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PICTURESQUE 
 REPRESENTATIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE DRESS AND MANNERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHINESE. 
 
 ILLUSTRATHD IN 
 
 FIFTY COLOURED ENGRAVINGS, 
 
 WITH DESCRIPTIONS. 
 
 BY WILLIAM ALEXANDER. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET, 
 
 BY W. BULMER AND CO. CLEVELAND-ROW. 
 
 1814. 
 
LIST OF THE PLATES 
 
 Plete 
 
 1 The Title. A Stand of Arms, 
 
 2 Kien Lung, the Emperor. 
 
 3 Fishermen. 
 
 4 Man Servant. 
 
 5 Mandarin in his Court Dress. 
 
 6 Young Bonze sacrificing. 
 
 7 Juggler. 
 
 8 Children collecting Manure. 
 
 9 Watchman. 
 
 10 Lady and her Son. 
 1 L Bonze. 
 
 12 Lantern Seller. 
 
 13 Soldier with his Matchlock. 
 
 1 4 Porter carrying Goods. 
 
 15 Mandarin in his Common 
 
 Dress. 
 
 16 Boat Girl. 
 
 17 A common Sedan, or Chair. 
 
 18 Mandarin's Servant on Horse- 
 
 back. • 
 
 19 An itinerant Musician. 
 
 20 Ensign of the Bowmen. 
 
 21 Mendicant. 
 
 22 Barbers champooing, &c. 
 
 23 Bookseller. 
 
 24 Soldier of Infantry. 
 
 25 A Raree Show. 
 
 Plate 
 
 26 Mandarin's Page. 
 
 27 A travelling Smith. 
 
 28 Mourners at a Tomb. 
 
 29 Vender of Rice. 
 
 30 Female Comedian. 
 
 31 Sedan Bearer. 
 
 32 A man selling Betel, &c. 
 
 33 A Horse and Cart with the 
 
 Driver. 
 
 34 Seller of Pipes, 
 
 35 Waterman. 
 
 36 Tradesman reckoning on his 
 
 Swan pan. 
 
 37 Women winding Cotton. 
 
 38 Soldier of the Cavalry mounted. 
 
 39 Punishment of the Cangue. 
 
 40 Groupe of Children. 
 
 41 Chairman with a Sedan. 
 
 42 Vessels near a Town. 
 
 43 A Lady of Rank. 
 
 4 4 Nursery Maid and Children. 
 
 45 Stage Player. 
 
 46 Trackers regaling. 
 
 47 Mandarin's Officer. 
 
 48 Punishment of the Arrow. 
 
 49 Woman selling Chow-chow. 
 
 50 Groupe of Soldiers. 
 
PLATE I. 
 
 FRONTISPIECE, 
 
 Exhibiting the various kinds of weapons,, offensive and 
 defensive, in use among the Chinese infantry, cavalry, 
 artillery, and bowmen, arranged on a stand or frame of 
 wood. One or more of these frames are commonly to be 
 met with at the military posts and at the depots of arms 
 and guard-houses, close to the gates of their walled cities. 
 
I ' 1 1 1M- PJLATJE 2. 
 
 /iuA Jan JJU-f. bu ./ Unmnt. . Hh.ynarif S/rtYt . 
 
PLATE II. 
 
 KIEN LUNG. 
 
 Kien Lung was the fourth Emperor of the Tartar dynasty, 
 which nowpossesses the throne of China, When the annexed 
 Sketch was taken he was eighty-three years of age, but had 
 all the appearance of a hale, vigorous man of sixty. Indeed 
 his whole life had been spent in the active discharge of 
 public business, and in the violent exercise of hunting and 
 shooting in the wild regions of Tartary, which he continued 
 with unabated zeal almost to the period of life above men- 
 tioned. He always commenced public business at two or 
 three in the morning, and gave audience to foreign ambassa- 
 dors at that early hour, whether in winter or summer, and he 
 generally retired to rest at sunset ; and to this invariable 
 habit of rising and retiring at an early hour, he attributed 
 much of his healthy and vigorous constitution. 
 
e<3 
 
 ~ 
 
PLATE Iff. 
 THE FISHING CORMORANTS. 
 
 The Leu-tze, or fishing cormorant of China, is the pelica- 
 nus sinensis, and resembles very much the common cor- 
 morant of England, which, we are told by naturalists, was 
 once trained up to catch fish, pretty much in the same 
 manner as those of China are. They are exceedingly 
 expert in taking fish, and pursue them under water with 
 great eagerness. They are taken out, on the rivers and 
 lakes, in boats or bamboo rafts ; and though sent on the 
 chace after long fasting, they are so well trained that they 
 rarely swallow any of the fish they take until they are per- 
 mitted to do so by their masters. Many thousand families 
 in China earn their subsistence by means of these birds. 
 
: \FE4. 
 
 hihhfhej J,m' iln bu JMurrwi.jHWtniiHc J'tnrr 
 
PLATE IV. 
 
 A MAN SERVANT. 
 
 We have little to observe on this figure. His dress is 
 pretty nearly that of the class of people to which he 
 belongs. The Chinese are excellent domestic servants, 
 and when honest, which is a quality not common among 
 them, they are invaluable. They are rather slow, and do 
 not like to be put out of their way, but they do their work 
 well and neatly. Every European resident at Canton and 
 Macao has Chinese servants, which on the whole, are pre- 
 ferable to any other race of Orientals. Thev are sometimes 
 brought over to England, but are seldom happy till they 
 get back to their own country, which has the same kind of 
 charm to them as the vallies of Switzerland had to the 
 natives of that once happy country. 
 
C HUK'A-'iPJLATi 
 
 h,H -Ijii 1A4 I;, JJfarnw .1!):-m..rle Strrrt . 
 
PLATE V. 
 A MANDARIN 
 
 IN HIS COURT DRESS. 
 
 All officers of state., whether civil or military., from the 
 highest to the lowest, have been named by the early Por- 
 tuguese writers mandarins, from a word in their own 
 language, mandar, to command ; and this name., improper 
 as it is, has preserved its ground ever since. The figure 
 of a bird on the embroidered breast-plate of the annexed 
 figure points him out as a civilian. A military officer wears 
 the figure of an animal resembling the tiger. The degree 
 of rank, whether civil or military, is marked by a small 
 globe on the top of the cap, opake red coral distinguish- 
 ing the highest, and brass the lowest rank : the interme- 
 diate colours are transparent red, opake and transparent blue, 
 opake and transparent white. As a mark of imperial favour, 
 one, two, or three feathers from the tail of the peacock are 
 appended to the back part of the bonnet. All officers, 
 whether civil or military, invariably wear thick-quilted 
 boots, and, when in their court-dresses, embroidered petti- 
 coats. Most of them wear chains of coral, or agate, or 
 coloured glass round the neck, as in the annexed figure. 
 
< 
 
PLATE VI. 
 
 AN OFFERING IN THE TEMPLE. 
 
 The figure kneeling before the deities mounted on pedes- 
 tals is a priest of the sect of Fo. He is burning incense, or 
 rather paper that is covered over with some liquid that re- 
 sembles gold. Sometimes, in lieu of this, tin foil is burnt 
 before the altars of China, and this is the principal use to 
 which the large quantities of tin sent from this country is 
 applied. On the four-legged stool is the pot containing 
 the sticks of fate, and other paraphernalia belonging to 
 the temple, and behind it is the tripod in which incense is 
 sometimes burned. These superstitious rites are performed 
 several times by the priests every day, but there is no kind 
 of congregational worship in China. The people pay the 
 priests for taking care of their present and future fate. 
 
■A— PI-ATE 7. 
 
 hifr d J,m* 1.1.114. bv J, Murr.w. Mhrtiuirlt Strtri 
 
PLATE VII. 
 A JUGGLER, 
 
 PERFORMING TRICKS WITH JARS. 
 
 This engraving exhibits a posture-master balancing two 
 large China vases, and throwing himself into most ex- 
 traordinary attitudes ; he exhibited a variety of curious 
 postures before the Ambassador, at his lodgings opposite 
 to Canton, and played with the large jars precisely in the 
 same manner as the Indian jugglers, in Pall-mall_, toss 
 about the large round stone of twelve or fourteen pounds 
 weight ; but those who have seen both are inclined to giye 
 the palm to the Chinese. 
 
s 
 
 i 
 
PLATE VIII. 
 
 CHILDREN COLLECTING MANURE. 
 
 The collecting and preparing of manure of various de- 
 scriptions, and making it up into cakes for sale, occupy a 
 very considerable population of the 1 owest class of society, 
 and for the most part is the employm ent of the aged and 
 children. No agriculturists, perhaps, understand the value 
 of manure better than the Chinese, and certainly none are 
 so well skilled in the economical distribution of it. It is 
 quite ridiculous to see the avidity with which young chil- 
 dren follow a traveller on horseback for the chance of 
 catching what the animal may emit, which is immediately 
 caught up, and thrown into the basket; and if the 
 traveller himself should contribute his portion, it is con- 
 sidered as more valuable than that from the animal. 
 
CMIKA — JPJLATF. ©. 
 
 fnh'.l.,,,:, ttij.h, .! \lurr,ii u .11hrm.irie Strert 
 
PLATE IX. 
 
 A WATCHMAN. 
 
 The police is so well regulated in all the large cities of 
 China, that disturbances rarely, if ever, happen during the 
 night. The watch is set at nine, and continues till five in 
 the morning. A gate is placed at each end of the cross 
 streets, which are all streight, and at right angles with the 
 main streets ; from each gate a watchman proceeds till he 
 meets his brother watchman about the middle ; at every 
 half hour he beats the hollow bamboo tube, in his left 
 hand, with the mallet in the right, striking the same 
 number of blows as there may be half hours elapsed from 
 nine o'clock : the blow gives a dead, dull sound, suffici- 
 ently audible, and to a stranger sufficiently disagreeable. 
 Each watchman is also furnished with a paper lantern. 
 At the great gates of cities, and at certain distances 
 in the main streets are guard-houses, at which a party 
 of soldiers are stationed to aid the police, if necessary ; 
 but this is rarely the case, as, in addition to the common 
 watch, every tenth housekeeper in every street is made re- 
 sponsible for the orderly good conduct of his nine neigh- 
 bours. In the day time there is plenty of noise, and 
 quarelling and scuffling among the lower orders of the 
 Chinese. 
 
s 
 
PLATE X. 
 
 A LADY, AND HER SON. 
 
 The annexed print is the representation of a Chinese Lady, 
 and her Son, of a certain rank in life, from which no high 
 ideas will probably be entertained of the taste in dress 
 either of one or the other. Our modern notions of a 
 head-dress, however, approximate those of the Chinese ; 
 though it is to be hoped that our ladies will never be 
 brought to imitate the small and mutilated feet of the 
 Chinese women, which disqualify them from the free use 
 of their limbs. 
 
Ceo rsw— pjlat 
 
 /'.<////vW J<uf. W1.lv ./ ilfrrau _' 7 
 
PLATE XI. 
 
 A BONZE. 
 
 The priests of Fo in China are the same as the priests of 
 Boudh are in India, from whence their religion passed into 
 China in the first century of the Christian sera. The 
 temples and the monasteries of China swarm with them ; 
 and they practice, ostensibly at least, all the austerities and 
 mortifications of the several orders of monks in Europe, 
 and inflict on themselves the same painful, laborious, and 
 disgusting punishments which the faquirs of India undergo,, 
 either for the love of God, as they would have it supposed, 
 or to impose on the multitude, as is most probably the real 
 motive. In China, however, they are generally esteemed 
 as men of correct morals : and there is reason to believe, 
 that the calumnies heaped upon them by the Catholic 
 missionaries are for the most part unfounded, and were 
 occasioned by the mortification they experienced in finding 
 their ceremonies, their altars, their images, their dress, to 
 resemble so very nearly their own. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to observe that our umbrellas are 
 borrowed from the Chinese. The poorest person has one 
 of these machines to keep off the rain ; but in China they 
 are made of paper, and the wood part is entirely of 
 bamboo. The hats of the common people are in fact a 
 kind of umbrella ; they are generally made of rice straw 
 plaited, and so large that they equally defend the face from 
 the rays of the sun and cover the shoulders from the rain. 
 That which the priest carries under his arm is small in 
 
A BONZE. 
 
 proportion of some of those worn by the peasantry. In 
 moderate weather a Chinese, though close shaved, except 
 as to the little lock of hair growing from the crown, 
 generally goes bareheaded. 
 
''Mi KA PJLAfln 
 
 luHnhnt J,,,,'! if if hf rMiiniiii iflliiiMifi Stmt 
 
PLATE XII. 
 
 A VENDER OF LANTERNS. 
 
 There is no nation so fond of illuminations and fire-works 
 as the Chinese, and no nation has exerted its skill so effec- 
 tually in the multitude of contrivances to exhibit light. 
 Their lanterns are as various in shape as in materials. The 
 most common are of painted paper. The most beauti- 
 ful and ornamental of silk gauze, finely painted and 
 stretched on frames that are not deficient in carving 
 and curious workmanship, and decorated with tassels of 
 silk of various colours. Other lanterns are round and cy- 
 lindrical, and of one single piece of thin transparent horn, 
 sometimes of an immense size. At certain times in the 
 year, but more particularly in the month of February, they 
 celebrate what has been called the Feast of Lanterns, 
 when every body in the street carries some transparency or 
 other made in every possible form : some of them like 
 fishes, some like beasts of various kinds, and others birds. 
 Some resemble trees and shrubs, with flowers and fruits, 
 each in their appropriate colours. Those lanterns borne 
 by the man in the print are of the most ordinary kind. 
 
CBTIIT^Sl-IPJLATJE 13. 
 
 fui&ffui/ JviTi/bj /y .IMiimw .Ut.,r,,.u-t< Stmt 
 
PLATE XIII. 
 A SOLDIER WITH HIS MATCHLOCK. 
 
 The military of China differs, as every thing else differ!* 
 from that of all other nations, in the nature of its establish- 
 ment, its occupation, and its dress. They have two distinct 
 armies, if they may be so called ; the one composed en- 
 tirely of Tartars, who are stationed in the several provinces 
 on the Tartar frontier, and occupy all the garrison towns 
 of the empire ; the other composed of Chinese, who are 
 parcelled out in the smaller towns and hamlets to keep the 
 peace, by acting as constables, subordinate collectors of 
 the taxes, guards to the granaries, and assisting in various 
 ways the civil magistrate. Along the public roads, canals 
 and rivers, are placed, at certain intervals, small square 
 guard-houses, at which are stationed from six to twelve 
 men, who are employed in settling disputes upon the 
 rivers or roads, and also in conveying the public dispatches. 
 When a foreign ambassador or any of their own man- 
 darins travel, these soldiers turn out in their holiday dresses 
 with their streamers stuck in the back, as in the annexed 
 figure. The breast-plate and shoulder-guards are no- 
 thing more than cotton stuffed with wadding, and the 
 helmet, which looks so fierce, is made only of paste-board. 
 The Chinese matchlocks resemble so much the old com- 
 mon matchlock of the Portuguese, that it has been sup- 
 posed these people first introduced them into China, where 
 however it is sufficiently determined, gunpowder was in 
 familiar use many centuries before any communication was 
 
A SOLDIER WITH HIS MATCHLOCK. 
 
 known to exist between this country and Europe. In some 
 of the larger matchlocks there is a fork to support the 
 piece, and by sticking it in the ground to give it the degree 
 elevation that may be required. 
 
£ 
 
<& ! 
 
 
 S 1 
 
PLATE XIV. 
 
 A PORTER CARRYING GOODS. 
 
 It has long been known that the ingenious Chinese, taking 
 advantage of the constancy with which the wind blows in 
 the same direction, applied a sail to assist the progress of 
 their land carriages ; but the late British Embassy has fur- 
 nished us with the precise manner in which these sails are 
 applied, and it appears that they are meant only to aid a 
 sort of wheelbarrow, different however in its structure ; 
 that in the present drawing resembling very much the same 
 machine vshich is used in the Western world, and differing 
 from that which has already been given in a former 
 volume exhibiting the Costume of China. 
 
,« 
 
 I '111. 
 
 TuitUui.Jtmiitl4 : 
 
PLATE XV. 
 A MANDARIN 
 
 IN HIS COMMON DRESS. 
 
 The official habits in which all the mandarins are com- 
 pelled to appear in public being made of the thickest silk, 
 are exceedingly cumbersome,, and not well adapted for the 
 summer months, which are excessively hot even in the 
 most northerly provinces ; they therefore in private take 
 every opportunity of throwing off their ceremonial garb, 
 and assume a thin loose gown, tied with a belt round the 
 waist. Their summer-hat is also made of light rice straw. 
 The head is not encumbered with hair, which all ranks 
 and ages shave close off, leaving only a small lock 
 hanging down behind. The use of fans is universal. 
 Even the military, when drawn out on parade-duty, make 
 use of fans. It will be observed in this figure, that the 
 spectacles worn by the Chinese are considerably larger 
 than ours : they are made of cristal, glass being a species 
 of manufacture unknown in China. 
 
PIRATE 1&. 
 
 htiUflul .'rtir'iSii.faiJ Sfiimm lilfamiL .iom-c 
 
PLATE XVI. 
 
 A BOAT GIRL. 
 
 On all the rivers and canals of China a vast number of 
 families live entirely in their boats, and the women are 
 generally quite as efficient navigators as the men, particu- 
 larly in rowing and steering. Their dress differs very little 
 from that of the men, except about the head, on which the 
 hair is suffered to grow freely, and is sometimes plaited 
 behind like that of the men, as in this figure, but more 
 frequently tied up in a knot upon the crown of the 
 head. Among persons of this description the feet are 
 allowed to grow to their full size, and they are almost 
 invariably without shoes or other cover. They smoke 
 tobacco and chew the betel and areca nut with as much 
 avidity as the men. 
 
ft 
 I 
 
PLATE XVII. 
 
 A COMMON SEDAN CHAIR. 
 
 This is one of the most common of sedan chairs, used by 
 the peasantry ; though there are others still meaner, and 
 without any covering over head. The wages of labour 
 are so low, and the price of provisions so cheap, that any 
 man above a common labourer can afford to be carried in 
 his chair. 
 
CMIHA— JPJLATE 18 
 
 l\iHt/hr.l J.rn'Mj h,, .l.\h„nu. fffflirrfl Jtwtt 
 
PLATE XVIII. 
 A MANDARIN'S SERVANT ON HORSEBACK. 
 
 The annexed is a portrait of a true Tartar horse, which seems 
 to be pretty much of the same breed as those of the Cos- 
 sacks. The Chinese horses are precisely of the same kind. 
 In fact, no pains whatever appear to be taken either for 
 improving the breed., or by attention to their food, clean- 
 liness, or regular exercise, to increase the size, strength, 
 or spirit of the animal. A currycomb, or any substitute 
 for it, is unknown in China. Indeed horses are not much 
 in use. Wherever the nature of the country admits of 
 canals or navigable rivers, travelling and conveyance of 
 every kind are principally performed on the water. A 
 single horse suffices to draw a mandarin's carriage, which 
 is nothing more than a little covered cart without springs. 
 
PI «1 
 
PLATE XIX. 
 
 AN ITINERANT MUSICIAN. 
 
 The Chinese have full as great a variety of musical instru- 
 ments as most other nations, but they are all of them 
 indifferent, and the music, if it may be so called, produced 
 out of them, execrable. The merit of our travelling 
 musician consists in beating a sort of tambourine, or rather 
 a shallow kettle-drum, with a mallet held between the toes 
 of one foot, while he strikes a pair of cymbals with the 
 other, and, at the same time plays upon a sort of guitar 
 accompanied by his voice. It would seem also that he 
 is equally skilled in wind instruments, of which a flute and 
 trumpet make their appearance out of the mouth of his bag; 
 a pair of rattles connected by a piece of riband lie on the 
 ground, and near them a hollow piece of wood, nearly 
 heart-shaped, which, when struck with a mallet, emits a 
 dull disagreeable sound, like the hollow bamboo carried 
 by the watchman, for which this is sometimes substituted. A 
 Chinese band always play in unison, and never in parts : 
 this indeed is an art they have not yet reached, and those 
 few who have heard European harmony pretend to dislike 
 it. A Chinese ear is best gratified with the sounds of noisy 
 instruments, as gongs, kettle-drums, shrill trumpets, 
 jingling bells and cymbals, or with the faint and reedy 
 tones, scarcely audible, of a little bamboo organ, which 
 swell and die away not unlike those of an Eolian harp. 
 
(L'MDTA— PJLATTK 2©, 
 
 ft*M Jen 1S14 bu JMurr.i: 
 
PLATE XX. 
 AN OFFICER OF THE CORPS OF BOWMEN. 
 
 The original weapon of the Chinese,, which by the way 
 seems to be the offensive arms of most savages., is the bow. 
 It is still p eferred by them to the matchlock % and the 
 Tartars are so fond of it, that it forms an essential part of 
 the education of the young princes of the blood. Their 
 bows are large., and require a considerable degree of 
 strength, as well as a peculiar knack to string them. Even 
 the Emperor wears a ring of agate on the right thumb for 
 the string to press against in drawing the bow, which is 
 the weapon he uses every summer in hunting tigers and 
 other wild beasts in the forests of Tartary. When the 
 troops are drawn out on parade-duty, not only the superior 
 officers carry colours, but a small flag is stuck on the back 
 of every fifth, seventh, or ninth man. The characters on 
 the flag generally designate the rank of the bearer and the 
 name of the corps. 
 
CJEHITA — PJLATJE 211 , 
 
 &H£Aji J.!,r'it, 4.1-1/ J ilumw. .Ilhmuirlr .Hirr) 
 
PLATE XXI. 
 
 A CHINESE MENDICANT. 
 
 Begging is by no means a profitable trade in China, and few 
 therefore pursue it except the monks of Fo and Tao-tze, 
 and a few impostors who go about pretending to foretell 
 events and predict good or ill fortune. The annexed 
 is the representation of a beggar of a different description. 
 The piece of hollow wood in his hand is struck to draw 
 attention., and the label on his back describes his condition, 
 which is not exactly such as in other countries would 
 excite much compassion. It states his unfortunate situa- 
 tion, as having no children to take care of him, to console 
 him in affliction, to give him food when hungry, or medi- 
 cine when sick. The want of children is considered in 
 China as the greatest of all misfortunes, and is in reality so, 
 as by the moral precepts of that nation, which have all the 
 force of law, filial piety is looked upon as the first of moral 
 virtues ; and, however poor a child may be, he is bound to 
 share his earnings with his aged parents. 
 
v.\ PLATE 22, 
 
 hih'Jtrt.i. *<4. bl/.I Mumni.ifhnnitHr . >/rrrt 
 
PLATE XXII. 
 CHINESE BARBERS CHAMPOOING, $•<?. 
 
 Throughout all the East, in India as well as in China, the 
 luxury of champooing is enjoyed by all ranks of men ; it 
 consists of pulling the joints until they crack, and of 
 thumping the muscles until they are sore ; it is generally 
 an operation performed by the barbers, who at the same 
 time cleanse the ears, tickle the nose, and play a thousand 
 tricks to please and amuse their customers, to whom and 
 the surrounding audience they tell their gossiping stories. 
 Of their merit in this respect we have abundant informa- 
 tion in the Arabian Nights Entertainments. 
 
fc> 
 
PLATE XXIII. 
 
 A BOOKSELLER. 
 
 In so arbitrary a government as that of China, it would 
 scarcely be supposed that the press should be free ; that is 
 to say, that every one who chooses it may follow the pro- 
 fession of a printer or a bookseller without any previous 
 licence, or without submitting the works he may print or 
 expose for sale to any censor appointed by government; but 
 then he must take his chance to suffer in his person all the 
 consequences that may result from the impression that may 
 be made on the minds of the civil officers as to the tendency 
 of the work. A libel against the government, an immoral 
 or indecent book, would subject both printer and publisher 
 to certain punishment both in his person and purse. The 
 Chinese have not made any great progress in literature, and 
 still less in the sciences : they most excel in the history of 
 their own country, in morality, and in practical jurispru- 
 dence. Their dramatic works are constructed on the same 
 model as those of the Greeks, to which it is hardly neces- 
 sary to add they are infinitely inferior. Their novels and 
 moral tales are better ; but the works in most esteem are 
 the four classical books supposed to be written or compiled 
 by Confucius. Their printing is not performed by move- 
 able types, like ours, but by wooden blocks the size of the 
 page ; and this mode appears to have been in use long 
 before the Christian aera. 
 
'^^ 
 

 CMEKA — TBJLATM 24, 
 
 
 Ivblf/hrJ Ju*rtl4.iy riftiiy liltrnmiin .'tn-rt 
 
PLATE XXIV. 
 
 A SOLDIER OF INFANTRY. 
 
 The annexed figure, either from the striped dress, or the 
 furious looking head painted on the shield, has been called 
 a tiger of war ; but he is not so fierce as he appears to be, 
 or as the name would imply ; indeed the Chinese admit 
 that the monstrous face, on the basket-work shield, is 
 intended to frighten the enemy, and make him run away ; 
 like another Gorgon's head to petrify those who look upon 
 it. This corps of infantry, in its exercise, assumes all 
 kinds of whimsical attitudes, jumping about and tumbling 
 over each other, like so many mountebanks. Indeed the 
 whole of the Chinese military tactics are as absurd as they 
 are ridiculous. When an army is drawn out, it must re- 
 present the heavens, or the earth, or the moon, or the five 
 planets, or the five-clawed dragon, or mystical tortoise, 
 Pere Amiot, a French missionary, has been at the trouble 
 of collecting or composing the military tactics of China, 
 which fill a large quarto volume. 
 
fJHIIirA— PJLAXE 26. 
 
 h.i. u/ f!,:i iftnfrtf fly Jlfiumjt iflimw ft .V7/n* - 
 
PLATE XXV. 
 
 A RAREE SHOW. 
 
 There is every reason to believe,, that Punch and his wife 
 were originally natives of China ; and that all our puppet- 
 shows were brought from that country. The little theatre., 
 above the head of a man concealed behind a curtain, is 
 precisely Chinese. Les ombres Chinoises still bear the 
 name of their inventors ; but the annexed representation of 
 a puppet-showman is somewhat different from both, and is 
 the simple origin of the Fantoccini, which consists in 
 giving motion to the puppets, by means of springs attached 
 to particular parts of the figures. These little dancing 
 puppets are not merely exhibited for the amusement of 
 children ; they furnish entertainment for the Emperor and 
 his court, and more especially for the ladies who, from 
 their recluse mode of life, are easily diverted with any kind 
 of amusement, however childish. We find from Mr. 
 Barrow, that a puppet-show was one species of entertain- 
 ment given to Lord Macartney and his suite at the Em- 
 peror's palace of Gehol in Tartary. 
 
CHIIIYA — iPJLATE 26. 
 
 ftihltfhd .hnuitj At' X Miami/, .tlbem.iri' Street 
 
PLATE XXVI. 
 
 A MANDARIN'S PAGE. 
 
 We have not much to observe with respect to the annexed 
 figure. He is the page or body servant of a mandarin, to 
 carry his papers, his writing apparatus, the cushion on 
 which he sits, or lays his head ; he takes care of his 
 areca-box and his tobacco pipe, attends him on all occa- 
 sions, fans him while asleep ; and, if report speaks truth, 
 serves him for other unworthy purposes. Every mandarin 
 has one or more of these kind of boys whom, even in 
 public, they treat with a familiarity which is not quite 
 decorous. The upper vest, worn by the person in the 
 annexed figure, is of fur, which in all the northern pro- 
 vinces is found to be absolutely necessary in the severe 
 cold of the winter months. 
 
PLATE XXVII. 
 
 A TRAVELLING SMITH. 
 
 It is a peculiar feature in all the Oriental nations, that the 
 most beautiful specimens of workmanship in the various 
 arts are made with the most simple and at the same time 
 most clumsey tools. The artificers moreover are rarely 
 fixed, or settled in a workshop convenient for their pur- 
 poses, but generally travel about the country carrying 
 their shop and apparatus with them. The annexed figure 
 represents an itinerant smith, who has more tools than 
 almost any other artificer of China, and yet performs his 
 work the worst. Their cast iron is light and good, but 
 their manufactures of wrought iron are very indifferent : 
 they can neither make a hinge, nor a lock, nor even a nail 
 that can be called good. The bellows of the smith is a 
 box with a valvular piston, which, when not in use, serves 
 as a seat, and also to contain his tool?. The barber also 
 makes a seat of his basket ; the joiner uses his rule as a 
 walking-stick, and the same chest that holds his tools 
 serves him as a bench to work upon : such are the ex- 
 pedients which thousands resort to, both in India and 
 China. 
 
■CHINA — FJLATE 28 
 
 fttb*.i.;<> 
 
PLATE XXVIII. 
 
 VISIT TO THE GRAVE OF A RELATION. 
 
 Filial piety in China extends beyond the grave. Every 
 year at certain periods dutiful children assemble at the 
 tomb of their parents or ancestors., to make oblations of 
 flowers., or fruit, or pieces of gilt paper, or whatever else 
 they consider as likely to be acceptable to the manes of the 
 departed. Their mourning dress consists of a garment of 
 Nanquin cotton, or canvas, of the coarsest kind. Some of 
 the monuments erected over the dead are by no means 
 inelegant; like their bridges and triumphal arches., they 
 are very much varied, and made apparently without any 
 fixed design or proportion. The semicircular or the horse- 
 shoe form, like that in the print before which the mourner 
 is kneeling, appeared to be the most common. 
 
€MirfA — Pilate 2©„ 
 
 Fuji ! Jv&.ISH bu J llurr.m .ilhrm.u-ir ,1'mt 
 
PLATE XXIX. 
 
 A SELLER OF RICE. 
 
 Almost every necessary of life, and many articles that are 
 not of that description, are carried about the streets for 
 sale, and the invariable mode of bearing burthens of this 
 kind is in baskets or boxes suspended from the two ex- 
 tremities of a bamboo lath, swung across the back part of 
 the shoulder. If a Chinese should only have one basket to 
 carry, he is sure to get a log of wood, or a large stone to 
 counterpoise it at the opposite end, thus preferring to carry 
 a double weight rather than place it on the head, or the 
 shoulder, or across the arm. The Chinese are in appear- 
 ance far from exhibiting any signs of great muscular 
 powers, but in lifting, or carrying a load, they are pro- 
 bably not excelled by the porters even of Ireland. 
 
.ATJE 3©. 
 
 ISUItfhrd Jtrtiti+hr JMumv. Jlbmuuir Sum 
 
PLATE XXX. 
 
 A FEMALE COMEDIAN. 
 
 It is, perhaps, more proper to call the annexed figure, the 
 representation of a person in the character of a female 
 comedian, than " a female comedian/' as women have 
 been prohibited from appearing publicly on the stage 
 since the late Emperor, Kien Lung, took an actress for one 
 of his inferior wives. Female characters are now there- 
 fore performed either by boys or eunuchs. The whole 
 dress is supposed to be that of the ancient Chinese, and 
 indeed is not very different from that of the present day. 
 The young ladies of China display considerable taste and 
 fancy in their head-dresses which are much decorated with 
 feathers, flowers, and beads as well as metallic ornaments 
 in great variety of form. Their outer garments are richly 
 embroidered, and are generally the work of their own 
 hands, a great part of their time being employed in this 
 way. If it was not a rigid custom of the country, to con- 
 fine to their apartments the better class of females, the 
 unnatural cramping of their feet, while infants, is quite 
 sufficient to prevent them from stirring much abroad, as it 
 is with some difficulty they are able to hobble along ; yet 
 such is the force of fashion, that a lady with her feet of 
 the natural size would be despised, and at once classed 
 among the vulgar. 
 

 A — PJLA'! 
 
 . ' Idi-r.iu. . tn-<m.trlt . itrrtt. 
 
PLATE XXXI. 
 
 A SEDAN BEARER. 
 
 Whenever the Emperor of China goes in state to transact 
 public business, to receive ambassadors, or to hold a court, 
 he is carried in the same kind of a sedan chair as are com- 
 monly used in Europe, and which, as well as umbrellas, 
 have obviously been first introduced from China. The soft 
 luxury of an Indian palanquin is unknown to the Chinese. 
 By means of poles attached to each other the Emperor's 
 chair, on grand occasions, is carried by eight pair of 
 bearers, sometimes by four pair, but on ordinary occasions 
 he has no more than two pair. They are generally the 
 stoutest and tallest men that can be found, and are 
 dressed in a long yellow vest, which is the colour assumed 
 by the imperial family. 
 

u 
 
PLATE XXXII. 
 
 A MAN SELLING BETEL, Sfc. 
 
 The practice of smoking tobacco is not more common, at 
 least in the southern provinces of China, than that of chew- 
 ing the areca nut, mixed with chunam, or lime made of 
 shells., and wrapped up in a leaf of the betel pepper. 
 Indeed this compound masticatory is in universal use 
 throughout all India, the Oriental Islands., Cochin-china, 
 and Tonquin. In addition to the little purse which every 
 Chinese wears suspended from his belt as an appendage to 
 his tobacco pipe and to hold the ingredients for smoking, 
 whether tobacco, or opium, or both, he generally carries 
 another to contain areca nuts broken into small fragments : 
 the other materials, the betel leaf, and chunam are to be 
 met with in every little eating shop, and on almost every 
 stall in the bazar, or market, and are among the most 
 common articles carried about the streets for sale. The 
 areca tree is one of the palm tribe, with a tuft of leaves 
 surmounting a stem as straight and beautifully shaped as 
 the shaft of a Corinthian pillar. It requires a warm 
 climate, and grows freely in the southern provinces of 
 China, but is common in every part of India and the 
 Oriental islands. 
 
e<3 
 
 
PLATE XXXIII. 
 
 A CHINESE CARRIAGE. 
 
 This machine, like a baker's cart, is the kind of wheel 
 carriage which is most common in the country, and such 
 as even the high officers of state ride in, when performing 
 landjournies in bad weather, and the driver invariably sits 
 on the shaft in the aukward manner here represented. They 
 have no springs, nor any seat in the inside, the persons 
 using them always sitting cross-legged on a cushion at the 
 bottom. In these carts the gentlemen of Lord Macartney's 
 embassy who had not horses, were accommodated, over a 
 stone pavement full of rutts and holes. When ladies use 
 them, a bamboo screen is let down in front to prevent their 
 being stared at by passengers, and on each side, the 
 light is admitted through a square hole just large enough 
 for a person's head. 
 
CHIKA-PJLArE 8.4. 
 
 rttuM- J Uumv-lU^marl. 'n..r 
 
PLATE XXXIV. 
 
 A MAN WITH PIPES FOR SALE. 
 
 The very general use of tobacco throughout the whole 
 extensive empire of China, and the still more extensive 
 regions of Tartary, would seem to contradict the com- 
 monly received opinion, that this herb is indigenous only 
 in America. One can hardly suppose that the Chinese, 
 who are so remarkably averse from the introduction of any 
 thing novel, would, in the course of three centuries, have 
 brought the custom of smoking into universal use ; yet so 
 it is ; men of all ranks and all ages ; women, whatever 
 their condition in life may be, and children even of both 
 sexes of eight or ten years of age, are furnished with the 
 necessary apparatus for smoking tobacco. In walking the 
 streets, in almost all the occupations of life, the tobacco- 
 pipe is seldom out of the mouth. When not in use it 
 is placed in a small pouch suspended from the girdle; 
 and another appendage is a small silken purse generally 
 attached to the pipe for containing opium, areca nut, or 
 some other masticatory. The tube of the pipe is generally 
 made of bamboo, and the cap or bowl of the metal called 
 tutanague or porcelain. The shape and structure of this 
 machine are strongly marked with originality, being unlike 
 those in use among any other people ; but the plant itself 
 is., we understand, of a different species to any of those 
 found in America, which is perhaps the strongest proof of 
 all, that the custom of smoking has existed in China from 
 time immemorial. 
 
-PIuATF, 35. 
 
 rub. Jan 1814.111 JMurnuy . IfbemttHe Street 
 
PLATE XXXV. 
 
 A WATERMAN IN HIS BARGE. 
 
 Some millions of Chinese live entirely on the water, in 
 boats and barges of various kinds, some occupied in car- 
 rying articles of provisions and merchandize, others in 
 conveying passengers, some in feeding and rearing ducks, 
 and others in fishing. Some of these vessels have masts 
 and sails, others are forced forwards with large sculls or 
 pushed on with poles, some are dragged along by men, 
 and others, but very rarely, by horses. Near the head of 
 each vessel is suspended in some convenient place, one of 
 those noisy instruments well known in this country by the 
 name of gong, which is used to regulate the motions of 
 the trackers, and to give notice to other vessels of the 
 approach and. intentions of the one that beats the signal. 
 Where a large fleet is about to come to anchor or make 
 fast for the night, there is a tremendous crash of gongs 
 from all quarters ; the meaning of each of which is dis- 
 tinctly understood by the Chinese, from the peculiar mode 
 in which each is struck. 
 

 ilfA — 1PJLATE 36. 
 
 htb Jdfi iJijf.bv J.Humm ^"ilkmurit Sura. 
 
PLATE XXXVI. 
 
 A TRADESMAN WITH HIS SWAN-PAN. 
 
 The Chinese merchants and tradesmen are most expert and 
 ready reckoners ; but they perform all arithmetical opera- 
 tions mechanically,, by means of a table divided into two 
 compartments, through which pass iron wires ; and on 
 these wires are strung in one compartment five, and in the 
 other two, moveable balls. The principle is something of 
 the same kind as that of the abacus of the Romans, and is 
 with some little variation still made use of in Russia, It has 
 been observed, that in weighing several thousand chests of 
 tea, or bales of goods, at Canton, the Chinese accountant 
 can invariably name the sum total long before the Euro- 
 pean can cast up his account. 
 
X 
 
PLATE XXXVII. 
 
 FEMALE PEASANT. 
 
 Blue or brown cotton frocks with green or yellow trowsers 
 are the ordinary dresses of the female peasantry, all of 
 whom, except such as labour in the field or the fisheries, 
 have the vanity to cramp their feet, in imitation of their 
 superiors. Those in the print are employed in winding 
 cotton yarn. They are, in general, ill featured, and their 
 countenance void of expression. 
 


PLATE XXXVIII. 
 
 A TARTAR DRAGOON. 
 
 Of the Tartar horse another specimen has been given in 
 this work. This represents a Tartar dragoon armed with 
 the common instruments, the bow, and a short sabre. 
 This corps is probably of little use beyond that of carrying 
 dispatches, and assisting in the imperial hunts in the 
 forests of Tartary. All the cavalry that were seen by the 
 British Embassy had a mean, irregular, and most unsoldier- 
 like appearance. 
 
I 
 

 CJUUUKA-PJLATE 39 
 
 fuH,,h«l Un-'uint.,, JManu. ,ffhtrfl JW/ 
 
 
PLATE XXXIX. 
 PUNISHMENT OF THE TCHA, OR CANGUE. 
 
 The punishment of the cangue may be compared to that 
 of our pillory, with this difference, that in China a person 
 convicted of petty crimes or misdemeanours is sometimes 
 sentenced to carry the wooden clog about his neck for 
 weeks, or even months ; sometimes one hand, or even both 
 hands, are inserted through holes, as well as the neck. 
 The annexed representation is not a common one, and far 
 less painful than the plain heavy tablet of wood, the whole 
 weight of which must be supported on the shoulders ; 
 whereas in this it is mere confinement, without the person 
 being compelled to carry a heavy load. The nature of 
 the offence is always described in large characters, either 
 on the edge of the cangue, or, as in the present instance, 
 en a piece of board attached to it. 
 

t 
 
PLATE XL. 
 
 CHILDREN EATING THEIR MEAL. 
 
 Among the peasantry and labouring people of China, all 
 are cooks. A little earthen-ware stove and an iron pan is 
 all that is required. Rice is their principal food, which is 
 simply boiled, and then a little fat of pork or a salt fish 
 put into the pan to mix with it and give it a relish ; they 
 drink little else besides water, which is usually carried about 
 in a gourd slung on the back ; and they require no table 
 nor chairs. Each person has his bowl and his chop-sticks, 
 and squatting down on his haunches before the pan, he 
 makes a hearty and contented meal. It is quite gratifying 
 to see a party of youngsters making their dinner in this 
 way in the open air. 
 

PLATE XLI. 
 
 A SEDAN CHAIR. 
 
 The vehicles of this description are nearly as various in the 
 different provinces of China, and among the different 
 ranks of inhabitants, as their boats and barges are. The 
 one here engraved belongs to a person in a certain rank of 
 life, probably an inferior mandarin. It will be observed 
 that, instead of carrying the poles in the hands, as we do, 
 the Chinese carry the chairs on the shoulders by means of 
 a cross-bar fixed to the poles by straps : but different 
 kinds of chairs are carried in different ways. 
 
PLATE XLII. 
 
 VIEW ON THE GREAT CANAL. 
 
 The grand canal of China, or rather the water communi- 
 cation between the northern and southern extremities of 
 the empire by a succession of canals and rivers, is certainly 
 the first inland navigation in the world. The multitude 
 of vessels, of every size and shape, is not to be estimated. 
 The large one in the print is one of those which carried 
 the British embassador and his suite up the Pei-ho to the 
 neighbourhood of Pekin, which were in every respect com- 
 fortable and commodious. On passing bridges, which are 
 very frequent in the neighbourhood of all towns and vil lages, 
 the masts are usually lowered down ; but many of the 
 bridges are lofty enough to admit the smaller kind of barges 
 to pass underneath with their masts standing. The bridges 
 are almost as various in their shape and construction as the 
 barges, and some of them by no means destitute of taste. 
 

 T-^T 
 
 // !i 
 
 CHO"A— PLATE 42> 
 
 /"«/■•' fw*tfrf kiBfiw //' m./t ' jro' 
 
PLATE XLIII. 
 
 A CHINESE LADY OF RANK. 
 
 If we except the unnatural custom of maiming 1 the feet, 
 which swells and distorts the ankles, and wrapping the 
 latter up in bandages, the dress of Chinese ladies in the 
 upper ranks of life is by no means unbecoming. In the 
 head dress, in particular, they sometimes exhibit great 
 taste, and great variety ; and the materials of which their 
 garments are made, and especially those parts of them 
 which consist of their own embroidering, are exceedingly 
 beautiful. Confined by education in their mental acquire- 
 ments, a great part of their time is employed in works of 
 this kind, in looking after and cultivating plants growing 
 in pots which decorate their apartments and inner court- 
 yards, and in attending to birds, which are either kept for 
 singing, or some particular beauty of form or plumage. 
 The buildings in the back ground form part of a view of 
 Pekin, near one of the western gates. 
 

 ' 
 
 hib* J.ttr'i-'i.) .hv J Afumm, .1lhrot.tr/,- .iftrr/ . 
 
PLATE XLIV. 
 
 A NURSERY MAID AND TWO CHILDREN. 
 
 The annexed are portraits of a female servant, and of a 
 male and female child, which will give a tolerably correct 
 idea of the dresses worn by them respectively. That of 
 the maid servant differs in noth'ng from her mistress, but 
 in the materials ; the latter generally wearing silk, and the 
 one in question cotton. A Chinese woman of the meanest 
 condition would feel herself degraded if not allowed to 
 mutilate her feet. 
 

 '"E 46. 
 
 • hhlvhr.l '../r - m,j h, J i/tarmt^Mbanarle Stmt 
 
PLATE XLV. 
 A STAGE PLAYER. 
 
 By the military emblem on the breast-plate, the annexed 
 figure of a stage player must be intended to represent a 
 great general or some military hero famous in the annals 
 of China. Noisy music and extravagant gestures are the 
 characteristic features of the Chinese stage, of which it 
 would lead us into too long a detail to convey any intelli- 
 gible account ; and we prefer, therefore, to refer to the 
 curious and interesting descriptions which have been fur- 
 nished on this subject by Lord Macartney, Sir George 
 Staunton and Mr. Barrow. We have only to add, that the 
 figure was sketched from the life. 
 
^ 
 
 tj 
 
PLATE XLVI. 
 
 TRACKERS REGALING. 
 
 There is little to observe on the annexed engraving. It 
 represents a groupe of the common peasantry of the country 
 eating their rice. The particular employment of these, 
 here designated., is that of tracking barges on the canals ; 
 the pieces of wood lying by them being those which they 
 place across the chest to drag forward the vessels. It will 
 be seen from the other prints, that the common mode of 
 carrying burthens is that of swinging baskets from the two 
 extremities of a bamboo, which is laid by the middle 
 across the shoulders. 
 

 aML*^ 
 
 I W A- PLATE 47. 
 
 "*** '-*•■■ < ■> r Mh ny Bt—x i ti .f/;»,v 
 
PLATE XLVII. 
 A MANDARIN'S OFFICER. 
 
 This gentleman is a sort of appendage to a man in power. 
 Some half-dozen of them generally precede a mandarin of 
 rank when he goes in procession, but more especially when 
 he attends a tribunal of justice. Their peculiar province 
 seems to be that of keeping off the crowd. The feathers 
 they wear in their tall conical hats are from three to six feet 
 in length, and are apparently the tail feathers of a peculiar 
 species of pheasant, which is represented as very scarce. 
 Some of them wear the tail feathers of th^ argus pheasant. 
 
I 
 
 i 
 
 
PLATE XLV1II. 
 PUNISHMENT FOR INSOLENCE TO A SUPERIOR. 
 
 Piercing the ear with various sharp instruments is among 
 the punishments of the Chinese. A man who had been 
 insolent to one of the suite of Lord Macartney's embassy, 
 was sentenced to receive fifty strokes from the pant- zee or 
 bamboo, in addition to having his hand pinned to his ear 
 by an iron wire, which was said to have been inflicted 
 immediately after the bastinade. 
 
 The middle figure is an inferior officer of the police, 
 who holds a painted board on which the crime is exhibited 
 to spectators ; the other personage is a mandarin reproving 
 the culprit. 
 

PLATE XLTX. 
 
 WOMAN SELLING CHOW-CHOW. 
 
 There is little more to be observed of the present engrav- 
 ing than this : that whatever wares,, goods, or merchandize 
 are exposed to sale in the open air, which in the open 
 plains, as well in the broad streets of cities, is very much 
 the case, the vender and the articles themselves are, during 
 the summer months, protected from the rajs of the sun by 
 a large umbrella, which is generally square, like that in 
 the print. Some hundreds of similar stands and umbrellas 
 were displayed on a plain near the spot where the embassy 
 disembarked, within the mouth of the Pei-ho ; the little 
 booths, if they may be so termed, being generally well 
 stored with sweet-meats and sliced water-melons laid upon 
 ice. The poorest peasant in China carries an umbrella, 
 either to defend him against the rays of the sun, or heavy 
 rains. 
 
PLATE L. 
 
 A MILITARY POST. 
 
 At certain distances, more or less remote according to the 
 nature of the country, along the roads, and the banks of 
 the interior navigations, are placed small parties of soldiers 
 from five or six to a dozen., and sometimes more. They 
 are employed in conveying the public dispatches, and in 
 assisting the magistrates to quell disturbances. The 
 immense army of China is for the most part parcelled out 
 in this way. Near each of these posts is a tall wooden 
 building from whence they can see and communicate by 
 signals with the next stations. The men till the ground, 
 and perform other kinds of labour ; but are always expected 
 to turn out in their holiday dress when an embassador or any 
 of their tazin or great men happen to pass the station, on 
 which occasion they generally fire three little petards stuck 
 into the ground with the muzzle upwards as a salute. 
 
 London : Printed by W. Bulmcr and Co- 
 Cleveland-row, St. James's. 
 
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