••• 4 :8 c 4, ■>^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2013 http://archive.org/details/chinacontainOObarr Portrait of / //// -/// '//^ // •. /■)• J /./.yft ;r,A-//. f.-ju-i T R A V ELS I N CHINA, CONTAINING 0£SCRlP*nONS, OBSERVATIONS, AND COMPARISONS, MADE AND COLLECTED IN THE COURSE OF A SHORT RESIDENCE AT THE IMPERIAL PALACE OF YUEN-IvIIN-YUEN, AND ON A SUBSEQUENT JOURNEY THROUGH THE COUNTRY FROM PEKIN TO CANTON. ,IN WHICH IT IS ATTEMPTED TO APPRECIATE THE RANK THAT THIS EXTRAORDINARY 3MPIRE MAT BE CONSIDERED TO HOLD IN THE SCALE OF CIVILIZED NATIONS. *' KON CUIVIS HOMINI CONTIVGIT ADIRE CORINTBUM." It is the lot offeav to go to pekin. By JOHN BARROW, F.R.S. lATE PRIVATE SECRETARY TO THE EARL OF MACARTNEY, AND ONE OF HIS SUITE AS AMBASSADOR FROM THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN TO THE EMl'EROR OF CHINA. ILLUSTRATED WITH SEVERAL ENGRAVINGS. THE SECOND EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED FOR T. CADELL AND \V. DAVIES, IN THE STRAND. 1806. Strahan and Predon, Printers-Street, London* TO THE EARL OF MACARTNEY, K,B, ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S MOST HONOURABLE PJIIVY COUNCIL tff. £5"^. £5"^. THIS SECOND EDITION OF TRAVELS IN CHINA, ' Beverage of Life. — The Difciples ofYo or Budhifls. — Comparifon of fome of the Hindu^ Greeks Egyptian, and Chinefe Deities. — The Lotos or Nelumbium. — Story o/"Oriris and\{\%y and the Ifia compared nvith the Imperial Ceremony of Ploughing. — Women viftt the Temples. — Pradlical Part of Chinefe Religion. — Funeral Ohfequies. — Feafl of Lanterns. — Obeifance to the Em- peror performed in Temples leads to Idolatry. — Primitive Religion lofl or corrupted, — Summary of Chinefe Religion. _ _ _ Page 418 CHAP. IX. Journey from Tong-choo-foo to the Province of Canton. — Face of the Country, and Its Productions. — Buildings and other Public Works. — Condition of the People. — State of Agriculture. — Population . Attentions paid to the Embaffy.'—Ohfervations on the Climate and Plains of Pe-tche- les.— 'Plants of. — Diet and Condition of the People. — Burying-place. — Obferva- tion on Chinefe Cities. — Trackers of the Tachts. — Entrance of the Grand Canal. — • a The : CONTENTS. 'The Fifbing Corvorant. — Approach to the Yellow-River. — Ceremony of crojfmg th'n River. — Obfervations on Canals and Roads. — Improvement of the Country in ad-' vancing to the Southward. — Beauty of, near Sau-choc-foo. — Bridge of ninety- one Arches. — Country nearY{zng-choo-{oo. — City of. — Appearance of the Country near the Po-yang Lnhe. — Obfervations in proceeding through Klang-fee. — The Camellia Scfanqua. — RctrofpeElive View of the Climate and Produce, Diet and Condition of the People o/Te-tche-lee. — Some Obfervations on the Capital of China. — Province of Shan-tunjr. — Of Kiang-nan. — Obfervations on the State of Agriculture in China. — Rice Mills. — Province c/" Tche-kiang. — Of Khng-hc—Pcpulaiiou of China compared with that of England. — Erroneous Opinions entertained on this SubjeH. — Comparative Population of a City in China and in England — Famines accounted f or. ■^•Means of Prevention. — Caufes of the Popukufnefs of China. P. 488.- CHAP. X. Journey through the Province of Canton. — Situation of Fo- reigners trading to this Port. — Conclufion. Vifible Change in the Character of the People.— Rugged Mouniains.^CoUieries. — > Temple in a Cavern. — Stone ^tarries. — Various Plants for Ufe and Ornament.'— • Arrive at Canton. — Expence of the Emhaffy to the Chinefe Government. — To the Brit'fj Nation. — Nature and Inconveniencies of the Trade to Canton. — The Arme- nian and his Pearl. — Impofitions of the Officers of Government inflanced. — Principal Caufe of them is the Ignorance of the Language. — Cafe of Chinefe trading to London. — A Chinefe hilled by a Seaman of His Majeflys Ship Madras. — Delinquent faved from an ignominious Death y by a proper Mode of Communication with the Govern- ment. — Conclusion. - « ^591 LIST OF PLATES. CFortra'tt ofVaU'ta-gin the Frontifplece. C Trading Vejfel and Rice Mill to face page 2>7' <0^^^» CCbinefe Village^ and Mandarin's Dwelling, to face page 545. ADVERTISEMENT. The fentiments advanced in the prefent Work, and the point of view in which fome of" the fads are confidered, being fo very- different from the almoft univerfally received opinion, and fome of them from the opinion of thofe to whofe friendlhip the Author is particularly indebted for various literary communica- tions, he thinks it right to declare, that they are the unbiaffed conclufions of his own mind, founded altogether on his own obfervations ; and he trufts that the Public, in confidering him alone refponfible, will receive them with its ufual candour. TRAVELS ^ TRAVELS IN C H I N A. ir'i-jr;" ■ w CHAP. I. ■'- PRELIMINARY MATTER. rh IntroduBion.'—General View of ivhat Travellers, are likely to meet luith in Chitia.~^ jSdi/laken Notions entertained ivith regard to the BritiJIj Embajfy — correBed by the - 'Reception and Treatment of the fuhfequent Dutch Enibajy. — Suppofed Points' bf Failure in the former^ as fated by a French MiJJionary from Pekin, refuted.-^ Kien Long's Letter to the King of Holland.— Difference of Treatment experienced by the two Embafftes explained. — Intrigues of Miffionaries in foreign Countries.-T' Pride and Self-importance of the Chinefe Court. — Lif of European EmbaffieSt and the Time of their Abode in Pekin.'— -Conclu/ion of Preliminary SubjeSl. ^■SY.r .J - f .XT is hardly neceflary to obferve that, after the able and inte- refting account of the proceedings and refult of the Britifh -EmbafTy ta th? court of China, by the late Sir George Staun- ton (who was no lefs amiable for liberality of fentiment, than remarkable for vigour of intelled), it would be an idle, and, , indeed, a fuperfluous undertaking, in any other perfon who ac- ,.,... •... B companied 3 TRAVELS IN CHINA. companied the embafly, to dwell on thofe fubjev . remains^ of ancient gran- -j^eurvu -The gi:^t wall^, that for a time defended its peaceable ^inhabitants againft. the attacks of the roying Tartars,, the walls ...of ks numerous cities,: with their fquare towers and .lofty f^'liates, and her? and th^re an old pagp4a, are its only architec- •^ tural ai^tiqulties ; and, when thefe are excepted, there is not i<'j)erh^ps:a fingle building in the whole extent of China that has ^^x?p-itlifkood..th^ca£lion. of. three centuries^ v Xhtjrje. are - no ancient t palaces nor other public edifices, no paintings nor pieces of fculp- TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^ fculpture, to arrefl: the attention of the traveller, unlefs it might be from the novelty of their appearance. In travelling over the continent of Europe, and more efpecially on the claffic ground of Italy and Greece, every city, mountain^ river, and ruin, are rendered interefting by fomething on record wl.ich concerns them ; the theme of Tome poet, the feat of fome philofopher or lawgiver, the fcene of fome memorable adion, they all infpire us with the livelieft fenfations^ by reviving in the mind thofe pleafures which the ftudy of their hiftory afforded in early life. To Europeans the hiftory of China has- hitherto furry^flied no materials for fiich recurrence, ahd the country itfelf is therefore 'incapable of communicating' fiich impreffions. In vain fhould we here look for the maffy and ftupendous fabric's that appear in the pyramids and the pillars of the ancient Egyptians; the beautiful and fymmetrical works of art difplkyed in the temples of the Greeks; the grand and magnificent remains of Roman. 'archit^dure;' or that combination of cdnvenienfce' and elegance of defigh which charaderizes'the modern buildings of Europe. ' In China every city is nearly the fame la" quadrangular fpacfe" of "grotmd is ehclofed with Avails of ftone, of brick, or of eartK/'all "fcuilt oJD&h the fame plan ; the houfes Within them thfeYame ^ cbhftr'udiGn ; and the ftreets, except the principal ones thatrun ■'from gate to gate, invariably narrow. The temples are, nearly, all alike, of the fame awkward defign as the dwelling-'houfes,bnt 'On alarger fcale ; and the objeds that are known in Europe by the name of pagodas, are. of the fame inelegant kind of archi- 'redure, from one extremity of the empire to the other, diffefiiig only in the number of rounds dt ftories, and in the matefialst)f • ^Which they are conftruded. The maritiers, the drefs, the' dmufe- ments of the people^ are nearly the fame.j Even the.fuiface of the rinV/ country, S TRAVELS IN CHINA. country, as far as regards the fifteen ancient provinces, is fub- jed to little variation, and efpecially thofe parts over which the grand inland navigation is carried ; the only parts, in fad:, that foreigners travelling in China have any chance of vifiting. In this route no very great variety nor number of fubjeds ©ccur in the department of natural hiftory. Few native plants, and ftill fewer wild animals, are to be expeded in thofe parts of a country that are populous and well cultivated. Indeed the rapid manner in which the prefent journey was made, was ill fuited for coUedting and examining fpecimens even of thofe few that did occur. On thefe confiderations It is hoped that the indulgence of the reader will not be withheld, where information on fuch points may appear to be defedive. A French critic * (perhaps without doing him injuftice he may be called a hypercritic) who happened to vifit Canton for a few months, fome- fifty years ago, has, with that happy confidence peculiar to his nation, not only pointed out the errors and defeds of the information com- municated to the world by the Englifli and the Dutch embaflies, but has laid down a fyllabus of the fubjeds they ought to have made themfelves completely acquainted with, which, inftead of feven months., would feem to require a refidence of feven years in the country. But the author of the prefent work refts his con- fidence in the Englifli critics being lefs unreafonable in their demands J and that th^ir indulgences will be proportioned to the difficulties that occurred in colleding accurate information. * Moofieur (I beg big Pardon) CtVoy^n QJiarpentier Coffigny. With TRAVELS IN CHINA. 7 With this reliance, the defcriptions, obfervations, and compari- fons, fuch as they are, he prefcnts to the public, candidly acknow- ledging that he is adtuated rather by the hope of meeting its for- bearance, than by the confidence of deferving its approbation. Perhaps it may not be thought amifs, before he enters on the more immediate fubjed of the work, to correct, in this place, a very miftaken notion that prevailed on the return of the embafly, which was, that an unconditional compliance of Lord Macart- ney with all the humiliating ceremonies which the Chinefe might have thought proper to exadt from him, would have been pro- du(Stive of refults more favourable to the views of the embafly, Aflfertions of fuch a general nature are more eafily made than refuted, and are, indeed, unworthy of attention j but a letter of a French miflionary at Pekin to the chief of the Dutch factory at Canton is deferving of fome notice, becaufe it fpecifies the reafons to which, according to the writer's opinion, was owing the fuppofed failure of the Britifh embafly. In fpeaking of this fubje(St he obferves, *' Never was an embafly deferving of " better fuccefs ! whether it be confidered on account of the " experience, the wifdom, and the amiable qualities of Lord " Macartney and Sir George Staunton ; or of the talents, the " knowledge, and the circumfpedt behaviour of the gentlemen " who compofed their Suite ; or of the valuable and curious " prefents intended for the Emperor — and yet, ftrange to tell, " never was there an embaflfy that fucceeded fo ill ! ** You may be curious, perhaps, to know the reafon of an " event fo unfavourable and fo extraordinary. I will tell you " in (( 8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. *' In a few words. Thefe gentlemen, like all llrangers, who " know China only from books, were ignorant of the manner '* of proceeding, of the cuftoms and the etiquette of this court ; *' and, to add to their misfortune, they brought with them a *' Chinefe interpreter flill lefs informed than themfelves. The " confequence of all which w^as that, in the firft place, they " came without any prefents for the Minifter of State, or for " the fons of the Emperor. Secondly, They refufed to go through the ufual ceremony of fainting the Emperor, without offering, any fatisfadory reafon for fuch refufal. Thirdly, They prefented themfelves in clothes that were too plain, and too common. Fourthly, They did not ufe the precaution to fee (graifler la patte) the feveral perfons appointed to the fnperintendance of their affairs. Fifthly, Their demands were not made in the tone and flyle of the country. -Ano- ther reafon of their bad fuccefs, and, in my mind, the prin- cipal one, was owing to the intrigues of a certain miffionary, who, imagining that this embafly might be injurious to the interefts of his own country, did not fail to excite unfavour- ** able imprelTions againfl the Englifh nation." The points of failure enumerated in this letter of Monfieur Grammont, were fo many fpurs to the Dutch fadlory to try their fuccefs at the court of Pekin the following year. No fooner did Mr. Van Braam receive this difpatch, by the return of the Englifli embaffy to Canton, than he' prepared a letter for the CommifTaries General ar Batavia, In which he informed them, that as it was the intention of the different nations who had fadories eflablifhed in Canton, to fend embaffadors to the 4 capital, t( i( TRAVELS IN CHINA. 9 Capital, for the purpofe of congratulating the Emperor on his attaining the age of eighty-four years, which would be in the fixtieth year of his reign, he had refolved to proceed on fuch a million on the part of the Batavian Republic, and requefted that he might be furniflied, without delay, with fuitable cre- dentials. To this application the Commiflaries General, who had been fent out the fame year to retrench the expences of the Company in their Indian fcttlements, and to reform abufes, returned for anfwer. That, " however low and inadequate their " finances might be to admit of extraordinary expences, yet " they deemed it expedient not to fhew any backwardnefs in *' adopting fimilar meafures to thofe purfued by other Euro- *' peans trading to China ; and that they had, accordingly, " nominated Mr. Titfmgh as chief, and himfelf (Mr. Van Braam) as fecond Embaflador to the Court of China.'* (C Mr. Titfmgh lofi; no time in repairing to Canton, and thefc two Embaffadors, determining to avail themfelves of the hints thrown out in Monfieur Grammont's letter, and thereby to avoid fplitting on the fame rock which, they took for granted, the Britifli Embaflador had done, cheerfully fubmitted to every humiliating ceremony required from them by the Chinefe, who, in return, treated them in the moft contemptuous and indignant manner. At Canton they were ordered to aflifl: in a folemn proceflion of Mandarines to a temple in the neighbourhood, and there, before the Emperor's name, painted on cloth, and fuf- pended above the altar, to bow their heads nine times to the ground, in token of gratitude for his great condefcenfion in permitting them to proceed to his prefence, in order to offer c him lo TRAVELS IN CHINA. him tribute. They fubmitted even to the demands of the ftate- officers of Canton, that the letter, written by the Commif- faries General at Batavia to the Emperor of China, and tranf- lated there into the Chinefe language, fhould be opened, and the contents read by them j and that they fnould further be allowed to make therein fuch alterations and additions as they might think proper. The Embaflador, refolving not to be wanting in any point of civility, requefted to know whea he might have the honour of paying his refpedrs to the Viceroy ; and received for anfwer, that the cuftoms of the country did not allow a perfon in his fituation to come within the walls of the Viceroy's palace, but that one of his officers fhould re- ceive his vifit at the gate ; which vifit to the gate was literally made. Mr. Van Braam, in relating this circumftance in his journal obferves, that the Viceroy " aflured his Excellency, he " ought not to take his refufal amifs, as the fame terms had " been prefcribed to Lord Macartney the preceding year." Mr. Van Braam knew very well that Lord Macartney never fubjeded himfelf to any fuch refufal ; and he knew too, that the fame Viceroy accompanied his Lordfhip in a great part of his journey from the Capital : that he partook of a repaft, on the invitation of Lord Macartney, at the Britifh fadlory ; when, for the firft time, both Mr. Van Braam and the fuper- cargoes of all the European nations had been permitted to fit down in the prefence of one of his rank. At Pekin they were required to humiliate themfelves at leaft thirty different times, at each of which they were obliged, on their knees, to knock their heads nine times againft the ground, which TRAVELS IN CHINA. tx which Mr. Van Braam, in his journal, very coolly calls, per- forming the falute of honour, " Jaire le fahit d' honneur.''* And they were finally difmifled, with a few paltry pieces of filk, without having once been allowed to open their lips on any kind of bufinefs ; and without being permitted to fee either their friend Grammont, or any other European miffionary, except one, who had fpecial leave to make them a vifit of half an hour, the day before their departure, in prefence of ten or twelve officers of government. On their arrival in this Capital they were lodged, literally, in a ftable ; under the fame cover, and in the fame apartment, with a parcel of cart-horfes. Mr. Van Braam's own words are, " Nous vo'tla done a notre arrivee *' dans la celebre refidence imperiale^ loges dans une efpece d^ e curie, " Notts ferions nous attendus a une pare'ille avanture /" After fuch a vile reception and degrading treatment of the Dutch Embafly, what advantages can reafonably be expeded to accrue from a feryile and unconditional compliance with the fubmiffions required by this haughty government? It would rather feem that their exadions are proportioned to the com- plying temper of the perfons with whom they have to treat. For it appears, not only from Mr. Van Braam's own account of the Embafly, but alfo from two manufcript journals in the Author's pofleflion, one kept by a Dutch gentleman in the fuite, and the other by a native Chinefe, that the Embafladors from the Batavian Republic were fully prepared to obviate every diflkulty that might arife from the fuppofed points of failure in the Britifli Embafl)', as direded to their notice by M. Grammont* In the firft place, they not only carried c 2 prefents 12 TRAVELS IN CHINA. prefeuts for the Mlnifters of State, but they calmly fuffered ihefe gentlemen to trick them out of the only curious and valu- able articles among the prefents intended for the Emperor, and to fubftitute others, of a mean and common nature, in their place. Secondly, they not only complied with going through the ufual ceremony of faluting the Emperor, but alfo of faint- ing the Emperor's name, painted on a piece of filk, at leaft fifty times, on their journey to and from the Capital : which degrading ceremony they even condefcended to perform before the perfon of the Prime Minifter. With regard to the third point, it certainly appears that no expence had been fpared in providing themfelves with fplendid robes for the occafion ; but, unfortunately, they had but few opportunities of making ufe of them, their baggage not arriving at the Capital till many days after they had been there. Nor does it feem that the drefs of a foreign Embafiador is confidered of much confe- quence in the eyes of the Chinefe ; for, when thefe gentlemen wifhed to excufe themfelves from going to court, on account of their dufty and tattered clothes, in which they had performed a moft painful journey, the Mafter of the Ceremonies obferved, that it was not their drefs^ but ihtw perfons^ which the Emperor, his mafter, was defirous to fee. And, it can hardly be fuppofed, they would omit obferving the fourth article, which, M. Gram- mont is of opinion, was ncgleded by Lord Macartney. And, in the laft place, they ftand fully acquitted of any want oi humility in the tone and ftyle of their communications, after having allow- ed their credentials to be new-modelled by the officers of the Go- vernment at Canton ; from which city they had alfo an inter- preter, a very proper one, no doubt, appointed to attend them. TheiE TRAVELS IN CHINA. 13 Their miffion, it is true, was not well calculated for making- terms, or rejeding propofals. The Chinefe were not unac- quainted with the declining finances of the Dutch ; they knew very well that the ernbaffy had originated in Canton, and that it was accredited only from their fuperiors in Batavia. In their journey they were haraffed beyond meafure; fometimes they were lodged in wretched hovels, without furniture and without cover ; lometimes they were obliged to pafs 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. Van Braam obferves that, owing to the fatigues of the journey, the badnefs of the viftuals, their early rifing and expofure to the cold, he loft about five inches in the circumference of his body. Being rather corpulent, and not very expert in perform- ing the Chinefe ceremony at their public introdud;ion, his hat happened to fall on the ground, upon which the old Emperor began to laugh. " Thus," fays he, " I received a mark of dif- " tindion and prediledion, fuch as never Embaflador was ho- " noured with before. I confefs," continues he, " that the recol- " ledion of my fufferings from the cold in waiting fo long in the " morning, was very much foftened by this incident." No man will certainly envy this gentleman's happy turn of mind, in re- ceiving fo much fatisfadion in being laughed at. The tone of the Emperor's letter, with which they were dif- mifled, while it fpeaks the vain and arrogant fentiments of this haughty government, fliews at the fame time how well ac- quainted they were with the circumftances that gave rife to the miffion, and the degree of eftimation in which they held it. It was 14 TRAVELS IN CHINA. ■was written in the Tartar, Chinefe, and Latin languages, from the laft of which, as rendered by the miffionaries, the following is a literal tranflation. The contents were addreffed to the Council of India, but on the outfide wrapper, " To the King of *' Holland^ It may ferve at the fame time as a fpecimen of Chinefe compofition. ** I have received from heaven the fceptre of this vaft empire. " I have reigned for fixty years with glory and happinefs ; and " have eftablifhed the moft profound peace upon the four ** feas * of the faid empire, to the benefit of the nations bor- ** dering upon them. The fame of my majefty and proofs of *• my magnificence have found their way into every part of " the world, and they conftitute the pride and the pleafure of my vaft domains. (( ** I confider my own happy empire, and other kingdoms, *■ as one and the fame family ; the princes and the people arc, *' in my eye, the fame men. I condefcend to flied my bleflings ** over all, ftrangers as well as natives ; and there is no country, ** however diftant, that has not received inftances of my bene- *' volence. Thus, all nations fend to do me homage, and to ** congratulate me inceflantly. New and fucceflive Erabaffadors *' arrive, fome drawn in chariots over land, and others traverfe, " in their fhips, the immenfity of tlie feas. In fad:, I attend * This cxpreflion alludes to the ancient opinion that Chisa was furrounded by the fca, and that the reft of the world was made up of iflands. Yet though they now poflefs a tolerable notion of geography, fuch is their inveterate adherence to ancient opinion, that they prefer retaining the moft abfurd errors, rather than change one fingle fentiment or cxpreifion that Confucius has written. 2 " to TRAVELS IN CHINA. »5 " to- nothing but the good adminiftration of my emph'e. I feel " a hvely joy in obferving the anxiety with which they flock " together from every quarter to contemplate and admire the " wife adminiftration of my government. I experience the " moft agreeable fatisfa6tion in participating my happinefs with " foreign ftates. I applaud therefore your government, which, *' although feparated from mine by an immenfe ocean, has noc " tailed to fend me congratulatory letters, accompanied with " tributary offerings. " Having perufed your letters, I obferve that they contain " nothing but what I confider as authentic teftimonies of your " great veneration for me, from whence I conclude that you " admire my mode of governing. In fadt, you have great " reafon to applaud me. Since you have carried on your " trade at Canton, (and it is now many years,) ftrangers have " always been well treated in my empire ; and they have " individually been the objeds of my love and aifedion. I *' might call to witnefs the Portuguefe, the Italians, the Englilh, " and others of the fame fort of nations, who are all equally efteemed'by me, and have all prefented me with precious gifts. All have been treated, on my part, after the fame manner, and without any partiality. I give abundantly even " when thofe things I received from them are of no value. " My manner of doing thefe things is undoubtedly known in " your country. " Concerning your Embaflador, he Is not, properly fpeaking, ** fent by his King; but you, who are a company of merchants, " have <( (( i6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. *' have fuppofed yourfelves authorized to pay me this refpeft. *' Your Sovereign, however, having diredted you to chufe a fa- " vourable moment of my reign, you have now fent to felicitate " me accordingly in the name of your faid Sovereign. The " fixtieth year of my reign was about to be completed. You, " a company too diftant from your Sovereign, could not an- " nounce it to him. Interpreting this to be his pleafure, you " have undertaken to fend, in his name, to do me homage ; '* and I have no doubt this prince is infpired towards me with " the fame fentiments which I have experienced in you. I " have, therefore, received your Embaffador as if he had been " fent immediately by his King. And I am dcfirous you *' fhould be made acquainted that I have remarked nothing " in the perfon of your Embaffador, but what bore teftimony " of his refped: for me, and of his own good condud. *' I commanded my great officers to introduce him to my " prefence. I gave him feveral entertainments, and permitted ** him to fee the grounds and the palaces that are within my ** vaft and magnificent gardens of Tuen min Tuejt. I have fo '* adted that he might feel the effedts of my attention, dividing with him the pleafures which the profound peace of my em- pire allows me to enjoy. I have, moreover, made valuable prefents, not only to him, but alfo to the officers, inter- " preters, foldiers, and fervants of his fuite, giving them, *' befides what is cuftomary, many other articles, as may be feen by the catalogue. (c (( Your TRAVELS IN CHINA. 17 " Your Embaflador being about to return to the prefence of " his fovereign, I have direded him to prefent to this Prince " pieces of filk and other valuable articles to which I have " added forae antique vafes. " May your King receive my prefent. May he govern his " people with wifdom ; and give his fole attention to this grand " objed, ading always with an upright and fincere heart: " and, laftly, may he always cherifh the recolledtion of my " beneficence! May this King attentively watch over the " affairs of his kingdom. I recommend it to him ftrongly and " earneftly. (C *' The twenty-fourth day of the firft moon of the fixtieth year of the reign of Kien Long." The very different treatment which the Englifh erabaffy receiv- ed at the court of Pekin is eafily explained. The Chinefe are well informed of the fuperiority of the Englifh over all other nations by fea ; of the great extent of their commerce ; of their vaft poffeffions in India which they have long regarded with a jea- lous eye ; and of the charaiSler and independent fpirit of the nation. They perceived, in the manly and open conduct of Lord Macartney, the reprefentative of a fovereign in no way inferior to the Emperor of China, and they felt the propriety, though they were unwilling to avow it, of exacting only the fame token of refpedt from him towards their fovereign, that one of their own countrymen, of equal rank, fhould pay to the por- trait of his Britannic majefty. It muft, however, have been a D hard i8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. hard druggie between perfonal pride, and national importance, before they refolved to rejeft fo fair a propofal, and confent to wave a ceremony which had never, on any former occafion, been difpenfed with. It is eafy to conceive how ftrong an impreffion the refufal of an individual to comply with the cere- monies of the country was likely to make on the minds of the Emperor and his court : how much they mufh have fuffered in their own opinion, and how greatly muft their pride have been mortified, to find that by no trick, nor artifice, nor ftretch of power, could they prevail on an Englifh Embafl'ador to forego the dignity and refpedt due to the fituation he held at their court, whither they were now convinced he had not come, as was fig- nified in painted letters on the colours of the fhips that tranf- ported the embafiy up the Pet- ho ^ " to offer tribute to the Em- *' per or of China^ With regard to the intrigues of the Portugueze miflionary, mentioned in Mr. Grammont's letter, Lord Macartney was fuf- ficiently aware of them long before his arrival in the capital, and took fuch meafures, in confequence of the information, as were moft likely to be effedual in counteracting any influence that he might fecretly exert, injurious to the interefts of the Britifh nation. But the intrigues of churchmen are not always eafily obviated, efpecially where they are fufpicious of their errors being expofed or their ignorance detected. It is a painful truth (and is noticed here with reluctance, on account of the many worthy members of the fociety) that the minifters of a certain branch of a religion whofe diftinguifhing feature is meeknefs and forbear- ance, Ihould have fo far perverted the intention of its benevo- lent TRAVELS IN CHINA. ly lent author, as to have produced more intrigues, cabals, and perfccutions, than even the relendefs Mahomedans, whofe firfl article of faith inculcates merit in deftroying thofe of a different perfuafion. Their political intrigues and interference in ftate affairs, have done material injury to the caufe of Ghriftianity in almofl: every country into which their miffions have extended. The malignant fpirit of this fame Pcrtugueze miffionary was not confined to the framing of falfehoods and mifreprefentations with regard to the views of the Britirti embalTy, but has con- tinued to exert its influence at the court of Pekin, in the fame fecret and difhonourable way, whenever an opportunity oc- curred that feeraed favourable for raifing unwarrantable fufpi- cions in the minds of the Chinefe againft the Englifh nation. Towards the clofe of the laft war, when It was found expedient to take poffcffion of feme of the Portugueze colonies, and an expedition for this purpofe was adlually fent out to fecure the penlnfula of Macao, this miflionary loft no time in fuggefting to the Chinefe court, that the defigns of the Englifh In getting poffeffion of Macao might be of the fame nature as thofe they had already pradifed in India ; and that if they were once fuffered to get footing in the country, China might experience the fame fate as Hindoftan. Fortunately for the concerns of the Britifli Eaft India Company, this officious interference and the malevolent infmuations of Bernardo Almeyda took a very different turn to what he had expeded. The intelligence of a hoftile force fo near the coaft of China coming firft from an European miffionary, implied a negledl in the Viceroy of Can- ton, and an angry letter was addreffed to him from court, D 2 ordering 20 TRAVELS IN C?IINA. ordering him to give immediate and accurate information on the fubjed:. The Viceroy, nettled at the ofliciou3 zeal of the Portiigueze, pofitively denied the fadl of any hoftile intention of the Englifli, " who, being a brave people, and terrible in " arms, had intimidated the Portugueze at Macao, though " without reafon, as their fliips of war, as ufual, came only to *' protedt their fhips of commerce againft their enemies." When this difpatch of the Viceroy reached Pekin, the Emperor was fo exafperated to think that the Court had fuffered itfelf to be mifled by an European miffionary, that he ordered Almeyda to appear before the mafter of the houfehold, and on his knees to aflc forgivenefs of a crime, which, he was told, deferved to be punifhed with death ; and he was difmifled with a caution never more to interfere in the ftate aifairs of China. The whole of this curious tranfadlion is publifhed in the Pekin Gazette of laft year; fo that the Englilh have gained a confiderable degree of reputation by it, fo much, indeed, that the Chinefe at Canton (and a great deal depends upon their reprefentations) would have no objection to fee the Englifh in pofleflion of Macao; for they cordially hate, I believe it is not too much to fay they defpife, the Portugueze, and they fpeak with horror of the French. What a moment then is this for England to turn to its advantage ! Independent, however, of the machinations of mifliona- ries, fuch is the pride and the haughty infolence of the Chinefe government, that, in no inftance on record, but that of the Britifli embafly, has it ever relaxed from its long eftablifhed cuftoms, nor acquiefced in any demands of foreign embalTadors, whether TRAVELS IN CHINA. s'l whether the tone in which they were made was ruppllcathig or authoritative. The forms of tlie court they contend to be as Immutable as were the laws of the Medes and Perfians. Every thing muft be conducted by prefcriptive ufage, and no devia- tion allowed from the rules which for ages have been eftablifhed bylaw, and regiftered by the council of ordinances; much- lefs the remiffion of any duty that might derogate from the reverence and refpedl which are confidered to be due to the perfon of the Emperor. It may be imagined, then, that an event fo new as a refufal to fubmit to the degrading ceremony required from an embaf- fador, at his public introdudion, could not fail of making a very ftrong imprefflon on the minds of thofe about the perfoa of his Imperial Majefty; who, as Mr. Van Braam fays, were (and without doubt they were) much better fatisfied with the complying temper of the Dutch, than with the inflexible pertina- city of the Englifh. Yet, they did not venture to lodge the latter in a ftable, nor think proper to perfevere in demanding unrea- fonable homage. Neither was any pique or ill- nature apparent in any fingle inftance, after the departure of the embafly from, the capital, but very much the contrary. The officers ap->. pointed to condufit it to Canton teftified the moft earned defire to pleafe, by a ready attention to every minute circum- ftance that might add to the comforts of the travellers, or alle- viate, if not entirely remove, any little inconvenience. It was a flattering circumflance to the embaflador to obferve their anxiety for the favourable opinion of a nation they had now begun to think more highly of, and of whom, in meafuring 7 withi 22 TRAVELS IN CHINA. with themfelves, it was not difficult to perceive, they felt, though too cautious to avow, the fuperiority. The Brltifh embafly v^as a meafure which it v/as abfolutely neceflary to adopt, for reafons that are dated at full length in the firft chapter of Sir George Staunton's valuable work, and the foundation it has laid for future advantages more than counterbalances the trifling expence it occafioned to the Eaft India Company, which did not exceed two per cent, on the annual amount of their trade from England to Canton. Thofe •who had formed immoderate expedations muft have little un- derftood the laws and cuftoms of China, which admit not the fyftem of mutual intercourfe between diftant nations, by means of embafTadors or refident minifters at the refpedive courts. Their cuftom is to receive embafladors with refpedt and hofpi- tality ; to confider them as vifitors to the Emperor, and to entertain them accordingly as his particular guefts, from the moment they enter the country till they return to the bounda- ries of his empire. This being neceifarily attended with an enormous expence *, the court of ceremonies has prefcribed forty days for the refidence of foreign embafladors, either in the capital, or wherever the court may happen to be ; though on particular occafions, or by accident, the term may fometimes be extended to double that time. Thus by confulting the accounts of the different European embaffies that have been fent to China in the two laft centu- • The expence occafioned to the court of China by the Britlfti embaffy, will be ftated in a fubfequent chapter. lies, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 23 rles, It will be found that the refidence of none of them was extended to thrice the term fixed by the court of ceremonies, and two of them did not remain the period allowed. The firft embafly fent by the Dutch arrived In Pekin the 17th July 1656, and departed the i6th Odober following, having remained ninety-one days. The fecond Dutch embafly arrived in Pekin the 20th June 1667, and departed the 5th Augufl:, having refided forty-fix days. The firft Rufl!ian embafly arrived at the capital on the 5th November 1692, and left it on the 17th February 1693, having remained there one hundred and fix days. The fecond RuflTian embafly arrived at Pekin on the i8th November 1720, and did not leave it till the 2d March 172 1, being one hundred and fourteen days. Thefe two embaflies were immediately connedted with the commercial concerns of the two nations, which were then tranfadted in the capital of China, but now confined to the ad- joining frontiers. The Pope's embafly arrived in Pekin on the 15th December 1720, and departed the 24th March 1721, being ninety-nine days. The 14 TRAVELS IN CHINA. The Portugueze cmbafly entered Pekin the iftMay 1753, and left it the 8th June following, being only thirty-nine days. The Brltifh embafly arrived in Pekin the 21 ft Augiift 1793, and departed the 7th Odober, being forty-feven days. The third Dutch embafly entered the capital the loth January 1795, and left it the 15th February, being thirty-fix days. On the whole, then, it may be concluded, that neither Mon- fieur Grammont, nor they Vv^ho conceived that an unconditional and fervile compliance, on the part of the Britifh Embaflador, would have been productive of more favourable refults, were right in their conjedures. On the contrary, it may, perhaps, be rather laid down as a certain confequence, that a tone of fubmiffion, and a tame and paffive obedience to the degrading demands of this haughty court, ferve only to feed its pride, and add to the abfurd notions of its own vaft importance. TRAVELS IN CHINA, CHAP. II. Occurrences and Obfenrations in the Navigation of the Yellow Sea, and the PaOage up the Pei-ho, or White River. Differed Tejiimsniet that have been given sf the Cbimfi CiaraHrr .—C:^jr7/T3 tf China -with Europe in the ^fixteattb Ceftturj.'^'M^ives vftii MiQisHjriis in their Writings. — Briti/b Emt^ t'S^ 'the Streigitt sf Ftrmofa.^-jifpearar.ce tf a. Ta-Fui^. — Cbiifmu Ifiaads. — Induce ef Chitufe AmpU^atisa. — Various Ckmft Ve£iU. — S^em sf it^ir Nrvigatisn^-tkeir Cempafsy fncaily cf Scytlaan Oripn — foreign Visages cf. — -Traces cf Chinefe in Ameriis-^-in as Ifami. tf the Tartarian Sej — in the Perftan Galpi—traJed protaUj as far as Hadagefcar.— Otmmerce of the Tjriatu. — Rea/ams fw eanjeSuring ihet the EaU a i Ms maj have derived their Origin from CIma, — Portrait ^ a Cl^sufe eaa^ared mth that ef a Hottentst. — Malays of the fame defcent as the Cimefe. — (^maas cmnademces in the Cufoms sf thefe and the Sumatrans. — Cingmlefe sf Chinefe Origin.— Ove of the Brigs Sfpatched to Cfcu-faa /t P\::t:. — Rajid Curret^ among ^ Jpands. — Wift io the Gevemcr. — D^^cuitiu ia prsLyriiig PSais. — Arhitrary Pro- cteding zf the Gy-vmcr. — Piiais piazled voith our Coapafs — Igpormnce tf-^Arri^ in the Gulft f Pe-:ehe-lee. — Vift zj fax Oncers fr.n Czurt, and their Pr^ent — enter the^cxAaOi arui embark in conv e nie nt fachts. — Aci-ymmmJating ^^— "^g^ rr" re-- tic: 0*i:cers. — Prtfuficn cf Przrcif.vm. — Appearance ^ the Cem^rj'-'tf the Pezp'f. — Drej's zf the Women. — Remarks on thar fmaU Feet. — dan^e am m- cUaaij jkJ fr-jor^j Pe:pk. — hmruafe Crrads of People and Rhter Creft at Tiea- Sing. — Dear.: and prepe^ptfing ConduS rf the Multitude. — Mufical Air fang h tie Rowers if the Yachts. — FavamraUe Traits in tie Chine/e Cbara3er — Fjce and PmduSs ef the Country. — Multitudes zf Pezple Lihakitants of the Water. — Anther IrAance cf artitrarj Pywer. — Dife:ntark at Tong-Tchco, jod are kr'zrj in a Temple. " JLf any man Ihould make a collection of aii the inventions, " and all the produdticas, th^ every nation, which now is, £ " or 26 TRAVELS IN CHINA. " or ever has been, upon the face of the globe, the whole would " fall far fhort, either as to number or quality, of what is to " be met with in China." Thefe, or fomething fimilar, are the words of the learned Ifaac Voflius. The teftimony given by the celebrated authors of the Ejicy- clopedie des Conno'tJJ'ances humaines is almoft equally ftrong : " The Chinefe, who, by common confent, are fuperior to all " the Afiatic nations, in antiquity, in genius, in the progrefs " of the fciences, in wifdom, in government, and in true phi- " lofophy ; may, moreover, in the opinion of fome authors, " enter the lifts, on all thefe points, with the mofl enlightened *• nations of Europe." How flattering, then, and gratifying muft it have been to the feelings of thofe few favoured perfons, who had the good fortune to be admitted into the fuite of the Britifh Embaflador, then preparing to proceed to the court of that Sovereign who held the government of fuch an extraordinary nation ; how greatly muft they have enjoyed the profped of experiencing, in their own perfons, all that was virtuous, and powerful, and grand, and magnificent, concentrated in one point — in the city of Pekin ! And if any doubts might have arifen, on confideration that ' neither the learned Canon of Windfor, nor the celebrated Authors of the Encyclopedic, were ever in China ; that the firft was won- derfully given to the marvellous, and the latter had no other authorities, than thofe of the Jefuits, and other miffionaries for propagating TRAVELS IN CHINA. 27 propagating the Chriftian faith, yet fuch doubts were more inclined to yield to the favourable fide, as being fupported by the almoft unanimous concurrence of a multitude of teftimonies, contained in the relations that have, at various times, been publiflied, not only by the miflionaries, but alfo by fome other travellers. The late Sir William Jones, indeed, who defervedly took the lead in oriental literature, had obferved, in fpeaking of the Chinefe, that *' By fome they have been extolled a9-the oldeft *' and wifeft, as the moft learned, and moft ingenious, of " nations; whilft others have derided their pretenfions to " antiquity, condemned their government as abominable, and " arraigned their manners as inhuman ; without allowing " them an element of fcience, or a fingle art, for which " they have not been indebted to fome more ancient and more *' civilized race of men." It is true, alfo, the refearcbes of Mr. Pauw, the fagacious philofopher of Berlin, and the narrative of the elegant and irapreflive writer of Lord Anfon's Voyage, convey to the reader's mind no very favourable ideas of the Chinefe charader ; yet, as the enquiries of the one were entered upon in a fpirit of controverfy, and directed to one fmgle point, and the author, as juftly has been obferved of him, delights fometimes to take a fwim againft the ftream, many deductions were clearly to be made from the conclufions of Mr. Pauw. And with regard to the Narrative of Mr. Robins, it may be remarked that, to decide upon the general charader of the Chinefe, from the dealings Lord Anfon had with them in the port of Canton, E 2 would 28 TRAVELS IN CHINA. would be as unfair, as it would be thought prefumptuous in a foreigner to draw the character of our own nation from a cafual vifit to Falmouth, Killybeggs, or Aberdeen. The fame remark will apply to the accounts given of this nation by Toreen, Ofbeck, Sonnerat, and fome others, who have vifited Canton in trading fhips, none of whom were five hundred yards beyond the limits of the European fadories. It would alfo have been highly illiberal to fuppofe, that a body of men, remarkable, as the early Jefuit miffionaries were thought to be, for probity, talent, and difmtereftednefs, fhould ftudioufly fit down to compofe fabrications for the mere pur- pofe of deceiving the world. Even Voltaire, who had little partiality for the facerdotal charader, is willing to admit, that their relations ought to be confidered as the produdions of the moft intelligent travellers that have extended and embelliftied the fields of Science and Philofophy. This remark, with pro- per allowances being made for the age in which they were written, may perhaps be applied to the narratives of the early miffions to China, though not exadly to fome others of a more modern date. All the praifes beftow^ed by the former on this nation, the latter, it would feem, have, injudicioufly, confidered themfelves bound tojuftify; without taking into account the progreffive improvements of Europe within the lafl century and a half. That China was civilized to a certain degree before moft of the nations of Europe, not even Greece excepted, is a fad that will not admit of a doubt ; but that it has continued to im- prove, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 29 prove, fo as fliil to vie with many cf the prefent European ftates, as the mifficnaries would have it fuppcfed, is net by any nieacs lb clear. From the middle to the end of the fixteenth century, compared with Europe in general, it had greatly the fuperiority, if not in fcience, at lead in arts and manufadures, in the conveniencies and the luxuries of life. The Chinefe ■were, at that period, pretty much in the fame ftate in which thev ftill are ; and in which thev are likelv to continue. When the firft Europeans vifiied China, they were aftoaiOied to find an univerfal toleration of religious opinions ; to cbierve Lamas and Tao t%es^ y^''^'^^ Perfees, and Mabomedans^ living quietiv together, and each following his own creed without mcieftaiion ; whilft moft of the countries in Europe were, at that time, toru in pieces by religious fchifms ; and man was labouring with enthufiaftic fury to deftroy his fellow-creatures, in honour of his Creator, for a flight difference cf opinion in matters of no real importance, or even for a different acceptation of a word* In China, everv one was allowed to think as he pleafed, and to chufe his own religion. The horrid mailacre cf the proteftanis in Paris had terri£ed all Europe. China knew nothing of in- ternal commotions, but fuch as were fometimes occadooed by a partial fcarcity cf grain. The art of improving vegetables by particular modes of culture, was juft beginning to be known in Europe. All China, at that time, was comparatively a gar- den. When the King of France introduced the luxury of fflk dockings, which, about eighteen years afterwards, was adopted by Eaizabcth of England, the peafantry of the middle provinces of China were clothed in fflks from head to foor. At this period, few or none of the little elegancies cr ccaveniendes of life 30 TRAVELS IN CHINA. life were known in Europe ; the ladies' toilet had few eflervcea to gratify the fenfe of fmell, or to beautify, for a time, the complexion ; the fciffars, needles, pen-knives, and other little appendages, were then unknown ; and rude and ill-pnjlfhed fkewers ufurped the place of pins. In China, the ladies had their needlework, their paint-boxes, their trinkets of ivory, of filver in fillagree, of mother-pearl, and of tortoife-fhell. Even the calendar, at this time fo defedive in Europe, that Pope Gregory 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 care of government. Decimal arithmetic, a new and ufeful difcovery of the feventeenth century in Europe, was the only fyftem of arithmetic in ufe in China. In a word, when the nobility of England were fleep- ing on ftraw, a peafant of China had his mat and his pillow j and the man in office enjoyed his filken mattrefs. One cannot, therefore, be furprized, if the impreffions made upon thefe holy men were powerfully felt, or if their defcriptions fhould feem to incline a little towards the marvellous. Nor may perhaps their relations be found to be much embelliihed, on a fair com- parifon of the ftate of China with that of Europe in general, from •the year 1560 to the clofe of the fame century. Thefe religious men, however, might have had their motives for fetting this wonderful people in the faireft point of view. The more powerful and magnificent, the more learned and refined they reprefented this nation to be, the greater would be their triumph in the event of their effeding a change of the national faith. It may alto have occurred to them, that com- mon TRAVELS IN CHINA. 31. mon prudence required they Ihould fpeak favourably, at leaft, of a nation under whofe power and protedion they had volun- tarily placed themfelves for life. There is every reafon to fup- pofe, that in general they mean to tell the truth, but by fuppref- fmg fome part of it, or by telling it in fuch a manner as if they expeded it would one day get back to China in the language of that country, their accounts often appear to be contradidory in themfelves. In the fame breath that they extol the wonderful flrength of filial piely, they fpeak of the common pradices of expofing infants ; the ftri6l morality and ceremonious condu£l of the people are followed by a lift of the moft grofs debauch- eries ; the virtues and the philofophy of the learned are ex- plained by their Ignorance and their vices ; if in one page they fpeak of the exceffive fertility of the country, and the amazing extenfion of agriculture, in the next, thoufands are feen perifh- ing by want ; and whllft they extol with admiration the pro- grefs they have made In the arts and fclences, they plainly in- form us that without the aid of foreigners they can neither caft a cannon, nor calculate an eclipfe. Upon the whole, however, the Britlfh embaffy left England under a favourable impreffion of the people it was about to vifit. Whether the expectations of all thole who compofed it, inde- pendent of any political confideratlon, were realized, or ended in difappolntment, may partly be colleded from the following pages. The opinions they contain are drawn from fuch inci- dents and anecdotes as occurred in the couvfe of an eight months* vifit, and from fuch as feemed beft calculated to illuftrate the condition of the people, the national charader, and the nature of 3^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. of the government. A fhorc refidence in the imperial palace of Yuen-min-yuen, a greater fhare of liberty than is ufually per- mitted to ftrangers in this country, with the affifta'-ice of fome little knowledge of the language, aflbrded me the means of coU leding the fads and obfervations which I now lay before the public ; and in the relation of which I have endeavoured to ad- here to that excellent rule of our immortal poet, " Nothing extenuate, " Nor fet down aught in malice." And as the qualities of good and evil, excellence and mediocrity, in any nation, can only be fairly eftimated by a comparifon with thofe of the fame kind in others, wherever a fimilitude or a con- traft in the Chinefe charader or cuftoms with thofe of any other people ancient or modern occurred to my recolledion, I have confidered it as not wholly uninterefting to note the relation or difagreement. The difpatches from China, received by the Britifli Embafla- dor on his arrival at Batavia, communicated the agreeable intel- ligence that his Imperial Majefty had been pleafed, by a public edid, not only to declare his entire fatisfadion with the intended embafly, but that he had likewife ilTued ftridt orders to the commanding officers of the feveral ports along the coaft of the Yellow Sea, to be particularly careful that Pilots fhould be ready, at a moment's notice, to condud: the Englifh fquadron to Tien- fingy the neareft port to the capital, or to any other which might be confidered as more convenient and fultable for the Britifh fhips. By TRAVELS IN CHINA. 33 By this communication a point of fome difficulty was now con- fidered to be removed. It was deemed a delirable circumfiance to be furnifhed with the means of proceeding dire(n.ly to Pekin through the Yellow Sea, and thus to avoid any intercourfe with the port of Canton ; as it was well known the principal officers of the government there were prepared to throw every obftacle in the way of the embaffy, and if not effedually to prevent at leaft to counteradt, any reprefentations that might be made at the impe- rial court, with regard to the abufes that exift in the adminiftra- tion of the public affairs at that place, and more efpecially to the €xa6lions and impoHtions to which the commercial eflablifh- ments are liable of the different nations whole fubjeds have eftablifhed fadtories in this fouthern emporium of China. It could not be fuppofed, indeed, that their endeavours would be lefs exerted, in this particular inftance, than on all former occa- fions of a fimilar nature. The navigation of the Yellow Sea, as yet entirely unknown to any European nation, was confidered as a fubjed of fome importance, from the information it would afford the means of fupplying, and which, on any future occafion, might not only leffen the dangers of an unknown paffage, but prevent alfo much delay by fuperfeding the neceffity of running into different ports in fearch of Chinefe Pilots, whom, by experience, we afterwards found to be more dangerous than ufefuL "We paffed through the ftrelght of Formofa without feeing any part of the main land of China, or of the ifland from whence the ftreiglit derives its name, except a high point F towards 34 TRAVELS IN CHINA, towards the northern extremity. The weather, indeed, during three fucceflive days, the 25th, 26th, and 27th July, was fo dark and gloomy, that the eye could fcarcely difcern the largeft objeds at the diftance of a mile, yet the thermometer was from 80° to 83' the greater part of thefe days. A heavy and almoft inceflant fall of rain was accompanied with violent fqualls of wind, and frequent burfls of thunder and flafhes of lightning; which, with the crofs and confufed fwell in the fea, made the I)afrage not only uncomfortably irkfome, but alfo extremely dangerous, on account of the many iflands interfperfed in almoft every part of the fir eight. On the evening of the 25th the fun fet in a bank of fog, which made the whole weftern fide of the horizon look like a blaze of fire, and the barometer was obferved to have fallen near one third of an inch, which, in thefe latitudes and at fea, is confidered as a certain indication of a change of weather. There were on board fome Chinefe fifliermen who had been driven out to fea in one of the Eaft India Com.pany's ihips, which we met with in the ftreights of Sunda. Thefe men aflured us that the appearance of the heavens prognofticated one of thofe tremendous gales of wind which are well known to Europeans by the name of Typhoon^ and which forae ingenious and learned men have fuppofed to be the fame as the Typhoa of the Egyptians, or tlk^wv of the Greeks. The Chinefe, how- ever, have made ufe of no mythological allufion in naming this hurricane. They call it Ta-fung^ which literally fignifies a great wind. The wind was certainly high the whole of the night and the following day, the thunder and lightning dread- ful, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 35 ful, and the variable fqualls and rain frequent and heavy ; the depth of the fea from 25 to 30 fathoms. The charts, however, of this paflage into the Yellow Sea, conftruded by Europeans when the Chinefe permitted foreign -nations to trade to Chu-far.^ are confidered as fufficiently exadt for fkilful navigators to avoid the dangerous rocks and iflands. By the help of thefe charts our fquadron ventured to ftand through the ftill more intricate and narrow paflages of the Chu- fan Archipelago, where, in the contraded fpace of about eight hundred fquare leagues, the furface of the fea is fludded with a -clufter, confifting, nearly, of four hundred diftind; iiQands. Thefe iflands appeared to us, in failing among them, to be moftly uninhabited, extremely barren of trees or fhrubs, and many of them deftitute even of herbage, or verdure of any kind. In fome of the creeks we perceived a number of boats and other irnall craft, at the upper ends of which were villages compofed of mean looking huts, the dwellings njoft probably of fifhermen, as there was no appearance of cultivated ground near them to furnifti their inhabitants with the means of fubfiftence. The fquadron having dropped anchor, v^^e landed on one of "the largeft of thefe iflands; and walked a very confiderable dif- tance before we faw a human being. At length, in defcending a valley, in the bottom of which was a fmall village, we fell in -with a young peafant, whom with fome difficulty, by means of an interpreter, we engaged in converfation. Embarrafl~ed in thus Suddenly meeting with ftrangers, fo different from his own F 2 £ouia>- 36 TRAVELS IN CHINA. countrymen, in drefs, in features, and complexion, his timidity- might almoft be faid to afl'ume the appearance of terror. He foon, however, gained confidence, and became communicative. He affured us that the Ifland on which we were, and of which he was a native, was the beft in the whole groupe, and the moft populous, except that of Chu-fan ; the number of its inhabitants being ten thoufand fouls. It was difcovered, however, before we had been long in the country, that when a Chinefe made ufe of the monofyllable van^ which in his language fignifies ten thoufand, he was not to be underflood as fpeaking of a determinate or precife number, but only as making ufe of a term that implied amplification. A ftate criminal, for example, is generally con- demned to undergo the punifhment of being cut into ten thou- fand pieces ; the great wall of China is called the van-lee-tchin^ or wall of ten thoufand lee ^ or three thoufand Englifh miles, a length juft double to that which the moft authentic accounts have given of it. But when he means to inform any one that the Emperor has ten thoifand large veffels, for the purpofe of colleding taxes paid in kind, on the grand canal, inftead of the monofyllable van he invariably makes ufe of the exprelfion nine thoufand nine hundred and ninety-nine, as conveying a fixed and definite number, and, in this cafe, he will be underftood to fignify literally ten thoufand. In this manner, I fuppofe, we were to underftand the population of the ifland Lo-ang, At the fight of our large fhips, fo different in their appear- ance from any of thofe belonging to the Chinefe, a vaft . number of boats, ifliiing from every creek and cove, prefently crowded together, in fuch a manner, and with fo little manage- ment, »r.Mjitanda-M' /■f^.. , //yi. y'/r/'/li-//:/ M.iy ».','t>i. ^l- J-fyM^Ct^M/ fia,r't,j; S/nr/i,/. /.,'r„/o>i. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 37 ment, as to render It difficult to pafs through without danger of overfettlng or finking feme of them ; a danger, however, to which they feeined quite infenfible. Veflels of a larger defcription, and various in the fhape of their hulls and rigging, from twenty tons burden and upwards, to aboui: two hundred tons, were obferved in confiderable numbers, failing along the coaft of the continent, laden generally with fmall timber, which was piled to fuch a height upon their decks, that no extraordinary force of wind would feem to be required to overturn them. Beams of wood, and other pieces that were too long to be received upon the deck of a fingle fhip, w^ere laid acrofs the decks of two veflels lalhed together. We faw at lead a hundred couple thus laden in one fleet, keeping clofe in with the coafl:, in order to be ready, in cafe of bad weather, to put into the neareft port, being ill calculated to refifl: a ftorm at fea. The fhips indeed that are deftined for longer voyages appear, from their Angular confl,rudion, to be very unfit to contend with the tcmpefl:uous feas of China. The general forrai of the hull, or body of the fhip, above water, is that of the moon when about four days old. The bow, or forepart, is not rounded as in fhips of Europe, but is a fquare flat furface, the fame as the fl:ern ; without any projeding piece of wood, ufually known by the name of cutwater, and without any keel. On each fide of the bow a large circular eye Is painted, in imi- tation, I fuppofe, of that of a filh. The two ends of the fhip rife to a prodigious height above the deck. Some carry two, fomc three, and others four mafts. Each of thefe confifls of a fingle piece of wood, and confequently not capable of being occafionally reduced in length, as thofe of European fliips. The II 38 TRAVELS IN CHINA. The diameter of the malnmaft of one of the larger kind of Chinefe veflels, fuch as trade to Batavia, is not lefs than thar of an Englifh man of war of fixty-four guns And it is fixed in a bed of maflive timber laid acrofs the deck. On each maft is a fmgle fail of matting, made from the fibres of the bamboo, and ftretched by means of poles of that reed, running acrofs, at the diftance of about two feet from each other, Thefe fails are frequently made to furl and unfurl like a fan. When well hoifted up and braced almoft fore and aft, or parallel with the fides of the fhip, a Chinefe veflel will fail within three and a half, or four points of the wind ; but they lofe all this advantage over fhips of Europe by their drifting to leeward, in confequence of the round and clumfy Ihape of the bottom, and their want of keel. The rudder is fo placed, in a large opening of the ftern, that it can occafionally be taken up, which is generally done on approaching fands and ihallows. The Chinefe, in fa<3:, are equally unfkilled in naval archi- tcdure, as in the art of navigation. They keep no recko. ing :at fea, nor poffcfs the lead idea of drawing imaginary lines upon the furface of the globe, by the help of which the pofi- tion of any particular fpot may be afligned ; in other words, they have no means whatloever of afcertaining the latitude or the longitude of any place, either by eftimation from ihe diftance failed, or by -obfervation of the heavenly bodies, with inftru- ^nents for that purpofe. Yet they pretend to fay, that many «if their early navigators made long voyages, in which they were TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^,^ were guided by charts of the route, foraetimes drawn on paper, and fometimes on the convex furface of large gourds or pumpkins. From this circumftance, fome of the Jefuits have inferred, that fuch charts mufl: have been more correct than thofe on flat furfaces. If, indeed, the portion of the convex furface, employed for the purpofe, was the fegment of a fphere, and occupied a fpace having a comparative relation to that part of the furface of the earth failed over, the inference might be allowable ; but this would be to fuppofe a degree of know- ledge to which, it does not appear, the Chlnefe had at any time attained, it being among them, in every period of their hiftory, an univerfally received opinion, that the earth is a fquare, and that the kingdom of China is placed in the very center of its flat furface. The prefent fyftem of Chinefe navigation is to keep as near the fhore as poffible j and never to lofe fight of land, unlefs in voyages that abfolutely require it ; fuch as to Japan, Batavia, and Cochin-China. Knowing the bearing, or diredion of the port intended to be made, let the wind be fair or foul, they endeavour, as nearly as poffible, to keep the head of the fliip always pointing towards the port by means of the compafs. This inftrument, as ufed in China, has every appearance of originality. The natives know nothing, from hiftory or tra- dition, of its firft introdudion or difcovery ; and the ufe of the magnet, for indicating the poles of the earth, can be traced, from their records, to a period of time when the greateft part of Europe was in a ftate of barbarifm. It has been conjedured, indeed, that the ufe of the magnetic needle, in Europe, was firft 40 TRAVELS IN CHINA. firft brought from China by the famous traveller Marco Polo the Venetian. Its appearance immediately after his death, or, according to fome, while he was yet living, but at all events, in his own country, renders fuch a conjedure extremely probable. The embaflies in which he was employed by Kublai-Khan, and the long voyages he performed by fca, could fcarceiy have been pradicable without the aid of the compafs. Be this ask may, the Chinefe were, without doubt, well acquainted with this inftru- ment long before the thirteenth century. It is recorded in their beft authenticated annals merely as a fa<9:, and not as any ex- traordinary circumllance, that the Emperor Chung-ko prefented an embaflador of Cochin-China, who had loft his way in coming by fea, with a Thig-nan-tchin " a needle pointing out the fouth," the name which it ftlll retains. Even this idea of the feat of magnetic influence, together with the conftrudion of the com- pafs-box, the divifion of the card into eight principal points, and each of thefe again fubdivided into three, the manner of fuf- pending the needle, and its diminutive fize, feldom exceeding in length three quarters of an inch, are all of them ftrong prefump- tions of its being an original, and not a borrowed invention. By fome, indeed, it has been conjedured, that the Scythians, in the northern regions of Afia, were acquainted with the polarity of the magnet, in ages antecedent to all hiftory, and that the virtue of this foffil was intended to be meanr by the flying arrow, prefented to Abaris by Apollo, about the time of the Trojan war, with the help of which he could tranfport hlm- felf wherever he pleafed. The abundance of iron ores, and perhaps of native iron, in every part of Tartary, and the very early TRAVELS IN CHINA. 41 early period of time in which the natives were acquainted with the procefs of fmelting thefe ores, render the idea not improbable, of the northern nations of Europe, and Afia, (or the Scythians,) being firft acquainted with the polarity of the magnet. Yet even with the affiftance of the compafs. It is furprizing how the clumfy and ill-confl:ru£led vefl'els of the Chinefe can perform fo long and dangerous a voyage as that to Batavia. For, befides being thrown out of their courfe by every contrary wind, their whole conftrudtion, and particularly the vaft height of their upper works above the water, feems little adapted to oppofe thofe violent tempefts that prevail on the China feas, known, as we have already obferved, by the name of Ta-fung. Thefe hur- ricanes fometimes blow with fuch flrength that, according to the aflertion of an experienced and intelligent commander of one of the Eaft India Company's fhips, " Were it polTible to blow ten " thoufand trumpets, and beat as many drums, on the forecallle " of an Indiaman, in the height of a 'Ta-fung^ neither the found " of the one nor the other would be heard by a perfon on the *' quarter-deck of the fame fhlp." In fad, vaft numbers of Chinefe veflels are loft in thefe heavy gales of wind ; and ten or twelve thoufand fubjeds from the port of Canton alone are reckoned to perifh annually by flilpwreck. When a fhlp leaves this port on a foreign voyage, it is con- fidered as an equal chance that fhe will never return ; and when the event proves favourable, a general rejoicing takes place among the friends of all thofe who had embaj-ked on the hazardous enterprize. Some of thefe fhips are not lefs than a G thoufand 42 ' TRAVELS IN CHINA. thoufand tons burden, and contain half that number of fouls, be- fides the pafl'engers that leave their country, in the hope of making their fortunes in Batavia and Manilla. A fhip is feldom the con- cern of one man. Sometimes forty or fifty, or even a hundred different merchants purchafe a vefl'el, and divide her into as many compartments as there are partners, fo that each knows his own particular place in the fhip, vs'hich he is at liberty to fit up and to fecure as he pleafes. He fhips his goods, and accompanies them in perfon, or fends his fon, or a near relation, for it rarely happens that they will truft each other with property, where no family connexion exifts. Each fleeping-place is jufl the length and breadth of a man, and contains only a fmall mat, fpread on the floor, and a pillow. Behind the compafs is generally placed a fmall temple, with an altar, on which is continually kept burning a fpiral taper compofed of wax, tallow, and fandal- wood duft. This holy flame anfwers a double purpofe ; for while the burning of it fulfils an aft of piety, its twelve equal divifions ferve to meafure the twelve portions of time, which make up a complete day. It fhould feem that the fuperftitious notions inculcated in the people have led them to fuppofe, that fome particular influence refides in the compafs ; for, on every appearance of a change in the weather, they burn incenfe before the magnetic needle. The lofles occafioned among the fhips that were employed to tranfport the taxes paid in kind from the ports of the fouthern and middle provinces to the northern capital, were fo great, at the time of the Tartar Conqueft, in fhe thirteenth century, that the fucceffors of Gengis-Khan were induced to open a direft: commii- TRAVELS IN CHINA. 43 communication between the two extremes of the empire, by means of the rivers and canals; an undertaking that refieds the higheft credit on the Mongul Tartars, and which cannot fall to be regarded with admiration, as long as it (hall continue to exift. The Chinefe, however, fay, that the Tartars only repaired the old works that were fallen into decay. Six centuries previous to this period, or about the feventh century of the Chriftian sera, the Chinefe merchants, according to the opinion of the learned and ingenious Mr. de Guignes, carried on a trade to the weft coaft of North America. That, at this time, the promontory of Kamfkatka was known to them under the name of Ta-Shan^ many of their books of travels fuf- ficlently teftlfy ; but their journles thither were generally made by land. One of the miinonaries aflured me that, in a colledioa of travels to Kamfkatka, by various Chinefe, the names of the feveral Tartar tribes, their manners, cuftoms, and charadlers, the geographical defcrlptions of lakes, rivers, and mountains, were too clearly and diftindtly noted to be raiftaken. It is, however, extremely probable that, as furs and peltry were always in great demand, they might alfo have fome communication with the faid promontory from the ifles of JefTo, to which they were known to trade with their fhipping ; and which are only a very fliort diftance from it. Mr. de Guignes, in fupport of his opi- nion, quotes the journal of a Bonze, as the priefts of Fo have ufually been called, who failed eaftward from Kamfkatka to fuch a diftance as, In his mind, puts it beyond a doubt that the country he arrived at was no other than the coaft of California. The Spanifh writers, indeed, of the early voyages to this coun- G 2 try, 44 TRAVELS IN CHINA. try, make mention of various wrecks of Chinefe veflels being found in different parts of the weftern coaft of the New Continent ; and they obferve that the natives here were, invariably, more civilized than in the interior and eaftern parts of America. Even thofe on the eaftern coaft of South America have a very ftron^; refemblance to the Chinefe in their perfons, though not in their temperament and manners. The Viceroy of the Brazils retains a dozen of thefe people in his fervice, as rowers of his barge, with the ufe of which he one day honoured us, to make the tour of the grand harbour of Rio de Janeiro. We obferved the Tartar or Chinefe features, particularly the eye, ftrongly marked in the countenances of thefe Indians ; the copper tinge was rather deeper than the darkeft of the Chinefe ; but their beards being moftly confined to the upper lip and the point of the chin, together with their ftrong black hair, bore a very near refemblance. The ifland of Tcho-ka, or Saghalien, in the Tartarian fea, oppofite the mouth of the Amour, has evidently been peopled by the Chinefe. When Monfieur la Peroufe vifited this ifland, he found the inhabitants clothed in blue nankin, and " the " form of their drefs differed but little from that of the " Chinefe ; their pipes were Chinefe, and of Tootanague ; they " had long nails ; and they faluted by kneeling and proftration, *' like the Chinefe. If," continues the navigator, " they have a " common origin with the Tartars and Chinefe, their feparation " from thefe nations muft be of very ancient date, for they " have no refemblance to them in perfon, and little in manners." Yet TRAVELS IN CHINA. 45 Yet from his own account it appears that both their manners and cuftoms have a very clofe refemblance. The Chinefe at one period carried on a very confiderable com- merce with BuiTora, and other Tea-ports in the Perfian gulph, particularly Siraff^ near which Tome fmall iflands, as well as I'eve- ral remarkable points and headlands of the coaft, ftill bear Chi- nefe names. In fome of the voyages it is obferved that a Colony of Chinefe had apparently fettled in the kingdom of Soffala, the defcendants of whom were, in the time of the writers, eafily dif- tinguifhed from the other natives, by the difference of their co- lour and their features. The early Portugueze navigators alfo obferve, that on the ifland St. Laurence or Madagafcar they met with people that refembled the Chinefe. That the celebrated traveller Marco Polo vifited Madagafcar in a Chinefe veffel there can be little doubt, unlefs, indeed, like his own countrymen, we chufe rather to reject the probable parts of his narrative as fabulous, and to believe the miracles performed by the Neftorian Chriftians in Armenia as the only truths in his book. It is Impoffible not to confider the notices given by this early- traveller as curious, interefting, and valuable; and, as far as they regard the empire of China, they bear internal evidence of being generally corred. He failed from China in a fleet confifting of fourteen (hips, each carryingyozitr marts, and having their holds partitioned into feparate chambers, fome containing thirteen dif- tin£l compartments. This is the exa6t number of divifions into which all the holds of thofe fea-faring veffels were partitioned that tranfported the prefents and baggage from our own fhips in 46 TRAVELS IN CHINA. in the gulph o{ Pe-tcbe-lee into the river Pei-ho ; and we obferved many hundreds of a ftill larger defcription, that are employed in foreign voyages, all carryingyo;/r marts ; fuch veflels, our failors who are remarkable for metamorphoiing foreign names, ufually call Junks^ from Tcbuan which fignides a {hip ; the Tfoug-too or viceroy of a province is called by them yohn Tuck, Not only the form of the (hips, but the circumftances of the voyage taken notice of by this ancient navigator ftamp his rela- tion with authenticity. The (Irong current between Madagaf- car and Zanzebar rendering it next to impoffible for fliips to get back to the northward ; the black natives on that coaft, the products of the country which he enumerates ; the true defcrip- tion of the Giraffe or Camelopardalis, at that time confidered in Europe as a fabulous animal, are fo many and fuch ftrong evi- dences in favour of his narrative, as to leave little doubt that he either was himfelf upon the eaft coaft of Africa, or that he had received very correal information from his Chinefe (hipmates concerning it. Dodor Vincent, however, in the firft part of his learned and valuable work the Periplus of the Krythrean Sea^ feemed to be of opinion that in the time of this Venetian travel- ler none but Arab or Malay veflels navigated the Indian Ocean *. With all due deference to fuch high authority I cannot forbear obferving that the fimple relation of Marco Polo bears internal and irrefiftible evidence that the fleet of fliips in which he failed were Chinefe, of the fame kind to all intents and purpofes as * Since the publlrtiing of the firft Edition, I have been honoured with a communication from Doctor Vincent, from which, and from his fecond part of the PeriplAs of the Ery- threan Sea, it appears that he never meant to exclude the Chinefe from being among the moil ancient navigators in the Indian Seas. lo they TRAVELS IN CHINA. 47 they now are. Nor have we any reafon for doubting the authority of the two Mahornedans who vifited China in the ninth century, when they tell us that Chinefe fliips traded to the Perfian gulph at that time. In a chart made under the direction of the Venetian traveller, and flill preferved in the church of St. Michael de Murano at Venice, the fouthern part of the continent of Africa is faid to be diilindly marked down, though this indeed might have been inferted after the Cape of Good Hope had been doubled by the Portugueze *. Whether the Prince of Portugal had feen or heard of thi& chart, or confulted the Arabian geographers, or had read of the circumnavigation of Africa in the firft tranflation of Herodotus that made its appearance but a few years before the difcovery of the fouthern promontory of this continent by Bartholomew Diaz; or whether the voyages were undertaken at that time on a general plan of difcovery, authors feem not to have agreed; but the opinion, I underftand, among the Portugueze is that Henry had good grounds for fuppofing that the circumnaviga- tion of Africa was practicable. And whether the Phoenicians did or did not, in the earlieffe periods of hiftory, double the Cape of Good Hope, there is* abundant reafon for fuppofing they were well acquainted with the eaft coaft of Africa as far as the Cape of Currents. Nor is ic probable that the extent and flourifhing condition of the trade • From later enquiries it appears that this chart is not Marco Polo's, but the coiv ftruftion of a geographer of the nnme of Fra Mauro, a copy of which may {hortly be expefted in England ; when fome account of it is promifed to be laid before th€ puWJc» by that able and indefatigable fcholar the prefent Dcaa of Wellminfter. and 48 TRAVELS IN CHINA. and commerce of Tyrus fhould have been limited to that part of the Indian Ocean to the fouthward of the Red Sea, which is a more difficult navigation than to the northward. That this commerce was extenfive we have the authority of the prophet Ezekiel, who, in glowing terms, has painted its final deftruftion, and who, it may be remarked, is fuppofed to have lived at the very time the Phoenicians failed round Africa by order of Necho. " Thy riches and thy fairs, thy merchandife, thy mariners and " thy pilots, thy caulkers, and the occupiers of thy merchan- *' dize, and all thy men of war that are in thee, and in all thy " company which is in the midft of thee, fhall fall into the *' midft of the feas in the day of thy ruin." It is probable there- fore that the navigation of the Eaftern Seas was known in the earlieft periods of hiftory, and there feems to be no reafon for fuppofing that the Chinefe fhould not have had their fhare in it. Without, however, making any enquiry into the proba- bility that an ancient intercourfe might have fubfifted between China and the Eaft coaft of Africa, either by convention for commercial purpofes, or that Chinefe failors might have been thrown on that coaft either in Phoenician, or Arabian, or their own veflels, I happened to obferve in a former publication of " Travels *' in Southern Africa^"^ as a matter of fadt, " that the upper lid " of the eye of a real Hottentot, as in that of a Chinefe, was " rounded into the lower on the fide next the nofe, and that it " formed not an angle as in the eye of a European — that *' from this circumftance they were known in the colony of " the Cape by the name of Chinefe Hottentots,^"* Further ob- fervations have confirmed me in the very ftriking degree of re- femblance between them. Their phyfical charaders agree in almoft TRAVELS IN CEINA. 49 almoft every point. The form of their perfons in the remark- able fmallnefs of the joints and the extremities, their voices and manner of fpeaking, their temper, their colour and features, and particularly that fmgular Ihaped eye rounded in the corner next the nofe like the end of an ellipfis, probably of Tartar or Scy- thian origin, are nearly alike. They alfo agree in the broad root of the nofe ; or great diflance between the eyes : and in the oblique pofition of thefe, which, inftead of being horizontal, as is generally the cafe in European fubjeds, are deprefled towards the nofe. A Hottentot who attended me in travelling over Southern Africa was fo very like a Chinefe fervant I had in Canton, both In perfon, features, manners, and tone of voice, that almoft always inadvertently I called him by the name of the latter. Their hair, It is true, and that only, differs. This, in a Hottentot, is rather harfh and wiry, than woolly, neither long, nor fhort, but twifted in hard curling ringlets refembling fringe. I poffefs not a fufficient degree of fkill in phyfiology to fay what kind of hair the offspring would have of a Chi- nefe man and Mofambique woman j much lefs can I pretend to account for the origin of the Hottentot tribes, infulated on the narrow extremity of a large continent, and differing fo re- markably from all their neighbours, or where to look for their primitive ftock, unlefs among the Chinefe. I am aware it will appear rather fmgular to thofe who may have attended to the accounts that generally have been given of thefe two people, to meet with a comparifon between the moft poliftied and the moft barbarous, the wifefl and the moft ignorant of mankind ; and I am therefore the lefs furprized at H an, 5© TRAVELS IN CHINA. an obfervation made by the writers of the Critical Review, ** that the foetus of the Hottentots may refemble the Chinefe, " as the entrails of a pig refemble thofe of a man ; but on this " topic our ingenious author feems to wander beyond the circle " of his knowledge." I hope thefe gentlemen will not be offended at my taking this occafion to affure them that the comparifon was not even then made on loofe grounds, although no inference was drawn from it, and that on a clofer examina- tion, I am the more convinced of their near refemblance in mental as well as phyfical qualities. The aptitude of a Hotten- tot in acquiring and combining Ideas is not lefs than of a Chl-^ nefe, and their powers of imitation are equally great, allowance being made for the difference of education ; the one being con- tinually from his infancy brought up in a fociety where all the arts and convenlencies of life are in common ufe ; the other among a miferable race of beings in conftant want even of the common neceffarles of life. But as alfertions and opinions prove nothing, I have annexed thte portrait of a real Hottentot, drawn from the life by Mr. S. Daniell, in order to compare it with one of a Chinefe, taken alfo from the life by Mr. Alexander ; and I have no doubt that a clofe comparifon of thefe portraits will convince the reader, as well as the reviewer, that the refemblance I remarked to have found was not altogether fanciful. Indeed the people that have derived their origin from the fame flock with the Chinefe, are more widely fcattered over the Afiatic continent and the oriental iflands than is generally imagined. \ ^ '^^- Ni ^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. 5, Imagined. All thofe numerous focieties, known under the common name of Malays, are unqueftionably defcended from the ancient inhabitants of Scythia or Tartary ; and it may perhaps be added, that their connection with the Arabs and their converfion to Iflamifm firft infpired, and have now ren- dered habitual, that cruel and fanguinary difpofition for which they are remarkable ; for it has been obferved that the natives of thofe iflands, to which the baleful influence of this religion has not extended, have generally been found a mild and inoffenfive people ; as was the cafe with regard to the natives of the Pelew iflands when difcovered by Captain Wilfon. The perufal of Mr. Marfden's excellent hifl:ory of Sumatra leaves little doubt on my mind that a Chinefe colony at fome early period has fettled on that ifland. This author obferves that the eyes of the Sumatrans are little, and of the fame ,kind as thofe of the Chinefe; that they fuffer their nails to grow long ; that they excel in working fillagree, making gun- powder, &c. that they regifl;er events by making knots on cords ; that they count decimally ; write with a fl:yle on bamboo ; that they have little hair on their bodies and heads, which little, like the Chinefe, they extradt. In their language, many words, I perceive, are fimilar ; and the correfponding words exprefs the fame idea in both languages ; but on etymological comparifons I would be underfl:ood to lay little fl:refs, for reafons which will be afljgned in the fixth chapter. The fimilitude of a religious ceremony is much ftronger ground to build upon j and the coin- cidence is fufficiently remarkable, that the manner pradifed by the Sumatrans in taking a folemn oath fhould exadtly agree with H 2 the 53 TRAVELS IN CHINA. the fame ceremony which is ufed in giving a folemn pledge among the common people of China, namely, by wringing off the head of a cock. Captain Mackintofli told me that having once occafion to place great confidence in the matter of a Chinefe veflel, and doubting left he might betray it, the man felt himfelf confi- derably hurt, and faid he would give him fufficient proof that he was to be trufted. He immediately procured a cock, and, falling down on both knees, wrung off his head ; then holding up his hands towards heaven, he made ufe of thefe words v " If I aft otherwife than as I have faid, do thou, o tien^ (Hea- " ven,) deal with me as I have dealt with this cock !" I have fince been informed, from the beft authority, that whenever, in the courfe of the concerns of the Britifh Eaft India Company with the merchants of China, it may be necef- fary to adminifter an oath to a Chinefe, the fame ceremony is gone through of wringing off the head of a cock, which is by them confidered in a very ferious light, a fort of incantation, whofe effeds upon their minds are not unlike thofe produced by fuppofed magic fpells, once common in our own country, by which the vulgar were perfuaded that the Devil was to be made to appear before them. In a Chinefe court of juftice an eath is never adminiftered. In a late affair, where a Chinefe was killed by a feaman of a Britifh man of war, and the Cap- tain was about to admini(l:er an oath to two of his people whom he produced as evidences in a Chinefe court of juftice, the chief judge was fo fhocked, that he ordered the court to be inftantly cleared. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 53 The Cingalefcy who inhabit the ifland of Ceylon, are unquef- tionably of Chinefe origin. Thofe who are acquainted with the Chinefe manners and character, will immediately perceive the very clofe refemblance, on reading Mr. Boyd's relation of his embafly to the King of Candy. Their name even is Chi- nefe. C'm-ngo or Sin-quo^ kingdom of Sin^ (from whence Sina, or China,) are ftridly Chinefe words ; the termination left is Eu- ropean. So is the name of the illand alfo Chinefe, See-Ian, See-long^ or See-lung^ the Weftern Dragon, given, no doubt, in conformity to an invariable cuflom of afligning the name of feme animal to every mountain. Having no intention, however, to inveftigate minutely the extent of Chinefe navigation and commerce in ancient times, but rather to confine my obfervations to their prefent ftate, I return from this digreffion, in order to proceed on our voyage. One of the fmall brigs, attending the expedition, was dif- patched without lofs of time to the port of Chti-San^ to take on board the pilots that, agreeably to the order contained in the Imperial edidt, were expe«5ted to be found in readinefs to embark. In fome of the paflages, formed by the numerous iflands, the currents ran with amazing rapidity, appear- ing more like the impetuous torrents of rivers, fvvelled by rains, than branches of the great ocean. The depth too of thefe narrow paflages was fo great as to make it difficult, dangerous, and frequently impoffible, for fliips to anchor in the event of a calm ; in which cafe they muft neceflarily drive at the mercy of the fl:ream. As we approached, in tl;ie Cla- rence brig, the high rocky point of the continent called Kee-teoy which 54 TRAVELS IN CHINA. which juts into the midft of the clufter of iflands, the wind fuddenly failed us ; and the current hurried us with fuch velo- city dire£lly towards the point, that we expedted momentarily to be dafhed in pieces ; but on coming within twice the length of the fliip of the perpendicular precipice, which was feme hundred feet high, the eddy fwept her round three feveral limes with great rapidity. The Captain would have dropped the anchor, but an old Chinefe fifherman, whom we had taken on board to pilot us, made figns that it was too deep, and, at the fame time, that there was no danger, except that of the bowfprit ftriking againft the mountain. The Chinefe veflels have no bowfprit. At ihis moment the lead was thrown, but we got no foundings at the depth of one hundred and twenty fathoms ; yet the yellow mud was brought up from the bottom in fuch quantities, that the Nile, at the height of its inunda- tions, or the great Yellow River of China, could not be more loaded with mud than the fea was in the whirlpool of Kee-too point. The current, in the Strait of Faro, fetting dire£tly upon the rocks of Scylla, and the whirlpool of Charybdis, thofe celebrated objeds of dread to ancient navigators, could not poffibly have been more awfully terrific, though perhaps more dangerous, than the currents and the eddies that boiled tumul- tuoufly round this promontory of the Chinefe continent, where, ** When the tide rufhes from her rumbh'ng caves *• The rough rock roars ; tumultuous boil the waves ; " They tofs, they foam, a wild confufion raife, <* Like waters bubbling e'er tJie fiery blaze." The fecond whirl removed us to a confiderable diftance from the point, and after the third, we were fwept rapidly along m TRAVELS IN CHINA. 55 in a fmooth uniform current. Our Interpreter, a Chlnefe prieft, who had been educated in the college de propaganda fide at Naples, was not quite fo compofed as his countryman the pilot. The poor fellow, indeed, had nearly been thrown over- board by the boom of the mainfail, in the firft, which was the moft rapid, whirl of the fhip j the fame blow ftriking a failor toffed his hat overboard ; and it afforded fome amufement, in our fuppofed perilous fituation, to hear the different ejaculations of thefe two perfons on the fame occafion. Sandilffima Maria, ejl miracidum^ ejl miraculum I exclaimed the prieft, with great eagernefs ; whilft the failor, rubbing his head, and walking away, with much compofure obferved, that the d — nd boom had carried away his fore-top-gallant cap I The Chinefe, it fcemed, had already been apprized of our arrival, for we had not proceeded far before a large veffel bore down towards us, and, hailing the brig in their own language, defired we would bring her to anchor, and that they would con- ducSl us early the following morning into the harbour of Chu- fan. Some of the officers came on board, were extremely civil, and prefented us with a bafket of fruit ; but they affeded to know nothing of the occafion that had brought us thither. Our old filherman took out of the fea, (among thoufands that had floated round our veffel,) one of thofe animal fubftances which, I believe, we vulgarly call fea blubbers (Mollusca medufa porpitd). It was at leaft a foot in diameter. Having dreffed it for his fupper, and feeing it wear the inviting appearance of a tranfparent colourlefs jelly, I was tempted to tafte it ; but the effca 56 TRAVELS IN CHINA. effed produced by this, or the fruit, or both, was a fevere fick- nefs, which continued for feveral days. We weighed anchor at day-break, and, with a pleafant breeze, proceeded, in company with the clumfy-looking Jtmkj which, however, to the furprize of our feamen, failed quite as well as the ftnart-looking Clarence. Having anchored before the town, in a fpaclous bafon formed by feveral iflands, and paid the ufual compliment of a fa?ute, a few Mandarines (officers of government fo named by the early Portugueze from mandar^ to command) came on board. To every queftion that led to the main point of our vifit, thefe people gave us evafive anfwers, affecting the mofl: complete i-gnorance of every thing relating to the affairs of the embafTy. They faid the Tfung-ping^ or military governor of the ifland, was then abfent, but that he would return in the courfe of the day, and would be happy to fee us on fhore the following morning. Chinefe etiquette, I fuppofe, required that a day fhould elapfe before our reception in form. Accordingly, at an early hour in the morning the gentlemen of the embafTy, who had been fent on this bufmefs, went on fhore, and were received by the Governor with great polite- nefs and abundant ceremony, in his hall of public audience, which, as a building, had little to attract our notice. The ufual minute enquiries being gone through, which, it feems, Chinefe good-breeding cannot difpenfe with, fuch as the health of his vifitors, of their parents and relations, and particularly the 4 TRAVELS IN CHINA, 57 the name and age of each perfon, the objedl of our vlfit was explained to him j and at the fame time a hope exprefled that there would be no delay in getting the pilots on board. The old gentleman appeared to be much furprized at fuch violent hade, and talked of plays, feafts, and entertainments, that he meant to give us. Pilots, however, he faid, were ready to take charge of the (hips, and to carry them along the coaft to the next province, where others would be found to conduct them ftill farther. On being told that fuch a mode of navigation was utterly impradicable for the large Englilh fhips, and that fuch pilots would be of no ufe to us, he begged to be allowed the remainder of the day to enquire for others. We little expected to have met with any difficulties with regard to pilots, in one of the befl: and moft frequented ports in China, where, at that time, feveral hundred vefl'els were lying at anchor. The remainder of the day was fpent in a vifit to the city of Ting-hai ; but the crowd became fo numerous, and the day was fo exceffively hot, that before we had paffed the length of a ftreet, we were glad to take refuge in a temple, where the priefts very civilly entertained us with tea, fruit, and cakes. The officer who attended us advifed us to return in fedan chairs, an offer which we accepted ; but the bearers were flopped every moment by the crowd, in order that every one might fatisfy his curiofity by thrufting his head in at the window, and exclaiming, with a grin, Hung-mau ! 'Englijlmian^ or, literally, Redpate ! Rather difappointed than gratified, we were glad, after a fatiguing day, to throw ourfelves into our cots on board the Clarence, When we went on fliore the following morning, we found the oailitary governor, attended by a civil magiftrate, by whom, I iifter 58 TRAVELS IN CHINA. after the ufual compliments, we were addreffed, In a long oration, delivered apparently with a great deal of folemnity, the intention of which was to convince us that, as it had been the pradice of the Chinefe, for time immemorial, to navigate from port to port, experience had taught them it was the beft. Finding, however, that his eloquence could not prevail on his hearers to relinquifh, their own opinions on the fubjed, the governor and he confulted. together for fome time, and at length refolved that a general mufter fhould be made of all the perfons in that place, who had at any time vifited by fea the port of Tien-Jing, A number of foldlers were accordingly difpatched, and foon returned, with a fet of the mod miferable-looking wretches I ever beheld ; who were thruft into the hall, and dropping on their knees, were examined in that attitude, as to their qualifi- cations. Some, it appeared, had been at the port of Tien-fing^ but were no feamen ; others followed the profeflion, but had never been at that port j and feveral were hauled in, who had never fet a foot on board a veflel of any defcription whatfoever. In fhort, the greater part of the day was confumed to no pur- pofe ; and we were about to conclude that we had a great chance of leaving the central and much-frequented harbour of Cbu-fan^ without being able to procure a fmgle pilot, when two men were brought in, who feemed to anfwer the purpofe better than any which had yet been examined. It appeared, however, that they had quitted the fea for many years, and being comfortably fettled in trade, had no defire to engage in the prefent fervice j on the contrary, they begged on their knees that they might be excufed from fuch an undertaking. Their fupplications v/ere of no avail. The Emperor's orders mull bs obeyed = TRAVELS IN china; 59 obeyed. In vain did they plead the ruin of their bufinefs by their abfence, and the diftrefs It would occafion to their wives, their children, and their families. The Governor was inexorable ; and they were ordered to be ready to embark in the courfe of an hour. This arbitrary proceeding of the Governor conveyed no very exalted ideas of the juftlce or moderation of the government, or of the protedion it afforded to the fubjedt. To drag away from his family an honed and induftrious citizen, fettled in trade, and to force him into a fervice that muft be ruinous to his concerns, was an ad; of injuftice and violence that could not be tolerated in any other than a defpotic government, where the fubjedt knows no laws but the will of the tyrant. But as we were yet on a diftant ifland of the Great Empire, remote from the fountain of authority ; and as delegated power, in all coun- tries, is but too liable to be abufed, we were willing to confider the prefent proceeding as the effe£t of an over-anxious zeal of the old Governor. Befides, a Chinefe might be impreffed with fentiments equally unfavourable of our government, were he informed of the manner in which imperious neceffity fometimes requires our navy to be manned. One confi deration, however, might with fafety be drawn from the occurrences of this day, which was this, that long voyages are never undertaken where they can be avoided ; but that the commerce of the Yellow Sea is carried on from port to port; and that the articles of merchandize fo tranfported muft neceffarily have many profits upon them, before they come to the diftant confumer ; which may, in fome degree, account I 2 for €p TRAVELS IN CHINA. for the high prices many of the products of the country, as wt afterwards found, bore in the capital. In like manner was the inland commerce of Afia conducted by caravans, proceeding from ftation to ftation, at each of which were merchants to buy or exchange commodities with each other, thofe at the limits of the journey having no connection nor communication what- foever with one another ; which will partly explain the igno- rance of the Greeks with regard to the Eaftern countries, from "whence they derived their precious ftpnes, perfumes, and other valuable articles. The old Governor was evidently relieved from a load of anxiety at his fuccefs ; and the tears and entreaties of the poor men ferved only to brighten up his countenance. From civility, or curiofity, or perhaps both, he returned our vifit on board the brig, which had been crowded with the natives from morning till night, fince her firft arrival in the harbour. I'he want of curiofity, which has been fuppofed to form a part of the Chinefe charader, was not perceived in this inftance ; but it was that fort of curiofity, which appeared rather to be incited by the defire of looking narrowly at the perfons of thofe who were to have the honour of being prefented to their Great Emperor, than for the fake of gratifying the eye or the mind, by the acquirement of information or new ideas. The ve0el, although fo very different from their own, was an object of little notice; and although eager to get a tranfient glance at the pafiengers, their curiofity was fatlsfied In a moment, and was generally accompanied with fome vague exclamation. In which the words Ta-w hang- tee occurred ; and the main drift of which feemed to imply, " is this perfon to appear before our Great " Emperor V TRAVELS IN CHINA, 61 "" Emperor ?" This was ftill more remarkable in the crowd of Ting-hai ; nothing fcarcely was there heard but the words Ta- whang-tee and Hung-mau^ the Emperor and the EngUfliman. The fquadron had fcarcely got under way, and cleared the narrow paflages betwen the iflands into the Yellow Sea, when it was perceived how very little advantage it was likely to derive from the Chinefe pilots. One of them, in fatH:, had come on board without his compafs, and it was in vain to attempt to make him comprehend ours. The moveable card ' was to him a paradox, as being contrary to the univerfal prac- tice with them, of making the needle traverfe the fixed points, and not the points defcribed on the card to move (by the needle being attached to the card), as in thofe of Europe. The other was furnifhed with a compafs, about the fize of a common fnuff-box, being an entire piece of wood, with a circular exca- vation in the centre, juft large enough to admit the vibration ■ of a very fine fteel needle, not quite an inch in length, which, however, might be found fufficiently ufeful, in their fhorf voyages, by means of a peculiar contrivance for preferving the centre of gravity, in all pofitlons of the fliip, in coincidence ■ nearly with the center of fufpenfion. Nor is it neceflary, In fo fhort and fine a needle, to load one end more than the other, . in order to counteract the dip, or tendency that the magnetic needle is known to have, more or lefs, towards the horizon in different parts of the world. The Chinefe, however, do not feem to have adopted their fmall needle from any knowledge citherof the variation, or of the inclination of the magnetic needle. Although the needle be invariably fmall, yet it fomctimes happens that ^i TRAVELS IN CHINA, that the margin of the box is extended to fuch a fize,as to contain from twenty to thirty concentric circles, containing various cha- radl^rs of the language, conftituting a compendium of their aflronomical (perhaps more properly fpeaking aftrological) knowledge. As numbers of fuch compafTes are in the mufeums of Europe, it may not perhaps be wholly unacceptable to give fome notion of what thefe circles of chara^ers contaia. 1. Central circle, or the needle. 2. 8 myflical characters denoting the firft principles of mat- ter, faid to be invented by Fo-Jhe£^ the founder of the monarchy. 3. The names of the i^ hours into which the day is divided. 4 and 5. Names of the circumpolar ftars. 6. Charaders of the 24 principal meridians or colures. 7. The 24 fubdivifions or feafons of the year. 8. The charaders of the cycle of 60 years. 9. Numerical charaders relating to the above cycle. 10. Characters denoting the 28 figns of the Zodiac. 1 1 . Certain aftrological characters. 12. Eight fentences explanatory of the 8 myftical characters on the fecond circle. 13. A different arrangement of the Chinefe cycle. 14. Characters of the five elements. 15. Repetition of the characters on the eighth circle. 16. Repetition of the eighth circle. 1 7 and 1 8. Characters of obfcure mythology. 19. Names of 28 conftellations and their places in the heavens. 20, Relates to the fixth and fifteenth circles. 21. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^j 31. The world divided according to the fidereal Influences. 22. Correfponds with the eighth and fixteenth circles. 23. Contains the fame as the above with the addition of the fourteenth circle. 24 and 25. Are Inexplicable even by the Chinefe. 26. An arrangement of certain charadlers and marks for cal- culating lucky, unlucky, and neutral days. 27, is the fame as the nineteenth, and furrounds the whole *» The greateft depth of the Yellow Sea, In the track of the fhlps, did not exceed thirty-dx fathoms, and it was frequently dimi- nifhed to ten fathoms. The weather, as ufually happens in fhallow fcas, was generally hazy. In doubling the projeding promontory of the province of Shan-tung, the land was hidden in thick fogs. And on thefe, fortunately, diflipating, it was per- ceived that the whole fquadron was within four miles of the main, land^ and one of the fhips clofe upon a rocky ifland. The * If any argument were wanting to prove the originality of the magnetic needle as Mfed in China, the circumftance of their having ingrafted upon it their mofl ancient and' favourite mythology, their cycles, conflellations, elements, and, in fhort, an abftraft of all their aftronomical or aftrological fcience, is quite fufficient to fettle that point. Thofe who are acquainted with the Chinefe charafter will not readily admit that their long eftablifhed fupcrftitlons i'hould be found Incorporated on an indrument of barbarian in- vention. I am happy to add, that Dr. Vincent, whofe liberality of fentiment is equally djf- tmguifhed with his profound learning, is inclined to confider the Chinefe compafs as an- original invention, wholly different from the fame inflrumcnt as ufed in Europe. He obferves, that Barthema (or Vertomannusi, the firll European who reached the Moluccas (about the year 1499 or 15:00), failed in ajunk, and mentions the Chinefe compafs to be different from the European ; and he concludes that, as the Portuguefe at that time had not got much farther than Cape Comorin, if the Chinefe had the compafs when the Indians and Arabians had It not, there was no medium through which the invon- tdon fliuuld be convey«d, and that it muft be originally Chinefe. 3 pilots ^ TRAVELS IN CHJNA.' pilots were as ignorant of our fituation as the meanefl: Tailor m the fquadron. Proceeding to the weftward, a capacious bay wa€ -difcovered. One of the pilots, after a minute examination of tTie land, which was now clear, affertcd that he knew the place very well ; that it was the bay of Mee-a-taw. The confidence with which he fpokc, and the vaft concourfe of people, crowd- ing down towards the fhore, as if expeding our arrival, induced the Commander to fteer diredly into the bay : but the depth of water diminifbing to five fathoms, and land appearing on every fide, it was thought prudent to let go the anchor. Seve- ral boats from the fhore were prefently along-fide ; and v.e were foon convinced how little we had to truft to the know- ledge of our pilots, even within fight of land. We were in- formed that the bay was called Kee-fati-feu^ and that Mee-a-taw was, at leafl, fifteen leagues farther to the weft ward. The hills along this fouthern coaft of the gulph of Pe-tche-lce have a very peculiar character. They are all of the fame form and nearly of the fame fize, being regular cones with fmooth fides as if faftiioned by art, and entirely detached, each ftanding on its proper bafe, refembling in their fhapes the fummer caps worn by the officers of government ; and having, as yet, no European names, they were noticed in the journals by the appel- lation of the firft, fecond, third, &c. mandarin's bonnets. Determining now to avail ourfelves of the advice given by the magiftrate of Chu-fan^ and to navigate from port to port, we here procured two new pilots to cany the fhips to Mee-a' taw* They brought us indeed ^o this place, but, inftead of a harbour TRAVELS IN CHINA. 6s harbour, we found only a'narrow ftrait, with a rapid tide fet- ting through it, and rocky anchoring ground. On the fhore of the continent was a city of confiderable extent, under the walls of which next the fea was a bafou or dock, filled with veflels whofe capacity might be from ten to one hundred tons. The Governor of this city (the name of which we learned to be Ten-tchoo-foo) paid his refpedls to the Embaflador on board the Lion, and obfcrved in the courfe of converfation that his orders from court were to render all the fervice in his power to the embafly, and to provide proper means of conveyance, either by land or by fea. He feemed to be about the age of five and thirty, a man of frank and eafy manners, courteous, intelligent, and inquifitive. He flood higher in the opinion of all of us than any we had yet feen. The following morning he fent off what he was pleafed to call a trifling refrefhment, which con- fifted of four bullocks, eight fheep, eight goats, five facks of fine white rice, five facks of red rice, two hundred pounds of flour, and feveral bafkets of fruit and vegetables. We have always been taught to believe that the Chinefe con- fider us as barbarians ; but we have hitherto no reafon to fay that they treated us as fuch. At all events it was obvious that the expeded arrival of the Britifli embafly had made no flight impreflion on the court of Pekin. Here we once more ventured on another pilot to carry the fliips acrofs the gulph of Pe-tche-lce to T'len-fmg. He was an old man of 70 years, and feemed to poflefs a perfedt knowledge K of 66 TRAVELS IN CHINA. of all the bays and harbours in the gulph. He drew on paper the Iketch of a port on the weftern coaft to which he undertook to carry the fhips. Fortunately, however, for us, it was con- fidered more fafe to fend the fmall brigs a-head to found, than to place any confidence in men who had already fo often de- ceived us. They had fcarcely departed before the fignal of danger was made ; a new courfe was fleered for the night, and early the following morning, the fame fignal was repeated. No land was now in fight, yet the water had fhallowed to fix fathoms ; it was therefore deemed prudent to come to an an- chor. It was a very unufual fituation for fuch large fhips to ride thus at anchor in the middle of a ftrange fea, and out of fight of land, yet liable, in cafe of blowing weather, to ftrike againft the bottom. The commanders of the flilps were exafperated againft the pilots, and thefe on their part were almoft petrified with fear. The poor creatures had done their beft, but they poffefTcd nei- ther fkill nor judgment ; or, perhaps, it may be more charitable to fuppofe that they were confufed by the novelty of their fitu- ation. It was in vain to endeavour to make them comprehend the difference in the draught of water between their own fhips and ours, which, in the latter, was as many fathoms as feet in the former, although they were palpably fhewn, by a piece of tope, the depth that was required. As it was evidently irapradicable to proceed farther with our own fhips towards the land, which was now from twelve to fifteen miles diftant, and fo very low as not to be vifible from TRAVELS IN CHINA. 5; from the deck, one of the tenders was difpatched to the mouth of the Pei-hoy or white river, to report our arrival. Here two officers from the court had already embarked to wait on the Embaflador, carrying with them a prefent of refrefhments, confifting of bullocks, hcgs, fheep, poultry, wine, fruit, and vegetables, in fuch quantities, as to be more than fufficient for a week's confumption of the whole fquadron, amounting nearly to fix hundred men. It confifted in twenty fmall bullocks, one hundred hogs, one hundred fheep, one thoufand fowls, three thoufand pumpkins, as many melons, apples, pears, plumbs, apricots, and other fruits, with an abundance of culinary vegetables. The wine was contained in large earthen jars whofe covers were clofely luted. Numbers of the hogs and the fowls had been bruifed to death on the paffage, which were thrown overboard from the Lion with difdain, but the Chinefe eagerly picked them up, waflied them clean and laid them in fait. The number of vefTels they had difpatched to take on fliorc the prefents and the baggage was between thirty and forty, the capacity of each not being lefs, and many of them more, than two himdred tons ; fo imperfed a judgment had thefe people formed of the quntity of articles to be tranfliipped. Thefe were the veflels whofe holds were divided into thirteen diftind: compartments, fcparated by partitions of two inch plank, the feams of which were caulked with a preparation of fine lime made from fhells, and fibres of bamboo, in order to render them water-tight. Their fails, cables, rigging, and K 2 • cordage, 68 TRAVELS IN CHINA. cordage, were all made of bamboo ; and neither pitch nor tar was ufed on thefe or any part of the wood-work. \Vc detained about fifteen of thefe veiTels to take on iliore the Embaflador's fuite, the prefents for the Emperor, and the baggage ; after which the Britifh fhlps returned to Chii-fau without the afTiftance of the Chinefe pilots, whofe fkill in navigation was held very cheap, by the lowefl feamen on board. On entering the Pei-ho we obferved a number of buildings eredted on the right bank, with roofs of matting, but decorated in the moft fantaftical manner, with different coloured ribbands and variegated filks ; and about three hundred foldiers in their uniforms (which appeared to our eye not much adapted to military purpofes) were drawn out, with a band of mufis, near a temporary landing-place conftruded of wood \ all of which we underftood had been haftily prepared for the recep- tion of the Embaffador; but as his Excellency was defirous of reaching the capital without delay, he declined going on ihore, preferring to ftep into the accommodation yachts at once, that were ready to receive him, a little higher up the river, the mo- ment that the prefents fhould be tranfhipped into the river- craft. The officers who were deputed to conduct him to the capital obferved, that fo much hafte was not at all neceffary, as the Emperor's birth-day was yet diftant j thefe people having no other idea of an embafly, as it feemed, than that of its being a mere compliment to their Sovereign, The yellow flags dif- played TRAVELS IN CHINA. 69 played at the maft-heads of the liver fleet, laden with tlie prefents, and confifting of feventeen fail, gave, indeed, a more extended meaning of fuch a miffion. Thefe flags, In broad black charad:ers, bore the follov\'ing infcription ; The Engli/Jj EmbaJJhdor carrying Tribute to the Emperor of China. We found the yachts, that were deftined to convey us, ex- ceedingly convenient, more fo indeed than any I have feen on our canals of England, They are flat bottomed, and draw- only about fifteen inches of water. Their upper works are high, appearing indeed like a floating houfe. They have three apartments for the accommodation of paflengers ; the firft an antichamber for the fervants and baggage ; the middle a com- modious fitting and dining room, about fifteen feet fquare j and the third divided into two or three fleeping rooms. Behind thefe is the kitchen ; and ftill farther aft, finall places like dog- kennels, for the boatmen. Sometimes there is a kind of fecond ftory, upon the apartments, divided into little cells, that are juft the length and breadth of a mian. A Chinefe failor requires no room for luggage, his whole wardrobe being generally on hivS back. In the different operations employed for making the yachts proceed, they give no interruption to the paflengers. A projecting gangway on each fide of the veflTel, made of broad planks, ferves as the pafl'age from one end to the other. The two officers that were fent from court, to conduct the Em- bafTador to the capital, paid a vifit to every yacht, and fhewed the moft earneft defire to pleafe and to make us comfortable. Their names were Van and Choit^ to which they annexed the title of 70 TRAVELS IN CHINA. of Ta-g'in^ ox great man. Van had the rank of Lieutenant-General in the army, and Chou was the Governor of a dlftri£t in Pe-tche-lee. We obferved in their manners no indication of that ftifFand ceremonious conduct, which cuftom obliges them to put on in public. On the contrary, they fat down to table with us, endeavouring to learn the ufe of the knife and fork, and made themfelves extremely agreeable ; lamented they were not able to hold converfation with us in our own language j and on going away, fliook hands with us like Englifhmen. Provifions, fruit, and wines (fuch as the country affords), were fent on board in fuch profufion, that I really believe the Chinefe boatmen, in the courfe of the paffage up this river, were enabled to lay by their winter's flock from the furplus. In truth, as Sir George Staunton has obferved, the hofpitality, attention, and refpedt we hitherto experienced, were fuch as Grangers meet with only in the Eaftern parts of the world. Nothing that could convey the idea of extraordinary wealth or comfort among the inhabitants, or of extraordinary abun- dance and fertility in the country, (unlefs in the copious fup- plies of our provifions,) had yet occurred, either at Chufan or in the firft three days' fail up the Fci-ho towards the capital. The land on both fides was low and flat, and inftead of hedee- rows, trenches were dug to mark the boundaries of property. A fmall proportion only was under cultivation. The greater part appeared to be four fvvampy ground, covered with coarfe grafs, v/ith ruflies, and the common reed. There were few trees, except near the villages, v^'hich were of mean appearance, the TRAVELS IN CHINA. 71 the houfes generally confiding of mud walls, one ftory in height, and thatched with ftraw or rufhes. Here and there a folitary cottage intervened, but nothing that bore any rerem- blance to the refidence of a gentleman, or that could even be called a comfortable farm-houfe. And although villages were numerous, no afl'emblage of houfes were perceived, that pro- perly could be clafied under the name of a town, except that of See-kooy near the mouth of the river, and Ta-koo^ a few miles higher, until we proceeded to the diftance of about ninety miles, when we entered the fuburbs of the large city of Tien- Jing, ftretching, like London on the Thames, for feveral miles along each bank of the river Pei-ho. But neither the buildings nor the river would bear any comparifon, even with thofc parts about Rotherhithe and Wapping. Every thing, in fad, that we had hitherto feen wore an air of poverty and'meannefs. After a long confinement on board a fhip, to thofe at leaft who were not accuftomed to it, almofl: any country appears to pofTefs the charms of a Paradife; yet from our firft landing in this celebrated empire to the prefent place, which is no great diftance from the capi- tal, I am perfuaded, that every individual of the embaffy felt himfelf rather dlfappointed in the expedations he had formed. If any thing excited admiration, it was the vaft multitudes of people that, from our firft arrival, had daily flocked down to the banks of the river, of both fexes and of all ages. Their gene- ral appearance, however, was not fuch as to indicate any ex- traordinary degree of happinefs or comfort. The beft drefled men wore a fort of velvet cap on their heads ; a (hort jacket, buttoned clofe round the neck, and folded acrofs the breaft, the fleeves remarkably wide ; the materials cotton cloth, black, 6 blue, 72 TRAVELS IN CHINA. blue, or brown filk, or European camblet j tliey wore quilted petticoats, and black fatin boots. The common people were drefied in large ftraw hats, blue or black cotton frocks, wide cotton trowfers, and thick clumfy flioes, fometimes made of ftraw. Some had coarfe ftockings of cotton cloth ; the legs of others were naked. A fingle pair of drawers conftituted indeed the whole clothing of a great portion of the crowd. Never were poor women fitted out in a fl:yle fo difadvan- tageous for fetting off their charms, as thofe who made their appearance on the banks of the Pei-ho ; and we afterwards found that the drefs of thefe, with fome flight variations, was the common mode of the country. Bunches of large artificial flowers, generally refembling ajiers, whofe colours were red, blue, or yellow, were ftuck in their jet-black hair, which, without any pretenfions to tafte or freedom, was fcrewed up clofe behind, and folded into a ridge or knot acrofs the crown of the head, not very unlike (except in the want of tafte) to the prefent mode in which the young ladies of Eng- land braid their locks. Two bodkins of filver, brafs, or iron, were confpicuoufly placed behind the head, in the form of an oblique crofs, which is the common mode of Malay women. Their faces and necks were daubed with white paint, the eye- brows blackened, and on the center of the lower lip, and at the point of the chin, were two fpots, about the fize of a fmall wafer, of a deep vermillion colour. A blue cotton frock, like that of the men, reaching in fome to the middle of the thigh, in others to the knee, was almoft univerfal. A pair of wide trowfers, of different colours, but commonly either red, green, or TRAVELS m CHINA. 73 cr yellow, extended a little below the calf of the leg, where they were drawn clofe, in order the better to difplay an ankle and a foot, which, for fingularity at leaft, may challenge the whole world. This diftorted and difproportionate member confifls of a foot that has been cramped in its growth, to the length of four or five Inches, and an ankle that is generally fwoUen in the fame proportion that the foot is diminifhed. The little (hoe is as fine as tinfel and tawdry can make it, and the ankle is band- aged round with party-coloured clothes, ornamented with fringe and taflels ; and fuch a leg and foot, thus drefled out, arc con- fidered in China as fuperlatively beautiful. The conftant pain and uneafinefs that female children mufl: ne- ceflarily fufFer, in the a£t of comprefTing, by means of bandages, the toes under the fole of the foot^ and retaining them in that pofition until they literally grow into and become a part of it ; and by forcing the heel forward, until it Is entirely obliterated, make it the more wonderful how a cuftom, fo unnatural and inhuman, fliould have continued for fo many ages, at leaft fuch is the opinion, that its origin is entirely unknown, or ex- plained by fuch fabulous abfurdities as are too ridiculous to affign for its adoption. Few favage tribes are without the unnatural cuftom of maiming or lopping off fome part of the human body, as boring the lips and the cartilege of the nofe, drawing or colouring the teeth, cutting off a joint from the fingers or toes, and otherwife pradifing, as they muft fuppofe, improvements on nature. But on this confideration it would fcarcely be fair L to 74 TRAVELS IN CHINA. to concfude, that maiming the feet of the Chinefe ladies de- rived its origin from a period of time when they were yet in a favage ftate, fmce we are in the daily habit of obferving the moft civilized and enlightened focieties ftudying to find out beauties in defeds, and creating them where nature had intended perfedion. The Chinefe would no doubt be equally furprized at, and confider as egregioufly abfurd, the cuftom of circumcifion, as pradlifed by a great portion of Afiatic nations ; nor have we any reafon to think they would not condemn the refinement of docks and crops among our horfes as an abfiard cuflom, not lefs ridiculous in their eyes, than the Httle feet of their ladies are in ours. If they could not refrain from burfling inte fits of laughter on examining the greafe and powder with which our hair was disfigured ; and if they fome- times lamented that fo much oil and flour had unnecefTarily been wafted, we might, perhaps, in the vanity of felf-import- ance, affed to pity their tafte ; but fetting cuftom and preju- dice apart, we had certainly no great reafon to defpife and ridi- cule the Chinefe, or indeed any other nation, merely becaufe they differ from us in the little points of drefs and manners, feeing how very nearly we can match them with fimilar follies and abfurdities of our own. The filence of the earlieft travellers into China on fo ex- traordinary a cuftom, would almoft warrant a conjcdure that, notwithftanding the pretended ignorance of the Chinefe with regard to its origin, both the fafhion and the fentiment of its being vulgar for ladies to be feen abroad, were only adopted w^ithin TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^^ within the period of a few centuries. The Venetian traveller, although he makes frequent mention of the beauty and drefs of the women, takes no notice of this fmgular fa- fhion; and he obferves that on the lake oi Ha?ig-tchoo-foo the ladles are accuftomed to take their pleafure with their hufbands and their families. The Embafladors alfo of Shah Rokh, the fon of Tamerlane, who, in the year 14 19, were fent to congratulate the Emperor of China, ftate in the narrative of their expedition that, at their public reception, there flood two young virgins, one on each fide of the throne, with their faces and bofoms uncovered ; that they were furnlfhed with paper and pencils, and took down, w^Ith great attention, every word that the Emperor fpoke. Thefe Embaffadors faw alfo numbers of women in open baths near the Yellow River; and, in one city, they remark that " there were many taverns, *' at the doors of which fat a number of young girls of extraor- " dinary beauty." Nor do the travels of two Mahomedans into China in the ninth century, publifhed by Mr. Renaudot, make any mention of the unnatural fmallnefs of the women's feet ; and they are not by any means deficient in their obferva- tions of the manners and cuftoms of this nation, at that time fo very little known to the reft of the world. Almoft every thing they have related concerning China at this early period is found to be true at the prefent day, and as they particularly notice the drefs and ornaments worn by the women, one would think they would not have omitted a cuftom fo fmgular in its kind as that of maiming the feet, if it had then been as common as It now Is, L 2 This 'je TRAVELS IN CHINA. This monftrous fafliion has generally been attributed to the- jealoufy of the men. Admitting this to have been the cale, the Chinefe muft be allowed to be well verfed in the manage- ment of the fex, to have fo far gained the afcendancy over them, as to prevail upon them to adopt a falhion, which re- quired a voluntary relinquifhment of one of the greateft plea- fures and bleffings of life, the faculty of locomotion ; and to con- trive to render this fafhion fo univerfal that any deviation from it fhould be confidered as difgraceful. The defire of being thought fuperior to the reft of his fellows fometimes, indeed, leads a man into flrange extravagancies. Upon this principle the raen of learning, as they are pkafed to ftyle themfelves, fufFer the nails of their little fingers to grow fometimes to the enormous length of three inches, for the fole purpofe of giving ocular de- monftration of the impoflibility of their being employed in any fort of manual labour; and upon the fame principle, perhaps, the ladies of China may be induced to continue the cuftom of maiming their female infants, in order that their children may be diftinguifhed from thofe of the peafantry, who, in mofl of the provinces, are condemned to fubmit to the drudgery of the field. The interior wrappers of the ladies' feet are faid to be feldoni changed, remaining, fometimes, until they can no longer hold together ; a cuftom that conveys no very favourable idea of Chinefe cleanlinefs. This, indeed, forms no part of their cha- rader ; on the contrary they are what Swift would call a fro'W'zy people. The comfort of clean linen, or frequent change 6 of TRAVELS IN CHINA. 77 of under-garments, is equally unknown to the Sovereign and to the peafant. A fort of thin coarfe filk fupplies the place of cot- ton or linen next the fkin, among the upper ranks ; but the common people wear a coarfe kind of open cotton cloth. Thefe veftments are more rarely removed for the purpofe of wafhing than for that of being replaced with new ones ; and the confe- quence of fuch negle£t or economy is, as might naturally be fuppofed, an abundant increafe of thofe vermin to whofe pro- duction filthinefs is found to be moft favourable. The highefl: officers of ftate made no hefitation of calling their attendants in public to feek in their necks for thofe troublefome animals, which, when caught, they very compofedly put between their teeth. They carry no pocket-handkerchiefs, but generally blow their nofes into fmall fquare pieces of paper which fome of their attendants have ready prepared for the purpofe. Many are not fo cleanly, but fpit about the rooms, or againft the walls like the French, and they wipe their dirty hands in the flecves of their gowns. They fleep at night in the fame clothes they wear by day. Their bodies are as feldom waflied as their articles of drefs. They never make ufe of the bath, neither warm nor cold. Notwithftanding the vaft number of rivers and canals, with which every part of the country is interfe£led, I do not remember to have feen a fingle groupe of boys bathing. The men, in the hotteft day of fummer, make ufe of warm water for wafliing the hands and face. They are unacquainted with the ufe of foap. We procured, in Pekin, a fort of Barilla with which and apricot oil we manufadlured a fufficient quantity of this article to wafh our linen, which, however, we were under the neceffity of getting done by our own fervants. On jt TRAVELS IN CHINA. On approaching the town of Tien-fmg we obferved a prodi- gious number of large ftacks of fait, piled up in facks of mat- ting. The quantity thus ftored was found, on rough calculation, to be fufficient for the confumption of thirty millions of people, for a whole year. Sucli a furprifing aggregate of one of the ufeful and almoft neceflary articles of life, was a preparative, in fome meafure, for the vaft multitudes of people which appeared on our paffing this northern emporium of China. The gabelle, or duty on fait, which the government here, as well as elfewhere, had found convenient to impofe on one of the indifpenfable articles of life, partly accounted for fuch an extraordinary accumulation. The collector of the fait duties of Tun-fing held one of the moft lucrative appointments in the gift of the crown. The crowds of large veflels lying clofe together along the fides of the river ; the various kinds of craft pafling and repair- ing ; the town and manufadories and warehoufes extending on each bank as far as the eye could reach, indicated a fpirit of commerce far beyond any thing v;e had hitherto met with. The large vefTels, the fmall craft, th^ boats, the fhores, the walls furrounding the houfes, the roofs were all covered with fpe£la- tor?. Our barges, being retarded in the narrow paflages among the (hipping, were at leafl: two hours in reaching the head of the town. During the whole time the populace flood in the water, the front rank up to the middle, to get a peep at the ftrangers. Hitherto among the fpectators there had generally appeared full as many of the fair fex as of the other; and the elderly dames, in parti- TRAVELS IN CHINA. 79 particular, had been Co curious as to dip their little flumps into the v/ater in order to have a peep into the barges as they glided flowly along; but here, among the whole crowd, not a fingle female was vifible. Although the day was extremely fultry, the thermometer of Fahrenheit being 88° in the fhade, as a mutual accomodation their heads were all uncovered, and their bald pates expofed to the fcorching rays of the inn. It was an uncommon fpedlacle to fee fo many bronze-like heads fluck as clofe together, tier above tier, as Hogarth's groupe, intended to difplay the difference between character and caricature, but it lacked the variety of countenance which this artifl has, in an inimitable manner, difplayed in his pidure. The deep founding goftg, a fort of brazen kettle ftruck with a mallet, and ufed in the barges to dire£t the motions of the trackers on fhore, the kettle-drums and the trumpets in the military band, the fhrill mufic and fqualling recitative in the theatre, which was entirely open in front, and facing the river in full view of the crowd ; the number of temporary booths and buildings ereded for the ufe of the viceroy, governor, judges, and other officers of government, and gaily decorated with ribbands and filken dreamers ; the buzz and merriment of the crowd had, altogether, fo ftriking an affinity to the ufual enter- tainments of Bartholomew fair, that no extraordinary ftretch of the imagination was required to fuppofe ourfelves for the moment to have been tranfported into Smithfield. We inftantly acquitted the Chinefe of any want of curiofity. The arrival of Elfi Bey in London drew not half the crowd j and yet the Chinefe account us So TRAVELS IN CHINA. us much greater barbarians than we pretend to confider the mamelukes. The old viceroy of the province, a Tartar of mild and winning manners, had prepared for us a moft magnificent entertainment with wine, fruits, and great variety of paftry and fweetmeats, together with prefents of tea, filk, and nankins, not only to the EmbaiTador and his fuite, but alfo to the fervants, muficians, and foldiers. The cheerful gnd good-natured countenances of the multi- tude were extremely prepoffeffing ; not lefs fo their accomodat- ing behaviour to one another. There was an innocence and fimpllcity in their features, that feemed to indicate a happy and contented turn of mind. This, however, being a fort of gala day, we might, on account of the extraordinary occafion, perhaps have viewed them to the beft advairtage ; yet the fame cheerful and willing mind had conftantly fliewn itfelf on all occafions, by all thofe who were employed in the fervice of the embafTy. On board the yachts conftant mirth and good humour prevailed among the feamen. When the weather was calm, the veffels v/ere generally pufhed on by means of two large fculls or oars turning upon pivots that were placed in projecting pieces of wood near the bow of the veflel, and not the ftern, as is the pradice of moft other nations. From fix to ten men are re- quired to work one of thefe oars, which, inftead of being taken out of the water, as in the ad: of rowing, are moved backwards and forwards under the furface, in a fimilar manner to what In England is underftood by fculling. To lighten their labour, and alTift in keeping time with the ftrokes, the following rude air TRAVELS IN CHINA. at air was generally fung by the mafter, to which the whole crew ufed to join in chorus : A I R. Solo by the Mafter. Chorus by the Crew, Hai - yo h&i^jau hai-yo ^^^ -I -I ^^ I J 1--=!=^^ hai-yau hai-yau ^V=^-*- hai-yau I ^ hai-yo hai-yau 1 -I r : i On many a calm ftill evening, when a dead filence reigned upon the water, have we liftened with pleafure to this artlefs and unpolifhed air, which was fung, with little alteration, through the whole fleet. Extraordinary exertions of bodily ftrength, depending, in a certain degree, on the willingnefs of the mind, are frequently accompanied with exhilarating excla- mations among the moft favage people; but the Chinefe fong could not be confidered in this point of view ; like the excla- mations of our feamen in hauling the ropes, or the oar fong of the Hebridians, which, as Do£lor Johnfon has obferved, refem- bled the proceleufmatick verfe by which the rowers of Grecian M galleys a2 TRAVELS IN CHINA. galleys were animated, the chief objcd: of the Chinefe chorus feemed to be that of combining chearfulnefs with regularity, " Verfe fweetens toil, however rude the found." Of their honefty, fobriety, and carefulnefs, we had already received convincing proofs. Of the number of packages^ amounting to more than fix hundred, of various fizes and de- fcriptions, not a fmgle article was miffing nor injured, on their arrival at the capital, notwithftanding they had been moved about, and carried by land, and tranfhipped feveral times. Of the three ftate-officers, who had been deputed from court to attend the embafTy, two of them were the moft obliging and attentive creatures imaginable. The third, a Tartar, who firft made his appearance at Ticn-fing^ was diftant, proud, and imperious. The Chinefe indeed were invariably more affable than the Tartars. In fhort, had we returned to Europe, with- out proceeding farther in the country than Tien-fmg^ a moft lively impreffion would always have remained on my mind ia favour of the Chinefe. But a variety of incidents that after- wards occurred, aad a more intimate acquaintance with their manners and habits, produced a woeful change of fentiment in this refpe(St. Of fuch incidents, as may tend to illuftrate the moral charadter of this extraordinary people, I fliall relate a few that were the moft ftriking, in taking a general view of their ilate of fociety, to which, and to the nature of the executive government, all their moral adlions may be referred : and by the influence of which, the natural bent of their character evidently has undergone a complete change* Leaving TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^3 Leaving Tie?i-Jing on the nth of Auguft:, we found the river confiderably contradled in its dimenfions, and the ftream more powerful. The furface of the country, in fadt, began to affume a lefs uniform appearance, being now partly broken into hill and dale ; but nothing approaching to a mountain was yet vifible ia any direction. It was ftill however fcantily wooded, few trees appearing except large willows on the banks, and knots of elms, or firs, before the houfes of men in office, and the temples, both of which were generally found at the head of each village. More grain was here cultivated than on the plains near the mouth of the river. Two fpecies of millet, the pan'iciim cms galli, and the Italicum^ and two of a larger grain, the holcus forghum, and the faccharatus^ were the mofl abundant. We obferved alfo a few patches of buck-wheat, and different forts of kidney-beans ; but neither common wheat, barley, nor oats. A fpecies of nettle, the urt'ica nivea, was alfo fown in fquare patches, for the purpofe of converting its fibres into thread, of which they manufadure a kind of cloth. We faw no gardens nor pleafure-grounds, but con- fiderable tra occurred in opening a cafk of Birmingham hardware. Every one knows the neceflity of exchiding the fea-air as much as poflible from highly polifljed articles of iron and fteel, and ac- cordingly all fuch articles intended to be fent abroad are packed with the greatefl care. The caflvs, or cafes, are made as tight as poflible, and covered with pitched canvas. Such was the cafk in queftion. Yet, when the head was taken off, and a few of the packages removed, an enormous large fcorpion was found in the midfl: of the cafk, nearly in a torpid ftate, but it quickly recovered on expofure to the warm air. " The thing we know is neither rich nor rare, " But wonder how the devil it got there ?" Among the prefents carried into Tartary was a colledion of prints, chiefly portraits of Englifh nobility and diflinguifhed perfons ; and to make the prefent more acceptable, they were bound up in three volumes in yellow Morocco. The Emperor was fo pleafed with this colleJ^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. fummer-houfe, the pavilion, the pagodas, have all their re- fpedive fituations, which they diftinguifii and improve, but which any other {lru<5lures would injure or deform. The only things difagreeable to my eye are the large porcelain figures of lions, tygers, &c. and the rough hewn fteps, and huge mafles of rock work, which they feem ftudious of in- troducing near many of their houfes and palaces. Confider- ing their general good talle in the other points, I was much furprifed at this, and could only account for it, by the ex- pence and the difficulty of bringing together fuch incongrui- ties, for it is a common effect of enormous riches to pulh every thing they can procure to bombaft and extravagance, which are the death of tafte. In other countries, however, as well as in China, I have feen fome of the moft boafted feats, either outgrowing their beauty from a plethora of their owner's wealth, or becoming capricious and hypochondriacal by a quackifh application of it. A few fine places, even in England, might be pointed out that are labouring under thefe diforders ; not to mention fome celebrated houfes where twifted ftair-cafes, window-glafs cupolas, and embroidered chimney-pieces, convey nothing to us but the whims and dreams of fickly fancy, without an atom of grandeur, tafte, or propriety. " The architecture of the Ghinefe is of a peculiar ftyle, to- " tally unlike any other, irreducible to our rules, but perfectly " confiftent with its own. It has certain principles, from " which it never deviates, and although, when examined ac- " cording TRAVELS IN CHINA. 137 " cording to ours, it fins againft the ideas we have imbibed *' of diftribution, compofition, and proportion ; yet, upon *' the whole, it often produces a mod pleafing effed, as. ** we fometimes fee a perfon without a fingle good feature ** in his face have, neverthelefs, a very agreeable coun- " tenance," 138 TRAVELS IN CHINA, CHAP. IV. Sketch of the State of Society in China. — Manners, Cuftoms, Sentiments, and Moral Character of the People. Condition of Women, a Criterion of the State of Society.— Degraded State of in China. — Domejiic Manners unfavourable to Filial AffeBion. — Parental Au- thority. — /// Effeils of feparating the Sexes. — Social Intercourfe unknown, ex- cept for gaming. — Their Worfhip foUtary. — Feajls of New Tear. — Propenfity to gaming.-.— Influence of the Lanus feems to have deflroyed the natural Cha- raBer of the People. — Made them indifferent, or cruel.~— Various Injlances of this Remark in public and in private Life. — Remarks on Infanticide. — Perhaps lefs general than ufually thought. — Character of Chinefe in Foreign Countries. — Temper and Difpofition of the Chinefe. — Merchants. — Cuckooo-Clocks. — ConduEl of a Prince of the Blood. — Of the Prime Minifiir. — Comparifon of the Phyftcal and Moral CharaElers of the Chinefe and Man-tchoo Tartar s.-^-General CharaEler of the Nation illuflrated. XT may, perhaps, be laid down as an invariable maxim, that the condition of the female part of fociety in any nation will furnifh a tolerable juft criterion of the degree of civilization to which that nation has arrived. The manners, habits, and pre- vailing fentiments of women, have great influence on thofe of the fociety to which they belong, and generally give a turn to its character. Thus we fhall find that thofe nations, where the moral and intelledual powers of the mind in the female fex are held in moft eftimation, will be governed by fuch laws as are beft TRAVELS IN CHINA, 13*, beft calculated to promote the general happinefs of the people ; and, on the contrary, where the perfonal qualifications of the fex are the only objeds of confideration, as is the cafe in all the defpotic governments -of Afiatic nations, tyranny, opprefTion, and flavery are fure to prevail ; and thefe perfonal accomplilh- ments, fo far from being of ufe to the owner, ferve only to de- prive her of liberty, and the fociety of her friends ; to render her a degraded vi£tim, fubfervlent to the fenfual gratification, the caprice, and the jealoufy of tyrant man. Among favage tribes the labour and drudgery invariably fall heavieil on the weaker fex. The talents of women, in our own happy ifland, began only in the reign of Queen Elizabeth to be held in a proper degree of confideration. As women, they were admired and courted, but they fcarcely could be faid to participate in the fociety of Tnen. In fad, the manners of our forefathers, before that reign, were too rough for them. In Wales, wives were fold to iheir hufbands. In Scotland, women could not appear as evidences in a court of juftice. In the time of Henry the Eighth, an act was pafled prohibiting women and apprentices from reading the New Teflament in the Englifh language. Among the polifhed Greeks, they were held in little eftimation. Homer degrades all his females : he makes the Grecian princefTes weave the web, fpin, and do all the drudgery of a modern wafherwo- man ; and rarely allows them any fhare of focial intercourfe with the other fex. Yet the very foundations on which he has conftrudted his two matchlefs poems are women. It appears T 2 alfo 140 TRAVELS IN CHINA. alfo from all the dramatic writers of ancient Greece, whofe aim^ was " to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature, to (hew the *' very age and body of the time its form and preffure," that notwithftanding their extreme delicacy of tafle, and rapid pro- gr«fs in the fine arts, their manners were low and coarfe, and that they were entire flrangersto any other gratification arifing from the fociety of women,, than the indulgence of' the fenfual appetite. Even the grave Herodotus mentions, in the higheft terms of approbation, the cuftom of Babylon of felling by auc-r tion, on a certain fixed day, all the young women who had any pretenfions to beauty, in order to raife a fum of money for portioning off the reft of the females, to whom nature had been lefs liberal in bellowing her gifts, and who were knocked down to thofe who were fatisfied to take them with the leaft money* This degradation of women would feem to be as impolitic as it is extraordinary, fince, under their guidance, the earliefl-, and fometimes the moft indelible (I believe I may fafely add, the beft and moft amiable) impreflions are ftamped on the youthful mind. In infancy their protection is indifpenfably nece{rary,and in ficknefs, or in old age, they unqueftionably afford the beft and kindeft relief; or, as a French author has neatly obferved, " Sans.. " les femmes^ les deux extremites de la vie feraieni fans fecours ^ ei " le milieu Jans plaifirsT " Without women the two extremities. " of life would be helplefs, and.the middle of it joylefs." The Chinefe,. if pofhble, have impofed on their women a ^ greater degree of humility and reftraint than the Greeks of old; or the Europeans in the dark ages. Not fatisfied with the phyfi.- 5 cal TRAVELS IN CHINA. 141 cal' deprivation of the ufe of their limbs, they have contrived, In order to keep them the more confined, to make it a moral crime for a woman to be feen abroad. If they fhould have Gccafion to vifit a friend or relation, they muft be carried in a clofe fedan chair : to w^alk would be the height of vulgarity. Even the country ladies, who may not poffefs the luxury of a- chair, rather than walk, fuffer themfelves to be fometimes rolled about in a fort of covered wheelbarrow. Tiie wives and daughters,, however, of the lower clafs are neither confined to the houfe, nor exempt from hard and flavifh. labour, many being obliged to work with an infant upon the back, while the hufband, in all probability, is gaming, or otherwife idling away his time. I have frequently feen women afhftlng to drag a fort" of light plough, and the harrow. NieuwhofF, in one of his prints, taken from drawings fuppofed to be made in China, yokes, if I miftak^ not, a woman tathe fame plough with an afs. Should this be the fa£i, the Chinefe are not fingular, if we may credit the Natural Hiftorian of Antiquity *, who obferves that, to open the fertile fields of By%ac'imn in Africa, it was neceffary to wait until the rains had foaked into the ground ; " after which a " little weakly afs, and an old woman, attached to the fame " yoke, were fuflicient to drag the plough through the foil,"^ poj} Imbres v'lU a/cllo, et .a parte altera jugi ami vomer em traJoetite vidimus fan di. In the province of Kiarig-fce nothing i-s more common than to fee a woman drawing a kind of light plough, with a fingle * Plin. lib. xvj. cap, 21- hanxlle, , 142 TRAVELS IN CHINA. handle, through ground that has previoufly been prepared. The eafier talk of direding the machine is left to the hufband, who, holding the plough with one hand, at the fame time with the other cads the feed into the drills. The advantages which thofe women poflefsin a higher fphere of life, if any, are not much to be envied. Even at home, in her own family, a v/oman nuift neither eat at the fame table, nor fit in the fame room with her hufoand. And the male children, at the age of nine or ten, are entirely feparated from their fillers. Thus the feelings of affedlion, not the inftindive products of nature, but the offspring of frequent intercourfe and of a mutual communication of their little wants and plea- fures, are nipped la the very bud of dav/ning fentiment. A cold and ceremonious condud muft be obferved on all occafions between the members of the fame family. There is no com- mon focus to attradl and concentrate the love and refpedl of children for their parents. Each lives retired and apart from the other. The little Incidents and adventures of the day, w'hich furnifh the converfation among children of many a long Tvrlnter's evening, by a comfortable fire-fide, in our own coun- try, are in China buried in filence. Boys, it is true, fome-. times mix together in fchools, but the fliff and ceremonious behaviour, which conftitutes no Inconfiderable part of their education, throws a reftraint on all the little playful aftions incident to their time of life, and completely fubdues all fplrit of adlivity and enterprize. A Chinefe youth of the higher clafs is inanimate, formal, and Inadive, conftantly endeavouring to affume the gravity of years. To TRAVELS IN CHINA. 143 To beguile the many tedious and heavy hours, that muft unavoidably occur to the fecluded females totally unqualified for mental purfuits, the tobacco-pipe is the ufual expedient. Every female from the age of eight or nine years v/ears, as an ap- pendage to her drefs, a fmall filken purfe or pocket to hold tobacco and a pipe, with the ufe of which many of them are not unacquainted at this tender age. Some indeed arc conftantly employed in working embroidery on filks, or in painting birds, infeds, and flowers on thin gauze. In the ladies' apartments of the great houfe in which we lived at Pekin, we obfcrved fome very beautiful fpecimens of both kinds in the pannels of the partitions, and I brought home a few articles Vv'hich I under- ftand have been much admired ; but the women who employ their time in this manner are generally the wives and daugh- ters of tradefmen and artificers, who are ufually the w^eavers both of cottons and filks. I remember afking one of the great officers of the court, who wore a filken veft beautifully em- broidered, if it was the work of his lady, but the fuppofition that his wife fhould condefcend to ufe her needle feemed to give him ofTence. Their manners in domeftic life are little calculated to pro- duce that extraordinary degree of filial piety, or affedlion and reverence tovv'ards parents, for which they have been eminently celebrated, and to the falutary ^fieds of which the Jefuits have attributed the {lability of the government. Filial duty is, in fa6l, in China, lefs a moral fentiment, than a precept which by length of time has acquired the efficacy of a pofitive law ; and it may truly be faid to exift more in the maxims of the go- vernment. J44 TRAVELS IN CHI'NA, ivernment, than In the minds of the people. Had they., Indeed, ccnfulered fihal piety to be fufficiently ftrong when left to its ■own natural influence, a precept or law to enforce it would Jiave been fuperfluous. The £rfl maxim inculcated in early life is the entire fubmiffion of children to the will of their parents. The tenour of this precept is not only " to honour thy father " and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land ;*' hut to labour for thy father and thy mother as long as they both flialMive, to fell thy felf into perpetual fervitude for their fupport, if necefi'ary, and -to confider thy life at their difpofal. So much has this fentiment of parental authority gained ground by precept and habit, that to all intents and purpofes it is as bind- ing as the ftrongeft law. It gives to the parent the exercife of .the fame unlimited and arbitrary pov/er over his children, that the Emperor, the common father, poffefles by law over his people. Hence, as among the Romans, the father has the power to fell his fon for a flave ; and this power, either from caprice, or from poverty, or other caufea, is not unfrequently put in force. A law that is founded in reafon or equity feldom requires to be explained or juftified. The government of China, in fanc- tioning an ad of parental authority that militates fo ftrongly againft every principle of nature, or moral right and wrong, feems to have felt the force of this remark. Their learned men have been employed in writing volumes on the fubjedt, the principal aim of which appears to be that of im-prefling on the minds of the people the comparative authority of the Emperor over his fubjeds and of a parent over his children. The rea- fonablenefs TRAVELS IN CHINA. M5 fonablenefs and jufllce of the latter being once eftabllfhed, that of the former, in a patriarchal government, followed of courfe j and the extent of the power delegated to the one could not in juftice be withheld from the other. And for the better allaying of any fcruples that might be fuppofed to arife in men's con- fciences, it was eafy to invent any piece of fophiftry to ferve by way of juftification for thofe unnatural parents who might feel themfelves difpofed, or who from want might be induced, to part with their children into perpetual flavery. A fon, fays one of their moft celebrated lawgivers, after the death of his father, has the power of felling his fervices for a day, or a year, or for life ; but a father, while living, has unlimited authority over his fon ; a father has, therefore, the fame right of felling the fervices of his fon to another for any length of time, or even for life. * Daughters may be faid to be Invariably fold. The bride- groom muft always make his bargain with the parents of his intended bride. The latter has no choice. She is a lot in the market to be difpofed of to the higheft bidder. The man, in- deed, in this refpeft, has no great advantage on his fide, as he is not allowed to fee his intended wife until fhe arrives in formal proceffion at his gate. If, however, on opening the door of the chair, In which the lady Is fhut up, and of which the key has heen fent before, he fhould diflike his bargain, he can re- turn her to her parents ; In which cafe the articles are forfeited that conflituted her price ; and a fum of money. In addition to them, may be demanded, not exceeding, however, the value of U thefe 140 TRAVELS IN CHINA. thefe articles. Thefe matrimonial proceflions, attended with pomp and mufic, are not unlike thofe ufed by the Greeks when the bride was condu6:ed to her hufband's houfe in a fplendid car ; only, in the former inftance, the lady is com- pletely invifible to every one. To what a degraded condition Is a female reduced by thls- abfurd cuftom ! How little inducement, it would be fuppofed, fhe could have to appear amiable or elegant, or to ftudy her drefs, or cramp her feet, or paint her face, knowing fhe will be configned into the hands of the firft man who will give the price that her parents have fixed upon her charms. No pre- vious converfation is allowed to take place, no exchange of opi- nions or comparifon of fentiments with regard to inclinations or diflikes j all the little filent a£ts of attention and kindnefs, which fo eloquently fpeak to the heart, and demonftrate the fincerity of the attachment, are utterly unfelt. In a w^ord, that ftate of the human heart, occafioned by the mutual affedion between the fexes, and from whence proceed the happieft, the moft in- terefting, and fometimes alfo, the moft diftreffing moments of life, has no exiftence in China. The man takes a wife becaufe the laws of the country diredl him to do fo, and cuftom has made it indifpenfable ; and the woman, after marriage, con- tinues to be the fame piece of inanimate furniture {he always was in her father's houfe. She fuffers no indignity, nor does fhe feel any jealoufy or difturbance (at leaft it is prudent not to (hew it) when her hufband brings into the fame houfe a fecond, or a third woman. The firft is contented with the honour of prefiding TRAVELS IN CHINA, 147 prefiding over, and direding the concerns of, the family with- in doors, and in hearing the children of the others calling her mother. It might be urged, perhaps, on the part of the hufband, that it would be highly unreafonable for the woman to complain. The man who purchafed her ought to have an equal right in the fame manner to purchafe others. The cafe is materially different where parties are united by fentiments of love and efteem, or bound by promifcs or engagements ; under fuch cir- cumflances the introdudion of a fecond wife, under the fame roof, could not fail to diflurb the harmony of the family, and qccafion the moft poignant feelings of diftrefs to the firft. But a Chinefe wife has no fuch feelings, nor does the hufband make any fuch engagements. Although polygamy be allowed by the government, as in- deed it could not well happen otherwife where women are ar- ticles of purchafe, yet it is an evil that, in a great degree, cor- reds itfelf. Nine-tenths of the community find it difficult to rear the offspring of one woman by the labour of their hands ; fuch, therefore, are neither in circumf^ances, nor probably feel much inclination, to purchafe a fecond. The general pradice would, befides, be morally impoffible. In a country where fo many female infants are expofed, and where the laws or cuf- tom oblige every man to marry, any perfon taking to himfelf two wives mufl leave fome other without one, unlefs indeed it be fuppofed with the author of VEfprit des Loixy what there feems to be no grounds for fuppofing, that a much greater ^ 2 number i4« TRAVELS IN CHINA. number of females are born than of males. But all the obfer- vations of this lively and ingenious author with regard to China, and particularly the inferences he draws with refpedt to climate, fall to the ground. It is not the vigour of natural propenfities, as he has fuppofed, that deRroys the moral ones; it is not the effeft of climate that makes it to be confidered among thefe people " as a prodigy of virtue for a man to meet a fine wo- *' man in a retired chamber without offering violence to her,*' — it is the effect of ftudioufly pampering the appetite, nurturing vicious notions, confidering women as entirely fubfervient to the pleafures of man ; and, in fliort, by fancying thofe plea- fures in the head, rather than feeling them in the heart, that have led them to adopt a fentiment wdiich does the nation fo little credit. The climate being every where temperate, and the diet of the majority of the people moderate, 1 might fay fcanty, thefe have little influence in promoting a vehement defire for fexual intercourfe. It is indeed among the upper ranks only and a few wealthy merchants (whom the fumptuary laws, prohibiting fine houfes, gardens, carriages, and every kind of external fhew and grandeur, have encouraged fecretly to indulge and pamper their appetite in every fpecies of luxury and voluptuoufnefs) where a plurality of wives are to be found. Every great officer of ftate has his haram confiftingof fix, eight, or ten women, according to his circumftances and his inclina- tion for the fex. Every merchant alfo of Canton has his feragUo ; but a poor man finds one wife quite fufficient for all his wants, and the children of one woman as many, and fome- jimes more, than he is able to fupport. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 145 The unfociable diftance which the law (or cuftom, flronger $han law) prefcribes to be obferved between the fexes, and the cool and indifferent manner of bargaining for a wife, are not calculated to produce numerous inftances of cri- minal intercourfe. Thefe, however^ fometlraes happen, and the weight of punifhment always falls heaviefl: on the woman. The hufband fmds no difficulty In obtaining a fentence of di- vorce, after which he may fell her for a flave and thus redeem a part at leaft of his purchafe-money. The fame thing hap- pens in cafe a wife fhould elope, inftances of which I fancy are ftill more rare ; as if fhe be of any fafhion, her feet are ill calculated to carry her off with fpeed ; and if a young girl ihould chance to lofe what is ufually held to be the moft valuable part of female reputation, fhe is fent to market by her parents and publicly fold for a Have. In cafes of mutual diflike, or incompatibility of temper, the woman is generally fent back to her parents. A woman can inherit no property, but it may be left to her by will. If a widow has no children, or females only, the property defcends to the neareft male relation on the ^leceafed hufband's fide, but he muft maintain the daughters iintU he can provide them with hufbands. The prohibition againft the frequent intercourfe with modeft females, for there are public women in every great city, is not attended here with the effedt of rendering the purfuit more jeager ; nor does it increafe the ardour, as among the ancient Spartans, who were obliged to fteal, as it were, the embraces .of their lawful wives. In China it feems to have the contrary fiiTeil of promoting that fort of connexion which, being one of the tso TRAVELS IN CHINA. the greateft violations of the laws of nature, ought to be confi- dered among the firft of moral crimes — a connexion that finks the man many degrees below the brute. The commiflion of this deteftable and unnatural ad is attended with fo little fenfe of fhame, or feelings of delicacy, that many of the firft officers of ftate feemed to make no hefitation in publicly avov/- ing it. Each of thefe officers is conftantly attended by his pipe-bearer, who is generally a handfome boy from fourteen to eighteen years of age, and is always well drefled. In pointing ©ut to our notice the boys of each other, they made ufe of figns and motions, the meaning of which was too obvious to be mif- interpreted. The two Mahomedans, I obferve, who were in China in the ninth century, have alfo taken notice of this cir- Gumftance; and I find in the journal of Mr, Hittner, a gentle- man who was in that part of the fuite who accompanied the Britifli Embaflador into Tartary, in fpeaking of the palaces of Gehol, the following remark : " Dans I'un de ces palais, parmi ** d'autres chefs-d'oeuvres de I'art, on voyait deux flatues de " gar^ons, en marbre, d'un excellent travail; ils avaient les " pieds et les mains lies, et leur pofition ne laifiait point dc ** doute que le vice des Grecs n'eut perdu fon horreur pour les '** Chinois. Un vieil eunuque nous ks fit remarquer avec un ** fourire impudent." It has been remarked that this unnatural crime prevails rnoft in thofe countries where polygamy is allowed j that is to fay, ia thofe countries where the affedions of women are not con- ftilted, but their perfons purchafed for gold — a remark which may lead to this conclufion, that it is rather a moral turpitude 4 than TRAVELS IN CHINA. i5t than a propenfity arifing from phyfical or local caufes. The appetite for female Intercourfe foon becomes glutted by the fa- cility of enjoyment ; and where women, fo circumftanced, can only receive the embraces of their proprietors from a fenfe of duty, their coldnefs and indifference, the necefTary confequence of fuch connexions, muft alfo increafe in the men the tendency to produce fatiety. I think it has been obferved that, even in Europe, where females in general have the fuperior advantage of fixing their own value upon themfelves, it is the greateft rakes and debauchees, who, *' bred at home In idlenefs and not, *' Ranfack for miftrefles th' unwholefome {lews, *' And never know the worth of virtuous love," fly fometlmes in fearch of frefh enjoyment in the deteftable way here alluded to *. I have already obferved that the ftate of domeftic fociety in China was ill calculated to promote the affedion and kindnefs which children not only owe to, but really feel for, their parents in many countries of Europe. A tyrant, in fadt, to command, and a Have to obey, are found in every family ; for, where the father is a defpot, the fon will naturally be a flave ; and if all the little ads of kindnefs and filent attentions, that create mutual endearments, be wanting among the members of the * I (hould not have taken notice of this odious vice, had not the truth of its exiftencc in China been doubted by fome, and attributed by others to a wrong caufe. ProfclHng to defcrlbe the people as I found them, I muft endeavour to draw a faithful pifture, neither attempting to palliate their viceSj nor to exaggerate their virtues. fame 152 TRAVELS IN CHINA. fame family, living under the fame roof, it will be in vaiti to expert to find them in the enlarged fpheie of public life. Infa(fty they have no kind of friendly focieties nor tneetings to talk over the tranfadions and the nev^'S of the day. Thefe can only take place in a free government. A Chinefe having nnifhed his daily employment retires to his folitary apartment. There are, it is true, a fort of public houfes where the lower orders of people fometimes refort for their cup of tea or oi feazi-tchoo^ (a kind of ardent fpirit diftilled from a mixture of rice and other grain,) but fuch houfes are feldom, if at all, frequented for the fake of company. They are no incitement, as thofe are of a fimilar kind in Europe, to jovial pleafures or to vulgar ebriety. From this odious vice the bulk of the people are entirely free. Among the multitudes which we daily faw, in paffing from one extremity of the country to the other, I do not recollect hav- ing ever met with a fingle inftance of a man being difguifed in liquor. In Canton, where the lower orders of people are em- ployed by Europeans and necefTarily mix with European fea- men, intoxication Is not unfrequent among the natives, but this vice forms no part of the general character of the people. When- ever a few Chinefe happen to meet together, it is generally for the purpofe of gaming, or to eat a kettle of boiled rice, or drink a pot of tea, or fmoke a pipe of tobacco. The upper ranks Indulge at home in the ufe of opium. Great quantities of this intoxicating drug are fmuggled into the coun- try, notwithftanding all the precautions taken by the govern- ment to prohibit the importation of it ; but it is too expenfive to TRAVELS IN CHINA. ,53 to be ufed by the common people. The officers of the cuftoms are not beyond a bribe. After receiving the fum agreed upon between the importer and themfelves they frequently become the purchafers of the prohibited article. Mod of the country fhips from Bengal carry opium to China ; but that of Turkey fent from London in the China fliips is preferred, and fells at near double the price of the other. The governor of Canton, after defcribing in one of his late proclamations on the fubjed the pernicious and fatal efFeds arifing from the ufe of opium, obferves, " Thus it is that foreigners by the means of a vile " excrementitious fubftance derive from this empire the mod " folid profits and advantages ; but that our countrymen fliould *' blindly purfue this deftrudive and enfnaring vice, even till death " is the confequence, without being undeceived, is indeed a fad " odious and deplorable in the higheft degree." Yet the governor of Canton very compofedly takes his daily dofe of opium. The young people have no oceafional aflemblies for the purpofe of dancing and of exercifmg themfelves in feats of ac- tivity, which, in Europe, are attended with the happy efFeds of fhaking off the gloom and melancholy that a life of conftant labour or feclufion from fociety is apt to promote. They have not even a fixed day of refl fet apart for religious worfhip. Their ads of devotion, partake of the fame folitary cafl that prevails in their domeflic life. In none of the different feds of religion, which at various times have been imported into, and adopted in China, has congregational worfhip been inculcated, which, to that country in particular, may be confi- X dered 154 TRAVELS IN CHINA. tkred as a great misfortune. For, independent of religious confiderations, the fabbatical inftitution is attended with advan- tages of a phyfical as well as of a moral nature ; and humanity is not lefs concerned than policy in confecrating one day out of feven, or fome other given number, to the fervice of the great Creator, and to reft from bodily labour. When the government _of France, in the height of her rage for innovation, fell into the hands of atheiftical demagogues, when her temples were polluted and every thing facred was invaded and profaned, the ' feventh day was confidered as a relic of ancient fuperftition and the obfervance of it accordingly abolifhed ; and, about the fame time, it became the falhion among a certain defcription of people to ufe fpecious arguments againft its continuance in our own country ; as being, for example, a day for the encouragement of idlenefs, drunkennefs, and diffipation. Such a remark could only be applied to large cities and towns; and in crowded manufa(5luring tov^ms the mechanic, who can fubfift by working three days in the week, would be at no lofs in finding opportunities, were there no fabbath day, in the courfe of the other four to commit irregularities. And who, even for the fake of the mechanic and artificer, would wifh to fee the labouring peafant deprived of one day's refl:, out of feven, which to him is more precious than the wages he has hardly earned the other fix ? What man, pofleiled of common feelings of humanity, in beholding the decent and modeft hufbandman, accompanied by his family in their beft attire attending the parilli-church, does not participate in the fmile of con- tent which on this day particularly beams on his countenance, 4 and TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^^^ and befpeaks the ferenity of his mind ? Having on this dav difcharged his duty to God, refreflied liis body with reft, enjoyed the comfort of clean clothing, and exercifed his mind in converfmg with his neighbours, he returns with double vigour to his daily labour; having, as Mr. Addi- fon obferves in one of his Spedators, rubbed off the ruft of the week. The firft of the new year in China, and a few fucceeding days, are the only holidays, properly fpeaking, that are obferved by the working part of the community. On thefe days the pooreft peafant makes a point of procuring new clothing for himfelf and his family ; they pay their vifits to friends and relations, interchange civilities and compliments, make and re- ceive prefents ; and the officers of government and the higher ranks give feafts and entertainments. But even in thofe feafts there is nothing that bears the refemblance of conviviality. The guefts never partake together of the fame fervice of difhes, but each has frequently his feparate table ; fometimes two, but never more than four, fit at the fame table ; and their eyes muft con- ftantly be kept upon the mafter of the feaft, to watch all his motions, and to obferve every morfel he puts into his mouth, and every time he lifts the cup to his lips ; for a Chinefe of good- breeding can neither eat nor drink without a particular cere- mony, to which the guefts muft pay attention. If a perfon in- vited fhould, from ficknefs or any accident, be prevented from fulfilling his engagement, the portion of the dinner that was in- tended to be placed on his table is fent in proceffion to his own houfe ; a cuftom that ftrongly points out the very little notioa X 2 they 156 TRAVELS IN CHINA. they entertain of the focial pleafures of the table. It 18 cuftom- ary to fend after each gueft the remains even of his dinner. Whenever in the courfe of our journey we vifited a governor or viceroy of a province, we generally found him at the head of a range of tables, covered with a multitude of difliec, which invariably were marched after us to the yachts. Martial^ if I miftake not, has fome alhifion to a fimilar cuftom among the Romans. Each carried his own napkin to a feaft, which being filled with the remains of the entertainment was fent home by a Have j but this appears to have been done more out of compli- ment to the hoft, to fhew the great efteem in which they held his cheer, than for the fake of the viands j for the Romans loved conviviality. The Chinefe alfo, like the ancient Egyptians as exemplified in the enormous mefs which Jofeph gave to little Benjamin above the reft of his brothers, teftify, on all occafions, that they confider the meafure of a man's ftomach to depend more upon the rank of its owner than either his bulk or appetite. The Em- baflador's allowance was at leaft five times as great as that of any perfon in his fuite. In this particular, however, thefe nations are not fingular, neither in ancient nor in modern times. The kings of Sparta, and indeed every Grecian hero, were always fuppofed to eat twice the quantity of a common foldier ; and the only difference with regard to our heroes of the prefent day confifts in their being enabled to convert quantity into quality^ an advantage for which they are not a little indebted to the- invention of money, into which all other articles can be com- muted. What- TRAVELS IN CHINA. 157 Whatever may be the occafion of bringing together a few- idlers, they feldom part without trying their luck at fome game of chance, for which a Ghinefe is never unprepared. He rarely goes abroad without a pack of cards in his pocket, or a pair of dice. Both of thefe, like almoft every thing elfe in the coun- try, are different from fimilar articles elfewhere. Their cards are much more numerous than ours, and their games much more complicated. Nor are they at any lofs, even if none of the party fhould happen to be furnifhed with cards or dice ; on fuch an emergency their fingers are employed to anfwer the purpofe, which are all that is required to play the game of Tfoi- moi^ a game of which the lower clafs of people is particularly fond. Two perfons, fitting diredly oppofite to each other, raife their hands at the fame moment, when each calls out the number he gueffes to be the fum of the fingers expanded by himfelf and his adverfary. The clofcd fift is none, the thumb one, the thumb and forefinger two, &c. fo that the chances lie between o and 5, as each muft know the number held out by himfelf. The middling clafs of people likewife play at this game when they give entertainments where wine is ferved, and the lofer is always obliged to drink off a cup of wine. At this childifh game two perfons will fometimes play to a very late hour, till he who has had the worft of the game has been obliged to drink fo much wine that he can no longer fee either to count his own or his adverfary's fingers. I have thus particularly noticed the Ghinefe Tfoi-moi^ on account of the extraordinary coincidence between it and a game in ufe among the Romans, to which frequent allufion is made by Cicero. In a note by ^ Melanc- ISS TRAVELS IN CHINA, Melandhoii on Cicero's Offices it is thus defcrlbcd : *' Mkarc " dig'itis^ ludi genus eft. Sic ludentes, fimul digitos alterius " manus quot voiunt citifTime erigunt, et fimul ambo divinant *' quot fimul eredi fint ; quod qui definivit, lucratus eft : unde " acri vifu opus, et multa fide, ut cum aliquo in tenebris mices." " Mlcarc d'lgith^ is a kind of game. Thofe who play at it *' ftretch out, with great quicknefs, as many fingers of one hand " each, as they pleafe, and at the fame inftant both guefs how " many are held up by the two together ; and he who guefles •* right wins the game : hence a fliarp fight is neceffary, and " alfo great confidence when it is played in the dark." The Chinefe have certainly the acer vifus, 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, was a ftrong teft of a truly honeft man. The fame game is faid to be ftill played in Italy under the name oi Morra *. The officers about Yuen-min-yuen ufed to play a kind of chefs, which appeared to me to be effentially different from that game as played by the Perfians, the Indians, and other oriental nations, both with regard to the lines drawn on the board, the form of the chefs-men, and the moves, from which I fhould rather con- clude it to be a game of their own invention, than an introduc- tion either from India or by the army of Gengis'khan^ as feme authors have conjedlured. • Adam's Roman Antiquities. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 159 The fpirlt of gaming is fo imiverfal in moft of tlie towrts and cities, that in almoft every bye-corner, groiipcs are to be found playing at cards or throwing dice. They are accufed even of frequently flaking their wives and children on the hazard of a die. It may eafily be conceived that where a man can fell his children into llavery, there can be little remorfe, in the bread of a gamefter reduced to his lafl: ftake, to rifK: the lofs of what the law has fandioned him to difpofe of. Yet we are very gravely affured by fome of the reverend miffion- aries, that " the Chinefe are entirely ignorant of all games of " chance ;" that " they can enjoy no amufements but fuch as are " authorized by the laws." Thefe gentlemen furely could not be ignorant that one of their mofl: favourite fports is cock-fight- ing, and that this cruel and unmanly amiifemci'it ^ as they are pleafed to confider it, is full as eagerly purfued by the upper clafTes in China as, to their fliame and difgrace be it fpoken, it continues to be by thofe in a fimilar fituation in fome parts of Europe. The training of quails for the fame cruel purpofe of butchering each other, furniflies abundance of employment for the idle and diffipated. They have even extended their enqui- ries after fighting animals into the infed tribe, in which they have difcovered a fpecies ol gryllus^ or locuft, that will attack each other with fuch ferocity as feldom to quit their hold without bringing away at the fame time a limb of their antagonift. Thefe little creatures are fed and kept apart in bamboo cages ; and the cuftom of making them devour each other is fo com- mon that, during the fummer months, fcarcely a boy is feen without his cage and his grafshoppers. \ have i6o TRAVELS IN CHINA. I have already had occafion to obferve that the natural dirpofi- tion of the Chinefe fhould feem to have fuffered almofl: a total change by the influence of the laws and maxims of government, an influence which, in this country more than elfewhere, has given a bias to the manners, fentiments, and moral charadter of the people ; for here every ancient proverb carries with it the force of a law. While they are by nature quiet, pafllve, and timid, the ftate of fociety and the abufe of the laws by which they are governed, have rendered them indifferent, unfeeling, and even cruel, as a few examples, which among many others occurred, will but too clearly bear evidence j and as the particu- lar inftances, from which I have fometimes drawn an inference, accorded with the common adions and occurrences of life, I have not hefitated to confider them as fo many general features in their moral charader ; at the fame time I am aware that allowances ought to be m.ade for particular ways of thinking, and for cuf- toms entirely diflimilar from our own, which are, therefore, not exadlly to be appreciated by the fame rule as if they had occurred in our own country. The public feafl:s of Sparta, in which the girls danced naked in prefence of young men, had not the fame effect on the Lacedemonian youth, as they might be fuppofed to produce in Europe ; nor is the delicacy of the Hindoo women offended by looking on the Lingam. Thus the Chinefe are entitled to our indulgence by the peculiar cir- cumftances under which they are placed, but I leave it in the breafl: of the reader to make what allowance he may think they defer ve. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. ibr The common pradice of flogging with the bamboo has ge- nerally been confidered by the miflionaries In the light of a gentle correcj/o(f)a')/<(asi' aiternh d'lehus^ alteniis jejumo — by eating children every other day ! A pldure fo horrid in its nature as the expofing of Infants prefents to the imagination is not to be furpaffed among the moft favage nations. The celebrated legiflator of Athens made no law to punifh parricide, becaufe he confidered it as a crime againft nature, too heinous ever to be committed, and that the bare fuppofition of fuch a crime would have difgraced the coun- try. The Chinefe, in like manner, have no pofitive law againft infanticide. The laws of the rude and warlike Spartans allowed infanticide, of which, however, the parents v/ere not the per- petrators, nor the abettors. Nor, among thefe people, were the weak and fickly children, deemed by the magiftrates unlikely ever to become of ufe to themfelves, or to the public, thrown into the uTroBviicvi^ or common repofitory of the dead bodies of children, until life had been previoufly extinguifhed, we will charitably fuppofe, by gentle and the leaft painful means. The expofing of children, however, it muft be allowed, was very common among the ancients. The ftern and rigid virtues of the Romans allowed this among many other cuftoms, that were more unnatural than amiable, and fuch as in civilized fo- cieties of the prefent day would have been confidered among the moft atrocious of moral crimes. A Roman father, if his in- * Mr. Torrcca. X 2 fant ^'J^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. Fant vs'as meant to be preferved, lifted it from the ground In his arms ; if he negledted that ceremony, the child, it would feem, v/as conlidered as doomed to expofure in the highway. Thus, in the Andrian of Terence, where, though the fcene is not laid in Rome, Roman cuftoms are defcribed, " quidquid peperiflet, " decrcverunt tollere." " Let it be boy or girl they have rc- ■" folved to lift it from the ground." Nor indeed is fecret in- fanticide unknown in modern Europe, although it may be ow- ing to a different principle. In fuch cafes, the fenfe of fhame and the fear of encountering the fcorn and obloquy of the world have determined the conduit of the unhappy mother, before the feelings of nature could have time to operate. For I am willing to hope that none who had ever experienced a mother's feelings and a mother's joy would confent by any means, direct or indirect, or under any impreffion of fear of fhame, of fcorn, or biting penury, to the deftrudion of a nevv'-born babe. And I may venture to fay with confidence, that a Britifh cottager, however indigent, would divide his fcanty pittance among a dozen chiUren, rather than confent to let fome of them perifh, that he and the reft might fare the better, were even our laws as tacit on this fubjedt as thofe of China. Some of the Chriftian miffionaries, in their accounts of, this country, have attempted to palliate the unnatural adt of expof- fng infants, by attributing it to the midwife, who they pretend to fay, from knowing the circumftances of the parents, flrangFe the child without the knowledge of the mother, telling her that the infant was ftill-born. Others have afcribed the pradice to a belief in the metempfycofis, or tranfmigration of fouls into other TRAVELS IN CHINA. 173 other bodies ; that the parents, feeing their children mufl be doomed to poverty, think it is better at once to let the foul efcape in fearch of a more happy afyliim, than to linger in one condemned to want and wretchcdnefs. No degree of fuperftition, one would imagine, could prevail upon a parent to reafon thus, in that moft anxious and critical moment when the combined efforts of hope and fear, of exquifite joy and fevere pain, agitate by turns the mother's breaft.- Befides, the Chinefe trouble themfelves very little with fuperftitious notions, unlefs where they apprehend fome perfonal danger. Nor is it more probable that the midwife fhould take upon herfelf the commillion of a concealed and voluntary murder of an innocent and helplefs infant, for the fake of fparing thofe feelings in an- other, of which the fuppofition implies {he could not poffibly partake ; and if fhe fhould be encouraged by the father, whofe affedions for an infant child may be more gradually unfolded than the mother's, to perpetrate fo horrid an adl, we muft ftill allow that to the exiftence of unnatural and murtherous parents muft be added that of hired ruffians ; fo that Chinefe virtue would gain little by fuch a fuppofition. It is much more probable that extreme poverty and hopelefs indigence, the frequent experience of direful famines, and the fcenes of mifery and "calamity occafioned by them, adting on minds whofe affedions are not very powerful, induce this unna- tural crime, which common cuftom has encouraged, and which is not prohibited by pofitive law. That this is the cafe, and that future advantages are not overlooked, will appear from the circumftance of almoft all the infants that are expofed being females. 174 TRAVELS IN CHINA. females, w^o are the leaft able to provide for themfelves, and the leaft profitable to their parents ; and the pradice is moft fre- quent in crowded cities, where not only poverty more com- monly prevails, but fo many examples daily occur of inhuma- nity, of fummary punifliments, ads of violence and cruelty, that the mind becomes callous and habituated to fcenes that once would have fhocked, and is at length fcarcelj fufceptible of the enormity of crimes. I am afraid, however, it is but too common a pradice even in the remoteft corners of the provinces. A refpedable French mif- lionary, now in London, who was many years in Fo-kien^ told jne that he once happened to call on one of his converts juft at the moment his wife was brought to-bed. The devoted infant 'Was delivered to the father in order to be plunged into a jar of water that was prepared for the purpofe. The miflionary ex- foftulated with the man on the heinoufnefs of an ad that was a crime againft God and nature. The man perfifted that, having already more than he could fupport, it would be a greater crime to preferve a life condemned to want and mifery, than to take it away without pain. The miffionary, finding that no argument of his was likely to divert him from his purpofe, obferved *' that, as a Chriftian, he could not refufe him the fatisfadion of ** faving the infant's foul by baptifm." During the ceremony, as the father held the infant in his arms he happened to fix his eyes on its face, when the miflionary thought he perceived the feelings of nature begin to work ; and he protraded the cere- mony to give time for the latent fpark of parental affedion to kindle into flame. When the ceremony was ended ; " Now," fays TRAVELS IN CHINA. 175 fays the mlflionary, " I have done my duty in faving a foul " from perifhing." ** And I," rejoined the man, " will do " mine, by faving its life," and hurried away with the infant to depofit it in the bofom of its mother. How very weak then, in reality, mufl be the boafled filial affedion of the Chinefe for their parents, when they fcruple not to become the murderers of their own children, towards whom, according to the immutable laws of nature, the force of affection will ever be ftronger than for thofe whom the laws of China, in preference, have commanded to be prote6ted and fupported when rendered incapable of aififting themfelves. The truth of this obfervation, which I believe few will call in quefti' n, is a ftrong proof that, as I have already remarked, filial piety among the Chinefe may rather be confidered in the light of an ancient precept, carrying with it the weight of a pofitive law, than the effeft of fentiment, Tt is right to mention here (what however is no palliation of the crime, though a diminution of the extent of it) a clrcum- ftance which I do not recollect to have feen noticed by any author, and the truth of which I have too good authority to call in queftion. As every corpfe great and fmall mufl: be carried to a place of burial at a confiderable diflance without the city, and as cuftom requires that all funerals Ihould be con- ducted with very heavy expences, people in Pekin, even thofe in comfortable circumftances, make no hefitation in laying in bafkets ftill-born children, or infants who may die the firft month, knowing that they will be taken up by the police. Thi& i;<> TRAVELS IN CHINA. Tills being the cafe, we may eafily conceive that, In a city faid to contain three millions of people, a great proportion of the nine thoufand, which we have fuppofed to be annually expofed, may be of the above defcription. According to the rules of po- litical arithmetic, and fuppofing half of thofe who died to be ex- pofed, the number would be diminifhed to about 4000. The ex- pence attending a Chinefe funeral is more extravagant than an European can well conceive. A rich Hong merchant at Canton is known to have kept his mother near twelve months above ground, becaufe it was not convenient for hira to bury her in a manner fuitabk to his fuppofed wealth and flation. I am informed alfo that foundling hofpitals do exift in China, but that they are on a fmall fcale, being raifed and fup- ported by donations of individuals, and their continuance is therefore as precarious as the wealth of their charitable founders, Thefe unfavourable features In the charader of a people, whofe natural difpofition is neither ferocious nor morofe ; 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 adually the cafe may be inferred from the general condud: and charadter of thofe vafl multitudes who, from time to time, have emigrated to the Phillipine iflands, Batavia, Pulo Pinang and other parts of our Eaft Indian fettlements. In thofe places they are not lefs remarkable for their honefly, than for their peace- able and induftrlous habits* To the Dutch in Batavia they are 4 mafons, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 177 'mafons, carpenters, tailors, fhoemakers, fhopkeepers, bankers, and, in fhort, every thing. Indolence and luxury are there arrived to fuch a height that, without the afliftance of the Chinefe, the Dutch would literally be in danger of ftarving. Yet the infamous government of that place, in the year 1741, caufed to be maflacred, in cold blood, many thoufands of thefe harmlefs people, who offered no refiftance ; neither woman nor children efcaped the fury of thefe blood-hounds. In thefe places it appears alfo, that their quicknefs at inven- tion is not furpaffed by accuracy of imitation, for which they have always been accounted remarkably expert in their own country. Man is, by nature, a hoarding animal ; and his en- deavours to accumulate property will be proportioned to the fecurity and ftability which the laws afford for the pofTeflion and enjoyment of that property. In China, the laws regarding property are infufHcient to give it that fecurity : hence the talent of invention is there feldom exercifed beyond fuggefling the means of providing for the firfl necefTities and the mofl preffing wants. A man, indeed, is afraid here to be confidered as wealthy, well knowing that fome of the rapacious officers of the ftate would find legal reafons to extort his riches from him. The exterior deportment of every clafs in China is uncommon- ly decent, and all their manners mild and engaging ; but even thefe among perfons of any rank are confidered as objeds worthy the interference of the legiflature ; hence it follows that they are cere- monious without fmcerity, fludious of the forms onlyof politenefs A A without iyB TRAVELS IN CHINA. without either the eafe or elegance of good-breeding. An inferioF makes a fham attempt to fall on his knees before his fuperior, and the latter affe£ts a flight motion to raife him. A common fa4utation has its mode prefcribed by the court of ceremonies; and any neglect or default in a plebeian towards his fuperior is punifliable by corporal chaflifement, and in men in office by degradation or fufpenfion. In making thus the exterior and public manners of the people a concern of the legiflature, fociety in many refpefts was confiderably benefited. Between equals, and among the lower orders of people, abufive language is very unufual, and they feldom proceed to blows. If a quarrel fhould be carried to this extremity, the conteft is rarely attended with more feri- ous confequences than the lofs of the long lock of hair growing from the crown of the head, or the rent of their clothes. The adt of drawing a fword, or prefenting a piftol, is fufficient to frighten a common Chinefe into convulfions ; and their war- riors fhew but few fymptoms of bravery. The Chinefe may certainly be confidered among the moft timid people on the face of the earth ; they feem to pofTefs neither perfonal courage, nor the leaft prefence of mind in dangers or difficulties ; con- iequences that are derived probably from the influence of the moral over the phyfical charader. Yet there is perhaps no country where adts of fuicide occur more frequently than in China, among the women as well as the men : fuch ads being marked with no difgrace, are not held in any abhorrence. The government, indeed, fhould feem to hold out encouragement to fuicide, by a very common pradice of mitigating the fentence «f death, in allowing the criminal to be his own executioner. ij The TRAVELS IN CHINA. lyg The late viceroy of Canton, about two years ago, put an end to his life by fwallowing his ftone fnuff-bottle, which ftuck in the oefophagus ; and he died in excruciating agonies. In a government, where every man is liable to be made a flave, where every man is fubjedt to be flogged with the bamboo at the nod of one of the lowed rank of thofe in office, and where he is compelled to kifs the rod that beats him, or, which amounts to the fame thing, to thank the tyrant on his knees for the trou- ble he has taken to correct his morals, high notions of honour and dignified fentiments are not to be expeded. Where the maxims of the government commanding, and the opinions of the people agreeing, that corporal punifhment may be in- flicted, on the ground of a favour conferred upon the perfon. puniflied, a principle of humiliation is admitted that is well calculated to exclude and obliterate every notion of the dignity of human nature, A flave, in fa£t, cannot be difhonoured. The condition It- felf of being dependent upon and fubje£l to the caprice of another, without the privilege of appeal, is fuch a degraded ftate of the human fpecies, that thofe who are unfortunately re- duced to it have no further ignominy or fenfe of fhame to un- dergo. The vices of fuch a condition are innumerable, and they appear on all occafions among this people, celebrated (rather un- defervedly I think) for their polifhed manners and civilized go- vernment. A Chinefe merchant will cheat, whenever an op- portunity offers him the means, becaufe he is confidered to be A A 2 incapable i8o TRAVELS IN CHINA. incapable of ading honeftly; a Chinefe peafant will fteal vv'tien- ever he can do it without danger of being deteded, becaufe the punifhment is only the bamboo, to which he is daily liable ; and a Chinefe prince, or a prime minifter, will extort the pro- perty of the fubjed, and apply it to his private ufe, whenever he thinks he can do it with impunity. The only check upon the rapacity of men in power is the influence of fear, arifing from the pofTibility of detedlon ; the love of honour, the dread of fhame, and a fenfe of ju ft ice, feem to be equally unfelt by the majority of men in office. It would be necdiefs to mu-ltiply inftances to thofe already on record of the refined knavery difplayed by Chinefe merchants in their dealings with Europeans, or the tricks that they play off in their tranfadtions with one another. They are well known to moft nations, and are proverbial in their own. A merchant with them is confidered as the loweft charader in the country, as a man that will cheat if he can, and whofe trade it is to create and then fupply artificial wants. To this general cha- radler, which public opinion has moft probably made to be what it is, an exception is due to thofe merchants who, ading under the immediate fandion of the government, have always been remarked for their liberality and accuracy In their dealings with Europeans trading to Canton, Thefe men who are ftyled the Hong merchants, in diftindion to a common merchant whom they call mai-mal-ghi^ a buying and felling man^ might not un- juftly be compared with the moft eminent of the mercantile clafs in England, But TRAVELS IN CHINA. i8r But as traders in general are degraded in all the ftate maxims, and confequently in public opinion, it is not furpri(ing they fhould attach fo little refped to the charader of foreign merchants trad- ing to their ports, efpecially as feveral knavifli tricks have been pradifed upon them, in fpite of all their acutenefs and precau- tion. The gaudy watches of indifferent workmanfhip, fabri- cated purpofely for the China market, and once in univerfal de- mand, are now fcarcely afked for. One gentleman in the Ho- nourable Eaft India Company's employ took it into hi3 head that cuckoo clocks might prove a faleable article in China, and accordingly laid in a large aflbrtment, which more than an- fwered his moft fanguine expedations. But as thefe wooden machines were conftruded for fale only, and not for ufe, the cuckoo clocks became all. mute long before the fecond arrival of this gentleman with another cargo. His clocks were now not only unfaleable, but the former purchafers threatened to return theirs upon his hands, which would certainly have been done, had not a thought entered his head, that not only pacified his former cuflomers but procured him alfo other purchafers for his fecond cargo : he convinced them by undeniable authorities, that the cuckoo was a very odd kind of bird which fung only at certain feafons of the year, and afTured them that whenever the proper time arrived, all the cuckoos they had purchafed would once again " tune their melodious throats." After this it would only be fair to allow the Chinefe fometimes to trick the Euro- pean purchafer with a wooden ham inflead of a real one. But as fomething more honourable might be expeded in a prince of the blood, a grandfoa of the Emperor, I fl:iall juft mentica i82 TRAVELS IN CHINA. mention one anecdote that happened during my abode in the palace of Tuen-mhi-yucn. This gentleman, then about five- and-tvventy years of age, having no oftenfible employment, •came ahnoft daily to the hall of audience, where we were arrang- ing the prefents for the Emperor. He had frequently defired to look at a gold time-piece which I wore in my pocket : one inorning I received a meflage from him, by one of the mifllon- sries, to know if I would fell it and for what price. I ex- plained to the miffionary that, being a prefent from a friend and a token of remembrance, I could not willingly part with it, but that 1 would endeavour to procure him one equally good from cur artificers, who I thought had fuch articles for fale. I foon difcovered, however, that his Royal Highnefs had already been with thefe people, but did not like their prices. The following morning a fecond miffionary came to me, bringing a prefent from the prince confiding of about half a pound of common tea, a filk purfe, and a few trumpery trinkets, hinting at the fame time that he was expeded to carry back the watch in re- turn as an equivalent. I requefted the miffionary immediately to take back the princely prefent, which he did with confider- able reludance, dreading his Highnefs's difpleafure. The poor fellow happened to have a gold watch about him, which he \vas defired to fhew ; and the fame day he had a vifit from one of the prince's domeftics to fay, that his mafter would do him the honour to accept his watch ; which he was not only under the neceffity of fending, but was obliged to thank him, on his knees, for this extraordinary mark of diftindion. He told me, moreover, that this fame gentleman had at leaft a dozen watches which had been procured in the fame honour- able way. In TRAVELS IN CHINA. i8j Tn the lift of prefents carried by the late Dutch Embaflador were two grand pieces of machinery, that formerly were a part of the curious mufeum of the ingenious Mr. Coxe. In the courfe of the long journey from Canton to Pekin they had fuffered fome flight damage. On leaving the capital they dif- covered, through one of the miffionaries, that while thefe pieces were under repair, the prime minifter Ho-tchang-tong had fubftituted two others of a very inferior and common forc to complete the lift, rcferving the two grand pieces of clock- work for himfelf, which, at fome future period, he would^ perhaps, take the merit of prefenting to the Emperor in his own name. Thefe examples but too clearly illuftrate a great defed: in the boafted moral charader of the Chinefe. But the fault, as I before obferved, feems to be more in the fyftem of govern- ment than in the nature and difpofition of the people. The acceffion of a foreign power to the throne, by adopting the lan- guage, the laws, and the cuftoms of the conquered, has prcferved with the forms all the abufes of the ancient government. The charader of the governors may differ a little, but that of the go- verned remains unchanged. The Tartars, by affuming the drefs, the manners, and the habits of the Chinefe, by being originally defcended from the fame ftock, and by a great re- femblance of features, are fcarcely diftinguifliable from them in their external appearance. And if any phyfical difference exift, it feems to be in ftature only, which may have arifen. from local caufcs. The Chinefe are rather taller, and of a more Sender and delicate form than the Tartars, who are in general fiiort. i84 TRAVELS IN CHINA. fliort, thick, and robuft. The fmall eye, elliptical at the end next to the nofe, is a predominating feature in the caft of both the Tartar and the Chinefe countenance, and they have both the fame high cheek bones and pointed chins, which, with the cuftom of fhaving off the hair, gives to the head the fhape of an inverted cone, remarkable enough in fome fubjeds, but neither fo general, nor fo fingular, as to warrant their being confidered among the monjlers in nature, Homo monjlrofus^ ma- crocephalus^ capite conico^ Chinenfis *. The head of our worthy condudor Vafi-ta-gin^ who was a real Chinefe, had nothing in its fhape different from that of an European, except the eye. The portrait of this gentleman, drawn by Mr. Hickey, is fo ftrong a likencfs, and he was defervedly fo great a favourite of every Englifhman in the train of the Britifh Embaflador, that I am happy in having an opportunity of placing it at the head of this work. The natural colour both of the Chinefe and Tartars feems to be that tint between a fair and dark complexion, which we dif- tinguifh by the word brunet or Jjrunette ; and the (hades of this complexion are deeper, or lighter, according as they have been more or lefs expofed to the influence of the climate. The women of the lower clafs, who labour in the fields or who dwell in veffels, are almoft invariably coarfe, ill-featured, and of a deep brown complexion, like that of the Hottentot. But this we find to be the cafe among the poor of almoft every na- tion. Hard labour, fcanty fare, and early and frequent parturi- * Linn. Syftema Naturae. tion, TRAVELS IN CHINA. ,85 tlon, foon wither the delicate buds of beauty. The fprightli- nefs and expreffion of the features, as well as the colour of the fkin, which diftinguifh the higher ranks from the vulgar, are the effeds of eafe and education. We faw women in China, though very few, that might pafs for beauties even in Europe. The Malay features however prevail in moft ; a fmall black or dark brown eye, a fhort rounded nofe, generally a little flat- tened, lips confiderably thicker than in Europeans, and black hair, are univerfal. The Man-tchoo Tartars appear to be compofed of a mixed race : among thefe we obferved feveral, both men and wo- men, that were extremely fair and of florid complexions : fome had light blue eyes, ftreight or aquiline nofes, brown hair, immenfe bufliy beards, and had much more the appearance of Greeks than of Tartars. It is certainly not improbable that the Greeks of Sogdiana, whofe defcendants muft have blended with the wefl;ern Tartars and with whom the Man-tchoos were connected, may have communicated this caft of countenance. Tchien-Lung^ whofe nofe was fomewhat aquiline and com- plexion florid, ufed to boafl of his defcent from Gengis-Khan : thefe, however, are exceptions to the general character, which is evidently the fame as that of the Chinefe. But although their appearance and manners are externally the fame, a clofer acquaintance foon difcovers that in difpofition they are widely different. Thofe who are better pleafed with a blunt fmcerity bordering on rudenefs, than a ftudied complai- fance approaching to fervility ; who may think it better to be B B robbed i86 TRAVELS IN CHINA. robbed openly than cheated civilly, will be apt to give the pre- ference to the Tartar character. Yet thofe Tartars of diftinc- tion, who fill fomc of the higher fituations in the ftate, foon lofe their native roughnefs, and are fcarcely diftinguiihable in their manners and demeanour from the Chinefe. The eafe, politenefs, and dignified carriage of the old viceroy of Pe-tcbe-lee, v^ho was a Man-tchoo, could not be exceeded by the moil pradifed courtier in modern Europe : the attention he {hewed to every thing that concerned the embafly, the un- affeded manner in which he received and entertained us at Tieti-Jing ; the kindnefs and condefcenfion with which he gave his orders to the inferior officers and to his domeftics, placed him in a very amiable point of view. He was a very fine old man of feventy-eight years of age, of low flature, with fmall fparkling eyes, a benign afped, a long filver beard, and the whole of his appearance calm, venerable, and dignified. The manners . of Surt'ta-ghi, a relation of the Emperor and one of the fix mi- nifters of fl:ate, were no lefs dignified, eafy, and engaging ; and Chung-ta-giuy the new viceroy of Canton, was a plain, unaflura- ing, and good-natured man. The prim.e minlfl:er Ho-chang- tong^ the little Tartar legate, and the ex-viceroy of Canton, were the only perfons of rank among the many we had occafion to converfe with, that difcovered the leaft ill-humour, dlftant hau- teur, and want of complaifance. All the reft with whom we had any concern, whether Tartars or Chinefe, when in our private fociety, were eafy, affable, and familiar, extremely good-hu- moured, loquacious, communicative. It was in public only, and towards each other, that they aflumed their ceremonious gravity, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 187 gravity, and praQifed all the tricks of demeanour which cuftom requires of them. The general charader, however, of the nation is a ftrange compound of pride and meannefs, of affe6ted gravity and real frivoloufnefs, of refined civility and grofs indelicacy. With an appearance of great fimplicity and opcnnefs in converfation, they pradife a degree of art and cunning againft which an European is but ill prepared. Their manner of introducing the fubjedl of the court ceremonies in converfation with the Embaf- fador, is no bad fpecimen of their fly addrefs in managing mat- ters of this fort. Some of them obferved, by mere accident as it were, how curious it was to fee the different modes of drefs that prevailed among different nations : this naturally brought on a comparifon between theirs and ours, the latter of which they pretended to examine with critical attention. After a good deal of circumlocutory obfervations, they thought their own entitled to the preference, being more convenient, on account of its being made wide and loofe and free from tight ligatures ; whereas ours muft be exceedingly uneafy and troublefome in any other pofture than that of Handing upright ; and particular- ly fo in making the genuflexions and proftrations which were cuftomary and indeed neceffary to be performed by all pcrfons whenever the Emperor appeared in public. No notice being taken of this broad hint, fo artfully introduced, they proceeded to compare their wide petticoats with our breeches, and to con- traft the play and freedom of their knee-joints with the obftruc- tion that our knee-buckles and garters muft neceffarily occafion. This brought them directly to the point, and they finiflied by B B 2 recom- i88 TRAVE.LS IN CHINA. recommending, in the warmth of their friendfhip, that we fhould difencumber ourfelves of our breeches, as they would certainly be inconvenient to appear in at court. Of perfeverance in negociation, or more properly fpeaking, in driving a bargain^ the Tartar legate gave no bad fpecimen of his talent. Having in vain pradlifed every art to obtain from the Embaflador an unconditional compliance with the court ceremony, he was fent at length by the Prime Minifter to inform him, that the important point v^'^as finally decided and that the Engliih mode was to be adopted ; but, he obferved, that as it was not the cuftom of China to kifs the Emperor's hand, he had fomething to propofe to which there could be no objedion, and which was that, in lieu of that part of the Englifh ceremony, he fhould put the fecond knee upon the ground, and, inflead of bending one knee, to kneel on both. In fa£t, they negociate on the moft trifling point with as much caution and precifenefs, as if they were forming a treaty of peace, and with more addrefs than fome treaties of peace have been negociated. As a direft refufal to any requefl would betray a want of good breeding, every propofal finds their immediate acquief- cence ; they promife without hefitation, but generally difappoint by the invention of fome fly pretence or plaufible objedlion. They have no proper fenfe of the obligations of truth. So little fcrupulous indeed are they with regard to veracity, that they will afTert and contradict without blufliing, as it may befl fuit the purpofe of the moment. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 189 The vanity of an ufurped national fuperiority and a high notion of felf-importance never forfake them on any occafion. Thofe advantages in others which they cannot avoid feeling, they will affe6t not to fee. And although they are reduced to the neceflity of employing foreigners to regulate their calendar and keep their clocks in order, although they are in the habit of receiving yearly various fpecimens of art and ingenuity from Europe, yet they pertinacioufly affed: to confider all the nations of the earth as barbarians in comparifon of themfelves. A Chinefe merchant of Canton, who, from the frequent opportu- nities of feeing Engliili fhips, was not infenfible of their advan- tages over thofe of his own nation which traded to Batavia and other diftant ports, refolved, and actually began, to con- ftrudt a veflel according to an Englifh model ; but the Hoopoo or colledor of the cuftoms being apprized of it, not only obliged him to relinquifli his project, but fined him in a heavy penalty for prefuming to adopt the modes of a barbarous nation. So great is their national conceit, that not a fmgle article imported into the country, as I have elfewhere obferved, retains its name. Not a nation, nor perfon, nor object, that does not receive a Chinefe appellation : fo that their language, though poor, may be confidered as pure. The expreflions made ufe of in falutatlon, by different na- tions, may perhaps be confidered as deriving their origin from features of national character. Lau-ye^ Old ftr^ is a title of re- fpe£t, with which the firfl officers of (late may be addreffed, be- caufe the maxims of government have inculcated the dodlrine of obedience, refpeft, and protedion to old age. The common falutation among the lower orders of people in fome of the 7 foulhern 150 TRAVELS IN CHINA. fouthern provinces is Ta fafi, Have you eaten your rice f the greateft happinefs that the common clafs of people in China can hope to enjoy confifting in their having a iufficiency of rice. Thus alfo the Dutch, who are confidered as great eaters, have a morning falutation which is common among all x^v^%^ Smaakelyk eeten I May you eat a hearty dinner I Another univerfal falutation among this people is, Hoevaart u-we ? How do you fail f adopted no doubt in the early periods of the Republic, when they were all navigators and fifhermen. The ufual falutation at Cairo is. How do youfweat? a dry hot fl^in being a fure indication of a deftrudlive ephemeral fever. I think fome author has obferved, in contrafting the haughty Spaniard with the frivolous Frenchman, that the proud fteady gait and inflex- ible folemnity of the former were expreiTed in his mode of falu- tation. Come ejla P How do youjland f whilft the Comme?it vous porte'z vous f How do you carry your/elf? was equally expreffive of the gay motion and inceflant adlion of the latter. The Chinefe are fo ceremonious among themfelves, and fo pundlilious with regard to etiquette, that the omiflion of the moft minute point eftablifhed by the court of ceremonies is confidered as a criminal offence. Vifiting by tickets, which with us is a fafhion of modern refinement, has been a common practice in China fome thoufand years ; but the rank of a Chinefe vifitor is immediately afcertained by the fize, colour, and ornaments of his ticket, which alfo varies in all thefe points according to the rank of the perfon vifited. The old Viceroy of Pe-tche4ee\ ticket to the Embaflador contained as much crimfon-coloured paper as vi-ould be fufficient to cover the walls of a moderate- fized room. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 191 CHAP. V. Manners and Amufements of the Court — Reception of Embaf- fadors — Charader and private Life of the Emperor — His Eunuchs and Women. General Character of the Court — Of the BuUdings about the Palace — Lord Macart- ney'/ Account of his IntroduSiion — Of the Celebration of the Emperor' s Anniverfary Fefival — Of a Puppet-Shew — Comedy and Pantomime — Wrefling'— Conjuring and Fire- works — Reception and Entertainment of the Dutch Embaffadors from a Manufcript Journal — Obfervations on the State of the Chinefe Stage — Extraor^ dinary Scene in one of their Dramas — Grofs and indelicate Exhibitions — Sketch of Kien Long'/ Z,//^ and CharaBer — Kills his Son hy an unlucky Bloiu — conceives himfelf immortal — Infuence of the Eunuchs at the Tartar Conquejl — their prefent State and Offices — Emperor's Wife, ^eettSf and Concubines — How difpofed of at his Death, /aFTER the {ketch I have exhibited of the flate of foclety among the different ranks in China, a tolerable notion may be formed of the general charadler and complexion of the court. It is, as Lord Macartney has juftly obferved, " afmgular mixture of oftentatious hofpitality and inbred fufpicion, ceremonious civility and real rudenefs, fhadowy complaifance and fubftan- tial pcrverfenefs ; and this prevails through all the depart- ments conneded with the Court, although fomewhat modi- fied by the perfonal difpofition of thofe at their head ; but as to <( igi TRAVELS IN CHINA. " to tliat genuine politenefs, which diftinguifhes our manners, it *' cannot be expelled in Orientals^^ confidering among other *' things the light in which they are accuftomed to regard the *' female part of fociety." Whether the great minifters of ftate, who have daily intercourfe in the different tribunals, fome- times relax from the ftiff and formal deportment obferved to- wards each other in public, I am not able to fay, but when at Court they invariably obferve certain ftated forms and expref- fions as ftudied and ceremonious as if they had never met be- fore. It appeared to us highly ridiculous to fee our friends, the two cojleagues Van-ta-gin and Chou-ta-gin^ on meeting in the precindts of the palace, performing to each other all the genu- flexions and motions of the body which the ceremonial infti- tutes of the empire require. I rather fufped, however, that where any degree of confi- dence prevails among thefe people, they fometimes enjoy their moments of conviviality. Our two worthy conductors met at Canton an old acquaintance who was governor of a city in Fo- kien. He gave them an evening entertainment on the river in a fplendid yacht to which I was privately invited. On entering the great cabin I found the three gentlemen with each a young girl by his fide very richly dreffed, the cheeks, lips, and chin highly rouged^ the reft of the face and neck whitened with a preparation of cerufe. I was welcomed by a cup of hot wine from each of the ladies who firft fipped by way of pledging me. During fupper, which for number and variety of difhes ex- ceeded any thing I had hitherto met with in the country, the girls played on the flute and fung feveral airs, but there was no- thing TRAVELS IN CHINA. J93 thing very captivating either in the vocal or inftrumental part of the mufic. We pafled a moft convivial evening free from any referve or reftraint, but on going away I was particularly defired by Van not to take any notice of what I had feen, apprehenfive, I fuppofe, that their brother officers might condemn their want of prudence in admitting a barbarian to witnefs this occafional relaxation from good morals. The yacht and the ladies it feemed were hired for the occafion. The incalculable numbers of the great officers of ftate and their attendants, all robed in the richeft filks, embroidered with the moft brilliant colours, and tiffued with gold and filver, the order, filence, and folemnity with which they arrange and con- dud themfelves on pubUc court-days, are the moft commanding features on fuch occafions. This fober pomp of Afiatic grandeur is exhibited only at certain fixed feftivals ; of which the principal is the anniverfary of the Emperor's birth-day, the commencement of a new year, the ceremonial of holding the plough, and the reception of fo- reign embafiadors, moft of whom they contrive to be prefent at one or other of thefe feftivals. The birth-day is confidered to be the moft fplendid ; when all the Tartar princes and tribu- taries, and all the principal officers of government both civil and military, are expeded to be prefent. For reafons of ftate, which will be noticed hereafter, the Emperor rarely ftiews himfelf in public among the Chinefe part c c of J94 TRAVELS IN CHINA. of his fiibje^s, except on fuch occafions ; and even then the exhibition is confined within the preclnfts of the palace from "U'hich the popukce are entirely excluded. Confiftent with their fyflem of fumptuary laws there is little external appear- ance of pomp or magnificence in the eftablilhment of the Em- peror. The buildings that compofe the palace and the furni- ture within them, if we except the paint, the gilding, and the varniih, that appear on the houfes even of plebeians, are equally- void of unneceffary and expenfive ornaments. Thofe who fhould rely on the florid relations, in which the miflionaries and fome travellers have indulged in their defcriptions of the palaces of Pekin and thofe of Tuen-min-yuen^ would experience on vilit- ing them a woful difappointment. Thefe buildings, like the common habitations of the country, are all modelled after the form of a tent, and are magnificent only by a comparifon with the others and by their number, which is fufficient, indeed, to form a town of themfelves. Their walls are higher than thofe of ordinary houfes, their wooden columns of greater diameter, their roofs are immenfe, and a greater variety of painting and gilding may be beftowed on the different parts ; but none of them exceeds one ftory in height, and they are jumbled and furrounded with mean and infignificant hovels. Some writer has obferved that the King of England is worfe lodged at Saint James's palace than any fovereign In Europe. Were I to compare fome of the imperial palaces in China to any- royal refidence in Europe it would certainly be to Saint James's ; but the apartments, the furniture, and conveniences of the latter, bad as they are, infinitely tranfcend any of thofe in China* The Hone or clay floors are indeed fometimes covered with a carpet TRAVELS IN CHINA. 195 carpet of Englifh broad-cloth, and the walls papered ; but they have no glafs in the windows, no ftoves, fire-places, or fire- grates in the rooms j no fofas, bureaux, chandeliers, nor look- ing-glafles ; no book-cafes, prints, nor paintings. They have neither curtains nor fheets to their beds ; a bench of wood, or a platform of brick-work, is raifed in an alcove, on which are mats or fluffed matrelTes, hard pillows, or cufhions, according to the feafon of the year; inftead of doors they have ufually fkreens, made of the fibres of bamboo. In fhort, the wretched lodgings of the flate-officers at the court of Verfailles, in the time of the French monarchy, were princely palaces in com- parifon of thofe allotted to the firft minifters of the Emperor of China, in the capital as well as at Tiien-min-yuen, When attending the court, on public occafions, each courtier takes his meal alone in his folltary cell on a fmall fquare table crowded with bowls of rice and various flews ; without table- linen or napkins, without knife, fork, orfpoon; a pair of fmall Hicks, or the quills of a porcupine, are the only fubftitutes for thefe convenient articles : placing the bowl under his chin, with thefe he throws the rice into his mouth and takes up the pieces of meat in his foup or flews. Having finifhed his lonely meal, he generally lies down to fleep. In a government fo fufpicious as that of China, if parties were known to meet together, the obje£l of them might be fuppofed fomething beyond that of conviviality, which however mutual jealoufy and diflrufl have prevented from growing into common ufe. As the ready compliance of the late Dutch EmbafTadors v^'ith all the degrading ceremonies required by the Chinefe, added to c c 2 their jg6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. tlicir conflailt refidencc ia the capital, gave them more oppor- tunities of obferving the manners and the amufements of ths court than occurred to the Britifh embafiy, I fhall here avail myfelf of that part of a journal relating to this fubjedt, which was kept bya young gentleman in the fuite of the former, and whofe accuracy of obfervation may be depended on. The account given by him of the New Year's feftival, added to Lord Macartney's defcription of his introdudion and the birthrday folemnities, which his LordOiip has obligingly per- mitted me to extract from his journal, together with my own obfervations at the palace of Tuen-min-yuen ^ will ferve to convey a tolerably exafl idea of the ftate, pleafures, and amufements c£ the great Monarch of China. " On the 14th September," obferves his Lordfhip, " at four *' o'clock in the morning we fet out for the court, under the *' convoy of Van-ta-giri^ and Choii-ta-gm^ and reached it in little " more than an hour, the diftance 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 handfome tent prepared for us, on one fide of the *' Emperor's. After waiting there about an hour, his ap- *' proach was announced by drums and mufic, on which we " quitted our tent and came, forward upon the green carpei. *' He was feated in an open Palankeen, carried by fixteen ^* bearers, attended by numbers of officers bearing flags, fiar^- " dards, and umbrellas ; and as he pafTed we paid him our *' compliments, by kneeling on one knee, whilft all the Chi- *' nefe made their ufual proftrations. As foon as he had *' afcended his throne I came to the eaiance of his tent, and " holding TRAVELS IN CHINA. 197 " holding in both my hands a large gold box, enriched with *' diamonds, in which was enclofed the King's letter, I walked " deliberately up, and, afcending the ftcps of the throne, deli- " vered it into the Emperor's own hands, who, having re- " ceived it, palled it to the Minifter, by whom it was placed " on the cufliion. He then gave me, as the firfl prefent from *' him to his Majefty, the Eu-Jhee, or fymbol of peace and " profperity, and exprefled his hopes that my Sovereign and *' he fhould always live in good correfpondence and amity. *' It is a whitifli agate-looking ftone, perhaps ferpentine, about " a foot and a half long, curioufly carved, and highly prized *' by the Chinefe ; but to me it does not appear in itfelf ta be *' of any great value. *' The Emperor then prefented me with an Eu-JJoee of a " greenifh-coloured ferpentine ftone, and of the fame emble- *' matic charadter ; at the fame time he very gracioufly " received from me a pair of beautiful enamelled watches, fet '* with diamonds, which, having looked at, he paffed to the *' Minifter. " Sir George Staunton (whom, as he had been appointed *' Minifter plenipotentiary, to a " and I underftand it is a favourite piece at court. " On the morning of the 18th September we again went to " court, in confequence of an invitation from the Emperor, to " fee the Chinefe comedy and other diverfions given on occa- " fion of his birth-day. The comedy began at eight o'clock " and lafled till noon. The Emperor was feated on a throne, " oppofite the flage, which projected a good deal into the " pit. The boxes were on each fide without feats or divi- *' fions. The women were placed above, behind the lattices, " fo that they might enjoy the amufements of the theatre with- " out being obferved. D D " Soon 202 TRAVELS IN CHINA. " Soon after we came in, the Emperor fent for Sir George *' Staunton and me to attend him, and told us, with great " condefcenfion of manner, that we ought not to be furprized " to fee a man of his age at the theatre, for that he feldom " came there except upon a very particular occafion like the " prefent, for that, confidering the extent of his dominions " and the number of his fubjeds, he could fpare but little time " for fuch amufements. I endeavoured, in the turn of ray *' anfwer, to lead him towards the fubjedt of my embafly, but he feemed not difpofed to enter into it farther than by deli- vering me a little box of old japan, in the bottom of which were fome pieces of agate and other ftones much valued by the Chinefe and Tartars ; and at the top a fmall book written " and painted by his own hand, which he defired me to pre- " fent to the king my mafter as a token of his friendfhip, " faying, that the old box had been 800 years in his family. He, at the fame time, gave me a book for myfelf alfo written and painted by him, together with feveral purfes for Areca nut. He likewife gave a purfe of the fame fort to Sir George Staunton, " and fent fome fmall prefents to the other gentlemen of the embafly. After this feveral pieces of filk or porcelain, but feemlngly of no great value, were diftributed among the Tar- tar princes and chief courtiers, who appeared to receive them with every pofl!ible demonftration of humility and gra- *' titude. " The theatrical entertainments confifted of great variety, both *' tragical and comical ; feveral diftlndt pieces were adled In fuc- ^' ceflion, though without any apparent connedion with one an- '' other. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 203 ** other. Some of them were hlftorlcal, and others of pure " fancy, partly in recitativo^ partly in finglng, and partly in- *' plain fpeaking, without any accompaniment of inflrumental ** mufic, but abounding in battles, murders, and moft of the '* ufual incidents of the drama. Laft of all was the grand pan- " tomimc, which, from the approbation it met with, is, I pre- " fume, confidered as a firft-rate effort of invention and inge- " nuity. It feemed to me, as far as I could comprehend it, ** to reprefent the marriage of the ocean and the earth. The *' latter exhibited her various riches and productions, dragons, " and elephants, and tygers, and eagles, and oftriches, oaks ** and pines, and other trees of different kinds. The ocean ** was not behind hand, but poured forth on the ftage the ** wealth of his dominions, under the figures of whales and dolphins, porpefTes and leviathans, and other fea monflers, befides fhips, rocks, fhells, fpunges, and corals, all performed by concealed a^Sors, who were quite perfect in their parts, " and performed their characters to admiration. Thefe two ** marine and land regiments, after feparately parading in a cir- " cular procefTion for a confiderable time, at laft joined to- " gether, and, forming one body, came to the front of the ftage, ** when, after a few evolutions, they opened to the right and ** left, to give room for the whale, who feemed to be the com- *' manding officer, to waddle forward ; and who, taking his " ftation exadly oppofite to the Emperor's box, fpouted out of ** his mouth into the pit feveral tons of water, which quickly ** difappeared through the perforations of the floor. This eja- *' culation was received with the highcft applaufe, and two or *' three of the great men at my elbow defired me to take par- D D 2 " ticular t( i( 204 TRAVELS IN CHINA. '* tlcular notice of it ; repeating, at the fame time, * Hao^ kwig *' haoP'-^'' charming , delightful!'' ** A little before one o'clock in the afternoon we retired, and *' at four we returned to court to fee the evening's entertain- *' ments, which w^ere exhibited on the lawn, in front of the *' great tent or pavilion, where we had been firfl: prcfented to " the Emperor. He arrived very foon after us, mounted his ** throne, and gave the fignal to begin. We had now wreft- " ling and dancing, and tumbling and pofture-making, which " appeared to us particularly awkward and clumfy, from the ** performers being moftly dreffed according to the Chinefe " cojiume, one infeparable part of which is a pair of heavy ** quilted boots with the foles of an inch thick. The wreftlers, *' however, feemed to be pretty expert, and afforded much di- ** verfion to fuch as were admirers of the Palajlra. " A boy climbed up a pole or bamboo thirty or forty feet " high, played feveral gambols, and balanced himfelf on the *' top of it in various attitudes, but his performance fell far *• fliort of what I have often met with in India of the fame " kind. " A fellow lay down on his back, and then raifed his feet, " legs, and thighs from his middle, perpendicularly, fo as " to form a right angle with his body. On the foles 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 fome time, turning it round and round horlzon- ** tally, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 405 ^' tally, till one of the fpeclators put a little boy into it, who, *' after throwing himfelf into various poftures at the mouth of *' it, came out and fat on the top. He then ftood up, then *' fell flat upon his back, then fhifted to his belly, and after ** {hewing a hundred tricks of that fort, jumped down upon " the ground and relieved his coadjutor. " A man then came forward, and, after fattening three flen- " der flicks to each of his boots, took fix porcelain difhes of '* about eighteen inches diameter, and balancing them feparate- " ly at the end of a little ivory rod, which he held in his " hand, and twirling them about for fome time, put them one *' after the other upon the points of the fix bootfticks above- ** mentioned, they continuing to turn round all the while. He " then took two fmall flicks in his left hand, and put dlfhes '' upon them in the fame manner, as upon the other, and alfo " one more upon the little finger of his right hand, fo that he ** had nine difhes annexed to him at once, all twirling together, *' which in a few minutes he took off one by one and placed *' them regularly on the ground, without the flightefl inter- ** ruption or mifcarriage. *' There were many other things of the fame kind, but I " faw none at all comparable to the tumbling, rope-dan- *' cing, wire-walking, and flraw-balancing of Sadler's Wells ; " neither did I obferve any feats of equitation in the fiyle of *' Hughes's and Aflley's amphitheatres, although I had been " always told that the Tartars were remarkably fkilful in the *' inflruction and difcipline of their horfes. Lafl of all were " the £o€ TRAVELS IN CHINA. " the fireworks, which, in fonie particulars, exceeded any " thing of the kind 1 had ever reeu. In grandeur, magnili- " cence, and variety, they were, I own, interior to the Chi- " nefe fireworks we had feen at Batavia, but infinitely fuperior " in point of novelty, neatnefs, and ingenuity of contrivance. " One piece of machinery I greatly admired ; a- green cheft of " five feet fquare was hoifted up by a pulley to the height of " fifty or fixty feet from the ground ; the bottom was fo con- *' ftruded as then fuddenly to fall out, and make way for twenty " or thirty firings of lanterns inclofed in the box to defcend " from it, unfolding themfelves from one another by degrees, *' fo as at laft to form a colledllon of at lead f.ve hundred, each *' having a light of a beautifully coloured flame burning brightly " within It. This devolution and developement of lanterns " (which appeared to me to be compofed of gauze and paper) " were feveral times repeated, and every time exhibited a dif- " ference of colour and figure. On each fide was a correfpond- *' ence of fmaller boxes, which opened in like manner as the " others, and let down an immenfe network of fire, with di- " vlfions and copartments of various forms and dimenfions, *' round and fquare, hexagons, odlagons, and lozenges, which " fhone like the brighteft burnifhed copper, and flafhed like " prifmatic lightning, with every impulfe of the wind. The " diverfity of colours, Indeed, with which the Chinefe have the " fecret of cloathing fire, feems one of the chief merits of their " pyrotechny. The whole concluded with a volcano, or ge- " neral explofion and difcharge of funs and ftars, fquibs, boun- ** cers, crackers, rockets, and grenadoes, which involv^ed the " gardens for above an hour after in a cloud of intolerable " fmoke. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 207 ** fmoke. Whilft thefe entertainments were going forward the " Emperor fent to us a variety of refrefliments, all which, " as coming from him, the etiquette of the court required us *' to partake of, although we had dined but a fhort time " before. " However meanly we mull think of the tafte and delicacy " of the court of China, whofe moft refined amufements feem " to be chiefly fuch as I have now defcribed, together with the " wretched dramas of the morning, yet it muft be confefl'ed, " that there was fomething grand and impofmg in the general " effect that refulted from the whole ^d-^^i^^/^. The Emperor " himfelf being feated in front upon his throne, and all his " great men and officers attending in their robes of ceremony, " and ftationed on each fide of him, fome {landing, fome fit- " ting, fome kneeling, and the guards and flandard-bearers be- ** hind them in incalculable numbers. A dead filence was ri- " gidly obferved, not a fyllable articulated, nor a laugh ex- " ploded, during the whole performance." Such was the reception and the entertainment of the Britifh Embaflador at the court of Gehol, in Man-tchoo Tartary, du- ring the days of the feftival of the Emperor's anniverfary. I now proceed to give fome account of the manner in which the Dutch Embafladors were received, and the entertainments that took place on the occafion of the feftival of the new year, as related in the raanufcript journal above alluded to. This 2o8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. This journaUil obferves that, on approaching the capital of the empire, they were not a little aftonifhed to find that the farther tliey advanced the more miferable and poor was the ap- parent condition of the people, and the face of the country ; the clay-built huts and thole of ill-burnt bricks were crum- bling to duft; Mie temples were in ruins, the earthen gods were demohilieii, *nd iheir fragments ftrewed on the ground ; and the Qiilridt was thinly inhabited. The following day they en- tered Pekin, but were turned out again to take up their lodgings in the fuburbs, in a fort of liable. From this place they were or- dered to proceed to the palace in their old travelling dreffes, as their baggage was not yet arrived. They were drawn in fmall carts as crazy and as much out of order as their own drefles. Sit- ting in the bottom of thefe carts, without any feats, they waited within the walls of the palace a full hour, while an empty room was fwept out for their reception. Having remained here for fome time, a few planks were brought in, on which were ar- ranged a number of dilhes of meat and fifh, ftewed in different ways. Having finilhed their repaft, thus ended their firfl day's vifit. The follov/ing morning, at five o'clock, they were again fummoned to court, and uflTiered into a fmall room like that of the preceding day, without any kind of furniture. The wea- ther being extremely cold, the thermometer many degrees be- low the freezing point, the Embafladors prevailed on the people to make a little fire, which after fome time was brought in, not however without letting them underftand that it was an extra- ordinary 9 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 209 ordinary mark of favour, it being the cuftom of the Chlnefe to let all Embafladors wait the arrival of the Emperor in the open air. At length the Emperor made bis appearance, carried by eight men in a yellow fedan chair. On his approaching the place where the Embafladors and their fuite were ftanding, they were directed by the mafter of the ceremonies to fall down on their knees, and In this poflure the firfl: Embafl"ador was in- ftrudled to hold in both his hands, above his head, the gold box In which was contained the letter for the Emperor : the A. fecond minifter then ftepped forwards, and took the letter out of his hands, which he delivered to the Emperor ; and, at the fame time, they were direded to bow their heads nine times to the ground. In token of acknowledgment for the gracious re- ception they had met with from his Chlnefe Majefty. This ceremony being ended, they were defired to follow the Emperor's chair, which was carried to the fide of a pond or bafon In the gardens, then frozen over. From this place the Emperor was drawn on a fledge to a tent pitched on the ice, whilfl: the Embaflador and his fuite were conduded into a dirty hovel little better than a pig-ftye, where they were defired to fit down on a fort of bench built of fl:one and mortar ; for, like the room they were put into on a former day, It was deflitute of the lead furniture ; and they were told that fomething pre- fently would be brought for them to eat. On complaining to their condudors that this was not the manner in which they vv^ere accuftomed to fit down to meat, and that they did not con- E E celve 210 TRAVELS IN CHINA. celve fuch apartments to be at all fuitable to the fituatlon they had the honour to hold, they were {liortly afterwards con- ducted into another room, little better however than the firft, but partly furnifhed with a few old chairs and tables. The candlefticks were fmall blocks of wood, to which the candles were faftened with a couple of nails. A few difhes of ftewed meat were ferved up, and, as a great delicacy from the Emperor's table, were brought in, without any difh, a pair of flag's legs, which the Chinefe threw down upon the naked table j and for this mark of imperial favour they were required to make the cuftomary genufledtions and nine proftrations. Van Braam, in the journal which he or fome of his friends publifhed in Paris, gives a curious account of the manner in which they were fed from the Emperor's table: " La viandc " confiftait en un morceau de cotes fur lequelles il n'y avait " point un demi-pouce d'epaiffeur d'une chair maigre, en un " petit OS de I'epaule ou il n'y avait prefque pas de chair, et en " quatre ou cinq autres ofTemens fournis par le dos ou par les " pattes d'un mouton, et qui femblaient avoir ete deja ronges. Tout ce de'goutant enfemble etait fur un plat fale, et paraifTait plutot defline a faire le regal d'un chien que le repas d'un homme. En Holland le dernier des mendians recevrait, dans " un hopita!, une pittance plus propre ; et cependant c'eft une " marque d'honneur de la part d'un Empereur envers un Am- " bafladeur! Peut-etre meme etait-ce le refte du Prince, et dans " ce cas, felon I'opinion des Chinois, c'e'tait le dernier terme " de la faveur, puifque nous pouvions achever I'os que fa Ma- " jefte' avait commence a. nettoyer." — " The m.eat confifted of 9 " a fmall TRAVELS IN CHINA. 2u a fmall piece of the ribs, on which there was not half an inch in thicknefs of lean fie(h, and a fmall flioulder-blade almofl: without any upon it ; and in four or five other pieces of bones from the back, or the legs of a fheep, which appeared to have been already gnawed. The whole of this difgufting mefs was brought upon a dirty plate, and feemed much rather intended to feaft a dog than as a refrefhmcnt for man. In Holland the meaneft beggar would receive in an hofpital his allowance in a neater manner ; and yet it was intended as a mark of honour on the part of an Emperor towards an Em- baOador ! Perhaps it was even the remains of the Sovereign, and in that cafe, according to the opinion of the Chinefe, it was the greateft pofiible ad: of favour, fince we fhould then have had an opportunity of finifhing the bone which his Im- perial Majefty had begun to pick." The Dutch gentlemen, equally difgufted with the meannefs and filthinefs of the place, and with the pride and haughtinefs of the people, became now reconciled to the fhabby appearance of their old travelling drefl'es, which they began to confider as fully good enough for the occafion. Having finifhed their elegant repafl:, the amufements of the day commenced on the ice. The Emperor made his appear- ance in a fort of fledge, fupported by the figures of four dra- gons. This machine was moved about by feveral great man- darins, fome dragging before, and others pufhing behind. The four principal minifters of ftate were alfo drawn upon the ice in their fledges by inferior mandarins. Whole troops of civil E E 2 and 212 TRAVELS IN CHINA. and military officers foon appeared, fome on fledges, fome on fkaits, and others playing at football upon the ice, and he that picked up the ball was rewarded by the Emperor. The ball was then hungup in a kind of arch, and feveral mandarins fhot at it, in pafling on fkaits, with their bows and arrows. Their fkaits were cut off fhort under the heel, and the fore-part was turned up at right angles. Owing to this form, or to the inexpertnefs of the fkaiters, they could not flop themfelves on a fudden, but always tumbled one over the other whenever they came near the edge of the ice, or towards the quarter where the Emperor happened to be. Leaving this place, they were carried through feveral nar- row ftreets, compofed of miferable houfes, forming a furprifing contraft with the proud walls of the palace. They were con- duded into a fmall room of one of thefe houfes, almoft void of furniture, in order to pay their compliments to Ho~tchimg-tang^ the Collao, or prime minifter, whom they found fitting crofs- legged on a truckle bedftead with cane bottom. Before this creature of fortune, whofe fate I fhall have occafion here- after to notice, they were obliged to go down on their knees. Like a true prime minifter of China, he waved all converfation that might lead towards bufinefs, talked to them of the length of their journey, was aftonifhed how they bore the cold weather in fuch fcanty clothing, and fuch like general topics, which, in fad, fignified nothing. From the firft mini- fter they paid their vifit to the fecond, whom they found lodged in a fimilar manner ; after which they returned to their mean apartments in the city, more fatisfied on a comparifon with the TRAVELS IN CHINA. 213 the miferable little chambers In which they had found the two firft minifters of this far-famed empire lodged, and the mean hovels which they met with in the very center of the fpace fhut in by the walls of the imperial palace. The impreffions that the events and tranfadions of this day made on the minds of the vifitors were thofe of utter aftonifhment, on finding every thing fo very much the reverfe of what they had been led to exped. The following day they were again drawn to court in their little carts, before four o'clock in the morning, where, after having waited about five hours in empty rooms, fimilar to thofe of the preceding day, two or three great men (Ta-ghi) called upon them, but behaved towards them in a diftant, fcornful, and haughty manner. " We had once more," ob- ferves the Dutch journalift, from which I quote, " an occafion *' to remark the furprizing contraft of magnificence and mean- " nefs in the buildings, and of pride and littlenefs in the perfons " belonging to the imperial palace." After thefe interviews, they were fufiered to remain a day or two at home ; but on a bag of dried grapes being brought by a mandarin from the Emperor, they were required to thank him for the prefent with nine proftrations, as ufual. Another time a little paftry from the imperial kitchen demanded the fame ceremony. In fliort, whether at home or in the palace, the Chinefe were determined they fliould be kept in the conftant pradice of the koo-too^ or ceremony of genuflexion and pro- ftration. On SI4 TRAVELS IN CHINA. On the 26th of January, the Embaffadors received notice that It was expeded they ftiould attend the proceffion of the Emperor to the temple, where he was about to make an offer- ing to the God of Heaven and of earth. Having waited accord- ingly by the road fide, from three o'clock in the morning till fix, the weather difmally cold, Fahrenheit's thermometer ftand- ing at 16'. below the freezing point, the Emperor at length pafled in his chair, when they made the ufual proftrations and returned home. The next morning they were again required to proceed to the fame place, and at the fame early hour, to witnefs his return, and again to go through the ufual ceremony. On the 29th, they were again fummoned to attend by the road fide to do homage before the Emperor, as he pafTed them on his way to a pagoda or poo-ta-luy a kind of temple or monaftery, where a great number of priefls, clothed in yellow, lived together in a ftate of celibacy ; and here he made his burnt- offerings. The myftical rites performed, prefents were brought out for the Embaffador and fuite, and alfo for the Kirig of Holland^ confifling of little purfes, flimfey filks, and a coarfe fluff fomewhat fimilar to that known by feamen under the name of bunting; and, in token of gratitude for this mark of imperial kindnefs, they were direded again to bow down their heads to the greund. On the 30th, it was announced to them that the Emperor intended to pay a vifit to his palace at Tuenmin-yuen^ and that it TRAVELS IN CHINA. 215 it would be neceflary for them to follow him thither; after having, as ufual, paid their refpeds in the Chinefe manner by the road fide as he pafled. On the 31ft;, they were conducted round the grounds of Yuen-min-yuen by feveral mandarins, and received great fatif- fa£tion in viewing the vaft variety of buildings, and the good tafte in which the gardens and pleafure-grounds were laid out, and which wore an agreeable afped:, even in the depth of win- ter. In one of the buildings they faw the feveral prefents de- pofited, which had been carried the preceding year by the Earl of Macartney. They were flowed away with no great care, among many other articles, in all probability never more to fee the light of day. It feems the elegant carriages of Hatchet, that were finifhed with fo much care, and objects of admiration even in London, were here carelefsly thrown behind one of their mean and clumfey carts, to which they pretended to beftow a preference. Capricious as children, the toy once played with muft be thrown afide and changed for fomething new ; or, in this inftance, it would not be out of character to fuppofe, that the two vehicles had defignedly been placed together to poinr out to Europeans of how little eftimation the Chinefe confidered: their articles of oftentarion, when they could perform the fame fervices by fimpler and lefs expenfive means. The Dutch Embaffadors and their fuite were now to have a fpecimen of the court entertainments, and the polite amufements of this grand empire. They confifted chiefly of the contor- tions of the human body, pradifed by pofture-maflers ; of rope- 2i6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. rope-dancing, and a fort of pantomimic performance, the prin- cipal charaders of which were men drefied in fkins, and going on all-fours, intended to reprefent wild beads ; and a parcel of boys habited in the dreffes of mandarins, who were to hunt them. This extraordinary chace, and the mufic, and the rope- dancing, put the Emperor into fuch good humour, that he rewarded the performers very liberally. And the Emprefs and the ladies, who were in an upper part of the houfe concealed behind a fort of Venetian blinds, appeared from their tittering noife to be highly entertained. The whole concluded, though in the middle of the day, with a variety of fire-works ; and the Chinefe part of the company departed feemingly well fatisfied with thefe diverfions. An eclipfe of the moon happening on the fourth of Febru- ary gave occafion to the Embafladors to enjoy a little reft at home, though they were fummoned to attend the palace at a very early hour in the morning. The Emperor and his man- darins were engaged the whole day in devoutly praying the gods that the moon might not be eaten up by the great dragon that was hovering about her. Recovered from their apprehen- fions, an entertainment was given the following day, at which the Embafladors were required to be prefent. After a number of juggling tricks and infantine fports, a pantomime, intended to be an exhibition of the battle of the dragon and the moon, was reprefented before the full court. In this engagement two or three hundred priefts, bearing lanterns fufpended at the ends of long fticks, performed a variety of evolutions, dancing and capering about, fometimes over the plain, and then c^ver chairs and TRAVELS IN CHINA. 217 and tables, affording to his Imperial Majefty and to his courtiers the greateft pleafure and fatisfadion. On the fifteenth of February the Dutch Embafladors left Pekin, having remained there thirty-fix days, during which they were fcarcely allowed to have a fmgle day's reft, but were obliged, at the moft unfeafonable hours, in the depth of winter, when the thermometer was feldom higher than 10 or 12 degrees below the freezing point, to dance attendance upon the Emperor and the great officers of ftate, whenever they might think fit to call upon them ; and to fubmit to the degrad- ing ceremony of knocking the head nine times againft the ground, at leaft on thirty different occafions, and without hav- ing the fatisfadion of gaining by this unconditional compliance any one earthly thing, beyond a compliment from the Em- peror, that they went through their projlrations to admiration I And they were finally obliged to leave the capital without being once allowed to fpeak on any kind of bufinefs, or even afked a fmgle queftion as to the nature of their miflion, which, indeed, the Chinefe were determined to take for granted was purely complimentary to their great Emperor, The manufcript I quote from defcribes minutely all the pan- tomimic performances, the tricks of conjurors and jugglers, and the feats of pofture-mafters, but as they feem to be pretty much of the fame kind as were exhibited before the Britifli Embaffy in Tartary, as defcribed by Lord Macartney, I forbear to relate them. Enough has been faid to fliew the tafte of the court in this rcfped, and the ftate of the drama in China. F F I fufped, 2i8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. I fufpeft, however, that the amufements of the theatre have in fome degree degenerated at court fince the time of the Tartar Gonqueft. Dancing, riding, wreftling, and pofture-making,. arc more congenial to the rude and unpoHfhed Tartar than the airs and dialogue of a regular drama, which is better fuited to the genius and fpirit of the ceremonious and eflfeminate Chinefe. I am led to' this obfervation from the very common cullom among the Chinefe officers of ftate of having private theatres in their houfes, in which, inftead of the juggling tricks above mentioned, they occafionally entertain their guefts with regular dramatic performances. In the courfe of our journey through the country and at Canton, we were entertained with a number of exhibitions of this kind ; and as " the purpofe of playing,'* as our immortal bard has obferved, " both at the firfli, and now^ " was, and is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature," it may not be foreign to the prefent fubjed to take a brief no- tice of fuch performances. The fubjedls of the pieces exhibited are for the moft part hiftorical, and relate generally to the tranfaftions of remote periods, in which cafes the drefTes are conformable to the an- cient coftume of China. There are others, however, that repre- fent the Tartar conqueft, but none built on. hiftorical events fubfequent to that period. But the ancient drama is preferred by the critics. They have alfo comic pieces, in which there is always a buffoon, whofe grimaces and low jefts, like thofe of the buffoons in our own theatres, obtain from the audience the greateft fhare of applaufe. The dialogue in all their dramas, whether ferious or comic, is conduded in a kind of mono- tonous TRAVELS IN CHIN^\.- *»f tonous recitative, fometiraes however riling' or finking a few tones, which are meant to be expreffive of pdEcnace or quera- lous cadences. The fpeaker is interrupted al interval 3 far ihriU harih inufic, generally of wind inftruments, and the paufcs arc invariably filled up with a loud crafh, aided by the fonorous and deafening gong, and fometinics by the kettle-drum. An air or fong generally follows. Joy, grief, raze, deKair, aiad- nefs, are all attempted to be exprefled in fong on the Chinefc ftage. I am not fure that a vehement admirer of the Italian opera might not take umbrage at the reprefentaticrn of a Chinefe drama, as it appears to be fomething fo very like a burleique on that fa£hionable fpecies of dramatic entertainment ; nor is the Chinefe ftage wanting in thofe vocal warblers, the nature of whom, as we are told by the ingenious and very entenaining Martin Sherlock, a French lady explained to her little inquiti- tive daughter, by informing her, that there was the fame differ- ence between them and men, as between an ox and a bull. Such creatures are indeed more necefTary to the Chinefe theatre, as the manners of the country prohibit women from appearing in public. The unity of aftion is fo far preferred, that they have aeri- ally IK) change of fceoe; but change of place muft fi^ueatly be fuppofed. To affift the imagination in this refpe^, their ma- nagement is vrhimfical enough. If k be necefTary to fend a ge- neral on a dift?.nt expedition, he mounts a ftick, takes two or three turns round the ftage, brandilhes a little whip, and fings a fcng J xrhen this is ended, he ftops fliort, and recommences F F 2 his 220 TRAVELS IN CHINA. his recitative, when the journey is fuppofed to be performed^ The want of fcenery is fometimes fupplied by a very unclaf- fical figure, which, juft the reverfe oi ih^ profopopoeia or perfo- nification of grammarians, confiders perfons to reprefent things. If, for inftance, a walled city is to be ftormed, a parcel of fol- diers, piling themfelves on a heap acrofs the ftage, are fuppofed to reprefent the wall over which the ftorming party is to fcramble. This puts one in mind of the fhifts of Nick Bottom. ** Some man or other muft prefent wall," and, " let him have " forae plaifter, or fome lome, or fome rough-cafl about him (( to fignify wall.' The audience is never left in doubt as to the charader which is produced before it. Like the ancient Greek drama and, in imitation thereof, all our old plays, the dramatis perfonce intro- duce themfelves in appropriate fpeeches to the acquaintance of the fpedators.^ As to the time of adion, a fmgle drama will fometimes include the tranfac^ions of a whole century, or even of a dynafty more than twice the length of that period ; which, among other abfur- dities, gave Voltaire occafion to compare what he thought to be a literal tranflation of the Orphan of the HoufiofTcbao^ " to thofe *' monftrous farces of Shakefpear, which have been called tra^ •* gedies ;" farces, however, which will continue to be read by thofe who underftand them, which he did not, with heartfelt emotion and delight, when his Orphan of China fhall have funk into the negle*^ even of his own admiring countrymen. In TRx-iVELS IN CHINA, aai In this milerable ccmpofidoa of Father Premare, for it can fcarcely be called a traDllaticn, there is, neither diction, nor fentimenr, nor character ; it is a mere tifl'ae of unnatural, or at leaft very improbable events, fit only for the amuiement of ehildrea, and not capable of raiimg one (kigle paillon, but that of contempt for the tafie of thofe who could exprefa aa admi- ration of mch a compolition. The denouement of the piece is materially affified by means of a dog : but this part of the ftory is told, and not exhibited j the Chinefe taile not being quite fo depraved, in this inflance, as to admit the performance of a four- focted animal on the ftage. This drama with ninety-nine ortiers, publiihed together ia one work, are confidered as the clafllcal ftock- pieces of the Chinefe ftage j but like ourfelves, they complain that a depraved tafle prevails for modern productions very inferior to thofe of ancient date. Ir is certainly true, that every fort of ribaldry and obfcenity are encouraged on the Chinefe ftage at the prefent day. A fet of players of a ftiperior kind travel occaiioaally from Nankin to Canton ; at the latter of which cities, it feems, they meet with confiderable encouragement from the Hong merchants, and other wealthy inhabitants. At thefe exhibitions the Engliih are fometimes prefent. The fubjed and the con- dudt of one of their ftock-pieces, which being a great favourite is frequently repeated, are lb remarkable, that I cannot forbear taking foaie notice of it. A woman being tempted to murder her hufband performs the act whilft he is alleep, by flriking a ^all hatchet into his forehead. He appears on the ftage with a large gaOi juft above the eyes, out of v^hich illues a prodigious x eSuiioa. 222 TRAVELS IN CHI HA. effufiori of blood, i^els about for foine time, bemoaning his kmentable fate in a fong, till exhaufled with lofs of blood, he fails, and dies. The woman is feized, brought before a ma- giftrate, and condemned to be flayed alive. The fentence is put in execution ; and, in the following act, fhe appears upon the ftagc not only naked, but completely excoriated. The thin wrapper with which the creature (an eunuch) is covered, who fuftains the part, is flretched fo tight about the body, and fo well painted, as to reprefent the difgufting objedl of a human lieing deprived of its fkin ; and in this condition the character fings or, more properly fpeaking, whines nearly half an hour on the ftage, to excite the compaflion of three infernal or ma- lignant fpirits, who, like TEacus, Minos, and Rhadamanthus, fit in judgment on her future deftiny. I have been informed that it is fcarcely poiTible to conceive a more obfcene, indelicate, and difgufting objed:, than this favourite exhibition, which, if intended " to hold the mirror up to nature," ic is to nature in its moft grofs, rude, and uncivilized ftate, ill-agreeing with the boafted morality, high polifli, refined delicacy, and ceremoni- ous exterior of the Chinefe nation ; but it tends, among other parts of their real condudt in life, to ft:rengthea an obfervation i have already made with regard to their filial piety, and which, with few exceptions, may perhaps be extended to moft of their civil and moral inftitutions, ^' that they exifl: more in ftate " maxims, than in the minds of the people." As, however, a Chinefe might be led to make fimilar reflexions on the exhibi- tion of Harlequin Skeleton, and thofe numerous reprefentations that of late years have crept upon our own ftage, where ghofts, hobgoblins, and bleeding ftatues are called in aid of ihcjpc&acley 1 fhould TRAVELS IN CHINA. 223 I fhould hefitate to draw any general conclufion, with regard to their lafte, from the particular exhibition of a woman flayed alive, were they not in th^ conftant practice of performing other pieces that, in poiat of immorality and obfcenity, are ftill infmitely worfe j fo vulgarly indelicate and fo filthy, that the European part of the audience is fometimes compelled by difguft to leave the theatre. Thefe are fuch as will not bear defcripticn, nor do I know to what fcenic reprefentations thev cari with propriety be compared, unlefs to thofe grofs indecencies of Theo- dora, which Procopius has defcribed to have been exhibited on the Roman ftage, ra the reign of Juftinlan *. Tlie people who encourage them muft be fuok very deep in intelledual grcfinefs^ and have totally loft fight of all decency. Thefe and fimilar fcenes may be coafidered among the ill effewhich fignifies a dog. It is true certain ancient charaflers are ftill extant, in which a rude reprefentation of the image is employed ; as for inftance, a circle for the fun, and a crefcent for the moon, but thefe ap- pear to have been ufed only as abbreviations, in the fame man- ner as thefe objeiSts are ftill charaderized in our almanacks, and in our aftronomical calculations. Thus alfo the kingdom of China is defigned by a fquare, with a vertical line drawn through the middle, in conformity perhaps with their ideas of the earth being a fquare, and China placed in its center ; fo far thefe may be confidered as fymbols of the objects intended to be repre- fented. So, alfo, the numerals one, two, three, being defigned by r=. . would naturally fuggeft themfelves as being fully as convenient for the purpofe, and perhaps more fo than any other ; and where the firft feries of numerals ended, which according to the univerfal cuftom of counting by the fingers was at ten^ the very a£t of placing the index of the right hand pn the little finger of the left would fuggeft the form of the veriical TRAVELS IN CHINA. 239 t'ertical crofs -f- as the fymbol or reprefentation of the num- ber ten. I cannot avoid taking notice in this place of a publication of Dodor Hager, which he calls an " Explanation of the Eleincn- tary Chara&ers of the Chinefe.''' In this work he has advanced a mofi: extraordinary argument to prove an analogy between the ancient Romans and the Chinefe, from the refemblance which he has fancied to exift between the numeral characters and the numeral founds made ufe of by thofe two nations. The Ro- mans, he obferves, exprefled their numerals one, two, three, by a correfponding number of vertical ftrokes I. II. III. which the Chinefe place horizontally __ ^__ — . The Romans defigned the number ten by an oblique crofs x, and the Chinefe by a vertical one +. This refemblance in the forming of their nu- merals, fo fimple and natural that almofl all nations have adopted it, is furely too flight a coincidence for concluding that the people who ufe them mud neceflarily, at fome pe- riod or other, have had communication together. The Dodtor however feems to think fo, and proceeds to obferve, that the three principal Roman cyphers, I. V. X. or one, five, and ten, are denoted in the Chinefe language by the fame founds that they exprefs in the Roman alphabet. This remark, although ingenious, is not corredt. One andj^-y^, it is true, are exprefled in the Chinefe language by the y and ou of the French, which, it may be prefumed, were the founds that the letters I. and V. obtained in the ancient Roman alphabet ; but with regard to the /(?«, or X, which, he fays, the Chinefe pronounce xe^ he is entirely miftaken, the Chinefe word for ten in Pekin beingy^^fff, and' 240 TRAVELS IN CHINA. and in Canton Jhap. This error the Dodor appears to have been led into by confulting fome vocabulary in the Chinefe and Portugueze languages ; in the latter of which the letter X is pronounced like owx Jh. But admitting, in its fulled extent, the refemblance of fome of the numerals ufed by the two na- tions, in the fhape of the chara£ler, and of others in the found, it certainly cannot be aflumed to prove any thing beyond a mere accidental coincidence. The earlieft accounts of China, after the doubling of the Cape of Good Hope, being written by Portugueze miflionaries, and the Chinefe proper names ftill remaining to be fpelt in the let- ters of that alphabet, have led feveral etymologifts into great errors, not only with regard to the letter X, but more particu- larly in the m final, and the h incipient, the former being pro- nounced ng^ and the latter with a flrong afpirate, as Jlo. Thus the name of the fecond Emperor of the prefent dynafty is al- moft univerfally written in Europe Cam-hi^ whereas it is as uni- verfally pronounced in China Caung-JJjee. The learned Dodlor feems to be ftill lefs happy in his next conjedlure, where he obferves that, as the Romans expreffed their^'y A Camel loo-too The North pee A Horse ma The South nan An Afs loolfe Man J'» A Dog kiuon Woman J 00 Jin A Frog I I 2 tchoo A Sheep *4+ TRAVELS IN CHINA. Whatever degree of affinity may be difcovered between th^e founds of the Chincfe language and thofe of other nations, their written charader lias no analogy whatfcever, but is entirely peculiar A Sheep A Goat, or moun- tain Sheep A Cat A Stag A Pidgeon Poultry An Egg A Goofe Oil Rice Milk Vinegar Tobacco Salt Silk Cotton Flax Plant Hemp yang ■ /han-yang miau Jhan-loo koo-tfe hee kee-tan goo yeo mee nai tfoo yen yen tfoo mlen-'wha ma ma Wool (Sheep's l^iXr) yangmau Coals tan Sugar tans' o Cheefe, they h; avel ) none but thi [ckf ■ nal-p'tng, or iced milk Milk s \ A Houfe Jhia A Temple miau A Bed tchuang A Door men A Table tat A Chair ye-tr,e A Knife tau A Pitcher ping A Plough kc An Anchor mau A Ship tchuan Money ifien I muft obferve, however, for the information of thefe philologifts, that fcarcely two provinces in China have the fame oral language. The ofBcers and their attend- ants who came with us from the capital could converfe only with the boatmen of the fouthern provinces, through the medium of an interpreter. The character of the language is univerfal, but the name or found of the charafter is arbitrary. If a con- vention of founds could have been fettled like a convention of marks, one would fuppofc that a commercial intercourfe would have effcfted it, at leaft in the numeral founds, that rauft ncceffarily be interchanged from place to place and myriads of times repeated from one corner of the empire to the other. Let us compare then the numerals of Pekin with thofe of Canton, the two greateft cities in China. I. Yc TRAVELS IN CHINA. 245- peculiar to Itfelf. Neither the Egyptian infcripllons, nor the nail- headed characters, or monograms, found on the Babylo- nian bricks, have any nearer refemblance to the Chinefe, than the Hebrew letters have to the Sanfcrit ; the only analogy that can be faid to exifl; between them is, that of their being com- pofed of points and lines. Nor are any marks or traces of alphabetic writing difcoverable in the compofition of the Chinefe charader; and if, at any time, hieroglyphics have been employed to convey Ideas, they have long given way to a col- ledion of arbitrary figns fettled by convention, and conftruded on a fyftem as regular and conftant as the formation of founds Pekin. Canton. Pekin. Canton. I. Ye yat II. fhee-ye fliap-yat 2. ul ye 12. fhee-ul fhap-ye 3* fan faam 20. ul-fliee ye-fhap 4- foo fee 30. fan-fliee faam-fhap 5- ou um 3»- fan -fhee-ye faam-fhap.yat 6. leu lok 32. fan- fliee-ul faam-fhap-ye 7- tehee tfat 100. pe paak 8. pas pat 1000. tfien tfeen 9- tcheu kow 10,000. van man 10, . fhee fliap 100,000. flie-van fhap-man If then, in this highly civilized empire, the oral language of the northern part differ* fo widely from the fouthern, that, in numerous inftances, by none of the etymological tricks * can they be brought to bear any kind of analogy ; if the very word which in Pekin implies the number one^ be ufed in Canton to exprefs tiuo, how very abfurd and ludicrous muft thofe learned and laboured dllTertations appear, that would afllgn an oriental origin to all our modern languages ? * Such as the addition, dedcftion, mutation, and tranfpofition of letters, or even fylbbles. . Thu«t Mr. Webbe thinks that the derivation of the Creek ymn a woman, from the Chinefe r.u-gin^ -is felf- evident. . 446 TRAVELS IN CHINA. ill any of the European languages arifes out of the alphabets of thofe languages. The hlfiory of the world affords abundant evidence that, in the dawn of civilization, moft nations endeavoured to fix and to perpetuate ideas by painting the figures of the objedts that produced them. The Egyptian priefthood recorded the myfte- ries of their religion in graphic emblems of this kind ; and the Mexicans, on the firft arrival of the Spaniards, informed their prince Montezuma of what was paffing by painting their ideas on a roll of cloth. There is no way fo natural as this of expref- fing, and conveying to the underftanding of others, the images that pafs in the mind, without the help of fpeech. In the courfe of the prefent voyage, an officer of artillery and myfelf were difpatched to make obfervations on the fmall ifland of Collao, near the coaft of Cochin-china, In order to make the natives comprehend our defire to procure fome poultry, we drew on paper the figure of a hen, and were immediately fup- plied to the extent of our wants. One of the inhabitants taking up the idea drew clofe behind the hen the figure of an egg, and a nod of the head obtained us as many as we had occa- fion for. The Bosjefmen Hottentots, the moft wild and favage race perhaps of human beings, are in the conftant habit of drawing, on the fides of caverns, the reprefentations of the dif- ferent animals peculiar to the country. When I vifited fome of thofe caverns I confidered fuch drawings as the employr ment of idle hours ; but, on fince receding that in almoft all fuch caverns are alfo to be feen the figures of Dutch boors (who hunt thefe miferable creatures like wild beafts) in a variety of attitudes, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 247 attitudes, fome with guns in their hands, and others In the adt of firing upon their countrymen j waggons fometlmes pro- ceeding and at others ftanding ftill, the oxen unyoked, and the boors fleeping; and thefe reprefentations generally followed by a number of lines fcored like fo many tallies ; I am Inclined to think they have adopted this method of informing their companions of the number of their enemies, and the magni- tude of the danger. The animals reprefented were generally fuch as were to be met within the dift:rI6t where the drawings appeared ; this, to a people who fubfifl: by the chace and by plunder, might ferve as another piece of important informa- tion. The Chlnefc hlftory, although it takes notice of the time when they had no other method of keeping their records, ex- cept, like the Peruvians, by knotting cords, makes no men- tion of any hieroglyphical characters being ufed by them. If fuch were actually the cafe, the remains of fymbolical writing would now be moR: difcoverable in the radical, or elementary charaO:ers, of which we fhall prefently have occafion to fpeak, and efpecially In thofe which were employed to exprefs fome of the moil remarkable objeCls in nature. Out of the two hun- dred and twelve, or thereabout, which conftitute the number of the radical figns, the following are a few of the mod: fimple, in none of which, in my opinion, does there appear to be the lead refemblance between the pidure and the objed:. gtn. 248 TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^^/\^gi^h nian "^"^T f^^^i^ fpace, or a fqiiare of ground t3 koo, a mouth J^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^1 jee^ the fun w<70, a tree J:. ..., earth >^p /A^', a fon ylH* ^?/, a plant Y* ., . -Jc? /w^"*?, water \X\ Jhan^ a mountain ^^vfV' 4^ /»» a heart /jU f^^e -^ Jboo. a hand ^_— a ^ ,, ■qr yK y^^^j a ftone. The reft of the elementary characters are, if poflible, ftill more unlike the objeds they reprefent. There feems, therefore, to be no grounds for concluding that the Chinefe ever made ufe of hieroglyphics, or, more properly fpeaking, that their prefent character fprung out of hieroglyphics. They have a tradition, which is univerfally believed, that their prince Fo-Jhee was the inventor of the fyftem upon which their written character is formed, and which, without any material alteration, there is every reafon to fuppofe has continued in ufe to this day. To Fo-Jhee^ however, they afcribe the invention of almoft every thing they know, which has led Mr. Baillie ingenioufly to con- jedure that Fo-Jhee muft have been fome foreigner who firft civilized TRAVELS IN CHINA. 249 civilized China ; as arts and fclences do not rpilng up and bear fruit in the life of one man. Many changes in the form of cha- raders may have taken place from time to time, but the prin- ciple on which they are conllruiled feems to have maintained its ground. The redundancies of particular charadera have been removed for the fake of convenience ; and the learned in their cpiftolary writing have adopted a fort of running hand, in which the form is fo very materially altered, by rounding off the angles, conneding fome parts and wholly omitting otherSj as to make it appear to a fupcrflcial obferver a totally different language. But I may venture to obferve, that it has not only not undergone any material alteration for more than two thou- fand years, but that it has never borrowed a charadler^ or a fyl- lable, from any other language that now exifts. As a proof of this, it may be mentioned, that every new article that has found its way into China fmce its difcovery to Europeans has acquired a Chinefe name, and entirely funk that which it bore by the na- tion who introduced it. The proper names even of countries, nations, and individuals are changed, and affume new ones in their language. Thus Europe is called Se^-yang^ the weftera country j Japan Tung-ya?ig^ the eaftern country ; India Siau- fce-ya7igy the little weftern country. The Englifli are dignified by the name oi Huiig-mou^ or Red-heads ; and the French, Spa- nifli, Portugueze, and others, who vifit China, have each a name in the language of the country totally diftindt from that they bear in Europe. This inflexibility in retaining the words of their own poor language has frequently made me think, that Dodor Johnfon had the Chinefe in his mind when, in that inimitable piece of fine writing which prefaces his dic- K K tionary, 25© TRAVELS IN CHINA. tionary, he made this remark : " The language moft likely to- " continue long without alteration, would be that of a nation " raifed a little, and but a little, above barbarity, fecluded from " ftrangers, and totally employed in procuring the conveni- " encies of life.'* The invention of the Chinefe character, although an effort of genius, required far lefs powers of the mind than the dif- covery of an alphabet ; a difcovery fo fublime that, according; to the opinion of fome, nothing lefs than a divine origin ought to be afcribed to it. It may, however, be confidered as the neareft approximation to an univerfal character that has hitherto been attempted by the learned and ingenious of any nation ;■ each charadier conveying at once to the eye, not only fimple, but the moft combined ideas. The plan of our countryman, Bifhop Wilkins, for eftablifhing an univerfal charader is, in all refpects, fo fimilar to that upon which the Chinefe language is conftrudted, that a reference to the former will be found to convey a very competent idea of the nature of the latter. The univerfal character of our countryman is, however, more fyfte- matic, and more philofophical, than the plan of the Chinefe charadter. Certain figns exprefling fimple objeds or ideas may be con- fidered as the roots or primitives of this language. Thefe are few in number,, not exceeding two hundred and twelve, one of which, or its abbreviation, will be found to compofe a part of every charader in the language ; and may, therefore, be con-- fidered as the key to the charader- into which it enters. The eye TRAVELS IN CHINA. 251 eye foon becomes accuftomed to fix upon the particular key^ or root, of the mofl complicated charaders, in fome of which are not fewer than fixty or feventy diftin^St lines and points. The right line, the curved line, and a point, are the rudiments of all the charadters. Thefe, varioufly combined with one an- other, have been extended from time to time, as occaOon might req^uire, to nearly eighty thoufand different charadiers. To explain the manner in which their didionaries are ar- ranged will ferve to convey a correct notion of the nature of this extraordinary language. All the two hundred and twelve roots or keys are drawn fair and diftin^t on the head of the page, beginning with the mofl; fimple, or that which contains the fewefl: number of lines or points, and proceeding to the moft complicated ; and on the margins of the page are marked the numeral charaders, one, two, three, &c. which fignify, that the root or key at the top will be found to be combined on that page with one, two, three, &c. lines or points. Suppofe, for example, a learner fhould m^et with an unknown character, in which he perceives that the fimple fign expreffing water is the key or root^ and that it contains, befides this root, j^x- addi- tional points and lines. He immediately turns over his didion- ary to the place where the charader ivater ftands on the top of the page, and proceeding with his eye direded to the mar- gin, until the numeral charadery/Ar occurs, he will foon per- ceive the one in queftion ; for all the charaders in the lan- guage, belonging to the root watery and compofed oi Jix other lines and points, will follow fucceffively in this place. The name or found of the charader is placed immediately after it, K K 2 expreflbd 2^2 TRAVELS IN CHINA, exprefled m fuch others as are fuppofed to be mofl: familiar j and, in the method made ufe of for conveying this information, the Chinefe have difcovered Ibme faint and very imperfefl idea of alphabetic writing, by fplitting the monofyllabic found into a difiyllable, and again compreffing the diflyllable into a fimple found. One inftance willferve to explain this method, Suppofe the name of the chara£ler under confideration to be ping. If no fingle charadter be thought fufficiently fimple to exprefs the found ping, immediately after it will be placed two well-known cha- raders pe and ing ; but, as every charader in the language has a monofyllabic found, it will readily be concluded, that pe and' ingj when comprelfed into one fyllable, muft be pronounced />//z§'. After thefe, the meaning or explanation follows, in the cleareft and moft eafy charaders that can be employed. When, indeed, a confiderable progrefs has been made In the language, the general meaning of many of the charadters may- be pretty nearly gueffed at by the eye alone, as they will moflly be found to have fome reference, either immediate or remote, though very often in a figurative fenfe, to the fignification of the key or rool; in the fame manner as in the clafllfication of objeds in natural hiftory, every fpecies may be referred to its proper genus* The figns, for inftance, exprefling the hand and the heart, are two roots, and all the works of art, the dif- ferent trades and manufadlures, arrange themfelves under the firft, and all the paffions, affedlons, and fentiments of the mind under the latter. The root of an unit or one comprehends all the charaders expreffive of unity, concord, harmony, and the like. Thus, if I obferve a chara«3;er compounded of the two fimple TRAVELS IN CHINA. 253 fimple roots^ one and hearty I have no difficulty In concluding that its fignification is unanimity^ but, if the fign of a ?iegaiive fhould alfo appear in the fame charader, the meaning will be reverfed to difcord ov diffentlon^ literally not one heart. Many pro- per names of perfons have the character fignifying man for their key or root, and all foreign names have the charader mouth or voice annexed, which fhews at once that the charaifler is a pro- per name employed only to exprefs found without any particular meaning. Nor are thefe keys or roots, although fometlmes placed on the right of the charader, fometlmes on the left, now at the top, and then at the bottom, fo very difficult to be difcovered to a perfon who knows but a little of the language, as Dodor Hager has imagined. This is by far the eafieft part of the lan- guage. The abbreviations in the compound characters, and the figurative fenfe in which they are fometlmes ufed, conftltute- the difficulty, by the obfcurity In which they are involved, and the ambiguity to which they are liable. The Dodor is equally unfortunate In the dlfcovery which he thinks he has made of a want of order In claffing the elements acording to the number of lines they contain. The inftances. he gives of fuch anomaly are in the tv/o charaders of ^^H^mcoj mother; and ^| //V;?^ cultivated ground; the firfl of which he is furprifed to find among the ekmentary charac- ters of four lines, and the latter (which he afferts 10 be ftlU more fimple) among thofe oijive. The Chinefe, however, are not quite fo much out of order as the Dodor feems to be out of his province in attempting a critique on a language, of which he really 254 TRAVELS IN CHINA. really poflefTes a very fuperficlal knowledge. The firft charader T3^ moo is compofed of ^..^ / '^'i-w^ / and the fecond t'len of F i ^" ■" / ^ ■* ; the one of four, and the other of five lines, according to the arrangerneiit of Chiaefe didionaries^ and their elemantary treatifes. Among the roots or primitives that moft frequently occur are thofeexpreffingthe hand ^ heart ^mouth^aiX\d the five elements, ^^r/i6, airyjjrc, wood^ and ivater. Man is alfo a very common root. The compofition of charaders is capable of exercifing a very confiderable degree of ingenuity, and the analyfis of them is extremely entertaining to a foreigner. As in a proportion of Euclid it is neceffary to go tlirough the whole demonftradon before the figure to which it refers can be properly underftood, fo, in the Chinefe chara(!ler, the fenfe of the feverai component parts mufl firfl be known in order to comprehend the meaning of the compound. To endeavour to recoiled! them without this knowledge would be a laborious and almoft impoffible effort of the mind. Indeed, after this knowledge is acquired, the fenfe is fometimes fo hid in metaphor, and in ailufions to particular cufloms or ways of thinking, that when all the com- ponent parts of a charad:er are well underflood, the meaning may yet remain In obfcurity. It may not be difficult to con- ceive, for inflance, that in a figurative language, the union of i the /uM and moon might be employed to exprefs any extraor- i (dititry degree of light or hrilliajicy ; but it would not fo readily occur, that the charaderyoo or bapplnefs^ ox Jupr erne felicity ^ ihould TRAVELS m CHINA, 255 {hould be defigned by the union of the charaders exprefTing a fpirit or demon, the number ons or itnity^ a mouthy and a piece oi cultivated ground^ thus T^i^ • This charader in the Chinefe language is meant to convey the fame idea as the word comfort does in our own. The character implying the middle of any thing, an- nexed to that oi hearty was not inaptly employed to exprefs a very dear friend^ nor that with the heart furmounted by a negative, to imply indiffereficCy no heart j but it is not fo eafy to afliga any reafon why the charadter ping^ fignifying rank or order, fhould be exprefled by the charader mouthy repeated thrice, and placed like the three balls of a pawnbroker, thus TjL , or why fourof thefe mouths arranged as under, with the charader ta,greaty in the center, ihould imply an inftrument, or piece of mechanifm, ^5-. Nor would it readily occur why the character ^K" tian^ maJcuUne\ fhould be made up of tien^ a fields and lee^ Jlrength^ unlefs from the idea that the male fex poflefles Jlrength^ and only can inherit land. But that a fmoothnefs or volubility of fpeech '^'^'^^^ fhould be defigned by ho^ mouthy and kin,goldy we can more eafily conceive, as we apply the ephhct Jilvertongus pretty nearly on the fame occafion, and the Chryfoftom of the Greeks is exadl'y fynonymous with the Chinefe charadler. The character exprcffing the female fex is a compofition of that of obedience or fubmifjion and of mau. Haiy the fea, is compofed of moOy mother, and fweCy water, the mother of waters* Thele examples will be fufficient to fhevv the nature of compo- fition in their written chara^fter y and if the Chinefe had rigidly adhered 2^6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. adhered to the ingenious and philofophical mechaviifm they originally employed in their conftrudion, it would certainly be the mod interefting of all languages. But fuch is far from being the cafe. New characters are daily conflrudled, in which con- venience, rather than perfpicuity, has been confulted. It will follow from what has been fald, that every com- pounded character is not only a word, but alfo a definition^ comprehending in vifible marks its full explanation ; but no charader, however compounded, can have more than a mo- nofyllabic found, though each part when alone has a diftindl found, as well as fenfe. Thus, *' Happinefs," though com- pounded of four dlftind charaders, yZ^^^, a demon; ye^ one; koo^ a mouth, and t'len^ a piece of cultivated ground, has only the fimple monofyllablc found yoo, which is unlike that of any one of its compounds. The founds and various inflexions incidental to languages in general, are not neceffary to be attended to in the ftudy of the Chinefe characters. They fpeak equally ftrong to a perfon who is deaf and dumb, as the moft copious language could do to one in the full enjoyment of all his fenfes. It is a language addreffed entirely to the eye, and not to the ear, Juft as a piece of mufic laid before feveral perfons of different nations of Europe would be played by each in the fame key, the fame meafure, and the fame air ; fo would the Chinefe characters be equally underftood by the natives of Japan, Tunquin, and Cochin-China ; yet each would give them different names or founds, that would be wholly unintelligible to one another. When, on the prefent voyage, we flopped at Pulo Condore, the TRAVELS IN CHINA. 257 the inhabitants, being Cochin-Chinefe, had no difficulty in cor- refponding, by writing, with our Chinefe interpreters, though they could not interchange one intelligible word. Although, with the afnftance of a good didionary and a to- lerable memory, a knowledge of fuch of the Chinefe charaders, as moft frequently occur, may be obtained by a foreigner ; yet the ambiguity to which they are liable, on account of the frequent figurative expreffions and fubftitution of metaphor for the literal meaning, renders their beft compofitions extremely obfcure. Another, and not the leaft, difficulty to a learner of this language arifes from the abridgment of the charaders for the fake of convenience, by which the eye is deprived of the chain that originally conneded the component parts. In fliort, it is a language where much is to be made out that is not ex- prefled, and particularly fo in what is called fine writing ; and a thorough knowledge of it can only be acquired from a familiar acquaintance with the manners, cuftoms, habits, and opinions of the people. Thofe mlflionaries even, who have refided in the country the beft part of their lives, and accepted employ- ments about the palace, are frequently at a lofs in tranflating and compofmg the official papers that are necefTary to be made out on the occafion of an European embafTy. It is, however, a matter of furprize that, after all that has been publifhed in Europe by the Jefuits, of the grandeur, the magnificence, the learning, and the philofophy of the Chinefe, fo very few perfons fhould have taken the trouble to make themfelves acquainted with the language of this extraordinary- nation. So little was a profejfor of Chinefe, at Rome, verfed L L in -:>' TRAVELS IN CHINA. in the language he profenfed to know, that he is faid * to have miftaken feme charadlers found on a bud of Ifis for Chuiefe, which bud and the characters were afterwards proved to be the work of a modern artifl of Turin, made after his own fancy. In Great Britain we have known ftill lefs of the Chinefe language and Chinefe literature than on the continent. It is not many years ago, that one of the fmall copper coins of China, ftamped in the reign, an^ with the name, of the late 'Tchien-lung (or as he is ufuaily cal ^ed in the fouthern dialefl: of China Kien-lotig^^ was picked up in a bog in Ireland, and being confidered as a great curiofity, was carried to an indefatigable antiquary, whofe refearches have been of confiderable ufe in inveftigating the an?- cient hiftory and language of that ifland. Not knowing the Chinefe charadter, nor their coin, it was natural enough for him to compare them with fome language with, which he was acquainted ; and the conclufion he drew was, that the four fol- lowing charaders on the face were ancient Syriac ; and that the reverfe (which are Man-tchoo letters) appeared to be aftro- nomical, or talifmanic charaders, of which he could give no explanation. Face. Tchien-lung. Fao'tung, (Emperor's name.) Current value Reverfe. pO'tchin, §3^1 \\% Houfe, or dynafty, of Tchin, * By Mr. Pauw. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 259 The Man-tchoo Tartar characters of another coin he fuppofed to fignify/ ?/ r, which is conflrued Into ySrx, or lot; and it is concluded, that thefe coins muft either have been imported into Ireland by the Phoenicians, or manufad;ured in the country ; in which cafe, the Irifh muft have had an oriental alphabet. " In " either cafe," it is obferved, " thefe medals contribute more " to authenticate the ancient hiftory of Ireland than all the *' volumes that have been written on the fubjed." I have noticed this circumftance, which is taken from the ColkSiatiea Hlbernica^ in order to fhew how little is known of the Chinefe chara£ler and language among the learned, when fo good a fcholar and eminent antiquary committed fo great a miftake. The youth of China generally begin to ftudy the language when they are about fix years of age. Their firft employment is to learn by name a certain number of eafy charaders, wich-^ out any regard to the fignification, or without underftanding the meaning of one of them, confequently, without adding to the mind one fingle idea, for five or fix years, except that of labour and difficulty. For the name of a charader, it may be recolleded, has no reference whatfoever to its meaning. Thus fifty-one different charaders, of as many diftind fignifications, have the fame name of ch'ing ; and if ten or a dozen charac- ters, bearing the found of ching^ fhould occur in the fame page, the learner, in this ftage of his education, is not Inftrudcd in the feveral meanings ; his objed is to acquire the found, but to ne^ gled the fenfe. I have been told, that a regular-bred fchclar L L 2 is £6o TRAVELS IN CHINA. is required to get by heart a very large volume of the works- of Confucius To perfedly, that he may be able to turn to any paflage or fentence from hearing the found of the chara£lers- only, without his having one fingle idea of their fignification. The next ftep is to form the charadlers, commencing by tra- cing, or going over, a certain number that are faintly drawm in red ink. As foon as they are able to cover thefe with tolerable accuracy, without deviating from the lines of the original, they then endeavour to imitate them on frefli paper. Thefe operations employ at lead four years more of their life. Thus^ a young man of fourteen or fixteen years of age, although he may be able to write a great number of charadlers, for each of which he can alfo give a name, yet, at the fame time, he can affix no diflindt idea to any one of them. The contrary me- thod would appear advifable of teaching them firft the fignifica- tion of the fimple roots, and the analyfis of the compound characSlers, and afterwards the founds, or, perhaps, to let the one accompany the other. Objedions of a fimilar nature to thofe now mentioned againft the mode of Chinefe education, have, it is true, been frequently dated with regard to the plan of educating youths in the public grammar-fchools of our own country ; that fome of the moft precious years of their lives, when the faculties were in growing vigour, and the plaftic mind moft fufceptible of receiving and retaining impreffions, are wafted in poring over the metaphyfics of a Latin Grammar, which they cannot poffibly comprehend j and in learning by heart a number of declinations, conjugations, and fyntax rules, which ferve only to TRAVELS IN CHINA. 2,6k Co puzzle and difguft, inftead of affording Inftrudlon or amufe- ment : that the grammar, or philofophical part of a language, is ufeful only for the niceties and perfedion of that language, and not a fubje£t for boys. In all inftances, perhaps, where the language to be learned is made the common colloquial language of the pupil, the objedions Hated againft the ufe of the gram- mar may have forae weight. But as this is not the cafe with regard to the Greek and Latin languages in Europe, nor to the written character in China, which differs widely from the col- loquial, long experience may, perhaps, in both cafes, have led to the adoption of the mofl eligible method *. But a youth of Europe has a very material advantage over one of China, during the time in which he is faid to be por- ing over his Latin Grammar. He is in the daily habit of acquiring new ideas, from his knowledge of other languages. His mother-tongue fupplies him with books, which he is able to comprehend, and from which he derives both entertainment and inftru£tion. Without enumerating the great variety of thefe that daily engage his attention, I deem it fufficient to obferve, * That the Chlnefc method, however, is defeftive, may be inferred from the circum- ftance of the prefent Sir George Staunton having not only acquired, in little more than twelve months, and at the age of twelve years, fuch a number of words and phrafcology as to make himfclf underftood, and to underftand others on common topics of convcrfation, but he alfo learned to write the ciiarafters with fuch facility and accuracy, that all the diplomatic papers of the Embaffy addreffed to the Cliinefc government were copied by him (the Chinefe thcmfelves being afraid to let papers of fo unufual a ftyle appear in their own hand-writing) in fo neat and expeditious a manner as to occafion great aftoniftiment. It may be obferved, however, that few youths of his age poffefs the talentSj the attentionj and the- general information with which he was endowed. that 262 TRAVELS IN CHINA. that his Roblnfon Crufoe (the beft book, with few exceptions, that can be put into a boy's hand) Ihews the numberlefs diffi- cnhies to which he is Hable in the world, when the anxious cares of his parents have ceafed to watch over him ; it is there pointed out to him that, arduous as many undertakings may appear to be, fev/ are infurmountable ; that the body and the mind of man are furnifhed with refources, which, by patience, diligence, prudence, and reflexion, will enable him to over- come the greateft difficulties, aud efcape the moft imminent dangers. His Tom Jones, however exceptionable in thofe parts where human failings are reprefented under an amiable and alluring drefs, leaves, upon the whole, a lively impreflion in favour of generofity and virtue, and feldom fails to excite an indignant glow againft perfidy, felfiflinefs, and brutality. The young Chinefe has no fuch relief from his dry ftudy of ac- quiring the names and reprefentations of things that to him have as yet no meaning. He knows not a word of any language but his own. The lafl: ftep in the education of a Chinefe is to analyfe tlie characters, by the help of the didionary, in the manner already mentioned, fo that he now liril begins to comprehend the ufe of the written -charaQer. Extracts from the works of their famous philofopher Cong-foo-tfe (the Confucius of the mifllon- aries) are generally put into his hands; beginning with tliofe that treat on moral fubjedts, in which are fet forth, in fhort fentences, the praifes of virtue, and the odioufnefs of vice, with rules of condud to be obferved in the world. The eternal mcan^ in the flyle and manner of the maxims of Seneca, next follows ; J ' and TRAVELS IN CHINA. 2^3 and" the art of government, with an abridgment of the laws, completes him for taking his firft degree, which generally hap- pens when he has attained his twentieth year ; but, in order to be qualified for any high employment,, he mud ftudy at lead ten years longer. From this view of the written chara(n:er, and the mode of education, it will readily occur, that little progrcfs is likely to be made in any of the fpeculative fciences ; and more efpecially as their alfiftance is not neceilliry to obtain the mofi; elevated fituations in the government. The examinations to be pafled for the attainment of oflice arc principally confined to the knowledge of the language ; and as far as this goes, they are rigid to the utmoft degree. The candidates are put into fepa- rate apartments, having previoufly been fearched, in order to afcertain that they have no writing of any kind about them. They are allowed nothing but pencils, ink, and paper, and with- in a givea time they are each to produce a theme on the fubjedt that fhall be propofed to them. The excellence of the compofi- tion, which is fubmitted to the examining officers, or men of letters, depends chiefly on the following points. That every charader be neatly and accurately made.. That each character be well chofen, and not in vulgar ufe. That the fame charader do not occur twice in the fame compofition. The 264 TRAVELS IN CHINA. The fubject and the manner of treating it are of the lead confideration, but thofe on morality, or hiflory, are generally preferred. If the following ftory, as communicated by one of the miflionaries, and related, I believe, by the Abbe Grozier, be true, there requires no further illuftratlon of the ftate of li- terature in China. " A candidate for preferment having inad- " vertently made ufe of an abreviation in writing the charafter "*' ma (which fignifies a horfe) had not only the mortification of " feeing his compofition, very good in every other refpeft^ " reje£led folely on that account ; but, at the fame time, was ^' feverely rallied by the cenfor, who, among other things, afked " him how he could poffibly expedt his horfe to walk without " having all his legs !" The confl:ru(ft:ion of the colloquial, or fpaken language, is ■extremely fimple. It admits of no inflexion of termination, either in the verb, or in the noun, each w^ord being the fame invariable raonofyllable in number, in gender, in cafe, mood, and tenfe ; and, as moft of thefe monofyllables begin with a confonant and end with a vowel, except a few that terminate in /, «, or ng^ the number of fuch founds, or fimple fyllables, is very limited. To an European they do not exceed three hundred and fifty. But a Chinefe, by early habit, has acquired greater power over the organs of fpeech, and can fo modulate his voice as to give to the fame monofyllable five or fix diftindt tones of found ; fo that he can utter at leaft twelve or thirteen hundred radical words, which, with the compounds, are found to be fully fufiicient for exprefling all his wants. On TRAVELS IN CHINA, 265 On this curious fubje£t I am enabled to fpeak with great accuracy, through the kindnefs of Sir George Staunton, to whom, indeed, I am indebted for more information In this work than I am allowed to acknowledge. From the beft ma- nufcript Chinefe dldionary in his pofleilion, he has obligingly taken the trouble to draw out the following abftradl of all the fimple founds, or words, in the Chinefe language, together with their inflexions or accentuations, by which they are extended as far as any tongue can poflibly articulate, or the niceft ear difcri-» minate. The firft column fhews all the initial letters, or their powers in the language ; the fecond, the number of termina- tions, or the remaining part of the monofyllable befide the ini- tial ; and the third, expreffes the number of monofyllable founds that may be given to each by inflexion, or modulation of voice, and by making ufe of afpirates. I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II 12 »3 15 16 ^7 »7 lartlals. Power. Number of ter- minations to each. Number of inflexioni or accentuations. Ch. as in Child. F. G. between H. & S. Y. J.asinFrench^oKr. L.' M. N. 0. P. S. T. Ts. between V and W, Sh. 20 10 II 36 16 H 37 25 22 23 I 21 29 17 28 13 19 131 including afpirates. 30 no afpirates. 3^ no afpirates. 114 all itrong afpiratei. 61 no afpirates. 34 no afpirates. 206 including afpiratei. G6 no afpirates. 58 no afpirates. 56 no afpirates. 2 no afpirates. 104 including afpirates. 86 no afpirates. 10; including afpirates. 147 including afpirites. 39 no afpirates. 60 no afpirates. 342 ^3Si M M So ■266 TRAVELS IN CHINA. So that in the whole colloquial language of China, an Euro- pean may make out 342 fimple monofyllabic founds, which by the help of afpirates, inflexions of voice, or accentuations, are capable of being increafed by a Chinefe to 133 1 words. And as the written language is faid to contain 80,000 characters, and each charader has a name, it will follow, that, on an average, 60 charaders, of fo many different fignlfications, muft necef- farily be called by the fame monofyllabic name. Hence, a com- pofition if read would be totally unintelligible to the ear, and muft be feen to be underftood. The monofyllabic found affigned to each character is applied to fo many different meanings, that in its unconneded ftate It may be faid to have no meaning at all. In the bufinefs of common life, the nice inflexions or mo- dulations, that are required to make out thefe thirteen hundred words, may amply be expreffed in about fifteen, thoufand cha- raders, fo that each monofyllabic found will, in this cafe, on an average, admit of about twelve diftind fignlfications. This r.ecurrence of the fame words muft neceffarily caufe great ambiguity in converfation, and it frequently indeed leads to ridiculous miftakes, efpecially by foreigners. Thus, a fober miflionary, intending to pafs the night at a peafant's houfe, afked as he thought for a maty but was very much furprifed on feeing his hoft prefenting him with a young girl ; thefe two objeds, fo very different from one another, being fignified by two words whofc pronunciations are not diftin- guifliable, and confequeatly one or the other requires to be ufed with aa adjund. It TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^^^ It was a fource of daily amufement to our conductors, to hear the equivoques we made in attempting to fpeak their language. A Chinefe, when the fenfe is doubtful, will draw the charader, or the root of it, in the air with his finger or fan, by which he makes himfelf at once underftood. But as fome of thefe monofyllabic words, as I have obferved of ching^ have not lefs than fifty diftinft fignifications, which the niceft tones and inflexions, even of a Chinefe voice, are not able to difcriminate, fuch words are generally converted into compounds, by adding a fecond fyllable, bearing fome relative fenfe to the firft, by which the meaning is at once determined. Among the fignifications, for inftance, of the monofyllableyoo is that oi father, to which, for the fake of diftindion, as foo has many fignifications befide that of father, they add the fyl- lable chin, implying k'mdred; thus, a Chinefe in fpeaking of his parents invariably idq^foo'chin for father, and moo- chin for mo- ther ; but, in writing, the charader of chin would be confidered as an unneceflary expletive, that oi foo being very differently made from any other called by the fame name. The grammar of this language may briefly be explained. The noun, as obferved, is indeclinable; the particles te or // A ui 3d Clafs. ar er 4th Clafs. an en i i 5 th Clafs. ang eng i d 6th Clafs. ak ek i i 7th Clafs. as es ir or in ik •i ur on un i 4 4 mg ong ung ok uk t IS OS us 8th Clafs. at et It ot ut i i i i 9th TRAVELS IN CHINA. 9th Clafs. ap ep ip loth Clafs. au i eu lU op ou 27J up i A uu nth Clafs. al 1 2 th Clafs. am el em il i I ^ :2/^ im 4 -i 4^ of om ul L h- um % '^ The initial charaders are reprefented by refpedive marks, Tvhich being joined to thefe elementary terminations, generally at the upper extremity, give all the monofyllabic founds, and the junction of thefe according, to their various combinations all the words in the Mantchoo language. One example will be fufficient to fhew the nature of fuch compofition ; thus the initials P. T.L.S. F. fet before the 12th clafs of radicals, will ftand as follows : Pam Tem Lim Som Fum %/ \y 7^ ^ N N And 274 TRAVELS IN CHINA. And if each of thefe fyllables be refpedively added to the ^th clafs, they will ftand thus ; Pamang Temeiig Liming Somong Fumung ^ f f Ip^ r 3 O 00*00 Who does not perceive, a a fingle glance, in this figure the common fchool- boy's trick of the magic fquare, or placing the nine digits fo that they fliall make the fuiu of fifteen every way, thus. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 475 2 9 1 4 7 5 1 3 6 I 1 8 and what are the perfe(fl and imperfedl numbers, but the odd and even digits diftinguiflied by open and clofe points ? In like manner, I am inclined to believe, the feveral ways of placing thefe open and clofe points that occur in Chinefe books are li- terally nothing more than the different combinations of the nine numerical figures, for which they are fubftituted. Moft of the other king have been tranflated, wholly, or m part, and publiflied in France. It may be obferved, however, that all the Chinefe writings, tranflated by the miflionaries,, have undergone fo great a change in their European drefs, that they ought rather to be looked upon as originals than tranflations. It is true, a literal tranflation would be nonfenfe, but there is a great difference between giving the meaning of an author, and writing a commentary upon him. Sir William Jones ob- ferves that the only method of doing jufl:icc to the poetical compofitions of the Afiatics, is to give firft a verbal and then a metrical verfion. The moft barren fubjedl, under his elegant pen, becomes replete with beauties. The following ftanza^ from one of the odes of xh^Jhee-khig^ is an inftance of this re- mark. It is calculated to have been written about the age of Homer j and it confifts of fifteen charaders. The peach-tree, how fair, how graceful, its leaves, how bloom- ing. 28o TRAVELS IN CHINA. 78 9 10 II ing, how pleafant ; fuch is a bride, when fhe enters her brlde- groom 8 houfe, and attends to her whole family. This is a fair tranllation, as no more expletives are inferted than fuch as were neceffary to make up the fenfe, and it is thus paxaphrafed by Sir William Jones : " Gay child of Spring, the garden's queen, " Yon peach tree, charms the roving fight ; " Its fragrant leaves how richly green i ". Its bloflbms, how divinely bright 1 " So foftly fmiles the blooming bride, " By love and confcious virtue led, *' O'er her new manfion to prefide, " And placid joys around her fpread." The late Emperor Kien-Long was confidered among the bed poets of modern times, and the moft celebrated of his compofi- tions is an ode in praife of Tea, which has been painted on all the teapots in the empire. The following is a verbal tranflation, with fuch auxiliaries only as were neceffary to make the fenfe complete. ** On a flow fire fet a tripod, whofe colour and texture fhew its long ufe ; fill it with clear fnow water ; boil it as long as would be neceffary to turn fifli white, and crayfifli red; throw it upon the delicate leaves of choice tea, in a cup of yooe (a particular fort of porcelain). Let it remain as long as the vapour rifes in a cloud, and leaves only a thin mift floating on the furface. At your cafe, drink this precious li- ,quor, which will chafe away the five caufes of trouble. We 4 " caa TRAVELS IN CHINA. 281 " can tafte and feel, but not defcribe, the ftate of repofe pro- " duced by a liquor thus prepared." He wrote, likewlfe, a long defcriptive poem on the city and country of Moukden, in Mantchoo Tartary, which has been tranflated by fome of the miffionaries, and appears to poflfefs much more merit than his ode on tea, of which, however, it is difficult to judge without a thorough knowledge of the language, as the ode may owe its chief beauties and its fame more to the choice of the characters, than to the founds, literal fenfe, or verfi- fication. To an European the Chinefe language appears to have few elegancies : it wants all the little auxiliaries that add grace and energy to thofe of Europe. In the Chinefe the beauty of an expreflion depends entirely on the choice of the character, and not on any feledtion or arrangement of the monofyllabic ^founds. A charader uniting a happy affociation of ideas has the fame effect upon the eye of the Chinefe, as a general theorem exprefTed in fymbols has on a mathematician; but in both cafes a man muft be learned to feel the beauties of the concife expreffion. Even in fpeaking the language has few expletives. *' Englifh good, Chinefe better," — " to-day go, to-morrow come," — *' fea no bound, Kiang no bottom ; — " well, not well j" — are modes of expreflion in which an Eu- ropean will not find much elegance. In addition to the defeds of the language, there is another reafon why poetry is not likely ever to become a favourite pur- fuit, or to be cultivated with fuccefs among the Chinefe. The ftate of fociety we have feen to be fuch as entirely to exclude o o the 28i TRAVELS IN CHINA. the paflion of love. A man, in this country, n:iarnes onlr from necefTity, or for the fake of obtaining an heir to his pro- perty, who may facrifice to his manes, or becaufe the maxims of the government have made it difgraceful to remain in a ftate of celibacy. The fine fentiments that arife from the mutuaJ endearment of two perfons enamoured of each other can therefore have no place in the breaft of a Chinefe : and it is to the effufions of a heart thus circumftanced, that poetry owes fome of its greateft charms. Nor can they be confidered as a nation of warriors ; and w'ar, next to love, has ever been the favourite theme of the mufes. The language is much better adapted to the concife ftyle cf ethics, than the fublime flights of poetry. The moral precepts of Cong-foo-tfe difplay an excellent mind in the writer, and would do honour to any age and nation. The following will ferve as a fpecimea of his fubjeds, ftyle, and manner. " There is one clear rule of conducl : to ad with fincerity ; and " to conform with all one's foul, and with all one's ftrength, to " this univerfal rule — do not any thing to another, that you " would not wilh another fhould do to you." How conformable is this fentiment as well as the words in which it is exprefled, to that of the great Author of our reli- gion ; a religion whofe " ways are ways_ of pleafantnefs, and " all whofe paths are peace." " Five TRAVELS IN CHINA. 283 " Five things ought to be well obierved in the world : ** Juftice between the prince and the fubjedt; affedion be- " tween father and Ton ; fidelity between man and wife ; fub- " ordination among brothers j concord among friends. " There are three radical virtues : prudence to difcern, unU " rerfal benevolence to embrace (all mankind) ; courage to " fuftain. " What paffes in a man's mind is unknown to others : If you " are wife, take great care of what none but yourfelf can fee. " Examples are better for the people than precepts. " A wife man is his own moft fevere cenfor : he is his own " accufer, his own evidence, and his own judge." " A nation may accomplifh more by bravery than by fire " and water. I never knew a people perifh, who had courage " for their fupport." " An upright man will not purfue a crooked path ; he follows ** the ftraight road, and walks therein fecurc." Having taken this fhort view of their language and literature, I (hall now proceed to Ihew the prefent ftate of the arts and fciences, as far as the communications I had not only with the miflionaries, but alfo with fome of the moft learned Chinefe, will allow me to pronounce on thefe points. The obfervations 002 I have 2^4 TRAVELS IN CHINA. I have to make miift of courfe be very general ; minute parti- culars will not be expe£led in a work of this nature. There is no branch of fcience which the Chinefe affedt to value fo much, and underftand fo little, as aftronomy. The neccility indeed of being able to mark, with fome degree of precifion, the returns of the feafons and certain periods, in fo large a community, mull have dire«3:ed an early attention of the government to this fubjedt ; and accordingly we find, that an aftronomical board has formed one of the ftate eftablifliments from the earlieft pe- riods of their hiftory. Yet fo little progrefs have they made in this fcience, that the only part of its fundions, which can be called aftronomical, has long been committed to the care of thofe foreigners, whom they affed: to hold in contempt and to con- fider as barbarians. The principal object of this board is to frame and to publifli a national calendar, and to point out to the government the fuitable times and feafons for its important un- dertakings. Even when the marriage of a prince or princefs of the blood is about to take place, the commiffioners of aflronomy muft appoint a fortunate day for the celebration of the nup- tials, which is announced in form in the Pekin Gazette. In this Important almanack, as in the Greek and Roman ca- lendars, are inferted all the fuppofed lucky and unlucky days in the year, predidions of the weather, days proper for taking me- dicine, commencing journies, taking home a wife, laying the foundation of a houfe, and other matters of moment, for enter- ing upon which particular times are affigned. To the fuperin- tendency of the Chinefe members of this auguft tribunal is com- mitted the aftrological part, a committee of whora is felec^ed annually TRAVELS IN CHINA. 2*5 annually for the execution of this important taflc. Whether the men of letters, as they call themfelves, really believe in the abfurdities of judicial aftrology, or whetlier they may think it neceflary to encourage the obfervance of popular fuperftltions, on political confiderations, I will not take upon me to decide. If, however, they fhould happen to pofTefs any fuch fuperior knowledge, great credit is due to them for adiing the farce with fuch apparent earneftnefs, and with fo much folemnity. The duration of the fame fyftem has certainly been long enough for th^m to have difcovered, that the multitude are more efFei^^^*^'5S*^ }r^^^g:ij-Si^,.s:Sr^^::. fir Ctu/ti/ S.J?m'u\,- SinuiJ , JTr^i^ ^ii*44p-J.*r Str^n4t . TRAVELS IN CHINA. 305 In making their falutes, of which they are not fparing, they invariably employ three fmall netards, or piflol-barrels rather, which are ftuck ere^ in the ground ; and in firing thefe fmall pieces the foldiers are fo afraid, that they are difcharged by a train laid from one to the other. When Captain Parifli caufed a few rounds to be fired from two field-pieces, which were among the prefents for the Emperor, in as quick fuc- eeffion as poflible, the Chinefe officers -very coolly obferved, that their own foldiers could do it juft as well, and perhaps better. And when Lord Macartney afked the Ex-viceroy of Canton if he would wifh to fee his guard go through the differ- rent evolutions as pradtifed in Europe, he replied with equal in- difference, "That they could not poffibly be new to him, who " had been fo much engaged in the wars on the frontiers of " Tartary ;" though the chances are, that he had never before feen a firelock : with fuch ridiculous affectation of fuperiority, and contempt for other nations, does the unconquerable pride of this people infpire them. It feems, indeed, to be laid down as a general principle, never to be caught in the admiration of any thing brought among them by foreigners. Whenever a man of rank came to look at the prefents, if obferved by any of us, he would carelefsly glance his eye over them, and affedfc as much indifference as if he was in the daily habit of viewing things of the fame kind. A French phyfician, who travelled In China, fays he never faw an alembic or diftillatory apparatus in the whole country. The art of diftillatlon, however, is very well known, and in common pradice. Their Sau-tchoo (literally burnt wine) is aa.' 504 TRAVELS IN CHINA. an ardent fplrlt dlftllled from various kinds of grain, but mofl: commonly from rice, of a ftrong empyreumatic flavour, not unlike the fpirit known in Scotland by the name of whiflcey. The rice is kept in hot water till the grains are fwollen j it is then mixed up with water in which has been diffolved a pre- paration called pe-ka^ confiding of rice-flcur, liquorice- root, annlfeed, and garlic ; this not only haftens fermentation, but is fuppofed to give it a peculiar flavour. The mixture then undergoes i^iftihation. The Sau-tchoo^ thus prepared, may be confidered as the bafis of the beft arrack, which in Java is exclufively tlie manufacture of Chinefe, and is nothing more than a reclification of the above fpirit, with the addition of molafl'es and juice of the cocoa-nut tree. Before diftillation the liquor is fimply called tchoo^ or wine, and in this ftate is a very infipid and difagreeable beverage- The vine grows ex- tremely well in all the provinces, even as far north as Pekin, but the culture of it feems to meet with little encouragement, and no wine is made from the juice of the grape, except by the mifllonaries near the capital. The manufadlure of earthen ware, as far as depends upon the preparation of the materials, they have carried to a pitch of perfedion not hitherto equalled by any nation, except the japanefe, who are allowed to excel them, not only in this branch, but alfo in all articles of lacquered and varniflied ware, which fetch exorbitant prices even in China. The beauty of their porcelain, in a great degree, depends upon the extreme labour and attention that is paid to the aflortment, and the preparation of the diflferent articles employed. Thefe are in general TRAVELS IN CHINA. 305 general a fine fort of clay called Kao-Un^ which is a fpecies of Soap-rock, and a gramte called Pe-tun-tfe^ coinpofed chiefly of quartz, the proportion of mica being very (mall. Thefe materials are ground down and waflied with the greateft care ; and when the pafte has been turned or moulded into forms, each piece is put into a box of clay before it goes into the oven; yet, with every precaution, it frequently happens (fo much is this art ftill a work of chance) that a whole oven runs together and becomes a mafs of vitrified matter. Neither the Chinefe nor the Japanefe can boaft of giving to the ma- terials much elegance of form. With thofe inimitable models from the Greek and Roman vafes, brought into modern ufe by the ingenious Mr. Wedgwood, they will not bear a compa- rifon. And nothing can be more rude and ill-defigned than the grotefque figures and other objeds painted, or rather daubed, on their porcelain, which however are generally the work of the wives and children of the labouring poor. That they can do better we have evident proof; for if a pattern be fent out from England, the artifts in Canton will execute It with fcrupulous exa(Stnefs ; and their colours are inimitable. The manufadlure of glafs was totally unknown among them until the laft century, when, at the recommendation of the Je- fuits, a family was engaged to go from France to Pekin, for the purpofe of introducing the art of glafs-making into the country. The attempt failed of fuccefs, and the concern, at the death of the manager, was broken up. In Canton they melt old broken glafs, and mould it into new forms ; and they have been taught to coat plates of glafs v/ith filver, which are partially ufed as. R R looking- 306 TRAVELS IN CHINA. looking-glafles ; but their common mirrors are of pollfhed metal, which is apparently a compofition of copper and zinc. The pride, or the policy, of the government affeding to de- fpife any thing new or foreign, and the general want of encou- ragement to new inventions, however ingenious, have been greatly detrimental to the progrefs of the arts and manufactures. The people difcover no want of genius to conceive, nor of dex- terity to execute ; and their imitative powers have always been acknowledged to be very great. Of the truth of this remark we had feveral inftances at Tuen-min-yuen, The complicated glafs luftres, confifting of feveral hundred pieces, were taken down, piece by piece, in the courfe of half an hour, by two Ghinefe, v;ho had never feen any thing of the kind before, and were put up again by them with equal facility ; yet Mr. Parker thought it neceflary for our mechanics to attend at his ware- houfe feveral times to fee them taken down and again put to- gether, in order to be able to manage the bufinefs on their ar- rival in China. A Chinefe undertook to cut a flip ci giafs from a large curved piece, intended to cover the great dome of the planetarium, after our two artificers had broken three fimilar 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 fay in what manner he accomplifhed it. Being a little jagged along the margin, I fufpedt it was not cut but fradured, per- haps by pafTmg a heated iron over a line drawn with water, or fome other fluid. It is well known that a Chinefe In Canton, on being {hewn an European watch, undertook, and fucceeded, to make one like it, though he had never feen any thing of the 8 kind TRAVELS IN CHINA. 307 kind before, but it was neccflary to turnilli him with a maiQ- fpring, which he could not make : and they now fabricate, in Canton, as well as in London, and at one third of the expence, all thofe ingenious pieces of mechanifm which at one time were fent to China in fuch vaft quantities from the repofitories of Coxe and Merlin. The mind of a Chinefe is quick and appra- henfive, and his fmall delicate hands are formed for the execu- tion of neat work. The manufadure of filks has been eftabliflied in China at a period fo remote, as not to be afcertained from hiftory ; but the time when the cotton plant was firft brought from the northern parts of India into the fouthern provinces of China is known, and noticed in their annals. That fpecies of the cotton plant, from which is produced the manufadure ufually called nankin cotton, is faid to lofe its peculiar yellow tint in the courfe of two or three years when cultivated in the fouthern provinces, owing, in all probability, to the great heat of the weather and continued funfhine. I have raifed this particular fpecies at the Cape of Good Hope, where, upon the fame plant, as well as on others produced from its feed, the pods were as full and the tint of as deep a yellow in the third year as in the firft. As is generally the cafe in moft of their manufadlures, thofe of filk and cotton do not appear to have lately undergone progreflive improvement. The want of proper encouragement from the government, and the rigid adherence to ancient ufage, have rendered indeed all their ftbricks ftationary. R R 2 Of 3o8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. Of all the mechanical arts that in which they feem to have attained the higheft degree of perfedlion is the cutting of ivory. In this branch they ftand unrivalled, even at Birmingham, that great nurfery of the arts and manufadlures, where, I under- ftand, it has been attempted by means of a machine to cut ivory fans and other articles, in imitation of thofe of the Chinefe ; but the experiment, although ingenious, has not hitherto fucceeded to that degree, fo as to produce articles fit to vie with thofe of the latter. Nothing can be more exquifitely beautiful than the fine open work difplayed in a Chinefe fan, the flicks of which would feem to be fingly cut by the hand, for whatever pattern may be required, or a fhield with coat of arms', or a cypher, the article will be finifhed according to the drawing at the fhorteft notice. The two outfide flicks are full of bold fharp work, undercut in fuch a manner as could not be per- formed any other way than by the hand. Yet the moft finifhed and beautiful of thefe fans may be purchafed at Canton for five to ten Spanifh dollars *. Out of a folid ball of ivory, with a hole in it not larger than half an inch in diameter, they will cut from nine to fifteen diftindt hollow globes, one within an- other, all loofe and capable of being turned round in every di- redion, and each of them carved full of the fame kind of open work that appears on the fans. A very fmall fum of money is the price of one of thefe difficult trifles. Models of temples, * I am aware that thofe laboured piece*, of Itah'aa make, of ivory cut into land- fcapes, with houfes, trees, and figures ; fometimes fo fmall as to be compreli>.'nded within the eompafs of a ring, may be quoted againft me ; but the work of a folitary and fecluded monk to beguile the weary hours, is not to be brought in competition with that of a common Chinefe artift, by which he earns his livelihood. pagodas. TRAVELS IN CPIINA. 309 pagodas, and other pieces of architedlure, are beautifully worked in ivory ; and from the fhavings, interwoven with pieces of quills, they make neat balkets and hats, which are as light and pliant as thofe of ftraw. In fhort, all kinds of toys for children, and other trinkets and trifles, are executed in a neater manner and for lefs money in China, than in any other part of the world. The various ufes, to which that elegant fpecies of reed called the bamboo is applied, would require a volume to enumerate. Their chairs, their tables, their fkreens, their bedfteads and bedding, and many other houfehold moveables, are entirely conftru£led of this hollow reed, and fome of them in a manner fufficiently ingenious and beautiful. It is ufed on board fhips for poles, for fails, for cables, for rigging, and for caulking. In hufbandry for carts, for wheelbarrows, for wheels to raife "Water, for fences, for facking to hold grain, and a variety of other utenfils. The young fhoots furnifh an article of food; and the wicks of their candles are made of its fibres. It fervcs to embellifh the garden of the prince, and to cover the cottage of the peafant. It is the inflrument, in the hand of power. that keeps the whole empire in awe. In fnort, there are few ufes to which a Chinefe cannot apply the bamboo, either entire or fpHt into thin laths, or further divided into fibres to be twIRed into cordage, or macerated into a pulp to be. manufadured into paper. That " there is nothing new under the fun," was the obfer- vation of a wife man in days of yore. Imprefled with the faaie 310 TRAVELS IN CHINA. fame idea an ingenious and learned modern author* has writ- ten a book to prove, that all the late difcoveries and inventions of Europe were known to the ancients. The difcovery of mak- ing paper from ftraw, although new, perhaps, in Europe, is of very ancient date in China. The ftraw of rice and other grain, the bark of the mulberry-tree, the cotton fhrub, hemp, nettles, and various other plants and materials, are employed in the paper manufaiftories of China, where fheets are prepared of fuch dimenfions, that a fingle one may be had to cover the whole fide of a moderate fized room. The finer fort of paper for writing upon has a furface as fmooth as vellum, and is wafhed with a ftrong folution of alum to prevent the ink from fmking. IVIany old perfons and children earn a livelihood by wafhing the ink from written paper, which, being afterwards beaten and boiled to a pafte, is re-manufadured into new fheets; and the ink is alfo feparated from the water, and preferved for future ufe. To this article of their manufadture the arts in our own country owe fo many advantages, that little requires to be faid in its favour. The Chinefe, however, acknowledge their obligations to the Coreans for the improvements in making ink, which, not many centuries ago, were received from them. As to the art of printing, there can be little doubt of its an- tiquity in China, yet they have never proceeded beyond a wooden block. The nature, indeed, of the charader is fuch, that moveable types would fcarcely be pradicable. It is true, * Mr. Dutene. «he TRAVELS IN CHINA. 311 the component parts of the characters are fufficiently fimple and few in number; but the difficulty of putting them together upon the frame, into the multitude of forms of which they are' capable, is perhaps not to be furmounted. Like the reft of their inventions the chain pump which, in Europe, has been brought to fuch pcrfedion as to conftltute an eflential part of fhips of war and other large veflels, con- tinues among the Chinefe nearly in its primitive ftate, the prin- ' cipal improvement fmce its firft invention confifting in the fub- ftitution of boards or bafket-work for wifps of ftraw. Its power with them has never been extended beyond that of raifing a fmall ftream of water up an inclined plane, from one refervoir to another, to ferve the purpofes of irrigation. They are of different fizes, fome worked by oxen, fome by treading in a wheel, and others by the hand. The great advantages attainable from the ufe of mechanical powers are either not underftood, or, purpofely, not employed. In a country of fuch vaft population, machinery may perhaps be confidered as detrimental, efpecially as, at leaft, nine-tenths of the community muft derive their fubfiftence from manual labour. It may be a queftion, not at all decided in their minds, whether the general advantages of .facilitating labour, and gain- ing time by means of machinery, be fufficient to counterba- lance the individual* diftrefs that would, for a time, be occa- fioned by the introdudion of fuch machinery. Whatever the reafon ijiay be, no fuch means are to be met witu in the coun- try. Among the prefents that were carried out for the Em- peror 312 TRAVELS IN CHINA. peror were an apparatus for the air-pump, various articles for conducing a fet of experiments in electricity, and the models of a complete fet of mechanical powers placed upon a brafs pillar. The Emperor, happening to caft his eye upon them, enquired of the eunuch in waiting for what they were intended. This mutilated animal, although he had been daily ftudying the nature and ufe of the feveral prefents, in order to be able to fay fomething upon them when they fhould be exhibited to his mafter, could not fucceed in making his Imperial Majefty com- prehend the intention of the articles in queftion. " I fancy," fays the old monarch, " they are meant as playthings for fome *' of my great grandchildren." The power of the pulley is underftood by them, and is ap- plied on board all their large veflels, but always in a fmgle ftate ; at leaft, I never obferved a block with more than one wheel in it. The principle of the lever fhould alfo feem to be well known, as all their valuable wares, even filver and gold, are weighed with the fteelyard : and the tooth and pinion wheels are ufed in the conftru6lion of their felf- moving toys, and in all their rice-mills that are put in motion by a water wheel. But none of the mechanical powers are applied on th» great fcale to facilitate and to expedite labour. Simplicity is the leading feature in all their contrivances that relate to the arts and manufa£lures. The tools of every artificer are of a con- ftrudion the moft fimple that it fhould feefti poffible to make them, and yet each tool is fo contrived as to anfwer feveral pur- pofes. Thus, the bellows of the blackfmith, which is wothing more than a hollow oylinder of wood, with a valvular prfton, befide TRAVELS IN CHINA. 315 befide blowing the fire, ferves for his feat when fet on end, and as a box- to contain the reft of his tools. The barber's bamboo bafket, that contains his apparatus, is alfo the feat for his cuftomers. The joiner makes ufe of his rule as«a walking ftick, and the cheft that] holds his tools ferves him as a bench to work on. The pedlar's box and a large umbrella are fuf- ficient for him to exhibit all his wares, and to form his little fhop. Little can be fald in favour of the ftate of the fine arts in this country. Of their poetry, modern and ancient, I have given a fpecimen ; but [ think it right once more to obferve thatj with regard to Afiatic compofitions, Europeans cannot form a proper judgment, and more efpeeially of thofe of the Chinefe> which, to the myfterious and obfcure expreflions of metaphor^ add the difadvantage of a language that fpeaks but little to thp ear; a whole fentence, or a combination of ideas, being fome- times Ihut up in a fhort monofyllable, whofe beauties arq moft iludioufly addreffed to the fenfe of feeing alone. , Of the other two fifter arts, painting and mufic, a more de- cided opinion may be pafled. Of the latter I have little to ob- ferve. It does not feem to be cultivated as a, fcience : it is neither learned as an elegant accomplifhment, nor pradlifed as an amufcr ment of genteel life, except by thofe females who are educated for fale, or by fuch as hire themfelves out for the entertainment of thofe who may be inclined to purchafe their favours. And as the Chinefe differ in their ideas from all other nations, thei^ 8 s women 3f4 TRAVELS IN CHINA. women play generally upon wind inftruments, fuch as fmall pipes and flutes ; whilft: the favourite inftrument of the men is the guittar or fomething not very unlike it, feme of which have two firings, fome four, and others feven. Eunuchs, and the lowed clafs of perfons, are hired to play ; and the merit of a performance fhould feem toconfiftin the intenfenefs of the noife brought out of the different inflruments. The gong, or, as they call it, the /&o, is admirably adapted for this purpofe. This in- ftrument is a fort of fhallow kettle, or rather the hd of a kettle, which they ftrike with a wooden mallet covered with leather. The compofition isfaid to be copper, tin, and bifmuth. They have alfo a kind of clarinet, three or four different forts of trumpets, and a flringed inflrument not unlike a violoncello. Their fing is a "CombiRation of uneven reeds of bamboo, not unlike the pipe of Pan; the tones are far from being difagreeable, but its con- ftru^tion is fo wild and irregular, that it does not appear to be Tedueible to any kind of fcale. Their kettle drutias are ge-* lierally fhaped like barrels ; and thefe, as w^ll as different-fized bells fixed in a frame, conftitute parts in their facred rau- fic. They have alfo an inftrument of mufic which confifts of ftoncs, cut into the fhape of a carpenter's fquare, each ftone fufpended by the corftier in a wooden frame. Thofe which I few appeared to belong to that fpecies of the filidous genus tifually -called Gneifs, a fort of flaty granite. In the Kefwick mufeum are mufical ftones of the fame kind, which were picked tip in a rivulet at the foot of Skiddaw mountain ; but thefe feem to contain fmall pieces of black fhorl or tourmaline. It is in- •deed the boaft of their hiftorians, that the whole empire of na- ture I \ ril/ll(/?lr/i A/iiy jt>' jan^ //// ^ ///.>//•// ///r-/// //.Jf// t/ ot/Ui// /f///f//^^ ;■// ///./>■// * /f///f //or^/ //f . ^e f /'>*•¥/ , //f/,t/t' radelL t' Dai' its St»\ifi/t . TRAVELS IN CHINA. 3,5 ture has been laid under contribution In order to complete their fyftem of mufic ; that the fkins of animals, the fibres of plants, metals, ftones, and baked earths, have all been employed in the produdion of founds. Their inftruments, it is true, are fuffi- ciently varied, both as to fhape and materials, but I know of none that is even tolerable to an European ear. An Englifh gen- tleman in Canton took fome pains to collect the various inftru- ments of the country, of which the annexed plate is a reprefen- tation, but his catalogue is not complete. A Chinefe band generally plays, or endeavours to play, in unifon, and fometimes an inftrument takes the odave ; but they never attempt to play in feparate parts, confining their art to the melody only, if I may venture to apply a name of fo much fweetnefs to an aggregation of harfh founds. They have not the leaft notion of counter-point, or playing in parts : an inven- tion indeed to which the elegant Greeks had not arrived, and which feems to have been unknown in Europe as well as Afia, until the monkifh ages. I never heard but one fingle Chinefe who could be faid to fing with feeling or plaintivenefs. Accompanied with a kind of guittar, he fung the following air in praife of the flower Moo- lee ^ which it feems is one of the moft popular fongs in the whole country. The fimple melody was taken down by Mr. Hittner, and I under- ftand has been publifhed in London, with head and tail-pieces, accompaniments, and all the refined arts of European mufic ; fo that it ceafes to be a fpecimen of the plain melody of s s 2 ' China. ,i6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. China. I have therefore given it in its unadorned (late, as Tung and played by the Chinefe, together with the words of the firft ftanza, and their literal tranflation. M O O - L E E -W II A. -^' :w: mE^^^. hfe y^ 1»— fP-r-f-rr 1 L eE^ ^ ^ -*■ zw: $ ictrfr £ f — p — ? ' fi. P ■■ I I ^^ J ~L I I I k-^ $ -*- ■^^ itiizdz: iZ^lE ^ t: :^ ?=?^ Ssi I k* ±ar TZ^^*z:t±4- ^^ I MOO-LEE-WHA. L 113 4 S Hau ye-to fien ivha^ 6 7 8 9 10 II ri 13 TV« /r/6j« j^w jie lo tfa't go k'la 14 \s 16 17 18 19 Go pun taiy poo tchoo man 20 21 ^^ 23 24 25 !r'K;f , 3. — r- *-H — I — [ -9-4- ^E§g^g|Pg|g|| Fi^ iil ^ — e- No. III. i T" i f— ^ s £ -^. r4 -i^— - ♦- ■ ' — ■ t ! "~r- is; - ^ '-■ — S ±=ii±l g^^liSiifi -75—*- J '^ d—l-g ^ fe^i I >>j -«f— J ^^^^ S^^^ '^^m 320 TRAVELS IN CHINA. No. IV. zaj "^ — EzjE b***^ fe3Ea "i*^ -j -^ F=i^ ^^^^ p — h-^ £3^ — — T — ; "P~^ 1 — lawi an' — I F^r" msa-masxd ' — I 1 '— i —^— f-'JL No. V. -?^*- P-i — T S3 T-^ p--^ S^EEHJiiEES #-»-,v E •i^^ NW ^Hi iH ^-^ P—P- i e:t=e:jEr?rE k» — ^ g^^ No. VL ^^^^JgPi^^Sigli^Sp S ^^^i^sli^s^S TRAVELS IN CHINA. 21 psi±&^,m^Tm ^^ fmffm mm No. vir. . J . ■ -. . — — ^ — +— — — ^^=1^ ^4^ m — — ^ — Uy — j_- -^ fe^ZZ^ s jcrc: ^^ irtE=e=e3 ^ ^ h«j — ^ -*^ Ht pg-^gg #— ^ £ PfiT::^ ]^±S£ lEZize h: ^ ig E3!^ #-# ^fgggigj No. VIII. X^ 1 "C^— L k«, ' J ■ ^ ep^^s^gi^^ ■ Ml P « 9^^~ ^ ^ ITS -r-i—l -±±. m T T 322 TRAVELS IN CHINA. No. IX. i E ^m V I ^^^ ■*- -ji.-*. ^-»-(t. m fe^ I ^F g * #-- i tF-»- ■b[ :r- ^m fe 1 ^^a^3^ They have no other notion of noting down mufic than that of employing a character expreffing the name of every note in the fcale ; and even this imperfedl way they learned from Pe- reira the Jefuit. They aifeded to diflike the EmbafTador's band, which they pretended to fay produced no mufic, but a confufion of noifes ; yet the Emperor's chief mufician gave him- felf a great deal of trouble in tracing out the feveral inftruments on large fheets of paper, each of its particular fize, marking the places of the holes, fcrev/s, firings, and other parts, which they conceived necefTary to enable them to make others of a fimilar conftrudion. It would be difficult to aflign the motive that Induced father Amiot to obferve, that " the Chinefe, in order to obtain their " fcale TRAVELS IN CHINA. 32^' " fcale of notes or gamut perfe£l, were not afraid of fuhm'tting " to the moftlaborious operations of geometry, and to the moft '* tedious and difgufting calculations in the fcience of numbers j'* as he muft have known, that they were altogether ignorant of geometry, and that their arithmetic extended not be- yond their Swan-pa7i. Of the fame nature is the bold and un- founded affertion of another of the Jefuits, " that the mufical " fyftem of the Chinefe was borrowed from them by the *' Greeks and Egyptians, anterior to the time of Hermes or " Orpheus!" With regard to painting, they can be confidered In no other light than as miferable daubers, being unable to pen- cil out a correct outline of many objeds, to give body to the fame by the application of proper lights and fhadows, and to lay on the nice (hades of colour, fo as to referable the tints of nature. But the gaudy colouring of certain flowers, birds, and infefts, they imitate with a degree of exa(5lnefs and bril- liancy to which Europeans have not yet arrived. To give diftance to obje£ls on canvas, by diminiihing them, by faint colouring, and by perfpedive, they have no fort of concep- tion. At Tiien-min-yuen I found two very large paintings of landfcapes, which, as to the pencilling, were done with toler- able execution, but they were finifhed with a mlnutenefs of detail, and without any of thofe ftrong lights and mafTes of fhade, which give force and effedt to a picture ; none of the rules of perfpedive were obferved, nor any attempt to throw the objeds to their proper diftances ; yet T could not help fancy- ing that I difcovered in them the hand of an European. The T T 2 old 324 TRAVELS IN CHINA, old eunuch, who carried the keys of the room, frequently afked me, when looking at thefe pidbures, if I did not think his countrymen were excellent painters ; and having one day exprefled great admiration for the talents of the artift, he led me into a recefs of the room, and opening a cheft, fupported upon a pedeftal, he obferved, with a fignificant look, he was now going to produce fomething that would aftonifh me. He then took out feveral large volumes, which were full of figures, drawn in a very fuperior ftyle, and tinted with water colours, reprefenting the feveral trades and occupations carried on in the country ; but they feemed to be ftuck againft the paper, hav- ing neither fhadow nor foreground, nor diftance, to give them any relief. On the oppofite page to each figure was a defcrip- tion, in the Mantchoo Tartar and the Ghinefe languages. Hav- ing turned over one of the volumes, I obferved, on the lafl page, the name of Cajtaglione^ which at once folved the riddle. On re-examining the large pidlures in the hall, I found the fame name in the corner of each. While going through the volume, the old eunuch frequently afked, if any one in Europe could paint like the Ghinefe ? but, on my pointing to the name, and repeating the word Cajiaglione^ he immediately fhut the book and returned them all into the cheft, nor, from that time, could I ever prevail upon him to let me have another fight of them. On enquiry, I found that Caftaglione was a miflionary in great repute at court, where he executed a number of paintings, but was exprefsly directed by the Emperor to paint all his fubjeds after the Chinefe manner, and not like thofe of Europe, with broad maOTes of fhade and the diftant objeds fcarcely vifible, obferving to him, as one of the miffionaries told me, that the imper- TRAVELS IN CHINA. 325 imperfedions of the eye afforded no reafon why the objeds of nature fliouid alfo be copied as imperfed:. This idea of the Emperor accords with a remark rrjade by one of his rainifters, who came to fee the portrait cf His Britannic Majeftv " that ** it was great pity it fhould have been fpoiled by the dirt upoa " the face," pointing, at the fame time, to the broad fhade of the nofe. Ghirrardini, an European painter, publifhed an account of his voyage to China, where, it appears, he was fo difgufed that, having obferved how Uttle idea they poffefled of the fine arts, he adds, with rather more petulancy than truth, " thefe " Chinefe are fit for nothing but weighing filver, and eating ** rice." Ghirrardini painted a large colonnade in vanifliing perfpedive, which ftruck them fo very forcibly that they con- cluded he muft certainly have dealings with the devil ; but, on approaching the canvas and feeling with their hands, in order to be fully convinced that all they faw was on a flat furface, they perfifted that nothing could be more unnatural than to re- prefcnt diftances, where there adually neither was, nor could be, any diftance. It is fcarcely necelTary to add any thing further with regard to the ftate of painting in China. I fhall only obferve, that the Emperor's favourite draughtfman, who may of courfe be fup- pofed as good or better than others of the fame profeflion in the capital, was fent to make drawings of fome of the principal prefents to carry to his mafter, then in Tartary, as elucidations of the defcriptive catalogue. This man, after various unfuc- cefsfnl 3i6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. cefsfu! attempts to defign the elegant time-pieces of VulHamy, fupported by beautiful figures of white marble, fupplicated my affiftance in a matter which he reprefented as of the laft impor- tance to himfelf. It was in vain to aflure him that I was no draughtfman, he was determined to have the proof of it ; and he departed extremely well fatisfied in obtaining a very mean performance with the pencil, to copy after or cover with his China ink. Every part of the machines, except the naked figures which fupported the time-piece and a barometer, he drew with neatnefs and accuracy, but all his attempts to copy thefe were unfuccefsful. Whether it was owing to any real difficulty that exifts in the nice turns and proportions of the hu- man figure, or that by being better acquainted Vi'ith it we more readily perceive the defedts in the imitation of it, or from the circumftance of the human form being concealed in this coun- try in loofe folding robes, that caufed the Chinefe draughtfman fo completely to fail, I leave to the artifts of our own country to determine : but the fa£t was as I flate it j all his attempts to draw thefe figures were prepofterous. As to thofe fpecimens of beautiful flowers, birds, and Infeds, fometimes brought over to Europe, they are the work of ar- tifts at Canton where, from being in the habit of copying prints and drawings, carried thither for the purpofe of being transferred to porcelain, or as articles of commerce, they have acquired a better tafte than in the interior parts of the country. Great quantities of porcelain are fent from the potteries to Can- ton perfedly white, that the purchafer may have them painted to his own pattern : and fpecimens of thefe bear teftimony that 8 they TRAVELS IN CHINA.' 327 they are no mean copylfts. It har, been obferved, however, that the fubjeds of natural hillory, painted by them, are frequently xncorred ; that it is no unufual thing to meet with the flower of one plant fet upon the ftalk of another, and having the leaves of a third. This may formerly have been the cafe, from their fol- lowing imperfedt patterns, or from fuppofing they could improve nature ; but having found that the reprefentations of natural ob- jeds are in more requeft among foreigners, they pay a ftrider attention to the fulijed that may be required ; and we found them indeed fuch fcrupulous copyifts, as not only to draw the exad number of the petals, the ftamina, and piftilla of a flower, but alfo the very number of leaves, with the thorns or fpots on the foot- ftalk that fupported it. They will even count the num- ber of fcales on a fifh, and mark them out in their reprefenta- tions, and it is impofl^ible to imitate the brilliant colours of na- ture more clolely. I brought home feveral drawings of plants, birds, and infeds, that have been greatly admired for their ac- curacy and clofe colouring ; but they want that efFed which the proper application of light and fhade never fails to produce. The coloured prints of Europe that are carried out to Canton are copied there with wonderful fidelity. But in doing this, they exercife no judgment of their own. Every defed and blemifh, original or accidental, they are furc to copy, being mere fervile imitators, and not in the leaft feeling the force or the beauty of any fpecimen of the arts that may come before them ; for the fame perfon who is one day employed in copy- ing a beautiful European print, will fit down the next to a Ghi- nefe drawing replete with abiurdity. Whatever \ r28 TRAVELS IN CHINA. J Whatever may b* '^e progrefs of the arts in the port of Can- ton, they are not likely to experience much improvement in the interior parts of the country, or in the capital. It was the pride rather of the monarch, and of his minifters, that made them re- jedt the propofal of Caftaglioae to ellablifh a fchool for the arts, than the apprehenfion, as ftated by the miflionaries, that the rage for painting would become fo general, as to be prejudicial to ufeful labour. In a country where painting is at fo low an ebb, it would be in vain to exped much execution from the chiflel. Grotefque images of ideal beings, and monftrous diftortions of nature, are fometimes feen upon the balluftrades of bridges, and in their temples, where the niches are filled with gigantic gods of baked clay, fometimes painted with gaudy colours, and fometimes plaftered over with gold leaf, or covered with a coat of varnifh. They are as little able to model as to draw the human figure with any degree of eorrednefs. In the whole empire there is not a flatue, a hewn pillar, or a column that deferves to be mentioned. Large four-fided blocks of ftone or wood are fre- quently eredted near the gates of cities, with infcriptions upon them, meant to perpetuate the memory of certain diftinguilhed characters; but they are neither objeds of grandeur nor orna- ment, having a much clofer refemblance to a gallows than to triumphal arches, as the miflionaries, for what reafon I know not, have thought fit to call them. The intention of thefe monumental eredtions will appear from fome of their infcriptions. I. Honour / TRAVELS IN CHINA. 329 I. Honour granted by the Emperor, ^ the grateful odour of one hundred years. Retirement. Tranquillity , II. Emperor s order. Peace and Happincfsy The balm of Life. On a fortunate day^ in the ^th month of the ^oth year of the reign of Kicn-Long^ this monument was ereSled by the Emperor'* s order y in honour of Liang-tie7i-pe^ aged 1 02 years. The two following are infcriptions on monuments that have been ereded to chafte women, a defcription of ladies whom the Chinefe confider to be rarely met with. III. Honour granted by the Emperor. Icy coldnefs, Hardfroft, IV. The Emperor s order. The fweet fragrance of piety and virginity. Sublime chafity. Pure morals, u u The 530 TRAVELS IN CHINA. The whole of their architedure, indeed, is as unfightly as unfolid ; without elegance or convenience of defign, and without any fettled proportion ; mean in its appearance, and clumfey in the workmanfhip. Their pagodas of five, feven, and nine rounds, or roofs, are the mofl ftriking ob- ieds ; but though they appear to be the imitations or, per- haps, more properly fpeaking, the models of a fimilar kind of pyramids found in India, they are neither fo well de- figned, nor fo well executed : they are, in fadt, fo very ill con- ftrudted that half of them, without any marks of antiquity, ap- pear in ruins; of thefe ufelefs and whimfical edifices His Ma- jefty's garden at Kew exhibits a fpecimen, which is not inferior- in any refpe(3: to the very beft I have met with in China. The height of fuch ftrudlures, and the badnefs of the materials with which they are ufually built, contradidt the notion that they aflign as a reafon for the lownefs of their houfes, which is, that they may efcape being thrown down by earthquakes. In fadt, the tent ftands confefled 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 walls, clearly de- note the origin ; and from this original form they have never ventured to deviate. Their temples are moftly conftruded upon the fame plan, with the addition of a fecond, and fome- times a third roof, one above the other. The wooden pillars that conftitute the colonnade are generally of larch fir, of no fettled proportion between the length and the diameter, and they are invariably painted red and fometimes covered with a coat of varnifh. A$ TRAVELS IN CHINA. 53» As cuftom and fafhion are not the fiune in any two countries, it has been contended by many that there can be no fuch thing as true tafte. The advocates for tafte arlfing out of cuftom will fay, that no folid reafon can be offered why the pillar which fupports the Doric capital fhould be two diameters fhorter than that which fuftains the Corinthian ; and that It is the habit only of feeing them thus conftruded that conftitutes their propriety. Though the refpedive beauties of thefe particular columns may, in part, be felt from the habit of obferving them always retaining a fettled proportion, yet it muft be allowed that, in the moft perfe<3: works of nature, there appears a certain harm.ony and agreement of one part with another, that without any fettled proportion feldom fail to pleafe. Few people will difagree in. their ideas of a handfome tree, or an elegant flower, though there be no fixed proportion between the trunk and the branches, the flower and the foot-ftalk. Proportion, therefore, alone, is not fufficlent to conftitute beauty. There muft be no ftiffnefs, no fudden breaking off from a ftraight line to a curve ; but the changes fhould be eafy, not vifible in any particular part, but running injperceptibly through the whole. Utility has alfo been confidered as one of the conftituent parts of beauty. In the Chinefe column, labouring under an enormous mafs of roof, without either bafe or capital, there is neither fymmetry of parts, nor eafe, nor particular utility. Nor have the large ill-ftiapen and unnatural figures of lions, dragons, and ferpents, grinning on the tops and corners of the roofs, any higher pre- tenfions to good tafte, to utility, or to beauty. u u 2 " The 33^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. " The architedure of the Chinefe," fays one of their enco- miafts, " 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 itfelf," It is indeed peculiar to itfelf, and the miflionaries may be aflured they are the only perfons who will ever difcover " real palaces in the manfions of the " Emperor," or to whom " their immenfity, fymmetry, and ** magnificence, will announce the grandeur of the mafter who " inhabits them." The houfe of a prince, or a great officer of ftate, in the capital, ] is not much diftinguifhed from that of a tradefman, except by the greater fpace of ground on which it ftands, and by being fur- rounded by a high wall. Our lodgings in Pekin were in a houfe of this defcrlption. The ground plot was four hundred by three hundred feet, and it was laid out into ten or twelve courts, fome having two, fomc three, and others four, tent- ftiaped houfes, (landing on flone terraces raifed about three feet above the court, which was paved with tiles. Galleries of communication, forming colonnades of red wooden pillars, ' were carried from each building, and from one court to an- other, fo that every part of the houfe might be vifited without expofure to the fun or the rain. The number of wooden pil- lars of which the colonnades were formed was about 900. Mod of the rooms were open to the rafters of the roof; but fome had a flight ceiling of bamboo laths covered with plafter ; and the ladies apartments, confided of two ftories ; the upper however had no light, and was not fo good as our common attics. The floors were laid with bricks or clay. The windows had no glafs ; TRAVELS IN CHINA. 33S- glafs ; oiled paper, or filk gauze, or pearl fhell, or horn, were ufed as fubftitutes for this article. In the corners of fome of the rooms were holes in the ground, covered over with ftones or wood, intended for fire-places, from whence the heat is conveyed, as in the houfes of ancient Rome, through flues in the floor, or in the walls, the latter of which are generally- whitened with lime made from fhells, and imported from the fea coafl:. One room was pointed out to us as the theatre. The. ftage was in the middle, and a fort of gallery vvas erected in front of it. A fl:one room was built in the midfl: of a piece of water, in imitation of a palTage yacht, and one of the courts was roughened with rocks, with points and precipices and ex- cavations, as a reprefentation of nature in miniature. On the ledges of thefe were meant to be placed their favourite flowers and ftunted trees,; for which they are famous. There is not a water-clofet, nor a decent place of retirement in all China. Sometimes a flick is placed over a hole in a cor- ner, but in general they make ufe of large earthen jars with narrow tops. In the great houfe we occupied was a walled inclofure, with a row of fmall fquare holes of brickwork funk- in the ground. Next to the pagodas, the mofl: confpicuous objeds are the gates of cities. The feare generally fquare buildings, carried feveralflories above the arched gateway, and, like the temples, are covered with one or more large projedling roofs. But the mod flupendous work of this country is the great wall that divides it from northern Tartary. It is built exadly upon the fame plan as the wall of Pekin, being a mound of earth cafed on each; 334 TRAVELS IN CHINA. each fide with bricks or ftone. The aftonifhlng magnitude of the fabrick confifts not lo much in the plan of the work, as in the immenfe diftance of fifteen hundred miles over which it is extended, over mountains of two and three thoufand feet in height, acrofs deep vallies and rivers. But the elevations, plans, and fedions of this wall and its towers, have been taken with fuch truth and accuracy by the late Captain Parifh, of the Royal Artillery, that all further defcription would be fuperfluous. They are to be found in Sir George Staunton's valuable account of the embafly to China. The fame Emperor, who is faid to have committed the bar- barous ad of deftroying the works of 'the learned, raifed this ftupendous fabric, which has no parallel in the whole world, not even in the pyramids of Egypt, the magnitude of the largeft of thefe containing only a very fmall portion of the quantity of matter comprehended in the great wall of China. This indeed is fo enormous, that admitting, what I believe has never been denied, its length to be fifteen hundred miles, and the dimen- fions throughout pretty much the fame as where it was crofled by the Britifh Embafly, the materials of all the dwell ing-houfes of England and Scotland, fuppofing them to amount to one million eight hundred thoufand, and to average on the whole two thoufand cubic feet of mafonry or brick-work, are barely equivalent to the bulk or folid contents of the great wall of China. Nor are the projeding mafiy towers of ftone and brick included in this calculation. Thefe alone, fuppofing them to continue throughout at bow-fhot diftance, were calculated to contain as much mafonry and brickwork as all London. To give TRAVELS IN CHINA. 335 give another idea of the mafs of matter In this flupendous fabric, it may be obferved, that it is more than fufficlent to furround the circumference of the earth on two of its great circles, with two walls, each fix feet high and two feet thick ! It is to be un- derflood, however, that in this calculation is included the earthy part in the middle of the wall. Turning from an object, which the great Doctor Johnfon was of opinion would be an honour to any one to fay that his grandfather had feen, another prefents itfelf fcarcely inferior in; point of grandeur, and greatly excelling it In general utility. This is what has ufually been called the imperial or grand canal, an inland navigation of fuch extent and magnitude as to ftand unrivalled in the hiftory of the world. I may fafely fay that, in point of magnitude, our mod extenfive inland navigation of England can no more be compared to the grand trunk that interfeds China, than a park or garden filh-pond to the great lake of Winandermere. The Chinefe afcribe an antiquity to this work higher by many centuries than to that of the great wall ; but the Tartars pretend it was firft opened in the thir- teenth century under the Mongul government. The probabi- lity is, that an effeminate and fhameful adminiftration had fuf- fered it to fall into decay, and that the more adive Tartars eaufed it to undergo a thorough repair : at prefent it exhibits no appearances of great antiquity. The bridges, the ftone piers of the flood-gates, the quays, and the retaining walls of the earthen embankments are comparatively new. Whether it has origi- nally been conftruded by Chinefe or Tartars, the conception of fuch an undertaking, and the manner in which it is executed, 7 imply 236 TRAVELS IN CHINA. imply a degree of fcience and ingenuity beyond what I fufpedl we fhould now find in the country, either in one or other of thefe people. The general furface of the country and other favourable circumftances have contributed very materially to affift the projector, but a great deal of (kill and management, as well as of immenfe labour, are confpicuous throughout the whole work. I fhall endeavour to convey, in a few words, a general idea of the principles on which this grand undertaking has been carried oDo All the rivers of note in China fall from the high lands of Tartary, which lie to the northward of Thibet, croffing the plains of this empire in their defcent to the fea from weft to caft. The inland navigation being carried from north to fouth cuts thefe rivers at right angles, the fmaller ftreams of which terminating in it afford a conftant fupply of water ; and the three great rivers the Eu-ho to the north, the Telloiv river to- v^^ards the middle, and the Tang-tfe-kiang to the fouth, inter- fering the canal, carry off the fuperfluous water to the fea. The former, therefore, are the feeders^ and the latter the dif- chargers, of the great trunk of the canal. A number of diffi- culties muft have arifen in accommodating the general level of the canal to the feveral levels of the feeding ftreams ; for notwith- ftanding all the favourable circumftances of the face of the country, it has been found neceffary in many places to cut down to the depth of fixty or feventy feet below the furface ; and in others, to raife mounds of earth upon lakes and fwamps and marftiy grounds, of fuch a length and magnitude that nothing Ihort of the abfolute command over multitudes could have ac- compliilied TRAVELS IN CHINA. 337 compllflied an undertaking, whofe Immenfity is only exceeded by the great wall. Thefe gigantic embankments are fome- times carried through lakes of feveral miles in diameter, between which the water is forced up to a height confiderably above that of the lake J and in fuch fituations we fometimes obferved this enormous aquedud: gliding along at the rate of three miles an hour. Few parts of it arc level : in fome places it has little or no current ; one day'v/e had it fetting to the fouthward at the rate of one, two, or three miles an hour, the next to the north- ward, and frequently on the fame day we fouqd it llationary, and running in oppofite diredions. This balancing of the level was effected by flood-gates thrown acrofs at certain diftances to elevate or deprefs the height of the water a few inches, as might appear to be neceflary ; and thefe ftoppages are firaply planks Aiding in grooves, that are cut into the fides of two ftone abut- ments, which in thefe places contract the canal to the width of about thirty feet. There is not a lock, nor, except thefe, a fingle interruption to a continued navigation of fix hundred miles. The moft remarkable parts of this extraordinary work will be noticed in a following chapter, defcriptive of our journey through the empire. Over this main trunk, and moft of the other canals and rivers, are a great variety of bridges, fome with arches that are pointed not unlike the gothic, fome fcmicircular, and others (haped like a horfe-flioe : fome have the piers of fuch an extraordinary height that the largeft veflels, of two hundred tons, fail under them without ftriking their mafts. Some of their bridges, of three, X X five, -.338 TRAVELS IN CHINA. five, and (even arches *, that crofs the canal, are extremely light and beautiful to tlie eye, but the plan oa which they are ufuaily conftrudled does not imply much ftrength. Each ftone, from five to ten feet in length, is cut fo as to form a fegment of the arch, and as, in fuch cafes, there is no kcy-ftone, ribs of wood fitted to the convexity of the arch are bolted through the ftohes by iron bars, fixed fafl into the folid parts of the bridge. Soiuetimes, however, they are without wood, and the curved (lones are morticed into long tranfverfe blocks of ftone, as in the annexed plate, which was drawn with great accuracy by Mr. Alexander. In this Plate, No. I. Are ftones cut to the curve of the arch lo feet long, 2. An immenfe fl:one, 2 feet Iquare, of the whole depth of the arch. 3. Curved flones, 7 feet long. 4. Ditto, 5 feet. 5. Ditto, 37 feet. 6. Ditto, 3 feet. 7. Ditto, 3 feet. .8.8. Stones fimiiar to No. 2. being each one entire piece running through the bridge, and intended, it would feem, to bind the fabric together as the pillars 9.9. are morticed into them. There are, however, other arches wherein the ftones are fmaller and pointed to a centre as In ours. I have underftcod from * A bridge with ninety-one arches wiU. be noticed in a fubfequent chapter. the ^\ /~v n:: , , (^ * rr> ^ ^ X -^ -\ y: \K r -^ ^ ^, \^ M "-S M V X ^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. 339 the late Captain Parifh, that no mafonry could be fuperior 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 cafe, we may probably be not far amifs in allowing the Chinefe to have employed this ufeful and ornamental part of architedure before it was known to the Greeks and the Romans. Neither the Egyptians nor the Perfians appear at any time to have applied it in their buildings. The ruins of Thebes and of Perfepolis have no arches, nor have thofe of Balbec and Palmyra ; nor do they feem to have been much ufed in the magnificent buildings of the Romans antecedent to the time of Auguftus. The grand and elegant columns of all thefe nations were conned:ed by ftraight architraves of ftone, of dimenfions not inferior to the columns themfelves. In the Hindoo excava- tions are arches cut out of the folid mountain ; but when loofe ftones were employed, and a building was intended to be fuper- ftruded on columns, the ftones above the capitals w^ere overlaid like inverted fteps, till they met in a point In the middle above the two columns, appearing at a little diftance exadly like the gothic arch, of which this might have given the firft idea. If then the antiquity be admitted which the Chinefe afcrlbe to the building of the great wall, and no reafon but a negative one, the filence of Marco Polo, has been offered againft it (an ob- jedloneafily explained), they have a claim to the invention of the arch founded on no unfolid grounds. The cemeteries, or repofitories of the dead, exhibit a much greater variety of monumental archltedure than the dwellings of the living can boaft of. Some indeed dcpofit the remains of X X 2 their 340 TRAVELS IN CHINA. their anceftors in houfes that differ in nothing from thofe they inhabited while hving, except in their diminutive fize ; others prefer a fquare vault, ornamented in fuch a manner as fancy may fuggeft ; fome make choice of a hexagon to cover the deceafed, and others of an odagon. The round, the triangular, the fquare, and multangular column, is indifferently raifed over the grave of a Chinefe ; but the moft common form of a monument to the remains of perfons of rank confifts in three terraces, one above another, inclofed by circular walls. The door or en- trance of the vault is in the centre of the uppermoft terrace, covered with an appropriate infcription ; and figures of flaves and horfes and cattle, with other creatures that, when living, were fubfervient to them, and added to their pleafures, are em- ployed after their death to decorate the terraces of their tombs. " Quse gratia curium *' Arniorumque fult vivis, qux cura nitentes " Pafcere equos, eadem fequitur tellure repoftos." Virgil, ^neib vi. " Thofe pleafing cares the heroes felt, alive, " For chariots, deeds, and arms, in death furvlve." Pitt, It may be confidered as fuperfluous, after what has been faid, to obferve, that no branch of natural philofophy is made a ftudy, or a purfult in China. The praflical application of fome of the moft obvious effeds produced by natural caufes could not efcape the obfervation of a people who had, at an early period, attained fo high a degree of civilization, but, fatif- fied with the pradical part, they pufhed their enquiries no far- ther. Of pneumatics, hydroftatics, eledricity, and magnetifm,, they TRAVELS IN CHINA. 341 they may be faid to have little or no knowledge ; and their optics extend not beyond the making of convex and concave lenfes of rock cryflal to afTift the fight in magnifying, or throw- ing more rays upon fmall objects, and, by colleding to a focus the rays of the fun, to fet fire to combuftible fubfl:ances« Thefe lenfes are cut with a faw, and afterwards polilhed, the powder of cryftal being ufed in both operations. To polifh diamonds they make ufe of the powder of adamantine fpar, or the corun- dum ftone» In cutting different kinds of ftone into groups of figures, houfes, mountains, and fometimes into whole land- fcapes, they difcover more of perfevering labour, of a determi- nation to fubdue difficulties, which were not worth the fub- duing, than real ingenuity. Among the many remarkable in- ftances of this kind of labour, there is one in the pofllefilon of the Right Honourable Charles Greville, that deferves to be noticed. It is a group of well formed, excavated, and highly ornamented bottles, covered with foliage and figures, raifed in the manner of the antique Cameos^ with moveable ring-handles, ftanding on a bafe or pedeftal, the whole cut out of one folid block of clear rock cryftal. Yet this laborious trifle was pro- bably fold for a few dollars in China, It was bought in Lon- don for about thirty pounds, where it could not have been made for many times that fum, if, indeed, it could have been made at all. All their fpedacles that I have fcen were cryftal fet in horn, tortolfe-ftiell, or ivory. The fingle microfcope is in common ufe, but they have never hit upon the effect of ap- proximating objedts by combining two or three lenfes, a difco- vcry indeed to which in Europe we are more indebted to chance than to the refult of fcientific enquiry, I obferved 'exTuen-iuin- yiicti 342 TRAVELS IN CHINA. yiicn a rude kind of magic lantern, and a camera obfcura, neither of wliich, alihough evidently of Chinefe workmanfliip, appeared to wear the marks of a national invention. I fliould rather conclude, that they were part of thofe ftriking and curious experiments winch the early Jefuits difplayed at court, in order to aRonifh the Emperor with their profound fkill, and raife their reputation as men of learning. Of the ombres Chhioifes they may, perhaps, claim the invention, and in pyrotechny their ingenuity may be reckoned much fuperior to any thing which has hitherto been exhibited in that art in Europe. • A convex lens lis among the ufual appendages to the tobacco pipe. With thefe they are in the daily habit of lighting their pipes. Hence the great burning lens made by Mr. Parker of Fleet-Street, and carried out among the prefects for the Em- peror, was an object that excited no admiration in the minds of the Chinefe. The difficulty of making a lens of fuch mag- nitude perfed, or free from flaw, and its extraordinary powers could not be underftood, and confequently not appreciated by them : and although in the fhort fpace of four feconds it com- pletely melted down one of their bafe copper coins, when the fun was more than forty degrees beyond the meridian, it made no impreffion of furprize on their uninformed minds. The only enquiry they made about it was, whether the fubftance w^as cryftal; but being informed it was glafs, they turned away with a fort of difdain, as if they would fay, Is a lump of glafs a proper prefent to offer to our great Whaiig-tee ? The prime mi- nider, Ho-tchung-tong^ in order to convince us how very fami- liar articles of fuch a nature were to him, lighted his pipe very compofedly TRAVELS IN CHINA. . 343 compofedly at the focii?, but had a narrow efcape from fingelng; his fattin flecve, which would certainly have happened had I not given him a fudden pufli, fie fcemed, however, to be in- fenfible of his danger, and walked off without the lead con- cern. Indeed, in feleding the many valuable prefents relating to fcience, their knowledge and learning had been greatly over- rated. They had little efteem for wliat they could not com- prehend, and fpecimens of art fcrved only to excite their jea- loufy, and to wound their pride. Whenever a future emb.iiTy Ihall be fent to Pekin, I fhould recommend articles of gold, filver, and fteel, children's toys and trinkets, and perhaps a few fpecimens of Derbyfhire fpar, with the fineft broad-cloth and kerfeymeres, in preference to all others ; for in their pre- fenc date, they are totally incapable of appreciating any thing great or excellent in the arts and fciences. To alleviate the afflidions of mankind, and to afTuage the pains which the human frame is liable to fuffer, mud have been among the earliefl: ftudies of civilized fociety ; and accord- ingly, in the hiftory of ancient kingdoms, we find the pradi- tioners of the healing art regarded even to adoration. Chi- ron, the preceptor of Achilles, and the mafter of iEfculapius, was transferred to the heavens, where he ftill fhines under the name of Sagittarius. Among thefe nation?, indeed, which we call favage, there is ufually fhewn a more than ordinary refpedl for fuch of their countrymen as arc moft (killed in removing obftrudions, allaying tumors, healing bruifes, and, generally 8 fpeaking. 344 TRAVELS IN CHINA. fpeaking, wlio can apply relief to mlfery. But the Chlnefe, who feem to dlfler in their opinions from all the reil of man- kind, whether civilized or favage, pay little refpedt to the therapeutick art. They have efrabliflied no public fchools for the ftudy of medicine, nor does the purfuit of it lead to honours, rank, or fortune. Such as take up the profeffion are generally of an inferior clafs ; and the eunuchs about the palace are con- fidered among their beft phyficians. According to their own account, the books on medicine efcaped the fire, by which ther pretend the works of learning were confumed, in the reign of Shee-whang-tce^ two hundred years before the Chriftiau era ; and yet the beft of their medical books of the prefent day are little better than mere herbals, fpecifying the names and enu- merating the qualities of certain plants. The knowledge of thefe plants and of their fuppofed virtues goes a great way towards conftituting a phyfician. Thofe moft commonly employed are gin-fmg, rhubarb, and China-root. A few preparations are alfo found in their pharmacopoeia from the animal and the mi- neral kingdoms. In the former they employ fnakes, beetles, centipedes, and the aurellse of the filk-worm and other infedts ; the meloe and the bee are ufed for blifters. In the latter, falt- petre, fulphur, native cinnabar, and a few other articles are occafionally prefcribed. Opium is taken as a medicine, but more generally as a cordial to exhilarate the fpirits. Though the importation of this drug is ftridly prohibited, yet, as I have before obferved, vaft quantities are annually fmuggled into the country from Bengal and from Europe, through the connivance of the cuftom-houfe officers. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 345 The phyfiology of the human body, or the dodrine which explains the conftitution of man, is neither underftood, nor confidered as neceflary to be known j and their fkill in patho- logy, or in the caufes and effeds of difeafes, is extremely limited, very often abfurd, and generally erroneous. The feat of mod difeafes is, in fad:, fuppofed to be difcoverable by feeling the pulfe, agreeably to a fyftem built upon principles the moft wild and extravagant. Having no knowledge what- foever of the circulation of the blood, notwithftanding the Je- fuits have made no fcruple in afferting it was well known to them long before Europeans had any idea of it, they imagine, that every particular part of the human body has a particular pulfe affigned td it, and that thefe have all a correfponding and fympathetic pulfe in the arm ; thus, they fuppofe one pulfe to be fituated in the heart, another in the lungs, a third in the kidneys, and fo forth ; and the fkill of the dodor confifts in dif- covering the prevailing pulfe in the body, by its fympathetic pulfations in the arm ; and the mummery made ufe of on fuch occafions is highly ludicrous. By eating too freely of unripe fruit at Cbu-fmi I had a vio- lent attack of cholera morbus^ and on application being made to the governor for a little opium and rhubarb, he immediately difpatched to me one of his phyficians. With a countenance as grave and a folemnity as fettled, as ever was exhibited in a confultation over a doubtful cafe in London or Edinburgh, he fixed his eyes upon the ceiling, while he held my hand, be- ginning at the wrift, and proceeding towards the bending of • Y Y the 346 TRAVELS IN CHINA. the elbow, prefTing fometlmes hard with one finger, and then light with another, as if he was running over the keys of a harp- fichord. This performance continued about ten minutes in folemn filence, after which he let go my hand and pronounced my com- plaint to have arifen from eating fomething that had difagreed with the ftomach. I Ihall not take upon me to decide whether this ccKclufion was drawn from his Ikill in the pulfe, or from a conjedure of the nature of the complaint from the medicines that had been demanded, and which met with his entire appro- bation, or from a knowledge of the fa£t, Le Compte, who had lefs reafon to be cautious, from his having left the country, than other miffionaries who are doomed to remain there for life, pofitively fays, that the phyficians always endeavour to make themfelves fecretly acquainted with the cafe of the patient, before they pronounce upon it, as their reputation depends more on their alligning the true caufe of the diforder than on-the cure. He then proceeds to tell a ftory of a friend of his who, being troubled with a fwelling, fent for a Chinefe phyfician. This gentleman told him very gravely, that it was occafioned by a fmall worm which, unlefs extradled by his fkill, would ultimately produce gangrene and certain death. Accordingly one day after the tumour, by the applica- tion of a few poultices, was getting better, the dodlor contrived to drop upon the removed poultice a little maggot, for the ex- traction of which he aflumed to himfelf no fmall degree of merit. Le Compte's (lories, however, are not always to be depended on. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 347. The priefts are alfo a kind of dodors, and make plaifters for a variety of purpofes, feme to draw out the difeafe to the part applied, fome as charms againft the evil fpirit, and others which they pretend to be aphrodifiac ; all of which, and the laft in particular, are in great demand among the wealthy. In this refped: the Chinefe agree with moft nations of anti- quity, whofe priefts were generally employed as phyficians. The number of quacks and venders of noftrums is immenfe in every city, who gain a livelihood by the credulity of the multitude. One of this defcription exhibited in the public ftreets of Canton a powder for fale as a fpecific for the bite of a fnake ; and to convince the crowd of its immediate efficacy, he carried with him a fpecies of this reptile, whofe bite was known to be extremely venomous. He applied the mouth of the animal to the tip of his tongue, which began to fwell fo very rapidly, that in a few minutes the mouth was no longer able to contain it. The intumefcence continued till it feemed to burft, and exhibited a fhocking fight of foam and blood, during which the quack appeared in extreme agonies, and ex- cited the commiferation of all the bye-ftanders. In the height of the paroxyfm he applied a little of his powder to the nofe and the inflamed member, after which it gradually fubfided, and the diforder difappeared. Though the probability in the city of any one perfon being bit with a fnake was not lefs perhaps than a hundred thoufand to one, yet every perfon prefeat bought of the miraculous powder, till a fly fellow ma- Ircioufly fuggefted that the whole of this fcene might probably have been performed by means of a bladder concealed in the mouth. Y Y 2 But 348 TRAVELS IN CHINA. But the ufual remedy for the bite of a fnake is a topical appli- cation of fulphur, or the bruifed head of the fame animal that gave the wound. The coincidence of fuch an extravagant idea among nations as remote from each other as the equator from the pole is fufEciently remarkable. A Roman poet obferves, " Quum nocuit Terpens, fertur caput illius aptc ♦• Vulneiibus jungi : fanat quern fauciat ipfa." ^ Serenus de Mediclna, If to a ferpent's bite its head be laid, 'Twill heal the wound which by itfelf was made. The naked legs of the Hottentots are frequently flung by fcor- pions, and they invariably endeavour to catch the animal, which they bruife and apply to the wound, being confident of the cure ; the Javanefe, or inhabitants of Java, are fully perfuaded of the efficacy of fuch application j and the author above quoted obferves with regard to the fting of this infed, " Vulneribufque aptus, fertur revocarc venenum." Being applied to the wound, it is faid to draw out the poifon. As it is a violation of good morals for a gentleman to be {^en In company with ladies, much more fo to touch the hands of the fair, the faculty rather than lofe a fee, though it commonly^ amounts only to fifty tchen, or the twentieth part of fix {hillings and eight-pence, have contrived an ingenious way of feeling a lady's pulfe : a filken cord being made faft to the wrift of the patient is paffed through a hole in the wainfcot into another apartment, where the dodor, applying his hand to the cord, after a due obfervance of folemn mockery, decides upon the cafe and prefcribes accordingly. About court, however, a par- ticular TRAVELS IN CHINA. 345 t'ic«lar clafs of eunuchs only are entrufted with feeling the pulfe of the ladies. The crowded manner in which the common people live to- gether in fmall apartments in all the cities, the confined ftreets, and, above all, the want of cleanlinefs in their perfons, beget fcmetimes contagious difeafes, that fweep off whole families, fimilar to the plague. In Pekin incredible numbers perifh in thefe contagious fevers, which more frequently happen there than in other parts of the empire, notwithftanding the moderate temperature of the climate. In the fouthern provinces they are neither fo general, nor fo fatal, as might be expeded, owing, I believe, in a very great degree, to the univerfal cuftom among the mafs of the people of wearing vegetable fubftances next the Ikiii, vhich, being more cleanly, are confequently more whole- fome cbun clothing made from animal matter. Thus, linen and cotton are preferable to filk and woollen next the fkin, which fhoiild be worn only by perfons of the moft cleanly habits. Another antidote to the ill effedls that might be expeded from want of cleanlinefs in their houfes and their perfons, is the con- flant ventilation kept up in the former both by day and night : during warm weather, they liave no other doer but an open matted fkreen, and the windows are either entirely open or of thin paper only. But the moft effedual preventive is probably the univerfal cuflom of wearing in their clothes, and ofdepofiting in different parts of their dwellings, compofitions of odoriferous woods, gums, and refins, fweet-fmelling herbs and other aro- matic fubftances, the fcent of which prevails in every city, town, and village. Notwithftanding their want of perfonal 8 cleanlinefs, 350 TRAVELS IN CHINA. cleanlinefs, they are little troubled with leprous or cutaneous difeafes, and they pretend to be totally ignorant of gout, ftone, or gravel, which they afcribe to the preventive effedls of tea. In fa- vour of this opinion, it has been obferved by fome of our phyfi- cians, that fince the introdudion of tea into common ufe, cutane- ous difeafes have become much more rare in Great Britain than they were before that period, which others have afcribed, perhaps with more propriety, to the general ufe of linen ; both, however, may have been inftrumental in producing the happy effedl. The ravages of the fmall-pox, wherever they make their ap- pearance, are attended with a general calamity. Of thefe they pretend to diftinguifh above forty different fpecies, to each of which they have given a particular name. If a good fort breaks out, inoculation or, more properly fpeaking, infection by arti- ficial means becomes general. The ufual way of communi- cating the difeafe is by inferting the matter, contained in a little cotton wool, into the noftrils, or they put on the clothes of, or fleep in the fame bed with, fuch as may have had a favourable kind ; but they never introduce the matter by making any incifion in the fkin. This fatal difeafe, as appears from the records of the empire, was unknown before the tenth century, when it was perhaps introduced by the Mahomedans of Arabia, who, at that period, carried on a confiderable commerce with Canton from the Perfian gulph, and who not long before had received it from the Saracens, when they invaded and con- quered the Eaflern Empire. The fame difeafe was likewlfe one of thofe bleffings which the mad crufades conferred upon Eu- rope ; fince which time, to the clofe of the eighteenth century, not TRAVELS IN CHINA. 3^1 not a hope had been held out of its extirpation, when, happily, the invaluable difcovery of the cow-pock, or rather the general application of that difcovery, which had long been confined to a particular diftrid:, has furniflied abundant grounds to hope, that this defirable event may now be accomplifhed. In fome of the provinces the lower ordei's of people are faid to be dreadfully afflided with fore eyes, and this endemic complaint has been fuppofed to proceed from the copious ufe of rice; a conjedure, apparently, without any kind of foundation, as the Hindus and other Indian nations, whofe whole diet confifts almoft exclufively of this grain, are not particularly fubje£l to the like difeafe : and in Egypt, both in ancient and modern times, the opthalmia and blindnefs were much more prevalent than in China ; yet rice was neither cultivated nor known in that part of Africa until the reign of the caliphs, when it was introduced from the eaUvv-ard. The difeafe in China, if prevalent there, may more probably be owing to their living in crowded and low habitations, wherein there is a perpetual fmoke from the fn'e, from tapers made of fandal wood duft employed for marking the divifions of the day, from the general ufe of tobacco, and from the miafma or noxious va- pours exhaling from the dirt and offals v/hich are collected in or near their habitations. The organ of fight may alfo be relaxed, arid rendered more fufceptible of difeafe, by the conftant prac- tice of wafhing the face, even in the middle of fummer, with warm water. I muft obferve, however, that in the courfe of our long journey, we faw very few blind people, or perfons afBided with fore eyes. It 152 TRAVELS IN CHINA. It will readily be inferred, from the fhort view which has been taken of the flate of fociety, that the dlfeafe occafioned by an unreftrained and promifcuous intercourfe of the fexes can- not be very common in China. In fadl:, it is fcarcely known, and the treatment of it is fo little underPiood, in the few cafes which do occur, that it is allowed to work its way into the fyftem, and is then confidered by them as an incurable leprofy. On arriving at the northern extremity of the province of Can- ton, one of our condudors had imprudently pafled the night in one of thofe houfes, where, by the licenfe of government, fe- males are allowed to proflltute their perfons in order to gain a livelihood. Here, it feems, he had caught the infediion, and after fuffering a confiderable degree of pain, and not lefs alarm, he communicated to our phyfician the fymptoms of his complaint, of the nature and caufe of which he was entirely ignorant. He was a man of forty years, of a vigorous confti- tuticn and a gay cheerful temper, and had ferved as an officer in feveral campaigns from the different provinces of northern Tartary to the frontiers of India, yet fuch a difeafe did not confift with his knowledge. From this circumftance, and many others of a firailar kind, I conclude that, although it may fometimes make its appearance in the capital, and even there but very rarely, it has originally, and no long time ago, found its way thither through the ports of Chu-fan, Canton, and Macao, where numbers of abandoned women obtain their fub- fiftence by felling their favours to fuch of every nation as may be difpofed to purchafe them. It is, in fa(3:, fometimes called by the Chinefe the Canton-ulcer. No TRAVELS IN CHINA. 355 No male phyficlan is ever allowed to prefcribe for pregnant women ; and they confider it fo great a breach of delicacy for a man to be in the fame room with a woman when in labour, that, whatever difficulties may occur, the cafe is left entirely to the woman who attends her. There is not a man-midwife in all China, and yet the want of them does not appear to be injuriou's to population. They could fcarcely believe it poflible that, in Europe, men fhould be allowed to pradife a profeffion which, in their minds, belonged exclufively to the other fex. As a due knowledge of the organization of the human body, of the powers and functions of the feveral parts, is attainable only by the ftudy of pra6lical anatomy, a ftudy that would ihock the weak nerves of a timid Chinefe, it will not be expeded that their furgical operations fhould either be numerous or neatly performed. The law indeed which I have had occafion to no- tice, and the effeds produced by it in two or three inflances that occurred to our knowledge, will fufficiently explain the very low ebb of chirurgical fkill. No one will readily under- take to perform the mofl fimple operation, w^here not only all the direct confequences, but the contingencies for forty days muft lie at his door. They fometimes fucceed in reducing a diflocation, and in fetting a fimple frafture ; but in difficult and complicate cafes, the patient is generally abandoned to chance. Amputation is never pradifed. In the courfe of our whole journey, wherein we paffi^d through millions of people,- I do not recoiled to have feen a fingle individual that had fuf- tained the lofs of a limb, and but very few in any way maimed ; from whence I conclude, that accidents are uncommon, or that z z ferious 354 TRAVELS IN CHINA. ferious ones ufually terminate in the lofs of life. A Chinefe is fo dreadfully afraid of a (liarp cutting inftrument, that he has not even fubmitted to the operation of blood-letting ; though the principle is admitted, as they are in the pradlice of drawing blood by fcarifying the fkin, and applying cupping veifels. In certain complaints they burn the fkin with fmall pointed irons made hot, and fometimes, after punduring the part with filver needles, they fet fire to the leaves of afpecies of Artimefia upoa it, in the fame manner as the Moxa in Japan is made ufe of to cure, and even prevent a number of difeafes, but efpecially the gout and rheumatifm,the former of which is faid to be unknown in China. Cleanfmg the ears, cutting corns, pulling the joints till they crack, twitching the nofe, thumping on the back, and fuch like operations, are annexed to the fhaving profeffion, by which thoufands in every city gain a livelihood. In fhort, the whole medical fkill of the Chinefe may be fummed up in the words of the ingenious Dodor Gregory from the information he obtained from his friend Do£tor Gillan. " In the greateft, *' moft ancient, and moft civihzed empire on the face of the ** earth, an empire that was great, populous, and highly civi- " lized two thoufand years ago, when this country v^as as fa- " vage as New Zealand is at prefent, no fuch good medical " aid can be obtained among the people of it, as a fmart " boy of fixteen, who had been but twelve months ap- " prentice to a good and well employed Edinburgh Sur- " geon, might reafonably be expeded to afford." " If," con- tinues the Dodor, " the Emperor of China, the abfolute " monarch of three hundred and thirty-three millions of " people, more than twice as many as all Europe contains,. " were TRAVELS IN CHINA. :^S5 '' were attacked with a pleurlfy, or got his leg broken, it " would be happy for him to get fuch a boy for his firft phy-r " fician and ferjeant-furgeon. The boy (if he had feen his mafber's practice in but one or two fimilar cafes) would cer- tainly know how to fet his Imperial Majefty's leg, and would probably cure him of his pleurify, which none of his own fubjedts could do." (( {( Having thus given a flight fketch of the flate of fome of the leading branches in fcience, arts, and manufadures, omitting purpofeiy that of agriculture, which will be noticed among the fubjedts of a future fedion, I think, upon the whole, it may fairly be concluded, that the Chinefe have been among the firft nations, now exifting in the world, to arrive at a certain pitch of perfedlion, where, from the policy of the govern- ment, or fome other caufe, they have remained ftationary : that they were civilized, fully to the fame extent they now are, more than two thoufand years ago, at a period when all Europe might be confidered, comparatively, as barbarous j but that they have fmce made little progrefs in any thing, and been re- trograde in many things : that, at this moment, compared with Europe, they can only be faid to be great in trifles, whilfl: they are really trifling in every thing that is great. I cannot how- ever exadlly fubfcribe to an opinion pronounced on them by a learned and elegant writer*, who was well verfed in oriental litera- ture, as being rather too unqualified ; but he was lefs acquainted with their charader than that of any other Afiatic nation, and totally ignorant of their language. " Their letters," fays he, • Sir William Jones. 'Z Z 2 ii if 35^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. " if we may fo call them, are merely the fymbcls of ideas j " their philofophy feems yet in fo rude a ftate, as hardly to " deferve the appellation ; they have no ancient monuments " from which their origin can be traced, even by plaufible con- *' jedure ; their fciences are wholly exotic ; and their mecha- nical arts have nothing in them charaderiftic of a particular family ; nothing which any fet of men, In a country fo high- ly favoured by nature, might not have difcovered and im- " proved." TRAVELS IN CHINA. 357 CHAP. vir. Government — Laws — Tenures of Land and Taxes — Revenues — Civil and Military Ranks, and Eftablifliments. Opinions on ivhirh the Executive Authority is grounded. -^Principle en which an Em^ peror of China feldom appears in public, — The Ce/iforate. — Public Departments. — Laws. — Scale of Crimes and Punifiiments. — Laws regarding Htmicide. — Curious Laiv Cafe. — No Appeal from Civil Suits.'— DifeBs in the Executive Government. — Duty of Obedience and Power of perfcnal Correction. — Rtiffia and China com- pared. — Fate of the Prime Minifter Ho-chang-tong. — Tearly Calendar and Pekin Gazette, engines of Government. — Freedom of the Prefs. — Duration of the Govern- ment attempted to be explained.— Precautions of Government to prevent Infurreclions. —Taxes and Revenues. — Civil and Military Eflablifhments, — Chinefe Army, its Numbers and Appointments. — Conduct of the Tartar Government at the Conquefl,-^ Impolitic Change of late Tears y and the probable Confequences of it. A HE late period at which the nations of Europe became firft acquainted with the exiftence even of that vaft extent of coun- try comprehended under the name of China, the difficulties of accefs to any part of it when known, the peculiar nature of the language, which, as I have endeavoured to prove, has no relation with any other either ancient or modern, the extreme jealoufy of the government towards foreigners, and the con- tempt in which they were held by the loweft of the people, may ferve,, 358 TRAVELS IN CHINA; ferve, among other caufes, to account for the very limited and Imperfedl knowledge we have hitherto obtained of the real hif- tory of this extraordinary empire : for their records, it feems, are by no means deficient. For two centuries at leaft before the Ghriftian era, down to the prefent time, the tranfadtions of each reign are amply detailed without any interruption. They have even preferved colledtions of copper coins, forming a re- gular feries of the different Emperors that have filled the throne of China for the laft two thoufand years. Such a coUedlon, though not quite complete, Sir George Staunton brought with him to England. Before this time, when China confifted of a number of petty flates or principalities, the annals of the country are faid to abound with recitals of wars and battles and bloodlhed, like thofe of every other part of the world. But, in proportion as the number of thefe diftindl kingdoms diminifhed, till at length they were all melted and amalgamated into one great empire, the deftrudion of the human race by human means abated, and the government, fince that time, has been lefs interrupted by fo- reign war, or domeftic commotion, than any other that hiftory has made known. But whether this defirable ftate of public tranquillity may have been brought about by the peculiar nature of the government being adapted to the genius and habits of the people, which in the opinion of Ariftotle is the beft of all poffible governments, or rather by conftraining and fubduing the genius and habits of the people to the views and maxims of the government, is a queftion that may admit of fome difpute. At the prefent day, however, it is fufficiently evident, that the TRAVELS IN CHINA. 359 the heavy hand of power has completely overcome and moulded to its own fhape the phyfical character of the people, and that their moral fentiments and actions are fwayed by the opinions, and almofl under the entire dominion, of the government. Thefe opinions, to which it owes fo much of its (lability, are grounded on a principle of authority, which, according to maxims induflrioufly inculcated and now completely eftabliflied in the minds of the people, is confidered as the natural and un- alienable right of the parent over his children ; an authority that is not fuppofed to ceafe at any given period of life or years,, but to extend, and to be maintained with undiminifhed and un- controuled fway, until the death of one of the parties diflblves the obligation. The Emperor being confidered as the common father of his people, is accordingly inverted with the exercife of the fame authority over them, as the father of a family exerts on thofe of his particular houfehold. In this fenfe he takes the title of the Great Father ; and by his being thus placed above any earthly controul, he is fuppofed to be alfo above earthly defcent, and therefore, as a natural confequence, he fometimes ftyles himfelf the Jble ruler of the world and the Son of Heaven. But that no inconfiftency might appear in the grand fabric of filial obedience, the Emperor, with folemn ceremony at the com- mencement of every new year, makes his proftrations before the Emprefs Dov^'^ager, and on the fame day he demands a re- petition of the fame homage from all his great officers of ftate.. Conformable to this fyftem, founded entirely on parental au- thority, the governor of a province is confidered as the father of that province ; of a city, the father of that city j and the head / ) . of J 6q travels in china. of any office or department is fuppofed to prefide over it with the fame authority, intereft, and affection, as the father of a family fuperintends and manages the concerns of domefi.ic life. It is greatly to be lamented that a fyftem of government, fo plaufible in theory, {hould be liable to fo many abufes in prac- tice ; and that this fatherly care and affedion in the governors, and filial duty and reverence in the governed, would, with much more propriety, be exprefled by the terms of tyranny, oppref- fion, and injuftice in the one, and by fear, deceit, and difobc- dience in the other. The firft grand maxim on which the Emperor ads is, feldom to appear before the public, a maxim whofe origin would be difficultly traced to any principle of affedion or folicitude for his children ; much more eafily explained as the offspring of fufpicion. The tyrant who may be confcious of having com- mitted, or affented to, ads of cruelty and oppreffion, muft feel a reludance to mix with thofe who may have fmarted under the lafh of his power, naturally concluding that fome fecret hand may be led, by a fingle blow, to avenge his own wrongs, or thofe of his fellow-fubjeds. The principle, however, upon which the Emperor of China feldom fhews himfelf in public, and then only in the height of fplendor and magnificence, feems to be eftablifhed on a policy of a very different kind to that of felf-prefervation. A power that ads in fecret, and whofe in- fluence is felt near and remote at the fame moment, makes a llronger impreffion on the mind, and is regarded with more dread TRAVELS IN CHINA. 351 dread and awful refpecfi:, than If the agent was always vlfiblc and familiar to the eye of every one. The priefts of the Eleu- finian myfleries were well acquainted with this feature of the human charadler, which is ftronger in proportion as the reafon- ing faculties are lefs improved, and which required the enlight- ened mind of a Socrates to be able to difregard the terror they infpired among the vulgar. Thus alfo Deioces^ as Herodotus informs us, when once eftabliflied as king in Ecbatana, would fuffer none of the people, for whom before he was the common advocate, to be now admitted to his prefence, concluding that all thofe who were debarred from feeing him, would eafily be perfuaded that his nature, by being created king, was transformed into fomething much fuperior to theirs. A frequent accefs in- deed to men of rank and power and talents, a familiar and un- reftrained intercourfe with them, and a daily obfervance of their ordinary actions and engagements in the concerns of life, have a tendency very much to diminifh that reverence and refped: which public opinion had been willing to allow them. It was juftly obferved by the great Conde, that no man is a hero to his valet-de-chambre. Confideratlons of this kind, rather than any dread of his fub- jedts, may probably have fuggelled the cuftom which prohibits an Emperor of China from making his perfon too familiar to the multitude, and which requires that he fhould exhibit him- felf only on particular occafions, arrayed in pomp and magni- ficence, and at the head of his whole court, confiding of an affemblage of many thoufand officers of ftate, the agents of his 3 A will, 362 TRAVELS IN CHINA. will, all ready, at the word of command, to proftratc themfelves at his feet. The power of the fovereign Is abfolute ; but the patriarchal fyftem, making it a point of indifpenfable duty for a fon to bring offerings to the fpirit of his deceafed parent in the moft public manner, operates as fome check upon the exercife of this power. By this civil inftitution, the duties of which are ob- ferved with more than a religions ftridtnefs, he is conflantly put in mind that the memory of his private condudl, as w^ell as of his public ads, will long furvive his natural life ; that his name will, at certain times in every year, be pronounced with a kind of facred and reverential awe, from one extremity of the ex- tenfive empire to the other, provided he may have filled his fta- tion to the fatisfadion of his fubjeds ; and that, on the contrary, public execrations will refcue from oblivion any arbitrary ad of injuftice and opprelTion, of which he may have been guilty. It may alfo operate as a motive for being nice and circumfped ia the nomination of a fucceffor, which the law has left entirely to his choice. The confideration, however, of pofthumous fame, would operate only as a {lender reftraint on the caprices of a tyrant, as the hiftory of this, as well as other countries, furnifhes abun- dant examples. It has, therefore, been thought neceffary to add another, and perhaps a more effedual check, to curb any dif- pofition to licentioufnefs or tyranny that might arife in the breaft of the monarch. This is the appointment of the cenfo- rate. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 363 rate, an office filled by two perfons, who have the power of remonftrating freely againft any illegal or unconftitutional z.t\ about to be committed, or fandioned by the Emperor. And although it may well be fuppofed, that thefe men are extremely cautious in the exercife of the power delegated to them, by vir*- tue of their office, and in the difcharge of this difagreeable part of their duty, yet they have another talk to perform, on which their own pofthumous fame is not lefs involved than that of their mafter, and in the execution of which they run lefs rifk of giving offence. They are the hiftorJographers of the em- pire ; or, more corredlly fpeaking, the biographers of the Em- peror. Their employment, in this capacity, confifts chiefly in colle£ling the fentiments of the monarch, in recording his fpeeches and memorable fayings, and in noting down the mofl; prominent of his private atStions, and the remarkable occur- rences of his reign. Thefe records are lodged in a large cheft, which is kept in that part of the palace where the tribunals of government are held, and which is fuppofed not to be opened until the deceafe of the Emperor ; and, if any thing material to the injury of his chara6ter and reputation is found to be re- corded, the publication of it is delayed, out of delicacy to his family, till two or three generations have pafTed away, and fometimes till the expiration of the dynafty ; by this indulgence they pretend, that a more faithful relation is likely to be ob- tained, in which neither fear nor flattery could have operated to difguife the truth. An inftitution, fo remarkable and fingular in its kind in an arbitrary government, could not fail to carry with it a very 3 A 2 powerful :M TRAVELS IN CHINA. powerful influence upon the decinons of the monarch, and to make him foHcitous to ail, on all occafions, in fuch a manner, as would be moft likely to fecure a good name, and to tranfmit liis charadter unfullied and facred to pofterity. The records of iheir hKlory are faid to mention a ftory of an Emperor, of the dynafty or family of 'Tn/ig, who, from a confcioufnefs of hav- ing, in feveral inftances, tranfgreffed the bounds of his autho- rity, was determined to take a peep into the hiftorical cheft, where he knew he fhould find all his adions recorded. Having made ufe of a variety of arguments, in order to convince the two cenfors that there could be nothing improper in the ftep he was about to take, as, among other things, he afTured them, he was actuated with the defire only of being made ac- quainted with his greateft faults, as the firft ftep to amend- ment, one of thefe gentlemen is faid to have anfwered him very nobly, to this effedt : " It is true your Majefty has committed " a number of errors, and it has been the painful duty of our " employment to take notice of them ; a duty," continued he, " which further obliges us to inform pofterity of the conver- " fation which your Majefty has this day, very improperly, " held with us." To affift the Emperor in the weighty affairs of ftate, and in the arduous ta£k of governing an empire of fo great an extent, and fuch immenfe population, the conftitution has affigned him two councils, one ordinary, and the other extraordinary ; the ordinary council is compofed of his principal minifters, under the name of Collao, of which there are fix. The extraordinary council confifts entirely of the princes of the blood. For TRAVELS IN CHINA. 365 For the adminiftration of the affairs of government, there are fix boards or departments, confiding of, 1. The Court of Appointments to vacancies in the offices of government, being compofed of the minifter and learned men, qualified to judge of the merits of candidates. 2. The Court of Finance. 3. The Court of Ceremonies, prefiding over the diredion of ancient cuftoms, and treating with foreign EmbafTadors, 4. The Court for regulating military affairs. 5. The Tribunal of Juftice. 6. The Board of Works. Thefe public fundlonarlcs refolve upon, recommend, and report to the Emperor, all matters belonging to their feparate jurifdidions, who, with the advice of his ordinary and, if con- fidered to be necefTary, of his extraordinary council, affirms, amends, or rejects their decrees. For this purpofe, the late Emperor never omitted to give regular audience in the great hall of the palace every morning at the hours of four or five o'clock. Subordinate to thefe fupreme courts held in the capital, arc others of fimilar conftitution eftablifhed In the different pro- vinces and great cities of the empire, each of which correfponds with its principal in Pekin, It 366 TRAVELS IN CHINA. It would far exceed the limits of the prefeiit work, were I to enter into a detail of their code of laws, which indeed I am not fufBciently prepared to do. They are publifhed for the ufe of the fubjeci, in the plained charadlers that the language will ad- mit, making fixteen fmall volumes, a copy of which is now in England ; and I am encouraged to hold out a reafonable hope, that this compendium of the laws of China may, ere long, appear in an able and faithful Englifh tranflation, which will explain, more than all the volumes that have hitherto been written on the fulyedi: of China, in what manner a mafs of people, more than the double of that which is found in all Europe, has been kept together through fo many ages in one bond of union. This work * on the laws of China, for per- fpicuiry and method, may juftly be compared with Blackftone's Commentaries on the Laws of England. It not only contains the laws arranged under their refpedive heads, but to every law is added a fliort commentary and a cafe. I have been affured, on the beft authority, that the laws of China define, in the moft diftinct and perfpicuous manner, almoft every fhade of criminal offences, and the panifhment awarded to each crime : that the greateft care appears to have been taken in conflruding this fcale of crimes and punifhments; that they are very far from being fanguinary : and that if the pradtice was equal to the theory, few nations could boaft of a more mild, and, at the fame time, a more efficacious dif- * It is called the Ta-lch'm LeU'Lse, the laws and inflitutes under the dynafty Ta-tchln, which is the name affumed by the prefent family on the throne. penfation TRAVELS IN CHINA. 367 penfatloR of juftice. Of all the defpotic governments exlftlng, there is certainly none where the life of man is held fo facred as in the laws of China. A murder is never overlooked, except in the horrid pradice of expofing infants : nor dares the Em- peror hirafelf, all-powerful as he is, to take away the life of the meanefl: fubjetfl, without the formality at leaft of a regular procefs, though, as will be feen in the cafe of the late prime minifter of Kien-Long, the chance of efcaping muft be very flender, where he himfelf becomes the accufer. So tenacioufly however do they adhere to that folemn declaration of God de- livered to Noah — " At the hand of every man's brother will I " require the life of man. Whofo fheddeth man's blood, by *' man fliall his blood be fhed," — that the good intention is oftentimes defeated by requiring, as I have elfewhere obferved, from the perfon laft feen in company with one who may have received a mortal wound, or who may have died fuddenly, a circumftantial account, fupported by evidence, in what manner his death was occafioned. In attempting to proportion punlfhments to the degrees of crimes, inftead of awarding the fame punifliment for flealing a loaf of bread and taking away the life of man, the Chinefe legifldtors, according to our notions, feem to have made too little diftinclion between accidental manflaughter and premedi- tated murder. To conftitute the cvinie, it is not necelTury to prove the intention or malice aforethought ; for tiiough want of intention palliates the offence, and confequently mitigates the punifhment, yet \% never entirely excules the offender. Ii a maa 368 TRAVELS IN CHINA. man fliould kill another by an unforefeen and unavoidable ac- cident, his life is forfeited by the law, and however favourable the circumftances may appear in behalf of the criminal, the Emperor alone is inverted with the power of remitting the fen- tence, a power which he very rarely if ever cxercifes to the extent of a full pardon, but, on many occafions, to a mitigation of the punifliment awarded by law. Stridly fpeak- ing, no fentence of death can be carried into execution until it has been ratified by the monarch. Yet in ftate crimes, or in a6ls of great atrocity, the viceroy of a province fometimes takes upon himfelf to order fummary punifhment, and prompt execu- tion has been inflicted on foreign criminals at Canton when guilty only of homicide. Thus, about the beginning of the lafl century, a man belonging to Captain Shelvocke had the mif- fortune to kill a Chinefe on the river. The corpfe was laid before the door of the Englifh fadory, and the firft perfon that came out, who happened to be one of the fupercargoes, was feized and carried as a prifoner into the city, nor would they confent to his releafe till the criminal was given up, whom, after a fhort inquiry, they ftrangled. The recent affair of the unfortunate gunner -is well known. An affray happened in Macao a few years ago, in which a Chinefe was killed by the Portuguefe. 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, propofed terms of compromife, which were rejeded, and force was threatened to be ufed. There happened to be a merchant from Manilla then refiding at Macao, a man of excellent cha- rader, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 369 radler, who had long carried on a commerce between the two ports. This unfortunate man was feleded to be the innocent vidim to appeafe the rigour of Chinefe juftice, and he was im- mediately ftrangled *. The procefs of every trial for criminal offences, of which the punifliment is capital, muft be tranfmitted to Pekin, and fubmit- * Various accidents having happened at different times to Chinefe fnbje(2s in the port of Canton, which have generally led to difagreeable difcuffions with the Chinefe government, the fupercargoes of the Eaft India Company thought proper, on a late occafionof a perfon being wounded by afliot from a Britifh fhip of war, to make ap- plication for an extraft from the criminal code of laws relating to homicide, in order to have the fame tranflated into Englilh, and made public. This extraft confined of the following articles : 4 . A man who kills another on the fuppofition of theft, fhall be ftrangled, according to the law of homicide committed in an affray. 2. A man who fires at anotlier with a mufquet, and kills him thereby, fliall be be- headed, as in cafes of wilful murder. If the fufferer be wounded, but not mor- tally, the offender fhall be fent into exile. 3. A man who puts to death a criminal who had been apprehended, and made no refiftance, fliall be ftrangled, according to the law againft homicide committed in an affray. 4. A man who falfely accufes an innocent perfon of theft (in cafes of greateft crimi- nality) is guilty of a capital offence; in all other cafes the offenders, whether prin- cipals or acceffarles, fhall be fent into exile. 5. A man who wounds another unintentionally fliall be tried according to the law refpe(5tlng blows given in an affray, and the punifliment rendered more or lefs fe- vere, according to the degree of injury fuftained. €. A man who, intoxicated with liquor, commits outrages againft the laws, fhall be exiled to a defert country, there to remain in a ftate of fervitude. In this clear and decifive manner are punifliments awarded for every clafs of crimes committed in fociety ; and it was communicated to the Englifli fuflory from the viceroy, that on no confideration was it left in the breaft of the judge to extenu- ate or to exaggerate the fentence, whatever might be the rank, chara7S- the children, for the fins of the fathers, unto the third and fourth generation, a fentiment however which, it would feem, lapfe of time had rendered lefs expedient, for the prophet Eze- kiel, fuch depofitlon he had never intentionally fwerved in the courfe of the invefti- gation. According-, therefore, to the amendment fuggefted by the fiipreme tribunal, it appears indeed, that when the noife was firll: 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 aforefaid. And whereas it was likewife depofed by She-fo-pao, That the grain being ripe at that feafon, the flems were exceeding high and ftrong, fo as to render it difficult to walk amongR them, it feems that Vang yung-man^ in walking through the corn, had pro- duced a rullling noife very audible to She-fo-pao, who was fitting on the declivity of the hill, and in a direiSion in which the wind favoured the progrefs of the found ; but when the latter called out, the wind, on the contrary, prevented him from being heard, and confequently from receiving an anfwer ; this mifchance, therefore, ga^e rife to his fufpicion of the approach of wild beads, which appears to have been the fole and undifguifed motive for firing the gun. This ftatement of fadls being narrowly inveftigated, in compliance with the fu- preme tribunal's order for revifal, may be confided in as accurate, and worthy of credit ; the refult, therefore, is that the offender during the darknefs of the night, and under the apprehenfion of the approach of a wolf or tyger, had fired a mufquet in a fpot frequented by men, and had mortally wounded a man by the mifchance, which correfponds with the law fuggefted in the order for revifal iflued by the fu- preme tribunal ; namely, that law againfl an offender who fhould unwarily draw a bow and fhoot an arrow towards fields or tenements, fo that any perfon unperceived therein (hould be wounded and die therefrom. The prior decifion, conformably to the law againft homicide committed in aa- affray, fubfequent inveftigation does not confirm ; and She fo-pao is, therefore, only punilhable with banifliment. This fecond report being received by the fupreme criminal tribunal,, they declare that. The fentence having been altered on a revifion by the fub-viceroy, and rendered conformable to the law, which ordains that, whoever ftiall unwarily draw a bow and ^ fhocfe (( (( 376 TRAVELS IN CHINA. kiel, who on this fubje£t had more elevated notions of moral right than either the Greeks or the Ghinefe, fpurns it with great indignation. In allufion to fuch an idea, which it feems had become a proverb among the Jews, he breaks out into this fubUme exclamation : " What mean ye that ye ufe this pro- " verb concerning the land of Ifrael, faying. The fathers have " eaten four grapes, and the children's teeth are fet on edge ? " As I live, faith the Lord, ye fhall not have occafion any more to ufe this proverb in Ifrael. Behold all fouls are mine ; as the foul of the father, fo alfo the foul of the fon, is mine. The foul that fmneth, // fhall die. The fon fliall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither fhall the father bear " the iniquity of the fon : the righteoufnefs of the righteous " {hall be upon hhn^ aad the wickednefs of the wicked fhall be " upon h'lm.^^ In moft caufes, except thofe of high treafon, It may be pre- fiimed, the high tribunal of Pekin will a6t with ftri 395 S^o, in China, the Emperor at the vernal equinox, after a folemn offering to the God of Heaven and Earth, goes through the ceremony of holding the plough, an examplS In which he is followed by the viceroys and governors and great officers in every part of the empire. This ceremony, though, in all probability, the remains of a religious Inftitution, is well calculated to give encouragement to the labouring peafantry, whofe profeffion, thus honourably patronized, cannot fail to be purfued with more energy and cheerfulnefs than where it re- ceives no fuch marks of difiin45o 1 ,600,000 7,2CO,000 1,800,000 -73,000,000 Total ounces 4,974,4501 And as no allowance is made in the above eftimate for the ex- pence of artillery, tents, war equipage, nor for veflels offeree on the different rivers and canals, the building and keeping in re- pair the military pofts, the flags, ceremonial dreffes, boats, wag- gons, mufical bands, all of which are included in the extraor- dinaries of the army, thefe may probably be equal to the or- dinaries ; thus, the whole military eftablifhment would require the fum of 149,948,900 ounces, or 49,982,933!. flerling. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 407 The dirpofal of the revenues will then ftand as follows : Total amount of the revenue - ;^.66,ooo,ooo Civil eftabli(hment - £, 1,973,333 Military ditto - 49,982,933 5^95 6.2 66 *— — I ■ Surplus, being for the Emperor's eftablifhment ^, 14,043,734 which accords pretty nearly with the fum faid to be remitted to Pekin in the year 1792. It will appear then that if the revenues be admitted as accu- rate, and I fee no juft reafon for fuppofing the contrary, they 'are more than fufficient to meet the expences of fo apparently an enormous eftablifhment. If, however, the King of PrufTia, the Monarch of a fmall indiftinguifhable fpeck on the globe, when put in comparifon with the empire of China, can keep up an army of one hundred and eighty or two hundred thou- fand men, I can perceive nothing either extravagant or ex- traordinary in fuppofing that a Sovereign whofe dominions are eight times the extent of thofe of France, before her late ufurpations, fnould have ten times as great a force as that of the King of Pruffia. It may perhaps be afked in what manner are they employed, feeing the nation is fo little engaged in foreign war? The employments for which the military are ufed differ materially from thcfe among European nations. Except a great part of the Tartar cavalry, who are ftationed on the northern frontier, and in the conquered provinces of Tar- tary, and the Tartar infantry, who are diftributed as guards for the different cities of the empire, the reft of the army is parcelled 4o8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. parcelled out In the fmalier towns, villages, and hamlets ; where they acl as jailors, conftables, thief-takers, affiftanis to magi- ftrates, lubordinate colledlors of the taxes, guards to the grana- lies; and are employed in a variety of different ways under the civil magiilracy and police. Befides thefe, an immenfe multitude are ftationed as guards at the military ports along the public roads, canals, and rivers. Thefe pofts are fmall lijuare buildings, like fo many little caftles, each having on Its fummit a watch-tower and a flag; and they are placed at the diftance of three or four miles afunder. At one of thefe pofts there are never fewer than fix men. They not only prevent robberies and difputes on the roads and canals, but convey the public difpatches to and from the capital. An exprefs fentfrom poft to poft travels between the capital and Canton in twelve days, which Is upwards of one hundred miles a day. There is RO other poft nor mode of conveying letters for the convenience of the public. A great part then of the Chlnefe army can only be confidered as a kind of militia, which never has been, and In all human probability never will be, embodied ; as a part of the commu- nity not living entirely on the labour of the reft, but contribut- ing fomething to the common ftock. Every foldier ftationed on the different guards has his portion of land afligned to him, which he cultivates for his family, and pays his quota of the produce to the ftate. Such a provlfion, encouraged by public opinion, induces the foldier to marry, and the married men are never removed from their ftations. It TRAVELS IN CHINA. 409 It will not be expedled that men thus circumftanced fliould exhibit a very military appearance underarms. In fome places, where they were drawn out in compliment to the Embaflador, when the weather happened to.be a little warm, they were employed in the exercife of their fans, inftead of their match- locks ; others we found drawn up in a fmgle line, and refting very compofedly on their knees to receive the Embaflador, in which pofture they remained till their commanding officer paffed the word to rife. Whenever we happened to take them by furprize, there was the greateft fcramble to get their holyday drefles out of the guard-houfe, which, when put on, had more the appearance of being intended for the flage than the field of battle. Their quilted petticoats, fattin boots, and their fans, had a mixture of clumfmefs and effeminacy that ill accorded with the military charader. The different kinds of troops that compofe the Chinefe army confift of Tartar cavalry, whofe only weapon is the fabre ; and a few who carry bows. Tartar infantry, bowmen ; having alfo large fabres. Chinefe infantry, carrying the fame weapons. Chinefe matchlocks. Chinefe Tygers of war, bearing large round fliields of bafket- work, and long ill-made fwords. On the fhields of the laft are painted monftrous faces of fome imaginary animal, intended to frighten the enemy, or, like another gorgon, to petrify their beholders. 3 G The 4.ia TRAVELS IN CHINA. The military drefs varies in almoft every province. Some- times they wore blue jackets edged with red, or brown with yellow ; forne had long pantaloons ; iome breeches, with ftockings of cotton cloth ; others petticoats and boots. The bowmen had long loofe gowns of blue cotton, fluffed with a kind of felt or wadding, ftudded all over with brafs knob.-, and bound round the middle with a girdle, from which the labre was appended behind, hanging with the point forwards, and on the right, not the left, fide as in Europe. On the head they ■wore a helmet of leather, or gilt pafteboard, with flaps on each fide that covered the cheeks and fell upon the fhoulder. The upper part was exactly like an inverted funnel, with a long pipe terminating in a kind of fpear, on which was bound a tuft of long hair dyed of a fcarlet colour. The greateft number we faw at any one place might be from two to three thoufand, which were drawn up in a fingle line along the bank of a river ; and as they flood with an interval between each equal to the width of a man, they formed a very confiderable line in length. Every fifth man had a fmall trian- gular flag, and every tenth a large one ; the flaffs that fupported them were fixed to the jacket behind the fhoulders. Some of the flags were green, edged with red ; others blue, edged with yellow. I never faw the Chinefe troops drawn out in any other way than a fingle line in front j not even two deep. The Tartar cavalry appear to be remarkably fwift, and to charge with great impetuofity ; but the horfes are fo fmall and are broken into fo quick, and fliort a ftroke that the eye is deceived, Theip TRAVELS IN CHINA. 411 Their real fpeed, in fa£t, is very moderate. Their faddles are remarkably foft, and raifed fo high both before and behind, that the rider cannot eafily be thrown out of his feat. The llirrups are fo fhort that the knee is almoft as high as the chin. They have very little artillery, and that little is as wretched as it well can be. I fufpe6t It is borrowed from the Portugueze, as the matchlock mofl; unqueftionably has been. When our fellow-traveller Vait-ta-gin was afked the reafon of their pretending to give a preference to the clumfy matchlocks over the firelocks now in ufe among European troops, he replied, it had been found, after a fevere engagement in Thi- bet, that the matchlocks had done much more execution than the firelocks. It is difficult to combat prejudices; but it was not very difficult to convince Van that the men might pro- bably have been quite as much in fault as the miffquets ; and that the fuperior fteadinefs of the fire from the matchlocks might poffibly be owing to their being fixed, by an iron fork, into the ground. The miffionaries have affigned a very abfurd reafon for firelocks not being ufcd in China ; they fay the damp- nefs of the air is apt to make the flint mifs fire. With equal propriety might thefe gentlemen have afferted that flints would not emit fire in Italy. Their want of good iron and fteel to manufacture locks, or the bad quality of their gunpowder, might perhaps be offered as better reafons j and as the beft of all their want of courage and coolnefs to make ufe of them with that fteadinefs which is required to produce the eff*eds of which they are capable. Their favourite inftrument is the bow, which, like all other miffile weapons, requires leis courage -to 3 G 2 manage, 412 TRAVELS IN CHINA. manage, than thofe which bring man to cppofe himielf m clofe conteft with man. Although the Tartars have found it expedient to continue the Chinefe army on the old footing, it may naturally be fnp- pofed they would endeavour to fecure themfelves by all poffible means in the poiTefTion of this vafl empire, and that they would ufe every exertion to recruit the army with their own coun- trymen, in preference to the Chinefe. Every Tartar male child is accordingly enrolled. This precaution was neceffary, as their whole army, at the time of the conqueft, is faid not to have exceeded eighty thoufand men. At this time, in fad, a weak adminiftration had fuffered the empire to be torn afunder by convulfions. Every department, both civil and military, was under the control of eunuchs. Six thoufand of thefe crea- tures are faid to have been turned adrift by the Tartars on taking pofTeflion of the palace in Pekin. The condu£l of the Man-tchoo Tartars, whofe race is now on the throne, was a mafter-piece of policy little to be ex- peded in a tribe of people that had been confidered but as half civilized. They entered the Chinefe dominions as auxiliaries againft two rebel chiefs, but foon perceived they might become the principals. Having placed their leader on the vacant throne, inftcad of fettlng up for conquerors, they melted at once into the maf? of the conquered. They adopted the drefs, the manners, and the opinions of the people. In all the civil departments of the ftate they appointed the ableft Chinefe, and all vacancies were tilled with Chinefe in preference to Tartars.. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 413 Tartars. They learned the Chinefe language; married into Ghinefe families ; encouraged Chinefe fuperftltions ; and, in fliort, omitted no ftep that could tend to incorporate them as one nation. Their great objed: was to ftrengthen the army with their own countrymen, whllft the Chinefe were fo fatisfied with the change, that they almoft doubted Wiiether a change had really taken place. The uninterrupted fuccefPion of four Emperors, all of whom were endowed with excellent underftandings, uncommon vi- gour of mind, and decifion of character, has hitherto obvi- ated the danger of fuch an enormous difproportion between the governors and the governed. The wifdom, prudence, and energy of thefe Emperors have not only maintained the family on the throne, the fifth of which now fiUs it, but have enlarged the dominions to an extent of which hiftory furnifhes no parallel. The prefent Emperor, Kia-^ king^ is faid to poflefs the learning and prudence of his father, and the Ermnefs of Kaufig-Shee ; but it is probable he will have a more difficult taflc in governing the empire than either of his predeceflbrs. In proportion as the Tartar power has increased, they have become lefs folicitous to con- ciliate the Chinefe. All the heads of departments are now Tartars. The miniftcrs are all Tartars ; and moft of the offices of high trufl: and power are filled by Tartars. And although the ancient language of the country is ftill preferved as the court language, yet it is more than probable that Tartar pride, encreafing with its growing power, will ere long be induced to adopt its own. The 414 TRAVELS IN CHINA. The Emperor Kaung-Shee indeed took uncommon pains to improve the Mantchoo language, and to form it into a fyftema-. tic Thefauriis or diflionary ; and Tchien-Lung direded that the children of all fuch parents as were one a Tartar, the other a Chinefe, fliould be taught the Mantchoo language ; and tliat they might pafs their examinations for office in that language. I could obferve, that the young men of the royal family at Tuen-m'm-yuen fpoke with great contem.pt of the Chinefe^ One of them, perceiving that I was defirous of acquiring fome knowledge of the Chinefe written character, took great pains to convince me that the Tartar language was much fuperior to It ; and he not only offered to furniih me with the alphabet and fome books, but with his inftrudlions alfo, if I would give up the Chinefe, which, he obferved, was not to be acquired in the courfe of a man's whole life. I could not forbear remark- ing, how very much thefe young princes enjoyed a jeft levelled againft the Chinefe. An ill-natured remark, for inftance, on the cramped feet and the hobbling gait of a Chinefe woman met with their hearty approbation ; but they were equally difpleafed on hearing the clumfy fhoes worn by the Tartar ladies compared to the broad flat-bottomed junks of the Chinefe. Although the ancient inftitutes and laws, the eftablifhed forms cf office, the pageantry of adminiftration, were all retained, and the drefs, the manners, and external deportment of the vanquilhed were aflumed by the vidors, yet the native charac- ter remained diftind j and now, in the higher departments of office efpecially, it burfts through all difguife. The confcious fuperio- TRAVELS IN CHINA. 4^5 fLiperiorlty of the one checks and overawes the other. " Mofl: " of our books," obferves Lord Macartney, " confound the " two people together, and talk of them as if they made only " one nation under the general name of China; but whatever " might be concluded from any outward appearances, the real " diftindltion is never forgotten by the fovereign, who, though ** he pretends to be perfeftly impartial, condudls himfelf at " bottom bv a fyftematic nationality, and never for a moment " lofes frght of the cradle of his power. The fcience of go- " vernment in the Kajlern world, is underftood by thofe who " govern very differently from what it is in the Wejier?i. " When the iucceffion of a contefted kingdom in Europe is " once afcertained, whether by violence or compromife, the " nation returns to its prifiine regularity and compofure : k " matters little whether a Bourbon or an Auftrian fills " the throne of Naples or of Spain, becaufe the fovereigo, " whoever he be, then becomes, to all intents and purpofes, a " Spaniard or Neapolitan, and his defcendants continue fo with " accelerated velocity. George the Firfl and George the Second *' ceafed to be foreigners from the moment our fceptre was fixed " in their hands ; and His prefent Majefty is as much an En- " glifhman as King Alfred or King Edgar, and governs his. ** people not by Teutonic, but by Englifh laws. ** The policy of Afia is totally oppofite. There the prince " regards the place of his nativity as an accident of mere indhf- ** ference. If the parent root be good, he thinks it will flourifh ** in every foil, and perhaps acquire frelh vigour from tranf- " plantation. It is not locality, but his own cafl. and family ; 44- \^ 4i6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. " it Is not the country where he drew his breath, but the ftock " from which he fprung ; it is not the fcenery of the theatre, " but the fpirit of the drama, that engages his attention and ** occupies his thoughts. A feries of two hundred years, in " the fuccefTion of eight or ten monarchs, did not change the " Mogul into a Hindoo, nor has a century and a half made *' Tchien-Lung a Chinefe. He remains, at this hour, in all " his maxims of policy, as true a Tartar as any of his an- " cellors." Whether this moft ancient empire among men will long con- tinue in its ftability and integrity, can only be matter of con- jedure, but certain it is, the Chinefe are greatly diffatisfied, and not without reafon, at the imperious tone now openly alFumed by the Tartars j and though they are obliged to cringe and fub- mit, in order to rife to any diftin£lion in the ftate, yet they un- animouflj load them with ** Curfes, not loud, but deep, mouth-honour, breath*." • The laft accounts, indeed, that have been received from China, are rather of an alaraiing nature. A very ferious rebellion had broken out in the weftern provinces, which had extended to that of Canton, the objeA of which was the overthrow of the Tartar government. It was known for fome years paft, as I before obferved, that cer- tain fecret focieties were forming in the different provinces, who correfponded together by unknown figns, agreed upon b)' convention, but they were not confidered to be of that extent as to caufe any uneafmefs to the government. It appears, however, that not fewer than forty thoufand men had aflembied in arms in the province of Canton, at the head of whom was a man of the family of the laft Chinefe Emperor, who had affumed the Imperial Yellow. Thefe rebels, it feems, are confiderably encouraged in their caufe by a prophecy, which is current among the people, that the prefent Tartar dynafty (hall be overturned in the year 1 804. The exiftence of fuch a pro- phecy may be more dangerous to the Tartar government than the arras of the rebels, by affifting to bring about its own accomplifhmsnt. Whenever TRAVELS IN CHINA. 417 Whenever the difmemberment or diflocation of this great ma- chine fhall take place, either by a rebellion or revolution, it muft be at the expence of many millions of lives. For, as is well obferved by Lord Macartney, " A fiidden tranfition from *' flavery to freedom, from dependence to authority, can fel- " dom be borne with moderation or difcretion. Every change " in the flate of man ought to be gentle and gradual, othcr- " wife it is commonly dangerous to himfelf, and intolerable to " others* A due preparation may be as neceflary for liberty, " as for inoculation of the fmall-pox, which, like liberty, is^ " future health, but, without due preparation, is almoft certain " dertrudion. Thus then the Chinefe, if not led to emanci- *' pation by degrees, but let loofe on a burfl of enlhufiafm, " would probably fall into all the excefies of folly, fuffer all. " the paroxyfins of madnefs, and be found as unfit for " the enjoyment of rational freedom, as the French and the " negroes." -2 H 4i8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. CHAP. VIII. Conjectures on the Origin of the Chinefe. — Their Religious Seds, — Tenets, — and Ceremonies. Emhajfy departs from Peiin, and is lodged in a Temple. — Colony from Egypt net ne- cejfary to be fiippofed^ in order to account for Egyptian Ulytbology in China.'— Opi- nions concerning Chinefe Origin. — Obfervations on the Heights ofTartary. — Proba- , biy the Rejling-place of the Ark of Noah. — Ancients ignorant of the Chinefe. — Seres. —Firfl known Litercourfe of Foreigners ivith China.— ■ Jews. — Budhi/is.'—'Nefo' rians. — Mahomedans. — Roman Catholics. — Quarrels of the Jefuits and Domini- cans. — Religion of Confucius. — Attached to the Prediclion of future Events. — Na- tions entertained by him of a future State. — Of the Deity. — DoBrine not unlike that of the Stoics. — Ceremonies in Honour of his Memory led to Idolatry. — Mifreprefen' rations of the Mijfionaries with regard to the Religion of the Chinefe. — The Tao-tze or Sons of Immortals. — Their Beverage of Life. — The Difciples ofYo or Budhifls. — Comparifon of fome of the Hindu, Greek, Egyptian, and Chinefe Deities. — The Lotos or Nelumbium. — Story o/'Ofiris andKxs, and the Ifia compared with the Imperial Ceremony of Ploughing. — JVomen vijit the Temples. — PraBical Part of Chinefe Religion. — Funeral Obfequies. — Feajl of Lanterns. — Obeifance to the Em- peror performed in Temples leads to Idolatry. — Primitive Religion lofl or corrupted. — Summary of Chinefe Religion. T, HE fufpicious and watchful condud: of the Chinefe go- vernment towards ftrangers was ill fuited to the free and inde- pendent fpirit of Britons. Confined within the limits of their hotel, the populous capital of China was to them little better than TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^4J9 than a dcfert. It was, therefore, lefs painful to be obliged to quit a place which they could confider in no other light than as an honouia,bIe prifon, and to take leave of a people, whofe ge- neral charader feemed to be ftrongly marked with pride, mean- nefs, and ignorance. After having pafled fome time in a na- tion, where every petty officer is a tyrant, and every man a flave, how doubly precious do the bleffings of that true liberty appear, which our happy conftitution affords to every one the means of enjoying at heme; where property is fecured from violence, and where the life of the meaneft fubjed is equally proteded with that of the prince. Let thofe vifionary men, who amufe themfelves in building Utopian governments, and thofe who, from real or fancied injury or negle£t, feel the chagrin of dif- appointment, vifit other countries, and experience howjuftice is adminiftered in other nations ; they will then be taught to confefs that real liberty exifts only in Great Britain — in that happy illand where, to ufe the exprcffion of an eminent writer on the laws of nations *, " an enlightened piety in the " people is the firmed fupport of lawful authority ; and in ths " fovereign's breaft, it is the pledge of the people's fafety, and " excites their confidence." Lnprefled with fuch fentiments, on the evening of the 7th of Odober I rode through the ftreets of Pekin, for the laft time, in company with Mr. Maxwell. We were quite alone, not a fingle Chinefe fervant, nor foldier, nor officer to condud us ; yet we had no difficulty in finding our way. We pafTed * Vattel. 3 H 2 through 420 TRAVELS IN CHINA. through the broad ftreets of this capital from one extremity to the other without the leaft moleftation, or, indeed, the leaft no- tice. We could not forbear remarking the extraordinary con- rraft, that the two greateft cities in the world exhibited at this hour of the day. In the public ftreets of Pekin, after five or fix o'clock in the evening, fcarcely a human creature is feen to move, but they abound with dogs and fwine. AH its inhabitants, having finiflied the bufinefs of the day, are now retired to their refpe<5tive homes to eat their rice, and, agreeably with the cuf- tom of their great Emperor, which to them is a law, to lie down with the fetting fun ; at which time in London, the crowd is fo great, from Hyde Park corner to Mile End, as to inter- rupt the paflage. In Pekin, from the moment the day begins to dawn, the buzz and the buftle of the populace is like that of a fwarm of bees ; whilft, on the contrary, the ftreets of Lon- don at an €arly hour in the morning are nearly deferted. At eight in the evening, even in fummer, the gates of Pekin are fhut, and the keys fent to the governor, after which they can- not be opened on any confideration. The Embafliador and the reft of the fulte, with the foldlers, fervants, and muficians, had, feveral hours before us, fet out in a fort of proceflion, in which an officer of government on horfe- back took the lead, with the letter of the Emperor of China to the King of England flung acrofs his fhoulders, in a wooden cafe covered with yellow filk. At a late hour in the night, we joined the reft of the party in the fuburbs oiTong-tchoo-foo^ where we were once more lodged among the gods of the nation, in a temple that was confecrated to the patronizing deity of the city. There TRAVELS IN CHINA. 421 There are no inns in any part of this vaft empire ; or, to fpeak more corredly (for there are refting-places), no inhabited and furnlfhed houfes, where, in confideratlon of paying a certain fum of money, a traveller may purchafe the refrefliments of comfortable reft, and the means of allaying the calls of hunger. The ftate of fociety admits of no fuch accommodation, and much lefs fuch as, in many countries, proceeds from a fpirit of difinterefted hofpitality ; on the contrary, in this country, they invariably (hut their doors againft a ftranger. What they call inns are mean hovels, confifting of bare walls, where, perhaps, a traveller may procure his cup of tea for a piece of copper money, and permlflion to pafs the night ; but this is the extent of the comforts which fuch places hold out. The pradice in- deed of travelling by land is fo rare, except occafionally in thofe parts of the country which admit not the convenience of inland navigations, or at fuch times when thefe are frozen up, that the profits which might arife from the entertainment of paflengers could not fupport a houfe of decent accommodation. The of- ficers of ftate invariably make ufe of the conveniencies which the temples offer, as being fuperior to any other which the country affords; and the priefts, well knowing how vain it would be to refift, or remonftrate, patiently fubmit, and refign . the temporary ufe of their apartments without a murmur. In moft countries of the civilized world, the buildings appro- priated for religious worfhip and the repofitories of their gods, are generally held facred. In the monafteries of thofe parts of^ Europe, where inns are not to be found, the apartments of the monks are fometimes reforted to by travellers, but in China the very 422 TRAVELS IN CHINA. \tx^ fanSium fancloruiv. is Invaded. Every corner is indlfcrimi- nately occupied by men in power, if they fliould require it. Sometimes, alfo, the whole building is made a common place of refort for vagrants and idlers, where gamblers mix with t^ods, and priefts with pick-pockets. Injuflice, however, it muft be obferved, that the priefts of the two popular religions which predominate in the country fliew no inclination to encourage, by joining in, the vicious practices of the rabble j but having no pay nor emolument from government, and being rather tolerated than fupported, they are obliged to fubmit to and to overlook abufes of this nature, and even to allow the profane praftices of the rabble in the very hours of their devotion. Yet there is a decency of behaviour, a fort of pride and dignity in the deportment of a Chinefe priefl:, that readily diftinguifh him from the vulgar. The calumnies, which fame of the Roman catholic mifTionaries have fo induftrioufly circulated againft them, feem to have no foundation in truth. The near refemblance of their drefs and holy rites to thofe of their own faith w^as fo mortifying a circumftance, that none of the mif- Tionaries I converfcd with could fpeakw^ith temper of the priefts of China. I could not even prevail on our interpreter of the propaganda jide^ who ftill manifefted a prediledion for the cuf- toms of his country in every other refpecl, to ftep into the temple where the altar was placed ; nor could he be induced, by any perfuafion, to give or to afk an explanation of their rnyfterious dodrines. There is no fubjed, perhaps, on which a traveller ought to fpeak with lefs confidence, than on the religious opinions of the TRAVELS IN CHINA. 413 the people he may chance to vifit In countries cut of Eu- rope, efpecially when thofe opinions are grounded on a very remote antiquity. The allegorical allufions in which they might originally have been involved, the various changes they may fince have undergone, the ceremonies and types under which they are ftill exhibited, in their modern drefs, render them fo wholly unintelligible that, although they may have been founded in truth and reafon, they now appear abfurd and ridiculous ; equally inexplicable by the people themfelves who profefs them, as by thofe who are utter ftrangers. The various modes, indeed, under which the Creator and Ruler of the Uni- verfe is recognifed by various nations, all tending to one point, but fetting out in very different diredlions, can only be under- llood and reconciled by a thorough knowledge of the language, the hiftory, and the habits of the people ; of their origin and connedlions with other nations ; and even, after fuch- know- ledge has been obtained, it is no eafy taflc to feparate fable from metaphor, and truth from fidion. For thefe reafons, the reli- gion of China appears to be fully as obfcure and inexplicable as that of almoft any other of the oriental nations. The lan- guage of the country, added to the jealoufy of the government in admitting foreigners, have thrown almoft infuperable ob- ftacles in the way of clearing up this intricate fubjed: ; and thofe few, who only have had opportunities of overcoming thefe dif- ficulties, were unfortunately men of that clafs, whofe opinions were fo warped by the prejudi':es imbibed with the tenets of their own religion, that the accounts given by them are not al- ways to be depended upon. As I have already obferved, they cannot 424 TRAVELS IN CHINA. cannot bring themfelvcs to fpeak or to write of the priefts of China with any degree of temper or moderation. It would be prefumptuous in me to fuppofe, for a moment, that I am qualified to remove the veil of darknefs that covers the popular religion of China. But as, in the practice of this religion, it is impoffible not to difcover a common origin with the fyftems of other nations in ancient times, it may not be improper to introduce a few remarks on the fubjed, and to enquire if hiftory will enable us to point out, in what manner they might have received or communicated the fuperftitions and metaphyfical ideas that feem to prevail among them. The obvious coincidence between fome parts of the mythological doctrines of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, with thofe of China, induced the learned Monfteur de Guignes, and many of the Jefoits, to infer, that a colony from Egypt, at fome re- mote period, had pafTed into China. This however does not appear probable. The Chinefe are not a mixed but a diflinft race of men ; and their countenance has nothing of the ancient Egyptian in it. Nor indeed is it neceflary to fuppofe any fuch eonnedion, in order to explain the veftiges of Egyptian my- thology that may appear in their temples. V/e are informed by hiftory that when Alexander marched into India, about three centuries before the birth of Chrift, many learned Greeks ac- companied him on this memorable expedition ; and we arc further informed that, two centuries after this period, when^ the perfecutiona and cruelties of Ptolemy Phyfcon expelled' great numbers of learned and pious Greeks and Egyptians- from the city of Alexandria, they travelled eaftward in fearch of TRAVELS IN CHINA. 415 of an aiylum among the PeiTians and the Indians; fo that there is nothuig extraordinary In meeting with Greek and Egyptian iuperftitions among nations of the Eaft ; even where no veftige of their language remains. For it may be obferved that, whenever colonies emigrate from their own country and fettle among ftrangers, they are much more apt to lofe their native language, than their religious dogmas and fuperftitious notions. Neceffity indeed may compel them to adopt the lan- guage of the new country into which they have emigrated^ but any compulfive meafures to draw them to another religion ferve only to ftrengthen them in their own. The French refugees at the Cape of Good Hope totally lofl ih-eir language in lefs than feventy years ; and, fingular asit may appear, I met with a deferter from one of the Scotch regiments, on the borders of the KafFer country, who had fo far forgot his language, in the courfe of about three years, that he was not able to make him- felf intelligible by it. Many languages, we know, have totally been loft, and others fo changed as fcarcely to preferve any traces of their original form *. Mr. * This confideration on the tranfient nature of languages, and efpecially of thofc whofe fleeting founds have never been fixed by any graphic invention, makes it the more furprifing how Lord Karnes, in his fketch on the origin and progrefs of Ame- rican nations, after obferving that no paflage by land had been difcovered between America and the old world, Ihould have given it as his opinion, that an enquiry, much more decifive as to the former being peopled by the latter, might be purfued, by afcertaining whether the fame language be fpoken by the inhabitants on the two fides of the ftrait that divides the northern regions of America from Kamfkatka. And that, after finding this not to be the cafe, he iliould conclude that the former could not have been peopled by the latter. Had not Lord Karnes written upon a fyftem of a feparate and local creation, pre»eftabliflied in his own mind, he would unqueRionably have laid more ftrefs upon a refemblance in their phyfical charaflcrSj 3 I in 426 TRAVELS IN CHINA. Mr. Bailly, with fome other learned and ingenious meiVj was of opinion, that many fragments of the old and abfurd fables of China are difcoverable in the ancient hiftory of the Hindus, from the birth of Fo-Jhee^ the founder of the empire, {Fo-Jjiy as the French write the word,) until the introdudtion of Budha, or Fo. Like the Hindus, it is true, they have always fhewn a remarkable predilection for the number nifi3. Confucius calls it the moft perfect of numbers. But the Scy- thians, or Tartars, have alfo confidered this as a facred num- ber. It is true, iikewife, they refemble fome of the Indian rations, in the obfervance of folftitial and equlnodlial facrifices ; in making offerings to the manes of their anceftors ; in the dread of leaving no offspring behind them, to pay the cuf- tomary obfequies to their memory ; in obferving eight cardinal or principal points of the world ; in the divifion of the Zodiac, and in a variety of other coincidences, which the learned Mr. Bryant accounts for by fuppofmg the Egyptians, Greeks, Ro- mans, and Indians, to be derived from one common flock, and that fome of thefe people carried their religion and their learri- ing into China. No proof however is adduced, either by him or others, of fuch a communication ; and an affertion diredly. the contrary might have been made with equal plaufibility. in their fuperflitions and religious notions, than on fimiJarity of language ; which, among the many acquirements of the human fpecies, or of human inftitution, is not the leaft liable to change by a change of fituation, efpecially where no written cha- rafter has been employed to fix it. His Lordftiip's conclufion is the more extraor- dinary, as he had already obferved that the refemblance between them was perfect iQ every other refpC(Jl. That TRAVELS IN CHINA. 427 That tlie Chlnefe do not owe their orighi to the fame Rock, their phyfical character is of itfelf a fufficient proof. The fmall eye, rounded at the extremity next the nofe, inftead of being angular, as is the cafe in that of Europeans, its oblique inftead of horizontal pofition, and the flat and broad root of the nofe, are features or charaders entirely diftindt from the Hindu, the Greek, or the Roman ; and belong more properly to the natives of that vaft extent of country, which was known to the ancients by the name of Scythia, and, in modern times, by that of Tartary. There is fcarcely in nature two of the human fpecies that differ more widely than a Chinefe and a Hindu, fetting afide the difference of colour, which however modern enquiries have determined to have little or no relation to climate, but rather to fome original formation of the different fpecies. The Mantchoo, and indeed all the other Tartar tribes bordering upon China, are fcarcely diftinguifhable from the Chinefe. The fame colour, except in a few inftances as I have elfewhere obferved, the fame eyes, and general turn of the countenance prevail, on the continent of Afia, from the tropic of Cancer- to the Frozen Ocean *. The peninfula of Malacca, and the vaft multitude of iflands fpread over the eaftern feas, and inhabited by the Malays, as well as thofe of Japan and Lieou-kieou, have clearly been peopled from the fame common ftock. The firft race of people to the northward of Hindoftan, that poffefs * It is fuffickntly remarkable, that the Emperor Kann^-Shee, iu giving, by public edidt, fome account to his fubjefls of the different nations of Afia and Europe, fhould make the following obfervation : '* To the fouthward of the Co/fack country a hordfe " oi Hco-tfe (Turks) is eftablIlhed,\vho are defceudcd from the fame ftock %vith Tuen- *' fay-tfe, formerly Emperors of China." 312 the 428 TRAVELS IN CHINA. the Tartar countenance, (o different from that of the Hind us,, are the inhabitants of Bootan. " The Booteeas^* fays Captain Turner, " have invariably black hair, which it is their fafhioa " to cut fhort to the head. The eye is a very remarkable " feature of the face ; fmall, black, with long pointed cor- " ners*, as though ftretched and extended by artiftcial means. " Their eye-laflies are fo thin as to be fcarcely perceptible, and ** the eye-brow is but flightly fhaded. Below the eyes is the^ " broadeft part of the face, which is rather flat, and narrows- " from the cheek-bones to the chin ; a character of countenance " appearing firft to take its rife among the Tartar tribes, but " is by far more ftrongly marked in the Chinefe.'* The heights of Tartary, bulging out beyond the general fur- face of the globe, have been confidered, indeed, by many as the cradle of the human fpecies, or ftill more emphatically, and perhaps more properly, as the foundery of the human race» This- opinion did not arife folely from the vaft multitudes of people coPrefponding with the Tartar charadler, which are fpread over every part of the eaftern world, and which, in countlefs fwarms, once overran all Europe, but was grounded on a fuppofition, that the whole furface of the globe, or the greater part of it,, has at one time been fubmerfed in water, and that Tartary was the laft to be covered, and the firft that was uncovered ; and the place from whence, of courfe, a new fet of creatures were forged- as in a workfliop, from fome remnant of the old ftock, to be the germs of future nations. • The exterior angles are here meant, which, in the Chinefe alfo, are extended in the fame or a greater proportion than the interior ones are rounded off. Almoft TRAVELS IN CHINA. 429 Almoft every part of the earth, indeed, affords the mof^ nn- equivGcal indtcations that fuch has actually been the caTe, not only in the feveral marine produdions that have been difco- vered in high mountains, at a diftance from any fea, and equally deep under the furface of the earth j but more efpecially in the formation of the mountains themfelves, the very higheft of which, except thofe of granite, coniilling^ frequently of ta- bular maffes piled on each other, in fuch regular and horizon- tal ftrata, that their ihape and appearance cannot be ctherwife accounted for, or explained by any known principle in nature, except by fuppofmg them at one time to have exited in a flate of fluidity, by the agency of fire or of water, a point which feems to be not quite decided between the Volcani.is and the Neptunifls. The heights of Tartary are unqueftionably the higheft Land in the a/c/ world. In America they may, perhaps, be exceeded. CcrbtllGn^ who was a tolerable good mathemati- ciacLj and fumifhed with inftruments, aflures us, that the moun- tain Pe-tcbdy very inferior to many in Tartary, is nine Chinefe kis, or about hfteen thoufand feet, above the level of the plains of China, This mountain, as well as all the others in the fame country, is compofed of fand-ftonei and refU upon plains of land, mixed with rock-falt and faltpetre. The Sbj-moo^ or immenfe defert of fand, which ftretches along the north-weft frontier of China, and divides it from weftern Tartary, is not lefs elevated than the Pe-tcba^ and is laid to referable the bed of ihe ocean. Some of the mountains llarting out of thisy^j of fand^ which its name implies, cannot be lefs than twenty thcu- Iknd feet above the level of the eaflem ocean. The 4S0 TRAVELS IN CHINA. The formation of the earth affords a wide field for fpecuU- tion ; and, accordingly, many ingenious theories have been con- ceived to explain the various appearances which its furface ex- hibits. The beft modern naturalifts feem, however, to agree, that water has been one of the principal agents to produce thefe effeds. The great Linnaeus, whofe penetrating mind pervaded the whole empire of nature, after many and laborious enquiries, acquiefced in the truth of the facred writings, that the whole globe of the earth was, at fome period of time, fubmerfed in water, and covered with the vaft ocean, until, in the lapfe of time, one little ifland appeared in this immenfe fea, which ifland muft have been of courfe the higheft mountain upon the furface of the earth. In fupport of his hypothefis, he adduces a number of fa the inconvenience of afcending any parti- cular mountain muft neceffarily be felt, and the tan was then transferred to places that were better fuited for general ac- commodation. The fame idea indeed is ftill retained in our churches, TRAVEIG IN CHINA. 453 churches, the aitar and high place being rynonimous words* la the city of Pekin, which Hands bn a fardy plain, the tien tan, or altar of Heaven ; the tee tan, or altar of earth ; and i\\ejien- nong-tan^ or altar of ancient agriculturifts, are eredlicd u|3on arti- ficial mounts within the walls of the palace ; and here the Em- peror continues, to this day, to facrifice at appointed times, exclufively, as the fon of Heaven, and the only being on earth worthy to intercede for his people. The fame dodrine pre- vailed in the time of Confucius, who obferves, that the diftance between the all-^creative power, or caufe of all things, and the people is fo immeafurably great, that the king or ruler, as Iilgh prieft, can alone offer fuch a facrifice ; and that this power is befl fatisfied when man performs tlfe moral duties of life j the principal of which he makes to confift in filial piety, and unli- mited obedience to the will of the prince. His religious notions and morals do him great credit, but his metaphyfics arefo obfcure as not to be intelligible, which, however, may partly be owing to the nature of the language. In his writings appears a flrong prediledtion for a kind of for- tune-telling, or predicting events by the myflical lines oiFo-Jloee, By the help of thefe lines, and the prevailing element at the commencement of the reign of a prince, he pretended to fore- tei the events that would take place, and the length of its con- tinuance ; but, at the fame time, he was cautious enough to wrap them up in fuch ambiguous and myflerious expreffions, that, like mofl prophecies of the kind, they might admit of a variety of interpretations. This manner of expounding the lines of Fo-fhee by Coi\fucius, the fuppofed fyflem of binary arithmetic 454 TRAVELS IN CHINA. arithmetic by Leibnitz, laid the foundation of confulting future dcftiny, at this day univerfally fought after by, the Chinefe *. Predeftination in all ages, and in all nations, has formed one of the leading features of religion ; and, in confideration per- haps of popular opinion, has been foifted into the articles of the Chriftian faith, though unvrarranted by any paffage in the holy fcriptures. It is a dodrine little calculated for the promotion of good morals, and ftill lefs fo for conveying fpiritual confolation. The Chinefe, however, confine the influence of lots to the events of this life. It would perhaps be doing injuftice to the under- ftanding of Confucius to fuppofe, that he really believed in the dodrine of fatality. Being prime minifter of one of the kings of China, it was neceflary for him to a£t the politician as * The government even grants licences to certain perfons, under the abufed name ©f aftronomers, who pretend to predid events, and caft out evil fpirits by a charm, confifting of feme character written by them, according to the fuppofed prevailing planet. The national almanack, not lefs minute in Its predldions than thofe 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 moll of • the important concerns of life. And that the fallacy of thefe is not detefted, may afford lefi matter for furprife, on recolledtion that, in the wife and enlightened coun- tries of Europe, and among very intelligent people, the ftate of the weather is pre- tended to be predided by the phafes of the moon ; that is to fay, they will prognoftl- cate a change of weather to happen af the new moon, or the firft quarter, or the full, or the lad quarter, or, at all events, three days before, or three days after one or other of thefe periods ; fo that the predictor has, at the leaft, eight-and- twenty days out of a lunar revolution, in favour of his prediction being right, and the whoie lunation is only twenty-nine and a half. He has alfo another great advantage : the accidental coincidence of one fingle prophecy with the event, eftablifhes his fame for ever, whiift his blunders are either overlooked^ or conGdered only as thofe of the perfon, and not the defedt of the fcience. well TRAVELS IN CHINA. 455 well as the philofopher ; and he could not fail to know, that the fuperftltlons of the people were among the beft fupports of the government. He might have been aware of the folly and abfur- dity of fuch a doflrine, and yet found it prudent to enforce the obfervance of it ; juft as the Greeks thought proper to continue their Lots. Thefe, inftead of IHcks, as ufed by the Chinefe, were three ftones that, according to fome, were firft difcovered and prefented to Pallas by the nymphs, the daughters of Jupi- ter, who rejeded an offering that rather belonged to Apollo, and threw them away ; — an excellent moral, obferves Doctor Tytler, the learned tranflator of the hymns and epigrams df Callimachu?, (hewing that thofe perfons who are guided by Pallas, or Wifdom, will improve the prefent time, without be- ing too anxious to pry into futurity. The Greek poet, how- ever, like the Chinefe philofopher, afcribed to the poflelTor of the Lots, the talent of reading future deftiny. " By him the fure events of Lots are given ; " By him the prophet fpeaks the will of Heaven." Tytler. The Romans had alfo their lots to determine future events, which were a kind of wooden dice, and their priefts examined the marks and interpreted the fignification of the tlirow. And the ancient Germans, according to Tacitus, made ufe of little flicks, notched at the ends, which, like the Chinefe, they threw three times in cafe they did not approve of the firft throw. Herodotus traces the cuftom of prediding future events to the ancient Egyptians, and feems to think the Greeks had it from them. But is not the defire of prying into futu- rity 4s6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. rlty to be afcrlbed rather to a weaknefs in human nature, than as a cuftom borrowed by one nation from another ? Are we en- tirely free from it in modern Europe ? However humiliating the refledtion may be, yet it is certainly true, that men of the ftrongeft minds and foundeft judgments have fometimes, to- wards the clofe of an ufeful life, devoted their time to the ex- pofition of old prophecies without meaning, or applies' le only to events that were already in train to be accomplifhed when the prediction was made. Among many others, the great Napier J the inventor of logarithms, might be produced as an inftance of this remark. From the Apocalypfe of Saint John he predided the day of judgment; but his calculations in this inftance not being founded on ^/ata equally fclid with thofe on which he conftruded his tables, he unfortunately furvived the day he had named, to blufh at his own weaknefs. Other parts of the dodrine of Confucius were well calculated to keep alive the fuperftitious notions that ftill prevail among the multitude. He taught them to believe that the human body was compofed of two principles, the one light, invlfible, and afcending ; the other grofs, palpable, and defcending ; that the feparation of thefe two principles caufe the death of man ; that at this awful period the light and fpiritual part of the hu- man body afcends into the air, whilil: the grofs and corporeal matter fmks into the earth. The word deafh, in fa(ft, never enters into the phllofophy of Confucius ; nor, indeed, on common occafions is it employed by the Chinefe at the prefent day. When a perfon departs this life, the common expreflion J6, be has 7-eturned to his family. And although the body re- folve* TRAVELS IN CHINA. 457 folves itfelf in the courfe of time into its primitive elements, and becomes a part of the univerfe ; yet, he contended, the fpirlts of fuch as had performed their duty in life were permitted to vifit their ancient habitations, or fuch places as might be ap- pointed for receiving the homage of their defcendants, on whom they had the power of conferring benefadlons. On this ground it became the indifpenfable duty of every good man to obferve a (Irid obedience of the performance of facred rites in the temple confecrated to the memory of anceftors. He main- tained that all fuch as negleded this great branch of moral duty would be punifhed for their negled:, after death, by their fpi- ritual part being deprived of the privilege of vifiting the hall of anceftors ; and, confequently, of the plcafure arifing from the homage beftowed by their defcendants. Such a fyftem could not fail to eftablifh a belief in good and evil genii, and of tute- lar fpirits prefiding over fiimilies, towns, cities, houfes, moun- tains, and other particular places. It afterwards required no great flretch of the imagination to give to thefe " airy nothings " a local habitation and a name,'* It does not appear, however, that either Confucius or any of his difciples attached the leaft idea of z. perforial beh/g to the deity ; nor does it feem ever to have entered into their minds to reprefent \.\\t great Jirji caufe under any image or perfonifica- tion. They confidered the fun, moon, ftars, and the elements, with the azure firmament, as the creative and productive powers, the immediate agents cf the Deity, and infeparably conneded with him, and they offered adoration to thefe agents, united in one word Tien (Heaven). It cannot be fuppo-fed, after what 3 N has 458 TRAVELS IN CHINA. has already been obferved in the fixth chapter, that I flioukl lay any ftrefs on the fimilarity of words in different languages, or on the analogy of their fignification, in order to prove a com- mon origin ; but if the conjedure of the learned Bos be right, that Oeo; may be derived from Gssiv to move forward, in allu- fion to the motion of the heavenly bodies which the ancient Greeks, as well as the Perfians, worfhipped, tien certainly comes very near the Greek both in found and fignification ; nearer it could not come in found, as the Chinefe by no effort could pro- nounce the tb. The word ticn not only fignifies heaven^ but a revolution of the heavenly bodies, and is in common ufe both in writing and converfation for da)\ as jr, itl^fan tien^ one, two, three days. The Confucionifts, like the Stoics, feem to have confidered the whole univerfe as one animated fyftem, made up of one material fubftance and one fpirit, of which every living thing was an emanation, and to which, when feparated by death from the material part it had animated, every living thing again re- turned. In a word, their conceptions of the Deity might be fummed up in thofe two beautiful and expreflive lines of Pope, " All are but parts of one ftupendous whole, " Whofe body nature is, and God the foul.'* But that which is moft furprizing is, that the enthufiaftic fol- lowers of Confucius have never ere£led any ftatue to his me- mory, nor paid him divine honours as erroneoufly has been fuppofed. In every city is a public building, a kind of college, wherein TRAVELS IN CHINA. 459 wherein examinations are held for degrees of office, and this building is called the houfe of Confucius. Here, on certain appointed days, the men of letters afTemble to pay refpe-^t to the memory of their efteemed philofopher. In the great hall appropriated for this ceremony a plain tablet is ereded, on which is painted an infcription, in gilt chara J. the world with an idea that the Chinefe, and particularly the Confucionifts, are atheirts ; that they dlfbelieve in a future Hate of exiftence ; and that they are the vilant •fupporting deity ; from whence it may perhaps be concluded, that poofa is the offspring of the Holy Mother of whom I am about to fpeak. on 472 TRAVELS IN CHINA. on repeated applications to the protedling faint, by way of punifhing the gods, they literally pull down the temple over their heads, and leave them fitting in the open air. This grotefque and barbarous manner of reprefenting the manifold powers of nature, or the goddefs of nature, by a plurality of heads and hands in one idol, is by no means favourable to the fuppofition of a refined or fuperior underftanding in the people who adopt them into their religious worfhip. It can be confidered only as a very (hort ftep beyond the conceptions of favages, who have no other idea than that of fupplying by number, or a repetition of the fame thing, what may be wanting in power. The fame figure, with numerous arms, appears in the Hindu temples that are excavated out of folid granite mountains, the mod an- cient and among the moft wonderful monuments of art and perfevering labour that have hitherto been difcovered on the face of the globe, the fountain perhaps from whence the arts, the fciences, and the religious myfteries of the Egyptians and the Greeks derived their origin. But the moft common of all the female deities in China is the Shmg-moo^ or holy mother, or rather the mother of perfeEl intelligence *. This lady is the exa£t counterpart of the Indian Ganga or goddefs of the river, the IJis of the Egyptians, and the Ceres of the Greeks. Nothing (hocked the miffionaries fo much on their firfl arrival in China as the image of this lady, in whom they difcovered, or thought they difcovered, the moft jftriking refemblance to the Virgin Mary. They found her ge- * The charafleryZi/wg' is compounded o? ear, niouth, and t-uler or iing, intending per. haps to exprefs tie faculty of Inouung all that ear has heard and mouth uttered. nerally TRAVELS IN CHINA. 473 nerally fhut up with great care in a recefs at the back part of the altar, and veiled with a filken fcreen to hide her from common obfervation ; fometimes with a child in her hand, at other times on her knee, and a glory round her head. On hearing the flory of the Sh'mg-moo they were confirmed in this opinion. They were told that fhe conceived and bore a fon while yet a virgin, by eating the flower of the Lien-wha (the Nelumbiuiii) which flie found lying upon her clothes on the bank of a river where fhe was bathing : that, when the time of her geftation was expired, fhe went to the place where fhe had picked up the flower and was there delivered of a boy ; that the infant was found and educated by a poor fiflierman ; and, in procefs of time, became a great man and performed mi- racles. Such is her flory, as told by the Chinefe priefts. When the image of this goddefs is ftanding, flie generally holds a flower of the Nelumblum in her hand ; and when fitting, flie is ufually placed upon the large peltate leaf of the fame plant. The Egyptian Lotos, not that efculent plant from the ufe of which the Lotophagi had their name, but another of a very different genus confecrated to religious purpnfes, is faid * to have been afcertained from a ftatue of Ofiris^ preferved in the Barberini palace at Rome, to be that fpecies of water- lilly which grows in abundance in mofl: parts of the eaflern world, and which was known to botanifls under the name of Nymphaa Nclumbo ; but I underftand it is now confidered as a ntsN gcjiiiSf ijiftinguiihed, under a modification of its former fpecific name, * r.y Mr. Puuw. 3 p hy 474 TRAVELS IN CHINA. by that oi Ndmnbium. This plant, however, is no longer to be found in Egypt. The two fpecies that grow, at prefent, on the banks and canals of the Nile are totally different, which furniflies a very ftrong prefumption \hat, although a facred plant and cultivated in the country, it might neverthelefs be of foreign growth. In China, few temples are without fome reprefenta- tion of the Nelumbium ; fometimes the Sh'ing-moo is painted as {landing upon its leaves in the midft of a lake. In one temple I obferved the intelligent mother fitting upon the broad pel- tate leaf of this plant, which had been hewn out of the living rock. Sometimes fhe holds in her hand a cornucopia filled with the ears of rice, of millet, and of the capfule or feed-veffel of the Nelumbium, thefe being articles of food which fall to the fhare of the pooreft peafant. This very beautiful water-lilly grows fpontaneoufly in almoft every lake and morafs, from the middle of Tartary to the province of Canton ; a curious circum- ftance, when we confider the very great difficulty with which it can be preferved, even by artificial means, in climates of Europe, whofe temperature are lefs warm and lefs cold than many of thofe where, in China, it grows in a ftate of nature, and with the greateft degree of luxuriance. On the heights of Tartary it is found in an uncultivated ftate, where, in winter, the ther- mometer frequently ftands at, and generally far below, the freez- ing point. But here the roots ftrike at the bottom of very deep waters only, a circumftance from which we may perhaps con- clude, that the plant may rather require uniformity of tempera- ture, than any extraordinary degree either one way or other. Not only the feed of the Nelumbium, which is a kind of nut nearly as large as an acorn, but the long roots, jointed like canes. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 475 canes, furnifh articles of food for the table. In the capital, during the whole fummer feafon, the latter are lliced and laid on ice, and in this ftate ferve as part of the defert ; the tafte differs very little from that of a good juicy turnip, with a flight degree of aftringency. There is fomething fo very ftriking and remarkable in this plant, that it is not furprizing the Egyptians and the Indians, fond of drawing allufions from natural objects, fhould have confidered it as emblematic of creative power. The leaves of the fucceeding plant are found involved in the middle of the feed, perfedt, and of a beautiful green. "When the fun goes down, the large leaves that fpread themfelves over the furface of the water clofe like an umbrella, and the returning fun gra- dually unfolds them. Now, as thefe nations confidered water to be the primary element, and the firft medium on which crea- tive influence began to a£t, a plant of fuch fmgulariry, luxuri- ance, utility, and beauty, could not fail to be regarded by them as a proper fymbol for reprefenting that creative power, and was accordingly confecrated by the former to Ofiris and to Ifis^ the emblems of the fun and moon, and by the latter to Ganga, the river goddefs, and to the fun. The coincidence of ideas between thofe two nations, in this refpe£t, may be drawn from that beautiful Hindu hymn, addrefl"ed to Surya or the fun, and tranflated by Sir William Jones — *' Lord of the Lotos, father, friend and king, " O Sun ! thy powers I fing." — 5:0. * Whether * Captain Turner found the name of the Lotos infcribed over niofl of tlie temples in Bootan and Thibet ; and Colonel Symes, in tho account of his cmbafly to the 3 p 2 ' kingdom 4^6 TRAVELS IN CHINA. Whether the Chinefe, like the Hindus, entertained the fame notions of creative power, or its influence upon water as the primary element, I could not learn. No information as to the ground-work of their religion is to be looked ior from the priefts of the prefent day, who are generally very ignorant j but I fufpedt the dedication of the Lotos to facred ufes to be much older than the introdu(flion of Hindu mythology by the priefts of Budha. They even afcribe the fable of eating the flower to the mother of their lirft Emperor Foo-Jhee ; and the Lotos and the lady are equally refpedted by all the fe£ts in China ; and even by the Mantchoo Tartars, whofe hiftory commences with the identical ftory of a young virgin conceiving and bearing a fon, who was to be the progenitor of a race of conquerors, by eating the flov/er of a water-lilly. If, indeed, any dependence is to be placed on the following well-known infcription found on an ancient monument of Ofiiis, Egyptian rites may be fup- pofed to have made their way into the eaft, and probably into China, or, on the other hand, thofe of the eaft adopted by the Egyptians, at a period of very remote antiquity. " Saturn, the " youngeft of all the gods, was my father. I am Ofiris, who *' conducted a large and numerous army as far as the deferts " of India, and travelled over the greatefl: part of the world,, " &c. &c." It may not, perhaps, be thought improbable (I offer it, how- ever, merely as conjedlure) that the ftory of Ofiris and I/is kingdom of Ava, which, with Pegu, Aracan, and Laos, now conftitute the Birman empire, defcribes the people as Budhifts, or of the feft of Fo ; indeed their cuftoms and appearance, as well as their religion, feem to indicate a Chinefe or Tartar origin. was TRAVELS IN CHINA. 477 was known in China at a very early period of the hlftory of this country. O/zr/j-, king of Egypt, and hufband of Ifis^ was worfhipped under the form of an ox, from his having paid par- ticular attention to the purfuits of agricuhure, and from em- ploying this animal in the tillage of the ground. " Primus aratra manu folerti fecit Ofiris." Ofiris firft conftruded ploughs with tlext'rous (kill. Hiftorians fay, that Ifis^ on the murder of her hufband, en- joined the priefts of Egypt, by a folemn oath, to eftablifli a form of worfhip in which divine honours fhould be paid to their deceafed prince ; that they fhould feledt what kind of animal they pleafed to reprefent the perfon and the divinity of Ofiris^ and that they fhould inter it with folemn funeral honours when dead. In confideration of this apotheofis, fhe allotted a portion of land to each facerdotal body. The priefts were obliged to make a vow of chaftlty ; their heads were fhaven and they went barefooted. Divine honours were likewife conferred on Ifis after her death, and fhe was worfhipped under the form of a cow. Now, although the feftival in China, at which the Emperor holds the plough in the commencement of the fpring, be con- fidered at this day as nothing more than a political inflitution, and continued as an example to the lower orders of people, an incitement for them to purfue the labours of agriculture as the moil important employment in the flatc ; — yet, as this conde- fcenfion of the fovereign militates fo ftrongly againft all their maxims of government, which place an immenfe diftance be- tween 478 TRAVELS IN CHINA. tween him and the firft of his people, it may not, perhaps, be much amifs in fuppofing it to have originated in fome religious opinion. Indeed he ftill continues to prepare hirafelf for the folemn occafion, by devoting three days entirely to pious cere- monies and rigid devotion. On the day appointed by the tri- bunal of mathematics, a coiv is facrificed in the Tee-tan, or temple dedicated to the earth ; and on the fame day, in fome of the provinces, the figure of a covv-^ of baked clay, of an im- menfe fize, is carried in proceffion by a number of the peafan- try, followed by the principal officers of government and the other inhabitants. The horns and the hoofs are gilded and or- namented with filken ribbons. The proftrations being made and the offerings placed on the altar, the earthen cow is broken in pieces and diftributed among the people. In like manner the body of Ofiris^ worfhipped afterwards under the form of an ox, was diftributed by Ifis among the priefts ; and the Ifia * were long celebrated in Egypt in the fame manner as the fefti- val of holding the plough is at this day obferved in China, both being intended, no doubt, to commemorate the perfons * No feftivals, perhaps, were fo univerfally adopted and fo far extended, as thofe in honour of Ifu. They not only found their way into every part of the Eaft, but from Greece they were alfo received by the Romans, and from thefe they pa/Ted in- to Gaul. It has even been conjeflured, that the modern name of Paris has its deri- vation from a temple that was dedicated to this goddefs, z-afa t^-fv, not very diftant from this ancient capital of Gaul. The city arms are a fhip, which Ifts was depifted to hold in her hand, as the patronefs of navigation. In facl, a Ilatue of ^jf is faid to have been preferved with great care in the church of Saint Germain until the be- ginning of the fixteenth ccntur)', when the zeal of a bigctted cardinal caufed it to be demolillied as an unianciified relick of pagan fuperftition. •j- Encyclopedic des Co.'inoiC'aiiccs Humair.es. who TRAVELS IN CHINA. 479 who had rendered the moft folid advantages to the ftate, by the encouragement they had held out for the cultivation of the ground. The difputes, quarrels, perfecutions, and maffacres, that have happened at various times among the different fe(5ls of Chrifti- anity in Europe, have not been much lefs violent, nor produc- tive of lefs dreadful cohfequences, between the fed: of immor- tals and that of Fo, in China, whenever the court, or rather the intriguing eunuchs, feemed to favour the opinions of one fed in preference to thofe of the other. Perfecutions never failed to begin whenever either party was fortunate enough to gain over to its fide the chief of the eunuchs, who had always fufficient influence with the reigning monarch to prevail upon him to efpoufe the fame caufe. They were, however, wars of priefts alone in which the people remained neutral, or took no adive part. Whole m^nafteries have been levelled with the ground, and thoufands of pnefts put to death on both fides. But nothing of the kind has lately occurred. Since the acceffion of the pre- fent Tartar dynafty, they have met with no particular marks of favour or diftindion j and, on that account, are apparently re- conciled to each other ; indeed, they are fcarcely diftinguifhable either by their temples or by their drefs. The predidion of future events being befl: fuited to the minds of the multitude, and moft fought after, the oracle of fate may be confulted In any temple, whether of Fo or of Tao-tzc. The government inter- feres not in religious opinions, and it gives no fupport to any particular fed, except that of the Lama, whofe priefts are paid and 48o TRAVELS IN CHINA. and maintained as a part of the Imperial eftablifliment. The Tartar officers of ftat€ arc likewife attached to the faith of the Lama, without the abfurdities that have been mixed with it by the immortals. However ftridlythc women may be kept at home by the cuf- toms of the country, they are neverthelefs permitted, on certain occafions, to confult their deftiny at the altar, without being ex- pofed to the cenfure of vulgarity or impropriety. Barren wives are even encouraged to vifit the temples, not fo much for the purpofe of knowing their deftiny, as under a firm belief that, by rubbing the bellies of certain little copper gods, they fhall conceive and bear children. But, the women in general who, from habit, feel little inclination to ftir abroad, except on very preffing occa- fions, encourage a fet of fortune-tellers, mountebanks, and jug- glers, who thus pick up a livelihood by travelling the country and telling fortunes from houfe to houfe. They are known by a wretched fqualling flute on which they play, and are beckoned to call where their art is required. By being made acquainted with the day and hour of a perfon's birth, they pretend to cajl his nati- vity^ which is called Sivan-ming^ or the art of difcovering events by means of numbers. A Chinefe, even in the higher ranks, has no great idea of a man's learning, if he be ignorant of the Swan- ming. I was very frequently applied to at Tucii-min-yuen^ by per- fons in office, to know if I could tell them their fortune ; and it was difficult to perfuade them that I could poffibly have any knowledge of the aftronomical inftruments intended for the Em- peror, after profeffing my ignorance in cqjling a nativity. « The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 4^1 The priefts of both fe6ts are fuppofed to be no lefs attentive m keeping up a perpetual fire burning upon the ahars, than the Roman Veftals were in this refpeft ; but no expiation nor pu- rjifhment being confidered neceflary, as in the hitter cafe, they cannot boaft that " flames unextinguifh'd on their altars ^* fhine." They are, in fad, frequently extinguifhed by carc- leffhefs or accident. No virgins attend this holy flame, but the charge of it is committed generally to young boys under train- ing for the priefthood. Like the Greeks and the Romans, the Chinefe have aifo their penates or houfehold gods, which are not reprefented under any particular perfonification, but gene- rally by a tablet, bearing a fhort infcrfption, and a taper burn- ing before it. Every fhip, however fmall, has its tablet and its taper ; and, within the compafs-box or binnacle, a taper is continually kept burning. In every city, town, and village, fometimes in the mid ft of woods, in the mountains, and mofl; lonely places, are fmall temples, the doors of which are continually left open for the admittance of fuch as may be defirous of confulting their de- ftiny. The practical part of Chinefe religion may, in fad:, be faid to confift in predeftination. A prieft is not at all necefl"ary for unravelling the book of fate. If any one be about to un- dertake a journey, or to purchafe a wife, or to build a houfe, or, above all, to bury a deceafed relation, and any doubt fliould arife in his mind as to the fortunate refult of fuch undertaking, he repairs to the neareft temple ; and, if he fhould not be able to read himfelf, he takes a friend by tlie hand who can. On the altar of every temple is placed a wooden cup, filled with a 3 Q^ number 482 TRAVELS IN CHINA. number of fmall flicks, marked at the extremities with certain characters. Taking the cup in his hands, he fhakes it till one of the fticks falls upon the ground, and, having examined the character upon it, he looks for the correfponding mark in a book, which is generally appended to the wall of the temple. The lot, in this manner, is caft feveral times, and if one lucky flick in three fhould happen to turn up, he is willing to confider the omen as favourable j and, if the event fhould anfwer the ex- pedlation he has been led to form from the book of fate, he confiders it as a duty to return to the temple, and to burn a fheet or two of painted paper, or of paper covered with tin foil, and to depofit a few pieces of copper money on the altar, in token of gratitude for the favour he has received *. In this- * The prefent Emperor (hewed his gratitude for his prayers having been heard, by granting, in a public edi(5^, an additional title to the temple in which they were offered. Tmperial Edict. *' The gracious proleSing temple of the king of the dragons, on the mountain of Tu-chunf " has on every occafion of drought proved favourable to our prayers offered up there ** for rain, as duly obferved on our facred regifters. From the fummer folftice of " the prefent year, a great want of rain had been experienced, on which account we " were induced, on the 17th of this moon, to offer up our prayers and facrifices in •' perfon at the faid temple. During the very fame day, a fall of fmall rain or dew " was obferved, and, on the day following, the country was relieved by frequent " and copious fhowers. This further proof of efficacy in granting our requefts, aug- " ments our veneration, and, in teftimony whereof, we dired that the temple of the *• propitious divinity fhall receive an additional title, and be ftyled on all future oc« " cafions, •' The gracious in proteEiing, and ejicacious in preferving, the temple of the king of tht *' dragons. *' Be our tuill obeyed.'* Ptkia Gazette, z^d day of ^th Moon, of 6th year of Kia-Kingt. manner TRAVELS IN CHINA. 483 manner is con fumed the greateft part of the tin that is carried to China by the trading companies of Europe. I have already obferved that they have no communion of worfhip, to offer up, in a pubhc manner, their prayers or thankfgivings. Formerly it was the cufiom to bury flaves with emperors and princes, and fometimes alfo their concubines, alive ; but this cruel practice has given way, in modern times, to the more harmlefs one of burning reprefentations of their domeftics in tin foil, cut into the (hape of human beings, and of placing their ftatues in wood or ftone upon their graves ; this feems to be the remains of a Scythian or Tartar cuftom, which, according to Herodotus, was commonly obferved at the funerals of their fovereigns, when their horfes, their flaves, and their concu- bines were impaled alive, and placed in order round the tyrant's tomb. The laft remains of a relation are interred with all the honours that the family can afford. I never paffed between the capital and Yiicn-mhi-ytien without obferving numbers of funeral proceffions. Thofe of great officers of ftate would fometimes extend for nearly half a mile. The train was ufually arranged in the following order. In front marched a priefl: un- covered, next a group of muficlans with flutes, trumpets, and cymbals; after thefe the male relations of the deceafed, in long white frocks, and behind them the chief mourner, fupported by two friends, whofe exertions to prevent him from tearing his cheeks and hair appeared to be truly ridiculous. Then fol- lowed the coffin, covered by a magnificent canopy, and borne generally by four men, fometimes by eight. After the canopy the female relations proceeded in chairs, or more generally in the 3Ci^2 little 484 • TRAVELS IN CHINA. little covered carts, wearing white frocks like the men, their hair difhevelled, and broad white fillets bound acrofs their fore- heads. On approaching a bridge or a temple the proceffion always halted while the prieft burned little images of tin foil, or let off a few crackers, upon which the noify gong and the reft of the band made a flourifh. The famous feaft of lanterns, when the whole empire Is lighted up from one extremity to the other, in every polTible way that fancy can fuggeft, is an ancient religious ufage, of which, at the prefent day, they can give no plaufible account. It is juft poffible that, among other Egyptian ceremonies, this may be one derived from a common origin with an annual illumination of the fame kind mentioned by Herodotus ; which was generally obferved, from the catiarads of the Nile to the borders of the Mediterranean, by hanging lamps of different kinds to the fides of the houfes. On this day the Chinefe not only illuminate their houfes, but they alfo exercife their inge- nuity in making tranfparencies in the (hape of different animals, with which they run through the ftreets by night. The effedt when perfedly dark is whimfical enough. Birds, hearts, fifhes, and other animals, are feen darting through the air, and con- tending with each other ; fome with fquibs in their mouths, breathing fire, and others vv'ith crackers in their tails : fome fending out fky-rockets, others rifmg into pyramids of party- coloured fire, and others burfting like a mine with violent ex- plofions. But the moft ingenious are thofe that, Proteus-like, change their ihape from time to time, and under every form exhibit a different difplay of fire- works. 5 I. have TRAVELS IN CHINA. 485 I have obferved, at the beginning of this chapter, that the temples are occafionally appropriated to the ufe of ftate-officerB, embafladors, and other public charaders, when travelling through the country, there being no other houfes affording accommodations equally fuitable. On quitting the temple it is generally thought neceffary to perform an ad of reverence bor- dering on devotion, not however to the Deity, but to the name of the Emperor infcribed on the altar. This cuftom, together with that of depofiting rice and other grain, tea and oil at certain feafons, efpecially on the day of his nativity, although perhaps, in the firft inftance, a token only of rcfpedt and gra- titude, and in the other an acknowledgment of his being the fole proprietary of the foil, are neverthelefs ads that tend, from the fandity of the. place where they are performed, to the en- couragement of idolatry. By thus affociating the offerings made to the Deity and to the Monarch, the vulgar become apt to magnify the power of the latter and to raife it on a level with that of the former. A Chinefe in fpeaking of a propitious event occurring, either in his own or any other country, gene- rally attributes it to the joint Will of Heaven and the. Emperor of China. The converfion of the temples into lodging-houfes is attended with feme temporal advantages to the priefts, by the donations that are generally made on fuch occafions. Moll of them being fupported entirely by voluntary contributions, and trifling legacies that may be left by pious perfons, they are thankful for the fmalleft gifts : for as there is little or no connedion between the church and the ftate, they derive no pay, nor emolument. 483 TRAVELS IN CHINA. CHAP. IX. ..VI a..ij .<-, IjU'I' Journey from Tong-choo-foo to the Province of Canton.^ — Face of the Country, and its Produdions. — Buildings and other Public Works. — Condition of the People, — State of Agriculture. — Population. "v., Attentions paid to the Embajp^.'—Obfervations on the Climate and Plains of Pe-tche- \e&.''— Plants of. — Diet and Condition of the People. — Burying-place. — Ohferva' tion on Chine fe Cities. — Trackers of the Yachts. — Entrance of the Grand Canal. -^ The FiflAng Corvorant. — approach to /Zv Yellow-River. — Ceremony of crofftng this River. — Obfervations on Canals and Roads. — Improvement of the Country in ad' vancing to the Southward. — Beauty of juar Sau-choo-foo.— ^^-/V/^f of ninety -one Arches .^Country near Hang-choo-foo. — Cityof. — Appearance of the Country near the Po-yang Lake.— Obfervations in proceeding through Kiang-fee. — The Camellia Sefanqua. — RetrofpeElive View of the Climate and Produce^ Diet and Condition, of the People e/"Pe-tche-lee. — Some Obfervations on the Capital of China. — Province o/" Shan-tung. — O/" Kiang-nan. — Obfervations on the State of /Agriculture in China. ^Rice Mills. — Province of Tche-kiang. — Of Khx)g-{ee. — Population of China compared with that of England. — Erroneous Opinions entertained on this Subjefl. — Comparative Population of a City in China and in England — Faitiines accounted for.— Means of Prevention. — Caufes of the Popitloufnefs of China. v-/n the 8th of Odlober we embarked, for the fecond time, on the Pei-ho in yachts, which, however, were very different from thofe that had been prepared for us on a former occafion, being fnuch fmaller, but broader in proportion to their length, and fo ihallow TRAVELS IN CHINA. 419 iliallow and flat-bottomed, that they required little depth of wa- ter; yet we found them fufliciently commodious. Ofthenecef- fity of fuch a change in the accommodation yachts, on account of the low ftate of the river, we were fpeedily convinced, though, previous to our embarkation, it had been by fome attributed to a different caufe. It was fuppofed that the men in office through- out the country, piqued at the refufal of the Embaffador to fub- mit to their degrading ceremony, would not fail to retaliate the affront by depriving us of every little comfort and conveni- ence, and by otherwife rendering the long journey before us extremely unpleafant. The character of the people at large juftified fuch a conclufion ; and, I believe, every individual had laid his account of meeting with difficulties and difagreeable oc- currences on the journey to Canton. In juflice, however, to thofe who had the fuperintendence of the embafly, and parti- cularly to the two moft worthy characters Van and Chou^ who were more immediately conneded with its concerns, it is but fair to obferve that no attention was wanting, nor expence fpared, to render our fituation as eafy and comfortable as pofTible, Sup- plies of every kind were fent on board in the greatefl profufion and with the moft fcrupulous punduality. And as a fmgular proof of attention fhewn to us in the commencement of this journey, our conductors, having obferved that we ufed milk with our tea, had purchafed two fine cows in full milk, which were put on board a yacht prepared for their reception, for a fup- ply of that article. And, it was obferved, that whenever the chief officers of the provinces, through which the embaffy was to pafs, prepared an entertainment in honour of the occafion, they 3 R had 483 TRAVELS IN CHINA. i aisw ■ CHAP. IX. Journey from Tong-choo-foo to the Province of Canton.^ — Face of the Country, and its Produdions. — Buildings and other Public Works. — Condition of the People. — State of Agriculture. — Population. Attentions paid to the EmbaJfy.~-^Obfervations on the Climate and Plains of Pe-tchc- ^.lee.— Plants of. — Diet and Condition of the People. — Burying-place. — Ohferva- tion oil Chinefe Cities. — Trackers of the Yachts. — Entrance of the Grand Canal. -^ The Fifhiug Corvorant. — approach /o /Zv Yellow-River. — Ceremony of crojf.ng this River. — Obfervations on Canals and Roads. — Improvement of the Country in ad' vancing to the Southward. — Beauty of, near Sin-choo-ioo.— Bridge of ninety -one Arches. — Country near Hang-choo-foo. — City of. — Appearance of the Country near the Po-yang Lake.— Obfervations in proceeding through Kiang-fee. — The Camellia 'Sefanqua. — RetrofpeBive View of the Climate and Produce, Diet and Condition, of the People ^/'Pe-tche-lee. — Sotne Obfervations on the Capital of China. — Province 5/" Shan-tung.— Q/" Kiang-nan. — Obfervations on the State of Agriculture in China. — Rice Mills. — Province of Tche-kiang. — Of Khng-fee. — Population of China compared with that of England. — Erroneous Opinions entertained on this SubjeB. — Comparative Population of a City in China and in England — Famines accounted for.— Means of Prevention. — Caufes of the Populoufnefs of China. ^-'N the 8th of Odober we embarked, for the fecond time, on the Pei-ho in yachts, which, however, were very different from thofe that had been prepared for us on a former occafion, being *nuch fmaller, but broader in proportion to their length, and fo fhallow TRAVELS IN CHINA. 419 ihallow and flat-bottomed, that they required little depth of wa- ter ; yet we found them fufliciently commodious. Ofthenecef- fity of fuch a change in the accommodation yachts, on account of the low ftate of the river, we were fpeedily convinced, though, previous to our embarkation, it had been by fome attributed to a different caufe. It was fuppofed that the men in office through- out the country, piqued at the refufal of the Embaffador to fub- mit to their degrading ceremony, would not fail to retaliate the affront by depriving us of every little comfort and conveni- ence, and by otherwife rendering the long journey before us extremely unpleafant. The character of the people at large juftified fuch a conclufion ; and, I believe, every individual had laid his account of meeting with difficulties and difagreeable oc- currences on the journey to Canton. In juflice, however, to thofe who had the fuperintendence of the embafly, and parti- cularly to the two moil worthy characters Fan and Cbou, who were more immediately conneded with its concerns, it is but fair to obferve that no attention was wanting, nor expence fpared, to render our fituation as eafy and comfortable as poffible. Sup- plies of every kind were fent on board in the greatefl profufion and with the moft fcrupulous punduality. And as a fmgular proof of attention fhewn to us in the commencement of this journey, our condu(Stors, having obferved that we ufed milk with our tea, had purchafed two fine cows in full milk, which were put on board a yacht prepared for their reception, for a fup- ply of that article. And, it was obferved, that whenever the chief officers of the provinces, through v^rhich the embaffy was to pafs, prepared an entertainment in honour of the occafion, they 3 R had 490 TRAVELS IN CHINAT %!s.d given themfelves all poffible trouble to render it more ac- ceptable, by endeavouring to ferve it up, as they thought, in the Englifh ftyle. In fome of thofe feafts we had hogs roafted whole, that could not have weighed lefs than fifty pounds ; quarter? of mutton, geefe, ducks, and fowls roafted or boiled whole, a mode of cookery altogether different to the practice of the country, which is chiefly confined to that of ftewing fmalt morfels of meat with greens or rice. The awkward manner in which they were prepared, being generally burnt and glazed over with oil, was entitled to and found an ample excufe m the defire thus teftified of pleafing. From the time that we firft embarked In Auguft at the mouth of the Pey-ho, or White River, until our return, we experi- enced only a fmgle fhower of rain. It Is obferved, indeed,, that during the autumnal months the northern provinces en- joy a cloudlefs fky ; an advantage of which they avail themfelves inthrafhing out the different kinds of grain in the field, thus faving the labour of bearing it into barns or piling it into flacks. It is either thrafhed out on clay floors with flails, fimilar to our own, beat out of the ear againft: the edge of a plank, or trodden by oxen or buffalos. The grain that we had noticed juft flriking into the ear, on afcending the river, was now generally reaped. It confifled principally of the different fpecies of millet, as be- fore obferved, and a fmall proportion oixSxQ polygonum fagopyrum or buck-wheat. A fpecies of dolichos or bean, that had been fown between the drills of the Holcus, or tall millet, was now in flower. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 491 The range of Fahrenheit's thermometer in the province of Pe-tche-lee, during the month of Auguft, was from 80* to 88* in the middle of the day, and during the night it remained ge- nerally about 60" to 64°. In September, the medium tempe- rature at two o'clock was about 76°; and in Odober about 68°; but in the latter month, it decrcafed in the night fometimes to 44°. In the neighbourhood of the Pei-ho a light fandy foil chiefly prevails, with a mixture of argillaceous earth and flimy matter, interfperfed with fliining particles of mica : but not a ftone of any magnitude, nor pebbles, nor even gravel occur in the whole extent of country through which this river is navigable. The furface, indeed, is fo flat and uniform, that the tide, which rifes only nine or ten feet in the gulph of Pe-tche-leCy flows to the diftance of thirty miles beyond 'Tien-Jing, or one hundred and ten miles from the mouth of the river ; and it fre- quently fubmerges the whole country, notwithftanding the great pains befl;owed by the inhabitants in raifing and keeping in order artificial banks. Such inundations, although fre- quently the caufcs of great fertility, are fometimes productive of general calamity, efpecially if they happen at a feafon when the crop is too far advanced. Thefe plains exhibit the appear- ance of a more than ordinary incroachment of the land upon the fea. The general level of the face of the country, at high water, is not more elevated than two feet above the furface of the river, of which not only the bed, but alfo the fubftratum of the enclofing banks, are compofed entirely of fine fand fimi- lar to that q^ the fhore of the fea. The deepeft part of the 3 R 2 wide 492 TRAVELS IN CHINA. wide gulph of Pe-tche-lee exceeds not twelve fathoms, and the prodigious number of fmall fandy iilands, juft appearing above the furface, are faid to have been created within the records of hiftory. A great portion of the enormous mafs of mud that is perpetually wafted down the Yellow River, and which was found by experiment to exceed two millions folid feet in an hour, is borne by a ftrong current from the Yellow Sea into the gulph of Pe-tche-leCy where the ftillnefs of the water allows it to fubfide. In the map of Marco Polo, which was moft probably copied by him from one in the poflefEon of Gengis- khan, or fome of the learned men about his court, Tkn-fing is placed upon the fea coaft ; and a branch of the Yellow River, after traverfing the provinces Kiang-nan^ Sha-ng-tung^ and part of Pe-tcbe-ke^ in the direftion nearly of the prefent canal, dis- charges itfelf into the gulph near the Pei-ho. "Were this branch of the river adually turned, the rapidity with which the gulpb of Pe-tche-lee is filling up is the lefs furprifing, as the only ftream to keep its waters in motion at prefent is the Pei-ho. It has been calculated that, by the fimple turning of the great river that falls from Winandermere-lake, the eftuary of Morecombe Bay, which it now crofles, would, in the natural courfe of events, be converted in a few years into a green meadow. If the above- mentioned chart be correct, it would prove alfo that the Mon- gul Tartars did adually firft bring the grand navigation of China to the ftate in which it now appears*. This uniform plain of China afforded little intereft to the traveller. Few trees appeared, except now and then a clump of firs furrounding a temple, or the plantations contiguous to the TRAVELS IN CHINA. 493 the dwelling of fome officer of government. In fuch fituations were alfo large elms, willows, and a fpecies of afli unknown in Europe. There were no hedge-rows. Property here is divided only by narrow ditches, ferving, at the fame time, for drains, or by ridges of unploughed ground, as in the common fields of Eng-t land, which anfwer the purpofe of foot-paths. Thefe ridges^ were generally well covered with that family of running trefoil, known by the name of Melilotos^ intermixed with a fpecies of Toa or meadow grafs, Avtna or wild oats, and Brizct or quaking grafs. In the ditches, befide the common reed, the Arunda pbrag" mites ^ were growing two fpecies oi Cyperus, and a. Scirpus of club-rufh. None of the artificial graJles, ufually fo called, are cultivated by the Chinefe. It is not ah object with them to fodder their cows for the fake of obtaining a greater quantity- of milk, this nutritive article of food being very fparingly ufed either in its raw ftate or in afty preparation; and they are' either ignorant of the procefles of converting it into better ind' chcefe, or, for certain reafons, prefer to erliploy the little they make ufe of in its original ftate. Horfes are rarely kept for lux-^ ury or for labour ; and the few" animals employed in agriculture^* which are moftly afles, mules, or buffalos, fubfift in the winter feafon on chaff and ftraw ; and their chief fuppbrt in the fum- ' mer is derived from the ftrong grafles that grow in the ditches' and the common reed, with which, in this part of the country'^^ large trads of fwampy ground are covered. ^ ''^ On approaching Tien-fing^ we obferved feveral large fields cultivated with a vegetable called by the Chinefe the Pe-tfai^ or white herb, apparently a fpecies of Braffica or cole ; though^ infipid 494 TRAVELS IN CHINA. infipid in its tafte, being not unlike that of the cos-lettuce, it is held in preference to all other vegetables j and the capital is moft abundantly fupplied with it in the fummer feafon freQi from the gardens in its vicinity, and, in the winter, falted and prepared fomewhat in the fame manner as the Sour-Krout of the Ger- mans. We obferved alfo in the gardens, carrots, turnips, black radifhes, a fpecies of afparagus, the Solanum Mclongena^ a fpecies of phyfalls or winter-cherry, water-melons and mulk- melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers. Onions and garlic were common vegetables planted near every pealant's houfe. The 'Trapa or water- caltrops grew^ in the ditches, the nuts of which, with the feeds and the roots of the neiumbium, gene- rally furniflied out our defert ; to which, indeed, fometimes were added tolerably good peaches, dry fpongy apples not unlike quinces in appearance, and pears of an immenfe fize but of a harih and auftere tafl:e. However unfavorable the country might be for an extended cultivation, which did not appear to be the cafe, the proximity to the capital would have led one to exped: a correfponding population. Nothing of the kind appeared ; the vaft numbers we had obferved in afcending the river were drawn from the diftance of many miles out of mere curiofity j the inhabitants only of the vicinity now {hewed themfelves j and we were rather furprized at the fewnefs of thefe, as v/ell as at the very ruinous and miferable condition of almoft all the cottages. Thefe mean huts were built, fome of half-burnt bricks, and others of clay, and they were thatched with the ftraw of grain or with reeds. Some were enclofed within walls of mud, or with a kind of 13 coarfe TRAVELS IN CHINA. 495 GOarfe matting made of reeds, or the ftalks of the holcus forghiim^ which enclofure generally contained the families of two or three generations, the cattle, pigs, poultry, and all the living creatures belonging to the eftablifhment. The Chinefe have a common faying, that " although there be poverty without " Pekin, there is plenty within its walls." The appearance, indeed, of all the peafantry in this province was marked with every indication of poverty j nor was the condition much better of thofe who were employed about the veflels which carried the Embaflador and his train. With the greateft thankfulnefs they received the offals of our allowance ; and the tea-leaves, which we had ufed, were fought after by them with avidity, and boiled up for their beverage. A little boiled rice, or millet, with a few vegetables, commonly the Pe-tfai.^ and onions fried in oil, conftituted 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 however had the frying-pan on the fire at three or four o'clock in the morning. The wine or liquor, which we received in large jars, and which was fo miferably bad as not to be ufed, afforded a great treat to the poor people, whofe circumftances feldom allowed them to tafte it. This liquor is brewed from a mixture of rice and millet, and from its quickly turning four feems to have little ftrength, and to have undergone a very imperfed; degree of fermentation. Their hot wine is feldom ufed except by the upper clafs of people, who, not fatisfied with the ftrong empyreumatic flavour com- municated in the diftillation, drink it boiling hot in the midfl of fummer.. At 495 TRAVELS IN CHINA. At Tien-Sing our principal condudior Sun-ta-gin had pre- pared for us a futnptuous entertainment, confifting of excellent mutton, pork, veniion, and poultry of all kinds, a great variety of confe<3:ionary, of fruits then in feafon, peaches, p mbs, grapes, chefnuts, walnuts, and water-caltrops. We very foon found indeed that we were treated with more ftudied attention, with a more marked diftindion, and with lefs conftraint, than when we afcended the river. Our digniried conductor made no difficulty in allowing us to walk on (hore as much as we pleafed j 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 fame time, that the officers Van and Chou would be refponfible at court for any accident that might happen to us, fo long as we vyere under the protection of the Emperor. In paffing Tien-Sing we found confiderable difficulty in getting our fleet through the immenfe crowds of fhipping of every defcription that were colle ; the /c/;c«> to'the /o»V aiidthe/oo to the board of revenue in the capital. J s 2 no 500 TRAVELS IN CHIN-A. no great degree of population ; the dwellings that floated on. the water were numerous, and crowded with inhabitants. We ob- ferved feveral plots of young wheat rifing in drills a few inches above the ground. Buck-wheat was in full flower, and feveral plantations of the cotton plant, gojfyp'mm herbaceum, were in pod, fome of them perfedly ripe. Fahrenheit's thermometer on the 14th, 15th, and i6th of this month flood at 52° and 53*^ in the morning, and about 70^ in the middle of the day. On the 17th, beflde a great number of towns, villages, and military pofts, which are regularly placed at intervals of about three miles, we paflfed two cities of the third order, one of which, from the length of its walls, appeared to be of very conflderable importance. No true idea, however, can be form- ed of the population and magnitude of a Chinefe city by the ex- tent of its encloflng w^alls. Few are without large patches of unoccupied ground within them, which, in many infiances, far exceeds the quantity of land that is built upon. Even in that part of the capital called the Chinefe city, feveral hundred acres are under cultivation The Imperial city, containing the palace and buildings for the officers of ftate, the eunuchs and artificers, occupies very nearly a fquare mile, more than two- thirds of which is a kind of park and pleafure grounds ; and under the north wall of the Tartar city there is a pond or fvvamp covered almoft with the Nelumbium, which appeared ta be fully twice the dimenfions of Lincoln's-Inn-Fields, or four times their fpace, namely, near fifty acres. Such fpaces of unoccupied ground might perhaps have been referved for the ufe of the inhabitants in cafe of fiege, as the means of fupply- ing- TRAVELS IN CHINA. 501 ing a few vegetables of the pungent kind, as onions and garlic, for tlie befieged, which are the more necefiary for a people who ufe fofmall a portion of animal food, and little or no milk. Thus the cities of Babylon and Nineveh, which w^ere fo fre- quently expofed to the calamities of war and fiege, had gar^- dens and corn-lands within their walls. On the 1 8th we paiTed two cities, and a great number of towns and villages. The face of the country ftill level and en- tirciyjOpen; not a hedge-row appearing on any fide, and very few trees. Almoft all the vefTels that we met in the courfe of the day were laden with lacks of cotton wool. This being the night of full moon, we were allowed to enjoy very little reft. The obfervance of the iifual ceremonies, which confift of firing their fmall petards, beating at intervals the noify gong, harfh fqualling mufic, and fire-works, required that our veflels fhould remain ftationary, and thefe no-^''^''T''9m isvh 3riJ oj sflilfi^i^ il^tiodJ ^rioiriv o Aoh 3i^The city oli Nantcbang-foo is fituated upon the left bank of the river Kari'kiang-bo^ falling from the fouthward into the ^i^^'^^ J Po-yang TRAVELS IN CHINA. siS Po-yang Take. ' \i wi^" fiere about five hi'indi'^c! yards in vndth, againft the flream of which we made a rapid progrefs with a brifk breeze. For the firft fixty miles the country was flat and uncultivated, except in places where we obferved a few fields of rice. But there was no want of population. Towns and villages were conftantly in fight, as were alfo manufadlories of earthen ware, bricks and tiles. The farther we advanced up the river, the more populous was the country, the more varied and agreeable the furface, and the more extended the cultiva- tion. The banks were fkirted with large trees, that caft a cool and comfortable fhade on the walks beneath. Of thefe, fome were willows, others camphors, but by far the greateft num- ber were the Yang-tcboo, a large fpreading tree that threw its branches down to the ground, where, like the Ficus Indicus^ of which indeed it was a variety, tbey took root and became ftems. - -v.. :,. ^ ; 1' At the city Kei-Jhui Jhien^ which, like moft cities in China, offered little worthy of remark, the river divided into two branches ; and at Kin-gan-foOy 2l city of the firft order, which we paffed the fame night, by the river contrae oppofite fide was dreary and barren. \n d.;fce;)ding the gradu.il flope of about twelve miles, before the mounvaia had blended with the general fuiface of the country, there was a con'^ant fucceffion 544 TRAVELS IN CHINA. fucceffion of dwellings ; lb that this whole dlflance might almofl: be confidered as one continued ftreet. Half of the buildings confifted, however, of places of convenience, to which paflengers might retire to obey the calls of nature ; and the doors, or rather the openings into fuch eredlions, were always invitingly front- ing the ftreet. To each fingle dwelling, whether alone or joined with others, was annexed a fabric of this defcription. Each was conftruded upon a large terrace ciftern, lined with fuch materials that no abforption could take place ; and ftraw and other dry rubbifh are thrown in by the owners, from tin:ie to time, to prevent evaporation. In one of the ftreets of Canton is a row of buildings of this kind, which, in fo warm a climate, is a dreadful nuifance ; but the confideration of prefsrving that kind of manure, which by the Chinefe is confidered as fuperior for forcing vegetation to all others, has got the better of both decency and prudence. All the pafTengers we met upon this road were laden with jars of oil exprefled from the Camellia. In the courfe of eighteen miles, which is about the diftance from the fummit of Me-lin to the city of Nan-Jhetm-foo, we palfed at leaft a thoufand perfons on their way to Nan-gan-foo^ each bearing ten or twelve gallons of oil, and among thefe were a number of women. Having now travcrfed five of the provinces of China, that are confidered among the moft populous and produdive in the empire, a general fketch may be drawn, by taking a retro- fpedive view, of the ftate of agriculture and the condition of the rs-.f.ir..,..'. ./.■ ^r.-.^/.,'■..^ .c-,,// '// /'/// ^ / f.^yi'/ri^ ' /T^yw^' . TRAVELS IN CHINA. 545 the people ; of their habitations, drefs, diet, and means of fub- fiflence ; and fome conclufian drawn as to the population of the countr5% It was a remark too fingular to efcape notice, that, except in the neighbourhood of the Po-yang' lake, the peafantry of the province in which the capital ftands were more mifcrable, their houfes more mean and wretched, and their lands in a ■worfe ftate of cultivation, than in any other part of the route — a remark which alfo agrees with the accounts given by the Dutch embafiy of that part of Fe-tche-lce^ on the fouth-weft fide of the capital, through which they pafled. Four mud walls covered over with a thatch of reeds, or the flraw of millet, or the ftems of holcus, compofe their habitations ; and they are moft commonly furrounded with clay walls, or with a fence made of the ftrong ftems of the Holcus Sorglnmi. A partition of matting divider the hovel into two apartments; each of which has a fmall opening in the wall to admit the air and light ; but one door generally ferves as an entrance, the clofure of which is frequently nothing more than a ftrong mat. A blue cotton jacket and a pair of trowfers, a ftraw hat and fhoes of the fame material, conftitute the drefs of the majority of the people. Matting of reeds or bamboo, a cylindrical pillov/ of wood co- vered with leather, a kind of rug or felt blanket made of the hairy wool of the broad-tailed fheep, not fpun and woven but beat together as in the procefs for making hats, and fometimes a mattrefs ftuffed with wool, hair, or ftraw, conftitute their bedding. Two or three jars, a few bafons of earthen-ware of the coarfeft kind, a large iron pot, a frying-pan, and a portable 4 A ftove, 546 TRAVELS IN CHINA. ftove, are the chief articles of furniture. Chairs and tables are not necefliiry ; both men and women fit on their heels ; and in this pofture they furround the great iron pot, with each a bafou in his hands, when they take their meals. The poverty of their food was fufficiently indicated by their meagre appear- ance. It confifts chiefly of boiled rice, millet, or other grain, ■with the addition of onions or garlic, and mixed fometimes with a few other vegetables, that, by way of relifh, are fried in rancid oil, extracted from a variety of plants, fuch as the Sejfa- mum^ Brajfica orient alisy Cyt'ifus Cadjan, a fpecies of Dolichos^ and, among others, from the fame fpecies of Ricinus or Palnia,- Chrijii^ from, which the Caftor is drawn, and ufed only in Europe as a powerful purgative. Its draftic qualities may probably be diminifhed by applying lefs preiTure in extrading the oil, or by habit, or by ufmg it frefli, as it does not appear that the Chinefe fuffer any inconvenience in its application to culinary purpofes. As well as I could underfland, the feeds were firft bruifed and then boiled in water, and the oil that floated on the furface was fkimmed off. Our Florence oil they affeded not to admire, having, as they faid, no tafte. The Chinefe, like the inhabitants of the South of Europe, feem to attach a higher value on oils, in proportion as age has given to them a higher degree of rancidity. Fifh of any kind, in this part of the country, is a great rarity j few are caught in the rivers of Pe-tche-lee, We met with none i'n the whole province, except at Tien-Jing and in the capital, whofe market, no doubt, like that of London, draws to its centre the choice produds of a very extenfive circuit. Salt and dried TRAVELS IN CHINA. 5^4^ fit stij .si/oli dried fifh, it is true, are brought from the fouthward as articles of commerce, but th.e poor peafantry cannot afford to purchafe them for general ufe. They obtain them only fometimes by bartering millet or vegetables in exchange. A morl'el of pork to relifli their rice is almoft the only kind of meat that the poor can afford to tafte. They have little milk, and neither butterjnor cheefe, nor bread ; articles of nourifliment to which, with pota- toes, the peafantry of Europe owe their chief fupport. Boiled rice, indeed, and not bread, is confidered as an article of the firft necefTity, the flaff of life in China. Hence the monofyllabley^;/, "X^^hich fignifies boiled rice, enters into every compound that implies eating ; thus tcbe-Jh/iy the name of a meal in general, is ID eat rice ; breakfaft is called the tfaofan or morning rice, and fupper the ouan-fan or evening rice. Their principal and indeed their befl beverage is bad tea, boiled over and over again as long as any bitter remains in the leaves, taken without milk or fugar, or any other ingredient, except, in cold weather, a little ginger. In this weak flate the only purpofe it feems to anfwer is that of carrying down the fedlment of muddy water that abounds in all the fiat provinces of China, which the leaves of tea (as I fancy thofe of any other plant would) are found to do. Thefe poor creatures, however, are*inflru61:ed by popular opinion to afcribe to it many extraordinary qualities *. It * The fimple boiling of the water indeed contributes greatly to the quick depofi- tion of earthy particles, which may have been one caiife of the univerfdl pra>5l:ice of drinlcing every thing warm in China. They were furprlfcd to fee our foldiers and fervants drinl^Ing the water of the Pei-ho cold, and told them it was very bad f(r tjie Iloniach and boweh. Tliis complaint, in f i^, attacked almoft all the inferior 4 A a part 548 TRAVELS IN CHINA. It would require a more familiar acquaintance with the people, and a longer refidence among them, than was allowed to us, to explain the true reafon of fuch real poverty among the peafantry in the vicinity of the capital. Perhaps, indeed, It may be owing, in a great degree, to the proximity of the court, which In all countries has the effedt of drawing together a crowd of people to confume the produdls of the foil, without contributing any portion of labour towards their produdion. The encouragement that is here given to idlenefs and diffipa^, tion is but too apt to entice the young peafantry in the neigh- bourhood from their houfes, and thus rob the country of its bed hands. The foil, likewife, near the capital, is barren and fandy, producing few fupplies beyond the wants of the feveral tenants ; and all other necelTarles of life not raifed by them muft be pur- chafed extravagantly dear. It is, indeed, furprlzing how this immenfe city, faid to contain three millions of Inhabitants, is- contrived to be fupplied at any rate, confidering the very fterlle and unprodu(5tive ftate of the country for many miles around it. It might not, however, be a matter of lefs aftonifhment to a Chlnefe, nor lefs difficult for him to conceive, in what man- ner our own capital receives its daily fupplies, efpeclally after he had obferved that there is not a fingle road, by which Lon- part of the embaiTy, which Dodor GilJan did rot hefitate to afcribe to the great im- purity of the water. But the Chinefe argued the point with the Doftor with re- gard to taking it cold, a&ing him why all the fluids of the body were warm, if na- ture had intended us to drink water and other liquids in a cold ftate I They feemed to have forgotten that all the warm-blocded animals, except man, muft necefTarily drink coJd water. don TRAVELS IN CHINA. 549 , don can be approached, that is not carried over vafl: trails of uncultivated commons and wafte grounds. The vallies of Tartary furnifh beeves and broad-tailed fheep for Pekin, and grain is brought by water from every part of the country, of which the government takes the precaution to lay up in ftore a fufficient quantity for a twelvemonth's con- fumption. Of animal food, pork is moftly confumed. Few peafants are without their breed of hogs j thefe animals, indeed, are likewife kept in large cities, where they become public nuifances. Bad beef in Pekin fells for about fix-pence the pound ; mutton and pork eight-pence ; lean ^owls and ducks from two to three (hillings ; eggs are generally about one penny each ; fmall loaves of bread that are boiled in fteam, without yeaft or leaven, are about four-pence a pound ; rice fells ufually at three halfpence or two-pence the pound j wheat flour at two-pence halfpenny or three-pence ; fine tea from twelve to thirty fhillings a pound ; that of the former price, at leaft fuch as was procured clandeftinely for us, not drinkable, and the latter not near fo good as that of about fix fhillings in Lon- don*. There are, indeed, plenty of tea-houfes in and near the capital, where the labouring people may purchafe their cup of tea for two fmall copper coin (not quite a farthing) but it is miferably bad. A tolerable horfe and a man-flave are ufually about the fame price, being from fifteen to twenty ounces of * As thefe teas however were purchafed by Chinefe, I have no doubt they refi^rved to themfelves a very large profit on the commiflion, for it is fcarcely poffible that this article, the growth and produce of the middle provinces, fhould bear a price fo far beyond what the very bell fells for in London. filver. 550 TRAVELS I:K CHINA. fjlver. The article of drefs worn by the common people is not very expenfive. The peafantry are invariably clad in cocton ; and this article is the produce of raoft of the provinces. The complete drefs of a peafant is aboul fifteen fliillings ; of a com- mon tradefman three pounds ; an officer of govrernmeni's com- mon drefs ten pounds; of ceremony about thirty pounds; and if enriched with embroidery and gold and filver tiifue, between two and three hundred pounds : a pair of Wack fatin boois twenty fhillings ; and a cap or bonnet about the fame fum. The price of labour, however, and particularly in Pekin, bears no fort of proportion to the price of provifions. A mechanic in this city thinks himfelf well paid if he gets a fliilling a-day. A com.mon weaver, joiner, or other tradefman earns a bare fubfiftence for his family ; and the beft fervants may be hired for an ounce of filver a-month. Many are glad to give their fervices in exchange for their fubfiftence, without any confi- deration in hard money. Tobacco being an indifpenfable ar- ticle for all ranks of every age and fex bears of courfe a high price in the capital. It is fingular enough, that this plant fliould have found its way into every part of the world, among favage as well as civilized nations, fven into the deferts of Africa, where it was found in conftant ufe among the Boofliuanas, a people, till very lately, totally unknown; and it is equally fin- gular, that an herb of fo difagreeable a tafte fhould, by habit, obtain an afcend-ency fo far over the appetite, as not eafily to be relinquiflied. The climate of the nort,iicrn provinces is unfavourable to the poor peafantry. The fumniers are fo warm that they go J nearly TRAVELS IN CHINA. 55^ nearly naked, and the winters fo fevere that, what with tlieir poor and fcanty fare, their want of fuel, clothing, and even ilielter, thoufands are faid to perifh from cold and hunger. In fuch a condition the ties of nature fometimes yield to felf-pre- fervation, and children are fold to fave both the parent and ofF- fpring from perifhing for want ; and infants become a prey to hopelefs indigence. We have feen in the notes taken by the gentleman in the Dutch embafTy, how low the temperature is at Pekin in the winter months ; and they have no coals nearer than the mountains of Tartary, which are all brought on the backs of dromedaries ; of courfe, they are extravagantly dear. In fa(St, they are fcarcely ever burned pure, but are crumbled to duft and mixed up with earth, in which ftate they give out a very ftrong heat, but no flame, and are fuitable enough for their fmall clofe ftoves. Although it is a principle of the Chinefe government to ad- mit of no diftindions among its fubjedls, except thofe that learn- ing and office confer ; and although the moft rigid fumptuary laws have been impofed to check that tendency to flievv and fplendor, which wealth is apt to afliime ; and to bring as much as poffible on a level, at leaft in outward appearance, all condi- tions of men; yet, with regard to diet, there is a wider differ- ence perhaps between the rich and the poor of China, than in any other country. That wealth which, if permitted, would be expended in flattering the vanity of its poffefTors, is now ap- plied in the purchafe of dainties to pamper the appetite. Their famous Gin-fing^ a name fignifying the life of ma?i (the Panax qmnque folium of Linnaeus) on account of its fuppofed invigo- rating 552 TRAVELS IN CHINA. rating and aphrodifiac qualities was, for a length of time, weighed againft gold. The fmewy parts of (lags and other ani- mals, with the fins of fharks, as produiiive of the fame effedis, are purchafed by the wealthy at enormous prices : and the nefts that are conftriK^ed by fmall fwallows on the coads of Cochin- china, Cambodia, and other parts of the Eaft, are dearer even than fome kinds of Gin-fing, Mo ft of the plants that grow on the fea-iliore are fuppofed to poflcfs an invigorating quality, and are, therefore, in couilant ufe as pickles or preferves, or fimply dried and cut into foups in the place of c;her vegetables. The leaves of one of thefe, apparently a fpecies of that genus of fea-weed called by botanifls fiicus^ afrer being gathered, are fleeped in frefli water and hung up to dry. A fmall quantity of this weed boiled in water gives to it the confiflence of a jelly, and when mixed with a little fugar, the juice of an orange, or other fruit, and fet by to cool, I know of no jelly more agree- able or refrefbing. The leaf is about fix inches long, narrow, and pointed, deeply ferrated, and the margins ciliated ; the middle part fmooth, femi-tranfparent, and of a leathery confift- ence. The Ghinefe call it Chhi-chcu, The great officers of ftate make ufe of thefe and various other gelatinous viands for the purpofe of acquiring, as they fuppofe, a proper degree of corpulency *, which is conlidcred by * An old Frenchman [CoJJlgny) but a difclple of the new fchool, has found out that the C'liacfe are in poirLfiion of a new fcience, the exiftence of which was not even fufpeficd by the enlightened nations of Europe. As he has the merit of mak- ing this wonderful difcovery, it is but fair to announce it in his own w-ords : " Je " penfe que nous devrions prendre chez eux (les Chinois) !es premiers elemens de la ''/per. TRAVELS IN CHINA. 55J by them as refpedlable and Impofing upon the muhitude ; of a great portion of whom it may be obferved, as Falftaff faid pf his company, " No eye hath feen fuch fcare-crows." It v/ould be rare to find, among the commonalty of China, one to compare with a porter-drinking citizen or a jolly looking farmer of England. They are indeed naturally of a {lender habit of body and a fickly appearance, few having the blufli of health upon their cheeks. The tables of the great are co- vered with a vaft variety of dilhes, confiftinjz: moftly of ftews of fifl-j, fowl, and meat, feparately and jointly, with proper pro- portions of vegetables and fauces of different kinds. Their beverage confifts of tea and whifkey. In fipping this ardent fpirit, made almoft boiling hot, eating paflry and fruits, and fmoking the pipe, they fpend the greatcft part of the day, beginning from the moment they rife and continuing till they go to bed. In hot weather they fleep in the middle of the day, attended by two fer- vants, one to fan away the flies and the other to keep them cool. The province of Pe-tche-lce embraces an extent of climate from 38^ to 401*^ of north latitude. The temperature is very " fpcrmatologle, fcience toute nouvelle pour I'Europe, fcience qui intereffc I'humanite " en general, en lui procurant des jouiflances qui I'attaclieiit a fon exiftence, en en- " tretenant la fante et la vigeur, en reparant I'abus des exc£;s, en contribuant a I'aug- " mentation de la population. II feroit digne de la foUicitude des gouvernemens de *' s'occuper des recherches qui pourroient donner des connoiffunces fur une fcience a ♦' peine foup^onnce des peuples eclaires de I'Europe." He then announces his own knowledge in preparing " des petltes paftilles qui font aphrodifiaques et qui convlcnnent " fur-tout auK veillaids, et a ceux qui ont fait des exces ;" and he concludes with the mortifying intelligence that he is not permitted to reveal the important fecret, " qui <* interefle I'humanite en general." 4 B various. 554 TRAVELS IN CHINA. various. In fummer, Fahrenheit's thermometer is generally- above 800 during the day, fometimes exceeding 90" ; and, in the middle of winter, it remains for many days together below the freezing point, defcending occafionally to zero or o. But it generally enjoys a clear pure atmofphere throughout the whole year. In the pradlcal part of agriculture, in this province, we ob- ferved little to attradl attention or to commend. The farmer gets no more than one crop off the ground in a feafon, and this is generally one of the fpecies of millets already mentioned, or holcus, or wheat ; but they fometimes plant a dol'ichos or bean between the rows of wheat, which ripens after the latter is cut down. They have no winter crops, the hard frofty wea- ther ufually fetting in towards the end of November, and con- tinuing till the end of March. The three different modes of fowing grain, by drilling, dibbling, and broadcaft, are all in ufe, but chiefly the firft, as being the moft expeditious and the crop moft eafy to be kept free from weeds ; the laft Is rarely pra£lifed on account of the great wafte of feed ; and dibbling is ufed only in fmall patches of ground near the houfes when they aim at neatnefs. The foil, being in general loofe and fandy and free from ftones, is worked without much difficulty, but it feemed to require a good deal of manure ; and this neceflary article from the paucity of domeftic animals is extremely fcarce. Very few (heep or cattle were obferved, yet there was an abun- dance of land that did not feem for many years to have felt the ploughfliare. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 555 The draught cattle moft generally in ufe are oxen, mules, and afles. Horfes are fcarce and of a fmall rnii'erable breed, incapable of much work ; a remaik, indeed which will apply to every province of the empire ; though thofe of Tartary, which compofed the Emperor's ftud, according to the Embaflador's defcription, were not wanting in point of fize, beauty, or fpirit. No pains, however, are beftowed to effed, nor do they feem to be fenfible of the advantages to be derived from aa improve- ment in the breed of cattle. Nor indeed is any care taken of the bad breed with they already poiTefs. It would be fup- pofed that, where a regular eftablifliment of cavalry is kept up to an amount that feems almoft incredible, fome attention would be paid to the nature and condition of their horfes. This, however, is not the cafe. A Scotch poney, wild from the mountains, which has never felt the teeth of a currycomb, and whofe tail and mane are clotted together with dirt, is in fit condition to join a regiment of Tartar cavalry. Thofe kept by men in office are equally negleOied. The Chinefe have no idea that this noble animal requires any attention beyond that of giving him his food ; and of this, in general, he receives a very fcanty portion. That part of the province of Shan-tiing through which we travelled exhibited a greater variety of culture than Pe-tche-ke ; but the furface of the northern parts efpecially was equally uniform. The foil, confifting generally of mud and fllme brought apparently by the inundations of rivers, contained not a fingle pebble. The feafon was too late to form any eflimate of the crops produced upon the immenfe plains of SbaU'tung ; 4 B 2 but 55^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. "but the young crops of wheat, ftandlng at this time (the middle of Odober) a few inches above the ground, locked extremely well. Little wafte ground occurred, except the footpaths and the channels which ferved as divifion marks of property. Somi attempts indeed were here made at the divifion of grounds by hedge-rows, but with little fuccefs ; the plant they had adopted, the Palma Chrijit^ was ill-fuited for fuch a purpofe. As we ad- vanced to the fouthwai'd in this province, the proportion of wheat under cultivation diminiOied, and its place was employed by plantations of cotton, whofe pods were now ripe and burfl- ing. The plant was low and poor in growth, but the branches were laden with pods. Like the wheat it was planted or dibbled in rows. The cotton produced the fecond year was fald to be confidered as equally good with that of the fird, but being found to degenerate the third year, it was then rooted out and the ground prepared for frefh feed*. The * In llie tenth volunne of a very extenfivc agricultural work, is detailed the whole procefs of cuhivating the cotton from the feed to the web. The author obferves, " The cotton in its raw Rate affords a light and pleafant lining for clothes ; the feed " yields nn oil, which, being expreffed from them, the remainder is ferviceable as " manure ; the capfules or pods, being hard and woody, are ufed for firing, and the " leaves afford nouri/hment to cattle, fo that every part of the vegetable may be ap- '* propriated to fome ufeful purpofe. " The foil moft favourable to this plant Is a white fand, with a fmall proportion of " clay or loam. The plant afftds an elevated open fituation, and cannot endure Icwv ** marfhy grounds. •' After all the cotton pods are gathered, the remaining ftems and branches fhould " be cleared away without lof? of time, and the ground carefully ploughed up, to cxpofe " a new furface to the air, and renew the vigour of the foil. •' When the plough has paffed through the ground three times, the earth fhould be <« raked level, that the wind may not raife or dry up any part of it. " When TRAVELS IN CHINA. SS7 The fouthern parts of ^ban-tung are compored of mountains and fwamps. Here, lakes of various magnitudes occur, and large trads of country fimilar to thofe which are known to us by the name of peat-mofs. In fuch places the population could not be expelled to be exceflive ; and, accordingly, we met with few inhabitants, except thofe who fubfifted their families by filhing. So great were the numbers engaged in this employ- ment, who lived entirely in floating vefTels, that we judged '' When there is an abundance of manure, it may be laid on previous to tVie *' ufe of the plough, but if it be fcarce, &c. it will be preferable to apply it to the foil '* at the time of fowing the feed, " The manure fliould be old and well prepared, and among the bcft ingredients for " the pitrpofe, is the refufe of vegetable fubftances, from which an oil has been ex- « prefltd. " In the fouthcm provinces the cotton plant will laft. for two or three years, but to '* the northward the feed muft be fov^n annually." The author then enumerates nine diflintl varieties and their comparative qualities ; after which he proceeds to the choice of feed, under which head he ohferves, that if the feed be fteeped in water in which eels have been boiled, the plant will refill the attack of infctts. He then dcfcribes the three methods of broadcaft, drilling, and dib- bling, and gives a decided preference of the laft, though it be the mod laborious. " The ground being well prepared, holes are to be made at the diftance of a cubit '» from each other, and the lines a cubit apart. A little water is firll to be poured " In, and then four or five feeds, after which each hole is to be covered with a mlx- " ture of foil and manure, and firmly trodden down with the foot. In the other •' methods a roller is to be ufcd.' The next procefs is weeding, loofenlng, and breaking fine the earth. — He then obferves, " After the plants have attained fome degtte of (Irengih and fize, the moft f' advanced and perfefl plant fhould be felefted, and all the reft rooted out, for if two '* or more be fuffered to rife togeiher, they will increafe in height without giving la- «« tcral fliootP ; the leaves will be large and luxuriant, but the pods will be itw.^^ He next proceeds to the pruning of the plants to make them bear copioufly- gathering the pods — preparing and fplnning the wool — weaving the cloth. — This abridged account I, have given to (hew, that they are not deficient in writings of this kind. the 558 TRAVELS IN. CH I.N A. the waters to be fully as populous as the land. No rent is ck- a£led by the government, nor toll, nor tythe, nor licence-mo- ney for peiiniffioii to catch fifli ; nor is there any fort of impe- diment againft the free ufe of any lake, river, or canal whatfoever. The gifts that nature has beftowed are cautioufly ufurped by any power, even in this defpotic government, for individual ufe or profit ; but are fuffered to remain the free property of all who may chufe by their labour to derive advantage from them. But even this free and unreflralned ufe is barely fufficient to procure for them the neceffaries, much lefs any of the comforts, of life. The condition of the peafantry, in the northern parts of this province, was much m.ore defirable. Their clothing was decent ; their countenances cheerful, indicating plenty ; and their dwellings v.-ere built of bricks or wood, appearing more folid and comfortable than thofe of the province in which the capital is fituated. But the poor fiOiermen carried about with them unequivocal marks of their poverty. Their pale meagre looks are afcribed to the frequent, and almofl exclufive, ufe of fifli ; which is fuppofed to give them a fcrophulous habit of body. Their endeavours, hov/ever, are not wanting to corred: any acrid or unwholefome humours that this fort of diet may produce, by the abundant ufe of onions and garlic, which they cultivate even upon the waters. Having no houfes on fliore, nor f^ationary abode, but moving about in their vef- fels upon the extenfive lakes and rivers, they have no induce- ment to cultivate patches of ground, which the purfuits of their profcflion might require them to leave for the profit of ano- ther ; they prefer, therefore, to plant their onions on rafts of bamboo, well interwoven with reeds and ftrong grafs, and covered TRAVELS IN CHINA. 559 covered with earth ; and thefe floating gardens are towed after their boats. The women aflift in dragging the net and other operations of taking fifh; but the younger part of the family are fometimes employed in breeding ducks. Thefe flupld birds here acquire an aftonlfliing degree of docility. In a fingle veffel are fome- times many hundreds, which, like the cattle of the Kaffers in fouthern Africa, on the fignal of a whiflle leap into the water, or upon the banks to feed ; and another whittle brings them back. Like the ancient Egyptians, they ufe artificial means of hatching eggs, by burying them in fand at the bottom of w^ooden boxes, and placing them on plates of iron kept moderately warm by fmall furnaces underneath. Thus the old birds, which, pro- vided they hatched their eggs themfelves, would only produce one brood, or at moft two, in the courfe of the year, continue to lay eggs almoft every month. Hogs are alfo kept in many of the fifliing craft. In fa£l, ducks and hogs affording the moft favory meat, mofl: abounding in fat, and, it may be added, beft able to fubfift themfelves, are efteemed above all other animals. The ducks being fplit open, falted, and dried in the fun, arc exchanged for rice or other grain. In this ftate we found them an excellent relifh ; and, at our requeft, they were plentifully fupplied during the w^hole progrefs through the country. ■^The province of Shan-tutig extends in latitude from thirty- four and a half to thirty-eight degrees. The mean tempera- ttit^y from the 19th of 0(ftober to the 29th of the fame month, was 56o TRAVELS IN CHINA. was about fifty-two degrees at fun-rife, to feventy degrees .at noon. A confiant clear and cicadlefs Iky. The numerous canals and- rivers, that In every direflion inter- fcft the province o^ Kiang-nan^ and by which it is capable of being flooded to any extent in the dryeft feafons, render it one of the mod valuable and fertile diftrids in the whole empire. Every part of it, alfo, having a free communication with the Yellow Sea by the two great rivers, the Whang-ho and the Tang-tfe- k'uuig^ it has always been confidered as the central point for the home trade ; and, at one time, its -chief city Nankin was the capital of the empire. That beautiful and durable cotton of the fame name is here produced and fent to the port of Canton; from whence 'it is fhipped off to the different parts of the world. The Chinefe rarely wear it in its natural colour, except as an article of mourning ; but export it chiefly, raking in return vaft quaniities of unmanufaftured white cot- ton from Bengal and Bombay, finding they can purchafe this fqreign v.'ool at a much cheaper rate than that at which the nankin fells. For mourning drefiTes and a few other purpofes white cotton is made ufe of, but in general it is dyed black or blue : among fome of our prefents were alfo pieces of a beauti- ful fcarlet. Near mod of the plantations of cotton we obferved patches of indigo ; a plant v/hich grows freely in all the middle and fouthern provinces. The dye of this fiirub being no article of commerce in China is feldom, if ever, prepared in a dry flate, but is generally employed to communicate its colouring matter from the leaves, to avoid the labour and the lofs that would be required to reduce it to a folid fubftance. 5 ; ^^'e TRAVELS IN CHINA. 5^t We obferved that, in the cotton countries, ahnoll every cottage had its garden of indigo. As in ancient times, in our own country, when every cottager brewed his own beer ; kept his own cow for milk and butter j bred his own Ihcep, the wool of which being fpun into yarn by his own family, was manufac- tured into cloth by the parifh weaver ; and when every peafant raifed the materials for his own web of hempen cloth ; fo it flill appears to be the cafe in China. Here there are no great far- mers nor monopolifts of grain ; nor can any individual nor body of men, by any poffibility, either glut the market, or withhold the produce of the ground, as may beft fuit their purpofe. Each peafant is fuppofed, by his induftry, to have the means of fub- fiftence within himfelf; though it often happens that thefe means, from adverfe circumftances, which hereafter will be no- ticed, fail of producing the defired effed:. In the province Q>i Kiang-nan each grows his own cotton; his wife and children fpin it into thread, and it is woven into a web in his own houfe, fometlmes by his own family, but more fre- quently by others hired for the purpofe. A few bamboos con- ftitute the whole machinery required for this operation. Money he has none ; but his produce he can eafily barter for any little article of necefhty or luxury. The fupeifluities of life, which thofe in office may have occafion to purchafe, are paid for in bars of filter without any imprelTion, but bearing value for weight, like the Roman as^ or the HebrewyZft'/^^f/. The only coin in cir- culation is the Tchen^ a. piece of fome inferior metal mixed with a fmall proportion of copper, of the value of the thoufandth part of an ounce of filver ; with this fmall piece of money the 4 c little S62 TRAVELS IN CHINA. little and conftantly demanded neceflaries of life are purchafed, fuch as could not conveniently be obtained by way of barter. Sil- ver is rarely lent cut at intereft, except between mercantile men in large cities. The legal intereft is twelve per cent, but it is commonly extended to eighteen, fometimes even to thirty-fix. To avoid the puniflimeni: of ufury, what is given above twelve per cent, is in the xliape of a bonus. " Ufury, in China/' ob- ferves Lord Macartney, " like gaming elfewhere, is a di(ho- nourable mode of getting money ; but by a fort of compact between neceffity and avarice, between affluence and diftrefs, the profecution of a Jew or a Iharper is confidered by us as " not very honourable even in the fufferers." The greater the diftance from the capital, the better was the apparent condition of the people. The Viceroy, when he received his Excellency on the entry of the embafTy into this province, happened to caft his eye upon the half-ftarved and half-naked trackers of the boats ; and being either alhamed of their miferable appearance, or feeling compaffion for their fitua- ation, he ordered every man immediately a fuit of new cloaths. In the morning, when our force was muftered, we were not a little furprized to fee the great alteration that had taken place in the appearance of our trackers : every man had a blue cotton jacket edged with red, a pair of new white trowfers, and a fmart hat with a high crown and feather. The natural fertility of the country, its central fituation, commanding a brifk trade,. the abundance of its fiflieries on the large rivers and lakes, were incentives to induftry, for the vaft population that feemed to be equally diftributed over every part of tlie provi-nce» Rice TRAVELS IN CHINA. 56^^ Rice being the ftaple of China was. abundantly cultivated, lu all liich places as afforded the greateft command of water. The ufual average produce of corn-lands is reckoned to be from tea to fifteen for one ; and of rice, from twenty-five to thirty ; commonly about thirty. Thofe corn-lands that will admit of eafy irrigation are ufually turned over with the plough imme- diately after the grain is cut ; which, in the middle provinces, is ready for the fickle early in June, about the fame time that the young rice fields fland at the height of eight or ten inches. Thefe being now thinned, the young plants are tranfplanted into the prepared wheat lands, which are then immediately flooded. Upon fuch a crop they reckon from fifteen to twenty for one. Inftead of rice one of the millets is fometimes fown as an after-crop, this requiring very little water, or the Cad- jan^ a fpecies oi Dolichos or fmall bean, for oil, requiring flill lefs. Or, it is a common pradice, after taking off a crop of cotton and indigo, in the month of Odlober, to fow wheat, in order to have the land again clear in the month of May or June. Such a fucceffion of crops, without ever fuffering the land to lie fallow, fhould feem to require a large quantity of manure. In fad, they fpare no pains in procuring compofls and manures ; but they alfo accomplifh much without thefe materials, by working the foil almoft inceflantly and mixing it with extraneous matters, as, for inftance, marie with light and fandy foils, or if this is not to be had, fliifclay ; and on clayey grounds they carry fand and gravel. They alfo drag the rivers and canals and pools of water for fiime and mud ; and they preferve, with great care, all kinds of urine, in which it is an univerfal pradice to fteep the feeds previous to their being 4 c 2 fown. 5^4 TRAVELS IN CHINAa:* fown. If turnip-feeds be fteeped in lime and urine, the plant is faid not to be attacked by the infecl. Near all the houfes are large earthen jars funk in the ground, for colleding and pre- ferring thefe and other materials that are convertible, by putre- factive fermentation, into manure. Old men and children may be feen near all the villages v^'ith faaall rakes and bafkets, coU leding every kind of dirt, or offals, that come in their way. Their eagernefs to pick up whatever may be ufed as manure led to fome ridiculous fcenes. Whenever our barges halted, and the foldiers and fervants found it neceifary to ftep on fhore, they were always purfued to their place of retirement by thefe colledtors of food for vegetables. It may literally be faid in this country, that nothing is fuffered to be loft. The profeflion of fhaving is followed by vaft numbers in China. As the whole head is Ihaved, except a fmall lock behind, few, if any, are able to operate upon themfelves. And as hair is confidered an excellent manure, every barber carries with him a fmall bag to colled: the fpoils of his razor. The common plough of the country is a fimple machine, and much inferior to the very worft of ours. We faw one drill plough in Shan-tung different from all the reft. It con- fifted of two parallel poles of wood, fhod at the lower ex- tremities with iron to open the furrows; thefe poles were placed on wheels : a fmall hopper was attached to each pole, tc^ drop the feed into the furrows, which were covered with earth by a tranfverfe piece of wood fixed behind, that juft fwept the furface of the ground. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^65 The machine iifually employed for clearing rice from the hufk, in the large way, is exadlly tlie fame as that now ufed in Egypt for the fame purpofe, only that the latter is put in motion by oxen, and the former commonly by water. This machine confifts of a long horizontal axis of wood, with coga or prbjeding 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 ; thefe levers adt on pivots, that are faftened into a low brick wall built parallel to the axis, and at the diftance of about two feet from it. At the further extremity of each lever, and perpendicular to it, is fixed a hollow peftle, diredly over a large mortar of ftone or iron funk into the ground ; the other extremity extending beyond the wall, be- ing prefled upon by the cogs of the axis in its revolution, ele- vates the peftle, which by its own gravity falls into the mortar. An axis of this kind fometimes gives motion to fifteen or twenty levers. This machine*, as well as the plough, ftill in ufe ia modern Egypt, which is alfo the fame as the Chinefe plough, have been confidered by a member of the French Inftitute to be the fame inftruments as thofe employed in that country two thoufand years ago; and judging from the maxims of the Chi- nefe government, and the character of the people, an antiquity equally great may be aiTigned to them in the latter country. The bamboo wheel for raifing water, or fomething approaching very near to it, either with buckets appended to the circumference, or with fellies hollowed out fo as to fcoop up water, was alfo in * Sec the plate facing p;ige 37. ufc 566 TRAVELS IN CHINA. life among the ancient Egyptalns ; and, as I have before ob- ferved, continues to be fo among the Syrians ; from thefe they are fuppofed to have pafled into Perfia, where they are alfo ftill employed, and from whence they have derived, in Europe, the name of Perfian wheels. The chain-pump of China, common in the hands of every farmer, was likevvife an inftrument of huf- bandry in Egypt. A very erroneous opinion feems to have been entertained in Europe, with regard to the fkill of the Chinefe in agriculture. Induftrious they certainly are, in an eminent degree, but their labour does not always appear to be beftowed with judgment. The inftruments, in the firft place, they make ufe of are inca- pable of performing the operations of hufbandry to the greateft advantage. In the deepeft and beft foils, their plough feldom cuts to the depth of four inches, fo that they fow from year to year upon the fame foil, without being able to turn up new earth, and to bury the worn-out mould to refrefh itfelf. Sup- pofmg them, however, to be fupplied with ploughs of the beft conftru£lion, we can fcarcely conceive that their mules and afTes, and old women, would be equal to the tafk of draw- ing them. The advantage that large farms in England poffefs over fraall ones confifts principally in the means they afford the tenant of keeping better teams than can poffibly be done on the latter, and confequently of making a better tilth for the reception of feed. The opulent farmer, on the fame quantity of ground, will invariably raife more produce than the cottager can pretend to TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^^y to do. In China nine- tenths of the peafantry may be confi- dercd as cottagers, and having few cattle (millions I might add none at all) it can fcarcely be expeded that the whole country fhould be in the beft polHble (late of cultivation. As horticul- turifts they may perhaps be allowed a confiderable fliare of me- rit ; but on the great fcale of agriculture, they are certainly not to be mentioned with many European nations. They have no> knowledge of the modes of improvement pradlfcd in the vari- ous breeds of cattle ; no InArumcnts for breaking up and pre- paring wafte lands; no fyllem for draining and reclaiming fwamps and moraffes ; though that part of the country over which the grand communication is effected between the two ex- tremities of the empire, abounds with lands of this nature, where population is exceffive, and where the multitudes of fhipping that pafs and repafs create a never failing demand for grain and other vegetable produds. For want of this know- ledge, a very confiderable portion of the richefi; land, perhaps, in the whole empire, is fuffered to remain a barren and unpro- fitable wafle. If an idea may be formed from what we faw ia the courfe of our journey, and from the accounts that have been given of the other provinces, I fiiould conclude, that one- fourth part of the whole country nearly confifts of lakes, and low, four, fwampy grounds, which are totally uncultivated : and ^hich, among other reafons hereafter to be mentioned, may ferve to explain the frequent famines that occur in a more fatif- fadory way, than by fuppofmg, with the Jefuits, that they are owing to the circumftance of the nations bordering upon thcni to the weftward being favage and growing no corn. Their ignorance of draining, or their dread of inundationsj to which the 568 TRAVELS IN CHINA. the low countries of China, in their pi.efent (late, are fubjed, may perhaps have driven them, in certain fuuatibns, to the iiecefTity of levelUng the fides of mountains into a fucceffion of terraces ; a mode of cultivation frequently taken notice of by the raiflionaries as unexampled in Europe, and peculiar to the Chinefe ; whereas it is common in many parts of Europe. The mountains of the Pays de Vaud^ between Laufan7te and Vevay^ are cultivated in this manner to their fummits with vines. *' This would have been imprafticable," fays Dodlor Moore, " on account of the fteepnefs, had not the proprietors built " ftrong ftone walls at proper intervals, one above the other, ** which fupport the foil, and form little terraces from the bot- ** torn to the top of the mountains." But this method of ter- racing the hills is not to be confidered, by any means, as a com- mon pradlice In China. In our direct route it occurred only twice, and then on fo fmall a fcale as hardly to deferve notice. The whole territorial right being vefted in the fovereign, the "wafte lands of courfe belong to the crown ; but any perfon, by giving notice to the proper magiftrate, may obtain a property therein, fo long as he continues to pay fuch portion of the efti- mated produce as is required to be colleded into the public ma- gazines. When I faid that the Chinefe might claim a confiderable fhare of merit as horticulturifts, I meant to confine the obfervation to their fkill aad induftry of raifing the greateft pofTible quantity of vegetables from a given piece of ground. Of the modes pradtifed in Europe of improving the quality of fruit, they feem to have no juft notion. Their oranges are naturally good, and require TRAVELS IN CHINA. 569 require no artificial means of improvement, but the European fruits, as apples, pears, plums, peaches, and apricots, are of indiffer- ent quality. They have a common method of propagating feveral kinds of fruit-trees, which of late years has been pra6lifed with fuccefs in Bengal. The method is fimply this : they llrip a ring of bark, about an inch in width, from a bearing branch, fur- round the place with a ball of fat earth or loam bound faft to the branch with a piece of matting ; over this they fufpend a pot or horn with water, having a fmall hole in the bottom juft fuf- iicient to let the water drop, in order to keep the earth conftant- ly moifl: j the branch throws new roots into the earth juft above the place where the ring was ftripped off; the operation is per- formed in the fpring, and the branch is fawn off and put into the ground at the fall of the leaf j the following year it bears fruit. They have no method of forcing vegetables by artificial -heat, or by excluding the cold air, and- admitting, at the fame time, the rays of the fun through glafs. Their chief merit con- fifts in preparing the foil, working it inceffantly, and keeping it free of weeds. Upon the whole, if I might venture to offer an opinion with refpecl to the merit of the Chinefe as agriculturlfts, I fliould not •hefitate to fay that, let as much ground be given to one of their peafants as he and his family can work with the fpade, and he will turn that piece of ground to more advantage, and produce from it more fuftenance for the ufe of man, than any European whatfoever would be able to do ; but, let fifty or one hundred .acres of the beft land in China be given to a farmer, at a mean jrent, fo far from making out of it the value of three rents, on 4 D which 570 TRAVELS IN CHINA. which our farmers ufually calculate, he would fcareely be able to fupport his family, after paying the cxpence of labour that would be required to work the farm. In fadl there are no great farms in China. The inhabitants en- joy every advantage which may be fuppofed to arife from the lands being pretty equally divided among them, an advantage of which the effeds might probably anfwer the expedations of thofe who lean towards fuch a fyftem, were they not counter- acted by circumftances that are not lefs prejudicial, perhaps, to the benefit of the public, than monopolizing farmers arc by fuch perfons fuppofed ro be in our own country. One of the circum- flances I allude to is the common pradlice, in almoft every part of the country, of affembling together in towns and villages, between which very frequently the intermediate fpace of ground has not a fingle habitation upon it ; and the reafon afligned for this cuftom is the dread of the bands of robbers that in- feft the weak and unproteded parts of the country. The con- fequence of fuch a fyftem is, that although the lands adjoining the villages be kept in the higheft ftate of cultivation, yet thofe at a diftance are fuffered to remain almoft ufelefs ; for having- no beafts of burden,- it would be an endlefs tafk of human la- bour to bear the manure that would be required, for feveral ^iles, upon the ground, and its produce from thence back again to the village. That fuch robbers do cxift, who, in formidable gangs, plunder the peafantry, is very certain : She-foo-pao was watching his grain to prevent its being ftolen, when he had the misfortune of fliooting his relation, who had alfo gone out for the fame purpofe. They are fometiraes indeed fo numerous, as 4 to TRAV£LS IN CHINA. 571 to threaten their mod populous cities. The frequency of fuch robberies, and the alarm they occafion to the inhabitants, are neither favourable 10 the high notions that have been entertained of the Chinefe government, nor' of the morals of the people. Another, and perhaps the chief, difadvantage arifmgfrom landed property being pretty equally divided, -will be noticed in fpeak- ing of the population and the frequent famines. The province of Kiang-nan extends from about 31° to 34-'" of northern latitude; and the mean temperature, according to Pahrenheit's thermometer, from the 30th of October to the 9th of November, was 54° at fun-rife and 66'' at noon j the fky uniformly clear. The province of Tchc-kiang abounds in lakes, and is inter- fedled with rivers and canals like Kiaiig-nan ; but the produce, except that of a little rice, is very different, confiding princi- pally of filk. For feeding the worms that afford this article, all the fertile and beautiful vallics between the mountains, as well as the plains, are covered with plantations of the mulberry- tree. The fmall houfes, in which the worms are reared, are placed generally in the centre of each plantation j in order that they may be removed as far as poffible from any kind of noife ; •experience having taught them, that a fudden fhout, or the bark of a dog, is deftrudive of the young worms. A whole brood has fometimes perifhed by a thunder florm. The greateft attention is, therefore, neceflary ; and, accordingly, they are watched night and day. In fine weather, the young worms .are exp ofed to the fun, upon a kind of thin open gauze, flretched 4 D 2 in ST^ ■ TRAVELS IN CHINA. ia wooden frames ; and at night they are replaced in the. plantation houfes. The trees are pruned from time to time» in order to caufe a greater quantity and a conftant fucceflion of young leaves. The inhabitants of this province, efpecially in the cities, are almoft univerfally clothed in filks ; this rule among the Chinefe of confuming, as much as poiTible, the pro- duds of their own country, and receiving as little as they caa avoid from foreign nations, extends even to the provinces ;. a practice arifing out of the little refpeit that, in China, as in ancient Rome, is paid to thofe concerned in trade and merchandize Befides filk Tche-kiang produces camphor, tallow from the Croton^ a confiderable quantity of tea, oranges, and almoft all' the fruits that arc peculiar to the country. Every part of the- province appeared to be in the higheft ftate of cultivation and the population to be immenfe. Both the raw and manufac- tured filks, nankins, and other cotton cloths, were fold at fuch low prices in the capital of this province, that it is difficult to conceive how the growers or the manufadurers contrived to gain a IK'^elihocd by their labour. But of all others, I am the moft aftonifhed at the fmall returns that muft neceflarily be made to the cultivators of the, tea plant. The preparations of fome of the finer kinds of this article are faid to require that every leaf {hould be rolled fingly by the hand ; particularly fucli as are exported to the European markets. Befides this, there are many procefies, fuch as fteeping, drying, turning, and pack- ing, after it has been plucked off the fhrub leaf by leaf. Yet the firft coft In the tea provinces cannot be more than from four- pence TRAVELS IN CHINA. 573 pence to two fliiHings a pound, when it is confidered that the ordinary teas ftand the Eaft India Company in no more than eight-pence a pound ; and the very beft only two fhillings and eight-pence *. Nothing can more clearly point out the patient and unremitting labour of the Chinefe, than the preparation of this plant for the market. It is a curious circumftance that a body of merchants in England fhould furnifh employment, as might eafily be made appear, to more than a million fubjeds of a nation that affects to defpife merchants, and throws every obftacle in the way of commercial intercourfe. - The mean temperature of Tche-kiang^ in the middle of No- vember, was from fifty-fix degrees at funrife, to fixty-two degrees at noon. The extent from North to South is between the parallels of twenty-eight and thirty-four and a half degrees of northern latitude. The northern part of K'lang-fee contains the great Po-yang lake, and thofe extenfive fwamps and morafies that furround it, and which, as I have already obferved, may be confidered as the fink of China. The middle and fouthern parts are moun- tainous. The chief produce is fugar and oil from the Camellia Sefanqua. In this province are the principal manufadlories of porcelain, whofe qualities, as I have in a former chapter ob- • The Eaft India Company pays from thirteen to fixty tales per pecul for their teas ; fome tea of a higher price is purchafed by individuals, but feldom or ever by the Company. A tale is fix {hillings and eight-pence, and a pecul is one hundred and thirty-three pounds and one third. ferved,, 574 TRAVELS IN CHINA. ferved, depend more on the care beftowcd in the preparation, and in the feledlion of the materials, than in any fecret art pofiefl'ed by them. Tliere are alfo, in this province, large ma- nufadtories of coarfe earthen ware, of tiles, and bricks. The extent of K'ia7ig-fee\% from twenty-eight to thirty degrees, and the temperature, in November, was the fame as that of the neighbouring province of l^che-kiang, I have nov7 to mention a fubje^t on which much has already been written by various authors, but without the fuccefs of having carried convidion into the minds of their readers, that the things which they offered as fads were either true or pof- fible ; I allude to the populoufnefs of this extenfive empire. That none of the flatements hitherto publi(hed are ftridly true, I am free to admit, but that the higheft degree of populoufnefs that has yet been affigned may be poflible, and even probable, I am equally ready to contend. At the fame time, I acknowledge that, prepared as we were, from all that we had feen and heard and read on tlie fubjed:, for fomething very extraordinary; yet when the following ftatement was delivered, at the requeft of the Embaffador, by Chou-ta-gin, as the abftrad of a cenfus that had been taken the preceding year, the amount appeared {o enormous as to furpafs credibility. But as we had always found this officer a plain, unaffeded, and honeft man, who on no occafion had attempted to deceive or impofe on us, we could not confiftently confider it in any other light than as a document, drawn up from authentic materials ; its inaccuracy, however, was TRAVELS IN CHINA. 575 was obvious at a fingle glance, from the feveral fums being given in round millions. I have added to the table the extent of the provinces, the number of people on a fquare mile, and the value of the furplus taxes remitted to Pekin in the year 1792, as men- tioned in the^feventh chapter. 1 Provinces. Population. Square Miles. No. on ejcli fquare Mile. Surplus taxes re- mitted to J'elcin. oz. filver. Pe.tche-lee 385000,000 SS>949 644 3,036, COO Kiang-nan 32,000,000 92,961 3+4 •J?, 2 10,000 Kiang-fee 19,000,000 72,176 263 2,120,C00 Tche-kiang 2 t,000,OCO 39>'5o 536 3,810,000 Fo-kien 15,000,000 53-4«o 280 1,277,-00 „ ( Hou-nee Houquang J Hou-aaa 1 4,OCO,COO 187 f 1,310,000 1 3,000,000 ) Hh7'o I 1,345,000 Ho-nan 25,000,000 6y,T04 3«4 3,213,000 Shan-tung 24,000,000 65,104 363 5,600,000 Shan-fee 27,000,000 55'26S 488 3,722,000 Shen-fee ? one Kan-foo | province. 18,000,000 7 12,000,000 ) 154,008 '9? C 1,700,000 I 340,000 Se-tchuen 27,000,000 X 66, 8co 162 670,000 Quang-tung 2 1,000,000 79.456 264 1,340,000 Quang-fee 10,000,000 78,250 128 500,000 Yu-nan 8,000,000 107,969 74 2io,oeo Koei-tchoo 9,000,000 « 64.>54 140 145,000 Totals. 331,000,000 1,297,999* 36,5^8,000 * The meafurement annexed to each of the fifteen ancient provinces was taken from the maps that were conftrufted by a very laborious, and, as far as we had an opportunity of comparing them with the country, a very accurate furvey, which employed the Jefults ten years. I do not pretend to fay that the areas, as I have given them in the table, are mathematically corred, but the dimenfions were taken with as much care as was deemed neceflary for the purpofe, from maps drawn on a large fcale, of which a very beautiful copy is now in his Majcfty's library at Buck- mgham-houfe, engraven and printed by the Chniele, having all the names written in Chinefe and Tartar characters ; and, another copy ftill more perfed, in the Eaft India Company's library, added to it by Mr. Wilkins. Confiderinjr 576 TRAVELS IN CHItSTA. Confidering then the whole furface of the Chmefe domlaloni within the great wall to contain 1,297,999 Iquare miles, or 830,719,360 Englifh acres, and the population to amount to 333,000,000, every Iquare mile will be found to contain two hundred and fifty-fix perfons, and every individual might pofiefs two acres and a half of land. Great Britain is fuppofed to average about one hundred and twenty perfons on one fquare mile, and that to each inhabitant there might be afligned a pbrtion 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 fomewhat greater than two to one ; and the quantity of land that each individual in Great Britain might poflefs'is juft twice as much as could be allowed to each individual cf China. We have only then to enquire if Britain, under the fame circumftances as China, be capable of fupporting twice its prefent population, or, which is the fame thing, if twelve and an half acres of land be fufHcient for the maintenance of a family of five perfons ? Two acres of choice land fown with wheat, under good tillage, may be reckoned to average, after dedudling the feed, 60 bufliels or 3600 pounds, which every baker knows would yield 5400 pounds of bread, or three pounds a-day to every member of the family for the whole year. Half an acre is a great allow^ance for a kitchen-garden and potatoe bed. There would ftill remain ten acres, which muft be very bad land if, befides paying the rent and taxes, it did not keep three or four cows ; and an induftrious and mana- ging family would find no difficulty in rearing as many pigs and as much poultry as would be neceflary for home confumption, and TRAVELS IN CHINA. sn and for the piirchafe of clotliing, and other indifpenfable necefla- ries. If then the country vras pretty equally partitioned out in this manner ; if the land was applied folely to produce food for m'an ; if no horfes nor fuperfluous animals were kept for pleafurc, and few only for labour ; if the country was not drained of its beft hands in foreign trade, and in large manufactories ; if the car- riage of goods for exchanging with other goods was performed by canals and rivers and lakes, all abounding with fifh; if the catch- ing of thefe fifh gave employment to a very confiderable portioa of the inhabitants ; if the bulk of the people were fatisfied to ab- ftain almoft wholly from animal food, except fuch as is mod eafi- ly procured, that of pigs and ducks and fifh ; if only a very fmall part of the grain raifed was employed in the diftilleries, but was ufed as the ftaff of life for man ; and if this grain was of fuqh a nature as to yield twice, and even three times, the produce- that wheat will give on the fame fpace of ground ; if, moreover, the climate was fo favourable as to allow two fuch crops every year — if, under all thefe circumftances, twelve and a half acres of land would not fupport a family of five perfons ; the fault could only be afcribed to idlenefs or bad management. Let us then, for a moment, confider that thefe or fimilar ad- vantages, operate in China ; that every product of the ground is. appropriated folely for the food and clothing of majn ; that a, fingle acre of land, fown with rice, will yield a fufficient quan- tity for the confuraption of five people for a whole year, allow- ing to each perfon two pounds a-day, provided the returns of his crop are from twenty to twenty-five for one, v^'^bich are confi- dered as extremely moderate, being frequently more than twice tjhis quantity ; that in the fouthern provinces two crops of rice 4 E are 578 TRAVELS IN CHINA. are produced in the year, one acre of which I am well afflired, with proper culture, will afford a fupply of that grain even for ten perfons, and that an acre of cotton will clothe two or three hun- dred perfons, we may jufbly infer that, inflead of twelve acres to each family, half that quantity would appear to be more than neceffary ; and fafely conclude, that there is no want of land to fupport the affumed population of three hundred and thirty-three millions. On thefe grounds it may fafely be concluded, that, in China, the population is not yet arrived at a level with the means which the country affords of fubfiftence. There is, perhaps, no country where the condition of the pea- fantry may more juftly be compared with thofe of China than Ire- land. This ifland, according to the lateft furvey, contains about 17,000,000 Englifh acres, 730,000 houfes, and 3,500,000 fouls; fo that, as In Great Britain, each individual averages very nearly five acres, and every family five-and-twenty. An Irifh cottager holds feldom more than an Irifli acre of land, or one and three- quarters Englifh nearly, in cultivation, with a cow's grafs, for which he pays a rent from two to five- pounds. Thofe on Lord Macartney's eftate at Liffanore have their acre, vs^hich they culti- vate in divlfions with oats, potatoes, kale, and a little flax ; with this they have befides the full pafturage of a cow all the year up- on a large wafte, not cverftocked, and a comfortable cabin 10 inhabit, for which each pays the rent of three pounds. The cotta- ger works perhaps three days in the week, at nine-pence a-day ; if, inflead of which, he had a fecond acre to cultivate, he would derive more benefit from its produce than from the product of his three days' labour per week ; that is to fay, provided he would expend the fame labour in its tillage. Thus then, fuppofing only half TRAVELS IN CHINA. 579 half of Ireland In a ftate of cultivation, and the other half pafturage, it would fupport a population more than three times that which it now contains 3 and as a century ago it had no more than a million of people, fo within the prefent century, under favourable cir- cumftances, it may increafe to ten millions. And it is not un- worthy of remark, that this great increafe of population in Ire- land has taken place fmce the introdudion of the potatoe, which gives a never-failing crop. 1 am aware that fuch is not the common opinion which prevails in this country, neither with regard to Ireland nor China; on the contrary, the latter is generally fuppofed to be overftocked with people; that the land is Infufficient for their maintenance, and that the cities ftandfo thick one after the other, efpecially along the grand navigation between Pekin and Canton, that they ahnoft oc- cupy the whole furface. Such conclufions could only have arifen out of the fuperficial obfervations,or exaggerated accounts, which have been publiflied of this empire. The learned Commentator on the voy Si^Q of Nearc/jus^ has an obfervation to this effecl, on the authority of a book that was publifhed in the name of one JEneas Anderfon^\S37,977 In 1 76 1 - - - 198 , 214,553 Annual increafe — 1 5376,57 This ftatement muR: however be incorrefl:, from the circum- ftance of lome millions of people being excluded, who have no fixed habitation, but are conllantly changing their pofition on the inland navigations of theem{)ire, as well as all the iflanders of the Archipelago of Chu-fan^xiA of Formofa. Without, however, tak- ing thefe into confideration, and by fuppofing the number of fouls in 1761, to amount to 198,2 14,553, there ought to have been, in the year 1793, by allowing a progreffive increafe, according to a moderate TRAVELS IN CHINA. 583 moderate calculation in political arithmetic, at leaf); 280,000,000 fouls. For after all the ftrefs that has been laid on infanticide and famines, they are not, in faflt, to be confid,.red as feve're checks on population. The firft is not above one in thirty thoufand, and thofe even who are inclined to think, or at leaft to reprefent, the world " as oddly made, and every thing amifs," mufl allow that the recurrence of partial famines every three or four years, fuppofing one of the fifteen provinces to be afHi6led with this calamity once in three years, or one forty-fifth part of the em- pire annually, is no very violent check on population. Whether this great empire, the fird in rank both in extent and population, may or may notadlually contain 333 millions of fouls, is a point that Europeans are not likely ever to afcertain. That it is capable of fubfifling this, and a much greater population, has, I think, been fufiiciently proved. I know it is a common argument with thofe who are not willing to admit the fa(ft, that although cities and towns and fliipping may be crowded together in an aflionifliing manner, on and near the grand route between the ca- pital and Canton, yet that the interior parts of the country are al- moft deferted. By fome of our party going to Chu-foji^ we had occaficn to fee parts of the country remote from the common road, and fuch parts happened to be by far the inofl: populous in thewholejourney. But independent of the fmall portion of coun- try feen by us, the weflcrn provinces, which are raoH: dif^ant from the grand navigation, are confidered as the granaries of the empire ; and the cultivation of much grain, where few cattle and lefs machinery are ufedjUecedarily implies a correfponding popu-- lation. Thus we fee from the above table, that the furplus pro- duce of the land remitted to Pi,>kin from the provinces of ~ ■• Honan. ^S-4 TRAVELS IN CHINA. Oz. filver. Honan 1 ^ r ,, j T 1,21^,000 CM r i remote from the o;rand J -^^ "^' bhan-lee r . ^. ^ \ -2,722,000 o, r \ naviffatiom were 1 ov ' bhen-lee l o » (_ 2,040,000 Wlillft thofe of Pe-tche-lee 1 »i j • .• f '^,0 16,000 f,, ( on the G-rand navigation, l ''V-^ ' Shan-tung Y ° . ° M 3,ooo-,ooo Tche-kiang 3 l 3,810,000 chiefly in rice, wheat, and miHet. There are no grounds there- fore for fuppofing that the interior parts of China are deferts. There are others again who are perfuaded of the population being fo enormous, that the country is wholly inadequate to fup- ply the means of fubfiftence ; and that famines are abfolutely ncceffary to keep down the former to the level of the latter. T^he loofe and general way in which the accounts of the miffion- aries are drawn up, certainly leaves fuch an impreffion j but as I have endeavoured to fhew that fuch is far from being the cafe, it may be expeded I fhould alfo attempt to explain the fre- quency of thofe difaftrous famines which occafionally commit fuch terrible havock in this country, I am of opinion then, that three principal reafons may be afUgned for them. Firit, the equal divifion of the land : Secondly, the mode of cultivation : and Thirdly, the nature of the produds. If, in the firft place, every man has it in his option to rent as much land as will fupport his family with food and clothing, he will have no occafion to go to market for the firft neceffities ; and fuch being generally the cafe in China, thofe firft neceflities find no market, except in the large cities. When the peafant has brought under tillage of grain as much land as m.ay be fufficient for the confumption of his own family, and the necelTary fur- plus for the landlord, he looks no further; and all his neigh- bours TRAVELS IN CHINA. 585 hours having done the fame, the firft neceflities are, in fa(!l, un- i'aleable article?, except in fo far as regards the demands of large cities, which are by no means fo clofe upon one another as has generally been imagined. A furplus of grain being likewife lefs calculated to exchange for fuperfluities or luxuries, than many otiier articles of produce ; if, therefore, by any accident a failure of the crops fhould be general in a province, it has no relief to exped: from the neighbouring provinces ; ftill lefs tolook for fup- plies from, foreign countries. In China there are no great far- mers who (lore their grain to throw into the market in feafons of fcarcity. In fuch feafons the only refource is that of the govern- ment opening its magazines, and reftoring to the people that portion of their crop which it had demanded from them as the price of its protection. And this being originally only a tenth part, out of which the monthly fubfiftence of every officer and foldier had already been deducHied, the remainder is feldora ade- quate to the wants of the people. Infurredion and rebellion en- fue, and thofe who may eicape the devouring fcourge of famine, in all probability fall by the fword. In fuch feafons a whole province Is fometimes half depopulated; wretched parents are reduced, by imperious want, to fell or deftroy their offspring, and children to put an end, by violence, to the fufferings of their aged and infirm parents. Thus, the equal divifion of land, fo favourable to population in feafons of plenty, is jufl: the reverfe v;hen the calamity of a famine falls upon the people ; which, h.owever, as before obferved, is only partial. Iij the fecond place, a fcarcity may be owing to the mode of cultivation. When I mention that two-thirds of the fmall quan- tity of land under tillage is cultivated with the fpade or the hoe, 4 F or cS5 TRAVELS IN CHINA. or otherwirc by manual labour, without the aid of draught- cattle or fkilful machinery, it will readily be conceived how very fmall a portion each family will be likely to employ every year; certainly not one-third part of his average allowance. The third caufe of famines may be owing to the nature of the produds, particularly to that of rice. This grain, the ftaff of life in China, though it yields abundant returns in favourable fea- fons, is more liable to fail than moft others. A drough: in its. early ftages withers it on the ground ; and an inundauon, when nearly ripe, is equally deftrudive. The birds and the locufts, more numerous in this country than an European can well con- ceive, infefl; it more than any other kind of grain. In the northern provinces, where wheat, millet, and pulfe are cultivated, famines more rarely happen ; and I am perfuaded, that if pota- toes and Guinea corn {Zea-Mays) were once adopted as the com- mon vegetable food of the people, thofe direful famines that pro- duce fuch general mifery where they do occur, would entirely ceafe, and the increafe of population be as rapid as that of Ire- land. This root in the northern provinces, and this grain in the middle and fouthern ones, would never fail them. An acre of potatoes would yield more food than an acre of rice, and twice tlie nouriihment. Rice is thepooreft of all grain, if we may judge from the flender and delicate forms of all the people who ufe it as the chief article of their fuftenapce; and potatoes arejuft the con- trary *. • The great advantage of a potatoe crop, as I before obferved, is the certarnty of its liiccels. Were a general failure of this root to take place, as fometiines hap- pens to crops of rice, Ireland, in its prefent Rate, would experience all the horrors that attend a famine in fome of the provinces of China. As TRAVELS IN CHINA. S^7 As Dr. Adam Smith obferves, " The chairmen, porters, and " coal-heavers in London, and thofe unfortunate women who " Hve by profiitution, the ftrongeft men and the mod beau- " tiful women perhaps in theBiitifli dominion?, are faid to be, " the greater part of them, from the loweft rank of the people " in Ireland, who are generally fed with this root ; no food " can afford a more decifive proof of its nouriihing quality, or *' of its being peculiarly fuitable to .the healch of the human " conflitution." The Guinea corn requires little or no atten- tion after the feed is dropped into the ground ; and its leaves and juicy ftems are not more nourifhing for cattle, than its pro- lific heads are for the fuftenance of man. A variety of caufes has contributed to the populoufnefs of China. Since the Tartar conqueft, it may be faid to have en- joyed a profound peace ; for in the different wars and fkir- mifhes that have taken place with the neighbouring nations on the fide of India, and with the Ruffians on the confines of Siberia, a few Tartar foldiers only have been employed. The Chinefe army is parcelled out as guards for the towns, cities, and villages ; and ftationed at the numberlefs ports on the roads and canals. Bting feldom relieved from the feveral guards, they all marry and have families. A certain portion of land is allotted for their ufe, which they have fufficient time to culti- vate. As the nation has little foreign commerce, there are few feamen ; fuch as belong to the inland navigations are moftly married. Although there be no direct penalty levied againfl fuch as remain batchclors, as was the cafe among the Romans 4 F 2 when S^'^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. "vvhen they wlflied to repair the defolatlon that their civil war?, had occafioned, yet public opinion confiders celibacy as dif- graceful, and a foit of infamy is attached to a man who con- tinues unmarried beyond a certain time of life. And .although in China the public law be not eftabliflied of the jfus triu?n liberoriim^ by which every Roman citizen having three children was entitled to certain privileges and immunities, yet every male child may be provided for, and receive a ftipend from the moment of his birth, by his name being enrolled on the military lifl:. By the equal divifion of the country into fmall farms, every peaiant has the means of bringing up his family, if drought and inundation do not fruftrate his labour ; and the purfuits of agriculture are more favourable to health, and con- fequently to population, than mechanical employments in crowded cities, and large manufadories, where thofe who are doomed to toil are more liable to become the vidlims of difeafe and debauchery, than fuch as are expofed to the free and open air, and to active and wholefome labour. In China there are few of fuch manufadluring cities. No great capitals are here employed in any one branch of the arts. In general each labours for him.felf in his own profefTion. From the general poverty that prevails among the lower orders of people, the vice of drunkennefs is little pratftifed among them. The multitude, from neceility, are temperate in their diet to the lad degree. The climate Is moderate, and, except in the nor- thern provinces where the cold is fjvere, remarkably uniform, not liable to thole fudden and great changes in temperature, which llie human conftitution is lefs able to refill, than the 6 extremes TRAVELS IN CHINA. 589 extremes of heat or cold when fleady and invariable, and from which the inconveniencies are perhaps nowhere fo feverely felt as on our own ifland. Except the fmall-pox and con- tagious difeal'es, that occailonally break out in tlieir confined and crowded cities, they arc liable to few epidemical diforders. The ftill and inanimate kind of life which is led by tl e wo- men, at the fame time that it is fuppofed to render them prolific, preferves them from accidents that niiglit caufe untimely births. Every W'Oman fuckles and nurfes her own child. The operation of thefe, and other favourable caufes that might be affigned, in a country that has exifled under the fame form of government, and preferved the fame laws and cuftoras for fo many ages, mull necefllirily have created an ex- cefs of population unknown in mod other parts of the world, where the ravages of war, feveral times repeated in the courfe of a century, or internal commotions, or peflilential difeafe, or the elTedts of overgrown wealth, fometimes fweep away one half of a nation within the ufual period allotted to the life of man. " What a grand an 1 curious fpedacle," as Sir George Staun- ton obferves, " is here exhibited to the mind of fo l:rge a j ro- *' portion of the whole human race, conncclcd together in one, " great fyftcm of polity, fubmitting quietly and through To " confiderable an cxtenr of country to one great fovereign ; and " uniform 590 TRAVELS IN CHINA. " uniform in their laws, their manners, and their language ; but " differing efTentially in each of thefe refpedls from every other " portion of mankind ; and neither defirous of communicating *' with, nor forming any defigns againft, the reft of the world." How ftrong an inftance does China afford of the truth of the obfervation, that men are more ealily governed by opinion thaa by power. // TRAVELS IN CHINA. 5Q.1 CHAP. X. Journey through the Province of Canton. — Situation of Fo- reigners trading to this Port. — Conclufion. Vifible Change in the Characler of the People.— -Rugged Mountains. ^-Collieries, — • Temple in a Cavern. — Btone ^tarries. — Various Plants for U/e and Ornatneni.—— jirrive at Canton. — Expence of the Embnjfy to the Chinefe Government. — To the Britifl} Nation. — Nature and Inconveniencies of the Trade to Canton. — The Anne~ tiian and his Pearl. — Impofitions of the Officers of Government inflanced. — Principal Caufe of them is the Ignorance of the Language. — Cafe of Chinefe trading to London. — A Chinefe killed by a Seaman of His Majefy's Ship Madras. — Delinquent faved from an ignominious Death^ by a proper Mode of Communication with the Govern^ ment. — CONCLUSION. W E had no fooner pafTed the fummit of the high mountain Me-lin^ and entered the province of ^a?t-tung.^ or Canton, than a very fenfible difference v^^as perceived in the conduct of the in- habitants. Hitherto the Embafly had met with the greateft re- fpe6t and civility from all claffes of the natives, but now even the peafantry ran out of their houfes, as we paffed, and bawled after us ^ueitze-fan-quei., which, in their language, are opprobri- ous and contemptuous expreffions, fignlfying foreigti devils.^ imps ; epithets that are bellowed by the enlightened Chinefe on all jg2 TRAVELS IN CHINA. all foreigners. It was obvious, that the haughty and infolent manner in which all Europeans refiding at, or trading to, the port of Canton are treated, had extended itfelf to the northern fron- tier of the province, but it had not croffed the mountain Mc~ /in ; the natives of Kian^-fee being a quiet, civil, and inofFenfive people. In ^lan-tung the farther we advanced, the more rude and infolent they became. A timely rebuke, however, given to the gov&xwov oi Nau-Jheun-foo hyVan-ta-giny for applying the above-mentioned opprobrious epithets to the Britifh EmbaiTy, had a good effe£t on the Canton officers, who were now to be our condudors through their province. This contempt of foreigners Is not confined to the upper ranks, or men in office, but pervades the very loweft clafs, who, whilft they make no fcruple of entering into the fervice of foreign merchants refiding in the country, and accepting the moft me- nial employments under them, performing the duties of their feveral offices with diligence, punctuality, and fidelity, affed:, at the fame time, to defpife their employers, and to confider them as placed, in the fcale of human beings, many degrees be- low them. Having one day obferved my Chinefe fervant bu- fily employed in drying a quantity of tea-leaves, that had al- ready been ufed for breakfaft, and of which he had colleded feveral pounds, I inquired what he meant to do with them : he replied, to mix them with other tea, and fell them. *' And " is that the way," faid I, ** in which you cheat your own " countrymen ?" " No," replied he, " my own countrymen are *' too wife to be fo eafily cheated, but yours are ftupid enough V to let us ferve you fuch like tricks; and indeed," continued he, with TRAVELS IN CHINA. 593 vn\K'\hi^ ^re2Xt!^'fdnryrota\m^ " any thing you get ** from us is quite good enough for you." Affeding to be angry with him, he faid, " he meant for the fccond fort " of Englifhmen," which is a diftiadion they give to the Americans *. The city q{ Nan-Jl:eu7i-foo was pleafantly fituated on the high bank of the river Pei-kiang-ho, The houfes appeared to be very old, the ftreets narrow, large trads of ground within the walls unbuilt, others covered 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 Confucius, being, at the fame time, the college where the ftudents are examined for their different degrees. It confifled of a long dark room, divided by two rows of red pil- lars into a middle and two fide ailes, without furniture, paint- ings, ftatues, or ornaments of any kind, except a few paper lanterns fufpended between the pillars ; the floor was of earth, and entirely broken up : to us it had more the appearance of a large paflage or gang«way to fome manufactory, as a brewhoufe or iron foundery, than of the hall of Confucius. On each fide, and at the farther extremity, were feveral fmall apartments, in which we contrived to pafs the night. The barges in which we now embarked were very fmall, owing to the fliallownefs of the river. The officers, afTerabled * In the Canton jargon, Jecondchop EngUJhmen ; and even this ditlinction the Ani<- jjicaus, I underftand, have nearly forfeited in the minds of the Chinefe. 4 G here S94 TRAVELS IN CHINA. here from different parts of the country, detained us a whole day in order to have an opportu'nity of laying their feveral complaints before our phyfician, at the recommendation of Fan- ta-giriy who had felt the good effeds of his pradlice. Here, for once, we had an inftance of Chinefe pride giving way to felf- intereft, and ufurped fuperiority condefcending to afk advice of barbarians. We failed for tvv'o days in our little barges, through one of the mofl wild, mountainous, and barren trads of coun- try that I ever beheld, abounding more in the fublime and hor- rible, than in the pidurefque or the beautiful. The lofty fum- mits of the mountains feemed to touch each other acrofs the river, and, at a diftance, it appeared as if we had to fail through an arched cavern. The maffy fragments that had fallen down from time to time, and impeded the navigation, were indi- cations that the paffage was not altogether free from danger. Five remarkable points of fand-ftone rock, rifing in fucceffion above each other with perpendicular faces, feemed as if they had been hewn out of one folid mountain : they were called ou-ttia- toOf or the five horfes' heads. The mountains at a diftance on each fide of the river were covered with pines, the nearer hills with coppice wood, in which the Camellia prevailed ; and in the little glens were clufters of fifhermen's huts, furrounded by fmall plantations of tobacco. Within the defile of thefe wild mountains, we obferved fe- veral extenfive collieries, which were advantageoufly worked by driving levels from the river into their fides. The coals brought out of the horizontal adiis were immediately lowered from a pier into veflels that were ready to receive and tranf- port TRAVELS IN CHINA. 595 port til em to the potteries of this province, and of Kiang-fee, Coal is little ufed in its raw ftate, but is firft charred in large pits that are dug in the ground. Coal duft, mixed with earth, and formed into fquare blocks, is frequently ufed to heat their little ftoves, on which they boil their rice. At the city of Tchao-tchoo-foo^ where we arfived on the 13th, we exchanged our flat-bottomed boats for large and commo- dious yachts, the river being here much increafed by the con- fluence of another ftream. The boats before this city were moftly managed by young girls, whofe drefs confifted of a neat white jacket and petticoat, and a gipfey ftraw hat. Having for fo great a length of time fcarcely ever fet our eyes upon a fe- male, except the heads of fome at a diftance, peeping from be- hind the mud walls that furround the houfes, or labouring in the grounds of Kiang-fee^ the ferry girls, though in reality very plain and coarfe-featured, were confidered as the mod beautiful objeds that had occurred in the whole journey. To the occu- pation of ferrying paflengers over the river, it feemed th^y added another, not quite fo honourable, for which, however, they had not only the confent and approbation of their parents, but alfo the fandion of the government, or perhaps, to fpeak more corredly, of the governing magiftrates, given in con- fideration of their receiving a portion of the wages of pro- ftitution. In this mountainous diflridl a few fifliermen's huts and thofe of the colliers were the only habitations that occurred; ijbu): the defed of population was abundantly fupplicd by the 402 number 596 TRAVELS IN CHINA. number of wooden dwellings that were floating on the river. Small huts, to the number of thirty or forty, were fometimea ereded upon a fmgle floating raft of fir baulks, laflied together by the ends and the fides. On thefe rafts the people carry on their trade or occupation, particularly fuch as work in wood. Our condudors direded the yachts to halt before a detached rock, rifing with a perpendicular front from the margin of the river to the height of feven hundred feet. In this front we ob- ferved a cavern, before which was a terrace that had been cut out of the rock, acceflible by a flight of fteps from the river. Proceeding from the terrace into the cavity of the rock, we afcended another flight of fl:airs, alfo cut out of folid ftone, which led into a very fpacious apartment. In the centre of this apartment fat the goddcfs Poo-fa upon a kind of altar, con- ftituting a part of the rock, and hewn into the fhape of the Lien-^wha or Nelumbium. A fmall opening, next the river, admitted a " dim religious light," fuitable to the folemnity of the place, which we were told was a temple confecrated to Poo^ fa^ and a monaflery for the refidence of a few fuperannuated priefts. On the fmooth fides of the apartment was infcribed a multitude of Chinefe verfes, fome cut into the rock, and others painted upon it. The lodgings of the priefts were fmall caves branching out of the large temple. A third flight of fteps led from this to a fecond ftory, which was alfo lighted by a fmall aperture in front, that was nearly choaked up by an immenfe mafs of ftaledite that had been formed, and was fti!l increafing, by the conftant oozing of water holding in folution calcareous matter, and fufpended from a projedion of the upper part of TRAVELS IN CHINA. 597 of the rock. But the light was fufficient to difcover a gigantic image with a Saracen face, who " grinn'd horrible a ghaftly" " fmile." On his head was a fort of crown ; in one hand he held a naked fcymeter, and a firebrand in the other ; but the hiftory of this coloflal divinity feemed to be imperfedly known, even to the votaries of Poo-fa themfelves. He had in all proba- bility been a warrior in his day, the Thefeus or the Hercules of China. The cave of the Cumaean Sibyl could not be better fuited for dealing out the myfterious decrees of fate to the fuperftitious multitude, than that of the S^an-gin-Jloan^ from whence the oracle of future deftiny, in like manner, " Horrendas canit ambages, antroque remugit, " Obfcuris vera involvens." " The \vond'rous truths, involv'd in riddles, gave, " And furious bellow'd round the gloomy cave." -'Lord Macartney obferved, that this fmgular temple brought to his recolledion a Francifcan monaftery he had itzn in Portu- gal, near Cape Roxent, ufually called the Cork Convent^ " which " is an excavation of confiderable extent under a hill, divided *' into a great number of cells, and fitted up with a church, " facrifty, refedory, and every requifite apartment for the ac- " commodation of the miferable Cordeliers who burrow in it. " The iufide is entirely lined with cork : the walls, the roofs, '* the floors, are covered with cork; the tables, feats, chairs, " beds, couches, the furniture of the chapel, the crucifixes, and " every other implement, are all made ot cork. The place was •' certainly difmal and comfortlefs to a great degree, but it ** wanted the gigantic form, the grim features, the terrific " afpca 59^- TRAVELS IN CHINA. " aijped; which diflinguifh the tcmplQ of Poo-/a, in the rock of ** ^an-gin-Jloanr Difmal as this gloomy den appeared to be, where a iew miferable beings had voluntarily chained them- felves to a rock, to be gnawed by the vultures of fuperftition and faiiaticifm, it is fiill lefs fo than an apartment of the Fran- cifcan convent in Madeira, the walls of which are entirely co- vered with human fkulls, and the bones of legs and arms, placed alternately in horizontal rows. A dirty lamp fufpended from the ceiling, and conftantly attended by an old bald-headed friar of the order, to keep the feeble light juft glimmering in the focket, fer-ves to ihew indiftindly to ilrangers this difguft- ing memento mori. It would be difficult to determine which of the three were the mod ufelefs members of fociety, the monks of Poo-fa^ the monks of the Cork convent, or the monks of Golgotha. In feveral places among the wild and romantic mountains through which we were carried on this river, we noticed quar- ries of great extent, out of which huge Hones had been cut for fepulchral monuments, for the arches of bridges, for archi- traves, for paving the ftreets, and for various other ufes. To ob- tain thefe large mafles, the faw is applied at the upper furface, and they work down vertically to the length required. Each ftone is fhaped and fafhioned to the fize that may be wanted, before it is removed from the parent rock, by which much difficulty is avoided, and lefs power required in conveying it to its deftination. Rude mifliapen blocks, requiring additional labour for their removal, are never detached from the rock in fuch a ftate. In this refpedt they are more provident than the 8 late TRAVELS IN CHINA. 59^ late Emprefs of Ruffia, who, at an Immenfe expence, and with the aid of complicated machinery, caufed a block of ftone to be brought to her capital, to ferve as a pedellal for the ftatue of the Czar Peter, where it was found expedient to reduce it to two- thirds of its original dimenfions. Between the city of Canton and the firfl: pagoda on the bank of the river, there is a continued feries of fimilar quarries, which ap- pear not to have been worked for many years. The regular and formal manner in which the ftones have been cut away, exhibit- ing lengthened (Ireets of houfes with quadrangular chambers, in the fides of which are fquare holes at equal diftances, as if in- tended for the reception of beams ; the fmoothnefs and perfed: perpendicularity of the fides, and the number of detached pillars that are fcattered over the plain, would juftify a fimilar miftake to that of Mr. Addifon's Dodor of one of the German univer- fities, whom he found at Chateau d'Un in France, carefully meafuring the free-ftone quarries at that place, which he had conceived to be the venerable remains of vaft fubterranean palaces of great antiquity. Almoft: all the mountains that occurred in our paflage through China were of primaeval granite, fome few of fand- ftone, and the inferior hills were generally of lime-ftone, or coarfe grey marble. Except the Ladrone iflands on the fouth, and fome of the Chu'fan iflands on the eaft, we obferved no appearances in the whole country of volcanic produdions. The high mountains, indeed, that form great continental chains are feldom, if ever, of volcanic formation. The prefence of a vaft 6co TRAVELS IN CHINA. vafl: volume of water feems to be indifpenfably neceffary to carry on this operation of nature, and, accordingly, we find that volcanic mountains are generally clofe to the fea coaft, or entirely infulated. Thus, although a great part of the iflands on the coaft of China are volcanic, we met with no trace of fubterranean heat, either in volcanic produds or thermal fprings, on the whole continent. Yet earthquakes are faid to have been frequently felt in all the provinces, but flight and of fhort duration. About kven miles to the fouthward of the temple in the rock, the mountains abruptly ceafed, and we entered on a wide ex- tended plain, which, to the fouthward and on each fide, was terminated only by the horizon. This fudden tranfition from barrennefs to fertility, from the fublime to the beautiful, from irregularity to uniformity, could not fail to pleafe, as all ftrong contrafts ufually do. The country was now in a high ftate of tillage; the chief products were rice, fugar- canes, and tobacco; and the river was fo much augmented by the tributary ftreams of the mountains, which we had juft left behind, that it was nearly half a mile in width. Canals branched from its two banks in every direction. At the city of San-Jlswee JJnen^ we obferved the current of the river receding, being driven back by the flux of the tide. On the loth we halted before a village which was juft within fight of the fuburbs of Canton. Here the EmbafTador was met by the Commiffioners of the Eaft India Company, whom the Chinefe had allowed to proceed thus far from the fadory, and TRAVELS IN CHINA. ^oi , and to which place the fervants of the Company are occafion- ally permitted to make their parties of pleafure. In the neigh- bourhood of this village are extenfive gardens for the fupply of the city with vegetables. In fome we obferved nurfcries for propagating the rare, the beautiful, the curious, or the ufeful plants of the country ; which are fent to Canton for fale. On this account we were not forry to be obliged to fpend the remainder of the day at this place. Among the choice plants we noticed the large Peofiia before mentioned, white, red, and variegated ; the elegant Limodorum Tankervillics, and that fingu- lar plant the Epidciidrum Jios aer'iSy fo called from its vegetating without the affiftance of earth or water ; the Hyhifms mutabilisy the Abelmofchus^ and other fpecies of this genus ; the double variegated Camellia yaponica ; the great holly-hock ; the fear- let amara7ithiis^ and another fpecies of the fame genus, and a very elegant Celofia or cock's comb j the Ncrium Oleaiider^ fometimes called the Ceylon rofe, and the Tu-lati^ a fpecies of magnolia, the flowers of which appear before the leaves burft from the buds. Of the fcented plants, the plumeria and a double flowering jafmine were the moft efteemed. We ob- ferved alfo in pots the Ocymu?n or fweet Bafil, Cloranthus Incon- Jpicuus^ called Cbu-lati, whofe leaves are fometimes mixed with thofe of tea to give them a peculiar flavour ; the Oka fragr arts ^ or fweet fcented olive, faid alfo to be ufed for the fame purpofe ; a fpecies of myrtle ; the much efteemed Rofa Sin'ica; the Tuhc" rofe; the ftrong fcented Gardetiia Jlorida^ improperly called the Cape Jafmine j the China pink, and feveral others, to enumerate which would exceed the limits of this work, 4ii Of 607^ TRAVELS IN CITINA. Of fruits- we noticed a variety of figs, and three fpeclesof mnF- berries; peaches- and almonds; x^cio. Annona or cuftard-apple ;. the Eugefiia Jamhos^ or rofe-apple ; the much-efteemed Lee-tchee or Sapindus-edulis ; and the Kalreuteria^ another fpecies of the fame genus ; the Averhoa Caramhola^ an excellent fruit for tarts ;, and the Oii-long-Jlooo^ the Sterculia platanifolia. Befides thefe. were abundance of oranges and bananas. As vegetables for the table, was a great variety of beans and' calavances, among which w^as the Dolichos Soja or foy plant, and' the polyjlachios^ with its large clufters of beautiful fcarlet flowers ; the Cyttfus Cajan^ whofe feed yields the famous bean-milk, which it is the cuftom of the Emperor to offer to Embaffadors on their prefentation ; large mild radifhes, onions, garlick, Capftcum or Cayenne-pepper ; convolvulus batatas\^ or fweet potatoes ; two fpecies of^ tobacco ; Amomum^ or ginger, in great quantities, the root of which they prefsrve in fyrup ; Sirmpis, or muf- tard, and the hrajfica orientalis, from which an oil is exprefled' for the table. Of plants that were ufeful in the arts, we obferved the Rhus FerniXf or varnifli-tree, and two other fpecies of the fame genus y Curcuma^ or turmeric ; Carthamus ufed as a dye, and \}c\z polygo- num Ch'inenfe for the fame purpofe ; the Rhapis fiabdliformis ^ the^ dried leaves of which are ufed for fans among the common people, and particularly by thofe who live in veffels ; Cor- chorusy whofe bark, in India, is ufed as flax ; but not, I believe, to any extent in China, the white nettle being here preferred. The TRAVELS IN CHINA. 60 J The Miy niedicTnarpTaritVpbmted out to our notice, were the ■Rheum palmatum^ Artemijiay and the Smilax or China root. - To make our entre into Canton the more fplendid, a number of fuperb barges were fent to meet us, carrying flags and dreamers and umbrellas and other infignia of office ; and in fome were bands of mufic. About the middle of the day we arrived before th^ fa<3:ories, which conftitute a line of buildings in the European ftyle, extending along the left bank of the river, where the Embaflador was received by the Song-tooy or Viceroy, the Governor, the Ho-poo^ or colledor of the cuftoms, and all the principal officers of the government. From hence we were conducted to the oppofite fide of the river, where a temporary building of poles and mats had been prepared for the occafion; within which was a fcreen of yellow filk bearing the name of the Emperor in gilt charaders. Before this fcreen the Viceroy aad other officers performed the ufual proftrations, in token of gratitude to his imperial Majefty, for his having vouchfafed us a profperous journey. It is but doing juftlce to the Chinefe government, and to tlie individuals in its employ who had any concern in the affairs of the Embaffy, to obferve, that as far as regarded ourfelves, their condud: was uniformly marked by liberality, attention, and an earned defire to pleafe. Nor is there any vanity in faying that, after obferving us clofely in the courfe of a long journey and daily intercourfe, tlie officers of government gradually difmiffed the prejudices imbibed againd us, as foreigners, from their earlieft youth. Gained by our frank and open manners, and by little attentions, they feemed to fly with pleafure to our fociety as a 4 H 2 relief $04 TRAVELS m CHINA. relief from the tedious formalities they were obliged to aflume in their official capacity. Van and Cbou conftanily paffed the evenings in fome of our yachts. It is impoflible to fpeak of thofe two worthy men in terms equal to their defert. Kind, condefcending, unremitting in their attentions, they never be- trayed one mcment of ill-humour from the time we entered China till they took their final leave at Canton. Thefe two men were capable of real attachments. They infilled on accom- panying the Embaflador on board the Lion, where they took their laft farewel. At parting they burft into tears, and fhewed the ftrongeft marks of fenfibility and concern. Their feelings quite overcame them, and they left the Lion for- rowful and deje£ted. Early the following morning they fent on board twenty bafkets of fruit and vegetables, as a farewel token of their remembrance. We had the fatisfadlion to hear, that immediately on their arrival at Pekin they both were pro- moted. Choii is at prefent in a high fituation at court, but FaKf th^ cheerful good-humoured Van^ has paid the debt of nature, having fallen honourably in the fervice of his country. On the condudt of Lee^ our Chinefe interpreter, any praife that I could beftow would be far inadequate to his merit. Fully fenfible of his perilous fituation, he never at any one time fhrunk from his duty. At Macao he took an affedionate leave^ of his Englifli friends, with whom, though placed in one of the remoteft provinces of the empire, he flill contrives to cor- refpond. The Embaflador, Lord Macartney, has had feveral letters from him ; the laft of which is of fo late a date as March 1^02 J fo that his fenfibility has not been diminilhed either by time or diftance. 4 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 605 ft Is the cuftom of China to confider all Embafladors as guefts of the Emperor, from the moment they enter any part of his dominions, until they are again entirely out of them. The in- convenience of this cuftom was feverely felt by us, as it pre- vented us from purchaling, in an open manner, many trifling articles that would have been acceptable. The very confider-^ able expence, incurred by the court on this account, may be one reafon for prefcribing the limited lime of forty days for all Em- bafTadors to remain at the capital. To meet the expences of the prefent Embafly, Van-tagin aflured me, that they were fur- nifhed with an order to draw on the public treafuries of the different provinces through which we had to pafs, to the amount of five thoufand ounces of filver a-day, or about one thoufand fix hundred pounds fterling : and that fifteen hundred ounces a-day had been iffued out of the treafury at Pekin for the fup- port of the Embafly during its continuance there. Suppofing then thefe data to be correft, and I fee no reafon for calling their authenticity in queftion, we may form an eftimare of the whole- expence of this Embaffy to the Chinefe government. From the 6th of Auguft (the day we entered the Pei-ho) to the 2ifl: (when we arrirved in Oz. Pekin) inclufive - - 16 days, 80,000 From the 2 2d Auguft to the 6th Odober (in Pekin and in Gehol) - - 46 day», 69,000 From the 7th Odtober to the 19th December (Avhen we arrived at Canton) - 74 days, 370,000 Total ounces of filver 519,000 Or 6o^ TRAVELS IN CHINA. Or one hundred and feventy-three thoufand pounds fterling -, three Chinefe ounces being equal to one pound fterling. j^ rk is hardly poffible that this enormous fum of money could have been expended on account of the Embafly, though I have no doubt of its having been iffued out of the Imperial treafury for that purpofe. One of the miffionaries informed me, in Pekin, that the Gazette of that capital contained an article ftat- ing the liberality of the Emperor tovrards the Englilh EmbafTa- dor, in his having diredted no lefs a fum than fifteen hundred ounces of filver to be applied for the daily expences of the Em- baffy, while ftationary in the capital and at Gehol. The fame gentleman made an obfervatlon, that the great officers of govern- ment, as well as thofe who had the good luck to be appointed to manage the concerns of a foreign embafly, confidered it as one of the beft wind-falls in the Emperor's gift, the difference between the allowances and the actual expenditure being equi- valent to Si little fortune. Van-ta-gin, indeed, explained to us, that although the Impe- rial warrant was figned for thofe fums, yet that having a num- ber of offices to pafs through, in all of which it diminifhed a little, the whole of it was not adually expended on the Em- baffy. He gave to the Embaffador an excellent illuftration of the manner in which the Imperial bounty was fometimes ap- plied. An inundation had fwept away, the preceding winter, a whole village in the province of Shan-tung^ fo fuddenly, that the inhabitants could fave nothing but their lives. The Em- ptor having once lodged at the place immediately ordered 100,000 TRAVELS IN CHINA. 607 100,000 ounces of filver for their relief, out of which the firft officer of the treafury took 20,000, the fecond 10,000, the third 5,000, and fo on, till at laft there remained only 20,000 for the poor fufferers. So that the boafted morality of China is- pretty much the fame, when reduced to pradice, as that of other countries. The real expence, however, of the Britifh Embafly, coulJ not have been a trifle, when we confider what a vaft multitude of men, horfes, and veflels were conftantly employed on the occafion. Van-ta-gin aflfured me, that there were feldom fewer than one thoufand men, and frequently many more, employed one way or other in its fervice ; and I am perfuaded he did not intend to exaggerate. In the firft place, from the mouth of the Pet-ho to Tong-tchoOy we had forty-one yachts or barges, each on an average, including boatmen, trackers, and foldicrs, hav- ing on board fifteen men ; this gives fix hundred and fifteen^ men to the boats only. Caterers running about the country ta collect provifions, boatmen to bring them to the feveral barges, the conducting officers, and their numerous retinue, are not in- cluded in this eftimate. From Tong-tchoo near three thoufand men were employed to carry the prefents and baggage, firft ta Hung-ya-yueriy beyond Pekin, and then back again to the capi- tal, which took them three days. In our return from T'ong- tchoo to Hang-tchoo-foo^ we had a fleet of thirty vefliels, with tea men at leaft, and, for the greateft part of the journey, twenty additional trackers to each velTel ; this gives nine hundred people for the yachts alone. ^^' From: 6o8 TRAVELS IN CHINA. From Hang-tchoo-foo to Eu-JImn-Jhien^ and from Hang-tchoo-foo to Chu-fan^ there might probably be employed about forty veifeis, with twelve men to each, or four hundred and eighty in the whole. And, befides the people employed by the officers of government to purchafe provifions, numbers were ftationcd in different parts of the rivers to contradl the ftream, by raking to- . gether the pebbles, where, otherwife, the water would have been too fliallow for the boats to pafs ; and others to attend at all the lluices on the canals, to affift the veffels in getting through the iame. From Tcha?ig-Jhan-Jhieti to Eu-JJ:)ati-JJjien, overland, we had about forty horfes, and three or four hundred men to carry the baggage. From the Po-yang lake to Canton, we had generally about twenty-fix veffels with twenty men to each, including boatmen, ibldiers, and trackers, which gives iive hundred and twenty men. for thefe alone. The Embaffy confifted of near one hundred perfons, but as for the feveral officers, and their numerous retinue of guards, at- tendants, and runners, I have not the leaft idea to what their numbers might amount j all of whom, being on extraordinary fervice, were fupported at the public expence. The whole expence of the Embaffy to this country, including the prefentSjdid not exceed eighty thoufand pounds; aninconfiderable fum for fuch a nation as Great Britain on fuch an occafion, and not TRAVELS IN CHINA. 609 not more than a fourth part of what has been generally imagined. Although the Britifh fadlory was in every fenfe more com- fortable than the moft fplendid palace that the country afforded, yet it was fo repugnant to the principles of the government for an Embaffador to take up his abode in the fame dwelling with merchants, that it was thought expedient to indulge their notions in this refped:, and to accept a large houfe in the midft of a garden, on the oppofite fide of the river, which was fitted up and furnifhed with beds in the European manner, with glazed fafh windows, and with fire-grates fuitable for burning coals. On our arrival here we found a company of comedians hard at work, in the middle of a piece, which it feemed had begun at fun-rife; but their fqualling and their fhrill and harlh mufic were fo dreadful, that they were prevailed upon, with V difficulty, to break off during dinner, which was ferved up in a viranda diredly oppofite the theatre. Next morning, however, about fun-rife, they fet to work afrefh, but at the particular requeft of the Embaffador, in which he was joined by the whole fuite, they were difcharged, to the no fmall aflonifliment of our Chinefe conductors, who concluded, from this circumftance, that the Englifh had very little tafle for elegant amufements. Players, it feeras, are here hired by the day, and the more inceffantly they labour, the more they are applauded. They are always ready to begin any one piece out of a lift of twenty or thirty, that is prefented for the principal vifitor to make his choice. 4 1 The 6io TRAVELS IN CHINA. The nature of the trade carried on by foreign nations at the port of Canton is fo well known, that it would be fuperfluous for me to dwell on that fubjedt. The complaints of all nations againft the extortions praftifed there have been loudly and frequently heard in Europe, but the fteps that have hitherto been taken have proved unavailing. The common anfwer is, ** Why do you come here ? We take in exchange your articles " of produce and manufadlure, which we really have no occa- " fion for, and give you in return our precious tea, which " nature has denied to your country, and yet you are not fatif- " fied. Why do you fo often vifit a country whofe cuftoms you ** diflike ? We do not invite you to come among us, but when " you do come, and behave well, we treat you accordingly. *' Refpedl then our hofpitality, but don't pretend to regulate or *' reform it." Such is the language held to Europeans by all the petty officers of government with whom they have to deal. With fuch fentiments one cannot be furprized that foreign merchants Ihould be received with indifference, if not handled with rudenefs, and that the fair trader fhould be liable to extortions. This is ftill more likely to happen from the com- plete monopoly of all foreign trade being configned to a limited number of merchants, feldom, I believe, exceeding eight, W'ho are fanilioned by government. The cargoes of tin, lead, cotton, opium, and large fums of Spanifh dollars, fent to Can- ton from Europe, India, and America, all pafs through the hands of thefe Hong merchants, who alfo furnifh the return cargoes. As the capital employed is far beyond any thing of the kind we can conceive in Europe by fo few individuals, their profits mufl be TRAVELS IN CHINA. 6u be proportionally great, or they could not be able to bear the expence of the numerous and magniiicent prefents which they are expeded to make to the fuperior officers of government at Canton, who, in their turn, find it expedient to divide thefe with the Emperor and his minifters in the capital. The various toys, automatons, moving and mufical figures from Goxe's mu- feum, the mathematical and aftronomical inftruments, clocks, watches, machinery, jewellery, all made in London, and now in the different palaces of the Emperor of China, are faid to be valued at no lefs a fum than two millions fterling, all prefents from Canton. The principal officers of this government are invariably fent down from Pekin ; they arrive poor, and, ia the courfe of three years, return with immenfe riches. How much of the enormous wealth of Ho-tchuiig-tang came from the fame quarter it is difficult to fay, but the great influence he poiTefTed over the Emperor, and his intimacy with the vice- roy of Canton, who was fuperfeded in 1793, leave no doubt, that a very confiderable part of it was drawn from this port. The large pearl, which forms one of the charges preferred againft him, was a prefent from Canton, of which I have been, told a curious hiftory by a gentleman who was on the fpot at the time it happened. An Armenian merchant brought this pearl to Canton, in the expectation of making his fortune. Its fize and beauty foon became known, and attra5lionaries in England ; one of which is under publication by Dotftor Montucci ; who, I uuderlland from good authority, by many years of Indefatigable application, has fucceeded in writing the charafters with great neatnefs and accuracy ; and is well qualified in other refpe^s for the undertaking, in which, it is to be hoped, he may meet with fultable encouragement. yet, TRAVELS IN CHINA. 617 yet, on being afked the name of the Emperor of Japan, freely avowed that k had never occurred to him to afk it. In fadt, his grand object was the accumulation of fo many milUons of florins in a given time ; in the purfuit of which he had com- pletely loft fight of the Emperor of Japan, and his millions of fubjeds. - If then, by negledling to ftudy the language of the Chinefe, WQ are filly enough to place ourfelves and concerns fo com- pletely in their power, we are highly deferving of the extortions and impofitions fo loudly complained of. If the trade of London was exclufively vefted in the hands oi eight merchants, and if the foreigners who vifited its port could neither fpeak nor write one fingle word of the language of England, but communicated folely on every fubjed; with thofe eight mer- chants, through a broken jargon, fomewhat refembling the languages of the feveral foreigners, it might fairly be quef- tioned, without any difparagement to the merchants of Lon- don, if thofe foreigners would have lefs reafon of complaint, than the Europeans have who now trade to China. Even as things are, would a Chinefe arriving in England find no fubje(3: of complaint, no grievances nor vexations at the cuftom-houfe, which, for want of knowing our language, he might be apt to confider as extortions and impofitions ? Two years ago, two Chinefe miiTionaries landed in England, in their way to the college de propaganda Fide at Naples. Each had a fmall bundle of clothes under his arm, and, according to the cuftom of their country, a fan in his hand. Being obferved by one of thofe voracious fharks, who, under the pretext of preventing 4 K frauds 5i& TRAVELS IN CHI^^A* frauds on the revenue, plunder unproteded foreigners, and convert the booty to their own advantage, the poor fellows were ftripped by him of the little property th«y carried in their -hands, and were not, without difficulty, allowed to efcape with the clothes on their backs. Can we blame thefe people for reprefenting us as a barbarous, unfeeling, and inhofpitablc nation, however undeferving we may be of fuch a cha- ra<3:er ? Our cafe at Canton- is pretty nearly the fame as that of the two Chinefe raiffionaries.. Every petty officer of the govern- ment knows he can pradtife impofitions oa our trade with im- punity, becaufe we have not the means of bringing his villany to the knowledge of his fuperiors.- For, how great foever may be the propenfity of the Chinefe people to fraud and extortion, I have little doubt of the juftice and moderation- of the Chinefe government, when the cafe is properly repre- fented. A recent circumftance may be mentioned in fupport of this opinion. In the year 1801, a failor on board hij> Majefty's fhip the Madras fired upon and mortally wounded ai Chinefe, who was paffing in a boat. A difcuffion, as ufual, took place with the Chinefe government ; but it wascondud:ed in a v^ry different manner from what had hitherto been ufual on fimilar occafions. I«ftead of entering into any explanation' ,or defence through the medium of the Hong merchants, who tremble at the loweft officer of government, a memorial waS' addreffed to the Viceroy, drawn, up in a proper and becomings manner by the prefent Sir George Staunton, the only Englifhman lathe Qoraf)any'« fervicewhovyras fkilledin the Chinefe language.. :i:^.r. ,3^ ^. Several T'RA'VIELa IN CHINA. «^ •vSevera! conveiTations were alio held on the fubjedt with the ^officers of juflice, from which the Hong merchants were ex- cluded. Captain Dilkes fetiing up a plea of recrimination on the ground of fome Chinefe having cut his cable with ah intent to flea! it, th€ government aflented to have the matter tried in the fupreme court of juflice ia the city of Canton. By the law of China, if the wounded perfon furvive forty day?, the fentence of death is commuted for that of banifliment into the wilds of Tartary ; yet fo favourably did the court incline to the fide of the accufed in this inflance, that, although the time was not expired, and there was little hope of the wounded man recovering, they allowed Captain Dilkes to take the fea- man into his own cuftody, requiring only that he fhould leave in court a written promife to produce him in eafe the wounded fhould not furvive the time prefcribed by law. The man. lingered near fifty days, and then died ; upon which a meffage was fent by the Court, intimating to the Captain, that the ^iSb'urt faw no impropriety, in this inftance, in leaving it to hiik -TO ptinifli the delinquent according to the laws of his ou'k ■^country ; thus, for the firft time, affenting to fet afide a pofi- ^tve law in favour of foreigners. By this proper mode ^£ interference an Englifti fubjed: was faved from an unjuft and 'ignominious -death, which would otherwife inevitably have hap- ^J)ened, as on all former occafions of a fimilar kind, had the affair liGtn left in the hands of men whofe intereft it is to reprefent %s as barbarians, and who, however well they might be dH- ^bfed, have not the courage to plead our caufe. Hitherto the Chinefe have invariably made a point of executing immedi- ately, and without a regular trial, any foreigfter who fhoirfd UwvaS 4 K 2 kill 620 TRAVELS IN CHINA>-p kill a Chmefe, or fome fubftitute in the place of the actual cri- minal, as I have already inftanced in the feventh chapter. One of the moll intelligent of the Eaft India Company's fervants at Canton, fpeaking on this fubje£t, in anfvver to certain queries propofed to him about the time of the Embafly, remarks, " I ** cannot help obferving, that the lituation of the Company's ** fervalnts and the trade in general is, in this refpe£t, very " dangerous and difgraceful. It is fuch that it will be impof- *' fible for them to extricate themfdves from the cruel dilemma " a very probable accident may place them in, I will not fay ** with honour^ but without infamy^ or expofing the whole *' trade to ruin." Yet we have juft now feen, on the recur- rence of fuch an accident, that, by the circumftance of a direct and immediate communication with the government, the affair was terminated, not only without difgrace or infamy, but in a way that was honourable to both parties. nn TRAVELS IN CHINA. 621 G O N C L U S I O N. I HAVE now gone over moft cf the points relative to "which I have been able to recoiled the remarks and obferva- trons which arofe in my mind during my attendance on this memorable EmbaiTy. The comparifons I have made were given with a view of aflifting the reader to form in his own mind fome idea what rank the Chinefe may be confidered to hold, when meafured by the fcale of European nations ; but this part is very defe(SHve. To have made it complete would require more time and more reading, than at prefent I could command. The confideration of other objects, thofe of a po- litical nature, which are of the moft ferious importance to our interefts in China, is more particularly the province of thofe in a different fphere, and would, therefore, be improper for me to anticipate, or prejudge, by any conjectures of my own. It be- longs to other peribns, and perhaps to other times * ; but it is Xo be hoped that the information, refleclions, and opinions of the Embaffador himfelf, may one day be fully communicated to the public, when the prefent objeftions to it fhall ceafe, and the moment arrive (which is probably not very diftant) that will enable us to a£t upon the ideas of that nobleman's capacious and enlightened mind, and to prove to the worW that the late Em- baffy, by fhewing the character and dignity of the Britifh na- • This was written at the doit of the year iSoj) whea Mr. Addington was Miniiler. tion 62'2 TRAVELS IN CHINA. tion In a new and fplendid light, to a court and people in a great meafure ignorant of them before, however mifrepre- fented by the jealoufy and envy of rivals, or impeded by the counteradlion of enemies, has laid an excellent foundation for great future advantages, and done honour to the wifdom and forefight of the ftatefman * who planned the meafure, and di- te(5led its execution, ♦ The Loixi Vifcount Melville. tio-t in -o^ ■yettuo tisjns^ bcoiJsn ,Ji^aat»\K. JO I -o ifxsAwtfiiwK i^t o i R^a-pB-w junfi \xsv «iL«h. »T* sauLj 10 ivvM.- INDEX. r N D E X, PAGE A AsAKiSt the ftyjng arrow of - 4© jifrica, coaft of, known to the Phenicians 48 Agriculture, an honourable profeffion 397 ■ of Pe-tche-lee - 554 ■ of Shan-tung - 554 • of K'tang-nan • 56 1 . ■ terrace fyftem of - 568 yitr fung by Chinefe boatmen - 81 Almanack, national - - 284 Almeyda, a Portuguefe Jefuit, mah'gnant fpirit of - - - 19 Alphabet of the Mantchoo language 272 American Indians refemble the Chinefe 44 ■ traders, how confidered at Canton - ~^ - - 593 Amplification, Chinefe example of - 36 Ancients unacquainted with China - 435 Anniverfary of the Emperor of China's birth-day - - - 196 Anfon's voyage, charafter of Chinefe in the account of - - 27 Antiquary, curious miftake of one - 258 Appeal, none in civil caufes - 277 Arbitrary poiuerf'wi^&nct oi' - 85 Arch, very ancient in Chinefe arcliitec- ture . - - 359 , thofe called triumphal - 95 Archipilago of Chu-Jatu, violent currents in 54 PAGE Architecture of the palace of Tuen-min-yuen 124 — • , ftyle of, in landfcape gar- dening - * '35 , general obfervations on 330 ■ , monumental - 339 Arithmetic - - - 296 ^r;nfn/a« and his pearl - - 611 Army eftablifhment - - 405 ', how employed - - 408 AJlronomy - - - 284 , Ignorance of the Chinefe in 290 Authority, parental, bafis of Chinefe go- vernment - - 259 B Baloom^ an Armenian, trick played by him at Canton - - 6\z Bamboo, the praftice of flogging with, inflanced - - - 161 — — , general utility of this plant 309 — — — , reflexions on the punifliment of 38Q , compared with that of the hnout in Ruflia - - . 383 Bedford, Duke of, his portrait in China 1 15 Beverage oi Wic - - 464 Bifhop oi Pekin, his vifitto J^w^K-rairt-j'a/'n 110 Books, ancient ones of China - 276 Breukfaji, Chinefe: - - 89 Briartus of China - - 47 * Bridgfs 624 INT) EX. Bridz -, one of ninety one arches .Budha, compared with Fo Burylng-grounJ - 337 - 520 - 468 • 497 them CaknJar, national, an engine of govern- vernment - _ - .j^i ■iCawel/ia Sefanqua - " 53^ Camelopardalis, noticed by Marco Polo 46 CflKt;/, Imperial - "33? ■ obfervations on 506— =^5 1 2 Cannon - - . 299 Cantony reafons for the EmbafTy avoid- ing it - - • 33 — — — , fituation of foreigners trading to it - - - 6iO Carriages of the Chinefe defcribed 90 thofe made fey Hatchett puzzle - "3 Cavalry, Tartar . - 410 Cenforate - • * 3^3 Ceremony of the Court - - 2 / • Chain-pump - - - 5 1 1 CharaHer, phyfical, as given by Linnaeus not coiTeft - - 1 84 • , moral, of Chinefe and Tar- tars - - - t86 Charaders of the Chinefe language 248 • , keys or roots of - 251 , examples of the compofition of - - - 255 Chajlityy palace of - - 235 Checks to the abfolute power of the Em- peror - - - 362 Chemical Arts - - - 298 Children flill-born expofed in the flrccts 1 76 Chsu-ta-gtn - - -70 r.'jcz Chou-ta-gin, iiind attentions of - 604 Chfi/lian Religion might once have been introduced - - 44.^ Churchmen, intrigues of, not eafily ob- viated - - - 18 dngnlefe, of Chinefe origin - 53 Ciiies of China, walls, towers, and gates of y i — — , obfervations on - 500 Cleanlinefs no part of the Chinefe cha- radtcr - . .77 Coch-Jighting _ - »59 Covins, fplendid appearance of - 95 Collieries - . - 594 Comedy defcribed • - 20 1 ■ ■ ■, extraordinary fcene in one 22 i Commerce of the Yellow Sea, how car- ried on - - 60 Comparifon of China and Europe - 29 • of a Chinefe and a Hottentot 49 Compafs, an original invention of Chinefe 39 , obfervations on - - 61 ■ , explanation of the circles on 62 Conclujion - - - 621 Condud of Chinefe prepoflefiing . 80 Confucius, religion of - - 451 ■ , no ftatues to the memory of 458 > hall of - _ 4^5 Cork Convent - . - 597 Corvorant, the fiflung - . jo6 Cottons, mannfaftures of . - - 307 — , cultivation of the plant - 555 Court of China, forms of, immutable 2 r , mannersand amuferaeotsof ipj Crimes and puni/bments - * 367 Cr/w/«/z/ o^n«j, mode of trial for - 370 Crowd of perfons zX. Ting-hat - rj ■ at Tien-Jing - 78 ■ at Tong-tchoo - 86 • in Pekin • - 96 Cruelty 1 N D E X. 62s PAGE Crt/J/y, inftance of - - 161 Cryjlal hnfes - - - 34' Cucloo- clocks - - - 181 Currents, violence of, in Chu-Jan Archi- pelago - - 54 Cujlom refpefting EmbaiTadors - 22 Cujioms and drefs not fubjedls of ri- dicule - - - 74 Cycle of fixty years - - 293 D Daughters always fold Day cfrejl, policy of obftrving one Decimal Arithmetic Deity not perfonified in China De/uge, univerfal tradition of DeodaiOy an Italian miiHonary Departments, public Defcartes, his idea of prolonging life Dignities, perfonal Difbqfttions, natural, altered by influence of laws Dijlillation of Seau-tchoo Drama, ftate of the ■ , extraordinary fubjeCl of one , obfcenities of, compared to thoCe of Theodora -, abfurdities of, fimilarto thofe of the annphitheatres Drefs of the Chinefe t)vtch EmbafTadors humiliating con- dud of - - ■ , their mifiions not calculated to make terms Duties levied at Canton HS J 54 297 457 432 107 365 466 385 160 303 218 222 224 71 13 6X7, FACE E Ebriely, not a Chinefe vice - 1^2 EcUpfe of the moon^ obfervance of 2f6 , ceremony on occafion of - 285 Egyptian n^.ythology in China explained 424 deities compared with Chinefe 477 Embajfador, Enghfii, proceeds to Gchol 104 • ■, refufes to fubmit to the ceremony hIsintroduAionat court • his hotel iii Pekin Emlajfadors, Dutch, treatment of, at Canton lodged in a liable at Pckiu ' • — reception of, at Court vifit Tuen-min-yuen Embajftes, Dutch and Englifli, diflFerent treatment of, explained -— from Europe in the lafi cen- tury - - Embajfy, EngUfh, a neceflaiy meafure , attention of the Chinefe to , expence of, to the Chiuefe government , expence of, to the Britifli 117 196 332 9 1 1 20a 215 government Emperor of China laughs Braam's aukwardnefs at Van ^23 confiders Er 25 22 604 60J 608 dors as his gucils - - 22 ■ , an obfervation of 104 , obeifance to, on h's birth-day - - i»6 infpefts the prefents 11 (J .lifeanj charaAer of 226 caufes the death of his Empiefs and fon' - 226 4 L Emperor 626 l-^ND EX. Etuperor of China conceives the deity to be incarnate in him - - 228 - — ■ , his ode in praife of tea 280 , obfervationsofjon the mechanical powers - -312 , maxims on which he afls ... 360 ■ , checks to the abfo- lute power of - - 362 . patronizes agticulture 399 , iiiftancesot gratitude in - - - 482 Er.cyclopedtfts, French, their teftimony of the Chinefe charafler - 26 Efpr'it des Loix, falfe conclufions drawn in 148 £/jmo/o^/Vfl/ deduftions fallacious - 241 jEunttfZv, bad character of - - 230 Expence of the Embafly, to the EngliiTi and Chinefe governments - 605 Eye of the Chinefe remarkable - 49 Face of the country near the Pei-ho 70 Failure of the Embaffy, fuppofed reafon of, ftated - . 8 Famines attempted to be explained 584 Feet diftorted of Chinefe women - 73 not noticed by early travellers 75 difficult to account for • 76 Feajs . - ■■ ^55 Ferry-girls - - - 595 Fevers, contagious, not frequent 349 Filial July, a precept rather than a fen- timent - - - 143 PAGE Fire-'ivcrhs dtfciibed - 206 Fi/lnng, various modes of - 533 FiJIjermen, condition of - 55^ Fo, religion of - 46B Fonnoja, llrait of - 3+ Four feas, an ancient expreffion - > + Fojhce, the lines of - 277 Francifcan convent in Madeira - 598 Fruit-trees, how propagated - S(>9 Funerals ' 483 Games of Chance - ' ^51 Ganga compared with Egyptian and Chinefe deities - - 472 Gardening, general account of, by Lord Macartney - - 131 Gardens of Tuen-min-yuen, fome account^ of - . . 122 Gates of Chinefe cities - - 92 Cehol, appointed for the celebration of the birth-day - - 104 , paik of, dtfcribed by Lord Ma- cartney - - 1:6 Genefa compared with Janus and Men-Jhin 469 Geological obfervalions - - 429 Geometry and geography little underftood 295 G///'s fword blades, acceptable prefents 113 Giraffe, or Camelopardalls, noticed by Marco Polo - - 46 Glafs - - - 505 Government, the pride of - - 20 liability of, accounted for 350 Governor of Chufan, arbiirary proceed- ing of - • - 49 Grammar of Chinefe language - 267 Grammont, I N D E Xr 627 PAGE Grammont, Monfieur, his letter to the Dutch - - - 7 Great Britain and China, compared as to their extent and populatioii'B'^'-'' '576 Gunponuder - - - 300 H Hager, Doftor, remarks on the publi- cation of miftake of 239 Hatig-tchoo-foo, alarm created in, by three Engliflinien Halchett's carriages puzzle the Chinefe Herodotus approves the cuftom of felling women Hieroglyphtcal writing, Chinefe charafter different from Hills of Pe-tc he-lee, charafter of, Hindoo and Chinefe features totally dif- ferent - - Hiftory of China, why fo little known Homer degrades women Homicide punifhed with death Honour, high notions of, incompatible with defpotifm - ^.. .vffii"C?79 Ho-tchang-tong, the minifter, anecdote of 183 • ■ trial and condemnation of 387 Hottentots, refemblance of, to the Chinefe 48 526 113 - 140 237 64 427 357 140 368 portrait of one, compared with :?f a Chinefe _ . _ i'^ffumiliation of ihe Dutch Embafladora 50 9 PAGE Idolatry, one caufe of - - 4^5 JeiuiJ}} law punilhing children for thi-Mr fathers - - - 375 Jews might have carried the filk worm to China - - 437 , remarks on thefe people - 438 Immortals, fons of, a feft in China - 463 Imprifnnment not known as a punifliment 378 Inccnfe burnt before the Chinefe compafs 42 Infanticide, remarks on , extent of, in China • common among the ancients , probable caufes of ■ Inns, none in China Injcription on the flags of the yachts thofc on monuments Inundations - - - Jones, Sir William, his opinion of the Chinefe - - _ of their arts, fcienccs, &c. - - - 168 169 171 i73 421 69 32S 5'5 27 35^ Ireland, peafantry of, compared with thofe of China . > 578 Iron-ivare - • - 298 Italian opera, Chinefe drama a burlefque on - - - 219 Ivory i cutting of - - 308 Kamjhaika, known to the Chinefe - 14. King of Holland, Emperoi'a letter ad- dreffed to 4J Ice, a luxury enjoyed by the poor near I.ale a'i Hangtchoofoo * ^*'" " - • 109 /.rtwa, religion of, in China 4L 2 hanguage. ^23 ^ N D E X. Language, Chinefe, written cliarafler of , metliod of Iludying , colloquial • , number of words in - — ■ , grammar of • '■ , Mantchoo Tartar , foonsr loft than religious opinions inconvenience attending oiir ignorance of, at Canton Lanterns, feaft of - - iflty, one of an extraordinary nature , efFefts of thij law — — , ff curious cafe of - - Laws, code of - Lens of Mr. Parker Lellmtz, binary arithmetic of Letter of M. Grammont to the Dutch factory - - - of the Emperor of China to the King of Holland Literature - - Lotiiaug, one of the Chu-fan iflands Loivther-hall, grounds of, compared to tlie park of Gehol AGE 259 264 265 267 6.5 48 + 165 166 373 366 342 277 '4 274 5,6 - 134 M Macao, furmife with regard to - 20 Macartney, Lord, his account of Chinefe gardening - - 126 ■ ■ of the birth-day ceremonies - - 196 , hfs obfervations on the Tartais and Chinefe - 41 j Madagajcar, a people on, refembling the Chinefe - - 45 Madrid, ftrange notion of the inhabi- PACE Mahomedan: vifit Chma in the ninih cen- ttiiy - _ .47 ■ get into the ii; teller in the ihirteenili century Malays of Scyihian origin Man-nuuivlves , none in China Manners ai domeftic life • , a concern of tlie legiflature and amnfements of the court tants of 99 442 5« 35? 143 .78 191 Ma^isjield, Lord, his obfervalion on early rifcrs - _ - 229 Mantchoo Tartars, probably a mixed race 185 , language of - 270 , policy of - 412 Manure, an article of commerce - 84 Marco Polo, fuppofed to have brought the compafs from China - 40 Match-locks, why preferred to fire-locks 41 1 Mechanical powers - - 3 1 1 Medicine, flate of - - 344 Meetings of the people rare - 396 Merchants, how confidered in China 180 Micare digitis, a Roman game - 158 Michael de Murano, chart in the church of - - - 47 unitary, eftabli/hmcnt of. Sec. • 405 ■ , curious manoeuvre of - 504 Mini/ler of Slate, miferable lodgings of 109 M'ljftonar'ies, remarks on the communi- cations of - - 3 — 28 — 31 accompanied by fpies when they vifited the Englifh 105 , ftory of an infant faved by one - - - 174 , condition of thofe in the ca- pital - - - 445 caufe their own pcrfecu- tions - - - 446 Mi/fionaries / N D E X. 629 PAGE Myjlonarles unjuftly accufe the Chincfe of fuperftitions - - 462 MoUufca-medufa, an article of food 55 Mongul Tartars, benefit derived by tlieir conqutR of Cliina - - 43 Monuments, infcriptions on - 329 • ciedled over tlie dead - 340 Mountains afcended for religions pur- pofes « - - 451 — , nature of thofe of China 599 MuflC ■: . - 314 , fpecimens of - - 318 M.ufical injlrumenli , plate of * 3 ' 5 PAGE OljeBs that occur in China - 4 Occurrences in the Yellow Sea - 25 OJfice obtained only by learning • 381^ of government, civil - - 404 ■ , military - 406 OJficers of Canton, conduft of, towards the Dutch . - 10 Opium much ufed in China - - ijj Opihcilmia - - • 35' Ornamental buildings in landfcapc gar- dening - _ - 129 Or/>^a« of China, remarks on - 220 N Nations, who had early intcrcourfe with Cliina • - . 440 Nav'-gallon of the Ytllow Sea unknown 33 of the Chinefe unflcilful - 38 — ■= inland, improved by the Tar- tars - - .43 Nautical Almanac, a valuable prefent to the miflionaiies in Pekin - 112 A'^/amiiwm, or water lilly - - 473 New-year^ s-day, the only holirlay in China 155 Noah, fuppofed by the Jcfuits to have travelled into China 4.^3 -, ark of, where it probably rcAcd 432 O Ortryon^ of the Chinefe - - 81 Oath, form of, among the Chinefe and Sumatrans 52 - never adminillercd in a Chinefe court of law . . ;'^, Pagodas, obfervations on - . ro? Paine, Tom, his do£irines too fublime for the Cliinefe language ■ Painting _ _ _ Palaces of China worfe than Saint James's Pantomime defciibed Paper, manufadlure of - - Park of Gehol defcribed by Lord Ma- cartney Pauiu, his opinion of the Chinefe Peafantry, condition of - . Pearl, ftory of one belonging to an Armenian - _ _ Pel-ho, entrance of - - , fecond embarkation on 396 323 194 203 310 129 27 3:0 611 4?R ■91 93 Pekln, approach to ■ , fome account of , uncommon buftle in the great' ' ditets of ■ - - ' 95 ■ , populace of, compared with that of London - - - 97 ■ , police of - -IOC Pekln, C^o I N D E X. PAGE Pf/f/n, uniformity of - - lot ■^■^ — , hotel of the Britirti Embafiador .^. in - - - 103 •— - — , appearance of, from Hai-tim ib. • — ^ — , hue and cry raifed In - 1:0 , gazette of - ■ 39^ — — , contraftcd with London - 42c , prices of provifions in - 549 • , buildings and population of, com- pared with thofe of London - 58) Peroufe de la^ his account of a people reftmbling Chinefe - - 44 Pilots, difficulty of procuring them at Chu-fiin ' " 58 Plants in Pe-lche-lee ~ - 493 . , nttcc Hang tihoo-foo - 52c ^ , near Canton - - 601 Plough, ceremony of, compared with the Ifia - - . 487 Poetry . - - 280 Polarity of the magnet known to the Scythians - - 41 Police of Pekin - - 100 Polo Marco, valuable teftlmony of - 35 Polygamy, an evil of fmall extent - 147 Population of floating craft - 84 and extent of China - 575 compared with thofe of Great Britain - • ■ - 576 as given by Father Amiot 582 Po^2//o;y/"H^jr of China, caufes of - 587 Poor laws, nont - - 401 Porcelane - - - 304 Portraits of a Chinefe and Hottentot 50 among the prcfents, difficulty refpefting - - 114 i'or/«o'«/^ mifllonar)', intrigues of . ig Pojlure-majlers, feats of - - 204 Pe^j/ew, a certain crop - - 5^5 PAC2 Poverty of the Chinefe - ' - 49^ PrechjTmation - - 454 Prejlnt oi the governor of Ten tchoo foo 65 Prcfent of the officers deputed from court - - 67 Prefs, liberty of, in China - 392 Prince of the blood, anecdote of - 182 Printing - - - 3 1 1 Procfjfion from Tong-tchoo to Pekin 85 of - - - 146 P;o/;fr/_y not fecured by law - 177 laws refpefling • "379 Prophecy, folly of being guided by 4^6 Pulfe - - .345 Punijbments, capital, not frequent - 37S Puppet-Jbew defcribed - - zoi ^acks, tricks of , great pefts in England Quarries of flonc 347 465 598 Red-booh, Chinefe Religion, primitive, of China , no longer exifts Religious opinions, difficult fometimes to explain - _ . Revenues - - application of them veffisls to coUeft them Rice erroneoufly fuppofed to caufe op- thalmia ■ the ftaff of life In China — — mill for cleaning a precarious crop Road irom Tong tchoo io "Pikm Roads neglcAed in China 405 450 486 423 403 407 534 - 351 - 547 - 565 - S^C ' 91 - 513 Romans, IN D E X. 631 Romant, amphitheatres of Rujfm and China compared PAGE - 224 - 324 SahlaUcal hiftitution, none in China Sacrifices « - Salt, flacks of, near Tknjing remarks on the ufc of - - Salutation, mode of - , expreflions of, mark a national charadler Samenefs throughout China Savages, cuftom -of maiming the human body among Scenic reprefentations of the Romans Scythians probably acquainted with the polarity of the magnet Scorpion, remarkable circumftance con- cerning one S/:ott, Doflor, faves a man from beino- buried alive Sculpture - - Seres not the fame as Chlnefe SLing moo, or holy mother Ships of the Chinefe Sili, probably known to the ancients , cultivation of - _ Simplicity, the leading feature of the Chinefe Scaling, amufement of Small-pox, when introduced Snake, bite of, how cured Society, ftate of • , domellic Sojfala, Chinefe found at Song of Moo-lee-ivha Streets of I'ekin 1J4 509 78 510 108 189 5 73 224 40 i]4 165 328 436 473 37 437 571 312 21 1 450 348 '3? 151 45 316 94 Steam, effefts of, known to the Chinefe Sugar-m\\h - - Suicide feemingly encouraged Surgery, ftate of - - Smnatrans of Chinefe origin • Sword-blades of Gill much admired Swan-pan . . . PACli 298 539 178 353 5' "3 296 Tan, or Chinefe altar - - 452 Tao-tze, or immortals, fedl of - 4' 6 Tapers burnt on altars - - 48 1 Tartar women, drefs of - - 97 Mantchoo, fcarcely diftinguiih- able from Chinefe Tartary, heights of, remarks on T^Jle Taxes, moderate — — , fixed - - 184 438 33» 409 402 4.4 Tcho-ha, an ifland in the Tartaiian fea Tea, a fuppofed preventive of certain difordcrs _ - 350 TVa-plant, trick played by the Chinefe concerning — — , obfcvvations on the culture of Temple, limbafly lodged in a , in a cavernous rock TfrrrtCf-fyRcm of agriculture Ten-choo-fno, prefeiit of the governor of Ticnjmg, approach to the city of Ting-hai, vifit to the city of Tiiig-nan-tching, name of the Chinefe compufa Tiifrig Dutch Enibaflador to Pekin Towers of the wails of Pekin Trackers of the yachts preiTtd into this fervice - • . 538 421 596 530 65 7' 57 40 9 91 162 Trad: 6]2 INDEX. PAGE Triz^/i? difcoiiraged - - 599 — how conducted at Canton - 6x0 Tranquillity, internal - - 395 Travellers fee objefts differently - 3 Treafon punifhable in the 9th genera- tion - - - 372 Trial of an Engliili feaman fer killing a Chinefe - - Ci8 7//ia«i7/ of Mathematics - - no fome account of - - 1 1 1 Typhoon, what - - - 34 , ftrength of one - - 41 Tyrus, commerce of, defcribed by Eze- kiel . - - a8 V Van Braam, application of, to Batavla -T ^^ppy turn of mind of — ^— — his account of an Imperial banquet Vanity, national of the Chinefe Van-ta-gin kind attentions of Varuna compared with Neptune and Hai-vang Venereal difeafe not coromon Viceroy of Canton, haughty conduct of .f wallows his fnuff-box Villa belonging to the Emperor Virgin Mary and Shiitg-moo compared Vifhna compared with Jupiter and Lui- Jbin Vifiting TicLcts verj- ancient in China Vifitors at Tuen-min-yuen Vocabulary f brief one of Chinefe words PAGE 6co Volcanic produces not found in Cliina Vojf.us, Ifaac, his opinion of the Cliinefj 26 210 189 70 604 470 352 10 179 102 472 470 190 no 243 W Wall of China ■■■■ ■ of Pekin Watch made by a Chintfe Wealth expended to pamper the appetite Weather, llormy in the Strelght 'of For- mofa - - _ irhcei to raife water Women, drefs and appearance of, at Ticnftiig - - ■ Tartar, commonly fcen in the capital reflexions on the condition of condition of, in China •— employments of - - on the Imperial eftablifhment • not prohibited from frequenting temples ... of Sau-tchoo-foo, appearance of articles of fale coarfe features of thofe of Kianz- 333 3c6 552 34 540 Jee - • _ Words, number of, in the Chinefe lan- guage - • 97 133 140 M3 234 480 5'7 518 541 265 Tachts, trackers of TelloW'Sea, obftrvations on ' commerce of river, ceremonies ufed in crofling - _ _ Tuen-min-yuen, miferable apartments at ■ gardens and buildings of 501 25 60 509 108 122' THE END. Stralian and Prefton, Printers-Street, London, /*'. ;^,r ?-.**;> V^^^^' ' -S ■v'- \