 
 \\h\d\ the whole crew used to join in chorus : 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 AIR. 
 
 Solo 
 by tlie mas.ter. 
 
 Chorus 
 by tlie crew. 
 
 Hai-\o hai-vau hai-vo 
 
 -*- 
 
 :=;i^: 
 
 ^^^ - i ^gg^t 
 
 hai - wfia de 
 
 hai-yau liai-yo Ii 
 
 hai-yau hai-yau 
 
 hdi-yo Iiai-yau 
 
 On many a calm still e\cnln^^, \\ hen a dead silence reig;ied 
 upon the water, have we listened \\ ith pleasure to tliis artless 
 and unpolished air, which was sung, A\'ith little alteration 
 through the ^\"holc fleet. Extraordir.aiy exertions of bodily 
 strength, depending, in a certain degree, on the m illingnies:', 
 of the mind, are frequently accompanied with exliilaratiiig 
 exclamations among the most sa^•age people ; but the Chinese 
 song could not be considered in this point of view. Like 
 the exclamations of our seamen in hauling the ropes, or the 
 oar-song of tlie Hebrideans, Avhich, as Doctor Johnson has 
 observed, resembled the proceleusmatiek \erse, by w hich the 
 rowers of Grecian g-alleys were animated, the chief object of 
 the Chiix;se chorus seemed to be that of combining chearful- 
 ness widi regularity. 
 
 ** Verse sweetens toil, liowevcr rude the sound." 
 
 Of their honest}^, sobriet}-, and cai'efulness, we had already 
 received couAincing proofs. Of the number of packages, 
 amounting to more than six hunch-ed, of \arious sizes and 
 descriptions, not a single ailicle was missing or injured, on 
 their anival at the capital, notwithstanding they had been 
 mo\'ed about, and carried by land, and transhipped several 
 times. Of the three state officers, who had been deputed 
 
55 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 from court to attend the embassy, tM-o of tliem ^^'ere the most 
 obliging and attenti^'e creatures imaginable. The third, a 
 Tartiir, who first made his appearance at Tien-sing, was dis- 
 tant, proud, and imperious. The Chinese, indeed, were in- 
 ^•aliabi}- more aflable tlian the Tartars. In short, had \ve re- 
 turned to liurope, \^■ithout proceeding farther in the country 
 than Tien-sing, a most hvei}^ impression w^ould always have 
 remained on my mind in favour of the Chinese. But a variety 
 of incidents, that afterwards occurred, and a more intimate 
 acquaintance wiih their manners and habits, produced a woful 
 change of sentiment in this respect. Of such incidents, as 
 may lend to iUustrate the moral character of this extraordinary 
 people, I shall relate a few, that were the most striking, in 
 taking a general view of their state of society ; to which, and 
 to the nature of the executive government, all their moral ac- 
 tions may be referred : and by the irJluence of A^hich the 
 natural bent of their cliaracter evidently has undergone a com- 
 plete change. 
 
 Leaving Tien-sing on the 11th of August, we found tlie 
 river considerably contiacted in its dimxcnsions, and the stream 
 more powerful. The surface of the country, in fact, began 
 to assum.e a less unifomi appeai'ance, being now partly bro- 
 ken into hill and dale ; but nothing approaching to a moun- 
 tain was yet visible in any dii'ection. It was still, however, 
 scantilv wooded, few trees appeai'ing except large willows on 
 the banks, and knots of elms, or firs, before the houses of 
 raen in ofiice, and the temples, both of v. hich were generally 
 found at the head of each village. More grain was here cul- 
 tivated than on tlie plains near tiie mouth of the river. Two 
 species of millet, the panicum crus Galli, and the Italicum, 
 and two of a larger gi"airi, the holcus forghum, and the sac- 
 cliaratus, v. ere the most abundant. We observed also a few 
 patclies of buck -wheat, and different sorts of kidne}'-beans ; 
 but neither common wheat, barley, nor oats. A species of 
 nettle, the urtica nivea, was also sown in square patches, for 
 the purpose of converting its fibres into thread, of which they 
 manufacture a kind of cloth. We saw no gardens nor plea- 
 5,ure grounds ; but considerable tracts of pasture or meadow- 
 land intervened between the villages, on A\-hich, however, 
 vrere few cattle, and those few remarkably small. Those we 
 procured, for the use of the ships, along the coast of the gulph 
 of Pe-tche-lccj seldom exceeded the weight of two hundred 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 5? 
 
 pounds. The few sheep we saw were of the broad-tailed 
 species ; and the cottages of the peasantry ^\•ere ver}' mean, 
 without any appearance of comfort, and tliinly scattered; 
 seldom standing alone, but generally collected into smiill 
 villages. 
 
 If, however, cities, to^\^ls, villages, and farm-houses, Avcre 
 less abundaTit so near the capital, than from the relations of 
 travellers we had expected to find them, the multitudes of 
 inliabitants, whose constant dwelling \vas on the \\'ater, amply 
 made up the apparent deficiency on shore. We passed, in 
 one day, upon this river, more tlian six hundred large vessels, 
 having each a range of ten or twehe distinct apartments built 
 upon the deck, and each apartment contained a A\hole family. 
 The number of persons in one of these vessels, we reckoned, 
 on an average, to be about fifty ; and \\e actually counted 
 above one thousand vessels of this description, that were float- 
 ing on that part of the river, between Tien-sing and Tong- 
 tchoo. The difierent kinds of craft, besides these, that were 
 perpetually passing and repassing, or lying chained to the 
 banks of the ri^'er, all of ^vhich Mere crowded with men, 
 women, and children, contained full as many as the lai'gc 
 vessels above mentioned ; so that, in the distance of ninety 
 miles, on this small branch of a ri\ er, there were floating on 
 the water not fewer than one huncked thousand souls. 
 
 Among the dift'erent cargoes of cotton- wool, copper-money, 
 rice, silk, salt, tea, and other commodities for the supply of 
 the capitiil, we observed an aiticle of commerce, in se\'eral of 
 the large open craft, that puzzled us not a little to find out 
 for what it was intended. It consisted of diy bro^vn cakes, 
 not much lai*ger, but thicker, than those we call cnimpets. 
 A close examination, however, soon discovered the nature of 
 their composition, Avhich, it seemed, w^as a mixture of every 
 kind of filth and excrementitious substances, moulded into 
 their present shape, and dried in the sun. In this fomi they 
 are carried to the capital, as aiticles of merchandize, where 
 they meet with a read}^ market from the gardeners in the vici- 
 nity ; who, afl:er dissolving them in mine, use them for ma- 
 nure. 
 
 Little occurred, diatw^s worthy of note, between Tien-sing 
 and Tong-tchoo, except an instance in the exercise of arbi- 
 trary pow^r, not less cruel than tliat of the governor of Chou- 
 
 H 
 
58 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 sTdi, and ill agreeing Avith the fcf lings of Englishmen. Some 
 of our pi'ovisions happened one moniing to be a little tainted, 
 wliich eoiild not be \\ondered at, considering the heat of the 
 weather ; the mercur}-, by Falirenl:ieit's scale, being from 82° 
 to 88°. The officei-s, however, ^^'ho had been commission- 
 ed to fumish the supply of proA'isions, Avere instantly depriAx^d 
 of their rank, and all their serAants severely bambooed. The 
 embassador interceded with Van and Chou in favour of the de- 
 graded delinquents, was heai'd "sa ith gi'eat attention, but per- 
 ceived that little indulgence or relaxation from sti'ict discipline 
 was to be expected on such occasions. 
 
 The vshole distance, from tlie entrance of the Pei-ho to the 
 city of Tong-tchoo is about one hundred and scA^enty miles. 
 Here we found tAvo buildings, that had been erected in the 
 space of tAA-o days, for the temporary- purpose of receiving the 
 presents and baggage ; and they were constructed of such 
 large dimensions, that they were capable of containing at 
 least ten times the quantity. The materials were wooden 
 poles and mats, and a fence of A\ooden pailing surrounded 
 the Avhole. 
 
 Vv'^e too|^ up our lodging in a spacious temple in the 
 suburbs, from m hence the priests were turned out, without the 
 least ceremony, to make room for us, consisting in the whole 
 of nearly one hundred persons. And here it was settled we 
 should remain until eveiy article vvas landed, and coolies or 
 porters procured, sufficient to carrj'- the whole at once to Pe- 
 kin, which was .computed to be about twelve miles to the 
 westAvard from this place. And although near three thousand 
 men Avere required for this purpose, they AAcre supplied the 
 instant the goods aa ere all on shore ; nor did it appear that any 
 difficult}' AA'Ould have been foimd in raising double that num- 
 ber, as there seemed to be ten times the number of idle spec- 
 tators as of persons employed. The plain betAveen the land- 
 ing-place iind the temple Avas like a fair, and cakes, rice, tea, 
 and fruit upon masses of ice, and many other refreshments, 
 AA-ere exposed for sale, under large square umbrellas, that serv- 
 ed instead of booths. A slice of AA'ater-melon, cooled on ice, 
 Aras sold for one tchcn, a piece of base copper coin, of the 
 ^•allle of about three-tentlis of a llirtliing. Not a single woman 
 appeared among the many thousimd spectator that Avere as- 
 plain. 
 
CHAP. III. 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH THE CAPITAL TO A COUNTRY VILLA OF 
 THE EMPEROR.— RETURN TO PEKIN.— THE IMPERIAL PALACE 
 AND GARDENS OF YUEN-MIN-YUEN, AND THE PARKS OF 
 GEHOL. 
 
 Order of Procession from Tong-tchoo to tlie Capital. — Crowd assembled on the 
 Occasion. — Appearance of Pekin without and within the AValls. — Some Ac- 
 count of this City. — Proceed to a cotmtry Villa of tlie Emperor. — Inconveni- 
 ences of. — Return to Pekin. — Embassador proceeds to Tartary. — Author sent 
 to tlie Palace of Yuen-min-yuen. — Miserable Lodij^ngs of. — Visit of the Presi- 
 dent and Members of the Matlicmatical TribuiiaJ. — Of the Bishop of Peldn, 
 and others. — Gill's Sword-blades. — Hatchett's Can-iagcs. — Scorpion found in a 
 Cask packed at Birmingham. — Portraits of English Nobility. — Effects of Ac- 
 counts from Tartary on the Officers of State in Pekin. — Emperor's Return to 
 the Capital. — Inspects the Presents. — AppUcation of the Embassador for Leave 
 
 to depart. — Short Account of the Palace and Gardens of Yuen-min-Yuen. 
 
 Lord Macartney's Description of the Eastern and Western Parks of Gchol. 
 
 And his general Remai-ks en Chinese Landscape Gai-demng. 
 
 THE presents for the emperor aiid our private baggiige 
 being all landed, the packages repaired, and e^-eIT article mi- 
 nutely noted down by the officers of government, the porters 
 were directed to fix tlieir bamboo beaiing-poles to each pack- 
 age, that no impediment might pre\ent our setting out at lui 
 eai'ly hour in the morning. In doing this, as Avell as landing 
 the ai'ticles from the vessels, the Chinese porters shewed such 
 expedition, stix-ngth, and acti\ ity, as could not, I belie\e, be 
 paralleled or procured in so short a time, in any other country. 
 Eveiy thing here, in fact, seems to be at die instant command 
 of the state ; and the most laborious tasks ure undertaken and 
 executed with a readiness, and even a clieeifulness, A\hich on^ 
 could scarcel}' expect to meet with in so despotic a govern- 
 ment. 
 
 According to the arnmgement, on the 21st of August, 
 about three o'clock in the morning, \\'e \\ere prepared to set 
 out, but could scarcely be said to be fairly in motion till five ; 
 and before we had cleai'ed the city of Tong-tclioo, it was past 
 
60 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 six o'clock. From this city to the capital, I may venture to 
 say, the road ne\ er before exliibited so motley a groupe. In 
 front marched about tliree thousand porters, carr}^Lng six hun- 
 died packages ; some of which were so large and heavy, as to 
 require thirty-two bearers. With these were mixed a pro- 
 portionate number of inferior officers, each having the charge 
 gnd superintendence of a division. Next followed eighty -five 
 waggons, and thirty-nine hand-carts, each with one wheel, 
 loaded with wine, porter, and other European provisions, am- 
 munition, and such hea\y articles as v-tre not liable to be 
 broken. Eight light field-pieces, which were among the pre- 
 sents for the emperor, closed this part of the procession. Af- 
 ter these pai-aded the Tartar legate, and se^'eral officers from 
 court, with their numerous attendants ; some on horseback, 
 some in chans, and others on foot. Then followed the em- 
 bassador's guard in waggons, the servants, musicians, and 
 mechanics, also in waggons ; the gentlemen of the suite on 
 horseback, the em>bassador, tlie minister plenipotentiary, his 
 son, and the interpreter, in four ornamented chairs ; the rest 
 of the suite in small covered carriages on two wheels, not un- 
 like, in appeai'ance, to our funeral hearses, but only about 
 half the length ; and, last of all. Van and Chou, witli their 
 attendants, closed this motley procession. 
 
 Though the distance was only twelve miles, it was thought 
 advisable, by our conductors, to halt for breakfast, about half- 
 way ; for, as heavy bodies move slowly, what with the delay and 
 confusion in first getting into order, and the frequent stoppages 
 on the road, we found it was eight o'clock before the whole of 
 the cavalcade had reached the half-way house. Here we had 
 a most sumptuous breakfast of roast pork and venison, rice and 
 made dishes, eggs, tea, milk, and a variety of fruits served up 
 on masses of ice. 
 
 The porters and the heavy baggage moved fonvard, without 
 halting ; and ha^dng ended our comfortable repast, we followed 
 without loss of time. We had scarcely proceeded three 
 miles, till we found the sides of the road lined witli spectators 
 on horseback, on foot, in small carriages similar to those we 
 rode in, in carts, waggons, and chairs. In the last were 
 Chinese ladies ; but, having gauze curtains at the sides and 
 front, we could see little oi" them. Sevei-al ^^ell-looking 
 women, in long silken robes, with a great number of children, 
 were in the small carriages. These we understood to be 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 61 
 
 Tartars. A file of soldiers now moved along ^\ith tlie pro- 
 cession, on eacli side of the road, armed with whips, Avliich 
 they continually exercised, in order to keep off the croA\d, that in- 
 creased as we approached the capital, and, at length, was so great 
 as to obstruct the road. We observed, however, that though the 
 soldiers were very active and noisy in brandishing their ^vliips, 
 they only struck them against the ground, and never let them 
 fall upon the people. Indeed, a Chinese cro^^•d is not so 
 tumultuous and unruly as it generally is elsewhere. 
 
 The excessive heat of the weather, the dustiness of die road, 
 the closeness of the caiTiages, and the slow manner in which 
 we moved along, would have made this short journey almost 
 insupportable, but from the novelty of the scene, the smiles, 
 tlie grins, the gestures of the multitude, and, above all, the 
 momentary expectation of entering the greatest city on the surface 
 of the globe. Those, also, who had been so unlucivy as to make 
 choice of the little covered carriages, found dicmsclves ex- 
 tremely uncomfoitablCjUothwithstanding they ai'e the best, the 
 most easy, and genteel, sort of caniage that the couiitiy 
 affords. Being fixed on the wheels without springs, and ha\'- 
 ing no seats in the inside, they iU'e, to an European, who must 
 sit on his haunches, in the bottom, the most uneasy vehicles 
 that can be imagined. Father Semedo, one of the earliest 
 missionaries to China, asserts, that coaches were anciently in 
 common use in this country, and that tliey were laid down on 
 accoimt of the great convenience and little expense of sedan 
 chairs. The coaches alluded to by the re\'erend father ^verc, 
 in all probability, the little carts above mentioned ; for not the 
 vestige of any thing better is to be found among them ; not 
 the least appearance of an}- thing like a spring-caiTiage* It 
 is more probable that palanquins and chairs have been in 
 common use here and in India, from the earliest period of 
 their histories. The lectica of the Romans is su]Dposed to 
 have been brought to Rome in the time of the republic, frorii 
 some of tlie eastern nations. 
 
 The gi'eat road to the ca]:>ital lay across an open country, 
 sandy and ill cultivated, and the few houses on each side uere 
 of mean appearance, generally built widi mud, or half bui-nt 
 bricks, to the very gates of Pekiti. The middle part of the 
 road, for die width of eighteen or twenty feet, was paved with 
 stones of granite fi-om six to sixteen feet in length, and broad 
 Di proportion. Every one of these enormous flag-stones must 
 
62 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 ha^-e been brought at least sixty miles ; the nearest mountains, 
 where quairies of granite ai'e Ibuiid, being those that di\dde 
 China fi-om JMcUitchoo Tartar}-, near the great wall. 
 
 A temple, on the right of the road, and a bridge of white 
 marble, having the ballustrade ornamented ^vith figures, meant 
 to represent lions and other animals, cut out of the same mate- 
 rials, were the only objects that attracted any notice, until the 
 wails and the lofty gates of the capital appeai^ed in view. None 
 of the buildings "\\ithin, on this side of the cit}- , overtopped 
 the walls, though tliese did not appear to exceed twenty-five 
 or, at most, thirty feet in height : they were flanked with 
 squaie towers, and suiTounded by a moat or ditch. These 
 towers projected about forty feet from the line of the wall, and 
 were placed at regular intervals of about seventy yai'ds, being 
 considered as bo^^•-shot distance, from each other. Each had 
 a small guaixl-house upon its summit. The thickness of the base 
 of the Avail was about twenty-five feet, and the width across the 
 top vrithin the pai'apets t\^ehefeet; so that the sides of the wall 
 have a very considerable slope, much more, however, within 
 than Avithout. The middle part was composed of tlie eaitli that 
 had been dug out of the ditch ; and was kept together by 
 two retaining walls, pail of which were of brick and part of 
 stone. The famous barrier on the borders of Tartaiy, and 
 the rampails of all tlie cities in the countiy, ai'C built in the 
 same manner. 
 
 No cannon were mounted on the aa alls nor on the bastions ; 
 but, in the high building which surmounted the gate, and 
 which was several stories one above the other, the port-holes 
 were closed with red doors, on the outside of Avhich \vere 
 painted the representations of cannon, not unlike, at a distance, 
 tlie sliam-ports in a ship of war. The gates of a Chinese city 
 ai*e generally double, and placed in the flanks of a square or 
 semicircular bastion. The first opens into a large space, sur- 
 rounded with buildings, which ai^e appropriated entirely for 
 militiuy uses, being the depot of provisions and ammunition, 
 j^lace-d'armes, and barracks. Out of this place, in one of the 
 flanks, the second gate, having a similar high building erected 
 OA-er it as tlie first, opens into the city. 
 
 The first appearance of this celebi-ated capital is not mudh 
 calculated to raise high expectations ; nor does it in the least 
 improAC upon a more intimate acquaintance. In approaching 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 63 
 
 an European city it generally happens thqj: a great \ariety of 
 objects catch the eye ; as the towers and spires of churelics, 
 domes, obelisks, and other buildings for public puq:)oses, 
 towering above the rest ; and the mind is amused in conjee . 
 turing the form and magnitude of their se^'e^ll consti-uctions, 
 and the uses to which they may be applied, in Pekin not 
 even a chimney is seen rising above tlie roofs of the houses 
 whicli, being all neiu 1}- of the same height, and the sti'eets laid 
 out in straight lines, lia\'e the appeai-ancc and the regularity of 
 a large encampment. The root's \\ould only require to be 
 painted white, instead of being red, green, or blue, to make 
 the resemblance complete. Few houses exceed the height of 
 one story, and none but the great shops ha\e cither windo\\'s 
 or openings in the wall in front, but most of them haA c a soit 
 of teiTace, with a railed balcoriy or parapet wall in front, on 
 which are placed pots of flov.ers, or shrubs, or stunted trees. 
 
 This city is an oblong square, the outward boundary of 
 which is foil}- lees, each lee being six hundred yards, so that 
 the inclosing wall is near fourteen English miles, and the ai'ca 
 about twelve square miles, independent of the cxtensi^■e sub- 
 urbs at cxtry gate. In tlie south \\ all aie tlu^ee g'ates, arid in 
 each of the other sides two, from w hence it is sometimes 
 called "The city with nine gates ;" but its usual name is Pc- 
 ching, or the Northern Court. The middle gate, on the south 
 side, opens into the imperial city, which is a space of ground 
 within the genenil inclosure, in the shape of a parallelogTimi, 
 about a mile in length from north to south, and tliree-fourths 
 of a mile from east to west. A wall, built of large red polished 
 bricks, and twenty feet high, co\'ercd with a roof of tiles 
 painted yellow, and viuiiished, suiTounds this space, in w hich 
 are contained not only the imperial palace and gardens, but 
 also all the tribimals, or public offices of government, lodg- 
 ings for the ministers, the eunuchs, aitificers, and trades- 
 men belonging to the court. A great vaiiety of siuface, as 
 well as of different objects, appciU's within this inclosure. 
 A ri\ulet, winding through it, not only affords a plentiful supjjly 
 of water, but adds largely to the beauties of the gioiuids, b}- 
 being foiTned into canals and basons, and lakes, which, w ith 
 the aitificial mounts, and rocks, and gi-oves, exjiibittlie happiest 
 imitiition of nature. 
 
 BetAveen the other t\\"o gates, in the south w all, and the 
 corresponding and opposite ones on the north side of the city 
 
64 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 run tM'o streets peRfecth^ straight, each being four English 
 miles in length, and about one hundred and t^^•ent}'^ feet in 
 v,idth. One street, also of the same width, runs fiom one of 
 the eiistem to the opposite A\-estern gate, but the other is in- 
 teiTupted by the nordi v all of the imperial city, round which 
 it is carried. The cross streets can be considered only as lanes 
 branching from these main streets at right angles : they are very 
 narrow ; but the houses in them aie generally of the same 
 construction as those in the great streets. The lai'ge houses 
 ct the state officers axe in these lanes. 
 
 Although the approach to Pekin afforded little that was inte- 
 resting, we had no sooner passed the gate, and opened out the 
 broad street, than a very singular and novel appearance was ex- 
 hibited. We saw before us a line of buildings on each side of 
 a wide street, consisting entkely of shops and warehouses, the 
 i)articular goods of which were brought out and displayed, in 
 ^Troupes, in front of the houses. Before these were generally 
 erected laige wooden pillars, whose tops were much higher 
 tban the eves of the houses, beaiing inscriptions in gilt charac- 
 ters, setting forth the nature of the wares to be sold, and the 
 honest reputation of the seller ; and, to attract the more notice, 
 tliey were generally hung with vaiious coloured flags, stream^ 
 ers, and ribbands, from top to bottom, exhibiting the appear- 
 ance of a line of shipping dressed, as vve sometimes see them, 
 in the colours of all the difi'erent nations in Europe. The 
 sides of the houses v. ere not less brilliant in the several colours 
 ^\■ith ^\ hich the}' wtre painted, consisting generally of sky-blue 
 cr gTcen mixed with gold : and, what appeared to us singular 
 enough, the articles for sale, that made the greatest show, wcyq 
 cofiins for the dead. The most splendid of our coffin furniture 
 Vv ould-make but a poor figure, if placed beside that intended for 
 a A\ calthy Chinese. These machines are seldom less than three 
 inches thick, and twice the bulk of ours. Next to those, our 
 notice wns attracted by the brilliant appearance of the funeral 
 biers and the m.arriage cars, both covered with ornamental 
 canopies. 
 
 At the four points where the great streets intersect one an- 
 other A^ ere erected those singular iDuildings, sometimes of stone, 
 but generally of wood, which have been allied triumphjj 
 arches, but which, in fact, are monuments to the memory of 
 tlicse V, ho had deserved well of the communit)^ or who Imd at» 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 65 
 
 tained aii unusual longevity. The\' consist in-v-ariably of a 
 large central gateway, Avith a smaller one on each side, all co 
 vered with narrow roofs ; and, like the houses, they ai-e paint- 
 ed, varnished, and gilt in the most splendid manner. 
 
 The multitude of moveable workshops of tinkere and biu*- 
 bers, coblers and blacksmiths; the tents and booths where 
 tea and fruit, rice and other eatables A\ere exposed for sale, 
 tvith the wai'es and merchandize arrayed before the doors, had 
 conti'acted this spacious street to a nan-oA\' i*oad in the middle, 
 just wide enough for two of our little ^^ehiclcs to pass each other. 
 The cavalcade of officers and soldiers that preceded the em- 
 bassy, the processions of men in office attended by their nu- 
 merous retinues, bearing umbrellas and flags, j)ainted lanterns, 
 and a variet}- of sti*ange insignia of their rank and station, differ- 
 ent trains that were accompan}ing, \rith lamentable cries, 
 corpses to their graves, and, with squalling music, brides to 
 their husbands, the troops of dromedaries laden ^^'ith coals 
 from Tai1;aiy, the wheel -balTo^vs and hand-carts stuffed \\ idi 
 vegetables, occupied neai-ly the whole of this middle space, 
 in one continued line, leaving v^ry little room for the ca- 
 valcade of the embassy to pass. All was in motion. The 
 sides of the street were filled ^vidi an immense concourse of 
 people, buying and selling and biu-tering dieir different com- 
 modities. The buzz and confused noises of this mixed mul- 
 titude, proceeding from the loud bawling of those A\ho Avere 
 cr}ing their A\ares, the wiangling of others, \\ ith eveiy now 
 and then a strange tw anging noise, like the jarring of a cracked 
 Jew's-harp, the barber's signal made by his tweezers, the mirth 
 and the laughter that prevailed in every groupe, could scarcely 
 be exceeded bj- the brokers in die bank rotunda, or by the Jews. 
 and old \\omen in Rosemai'}--Lane. Pedlars with their packs, 
 and jugglers, fortune-tellers, mountebanks and quack -doctors, 
 comedians and musiciiuis, left no space unoccupied. The 
 Tartar soldiers, ^ith their whips, kept, with difficulty, a clear 
 passage for the embassy to move sloAvly forwiuds ; so s1oa\% 
 indeed, that although we entered the eastern gate at half-past 
 nine, it was near twehe before \vc arrived at the \\esteni. 
 
 Although an extraordinary crowd might be expected to as- 
 semble on such a particular occasion, on the same principle of 
 curiosity as could not fail to attract a cro^^•d of spectators in 
 London, yet there was a most remarkable and a striking dif- 
 ference observable between a London and a Pekin populace. 
 
 J 
 
66 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 In the former the whole attention and soul of the multitude 
 would have been wrapt up in die no\'cl spectacle ; all would 
 have been idlers. In Pekin, the shew was but an accessory ; 
 every one pursued his business, at the same time that he gra- 
 tified his curiosity. In fact, it appeared that, on every day, 
 throughout the m liole }ear, there was the same noise, bustle, 
 and crowd, in die capital of China. I scarcely ever passed 
 the western gate, which happened twice, or oftener, in the 
 week, that I liad not to wait a considerable time before the 
 passage was free, piuticularly in the morning, notwithstanding 
 tlie exertions of" t\\o or tiiree soldiers, vvith their whips, to 
 clear the wav. The crowd, however, was entirely confined 
 to the gi-eat streets, which are the only outlets of the city. In 
 the cross lanes all Vvas still and quiet. 
 
 Women in Pekin were commonly seen among the crowd, 
 or \\alkiiig in the naiTO'W' streets, or riding on horseback, 
 Mhich they crossed in the same manner as the men ; but they 
 were all Tartars. They wore long silken robes, reacliing 
 down to their feet ; their shoes appeared to be as much abo^•e 
 the common size as those of the Chinese are under it ; the 
 upper pait was generally of embroidered satin, the sole con- 
 sisted of folds of cloth or paper, about an inch thick ; they 
 ^\'ere square in front, and a little turned up. The hair was 
 smoothed up on all sides, not ^'ery different fi-om that of the 
 Chinese ; and though their faces were painted with white-lead 
 and \'ermillion, it ^vas evident their skins were much fairer 
 than those of the former. The Chinese women are more 
 scmpulously confined to the house in the capital than else- 
 where. Young girls Mere sometimes seen smoking their 
 pipes in tlie doors of their houses, but they always reth-ed on 
 the approach of men. 
 
 All die streets were covered with sand and dust : none had 
 the least pa^•ement. The cross lanes were generally watered, 
 which did not appeal" to be the case in the main streets. A 
 large sheet of Mater, several acres in extent, within the nordiem 
 M-all, affords, to that part of the city and to the palace, an 
 a):)undtait supply of that element, as does also a small stream 
 which runs along the Avestem wall to that neighbourhood. 
 There ai-e, besides, abundance of wells ; but the water <rf 
 some of these is so dreadfully nauseous, that we, who were 
 unaccustomed to it, were under the necessity of sending to a 
 liistajice to obtain such as was firee fi'om mineral or earthy im^ 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 67 
 
 pregnations. Wheii mixed with tea, tlie well ^^•ater was par- 
 ticularly disgusting. 
 
 Although Pekin cannot boast, like ancient Rome, or mo- 
 dern London, of the com eniences of common se^^ ers, to cany 
 off the dirt and dregs that must necessaiilv accumulate in large 
 cities, yet it enjoys one impoitant ad^ antage, which is rai'ely 
 found in capitals out of England : no kind of filtli or nastiness, 
 creating offensi\'e smells, is tlirown out into the streets ; a piece 
 of cleanliness, diat, perhaps, ma}' be attributed rather to the 
 scarcity and value of the manure dian to the exertions of the 
 police officers. Each family lias a large earthen jar, into 
 which is carefully collected e^'ery tiling that may be used as 
 manure ; m hen the jar is full, diere is no diihcult)- of con^Trt- 
 ing its contents into money, or of exchanging them for \egc- 
 tables. The small boxed carts, with one whatl, a\ hich supply 
 the city with vegetables, in\iu-iabl}' return to the gardens with 
 a load of this liquid manure. Between the palace of Yuen- 
 min-yuen and Pekin, I have met many hundreds of tliese carts. 
 They are generalh' dragged by one person, and pushed on by 
 another ; and they leave upon the road an odour that continues, 
 without intermission, for many miles. Thus, though the city 
 is cleared of its filth, it seldom loses its fragrance. In fact, a 
 constant disgusting odour remains in and about all tlie houses 
 tlie whole day long, from the fermentation of the heterogeneous 
 mixtures kept above gi'ound, ^vhich, in our great cities^ arc 
 carried off in drains. 
 
 The medical gendemen of China are not quite so ingenious 
 as we are told the faculty m Madrid were, about tlie middle of 
 the last centur}- ; Avhen the inhabitants were directed, by royal 
 proclamation, to build j)roper pkices of retirement to their 
 houses, instead of empt3-ing their nocturnal machines out of 
 the \\indo\\ s into the streets. The inhabitants took it into 
 tlieu' heads to consider this order as a great affront, and a direct 
 violation of tlie rights of man ; but the doctors were die most 
 strenuous opposers of the measure, having, no doubt, very 
 cogent reasons for A\'isliing the continuance of the practice. 
 They assured die inhabitants, that if human excrement mtis no 
 longer to be accmnulated in the streets, to attract the putrescent 
 particles floating in the air, they would find their way into the 
 human body, and a pestilential sickness would lie the inc\ itable 
 consequence. 
 
6a TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The police of the capitiil, as we afterwards found, is so well 
 regulated, that the safety and tranciuillity of die inhabitiuits are 
 seldom disturbed. At the end of every cross street, and at 
 certiiin distances in it, are a kind of cross bars, with sentry- 
 boxes, at each of which is placed a soldier ; and few of these 
 streets aie without a guard-house. Besides, the proprietor or 
 iiiliabitant of e\'ery^ tenth houic, like the ancient titliing-men of 
 England, takes it in turn to keep the peace, and be responsible 
 for the good conduct of his nine neighbours. If any riotous 
 company should assemble, oi- any disturbances happen, \\ithin 
 his district, he is to give immediate information diereof to the 
 nearest guard-house. The soldiers also go theu' rounds, and 
 instead of crying the hour, like our watchmen, strike upon a 
 short tube of bamboo, which gives a dull hollow sound, that 
 for several nights prevented us from sleeping until w^e were ac- 
 customed to it. 
 
 It took us full two hours, as I before observed, in passing 
 from the eastern to the \\ estern gate of Pekm. The clouds of 
 dust, raised by the populace, m ere here much denser than on 
 the road ; and the smodiering heat of the day, the diermometer 
 in our little carts standing at 96°, was almost insuppoitable. 
 Except the great crowd, on every side, we saw little to engage 
 the attention, after the first five minutes. Indeed, a single walk 
 through one of the broad streets is quite sufficient to give a 
 stranger a^competent idea of the whole city. He will imme- 
 diately perceive that e\ery street is laid out in the same manner, 
 and every house built upon the same plan ; and that their archi- 
 tecture is void of taste, grandeur, beauty, solidity, or conve- 
 nience ; that the houses are merely tents, and that there is no- 
 thing nuignificent, even in the palace of the emperor : — but 
 we shall have occasion to speak on this subject hereafter. Ask 
 a Chinese, ho"v\"ever, what is to be, seen that is curious or great 
 in the capital, and he v\dil immediately enter upon a long 
 histor}^ of the beauties of the palace belonging to Ta- whang-tee, 
 the mighty emperor. According to his notions, every thing 
 W'ithin the palace avails is gold and silver. He will tell you of 
 gold and silver pillars, gold and silver roofs, gold and silver 
 vases, in which are swimming gold and silver fishes. All, how- 
 ever, is not gold tliat glitters in China, more than elsewhere. 
 The emperor, as I shall hereafter have occasion to notice, has 
 very little surplus revenue at his disposed, and is frequently dis- 
 tressed for money to pay his army and otlier exigencies of the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 69 
 
 state. And, though China has of late yeai's dra\m from Eu- 
 rope a considerable quantity of specie, }et, m hen this is scat- 
 tered over so vast an extent of country, and di\ided amons^ so 
 many millions of people, it becomes almost as a chop thro^\^l 
 into the sea. Most of the money, besides, that enters China, 
 is melted down, and converted into articles of liixmy or con- 
 venience. Fe^\' nations are better acquainted with the \'alue of 
 these precious metals than the Chinese ; and few, if any, can 
 surpass their ingenuity in drawing out the one into thin leaves, 
 and the other into the finest wire. 
 
 We were not a little overjoyed in finding ourselves once 
 more upon the flagged causeway, and in an open countr}-, after 
 passing a small suburb beyond the western gate of tlie cit}-. 
 They brought us to a villa, which was a kind of appendage to 
 one of tlie emperor's palaces, about eight miles beyond Pekin. 
 The buildings, consisting of a number of small detached apwt- 
 ments, straggling over a surface of gi'ound, about fifteen acres 
 in extent, were neither sufficiently numerous to lodge the suite, 
 nor to contain the presents and our baggage ; and were, moreo- 
 ver, so miserably out of repair, and in so ruinous a condition, 
 that the gi-eaterpart was wholly uninhabitable. The officers were, 
 accordingly, told that these were not accommodations suit- 
 able to the dignit}^ of a British embassador, and that he Mould 
 not, on any conside]"ation, put up with them ; that it was a 
 matter of indiflerence A\hether he was lodged m the city or the 
 country, but that the lodgings should be con^^enient and proper. 
 
 The superintending officers, upon this, caused a lai'ge teni- 
 poi'ary building to be erected \\ith poles and mats, which, as by 
 magic, was finished in the course of the night, hoping, by this 
 exertion, to ha\e removed all objections to the place. His 
 lordship, however, being determined not to remain -svherc thci'e 
 was neither a decent room, nor any kind of comfort or conveni- 
 ence, every building being entirely unfurnished, and, as I said 
 before, the gi^eater number untenantable, insisted upon being 
 removed to Pekin, where, accordingly, it M'as veiy soon an- 
 nounced there Avas a suitable house ready for his reception. 
 
 On retiu'ning to the capital we passed tlirough the great street 
 of a town called Hai-ticn, in which m.ost of the houses were of 
 two stories, and before the upper of which was a kind of ve- 
 randa, full of dwarf trees and fiower-pots. A great proportion 
 of the houses were either butchers' shops or coffin-makers. 
 From the end of tliis street was a most extensive view of Pekin 
 
70 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 and the sun'ouiiding country. The eye, from hence, took in 
 the whole length of the high straight A\'all, with its two lofiy 
 gates and numerous square towers. At each angle of the w^all 
 is a lai'ge squai^e building, rising above the jxirapet to four 
 heights or stories of port-holes, and covered \vith t^vo roofs. In 
 each roA\" of tlie four fronts are fourteen \A'indow^s or port-holes. 
 These I understood to be the rice magazines, or public grana- 
 ries. Near the north-west angle is a tall pagoda, another high 
 toAver not unlike a glass-house, and towards the higher western 
 g-ate appeai'ed the upper part of a pyramidal building that ter- 
 minated in a gilded flame, very like the summit of our monu- 
 ment, under \\hich, instead of a galleiy, was a most magnificent 
 canopy or umbrella, painted and gilt witli such brilliant 
 colours, that, from certain points of view, when the rays of the 
 Sim played upon it, the glittering appeai'ance had a veiy good 
 effect. It was said to be a temple,and seemed to be of the same 
 kind of architecture as the Shoo-ma-doo described by Col. 
 Symes in liis embassy to Ava. 
 
 We found our new lodging sufficiently large, but the apart- 
 ments were shamefully dirty, having been uninhabited for some 
 time; very much out of repair, and totally unfurnished. This 
 house, being considered as one of the best in the w hole city, I 
 shall have occasion to take notice of hereafter, in speaking of 
 the state of their architecture. It w-as built by the late Ho-poo, 
 or collector of the customs at Canton, from which situation he 
 was preferred to the collectorship of salt duties at Tien-sing ; 
 where, it seems, he was detected in embezzling the public 
 re\-enues, tlii'own into jail, and his immense property confis- 
 cated to the crown. The officers appointed to attend the em- 
 bassy told us, that when it wras proposed to the emperor for the 
 English embassador to occupy tliis house, he immediately re- 
 plied, ' ' Most certainly, you cannot refuse the temporary occu- 
 " pation of a house to the embassador of that nation which 
 *' contributed so very amply tow^ards the expence of building' 
 " it. " The inference to be drawn from such a remark is, that 
 tlie court of Pekin is a\ ell awai'e of the extortions committed 
 against foreigners at Canton. 
 
 The emperor being at this time in Tartan', w here he meant 
 to celebrate tlie festival of the anniversaiy of his birth-day, had 
 given orders that the public introduction of the British embas- 
 sador should be fixed for that day, and sliould lake place at 
 Gehol, a small town, 136 miles fromlr*ekin, where liehad alargc 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 71 
 
 jxilace, park, gardens, and a magnificent Poo-tala or temple 
 of Budha. Accordingiy, a selection was made of such pre- 
 sents as were the most portable, to be sent fon^"ards into Tai-- 
 tar}' ; aixl the embassador, ^^ ith pait of his suite, se\ cral officers 
 of tlie court, and their retinue, set out fi'oni Pekin on tlic se- 
 cond of September. Some of the gentlemen, wkh part of the 
 guard and of the servants, remained in Pokin, and Dr. Din- 
 widdie and m}'self, ^\■ith t^\■o mechanics, had apartments allotted 
 tons in the palace of Yucn-min-yuen, ^vhere the largest and 
 most ^■aluabIe of the presents were to be fitted up lor die in- 
 spection of the old emperor on his return from Tiutary. 
 
 Having iilready acquired some little knowledge of the lan- 
 guage, on the passage from England, by the assistance of two 
 Chinese priests, who had been sent by their superiors to Naples, 
 for the purpose of being instructed in the Christian religion, I 
 hoped to find this tcmporar\- banislynent less irksome, paiticu- 
 larly as I had previously stipulated with the officers belonging 
 to that palace for an unconditional lea^•e to \ i.^it the capitid 
 \vhene\er I should find it necessai-}' or proper, during the ab- 
 sence of tlie embassador ; and, it is but fair to say, thev kept 
 faith to their engagement in the strictest sense. A horse and 
 one of the little covered carts were ah\ ays at my disposal. 
 
 The gentlemen left in the city were less agreeably situated. 
 At the outer gate of their lodgings a guard \\ as stationed, with 
 orders to allow none of them to pass ; and all their proceedings 
 and mo\'ements were closel}' matched. Sometixnes the\' ^\ ere 
 a little rclie^■ed by occasional \'isits from the European mission- 
 aries ; but so suspicious were the officers of the government of 
 any communication ^\ ith these gentlemen, that they AAcre mxn- 
 riably accompanied by some of them to act as spies, notwith- 
 standing they could not comprehend one single ^\■ord that ^vas 
 exchanged in the con^•ersations they held together. A Chinese 
 has no knowledge whatsocAcr of any of the European lan- 
 guages. But he watches the actions, and even the motions of 
 the eye, and makes his report accordingly. The courts of 
 the house were constantly filled with the inferior officers of 
 go^•e^lment and their servants, all of ^vhom had some post or 
 other assigned to them, connected ^\ ith the British embassy. 
 One was the superintendant of the kitchen, another furnished 
 tea, one was appointed to supply us ^\ith fi'uit, another with 
 A egetables, and another w ith milk. 
 
72 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 During the time I should be required to reside in Yuen- 
 min-}'uen, I particularly m ished to have none other than Chi- 
 nese servants, that I might be under the necessity of extend- 
 ing the little knov.^ledge I had already acquired of the spoken 
 language. This is by no means difficult to leam, except in 
 the nice intonations or inflections of A'oice ; but the written 
 character is, perhaps, of all others, the most abstruse and 
 most perplexing, both to the eye and to the memor}-. The 
 length of time that is usually required by the Chinese, toge- 
 ther with the intense study and stretch of the memory, which 
 they find necessan^, in order to obtain a very small proportion 
 of the characters that form the language, ai^e serious obstruc- 
 tions to the progress of the arts and sciences, but favourable 
 to the stability of the government of which, indeed, the lan- 
 guage Tt\3.y be considered as one of the gi'eat bulwarks. But 
 the observations I have to make on this subject will more pro- 
 perly be resei'ved for a separate chapter. 
 
 On aiTiving at Yuen-min-yuen I found a number of Chinese 
 workmen busily employed in breaking open the packages, 
 some in one place and some in another, to the no little danger 
 of the globes, clocks, glass lustres, and such like frangible 
 articles, many of which must inevitably have suffered under 
 less careful and dexterous hands than those of the Chinese. 
 As it was intended they should be placed in one large room, 
 the great hall in \\^hich the emperor gi\'es audience to his minis- 
 ters, the first operation was to move them all thither, and cai'e- 
 fuliy to unpack them ; and we had the satisfliction to find that 
 not a single article was either missing or injured. 
 
 We had not been long here, before a gentleman appeared, 
 vvho, not^vithstanding his Chinese dress, I soon perceived to 
 be an European. He introduced himself by saying, in the 
 Latin language, that his name was Deodato, a Neapolitan mis- 
 sionary, and that the court had appointed him to act as inter- 
 preter ; hoped he might be useful to us, and offered his ser- 
 vices in the most handsome manner ; and, I have great pleasure 
 in availing myself of this opportunity to acknowledge the friend- 
 ly and unremitting attention I received from him during a resi^ 
 dence of five v/eeks in this palace, and the very material as- 
 hibtancc j-^e afforded, in explaining the nature, value, and use 
 of the several pieces of machinery to those Chinese who were 
 appointed to superintend them. Signor Deodato v\^as an ex- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 73 
 
 cellent mechanic ; aiid in tliis capacit}- was enip!o}-ed in the 
 palace, to inspect and keep in order die numberless pieces of 
 clock-^iork that had found their A\ay diither, cliiefly from 
 London. 
 
 The officer appointed to attend us wore a light blue button 
 in his cap, denoting die 4l1i degree of rank. ^V'hen he shewed 
 the apartments that \\ere designed for us, I could not forbear 
 observing to him, that they seemed litter for hogs than for hu- 
 man creatures, and that rather than be oi^liged to occupy those, 
 or any other hke them, I should, for my own part, prefer com- 
 ing down from the capital eveiy morning, and return in the 
 evening. They consisted of three or lour hovels in a small 
 court, surrounded with a wall, as high as their roofs. Each 
 room was about tW'clve feet square, the \\alls comiDletely na- 
 ked, the ceiling broken in, die rushes or stems of holcus, tliat 
 held the plaister, hanging down and strewed on the lioor ; die 
 lattice work of the windows partially covered with broken pa- 
 per ; the doors consisting of old bamboo skreens ; the floor 
 covered with dust ; and there ^^•as not the least furniture in any 
 of them, except an old table and two or three chairs in the one 
 which was intended, I suppose, for the dining-room. The 
 rest had nothing in them whatsoever, but a liuie raised plat- 
 form of brick- work, ^^'hich they told us was to sleep on, and 
 that they should coA^er it with mats, and order proper beddino- 
 to be brought upon it. Yet these miserable hovels Vvcre not 
 only within the palace wdW, but scaixely two hundred }^ards 
 from the great hall of audience. The oflicer assured us that 
 they were the apartments of one of their Ta-gin (great men) ; 
 but that, as I did not seem to like them, we should be accom- 
 modated with others. Wt \*. ere then canied a little fai'ther, 
 where there was a number of buildings upon a more extensi\^e 
 scale, enclosed also by high walls. The apartments M^re 
 somewhat larger, but miserably dirty, both within and ^^ith- 
 out, and wholly unfurnished ; but as oiu* attendant took care 
 to tell us they belonged to one of the ministers of state, and 
 that he lodged in them when the emperor \\as at Yuen-min- 
 yuen, we were precluded from further complaint. Had we 
 refused diose that w&c considered sufficient for a minister of 
 state, the man might have thought that nothing less than tlie 
 emperor's own would have satisfied us. If the menial servants 
 of his Britannic majest}^'s ministers were no better lodged than 
 the ministers themselves of his Cliinese majest}^, they would 
 
 K 
 
74, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 be r^pt to think thcmsehcs Acry ill used. We accepted them, 
 ho\vever, such as they were, and caused them to be swept out, 
 an operation which had not been performed for many months 
 before ; a table and chairs were brought in, witli mats, pillows, 
 and silken m.attrcsses ; but for these we had no occasion, hav- 
 ing l()rtiniatcly brought with us, from the ships, our own cots. 
 I'o make amends for our uncomfortable lodgings, we sat 
 down to a most excellent dinner, ^vholly prepai'ed in the Chi- 
 nese style, consisting of a vast variety of made dishes, very 
 neatly diessed, and served in porcelain bowls. The l^est soup 
 I ever tasted, in any pail of die Avorld, ^vas made here from an 
 extract of beef seasoned vvith a preparation of so}' and other in- . 
 gTcdients. Their vermicelli is excellent, and all their pastry is 
 unusually iiglit, and Vvhite as snov/. We understood it to be 
 made from the buck-wheat. The luxury of ice, in the neigh- 
 l^ourhood of the capital, is within the reach of the poorest pea- 
 scuTit ; and, although they drink their tea and other beverage 
 ■warm, they prefer all kinds of fruit when cooled on ice. 
 
 The three first days, ^vhile the articles were unpacking and 
 assorting, we remained tolerably quiet, being annoyed only 
 ^vith tl)e interference and inquisitiveness of an old eunuch, ^\ho 
 had in his ti^ain about a dozen of the same kind, simile aut se- 
 cundum. But no sooner were they taken out of their cases, 
 and set up in tlie room, than visitors of all ranks, from princes 
 of the blood to plain citizens, came dail}- to look at the pre- 
 sents, but more particularly at us, Mhom I believe tlicy consi- 
 dered by much the greatest curiosities. AH the men of letters 
 and n\nk, who held empio3'ments in the state, and "whose at- 
 tendance had been dispensed Vvith at Gehol, fiocked to Yuen- 
 jnin-yuen. 
 
 Am^ong tlie numerous \4sItors came one day, in great state, the 
 president of a boaid in Pekin, on which the Jesuits have confer- 
 red die pompous, but unmerited, title of the Tribunal of Ma- 
 thematics. He -VA'as accompanied by a Portuguese mission- 
 aiy, of the name of Go^ea, \\ ho is the titular bishop of Pe- 
 kin, Padre Antonio and his secretary, both Portuguese, and 
 all three members of the said tribunal. The particular object 
 of tlieir visit wiis to make tliemselves fully accjuainted with the 
 nature and use of the several presents that related to science, 
 and especially of the large plarietarium, which had already made 
 a: great noise in China, in order that they might be able to give 
 a pioper description and explanation to his imperial majesty, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 75 
 
 both of this instRiment, and of till the others connected A\ith 
 their department, and to answer an)' question concerning them, 
 that might be asked. 
 
 It created no sort of surprise to any of us, on fniding that the 
 Chinese, wlio accompanied tliese rc\'erend gentlemen, were 
 completely ignorant of the nature of a complicate machine, 
 whose motions, regulated by the most ingenious mechanism 
 that had ever been constructed in Europe, rej^rescnted all those, 
 even of the most irregular and eccentiic, of the heavenly bodies ; 
 nor in percei\ing that they seemed to be rather disappointed in 
 the appearance and operations of tliis instiTunent. It was ob- 
 vious, from the few questions put by the president of this learn- 
 ed bod} , that he had conceived the planetarium to be something 
 siniilai" to one of those curious pieces of musical mechanism 
 W'hich, in the Canton jargon, are called Sing-songs ; and that 
 nothing more was necessiuy than to >vind it up, like a jack, 
 when it would immediately spin round, and tell himeven^ tiling 
 that he wanted to know. 
 
 But the difficulty of making the right reverend bishop and 
 his colleagues comprehend the principles upon w Inch it Avas 
 constructed, and the se-\^eral phenomena of tlic hea>enly bodies 
 exhibited by it, con\eyed almost as bad an opinion of their 
 astronomiciil and m.athematical knowiedg-e as of that of theii- 
 president. Their prelate, ho\ve\'er, appeared to be a man of 
 mild and placid temper, pleasing manners, and of a modest 
 and unassuming deportment. His secretar}' was a keen shaip 
 fellow, exti'cmely inquisitive, and resolved not to lose tlie little 
 knowledge he miglit acquire ; for he WTOte down the answer 
 to e^"ery question that was proposed. 
 
 The follow ing da}- the bishop came, unattended by the Chi- 
 nese part of their boiu'd, and gave us some accoimt of the na- 
 ture of their employ. The astronomical part of the national 
 almanack, such as calculating eclipses, the times of the r.ew- 
 and full moon, the rising and setting of the sun, were, as he 
 informed us, entrusted to him and his colleagues ; but the 
 astrological part was managed by a committee of the Chinese 
 members. He candidly avox^ed that neither he nor any of 
 his Ein'opean brethren were well qualiiied for the t'isk, and 
 that they had been hitherto more indebted to the Connois- 
 sances des Tems, of Paris, than to their own calculations. That 
 having exactly ascertained the difference of meridians between 
 Pckin and Paris, they had little diflicult)' in reducing the r^^l- 
 
76 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 culations miule for the latter, so as to answer for the situation 
 of the former, at least to a degree of accuracy tliat \\aij sitlici- 
 cntl}' near the truth not to be detected by any of tlic Cliinese 
 members. 
 
 The French revolution, having put an end to future com- 
 munications M"ith that country, was to them a severe blow in 
 tliis respect, though the secretaiy thought he could now ma- 
 nage the ailculation of an eclipse sufficiently correct to pass 
 current with the Chinese. Fortunately, lio^Aeve'r, Doctor 
 Diiiw iddie had provided himself on leaving London with a set 
 of the nautical almanacks, calculated for tlie meridian of Green- 
 ^vich, up to the year ISOO, ^vhich they considered as an inva- 
 luable present. 
 
 The grandsons of the emperor were almost daily visitors. 
 It seems tlicre is a kind of college in the palace for their edu- 
 cation. Though }'oung men, from the age of sixteen to five- 
 and-twenty, the old eunuch used frequently to push them by 
 the shoulders out of the hail of audience ; and, on expressing 
 my sm'prise to Deodato at such insolence, he inibrmed me diat 
 he Mas their aya, their governor ! 
 
 We had also a great number of Tartar generals and military 
 officers, who had heard of sword-blades that would, cut iron- 
 bars without injuring tlie edge; and so great was their 
 astonishment on proving tlie fact, that they could scarcely 
 credit the evidence of their own eyes. We could not confer a 
 more acceptable present on a militaiy officer than one of Gill's 
 sword-blades ; and from the eager applications made for them, 
 as we passed through the country, the introduction of them, 
 through Canton, in the regulai' course of trade, v.ould, I should 
 suppose, be no difficult task. 
 
 But the tA\'o elegant caniages made by Hatchett puzzled the 
 Chinese more than any of the other presents. Nothing of the 
 kind had ever been seen at the capital ; and the disputes among 
 themselves, as to the pait which v.as intended for die seat of the 
 emperor, were whimsiccd enough. The hammer-cloth, that 
 covered the box of the winter carnage, had a smart edging, 
 and was ornamented ^\'ith festoons of roses. Its splendid ap- 
 pearance and elevated situation determined it at once, in the 
 opinion of the majority, to be the emperor's seat ; but a diffi- 
 culty arose ho"\v to appropriate the inside of the caniage. 
 They examined the windows, the blinds, and the skreens, iind 
 at last concluded, tliat it could be for nobody but his ladies. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINx\. 77 
 
 The old eunuch came to me for information ; and whew he 
 learned that the hnc elevated box \\ as to be tlie sait of his man, 
 who m.anaged the horses, and that the emperor's place Avas 
 within, he asked me, with a sneer, if I supposed the Ta- 
 A\hang-tee vvould sulier any man to sit higher than himself, and 
 to turn his back towards him '? And he wished to know if we 
 could not contrive to have the coach- box removed and placed 
 somewhere behind d\C body of tlie coi-riage. 
 
 A remai'kable circumstance, not easily to be accounted for, 
 occurred in opening a case of Birmingham hiud'.\ ai-e. Every 
 one knows the necessity of excluding the sea-air, as much as 
 possible, from highl}- polished aiticlcs of iron imCi steel ; and, 
 accordingly, all such laticles, intended to be sent abroad, are 
 packed with die greatest care. The casks, or cases, are made 
 as tight as possible, and covered widi pitched crjivas. Such 
 was the cask in question. Yet, \vhen the head \\as taken oti, 
 and a fe^v of the packages removed, an enormously large scor- 
 pion was found in the midst of tlie cask, nearly inatorbid 
 state ; but it cjuickly recovered on exposure to the warai aii*. 
 
 " The thing-, we know, is neither rich nor rare ; 
 " But wonder how the devil it got there !" 
 
 Among die presents cai'ried into Tartar}^ \\-as a collection of 
 prints, chiefly porti'aits of English nobility and distinguished 
 persons ; and to make die present more acceptable, they were 
 bound up in three \ olumes in yello\v morocco. The emperor 
 ^\"as so pleased with this collection, that he sent it express to 
 Yuen-min-yuen to have the name, rank, and ofHce, of each 
 portrait, translated into the Mimtchoo and Chinese languag-es. 
 The Tartar writer got on pretty \\ell ; but the Chinese se- 
 cretar}' was not a little puzzled with the B, the D, and die R, 
 that so frequently recurred in the English names. The Duke 
 of Marlborough was Too-ke Ma-ul-po-loo, and Bedford was 
 transformed to Pe-te-fo-ul-te. But here a more serious diffi- 
 culty occurred than that of WTiting the name. The nink was 
 also to be written down ; and on coming to the portrait of this 
 nobleman, (which was a proof- impression of the print, en- 
 graved from a picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds, when the late 
 Duke of Bedford was a youth) I told the Chinese to write him 
 down a Ta-gin, or great man of the second order. He in- 
 stantly obser\ed that I surely meant his father w^as a Ta-gin« 
 I then explained to liim that, according to our laws, the son 
 
78 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 succeeded to the rank of the father, and that \^ith us it \\'as by 
 no means necessLuy, in order to obtain the first rank in the 
 country, that a man should be of a certiiin age, be possessed 
 of su}X'rior talents, or suitable Cjualificaticns ; that these M'ere 
 sometimes conduciAe to hii^h honours, yet, that a great part of 
 the legislati\-e bod\' of the nution -were entitled to tlieir rank and 
 situation by birth. They laughed heartily at the idea of a man 
 being born a legislator, when it required so many yeai's of close 
 application to enable one of their countrymen to pass liis exami- 
 nation for the very lowest order of state-officers. As, however, 
 the descendants of Confucius continue to enjoy a sort of nominal 
 rank, and as their emperor can also confer an hereditary- dignit}', 
 without entitling to office, emolument, or exclusive privilege, 
 they considered his grace might be one of tliis description, 
 and vrrote do^Mi his rank accordingly ; but they positively re- 
 fused to give him the title of Ta-gin, or great man ; asking 
 me, if I tliought their emperor vras so stupid as not to know 
 the impossibility of a little bo}^ haA-ing attiuned the rank of a 
 gi'cat man. 
 
 About the 14th of September, or three days before the em- 
 peror's birth-day, Padre Anselmo, the procurator for the mis- 
 sion De Propagande Fide, delivered me letters from Macao for 
 the embassador, which the Ciiinese refused to send to Gehol, 
 though daily expresses \\'ent to and from tliat place. Anselmo 
 hinted to me that the late \iceroy of Canton, who w^s no friend 
 to the English, had arrived ; and that he feared all Avas not 
 riglit. That the Taitar legate had been degraded from his rank 
 for deceiving the emperor, and particularly for not paying his 
 personal respects to the embassiidor on board his ship -vvhen in 
 Tien-sing roads. That the peacock's feather, \vhich he wore 
 in his cap, as a mark of his master's favour, vvas exchanged for 
 a crov\''s tail, the sign of great disgrace, and that the considera- 
 tion of his age and family had alone saved him from banish- 
 ment. The emperor, it seems, having heaixl that the embas- 
 sador had his picture in his cabin, on board the Lion, asked 
 the legate whether it was like him ; upon which it came out 
 diat he had never been near the Lion, as his orders directed 
 him. 
 
 On the 17th, being the emperor's birth-day, all the princes 
 and officers about the piilace assembled, in their robes of cere- 
 mony, to make their obeisance to the throrie in the great 
 hall of audience. On tliis occasion, were placed on the floor, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 79 
 
 before the throne, on three small tripocls, a cup of tea, of oil, 
 and of rice, perhaps as an ackno\\ lodgment of the emperor l)c- 
 ing the proprietary^ of the soil, of whicli these ai-e three material 
 products. The old eunuch told me that I mij^ht remain iu 
 the hall during the ceremony, if I would consent to perform it 
 with them, ai^d oflered to instruct me in it. He said that iill 
 the officers of government, in e^•ery part of the empire, made 
 their prostrations to tlie name of the emperor, inscrilicd on yel- 
 low silk, on that day. 
 
 Two da3's after this, on going as Usual in the morning to 
 the hall of audience, I found the doors shut, and the old eunuch, 
 Vvho kept the keys, walking about, in so sullen a mood, that 
 I could not get from him a single word. Difterent groupes 
 of officers were assembled in tlie court-yard, all looking as if 
 something very dreadful either had occurred, or ^vas about 
 to happen. Nobody Avould sjXiak to me ; nor could 1 get the 
 least explanation of this extraordinary conduct, till at length 
 our friend Deodato appe:\red, "\i ith a countenance no less 
 v/oful than those 'of tlie officers of govcniment, imd the old 
 eunuch. 1 asked him what \vas the matter ? His ansAver was, 
 We are all lost, ruined, and undone ! He then inibrmed me 
 that intelligence had aiTi\ed from Gehol, stilting, tiiat Lord 
 Macai'tney had refused to comply \\ith the ceremonv of pro- 
 strating himself, like the embassadors of tributary princes, 
 nine times before the emperor, unless one of equal rank with 
 himself should go through the same ceremony before the 
 portrait of his Britannic majesty : that, rather than do diis, tliey 
 had accepted his ofier to perform die same ceremony of 
 respect to the emperor as to his own so\'ereign; that, altliough 
 little was thought of this afiliir at Gehol, the great offieers'of 
 state, in die tribunal or dcpaitment of ceremonies in Pekin, 
 AAcre mortified, and peii^lexed, and alarmed; and that, in 
 short, it ^\'as impossible to say what might be the consequence 
 of an event uriprecedented in the annals of the empire ; that 
 the emperor, Avhen he beg-an to think more seriously on the 
 subject, might jiossibly impeach those, before the criminal 
 tribunal, Avho had advised him to accede to such a proposal, 
 on reflecting how much his dignity had suffered by the com- 
 pliance ; and that the records of the countiy might hand it 
 dov.n to postei'it}-, as an event that had tarnislied the lustre of 
 his reign, being nodiing short of breaking through an ancient 
 custem, and adopting one of a barbai'ous nation in its place. 
 
80 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Decdato thought eren that its ill efTtcts might extend to them, 
 as Europeans, and might injure the cause v.hich was the first 
 object of their mission. 
 
 1 found it in vain to put into good humour that day either 
 the ofilccrs of the government, or the eunuchs, or even the mis- 
 sionaries ; and our table wds very materially affected by it, 
 both in the number -and the quality of dishes ; — a criterion 
 from which, more than any other, a judgment may be formed 
 of the state of mind in -which a Chinese happens to be. 
 Something of the same kind, it seems, occurred at Gehol. 
 From the time the embassador began to make conditions, his 
 table was abridged, under an idea, that he might be starved 
 into an unconditional complirjice. Finding this experiment 
 fail, they had recourse to a difierent conduct, and became all 
 kindness and comaplaisance. 
 
 The ill-humour, occasioned by the news from Gehol, 
 rraduaily wore off, but I obserA-ed that the princes, W'ho had 
 been hitlierto daily visitors, novr kept entirely away ; and 
 the old eunuch, when put out of his way, used to apply to us 
 the epithet of proud, headstrong Englishmen. 
 
 Oil the 26th the embassador (during whose stay at Gehol, 
 in Taitaiy, an account of all that passed there is gi^ en in Sii* 
 George Staimton's book) returned to Pekin, when the re- 
 mainder of the presents were sent to Yuen-min-yuen. A 
 number of Tartiir princes and great ofiicers of state came to 
 look at those fitted up in the hall of audience, and seemed 
 extremely solicitous that the whole sliould be got ready with- 
 out dela}-. Notice was also given that, on the 30th, the 
 emperor would inspect the presents. Tliis \vas the da)- fixed 
 for Ills retuni ; and it v.as notified to tlie embassador that it 
 was an usual compliment for all public officers to meet him on 
 the road, at the distance of ten ortv.'clve miles from the capital. 
 Accordingly, about four o'clock in the morning of the 30th, 
 we were ail mounted, and arrived at our gi'ound about six. 
 The V. hole road had been newly made, rolled as level as a 
 bowling green, watered to keep down the dust, and, on each 
 side, at'^the distance of about fifty jardsfrom each other, were 
 small triangulai' poles erected, fi-om which were suspended 
 pairited lanterns. 
 
 They bronghtus into a kind of guard-house, v. here tea and 
 other refreshment, were prepared, after which we took our 
 station an a high bank on the left of the road. On each side, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 81 
 
 as far as the eye could reach, were sevei-al thousands of the 
 great officers of state, in their habits of ceremony ; Tai'tiir 
 troops in their hohda}- dresses ; standaid-beai-ers without num- 
 ber, military music, and officers of the household, lining die 
 two sides of the road. The approach of the emperor w as an- 
 nounced by a blast of the trumpet, followed b}* softer music, 
 *' and at diat time, when all the j^eople hciird the sound of the 
 ** comet, ffiites, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, 
 *' then the princes, the govemors, and captains, the judges, 
 " the treasurers, the counsellors, die sheriffs, and all the rulers 
 " of the proA'inces, that were gathered together fell down, and 
 *' worshipped;" except ceilain strangers, who, being obsti- 
 nately resohed to do no greater homage to any so^■ereign than 
 what is required by their own so\ereign, bent one knee only 
 to the ground. 
 
 The emperor was carried, by eight men, in a kind of sedan 
 chair, which \\"as followed by a climisy state chariot upon t^\c) 
 wheels, and widiout spruigs. He bowed verj- gi-aciousl}' to 
 tlie embassador as he passed, and sent a message to him to 
 say, that, understanding he >\-as not \ve\\, he advised him to 
 return immediately to Pekin, and not to stop at Yuen-miii- 
 yuen, as was intended. 
 
 The morning being ver}^ cold, we were desirous to get 
 home as fast as we could; and accordingly galloped along with 
 some of die Tartar cavalr)\ When we aiTi\-ed under the, walls 
 of Pekin, we turned our horses to^\ards a different gate to that 
 through Avhich we were accustomed to pass, in order to see a 
 litde more of the cit}'. But one of our conductors, who had 
 diought it liis duty not to lose sight of us, in perceiving us 
 making a WTong turn, hallowed out w ith all his might. We 
 pushed forwai'd, liowe\er, and got tlirough the gate ; but \\e 
 were pursued with such a hue and cr}-, that we were glad to 
 escape through one of die cross-streets leading to our hotel, 
 ^vhere we arrived with at least a hundred soldiers at our 
 keels. 
 
 On the first of October, the emperor, attended by a Tartaj-, 
 inspected the presents in the hall of audience and examined 
 them with minute attention. He desired the T:irtir prince to 
 tell us, through Deodato, that the accounts he had received of 
 our good conduct at Yuen-min-yuen gave him great pleasure, 
 and tliat he had ordered a present to be made to each of us, 
 as a proof of his entire satisfaction. This present Avas brought, 
 
S2 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 after his departure from the hall, by the old eunuch, who took 
 care to tell us that before we received it we must make nine 
 prostrations according to the Chinese custom. I made him 
 no answer, but requested Deodato to explain to the Taitar 
 prince, who "was still present, that, being under the orders of 
 the embassador, -vve chd not think ourselves autliorized to do 
 what lie had found good to refuse, but tliat we had not the 
 least objection to go tlirough the same ceremony that he had 
 done at Geliol. The Tailai' prince immediately ans^iered that 
 nothing further w-as required. We, accordingly, placed one 
 knee on the lo^vest step leading to the throne. The present 
 consisted of rolls of silk, and sca eral pieces of silver cast in 
 the form of a Tartar shoe, without any mark or inscription on 
 them, and each about the weight of an ounce. 
 
 The presents being nov/ all delivered, and tlie embassador 
 informed by the missionaries that preparations were mak- 
 ing for our departure, the usual time being nearly expired, 
 his excellency was desirous of having the day fixed; and for 
 this purpose dispatched a note to tlie first minister, who sent 
 an answer by the Tartar legate to inform him that, to prevent 
 any likelihood of being surprised by the approaching bad 
 weather, tlie emperor had named the 7th instant for die be- 
 ginning of our journey ; and had given orders that every 
 honour and distinction should be paid to the embassy on the 
 road. 
 
 But before I quit these renowned gai'dens of Yuen-min-yuen, 
 it will naturally be expected I should say something on their 
 subject. From all that I had hemxl and read of the grandeur 
 and beauty of the scenery and the magnificence of the palaces, 
 I had certainly expected to meet with a style of gardening and 
 la}'ing out of grounds superior, or at least equal, to any thing 
 in the same line in Europe ; and, perhaps, indeed, I might 
 have been fully gratified in all my expectations, provided no 
 -resti'aint had been tlirown upon our walks, which was far fi^om 
 being the case. All the little excursions I made were by 
 stealth. Even in the short distance between the hall of au- 
 dience and our lodgings, which might be about three hundred 
 paces, we were continually watched. The idea of being 
 stopped by an eunuch, or some of the inferior officers belong- 
 ing to the court, was sufficient to put us on our guard against 
 meetmg with any such mortification ; pride, in such circum- 
 stances, generally gets the better of the desire, however strong, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 83 
 
 of gratifying curiosity. I sometimes, ho'wever, A-entiired to-, 
 stroll from our lodging in the evening, in order to take a stolen 
 glance at these celebrated ^dens. 
 
 The grounds of Yuen-min-yuen are calculated to compre- 
 hend an extent of at least ten English miles in diameter, or 
 about sixty thousand acres, a great part of A\hich, howe^'er, 
 is \\-astes and ^^•oodland. The general appeai^ance of those 
 parts near ^\•hcre ^ye lodged, as to tlie natural siuface of the 
 coiintr}^, broken into hill and dale, and di\'ersified ^\"ith wood 
 and lawn, may be compared w'lXh Richmond park, to which, 
 however, they add the \'ery great advantage of abundance of 
 canals, rivers and large sheets of water, whose banks, although 
 artificial, are neither trimmed, nor shorn, nor sloped like the 
 glacis of a fortification, but have been tliroAvn up with im- 
 mense labour in an in-egular and, as it were, fortuitous man- ' 
 ner, so as to represent the free hand of nature. Bold rocky 
 promontories are seen jutting into a lake, and \'allics retiring, 
 some choaked ^^■ith \\ood, odiers in a state of high culti\'ation. 
 In particular spots, where pleasure-houses, or places of rest 
 or retirement, were erected, the views appcai'ed to ha"\e been 
 studied. The trees were not only placed according to their 
 magnitudes, but the tints of their foliage seemed also to have 
 been considered in the composition of the pictin-e, \\hich 
 some of the landscapes might be called, with gi^eat propriety. 
 But, if an opinion may be formed from those parts of them 
 which I have seen, and I understood there is a great similarity 
 throughout the whole, they fall very short of the fanciful and 
 extravagant descriptions that Sir William Chambers has given 
 of Chinese gardening. Much, however, has been done; and 
 nothing that I saw could be considered as an offence to na- 
 ture. 
 
 Thirty distinct places of residence for the emperor, \\ith all 
 the necessary appendages of building to each, for lodging tlie 
 several officers of state, who are required to be present on 
 court days imd particular occasions, for the eunuchs, servants, 
 and artificers, each composing a \'illage of no inconsiderable 
 magnitude, are said to be contained within the inclosure of 
 these gardens. These assemblages of buildings, wliich they 
 dignify M'ith the name of palaces, are, however, of such a na- 
 ture as to be more remarkable for their number than for their 
 splendour or magnificence. A great proportion of the buildings 
 consists in mean cottages. The -s'ery dwelling of tlie emperor, 
 
8* TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 and the grand hall in which he gives audience, when divested 
 of the gilding and the gaud}' coloiu's \nth which they are daub- 
 ed, ai'e little superior, and much tess solid, than the bams of 
 a substantial English farmer. Their aptutments are as defi- 
 cient in proportion as their construction is ^ oid of ever}^ rule 
 and principle which we are apt to consider as essential to ar- 
 chitecture. The principal hall of audience at Yuen-min-yuen 
 stood upon a platform of granite, raised about four feet above 
 the level of the court. A row of large \\'ooden columns, sur- 
 rounding tlic building, suppoited the projecting roof; and a 
 second row within the first, and corresponding ^^•ith it (the in- 
 terstices between the columns being filled up with brick- work, 
 to the height of about four feet) served for die walls of the 
 room. The upper part of these walls was a kind of lattice- 
 ' \\-ork, co^'ered over with lai-ge sheets of oiled paper, and was 
 capable of being tlirown entirely open upon public occasions. 
 The wooden columns had no capitals, and the only architrave 
 was the horizontal beam that supported the rafters of the roof. 
 This, in direct conti-adiction to the established mode in Euro- 
 pean architecture, was the uppermost member of what might 
 be called the entablature, or tiize, v. hich was a broad skreen 
 of wood, fastened between the upper part of the columns, 
 painted with tlie most vivid colours of blue, red, and green, and 
 interlarded with gilding ; and the whole had net- work of \\ire 
 stretched over it, to prevent its being defiled by swallows, and 
 other birds frequenting human dwellings. The length of this 
 room within was one hundred and ten feet, breadth forty-two, 
 and height twenty feet: the ceiling painted with circles, 
 squares, and polygons, Avhimsically disposed, and loaded with 
 a great variety of colours. The floor Avas paved widi grey 
 marble fiag-stones, laid chequer-Avise. The throne, placed in 
 a recess, was supported by ro^^-^s of pillai's painted red, like 
 those v^■ithout. It consisted entirel}^ of wood, not unlike ma- 
 hogany, the cai"\'ing of which vi^as exquisitely fine. The only 
 furniture was a pair of brass kettle-drums, two large paintings, 
 two pair of ancient blue porcelain vases, a few volumes of ma- 
 nuscripts, and a table at one end of the roqm, on which was 
 placed an old English chiming- clock, made in the seventeenth 
 century, by one Clarke of Leadenhall-sti-eet, and which our 
 old friend the eunuch had the impudence to tell us A\-as the 
 w crkmanship of a Chinese. A pair of circular fans, made of 
 the A^dng-feathers of the Argus pheastmt, and mounted on long 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 85 
 
 polished ebony poles, stood one on each side of tlie dirone, 
 over ^vhich \\as wiitten in four chai-acters, " true, great, rc- 
 " fulgent, splendor; and under these, in a lozenge, the cha- 
 racter of Happiness. In the different courts were several 
 miserable attempts at sculpture, and some bronze figures, but 
 all the objects were fanciful, distorted, and entirely out of na- 
 ture. The only specimen of workmanship about the palace, 
 that would bear a close examination, besides the carving of 
 tlie throne, was a brick wall, enclosing the flower garden, 
 which, perhaps, in no respect is exceeded by any thing of the 
 sort in England. 
 
 With regard to the architecture and gardening of the Chi- 
 nese, it may be expected that I should give a more detailed 
 description, or offer some opinion on those subjects. The little 
 I ha\e to sa}- on the former a\ ill be reser\ed for another place ; 
 and, with respect to the latter, I regret tliat I had not an oppor- 
 tunity of seeing so much as I could have wished, and particu- 
 iiirl}^ the emperor's great pai-k at Gehol, which, from the de- 
 scription of the embassador, seemed to be iilmost unri\'alled for 
 its features of beauty, sublimity, and amenity. But my own 
 deficiency will be amply filled up with an extract or two fi'om 
 die journal of his lordship, whose taste and skill in landscape- 
 gardening arc so well knonn. I have, indeed, much to re- 
 gret that I could not enrich tlie present A\ork with more ex- 
 tracts from it ; but as it makes a complete picture of itself, the 
 partial selection of detached parts might ha\e been injurious to 
 it, by conveying ^\Tong impressions, when unconnected m it!i 
 the rest. I am, therefore, the more obliged (and gladly em- 
 brace this opportunity of expressing the obligations I feel) to 
 hisilordship, for ^\•hat little he has allow ed me to transcribe. 
 
 Speaking of the route jfrom Pekin to Gehol in Taitaiy, 
 Lord Macarfney observes : " Our jouniey, upon the whole, 
 *' has been veiy pleasant, and, being divided into se\en days, 
 " not at all fatiguing. At the end of every stage we have 
 *' been lodged and enteitained in the wings or houses adjoin- 
 " ing to the emperor's palaces. These jjLilaces, which occur 
 *' at short distances from each other on tlie road, have been 
 *' built for his reception, on his annual visit to Taitaiy. They 
 " are constructed upon nearly the same plan, and in the same 
 " taste. They front the soutli, and are usually situated on ir- 
 '* regular ground near the bases of gentle hills \\'liicli, together 
 " with their adjoining vallies, are enclosed by high M'alls, and 
 
86 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " laid out in parks and pleasure grounds, with ever}'- possible 
 *' attention to picturesque beaut)'. Whenever water can be 
 " brought into tlie vicAv, it is not neglected ; the distant hills 
 " are planted, cultivated, or left naked, according to their ac- 
 *' compimimcnts in the prospect. The wall is often concealed 
 " in a sunk fence, in order to give an idea of greater extent. 
 " A Chinese gardener is the painter of nature ; and though 
 " totally ignorant of perspective, as a science, produces the 
 *' happiest effects by the management, or radier pencilling, of 
 *' distances, if I may use the expression, by relieving or keep- 
 " ing down the features of the scene, by contrasting trees of a 
 " bright with those of a dusky foliage, by bringing them for- 
 " ward, or throAving them back, according to their bulk and 
 " their figure, and by introducing buildings of different di- 
 *' mcnsions, either heightened by strong colouring, or softened 
 *' by simplicity and omission of ornament. 
 
 " The emperor having been infonned that, in the course of 
 *' our tra\'els in China, w& had shewn a strong desire of seeing 
 *' every thing curious and interesting, was pleased to give di- 
 *' rections to the first minister to shew us his park or garden 
 " at Gehol. It is called, in Chinese, Van-shoo-yuen, or Pa- 
 *' radise of ten thousand (or innumerable) trees. In Order to 
 *' ha\'e this gratification (\A'hich is considered as an instance of 
 *' uncommon favour) we rose this morning at tliree o'clock, 
 ** and went to the palace, where we waited, mixed with all the 
 " great officers of state, for tliree hours, (such is the etiquette 
 " of the place) till the emperor's appearance. At last he came 
 *' forth, borne in the usual manner, by sixteen persons, on a 
 " high open palankeen, attended by guards, music, standards, 
 " and umbrellas without number ; and observing us, as we 
 " stood in the front line, gi'aciously beckoned us to approach, 
 *' having ordered his people to stop. He entered Into conver- 
 *' sation with us ; and, with great affability of manner, told us 
 *' that he was on his way to the pagoda, where he usually 
 *' paid his- morning devotions; that as we professed a different 
 " religion from his, he would not ask us to accompany him ; 
 *' but that he had ordered his first minister and chief colaos 
 *' to conduct us through his garden, and to shew uswhatev^er 
 " we were desirous of seeing there, 
 
 " Having expressed my sense of this mark of his condescen- 
 " sion in the proper manner, and my increasing admiration of 
 " every thing I had yet obsen'ed at Gehol, I retired, and. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 87 
 
 ** whilst lie proceeded to his adorations at the pagoda, I ac- 
 " companied the ministers, and odicr great coluos of the 
 *' comt, to a pavilion prepai'ed for us, from whence, after a 
 *' short collation, we set out on horseback to view tliis won- 
 *' derful gaixlen. We rode about three miles through a very 
 *' beautiful park, kept in die highest order, and much resem- 
 *' bling the approach to Luton in Bedfordshire ; the grounds 
 *' gently undulated and chequered with \arious groupes of well 
 *' contrasted trees in the offskip. As we moved onward, aii 
 " extensive lake appeared before us, the extremities of which 
 " seemed to lose themseh'es in distajice and obscurit}-. Here 
 " was a large and magnificent yacht read}- to receive us, and 
 " a number of smaller ones for the attendants, elegantly fitted 
 " up and adorned with numberless vanes, pendants, and 
 *' sti-eamers. The shores of the lake have all die varieties of 
 " sliape, Avhich the fancy of a painter can delineate ; and are 
 *' so indented with bays, or broken widi projections, that al- 
 " most every stroke of the oai- brought a new and unexpected 
 *' object to our view. Nor ai-e islands wanting; butthev arc 
 " situated only w here they should be, each in its proper place, 
 " and having its proper chai'acter : one mai"ked b}- a pagoda, 
 *' or other building; one quite destitute of oniamertt; some 
 *' smooth and IcacI; some steep and uneven; and odiers 
 *' fro-\vning with A\"ocd, or smiling A\ith culture. \Vhere any 
 " things piuticularly interesting were to be seen we disem- 
 " barked, from time to time, to visit them, and I dare sav 
 " that, in the course of our \oyage, we stopped at fortv* or 
 *' fift}' different palaces or pavilions. These are all furnished 
 " in the richest manner, with pictures of the emperor's hunt- 
 *' higs and progresses, widi stupendous vases of jasper and 
 *' agate; with the finest porcelain and japan, and with eveiy 
 *' kind of European toys and sing-songs; with spheres, one- 
 *' ries, clocks, and musical automatons, of such exquisite 
 " workmansliip, and in such profusion, that our presents 
 *' must shrink from the comparison, and hide their diminish- 
 *' ed heads ; and yet I am told, that the fine tilings which we 
 " have seen are far exceeded by others of the same kind in 
 " die apartments of the ladies, and in the European repository 
 *' at Yuen-min-yuen. In every one of die pavilions was a 
 *' throne, of imperial state, and a Eu-jou, or symbol of peace 
 '* and prosperity, placed at one side of it, resembling that 
 " wliich the emperor delivered to me yesterday for the king. 
 
88 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 *' It would be an endless task, A\ere I to attempt a detail of 
 all the wonders of this charming place. There is no beauty 
 of distribution, no feature of amenity, no reach of fancy, 
 \\ hich embellishes our pleasure grounds in England, that is 
 not to be found here. Had China been accessible to Mr. 
 Bro\vne or Mr. Hamilton, I should have sworn they had 
 drawn their happiest ideas from the rich sources M'hich I 
 have tasted diis day ; for, in the course of a few hours, I 
 have enj0}'ed such vicissitudes of rural delight, as I did not 
 conceive could be felt out of England ; being at different 
 moments enchanted by scenes periectly similai' to those I 
 had known there, to the magnificence of Stowe, the softer 
 beauties of A^'^ooburn, imd the faiiy-land of Paine's Hill. 
 " One thing I ^vas particuku'ly struck with; I mean the 
 happy choice of situation for ornamental buildings. From 
 attention to this circumstance they have not the air of being 
 cro^\clcd or disproportioned ; they never intrude upon the 
 e}-e ; but, w herc\'er they appear, ahva}^s shew themselves to 
 advantage, and aid, improve, and enliven the prospect. 
 " In many places the lake is overspread wdth the nenuphar 
 or lotus (nelumbian) resembling our broad-leaved water-lily. 
 This is an accompaniment \vhich, though the Chinese are 
 passionately fond of, cultivating it in all their pieces of water, 
 I confess I don't much admire. Artificial rocks and ponds, 
 Avith gold and silver fish, ai'C, perhaps, too often introduced ; 
 and the monstrous porcelain figures of lions and tygers, 
 usuallv placed before the pavilions, are displeasing to an Eu- 
 ropean eye ; but these ai'C trifles of no great moment ; and 
 I am astonished that now, after a six hours critical survey of 
 these gardens, I can scaixely recollect any thing besides to 
 find fault witli. 
 
 " At our taking leave of the minister, he told us that we had 
 only seen the eastern side of the gardens, but that the west- 
 em side, V, hich was the largest part, still remained for him 
 to shew us ; and that he should have that pleasure another 
 
 day. 
 
 " Accordingly, on the day of the emperor's anniversary fes- 
 tival, alter the' ceremony \\as ended, the first or great colao 
 Ho-chun-tong, the Foo-leou, the Foo-leou's brother Foo- 
 chan-tong, an'd Song-ta-gin, w ith the other gi-eat men who 
 attended us two days since, in our visit to the eastern gar- 
 den, now proposed' to accompany us to the Avestem, \\hich 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 89 
 
 *' forms a strong contrast with the other, and exhibits all the 
 " sublimer beauties of nature, in as high a degree as the part 
 " which we saw before possesses the attractions of softness 
 *' and amenit3\ It is one of the finest forest-scenes in the 
 *' world; Avild, ^^'Oody, mountiiinous and rock}-, abounding 
 " with stags and deer of different species, and most of the 
 " other beasts of the chace, not dangerous to man. 
 
 " In many places immense woods, chiefly oaks, pines, and 
 " chesnuts, gi-ow upon almost perpendicular steeps, and force 
 *' their sturdy roots through csery resistance of surface and of 
 " soil, \\here vegetation would seem almost impossible. These 
 " woods often clamber o^er the loftiest pinnacles of the stony 
 *' hills, or, gathering on the skirts of tliem, descend with a rapid 
 " sweep, and bury themsehes in the deepest ^'alleys. There, 
 *' at proper distances, you find piilaces, banqueting houses, 
 " and monasteries, (but without bonzes) adapted to the situa- 
 " tion and peculiar circumstances of the place, sometimes widi 
 ** a rivulet on one hand, gently stealing through the glade, at 
 " others ^^■id^ a cataract tumbling from above, raging ^^'ith foam, 
 " and rebounding with a thousand echoes from below^ or si- 
 " lently engul^hed in a gloomy pool or jawning chasm. 
 
 *' The roads by which we approached these romantic scenes 
 *' are often hewn out of the living rock, and conducted round 
 ** the hills in a kind of rugged stair-case ; and yet no accident 
 " occuiTcd in our progress, not a false step disturbed the rc- 
 *' gularity of our cavalcade, though the horses ai*e spirited, 
 " and all of them unshod. From the gi'eat irregulaiit}- of 
 " the ground, and the various heights to which we ascended, 
 " we had opportunities of catching niiuiy magnificent points of 
 " view by detached glances ; but, after wandering for se\'eral 
 *' hours (and yet ne\^er \\'earied \\dth wandering), vre at last 
 " reached a covered pavilion, open on all sides, and situated 
 " on a summit so elevated as perfectly to command the ^\hole 
 " surrounding countiy, to a vast extent. The radius of tlie ho- 
 *' rizon I should suppose to be at least twenty mUes from the 
 *' central spot where we stood ; and, certainly, so rich, so 
 *' various, so beautiful, so sublime a prospect, my eyes had 
 " never beheld. I saw every thing before me as on an illumi- 
 *' nated map ; palaces, pagodas, towns, villages, farm-houses, 
 " plains, and valleys, watered by innumerable streams, hills 
 *' waiving whh woods, and meadows covered w ith cattle of the 
 "most beautiful maj'ks and colours. All seemed to be neaily 
 
 u 
 
90 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " at mv feet, and that a step would convey me within reach of 
 " them. 
 
 " I obsen'ed here a vast number of what we call in Eng- 
 " land sheet cows, also sheet horses, many pyeballs, dappled, 
 *' mottled, and spotted, the latter chiefly strawberr}^ 
 
 *' From hence Mas pouited out to us by the muiister a vast 
 *' enclosure below, ^\■hich, he said, was not more accessible to 
 " him than to us, being never entered but by the emperor, his 
 " women, or his eunuchs. It includes within its bounds, 
 *' though on a smaller scale, most of the beauties -which dis- 
 *' tinguish the eastern and the western gardens which we have 
 *' already seen; but, from everj^ thing 1 can leani, it falls very 
 *' short of the fanciful descriptions which Father Attiret and Sir 
 *' William Chambers have intruded upon us as realities. That 
 " within these private retreats, various entertainments, of 
 " the most novel and expensive nature, are prepared and 
 *' exhibited by the eunuchs, who are very numerous (perhaps 
 " some thousands), to amuse the emperor and his ladies, I 
 *' have no doubt ; but that they ai'C carried to all the lengths 
 *' of extraA^agance and improbability those gentlemen have 
 " mentioned, I ^er}^ much question, as, from^ery enquiry I 
 " have made (and I have not been sparing to make them), I 
 " liaA'C by no means sufficient reason to w'arrant me in acced- 
 *' ing to, or confiiTning, tlie accounts which they have given 
 *' us. 
 
 " If any place in England can be said, in any respect, to 
 *' have similar features to the western pai"k, which I have seen 
 " this day, it is Lo\vther-Hall in AVestmoreland, which, ( wlien 
 " I knew it many years ago) from the extent of prospect, the 
 *' grand surrounding objects, the noble situation, the diversity 
 " of surface, the extensive woods, and command of M-ater, 
 *' I thought might be rendered, by a man of sense, spirit, and 
 " taste, the finest scene in the British dominions." 
 
 After this descriptive and interesting detail of the beauties 
 of the tMo sides of the imperial park or gai'dens at Gehol, his 
 lordsliip makes a few genei-al observations on Chinese garden- 
 ingj and the ornamental edifices tliat are usually employed to 
 aid the effect, as well as contiibute to use and convenience. 
 He observes, 
 
 " W^hetlier our st}^le of gardening was really copied from 
 " the Chinese, or originated with ourselves, I leave for vanity 
 *' to assert, and idleness to discuss, A discovery wliich is the' 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. §i 
 
 ** result of good sense and reflexion may equally occur to 
 " tlie most distant nations, without eidier boiTowing from the 
 " other. There is certainly a great analogy between our gar- 
 *' dening and the Chinese; but our excellence seems to b« 
 " rather in improving nature, theirs to conquer her, and yet 
 *' produce the same effett. It is indift'erent to a Chinese \\herc 
 *' he makes his gaixlen, whether on a spot fa\ ourcd, or aban- 
 " doned, by the rural deities. If the latter, he invites them, or 
 *' compels them to return. His point is to change e\ery thing 
 *' from what he found it, to explode the old fashion of the crca- 
 *' tion, and introduce noA'clty in ever}- corner. If there be a 
 *' waste, he adorns it with trees ; if a dry desert, he waters it 
 *' with a river, or floats it ^^•ith a lake. If there be a smooth flat, 
 *' he varies it with all possible conversions, He undulates the 
 *' surface, he raises it in hills, scoops it into valleys, and rough- 
 *' ens it with rocks. He softens asperities, brings amenity in- 
 " to tlie wilderness, or animates the tameness of an expanse, by 
 *' accompan}ing it with the majesty of a forest. Deceptions 
 *' and eye-traps the Chinese are not unacquainted \\ ith, but 
 *' diey use them \'er}' sparingly. I observed no artiflciiil ruins, 
 ** caves, or hermitages. Though the sublime predominates in 
 *' its proper station, you ai"e insensibly led to contemplate it, 
 *' notstai'tled by its sudden intrusion; for, in the plan, chcer- 
 *' fulness is the principal feature, and lights up the face of the 
 " scene. To enliven it still more, the aid of architecture is 
 " invited ; all the buildings ai-e perfect of their kind, either 
 *' elegantly simple, or highl}" decorated, according to the 
 *' effect that is intended to aiise, erected at suitable distances, 
 ** and judiciously contrasted, ne\'er crowded together in con- 
 *' fusion, nor affectedly confronted, and staring at each other 
 " widiout meaning. Proper edifices in proper places. The 
 " summer-house, the pavilion, the pagodas, have all their re-, 
 *' spective situations, which they distinguish and improve, 
 *' but ^vhich any other structures \\'ould injure or defomi. 
 *' The only things disagi^eeablc to my eye are the large porce- 
 " lain figures of lions, tygers, &c. and the rough hewn steps, 
 " and huge masses of rock-work, -which they seem studious 
 " of introducmg near many of their houses and palaces. Con- 
 " sidering their general good taste in the other points, I was 
 *' much surprised at this, and could only account for it, by 
 " the expense and the difliculty of bringing together such in- 
 *' congruities ; for it is a common effect of enormous riches to 
 
92 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 push e-ver}' tiling they can procure to bombast and extrava- 
 gance, which are the death of taste. In other countries, 
 ho^^ ever, as Avell as in China, I have seen some of the most 
 boasted seats, cither outgi-owing their beauty from a pletliora 
 of tlieir o^^^ler's \vealth, or becoming capricious and h}'^po- 
 chondriacal by a quack ish apphcation of it. A few fine 
 places, Gven in England, might be pointed out, that are la- 
 bouring under these disorders ; not to mention some cele- 
 brated houses ■\\ here t\\ isted stair-cases, window-glass cu- 
 polas, and embroidered cliimney-pieces, convey nothing to 
 us but the whims and dreams of sickly fancy, without an 
 atom of grandeur, taste, or propriety. , 
 " The arcliitecture of the Chinese is of a peculiar style, to- 
 tally unlike any other, irreducible to our rules, but perfectly 
 consistent with its onii. It has certain principles, from 
 which it ne^er deviates, and although, when examined ac- 
 cording to ours, it sins against the ideas we have imbibed 
 of distribution, composition, and proportion ; yet, upon 
 die whole, it often produces a most pleasing effect, as 
 we sometimes see a person, Avithout a single good feature 
 in his face, have, nevertheless, a very agreeable coun- 
 tenance." 
 
CHAP. IV. 
 
 SKETCH OF THE STATE OF SOCIETY IN CHINA MANNERS, 
 
 CUSTOMS, SENTIMENTS, AND MORAL CHARACTER, OF THE 
 PEOPLE. 
 
 Condition of Women, a Criterion of the State of Society. — Degraded State of in 
 China. — Domestic Manners uiif:ivour.ahle to Fihal Aliection. — Parental Au- 
 thority.:— Ill Effects of separating- the Sexes. — Social Intercourse unknown, ex- 
 cept for Gaming. — Their Worship solitary. — Fea.sts of New Year. — Propensity 
 to Gaming. — Influence of the Laws seertis to have destroyed the Natural Cha- 
 racter of the People. — Made them indifferent, or cruel. — Various Instances of 
 tills Remark in public and in private Life. — Reni.arks on Infanticide. — Perhaps 
 less general than usually thought. — Character of the Chinese in foreign Coun- 
 tries. — Temper and Disposition of the Cliinese. — Merch.ints. — Cuckoo-Clocks. 
 — Conduct of a Prince of tlie Blood. — Of the Prime Minister. — Comparison of 
 tlie Physical and Moral Characters of the Chinese and Man-tchoo Tai-tai s. — 
 General Character of the Nation illustrated. 
 
 IT may, perhaps, be laid down as an i^^'ariable maxim, 
 tliat the condition of the female })ai-t of society, in any nation, 
 \\ill furnish a tolerably just criterion of tlie degi'ee of civiliza- 
 tion to which diat nation has airived. The manners, habits, 
 and prevailing sentiments of women, liave great influence on 
 those of the society to which they belong, and genei-ally give 
 a turn to its character. Thus we shall find that those nations, 
 where the moral and intellectual poA\ers of the mind, in die 
 female sex, are held in most estimation, will be governed by 
 such laws iis are best calculated to promote the gx^neral happi- 
 ness of the people ; and, on die contrary, >\'here the personal 
 qualifications of the sex arc the onl}^ objects of consideration, 
 as is the case in all the despotic go\^eriiments of Asiatic na- 
 tions, tyraiin}', oppression, and slavery are sine to prevail; 
 and these personal accomplishments, so far from being of use 
 to the owner, serve only to deprive her of libert}- , and the ^o- 
 ciety^ of her friends ; to render her a degraded victim, subser- 
 vient to the sensual giatifications, the caprice, and die jealousy 
 of tyi-ant man. Among savage tribes, the labour and dxudger}'^ 
 invariably fall heaviest on the weaker sex. 
 
94 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The talents of Avomen, in our own happy island, began on- 
 ly in tlie reign of Queen Elizabeth to be held in a proper de- 
 gree of consideration. As ^vomen, they were admired and 
 courted, but they scarcely could be said to participate in the 
 society of men. In fact, the manners of our forefathers, be- 
 fore that reign, were too rough for tliem. In Wales, wives 
 were sold to their husbands. In Scotland, women could not 
 appeal' as evidences in a court of justice. In the time of 
 Henry the Eighth, an act was passed, prohibiting women and 
 apprentices from reading the New Testament in the English 
 language. Among the polished Greeks, they were held in 
 little estimation. Hom.er degrades all his females : he makes 
 the Grecian princesses weave the web, spin, and do all the 
 drudgeiy of a modem ^\asherwoman ; and rai'ely allows them 
 an}' share of social intercourse with the otlier sex. Yet, the 
 very foundations on Avhich he has consti'ucted his two match- 
 less poems, ai-e women. - It appears also from all the dramatic 
 WTiters of ancient Greece, ^vhose aim A\-as " to hold, as 'twere, 
 *' the mirror up to nature, to shew the very age and body of 
 " the time, its form and pressure," that, notwithstanding their 
 extreme delicacy of taste, and rapid progress in tlie fine arts^ 
 their manners Avere low and coarse, and tihat they were entire 
 strangers to any other gi-atification, arising from the society of 
 women, than tlie indulgence of the sensual appetite. Even 
 the grave Herodotus mentions, in tlie highest terms of appro- 
 bation, the custom of Babylon, of selling by auction, on a cer- 
 tain fixed day, all the young women who had any pretensions 
 to beauty, in order to raise a sum of money for portioning off 
 the rest of the females, to whom nature had been less liberal 
 in bestowing her gifts, and who were knocked doA\'n to those 
 who '.I'cre satisfied to take them with the least money. This 
 degradation of ^vomen would seem to be as impolitic as it is 
 extraordinaiy, since, under tlieir guidance, the ea?'liest, and 
 sometimes the most indelible (I believe I may safely add, the 
 best and most amiable) impressions are stamped on the youth- 
 ful mind. In infancy their protection is indispensably neces- 
 sar}-, and in sickness, or in cJd age, they unquestionably afford 
 tlie best and kindest relief: or, as a French author has neatly 
 obser\ed, " Sans les femmes les deux exti-6mites de la vie 
 '* seraient sans secours, et le milieu sans plaisirs." " With- 
 " out A\-oman the two extremities of life would be helples;^, 
 " and the middle of it joyless." 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 9S 
 
 The Chinese, if possible, Imve imposed on their Avomen a 
 greater degree of humiUty iind restraint tlian the Greeks of 
 old, or die Europeans m the dai'k ages. Not satisfied widi 
 the physical deprivation of the use of their limbs, they h-dvo. 
 contrived, in order to keep them the more confined, to make 
 it a moral crime for a woman to be seen abroad. If they 
 should have occasion to ^•isit a friend or relation, they must 
 be caiTied in a close sedan chair : to walk \\ould be the height 
 of vulg-arit}'. E^•en the countrj^ ladies, who may not possess 
 the luxur}' of a chair, rather than walk, sufibr themselves to 
 be sometimes rolled about in a sort of covered wheelban^ow. 
 The w ives and daughters, however, of die lower class arc 
 neither confined to the house nor exempt from haixl and slav- 
 ish labour ; many being obliged to \\ ork with an infant upon 
 the back, while the husband, in all probabilit}-, is gaming, or 
 otherwise idling away his time. I ha\"e fi-eqiiently seen women 
 assisting to drag a sort of light plough, and the harrow. Nieii- 
 whoft', in one of his prints, Uiken fi-om dra\vings supposed to 
 be made in China, yokes, if I mistake not, a woman to the 
 same plough with an ass. Should this be die fact, the Clu- 
 nese ai"e not singular, if we may credit the natural historian of 
 antiquit}^-,* who observes diat, to open the fertile fields of By- 
 zacium in Africa, it was necessary to wait until the I'ains had 
 soaked into the giound ; " after which a little weakly ass, and 
 *' an old woman, attached to the same yoke, were sufficient 
 ** to di'ag the plough through the soil," " post imbres x'lYi asel- 
 *' lo, et a parte altera jugi anu \omerem ti'aliente \idimus 
 " scindL" 
 
 In the province of Kiang-see nothing is more common than 
 to see a woman drawing a kind of light plough, with a single 
 handle, through gi-ound that has previously been prcpiu-ecL 
 The easier task of directing the machine is left to the husband, 
 who, holding the plough m ith one hand, at the same time^ 
 with the other, casts die seed into die drills. 
 
 The advantages which those women possess in a higlicf 
 splierc of life, if any, are not much to be envied. Even at 
 home, in her own family, a woman must neither eat at the 
 same table nor sit in the same room with her husband. And 
 die male children, at the age of nine or ten, are entirely sepa- 
 rated from their sisters. Thus the feelings of affection, not 
 the insUnctive products of nature, but the offspring of frequent 
 
 * riin. lib. xri. oap. St. 
 
96 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 intercourse and of a mutual communication of their little wants 
 and pleasures, are nipped in the very bud of damning senti- 
 ment. A cold and ceremonious conduct must be observ^ed on 
 all occasions betAveen the members of the same family. There 
 is no common focus to attract and concentrate the love and re- 
 spect of childi'cn for their parents. Each lives retired and apart 
 from the other. The little incidents and adventures of the day, 
 which furnish the conversation among children of many a long 
 winter's evening, by a comfortable fire-side, in our oa\ti coun- 
 tiy, are in China buried in silence. Boys, it is true, some- 
 times mix together in schools, but the stiff and ceremonious 
 behaviour, which constitutes no inconsiderable part of their 
 education, throws a restraint on all the little playful actions in- 
 cident to their time of life, and completely subdues all spirit of 
 activity and enterprise. A Chinese youth, of the higher class, is 
 inanimate, formal, and inactive, constantly endeavouring to as- 
 sume the graA'ity of years. 
 
 To beguile the many tedioug and heavy hours, that must 
 unavoidably occur to the secluded families totally unqualified 
 for mental pursuits, the tobacco-pipe is the usual expedient. 
 Ever}^ female, from the age of eight or nine years, weai-s, as an 
 appendage to her di'ess, a small silken purse or pocket, to hold 
 tobacco and a pipe, with the use of which many of them are 
 not unacquainted at this tender age. Some, indeed, ai*e con- 
 stantly employed in working embroidery on silks, or in paint- 
 ing birds, insects, and flowers on thin gauze. In the ladies* 
 apaitments of the great house in which we lived, at Pekin, we 
 observed some very beautiful specimens of both kinds in the 
 pannels of the partitions, and I brought home a few articles 
 v/nich I understand have been much admired ; but the women 
 who employ their time in this manner ai-e generally the wives 
 and daughters of tradesmen and artificers, who are usually the 
 weavers both of cottons and silks. I remember asking one of 
 the great officers of the court, who wore a silken vest beauti- 
 fully embroidered, if it was the work of his lady, but the sup- 
 position that his wife should condescend to use her needle 
 seemed to give him offence. 
 
 Their manners in domestic life are little calculated to pro- 
 duce tliat extraordinary degree of filial piety, or affection and 
 reverence towards parents, for which they have been eminently 
 celebrated, and to the salutary' effects of which the Jesuits have 
 attributed the stability of the government. Filial duty is, in 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. «f 
 
 fact, in China, less a moral sentiment than a precept which 
 by length of time lias acquired the efficacy of a positive law ; 
 and it may truly be said to exist more in tlie maxims of the go- 
 vernment than in tlie minds of the people. Had tl\e}% indeed, 
 considered filial pietj' to be sufficiently strong when left to its 
 own natuiTd influence, a precept or hn\' to enforce it Mould 
 have been superfluous. The first maxim inculcated in early 
 life is the entire submission of cliilchen to the will of their pa- 
 rents. The tenour of this precept is not only " to honour thy 
 *' father and thy mother, diat th}' da}'s may be long in the 
 *' land;" but to labour for thy father and mother as long as 
 tliey both shall live, to sell thyself into pci-pctual sen itude for 
 their support, if necessar}-, and to consider diy life at their 
 disposal. So much has this sentiment of parental authority 
 gained ground by precept and habit, that, to all intents and 
 puiposes, it is as binding as the strongest law. It gi^•es to the 
 parent die exercise of the same imlimited and arbitraiy po^^•cr 
 over his children that the emperor, die common father, posr 
 sesses by law over his people. Hence, as among the Romans, 
 die father has the po\\ er to sell his son for a sla^'e ; and this 
 power, either from caprice, or from povert)', pr ptlier causes, 
 is not unfrequendy put in force. 
 
 A law that is founded in reason or equity seldom requires 
 to be explained or justified. The governor of China, in 
 sanctioning an act of parental authority that militates so 
 strongly against every principle of nature, or moral right and 
 wrong, seems to have felt the force of this remark. Their 
 learned men have been employed in miting volumes on the 
 subject, the principal aim of which appears to be tliat of im- 
 pressing on die minds of the people the compai'ative authority 
 of die emperor over his subjects aiul of a pai-ent over his chil- 
 dren. The reasonableness and justice of the latter being once 
 established, that of die former, iri a patriai'chal government, 
 followed of course ; and the extent of the po^^"er delegated to 
 the one could not in justice be withheld from die other. And 
 for the better allaying of any scruples that might be supposed 
 to arise in men's consciences, it was easy to invent any piece 
 of sophistry to serve by way of justification for those unnatUr 
 ral parents \\^ho might feel themselves disposed, pr who fi-orn 
 want might be induced, to part with their childi'en into peq^e- 
 tual slavery. A son, says one of their most celebrated kiWr 
 givers, after the death of his father, has the power of selling^ 
 
98 TRAVELS IN'^ CHINA. 
 
 his services for a day, or a year, or for life ; but a father, \AhiIe 
 living, has unlimited authority o^er his son. A father has, 
 therefore, the same ri|>-ht of selling the ser^'ices of his son to 
 another, for any length of time, or even for life. 
 
 Daughters may be said to be invariably sold. The bride- 
 groom must ah\a}s make his bargain with the pai'ents of his 
 intended bride. The latter has no choice. She is a lot in the 
 market, to be disposed of to the highest bidder. The man, 
 indeed, in this respect, has no great advantage on his side, as 
 he is not alloAved to see his intended wife until she arrives in 
 formal procession at his gate. If, however, on opening the 
 door of tlie chah', in ^hich the lady is shut up, and of v.hich 
 tlie kc}- has been sent before, he should dislike his bai'gain, 
 he can return her to her parents ; in which case the articles are 
 forfeited that constituted her price ; and a sum of mone}^, in 
 addition to them, may be dem.auded, not exceeding, however, 
 the value of these articles. These matrimonial processions, 
 attended Vviih pomp and music, ai'e not unlike those used by 
 the Greeks, when the bride was conducted to her husband's 
 house in a splendid car ; only, in the former instance, the lady 
 is completely in^ isil^le to every one. 
 
 To what a degraded condition is a female reduced by this 
 absurd custom ! How little inducement, it would be suppos- 
 ed, she could have to appear amiable or elegant, or to study 
 her dress, or cramip her feet, or paint her face, knowing she 
 M ill be consigned into the hands of the first man ^^ho will give 
 the price that her piirents have fixed upon her channs. No 
 previous conversation is allowed to take place, no exchange of 
 opinions or comparison of sentiments with regtird to inclina- 
 tions or dislikes ; all the little acts of attention and kindness, 
 which so eloquently speak to the heart, and demonstrate the 
 sincerity of the attachment, are utterly unfelt. In a word, that 
 state of tlie human heart, occasioned by the mutual affection 
 between the sexes, and from •whence proceed the happiest, the 
 most interesting, and sometimes, also, the most distressing 
 moments of life, has no existence in China. The man takes a 
 wife because the bavs of the country direct him to do so, and 
 custom has made it indispensable ; and the v\ oman, after mar- 
 riage, continues to be the same piece of inanimate furniture 
 she always was in her father's house. She suffers no indig- 
 nity, nor does she feel any jealousy or disturbance (at least it 
 is prudent not to shew it) -v^ hen her husband brings into the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 99 
 
 same house a second or a tliird woman. The first is con- 
 tented ^\■ith the honour of presiding over, and directing the 
 concerns of, the family \'i'ithin doors, and in heaiing the chil- 
 di'en of tlie others calling her mother. 
 
 It might be urged, perhaps, on the part of the husband, that 
 it Mould be higlily unreasonable for the A\oman to complain. 
 The man \\ ho purchased her ought to have an equal right in 
 the same manner to purchase others. The case is materially 
 different where parties are united by sentiments of love and 
 esteem, or bound by promises or engagements ; under such 
 circumstances the introduction of a second wife, under the 
 same roof, could not fail to distuib the harmon)^ of the famih', 
 and occasion the most poignant feelings of disti-ess to die first. 
 But a Chinese ^vife has no such feelings, nor does the husband 
 make any such engagements. 
 
 Although polygamy be allowed by the government, as in- 
 deed it could not ^vell happen other^\■ise, where women are ar- 
 ticles of purchase, yet it is an evil that, in a great degree, cor- 
 rects itself. Nine-tenths of the community find it difiicult to 
 rear die offspring of one ^voman by the labour of tlicir hands ; 
 such, therefore, are neither in circumstances, nor probably feel 
 much inclination, to purchase a second. Tlie general practice 
 would, besides, be moiTilly impossible. In a country where so 
 many female infants are exposed, and where the laws or cus- 
 toms oblige every man to miUTy, any person taking to liimself 
 two ^vives must leave some other A\ithout one, unless indeed it 
 be supposed, Avith the author of L'Esprit des Loix, Avhat there 
 seems to be no ground for supposing, that a .much greater 
 number of females are bom than of males. But all the obser- 
 vations of this lively and ingenious author, with regard to 
 China, and particuku'ly tl^e inferences he draws with respect 
 to climate, fiUl to the ground. It is not the vigour of natui-al 
 propensities, as is supposed, that destrojs the moral ones ; it 
 is not the effect of climate that makes it to be considered 
 among these people " as a prodigy of virtue for a man to 
 meet a fine woman, in a retired chamber, without offering 
 violence to her," — it is the effect of studiously pampering die 
 appetite, nurturing vicious notions, considering women as en- 
 tirely subservient to the pleasures of man ; and, in short, by 
 fancying those pleasures in the head, rather tlian by feeling 
 them in the heart, that ha\e led them to adopt a sentiment 
 which does the nation so litUe credit. The climate being 
 
100 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 even'^ i\'here temperate, and the diet of the majority of the 
 people moderate, I might say scant}-, these have little influ- 
 ence in promoting a vehement desire for sexual intercourse. 
 It is, indeed, among the upper ranks only, and a few wealthy 
 merchants (wliom the sumptuaiy laws, prohibiting fine houses, 
 gardens, carriages, and every kind of external shew and gran- 
 deur, have encouraged secretly to indulge and pamper their 
 appetite in every species of luxury and voluptuousness), where 
 a plurality of wives is to be found. Every great officer of 
 state has his haram, consisting of six, eight, or ten women, 
 according to his circumstances and his inclination for the sex. 
 Every merchant j also, of Canton, has his seraglio; but a poor 
 man finds One '\\ife quite sufficient for all his wants, and the 
 children of one woman as many, and sometimes more, than 
 he is able to support. 
 
 The unsociable distance, which the law (or custom, stronger 
 tlian law ) prescribes to be observed between the sexes, and 
 the cool and indifferent manner of bai'gaining for a wife, ai"e 
 not calculated to produce numerous instances of criminal in- 
 tercourse. These, however, sometimes happen, and the 
 weight of punishment always falls heaviest on the woman. The 
 husband finds no difficulty in obtaining a sentence of divorce, 
 after which he may sell her for a slave, and thus redeem a 
 part, at least, of his purchase-money. The same thing hap- 
 pens in case a wife should elope ; instances of which, I fancy, 
 are still more rare ; as, if she be of any fashion, her feet are ill 
 calculated to carry her off Avith speed; and, if a young girl should 
 chance to lose what is usually held to be the most valuable part 
 of female reputation, she is sent to market by her parents, and 
 publicly sold for a sla^e. In cases of mutual dislike, or in- 
 compatibility of temper, the woman is generally sent back to 
 her parents. A woman can inherit no property, but it may be 
 left to her by will. If a widow has no cliildren, or females only, 
 the property descends to the nearest male relation on the de- 
 ceased husband's side, but he must maintain tlie daughters 
 until he can provide them with husbands. 
 
 The prohibition against the frequent intercourse with modest 
 females, for there are public women in every great city, is not 
 attended here with the effect of rendering the pursuit more 
 eager ; nor does it increase the ardour, as among the ancient 
 Spartans, who were obliged to steal, as it were, the embraces 
 of their lawful wives. la China it seems to have the contrary 
 
TRAVELS m CHIN'A. lOi 
 
 effect of promoting tliat sort of connexion which, being one of 
 the greatest violations of the laws of nature, ought to be consi- 
 dered among the first of moral crimes — a connexion tliat sinks 
 the man many degrees below the brute. The commission of 
 tliis detestable and unnatural act is attended witli so litdc sense 
 of shame, or feelings of delicacy, that many of the first officers 
 of state seemed to make no hesitation in publicly avowing it. 
 Each of these officers is constantly attended by his pipe-bearer, 
 \\dio is generally a handsome boy, from fourteen to eiglitecii 
 years of age, and is always well dressed. In pointing out to 
 our notice the boys of each odier, they made use of signs and 
 motions, the meaning of which ^vas too obvious to be misinter- 
 preted. The t\\o Mahomedans, I observe, 'vvho A\ere in Cliina 
 in die ninth centuiy, ha\'e also taken notice of this cucum- 
 stance : and 1 find, in the journal of Mr. Hittner, a gentleman 
 who was in that part of the suite who accompanied the British 
 embassador into Tartaiy, in speaking of die palaces of Geliol, 
 die following remark : "Dans I'un de ces palais, paniii d'autres 
 " chefs-d'oeuvres de Tart, on voyait deux statues de gai'^ons, 
 " en marbre, d'un excellent travail ; ils avaient les pieds et les 
 *' mains lifes, et leur position ne laissait point de doute quele 
 *' vice des Greces n'eat perdu son horreur pour les Chinois. 
 *' Un vieil eunuque nous les lit remarquer, avec un sourire 
 *' impudent." 
 
 It has been remarked that diis unnatural crime prevails most 
 in those countries \Ahere polygamy is alloA\ed, that is to sa}-, 
 in those countries where the affections of women tu"e not con- 
 sulted, but their persons purchased for gold — a remark which 
 may lead to this conclusion, that it is rather a monil tuipitude 
 than a projicnsity aiising from physical or local causes. The 
 appetite for female intercourse soon becomes glutted by the fa- 
 cility of enjoyment; and where women, so circumstanced, can 
 only receive the embraces of their proprietors from a sense of 
 duty, dieir coldness and indifference, the necessary conse- 
 quence of such connections, must also increase in the men the 
 tendency to produce satiet}-. I think it has been obsen^ed diat, 
 c\cn in Europe, where females in general have die superior 
 ad\antage of fixing theu' o^\ni value upon themselvcSj it is the 
 greatest rakes and debauchees who, 
 
 " ^bred at home, in idleness and riot, 
 
 *• Ransack for mistresses th* unwholesome stew.*, 
 " An< HCYW ItfiQvr the worth of vift«ous lore^" 
 
102 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 fiy sometimes in search of fresh enjoyment in tlie detestable 
 ■vvay here alluded to.* 
 
 1 have already obser\ed diat the state of domestic society in 
 China \\ as ill calculated to promote the affection and kindness 
 ■which children not only owe to, but really feel for, their parents, 
 in many countries in Europe. A tyrant, in fact, to command, 
 and a sla\'e to obey, ai'e found in every family ; for, Avhere the 
 father is a despot, the son ^^'ill naturally be a slave ; and if all the 
 little acts of kindness and silent attentions, that create mutual 
 endearments, be \; anting among the members of the same fa- 
 mily, living under the same roof, it w ill be in viiin to expect to 
 find them in the enlarged sphere of public life. In fact, they 
 have no kind of friendly societies nor meetings to talk over the 
 transactions and the news of tlie day. These can only take 
 place in a fi'ee government. A Chinese having finished his 
 daily emplojanent retires to his solitary apartment. There 
 ai^e, it is true, a sort of public houses, where the lower orders of 
 people sometimes resort for their cup of tea or of seau-tchoo 
 (a kind of ardent spirit distilled from a mixture of rice and 
 otlier grain) ; but such houses are seldom, if at all, frequent- 
 ed for the sake of company. They are no incitement, as 
 tliose ai'e, of a similar kind, in Europe, to jovial pleasures or 
 to vulgai' ebriety. From tliis odious vice the bulk of the 
 people are entirely fi'ee. Among the multitudes which we 
 daily saw, in passing fi"om one extremity of the country to the 
 other, I do not recollect having ever met with a single instance 
 of a man being disguised with liquor. In Canton, where the 
 lowar orders of people ai'e employed by Europeans, and neces- 
 sarily mix with European seaman, intoxication is not unfre- 
 quent am^ong the nati-ves, but this vic«? forms no pait of die 
 general character of the people. Whenever a few Chinese 
 happen to meet together, it is generally for the purpose of 
 gaming, or to eat a kettle of boiled rice, or drink a pot of tea, 
 or smoke a pipe of tobacco. 
 
 The upper ranks indulge at home in tiie use of opium. 
 Great qucuitities of this intoxicating drug are smuggled into 
 the countrj^, notwitlistanding all the precautions taken by the 
 
 • I should not have taken notice of this odious vice, had nottlie truth ofits exist- 
 ence in China been doubted by some, and attributed by others to awi-ong cause. 
 Pr;)fessing' to describe the people as I found them, I must endeavour to draw a 
 faithfid picture, neither attempting to palliate their vices, nor to exaggerate their 
 virtues. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. tOS 
 
 government to prohibit the importation of it ; but it is too ex- 
 pensive to be used by the common people. The officers of 
 the customs are not beyond a bribe. After receiving the sum 
 agreed upon between the importer and themsehes, they fre- 
 quently become the purchasers of the prohibited article. Most 
 of tlie country- ships from Bengal caiT}' opium to China ; but 
 that of Turkey, sent from London in the Chhia ships, is pre- 
 ferred, and sells at near double the price of the other. The 
 governor of Cimton, after describing in one of his late procla- 
 mations on the subject the pemicious and fatal effects ai"ising 
 from the use of opium, observes, " Thus it is that foreigners, 
 " by the means of a vile excrementitious substance, derive 
 " from this empire the most solid profits and adviuitages; but 
 " that our countiymen should blindly pursue this destructive 
 *' andensnaringvice, even till death is the consequence, without 
 " being undeceived, is indeed a fact odious and deplorai;Ie in 
 " the highest degree." Yet the go\eniorof Canton veiy com- 
 posedly takes his daih' dose of opium. 
 
 The young j^eople have no occasional assemblies for the 
 purpose of dancing and of exercising themselves in feats of 
 activity which, in Kiu'ope, are attended ^vith the happ}- effects 
 of shaking off the gloom and melancholy that a life of constant 
 labour or seclusion from society is apt to promote. They 
 have not even a fixed day of rest set apart for religious \\or- 
 ship. Their acts of de\otion partake of the same solitar}- cast 
 that prevails in their domestic life. In none of the' different 
 sects of religion, which at various times have been imported 
 into and adapted in China, has congregntional worship been 
 inculcated, which, to that countiy hi p'c"d1:icular, ma}' be con- 
 sidered as a great misfortune. For, independent of religious 
 considerations, the sabbatical institution is attended with ad- 
 vantages of a physical as well as of a moral nature ; and huma- 
 nity is not less concerned than policy in consecrating one day 
 out of seven, or some other given number, to the service of the 
 great Creator, and to rest from bodil}^ labour. W^hen the go- 
 vernment of France, in the height of her rage for inno\'ation, 
 fell into the hands of atlieistical demagogues, when her temples 
 were polluted, and cveiy thing sacred was invaded and pro- 
 faned, the seventh day was considered as a relic of ancient su- 
 perstition, and the observmice of it accordingly abolished ; and, 
 about the same time, it became the fashion among a certain de- 
 scription of people to use specious arguments against its con- 
 
104 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 tiniiance in our own countr}- ; as l^eing, for example, a day for 
 the encouragement of idleness, drunkenness, and dissipation. 
 Such a remark could only be applied to large cities and towns; 
 and in crowded manufacturing towns the mechanic, M'ho can 
 subsist by working three days in the week, would be at no loss 
 in finding opportunities, were there no sabbath day, in the 
 course of the other four, to commit irregularities. And who, 
 even for the sake of the meclianic and artificer, would wish to 
 see the labouring peasant deprived of one day's rest, out of 
 seven, which to liim is more precious than the wages he has 
 hardly earned the other six ? Wliat man, possessed of common 
 feelings of humanity, in beholding tlie decent and modest hus- 
 bandman, accompanied by his family, in tiieir best attii-e, at- 
 tending the parish church, does not paiticipate in the smile of 
 content which on diis day particularly beams on liis counte- 
 nance, and bespeaks the serenity of his mind ? Having on this 
 day discharged his duty to God, refreshed his body with rest, 
 enjoyed the comfort of clean clothing, and exercised his mind 
 in con\-ersing with his neighbours, he returns with double 
 vigour to his daily labour ; having, as Mr. Addison observes. 
 in one of his Spectators, rubbed oif the rust of the week. 
 
 Tlie first of the new year in China, and a few succeeding 
 days, are the only holidays, properly speaking, that are observ- 
 ed by the working pait of the community. On these days 
 the poorest peasant makes a point of procuring new clothing 
 for himself and his family ; they pay their visits to friends and 
 relations, interchange ci\dlities and compliments, make and re- 
 ceive presents ; and the officers of government and die higher 
 ranks give feasts and entertainments. But even in those feasts 
 there is nothing that bears the resemblance of conviviality. 
 The guests nevev paitake together of the same sendee of dish- 
 es, but each lias frequently his separate table ; sometimes two, 
 but never more than four, sit at the same table ; and their eyes 
 must constantly be kept upon the master of tlie feast, to watch 
 all his motions, and to observe every morsel he puts into his 
 mouth, and every time he lifts the cup to his lips; for a Chi- 
 nese of good-breeding can neither eat nor drink witiiout a par- 
 ticular ceremony, to which the guests must pay attention. If 
 a person invited should, from sickness or any accident, be pre, , 
 vented firom fulfilling his engagement, the portion of the din- 
 ner that was intended to be placed on his table is sent in pra^ 
 cession to his own house ; a custom that strongly points out 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 105 
 
 the very little notion tliey entertain of the social pleasures of 
 tlie table. It is customary to send after each guest the re- 
 mains even of his dinner. Whenever, in the course of our 
 journey, we visited a governor or >'iceroy of a pro\ ince, we ge- 
 nerall}' found him at the head of a range of tables, covered with 
 a multitude of dishes, which invariably ^^•cre miu'ched after us 
 to the yachts. Martial, if I mistake not, has some allusion to a 
 similar custom among the Romans. Each carried his own nap- 
 kin to a feast ; which, being filled with the remiiins of the enter- 
 tainment, was sent home by a slave ; but this appears to have 
 been done more out of compliment to the host, to shew the 
 great esteem in a\ hich the}- held his cheer, than for the sake of 
 tlie viands ; for die Romans lo\ ed con\ i^ iality. 
 
 The Chinese also, like die ancient Egjptians, as exemplified 
 in the enormous mess which Joseph gave to little Benjamin 
 above the rest of his brothers, testily, on all occasions, that they 
 consider the measure of a man's stomach to depend more upon 
 the i-ank of its owner than either his bulk or appetite. The em- 
 bassador's allowance was at least five times as great as that of 
 any person in his suite. In diis particular, howe\'er, these na- 
 tions are not singular, neither in ancient nor in modern times. 
 The kings of Sparta, and indeed every Grecian hero, were al- 
 ways supposed to eat twice the quantity of a common soldier ; 
 and the only difference ^^•ith regaid to our heroes of the present 
 day consists in their being enabled to con^'ert quantity into qua- 
 lity, an advantage for ^^'hich the}- ai*e not a litde indebted to the 
 invention of money, into \\hich all other aiticles can be com- 
 muted. 
 
 W'liatever may be die occasion of bringing together a few 
 idlers, they seldom part \\ithout trying their luck at some game 
 of chance, for ^^ hich a Chinese is never unprepared. He rai'ely 
 goes abroad \\ithout a pack of cards in his pocket, or a pair of 
 dice. Both of these, like almost every tiling else in the country, 
 are dift'erent from simiUir aiticles elsewhere. Their cards are 
 much more numerous than ours, and their games much more 
 complicated. Nor are they at any loss, even if none of the par- 
 ty should liappen to be funiished ^\ith cards or dice ; on such 
 an em.ergency their fingers are employed to answer the pui-pose, 
 which are all that is required to play the game ofTsoi-Moi, a 
 game of w hich die lower class of people are particulaiiy fond. 
 Two persons, sitting directly opposite to each other, raise their 
 hands at the same moment, when each calls out die number he 
 
 o 
 
106 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 guesses to be die sum of the fingers expanded by himself and 
 his adversary. The closed fist is none, the thumb one, the 
 thumb and forefinger two, &:c. so that the chances lie between 
 
 and 5, as each must kno^v the number held out by liimself. 
 The middling class of people likewise play at this game, when 
 the}' gi\ e enteitainments \\ here wine is served, and tlie loser is 
 alwa} s obliged to drink off a cup of wine. At this childish 
 game tA\ o persons ^\'ill sometimes play to a veiy late hour, till 
 he 'w ho has had tlie worst of die game has been obliged to drink 
 so much ^vine that he can no longer see either to count his own 
 or his ad\ersar\ 's fingers. I have thus paiticularly noticed the 
 Chinese Tsoi-moi, on account of the extraordinaiy coincidence 
 between it and a game in use among the Romans, to which 
 frequen tallusion is made by Cicero. In a note by Melanchton, 
 on Cicero's Offices, it is thus described : " Micare digitis, 
 " ludi genus est. Sic ludentes, simul digitos alterius manus 
 *' quot volunt citissime erigunt, et simul ambo divinant quot 
 ' ' simul erecti sint ; quod qui definivit, lucratus est : unde acri 
 *' visu opus, et multa fide, ut cum aliquo in tenebris mices," 
 *' Micare digitis, is a kind of game. Those who play at it 
 " stretch out with great quickness, as many fingers of one hand 
 " each, as they please, and at the same instant both guess how 
 " many are held up by the two together ; and he who guesses 
 *' right wins the game : hence a sharp sight is necessar}'', and 
 *' also great confidence, when it is played in the dark." 
 
 The Chinese have certainly the acer visus, but I doubt much 
 whether they have faith enough in each other's integrity to play 
 at the game of fingers in the dark, which, in the opinion of Ci- 
 cero, A\ as a strong test of a truly honest man. The same game 
 is said to be still plajed in Italy, under the name of morra.* 
 
 The officers about Yuen-min-yuen used to play a kind of 
 chess, ^\'liicli appeai'ed to me to be essentially different from 
 that game as played by the Persians, the Indians, and other 
 Oriental nations, both widi regard to the lines drawn on the 
 board, the form of the chess-men, and the moves, from which 
 
 1 should rather conclude it to be a game of their omu invention, 
 than an introduction either from India or by the army of Gen- 
 gis-khan, as some authors have conjectured. 
 
 The spirit of gaming is so universal, in most of the towns 
 and cities, that, in almost every by-corner, groupes are to be 
 
 * Adams's Roman Antiquities. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. lor 
 
 found playing at cards or throwing dice. They ai'e accused 
 even of frequently staking their wives and children on tlie ha- 
 zard of a die. It may easily be concei\ed that \\ here a man 
 can sell his children into slaver}', there can be little remorse, 
 in tlie breast of a g-amester reduced to his last stake, to risk 
 the loss of what the law has sanctioned him to dispose of. 
 Yet we are very gmxely assured b}' some of the reverend mis^ 
 sionaries, that "the Chinese are entirely ignorant of all games 
 *' of chance ;" that " they can enjoy no amusements but such 
 *' as are authorized by the laws." These gentlemen surely 
 should not be ignorant diat one of their most la\-ourite sports is 
 cock-fighting, and that this cnicl and unmanly amusement, 
 as they are pleased to consider it, is full as eagerly pursued by 
 the upper classes in China as, to their shame and disgrace be 
 it spoken, it continues to be by those in a similar situation in 
 some parts of Europe. The training of quails for the same 
 cniel purjDose of butchering each other furnishes abundance of 
 employment for the idle and dissipated. They ha\e e^en ex- 
 tended dieir enquiries alter fighting-animals into the insect 
 tribe, in which they have disco\'ered a species of gnllus, or 
 locust, that will attack each other \\ith such ferocity as seldom 
 to quit their hold ^vithout bringing away at the same time a 
 limb of their antagonist. These little creatures are fed and 
 kept apart in bamboo cages ; and the custom of making them 
 devour each other is so common that, during the summer 
 months, scarcely a boy is seen without his cage and his gi'ass- 
 hoppers. 
 
 I ha\e already had occasion to observe diat the natural dis, 
 position of the Chinese should seem to have suffered almost 
 a total change by the influence of the laws and maxims of 
 government ; an influence which, in this countrj'^ more dian 
 elsewhere, has gi\'en a bias to the manners, sentiments, and 
 moral character of the people ; for here eveiy ancient proverb 
 carries ^^•ith it die force of a law. While the)- are by nature 
 quiet, passive, and timid, the state of society, and the abuse 
 of the la^vs by which they iu-e go^'^emed, have rendered them 
 indiflferent, unfeeling, and even cruel, as a few examples, 
 which among manv others occuiTcd, will but too clearly bear 
 evidence ; and as the particular instances, from which I have 
 sometimes dra\\Ti an inference, accorded A\ith the common 
 actions and occuiTcnces of life, I have not hesitated to consider 
 them as so many general features in thcii- moriU character ; at 
 
108 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 the same time I am aware that allowances ought to be made 
 for particular AA^ys of thinking, and for customs entiiely dis- 
 similar from our oaah, ^vhich ai'e, therefore, not exacth to be 
 appreciated b}- the same rule as if they had occurred in our 
 own country. The public feasts of Sparta, in which the girls 
 danced na];ed in piesence of young men, liad not the same 
 effect on the Lacedaemonian youth, as they might be supposed 
 to produce in Europe ; nor is the delicacy of the Hindoo 
 ^vomen offended by looking on the Lingam. Thus die Chi- 
 nese are entitled to our indulgence by the peculiar circum- 
 stances under which they are placed ; but I lea\'e it in tlie 
 breast of tlie reader to make A^hat allo^vance he may tliink they 
 desene. 
 
 The common practice of flogging with the bamboo has ge- 
 nerally been considered by the missionaries in die h^ht of a 
 gentle coiTcction, exercised by men in power over their infe- 
 riors, just as a father would chastise his son, but not as apunish- 
 ment to which disgrace is attached. HowcA'er lightly these 
 gentlen^^n may chuse to treat this humiliating chastisement, to 
 A\ hich all are liable, from the prime minister to the peasant, it 
 is but too often inflicted in the anger and by the caprice of a 
 man in office, and frequently with circumstances of unwarrant- 
 able cruelty and injustice. Of the truth of this remai'k we had 
 sevei-al instances. In our return do^xn the Pei-ho, the water 
 iDcing considerably shallower than when we first sailed up this 
 river, one of our accommodation bai"ges got aground in the 
 middle of the nigb.t. The air was piercingly cold, and the poor 
 creatures belonging to the vessel were busy until sun-rise in 
 the midst of the river using their endeavours to get her off. 
 The rest of the fleet had proceeded, and the patience of the su- 
 perintending officer at length being exhausted, he ordered his 
 soldiers to flog the captain and the whole crew ; which was 
 accordingly done, in a most unmerciful manner : and this was 
 their onl}^ reuai'd for the use of the yacht, their time and 
 labour, for tvro da}-s. The instance of degrading an officer 
 and flogging all his people, because the meat brought for our 
 use Avas a little tainted when the temperature was at 88° in 
 the shade, I ha^e alre^idy had occasion to notice. 
 
 ^\ henever the v, ind A\as contrar}', or it was found necessar}^ 
 to track the \'esscls against the stream, a number of men were 
 employed for tliis purpose. The poor creatures were always 
 pressed into this disagreeable and laborious service, for whiph 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 109 
 
 tliey were to recei\^e about six-pence a da}', so long as they 
 tracked, without any allowance being made to them tor return- 
 ing to the place from whence they ^^•ere forced. These people, 
 knowing the difficulty there was of getting others to supply 
 their places, and that their services ^^■ould be required until 
 such should be procured, generally deserted by night, disre- 
 garding their pay. In order to procure others, the officers dis- 
 patched their soldiers to tlie nearest village, taking the inhabit- 
 ants by surprise, and forcing them out of their beds, to join 
 the yachts. Scarcely a night occurred in ^\■hich some poor 
 wretches did not suffer the lashes of the soldiers for attempting 
 to escape, or for pleading the excuse of old age, or infirmity. 
 It was painful to behold the deplorable condition of some of 
 tliese creatures. Se^'eral A\cre half naked, and appeared to be 
 wasting and languishing for want of food. Yet, the task of 
 dragging along the vessels was fai' from being light. Some- 
 times they were under the necessit}^ of evading to the middle 
 in mud ; sometimes to swim across creeks, and immediately 
 afterwai'ds to expose their naked bodies to a scorching sun ; 
 and tliey Vvcre always driven by a soldier, or the lictor of some 
 pett}' police officer, carrying in his hand an enormous Avhip, 
 witli A\^hich he lashed them, ^vith as little reluctance as if they 
 had been a team of horses. 
 
 The Dutch embassy proceeded by land to the capital, in the 
 middle of winter, when the rivers and canals were frozen. The 
 thennometer \vas frequently from 8 to 16 degrees below the 
 freezing point, and the fiice of die country ^vas mosdy co\ered 
 with ice and snow ; yet they were often under the necessity of 
 travelling all night ; and the peasantr}', who were pressed to 
 cany the presents and their baggage, notwithstanding their 
 heavy loads, Ax^ere obliged to keep up \\ ith them as long as they 
 could. In the course of t\Ao nights, Mr. Van Braam observes, 
 not less than eight of these poor wretches actually expired un- 
 der their burdens, through cold, hunger, fatigue, and the cruel 
 treatment of their di'ivers. 
 
 It had been the practice of some of the gentlemen of the 
 British embass}*, in their return through the countrj-, to walk 
 during a part of the day, and to join the barges towards the 
 hour of dinner. One day an officer of high rank took it into 
 liis head to interrupt them in their usual walk ; and for this 
 purpose dispatched after them nine or ten of his soldiers, who 
 forced thein in a rude manner to return to the vessels. Our 
 
no TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 tivo conductors, Van and Choii, coming up at tlie time, and 
 being made acquainted \\ith the circumstance, gave to each of 
 the soldiers a most severe flogging. One of these, ^\'ho had 
 been particularly insolent, had his ears bored through with 
 ii'on wire, and his hands bound to them for several days. The 
 vicerov of Canton was at this time with the embassy, and be- 
 ing in rank superior to the offending officer, he ordered the 
 latter to appear before Mm, gave him a severe reprimand, and 
 sentenced him to recei\e forty strokes of the bamboo, as a 
 e;entle coiTCction. Our two Chinese fiiends were particularly 
 pressing that the gentlemen insulted should be present at the 
 punishment of the officer, and it was not without difficulty 
 they could be persuaded that such a scene would not afford 
 them any gratification. It happened also, in the Dutch em- 
 bassy, that an inferior officer -was flogged and disgi-aced by 
 their conductors, for not having in readiness a sufficient num- 
 ber of coolies, or porters, to proceed with the baggage, and to 
 carry the sedan chairs in which they tra^^elled. 
 
 The t}Tanny that men in office exercise over the multitude, 
 and each other, is perfectly agreeable to tlie systematic subor- 
 dination which the h\v has sanctioned. But as authority is a 
 dai-igerous deposit in the hands of the wisest, and leads some- 
 times the most wary to 
 
 •f Play such fantastic tricks, before high heaven, 
 •• As jnake the angels weep." 
 
 what must the effects of it be when vested in an illiterate Chi- 
 nese, or rude Tartar, who has no other talent or recommenda- 
 tion for Ins authority than the power alone which his office 
 allows him to exercise ? 
 
 Several instances, however, occurred in the course of our 
 journey through the country, which seemed to mark the same 
 unfeeling and iiard-hcarted disposition to exist between persons 
 of cquiil condition in life, as in men in office over their infe- 
 riors. One of these afforded an extraordinary trait of inhu- 
 manit}-. A poor fellow at Macao, in the employ of the British 
 f ictoiy there, fell by accident from a wall, and pitched upon 
 his skull. His companions took him up with very little ap- 
 pearance of life, and, in this state, were carrjang him a^vay, to- 
 wards the skirts of the town, where they were met by one of 
 the medical gentlemen belonging to the embassy. He inter- 
 rogated them, ^^hat they meant to do with the unfortunate 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. ill 
 
 Tnim, and was ver\^ coolly answered, they were going to bur\- 
 him. Having expressed his astonishment that they should 
 think of putting a man into the gra\e before the breath was 
 out of liis bod}-, they rephed that tliey were of opinion he nexev 
 could recover, aiul that if they carried him home he would only 
 be a trouble and expense to his friends, so long as he remain- 
 ed in a situation which rendered liim unable to assist himself. 
 The man, however, by the humanity and attention of Doctor 
 Scott, was restored again to his famih', and to those friends 
 who knew so weW to appreciate the value of his life. 
 
 The doctor, however, v\'as not awai-e of the risk he ran in 
 thus exercising his humanit}", as, by a law of the countr}\ 
 which appears to us extraordinaiy, if a wounded man be taken 
 into the protection and chai^ge of any person, \\ith a xiew to 
 effect his recoveiy, and he should happen to die under his 
 hands, the person, into \\hose care he ^vas last taken, is liable 
 to be punished with dcatJi, unless he can produce undeniable 
 evidence to prove how the wound was made, or that he sur- 
 vived it forty da}s. The consequence of such a law is, that if 
 a person should happen to be mortLill}- wounded in an afti-a\% 
 he is suffered to die in tlie streets, from the feai' (should anv 
 one take charge of him) of being made responsible for his life. 
 
 A sti'iking instance of the fatal effects of such a la^\■ happen- 
 ed at Canton latel}'. A fire broke out in the suburbs, and three 
 Chinese, in assisting to extinguish it, had their limbs fi-actur- 
 ed, and were otherwise dreadfully wounded by the falling of a 
 wall. The surgeon of the English flictor}-, with i\ll the alacrity 
 to administer relief to suffering humanity which characterizes 
 the profession in Britam, directed them to be carried to the fac- 
 tor)-, and A\as preparing to perform amputation, as the onl}- pos- 
 sible means of saving their hves, when one of the Hong merchants, 
 ha\ing heard what was going on, ran with great haste to the 
 place, and entreated the surgeon by no means to think of per- 
 forming any operation upon tliem, but rather to suffer them to 
 be taken away from the factor}- as speedily as possible ; adding, 
 that, however good his intentions might be, if any one of the 
 patients should die under his hands, he would ine\ itably be 
 tried for murder, and the most mitigated punishment would 
 be that of banishment for life into the wilds of Tartan'. The 
 wounded Chinese were accordingly removed privately, aiid, 
 «o doubt, abandoned to tlicir fate. ' 
 
112 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The operation of such a barbarous law (for so it appears to 
 us) will serve to explain tlie conduct of the Chinese in the fol- 
 Io\\"ing instance. In the course of our journey down the grand 
 canal, we had occasion to witness a scene which was consider- 
 ed as a remarkable example of a want of fellow-feeling. Of 
 the number of persons, \A-ho had crowded down to the banks 
 of the canal, several had posted themselves upon the liigh pro- 
 jecting stern of an old vessel which, unfortunately, breaking 
 down with die weight, the whole groupe tumbled with the 
 wTCck into the canal, just at the moment when the yachts of 
 the embassy ^vere passing. Aldiough numbers of boats were 
 sailing about the place, none were perceived to go to the assist- 
 ance of diose that were struggling in the water. They even 
 seemed not to kno^v that such an accident had liappened ; nor 
 could the shrieks of the boys, floating on pieces of the "vvi-eck, 
 attract their attention. One fellow was observed very busily 
 employed in picking up, with liis boat-hook, the hat of a 
 drowning man. It was in vain ^ve endeavoured to prevail on 
 tlie people of our vessel to heave to, and send the boat to their 
 assistance. It is true, \ve were then going at the rate of seven 
 miles an hour, which was the plea they made for not stopping. 
 I have no doubt that several of these unfortunate people inevita- 
 bly perished. 
 
 Being thus insensible to the sufferings of their companions 
 and countrj-men, little compassion is to be expected from them 
 towards strangers. From a manuscript journal, kept by a gen- 
 tleman in the suite of the Dutch embassador, it appears that, 
 on their route to the capital, the \\Titer felt an inclination to try 
 his skaits on a sheet of ice that they passed by the road-side ; 
 he was also urged to it by the conducting officers. Having pro- 
 ceeded to some distance from the shore, the ice ga\e wa}^, and 
 he fell in up to the neck. The Chinese, instead of rendering 
 him any assistance, in the absence of liis own countr}^men, who 
 had gone forwards, i^an away laughing at this accident, and left 
 him to scramble out as well as he could, which was not effected 
 "without very great difficulty. 
 
 But, if further proofs ^\•ere A^'antingto establish tlie insensible 
 and incompassionate character of the Chinese, the horrid practice 
 of inflmticide, tolerated by custom and encouraged by the go- 
 vernment, can leave no doubt on this subject. — I venture to 
 say encouraged, because where tlie legislature does not inter- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 113 
 
 fere to prevent crimes, it certainly may be said to lend them its 
 countenance. No law, ho\\ ever, allows (as I obscrA e it no- 
 ticed by a modem author of reputation) a Hitherto expose all 
 the daughters, and tiie third son. I bclie^'e the laws of China 
 do not suppose such an unnatural crime to exist, and ha\e 
 therefore provided no punishment for it. It is true, tliey ha\'e 
 left a child to the entire disposal of the father, concluding, per- 
 haps, that if his feelings will not prevent him from doing it an 
 injur}', no other consideration ^^•ill. Thus, tliough tlie com- 
 mission of infanticide be frequent in China, it is considered as 
 more prudent to wink at it as an inevitable e^•il, ^vhich natural 
 affection will better correct than penal statutes; an evil, that, 
 on the other hand, if publicly tolerated, would directly contra- 
 dict the gi-and principle of filial piety, upon ^^•hich their system 
 of obedience rests, and tlieir patiiarchal form of go^'ernmcnt is 
 founded. 
 
 It is, however, tacitly considered as a part of the dutv of the 
 police of Pekin to employ certain persons to go their rounds, 
 at an em-ly hour in the morning, with caits, in order to pick uj) 
 such bodies of infants as may have been thrown out into the 
 streets in the course of the night. No inquiries are made ; but 
 the bodies are oirried to a common pit, without the city \\'alls, 
 into which all those that may be li\ ing, as v\ell as those tliat are 
 dead, are said to be thro\\ n promiscuously. At this horrible 
 pit of destruction the Roman Catholic missionaries, established 
 in Pekin, attend by tums, as a part of the duties of their office, 
 in order, as one of them expressed himself to me on this sub- 
 ject, to chuse among them those that are the most li\ely, to 
 make future proselytes, and, by the administi^ation of baptism, 
 to such of the rest as might be still alive, pour leur sau\"er 
 I'ame. The Mahomcdans who, at the time that their serA'iccs 
 were useful in assisting to prepare the national calendai", had a 
 powerful influence at court, did much better : these zealous 
 bigots to a religion, whose least distinguishing feature is that 
 of humanity, \vere, however, on these occasions, the means of 
 saving the lives of all the little innocents they possibly could 
 save from this maw of deatli, which was an humane act, al- 
 though it might be for the purpose of bringing them up ii\ tlie 
 principles of their own foitli. I was assured by one of the 
 Christian missionaries, with wiiom I had daily conversation 
 during a residence of live weeks within the Avails of the empe- 
 ror's jxilace at Yuen-min-yucn, and v. ho took his tani in ui- 
 
114 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 tending, ponr leur sauvcr I'ame, that such scenes were some- 
 times exhibited on these occasions as to make the feeling mind 
 shudder widi hoiTor. When I mention that dogs and swine 
 are let loose in all the narrow streets of the capital, the reader 
 may conceive what A\'iil sometimes necessarily happen to the 
 exposed infants, before the police carts can pick them up. 
 
 The number of children, thus unnaturally and inhumanly 
 slaughtered, or interred alive, in the course of a year, is difFer- 
 entl}' stated by different authors ; some making it about ten, 
 and others thirt}-, thousand, in the \'ihole empire. The truth, 
 as generall}' happens, may probably lie about the middle. The 
 missionaries, who alone possess the means Of ascertaining nearly 
 the number that is thus sacrificed in the capital, differ very ma- 
 terially in their statements : taking the mean, as given by those 
 \A-ith whom we conversed on the subject, I should conclude 
 tliat about t^venty-four infants Avere, on an average, in Pekin, 
 daily carried to the pit of death, where the little innocents, that 
 have not yet breathed their last, are condemned without re- 
 morse, 
 
 . to be stifled in the vault, 
 
 " To whose foul mouth no healthsome sur breathes in, 
 " And there die." 
 
 This calculation gives nine thousand, nearly, for the capital 
 alone, where it is supposed about an equal number are exposed 
 to that of all the other parts of the empiie. Those, whose con- 
 stant residence is upon the water, and ^^•hose poverty, or su- 
 perstition, or total insensibilit\% or v\"hatever the cause may be 
 that leads them to the perpetration of an act against which na- 
 ture revolts, sometimes, it is said, expose their infants by 
 throwing them into the canal or river, with a gourd tied round 
 their necks, to keep the head above water, and preserve them 
 alive until some humane person may be induced to pick them 
 up. This hazai'dous experiment, in a country where humanity- 
 appears to be reduced to so low an ebb, can only be considered 
 as an aggravation of cruelty. I ha^-e seen the dead body of an 
 infant, but v^ithout any gourd, floating down the river of Can- 
 ton, among the boats, and the people seemed to take no more 
 notice of it than if it had been the cai'case of a dog : this, in- 
 deed, v.ould, in all probabilit}-, have attracted their attention ; 
 dogs being an article of food commonly used by them. The 
 miserable half-famished Chinese, living upon tlie water, arc 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. US 
 
 glad to get any tK!ng in the shape of animal food, which they 
 will even eat in a state of puti-ef "action. Yet, little scrupiilou:> 
 as they are, ^\^th regard to diet, I am not credulous enou'i'h 'o 
 believe the infonnation of a Swedish autlior * to be correct in 
 his statement of a cure for a certain disease, though " he has 
 no reason to doubt of the fact," per Ti«K>?>«y«v, alternis diebus, 
 altemis jejunio — by eating childicn evei y other da}' ! 
 
 A picture so hoirid in its nature, as the exposing of infants 
 presents to the imagination, is not to be surpassed among the 
 most savage nations. The celebrated legislator of Athens made 
 no law to punish panicide, because he considered it as a crime 
 against nature, too heinous ever to be committed ; and tl^.t the 
 bare supposition of such a crime would have disgraced the 
 countr}-. The Chinese, in like manner, have no nositi^•e lav.- 
 against infanticide. The laws of die rude and warlike Spartans 
 allowed infanticide, of which, however, the parents were not 
 the perpetrators, nor the abettors. Nor, among these people, 
 were the weak and sickly children, deemed b}- the magistrates 
 unlikely ever to become of use to themselves, or to the public, 
 throwTi into the un-tS-nKr., or common rcpositoiy of the dead bo- 
 dies of children, until life had been prcAiously extinguished, 
 we m'AI charitably suppose, by gentle and the least painful 
 means. 
 
 The exposing of children, however, it must be allowed, ^vas 
 very common among die ancients. The stem and rigid virtues 
 of die Romans allowed this, among many other customs, that 
 were more umiatural than amiable, and such as in civilized so- 
 cieties of the present day would have been considered among 
 the most atrocious of moral crimes. A Roman father, if his in- 
 fant was meant to be preserved, lifted it from the giound in his 
 arms; if he neglected that ceremony, the child, it would seem, 
 was considered as doomed to exposure in the highwa^^ Thus, 
 in the Andrian of Terence, where, though the scene is not laid 
 in Rome, Roman customs are described, " quidquid pepcris- 
 *' set, decreverunt tollere." *' Let it be boy or girl, tliej- have 
 " resolved to lift it from the giound." Nor, indeed, is secret 
 infanticide unknown in modem Europe, although it may be 
 owing to a different principle. In such cases, die sense of 
 shame, and the fear of encoiuitering the scorn and obliquy of 
 the world, liave determined die conduct of die unhappy mo- 
 
 • Mr. Torreeij. 
 
116 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 ther, before the feelings of nature could have time to operate. 
 For I am wiUir.g to hope that none who had ever experienced 
 a mother's feelings and a mother's joy Avould consent, by any 
 means, direct or indirect, or under any impression of fear of 
 shame, of scorn, or biting penury, to the destruction of a 
 new-born babe. And I may venture to say, with confidence, 
 that a British cottager, however indigent, would divide his 
 scanty pittance among a dozen children, rather than consent 
 to let some of them perish, that he and the rest might fare the 
 better, were even our laws as tacit on this subject as those 
 of China. 
 
 Some of the Christian missionaries, in their accounts of 
 this country, have attempted to palliate the unnatural act of 
 exposing infants, by attributing it to the midwife, w^ho they 
 pretend to sa}-, from knowing the circumstances of the pa- 
 rents, strangle the child ^vitliout the knowledge of the mother, 
 telling her that the infant was still-born. Others have as- 
 cribed the practice to a belief in tlie metempsycosis, or 
 transmigration of souls into other bodies ; that the parents, 
 seeing their children must be doomed to poverty, think it is 
 better at once to let the soul escape, in search of a more happy 
 asylum, than to linger in one condemned to want and wretch- 
 edness. No degree of superstition, one would imagine, could 
 prevail upon a pai'ent to reason thus, in tliat most anxious and 
 critical moment, when the combined efforts of hope and fear, 
 of exquisite joy and severe pain, agitate by turns the mother's 
 breast. Besides, the Chinese trouble tliemselves very little 
 with superstitious notions, unless where they apprehend some 
 personal danger. Nor is it more probable that the midwife 
 should take upon herself the commission of a concealed and 
 \'oluntary murder of an innocent and helpless infant, for the 
 salvC of sparing those feelings in another, of which the sup- 
 position implies she could not possibly partake ; and if she 
 should be encouraged by the father, whose affections for an 
 infant child may be more gradually unfolded thaji the mo- 
 ther's, to pei-petrate so horrid an act, we must allow that, to 
 the existence of natural and murderous parents must be added 
 that of hired ruflians ; so that Gliinese virtue would gain little 
 by such a supposition. 
 
 It is much more probable that extreme poverty and hope- 
 less indigence, tlie frequent experience of direful famines, and 
 the scenes of misery and calamity occasioned by them, acting 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 117 
 
 on minds whose ajRections are not ^ eiy powerful, Iiulucc tliis 
 unnatural crime, which common custom has encouraged, and 
 which is not prohibited by positive la\^'. That this is the 
 case, and that future advaritages are not o\erlooked, A\-ill ap- 
 pear from the circumstance of almost dl the infants that ai-e 
 exposed being females, who are the least able to pro^•ide for 
 themselves, and the least profitable to their parents ; and the 
 practice is most frequent in crowded cities, \\here not only 
 poverty more commonly prevails, but so many examples daily 
 occur of inhunianity, of summaiy punishments, acts of \^io- 
 lence, and cruelty, that the mind becomes callous, and habitu- 
 ated to scenes that once would have shocked, and is at length 
 scarcely susceptible of the cnoiTnity of crimes. 
 
 I am afraid, however, it is but too common a practice, even 
 in the remotest comers of the provinces. A respectable French 
 missionar}-, now in London, who was many years in Fo-kicn, 
 told me that he once happened to ciill on one of his converts, 
 just at the moment his wife was brought to bed. The dc^'oted 
 infant was delivered to the father, in order to be plunged into 
 a jar of water that ^\•as prepaied for the purpose. The 
 missionary expostulated with the man on the heinousness of 
 an act that was a crime ag-ainst God and nature. The man 
 persisted that, having already more than he could support, it 
 Mould be a gi'cater crime to preserve a life condemned to want 
 and miser}-, than to take it a\\'ay witliout pain. The missiona- 
 r}-, finding diat no ai-gument of his was likely to divert him from 
 his puipose, observed " that, as a Christian, he could not rc- 
 " fuse him the satisfaction of saAing the infant's soul b^- bap- 
 *' tism." During the ceremony, as the father held the infant 
 in his ai'ms, he happened to fix his eyes on its face, \\hen the 
 missionaiy thought he perceived the feelings of nature begin 
 to work ; and he protracted the ceremony to gi^^e time for the 
 latent spark of parental affection to kindle into flame. When 
 the ceremony \\as ended, " Noav," says the mission[.! v, " I 
 *' have done my duty in saving a soul from perishing." " And 
 " I," rejoined the man, " will do mine, by saving its life;" 
 and hun'ied away with the inflint, to deposit it in die bosom 
 of its mother. 
 
 How veiy weak, then, in reality, must be die boasted filial 
 aftection of the Chinese for their parents, when they sciiiplc 
 not to become the murderers of their own children, towaids 
 whom, according to Uie immutable laws of nature, the force 
 
118 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 of affection will ever be stronger tlian for those whom the laws 
 of China, in preference, have commanded ta be protected and 
 supported, when rendered incapable of i^ssisiing themselves. 
 The truth of this observation, which I believe few will call in 
 question, is a strong proof that, as I have already remai'ked, 
 filial piety among die Chinese may rather be considered in 
 the hght of an ancient precept, carrying with it the weight of 
 a positi^•e law, than the effect of sentiment. 
 
 It is right to mention here (what however is no palliation of 
 the crime, though a diminution of the extent of it) a circum- 
 stance which I do not recollect to hiive seen noticed by any 
 author, and the truth of which I have too good auiliority to 
 call in question. As every corpse, gieat and small, must be 
 carried to a place of burial at a considerable distance Avithout 
 the city, and as custom requires that all funerals should be 
 conducted with veiy heavy expenses, people in Pelcin, even 
 those in comfortable circumstances, make no hesitation in 
 laying in baskets still-born children, or infants ^^ ho may die 
 the first month, knowing that they will be taken up by the 
 police. This being the case, Ave may easily conceive that, in 
 a city said to contain tlii^ee millions of people, a great propor- 
 tion of the nine thousand, which we have supposed to be an- 
 nually exposed, may be of the above description. According, 
 to the rules of political arithmetic, and supposing half of those 
 who died to be exposed, the number would be diminished to 
 about 4000. The expense attending a Chinese funeral is 
 more extravagant than an European can well conceive. A 
 rich Hong merchant at Canton is knoAvn to have kept his 
 mother near twelve months above ground, because it w s not 
 con\enient for him to bury her in a manner suitable to liis 
 supposed wealth and station. 
 
 I am informed also that foundling hospitals do exist in 
 China, but that they are on a small scale, being raised and 
 supported by donations of individuals, and their continuance 
 is, therefore, as precarious as the wealth of their charitable 
 founders. 
 
 These unfavorable features in the character of a people, 
 whose natural disposition is neither ferocious nor morose, but, 
 on the contrary, mild, obliging, and cheerful, can be attributed 
 only to the habits in which they have been trained, and to the 
 heavy hand of power perpetually hanging over them. That 
 this is actually the case may be inferred from the general con- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. ll<» 
 
 duct and character of those vast multitudes \\ho, from time to 
 time, have emigrated to the Philiippine islands, Batavia, Pulo 
 Piiiaiig, ajid other parts of our Last Indian settlements. In 
 tliose places they are not less remai'kable for their honesty 
 than for their peaceable and industrious habits. To the Dutch 
 in BatiiVia they are masons, ciapenters, tailors, shoemakers, 
 shopkeepers, bankers, and, in short, every tiling. Indolence 
 arid luxury are tliere aiTived to such a height tliat, without die 
 assistance of the Chinese, the Dutch Mould literally be in dim- 
 ger of starving. Yet the infamous government oi that place, 
 in the year 1741, caused to be nrassacred, in cold blood, many 
 thousands of these haimless people, \\ ho offered no resistance ; 
 neither women nor cliildren escaped die fury of these blood- 
 hounds. 
 
 In these places it appears also, tliat their quickness at inven- 
 tion is not suipassed by accuracy of imitation, for which diej 
 ha\ e always been accounted remarkably expert in their own 
 countiy. Man is, by nature, a hoiu'ding animal ; and his en- 
 deavours to accumulate property will be proportioned to the 
 securit)'^ and stabilitj- v hich the laws afford for the possession 
 and enjoyment of that property. In Cliina, the la^s regarding 
 property are insufficient to give it that security : hence the ta- 
 lent of invention is there seldom exercised beyond suggesting 
 the means of providing for the first necessities and the most 
 pressing \vants. A man, irideed, is afraid here to be considered 
 as M'ealth}', ^\•ell knoA\ing that some of the rapacious officers of 
 the state would find legal reasons to extort his riches from him. 
 
 The exterior deportment of e\'ery class in China is uncom- 
 monly decent, and all their manners mild and engaging ; but 
 even these, among persons of any rank, are considered as ob- 
 jects worthy the interference of the legislature ; hence it fol- 
 lows that they are ceremonious \\ ithout sincerity, studious of 
 the forms only of politeness, \\ithout either die ease or elegance 
 of good-breeding. An inferior makes a sham attempt to fall on 
 his knees before his superior, and the latter affects a slight mo- 
 tion to raise him. A common salutatioifhas its m.ode prescribed 
 by the court of ceremonies ; and any neglect or default in a ple- 
 beian towards his superior is punishable by corporal chastise- 
 ment, and in men in office by degradation or suspension. In 
 making thus the exterior and public manners of the people a 
 concern of the legislature, society, in many respects, w^as con- 
 siderably benefited. Between equals, and among the lower 
 
120 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 orders of people, abusi\e language is very unusual, and they 
 seldom proceed to blo\vs. If a quarrel should be carried to 
 this extremit}^, the contest is rarely attended \\ith more serious 
 consequences than the loss of the long lock of hair growing 
 from the cro\Mi of the head, or the rent of their clothes. The 
 act of drawing a sword, or presenting a pistol, is sufficient to 
 frighten a common Chinese into convulsions ; and their war- 
 riors shew but few symptoms of bravery. The Chinese may 
 certainly be considered among the most timid people on the 
 face of the earth ; they seem to possess neither personal cou- 
 rage, nor the least presence of mind in dangers or difficulties ; 
 consequences that are deriA'cd, probably, from the influence 
 of the moral over the ph}- sical chtiracter. Yet, there is, per- 
 haps, no country where acts of suicide occur more frequently 
 than in Cliina, among the women as well as the men : such 
 acts being nifa-ked with no disgrace, ai-e not held in any ab- 
 horrence. The go's emment, indeed, should seem to hold out 
 encouragement to suicide, by a very common practice of mi- 
 tigiiting the sentence of death, in allowing the criminal to be 
 his own executioner. The late viceroy of Canton, about two 
 years ago, put an end to his liie by swallowing his stone snuff- 
 bottle, v/hich stuck in the oesophagus ; and he died in excru- 
 dating agonies. 
 
 In a government, where e^•cry man is liable to be made a 
 slave, where every man is subject to be flogged with the bam- 
 boo, at the nod of one of the lowest rank of those in office, 
 and where he is compelled to kiss the rod that beats him, or, 
 w hich amounts to the same thing, to thank the tyrant on his 
 knees for the trouble he has taken to con-ect his morals, high 
 notions of honour and dignified sentiments are not to be ex- 
 pected. Where the maxims of the government commanding, 
 and the opinions of the people agreeing, that corporal punish- 
 ment may be inflicted, on the ground of a favour conferred 
 upon the person pimished, a principle of humiliation is admit- 
 ted that is well calculated to exclude and obliterate every 
 riotion of the dignity o^^human nature. 
 
 A slave, in fact, cannot be dishonoured. The condition 
 itself of being dependent upon, and subject to, the caprice of 
 another, without the privilege of appeal, is such a degraded 
 stat*e of the human species, "that those who ai'e unfortunately 
 reduced to it have no further ignominy or sense of shame to 
 undei'go. The vices of such a condition are innumerable, and 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA* 121 
 
 they appear on all occasions among this people celebrated 
 (rather undeservedly I think) for their polished manners and 
 civilized government. A Chinese merchant ^\•ill cheat, when 
 ever an opportunity oflers him the means, because he is con- 
 sidered to be incapable of acting honestly ; a Chinese peasant 
 will steal, whene\ er he can do it ^^•ithout danger of being de- 
 tected, because the punishment is only the bamboo, to which 
 he is daily liable ; and a Chinese prince, or a prime minister, 
 will extort tlie property of the subject, and apjjly it to his pri- 
 vate use, whenever he diinks he can do it v. itii impunit}-. Thr 
 only check upon the rapacity of men in poA\er is the influence 
 of fear, arising from the possibility of detection : the lo^'e of 
 honour, the dread of shame, and a sense of justice, seem to 
 be equally unfelt by the majority of men in oflicc. 
 
 It \\'ould be needless to multiply^ instances to those already 
 on record of the refined knavery displa)ed b\" Chinese iPxCr- 
 chants in their dealings with Europeans, or the ti'icks that they 
 play off in tlieir ti-ansactions \\'ith one another. They are well 
 known to most nations, and are proverbial in their own. A 
 merchant with them is considered as the lowest character in 
 the countiy, as a man that ^^•ill cheat if he can, and ^\•hose 
 trade it is to create and then supply artificial ^vants. To this 
 general chiu^cter, which public opinion has m.ost probably 
 made to be what it is, an exception is due to those merchants 
 who, acting under the immediate sanction of the government, 
 ha\'e always been remarked for their liberality and accuracy in 
 their dealings with Europeans trading to Canton. These men, 
 who are stjled the Hong merchants, in distinction to a com- 
 mon merchant, \vhom they call mai-mai-gin, a bu} ing and 
 selling man, might not unjustly be compared A\ith the most 
 eminent of die mercantile class in England. 
 
 But, as traders in general are degraded in all the state 
 maxims, and consequendy in public opinion, it is not surpris- 
 ing they should attach so little respect to the character of* 
 foreign merchants ti'ading to their ports, especi^illy as several 
 knavish tricks have been practised upon them, in spite of all 
 their acuteness and precaution. The gaudy -watches of indif- 
 ferent workman5,hip, fabricated purposely for the China market, 
 and once in uni\ersal demand, aj-e now scarcely asked for. One 
 gendeman, in the honourable East India Company's employ, 
 took it into his head that cuckoo-clocks might pro\e a saleable 
 article in China, and accordindv laid iii a large assortment, 
 
122 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Vvhich more than answered his sanguine expectations. But 
 as these \\'ooden machines were consti-ucted for sale only, and 
 not Ibr use, the cuckoo-clocks became all mute long before 
 the second iirrival of tliis gentleman w ith another cai-go. His 
 clocks were now not only unsaleable, but the former pur- 
 chasers threatened to return theirs upon his hands, which 
 "would certainly have been done, had not atliought entered his 
 head, that not only pacified his former customers, but procured 
 him also other purchasers for his second cargo : he convinced 
 tliem, by undeniable authorities, that the cuckoo was a very 
 odd kind of bird, which sung only at certain seasons of the 
 year, and assured them that, ^^hene^'er the proper time arrived, 
 all the cuckoos they had purchased \vould once again " tune 
 their melodious tlii'oats." After this it would only be fair to 
 allow tlie Chinese sometimes to trick the European purchaser 
 Avith a ^^'ooden ham instead of a real one. 
 
 But as something more honourable might be expected in a 
 prince of the blood, a grandson of the emperor, I shall just 
 mention one anecdote that happened during my abode in the 
 palace of Yuen-min-yuen. This gentleman, then about five- 
 and-twenty years of age, having no ostensible employment, 
 came almost daily to the hall of audience, where we w^ere ar- 
 ranging the presents for the emperor. He had frequently 
 desired to look at a gold time-piece which I wore in my 
 pocket: one morning I received a message from him, by one 
 of the missionaiies, to know if I w^ould sell it, and for what 
 price. I explained to the missionaiy that, being a present 
 fi'om a friend, and a token of remembi'ance, I could not wil- 
 lingly part with it ; but that I would endeavour to procure him 
 one equally good from our aiiificers, who, I thought, had 
 such articles for sale. I soon discovered, however, that his 
 royal highness had already been with these people, but did 
 not like their prices. The following mornmg a second mis- 
 sionary came to me, bringing a present from the prince, con- 
 sisting of about half a pound of common tea, a silk purse, 
 and a few trumpery trinkets, hinting at the same time, that he 
 was expected to cany^ back the A^atch in return as an equi- 
 valent. I requested the missionary immediately to take back 
 the princely present, m hich he did with considerable reluc- 
 tance, dreading his highness's displeasure. The poor fellow 
 happened to have a gold watch about him, which he was de- 
 sired to shew ; and the same day he had a visit from one of 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 125 
 
 the prince's domestics, to say, that his niiister would do liini 
 
 the honour to accept his watch ; which he ^v•as not only undtr 
 
 the necessity of sending, but was obhged to thank him, on 
 
 his knees, for this extraordinaiy mark of distinction. Pie told 
 
 me, moreover, that this same gentleman had at least a dozen 
 
 watches, \vhich had been procured in the same honourable ^va)\ 
 
 In the list of presents carried by the late Dutch eml^assador 
 
 were tv\ o grand pieces of machinery, that formerl\- \\ ere a pait 
 
 of the curious museum of the ingenious Mr. Coxe. In the 
 
 course of the long journey from Qinton to Pekin the}- had 
 
 suffered some slight damage. On leaving the ca])ital they 
 
 discovered, through one of the missionaries, that while these 
 
 pieces were under repair, the prime minister Ho-tch.ing-tonp- 
 
 had substituted two others, of a very inferior and common 
 
 sort, to complete the list, reserving the tw o grand pieces of 
 
 clockwork for himself, which, at some future period, he 
 
 would, perhaps, take the merit of presenting to the emperor 
 
 in his own name. 
 
 These examples but too clearly illustrate a great defect in 
 the boasted moral character of the Chinese, iiut the fault, 
 as I before observed, seems to be more in the system of go- 
 vernment than in the nature and disposition of the j^eople. 
 The accession of a foreign power to the throne, by adopting 
 the language, the laws, and the customs of the conquered, has 
 preserved, with the forms, all the abuses of the ancient go- 
 vernment. The character of the governors may differ a little ; 
 but that of the government remains unchanged, 'i'he Tartars, 
 by assuming the dress, the manners, and the habits of the 
 Chinese, by being originally descended from the same stock, 
 and by a great resemblance of features, ai'c sciU'cel}' distin- 
 guishable from them in their external appeai'ance ; and if any 
 physical difference exist, it seems to be in stiiturc onl\ , ^vhich 
 may hsive arisen from local causes. The Chinese are rather 
 taller, and of a more slender and delicate form than the Tai*- 
 tars, who are in general short, thick, and robust. The sm:ill 
 eye, elliptical at the end next to the nose, is a predominating 
 feature in the cast of both the Taitar and the Chinese counte- 
 nance ; and they have both the simie high cheek-bones and 
 pointed chins, Avhich, with the custom of shaving off the hair, 
 gives to the head the shape of an inverted cone, rem.aikable 
 enough in some subjects, but neither so general, nor so sin- 
 ^lar, as to warrant dieir bein^ considered among the monsters 
 
124 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 in nature, " Homo monstrosus, macroceplialus, capite conlco, 
 Chinensis. "* The head of our worthy conductor Van-ta.gin, 
 who was a real Chinese, had nothing in its shape diiFerent 
 from tliat of an European, except the eye. The portrait of 
 this gentleman, drawn by ISIr. Hickey, is so strong a Ukeness, 
 and he was deservedly so great a favourite of every English- 
 man in the train of the British embassador, that I am happy in 
 haA-ing an opportunity of placing it at the head of this Avork. 
 The natural colour both of the Chinese and Tartai*s seems 
 to be that tint between a fair and di\rk complexion, which we 
 distinguish by the word brunet or brunette ; and the shades of 
 this complexion ai-e deeper, or lighter, according as they have 
 been more or less exposed to the influence of the climate. 
 The women of the lower class, who labour in the fields, or who 
 duel! in vessels, ai-e almost invaiiably coai'se, ill-featured, and 
 of a deep brown complexion, like that of the Hottentot. But 
 this v^•e find to be the case among the poor of almost e\'ery na- 
 tion. Hard labour, scanty fore, and early and frequent partii- 
 tition, soon Thither the delicate buds of beaut}-. I'he spright- 
 liness and expression of the features, as well as the colour of 
 the skin, which distinguish the higher ranks from the vulgai', 
 are the eilects of ease and education. We saw v/omen in 
 China, though vtry few, that might pass for beauties e\'en in 
 Europe. The Malay features, howcA'cr, prevail in most ; a 
 small black or dark broAMi eye, a short rounded nose, gene- 
 rally a little flattened, lips considerably thicker than in Euro- 
 peans, and black hair, arc universal. 
 
 The Man-tchoo Tartars would appear to be composed of a 
 nilxed race : among these we obser\ed sevci*al, both men and 
 \vomen, that were extremely fair and of florid complexions : 
 some had light blue eyes, straight or aquiline noses, brown 
 hair, immense bushy beards, and had much more the appear- 
 ance of Greeks thaii of Tartars. It is certainly not improbable 
 that the Greeks of Sogdiana, whose descendants must ha\'e 
 blended with the western Tartars, and \\ith A\hom the Man- 
 tchoos were connected, may have communicated this cast of 
 countenance. Tcliien-Lung, whose nose Avas somewhat aqui- 
 line, and complexion florid, used to boast of his descent from 
 Gengis-khan : these, however, ai'e exceptions to the general 
 chanicter, which is evidently the same as that of the Chinese. 
 
 • Linn. Systema Naturjc. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 125 
 
 But, although tlieir appearance and manners arc externally 
 the same, a closer acquaintance soon disco\'ers that in disposi- 
 tion they are widely different. Those who are better pleased 
 with a blunt sincerit}', bordering on rudeness, than widi a stu- 
 died complaisance, approaching to servility ; who may tliink it 
 better to be robbed openly than cheated civilly ; "s\Hl be apt to 
 give the preference to the Tartar chai-actcr. Yet, those Tartiirs 
 of distinction, who fill some of the higher situations in the state, 
 soon lose their native roughness, and are scarcely distinguish- 
 able in dieir manners and demeanour from the Chinese. 
 
 The ease, politeness, and dignified carriage of the old vice- 
 roy of Pe-tche-lce, Mho was a Man-tchoo, could not be exceed- 
 ed by tine most practised courtier in modem Europe : the at- 
 tention he shewed to every thing that concerned the embassy, 
 the unaffected manner in which he received and entertained us 
 at Tien-sing ; the kindness and condescension with wliich he 
 gave his orders to the inferior officers and to his domestics, 
 placed him in a very amiable point of vieA\'. He \\ as a \'ery fine 
 old man, of sevent}^-eight )ears of age, of low stature, w idi 
 small sparkling eyes, a benign aspect, a long silver beard, and 
 the whole of his appeai'ance calm, venerable, and dignified. 
 The manners of Sun-ta-gin, a relation of the emperor, and one 
 of the six ministers of stiite, were no less dignified, easy, and 
 engaging ; and Chung-ta-gin, the new vicero}' of Canton, was 
 a plain, unassuming, and good-natured man. The prime mi- 
 nister Ho-chang-tong, the little Tartar legate, and the ex-vice- 
 roy of Canton, were the only persons of rank, among the many 
 we had occasion to converse with, that discovered the least ill- 
 humour, distant hauteur, and ^ant of complaisance. All the 
 rest, with M^hom we had an}- concern, m hether Tartai's or Chi- 
 nese, when in our private society, were easy, affable, and fa- 
 miliar, extremely good-humoured, loquacious, communica- 
 tive. It was in public only, and towaixls each other, that they 
 assumed dieir ceremonious gravity, and practised all the tricks 
 of demeanour which custom requires of them. 
 
 The general chimicter, however, of the nation is a strange 
 compound of pride and meanness, of affected gravity and real 
 frivolousness, of refined civility and gross indelicacy. Widi 
 an appearance of great simplicity and openness in conversa- 
 tion, they practise a degree of art and cunning, against Avhich 
 an European is but ill prepared. Their manner of introducing 
 th^ subject of the court- ceremonies, in con\'ersation widi the 
 
126 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 embassador, is no bad specimen of tlieir sly addi'ess in ma- 
 naging matters of this sort. Some of them observed, by mere 
 accident, as it were, ho^v curious it was to see tlie different 
 modes of dress that prevailed among different nations ; this 
 naturall}' brought on a comparison between theirs and ours, 
 the latter of which they pretended to examine with critical at- 
 tention. After a good deal of circumlocutory observations, 
 they thought their own entitled to tlie preference, being more 
 convenient, on account of its being made wide and loose, and 
 free from tight ligatures ; whereas ours must be exceedingly 
 uneasy and troublesome in any other posture tlian that of stand- 
 ing upright ; and particularly so in making the genuflections 
 and prostrations which were customaiy, and indeed necessar}% 
 to be performed, by all persons, \\henever the emperor ap- 
 peared in public. No notice being taken of this broad hint, 
 so artfully introduced, they proceeded to compai'e their wide 
 petticoats with our breeches, and to contrast the play and free- 
 dom of their knee-joints with the obstruction that our knee- 
 buckles and garters must necessarily occasion. This brought 
 theni dii-ectly to the point, and they finished by recommend- 
 ing, in the warmth of their friendship, that we should disen- 
 cumber ourseh'^es of our breeches, as they would certainly be 
 inconvenient to appear in at court. 
 
 Of perse\erance in negotiation, or, more properly speaking, 
 in driving a bai'gain, the Tartar legate gave no bad specimen 
 of his talent. Ha\ing, in vain, practised everj^ ait to obtain 
 from the embassador an unconditional compliance ^^-ith the 
 court ceremony, he Avas sent at length by the prime minister 
 to inform him that the impoitant point was finally decided, and 
 that the English mode was to be adopted ; but, he observed, 
 as it Avas not the custom of Chma to kiss the emperor's hand, 
 he had something to propose, to which there could be no ob- 
 jection, and which vras, that, in lieu of that pait of the EngUsh 
 ceremony, he should put the second knee upon the ground, 
 and, instead of bending one knee, kneel on both. Iivfact, they 
 negociate, on the most trifling point, with as much caution and 
 preciseness as if the)^ were forming a treaty of peace, and with 
 Biore address than some treaties of peace have been negociated. 
 
 As a direct refusal to any request would betray a want of 
 good breeding, every proposal finds their immediate acquies. 
 cerxe ; they promise without hesitation, but generally disap- 
 point by the invention of some sly pretence or plausible ob- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 127 
 
 jection. They have no proper sense of the obligations of 
 truth. So Httie scrupulous, indeed, are the}- with regard to 
 veracity, that they \v ill assert and contradict without blusliinp-, 
 as it may best suit the purpose of the moment. 
 
 The vanity of an usurped national superiority, and a high 
 notion of self-importance, never forsake them on any occasion. 
 Those advantages in others which they cannot avoid feeling, 
 they will not aftect to see. And although they are reduced to 
 the necessity of employing foreigners to regulate their calen- 
 dar, and keep tlieir clocks in order ; although they are in the 
 habit of receiving yearly vai'ious specimens ot art and ingenuity 
 from Europe, yet they pertinaciously affect to consider all the 
 nations of the eaith as barbai'ians in comparison of themselves. 
 A Chinese merchant of Canton, who, from the I'requent oppor- 
 tunities of seeing English ships, wxs not insensible of their ad- 
 vantiigcs over those of his own nation, which traded to Bata- 
 via, and other distiint ports, rcsohed, and actually began, to 
 construct a vessel according to an English model ; but the 
 hoopoo, or collector of the customs, being apprised of it, not 
 only obliged him to relinquish his project, but lined him in a 
 hea\'y penalty for presuming to adopt the modes of a baibarous 
 nation. So great is their national conceit, that not a single ar- 
 ticle imported into the countr}-, as I have elsewhere observed, 
 retains its name : not a nation, nor person, nor object, tliat 
 does not receive a Chinese appellation : so tliat their language, 
 though poor, is pure. 
 
 The expressions made use of in salutation, by different na- 
 tions, may perhaps be considered as deriving their origin from 
 features of national chai-acter. Lau-ve, " Old sir," is a title 
 of respect, widi ^vhich the first officers of state ma}- be addres- 
 sed, because the maxims of government have inculcated the 
 doctrine of obedience, respect and protection, to old age. The 
 common salutation among tlie lower orders of people, in some 
 of die southern provinces, is, Ya fan, " Have you eaten your 
 rice ?" the greatest happiness, that the common class of people 
 in China can hope to enjoy, consisting in thcii' having a suffi- 
 ciency of rice. Thus, also, the Dutch, who ai'C considered 
 as great eaters, haAC a morning salutation, ^\hich is common 
 among all ranks, Smaakelyk eeten ! " May you eat a 
 heai'ty diimer ! " Another universal salutation am.ong this peo- 
 ple is, Hoe vaart uwe? " How do you sail?'- adopted, no 
 doubt, in the early periods of the republic, Vr hen tliey were all 
 
128 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 navigators and fishermen. The usual salutation at Cairo is, 
 " How do you sweat?" a dr}' hot skin being a sure indication 
 of a destructi\'e ephemeral fever. I think some author has 
 obsen ed, in contrasting tlie haughty Spaniard with the frivo- 
 lous Frenchman, that the proud stei\dy gait and inflexible so- 
 lemnity of the former were expressed in his mode of saluta- 
 tion, Come esta? " How do you stand?" whilst the Com- 
 jiENT vous poRTEz-vous? " How do you Carry yoursclf?" 
 was equally expressive of the gay motion and incessant action 
 of the latter. 
 
 The Chinese are so ceremonious among themselves, and so 
 punctilious Mith regard to etiquette, that the omission of the 
 most minute point, established by the court of ceremonies, is 
 considered as a criminal offence. Visiting by tickets, which 
 \\ ith us is a fashion of modern refinement, has been a common 
 pi-actice in China some thousand years ; but the rank of a Chi- 
 nese A'isitor is immediately ascertained by the size, colour, and 
 ornaments of his ticket, Avhich also varies in all these points 
 according to the rank of the person visited. The old viceroy 
 of Pe-tche-lee's ticket to the embassador contained as much 
 crimson-coloured paper as w ould be sufficient to cover the 
 walls of a moderate sized room. 
 
CHAP. V. 
 
 MANNERS AND AMUSEMENTS OF THE COURT RECEPTION 
 
 OF EMBASSADORS CHARACTER AND PRIVATE LIFE OF 
 
 THE EMPEROR HIS EUNUCHS AND WOMEN. 
 
 General Character of the Court. — Of the Buildings about the Palace. — Lord 
 Macartney's Account of his Introduction. — Of the Celebration of the Empe- 
 ror's annivcrsaiy Festival. — Of a Puppet-Show. — Comedy and Pantomime. — 
 Wrestling. — Conjuring and Fire-Works. — Reception and Entertainment of 
 the Dutch Embassadors, from a Manuscript Journal. — Observations on the 
 State of the Chinese Stage. — Extraordinary Scene in one of their Dramas. — 
 Gross and indelicate Exhibitions. — Sketch of Kien-Long's Life and Charac- 
 ter. — Kills his Son, by an unlucky Blow — conceives himself immortal. — In- 
 fluence of the Eunuchs at the Tartar Conquest — their present State and 
 Offices. — Emperor's Wife, Qiieens, and Concubines. — How disposed of at 
 his Death. 
 
 AFTER the sketch I have exhibited of the state of so- 
 ciety among the difterent ranks in China, a tolerable notion 
 may be formed of the general character and complexion of 
 the court. It is, as Lord Macaitney has justly observed, *' a 
 *' singular mixture of ostentatious hospitality and inbred sus- 
 " picion, ceremonious civilit}' and real rudeness, shado^^y 
 '* complaisance and substantial perverseness ; and this prevails 
 " through all the departments connected \\ith the court, al- 
 " though somewhat modified by the personal disposition of 
 *' tiiose at their head : but as to that genuine politeness, which 
 " distinguishes our manners, it cannot be expected in Orien 
 ^' tals, considering, among other things, the light in v»hich 
 *' they are accustomed to regard the female part of society." 
 Wliether the great ministers of state, ^\•ho have daily inter- 
 course in the different tribunals, sometimes relax from the stiff 
 and formal deportment observed tovrards each other in public, 
 I am not able to say ; but, when at court, they in^ ariably ob- 
 serve certain stated fonns and expressions, as studied arid cere- 
 monious as if they had ne\er met before. It appeared to us 
 highly ridiculous to see our friends, the two colleagues Van- 
 
 R 
 
130 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 ta-gin and Clioii-ta-gin, on meeting in the precincts of the 
 palace, performing to each otiier all the genuflexions and 
 motions of the body which the ceremonial institutes of the 
 empire require. 
 
 I rather suspect, hofwever, that, where any degree of confi- 
 dence prevails among these people, they sometimes enjoy their 
 moments of con\ i\ iality. Our two ^vorthy conductors met at 
 Canton an old acquaintance who was governor of a city in 
 Fokien. He ga\'c them an e^^ening entertainment, on the river, 
 in a splendid yacht, to ^^ hich I was privately invited. On 
 entering the great cabin I found the three gentlemen, with 
 each a j'oung girl b}^ his side, ^ ery richly dressed, die cheeks, 
 lips, and chin, highly rouged, the rest of the face and neck 
 whitened "with a preparation of cerate. I was welcomed by a 
 cup of hot wine from each of die ladies, who first sipped, by 
 v\"ay of pledging me. During supper, which, for number and 
 \ai-iety of dishes, exceeded any thing I had hitherto met ^^'ith 
 in the country, the girls pla}ed on the flute, and sang several 
 airs ; but there ^vas nothing ver}^ captivating either in die vocal 
 or instrumental part of the music. Wc passed a most convi- 
 vial e^Tning, free from any reserve or resti'aint ; but, on going 
 aw^ay, I \^'as particularly desu'ed by Van not to take any notice 
 of what I had seen ; apprehensive, I suppose, that their bro- 
 ther officers might condemn their want of prudence in admit- 
 ting a Bai'barian to witness their relaxation from good morals. 
 The yacht and the ladies, it seemed, were hired for the occasion. 
 
 The incalculable numbers of the great officers of state and 
 their attendants, all robed in the richest silks, embroidered 
 v.ith the most brilliant colours, and tissued with gold and silver, 
 the order, silence, and solemnit}% with which they an-ange and 
 conduct themselves on public court- days, are the most com- 
 mandin*^ features on such occasions. 
 
 The sober pomp of Asiatic grandeur is exhibited only at 
 ceitain fixed festivids ; of \\ hich the principal is the anniver- 
 sar}^ of the emperor's birth-day, the commencement of a ne^v 
 year, the ceremonial of holding the plough, and the reception 
 of foreign embassadors, most of Avhom they contrive to be 
 present at one or other of these festivals. The birth-day is 
 considered to be the most splendid; when all the Tartar 
 princes and tributaries, and all the splendid officers of govern- 
 ment, both civil and militaiy, are expected to be present. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 131 
 
 For reasons of state, which will be noticed hereafter, the 
 emperor rarely shew^s himself in public among the Chinese 
 part of his subjects, except on such occasions ; and even then 
 the exhibition is confined %\ ithin tiie precincts of the palace, 
 from which the populace ai-e entirely excluded. Consistent 
 with tlieir system of sumptuaiy laAVs, tlicre is little external 
 appeanince of pomp or magnificence in the establishment of 
 the emperor. The buildings that compose the palace, and the 
 furniture within them, if we except the paint, the gilding, and 
 the vaniish, that appeiu' on the houses of cxcn plebeians, are 
 equally void of unnccessar}' and expensive ornaments. Those 
 who should rely on the florid relations, in A\"hich tlie mission- 
 aries and some travellers have indulged, in their descriptions 
 of the palaces of Pekin and those of Yuen-min-yuen, would 
 experiei"tce, on visiting them, a woful disappointment. These 
 buildings, like the common habitations of the country, ai'C all 
 modelled after the form of a tent, and are magnificent only by 
 a comparison Avith the others, and by their number, ^\ hich is 
 sufficient, indeed, to form a town of themsehes. Their walls 
 iire higher than those of ordinary houses, their \\ooden columns 
 of gi'eater diameter, their roofs are immense, and a greatcy 
 variety of painting and gilding may be bestowed on the difA 
 ferent parts ; but none of them exceeds one story in height ; 
 and they are jumbled and surrounded with mean and insigni- 
 ficant hovels. Some \\Titer has observed that tlie king of 
 England is worse lodged at Saint James's palace than any so- 
 vereign in Europe. Were I to compare some of the imperial 
 palaces in China to any royal residence in Europe, it Mould 
 certainly be to Saint James's ; but the apartments, tlie ftn-ni- 
 ture, and conveniences of the latter, bad as they are, infinitelv 
 transcend any of those in China. The stone or clay floors 
 are indeed sometimes covered with a carpet of English broad- 
 cloth, and the walls papered ; but they have no glass in the 
 windows, no stoves, fire-places, or fire-grates m the rooms ; 
 no sofas, bureaux, chandeliers, nor looking-glasses; no book- 
 cases, prints, nor paintings. They have neither curtains nor 
 slieets to their beds ; a bench of M'ood, or a platform of brick- 
 work, is raised in an alcove, on which are mats, or stufted 
 mattresses, hard pillows, or cushions, according to die season 
 of tlie yeai- ; instead of doors they hiwe usually skreens, made 
 of die fibres of bamboo. In short, the wretched lodgings of 
 tlie state-officers at the court of Versiiillcs, in the time of the. 
 
132 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 French monarchy, were princely palaces, in comparison of 
 those allotted to the first ministers of the emperor of China, in 
 the capital, as Avell as at Yuen-min-yuen. 
 
 When attending the court, on public occasions, each cour- 
 tier takes his meal alone, in his solitary cell, on a small square 
 table, croM ded \a ith bowls of rice and various stews ; without 
 lable-linen or napkins, \\ ithout knife, fork, or spoon. A pair 
 of small sticks, or the quills of a porcupine, are the only sub- 
 stitutes for these com^enient articles : placing the bowl under 
 his chin, with these he -throws the rice into his mouth, and 
 takes up the pieces of meat, in his soup or stews. Having 
 finished his lonely meal, he generally lies doMii to sleep. In 
 a government so suspicious as that of China, if parties were 
 kno^Mi to meet together, the object of them might be sup- 
 posed something beyond that of convi^'iality, which, however, 
 mutual jealousy and distrust have prevented from gi'owing 
 into common use. 
 
 As the ready compliance of the late Dutch embassadors 
 with all the degrading ceremonies required by the Chinese, 
 added to their constant residence in the capital, gave them 
 rnore opportunities of observing the manners and the amuse- 
 onents of the court than occurred to the British embassy, I 
 shall here avail myself of that pait of a journal relating to this 
 subject, which vv'as kept by a young gentleman in the suite of 
 the former, and whose accuracy of observation may be de- 
 pended on. The account given by him of the new year's 
 festival, added to Lord Macartney's description of his intro- 
 duction and the birth-day solemnities, ^\hich his lordship 
 has obligingly permitted me to extract from his journal, to- 
 gether M"ith my own observations at the palace of Yuen-min- 
 yuen, vtdil serve to convey a tolerably exact idea of the state, 
 pleasures, and amusements, of the great monarch of China. 
 
 " On the 14th September," observes his lordship, " at 
 " four o'clock in the morning, we set out for the court, under 
 *' the convoy of Van-ta-gin and Chou-ta-gin, and reached it 
 ^' in little more than an hour ; the distance being about three 
 ^' miles from our hotel. We alighted at the park-gate, from 
 " whence we walked to the imperial encampment, and were 
 " conducted to a large handsome tent prepared for us, on one 
 " side of the emperor's. After Avaiting there about an hour, 
 ^' his approach was announced by drums and music, on which 
 '''' we quitted our tent, and came forward upon tlie green 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 133 
 
 ** carpet. He was seated in an open palankeen, carried by six- 
 *' teen bearers, attended by numbers of oHicers bearing flags, 
 *' standards, and umbrellas ; and, as he passed, we paid liim 
 " our compliments, by kneeling on one knee, whilst all the 
 *' Chinese made their usual prostrations. iVs soon as he had 
 *' ascended his throne, I came to the entrance of his tent, and, 
 *' holding in both my hands a lai'ge gold box, enriched with 
 " diamonds, in wliich was enclosed the king's letter, I walked 
 " deliberately up, and, ascending the steps of the tlii^one, deli- 
 " vered it into die emperor's oavii hands, who, ha\ ing received 
 '' it, passed it to the minister, by ^vhom it was placed on the 
 " cushion. He then gave me, as the first present from him to 
 " his majesty, the eu-shee, or symbol of peace and prosperity, 
 *' and expressed his hopes that my so\'ereign and he should 
 *' always live in good coiTcspondencc and amit}-. It is a 
 *' whitish agate-looking stone, perhaps serpentine, about a 
 *' foot and a half long, curiously carved, and highly prized by 
 *' the Chinese ; but to me it does not appeiu*, in itself, to be of 
 *' any great value. 
 
 " The emperor then presented me with an eu-shee of a 
 *' greenish-coloured seq^entine stone, and of the same emble- 
 " matic character : at the same time he very graciously re- 
 " ceived from me a pair of beautiful enamelled watches, set 
 " with diamonds, which, having looked at, he passed to the 
 " minister. 
 
 " Sir George Staunton (whom, as he had been appointed 
 " minister plenipotentiary, to act in case of my deatli or de- 
 " parture, I introduced to him as such) now came forward, 
 *' and after kneeling upon one knee, in the same mamier as I 
 " had done, presented to him two elegant air-gims, and re- 
 " ceived from him an eu-shee of greenish stone, nearly similar 
 " to mine. Other presents ^vere sent, at the same time, to all 
 " the gendemen of my train. We then descended from the 
 *' steps of the throne, and sat do^vn upon cushions at one of 
 " die tables on the emperor's left-hand. And at other ta- 
 " bles, according to their difterent ranks, the chief Tartar 
 *' princes and the mandaiins of the court at the same time 
 " took their places; all dressed in the proper robes of their 
 *' respective ranks. These tables were then uncovered, and 
 " exhibited a sumptuous banquet. The emperor sent us se- 
 " yeral dishes from his own table, together with some liquors, 
 
134 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 *' which the Chinese call wine ; not however expressed fi'om 
 " the grape, but distilled or extracted from rice, herbs, and 
 " honey. 
 
 " In about hcilf an hour he sent for Sir George Staunton 
 " and me to come to him, and gave to each of us, with his 
 *' owii hands, a cup of \\arm \\ine, ^\liich we immediately 
 " drank in his presence, and found it very pleasant and com- 
 *' fortable, the moniing being cold and raw. Among other 
 *' things he asked me the age of my sovereign, and, being in- 
 *' formed of it, said he hoped he might live as many years as 
 " himself, which w^ere then eighty-three. His manner was 
 *' dignified, but affable and condescending ; and his reception 
 " of us was \ery gracious and satisfactor}-. 
 
 *' The order and regularity, in serving and removing the 
 " dinner, was ^^'onderfuUy exact, and every function of the 
 *' ceremony performed with such silence and solemnity as, 
 *' in some measure, to resemble the celebration of a religious 
 *' myster}% 
 
 " There were present, on this occasion, tlii'ee embassadors 
 " from Ta-tze or Pegu, and six Mahomedan embassadors from 
 *' the Kalmucks of the south-w est ; but their apj:)earance was 
 *' not very splendid. During the ceremony, which lasted five 
 *' hours, various entertainments of WTCstling, tumbling, wire- 
 *' dancing, together Avith dramatic representations, were exhi- 
 *' bited opposite the emperor's tent ; but at a considerable dis- 
 " tance fi"om it. 
 
 " The 17th of September, being the emperor's birth-day, 
 " w-e set out for the court at three o'clock in the morning, 
 *'■ conducted by Van-ta-gin, Chou-ta-gin, and our usual at- 
 " tendants. We reposed ourselves about two hours, in a large 
 " saloon, at the enti'ance of the palace enclosure, wdiere fruit, 
 *' tea, w^arm milk, and other refreshments, w^ere brought to us. 
 " At last, notice w^as given that the festival was going to be- 
 " gin, and we immediately descended into the garden, Avhere 
 " w-e found all the great men and mandaiins in their robes of 
 " state, draw n up before the imperial pavilion. The emperor 
 *' did not shew himself, but remained concealed behind a 
 *' screen, from whence I presume he could see and enjoy the 
 " ceremonies, without inconvenience or interruption. All eyes 
 ** were turned towai-ds the place w'here his majesty was ima- 
 ^^' gii;ed to be entlironedj and seemed to express an imj^iatiencc 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 1.35 
 
 *' to begin the devotions of the da}'. Slow, solemn music, 
 *' muffled drums, and deep-toned bells, \\'ere heard at a dis- 
 " tance; — on a sudden the sounds ceased, and all was still — 
 *' again tliey were renewed, and tlien inteiTuittcd, Mith short 
 "pauses; during which several persons passed backwards 
 *' and forwai'ds, in die proscenium or foreground of the tent, 
 " as if engaged in pre^xu-ing some gi-and coup-de-theatie. 
 
 *' At length the gi'eat band, both vocal and instrumental, 
 *' struck up, with all their powers of hai-mony, and instantly 
 ** the whole court fell flat upon their faces before this in\ Lsiblc 
 *' Nebuchadnezzar, whilst 
 
 •• He, in his cloudy tabernacle shrined, 
 " Sojourned the while." 
 
 *' The music might be considered as a soil of birth-day ode, 
 *' or state anthem, the burdien of which ^vas, ' Bow down your 
 " heads, all ye dwellers upon earth ; bow down your heads be 
 *' fore die great Kien-long, the great Kien-long.' And then 
 " all the dwellers upon China-earth there present, except our- 
 " selves, bowed domi their heads, and prostrated themselves 
 *' upon the ground, at every renewal of the chorus. Indeed, 
 " in no religion, either ancient or modern, has the divinity ever 
 " been addressed, I believe, with stronger exterior marks of 
 " worship and adoration than were this morning paid to the 
 " phantom of his Chinese majesty. Such is the mode of cele- 
 *' brating the emperor's amiiversary festival, according to the 
 *' court ritual. \Ve saw nothing of him the whole day; nor 
 " did any of his ministers, I imagine, approach him ; for they 
 " all seemed to retii'e at die same moment that we did. 
 
 " In the course of a tour we made in die gardens, Avith the 
 *' prime minister and other great officers of state, whom the 
 " emperor had directed to attend us, we were entertained at 
 *' one of the palaces with a collation of petit-patis, salt relishes, 
 " and other savoury dishes, with fi-uits and sweetmeats, milk, 
 *' and ice- water ; imd as soon as we rose from tiible, a number 
 *' of yellow boxes, or drawers, were carried in procession be- 
 " fore us, containing several pieces of silk and porcelain, which, 
 " we >\-ere told, were presents to us from the emperor ; and we 
 " consequently made our bows, as they passed. We Mere also 
 *' amused with a Chinese puppet-show, which differs but litde 
 *' from an English one. There are a distressed princess con- 
 " fined in a casde, and a kni^ht-cmmt, who, after fighting wild 
 
135 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " beasts and dragons, sets her at libert}^ and marries her ; 
 " wedding-feasts, justs, and tournaments. Besides these, there 
 " was also a comic drama, in ^vhich some personages, not un- 
 *' like Punch and his wife, Bandemeer and Scaramouch, per- 
 " formed capital parts. Tliis puppet-show, wc were told, pro- 
 ** perl}' belongs to the ladies' apartments, but was sent out, as 
 " a piuticular compliment, to entertain us : one of the perform- 
 " anccs was exhibited with great applause from our conductors, 
 *' and I understand it is a favourite piece at court. 
 
 " On the morning of the 18th September we again went to 
 *' court, in consequence of an invitation from the emperor, to 
 " see the Chinese corned}", and other diversions, given on oc- 
 " casion of his birth-day. The comedy began at eight o'clock, 
 *' and lasted till noon. The emperor was seated on a throne, 
 " opposite the stage, which projected a good deal into the pit. 
 " The boxes 'srere on each side, -without seats or divisions. 
 *' The A\omen A\ere placed above, behind the lattices, so that 
 " the}' might enjoy the amusements of the theati-e, without be- 
 " ing observed. 
 
 " Soon after we came in, the emperor sent for Sir George 
 *' Staunton and me to attend him, and told us; with great 
 " condescension of manner, that we ought not to be surprised 
 " to see a man of his age at the theatre ; for that he seldora 
 *' came there, except upon a very paiticular occasion like the 
 " present; for that, considering the extent of his dominions, 
 " and tlie number of his subjects, he could spare but little 
 " time for such amusements. I endeavoured, in the turn of 
 " my answer, to lead him to\\ards the subject of my embassy ; 
 " but he seemed not disposed to enter into it further than by 
 " delivering me a little box of old japan, in the bottom of which 
 " were some pieces of agate, and other stones, much valued by 
 " the Chinese and Tartars ; and at the top a small book, writ- 
 '* ten and painted by his o^vn hand, which he desired me to 
 " present to the king m}' master, as a token of his friendship, 
 " saying, that the old box had been 800 yeai-s in liis family. 
 " He, at the same time, ga^^e me a book for myself, also -writ- 
 *' ten and painted by him., together v^dth seveiiil purses for 
 *' Areca nut. He likewise gave a purse of tlie same sort to 
 *' Sir George Staunton, and sent some small presents to the 
 *' other gentlemen of the embassy. After this, several pieces 
 " of silk or porcelain, but seemingly of no great value, were 
 " distributed among the Tartar princes and chief courtiers. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 137 
 
 who appeared to receive them with every possible demon, 
 stratioii of humility tuid gratitude. 
 
 *' The theatrical entertainments consisted of great ^arict}-, 
 both tragical imd comiciil : seveiTil distinct pieces ^\^ere acted 
 in succession, tliough u ithout any apparent connexion with 
 one another. Some of them were historical, and others of 
 pure fancy, paitly in recitati\'o, partly in singing, and parth* in 
 plain speaking, without any accompaniment of instiumental 
 music, but aboimding in battles, murders, and most of 
 the usual incidents of the drama. Last of all was the grand 
 pantomime, ^^■hich, from die ajoprobation it met with, is, I 
 presume, considered as a iirst-ratc effort of in^•ention and in- 
 genuity. It seemed to me, as far as I could comprehend 
 it, to represent the man-iage of the ocean and tlie earth. 
 The latter exhibited her \iu-ious riches and {productions, 
 dragons, and elephants, and tygers, and eagles, and ostrich- 
 es, oaks and pines, and other trees of different kinds. Tlie 
 ocean 'was not behind hand, but poured fordi on tlie stage 
 the wealth of his dominions, under tlie figures of ^\'hale3 
 and dolphins, porpuses, and leviathans, and other sea-mon- 
 sters, besides ships, rocks, shells, spunges, and corals, all 
 performed by concciiled actors, who ^\■ere quite perfect in 
 their paits, and perfomied their characters to admiration. 
 These two marine aiul land regiments, after separatel}- pa- 
 radiiig in a circular procession for a considerable time, at 
 last joined together and, forming one body, came to tlic front 
 of the stage when, after a few cA'olutions, they opened to 
 the right and left, to gi\'e room for the v. hale, who seemed 
 to be the commanding officer, to waddle for\vard ; and who, 
 taking his station exactly opposite to the emperor's box, 
 spouted out of his mouth, into the pit, sevenil tons of water, 
 Mhich quickly disappeared through die perforations of the 
 floor. This ejaculation was received with the highest ap- 
 plause ; and two or three of the great men at my elbo\A' de- 
 sired me to take particulai' notice of it ; repeating, at the 
 same time, ' Hao, kung liao !' — ' charming, delightful." 
 " A little before one o'clock in the afternoon mc retired, an4 
 at four we returned to court, to see the c^'ening's entertain- 
 ments, which were exhibited on the lawn, in licnt of the 
 great tent or pa^ilion, a\ here we had been first presented to 
 the emperor. He lurived very soon after us, mounted his 
 throne, and ga\-e the signal to begin. We had now wrest- 
 
138 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " ling and dancing, and tumbling and posture making, which 
 " appeared to us particularly awkwai'd and clumsy, from the 
 " perfomiers being mostly dressed according to the Chinese 
 " costume, one insepai-able part of which is a pair of heavy 
 " quilted boots, with the soles of an inch tliick. The wresders, 
 *' however, seemed to be prett}- expert, and afforded much di- 
 " version to such as were admirers of tlie palaestra. 
 
 " A boy climbed up a pole, or bamboo, thirty or forty feet 
 " high, played se\'eral gambols, and balanced himself on the 
 " top of it, in vaiious attitudes; but his performance fell far 
 " short of what I have often met with in India of the same 
 
 *' A fellow lay down on his back, and then raised liis feet, 
 " legs, and thighs from his middle, perpendiculaiiy, so as to 
 " form a right angle widi his body. On tlie soles of his feet 
 " was placed a large round empty jar, about four feet long, 
 " and from two and a half to three feet diameter. This he 
 " balanced for some time, turning it round and round hori- 
 " zontail}^, till one of the spectators put a little boy into it, 
 " who, after throwing himself into various postures at die 
 " mouth of it, came out and sat on the top. He then stood 
 *' up, then fell fiat upon his back, then shifted to his belly, and 
 '* after shewing a. hundred tricks of that sort, jumped down 
 " upon the ground and relie^^cd his coadjutor. 
 
 "" A man then came forwai'd, and after fastening tb'ee slen- 
 *' der sticks to each of his boots, took six porcelain dishes, of 
 " about eighteen inches diameter, and b^ilancing them sepa- 
 *' rately, at the end of a little ivory rod, \\hich he held in his 
 " hand, and tv/isting them about for some time, put them, one 
 " after the other, upon the points of die six bootsticks above- 
 " mentioned, diey continuing to turn round all the while. He 
 " then took two small sticks in his left hand, and put dishes 
 " upon tliem in the same manner as upon the other, and also 
 *' one more upon the litde finger of his right-hand, so that he 
 *' had nine dishes annexed to him at once, all twirhng together, 
 " which in a few minutes he took off, one by one, and placed 
 " them regularly on the ground, without the slightest inter- 
 " ruption or miscarriage. 
 
 " There were many other things of the same kind; but I 
 *' saw none at all comparable to the tumbling, rope-dancing, 
 ^' wire-vv-alking, and stravz-balancing of Sadler's- Wells ; nei- 
 '' ther did I obser\e any feats of equitation in the style of 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 139 
 
 *' Hughes's and Ashley's amphitheatres, although I had been 
 " always told tliat the Tartars wevQ remarkably skilful in the 
 " instruction and discipline of their horses. Last of all \^-ere 
 *' the fire-\\'orks, which, in some particulars, exceeded any 
 ** thing of the kind I had ever seen. In grandeur, magniii- 
 *' cence, and variety, they were, I ow n, inferior to the Chinese 
 ** file- works we had seen at Batavia, but infinitely superior, 
 *' in point of novelty, neatness, and ingenuity of contrivance.^ 
 *' One piece of machineiy I greatly admired : a green chest of 
 *' five feetsquai-e was hoisted up by a pulley to the height of 
 " fifty or sixty feet from the ground ; the bottom was so con- 
 *' structed as then suddenly to fall out, and make \\-ay for twenty 
 *' or thirty strings of lanterns, inclosed in the box, to descend 
 *' from it, unfolding themselves from one another by degrees, 
 *' so as at last to form a collection of at least five hundred, each 
 *' having a light of a beautifully-coloured flame burningbrightly 
 *' within it. This devolution and development of lanterns 
 *' (w^hich appeared to me to be composed of gauze and paper) 
 " were several times repeated, and every time exhibited a dif- 
 " ference of colour and figure. On each side was a correspon- 
 *' deuce of smaller boxes, which opened in like manner as the 
 *' others, and let down an immense network of fii-e, with di- 
 " visions and copartments of various forms and dimensions, 
 " round and square, hexagons, octagons and lozenges, which 
 *' shone like the brightest burnished copper, and flashed, like 
 " prismatic lightning, witli every impulse of the ^vind. Tiie 
 " diversity of colours, indeed, with which the Chinese ha\'e 
 *' the secret of cloathing fire, seems one of the chief merits of 
 ** tlieir p}Totechny. The whole concluded with a volcano, or 
 " genei"al explosion and dischai-ge of suns and stars, squibs, 
 " bouncei"s, crackers, rockets, and grenadoes, which in\ olved 
 *' the gardens, for above an hour after, in a cloud of intolera- 
 *' ble smoke. AVhilst these entertainments wjere going for- 
 " w^ard, the emperor sent to us a vai'iety of refreshments ; all 
 " which, as coming from him, the etiquette of the court re- 
 " quii-ed us to partake of, although we had dined but a short 
 " time before. 
 
 " However meanly w^e must think of the taste and delicacy 
 
 *' of the court of China, whose most refined amusements seem 
 
 "to be chiefly such as I have now described, together with 
 
 -*' the wretched dramas of the morning, yet it must be confes- 
 
 " scd, that there was something gi-and and imposing in the ge- 
 
UO TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " neral efiftct that resulted from the whole spectiiclc. TliC 
 " emperor himself being seat jd in front, upon his throne, and 
 " all his great men and officers attending in their robes of ce- 
 *' reniony, and stationed on each side of him, some standing, 
 " some sitting, some kneeling, and the guaixls and standard- 
 " bearers behind them, in incalculable numbers. A dead si- 
 " lence \\"as rigidly observed, not a sellable articulated, nor a 
 *' laugh exploded, during the whole perfomiance." 
 
 Such V. as the reception and the entertainment of die British 
 embassador at the court of Gehol, in Man-tchoo Tartaiy, dur- 
 ing the da}s of the festi\'al of the emperor's anniversar)'-. I 
 iiovv" proceed to gi\e some account of the manner in %\hichthe 
 Dutch embassiidors were received, and the entertainments tliat 
 took place on the occasion of the festi^^al of the new year, as 
 related in the manuscript journal above alluded to. 
 
 This journalist observes that, on approaching the capital of 
 tlie empire, they \\ere not a little astonished to find that the 
 farther they advanced the more miserable and poor wds the ap- 
 parent condition of the people, and the face of the country ; 
 the clay-buiit huts and those of ill-burnt bricks were crum- 
 bling to dust ; the temples were in ruins, the earthen gods were 
 demolished, and their fragments strewed on the ground ; and 
 the district Wds thinl}' inhabited. The following day they en- 
 tered Pekin, but were turned out again, to take up their lodg- 
 ings in the suburbs, m a sort of stable. From this place they 
 were ordered to proceed to the palace in their old travelling 
 dresses, as their baggage ^\"as not yet ai'rived. They \\-ere 
 drawn in small carts, as craz}- and as much out of order as their 
 ov^n dresses. Sitting in the bottom of these carts, without any 
 seats, they vraited \\ ithin the walls of the palace a full hour, 
 ^vhile an empt\- room Avas swept out for their reception. HaA^- 
 ing remained here for some time, a few planks were brought 
 in, on wWch were aiTanged a number of dishes of meat and 
 fish, stewed in different ways. Having finished their repast, 
 thus ended theu' first day's visit. 
 
 The following morning, at five o'clock, they were again 
 summoned to court, and ushered into a small room like that of 
 the preceding da}-, Mithout any kind of furniture. The weather 
 iDeing extremely cold, the thennonieter many degrees below 
 the freezing point, the embassadors prevailed on the people to 
 make a little fire, which after some time was brought in, not^ 
 hoAvever widiout letting them understiuid that it ^^as an extra- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 141 
 
 ordinar}'^ mark of favour ; it Ix^ing the custom of the Cl^.lncse 
 to let all embassadors \vait the arri\al of the emperor in the 
 open air. 
 
 At length tlie emperor made his appcarajice, carried by 
 eight men, in a yellow sedan chair. On his approaching the 
 place where the eml)assadors and their suite v.ere standing, 
 they were directed, by the master of the ceremonies, to {all 
 down on their knees, and in this posture the first embassador 
 was instructed to hold, in both his han.ds, above his head, the 
 gold box in w hieh was contained the letter lor the emperor : 
 the second minister then steppctl lbr\^•ards, and took the 
 letter out of his kinds, which he delivered to the emperor; 
 and, at the same time, they were directed to bow their heads 
 nine tim.es to the ground, in token of acknowledgment for 
 the gracious reception they had met \\ ith from his Chinese 
 majesty. 
 
 This ceremony being ended, they were desired to follow 
 the emperor's chair, which w as can'ied to the side of a pond 
 or bason in the gardens, then frozen over. From this place 
 the emperor was ch-a\\n on a sledge to a tent pitched on the 
 ice, A\hilst the embassador and his suite were conducted into 
 a dirty ho\'el, little better than a pig- sty, where they \\-ere de- 
 sired to sit doAHi on a sort of bench built of stone and mor- 
 tar ; for, like the room they a\ ere put into on a former dav, 
 it was destitute of the least furniture ; and thev were told 
 that something presently ^Aould be brought for "tliem to eat. 
 On complaining to their conductors that this v.as not the man- 
 ner in which the}" were accustomed to sit down to meat, and 
 that they did not conceive such apiirtments to be at a.ll suitable 
 to the situation they had the honour to hold, they -were shortly 
 aftenvards conducted into another room, little better, ho^vevcr, 
 than the first, but partly furnished with a few old chairs and 
 tiibles. The candlesticks were small blocks of \^ood, to Avhich 
 the candles were fastened with a couple of nail;,. A fewdislies 
 of stewed meat ^-ere ser\'cd up ; and, as a great delicacy froFii 
 the emperor's table, were !:)rought in, without any dish,' a pair 
 of stiig's legs, which the Chinese threw down upon the naked 
 table : and lor this mark of imperial £ivour they 'w ere required 
 to make the customar}^ genuflections aiid nine prostrations. 
 
 Van Bniam, in the journal which he or some of his friends 
 published in Pai-is, gjvesa curious account of the manner in 
 ^vhieh they were fed from the emperor's table : " La viLinde,:' 
 
U2 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 says he, " consistait en un morceau de cotes, siir lequel il 
 " ny avait point un demi-pouce d'ep^sseur d'une chair 
 " maigi-e, en un petit os de I'epaule, ou il n'y avait presque pas 
 " de chair, et en quati-e ou cinq autres ossemens fournis par 
 " le dos ou par les pattes d'un mouton, et qui semblaient avoir 
 " ete deja rongcs. Tout ce degoutant ensemble etait sur un 
 " plat sale, et paraissait plutot destine a faire le regal d'un 
 " chien que le repas d'un homme. En Hollande le dernier des 
 ^' niendians recevrait, dans un hOpital, une pittance plus 
 " propre ; et cepcndant, c'est une marque d'honneur de la 
 "part d'un cmpereur en vers un ambassadeur! Peut-etre 
 " raejne etait-ce le reste du prince; et dans ce cas, selon 
 " I'opinion des Chinois, c'etait ie dernier terme de la faveur, 
 '^ puisque nous pouvions achever I'os que sa majeste avait 
 " commencee a nettoyer." — " The meat consisted of a small 
 " piece of the ribs, on which there \\'as not half an inch in 
 *' thickness of lean flesh, and a small shoulder-blade almost 
 " without any upon it, and in four or five other pieces of 
 " bones from the back or the legs of a sheep, which appeared 
 *' to liave been already gnawed. The whole of this disgust- 
 " ing mess was brought upon a diity plate, and seemed much 
 " rather intended to feast a dog than as a refreshment for man. 
 " In Holland, the meanest beggar would receive in an hospital 
 " his allowance in a neater manner; and )'et it was intended 
 *' as a mark of honour on the part of an emperor towards an 
 *' embassador ! Perhaps it was even the remains of the so- 
 " ^ereign, and in that case, according to the opinion of the 
 " Chinese, it was the greatest possible act of favour, since we 
 " should then have had an opportunity of finishing the bone 
 " which his imperial majesty had begun to pick." 
 
 The Dutch gentlemen, equally disgusted with the meanness 
 and filthiness of the place, and with the pride and haughtiness 
 of the people, became now reconciled to the shabby appearance 
 of their old tnr/elling dresses, which they began to consider 
 as fully good enough for the occasion. 
 
 liming finished their elegant repast, the amusements of tlic 
 day commenced on the ice. The emperor made his appearance 
 in a sort of sledge, supported by the figures of four dragons. 
 Tills machine was moved about by several great mandarins, 
 some dragging before, and others pushing behind. The four 
 principal ministers of state vv^ere also dva^vn upon the ice, in 
 their sledges, by inferior mandarins. Whole ti'oops of civil 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 143 
 
 and militaiy officers soon appeared, some on sledges, some on 
 skaits, and others playing at football upon the ice ; and he that 
 picked up the ball \\as rewarded by the emperor. I'hc ball 
 was then hung up in a kind of" arch, luid several mandarins 
 shot at it, in passing on skaits, Avitli their bows and aiTows. 
 Their skaits were cut off short under tlie heel, and the fore- 
 part was turned up at right angles. 0\v ing to this form, or 
 to the inexpertness of the skaitcrs, they could not stop them- 
 selves on a sudden, but always tumbled one over the other 
 whenever they came near tlie edge of the ice, or towards the 
 quarter \Ahere the emperor happened to be. 
 
 Leaving this place, they were ciuried tlirough several nar- 
 row streets, composed of miserable houses, forming a surpris- 
 ing contrast a\ ith the proud walls of the palace. They were 
 conducted into a small room of one of these houses, almost 
 void of furniture, in order to pay their compliments to Ho- 
 tchung-tang, the collao, or prime minister, whom they found 
 sittnig cross-legged on a truckle-bedstead w ith cane bottom. 
 Before this creature of fortune, whose fate I shall have occasion 
 hereafter to notice, they Mere obliged to go down on their 
 knees. Like a true prime minister of China, he waved all 
 conversation tliat might lead tow^ards business, talked to 
 tliem of the length of their join'ney, was astonished hoM'- thev 
 bore the cold weather in such scanty clothing, and such like 
 general topics, which, in fact, signified nothing. From the 
 first minister they paid tlieir visit to the second, ^^■hom thev 
 found lodged in a similar manner ; after which they returned 
 to their mean apartments in the cit}% more satisfied on a com- 
 parison with the miserable little chambers in \\hich diey had 
 found the t\^o first ministers of this far-famed empire lodged, 
 and the mean hovels which they met with in the ver}- center 
 of the space shut in by the walls of the imperial palace. The 
 impressions that the events and transactions of this day made 
 on the minds of the visitors were those of utter astonishment, 
 on finding every thing so very much the re\^erse of w hat they 
 had been led to expect. 
 
 The follo\\ing day they were again d^a^•»^l to court in their 
 little carts, before four o'clock in the morning, where, after 
 having waited about five hours in empty rooms, similar to 
 those of the preceding da}-, two or three great men (ta-gin) 
 called upon them, but beha\ed towards them in a distant, 
 scornful, and haughty manner. " We had pnce more," ob- 
 
144 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 senses the Dutch journalist, from -which I quote, " an occasion 
 *' to remark the surprising contrast of magnificence and mean- 
 " ness in the buildings, and of pride and littleness in the per- 
 " sons belonging to the imperial palace. " 
 
 After these intervie^vs, they \Aere suffered to remain a day 
 or two at home ; but, on a bag of dried grapes being brought 
 by a mandarin from the emperor, they v^cyc required to thank 
 him for the present \\ ith nine prostrations, as usual. Another 
 time, a little pastry, from the im]:)erial kitchen, demanded the 
 same ceremony. In short, v* hctht r at home or in the palace, 
 the Chinese \\ere determined they should be kept in the con- 
 stant practice of tlie koo-too, or ceremony of genuflexion and 
 prostration. 
 
 On the 2Gth of January, the embassadors received notice 
 that it v.as expected they should attend the procession of the 
 emperor to tlx: temple, Avhere he Wds about to make an offer- 
 ing to the God of lieaven and of eaith. Having -waited accord 
 ingiy by the road side, from three o'clock in the morning till 
 six, the A\eather dismally cold, Fidirenlieit's thermometer 
 standing at 16^^ below the freezing point, the emperor at 
 length passed in his chair, Vvhen they made the usual prostra- 
 tions, aiid returned home. 
 
 The next morning they were again requu'ed to proceed to 
 the samiC place, and at the same early hour, to witness his re- 
 turn, and again to go tlirough^the usual ceremony. 
 
 On the 29th, the\' A\-ere again summoned to attend by the 
 road side, to do homage before the emperor, as he passed 
 them on his way to a pagoda or poo-ta-la, a kind of temple or 
 nionastei-}-, where a great number of priests, clothed in yel- 
 low, lived together in a state of celibacy ; and here he made 
 his bumt-offerings. The mystical rites perfonned, presents 
 were brought out for the embassador and suite, and also for 
 the king of Holland ! consisting of little purses, flimsy silks, 
 and a coarse stuff, somewhat similar to that knoA\^n by seamen 
 under the name of bunting ; and, in token of gratitude for this 
 mark of imperial kindness, they ^vere directed again to bow 
 do-«Ti their heads to the ground. 
 
 On the 30th, it was announced to them that the emperor 
 intended to pay a visit to his palace at Yuen-min-yuen, and 
 that it Avould be necessary for them to follo^v him thither ; 
 after ha\'ing, as usual, paid their respects, in the Chinese man. 
 Her, by the road side, as he passed. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 145 
 
 On the 31st, they were conducted round the grounds of 
 Yuen-min-yuen by several mandai ins, and received great siiis- 
 fection in viewing the vast variet}'^ of buildings, and the good 
 taste in which the gardens and pleasure-grounds were laid out, 
 and which wore an agreeable aspect, even in the deptli of win- 
 ter. In one of the buildings they saw the se^'eral presents de- 
 posited, w hich had been canied the preceding }ear by the caii 
 of Macartney. They were stowed a\\\ay w ith no gieat care, 
 among many other articles, in all probability never more to see 
 the light of day. It seems tlie elegant caniages of HatcliCt, 
 that were finished A\'ith so much care, and had been objects of 
 admiration even in London, \\-ere here carelessly thrown behind 
 one of their mean and clumsy carts, to ^\ hich they pretended to 
 bestow a preference. Capricious as children, the toy, once 
 played Avith, must be throw n aside, and changed for something 
 new ; or, in this instance, it would not be out of chaActer to 
 suppose, that the two vehicles had designedly been placed to- 
 gether, to point out to Europeans of how little estimation the 
 Chinese considered their articles of ostentation, when they 
 could perform the same services by simpler and less expensive 
 means. 
 
 The Dutch embassadors and their suite were now to have a 
 specimen of the coiut entertainments, and the polite amuse- 
 ments of this grand empire. They consisted chiefly of the con- 
 tortions of the human body, practised by posture-masters ; of 
 rope-dancing, and a sort of pantomimic perfoiTnajice, the prin- 
 cipal characters of A\hich were men dressed in skins, and going 
 on all-fours, intended to represent wild beasts ; and a paixel of 
 boys habited in the dresses of mandarins, who were to hunt 
 them. This extraordinary chase, and the music, and the rope- 
 dancing, put the emperor into such good humour, that he re- 
 warded the perfonners very liberally. And the empress and 
 the ladies, ^vho were in an upper pait of the house, concealed 
 behind a sort of Venetian blinds, appeared, from their tittering 
 noise, to be highly entertained. The whole concluded, though 
 in the middle of tlie day, with a vaiiety of fire- works ; and die 
 Chinese part of the company departed, seemingly well satisfied 
 with these diversions. 
 
 An eclipse of the moon happening on the fourth of February, 
 gave occasion to the embassadors to enjoy a little rest at home, 
 though they were summoned to attend the palace at a very 
 early hour in the morning* The emperor and his mandaiins 
 
 T 
 
146 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 were engaged the whole day in ^evoutly praying tlie gods that 
 the moon might not be eaten up by the great dragon that was 
 hovering about her. Recovered from their apprehensions, an 
 entertainment was given tlie follo^ving day, at w hich the em- 
 bassadors Avere required to be present. After a number of 
 juggling tricks and infantine sports, a pantomime, intended to 
 be an exhibition of the battle of the dragon and the moon, was 
 represented before the full court. In tliis engagement two or 
 tiiree hundred priests, bearing lanterns suspended at the ends 
 of long sticks, perfonned a variety of evolutions, dancing and 
 capering about, sometimes over the plain, and then over chairs 
 and tables, airording to his imperiiJ majesty, and to his cour- 
 tiers, the greatest pleasure and satisfaction. 
 
 On the fifteenth of Februarj^, the Dutch embassadors left 
 Pekin, having remained there tliirty-six days ; during which 
 they were scarcely allowed to have a single day's rest ; but 
 were obliged, at the most unseasonable hours, in the depth of 
 \i inter, when tlie thermometer was seldom higher than 10 or 
 12 degrees below the freezing point, to dance attendance upon 
 the emperor, and tlie great officers of state, whenever tJiey 
 might think fit to call upon them ; and to submit to the de- 
 gi'ading ceremony of knocking the head nine times against the 
 ground, at least on thirty different occasions, without having 
 the satisfaction of gaining, by tiiis unconditional compliance, 
 any one eai-thly thing, beyond a compliment from the emperor, 
 that they \^ent through their prostrations to admiration ! And 
 they 'VA-ere finally obliged to leave the capital, without being 
 once alio^\■ed to spealv on any kind of business, or even asked 
 a single question as to the nature of their mission ; which, in- 
 deed, the Chinese were determined to take for granted was 
 purely complimentarv^ to their gi^eat emperor. 
 
 Tlie manuscript, I quote fi-om, describes minutely all the 
 pantomimic performances, the tricks of conjurers and jugglers, 
 arid tlie feats of posture-masters ; but as they seem to be pretty 
 much of the same kind as were exhibited before the British 
 embassy in Tartaiy, as described by Lord Macartney, I for- 
 bear to relate them. Enough has Ixen said, to shew the taste 
 of the court in this respect, and the state of the drama in China. 
 
 I suspect, however, that the amusements of tlie theatre have 
 in some degree degenerated at court since the time of the 
 Tartar conquest. Dancing, riding, ^\Testling, and posture- 
 maiving, are more congenial to tlie rude and unpolished Tartar 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA/ UT 
 
 than the airs and dialogue of a regular drama, which is bctler 
 suited to the genius and spirit of the ceremonious and eft'emi- 
 nate Chinese. I am led to this obsenation from the very com- 
 mon custom, among the Cliincse officers of state, of having 
 private theati'cs in tlieir houses, in whicli, instead of tlie jug- 
 gling tricks above-mentioned, they occasionally entertain their 
 guests with regular dramatic performances. In die course of 
 our journey dirough the country and at Canton, we were en- 
 tertained with a number of exhibitions of this kind ; and as 
 " the purpose of playing," as our immortal bard has observed, 
 " bodi at the first, and now, ^^•as, and is, to hold as 't were the 
 *' mirror up to nature," it may not be foreign to the present 
 subject to take a brief notice of such peiibrmances. 
 
 The subjects of the pieces exhibited ai-e, for the most pait, 
 historical ; and relate, generally, to the ti-ansactions of remote 
 periods : in which cases, the dresses ai"e confonnable to the 
 ancient costume of China. There are odiei-s, hoA\'e\'er, that 
 represent the Tartar concjuest ; but none built on historical 
 events subsequent to that period. But the ancient drama is 
 prefeiTed by the critics. They ha^■e also comic pieces, in 
 which there is alwa}'s a buffoon, A\hose grimaces and lo\\- jests, 
 like those of the buffoons in our own theatres, obtain from die 
 audience the greatest shai-e of applause. The dialogue, in all 
 their dramas, whether serious or comic, is conducted in a 
 kind of monotonous recitative ; sometimes, howev^er, rising 
 or sinking a few tones, ^\"llich are meant to be expresshe of 
 passionate or querulous cadences. Tiie speaker is interrupted 
 at inter\'als by shrill harsh music, generally of a\ ind instiu- 
 ments ; and die pauses ai'c in\'ariably filled up v. ith a loud 
 crash, aided by the sonorous and deafening gong, and some- 
 times by the kettle drum : an air or song generally follows. 
 Joy, grief, rage, despair, madness, are all attempted to be ex- 
 pressed in song, on the Chinese stage. I am not sure that a 
 vehement admirer of die Italian opera might not take umbrage 
 at die representation of a Chinese drama ; as it appeal's to be 
 something so veiy like a burlesque on that fashionable species 
 of dramatic entertainment : nor is the Chinese stage wanting 
 in those vocal warblers, die nature of whom, as ^ve are told by 
 the ingenious and very^ entertaining Martin Sherlock, a French 
 lady explained to her little inquisitive daughter, by informing 
 her, that there was the same difference between them and men, 
 as between an ox and a bull. Such creatures are, indeed. 
 
148 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 more necessaiy to the Chinese theatre ; as the manners of the 
 conntry prohibit women from appearing in pubhc. 
 
 The unity of action is so far preserved, tliat they have actu- 
 ally no change of scene : but change of place must frequently 
 be supposed. To assist tlie imngination, in this respect, their 
 management is \\ himsical enough. If it be necessaiy to send 
 a general on a distant expedition, he mounts a stick, takes two 
 or three turns round the stage, brandishes a litde whip, and 
 sings a song : when this is ended, he stops short, and recom- 
 mences his recitative, A\hen the journey Is supposed to be per- 
 formed. The want of scenery is sometimes supplied t)y a very 
 unclassical figure, which, just the reverse of the prosopopoeia, 
 or personification of grammarians, considers persons to repre- 
 sent things. If, for instance, a wailed city is to be stormed, 
 a parcel of soldiers, piling themselves on a heap across the 
 stage, are supposed to represent the wall over ^vllich the storm- 
 ing party is to scramble. This puts one in mind of the shifts 
 of Nick 'Bottom. " Some man or other must present wall ;" 
 and " let him have some plaister, or some loam, or some 
 " rough-cast about him, to signify wall." 
 
 TJie audience is never left in doubt as to the character which 
 is produced before it. LilvC the ancient Greek di^ama, and, in 
 imitation thereof, all our old plays, the dramatis personae intro- 
 duce tlicmstives, in appropriate speeches, to the acquaintance 
 of the spectators. 
 
 A^to the time of action, a single drama v^'ill sometimes in- 
 clude the trar^sactions of a Avhole century, or even of a dynasty, 
 more than twice the length of that period ; which, among ot*ier 
 absui dities, gave Voltaire occasion to compare \\'hat he thought 
 to be a literal translation of the '' Orphan of tlie House of 
 Tchao," " to those monstrous farces of Shakespear, which 
 " have been called tragedies:" farces, however, which will 
 continue to be readj by those who understand them, which he 
 did not, A\-ith heartfelt emotion and delight, when his " Orphan 
 of China" shall have sunk mto the neglect even of his own ad- 
 miring countrymen. 
 
 In this miserable composition of Father Premare, for it can 
 scarcely be called a tiimslation, there is neither diction, nor 
 sentiment, nor character : it is a mere tissue of unnatural, or, 
 at least, veiy improbable events ; fit only for the amusement 
 of children, and not capable of raising one single passion, but 
 that of contempt for tlic taste of those who could express an 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 149 
 
 admiration of such a composition. The denouement of the 
 piece is materially assisted by means of a dog. But tliis part 
 of the story is told, and not exhibited : the Chinese taste not 
 being quite so depraved, in this instance, as to admit tlie per- 
 formance of a four-footed animal on the stage. 
 
 This drama, widi ninety-nine odiers, publish.ed together in 
 one work, are considered as the classical stock-pieces of the 
 Chmese stage ; but, like ourselves, they complain that a de- 
 praved taste prevails for modern productions, very inferior to 
 those of ancient date. It is certaiul}^ true, that e^'ery sort of 
 ribaldry and obscenit}'- are encouraged on the Chinese stage at 
 the present day. A set of players, of a superior kind, travel 
 occasionally from Nankin to Canton ; at die latter of which 
 cities, it seems, they meet with considerable encouragement 
 from die Hong merchants, and other wealthy inhabitants. At 
 these exhilDitions, the English ai'e sometimes present. The 
 subject and die conduct of one of their stock-pieces, which, 
 being a great favourite, is frequently repeated, are so remark- 
 able, that I cannot forbear taking some notice of it. A wo- 
 man, being tempted to murder her husband, performs the act, 
 whilst he is asleep, by striking a small hatchet into his fore- 
 head. He appeal's on the stage \\'ith a large gash just above 
 the eyes, out of A\"liich issues a prodigious effusion of blood, 
 reels about for some time, bemoaning his lamentable fate in a 
 song, till, exhausted by loss of blood, he falls and dies. The 
 woman is seized, brought before a magistrate, and condemned 
 to be flayed alive. The sentence is put in execution ; and, in 
 the following act, she appears upon the stage, not only naked, 
 but completely excoriated. The thin ^^•rapper with which the 
 creature (ai) eunuch) is covered, \\"ho sustains the part, is 
 sti'ctched so tight about the body, and so well painted, as to 
 represent the disgusting object of a human being deprived of 
 its skin : and in this condition the character sings, or, more 
 properly speaking, \\ liiiies, nearl}' hdf an hour on the stage, 
 to excite the compassion of three infernal or malignant spirits, 
 who, like iEacus, Minos, and Rliadamanthus, sit in judgment 
 on her future destiny. I have been informed that it is scaicely 
 possible to conceive a more obscene, indelicate, and disgust- 
 ing object, than this favourite exhibition, ^\'hich, if intended 
 *' to hold the muror up to nature," it is to nature in its most 
 gross, rude, and uncivilized state, ill-agi-eeing with the boasted 
 morality, high polish, refined delicacy, and ceremonious ex • 
 
150 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 terior of the Chinese nittion : but it tends, among other parti 
 of their real conduct in life, to strengthen an obsen^ation I have 
 already made, with regard to their filial piety, and which, 
 with few exceptions, may perhaps be extended to most of 
 their ciAil and moral institutions, " that they exist more in 
 " state maxims, than in the minds of the people." As, how- 
 ever, a Chinese might be led to make similar reflections on 
 the exhibition of Harlequin Skeleton, and those numerous 
 representations that, of late years, have crept upon our own 
 stitge, where ghosts, hobgoblins, and bleeding, statues, are 
 called in aid of the spectacle, I should hesitate to draw any 
 general conclusion, with regard to their taste, from the parti- 
 cular exhibition of a woman finked alive, were they not in 
 the constant practice of performing other pieces that, in point 
 of immorality and obscenity, are still infinitely worse ; so vul- 
 gai-ly indelicate, and so filthy, that the European part of the 
 audience is sometimes compelled, by disgust, to leave the 
 theatre. These are such as Vvill not bear description ; nor do 
 I know to what scenic representations they can, v/ith propriety, 
 be compared, unless to those gross indecencies of Theodora, 
 which Procopius has described to ha\'e been exhibited on the 
 Roman stage, in the reign of Justinian.* The people who 
 encourage them must be sunk ver}?- deeply in intellectual gross- 
 ness, and lia\e totally lost sight of all decency. These and 
 similar scenes may be considered among the ill eflfects of ex- 
 cluding A\-omen from their due share of influence in societ)'. 
 It would be impossible to compliment the court of Pekin 
 on the elegance and refinement of its entertiinments, but at 
 the expense of trutli and reason. Those of Taitar origin will 
 no more beai' a comparison with the noble contests of strength 
 and agiHty, displayed by the old hardy Romans in the Circen- 
 sian games, than the regular drama of the Chinese \vill admit 
 of bemg measured by the sofl:er, but more refined and rational, 
 amusements, of a similar kind, in Europe. It is true, the 
 scenic representations, in the decline of the Roman empire, 
 as tJiey are descril:>ed to us, appear to have been as rude and 
 bai'barous as those of the Chinese. They began by exhibit- 
 ing, in their vast amphitheatre, the rare and wonderful pro- 
 ductions of nature. Forests, enlivened with innumerable 
 
 • See Gibbon, under emperor Justinian : and Menagiana, in which is given 
 the translation of a very extraordinary passage from Procopius. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 151 
 
 birds ; caverns, pouring forth lions, and tigers, and panthers, 
 andother beasts of prey; plains, covered with the elepliant, 
 the rhinosceros, the zebra, tlie ostrich, and otlier curious ani- 
 mals, ^\ hich the wilds of Africa furnished ; ^vere all brought 
 together, within the circuit of the arena. Not satisfied with 
 the rich productions of the eaith, the sea must also become 
 tributiiry to their amusements. The arena was convertible 
 into a sheet of Avater ; and, at length, the two elements, con- 
 cluding a marriage, as on the Chinese theatre, produced a 
 race of monsters which, according to the Latin ^xxtt's* de- 
 scription, might vie with those of China. 
 
 ♦' Non solum nobis sylvestria cerncre monstra 
 
 " Cdntigit, sequoreos ego cum certajitibus ursis 
 
 " Spectavl vitulos, et equorum nomine dig'numy 
 
 " Bed difForme genus." 
 
 Wliere sylvan monsters not alone appear. 
 But sea-cows struggle witli the shaggy bear. 
 And horses of the deep, a shapeless race. *■-• 
 
 In short, the greater part of the amusements of the Chinese 
 Jire, at the present day, of a nature so very puerile, or so gross 
 and vulgar, tliat the tricks and the puppet-shows, which iwe 
 occasionally exhibited in a coimnon fair of one of tlie country 
 towns of Engkmd, may be considered as comparatively po- 
 lished, interesting, and rational. In slight-of-hand, in posture- 
 making, rope-dancing, riding, and athletic exercises, they are 
 much inferior to Europeans : but, in tlie Aariety of their lire- 
 works, they, perhaps, may carry the palm against the \\'holc- 
 world. In every other respect the amusements of the capital 
 of China appear to be of a low and trifling nature ; neither 
 suited to the affected gravity" of the govemment, nor to the ge- 
 nerally supposed state of civilization among the people. 
 
 The old emperor, as he obser\'ed to Lord Macartney, seldom 
 partook of such amusements. Considering, indeed, all tlie 
 circumstances connected with the reign of tlie present dynasty 
 on the throne, the government of an empire of such vast mag-r 
 nitude, stored with an almost incalculable population, must 
 necessarily be a task of inconceivable vigilance and toil ; a 
 task that must have required all the time, the talents, and the 
 attention of the four sovereigns, to ensure the brilUaiU and 
 
 ' A« C*lpW.Riw». 
 
152 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 impai-allelled successes that liave distinguished their long reign. 
 I'chicn Lung, at the age of eightj^-three, was so Uttle afflicted 
 with the infirmities of age, that he had all the appearance and 
 activity of a hale man of sixty. His eye was dark, quick, and 
 penetrating, his nose rather aquiline, and his complexion, even 
 at this advanced age, was florid. His height I should suppose 
 to be about five feet ten inches, and he Avas perfecdy upright. 
 Though neither corpulent nor muscular at eighty-three, it 
 w as not difficult to perceive that he once had possessed great 
 bodily strength. He always enjoyed a vigorous constitution, 
 which the regularity of his life did not impair. Like all the 
 IN'Iantchoo Taitars, he ^\ as fond of hunting ; an exercise that, 
 during the summer months, he never neglected. He had the 
 reputation of being an expert bowman, and inferior only in 
 drawing this weapon to his grandfather Caung-shee, who 
 boasts, in his last w ill, that he di'ew a bow, of the weight or 
 strength of one hundred and fifty pounds. 
 
 Nor were the fac.ulties of his mind less active, or less power- 
 ful, than those of his body. As prompt in conceiving, as 
 resolute in executing, his plans of conquest, he seemed to com- 
 mand success. Kind and chai'itable, as on all occasions he 
 shewed himself to his subjects, by remitting the taxes, and 
 administering relief in seasons of distress, he was no less vin- 
 dictive and relentless to his enemies. Impatient of restraint 
 and reverses, he has sometimes been led to act widi injustice, 
 and to punish with too gi-eat severity. His irascible temper 
 was once the cause of a severe and lasting affliction to himself; 
 and the circumstances coimected with it are said to have pro- 
 duced a gloom and melancholy on his mind, which never en- 
 tirely forsook him. About the middle part of his reign, he 
 made a circuit through the heart of his empire. At Sau-tchoo- 
 foo, a city that is celebrated for its beautiful ladies, which, 
 being purchased when infants, ai'e educated diere for sale to 
 the opulent, he was captivated with a girl of extraordinary 
 beauty and talents, whom he intended to cany back with him 
 to his capital. The empress, by means of an eunuch, was, 
 made acquainted with his new amour, and, dreading his 
 ftiture neglect, her spirits Vvcre depressed to such a degree, 
 that, a few days after receiving the intelligence, she put an end 
 to her existence w ith a cord. The emperor, on hearing this 
 melanclioly new's, was greatly distressed, and repaired, with- 
 out delay, to Pekin. One of his sons, a very amiable youth, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. U3 
 
 fearful of incurring his father's displeasure, had entertained 
 some doubts whetlier it would be most proper to ap]:)ear before 
 him in deep mourning for his mother, \\ hich might be con- 
 strued as an insult to the flidier, who had been the cause of 
 her death, or in his robes of ceremony, a\ hich \\ould be dis- 
 respectful to die memory of his deceased mother. In this 
 dilemma, he consulted his schoolmaster, ^ho, like a tiuc 
 Chinese, advised him to put on both. He did so, and, un- 
 fortunately for him, covered the mourning ^^'ith the ceremonial 
 habit. Tchien-Lung, ^\•hose affection had now returned for 
 his deceased empress, and whose melancholy fate he was deep- 
 ly lamenting, on perceiving his son at his feet, without mourn- 
 ing, was so shocked and exasperated at the supposed ^\ ant of 
 filial duty, that, in the moment of rage, he gave him a violent 
 kick in an unfortunate place, which, after his kmguishing a 
 £cw days, proved fatal. 
 
 None of his four sui-viving sons ever possessed any 'share 
 of his confidence or authority, which, of late years, v.ere 
 wholly bestowed on his first minister Ho-chung-tong. He had 
 a due sense of religious duties, which he regularly performed 
 every morning. Having made a ^•ow, at the early part of his 
 reign, that, should it please hea^•en to gi-imt him to govern his 
 dominions for a complete cycle, or sixty } ears, he \\ould then 
 retire, and resign the throne to his successor, he religiously 
 observed it, on the accomplishment of the event. The sin- 
 cerity of his faith may partly be inferred from the numerous 
 and splendid temples he built and endo^^ ed in difterent parts 
 of Oriental Tartary, of Avhich the Poo-ta-la, or convent of 
 Budlia, at Gehol, is the most magnificent. It is said, indeed, 
 from the circumstance of his long and fortunate reign, that he 
 had, in his later years, entertained an idea that die Lama, or 
 Budha, or Fo, for they are all the same personage, had con- 
 descended to become incarnate in his person. " However 
 *' wild and extravagant," obsenes Lord Macartney, " such 
 *' a conceit may be regarded, we knov/, from history, how 
 " much even the best understandings may be perverted by 
 *' prosperity ; and tliat human nature, not satisfied ^\ idi the 
 *' good things of this world, sometimes wishes to anticipate 
 " the condition and felicit)^ of die next. If Alexander scorned 
 *' to o^vn less than Jupiter Ammon for his father, if many 
 ** Roman emperors extorted altai-s and siicrifices in their life- 
 ** toe, if, even in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, an English 
 
 V 
 
154, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " nobleman* encouraged the belief of his descent from a 
 " swan, and was complimented, in a dedication, upon his 
 *' feathered pedigree, a similar infatuation may be the less in- 
 " excusable in Kien-Long, a monarch, the length and hap- 
 *' piness of whose reign, the unlimited obedience of whose 
 " incalculable number of subjects, and the healdi and vigour 
 " of whose bod}-, ha\e hitlierto kept out of his view most of 
 •' those circumstances that are apt to remind other men of tlieir 
 " miser}' and moi-tality." 
 
 Till his last illness, he continued to rise at tliree o'clock in 
 the morning, both in winter and summer. He usually took 
 some cordial to fonify his stomach, and then repaired to his 
 private devotions, at one of his temples. After this, he read 
 the dispatches of his gi'eat officers, both ci^il and military, 
 ■\\ ho from their different stations were ordered to ^\Tite to him 
 directly, and not to the tiibunals, as had been usually the case. 
 Abotit se\en he took his breiikfast of tea, wines, and confec- 
 tionarv, ^\hen he tiTuisacted business with the first minister, 
 consuiting with, or directing, him in tlie weighty matters of 
 state, previous to their appearing, in regular fomi, before the 
 respective depaitmcnts to which they belonged. He had then 
 a kind of levee, which was usually attended by the collaos, or 
 ministers, and the presidents of the depailments or public 
 boards. At eleven, refreshm.ents were again served up, and, 
 after business v\as over, he either amused himself in the wo- 
 men's apartments, or walked roimd his palace or gardens. 
 Between three and four, he usual]}- dined ; after vvhich he re- 
 tired to his private rooms, and employed himself in reading or 
 writing till bed-time, which was always regulated by, and 
 seldom later than, the setting of the sun. 
 
 He was fully persuaded that his uninterrupted health M'as 
 chiefly ov\ing to his early retiring to rest, and early rising ; an 
 observation, indeed, that in our countr}^ has grown into a 
 maxim ; and maxims are generally grounded on tiiith. The 
 late Lord Mansfield made a point, for many years, of enquir- 
 ing, from all the aged persons that at any time appeared before 
 him, to give evidence, into their particular mode of living ; in 
 order that he might be able to fonn some general conclusion, 
 with regard to the causes of their longevity. The result of 
 
 ' Dtike of Buckingham. See the notes on this character in Shakespear'j 
 JJenry VIII. Act i. Scqne 2. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 155 
 
 his observations ^ras, that he could clraAV no inference from 
 their intemperance or abstemiousness, witli regard to diet or 
 drinking ; but tkit tiiey iill agreed in one point, that of being 
 early risers. 
 
 Tchien-Lung resigned the throne of China to his fifteenth 
 son, the present Kia-king, in February 1796, having com- 
 pleted a reign of sixty years ; and he died m the month of 
 February, 1799, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. 
 
 When the Tartai's conquered China, they found all the great 
 offices of state filled by eunuchs, and the palace swarming with 
 these creatures : the greater part wns immediatel}- displaced ; 
 and other Chinese, of talent and education, were put into their 
 places. Having, however, adopted the \d\vs and customs of 
 the conquered, it became necessary to keep up the usual esta- 
 blishment of women in the palace ; the ine^•itable consequence 
 of which was the retention of a certain number of eunuchs to 
 > look after them : and they are, at this moment, as numerous, 
 perhaps, in all the palaces, as they were at the conquest ; but 
 none of them are dignified with any office of trust or impor- 
 tance in the state. They consider themselves, however, as 
 elevated far above the plebeian rank ; and a bunch of kevs, or 
 a birch broom, gives them all the airs and insolence of office. 
 
 Of these eunuchs there are two kinds. The one is so far 
 emasculated as never to have die consolation of being a father ; 
 the other must submit to lose e\'ery tmce of manhood. The 
 first are entrusted uith the inspection and superintendence of 
 die buildings, gardens, and other A^orks belonging to the im- 
 perial palaces, which they are required to keep in order. The 
 Rasibus, as the missionaiies call them, ai'e admitted into the 
 interior of the palace. These creatures paint their faces, studv 
 their di^ess, and are as coquetish as the ladies, upon ^vhom, 
 indeed, it is their chief business to attend. The greatest fa- 
 vourite sleeps in die same room Avith the emperor, to be ready 
 to administer to his A\dshes ; and, in this capacity, he finds 
 numberless opportunities to prejudice his master against tliose 
 for whom he may haAC concei^•ed a dislike: and instances are 
 not wanting, where the first officers in the state have been dis- 
 graced by means of these creatin^cs. 
 
 They are equally detested and feared by the i")rinccs of the 
 blood, who reside in the palace ; l3y the court officers; and by 
 the missionaries in the employ of government. The latter find 
 it nccessarj- to make frequent, and sometimes expensive, pre- 
 
156 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 sents to those, in particular, about the person of his imperial 
 majest}\ Should any of tliese gentlemen happen to carry 
 about \\ ith him a Avatch, snuff-box, or other trinket, which the 
 eunuch condescends to admire, there is no alternative ; the 
 missionary takes the hint, and begs his acceptance of it, know- 
 ing very ^^■ell that the only way to preserve his friendship is to 
 shaie Avith him his property. An omission of this piece of 
 civility has been productive of great injury to the European. 
 The gentleman w ho regulates, and keeps in order, the several 
 pieces of clock-work, in the palace, assured me, that the old 
 eunuch, ^vho was entrusted widi the keys of the rooms, used 
 to go in by night, and purposely derange and break the ma- 
 cliineiy, that he might be put to the trouble and expense of 
 repaiiing it. This happened to him so often, that, at length, 
 he became acquainted with the secret of applying the proper 
 pre\^entive, which, although expensive, was still less vexatious 
 than the constant reparation of the mischief done to the articles 
 of which he had the superintendence. 
 
 The Chinese eunuchs are addicted to all the vices that dis- 
 tinguish tliese creatures in otlier countries. There is scarcely 
 one about the palace, whether of the class of porters and sweep- 
 ers, or of that which is qualified for the inner apartments, but 
 hare. Vv omen in dieir lodgings, who are generally the daughters 
 of poor people, from whom they are purchased, and ai^e con- 
 sequently considered as their slaves. It is difficult to conceive 
 a condition in life more humiliating, or more deplorable, than 
 that of a female slave to an eunuch ; but, happily for such fe- 
 males, in this country the mental powers are not very active. 
 Several of the missionaries assured me of the truth of diis fact, 
 \^ hich, indeed, I have strong reasons for believing, even of the 
 Rasibus. The keeper of tlie hall of audience once took me to 
 his lodgings ; but, on coming to the door, he desired me to 
 wait till he had m.ade some airangements within ; the meaning 
 of which was, until he had removed liis lady out of the way : 
 nor was he in the least displeased at my hinting this to him. 
 Being one of the favourite attendants of tlie ladies of the court, 
 he was, of course, a black eunuch. He was the most caprici- 
 ous creature in the world ; being sometimes extremely civil 
 and communicative, sometimes sullen, and not deigning to 
 open his lips ; and, whenever he took it into his head to be 
 offended, he was sure to practise some little revenge. I 
 fancy he was clerk of the kitchen ; for tlie quality and the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. \sr 
 
 quantity of our dinner generally depended on the state of his 
 humour. When the report of the embassador's making con- 
 ditions,'' with regard to the ceremony of introduction, first 
 reached Yuen-min-yuen, he was more tlrm usually peevish^ 
 and conceived, as he thought, a notable piece of re\engc'. 
 Some pains had been taken to arrange the presents in such a 
 manner, in the great hall, as to fill the room well, and set them 
 off to the best advantage. The old creature, dctemiined to 
 give us additional trouble, and to break throujjh the aiTangc- 
 ment that had been made, desired that the A\hole might Ix^ 
 placed at one end of the room. On my objecting to this, he 
 pretended to have recei\Td the emperor's order, and that, at 
 all events, it must be obeyed : and the reason he assigned for 
 the change was, " that his majesty might see them at once 
 " from his tlirone, without being at the trouble of turning his 
 " head." 
 
 The great number of these creatures about tlie palace of 
 Yuen-min-}' uen made my residence there extremely disagree- 
 able. They seemed, indeed, to be placed as spies on our con- 
 duct. If I attempted to move, ever so little, beyond the court 
 of our apartments, I was sure of being watched and pursued 
 by some of them. To persist in my \\alk would ha\e tliro\\a 
 the whole palace in an uproar. I one day happened, inadver- 
 tently, to stray through a thicket, \Ahich it seems led towards 
 the apaitments of the ladies ; but I had not proceeded far be- 
 fore I heard several squalling voices in the thicket, Avliich I 
 soon recognised to be those of eunuchs. The}- had run them- 
 selves out of breath in seeking me ; and my old friend of the 
 kitchen was not to be pacified for putting him to the hazard, 
 as he pretended, of losing his head b\- my imprudence. 
 
 The eunuchs and the women are the only companions of the 
 emperor in his leisure hours : of the latter one only has the rank 
 of empress ; after whom are two queens and their numerous 
 attendants, Avhich constitute the second class of the establish- 
 ment ; and the third consists of six queens, and their attend- 
 ants. To these three ranks of his v/ives are attached one hun- 
 dred ladies, who ai-e usually called his concubines, though thcr 
 are as much a legal establishment as the others. They would 
 seem to be of the same description, and to hold the same rank, 
 as the handmaids of the ancient Israelites. Their children ai"c 
 all considered as branches of the imperial famil}- ; but the pre- 
 ference to the succession is generally given to the male issue of 
 
158 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 tlie first empress, proA ided there should be any. Tliis, how- 
 ever, is entirely a matter of choice ; the emperor having an un- 
 controled po\\"er of nominating his successor, either in his own 
 family or out of it. The daughters iU'e usually mairied to Tai*- 
 tar princes, and other Tartars of distinction ; but rarely, if ever, 
 to a Chinese. 
 
 On the accession of a new emperor, men of the first rank 
 and situation in the empire consider themselves as higWy ho- 
 noured, and exti'emely fortunate, if the graces of their daugh- 
 ters should prove sufficient to provide them a place in the list 
 of his concubines ; in which case, like the nuns in some coun- 
 tries of Europe, they are doomed for ever to reside ^\ithin the 
 walls of the palace. Such a fate, however, being common in 
 China, in a certabi degree, to all women-kind, is less to be de- 
 plored than the simiku- lot of those in Europe, where one sex 
 is supposed to be entitled to an equal degi'ee of liberty with 
 the otlier : and as the custom of China authorizes the sale of all 
 young women, b}' their pai-ents or relations, to men they never 
 saA\-, and '\\ ithout their consent previously obtained, there can 
 be no haixlship in consigning them over to the arms of the 
 prince. Nor is any disgrace attached to the condition of a 
 concubine, where every marriage is a legal prostitution. At 
 the death of tlie sovereign, all Ms women arc remoA'cd to a se- 
 parate building, called by a temi which, divested of its meta- 
 phor, implies the '' Palace of Chastity," ^\•here they are doom- 
 ed to reside during the remamder of their Ii\es. 
 
CHAP. VI. 
 
 LANGUAGE.—LITERATURE, AND THE FINE ARTS.— SCIENCES. 
 MECHANICS, AND MEDICINE. 
 
 Opinion, of the Chinese Language being hierogljiihical, erroneous. — Doctor Ha- 
 ger's mistakes. — Etymological Comparisons fallaciou.$. — Examples of. — Nature 
 of the Chinese written Character. — Difficulty and Ambiguity of. — Curious Mis- 
 take of an eminent Antiquarian. — Mode of acquiring the Character. — Oral 
 Language — Mantchoo Tartar Alphabet. — Chinese Literature. — Astronomy. 
 —Chronology. — Cycle of sixty Year.s. — Geography. — Arithmetic. — Chemical 
 Arts. — Cannon and Gunpowder. — Distillation. — Potteries. — ^Sillc ManufactiU'cs. 
 — Ivory. — Bamboo. — Paper. — Ink. — Printing. — Mechanics. — Music. — Paint- 
 ing. — Sculpture. — Architecture. — Hotel of the English Embassador in Pekin.— 
 The Great Wall. — The Grand Canal. — Bridges. — Cemeteries. — Natural Phi- 
 losophy. — Medicine. — Chinese Pharmacopoeia. — Qiiacks. — Contagious Fevers, 
 — Small-pox. — Opthalmia. — Venereal Disease. — Midwifery. — Surgery. — Doc- 
 tor Gregory's Opinion of their Medical Knowledge. — Sir Willioim Jones's Opi- 
 mon of their general Character. 
 
 IF no traces remained, nor any authorities could be pro- 
 duced, of the antiquity of the Chinese nation, except the \\'rit- 
 ten character of their laiiguage, this alone would he suiHcicnt 
 to decide that point in its fliA'our. There is so niucli orij^inality 
 in this language, and such a great and essential difference be- 
 tween it and that of any other nation not immediately derived 
 from the Chinese, that not the most distiint degree of affinity 
 can be discovered, either with regard to the form of the charac^ 
 ter, tlie system on which it is constiiicted, or the idiom, with 
 any other known language upon the face of the globe. Au- 
 thors, however, and some of high reputation, ha^"e been led 
 to suppose that, in the Chinese character, they could trace 
 some relation to those hieroglyphical or sacred inscriptions found 
 among the remains of the ancient Egyptmns ; others liave con- 
 sidered it to be a modification of hieroglyphic \\Titing, and tliat 
 each charc\cter ^vas the symbol or comprehensh e form of the 
 idea it \vas n"ieant to express, or, in other words, an abstract 
 
160 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 delineation of the object intended to be represented. To 
 strengthen such an opinion, the}" have ingeniously selected a 
 h\v instances where, by adding to one part, and curtailing an- 
 otlier, changing- a straight line into a curved one, or a square 
 into a circle, something might be made out that approached to 
 the picture, or the object of the idea conveyed by the character, 
 
 as, for example, the character 07, representing a culti- 
 vated PIECE OF GROUND, thcv supposcd it to bc the pictute 
 of an inclosure, turned up in ridges ; yet, it so happens that, 
 
 in this countr}-, there are no inclosures ; the character, rj a 
 jiouTH, has been considered by them a very close resem- 
 blance of that object; J^ and "TT above and below, dis- 
 tinctly mai'ked these points of position ; the character ^A, sig- 
 nifying man, is, according to their opinion, obviously an ab- 
 breviated representation of tlie human figure ; yet, the very 
 same character, with an additional line across, tlius y^y which 
 by the way approaches nearer to the human figure, having now 
 arms as well as legs, signifies the absti-act quality great ; and 
 
 with a second line, thus ^^ the material or visible heaven, 
 
 between either of which and man it Would be no easy task to 
 find out the analogy ; and still less so to trace an affinity be- 
 tween any of them and »^ which signifies a dog. 
 
 It is true, certain ancient characters are still extant, in which 
 a rude representation of the image is employed ; as for in- 
 stance, a circle for the sun, and a crescent for the moon, but 
 tliese appear to have been used only as abbreviations, in the 
 same manner as these objects are still characterized in our al- 
 manacks, and in our astronomical calculations. Thus also 
 the kingdom of China is designed by a square, with a ver- 
 tical line drawn tlirough the middle, in conformity perhaps 
 with their ideas of the earth being a square, and China placed 
 in its centre. So far these may be considered as symbols of 
 the objects intended to be represented. So, also, the numerals 
 one, two, three, being designed by __ _ -==. , would na- 
 turally suggest themselves as being fully as convenient for the 
 purpose, and perhaps more so than any other ; and where the 
 first series of numerals ended, which, according to the uni- 
 versal custom of counting by tlie fingers, was at ten, tlie very 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 161 
 
 act of placing the index of the riglit hand on the Httle finger of 
 the left would suggest the form of the vertical cross k as the 
 symbol or representation of tlic number ten. 
 
 I cannot avoid taking notice, in this place, of a publication of 
 doctor Hager, which he calls an " Explanation of the Klcmen- 
 t&ry Characters of the Cliinese." In this \\ ork he has ad\anced 
 a most extraordinary lugument, to prove an analogy bet^Aeen 
 the ancient Romans and tlie Chinese, from tlie resemblance 
 which he has fancied to exist between the numeral characters 
 and the numeral sounds made use of by those two nations. 
 The Romans he observes, expressed their numerals one, t^o, 
 three, by a corresponding number of vertical strokes I. II. III. 
 
 which the Chinese place horizontal!}^ , __-^ jr= . The 
 
 Romans designed the number ten by an oblique cross X, and 
 the Chinese by a vertical one x. This resemblance hi the 
 forming of their numerals, so simple and natural, that almost 
 all nations have adopted it, is surely too slight a coincidence 
 for concluding that the people who use them must necessarily, 
 at some period or other, have had communication together. 
 The doctor, however, seems to think so ; imd proceeds to 
 observe, that the tliree principal Roman cyphers, I. V. X. or 
 one, five and ten, are denoted in die Chinese language by the 
 same sounds tliat they express in the Roman alphabet. This 
 remark, although ingenious, is not coiTcct. One and five, it 
 is true, are expressed in the Chinese language by the y and on 
 of the French, which, it may be presumed, were the sounds 
 that die lettres I. and V. obtained in the ancient Roman alpha- 
 bet ; but, with regaled to die ten, or X, a\ hicli, he says, the 
 Chinese pronounce xe, he is entirely mistaken ; the Chinese 
 word for ten in Pekin being slice, and in Canton shap. This 
 error the doctor appears to ha\e been led into by consulting 
 some vocabulary hi the Chinese and Portuguese Umguages ; in 
 the latter of which the letter X is pronounced like our sh. 
 But admitting, in its fullest extent, the resemblance of some 
 of the numerals used by the two nations, in the shape of the 
 character, and of others in the sound, it certainly cannot be as- 
 sumed to prove any thing beyond a mere accidental coinci- 
 dence. 
 
 The earliest accounts of China, after the doubling of the 
 Cape of Good Hope, being w ritten by Portuguese missionaries, 
 and the Chinese proper names still remaining to be spelled in 
 the letters of that alphabet, ha^ e led several etymologists hit© 
 
162 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 great errors, not only with regard to the letter X, but more 
 piirticularly in the m final, and the h incipient; the former being 
 pronounced ng, and the latter ^^•ith a strong aspirate, as sh. 
 Thus, the name of the second emperor of the present dynasty 
 is almost uniA ersally Amtten in Europe Cam-hi, whereas it is 
 as uni\ ersally pronounced in China Caung-shee. 
 
 The learned doctor seems to be still less happy in his next 
 conjecture, ^here he obser\'es that, as the Romans expressed 
 tlieir fiAe by simply dividing the X, or ten, so also the ancient 
 cliaracter, signifying five, — \\ith the Chinese — was X, or ten, 
 between two lines, thus "^ ; indicating, as it were, that the 
 number ten was divided in two. The doctor seems to have 
 forgotten that he has here placed his cross in the Roman form, 
 and not as the Chinese WTite it ; and it is ceitauily a strange 
 Wdx of cutting a thing in tA\-o, by enclosing it between two 
 lines : but the learned seldom baulk an absurdity, when a sys- 
 tem is to be established. The Chinese character for five is 
 
 S 
 
 Of all deductions, those drawn from etymological compari- 
 sions ai"c, perhaps, the most fallacious. Were these allowed 
 to ha\'e any Vv'eight, the Chinese spoken language is of such 
 a nature, that it \\ ould be no difficult task to point out its re- 
 lationship to that of CAcry nation upon earth. Being entirely 
 monosyllabic, and each A\"ord ending in a vowel or a liquid, 
 and being, at the same time, deprived of the sounds of several 
 letters in our alphabet, it becomes necessarily incapable of 
 suppljing any gi^eat number of distinct syllables. Three hun- 
 dred are, in fact, nearly as many as an European tongue can ar- 
 ticulate, or ear distinguish. It follows, of course, that the 
 same sound must have a great variety of significations. The 
 syllable ching, for example, is actually expressed by fifty-one 
 different characters, each having a different, unconnected, and 
 opposite meaning; but it would be the height of absurdity to 
 attempt to prove the coincidence of any other language with 
 the Chinese, because it might happen to possess a word some- 
 thing like the sound of ching, which might also bear a signifi- 
 cation not very different from one of those fifty-one that it held 
 in the Chinese. 
 
 The Greek abounds with Chinese words. kw#, a dog, is 
 in Chinese both keou and keun, expressive of the same animal 
 «» good, is not very different from the Chinese hau, which 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 163 
 
 signifies the same quality ; and the article t« is not far remote 
 from ta, he, or tliat. Both Greeks and Romans mio-ht recoL'*- 
 mse their first personal pronoun '«y«, or ego, m go, or, as it is 
 sometimes written, ngo. The Italian affirmative, si, is suili- 
 ciently near the Chinese shee, or zee, expressing assent. The 
 French 6tang, and the Chinese tang, a pond or lake, are neaily 
 the same, and their two negatives pas and poo are not very re- 
 mote. Lex, loi, le, law, compai^ed ^\•ith leu, lee, law s and in- 
 stitutes, are examples of analog}' that \\ould be dtcisi^e to 
 the etymological inquirer. The English word mien, tlie coun- 
 tenance, and the Chinese mien, expressing the same idea, arc 
 nothing different ; and we might be supposed to have taken our 
 goose fi'om their goo. To sing is chaung, \\ hich comes \'eiy 
 near our chaunt. The Chinese call a cat, miau, and so does 
 die Hottentot. The Malay word, to know, is tau, and the Chi- 
 nese monosyllable for the same verb is also tau, though in con- 
 versation they generally use the compound tchee-tiui, each oi' 
 which sepai*ately have nearly the same meaning. The Suma- 
 trans have maufor mother, the Chinese say moo. On giounds 
 equally slight with these ha\'e many attempts been made to form 
 conclusions from etymological comparisons. If I mistake 
 not, the very ingenious Mr. Bryant makes the word gate a 
 derivative from the Indian Mordgliaut, a pass between moun- 
 tains. Surely this is going a great deal too far for our little 
 monosyllable. Might we not ^^•ith as great a degree of pro- 
 priety fetch our shallow or shoal fiom China, where sha-loo 
 signifies a flat sand, occasionally coAcred with the tide ? A not- 
 ed antiquarian has been led into some comical mistakes in his 
 attempt to establish a resemblance between the Chinese and the 
 Irish languages, frequently by his having considered the letters 
 of the continental alphabet, in wliich the Chinese \ocabulaiy 
 he consulted was ^^Titten, to be pronounced in the same mamier 
 as his own*. 
 
 • For the curiosity of those who may be inclined to speculate in etymolog'ical 
 comparisons between the Chinese and other languages, I here subjoin a short list 
 of words in the former, expressing some of the most striking objects in tlie crea- 
 tion, a few subjects of natural liistory, and of such articles as from their general 
 use are familiar to most nations ; these being of all others the most hkely to have 
 retained their primitive nances. The orthography I have used is that of tlie En- 
 glish language. 
 
 The Earth 
 
 tee 
 
 An Insect 
 
 tchong 
 
 The Air 
 
 kee 
 
 A Plant 
 
 tscm 
 
 Fire 
 
 im 
 
 A Tree 
 
 shoo 
 
16-4 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Whatever degree of affinity may be discovered bet^veen the 
 sounds of the Chinese language and those of other nations, 
 their wTJtten character has no analog}^ whatever, but is entirely 
 peculiar to itself. Neither die Eg}'ptian inscriptions, nor the 
 nail-headed cliaracters, or monograms, found on the Babylo- 
 nian bricks, have any nearer resemblance to the Chinese than 
 the Hebrew letters have to the Sanscrit. The only analogy 
 that can be said to exist between them is that of their being 
 composed of points and lines. Nor are any marks or traces. 
 
 Water 
 The Sea 
 A River 
 A Lake 
 A Mountain 
 A Wilderness 
 The Sun 
 The Moon 
 Tlie Stars 
 The Clouds 
 Rain 
 HaU 
 Snow 
 Ice 
 
 Thunder 
 Lightning 
 The Wiiid 
 The Day 
 The Night 
 The Sky or Heaven 
 The East 
 The West 
 The Nortli 
 The South 
 Man 
 Woman 
 A Sheep 
 
 A Goat, or moun- > 
 tain Sheep C 
 
 A Cat 
 
 A Stag 
 
 A Pldgeon 
 
 Poultry 
 
 An Egg 
 
 A Goose 
 
 Oil 
 
 Rice 
 
 Milk 
 
 Vinegar 
 
 Tobacco 
 
 Salt 
 
 Silk 
 
 Cotton 
 
 Flax Plant 
 
 Hemp 
 
 nuet 
 
 A Quadruped 
 
 aho9 
 
 hat 
 
 A Bird 
 
 kin 
 
 ho 
 
 A Fish 
 
 eu 
 
 tang 
 
 A Fruit 
 
 ko-tsc 
 
 than 
 
 A Flower 
 
 viha 
 
 ye-tet 
 
 A Stone 
 
 thee 
 
 jee-to 
 
 Gold 
 
 tchin 
 
 yui 
 
 Silver 
 
 in tse 
 
 sing 
 
 Cppper 
 
 tung 
 
 yun 
 
 Lead 
 
 yuen 
 
 yeit 
 
 Iron 
 
 tie 
 
 svee-tan 
 
 The Head 
 
 too 
 
 sine 
 
 The Hand 
 
 shoo 
 
 ping 
 
 The Heart 
 
 tin 
 
 lute 
 
 The Leg 
 
 koo 
 
 shan-tien 
 
 The Foot 
 
 tchiau 
 
 f"ng , 
 
 The Face 
 
 mien 
 
 jee or tien 
 
 The Eyes 
 
 yen- thing 
 
 ye or van shang 
 
 The Ears 
 
 eul to 
 
 tien 
 
 The Hair 
 
 too fa 
 
 tting 
 
 An Ox 
 
 nieu 
 
 see 
 
 A Camel 
 
 loo-too 
 
 pee 
 
 A Horse 
 
 m,a 
 
 nan 
 
 An Ass 
 
 loo-tse 
 
 jin 
 
 A Dog 
 
 kioon 
 
 foo-jin 
 
 A Frog 
 
 tchoo 
 
 yang 
 
 Wool (Sheep's Hair) yangmau 
 
 shan-yang 
 
 Coals 
 
 tan 
 
 Sugar 
 
 tang 
 
 miau 
 
 Cheese, they have" 
 
 ) 
 
 shan loo 
 
 none but thick ' 
 
 f not -ping, ( 
 t iced mlD 
 
 koo tse 
 
 MUk J 
 
 kee 
 
 A House 
 
 shia 
 
 kee-tan 
 
 A Temple 
 
 miau 
 
 goo 
 
 A Bed 
 
 tchuang 
 
 yeo 
 
 A Door 
 
 men 
 
 met 
 
 A Table 
 
 tai 
 
 nai 
 
 A Chair 
 
 ye tz6 
 
 tsoo 
 
 A Knife 
 
 tau 
 
 yen 
 
 A Pitcher 
 
 ping 
 
 yen 
 
 A Plough 
 
 lee 
 
 tsoo 
 
 An Anchor 
 
 mau 
 
 mien-iuhfi 
 
 A Ship 
 
 tcfMon 
 
 ma 
 
 Money 
 
 Uien 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 165 
 
 of alpliabetic UTiting discoverable in the composition of the 
 Chinese character : iuid if, at any time, hieroglyphics have 
 been employed to convey ideas, they have long given way to 
 a collection of arbitrary signs, settled by convention, and con- 
 structed on a system as regular and constant as the formation 
 of sounds in any of the European languages ai-iscs out of the 
 alphabets of those languages. 
 
 The history of the world affords abundant evidence that, in 
 the dawn of civilization, most nations endeavoured to fix and 
 to perjDetuate ideas, by jxiinting the figures of the objects that 
 produced them. The Egyptian priesthood recorded the 
 mysteries of their religion in graphic emblems of this kind ; 
 and the Mexicans, on the first arrivid of the Spaniards, informed 
 their prince Montezuma of what was passing, by painting 
 tiieir ideas on a roll of cloth. There is no v\ a}- so natural as 
 tliis of expressing, and conA^eying to the imdei-standing of 
 others, the images that pass in the mind, witliout the helji of 
 speech. In the course of the present voyage, an ofiicer of ar- 
 
 I must observe, however, for the information of these philolog-ists, that scarcely 
 two provinces in China have the same oral language. The officers and their at- 
 tendants who came with us from the capital, could converse only with tlie boatmen 
 of the southern provinces through the medium of an interpreter. The cliaracter 
 of the language is universal, but the name or sound of the character is arbitrary. 
 If a convention of sounds could have been settled like a convei\tion of marks oiie 
 would suppose tliat a commercial intercourse would have eHected it, at least in the 
 numeral sounds, that must necessarily be interchanged from place to place, and 
 myriads of times repeated from one corner of the empire to the other. Let us 
 compare then tlie numerals of Pekin with those of Canton, the two greatest cities 
 in China. 
 
 Pekln. Canton. Pekin. Canton. 
 
 1. Ye yat 11. shee-ye sliap-vat 
 
 2. id ye 12. shee-ul shap-ye 
 
 3. san saam 20. ul-shee ye-shap 
 
 4. soo see 30. san-shee saam-shap 
 
 5. ou um 31. san-shee-ye saam-siiap-vat 
 
 6. leu lok 32. san-shee-ui saam-siiap-ye 
 
 7. tehee tsat 100. pe paak 
 
 8. pas pat 1000. tsien tseen 
 
 man 
 
 9. tcheu kow 10,000. van 
 
 10. shee shap 100,000. she-van shap-man 
 
 If, then, in this highly civiUzed empire, the oral language of the northern part 
 differs so widely from the southern, tliat, in numerous instances, by none of the 
 etymological tricks* can they be brouglit to bear any kind of analogy ; if the very 
 word which in Pekin implies the number one, be used in Canton to express two 
 how veiy absurd and ludicrous must tliose learned and laboured dissertations 
 appear, that would assign an oriental origin to all our modern languages ! 
 
 Such as the addition, deduction, mutation, and transposition of letters, or 
 evensyUables. Thus Mr. Webbe thinks that the dcrivaliou of the Greek y^!, a 
 vtoman, firom the Chinese nu-gin, is self-evident. 
 
166 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 tiller\- and myself were dispatched to make observations on 
 the small island of Collao, near the coast of Cochin-china. 
 In order to make the natives comprehend our desire to pro- 
 cure some poultry, we drew on paper the figure of a hen, and 
 were immediately supplied to the extent of our wants. One 
 of the inhabitants, taking up the idea, drew, close behind the 
 hen, the figure of an egg ; and a nod of the head obtained us 
 as many as we had occasion for. The Bosjesmon Hottentots, 
 the most wild and savage race, perhaps, of human beings, are 
 in the constant habit of drawing, on the sides of caverns, the 
 representations of the different animals peculiar to the country. 
 When I visited some of those caverns, I considered such 
 di'awings as the employment of idle hours ; but, on since re- 
 flecting that in almost all such caverns are also to be seen the 
 figures of Dutch boors (who hunt these miserable creatures like 
 wild beasts), in a variety of attitudes, some with guns in their 
 hands, and others in the act of firing upon their countrymen ; 
 waggons sometimes proceeding, and at others standing still, 
 the oxen unyoked, and the boors sleeping, and these repre- 
 sentations generally followed by a number of lines scored like 
 so many tallies, I am inclined to think they have adopted this 
 method of informing their companions of the number of their 
 enemies, and die magnitude of the danger. The animals re- 
 presented were generally such as were to be met with in die 
 district where the drawings appeared ; this, to a people who 
 subsist by the chase and by plunder, might serv^e as another 
 piece of important information. 
 
 The Chinese history, although it takes no notice of the time 
 ^\hen they had no other method of keeping their records, ex- 
 cept, like the Peruvians, by knotting cords, makes no mention 
 of any hierogl}^)hical chai^acters being used by them. If such 
 were actually the case, the remains of symbolical writing would 
 now be most discoverable in the radical, or elementaiy cha- 
 racters, of which we shall have occasion presendy to speak, 
 and especially in those which were employed to express some 
 of the most remarkable objects in nature. Out of the two 
 hundred and twelve, or thereabout, which constitute the num- 
 ber of the radical signs, the following are a few of the most 
 simple, in none of which, in my opinion, does there appear 
 to be the least resemblance between die picture and the 
 object. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 167 
 
 A gin, man HJ ^^"^' ^P^^^' ^^ ^ square of 
 
 Jj koo, a mouth ^ vue, the moon 
 
 ^ tee, eaith ^ jce, the sun 
 
 ^« tse, a son ^ moo, a tree 
 
 li tsau, a plant yl^ swce, w atcr 
 
 J^ shan, a mountain flT ho, fire 
 
 p|^ sin, a heart "^ shee, a stone. 
 
 ^jj^ shoo, a hand 
 
 The rest of the elementar}- characters are, if possible, still 
 more unlike the objects they represent. There seems there- 
 fore, to be no grounds for concluding that the Chinese ever 
 made use of hieroglyphics, or, more properly speaking, that 
 their present character sprung out of hieroglyphics. They 
 have a tradition, \\hich is uni\'ersL\lly believed, that tlieir prince 
 Fo-shee Mas the in\'entor of the system upon which their 
 written diameter is formed, and which, without any material 
 alteration, there is ever^^ reason to suppose has continued in 
 use to tliis day. To Fo-shee, howe\'er, they ascribe tlie in- 
 vention of almost every thing they kno^v, A\"hich has led Mr. 
 Baillic ingeniously to conjecture that Fo-shee must have been 
 some foreigner who first civilized China : as arts and sciences 
 do not spring up and bear fruit in the life of one man. Many 
 changes in the form of characters may have taken place from 
 time to time, but the principle on which they are constructed 
 seems to have maintained its ground. The redundancies of 
 particular chaiacters have been removed for the sake of conve- 
 nience ; and the learned, in their epistolaiy \\Titing, have adopted 
 a sort of running hand, in which the form is so very materially 
 altered, by rounding off tlie angles, connecting some pai-ts, and 
 wholly omitting otliers, as to make it appear to a superficial 
 observer a totally different language. But I may venture to 
 observe that it has not only not undergone any material altera- 
 tion for more than two thousand years, but tliat it has ne^er 
 borrowed a character, or a syllable, from any other language 
 that now exists. As a proof of this, it may be mentioned, th 
 
168 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 eveiy new article that has found its way into Cliina, since its 
 discovery to Europeans, has acquired a Chinese name, and 
 entirely sunk that which it bore by the nation who introduced 
 it. Tlic proper names, extn of countries, nations, and indivi- 
 duals are changed, and assume new ones in their language. 
 Thus, Europe is called See-yang, the western countrj'^; Japan,. 
 Tur.g-yang, the eastern countiy; India Siau-see-yang, the 
 little VvCbtern country. The English are dignified by the name 
 of Hung-mou, or Red-Heads, and the French, Spanish, Por- 
 tuguese, and others, ^\ho visit China, have each a name in the 
 language of the countr}', totally distinct from that they bear in 
 Einope. This inflexibility in retaining the words of their own 
 poor language has frequently made me think that Doctor 
 Johnson had the Chinese in his mind, when, in that inimitable 
 piece of fine vvriting which prefaces his dictionary, he made 
 this remark : " The hmguage most likely to continue long, 
 *' without alteration, would be that of a nation raised a little, 
 *' and but a little, above barbarity, secluded from strangers, and 
 *' totally employed in procuring the conveniencies of life." 
 
 The invention of the Chinese character, although an effort 
 of genius, required far less powers of the mind than the disco- 
 ver}' of an alphabet ; a discovery so sublime, that, according 
 to the opinion of some, nothing less than a divine origin ought 
 to be ascribed to it. It may, howe\'er, be considered as the 
 neai'cst approximation to an uniA^rsal chai'acter that has hither- 
 to been attempted by the learned and ingenious of any nation ; 
 each character conveying at once to the eye, not only simple, 
 but the most combined ideas. The plan of our countryman. 
 Bishop Wilkins, for establishing an universal character, is, in 
 all respects, so similar to that upon which the Chinese language 
 is constructed, that a reference to the former will be found to 
 convey a \'er}^ competent idea of the nature of the latter. The 
 universal chai'acter of our countryman is, howe^'er, more sys- 
 tematic, and more philosophical than the plan of the Chinese 
 character. 
 
 Certain signs, expressing simple objects or ideas, may be 
 considered as the roots or primiti^^es of this language. These 
 are few in number, not exceeding two hundred and twelve, 
 one of which, or its abbreviation, will be found to compose a 
 part of &very character in the language ; and may, therefore, 
 be considered as the ke}^ to the character into which it enters. 
 The eye soon becomes accustomed to fix upon the particular 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 169 
 
 key, or root, of the most complicated characters, in some 
 of which are not fewer than sixty or sevent)* distinct lines and 
 points. The right line, the curA^ed line, and a point, are tlie 
 rudiments of all the characters. These, \iuiously combined 
 witli one another, have been extended from time to time, as 
 occasion might require, to near eighty thousand different 
 characters. 
 
 To explain the manner in which their dictionaiies ai-e ai'- 
 ranged will serve to convey a con-ect notion of die nature of 
 this extraordinary languag-e. All the two hundred andtvtehe 
 roots or keys are drawn Fau' and distinct on the head of the 
 page, beginning -w ith the most simple, or that which contairis 
 the fewest number of lines or points, and proceeding to the 
 most complicated ; and on the mai'gins of the page are marked 
 tlie numei"al characters, one, two, tlirec, &c. which signify, 
 that the root or key at the top ^\"ill be found to be combined 
 on that page a\ ith one, two, three, he. lines or points. Sup- 
 pose, for example, a learner should meet v. ith an unkno\\ a 
 character, in which he perceives that the simple sign express- 
 ing AN'citer is the key or root, and that it contains, besides this 
 root, six additional points and lines. He immediately turnsover 
 his dictionar}- to the place ^\'here the character, water, stands, 
 on the top of the page, and proceeding \\ ith his eye directed 
 to the margin, until the numeral character six occurs, he m ill 
 soon perceive the one in question ; for all the chai^acters in the 
 language, belonging to tlie root \\ater, and composed of six 
 other lines and points, will follow successively in this place. 
 The name or sound of the character is placed immediately 
 after it, expressed in such others as ai'e supposed to be most 
 familial' ; and, in the method made use of for convejing this 
 information, the Chinese ha\e discoA^ered some faint and very 
 imperfect idea of alphabetic vmting, by splitting the monosyl- 
 labic sound into a dissyllable, and again compressing the 
 dissyllable into a simple sound. One instance a\ ill serve to 
 explain this method. Suppose the name of the character 
 under consideration to be ping. If no single character be 
 thought sufficiently simple to express the sound ping, imme- 
 diately after it \v ill be placed t\\ o ^\•ell-known characters pe and 
 ing ; but, as evtry character in the language has a monosyllabic 
 sound, it will readily be concluded, diat pe and ing, when 
 compressed into one syllable, must be pronounced ping. 
 
 Y 
 
iro TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 After these, the meaning or explanation follows, in the clear- 
 est and most easy characters that can be employed. 
 
 When, indeed, a considerable progress has been made in 
 the language, the general meaning of many of the cliaracters 
 may be pretty nearly guessed at by the eye alone, as they will 
 mostly be found to have some reference, either immediate or 
 remote, though very often in a figurative sense, to the signi- 
 fication of the key or root; in the same manner as in the 
 classification of objects in natural history, every species may 
 be referred to its proper genus. The signs, for instance, ex- 
 pressing the hand and the heart, are two roots, and all the 
 works of art, the different trades and manufactures, arrange 
 themselves under the first, and all die passions, affections, and 
 sentiments of the mind under the latter. The root of an 
 unit, or one, comprehends all the characters expressive of 
 the feelings and the like. Thus, if I observ^e a charac- 
 ter compounded of the two simple roots, one and heart, I 
 have no difficulty in concluding that its signification is unani- 
 mity ; but if the sign of a negative should also appear in the 
 ■same chai^acter, the meaning will be reversed to discord or 
 dissention, literally not one heart. Many proper names of 
 persons have the character signifying man for their key or 
 root, and all foreign names have the character mouth or voice 
 annexed, which shews at once that the character is a proper 
 name employed only to express sound, wdthout any particular 
 meaning. 
 
 Nor are these keys or roots, although sometimes placed on 
 the right of the character, sometimes on the left, now at the 
 top, and then at the bottom, so very difficult to be discovered 
 to a person who knows but a little of the language, as doctor 
 Hager has imagined. Tliis is by far the easiest part of the 
 language. The abbreviations in the compound characters, and 
 the figurative sense in which they are sometimes used, consti- 
 tute the difficulty, by the obscurity in which they are involved, 
 and the ambiguity to which they are liable. 
 
 The doctor is equally unfortunate in the discovery which he 
 thinks he has made of a want of order in classing the elements 
 according to the number of lines they contain. The in- 
 stances he gives of such anomaly are in the two characters of 
 
 *^}i MOO, mother; and ^Q, tien, cultivated ground : the 
 
 first of V. liich he is surprised to find among the elementary 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. in 
 
 characters of four lines, and the latter (\^'hich he asserts to be 
 still more simple) among those of five. The Chinese, how- 
 ever, are not quite so much out of order as the doctor seems 
 to be out of his province in attempting a critique on a language, 
 of which he really possesses a very superficial knowledge. The 
 first character ^t, moo, is composed of ^ J — * J , and 
 
 the second ffl[, tien, of JT^— / *'^ ; the one of four 
 and the otlier of fi^^e lines, according to the aiTangement of 
 Chinese dictionaiies, and their elementary treatises. 
 
 Among the roots or primitives that most fiequently occur 
 are those expressing the hand, lieart, moutli, and the five ele- 
 ments, earth, air, fire, wood^ and water. Man is also a very 
 common root. 
 
 The composition of characters is capable of exercising a very 
 considerable degree of ingenuit}', and the analysis of them is 
 extremely entertaining to a foreigner. As, in a proposition of 
 Euclid, it is necessary to go tlirough the whole demonstration 
 before the figure to which it refers can be properly understood, 
 so, in the Chinese character, the sense of the sevei'al compo- 
 nent parts must first be kno^^■n, in order to comprehend the 
 meaning of the compound. To endeavour to recollect them 
 without this knowledge would be a laborious and almost im- 
 possible effort of the mind. Indeed, after tliis knowledge is 
 acquired, the sense is sometimes so liid in metaphor, and in 
 allusions to particular customs or ways of thinking, that \\ hen 
 all the component parts of a character are well understood, the 
 meaning may yet remain in obscurity. It may not be difficult 
 to conceive, for instance, that, in a figurative language, the 
 union of the sun and moon might be employed to express any 
 extraordinary degree of light or brillianc}^ ; but it would not 
 so readily occur, that the character foo, or happiness, or su- 
 preme felicity, should be designed by the union of the charac- 
 ters expressing a spirit or demon, the number one, or unity, a 
 
 moutli, and a piece of cultivated ground, thus Wm- This 
 
 character hi the Chinese language is meant to convey the 
 same idea as the word comfort does in our o^\^l. The charac- 
 ter implying the middle of any thing, annexed to that of heart, 
 was not inaptly employed to express a very deai- friend, nor 
 that with the heait suraiounted by a negative, to imply indif- 
 ference, no heart ; but it is .not so easy to assign any reason 
 
172 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 why the character ping, signifying rank or order, should be 
 expressed by the character inoutli, repeated tlirice, and placed 
 
 like the three balls of a pawnbroker, thus ^^ , or why four of 
 these mouths arranged as under, with the chai-acter ta, great, 
 in die center, should imply an instrument, or piece of mecha- 
 nism. ^S . Nor would it readily occur why the character 
 
 ^ , nan, masculine, should be made up of tien, a field, 
 
 and lee, strength, unless from the idea that the male sex pos- 
 sesses strength, and only can inherit land. But that a smooth- 
 ness or volubility of speech Y)/$^ should be designed by 
 
 koo, mouth, and kin, gold, we can more easily conceive, as 
 we apply the epithet silver-tongue pretty nearly on the same 
 occasion. 
 
 If the Chinese liad rigidly adliered to die ingenious and phi- 
 losophical mechanism they originally employed in the con- 
 struction of their chai'acters, it would be die most interesting 
 of all languages. But such is far from being the case. New 
 characters aie daily constructed, in which convenience, rather 
 than perspicuity, has been consulted. 
 
 It ^vill follow, from what has been ssdd, that every com* 
 pounded character is not only a word, but also a definition, 
 comprehending in visible marks its full explanation ; but no 
 character, howe^^er compounded, can have more than a mo- 
 nosyllabic sound, though each part, when alone, has a distinct 
 sound, as well as sense. Thus, " Happiness," though com- 
 pounded of four distinct characters, slice, a demon; ye, one; 
 koo, a mouth ; and tien, a piece of cultivated ground ; has 
 only the simple m.onosyllabic sound foo, which is unlike that 
 of any one of its compounds. 
 
 The sounds and vaiious inflexions incidental to languages 
 in general, are not necessary to be attended to in the study of 
 the Cliinese characters. They speak equally strong to a person 
 who is deaf and dumb, as the most copious language could do 
 to one in the full enjoyment of all his senses. It is a language 
 addressed entirely to the eye, and not to the ear. Just as a 
 piece of music laid before several persons of diiferent nations 
 of Europe would be played by each in the same key, the same 
 measure, and the same air, so would the Chinese characters 
 be equally understood by the natives of Japan, Tunquin, and 
 Cocliin-China ; yet each would give them different names or 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 173 
 
 sounds, that would be wholly unintelligible to one another. 
 When, on the present voyage, ^ve stopped at Piilo Condore, 
 the inhabitants, being Cochiii-Cliinese, had no difficulty in cor- 
 responding, by WTiting, with our Chinese interpreters, tiiough 
 tliey could not interchange one intelligible word. 
 
 Although, with the assistance of a good dictionaiy and a to- 
 lerable memory, a knowledge of such of the Chinese chm-ac- 
 ters as most frequently occur may be obtained b}- a foreigner ; 
 yet, the ambiguity to which they are liable, on account of the 
 frequent figurative expressions and substitution of metaphor 
 for the literal meaning, renders their best compositions ex- 
 tremely obscure. Anodier, and not the least, difficulty to a 
 learner of tliis language arises from the abridgment of the cha- 
 racters for the sake of convenience, by wliich the eye is de- 
 prived of the chain that originally connected the component 
 parts. In short, it is a language where much is to be made out 
 that is not expressed, and particularly so in what is called fine 
 WTiting ; and a thorough knowledge of it can only be acquired 
 from a familiar acquaintance witli the manners, "customs, ha- 
 bits, and opinions of the people. Those missionaiies e\'en, 
 who ha^'e resided in the countr}- the best part of d\eir lives, 
 and accepted employments about the palace, are frequentl}- at 
 a loss in translating and composing the official papers that are 
 necessar)^ to be made out on the occasion of im European em- 
 bassy. 
 
 It is, however, a matter of surprise that, after all that has 
 been pubUshed in Europe by the Jesuits, of the grandeur, the 
 magnificence, the learning, and the philosophy of the Chinese, 
 so very few persons should have taken the trouble to make 
 themselves acquainted with the language of this extraordinary 
 iiation. So little was a professor of Cliinese, at Rome, versed 
 in the language he professed to know, that he is said * to have 
 mistaken some characters found on a bust of Isis for Chinese, 
 which bust and the characters Averc afterv.ards proved to bo 
 the work of a modern artist of Turin, made after his o^^Tl fancv. 
 In Great-Britain we have kno^vn still less of the Chinese lan- 
 guage and Chinese literature than on the continent. It is not 
 many years ago, that one of the small copper coins of China, 
 stamped in the reign, and with the name, of die late Tchien- 
 lung (or, as he is usually called in the southern dialect of China, 
 
 • By Mr. Pauw. 
 
174, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Kien-long), was picked up in a bog in Ireland, and, being con- 
 sidered as a great curiosity, \^as ciirried to an indefatigable an- 
 tiquary, whose researches have been of considerable use in in- 
 ■s^estigating the ancient histor}^ and language of that island. 
 Not kno^\^ng the Chinese character, nor their coin, it was na- 
 tural enough for him to compare them with some language with 
 which he w as acquainted ; and the conclusion he drew was, 
 that the four following characters on the face w^re ancient Sy- 
 riac; and that the reverse (which are Man-tchoo letters) ap- 
 peared to be astronomical, or talismanic characters, of which 
 he could give no explanation. 
 
 FACE. 
 
 TcHiEN-LUNG. f^ffrmX (Emperor's name.) 
 Pag- TUNG. W^^lTzKd M Cun^ent value. 
 
 REVERSE. 
 PO-TCHIN. ^r-|^^^'''^'''''^>^"'''*>''''^ 
 
 Tchin. 
 
 The Man-tchoo Tartar characters of another coin he supposed 
 to signify pur, which is construed into sors, or lot ; and it is 
 concluded, that these coins must either have been imported 
 into Ireland by the Phosnicians, or manufactured in the coun- 
 try ; in ^vhich case, the Irish must have had an Oriental alpha- 
 bet. *' In either case," it is observed, " these medals contri- 
 ^' bute more to authenticate the ancient history of Ireland than 
 *' all the volumes that have been \vritten on the subject." 
 
 I have noticed this circumstance, which is taken from the 
 Collectanea Hibemica, in order to shew how litde is known 
 of the Chinese chai'acter and language among the learned, 
 when so good a scholar and eminent antiquaiy committed so 
 great a mistake. 
 
 The youth of China generally begin to study the language 
 v. hen they are about six years of age. Their first employ- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 17S 
 
 merit is to leani by name a certain number of easy chai-acters, 
 without any regai-d to the signification, or \\ithout under- 
 standing the meaning of one of them ; consequently, without 
 adding to the mbid one single idea, for five or six yeais, 
 except that of labour and difficult}-. For tlie name of a cha- 
 racter, it may be recollected, has no reference \\ hatsoe\er to 
 its meaning. Thus fiit} -one dift'crent characters, of as many 
 distinct significations, have the same name of ching ; and if 
 ten or a dozen characters, beaiing the sound of ching, should 
 occur in the same page, the leanicr, in this stage of liis edu- 
 cation, is not instructed in the se\eral meanings ; his object 
 is to acquire the sound, but to neglect the sense. I have 
 been told, tliat a regular bred scholai- is required to get, by 
 heart, a very laige volume of the works of Confucius so per- 
 fectly, Uiat he may be able to tiuTi to any passiige or sentence 
 from heai-ing the sound of the characters only, \\ithout his 
 having one single idea of their signification. The next step 
 is to form the characters, commencing by tracing, or going 
 over, a certain number that are faintly drawn in red ink. As 
 soon as the)' are able to cover these w ith tolerable accuracy, 
 without deviating from the lines of the original, they then 
 endeavour to imitate them on fresh paper. These operations 
 employ at least four years more of their life. Thus, a young 
 man of fourteen or sixteen years of age, although he may 
 be able to vmte a great number of characters, for each of 
 Vvhich he can also give a name, yet, at the same time, he can 
 affix no distinct idea to any one of them. The contjary 
 method would appear ad^isable, of teaching them first the 
 -signification of the simple roots and the anahsis of the com- 
 pound characters, and afterwards the sounds, or perhaps, to 
 let the one accompany the other. 
 
 Objections of a similar nature to those now mentioned, 
 against the mode of Chinese education, ha\'e, it is true, been 
 frequently stated with regard to die plan of educating }ouths 
 in the public grammar-scliools of our oN\n countrj- ; tliat some 
 of the most precious years of their lives, when the faculties 
 were in grooving vigour, and the plastic mind most suscepti- 
 ble of receiving and retaining impressions, are wasted in 
 poring over the metaphysics of a Latin grammar, which they 
 cannot possibly comprehend, and in learning by heart a num- 
 ber of declinations, conjugations, and S}aitax rules, which 
 serve only to puzzle and disgust, instead of affording in- 
 
irS TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 struction or amusement ; that the grammar, or philosophical 
 part of a language, is useful only tor the niceties and perfec- 
 tion of that language, and not a subject for boys. In all 
 instances, perhajis, ^^^herc the language to be learned is made 
 tlie common colloquial language of the pupil, tlie objections 
 stated against the use of the grammar may have some weight. 
 But as this is not the case widi regard to the Greek and Latin 
 languages in Europe, nor to the written character in China, 
 which differs widel}' from the colloquial, long experience may, 
 perhaps, in both cases, have led to the adoption of the most 
 eligible method.* 
 
 But a }'Oulh of Europe has a very material advantage over 
 one of China, during the time in Avhich he is said to be por- 
 ing over his Latin grammar. He is in the daily habit of ac** 
 quiring ncAv ideas, from his knowledge of other languages. 
 His mother-tongue supplies him with books, which he is 
 able to comprehend, and from which he derives both enter- 
 tainment and instruction. ^Vithout enumeratmg tlie great 
 variety of these that daily engtige his attention, I deem it suffi- 
 cient to observe, that liis Robinson Crusoe (the best book, 
 with few exceptions, that can be put into a boy's hand) shews 
 the numberless difficulties to which he is liable in the world, 
 when the anxious cares of his parents have ceased to watch 
 over him ; it is there pointed out to him that, arduous as 
 many undertakings may appear to be, few are insurmountable ; 
 that die body and the mind of man are furnished with re- 
 sources which, by patience, diligence, prudence, and reflec- 
 tion, will enable him to overcome the greatest difficulties, 
 and escape the most imminent dangers. His Tom Jones, 
 however exceptionable in those parts where human failings 
 are represented under an amiable and alluring di'ess, leaves, 
 upon the whole, a lively impression in favour of generosity 
 and virtue, and seldom fails to excite an indignant glow 
 
 • That the Chinese method, however, is defective, may be inferred from the 
 circumstance of the present Sir George Staunton having- not only acquired, in little 
 more than twelve months, and at the age of twelve years, such a number of 
 words and phraseology as to make himself understood, and to understand otheri, 
 on common topics of conversation, but he also learned to write the characters, 
 with such facility and accuracy, that all the diplomatic papers of the embassy, 
 addressed to the Chinese government, were copied by him (the Chinese them- 
 selves being afx-aid to let papers of so unusual a style appear in their own hand 
 WTiting) in so neat and expeditious a manner as to occasion great astonishment. 
 It may be observed, however, that few youths of his age possess the talents, 
 the attention, and the general information with which he was endowed. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 177 
 
 against perfidy, selfishness, and brutality. The young Chi- 
 nese has no such relief from his dry study of acquiring the 
 names and representations of things that to him have as }et 
 no meaning. He knows not a word of any language but 
 his own. 
 
 The last step in the education of a Chinese is to anahse 
 the characters, by die help of the dictionary, in the manner 
 already mentioned, so that he now first begins to comprehend 
 the use of die written character. l*Lxtracts fiom the A\orks 
 of tlieir famous philosopher Cong-foo-tse (the Confucius of 
 the missionaries) are generally put into his hands ; be- 
 ginning with those that treat on moi-al subjects, in Mhicli 
 are set forth, in short sentences, the praises of virtue, and 
 the odiousness of vice, with rules of conduct to be observed 
 in the world. The eternal mean, in the style imd manner 
 of the maxims of Seneca, next follows ; and the art of 
 government, with an abridgment of the laws, completes him 
 for taking his first degree, which generally happens when he 
 has attained his twenticdi year. But, in order to be cjualiiied 
 for any high employment, he must study at least ten }ears 
 longer. 
 
 From this view of the written character, and the mode of 
 education, it will readily occnr, that little ])rogress is likely to 
 be made in any of the speculati^'e sciences ; and more especially 
 as their assistance is not necessary to obtain the most elcA'ated 
 situations in the go^^emment. The examinations to be passed 
 for the attainment of office are principally confined to the know^- 
 ledge of die language ; and, as fiu- as this goes, diey are rigid 
 to die utmost degi'ee. The candidates ai'e put into separate 
 apartments, having previously been seaiched, in order to as- 
 certain that they have no \A'riting of any kind about them. 
 They are allowed nothing but pencils, ink, and paper, and 
 Avidiin a given time they are each to produce a theme on the 
 subject that shall be proposed to them. The excellence of 
 the composition, which is submitted to the examining officers, 
 or men of letters, depends chiefly on the foUoAving points. 
 
 That ever}- character be neatly and accurately made. 
 
 That each character be well chosen, and not in vulgai' use. 
 
 That the same character do not occur twice in tlie same 
 composition. 
 
 The subject and the manner of treating it are of the least con- 
 sideration ; but those on morality, or histoiy, are generally 
 
178 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 preferred. If the folio^^ ing story, as communicated by one 
 of the missionaiies, and comnuinicatcd, I believe, by the 
 Abbe Grozicr, be true, there requires no further illustration 
 of the state of literature in China. " A candidate for prefer- 
 *' ment having inad\'ertently made use of an abbreviation in 
 *' \\Tlting the character ma (which signifies a horse) had not 
 " only the mortification of seeing his composition, very good 
 " in every other respect, rejected solely on that account, but, 
 " at the same time, was severely rallied by the censor, who, 
 " among other things, asked him how he could possibly ex- 
 '' pect his horse to walk without having all his legs!" 
 
 The constiTJctioa of the colloquial, or spoken language, is 
 extremely simple. It admits of no inflexion of termination, 
 either in the verb, or in the noun, each word being the same 
 in\'ariabie monos}'llable in number, in gender, in case, mood, 
 and tense ; aiul, as most of these monosyllables begin w'ith a 
 consonant mid end ^^dth a vowel, except a few that terminate 
 in 1, 11, or ng, the number of such sounds, or simple syllables, 
 is very limited. To an European they do not exceed tliree 
 hundred and fifty. But a Chinese, b}'- early habit, has ac- 
 (^uired greater power over the organs of speech, and can so mo- 
 dulate his voice as to give to the same monosyllable five or six 
 distinct tones of sound ; so that he can utter at least t\\''elve or 
 tiiirteen liundred radical ^\^ords, wliich, with the compounds, 
 are found to be fully suflicient for expressing all his wants. 
 
 On this curious suljject I am enabled to speak with gi'eat 
 accuracy, through the kindness of Sir George Staunton, to 
 whom, indeed, I am indebted for more information in this 
 work than I am allowed to aekno^vledge. From the best manu- 
 script Cliinese dictionaiy in hie: possession, he has obligingly 
 taken the trouble to draw ou*^ the following abstract of all the 
 simple sounds, or words, in the Chinese language, together 
 Avith their inflexions or accentuations, by which they ai'e ex- 
 tended as far as any tongue can possibly articulate, or the nicest 
 par discriminate. The first column she^^^s all the initial letters, 
 or their po^\^ers in the language : the second, the number of 
 terminations, or the remaining part of the monosyllable, beside 
 the initial ; and the third expresses the number of monosylla- 
 bic sounds that may be given to each by inflexion, or modu- 
 lation of voice, and by milking use of aspirates. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 17« 
 
 
 
 Number of ter- 
 
 
 
 Initials. 
 
 minations to 
 
 Number of inflexions 
 
 
 Power. 
 
 each. 
 
 or acceulualions. 
 
 1 
 
 Ch. as ill Child. 
 
 20 
 
 131 including aspirates. 
 
 2 
 
 F. 
 
 10 
 
 30 no aspirates. 
 
 3 
 
 G. 
 
 11 
 
 32 no aspirates. 
 
 4 
 
 between H. & S. 
 
 36 
 
 114 all s'rong aspirates. 
 
 5 
 
 y. 
 
 16 
 
 61 no aspirates. 
 
 6 
 
 J. as in French ^our. 
 
 14 
 
 34 no aspirates. 
 
 7 
 
 K. 
 
 37 
 
 206 including' aspirates. 
 
 8 
 
 L. 
 
 25 
 
 66 no aspirates. 
 
 9 
 
 M. 
 
 22 
 
 58 no aspirates. 
 
 10 
 
 N. 
 
 23 
 
 56 no aspirates 
 
 11 
 
 O. 
 
 1 
 
 2 no aspirates. 
 
 12 
 
 P. 
 
 21 
 
 104 including aspirates. 
 
 13 
 
 s. 
 
 29 
 
 86 no asjiiratcs. 
 
 14 
 
 T. 
 
 17 
 
 105 including aspirates. 
 
 15 
 
 Ts. 
 
 28 
 
 147 including aspirates. 
 
 16 
 
 between V and W. 
 
 13 
 
 39 no aspirates. 
 
 17 
 
 Sh. 
 
 19 
 
 60 nn aspirates. 
 
 17 
 
 
 342 
 
 1331 
 
 So that, in the whole colloquial language of China, an European 
 may make out 542 -»iinple niono.syilabic souPids, which, by the 
 help of a.spirates, inflexions of voice, or accentuations, arc ca- 
 pable of being increased by a Chinese to 1551 words. And 
 as tlie WTitten Umguage is said to contiiin 80,000 characters, 
 and each character has a name, it ^vill follow, that, on an aver- 
 age, 60 characters, of so many different significations, must 
 necessarily be called by the same monos}llabic name. Hence, 
 a composition, if read, would be totally unintelligible to the 
 ear, and must be seen to be understood. The monosvllabic 
 sound assigned to each character is applied to so many dif- 
 ferent meanings, that, in its uncomiectcd state, it may be said 
 to have -no meaning at all. 
 
 In the business of common life, the nice inflexions or modu- 
 lations, that are required to make out these thirteen hundred 
 words, may amply be expressed in about fifteen thousand cha- 
 racters ; so tliat each monosyllabic sound will, Lnthis case, on 
 an average, admit of about twelve distinct significations. This 
 recurrence of the same words must necessarily cause great 
 ambiguity in conversation, and it frequently indeed leads to 
 ridiculous mistakes, especial!}' b}' foreigners. Thus, a sober 
 missionar}^, intending to pass the night at a peasant's house, 
 asked, as he thougjht, for a mat, but \\'as ^'ery much surprised 
 
180 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 on seeing bis host presenting him witli a young girl ; these 
 t^^o objects, so ver}- different from one another, being signi- 
 fied by two words whose pronunciations are not distinguishable, 
 and consequently one or the other requires to be used with an 
 adjunct. 
 
 It was a source of daily amusement to our conductors, to 
 hear the equivoques we made in attempting to speak their 
 language. A Chinese, when the sense is doubtful, will draw 
 the character, or the root of it, in the air with his finger, or 
 iim ; by ^\■hich he makes himself at once understood. 
 
 But, as some of these monosyllabic words, as I have ob- 
 ser\'cd of chin g, have not less than fifty distinct significations, 
 v.hich the nicest tones and inflexions, even of a Chinese voice, 
 are not able to discriminate, such words are generally convert- 
 ed into compounds, by adding a second syllable, bearing some 
 relative sense to the first, by which the meaning is at once de- 
 termined. Among the significations, for instance, of the mo- 
 nosyllable FOG is that of FATHER, to which, for the sake of 
 distinction, as foo has many significations beside that of fa- 
 ther, they add the syllable chin, implying kindred : thus, 
 a Chinese, in speaking of his parents, invariably says foo- 
 cHiN for father, and moo-chin for mother; but, in writing, 
 the character of chin would be considered as an unnecessary 
 expletive; thr^tof fog being veiy differently made from any 
 other called by the same name. 
 
 The grammai* of this language may briefly be explained. 
 The noun, as observed, is indeclinable; the particles te or 
 TIE, mark the genitive, and always follow the noun; eu the 
 dati\e, which it precedes, and tunc or tsung the ablative, 
 before which they are also placed. As for example, 
 
 Nom. GAi love. 
 
 Gen. gai-tee of love. 
 Dat. EUGAi to love. 
 Ace. GAI love. 
 
 Abl. TUNG or tsung gai, from or by love. And 
 the same in the plural. 
 
 Give me your book, 
 
 Keu go ne-te shoo. 
 
 Dear to men, 
 
 QuEi eu JIN. 
 
 Come you with him, 
 
 Ne-lai tung TA. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. ISl 
 
 The adjective is alsofonned from die geniti\e of die noun, as 
 PA I, whiteness; pai-tie, white; jE,heat; jE-TiEhot; lee, 
 reason; lee-tie, rational; h a u, goodness; h a u- tie, good. 
 But when tlie adjective precedes the noun, as it genenilly does, 
 tlie particle tie is omitted, as, 
 
 HAU-jiN, a good man. 
 PAi-MA, a white horse. 
 jE-swEE, hot water. 
 
 The plural of nouns is expressed by prefixing some word sig- 
 nifying plurality, fis TO-jiN, many men; to-to jin, a multi- 
 tude of men; chung jin, all men; and sometimes by a re- 
 petition of the word, as jin-jin, men. 
 
 Adjectives are compared b}- placing die paiticle keng be- 
 fore the comparative, as 
 
 YEOU, soft; KENG YEOU, SOftCr. 
 
 HAU, good; KENG HAU, l)etter. 
 My book is newer than yours. 
 Go-TE SHOO kens: sin ne-te. 
 
 The superlative is marked by various particles, sometimes pre- 
 ceding, and sometimes follo^^^ng, die adjective, and it is also 
 formed by repeating the positive, as 
 
 HAU, hau-tie, very good. 
 whang-whang-tie, verv vellow. 
 
 The personal pronouns are, 
 
 ngo (nasal) or go, ne, ta, go-men, ne-mcn, ta-men. 
 1, thou, he, we, ye, they. 
 
 And they become possessives, in the same manner as nouns ai-c 
 changed into adjectives, by the addition of t e or tie, as 
 
 go-te, ne-te, ta-te, go-men-te, ne-men-te, ta-men-te, 
 mine, thine, liis, ours, yours, theirs. 
 
 The verb has likewise neither conjugation nor inflection ; and 
 the tenses, or times of action or passion, are limited to three ; 
 the present, the past, and the futiu'c. The present is signified 
 simply by the verb, as go lai, I come ; the past, is expressed 
 by the particle leo, as go lai leo, I did come, or I have 
 come; and the future is formed by placing the particle yau 
 before the verb, as go yau lai, I will come ; or, when some- 
 thing very determined is meant to be expressed, the compound 
 
182 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 YUEN-Y precedes the verb, as go-yuen-y-lai I am deter* 
 mined to come. It may be observed, hoAvever, that altliough 
 these, and other particles signifying the time and mode of ac- 
 tion, are necessary in common speech, yet, in fine writing, they 
 iire entireK" omitted, \\ hich is another cause of the obscurity 
 and diiiicult}- that occur to strangers in the study of tlie Clii- 
 nese character. 
 
 The two negatives mo and poo, are of great use in the spoken 
 language. The first is generally used with the verb yeu to 
 have, and ai^A'ays implies a want or deficiency, as, mo yeu 
 NAi, there is no milk ; mo yeu tcha, you can have no tea, 
 I liave no tea, there is no tea, &c. poo is generally used to 
 express qualities of an opposite nature, as, hau, good; poo 
 HAU, bad; je, hot; poo jE,cold; ta, great; poo ta, little. 
 The usual salutation between friends is hau- poo- hau, well, 
 or not well ? 
 
 The limits I have prescribed for the present work will not 
 allow me to enter into a more de tidied account of this singular 
 language. What has been said may serve to convey a general 
 idea of the written character, and the simple construction of 
 the spoken language. I shall now endeavour, in a few words, 
 to explain the nature and construction of the Man-tchoo 
 Tartar character ; which, if the present family continue 
 on the throne for a century longer, will, in all probability, 
 supplant the Chinese, or will, at least, become the court lan- 
 guage. In the enunciation it is full, sonorous, and far from 
 being disagreeable ; more like the Greek than any of the Ori- 
 ental languages ; and it abounds with all those letters \\^hich 
 the Chinese have rejected, particularly with the letters B and 
 R. It is alaphabetic, or, more properly speaking, syllabic ;•. 
 and the different paits of speech are susceptible of expressing, 
 number, case, gender, time, modes of action, passion, and 
 other accidents, similar to those of European languages. 
 This is effected either by change of termination, preposition, 
 or interposition. The character is extremely beautiful, and it 
 is written, like the Chinese, in perpendicular columns ; but 
 beginning on tlie left side of the paper instead of the right, as 
 is the case in v.riting the former language. 
 
 Of the state of tlieir literature, and progress in science, I 
 have little to observe. The nature of the language will almost 
 itself determine these points. With respect to any branch of 
 polite literature, or speculative science, little improvement 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 183 
 
 seems to have been made in the last two thousand years. In- 
 deed, there are no works in the whole empire, modern or an- 
 cient that are so much esteemed, so much studied, and I may 
 perhaps add, so little comprehended, as the live classical books 
 collected and commented upon by tlieir gi'eat philosopher 
 Cong-foo-tsc, who lived about 450 years beiorc the Christian 
 cera ; and these certainly are very extraordinar}' productions 
 for the time in which diey wei-e wTitten. I'hcse \vorks and 
 a few \vTitings of their favourite master, according to the an- 
 jials of the country, escaped the general destruction of books, 
 when the barbarous She-\vhang-te ordered all the monuments 
 of learning to be burnt, except such as treated of medicine 
 and agriculture, about two hundred 3*ears belbre Christ, for 
 the absurd purpose, as the}- st;ite, that he might be considered 
 by posterity as the first ci\ilized emperor v/hich had governed 
 China ; and that the records of its history might, by tliis mean 
 artifice, appear to commence with his reign. 
 
 Admitting such an event to ha\'e happened (wliich, ho'^.v- 
 ever, may be considered as doubtful ) the supposition involves 
 in it this necessaiy consequence, that the stock of learning at 
 that time must ha\e been very confined. It is scared}' pos- 
 sible, otherwise, how one person, neai' tlie end of his reign, 
 could have contrived to assemble together all the \\orks of art 
 and literature, dispersed through so large a ti^act of countiy, 
 and so enlightened as it A\"as then supposed to be. There 
 were, besides, other independent sovereigns in the coimtry, 
 over whom he had little or no control ; so that it is ver)- pro- 
 pable the common\\-ealth of letters suffered no great loss by the 
 burning of the Chinese books. When the calif Omar com- 
 manded the Alexandrian library to be destroyed, v\hich the 
 pride and the learning of the Ptolem}' family had collected 
 from every part of the world, literature sustained an irreparable 
 loss ; but, although the tj^rant had the power to consign to 
 etemal obli^•ion the \\orks of science, yet he had no power 
 over the principles upon ^vhich these works were constructed. 
 These principles had spread thcmsehes ^^■ide o^"er the ^\'orld. 
 The expedition of Alexander earned the learning of the Egyp- 
 tians and the Greeks into \'arious countries of Asia, Avhere 
 they continued to flourish. And when die tyranny and op- 
 pression of the seventh Ptolemy (Physcon) forced the Alex- 
 andrians to abandon a city that ^vas perpetually streaming Avith 
 the blood of its citizens, they found an asylum in the Grecian 
 states and in diftcrent parts of Asia. And as this sanguinary 
 
284 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 tyrant, in the midst of his cruelties, pretended, and indeed 
 shewed, a fondness for literature, the arts and the sciences 
 flourished e^en in his reign. The migrations, therefore, at tliis 
 time, from the capital of Eg}-pt, were of the greatest impor- 
 tance and use to those nations among whom the refugees set- 
 tled. Unluckily for China, the wild mountainous forests to- 
 wards the south, and the ^\■ide sandy deserts to the north, that 
 render any communication extremely difficult between this 
 empire, and the rest of Asia, together with their dislike for 
 foreigners, seem, at this time, to ha^e checked the progress oi 
 those arts and sciences which had long flourished in Europe 
 and in Afi-ica. Their historj-, at least, is silent, as to any com- 
 munication with India, till a centur}' nearly after the commence- 
 ment of the Cliristian sera, \\ hen the religion of Budha found 
 its Tvay from Tibet into China. 
 
 ^\llether the burning of the works of the learned in China 
 did or did not happen, appears, as already observed, to admit 
 of some doubt ; but the antiquit}^, and the authenticity, of the 
 fn-e king, or classics, seems to be sufficiently established. 
 And considering the early periods in \\^hich they were written, 
 they certainly demonstrate a \try superior degree of civiliza- 
 tion. Is has been observed that, in this countr}^, the arts, the 
 sciences, and literature, are not progressive ; and the five king 
 would lead one to conclude, that they have rather even been 
 retrograde than stationary. The names of these works are : 
 
 1. sHoo-KiNG. A collection of records and annals of various 
 
 princes, commencing more than 2000 years before Christ. 
 
 2. SHEE-KIKG. Odes, sonnets, and maxims; most of them 
 
 so abundant in metaphor, and so obscure, that much of 
 the sense is to be made out by the translator. 
 
 3. YE-KiNG. The perfect and the broken lines of Fo-shee ; 
 
 the most ancient relict in Cliina, and perhaps tlie first 
 attempt at written language : now perfectly incompre- 
 hensible. 
 
 4. CHUNG-CHOC. Spring and autumn. The histor}'' of some 
 
 of the kings of Loo: the work principally of Cong-foo-tse. 
 
 5. LEE-KEE Ceremonies and moral duties. A compilation of 
 
 Cong-foo-tse. 
 The lines of Fo-shee puzzled even the great philosopher of 
 the country, who declared himself dissatisfied ^\ ith all the 
 explanations of the commentators. The learned and inge- 
 nious Leibnitz fancied he discovered in them a system of 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 185 
 
 binary arithmetic, by which all the operations and results of 
 numbers might be performed, witli the help of tuo figures 
 only, the c}'j^her or zero, 0, and an unit 1, the former being 
 considered as the constant multiple of the latter, as 10 is of 
 the unit. Thus 1 would stand for 1, 10 for two, 11 for three, 
 100 for four, imd so on. It is unnecessar}'^ to obser-ve, Avith 
 how many inconveniences such a system A\oukl be attei^.ded, 
 when reduced to practice. This discovery of the binary sc- 
 ries, which the mathematician, in all probability, considered 
 only as a pliilosophical plaything, was communicated to Fa- 
 ther Bouvet the Jesuit, \\ho, happening at tliat time to be 
 engaged in decyphering the lines of Fo-shee, caught the idea, 
 and, in an extacy of joy, proclaimed to the world that Leibnitz 
 had solved the Fo-sheean riddle. 
 
 The missionaries of the Romish church ai^e so accustomed 
 to the mysteries with which dieir religion abounds, that e\'ery 
 thing they meet with, and do not understand, among a strange 
 people, is also resohed into a myster}% Thus, the foUowirig 
 figure, which the Chinese, in allusion to the regular lines de- 
 scribed on the back-shell of some of the tortoises, metaphori- 
 cally call the mystic tortoise, has been supposed by some of 
 these gentlemen to contain the most sublime doctrines of 
 Chinese philosophy ; that they embrace a summary of all that 
 is perfect and imperfect, represent the numbers of heaven and 
 earth, and such like jargon, which, it obviously appears, is 
 no less unintelligible to themselves than to their readers. 
 
 These famous lines, supposed to be found on the back of a 
 tortoise, are the following : 
 
 A a 
 
186 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Who does not perceive, at a single glance, in this figure the 
 common school-boy's trick of the magic square, or placing 
 the nine digits so that thcj- shall make the sum of fifteen every- 
 way, thus, 
 
 .i 9 
 
 4 
 
 i 3 \ i> 
 
 6 1 1 b 
 
 and what are the perfect and imperfect numbers, but the odd 
 and even digits distinguished by open and close points ? In 
 like manner, I am inclined to believe, the several ways of 
 placing tlies'e open and close points, that occur in Chinese 
 books, are literally nothing more tlian the different combina- 
 tions of the nine numerical figures, for which they are sub- 
 stituted: 
 
 Most of the other king have been translated, M'^hoUy or in 
 part, and published in France. It may be observed, however, 
 that all the Chinese writings, translated by the missionai'ies, 
 have undergone so great a change in their European dress, 
 that they ought rather to be looked upon as originals than 
 translations. It is true, a literal translation \\-ould be nonsense ; 
 but there is a great difference bet\i'een giving the meaning of 
 an author and v.Titing a commentary' upon him. Sir William 
 Jones obser\'es that the only method of doing justice to tlie 
 poetical compositiojis of tlie Asiatics is to give, first a verbal, 
 and then a metrical, ^■ersion. The most barren subject, under 
 his elegant pen, becomes replete ^^-ith beauties. The follow- 
 ing stanza, from one of the odes of the shee-king, is an instance 
 of this_remai-k. It is calculated to have been wiitten about the 
 age of Homer ; and it consists of fifteen characters. 
 
 1 2 3 4 5 6 
 
 The peach-tree, how fair, how gi^aceful, its leaves, how bloom- 
 
 7 8 9 10 11 
 
 ing, how pleasant ; such is a bride, when she enters her 
 
 12 13 14 15 
 
 bridegroom's house, and attends to her whole family. 
 
 This is a fair translation ; as no more expletives are inserted 
 than such as were necessary to make up tlie sense ; and it is 
 thus paraplirased by Sir WilHaiifi Jones. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. isr 
 
 " Gay child of Spring, the garden's queen, 
 " Yon peach tree charms tlie roving sight ; 
 " Its fragrant leaves, how richly green ! 
 " Its blossoms, how divinely bright 
 
 ♦< So softly smiles the blooming bride, 
 " By love and conscious virtue led, 
 " O'er her new mansion to preside, 
 " And placid joys around her spread." 
 
 The late emperor Kicn-Long was considered among tlie 
 best poets of modem times, and the most celebrated of his 
 compositions is an ode in praise of tea, ^hich has been 
 painted on all the teapots in the empire. The following is a 
 verbal translation, with such auxiliaries only as were necessaiy 
 to make the sense complete. 
 
 " On a slow lire seta tripod, whose colour and texture shew 
 " its long use ; fill it with clear snow-water ; boil it as long 
 " as would be necessary to turn fish white, and cra}-fish red ; 
 " throw it upon the delicate leaves of choice tea, in a cup of 
 *' yoo6 (a piiiticular sort of porcelain). Let it remain as long 
 *' as the vapour rises in a cloud, and leaves onl}- a thin mist 
 *' floating on the surfiice. At your ease, drink tliis precious li- 
 *' quor, ^^ hich will chase away the five causes of trouble. We 
 *' can taste and feel, but not describe, the state of repose pro- 
 " duced by a liquor thus prepared." 
 
 He wTOte, likew ise, a long descriptive poem on the city and 
 country of Moukden, in Man-tchoo Tartiuy, whichlias been 
 translated by some of the missionaries, and appears to possess 
 much more merit than his ode on tea, of which, however, it is 
 difficult to judge without a thorough kno\Vledg'e of the lan- 
 guage, as tlie ode may owe its chief beauties and its fame 
 more to the choice of the characters than to the sounds, literal 
 sense, or versification. To an European, the Chinese lan- 
 guage appeiirs to have few elegancies : it wants all the little auxi- 
 liaries that add grace and energy to those of Europe. In the 
 Chinese, the beauty of an expression depends entirely on the 
 choice of the character, and not on any selection or arrange- 
 ment of the monosyllabic sounds. A character uniting a happy 
 association of ideas has the same effect upon the eye of tlie 
 Chinese as a general theorem expressed in symlDols has on a 
 mathematician ; but in both cases a man must be learned lo 
 feel the beauties of tlie concise expression. Even in speaking, 
 
188 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 the liinguage lias few expleti\'es : " English good, Cliinese 
 better," — " to-day go, to-moiTow come," — sea no bound, 
 Kiang no bottom ; — " well, not well ;" — are modes of expres- 
 sion in which an European Avill not find much elegance. 
 
 In addition to the defects of the language, there is another 
 reason whj^ poetiy is not likely ever to become a favourite pur- 
 suit, or to be cultivated witii success, among the Chinese. The 
 state of society we have seen to be such as entirely to exclude 
 the passion of love. A man, in this country, marries only 
 from necessity, or for tlie sake of obtaining an heir to his pro- 
 peiiy, who may sacrifice to his manes, or because the maxims 
 of the government have made it disgraceful to remain in a state 
 of celibacy. The fine sentiments that arise from the mutual 
 endearment of two persons enamoured of each other can, 
 therefore, have no place in the breast of a Chinese : and it is 
 to the effusions of a heart thus circumstanced that poetry owes 
 some of its greatest channs. Nor can they be considered as a 
 nation of wairiors : and war, next to love, has ever been the 
 favourite theme of the muses. 
 
 The language is much better adapted to the concise style of 
 ethics than the sublime flights of poetiy. The moral precepts 
 of Cong-foo-tse display an excellent mind in the "writer, and 
 Mould do honour to any age and nation. The foUowmg will 
 serve as a specimen of his subjects, style, and manner. 
 
 " There is one clear rule of conduct : to act with sincerity ; 
 " and to conform with all one's soul, and with all one's strength, 
 " to this universal rale — do not any thing to another that you 
 *' would not wish another should do to you." 
 
 How conformable is this sentiment, as well as the words in 
 which it is expressed, to that of the great Author of our reli- 
 gion; a religion whose " ways are ways of pleasantness, and 
 " all whose paths are peace." 
 
 " Five things ought to be well observed in the world: 
 " Justice between the prince and the subject; affection be- 
 " tween father and son ; fidelity between man and wife ; sub- 
 '' ordination among brothers; concord among friends. 
 
 " There are three radical virtues : prudence to discern, uni- 
 *' versal benevolence to embrace (all mankind) ; courage to 
 " sustain. 
 
 " What passes in a man's mind is unknown to others : if 
 " you ai'e wise, take great care of what none but yourself can 
 
 <( 
 
 see. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 189 
 
 *' Examples are better for the people than precepts. 
 
 *' A wise man is his own most severe censor : he is liis own 
 " accuser, his own evidence, and his own judge." 
 
 " A nation may accomphsh more by bravery than by f:re 
 " and water. I never knew a people perish, who had courage 
 " for their support." 
 
 " An upright man will not pursue a crooked path : he fol- 
 " lows the straight road, and walks therein secure." 
 
 Having taken this short view of their language and literature, 
 I sliall now proceed to shew the present stiite of the arts and 
 sciences, as far as the communications I had, not only widi the 
 missionaiies, but also with some of the most learned Chinese, 
 will allow me to pronounce on tliese points. The observations 
 I have to make must, of course, be very general ; minute par- 
 ticulars will not be expected in a work of this nature. There is 
 no branch of science wliich die Chinese affect to value so much, 
 and understand so httle, as astronomy. The necessity, indeed, 
 of being able to mark, v\'ith some degree of precision, the re- 
 turns of the seasons and certain periods, in so large a commu- 
 nit}-, must have directed an early attention of the government 
 to this subject ; and, accordingly, we find, that an astronomical 
 board has formed one of the state establishments from the earli- 
 est periods of their history. Yet, so little progress have they 
 made in this science, that the only part of its functions, which 
 can be called astronomical, has long been committed to the 
 care of foreigners, whom they affect to hold in contempt, and 
 to consider as bai'barians. The principal object of this board 
 is to frame and to publish a national calendar, and to point out 
 to the government the suitable times and seasons for its import- 
 ant undertakings. Even when the marriage of a prince or prin- 
 cess of the blood is about to take place, the conmiissioners of 
 astronomy must appoint a fortunate day for the celebration of 
 the nuptials, v\"hich is amiounced in form in the Pekin giizette. 
 
 In this important almanack, as in the Greek and Roman 
 calendars, are inserted all die sui)poscd lucky and unluckv 
 days in the year, predictions of the weather, days proper for 
 taking medicine, commencing journeys, taking home a Vviie, 
 laying the foundation of a house, and other matters of moment, 
 for entering upon which particular times are assigned. To 
 the superintendency of the Chinese members of tliis august 
 tribunal is committed the astrological part ; a comniit!:ee of 
 whom is selected annually for the execution of this important 
 
190 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 task. Whether the men of letters, as they call themselves, 
 really believe in the absurdities of judicial astrolog}^ or whe- 
 tlicr they mav think it necessar}' to encourage the obser\^ance 
 of popular superstitions, on political considerations, I will not 
 take upon me to decide. If, however, they should happen to 
 possess any such superior kno\\'ledge, gi-eat credit is due to 
 them for acting the force with such apparent earnestness, and 
 with so much solemnity. The duration of the same system 
 has certainly been long enough for them to ha,ye discovered 
 that the multitude ai"e more effectually governed by opinion 
 tliiui by power. 
 
 The phenomena of the heavenly bodies, to an enlightened 
 and intelligent mind, furnish tlie most grand and sublime spec- 
 tacle in nature ; to the ignorant and superstitious, the most 
 a\\ful. The common people of all countries, and in all ages, 
 ha\e considered the occasional privation of the light of die t\\o 
 gi'eat luminaries of heaven as the forerunners of some extraor- 
 dinary event, ^vhilst the more intelligent part of the community 
 have turned these superstitious notions to their advantage. 
 Thales is said to have been able to calculate the returns of 
 eclipses six hundred years before the birth of Christ; of 
 course, he was well acquainted \\ith the causes by w^hich they 
 were produced ; yet his countrymen Mere always filled with 
 superstition and terror on the e\'ent of an eclipse. Plutarch 
 has observed that Pericles learned fi'om Anaxagoras to over- 
 come the terrors ^vhich the various phenomena of the heavens 
 inspired into those M'ho knew not their causes ; and he men- 
 tions a striking proof which he gave of this knoA\'ledge, on his 
 expedition against Peloponnesus, when there happened an 
 eclipse of the sun. The sudden darkness, being considered 
 as an omen unfavourable to the object of the expedition, occa- 
 sioned a general consternation. Pericles, observing the pilot 
 of his own galley to be frightened and confused, took his cloak 
 and placed it before liis e}-es, asking him at the same time if 
 he found any thing alarming, or of evil presage, in what he 
 then did? and upon his ans\A-ering in the negative : " Where 
 '* then is tlie difference," said Pericles, " between this cover- 
 " in.g and the other, except that something of greater extent 
 *' than my cloak depri\'es us of the light of the sun'?" Nor 
 can it be doubted, that Alexander when, on alike occasion, pre- 
 vious to the battle of Arbela, he commanded a sacrifice to be 
 made to the sun, the moon and the eartli, as being the three 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 191 
 
 powers to which eclipses were owing, did it merely to appease 
 the superstitious notions of his army. To suppose him igno- 
 rant of their causes would be paying an ill compliment to liis 
 great master. Thus it might ha^'e been with regaid to the Chi- 
 nese government, which, ^vhether through ignorance or policy, 
 still continues to obser^ e \\'ith the greatest solemn it}- the same 
 ceremonies, or nearly so, on the event of an eclipse, \\ hich 
 were in use among tlie Egjptians, Greeks, and Romans, near 
 two thousiind years ago. SVHien the moon \vas darkened by an 
 eclipse, their drums and clarions and trumpets were sounded, 
 under the notion that, by their shrill and loud noise, they might 
 assist in relieving the laboui iPig goddess. 
 
 " A vast eclipse darkens tlie neighbouring planet ; 
 *' Sound there, sound all our instruments of war! 
 " Clai'ions and trumpets, silver, brass, ajid iron, 
 " And beat a thousand drums to help her labour !" 
 
 The brazen gong is violently beat by the Chinese on the 
 same occasion ; and that such an event may not ])ass imob- 
 served, and the luininaiy thereb}- be deprived of the usuiil 
 assistance of music, to frighten a\\ ay or to chaiTn the dragon, 
 ■which they suppose to ha^e seized upon it, the gi'cat ofiiccrs 
 of state, in every city and principal to\vn, are instructed to 
 give public notice of the time it w ill liappen, according to the 
 calculations of the national almimack. A rude projection of 
 a lunar eclipse, that happened whilst we Mere at Tong-choo, 
 w^s stuck up in the comers of the streets ; all the ofticcrs 
 were in mourning, and all business was suspended for that 
 day. When the Dutch embassadors were in Pekin, the sun 
 was eclipsed on tlie 21st of Januaiy, 1795, which happened 
 to be the first day of their ne^\ -}eai' : a da}- observed through 
 the whole empire with the greatest festivity and rejoicing; 
 and almost tlie only day on w hich the bulk of the people re- 
 frain from their respective occupations. The em!:>as&ador and 
 his suite were summoned to court at the usual hour of three 
 in the morning. On arriAing at the palace, diey \\ ere told 
 tliat, in consequence of an eclipse of the sun, 'which was 
 about to happen on thst da}', and \\hich Mas a most unfor- 
 tunate event, portending an unhappy year to their countr}-, 
 the emperor would not be visible for three da}-s, during 
 which time die whole court would go into mourning ; that 
 the amusements, feasts, andj entertainments, usual on tliis 
 
192 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 particular day, Avould be suspended, from one end of the em- 
 pire to the other. 
 
 Before an eclipse happens, the members of the mathema- 
 tical board, and otiicr leai-ncd men in office, assemble near 
 the palace, each having in his hand a sketch of the obscura- 
 tion, in order to ^vitness the tiuth of the astronomer's calcu- 
 lation. But if these people were not all interested in making 
 the calculation to agree w itli the time and odier circumstances 
 of the eclipse, the astronomers would run no great hazard of 
 being deetcted in an error, proAided it was not a very glaring 
 one ; as they have no instiiiments for measuring time witli 
 any tolerable degi'ee of accuracy. The moment tlie eclipse 
 begins, they all fall down on their knees, and bow their heads 
 nine times to the ground, during which is struck up a horri- 
 ble crash of gongs, kettle drums, trumpets, and other noisy 
 instruments, intended to scare the devouring dragon. 
 
 From the observance of such extravagant ceremonies it 
 would not be fair to infer their total ignorance of tlie prin- 
 ciples of astronomy; but that such is really the case, the 
 latter part of their history furnishes abundant testimony. In 
 the thirteenth century, when Gen-gis Klian, tlie Mongul 
 Tartar, first entered China, and his successor Kublai Khan 
 effected the conquest of tlie country, the greatest disorder 
 and confusion prevailed in their chronology. They were 
 neither able to regulate the reckoning of time, nor to settie 
 tlie limits of the different proA inces, nor even to ascertain the 
 divisions of hmds, as allotted to the several districts. Kub- 
 lai, accorchng to their own annals, held out encouragement 
 for learned men to frequent his court from every part of the 
 w orld, and through the means of the missionaries, both of 
 tlic Christian and Maliomedan faith, but principally the latter, 
 and perhaps still more through the descendants of the Greeks, 
 w^ho anciently settied in Bactriana, many impoitant improve- 
 ments were then introduced into China. He caused a regular 
 suney to be taken of tlie whole empire; he adjusted their 
 chronology, and corrected tlie errors of their astronomical 
 observations ; he imported various mathematical and astrono- 
 mical instruments from Balk and Samarcand (such as were 
 then in use among the Chinese being of a rude construction, 
 and unfit to make observations of the heavenly bodies with 
 any tolerable degree of accuracy) ; and he repaired the grand 
 communication by water, that connects the northern witih the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 193 
 
 southern extremities of the empire, a work, in the contem- 
 plation of which the mind is not more strongly impressed 
 with the grandeur and magnitude of the object than with tlie 
 pleasing sense of its important utilit}-. 
 
 In some of the early accounts of China, published in Eu- 
 rope, Ave find the description of ceitain instruments, said to 
 have been discovered on a mountain neai' the city of Nankin, 
 and afterwards placed by the Chinese partly in that capital and 
 partly in Pekin. On a more accurate examination of those 
 mstruments, it appeared that they had all been constructed for 
 some particular place lying under the 37th pai-allel of latitude ; 
 from whence it foUoned, that iUl the observations made Avith 
 them at Pekin, which is in 39° 55' noitli, as well as all those 
 made at Nankin, in 32*^ 4' nortli, must have been entirely 
 false : and the very act of placing tliem so distant from the pa- 
 rallel for v\ hich they were constructed is in itself a sufficient 
 proof of the ignonmce of tlie Cliincse in mattei's of this kind. 
 Mr. Pauw has given the most probable conjecture respecting 
 those instruments. He supposes tliem to have been made at 
 Balk, in Bactriana, by some of those Gre^s a\ ho obtained the 
 go\'ernment of that pro\ince under the soKessors of .Aiexan- 
 der ; and that they had passed into China during the period of 
 the Mongul government. 
 
 The death of Kublai Khan was speedily folloA\ed by the 
 total expidsion of the Taitars from China, and, most probably 
 at the same time, of all those learned men they l^uad been tlie 
 means of introducing into the countrj- : for M'hen the empire 
 was again subdued by tlie Man-tehoo Tartars, whose race no\r 
 fills the throne, Sun-chee, the first emperor of the present dy- 
 nasty, observes in an edict, published by him in 1650, that, 
 since the expulsion of the Monguls, the Cliinese had not been 
 able to make a correct almanack ; and that error had been ac- 
 cumulating on error in their astronomical observations and 
 chronology. At this time, some Mahomedans were again 
 found to sT.iperintehd the construction of the calendar ; but the 
 offite devolving, at length, upon a Chinese, the unfortunate al- 
 manack-maker liappened to insert a false intercalation, assign- 
 ing thirteen months to the yeai' 1670, when it should have 
 contained no more tlian twelve. This mistake was an event 
 too fortunate to be o\'erlooked by some catholic missioniu'ies 
 who, at tliat time, happened to be in the capital. They saw 
 the advantages tt) be derived from convincing the Tiutars of 
 
 n b 
 
194 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 the ignoi^aiice of the Cliinese in a matter of the last importance 
 to the government ; and they liad little doubt of success, where 
 prejudice was already operating in their favour. In short, the 
 Europeans succeeded ; the almanacks of that year were de- 
 clared defective, were called in, a new edition printed off, and 
 the poor almanack-maker is said to have been strangled. 
 
 Four German Jesuits were then appointed to fill the vacant 
 places in the tribunal of mathematics; and, being men of 
 Iciiming, they pro^■cd of no small use at court. After these, 
 the Poituguese succeeded to the appointments of regulating 
 the calendai'; tlu-ee of whom, as already observed, are now 
 entrusted with this important office. Fortunately for these 
 gentlemen, the Chinese ha^ e no means of detecting any little 
 inaccuracies that may happen in their calculations. I saw, and 
 conversed v.ith, numbers of their learned men, at the palace of 
 Yuen-min-yuen, but I can safely say, that not a single Chi- 
 nese, nor a Tartar, A\'ho shewed themselves there, were pos- 
 sessed of the slightest knowledge of astronomy, nor one who 
 could explain any of the yaiious phenomena of tlie heavenly 
 bodies. Astronomy -with them consists entirely in a certain 
 jargon of judicial Jferology ; and they remain firmly attached 
 to the belief of the doctrines of their great philosopher, deli- 
 vered more than two thousand years ago ; ^vhich teach tliem 
 that " tlie heaA'cn is round, the eartii a square fixed in the mid- 
 *' die ; the other four elements placed at its four sides : water 
 *' to the north ; fire to the south ; ^^"Ood to the east ; and me- 
 " tal to the west ;" aiid tliey believe the stai-s to be stuck, like 
 so many nails, at equal distances from the earth, in the blue 
 ■vault cf heaven. 
 
 As to the numerous eclipses taken notice of in the records 
 of the country, they are mere registers, noted down w^henever 
 they happened, and not predictions or the result of calculations. 
 It does not appeai% indeed, tliat tlie Chinese were, at any time, 
 able to predict an eclipse, notwithstanding all that has been said 
 in their favour on this subject. The reputed Chinese tables, 
 published by father Couplet, ha\-e been detected to be those 
 of Tycho Brahe ; and Cassini found the chronology of their 
 eclipses, published by Martinus, to be erroneous, and tlieir 
 returns impossible. It could not, indeed, be otherwise : the 
 defectiveness of the calendar must necessarily falsify all tlieir 
 records as to time. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 193 
 
 Had the missionaries been disposed to confer a real service 
 on the Chinese, instead of misleading- the world by their strange 
 and wonderful accounts of this people, instead of besto^^ ino* 
 so much time in tnmslating into Chinese a set of logarithm 
 tables for the use of Kaung-shee, the second emperor of the 
 present dynast}^, of ;vhich they pretend he was so ibnd tluit lu: 
 always carried them about with him suspended to his s^irdic, 
 they should rather have taught them the use and the con^■:.'- 
 nience of the Arabic numbers, of >vhose combinations and re- 
 sults their own language is not capable, and have instructed u 
 few of their youth in the principles of arithmetic and tlie mathe- 
 matics. For such an omission, hoAvcver, humim nature can 
 readily find an excuse. It w ould be too gicat an instance of 
 self-denial to relinquish the advantages and the credit m hich 
 their superior skill had gained them OAcr a last empire, by 
 making tlie individuals of that empire paiticipate in their kno\\'- 
 ledge. 
 
 When we reflect, for a moment, how man}' perplexities and 
 difliculties A\-ere occasioned b}' the in-egular coincidences of 
 the solar and lunar periods, in the calendlirs of Europe, from 
 the time of Julius Ceesar to the altering of the style by pope 
 Gregory, we may readily conceive ho\\- great must be the er- 
 rors in the clironolog}' of a country, Avhere the inhabitants aie 
 entirely ignorant e^en of the first principles of asti'onom}^ and 
 where they depended on the adventitious aid of foreigners, to 
 enable tliem to carry into execution one of the most important 
 concerns of the j^overnment. 
 
 Every thing of their own invention and discover}'- cairies 
 with it such strong marks of originality, as cannot easily be 
 mistaken. The language declares itself to be, most unques- 
 tionably, the production of the country ; so does the mariner's 
 compass ; and they have a cycle, or period, to assist tlieir 
 chronology, of which I think none \\ill dispute with them the 
 invention. In tiieir records it is canicd back to the time of tb.e 
 emperor Whang-tee, the third from Fo-shee. This cycle, 
 consisting of sixty years, has no reference to the periods of the 
 motions or coincidences of the sun and moon, as one of the 
 same period among the Hindus, but is used mereh^ as our 
 centu^, to distinguish time into aeras or ages. Instead of de- 
 nominating any given year, die first, second, or third year of 
 such a cycle, they have assinned two sets of chaiacters ; one 
 i>et consisting of ten, and the other of twelve : the first are 
 
196 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 called the ten roots, and the second the twelve branches, The 
 combination of a root and a branch gives a name for the year j 
 and the different permutations, of ^vhich they are capable, 
 supply them with sixty distinct titles, making the complete 
 cycle of sixty years. The nature of this period may be ren- 
 dered familiaj' to such as are not conversant with the combi- 
 nation of nurnbers, by assuming tlie numerals from 1 to 10 
 for the 10 roots, and the letters of the alphabet from a to m, 
 for the twelve branches, and by placing them in a circle, in the 
 following manner, where the cycle begins with the letter a. 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 \ 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 *) 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 S 
 
 to 
 
 V 
 
 cy 
 
 \ 
 V 
 
 2 
 
 M 
 
 -t 
 
 / CP 
 
 yT 
 
 l> iO CO >— I CTl *^ 
 
 
 o Ca Or <l «0 H* 
 
 ■A 
 
 Ad 
 
 ^ ^ 9 ^ ^ 
 
 4" 
 
 / 8 
 
 ^ OT 
 
 f 
 
 & 
 \ 
 
 c. 
 
 Supposing these letters and figures to be Chinese chai'acters, 
 the first year of any cycle would be called 1a, the second 2b, 
 the third 3c, and so on to 10k, the tenth yeai'; the eleventh 
 Mould be 1l, the twelfth 2m, the thirteenth 3a, and the six- 
 lieth IQm, when the whole revolution wpuld be completed. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 197 
 
 This cycle, though ahvays used in the records of tlielr histo- 
 Tj, never appears in tlie date of pubfic acts. These only spe- 
 cify the time of the reign unckr Avhich they ai'c given, as the 
 first, second, or third da}' of the first, second, or third moon, 
 of the first, second, or third yeai* of tiie reign of such or such 
 an emperor. 
 
 Little progress as they appear to have made in tlv2 science of 
 astronomy, their knowledge of geography, which supposes, 
 indeed, an acquaintance with the former, is equidly Umited. 
 Their oami empire \vas considered to occupy the middle space 
 of die square surflice of the eaith, the rest of which was made 
 up of islands. When the Jesuits first entered China, they 
 found the charts, even of their own countr}-, rude and incor- 
 rect sketches, \A'ithout any scale or proportion, wherein a ridge 
 of mountains covered a whole pro\'ince, and a river swept 
 away half of another. At present the}' have neat and accurate 
 maps of the country, copied after the original survey of the 
 whole empire, undertaken and completed by die Jesuits, alter 
 sevei'al years of indefatigable labour. 
 
 Although the Chinese language be unfavourable for nume- 
 rical combinations, it is admirably adapted for the concise 
 operations of algebra, and the terse demonstra^ons of geomc- 
 tiy, to neither of ^vhich, llo^ve^-er, has it ever been made 
 subservient ; both the one and the other being totilly unknown 
 in the eountiy. Their aridimetic is mechanical. To find the 
 aggi-egate of numbers, a machine is in universal use, from the 
 man of letters to the meanest shopman beliind his counter. 
 By this machine, \^•hicll is called a S^^•an-pan, aiithmeticiil 
 operations are rendered palpable. It consists of a frame of 
 wood, divided into two compartments by a bar running down 
 the middle : through this bar, at ridit angles, are inserted a 
 number of parallel Avires, and on each wire, in one compart- 
 ment, are five mo\'eable balls, and in the other two. These 
 wu-es may be considered as the ascending and descending 
 powers of a numeration table, proceeding in a tenfold propor- 
 tion ; so that if a ball upon any of the wires, in the larger com- 
 partment, be placed against the middle bar, and called unity, 
 or one, a ball on the wire next above it will represent ten, and 
 one on the next one hundred ; so, also, a ball on the wire next 
 below that expressing unit}' \vill be one tenth, the next lower 
 one hundredth, and die diird one thousandth, pait of an unit ; 
 and the balls on die corresponding wires in the smaller com- 
 
198 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 paitment will be five, fifty, five hundred, five tenths, five hun- 
 dredths, five thousandths ; the value or power of each of these, 
 in the smaller di^dsion, being always five times as much as of 
 those in the larger. In the foUoAving figure, suppose X be as- 
 sumed as the line of units, the lines to the right will be inte- 
 gers decimally increasing, and those to the left fractional parts 
 decimally decreasing ; and the Swan-pan, in the present posi- 
 tion of the balls, will represent the number 573916 ■^^. 
 
 This is clearly a system of decimal arithmetic, which, for 
 the ease, simplicity, and convenience of its operations, it were 
 to be wished was generally adopted in Europe, instead of the 
 endless ways in which the integer isdifterently divided in different 
 countiies, and in the difterent provinces of the same country. The 
 Swan -pan would be no bad instrument for teaching to a blind 
 person the operations of arithmetic. Yet, paradoxical as it may 
 seem, these operations, as performed by the Chinese, like their 
 tvritten chai-acters, require more the exercise of the eye than 
 of the mind. The simple addition or subtraction of the littie 
 bails, to or from the middle bar, shews at once, by their dispo- 
 sition on the board, the result of any required combination. 
 The invention of it, I think, may fairly be attributed to the 
 Chinese ; though it has been compared, how justly I carinot 
 pretend to say, to the Roman abacus. 
 
 It has been observed, and, perhaps, with a great deal of 
 truth, tliat the arts which supply die luxuries, the convemT 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 199 
 
 cncies, and the necessaries of life, liave derived blit little advan- 
 tage in the first instance from the labours and speculations of 
 philosophers ; that die ingenuity of artists, the accidental or 
 progressive discoveries of common workmen, in any particular 
 branch of business, have frequently afforded data, from which, 
 by the reasonings and investigations of philosophers, hints ha\e 
 sometimes been struck out for arriving at the same ends \y\- a 
 shorter way ; that die learned ai'c, therefore, more properly to 
 be considered as improvers thim inventors. Of this molli- 
 fying truth, the Chinese afford many strong examples in their 
 arts and manufactures, and particularly in some of those ope- 
 rations that have a reference to chemistr}% which cannot here 
 be said to exist as a science, although several branches are in 
 common practice as chemical arts. Without possessing any 
 theory concerning the affinities of bodies, or attractions of co- 
 hesion or aggregation, diey clarify the muddy Avaters of their 
 rivers, for immediate use, by stirring them round \vith a piece 
 of alum in a hollow bamboo ; a simple operation, wliich, 
 experience has taught them, will aiuse the clayey particles to 
 fall to the bottom : and, ha\'ing ascertained the fact, they have 
 given themselves no further trouble to explain the phcnomo* 
 non. 
 
 In like manner, they are well acquainted with the effect of 
 steam upon certain bodies that are immersed in it ; tliat its heat is: 
 much greater dian that of boiling water. Yet, aldiough for 
 ages diey have been in the constant practice of confining it in 
 close vessels, something like Papin's digester, for die purpose 
 of softening horn, from which their tliin, transparait, and capa- 
 cious lanterns are made, thej^ seem not to have discovered its 
 extraordinary force, when thus pent up ; at least, they have 
 never thought of applying that power to puqjoses which animal 
 strength has not been adequate to eftcct. They extract from 
 the three kingdoms of nature die most brilliant colours, which 
 they have also acquired the art of preparing imd mixing, so as 
 to produce every intennediate tint ; and, in dieir richest and 
 most lively hues, they communicate these colours to silks, 
 cottons, and paper ; }-et they have no theorj^ on colours. 
 
 The process of smelting iron fiom the ore is well known 
 to them ; and their cast-waiT of diis metal is remarkably diin 
 and light. They lia\ e also an imperfect knowledge of convert- 
 ing it into steel ; but their manufictures of this article iire not 
 to be mentioned with those of Europe, I will not say of Eng- 
 
200 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 land, because it stands unriv^illed in this and, indeed, almost 
 every other branch of die arts. Though their cast-iron waives 
 appear light and neat, and ai*e annealed in heated ovens, to take 
 olF somewhat of their brittleness, }'et their process of render- 
 ing cast iron miUleable is imperfect, and all their manufactures 
 of "wrought iron are consequently of a very inferior kind, not 
 only in Avcrkmanship, but also in the quality of the metal. In 
 most of the other metals their manufactures are above medio- 
 crity. Their trinkets of silver-fiUagree are extremely neat, and 
 their articles of tootanague ai'e highly finished. 
 
 ^Vith die use of cannon they pretend to lia\'e been long 
 acquainted. When Gengis-Klian entered China, in the thir- 
 teenth century, artillery and bombs and mines are said to have 
 been employed on both sides ; yet, when the city of Macao, 
 in the yetir 1621, made a present to the emperor of three 
 pieces of artillery, it was found necessary to send along with 
 them three men to instruct the Chinese how to use them. 
 The introduction of matchlocks, I am inclined to diink, is of 
 no verj^ ancient date ; they w'ear no marks of originality about 
 them, like other aiticles of Chinese invention ; on the con- 
 trar}^, they are exact models of the old Portuguese match- 
 lock ; and differ in nothing from those which still continue to 
 be carried, as an article of commerce, by this nation to 
 Cochinchina. There can be no doubt, however, of the use 
 of gunpowder being known to tlie Chinese long before the 
 Cliristian sera. 
 
 In a Ytry ancient treatise on the military art, there is a 
 detailed account of tlie manner hoAv to annoy an enemy's 
 camp, by springing a mine with gunpowder ; but this treatise 
 makes no mention of cannon. Fire-^^-orks, made generally 
 of gunpovvder, filings of zinc, camphor, and other ingre- 
 dients, are described in various old tracts. It is easily con- 
 ceived, that the deflagration of nitre was likely to be first 
 noticed in those counttries where it is the sjDontaneous and 
 iiVjundant production of the earth, winch, is the case on the 
 ele\'ated desarts of Tartary and Thibet, and on the low and 
 fxtcns.ive pkiins of India and Chiiiii. The gunpo\^'der, how- 
 c\-cr, made by the Chinese, is extremely bad. They h'dve no 
 ])articular manufactory, but each indi\'idual makes his own. 
 It is in fact one part of the soldier's employment to prepare 
 his ovv-n gunpowder. The usual proportions, according t» 
 Van-ta-giii's infonnation are, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 201 
 
 50 pounds of nitre, 
 
 25 sulphur, 
 
 25 charcoal. 
 
 They kno^v not the ait of granulating tlie paste, as in Eut'cpe, 
 but use it in a coai^se powder, which sometimes cake s tog-tlK r 
 into a solid mass ; and, from tlie impurity of the nitie, (no 
 means appearing to be employed or exti'acting the common 
 salt it usually contains ) the least exposure to the air, by attract- 
 ing the moisture, makes it unfit for service. This may be one 
 reason for their objection to firelocks. 
 
 It has been remarked that tlie three gi'cat discoveries of the 
 magnetic needle, of gunpowder, and of printing, in Europe, 
 followed close upon the return of the famous traveller Marco 
 Polo. It \\ as the boast, indeed, of Caung-shce to the Jesuits, 
 when they instructed him in some of the sciences of Europe, 
 that the latter coimtry was neither acquainted with the mai'i- 
 ner's compass, nor with tlie ail of printing, nor with gunpow- 
 der, till they had been in common use in China near t\\o tliDu- 
 sand years. As to gunpowder, it is pretty obvious that our 
 countiyman, Roger Bacon, Mas ^vdl acquainted with the in- 
 gredients that enter into its composition. In more than one part 
 of his works he observes that, ^vith saltpetre and odier articles 
 may be made a fire, that will inflame to a great distance ; and 
 in one place he stites that with sulphur, saltpetre, and some- 
 thing else ^^'hich he disguises under t^\■o or three barbarous 
 words, a composition may be made, by \\ hich the effects of 
 thunder and of lifj-htnino; mav be imitated. Bacon died in the 
 yeai' 1292, and Marco Polo returned to Europe in 1295 ; so 
 that he could not possibly ha\e received any hint to lead to- 
 ^\''ards the discovery thi-ough the chanjiel of tlie Venetian tia- 
 veller.* 
 
 If the Chinese had, at any period of their histoiy, been ac- 
 quainted with tlie ait of casting lai'ge cannon, and of making 
 
 * The invention, in Europe, is usually attributed to one Schwartz, a German 
 monk, about the year 1354, which, however, is very doubtful, as there is every 
 reason to beUve that cannon was made use of at the battle of Cressy, wliich hap- 
 pened in the year 1346. And Mariana, in his account of the sicpfe of Al.a^eziras 
 by the Spaniards, in the year 1342, or 1343, as quoted by bishop Watson, observes 
 "that the Moors very mxich annoyed the Christians with their iron shot;'* 
 and he further adds, that " this is the first mention made in history of the usq of gim- 
 " powder and ball." It is, therefore, extreni^y probable that Uie first introduc'- 
 tion of gunpowder into Europe was by some >lahomedans from the eastward, and 
 that Schwartz was not the inveptor, aiUiough he misjht perhaps have been the fii'st 
 publishergf the discovery. 
 
 C C 
 
202 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 use of them in their ^^•ars, it is scai'cely probable they would 
 ever ha\'e lost it. Yet, it is very certain, the two Jesuits, Schaal 
 t»nd Verbiest, took great pains to instruct thetn in the method 
 of casting cannon ; in which, however, they have not made any 
 progiess or improvement. I observed, near one of the gates 
 of Pekin, a few rude, ill-shapen, and disproportionate pieces, 
 lying unmounted on the ground ; and these, with some of the 
 same kiiid on the frontier of Canton, and a few pieces, appa- 
 rently twelve pounders, at Hang-tcheu-foo, which had \\^ooden 
 pent-houses erected over each, \\'ere the only cannon that we 
 noticed in the whole countiy. 
 
 Mr. Bell, who visited China in the suite of the Russian em- 
 bassador, neai'ly a century ago, remarks that, " towards the 
 " western extremity of the great wall, he obsen^ed some 
 " hundreds of old camion piled up in one of the towers, each 
 " composed of three or four pieces of hammered iron, joined 
 " and flistened together with hoops of the same metal." It is 
 probable, indeed, that the Chinese, like the Hindoos, before the 
 time of Shaal and Verbiest, made use of cannon of A\Tought 
 iron., which were hooped together like those mentioned by 
 Mr. Bell. 
 
 In m.aking their salutes, of which they are not sparing, they 
 invariabl}- employ three small petards, or pistol-barrels rather, 
 which are stuck erect in the ground ; and in firmg these small 
 pieces the soldiers aie so afraid, that tkey ai'c discharged by 
 a train laid from one to the other. When captain Parish 
 caused a few rounds to be fired from two field-pieces, which 
 were among the presents for the emperor, in as quick succes- 
 sion as possible, the Chinese officers \'eiy coolly observed, 
 that their own soldiers could do it just as A\ell, and perhaps 
 better. And when lord Macaitney asked the ex-viceroy of 
 Canton if he would wish to see his guard go through the diffe- 
 rent e\'^olutions, as practised in Europe, he replied, with equal 
 indifference, that ** they could not possibly be new to him, who 
 " had been so much engaged in the \vars on the frontiers of 
 " Tartar}' ;" though the chances are that he had never before 
 seen a firelock : with such ridiculous affectation of superiority 
 and contempt for other nations does the unconquerable pride 
 of diis people inspire them. It seems, indeed, to be laid down, 
 as a general principle, never to be caught in the admiration of 
 any tiling brought among them by foreigners. Whenever a 
 man of rank came to look at the presents, if observed by any 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 203 
 
 of us, he would carelessly glance his eye over them, and affect 
 as much indifference as if he were in tlie daily habit of vieA\- 
 ing things of the same kind. 
 
 A French physician, \\'ho travelled in China, sa^'s, he never 
 saw an alembic or distillator}' apparatus in the ^\'hole coimtrv.- 
 The art of distillation, ho^\e\'cr, is very mcU knoAvii, and in 
 common practice. Their sau-tchoo (literally burnt wine) is 
 an ardent spirit distilled from" \ arious kinds of grain, but nio.:t 
 commonly from rice, of a strong cmpyrcumatic flavour, not 
 unlike the spirit known in Scotland by the name of whiskey. 
 The rice is kept in hot water till the grains are swollen ; it is 
 then mixed up with water in Avhich has been dissoh ed a jjre- 
 paration called pe-ka, consisting of rice-flower, liquorice-root, 
 anniseed, and garlic ; this not only hastens fermentation, but 
 is supposed to give it a peculiar flavour. The mixture then 
 undergoes distillation. The sau-tchoo, thus prepared, may be 
 considered as the basis of the best airack, which in Java is 
 exclusively the manufactiu'C of the Chinese, and is nothing more 
 than a rectification of the above spirit, m ith the addition of 
 molasses and juice of the cocoa-nut tree. Before distillation, 
 the liquor is simply called tchoo, or wine, and in this state is 
 a very insipid and disagreeable beverage. The vine groAA s ex- 
 tremely ^^•ell in all the provinces, e^^en as far north as Pekin ; 
 but the culture of it seems to meet with little encouragement ; 
 and no wine is made from the juice of the grape, except by the 
 missionaries near the capital. 
 
 The manufacture of earthen ware, as far as depends upon 
 the preparation of the materials, they have canied to a pitch 
 of perfe<:tion not hidierto equalled by any nation, except the 
 Japanese, who are allowed to excel them, not only in this 
 branch, but also in all articles of lacquered and varnished ^vare, 
 which fetch exorbitant prices even in China. The bcaiUy of 
 their porcelain depends, iy\ a great degree, upon the ejitremc 
 labour and attention that is paid to the assortment and the 
 preparation of the different articles emplo}'cd. These are, in 
 general, a fine sort of cla}', called kao-lin, Avhich is a species 
 of soap-rock, and a granite called pe-tun-tse, composed chieft;,' 
 of quartz, the proportion of mica being very small. These 
 materials are ground do\Mi and washed with the greatest care ; 
 and when the paste has been turned or moulded into forms, 
 each piece is put into a box of clay before it goes into the 
 oven ; yet, with eveiy precaution, it frequently happens (so 
 
204 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 niuch is tliis art still a work of chance ) that a whole oven 
 runs together, and becomes a niass of vitiified matter. Neitlier 
 the Chinese nor the Japanese can boast of giving to the ma- 
 terials much elegance of form. With those inimitable models 
 irom the Greek and Roman \'ases, brought into modem use by 
 the ingenious Mr. \Vedg^\ood, they ^\'ili not bear a compari- 
 son : and nothing can be more rude and ill-designed than 
 the grotesque figures, and other objects, painted, or rather 
 daubed, on their porcelain, which, however, are generally tlie 
 ^vork of the wives and childr<fti of the labouring poor. That 
 they can do better, we have ca ident proof; for if a pattern be 
 sent out fi'om England, the aitists in Canton will execute it 
 w ith scRipulous exactness ; and their colours are inimitable. 
 
 The manufacture of glass was totally unknot n among them 
 until the last centuiy , when, at the recommendation of the Je- 
 suits, a family v\as engaged to go from Fi-ance to Pekin, for 
 the purpose of inti-cducing the axt of glass- making into the 
 Country. The attempt failed of success, and the concern, at 
 the death of the manager, was broken up. In Canton they 
 melt old broken glass, and mould it into new forms ; and they 
 have been taught to coat plates of glass with silver, m hich are 
 partially used as looking-glasses ; but theii- common mirrors 
 are of polished metal, which is apparently a composition of 
 copper and zinc. 
 
 The pride or the policy of the go\'emment, affecting to des- 
 ,pise any thing new or foreign, and the genenil ^vant of encou- 
 ragement to new indentions, however ingenious, have been 
 greatly detrimental to the progress of the cirts and manufactures. 
 The people discover no want of genius to conceive, nor of dex- 
 terity to execute ; and their imitative powers have always been 
 acknowledged to be veiy great. Of the truth of this remark 
 we had several instances at Yuen-min-}uen. The complicated 
 glass lustres, consistmg of several hundi'ed pieces, were taken 
 do^vn, piece by piece, in the course of half an hour, by two 
 Chinese, wiio had never seen any tiling of the kind before, and 
 were put up again by them with equal facility ; yet Mr. Parker 
 tliought it necessar}^ for our mechanics to attend at his ware- 
 house several times, to see them taken down, and again put to- 
 gether, in order to be able to manage the business on their ar- 
 rival in China. A Chinese undertook to cut a slip of glass 
 from a large curved piece, intended to cover the great dome 
 of the planetarium, after our two artificers had broken thijee 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 205 
 
 similar pieces in attempting to cut them with the help of the 
 diamond. The man performed it in private ; nor could he be 
 prevailed on to say in \vhLit manner he accomplislied it. Beine^ 
 a little jagged along the mai'gin, I suspect it ^vas not cut, but 
 fractured, perhaps by passing -a heated iron o^■cr a line cb^\\ii 
 with water, or some other fluid. It is well knoAvn that a Chi- 
 nese in Canton, on being shown an European A\'atch, under- 
 took, and succeeded, to make one like it, though he had never 
 seen any thing of the kind before ; but it was necessary to fur- 
 nish him with a main spring, which he could not make : and 
 they now fabricate in Canton, as ^vell as in London, and at one 
 third of the expense, all those ingenious pieces of mechanism 
 which at one time were sent to China in such vast quimtities 
 from the repositories of Coxe and Merlin. The mind of a 
 Chinese is quick and appi-ehensivc, and his smdl delicate hands 
 are formed for the execution of neat work. 
 
 The manufacture of silks has been established in China at a 
 period so remote as not to be ascertained from history ; but the 
 time when the cotton plant was first brought from the northern 
 parts of India into the southern provinces of China is know n, 
 and noticed in their annals. That species of the cotton plant, 
 from Avhich is produced the manufacture usually called nankin 
 cotton, is said to lose its peculiar jellow tint in the course of 
 two or three years, ^vhen cultivated in the southern provinces ; 
 owing, in all probability, to the great heat of the weather and 
 continued sunshine. I ha^•e raised this particular species at the 
 Cape of Good Hope, where, upon the same plant, as ^\•ell as 
 on others produced from its seed, the pods Avere as full and 
 the tint of as deep a yellow in the third year as in the first. As 
 is genei-ally the case in most of their manufactures, those of 
 silk and cotton do not appear to have lately undergone pro- 
 gressiA'C improvement, The want of proper encouragement 
 from the government, and the rigid adherence to ancient usage, 
 have rendered, indeed, all their labricks stationaiy. 
 
 Of all the mechanical arts, that in which they seem to have 
 attained the highest degree of perfection is the cutting of i\ory. 
 In tliis branch they stand unrivalled, even at Birmingham, that 
 great nursery of the arts and manufactures, Avhere, I under- 
 stand, it has been attempted, by means of a machine, to cut 
 ivory fans and other articles, in imitation of those of the Chi- 
 nese ; but the experiment, although ingenious, has not hitherto^ 
 succeeded to that degree, so as to produce articles fit to A-ic 
 
206 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 with those of the latter. Nothing can be more exquisitely 
 beautiful thim the fine open work displayed in a Chinese fan, 
 the sticks of ^^ hich would seem to be singly cut by the hand, 
 for ^vliatever pattern may be required, or a shield witli coat 
 of arms, or a cypher, the article will be finished according to 
 the draw ing, at the shortest notice. The t\\"0 outside sticks are 
 full of bold shaq) A\ork, undercut in such a manner as could 
 not be performed any other way than by the hand. Yet, tlie 
 most finished and beautiful of these fans may be purcliased at 
 Canton for five to ten Spanish dollars.* Out of a sohd ball 
 of ivor}', \\ ith a hole in it not larger than half an inch in diame- 
 ter, thc}^ w ill cut from nine to fifteen distinct hollow globes, 
 one ^^'ithin another, all loose, and capable of being turned round 
 in e^ery direction, and each of them carved full of the same 
 kind of open \vork th^t appears on the fans. A very small sum 
 of money is the price of oi^e of these difficult trifles. Models 
 ef temples, pagodas, and other pieces of architecture, are beau- 
 tifully worked in ivory; and from^ the shavings, interwoven 
 with pieces of quills, they make neat baskets and hats, which 
 are as light and pliant as those of stravv' . In short, all kinds 
 of toys for cliildren, and other trinkets and trifles, are executed 
 in a neater manner and for less money in China dian in any 
 other part of the world. 
 
 The various uses, to which that elegant species of reed, 
 called the bamboo, is applied, would require a volume to enu- 
 merate. Their chairs, their tables, their skreens, their bed- 
 steads and bedding, and many other household moveables, are 
 entirely constnicted of this hollow reed, and some of them in 
 a manner sufficiently ingenious and beautiful. It is used on 
 board ships for poles, for sails, for cables, for rigging, and for 
 caulking. In husbandly for cai'ts, for ^vheelbairows, for 'wheels 
 to raise water, for fences, for sacking to hold grain, and a va- 
 rict}' of other utensils. The young shoots furnish an aiticle of 
 food ; and the ^^"icks of their candles are made of its fibres. It 
 serves to embellish the gai'den of the prince, and to cover the 
 cottage of the peasant. It is the instrument, in the hand of 
 poiver, tliat keeps the whole empire in awe. In short, there 
 
 * I am auare that those laboured pieces, of Italian make, of ivory cut into 
 landscapes, with houses, trees, and figures ; sometimes so small as to becompre- 
 hencicd within the compass af a ring, ma)' be quoted against me, but the work of 
 a s..iitary and r.ecluded monk, to beguile the weary hours, is not to be brought in 
 coiiipetition withihat of a common Chinese artist, by which he earns his livelihood. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 207 
 
 are few uses to which a Chinese camiot apply the bamboo, 
 either entire or split into tliin laths, or fufthcr di\'idccl into 
 fibres to be twisted into cordage, or macerated into a pulp to 
 be manufactured into paper. 
 
 That " there is nothing new under the sun," was the ob- 
 servation of a wise man in days of }'ore. Impressed w ith tlio 
 same idea, an ingenious and learned modem author * has w rit- 
 ten a book to prove that all tlie late discoveries and in\ entions 
 of Europe were known to the ancients. The discovery of 
 making paper fi-om sti-aw, althougli new, perliaps, in Europe, 
 is of very ancient date in China. The straw of rice and otlicr 
 grain, the bark of the nuilberry-tree, the cotton shrub, hemp, 
 nettles, and various other plants and materials, aie emploxed 
 in the pa]3er niLmufactorics of China, where sheets are prepared 
 of such dimensions that a single one ma}^ be had to coxer the 
 whole side of a moderate-sized room. The finer sort of paper, 
 for uriting upon, has a surface as smooth as vellum, and i* 
 washed with a strong solution of alum, to pre\'ent the ink from 
 sinking. Many old persons and children earn a livelihood by 
 washing tlie ink from written paper, which, being afterwards 
 beaten and boiled to a paste, is re-manufactured into new 
 sheets ; and the ink is also separated from the water, and pre- 
 serv^ed for future use. To this article of their manufacture the 
 arts in our own country owe so many advantages, that little re- 
 quires to be said in its favour. The Chinese, however, ac- 
 knowledge their obligations to the Coreans for the impro\'e- 
 ments in making ink, which, not many centuries ago, were 
 received from them. 
 
 As to the art of printing, there can be litdc doubt of its an- 
 tiquity in China ; yet, they ha\'e never proceeded beyond a 
 wooden block. The nature, indeed, of the* character is such, 
 that moveable types would scarcely be practicable. It is tnie, 
 the component parts of the characters are sufficiently simple, 
 and few in number ; but the difficulty of putting them toge- 
 ther upon the frame, into tlie multitude of forms of which they 
 are capable, is, perhaps, not to be surmounted. 
 
 Like the rest of their inventions, the chain pump, which, in 
 Europe, has been brought to such perfection as to constitute 
 an essential part of ships of war and other large vessels, con- 
 tinues among the Cliinese nearly in its priniitive state ; die 
 
 • Mr. Duteni. 
 
208 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 principal improvement, since its first invention, consisting in 
 the substitution oT boards, or basket work, for wisps of straw. 
 Its power ^^-ith them has ne\'er been extended beyond tliat of 
 raising a small stream of water up an inclined plane, from 
 one reservoir to another, to serve the pui*poses of irrigation. 
 They are of different sizes ; some worked by oxen, some 
 by treading in a ^^'heel, and others by the hand. 
 
 The great advantages attainable from the use of mechanical 
 jDOwers are either not understood or, purposely, not employed. 
 In a countiy of such vast population, machinery may, per- 
 Iiaps, be. considered as detrimental, especially as, at least, 
 nine-tenths of the community must derive their subsistence 
 from manual labour. It may be a question, not at all decided 
 in their minds, whether the general advantages of facilitating 
 labour, and gaining time by means of machinery, be sufficient 
 to counterbalance the individual distress that would, for a 
 time, be occasioned by the introduction of such ihachinery. 
 Whatever the reason may be, no such means are to be met 
 with in the country. Among the presents that were carried 
 out for the emperor \A'ere an apparatus for the aii- pump, various 
 aiticles for conductmg a set of experiments in electricity, 
 and the models of a complete set of meclianical powers placed 
 upon a brass pillar. The emperor, happening to cast his eye 
 upon them, enquired of the eunuch in waiting for what they 
 were intended. This mutilated animal, although he had 
 been daily studying the nature and use of the several presents, 
 in order to be able to say something upon them, when they 
 should be exhibited to his master, could not succeed in making 
 his imperial majesty comprehend the intention of the articles 
 in question. " I fancy," says the old monarch, " they are 
 " meant as play.. things for some of my great grand-cliildren." 
 
 The power of the pulley is understood by them, and is 
 applied on board all their large vessels, but always in a single 
 state ; at least, I never obser\-ed a block ■\\'ith more than one 
 wheel in it. The principle of the lever should also seem to 
 be \vell known, as all their valual^le wares, even silver and 
 gold, are Vv'eighed with the steel}'ard : and the tooth and 
 pinion ^^ heels are used in the construction of their self-moving 
 to}'s, and in all their rice-mills that are put in motion by a 
 Vvater- -wheel. But none of the mechanical powers are applied 
 on the gt eat scale, to facilitate and to expedite labour. Sim- 
 plicity is the leading feature in all their conti'ivances that relate 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 209 
 
 to the arts and manufactures. The tools of every artificer 
 are erf" a construction the most simple that it should seem 
 possible to make them ; and yet each tool is so-contri\ed as 
 to answer several puiposes. Thus, the bellows of the black- 
 smith, which is nothing more than a hollow cylinder of wood, 
 with a valvular piston, beside bloiving the fire, serves for his 
 seat, when set on end, and as a box to contain the rest of his 
 tools. The biirber's bamboo basket, that contains liis appara- 
 tus, is also the seat for his customers. The joiner makes 
 use of his rule as a w'alking stick ; and the chest that holds 
 his tools serves him as a bench to work on. The pedlar's 
 box and a large umbrella are suflicient for him to exhibit al 
 his wares, and to form his little shop. 
 
 Little can be said in favour of the state of the fine arts in 
 this countiy. Of their poetry, modem and ancient, I have 
 given Pi specimen ; but I think it right once more to obser^'e 
 that, with regard to Asiatic compositions, Europeans camiot 
 form a proper judgment, and more especialh' of those of die 
 Chinese, which, to the mysterious and obscure expressions 
 of metaphor, add the disadvantage of a language that speaks 
 but little to the ear ; a whole sentence, or a combination of 
 ideas, being sometimes shut up in a short monos}llable, 
 whose beauties iire most studiously addressed to the sense of 
 seeing alone. 
 
 Of the other two sister arts, painting and nmsic, a more 
 decided opinion may be passed. Of the latter, I ha\ e little 
 to observe. It does not seem to be cultivated as a science : 
 it is neither learned as an elegant accomplishment, nor prac- 
 tised as an amusement of genteel life, except by those fe- 
 males who are educated for sale, or by such as hire themsehes 
 out for the entertainment of those who may be inclined to 
 purchase their favours. And, as the Chinese difibr in their 
 ideas from all other nations, these women pla}- generally upon 
 wind instruments, such as small pipes and flutes ; whilst the 
 favourite instrument of the men is the guittar, or something 
 not every unlike it, some of which haAC two strings, some 
 four, and others seven. Eunuchs, and the lowest class of 
 persons, are hired to play ; and the merit of a performance 
 should seem to consist in the intenseness of tlie noise brought 
 out of die different instruments. The gong, or, as they call 
 it, the loo, is admirably adapted for this puq^ose. This in- 
 .«iti-umcnt is a sort of shallow kettle, or ratiicr tl)c lid of a 
 
 D d 
 
310 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 kettlcj which they strike \\;ith a wooden mallet covered with 
 leather. The composition is said to be copper, tin, and bis- 
 muth. They have also a kind of clarionet, three or four 
 different sorts of ti-umpets, and a stringed instrument, not 
 unlike a violoncello. Their sing is a combination of uneven 
 reeds of bamboo, not unlike the pipe of Pan ; the tones are 
 far from being clisagieeable, but its construction is so wild 
 and inegular, that it does not appear to be reducible to any 
 kind of scale. Their kettle-dmms are generally sliaped like 
 barrels ; and these, as well as different sized bells fixed in a 
 frame, constitute parts in their sacred music. They have 
 also an insti'ument of music, \vhich consists of stones, cut 
 into the shape of a carpenter's square, each stone suspended 
 by the corner in a wooden frame . Those which I saw ap- 
 peared to belong to that species of the silicious genus usually 
 called gneiss, a sort of slaty granite. In the Keswick museum 
 are musical stones of the same kind, which were picked up 
 in a rivulet at the foot of Skiddaw mountain ; but these seem 
 to contain small pieces of black shorl or tourmaline. It is, 
 indeed, the boast of their historians, that the whole ejupire 
 of nature has been laid under contribution, in order to com- 
 plete their system of music : that the skins of animals, the 
 fibres of plants, metals, stones, and baked earths, have all 
 been employed in the production of sounds. Their in- 
 struments, it is true, are sufficiently varied, both as to shape 
 and materials ; but I know of none that is even tolerable to 
 an European ear. 
 
 A Chinese band generally plays, or endeavours to play, in 
 unison ; and sometimes an instrument takes the octa^^e ; but 
 they never attempt to play in separate parts, confining their 
 ait to the melody only, if I may venture to apply a name of so 
 much sweetness to an aggregation of harsh sounds. They 
 have not the least notion of counter- p<:)int, or playing in parts; 
 an invention, indeed, to which the elegant Greeks had not 
 an'ived, and which was unknown in Europe, as well as Asia, 
 until the monkish ages. 
 
 I never heard but one single Chinese who could be said to 
 sing with feeling or plaintiveness. Accompanied with a kind 
 of guittar, he sang the follo\^•ing air in praise of the flower 
 Moo-lee, which it seems is one of the most popular songs in 
 the \\-hole coimtry. The simple melody was taken down by 
 Mr. Hittner, and I understand has been published in London, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 211 
 
 with head and tail-pieces, accompaniments, and all the re- 
 fined arts of European music ; so that it ceases to be a speci- 
 men of the plain melody of China. I have, therefore, given 
 it in its unadorned state, as sung and played by the Chinese, 
 together with the A\ords of the first stanza, and their literal 
 translation. 
 
 MOO-LEE-WHA. 
 
 ■q-^ 
 
 B 
 
 #—# 
 
 ¥=^^ 
 
 fefefesEl^^ 
 
 -*- 
 
 ^fesi^ipE^ 
 
 MOO-LE-WHA. 
 
 I. 
 
 12 3 4 5 
 
 Hau ye-to sien wlia, 
 
 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 
 
 Yeu tchau yeu jie lo tsai go kiu 
 
 14 15 16 17 18 19 
 
 Go pun tai, poo tchoo mmi 
 
 20 21 22 23 24 25 
 
 Twee tcho sien wha ul lo. 
 
 II. 
 
 12 3 4 5 6 
 
 Hau ye to Moo-lee wha 
 
 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 
 
 Man yuen wha kai soy poo quee ta 
 
 15 16 17 18 19 20 
 
 Go pun tai tsai ye ta 
 
 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 
 
 Tai you kung ^aii wha jin ma. 
 
212 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 LITEKAL TRANSLATION. 
 
 I. 
 
 12 3 4 5 
 
 How delightRil this branch of fresh flowers 
 
 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1» ' 
 
 One morning one day it wzs dropped in my house 
 
 14 15 16 17 18 19 
 
 1 the owner will A\"ear it not out of doors 
 
 20 21 22 23 24 25 
 
 But I \\\\\ hold the fresh flov\-er and be happ}'. 
 II. 
 
 i 1 2 3 4 5 6 
 
 l\o\\- delightful tliis branch of the Moo-lee flower 
 
 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 U 
 
 In the full plot of flowers blowing freely none excels it 
 
 15 16 17 18 19 20 
 
 I the owner will wear this gathered branch 
 
 21 22 22 24 25 26 ^ 27 
 
 Wear it yet fear, the flower seen pien will envy. 
 
 I have thought it not amiss to subjoin a few other airs of 
 the popular kind, which were written by a gentleman at 
 Canton. 
 
 CHINESE POPULAR AIRS. 
 
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TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
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TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
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216 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 They have no other notion of noting down music than that 
 of employing a character expressing the name of every note 
 in the scale ; and^even this imperfect ■way they learned from 
 Pereira the Jesuit. They affected to dislike the embassador's 
 band, \vhich they pretended to say produced no music, but a 
 confusion of noises ; yet the emperor's chief musician gave 
 himself a great deal of trouble in tracing out the several in- 
 struments on large sheets of paper, each of its particular size, 
 marking the places of the holes, screws, strings, and other 
 parts, which they conceived necessary to enable them to make 
 others of a similar construction. 
 
 It would be difficult to assign the motive that induced fa- 
 ther Amiot to observe, that " the Chinese, in order to obtain 
 *' their scale of notes or gamut perfect, were not afraid of 
 " submitting to the most laborious operations in geometry, 
 *' and to the most tedious and disgusting calculations of the 
 " science of numbers;" as he must have known that they were 
 aitogether ignorant of geometry, and that their arithmetic ex- 
 tended not beyond their swan-pan. Of the same nature is 
 the bold and unfounded assertion of another of the Jesuits, 
 *' that the musical system of the Chinese was borrowed from 
 *' them by the Greeks and Egj^ptians, anterior to the time of 
 " Hermes or Orpheus !" 
 
 With regard to painting, they can be considered in no 
 other light than as miserable daubers, being unable to pen- 
 cil out a correct outline of many objects, to give body to 
 the same by the application of proper lights and shadows, and 
 to lay on the nice shades of colour, so as to resemble the tints 
 of nature. But the gaudy colouring of certain flowers, birds, 
 and insects, they imitate with a degree of exactness and bril- 
 liancy to ^^'hich Europeans have not yet arrived. To give 
 distance to objects on canvas, by diminishing them, by faint 
 colouring, and by perspective, they have no sort of concep- 
 tion. At Yuen-min-yuen I found two very large paintings of 
 landscapes \\ hich, as to the pencilling, were done with toler- 
 able execution ; but they were finished witli a minuteness of 
 detail, and without any of those strong lights and masses of 
 shade ^vhich gi\'e Ibi'ce and effect to a picture : none of the 
 rules of perspective \vere observed, nor imy attempt to throw 
 the objects to their proper disUmces ; }et I could not help fancy- 
 ing that I discovered in theni the hand of an European. The 
 old eunuch, who carried the kex^s of the room, frequently 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 2ir 
 
 asked me, when looking at these pictures, if I did not think 
 his countr}^men were excellent painters : and ha\ ing one day- 
 expressed great admiration for tlie talents of the artist, he led 
 me into a recess of the room, and, opening a chest, supported 
 upon a pedestal, he observed, with a significant look, he was 
 now going to produce something that ^^■ould astonish me. He 
 then took out several large volumes, which were full of figures, 
 drawn in a very superior style, and tinted with water colours, 
 representing the several ti'ades and occupations carried on in tlie 
 countrj- ; but they seemed to be stuck against the paper, hav- 
 ing neither shadow nor foreground, nor distance, to give thera 
 any relief. On the opposite page to each figui-e was a descrip- 
 tion, in the Mant-choo Taitai" and the Chinese languages. Hav- 
 ing turned over one of the volumes, I obser\ed, on the last page, 
 the name of Castaglione, which at once solved the riddle. On 
 re-examining the large pictures in the hall, I found the same 
 name in the corner of each. While going through the volume, 
 the old eunuch frequently asked, if any one in Europe could 
 paint like the Chinese ? but, on my pointing to the name, and 
 repeating tlie ^vord Castaglione, he immediately shut the book, 
 and returned them all into tlie chest, nor, from that time, could 
 I ever prevail upon him to let me have another sight of them. 
 On enquir}', I found that Castaglione \\'as a missionary in great 
 repute at court, where he executed a immber of paintings, but 
 was expressly directed by the emperor to paint all his subjects 
 after the Chinese manner, and not like those of Europe, with 
 broad masses of shade, and the distant objects scarcely \isible ; 
 observing to him, as one of the missionaries told me, that the 
 imperfections of the eye afforded no reason why the objects of 
 nature should also be copied as imperfect. This idea of the 
 emperor accords witli a remark made b}' one of his ministers, 
 who came to see the portrait of his Britannic majest}-, that 
 " it was gi eat pity it should have been spoiled by the dirt upon 
 " the face," pointing, at the same time, to tlie broad shade of 
 the nose. 
 
 Ghirrai'dini, an European painter, published an account of 
 his voyage to China ; where, it appears, he was so disgusted, 
 that, having observed how litde idea they possess of the fine 
 arts, he adds, with rather more petulancy than truth, " these 
 " Chinese are fit for nothing but v.eighing silver luid eating 
 " rice." Ghirrardini painted a large colonnade in A^anishing 
 perspective, ^\hich struck them so ver\' forcibly, diat they con- 
 
 E e 
 
218 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 eluded he must certainly have dealings with the devil ; but, on 
 approaching the canvas, and feeling with their hands, in order 
 to be fully convinced tliat iill they saw was on a flat surface, 
 they persisted that nothing could be more unnatural tlnan to re- 
 present distances, ^vhere tiiere actually neither was, nor could 
 be, any distance. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to add any thing further with regard 
 to the state of painting in China. I shall only observe, tliat the 
 emperor's favourite di'aughtsman, who may, of course, be sup- 
 posed as good or better tiian others of the same profession in 
 the capital, was sent to make drawings of some of the principal 
 presents to carry to his master, then in Tartary, as elucidations 
 of the descriptive catalogue. I'his man, after various unsuc- 
 cessful attempts to design the elegant time-pieces of VuUiamy, 
 supported by beautiful figures ofwhite marble, supplicated my 
 assistance in a matter \A-hich he represented as of the last impor- 
 tance to himself. It was in vain to assure him that I was no 
 di'aughtsman ; he was determined to have the proof of it ; and 
 he departed extremely well satisfied in obtaining a very mean 
 performance ^^ ith the pencil, to copy after, or cover with his 
 Cliina ink. Every part of the machines, except the naked 
 figures, which supported the time-piece, and a barometer, he 
 dre^v with neatness and accuracy, but all his attempts to copy 
 these were unsuccessful. Whether it was owing to any real 
 difficulty that exists in the nice turns and proportions of the hu- 
 man figure, or that, by being better acquainted with it we more 
 readily perceive the defects in the imitation of it, or from the 
 circumstance of the human form being concealed in this coun- 
 try in loose folding robes, that caused the Chinese draughts- 
 man so completely to fail, I leave to the artists of our own coun- 
 tr}- to determine : but the fact was as I state it : all his attempts 
 to di'aw these figures were preposterous. 
 
 As to those specimens of beautiful floAvers, birds, and insects, 
 sometimes brought o-v^er to Europe, they are the work of ar- 
 tists at Canton, where, from being in the habit of copying 
 prints and drawings, carried thither for the purpose of being 
 transfen-ed to porcelain, or as articles of commerce, they have 
 acquired a better taste than in the interior parts of the country. 
 Great quantities of porcelain are sent fi'omthe potteries to Can- 
 ton, perfectly white, that the purchaser may have them painted 
 to his own pattern; and specimens of these bear testimony that 
 tliey are no mean copyists. It has been observed, however, that 
 
' TRAVELS IN CHINA. 219 
 
 the subjects of natural history, painted by them, are frequently 
 incorrect ; that it is no unusual thing to meet \\ ith tlie fioA\er of 
 one plant set upon the stalk of another, and ha\ing tlie lea\-cs of 
 a tliird. This may formerly have been the case from their fol- 
 lowing imperfect patterns, or from supposing they could im- 
 prove nature ; but having found that the representations of natu- 
 ral objects are in more request among foreigners, the}' pay a 
 stricter attention to the subject that may be required ; and ^\c 
 found them, indeed, sucJi scrupulous copyists, as not only to 
 draw the exact number of the petals, the stamina, and pistillaof 
 a flower, but also the very numberof leaves, widi the thorns or 
 spots on the foot-stalk that supported it. They will even count 
 the number of scales on a fish, and mark tiiem out in their repre- 
 sentations ; and it is impossible to imitate the brilliant colours 
 of nature more closely. I brought home several drawings of 
 plants, birds, and insects, that have been greatly admired for 
 tlieir accuracy and close colouring ; but they want that effect 
 which the proper application of light and shade never fails to 
 produce. The coloured prints of Europe, that are canied out 
 to Canton, ai'C copied there with wonderful fidelity. But in 
 doing this, they exercise no judgment of their o\\n. EAcry de- 
 fect and blemish, original or accidental, they are sure to cop}' ; 
 being mere servile imitators, and not in the least feeling Uie 
 force or the beauty of any specimen of tlie arts that may come 
 before them : for the same person, \\ho is one dayemplojed in 
 copying a beautiful European print, will sit down the next to 
 a Chinese drawii^, replete with absurdity. 
 
 Whatever may be the progress of the arts in the port of 
 Canton, they ai-e not likely to experience much improAcment 
 in the interior parts of the countr}', or in the capital. It was 
 rather die. pride of the monarch, and of his ministers, that 
 made tiiem reject the proposal of Castiglione to establish a 
 school for tile arts, than the apprehension, as stated by the mis- 
 sionaries, tiiat the rage for painting Mxjuld become so general 
 as to be prejudicial to useful labour. 
 
 In a country m here painting is at so lo^\" an ebb, it would be 
 in vain to expect much execution from the chissel. Grotesque 
 images of ideal beings, and monstrous distortions of nature, are 
 sometimes seen upon the ballustrades of bridges, and in their 
 temples, where tiie niches are filled \vith gigantic gods of baked 
 clay, sometimes painted with gaudy colours, and sometimes 
 plastered over with gold leaf, or covered with a coatof v:miish. 
 
220 ■ TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 They are as little able to model as to draw the human figure 
 with aiiy degree of correctness. In the whole empire there is 
 not a statue, a hewn pillai', or a column, that deserves to be 
 mentioned. Large four-sided blocks of stone or wood are fre- 
 quently erected near the gates of cities, with inscriptions upon 
 them, meant to peq:)etuate the memory of certain distinguished 
 characters ; but they aie neither objects of grandeur nor orna- 
 ment, having a much closer resemblance to a gallows than to 
 tiiumphal arches, as the missionaries, for Avhat reason I know 
 not, have thought fit to call them. 
 
 The intenti( )n of tliese monumental erections will appear 
 from some of their inscriptions. 
 
 Honour granted by the emperor. 
 
 The grateful odour of one hundred years. 
 
 Retirement, Tranquillity. 
 
 11. 
 
 Emperor^s order. 
 Peace and Happiness^ 
 
 The balm of life. ♦ 
 
 On a fortunate day, in the 8th month of the SOth year of the reign 
 of Kien-Longy this monument was erected by the emperor^s 
 order y in honour of Liang-tien-pe, 
 aged 102 years. 
 
 The two following are inscriptions on monuments that Iiavc 
 been erected to chaste women, a description of ladies whom 
 tlie Chinese consider to be rarely met with. 
 
 III. 
 
 Honour granted by the emperor. 
 Icy coldness. Hard frost. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The emperor's order. 
 
 The sweet fragrance of piety and virginity, 
 
 Subli^ie chastity. Pure morals. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 221 
 
 The whole of their architecture, indeed, is as unsighdv 
 as unsohd ; without elegance or convenience of design, and 
 without any settled proportion ; mean in its appeaiance, 
 and clumsy in the Avorkmanship. Their pagodas of five, 
 seven, and nine rounds, or roofs, are the most striking ob- 
 jects ; but though they appear to be the imitations or, per- 
 haps, more properly speaking, the models of a similar kind 
 of pyramids found in India, they are neither so well de- 
 signed, nor so well executed : they are, in fact, so -sery ill con- 
 structed, that half of them, without any marks of antiquity, ap- 
 pear in ruins ; of these useless and whimsical edifices his ma- 
 jesty's garden at Kew exhibits a specimen, \\ hich is not inferior 
 in any respect to the very best I have met w ith in China. The 
 height of such strictures, and the badness of the materials w ith 
 which they aie usually built, contradict the notion that they 
 assign as a reason for the lowness of tlieir houses, which is, 
 that they may escape being throAMi down by earthquakes. In 
 fact, the tent stands confessed in all their dwellings, of which 
 the curved roof and the wooden pillars (in imitation of the poles) 
 forming a colonnade round the ill-built brick \\alls, clearly de- 
 note the origin ; and from this original foitn they have never 
 ventured to deviate. Their temples are mostly constructed 
 upon the same plan, with the addition of a second, and some- 
 times a third roof, one above the other. The wooden pilhirs 
 tliat constitute the colonnade are generally of larch fir, of no 
 settled proportion bet\\ een the length and the diameter, and 
 they ai*e invariably painted red, and sometimes covered with a 
 coat of varnish. 
 
 As custom ajid fashion are not the same in any two coun- 
 tries, it has been contended by many that there can be no 
 such thing as true taste. The advocates for taste arising out 
 of custom will say, tliat no solid reason can be offered why 
 the pillar which supports the Doric capital should be t\\o 
 diameters shorter than that which sustains the Corinthian ; 
 and that it is the habit only of seeing diem thus constructed 
 that constitutes their propriety. Though the respective beau 
 ties of these particular columns may, in part, be felt from 
 the habit of observing them always retaining a settled pro- 
 portion, yet it must be allowed that, in the most perfect 
 works of nature, there appeai-s a certain harmony and agree- 
 ment of one part with another, that, without any settled pro- 
 pgrtion, seldoi;i fail to please. Few people will disagree in 
 
222 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 their ideas of a handsome tree, or an elegant flower, though 
 tliere be no fixedproportion between the trinik and the branches, 
 the flower and the foot- stalk. Proportion, therefore, alone, is 
 not sufficient to constitute beauty. There must be no stiffl 
 ness, no sudden breaking oflf from a straight line to a curve ; 
 but the changes should be easy, not visible in any particular 
 part, but running imperceptibly tlirpugh the whole. Utility 
 has also been considered as one oT the constituent parts of 
 beauty. In the Chinese column, labouring under an enor- 
 mous mass of roof, without either base or capital, there is 
 neither synuTietry of parts, nor ease, nor pai'ticular utility. 
 Nor have the large ill-shapen and unnatural figures of lions, 
 dragons, and serpents, grinning on the tops and corners of 
 the roofs, any higher pretensions to good taste, to utility, or 
 to beaut3\ 
 
 '^ The architecture of the Chinese," says one of their enco- 
 miasts, " though it bears no relation to that of Europe, though 
 *' it has borrowed nothing from that of the Greeks, has a cer- 
 * ' tain beauty peculiar to itself. " It is, indeed, peculiar to itself; 
 and the missionaries may be assured tliey are the only persons 
 who will e^'er discover " real palaces in the mansions of the 
 emperor," or to whom, " their immensity, symmetry, and 
 *' magnificence, will amiounce the grandeur of the master who 
 " inhabits them." 
 
 The house of a prince, or a great officer of state, in the 
 capital, is not much distinguished from that of a tradesman, 
 except by the greater space of ground on which it stands, 
 and by being surrounded by a high wall. Our lodgings in 
 Pekin were in a house of this description. The gi'ound plot 
 was four hundred by three hundred feet, and it was laid out 
 into ten or twelve courts, some having tw o, some three, and 
 others four, tent-shaped houses, standing on stone terraces, 
 raised about tlii-ee feet above the court, \diich was paved with 
 tiles. Galleries of communication, forming colonnades of red 
 wooden pillai-s, were carried from each building, and from 
 one court to another, so that every piut of the house might 
 be visited without exposure to the sun or the rain. The 
 number of wooden pillars, of which the colonnades were 
 formed, was about 900. Most of the rooms were open to 
 the rafters of the roof; but some had a slight ceiling of 
 bamboo laths covered with plaister; and the ladies apart- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 223 
 
 ments consisted of two stories; the upper, hov.ever, had 
 no light, and was not so good as our common attics. The 
 floors were laid with bricks or clay. The \\indov. s had. no 
 glass; oiled paper, or silk gauze, or pearl shell, or horn, were 
 used as substitutes for this article. In the corners of some 
 of the rooms were holes in the ground, co\ered o\er \\ith 
 stones or wood, intended for lire-places, from whence the 
 heat is conveyed, as in the houses of ancient Rome, through 
 flues in the floor, or in the walls, the latter of A\hich are ge- 
 nerally A\ hitened with lime made from shells, and imported 
 from the sea coast. One room was pointed out to us as the 
 theati-e. The stage was in the middle, imd a soil of gallery 
 was erected in front of it. A stone room A\as built in the 
 midst of a piece of water, in imitation of a passage vacht, 
 and one of the courts was roughened w ith rocks, ^vith points 
 and precipices and excavations, as a representation of nature 
 in miniature. On the ledges of these were meant to be placed 
 their favourite flowers and stunted trees, for w hich the}' are 
 famous. 
 
 There is not a water-closet, nor a decent place of retirement, 
 in all China. Sometimes a stick is placed oxer a hole in a 
 comer, but in general tliey make use of large earthen jars, 
 with naiTO\v tops. In the great iiouse we occupied ^\•as a 
 walled inclosure, \\ith a row of small square holes of brick 
 work sunk in the ground. 
 
 Next to the pagodas, the most conspicuous objects are the 
 gates of cities. These are generally squiUT buildings, carried 
 several stories above the arched gateway, and, like the tem- 
 ples, are covered ^\ ith one or more large projecting roofs. 
 But tlie most stupendous w^ork of this country- is the great 
 wall that divides it from northern Tartary. It is built exactiv 
 upon the same plan as the wall of Pekin ; being a mound of earth 
 cased on each side with bricks or stone. The astonishinj^- 
 magnitude of the iabrick consists not so m.uch in the plan of die 
 work as in the immense distance of fifteen hundred miles, 
 over which it is extended, over mountains of two and three 
 thousand feet in height, across deep valleys and rivers. But 
 the elevations, plans, and sections of this wall, and its towers, 
 have been taken, with such ti'uth and accuracy, by the late 
 captain Parish, of the royal artillery, that all further descrip- 
 tion would be supei-fluous. Tliey ai-e to be found in Sij- 
 George Staunton's valuable account of the embassy to China. 
 
224 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The same emperor, who is said to have committed the 
 barbai-ous act of destroying the A\'oi-ks of tlie learned, raised 
 this stapendous fabric, Avhich has no parallel in the whole 
 vrorld, not even in the pyramids of Egypt ; the magnitude 
 of the largest of these containing only a very small portion 
 of the quantity of matter comprehended in the great wall of 
 China. This, indeed, is so enormous, that, admitting (what 
 I believe has never been denied) its length to be fifteen hun- 
 dred miles, and the dimensions throughout pretty much the 
 same as where it was crossed by the British embassy, the ma- 
 terials of all the dwelling-houses of England and Scotland, 
 supposing them to amouiit to one million eight hundred 
 thousand, and to average on the whole two thousand cubic 
 feet of masonry or brick- work, are barely equivalent to the 
 bulk or solid contents of the great wall of China. Nor are 
 the projecting massy towers of stone and brick included in 
 this calculation. These alone, supposing them to continue 
 thi'oughout, at bow-shot distance, were calculated to contain 
 as much masonry and brick- work as all London. To give 
 another idea of the mass of matter in this stupendous fabric, 
 it may be observed, that it is more than sufficient to suiTOund 
 the circumference of the earth on two of its great circles with 
 two walls, each six feet high and two feet thick ! It is to 
 be understood, however, that in this calculation is included 
 the eaithy part in the middle of the wall. 
 
 Turning from an object, which the great doctor Johnson 
 was of opinion would be an honour to any one to say that his 
 grandfather had seen, another presents itself, scarcely inferior in 
 point of grandeur, and greatly excelling it in general utility. 
 This is what has usually been called the imperial or grand canal, 
 an inland navigation of such extent and magnitude as to stand 
 unrivalled in the history of the world. I may safely say that, 
 in point of magnitude, our most extensive inland navigation of 
 England can no more be compai-ed to the grand trunk that 
 intersects China, than a park or garden fish-pond to the great 
 lake of Winndermere. The Chinese ascribe an antiquity to 
 this work, higher, by many centuries, than to that of the great 
 wall : but the Tartars pretend it was first opened in the thir- 
 teenth century, under the Mongul government. The probabi- 
 lity is, that an effeminate and shameful administration had suf- 
 fered it to fall into decay, and that the more active Tartars 
 caused it to undergo a tliorough repair; at present it exhibits no 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 225 
 
 appearances of great antiquit}\ The bridges, the stone piers of 
 the flood-giites, die quays, and the retaining walls of the earthen 
 embankments, aie compai-atively new. Whedier it has origi- 
 nally been constructed by Chinese or Tai'tars, the conception 
 of such an undertaking, and the manner in \\ hich it is executed, 
 imply a dcgice of science and ingenuity beyond ^\•hat I suspect 
 we should now find in the countiy, eitlier in one or the other 
 of these people. The general surface of the countiy, and other 
 f u'ourabie circumstances, have contributed very materially to 
 assist the projector ; but a great deal of skill and management, 
 as well as of immense labour, ai'e conspicuous throughout the 
 \vho\t work. 
 
 I shall endeavour to convey, in a few \\'ords, a general idea of 
 the principles on \vhich this grand undertaking has been carried 
 on. All tiic ri\ers of iiotc in China fall fi-om the high lands of 
 Tartary, which lie to the nortlward ef Thibet, crossing the 
 plains of this empire in their descent to the sea from west to 
 cast. The iiiland navigation, being carried from north to south, 
 cuts these ri\ers at right angles, the smaller streams of which, 
 terminating in it, aftbrd a constant supply of water ; and the 
 three great rivers, the Eu-ho to the north, the Yellow-river to- 
 wards the middle, and the Yang-tse-kiang to the south, inter- 
 secting the canal, carry oil' the superfluous water to the sea. 
 The former, therefore, ai^e the feeders, and the latter the dis- 
 chargers, of the great trunk of the canal. A number of diffi- 
 culties must have arisen in accommodating the general level of 
 the canal to the several levels of the feeding streams ; for, notwith- 
 standing all the favourable circumstances of the face of the 
 country, it has been found necessary, in many places, to cut 
 do\\"n to the depth of sixty or se^'enty feet below tlie surface, and, 
 in others, to raise mounds of earth upon lakes and sw-amps and 
 marshy grounds, of such a length and magnitude that nothing 
 short of the absolute command o\'er multitudes could have ac- 
 complished an undertaking, whose immensity is only exceeded 
 hv the great wall. These gigantic embankments are some- 
 times carried through lakes of several miles in diameter, be- 
 t\\een v\hich the water is forced up to a licight consideraI)ly 
 uho^•e that of the lake ; and in such situations we sometimes ob- - 
 served this enormous aqueduct, gliding along at the rate of three 
 miles an hour. I'ew parts of it are le\'el : in some places it has 
 little or no cuiTcnt; one day we had it setting to the southwai-d 
 at the rate of one, tvv*o, or three miles an hour, the next to the 
 
 Ff 
 
226 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 northward, and frequently, on the same day, we found it station- 
 ar}', and running into opposite directions. This balancing of 
 the level \\as eflccted by flood-gates throAvn across, at certain 
 distances, to elevate or depress the height of the water a fe^v 
 inches, as might appear to be necessary : and these stoppages 
 are simply planks sliding in grooves," that are cut into the sides 
 of two stone abutments, which, in these places, contract tlie 
 canal to the a\ idth of about thirty feet. There is not a lock, n(»\ 
 except these, a single interruption to a continued navigation 
 of six hundred miles. 
 
 The most remarkable parts of this extraordinary -work a\ ill 
 be noticed in a follo"\\ ing chapter, descriptiA e of our journey 
 tlirough the empire. 
 
 0\er this main trunk, and most of the other canals and riAers, 
 are a great vaiuety of bridges, some with arches that are pointed 
 not unlike the gothic, some semicircular, and others shaped 
 like a horse-shoe : some have tlie piers of such aji extraordiniiry 
 height, tliat the kirgest vessels, of two hundred tons, sail under 
 them without striking their masts. Some of their bridges, of 
 three, five, and seven arches,* that cross the canal, are extreme- 
 ly light and beautiful to the eye ; but the plan on \\ hich they ai'c 
 usually constructed does not imply much strength. Each 
 stone, from five to ten feet in length, is cut so as to form a seg- 
 ment of the arch ; and as, in such cases, there is no key-stone, 
 ribs of wood, fitted to the con\exity of tlie arch, are bolted 
 through the stones by iron bai's, fixed fast into the solid parts of 
 the bridge. Sometimes, how ever, they are without wood, and 
 the curved stones are morticed into long ti'ansverse blocks of 
 stone. 
 
 Tliere are, however, other arches, wherein the stones arc 
 smaller and pointed to a centre, as in ours. I have understood, 
 from the late captain Piuish, that no masonry could be superior 
 to that of the great wall, and that all the arched and vaulted work 
 in the old towers was exceedingly well turned. This being 
 the case, we may probably be not far amiss in allowing the 
 Chinese to have employed this useful and ornamental prnt of 
 architecture before it \\ as knoM n to the Greeks and the Ro- 
 mans. Neither the Egyptians nor the Persians apj)car at any 
 time to have applied it in their buildings. The ruins of Thebes 
 and of Persepolis ha\'e no arches, nor have those of Balbec and 
 
 * A bridge with ninetj-one arches will be noticed in n subsernirnt ch:.];t>'i-, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 22r 
 
 Palm}Ta ; nor do they seem to have been much used in the 
 magnificent buildings of the Romans, antecedent to the time of 
 Augustus. The grand and elegant columns of all these nations 
 \\ere connected by straight architra\cs of stone, of dimensions 
 not inferior to the columns themselves. In the Hindoo ex- 
 ca^ ations are arches cut out of the solid moimtain ; but when 
 loose stones were employed, and a building ^^'as intended to 
 be supefstructed on cohunns, the stones above the capitals 
 were overlaid like inverted steps, till they met in a point in the 
 middle above the two columns, ajjpearing at a little distimcc 
 exactly like the Gotliic ai'ch, of which this might have given the 
 first idea. If, then, the antiquity be admitted, which the Chi- 
 nese ascrii)e to the building of the great wall, and no reason, 
 but a negative one, (the silence of Marco Polo) has been of- 
 Ibred against it (an ol:)jection easily refuted), tliey have a claim 
 to the invention of the ai-ch, founded on no unsolid grounds. 
 
 The cemeteries, or repositories of the dead, exhibit a much 
 gi'eater variety of monumental architecture than the dwellings 
 (^f the living can boast of. Some, indeed, deposit the remains of 
 their ancestors in houses that difter in nothing from those they 
 iiilrdbited while living, except in their diminuti\e size ; others 
 jjrefer a squai-e vault, ornamented in such a manner as fanc}' may 
 suggest ; some make choice of a hexagon to co^•er the deceased, 
 and others of an octagon. The roun(|, the triangular, the square, 
 and multanguliu' column, is indifferently raised over the graA-e 
 of a Chinese ; but the most common form of a monument to 
 the remains of persons of rank consists in three ten'aces, one 
 above another, inclosed by circular \vi\\\s. The door or en- 
 trance of the \'ault is in the centre of the uppermost terrace, 
 (•t)\ered with an appropriate inscription ; and figures of sla\"cs 
 and horses and cattle, with other creatures that, when li\ing, 
 N\cre subserA'icnt to them, and added to their pleasures, are cm- 
 ployed after their death, to decorate the terraces of their 
 tombs. 
 
 " Qiix gratia currum 
 " Armoruraque fuit vivis, qux cura nitentes 
 *' Pascere equos, caclcm scquitur telliire repostos." 
 
 ViRGII.. .-Ekeid vi. 
 
 " Those pleasing- cares the heroes felt, alive, 
 
 " For chariots, steeds, and arms, in death survive." Pii t. 
 
228 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 It may be considered as supeifluous, after what has been 
 said, to observe, that no branch of natural philosophy is made 
 a study, or a pursuit, in China. The practical application 
 of some of the most obviaus effects, produced by naturiil 
 causes, could not escape the observation of a people \\ ho had, 
 at an early period, attained so, high a degree of civilization ; 
 but, satisiied \vith the practical part, they pushed tlieir en- 
 quiries no further. Of pneumatics, hydiostatics, electricity, 
 and magnetism, they may be said to have little or no kno^v- 
 ledge; and their optics extend net beyond the making of 
 com'cx and concave lenses of rock crystal, to assist the siglit in 
 magnifying or throwing more rays upon small objects, and, by 
 collecting to a focus the rays of the sun, to set fire to com. 
 bustible substances. These lenses are cut with a saw, and 
 afterwards polished; the powder of cr^-stal being used in 
 both operations. To polish diamonds they make use of the 
 powder of adaniantine spai-, or the corundum stone. In cut- 
 ting different kinds of stone into groupes of figures, houses, 
 mountains, and sometimes into "whole landscapes, they dis- 
 cover more of persevering labour, of a determination to sub- 
 due difficulties, ^ihich were not "worth the subduing, tlian 
 real ingenuity. Among the many remai'kable instiinccs of 
 this kind of labour, there is one in the possession of the right 
 honourable Charles Greville, that deserA-es to be noticed. It 
 is a groupe of w^ell-formed, exca-v^ated, and highl}^ ornamented 
 botdes, covered Avith foliage and figures, raised in the maii- 
 ner of the antique Cameos, with moveable ring-handles, 
 standing on a base or pedestal, the ^^•hole cut out of one solid 
 block of clear rock crystal ; yet this laborious trifle was 
 probably sold for a few dollars in China. It \;as bought in 
 London for about thirty pounds, where it could not ha^c 
 been made for many times that sum, if, indeed, it could have 
 been made at all. All their spectacles, that I hai-e seen, ^vcrc 
 crystal set in horn, tortoise-shell, or ivory. The single nii- 
 croscope is in common use ; but they have never hit upon 
 the effect of approximating objects by combining two or 
 more lenses ; a cliscover}-, indeed, to ^A^hich, in Euroj}c, \\c 
 sore more indebted to chance than to the result of scientific 
 enquiry. I observed at Yuen-m.in-yucn a rude kind of magic 
 lantern, and a camera obscura, neither of which, aItlioup;h 
 evidently of Chinese workmanship, appcai- to wear the marks 
 of a national invention. I should rather conclude that they 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 229 
 
 were part of those striking and curious experiments which 
 the early Jesuits displayed at court, in order to astonish the 
 emperor with their profound skill, and raise their reputation 
 as men of learning'. Of the ombres Chinoises they ma}-, 
 perhaps, claim the invention, and in pyrotechny their inge- 
 nuity may be reckoned much superior to any thing which 
 has "hitherto been exhibited in that art in Europe. 
 
 A convex lens is among the usual appendagxs to the tobac- 
 co pipe. With these tliey are in the daily habit of lighting 
 their pipes. Hence, the great burning lens, made by Mr. 
 Parker of Fleet-street, and earned out among the presents 
 for the emperor, was an object that excited no admiration in 
 the minds of the Ciiinese. The difficulty of making a lens 
 of such magnitude perfect, or free from Haw, and its extra- 
 ordinary powers, could not be understood, and consequently 
 not appreciated by them ; and although, in the short space 
 of four seconds, it completely melted down or.e of their base 
 copper coins, when the sun was more than forty degrees be- 
 yond the meridian, it made no impression of surprise on tlieir 
 uninformed minds. The only enquiry they made about it 
 was, ^\ hether the substance vras crystal ; but being informed 
 it WHS glassj they turned away \vith a sort of disdain, as if 
 the}"" would say, Is a lump of glass a proper present to ofier 
 to our great Whang-tee? The prime minister, Ho-tchung- 
 tong, in order to convince us how very familiar articles of 
 such a nature Averc to him, lighted his pipe very composedly 
 at the focus, but had a narrow escape from singing liis satin 
 sleeve, Avhicli would certainly have happened, had I not given 
 him a sudden push. He seemed, however, to be insensible 
 of his danger, and walked oif w-ithout the least concern. 
 
 Indeed, in selecting the many \'aluable presents relating to 
 science, their knowledge and learning had been greatly oxcv. 
 rated. They had little esteem for what they could not com- 
 prehend ; and specimens of art ser\-ed onl\- to excite their 
 j(^alousy, and to wound their pride. Whenever a future 
 embass}' shall be sent to Pekin, I should recommend articles 
 of gold, silver, and steel, children's toys and trinkets, and 
 perhaps a few specimens of Derbyshire spar, a\ ith the finest 
 broad-cloth and kerse)'meres, in preference to all others ; for 
 in their present state, they are totally incapable of appreciating 
 any thing great or excellent in the arts and yelences. 
 
230 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 To allcN late the afflictions of mankind, and to assuage the 
 pains Mhicli the human frame is Hablc to suffer, must ha\'C 
 been among the carhest studies of civilized society; and, 
 accordingly, in the history of ancient kingdoms, we find the 
 ]:)ractitioners of the healing ait regaixled even to adoration. 
 Chiron, the preceptor of Achilles, and the master of j^scu- 
 lapius, ■v\'as transferred to the lieavens, where he still shines 
 \!ndcr the name of Sagittarius. Among those nations, in- 
 deed, A\hich we call savage, there is usually shewn a more 
 than ordintiry respect for such of their countiymen as arc 
 most skilled in removing obstructions, allaying tumours, 
 healing bruises, and, generally speaking, "\\"ho can apply relief 
 to miser)'. But the Chinese, who seem to differ in their opi- 
 nions from all the rest of mankind, ^^•hether civilized or savage, 
 pav little respect to the thcrapeutick art. They ha-ve esta- 
 blished no public schools for the study of medicine, nor does 
 the pursuit of it lead to honours, rank or fortune. Such as 
 take up the profession are generally of an inferior class ; and 
 the eunuchs aiiout the palace are considered among their best 
 physicians. According to their own account, the books on 
 medicine escaped die lire, by which they pretend the works 
 of learning were consumed, in the reign of Shee- whang-tee, 
 t\\ o himdred years before the Christian era ; and yet, the best 
 of their medical books of the present day ai^c little better than 
 mere herbals, specifying ,the names, and enumerating the 
 qualities, of certain plants. The knowledge of these plants, 
 and of their supposed virtues, goes a great way towards con- 
 stituting a physician. Those most commonly employed ^re 
 gin-sing, rhubarb, and China-root. A few preparations ai'e 
 also found in their pharmacopoeia from the animal and the 
 mineral kingdoms. In the former they employ snakes, bee- 
 tles, centipedes, and the aurcliae of the silk worm and otlicr 
 insects ; the meloe and the bee are used for blisters. In tlic 
 latter, saltpetre, sulphur, nati\'e cinnabai', and a few other 
 articles, are occasionally prescribed. Opium is taken as 
 a medicine, but more generally as a cordial to exhilarate the 
 spirits. Though the importation of this diug is strictly pro- 
 liibited, yet, as I have before observed, vast quantities are 
 annual!}' smuggled into the country from Bengal and from 
 Kurope, through the connivimce of the custom-house off.- 
 ccrs. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 231 
 
 The ph)'siology of the human body, or the doctilne which 
 explains thtt constitution of man, is neitlier understood nor 
 considered as necessary to be known ; and their skill in patho- 
 logy, or in the causes and effects of diseases, is extremely 
 limited, very often absurd, and generally erroneous. Tlie 
 seats of most diseases are, in fact, supposed to be discoverable 
 by feeling the pulse, agreeably to a system built upon princi- 
 ples the most \n ild and extravagant. Having no knowledge 
 whatsoe\'er of the circulation of the blood, not\\ith standing 
 the Jesuits have made no scruple in asserting it \\'as a\c11 kno\\-n 
 to them long before Europeans had any idea of it, they 
 imagine that every particular piut of the human bod\' has a 
 particular pulse assigned to it, and that these ha^•e all a cor- 
 responding and sympathetic pulse in the arm ; thus, they 
 suppose one pulse to be situated in the heart, another in the 
 lungs, a third in the kidneys, and so forth ; and the skill of 
 the doctor consists in discovering the pre\ ailing pulse in the 
 body, by its sympathetic pulsations in the arm ; and the 
 mummeiy made use of on such occasions is highly ludi- 
 crous. 
 
 By eating too freely of \mripc fruit at Chu-san, I had a 
 violent attack of cholera morbus ; and, on application being 
 made to the governor for a little opium and rhubarb, lie im- 
 mediately dispatched to me one of his physicians. With a 
 countenance as grave, and a solemriity as settled, as ever w;is 
 exhibited in a consultation o\er a doubtful case in London 
 or Edinburgh, he fixed his eyes upon the ceiling, wlule lie 
 held my kind, beginning at the \\ rist, and proceeding to- 
 wards the bending of the elbow, pressing sometimes hard 
 wldi one linger, and then light with anotlier, as if he was 
 nnining over the keys of a harpsichoid. This peribrmance 
 continued about ten minutes, in solemn silence ; after \\hich 
 he let go my hand, and pronounced my complaint to ha^■e 
 arisen from eating something that had disagreed M'ith the 
 stomach. I shall not take upon me to decide whether this 
 conclusion was drawn from his skill in the pulse, or from a 
 conjecture of the nature of the complaint from the medicines 
 that had been demanded, and which met Avith his entire 
 approbation, or from a knowledge of the fact. 
 
 Le Compte, who had less re^ison to l)e cautious, from his 
 having left the country, than other missionaries wlio iu-c 
 doomed to remain there for life, positively says thnt the 
 
2J2 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 physicians al^\"ays endeavour to make thcmsehcs secretly 
 acquainted A\ith the case of the patient, before they pronounce 
 upon it ; as their reputation depends more on their assign- 
 ing the true cauie of the disorder than on the cure. He 
 then proceeds to tell a story of a friend of his, who, being 
 troubled with a swellirig, sent for a Chinese physician. 
 This gentleman told him very gravely that it was occiisioned 
 by a small worm which, unless extracted by his skill, would 
 ultim.ately produce gangrene and certain death. Accord- 
 ingly, one day, after the tumour, by the application of a 
 fe-\v poultices, was getting better, the doctor contrived to 
 drop upon the removed poultice a little maggot, for the ex- 
 traction of \\ hich he assumed to himself no sm.iiil desrrce of 
 
 o 
 
 merit. Le Compte's stories, howe\'er, are not always to be 
 depended on. 
 
 The priests are also a kind of doctors, and make plaisters for 
 a -variety of pui"poses, some to draw out the disease to the part 
 applied, some as charmis against the evil spirit, and others 
 which they pretend to be aphrodisiac ; all of which, and 
 the last in particular, ai'C in great demand among the wealthy. 
 In this respect the Chinese agree with^most nations of anti- 
 quity, whose priests were generally employed as physicians. 
 The number of quacks and -slenders of nostrums is immense in 
 e\erv city, who gain a livelihood by the credulity of the 
 multitude. One of this description exhibited, in the public 
 streets of Canton, a powder for sale, as a specific for the bite of 
 a snake; and to comince a crowd of its immediiite efiicacy, 
 he carried with him a species of this reptile, whose bite was 
 known to be extremely venemous. He applied the mouth of 
 the animal to the tip of his tongue, v hich began to swell so 
 ■\erv rapidly, that in a few minutes the mouth v. as no longer 
 able to contain it. The intumescence continued till it seemed 
 to bin-st, and exhibited a shocking sight of foam and blood, 
 during which the quack appeared in extrem.e agonies, and ex- 
 cited the commiseration of all the by-standcrs. In the height 
 of the paroxism, he applied a little of his powder to the nose 
 and the infiamcd member ; after wh.ich it gradually subrsided, 
 and the disorder disappeared. Tliough the probabilit}-, in the 
 city, of any one person being bit with a snake, was not less, 
 perhaps,than a hundred thousand to one, yet ever\- person pre- 
 sent bought of the miraculous powder ; till a sly fellow mali- 
 ciously suggested that the ^rhole of this scene might, probabl;.-, 
 
te 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 233 
 
 have been performed by means of a bladder concealed in the 
 
 moiith. 
 
 But the usual remedy for the bite of a snake is a topical ap- 
 plication of sulphur, or the bruised head of the same animal 
 that gave the wound. The coincidence of such an exti'avagant 
 idea, among nations as remote from each other as the equator 
 from the pole, is sufficiently remarkable. A Roman poet 
 observes, 
 
 " Q;ium nocuit serpens, fertur caput illiiis apte 
 •' Vulneribus jungi : sanat quern sauciat ips> " 
 
 ^. Ser .,de Medkina. 
 
 If to a serpent's Lite its head be laid, 
 Twill heal the wound which by itself was made. 
 
 The naked legs of the Hottentots are frequently stung by scor- 
 pions, and they invariably endeavour to catch the animal, which 
 they bruise and apply to the wound ; being confident of the 
 cure. The Javanese, or inhabitants of Java, are fully persuaded 
 of the efficacy of such application. And the author above 
 quoted observes, with regard to the sting of the insect, 
 
 '* Vulneribusque aptus, fertur revocare venenum." 
 
 Being applied to the wound, it is said to draw out the poison. 
 
 As it is a violation of good morals for n gentleman to be seen 
 in company with ladies, much more so to touch the hands of 
 the fair, the faculty, rather than lose a fee, though it commonly 
 amounts only to fifty tchen, or the twentieth part of six shillings 
 and eight-pence, have contri\cd an ingenious way of feeling a 
 lady's pulse : a silken cord, being made tlist to the wrist of the 
 patient, is passed through a hole in the wainscot into another 
 apiu-tment, where the doctor, applying his hand to the cord, 
 after a due observance of solemn mockery, decides upon the 
 case, and prescribes accordingly. About court, however, a par- 
 ticular class of eunuchs only are enti'usted with feeling the pulse 
 of the ladies. 
 
 The crov/ded manner in which the common people li\e to- 
 gether in small apartments in all the cities, the confined streets, 
 and, above all, the want of cleanliness in their persons, beget 
 sometimes contagious diseases, that sweep off whole tamjlles, 
 similar to tlie phgue. In Pekin, incredible numbers perish in 
 
 Gg 
 
234 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 these contagious fevers, which more frequently happen there 
 tlian in other parts of the empire, notwithstanding the moderate 
 temperature of the cUmatc. In the southern provinces they are 
 neither so general nor so fatal as might be expected, o\\ ing, I 
 believe, in a very great degree, to the universal custom among 
 the mass of the people of wearing vegetable substances next the 
 skin, which, being more cleanly, are consequently more whole- 
 some than clothmg made from animal matter. Thus, linen 
 and cotton art preferable to silk and woollen next the skin, 
 which should be worn only by persons of the most cleanly ha- 
 bits. Another antidote to the ill effects that might be expected 
 from want of cleanliness in their houses and tlieir persons, is the 
 constant ventilation kept up in the former, both by day and 
 night : during warm, m eather, they have no other door but an 
 open matted skreen ; and the windows are either entirely open 
 or of thin paper only. Notwithstanding their want of personal 
 cleanliness, they are little troubled vvith leprous or cutaneous 
 diseases, and they pretend to be totally ignorant of gout, stone, 
 or gra^'cl, which they ascribe to the preventive effects of tea. 
 In flivour of this opinion, it has been observed, by some of our 
 physicians, that, since the introduction of tea into common use, 
 cutaneous diseases have become much more rare in Great Bri- 
 tain than they ^vere before that period, which others have 
 ascribed, perhaps with more propriety, to the general use of 
 linen ; both, hov\'ever, may have been instrumental in produc- 
 ing the happy effect. 
 
 The ravages of the small-pox, wherever they make their ap- 
 pearance, ai^e attended \^ith a general calamit}-. Of these they 
 pretend to distinguish above forty different species, to each of 
 which they have given a particular name. If a good sort breaks 
 out, inoculation or, more properly speaking, infection by arti- 
 ficial means, becomes general. The usual way of communicat- 
 ing the disease is by inserting the matter, contained in a little 
 cotton wool, into the nostrils, or they put on the clothes of, or 
 sleep in the same bed with, such as may have had a favourable 
 kind ; but they never introduce the miatter by making any in- 
 cision hi the skin. This fatal disease, as appears from the re- 
 cords of the empire, was unknown before the tenth century, 
 when it was, perhaps, mtroduced by the Maliomedansof Arabia, 
 who, at that period, cai'ried on a considerable commerce wdth 
 Canton from the Persian gulf, and who, not long before, had 
 received it from the Saracens, when they invaded and con- 
 
k 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 235 
 
 quered the eastern empire. The same disease was likewise one 
 of those blessings which the mad crusades confeiTcd upon Ku- 
 rope ; since which time, to the close of the eighteenth century, 
 not a hope had been held out of its extirpation when, happil}', 
 the invaluable discovery of the cow-pock, or rather the general 
 application of that discovery, which had long been confined to 
 a paiticular district, has furnished abundant grounds to hope 
 that this desirable event may now be accomplished. 
 
 In some of the provinces, the lower orders of people are 
 said to be dreadfully afflicted \\ ith sore eyes ; and this endemic 
 complaint has been supposed to proceed from the copious use 
 of rice; a conjecture, appai'ently, withoutany kind of founda- 
 tion, as the Hindus and other Indian nations, ^^■hose whole diet 
 consists almost exclusively of this grain, are not particularly 
 subject to the like disease ; and in Egypt, both in ancient and 
 modern times, the opthalmia and blindness a\ ere much more 
 prevalent tlian in China ; }et rice was neither cultivated nor 
 knomi in that pail of Africa, until the reign of tlie caliphs, 
 when it was introduced from the eastward. The disease in 
 China, if prevalent there, may more probably be o\vuig to 
 their living in crowded and low liabitations, wherein there is a 
 peq^etual smoke from the fire, from tapers made of sandal wood, 
 dust, employed for marking the divisions of the day, from the 
 general use of tobacco, and from the miasma or noxious va- 
 pours exhaling from the dirt and ofilils \\ hich are collected in 
 or near their habitations. The organ of sight may also be relaxed 
 and rendered more susceptible of disease by the constant prac- 
 tice of washing the face, even in the middle of summer, with 
 wai'm water. I must observe how ever, that, in the course of 
 our long journey, we saw very few blind people, or persons 
 afflicted with sore eyes. 
 
 It will readily be inferred, from the short view which has 
 been taken of the state of society, that the disease occasioned 
 by an unrestrained and promiscuous intercourse of the sexes 
 cannot be very common in China. In fact, it is scarcely known ; 
 and the treatment of it is so little understood, in the few cases 
 Avhich do occur, that it is allowed to work its way into the 
 S5stem, and is then considered by them as an incurable leprosy. 
 On arriving at the northern extremity of the province of Can- 
 ton, one of our conductors had imprudently passed the night in 
 one of those houses where, by the license of government, fe- 
 males are allowed to prostitute tlieir persons in order to gain a 
 
23& rtAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 livelihood. Here, it seems, he had caught the infection, and, 
 after suffering a considerable degree of pain, and not less alarm, 
 he communicated to our physician the symptoms of liis 
 complaint ; of the nature and cause of which he was entirely 
 ignorant. He was a man of forty years, of a Aigorous consti- 
 tution and a gay cheerful temper, and had served as an officer, 
 in se-veral campaigns, from the different provinces of northern 
 Tai'taiy to the frontier of India ; yet, such a disease did not 
 consist with his knowledge. From this circumstance, and 
 many others of a similar kind, I conclude that, although it may 
 sometimes make its appearance in the capital, and even here 
 but A^ery rareh/, it has originally, and no long time ago, found 
 its Vva}' thither through the ports of Chu-san, Canton, and 
 Macao, A\here numbers ofabandoned woman obtain their sub- 
 sistence b}" selling their favours to such of every nation as ma}' 
 be disposed to purchase them. It is, in fact, sometimes called, 
 by the Chinese, the Canton-ulcer. 
 
 No male physician is ever allo\ved to prescribe for pregiiant 
 women ; and they consider it so great a breach of delicacy for 
 a man to be in the same room with a woman, when in labour, 
 that Avhate-^er difficulties may occur, the case is left entirely to 
 the woman ^A'ho attends her. There is not a man-midwife 
 in all China ; and }-et the want of them does not appear to be 
 injurious to that population. They could scarcely believe it 
 possible that, in Europe, men should be allowed to practise a 
 profession which, in their minds, belonged exclusively to the 
 other sex. 
 
 As a due kno\iledge of the organization of the human bod}', 
 of the poAA'crs and functions of the several parts, is attainable 
 only b}^ the study of practical anatomy, a study that would shock 
 the weak nerves of a timid Chinese, it will not be expected 
 that their surgical operations should cither be numerous or 
 neatly performed. The law, indeed, v/hich I have had occasion 
 to notice, and the effects produced by it, in t\\-o or three instan- 
 ces that occurred to our kno^vledge, will sufficiently explain the 
 veiy low ebb of chirurgiccil skill. No one will readily under- 
 take to perform the most simple operation, Avhere not only all 
 the direct consequences, but the contingencies, for forty days, 
 must lie at his door. They sometimes succeed in reducing a 
 dislocation, and in setting a simple fracture ; but, in difficult 
 and com]:)licate cases, the patient is generally abandoned to 
 chance. Amputation is never practised. In the course of our 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 237 
 
 whole journey, wherein Me passed through millions of people, 
 I do not recollect to have seen a single individual that had sus- 
 tained the loss of a limb, and but ver}' fe\v in any way maimed ; 
 from whence I conclude, that accidents are uncommon, or that 
 serious ones usually terminate in the loss of life. A Chinese is 
 so dreadfully afraid of a shaqD-cutting instrument, that he has 
 not even submitted to the operation of blood-letting ; though 
 the principle is admitted, as they are in the practice of drawing 
 blood by scarifying the skin, and applying cupping- vessels. In 
 certain complaints they burn the skin with small pointed irons, 
 made hot, and sometimes, after puncturing the pait with sil- 
 ver needles, diey set fire to the lea^'es of a species of Artimcsia 
 upon it, in the same manner as the Moxa in Japan is made use 
 of to cure, and even prevent, a number of diseases, but especially 
 the gout and rheumatism, the former of which is said to be un- 
 known in China. Cleansing the eai's, cutting corns, pulling the 
 joints till they crack, twitching the nose, thumping on the back, 
 and such like operations, arc annexed to the shaving profession, 
 by which thousands in every city gain a li\'elihood. In short, 
 the whole medical skill of the Chinese may be summed up in 
 the words of the ingenious doctor Gregor}-, from the informa- 
 tion he obtained from his friend doctor Gillan. ' ' In the greatest, 
 *' most ancient, and most civilized empire on the foce of the 
 " earth, an empire that was great, populous, and highly civi- 
 " lizcd two thousand years ago, -when diis country was as sa- 
 " vage as New Zealand is at present, no such good medical 
 " aid can be obtained, among the people of it, as a smart 
 " boy of sixteen, who had been but twelve months ap- 
 '' prentice to a good and well-employed Edinburgh sur- 
 " geon, might reasonably be expected to afford." Ifj" con- 
 tinues the doctor, " the emperor of China, the absolute 
 " monai'ch of tliree hundred and thirty-three millions of 
 *' people, more than twice as many as all Europe contains, 
 *' A\ere attacked with a pleurisy, or got his leg broken, it 
 " would be happy for him to get such a boy for his first phy- 
 " sician and serjeant-surgeon. The boy (if he had seen his 
 " master's practice in but one or two similar cases) would cer- 
 *' tainly kno\v how to set his imperial majesty's leg, and would 
 " probabh" cure him of his pleuris}-, which none of his own 
 " subjects could do." 
 
 Having thus given a slight sketch of tiic state of some 
 of the leading branches in science, arts, and manufactures, 
 
238 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 omitting purposely that of agriculture, which will be no- 
 ticed among the subjects of a future section, I think, upon 
 the whole, it may fairly be concluded that the Chinese have 
 been among the first nations, now existing in the world, to 
 arrive at a certain pitch of perfection, where, from tlie po- 
 licy of the government, or some other cause, they have re- 
 mained stationary : that they were civilized, fully to the same 
 extent they now are, more than two thousand years ago, at 
 a period when all Europe might be considered, compara- 
 tively, as barbarous; but that they have since made little 
 progress in any thing, and been retrograde in many things : 
 that, at this moment, compared with Europe, they can only 
 be said to be great in tiifles, whilst they are really trifling 
 in every thing that is great. I cannot, however, exactly 
 subscribe to an opinion pronounced on them by a learned 
 and elegant writer,* (who was well versed in Oriental lite- 
 rature) as being rather too unqualified ; but he was less ac- 
 quainted with their character than that of any other Asiatic 
 nation, and totally ignorant of their language. " Their 
 *' letters," says he, " if we may so call them, are merely 
 " the symbols of ideas; their philosophy seems yet in so 
 "rude a state, as hardly to deserve the appellation; they 
 *' have no ancient monuments fi^om which their origin can 
 *• be traced, even by plausible conjecture ; their sciences 
 " are wholly exotic ; and their mechanical arts have nothing 
 *' in them characteristic of a particular family; notliing 
 " which any set of men, in a country so highly favoured by 
 " nature, might not have discovered and improved." 
 
 * Sir William Jones. 
 
CHAP. VII. 
 
 GOVERNMENT— LAWS— TENURES OF LAND AND TAXES— RE- 
 VENUES— CIVIL AND MILITARY RANKS AND ESTABLISH- 
 
 ME NTS. 
 
 Opinions on which the Executive Authority is grounded. — Principle on which aa 
 Emperor of China seldom appears in pubhc. — The Ccnsoratc. — Public De- 
 partments. — Laws. — Scale of Crimes and Punishments. — Laws regarding 
 Homicide. — Curious Law Case. — No Appeal from Civil Suits. — Defects in the 
 Executive Government. — Duty of Obedience, and Power of personal Correc- 
 tion. — Russia and China compared. — Fate of the Prime Minister Ho-chang- 
 tong. — Yearly Calendar and Pekin Gazette, Engines of Government. — Free- 
 dom of the Press. — Duration of the Government attempted to be explained.— 
 Precautions of Government to prevent Insiu-rections. — Taxes and Revenues. — 
 Civil and Military Establishments. — Chinese Army, its Numbers and Appoint- 
 ments. — Conduct of the Tartar Government at the Conquest. — Impolitic 
 Change of late Years, and the probable Consequences of it. 
 
 THE late period at M-hich the nations of Europe be- 
 came first acquainted with the existence even of that vast ex- 
 tent of country, comprehended under the name of China ; the 
 difficulties of access to any part of it, when known ; the pecu- 
 liar nature of the language a\ hich, as I have oideavoured to 
 prove, lias no relation \\ith anj'- other, eidier ancient or mo- 
 dern ; the extreme jealousy of the government towards fo- 
 reigners ; and the contempt in which they v\ere held bv' the 
 lowest of the people, may serve, among other causes, to ac- 
 count for the very limited and imperfect knowledge we 
 have hitherto obtained of the real histoiy of this extraordina- 
 ry empire : for their records, it seems, are by no means de- 
 ficient. For tvv^o centuries, at least, before the Christian aera, 
 down to the present time, the transactions of each reign are 
 amply detailed, without any inten'uption. They have even 
 preserved collections of copper coins, forming a regular series 
 of die different emperors that have filled the throne of China 
 for the last two thousand yeai-s. Such a collection, though 
 
240 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 not quite complete, Sir George Staunton brought with him to 
 
 England. 
 
 Before this time, when China consisted of a number of petty 
 states or principalities, the annals of the country are said to 
 abound \\'ith recitals of wars, and battles, and bloodshed, like 
 those of every other pail of the world. But, in proportion as 
 the number of these distinct kingdoms diminished, till at length 
 they ^^■cre all melted and amalgamated into one great empu'e, 
 the destruction of die human race, by human means, abated, 
 and the government, since tliat time, has been less interrupted 
 by foreign war, or domestic commotion, than any other that 
 history has made kno^\'n. But, \\hether this desirable state of 
 public tranquillity may have been brought about by the pecu- 
 liar nature of the government being adapted to the genius and 
 habits of the people, which, in the opinion of Aristotle, is the 
 best of all possible governments, or rather by constraining and 
 subduing the genius and habits of the people to the views and 
 maxims of the government, is a question that may admit of 
 some dispute. At the present day, however, it is sufficiently 
 evident, that the heavy hand of power has completely overcome, 
 and moulded to its o^vn shape, the physical character of the 
 people, and that their moral sentiments and actions are swayed 
 by the opinions, and almost under the entire dominion, of the 
 government. 
 
 These opinions, to which it owes so much of its stability, 
 are grounded on a principle of authority which, according to 
 maxims industriously inculcated, and now completely esta- 
 blished in the minds of the people, is considered as the natural 
 and unalienable right of the parent over his children ; an autho- 
 rity that is not supposed to cease at any gi\'en period of life or 
 yeai's ; but to extend and to be maintained with, undiminished 
 and uncontroled swa}', until the death of one of the parties dis- 
 solves the obligation. The emperor, being considered as the 
 common father of his people, is accordingly invested with the 
 exercise of the same authority over them as the father of a fa- 
 mily exerts on those of his particular household. In this sense 
 he takes the title of the Great Father ; and by his being thus 
 placed above any earthly conti-ol, he is supposed to be also 
 abo\e carthh- descent, and therefore, as a natural consequence, 
 he sometimes styles himself the sole ruler of the world and the 
 Son of Heaven.' But that no inconsistency might appear in 
 the grand f:\bric of hlial obedience, the emperor, with solemn 
 
k 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA* 341 
 
 ceremony, at the commencement of ever}'- new yeari makes 
 his prostrations before the empress dowager, and, on the same 
 day, he demands a repetition of the same homage from all his 
 great officers of state. Confonnably to tliis system, founded 
 entirely on parental authority, the governor of a pro\ince is 
 considered as the father of that province ; of a cit}-, the father 
 of that cit}^ ; and the head of any office or department is sup- 
 posed to preside over it with the same authorit}-, interest, and 
 affiiction, as the father of a family superintends and manages 
 the concerns of domestic life. 
 
 It is greatly to be lamented that a sj'stem of go^'ernment, so 
 plausible in theory, should be liable to so many abuses in prac- 
 tice ; and that this fatherly care and affi^ction in the go\cmors, 
 and filial duty and reverence in tlie goveiTied, ^\'ould, with much 
 more propriety be expressed by tlie terms of tyranny, oppres- 
 sion, and injustice in the one, and by fear, deceit, and disobe- 
 dience in the other. 
 
 The first grand maxim on which the emperor acts is, seldom 
 to appciU' before the public ; a maxim whose origin would be 
 difficultly traced to any principle of affection or solicitude for 
 his children ; much more easily explained as the offispring of 
 suspicion. The tyrant, who may be conscious of having com- 
 mitted, or assented to, acts of cruelty and oppression, must feel 
 a reluctance to mix with those v\ho ma}' have smiirted under 
 the lash of his power, naturally concluding that some secret 
 hand may be led, by a single blo\\% to avenge his own \\Tongs, 
 or tliose of his fellow-subjects. The principle, however, upon 
 which the emperor of China seldom shews himself in public, 
 and then only in the height of splendor imd magnificence, 
 seems to be established on a policy of a very diffiirent kind 
 from that of self-preser\'ation. A po\\'er that acts in secret, 
 and whose influence is felt near and remote at the same mo- 
 ment, makes a stronger impression on the mind, and is re- 
 garded ^vith more dread and a\\ ful respect, than if the agent 
 w ere ahvays visible, and familiar to the eye of e\cry one. "The 
 priests of the Eleusinian mysteries were well acquainted \^•ith 
 this feature of the human character, which is stronger in pro- 
 portion as the reasoning faculties are less improAcd, and which 
 required the enlightened mind of a Socrates to be able to dis- 
 regard die tcn-or they insjVired among tiie vulgar. Thus also 
 Deioccs, as Hercdotus inibrms us, when once established as 
 king in Kcbatana, would sufler none of the people, for whom 
 
 H h 
 
242 TRAVELS IN CHINA.' 
 
 before he was the common advocate, to be now admitted to his 
 presence ; conckiding that all tliose AAho \\ere debarred from 
 seeing him ^^ ould easily be persuaded that his nature, by be- 
 ing created king, ^\■as transformed into something much supe- 
 rior to theirs. A frequent access, indeed, to men of rank and 
 po\\-er and talents, a familiar and unrestrained intercourse with 
 them, and a daily observance of their ordinary actions and en- 
 gagements in the concerns of life, have a tendency very much 
 to diminish that re^•erence and respect ^vhich public opinion 
 had been willing to cillo\\- them. It was justly observed, by 
 the great Conde, that no man is a hero to his valet-dc-chambre. 
 
 Considerations of this kind, rather than any dread of his 
 subjects, may probably have suggested the custom which 
 prohibits an emperor of China from making his person too 
 familiar to the multitude, and which requires that he should 
 exhibit himself only on particular occasions, arrayed in pomp 
 and mag-nificence, and at the head of his whole court, consist- 
 ing of an assemblage of many thousand officers of state, the 
 agents of his will, all ready, at the word of command, to pro- 
 strate themseh'cs at his feet. 
 
 The povrer of the sovereign is absolute : but the patriarchal 
 system, making it a point of indispensable duty for a son to 
 bring oftbrings to the spirit of his deceased parent in the most 
 public manner, operates as some check upon tiie exercise of 
 this power. B}' this ci\"il institution, the duties of wliich are 
 obser\Td with more than a religious strictness, he is constantly 
 put in mind that the memory of his pri\'ate conduct, as well 
 as of his public acts, Avill long surviAC his natural life ; that his 
 name will, at certain times in every }'ear, be pronounced with 
 a kind of sacred and re\^erential aVie, from one extremity of 
 the extensiA'c empire to the other, provided he may have filled 
 his station to the satisfaction of his subjects ; and that, on the 
 contrary, public execrations will rescue from oblivion any ar- 
 bitraiy act of injustice and oppression, of which he may have 
 been guilty. It may also operate as a motive for being nice 
 and circumspect in the nomination of a successor, which the 
 law has left entirely to his choice. 
 
 The consideration, however, of posthumous fame would 
 operate only as a slender restraint on the caprices of a t}'rant, 
 as the history of this, as well as other countries, furnishes 
 abundant examples. It has, therefore, been thought necessary 
 to add another, and perhaps a more effectual, check, to curb 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 243 
 
 any disposition to licentiousness or tyranny that might lu-ise 
 in the breast of the monaixh. 'I'his is the appointment of the 
 censorate, an office filled by two persons, who hiwQ the po^\ er 
 of remonstrating freely agxiinst any illegal or unconstitutional 
 act about to be committed or sanctioned by the emperor. 
 And although it may well be supposed that these men are 
 extremely cautious in the exercise of the power delegated to 
 them, by virtue of their office, and in the discharge of this dis- 
 agreeable pait of dicir duty, }et the}^ have another task to 
 perform, on A\hich their own posthumous fame is not less 
 involved than that of their master, and in the execution of 
 which they run less risk of giving offence. They are the 
 historiogi'aphers of the empire ; or, more correctly speaking, 
 the biographers of the emperor. Their employment, in this 
 capacity, consists chief!}' in collecting the sentiments of the 
 monai-ch, in recording his speeches and memorable sayings, 
 and in noting down tlie most prominent of his private actions, 
 and the remarkable occurrences of his reign. These records 
 are lodged in a large chest, which is kept in diat part of the 
 palace where the tribunals of government are held, and which 
 is supposed not to be opened until the decease of the emperor ; 
 and, if any thing material to the injury of his character and 
 reputation is found to be recorded, the publication of it is de- 
 layed, out of delicacy to his famih', till two or three genera- 
 tions have passed away, and sometimes till the expiration of 
 the dynasty ; by this indulgence they pretend that a more 
 faithful relation is likely to be obtained, in which neither fear 
 nor flattery could ha\'e operated to disguise the truth. 
 
 An institution so remiu'kable and singular in its kind, in an 
 arbitrary government, could not fail to carry with it a \'ery 
 powerful influence upon the decisions of die monarch, and to 
 make him solicitous to act, on all occasions, in such a manner 
 as would be most likel}- to secure a good name, and to trans- 
 mit his chai'acter unsullied and sacred to posterity. The re- 
 cords of their history are said to mention a stor}^ of an empe- 
 ror, of the d}'nasty or family of Tang, who, from a conscious- 
 ness of having, in several instances, transgressed the bounds 
 of his authority, was determined to take a peep into the his- 
 torical chest, where he knew he should find all his actions re- 
 corded. Having made use of a A'^ariety of arguments, in order 
 to convince die two censors tliat there could be nothin,g im- 
 proper in the step he was about to take, as, among other things, 
 
244 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 he assured them, he ^^as actuated with the desire only of be- 
 ing made acquainted with his greatest faults, as the first step to 
 amendment, one of these gentlemen is said to have answered 
 him very nobly, totliis effect: " It is true, your majesty has 
 " committed many errors; and it has been the painful duty 
 *' of our employment to take notice of them ; a duty," conti- 
 nued he, " which obliges us to inform posterity of the con- 
 *' versation which your majesty has this day, very improperly, 
 *' held with us." ■ 
 
 To assist the emperor in the weighty affairs of state, and 
 in tlie arduous task of governing an empire of so great an ex- 
 tent, and such immense population, the constitution has as- 
 signed him two councils ; one ordinal*}-, the other extraordi- 
 nar}- : the ordinaay council is composed of his principal minis- 
 ters, under the name of callao, of which there are six. The 
 extraordinary council consists entirely of princes of the blood. 
 
 For the administration of the affairs of government there 
 are six boards or departments, consisting of, 
 
 1. The court of appointments to vacancies in tlie offices of 
 government ; being composed of the minister and learned 
 men, qualified to judge of the merits of candidates. 
 
 2. The court of finance. 
 
 3. The court of ceremonies, presiding over the direction 
 of ancient customs, and treating with foreign embas- 
 sadors. 
 
 4. The court for regulating military affairs, 
 
 5. The tribunals of justice, 
 
 6. The board of works. 
 
 These public functionaries resolve upon, recommend, and 
 report to the emperor, all matters belonging to their separate 
 jurisdictions, who, \Aith the advice of his ordinary, and, if 
 considered to be necessary, of his extraordinar}'- council, af- 
 firms, amends, or rejects their decrees. For this puq^ose, 
 the late emperor never omitted to give regular audience in 
 the great hall of the palace every morning at the hours of four 
 or li^e o'clock. Subordinate to these supreme courts, held 
 in the capital, are others, of similar construction, established 
 in the different provinces and great cities of the empire, each 
 of whicli coiTesponds with his principal in Pekin. 
 
 It would faj* exceed the limits of the present work,. Were I 
 to ^nter into a detail of their code of laws, which, indeed, I am 
 pot sufficiently prepiired to do. They are published for the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 245 
 
 use of the subject, in the plainest characters that the language 
 will admit, making sixteen small volinnes ; a copy of v.hicli is 
 now in England : and I am encouraged to hope that this com- 
 pendium oF the laws of China may, ere long, appear in an able 
 and faithful English translation, which Mill explain, more than 
 all the volumes that have hitherto been ^VTitten on the subject 
 of China, in what manner a mass of people (more than the 
 double of that which is found in all Europe ! ) has been kept 
 together, through so many ages, in one bond of union. Tliis 
 work,*- on the laws of China, for perspicuity and method, may 
 justly be compiu-ed with Blackstone's Commentiiries on the 
 Laws of England. It not only contains the la\\ s arranged 
 under tlieir respective heads, but to every law is added a short 
 commentary and a case. 
 
 I have been assured, on the best authorit}-, that the laws of 
 China define, in the most distinct and perspicuous manner, 
 iilmost every shade of criminal offences, and the punishment 
 awarded to each crime : that the greatest caie appears to liave 
 been taken in constructing this scale of crimes and punish- 
 ments ; tliat they iu^e very far from being sanguinary ; and 
 tliat, if the practice was equal to the theory, few nations could 
 boast of a more mild, and, at the same time, a more efficacious, 
 dispensation of justice. Of all the despotic governments ex- 
 isting, there is certainly none wherc the life of man is held so 
 sacred as in the laws of China. A murder is never overlook- 
 ed, except in the horrid practice of exposing infants ; nor 
 dares the emperor himself, all-po\\ erful as he is, take away the 
 life of the meanest subject, \\ jthout the formality at least of a 
 regular process, though, as will be seen in tlie case of the late 
 prime minister of Kien-Long, the cliance of escaping must be 
 very slender, where he hinuself becomes the accuser. So te- 
 naciously, howev er, do they adhere to that solemn declaration 
 of God, delivered to Noah — " At the hand of ever}' man's 
 " brother will I require die life of man. Whoso sheddeth 
 *' man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed," — that the 
 good intention is oftentimes defeated by requiring, as I have 
 elsewhere observed, from the person last seen n ith one u lio 
 may have received a mortal ^\■ound, or who may hnvG. died 
 suddenly, a circumstantial account, supported by evidence, 
 in vvliat manner his death was occasioned. 
 
 * It is called the Ta-tchin I.eu-Lee, the laws and institutes under the dynasty 
 Tn-tchinj which is the name assumed by the present family on the throne. 
 
246 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 In attempting to proportion punishments to the degrees of 
 crimes, instead of awarding the same punishment for stealing 
 a loaf of bread and taking away the Ufe of a man, the Chinese 
 legislators, according to our notions, seem to have made too 
 little distinction between actual manslaughter and premedita- 
 ted murder. To constitute the crime, it is not necessary to 
 prove the intention or malice aforethought ; for though want 
 of intention palliates the offence, and consequently mitigates 
 the punishment, yet it never entirely excuses the offender. If 
 a man should kill another by an unforeseen and unavoidable 
 accident, his life is forfeited by the law ; and however favour- 
 able the circumstances may appear in behalf of the criminal, 
 the emperor alone is invested with the power of remitting the 
 sentence; a power which he very rarely, if ever, exercises to 
 the extent of a full pardon, but, on many occasions, to a miti- 
 gation of the punishment awarded by law. Strictly speaking, 
 no sentence of death can be canied into execution, until it 
 has been ratified by the monaixh. Yet, in state crimes, or 
 in acts of great atrocity, the vicero}^ of a province sometimes 
 takes upon himself to order summary punishment ; and prompt 
 execution has been inflicted on foreign criminals at Canton, 
 when guilty only of homicide. Thus, about the beginning 
 of the last century, a man belonging to captain Shelvocke 
 had the misfortune to kill a Chinese on the ri\^er. The corpse 
 was kiid before the door of the English factor}^, and the first 
 person that came out, who happened to be one of the super- 
 cargoes, Mas seized, and carried as a prisoner into the city ; 
 nor^ Mould they consent to his release till the criminal was 
 gi\-cn up, whom, after a short enquiry, they strangled. The 
 recent afiiiir of the unfortunate gunner is ^vell known. An 
 affray happened in Macaoafewyeai's ago, in which a Chinese 
 Avas" killed by the Portuguese. A peremptory demand was 
 made for one' of the latter, to expiate the death of the former. 
 The government of this place, either unable or unwilling to 
 fix on the delinquent, proposed terms of compromise, which 
 -were rejected, and force was threatened to be used. There 
 happened to be a merchant at Manilla then residing at Macao, 
 a man of excellent character, who had long carried on a com- 
 mcrce bet\vecii the two ports. This unfortunate man wasi se- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 247 
 
 lected to be the innocent A'ictim to appease the rigour of Chi- 
 nese justice, and he was immediately stnuigled.*" 
 
 The process of every trial for criminal offences, of which 
 the punishment is capital, must be transmitted to Pekin, and 
 submitted to the impartial eye of the supreme tiibunal of jus- 
 tice, which affirms or alters, according to the natuie ot die 
 case. And where any peculiar circumstances appear in favour 
 of the accused, an order for revising the sentence is recommen- 
 ded to the emperor, who, in such cases, either amends it him- 
 self, or directs tlie proceedings to be returned to the provin- 
 cial court, with the sentence of tlie supreme tribunal on the 
 case. The proceedings are then revised ; and if the circum- 
 stances ai'c found to a})ply to the suggestions of the liigh court, 
 they alter or modify their former sentence accordingly.! 
 
 • Various accidents having happened at different times to Chinese sub- 
 jects in the port of Canton, which have generally led to disagreeable dis- 
 cussions with the Chinese government, the supercargoes of the East India 
 company thought proper, on a late occasion of a person being Avoundcd 
 by a shot from a British ship of war, to make application for an extract 
 from the criminal code of laws relating to homicide, in order to have the 
 same translated into English, and made public. This extract consisted 
 of the following articles : 
 
 1. A man who kills another on the supposition of theft, shall be strangled, 
 according to the law of homicide committed in an aflVay. 
 
 2. A man who fires at another with a musquct, and kills him thereby, 
 shall be beheaxled, as in cases of wilful murder. If the sufferer be 
 wounded, but not mortally, the offender shall be sent into exile. 
 
 3. A man who puts to death a criminal who had been apprehended, and 
 made no resistance, shall be strangled, according to the law against 
 homicide committed in an affray. 
 
 4. A man who falsely accuses an innocent person of theft (in cases of 
 greatest criminality) is guilty of a capital offence ; in all other cases 
 the offenders, whether principals or accessories, shall be sent into exile. 
 
 5. A man who wounds another unintentionally shall be tried according 
 to the law respecting blows given in an affray, and the punishment 
 rendered move or less severe, according to the degree of injury sus- 
 tained. 
 
 6. A man who, intoxicated with liquor, commits outrages against the 
 laws, shall be exiled to a desert country, ihere to remain in a state oi' 
 servitude. 
 
 In this clear and decisive manner are punishments awarded for every 
 rlabs of crimes committed hi society; and it was communicated to the 
 I'jigliih factory from the viceroy, that on no consideration was it left iu 
 the breast of the judge to extentiate or to exaggerate the sentence, what- 
 ever might be the rank, character, or station of tiie dehiiquent. 
 
 t The lollowing law-case, which is literally translated from a volume 
 «>f reports of trials, published in the present reign of Kia-Kingr, and witit 
 
248 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 As, In some of the Greciim states, and other nations of mo- 
 dem times, the punishment of treason ^vas extended to the re- 
 lations of the eriminal, so in Cliina, e^'en to the ninth genera- 
 tion, a traitor's blood is supposed to be tainted, though they 
 
 which I have been favoured by a Friend (who was himself the translator), 
 will serve to shew the mode of proceeding in criminal matters of the pix)- 
 vincial courts of judicature. The circumstances of the transaction appear 
 to have been enquired into fairly and impartially, and no pains spared to 
 ascertJun the exact degree of criminality. Being given to me about the 
 time when the trial took place of Smith, for the murder of the supposed 
 Hammersmith ghost, I was forcibly struck with the remarkable coin- 
 cidence of the two cases, and with the almost identical defence set up by 
 the Chinese and the English prisoners ; and on that account it excited 
 more interest than perhaps it might otherwise be considered to be entitled 
 to. 
 
 Translation of an Extract from a Collection of Chinese Law Pefiorts, 
 being the Jrial, Afijieal^ a?id Sentence^iipon ah Indictment for Ho7nicide 
 by Gun-firing. 
 
 At a criminal court held in the province of Fo-kien, upon an indictment 
 for shooting and mortally wounding a relation ; setting forth, that She- 
 fo-pao, native of the city of Fon-gan-sien, did fire a gun, and by mis- 
 chance, wound Vang-yung-man, so that he died thereof. 
 
 The case was originally reported, as follows, by Vu-se-king, sub-vice- 
 roy of the province of Fo-kien : 
 
 The accused She-fo-pao, and the deceased Vang-yung-man, were of 
 different families, but connected by marriage, were well known to each 
 other, and there had always been a good understanding between them. 
 
 In the course of the first moon, of the 25th year of Kien-long, Shc-fo- 
 pao cultivated a farm on the b^o^v of a hill belonging to Chin-se-kien, and 
 which lay in the vicinity of certain lands cultivated by \'^ang-yung'man 
 and Vang-ky-hao, inasmuch as that the fields of Vang-yung-man lay on 
 the left of those of She-fo-pao, which were in the center, and those of 
 Vang-ky-hao on the right side of the declivity of the hill. It occurred 
 that on the 7th day of the 9th moon of the same year, She-fo-pao observ- 
 ing the corn in his fields to be newly ripe, was apprehensive that thieves 
 might find an opportunity of stealing the grain ; and being aware, at the 
 same time, of the danger which existed on those hills from wolves and 
 tigers, armed himself with a musquet, and went that night alone to the 
 spot, in order to watch the com, and seated himself in a convenient place 
 on the side of the hill. It happened that Vang-ky-hao went that day to 
 the house of Vang-yung-man, in order that they might go together t«o 
 keep watch over the corn in their respective fields. However V^ang- 
 yung-tong, the elder brother of Vang-yung-man, conceiving it to be yet 
 early, detained them to drink tea and smoke tobacco until the second 
 watch * of the night, when they parted from him, and proceeded on their 
 expedition, provided witii large sticks for defence. 
 
 ' Eacb watch is two hours, and the second watch begins at eleven o'clock. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 249 
 
 usually satisfy the law by including only the nearest male re^ 
 lations, then living, in the guilt of the culprit, and by mitigating 
 their punishment to that of exile. Nothing can be more un, 
 just and absurd, however politic, than such a law ; absurd, 
 
 Vang-ky-hao having occasion to stop a short time upon the road, tlic 
 other, Vang-yung-man, went on before, until he reached the boundary of 
 the fields watched by She-fo-pao. 
 
 She-fo-pao, on hearing a rustling noise among the corn, and perceiving 
 the shadow of a person through the obscurity of the night, immediately 
 hailed him ; but the wind blowing very fresh, he did not hear any reply. 
 She-fo-pao then took alarm, on the suspicion that the sound proceeded 
 from thieves, or else from wild beasts, and lighting the match-lock, which 
 he held in his hand, fired it off, in oixier to repel the invaders, whoever 
 they might be. 
 
 Vang-yung-man was wounded by the shot in the head, cheeks, neck, 
 and shoulder, and instantly fell to the ground. Vang-ky-hao healing the 
 explosion, hastened forward, and called aloud to know who had fired the 
 gun. The other heard the voice, and going to the place from whence it 
 proceeded, then learned whom he had wounded by the mischance. The 
 wounds of Vang-yung-man being mortal, he expired after a very short 
 interval of time had elapsed. 
 
 She-fo-pao, being repeatedly examined by the magistrate, acknow- 
 ledged the fact without reserve; and, upon the strictest investigation and 
 enquiry being entered upon, deposed, That it was really during the ob- 
 scurity of the night that he had ascended the hill, in order to M'atch the 
 com, and on hearing a noise to proceed from a quarter of the field that 
 was extremely dark, and in which the shadow of some person was dis- 
 cernablc, he had called out, but received no answer: — That the suspicion 
 then arose in his mind, that they were either thieves or wild beasts, and 
 alarmed him for the security of his person, being then entirely alone ; he 
 therefore fired the gun to repel the danger, and wounded Vang-yung-man 
 by mischance, so that he afterwards died. 
 
 That he, the deponent, was not actuated by any other motive or inten? 
 tion on this occasion, nor desirous of causing the death of an individual. 
 The relations of the deceased being then examined, gave a corresponding 
 evidence, and raised no doubts in other respects to the truth of the above 
 deposition. In consideration, therefore, hereof it appears that, although 
 She-fo-pao is guilty of homicide by gun-firing, yet, since he was upon the 
 watch over the fields, in the darkness of the night, and perceived the sha- 
 dow of a man, whom he hailed, and from whom he received no answer, 
 and had in consequence apprehended the approach of thieves or wild 
 beasts, to prevent which he fired the gun that occasioned the wounds 
 whereof the man is now dead — it follows, that there did not exist any 
 premeditated intentiop of murder.— rThe act of which She-fo-pao stands 
 convicted may be, therefore, ranked under the article of homicide com- 
 mitted in an affray, and the sentence accordingly is, to be strangled upon 
 the next ensuing general execution or gaol delivery. 
 
 I i 
 
250 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 because it considers a non-entity capable of committing a 
 crime ; and unjust, because it punishes an innocent person. 
 The lawgiver of Israel, in order to intimidate his stiff-qecked 
 and rebellious subjects, foimdit expedient to threaten tlie visi- 
 
 The above report being transmitted to the supreme criminal tribunal 
 at Pekin, — They rejoin, 
 
 That, on invcstijjation of the laws, we find it ordained, that homicide 
 by gun-firing shall receive a sentence conformable to the law against in- 
 tentional murder ; and that the law against intentional murder gives ^ 
 sentence of decapitation on the next ensuing public execution, or gaol 
 delivery. It is likewise found to be ordained by law, that whoever shall 
 imwarily draw a bow, and shoot an arrow towards fields or tenementSi 
 so that any person unperceived therein shall be wounded, and die there- 
 from, the offender shall receive a hundred blows with the bamboo, and 
 be banished to the distance of three thousand lys (near a thousand miles). 
 
 In the case now before us, She-fo-pao, being armed with a musquet, 
 goes to watch the corn, hears a noise in the fields, and calls aloud; but, ret 
 cciving no answer, suspects it to proceed from thieves or wild beasts, an4 
 fires tiie gun, by which Vang-yung-man was wounded, and is now dead. 
 But in the deposition given in by the defendant, the declaration that he 
 saw the shadow of some person does not accord with tiie suspicion after- 
 wards expressed, that the noise arose from wild beasts. If, in truth, he 
 distinguished traces of a man, at the time of his calling out, notwithstand- 
 ing that the violence of the wind prevented his bearing the reply, She-fo- 
 pao had ocular proof of the reality of the person from the shadow he had 
 seen. Continuing our investigation, we have farther to notice, that when 
 She-fo-pao took his station, in order to guard the middle ground, Vang- 
 vung-man was engaged in watching his fields in a similar manner, and 
 would have occasion to go near the limits of the middle ground in his way 
 to his own farm, and which could not be far removed from the path lead- 
 ing to the middle ground ; on which account it behoved She-fo-pao to 
 hail the person repeatedly, previous to the firing of the gun, whose effect 
 would be instantaneous, and occasion the death of the unknown person 
 from whom the sound proceeded. 
 
 She-fo-pao not having repeatedly hailed the person from whom the 
 noise had arisen to disturb him, and proceeding to the last extremity 
 upon the first impulse or alarm, are grounds for suspecting that there 
 exists a fallacy and disguise in the testimony given in this affair ; in which 
 case, a sentence conformable to the law against homicide, committed in 
 an atTray, would aftbrd a punishment unequal and inadequate to the pos- 
 sible aggravation of the offence. 
 
 On the other hand, it would appear, in confirmation of his statement, 
 that these fields were, according to the custom of the neighbouring vil- 
 lages, understood to be guarded at that time in the manner aforesaid, and 
 that circumstance proving true, the accident that followed might still be 
 Considered solely as the cfiect of apprehension of wild beasts by night, 
 inducing the accused to fire towards fields or tenements, so as to wound 
 ^ man mortally by tlie nuschancc. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 251 
 
 tation of God on the children, for the sins of the fathers, unto 
 the third and Iburth generation ; a sentiment, ho\vc^'cr, w hich, 
 it would seem, lapse of time had rendered less expedient : 
 for the prophet Ezckiel, who, on this subject, had more clc- 
 
 Should a strict examination admit of this interpretation of the ofTenre, 
 the sentence may be awarded according to the law, immediately applica- 
 ble to the subject, and not in conformity with the law against homicide 
 committed in an affray. As the life or death of the offend'^r rests on the 
 preference to be shown towards either of those expositions of the case, it 
 is resolved to hold any immediate decision as premature, and we issue our 
 directions to the said sub-viceroy to revise the prior decision; and, with 
 the assistance of a renewed investigation, finally to determine and report 
 to us the sentence which he may conceive most agreeable to the spirit of 
 our laws. 
 
 After a second investigation, and reconsideration of the affair, the sub- 
 Ticeroy sent in the following report to the supreme tribunal : Pursuant to 
 the order for revisal issued by tlie supreme criminal tribunal, She-lo-pao 
 has been again examined at the bar, and deposes. That on iiearing a noise 
 in the corn-fields, he conceived it to proceed from thieves, and called out 
 inconsequence but, receiving no answer, and finding the noise gradually 
 to approach him, he then suspected it to have arisen from a, wolf or ti- 
 ger ; and, in the alarm thus excited for his personal safety, had fired tha 
 gun, by which \'ang-yung-man had been mortally wounded ; That, since 
 the event happened in the second watch of the night, after the moon had 
 set, and while clouds obscured the faint light of the stars, it was really a 
 moment of impenetrable darkness ; and that it was only at the distance 
 of a few paces that he distinguished the approach of the sound that had 
 alarmed him, but, in fact, had never seen any shadow or traces whatso- 
 ever ; That had he perceived any traces or shadow of that description, 
 he would not have ceased to call out, though he had failed to receive an 
 answer the first time, nor would he have had the temerity to fire the gun, 
 and render himself guilty of murder. 
 
 That, on the preceding examination, the severity and rigour of the en- 
 quiry, regarding the grounds upon which he suspected the approach of 
 thieves, so as to induce him to fire, had overcome him with fear, being a 
 countryman, unused to similar proceedings, arid produced the apparent 
 incongruity in his deposition ; but that the true meaning and intent was 
 to express his absolute uncertainty whether the alarm arose from thieves 
 or wild beasts, and nothing further; and that, from such deposition, he 
 had never intentionally swerved in the course of the investigation. 
 
 According, therefore, to the amendment suggested by the supreme tri- 
 bunal, it appears, indeed, that when the noise was first perceived in the 
 fields, She-fo-pao had called out, and on being prevented by the wind from 
 hearing a reply, had taken alarm as aforesaid. 
 
 And whereas it was likewise deposed by She-fo-pao, That the grain 
 being ripe at that season, the stems were exceeding high and strong, so 
 as to render it difficult to v.alk amongst them, it seems that Vang-yung- 
 man, in walking through the corn, had produced a rushing noise very au- 
 
252 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 vated notions of moral right than either the Greeks or the 
 Chinese, spurns it with great indignation* In allusion to such 
 an idea, which it seems had become a proverb among the 
 Jews, he breaks out into this sublime exclamation : " What 
 *' mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of 
 *' Israel,' saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the 
 *' children's teeth are set on edge ? As I five, saith the Lord, 
 *' ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in 
 " Israel. Behold, all souls are mine ; as the soul of the father, 
 " so also the soul of the son, is mine. The soul that sinneth, 
 " it shall die. I'he son shall not bear the iniquity of the fa- 
 
 dible to She-fo-pao, who was sitting on the declivity of the hill, and in a 
 direction in which the wind favoured the progress of the sound; but 
 when the latter called out, the wind, on the contrary, prevented him from 
 being heard, and consequently from receiving an answer ; this mischance, 
 therefore, gave rise to his suspicion of the approach of wild beasts, which 
 appears to have been the sole and undisguised motive for firing tlie gun. 
 
 This statement of facts being narrowly investigated, in compliance 
 with the supreme tribunal's order for revisal, may be confided in as ac- 
 curate, and worthy of credit ; the result therefoi-e is, that the offender, 
 during the darkness of the night, and under the apprehension of the ap- 
 proach of a wolf or tiger, had fired a musquet in a spot frequented by 
 men, and had mortally wounded a man by the mischance, which corre- 
 sponds with the law suggested in the order for revisal issued by the su- 
 preme tribunal -, namely, that law against an offender who should unwa* 
 rily draw a bow and shoot an arrow towards fields or tenements, so that 
 any person unperceived therein should be wounded and die therefrom. 
 
 The prior decision, conformably to the law against homicide committed 
 in an affray, subsequent investigation does not confirm ; and She-fo-pao 
 is, therefore, only punishable with banishment. 
 
 This second report being received by the supreme criminal trihunal, 
 they declare that. 
 
 The sentence having been altered on a revision by the sub-viceroy, and 
 rendered conformable to the law, which ordains that, whoever shjill un- 
 warily draw a bow and shoot an arrow towards fields or tenements, so 
 that any person unperceived therein may be wounded, and die therefrom, 
 the offender shall receive a hundred blows with the bamboo, and suffer 
 banishment to the distance of 3000 lys. 
 
 We confirm the sentence of a hundred blows of the bamboo, and ba- 
 nishment to the distance of 3000 lys ; and further prescribe, that ten 
 ounces of silver (3/, 6s. 5d.) shall be paid by the offender to the relations 
 of the deceased, for the expenses of burial. 
 
 The sentence, being thus pronounced on the 1 9th day of the 5th moon, 
 of the 27th year of Kien-Long, received the imperial sanction on the 2 1st 
 day of the same moon, in the lellowing Mords : Pursuant to sentence be 
 this obeyed. 
 
 KHIN-TSE. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA, 253 
 
 *' ther, neither shall the. father bear the iniquity of the son : 
 *' the righteousness of tlie righteous shall be upon him, and 
 " the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." 
 
 In most cases, except those of high treason, it may be 
 presumed, the high tribunal of Pekin will act with strict 
 impartiality ; and it is greatly to be lamented that all civil 
 causes have not been made subject to a similar revision as 
 those of a criminal nature, which W'ould strike at the root 
 of an evil that is most grievously felt in China, where the 
 officers of justice are knoA\Ti, in most cases, to be corrupted 
 by briber)'. They have, however, wisely separated the office 
 of judge 'from that of the legislator. The former, having 
 found the fact, has only to refer to the code of laws, in Avhich 
 he is supplied ^\'ith a scale of crimes and their punishments. 
 Such a mode of distributing justice is not, however, without 
 its inconveniences. Tender as the government has shown 
 itself, where the life of a subject is concerned, having once 
 established the proportion of punishment to the offence, it has 
 supposed an appeal, in civil causes and misdemeanors, to be 
 imnecessar)\ The sentence in such causes being thus left 
 in the breast of a single j udge, how great soever may be the 
 nicety by which the penalty is adapted to the offence, die 
 exclusion from appeal is in itself a biu" to the just and impar- 
 tial administration of the laws. The subject l^ehig refused 
 the benefit of carr}-ing his cause into a higher, and on that 
 account more likely to be a more impartial, court, has no se- 
 curity against the caprice, malice, or corruption of his judge. 
 
 It ma}^ not, perhaps, be thought unworthy of notice, tliat 
 the legislators of China, among the various punishments de- 
 vised for the commission of crimes, have given the criminal 
 no opportunity, either by labouring at any of die public 
 works, or in solitary confinement, to make some reparation 
 for the injury he has committed against society. Confinement 
 in prison, as a punishment, is not knoun. E^ile or personal 
 chastisement are decreed lor all Lrregulaiides not approaching 
 to capital offences. 
 
 Executions for capital crimes ai'e not frequentiy exhibited : 
 when found guilty, tlie criminals are remanded to prison tiji 
 a general goal deliver)*, which happens once a yeai', about the 
 autumnal equinox. In adopting such a measure, government 
 ma}', perhaps, ha^e considered, how little benefit the morals 
 ©f die people were likely to derive from being the fr jquent 
 
354 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Spectators of the momentary pain that is required to tak^ 
 away the existence of a fellow mortal. All other punishments 
 however, that do not affect the life of man, are made as pub- 
 lic as possible, and branded A\idi the greatest degree of no- 
 toriety. The beating with the bamboo, in their ideas, scarcely 
 ranks under the name of punishment ; being more pro- 
 perly considered as a gentle correction, to ^liich no disgrace 
 is attached ; but the cangue, or, as they term it, the tcha, 
 a kind of walking pillory, is a hea^y tablet of M^ood, to which 
 they are fastened by the neck and hands, and ^^•l■lich they are 
 sometimes obliged to drag about for^^•ecks and months. This 
 is a terrible punishment, and well calculated to deter others 
 from the commission of those crimes of ^^•hich it is the con- 
 sequence, and the nature of which is alwa}s inscribed in 
 large characters upon it. 
 
 The order that is kept in their jails is said to be excellent ; 
 aiid the debtor and the felon are alwa}'^s confined in sepai'ate 
 places; as, indeed, one should suppose eveiy where to be the 
 case : for, as Sir George Staunton has observed, " to asso- 
 *' ciate guilt with imprudence, and confound wickedness with 
 *' misfortune, is impolitic, immoral, and' cruel."* 
 
 The abominable practice of extorting confession, by the 
 application of tlie torture, is the Morst part of the criminal 
 laws of China : but they pretend to say this mode is seldom 
 recurred to, unless in cases ^here the guilt of the accused 
 has been made to appear by strong circumstantial evidence. 
 It is, however, a common punishment to squeeze the fingers, 
 in cases of misdemeanor, and is particularly practised as a 
 punishment of those females \\ho purchase Hcenses for break- 
 ing through -the rules of chastit}-. 
 
 JBy the laws relating to property, . women in China, as in 
 ancient Rome, are excluded from inheriting, \\iiere there are 
 children, and from disposing of property ; but, where there 
 are no male ciiildren, a man may leave, by \^ill, the whole of 
 his property to the widow. The reason they assign for ^^•o- 
 men not inheriting is, that a A\'oman can make no offering 
 to deceased relations in the hall of ancestors ; and it is deemed 
 one of the first ideal blessings of life for a man to have s(jme 
 
 • A debtor is released when it appears that the whole of his propei-ty has 
 been given up for the use of his creditors. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 255 
 
 one to look up to, who will transmit his name to future ages, 
 by performing, at certain fixed periods, tlie duties of this 
 important ceremony. All their laws, indeed, respecting pro- 
 perty, as I ha\e already obser\ed, aie insufficient to gi\e it 
 that security and stability, which alone can constitute die plea- 
 sure of accumulating wcaldi. The avarice of men in power 
 may overlook those \\ lio are in moderate circumstances ; but 
 the affluent r^ely escape their rapacious grasp. In a word, 
 although die laws ai'c not so perfect as to procure for the sub- 
 ject genenJ good, yet, neither aie diey so defective as to re- 
 duce him to that state of general misery, which could only 
 be terminated in a revolution. The executive administration 
 is so fault}', diat the man in office generally has it in his 
 power to go\ern the laws, which makes the measure of good 
 or evil depend greatly on his moral character. 
 
 Such are, indeed, the disposition and the habits of the 
 people, that so long as the multitude cim procure their bowl 
 of rice and a few sa\or}' sauces, that cost only a mere trifle, 
 there will be less danger of a rcA olt ; and die go%ernnient is so 
 well con^•inced of this, that one of its first concerns is to lay 
 up, in the public magazines erected in every pait of the em- 
 pire, a provision of grain, to serve as a supply for the poor in 
 times of famine or scarcity. In this age cf revolutions, a 
 change, how ever, seems to be taking place in the minds of 
 the people, which I sliall presently notice. 
 
 The system of universal and implicit obedience, towards 
 superiors pervades eveiy branch of the public service. The 
 officers of the se\cral departments of go\eninient, from the 
 first to the ninth degree, acting upon the same broad basis of 
 paternal audiority, are invested with the power of inflicting 
 the summary punishment of the bamboo, on all occasions 
 where they may judge it proper, w hich, under the denomina- 
 tion of a fatherly correction, they administer ^vithout any 
 previous trial, or form of inquu}-. The slightest offence is 
 punishable in this manner, at tlie w ill or the caprice of the 
 lowest magistrate. Such a summary proceeding of the 
 pow^erful ag-ainst die weak naturally creates in the latter a dread 
 and distrust of the former ; and the common people, accords 
 iiigly, regard the approach of a man in office, just as school- 
 l)03s observe the motions of a scAcre master ; but the fatheilv 
 kindness of the emperor is recognised even in punishmciit : 
 die culprit may claim die exemption of every fifdi blow as 
 
256 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 the emperor's coap-de-grace ; but in all probability he gains 
 little by such remission, as the deficiency in number may 
 easily be made up in ^\•eight. 
 
 This practical method of evincing a fatherly affection is 
 not confined to the multitude alone, but is extended to every 
 rank and description of persons, ceasing only at the foot of 
 the throne. Each officer of state, from the ninth degree up- 
 wards to the fourtii, can, at any time, administer a gentle 
 con-ection to his inferior ; and the emperor orders tlie bam- 
 boo to his ministers, and to the other four classes, whenever 
 he may think it necessary for the good of their morals. It is 
 well known that the late Kien-Long caused two of his sons 
 to be bambooed long after they had arrived at the age of 
 maturity ; one of which, I believe, is the present reigning 
 emperor. 
 
 In ti-avelling through the countr}'^, a day seldom escaped 
 without our witnessing the application of the pan-tse, or bam- 
 boo, and generally in such a manner that it might be called 
 by any other name except a gentle coirection. A Chinese 
 suffering under this punishment cries out in the most piteous 
 manner ; a Tartar bears it in silence. A Chinese, after re- 
 ceiving a ceitain number of strokes, falls down on his knees, 
 as a matter of course, before him v^io ordered the punishment, 
 thanking him, in the most humble manner, for the fatlierly 
 kindness he has testified towards his son, in thus putting him 
 in mind of his errors ; a Tartar grumbles, and disputes the 
 point as to the right that a Chinese may have to flog him ; or 
 he turns away in sullen silence. 
 
 Ridiculous as it may appear to a foreigner, in obser\dng an 
 officer of state stretching himself along the ground for tlie 
 purpose of being flogged by order of another who happens 
 to rank one degree above him ; yet it is impossible, at the 
 same time, to suppress a glow of indignation, in Avitnessing 
 so mean and obsequious a degradation of the human mind, 
 which can bring itself, under any circumstances, patiently to 
 sul^mit to a vile coi-poral punishment, administered by the 
 hmid of a shxe, or by a common soldier ; and when this is 
 done, to undergo the still more vile and humiliating act of 
 kissing the rod that corrects him. But the policy of the go- 
 Acrnment has taken good care to remove any scruples that 
 might arise on this score. Where paternal regard was tlie 
 sole motive, sucli a chastisement could not possibly be fol- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 257 
 
 lowed witli dishonour or disgrace. It was a wonderful point 
 gained by the government, to subject every individual, the 
 emperor only excepted, to the same corporal correction ; but 
 it must have required great address, and men's minds must 
 have been completely subdued, or completely convinced, before 
 such a system of universal obedience could have been accojji- 
 plished, the consequence of which, it Mas ol^vious, could be 
 no other than universal servility. It could not fail to establish 
 a most effectual check against the complaints of the multitude, 
 by shewing them that the same man, who had the power of 
 punishing them, was equally liable to be corrected in histum, 
 and in the same manner by another. The punishment of the 
 bamboo must, I suspect, be one of the most ancient institutions 
 of China. Indeed, we can scarcely concei\'e it ever to have 
 been introduced into a societ}' already civilized ; but radier to 
 have been coeval with the origin of that society. 
 
 A similai' kind of personal chastisement for light offences, 
 or misconduct, was inflicted in Russia on persons of all ranks ; 
 but with this difference, that the correction was private, and 
 by order of the sovereign alone. The czar Peter, indeed, 
 generally bestow-ed a drubbing on his courtiers \\ith his own 
 liand; who, instead of being dishonoured or disgraced by such 
 a castigation, were supposed, from tliat very circumstance, to 
 be his peculiar favourites, and to stand high in his confidence. 
 The great Menzikoff is said to have frequently left his closet 
 with a black eye or a bloody nose, and seemed to derive en- 
 creasing importance from the unequivocal marks of his master's 
 friendship. Even at the present day, or till very lately, little 
 disgrace was attached to the punishment of the knout, which 
 was a private flagellation by order of the court; but this abomi- 
 nable practice either is altogether discontinued or in its last 
 stage of existence. Such arbitrary proceedings could not long 
 remain in force among an enlightened people. 
 
 These two great empires, the greatest, indeed, that exist in 
 the vv'orld, dividing between them nearly a fifth part of the 
 whole habitable gloi)e, each about a tenth, exhibit a singular dif- 
 ference M'ith regard to political circumstances. One century 
 ago Russia was but just emerging from a state of barbarism, 
 and in a century hence, in all human probability, she will 
 make a conspicuous figure among European nations, both 
 in arts and arms. Two thousand years ago China was civilized 
 to the same degi-ee, or nearly so, as she is at present. The 
 
 Kk 
 
258 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 governments m ere botli arbitrary, and the people were slaves. 
 The natiiml genius of the Russian, cramped, perhaps, in some 
 degree by his frozen climate, is less susceptible of improvement 
 than that of the Chinese. Whence, then, it may be asked, pro- 
 ceeds tlie V eiy great difference in the progressive improvement 
 of the two nations ? principally, I should suppose, from the 
 t\v o follov\ing reasons. Russia invites and encourages foreigners 
 to instruct her subjects in arts, sciences, and manufactures. 
 China, from a spirit of pride and self-importance, as well as 
 from jealousy, rejects and expels them. The language of 
 Russia is easily acquired, and her subjects as easil}^ learn those 
 of other countries; \A'hilst that of China is so difficult, or tiieir 
 method of learning is so defective, as to require the study of 
 half the life of man to fit him for any of the ordinary employ- 
 ments of the state ; and they have no knowledge of any lan- 
 guage but their own. The one is in a state of youthful vigour, 
 advancing daily in strength and knowledge ; the other is worn 
 out with old age and disease, and, under its present state of 
 existencfe, is not likely to advance in any kind of improve- 
 ment. 
 
 To tlie principle of universal obedience the Chinese govern- 
 ment has added another, which is well calculated to satisfy 
 the public mind : the first honours and the highest offices are 
 open to the \try lowest of the people. It admits of no here- 
 ditary nobility ; at least none with exclusive privilegqi.i^ As a 
 mark of the sovereign's favour a distinction will soj^etimes 
 descend in a family, but, as it confers no power nor i^d^vilege 
 nor emolument, it soon wears out. All dignities may .-be con- 
 sidered as merely personal, the princes of the blood, even, 
 sink gradually into the common mass, unless their talents and 
 their application be sufficient to qualify them for office, inde- 
 pendent of which there can be neither rank nor honours, and 
 very little, if any, distinction, (not even in the imperial family), 
 beyond the third generation. On public days, the emperor, 
 at a single glance, can distinguish the rank of each of the many 
 thousand courtiers that are assembled on such occasions, by 
 their dress of ceremony. The civilians have a bird, and the mi- 
 litary a tiger, embroidered on the breast and back of their upper 
 robe; and their several ranks are pointed out by different 
 coloured globes, mounted on a pivot on the top of the cap or 
 bonnet. The emperor has also two orders of distinction, which 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 259 
 
 ire conferred by him alone, as marks of particular fa^^our : the 
 order of the }"ello\v vest and of tlie peacock's feather. 
 
 The influence that, in nations of Europe, is derived from 
 birth, fortune, and character, is of no weight in the Chinese 
 government. The most learned, (and I ha\ e alread}- explained 
 how far the term extends ) provided he be not of notoriously 
 bad character, is sure to be employed ; though, under the pre- 
 sent Tartar government, the Chinese complain that they never 
 arrive at the highest rank till they are advanced in 3ears. Learn- 
 ing alone, by tlie strict maxims of stiite, leads to office, and office 
 to distinction. Property, ^\'ithout learning, has little weight, and 
 confers no distinction, except in some coiTupt proA'incial go- 
 vernments, where the external marks of office are sold, as in 
 Canton. Hence property is not so much ^an object of the laws 
 in China as elsewhere, and consequently has not the same secu- 
 rity. In the governments of Europe, property seldom fails to 
 command influence and to force dependence : in China, the 
 man of property is afraid to own it, and all the enjoyments it 
 procures liim are stolen. 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, the highest apointments in the state are 
 conferred as it happens elsewhere, b}- some favourable acci- 
 dent, or by the caprice of the monP" .1. A striking instance 
 of tliis kind was displayed in the person of Ho-tchung- tang, the 
 last prime minister of the late Kien-long. This man, a Tartar, 
 happened to be placed on guard in the palace, where his youth 
 and comely countenance struck the emperor so forcibly, in pas- 
 sing, that he sent for him to the presence ; and finding him 
 equally agreeable in his conversation and manners, he raised 
 him rapidly, but gi'adually, from the situation of a common 
 soldier, to the highest station in the empire. Such sudden 
 changes, from a state of nothingness to the summit of powder, 
 have frequently been obsei'ved to be attended with consequences 
 no less fatal to the man so elevated, than pernicious to the 
 public : and thus it happened to this favourite minister. During 
 the life of his old master, over whom, in his later years, he is 
 said to have possessed an unbounded influence, he availed him- 
 self of the means that offered, by every species of fraud and ex- 
 tortion, by tyranny and oppression, to amass such immense 
 w ealth, in gold, silver, pearls, and immovable property, that 
 his acquisitions w-ere generally allowed to have exceeded those 
 of any single individual that the historj^ of the country had 
 made known. His pride and haughty demeanour had rendered 
 
260 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 him so obnoxious to the royal family, tliat, at the time we were 
 in Pekin, it was general h- supposed he made up his mind to 
 die with tlie old emperor ; for wliich event he had always at hand 
 a dose of poison ; not chusing to stand the severe investigation 
 which he a\ as well a^\•are the succeeding prince would direct to 
 be made into liis ministerial conduct. It seems, however, when 
 that event actually happened, the love of life, and the hope of 
 escaping, prevailed on him to change liis purpose and to stand 
 tlie hazard of a trial. Of the crimes and enormites laid to his 
 charge, he was found, or rather, he ^\^s said to have pleaded, 
 guilty. The vast wealth he had extorted from others was con- 
 fiscated to the cro^vn, and he was condemned to suffer an igno- 
 minious death.* 
 
 * The circumstances attending the downfal of this minister arecurious, 
 and shew, in its true light, the despotic nature of the Chinese govern- 
 ment, notwithstanding their salutary laws. The new emperor, deter- 
 mined on his ruin, makes a public declaration, wherein, after apologiz- 
 ing for not abstaining, agreeably to the laws of the empire, from all 
 acts of innovation, for the space of three years after his father's death, 
 he observes, that the crimes and excesses of Ho-tchung-tang are of so 
 horrid a nature, as to preclude him from acting towards him with any 
 pity or indulgence. He then exhibits about twenty articles of accusation 
 against him : the principal of which are, 
 
 Contumacy towards his father (the late emperor), by riding on horse- 
 back to the very door of the hall of audience at Yuen^min-yuen. 
 
 Audacity^ under pretence of lameness, in causing himself to be carried 
 to and from the palace through the door set apart for the emperor. 
 
 Scandalous behaviour^ in taking away the virgins of the palace, and 
 appropriating them to his own use. 
 
 Pride and insolence^ in countermanding his (the new emperor's) order, 
 for all the princes of Tartaiy to be summoned to Pekin (those who had 
 not had the small-pox excepted), to assist at the funeral of his father ; and 
 by issuing a new one, in which none were excepted. 
 
 Bribery and partiality^ in selling and giving away appointments of 
 weight to persons totally unqualified to fill them. 
 
 Arrogance.^ in making use of the wood Nan-moo (cedar) in his house, 
 which is destined exclusively for royal palaces ; and in building a house 
 and gardens in the style and manner of those belonging to the emperor. 
 
 For having in his possession more than two hundred strings of pearls, 
 and an immense quantity of jewels and precious stones, which his rank 
 did not allow him to wear, and among which was a pearl of such won- 
 derful magnitude that the emperor himself had no equal to it. 
 
 For having, in gold and silver alone, which has been already discover- 
 ed and confiscated, the amount, at least, of ten million taels (about 
 3,300,000/. sterling), 
 
 One article is singularly curious. For having been guilty of the 
 deepest treachery in informing him (the new emperor) of his father's 
 
TRAVELS IN pHINA. 261 
 
 But Ho-tchung-tang, if guilty of inordinate ambition, or 
 acts of injustice, is far from being the only instance of such 
 conduct in men thus raised from humble situations. The 
 oificers of government in general, though intended by the 
 constitution as a kind of bai-rier between the prince and the 
 people, are i^ greatest oppressors of the latter, who have sel- 
 dom any meahs of redress, or of conveying their complaints 
 to the imperial ear. There is no middle class of men in Chi- 
 na : men whose property and ideas of independence give them 
 weight in the piut of the countr}- where they reside; and 
 whose influence and interest are considered as not below the 
 notice of die government. In fact, there ai'e no other than 
 the governors and the governed. If a man, by trade, or in- 
 dustry in his profession, has accumulated riches, he can enjoy 
 tliem only in private. He dares not, by having a grander 
 house, or finer clothes, to let his neighbour perceive that he is 
 richer than himself, lest he should betra}^ him to the command- 
 ing-officer of the district, \\ ho would find no difficulty in 
 bringing him within the pale of the sumptuary laws, and in 
 laying his property under confiscation. 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, the extortions that the officers practise 
 upon the people, as in the case of Ho-tchung-tang, meet tlie 
 
 intention to abdicate the government in his (the new emperor's) favour, 
 one day before his father made it public ; thinking by such means to 
 gain his favour and affection ! 
 
 After enumerating the several articles of accusation, the emperor 
 states that this minister, being interrogated by a Tartar prince on the 
 several points, had confessed the whole to be true, and, therefore, with- 
 out further evidence, he commands the presidents and members of the 
 several courts in Pekin, the viceroys of provinces, and governors of cities, 
 on these articles of accusation being laid before them, to pass a proper 
 sentence on the said Ho-tchung-tang. According to the majority, he 
 was condemned to be beheaded ; but, as a peculiar act of grace and be- 
 nevolence on the part of the emperor, this sentence was r.^.itigated to 
 that of his being allowed to be his own executioner. A silken cord 
 being sent as an intimation of this mark of the emperor's favour, he 
 caused himself to be strangled by some of his attendants. 
 
 Who could escape when the emperor of China is himself the accuser? 
 It will readily occur, from the fate of Ho-tchung-tang, that there is not 
 that line of independence drawn between the executive and judicial au- 
 thority, which the ingenious author of the Spirit of Laws has clearly 
 proved to be the grand foundation of a just, legal, and efficier^t security 
 of the life and property of the subject. In fact, in all state crimes, the 
 emperor becomes both the accuser and the judge. In the case of Ho- 
 tchung-tang he may likewise be said to have been the only evidence. 
 
262 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 hand of justice. Other magistrates keep a steady eye upon 
 their proceedings, and, in proper time, transmit the necessary 
 information to court. Spies also are detached from court into 
 the provinces, under the name of inspectors. Jealous of each 
 other, they let no opportunity slip of making ui:favourable re- 
 ports to their superiors. Notwithstanding whicib, with all the 
 precautions taken by government in favour ofthe subject, the 
 latter finds himself most dreadfully oppressed. It is true, for 
 veiy slight oft'ences preferred against men in office, the court 
 directs a public reprimand in the official gazette ; for those of 
 a more serious nature, degradation from rank ; and every of- 
 ficer so degraded is under the necessity of proclaiming his own 
 disgrace in all his public orders ; not only to put him in mind 
 of his past conduct, but likewise to shew tlie people how watch- 
 ful the eye of government is over tlie actions of its servants. 
 The last stage of public degradation, which amounts to a sen- 
 tence of infamy, is an order to superintend the preparation of 
 the emperor's tomb, which implies that the person so sentenced 
 is more fit to be employed among the dead than the living. 
 Tchang-ta-gin, the late viceroy of Canton, was condemned to 
 this degrading service.* 
 
 The viceroy of a province can remain in that office no longer 
 than three years, lest he might obtain an undue influence. 
 No servant of the crown can fonii a family alliance in the place 
 M'here he commands, nor obtain an office of importance in the 
 city or town wherein he was bom. Yet with these, and other 
 precautions, there is still little security for the subject. He 
 has no voice whatsoever in the government, either directly or 
 by representation ; and the only satisfaction he possibly can 
 receive for injuries done to him, and that is merely of a negative 
 kind, is the degradation or the removal of the man in power, 
 who had been his oppressor, or who, perhaps, may be replaced 
 by another equally bad. 
 
 The ingenious Mr. Pauw has observed that China is en- 
 entirely governed by the whip and the bamboo. To these he 
 might have added the yearly calendar and the Pekin gazette ; 
 both of which, as engines in the hands of government, contri- 
 bute very materially to assist its operations. By the circulation 
 
 * Among tlie various customs of China, particularized in the accounts of the 
 two Mahemedan travellers in the ninth century, this remarkable one is noticed, 
 aft'ording', with the rest, equally singular and peculiar to this nation, an irrefraga- 
 ble proof of the authenticity of these two relations. 
 
» 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 263 
 
 of the first is kept alive the observance of certain superstitions 
 which it is, apparently, the study of government to encourage. 
 The second is a vehicle for conveying into every comer of the 
 empire the virtues and tlie fatherly kindness of the reigning 
 sovereign, shown by punishing the officers of his government, 
 not only for what diey have done amiss, but for what they 
 may have omitted to do. Thus, if a famine has desolated any 
 of the provinces, the principal officers are degraded, for not 
 having taken the proper precautions against it. This paper, 
 in the shape of a small pamphlet, is published ever}- second 
 day. The missionaries have pretended that immediate deiith 
 would be the consequence of inserting a falsehood in the im- 
 perial gazette ; yet, it is famous for describing battles that 
 were never fought, and for announcing \ ictories that were 
 never gained. The truth of this observation appears from 
 several proclamations of Kaung-shee, Tchien Long, and the 
 present emperor, wai-ning the generals on distant stations 
 from making false reports, and from killing thousands and ten 
 thousands of die enemy, sometimes even w hen no engage- 
 ment had taken place.* The reverend gentlemen onlv mean 
 to say, that the editor would be punished if he ventured to m- 
 sert any thing not sent to him officially by the go\'eniment. 
 
 The press in Cliina is as free as in England, and the profes- 
 sion of printing is open to e\^ery one ; w^hich is a singular 
 circumstance, and perhaps the onl}- instance of the kind in a 
 despotic government. It has usually been supposed that, in 
 free countries only, ^vhere every person is equally under the 
 protection, and equally liable to the peucilties, of the law% the 
 liberty of the press could be cherished ; and that it was a thing 
 next to impossible, that power, founded on cn'or, and support- 
 ed by oppression, could long be maintained A\here the press 
 was free. It was the press that, in Europe, effected the ruin 
 of the priestly power, by dispelling the clouds that had long 
 obscured the ra}^s of truth, and by opening a free access to the 
 doctrines ofthat religion which, of all others, is best calculated 
 
 • The words of Kaung'-shee's proclamation, repeated by Kia-king', are: " At 
 " present, when an army is sent on any military service, every report that is 
 " made of its operations contains an account of a victory, of rebels dispersed at 
 " the first encounter, driven from their stations, killed, and wounded, to a great 
 " amount, or to the amount of some thousands, or, in short, that the rebels slain 
 " were innumerable." IPeiin Gazette, 51tt yuly, 1800. 
 
364 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 for the promotion of individual happiness and public vir- 
 tue.* 
 
 In China, tlie Uberty of the press seems to exeite no appre- 
 hensions in the government. Tlie summary mode of punish- 
 ing any breach of good morals, without the formality of a trial, 
 makes a positive proliibition against printing unnecessary, be- 
 ing itself sufficient to restrain the licentiousness of the press. 
 The printer, the vender, and the reader of any libellous publi- 
 cation, ai'e all equally liable to be flogged a\ ith the bamboo. 
 Fe^v, I suppose, Av^ould be hardy enough to print reflexions 
 on the conduct of government, or its principal officers, as such 
 publications would be attended with certain ruin. Yet, not- 
 withstanding all the dangers to which the printing profession is 
 liable, daily papers are published in the capital, circulating, 
 something like our own, private anecdotes, domestic occur- 
 rences, public notices of sales, and the \\'onderful virtues of 
 quack medicines. We w^ere told that, in one of tliese papers, 
 the Portuguese missionar}-, mentioned in Mr. Grammont's 
 letter, got a paragraph inserted, purporting the great neglect 
 of the English, in having brought no presents for the princes 
 of the blood, nor for the emperor's ministers. This false and 
 malicious paragraph wsls said to be followed by another, insi- 
 nuating tliat those for the emperor were common articles, of 
 little value. Another pretended to give a catalogue of them, 
 and included an elephant about the size of a rat, giants, dwarfs, 
 wishing-pillows, and such like nonsense. These, however, 
 and other publications, were industriously kept from our sight. 
 Under the generous idea that we were the emperor's guests, 
 we were not allowed to purchase any thing. He alone was to 
 supply our wants ; but his officers took the liberty of judging 
 what these wants should consist in. 
 
 It is a singular phenomenon, in the history of nations, how 
 the government of an empire, of such vast magnitude as 
 that of China, should have preserved its stability, without any 
 material change, for more than two thousand yeai-s ; for, drop- 
 ping their pretensions to an extravagant antiquity, for which, 
 however, they have some giounds, there can be no doubt they 
 
 t When the art of printing was first introduced into England, and carried on in 
 Westminster Abbey, a shrewd churchman is said to have observed to the abbot of 
 Westminster, " If you don't take care to destroy that machine, it will very soon 
 " destroy your trade." He saw, at a single glance of the press, the downfal of 
 priestly dominion, in the general diffusion of knowledge that would be occasioned 
 by it ; and had the rest of the clergy been equally clear-sighted, it is probable 
 the dark ages of superstition and ignorance had still continued, or at least had been 
 greatly protracted. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 265 
 
 Were prettj'' much in the same state, regulated by tlie same 
 la^\•s, and under the same form of government as tliey now iu^e, 
 four hundi^ed years before tlie birth of Christ, about ^hich 
 time their renouTied philosopher flourished, ^\■hose works ai"e 
 still held in the highest reputation. They contain, indeed, all 
 the maxims on which their government is still grounded, and 
 all the rules by which the different stations in life take their 
 moral conduct ; and the monarchy is supposed to have been 
 established two thousand years before his time. 
 
 If the test of a good government be made to depend on tiie 
 length of its continuance, unshaken and unchanged by revolu- 
 tions, China may certainly be allowed to rank the fii-st among 
 civilized nations. But, whether good or bad, it has possess- 
 ed the art of moulding the multitude to its o'smi shape, in a 
 manner unprecedented in the annids of the world. Various 
 accidents, impro^^ed by poHcy, seem to have led to its dura- 
 bility. Among these the natural barriers of the country, ex- 
 cluding any foreign enemy, are not to be reckoned as the least 
 favourable; wliilst the extreme caution of the government, in 
 admitting strangers, kept the world in ignorance, for many 
 ages, of the existence even of the most extensive, po\A"eriuI, 
 and populous empire among men. Secluded thus from all in- 
 tercourse with the rest of the world, it had time and leisure to 
 mould itso^\•n subjects into the shape it wished them to retain ; 
 and the event has sufliciently proved its knowledge in tliis 
 respect. 
 
 A jiumber of fortunate circumstances, seldom combined in 
 the same country, have contributed to the preser^'ation of inter- 
 nal tranquillity in China. The language is of a nature well calcu- 
 lated to keep the mass of tlie people in a state of ignorance. They 
 are neither prohibited from embracing any religion, of which 
 they may make a choice, nor coerced to contribute towards 
 the support of one they do not approxe. The pains that have 
 l)een taken to inculcate sober habits, to destroy mutual confi- 
 dence, and: render CA'ery man reser\ed and suspicious of his 
 neighbour, could not fail to put an end to social intercourse. 
 No meetings Mere held, even for convivial puiposes, beyond 
 the famil}' circle ; and these only at the festi^•al of a new year. 
 Those kind of turbulent assemblies, where real or . lagined 
 grie\-ances are discussed ^vith all the rancour and \iolence that 
 malicious insinuations against government, added to the effects 
 of intoxicating draughts, too frequently inspire, never happen 
 
 L 1 
 
266 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 among the Chinese. Contented in ha\ing no voice in the go- 
 \ernment, it has never occurred to them that they have any 
 rights : * and they certainly enjo}' none but what are.hablc to 
 be in-\-aded and trampled on, whenever the so^'ereign, or any 
 of his representatives, from interest, malice, or caprice, think 
 fit to exercise the power that is within their gi'asp. The doc- 
 trine of employing resistance against oppression, applied to the 
 people and the government, is so contraiy to eveiy sentiment 
 of the former, tliat the latter has little to fear on that score. 
 
 Partial insurrections occasionally happen ; but they are ge- 
 nerallv owing to the extreme poverty of the people, which, in 
 seasons of scarcity and famine, compels them to take by vio- 
 lence the m.eans of subsisting life, A\hich otherwise they could 
 not obtain. To this cause may be referred the origin of al- 
 most all the commotions recorded in their history, through 
 some of which, when the calamity became general, theregiilar 
 succession has been interrupted, and even changed. We 
 were told, ho^ve^'er, by our Chinese attendants, that certain 
 mysterious societies did exist in some of the provinces, whose 
 chief object was to overturn the Tartar government ; that 
 they held secret meetings, in which they gave vent to their 
 complaints against Tartai* preponderancy, revived the memory 
 of ancient glory, brooded over present injuries, and meditated 
 revenge. If even this be the case, the present state of society 
 is little favourable to their vie^vs. Nor, indeed, would a re- 
 volution be a desirable event for the Chinese tliejnselves. It 
 could not fail of being attended with the most horrible conse- 
 quences. The Tiutar soldiers -would be tired of slaying, and 
 
 * When the mischievous doctrines of I'om Paine, expounded in his 
 " Rights of Mar.," were translated into various languages, and industi-i- 
 ously attempted to be propagated among the Eastern nations, by means 
 of French emissaries ; when one of those assiduous disturbers of the 
 peace of mankind had actually succeeded in furnishing the Seiks with 
 an abstract of this precious work in their own language, he next turned 
 his attention to the vast empire of China, a glorious theatre for those 
 zealous cosmopolites to play their parts in, if they could once contrive 
 to suit their drama to the taste of the people. The experiment, how- 
 ever, failed of success. The golden opinions of Tom Paine could not be 
 transfused into the Chinese language ; and these unfortunate people- 
 understood no other but their own ; so that three hundred and 
 thirty-three millions were doomed to remain in ignorance and misery on 
 account of their language being incapable of conveying the enlightened 
 doctrines of Tom Paine. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 267 
 
 millions, that escaped the sword, must necessarily pey-ish by 
 (amine, on the least interruption of tlie pursuits of agriculture;" 
 ior they have no other countr}- to look to for supplies, and they 
 raise no surplus quantity in their own. 
 
 In order to prevent, as much as possible, a scarcity of grain, 
 and in conformity to their own opinion tliat the true source of 
 national wealth and prosperity consists in agriculture, the 
 Chinese government has, in all ages, bestowed the lirst ho- 
 nours on cvciy improvement in this branch of industr}'. The 
 husbandman is considered as an honourable, as well as useful 
 member of society ; he ranks next to men of letters, or officers 
 of state, of whom indeed he is frequently the progenitor. 
 The soldier in China cultivates the ground. The priests also 
 are agricultmists, whenever their con\^ents ixre endowed with 
 land. The emperor is considered as the sole proprietary of 
 the soil, but the tenant is ne\cr turned out of possession as 
 long as he continues to pay his rent, Vv-hich is calculated at 
 about one-tenth of what his farm is supposed capable of 
 yieldinr^' ; and though the holder of lands can onl}' be con- 
 sidered as a tenant at will, yet it is his own fault if he should 
 l)e dispossessed. So accustomed ixre the Chinese to consider 
 an estate as their own, while they continue to pay the rent, 
 that a Portuguese in Macao had nearly lost his life for endea- 
 •\ouring to raise the rent upon his Chinese tenants. If any 
 one happens to hold miore than his family can conveniently 
 cultivate, he lets it out to another, on condition of receiving 
 half the produce, out of which he pav's the whole of the 
 emperor's taxes. A great piut of the poorer peasantry cul- 
 ti\-ate lands on these terms. 
 
 There aie, in fact, no immense estates grasping nearly 
 the whole of a district ; no monopolizing farmers, nor dealers 
 in grain. Ever}- one can bring his produce to a free and open 
 market. No fisheries are let out to fiu'm. Every subject is 
 equally entitled to Uie free and uninterrupted enjoyment of the 
 sea, of the coasts, and the estuaries ; of the lakes and rivers. 
 There are no manor-lords with exclusive privileges ; no lands 
 set apart for feeding beasts or birds for the profit or pleasure 
 of particular persons ; every one may kill game on his o\vn 
 ground, and on die public commons. Yet, with all these 
 seeming advantages, there are rarely three succcssi^•e vx-ars 
 without a famuic in one province or another. 
 
268 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 As in the Roman empire, examples were not \;'anting of 
 the first chaiacters in the state glor3-ing to put tlieir hands to 
 the plough, to render the earth fertile, and to engage in the 
 natural employment of man ; as, 
 
 In ancient tiroes the sacred plough employ'd, 
 Tlie kings and awful fathers. 
 
 So, in China, the emperor, at the vernal equinox, after a 
 solemn offering to the God of heaven and eartli, goes through 
 the ceremony of holding tl^ plough ; an example in which he 
 is followed by the viceroys, and governors, and great officers, 
 in ever\' part of the empire. This ceremony, though, in all 
 probability, the remains of a religious institution, is well cal- 
 culated to give encouragement to the labouring peasantry, 
 whose profession, thus honourably patronized, cannot fail 
 to be pursued with more energy and cheerfulness than where 
 it receives no such m.arks of distinction. Here merchants, 
 tradesmen, and mechanics, are considered far beneath the 
 husbandman. So far firom obtaining the honours attendant 
 on commerce in the ancient city of Tyre, " whose merchants 
 *' were princes, whose traffickers ^^'ere the honourable of the 
 *' eai'th," or the ancient immunities granted in Alfred's reigia 
 (by w^hich an English merchant, who had made three foreign 
 voyages by sea, was raised to the rank of nobilit)^, the man 
 who, in China, engages in foreign trade is considered as little 
 better than a vagabond. The home trade only is supposed 
 to be necessar}^, and deserving the protection of government. 
 It allows all goods and manufactures, tlie produce of the 
 countr}^ to be interchanged between the several provinces, on 
 payment only of a small transit-duty to the state, and certain 
 tolls on the canals and rivers, applied chiefly to the repairs of 
 flood-gates, bridges, and embankments. This trade, being 
 cai-ried on entirely by baiter, employs such a multitude of 
 craft, of one description or other, as to baffle all attempts at 
 a calculation. I firmly believe that all the floating vessels in 
 the world besides, taken collectively, would not be equal, 
 either in num.ber or tonnage, to those of China. 
 
 Foreign trade is barely tolerated. So A'er}^ indiflferent the 
 court of Pekin affects to be on this subject, that it has been 
 hinted, on some occasions, and indeed serious apprehensions 
 have been entertained in Europe, th?it they were half disposed 
 
TRAVELS IN" CHINA. 2G9 
 
 to shut the port of Canton against foreigners. The treatment, 
 indeed, which strangers meet with at this place, from the in- 
 ferior officers of government, is of itself sufficient to exclude 
 them, and such as could ojily be tolerated in consideration 
 of the importance of the trade, and especially in the supply 
 of tea ; an iuticle which, from being about a century ago a 
 kixury, is no^v become, particularly in Great Britain, one of 
 the first necessities of life. 
 
 The taxes raised for the support of government ai"e far from 
 being exorbitant or burthensome to the subject. They con- 
 sist in the tenth of the produce of the land paid usually ui 
 kind, in a duty on salt, on foreign imports, and a few smiJler 
 taxes, that do not niaterially alFect the bulk of the people. 
 The total amount of taxes and assessments, which each indi- 
 vidual pa}'s to the state, taken on an average, doe^ not exceed 
 four shillings a year. 
 
 With such advantages, unknown in most other countries, 
 and such great encouragement gi\en to agriculture, one would 
 be led to suppose that the condition of the poor must be less 
 exposed to hardships here than elsewhere. Yet, in years of 
 sciu'city many thousands perish from absolute want of food. 
 And such years so frequently occur in one province or ano- 
 ther, either from unfa\ounible seasons of draught or inunda- 
 tions, the ill effijcts of both of ^\hich might probably be 
 coimteracted by proper management, or by an honest appli- 
 cation of the sums of money voted for the puq^ose out of the 
 public revenue, that government has seldom been able to 
 lay up in store a sufficient quantity of grain to meet the ne- 
 cessities of the people in seasons of general calamit}- ; and 
 they have no other relief to depend on but this precarious 
 supply, seldom administered \\ith alacrit}-, on account of tlie 
 number of hands it has to pass through. This leads them 
 to commit outrages against their A\ealthier neighbours. There 
 lu'e few public charities; and it is not a common custom to 
 ask alms. I did not obsene a single beggar from one ex- 
 tremity of China to the other, except in the streets of Can- 
 ton : nor are there an}' poor-laws griping the indttstrlons luis- 
 bandman and labourer, to feed the laz}', and to feast those 
 who have the care of them ; no paupers of any description, 
 fiupported from funds that liavc been IcA-Icd on the public. 
 The children, if li\ing, and if not, die next of kin, must 
 t.'^c caie of their aged relations ; and the parents dispose of 
 
27t) TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 their children in what manner they may think best for the 
 ihmily interest. As se-v'cral generations U^'e together, they' 
 arc subsisted at a much cheaper rate than if each had a sepa- 
 rate household. In cases of real disti-ess the government is 
 supposed to act the pai-ent ; and its good intentions in diis 
 respect cannot be called in question ; whenever it appears that 
 any of its officers, through neglect or malice, have withheld 
 grain from the poor, they ai'e punished with singular severity, 
 sometimes even with deatli. 
 
 Another great ad\-antage enjO}-ed by the Chinese subject is, 
 that the amount of his taxes is ascertained. He is never re- 
 quired to contribute, by any new assessment, to make up a 
 given sum for the extraordinm-y expenses of the state, except 
 in cases of rebellion, when an additional tax is sometimes im- 
 posed on tlie neighbouring provinces. But, in geneial, the exe- 
 cutive government must adapt its wants to the ordinary supplies, 
 instead of calling on the people for extraordinary contributions. 
 The amount of the revenues of this great empire has been dif- 
 ferently stated. As the principal branch, the land-tax, is paid 
 in kind, it is indeed scarcely possible to estimate the receipt of 
 it accurately ; as it ^vilI greatly depend on the state of the crop. 
 An emperor who aims at popularit}'- ne\^er fails to remit tliis 
 tax or rent, in such disti'icts as have suffered by drought or 
 inundation. Chou-ta-gin gave to lord Macartney, from the 
 imperial rent-roll, a rouy-Ii sketch of the sums raised in each 
 jiro^'ince ; making them to amount, in the whole, to about sixty- 
 six millions sterling ; which is not more than twice the reve- 
 nue of the state in Great Brititin, exclusive of the poor's-rate 
 and other parochial taxes, in 1803, and \vhich gives, as I be- 
 fore observed, if reduced to a capitation, the sum of about 
 lour shillings for each individual ; ^vhilst tliat of Great Britain, 
 by an analogous computation,, would amount to about fifteen 
 times that sum. I should suppose, however, that a shilling 
 in China, generally speaking, will go as far as three in Great 
 Britain. 
 
 From the i)rcduce of the taxes the civil and militaiy esta- 
 blishments, and all the incidental and extraordinaiy expenses, 
 ai-e first paid on the spot -v^here thev ai-e incurred, out of the 
 provincial magazines, and the remainder is remitted to the im- 
 perial treasury in Pekin to meet the expenses of the court, the 
 establishment of the emperor, his palaces, temples, gardens, 
 Momen, and princes of the blood. The confiscations, presents, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA, 2ri 
 
 tributes, and otlicr articles, may be reckoned as his privy purse^ 
 The sLii-plus revenue remitted to Pekin, in the yeai- 1792, v.as 
 stated to be about 36,000,000 ounces of silver, or 12,000,000/. 
 sterling. It is a general opinion, among the Chinese part of his 
 subjects, that vast sums of the surplus revenue, and such as 
 arise from confiscations, ai'e annually sent to Moukden, the 
 capital of Mant-choo Tartary ; but this should appear to be an 
 erroneous opinion founded on prejudice. Notwithstanding the 
 enormous ^\•ealth of Ho-tchung-tang, that filled the imperial 
 coftcrs, the present emperor found it necessary die same year to 
 accept an offering, as it was called of 500,000 ounces of siher, 
 or 166,666/. sterling, from the salt merchants of Canton, and 
 sums of money and articles of merchandize from other quarters, 
 to enable him to quell a rebellion that ^vas raging in one of the 
 western provinces. He even sent down to Canton a quantity 
 of pearls, agates, serpentines, and other stones of little value, in 
 the hope of raising a temporary siippl}- from the sale of them 
 to foreign merchimts. The emperor of China, therefore, has 
 not so much wealth at his disposal as has usually been imagined. 
 He even accepts of patriotic gifts from indi\iduals, consisting 
 of pieces of porcelain, silks, fans, tea, and such-like trifliiig 
 articles, ^^ hich afterw ards serve as presents to foreign embas- 
 sadors ; and each gift is pompously proclaimed in the Pekin 
 gazette. 
 
 The cliief officers in the ci\il department of governments, 
 independent of the ministers and the different boards in Pekin 
 according to the statement of Tchu-ta-gin, A\ith their salaries 
 and alloA\ ances reduced into silver, \\ill be seen from the fol- 
 lo^\■ing table, \\lMch, with that of die military- establish.ment, is 
 published in the appendix to the authentic account of die em- 
 bassy by sir George Staunton ; and as they differ \cry litde from 
 the court calender publislied in 1801, and as I have occasion 
 to make a few remai-ks on them, as well as on that of the popu- 
 lation, A\-hich ^\•ill be gi\'cn in a subsequent chapter, 1 ha\e 
 not hesitated to introduce them into the present 'v\"ork. 
 
272 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Qiiality. 
 
 Number. 
 
 Salaries 
 in ounces 
 of silver. 
 
 Total. 
 
 Viceroys over one or more provinces 
 Governors of provinces 
 Collectors of revenue 
 Presidents of criminal tribunals 
 Governors of more than one city of the first order 
 Governors of one city only of the first order 
 Governors of a city of the second order 
 Governors of a city of the third order 
 Presidents of literature and examinations - 
 Inspectors general 
 
 11 
 15 
 19 
 18 
 86 
 
 184 
 
 149 
 1305 
 17? 
 
 117 S 
 
 20,000 
 16,000 
 9,000 
 6,000 
 3,000 
 2,000 
 1,000 
 800 
 
 3,000 
 
 220,000 
 240,000 
 171,000 
 108,000 
 258,000 
 368,000 
 149,000 
 1,044,000 
 402, 300 
 
 
 Tot;iI oz. 2,960,00(^ 
 
 The inferior officers acting immediately under the orders 
 of these, and amounting to many tliousands, together with 
 the salaries and expenses of the different boaixls in the ca- 
 pital, all of which are paid out of the public treasury, must re^ 
 quire a sum at least equal to the above ; so that, on a moderate 
 calculation, the ordinary expenses of the civil establishment 
 will amount to the sum of 5,920,000 ounces, or 1,973,333/. 
 sterling. 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the numerous appointments, 
 and the frequent changes in administration, liom the circum- 
 stance of the court calendar, or red book, being published 
 every three months, making four tolerable large volumes, or 
 sixteen volumes e\^ery year. 
 
 The flitherly attention, the wise precautions, and the extreme 
 jealousy of the government, have not been considered as alone 
 sufficient for the internal arid external protection of the empire, 
 without the assistance of an immense standing army. This 
 vsmy, in the midst of a profound peace, was stated by Van-ta- 
 o-in to consist of eighteen hundred thousand men, one million 
 of which were said to be infantry, and eight hundred thousand 
 cavalr}-. As this government, however, is supposed to be 
 muchgiA'cn to exaggeration in all matters relating to tiie ag- 
 grandisement of the countiy, riid to deal liberally in hyper- 
 boles, v.herever nimibers £ire concerned, the authenticity of 
 the abo^^e statement of their miiitaiy force may perhaps be 
 called in question. The sum of money that would be required 
 to keep in pay and furnish the extraordinaries of so immense 
 an army is so immoderate, that the revenues would appear to 
 be unable to bear it. If the pay and the appointments of each 
 soldier, infantiy and ca^-aliy one with another, be supposed to 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 273 
 
 amount to a shilling a da}^, tJie sum required for die pay alons 
 would amount to 33,000,0001. sterling a )-ear ! 
 
 To come neai-er the truth, let us take the calculation draM n 
 up by Lord Macartne)^ from the information of Van-ta-gin. 
 
 Rank. 
 
 Tan-ton 
 
 'I'sung'-piiig' 
 
 Foo-tsung' 
 
 Tchoo-lsnng 
 
 Tchoo-tze 
 
 Too-tze 
 
 Sciou i'oo 
 
 i'sicn-tsnng 
 
 P;i-l.snng 
 
 Commissaries of provisions of first rank 
 
 Commissaries of provisions of second rank 
 
 5; 
 
 3 
 
 C/5 
 
 ■ n 
 
 18 4000 
 
 62' 2400 
 
 121 
 
 1300 
 
 165 
 
 800 
 
 373 
 
 600 
 
 425 
 
 400 
 
 825 
 
 320 
 
 1680 
 
 160 
 
 3622 
 
 130 
 
 44 
 
 320 
 
 330 
 
 160 
 
 £- H 
 
 72,000 
 148,800 
 157,300 
 132,000 
 223,800 
 170,000 
 264,000 
 268,800 
 470.870 
 14,080 
 52,800 
 
 1,000,000 infantry, at t\vo ounce* of silver each per 
 
 Total 1,974,450 
 month, provisions included 5 24,000,000 
 
 SOO.OOO ca\alrv, at four ounces each, provisions and 7 r.o jinn «nA 
 forage included jo8,400,000 
 
 800,000 horses, cost at twenty ounces each, 16,000,000 
 oz. tlie annual wear and tear at 10 per cent, 
 will be 
 Uniforms for 1 ,800,000 men once a year, at four ounces 
 Vcarly v\ car and tear of arms, Hccoutremcnts, aiid contin- 
 gencies, at one ounce per man i 
 
 1,600,000 
 
 7,200,000 
 1,800,000 
 
 3,000,000 
 
 Total ounces 74,974,450 
 
 And as no alIo\\ance is made in the above estimate for the ex- 
 pense of aitiller}-, tents, \\m--cquipage, nor for vessels of force 
 on the diftei'cnt ri\ers and canals, the building and keeping in 
 repair the military posts, the flags, ceremonial dresses, boats, 
 waggons, musical bands, all of which are included in the ex- 
 traordinaries of the army, these may probably be equal to the 
 ordinaries ; dius the whole military establishment a\ ould re- 
 quire the sum of 149,948,900 ounces, or 49,982,9331. sterling. 
 The disposal of die revenues will then stand as follows : 
 
 Totil amount of the revenue - - ^.66,000,000 
 
 Civil establishment - £.1,973,333 
 Military ditto - 49,982,933 
 
 51,956,266 
 
 Surplus,being for the emperor's establishment, £. 1 4,043,734 
 
 M m 
 
274 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 which accords pretty nearly with the sum said to be remitted 
 to Pekiii in the yeiu* 1792. 
 
 It will appear, then, tliat if the revenues be admitted as accu- 
 rate (and I see no just reason for supposing the contrary), they 
 are more than suiiicient to meet the expenses of an establish- 
 ment appai"ently so enormous. If, however, the king of Prus- 
 sia, the monarch of a small indistinguishable speck on the 
 globe, when put in comparison with the empire of China, can 
 keep up an army of one hundred and eighty or two hundred 
 thousand men, I can perceive notliing either extravagant or 
 extraordinary in supposing that a sovereign, whose dominions 
 ai"e eight times the extent of those of France, before lier late 
 usurpations, should ha\-e ten times as gi-cat a force as that of 
 the king of Prussia. It may, perhaps, be asked, in what man- 
 ner are they employed, seeing the nation is so little engaged in 
 foreign war '? Tlie employments for which the military aie 
 used differ materially from those among European nations. 
 Except a great part of the Tartar cavalr}^, A^ho ai-e stationed 
 on the nortliiern frontier and in the conquered proA'inccs of 
 Tartar)^, and the Taitar infantry, who are distributed as guards 
 for the different cities of the empire, the rest of the army is 
 parcelled out in the smaller to^^"ns, villages and hamlets; 
 where they act as jailors, constables, thief-takers, assistants to 
 magistrates, subordinate collectors of the taxes, guards to the 
 granaries, and are employed in a variety of different ways under 
 the civil magistracy and police. Besides these, an immense 
 multitude are stationed as guards at the military posts along 
 the public roads, canals, and rivers. These posts are small 
 square buildings, like so many little castles, each having on its 
 summit a watch-tower and a flag ; and they are placed at the 
 distance of three or four miles asunder. At one of these posts 
 there are never fewer than six men. They not only prevent 
 robberies and disputes on the roads and canals, but convey the 
 public dispatches to and from the capital. An express, sent 
 from post to post, travels between the capital and Canton in 
 t'welve days, ^\ hich is upwards of one hundred miles a day. 
 There is no other post nor mode of conve}'ing letters for the 
 convenience of the public. 
 
 A great part, then, of the Chinese army can only be consi- 
 dered as a kind of militia, which never has been, and in all hu- 
 man probability never will be, embodied ; as a pait of the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. :175 
 
 community not liAing entirely on the labour of the rest, but 
 contributing something to the common stock. Every soldier 
 stationed on the different guards has his portion of land assign- 
 ed to him, which he cultivates for his family, and pa)-s his 
 quota of the produce to tlie state. Such a provision, encou- 
 raged by public opinion, induces the soldier to mairy, and tlie 
 married men are never remo^^ed from theu' stations. 
 
 It will not be expected that men thus circumstimced should 
 exhibit a very military appearance under arms. In some 
 places, Avhere they ^^■cre di"awn out in compliment to the em- 
 bassador, when the Aveather happened to be a little warm, they 
 were employed in the exercise of their fans instead of their 
 match-locks ; others we found drawn up in a single line, and 
 /x,'stlng very composedly on their knees to receive the embassa- 
 dor, iu which posture they remained till their commanding-of- 
 ficer passed the word to rise. Whenever we happened to take 
 them by surprise, there Mas the greatest scramble to get tJieir 
 Jiolyday dresses out oftlie guard-house, which, when put on, 
 had more the appearance of being intended for die stage than 
 the field of battle. Their quilted petticoats, satin boots, and 
 tljeir funs, had a mixture of clumsiness and effeminac}' that ill 
 accorded \\ith the military character. 
 
 The difterent kinds of troops tliat compose the Chinese army 
 consist of 
 
 Tai'tiu- ca\alr3', ^^ hose only Aveapon is the sabre ; and a few 
 i\ho caj'ry bo\\'s. 
 
 Tartar infant/}-, bowmen ; having also large sabres. 
 
 Chinese infantiy, carrying die same weapons. 
 
 Chinese matchlocks. 
 
 Chinese tigers of war, beaiing large round shields of basket- 
 work, and long ill-made s\vords. On the shields of the last 
 are piiinted monstrous faces of some imaginaiy animal, intend- 
 ed to frighten the enemy, or, like another Gorgon, to petrify 
 their beholders. 
 
 The militai-}' dress varies in almost CA^erj^ pro\ince. Some- 
 limes they wore blue jackets edged \\ ith red, or bro^Mi with 
 \ellow ; some had long pantaloons ; some breeches, with 
 stockings of cotton-cloth ; others petticoats and boots. The 
 bowmen had long loose gowns of blue cotton, stuffed with a 
 kind of felt or wadding, studded all over with brass knobs, and 
 boiuid round the middle with a girdle, from which the sabre 
 was appended behind, hanging Avith the point fo^^'ards, and 
 
276 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 on tlie right, not tlie left, side, as in Europe. On the head they 
 wore a hehiiet of leather, or gilt pasteboard, •with flaps on each 
 side, that covered the checks, and fell upon the shoulder. The 
 upper part was exactly like an in-\^erted funnel, Mith a long 
 pij5e tcrniinating in a kind of spear, on A\hich was bound a 
 tuft of long hair dyed of a scarlet colour. 
 
 The greatest number we saw at any one place might be 
 from tA\o to three thousand, \\ hich ■\\ere diawn up in a single 
 line along the bank of a river ; and as they stood, ^ith an in- 
 terval between each, equal to the width of a man, they formed 
 a \'ery considerable line, in length. E\-cry fifth man had a 
 small triimgular flag, and e^•cry tenth a laige one ; tht staffs 
 that supported them were fixed to the jacket, behind the shoul- 
 ders. Some of the flags were gi-cen, edged with red ; others 
 blue, edged with yelloAw I never saw the Chinese troops 
 drawn out in any other \\'ay than a single line in front ; not 
 even two deep. 
 
 The Tartai- cavalry appeal" to be remarkably swift, and to 
 charge with great impetuosity ; but the horses are so small, 
 and are broken into so quick and short a stroke, that the eye 
 is deceived. Their real speed, in fact, is very moderate. 
 Their saddles ai'e remarkably soft, and raised so high, both 
 before and behind, that the rider cannot easily be throAvn out 
 of his seat. The stirrups are so short, that the knee is almost 
 as high as the chin. They have ^'cry little ai-tillerj-, and that 
 little is as wTctched as it well can be. I suspect it is borrowed 
 from the Portuguese, as the matchlock most' unquestionably 
 has been. 
 
 When our fellow-traveller Van-ta-gin was asked the reason 
 of their pretending to give a preference to the clumsy match- 
 locks over the firelocks now in use among the European 
 troops, he replied, it had been found, after a severe engage- 
 ment in Thibet, that the matchlocks had done much more exe- 
 cution than the firelocks. It is diflticult to combat prejudices ; 
 but it was not very difficult to couAince Van that the men 
 might, probably, have been quite as much in fault as the 
 musquets ; and that the superior steadiness of the fire from 
 the matchlocks might possibly be owing to their being fixed, 
 by an iron fork, into the ground. The missionaries have as- 
 signed a very absurd reason for firelocks not being used in 
 China : they say the dampness of the air is apt to make the 
 flint miss fire. Witli equal propriety might these gentlemen 
 
I 
 
 ' TRAVELS IN CHINA. 277 
 
 have asserted tint flints would not emit fire in Italy. T]\cir 
 want of good iron and steel to manufacture locks, or the bad 
 quality of their gunpowder, might, perhaps, be oflcred as bet- 
 ter reasons ; and, as the l)est of all, their ^vant of courage and 
 coolness to make use of them w idi that steadiness which is 
 required to produce the effects of which they arc capable. 
 Their favourite instrument is the bow, which, like all other 
 missile \\eapons, requires less courage to manage than those 
 %\ hich luring man to oppose himself in close contest with man. 
 
 Although the Tartars have found it expedient to continue 
 the Chinese army on the old footing, it may naturally be 
 supposed they would endeavour to secure themselves by all 
 possible means hi the possession of this vast empire, and that 
 they would use every exertion to recruit the army with their 
 own countr\Tnen, in preference to the Chinese. Every l\ir- 
 tar male child is accordingly enrolled. This precaution was 
 necessary, as their whole army, at the time of the conquest, 
 is said not to have exceeded eighty thousand men. At this 
 time, in fact, a \\-cak administration had sufibred the empire to 
 be torn asunder by con\ulsions. iM'cry department, both 
 civil and militaiy, ^^'as under the control of eunuchs. Six 
 thousand of these creatures are said to have been turned adrift 
 by the Taitars on taking possession of the palace in Pekin. 
 
 The conduct of the Man-tchoo Taitars, v. hose race is now 
 on the throne, was a master-piece of policy little to be expected 
 in a tribe of people that had been considered but as half ci- 
 vilized. They entered the Chinese dominions as auxiliaiies 
 against two rebel chiefs, but soon percei\cd they might be- 
 come the principals. Having placed dieir leader on the vacant 
 throne, instead of setting up for conquerors, they melted at 
 once into the mass of the conquered. They adopted the 
 dress, the manners, and the opinions of the people. In all die 
 ci^il departments of the state they appointed the ablest Chinese, 
 and all \'ac;\ncies were filled \\\X\\ Chinese in prefei-ence to 
 Tartars. They learned the Chinese language ; maiTied into 
 Chinese families ; encouraged Chinese superstitions ; and, in 
 short, omitted no step that could tend to incorporate them as 
 one nation. Their great object was to strengthen tlic army 
 ^^•idl their own countrnnen, whilst the Chinese were so satis- 
 fied with the change, that they almost doubted whctlicr a 
 change had really taken place. 
 
-78 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Tlic unintemipted succession of four emperors, all of \\'hom 
 were endowed with excellent understandings, uncommon vi- 
 gour of mind, and decision of character, has hitherto obviated 
 the danger of such an enormous disproportion between the go- 
 leniors and the governed. The wisdom, prudence, and energy 
 of these emperors have not only maintained the family on the 
 tiirone, the fifth of A^'hich now fills it, but have enlarged the 
 dominions to an extent of which historj'^ furnishes no parallel. 
 The present emperor, Kia-king, is said to possess the learning 
 and prudence of his father, and the firmness of Kaung-Shee ; 
 but it is. probable he will have a more difficult task in govern- 
 ing the empire than either of his predecessors. In proportion 
 as th» Taitar power has increased, they have become less so- 
 licitous to conciliate the Chinese. All the heads of departments 
 are no'>v Tartai's. The ministers are all Tartars ; and most of 
 the high offices of trust and power are filled by Tartars. And 
 although the ancient language of the country is still preserved 
 as the court language, yet it is more dian probable that Tartar 
 pride, encreasing with its growing power, will ere long be in- 
 duced to adopt its own. 
 
 The emperor Kaung-Shee, indeed, took uncommon pains 
 to impro\e the Man-tchoo language, and to form it into a sys- 
 tematic thesaurus or dictionary ; and Tchien-Lung directed 
 that the children of all such parents as \vere, one a Tartar, the 
 other a Chinese, should be taught the Man-tchoo language ; 
 and that they might pass their examinations for office in that 
 language. I could observe that the young men of the royal 
 family at Yucn-min-yuen spoke with great contempt of the 
 Chinese. One of them, pcrcei\'ing that I was desirous of ac- 
 quiring some kno\A'ledge of the Chinese written character, took 
 great pains to convince me that the Taita.r language wa? much 
 superior to it ; and he not only offered to furnish me with the 
 alphabet and some books, but with his instructions also, if I 
 ^\•ould give up the Chinese, which, he observed, was not to 
 be acquired in the course of a man's whole life. I could not 
 forbear remarking, how very much these young princes enjoy- 
 ed a jest levelled against the Chinese. An ill-natured remark, 
 for instance, on the cramped feet and the hobbling gait of a 
 Chinese woman met wath their hearty approbation ; but they 
 \Aere equally displeased on hearing the clumsy shoes worn by 
 the Tartar ladies compared to the broad flat-bottomed junks 
 of the Chinese. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 279 
 
 Although the ancient institutes and la^^•s, the estabUshed 
 forms of office, the pageantry of administration, were all re- 
 tained, and the dress, the manners, and external deportment 
 of the vanquished were assumed by the victors, yet the native 
 character remained distinct ; and no^\ , in the higher depart- 
 ments of office especially, it bursts dirough all disguise. The 
 conscious superiority of the one checks and overa^\es the other. 
 " Most of our books," observes Lord Macartney, " confound 
 *' the tAvo people together, and tiilk of them as if they made 
 *' only one nation under the general name of China; but, 
 " \vhatever might be concluded trom an}- outward appearances, 
 " the real distinction is never forgotten by the sovereign who, 
 " though he pretends to be perfectly impartial, conducts him- 
 " self at bottom by a systematic nationality, and never for a 
 " moment loses sight of the cradle of his po\Acr. The science 
 " of government in the eastern world is understood by those 
 "• ^vho ffovern xerv differcntlv from Avhat it is in the western. 
 " When the succession of a contested kingdom in Liu-ope is 
 *' once ascertained, whether by ^'iolence or compromise, the 
 " nation returns to its pristine regularity and composure : it 
 " matters little whether a Bourbon or an Austrian fills the 
 *' throne of Naples or of Spain, because the sovereign, who- 
 " ever he be, then becomes, to all intents and purj-^oses, a 
 " Spaniard or Neapolitim, and his descendants continue so 
 " \Aith accelerated velocity. George the first and George the 
 " second ceased to be foreigners, from the moment our sceptre 
 '* was fixed in their hands ; and his present majesty is as much 
 " an Englishman as king Alfred or king Edgar, and governs 
 " his people not by Teutonic but by English laws. 
 
 " The policy of Asia is totally opposite. There the prince 
 " regards the place of his nativity as an accident of mere indif- 
 '' ference. If the parent root be good, he thinks it will flourish 
 " in every soil, and perhaps acquire fresh \'igour from trans- 
 " plantation. It is not locality, but his own cast and famih* ; 
 " it is not the country ^vhere he drcAA^ his breath, but the stock 
 " from which he sprung ; it is not the sc^neiy of the theatre, 
 '' but the spirit of the drama, that engages his attention and 
 '* occupies his thoughts. A series of two hundred years, in 
 *' the succession of eight or ten monarchs, did not change the 
 '' Mogul into a Hindoo, nor has a century and a half made 
 '' Tchien-Lung a Chinese. He remains, at this hour, in ail 
 
280 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 *' his maxims of policy, as true a Tartar iis aiiy of his aii- 
 *' cestors." 
 
 Whether this most ancient empire among men "v^ill long 
 continue in its stability and integrity can only be matter of con- 
 jecture : but certain it is, the Chinese are greatly dissatisfied, 
 and not without reason, at the imperious tone now openly as- 
 sumed b}' the Tartars : and though they are obliged to cringe 
 and submit, in order to rise to any distinction in the state, } et 
 they unanimously load them -w ith 
 
 " Curses, not loud, but deep, mouth-lioncm- breath."* 
 
 Whenever the dismembcniient or dislocation of this great ma- 
 chine shall take place, either by a rebellion or revolution, it 
 must be at the expense of many millions of lives. For, as is 
 well observed by Lord Macartne}-, '* A sudden transition from 
 *' slavery to freedom, from dependence to authority, can sel- 
 *' dom be borne "with moderation or discretion. Every change 
 " in the state of man ou^-ht to be c:entle and 2:i"adiini, other- 
 " Wise it IS commonly diuigerous to himself, aiid intolerable 
 " to others- A due preparation may be as necessary for li- 
 *' berty as for inoculation of the smali-pox, ^Ahich, like liberty, 
 " is future health, but, A^ithout due preparation, is almost cer- 
 *' tain destruction. Thus, then, the Chinese, if not led to 
 " emancipation by degrees, but let loose on a burst of euthii- 
 *' siasm, v/ould probably fall into all the excesses of folly, suf- 
 " fer all the paroxysms of madness, and be found as unfit for 
 *' the enjoyment of rational freedom as the French and the 
 " negroes." 
 
 * The last accounts, indeed, that have been received from China, arc 
 rather of an alarming nature. A very serious rebellion had broken out 
 ill the western pro\'inces, Vv'hich had eixtendcd to that of Canton, the ob- 
 iect of whicli v.'as the overthrov/ of the Tartar government. It was known 
 for some years past, as I before observed, that certain secret societies were 
 ibrmiug in the different provinces, who corresponded together by un- 
 known signs, agreed upon by convention ; but they vvcre not considered 
 to be of that extent as to cause any uneasiness to tlie government. It 
 appears, however, that not fewer than forty thousand men had assembled 
 in arms in the province of Canton, at the head of wh.om v/as a man of the 
 family of the last Chinese emperor, who had assumed the im'perial yel- 
 low. These rebels, it seems, are considerably encouratjcd in their cause 
 by a prophecy, which is current among the people, that the present 
 Tartar dynasty shall be overturned in the year ISO'k The existence of 
 such a prophecy may be m.ore dangerous to the Tartar government than 
 the arms of the rebels, by assisting to bring about its oM'n accomplish- 
 ment. 
 
CHAP. VIII. 
 
 CONJECTURES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE CHINESE.— THEIR RE- 
 LIGIOUS SECTS— TENETS— AND CEREMONIES. 
 
 Embassy departs from Pekin, and is lodged in a Temple. — Colony from Egj-pt not 
 necessary to be supposed, in order to account for Egyptian Mytliology in China. 
 —Opinions concerning Chinese Origin. — Observations on the Heights of Tar- 
 tary. — Probably the Resting-place of the Ark. of Noah. — Ancients ignorant of 
 the Chinese. — Seres. — First known Intercourse of Foreigners with China.— 
 Jews. — Budhists. — Nestorians. — Mahomedans. — Roman Catholics.— QuaiTeU 
 of the Jesuits and Dominicans. — Religion of Confucius. — Attached to tlie Pre- 
 diction of futui'e Events. — Notions entertained by him of a future State. — Of 
 the Deity. — Doctrine not unlike that of the Stoics. — Ceremonies in Honour of 
 his Memory led to Idolatry. — Misrepresentations of the Missionaries with re- 
 gard to the Religion of the Chinese. — The To-atze, or Sons of Immortals. — 
 Their Beverage of Life. — The Disciples of Fo or Budhists. — Comparison of 
 some of tlie Hindu, Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese Deities. — The Lotos or 
 Nelumbium. — Story of Osiris and Isis, and the Isia compared with the Imperial 
 Ceremony of Ploughing. — Women visit the Temples. — Practical Part of Chi- 
 nese Religion. — Funeral Obsequies. — Feast of Lanterns. — Obeisance to the 
 Emperor performed in the Temple leads to Idolatry. — Primitive Reli^on lost 
 •r eorrupfted. — Summary of Chinese Religion. 
 
 THE suspicious and watchful conduct of the Chinese 
 government towaixls strangers was ill suited to the free and 
 independent spirit of Britons. Confined within the limits of 
 their hotel, the populous capital of China was to them little 
 better than a desert. It was, therefore, less painful to be 
 obliged to quit a place which they could consider in no other 
 light than as an honourable prison, and to take leave of a peo- 
 ple, whose general character seemed to be strongly maiked 
 with pride, meanness, and ignorance. After having passed 
 some time in a nation w here every petty officer is a tyrant and 
 every man a slave, how doubly precious do the blessings of 
 that true liberty appear, which our happy constitution affords 
 to every one ilic means of enjo}'ing at home ; where property 
 is secured from \ iolence, and where tlie life of the meanest 
 
 N n 
 
282 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 subject is equally protected with that of the prince. Let those 
 visionaiy men, \\'ho amuse themselves in building Utopian 
 governments, and those \\ ho, from real or fancied injury or 
 neglect, feel the chagrin of disappointment, visit other coun- 
 tries, and experience how justice is administered in otlier na- 
 tions ; they ^vill then be taught to confess that real liberty ex- 
 ists only in Great-Britain — hi that happy island ^\ here, to use 
 tlie expression of an eminent writer on the laws of nations,* 
 " an enlightened piety in the people is the firmest support of 
 *' lawful authority ; and, hi the so^•ercign's breast, it is the 
 " pledge of the people's safety, and excites their confidence." 
 
 Imj rcsscd with such sentiments, on tlie evening of the 7th 
 of October, I rede through tlie streets of Pekin, fortlie lasttime, 
 in company -^vith Mr. Maxwell. V/e were quite alone ; not a 
 single Chinese servant, nor soldier, nor officer to conduct us j 
 yet we had no difficulty in finding our way. We passed 
 through the broad streets of this capital from one extremity to 
 the other without the least molestation, or, indeed, the least no- 
 tice. We could not forbear remarking the extraordinaiy con- 
 trast, that the two gTcatest cities in the world exhibited at this 
 hour of the day. hi the public streets of Pekin, after five or 
 six o'clock in the evening, scarcely a human creature is seen to 
 move ; butthey abound witli dogs and swine. All its inhabitants, 
 having finished the business of the da}'-, are noi^^ retired to their 
 respective homes, to eat their rice and, agreeably with the cus- 
 tom of their great emperor, which to them is a la^v, to lie 
 dovvn with the setting sun : at which time, in London, the crowd 
 is so great from Hyde-Park corner to Mile-end, as to inter- 
 rupt each other. In Pekin, from the moment the day begins 
 to dawn, the buzz and the bustle of the populace is lilvc that 
 of a swarm of bees ; whilst, on the contrary, the streets of Lon- 
 don at an early hour in the morning are nearly deserted. At 
 eight in the e^'ening, even in summer, the gates of Pekin are 
 shut, and the keys sent to the governor ; after which they can- 
 not be opened, on any consideration. 
 
 The embassador and the rest of the suite, with the soldiers, 
 servants, and musicians, had, several hours before us, set out in 
 a sort of procession, in which an officer of government on horse- 
 back took the lead, Avith the letter of the emperor of China to 
 the king of England slung across his shoulders, in a wooden 
 
 * Vattel. 
 
k 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHIN^. 283 
 
 case covered with yellow silk. At a late hour in the night, we 
 joined the rest of the party in the suburbs of Tong-tclioo-foo, 
 where we were once more lodged among the gods of the nation, 
 in a temple that was consecrated to the patronizing deity ot' the 
 city. There are no inns in any part of this vast empire ; or, to 
 speak more correctly (for there ai^e resting-places,) no inhabited 
 and furnished houses, where, in consideration of paying a certain 
 sum of money, a ti-a\'eller may purchase the refreshments of 
 comfortable rest, and of allaying the calls of hunger. The 
 state of society admits of no such accommodation, and much 
 less such as, in many countries, proceeds from a spirit of disin- 
 terested hospitality : on the contrary, in tliis country, they in- 
 variably shut their doors against a stranger, ^^''hat the}^ call 
 inns are mean hovels, consisting of baie walls ^vhc^e, perhaps, 
 a traveller may procure his cup of tea for a piece of copper 
 money, and permission to pass the night; but this is the extent 
 of the comforts which such places hold out. The practice, in- 
 deed, of travelling by land is so rai-e, except occasionally in those 
 parts of the country \\ hich admit not tine convenience of inland 
 navigations, or at such times when tliesc arc frozen up, diat the 
 profits Mhich might arise from the entertainment of passengers 
 could not support a house of decent accommodation. The 
 officers of state invaiiably make use of the convcnicncies which 
 the temples offer, as being superior to any other which the 
 country affords ; and the priests, ^^^ll knowing how vain it 
 M'ould be to resist, or remonstrate, patiently submit, and resign 
 the temporar}' use of their a])artments \\ithout a miu'mur. 
 
 In most counti'ies of tlie civilized ^\"orld, the buildings appror 
 priated for religious worship and the repositories of their gods, 
 are generally held sacred. In the monasteries of those paits of 
 ilurope, where inns are not to be found, the apaitments of the 
 monks are sometimes resorted to by travellers; but, in China, the 
 xcry sanctum sanctorinn is in\'aded. Every corner is indiscrimi- 
 nately occupied by men in po^\'er, if they should require it. 
 Sometimes, also, the \\hole building is made a commonplace 
 of resort for \-agrants and idlers, ^^■here gamblers mix \\'ith gods, 
 and priests with pick-pockets. Injustice, however, it must be 
 obser^'ed, that the priests of the two popular religions v/hich 
 predominate in the country shew no inclination to encourage, 
 i:)y joining in, the vicious practices of the rabble ; but having 
 no pay or emolument from the governm.ent, and being rather 
 tolerated than supported, diey aie obliged to submit to, and 
 
284 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 to overlook, abuses of tliis nature, and even to allow the profane 
 practices of the rabble in the ver}^ hours of their devotion. Yet 
 there is a decency of behaviour, a sort of pride and dignity in 
 the deportment of a Chinese priest, that readily distinguish 
 him from the vulgar. The calumnies, which some of the 
 Roman catholic missionaries have so industriously circulated 
 against them, seem to have no foundation in truth. The near 
 resemblance of their dress, and holy rites, to those of their own 
 faith, was so mortifying a circumstance, that none of the mis- 
 sionaries I conversed with, could speak with temper of the priests 
 of China. I could not even prevail on our interpreter of the 
 Propaganda Fide, who still manifested a predilection for the 
 customs of his country, in every other respect, to step into the 
 temple where the altar ^^'as placed : nor could he be induced, 
 by any persuasion, to give or to ask an explanation of their 
 mysterious doctrines. 
 
 There is no subject, perhaps, on which a traveller ought to 
 speak with less confidence, than on the religious opinions of 
 the people he may chance to visit, in countries out of Eu- 
 rope ; especially when those opinions are grounded on a very 
 remote antiquity. The allegorical allusions, in which they 
 might originally have been involved, the various changes they 
 may since have undergone, the ceremonies and types under 
 which they are still exhibited, in theii* modem cb'ess, render 
 them so wholly unintelligible, tliat, although they may have 
 been fcfimded in truth and reason, they now appear absurd and 
 ridiculous ; equally inexplicable by the people themselves who 
 confess them, as by those who are utter strangers. The various 
 modes, indeed, under which the Creator and Ruler of tlie uni- 
 verse is recognised by various nations, all tending to one point, 
 but setting out in very different directions, can only be under- 
 stood and reconciled by a thorough knowledge of the language, 
 the history, and the habits of the people ; of their origin and 
 connexions with other nations : and, even after such know- 
 ledge has been obtained, it is no easy task to separate fable from 
 metaphor, and truth from fiction. For these reasons, the reli- 
 gion of China appeal's to be fully as obscure and inexplicable 
 as that of almost any other of the Oriental nations. The lan- 
 guage of the countr}^, added to the jealousy of the government, 
 in admitting foreigners, ha.ve thrown almost insuperable ob- 
 stacles in the way of clearing up this intricate subject ; and those 
 few, who only havp had opportunities of overcoming these diflS- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. Z95 
 
 culties, were unfortunately men of that class, uhose opinions 
 were so warped by the prejudices imbibed ^vith the tenets of 
 their own religion, that the accounts given by them are not iil- 
 ways to be depended upon. As I ha\'e already observed, they 
 cannot bring diemselves to speak or to write of the priests 
 of China with any degree of temper or moderation. 
 
 It would be presumptuous in me to suppose, for a moment, 
 that I am qualified to remove the veil of darkness that covers 
 the popular religion of China. But as, in the practice of this 
 religion, it is impossible not to discover a common origin witli 
 the systems of other nations, in ancient times, it may not be 
 improper to introduce a few remarks on tlie subject, and to 
 enquire, if history will not enable us to point out, in what man- 
 ner they might h^ve received or communicated the supersti- 
 tions and metaphysical ideas that seem to pre\'ail among tliem. 
 The obvious coincidence between some paits of the mytholo- 
 gical doctrines of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, with 
 those of China, induced tlic learned Monsieur de Guignes, 
 and many of the Jesuits, to infer that a colony from Egypt, 
 at some remote period, had passed into China. This howev- 
 er, does not appear probable. The Chinese are not a mixed, 
 but a distinct, race of men ; and their countenance has no- 
 diing of the ancient Egyptian in it. Nor, indeed, is it neces- 
 sary to suppose any such connection, in order to explain the 
 vestiges of Eg}-ptian mytholog}^ that may appeal* in their tem- 
 ples. We are informed, by histor}-, that when Alexander 
 marched into India, about three centuries before the birth of 
 Christ, many learned Greeks accompanied him on this me- 
 morable expedition ; and we ai'e further informed that, two 
 centuries after this period, when the persecutions and cruelties 
 of Ptolemy Physcon expelled great numbers of learned and 
 pious Greeks and EgAptians from the cit}^ of Alexandria, 
 they travelled eastward, in search of an asylum among the 
 Persians and the Indians : so that there is nothing extraordi- 
 na.ry in meeting with Greek and Egyptian superstitions among 
 nations of the East ; even w here no vestige of their language 
 remains. For it may be observed that, whenever colonies 
 emigrate from their o^\Tl country, and sctdc among strangers, 
 they are much more apt to lose their native language than 
 their religious dogmas and superstitious notions. Necessity, 
 indeed, may compel them to adopt the language of the new 
 f:ountry into which they Ivxve emigrated ; but any compulsi\'c 
 
286 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 measures, to draw them to another religion, serve only to 
 strengthen them in their own. The French refugees at the 
 Cape of Good Hope lost their language in less than seventy 
 yeai's ; and, singular as it may appeal', I met with a deserter 
 from one of the Scotch regiments, on the borders of the Kaf- 
 fer countiy, ^\'liO had so far forgot his language, in the course 
 of about three years, that he Mas not able to make himself in- 
 telligible by it. Many languages, we know, have been totally 
 lost, and others so changed as scarcely to preserve any traces 
 of their original form.* 
 
 Mr. Bailly, with some other learned and ingenious men, 
 was of opinion, that many of the fragments of the old and ab- 
 surd ilibles of China, are discoverable in the ancient histor}^ of 
 the Hindus, from the birth of Fo-shee, the founder of the em- 
 pire (Fo-hi, as the French write the word), until the introduc- 
 tion of Budhia, or Fo. Like the Hindus, it istme, they have 
 alwa3's shown a remai'kable predeliction for tlie number nine. 
 Confucius calls it the most perfect of numbers. But the 
 Scythians, or Tartai's, have also considered this as a sacred 
 number. It is true, likewise, they resemble some of the In- 
 dian nations, in the observance of solstitial and equinoxial sa- 
 crifices ; in mailing offerings to the manes of their ancestors ; 
 in the dread of leaving no offspring behind them, to pay the 
 customaiy obsequies to their memoiy; in obserA'ing eight 
 
 * This consideration on the transient nature of languages, and espe- 
 cially of those whose fleeting sounds have never been fixed by any graphic 
 invention, makes it the more surprising how Lord Karnes, in his sketch 
 on the origin and progress of American nations, after observing that no 
 passage by land had been discovered between America and the old 
 ■world, should have given it, as his opinion, that an enquiry, much more 
 decisive as to the former being peopled by the hitter, might be pursued, 
 by ascertaining whether the same language be spoken by the inhabitants 
 on the two sides of the strait that divides the northern regions of Ame- 
 rica. And that, after finding this not to be the case, he should conclude 
 that the former had not been peopled by the latter. Had not Lord 
 Karnes written upon a system of a separate and local creation, pre-estab- 
 lished in his own mind, he would unquestionably have laid more stress 
 upon a resemblance in their physical characters, in their sujierstitious 
 and religious notions, than on similarity of language ; which, among 
 the many acquirements of the human species, or of human institution, 
 is not the least liablcto change by a change of situation, especially where 
 no written character has been employed to fix it. His lordship's con- 
 clusion is the more extraordinary, as he had already observed that the 
 resemblance between them was perfect in every other respect. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 287 
 
 cardinal or principal points of the world ; in the division of 
 the zodiac, and in a variety of otlicr coincidences, ^\"luch th.c 
 leai'ned Mr. Bryant accounts for by supposing the Egyptians, 
 Greeks, Romans, and Indians, to be derived from one com- 
 mon stock, and that some of these people carried their rclip;ion 
 and their learning into China. No proof, however, is adduc- 
 ed, eitlier by him or others, of such a commission ; and an 
 assertion directly to the contrar}- might have been made Vvith 
 equal plausibility. 
 
 1 hat the Chinese do not OA\'e their origin to the same stock, 
 their ph}sical character is of itself a sufficient proof. The 
 small eye, rounded at the exti'cmity next the nose, instead 
 of being angulai', as is the case in that of Europeans, its 
 oblique instead of horizontal position, and the flat and broad 
 root of tlie nose, ai"e features or characters entirely distinct 
 from the Hindu, the Greek, or the Roman; and belong more 
 properly to the natives of that vast extent of coimtry, Vvhich 
 was known to die ancients by tlie name of Scythia, and, in 
 modern times, by tliat of Tartary. There is scarcely in 
 nature two of the human species that diiTer more widely than 
 a Cliinese and a Hindu, setting aside the difference of colour, 
 which, liowe\er, modern enquiries have determined to ha\e 
 little or no relation to climate, but rather to some original 
 formation of the different species. The Man-tchoo, and, 
 indeed, all the other TartiU' tribes, bordering upon China, 
 are scarcely distinguishable from die Chinese. The same 
 colour, except in a fev/ instances, as I ha\e elsewhere ob- 
 served, tJie same eyes, and general turn cf the countenance, 
 prevail, on the continent of Asia, from the tropic of Cancer 
 to the Frozen Ocean.* I'he peninsula of Malacca, and the 
 vast multitude of islands spread over the eastern seas, and 
 inhabited by the Malays, as well as those of Japan and Lieou- 
 kieou, ha\e clearly been peoj^led from the same common 
 stock. The first race of people to tlie north^vard of Hindos- 
 tan, that possess the Tartai* countenance, so different from 
 that of tliC Hindus, are the inhabitants of Bootan. " The 
 
 * It is sufficiently remavkable, that the emperor Kaung-Shee, in giving 
 by public edict, some account to his subjects of the different nations of 
 Asia and Europe, should make the following observation. " To the 
 *' southward of the Cossack country a horde of Hoo-tse (Turks) is es- 
 " tablished, who are descended from the same stock with Yuen-tay-tse. 
 '* formerly emperors of China." 
 
288 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 " Bootceas," says captain Turner, " have invariably black 
 " hair, which it is their fashion to cut short to the head. 
 " The eye is a very remarkable feature of the face ; small, 
 " black, with long pointed corners,* as though stretched and 
 *' extended by artificial means. Their eye-lashes ai-e so thin 
 "as to be scaixely perceptible, and the eye-brow is but 
 " slightly shaded. Below the eyes is the broadest part of the 
 " face, which is rather fiat, and narrows from the cheek-bones 
 " to the chin; a character of countenance appearing first to 
 *' take its rise among the Tai-tai' tribes, but is far more strongly 
 *' marked in the Chinese." 
 
 The heights of Tartaiy, bulging out be}^ond the generd 
 surface of the globe, haA-e been considered, indeed, by many, 
 as the cradle of the human species, or, still more emphatically, 
 and perhaps more properly, as the foundeiy of the human 
 race. This opinion did not arise solely from the vast mul- 
 titudes of people corresponding with the Tartar character, 
 that are spread over every pait of the eastern world, and who 
 in countless swarms once over-ran all Europe, but was 
 grounded on a supposition, that the whole surface of the globe, 
 or the greater part of it, has at one time been submersed in 
 water, and that Tartary was the last to be covered, and the 
 first that was uncovered; and the place from whence, of 
 course, a ncAv set of creatures were forged, as in a workshop, 
 from some remnant of the old stock, to be the geims of 
 future nations. 
 
 Almost every part of the earth, indeed, afibrds the most 
 imequivocal indications that such has actually been the case, 
 not only in the several marine productions that have been 
 discovered in high mountains, at a distance from any sea, 
 and equally deep under the surface of the earth ; but more 
 especially in the formation of the mountains themselves, the 
 \-crv highest of which, except those of granite, consisting 
 frequently of tabular masses piled on each other in such regu- 
 lar and horizontal strata, that their shape and a]opearance can- 
 not be otherwise accounted for, or explained by any known 
 ])nnciple in nature, except by supposing them atone time to 
 liave existed in a state of fluidity, by the agency of fire or 
 of \vatcr ; a point which seems to be not quite decided between 
 
 * The exterior angles arc here meant, uhicli, in the Chinese also, are ex- 
 t-cii JccI in the same er a greater proportion than the interior ones are roimded off. 
 
i 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 289 
 
 Volcanists and the Neptunists. The heights of Tai-tary are 
 unquestionably tlie liighcst land in the old world. In America 
 tliey may, perhaps, be exceeded. Gerbillon, who was a 
 tolerably good mathematician, and furnished A\ith instiTi- 
 ments, assures us, that the mountain Pe-tcha, very inferior 
 to many in Tartary, is nine Chinese lees, or about fifteen 
 thousand feet, above the level of the plains of China. This 
 mountain, as well as all the otlicrs in die same countr)-, is 
 comppsed of sand-stone, and rests upon plains of siuid, mixed 
 with rock-salt imd saltpetre. The Sha-moo, or immense 
 desart of sand, which stretches along die nordi-west frontier 
 of China, and divides it from western Taitary, is not less 
 elevated than the Pe-tcha, and is said to resemble the bed of 
 the ocean. Some of the mountains, starting out of this sea 
 of sand, which its name implies, cannot be less dian tA\ enty 
 thousand feet above the level of the eastern ocean. 
 
 The formation of the eardi affords a wide field for specula- 
 tion; and, accordingly, many ingenious theories have been 
 conceived to explain the various appeimmccs which its siuface 
 exhibits. The best modem naturalists seem, however, to 
 agree, that water has been one of the principal agents to 
 produce Uiese efi'ects. The great Linnasus, whose penetrating 
 mind pervaded the whole empiie of nature, after many and 
 laborious enquiries, acquiesced in the truth of the sacred 
 writings, that the whole globe of the earth was, at some 
 period of time, submersed in water, and covered witli die \'ast 
 ocean, until, in the lapse of time, one little island appeared 
 in this immense sea ; which island must have been of course 
 the higliest mountain upon the surface of the earth. In sup- 
 port of his hypothesis, he adduces a number of facts (many 
 of which have fallen within his own obscr\ation) of the pro- 
 gressive retreat of the sea, the diminution of springs and 
 rivers, and the necessary increment of land. Among the 
 most remarkable of these are the obscr\'ations, made by the 
 inlxibitants of Northern Bothnia, upon the rocks on the sea- 
 coast, from whence it aj^peared that, in the course of a cen- 
 tury, the sea had subsided more than four feet ; so that six 
 thousand }'ears ago, suppo^iing the rate of retirement to have 
 been the same, the sea Wiis higher than at present, by two 
 lumdred and forty feet. Such great and sensible depression 
 of the water of the sea must, however, have been only local; 
 otherwise, as I have elsewhere observed, the Red Sea and 
 
 o o 
 
290 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 the Mediterranean would have joined within the period of 
 histor}^ The sea, it is ti*ue, in some parts of the M'orld, 
 gains upon the land, and in others the land upon the sea ; 
 but these effects ai'ise from a different cause from that which 
 is supposed to produce a general retreat. It is true, also, 
 that in the neighbourhood of mountains and great ri^'ers, 
 very material changes ha\ e taken place, in the course 6f a 
 fe\v ages. The fragments of the former, worn a^vay by the 
 alternate action of the sun and rains, are borne down by the 
 torrents of the latter, and deposited in the eddies formed by 
 the two banks of the rivers \\'here they join the sea, pro- 
 ducing thus alluvions land, as, for example, the Delta of 
 ■^to^'P^' which has gi'adually been deposited out of the soil 
 of Abyssinia and Upper Eg}'pt; the plains of the northern 
 pails of China, which hav^ been formed out of the mountains, 
 of Tartary ; tmd those of India from the Thebetian mountains, 
 and the other high lands to the northward and westward of 
 the peninsula. As, however, a much greater proportion of 
 the fragments, borne down by rivers, must be deposited in 
 the bosom of the deep than on its shores, the sea, by this 
 constant and eifective operation, ought rather to advance than 
 to retreat. We may therefore, perhaps, conclude that, 
 whatever the changes may liave been \Ahich the surface of the 
 earth has undergone, with regard to the proportion and the 
 position of land and v»'ater, the appearances we now behold, 
 in various parts of the globe, can only be explained by sup- 
 posing some temporary^ and preternatural cause, or else by 
 assuming an incalculable period of time for their production. 
 But, to return from this digression to the more immediate 
 subject of the present section. It is sufficiently remarkable, 
 and no inconsiderable proof of the truth of the sacred 'vvritings, 
 that almost every nation has some traditionary account of a de- 
 luge ; some making it universal, and others local : presuming, 
 however, the former to be correct, which is not only justified 
 by the testimony of the author of the Pentateuch, but, by na- 
 tural appearances, it might, perhaps, be shown, \vith no gi-eat 
 deviation from the generally recei\'ed opinion, that, instead of 
 Persia being the hive in which wsls preserved a remnantof the 
 ancient world for the continuation of the species, those A\-ho 
 have supposed Tartary to ht the cradle, from whence the pre- 
 ^iient race of men issued, have adopted the more plausible con- 
 j-.^cture. If it be borne in mind that, in every pc\it of tlie Bi!:>lc 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 291 
 
 Iiistor}'', the expressions are accommodated to the understand- 
 ings of those lor A\hom they Mere intended, radier Uian strictly 
 conformable to facts, and more consonant to appeiu "ances than 
 rccilities, it may be supposed, widiout an}- offence to the most 
 rigid believer, that by the mount Ararat was not strictly meant 
 the identical mountain of diat name, ^\hich has been recog- 
 nized in Armenia, but rather die highest mouiiUiin on the face 
 of the globe : for, if this Mere not the case, the Mosaic account 
 would be contradictory in itself, as we ai-e told that, " all the 
 " high hills that were under the whole Heaven Mere co\-ered." 
 This concession being allowed, \vc mav suppose diat die ark, 
 instead of resting in Armenia, first struck ground in diat part 
 of Tartary M'hich is now inhabited by the Eleudis, as being the 
 most ele^•ated tract of country in the old world. From these 
 heights large rivers flow toAvards every quarter of the horizon. 
 It is here that the sources of the Sclenga are found, descending 
 to the nordiward into the lake Baikal, and from thence b)^ the 
 Knesei and the Lena hito the Frozen Ocean : of the Amour, 
 whicli empties its A\-aters to the eastward into the gulph of Tar-, 
 tiiry : of the tw^o great rivers of China, fioM'ing to die south- 
 wai'd, and of numberless lakes find yixcyh dischai'ging their 
 w aters to the M-estward ; some burying themsches in deserts 
 (jf sand, and otliers working their way to die great lake of Aral 
 and the Casjiian sea. 
 
 From such a situation, admitting the eardi to liaAC been 
 peopled in succession, the tM^o great rivers, Mhich took the 
 southerly direction, and crossed the fertile and extensive plains 
 of China, Mere fully as likeh' to direct the fcM' survivors of 
 the deluge to this country, as that they should follo^v any of 
 die odier streams : and, probably, more so, as these led to a 
 warmer and more comfortable climate, Avliere fewer Awants 
 Mere felt, and those few more easily supplied. Considered 
 in this point of \ ieM% the opinion of the Jesuits Mill not appear 
 so ill founded, Mhicli supposes that Noah, separating from his 
 rebellious family, ti-avelled Mith a part of liis offspi-ing into die 
 east, and founded die Chinese monarchy ; and that he is the 
 same person as the Foo-shee * of their histoiy. The words 
 of Scri]:)ture, from the east, an ingenious commentator has 
 observed, ought more properly to be translated, at the begin- 
 
 * As a corroboratinj^ proof of the Cliinese hcinp of Sc}lhic origin, it may be 
 observed, that the adjunct character Slice (to the family name Foo) is comjwscd 
 of a sheep, rice, an arrow, and the conjunctive character also, from whence rnay 
 be iiiferred that he united the occupations of shepherd, Vgricdturist, and wan-ioV. 
 
292 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 ning. At all events, the ft^pt I conclude to be irresistible, tliat 
 tlie Taitars and the Chinese have one common oiigin : and the 
 question, then, is simply this. Whether the fertile plains of 
 China Avere abandoned for the bleak and baiTen heights of 
 Tartaiy, or that the wandering and half-famished Scythians 
 descended into regions* whose temperature and productions 
 were more congenial to the nature of man ? 
 
 If, however, we allow China to have been among the first 
 nations formed after the flood, it does not appear to have kept 
 pace in learning and in arts with the Chaldeans, the Assyrians, 
 or the Egyptians. Before tlie time of Confucius, its progress 
 in civilization seems to ha^e been very slow. He was the first 
 person who digested any thing like a history of the kings of 
 Loo : for, in his time, the countr)^ was divided among a num- 
 ber of petty princes, Avho lived at the head of their families, 
 much in tlie same manner as formerly the chiefs of the clans 
 in the Highlands of Scotland ; or, perhaps, more properly 
 speaking, like the German princes, whose pett}' states ai'e so 
 many parts of one great empire. It is now about two thousand 
 years sbice the several monarchies were consolidated in one 
 undi^rided and absolute empire. There are several reasons for 
 supposing that, before this period, China made no" great figure 
 among the polished nations of the world, altliough it produced 
 a Confucius, some of whose works demonstrate a vigorous 
 and an enlightened mind, From the commentaries of this 
 philosopher, on one of their classical books, ^' itM'ould appear 
 that a regular succession of emperors could be traced near two 
 thousand years back fi*om the present period. The duration of 
 the dynasties, Avith their several emperors, which he enumerates, 
 and the detail of occurrences in each reign, make the truth of 
 the history sufficiently plausible, though the chronology, from 
 their total ignorance of astronomy, must necessarily be defec- 
 tive. It is still an extraordinary circumstance, that none of 
 the ancient classical authors should have had the least knowr 
 ledge of such a nation. Homer neither mentions them, nor 
 makes any allusion to such a people ; and Herodotus seems to 
 have been equally ignorant of tlieir existence : and yet, accord- 
 ing to the best chronologists, Herodotus and Confucius must 
 have been contemporai-ies. ,It may fairly be concluded, then, 
 that the eai'ly Greeks had no knowledge of the Chinese. Even 
 more than a century after the father of his'tory flourished, when 
 
 » The Shoo-kinff 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 293 
 
 the Persian empire ^vas overtliroA^n by Alexander, it does not 
 appear that the Chinese were knoMTi to this nation ; which, in 
 all probabilit}-, Mould have been the case, notwithstanding 
 their aversion to any intercourse ^\•ith foreigners, liad they con- 
 stituted, at tliat time, a lai-ge and powerful empire. Perhaps, 
 indeed, the ignorance of the Persians might arise from the in- 
 tervention of the civilized nations cf India, wl)X)se numbers 
 might have made it prudent, in the former, to direct their arms 
 coi>stantly towards the \\ est rather than to the east. 
 
 It has been an opinion, pretty generally adopted, that the 
 people known to the ancients by the name of Seres, were the 
 same as the Chinese ; partly on account of their eastern situa- 
 tion, and partly because the principal silk- manufactures ^vere 
 supposed to be brought from thence ; which ga\e the Romans 
 occasion to name the country Sericum. The Romans, how- 
 ever, received the ti'ifling quantity of silk made use of by them 
 from Persia, and not from China, nor from the country of the 
 Seres. Nor is it probable tliat the latter should be the Chinese, 
 who are said to have sent an embassy to Augustus, in order to 
 court the friendship of the Romans ; it being so Aery contrarj- 
 to their fundamental laws, which not only prohibit any inter- 
 course ^vith strangers, but allow not an}^ of the natives to leave 
 the counti*}-. The fact, indeed, of this embassy rests solely upon 
 the authority of Lucius A. Fiorus, who wrote his histor}% if It 
 may so be called, nearly a century after the death of Augustus : 
 and, as none of the historians, contemporaiy with that empe- 
 ror, take any notice of such an event, it is more than probable 
 that no such embassy was sent to Rome.* 
 
 * Ptolemy, the geographer, places Serica adjoining to Scythia, extra 
 Imaum, corresponding with Cashgar, Tangut, and Kitai, countries fa- 
 mous for the cultivation of the cotton-plant. It would seem, indeed) 
 from all the passages which occur in ancient authors, concerning the 
 Seres, that cotton was the substance alluded to, rather than silk, and that 
 these people wei-e not the present Chinese, but the Tartars of Kitai. 
 
 ^id nemora Ethiopian molli canentia lanaP 
 Velleraque utfoliis depectant tcmiia Seres? 
 
 Virg. Georg. ii. v. 120. 
 
 f^rimique nova Phaethonte retccti 
 'Seres lanigeris rcpetcbant vcllcra lucis. 
 
 Silius Italicus, 1. 6. v. 3. 
 
294 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The first people that we know to have travelled into Cliina 
 was a colony of Jews, ^^•ho, according to the records kept by 
 their descendants, and \\ hich I understood fi'om some of the 
 missionaries aie con'oborated as to the time by the Chinese 
 history, first settled there, shortly after the expedition of 
 Alexander had opened a communication ^vith Lidia. Nor is it 
 at all improbable that this adventurous and industrious pcopl'^' 
 were the first to carry with them, into their new country, the 
 silk-worm, and the mode of rearing it, either from Persia, or 
 some of tlie neighbouring countries. The emperor Kaung- 
 shee, in his observations on natural histor}^, takes notice that 
 tlie Chinese are greatly mistaken, when tliey say that silk was 
 an exclusiA'c product of Cliina ; for that the upper regions of 
 India have a native worm, of a larger gro\vth, and which spins 
 a stronger silk than any in China. Altliough, indeed, ancient 
 authors are silent as to the article of silk, there are grounds for 
 supposing it was not unknown in Tangut and Kitai. SeA^ral 
 expressions in tlie Bible warrant the opinion tliat silk ^^■as used 
 in the time of Solomon, and the vestes perlucidae ac fluidae 
 Medis of Justin seem to convey a description of silken robes. 
 This mode of the first uitroduction of silk into China is offered 
 
 ^lod mo Hi tondeiit de st'ipite Seres 
 
 Frondea lamgeros carpeiUes vellera SUvce. 
 
 Claudian. 
 
 Seres lanlficio Sylvarum nohlles perjuscm aqua depectentesfron- 
 dium canitie?}2. Plin. 1. 6. 17. 
 
 Horace makes the Seizes expert in dra\ving the bow, a weapon in the 
 use of which the Scythians Avere always famous. 
 
 Doctus Sagktas tendere Serlcas 
 Aral paterno 7 
 
 Hor. lib. i. Od. 29. v. 9. 
 
 It certainly cannot be inferred that, by the Seres, in any of the abovis 
 quotations, was meant the same people as the present Chinese : on the 
 contrary, the probability is that it did not allude to this nation, and that 
 the ancients had not the least knowledge of its existence. It appears, 
 from another passage in Pliny, that the best iron in the world was in 
 Sericum, and that the Seres exported it with their cloths and skins. The 
 iron of the Chinese, as I have had occasion to observe, is r.emarkably 
 bad, and all their articles of peltry are imported. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 295 
 
 as mere conjecture, to sup]X)rt which I haA^e fio other authori- 
 ty tliaii what is here mentioned, with the circumstance of the 
 Jews being settled chiefly in the silk provinces, and of their 
 being at this time in considerable numbers neai' Hang-tchoo- 
 foo, where they carry on the principal trade in this article, and 
 have accjuired the reputation of fabricating the best stuffs of 
 this material tliat are made in China : nor do I know in \\hat 
 other way they could recommend themsehes to the Chinese, 
 so far as to have obtained the protection of tliis jealous go\'ern- 
 mcnt, and to be allowed to intcmiarr}- with tlie A\-omen of the 
 country. It is true, they have practised no underhand at- 
 tempts to seduce the natives from their paternal religion, and 
 to persuade them to embrace their o^\'n ; and, although they 
 ai'c not very famous for the cultivation of the sciences, jet they 
 might have rendered themselves extremely useful in suggest- 
 ing improvements in many of the aits and manufactures. 
 Many of diem, indeed, forsake the religion of their forefathers, 
 and arri\ e at high employments in die state. Few among 
 them, I understand, except the Rabbis, have any knowledge 
 of the Hebrew language, and dicy ha\'e long been so inter- 
 mixed widi the Chinese, that the priests, at the present day, 
 are said to find some difficulty u\ keeping up tlieir congrega- 
 tions. So different are the effects produced by suffering, 
 instead of persecuting, religious opinions. 
 
 One of the missionai'ies has given an account of his visit 
 to a synagogue of Jews in China. He found the priests most 
 rigorously attached to their old law ; nor had they the least 
 knowledge of any other Jesus having appeared in the world, 
 except the son of Sirach, of whom, he says, their history makes 
 mention. If this be really the fact, their ancestors could not 
 have been any part of the ten tiibes that were cai'ried into ca|i- 
 tivity, but may radier be supposed to have been among the 
 follo\vers of Alexander's army, which agrees with their own 
 account of the time they first settled in China. The}* possess- 
 ed tlie copy of the Pentateuch and some other fragments of 
 the Sacred Writings, which they had brought along with 
 them fi'om tlie westwiird ; but the missionary's infonnation 
 is very im4:;erfect, as he was ignorant of tlie Hebrew language. * 
 
 * All our enquiries, in passing the city of Hang-tchoo-foo, were 
 fruitless with regard to these Israelites. "NV^e had hitherto entertained a 
 hope of beings able to procure, in the course of our journey, a copy of this 
 
296 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Altlpiigh a ver}- great similaiity is observable between 
 many of the ancient Je\\ ish rites and ceremonies and those in 
 use among the Chinese, yet there seems to be no reason for 
 supposing that the latter receiAcd any part of their religion 
 from die ancestors of those Je'\\'s that are still in the countr)^ 
 This, houever, is not the case with regard to the priests of 
 Budha, who, according to the Chinese records, came by the 
 invitation of one of their emperors from some part of India, 
 near Tlubet, about the sixtieth year of the Christian sera. 
 These priests succeeded so mcII in introducing the worship 
 of Budha, that it continues to this day to be one of the popu- 
 lar religions of the country ; and that no traces of the original 
 name should remain is the less sui^prising, as they could not 
 possibly pronounce either the B or the D : besides, they make 
 it an invariable rule, as I ha^e already obser^'ed, not to adopt 
 any foreign names. 
 
 In some part of the seventh century, a few christians, of the 
 Nestorian sect, passed fi^om India into China, where, for a 
 time, they were tolerated by the go^•e^lment. But, having 
 most probably presun"ted upon its indulgence, and endeavour- 
 ed to seduce the people from the established religions of the 
 country, they were exposed to dreadful persecutions, and were 
 at length entirely extirpated, after numberless instances of 
 their suffering martyrdom for the opinions they had under- 
 ancient monument of the Jewish history, which the late doctor Geddes 
 considered as very desirable to compare with those already in Europe ; 
 but the hasty manner in which we travelled, and the repugnance shewn 
 by our conducting officers, Chou and Van excepted, who had little pow- 
 er or influence in the provinces, to ent^r into any of our views, that might- 
 appear to occasion delay, prev-ented the fulfilment of those hopes. It 
 were much to be wished, that the reverend missionaries would so far lay 
 aside their antipathy to opinions, not exactly coinciding with their own, 
 and enter into such a correspondence with the Jews as would obtain from 
 them (which they are no doubt possessed of) an account of the progress 
 made by the Chinese in civilization and arts, since their first settling in 
 that country, and of other particulars noted down by them. The cir- 
 cumstance of their carrying with them their code of laws, and the history 
 of their tribes, is a sufficient proof that they understood a written lan- 
 guage, which, there can be no doubt, they would use the utmost caution 
 not to lose. Such an account would be more authentic than the Chinese 
 annals, the best of which abound in hyperbole, and contain facts so dis- 
 guised in metaphor, that it is no easy matter to extract from them the 
 simple truth. At all events, the comparison of the two histories would 
 serve to verify each other. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 297 
 
 taken to propagate to the " utmost comers of the earth." When 
 Gengis-Khan invaded China hi the beginning of the thirteenth 
 century, a number of Christians, of the Greek church, followed 
 his army into this countiy : and they met w ith such great en- 
 couragement from the Taitars, that when Kublai-Khan suc- 
 ceeded to tlie government, and built the city of Pekin, he 
 gave them a gi-ant of ground, within the walls oftlie city, for 
 the purpose of building a church, in order to retain in the 
 empire, men of so much learning, and of abilities so much 
 superior to diose of the Chinese ; who, howe\er, on their 
 part, have affected, in their history, to consider the Monguls 
 as the gi-catest bai-biuians, for turning their horses into the 
 apartments of the palaces, A\'hile tliey themsehes were con- 
 tented to pitch their tents in the courts or quadrangular spaces 
 surrounded by the building-s. Father Le Comptc, in his 
 memoirs of China, says (but I know not on \\hat authority) 
 that, at the taking of the city of Nankin, the Tartars put all the 
 Chinese women m sacks a\ ithout regard to age or rank, and sold 
 them to the highest bidder ; and that such as, in thus " buying 
 *' die pig in the poke," happened to purchase an old, ugly, 
 or deformed biu-gain, made no ceremony in throvv ing it into 
 the river. If father Le Compte was not the inventor of this, 
 among many other of his pleasant stories, it certainly tells as 
 little in favour of the Chinese, who must have been die pur- 
 chasers, as of the Tiutars ; but we will charitiibly suppose the 
 thing never happened. It seems, however, that the o\ertlirow 
 of the Chinese empire, by the Mongul Tartars, \\*as an event 
 not to be regi-ettcd by the nation at large. By micans of the 
 learned and scientific men, who accompanied the expedition 
 from Balk and Samaicand, astronomy Mas impro\ed, their 
 calendar was coirected, insti-uments for making celestial ob- 
 servations were intioduced, and the direct communication be- 
 tween the two exti-emities of the empire w^s opened, by con- 
 verting the streams of rivers into an artificial bed, forming an 
 inland navigation, not to be paralleled in any other part of the 
 world. 
 
 It v»^as about this period when the celebrated Venetian tra- 
 veller, Marco Polo, visited the Tartar Khan, then sitting on 
 the throne of China ; and who, on his return, gave the first 
 accounts of this extraordinary empire ; which appeared, in- 
 deed, so wonderful, that they were generally considered as 
 his own inventions. His relations of the magnificent and 
 
 p p 
 
298 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 splendid palaces of the emperor, of his immense wealth, of 
 the extent ol his empire, and the vast multitudes of people, 
 were held to be so many fabrications ; and as, in speaking of 
 these subjects, he seldom made use of a lower term than mil- 
 lions, his countr3men bestov\ed upon him the epithet of 
 Signor Maico Millionc — Mr. Mark Million. They had no 
 hesitation, however, in gi^ ing credit to the only incredible 
 p.ut Ol his narrative, where he relates a fe\^' miiacles that M'ere 
 performed, in the course of his journey through Persia, by 
 some Nestorean christians. Young Marco is said to have 
 accompanied three missionaries of the Dominican order, sent 
 from Veiiice to the capital of China, at the express desire of 
 Kublai-Khan ; but, whether they met with little encourage- 
 ment in the object of their mission, on account of being pre- 
 ceded by the Christians of the Greek church, or their zeal at 
 that time w as less ardent than in later days, is not stated ; but 
 it seems they did not remain long in the East, returning veiy 
 soon to their nati^'e country, much em'iched by their travels. 
 
 During the continuance of the Taitar government, which 
 Was not quite a cer.tury, great numbers of Mahomedans like- 
 wise found their way from Arabia to China. These people 
 had long, indeed, been in the habit of carrying on a commer- 
 cial intercourse with the Chinese : which, however, as at the 
 present day, extended no further dian the seaports on the- 
 southern coast. They now found no difficulty in getting ac- 
 cess to the capital, where they rendered themselves particular- 
 ly useful in adjusting the chronology of the nation, hnd mak- 
 ing the necessary calculations for the yearly calendar. 
 Having acquired the larjguage, and adopted the dress and 
 manners of the people, by degrees they turned their thoughts 
 to the extending of their religious principles, and bringing the 
 whole country to embrace the doctrine of their great prophet. 
 For this end, they bought and educated, at their own expense, 
 such children of poor people as m ere likely to be exposed in 
 times of famine ; and they employed persons to pick up, in the 
 streets of the capital, any infants that should be throvMi out in 
 the course of the night, and "svho were not too much weakened 
 or other\'i"ise injured to be recovered. 
 
 About the middle of the sixteenth century, several Roman 
 Catholic missionai'ies, of tlie order of Jesus, penetrated into the 
 East; and the indefatigable zeal of one of these, Francis Xavier 
 carried him as flir as San-Shian, a small island on the coast of 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 299 
 
 China, where he died in the year 1552, in consequence of the 
 uncommon fatigues he had undergone. His brother missiona- 
 ries have calculated that he travelled, on foot, not less tkm one 
 hundred thousand English miles ; a great part of \\hich was 
 over mountains, des^u'ts, forests and burning sands. Since 
 a more easy communication with India and China has been 
 effected by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, numbers of 
 missionaries of the catholic religion have volunteei'ed their ser- 
 vices into diose countries ; and although the sole object of their 
 mission is the propagation of the christian faith, they find it 
 necessary, in order to fonvard that object, to make themselves 
 useful to the government. In China, they are occasionally em- 
 ployed as astronomers, mathematicians, mechanics, and inter- 
 preters. ' ' It must have appeared a singular spectacle," observes 
 Sir George Staunton, " to every class of beholders, to see men 
 " actuated by moti^'cs diiferent from those of most human 
 *' actions, quitting for ever their country and their connexions, 
 *' to devote themselves for life to the pui-poses of changing 
 ** the tenets of a people the}' had ne\er seen ; and in pursuing 
 '* that object to run cA'ciy risk, suffer e\ery persecution, and 
 " sacrifice every comfort; insinuating themselves, by address, 
 *' by talent, by perseverance, by hiuuility, by application to 
 " studies foreign from their original education, or by the culti- 
 *' vation of arts to which they had not been bred, into notice 
 *' and protectioji ; overcoming the prejudices of being strangers 
 *' in acountry where most strangers \\ere proliibited, and A\here 
 " it was a crime to have abandoned the tombs of their ances- 
 " tors, and gaining, at length, establishments necessar}- for the 
 " propagation of their faith, without turning their influence to 
 " any personal advantage." 
 
 Most of those, howe\ er, who were established in Pekin, to 
 th.e spiritual consolation of having laboured in tfie \'ineyard of 
 the gospel not altogether in vain (for they do sometimes gain 
 a proselyte ) add the substantial satisfaction of not having ne- 
 glected their wordly concerns. Besides the emoluments arising 
 from their sevei-al communities, they have shops and houses in 
 the capital, which they rent to Cliinese. They Imve also their 
 country villas and estates, where they cuUiv te the \-ine and 
 other fiuits, and make their own wine. The revenues of the 
 two Portuguese seminaries are stated to amoimt to twelve 
 thousand ounces of siber, or four thousand pounds a year. 
 The mission, De Propa.gandaFide, is poor. The French Jesuits 
 
306 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 viere once rich ; but their property was dissipated on tlie dissd- 
 lution of their society. The French missions etrang^-es drew on, 
 their superiors at Paiis before the revolution; but since that 
 event, are reduced to a most deplorable situation. Audit seemed 
 to me, from w hat I could perceive at Yuen-min-yuen, that they 
 were not much disposed to assist one another. Each nation 
 had its separate interest ; and diey were not \villing to lose any 
 opportunity of calumniating their fellow-labourers. The French 
 and Italians were the most moderate and liberal; the Portuguese 
 the most inveterate. The missionaries of tliis nation appeai^ed 
 to be inspired with a jealousy and hatred, more than theologi- 
 cal against the rest. It is said, indeed, that their rich posses- 
 sions, and the high situations they unworthily hold in the board 
 of mathematics, render them jealous of all other Europeans ; 
 and they use eveiy means of excluding them from the country. 
 From the frequent dissensions, indeed, among the different 
 orders, and their pei'petual broils, originated the persecutions 
 which they and theu' proselytes suffered in China. The most 
 violent of these disputes was carried on between the Jesuits 
 and the Dominicans. The Jesuits endeavoured to assimilate 
 their doctrines and their opinions to those of the Chinese, at 
 least as fai" as they conscientiously could venture to do, in con- 
 formity to the nature of their mission; by which means, together 
 with their apparently disinterested conduct, tliey soon collected 
 a numerous set of followers, half Christians and half Pagans. 
 Uniuclvily for the cause of Christianity, a different sect of the 
 same religion, but with principles more austere and of course 
 less tolerant of others that deviated from their o^vn, speedily 
 followed the Jesuits into the East. The Dominicans, meeting 
 with some of the half-christianized converts, soon gave them 
 to understand that nothing less than eternal damnation would 
 be the lot of aM such as did not forsake their ancient supersti- 
 tions and idolatrous practices : and especially that of sacrificing 
 to their deceased relations in the hall of ancestors. The Fran- 
 ciscans having joined the Dominicans, they represented to the 
 pope the abominable practices of the Jesuits, who had persuaded 
 the Chinese they were come among them for the sole puipose 
 of restoripig their ancient religion to its original purity, as deli- 
 vered by their great philosopher Confucius. The pope, upon 
 this sent over a bull, interdicting all the missionriries in China 
 from admitting any extraneous ceremonies or idolatrous 
 worship, to be blended with those of holy catholic church. 
 
 I 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 301 
 
 The Jesuits, however, by their superior talents having made 
 themselves useful at court, and obtained the notice and protec- 
 tion of Caung-Shee, the ruling monai'ch, and the gi'eatest, per- 
 haps, that ever tilled the throne of China, treated this bull with 
 contempt, and continued to make converts in their own way. 
 They even obtained from tlie emperor a sum of mone}^, and a 
 grant of land, towiirds building a church in Pekin. And they 
 further managed their affairs 60 well, as to procure, from the suc- 
 ceeding pope, a dispensation in favour of their mode of pro- 
 ceeding to convert the Chinese to Christianity. The Domini- 
 cans and Franciscans, piqued beyond measure at the success 
 of the Jesuits, represented them to the pope, in the strongest 
 terms, as the greatest enemies to the clii'istian faith. The Jesu- 
 its, in their turn, transmitted to Rome a manifesto, signed by tiie 
 emperor himself, attesting tliat the ceremonies of homage to the 
 dead, retained by the Chinese Christians, were not of a religious 
 but a civil nature, agreeably to the long-established laws of the 
 empire, which couid not, on any consideration, be dispensed 
 with. In short, their disputes and quarrels ran so high, 
 and proceeded to such lengths ; and bulls and embassadors 
 were sent from Rome, ^^•ith such imperious and threatening 
 commands for the Chinese Christians to desist from all ceremo- 
 nies that were not warranted b}- the catholic church ; that tlie 
 emperor began to think it was high time to interpose his autho- 
 rity, and to inteixlict the christian religion from being preached 
 at all in his dominions. And his son and successor Yung-chin 
 commenced his reign with violent persecutions against the mis- 
 sionaries. He ordered many of them immediately out of the 
 empire ; others ^^■ere tlii'own into prison,* where tliey lingered 
 out a miserable life ; and some were put to death by the bow- 
 
 * In the year 1785, Kien Long liberated, by a public edict, twelve 
 missionaries out of prison, who, being detected in privately seducing the 
 Chinese from the religion and customs of the country, had been con- 
 demned to perpetual imprisonmiiet. This edict, of which I procured a 
 copy in Pekin, does great honour to the humane and benevolent mind of 
 the emperor. After stating their crime, apprehension, and trial, he ob- 
 serves, " Had they made known their arrival to the officers of govern- 
 *' ment, they might have proceeded to the capital and found protection. 
 " But as transgressors of the law, which forbids the entrance of strang- 
 " ers, they have stolen into the coimtry, and secretly endeavoured to 
 " multiply converts to their way of thinking, it became my duty to oppose 
 * A conduct so deceitful, and to put a stop to the progress of seduction. 
 
302 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 string. Those few, who were found necessary to assist in the 
 asironomicid piut of the calendar, he allowed to remain in the 
 capital. 
 
 Not\nthstanding the persecutions that, in every reign, have 
 been a iolently carried against them by the officers of govern- 
 ment in the se\'eral provinces, numbers of new missionaries 
 have continued, from time to time, to steal into the country. 
 At Macao we found two young missionaries, who had been 
 waiting there along time, in vain, for an opportunity of get- 
 ting privately into the country. They accused the Portuguese 
 of thro\\'ing every obstacle in their way, while pretending to 
 afford them assistance ; but, on application to the British em- 
 bassador, he found no difficulty in procuring them leave to 
 proceed to the capital ; and as one of these gentlemen had 
 been a pupil of the celebrated Lalande, his services ma}^ pro- 
 babl}' supersede those of the right reverend bishop who at 
 present directs the astronomical part of the important na- 
 tional almanack. 
 
 From the short \'iew that has here been taken of the dif- 
 ferent people who, at various times, ha"\'e gained admission 
 into China, and some of them for no other purpose than that 
 of disseminating their religious tenets, it may be concluded 
 that the primitive v/orsliip of the countrj'- has experienced 
 many changes and innovations, especially since the mass of 
 the people, from the nature of the language, tlie maxims of 
 the goA'crnment, and other circumstances, ha\e always been 
 kept in a state of profound ignorance. Jews, Christians, In- 
 dians, and Mahomedans, ha\'e severally met with encourage- 
 ment. The Jesuits had but one obstacle to overcome, the 
 law that directed offeriiigs to be made to deceased relations, 
 and by gi^■ing \vay to this, which they were inclined to do, 
 had they not been thwarted by the more rigorous Dominicans,, 
 they might ha^e converted the "whole nation, and cliiistianity 
 
 " Justly as they were found to deserve the punishment to which they 
 " have been condemned, touched, nevertheless, with compassion fortheir 
 " imprudence, it was not without injury to my feelings that I ratified the 
 " sentence. But recollecting afterwards that they were strangers— 
 " strangers perhaps ignorant of the laws of my empire, my compassion 
 " increased for them, and humanity suffers on account of their long 
 " confinement. I will, therefore, and command, that these twelve strang- 
 " ers be set at liberty." 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 303 
 
 would have become, in all probability, the prevailing religion, 
 instead of that introduced from India. The pai-aphernalia and 
 almost all the mummeries of the Romish church, tlie bells,* 
 the beads, the altars, the images, the candles, the dress; and 
 the sanctimonious deportment of the priests in the hours of 
 devotion, their chaunting and their incense, were already 
 made familiiu- to the people in every temple of Fo. But, as 
 Lord Macartney has observed, " the prohibition or restric- 
 *' tion of sensual gratifications in a despotic countr}% Avhere 
 *' there are so few others, is difficult to be relished. Con- 
 " fession is repugnant to the close and suspicious chai'acter 
 " of the nation, and penance A\ould,but aggravate the misery 
 " of him whose inheritance is his labour, and poverty his 
 *' punishment. Against it also, is the state of society in 
 *' China, which excludes women from their proper share of 
 *' influence and importance. A religion which requires that 
 " women should at stated times commiunicate to priests, in 
 *' pri^'ate, their thoughts and actions, must be pai-ticularly 
 " disgusting to a Chinese husband, who had not himself been 
 *' suffered to see his wife till the day of his mairiage ; and 
 *' who but seldom allows her afterv\'ards to see even her near 
 *' relations of another sex. A religion like that of Maliomet 
 " can only be extended by A'iolence and terror ; for the natu- 
 " ral stubbornness of men does not readily give way to novel 
 " impressions ; but the mild spirit of the gospel is alone to 
 *' be infused through the means of gentleness, persuasion, 
 " and imperceptible perseverance. These ai'e the proper 
 " instruments of conversion, and peculiarly belong to thetliir 
 "sex, whose eloquence, on such occasions, gives channs to 
 " devotion and ornaments to truth. Tlie earliest stages of 
 " Christianity received no small support from female agency 
 " and example ; and for what show^ of religion still appeal-^ 
 *' in our churches, we are surely not a little indebted to the 
 " piety and attendance of women." Nothing, in fact, more 
 tended to alarm the Chinese than the imprudent practice of 
 the Romish missioniu'ies of seducing the Chinese ^vomen to 
 their churches, v.hom, as they avow in their correspondence, 
 they coaxed out of their jewels and money ; adding, by 
 way of justification, that it v/as to promote the service of God. 
 The primitive religion of China, or, at least, those opinions, 
 rites, and ceremonies, that prevailed in the time of Confucius, 
 (and before that period all seems to be fable and uncertainty) 
 
304 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 may be pretty nearly ascertained from tlie writings that arc 
 ascribed to that philosopher. He maintains in liis physics, 
 that " out of nothing there cannot possibly be produced any 
 ' thing ; — that material bodies must have existed from all 
 * eternity ; — ^that the cause (lee, reason) or principle of things, 
 ' must have liad a co-existence widi the things themselves; — 
 ' that, therefore, this cause is also eternal, infinite, indestruc- 
 ' tible, without limits, omnipotent and omnipresent; — that 
 ' the central point of influence (strength) from whence this 
 ' cause principally acts, is the blue finnament (tien) from 
 ' whence its emanations spread o\er the whole universe ; — 
 ' that it is, therefore, tlie supreme dut}^ of the prince, in 
 ' the name of his subjects, to present offerings to tien, and 
 ' particulaily at the equinoxes ; the one for obtaining a pro- 
 ' pitious seed-time, and the other a plentiful harvest." 
 
 These ofierings to the Deity ^ it may be observed, were al- 
 ways placed on a lai'ge stone, or heap of stones, erected on 
 the summit of a high mountain, on the supposition, probably, 
 that their influence would be so much the gi'eater, in pro- 
 portion as they should approach the seat and fountain of crea- 
 tive power; like the ancient Persians, who, according to 
 Herodotus, considered the ^vhole circle of the heavens to be 
 the great ruling power of the universe, to which they also 
 sacrified on high mountains. Thus Tacitus, in speaking of 
 the practice of worsliiping the gods on high mountains, ob- 
 serves, that the nearer mortals can approach the heavens, the 
 more distinctly ^'^ill their prayers be heai"d ; and, on the same 
 principle, Seneca says, that tlie people always strove for the 
 seat next to the image of the deity in the temples, that their 
 prayers might be the better heard. Thus also Noah, after 
 quitting the ark, built an altar on the mountain where it rested, 
 and made a burnt offering, whose smoke, ascending to heav- 
 en, was pleasing to the Lord. And Abraham was com- 
 manded to offer his only son Isaac on a mountain, in the land 
 of Moria ; and Baiak canied Balaam to the top of Mount 
 Pisgah, to offer a sacrifice there, and to curse Israel. Thus, 
 indeed, all nations, in their infanc}', adopted the natiu-al idea 
 of paying adoration to heaven from high places. 
 
 The large stones, or the heaps of stones, that have been 
 appropriated for religious uses at different times, in almost 
 eveiy part of the world, might have been introduced, as lord 
 Karnes supposes, from the custom among savage nations, to 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 505 
 
 mark w Ith a great stone the place where their ^vorthies \\-ere 
 interred : that such wortliics being at length dcilied, in the 
 sujierstitioiis notions of" their \-otaries, the stones that were 
 dedicated to tlieir memory became essential in everv act of 
 religions ^\'orship performed in honour of their new deities. 
 The very particular homage, that, for time immemorial, has 
 been paid to tlie memory of tlie dead by the Chinese, renders 
 the abo\^e explanation extremely probable, as to the origin of 
 their altiu' of four stones, which, in their language, ai-e called 
 Tan, and which in former times were erected on most of 
 their high mountains ; and it is singular enough that, at the 
 present day, the tan should be represented, upon many of 
 the altars erected in their temples, by four loose stones placed 
 on the four corners of the altar, as the horns were in the cor- 
 ners of the Jewish altars. When population increased, and 
 The people were spread wide over the empire, the inconve- 
 nience of ascending any particular mountain must necessarily 
 be felt, and the tan A\as then transferred to places that ^\erc 
 i)ettcr suited for general accommodation. The same idea, 
 indeed, is still retained in our churches ; the altar and high 
 l)lace being synonymous words. In the city of Pekin, which 
 stands on a sandy plain, the tien-tan, or altar of heaven ; 
 the tee-tan or altar of ciuth ; and the sien-nong-tan or altar of 
 ancient agriculturists, are erected upon artificial mounts, 
 within the \\alls of the palace ; and here the emperor con- 
 tinues, to this day, to sacrifice at ap]5ointed times, exclusi\'ely 
 as the son of heaven, and the only being on earth worthy to 
 intercede for his people. The same doctrine prevailed in 
 the time of Confucius, \\ho obser\-es, that the distance be- 
 twecn the all-creative power, or cause of all things, aiid die 
 people, is so immeasurably great, that the king or ruler, as 
 high priest, can alone offer such a sacrifice ; and that this 
 power is best satisfied \vhen man performs the moral duties 
 of life ; tlie principal of which he makes to consist in filial 
 piety, and unlimited obedience to the Avill of the prince. 
 
 His religious notions and morals do him great credit, but 
 his metaphysics are so obscure as not to be intelligible which, 
 however, ma}' partly be owing to the nature of the language. 
 In his writings appears a strong predilection for a kind of Ibr- 
 tunc-telling, or predicting events by the mystical lines of Fo- 
 shce. By the help of these lines, and the prevailing Clement 
 at the commencement of the reign of a prince, he pretended to 
 
 <^9 
 
306 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 foretel the events that would take place, and the length of its 
 continuance ; but, at the same time, he was cautious enough 
 to WTap them up in such ambiguous and mysterious expres- 
 sions, that, like most prophecies of the kind, they might admit 
 of a \'ariety of interpretations. Tliis manner of expounding 
 the lines of Fo-shee by Confucius, the supposed system of 
 binary aiithmetic by Leibnitz, laid the foundation of consult- 
 ing future destiny, at this day universally sought after by the 
 Chinese.* 
 
 Predestination, in all ages, and in all nations, has formed 
 one of the leading features of religion ; and, in consideration 
 perhaps of popular opinion, has been foisted into the articles of 
 the Clii'istian faith, though unwarranted by any passage in the 
 holy scriptures. It is a doctrine little calculated for the pro- 
 motion of good morals, and still less so for conveying spiritucj 
 consolation. The Chinese, however, confine the influence of 
 lots to the events of this life. It would, perhaps, be doing in* 
 justice to the understanding of Confucius to suppose that he 
 really believed in the doctrine of fatality. Being prime mi- 
 nister of one of the kings of China, it was necessary for him to 
 act the politician as well as the philosopher ; and he could not 
 fail to know, that the superstitions of the people \\'ere among 
 the best supports of the government. He might have been 
 
 * The government even grants licence to certain persons, under 
 the abused name of astronomers, who pretend ro predict events, and 
 cast out evil spirits by a charm, consisting of some character written by 
 them, according to the supposed prevailing planet. The national alma- 
 nack, not less minute in its predictions than those of Francis Moore or 
 Vincent Wing, or even Partridge, points out the changes of the weather 
 in every month, with the lucky and unlucky days for undertaking most 
 of the important concerns of life. And that the fallacy of these is not 
 detected, may aiford less matter for surprise, on recollection that, in the 
 wise and enlightened countries of Europe, and among very intelligent 
 people, the state of the weather is pretended to be predicted by the 
 phases of the moon ; that is to say, they will prognosticate a change of 
 weather to happen at the new moon, or the first quarter, or the full, or 
 the last quarter, or, at all events, three days before, or three days after 
 one or other of these periods ; so that the predictor has, at the least, eight- 
 and-twenty days out of a lunar revolution, in favour of his prediction be- 
 ing right, and the whole lunation is only twenty-nine and a half He has 
 also another great advantage : the accidental coincidence of one single 
 prophecy with the event, establishes his fame for ever, whilst his blun- 
 ders are either overlooked, or considered only as those of the person, and 
 not tl>e defect of the science. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 30r 
 
 aware of the folly and absurdity of such a doctrine, and }'et 
 found it prudent to enforce tlie observance of it ; just as the 
 Greeks thought proper to continue their lots. These, instead 
 of sticks, as used by die Chinese, were three stones that, ac- 
 cording to some, were first discovered and presented to Pallas 
 by the nymphs, the daughters of Jupiter, ^\■ho rejected an of- 
 fering dmt rather belonged to Apollo, and threw them awa}' ; 
 — an excellent moral, obscnes Doctor Tytler, the learned 
 translator of the hymns and epigrams of Callimachus, shewing 
 that those persons avIio are guided by Pallas, or Wisdom, will 
 improve the present time, without being too anxious to pry 
 into futurity. The Greek poet, ho\\ever, like the Chinese 
 philosopher, ascribed to the possessor of the lots die talent of 
 reading future destiny. 
 
 " By him Uie sure events of lots are given ; 
 
 " By him the prophet speaks the will of Heaven." Tytler. 
 
 The Romans had also their lots to determine future events, 
 uhicli were a kind of wooden dice, and their priests examined 
 the marks and interpreted the signification of the throw. And 
 the ancient Germans, according to Tacitus, made use of little 
 sticks, notched at the ends, which, like the Chinese, they 
 threw three times in case they did not appro^'e of the first 
 throw. Herodotus traces the custom of predicting future 
 events to the ancient Eg}-ptians, and seems to think the Greeks 
 had it from them. But is not the desire of prying into futu- 
 rity to be ascribed rather to a ^veakness in human nature, than 
 as a custom borroA\ed by one nation from another? Are wc 
 entirely free from it in modem Europe ? However humiliating 
 the reflection may be, yet it is certainly true, that men of the 
 strongest minds and soundest judgments have sometimes, to- 
 wards the close of an useful lite, devoted their time to the ex- 
 position of old prophecies without meaning, or applicable only 
 to events that were already in train to be accomplished when 
 the prediction ^\■as made. Among many others, the great 
 Napier, the inventor of logarithms, might be produced as an 
 instance of this remark. From the Apocalypse of Saint John 
 he predicted the day of judgment; but his calculations in this 
 instance not being founded on data equally solid \\ illi those on 
 \\hich he constructed his tables, he luifortunately survived the 
 dav he had named, to blush at his own weakness. 
 
30g TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Other pails of the doctrine of Confucius Avere well calciilated 
 to keep alix'e the superstitious notions tliat still prevail among 
 the multitude. lie taught them to believe that tlie human 
 body was composed of tu'o principles ; the one light, invisi- 
 ble, and ascending ; the other gross, palpable, and descend- 
 ing ; that the separation of these tAvo principles cause the death 
 of man ; that, at this a'wful period, the light and spiritual pait 
 of die human body ascends into the air, "whilst the gross and 
 corporeal matter sinks into the earth. The A\'ord death, in 
 fact, never enters into the philosophy of Confucius ; nor, in- 
 deed, on common occasions is it employed by the Chinese at 
 the present day. When a person departs this life, the common 
 expression is, he has returned to his family. And although 
 the body resolves itself in the course of time into its primiti\e 
 elements, and becomes a pait of the universe, yet, he con- 
 tended, the spirits of such as had performed their duty in life 
 were permitted to visit their ancient habitiitions, or such places 
 as might be appointed for receiving the homage of their de- 
 scendants, on whom they had the power of conferring benefac- 
 tions. On this ground it became the indispensable duty of 
 every good man to observe a strict obedience of the perform- 
 ance of sacred rites in the temple conseci-ated to the memory 
 of ancestors. He maintained that all such as neglected this 
 great branch of moral duty would l^e punished for their neglect, 
 after death, by their spiritual part being deprived of the privi- 
 lege of visiting the hall of ancestors ; and, consequently, of the 
 pleasure arising from the homage bestowed by tlieir descend- 
 ants. Such a system could not fail to establish a belief in good 
 and evil genii, and of tutelar spirits presiding over families, 
 towns, cities, houses, mountains, and other pailicular places. 
 It afterwaixls required no great stretch of the imagination to 
 give to these " airy nothings a local habitation and a name." 
 
 It does not appear, however, that either Confucius or any of 
 his disciples attached the least idea of a personal being to the 
 deity ; nor does it seem ever to have entered into dieir minds 
 to represent the gi'eat first cause under an}" image or personi- 
 fication. They considered the sun, moon, stiirs, and the ele- 
 ments, with the azure firmament, as the creative and produc- 
 tive powers, the immediate agents of the Deity, and inseparably 
 connected with him ; and they offered adoration to tliese agents, 
 united in one word Tien (Heaven). It cannot be supposed. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 309 
 
 after what has already been observed in the sixth chapter, that 
 i should lay any stress on the similarity of \vords in diiTercht 
 languages, or on the analogy of dieir signification, in order to 
 prove a common origin ; but if the conjecture of the learned 
 Bos be right, that Oj«« may be derived from Omv to mo\e for- 
 M^ard, in allusion to the motion of the hea^'cnly bodies A\'hich 
 the ancient Greeks, as mcU as the Persians, A\orshipped, tieii 
 certainly comes very near the Greek both in sound and signifi- 
 cation ; nearer it could not come in sound, as the Chinese by 
 no eftbrt could pronoimce the e th. The ^^'ord tien not only 
 signifies heaven, but a revolution of the heavenly bodies, and 
 is in common use bodi in ^vriting and conversation for day, as 
 ye, ul, san tien, one, tVvO, tliree days. 
 
 The Confucionists, like the Stoics, seem to have considered 
 the whole universe as one anin"iatcd system, made up of one; 
 material substance and one spirit, of \\ hich everv living thing 
 ^\•as an emanation, and to whicli, when separated by deatli 
 from the material part it had animated, e\ery living thing again 
 returned. In a word, their conceptions of the Deity migh.t 
 be summed up in those two beautiful and expressive lines of 
 Tope, 
 
 *' All are but parts of one stupendous whole, 
 " Whose body nature is, and God the soul." 
 
 But tliat which is most surprizing is, that the enthusiastic 
 follov\ers of Confucius have ne\-er erected any statue to his 
 memory, nor paid liim divine honours, as erroneously has been 
 supposed. In every city is a public building, a kind of col- 
 lege, A\herein examinations are held for degrees of office, and 
 this building is called the house of Confucius. Here, on cer- 
 tain appointed days, tlie men of letters assemble to pay respect 
 to the memory of then* esteemed philosopher. In the great 
 hall appropriated for this ceremony a plain tablet is erected, on 
 which is painted an inscription, in gilt chai'aeters, to this ef- 
 fect: " O Cong-foo-tse, our revered master, let thy spiritual 
 " piut descend and be pleased with this our respect, which 
 " \VQ now humbly offer to thee!" Fruit and wine, flowers, 
 perfumes, and other articles, are then placed before the tablet, 
 during which arc also burning -sarious kinds of scented gums, 
 frankincense, ta]icrs of sandal-wood, and gilt paper. This 
 ceremony, m Inch, in every respect, is the same as that 'which 
 he Uiught as an observance t0'>\iuxls the manes of depaited re^ 
 
310 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 lations, they are persuaded is agreeable to the invisible spirits 
 of those to whom it is offered, who delight in hovering over 
 the grateful odour of flowers, of fruit, and the smoke of in- 
 cense. Thus, in like manner, did the Romans on their birth- 
 days offer flowers, and fruit, and wine, and burn incense to in- 
 visible spirits, whom they called tlie genii, 
 
 " Fande merum genio." 
 " Fill a glass to genius." 
 
 But the priests, who, in all ages and in most nations, have 
 been crafty enough to turn to their own account the credulity 
 and superstitions of the people, having once established as a 
 religious duty the offering of sweet- smelling herbs and otlier 
 perfumes, found little difficulty in persuading the multitude, 
 that the tutelar spirits could eat as well as smell, and that sacri- 
 fices and meat-offerings vi'ould be acceptable to the gods. The 
 priests of China lost no time in introducing sacrifices, even of 
 living creatures, and offerings of corn, and rice, and wine, and 
 precious metals upon their altars, not, however, to that extent 
 w^iich was practised in tlie temples of Greece and Rome, whose 
 gods were the most mercenary of all nations, being rarely in- 
 duced to grant a favour without a fee. Nor in modem days 
 have the monks and priests of the catholic faith been backward 
 in tliis respect, particulaiij' in sanctioning the doctiine of com- 
 position for sins, for the absolution of which, the rate was not 
 even fixed in proportion to the magnitude ; and what is still 
 more astonishing, this impious practice of bargaining with the 
 Almighty has survived the dark ages, and exists to a certain 
 degree at this moment. 
 
 The moral and religious opinions of Confucius were, in 
 fact, too sublime and too metaphysical to preserve their purity 
 among a people so unprepared, as his countrymen were, to re- 
 ceive and cherish them. The attention of the multitude would 
 seem, indeed, in all nations to require being fixed on some- 
 thing gross and material. How difficult was it for the priest 
 and the leader of the Jews, to restrain their people from prac- 
 tices of idolatry. In the short absence even of Moses on 
 Mount Sinai, they made for themselves a molten calf of gold, 
 as an object of divine worship, in imitation, probably, of what 
 tliey had beheld in the temples of Egypt. The invisible god 
 made little impression on their gross and untutored under- 
 standings. Nor was Numa more successful than Moses or 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 311 
 
 Confucius, in his attempt to establish among the people the 
 vTOrship of an ideal or mental object of adoration. Thus also 
 it happened with the Chinese. The sublime conceptions of 
 their great philosopher, too refined indeed for untutored hu- 
 man nature, tliey could not comprehend : they required some 
 visible object on which they might fix their attention. It was 
 not enough merel}' to imagine that the spirits of men, -w-ho had 
 done tlieir duty in this life, were permitted to haunt the places 
 where their bodies were interred, or where their surviving 
 friends should assemble to do them honour : it was necessary 
 to give them a form and substance. In the same manner was 
 the purity of the Christian religion contaminated by the multi- 
 tude of images that were invented in the monkish ages, \\ hen 
 every city, town, and church, and even individuals, provided 
 they couid pay for them, had their particular pati'on, or tuteliir 
 saint. 
 
 Like the temples of Confucius, those of the ancient Egyp- 
 tians are supposed to haAc been entirely free from statues ; 
 and Herodotus seems to be of opinion tliat Hcsiod and Homer 
 were the first who introduced the genealogy of the gods 
 among the Greeks ; imposed names upon each, assigned their 
 functions and their honours, and clothed them in their several 
 forms. And we leai-n, fi-om Silius ludicus, that the ancient 
 temple of Herculus at Gades, had no visible t}pe of the 
 Deity. 
 
 " Sed nulla efSgies, sJmulacrave nota deonun, 
 " Majestate locum, et sacro implevere timore." 
 
 " No statues of the gods appear Mithin, 
 
 " Nor images ; but rev'rend horror round, 
 
 " And gloom majestic, guard the sacred ground." 
 
 TYTLER*S Ms. 
 
 The missionaries in their writings ha\'e endea^'oured to im- 
 press the world ^vith an idea that the Chinese, and particularly 
 the Confucionists, are atheists; that they disbelieve in a future 
 state of existence; and that they are tlie victims of a senseless 
 superstition. Nothing can be more unjust than such an accu- 
 sation. Could Caung-shee be an atheist, when he inscribed, 
 with his own hands, the Jesuit church in Pekin, 
 
 " To the only ti-ue principle of all things," &c. 
 
312 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 And can a people be justly accused of a disbelief in a state 
 of future existence, whan tlie "v\'hole nation, of \^"hat sect 
 soever, presents its offerings at stated seasons to tlie spirits 
 of its departed ancestors '? Does the ejaculation, " Let thy 
 " spiritual part descend and be pleased with this our respect, 
 *' -v^hich we now humbly offer to thee !" convey any such 
 supposition ? And, of ail others, the missionai'ies ought to 
 ha\e been the last to accuse the Chinese of senseless super- 
 stitions. Surely it is not more repugiiant to reason, nor less 
 consonant v.ith human feelings, to offer grateful gifts to the 
 manes of deceased parents and friends, than to fall down be- 
 fore the Virgin Mary and the thousand saints w horn caprice 
 or cabal ha\'e foisted into their calendar, and of ^a hose his- 
 tory and actions even then- votaries are totally ignorant ? Chi- 
 nese superstition, in this respect is, to say the worst of it, 
 an amiable weakness. If the supposition be allowed that 
 beings v\ ho have departed this life may possess an influence 
 over remaining mortals, it is surely more natural to address 
 those whose care and kindness had already been felt, tlian 
 those of whom \vc have no further knowledge than the name. 
 There is, perliaps, no stronger incentive to virtuous actions, 
 nor a more effectual clieck against vicious pursuits, than the 
 idea that the departed spirit of a beloved j^arent may continue 
 to watch over and direct our conduct. The Chinese, at all 
 events, are not iilil:)eral in their superstitions : they made not 
 the least difficulty in allovring the corpse of one of our artists, 
 %\hodied at Tong-tclioo, though a Christian, and consequently 
 in their opinion, a heretic, to be deposited in the midst of 
 their public burying ground. With as little reasoii does an 
 angry missionar}' complain of the di^csses and ceremonies of 
 their priests, as they certainly borrowed nothing from the 
 CatJioIics, \\ho, en their part, are much indebted to the 
 heathen Greeks for a great part of the paraphernalia of their 
 OAvn religion. " There is no country," savs he, " \\'here 
 *' the dty'ii has so successfully counterfeited the true worship 
 " of the holy church. These priests of the infernal spirit wear 
 *' long loose gOA^ns, exactly resembling those of some of 
 '' the fathers of the church ; they live in temples like so 
 " many monasteries, and they chaunt in the same manner as 
 "with us." 
 
 A^nother religion, much better calculated to gain popularity, 
 sprung up aljout the time of, or ^-ery sJiortl}^ after, the death 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 313 
 
 of Confucius. A man of the name of Lao-Kung, having 
 travelled into Thibet, became in part acquainted with the wor- 
 ship of the priests of Lama, which he thought \vould suit 
 his countrymen, and might also be the means of raising his 
 own reputation. He accordingly established a sect, under 
 the name of Tao-tze, or " Sons of immortals." He main- 
 tained, like Epicurus, that, to live at his ease, and to make 
 himself happy, were the chief concerns of man ; that, to seize 
 the present moment, regardless of the past and of that to come, 
 was the business of life, 
 
 " Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero." 
 
 " Swift the fleeting pleasure seize, 
 
 '• Nor trust to-morrow's doubtful light." 
 
 But as ills would come, and disease and death seemed to be 
 the common lot of mankind, the beverage of immortal life 
 was a glorious idea to hold out to mortiil man. In fact, im- 
 mortality \\-as one of the attributes of the Delai Lama, who is 
 supposed never to die ; tlie soul of the reigning Lama passing 
 immediately into the person of his successor. This doctrine, 
 a branch of the Metempsycosis, was converted by Lao-Kung 
 into the art of producing a renovation of the faculties in the 
 same body, by the means of certain preparations taken from 
 the three kingdoms of nature. The infatuated people flew 
 with avidity to the fountain of life. Princes e\en sought after 
 the draughts that should render them immortal, but v\ hich^ 
 in fact, brought on premature deatli. Numerous instances 
 are said to be on record, wherein the eunuchs have prevailed 
 on the sovereign to swallow the immortal liquor ^^•hich sel- 
 dom failed to dispatch him. Father Trigault, who was in 
 Pekin when the Tartars took possession of it, speaking of the 
 propensity of the upper classes for the beverage of life, ob- 
 serves, " Even in this city, there are few of the magistrates, 
 *' or eunuchs, or others in office, free from this insanity; and 
 " as there are plenty who wish to learn the secret, there is 
 " no want of professors." This seems to be the only species 
 of alchemy to which the Jesuits have said the Chinese are ad- 
 dicted. The preparation of the liquor of life is their philo- 
 sopher's stone ; and in all probability, is composed of opium 
 and other drugs, which, by encreasing the stimulus, gives a 
 momentary exhilaration to the spirits; and the succeeding 
 
 R r 
 
514 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 knguor requiring another and another draught, till, at length, 
 the excitability being entirely exhausted, the patient " puts on 
 *' immortality." 
 
 HoAA' much soever we may find oursehes disposed to censure 
 the absurdity of the Chinese beverage of live, Ave ai-e not a great 
 v\ ay behind them in this respect, or the Perkinses, the Solo- 
 mons, the Velnos, and the Brodums, a\ ith an innmnerable host 
 of quacks, v.hosc indecent advertisements disgrace our daily 
 prints, would notdcrive their subsistence, much less rise to afflu- 
 ence by the credulity of Englishmen : for many of these pests of 
 society ai'e foreigners, too contemptible in their o\mi country 
 to meet Avith encouragement. What conclusion -would a Chinese 
 be apt to draw of our national character, if lie had only a smat- 
 tering of our language, just sufficient to enable him to read 
 these daily efilisions that are forced upon public notice ?* And 
 \\hat must he think of the reveries of Condorcet, and of his 
 English disciples, -whose monstrous doctrines (under the 
 abused name of philosophy ) v.ould persuade liim that sleep 
 Avas a disease ! That 
 
 " Sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care, 
 " The death of each day's Ufa, sore labour's bath, 
 " Balm of hurt minds, great natui-e's second course, 
 " Chief nourisher in life's feast" 
 
 it was a bodily infirmit}-, \vhich the perfectibilit}' of the human 
 mind (so happily commenced by the French subversion) would 
 completely eradicate ! Let us not altogether condemn the igno- 
 rant, perhaps designing, priests of Tao-tse, and the still more 
 ignorant multitude, when the strong and enlightened mind of 
 a Descartes, could amuse itself, with the fanciful hope of being 
 able to discover the secret of prolonging the life of man far 
 beyond the usual limits which seem to be assigned to the hu- 
 man species. 
 
 Consistently with die principle of " taking no thought for 
 the " morrov/," the priests Of Lao-kung devoted themselves to 
 a state of celibacy, as being more free from cares than the in- 
 
 * And which, together with their pernicious practices and infamous 
 pamphlets, addressed chiefly to youth of both sexes, it may be added, 
 have done more mischief than " plague, pestilence, or famine." Among 
 the numerous societies l!iat have been formed for the amendment of pub- 
 lic morals and the suppression of vice, it is surprising that no plan has 
 been thought of for the suppression of impudent quacks. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHJNA. 515 
 
 cumbrances which necessarily attend a fiimily connexion; and, 
 the better to accompHsh this end, they associated in convents. 
 Here they deal out to their votiirics the decrees of the oracle, 
 agreeably to die rules prescribed b}' Confucius ; and they prac- 
 tise also a number of incantations, magic, in\ ocations of spirits, 
 and odier mystical rites, that are probabl}- as little understood 
 by themselves as b}" die gazing multitude. In performing these 
 magic tricks they niLuxh in procession round the altar, on which 
 the sacred flame is supposed to be kept perpetually burn- 
 ing, being a composition of v.ax and tallow mixed up 
 with sandal-wood-sha\ings and odicr perfumes ; they chaunt 
 in unison a kind of recitative, and they bow dicir heads obse- 
 quiously every time they pass before the fi-ont of die altar. 
 The great Gong is struck at intervals, accompanied by tinkling 
 sounds emitted b}- gently sti'iking small metal plates suspended 
 in a frame. Their temples are crowded with laige and 
 monstrous figin^es, some made of wood, some of stone, 
 and others of baked clay daubed o^•cr with paint and var- 
 nish, and sometimes gilt. To such figures, however, they 
 do not seem to pay an}- kind of homage. They are in- 
 tended merely to represent the good and evil genii, under 
 the various passions to which human nature is liable. The 
 good genii, or pleasing affections, are placed on one side of the 
 temple, and their opposites on the other. Thus the personifi- 
 cations (^f mirth and melancholy, love and hatred, pleasure 
 and pain are contrasted together. The conditions of men arc 
 also represented, and their figures opposed to one another. In 
 this light, at least, diey appeared to us ; though the priest at 
 Tong-tchoo informed us they were intended to portray the dif- 
 ferent characters of the monks that had belonged to die mo- 
 nastery. In some temples also are met widi, the statues of such 
 emperors or ministers of state as had shewn themselves favour- 
 able to an}- particular convent. If, for instance, a great man 
 should occupy die apartments of a temple, and, at his departure, 
 leave a considerable sum of money, die priests, out of gratitude, 
 would place his image in a niche of die temple. In looking in- 
 to one of diese edifices, a stranger w ould be apt to conclude 
 that they 'vvere Pol}theists, which I do not understand to be the 
 case. Like the saints of the catholics, the gi-eat Fo, of whom 
 I shall presently speak, widi Poo-sa, Shing-moo, and many 
 others, ai*e considered onl}- in the light of ag-ents and inter- 
 cessors, or as emanations of one creating, destroying, and re- 
 
316 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 novating power, whose good providence has divided itself in- 
 to a number of attributes for the better government of tlie uni- 
 verse. * 
 
 Next to this rehgion of the immortals, was introduced ano- 
 ther, of nearly the same gro\vth, which, from being patronized 
 by the court, soon became no less popular than the former. 
 The priests of Fo, coming by invitation from India, imported 
 with them a great portion of the Hindu mythology, which 
 some learned men have supposed to be the origin from whence 
 the Polytheism of Egypt and Greece had its source : and others 
 the direct contrary. Be that as it may, the affinity seems to 
 be too sti'ong not to ascribe them to a common parent ; and 
 tiie representations and the histories of many of the gods of 
 these nations were imported, in all probability, with the reli- 
 gion of Fo, from India into China. This \\ill better appear 
 by comparing a few as they are observed in the different na- 
 tions. 
 
 The Budha of the Hindus was the son of Ma-}'a, and one 
 of his epithets is Amita : the Fo of China was the son of Mo-ya, 
 and one of his epitliets is Om-e-to ; and, in Japan, whose natives 
 are of Chinese origin, the same god Fo is worshipped under the 
 name of Amida. I could neither collect from any of the 
 Chinese what the literal meaning was of Om-e-to, nor could I 
 dec}^her tlie characters under which it is wTitten ; but it ap- 
 peared to be used as a common ejaculation on most occasions, 
 just as we Europeans are too apt to make a familial' and impious 
 use of the name of God. Perhaps it might not seem inconsist- 
 ent in considering it to be derived from the Hindu mystic 
 word Om. 
 
 Since the accession of the Tartar princes to the throne of 
 China, the court religion, or at least the Tartar part of the 
 court, which before adhered to the tenets of Confucius, has 
 been that of Fo or Budha. The priests are numerous, mostly 
 
 • Thus, among tlie inscriptions •nrritten over the doors of temples^ some are de- 
 dicated 
 
 To the holy mother, queen of heaven ; the goddess of peace and ponuer, descended 
 froin the island of Moui-tao, <who stills the waves q/ the sea, allays storms, firo- 
 tects the empire. 
 
 Another has 
 
 The ancient temple of the goddess f Kin-VihaJ of the golden fovier, through vihose 
 influence felds are green and fertile Hie a grove of trees ; and benefits are diffused as 
 pile frothy V3a?>p of the sea, that shines like splendid pearls. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. Sir. 
 
 dressed in yellow gOM^ns, live in a state of celibacy in large 
 convents or temples, which the Chinese call Poo-ta-la, evi- 
 dently derived from Budha-laya, or habitation of Budha, this 
 name being adopted by the Tartars, which the Chinese have 
 been under the necessity of following as neai'ly as their organs 
 of speech would admit. They wear a sort of chapelet round 
 their necks, consisting of a number of beads. In some of 
 their ceremonies they maich, like the Tao-tses, in procession 
 round the altar, counting their beads, repeating at every bead 
 Om-e-to-fo, and respectfully bowing the head, llie \\hole 
 string being finished, they chalk up a mark, registering in 
 this manner the number of their ejaculations to Fo. This 
 counting of their beads ^^ as one of the ceremonies that \eiy 
 much exasperated the missionaiics. 
 
 The Ganesa of the Hindus, the Janus of the Romans, and 
 the Men-shin, or guardian spirit of the door of the Chinese, 
 are obviously one and tlic same deity. Sometimes he is 
 painted with a club in one hand, and a key in die other, re- 
 presenting the protector of the house. On almost every door 
 in China, where the inhabitants profess the religion of Fo, is 
 drawn the figure of Men-shin, or other^^•ise the two characters 
 of this word, agreeing exactly witli wJiat Sir William Jones 
 lias observed of the new town of Ga}-a in Hindoston, " diat 
 *' every new-built house, agreeably to an immemorial 
 *' usage of the Hindus, has the name of Ganesa superscribed 
 " on its door : and in the old town his image is placed over 
 " tlie gates of die temples." 
 
 The Vishnu of the Hindus, riding on an eagle, and some- 
 times attended by an eagle, has been considered as the Jupiter 
 of the Greeks ; and the Lui-shin of the Chinese, or spirit of 
 thunder, is figured under a man with the beak and talons of 
 an eagle, sometimes surrounded with ketde drums, carr\-inp" 
 in one haixl a batoon, and in die other a flame of fire. The 
 Osiris of die Egyptians, from whence the Greeks had their 
 Jupiter, comes still nearer to the Lui-shin of the Chinese. 
 When represented as the emblem. of the sun, he \\as dra\\'n 
 under the figure of a man with an eagle's beak, carrying in 
 his hand a batoon on which was painted an eye. TJie inge- 
 nious and feilile imagination of the Greeks separated the em- 
 blem from the god, and made the bird of prey the attendant 
 of the divinity, which the Egyptians and the Cliinese united 
 under one symbol. It is a curious coincidence of opinion, if 
 
1 
 
 S18 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 it be not founded on fact, that the Chinese should assign the 
 same reason, for giving an eagle's face to their Lui-shin, that 
 Piiny has for the consecration of that bird to Jupiter ; namely, 
 that no instance was ever kno^^-n of an eagle being destroyed 
 b}^ lightning. The Chinese have also an observation with 
 regai-d to this bird, ^\ hich has been made by other nations, and 
 which is, that the eagle, in a thunder storm, always mounts 
 abo\'e the clouds. 
 
 The Varuna of the Hindus, riding on a fish, the Neptune 
 of the Greeks, and tlie Chinese Hai-vang, or king of the 
 sea, reposing on the waves, with a fish in his hand, are unques- 
 tionably one and the same personage. 
 
 The giemt Briareus, with his hundred hands, is truly in 
 China of a most stupendous and colossal stature ; being com- 
 monly from fifty to sixty feet in height, and sometimes as tall 
 as eighty feet. But the lai'gest of all their deities is a woman 
 of the family of Poo-sa,* appai'ently a personification of nature. 
 This goddess is modelled in a variety of ways ; sometimes she 
 is to be found with four heads and forty or fifty anns, the 
 heads looking towards the four cardinal points of the compass, 
 and each arm holding some natural product of the earth, sub- 
 servient to the use of man. Sometimes each arm produces 
 several smaller aims, and on the head stands a pyramids groupe 
 of smaller heads. Van Braam mentions his having seen a 
 statue of this goddess that was ninety feet high, having four 
 heads and forty-four arms. It is no uncommon thing to meet 
 with temples in ruins, in the midst of which these monstrous 
 gods ai:id goddesses are seen entire, exposed to the elements. 
 It seems, the inferior temples are generally upheld by the vo- 
 luntaiy gifts of the people ; and that, whenever aiiy unusual 
 calamity befals a to\Mi or village, such as severe famine, epi- 
 demic disease, inundations, or the like, whose dire effects 
 
 * Poo-sa comprehends a class of superintending deities inferior to 
 those of Fo, who are consulted on trivial occasions, and the ordinary 
 affairs of life. Of course the greater number of temples are called by 
 the general name of Poo-sa miau, temple of Poo-sa. The name implies 
 all-helping. The character poo signifies support, and sa has the charac- 
 ter of plant, for its root or key, united to that of preservation ; the plant- 
 preserving, or plant-supporting deity ; from whence it may perhaps be 
 concluded, that poo-sa is the offspring of the Holy Mother, of whom I 
 am about to speak. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 319 
 
 cease not on repeated applications to the protecting saint, by 
 way of punishing- the gods, they literally pull down the temple 
 over their heads, and leave them sitting in the open air. This 
 grotesque and barbarous manner of representing the manifold 
 powers of nature, or the goddess of nature, by a plurality of 
 heads and hands in one idol, is by no means favourable to the 
 supposition of a refined or superior understanding in the peo- 
 ple w ho adopt them into their religious ^vorship. It can be 
 considered only as a \^ery short step be}Oud the conceptions of 
 savages, who have no other idea than that of suppl}ing by 
 number, or a repetition of the same thing, what ma}^ be want- 
 ing in power. The same figure, \\ ith numerous arms, appeai-s 
 in the Hindu temples that ai'C excavated out of solid granite 
 mountains, the most ancient, and among the most wonderful 
 monuments of art and persevering labour that have hitherto 
 been discovered on the face of the globe, the fountiin, perhaps, 
 from whence the arts, the sciences, and the religious niiyste- 
 ries of the P'.gyptians and the Greeks derived tiieir origin. 
 
 But the most common of all the female deities in China is 
 the Shing-moo, or holy mother, or rather the mother of perfect 
 intelligence. ^- This lady is the exact counterpart of the Indian 
 Ganga, or goddess of the ri\'er, the Isis of the Eg}ptians, and 
 the Ceres of the Greeks. Nothing shocked tlie missionaries 
 so much on their first anival in China as the image of this lady, 
 in whom they discovered, or thought they discovered, the 
 most striking resemblance to the Virgin Maiy. They found 
 her generally shut up with great care in a recess at the back 
 part of the altar, and veiled with a silken screen to hide her 
 from common observation; sometimes with a child in her 
 hand, at other times on her knee, and a glory round her 
 head. On hearing the story of the Shing-moo, they were 
 confirmed in this opinion. They were told that she concei\'ed 
 and bore a son while )et a virgin, by eating the flower of the 
 Lien-\\ha (the Nelumbium) which she found lying upon her 
 clothes on the bank of a river, where she was bathing ; that, 
 when the time of her gestation was expired, she went to the 
 place where she had picked up the flo\ver, and was there de- 
 li\ered of a boy : that the infant Vvas found tmd educated by a 
 
 * The character shing is compounded of ear, mouth, and ruler o^ 
 king, intending perhaps to express the faculty of knowing all that are 
 has heard and mouth uttered. 
 
320 TRAVELS IN CHINA^ 
 
 poor fisherman ; and, in process of time, became a gi-eat man, 
 and peiformed miracles. Such is her story, as told by tlie 
 Chinese priests. When the image of this goddess is standing', 
 she generall}' holds a flower of the Nelumbium in her hand ; 
 and when sitting, she is usually placed upon the large peltate 
 leaf of the same plant. 
 
 The Egyptian Lotos, not that esculent plant fi-om the use 
 of Avhich the Lotophagi had their name, but another of a very 
 different genus, consecrated to religious purposes, is said * to 
 have been ascertained from a statue of Osiris, preserved in the 
 Bai'berini palace at Rome, to be that species of water-lily which 
 gro\vs in abundance in most parts of the eastern world, and 
 \^'hich was known to botanists under the name of nymphaea 
 nelumbo ; but I understand it is now considered as a new 
 genus, distinguished, under a modification of its former spe- 
 cific name, by that of Nelumbium. This plant, however, is 
 no longer to be found in Eg}'pt. The two species that gro\v, 
 at present, on the banks and canals of tlie Nile are totally dif- 
 ferent, which furnishes a very strong presumption that, al- 
 though a sacred plant, and cultivated in the country, it might 
 nevertheless be of foreign growth. In China, few temples ai'e 
 without some representation of the Nelumbium ; sometimes 
 the Shing-moo is painted as standing upon its leaves in the 
 jnidst of a lake. In one temple I observed the intelligent mo- 
 ther sitting upon the broad peltate leaf of this plant, which had 
 been hewn out of the living rock. Sometimes she holds in 
 her hand a cornucopia filled with the ears of rice, of millet, 
 and of the capsule or seed-\^essel of the Nelumbium, these be- 
 ing articles of food w^hich fiiU to the share of tlie poorest pea- 
 sant. This veiy beautiful -water-lily grows spontaneously in 
 almost every lake and morass, from the middle of Tartary to 
 the province of Canton; a curious circumstance, when we 
 consider the very great difficulty with which it can be pre- 
 served, even by ailificial means, in climates of Europe, ^vhose 
 temperature are less v^arm and less cold than many of those 
 where, in China, it gro^^'S in a state of nature, and with the 
 greatest degree of luxuriance. On the heights of Tartary it 
 is found in an uncultivated state, \\'here, in winter, die ther- 
 mometer frequently stands at, and generally far be^ow, the 
 
 • By Mr. Pauw. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 321 
 
 freezing point. But here the roots strike at the bottom of 
 very deep Avaters only ; a circumstance from which ^^•e may, 
 perhaps, conclude that the plant may rather require uniformity 
 of temperature than any extraordinary degree either one Wixy 
 or other. Not only the seed of the Nelumbium, ^v•hich is a 
 kind of nut neai'ly as large as an acorn, but the long roots, 
 jointed like canes, furnish articles of food for the table. In the 
 capital, during the ^vhole summer season, the latter ai^e sliced 
 and laid on ice, and in this state serve as prnt of the desert ; 
 the taste differs very little from that of a good juicy turnip, 
 -with a slight degree of astringency. 
 
 There is something so veiy striking and remai'kable in this 
 pkmt, that it is not surprizing the Eg} ptians and the Indians, 
 fond of drawing allusions from natunil objects, should h^ve 
 considered it as emblematic of creati\-e power. The leaves of 
 the succeeding plant are found involved in the middle of the 
 seed, perfect, and of a beautiful green. When the sun goes 
 down, the large leaves that spread themselves over the surtace 
 of the water, close like an umbrella, and the returning sun 
 gi'adually unfolds them. Now, as these nations considered 
 \vater to be the primary element, and the first medium on 
 which creati^•e influence began to act, a plant of such singu- 
 larity, luxuriance, utility and beauty, could not fail to be re- 
 garded by them as a proper symbol for representing that crea- 
 tive power, and was accordingly consecrated by die former to 
 Osiris and to Isis, the emblems of the sun and moon, and by 
 the latter to Ganga, the river goddess, and to the sun. The 
 coincidence of ideas between those tAvo nations, in this respect, 
 may be drawn from that beautiful Hindu li}'mn, addressed to 
 Surya or the sun, and ti-anslated by Sir William Jones — 
 
 " Lord of the Lotos, father, friend and king, 
 " O Sun ! thy powers I sing." — Sec* 
 
 Whether the Chinese, like the Hindus, entertained the same 
 notions of creative power, or its influence upon water as the 
 primary element, I could not learn. No information as to die 
 
 * Captain Turner found the name of the Lotos inscribed over most 
 of the temples in Bootan and Thibet ; and Colonel Symes, in the ac- 
 count of his embassy to the kingdom of Ava, which ■with Pegu, Aracan, 
 and Laos, now constitute the Birman empire, describes the people as 
 Budhists or of the sect of Fo; indeed their customs and appearance, us 
 well as their religion, seem to indicate a Chinese or Tartar origin. 
 
 S S 
 
322 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 ground-work of their religion is to be looked for from the 
 priests of the present day, who are generally very ignorant; 
 but I suspect the dedication of the Lotos to sacred uses to be 
 much older than the introduction of Hindu mythology by the 
 priests of Budlia. They even ascribe the fable of eating the 
 flower to the mother of their first emperor Foo-shee ; and the 
 Lotos and the lady are equally respected by all the sects in 
 China ; and even by the Man-tchoo Tartars, whose history 
 commences with the identical story of a young virgin con- 
 ceiving and bearing a son, who was to be the progenitor of a 
 race of conquerors, by eating the flo\A^er of a water-lily. If, in- 
 deed, any dependence is to be placed on the follo^ving well 
 known inscription, found on an ancient monument of Osiris, 
 Egj^tian rites may be supposed to have made their way into 
 the' East, and probably into China ; or, on the other hand, 
 those of the East adopted by the Eg}-ptians, at a period of very 
 remote antiquit)\ "- Saturn, the youngest of all the gods, was 
 " my father. I am Osiris, who conducted a large and nume- 
 *' rous army as far as the deserts of India, and travelled o^er 
 *' the greatest part of the world, &c. &c." 
 
 It may not, perhaps, be thought improbable (I offer it, how- 
 ever, merely as conjecture) that tlie story of Osiris and Isis was 
 known in China at a very early period of the history of this 
 country. Osiris, king of Egypt, and husband of Isis, was 
 •worshipped under the form of an ox, fi'om his having paid par- 
 ticular attention to the pursuits of agi^iculture, and from cm- 
 ploying this animal in the tillage of the ground. 
 
 *• Primu3 aratra manu solerti fecit Osiris." 
 
 Osiris first constructed ploug-hs with dext'rous skill. 
 
 Historians say that Isis, on the murder of her husband, en- 
 joined the priests of Egypt, by a solemn oath, to establish a 
 form of worship in which divine honours should be paid to 
 their deceased prince ; that they should select what kind of 
 animal they pleased to represent the person and the di^•inity of 
 Osiris, and that they should inter it with solemn funeral ho- 
 nours when dead. In consideration of this apotheosis, she al- 
 lotted a portion of land to each sacerdotal body. The priests 
 were obliged to make a vo^v of chastity ; their heads were 
 sha\'en and they went barefooted. Divine honours were like- 
 wise conferred on Isis after her death, and she was worshipped 
 under tlie form of a cow. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. S23 
 
 Now, although the festival in China, at which the emperor 
 holds the plough in the coninienccnient of the spring, be 
 considered at this day as nothing more than a political institu- 
 tion, and continued as an example to the loA\er orders of peo- 
 ple, an incitement for them to pursue the labours of agricul- 
 ture as the most important employment in the state ; — yet, 
 as this condescension of the sovereign militates so strongly 
 against all their maxims of government, ^^■hich place an im- 
 mense distance between him and the first of his people, it 
 may not, perhaps, be much amiss in supposing it to have 
 originated in some rehgious opinion. Indeed, he still con- 
 tinues to prepare himself for the solemn occasion, by devoting 
 three days entirely to pious ceremonies and rigid devotion. 
 On the day appointed by the tribunal of mathematics, a cow 
 is sacrificed in the tee-tan, or temple dedicated to the earth ; 
 and on the same day, in some of the pro^•inces, die figure of 
 a cow of baked clay, of an immense size, is carried in pro- 
 cession by a number of the peasantn-, followed bv the princi- 
 pal officers of government and the other inhabitants. The 
 horns and the hoofs are gilded and ornamented ^^■ith silken 
 ribbands. The prostrations being made and the oflerings 
 placed on the altar, the earthen cow is broken in pieces and 
 distributed among the people. In like manner the bodv of 
 Osiris, Morshipped afterwards under the form of an ox, \\'as 
 distributed by I sis among the priests; andthelsia* were 
 long celebrated in Egypt in the same manner as the festiAal 
 of hokUng the plough is at this day observed in China, both 
 being intended, no doubt, tx) commemorate the persons \\ho 
 had rendered the most solid ad\antages to the state, by the 
 
 * No festivals, perhaps, were so universally adopted and so far ex- 
 tended, as those in honour of Isis. They not only found their way into 
 every part of the east, but from Greece they were also received by the 
 Romans, aTid from these they passed into Gaul. It has even been con- 
 jectured, that the modern name of Paris has its derivation from a tem- 
 ple that was dedicated to this 52;oddess, zr«p« <c-«v, not very distant from 
 this ancient capital of Gaul. The city arms are a ship, which Isis was 
 depicted to hold in her hand, as the patroness of navigation. In fact, a 
 statue of Isis t is said to have been preserved with £;rcat care in the 
 church of Saint Germain until the bcginaing of the sixteenth century, 
 when the zeal of a bigotted cardinal caused it to be demolished as an 
 unsanclified relick of pagan superstition. 
 
 t Encyclopedic des Connoissances Humaines. 
 
324 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 encouragement they liad held out for the cultivation of the 
 ground. 
 
 The disputes, quarrels, persecutions and massacres, that 
 have happened at various times among the different sects of 
 Christianity in Europe, have not been much less violent, nor 
 productive of less dreadful consequences, between the sect 
 of immortals and that of Fo, in China, M-hene^'er the court, 
 or rather the intriguing eunuchs, seemed to favour the opinions 
 of one sect in preference to those of the other. Persecutions 
 never failed to begin whenever either party was fortunate 
 enough to gain over to its side the chief of the eunuchs, who 
 had always sufficient influence with the reigning monarch to 
 pre^'ail upon him to espouse the same cause. They were, 
 however, wars of priests alone in which the people remained 
 neutral, or took no active part. Whole monasteries have 
 been levelled \\'ith the ground, and thousands of priests put 
 to death on both sides. Since, however, the accession of 
 the present Tartar dynasty, they have met with no pai'ticular 
 marks of favouf or distinction ; and, on that account, are ap- 
 parently reconciled to each other ; indeed, they are scarcely 
 distinguishable either by their temples or by their dress. The 
 prediction of future events being best suited to the minds of 
 the multitude, and most sought after, the oracle of fate may 
 be consulted in any temple, whether of Fo or of Tao-tze. 
 The government interferes not in religious opinions, and it 
 gi^^es no support to any particulai' sect, except that of the 
 Lama, whose priests are paid and maintained as a part of the 
 imperial establishment. The Tartar officers of state are like- 
 wise attached to the faith of the Lama, without the absurdi- 
 ties that have been mixed with it by the immortals. 
 
 However strictly the Avomen may be kept at home by the 
 customs of the country, they are nevertheless permitted, on 
 certain occasions, to consult their destiny at the altar, with- 
 out being exposed to the censure of vulgarity or impropriety. 
 Barren wives are even encouraged to visit the temples, not so 
 much for the purpose of knowing their destiny, as under 
 a firm belief that, by rubbing the bellies ' of certain little 
 copper gods, they shall conceive, and bear children. But, 
 the women in general who, from habit, feel little inclination 
 to stir abroad, except on very pressing occasions, encourage 
 a set of fortune-tellers, mountebanks and jugglers, -who thus 
 pick up a livelihood by travelling the country and telling for- 
 
\ 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINAi 325 
 
 tunes from house to house. They are known by a \vretched 
 sqiuilling flute, on A\hich they play, and are beckoned to call 
 where their ait is required. By being made acquainted with 
 the day and hour of a person's birth, they pretend to cast his 
 nativity, whicli is called swan-ming, or the art of discovering 
 events by means of numbers. A Chinese, even in the higher 
 ranks, has no great idea of a man's learning, if he be igno- 
 rant of the sAvan-ming. I Avas \'ery frequenll}- applied to at 
 Yuen-min-yuen, b}- persons in office, to know if I could tell 
 them their fortiuie ; and it was difficult to persuade them I 
 had any knowledge of the asti-onomical instruments intended 
 for the emperor, after professing my ignorance in casting a 
 nativity. 
 
 The priests of both sects arc supposed to be no less attentl^'c 
 in keeping up a perpetual fire burning upon the altars than tlie 
 Roman Vestals v^•ere in tliis respect ; but no expiation nor pun- 
 ishment being considered necessai'}', as in the latter case, they 
 cannot boast that " flames unextinguish'd on their altiirs 
 '• shine." They are, in fact, frequently extinguished by care- 
 lessness or accident. No \'ii-gins attend this holy flame ; but 
 the charge of it is committed generally to young bo)-s under 
 training for the priesthood. Like the Greeks and the Romans, 
 the Chinese ha\'e also their penates or household gods, which 
 are not represented under any particular personiHcation, but 
 generally by a tablet bcai'ing a short inscription and a taper 
 burning before it. E\'ery ship, however small, has its tablet 
 and its taper ; and within the compass-box or binnacle a taper 
 is continually kept burning. 
 
 In every city, town and village, sometimes in the midst of 
 woods, in the mountains and most lonely places, are small 
 temples, the doors of A\hich are continually left open for the 
 admittance of such as may be desirous of consulting their des- 
 tiny. The practical part of Chinese religion may, in fact, be 
 s:iid to consist in predestination. A priest is not at all necessary 
 for imravelling the book of fate. If any one be about to un- 
 dertike a journey, or to purchase a wife, or to build a house, 
 or above all to buiy a deceased relation, and any doubt should 
 arise in his mind as to the fortunate result of such undertaking, 
 he repairs to the nearest temple ; and, if he should not be able 
 to read himself, he takes a friend by the hand Avho can. On 
 the altar of every temple is placed a wooden cup, filled with a 
 number of small sticks, marked at the extremities with certain 
 
S25 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 characters. Taking the cup in liis hands, he shakes it till one 
 of the sticks falls upon the [ground, and, having examined the 
 character upon^ it, he looks for the corresponding mark in a 
 book ^^•hich is generally appended to the wall of the temple. 
 'I'he lot, in this manner, is cast several times, and if one lucky 
 stick in three should happen to turn up, he is M'illing to con- 
 sider the omen as favourable ; and, if the event should answer 
 the expectation he has been led to form from the book of fate, 
 he considers it as a duty to return to the temple and to burn 
 a sheet or t^'o of painted paper, or of paper covered \\ith tin 
 foil, and to deposit a few pieces of copper money on the altar, 
 in token of gratitude for tlie favour he has recei^^ed.* In this 
 manner is consumed the greatest part of the tin that is carried 
 to China by the tradi?1g companies of Europe. I have already 
 o])served that they ha'v'e no communion of worship to offer 
 up, in a public manner their prayers or thanksgivings. 
 
 Formerly it was the custom to bury slaves -with emperors 
 and princes, and sometimes also their concubines, alive ; but 
 this cruel practice has given x^ay, in modem times, to the more 
 harmless one of burning representations of their domestics in 
 tin foil, cut into the shape of human beings, and of placing 
 their statues in wood or stone upon their gi-a-v-es ; fhis seems 
 
 * The present emperor shewed his gratitude for his prayers having 
 been heard, by granting in a public edict an additional title to the temple 
 
 in which they were offered. 
 
 IMPERIAL EDICT. 
 
 " The graciousfirotecting temjile of the king of the drago7i5, on thz mown' 
 " tain of Yu'Chun, has on every occasion of draught proved favourable 
 " to our prayers offered up there for rain, as duly observed on our sacred 
 " registers. From the summer solstice of the present year, a great warrt 
 ••' of rain has been experienced, on which account we were induced, on 
 " the 17th of this moon, to offer up our prayers and sacrifices in person 
 " at the said temple. During the very same day, a fall of ^mall rain or 
 " dew was observed, and,on the day following, the country was relieved by 
 *' frequent and copious showers. This further proof of efficacy in 
 " granting our requests, augments our veneration and, in testimony 
 " whereof, we direct that the temple of the propitious divinity shall 
 " receive an additional title, and be stiled on all future occasions, 
 
 " 77ie gracious in p.rotectingy and efficacious in preservings the 
 
 " temple of the king of the dragons. 
 ^ Be our tvill obeyed." 
 
 Pekin Gazette ^ 2od day of ssh Moon^ of 6th year of Kia-Kini^, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 327 
 
 to be the remains of a Scythian or Tartar custom, \\ hlch, ac- 
 cording to Herodotus, was commonly observed at the funerals 
 of dieir sovereigns, when their horses, their slaves, and their 
 concubines were impaled alive, and placed in order round the 
 tyrant's tomb. The last remains of a relation are interred with 
 sdl the honours that the family can afibrd. I never passed be- 
 tween the capital and Yuen-min-} uen ^\ idiout observing num- 
 bers of funeral processions. I'hose of great officers of stiite 
 would sometimes extend for neaily half a mile. The train \\ as 
 usually arranged in the following order. In front mai'chcd a 
 priest uncovered, next a groupe of musicians with flutes, trum- 
 pets, imd cymbals ; after these the male relations of the de- 
 ceased in long wliite frocks, and behind them the chief 
 mourner, supported by U\o friends, \^hose exertions to pre- 
 vent him from tearing his cheeks and haii' appeared to be truly 
 ridiculous. Then followed the coffin, covered by a magnificent 
 canopy, and borne generally by four men, sometimes by eight. 
 After the canop)', the female relations proceeded in chairs, or 
 more generally in the Ihtle covered carts, wearing white frocks 
 like the men, their hair dishevelled, and broad ^\hite fillets 
 bound across their foreheads. On approaching a bridge or a 
 temple the procession alwa}s halted ^vhile the priest burned 
 little images of tin foil, or let oft' a few crackers, upon m Inch 
 the noisy gong and the rest of the band made a flourish. 
 
 The famous feast of lanterns, A\iien the ^vholc empire is 
 lighted up, from one extremity to the odier, in every possible 
 way that fancy can suggest, is an ancient religious usage, of 
 which, at the present day, tliey can gi^ e no plausible account. 
 It is just possible that, among other Egyptian ceremonies, this 
 may be one derived from a common origin \\ ith an annual 
 illumination of the same kind mentioned by Herodotus ; which 
 was generally observed, from tlie -catai'aets of the Nile to die 
 borders of the Mediterranean, by hanging lamps of difterent 
 kinds to the sides of die houses. On this day the Chinese 
 not only illuminate their houses, but they also exercise their 
 ingenuity in making transparencies in the shape of different 
 animals, \\ith whicii they run through the streets by night. 
 The effect when perfcctlv dark is whimsical enough. Birds, 
 beasts, fishes, and other animals are seen darting through the 
 air, and contending w ith each other ; some with squibs in their 
 mouths, breadiing fire, and others Avith cmckers in their tails : 
 some sending out skj'-rockets, others rising into pyramids of 
 
328 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 party-coloured fire, and others bursting like a mine, v^ith vio- 
 lent explosions. But the most ingenious are those that, Pro- 
 teus-like, change their shape from time to time, and under 
 every form exhibit a different display of lire-works. 
 
 I have observed, at the beginning of this chapter, that tlie 
 temples are occasionally appropriated to the use of state- 
 officers, embassadors and other public characters, when tra- 
 velling through the country, there being no other houses 
 affording accommodations equally suitable. On quitting the 
 temple it is generally thought necessary to perform an act 
 of reverence bordering on devotion, not however to the 
 Deity, but to the name of the emperor inscribed on the 
 altar. This custom, together with that of depositing rice 
 and other grain, tea and oil at certain seasons, especially on 
 the day of his nativity, although perhaps, in tlie first in- 
 stance, a token only of respect and gratitude, and in the 
 other an acknowledgment of his being the sole proprietary 
 of the soil, are nevertheless acts that tend, from the sanctity 
 of the place where they are performed, to the encouragement 
 of idolatry. By thus associating the offerings made to the 
 Deity and to the monarch, the vulgar become apt to magnify 
 the pov^'er of the latter, and to raise it on a level with that of 
 the fonner. A Chinese, in speaking of a propitious CA^ent 
 occurring, either in his own or any other country generally 
 atti^ibutes it to the joint will of heaven and the emperor of 
 China. 
 
 The conversion of the temples into lodging-houses is at- 
 tended with some temporal advantages to the priests, by the 
 donations tliat are generally made on such occasions. Most 
 of them being supported entirely by voluntary contributions 
 and trifling legacies that may be left by pious persons, they are 
 thankful for the smallest gifts : for as there is little or no con- 
 nexion between the church and the state, they d^ive no pay, 
 nor emolument, nor preferment, from the latter. The em- 
 peror pays his own priests, which are those of all his Tartar 
 subjects ; the Chinese Confucionists, or men of learning, and 
 the state officers contribute to the maintenance of theirs, whe- 
 ther of Fo or Tao-tze, and the mass of the people, from the 
 prevailing propensity of enquiring into futurity, afford the 
 means of support to many thousands, I might, perhaps, say 
 millions of priests, by the offerings caiTied to the altars when- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 329 
 
 ever they find it necessary to consult the book of fate, which 
 is done on most of the common occurrences in hfc. 
 
 From the short view I have here taken of the diiTerent 
 sects, I think it may justly be concluded that the primiti^■c 
 religion of China no longer exists, or exists only in a cor- 
 rupted state ; diat there is at present no national nor scared}' 
 a state religion : and that the aiticles of faith are as various 
 as tlic modes of A\orship ; in all of which the people appear to 
 be rather actuated by the dread of c\il in this life than by the 
 fear of punishment in another : that the duties tliey perform 
 are more with a aIcw to appease an angry deit}-, and to avert 
 impending calamities, thim from iiny hope of obtaining a 
 positive good : tliat they rather consult or enquire of their gods 
 ■what may happen, than petition them to accomplish or avert 
 it ; for a Chinese can scarcely be said to pray ; he is grateful 
 when the event proves favourable to his wishes ; petulent 
 and pee\'ish \\ idi his gods ^hen ad\erse. 
 
 Little as the priests, or tlie numerous noviciates that are 
 found in all the principal temples, are employed in the duties of 
 their ofiicc, or in worldly concerns, they are not less uncleanly 
 in dieir persons and apaitments than those are whose time is 
 taken up in providing for the necessities of life. The room, 
 in \\hich some of us should have slept, was so full of scor- 
 pions and scglopendras, and they crept in such numbers into 
 our beds, that ^\'e were fairly driven out, and obliged to 
 swing our cots in the open air, between two trees. Here 
 we were not mych less annoyed by myriads of musquitoes 
 and the unceasing noise of the chirping.cicadas, which con- 
 tinued without intermission until the still more noisy gong 
 announced the break of da}-, and summoned di^ holy men 
 to their morning devotions. 
 
 T t 
 
CHAP. IX. 
 
 JOURNEY FROM TONG-CHOO-FOO TO THE PROVINCE OF CAN- 
 TON— FACE OF THE COUNTRY, AND ITS PRODUCTIONS- 
 BUILDINGS AND OTHER PUBLIC WORKS— CONDITION OF THE 
 PEOPLE —STATE OF AGRICULTURE— POPULATION. 
 
 Attentions paid to the embassy — Observations on the Climate and Plains of Pe. 
 tche-lee. — Plants of. — Diet and condition of the people. — Burying-place. — 
 Observations on Chinese Cities. — Trackers of the yachts. — Entrance of the 
 Grand Canal. — The fishing' Corvorant. — Approach to the Yellow-River. — 
 Ceremony of crossing this river. — Observations on Canals and Roads. — Im- 
 provement of the Country in advancing to the southward. — Beauty of, near 
 Sau-choo-foo. — Bridge of ninety-one arches. — Country near Hang-choo-foc— 
 City of. — Appearance of the country near the Po-yaug lake. — Observations in 
 proceeding tlirough Kiang-see. — The Camellia Sesanqua. — Retrospective view 
 of the climate and produce, diet and condition of Uie People, of Pe-tche-lee.— 
 Some observations on the capital of China. — Province'of Shan-tung. — Of Kiang- 
 nan. — Observations on the state of Agriculture in China. — Rice mills. — Pro- 
 vince of Tche-kiang. — Of Kiang-see. — Population of China compared with 
 that cf England. — Erroneous Opinions entertained on this subject. — Compara- 
 tive population of a city in China and in England. — Famines accounted for.— 
 Means of prevention. — Causes of the populousness of China. 
 
 ON the 8th of October we embai'ked, for the second 
 time, on the Pei-ho, in yachts, however, that were very dif- 
 ferent fi"om those on which we had ascended the river, 
 being much smaller, but broader in proportion to their length, 
 and SO shallow ai^id flat-bottomed, that they required littJc 
 depth of ^'.ater ; yet we found them sufficiently commodious. 
 Of the necessity of such a change in the accommodation, 
 } achts, on account of the low state of the river, we were 
 speedily convinced, which, previous to our embarkation, 
 had been by some attributed to a different cause. It was 
 supposed that the men in office diroughout the country piqued 
 at the refusal of the einbassador to submit to their degrading 
 ceremony, m ould not fail to retaliate die affront, by depriving 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 331 
 
 us of every little comfort and convenience, and by otherwise 
 rendering tlie long journey before us extremely unpleasant. 
 The character of the people at large justified such a conclu- 
 sion ; and, I believe, eveiy individual had laid his account 
 of meeting ^\ith difficulties and disagreeable occurrences on 
 the journey to Canton. In justice, however, to those who 
 had the sin^erintendence of the embassy, and particular!}- to 
 the two most worthy characters, Van and Chou, \\ho were 
 more immediately connected with its concerns, it is but fair 
 to observe that no attention was wantinc^, nor expense spared, 
 to render our situation as easy and comfortable as possiblei 
 Supplies of every kind ^vere sent on boai'd in the greatest 
 profusion, and with, the most scrupulous punctualit)^ : and, 
 as a sii"tgular proof of attention shewn to us in the commence- 
 ment of this journey, our conductors, having observed that 
 we used milk ^v ith our tea, had purchased two fine coX^'s in 
 full milk, Mhich were put on board a jacht prepared for their 
 reception, for a supply of that article. And, it was observed, 
 that whenever the chief officers of the provinces, through 
 which the embassy was to pass, prepared an entertainment 
 in honour of the occasion, they had given themselves all 
 jiossible trouble to render it more acceptable, by endeavouring 
 to serve it up, as tliey thought, in the English style. In 
 some of those feasts we had hogs roasted whole, that could 
 not have weighed less than fifty pounds ; quaiters of mutton, 
 geese, ducks, and fowls, roasted or boiled whole, a mode 
 of cookeiy altogether different to the practice of the countr}-, 
 which is chiefly confined to that of stewing small morsels of 
 meat M'ith greens or rice. The awkward manner in which 
 they were prepared, being generall}'^ burnt and glazed over 
 with oil, was entitled to, and found an ample excuse in the 
 desire thus testified of pleasing. 
 
 From the time that we first embai'ked, in August, at the 
 mouth of the Pei-ho, or White River, until our return, \\e 
 experienced only a single shower of rain. It is observ^ed, 
 indeed, that during die autumnal months the northern pro- 
 vinces enjoy a cloudless sky ; an ad\'antage of A^hich they 
 avail themselves in thrashing out the diflferent kinds of gi-ivjn 
 in the field ; thus saving the labour of bearing it into barns, 
 or piling it into stacks. It is either thrashed out on clay 
 floors with flails, similar to our owni, beat out of die ear 
 iigainsttlie edge of a plank, or trodden by oxen or buffaloes. 
 
d32 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The grain that we had noticed just striking into the ear, on 
 ascending the ri\'er, A^as now generally reaped. It consisted 
 principally of the different species of millet, as before ob- 
 served, and a small proportion of the polygonum fagopyrura 
 or buckwheat. A species of dolichos or bean, that had been 
 soA\n between die drills of tlie holcus, or tall millet, was 
 now in floA\er. 
 
 The range of Fahrenheit's thermometer in the province of 
 Pe-tche-lee, during the month of August, v.as fi'om 80° to 
 88° in the middle of the day, and during tlie night it remained 
 generally about 60° to 64°. In September, the medium 
 temperature at two o'clock was about 76° ; and in October 
 about 68° ; but in the latter month it decreased in the night 
 sometimes to 44°. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of the Pei-ho a light sandy soil 
 chiefly prevails, with a mixture of argillaceous earth and slimy 
 matter, interspersed with shining particles of mica : but not a 
 stone of any magnitude, nor pebbles, nor even gravel, occur 
 in the whole extent of country through AA"hich this river is 
 navigable. The surface, indeed, is so flat and uniform, that' 
 the tide, which rises only nine or ten feet in the gulph of 
 Pe-tche-lee, fioAvs to the distance of thirty miles beyond Tien- 
 sing, or one hundred and ten miles from the mouth of the river; 
 and it frequently submerges the A\hole countr}*, notA^ithstand- 
 ing the great pains bestovvcd by the inhabitants in raising and 
 keeping in order artificial banks. Such inundations, although 
 frequently the causes of great fertilit}^, are sometimes pro- 
 ductive of general calamity, especially if they happen at a 
 season when the crop is too far advanced. These plains exhi- 
 bit the appearance of a more than ordinary encroachment of 
 the land upon the sea. I'he general level of the face of the 
 country, at high A\ater, is not more ele\'ated than tuo feet 
 above the surface of the river, of ivhich not only the bed, 
 but also the substratum of the enclosing banks, is composed 
 entirely of fine sand similai^ to that on the shore of the sea. 
 The deepest pitrt of the wide gulf of Pe-tche-lee exceeds 
 not twelve fathoms, and the prodigious number of small 
 sandy iskuids, just appearing above the surface, are said to 
 have been created witliin the records of histor}-. A great 
 portion of the enormous mass of mud that is peipetually 
 wafted down the Yello^v River, and which was found by ex- 
 periment to exceed two million solid feet in an hour, is borne 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 533 
 
 by a strong current from the Yellow Sea into the gulf of 
 Pe-tche-lee, where ihc stillness of the water allows it to sub- 
 side. In tlie map of Marco Polo, which \\as most probably 
 cdpied by him from one in the possession of Gengis-khan, 
 or some of the learned men about his court, Tien-sing is 
 placed upon the sea coast ; and a branch of the Yellow River, 
 after ii^iversing the provinces Kiang-nan, Shang-tung, and 
 part of Pe-tche-lce, in the direction nearly of the present canal, 
 discharges itself into the gulph near the Pei-ho. Were this 
 braftch of the river actually turned, the rapidity with which 
 the gulpli of Pe-lche-lee is hlling up is the less surprising, as 
 the only stream to keep its waters in motion at present istlie 
 Pei-ho. It has been calculated that, by the simple turning of 
 the great river that falls from \Vinandermere-lake, the estuary 
 of Morecombe Bay, which it now crosses, would, in the natu- 
 ral course of events, be converted in a fev/ years into a green 
 meado^^•. If the above-mentioned chart be correct, it \\ ould 
 prove also that the Mongul Taitars did actual!}' first bilng 
 the grand na\'igation of Cliina to the state in w hich it now 
 apjicars. 
 
 This uniform plain of China afforded little interest to the 
 tra^•eller. Few trees appeared, except now and then a clump 
 of firs surrounding a temple, or the plantations contiguous to 
 the dwelling of . some officer of government. In such situa- 
 tions were also large elms, willows, and a species of ash un- 
 known in Europe. There Mere no hedge-rows. Property 
 here is divided only by naiTo\\' ditches, serving at the same 
 time for drains, or by ridges of unploughed ground, as in 
 the common fields of England, which answer the pm-pose 
 of foot-paths. These ridges were generally well coATred witji 
 that family of running trefoil, known by the name of Melilotos, 
 intermixed widi, a species of poa or m.cadow grass, a^•ena or 
 wild oats, and briza or quaking gi^ass. In the ditches, beside 
 the common reed, the arundo phragmites, v.'ere grov.ing t^\o 
 species of cypcrus, and a scirpus or club-rush. None of the 
 artificial grasses tisually so called, are cultivated by the Chi- 
 nese. It is not an object ^\ith them to fodder their cows for 
 the sake of obtaining a greater quantity of milk, this nutri- 
 tive article of food being ^'ely sparingly used either in its raw 
 state, or in any preparation ; and they are either ignorant of 
 the processes of converting it into butter and cheese, or, 
 for certain reasons, prefer to employ the little they make use 
 
334 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 of in its original state. Horses are rarely kept for luxury 
 or for labour ; and the few animals employed in agricul- 
 ture, which aie mostly asses, mules, or buffaloes, subsist in 
 the winter season on chaff and straw ; and their chief support in 
 the summer is derived from the strong grasses that grow 
 in the ditches and the common reed, with which, in this 
 part of the country, lai-ge tracts of swampy ground are co- 
 vered. 
 
 On approaching Tien-sing, we observed several large fields, 
 cultivated with a vegetable called by the Chinese the pe-tsai, 
 or white herb, apparently a species of brassica or coal ; though 
 insipid in its taste, being not unlike that of the cos-lettuce, it 
 is held in preference to all other vegetables ; and the capital is 
 most abundantly supplied with it, in the summer season, fresh 
 from the gardens in its vicinity, and, in tlie winter, salted and 
 prepared somewhat in the same manner as the sour-krout of 
 the Gennans. We obsei-vcd also, in the gardens, carrots, tur- 
 nips, black radishes, a species of asparagus, the solanum me- 
 longena, a species of physalis, or winter-cherry, water-melons 
 and musk-melons, pumpkins and cucumbers. Onions and 
 garlic were common vegetables planted near eveiy peasant's 
 house. The trapa, or water-caltrops, grew in the ditches, the 
 nuts of which, \^'ith the seeds and the roots of the nelum- 
 bium, generally furnished out our desert ; to which, indeed, 
 sometimes were added tolerably good peaches, dry spongy 
 apples not unlike quinces in appeai^ice, and pears of an im- 
 mense size, but of a harsh and austere taste. 
 
 However unfavourable the countr}"^ might be for an extended 
 cultivation, which did not appear to be the case, the proximity 
 to the capital would have led one to expect a corresponding 
 population. Nothing of the kind appeared ; the vast num- 
 bers v\^e had observed in ascending the ri\'er were drawn from 
 the distance of many miles out of mere curiosity ; the inhabit- 
 ants only of the vicinity now shewed themselves ; and we were 
 rather surprised at the fewness of these, as ^a ell as at the very 
 ruinous and miserable condition of almost ail the cottages. 
 These mean huts were built, some of half-burnt bricks and 
 others of cla}' , and they were thatched with the straAv of grain 
 or with reeds. Some were enclosed within walls of mud, 
 or with a kind of coarse matting made of reeds, or the stalks 
 of the holcus forghum, which enclosure generally contained 
 'the families of two or three generations, the cattle, pigs, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 33^ 
 
 poultry, and all the living creatures belonging to the establish- 
 ment. The Chinese have a common saying, that " although 
 *' there be poverty without Pekin, there is plenty within its 
 " walls." The appearance, indeed, of all the peasantry in this 
 province was mai'ked ■with every indication of poveny ; nor 
 was the condition much better of tiiose who ^^•ere employed 
 about the vessels which cai'ricd the embassador and his train. 
 With the greatest thankfulness they recei\ed the offals of our 
 allowance ; and the tea-leaves, which ^^•e had used, Avere sought 
 after by them with avidity, and boiled up for their beverage. 
 A little boiled rice, or millet, with a few vegetables, commonly 
 the Pe-tsai, and onions, fried in oil, constituted their principal 
 meals, of which they made only two regular ones in the day ; 
 one about ten o'clock in the morning, and the other at four or 
 five in the afternoon. They generally, ho^vever, had the fiy- 
 ing-pan on tlic fire at tliiee or four o'clock in the morning. 
 I'he Avine or liquor, Avhich we received in large jars, and 
 A\ hich was so miserably bad as not to be used, afforded a great 
 treat to the poor people, whose circumstances seldom allo\ved 
 them to taste it. This liquor is brewed from a mixture of rice 
 and millet, and, from its quickly turning sour, seems to have 
 little strength, and to have undergone a very imperfect degree 
 of feiTuentation. Their hot wine is seldom used, except by the 
 upper class of people, who, not satisfied with the strong empy- 
 reumatic fla^•our communicated in the distillation, drink it boil- 
 ing hot in the midst of summer. 
 
 At Tien- Sing our principal conductor Sun-ta-gin had pre- 
 pared for us a sumptuous entertainment, consisting of excellent 
 mutton, pork, venison, and poultry of all kinds, a great variety 
 of confectionar}^ of fruits then in season, peaches, plums, 
 grapes, chesnuts, ^valnuts, and water- caltrops. We very soon 
 found, indeed, that we w^ere treated with more studied atten- 
 tion, with a more marked distinction, and with less constraint, 
 than when we ascended the ri\ er. Our dignified conductor 
 made no difficulty in allo\ving us to walk on shore as much as 
 we pleased ; but recommended us not to quit the banks of the 
 river for fear of retarding the yachts, or of being left behind. 
 He hinted to us, at the same time, that the officers Van and 
 Chou would be responsible at court for any accident tliat might 
 happen to us, so long as \vc were under the protection of die 
 emperor, 
 
336 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 . In passing Tien-sing we found considerable difficulty in 
 getting our Heet tlii-ough the immense crowds of shipping, of 
 ever)' description, that \'.ere collected there to remuin tor the 
 winter ; among which Avere about five hundred of tlie empe- 
 ror's revenue vessels, with grain for the capitiil. The Eu-lio, 
 or precious river, called also the Yun-leang-lio, or ri\er upon 
 which grain is transported, falling from the westwaixl, ioiins, 
 at tlie head of this city, a confluence witii the Pei-ho. Our 
 barges were at least four hours in getting through the multi- 
 tude of vessels that \\ere moored, lor their winter-quarters, in 
 this small river ; a\ hich, however, is rendered important by its 
 communication with the grand artificial canal. 
 
 Having passed the fieet of shipping and the suburbs, a plain, 
 extending beyond the reach of sight, opened out on the left of 
 the river, upon which were observed many thousands of small 
 sandy tumuli, of a conical form, resembling those hillocks 
 which in myriads are thrown up on the continent of Africa by 
 the termites, or white ants. In several parts of this plain were 
 small buildings, in the form of dwelling-houses, but not ex- 
 ceeding four or five feet in height; in odier places were circu- 
 lar, semicircular, and squai'e enclosures of stonework, and here 
 and there were interspersed small pilku'sof stone or brick, and 
 other erections, of e^'ery vaiiety of form. This was the first 
 common bur}-ing- ground that we had observed, except a very 
 small one at Tong-tchco ; and tiie tumuli and the different 
 erections marked out the mansions of the dead. In many 
 parts of tills extensive enclosure we met with massy coffins Iv- 
 ing upon the surface, some new, others nc^vly painted, but 
 none in a mouldring state. It was explained to us, by our in- 
 teqircter, that some of those coffins had been deposited there, 
 until the proper advice should be obtained from the priest or 
 the oracle consulted, or from casting lots, as to the most pro- 
 pidous place of intennent, and the most favourable day for 
 performing tlie obsequies ; some "were placed there till the 
 pecuniaiy circumstances of the surviving relati\'es would en- 
 able them to bestow a suitable interment, and others were left 
 to dry and moulder, to a certain degree, in order to be burnt 
 and the ashes collected and put into stone jai's or rather recep- 
 tacles.* On no occasion do the Chinese bury their dead 
 
 * From a passage in the manuscript journal of a Chinese who accompanied 
 the Dutch embassy it would appear, that the art of embalming the dead was once 
 known and practised in this countiy. He observes, that at Ou-tchi there is a 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 337 
 
 within the precincts of a city or to\^'n, much less within the 
 walls of their temples ; but always deposit them at a proper 
 distance from tlie dwellings of the living, in which respect they 
 have fnore discretion than the Europeans; who not only allow 
 the interment of dead bodies in the midst of their populous 
 cities, but have thrust them also into places of public worship, 
 where croAvded congregations are constantly exposed to the 
 nauseous effluvia, and perhaps infection, arising from putrid 
 carcases. Yet, so tenacious are the people of the pri^■ilege 
 of interment within die walls of the church, in some countries 
 of Europe, diat any attempt to discontinue the imprudent 
 custom would be attended with some degree of danger, as 
 happened to tlie late grand duke of Tuscany, who, having 
 built a commodious and spacious cemetery \vithout the city 
 of Florence, to which, it was intended to remove tlie coffins 
 out of the vaults of the church, had nearly raised a rebellion 
 among his subjects. In Render's tour through Germany, an 
 instance is given of the fatal eflects of burjing in churches, 
 the relation of which makes one shudder w ith horror. 
 
 The bank of die river being one of the inclosing fences to 
 the burying ground, was ornamented with beautiful weeping 
 willows, which, witli a few solitary cypresses interspersed 
 among tlie tombs, were the only trees that appeai^ed in this part 
 of the eountr}-. 
 
 In a corner of the cemeteiy was a temple, built after the 
 usual plan, with an altar in the centre ; and a number of de- 
 ities moulded in clay were ranged on each side on stone ped- 
 estals. We observed no priests; but an elderly lady w^as 
 very busily employed in throwing the sticks of fate, in order 
 to obtain a lucky number in which, however, she failed. Dur- 
 ing the operation of shaking the cup, her countenance betrayed 
 a greater dcgi'ec of eagerness and anxiety than usually appears 
 on the face of a Chinese ; and she left the temple in a pee\'ish 
 and muttering tone, sufficiently expressive of tlie greatness of 
 her disappointment, which, it seemed, was no less than a re- 
 fusal, on the part of the oracle, to hold out the hope of her 
 being blessed with a secorid husband. Till this circumstance 
 
 temple or pagoda, inhabited by a number of priests who shew the bodyef a very 
 ancient bonze, prepai'ed in such a manner, and filled with such ingredients, that 
 it does not decay, but remains perfectly entire. He is dressed in his robes of 
 ceremony, and in his hand he holds a machin© wliich was invented by him for 
 cleaning' rice. 
 
 V U 
 
336 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 had been ejLplained to us by the keeper of the temple, it was 
 conchided that the old lady had been muttering imprecations 
 against us for disturbing her in the midst of her devotions. 
 
 After two da}'s' sail from Tien-sing we arrived at a city of 
 the third order,^^ called Tchien-shien. The surf.ice of the in- 
 terjacent coimtry had continued the same uniform plain, aa ith- 
 out a pebble in tlie soil : the extent of cultivation by no means 
 extraordinary ; and the few scattered villages of mean houses 
 indicated no great degree of population ; the dwellings that 
 floated on the A\'atcr ^vere numerous and crowded ^^•ith inhabit- 
 ants. We observed several plots of yoimgAA heat rising in drills 
 a few inches above tlic ground ; buck- wheat AA'as in full flower ; 
 and several plantations of the cotton plant, goss}'pium herba- 
 ceum, were in pod, some of them perfectly ripe. Fahrenheit's 
 thermometer on the 14th, 15th, and 16th of this month stood 
 at 52*^ and 53^ in the morning, and about 70'^ in the middle 
 of the da}-. 
 
 On the ITtJi, beside a great number of towns, villages and 
 military posts, which are regularly placed at inter-C'als of about 
 three miles, v.c passed two cities of the third order, one of 
 \A'hich, from the length of its walls, appeared to be of very 
 considerable importance. No true idea, however, can be 
 formed of the population and magnitude of a Chiilese cit}^ by 
 the extent of its enclosing \vails. Few are without large patches 
 of unoccupied ground vv ithin them, A\-hich, in many instances, 
 tar exceeds the quantity of land that is built upon. Even in 
 that part of the capital called the Chinese city, several hundred 
 acres are under cultivation. The imperial cit}% containing the 
 palace and buildings for the oflicers of state, the eunuchs and 
 artificers, occupies very, nearly a squai'e mile, more than two- 
 thirds of Avhich is a kind of park and pleasure grounds ; and 
 imder the north wall of die Tartar cit}^ there is a pond or swamp 
 covered almost with the Nelumbium, which appeared to be 
 fully twice the dimensions of Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, or four 
 times their space, namely near fift}^ acres. Such spaces of un- 
 occupied ground might perhaps have been reserved for tlie 
 
 * For the convenience of collecting and distributing the taxes raised 
 in kind, the districts, and cities within them, are divided into three clas- 
 ses, distinguished by the adjuncts foo, tchoo, shien. The shien is an- 
 sweral)le to the tchoo ; the tchoo to the foo ; and the foo to the board of 
 revenue in the capital. 
 
trav?:ls in china. 339 
 
 use of the inhabitants in case of sies^, as the means of suppl\'- 
 ing a few vegetables of the pungent kind, as onions and gai'hc, 
 for tlie besieged, which ai'e the more necessary for a people 
 who use so small a portion of animal food, and little or no milk. 
 Thus tlie cities of Babylon and Nineveh, ^^ hich were so fre- 
 quently exposed to the calamities of \\ ar and siege, had gar- 
 dens and corn-lands within their walls. 
 
 On the 1 8th •'.ve passed two cities and a great numl)er of 
 towns and villages ; the face of the country still le\ el, and en- 
 tirely open ; not a hedge-row appealing on any side, and veiy 
 few trees. Almost all the vessels that we met in the course of 
 the'day v^cre laden ^vith sacks of cotton-wool. This being the 
 night of full moon, we Avere allowed to enjoy ver\- little rest. 
 The observance of the usual ceremonies, which consist of firing 
 their small petaixls, beating at intervals the noisy gong, harsh 
 squalling music and lire-\\ orks, required that our \ci5sels should 
 remain stationary ; and these nocturnal orgies ceased only with 
 the appeai'ance of the sun. There was, hov\'ever, anodiei" cause 
 of detention at this place. In sailmg against the stream of the 
 lui-ho, it was necessiiry the barges should be tracked b}' men ; 
 and these men were to be pressed or forced into this laborious 
 service from the villages bordering upon the riAer. The usual 
 Wdy of doing this ^\as to send out the soldiers or attcndimts of 
 the oflicers before the vessels, in the dusk of tlie evening, to 
 take the poor wretches by sui"prisc in their beds. But the 
 ceremony of the full moon, by retarding their usual hour of 
 retiring to rest, had put diem on their guaixl; and, on the 
 approach of the emissaries of government, all that Mere liable 
 to be pressed into this service had absconded ; so that, in ad- 
 dition to the noise of the gongs and the trumpets and crackers, 
 our eai's were frequentl}- assailed by the cries and Umientations 
 of persons under the punishment of the bamboo or the whip, 
 for claiming their exemption from joining the yachts and act- 
 ing as trackers. When die gi-oupe that had been collected for 
 tliis purpose was brought togedicr in tlie moniing, it was im- 
 possible not to regard it with an c} e of pity. Most of them 
 consisted of infirm and decrej:)it old men ; and the rest ^vere 
 such lank, sickly-looking, ill-clothed creatures, diat the whole 
 groupe appeared to be much fitter for an hospitivj dian for per- 
 forming any kind of labour. Our companions pretended to 
 sa\^ that every farmer, who rented lands upon the public rivers 
 or canals, was obHgcd,. I)y the tenure on which he held biij 
 
340 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 lease, to furnish such a number of men to track the vessels in 
 the service of government, A\henever it might be required ; 
 but that, on the present being an extraordinary occasion, tliey 
 had icsohed to pay them, as they called it, in a handsome 
 manner, ^^-hich A\as at the rate of something less than seven- 
 pence a day, without any allowance for returning to their 
 homes ; a price for labour v. hich bore no sort of proportion 
 to that of the necessaries of life ; and it was even doubtful if 
 this pittance was ever paid to tliem. 
 
 Having cleared the fleet of shipping that w^ assembled at 
 this place, a favourable breeze relieved our invalids, and ren- 
 dered their slender exertions unnecessary for the greater part 
 of the day, in the course of which we entered the province of 
 Shan-tung. In this province nothing Morthy of notice oc- 
 curred until the 22d ; when we quitted the Eu-ho, and turn- 
 ing tow'ai'ds the south, entered the grand canal, out of which 
 wc observ'ed a gentle current flowing into the riv^r. At this 
 point of junction the pagoda of Lin-tsin, an octagonal pyramid, 
 A\as erected, perhaps as a monument of this great and useful 
 undertaking, which, hov/ever, in its present state, apparently 
 liad riOt stood many ages. In the hope of finding witliin it 
 some inscription, that might point out its designation, we 
 mounted "with some difliiculty upon the first of its nine stages 
 or roofs (for the little door on a level \^ith the ground was 
 walled up v. ith bricks), but it contained only the bare walls ; 
 not e^ en a stair-case remained, nor any possible hope of ascend- 
 ing to the top ; and the lower part was choakcd up with rub- 
 l)ihh. These pagodas (or as the Chinese name them Ta), that 
 bO frequently occur in the counUy, seem to be intended only 
 as embellishments to particulai' grounds, or objects to termi- 
 nate vistas or prospects. Sometimes, it is true, they appear as 
 appendages to temples, but are never appropriated for the pur- 
 poses of sacred worship. Whatever their intention might have 
 been, it should seem the rage of building them no longer ex- 
 ists : not one of a late erection having appeared in the whole 
 country, and more than two-thirds of those we saw being ia 
 ruins. 
 
 At the junction of the canal with the Eu-ho there was no 
 lock nor flood-gate ; the gentle current of the former was in- 
 terrupted only from place to place, by loose planks let down 
 in grooves cut in stone piers. These dams seldom occasioned 
 the diflference of a foot in the level pf the \vater ; and at each 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 341 
 
 was a guard-house with double the usual number of soldiere 
 stationed, to assist in drawing up or letting douii the planks, 
 as occasion might require. The canal, which at the commence- 
 ment was from sixty to one hundred feet in width, \vas con- 
 tracted at such places, by the stone piers of the flood-gates, 
 to about diirty feet. 
 
 Towards the evening of the 23d, as we approached the city 
 Tong-tchang-foo, we were much amused with a military ma- 
 ncEuvre, which was evidently intended to astonish us. Under 
 the walls of the city about three hundred soldiers Mere drawn 
 out in a line, whicli, however, the darkness of tlie night had 
 rendered imisible. But just as wc were coming to anclior, 
 each soldier at the sound of the gong, produced from under his 
 cloak a splendid hmtern, with a\ hich he went through a regular 
 manual exercise. The follo\\"ing morning we observed, for 
 the first time, a few hillocks breaking the line of the horizon 
 to the eastw'ard, The country appe:u'ed to be in a tolerable 
 state of cultivation ; but the mode of tillage exhibited no extra- 
 ordinary degree of skill or of labour. Villages of considerable 
 extent \vere erected along the banks of the canal, at inter\als 
 of about three miles from each other : and, in the gar- 
 dens, contiguous to these, grew in abundance the tobacco- 
 plant whose leaves were small, hair}-, and viscous, and the 
 flowers of which were of a greenish yello\\-, passing into a faint 
 rose-colour at the edges of the petals. We observed also small 
 patches of hemp. A greater use is made of the seeds and leaflets 
 of this plant, as a substitute for or to mix with tobacco, than 
 of its fibres for cloth, a purpose to which it is as rarely con- 
 ^'erted by the Chinese as by the Hindoos, being little esteemed 
 for those valuable uses to which, since its introduction into Eu- 
 rope, it has been applied. The nimiber of lateral branches, 
 which in a warm climate each stem dirows out close above the 
 surface of the ground, breaks the length of fibre, and renders it 
 unfit for those purposes for which, in the northern regions of 
 Europe, its tall branchless stem is so well adapted. The sow- 
 thistle, a plant that occurs in almost eveiy part of the Avorld, 
 was nothing diflerent here from its usual habit in Europe. We 
 observed also a species of Chenopodium and of Artemesia, or 
 wormwood ; abundance of the Pe-tsai, and other common 
 culinary vegetables. In the smiill flower-gardens, without which 
 we scarcely observed a single cottage, were balsams, several 
 kinds of beautiful asters, holy-hocks, two species of Malva, 
 
342 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 an Amarantlius, and the sho^^ y and liandsome shrub the Ne- 
 rium Oleander. 
 
 Having passed, on t]ie 26th October, the walls of the city 
 Tsie-ning;, where a multitude of small craft \\ ere lying at an- 
 chor, we came to au extensive lake of the same name, navi^ 
 gated by a great number of sailinj^ boats. From the east side 
 of this lake the canal was separated only by an immense mound 
 of earth. To the AAcstAvai'd the \\'hole countr}', beyond the reach 
 of sight, was one continued swamp or morass, upon Avhich were 
 interspersed pools or ponds of ^^-ater abounding with die Ne- 
 lumbium, at this time in full flower. The morass being several 
 feet below the surflice of die ^later hi the canal, afforded the 
 means of regulating the quantity ; and accordingly, at certam 
 distances, we observed stone arches turned in the eai'then em- 
 bankment to let off the su})erfluo«s ^vater tliat might be occa- 
 sioned by the swelhng of the feeding rivers. About this place 
 also, it was remai^ked, thiijt the bed of the canal was cairicd in 
 a line so netu'ly horizontal, that the water had a gentle cun-ent 
 cither to the northward or the south v.aixl, according as these 
 §luiccs were kept sliut or thrown open ; this line being ascer- 
 tained, perhaps, rather by tlie surface of the lake than by the 
 assistance of instruments ; for it was sufficiently remarkable, 
 that no opportunity had been omitted in canying this great 
 work along the side, or through the middle, of lakes or other 
 pools of water wherever it could be done. 
 
 The naturp of the countiy admitted of such management 
 for tlirce days' journey, or atjput eight}' miles froip Tsie-ning. 
 The ^vhole of this extensive plabi consisted in lakes or sv, ampy 
 ground half covered A\ith "water. On the Ibrmer were constant- 
 ly seen moving about, vessels \\ ith sails and boats of every de- 
 scription, com'eying an animated picture of activity, industry, 
 a.id commerce. Almost all the lakes "^vere studded "^vith islands, 
 zu\d these were covered widi villages, that were chiefly inha- 
 bited by fishermen. Here, for tlie first time. Me osDserved the 
 Leu-tze or fishing corvorant, the Pelicanus Sinensis, diving 
 after the linny tribe, and seemingly no less anxious than its 
 master to take them. This bird is so like another species of 
 the ]>clican, allied the Carbo, or common corvoj'ant, which in 
 Ena:land as naturalists inform us, Avas formerly tr:iined for 
 iishing, that it has usually been considered the same ; but, fi'om 
 several specimens brought home \i ith us, it appears to be a 
 different species. The usual practice is to take ten or t^v^ly^ 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. S43 
 
 of these birds in the morning, when fasting, upon a raft 
 of bambo9-poles lashed together, and to let one or two at most 
 at a time dive for fish, which are taken from them tlic mo- 
 ment they bring them to the surface. These birds, not much 
 larger than the common duck, will seize and gri}>e fast fishes 
 that are not less than their own weight, ^^'hcn the proprietor 
 judges the first pair to be prett}- well fatigued, they are suftcred 
 to feed, by wixy of encouragement, on some of the fish the}' ha^•e 
 taken, and a second pair are dispatched upon the water. The 
 fish we observed them to take was a species of pearch. In the 
 course of three day's navig-ation, we saw several thousand boats 
 and rafts employed in this kind of fishing. 
 
 Elixcept on the \vater and tlie islands, the \\ hole of the 
 s^^'ampy country might be said to be uninhabited, and totally 
 \oid of any kind of cultivation. Sometimes, indeed, a iew 
 miserable mud huts appeared on the small hillocks that here 
 and tliere raised their heads out of the dreary ^\'aste of morass ; 
 but the chief Inhabitiints were cranes, herons, guillemots and 
 a vast ^'ariety of other kinds of birds that frequent the watez's 
 and swamps. Here too arc gi'cat numbers of tliat singular 
 imd beautiful bii'd, the anas galericulata, usually kno^vn by 
 the name of the mandarin duck, which, like the gold and 
 silver fishes, is caught and reared as an article of sale to tlie 
 opulent and curious. The great extent of water had a sen- 
 sible cftect on the temperature of the air, especially in the 
 mornings and CACfiings, when Falirenheit's thermometer 's^as 
 sometimes below 40°. 
 
 Having passed the lakes and swamps, we entered suddenl}-, 
 on the 31st, upon a most delightful pait of the countJT, 
 crowded with temples and villages and towns and cities, near 
 all of ^v•hich, and on e\'er}- part of the canal, wexQ vast num- 
 bers of the revenue vessels, collecting the surplus taxes paid 
 in kind, in order to transport them to the capital. Wheat 
 and cotton appeai'ed to be the two principal articles of culture. 
 The surface of the countjy was nov/ broken into hill and dale, 
 every inch appeared to be under tillage, except the summit 
 of the knolls, whjch were generally cro\v-ned with forest trees, 
 and few of the detached houses ortemj^lcs uere without ex- 
 tensive gardens and orchards. Apjiles, pears, plums, peaches, 
 apricots and pomegranates, were the common kinds of fi-uit, 
 and the culiuiuy ^egetables were the same as those of Pe-tche- 
 Icc. The canal at this place is, perhaps, the grandest inlapd 
 
344 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 navigation in the whole world, being nearly a thousand feet 
 in w idth and bordered on each side by stone qua3's, built \vith 
 massy blocks of gi^ey marble mixed ^ith others of granite ; 
 and this immense aqueduct, although forced up several feet 
 above the surface of the countr}', by embankments thro^\n 
 up by tlie labour of man, flowed with a current of three 
 miles an hour nearl}^ towards the Yellow RiA-er, to which 
 we perceived we w-ere fast approaching, by tlie bustle and 
 activity both on shore and on the numberless canals that 
 branched out in every direction from the main trunk ; on 
 whose banks, for several miles on either side, one continued 
 town extended to the point of junction with this large river, 
 celebrated in every period of the Chinese histor}-. A \'illage 
 was particularly pointed out b}" the bargemen, \\hose name 
 was derived from a miracle, which is most sacredly believed 
 by the Chinese. Tradition siiys, that the famous astronomer 
 Heu was carried up to heaAcn in his house, which stood at 
 this place, leaving behind him an old faithful servant who, 
 being thus depri\^ed of his master and his habitation, was 
 reduced to bes:gary ; but happening by accident to tlii'ow a 
 little prepared rice into the ground, it immediately grew and 
 produced grain without chaff for his sustenance ; from whence 
 the place is called Sen-mee, rice grooving ready di'essed, to 
 this da)-. 
 
 Before our barges launched into the stream of the Yellow 
 River, which rolled in a very rapid torreitt, certain ceremo- 
 nies were conceived to be indispensably necessar}^ In the 
 practical part of religion (which indeed may be considered as 
 nearlv the Avhole) a Chinese is not less solicitous to avert a 
 possible evil, than to procure an eventual good ; and of all 
 evils, personal danger is most apprehended. It ^\-as there- 
 fore deemed expedient that an oblation should be made in 
 every vessel of the fleet to the genius of the river. I'he ani- 
 mals tliat were sacrificed, on this occasion, A\ere diflferent in 
 diflerent yachts, but the}' generally consisted of a fowl^ or a 
 pig, two animals that were very common in Grecian sacrifices. 
 The blood, with the feathers and the hair, was daubed upon 
 the principal parts of the vessel. On the forecastle of some 
 were placed cups of wine, oil and salt; in others, tea, flour 
 and salt; and in others, oil, rice and salt. The last article ap- 
 pears to be thought by the Chinese, as Well as by the Hebrews, 
 a necessarj' accompaniment to even,^ sacrifice. " Every ob- 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 345 
 
 ** lation of thy meat-offering shalt thou season with salt ; 
 *' neitlier shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of tliy God 
 " to be lacking from thy meat-offering." As, however, the 
 high priest and liis fiiends wtve to feast on those parts of 
 the meat-offering, which ^vere considered as um\orthy the ac- 
 ceptance of heaven, which parts, by the way, \\ere always the 
 best of the victim, one might, perhaps, assign a reason for 
 the strong injunction of offering salt, this being a scai'ce iirti- 
 cle in many countries of the East and the best preseiTative of 
 meat against putrefaction.^ 
 
 The cups, the slaughtered animal, and several made-dishes, 
 remained on the forecastle, the captain standing o\"er tlicm on 
 one side, and a man with a gong in his hand on the other. 
 On approaching tlie rapid pait of tlie stream, at the signal 
 given by the gong, the captain took up the cups one by one, 
 in order that, like the Greeks of old, he might " perform 
 *' the rites and pour the ruddy wine;" which he did by 
 throw ing their contents over the bow of the vessel into the 
 ri\ cr. The libation performed, a quantity of crackers and 
 squibs and guilt tin-foil were bunit, with uplifted hands, 
 \\ hilst die deep-sounding gong was incessantly struck with 
 increasing Aiolence, as the vessels were swept along with the 
 current. The victim and the other dishes w ere then removed 
 for the use of the captain and crew, and tlie ceremony ended 
 by three genuflexions and as many prostrations. The em- 
 peror is never satisfied with less than nine. 
 
 Our fleet consisted of about thirty sail, and from each ves- 
 sel there proceeded, on its launching into the sti'eam, such a 
 din of gongs and crackers, and such volumes of smoke from 
 the burnt offerings, that the deity of the river must ha^•e been 
 in a very surly humour if he was not pleased with such a mul- 
 titude of oblations. The safe arrival, on the opposite bank, 
 of the \\ hole squadhan, was a proof of his ha"\ ing accepted the 
 Iiomau:e, and accordin&'lv he was a2"ain addressed in a \ollev of 
 crackers, as a token of thanks for his propitious and friendly aijd. 
 
 • The far et mica salis were parts of most of the Roman sacrifices ; and salt, 
 in particular, was held in such veneration, and in such general use, that when any 
 one obtained a salary or pension, he was said to have g-othis salarium, or some- 
 thing to procure his salt, in the same sense, as we say, to get one's bread ; and . 
 a common expression in India, denoting service, is, I eat the salt of such a one; 
 and the Dutch, in speaking of a dependent say. He owes his salt to such a one. 
 These coincidences of opinion, or custom, among remote nations, however 
 difficult they may be to explain, are neverth^jless sxtremely intercsiing-, and are 
 oo that account liere noticed. 
 
 X X 
 
345 IRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The Avidth of tlie ri\-er at this place -vA'as full three quarters 
 of a mile; and the stream, where strongest, ran M'ith the ra- 
 pidity of seven or eight miles an hour ; and the Avater was as 
 thick and muddy as if the heaviest toiTents of rain had just 
 descended, whereas, in fact, there had not 'fallen a shower for 
 many months. 
 
 The length of that pait of the canal which lies between the 
 Eu-ho and the Yellow ri\'er, and m hich we had now sailed over, 
 is about two hundred English miles. The natural slope of 
 the country being from North to South, the projectors of this 
 work seem to have fixed upon the middle point, or nearly so, 
 between these two rivers, for the commencement of their ope- 
 rations : so tl^it, from this middle point to the north\Aard, or 
 rising part of the country, they ha\'e been under the necessity, 
 in order to presence their level, of cutting do^vn to the depth 
 of thirty, forty, and even to seventy feet, below the surface ; 
 v\ hilst from the same point to the southward, or descending 
 part of the country, they ha^•e been obliged to force up the 
 water between immense banks of earth ajid stone, far above 
 the level of the flat surface ; consisting almost entirely of lakes, 
 swamps, and morass. The quantity of human labour that 
 must have been employed, in amassing together the different 
 materials that compose this immense aqueduct, could not 
 have been supplied, in any reasonable length of time, except 
 in a country where millions could be set to work at the nod 
 of a despot. The greatest \\-orks in China have ah\ays been, 
 and still continue to be, performed by the accunmlation of 
 manual labour, without the assistance of machiner}', except 
 on very particular occasions, where some mechanical power 
 may be absolutely necessary to be brought in aid of human 
 strength. Thus, ^here canals are carried o^^er surfaces that 
 iire too hilly and imeven to admit of one continued level, they 
 descend from place to place, as it were by steps, at each of 
 \\hich is an inclined plane ; the height from the upper canal 
 to the lo'wer being generally from six to ten feet ; and the 
 angle of the plane from fort}'-five to fifty degrees. All vessels 
 navigating such canals must be hoisted up these planes by the 
 assistance of upright capstans, a\ ithout which it Mould scarcely 
 be possible to get those of large dmiensions, together with 
 their cargo, out of one canal into the other ; and they are 
 gently loM'ered in the same manner. This aAvkard contriv- 
 ance may, perhaps, less imply the ignorance of locks or other 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 34r 
 
 methods practised elsewhere, than the unwillingness of the 
 ii;overnment to suffer any innovation tliat might be the means 
 of depriving many thousands of obtaining that scanty subsist- 
 ence whicli they now deri\e fiom their attend:mce at these 
 capstans. However slightly such a notion may be held in 
 Kurope, there can be no doubt diat a general introduction of 
 machinery into China, for the purpose of facilitating and ex- 
 pediting labour, would, in the present sUite of the country, be 
 attended with the most pernicious and distressing conse- 
 quences ; were it only for this simple reason, that, despising, 
 as they affect to do, all foreign commerce, the demand for the 
 products of machinery, however much they might be reduced 
 in price, would not be encreased, whilst that of manucl labour 
 would be considerably diminished. 
 
 Sensible as the Chinese seem to be of the ad\'antages derived 
 from an easy communication between the different parts of 
 the empire, by means of canals, it is the more surjirising \\-hat 
 the motives could ha\e been that, till this moment, have re- 
 strained them from facilitating an intercourse by means of good 
 nvads, in such parts of the countiy as have no inland naA'iga- 
 tions. In this respect they full sliort of most civilized 
 nations. Except near the capital, and in some few^ places 
 v\ here the junction of the grand canal with navigable rivers is 
 interrupted by mountainous ground, there is scarceh-- a road 
 in the whole country that can l)e ranked be3ond a foot-i)ath. 
 Hence it happens that, in the northern provinces, during win- 
 ter, it is impossible to tra\'el with any degree of ease, conve- 
 nience, or safety ; all the canals to the north\\ ard of the Yellow 
 river, which runs from 34^ to 35" latitude being frozen up. 
 It is equally surprising that their ingenuity has not extended 
 itself to the invention of sledges, or some sort of carriages suit- 
 able for travelling on ice, Mhich other nations ha^e converted 
 into the best of roads.* 
 
 * I infer that such is not the practice in China, from the manner in 
 %vhich the Dutch embassadors were conveyed to and from the capital in 
 the middle of winter. The inconveniences they suffered on this occasion 
 are such as can scarcely be conceived to have happened in a civilized 
 country. The perusal of the manuscript journal I have elsewliere no- 
 ticed, conveyed to my mind the idea of a country dreary and desolate, 
 and of a people indigent and distressed, without humanity, and without 
 Jiospitality. They travelled in little bamboo chairs, carried by four men, 
 who were generally so weak and tottering that they could not go through 
 
348 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 The continuativon of the grand caiial, from the Yellow river 
 to the Yang-tse-kiang, -was construeted upon the same prin- 
 ciples as that part between the Yellow river and tlie Eii-ho. 
 The country being le^-el, and abounding ^^-ith lakes and marshy 
 grounds, it was carried upon a mound of ciirth kept together 
 by retaining \^'alls of stone the whole distance, which is about 
 ninety miles, being in parts not less than t"wenty feet abo^-e 
 the general IcA-el of the countiy ; and the sheet of ^^■ater it 
 contained "was two hundred feet in width, running sometimes 
 at the rate of three miles an hour. Canals of communication 
 supplied it from the west^^■ard ; and the supeiiluous \vater 
 was let off upon the low marshes. The tops of the walls of 
 
 the day's journey, but were obliged, frequently, in the middle of the 
 night, to halt in an open uninhabited part of the country, Avhere iiot a 
 hovel of any description was to be met with, to shelter them from the 
 inclemency of the Aveather. And it most commonly happened, that the 
 lodgings appointed for their reception, at the different stages, were in 
 such a miserable condition, admitting on every side the wind, rain, or 
 snow, that they generally preferred taking a little rest in their bamboo 
 chairs. They Avere surprised to find so few cities, towns, or villages in 
 their route, and not less surprised at the ruinous condition in Avhich these 
 few appeared to be. Near the capital a whole city exhibited only a mass 
 of ruins. In many places they found the country under water, and the 
 mud hovels completely melted down. Sometimes they passed extensive 
 wastes, where not a trace was visible of any kind of cultivation, nor a 
 single dwelling occurred in the distance of eight or ten English Vniles. 
 And it was not before they had crossed the Yellow river that they per- 
 ceived the marks of v/heei-carriages imprinted on the roads, which were 
 fiO little travelled upon that they could with difficulty be traced. Here 
 they met old men and young women travelling in wheel-barrows, and 
 litters carried by asses, one being fixed between the poles before, and one 
 behind. The rivers had no bridges over them ; and such as were too 
 deep to be forded, they were under the necessity of crossing on rafts of 
 bamboo. In short, before they arrived at the capital, the fatigue and 
 hardships they had undergone considerably impaired their health, and 
 the condition of their clothing was such as to excite the compassion of 
 the mandarins, who made them a present of twenty sheep-skin jackets, 
 dressed with the wool upon them : which, like the Hottentots, thev 
 wore inwards. One of these gentlemen assured me, that having satis- 
 fied his curiosity, no earthly consideration should tempt him to under- 
 take a second journey by land to the capital ; for that he believed the 
 whole world could not furnish a like pictin-e of desolation and misery. 
 What a contrast is here exhibited to the ease and convenience with 
 which our journey was made ! But the whole treatment of the Dutch 
 embassy seems to have been proportioned to the degree of importance 
 which the Chinese attached to the political condition of this niuion. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 349 
 
 Pao-yng-shien ■were ju.st on a level with the surface of the 
 water in the canal, so that if the bank opposite to it ^vere to 
 burst, the whole city must inevitably be inundated. Very 
 little cultivation appeared in this low marshy country, but 
 abundance of towns and villages, the inhabitants of which sub- 
 sisted by fishing. A prodigious extent of low country on 
 each side of the Yellow ri\er, perhaps not much less than the 
 surface of all England, is liable to inundations. The Chinese 
 sa}--, the overflo^^ ing of this river has been more fatal to the 
 country than war, pestilence, or famine. The emperor 
 Kaung-ihee, in order to distress a rebel in the province of 
 Honan, ordered a bank to be broken down behind a city he 
 had got possession of ; but the inundation was so great, that 
 not only the rebel forces were destroyed, but almost hah'' a 
 million of people were completely swept away ; and among 
 these ^^•ere se\'eral European missionaries. Vast sums of 
 money are expended in confining this river v.ithin its banks. 
 T'hc same emperor in his last -will declares, that the sums of 
 money issued annually from the imperial treasury fi^r the em- 
 bankments to prevent inundatious, were ne^-er less, during his 
 whole reign, than 3,000,000 ounces of sih^er, equivalent to 
 one million sterling. 
 
 On approaching the Yang-tsc-kiang tlie appearance of the 
 countiy improved, just as it had done in the vicinity of the 
 Yellow River. The tovni of Sau-poo, extending along the 
 quay of the canal, consisted of houses that were gcnerallj- two 
 stories high, apparently well built, white-washed "with lime, 
 and kept in neat and clean order. The inhabitants weve also 
 better clothed than M'c had hitherto been accustomed to see 
 them. Tlie women were less shy in their adA^ances ; their 
 complexions were much fairer, and their features more soft 
 and handsome, than any vve had }'et obscr\^ed in the northern 
 provinces. 
 
 The walls and gates of Yang-tclioo-foo bore marks of great 
 antiquity, being paitly in ruins, and almost entirely overgrown 
 with moss and creeping plants. A thousand vessels, at least, 
 of different descriptions, A\-ere hing under its walls. Here 
 we remained for tlie nig-ht ; and the folloAving morning, l)eing 
 the 5th ol'Novcmbjr, we launched into the grand and beautiful 
 rivei-, called thj Yang-tsc-kiang, \\-hich at this place w as about 
 tv/o miles in v.idth ; but the current \\ as so gentle, that no 
 
350 TRAVELS IN CHINA- 
 
 oblation to the presiding deity was thought to be necessary. 
 The numerous islands rising out of the river, co\-ered with 
 verdure, the multitude of ships of wai", of burden and of 
 pleasure, some gliding down the stream, others sailing against 
 it ; some moA^ng by oars, and others l}'ing at anchor ; the 
 banks on either side coA-ered \vith towns and houses, as far 
 as the e}^e could reach ; presented a prospect more varied and 
 chearful than any that had hitherto occurred. Nor ^^-as the 
 canal, on the opposite side, less liA^ely ; for two whole days 
 we were continually passing among fleets of Acssels of different 
 constructions and dimensions; (those belonging to the revenue 
 department being the largest) each capable of carrying, at 
 least, two hundred tons. Cities, towns and tillages, were 
 continued along the banks without intermission: and vast 
 numbers of stone bridges were thrown across the canal, some 
 ha\'ing one, some two, and others three arches. The face 
 of the country was beautifully diversified with hill and dale, 
 and every pait of it in the highest state of cultivation. The 
 chief produce was that particular species of cotton, of a ycl- 
 lo\\'ish tinge, known in Europe by the name of nankin. 
 
 The suburbs of Sou-tchoo-foo employed us full three hours 
 in passing before we reached the walls of tlie city, where a 
 multitude of vessels v/ere lying at anchor. The numerous 
 inhabitants, that appeared upon and without the avails of this 
 extensive city, were better dressed, and seemed to be more 
 contented and cheerful, than we had yet observed them in 
 any other place. For the most part they wtre clothed in 
 silk. The ladies were here dressed in petticoats, and not in 
 trowsers, as they had hitherto apj^eared to the nortliAvard. 
 The general fashion of the head-dress -was a black satin cap, 
 with a triangulai' peak, the point descending to the root of the 
 nose, in the middle of which, or about the centre of the 
 forehead, was a crystal button. The whole flice and neck 
 ^vere washed with a preparation of white lead, and the cheeks 
 highly rouged ; and two vermillion spots, like wafers, were 
 particularly conspicuous, one on the centre of the under lip 
 and the other on the chin. Their feet were universally squeezed 
 doAvn to an unnatural size. Few females were seen among 
 the immense crowds that the novelty of the sight had brought 
 together ; but great numbers had assembled in the houses, 
 and particularly on board the pleasure or passage yachts. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 351 
 
 witli the intention of satisfying their curiosity. The superior 
 style of dress and the appeai^ance of the women in piibUc, at 
 this place, so difterent from the general custom of the coun- 
 try, could only be explained to us by the writings of the 
 Christian missionai-ies, who observe that the concubines of 
 mandiirins and men of property are chiefly procured from tlie 
 cities of Yang-tchoo and of Sou-tchoo, where they are edu- 
 cated in the pleasing arts of singing, music, and dancing, 
 and every other accomplishment suitable to A\omen of supe- 
 rior raiik, in order to render tliem the more agi-eeable and 
 fascinating. That such women are p;cnerally purchased by 
 persons engaged in the trade, in different parts of the coini- 
 trv, and trained in these cities, Avhere they are disposed of to 
 the highest bidder, " this being the principal branch of trade 
 " that is canied on in those two cities." How do these holy 
 men reconcile so infamous a ti'affic among a people whom they 
 have adorned with every \irtue ? a people whom thev have 
 rendered remarkable among nations for their filial piety ! Is 
 there on eaith a crime more re\olting against ci\ilized nature, 
 or more detestable to civilized societ}-, than that of a parent 
 selling his own child, and consigning her, expressly and 
 voluntai'ily, into a state of prostitution ? Those unfortunate 
 A\Tetchcs who, in Europe, ha\'e by any accident reduced 
 themselves to that degraded and deplorable condition of be- 
 coming subservient to the pleasures of a man, whom they 
 probably detest, are generally the objects of pit}', ho\\-ever 
 their conduct may be disapproA ed ; but a parent, \\ ho should 
 be the cause of reducing them to such a stiite, aaouM 1)c 
 execrated. But the assertion is as absurd as ridiculoiiG, and 
 the WTiter must hixve been very credulous to suppose that the 
 principal trade of one of the largest cities in the world, \^'hose 
 population cannot be less than a million of souls, should con- 
 sist in buying and selling ladies of pleasure. Bu3-ing females, 
 in the legal \vay, is certainl}- the greatest branch of trade 
 throughout China, as ever)' woman tliere is bought and sold. 
 These reverend gentlemen likewise inform us, with great in- 
 difference, that if a man be desirous of having a m.ale cliild, and 
 his wife should happen to be barren, he will purchase one of 
 these eoneubines for die sole purpose of getting an heir ; and, 
 A\hen this is accomplished, he either provides her with a hus- 
 band, or turns her adrilt. Such arc the moral \ irtues of the Chi- 
 
352 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 ncse, compared with \^hom all other nations have been ac- 
 counted bai'barous.-* 
 
 To the west of Saii-tchoo-foo is a range of mountains 
 higher than any wt had yet seen, well covered a\ ith ^^ ood ; 
 and an extensive lake stretches along their base, famed in 
 China for its picturesque beauties, and for its fish. We would 
 gladly have made a party of pleasure to this delightful spot ; 
 but innumerable objections, as usual, ^^ere started by our 
 conductors, on the score of delay that such an excursion 
 w^ould occasion. 
 
 The two great products of this pait of the country are rice 
 and silk ; the former of "which, at this time, they were busily 
 employed in reaping. Plantations of the mulben^'-tree were 
 extended on both sides of the canal, and into the country, be- 
 yond the reach of sight. They appeai'ed to be of two distinct 
 species ; the one, the common mulberry, morus nigra, and the 
 other ha\ing much smaller leaves, smooth and heart-shaped, 
 and bearing a white beny, about the size of the field straw- 
 beiTv. The latter had more the habit of a shrub, but the 
 branches of neither were suffered to run into strong wood, 
 being frequentl}' pruned in order that the trunk might annually 
 throw out young scions, whose leaves were considered to be 
 more tender tkm such as grew from old branches. Another 
 reason Mas also assigned for this operation. A tree, when left 
 to itself, throws out the greatest part of its leaves at once, in the 
 spring of the 3 ear, but if the thick wood be cut out from time 
 to time, new leaves ^vill continue to push belo^v' the parts so 
 cut off during the whole season ; and, accordingly, the Chi- 
 nese 'are particularly attentive to prune afresh in the au- 
 tumn, in order to obtain a supply of young leaves in the after 
 spring. The thermometer at this place, on the 9th of No- 
 vember at sun-rise, stood at 64°, and at noon, in the shade, 
 at 70°. 
 
 It was in this part of the canal where the bridge of ninety- 
 one arches, mentioned in the sixth chapter, was thrown across 
 the aiTn of a lake that joined the canal. I lament exceedingly 
 that wc passed this extraordinary fabric in the night. It hap- 
 
 * It maybe obsen-ed of almost all the writings of the missionaries concerninp^ 
 China, that virtues of so trifling' a nature, as hardly to deserve the name, have 
 met their unqualified praise, whilst enormous vices have either been palliated or 
 passed over in silence. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 353 
 
 pened to catch the attention of a Swiss servant who, as tlie 
 yacht glided along, began to count the arches ; but finding 
 them increase in number, much beyond his expectation, and, 
 at the same time, in dimensions, he ran into the cabin, calUng 
 out with great eagerness, *' For God's sake, gentlemen, come 
 " upon deck ; for here is a bridge such as I ne\er saw before ; 
 " it has no end." Mr. Maxwell and I hastened upon deck, 
 and, by the faint light, could sufficiently distinguish the arches 
 of a bridge running parallel with the eastern bank of the canal, 
 across the arm of a vast lake, \\ ith which die navigation thus 
 communicated. From the highest point, or what appeared t© 
 us to be the central arch, I counted forty-five to the end ; here 
 they were very small ; but the centi-al arch I guessed to be 
 about thirty feet high and forty m- ide ; and the whole length of 
 the bridge I calculated to be about half a mile. The construc- 
 tion of such a bridge, in such a situation, could obviously 
 have been employed for no other purpose than that of opening 
 a free communication with the lake ; and, at the same time, of 
 avoiding the labour and expense of accumulating materials 
 sufficient for making a solid embankment. 
 
 After sailing a great pait of the day through a forest of mul- 
 berry trees, planted with much regularity, we an'ived on the 
 lOdi at the city of Hang-tchoo-foo, the capital of the provirice 
 of Tche-kiang. Here that branch of the gi-and canal A\'hich 
 communicates with die Yang-tse-kiang terminates in a large 
 commodious bason, at this time cro\^'ded widi shipping. 
 From this bason a number of smaller canals, passing through 
 arches turned in the walls, and intersecting the city in every 
 direction, are filially united in a lake be}-ond the western ^\ all, 
 called the See-ho. The natural and artificial beauties of this 
 lake fai' exceeded any thing we had hitherto had an opportunity 
 of seeing in China. The mountains surrounding it were lofty, 
 and broken into a variety of forms that Avere highly picturesque ; 
 and the valle}^s were richly clothed with trees of different kinds, 
 among which three species Avere remarkably striking, not only 
 by their intrinsic l^eauty, but also by the contrast they formed 
 w idi themsehes and the rest of the trees of the forest. These 
 were the Saurus Camphora or camphor tree, the Croton Sebi- 
 ferum or tallow tree, and die Thuia Orientalis or arbor vitae. 
 The bright shining green foliage of the first, mingled widi the 
 purple leaves of the second, and overtopped by the tall and 
 stiUcly tree of Ufe^ of the deepest green, produced a pleasing 
 
 Y y 
 
 v» 
 
354 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 effect to the eye; and the landscape was rendered still more 
 interesting to the mind, by the veiy singular and diversified 
 appearance of .several repositories of the dead, upon the sloping 
 sides of the inferior hills. Here, as well as elsewhere, the 
 sombre and upright cypress was destined to be the melancholy 
 companion of the tombs. Higher still, among the woods, 
 avenues had been opened to admit of rows of small blue 
 houses, supported on white colonnades, which, on examina- 
 ti(Dn, Avere also found to be mansions of the dead. Naked 
 coffins of extraordinary thickness were e^^ery where lying upon 
 the surface of the ground. 
 
 The lake that extended from the walls of the city to the feet 
 of the mountains, and thrcAv its numerous arms into the wood- 
 ed valleys, was the seat of pleasure, as well as of profit, to the 
 inhabitants of Hang-tchoo-foo. These amusements, however, 
 of floating upon barges in the lake iire principally confined to 
 one sex : few women, except those of loose character, join 
 in the parties of men. How miserable, or, at best, how little 
 interest can be raised in that state of society where no social 
 intercourse of the sexes exists ! where sentiment, nice feeling, 
 and the sport and play of the softer passions, are totally un- 
 knoAvii, and where reason and philosophy ai'e at so low an ebb ! 
 In more enlightened countries, "\\ hen age may have M^eakened 
 the ardour of joining in the sprightly female circle, or inclina- 
 tion lead to more serious conversations, numberless resources 
 are still left to exercise the faculties of the mind, and society 
 may always be had for such as can relish 
 
 " The feast of reason, and the flow of soul." 
 
 But in China, the tenor of their conversation must be- always 
 nearly the same ; turning chiefly on the affairs of the neigh- 
 bourhood, the injustice of the magistrates, the tricks aiid stra- 
 tagems of the crafty merchant, or of the low mechanic. In 
 entertainments given b}^ those ^who can afford to drink wine, it 
 is seldom served round as in other countries ; but a number 
 of puerile contrivances are practised to determine which of the 
 piu'ty is to drir.k, as in the case I have already noticed of the 
 game of the fmgers. Thus, a nosegay is passed round from 
 i\and to hand, whilst a man in an adjoining room beats a drum 
 or the gong, and he who happens to hold the nosegay when 
 tlic instrument ceases must drink a cup of wine. Many other 
 methods still more childish are resorted to, in order to pass the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. QSS 
 
 time, and to give a zest to their, wine; but the usual resource 
 here, as well as elsewhere, against the tediousness of time, is 
 gaming. An attachment to this vice accompanies the lowest 
 Chinese wherever he goes. It is said, that, in one of our 
 Eastern colonies, where Chinese ai^e encouraged to settle, diey 
 pay to tlie government the annual sum of ten thousand doilai's 
 for a license to keep gaming tables and sell opium. 
 
 Our route being necessarily delayed for two days at this 
 place, on account of an inten ening neck of land, o\er \\ hich 
 all the baggage was to be transported, I pre\ailed upon our 
 good-natured companion Van-Ui-gin to make a party to the 
 lake See-ho, to which he readily assented ; and this was the 
 only excursion that we had in the course of tlie whole journey. 
 We had a splendid yacht, and another made fast to it, to serve 
 as a kitchen ; the dinner begiin the inst:mt we \\ ent on board, 
 and ceased only when wc stepped a- shore. It consisted of at 
 least a hundred dishes in succession, among Mhich were ex- 
 cellent eels, fresh caught in the lake, and dressed in a \'ariety 
 of ways ; yet the water was clear as crystal. Viist numbers of 
 barges were sailing to and fro, all gaily decorated with paint 
 and gilding and streaming colours ; the parties within them 
 apparently all in pursuit of pleiisurc. The margins of the lake 
 were studded with light aerial builchngs, among which one of 
 more solidity and of greater extent than the rest \\as said to 
 belong to the emperor. The gi'ounds were enclosed with 
 brick ^\•alls, and mostly planted with vegetables and fi-uit trees ; 
 but in some there appeai-ed to be collections of such shiubs 
 and flowers as are most esteemed in the countr}^ Among die 
 fruits wc got at this place was the Jambo or rose apple ; and, 
 for the first time, fresh from the tree, but not } et perfectly ripe, 
 two species of oranges, tlic common China, and the small one 
 usually called the Mandarin oi"ange ; pomegranates, bananas 
 very indifferent, and melons equally bad ; apricots fiir from 
 being equal to diose of our own country ; a large plum, re- 
 sembling the egg plum, also indifferent, and peaches that 
 might have been much improved by judicious culture ; apples 
 and pears that in Engkmd we should have no hesitation in pro- 
 nouncing execrably bad ; and a species of fruit, unknown to 
 all of us, which the Chinese called Zee-tse, of a sweet sickly 
 taste M hen ripe, otherwise most insufferably astringent. Some 
 of the gentlemen thought they saw hazel-nuts among the shrub- 
 ijery, but jt is more tlian probable that they were mistiiken. A 
 
356 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 few bad grapes ■^^"ere sometimes brought to us ; but the party 
 who ^\■ent from hence to Chu-san met witli abundance of this 
 fruit, and of veiy good quality, gro^\■ing upon standards erect- 
 ed in the sevei-al canals, and forming a shade, under which the 
 barges could pass. 
 
 Among the most conspicuous of the shrubs, on the borders 
 of the lake See-ho, was the Hibiscus Mutabilis, the Hibiscus 
 Syriacus, the Syringa Vulgaris or common lilac, and the paper 
 mulberry ; we observed also a species of Mimosa, a Crotularia, 
 Crataegus, Rosa, Rhamnus, Sambucus, Juniper, and the cotton 
 plant. Of flowers we particularly noticed a large purple- 
 coloured double poppy, which, with the Nelumbium that grew 
 here in all the ponds, and a species of Pseonia, appear most fre- 
 quently on the large sheets of painted paper used for covering 
 the walls of their apartments. A great variety of balsams were 
 also in fiov.er, a species of Amaranthus, a Xeranthemum, and 
 Gnaphalium. I mention only such plants as caught the eye in 
 passing : for our Chinese companions, who had a much better 
 appetite for tlie eels of the lake, and other good things they had 
 taken care to provide, than for botany, had no notion of being 
 detained by a bush or a flower. 
 
 The next day lieutenant-colonel, now general, Benson, 
 doctor Gillan, and myself accompanied by a military ofllicer 
 and his orderly, rode over the neck of land, to look at the 
 yachts that \vere preparing for our future journey. As it was 
 rather late before we returned, I proposed that we should pass 
 through the city, as I had done the day before, ^vith our con- 
 ductor Van, which \\ ould save us half the distance. The offi- 
 cer perceiving our intention, endeavoured to draw us off" to 
 the right ; but finding us persevere, he 'whispered tlie orderly, 
 who immediately pushed forward towards the gate. Aware 
 that the intention of this measure w^as to shut the gate against 
 us, we spurred our horses and followed him ; upon which 
 the officer and his orderly set up such a hue and cry that the 
 whole suburbs were presently in a state of commotion. The 
 gates were instantly shut and surrounded by a crowd. Within 
 all was confusion. Message after message was dispatched to 
 the governor, the gongs were beat, and the guards were drawn 
 out in every pait of the city. I assured them there was nothing 
 to fear ; that we \ATre only tliree, and had no other design but 
 to pass to our yachts. During this time our mandarin of war 
 in presence of the whole populace, was down on his knees ia 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 357 
 
 the dirt, first before one and then another, intreating us to give 
 up the point ; so mean and despicable have the maxims of the 
 government made these people. At length our friends Van 
 and Chou, with the interpreter and a numerous train of soldiers 
 and attendants, made their appearance, and pretended to enjoy 
 the joke of three Englishmen having caused so much alarm to 
 one of their sti'ongcst cities, which at that time had a ganison 
 of three thousand men within its w alls. On expressing our 
 surprise at such unnecessary precaution. Van observed, that 
 our conductor did not know us so well as he did, and, as he 
 was responsible for our safe return, he would rather have tra- 
 velled us all night through the country than brought us among 
 the crowd in the streets. When the new viceroy of Canton (Avho 
 travelled with us fi-om hence) heard of this affair, and under- 
 stood from our conductors that the English found great plea- 
 sure in walking and looking about them (a pleasure of which 
 a Chinese can Ibrm no idea) he immediately gave orders that 
 the gendemen in the train of tlic embassador should walk 
 whenever they pleased without any molestation. 
 
 In the city of Hang-tchoo-foo, being particularly famed for 
 its silk-trade, we were not surprised to meet with extensive 
 shops and warehouses ; in point of size, and the stock contained 
 within them, they might be said to vie with the best in Lon- 
 don. In some of these were not fe^^•er than ten or twehe per- 
 sons serving behind the counter ; but in passing through the 
 whole city not a single woman was visible, either within doors 
 or without. The crowd of people, composed of the other 
 sex appeared to be little inferior to that in the great streets in 
 Pekin. Here, though mostly narrow, they had in other res- 
 pects much the advantage of those in the capital, being paved 
 with broad flag- stones, resembling the Merceria of Venice, or 
 courts of die strand. Ci-anburn- Alley is rather too wide for 
 a Chinese sticet, but those of this city were equally well paved. 
 They appeai-ed to be kept extremely neat and clean. In 
 every shop w ere exposed to view silks of different manufac- 
 tures, dyed cottons and nankins, a great variety of English 
 broad-cloths, chiefly however blue and scarlet, used for winter 
 cloaks, for chair-covers and for caq^ets ; and also a quantity 
 of peltry, intended for the northern markets. The rest of the 
 houses, in the public streets through which we passed, con- 
 sisted of butchers, and bakers' shops, fishmongers, dealers in 
 rice and odier grain, ivory-cutters, dealers in laquered ware, 
 
358 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 tea-houses, cooks' shops, and coffin-makers; the last of which 
 is a trade of no small note in China. The population of the 
 city alone, I should suppose, from its extent and appearance, 
 to be not much inferior to tliat of Pekin ; and the number of 
 inhabitants in the suburbs, with those that constantly resided 
 upon die water, were perhaps nearly equal to those within tlie 
 walls. 
 
 Here our conductor Sun-ta-gin took his leave, after having 
 introduced to the embassador the new ^dceroy of Canton, who 
 \\"as noAv to accompany the embassy to die seat of his govern- 
 ment. His manners appeared to be no less amiable than those 
 of the minister. He had travelled post from Pekin, and, with 
 many assurances on the part of the emperor of die highest 
 satisfaction he had derived from the enibassy, he brought an 
 additional present from him to his majesty, consisting of gold 
 tissued silks, purses taken from his own person, and the cai'd 
 of happiness. This is an ornamented piece of paper neatly 
 folded up, and having m the centre the character foo, or hap- 
 piness, inscribed by the emperor's o^\ n hand, and is considered 
 as the strongest mark a so'.^ereign of China can give to another 
 prince of his friendship and affection. Another card was given 
 to the embassador, of a similar import, as a testimony of his 
 approbation of the conduct of tlie embassy ; which was further 
 confirmed by a present of silks, tea, fans, and other trinkets, to 
 every individucil of it. 
 
 A few miles beyond the city we again took shipping on the 
 river Tcheng-tang-chiang, VAJiich might probably be called an 
 estuaiy , the tide rising and falling six or seven feet at the place 
 of embarkation, which was not very distant from the Yellow 
 sea. After seven days of tedious navigation (if dragging by 
 main strength, over a pebbly bottom, on \^^hich the boats were 
 constantly aground, and agauist a rapid stream, could be so 
 called), we came to its source, near die city of Tchang-shan- 
 shien. But its banks were not deficient in beautiful views and 
 picturesque scenery : the general surface of the country was 
 mountainous and romantic; but well cultivated in all such 
 places as ^vould admit the labours of the husbandman. One 
 city alone occurred in the course of bcven days ; but we passed 
 numerous villages, situated in the vallies and the glens between 
 the ridges of mountains ; and fishermen's huts were constantly 
 in view. There was here no want of trees, among which the 
 most common were the tallow-tree and the camphor, cedars. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 359 
 
 firs, and the tall and majestic arbor vitae. Groves of oranges, 
 citrons and lemons were abundantly interspersed in the little 
 vales that sloped down to the brink of the ri\'er ; and few of 
 the huts \vere without a small garden and plantiition of tobacco. 
 The larger planes were planted \\ ith the sugar-cane. We had 
 thus far passed through the coinitry without having seen a 
 single piant of the tea-sliiub ; but here Ave found it used as a 
 common plant for hedge-rows to divide the gardens and fruit 
 gi'oves, but not particularly cultivated for its leaves. 
 
 At the city of Tchang-san-shien we had again a neck of 
 land to cross, in order to join tlie barges that were prepared 
 on another river falling towards the westward, by which a con- 
 nexion \\ as formed with tlie usual route from Pekin to Canton, 
 fi'om whence we had deviated at the Yang-tse-kiang river, on 
 account of some of the suite being intended to join the Hin- 
 dostan in the harbour of Tchu-san. We were the less sorry 
 for this dcA-iation, as it gave us an opportunity of seeing a part 
 of the country oxer which there is no general communication 
 with tlie grand route. In passing this neck of land, on a very 
 fine causeway, judiciously led through the defiles of the moun- 
 tains, we first observed the terrace system of agriculture, so 
 frequently mentioned in the w ritings of the missionaries. The 
 Chinese seem to entertain a particular aversion against sowing 
 or planting on sloping giound, and, accordingly, when such 
 occurs, they level it into a number of terraces, one rising above 
 the other, which they support by stone walls, if the earth 
 should not be thought sufficiently strong for the purpose. 
 The great convcniency of leading the water from the upper- 
 most to the loA\est terrace, without losing any of its nutritive 
 eftects by a rapid course, seems to have suggested this mode 
 of preparing the ground. In a hot and diy countr}-, vegeta- 
 tion becomes languid without the command of water ; and I 
 obserA'cd that, on the uppermost terrace, there was in\ariably 
 a tank or reservoir to collect tlie waters falling from the upper 
 parts of the hills. The expense of labour, that had evidently 
 been employed on such terraces, was so great as to make any 
 suitable return to the husbandman apparently impossible ; and 
 still less so in other places, where the hills were completely 
 dug away to the skeleton rocks, and the soil carried upon the 
 marshy ground at their feet. 
 
 With all this industry it might be concluded, from the gene- 
 ral appearance of the people, that they merely gained a sub- 
 
360 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 sistence. It was with the utmost difficulty that the officers of 
 government could procure, in the \^'hole city which we last 
 departed from, a sufficient number of chairs for themselves 
 and those gentlemen of the embassy who preferred to be thus 
 carried, and horses for the rest. For the soldiers, indeed, tliat 
 composed his excellency's guard, they liad prepared a sort of 
 open bamboo chair, fixed between two poles, and meant to 
 be carried shoulder-height. But the soldiers, squeezed into 
 these little chairs, and ele\'ated in the air, with their feathers 
 and their firelocks, soon perceived that they cut such ridicu- 
 lous figures, and that the poor wretches who canied them 
 were in so miserable a condition, both ^\■ith regard to their 
 clothing and their habit of body, that, ashamed to be thus 
 dragged along, they presently dismounted, and insisted, in 
 their turn, upon carrying the Chinese. Our conductors af- 
 fected to consider this as a good joke ; but others were evi- 
 dently nettled at it, supposing it might have been meant as a 
 kind of oblique reflection on the indifferent accommodations 
 that had been pro^•ided at this place for the embassador and 
 his retinue ; which were, however, the best that it was possible 
 for them to procure by any exertions. 
 
 Having finished this land journey, of about twenty-four 
 miles, in the course of the day, ^ve lodged at Eu-shan-shein, 
 a small city of mean appearance ; and the following day em- 
 barked on flat-bottomed barges, remarkably long and narrow, 
 on the river Long-shia-tong ; but two complete days of heavy 
 rain obliged us to remain quietly at anchor. 
 
 On the 24th of November we dropped down the river, 
 which by the rains M-as swelled to an enormous size, and in 
 some places had overfio^ved its banks, though in general high 
 and rocky, composed of a deep brown-coloured freestone. 
 Several rice-mills were so completely inundated, that their 
 thatched roofs were but just visible above the surface of the 
 water ; others were entirely washed away ; and the \M*ecks of 
 them scattered upon the banks of the river. A vessel of our 
 squadron was upset upon the roof of one of these mills. 
 
 During two days' sail, the surface of the countiy was hilly 
 and well \\ooded with camphors, firs, and tallow-trees ; but 
 as we approached the Po-yang lake, a small inland sea, it began 
 to assume the uniform appearance of an extended marsh, 
 without anv visible marks of cultivation : here and there a few 
 small huts, standing on the brink of pools of water, uith twice 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 361 
 
 the number of small boats floating or di-a\\ii up on shore, suf- 
 ficiently indicated the occupation of the inhabitants. In this 
 part of the country wc had an opportunit}^ of seeing- the various 
 means practised by the Chinese to catch fish : raits and other 
 floating vessels with the fishing cor^•o^ant : boats with nio\c- 
 able planks turning on hinges, and painted so as to decenc 
 fishes on moon-light nights, and entice them to leap out of the 
 water upon the planks ; nets set in e\'er}' form ; and wicker 
 baskets made exactly in the same maimer as those used in 
 Europe. Large gourds and blocks of wood were floating 
 on the water, in order to familiarize the \'arious kinds of water- 
 fowl to such objects, which gaAC the Chinese an opportunity, 
 by sticking their heads into gourds or earthen pots, and keep- 
 ing their bodies under water, to approach the birds in a gen- 
 tle manner sufliciently near to take them by the legs and draw 
 them quietly under the water ; a method \\hich is said to be 
 practised by the nati\"es of South-America. 
 
 The nearer we approached the great lake Po-}-ang, the more 
 dreary ^\'as the appearance of the country ; iuid for the dis- 
 tance of ten miles around it, or at least on the south and ^^•est 
 sides, A\'as a Avild waste of reeds and rank grasses, such as 
 the sciq)us, cyperus, and bulrushes, interrupted only b}- stag- 
 nant pools of \vater. Not a human dwelling of any descrip- 
 tion was to be seen. This place may justly be considered as 
 the sink of China, into which rivers fall from every point of 
 the compass. It is scarcely possible for the imagination to 
 form to itself an idea of a more desolate region than that 
 ^vhich surrounds the Po-yang lake. The temperatiu'e A\as 
 so reduced, by the circumambient waters, that on die 27th 
 November, with drizzling showers, the thermometer was 
 down to 48° in the forenoon. We sailed near four whole 
 days over the same kind of country, and came, toAvaixls 
 the evening of the last, to the city of Nan-tchang-foo, the 
 capital of Kiang-see, A\here we obser^'ed from four to five 
 hundred of the revenue ^'essels l}"ing at anchor. \Ve "waited 
 at this place a few hours, to take in the necessary provi- 
 sions, and to receive a present of silk, tea, and some other 
 trifles, from the viceroy. We were told of a flmious tem- 
 ple in the neighbourhood of the city ; (but we had no cu- 
 riosity to go out of the way to see it) which was dedicated 
 to the man who, as w^e have already observed, made his 
 apotheosis comfortablr in his own house ; that there was 
 
 z z 
 
362 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 a well belonging to this temple, full of large snakes, whom 
 the priests venerate, and to whom they admonish the people 
 to make sacrifices, as being children of the dragons, which, 
 if not constant!} appeased by oblations to these their offspring, 
 would destroy the whole world. Thus, in all countries 
 where votaries of superstition aie to be found, will knaves 
 be met with to take advantage of their weakness. The 
 priests of iliis temple are said to have made one observation, 
 ^vhich is perhaps no superstition, that, when these water 
 Lii^ikes fippea.' on the surface, rains and inundations are sure 
 to foIiO'.v. I took ad^'antage, however, of the short delay, to 
 sc on boai'd one of the revenue vessels, and to measure the 
 ca^.3city of its hold. It was in length 115 feet, breadth 15 
 iC'^t, and depth 6 feet ; the sides straight and the width nearly 
 the same fore and aft ; so that the burden might fairly be 
 estimated at 250 tons. Independent, therefore, of the innu- 
 merable small craft, there were lying before tliis city, 100,000 
 tons of shipping. 
 
 The city cf Nan-tchang-foo is situated upon the lefl bank 
 of the river JCan-kiang-ho, falling from tlie southward into 
 the Po-yang lake. Jt was here about five hundred yards in 
 widtli, ygainst the stream of \'i hich we made a rapid progress 
 with a brisk breeze. For the first sixty miles the country 
 was licit and unciuti\'ated, except in places where we observed 
 a few fje.ds of r.cc. But there was no want of population. 
 Towns and vi-iages ^^ere constantly in sight, as were also 
 manufactories of earthen ware, bricks and tiles. The farther 
 v.'e advanced up che river, the more populous was the country, 
 the m jre varied and agreeable the surface, and the more ex- 
 tended the cultivation. The banks were skirted with large 
 trees, that cast a cool and comfortable shade on the walks 
 beneath. Of these, some were willows, others camphors, 
 but b}'^ far the greatest number were the Yang-tchoo, a large 
 spreading tree that threw its branches down to the ground, 
 where, like the Ficus Indicus, of ^vliich indeed it was a va- 
 riety, they took root and became steitis. 
 
 At th^ city Kfi-snui-shien, which like most cities in China 
 offered little worthy cf remark, the nxev divided into two 
 branches; and at Kin-gan-foo, a city of the first order, which 
 Me passed the same r-ight, by the river contracting suddenly, 
 the current became stronger and of course our progress slower. 
 Tc track the bar.o;es it was necessarj^ again to press a number 
 of men ; here, however, it may be obseiTcd, they under- 
 
I TRAVELS IN CHINA. 363 
 
 took the service with more willingness tlian to the nortliA\'ard. 
 The river meandered through a mountainous and barren 
 country, rich only in picturesque beauty \vl-iich, though 
 pleasing to tlie eye of the artist and connoisseur, has less 
 charms for the philosopher, who finds more real beauties to 
 exist in a soil, however tame and uniform, that can be ren- 
 dered subservient to the uses of man. 
 
 On the 3d of November we approached that part of the 
 river, which, on account of the numerous ship- wrecks that 
 have happened there, is held in no small degree of dread by 
 the Chinese. The}- call it die Shee-pa-tan, or the eighteen 
 cataracts : a\ hich are toiTcnts formed by ledges of rock run- 
 ning across die bed of the river. They liave not, however, 
 any thing very terrific in them ; not one being half so dan- 
 gerous as the fall at London bridge about half-tide. But die 
 Chinese have no great dexterity in the management of dieir 
 vessels. They are so easily alarmed, that they frequently 
 miscarry through timiditj^ Avhen a little recollection and reso- 
 lution would have secured them success. The mountains, 
 between ^vhich the river "\\'as hemmed in, Avere covered with 
 forests of the larch fir ; the glens and valleys abounded with 
 die bamboo, of which we here observed two species, one the 
 same that is common in other paits of the East, and the 
 second much smaller in its growth, seldom exceeding the 
 height of ten feet ; and the fibres of its small stem are more 
 hai'd and solid than diose of the other species. The Chinese 
 use it in the finer parts of such household furniture and other 
 articles as are constioicted of bamboo. From the margins of 
 the river, to the feet of the forests, the lower parts of the 
 mountains were covered with coppice ; among which the most 
 common shrub bore a close resemblance to the tea plant, and* 
 accordingly the Chinese called it die tcha-wha, or flower of 
 tea. It A\as the camellia sesanqua of Thunberg, to which 
 they had given the same name (not being very nice in specific 
 distinctions) as to die camellia japonica of Linnaeus. From 
 the nut of the former, not unlike to, though some\\^hat smaller 
 than the chesnut, a \ery pleasant oil is expressed and used 
 for similar purposes to the Florence oil in Europe. 
 
 This intricate part of the river, where innumerable pointed 
 rocks occurred, some above, some even with, and others 
 just below, the siu*face of the water, required t\volong day's 
 sail with a fair breeze ; and tlie falls became more rapid and 
 
364 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 dangerous the farther we advanced. At the fifteenth cataract 
 w^e perceived two or three vessels hing against the rocks, 
 M'ith their fiat-bottoms uppermost; a terrible siglit for our 
 bargemen, Avho, hke the countryman in the fable, instead of 
 apph ing the shoulder to the Avhcel, began to implore the 
 assistance of the river god, by sounding the gong, in order 
 to rouse his attention, and by regaling his olfactoiy nerves 
 AAith the smoke of sandal-w'ood matches ; so that had we been 
 dropping down the stream, instead of going against it, there was 
 every reason to apprehend that our barge Avould have shared 
 a similar fate ; for it received many a gentle rub against 
 the rocks. 
 
 The appearance of the country in the neighbourhood of 
 the cataracts was extremely beautiful. The transparency of 
 the stream, the bold rocks finely fringed with wood, and the 
 varied fonus of the mountains, called to mind those delight- 
 ful streams that are discharged from the lakes of the northern 
 counties of England. Like these too, the Kmi-kiang-ho 
 abounded with fish, not ho'wever with the delicious trout, 
 but one of much less flavour, a species of perch. Great num- 
 bers of rafts were floating on the river with the fishing cor- 
 vorant, and we observed that he seldom dived without suc- 
 cess. For the whole distance of three days' journey, the 
 hilly country bordering on the river produced very little but 
 the camellia sesanqua, which appeared to be e's^ery where of 
 spontaneous growth. 
 
 We halted on the 6th of December, late in the evening, 
 before the city of Kan-tchoo-foo, Avhich is remarkable for 
 nothing that I could learn, except for the gi'eat quantity of 
 varnish-trees, the Rhus vernix I suppose, that ai"e cultivated 
 •in the neighbourhood. In the course of the journey we had 
 picked up two vaiieties of the tea-plant, taJien out of the 
 ground and potted by our own gardener ; and which, beiiig 
 in good grooving order, were intended to be sent to Bengal 
 as soon as occasion might sen-e after our arrival at Canton. 
 Knowing we should be hurried aA\'ay, as usual, in the morn- 
 ing, and ^^ ishing to procure a fe^v young plants of the varnish 
 tree, I prevailed on our good friend Van-ta-gin to dispatch 
 some person for that purpose, to add to those of the tea-plant 
 and the camellia sesanqua. Van made application to the men 
 in ofiice at this place, widi the best intention of serving us ; 
 but these gentry, either conceiving that their compliance 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 365 
 
 might be treason to the state, or else, in the true sph'it of the 
 nation, determined to play a trick upon the strangers, ccr-, 
 tainly procured the plants, and sent them on board in pots, ; 
 just as we were departing the next morning. In a short 
 time they all began to droop, the leases witliered, and, on 
 examination, it was found that not a single plant among thcni 
 had the least portion of a root, being nothing more than small 
 branches of trees, A\'hich, from the nature of the wood, were 
 not likely, nor indeed ever intended, to strike root. 
 
 From Kan-tchoo-foo the face of the country became more 
 uniform and suitiible for the labours of agriculture ; and, 
 accordingly, we found a very small portion of it unoccupied. 
 Wheat, about six inches above ground, and extensive plan-, 
 tations of the sugar cane fit for cutting, were the chief arti- 
 cles under culti\ation : and the farther we advanced to the 
 southv\^aid, the more abundant and extended were tliose of 
 the latter. The canes were remarkably juicy, and their joints 
 from six to nine inches in length. I'o express the juice 
 from them, and convert it into a consistent mass, temporary 
 mills were erected in different places among the plantations. 
 The process ^^•as very simple. A piiir of cylinders, some- 
 times of stone, but more generally of hard ^\"ood, placed 
 ^'ertically, ^\•cre put in motion by oxen or buffaloes, and from 
 the foot of these the expressed juice was conveyed, by a 
 tube canied under the floor, into a boiler that Mas sunk in 
 the ground at the end of the apailment, ^\ here it wsls boiled to 
 a proper degree of consistence ; the expressed canes ser\ing as 
 fuel. Though unacquainted with the process of refining sugar, 
 the natural tendency that the s}"rup possesses of forming itself 
 into crystals in cooling, had suggested to them the means of 
 obtaining xtry fine and pure sugai'-candy, ^^"hich, in the mar- 
 ket of Canton, is sold in a puherized state, as white as the 
 best refined sugar. The coarse syrup, usuall}- called treacle 
 or molasses, and the dregs, arc not employed, as in the 
 West- India islands, in the distillation of rum, but are some- 
 times throMii into the still with fermented rice, in order to 
 procure a better kind of Seau-tchoo or bunit Avine ; the chief 
 use however, of the molasses is to preser^ e fruits and other 
 ACgetable productions ; and particularly the roots of ginger, 
 a conserve of which the Chinese are remarkably fond. 
 
 The bed of the river having in die lapse of ages, settled to 
 the depth of t\\enty, thirty, or e\tn forty feet below the gc- 
 
366 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 neral level of the country, it became necessary to employ 
 some artificial means of obtaining the A\'ater for the purjjose 
 of irrigation. The contri\'ance made use of to raise it to the 
 height of tlie banks \\as simple and ingenious ; and from 
 hence it was convej-ed in small channels to eveiy part of the 
 cane plantations. Of the useful machine employed for tliis 
 purpose, consisting of a bamboo wheel which I understand 
 has been adopted in America, a view and section may be seen 
 among the plates accompanying Sir George Staunton's authen- 
 tic account of the embass}'. I shall, therefore, content my- 
 self with observing in this place that, the axis excepted, it is 
 entirely constructed of bamboo, ^vithout the assistance of a 
 single nail or piece of iron : that the expense of making it is 
 a mere trifle ; that in its operations it requires no attendance, 
 and that it ^^'ill lift, to the height of forty feet, one hundred 
 and fifty tons of water in the course of twenty-four hours.* 
 Every plantation near this part of the river had its wheel, and 
 some of them two ; and the water raised by them Was some- 
 times conveyed at once into the plots of canes, and some- 
 times into reservoirs, out of a\ hich it was afterwards pumped, 
 as occasion might require, by the chain-pump, and caiTied 
 to those places where it might be wanted, along small chan- 
 nels coated with clay. 
 
 The women of this province were more robust than ordinary, 
 and well suited, by their strength and muscular powers, to en- 
 dure the hard labour and drudgery of the field, which seemed 
 to be their chief emplo}^ment. This sort of labour, however, 
 might be the cause, rather than the consequence, of their ex- 
 traordinar)^ strength and masculine form. The habitual use of 
 hard labour, to which the women are here brought up, fits 
 them best to become the wives of the peasantry in the neigh- 
 bouring provinces ; and accordingly, when a Chinese farmer 
 is desirous of purchasing a working \vife he makes his oifers 
 in Kiang-see. It was here that we saw a woman yoked literally 
 by traces to a plough, whilst the husband or master had the 
 lighter task of holding it by one hand, and drillmg in the seed 
 
 * The water-wheels still used in Syria differ only from those of Chi- 
 na, by having loose buckets suspended at the circumference, instead of 
 fixed tubes. " The wheels of Hama," says Volney, " are thirty-two 
 " feet in diameter. Troughs are fastened to the circumference, and so 
 " disposed as to fall in the river, and, when they reach the vortex of the 
 " wheel, discharge the water into a reservoir." 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 367 
 
 with the other. The exertion of labour, together with the 
 constant exposure to the weather, in a cUmate situated under 
 the twenty-fifth to the twenty-ninth parallel of latitude, have 
 contributed to render more coarse and forbidding the features 
 of the fair sex of Kiang-see in the formation of wliich, indeed, 
 nature had not been too bountiful. Like the women of the 
 Malay nation, with whom they most probably ai'e derived from 
 one common stock, they fixed their strong black hair close to 
 the head by two metal skewers. Theu' dress, in other respects, 
 was the same as tliat of tlie men, and like these thc)- wore 
 straw sandals on their feet. Thus far by avoiding the pain 
 attendant on fashionable feet, and enjoying thc free use of their 
 limbs, they might be said to ha\e the adv^antage of tlie city 
 ladies. It was, indeed, observed that even such as ^^•ere not 
 employed in the labours of the field, but kept constantly at 
 home for domestic purposes, were, in this province, equally 
 exempted from the barbarous fashion of cramping the feet. 
 On the 9th we again entered a narrow defile, and here with 
 difficulty the vessels were forced along against a strong cun-ent 
 and over the pebbly bottom, against \\hich the}' were constantly 
 striking. At Nan-gan-foo, where \ve arrived in the evening, 
 the ri\er ceases to be navigable. Indeed, the ^\hole of the three 
 last da}-s' navigation might, with propriety, in England l^e 
 called onl}^ a ti'out stream ; upon A\hich no nation on earth, 
 except the Chinese, would have conceived the idea of floating 
 any kind of craft. They have, however adapted, in an admir- 
 able manner, the form and construction of their vessels to the 
 nature and deptli of tlie naA'igation ; towards the upper part of 
 the present n\ev they dre^v only, when moderately laden, 
 about six inches of water. They A\ere from fifty to seventy 
 feet in length, narrow and flat-bottomed, a little-curved, so 
 that they took the ground only in the middle point. Yet, in 
 several places, the water vms so shallo^v that they could not be 
 dragged over until a channel had been made, by rcmo\ ing the 
 stones and gravel Avith iron rakes. The length of this ri\er, 
 from its source at Nan-gan-foo to the Po-yang lake, is nearly 
 three hundred English miles. The banks in the low part of 
 the province of Kiang-see consisted of a deep soil of black 
 earth, supported on clay of a dark red or bromi colour; 
 denoting the presence of iron. The mountains were chiefly 
 of red sandstone ; and the soil of the hills, producing the Ca- 
 mellia, was a broAvn loam mixed with particles of mica. 
 
368 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 We had now before us another land-journey, over the steep 
 and \o(ty mountain of Mclin, A^•hosc summit is the boundary 
 between the t^\o proA'inccs of Kiang-see and Quan-tung ; on 
 the south side of ^hich commences the ri\er Pei-kiang ho that 
 fiows b}' the port of Canton, and whose mouth is familiarly 
 knomi in Europe by the name of the Bocca Tigris. The 
 ascent of this mountain, which some undertook on horseback 
 and others in chairs, \^'as made b}' a \\ell-paved road, carried 
 in a zig-zag manner over the very highest point, -where a pass 
 A\-as cut to a considerable depth through a granite rock ; a work 
 that had evidently not been accomplished with any moderate 
 degree of labour or expense. In the middle of the pass was 
 a military post, much stronger than ordinarj-, and it \\as de- 
 fended, or, more correctly speaking, it Mas supplied with two 
 old pieces of cannon, that had been cast, in all probability, near 
 two hundred years ago, perhaps by the Jesuits ^vho first taught 
 them an art which they seem already to have forgotten or 
 neglected. 
 
 The view from the summit to^A'ards the southward, over the 
 province of Canton, was as rich and enchanting as that on the 
 opposite side \A'as dreary and baiTCn. In descending the gra- 
 dual slope of about t^ielve miles, before the mountain had 
 blended with the general surface of the countr}-, there was a 
 constant succession of du ellings ; so that this whole distance 
 might ahnost be considered as one continued street. Half of 
 tlic buildings consisted, however, of places of conA^enience, to 
 A\hich passengers might retire to obey the calls of nature ; and 
 the doors, or rather the openings into such erections, were al- 
 wavs inviting!}' fronting the street. To each single dwelling, 
 \-»hether alone or joined Avith others, was annexed a fabric of 
 this description. Each was constructed upon a large teiTace 
 cistern, lined with such materials that no absorption could take 
 place ; and straw and other dry rubbish ai-e throM'n in b}' the 
 o\\Tiers, from time to time, to prevent evaporation. In one of 
 the streets of Canton is a row of buildings of this kind, A\-hich, 
 in so warm a. climate, is a dreadful nuisance ; but the consi- 
 deration of preserving that kind of manure, which by the Chi- 
 nese is considered as superior for forcing vegetation to all others, 
 has got the better of both decency and prudence. 
 
 All the passengers Ave met upon this road were laden Avith 
 jars of oil expressed from the Camellia. In the course of 
 eighteen miles, Avhich is about the distance from tlae summit 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 369 
 
 of Me-lin to the city of Nan-sheiin foo, we passed at least a 
 thousand persons on their ^vay to Nan-gan-foo, each bearing 
 ten or twelve gallons of oil ; and among these were a number 
 of women. 
 
 Havuig now traversed fi^e of the provinces of China, tliat 
 are considered among the most populous and productive in 
 the empire, a general sketch may be dnuMi, 'by taking a re- 
 trospective view, of the state of agriculture and the condition 
 of tlie people ; of their habitations, dress, diet, and means of 
 subsistence ; and some conclusion dravni as to the population 
 of the country. 
 
 It was a remark, too singular to escape notice, that, except 
 in the neighbourhood of the Po-3-ang lake, the peasantry of the 
 province in which the capital stands were more miserable, 
 their houses more mean and \\Tetchcd, and their lands in a 
 worse state of cultivation, than in any other part of the route 
 — a remaik which also agrees with the accounts gi\en by the 
 Dutch embassy of that part of Pe-tche-lce, on the south-west 
 side of the capital, through which they passed. Four mud 
 walls, covered over ^^•ith a diatch of reeds, or the straw of 
 millet, or the stems of holcus, compose their habitations ; and 
 they are most commonl}- sun-ounded with clay \va\h, or \\-ith a 
 fence made of the strong stems of the bolcus sorghum. A 
 partition of matting diA'ides the hoA^el into two apartments ; each 
 of \\^hich has- a small opening in the wall to admit the air and 
 light ; but one door generally series as an entrance, tlie closure 
 of which is frequently nothing more than a strong mat. A blue 
 cotton jacket and a pair of tron^sers, a straw hat, and shoes of 
 the same material, constitute the dress of the majority of the 
 people. Matting of reeds or bamboo, a cylindrical pillow of 
 A\ood co\"cred with leather, a kind of rug or felt blanket made 
 of the haiiy a\oo1 of the broad-tailed sheep, not spun and 
 woven, but beat together, as in the process for making hats, 
 and sometimes a mattress stuffed with wool, hair, or sti^aw, 
 constitute their bedding. Two or three jars, a fe^v basons of 
 earthen-ware of the coarsest kind, a hrge iron pot, a fiying- 
 pan, and a portiil^le stove, are the chief articles of furniture. 
 Chairs and tai)les are not neccssar}- ; both men and ^^■omen sit 
 on tbeii- heels ; and in this posture they surround the gi-eat iron 
 pot, Avith each a bason in his hands, -vvhen they take their 
 n->eals. The poA'Ci^y of their food was sufficiently indicated 
 by tlieir meagre ajvpcarunce. It consists chielly of boiled rice, 
 
oro TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 millet, or other grain, with the addition of onions or garlic, 
 and mixed sometimes with a tew other ^■ege tables that, by way 
 of relish, are fried in rancid oil, extracted from a variety of 
 l^lants, such as the Sessamum, Brassica Orientalis, Cytisus 
 Cadjan, a species of Dolichos, and, among others, from the 
 same species of Ricinus or Palma-Christi, from which the 
 Castor is drawn, and used only in Europe as a powerful jjurg- 
 ative. Its drastic qualities may probal^ly be diminished by 
 applying less pressure in extracting the oil, or by habit, or by 
 using it fresh, as it does not appear that the Chinese sufter any 
 inconvenience in its application to culinary purposes. As well 
 as I could understand, the seeds were first bruised, and then 
 l3oiled in water, and the oil tliat floated on the surface A\-as 
 skimmed oft'. Our Florence oil they affected not to admire, 
 having, as they said, no taste. The Chinese, like the inliabit- 
 ants of the South of Europe, seem to attach a higher value on 
 oils, in proportion as age has given to them a higher degree of 
 rancidity. 
 
 Fish of any kind, in this part of the country, is a great ra- 
 rity ; fe^v are caught in the ri^'ers of Pe-tche-lee. We met 
 with none in the whole province, except at Tien-sing and in 
 the capital, whose m.arket, no doubt, like that of London, 
 draws to its centre the choice products of a very extensive cir- 
 cuit. Salt and diied fish, it is true, ai'e brought from the south- 
 ward, as tulicles of commerce ; but the poor peasantry cannot 
 aSbrd to purchase them for general use. They obtain them 
 only sometimes by bartering millet or vegetables in exchange. 
 A morsel of pork, to relish their rice, is almost the only kind 
 of meat that the poor can afford to taste. They have little 
 milk, and neither butter, cheese, nor bread ; aiticles of nou- 
 rishment to which, \vith potatoes, the peasantr}"- of Europe 
 owe their chief support. Boiled rice, indeed, and not brccid, 
 is considered as an article of the first necessity, the staff of life 
 in China. Hence the monosyllable fan, which signifies boiled 
 rice, enters into every compound that implies eating; thus 
 tcjie-fan, the name of a meal in general, is to eat rice ; break- 
 iast is called the tsao-fan or morning rice, and supper the ouan- 
 £in or e\Tning rice. Their principal and indeed their best be- 
 verage iLs bacl tea, boiled over and o\'er again, as long as any 
 bitter remains in the leaves, taken without milk or sugar, or 
 ;niy other ingredient, except, in cold weather, a little ginger. 
 In -tliis Aveak state, the only purpose it seems to answer is that 
 
 I 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. sri 
 
 of caiT}'ing down the sediment of mudd}- water that abounds 
 in all the flat provinces of China, \^hich the leaves of tea (as 1 
 fancy those of any other plant w ould) are fonnd to do. These 
 poor creatures, however, are instructed l^y populai' opinion to 
 ascribe to it many extiTiordiniuy qiuilities.* 
 
 It would require a more familiar acquaintance with tlic 
 people, and a longer residence among tliem, than was alloii ed 
 to us, to explain the true reason of such real pov'erty among 
 the peasantry in the vicinity of the capital. Perhaps, indeed, 
 it may lie owing, in a great degree, to the proximity of the 
 court, v\hich in all counti'ies has the effect of drawing together 
 a crowd of people to consume the products of the soil, Avithout 
 contributing any portion of labour to\\"ards their production. 
 The encouragement that is here given to idleness and dissipa- 
 tion is but too apt to entice the young peasantry in the neigh- 
 boiu-hood from their houses, and thus rob the country of its 
 best hands. The soil, likewise, near the capital, is bcuTen and 
 band}', producing few supplies beyond the wajits of the several 
 teniuits ; and all otlier necessaries of life not raised b}- them 
 must be purchased exti'avagantly dear. It is, indeed, suqjrising 
 jiow this immense city, said to contain three millions of inha- 
 bitants, is eonti'iv^ed to be supplied at any rate, considering tlie 
 verj^ sterile and unproductiv e state of the countiy for many 
 miles around it. It might not, how ever, be a matter of less 
 astonishment to a Chinese, nor less difficult for him to con- 
 ceive, in what manner our own capital receives its daily sup- 
 plies, especially after he had obsened that there is not a single 
 road, b}' \\ hich London can be approached, that is not carried 
 over vast tracts of uncultivated commons and waste grounds. 
 The valleys of Tartaiy furnish beeves and broad-tailed sheep 
 for Pekui, and grain is brought by water from cv^ery p:u't of 
 
 * The simple boilinc; of the water, indeed, contributes greatly to the 
 quick deposition of earthy particles, vvhicli may have been one cause of 
 the universal practice of drinking every thing warm in China. They 
 were surprised to see our soldiers and servants drinking the water of the 
 Pei-ho, cold, and told them it was very bad for the stomach and bowels. 
 This complaint, in fact, attacked almost all the inferior part of the em- 
 bassy, which Doctor Gillan did not hesitate to ascribe to the great impu- 
 rity of the water. But the Chinese argued the point with the doctor with 
 regard to taking it cold, asking him why all the fluids of the body were 
 warm, if nature had intended vis to drink v/ater and other liquids in a 
 cold state I They seemed to have forgottpn that all the warm-blooded 
 animal?, except man, must necessarily drink cold water. 
 
3r2 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 the coiintn', cf which the go\cnimcnt takes the precaution to 
 lay up in store a sufficient c^uantit}- for a tAveh'cmonth's con- 
 sumption, or animiil food, pork is mostly consumed. Few 
 peasants aie ^^ ilhout their breed of hogs ; these animals, in- 
 deed, are like^\ise kept in large cities, \vhere they become 
 public nuisances. Bad beef in Pekin sells for about six-pence 
 the pound ; mutton and pork eight-pence ; lean fo"\vls and 
 ducks from t^vo to three shillings ; eggs ai'c generally about 
 one penny each ; small loa\'es of bread that are boiled in steam, 
 v\ ithout }east or leaven, iwc about four-pence a pound ; rice 
 sells usually at three-halfpence or t\Adtpence tlie jjound ; wheat 
 flour at t^\"o-peiice lialfj^cnny or three-pence; fine tea from 
 twehe to thirty shillings a pound ; that of the former price, at 
 least such as was procured ckmdestinely for us, not drinkable, 
 and the latter not near so good as that of about six shillings 
 in London.^ There are, indeed, plenty of tea-houses in and 
 near the eapilal, where the labouring people may purchase 
 their cup cf tea for t\\'o small copper coin (not quite a failhing) 
 but it is miserably bad. A tolerable horse and a man-slave are 
 usually about the same price, being from fifteen to t^\-enty 
 ounces of siher. The article of dress worn by the common 
 people is not ^ery expensive. The peasantry are invariably 
 clad in cotton ; and this article is the produce of most of the 
 provinces. The complete dress of a peasant is about fifteen 
 shillings ; of a common tradesman three pounds ; an officer of 
 government's common dress ten pounds ; of ceremony about 
 thirt}^ pounds ; and if enriched v.ith embroidery and gold and 
 siher tissue, between two and three hundred pounds : a pair 
 of black satin boots twenty shillings ; and a cap or bonnet 
 about the same sum. The price of labour, however, and par- 
 ticularly in Pekin, bears no~ sort of proportion to the price of 
 provisions. A mechanic in this city thinks himself well paid 
 if he gets a shilling a-day. A common ^\'eaver, joiner, or other 
 trade^jman earns a bare subsistence for his family ; and the best 
 ser\'ants hiay be hired for an ounce of silver a-month. Many 
 are glad to gi\'e their services in exchange for their subsistence, 
 without any consideration in hard mone}\ Tobacco, being an 
 
 * As these teas, however, were purchased by Chinese, I have no doubt 
 they reserved to themselves a very large profit on the commission ; for it 
 is scarcely possiI)lc that this article, the growth and produce of the middle 
 provinces, should bear a price so far beyond what the very best sells for 
 \n London. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. Srs 
 
 indispensable aiticle for all ranks of CA-er}'- age and sex, bears 
 of course a high price in the capital. It is singular enoup-li that 
 this plant should hiwc found its \\ay into e\ery part of the 
 world, among savage as well as ci^'ilized nations, e^'en into the 
 deserts of AlHca, \\hcre it A\as found in constant use among ' 
 the Booshuanas, a people, till \'er}- lately, totally unknown ; 
 and it is equally singular that an herb of so disagieeable a taste 
 should, by habit, oljtain an ascendancy so far over the appoj- 
 tite, as not easih- to be relinquished. 
 
 The climate of the northern pro\ inccs is unfavourable to the 
 poor peasantry. The summers are so M-arm, that the}' go 
 nearly naked, and the winters so scAcre, that, v.hat A\-ith their 
 poor and scanty fiu'C, their ^^"ant of fuel, clothing, and even, 
 shelter, thousands are said to perish from cold and hunger. 
 In such a condition, the ties ol nature sometimes yield to self- 
 preservation ; childrc'ii are sold to sa\e l^oth the parent and off- 
 spring from perishing for want ; and infants become a prev to 
 hopeless indigence. Weha^e seen, in the notes taken by the 
 gentleman in the Dutch embassy, ho^\■ lo^v the temperature is 
 at Pekin in the winter montlis ; and the\- h.a\e no coals nearer 
 than the mountains of TartarA', ^\■hich are all brousrht on the 
 backs of dromedaiies ; of coiu'se, they ai'c extra vagantl}- dear. 
 In fact, they are scarcely e\'er burned pure, but arc crumbled 
 to dust and mixed up with eaith, in ^\ hich state they gi^'e out 
 a veiy strong heat, but no flame, and are suitable enough for 
 their small close stoves. 
 
 Although it is a principle of the Chinese government to ad- 
 mit of no distinctions among its subjects, except those that 
 learning and office confer : and although the most rigid sump- 
 tuary hu\s ha\e been imposed to check that tendency to shew 
 and splendor, which wealth is apt to assume ; and to bring as 
 much as possible on a level, at least in outward appearance, all 
 conditions of men ; yet, a\ ith rcgcud to diet, there is a ^v ider 
 difference, perhaps, between the rich and the poor of China, 
 than in any otlier countr}-. That wealth ^\•hich, if permitted, 
 would be expended in flatteiing the vanit}- of its possessors, is 
 now applied in the purchase of dainties to pamper the appetite. 
 Their famous gin-sing, a name signifying the life of man (the 
 panax quinquc folium of Linnaius) on accomit of its supposed 
 iuA'igorating and aphrodisiac qualities, ^xas, for a length of 
 time, weighed against gold. The sinewy parts of stags and 
 other animals, with the fnis of sharks, as productiAc of the same 
 
274> TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 effects, are purchased by the Avealthy at enormous prices : and 
 the nests that are constructed by small swallows on the coasts 
 of Cochin-china, Cambodia, and other parts of the East, are 
 dearer e\en thim some kinds of gin-sing. Most of the plants 
 that grow^ on the sea- shore are supposed to possess an invigo- 
 rating quality, and are, therefore, in constant use as pickles or 
 prcscr\es, or simply dried and cut into soups in the place of 
 other vegetables. The leaves of one of tliese, apparently a 
 species of tint genus of sea- weed called by botanists fucus, 
 after being gathered, are steeped in fresh A\'ater, and hung up 
 to dry. A small quantity of diis weed boiled in w^ter gives 
 to it the consistence of a jelly, and when mixed M'ith a little 
 sugar, the juice of an orange, or other fruit, and set by to cool, 
 I kno^v of no jelly more agi'eeable or refreshing. The leaf is 
 about six inches long, narrow and pointed, deeply serrated, 
 and the margins ciliated ; the middle part smooth, semi-trans- 
 parent, and of a leathery consistence. The Chinese call it 
 chin-chou. 
 
 The great officers of state make use of these and various 
 other gelatinous viands for the purpose of acquiring, as they 
 :supposc, a proper degree of corpulency,* which is considered 
 by them as respectable and imposing upon the multitude ; of 
 a "great portion of whom it may be observed, as Falstaff said of 
 his company, " No eye hath seen such scare-crows. " It would 
 be rare to find, among the commonalty of China, one to com- 
 pare M'ith a porter-drinking citizen or a jolly-looking farmer of 
 Kngland. lliey ai^e, indeed, naturally of a slender habit of 
 bociv and a sickly appearance, few having the blush of health 
 upon their cheeks. The tables of the great are covered with 
 a vast \ariety of dishes, consisting mostly of stews offish, fowl 
 
 * An old Frenchman (Cossigny) but a disciple of the new school, has found 
 ©lit that the Ciiinese are in possession of a new science, the existence of which 
 Avasnot even suspected by the enlightened nations of Europe. As he has the 
 merit of muking this wonderful discovery, it is but fair to announce it in his own 
 words : " Je pense que nousdevrions prendre chez cux (les Chinois) les premiers 
 " elemens de la spermatologie, science toute nouvelle pour ^Europe, science 
 " qui intcresse Thumanitu en general, en lui procuj-ant des jouissances qm I'at- 
 *' tachent a son existence, en entretenant la sante et la vigueur, en r^parant 
 " I'abus des exces, en contribuant a I'augmentation de la population. II seroit 
 " digne de la solicitude des gouvernemens de s'occuper des recherches qui 
 " pourroient donner des connoissances sur une science a peine soupconnee des 
 " peuples ^claires de I'Europe." He then announces his knowledge in preparing 
 " des petites pastilles, qui sont aphrodisiaques, et qui conviennent sur tout aux 
 " veillards, et a ceux qui ont f\ut des exc6s :" and he concludes with the mor- 
 tifying intelligence that he is not permitted to reveal the important secret, " qui 
 f* interesse i'iiumanite en general." 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. S7S 
 
 and meat, separately and jointly, ^^^th proper proportions of 
 vegetables and sauces of diiferent kinds. Their bevciagc con- 
 sists of tea and whiskey. In sipping this ardent spirit, made 
 almost boiling hot, eating pastry and fruits, and smoking the 
 pipe, they spend the greatest pait of the day, beginning 
 from the moment they rise, and continuing till they go to 
 bed. In hot weather they sleep in the middle of tlie day, 
 attended by two servants, one to ftm a^vay the flies, and the 
 other to keep them cool. 
 
 The province of Pe-tche-lce embraces an extent of climate 
 from 38° to 40^° of north latitude. Tlie temperature is very 
 various. In summer Fahrenheit's thennomcter is generally 
 above 80° during the day, sometimes exceeding 90^ ; and 
 in the middle of winter, it remains for many da}s together 
 below the freezing point, descending occasionally to zero 
 or 0. But it generally enjoys a clear pure atmosphere through- 
 out the whole year. 
 
 In the practical piut of agriculture, in this province, we 
 observed little to attract attention, or to commend. The 
 farmer gets no more than one crop off the groimd in a season, 
 and this is gencmUy one of the species of millets already 
 mentioned, or holcus, or \\ heat ; but they sometimes plant a 
 dolichos or bean between the rows of wheat, a\ liich ripens 
 after the latter is cut down. They have no winter crops, 
 the haixl frosty Avcather usually setting in towards the end of 
 November and continuing till the end of Miu-ch. The three 
 different modes of sewing grain, by drilling, dibbling, and 
 broadcast, are all in use, but chiefly the first, as being the 
 most expeditious, and the crop most easy to be kept free 
 from weeds ; the last is rai'cly practised on account of the 
 great waste of seed; and dibbling is used only in small 
 patches of ground near the houses, when they aim at neatness. 
 The soil, being in general loose and sandy, and free from 
 stones, is worked without much difficulty : but it seemed to 
 require a good deal of manure ; and this necessaiy aiticle, 
 from the paucity of domestic animals, is exti-emely scarce. 
 Very few sheep or cattle were observed ; yet there was an 
 abundance of land that did not seem for many years to have 
 felt tlie ploughshare. 
 
 The draught cattle most generally in use are oxen, mules, 
 and asses. Horses are scarce, and of a small miserable breed. 
 
576 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 incapable of much Avork ; a remai'k, indeed, which will apply- 
 to every pro\'incc of the empire ; though those of Tiirtary, 
 which composed the emperor's stud, according to the embas- 
 sador's description, \\ere not wanting in point of size, beauty, 
 or spirit. No piiins hoAvever, lU'e bestowed to effect (nor do 
 they seem to be sensible of the advantages to be derived from) 
 an improvement in the breed of cattle. Nor, indeed, is any 
 care ta]i:en of the bad breed which they already possess. It 
 vrould be supposed that, ^vhere a regular establishment of 
 cavalry is kept up, to an amount that seems almost incredible, 
 some attention would be paid to tlie nature and condition of 
 their horses. This, howc\er, is not the case. A Scotch 
 poney, ^^"ild from the mountains, whiich has never felt the 
 teeth of a currycomb, and whose tail iuid mane are clotted 
 together V\"ith diit, is in fit condition to join a regiment of 
 Tartar cavalry. Those kept by men in office are equally 
 neglected. The Chinese ha\e no idea that this noble animal 
 requires any attention beyond that of giving him his food ; 
 and of this, in general, he receives a ^'^ery scanty portion. 
 
 That part of the province of Shan-tung, through ^\hich we 
 travelled, exhibited a greater vai'iety of culture than Pe-tche- 
 lee ; but the surface of the northern parts especially was 
 equally uniform. The soil, consisting generally of mud and 
 slime brought appai'cntly by the inundations of rivers, con- 
 tained not a single pebble. The season was too late to form 
 any estimate of the crops produced upon the immense plains 
 of Shan-tung ; but tlie young crops of ^^ heat, standing at 
 this time (the middle of October) a fe^v inches above the 
 ground, looked extremely well. Little waste ground occurr- 
 ed, except the footpaths and die channels ^vhich served as 
 division maiks of property. Some attempts, indeed, were 
 here made at the division of grounds by hedge-ro^\'s, but 
 ■with little success ; the plant they had adopted, the Palma 
 Christi, ■^^as ill-suited for such a purpose. As we advanced 
 to the southv/ard, in this province, the proportion of A\heat 
 under culti\atiGn dimlnislicd, and its place \vas employed by 
 ]:)lantations of cotton, v/hose pods were no\v, ripe and bursting. 
 The plant was low and poor in gro^vth, but the branches 
 ^\ere laden v/ith. pods. Like the wheat, it was planted or 
 dibbled in rows. The 'f otton ]3roduced the second year was 
 .■said to be considered as equally good with that of tlie first, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA* . 3r7 
 
 but being found to degenerate the third yeai-, it was then 
 rooted out and the ground prepared for fresh seed.* 
 
 The southern parts of Shan-tung are composed of moun- 
 tains and swamps. Here, lakes of \arious magnitudes occur; 
 and large tracts of country similar to those \\hich are known 
 to us by the name of peat-moss. In such places the popula- 
 
 * In the tenth volume of a very extensive agricultural work, is de- 
 tailed the Avhole process of cultivating the cotton from the seed to the 
 weh. The author ohserves, " The cotton in its raw state afibrds a Hght 
 " and pleasant lining for cloaths ; the seed yields an oil, which, being 
 " expressed from them, the remainder is serviceable as manure ; the 
 " capsules or pods, being hard and woody, are used for firing, and the 
 " leaves afford nourishment to cattle, so that every part of the vegetable 
 " may be appropriated to some useful purpose. 
 
 " The soil most favoiu'able to this plant is a white sand, with a small 
 " proportion of clay or loam. The plant affects an elevated open situa- 
 " tion, and cannot endure low marshy grounds. 
 
 " After all the cotton pods are gathered, the remaining stems and 
 " branches should be cleared away without loss of time, and the ground 
 " carefully ploughed up, to expose a new surface to the air, and renew 
 *' the vigour of the soil. 
 
 " When the plough has passed through the ground three times, the 
 " earth should be raked level, that the wind may not raise or dry up any 
 " part of it. 
 
 " ———When there is an abundance of manure, it may be laid on 
 " previous to the use of the plough, but if it be scarce, &c. it will be 
 " preferable to apply it to the soil at the time of sowing the seed. 
 
 " The manure should be old and well prepared, and, among the best 
 " ingredients for the purpose, is the refuse of vegetable substances, from 
 " which an oil has been expressed. 
 
 " In the southern provinces the cotton plant will last for two or three 
 " years, but to the northward the seed must be sown annually." 
 
 The author then enumerates nine distinct varieties and their compa- 
 rative qualities ; after which he proceeds to the choice of seed, under 
 which head he observes, that if the seed be steeped in water, in which 
 eels have been boiled, the ptant will resist the attack of insects. He 
 then describes the three methods of broad-cast, drilling, and dibbling, 
 and gives a decided preference of the last, though it be the most labo- 
 tious. 
 
 " The ground being well prepared, holes are to be made at the dis- 
 " tance of a cubit fixam each other, and the lines a cubit apart. A little 
 " wat'fer is first to be poured in, and then four or five seeds, after which 
 " each hole is to be covered with a mixture of soil and manure, and 
 " firmly trodden down with the foot. In the other methods a roller is 
 ** to be used." 
 
 The next process is weeding, loosening, and breaking fine the earth. 
 — He tlien observes, " After the plants have attained some degree of 
 " streng^th and size, the most advanced and perfect plant should be se- 
 
 3 B 
 
878 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 tion could not be expected to be excessive ; and, accordingly, 
 we met with few inhabitants, except those who subsisted their 
 famiUes by fishing. So great were the numbers engaged in 
 this employment, who lived entirely in floating vessels, that 
 we judged the waters to be fully as populous as the land. No 
 rent is exacted by the government, nor toll, nor tythe, nor 
 licence-moiiey for permission to catch fish ; nor is there any 
 sort of impediment against the free use of any lake, river, or 
 canal, whatsoever. The gifts that nature has bestowed are 
 cautiously usurped by any power, even in this despotic go- 
 vernment, for individual use or profit; but are suffered to 
 remain the free propeit}^ of all who may choose by their labour 
 to derive advantage from them. But even this free and unre- 
 strained use is barely sufficient to procure for them the neces- 
 saries, much less any of the comforts, of life. The condition 
 of the peasantiy, in the northern parts of this province. \va9 
 much more desirable. Their cloathing was decent ; their 
 countenances cheerful, indicating plenty ; and their dwellings 
 were built of bricks or wood, appealing m.ore solid and 
 comfortable than those of the province in which the capital 
 is situated. But the poor fishermen carried about with them 
 unequi\"Ocal mai'ks of their poverty. Their pale meagi'c 
 looks are ascribed to the fi-equent, and almost exclusive, 
 use of fish : which is supposed to give them a scrophulous 
 habit of body. Their endeavours, however, are not wantmg 
 to correct any acid or unwholesome humours that this sort 
 of diet may produce, by the abundant use of onions and gar- 
 lic, which they culti^^ate even upon the waters. Having no 
 houses on shore, nor stationary abode, but moving about in 
 their vessels upon the extensive lakes and rivers, they have 
 no inducement to cultivate patches of ground, ^'^hich the 
 pursuits of their profession might require them to leave for 
 the profit of another ; they prefer, therefore, to plant their 
 onions on rafts of bamboo, well interwoven with reeds anJ 
 
 " lected, and all the rest rooted out ; for if two or more be suffered to 
 " rise together, they will increase in height, without giving lateral 
 " shoots ; the leaves will be large and luxuriant, but the pods will be 
 " few." He next proceeds to the pruning of the plants to make them 
 bear copiously — gathering the pods — preparing and spinning the wool — 
 weaving the cloth. — This abridged account I have given to shew, that 
 they are not deficient in writings of this kiad. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 379 
 
 strong grass, and covered with eaith ; and these floating 
 gardens are towed after their boats. 
 
 The women assist in dragging the net and other operations 
 of taking fish ; but the younger pait of tlie family are some- 
 times employed in breeding ducks. These stupid birds here 
 acquire an astonishing degree of dociUty. In a single vessel 
 are sometimes many hundreds ^^•hich, like the cattle of the 
 Kaffars in southern Africa, on the signal of a whistle leap 
 into the water, or upon the banks to feed ; and another whis- 
 tle brings them back. Like the ancient Egyptians, they use 
 artificial means of hatching eggs, by bur} ing them in sand 
 at the bottom of wooden boxes, and placing them on plates of 
 iron kept moderately wai-m by small furnaces underneath. 
 Thus the old birds which, pro\ided they hatched their eggs 
 themselves, \\ould only produce one brood, or at most two, 
 in the course of the year, continue to lay eggs almost every 
 month. Hogs are also kept in many of the fishing craft. In 
 fact, ducks and hogs affording the most savory meat, most 
 abounding in fat, and, it may be added, best able to subsist 
 themselves, are esteemed above all other animals. The 
 ducks being split open, salted, and dried in the sun, are ex- 
 changed for rice or otlier grain. In this state we found 
 them an excellent relish ; and, at our request, they were 
 plentifully supplied during the whole progress through die 
 country. 
 
 The pro^■ince of Shan-tung extends in latitude from thirty 
 four and a half to thirty -eight degrees. The mean tempera- 
 ture, from the 19th of October to the 29th of the same month, 
 was about fifty-two degrees at sun-rise, to seventy degrees at 
 noon. A constant clear and cloudless sky. 
 
 The numerous canals and rivers that in every direction iiv 
 tcrsect the province of Kiang-nan, and by which it is capable 
 of being flooded to any extent in the driest seasons, render 
 it one of the most valuable and fertile distiicts in the whole 
 empire. Every part of it, also, having a free communication 
 Avith the Yellow Sea by the two great rivers, the \\^hang-ho 
 and the Yang-tsc-kiang, it has always been considered as the 
 central point for the home trade ; and, at one time, its chief 
 city Nankin m as the capital of the em]Dire. That beautiful 
 and durable cotton of the same name is here produced and 
 sent to Canton ; fi-om whence it is shipped off" to the different 
 parts of tlie world. The Chinese rarely weai* it in its natuiid 
 
380 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 colour, except as an ai'ticle of mourning ; but export it 
 chiefl}^ taking in return ^ast quantities of unmanufactured 
 \^ hite cotton from Bengal and Bombay, finding they can pur- 
 chase this foreign wool at a much cheaper rate than that at 
 which the nankin sells. For mourning-dresses and a lew 
 other purposes white cotton is made use of, but in general 
 it is dyed black or blue : among some of our presents were 
 also pieces of a beautiful scarlet. Near most of the planta- 
 tions of cotton VvC observed patches of indigo ; a plant which 
 grows freely in all the middle and southern provinces. The 
 dye of this shrub, being no article of commerce in China, is 
 seldom, if ever, prepared in a diy state, but is generally em- 
 ployed to communicate its colouring matter from the leaves, 
 to avoid the labour and the loss that would be required to 
 reduce it to a solid substance. We obser\^ed that, in the 
 cotton countries, almost every cottage had its garden of in- 
 digo. As in ancient times, in our OM'n country, when every 
 cottager brewed his ©"".vn beer, kept his o'wn cow for milk 
 and butter, bred his own sheep, the ^^•ool of which being 
 spun into yarn by his own family was manufactured into cloth 
 by the pai'ish weaver, and when every peasant raised the ma- 
 terials for his own weh of hempen cloth, so it still appears 
 to be the case in China. Here there are no great farmers 
 nor monopolists of grain, nor can any indi\'idual, nor body 
 of men, by any possibility, either glut the market, or \vith- 
 hold the produce of^ the ground, as may best suit their pur- 
 pose. Each peasant is supposed, by his industry, to have 
 the means of subsistence Avithin himself; though it often 
 happens that these means, from adverse circumstances, which 
 hereafter Vv^ill be noticed, fail of producing the desired efiect. 
 In the province of Kiang-nan each raises his own cotton ; his 
 wife and children spin it into thread and it is I'^'OA'en into a web 
 in his own house, sometimes by his own family, but more fre- 
 quently by others hired for the purpose. A few bamboos con- 
 stitute the whole machinery required for this operation. Money 
 he has none ; but his produce he can easily barter for any little 
 article of necessity or luxury. The superfluities of life, which 
 those in office may have occasion to purchase, ai'c paid for in bars 
 of silver without any impression, but bearing value for weight, 
 like the Roman a s , or the Hebrew shekel. The only coin in 
 circulation is the Tchen, a piece of some inferior metal mixed 
 with a small proportion of copper, of the value of the thou» 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 381 
 
 sandth part of an ounce of silver ; with this small piece of money 
 the little and constantly demanded necessaiies of life are pur- 
 chased, such as could not conveniently be obtained b}^ way of 
 bai'ter. Silver is nu'cly lent out at interest, except bet\veen 
 mercantile men in large cities. The legal interest is t^-clve per 
 cent ; but it is commonly extended to eighteen, sometimes 
 even to thirty-six. To avoid the punishment of usun*, ^^•hat 
 is given above tA^'elve per cent is in the shape of a bonus. 
 " Usury, in' China," observes lord Macartney, " like gaming 
 *' elsewhere, is a dishonourable mode of getting monev ; but 
 " by a sort of compact between necessity and avarice, between 
 " affluence and distress, the prosecution of a Jew or a shaiper 
 " is considered by us as not A'cry honourable e\"cn in the 
 *' sufferers." 
 
 The girater tlie distance from the capital, the better was the 
 appai'ent condition of the people. 'The viceroy, when he 
 received his excellency on the entry of the embassy into this 
 province, happened to cast his e}-e upon the half- starved and 
 half-naked trackers of the boats ; and being either ashamed of 
 their miserable appearance, or feeling compassion for tlicir situ- 
 ation, he ordered every man immediately a suit of new cloaths. 
 In the morning, when our force was mustered, wc Mere not 
 a little surprised to see the great alteration tliat had taken place 
 in the appearance of oirr tiackers : every man had a blue cotton 
 jacket edged with red, a pair of new white trowsers, and a 
 smart hat with a high crown and feather. The natural fertility 
 of the country, its central situation commanding a brisk trade, 
 the abundance of its fisheries on the ku'ge rivers and lakes, 
 were incentives to industry, for the vast population that 
 seemed to be equally distributed over every part of the pro- 
 vince. 
 
 Rice being the staple of Ciiina was abundantly cultiAatcd, 
 in all such places as afforded the greatest command of water. 
 The usual average produce of coni-lands is reckoned to be 
 from ten to fifteen for one ; and of rice, from twenty-fne to 
 thirtv ; commonlv about thirtv. Those corn-lands that A^ill 
 admit of easy irrigation are usually turned over witli the plough 
 immediately after the gi-ain is cut : which, in the middle pro- 
 vinces, is ready for the sickle early in June, about the same 
 time that the young rice fields stand at the height of eight or 
 ten inches : these being now thinned, the young plants are 
 transpliintcd into the prepared wheat Umds, A\hich are then 
 
582 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 immediately flooded. Upon such a crop they reckon from 
 fifteen to twenty for one. Instead of rice, one of the millets 
 IS sometimes sown as an after-crop, this requiring very little 
 water ; or the Cad-jan, a species of Dolichos or small bean, 
 for oil, requiring still less. Or, it is a common practice, after 
 taking off a crop of cotton and indigo, in the month of Octo- 
 ber, to sow wheat, in order to ha^•e the land again clear in the 
 month of May or June. Such a succession of crops, without 
 ever suffering the land to lie fallow, should seem to require a 
 large quantity of manure. In fact, they spare no pains in 
 procuring composts and manures ; but they also accomplish 
 much without these materials, by working the soil almost 
 incessantly, and mixing it a\ ith extraneous matters, as, for in- 
 stance, marl with light aiid sandy soils, or if this is not to be 
 had, stiff clay ; and on clayey grounds they cany sand and 
 gravel. They also di-ag the rivers and ctuials and pools of water 
 for slime and mud ; and they preserve, with great care, all 
 kinds of urine, in which it is an universal practice to steep the 
 seeds previous to their being sown. If turnip- seeds be steeped 
 in lime and urine, the plant is said not to be attacked by the 
 insect. Near all the houses are large eaithen jars sunk in the 
 ground, for collecting and presendng these and other materials 
 that are convertible, by putrefactive fermentation, into manure. 
 Old men and children may be seen near all the villages with 
 small rakes and baskets, collecting every kind of dirt, or offals, 
 that come in their way. Their eagerness to pick up ^\'hatever 
 may be used as m.anureled to some ridiculous scenes. When- 
 ever our barges halted, and the soldiers and serv^ants found it 
 necessary to step on shore, they were always pursued to their 
 place of retirement by these collectors of food for vegetables. 
 It may literally be said in this countiy , that nothing is suffered 
 to be lost. The profession of sha^•ing is followed by vast 
 numbers in China. As the whole head is shaved, except a 
 small lock behind, few, if any, are able to operate upon them- 
 selves. And as hair is considered an excellent manure, every 
 barbai" carries with him a small bag to collect the spoils of his 
 razor. 
 
 The common plough of the countr}- is a simple machine, 
 and much inferior to the very worst of ours. We saw one 
 drill-plough, in Shan-tung, different from all the rest. It con- 
 sisted of two parallel poles of Avood, shod at the lower ex- 
 tremities with iron, to open the funows : these poles were 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 383 
 
 placed on wheels ; having a small hopper attached to each pole, 
 to drop the seed into tlie furrows, which were covered with 
 earth by a transverse piece of wood fixed beliind, that just 
 swept the surface of the ground. 
 
 The machine usually employed for clearing rice from the 
 husk, in the large way, is exactly the same as that now used 
 in Egypt for the same purpose, only that die latter is put in 
 motion by oxen, and tlie former commonly by \\ater. This 
 machine consists of a long horizontal axis of wood, with 
 cogs or projecting pieces of wood or iron fixed upon it, at 
 certain intervals, and it is turned by a water-wheel. At right 
 angles to this axis are fixed as many horizontal levers as there 
 are circular rows of cogs ; these levers act on pivots, that are 
 fiistened into a low brick wall built parallel to the axis, and at 
 the distance of about two feet from it. At the furtlier ex- 
 tremity of each lever, and perpendicular to it, is fixed a 
 hollow pestle, directly over a large mortal* of stone or iron 
 snnk into the ground ; the other extremity extending beyond 
 the wall, being pressed upon by tlie cogs of the axis in its 
 revolution, elevates the pestle, \\'hich by its own gravity falls 
 into the mortar. An axis of this kind sometimes gives mo- 
 tion to fifteen or twenty levers. This machine, as well as 
 the plough, still in use in modern Egypt, which is also the 
 same as the Chinese plough, have been considered by a mem- 
 ber of the French Institute to be the same instruments as 
 those employed in that country tA\o thousand years ago ; and, 
 judging from the maxims of the Chinese government, and 
 the character of the people, an antiquity equally great ma}-- 
 be assigned to them in the latter countr}\ The bamboo wheel 
 for raising water, or something approaching very near to it, 
 either M'ith buckets appended to the circumference, or with 
 fellies hollowed out so as to scoop up water, was also in use 
 among the aiicient Egyptians ; and, as I have before observed, 
 continue to be so among the Syrians ; from these they are 
 supposed to have passed into Persia, where they are also 
 still employed, and from whence they have derived, in Eu- 
 rope, the name of Persian wheels. The chain pump of 
 China, common in the hands of eveiy fanner, was likewise 
 an instrument of husbandry in Egypt. 
 
 A very erroneous opinion seems to have been entertained 
 in Europe, with regard to the skill of the Chinese in agricul- 
 ture. Industrious they certainly are, in an eminent degree ; 
 
S84r TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 but their labour does not always appear to be bestowed with 
 judgment. The instruments the}^ make use of are incapable 
 of performing the operations of husbandry to the greatest- ad- 
 vantage : in the deepest and best soils, their plough seldom 
 cuts to the depth of four inches ; so that they sow from year 
 to year upon the same soil, without being able to turn 
 up new earth, and to bury the worn-out mould to refresh 
 itself. Supposing them, however, to be supplied with ploughs 
 of the best construction, we can scarcely conceive that their 
 mules and asses, and old women, w^ould be equal to the task 
 of drawing them. 
 
 The advantage that large farms in England possess over 
 small ones consists principally in the means they aftbrd the 
 tenant of keeping better teams than can possibly be done on the 
 latter, and consequently of making a better tilth for the recep- 
 tion of seed. The opulent farmer, on, the same quantity of 
 ground, ^vill invariably raise more produce than the cottager 
 can pretend to do. In China, nine-tenths of the peasantry 
 may be considered as cottagers, and having few cattle (mil- 
 lions, I might add, none at all), it can scarcely be expected 
 that the whole country should be in the best possible state of 
 cultivation. As horticulturists, they may, perhaps, be allowed 
 a considerable share of merit ; but, on the great scale of 
 agriculture, they are certainly not to be mentioned with many 
 European nations. They have no kno^\ledge of the modes 
 of improvement practised in the various breeds of cattle ; no 
 instruments for breaking up and preparing v/aste lands ; no 
 system for draining and reclaiming swamps and morasses ; 
 though that part of the country, over which the grand com- 
 munication is effected betM'cen the two extremities of the 
 empire, abounds with lands of this nature, where population 
 is excessive, and where the multitudes of shipping that pass 
 and repass create a never-failing demand for grain and other 
 vegetable products. For want of this knowledge, a very 
 considerable ]30ition of the richest land, perhaps, in the whole 
 empire, is suffered to remain a ban-en and unprofitable waste. 
 If an idea may be formed from what we saw in the course of 
 our journey, and from the accounts that have been given of 
 the other provinces, I should conclude, that one fourth part 
 of the whole country nearly consists of lakes, and low, sour, 
 swampy grounds, which are totally uncultivated; which, 
 among other reasons hereafter to be mentioned, may serve to 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 385 
 
 explain the frequent famines tliat occur, in a more satisfactory 
 way than by supposing, a\ ith the Jesuits, tliat they ai-e ow ing- 
 to the circumstance of the nations bordering upon them to 
 the westward being savage, and raising no corn, 'i'hcir ig- 
 norance of draining, or their dread of inundations, to "svliich 
 the low countries of China, in their present state, ai'e subject, 
 may perhaps have dri\'en them, in certain situations, to the 
 necessity of levelling the sides of mountains into a succession 
 of terraces ; a mode of cultivation frequently taken notice of 
 by the missionaries as unexampled in Europe, and peculiar to 
 the Chinese ; whereas it is common in mimy pails of Europe. 
 The mountains of the Pays de Vaud, between Lausanne and 
 Vevay, are cultivated in this manner to their sammits with 
 vines. *' This would have been impracticable," says Doctor 
 Moore, " on account of the steepness, had not the proprietors 
 " built strong stone walls at proper interA-als, one abo\'e the 
 *' other which support the soil, and form little terraces from 
 " the bottom to the top of the mountains." But this method 
 of terracmg the hills is not to be considered, by any means, 
 as a common practice in China. In our direct route it oc- 
 cun-ed only twice, and then on so small a scale as hardly to 
 deserve notice. The whole tenitorial right being vested in 
 the sovereign, the waste lands of course belong to the crown; 
 l:)ut any person, by giving notice to the proper magistrate, 
 may obtain a propert)' therein, so long as he continues to pay 
 such portion of the estimated produce as is required to be col- 
 lected mto the public magazines. 
 
 When I said that the Chinese might claim a considerable 
 share of merit as horticulturists, I meant to confine the ob- 
 servation to their skill and industry of raising the greatest pos- 
 sible quantity of \'egetables from a given piece of ground. 
 Of the modes practised in Europe of improving the quality of 
 fruit, they seem to haAe no just notion. Their oranges iU'c 
 naturally good, and require no artificial means of imj^rove- 
 ment, but the European fruits, as apples, pears, jilums, 
 peaches, and apricots, ai^e of indifferent quality. They ha\e 
 a common method of propagating several kinds of fruit-trees, 
 which of late years has been practised with success in Ben- 
 gal. The method is simply this : they strip a ring of bark, 
 about an inch in width, from a bearing branch ; surround the 
 place with a ball of lat earth, or loam, bound fast to the branch 
 with a piece of matting; over this thev suspend a pot, or 
 
 3 c 
 
386 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 horn, with water, having a small hole in the bottom, just 
 sufficient to let the A^'ater drop, in order to keep the eaith 
 constantly moist ; the branch tlirows new roots into the earth, 
 just above the place Avhere the ring was stripped off. The 
 operation is performed in the spring, and the branch is sawn 
 off and put into the ground at the fall of the leaf: the follow- 
 ing }'ear it beais fiiiit. They have no method of forcing ve- 
 getables by artificial heat, or by excluding the cold air, and 
 admitting, at the same time, the rays of the sim tlii'ough 
 glass. Their chief merit consists in preparing the soil, work- 
 ing it incessantly, and keeping it free of weeds. 
 
 Upon the w'hole, if I might venture to offer an opinion with 
 respect to the merit of the Cliinese as agriculturists, I should 
 not hesitate to say that, let as much ground be given to one of 
 their peasants as he and his family can work with the spade, and 
 he ^xl\\ turn that piece of ground to more advantage, and pro- 
 duce from it more sustenance for the use of man, tlian any Eu- 
 ropean whatsoever would be able to do ; but let fifty or one- 
 hundred acres of the best land in China be given to a farmer, 
 at a mean rent ; so far from making out of it the value of three 
 rents, on which our farmers usually calculate, he A^'ould scarcely 
 be able to support his family, after paying the expense of labour 
 that would be required to work the farm. 
 
 In fact, there ai'e no gi'eat farms m China. The inhabitants 
 enjoy every advantage which may be supposed to aiise from 
 the lands being prett}^ equally divided among them ; an advan- 
 tage of which the effects might probably answer the expectations 
 of those who lean towards such a system, were they not counter- 
 acted by circumstances that are not less prejudicial, perhaps, to 
 the benefit of the public, than monopolizing fanners are by such 
 persons supposed to be in our o'.vii country. One of the circum- 
 stances I allude to is the common practice, in almost every part 
 of die country, of assembling together, in to^vns and villages, 
 between which veiy frequently the intermediate space of ground 
 has not a single habitation upon it : and the reason assigned for 
 this custom is the dread of the bands of robers that infest the 
 weak and unprotected parts of the country. The conse- 
 quence of such a system is, that, although the lands adjoining 
 the villages be kept in the highest state of cultivation, yet those 
 at a distance are suffered to remain almost useless ; for having 
 no beasts of burden, it "would be an endless task of human la- 
 bour to beai- the manure that would be required, for several 
 miles, upon the ground, and its produce from thence back 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 387 
 
 again to the village. That such robbers do exist, who, in for- 
 midable g'angs, plunder the peasantry, is very certain : She-foo- 
 pao was watching his grain to present its being stolen, ^^■hen he 
 had the misfortune of shooting his relation, "who had also gone 
 out for the same purpose. The}' are sometimes, indeed, so 
 numerous as to threaten their most populous cities. The fre- 
 quency of such robberies, and the alarm diey occasion to the 
 inhabitants, ai'C neither favourable to the high notions that have 
 been entertained of the Chinese government, nor of the morals 
 of the people. Another, and perhaps the cliief, disadvantage 
 arising from kuided property being pretty equaU}- di^•idcd, will 
 be noticed in speaking of die population and the frequent fa- 
 mines. 
 
 The province of Kiang-nan extends from about 31° to 34*® 
 of northern latitude ; and the mean temperature, according to 
 Fahrenheit's thermometer, from the oOth of October to the 9th 
 of November, was 54° at sun-rise and 66° at noon ; the sky 
 uniformly clciu\ 
 
 The province of Tche-kiang abounds in lakes, and is inter- 
 sected w ith rivers and canals like Kiang-nan ; but the produce, 
 except that of a little rice, is very different, consisting princi- 
 pally of silk. For feeding the worms that afibrd this article, 
 all the fertile and beautiful valleys between the mountains, as 
 well as the plains, are covered ^ith plantations of the mulberrj-- 
 tree. The small houses, in which the ^vorms are reared, are 
 placed generally in the centre of each plantation, in order that 
 they may be removed as fiiras possible from any kind of noise ; 
 experience having taught them that a sudden shout, or the 
 JDark of a dog is destructive of the young wonns. A whole 
 brood has sometimes perished by a thunder- stomi. The great- 
 est attention is, therefore, necessary ; and accordingly, they are 
 watched night and da}-. In fine Aveather, the young \vorms 
 are exposed to the sun, upon a kind of thin open gauze stretched 
 in ^^•ooden frames ; mid at night they are replaced in die 
 plantation houses. The trees ai'e pruned from time to time, 
 in order to cause a greater quantity, and a constant succession 
 of young leaves. The inhabitants of this province, especially 
 in die cities, are alm.ost universally cloathed in silks : this rule, 
 among the Chinese, of consuming, as much as possible, the pro- 
 ducts of their own countr}-, and receiving as little as they can 
 a'>oidfroni foreign nations, extends even to the provinces ; a 
 practice arising out of the litde respect that, in China, as in an- 
 
crs TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 cicnt Rome, is paid to those concerned in trade and mer- 
 chandize. 
 
 Besides silk, Tche-kiang produces camphor, tallow fi-om the 
 CrotOR, a considerable quantity of tea, oranges, and almost all 
 the fruits that ai'C peculiar to the country. Every part of the 
 pro\ ince appeared to be in the highest state of cultivation, and 
 the population to be immense. Both the raw and manufac- 
 tured silks, nankins, and other cotton cloths, were sold at such 
 low prices in the capital of this province, tliat it is difficult to 
 conceive how the gi'owers or the manufacturers contrived to 
 gain a livelihood by their labour. But, of all others, I am the 
 most astonished at the smdl retums that must necessarily be 
 made to the cultivators cf the tea-plant. The preparations of 
 some of the finer kinds of this article are said to require that 
 every leaf should be rolled singly b}- the hand; particulaiiy such 
 as are exported to the European mai'kets. Besides this, there 
 are manv processes, such as steeping, diying, turning, and pack - 
 in"-, after it has been plucked off the shrub, leaf by leaf. Yet 
 the first cost in the tea provinces cannot be more than from 
 four-pence to two shillings a pound, when it is considered that 
 the t)rdinaiy teas stand the East India company in no more than 
 eight-pence a pound ; and the very best only two shillings 
 and eight-pence.* Nothing can more clearly point out the 
 patient and unremitting labour of the Chinese, than the 
 preparation of this plant for the mai'ket. It is a curious cir- 
 cumstance, that a body of merchants in England should furnish 
 employment, as might easily be made appear, to more than a 
 million subjects of a nation that affects to despise merchants, 
 and throws every obstacle in the way of commercial inter- 
 course. 
 
 The mean temperature of Tche-kiang, in the middle of No- 
 vember, was from fifty-six degrees, at sun-rise, to sixty-two 
 degrees, at noon. The extent, from north to south, is bet^v-een 
 the parallels of twenty-eight and thiity-four and a half degrees 
 of northern latitude. 
 
 The northern part of Kiang-sce contains the great Po-yang 
 lake, and those extensive sv/amps and morasses that surround 
 
 * The East India company pays from thirteen to sixty tales per pecul 
 for their teas. Some tea of a higher price is purchased by individuals, 
 but seldom or ever by the company. A tale is six shillings and eight- 
 pence, and SI pc:ul is one hundred and thirty-three ^iounds and cne 
 third. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 38§ 
 
 it, and which, as I have already observed, may be considered 
 as the sink of China. The middle and southern paits are 
 mountainous. The chief produce is sugar and oil from tlie 
 Camellia Sesanqua. In this province are the principal manu- 
 factories of porcelain, the qualities of which, as I have in a 
 former chapter obserA ed, depend more on the care bestowed 
 in the preparation and in the selection of the materials, than 
 in any secret arts possessed by them. There are also, in this 
 province, lai'ge manufactories of coarse earthei\ ware, of tiles, 
 and bricks. 
 
 The extent of Kiang-see is from tA\'enty-eight to tliirty de- 
 grees, and the temix:ratin"e, in No\ ember, was the same as 
 that of the neighbouring pro\'ince of Tche-kiang. 
 
 • I have-now to mention a subject on which much lias already 
 been written by Aarious authors, but without the success of 
 having earned conviction into the minds of their readers, that 
 tlie things which they offered as facts were either true or pos- 
 sible. I allude to the populousncss of tliis extensive empire. 
 That none of the statements hitherto published arc strictl}- true, 
 I am free to admit ; but tliat the highest degree of populous- 
 ncss that has yet been assigned may be possible, and even pro- 
 bable, I am equally ready to contend. At the same time, I 
 acknowledge that, prepared as we were, from all that vre had 
 seen and heard and read on tlie subject, for something -very 
 extraordinary ; yet when the following statement was deliver- 
 ed, at the request of the embassador, by Chou-ta-gin, as the 
 abstract of a census tliat had been taken the preceding }-eiu% 
 the amount appeared so enormous as to suq^ass credibilit\-. 
 But as we had always found this officer a plain, unaffected, 
 and honest man, who on no occasion had attempted to deceive 
 or impose on us, we could not consistently consider it in any 
 other light than as a document drawn up from authentic ma- 
 terials; its inaccuracy, however, ^^■as obvious at a single glance, 
 from the several sums b^ing given in round millions. I have 
 added to the table the extent of the provinces, the number of 
 people on a square mile, and the value of the surplus taxes re- 
 mitted to Pekin in the year 1792, as mentioned in the seventh 
 chapter. 
 
5§0 
 
 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Pro\incc3. 
 
 Population . 
 
 Square 
 Miles. 
 
 No. on 
 
 each square 
 
 Mile. 
 
 Surplus taxe? 
 
 remitted to 
 
 Fekin. 
 
 Pe-tche-lce 
 
 Kiang-nan 
 
 Kiang-sec 
 
 Tche-kiang 
 
 Fo-kien 
 
 Hou-quang?""""-!'^^ 
 ^ ° <^Hou-iian 
 
 Ho-nan 
 
 Shan-tung 
 
 Shan-sec 
 
 Shen-see 7 
 
 Kan-sou ^one proMnce 
 
 Se-tcliucn 
 
 Qiiang-tung 
 
 Qiiang-scc 
 
 Yu-nan 
 
 Koei-tchoo 
 
 38,000,000 
 32,000,000 
 19,000,000 
 21,000,000 
 15,000,000 
 14,000,0007 
 13,000,0005 
 25,000,000 
 24,000,000 
 27,000,000 
 18,000,0007 
 12,000,0003 
 27,000,000 
 21,000,000 
 10,000,000 
 8,000,000 
 9,000,000 
 
 58,949 
 92,961 
 72,176 
 39,150 
 
 53,480 
 
 144,770 
 
 65,104 
 65,104 
 55,268 
 
 154,003 
 
 166,800 
 79,456 
 78,250 
 
 107,969 
 64,554 
 
 644 
 344 
 263 
 536 
 280 
 
 187 
 
 384 
 368 
 488 
 
 195 
 
 162 
 264 
 128 
 74 
 140 
 
 oz. silver. 
 3,036,000 
 8,210,000 
 2,120,000 
 3,810,000 
 1,277,000 
 
 c 1,310,000 
 
 I 1,345,000 
 3,213,000 
 3,600,000 
 3,722,000 
 
 <; 1,700.000 
 
 I 340,000 
 670,000 
 1,340,000 
 500,000 
 210,000 
 145,000 
 
 Totals |'333,000,000 f 1,297,999* 
 
 36,548,000 1 
 
 Considering, then, the whole surface of the Chinese dominions, 
 Vvithin the p;ieat Avail, to contain 1,297,999 squai'c miles, or 
 830,719,360 English acres, and the population to amount to 
 333,000,000, tvtry square mile Vvill be found to contain two 
 hundred aixl fifty-six persons, and every individual might 
 possess t^vo acres and a half cf land. Great-Britain is supposed 
 to average about one hundred and twenty persons on one square 
 mile, and that to each inhal^itant there might be assigned a 
 portion of five acres, or to each family five-and-twenty acres. 
 The population of China, therefore, is to that of Great-Britain 
 as 256 to 120, or in a proportion some^vhat greater than two 
 to one ; and the quantity of land that each individual in Great- 
 Britain might possess is just twice as maich as could be allowed 
 to each indi^iduiil of China. We lia'v-e only then to enquire if 
 Britain, under the same circumstances as China, be capable of 
 
 * The measurement annexed to each of the fifteen ancient provinces 
 vras taken from the maps that were constructed by a very laborious, and 
 as far as we had an opportunity of comparinfj them with the country, a 
 very accurate survey, which employed the Jesuits ten years. I do not 
 pretend to say that the areas, as I have given them in the table, are ma- 
 thematically correct; but the dimensions were taken with as much care 
 as was deemed necessary for the purpose, from maps drawn on a large 
 scale, of which a very beautiful manuscript copy is now in his majesty's 
 library at Buckingham-house, made by a Chinese, having; aW the names 
 Written in Chinese and Tartar characters. 
 
TRAVELS, IN CHINA. 39t 
 
 supporting twice its present population, or, -which is the same 
 thing, if twch^e and an half acres of land be sufficient for the 
 maintenance of a family of fi\'e persons ? .T^^•o acres of choice 
 land sown with wheat, under good tillage, may be reckoiied to 
 average, after deducting the seed, 60 bushels or 5600 pounds, 
 which every baker knows Mould yield 5400 pounds of bread, 
 or three pounds a-day to every member of the family for die 
 whole year. Half an acre is a gi-cat allowance for a kitchen- 
 garden and potatoe-bed. There would still remain ten acres, 
 which must be very bad land, if, besides paying the rent and 
 taxes, it did not keep three or four cows ; and an industrious 
 and manao-inir family \\ould find no difficulty in rcarino: as 
 many pigs and as much poultr\- as would be nccessar}- for 
 home consumption, and for the purchase of cloathing and other 
 indispensable necessaries. If then, the country ^^-as pretty 
 equally partitioned out in this manner ; if the land was applied 
 solely to produce food for man ; if no horses nor superfluous 
 animals were kept for pleasnrc, and few only for labour ; if the 
 country was not drained of its best hands in foreign trade and 
 in large manuHictories ; if the carriage of goods for exchang- 
 ing with other goods >\"as performed by canals and ri^'ers and 
 lakes, all abounding with lish ; if the catching of these fish 
 gave employment to a very considerable portion of the inhabit- 
 ants ; if the bulk of the people were satisfied to abstain almost 
 Avholly from animal food, except sucli as is most easily pro- 
 cured, that of pigs and ducks and fish ; if only a veiy small 
 part of the grain raised was employed in the distilleries, but 
 was used as the staff of life for man ; and if tliis grain "\^•as of 
 such a nature as to yield twice, and e\'en three times, the pro- 
 duce that wheat Avill gi^■e on the same space of ground ; if, 
 moreover, the climate was so favourable as to allo^v two such 
 crops every year; if, under all these circumstances, twelve 
 and a half acres of land \\'ould not support a family of five per- 
 sons ; the fault could only be ascribed to idleness or bad ma- 
 nagement. 
 
 Let us, then, for a moment, consider that these or similar 
 advantages operate in China ; that e\^eiy product of the ground 
 is appropriated solcl}- for the food and cloathing of man ; that a 
 single acre of land, sown with rice, will yield a sufficient quan- 
 tity for the consumption of five people for a u hole year, ailov,-- 
 ing to each person two pounds a-day, provided the returns of 
 his crop are from twenty to twenty-five for one, ^^'hich ai'e con- 
 
392 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 sidered as extremely moderate, being frequently more than 
 twice this quantity ; that, in the southern pro^'inces, tv\ o crops 
 of rice ai^e produced in die ycai-, one acre of a\ hich I am well 
 assured, ^ith proper culture, "will afford a supply of that grain 
 t\cn for ten persons, and that an acre of cotton a\ ill clothe two 
 cw* three hundred persons, wc ma}^ justly infer that instead of 
 twelve acres to each family, half that quantity would appear to 
 be more than necessary ; and safely conclude, that there is no 
 want of land to support the assumed population of three hun- 
 dred and thirty-three millions. This being the case, the popu- 
 lation is not yet an-ived at a level with the means which tlie 
 countr}' affords of subsistence. 
 
 There is, perhaps, no country where the condition of the 
 peasantry' may more justiy be compared with those of China 
 than Ireland. This island, according to the latest survey, con- 
 tains about 17,000,000 English acres, 730,000 houses and 
 3,500,000 souls ; so that, as in Great Britain, each individual 
 averages very nearly five acres, and eveiy family five-and-twen- 
 ty. An Irish cottager holds seldom more than an Irish acre of 
 land, or one and three -quLulers English nearly, in cultivation, 
 with a co\\"'s grass, for ^^•hich he pays a rent from t\^"0 to five 
 pounds. Those on Lord Macartney's estate at Lissanore have 
 their acre, 'which they cultivate in di\4sioiis with oats, potatoes, 
 kale, and a little flax ; with this they have besides the full pas- 
 turage of a cow all the yeai' upon a large waste, not overstock- 
 ed, and a comfoitable cabin to inhabit, for which each pays 
 the rent of three pounds. The cottager v.orks j^erhaps three 
 days in thevvcek, at nine-pence a-day ; if, instead of which, he 
 had a second acre to cultivate, he ^vould derive m.ore benefit 
 fi"om its produce than from the product of his three days labour 
 per week ; that is to say, provided he \\ould expend the same 
 labour in its tillage. Thus, then, supposing only half of Ire- 
 land in a state of cultis-ation and the other half pasturage, it 
 \AOuld support a population more than three times that "whicli 
 it now contains ; and as a centun,- ago it had no more than a 
 million of people, so, within the present century, under favour- 
 able circumstances, it may increase to ten millions. And it is 
 not unworthy of remark, that this great increase of population 
 in Ireland has taken place since the introduction of the potatoe, 
 which gives a never-failing crop. 
 
 I am a^^'are that such is not the common opinion which pre- 
 vails in this country, neither with regard to Irekmd nor China ; 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 393 
 
 on the contrary, the latter is generally supposed to be over- 
 stocked with people ; that the land is insufficient for their main- 
 tenance, and that the cities stand so thick one after the other, 
 especially along the grand navigation between Pekin and Can- 
 ton, that they almost occupy the whole surface. I should not, 
 however, have expected to meet with an observation to this 
 effect from the A-ery learned commentator on the voyage of 
 Nearchus, founded on no better authority tlian the crude notes 
 of one iEneas Anderson, a liveiy ser\^ant of Lord INIacartney, 
 vamped up by a London bookseller as a speculation that could 
 not fail ; so greatly excited \\as public curiosity at the return 
 of the embassy. I would not be thought to disparage the au- 
 thority on account of its being that of a liveiy sei-vant ; on the 
 contrary, the notes of the meanest and dullest person, on a 
 country so little ti-avelled over, would be deserving attention 
 before they came into the hands of a book-dresser ; but what 
 dependence can be placed on the information of an autliorwho 
 states, as a fact, that he saAV tea and rice growing on the banks 
 of the Pei-ho, between the tliirty-ninth and fortieth parallels 
 of latitude ; t\vo articles of culture, of which, in the a\ hole pro- 
 vince of Pe-tche-lee, they know no more than we do in Eng- 
 land ; and who ignorantly and impertinently talks of the shock- 
 ing ideas the Chinese entertained of English cruelt}-, on seeing 
 one of the guard receive a few lashes, v» hen, not only die com- 
 mon soldiers, but the officers of diis nation are flogged most 
 severely with the bamboo, on every slight occasion. If doctor 
 Vincent, from reading tiiis book, was really persuaded that the 
 cities of China were so large and so numerous, that they left 
 not ground enough to subsist the inhabitants, I could wish to 
 recall his attention for a few moments to this subject, as opi- 
 nions sanctioned by such high authority, whether right or 
 \\rong, are sure, in some degree, to bias the public mind. We 
 have seen that, if China be allo^\ed to contain tlirec hundred 
 and thirty-diree millions of people, the proportion of its popu- 
 lation is only just double that of Great Britain. Now, if Lon- 
 don and Li\erj:)ool and Bimiingham and GlasgoAV, and all the 
 cities, towTis, villages, gentlemen's villas, farm-houses and cot- 
 tages, in this island, were doubled, I see no great incom'eniencc 
 likely to luise from such duplication. The unproductive land, 
 in the shape of gentlemen's parks and pleasure gromids, would, 
 I presume, be much more than sufficient to counterbalance the 
 quantity occupied by the new erections ; and the wastes and 
 
394 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 commons would, perhaps, be more tlian enough to allow even 
 a second duplication. But the population of an English city 
 is not to be compared with, or considered as similar to, the 
 populousncss of a Chinese city, as will be obvious by consi- 
 dering tlie two capitals of these two empires. Pekin, accord- 
 ing to a measurement supposed to be taken with great accura- 
 cy, occupies a space of about fourteen square miles. London, 
 with its suburbs, when reduced to a square, is said to com- 
 prehend about nine square miles. The houses of Pekin rarely 
 exceed a single story ; those of London are seldom less than 
 four ; yet both the Chinese and the missionaries who are set- 
 tled in this capital agi'ce that Pekin contains three millions of 
 people ; while London is barely allowed to have one million. 
 The reason of this difference is, that most of the cross streets 
 of a Chinese city are ^'ery nan-ow, and tlie alleys brandling 
 from them so confined, that a person may place one hand on 
 one side and the other on the other side as he walks along;* 
 that the houses in general are very small, and that each house 
 contains six, eight, or ten persons, sometimes twice the num- 
 ber. If, therefore, fourteen square miles of buildings in China 
 contain three millions of inhabitants, and nine square miles of 
 buildings in England one million, the population of a city in 
 China will be to that of a city in England as twenty-seven to 
 fourteen, or verj^ neai'ly as two to one ; and the former, with a 
 proportion of inhabitants double to that of the latter, will only 
 have the same proportion of buildings ; so that there is no ne- 
 cessity of their being so closely crowded together, or of their 
 occup5ang so great a portion of land, as to interfere with the 
 quantity necessary for the subsistence of the people. 
 
 I have been thus particulai*, in order to set in its true light 
 a subject that has been much agitated and generally disbelieved. 
 The sum total of three hundi-ed and thirty-tliree millions is 
 so enormous, tliat in its aggregate form it astonishes the mind 
 and staggers credibility ; yet we find no difficulty in conceiv- 
 ing that a single square mile in China may contain two hun- 
 dred and fifty-six persons, especially when we call to our re- 
 collection the United Provinces of Holland, which have 
 been calculated to contain two hundred and seventy inhabit- 
 
 * One of the streets in the suburbs of Canton is emphatically called 
 Squeeze-gut-alley, which is so narrow that every gentleman in the com* 
 pany's service does not find it quite convenient to pass. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA, 395 
 
 ants on a square mile. And the United Provinces have 
 enjoyed few of the advantages favourable to population, of 
 which China, for ages past, has been in tiie uninterrupted 
 possession. 
 
 The materials for the statement given by Father Amiot of 
 the population of China appear to have been collected Avith 
 care. The number of souls in 1760, according to tliis state- 
 ment was ..... 196,837,977 
 
 In 1761 198,214,553 
 
 Amiual increase, - - 1,376,576 
 
 This statement must, ho\vever, be incorrect, from the 
 circumstance of some millions of people being excluded who 
 have no fixed habitation, but ai'c constantly changing tiieir 
 position on the inlaiid navigations of tlie empire, as ^vell as 
 all tiie islanders of the Archipelago of Chu-san and of For- 
 mosa. Without, ho^\ever, taking these into consideration, 
 and by supposing die number of souls, in 1761, to amount 
 to 198,214,553, there ought to have been, in the year 1793, 
 by allowing a progressive increase, according to a moderate 
 calculation in political arithmetic, at least 280,000,000 soiils. 
 Whether this great empire (the first in rank, both in extent 
 and population) may or may not actually contain 333 millions 
 of SQuls, is a point diat Europeans are not likely ever to 
 ascertain. That it is capable of subsisting this and a much 
 greater population has, I think, been sufficiently proved. I 
 know it is a common argument "with those who are not willing 
 to admit the fact, that, aldiough cities and towns and shipping 
 may be cro\\dcd together in an astonishing manner, on and 
 neai- the grand route between the capital and Canton, yet that 
 the interior parts of the countr}' are almost deserted. By some 
 of our party going to Chusan, ^ve had occasion to see parts 
 of the countrj'^ remote from the common road, and such parts 
 happened to be by far the most populous in the whole journey. 
 But, independent of the small portion of country seen by us, 
 the western provinces, which are most distant from the grand 
 navigation, are considered as the granaries of the empire ; 
 and the cultivation of much gTain, where fe^v cattle and less 
 machinery are used, necessai'ily implies a coiTcsponding popu- 
 lation. Thus we see, from the above table, that tlie surplus 
 produce of the land remitted to Pekin from the pro\inces of 
 
396 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Oz. silver. 
 
 Honan ") . r .1 i ) 3,213,000 
 
 ™see i remote from the gi-and / 3 7^2 000 
 
 Sta-see S "^^^§^^^^"^^^'^^'^ S 2;040;000 
 
 Wliilst tliose of 
 
 Pe-tche-lee ) ,1 a ■ ^- ) 3,036,000 
 
 t,^ ' / on the errand navigation, / ^ Ann nnr^ 
 
 Shan-tung V ^ ^ > o, 600,000 
 
 Tche-kiang) ^^^^^ ) 3,810,000 
 
 chiefly in rice, wheat, and millet. There are no grounds, 
 therefore, for supposing that the interior parts of China are 
 deserts. 
 
 There are others again who are persuaded of the popula- 
 tion being so enormous, that the country- is ^^■holly inadequate 
 to supply the means of subsistence ; and that famines are ab- 
 solutely necessary to keep down the former to the level of the 
 latter. The loose and general way in which the accounts of 
 the missionaries are dra\ni up certainly leave such an impres- 
 sion ; but as I have endeavoured to shew that such is far from 
 being the case, it may be expected I should also attempt to 
 explain the frequency of those disastrous famines which occa- 
 sionally commit such temble havock in this country. I am 
 of opinion, then, that three principal reasons may be assigned 
 for them. First, the equal division of the land : secondly, 
 the mode of cultivation : and thirdly, the nature of the pro- 
 ducts. 
 
 If, in the first place, every man has it in his option to rent 
 as much land as will support his fiimily with food and cloathing, 
 he will have no occasion to go to mai-ket for the first necessi- 
 ties ; and such being generally the case in China, those first 
 necessities find no market, except in the lai'ge cities. When 
 the peasant has brought under tillage of grain as much land 
 as may be sufficient for the consumption of his own family, 
 and the necessary suq^lus for the hmdlord, he looks no fur- 
 ther ; and all his neighbours having done the same, the first 
 necessities ai-e, in fact, unsaleable articles, except in so far as 
 regards the demands of large cities, which are by no means so 
 close upon one another as has been imagined. A surplus of 
 grain is likewise less calculated to exchange for superfluities or 
 luxuries than many other articles of produce. This being 
 the case, ii; by any accident, a fiiilure of the crops should 
 be general in a province, it has no relief to expect fi-om the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 397 
 
 neighbouring provinces, nor any supplies from foreign coun- 
 tries. In China there are no great farmers A\ho store their 
 grain to throw into the market in seasons of scarcit)^ In such 
 seasons the only resource is that of the gOAcrnment opening 
 its mag-azines, and restoring to the people that portion of 
 their crop which it had demiuidcd from them as the price of 
 its protection. And this being originally only a tenth part, out 
 of which the monthly subsistence of every officer and soldier 
 had already been deducted, the remainder is seldom adequate 
 to the wants of the people. Insurrection and rebellion en- 
 sue ; and those who may escape the devouring scourge of 
 famine, in all probability, full by the sword. In such seasons 
 a whole pro\ince is sometimes hcilf depopulated ; WTCtched 
 parents ai'e reduced, by imperious ^^•ant, to sell or destroy 
 their offspring, and children to put an end, by violence, to 
 the sufferings of their aged and infirm piu-ents. Thus, the 
 equal division of land, so favourable to population in seasons 
 of plenty, is just the reverse when the calamity of a famine 
 falls upon the people. 
 
 In the second place, a scarcity may be owing to the mode 
 of cultivation. When I mention diat two-thirds of the small 
 quantity of land under tillage is cultivated with the spade or 
 the hoe, or otherwise by manual labour, without the aid of 
 draught-cattle or skilful machinery, it ^\ill readily be conceived 
 how very small a portion each family will be likely to employ 
 every year ; certainly not one-third part of his average allow- 
 ance. 
 
 The diird cause of famines may be owing to the nature of 
 the products, particularly to that of rice. This gi-ain, the staff 
 of life in China, thougli it yields abundant returns in favour r 
 able seasons, is more liable to fail than most others. A drought 
 in its CcU-ly stages w ithers it on die gi'ound ; and an inunda- 
 tion, when nearly ripe, is equall}^ destructive. The birds and 
 the locusts, more numerous in this countr}^ than an European 
 can well conceive, infest it more than any other kind of grain. 
 In the northern provinces, where Avheat, millet, and pulse, are 
 cultivated, famines more rarel}' happen ; and I am persuaded 
 that if potitoes and Guinea corn (Zea-Mays) were once 
 adopted as the common vegetable food of the people, those 
 direful famines that produce such general misery would en- 
 tirel)^ cease, and the increase of population be as rapid as tliat 
 of Ireland. This root, in the northern provinces, and tliis 
 
398 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 grain, in tlie middle and southern ones, would never feil them. 
 An acre of potatoes would yield more food than an acre of rice, 
 and twice the nourishment. Rice is the poorest of all grain, 
 if Ave may judge from the slender and delicate forms of all the 
 people M ho use it as the chief article of their sustenance ; and 
 potatoes are just the contrarj.* 
 
 As Dr. Adam Smith observes, *' The chairmen, porters, 
 " and coal-heavers in London, and tiiose unfortunate women 
 *' who live by prostitution, the strongest men and the most 
 " beautiful women, perhaps, in the British dominions, are said 
 *' to be, the greater part of them, from the lowest rank of the 
 *' people in Ireland, aaIio are generally fed with this root; no 
 *' ibod can afford a more decisive proof of its nourishing qua- 
 " lit}% or of its being peculiai'ly suitable to the health of the 
 *' human constitution. " The Guinea com requires little or no 
 attention alter the seed is di'opped into the ground ; and its 
 leaves and juicy stems are not more nourishing for cattle than 
 its prolific heads ai-e for the sustenance of man. 
 
 Vaiious causes have contributed to the populousness of 
 China. Sinpe the Tartar conquest it may be said to have en- 
 joyed a profound peace ; for, in the different wars and skir- 
 mishes that have taken place with tlie neighbouring nations on 
 the side of India, and with the Russians on the confines of Si- 
 beria, a few Taitar soldiers only have been employed. The 
 Chinese ai'my is parcelled out as guards for the towns, cities, 
 and \'illages ; and stationed at the numberless posts on the roads 
 and canals. Being seldom relieved from the several guards, 
 they all marry and have families. A certain portion of land is 
 allotted for their use, which they have sufficient time to culti- 
 vate. As the nation has little foreign commerce, there are few 
 seamen : such as belong to the inland navigations are mostly 
 married. Although there be no direct penalty levied against 
 such as remain batchelors, as was tlie case among the Romans, 
 Tvhen they wished to repair the desolation that their civil wars 
 had occasioned, yet public opinion considers celibacy as dis- 
 gi-aceful, and a sort of infamy is attached to a man who con- 
 tinues unmarried beyond a certain time of life. And although 
 
 * The great advantage of a potatoe crop, as I before observed, is the 
 certainty of its success. Were a general failure of this root to take 
 place, as sometimes happens to crops of rice, Ireland, in its present state, 
 ivoiild experience all the horrors that attend a famine in some of the pro-j 
 vinces of China. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 399 
 
 in China the pubUc law be not established of the Jus trium 
 liberorum, by which every Roman citizen having three chil- 
 dren was entitled to certain privileges and immunities, jet 
 every male cliild may be pro\'ided for, and recei\e a stipend 
 from the moment of his birth, by his name being enrolled on 
 the military list. By the equal di\dsion of the counti}' into 
 small farms, ever)' peasant has the means of bringing up his 
 family, if drought and inundation do not fnistrate his labour ; 
 and the pursuits of agi-iculture ai-e more fa\ ourable to health, 
 and consequently to population, tlian mechanical employments 
 in crowded cities, and large manufactories, where those who 
 are doomed to toil are more Uable to become the victims of 
 disease and debaucherj^, than such as are exposed to the free 
 and open air, and to active and a\ holcsome labour. In China 
 there are few of such manufacturing cities. No gieat capitiils 
 are here employed in any one branch of the aits. In general 
 each labours for himself in his own profession. From the ge- 
 neral poverty that prevails among the lower ordci's of people, 
 the vice of drunkemiess is little practised among them. The 
 multitude, from necessity, are temperate in their diiet, to the 
 last degi'ee. The climate is moderate ; and, except in the 
 northern provinces, Avhere the cold is severe, remarkably uni- 
 form ; not liable to those sudden and great changes in tempe- 
 rature, which the human constitution is less able to resist than 
 the extremes of heat or cold, \^'hen steady and invariable, and 
 from which the inconveniences are, perhaps, no where so se- 
 verely felt as on our o\mi island. Except the small -pox and 
 contagious diseases that occasionally break out in their confined 
 and crowded cities, they ai'e liable to few epidemical disorders. 
 The still and inanimate kind of life \\ liich is led by the ^vomen, 
 at the same time that it is supposed to render them prolific, 
 preserves tliem from accidents that might cause untimely 
 births. Every woman suckles and nurses her own cliild. 
 
 The operation of these and other fa\'ourable causes that 
 might be assigned, in a countrj^ that has existed under the 
 same form of government, and preserved the same laws and 
 customs for so many ages, must necessaiily have created an 
 excess of population unknomi in most other parts of the world, 
 where the ravages of war, several times repeated in the course 
 of a centur}', or internal commotions, or pestilential disease, or 
 the eflfects of OAcrgrown wealth, sometimes sv.eep awa}- one 
 
400 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 
 
 half of a nation within the usual period allotted to the life of 
 man. 
 
 " What a grand and curious spectacle," as Sir George 
 Staunton observes, " is here exhibited to the mind of so large 
 *' a proportion of tlie whole human race, connected together 
 " in one great system of polity, submitting quietly and through 
 " so considerable an extent of countiy to one great sovereign ; 
 *' and uniform in their laws, their manners, and their language; 
 *' but differing essentially in each of these respects from every 
 " other portion of mankind ; and neither desirous of commu- 
 " nicating with, nor forming any designs against, the rest of 
 " the ^\orld." How strong an instance does China afford of 
 the truth of the observation, that men are more easily governed 
 by opinion than by power. 
 
CHAP. X. 
 
 JOURNEY THROUGH THE PROVINCE OF CANTON.— SITUATION 
 OF FOREIGNERS TRADING TO THIS PORT.— CONCLUSION. 
 
 Visible Change in tlie Character of the people. — Rugged Mountains. — Collie- 
 ries. — Temple in a Ca%ern.— Stone Quarries. — Various Plants for Use and Or- 
 nament. — Arrive at Canton. — Expense of the Embassy to the Chinese Govern 
 ment. — To tlic British Nation. — Nature and Inconveniences of the Trade to 
 Canton. — The Armenian and his Pearl. — Impositions of the Officers of Govern- 
 ment instanced. — Principal Cause of them is the Ignorance of the Language.— 
 Case of Chinese trading to London — A Chinese killed by a Seaman of Hia 
 Majesty's Ship Madras. — Delinquent saved from an ignominious Death, by » 
 proper Mode of Communication with the Government. — Conclusion. 
 
 WE had no sooner passed the summit of die high moun- 
 tain Mc-Hn, and entered the province of Quan-tung, or Ciui- 
 ton, than a \cry sensible difference was percei\-ed in the con- 
 duct of the inhabitants. Hitherto the embassy had met with 
 the greatest respect and ei\ility from all classes of the natives, 
 but now even the peasantr}- ran out of their houses, as Ave pas- 
 sed, and bawled iifter us Queitze-fan-quei, v hich, in their lan- 
 guage, are opprobrious and coniemptuous expressions, signi- 
 f}ing foreign de\'ils, imps ; epithets that aie bestoA\ed by the 
 enlightened Chinese on all foreigners. It was obvious that the 
 liaught}' and insolent manner in which all Europeans residing 
 at, or trading to, the j:)ort of Canton ai-e treated, had exteniled 
 itself to the northern frontier of die pro\-ince, Ijut it had not 
 crossed the mountain Me-lin ; the natives of Kiang-see being 
 a quiet, civil, and inoffensive people. In Quan-tung, the far- 
 ther we ad\-anccd, the more rude and insolent they became. A 
 timely rebuke, however, given to the governor of Nau-sheun* 
 foo, by X^m-ta-gin, for applying the above-mentioned oppro- 
 
 3 K 
 
403 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 brious epithets to the British embassy, had a good effect on 
 the Canton oflicers, who were now to be our coiuluctors 
 through their pro\'ince. 
 
 This contempt of foreigners is not confined to the upper 
 ranks or men in office, but pervades the very lowest class, who, 
 whilst they make no scruple of entering into the service of fo- 
 reign merchants residing in the countiy, and accepting the 
 most menial employments under them, performing the duties 
 of their several offices with diligence, punctuality, imd fidelity, 
 affect, at the same time, to despise their employers, and to 
 consider them as placed, in the scale of human beings, many 
 degrees below them. Having one day observed my Chinese 
 servant busily em.pioyed in drying a quantity of tea-leaves, 
 that had already been used for breakflist, and of Avhich he had 
 collected several pounds, I inquired ^vhat he meant to do with 
 them : he replied, to m.ix them with other tea and sell them. 
 *' And is that the way," said I, "in which you cheat your 
 " own countrymen?" " No," replied he, " my own coun- 
 " trymen are too wise to be so easily cheated ; but yours are 
 *' stupid enough to let lis ser\e you such like tricks ; and in- 
 " deed," continued he, with the greatest sang-froid imagina- 
 ble, *' any thing you get from us is quite good enough for 
 *' you." Affecting to beangr\Mvith him, he said, " he meant 
 *' for the second sort of Englishmen ;" which is a distinction 
 they give to the Americans.* 
 
 The city of Nan-sheun-foo A\as pleasantly situated on the 
 high bank of the river Pei-kiang-ho. The houses appeared to 
 be very old, the streets naiTow, large tracts of ground ^^ ithin the 
 walls unbuilt, others co\ered with ruins. While the barges 
 were preparing to receive on board the baggage, we took up 
 our lodgings in the public temple, that was dedicated to the 
 memory of Conflicius, being, at the same time the college 
 where the students are examined for their different degrees. It 
 consisted of a long dark room, divided by two rows of red pil- 
 lars into a middle and two side ailes, without furniture, paint- 
 ings, statues, or ornaments of any kind, except a few paper 
 lanterns suspended between the pillars ; the floor was of eailh, 
 and entirely broken up : to us it had more the appcai'ance of a 
 
 * In the Canton jargon, second chop Englishmen ; and even this dis- 
 tinction the Americans, I understand, have nearly forfeited in the m'uids 
 of the Chinese. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 405 
 
 large passage or gaiig-\\a}^ to some manufactory, as a brew- 
 house or iron-fouiidery, tli:m of the hcill of Confucius. On 
 each side, and at the forther extremity, w ere sca eral small 
 apartments, in which \\ e contri\ed to pass the night. 
 
 The barges in which \\e now embarked were xcry small, 
 owing to the shallowness of the nvtr. The officers, assembled 
 liere from different parts of the counti-y, detained us a whole 
 da}-, in order to hiwc an opportunity of lajing their se^•eral 
 complaints before our physician, at the recommendation of Van- 
 ta-gin, who had felt the good effects of his practice. Here, for 
 once we had an instance of Chinese pride giving way to self- 
 interest, and usurped superiority condescending to ask advice 
 of barbarians. W^e siiilcd for t\\o da}s in oiu- little barges, 
 through one of the most wild, mountainous, and bairen tracts 
 of country that I ever beheld, abounding more in the sublime 
 and horrible than in the picturesque or the beautiful. The lofty 
 .summits of the mountains seemed to touch each other across 
 the ri\'er, and at a distance it appeared as if we had to sail 
 tlirough an LU'ched cavern. The massy fragments that had fallen 
 down from time to time, and impeded the navigation, Avere 
 indications that the passage was not altogether free irom danger. 
 Fi^•e remarkable points of sand-stonc rock, rising in succession 
 above each other with perpendicular faces, seemed as if they 
 had been hewn out of one solid mountain : they ^^■ere called 
 ou-ma-too, or the {ixG horses' heads. The mountains at a dis- 
 tance, on each side of the river, were co\^ered with pines, the 
 nearer hills with coppice- .vood, in which the Camellia pre- 
 vailed ; and in the little glens were clusters of fishermen's 
 huts, surrounded by small plantations of tobacco. 
 
 Within the defile of tliese wild mountains we observed se- 
 veral extensiAC collieries, which were adxantageously AVorked 
 by driving levels from the ri\er into their sides. The coals 
 iDrought out of the horizontal adits were immediatel}' low ered 
 from a pier into vessels that were ready to receiAC and trans- 
 port them to the potteries of this province, and of Kiang-see. 
 Coal is little used in its raw state, but is first charred in large 
 pits that are dug in the gi'ound. Coal dust, mixed with eaith, 
 and formed into square blocks, is frequently used to heat their 
 little stOA'cs, on which they boil their rice. 
 
 At the cit\^ of Tchao-tchoo-foo, where we aiTived on the 13th, 
 we exchanged our flat-bottomed boats for large and commo- 
 dious yachts, the mxr being here much increased by the con- 
 
404 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 fluence of another stream. The boats before this city were 
 mostl}'^ managed by young girls, whose dress consisted of a 
 neat \\hite jacket and petticoat and a gipsey straw hat. Having 
 for so great a length of time scarcely ever set our eyes upon a 
 female, except the heads of some at a distance peeping from be- 
 hind the mud Avails that suiTOund the houses, or labouring in 
 the grounds of Kiang-see, the ferry-girls, though in reality very 
 plain and coarse-featured, Avere considered as the most beau- 
 tiful objects that had occurcd in the A\'hdie journey. To the 
 occupation of feiiying passengers over the river, it seemed, they 
 added another, not quite so honourable, for \\hich, hoA\e\'er, 
 they had not only the consent and approbation of their parents, 
 but also the sanction of the government, or perhaps, to speak 
 more correctly, of the governing magistrates, given in consi- 
 deration of their receivuig a portion of the wages of prostitu- 
 tion. 
 
 In this mountainous district a few fishermen's huts and those 
 of the colliers AAere the only habitations that occurred ; but the 
 defect of population was abundantly supplied by the number 
 of wooded d^vellings that Avere floating on the river. Small 
 huts, to the number of thirt}" or fort}-, were sometimes erected 
 upon a single floating raft of fir-baulks, lashed together by the 
 ends and the sides. On these rafts the people cairy on their 
 trade or occupation, paiticularly such as work in A\-ood. 
 
 Our conductors directed the }-achts to halt before a detached 
 rock, rising with a perpendicular front from the margin of the 
 river to the height of seven hundred feet. In this front we ob- 
 served a cavern, before which A\as a terrace that had been cut 
 out of the rock, accessible by a flight of steps from the river. 
 Proceeding from the terrace into the cavity of the rock, we as- 
 cended another flight of stairs, also cut out of solid stone, which 
 led into a very spacious apartment. In the centre of this apart- 
 ment sat the goddess Poo-sa upon a kind of altar, constituting 
 a part of the rock, and he\\'n into the shape of the Lien-wha or 
 Nelumbium. A small opening, next the river, admitted a 
 *' dim religious light," suitable to the solemnity of the place, 
 which we we were told was a temple consecrated to Poo-sa, and 
 a monasteiy for the residence of a fc^v superannuated priests. 
 On the smooth sides of the apartment ^^^as inscribed a multi- 
 tude of Chinese verses, some cut into the rock, and others 
 painted upon it. The lodgings of the priests were small caves 
 branching out of the large temple. A third flight of steps led 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 405 
 
 froni this to a second stor}*, wliicli \\as also lighted by a small 
 aperture in front, that Avas nearly choakcd up by an inimense 
 mass of stalectite that had been formed, and was still increasing, 
 by the constant oozinj^ of water holding in solution calcare- 
 ous matter, and suspended from a projection of tlic upper part 
 of the rock. But the light was suflicient to discover a gigantic 
 image ^ith a Saracen face, \vho " grinn'd horribly a ghastly 
 " smile." On his head was a sort of crown, in one hand he 
 lield a naked scimitar, and a firebrand in the other ; iDut the 
 liistory of this colossal divinity seemed to be imperfectly 
 knoAVTJ, even to the ^■otarics of Poo-sa ihemseh'cs. He had, in 
 allf probability, been a wairior in his day ; the Theseus or the 
 Hercules of China. The cave of the Cumaian Sib}l could not 
 be better suited for dealing out the mysterious decrees of fate 
 to the superstitious multitude than that of the Quan-gin-shan, 
 from whence the oracle of future destin}-, in like manner, 
 
 " Horrenclis canit ambages, antroque remrigit, 
 ♦* Obscuris vera involvens." 
 
 " The wond'rous truths, involv'din rlildlcs, g'avc, 
 " And fiu-ious bcllow'd round tlie gloomy cave." 
 
 Lord Macartney observed that this singular temple brought 
 to his recollection a Franciscan monastery lie had seen in 
 Portugal, near Cape Roxent, usually called the Cork Con\cnt, 
 " ^\hich is an excavation of considerable extent under a hill, 
 " divided into a great number of cells, and fitted up ^ith a 
 " church, sacristy, rcfecton-, and e\-ery requisite apartmerit 
 " for the accommodation of the^ miserable Cordeliers A\ho 
 *' burrow in it. The inside is entirely lined \\ith cork ; the 
 *' Avails, the roofs, the floors, are covered Mith cork ; the 
 " tables, seats, chairs, beds, couches, the furniture of the 
 " chapel, the crucifixes, and e^'cry other implement, arc all 
 " made of cork. The place was certainly dismal and com- 
 " fortless to a great degree, but it \a anted' the gigantic form, 
 " the grim features, the terrific aspect, Mhich distinguish the 
 " temple of Poo-sa, in the rock of Quan-gin-shan!" Dis- 
 mal as this gloomy den appeared to be, where a few misera- 
 ble beings had Aoluntai-ily chained themsehes to a rock, to 
 beknawed by the vultures of superstition and fanaticism, it is 
 still less so than an apartment of the Franciscan con\'ent in 
 Madeira, the A\alls of A\hich are entirely co\ered \^id^. human 
 
409 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 skulls, and the bones of legs and arms, placed alternately in 
 horizontal rov.s. A dirty lamp, siispeiided from the ceiling, 
 and constantly attended by an old bald-headed friar of the 
 order, to keep the feeble light just glimmering in the socket, 
 serves to she^^^ indistinctly to strangers tliis disgusting me- 
 mento mori. It would be difficult to determine \\^hich of tlie 
 three were the most useless members of society, the monks 
 of Poo-sa, the monks of the Cork Con\ent, or the monks 
 of Golgotha. 
 
 In several places among the wild and romantic mountains 
 through which we were ciuTied on this river, we noticed quar- 
 ries of great extent, out of which huge stones had been cut 
 for sepulchral monuments, for the arches of bridges, for 
 architraves, for paving the streets, and for various other uses. 
 To obtain these lai-ge masses, the saw is applied at the upper 
 suiface, and they v.'ork do^vn vertically to the length required. 
 Each stone is shaped and fcshioned to the size that may be 
 ^\anted, before it is removed from the parent rock ; by \\ hich 
 much difficulty is avoided, and less power is required in con- 
 veying it to its destination. Rude misshapen blocks, requiring 
 additional labour for their removal, are never detached from 
 the rock in such a state. In this respect they aie more provi- 
 dent than the late empress of Russia, vvdio, at an immense 
 expense, and with the aid of complicated machinery, caused 
 a block of stone to be brought to her capital, to serve as a 
 pedestal for the statue of the Czar Peter, ^-ihere it \^'as found 
 expedient to reduce it to t^\o-thirds of its original dimen- 
 sions. 
 
 Between the city of Canton and the first pagoda on the 
 bank of the river, there is a continued series of similar quar- 
 ries, ^^'hich appear not to have been worked for many years. 
 The regular and formal manner in which the stones have been 
 cut away, exhibiting lengthened streets of houses \\ ith qua- 
 drangular chambers, in the sides of which are square holes 
 at equal distances, as if intended for the reception of beams ; 
 the smoothness and perfect perpendicularity of the sides, and 
 the nimiber of detached pillars that are scattered over the plain, 
 would justify a similar mistake to that of Mr. Addison's 
 Doctor of one of the German universities, whom he found, 
 at Chateau d'Un in France, carefully measuring the free-stone 
 quan-ies at that place, which he had conceived to be the venera- 
 ble remains of vast subterranean palaces of great antiquity. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 4tT 
 
 Almost all the mountains that occuiTcd in our passage 
 through China were of primasN'al gi-auiic, some few of sand- 
 stone, and the infericH' hills were generally of lime-stone, or 
 coarse gi'ey marble. Except die Ladrone islands on the 
 south, and some of the Chu-san isUmds on the east, we ob- 
 served no api^CLU'ances in the whole country of volciuiic pro- 
 ductions. The high mountains, indeed, that form gicat 
 continental chahis, are seldom, if ever, of \olcanic formation. 
 The presence of a vast volume of water seems to be indis- 
 pensibly necessiu'y to caiTy on this operation of nature ; and, 
 accordingly, we find that volcanic mountains ai'c generally 
 close to the sea-coast, or entirely insulated. Thus, although 
 a great part of the islands on the coast of China are ^"olcanic, 
 we met with no trace of subterranean heat, either in volcanic 
 products or Aermal springs, on the whole continent. Yet 
 cai'dKjuakes are said to have been frequently felt in all die 
 provinces, but slight and of short duration. 
 
 About seven miles to tlie southward of the temple in die 
 rock, the mountains abruptly ceased, and we entered on a 
 wide extended plain which, to the south wai'd and on each 
 ^ide, was terminated only by the horizon. This sudden 
 transition from baiTenness to fertility, from the sublime to 
 the beautiful, from iiTCgularity to uniibnuity, could not fail 
 to please, as all strong contrasts usually do. The country 
 was now in a high state of tiihige : the chief products were 
 rice, sugar-canes, and tobacco ; and the river was so much 
 augmented by the ti-ibutary streams of the mountains, which 
 we had just left behind, that it was nearly half a mile in widtli. 
 Canals branched from its two banks in e\'ery direction. At 
 the city of San-shwee-shien, we obseiTcd the current of the 
 ri's'er receding, being dri\en back by the flux of the tide. 
 
 On the 10th we halted before a village which was just 
 within sight of the suburbs of Canton. Here the embassa- 
 dor was met by the commissioners of the East India Com- 
 pany, whom tlie Chinese had allowed to proceed thus far 
 from the factoiy, and to ^\•hich place the servants of the com- 
 pany are occasionally permitted to malce their parties of pl^'d- 
 sure. In the neighbourhood of diis village are extcnsiAC 
 gardens for the supply of the city with \'egetables. In some 
 we obsei-ved nurseries for propagatiiig the rai'c, the beautiful, 
 the curious, or die useful plants of the countr\-, which are 
 sent to Ciuitoa for scde. On diis account wc were not sorry 
 
408 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 to be obliged to spend the remainder of the day at this place. 
 Among the choice plants wt noticed the large peonia before 
 mentioned, ^hitc, red, and variegated ; the elegant limodo- 
 rum tankervillire, and that singular plant tlie epidendrum fios 
 aeris, so called from its vegetating without the assistance of 
 eartli or A\'ater ; the h}biscus mutabilis, the abelmoschus, and 
 other species of this genus ; the double variegated Camellia 
 Japonica ; the great holly-hock ; the scarlet amarimthus and 
 another species of the same genus, and a very elegant celosia 
 or cock's-comb ; the nereum oleander, sometimes called the 
 Ceylon rose, and the yu-lan, a species of magnolia, the 
 flowers of which appear before the leaves burst from the 
 buds. Of tlie scented plants the plumeria and a double 
 }lG\\'ej-ing jasmine A\ere the most esteemed. We observed 
 also in pots the ocymum or sweet Basil, clorantiius inconspi- 
 cuus, called chu-ian, whose leaves are sometimes mixed with 
 those of tea to give them a peculiar flavour ; the olea fragrans, 
 or sweet-scented olive, said also be used for the same pur- 
 pose ; a species of myrtle ; the much esteemed rosa sinica ; 
 the tuberose ; the strong scented gardenia fiorida, improperly 
 called the cape jasmine ; the China-pink and several others, 
 to enumerate which would exceed tlie limits of this work. 
 
 Of fruits we noticed a variety of figs, and three species of 
 mulbenies ; peaches and almonds ; the annona or custai'd ap- 
 ple ; the eugenia jambos, or rose-apple ; the much esteemed 
 lee-tchee or sapindus-edulis ; and the kselreuteria, another 
 species of the same genus ; the averhoa carambola, an excel- 
 lent fruit for tarts ; and the ou-long-shoo, the sterculia plata- 
 nifolia. Besides these were abundance of oranges and bana- 
 nas. 
 
 As vegetables for the table, was a great variety of beans and 
 calavances, among which was the dolichos soja, or soy plant, 
 and the polystachios, with its large clusters of beautiful scai*- 
 let flo\\ers ; the cytisus cajan whose seed yields the famous 
 bean-milk, which it is the custom of the emperor to offer to 
 embassadors on their presentation; large mild radishes, onions, 
 gai:lick, capsicum or Cayenne pepper ; convolvulus batatas, 
 or sweet potatoes ; t^vo species of tobacco ; amomum, or 
 ginger, in gi'eat quantities, the root of which they preser\'e 
 in syrup ; sinapis, or mustard, and the brassica oricntalis, 
 from "^^'hich an oil is expressed for the t\ble. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 409 
 
 Of plants that were useful in the arts, we observed the 
 rhus vemix, or varnish-tree, and t^\"o other species of the 
 same genus ; curcuma, or timneric ; carthamus used as a dye, 
 and the polygonum Chinense for the same puqiose ; the rha- 
 pis flabelliformis, the dried leaA'cs of \\ hich aie used for fans 
 among the common people, and particulai'ly by those who li\'e 
 in vessels ; corchorus, whose bai'k, in India, is used as flax ; 
 but not, I believe, to any extent in China, the wliite nettle 
 being iiere preferred. The only medicinal plants WQie the 
 rheum palmatum, artemisia, and the smilax or China root. 
 
 To make our entire into Canton the more splendid, a num- 
 ber of superb barges ^vere sent to meet us, canying flags and 
 streamers and umbrellas and other insignia of office ; and in 
 some were bands of music. About the middle of the day 
 we arrived before the factories, which constitute a line of 
 buildings in the European style, extending along the left 
 bank of the river, \\here the embassador \\as receiA ed by the 
 song-too, or viceroy, the governor, the ho-poo, or collector 
 of the customs, and all the principal officers of the gOAcrn- 
 ment. Fiom hence we were conducted to tlie opposite side 
 of the ri\'er, where a temporary building of poles and mats 
 had been prepai'ed for the occasion ; ^vithin which wns a 
 screen of yellow silk bearing die name of the emperor in gilt 
 characters. Before diis screen the viceroy and other officers 
 performed the usual prostrations, in token of gratitude to his 
 imperial majesty, for his having vouchsafed us a prosperous 
 journey. 
 
 It is but doing justice to the Chinese government and to the 
 individuals in its employ, who had any concern in the affairs 
 of the cmbass}% to observe that as far as regarded ourseh'es, 
 their conduct \\as uniformly marked by liberality, attention, and 
 an earnest desire to please. Nor is there any vanitj^ in sa}'ing 
 that, after obser\ing us closely in the course of a long journey 
 and daily intercourse, the officers of government gi-adually dis- 
 missed the prejudices imbibed against us, as foreigners, from 
 their earliest }'oudi. Gained by our frank and open manners, 
 and by little attentions, thev seemed to fl}* with pleasure to our 
 society, as a relief from the tedious formalities they were 
 obliged to assume in their ofl&cial capacity. Van and Chou con- 
 stanth' passed the c \ enings in some of our }'achts. It is impos- 
 sible to s]ienk of th.osc two worthy men in terms equal to their 
 ik'.\crt Kind, condescend in e;, unremitting in their attentions, 
 
 "3 F 
 
410 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 they never betrayed one moment of ill humour from the time 
 we entered China till the)- took their final leave at Canton. 
 These two men were capable of real attachments. They insisted 
 on accompanying the embassador on board the Lion, wher« 
 they took their last farewel. At pairing they burst into tears, 
 and shewed the strongest marks of sensibility and concern. 
 Their feelings quite overcame them, and they left the Lion sor- 
 rowful and dejected. Early the following morniiig tliey sent 
 on board twenty baskets of fruits and vegetables, as a farewel 
 token of their remembrance. We had the satisfaction to hear 
 tliat immediately on their aiTi\ al at Pekin they both were pro- 
 moted. Chou is at present in a high situation at court, but 
 Van, the cheerful good-humoured Van, has paid tlie debt of 
 nature ; having fallen honourably in the service of his country. 
 On the conduct of Lee, our Chinese interpreter, any praise that 
 I could bcsto^v A\ould be far inadequate to his merit. Fully 
 sensible of liis perilous situation, he never at any one time 
 shrunk from his duty. At Macao he took an aifectionate leave 
 of his English friends, \\ ith whom, though placed in one of 
 the remotest provinces of the empire, he still contrives to cor- 
 respond. The embassador, lord Macartney, has had several 
 letters from him; the last of which is of so late a date as March 
 1802 ; so that his sensibility has not been diminished either 
 by time or distance. 
 
 It is the custom of China to consider all embassadors as 
 guests of the emperor, from the moment they enter any part of 
 his dominions, until they ai^e again entirely out of them. The 
 inconvenience of this custom was severely felt by us, as it pre- 
 vented us from purchasing, in an open manner, many trifling 
 articles that ^vould ha\^e been acceptable. The ver}' consider- 
 able expense, incun-ed by the court on this account, may be 
 one reason for prescribing the limited time of forty days for all 
 embassadors to remain at the capital. To meet the expenses 
 of the present embassy, Van-ta-gin assured me that they \vere 
 furnished M'ith an order to dra^\" on the public treasuries of the 
 different provinces through ^^■hich v.e liad to pass, to the amount 
 of five thousand ounces of siher a-day, or about one thousand 
 six hundred pounds sterling : and that fifteen hundred ounces 
 a-day had been issued out of the treasury at Pekin for the sup- 
 port of the embassy during its continuance there. Supposing, 
 then, these data to be correct, and I see no reason for calling 
 their authenticity in question, vvc may form an estimate of the 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 411 
 
 whole expense of tliis embass}- to the Chinese government. 
 From the 6th of August (the da}- wc entered 
 
 the Pei-ho) to the 21st (when we anived Oz. 
 
 in Pekin) inclusive - - - IG days, 80,000 
 
 From the 22d August to the 6th October (in 
 
 Pekin and in Gehol) - - - 46 days, 69,000 
 Fromtlie 7th October to the 19th December 
 
 (when we arrived at Canton) - - 74\lays, 370,000 
 
 Total ounces of silver 5 1 9,000 
 
 Or one hundred and se-senty-three thousand pounds sterling ; 
 three Chinese ounces being equal to one pound sterling. 
 
 It is haixUy possible diat this enormous sum of money could 
 liave been expended on account of the embassy, though I ha\c 
 no doubt of its having been issued out of the imperial trea- 
 sury for that purpose. One of the missionai'ies informed mc, 
 in Pekin, that tlie gazette of that capital contained an aiticlc 
 stating the liberality of the emperor towards the English em- 
 bassador, in his having directed no less a sum than fifteen hun- 
 dred ounces of silver to be applied for the daily expenses of 
 the embass)", while stationaiy hi the capital and at Gehol. The 
 same gendeman made an obscr\'ation, that the great officers of 
 go\ ernmcnt, as "v\ell as those \\ ho had the good luck to be aj)- 
 pointed to manage the concenis of a foreign embassy, consi- 
 dered it as one of the best wind-falls in the emperor's gift, the 
 difference between the allow anccs and the actual expenditure 
 being equivalent to a little fortune. 
 
 Van-ta-gin, indeed, explained to usthat, although the impe- 
 rial warrant was signed for those sums, yet that, ha\'ing a num- 
 ber of offices to pass through, in all of w hich it diminished a 
 little, the whole of it ^^•as not actually expended on the embassy. 
 He gave to the embassador an excellent illustration of the man- 
 ner in which the imperial bounty was sometimes applied. An 
 inundation had swept aA\ay, the preceding w inter, a \\ hole vil- 
 lage in the province of Shan-tung, so suddenly, that tlie inha- 
 bitants could save nothing but their lives. The emperor hav- 
 ing once lodged at the place, immediately ordered 100,000 
 ounces ofsih-er for their relief, ^ut of which the first officer of 
 the treasury took 20,000, the second 10,000, the third 5,000, 
 and so on, till at last there remained only 20,000 for the poor 
 siiftcrcrs. So that the boasted morality of China is prettj- 
 
412 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 much the same, when reduced to practice, as that of other 
 countries. 
 
 The real expense, however, of the British embassy, could 
 not have been a trifle, ^vhen we consider w^hat a vast multitude 
 of men, horses, and vessels were constantly employed on tlie 
 occasion. Van-ta-gin assured me that there were seldom fewer 
 than one thousand men, and frequently many more, employed 
 one way or other in its service ; and I am persuaded he did not 
 intend to exaggerate. In the first place, from the moutli of the 
 Pev-ho to Tong-tchoo, we had forty-one yachts or barges, each 
 on an average, including boatmen, trackers, and soldiers, hav- 
 ing on board fifteen men : this gives six hundred and fifteen 
 men to the boats onl}\ Caterers running about the country to 
 coiiect provisions, boatmen to bring them to the several barges, 
 fi.e conducting officers, and their numerous retinue, are not 
 ^acluded in diis estimate. From Tong-tchoo near three thou- 
 sand men were employed to carry the presents and baggage, 
 iirst to Hung-ya-yuen, beyond Pekin, and then back again to 
 tile cap'.cai, which took them three days. In our return from 
 Tong-ichoo to Hang-tchoo-foo, we had a fleet of thirty vessels, 
 v/;th ten men at least, and, for the greatest part of the journey, 
 tvv eii'ry additional trackers to each vessel ; this gives nine hun- 
 dred people for the yachts alone. 
 
 From Hang-tchoo-foo to Eu-shan-shien, and from Hang- 
 tchoO'fco to Chu-san, there might probably be employed about 
 forty vessels, "with tweh'e men to each, or four hundred and 
 eiglity in die whole. And, besides the people employed by 
 the officers of government to purchase provisions, numbers 
 were stationed in different parts of the rivers to contract the 
 sti'eam, by raking together the pebbles where, otherwise, the 
 water ^vould have been too shallow for the boats to pass ; and 
 others to attend at all the sluices on the canals, to assist the ves- 
 sels in getting through the same. 
 
 From Tchang-shan-shien to Eu-shan-shien, overland, we 
 had about forty horses, and three or four hundred men to carry 
 the ba£re:a2:e. 
 
 From the Po-yang lake, to Canton, we had generally about 
 twenty-six vessels, with twenty men to each, including boat- 
 men, soldiers, and trackers, which gives five hundred and 
 twenty men for these alone. 
 
 The embassy consisted of near one hundred persons ; but 
 l^s for the several officers, and their numerous retinue of guards, 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 413 
 
 attendants, and runners, I have not the least idea to w hat their 
 numbers might amount; all of whom, being on extraordinary 
 service, were supported at the public expense. 
 
 The whole expense of the embassy to this countr}-, includ- 
 ing the presents, did not exceed eighty thousand pounds ; an 
 inconsiderable sum for such a nation as Great Britain on such 
 an occasion, and not more than a fourth pait of ^\"hat has been 
 generally imagined. 
 
 Although the British factor}- \\as in CAcry sense more com- 
 fortable thiui the most splendid palace that the countiy aftbrded, 
 yet it was so repugnant to the principles of the government, 
 for an embassador to take uj) his abode in the same duelling 
 w ith merchants, that it ^^■as thought expedient to indulge their 
 notions in this respect, and to accept a large house in the midst 
 of a garden, on the opposite side of the river, a\ hich Mas fitted 
 up and furnished with beds in the European manner, with 
 glazed sash A\indo\\s, and \a ith fire grates suitable for burning 
 coals. On our anival here we found a company of comedians 
 hard at work, in the middle of a piece, \\hich it seemed had 
 begun at sun-rise; but their squalling and their shrill and 
 harsh music were so dreadful, that the} ^^•ere prevailed upon, 
 with diificulty, to break oft' during dinner, \\hich was served 
 up in a -v'iranda, directly opposite the thaitre. 
 
 Next morning, ho^^■ever, about sun-rise, they set to work 
 afresh, but at the particular request of the embassador, in 
 which he M-as joined b}- the A\"hole suite, they were dischai'ged, 
 to the no small astonishment of oiu" Chinese conductors, who 
 concluded, from diis circumstance, that the English had very 
 little taste for elegant amusements. Pla}-ers, it seems, are here 
 liired by the day ; and the more incessantly the}' labour, the 
 more they ai'e applauded. They are always ready to begin 
 any one piece out of a list of twent}- or thirty, that is presented 
 for the principal \'isitor to make his choice. 
 
 The nature of tlie trade carried on by foreign nations at the 
 port of Canton is so well known, that it Mould be supei-fluous 
 for me to dA\ell on that subject. The complaints of all nations 
 against the extortions practised there have been loudly and fre- 
 quendy heard in Europe ; but the steps that have hitherto been 
 tiiken ha\e proved unavailing. The common ansM er is, " Wh)'- 
 " do you come here? We take in exckmge your articles of 
 " produce and manufacture, A\hich we really have no occasion 
 " for, and give you in return cm- precious tea, ^hich natiuv 
 
4U TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 ** has denied to your country ; and 3'et you are not satisfied. 
 *' Why do you so often \isit a countr}% whose customs you 
 '^ dishke ? We do not in\ ite } ou to come among us ; but Avheii 
 *' you do come, and bcha\c ^^'ell, avc treat you accordingly. 
 ♦' Respect then our hospitdity, but don't pretend to regulate 
 " or reform it." Such is the language held to Europeans by 
 all the petty officers of go\"cniment, with ^vhom they have to 
 deal. 
 
 With such sentiments one cannot be suiprised that foreign 
 merchants should be received with indifi'erence, if not handled 
 with rudeness, and that the fair trader should be liable to ex- 
 tortions. This is still more likely to happen from the complete 
 monopoly of iill foreign trade being consigned to a limited num- 
 ber of merchants, seldom, I believe, exceeding eight, who are 
 sanctioned by government. The cargoes of tin, lead, cotton, 
 opium, and large sums of Spanish dollars, sent to Canton from 
 Europe, India, and America, all pass through the hands of 
 these Hong merchants, Vvho also fiirnish the return cargoes. 
 As the capital employed is far beyond ai:iy thing of the kind 
 we can conceive in Europe by so few individuals, their profits 
 must be proportionally great, or they could not be able to bear 
 the expense of the numerous and magnificent presents which 
 the}" are expected to make to the superior officers of govern- 
 ment at Canton, who, in their turn, find it expedient to divide 
 these with the emperor and his ministers in the capital. The 
 •N^arious toys, automatons, moving and musical figures from 
 Coxe's museum, the mathematical and astronomical instru- 
 ments, clocks, v/atches, machinery, jewellery, all made in 
 London, and now in the diffi:rent palaces of the emperor of 
 China, are said to be valued at no less a sum than two millions 
 sterling, all presents from Canton. The principal officers of 
 this government ai'c invariably sent doAni from Pekin ; they 
 arrive poor, and, in the course of three years, return with im- 
 mense riches. How much of the enormous "\\ealth of Ho- 
 tchung-tang came from the same quarter it is difficult to say ; 
 but the great influence he possessed over the emperor, and his 
 intimacy with the viceroy of Canton, who was superseded in 
 1795, leave no doubt, that a veiy considerable part of it was 
 drawn from this port. The large pearl, va hich forms one of the 
 charges preferred against him, wds a present from Canton, of 
 which I have been told a curious histor}', by a gentleman -w ho 
 -was on the spot at the time it happened. An Armenian mer- 
 
. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 415 
 
 chant brought this pearl to Canton, in the expectation of making 
 his fortune. Its size and beauty soon became knowii, and at- 
 tracted the attention of the officers and the merchants, ^vho 
 paid tlieir daily visits to the Armenian, offering liim prices iiir 
 inadequate to its value. At length, liowevcr, after minute and 
 repeated examinations, a price was agreed upon and a deposit 
 made, but the Armenian \\as to keep possession of the pearl 
 till the remaining part of the purchase-money should be ready ; 
 and, in order to obviate any possil)ility of trick, the box in 
 which it was kept was sealed with the purchaser's seal. Se- 
 veral days elapsed without his hearing any thing further from 
 tlie Chinese ; and, at length, the time aj^proached when ail 
 foreign merchants are ordered down to Macao. The Amic- 
 nian, in vain, endeavoured to find out the people A\'ho had pur- 
 chased his pcai-1 ; but he contented himself with tlie reflection 
 that, although he had been disappointed in the main object of 
 his journey, he still had his property, and that the deposit was 
 more than sufficient to defra}' his expenses. On reaching his 
 home, he had no longer an}' scruple in breaking open the seal ; 
 but his mortification may easily be supposed, on discovering 
 tliat his real pcai'l had been exclianged for an aitificial one, so 
 ver}' like as not to be detected but b}' the most critical exami- 
 nation. The daily visits of these people, it seems, were for no 
 other purpose than to enable them to forge an accurate imita- 
 tion, which they had dexterously substituted for the real one, 
 when they proposed the cunning expedient of sealing the box 
 in which it was inclosed. The Armenians, howe\'er, vvere de- 
 termined not to be outdone by the Chinese. A noted cha- 
 racter, of the name of Baboom, equally well known in Bengal 
 and Madras as in Canton, just before his failure in about half 
 a million sterling, deposited a valuable casket of pearls, as he 
 represented them, in the hands of one of the Hong merchants, 
 as a pledge for a large sum of money, which, v/hen opened, 
 instead of pearls was found to be a casket of peas. 
 
 It has always been considered that a foreigner has little chance 
 of obtaining justice at Canton. The import and export duties, 
 which, b}- tlie lav/ of the countiy, ought to be levied ad valorem, 
 are ai-bitrarily fixed, according to the fancy of the collcctoi-. 
 And although the court is at ail times rea^dy to punish, by con- 
 fiscation of their property, such as have been guilty of coiTup- 
 tion and oppression, yet, by accepting their presents, it seems 
 to lend them its encouragement. Besides, the distance from 
 
416 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 Canton to the metropolis is so great, tlie temptations so strong 
 and the chances of impunity so much in their favour, that 
 to be honest, when power and opportunity lend their aid to 
 roguer}^ is a virtue not within the piile of Chinese morality. 
 A striking instance of their peculation appeared in a circum- 
 stance that was connected with the British embassy. In con- 
 sideration of the Hindostan ha\ ing carried presents for tlie 
 emperor, an order was issued from court that she should be 
 exempt from duties at any of the ports where she might take 
 in a cargo. It happened that the Hong merchants had already 
 paid the Hindostan's duties ^ith those of the other ships, of 
 which her paiticular shai'e was 30,000 ounces of silver. The 
 hoo-poo, or collector, was therefore requested to return this 
 sum, agreeably to the order from court ; but he refunded only, 
 into Mr. Browne's hands, 14,000 dollai's, which can be 
 reckoned as little more than 11,000 ounces, observing that so 
 much was the exact amount of the emperor's duties. As in 
 this instance, of a public nature, the collector could not be 
 supposed to act without circumspection, we may conclude 
 how \^ery small a proportion of the duties, extorted from fo- 
 reigners trading to Canton, finds its way into the imperial 
 treasur}-. 
 
 Thus the taxes, which, if we may judge of them from 
 those paid by their own countrjaiicn, are extremely moderate, 
 by the abuses of the administration become serious grievances 
 to the foreign merchant, who, hoA\ e> er, has never hitherto 
 employed the only probable mean of obtaining redress — 
 that of making himself acquainted ^vith the language of the 
 countr}', so as to be able to ifmonstrate to the high officers of 
 state, against the oppressions and impositions of those who 
 act in inferior capacities ; for, however rapacious and cormpt 
 the first in authority may be, his timid nature would shrink 
 immediately from a bold, clamorous, and able complainant, 
 who possessed the means of making his delinquency noto- 
 rious. This obsenation has been verified by a recent occur- 
 rence. A fraudulent suppression of a bankruptcy, for wliich 
 the govenmient stood responsible, and by which the interests 
 of the East India Company, as well as of several individuals 
 in India and Canton, would have materially suffered, was 
 completely frustrated by the simple circumstance of Mr. 
 Drummond, the chief of the factory, rushing into the city 
 of Canton, and repeating aloud a few >\ ords, wliich he had 
 
. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 417 
 
 got by heart, whilst at the same time, he held up a written 
 memorial ; the consequence of which was, that tlie memorial 
 was immediately cairied to the viceroy, and the grievance 
 complained of therein redressed. It ^vould have been in vain 
 to convey it through any of the inferior officers, or the Hong 
 merchants, as they were all interested in keeping it from the 
 kno vlcdge of government. 
 
 The supposed difficulty of acquiring the Chinese language 
 has hitherto intimidated the residents in Canton from making 
 the attempt. Satisfied in transacting the Company's concerns 
 through the medium of a jargon of broken English, \\'hich 
 all the Hong merchants, and even the inferior ti-adcsmen and 
 mechanics, find it worth their while to acquire, they have 
 totally neglected the language, as well as every other branch 
 of information respecting the most interesting and extraordi- 
 nary empire on the face of the globe. The attainment, in 
 feet, of four or five thousand chai-acters, which are sufficient 
 to write clearly and copiously on any subject, is much less 
 difficult than usually has been imagined, but it would require 
 great attention and unremitting perseverance, such perhaps 
 as few arc willing to l)estow, who are placed in situations 
 which enable them to calculate, almost to a certaint}-, on 
 realizing a fixed sum in a given number of years. The cli- 
 mate may also be adverse to intense application ; but if the 
 foundation ^^•as laid in England, much of the difficulty would 
 thus be ob^■iated. The French, awai'e of the solid advantages 
 that result from the knowledge of languages, are at this moment 
 holding out every encouragement to the study of Chinese litera- 
 ture; obviously not without design. They know that the Chi- 
 nese character is understood from the gulf of Siam to the Tar- 
 tarian Sea, and over a very considerable part of the great Eastern 
 Archipelago ; that the Cochin Chinese, with whom they have 
 already firmly rooted themselves, use no other writing than 
 the pure Chinese character, which is also the case with the 
 Japanese. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the British na- 
 tion will not neglect the means of being able to meet the 
 French, if necessary, even on this ground. The method of 
 accomplishing this desirable object appears to be extremely 
 simple. If tlie directors of the East India Company ^^Tre 
 to make it a rule that no writer should be appointed to China 
 until he kad made himself acquainted with five hundi'ed or a 
 
 3 G 
 
41 S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 thousand characters of the language,* I will be bold to say 
 that, \\ here the r.uniber sent out is so few (the establishment 
 not exceeding t^^'enty) and the emoluments so very liberal, 
 tliere A\ouId be as little danger as at present, by such a regula- 
 tion, of the appointments being made out of their own families. 
 The noble marquis at the head of their affairs in India has 
 established an institution, \\ hich seems to bid fair for producing 
 a mutual benefit to the parent state and the native Indians. The 
 exertions of Sir William Jones and a few others had, indeed, 
 long before this, been productive of the happiest effects ; and 
 great numbers, both on the civil and military establishments 
 of the company, made themselves acquainted, in a certain de- 
 gree, with the different languages spoken in the country. In, 
 j^ct, it became a matter of necessity, in order to remove pre- 
 judices imbibed against us, and to meet those of tlie natives. 
 The Portuguese and the Dutch adopted a different policy; 
 and, like our residents at Canton, communicated only \\ith tJie 
 natives in a jargon of their own languages. Mr. Thunberg 
 tells a story of a Dutch gentleman, who had resided as chief 
 of their factory in Japan for fourteen years, during which pe- 
 riod he had been four times in the capacity of embassador to 
 the court, yet, on being asked the name of the emperor of Ja- 
 ^ pan, freely avowed that it had ntxtr occurred to him to ask it. 
 In fact, his grand object was the accumulation of so many mil- 
 lions of florins in a given time ; in the pursuit of which he had 
 completely lost sight of the emperor of Japan and his millions 
 of subjects. 
 
 If, then, by neglecting to study the language of the Chinese, 
 we are silly enough to place ourseh^es and concerns so com- 
 pletely in their poAver, we are highly deserving of the extortions- 
 and impositions so loudly complained of. If the trade of 
 London were exclusively vested in the hands of eight mer- 
 chants, and if the foreigners who visited its port could neither 
 speak nor write one single word of the language of England, 
 but communicated solely on every subject with those eight mer- 
 
 * There are several good manuscript Chinese dictionaries in England ; 
 one of v/hich is under publication by doctor INIontucci ; who, I under- 
 stand from good authority, by many years of indefatigable application, 
 has succeeded in writing the characters with great neatness and accuracy; 
 and is well qualified in other respects for the midertaking, in which, it 
 is to be hoped, he may meet with suitable encouragement. 
 
TRAVELS IN CHIKA. 419 
 
 chants, through a broken jargon, somc^vhat resembling tlie 
 languages of the several foreigners, it might fairly be ques- 
 tioned, without any disparagement to tlie merchants of Lon- 
 don, if those foreigners would have less reason of complaint 
 than the Europemis have who now ti-ade to China ? Even as 
 things are, would a Chinese arriving in England find no subject 
 of complaint, no grievances nor vexations at the custom-house, 
 which, for Avant of Jcnowing our language, he might be apt 
 to consider as extortions and impositions? Two years ago two 
 Chinese missionaries landed in England, in their way to the 
 college De Propaganda Fide at Naples. Each had a small bundle 
 of cloaths under his arms, and, according to the custom of 
 their country, a fan in his hand. Being observed by one of 
 those voracious sharks, who, under the pretext of preventing 
 frauds on the re\enue, plunder unprotected foreigners, and 
 convert the boot}^ to their oA\"n advantage, the poor fcUoAVS 
 were stripped by him of the little property they carried in their 
 hands, and w ere not, without difficulty, allo^\"ed to esca])e \\ith 
 their cloaths on dicir backs. Can we blame these people for 
 representing us as a barbarous, unfeeling, and inhospitable 
 nation, ho^\■ever undeserving we may be of such a cha- 
 racter ? 
 
 Our case at Canton is pretty nearly the same as that of the 
 two Chinese missionaries. Eveiy petty officer of tlie govern- 
 ment kno^\s he can practise impositions on our trade with im- 
 punity, because we have not the means of bringing his villainy 
 to the kno^^■ledge of his superiors. For, how gi'cat soever 
 may be the propensity of the Chinese people to fraud and 
 extortion, I have little doubt of the justice and moderation 
 of the Chinese gOAernment, when the case is properl}' repre- 
 sented. A recent circumstance may be mentioned in support 
 of this opinion. In the year 1801, a sailor on board his 
 majesty's ship the Madrass fired upon, and mortally wounded, 
 a Chinese who was passing in a boat. A discussion as usual, 
 took place with the Chinese government ; but it ^^•as conduct- 
 ed in a \'ery different manner from \\hat had hitherto been 
 usual on similar occasions. Instead of entering into any ex- 
 planation or defence through the medium of the Hong mer- 
 chants, Avho tremble at the lo^^•est officer of go\'ernment, a 
 memorial w^as addressed to the viceroy, drawn up in a proper 
 and becoming manner by the present Sir George Staunton, 
 
420 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 the only Englishman in the company's service who was skilled 
 in the Chinese language. Several conversations were also held 
 on the subject with the officers of justice, from which the 
 Hong merchants were excluded. Captain Dilkes setting up a 
 plea of recrimination, on the ground of some Chinese having 
 cut his cable with an intent to steal it, the government assented 
 to ha\'e tlie matter tried in the supreme court of justice in the 
 ^^ty of Canton. By the law of China, if the wounded person 
 survi\'e forty days, the sentence of death is commuted for that 
 of banishment into the wilds of Tartary ; }et, so favourably did 
 the court incline to the side of the accused in this instance, 
 that, although the time A\as not expired, and there was little 
 hope of the wounded man recovering, they allowed captain 
 Dilkes to take the seaman into his om'u custody, requiring only 
 that he should leave in court a v.ritten promise to produce him 
 in case the wounded should not survive the time prescribed 
 by laAv. The man lingered near fifty days, and then died ; upon 
 which a message was sent by the court, intimating to the cap- 
 tain that the court saw no impropriety in this instance, in leav- 
 ing it to him to punish the delinquent according to the la^vs of 
 his own country; thus, for the first time, assenting to set aside a 
 positive law in favour of foreigners. By this proper mode of 
 interference an English subject was saved from an unjust and 
 ignominious death, which would otherwise inevitably havehap^ 
 pened, as on all former occasions of a similar kind, had the 
 affair been left in the hands of men whose interest it is to repre- 
 sent us as barbarians, and who, hoA\ever well they might be 
 disposed, ha\^e not the courage to plead our cause. Hitherto 
 the Chinese ha^'e invariably made a point of executing immedi- 
 ately and ^^ithout a regular trial, any foreigner ^Yho should 
 kill a Chinese, or some substitute in the place of the actual cri- 
 minal, as I have already instanced in the seventh chapter. One 
 of tlie most intelligent of the East India company's servants at 
 Canton, speaking on this subject, in answer to certain queries 
 proposed to him about the time of the embassy, remarks, " I 
 *' cannot help observing that the situation of the company's 
 " servants, and the trade in general, is, in this respect, very 
 " dangerous and disgraceful. It is such, that it will be impos- 
 *' sible for them to extricate themselves from the cruel dilemma 
 " a very probable accident may place them in, I will not say 
 " with honour, but not without infamy, or exposing the whole 
 
TRAVELS IN CHINA. 421 
 
 *' trade to ruin." Yet we have just now seen, on the recur- 
 rence of such an accident, that, b}^ the circumstance of a direct 
 and immediate communication with the government, the afikir 
 was terminated, not only \\ idiout disgrace or infamy, but in 
 a ^\ ay that was honourable to both ptuties. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 I HAVE now gone over most of the points relative to 
 which I have been able to recollect tlie remarks and observa- 
 tions that arose in my mind during my attendance on this 
 memorable embass}^ The compaiisons I have made were 
 given with a view of assisting the reader to form, in his own 
 mind, some idea of what rank the Chinese may be considered 
 to hold, when measured by the scale of European nations ; but 
 this pait is ver}'^ defecti\e. To have made it complete w ould 
 require more time and more reading than at present I coidd 
 command. The consideration of other objects, those of a po- 
 litical nature, which are of the most serious importance to our 
 interests in China, is more particulai"ly the ])rovince of those in 
 a different sphere, and \\ ould, therefore, be improper for me 
 to anticipate or prejudge, by any conjectures of my own. It 
 belongs to other persons, and perhaps to other times ; * but it 
 is to be hoped that the information, reflections, and opinions of 
 the embassador himself, may one day be full}- communicated 
 to the public, ^^■hen tlie present objections to it shall cease, and 
 the moment arrive (which is probably not very distant) that 
 A\ill enable us to act upon the ideas of that nobleman's capa- 
 cious and enlightened mind, and to pro\e to the Avorld that 
 the late embassy, by she\\ing the chai-acter and dignity of the 
 
 * This was written at the close of the year 1 803. 
 
422 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 
 
 British nation in a new and splendid light, to a court and 
 people in a great measure ignorant of them before, however 
 misrepresented by the jealousy and envy of rivals, or impeded 
 by the counteraction of enemies, has laid an excellent founda- 
 tion for gi-eat future advantages, and done honour to the wis- 
 dom and foresight of the statesman* who planned the measure 
 and directed its execution. 
 
 * The Lord Viscount Melville. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 PRINTED BY W. F. MCLAUGHLIN, 
 
 NO. 28, N. Second-Street. 
 
\ A 
 
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