< ttw Shfologl'f;,/ . s PRINCETON, N. J. % 1/11/71 ^ /ctz^nJ yjho^i^oL- ! Section t Shell Number ^8 I logo / dptina, gjiatoriral and Jmriptirtf By the same Author. WORKS OF TRAVEL BY C. H. EDEN. JAPAN, HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. 75 El lustrations, flap, antj fflolourctj Jrontispiccr. Crown Octavo, Cloth Extra, Price 3s. 6d. “A very clear and comprehensive view of Japanese life, character, and manners." — Morning Advertiser. “There have been few books at once so valuable and so accessible. ” — Art Journal. “ A complete history of the growth of Japan . . . profoundly interesting.” — Sunday Times. INDIA, HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE. With an Account of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857-58. 66 Illustrations, fflap, anb ffolourrb jFrontisptccc. Crown Octavo, Cloth Extra, Price 3s. 6d. “ A clever little book." — Daily Telegraph. \ “An interesting volume." — Graphic. Marcus Ward & Co., London and Belfast. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library https://archive.org/details/chinahistoricald00eden_0 By C HARLES H. EDEN.] 14 ON IT COREA WITH AN | APPENDIX ■London&Belfas' f\ARCUSWARD&(3 CHINA Historical and Descriptive BY y' CHARLES H. EDEN Author of “ India, Historical and Descriptive,” &c. WITH AN APPENDIX ON COREA JFrontisptere Eg a ftatiue Artist, numerous Illustrations, an& fHap HonKon : MARCUS WARD & CO., 67 & 68, CHANDOS STREET And ROYAL ULSTER WORKS, BELFAST 1877 PREFACE. the following pages all attempts at originality are ™ entirely disclaimed. The empire of China is a subject so vast in its dimensions that to treat it deservedly would occupy a score of volumes such as the one I now present to the reader. My only object has been to collect all the latest and most reliable information within reach, and to place such matters as seemed especially worthy of notice in an interesting form for the general reader. The student will find numberless volumes hearing at length on all the subjects that are only lightly touched on here. I have to tender my thanks to all the living authorities from whom I have derived information, as also to Messrs. Garnett and Granville of the British Museum, both of whom have always manifested the greatest kindness in supplying me with material. The chapters on Corea are entirely from another pen, and written independently of the preceding portion of the volume. C. H. EDER. CONTENTS. CHINA. Chapter I. — Origin of Name “China” — Its Geography and Boundaries — China Proper, . . . . .9 Chapter II. — Physical Aspect of China Proper, . . .17 Chapter III.— How the Becords are kept— Earliest Glimpses of Civilisation — Hea, Shang, Chow, Tsin, and other Dynasties, . 28 Chapter IV. — Kublai Khan — Ho quells an Insurrection — Purchase of Young Women — Description of Palace near Pekin — Disastrous Attempt to Conquer Japan — Termination of Yuen Dynasty, . 39 Chapter V. — Modern History — The Ming Dynasty — Tartars re- enter China— Discords in the Empire — Suicide of the Emperor, and Fall of Ming Dynasty, . . . . .56 Chapter VI. — The Ta-tsing Dynasty — Ancient Legend foretelling its Greatness — Constant Intestine Commotions — The Taeping Insurrection — Its Suppression — The Reigning Monarch, . . 67 Chapter YII. — An Account of the Intercourse between China and other Nations from the Thirteenth Century to the Present Day, . 81 Chapter VIII. — The Emperor Paramount — His Titles and Authority — Form of Government and Laws, . . . .94 Chapter IX. — Prisons, and Judicial Procedure, . . . 106 Chapter X. — The Army and Navy — The Religions of China, . 122 Chapter XI. — The Great Wall — Water System of China, . . 138 Chapter XII. — Peking, ...... 147 Chapter XIII. — Personal Appearance and Dress of the Chinese — Their Habits and Dwellings, ..... 159 Chapter XIV. — Domestic Habits — Food — Visiting — Women — Their Social Position — Coffins and Funerals, . . . .174 Chapter XV. — Public Festivals — Gamblers — Opium Smokers — Pauperism and Beggars, . . . . . .193 Chapter XVI. — Literature — Extract from Chinese History, . . 206 6 Contents. PAGE Chapter XYII. — Poetry — The Drama — Fine Arts, . . . 226 Chapter XVIII. — Liberal Sciences — The Medical Profession— Its Practice — Want of Sympathy towards Sick or Wounded — Anecdote of a Ruffian’s Revenge, .... 237 Chapter XIX. — Agriculture — Famines — Vegetable Products — Lord Macartney’s Description of the Imperial Parks — Hong-kong — Conclusion, ....... 254 COREA. Chapter I. — Sources of Information — Boundaries — Derivation of 1ST ame — Physical Geography — Mines— Climate — Products — N otes about Ginseng — Animals — Character of the People — Historical Sketch — -Yearly Mission to China, .... 281 Chapter II. — Form of Government — Kings — Royal Palaces — Royal Funerals and Tombs — Public Offices — Civil and Military Organisation — Nobles and their Privileges — Anecdote — Small Middle Class — Slaves — Their Number Diminishing — Condition of Women — Separation of Sexes, ..... 296 Chapter III. — Marriage Customs — Curious Anecdotes — Occupations of Women — Inequality of the Sexes — Fondness of the Coreans for their Children — Clannish Feeling among Families — Cere- monial Mourning and Funeral Obsequies — Religious Systems — Worship of Ancestors, ...... 308 Chapter IV. — Houses — Clothing — Head-dress — Industrial Arts — Impediments to the Development of Internal Commerce — External Trade of Corea — Present Attitude of Corea towards the Outer World, ....... 322 PAGE Landing-place and Temple in the Inner Harbour, Macao. By Nam Cheong, ' . . . • . Frontispiece. Nanking, . . . . • • • .18 Chinese War Vessel, ...... 22 Silver Island on the Y ang-tzse River, . . . .26 Native of Chinese Tartary, ..... 27 Chinese Changing Residence, . . . . .30 Mandarin’s Travelling Boat, . ... .38 Soldiers of the time of Marco Polo, .... 41 Chinese Trooper of present day, .... .43 Illustrations. 7 PAGE A Chinese Belle, ...... 47 Chinese and Tartar Ladies, .... • 48 Triumphal Arch at Palace at Pekin, .... 50 Bank Note of the Ming Dynasty, 60 Wheelbarrow under Sail, ..... 66 View in Ningpo, . ..... 84 Amoy, ....... 89 Chinese Junk, ...... 90 Market at Tien-tsin, ...... • 93 Chinese Punishment, ..... 98 Chinese Soldier, ...... 105 The Cangue, ...... 110 Chinese Mode of Punishment — Woman Feeding the Prisoner, The “ Fee-Loi-Tsze ” Monastery, on the North Paver, in the “ Tsing 121 Yune ” Pass, ...... 128 Kiosk in the Court of a Mosque at Pekin, 132 Superior Bonze of a Buddhist Convent, . 132 Gong in a Chinese Temple, . . ... 133 Chinese Temple, ...... The Great Wall of China, ..... 134 140 Chinese Junks, ...... 143 Chinese Passenger Boat, . . 145 Chinese Lanterns, ..... 146 Gate at Peking, ...... 148 Flanging Garden (Part of Pun-ting-qua’s Garden at Canton), 151 Chinese Barber, ...... 153 Chinese Military Mandarin, ... 156 Young Chinese of the Mandarin Class, . 159 Types of Chinese Shopkeepers, &c., 160 Chinese Villager, ...... 163 Lady at her Toilet, ..... 164 Hair-dressing, ...... Chinese Lady’s Feet, ..... 165 167 Chinese Woman, . . .... 170 Chinese Sitting-room, ..... 172 The Evening Pipe, ...... 172 Chinese Chair in Cane, ..... 173 Edible Swallow’s Nest, ..... 179 Receiving a‘ Visitor, ..... 182 Cantonese Woman, ...... 185 Chinese Mother and Child, ..... Chinaman Burning Paper Money for the Benefit of Deceased 187 Relatives, ...... 191 Magic Lantern, ...... Chinese Drinking Game, ..... 195 198 Opium Smokers, ...... 201 Mendicant, ....... 202 Chinese Coolie, ...... 205 Chinese Schoolmaster, ..... 207 8 Illustrations. PAGE Chinese Writer, 210 Chinese Court of Justice, . 219 Chinese Literary Man, 226 Reading hy the Way, . . 228 A Chinese Play, . 230 Chinese Drums, f . 232 Chinese Artist, 233 Chinese Compass, . 235 A Young Student, 236 Chinese Priest, . 253 Chinese Agriculture, 256 Chinese Fishing Scene, . 258 Festival of Labour, 261 Chinese Duck Boat, . . 272 Chinese Coolie, 272 Canton Boat-woman, . . 273 Canton Girls, 274 Chinese Sampan, . 275 View in Hong-kong, 276 Chinese Praying Machine, . 278 Corean Junk at Anchor, . 284 Corean Trumpets, . 295 Corean Mace-bearer, 299 Corean Soldier, . 300 Corean Noble, 301 Corean Servant, . 304 Corean Porter, 305 Corean Peasant, . 306 Corean Gong, 307 Corean Village Official, . 324 Corean Official Visitors on the Quarter-deck of one of Her Maiesty’s ships, 324 Curious Horse-hair Hat, . 325 A Business Coterie in Corea, 328 China, Historical and Descriptive. C H A P I E E L Origin of Name “China ” — Its Geography and Boundaries — China Proper. T HE great Orientalist, Sir William Jones, in speaking of the inhabitants of the country of which I propose to give a brief description, says, “By some they have been extolled as the oldest and wisest, as the most learned and most ingenious, of nations ; whilst others have derided their pretensions to antiquity, condemned their govern- ment as abominable, and arraigned their manners as inhuman, without allowing them an element of science, or a single art, for which they have not been indebted to some more ancient and more civilised race of men.” From the variety of information gathered on the spot, and the carefully recorded impressions of modern European travellers, it seems that the student of Chinese history would do well to keep himself aloof from the ranks of these extremists, and, by adopting a middle and moderate course, gain a just and unexaggerated insight into the laws, literature, manners, and customs of a vast empire whose 10 Origin of Name. inhabitants comprise nearly one-third of the known human race. Before proceeding to examine the physical features of China, let us see from whence its designation is derived, for a Celestial would be utterly nonplussed were he told that he rejoiced in the privilege of being a Chinaman. To illustrate this, I cannot do better than quote the following from the Abb4 Hue, whose residence in the country extended over a great number of years. The AblA had been giving much information concerning the countries of Europe to a young Chinese prefect, when the latter “ bethought himself to ask us how we called his country in our language. When he heard that we gave it the name of China, and its inhabitants that of Chinese, he could hardly recover from his astonishment. He insisted upon knowing what these words meant, the sense attached to them, why the words China and Chinese should have been chosen to designate his country and countrymen. ‘ We,’ said he, ‘ call the happy inhabitants of your illustrious country Si-yang-jin; now Si means west, yang sea, and jin man, so that the words mean “Men of the Western Seas;” that is the general denomination. To designate the several nations, we transcribe their names as faithfully as our characters will allow of. Thus we say Fou-lang-sin, that is to say, Homme-far an-gais. When we speak of the Westerns, we sometimes seize on a striking trait of the people whom we wish to point out. Thus we call the In-ki-li (English) Houng-mas-jin, that is, “Men of Bed Hair,” because it is said they have hair of that colour; Ancient Designation. 11 and we give to the Ya-me-li-kien (Americans) the name of “ Men of the Gaudy Banner,” because it is said that they carry at the mast of their vessels a flag striped with various colours. You see that all these denominations have a sense, a meaning for the mind. That must be the case also with your words China and Chinese ; since those words do not belong to our language, they must necessarily signify something in yours.’ ” The ancient name for China, and one which is still used, is Tien-sha, signifying under, or inferior only to heaven ; but the natives usually speak of their country as Tchung-quo, the middle kingdom ; an appellation erroneously supposed by the French missionaries to arise from the pride of the inhabitants, who assert that their country is placed in the midst of the earth’s square surface, whereas its real origin is owing to the Emperor Tching-wang having fixed his residence at Lo-yang, in the Province of Honan, when he changed the name of the former to Tdiung-quo, which from its central position is undoubtedly appropriate ; and this name gradually embraced the whole empire. But none the less do our words China and Chinese find their birthplace in the country itself, owing to a habit always prevalent amongst the Chinese of bestowing upon the empire the name of the reigning dynasty; thus the achievements of the Emperor Ran and his successors caused the people to call themselves Ean-jin, or “ Men of Han and when the Thang dynasty eclipsed the glories of the Ran, the people abandoning the former name designated themselves Thang-jin, or “Men of Thang.” When the 12 China a Malay Name. Manchoo conquerors assumed the throne they adopted the title of Thsing (pure), and their subjects hastened to call themselves Thsing -jin, or “ Men of Thsing in fact, it was precisely as though the English had taken in succession the names of Plantagenet men, Tudor men, Stuart men, and Guelph men, according to the reigning dynasties of the kingdom. The name of China comes to us from the Malays, who first became acquainted with the empire when its inhabi- tants bore the name of Thsing-jin. It so happened that the Malay alphabet was short of the letters required for the exact expression of the word, but they did their best with the means at hand, and turned Thsing into Tchina. The descendants of these Malays designated the great empire thus in describing it to the Portuguese, and through the latter the name of China — for the T was soon dropped — became current, with slight modifications, amongst European nations. By the Eastern Russians and the inhabitants of Northern Asia it is called Kitai or Katai, from whence the ancient name “ Cathay.” Having arrived at the origin of its name, let us now turn to the geography of China. The Empire, situated in Eastern Asia, comprises the eighteen Provinces of China proper, Manchooria, Mongolia, Chinese Turkestan, Kokonor, and Thibet, whilst the Isthmus of Corea and the Loo-clioo Islands are among its nominal dependencies. It is bounded on the north and north-east by Asiatic Russia, whose territory on the Pacific recently acquired from China touches the Corean frontier; east and south-east by the Boundaries. 13 Yellow and China Seas; south by the Gulf of Tonquin, Assam, Siam, and Burmah; and south-west and west by India and the States of Independent Tartary. The northern bend of the Amoor River, in latitude 53° 1ST., is the limit of the Empire in that direction; and the junction of the Amoor and Usuri Rivers in longitude 136° E. is its most eastern point. The Bay of Galong, in the Island of Hainan — latitude 18° N. — is the southern extreme, and Kara-tag, to the westward of Yarkand — longitude 72° E. — is the western limit of this enormous Empire, whose area is variously estimated at from 5,000,000 to 5,559,564 square miles, or about a third part of the continent, and a tenth of the habitable globe. With the exception of Russia, it is the largest state which has ever existed. But with the tributaries and dependencies of the Empire we have little to do in these pages. In many of them the supremacy of the Emperor is merely nominal, and they are almost virtually independent. Perhaps its very vastness may eventually prove fatal to the integrity of the Empire, for a wily and aggressive neighbour is always watching its frontiers, and an insurgent body of Mahommedans are in possession of portions of China proper, to which I propose confining the present volume. China proper extends from longitude 98° to 123° E., and from latitude 18° to 43° N., and is bounded on the north by the Great Wall, which separates it from Manchooria and Mongolia ; on the east by the ocean ; on the south by the Gulf of Tonquin, Assam, and Burmah ; and on the west by Thibet and Chinese Tartary. Its area is estimated by Sir 14 Area. George Staunton at 1,500,000 square miles, inclusive of the Province of Liaotong, which lies beyond the Great Wall; by M'Culloch at 1,348,870 square miles; by the Abbe Hue at 2,835,000 square miles ; and by Martin, in the Statesman’s Year Boole for 1876, at 1,534,953 square miles. The latter is probably the most correct, being of recent date and based upon Chinese official returns. Altogether, China proper may be regarded as about seven times the size of Prance, or half as large as all Europe. It may not be out of place here to notice that, notwith- standing the enormous extent of frontier possessed by the Chinese Empire, amounting to at least ten thousand geographical miles, no foreigner, whether Russian, Affghan, Hindoo, Burman, Englishman, or American, has been able to cross the boundary of this extraordinary country with- out the knowledge and sanction of its jealous Government. Under the head of China, the Encyclopaedia Britannica says, “ A singular instance may be here mentioned of the inviolability of the frontier, notwitstanding the persever- ance of the individual who attempted it, owing to the unwearied vigilance of the Government. Mr. Manning, an English gentleman of property and education, went to Canton many years ago, with the view of proceeding into the interior of China, and of domesticating himself fox- some time among the people. On his arrival there he adopted the Chinese dress, suffered his beard to grow, and sedulously applied himself to the study of the language, both written and spoken. “When the time approached that his appearance, Exclusiveness. 15 manners, and language were considered to be sufficiently Chinese to escape detection, it was communicated to him, under a sort of demi-official message, that his intentions were known, and it would be in vain for him to make the attempt, as measures had been taken to make it impossible for him to enter the Chinese territories beyond the limits of the English factory. He alleged that his views were innocent, that he was simply an individual, urged solely by curiosity and a desire to mix among the people, and to witness the happy condition of this far-famed nation, and wholly unconnected with any political, commercial, or religious views ; and he particularly urged that he was no missionary of any kind, as those of that character had of late given uneasiness to the Government. But he urged his suit in vain. “ He next tried Cochin-China, but with no better success — the same kind of political jealousy prevailing in that country as in China. Determined, however, not to be thwarted in his object, he proceeded to Calcutta, travelled to the northern frontier of Bengal, found means to penetrate through Bhootan to Sassa in Thibet, and was on the point of realising his long-deferred hope by a journey along the Tartar frontier to the capital of China, when he was detected by the Chinese authorities, and ordered immediately to quit the country — so utterly impossible is it to deceive that watchful Government.” The coast-line from the Isthmus of Corea to the Island of Hainan is about seventeen hundred miles long, being bold and rocky to the south, and abounding in numerous 16 Provinces. islands, bluff headlands, and sheltered inlets, lurking-places for pirate junks. From the mouths of the Yang-tse-kiang northward to the Shan-tung promontory the land is low, and continues so beyond the promontory until the moun- tains east of the Gulf of Liaotong are reached. The general appearance of the southern coast is barren and uninviting, being destitute of vegetation, and the same may be said of the Shan-tung promontory ; but the islands of the Chusan Archipelago are decked with green, and forests line the shore near the Corean boundary. China proper contains eighteen Provinces, named as follows : — Pi •ovince. P&-chi-li (“ The Supreme Province”), Shan-tung (“ East of the mountains”), ... Shanse (“ West of the mountains”), Ho-nan (“ South of the river”), ... Kiang-su (“The country of the happy river”), ... Ngau-whi (“The Province of peace and plenty”), Kiang-si (“West of the river”), Che-kiang (“ The country of the winding river”), Fokien (“The consummation of happiness”), ... Hoo-pe (“North of the lakes”), Hoo-nan (“South of the lakes”), Slien-se (“ West of the Yellow River”), Kan-su (“ The Province of profound peace”), ... Se-chuen (“ The four streams”), Kwang-tung or Quang-tung (“ The east plain”), Kwang-si or Quang-si (“ The west plain”), Kwei-chow or Quei-chow (“ The honourable division”), Yun-nan (“ South of the clouds”), Capital. Peking. Tsinan. Tai-yuen. Kai-fong. Nanking. Ngan-king. Nan-chang. Hang-chow. Foo-chow. Wo-chang. Chang-sha. Si-quan. Lan-chow. Ching-too. Canton. Quei-ling. Quei-yang. Yan-nan. From the above list it will be seen that in naming their Provinces the Chinese have recognised the geographical position, and particularly the water-supply, of each. CHAPTER II. Physical Aspect of China Proper. O attempt any minute description of the topography of A China would require far more space than I have at my command, and I shall therefore only give the most prominent features of the country, by classing it in natural divisions, which will convey to the reader a clearer idea of its physical aspect than if the arbitrary political boundaries were strictly adhered to. Commencing at the north-east corner of China proper, we find a large tract of land embracing the Provinces of Pe-chi-li, Shan-tung, Kiang-su, and Ngan-whi, which district is known as the Great Plain. Its boundaries are, roughly, as follows: — To the north the Great Wall, com- mencing at the Gulf of Liaotong, in lat. 40°, the windings of which it follows westward to long. 1 14 E. Then striking due south the boundary reaches the Yellow Eiver, and continues in a south-easterly direction to the banks of the Yang-tsze-kiang near Xgan-king, from whence it runs in an easterly line to Hangchow Bay. In the Province of Pechili lies the present capital of the 18 The Great Plain. Chinese Empire, Peking, from which fact it derives its name, “ The Supreme Province.” It is flat and marshy as a rule, containing several lakes and rivers. Marble, granite, and coal are found in considerable quantities within easy distance of the capital. South of Pechili comes the Province of Shan-tung, the eastern part of which is so mountainous that portions of it . remain uncultivated. The Imperial Canal flows through the western portion, and every foot of ground in its vicinity is diligently cultivated; thus the Shan-tungese are enabled to supply their neighbours with vegetables and tobacco. South of Shan-tung lies the Province of Kiang-su, within whose boundaries are gathered together the three great water-ways of China. Not long ago this was esteemed the most flourishing portion of the great Empire, but the Tae- ping rebellion completely ruined it, and Nanking, its capital, was almost deserted. Now, however, it is slowly recovering. Ngan-whi is situated to the westward of Iviang-su, of which it once formed a part. Like its sister province, it is level, abundantly watered, and very productive. These four provinces constitute the expanse of flat country known as the Great Plain, which extends 600 miles from Peking in the north to Hangchow in the south, and varies in breadth from 200 to 300 miles. To the north-east the tract is abundantly watered by the Peilio, and the south portion contains the delta of the enormous streams the Yang-tsze-kiang and Yellow Eiver. At times NANKING. i “ China 's Sorrow." 19 it suffers terribly from the overflowing of these great water- ways, notably the latter. That portion of the plain which Jies south of the Yang-tsze is intersected by innumerable canals, and is protected from floods by raised dykes and sea-walls, whilst in many places the surface has been rendered fit for cultivation by excavating canals and ponds, and employing the outcome to raise the level of the land. At different epochs of time the Yellow River has altered its course, and caused such devastation by its floods, that it is now known by the inhabitants of the region through which it flows as “ China’s Sorrow.” In the year 1872 the Peiho overflowed its banks and caused much destruction. The next great natural division comprises the Provinces of Shan-se and Shen-se, the north part of Honan, and the east of Kansu. It lies west of the Great Plain, and south of Inner Mongolia, forming what perhaps may be called the mineral district of China. Shan-se and Shen-se are both rugged and mountainous provinces, and abound with good anthracite coal, copper, gold, iron, cinnabar, jasper, lapis-lazuli, marble, porphyry, and salt. The northern portion of Honan and the eastern portion of Kansu are similar in their appearance and productions. South of the mineral district lies Central China, or the lake district, consisting of the Province of Hoo-pe, the south-west part of Honan, and the north of Hoo-nan. The Yang-tsze traverses this district, which is further drained by the river Han towards the north. As its name imports, 20 Hoo-pe. the “ lake district ” is covered with ponds and marshes, of which even the industrious Chinese can make but little use. Speaking of Hoo-pe, the Abb4 Hue says — “ The. villages have in general a very poor and wretched appear- ance. The inhabitants have an unhealthy and rather wild aspect, and are frequently affected by cutaneous diseases. We have nowhere else noticed so much baldness or so many scald-heads, and there is little doubt that these infirmities proceed from the stagnant waters amongst which these unfortunate people pass their lives, and still more from the unwholesome diet to which they are confined. It is said that in the province of Hou-pe the harvest of a year is seldom sufficient for a month’s consumption. The great populations of the towns are supplied from the neighbouring provinces, and especially Sse-tchouen, which cannot in ten years consume the produce of one. We remarked, nevertheless, in the province of Hou-pe, some tolerably fine plantations of indigo, cotton, and hemp, besides the numerous rice-fields that border the lakes and rivers.” Se-chuen, although only a single province, is of such extent and wealth that it may justly be regarded as a fourth division of the Empire. It is a large tract consisting of plains and undulating lands, bounded by mountains. The Yang-tsze flows through the province, watering enormous areas covered by rich harvests of wheat and other corn, as well as the white, pink, and lilac flowers of the poppy, for opium is one of Se-chuen’s principal products, and one writer is of opinion that, in the course The Broken District. 21 of time, the produce of this province will affect the prices of the Indian drug, if it do is not render its supply need- less. The population in 1812 was computed at twenty- seven millions, which has probably much increased, since civil war has never devastated the district. It, however, bears rather a bad name for local insurrections. The fifth natural division of China proper lies to the south-east, and includes the southern and eastern portions of Kwang-si and Hoo-nan, the whole of Kwang-tung, Fo-kien, Che-kiang, and Kiang-si, and the southernmost parts of Ngan-whi. It embraces a tract of country a thousand miles long by four hundred in breadth, and may not inaptly be styled the “ Broken District,” for throughout an area of three hundred thousand square miles there are found no extensive plains or table-lands, but a succession of mountain ranges, whose continuity is continually broken, and whose altitude is not remarkable. The mountains follow the trend of the coast, breaking off into short and irregular ranges, through which the streams find their way and drain the country ; and these water-courses, of which there are several hundreds, form the highways of this part of China. With the exception of the West River, which debouches near Canton, not one of them is fit for navigation to any distance inland. Even at the coast, where they are broadest, innumerable obstacles exist in their beds and impede the navigation, but the inhabitants are perfectly content with the existing state of things, and continue to unload whenever they come to a trifling shallow, which a month’s labour would remove, with the characteristic 22 Tropical China. patience of their race. In this division is raised most of the black tea that is imported into Europe. The sixth and last natural division of China consists of the south-western provinces Yun-nan and Kwei-chow, which are generally broken and hilly, though in Yun-nan there are found table-lands of considerable extent, and low- lying flats containing small lakes. The latter province is 23 Water System. at the south-west extremity of the Empire, and is bounded by Burmah. Its rugged surface is thickly covered with dense jungles, the habitat of elephants, tigers, and other large animals. This region is far more tropical in the nature of its climate and productions than the district east of it, and is considered by the Chinese unhealthy, owing to which less has been done than in any other part of the Empire to subject the soil to tillage. Such are the principal natural divisions of China, and we now come to its rivers, which vie in number, length, and grandeur with the extent of the mighty country through which they flow. As this little volume cannot pretend to enter into geographical and topographical details, I shall content myself with saying that the water system of China is, perhaps, more perfect than that of any other country on the globe. Two of the largest rivers in the world flow through it, and with their affluents, aided by innumerable artificial canals and water-courses, leave scarcely any portion of the Empire capable of cultivation without the boon of irrigation and water-carriage. The Hoang-ho, or Yellow River, rises in the mountainous region of Thibet, some twelve hundred miles in a straight line from its mouth in the Gulf of Pechili. I may here observe that in the generality of our maps it is represented as debouching to the southward of the Shan-tung promontory, but it has altered its course, and now flows into the Gulf of Pechili, taking a channel which is marked on the maps Ta-tsing-ho. This great river wanders north, east, south, and then east again for two thousand miles 24 The Yellow River. amidst the rugged wilds of Tartary, before quitting the broken lands and settling down into a peaceable and navigable stream. An American, writing of this river, says— “ Down through the alternating table-lands and gorges of this tract it pours floods which are charged with a peculiar brownish-yellow loam, called by Mr. Pumpelly terrace deposit, and by Baron Richthofen loess. In its original state it is of such constitution that, when a stream of water cuts down into it, vertical banks are left. Throughout the districts where it is found the inhabitants make houses in the cliffs, whole villages being constructed in this way completely out of sight of the traveller upon the plains above. When a river washes the foot of a wall of loess, the earth softens at the water’s edge, and after a time a cleanly-cut section of the superincumbent mass drops into the flood, to be carried along until first the sandy and then the finer particles are deposited upon the plains below. A more slowly moving stream would be less charged with the loess, and would deposit it more rapidly. But the Yellow River can only carry the mass to the level country, and then struggle with the shallows and banks which it forms. The result is that the river is almost useless for navigation, and its floods, which are numerous, become peculiarly dangerous to the lower country. At low water there is about four feet of water on the bar at the mouth of the river, and there is no part of its course where steam vessels, excepting those of very light draught and small burthen, could be used.” The Blue River. 25 The Yang-tsze-kiang, or Blue Biver, also rises in the mountains of Thibet, but pursues a southerly and eastern course in place of the northerly and easterly direction taken by its rival or sister stream, the Hoang-ho. Beyond the Great Plain the Yang-tsze enters a broken country, then the low-lying region of Central China, beyond which steamers have penetrated to the gorges of Ichang, in longitude 111° E., thirteen hundred miles from the sea. Here a barrier, in the shape of a long and swift rapid, is presented to steam navigation, but not an insuperable one, for scientific men say that by means of stationary engines the difficulty can be surmounted. The total length of the Yang-tsze-kiang from its source to its mouth is estimated at 3314 miles, and the Hoang-ho at 2624. Of these noble rivers, M. Malthe-Brun, the eminent French geographer, says — “ These two great streams, similar both in rise and destination, descend with rapidity from the great table-lands of Central Asia, and each of them meets a branch of mountains which forces it to describe an immense circuit, the Hoang to the north, and the Yangtse to the south. Separated by an interval of 11,000 miles, the one seems inclined to direct itself to the tropical seas, while the other wanders off among the icy deserts of Mongolia. Suddenly recalled, as if by a recollection of their early brotherhood, they approach one another like the Euphrates and Tigris in ancient Mesopo- tamia ; where, being almost conjoined by lakes and canals, they terminate within a mutual distance of 110 miles their majestic and immense courses.” The reader must 26 Mountain Ranges. remember that this was written previously to the Hoang-ho altering its bed to the northward. There are many other rivers of minor importance, chiefly affluents of the great arteries, but two may be mentioned which are independent — the Chu-kiang, or Pearl, with its branches the North, East, and West Rivers, on the latter of which is situated Canton; and the Peiho, by one of whose northern tributaries large junks are almost enabled to reach the walls of Peking. It may be said that China is almost hemmed in by mountains, whose alluvia has contributed wonderfully to the fertility of the soil. They enclose her territory on the north ; in the east they separate the Great Plain from the elevated lands of Mongolia. Further west a range, running from north-east to south-west, almost reaches the southern bend of the Hoang-ho ; whilst two great chains, continua- tions of the Himalayan and Kuenlun mountains, extend from west to east nearly across the Empire ; the northern, named Pe-ling, entering about latitude 34, and the southern, named the Nau-ling, traversing China in about latitude 25 N. There are several lakes in China, some of them being of great dimensions. The principal is Tung-ting-ho, which measures 220 miles in circumference, and forms one of a chain extending north and east, and occupying a consider- able portion of the Yang-tsze-kiang basin. The next principal lakes are the lake Po-yang, 90 miles long and 20 broad, which lies midway between Tung-ting-ho and the sea, and the lake Tahu, near the mouth of the Yang-tsze. . Lakes. 27 A peculiar feature of this latter sheet of water is that mountains rise abruptly from its western margin, although its depth is inconsiderable. The lakes are commonly dotted with islands, and the scenery is extremely picturesque. NATIVE OF CHINESE TARTARY. CHAPTER III. How the Records are kept — Earliest Glimpses of Civilisation — Hea, Shang- Chow, Tsin, and Other Dynasties. .HE earlier portions of Chinese history are so fabulous A and exaggerated, pretending to date back ninety millions of years before the Christian era, that I shall spare the reader a long list of uncouth and unpronounceable names purporting to have appertained to mythological emperors, and shall confine myself to the dynasties, mentioning only such particular monarchs as, from good or evil deeds, are especially worthy of notice. It may be here advisable to observe a mode of procedure, enforced by law upon the Chinese historians, which seems well calculated to avoid all falsity in' the annals of the nation. A decree of very ancient date forbids the events of any reign to be permanently recorded until the Emperor’s race has become extinct, or the throne has passed to another dynasty. A staff of historiographers and annalists are constantly at work at the Imperial Academy, the former occupied with drawing up the records of some previous remarkable epoch, and the latter, twenty- Earliest Civilisation. 29 two in number, in writing day and nigbt the annals of the reigning dynasty. These hard-worked scribes are on duty by turns, four at a time, and are stationed close to the Emperor’s person for the purpose of taking notes of his words and even of his actions, which interesting records are written on loose sheets of paper, and strictly preserved under seal until the throne has been transferred to another race ; they are then collected, discussed, reviewed, and for the first time made public. The first translation of the annals of China was made by Pere Moyriac de Mailla, who lived for forty-five years at the court of Peking during the eighteenth century. It is considered a very faithful record, and embraces a period of over four thousand years. Its compilation must have been laborious in the extreme. According to the most ancient historians, the Chinese owe their first glimpse of civilisation to the Emperor Fuh-he, who lived in the year 2953 B.c. He found his subjects simple savages, recognising only the rights of force, and it became his chief endeavour to lift them from the low condition, little above the beasts, in which they then lived. In those days a man, “though he mi ght know his mother, could not point out his father; his desires were unrestrained. In his sleep he snored ; when he rose he yawned ; when hungry he ate as much as he could digest, and threw away the remainder. His dress consisted of the skins of animals, his drink their blood ; but Fuh-he taught them to make nets and to rear domesticated animals. Observing the constant course of nature, he was 30 Hieroglyph ics. anxious to trace the original causes of her great revolutions; he therefore invented a system which, by combining the characters of the elements in an artificial way, expressed the changes in nature.” By determining the seasons this Emperor introduced order into the performance of business, and in a rude way he contrived a system of hieroglyphics by which people could express their thoughts. Music also was initiated by Full-lie, and last, but greatest deed of all, he instituted the rite of marriage, until then unknown. His successors improved upon his plans, and encouraged the cultivation of the soil, thereby retaining the wandering tribes on certain fixed spots. Soon villages sprung up, and, owing to the greater regularity of life and the certainty of nourishment, the population rapidly increased. One of these monarchs, the Emperor Hwang-te (or “ The Yellow Emperor”), so greatly improved the nation, that under his sway it may be said to have emerged from the darkness of barbarism into the light of a sound social organisation. He constructed the first brick palace, increased the number of hieroglyphics, built cities and villages, and pushed out colonies further south; he invented carts, clocks, boats, chariots, and, building an observatory, rectified the calendar. He also introduced coined money, and established a system of weights and measures. Nor was his imperial consort less enterprising, the discovery of the uses to which the thread of the silkworm may be applied being attributed to her. Shun, the last of the “Five Emperors,” to lessen the cares of Government, associated Yu with himself upon the CHINESE CHANGING RESIDENCE. 31 Emperor Yu. throne, and when, in the year 2207 B.C., Shun died, Yu succeeded to the supreme authority. With him commences the Hea dynasty, extending from the above date to 1767 B.c., and numbering seventeen sovereigns. Yu will always be regarded as one of the greatest amongst the Chinese emperors. A good deal of the miraculous is mixed up with his history, which says — “Yu was nine cubits two-tenths high. Wine was made by E-teih. Yu drank of it, and delighted in it ; but, apprehensive of its consequences in succeeding ages, pro- cured its prohibition. At that time heaven rained down gold three days.” He caused many marshes to be drained; divided the empire into nine provinces, maps of which were engraved upon large brass vessels ; and introduced order and regularity into all branches of the administration. His successors, however, failed to imitate the many virtues of the founder of their dynasty, for, with few exceptions, they left the reins of government in the hands of their ministers, and abandoned themselves to pleasure. With a terseness highly characteristic of the Chinese historians, who seem to know no medium between perfection and the deepest iniquity, these monarchs are merely mentioned as having “ done nothing worth recording.” The last reigning prince of this dynasty was Kee, who ascended the throne in 1818 B.c., and bears the character of being one of the worst princes who ever ruled in China. His cruelty, exactions, and prodigality rendered him so odious to the great vassals of the crown that they combined and overthrew him. Kee escaped with his life, but, c 32 Emperor Chow. abandoned by even bis profligate favourites, he died an ignominious death in exile in 1766. The throne being now vacant, Ching-tang, the most influential and capable of the nobles, was called upon to fill it, and with his accession commenced the Shang dynasty, extending from 1766 to 1122 B.C., and comprising twenty-eight sovereigns, who left behind them little worthy of record. Chow-sin, the last Emperor of this family, ascended the throne in 1134 B.c. He was proud, drunken, extravagant, debauched, and cruel. His history is such a good specimen of Chinese style that I give it in full. “ Chow, in his wars, took a female captive, Ta-ke, whose name is as infamous as his own. They both gave them- selves up to the greatest excess of unrestrained sensuality, and to the wildest extravagance. . . . They erected a kind of stage, or terrace, a thousand cubits high, and three h (about one English mile) broad. It required ten years to complete it. They laid out extensive gardens ; formed menageries filled with horses, dogs, rare animals, and curious birds. At Sha-kew, now the Province of Chih-le, they collected a vast concourse of people devoted to pleasure and dissipation. They there made a lake of wine, and surrounded it with meat suspended on the trees ; to this paradise naked men and women resorted, and passed the long nights in drunkenness and debauchery. Profligacy to this extent is more than the common sense of mankind, in the worst of times, can approve. The king and court fell into contempt ; which Ta-ke, instead of attributing to His Cruelties. 33 the right cause, ascribed to the lightness of the ordinary punishments, and to the easy death to which criminals were subjected. She, therefore, introduced a punishment called Wei-tow, which was an iron vessel, like the Chinese measure called Tow, and which, when heated red-hot, the criminal was obliged to hold in his hands until they were roasted. She also invented a brass pillar, called Paou-lo, which, being greased, or daubed with unctuous matter, and so made slippery, was laid over a fire of coals. Across this fire, the criminal was forced to walk upon the slippery, burning, rounded brass. The consequence was that he fell into the fire. It is said that the ineffectual efforts of the criminals to walk across the burning roller afforded this cruel lady much amusement and delight. “ Chow, in a passion, murdered a nobleman’s daughter, because she disliked the debaucheries of the palace. . . . On seeing some persons fording a brook in a cold winter’s morning, he said they endured the cold in a remarkable manner, and forthwith ordered their legs to be cut off, that he might view the marrow. His relation, Ke-teze, having reproved him, escaped death by affecting madness. Pe-kan acquired immortal fame by being one of the first martyrs in the generally hopeless cause of reproving bad kings. “ Woo-wang, the martial king, thought it right to rid the world of Chow. He made a solemn appeal to heaven, imposed an oath on his nobles, and proceeded to what he conceived was fighting Heaven’s battles. Chow sent 700,000 men to oppose him. But they had no will to fight. They were routed. Chow fled to the stage he had 34 Birth of Confucius. erected, clothed himself sumptuously, adorned with pearls and gems, and in that state burnt himself to death. AVoo-wang cut down with the sword the wicked and unhappy Ta-ke. How often, even in this life, does Divine Providence punish the atrociously profligate !” In many respects the history of Chow reminds us of Sardanapalus. AVe now arrive at another dynasty, that of Chow, which, numbering thirty-five sovereigns, embraced the period between the years 1122 and 249 B.c. Interminable civil wars marked the reign of this family, during which some of the vassal princes were so blind to the interests of the future as to call the Tartars to assist them in their disputes with neighbouring chiefs, thus introducing into the heart of the empire the savage tribes which were destined at a later date to conquer it. The births of three great men occurred during this dynasty — namely, Kung-fu-tsze (Confucius) in 552 B.c. ; Laou-tsze, or Laou-keun, a con- temporary of the first named great philosopher ; and Mang-tsze, or Mencius. AVe now pass on to the Tsin dynasty, lasting from 249 to 206 B.c., and numbering three sovereigns. Of these the Emperor Hwang-te deserves particularly to be noticed, if only on account of the hatred with which his memory is still regarded by the Chinese. Mounting the throne at the early age of twenty, the powerful genius of this monarch seems even then to have been fixed on one great object — supreme dominion. Taking into his counsels the Prime Minister, one Le-sze, a most astute and unscrupulous 35 Emperor Hwang-te. statesman, they together concerted the gigantic plan of subjecting the whole vast Empire of China to the sway of one sovereign. Hwang-te resolved not only to make himself famous, but to outdo by his achievements all former deeds of glory, and by the unheard-of splendour of his exploits make his successors despair of ever excelling them. He determined to be sole Emperor, not merely in name, but in actual authority, and to hold in his own hands the power which the incapacity of his predecessors had permitted to be divided amongst vassal chiefs, who had become their equals. To this end he secretly amassed an enormous treasure, and then sowed discord amongst the petty princes, who soon became so weakened that he experienced no difficulty in overcoming them one by one, and making himself master of the whole empire. Hitherto he had only borne the name of Ching-wang, but, flushed with pride and victory, he regarded himself as so infinitely superior to any of the former monarchs that he adopted the title of Che-hwang-te, signifying “ the first absolute sovereign of the dynasty of Tsin.” Under his directions the science of astronomy, which during the troubles of the preceding reigns had fallen into disuse, was revived, and a new calendar published. He also built a splendid palace, the grounds of which were tastefully laid out, and the interior magnificent beyond anything previously known. But although he was undisputed ruler of so vast a country his energetic spirit was restless, and he turned his victorious arms against the Huns, whose country, situated 36 Great Wall Built. to the west of the present province of Shense, was of great size, extending beyond the Oxus and Jaxarles. These people were fierce, barbarous, and warlike, their principal strength consisting in hordes of irregular cavalry. To them neither the highest mountains nor the swiftest streams proved serious impediments, for their agile ponies surmounted the one and swam the other. Eegular tactics employed against such a foe were useless, for they never waited until an army large enough to overwhelm them could be assembled. The Emperor, however, took the barbarians completely by surprise, and his armies thus gained a victory which they would hardly have succeeded in doing had the enemy been prepared. But now came the question of stopping their future inroads into the Empire. To effect this, Che-hwang-te determined to con- struct a work which should exceed in grandeur everything that the world had ever seen, and should endure into remote ages as a lasting memorial of his greatness. This was the building of the famous Great Wall, a full descrip- tion of which will be given in another chapter. But whilst engaged in superintending this enormous work, the literati of the Empire provoked the monarch by their dislike to the smallest innovation, and their anxiety to restore all ancient customs. Le-sze, the prime minister, always ready with a remedy, counselled his master to put an end for once and all to their impertinent remarks by burning all the ancient books. His advice was taken, and jyi edict issued for the destruction of every volume in the country, excepting only those which treated of scientific 37 All Books Destroyed. subjects. An innumerable quantity of precious documents thus perished, though the unfortunate literati freely sacri- ficed their lives in defence of their beloved books. Five or six hundred of them were buried alive for refusing com- pliance with this abominable edict, and, undismayed by their fate, the survivors exhibited the greatest ingenuity and courage in concealing volumes, and the wish of the tyrant that the records of every dynasty earlier than his own should be destroyed was happily unfulfilled, for many years afterwards a copy of the works of Confucius was found between the walls of an old house which was being pulled down, and many others have since been discovered hidden in caves and tombs or buried in the earth. Clie- hwang-te survived this wholesale destruction but a short time, dying, after an illness of only three days, in the year 210 B.c. From this time the Empire was devastated by civil wars, and dynasties succeeded each other with great rapidity. There were fourteen between the years 207 b.c. and a.d. 1279. Up to this time the Empire had maintained its integi’ity, notwithstanding the continual invasions of the Mongolians. This people, in 1277, sent out a fleet which took possession of Canton. Two years later a great naval battle was fought between the fleets of both nations. The Imperialists were at anchor off Yae island, with the Emperor Te-ping — a mere lad — on board, when the Tartar admiral summoned them to surrender, a demand which the Chinese minister, Loo-sew-foo, haughtily refused. An engagement then commenced, which lasted the whole day, 38 Wholesale Suicide. and ended in the entire defeat of the Imperialists. The prime minister attempted to escape with the Emperor, hut, finding this impossible, he first threw his wife and children overboard, and then, saying “ It is better to die free than to dishonour one’s ancestors by an ignominious captivity,” seized his prince and plunged into the sea with him in his arms. The Empress and many of the leading nobles followed Loo-sew-foo’s example, and thus ended all resist- ance against the victorious Tartars. mandarin’s travelling boat. CHAPTER IY. Kublai Khan — He Quells an Insurrection — Purchase of Young Women — Description of Palace near Pekin — Disastrous Attempt to Conquer Japan — Termination of Yuen Dynasty. A RACE of foreigners was now seated on the throne of the oldest empire in the world. The first monarch of the Tartar race commenced to reign in the year 1280 of the Christian era, and is called by the Chinese Che-yuen- Houpilai, or She-tsoo, though better known in history as Kublai Khan, the descendant of Genghis, first khan of the Mongols or Tartars. In the reign of this sovereign Marco Polo, the celebrated Venetian traveller, visited the court of the Grand Khan, and from him we learn many most interesting facts regarding the Tartar monarch. He says : — “ Kublai Khan, be it understood, is the lineal and legitimate descendant of Jengiz-khan, the first Emperor and the rightful sovereign of the Tartars. He is the sixth Grand Khan, and began his reign in the year 1256. (The Venetian antedates — Chinese history counts his reign from 1280, when he had conquered the whole Empire.) He obtained the sovereignty by his consummate valour, his virtues, and his prudence, in opposition to the designs of 40 An Usurper. his brothers, supported by many of the great officers and members of his family. Previously to his ascending the throne he had served as a volunteer in the army, and endeavoured to take a share in every enterprise. Not only was he brave and daring in action, hut in point of judg- ment and military skill he was considered to be the most able and successful commander that ever led the Tartars to battle. From that period, however, he ceased to take the field in person, and entrusted the conduct of expedi- tions to his sons and captains, excepting in one instance, the occasion of which was as follows ” : — The reader will kindly remember that I am not quoting Marco Polo in full, but extracting certain passages and piecing them together. To enter into minutiae would occupy a volume. “A young chief named Nayon, who was kinsman to Kublai, had succeeded to the dominion of many cities and provinces, which enabled him to bring into the field an army of four hundred thousand horse. Actuated by youth- ful vanity, upon finding himself at the head of so great a force, he formed in the year 1286 the design of throwing off his allegiance and usurping the sovereignty. With this view he privately despatched messengers to Kaidu, another powerful chief, whose territories lay towards Turkestan, who, although a nephew of the Grand Khan, was in re- bellion against him. To Kaidu the propositions made by Nayon were highly satisfactory, and he promised to bring to -his assistance an army of a hundred thousand horse. “ The assembly of the rebel force could not be effected Assembly of Rebels. 41 with such secrecy as to prevent its coming to the knowledge of Kublai, who at once gave orders for collecting the whole of the troops stationed within ten days’ march of Kambalu SOLDIERS OF THE TIME OF MARCO POLO. 42 Kublai Marches. (Peking). These amounted to three hundred and sixty thousand horse, to which was added a body of one hundred thousand foot, and in the course of three weeks the army was ready to set out. “ By forced marches Kublai reached the territory of Na- yan in twenty-five days, and so prudently was the expedition managed that neither the rebel prince himself nor any of his dependants were aware of the Grand Khan’s approach. Upon arriving at a range of hills, on the other side of which was the plain where Nayan’s army lay encamped, Kublai halted his troops, and gave them two days to recover their fatigue. During this period he had recourse to his astro- logers, who, in the presence of the whole army, declared that victory would fall to the lot of Kublai. Confident, therefore, of success, his forces ascended the hill with alacrity the next morning, and presented themselves before the army of Kay an, which they found negligently posted. “ Kublai took his station in a large wooden castle, borne on the back of four elephants, whose bodies were protected with coverings of thick leather hardened by fire, over which were housings of cloth of gold. The castle contained many cross-bowmen and archers, and on the top of it was hoisted the imperial standard, adorned with representations of the sun and moon. His army, which consisted of thirty bat- talions of horse, each battalion containing ten thousand men armed with bows, he disposed in three grand divisions, and those which formed the left and right wings he ex- tended in such a manner as to outflank the army of Nay an. In front of each battalion of horse were placed five hundred Mounted Infantry. 43 infantry, armed with short lances and swords, who, when- ever the cavalry made a show of flight, were practised to mount behind the riders and accompany them, alighting TROOPER OF PRESENT DAY. 44 The Battle . again, when they returned to the charge, and killing with their lances the horses of the enemy. As soon as the order of battle was arranged, an infinite number of wind instru- ments of various kinds were sounded, and these were suc- ceeded by songs, according to the custom of the Tartars before they engage in fight, which commences upon the signal given by the cymbals and drums, and there was such a beating of the cymbals and drums, and such singing, that it was wonderful to hear. This signal, by orders of the Grand Khan, was first given to the right and left wings, and then a fierce and bloody conflict began. The air was instantly filled with a cloud of arrows that poured down on every side, and vast numbers of men and horses were seen to fall to the ground. The loud cries and shouts of the men, together with the noise of the horses and the weapons, were such as to inspire terror into those who heard them. When their arrows had been discharged, the hostile parties engaged in close combat with their lances, swords, and maces shod with iron ; and such was the slaughter, and so large were the heaps of the carcases of men, and more especially of horses, on the field, that it became impossible for the one party to advance upon the other. Thus the fortune of the day remained for a long time undecided, and victory wavered between the con- tending parties from morning until noon ; for so zealous was the devotion of Navan’s people to the cause of their master, who was most liberal and indulgent towards them, that they were all ready to meet death rather than turn their backs to the enemy. At length, however, Nayan, Toleration of Kublai Khan. 45 perceiving he was nearly surrounded, attempted to save himself by flight, hut was presently made prisoner, and conducted to the presence of Kublai, who gave orders for his being put to death. This was carried into execution by enclosing him between two carpets, which were violently shaken until the spirit had departed from the body ; the motive for this peculiar sentence being that the sun and the air should not witness the shedding of the blood of one who belonged to the imperial family.” Marco Polo, who seems to have been present at this battle, now mentions an instance of toleration in the Grand Khan, so remarkable that I extract it in full. “ Nayan, who had privately undergone the ceremony of baptism, but never made open profession of Christianity, thought proper, on this occasion, to bear the sign of the cross in his banners, and he had in his army a vast number of Christians, who were left amongst the slain. When the Jews and the Saracens perceived that the banner of the cross was overthrown, they taunted the Christian inha- bitants with it, saying, ‘ Behold the state to which your (vaunted) banners, and those who followed them, are re- duced!’ On account of these derisions, the Christians were compelled to lay their complaints before the Grand Khan, who ordered the former to appear before him, and sharply rebuked them. 1 If the Cross of Christ,’ he said, ‘ has not proved advantageous to the party of Nayan, the effect has been consistent with reason and justice, inas- much as he was a rebel and a traitor to his Lord, and to such wretches it could not afford its protection. Let none, 46 Personal Appearance of Grand Khan. therefore, presume to charge with injustice the God of the Christians, who is Himself the perfection of goodness and of justice.’ ” The rebellion having been thoroughly stamped out, and the surviving malcontents having sworn allegiance to Kublai, the old monarch returned to his capital, Kambalu. His appearance is thus described : — “ Kublai, who is styled Grand Khan, or lord of lords, is of the middle stature — that is, neither tall nor short ; his limbs are well formed, and in his whole figure there is a just proportion. His complexion is fair, and occasionally suffused with red, like the bright tint of the rose, which adds much grace to his countenance. His eyes are black and handsome ; his nose is well-shaped and prominent. He has four wives of the first rank, who are esteemed legitimate, and the eldest born son of any one of these succeeds to the empire upon the decease of the Grand Khan. They bear equally the title of empress, and have their separate courts. None of them have fewer than three hundred young female attendants of great beauty, together with a multitude of youths as pages, and other eunuchs, as well as ladies of the bedchamber ; so that the number of persons belonging to each of their respective courts amounts to ten thousand. When his Majesty is desirous of the company of one of his empresses, he either sends for her, or goes himself to her palace. Besides these, he has many concubines provided for his use, from a province of Tartary named Ungut, having a city of the same name, the inhabi- tants of which are distinguished for beauty of features and 47 Selection of Young Women. fairness of complexion. Thither the Grand Khan sends his officers every second year, or oftener, as it may happen to be his pleasure, who collect for him, to the number of four or five hundred, or more, of the handsomest of the young women, according to the estimation of beauty com- municated to them in their instructions. The mode of their appreciation is as follows : — Upon the arrival of these commissioners they give order for assembling all the young women of the province, and appoint qualified persons to examine them, who, upon careful inspection of each of them separately — that is to say, of the hair, the counten- ance, the eyebrows, the mouth, the lips, and other features. 48 Value of Young Women. as well as the symmetry of these with each other — estimate their value at sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, or twenty, or more carats, according to the greater or less degree of beauty. The number required by the Grand Khan, at the rate perhaps of twenty or twenty-one carats, to which their commission was limited, is then selected from the rest, and they are conveyed to his court. Upon their arrival in his presence, he causes a new examination to be made by a different set of inspectors, and from amongst them a further election takes place, when thirty or forty are retained for his own chamber, at a higher valuation. These, in the first instance, are committed separately to the care of the wives of certain of the nobles, whose duty it is to observe them attentively during the course of the night, in order to ascertain that they have not any con- cealed infections, that they sleep tranquilly, do not snore, have sweet breath, and are free from unpleasant scent in any part of the body. Having undergone this rigorous scrutiny, they are divided into parties of five, one of which parties attends, during three days and three nights, in his Majesty’s interior apartment, where they are to perform every service that is required of them. When this term is completed, they are relieved by another party, and in this manner successively until the whole number have taken their turn, when the first five recommence their attend- ance. But whilst the one party officiates in the inner chamber, another is stationed in the outer apartment adjoining ; in order that, if his Majesty should have occa- sion for anything, such as drink or victuals, the former \ 49 How Disposed of. may signify his commands to the latter, by whom the article required is immediately procured ; and thus the duty of waiting upon his Majesty’s person is exclusively performed by these young females. The remainder of them, whose value had been estimated at an inferior rate, are assigned to the different lords of the household, under whom they are instructed in cookery, in dressmaking, and other suitable works ; and upon any person belonging to the court expressing an inclination to take a wife, the Grand Khan bestows upon him one of these damsels, with a handsome portion. In this manner he provides for them all amongst his nobility. It may be asked whether the people of the province do not feel themselves aggrieved in having their daughters thus forcibly taken from them by the sovereign ? Certainly not ; but, on the contrary, they regard it as a favour and an honour done to them ; and those who are the fathers of handsome children feel highly gratified by his condescending to make choice of their daughters. ‘ If,’ they say, ‘ my daughter is born under an auspicious planet, and to good fortune, his Majesty can best fulfil her destinies by matching her nobly ; which it would not be in my power to do.’ If, on the other hand, the daughter misconducts herself, or any mischance befalls her (by which she becomes disqualified), the father attri- butes the disappointment to the malign influence of her stars.” The Grand Khan’s palace near Kambalu (Peking) is worthy of notice, being the largest in the world. Marco Polo describes it with a minuteness into which I am unable 50 Palace near Pekin. to follow him. The form and dimensions of this huge building (in which the park is included) are as follows : — In the first place is a square enclosed with a wall and deep ditch, each side of the square being eight miles in length, and having at an equal distance from each extremity an entrance-gate. Within this enclosure is an open space one mile in breadth, running round the four sides, where the troops are stationed ; and this is bounded by a second wall enclosing a square of six miles, having three gates on the south side and three on the north. The troops were almost entirely cavalry, and the barracks and stables would en- tirely cover the twenty-eight square miles allotted to them, putting their number down at one hundred and twelve thousand— -and it was probably more. The second en- closure contained the eight royal arsenals and the deer- park. Within this walled enclosure there is another, forming a square four miles in extent, each side being one mile. The walls of this are twenty-five feet high, and of great thick- ness. It also contains eight buildings, which are appro- priated to the Emperor’s wardrobe. The spaces between one wall and the other are ornamented with handsome trees, and contain meadows, in which are kept deer, and animals of that class. The roads traversing these pastures are raised several feet above the level of the ground, and are paved so that the rain runs off and no mud accumulates- Within the walls which constitute the boundary of four miles stands the palace, which reaches from the northern to the southern wall, leaving only a court, where persons TRIUMPHAL AROII AT PALACE AT PEKIN, , c f ■ 51 Interior of Palace. of rank and the military guards pass and repass. Although the roof is very lofty, the building consists of only one story. The paved foundation or platform on which it stands is raised several feet above the level of the ground, and a marble wall seven feet wide is built level with this foundation, and, extending beyond the ground plan of the palace, serves as a terrace for the inmates. This wall is surrounded by a handsome balustrade, supported on pillars, which the people are allowed to approach. The sides of the great halls and the apartments are ornamented with dragons in carved work and gilt, figures of warriors, of birds, and of beasts, with representations of battles. The inside of the roof is contrived in such a manner that nothing besides gilding and painting presents itself to the eye. On each of the four sides of the palace there is a grand flight of marble steps, by which you ascend from the level of the ground to the wall of marble which surrounds the building, and which constitute the approach to the palace itself. The grand hall is extremely long and wide, and admits of dinners being there served to great multitudes of people. The palace contains a number of separate chambers, all highly beautiful, and so admirably disposed that it seems impossible to suggest any improve- ment to the system of their arrangement. The exterior of the roof is adorned with a variety of colours, red, green, azure, and violet, and the sort of covering is so strong as to last for many years. The glazing of the windows is so well wrought and so delicate as to have the transparency of crystal. In the rear of the body of the palace there are 52 Palace of Heir-apparent. large buildings containing several apartments, where is deposited the private property of the monarch, or his treasure in gold and silver bullion, precious stones and pearls, and also his vessels of gold and silver plate. Here are likewise the apartments of his wives and concubines ; and in this retired situation he despatches business with convenience, being free from every kind of interruption. On the other side of the Grand Palace, and opposite to that in which the Emperor resides, is another palace, in every respect similar, appropriated to the residence of Chingis, his eldest son, at whose court are observed all the ceremonials belonging to that of his father, as the prince who is to succeed to the government of the Empire. Not far from the palace, on the northern side, and about a bow- shot distance from the surrounding wall, is an artificial mount of earth, the height of which is full a hundred paces, and the circuit at the base about a mile. It is clothed with the most beautiful evergreen trees ; for whenever his Majesty receives information of a handsome tree growing in any place, he causes it to be dug up, with all its roots and the earth about them, and, however large and heavy it may be, he has it transported by means of elephants to this mount, and adds it to the verdant collection. From this perpetual verdure it has acquired the appellation of the Green Mount. On its summit is erected an ornamental pavilion, which is likewise entirely green. The view of this altogether — the mount itself, the trees, and the build- ing — form a delightful and, at the same time, a wonderful scene. In the northern quarter also, and equally within 53 Artificial Mount. the precincts of the city, there is a large and deep excava- tion, judiciously formed, the earth from which supplied the material for raising the mount.* It is furnished with water by a small rivulet, and has the appearance of a. fish-pond, but its use is for watering the cattle. The stream, passing from thence along an aqueduct at the foot of the Green Mount, proceeds to fill another great and very deep exca- vation formed between the private palace of the Emperor and that of his son Chingis, and the earth from hence equally served to increase the elevation of the mount. In this latter basin there is great store and varietj^ of fish, from which the table of his Majesty is supplied with any quantity that may be wanted. The stream discharges itself at the opposite extremity of the sheet of water, and precautions are taken to prevent the escape of the fish by placing gratings of copper or iron at the places of its entrance and exit. It is stocked also with swans and other aquatic birds. From the one palace to the other there is a communication by means of a bridge thrown across the water. Such is the description of this great palace. During the reign of Kublai Khan the trade of Kambalu was immense ; no fewer than a thousand carriages and pack-horses loaded with raw silk entered the capital daily, and gold tissues and silk were manufactured to an enormous extent. According to Marco Polo, the religion of the Tartars seems to have been Buddhism, but was totally untinged by bigotry. Despite occasional acts of cruelty, * This artificial hill exists at the present day, and retains its original name of Kingshan, or the Green Mountain. 54 Attempted Invasion of Japan. Kublai Khan seems to have been a mild sovereign, though he never succeeded in gaining the love of the conquered race. He made numerous canals, which will ever remain far more useful witnesses of his greatness than the Wall of Hwang-te; caused good astronomical instruments to be constructed, and encouraged the arts and sciences. He made a vain effort to conquer Japan. Four thousand vessels were employed for this purpose, but a gale of wind dispersed them near the Piscadores or Pong-hoo Islands. Many of the fleet were shattered on the rocks, and the officers returned to China with the remainder, leaving the soldiers to their fate. These hardy Tartars, however, were not to be daunted, and commenced building vessels for the purpose of descending on the Japanese coast. The latter, hearing of this, and knowing that their freedom was seri- ously jeopardised, went to the islands in force, and mas- sacred every Mongol, with the exception of twelve thousand whom they detained as prisoners. It is said that only three persons returned to China to announce the disaster. Kublai Khan died in the year 1295. The Empire of China was never so extensive as during his reign, an enormous tract of country extending from the Arctic Circle to the Malay Peninsula acknowledging his authority, but his descendants proved inferior to himself in every way. In their new country the Tartars soon lost the energy which had once distinguished them, and when their im- petuous valour and their thirst for war and conquest were extinguished, they found themselves no longer superior to the conquered Chinese. This sudden change of habits and 55 Termination of Yuen Dynasty. character, though visible in the whole of the Mongol race, seemed more thorough in the monarchs. Three alone out of the nine Emperors composing the Tartar or Yuen dynasty made their pleasures subordinate to their duties ; some of them were even assassinated within the precincts of their palaces by those whom their follies and dissolute conduct had injured and disgusted. The Yuen dynasty lasted from 1280 to 1368, and the last of its Emperors was Shun-te, whose government brought to a climax the disorder which for generations had pre- vailed in the Empire. The Chinese eagerly took advan- tage of the degeneration of their conquerors, and at last found a leader capable of uniting their forces for the purpose of overthrowing the Tartar dynasty. Shun-te left the management of the whole country to his ministers, and gave himself up entirely to degrading debauchery, living with his Lamas and concubines, and apparently ignorant of the misery his subjects suffered. During his reign, in the year 1342, a famine so dire afflicted the Empire that the people were compelled to eat human flesh, yet the monarch spent his whole time in frivolous pleasures, heedless of the groans of his miserable people. These at last became refractory, and a fit leader in the person of one Choo-yuen-chang having come forward, the Chinese arose and drove their insolent and now effemi- nate conquerors from the Imperial throne. CHAPTER V. Modern History — The Ming Dynasty — Tartars re-enter China— Discords in the Empire — Suicide of the Emperor, and Fall of Ming Dynasty. 'E now emerge from the middle ages, and enter into M H what is generally known as the modern history of China. I mentioned in the last chapter that a leader had been found for the native race, under whom they arose and threw off the Tartar yoke. This man was of very obscure birth — the son of a poor labourer, it is said. His name was Clioo-yuen-chang, though he is better known as the Emperor Hung-woo. Choo, being of a weak constitution, was committed during his youth to the care of the priests at the Hwang- kao-sze temple, who subjected him to the menial occupa- tion of sweeping the floors of the pagoda. He then showed little sign of the eminence he was hereafter to attain. On reaching his twenty-fourth year, Choo, seeing that his country was in a ferment that might at any moment break out into open rebellion, and disgusted probably at the inactivity of a life spent amongst the lazy and profligate priesthood, joined the army, and by his conspicuous valour soon attracted the attention of his commanding officers, by A Chosen Deliverer. 57 whom he was raised to some rank. Marriage with a great lady increased his influence, and his power grew until he became the leader of a party, thousands of Chinese flocking to his standard, resolved never to lay down their arms until the Mongols, against whom the national enmity was now at its highest, wei e driven from the kingdom. Choo first directed his attention to the province of Che-kiang, of which he soon gained possession, but the menaces of a rival leader turned him aside from his main object, and not until he had crushed his opponent in a most sanguinary battle did he commence the task of rooting out the Tartars. Wherever he appeared Choo was welc.omed by innumerable multitudes, who joyfully hailed him as their chosen deliverer. Under the effete Tartar rule numerous bands of robbers had arisen, who, whilst calling themselves patriots, actually wrought more mischief to the wretched Chinese than the oppressors themselves. These banditti Choo soon repressed, and gave the provinces he occupied a degree of tranquillity to which they had been strangers for many years. Such a wise measure as this naturally increased his popularity tenfold, but the success of his armies and his own growing greatness never for a moment made him forget his humble origin, and modesty caused him to refuse the imperial title until the Tartars were driven completely out of the country. On one occasion when he was re- viewing his army he saw that the imperial standard was displayed, an incident which called down a severe rebuke upon the head of the general. Causing it to be instantly 58 Ming Dynasty Founded. furled, Choo put himself at the head of his troops and marched against the Mongol host. His victory was de- cisive. Shun-te, the last of the Tartar sovereigns, fled to Ying-chang-foo, where he died an exile in 1370, and Choo- yuen-chang, who but a short time before had handled a broom under the orders of the bonzes, found himself the head of a mighty empire and the founder of the Ming dynasty. To refuse the title of Emperor would now have been absurd, and Choo assumed the imperial yellow under the name of Hung-woo. Sweeping reforms followed his accession to the throne, luxury was abolished, and the Emperor in person superintended every department of the administration, providing means of subsistence for such as had been made orphans and widows by the war. Impressed with a sense of insecurity as long as the Mongol Emperor lived, Hung-woo sent forth an army, which, after a successful campaign, took the whole of the imperial family prisoners. Shun-te had lately died, and his son, Ngai-yew-chilipata, succeeded in making his escape, but Maitili-pala, his grandson, was brought to Hung-woo, whose officers wished him to issue orders for the immediate execution of the young man. This advice the Emperor repelled with horror, a circumstance which shows how thoroughly humane he must have been, for few other Ori- ental despots would have tolerated the existence of one who on some future occasion might become a formidable rival. But, though turned out of China proper, the Tartars still held possession of the province of Liao-tong, outside the Great Wall, and it was not without terrible effusion of 59 Charvcter of Hung -woo . blood that this last stronghold was captured. The imperial generals gave no quarter to the Mongols, whom they re- garded as rebels. Many of the latter committed suicide ; others, although they had abandoned all hope of ever re- conquering China, made repeated incursions into the Empire, and, notwithstanding that these attempts at re- venge were generally accompanied by heavy losses, they chose rather to sacrifice their lives than to abstain from retaliation. Hung-woo terminated a glorious and useful reign in 1398. Gutzlaff, to whose admirable history of China I am indebted for much of the foregoing, speaks thus of this monarch : — “ The founder of the Ming dynasty was doubtless a very great man, his forbearance being as remarkable as his valour, and he was as great a statesman as a warrior. Whilst he stifled every germ of rebellion, and always kept a large army in the field, he was most anxious to spare the lives of his subjects and of the Tartars. The many in- stances of brutal cruelty which happened at the surrender of cities and at the punishment of rebels, must rather be ascribed to his generals than to his orders. ISTothing proves so well his admirable character as the princely splendour with which he maintained at court the grandson of the Mongol Emperor whom he had driven from the throne. When he proposed to this prince to leave China for Mon- golia, the youth chose rather to remain with his generous enemy than to return to his native country. There is only one measure which reflects no credit upon his policy — his 60 His Prudence and Foresight. great fondness for his children prevailed over his prudence as an emperor; he bestowed principalities upon his sons, and thus sowed the germs of discord in the Empire. The name he received in the temple of ancestors was Tae-tsoo — grandsire.” There are many instances recorded of Huug-woo’s pru- dence and foresight. He had nominated his grandson as his successor, and when he felt his end approaching he sent all the princes to their several governments, so that the young man might ascend the throne without inter- ference. He abridged the time of mourning for parents from twenty-seven months to the same number of days, thinking that real grief would then be more sincerely exhibited. From his personal acquaintance with the inner life of a temple he knew the danger of granting too much liberty to an unmarried priesthood, and therefore enacted that neither men nor women should be admitted into the monasteries before the age of forty years. During the preceding reigns the eunuchs had been very powerful, but Hung-woo most wisely cut this short by making a law that no eunuch should ever be permitted to hold any office in the state, however small and insignificant. Had he reigned longer, much bloodshed would have been averted. His grandson, Keen-wan, a lad of only sixteen, suc- ceeded Hung-woo as the second monarch of the Ming dynasty. His accession to the throne gave the greatest offence to his uncles, who thought their claims superior, as being sons of the late monarch. These princes, therefore, formed a coalition, having for its principal object the de- BANK NOTE OF THE MING DYNASTY. China, p. 60. J : \ Rebellion. 61 thronement of the young Emperor, and the division of the kingdom amongst themselves, upon hearing of which Keen- wan degraded four of them to the rank of plebeians. One of the number refused to survive so gross an insult, and, setting fire to his palace, threw himself into the flames. But another of the brothers, the powerful Prince of Yen, rose in arms, defeated the imperial troops, and, after cap- turing several cities, marched upon the capital. He made known his grievances to the Emperor, demanding the punishment of the ministers who had counselled the de- gradation of his brothers, who, he insisted, should be immediately reinstated in their principalities. The Em- peror rejected these propositions, and, gathering an army of one hundred thousand men, sent it against his uncle. The last hope of the imperialists was dashed to the ground by a decisive battle, 1403, and, the gates of the capital being opened by a traitor, the victorious army of the Prince of Yen marched in without opposition. The palace was set on fire, and the Empress threw herself into the flames, whilst the cowardly Emperor skulked about in the disguise of a bonze or priest, for the purpose of better sustaining which character he had shaved his head. Under the title of Yung-lo the Prince of Yen ascended the throne, and reigned for twenty-two years, being succeeded by his son, Jin-tsung. Into close details of the reigns of the remaining princes of the Ming dynasty I am unable to enter. During the time they occupied the throne the Tartar hordes never ceased their incursions, and, aided by their Eastern brethren, 62 Manchoo Grievances. the latter eventually reconquered the Empire. Previous to the establishment of the Manchoo Tartars, China suffered most dreadfully from anarchy and the depredations of her savage assailants. The seven alleged grievances of the chief of the Man- choos, which he felt himself called upon to redress by the subjugation of the Chinese, form a very curious catalogue, and I give it as a specimen of the Tartar style. “ Ere my grandfather had injured a blade of grass, or usurped an inch of ground that belonged to Ming, Ming causelessly commenced hostilities, and injured him. — This is the first thing to be revenged. “ Although Ming commenced hostilities, we, still desirous of peace, agreed to engrave it on a stone, and take a solemn oath in confirmation of it, that neither Manchow nor Chinese should pass the respective limits ; whoever dared to do so should, the moment he was seen, be destroyed ; and that the party which connived at any violation of this treaty should be exposed to the judgments of Heaven. Notwithstanding this oath, Ming again passed the frontier with troops, in order to assist a people called the Ye-hih. — This is the second thing to be revenged. “ When a subject of Ming passed over the frontier, and committed depredations in my territory, I, agreeably to the oath above stated, destrojmd him. But Ming turned his back on the former treaty, confirmed with an oath ; com- plained of what I had done ; put to death an envoy of mine ; and having seized ten men on the borders, caused them to be slain. — This is the third thing to be revenged. Manchoo Grievances. 63 “ Ming, with troops, passed the frontier to assist the Ye- hih, and caused my Daughter, already betrothed, to have her destination changed, and he given to another person of the Mung-Koo nation. — This is the fourth thing to be revenged. “ For many generations I held as my frontier the Chae-ho hill, and place adjacent ; my people cultivated it ; but Ming has refused to allow them to reap, and expelled them from thence. — This is the fifth thing to be revenged. “ The Ye-hih committed crimes against Heaven ; but Ming acted with partiality, and gave entire credit to their statements, whilst he sent a special envoy to me bearing a letter, in which he vilified and insulted me. — This is the sixth thing to be revenged. “ Formerly the Ha-tah, assisting the Ye-hih, twice came and invaded me. I announced it to Heaven, and reduced the Ha-tah. Ming formed a conspiracy with him and others to attack me, and restore him his kingdom ; and in conse- quence the Ye-hih several times invaded the Ha-tah territory. “ In the contentions of neighbouring states, those who obey the will of Heaven conquer ; those who oppose the intentions of Heaven are defeated and destroyed. How can those who have died by the sword be restored to life ! or those who have obtained the people return them again ! Heaven establishes the Prince of a great nation ! Why does Ming feel resentment against my country alone 1 “ The Glh-lun, and other nations, united their forces against me to invade me. Heaven rejected Gih-lun for E 64 Tartars Invade China. commencing bloodshed ; but my nation flourished as the spring. Ming is now assisting the Ye-hih, who are under severe reprehension and wrath ; and is thereby opposing the will of Heaven, reversing right and wrong, and acting in the most irregular manner. — This is the seventh thing to be revenged. “ To revenge these Seven Injuries, I now go to reduce to order the Dynasty Ming.” Marching an army against the Chinese, the Tartar king defeated them with great slaughter in the year 1618. In 1635 the Manchoo declared himself Emperor of China, hut it seems probable that Hwae-tsung, the real Ming monarch, could have driven him back, if other re- bellions had not disturbed the peace of the country. Two celebrated robbers named Le and Shang had gathered around them a host of vagabonds so numerous that they set the Imperial armies completely at defiance. Le had the audacity to attempt the conquest of Honan, and invested the capital Kai-fong. The Imperialists were reduced to the greatest straits, but, prompted by despair, they held out to the last. So great, however, were their sufferings from want, that it is recorded that human flesh was regularly sold in the market, and that it was con- sidered an act of charity to throw the bodies of the dead into the street, that the poor people might feed upon them. Still the governor held out until a Chinese army ap- proached to the relief of the beleaguered city. The rebels were so formidable that the Imperial general, fearing he would not succeed in overcoming them, arrived at the The Robber Le. 65 desperate resolution of drowning their whole camp. He accordingly cut through the dykes of the Hoang-ho, whose waters, rushing violently down, overwhelmed the city, drowning two hundred thousand of its inhabitants, and reducing it to a heap of ruins. Le and his banditti, retiring to the mountains at the first alarm, escaped destruction. There is something peculiarly Chinese in drowning people as a means of relieving their sufferings. Le now advanced boldly, killing all the mandarins that fell into his hands, and granting the people exemption from taxes. This drew thousands of the Imperial soldiers to his banner ; and, convinced of the affection of the populace, he proclaimed himself Emperor. When the rightful monarch, Hwae-tsung, heard of Le’s approach, he was in the utmost consternation. But one city — Tae-yuen — remained faithful to its rightful sovereign. Le invested it, but the besieged conducted the defence with such valour that the rebels were in despair of affecting its capture by assault. The usurper had, however, deter- mined on its destruction, regardless of the number of lives that must be sacrificed, and gave the order to advance. So bravely did the Imperial troops defend themselves, and so dreadful was the slaughter, that the ditches became com- pletely filled Avith the bodies of the slain, over which Le’s forces passed, and scaled the city walls. The Imperial soldiers refused quarter, and were all put to the sword, after which the rebels set the toAvn on fire. The victorious Le marched to Pekin, where the Emperor remained awaiting his fate. A traitor opened the gates to the rebel, 66 Suicide of the Emperor. who made a triumphal entry. Mr. Gutzlaff thus describes the end of the last Emperor of the great Ming dynasty : — “ When Hwae-tsung saw that he could no longer depend upon any man, he called the grandees and his family together. ‘ All is lost,’ he exclaimed ; tears stood in his eyes ; he could speak no farther. The Empress was deeply touched ; she left the apartment, embraced her three young children, kissed them fervently, and strangled herself in a private apartment. He then called his daughter, a girl of fifteen years. ‘ Why,’ said he, ‘ are you born of such an unhappy parent ?’ and, aiming a blow at her with his sword, he levelled her to the ground. After this he gave orders to all his wives and concubines to kill themselves ; and, dressed in the Imperial robes, hastened to one of the city gates, but found it in the possession of the enemy. He again returned to the palace, and called together the grandees, but nobody obeyed his summons. He was now at the point of despair, forsaken by the whole world ; and went to the Wun-suy hill, where he wrote a paper, wherein he accused himself of having been the cause of so much misery, charging the grandees as his accomplices, and con- cluded by saying, * Take my corpse, cut it in pieces ; I am content with this ; but spare my people, and do them no wrong.’ When he had finished writing these sentences, he took his own girdle and strangled himself. A eunuch who had been witness of this tragic scene followed his example. Thus fell the Ming dynasty, which occupied the Im- perial throne from 1368 to 1644. ' WHEELBARROW UNDER SAIL. China, p. 66. -v CHAP TEE VI. The Ta-tsing Dynasty — Ancient Legend Foretelling its Greatness — Con- stant Intestine Commotions — The Taeping Insurrection — Its Suppres- sion — The Reigning Monarch. E have now arrived at the Ta-tsing dynasty, the present possessors of the Chinese throne. As the Manchoo Tartars were unacquainted with the art of writing, their origin is very obscure. It seems, however, that they were a miserable, impoverished people, amongst whom some Mongols took up their abode on the expulsion of that race from China. Being in time allowed to trade with the Empire, they grew bold and powerful. Chinese historians say that an intimation of the subsequent glory of the Ta-tsing family was given at a place named “ The Long White Mountain,” which was sixty miles in height. On its summit was a large lake, from whence issued three rivers. At this spot a supernatural voice was heard to declare, “ This land will produce a Holy Man, who will unite in one all nations.” At the foot of the mountain stood a pool of water, at which, tradition says, three Celestial females came to bathe. After the maidens had performed their ablutions, a magpie 68 Celestial Legend. appeared holding in its bill a certain fruit which it placed in the robes of one of the young ladies named Ke. She, without hesitation, swallowed it, and immediately brought forth a son, who could speak as soon as he was born, and whose person and figure were extraordinary. To him a supernatural voice said, “ Heaven has sent you to tran- quillise nations ; ” therefore his mother bestowed upon him the name of Gae-sin-keo-lo, and herself disappeared. The hoy, placing himself in a boat, floated down the stream of a river to a certain shore, where he landed, ascended the beach, and, having formed himself a seat of willows, sat down in the wilderness. In this country were certain chieftains who were engaged in perpetual hostilities. One of them, going down to draw water, saw the hoy, and was astonished at his extraordinary appearance. .Returning, he acquainted his tribe with the discovery he had made, upon which they went out and questioned the stranger respecting his name and people. He said — “ I am born of the Celes- tial Female Foo-koo-lun, and am ordained by Heaven to settle your disordered state.” His hearers, in much aston- ishment, said — “ Heaven has brought forth a Holy One,” and forthwith constituted him their sovereign. They fixed their abode at the city of Go-to-le, in the wilderness of Go-han-hway, to the eastward of the Long White Moun- tain, and denominated their country Manchoo. Some generations afterwards the people rebelled and killed all the descendants of the miraculous boy except a lad named Fan-cha-kin, who escaped into the desert. The murderers pursued him hotly, and he only escaped owing A Faithful General. 69 to a magpie alighting on his head, which his enemies mis- took for a rotten stump. There is a curious resemblance between this legend and the miraculous preservation of Mahomet when concealed in a cave, owing to a spider spinning its web across the entrance. From the lad who escaped in so singular a manner was descended Tae-tsoo, whose seven grievances I have already recounted. He was succeeded by his son, who solemnly proclaimed himself Emperor in 1636, adopting as the name of his dynasty Ta-tsing — great purity. We have seen how the robber Le entered Peking, an event followed by the suicide of the last of the Mings. Woo-san-kwei, a celebrated imperial general, was sta- tioned on the frontier when this revolution occurred, but, on the unwelcome news reaching him, he resolved to avenge his master. Concluding peace with the Tartars, he solicited their assistance against the usurper, an offer which they gladly embraced, as it opened their road into the Empire. Aided by the Manehoos, the Imperialists gained victory after victory ; when, to revenge himself, Le decapitated Woo-san-kwei’s father, and hung his head over the walls of Peking ; after which the rebels evacuated the capital, having set fire to the imperial palace. The faithful general pursued them, and sacrificed ten thousand of their number to the manes of his father. Le retreated to the province of Shan-se, when, feeling himself strong enough to work single-handed, Woo-san- kwei became anxious that his allies should return to their own country. But this the Tartars refused to do, alleging 70 Two Emperors. that their presence was essential for the safety of the capital. They garrisoned Peking, and the unsuspicious Chinese, regarding them as friends, abetted rather than resisted their encroachments ; hut by declaring Shun-che, the ninth son of Tar-tsung, Emperor, the Tartars threw off all disguise concerning their intentions. When the blanking mandarins heard of this new usurpa- tion, and of the suicide of Hwae-tsung, they immediately met together to choose another monarch, and their choice fell upon Ckoo-yew-sung, a grandson of the Emperor Chin- tsung. There were now two Emperors — one, a Tartar, at Peking, the other, a Chinese, at Nanking. But, whilst the latter was leading a life of indolence and ease, surrounded by intriguing courtiers, whose sole aim was to supplant each other in office, the Manchoo regency were winning golden opinions among the Chinese, whom they treated with the utmost lenity and consideration, accommodating themselves to the old customs of the in- habitants, and doing everything in their power to allay any irritation that might exist amongst the conquered race. At length, seeing the weakness of the Nanking government, the Manchoos advised the southern Emperor to abdicate, following up the suggestion by an assault on the large town of Suy-choo, which was taken after a desperate re- sistance, and all its defenders butchered in cold blood. On receipt of this intelligence, the ex-Emperor fled, and the keys of Nanking were delivered to the Tartars. The end of this unfortunate monarch was singular. On flying from his capital he sought refuge in other cities, but Intestine Commotions. 71 these persistently closed their gates, and he became an outcast. At last, being closely pursued, one of the imperial servants who had accompanied him said, “ Let us save ourselves from the disgrace of having died by the hands of these infamous rebels,” and, seizing the ex-Emperor, jumped with him into the Yang-tsze-kiang, where both were drowned. The southern part of the unhappy Empire was now torn by intestine commotions, and bloodshed reigned supreme. The Tartars, and the Chinese princes themselves, devas- tated the central provinces, whilst hosts of savage pirates ravaged the seaboard. In the province of Eo-kien resided a Ming prince (1645) named Tang, who declared himself protector of the Empire, and called upon all the imperial princes to aid him in expelling the barbarians. To this the Tartars replied by a counter-proclamation, which directed that the people attached to the Manchoo interests should shave their heads — a notion which so irritated the Chinese that they attacked the invaders with irresistible fury and drove them into the Yang-tsze-kiang, where multitudes perished. Had intestine quarrels not divided the Ming princes they might now have driven the Manchoos out of the country, but hopeless discord reigned amongst them, fomented by the Tartars, who dexterously turned it to their own advantage. Some idea of the wretched condition of the distracted country may be drawn from the following quotation from Mr. Gutzlaff : — “ A robber, Chang-heen-chung, had pillaged Hoo-kwang, 72 A Chinese Robber. routed the Government forces, and taken possession of Sze- chuen, where he proclaimed himself king under the name of Le-wang. Ferocious by nature, he was nevertheless kind to his soldiers, but murdered all the literati and eunuchs whom he found in that province. A soldier who had be- haved very bravely received from, him a girdle as a remu- neration for his great services. But the soldier, expressing his dissatisfaction at the meanness of his reward, the tyrant, informed of his complaint, massacred all the soldiers of the regiment to which he belonged. Having invited the Buddhist priests to a great entertainment and sacrifice, he, as soon as they had all assembled, massacred the whole, and issued orders that the same should be done in all the provinces which were under his jurisdiction. When the Tartar army approached, his general, who was sent to guard the frontiers, deserted to the Manchoos, which so enraged the tyrant that he resolved to butcher all the inhabitants of Sze-chueu. The houses of the capital, Ching-too, were forced, and the innocent victims dragged out ; lamentable cries pierced the air, the poor wretches threw themselves at the feet of the tyrant imploring mercy, and he was almost moved to tears. But, the impulses of his tiger-like nature returning, he blushed for the weakness he had shown, gave the signal for the carnage, and within a few hours about 600,000 lifeless corpses floated on the river. He himself rode about to encourage the soldiers in exer- cising the work of executioners, and he who refused to obey forieited his own life. Great numbers of the inha- bitants speedily fled, others sold their lives dearly, until 73 Fearful Carnage. the whole province was one desert. When, finally, the Tartars approached, the bloody tyrant called his soldiers together, boasted of being left a standing monument of dark revenge, and ordered them to bring on the following day all their wives before the army, for he considered them a mere incumbrance upon a long march which he was going to undertake. To give the example, he dragged his own concubines before the ranks and butchered them with re- lentless fury, and 400,000 other females, all remarkable for their beauty, were massacred in a similar manner. After this horrible execution, he praised his soldiers to the skies, assuring them that with such troops he would be very soon able to expel the foreigners from China. The Manchoos advanced, and came down rapidly upon the rebels ; the tyrant could not believe they were so near, and went out himself to reconnoitre ; at the same time, he threatened the messengers who had brought him the bad news with death if he proved them false. One of these men, indig- nant at his menaces, followed the ferocious tyrant, pierced him with an arrow, and thus freed the world of a monster, who has, perhaps, no equal in history. Upon hearing that their leader had died, the rebels fled in great haste to Yunnan.” One cannot help wondering at a race of men, who could allow themselves to be terrorised over by a ruffian who had not a vestige of right to claim their obedience. With regard to a lawful sovereign it is widely different, for the office he fills alone inspires respect, and excuses would readily be found for licences committed by the legitimate 74 Canton Besieged. ruler. But the Chinese seem to have been so devoid of ballast as to throng readily round the banner of any lawless scoundrel who chose to put himself forward to gain their suffrages ; and this ease in gathering a following made the trade of an adventurer lucrative, if dangerous, and aug- mented the evils that the presence of foreign troops had already exercised in the country. The Chinese now met at Canton and elected another nominal Emperor, Yung-leih. The Tartars closely besieged that city, which defended itself valiantly for eight months, assisted by Ching-ching-kung, or Koksinga, the famous Chinese pirate, who was a sworn enemy of the Manchoos. By means of cannon, which had been introduced into the East, several breaches were made in the walls of Canton, but the defenders kept out their assailants until a traitor threw open the gates of the city. On being ordered to shave their heads the inhabitants refused, and accordingly, in 1650, the city was given over to pillage and carnage, 650,000 inoffensive townsmen being cruelly butchered. The unfortunate Yung-leih fled to the court of the Iving of Peyn, who treated him with hospitality. He was eventually induced to return to China, and, as might have been ex- pected, was immediately strangled. The Tartars were now paramount throughout the whole Empire, and but one man held them at defiance, and laughed their worst threats to scorn; this man was Koksinga, the pirate. It may seem strange that a race powerful enough to subdue such a country as China should have been unable to suppress a single freebooter, but so it The Pirate Koksinga. 75 was. To show the Tartars how little he considered them, Koksinga took possession of an island near the mouth of Yang-tsze-kiang, and, sailing up the river with eight hundred ships, laid siege to Nanking, whose inhabitants were disaffected towards the Tartars, whilst the walls were weak and out of repair. Thinking that it would be an easy matter to carry the place, Koksinga neglected many neces- sary precautions ; and one night, when his men were buried in sleep, the Tartars sallied forth, inflicted severe loss on the pirates, and compelled them to raise the siege (1657). But Koksinga soon became more powerful than ever, and ultimately the Tartar council, to put a stop to his ravages, ordered all the inhabitants of the coast to withdraw into the interior of the provinces, under pain of death. The achievements of Blackbeard, Kidd, aud others of the roving commuuity are decidedly paled by the Chinaman. During the reign of Shun-che the Russians and Chinese first came into collision. The former nation having pene- trated through the then thinly-populated regions of Central Asia, arrived at the Amoor River, on the borders of Tartary. Here they captured a fortified place called Dauri, in which resided some Chinese merchants, who, clad in silken raiment, welcomed the Moscovites, with whom they ex- pressed a desire to live on terms of amity. Both nations were anxious to secure the navigation of the Amoor, which large stream extended nearly to the northern provinces of China, and neither being willing to make any concession, recourse was had to arms to settle the right. The first battles were favourable to the Russians, owing to their 76 Taeping Rebellion. greater familiarity with the use of firearms ; hut latterly many successes were gained by the Chinese, and a treaty was finally drawn up, wherein it was stipulated that a large tract of country on the north of the Amoor, together with the sole navigation of that river, should be ceded to the Chinese ; trade between the two nations commencing at Tobolsk. I may here mention that many historians are of the opinion that if the Ming dynasty had made better use of the firearms, both cannons and muskets, which the Europeans had procured for them, the Tartars would never have advanced to Peking. But pride caused them to reject any weapons made use of by barbarians, and the more astute or less conservative Tartars, profiting by their bigotry, turned their own arms upon themselves. From the commencement of the Ta-tsing dynasty to the present day, the Empire has never been entirely free from insurrections of greater or lesser magnitude. One of these, the Taeping rebellion, was suppressed with such difficulty and wrought such fearful devastation that I shall include a brief account of it in this chapter. The word Taeping signifies “ Universal Peace,” and the rebels who adopted it as their cognomen first appeared in the province of Kwang-si in the year 1850. One Hung-tsin-tsuen, who had been educated by Christian missionaries, was the head of the movement, under the self-bestowed title of Tien-wang, or Heavenly King. The creed of the rebels was a blasphemous and disgusting travestie of Christianity, and the mission on which the 77 Its Final Suppression. leader announced himself as sent is too profane for inser- tion. An enormous multitude flocked to his standard, and the rebels, after devastating Hoo-nan and some of the fairest portions of the Empire, took possession of the populous city of Nanking early in 1853, and constituted it their head-quarters. Army after army of the imperialists endeavoured to suppress the Taepings, but in vain ; they fought valiantly, and increased rather than diminished in numbers, notwithstanding the fearful death to which all captive rebels were put. In 1860 the capital of China, Peking, was taken by the English and French, and shortly after its capture the treaty of Tien-tsin was ratified, by which important privileges were granted to Europeans, making it their interest to restore order throughout the Empire. The Taepings had now advanced as far as Shanghai, but had been repulsed by the imperial troops. In 1862 they made another attempt on the city, but, meanwhile, an American named Ward had entered the Chinese service and had raised the troops to a state of great efficiency. The rebels were twice defeated, but on the last occasion Ward was killed. Captain Gordon now assumed the command on laud, and the late Admiral Sherard Osborn organised a flotilla of gunboats to act against the rebels on the rivers. In upwards of six- teen engagements the British-led troops proved victorious, but the horrible barbarities of the imperialists caused the withdrawal of the European officers. However, the rebel- lion was already crushed, and by the spring of 1865 the Taepings, as a body potent for mischief, had ceased to exist. 78 Wanton Cruelties. I find in the Daily Telegraph of 10th July, 1862, the following account of brutalities committed on the Tae- ping prisoners, from the pen of an Englishman, who, together with some French officers and soldiers, was an eye-witness of the executions. Some portions are so horrible that I shall not shock my readers by inserting them : — “ I went with the crowd to see the execution of the Tae- ping prisoners that had been given up for execution into the hands of the mandarins by the English and French authorities; or, what is the same thing, they took no measures to prevent the ruthless butchery of those they lent their aid to capture ; when, horror of horrors ! how am I to describe the dreadful scene, or will it ever leave my memory ? Among those wretches were young and old, of both sexes, and of all ages and sizes, from the infant recently born to the man of eighty tottering on his staff ; from the enceinte woman to the youngest maiden from ten to eighteen. Some of the latter had fainted, and were pulled along the ground to the executioners, who threw them on their backs, tore off their clothes, and ripped them from the lower part of the abdomen to the breasts, which were cut off, and dashed with a curse in their faces. The bowels, as a matter of course, gushed out ; but the cut was made in such a way, and so skilfully, and with such expertness, that the intestine was seldom injured. After a little while in this state of excessive torture, the execu- tioner thrust his hand into the chest and tore out the reeking heart, his victim looking him in the face all the England Blamed. 79 while Another young woman among the prisoners waiting her turn to be disembowelled, with a fine hoy of ten months old crowing and jumping in her arms, had him snatched suddenly away from her and flung to the executioner, who plunged the ruthless knife into his tender breast before his mother’s eyes.” I shall quote no further. Any of my readers anxious to peruse the entire details can doubtless obtain the paper for themselves. The writer says, “ I have been in many battles during the last twenty years, and in the thickest of the fight in most of them, where a rage and thirst for carnage is dreadful to reflect on afterwards, but nothing heretofore that I have seen or heard of, or even read of, could be compared to the dreadful cruelty of this disem- bowelling execution. May God forgive England for the part that she is taking in this war, and may the sin of the enormities she has assisted in perpetrating on the defence- less woman, and innocent and helpless child, be removed from her door; and after the treatment English women and children met with from the hands of the blacks in the Sepoy mutiny, it is truly wonderful that Englishmen should join in or countenance similar atrocities here.” The Mahometans in the north-west provinces of China give the Government trouble from time to time ; and a marauding party, named the Nienfie, threaten them in the same quarter; but neither of these are to be compared in magnitude with the great Taeping rebellion, and must not be in any way confused with it. Into the details of the reign of each monarch of the 80 The Present Emperor. Ta-tsing dynasty I shall not attempt to enter. The present Emperor Tsai-tien, surnamed Hwangti “ the Supreme, who nourishes all creatures,” is a child, born in 1871, who suc- ceeded to the throne on the death of the Emperor T’oung- che, in February, 1875. The proclamation announcing this juvenile despot’s accession was as follows : — “ Whereas His Majesty the Emperor has ascended upon the Dragon to be a guest on high, without offspring born to his inheritance, no course has been open but that of causing Tsai-Tien, son of the Prince of Ch’un, to become adopted as the son of the Emperor Wen Tsung Hien (Hienfung), and to enter upon the inheritance of the great dynastic line as Emperor by succession. Therefore, let Tsai-Tien, son of Yih Hwan, the Prince of Ch’un, become adopted as the son of the Emperor Wen Tsung Hien, and enter upon the inheritance of the great dynastic line as Emperor by succession.” The late Emperor died at the early age of eighteen years. I have now given a brief, though necessarily a most imperfect outline of the history and dynasties of China from the earliest ages to the present. That much of the foregoing will prove heavy reading I am perfectly aware, but its insertion was absolutely necessary, which must remain my excuse. CHAPTER VII. An Account of the Intercourse between China and other Nations from the Thirteenth Century to the Present Day. Y HOW proceed to give a brief account of the intercourse A between China and other nations, commencing from the thirteenth century, when the Polo family first astonished Europe with the account of the wondrous kingdom of Cathay, and the might of its ruler, Kublai Khan. In the middle of the thirteenth century, two noble Venetians, Hicolo and Matteo Polo, resolved to push into Eastern Asia as far as the courts of the Tartar princes, who then held sway in China. Both brothers were eminent as merchants amongst an essentially mercantile community, and in furtherance of their object, which seems to have been intended as both profitable and amusing, they purchased a stock of jewels, and after visiting Con- stantinople, and several towns on the Euxine and Volga, arrived at the Saraii, the capital of Barkai, Khan of Kaptchak, who treated them with great courtesy. War breaking out between Barkai and Kublai Khan, it became unsafe for the travellers to return ; they therefore remained 82 The Brothers Polo visit Kambalu. for three years in their host’s dominions, trading to ad- vantage, and studying the Mongol language. Having visited Bukharia, they there encountered a Persian embassy on its way to the court of the Grand Khan. The ambassador was so highly gratified with the conversation of the brothers that he persuaded them to accompany him to Kambalu (Peking), the residence of Kublai Khan. After travelling through Cashgar, Samarcand, and other cities, of which they give a full and most interesting description — the journey occupying a whole year — they arrived at their destination, and were most favourably received by the potentate. Kublai Khan seemed highly pleased at their visit, and showed himself most curious regarding the state of affairs in Europe, questioning the Venetians minutely as to the political and religious conditions of their country, and making particular inquiries concerning the Pope. Ulti- mately he constituted them his ambassadors to the Pontiff, and deputed a Tartar grandee to accompany them ; the latter, however, most unfortunately, fell ill and died, so the brothers completed the long journey alone, and arrived at Venice, in 1269, after an absence of fifteen years. They had been commissioned by Kublai to procure from the Pope one hundred Europeans, well learned in the arts and sciences, to act as instructors to the Mongols ; but finding it impossible to fulfil their mission satisfactorily, they set out again in 1271, carrying despatches from Gregory the Tenth to Kublai, and accompanied on this occasion by young Marco, the son of Nicolo Polo, who was Marco Polo. 83 then about twenty-one years of age, baying been born in 1250. The return journey occupied three years and a-half ; and when, in 1275, the three Venetians arrived at Yen- King, near Kambalu, where the Grand Khan held his court, their prolonged absence had made the monarch quite forgetful of their existence, or of the mission with which he had entrusted them. Their second reception was, how- ever, more honourable than their first, and the Emperor listened with the greatest attention whilst the elder Polos related all that they had done during their absence, con- cluding by presenting him with the letters and presents from the Pope of which they were the bearers. Young Marco soon attracted the good-will of the Grand Khan, who made him an officer of his household, and employed him on important missions to various parts of his king- dom. Marco Polo, whose commanding and. noble presence rendered him a meet envoy for so potent a sovereign, was gifted with a quick intelligence that enabled him closely to observe the manners and customs of the people to whom he was accredited ; and his detailed accounts were not only highly satisfactory to his master, but also enabled him in after years to publish a book that, for fidelity of description, may justly be considered as unrivalled in literature. The Polos experienced some difficulty in quitting China, for their services were of great value to the Emperor ; but in 1291 Marco succeeded in obtaining leave to join the escort of a Mongol princess, who was proceeding to Persia. 84 Monopoly of Eastern Trade. Accompanied by his father and uncle, Marco arrived at Venice in 1295, after an absence of twenty-four years. The Polos brought with them great riches, and many won- derful objects, the result of their mercantile speculations. Geneva and Venice were now at war, each republic striving for the mastery of the seas, and the monopoly of trade with the East. Marco commanded a galley, and being captured by the Genoese, was thrown into a dungeon at Genoa. From those prison walls issued the wonderful book which completely astonished the civilised world, whose savants were at one time inclined to think the whole account pure fiction. Since its perfect truth has become recognised beyond dispute, the accuracy and extent of research contained in II Milione di Messer Marco Polo Veneziano has struck every reader with admiration. Venice and Genoa continued to retain the Eastern trade in their own hands until the discovery of the Cape of Good Hope by the Portuguese, which opened out a new route to India and Cathay. After making the voyage to Hindo- stan by sea, the Portuguese resolved to push further East, and in 1516 some of their vessels reached the Canton river. Shortly afterwards they managed to establish a colony at Ningpo, but owing to their rapacity, exactions, and general misconduct — under which heading piracy must be included — the Chinese authorities were obliged to expel them. They, however, retained a footing at Macao, where they had been permitted to erect sheds for the purpose of drying their merchandise, which sheds soon took the shape of substantial warehouses. Macao is situated at the ex- V'lHW IN NINOPO. China, p. 84. 85 A Quaint Sermon. tremity of a small peninsula, joined by a narrow isthmus to the island of Meang-shan, and across this the Chinese built a wall to keep out the foreigners, whose proceedings were closely and jealously watched. The China Sea and the Indian Archipelago now became a favourite resort for lawless desperadoes, attracted by the incalculable riches of the East, many of whom joined the Chinese pirates, with whose vessels the creeks and inlets of the “ Flowery Land ” swarmed. A victory having been obtained by one Facia over Coja Acem, a pirate who held the Portuguese in abhorrence, the priest at Ningpo, after celebrating mass, preached a sermon, in which the following passage occurred : — “ I will not stop, but will rather say more, for I speak nothing but what is as true as the gospel; for I have made a vow to God never to leave off praising this noble captain; he deserves it at my hands for saving me 7000 ducats’ ven- ture that Merim Taborda had of mine in his junk, and was taken from him by Coja Acem, for which let the soul of so cursed a rogue and wicked devil be tormented in hell for ever and ever ; whereunto say all, with me, Amen.” The early attempts of the English to establish commercial relations with the East were attended with little success. In 1600 the East India Company obtained their charter, and in 1634 the Portuguese Governor of Goa and the English President of Surat mutually signed a treaty for free trade with China. The English merchants equipped a fleet and sent it to Canton under the command of Captain Waddell, who carried a letter from the Governor of Goa 86 British at Canton . to the Viceroy of Macao. But it was entirely opposed to Portuguese interests to admit another European power to a participation in the good things of the Celestial Empire, and the English captain could make no impression on the procrastinating mandarins. Demanding an audience of the Viceroy at Canton, which was refused, Waddell moved his ships up the river. “ Opposite to the anchorage of the ships, however, in the course of the night, the Chinese placed forty-six cannons of immense weight, and after four days, having, as they thought, strongly fortified themselves, they fired divers shot, though without hurt. Upon one of the barges passing by them, which was gone out to find a watering-place, herewith the whole Chinese fleet did on a sudden display their bloody ensigns, and, weighing anchor, fell up with the flood, and berthed themselves before the castle, from whence came many a shot. The gallant captain, not being able to endure their bravadoes any longer, each ship began to play furiously upon them with their broadsides, and after two or three hours, perceiving their cowardly fainting, the boats were loaded with one hundred men, which sight so terrified them, that they left the castle in haste. The British then entered unmolested, and planted the Royal Standard of England upon the walls, shipped the ordnance, fired the council-house, and demo- lished all they could, taking their admiral prisoner, with some of their junks. He subsequently sailed up to Canton, and had an interview immediately. The admiral and Chinese prisoners were released, the guns which had been taken, with the captured junks, were restored, and a free Lord Macartney's Embassy. 87 trade was allowed, which, through the intrigues of the Portuguese, was much obstructed.” The Dutch obtained a settlement in the Island of For- mosa, and for a century and a-half nothing worthy of record occurred betwixt the Chinese and the European nations trading with them. Holland and Spain had both sent ambassadors to the Court of China. England had not yet complied with this ceremony, but in 1792 it was deemed advisable to rectify the omission. Lord Macartney was despatched with a numerous train and many valuable presents, arriving at the mouth of the Peiho Eiver in July, 1793. The plenipotentiary had several interviews with the Emperor, but, beyond the insight it gave into Chinese character and customs, this mission was utterly unproduc- tive of any good result. Some have ascribed its failure to Lord Macartney’s refusal to koutou, or prostrate himself before the Emperor, unless a mandarin of equal rank with himself performed the same ceremony before the picture of George the Third, with which the Ambassador was pro- vided ; but this conclusion is erroneous, for when, in 1795, the Dutch sent an embassy to the Chinese Court, the members of which koutou-ed the monarch, and anybody else who required it, to their hearts’ content, they were treated most contemptuously, and failed signally in obtaining any concession from the Chinese. In 1816 another embassy, of which Lord Amherst was the chief, tried to obtain permission for a British ambas- sador to reside at the capital, and for ports on the northern coast to be opened for trade. At that date Canton was the 88 Lord Amherst's Embassy. sole city at which commerce with Europeans was permitted, and vessels were only allowed to arrive at a certain season of the year, and to remain for a fixed time. The northern ports being closed, the British merchants were compelled to draw their tea supplies from an immense distance, and the cost of transport was enormous, for lofty mountain ranges and swift rivers lay between the tea districts and Canton, whilst the only beasts of burden were Chinamen, who carried the chests slung on bamboo poles. Lord Amherst’s embassy was attended with no better success than his predecessor’s ; indeed, he never even saw the Emperor. The old koutou ceremony still proved in- surmountable. Until 1834 our commerce with China was conducted by the East India Company, but, their charter expiring in that year, Lord Napier was sent out by the British Government to superintend the trade. On his death, Captain Elliot became Commissioner, and a discussion arose regarding the opium trade, whether it should be legalised or suppressed. Since the year 1817 it had been carried on in an illegal manner. Elliot was directed by the Viceroy of Canton to send away the opium vessels, and their return was pro- hibited. Still the lucrative poison was smuggled into the country, until, in the early part of 1839, a special commis- sioner, Lin, arrived, with strict orders to suppress the traffic. His first step was to demand the surrender of all opium ; his next, to place the chests containing the drug — 20,291 in number, valued at two millions sterling — in trenches filled with lime, to which the sea water was admitted, and / i I < V AMOY, 89 The Opium War. the whole quantity utterly ruined. The irritation conse- quent on this and subsequent harsh measures brought about the war of 1840-2 between England and China, commonly known as the opium war. The British blockaded the enemy’s ports, occupied several cities, and sent plenipoten- tiaries to the Peiho. In July, 1842, Chinkiang was in- vested and captured, and the British troops were advancing towards Nanking, forty miles distant, when the Chinese, thoroughly dispirited and fearful of the capture of their ancient capital, sued for peace, and a treaty was concluded on the following terms : — 1. Lasting peace between the two empires. 2. An in- demnity from China of 21,000,000 dollars (£4,200,000) — 12.000. 000 dols. for the expenses of the war, 3,000,000 dols. for debts owing to British subjects, and 6,000,000 dols. for the opium destroyed. 3. The ports of Canton. Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shanghai to be opened to trade. 4. Hongkong to be ceded in perpetuity to her Britannic Majesty. 5. British prisoners to be uncondi- tionally released. 6. Chinese who had been in the British service to be held guiltless. 7. All correspondence to be conducted on terms of equality. 8. The forces of Great Britain to occupy Chusan and Amoy until the sum of 6.000. 000 dols. should be paid. Regarding the justice of this war perhaps the least said the better. With their wonted duplicity and cunning the Chinese evaded the treaty whenever it was possible, but with the throwing open of the northern ports British trade assumed gigantic proportions, and all went on pretty 90 Canton Stormed. smoothly until the autumn of 1856, when the Canton autho- rities seized the lorcha Arrow, a vessel carrying British papers. Yeh, the imperial commissioner, reluctantly re- leased the Lorcha’s crew, but obstinately refused all apology. The city of Canton was therefore stormed by the English and French forces on the 28th December, 1857, and Com- missioner Yeh taken prisoner. In the spring of the fol- lowing year the forts at the mouth of the Peiho were taken, and the allies advanced to Tien-tsin, fifty miles up the river. Here the treaty of Tien-tsin was concluded (16th June, 1858), stipulating for the residence of ministers at Peking; the protection .of the Christian religion by the 91 Occupation of Peking. Chinese authorities; free permission for British subjects to visit any part of the interior, if provided with passports by their consul ; an indemnity of four million taels (£1,300,000) to be paid to England ; the opening of additional ports, and the free navigation of the Yang-tsze-kiang, together with a readjustment of the transit dues. In June, 1859, an expedition forming the escort of the British and French Ambassadors, who were proceeding to Peking to ratify the treaty of Tien-tsin, was fired into at the Taku forts and repulsed. This led to further hostilities and the capture of the Taku forts by the allies, followed by the occupation of Peking itself in December, 1860. The treaty of Tien-tsin was now formally ratified, an additional clause legalising coolie labour being inserted. On taking possession of Peking, the allies destroyed the noble summer palace of the Chinese mouarchs, a harsh measure which called forth severe strictures from other Powers. But it was in no wanton spirit that the building was destroyed. The Chinese merited a severe chastise- ment for their treatment of Mr. (now Sir Harry) Parkes and his companions, who, on the arrangement between the allies and the Chinese that the troops should halt at Tung- chow instead of advancing to the capital, had been sent forward to agree upon a place for their encampments, their supply of provisions, and so forth. Whilst performing this friendly duty, under a flag of truce, they were arrested, treated with the utmost indignity, and out of twenty-six only half that number returned alive, all bearing marks of the ill-treatment they had suffered ; the remaining thirteen 92 Rising at Tien-tsin. were barbarously murdered. No other course could so effectually have humbled the Chinese as the destruction of the palace, which was a politic and well-merited measure of retaliation for their wanton breach of faith and cruelty. France, our ally, of course concluded a treaty with the Empire at the same time as ourselves, and the Russians and Americans took the same course within a few days. Since then our intercourse with China has been uninter- rupted by any serious quarrels. English officers belonging to all branches of the service have disciplined and drilled their army and navy, whilst freer intercourse with foreign countries has allowed the former exclusive spirit to diminish in intensity. A collision between France and China nearly occurred in the middle of June, 1870, at Tien-tsin, where the populace rose against the foreigners and barbarously murdered the French consul, the vice-consul, the inter- preter of the French legation and his wife, a Catholic priest, nine sisters of mercy, a French merchant and his wife, and three Russians, besides destroying the French consulate, the cathedral, and the hospital in which the sisters were engaged. The whole of these victims were put to death in the most barbarous manner, nor was death allowed to stay the indignities to which the mutilated bodies were subjected. Close inquiry failed to bring actual complicity home to the Chinese local officials, though sus- picion was strong enough to warrant their banishment to a remote part of the Empire. Fifteen persons implicated in the riot were executed, a large indemnity paid for the destruction of property and for the families of the mur- Murder of Mr. Margary. 93 dered, and a special mission was sent to France to declare the regret of the Government. The treacherous murder of Mr. Margary seemed at one time likely to lead to the breaking off of friendly relations between ourselves and China. This fear is happily averted owing to the prompt action of the Government and the determination displayed by Sir Thomas Wade, our Minister at Peking. These events are of too recent occurrence to require insertion here. MARKET AT TIEN-TSIN. CHAPTER VIII. The Emperor Paramount — -His Titles and Authority — Form of Govern- ment and Laws. •HE Chinese form of government is purely patriarchal, * and from time immemorial the great principle of their rulers has been the development of paternal authority. Never once have they admitted the smallest innovation in their system of administration, which is precisely the same to-day as it was four thousand years ago. The Emperor is paramount— -his will is law — his actions may not be called into question. He is “ the Father and the Mother of his people,” the centre round which all things terrestrial — and celestial too, for the matter of that — move. But, notwithstanding the close affinity to his subjects con- veyed in the above designation, the leading principle of the Government is to place an impassable abyss betwixt their sovereign and ordinary mortals ; hence they style him “ The Son of Heaven •” and, what is more, actually believe, or profess to believe, that he is of celestial origin. Some fifty-five years ago, on the accession of one of the Ta-tsing dynasty, an insurrection nearly occurred, because, Imperial Titles. 95 owing to the fact that his family could not he traced back for more than eight generations, his heavenly origin seemed doubtful. The literati and the authorities, however, soon produced proofs, which effectually silenced the unbelieving. Their account was that “ the daughter of heaven descended at the foot of the White Mountain, on the borders of the Poulkouri lake, and ate of some red fruit, when she con- ceived and bore a son, who partook of the celestial nature, and was endued with so much immaculate wisdom and beauty that the Chinese immediately selected him for their sovereign, and that Taou-kwang, the present Emperor, was a lineal descendant from him.” This invention of the pliable authorities explains some of the extraordinary titles bestowed upon that monarch, such as “ The Great Supremely August,” “ Earth has not two kings,” &c., &o. A Chinese Emperor is, in fact, so far removed above ordinary men that he demands the adoration of his sub- jects, and, in addition to his usual title of “ Son of Heaven,” he is called Shing-choo, “the holy lord;” Wan-suy-yay, “ the lord of a myriad of years,” and so forth. Not only do his subjects prostrate themselves before his person, but even before a tablet with the latter title engraved upon it. Sir John Barrow, who was attached to Lord Macartney’s embassy, gives a full account of the Emperor’s anniversary. “ The 17th of September being the Emperor’s birthday, we set out for the court at three o’clock in the morning, conducted by Van-ta-gin, Chow-te-gin, and our usual attendants. We reposed ourselves about two hours in a G 96 Emperor ' s Birthday. large saloon at the entrance of the palace enclosure, where fruit, tea, warm milk, and other refreshments were brought to us. At last notice was given that the festival was going to begin, and we immediately descended into the garden, where we found all the great men and mandarins, in their robes of state, drawn up before the imperial pavilion. The Emperor did not show himself, hut remained concealed behind a screen, from whence, I presume, he could see and enjoy the ceremonies without inconvenience or interrup- tion. All eyes were turned towards the place where his Majesty was imagined to be enthroned, and seemed to ex- press an impatience to begin the devotions of the day. Slow, solemn music, muffled drums, and deep-toned bells, were heard at a distance. On a sudden the sounds ceased, and all was still. Again they were renewed, and then intermitted with short pauses, during which several persons passed backwards and forwards in the proscenium or fore- ground of the tent, as if engaged in preparing some grand coup-de-theatre. “ At length the great band, both vocal and instrumental, struck up with all their powers of harmony, and instantly the whole court fell flat on their faces before this invisible Nebuchadnezzar, whilst ‘ He, in his cloudy tabernacle shrined, Sojourned the while.’ The music might be considered as a sort of birthday ode or state anthem, the burthen of which was, * Bovj down your heads, a,ll ye dwellers upon earth; low down your heads before the great Kicn-long, the great Kien-long.' And then all the Paternal Authority. 97 dwellers upon China earth there present, except ourselves, bowed down their heads and prostrated themselves upon the ground at every renewal of the chorus. Indeed, in no religion, either ancient or modern, has the divinity ever been addressed, I believe, with stronger exterior marks of worship and adoration than were this morning paid to the phantom of his Chinese majesty. Such is the mode of celebrating the Emperor’s anniversary festival according to the court ritual. We saw nothing of him the whole day, nor did any of his ministers, I imagine, approach him, for they all seemed to retire at the same moment that we did.” But, notwithstanding the distance that separates the sovereign from his people, he is still their Father, and the grossest tyranny is perpetrated under the guise of parental authority, which in China is all-powerful. The authority of a father over his children is absolutely unlimited, and filial obedience sternly exacted. The sire may chastise his grown-up son, may load him with abuse, may even sell him into slavery, yet his dutiful offspring would never resent his treatment by word or deed ; and, in addition to this, it must be added that the children are answerable for the misdeeds of the father. The Chinese Government is only the model of a Chinese family enormously enlarged. In his parental capacity the sovereign chastises his minis- ters and mandarins, who, in their turn, exhibit a fatherly interest in the affairs of the people, a solicitude chiefly manifested by an unlimited use of the bamboo. The reader must be pleased to observe that the Emperor never punishes; to punish would be to exhibit a hardness of heart incom- 98 Emperor also High Priest. patible with his fatherly affection ; therefore, when a few thousand of his children are beheaded or cut into ten thou- sand pieces, it must be looked upon as mere chastisement, and not confused with punishment. The execution of Taeping prisoners described in a preceding chapter was CHINESE PUNISHMENT. only paternal correction, a phrase which cloaks the most absolute despotism the world has ever known. But the Emperor enjoys another title, which gives him an additional hold on the affections of his people. He is the “ High Priest,” the sole mediator between them and 99 The Peking Gazette. their gods. This position is most advantageous, for the monarch obtains the credit of all blessings that may happen. Thus, if the harvest is particularly good, or the yield of silk unusually abundant, it is due to his intercession with the gods; whilst, on the other hand, if a series of calamities befall the nation, such as floods, earthquakes, famines, &c., and he in his priestly rdle regains the favour of the deities, the past evil is overlooked in consideration of the present good he has obtained, or the favours that may eventually be the result of his gracious intercession. Thoroughly despotic as the ruler of China may be, he is yet considerably influenced by ancient usage ; indeed, custom may be regarded as the only limit to his power. The Peking Gazette records all the doings of the Emperor, whether within the sanctity of the palace or abroad. Everything that can tend to render him pleasing in the eyes of his subjects is carefully set forth in this journal— his jests or witty speeches, and his words of fatherly kind- ness. Everything, on the contrary, that is in the remotest degree prejudicial to his character is carefully withheld ; and, as the Gazette is forwarded to all the provinces, and read in every tea-house throughout the Empire, it forms an engine of state whose influence is enormous. Aided by this, the Emperor’s power may be summed up as being unlimited, undefined, undivided, unrestrained by any known law but ancient custom. Confucius sets forth that Heaven has not two sons, nor earth two kings ; a family has not two heads, nor sovereign power two directions. There is but one God and one Emperor. This doctrine applies to 100 The Cabinet. all other nations, whose rulers are considered his vassals, and hence the refusal of our ambassadors to acknowledge such pretensions by the ceremony of the koutou. All the officers connected with the public services are appointed by the Emperor, half of their number being Tartars, the remaining half Chinese. There is a great deal of policy shown in this admixture of the two races, who are, in a measure, held responsible for each other. The supreme government consists of a cabinet and six tribunals, w 7 hich make their reports to the Emperor for his decision and approval. The cabinet is composed of Manchoos and Chinese, and has a herald’s officer attached to it : it is named the Nuy-ko. The six tribunals are as follows : — The first, named Lee-poo, selects the civilians who are to be promoted to rank or degraded. It superintends the training of the mandarins, and, on their appointment, exercises the strictest surveillance over their words and actions, reporting the same to the Emperor. From this department emanate innumerable intrigues, for in it is centered the entire patronage of the country, every official, from the viceroy to the lowest officer, being under its juris- diction. The second tribunal is Hoo-poo, the Board of Bevenue, where all the various branches of the expenditure are managed ; its members superintend the imperial treasury, disburse and receive payments, &c., &c. The third tribunal, Lee-poo, is very curious. It is a “ Board of Rites,” in some measure resembling our own Tribunals . 101 “ Board of Green Cloth.” It decides the management of all court ceremonials, the number of prostrations that shall he made, the garments each courtier shall wear, together with the order of his coming and going. It also superin- tends what little religion there is, to the extent of seeing that the manes of departed spirits have proper observance paid to them, and are not defrauded of their dues. But its principal function is to watch jealously lest any innovation should creep into the many ceremonials. Everything is restrained by this department within the strictest limits of ancient usage. It spares both monarch and people the trouble of thinking, and, in its determined opposition to any improvement, is the most conservative tribunal the world has ever known. It also has the fixing of lucky or unlucky days, and the regulating of foreign embassies. Ping-poo, the fourth tribunal, has the appointment of military and naval officers, and superintends both services. It is a kind of War Office, Horse Guards, and Admiralty kneaded into one. Hing-poo, the police department, watches over the public safety, and directs all things relative to the detection and punishment of crime. Every province has a judge, who goes on circuit at stated times, but holds his chief court in the provincial city. His salary is about £2000 a year, but he will take bribes unblushingly. All writers on China join in denouncing the terrible injustice of the law courts. Mr. Gutzlaff says — “ In' China, the numerous petty laws in force are the mere instruments of those who are entrusted with their execution. The will of the Emperor is law, a 102 Jealousy and Suspicion. mandarin’s will is law — justice to the best bidder. Such is the true picture of the state of affairs.” The sixth tribunal is Kung-poo, or the Board of Works, which has the management of all the numerous palaces, public buildings, canals, bridges, manufactories, mines, &c., &c. But it is powerless for good, and might as well be swept away, for every public building or work belonging to the Government is in a state of dilapidation from neglect. In addition to these six tribunals, there is a Colonial Office, a Board of Music, and the Too-cha-yuen, or Board of Censors. It is the duty of the gentlemen forming the latter board to watch over the words and actions of the Emperor, and to reprove or extol him as the occasion may require. The extolling part of the business they perform glibly enough, but their tongues hang fire when reproof is necessary. They are described as a servile class, who favour when they ought to blame; whilst any of their number who are conscientious in the performance of their duty, and really speak out, are regarded as paragons of probity. Indeed, speaking your mind to a man who can order your immediate decapitation is attended with con- siderable risk, and is therefore worthy of commendation. Jealousy and suspicion are the root of every branch of the Chinese Government. There are certain censors — who are not to be confounded with those just mentioned — one of whom is present at the deliberations of each tribunal. He has no voice in the discussions, but sits silent and observant — an imperial spy. Every word that he hears is The Laws. 103 faithfully reported to the Emperor, who is thus made acquainted with the sentiments of every member of his Government. No public functionary is permitted to marry in his district, nor can he hold an appointment at a place where his relations reside ; he is also forbidden to purchase land within his seat of government, and private individuals are invited to forward informations against the officers of justice. Such is the Chinese Government, of which M. de Guignes says : — “ I have lived a long time in China, and have traversed the Empire in all its extent ; I have everywhere seen the strong oppress the weak, and all who possess wealth employ it to harass and to crush the people.” With which opinion most modern travellers coincide. We now pass on to the laws of China, which are as singular as its people. They are collected into a general code, known as the Ta-tsing-lew-li, meaning “ The statutes and rescripts of the great pure dynasty.” This code is an epitome of the whole system of government, and consists of a general view of the laws, followed by six principal divisions — namely, civil, fiscal, ritual, military, criminal, and those relating to public works, corresponding with the six tribunals before mentioned. A writer on China has observed that the country was governed by the whip and the bamboo ; he might also with justice have added the executioner’s sword, so apparently sanguinary is the code and so severe the punishments therein ordained ; but, as we shall presently see, these are, in our own time, rarely strictly exacted. Treason is punishable by a 104 Treasonable Offences. lingering death, whether the culprit be principal or acces- sory ; his male relatives are beheaded, and the females sold as slaves. There are ten offences of a treasonable nature conspicuously placed at the head of the code, namely — 1. Rebellion. 2. Disloyalty, or the destruction of imperial palaces, temples, &c. 3. Desertion to a foreign power. 4. Parricide. 5. Massacre, or the murder of three or more persons in one family. 6. Sacrilege, robbery from the sovereign or temples. 7. Impiety, or negligence and dis- respect of parents. 8. Discord in families. 9. Insurrec- tion against the magistrates. 10. Incest. The above offences are so heinous that pardon can in no case be granted, therefore they are placed at the head of the code that people may learn to avoid them. The dis- covery of a treasonable offence entitles the person to immediate employment under Government, and to the pro- perty of the traitor. The punishment of death is also recorded against all deliberate murders, and any person who enters into the rooms occupied by the Emperor, or intrudes into the line of the imperial retinue whilst travelling, is subject to the same penalty. In most cases d prisoner, even if sentenced to death, can redeem himself by a money payment, regu- lated according to his rank; provided always that the offence is not one of the ten included under the head of treason. These are not commutable by fine. Should officers holding Government situations fall under the dis- pleasure of the law, and become liable to castigation with tlxe bamboo, the latter punishment is commutable for a fine Punishment Commutable. 103 proportioned to the nature and degree of the offence, with, in certain cases, loss of rank superadded. Very old men and lads under sixteen are also entitled to this privilege, and women may avoid banishment by the payment of a fine ; whilst, if it is considered salutary to administer the bamboo to the fair sex, the law, with much courtesy, ob- serves “ that they are permitted to retain a single upper garment while the punishment is inflicted, except in cases of adultery, when they shall be allowed the lower garment only.” CHAPTER IX. Prisons, and Judicial Procedure. F ROM the dilatory manner in which the law proceeds in China, persons accused of crime are often confined for long periods before their cases are decided upon. This delay is mainly owing to the number of tribunals through which matters pass before a final judgment is pronounced, one tribunal being subordinate to the other, and each haying a right to review the whole process, and to receive exact information concerning the past life of both the accusers and witnesses, as well as of the prisoner. This minute and oft-repeated sifting necessarily occupies a con- siderable time, during which the accused must remain incarcerated. The prisons are of considerable size and pretty much on the same model throughout the Empire ; they are usually situated within easy distances of the tribunals. Entering from the street, you arrive by means of a narrow passage at a second door, by which you enter into a low-roofed court, beyond which is a third door opening into the jailor’s apartment. Passing through this, you arrive at a large Prisons. 107 square court, around the sides of which are situated the prisoners’ cells, built on large piles of wood, and forming a kind of gallery. At each of the four corners are built secret prisons, wherein criminals of the worst class are confined ; these people are not allowed to quit their cells, or to hold any conversation with their companions in mis- fortune, as prisoners accused of less heinous offences are permitted to do. However, in China money will do any- thing, and by judicious bribes the worst malefactors gain permission to walk about in the court for a few hours every day, and obtain some remission in the weight of the iron chains with which their hands, feet, and waists are loaded at night. Those whose offences are of a lighter character have the liberty of walking about the enclosure during the day, but when darkness falls they are all mustered and shut up in a large obscure apartment to spend the long hours as best they can. Money again comes in usefully for this class, who by liberal payment are permitted to hire private rooms. A strict watch is maintained throughout the prison during the entire night, and profound silence kept. Should the slightest noise occur, the jailors are on the spot in a moment, and quell it by blows distributed right and left with mer- ciless impartiality. Attempts at escape are rare, owing to the vigilance of the jailors rendering success almost impossible; if dis- covered, the would-be prison-breaker is severely punished by the mandarin, who visits the jail very frequently, being held responsible for both the persons and the lives of the 103 Prisoners. prisoners during their confinement. Should sickness break out, the mandarin has to procure physicians and supply remedies at the Emperor’s expense ; and if a death takes place, the Emperor is informed of it, and frequently orders a searching inquiry to be made by a mandarin of superior rank. When a prisoner dies, his body is not removed through the common entrance, but is passed through a hole in the wall of the first court, kept open for that purpose only. This is looked upon as infamous and disgraceful in the highest degree — so much so, that the worst fate a Chinaman can wish his enemy is “ that he may be dragged headfore- most through the prison-hole.” Prisoners above the common rank, who find themselves at the point of death, generally manage, by bribing the jailor, to gain permission to pass into the street, where they yield up the ghost free of all stigma. The bamboo is the great specific for all minor offences, and is limited by law to two sizes; the larger 5 feet 8 inches in length, 2f inches broad, 2 inches thick, and weighing about 2f lbs. ; the smaller the same length, 2 inches broad, 11 inches thick, and weighing nearly 2 lbs. This instrument is used most assiduously, is considered no disgrace, and the culprit on the completion of his punish- ment thanks his judge for the kindness he has shown in thus correcting his morals. A very trifling matter will bring about a visitation from the bamboo, such as abusive language or minor assaults, and it is not only in his tribunal that the mandarin has the power to give the bastinado, but wherever he may happen to be; for which purpose the bamboo wielders always accompany him in his rambles through The Bamboo. 109 town and country. If some luckless horseman has neglected to alight when the great man passed, or has even crossed the street in his presence, he is flung down on his face by the ready satellites, his small clothes drawn dexterously over his feet, and his extremities visited with half-a-dozen smart blows of the bamboo, almost before he knows any- thing is amiss. The bamboo is certainly an institutiqn. Masters use it to correct their scholars, fathers to improve their children, and noblemen to punish their domestics. No one in the Empire, except the monarch himself, is beyond the reach of this invigorating plant, and he shows a keen appreciation of its corrective qualities by ordering its frequent application to the bare skins of his highest officers. The cangue, or kia, another instrument of punishment, is a collar formed of heavy pieces of wood closed together, and having a hole in the centre, which fits the neck of the offender, who, when this machine is upon him, can neither see his own feet nor put his hands to his mouth. He is not permitted to reside in any habitation, nor even to take rest for any considerable length of time, an inferior officer of justice constantly attending to prevent him. By night and by day he carries this load, which is heavier or lighter according to the nature of the crime and the strength of the wearer. The ordinary weight of the collar is from fifty to sixty pounds, but some are as heavy as two hundred, and under the latter criminals frequently expire, the immense burthen, combined with the pain, shame, want of proper rest and nourishment, being more than they can support. They find various methods, however, of miti- 110 The Cangue. gating this punishment, by walking in company with their relations, who support the corners of the collar, and prevent it from pressing on the shoulders, by resting it against a table, bench, or tree, or by having a chair constructed for the purpose, with four posts of equal height to support the machine. Three months is the usual time for wearing the cangue when the criminals are robbers. For defama- tion, gambling, or breaches of the peace it is carried for a few weeks, and insolvent debtors are sometimes ordered to wear it until they have satisfied their creditors, though how people with this encumbrance round their necks are to make money the law does not explain. When a criminal is ordered to wear the cangue, the two parts of the machine are fastened round his neck in the presence of the presiding mandarin, and two strips of paper about three inches broad are pasted over the join, and sealed at either end with the official’s signet ; this prevents the instrument being removed without the judge’s knowledge. On the surface of the cangue itself the crime for which the punishment is inflicted is written in large characters, together with its duration. The culprit is generally ex- posed at the gate of a temple, or some other much fre- quented place, sometimes at the door of the mandarin’s tribunal. When the time of punishment has expired, the criminal is conducted to the presence of the judge, who, after ex- horting him strongly to mend his ways, orders the collar to be removed, and benignly dismisses him with twenty strokes of the bamboo as a souvenir. In the Flowery Land China, p, ho. THE CANGUE. Punishments. Ill every punishment, except it be a pecuniary one, is preceded and followed by the everlasting bastinado. Women are rarely subjected to this discipline, but it is recorded that a missionary found a bonzess, who bad broken her vows, with the collar round her neck. When brought before the mandarin he had severely reprimanded her, and said that, as she could not comply with the life of chastity enjoined by her order, she must quit the nunnery and marry. To punish her, however, he directed that she should wear the cangue, on which her crime was inscribed, together with a notice that if any person would marry her the mandarin would set her at liberty, and present an ounce and a-half of silver to defray the expenses of her nuptials. This sum was judged sufficient to hire a chair, pay musi- cians, and give a feast to the neighbours on the conclusion of the ceremony. It is stated that very few days had elapsed before a candidate appeared, and she was released. The degrees of punishment are — Death by decapitation or strangulation, in the latter of which the culprit is allowed to recover several times that the agony may be protracted ; perpetual banishment, with a hundred blows from the bamboo ; temporary banishment to a certain distance from home, “ with the view of affording opportunity for repent- ance and amendment and two degrees of bamboo flagel- lation. Torture is sometimes employed to elicit confession, but of late years this practice has much diminished ; amongst the many methods may be mentioned the rack, ear-twist- ing, finger-compressing, and filling the eyes with quick- H 112 Torture. lime. The Abb4 Hue, attending a mandarin’s court, was witness to an examination of this nature, some portions of which I quote. The judge had asked the prisoner (a notorious robber) if he knew a man named Ly-fang. This question was put through an interpreter, for mandarins, not being allowed to hold office in their own provinces, are unable to under- stand the idiom of the country over which they preside. “ The judge’s question was therefore translated to the prisoner, who raised a little his head, which had sunk upon his breast, and, casting at the judge a look like that of a wild beast, he replied in an insolent tone that he had heard speak of him. ‘ Do you know him ? Have you had any dealings with him ? ’ “ ‘ I have heard speak of him ; I do not know him.’ “ ‘ How can that be when this man remained a long while in your boat ? Do you persist in uttering a falsehood ? Speak the truth. Do you know Ly-fang ?’ “ ‘ I have heard of him ; I do not know him.’ “ The prefect took up from the table a piece of bamboo wood and threw it into the middle of the court. A figure was marked upon it, which pointed out the number of blows the prisoner was to receive. One of the executioners picked it up, examined the figure, and cried, in a chanting tone, ‘ Fifteen blows ;’ that is to say, the criminal would receive thirty — for the executioners always double the number ordered by the judge — and this, multiplied by the number of executioners, furnished a frightful total. There was immediately a stir in the assembly; all eyes were A Criminal. 113 fixed with eager curiosity, sometimes on the miserable prisoner, sometimes on the executioners. Many smiled, and arranged themselves more conveniently on their seats, like people about to witness something interesting. The executioners took their places, and soon the body of the criminal was swinging and turning about under a shower of blows, while he uttered terrible shrieks, and his blood spirted out on all sides, and ran down the rattans, reddening the naked arms of the executioners. It was impossible to endure such a spectacle any longer, and we asked one of the officers of the court who had remained with us whether there was not any way of getting out without crossing the hall. He urged us, however, strongly to await the end of the trial, in order to see, he said, how they managed to unbind the prisoner. But we had seen quite enough, and the officer had the complaisance to lead us back through a long corridor to the gate where our palanquins were waiting. “ ‘ This criminal was a famous kouan-kouen^ said the officer as he left us ; ‘ are there many kouan-kouen in your country ?’ “ ‘ No/ we said ; * this class of men is unknown among us.’ “ It would not be easy to give a correct translation of the word kouan-kouen. It is given in China to a race of bandits who make it a sport and a matter of pride to defy the law and the magistrates, and commit all kinds of crimes. To give and receive wounds with composure, to kill others with the most perfect coolness, and to have no fear of death for yourself : this is the sublime ideal of the kouan-kouen. 114 Bandits. “ These men are very numerous in China ; they form societies among themselves, and stand by each other with immovable fidelity. Some few live alone, and they are the most ferocious. They regard it as unworthy of their valour to have an associate or any support whatever, and they rely on nothing but the energy of their own charac- ters. The audacity of these men is incomparable ; the most extravagant and atrocious crimes seem to have for them an irresistible attraction. Sometimes they will even go and denounce themselves to the magistrate from a motive of pride. They confess all their crimes, furnish the most irresistible proofs, and demand condemnation; and then, when all the preparations have been made, and when, according to Chinese law, the confession of the culprit is necessary, they deny all that they have said, and endure with incredible stoicism all kinds of torture. It might really be thought they took a pleasure in having their limbs mangled, provided only they could enrage the mandarins and defy the laws. Sometimes they succeed in bringing their judges into difficulties, and even getting them dismissed from their offices ; and this is their greatest triumph. In all the towns of China you find numerous collections of little pamphlets, which form in some measure the judicial records and causes calibres of the Empire. They contain dramatic biographies of the most famous kouan- kouen, and, as they cost but a few copecks, they are eagerly bought and read by the people.” We may congratulate ourselves that we have no profes- sion of the kind in England. 115 The “ Lingering Death'.' A1 though, torture is sometimes resorted to in grave cases, still sentences involving prolonged agony, such as the “ lingering death,” which consisted in cutting off first one limb and then the other, winding up by tearing out the heart and decapitation, a punishment to which parricides were formerly subjected, now exists only on paper. In- stead of cutting a wretched criminal into a thousand pieces, three slight incisions are made on his breast to represent the character a thousand, and death follows at once by decapitation. There is no lingering agony about the whole proceeding, for the incisions on the chest are simple scratches to satisfy the formality of the law. That it was carried out in all its revolting details at one period of Chinese history is undoubted, but as a nation they have now become less cruel, although whether cruelty was ever at the root of their sanguinary code is open to doubt. Squeezing the fingers and twisting the ears are punish- ments that are all dying out, though by name they still exist. In cases of rebellion, such as the Taeping, the risings are suppressed with ruthless severity, but ordinarily the laws are now enforced by gentler methods than even a few years past were in vogue. Mr. Herbert Giles has trans- lated two chapters from a book widely read in China, named, Advice to Government Officials, which amply proves this. They are so curious that I extract them. “ The infliction of the bamboo is open to abuse in various ways. For instance, the knots in the wood may not have been smoothed off ; blows may he given inside the joints, instead of above the knees ; the tip end instead of the flat 116 Advice to Magistrates. of the bamboo may be used ; each stroke may be accom- panied by a drawing movement of the hand, or the same spot may be struck again after the skin has been broken, whereby the suffering of the criminal is very much in- creased. Similarly, the £ squeezing ’ punishment depends entirely for its severity on the length of the sticks em- ployed, whether these are wet or dry, as well as upon the tightness of the string. Such points should be carefully looked to by the magistrate himself, and not left to his subordinates. At the time of infliction still greater pre- cautions should be taken to prevent the possibility of any accident, and where the offence was committed under venial circumstances some part of the punishment may be remitted if it is considered that enough has already been inflicted. Such punishments as pressing the knees to the ground, making prisoners kneel on chains, or burning their legs with hot irons, adopted under the specious pretence of not using the ‘ squeezing ’ torture, are among the most barbarous of prohibited practices, and are on no account to be allowed.” Lii Hsin-wu says : — “ There are five classes of people who must be exempted from the punishment of the bamboo — (1) The aged ; (2) The young ; (3) The sick (it is laid down expressly by statute that the aged and the young must not be thus coerced into giving evidence, but there is a danger of overlooking this in a moment of anger) ; (4) The hungry and naked (for thus to punish a beggar half dead with cold and hunger, and destitute of friends to nurse him afterwards, would be equivalent to killing him 117 Exemptions. outright) ; (5) Those who have already been beaten (whether in a brawl or by other officials ; a second beating might result in death, for which the presiding magistrate would he responsible). “ There are five classes of people not to be hastily sen- tenced to the bamboo — (1) Members of the imperial family (the relatives of his Majesty, even though holding no rank, are not, says the statute, to be hastily punished in this way; the case must be laid before the proper authorities) ; (2) Officials (however low down in a scale, they are still part of the scheme of government — besides, it affects their good name ever afterwards) ; (3) Graduates ; (4) The official servants of your superiors (look out for the vase when you throw at the rat ; though you may be actually in the right, yet the dignity of your superiors might be compromised ; a plain statement of the facts should be made out and pri- vately handed to the official in question, leaving punishment in his hands, but to refrain from such a course through fear of the consequences would be weak indeed) ; (5) Women. “ There are also five cases in which temporary suspension of punishment is necessary — (1) When the prisoner is under the influence of excitement or (2) anger (the working classes are an obstinate lot, and beating only in- creases their passion, so that they would die rather than yield ; arguments should first be used to show them their error, and then corporal punishment may be used without fear) ; (3) Or drunk (a drunken man does not know heaven from earth ; how can he be expected to distinguish right from wrong ? besides, he feels no pain, and, further, there 118 Exemptions . is a risk of his insulting the magistrate ; he ought to he confined until he is sober, and then punished, but not in a cold place, for fear of endangering his life) ; (4) Or when a man has just completed a journey, or (5) when he is out of breath with running. “ There are also five instances in which it is well for your own sake to put off punishment for a time — (1) When you are in a rage ; (2) When you are drunk ; (3) When you are unwell (for in the latter case the system is heated, and not only would you be more liable to improper infliction of punishment, but also to lose your temper, and thus injury would be done both to yourself and the prisoner) ; (4) When you can’t see your way clearly as to the facts of the case ; (5) When you can’t make up your mind as to the proper punishment (for in difficult cases, and when the prisoner in question is no ordinary man, it is just as well to look forward a little as to how the case is likely to end before you apply the bamboo ; it would never do to take such measures without some consideration, or you might sud- denly find that you had by no means heard the last of it). “ There are three classes of people who should not be beaten in addition to what they are to suffer — (1) Those who are to have their fingers squeezed ; (2) Those who are to have the ankle frame applied ; (3) Those who are to be exposed in the cangue (for if previously beaten they might be almost unable to move, or their sores might not heal, and death might perhaps ensue ; the statute provides that they shall be beaten on release, but this might easily be forgotten in a moment of anger). 119 Beating. “ There are three instances in which compassion should save the prisoners from the bamboo — (1) When the weather is extremely cold or hot; (2) When a festival is being celebrated ; (3) When the prisoner has lately been bereaved (a man who is mourning for his father, mother, wife, or child should not be punished corporally; it might endanger his life). “ There are three cases in which a beating deserved should nevertheless be remitted — (1) When one of the litigants is considerably older than the other, he should not be beaten; (2) When one of the litigants is an official servant, the other should not be beaten (for though the former may be in the right, his opponent should be treated with leniency, for fear of people saying you protect your Yamen servants, and lest, in future, when the servant is in the wrong, no one will dare come forward to accuse him) ; (3) Workmen and others employed by the magistrate him- self should not be bambooed by him, even if they deserve it. “ Three kinds of bambooing are forbidden — (1) With the greater bamboo (one stroke of the greater bamboo is counted as ten, three with the middle-sized, and five with the smaller ; officials are often too free with, never too chary of, their punishments ; with the smaller bamboo, used even to excess, life is not endangered ; besides, if the punishment is spread over a longer time, the magistrate has a longer interval in which to get calm, but with the heavy bamboo there is no saying what injuries might be done even with a few blows) ; (2) It is forbidden to strike too low down ; (3) It is forbidden to allow petty officers 120 Remission of Sentence. to use unauthorised instruments of punishment. These five preceding clauses refer to cases in which there is no doubt that punishment ought to be inflicted, but which officials are apt to punish too indiscriminately without due investigation of circumstances, whereby they inf alli bly stir up a feeling of discontent and insubordination. As regards those instances where punishment is deserved, but should be temporarily suspended, a remission of part or the whole of the sentence may be granted, as the magistrate sees fit. The great point is to admit an element of com- passion, as thereby alone the due administration of punish- ment can be ensured.” These two chapters show clearly that the Chinese are beginning to temper their rigorous laws with mercy ; indeed, the bare existence of such a book, and its wide circulation, attest to this fact, Perhaps the reader may remark that the object of Advice to Governvient Officials seems to be rather to keep the mandarins out of trouble than from any pity felt by the author for the recipients of the bamboo. But whatever motive prompted its publication — perhaps the talented author had himself writhed beneath a friendly castigation or two — there seems little doubt that the modera- tion it enjoins is in conformity with an increasing spirit of leniency which of late years has manifested itself through- out the Empire. Many thousands of Chinese now emigrate, make fortunes, and return to enjoy their gains in the land of their birth. The eyes of these men have not been obstinately closed during their sojourn amongst the “white devils quite the contrary, for the Chinese are the most 121 Enlightenment. observant nation in the world. They cannot fail to remark the administration of justice in Australia and America, and to see that such barbarous means as torture are never dreamt of, being looked upon with the deepest horror. They turn this over in their minds, and talk freely on their return to China. The old, old system must in time be shaken to pieces by the new ideas thus introduced into every village, and their first fruit seems to be a new-born regard for the sufferings of others. CHINESE MODE OF PUNISHMENT. WOMAN FEEDING THE PRISONER. CHAPTER X. The Army and Navy — The Religions of China. HE army of China is very magnificent on paper, but in A reality her military organisation is exceedingly de- fective. This may be owing to the peaceful nature of the people, who, as a nation, detest war, and despise those who adopt it as a career. The number of troops is very difficult to ascertain accurately, but a standing army of some sort has existed from the seventh century. If we estimate this at a hundred thousand men, and place the militia at about a million, we shall be pretty near the mark. The regulars are Tartars, mostly cavalry, whose weapons are the bow and scimitar ; the militia are unlike the troops of any other country in every respect, for they receive scarcely any pay, and are therefore compelled to till the soil for the support of their wives and families. They are a dirty, emaciated, and immoral body of men, composed of the dregs of the nation, and, as they are left to their own fancies in the matter of clothes and arms, their appearance on parade would hardly suit our English notions of cleanliness and efficiency. 123 The Army. Neither does the Chinese soldier make up by desperate valour for the shortcomings in his outward man, as he freely admits his activity to be greater in retreat than in advance. The words brave and valour are sewn on to his back, from whence it might easily be inferred that this side is most frequently presented to the enemy’s view; the word robust adorns his breast. The weapons with which the soldiery are furnished comprise bows and arrows, pikes, matchlocks, double and single swords, basket shields, on which are painted hideous devices, and cannon. Some of the latter are remarkably fine pieces of ordnance. I remember two or three enormous guns that were captured in 1856, which had a large ad- mixture of silver with the bronze, and were so valuable that one was quietly cut up on board H.M.S. , and the pieces sold. Many of the Chinese regulars are now armed with breech-loading rifles, in the use of which they have been instructed by Europeans ; but the majority retain the old matchlock, unimproved since in bygone days they first caught the idea from the Portuguese. The army is divided into eight standards, which are dis- tinguished by their different colours — blue, red, yellow, and white ; each is subdivided into three — two wings and a centre. The officers are illiterate, and their pay is very small. Their different ranks are distinguished by the buttons worn on their caps. Except for the purpose of quelling an insurrection, or for the suppression of a band of robbers, the majority of the military are rarely called upon to perform any but civil duties. Thus they act as 124 The Navy. police officers in the cities, assist the magistrates, and guard the city gates ; the expresses also are forwarded from post to post by the soldiers. The fortresses of China are estimated at nearly twelve hundred, but very few out of that number are able to stand a cannonade, as they consist merely of a wall surrounded by a ditch. I make no mention of the Great Wall here, although it may be looked upon as a gigantic fortress. The Chinese navy has until the last few years consisted of nearly two thousand war-junks, so closely resembling the peaceful traders that only the most experienced eye could detect the difference. They had made no advance whatever in naval architecture since the days of Marco Polo, from whom we receive the earliest accounts of their vessels. As they were in his day, so they were found by Lord Macartney five hundred years afterwards ; the hulls were clumsy and grotesque, the ropes and sails made of bamboo, and the anchors of wood. To give some idea of the Chinese sailors, I may mention that a salute of blank cartridge has struck terror into the hearts of all within hearing ; and in 1742, when Commodore Anson arrived in China, a deputation of mandarins boarded his ship and requested that the ceremony of a salute might be dispensed with, alleging that the noise would dismay the people. Of late, vessels of modern build have been employed, Europeans commanding them and superintending the machinery. Most of the foreigners, however, have been dismissed, the Chinese thinking themselves competent to take the entire management. Should war arise, their The Census. 125 frigates would infallibly fall into the hands of their enemies, and form a source of danger rather than of support to the Government. From the most reliable sources we find that the popula- tion of China proper is 405,213,152 persons, or 263 souls per square mile throughout the country. Regarding the manner of taking the census, Dr. Morrison observes : — “ In the Chinese Government there appears great regularity and system. Every district has its appropriate officer, every street its constable, and every ten houses a tything-man. They have all the requisite means of ascertaining the population with considerable accuracy. “ Every family is required to have a board always hang- ing up in the house and ready for the inspection of autho- rised officers, on which the names of all persons — men, women, and children — in the house are inscribed. This board is called Mun-pae, “Door-tablet,” because, where there are women and children within, the officers are expected to take the account from the board at the door. Were all the inmates of a house faithfully inserted, the amount of the population would of course be ascertained with great accuracy. But, it is said, this is not the case. Names are often omitted, and the officers pass it over, either from neglect, or from some consideration given them by the head of the family, who, according to his situation in the community, has various reasons to represent his family fewer than it is. One reason said to operate sometimes is, that in urgent cases a conscription of every third male able to bear arms has been made by the Government. 126 Religion. That, however, was an ancient regulation, and is not applicable to the present dynasty, which keeps up a con- stant standing army. Every Tartar is a soldier. Others say that amongst the poor, who constitute the mass of the population in every country, the Mun-pae, or account of persons given in, is generally correct. To he the reverse, exposes them to informations and to much trouble. This seems the more probable statement.” The religion of the Chinese may be regarded as total darkness. There is no State religion — it might almost be said there is no religion at all. Excepting in the persecu- tion of Christian missionaries, the Chinese have always shown the utmost toleration to all creeds, and it was simply from the belief that the Christians had a political object in view that they fell under the displeasure of the authorities. It is very remarkable that the Chinese Government has never engaged in religious struggles or experienced those antagonisms of faith and philosophy which in other countries have excited so much discord. Never having known oppression, the Chinese have remained free from bigotry. The religion of China is confined to morality and philo- sophy, the only piety she exacts being filial. The country is void of religious traditions ; apostles and saints are unknown, and neither the ardour of a living faith nor the subtleties of rationalism can trouble the consciences of a people content with respecting the doctrines of morality and the invocation of Lao-tse, or Confucius. Of the former philosopher little is known beyond the 127 The Worship of Reason. fact that he was bom about 600 B.C., travelled a great deal, and is even said to have met Pythagoras. Legends have since arisen asserting that Lao-tse was born of a virgin mother, and at his death went up to heaven ; but these are unimportant details, and we are only concerned with him as the founder of the Taou-tse, or “Worship of Reason,” and the author of the Tao-te-king, a volume with the com- prehensive title of The Book of Reason and Virtue. In this work the philosopher does not give the Deity any specific name, but says — “ Before Chaos, which preceded the creation of the heaven and the earth, there existed one single Being — immense, silent, immovable, yet incessantly active — that is the author of the universe. I do not know how this being is named, but I designate it by the word reason. Man has his model in the earth, the earth in the heavens, the heavens in reason itself. Every created thing emanates from his bosom, and all will return to him ; he has neither form, nor substance, nor name; he is the beginning and the end.” According to Lao-tse, human souls are the emanations from this ethereal Being, which come and go like smoke. Man and all that surrounds him — -joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain — are simply passing accidents, transient shadows. The wisdom of the philosopher is therefore to regard life with the indifference of a spectator watching the waves break themselves upon the shore. Impassive, not from pride but from indifference, the sage should put aside the fictitious life created by man, and return to the laws of nature and a purer existence. i 128 Confucius . The followers of this sect are rank idolaters, and the Taou priests are great alchemists, pretending to have dis- covered an elixir bestowing immortality. They live in temples or small communities with their families, and often lead a vagrant life, deriving a precarious livelihood from the sale of charms. They are regarded by the people as little better than jugglers and impostors. The doctrine of Lao-tse was evidently too abstract to suit the masses, and the rdle of popular moralist and legis- lator was reserved for another, who before carrying his disciples into the regions of metaphysics and doubts gave them rules and precepts for their present conduct. Kung-fut-se, or, when Latinised, Confucius, was born in the year 551 b.c., or about fifty years later than Lao-tse. According to the Jesuit, Du Halde, the province of Canton was his birth-place, and be was a member of the same family which gave to the Chinese the celebrated legislator Hwang-te. From his earliest years the future lawgiver showed a deep thirst for knowledge, and, on the completion of his studies, he was deemed fitting, from the precocious gravity of his demeanour, his learning, and eminent virtues, to fill the high office of Inspector-General of Pastures and Flocks. On attaining his twenty-fifth year, his mother died, when, according to custom, Confucius threw up his appointment, and retired for three years, which time he devoted to study and meditation. His great object in acquiring knowledge was to introduce moral reforms and good government, and he reflected deeply upon the prin- ciples by which men could be rendered happy and their THE “FKE-LOI-TSZE” MONASTERY, ON TIIE NORTH RIVER, IN THE “ TSING YUNE ” PASS. *>■ I .A ( His Doctrines. 129 condition bettered. He did not hold with Lao-tse that a philosopher should isolate himself from the world, and devote himself exclusively to contemplation ; it seemed to him more useful to live amongst his fellows, devoting to their welfare his fortune and time, and consecrating his life to their instruction. At the expiration of his three years’ retreat, Confucius travelled through the different provinces, giving public lectures on the benefit of virtue and social order, in which he vainly endeavoured to interest the Emperor and his viceroys. But the people approved of what they heard, and many thousands became converts to his doctrine. His fame increased with his years, and, after many changes and disappointments, he was made, in his fifty-fifth year, prime minister of his native province. Owing to the prudent measures he adopted, the state of the principality under- went a thorough change within the space of three years — vice was abolished, virtue reigned supreme. But envy and intrigue succeeded in driving him from power, and for eleven years he wandered from province to province of China, endeavouring to secure the favourable attention of his countrymen, but encountering in too many instances persecution and imprisonment — indeed, on one occasion, narrowly escaping starvation. Ultimately he returned to his native state in extreme poverty, and employed his re- maining years in the completion of the volumes which propagated his doctrines to after generations. He died in the year 479 B.c., in the seventieth year of his age. His chief work was the revision of the five Kings or 130 Writings of Confucius. Sacred Books, amongst the most ancient of the Chinese writings. He considered this so important an achievement that, on its completion, he repaired with his disciples to the heights on which sacrifices were formerly offered, and, having placed his hook upon the altar, prostrated himself towards the north, and offered his acknowledgments to the Deity for permitting him to bring to a successful issue so extensive a work. He wrote also the Shi-king, containing over three hundred poems, the best of which every China- man knows by heart; the Chun-tsien, a history of China in his own time ; the Ta-heo, or “ Great Study,” a political work, in* which all government, from domestic to imperial, is shown to be parental ; and several other books, all greatly venerated by his countrymen. Confucius was undeniably a man of most noble and exalted character. He never sought to be accounted either a prophet or a legislator, and, in his abhorrence of ostenta- tion, even refused to allow that the doctrines he promul- gated emanated from himself, asserting continually that his maxims were those of the sages of antiquity. His precepts are simple and natural, and well adapted to the perception of all classes. They point out the respective duties of sovereigns and subjects, of parents and children, of hus- bands and wives, and inculcate above all the five essential virtues — humanity, justice, the strict observance of cere- monies, the love of truth, and sincerity. Such was the philosopher whose precepts have for more than two thousand years influenced his country, where his name is deservedly held in the highest honour. If Bud- Buddhism. 131 dhism has to a great extent superseded the teaching of Confucius, it is because in the Celestial Empire, as else- where, men tire of following virtue and justice, preferring the easy superstition of a more indulgent religion to the austere prescriptions of a rigid morality. Buddhism was introduced into China from India in the first century of the Christian era, and spread with such rapidity that it soon extended over the greater part of the country under the name of the “ Beligion of Fo,” an imper- fect transcription of the name of Buddha. The ancient Chinese books contain vague allusions to the advent of a great saint who should appear about this time in the West, and Confucius himself mentions the tradition as received by the sages of the nation. More than a thousand years before, Buddhism had appeared in India, and in A.D. 65, the Chinese Emperor, Ming-te, sent messengers into Hindostan to make inquiries concerning this religion, the fame of which had reached his ears. The ambassadors, thinking they had discovered in the god Fo, or Buddha, the expected Saint of the West, returned to China, carrying upon a white horse a statue of the god and the books containing his doctrine. He was also accompanied by two priests of the new religion, who visited the Emperor, and in a few years the Convent of the White Horse was erected over the idol, the books were translated into Chinese, and the Buddhist religion with all its errors was established in the land. This religion, which consists of practical materialism, authorised by the doctrine of future annihilation, accom- panied by a mass of idolatrous practices and gross super- 132 Bonzes. stitions, has been described at length in the history of Japan, one of the same series with the present volume. The Buddhist priests or bonzes are subjected to no MORQUE AT PEKIN. SUPERIOR BONZE OF A BUDDHIST CONVENT. China, p. 132. I V "'M'V .... i ■ _ 133 Pagodas. regular hierarchy, but form a sort of religious order under vows of celibacy, prayer, and works of penance, and live sometimes in communities, at others in solitude. They have lost the respect once accorded to them by charlatanism and the barefaced manner in which they have abused the credulity of the people. Their temples or pagodas are scattered about the country in great profusion, and may be seen on the summits of hills, in shady and secluded valleys, on the banks of rivers, by the sides of the high roads, and even in the midst of the fields. How abundant they are 134 Pagodas. may be estimated from Peking containing not fewer than ten thousand. Their architecture is generally in good taste, though very strange and grotesque, for every pagoda possesses an originality of its own, being built on a different plan from its neighbour. A good site also is invariably selected, and numerous paths, planted with evergreen trees and shrubs, lead up to the building, which, with its galleries, more closely resembles a country house situated in a garden than a temple. Flights of steps commonly lead to the outer portion of the pagoda, a sort of porch, supported upon enormous granite columns, while on either hand are sta- tioned four colossal statues, looking like so many immov- able but formidable sentinels. Two side gates lead to the principal nave, wherein is placed the chief deity of the temple, generally the Buddhist Trinity, which is repre- sented by three statues joined so as to form one whole. The god in the middle sits with grave mien, and hands interlaced upon his capacious abdomen, representative of the Past, and of the eternal and unalterable repose to which he has attained. The two others are emblems of the Present and of the Future, and are represented with the right arm raised in token of their activity. These idols, which, though in a crouching attitude, are often twelve feet high, are gilt from head to foot, and before each stands an altar covered with little vases for the reception of offerings, where perfume is continually burning in small vessels of chased bronze. A crowd of secondary divinities are arrayed round the hall, which is further ornamented by enormous CHINESE TEMPLE I; • '■ I . ■ _ V ■ • • . Christianity. 135 lanterns of painted paper. Another hall is a perfect pan- theon, containing all the gods or devils that were ever heard of huddled together in one indiscriminate mass ; patrons of war, of artillery, of manufactures, of agriculture, of medi- cine; the sages of antiquity, philosophers, warriors, and ministers ; fabulous monsters, ogres, and reptiles repulsive to the sight — all are heaped together, forming a strange and hideous collection of diabolical idols, and offering the most disheartening testimony to the possible degradation of the human intellect. Judaism and Mahommedanism both hold a certain place in China, though very small compared with Buddhism; and the same may he said of Christianity. The latter appears to have found adherents at an early date, for there are certain records that the Nestorians had flourishing missions in the seventh century, which existed until 1330, when they are reported to have numbered 30,000 souls. The first Roman Catholic mission was established in 1307, but after the Ming dynasty succeeded to the throne scarcely anything is known of either Catholics or ISTestorians. Catholic missions were re-established during the latter part of the sixteenth century by the Jesuits, and have been maintained ever since with varying success. The first Protestant mission was begun by the London Missionary Society in 1807, since when a number of other societies, English, American, and German, have sent out mission- aries. The Protestant missions have, until lately, confined themselves to the open ports. In 1869 they had an aggre- gate membership of 5624. 136 Want of Religion. The reader will gather from the foregoing that the three religions of China are Buddhism and the sects represented by Confucius and Lao-tse. This may be true in theory, but in practice there is no religion whatever — universal indifferentism reigns supreme and unquestioned. The Abbe Hue — and there are few better authorities — says : — “ The religious sentiment has vanished from the national mind, the rival doctrines have lost all authority, and their partisans, grown sceptical and impious, have fallen into the abyss of indifferentism, in which they have given each other the kiss of peace. Beligious discussions have entirely ceased, and the whole Chinese nation has proclaimed this famous formula, with which everybody is satisfied, San- kiao-y-kiao — that is, ‘ The three religions are but one.’ Thus all the Chinese are at the same time partisans of Confucius, Lao-tse, and Buddha ; or, rather, they are nothing at all ; they reject all faith, all dogma, to live merely by their more or less depraved and corrupted instincts. “ But although they have thus made a tabula rasa of their religious creeds, the ancient denominations have re- mained, and the Chinese still like to make use of them, but they are now only the memorials of feelings long since dead. Ho thing more clearly indicates this desolating scepticism than a formula of politeness exchanged between unknown persons on their first meeting. It is customary to ask to * what sublime religion ’ you belong. One, per- haps, will call himself a Confucian; another, a Buddhist; a third, a disciple of Lao-tse; a fourth, a follower of Mahomet, of whom there are many in China ; and then every one Idols. 137 begins to pronounce a panegyric on the religion to which he does not belong, as politeness requires ; after which they all repeat in chorus Pou-toun-Jciao-toun-ly, ‘ Eeligions are many ; reason is one ; we are all brothers.’ This phrase is on the lips of every Chinese, and they handy it from one to the other with the most exquisite urbanity. It is, indeed, a clear and concise expression of their feeling on religious questions. In their eyes a worship is merely an affair of taste and fashion, to which no more importance is to be attached than to the colour of your garments.” The people, however, think it right to consult an idol before commencing any work of importance, though it does not seem much to matter what the image is, if we may believe the missionary who declares he has seen the picture of Napoleon Bonaparte worshipped in a Chinese temple. Every village boasts its god manufacturer, with the following inscription over his shop in large characters : — “ Idols and Buddhas, of all sorts, made, repaired, and gilt.” In the vestige of religion they have left, as in everything else, the Chinese are a most curious people. CHAPTER XI. The Great Wall — Water System of China. .HE Great Wall of China is decidedly the most remark - A able national work in the Empire. This stupendous barrier was commenced by Che-hwang-te, the first Emperor of the Tsin dynasty, in the year 240 B.c. To prevent the inroads of the restless and partly subjugated inhabitants of the north, Che-hwang-te conceived the brilliant idea of encircling his enormous empire with a wall, as a country gentleman of the present day would enclose his acres in a ring fence. The notion was not a novel one, though nothing on so extensive a scale had ever been before undertaken. Walls were built by the Egyptians and Medes to fortify the country from the incursions of outlying foes, and a later but more familiar instance is the wall erected by Septimus Severus to keep the Piets out of Britain ; none of these works, however, can attempt to vie in magnitude with the Great Wall of China. It commences at Lin-teaon, in the western part of Shense, and terminates in the sea at Liao-tong, a distance of over fifteen hundred miles. At the east end the foundation was The Great Wall. 139 laid by sinking vessels laden with enormous stones, upon which the wall was erected. Che-hwang-te having ordered that every inch of land belonging to the Empire should be enclosed, the difficulties attending its construction were enormously increased. Every third man in the country was required to render his quota of assistance, and, after five years’ incessant labour, the stupendous barrier was completed, and marked the northern limit of the imperial possessions ; here it was seen hanging on the steep side of a mountain ; there, hidden in deep gorges ; in one place striding over rivers and torrents ; in another, raised upon piles, traversing bogs and marshes. The Emperor lined it with towers and battlements, and its breadth was such that six horsemen could ride abreast on its top. Different authors have taken widely different estimates of the size and importance of the Great Wall, some sneering at it as a long mass of rubbish, others extolling it to the skies. Sir John Barrow says: — “ The same Emperor who is said to have committed the barbarous act of destroying the works of the learned raised this stupendous fabric, which has no parallel in the whole world, not even in the Pyramids of Egypt, the magnitude of the largest of these containing only a very small portion of the quantity of matter contained in the Great Wall of China. This, indeed, is so enormous that, admitting, what I believe has never been denied, its length to be fifteen hundred miles, and the dimensions throughout pretty much the same as where it was crossed by the British Embassy, the materials of all the dwelling-houses of England and Scotland, supposing 140 The Great Wall. them to amount to 1,800,000, and to average on the whole 2000 cubic feet of masonry or brickwork, are barely equiva- lent to the bulk or solid contents of the Great Wall of China. Nor are the projecting massy towers of stone and brick included in this calculation. These alone, supposing them to continue throughout at bow-shot distance, were calculated to contain as much masonry and brickwork as all London. To give another idea of the mass of matter in this stupendous fabric, it may be observed that it is more than sufficient to surround the circumference of the earth on two of its great circles with two walls, each six feet high and two feet thick ! It is to be understood, however, 141 Asserted Inequality. that in this calculation is included the earthy part in the middle of the wall.” Sir John Barrow has evidently made his calculations from what he saw of the wall at Peking, and has assumed that throughout its course it is equally solid and high. The Abbe Hue and other missionaries who have crossed the wall at fifteen different points, report that the double battlemented walls extend only a short distance beyond Peking, and that further on it degenerates into a terrace of earth, so much obliterated that in many places it could be crossed and recrossed on horseback. The Emperor would naturally expend more strength in fortifying the immediate neighbourhood of his capital than would be necessary in the wilder districts of the country, and probably, also, the workmen were less particular when busy upon a portion which would never come under the sovereign’s personal observation. The Great Wall is made of two walls of brick or masonry, many feet apart, and from a foot to a foot and a-half each in thickness; the space between these is filled up with earth, making the whole fabric appear like solid masonry. There are strong square towers, about forty feet high, dis- tributed along it at such distances that they can afford each other mutual assistance ; every important pass, also, has a strong and well-built fortress. The average height of the wall itself is twenty feet, and there are stairs of brick or stone every here and there for footmen to ascend, and inclined planes for cavalry, though what use the latter would be there seems difficult to say. Both the wall and 142 Canals. towers are battlemented. Captain Parish, of the Royal Artillery, took all the dimensions of this great work with the utmost accuracy. It is to he found in Sir George Staunton’s valuable account of Lord Macartney’s embassy to China (vol. ii., p. 189). Such is the Great Wall of China, which work, Dr. Johnson was of opinion, it would be an honour to any man to say his grandfather had seen. The only other great national works worthy of mention are the Chinese canals, in whose construction much public spirit has been exhibited. Owing to the want of good roads, the people have largely availed themselves of the great number of lakes and rivers existing in the country, and have constructed a very network of canals, which serve the double purpose of irrigating the land and affording an easy means of transport. One writer mentions a district where he was unable to find a field of twenty acres, owing to the numerous canals. It is by no means uncommon in the alluvial provinces to find canals from 50 to 150 yards wide, and from six to ten feet in depth. They most fre- quently follow natural channels improved by human in- genuity, and are subject to fluctuations of the depth of water like other streams. As with the Great Wall so with the canals ; some writers cry them up as perfect, others consider the whole system as rude in the extreme. The Grand Canal, the noblest work of this nature in China, traverses the Great Plain from near Peking to its south-eastern point. As far south as Tien-tsin it is formed by the northern affluent of the Peiho, and from Tien-tsin Grand Canal. 143 junction with the Yang-tsze-kiang. Of this Sir John Barrow writes : — “ I may safely say that, in point of mag- nitude, our most extensive inland navigation of England K to Lintsing (300 miles) it follows the southern affluent of the same river. From thence to Tsining it is an artificial water-way; after which it follows the lake system until its 144 Construction of Grand Canal. can no more be compared to the grand trunk that intersects China than a park or garden fish-pond to the great lake of Windermere.” Keai’ly 200,000 men were employed for years in the completion of the Grand Canal, which is 1000 miles in length, and possesses numerous branches com- municating with every city of importance. Its antiquity is described as very great, but Kublai Khan’s successors restored it to working order, and it may be said to be entirely due to them that it is now in existence, for the previous dynasties had suffered all public works to fall into a most disgraceful state of dilapidation and decay. The supply of water is obtained from the Yellow River and the Yang-tsze-kiang, both of which streams cut the canal nearly at right angles, serving as feeders first and afterwards as drains to carry the superfluous waters off to the sea. The difficulties in accommodating the levels to all the small rivers must have been enormous. It was necessary in some cases to cut down sixty or seventy feet below the surface, and in others to raise the canal above the level of lakes and swamps — a work of such magnitude as to be beyond the reach of any nation not possessed of millions of inhabitants over whom the monarch exercised absolute command. Barrow says : — “ These gigantic embankments are sometimes carried through lakes of several miles in diameter, between which the water is forced up to a height considerably above that of the lake, and in such situations we sometimes observed this enormous aqueduct gliding along at the rate of three miles an hour. Few parts of it are level ; in some places it has little or no current ; one Flood Gates. 145 day we had it setting to the southward at the rate of one, two, or three miles an hour, the next to the northward, and frequently on the same day we found it stationary, and running in opposite directions. This balancing of the level was effected by flood-gates thrown across at certain dis- tances to elevate or depress the height of the water a few inches, as might appear to be necessary, and these stop- pages are simply planks sliding in grooves that are cut into the sides of two stone abutments, which in these places 146 Canal Boats. contract the canal to the width of about thirty feet. There is not a lock nor, except these, a single interruption to a continued navigation of 600 miles.” During the reign of the Emperor Yang-te, who ascended the throne in the year 605 of the Christian era, more than 4800 miles of canals were constructed, for which purpose every family had to supply a man, between the ages of fifteen and fifty, to whom the Government gave nothing but his food. Some of these canals are said to have been lined with freestone throughout their entire length. The boats used upon the canals are generally from 26 to 50 tons burden, having masts and sails which are always set when the wind serves. At other times oars are used, or the crew, lauding, track the vessel along by means of a tow-line made fast to the mast-head. Before quitting the subject I must mention that the purely artificial portion of the Grand Canal between Lintsing and Tsining is now out of repair and disused; whilst in some other places the banks are broken down, and the bed has been allowed to silt almost completely up. CHINESE LANTERNS. CHAPTER XII. Peking. YET us now take a glance at Peking, the capital, as a model of the other cities of the Chinese Empire. Peking was built many centuries before the Christian era, though the exact date of its foundation is unknown. After the conquest by the Tartars of the kingdom of Yen, of which it was the capital, it descended to the rank of a provincial town, but in the beginning of the fifteenth century it again became the capital of the Empire. Its name signifies the “ Court of the North,” as opposed to Nan- king, the “ Court of the Centre.” The Chinese sovereigns, in early ages, made their residence in the latter town, but the continual incursions of the Tartars obliged them to remove their courts to the northern province, where they could more easily oppose the inroads of these nomadic tribes. Peking is situated in the midst of a vast sandy plain, near the river Tunghiu, a small tributary of the Peiho, and is distant from the latter river twelve miles, thirty-five from the nearest part of the Great Wall, and eighty-five 148 Peking. miles north-west from the Gulf of Pechili. The beauty of its exterior is greatly marred by the Chinese custom of enclosing their cities within high walls, but, outside these, numbers of pagodas, monasteries, picturesque cemeteries, &c., embellish the environs. During summer, when the undulating plain is covered with verdure, the aspect is agreeable, but in winter the bare ravines and hollows give a triste look to the landscape. From the heights which overlook the city it appears to be situated in the midst of a thick forest, from all the cemeteries and convents being adorned with fine plantations and avenues. Peking consists of four distinct divisions, which are dis- tinguished by the following names : — First, Kin-ching, or the prohibited city, containing only the palaces of the Emperor and the dwellings of his immediate retainers; second, Hwang-ching, or the imperial city, set apart for the court officials ; third, Kin-ching, the Tartar city, having an area of twelve square miles; fourth, Wai-ching, the Chinese city, with an area of fifteen square miles. The Tartar city is surrounded by a wall sixty feet high and forty feet broad at the top, and the Chinese city by one half the height and twelve feet in breadth, both of which are built of rubble faced with stone or brick, and have sloping embankments at intervals for the accommodation of horsemen. Square towers are placed at about seventy paces from each other. Inclusive of the suburbs lying outside the walls, the city has an area of twenty-five miles in circumference. Kin-ching, the prohibited city, which has a circumfer- ence of about two miles, is entered by four gates, each China, p. 148. GATE AT PEKING. —I / * . 149 The Prohibited City. surmounted by a tower. The interior is divided into three parts by walls running from north to south, and the whole is occupied by a collection of palatial edifices. Surrounded by parks and gardens, amongst which are profusely scattered lakes, ponds, hills, valleys, pavilions, and pagodas, these palaces are exceedingly beautiful, and present a whole which it would be difficult to find in any other country in the world. The imperial palace contains nine large courts, com- municating with each other by marble doors, surmounted by pavilions whose golden roofs glitter in the sun. The first or entrance court is very spacious, and is entered by a marble staircase, having a horseshoe-shaped balustrade of the same material adorned by two bronze lions ; a small stream runs through the midst of this, spanned by five bridges ornamented with sculpture. At the end of this court is a facade with three doors, the centre one being for the Emperor alone, the two side ones for the mandarins and courtiers; these lead into the largest court in the palace. This enclosure is completely surrounded by an immense gallery, in which are stored the valuables belonging to the Emperor. The first of these magazines is filled with every kind of metal work ; the second contains specimens of the finest furs ; in the third are robes trimmed with sea-otter skin, ermine, and sable, which the sovereign presents to his grandees; the fourth contains precious stones, rare marbles, and pearls brought from Tartary ; the fifth, which is two- storied, is filled with chests and trunks containing the 150 The Imperial Hall. wearing apparel of the Emperor and his family; the re- mainder serve as depots for arms taken in battle, or given as presents to the monarch. In this court stands the Imperial Hall, or “ Hall of the Great Union.” It is almost square, about 150 feet by 145, and has a handsome glazed green panelling decorated with sculpture, and embellished with golden dragons. The pillars which support the roof are seven feet in circumference at the base, and are overlaid with a kind of cement coated with red varnish. The marble pavement is partly covered by a very ordinary Turkey carpet; the walls are bare, having neither tapestry, decorations, nor painting. In the middle of the hall stands the throne, a simple dais, bearing the inscription “ Tchin,” which in a measure corresponds with the word “ Saint.” The raised foundation upon which this building stands extends beyond it and supports two other halls — one, a rotunda, lighted by numerous windows and glittering with decoration, is the apartment in which the Emperor changes his robes before or after a ceremony ; the other is a saloon, through which he passes on his way to the throne. Candel- abras shaped like birds and painted in various colours, and large bronze vases in which perfumes are burnt on state occasions, surround the platform. Leaving this court by ascending a flight of marble stairs and passing another gate, the Kien-tsing-tung, or “ The Tranquil Palace of Heaven,” is reached, into which no one can enter without special permission. In it is the council chamber, and here candidates for office are presented to the * I HANGING GARDEN (PART OF PUN-TING-QUA’S GARDEN AT CANTON). China, p. 151. 151 The Imperial City. Sovereign. Beyond it stands “ The Palace of Earth’s Kepose,” where the Empress holds sway in the Imperial harem; and beyond this, to the north, is the Imperial garden, adorned with artificial lakes, fountains, hanging gardens, pavilions, and flower-beds. In the eastern division are the offices of the privy council and treasury, north of which lies the library and “ the temple of intense thought,” where sacrifices are offered to Confucius and kindred sages. This division also contains numerous palaces occupied by the princes of the blood and their retainers, as well as the “ Eung-sien-tien, a small temple resorted to by the Emperor for the purpose of blessing — not his descendants, but his ancestors. The western division is devoted to public buildings, amongst which may be mentioned the printing office, the hall of distinguished sovereigns, and the guardian temple of the city. Notwithstanding the large space occupied by the prohibited city, the number of people dwelling in it are comparatively few, and these are generally Tartars. Hwang-cliing, or the Imperial city, which surrounds the prohibited city, is enclosed by a wall twenty feet high and six miles in circumference, having four gates, through which none may pass without special permission. Within this large space are many temples in which the Emperor and the members of the Imperial family worship ; a de- pository of military stores, with workshops attached ; and numerous pagodas, monasteries, and other religious edifices. On the north side is the King-shan or artificial mountain described by Marco Polo, having five summits, each of 152 The Tartar City. which is crowned by a pavilion. Groves, gardens, parterres with artificial lakes and hills of rockwork, constitute the leading features of the Imperial city. Surrounding Hwang-ching is Nin-ching, the Tartar city, which is entered by nine gates, each having two pavilions, and forming a strong fortress. It is separated from the Chinese town by a wide paved embankment, bordered on one side by the high walls of the ramparts, and on the other by moats filled with water. Its only remarkable buildings are “ The Temple of Heaven ” and “ The Temple of Earth,” whose huge blue cupolas are visible at the south of the town above the sombre masses of trees which surround them. The Observatory and the splendid “ Temple’ of Eternal Peace ” are also situated in Nin-ching. It contains many wide, spacious streets, intersecting each other at right angles. The Chinese city is more populous than the Tartar, but is not so well built, neither are the walls surrounding it so solid. The principal streets are more than 100 feet wide, and extend from one end of the city to the other in a straight line. The by-streets, branching off from the main thoroughfares, are mere lanes, unpaved, and either ankle- deep in dust or knee-deep in mud, according to the state of the weather. The houses, which seldom exceed one story, are built of brick and roofed with tiles; most of the private residences have a parapet in front, upon which pots containing flowers or shrubs are placed. The mass of the people live in this and the Tartar city, the richer inhabitants preferring the latter. The foreign tourist is generally China, p. 153, 153 Sign-boards. greatly struck by the long rows of gaudy sign-boards, polished, coloured, or gilded, and ornamented at the top with flags, banners, and streamers of the most startling colours. One of these is placed in front of each shop, and on it is inscribed the name of the merchant, a recommenda- tion of his goods, and his claim to the confidence of the public, with, not unfrequently, his genealogy to boot. Some of them, particularly desirous of alluring customers, add such phrases as “ No deceit here.” It is scarcely possible to imagine, without having wit- nessed it, the scene which the commercial streets in Peking exhibit every day. The busy bustling crowd, the horses, mules, carriages, hand-barrows, and sedan chairs, all mixed in inextricable confusion, and amongst them the itinerant dealers, some with hampers containing the stock-in-trade suspended round their necks, others standing before port- able stoves on which they cook the viands they vend ; these and many others are to be seen in the streets, not silently offering their wares, but endeavouring to attract the attention of possible buyers by shrill ear-piercing cries, and loudly vaunting the low price and superior quality of the proffered commodities. The barber with his little bell summons all who have not performed their toilette to be shaved in the open air. He motions his customer to a low seat, with one turn of the hand lathers his head, and dexterously performs with his triangular razor; he then paints his eyebrows, adjusts his queue, brushes his garment, and, receiving a small fee, sends him away satisfied. Often a crowd collects to listen 154 The Streets. to a story-teller or a singer, to watch the tricks of a con- juror, or to hear of the marvellous properties possessed by certain drugs and remedies sold by a loquacious quack ; hut suddenly there is a stir amongst the assemblage, which hurriedly disperses or draws to one side, leaving room for the passage of some grandee, who, seated in his chair, and surrounded by a numerous cortlge, expects all inferiors to make way at his presence. Barrow thus describes his entrance into Peking : — “ The multitude of movable workshops of tinkers and barbers, cobblers and blacksmiths, the tents and booths where tea and fruit, rice and other eatables were exposed for sale, with the wares and merchandise arranged before the doors, had contracted this spacious street to a narrow road in the middle, just wide enough for two of our little vehicles to pass each other. The cavalcade of officers and soldiers that preceded the embassy, the processions of men in office, attended by their numerous retinue bearing umbrellas and flags, painted lanterns, and a variety of strange insignia of their rank and station, different trains that were accom- panying, with lamentable cries, corpses to their graves, and, with squalling music, brides to their husbands, the troops of dromedaries laden with coals from Tartary, the wheel- barrows and hand-carts stuffed with vegetables, occupied nearly the whole of this middle space in one continued line, leaving very little room for the cavalcade of the embassy to pass. All was in motion. The sides of the street were filled with an immense concourse of people buying and selling and bartering their different commodi- Crowds. 155 ties. The buzz and confused noises of this mixed multi- tude, proceeding from the loud bawling of those who were crying their wares, the wrangling of others, with every now and then a strange twanging noise like the jarring of a cracked Jew’s harp, the barber’s signal made by his tweezers, the mirth and the laughter that prevailed in every group, could scarcely be exceeded by the brokers in the Bank Rotunda, or by the J ews and old women in Rosemary Lane. Pedlars with their packs, and jugglers, and conjurors, and fortune-tellers, mountebanks and quack doctors, comedians and musicians, left no space unoccupied. The Tartar sol- diers with their whips kept with difficulty a clear passage for the embassy to move slowly forwards — so slow, indeed, that, although we entered the eastern gate at half-past nine, it was near twelve before we arrived at the western.” Although an extraordinary crowd might have been ex- pected to assemble on such a particular occasion as the arrival of the English Ambassador with his suite, yet the spectacle interrupted none of the multitude in their busi- ness. Unlike a London crowd, who would have stared open-mouthed and idle, the Chinese regarded the strange sight quite as an accessory to their enjoyment, permitting them to gratify their curiosity at the same time that they pursued their different avocations. This throng of people is entirely confined to the main thoroughfares, which are the only outlets to the city ; the side lanes are always still and quiet. A mandarin of the first order travels with all the subal- tern mandarins attached to his court in his suite, and they, 156 The Police . in their turn, are followed by numerous domestics. The lords in attendance at court and the princes of the blood always appear in public with an immense cortege, sufficient of itself to obstruct the streets. Notwithstanding the apparent turmoil and disorder reigning in the main streets, every writer on China concurs in bearing testimony to the wonderfully efficient police regulations enforced in Peking, and in every city, town, or village throughout the Empire. Guards of soldiers are stationed day and night in the principal thoroughfares, with strict orders to use their whips upon all, without distinction, who are disorderly or betray the slightest in- clination to quarrel; besides this, as is elsewhere mentioned, every street is divided into sections of ten houses, which are each under the surveillance of one of the inhabitants, deputed by the authorities to fill the office of tything-man. As soon as night falls, each householder, be he rich or poor, mandarin or mechanic, must light the lantern which stands at his door. At both ends of each street there is a wooden barrier, which is closed at dark, and sentries posted at these barriers will permit of neither ingress nor egress unless the applicant carries a lantern and can show good cause for his absence from home. Watchmen patrol the streets during the whole night, who, instead of crying the hour, show their vigilance by striking a tube of bamboo every few minutes, causing a dull hollow sound, which it takes Europeans some time to become accustomed to and sleep through. In our own country a police code of such stringency could never be enforced, but with the docile China, v 15 1 ) * / . ' \ ,■ # 62 ! 157 A Lady ’ s Description. Chinese it is a simple matter, for they are wise enough to admit that the night was made for sleep, and, furthermore, to act up to it. Perhaps the reader would be curious to know the opinion formed of Peking by an English lady; I therefore quote from a letter of Mrs. Collins, the authoress of Chino. : and its People : — “ There is not a single two-storied house in Peking ; the yellow roofs of the palace and the blue or green roofs of some of the temples are the only objects which break the general uniformity. In walking about the city, objects betokening decay meet the eye on every side, massive archways of wood, finely carved, more or less out of the perpendicular, and threatening you with de- struction as you pass tinder them, notwithstanding the huge props by which they are supported. There are mag- nificent temples, the courtyards paved with marble, but overgrown with weeds, and fine gateways, the entrances to large palaces, with their once gorgeous painting unrenewed for years, and covered with dust. The streets, in many places, are filled with water, or intersected with what are intended for drains, deep enough to engulf a horse and its rider. A house in process of building is a thing unknown in Peking; repairs, also, are very uncommon, and decay is the rule. Peking might be blotted out of the map of China without affecting any one outside its walls.” As far as regards the massive archways supported by props, any Chinaman describing Temple Bar in our own capital could hardly find more fitting words to express its condition. Formerly the great city of the Chinese Emperors was 158 European Buildings. impenetrable to the foreigner, and the wildest rumours regarding its extent and wealth were current ; but in these days it is open to all, and even contains several European buildings, the chief of which are the Observatory and the Eoman Catholic establishments. The former is a large square tower, adjoining the south-east wall of the Tartar city. It was erected in 1680 for the use of the Chinese astronomers, and the instruments manufactured under the superintendence of a missionary. The Eoman Catholics have erected several buildings. The northern mission has managed to establish itself in the imperial city; others, together with a new and splendid cathedral, which was consecrated on the 1st of January, 1867, are built in the Tartar city. The population of Peking is reckoned at under 2,000,000 of inhabitants, who are divided into three classes. The first is composed of the Manchoo soldiers, whose fortunes have considerably changed since the conquest. At that time the houses of the Tartar city were bestowed upon them as a reward for their courage, but nearly all of them have spent in dissipation the fortuues they acquired by wrong, and the rest are merely tenants in their former habitations, of which the Chinese, by skill and economy, have repossessed themselves. The Manchoo officers are still by law members of the civil courts, but love of ease has caused them to give up the conduct of business to their secretaries, who are almost always Chinese scholars. The second class of inhabitants is composed of artisans ; the third, of domestics. I- I / vm 'wL \ Jgffl ' /'l- ~>iMi China, p. 159. YOUNG CHINESE OF THE MANDARIN CLASS. CHAPTER XIII. Personal Appearance and Dress of the Chinese — Their Habits and Dwellings. J'YXO say that beauty is differently judged by different ^ people is, of course, an obvious truism, but none the less does it hold good, and in no instance is it more marked than in the various views entertained regarding personal appearance. A face which in some countries would be accounted ugly, or perhaps even hideous, may he considered enchanting by those who are accustomed to the peculiarity of its style. All men prefer their own type to those of their neighbours, and this must be our excuse for not appreciating as highly as doubtless we ought the so-called beauty of the Chinese. A Chinaman has a large square face, with an open fore- head; his eyes are elongated and placed close together; his nose is small and flat between the eyes ; his mouth is not remarkable, but his ears are both large and serviceable — I say serviceable, because the coolie uses them to carry his cigar, and the literary man ties his spectacles around them. Neither do elegance and good proportion excite L 160 Complexions. admiration, and make the Celestial Adonis the cynosure of languishing eyes, for a man as stout as a beer barrel, albeit his mental capacity was below the average, would be regarded as infinitely superior to a thin man of great intellect. The usual complexion of the Chinese is a clear, light yellow-brown, darker, of course, in those who are exposed to the sun, and sometimes almost florid amongst such as are engaged in a sedentary occupation. Their Tartar con- querors introduced a new fashion of dressing the head, which the modem Chinese still adhere to. They shave the whole of the front part of the scalp, leaving the hair on the crown and poll, which they allow to grow to its f ull length and plait up with silk into a queue or pig-tail, which is worn hanging down the back. Until the age of forty the Chinaman carefully eradicates his beard by pulling out the hairs with tweezers, but when he has attained that time of life its growth is encouraged, as an indication of age, which younger men are bound to respect. Amongst the rich and the great, who have very little to do, it is the custom to cultivate the nails of the fingers until they attain a most extravagant length. This ridiculous habit is found also in Siam. A traveller mentions seeing the head of the police at Canton, the nails on whose left hand were six inches in length, and he adds — “ I have also seen some- thing more wonderful still, the hand of a Chinese doctor, whose longest nail measured twelve and a-half inches, the others being nine inches, and he told me with great grief that the nail of the little finger had been broken. \ . \ » i Dress. 161 “ It is impossible to imagine the trouble which this man had taken to accomplish this end, the inconvenience of keeping his nails always enclosed in long tubes of bamboo for protection, and the pain which the extreme delicacy and thinness of the skin must have caused him. But the great admiration with which he was regarded in conse- quence may have repaid him for all he suffered. He would never be pronounced guilty of any crime, for the mandarin before whom he was accused would say that a man endowed with so much patience, and able to exercise such strong self-command, could never be implicated in anything disgraceful.’' The costumes of the modern Chinese differ but slightly from those which are represented in ancient paintings* This is to be accounted for in two ways — first, the strong attachment of the nation to old customs ; and, secondly, to the existence of a Minister of Bites and Ceremonies, who is supreme arbiter concerning the shape, colour, and material of all garments. In that happy land fashion obtaineth not, and a young maiden may wear her great- grandmother’s kirtle without committing the deadly sin of being behind the time. The principal vestment is a long robe extending to the ankle and open in front, of which the left side wraps over the right, and is fastened by buttons of gold, silver, or other metal, placed widely apart. The sleeves are wide at the shoulders, and, becoming narrower at the wrist, are rounded off in the shape of a horse-shoe, which covers the whole hand, unless it is lifted up. A wide silk sash confines the 162 Rich Furs. dress around the waist and hangs down to the knees. From this various useful articles are suspended, such as a fan hung in a silken sheath, a case containing a table knife and the two indispensable chop-sticks, an embroidered tobacco case, and a little leather bag like a cartridge-box containing a flint and steel. It is uncertain when tobacco was introduced into China, hut it is supposed to have come from America. Its use was known before the Tartar conquest. Beneath this long robe is worn a kind of surtout, made of some light material for summer wear, and lined with furs in winter. Never making use of fires, the Chinese have recourse to numerous garments for protection from the cold. The Hudson’s Bay Company find their best market in the Celestial Empire, to which the richest furs of the North are sent. Trousers made of linen, silk, or satin are worn in the hot weather, and, when lined with fur, in the winter a gauze or linen shirt very wide and short, and a thin silk net next the skin. The head-dress is a cap with a peaked top like an inverted and much-flattened cone, which is lined with silk and covered with fine bamboo plaiting. The higher classes line their caps with rich red silk and cover them with satin, on which is worked flowers or birds. As a mark of distinction, the Emperor bestows upon his favourites a peacock’s feather, which hangs down over the hack, and the hall, placed on the apex of the cone, indicates by its colour and material the rank of the wearer. The winter head-dress bears the same decorations, hut fits more closely to the head, and is bound with rich furs. Head-dress. 163 The Chinaman cannot change his head-dress at will, for in so doing he would he breaking the law. He must wait for the time appointed by the Board of Rites, due notice of which is given in the Pelting Gazette. Within doors light silk slippers are worn, finely em- broidered, very much pointed, and turned up at the toes ; CHINESE VILLAGER. the highest ranks wear boots of silk or satin even when abroad. Their stockings are quilted or lined, and em- broidered with satin or velvet. The above remarks apply only to those of rank or in easy circumstances ; the peasantry confine themselves to a coarse shirt covered by a cotton tunic and a pair of drawers 164 The Fair Sex. fastened at the ankles. They also fabricate an inexpensive and useful garment to protect themselves from rain and cold, consisting of a piece of network, into the meshes of which are plaited layers of rushes or coarse dry grass. An immense hat of the same material completes the thatch, and renders them impervious to wind or water. Hitherto we have only treated of the men ; let us now turn to the fair sex, some of whom are remarkably attrac- tive, even according to a European standard of beauty. They are of middle height, with slight figures, and have short noses, small mouths with ruby lips, long narrow eyes, rather large ears, and a bright cheerful expression of coun- tenance. The excessive embonpoint which is a sine qua non to the good looks of a man is considered a fault in the fair sex, who resort to every available means to retain their delicacy and slimness of figure. Their costume nearly resembles that of the men. The outer dress is of embroidered satin over another robe of silk ; under this is a chemisette, and next the person is worn a silken net. They always wear trousers, which are of materials adapted to the season. The outer robes reach almost from the chin to the ground, and entirely conceal the figure, while the long sleeves fall completely over the hands, and do away with the necessity for gloves. Trans- parent drapery, or robes fitting close to the shape, are regarded in China as outrages upon decency. Ladies ad- vanced in years confine themselves to dresses of the graver colours, such as black or dark violet. A tobacco pipe, a handkerchief, and a fan are usually carried in the liaud, for LADY AT HER TOILET. China, p. 164 . Hairdressing. 165 almost every Chin- ese lady smokes, blending the fumes of the tobacco with the most fragrant odours. They are familiar with the art of painting the skin, using a composition of white and red which enamels the countenance. Maid- ens wear long plaits of hair falling on the shoulders, but when they marry they are fastened up with long bodkins. The art of hairdressing is much studied in China, and the var- iety of coiffures is endless. Sometimes the hair is formed into a bird with its wings extended, sometimes into a basket of flowers ; there is no limit to the ingenuity of the artistes, and many hours of the day are taken up by this 166 Crippled Feet. department of the toilette. This matters little, as Chinese ladies have nothing to employ their time except personal adornment and gambling. But certainly the first thing which strikes the traveller on seeing a Chinese lady is horror at the mutilation inflicted in order to give her the wretched apologies for feet which fashion demands. This barbarous practice obtains only amongst the Chinese, the Tartars having better sense than to cripple their women. As soon as a girl is born — which is always looked upon as a misfortune — her feet are swathed in two long bandages of linen, with the toes turned down- wards. When the child can walk, it rests, not on the sole of the foot, but upon what would be, were nature allowed to take its course, the upper part of the toes, which are doubled underneath. These little stumps can, of course, be enclosed in the smallest of slippers, but the ankle is swollen in the same proportion that the foot is diminished, and the gait is utterly disfigured. A Chinese woman totters forward, looking as though she were walking on eggs, and fearful of falling at every step. In this, however, there is often affectation, as they consider such a step highly graceful. It is said that, when they think no one is observing them, they run, jump about, and frolic quite prettily. The favourite game amongst the young girls is battledore and shuttlecock, but, instead of a battledore, they make use of one of their little feet to propel the shuttlecock, and, as they sometimes pass hours at this sport, which requires great activity, they can hardly suffer much pain or inconvenience from their mutilation. When 167 Destitute Lady. a lady of rank in China becomes destitute, her position is very deplorable, for she has to he carried about on the hack of a woman with sound feet if she wishes to beg in the streets. I remember in 1856, when the boats of the fleet took possession of an island fort a few miles below Canton, CHINESE LADY’S FEET. that the Chinese garrison bolted out at one side as we made our way in at the other, and the women were all carried pick-a-back by the braves, a mode of transport that tickled our blue-jackets immensely. The origin of this baleful custom is difficult, almost impossible, to trace. Some say it arose from the jealousy of 168 Want of Cleanliness. the men, who wished to render the women incapable of leaving their homes ; others that the fashion sprang np from an insane desire to rival a certain empress who was blessed with a most diminutive foot, of which she was inordinately proud. It seems most probable that it made its way slowly, and became ultimately adopted as a criterion of beauty. Certain it is that a maiden with sound feet meets with much difficulty in obtaining a husband. Curiously enough, Marco Polo makes no mention of this extraordinary custom, from whence it is fair to conclude that it was not practised in his time. Modern travellers tell us that it is gradually dying out, and that the families of the wealthy Chinese are imitating their Tartar conquerors, and allowing their women liberty of movement. The Chinese are not over-scrupulous either in their houses or in their persons. Barrow says : — “ The interior wrappers of the ladies’ feet are said to be seldom changed, remaining sometimes until they can no longer hold together — a custom that conveys no very favourable idea of Chinese cleanliness. This, indeed, forms no part of their character ; on the contrary, they are what Swift would call a frouzy people. The comfort of clean linen, or frequent change of under garments, is equally unknown to the sovereign and to the peasant. A sort of thin coarse silk supplies the place of cotton or linen next the skin among the upper ranks, but the common people wear a coarse kind of open cotton cloth. These vestments are more rarely removed for the purpose of washing than for that of being replaced with new ones, and the consequence of such neglect or economy 169 Dirty Habits. is, as might naturally be supposed, an abundant increase of those vermin to whose production filthiness is found to be most favourable. The highest officers of state make no hesitation of calling their attendants in public to seek in their necks for those troublesome animals, which, when caught, they very composedly put between their teeth. They carry no pocket handkerchiefs, but generally blow their noses into small square pieces of paper, which some of their attendants have ready prepared for the purpose. Many are not so cleanly, hut spit about the rooms or against the walls like the French, and they wipe their dirty hands in the sleeves of their gowns. They sleep at night in the same clothes they wear by day. Their bodies are as seldom washed as their articles of dress. They never make use of the bath, neither warm nor cold. Notwithstanding the vast number of rivers and canals with which every part of the country is intersected, I do not remember to have seen a single group of boys bathing. The men, in the hottest day of summer, make use of warm water for washing the hands and face. They are unacquainted with the use of soap. We procured in Peking a sort of Barilla, with which and apricot oil we manufactured a sufficient quanity of this article to wash our linen, which, however, we were under the necessity of getting done by our own servants.” From the above account it is sufficiently evident that cleanliness must not be regarded as one of the virtues of the Celestial Empire. Neither is the moral picture drawn by most travellers more flattering. The Chinese are com- monly represented as so accustomed to deceit that they 170 Oppression. see no harm in it, and regard fraud simply as an exhibition of skill. They are addicted to gambling and debauchery, concealing under a grave exterior a host of vices and profligacy. In general this description must be allowed to hold good, but great allowance must be made for the system under which the Chinaman is brought up. If under a humble and cringing exterior he masks vindictive feelings, these are mostly engendered by the oppressions of his superiors ; and if he is cruel when he is strong, and cowardly when weak, he only follows the example set him by those he is enjoined to respect and obey. Of course, in so vast an empire many persons are to be found possessing the greatest purity and nobility of character, but the form of govern- ment is especially calculated to induce cunning and vin- dictiveness. De Guignes observes that “ the Emperor of China makes use of his grandees as sponges to suck up the wealth of his subjects ; when the sponge is full he squeezes it, and sends it elsewhere to be filled anew.” This is but too true, and the Chinaman, always living in a state of fear, and obliged to conceal his worldly wealth, leads a false existence, which soon stifles all the better feelings in his breast. The venality of the magistrates is a terrible blot on the Empire, and a great provocation to vindictive actions. A Chinaman finds his neighbour doing him some injury, and accuses him before the mandarin. The de- fendant is rich, and bestows both valuable presents and hard cash on the judge, obtaining in return not only an acquittal for himself, but also succeeding in having his China, p. 170. CHINESE WOMAN. /r • ' 171 Dwellings. accuser punished for his (the defendant’s) misdeeds. Some nights afterwards the neighbour’s house is found to be in flames at midnight ; the wronged accuser has taken the law into his own hands. Fear and self-interest are the only- motives for good conduct in a Chinaman, and nothing is degrading by which he can gain a farthing. The houses of the higher classes, being built within a court surrounded by a high wall, are not visible to the passer-by. The finer dwellings consist of a number of apartments adjoining each other, all of which are on the ground floor. The entrance is by three doors, a centre and two side ones, the former of which is the principal, and leads into the saloon, reserved for the reception of visitors This chamber commonly communicates with others, forming a suite of apartments fitted up with great luxury. In the arrangement of the furniture the Chinese depart from their usual love of symmetry, and affect a kind of studied irregu- larity. The walls are hung with satin or white silk, on which are embroidered moral sentences and maxims from the works of the ancient sages. Numerous tables, screens, sofas, and chairs — which they use as we do in Europe — are scattered about the saloons, together with beautiful japanned cabinets, containing rare specimens of porcelain and of foreign art. But the most striking objects in a Chinese drawing-room are the lanterns, which are sus- pended from the ceiling by silken cords. They are made of every conceivable shape and size, from the small hand ones carried at night to giants of ten feet in height. The most expensive lanterns are composed of transparent silk 172 Lanterns. adorned with a variety of fanciful devices, sucli as birds and flowers, the colours being of an exquisite brilliancy. CHINESE SITTING-ROOM. Large sums of money are expended on these articles, for which the Celestials have a veritable passion. In a wealthy family the beds are furnished with rich hangings, of satin in winter, and of gauze in summer. A China, r. 172. THE EVENING PIPE. Beds. 173 common bed is composed simply of two or three planks or benches, with a mattress laid across them, and linen curtains hung on bamboo poles. In the northern provinces, where the cold is very severe, the bed is made of brickwork and warmed by a little stove, which is also used for cooking pur- poses. In the day-time the mattress and night cover- ings are removed, “ mats or carpets spread in their place, and it forms a large sofa on which the whole family sit and work. Only in the large cities are the houses found two-storied. The Chinese have a great reluctance to live above the earth, from a superstitious notion that it brings bad luck. The residences of officials can always be known by two red poles which are set up before the gate. The dwellings of the poorer classes much resemble those of their wealthier neighbours in everything but size and the richness of the furniture. All classes exercise the greatest ingenuity in laying out their grounds to the best possible advantage; for the importance of the house is estimated by the number of acres on which it stands; thus the great object is to deceive the eye, and give an idea of greater space than there really is. CHINESE CHAIR IN CANE. CHAPTER X I Y. Domestic Habits — Food — Visiting — Women — Their Social Position — Coffins and Funerals. T HE high-class Celestial rises late, completes his toilette, and then sits down to an abundant breakfast, con- sisting of several stewed meats, fish, and vegetables, served in little porcelain saucers, accompanied by a cup or two of samtschu, an acid drink distilled from rice. After that, he has tea made in the ordinary manner, but taken hot with- out milk or sugar. At two o’clock a further refreshment of fruit and tea is served, and at six in the evening the great meal of the day, dinner, is placed on the table. When a Chinaman intends to give an entertainment, he issues his invitations thrice. A few days before, or perhaps only on the previous evening, he sends out a crimson card inscribed with the day and hour at which he desires “ the illumination of his friend’s presence.” He renews this invitation on the morning of the day fixed, and repeats it for the third time when the feast is ready. The ceremony of eating and drinking is most complicated, every little detail being prescribed by custom. The number of dishes which appear at a grand dinner A Grand Dinner. 175 would frighten any but a Chinese stomach. There are often twenty-five kinds of meat in the form of ragouts, with sauces beyond the power of description. Dr. Meyer gives the following description of a dinner at which he was present, the recital of which can hardly fail to interest the reader : — “ The tables were placed together in the form of a half-circle, and the side towards the centre remained unoccupied. At the middle table sat the host, who did the honours of it. The empty sides of the table where no one sat were hung with scarlet drapery, beautifully worked in embroidery of gold and different coloured silks; Chinese flowers, but not of very striking forms, furnished the pattern. On the front edge of each table were placed the finest fruits in little baskets, with beautiful flowers stuck between them. Besides these, the whole table was covered with little cups and plates, which were ranged with great precision, and contained fruits, preserves, confectionery, slices of bread and butter, with small birds cold, and hun- dreds of other things. An extraordinary degree of art had been expended in the arrangement of those articles; amongst the rest were whole rows of little plates filled with elegantly- raised three and four-cornered pyramids, composed of little bits of pheasant, larded geese, sausages, and so forth. Here stood plates of small oranges ; there, preserved plums ; and here, again, almonds. Various little seeds of different colours were served upon shallow saucers, so arranged, however, that each colour occupied a particular field. We here recognised a kind of quince seed, of very delicate flavour ; chick peas, which, if eaten frequently, are said to M 176 Chopsticks. produce a very bad effect ; and chestnuts and hazel nuts, which come from the province of Pechili, and greatly excel our fruits of the same kind. There were, moreover, grapes, which likewise came from the northern province of the Empire, with preserved ginger, citrons, and lemons. After making but a short stay in China, one is accustomed to see daily and hourly that the Chinese conduct all their arrange- ments in a different style and manner from ourselves ; it was thus also with the repast, for we began with the dessert. By way of cover, three small cups are placed before each seat ; the first, on the left hand, is filled with soy, which the Chinese add to almost every sort of food ; the second serves for the ordinary eating ; and in the third is a little spoon of porcelain for the soups. In front of these three cups, which are ranged in a line, lie the two round little chop-sticks, which in rich houses are made of ivory. It is extremely difficult for strangers to get at their food with these sticks, and the Chinese were amused with our unskil- fulness ; one was overheard to whisper, * Here are wise Europeans for you; they cannot so much as eat properly.’ Instead of napkins, small three-cornered pieces of paper are placed near the covers; these are ornamented with stripes of red paper, and are used by the Chinese to wipe their hands. The dinner began by the host’s inviting us to eat of the finer dishes. Whilst we were eating them, he kept calling our attention to the flavour or the rarity of this or that thing, and the mode of eating was to convey the food to the mouth with the two sticks out of the dish ; for a small bowl was the largest vessel placed upon the Challenging to Drink. 177 table during the whole entertainment. The Chinese place no cloths upon the tables, but instead, as soon as the course is finished, the whole board is removed, and a new surface, as it were, with fresh things is served. As soon as the first course was removed, another small cup was added to each cover; this was used for drinking hot samtschu, a fermented liquor made of rice, which at a Chinese table supplies the place of wine, and which is always served boiling ; servants walk round with large silver cans and help everybody to this nectar, which, principally on account of its heat, begins very soon to operate. The Chinese, in drinking wine, observe nearly the same rules as the English. They chal- lenge to drink, then hold the cup with both hands, and, after wishing each other health and happiness, drink it off at a draught ; whereupon they turn the inside of the cup towards the person with whom they are drinking, and show that they have drained every drop. On one occasion, when I did not wish to drink off a whole cup, my Chinese friend held his own constantly before me, and kept making signs till I had finished mine. Samtschu is in general of an insipid taste ; they have, however, a great many kinds of it, which are constantly changed at the tables of the rich, and I tasted one variety which might be placed alongside of the best brandy. So soon as the first division of the dinner, consisting possibly of sixty ragouts, was over, the soups appeared ; these were placed in small bowls in the middle of the table, and every man ate, with his little porcelain spoon, out of the dish. In this way five or six different soups were served in succession, and between them 178 Skilful Carving. various other things were placed before the guests in little cups ; amongst the rest, pastry prepared in many ways, articles of confectionery, and strong chicken -hashes. Between the different grand divisions of the dinner, tea was handed round, and tobacco smoked ; during which we were enabled to rest ourselves, so as to begin again with fresh vigour. After several courses, five small tables were placed outside of the half-circle of the original tables ; these were completely covered with roasted pork and birds of all sorts. Then ten cooks came into the room, clothed all alike and very tastefully, and began carving the roasts. Two placed themselves before each table and commenced, with long knives, to sever the hard roasted skin of all these viands, which was done most skilfully. Other servants, who stood in front of the tables, received the little bits, into which all these roasts were cut, upon small plates, and then placed them on the middle of our tables. At the end of the whole meal, the cooks came again into the room, and returned thanks for the honour which had been done them, in being permitted to cater for the illustrious company.” From the above account it will be plainly evident that a real good Chinese dinner is a very serious affair, and the arrangements indicate that the Celestials, as a nation, have attained a high stage in the gastronomic art. To them the quaint essayist, Charles Lamb, has attributed the dis- covery of the merits of sucking-pig, but, notwithstanding, it behoves the English traveller who dines at random in China to beware of certain articles. A story is related of one unsuspicious gentleman, who ate freely of a particu- Strange Delicacies. 179 larly inviting dish, and when he had finished, smiled interrogatively at the host, saying, “Quack, quack?” The latter made signs in the negative, and pointing to the empty dish, repeated with much unction the words, “ Bow- wow.” It is reported that the gentleman’s dinner disagreed with him, but for the truth of this I am unable to vouch. In addition to the ordinary eatables, such as beef, mutton, pork, fish, rice, &c., the Chinese make use of a variety of substan- ces, which appear to us most strange. Sharks’ fins, the flesh of wild mares, dog- hams, bears’ paws, the feet of several wild animals, the sinews of others, worms and insects of different kinds, are all eaten as delicacies. The true Celestial gourmand, however, esteems the bird’s nest more than any of the above. Hone of the authorities exactly agree upon the substance of which these nests are formed. The bird that builds them is a small swallow, and some think that it has the property of secreting a kind of viscous froth which it uses to form its nest. Many other conjectures also are rife to account for the glutinous material of which the nests are composed, the most likely being that the birds gather the spawn of a certain fish, which in some 180 Objectionable Food. seas and at particular times forms a thick sort of glue on the surface of the water. Besides tea, wine, and brandy, which the Chinese prepare from barley, rice, rye, and millet, they have other liquors which denote at least a strange taste, such as wine extracted from lamb’s flesh, and brandy from mutton, the latter being a strong spirit, but having a most repul sive and disagreeable odour. But though the rich require such refined articles to stimulate their appetites, their poorer brethren are less particular. Sir John Bowring says, “ The Chinese have no prejudice whatever as regards food ; they eat anything and everything from which they can derive nutrition. Dogs, especially puppies, are habitually sold for food ; and I have seen in the butchers’ shops large dogs skinned and hanging with their viscera by the side of pigs and goats. Even to rats and mice the Chinese have no objection— neither to the flesh of monkeys and snakes. The sea slug is an aristocratic and costly delicacy, which is never wanting, any more than the edible birds’ nests, at a feast where honour is intended to be done to the guests. Un- hatched ducks and chickens are a favourite dish. Nor do the early stages of putrefaction create any disgust ; rotten eggs are by no means condemned to perdition ; fish is the more acceptable when it has a strong fragrance and flavour to give more gusto to the rice.” It may be safely said that a Chinaman will eat, indis- criminately, any living creature that comes in his way ; besides dogs and cats, owls, hawks, and eagles are regular Born Cooks. 181 marketable commodities ; while vipers, cockroaches, and other disgusting insects are used for food or medicine. As a rule the lower classes find it most economical to get their meals at the small restaurants which abound in all the towns. The Chinese scarcely ever use the potato, though it was introduced by the Dutch many years ago ; the principal vegetable is the pe-tsai, a kind of cabbage. They are born cooks ; any ragamuffin you pick up in the streets will turn out an excellent chef with a few days’ training. The culinary art is implanted in the breast of every Celestial. They make most excellent preserves, and have long used ice in cooking ; it is, indeed, so universally appreciated, that on grand occasions the Emperor distributes it to the people. The ceremonial observed at feasts is necessary on every occasion; John Chinaman cannot greet his friends or pay them visits without conforming with the tedious etiquette prescribed by the Board of Rites and Ceremonies. A well- educated Chinese is thoroughly versed in all these details, knowing exactly the right titles to bestow upon his neigh- bour, together with the position he himself should hold, and where he should seat himself on entering a room. When about to make a call, the visitor is preceded by a servant carrying an immense roll of paper, long enough to go round an ordinary room, on which is inscribed his style and titles. The host, on receiving this roll, hastily puts on his boots and goes out to meet the visitor, when a series of salaams are commenced, which each entreats the other to remit, neither, in reality, intending to abate one iota ol the 182 Visiting. prescribed marks of deference. Tea and sweetmeats are handed as soon as the visitor has seated himself, which must be taken sip by sip with great ceremony, and the cup returned to the servant, with a low bow to the master of the house. The visitor then withdraws in the same way that he entered, bowing at every step, and the little social comedy is at an end. So much for an ordinary morning call ; a ceremonious visit is by no means so simple a matter. The guest and the host perform the most elaborate genuflexions, move to the right and then to the left, offer and refuse the chief seat, and finally, after dusting the chairs with the skirts of their garments, salute them as though they were living persons, and sit down. But the Chinese are well acciistomed to all this absurd detail, and go through the performance without embarrassment or confusion. The chairs are so disposed that each person has a vis-a-vis, and in the very act of sitting there is etiquette. To lounge would be a breach of common politeness too dreadful to contemplate. No one must move either arms or legs, but must sit bolt upright, with his eyes fixed modestly on the ground, and his hands spread upon his knees ; no earthly consideration must induce him to cross his legs — such an act would be the height of ill-breeding. Tea is served, and drank together by sips, after the visitors, holding the cups in their hands, have bowed down to the ground. To spill the smallest drop whilst performing this obeisance would be highly indecorous. The guests all drink their tea together, in order to be able to put their cups down at the same China, p. 182 RECEIVING A VISITOR. J \ # 4 Etiquette. 183 moment. However hot these may he, they must exhibit no emotion, hut burn their fingers or scald their throats with imperturbable politeness. The conversation invari- ably begins on the most indifferent subjects, and after a series of set phrases lasting a couple of hours, the guest explains in three words the cause of his visit. The leave- taking is accompanied by similar nonsensical ceremonies, the visitor entreating his host not to accompany him to his palanquin lest he should be guilty of turning his back when stepping into it, &c., &c. The rite of marriage is surrounded with most complicated ceremonies, hut before briefly describing them, a few words concerning the condition of the Chinese women is neces- sary. The lot of a girl in China is suffering, misery, contempt, and degradation from the hour of her birth, which is regarded as a humiliation and a disgrace to her family. Pan-houi-pan, a Celestial authoress, speaks thus of her own sex, “When a son is born, he sleeps upon a bed; he is clothed with robes, and plays with pearls ; every one obeys his princely cries. But when a girl is born, she sleeps upon the ground, is merely wrapped up in a cloth, plays with a tile, and is incapable of acting either virtuously or viciously. She has nothing to think of hut preparing food, making wine, and not vexing her parents.” A young girl who has avoided strangulation at her birth is brought up within the walls of the house in which she first saw light, and is regarded by her brothers and all her family as a menial whose duty it is to perform the most 184 Young Girls. painful services. She is cut off from all amusement and pleasure, is not even taught to read and write, but spends the bloom of her youth in embroidering silk and attending to household duties. Even in the most important step of her life — -marriage — she is not held worthy of being simply consulted, but is sold to the highest bidder without having the right to ask the character of her purchaser. On the day of the wedding she is gorgeously dressed and carried to the altar in a palanquin surrounded by musicians, and you might possibly hope that a new and happier life was opening for her, but hear what the Abbe Hue says, and you will alter your opinion. “ Alas ! a young married woman is but a victim adorned for the sacrifice. She is quitting a home, where, however neglected, she was in the society of the relations to whom she had been accustomed in her infancy. She is now thrown, young, feeble, and inexperienced, among total strangers, to suffer privation and contempt, and be altogether at the mercy of her pur- chaser. In her new family, she is expected to obey every one without exception. According to the expression of an old Chinese writer, ‘ the newly married wife should be but a shadow and an echo in the house.’ She has no right to take her meals with her husband ; nay, not even with his male children : her duty is to serve them at table, to stand by in silence, help them to drink, and fill and light their pipes. She must eat alone, after they have done, and in a corner ; her food is scanty and coarse, and she would not dare to touch even what is left by her own sons. “ It may be thought, perhaps, that this does not agree Married Women. 185 CANTONESE. very well with, the much-talked-of principle of filial piety ; but it must not be forgotten that in China a woman counts for nothing. The law ignores her existence, or notices her merely to load her with fetters, to complete her servitude, and confirm her legal incapacity. Her husband, or rather 186 Marriage Ceremonies. her lord and master, can strike her with impunity, starve her, sell her, or, what is worse, let her out for a longer or shorter period, as is a common practice in the province of Che-kiang.” The above will sufficiently show the pitiable condition of the female sex, and I now revert to the marriage rite, confining myself to the six principle ceremonies. The first consists in the agreement on the marriage ; the second, in finding out the name of the young lady, and the hour, day, and month of her birth, which, according to etiquette, should, at this stage of the proceedings, be entirely un- known to the future husband ; the third, in consulting the soothsayers concerning the prospects of future happiness ; the fourth, in presents, as an earnest of matrimonial inten- tions ; the fifth, to settle the wedding-day ; and the sixth, to conduct the bride to the house of the bridegroom, and conclude the ceremony with feasts and rejoicings. In Europe it is not unusual for the bride to purchase a husband by the magnitude of her dowry, but in China tlie man never receives anything with his wife, but takes her at a certain value, in most cases without having ever seen her. A man is limited to one lawful wife, but he may please himself as to the number of secondary wives or concubines he maintains. The latter are by law, if not in reality, under the control of the legitimate wife, who is also regarded as the mother of all their children, who address her by that title, and offer her an obedience and affection that they are not allowed to manifest towards their real mothers. All 187 Equal Rights. the husband’s children hold equal rights in the eye of the law, whether they be the issue of the lawful wife or of the concubines. In China, as in ancient Eome, parents have full power CHINESE MOTHER AND CHILD. over the lives of their offspring, and it is by no means unusual for a wealthy hut childless man to buy a little -*•88 Infanticide. boy and bring him up as bis beir. Indeed, boys sell easily, either for servants or to the temples ; but the girls are not so easily disposed of, and are often drowned, strangled, or exposed by the poor classes. Yet infanticide is not nearly so prevalent as was once supposed. The earlier travellers and missionaries have recorded that it was common to see the bodies of infants floating in the rivers, or lying on the roads, a prey to dogs and pigs. Funerals in China are very expensive, and amongst the poor classes no parents would think of bestowing costly obsequies on a dead infant, more particularly a female. They therefore wrap the little corpse in a piece of matting and place it in the first con- venient place they come to, whether it be the cleft of a rock or the current of a stream. Unclean animals might then easily devour the body, but it is a dead and not a living infant that falls beneath their jaws. In all large cities crypts are made near the walls for the reception of the dead offspring of parents too poor to afford them burial in the cemeteries. Quick-lime is thrown into these wells from time to time, but the stench arising from them is, nevertheless, most pestilential. Instances have occurred of unnatural parents throwing their little ones into these pits alive, but happily they are few and far between. At Peking, every morning before dawn, carts traverse the several districts of the city for the purpose of removing any living or dead infants, whose parents wish to get rid of them. The dead are thrown into the pits, and the living carried to an asylum called Yu-yng-tang, or the “Temple of the New-born,” where they are nursed at the expense of Parental Authority. 189 the State. Similar establishments exist in all important towns, and no credit must be attached to sensational accounts of cries and wails proceeding from the crypts. From their very cradles, filial respect is impressed upon the Chinese to an extent of which Europeans can form but an imperfect idea. A son is regarded as absolutely nothing in his father’s house, the latter having a perfect right to sell him whenever he thinks fit. The reason they give for this continued exercise of the parental authority is curious. Every man, they say, is at liberty to sell himself ; therefore it is obvious that he possesses the same power over his own offspring. The son may not even walk side by side with his father, but must follow him at a respectful distance, holding him- self in constant readiness to perform his bidding. Towards his mother, as we have seen, his demeanour is widely dif- ferent, for, according to the law, after the husband’s death she becomes subject to her son. The only clause in her favour is one which authorises her to take a second husband, if the first absents himself from home for more than three years. A people holding the sentiment of filial piety in such veneration must necessarily have a great regard for the memory of their ancestors. The magnificent obsequies with which they honour their departed relatives, and the care bestowed upon their tombs, are striking instances of this. They have a most extraordinary custom, which is to be found in no other country in the world, for where but in China could men be heard exchanging compliments on so 190 Coffins. lugubrious a subject as their coffins ? With us, this neces- sary but not pleasant object is smuggled into the house, and never mentioned in the presence of the bereaved ; in China, a coffin is not only a receptacle for the dead, but an article of luxury to the living. An English parent would consider the present of a coffin from his son as, to say the least of it, a tolerably strong hint that his speedy departure from this world was expected, and would probably not thank the donor; with the Chinese, on the contrary, no greater mark of filial respect exists than the presentation of a handsome coffin to the author of their being. The undertakers in the large cities drive a brisk trade in these articles of furniture, as they can with justice be called, being kept in the house as pleasant and inviting objects until required for their legitimate use. Never is a Chinaman so honoured as in death. When he has “ thanked the world,” or “ saluted the age,” as they express it, all his friends assemble to pay their respects, for neglect in this particular is punishable by law. It is customary to keep the dead a long time in the house, sometimes for several months. The deceased is clothed in rich garments and laid in his coffin, which is of extraor- dinary thickness, on a layer of cotton and quick-lime, the latter of which absorbs all mephitic vapours. The longest and most complicated ceremonies take place on the day fixed for the obsequies, which are always terminated by a splendid feast. Much ostentation and exorbitant display are made on these melancholy occasions ; besides the real mourners, weepers are hired, whose sobs and groans are t . I -- l r China, p. 191 . “ Hall of the A ncestors. 191 described as quite inimitable ; families have been known to sell all they possess, and reduce themselves to poverty, rather than remit any of the honour due to their chief. This is going further even than Confucius thought neces- sary. He limits the expenses of a parent’s funeral to half the child’s fortune. Chinese burial-grounds are always outside the walls, generally on high ground prettily planted out with pines, cypresses, and other evergreens. The wealthy build large family vaults, which they paint blue or white, and sur- round with a fence resembling in shape the Greek Omega. The poor thatch their graves with straw, or raise a simple brick tomb over them. Most houses contain a chamber which is known as the “ Hall of the Ancestors,” a domestic temple sacred to the memory of the dead, and regarded with such veneration that the greatest evil that can befall a family is for the Emperor to command its destruction, which he sometimes does as a punishment for crime. The hall is usually square, having opposite to the entrance a small altar on which perfumes are burnt. Above this is fixed a portrait of the founder of the family, near which hangs a tablet bearing the names of all who have been born and died since his time. When a member of the family dies, the survivors place little dishes of his favourite food upon the altar — not, as many travellers have imagined, to nourish the departed soul, but to prove to him that he still lives in their remem- brance. It is also a common practice to burn scraps of gilt and coloured paper or money in memory of the deceased. N 192 Mourning. The Chinese permit all acquired honours to ascend to their ancestors as well as to he inherited by their descend- ants. If a man distinguishes himself, he begs permission from the Emperor to bestow upon his progenitors to the fifth or sixth generation the honours which he himself has earned. This obtained, he has these relatives painted in the costume of mandarins of his own rank, even though they have been only simple labourers. Filial respect is at the bottom of this. The son cannot bear to he of higher moral or social standing than his forefathers ; besides, they argue that the parents of so distinguished a man must themselves have been remarkable, and it is only just that such superiority should be recognised, and, though tardily, proclaimed. Mourning is both severe and protracted. After a father’s death the son sleeps on the bare boards for a hundred days, and during the whole of the first year he can hold com- munication with no one, his wife not excepted. This mourning lasts for three years. A woman mourns her husband at least twenty-seven months ; a husband laments his wife for twelve. These lugubrious ceremonies unite all the members of a family round the tombs of the departed, and the marks of respect are continued long after the official term of mourning has ended. CHAPTER XY. Public Festivals — Gamblers — Opium Smokers — Pauperism and Beggars. H AYING described the Chinese in their sorrows, let ns next consider them in their pleasures. There are only two public festivals in China, New Year’s Day and the Feast of Lanterns. The last month of the year is employed in preparations for celebrating the coming one. The magistrates and public officers make up all arrears of business, tradesmen close their accounts, and workmen labour night and day to increase their little store, or, if need be, to add to it by numerous small thefts. Precisely at midnight, on the last day of the old year, a bell, only made use of on that particular occasion, peals forth. At this signal, which every true Chinese awaits with the utmost anxiety, an immense crowd, provided with squibs, crackers, rockets, and other fireworks, rushes into the streets, each person trying to expend more powder than his neighbour ; the temples and pagodas are all lighted up, and candles burnt before the idols in the private houses. At daylight the uproar which has made night hideous dies away, and visits of congratulation are paid or received, 194 The New Year. every one being clad in his most gorgeous attire. A European can hardly imagine a more curious sight than is presented by this crowd of smartly dressed people, all either bowing, kneeling, prostrating themselves, or perform- ing in the middle of the street the grotesque antics which the Chinese call courtesy. At this time the people make their particular friends little presents of fancy articles, bonbons, and curiosities, some of which must always be refused as too valuable, a point of etiquette which one writer says the shrewd giver counts upon. Cards also are interchanged, illustrated with engravings representing the chief wishes of every China- man — an heir, public employment or advancement, and long life. The rejoicings are continued by the upper classes for ten days or more, the season being devoted to theatrical displays, feasting, and amusements; the poor, who live from hand to mouth, are obliged to return to their avoca- tions earlier. But though the new year brings a round of pleasure to the bulk of the Celestials, it is not welcomed by a certain class — namely, the debtors. The law enacts that all liabilities contracted during the twelve months shall be punctually discharged on the last day of the year. The unfortunate who fails or is unable to comply with this regulation is treated with marks of insult and contumely by his neighbours, who occasionally smash all his furni- ture — by way, I suppose, of improving his worldly positiou. The Feast of Lanterns takes place on the fifteenth day of the first moon in the new year. On this occasion the MAGIC LANTERN. China, p. 195. Feast of Lanterns. 195 great object of each Chinaman is to outshine his neighbour — to eclipse him by the brilliancy of the illuminations he displays. From the Viceroy to the poorest artisan, all procure lanterns, and at dusk lights appear in every nook and corner, turning the night almost into day. The lanterns are of all sizes, from that of a small room to an orange, and are beautifully made of paper, horn, silk, or mother-of-pearl. These are sometimes arranged so as to represent figures, and the windows, roofs, and pillars of the houses are covered with them, producing a most brilliant and pleasing effect. In the palaces and imperial gardens there is not a corner of a hall or gallery, a bridge, or even a tree, without its group of lanterns. On the canals and ponds float trans- parent ships, fish, birds, &c., all made of the most delicate material and lighted inside, the whole forming a very beautiful display. Besides lanterns there are numerous displays of fireworks, in the manufacture of which the Chinese are proficients. The most curious are those representing trees covered with flowers and fruits, the appearance of which considerably astonished our earlier travellers, who had never witnessed anything so perfect in Europe. Their construction, however, is simple in the extreme. They have a wonderful method of producing colours of excessive brilliancy, and possess, moreover, a highly inflammable gum. A coating of this is placed upon a real tree, not a twig or a bud escaping the varnislier’s eye, and the material requisite to produce the natural colours is added. At the appointed time the whole is 196 Kite-flying. lighted, and gives an exact and beautiful representation of a tree of fire. The two festivals above described are annual, but there are others which owe their existence to the generosity of the Emperor, on such occasions as his own and his mother’s birthday; the fetes in honour of the aged — of tributary monarchs, their ambassadors, or of distinguished foreigners. The almost childish delight with which this sedate people watch the antics of tight-rope dancers, acrobats, and the performances of conjurors, jugglers, and exhibitors of magic lanterns, is very extraordinary; also the intense pleasure they derive from kite-flying, which seems rather a puerile occupation to afford amusement to old men of sixty or seventy. The latter recreation they have reduced to an art. USTo pains are spared in the construction of their kites, which are of the most varied forms ; sometimes representing a god sitting majestically upon the clouds, at others simu- lating birds of prey, winged dragons, brilliant butterflies, or uncouth monsters. They have a very pretty device which consists in sending up along the string a light frail box containing an artificial butterfly. The wind forces this against the kite, when the box falls to pieces, and the butterfly, with outspread wings, flutters away. Pere de Mailla relates that, soon after his arrival at Peking, he was one day greatly surprised to see an im- mense bird hovering over his garden, which, although aided by glasses, he imagined to be an enormous falcon, whose bulk completely puzzled him, for the idea of an artificial bird never entered his head. The Chinese who were Games. 197 present prolonged his amazement by imaginary explana- tions, and he avows that he was completely taken in, so natural was the illusion ; and not until they brought him the bird, and showed him that it was made of silk and bamboo, would he disbelieve his own senses. Battledore and shuttlecock is a very favourite game amongst the young, but the head, elbow, or foot are used instead of a racket. Seven or eight players form a circle, and are so agile and quick of eye that they rarely miss sending the shuttlecock in the right direction. The children have a variety of other games, such as tops, quoits, ball, see-saw, &c. But, unhappily, the Chinese do not confine themselves entirely to such harmless amusements as are above men- tioned. Gambling with them is a passion, and they have many games of chance, some permitting the exercise of skill and scientific calculation, others purely fortuitous. Two sorts of chess are known to them, one similar to ours, the other much more complicated ; also cards and dice, the former of which are supposed to have been first introduced into Europe by Marco Polo. Games of chance are strictly prohibited by law in China, and public opinion is so strongly opposed to them that a gambler and an avowed malefactor are almost synonymous terms ; but even the heavy penalties they incur fail to deter the people from the indulgence of their favourite passion. The Emperors of the present dynasty had recourse to the same policy by which one of the French kings endeavoured to stem the tide of luxur-y in France. They permitted a liberty to 198 Gambling. courtesans which was denied to ladies of good character, and gambling was forbidden to all except to the dregs of society. This measure was totally unsuccessful, and now no one is exempted from the rigorous but futile edict against gambling. The passion for play seems to have seized upon all ranks and ages — men, women, children, one and all, gamble. In every street may be seen little movable stools with two dice and a cup, the sight of which is an irresistible tempta- tion to the artisan proceeding to or returning from his work. Once seated, he is immovable until he has lost, probably, the fruits of many a hard day’s labour. It is by no means infrequent for a gambler to lose his money, clothes, house, land, his wife, and lastly his fingers, which he will stake and chop off with a horrible stoicism. Children crowd round the tables to watch the play, and their elders are the first to encourage them to enter on a course from which they will never be able to retire. The Abbe Hue says, “ In the northern provinces, especially in the environs of the Great Wall, you may sometimes meet, during the intense cold of winter, men running about in a state of complete nudity, having been driven pitilessly from the gaming-houses when they had lost their all. They rush about in all directions like madmen to try and save themselves from being frozen, or crouch down against the chimneys, which in those countries are carried along the walls of the houses, on a level with the ground. They turn first one side towards the warmth, then the other, whilst their gambling companions, far from trying to heln \ CHINESE DRINKING GAME. China, p. 19S. ■ Cock-fighting. 199 them, look on with ferocious and malignant hilarity. The horrible spectacle seldom lasts long, for the cold soon seizes the unfortunate creatures, and they fall down and die. The gamblers then return to their table, and begin to play again with the most perfect composure. Such facts as these will appear fabulous to many persons, but having resided several years in the north of China, we can testify to their perfect authenticity.” The Chinese also have a game called tsei-mei, which consists in guessing the number of figures held out by each player, and much resembles the Italian morra ; the loser has to furnish a cup of brandy. They also enjoy cock- fighting, as well as combats between crickets and grass- hoppers, on all of which money is staked and won or lost. The fatal passion for gambling inherent in the Chinese is not the only cause of their misery. Another may be found in their love of debauchery. The thin coating of varnish which covers Chinese society hides a most pro- found corruption, a perversion of manners and morals which exceeds all we have read of in ancient history. Drunkenness, as we understand the term, is amongst the least of their vices, although it exists to a considerable extent. Centuries ago grape wine was prohibited and all the vines destroyed by order of the reigning Emperor. The Manchoo dynasty repealed this edict, and the vine is now cultivated for the table, though wine is not made from it. It is, however, a matter of very little difference, for they extract both wine and brandy from rice and millet, strong liquors which produce terrible drunkenness. 200 Tea-houses. Alcoholic drink may be obtained at the tea-houses and restaurants, which are as numerous as the public-houses in England. There are many degrees of comfort and elegance in these establishments, which, as with us, are suited to the requirements of all classes. The tea-houses may be easily recognised by a recess placed at the end of the hall, furnished with huge kettles, teapots, furnaces, stoves, and cauldrons six feet in height. Above the recess generally stands a timekeeper consisting of a joss-stick or long per- fumed match, marked off at equal distances. This slowly smoulders, and, as it shortens, indicates the hours, thus literally fulfilling the expression, “ to consume time.” In many places the tea-houses are in boats, and the traveller sees dark and filthy dens, where haggard men, lying on dirty mats, smoke opium, but more generally the opium-houses are in obscure streets in the towns. All kinds of people congregate to these wretched places, and whilst smoking amuse themselves by looking at dissolving views of sacred subjects, or more commonly of indecent and dis- gusting ones. Opium is smoked in a different manner from tobacco, the pipe consisting of a tube resembling a German flute in size and thickness. At one end of it is fitted a bowl, which is pierced with a hole communicating with the hollow of the stem. The opium, which is in the form of a black paste, is prepared for smoking by placing a little ball the size of a pea on a fine needle, and heating it over a lamp until it swells and acquires a certain con- sistence. It is then moulded into a conical form and placed in the bowl. The smoker, holding it to the flame I OPIUM SMOKEitS. China, p. 201. 201 Opium Smokers. of a lamp, takes three or four deep inspirations, ejecting the vapour through his nostrils. These few puffs exhaust the opium in the bowl, and the pipe has to be replenished, which makes the business very tedious. Opium smokers usually lie on one side or the other when indulging in the habit, and the wealthy have their pipes prepared for them. The man who once gives way to this most pernicious of all habits is lost. His eyes become sunken and vacant, his hands tremble, his form betrays symptoms of premature decrepitude, and his intellectual faculties decay. Nothing can stop him ; he becomes insensible to everything ; neither poverty nor hunger can stimulate him to exertion, and he perishes like the heasts of the field. Those who supply the Chinese with this deadly poison have much to answer for. It is easy to account for the existence of a vast amount of pauperism amongst a people such as the Chinese, and it is an evil of such gigantic magnitude that the G-overnment is utterly baffled in all its endeavours to cope with it. In every town the number of mendicants is enormous ; at the corners of the streets and in every public place are seen crowds of miserable wretches, exposing their deformities, their wounds, and their dislocated limbs to excite the com- miseration of the passers-by. If these relieve them, it is not from pity, hut simply to release themselves from further importunity. Numbers of these wretched beings perish daily of starvation. They have no homes, but erect miserable huts outside the pagodas and other large build- ings, made of any scraps of linen and matting they can pick up in the streets. 202 Beggars. The Chinese beggars form regular companies for the systematic plunder of the rich. Each member brings to the society some real or supposed infirmity, and they understand how to make the most out of this large capital of human misery. An acknowledged chief, recognised by the State, rules over this army of mendicants, and the King of the Beggars is held responsible for the conduct of his tattered subjects. At Peking he is a great power. On certain fixed days he is allowed to despatch his followers to solicit alms, or rather to plunder the environs of the capital. It would require the pencil of a Hogarth to picture this disorderly array of maimed and rag- ged scare-crows proudly marching to the conquest of a village. Whilst his subjects are intimidating the inhabitants by their inso- lent demands, the King goes to the head of the com- munity, and agrees to release the villagers from the importunity of his subjects on the payment of a certain sum. After much haggling a ransom is fixed and paid, when at a signal from their monarch the beggars flock like “ House of the Hen ' s Feathers ! ’ 203 so many birds of prey to the next point on their route. All sums collected are handed to the King, who distributes the proceeds afterwards in some mysterious manner peculiar to the fraternity over which he holds sway. A great number of vagabonds will not submit to even this semblance of authority and discipline, but wander about on their own account, ever ready to rob and pillage the weak and defenceless, and forming a constant source of public annoyance. In the vain endeavour to get the upper hand of this evil, the Chinese Government have established granaries, and numerous pawnbrokers’ shops, the existence of which, though of late date in Europe, has been long known in China. These establishments, however, can only help those who are in temporary need of assistance ; the utterly desti- tute have never a rag to pawn, and are relieved by gifts of money, clothing, or food. There are also many public hospitals for the relief and succour of the most necessitous, but such benevolent institutions are far from sufficient to allay the misery which pauperism inflicts upon the Empire. Yet some few people have made even this hideous ulcer of poverty and disease subservient to their own ends, and have managed to extract profit from a quarter where, to most men, such a feat would seem impossible. The greed of gain suggested to some shrewd Chinese the idea of providing sleeping quarters for these vagabonds, and they accordingly built a huge lath and plaster hall, the floor of which was covered with a thick layer of chicken’s feathers, from which it derived its name of Ki-mao-fan, or the “ House 204 “ House of the Hen ' s Feathers!' of the Hen’s Feathers.” To this establishment, at sunset, crowd all the rogues and mendicants who can find no other shelter, and on the payment of a sapeck, or one-fifth part of a farthing, are provided with lodgings for the night. There is no established order of coming and going in the Ki-mao-fan ; men, women, and children all bundle in as they chance to arrive, and each one makes himself the best bed he can amongst the feathers. At first the spirited proprietors used to furnish each of their lodgers with a covering, but these disappeared with a rapidity that showed plainly some other method must he devised to keep these light-fingered gentry warm. A brilliant idea ^struck the manager, and was immediately adopted with unqualified success. A huge felt rug was procured, of such dimensions that it covered the whole floor of the hall. During the day this monster coverlet, in which, I may mention, are pierced many holes for the heads of the sleepers to protrude through, is hoisted up to the roof; but when the night comes, and the building has filled, an attendant lowers it down over the whole of the sleepers, who are thus protected from the drip or rain through the roof, or from draughts ; as to warmth, the heat from such numbers becomes suffo- cating. At night, when the police lead some straggling beggar to this dog-hole, and the rays of the lantern, piercing the darkness, render visible the seething swarm of strug- gling, yelling, and blaspheming wretches, the beholder might, without much strain on the imagination, fancy himself at the gate of hell. A confused mass of legs, arms, and heads are seen in every direction. All ages, both sexes, Its Use . 205 and every known infirmity to which humanity is heir, are congregated in that foul and reeking den. When the police thrust the new arrival in, he is greeted with a storm of curses and execrations, and the spectator is but too glad to escape from the unbearable sights, smells, and sounds of this human Pandemonium, half believing afterwards that the whole was but a horrible dream. CHINESE COOLIE. CHAPTEE XYI. Literature — Extract from Chinese History. YN no country is education held in greater esteem or more ^ widely diffused than in China, the reason being that by it alone can an aspirant attain a position under Govern- ment, with its concomitant train of advancement, a high position, and wealth. The learned may be said to form the aristocracy of the country, for the high places are reserved for those who have distinguished themselves in literature, and none — not even the most obscure peasant — need despair of advancement if he only succeeds in passing through the ordeals of the three State examinations. In the departments of each province an examination is held every three years, at which many thousands of candi- dates present themselves, and a certain number gain a degree equivalent to that of Bachelor of Arts. These undergo a second test at the capital city of the province, which, should they be successful, confers the degree of Licentiate, and this entitles the aspirant to repair to Peking and compete for the desired degree of Doctor at the triennial examinations held in that city. This high China, p 207 . Literary Proficiency. 207 honour gained, the future of the successful student is assured, for he obtains immediate Government employ- ment. The subjects of examination are not, however, such as, according to European notions, would tend to develop a capacity for ruling others, being confined to the ancient classical literature of the country, which is cramped and obsolete. By years of unremitting application the student commits to memory volumes of the maxims of Confucius and other sages, but modern science is unthought of. The standard of a thousand years ago is the standard of to-day, for in their learning, as in most other things, the Chinese are unprogressive, steadfastly refusing to deviate by a hair’s breadth from the stereotyped path pursued by their forefathers. Still, literary proficiency is eagerly sought after by all classes, and a scholar, whatever may be his social status, is always respected by his countrymen. Elementary educa- tion is imparted by schools, which may be found in the smallest villages, the teacher being, in most cases, an unsuccessful candidate at the final examination for the degree of Doctor. Such schools are entirely self-support- ing, and the teacher is often miserably poor. The Chinese language is incontestably the most ancient known, having no appreciable analogy to any other tongue, either ancient or modern, and is as remarkable in its way as the people who make use of it. Its distinguishing feature is the absence of any alphabet, properly so called. Instead of letters, the Chinese employ o 208 Primitive Signs. two hundred and fourteen radical characters, from which numerous compound characters are formed, and which together express simple and compound ideas. The language is entirely monosyllabic, and has no termination to indicate the gender, case, or number of a substantive ; the persons, tenses or voices of the verbs ; yet the absence of these endings is one of the smallest difficulties in the acquirement of the language. The courageous man who begins to study it has everything to learn ; the most pro- found knowledge of the dead and living languages affords no help in the construction of a grammar which recognises none of the fundamental rules on which Greek, Latin, and their derivatives are based. Still, some people assert that it is ignorance alone which attributes so many insurmount- able difficulties to its study. The roots, or primitive signs, which, combined with others, form the whole language, were originally confined to limited meanings, or represented only the principal objects in nature. 'But as knowledge increased and greater accuracy was required, the want of new words became apparent ; and the sages, instead of creating new characters, ingeniously combined the elementary symbols which already existed, and formed in that manner new expres- sions. The Chinese grammar is extremely simple, the words being invariable and indecliuable, and then- relations to each other indicated only by their mutual positions. There are three classes of words : the living words or verbs, which express action ; the dead words, or nouns, adjectives, and Written Characters. 209 the names and qualities of things ; and the auxiliaries or particles, which replace our terminations, tenses, and cases, and help to explain the connection of one word with the other. Each word has five different modes of accentuation, which modify its signification. This is apparent in writing, but very puzzling in speaking. The first accent is an equable pronunciation ; the second is formed by raising the voice to a high pitch ; the third is still sharper ; the fourth descends to a low tone ; and the fifth is very deep. It is most difficult to give and to seize each of these inflexions, which have the most important effect upon the sense of the words, insomuch that an error on the side of either the speaker or the hearer may transform a compliment into a gross insult. The written characters of the Chinese language are not representative of words, but of ideas, and may be compared to the Arab numerals, which are common to English, Germans, and Spaniards, though in each nation they are differently pronounced. The millions of people in China can easily communicate with each other in writing, not- withstanding the wide differences in the provincial pro- nunciations ; for, as the signs are not composed of letters, there has been no variation in their forms since the earliest ages. A European student should be careful to learn what is called the mandarin pronunciation, which is in use amongst the higher classes throughout the Empire. It is quite possible to obtain a perfect knowledge of written Chinese without understanding a word of the spoken lan- 210 Art of Writing. guage, for the characters representing simple ideas may be pronounced by a foreigner in his own way. As in Egypt, the art of writing began in China by de- scriptive figures, very effective in representing material objects, but incapable of expressing the inner emotions of the workings of the mind. To supply this defect the phonetic element was introduced, and they now make use of an immense number of signs, often arbitrary, but always ingenious. In writing, the Chinaman uses a brush and the bright black colour known to us as Chinese (Indian) ink. Then’ books commence where ours end. “ Einis ” with us is the title-page with them, and the writing runs in vertical columns, beginning at the top and going from right to left. The art of writing is held in high estimation and carried to great perfection. Men attain celebrity by the beauty of their caligrapby, and an autograph page is as much sought after as the works of a great painter in Europe. The Chinese carry their love of graceful characters so far as to decorate vases with sentences whose sole merit consists in the beauty of their execution, and they show such intense respect for everything connected even in the slightest degree with literature, that they never make use of paper covered with writing or printing to wrap parcels in, neither would they ever tread on the fragments of an old hook ; if the destruction of a volume is necessary, they respectfully commit it to the flames. In written Chinese there are three styles — the antique, or sublime, the vulgar, and the academic. The antique CHINESE WEITEE. China, p. 21 OJ ' H / 211 Three Styles. style offers some very rare grammatical forms, which are the distinctive mark of their most ancient literature. The vulgar style is known by the number of ligatures employed, and the use of compound words composed to avoid the consonance of characters and to prevent all ambiguity in conversation, of which it is the medium. It is used also for light literature, private letters, and in proclamations to be read by the people. The academic style is less concise than the antique, and less prolix than the vulgar ; it is used only for certain subjects, such as historical works, and those on political or scientific matters. If we judge by the number and authenticity of the works extant, the literature of China is without question the first in Asia. The imperial library at Peking contains, according to the catalogue, not less than 12,000 works. In 1773 the Emperor Keen-lung instituted a commission for re-editing the principal works on the different sciences. This labour is still in progress. In 1818, 80,000 volumes had been brought out, and it was calculated that there would be at least as many more before this immense collection would be completed. Chinese literature may be divided into four classes : — Sacred and classical works ; those relating to history ; the books of science; and the light literature, comprising poems, dramas, comedies, and romances. The sacred books or Kings are the depositories and foundations of the ancient creeds and customs ; their authority is irrefragable, and they are regarded with the utmost veneration. 212 Chinese Novels . History is looked upon with, much favour, and writers on that subject may be counted by hundreds. The great See-ma-tsien, who flourished about the year 100 b.c., is called the Father of History. Books on science and the liberal professions are very numerous, and there exist works of light literature of very great antiquity. Many of the Chinese novels are very well put together, and, indeed, throughout the whole of their literature a moral tone may be said to prevail. As the most entertaining method of explaining to the reader the style of writing that is in favour throughout China, I shall quote at length from Pere Du ! i aide, who has translated from the original, Two Pieces of History, one of which, together with the Chinese his- torian’s preface, I venture to extract, thinking that it will explain the peculiar train of thought inherent in the people better than pages of uninteresting description. “ It is commonly said. Whoever deprives another person of life ought to lose his own ; this is a law universally re- ceived, and which is necessary for society, therefore it is a difficult matter to make the innocent appear guilty, or the guilty seem innocent ; if you are innocent, he who endeavours to destroy you may indeed blind and corrupt the wisest judges, and perhaps the righteous Tien seems at first to wink at the calumny ; but he will not suffer you to sink under it, the villainy will at length be discovered and confounded. “ On the contrary, a villain justly accused, and who denies the accusation, undergoes sometimes the sharpest tortures without making any confession, and obliges his accusers to 213 Extract from History. desist from their prosecution ; but at length the day comes when the mystery of iniquity is revealed, and the artifice is laid open. “ The guilty may survive his crime for a season, and the innocent may be condemned to languish in a dungeon, and be brought to the brink of destruction ; is it because the ancient ruler who is over our heads cannot see these things? “ The complaints that people under oppression make in this life, after death rise to heaven and call for vengeance ; truth is sometimes so perplexed that the mandarins cannot discover it, but Heaven examines and sees everything dis- tinctly ; though artifice and knavery are multiplied without end, they only serve to bring on the favourable opportunity when its just and immutable decrees shine out with the greatest lustre. “ It is commonly said that we fear the wicked, but not Heaven ; that honest people are deceived, but Heaven is never imposed upon ; it is also said that the net in which Heaven confines all mankind is exceeding large; it seems not to observe their actions, nevertheless there is no way to escape. “ Since Government has been established, what numbers of upright magistrates and just judges have appeared upon the stage ! Were they ignorant that Heaven is interested in and watches over the life of man ? But the passions put several imperceptible springs in motion ; a hundred facts which seem the most incredible are nevertheless true, but this should not incline us to give the least credit to a hundred more that may be absolutely false. “ From hence it follows that the process in criminal 214 Legal Opinions. affairs, even where there is the plainest proof, should be examined with the most scrupulous nicety and several times renewed ; after this a judge need never fear that those he condemns will complain of being wronged and cry for vengeance against him. “ In our days the tribunals, the superior as well as the inferior, are governed by a desire of gain, and seek only to enrich themselves ; there are few who can give them satis- faction but rich men and people of distinction ; hence it is that Justice, with her righteous balance, is no longer to be found among us, and has been overwhelmed in the great Eastern Sea. “ I am sensible that notorious crimes, which require speedy justice, may and ought to be punished without long proceedings; I agree also that in matters of less consequence, where all the circumstances are plain, it is best to come to a speedy determination, and make them up by agreement of the parties concerned ; but in my opinion murder should never be pardoned or made up by mutual agreement, for it is contrary to equity and right reason ; if the party accused, whose hands are imbued in blood, is not punished with death, the spirit of him who is murdered — and that cries for justice — will never be at rest. “As to the depositions of those wretches who, wdien tortured to confess, name several innocent people as accom- plices of their crimes, they cannot be sufficiently examined; the depositions of one day should be compared with those of another, and with the greatest caution. “ It often happens that these notorious villains, when 215 Judges Duties. they are severely tortured, and upon the point of being condemned to die, catch at everything they can to save themselves ; they falsely pretend to confess all, calumny costs them nothing ; they accuse an innocent person, with- out being concerned for ruining, not a single man, but his whole family ; they only think to gain some relief, and for this end care not whom they accuse. “ But a judge should penetrate their thoughts, laying small stress on such accusations, and, by saving those that are pointed out for destruction, make himself rich in good actions, for which his children and grandchildren shall one day receive a thousand blessings. “My design in this preface was to instruct both the people and the magistrates ; it is certain that the smallest plant, the vilest shrub, receives that share of life it pos- sesses from the Supreme Being; with how much more reason have we to say that he is the author of the life of man, of whom he is the first father. “ Therefore the principal duty of a mandarin is to have a paternal affection for the people entrusted to his care ; he should make use of gentleness and severity to maintain peace and to prevent disorders, and in his whole conduct should do nothing unworthy the amiable name of the Parent of the People ; by these means he will gain their entire affection, and this affection will show itself by marks of an eternal gratitude ; but, above all, august Heaven will reward his equity, and will protect him in a particular manner .” — The Preface. “ Under the dynasty of Ming a rich man of the city of 216 A Crime. Sou tcheou, named Ouang kia, had been a long time the declared enemy of one li y ; he had sought a hundred ways to destroy him without being able to effect it ; he set out, therefore, one night about the third watch, in a terrible storm of wind and rain, with a resolution to assassinate him in his house. “ That evening Li y, after he had supped quietly, went to bed, and was in a sound sleep with his wife when a band of ten thieves broke open the door ; he waked with the noise, and saw these villains enter his chamber tumultu- ously, having their faces besmeared with black and red. “ At this sight the Lady Tsiang, his wife, quite terrified, slipt out of the bed and crept under it to hide herself ; half dead with fright she perceived that one of the gang, who had a great beard and a broad face, seized Li y by the hair and cut off his head with a stroke of his sabre ; after which all the troop disappeared in a moment without taking anything out of the house. “ The Lady Tsiang, who saw all that passed, having recovered her excessive fright, came from under the bed and dressed herself in a hurry ; then, turning towards the body and head of her husband, she vented her sorrows in such loud cries that the neighbours came running in crowds to know what was the matter ; they were very much sur- prised at such a dismal spectacle, nevertheless they endea- voured to comfort the poor lady, who was quite overwhelmed with grief, and refused all consolation. “ ‘ You see here,’ says she, ‘ my husband murdered ; you need not go far to seek the assassin, for Ouang kia is the The Accusation. 217 person.’ ‘What proof have you of this?’ answered the neighbours. ‘ What proof?’ added she; ‘ I was hid under the bed, and took particular notice of the murderer ; it is Ouang kia himself, that sworn enemy to my husband ; I observed his great beard and his broad face ; though it was besmeared I knew him very well. Would common thieves have left the house without taking away anything ? Yes, I am certain that Ouang kia is my husband’s murderer. Assist me, I conjure you, assist me to take vengeance of this wicked wretch, and be so good as to bear me company to the mandarin to demand justice, and to bear witness of what you have seen.’ They replied, that they knew the enmity that was between Ouang kia and her husband, and that they were very willing to bear witness of it at the tribunal; and, moreover, that it was their indispensable duty to acquaint the mandarin of any robbery or murder that was committed in their quarter, therefore she had nothing to do but to prepare an accusation against the next morning, and they would go with her to present it ; after which they retired. “ When they were gone the Lady Tsiang shut her door, and passed the remainder of the night in tears and lamentations. “ At the dawn of day she begged her neighbours to send her a proper person to draw up the accusation she intended to make. As soon as it was written she went directly with it to the mandarin, which happened to be just at the hour that he gave audience and administered justice. When the lady came in sight of him she quickened her 218 The Arrest. pace, and, prostrating herself at the foot of the tribunal, she cried out in a mournful tone, Murder! Assassination! “ The mandarin, seeing the accusation in her hand, in- quired what was the subject of it, and, being informed that it related to a murder committed by thieves or assassins, he received the accusation and promised to do her justice ; the people of that quarter came up at the same time, and presented a paper to inform him of the disorder that had happened in their neighbourhood. “The mandarin instantly despatched some officers of justice to view the dead body and make out the process of the murder ; then he ordered his archers to take the person into custody who was accused to be the assassin. Ouang Ida was very calm in his own house, and seemed to have no apprehension of danger, falsely imagining that having besmeared his face it was impossible he should be known ; he was even applauding his contrivances, when he saw himself suddenly surrounded by a troop of archers, who had entered his house in a forcible manner. Let us imagine we see a man shutting his ears for fear of hearing the thunder, and who at the same instant is struck by the lightning, so did Ouang kia appear. “ He was immediately seized, loaded with irons, and carried to the audience. ‘ It is you then, wretch,’ said the mandarin, ‘ that assassinated Li y! ‘ I, my lord !’ replied the villain ; ‘ if Id y was murdered, it might be robbers ; am I answerable for it ?’ Upon which the mandarin, address- ing himself to the Lady Tsiang — ‘ Well,’ says he, ‘ how do you prove that he committed this murder ?’ CHINESE COURT OF JUSTICE. The Court. 219 “ ‘ My lord,’ replied she, ‘ I was hid under the bed when the blow was given, and from thence I saw that wretch cut off my husband’s head ; I knew him again very well.’ ‘ But,’ answered the mandarin, ‘ it was night when this was done; how could you know him in the dark?’ “ ‘ Ah ! my lord,’ says she, ‘ I not only observed his shape and air, but I have also a sure token ; would common thieves have quitted the house in such a hurry without taking away anything ? Such a horrid and barbarous action could only be the effect of an ancient enmity, which is but too well known, for my husband had no enemy in the world besides Ouang kicC “ The mandarin, hearing this, asked the neighbours if there had been in reality such an old enmity between Ouang kia and Li y ? ‘ Yes, my lord,’ replied they, ‘ it was known to all that part of the town, and it is also true that the murder was committed without anything being taken out of the house.’ “ Upon this the mandarin, raising his voice and speaking in an imperious tone — ‘ Let Ouang kia this instant be severely tortured.’ This wretch, who was wealthy and had always lived at his ease, trembled at the very mention of torture, and declared that he would make an open confes- sion. ‘ It is true,’ said he, ‘ that I mortally hated Li y, and this induced me to disguise myself like a thief that I might not be known, and to assassinate him in his own house.’ The mandarin, having taken his deposition, ordered him to be carried to the dungeon where the prisoners are confined that have been capitally convicted. 220 A Scheme. “ While Owing Jcia was in prison, he was perpetually contriving some expedient to get out of this ugly affair, and to render ineffectual the confession he had made in his first surprise. The more he studied, the less room there seemed to be for such an expectation ; at length, being under great torment of the mind, ‘ How is it possible,’ said he to him- self, ‘ old Seou should never come into my thoughts, a man so well versed in all tricks and subtilties ; I was formerly acquainted with him, he is a skilful man, and has a brain fruitful in inventions, and can find out an expedient for anything.’ “As he was pleasing himself with these thoughts he discovered Ouang siao eul, his son, who came to make him a visit, and he immediately communicated his project to him, and gave him proper orders ; ‘ especially,’ added he, ‘ if Seou gives you any hope, spare no money, and remember that your father’s life is in danger.’ Siao eul promised to run any risk in so important an affair. “ The same instant he ran to Seou, and, happily meeting with him, he laid open his father’s case, and conjured him to find out some method of saving him. ‘ To save your father,’ replied this old fox, ‘ is a difficult matter ; there is his own confession against him ; the mandarin, newly arrived in the province, is jealous of his honour; he him- self took the confession and pronounced sentence, and it will be in vain to appeal to a superior tribunal, it being already in the hands of a decisive judge. Do you believe he will ever acknowledge any defect in the proceeding ? But, without any longer preamble, give me one, two, three, How Conducted. 221 four hundred taels, and leave it to my management. I’ll go to the Court at Nanking, and I may find an opportunity to exercise my skill. I have it already in my head, and my mind forbodes that I shall succeed.’ “‘Which way do you design to manage it?’ said Siao eul. 1 Don’t be so inquisitive,’ replied Seou ; ‘ let me but have the money, and make no doubt but I shall bring it about.’ Siao eul returned to his house as fast as he could, weighed the money, brought it, and pressed Seou to set out on his journey. “ ‘ Take comfort,’ cried Seou, ‘ by the help of this tempting metal there is scarce any affair, how vexatious soever, that may not be mollified. You may be quite easy, and trust entirely to me.’ Then Siao eul took his leave, and thanked him for his zeal. “ The next day Seou set out for Nanking, and arrived there in a few days’ time. He went immediately to the supreme tribunal, where all the criminal causes of the Empire are carried ; there he informed himself slily of the present state of the tribunal, of the name, credit, and disposition of the inferior officers. “ He learnt that one Siu kung, of the province of Tclie kiang, was a kind of advocate there, that he was an in- genious man to carry on a cause, and easy of access, and got a letter of recommendation to him that was accom- panied with a handsome present. “ Siu Kung received him in a genteel manner, and ob- serving that Seou was a good speaker he invited him often to see him. Seou took care not to fail, and forgot nothing 222 Bribery: to insinuate himself by little and little into Ms friendship, and to get into his good graces, but for the present he met with no opportunity favourable to Ms design. “ One day, when he least thought of it, he learnt that a company of officers were bringing to the tribunal above twenty pirates, who would be condemned to lose their heads, without the least hope of escaping ; he knew at the same time that among these robbers there were two belonging to Sou tcheou. At this news he shook his head. ‘ Now,’ says he, ‘ I have what I wanted, and I am in a fair way of carrying on my project.’ “ The next day he made a great feast, and sent Siu hung a billet of invitation, who immediately took his chair and came to Seou’s house. There were great professions of friendship on both sides, and Seou introduced his host into his lodging in a very humble manner, and gave him the honourable place. During the repast they talked very agreeably together on different subjects, and drank together till it was almost night ; at length Seou ordered his domes- tics to withdraw, and, finding Mmself alone with his guest, drew out a purse of a hundred taels, of which he made him a present. “ Siu hung, startled at the offer, fearing lest there should be a snare laid for him, asked for what reason he made him so considerable a present ? ‘ I have a near relation,’ replied Seou, ‘ who is falsely accused of a crime for which he is kept in prison in his own city ; he humbly implores your protec- tion, and beseeches you to free him from the danger he is in.’ “ ‘ You may depend upon everything in my power,’ Its Success. 223 answered Siu kung, ‘ but the affair you speak of is not in my district, how then can I meddle with it V “ ‘ Nothing is more easy,’ replied Seou, ‘ if you will con- descend to hear me for a moment. All the proof that they have against my relation of his being guilty of the murder of Li y is that he was his declared enemy, and, as they cannot discover the true murderer, they suspected my relation, and without any formality have shut him up in a dungeon. Now, I happening to hear that they brought yesterday twenty pirates to your tribunal, amongst whom there are two of the city of Sou tcheou, where the murder was committed, my design is to engage these two robbers to confess the murder of Li y among the rest of their villainies. This will add nothing to their punishment, for they must die whether they own it or not; this confession will justify my relation, and he will owe his life to your kindness.’ “ Siu kung relished the expedient, and promised to bring it about. He took the purse immediately, and, after calling his domestics, made the usual compliments, and then got into his chair and returned home. “ Seou did not sleep while this was transacting, for he got private information who were the relations of these two pirates, and trusted them with his design, making them great promises if they would engage the two pirates to make a confession, which would do them no prejudice ; and, to convince them that it was not his design to amuse them with empty words, he made them a present of a hundred taels by way of earnest. 224 The Release. “ This liberality had a proper effect, and the two pirates agreed to what they desired. Thus, when they came to be examined and have a final sentence passed on them, Siu Imng, who had the commission, seeing them at his feet, began the examination in this manner : — ‘ How many persons did you ever kill V The pirates replied, at such a time and such a place we killed such and such, in such a month and such a day we went in the night time into the house of one Li y and cut off his head. “ Siu hung, after he had taken their examination, re- manded them back to prison, and afterwards drew up a verbal process wherein their answers were exactly set down, and concluded with pronouncing the sentence. Seou went immediately to the Kegisters and got an authentic copy of the judgment ; after which, taking leave of Siu hung, he flew to Sou tcheou, went directly to the mandarin’s palace, who then gave audience, and delivered the packet. “ The mandarin opened it, and reading that the author of the murder of one Li y was taken, he immediately cried out * How can this possibly be since Ouang kia has freely confessed the crime ?’ He then ordered the prisoner to be brought to examine him over again, when Ouang siao eul got within the bar, crying out aloud, ‘ My father is slandered, and there is a design to oppress him.’ This concurrence of circumstances astonished the mandarin, who, laying aside all his doubts, ordered Ouang kia to be set at liberty, which was done that moment. “ The Lady Tsiang, having learnt the news of his being set at liberty, very well knew that she could do nothing Guilt Punished. 225 more, and that a farther prosecution would be fruitless. ‘ After all,’ said she, ‘ since the murder was done in the night it is very possible I may be deceived so she gave over the affair and all thoughts of pushing it any farther. “ One may judge how great the joy of Ouang kia was. He returned to his house, as it were in triumph, in the midst of the acclamations of his relations and friends, walking along in a proud and haughty manner ; hut as he was ready to enter his own house he was all on a sudden struck with a blast of cold wind, and cried out with all his might, ‘ I am lost ; I perceive 1/i y; he threatens me ; he falls upon me .’ “As he uttered these last words he fell senseless on the ground, and expired in an instant. A dreadful and terrible example ! A great lesson ! There is no deceiving Tien." — The History. Such is the piece of history presented to his countrymen by the Chinese author, and it may be taken as a type of the reading that finds favour amongst that nation. Over and above the queer moral reflections with which the author enlivens his preface, the insight we gain into the workings of the courts of justice makes such a story highly interesting. The sang-froid with which the abominable practice of torture for the purpose of eliciting a confession is mentioned is particularly worthy of remark. Chinese authors do not attempt to write a universal history of the Empire, hut, following the bent of their inclination or genius, compose small stories similar to the above, which appear likely both to amuse and to instruct. CHAPTER XVII. Poetry — The Drama — Fine Arts. C HINESE poems exist to this day whose composition dates back to almost unknown ages, certainly long before any authentic historical documents now extant. Confucius found some 3000 odes and ballads, which he was at the trouble of arranging and classifying, the result being the Book of Odes, containing over 300 poems under four heads — namely, “ National Airs,” the “ Lesser ” and the “ Greater Eulogies,” and the “ Song of Homage.” These ballads are exceedingly simple in their nature, and domestic pleasures enter largely into their construction. Mr Douglas, in his article on China in the new edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, says : — “ It is true that now and again we meet with traces of scenes of revelry bordering on licentiousness, but their idyllic surroundings, and the absence of all violence, deprive the most dissolute descrip- tions of all vulgarity and coarseness. More serious by far are the wailing complaints of misrule and tyranny under which the subjects of certain princes groan. But even here there are no signs of insubordination or tumult ; the CuisfA, p. 220. * Versification. 227 remedy which suggests itself to a people patient and long- suffering to a degree is to emigrate beyond the reach of the tyrant, not to rise in rebellion against him. In the follow- ing lines, for instance, the writer begs his friends to fly with him from the oppression and misery prevailing in his native state, which he likens to the north wind and thickly falling snow : — ‘ Cold blows the north wind, Thickly falls the snow ; Oh come all ye that love me, Let’s join hands and go. Can we any longer stay, Victims to this dire dismay V” A rich vein of sentiment is said by the same gentleman to pervade all the early songs, simple though their style and diction may be. Later on, odes, having for their subjects the unsettled condition of political and social affairs, took the place in the public estimation that had hitherto been held by the simpler pastoral songs. The earliest poems seem to have been intended for singing or reciting to a musical accompaniment. The rules of versification are very severe. A verse must consist of five or seven monosyllabic words, in which the sense must be always complete, and to this difficulty is added that of the periodic system, or compulsory repetition of certain sounds both at the end and in the middle of the verse. The choice of poetic words is limited to the most energetic and harmonious expressions, used only in their primitive sense. Although these restrictions are evidence of the delicate 228 Romances. taste of the Chinese, they necessarily confine all flow of imagination, and cramp the bright inspirations of origin- ality. The Chinese romancists are not subject to any such rules, and there is perhaps no country in which so many tales may be found, though they are by no means generally appreciated. The historical romances are the best; the mythological stories are a mixture of truth and fiction, where the marvellous blends with the natural, and fairy tales with real life. The stories of every-day life are in- teresting pictures of Chinese society, and are for that very reason most licentious and objectionable. Many writers push the affectation of modesty to the most absurd limits, but in their light literature they are often repulsively cynical, although, be it remarked, these works are supposed to have a moral and instructive aim, and are invariably overflowing with wise maxims and excellent advice. According to the Chinese law, dramas are intended “ to offer true or imaginative representations of good men, pure women, affectionate and obedient children, which may attract the spectators to the love and practice of virtue.” Every dramatic piece has a prologue or introduction, and is divided into several parts corresponding to our acts, but not separated from each other ; certain expressions are used to indicate the entry and exit of the actors. It has been often asserted that there are no regular theatres in China, but this is an error. In the northern provinces there are in every town buildings devoted to acting, music, and dancing; and in the south, although there are no READING BY THE WAY. The Drama. 229 permanent theatres, the Government, always willing to encourage dramatic performances, allows the inhabitants to erect temporary theatres in the streets by subscription. These are, of course, very rough buildings, composed only of bamboos supporting a roof of mats, three sides being closed in with painted cotton, and the fourth open. A couple of hours is sufficient to run up a booth such as this. Private theatricals by strolling players are frequently held in the houses of the wealthy, in which a room is set apart for the purpose. As in ancient Rome actors were despised on account of their low birth, so it is in China, where the managers of theatres, notwithstanding the existence of a law to the contrary, buy the children of slaves to educate for the stage, who are thus placed by their birth beyond the pale of society. A company of strolling players numbers from eight to ten, who are the slaves of the manager. When their services are required at an entertainment, as soon as the company are seated at table, four or five of them, richly dressed, enter the hall, and, bowing with their faces to the ground four times, present to the principal guest a list of forty or fifty comedies which they have learned by heart, and are ready to represent at a moment’s notice. This list is passed round the table, a play is selected, and, with a grand flourish of trumpets, flutes, and drums made of buffalo skin, the performance commences. As each person appears on the stage, he makes known to the spectators his name and the rdle he is about to take. One actor frequently represents several people in the same piece. 230 A Play. Mr. Osmond Tiffany thus describes a play lie saw : — “ The performance was ludicrous, and yet very good in its way ; in pantomime the actors were masters, and the ex- pressions of their countenances admirably suited to the feelings they meant to express. The dresses were truly gorgeous ; it is in costume, not in scenery, that great sums are expended, and that of actors is always a representation of the ancient dresses of China before the Mantchu-Tartar conquest. They were of the richest silks and satins, stiff with gold thread and gay embroidery, and well put on. “ The actors screamed and bawled at the top of their voices, and seemed to lash themselves into the most furious excitement. There was a vast deal of fighting, and on the least pretence the heroes of the piece drew their swords and hacked at each other without mercy, and every moment the orchestra would come in with an awful crash, and nearly drive one frantic by the din of gongs, the squeak of stringed instruments, and the shrill shrieks of fifes. I soon became aware that I could not appreciate the performance, for when I laughed at the apparent absurdities all the Chinese looked on with breathless interest, and sometimes during a part that I considered particularly stupid I would hear loud explosions of delight, and a contagious chuckle would animate the whole assembly. “ There were no women to be seen, either as spectators or actors, though the impersonation of feminine character was so admirable, and the dress so perfectly worn, that I came away at first under the belief that I had seen females acting. Delicate-looking lads of seventeen or nineteen are o o ■ T* China, p. 2B0. A CHINESE PLAY, ■ . .. „ ...... Music. 231 selected to personate the softer sex ; and when the dress is put on, the false head-gear assumed, the feet squeezed into the smallest of shoes, and the voice mimics the high shrill tones of womanhood, the disguise is complete. “ The faces of the boys are painted, as is usual with the females in China, and the womanly way of moving, talking, and even thinking seems to be adopted. They make love in the most natural and sentimental manner, assume airs of coquetry and raillery with equal ease, and play the belle and the mother much better than nine-tenths of the Euro- pean actresses. In truth, they sometimes personate the wife in her several capacities, and in one instance a stage lady began to pant and groan, and give indications of in- creasing her family, and when she had retired, a rag-baby of the most natural order was brought in, very shortly followed by the mother, who had rapidly recovered from her confinement. There was, however, no indecency committed.” The Chinese have understood the art of music from the earliest ages, and class it amongst the chief of the sciences. In olden times Confucius judged of the moral condition of a province by the state in which he found the music there, and there is no end to the writers who have extolled the science to the skies. One says — “ Music is the expression of the union of heaven and earth. With music and cere- monies nothing in the Empire is difficult. Music acts upon the interior of man and brings it into connection with the spirit. Its principal end is to regulate the passions ; it teaches fathers and children, princes and subjects, husbands 232 Musical Instruments. and wives their reciprocal duties. The sage finds in music the rules of his conduct.” The venerable author of the above tirade was doubtless in the right when he wrote that Chinese “ music acts upon the interior of man,” but the action of hideous and jarring discord is hardly the plea- sure he imagines. The instruments are of great variety, both string, wind, and percussion — some resembling haut- boys, violins, and flutes ; others of such curious shapes that their description would be difficult, but all capable of filling the air with a discord which must be heard to be realised. In painting and sculpture, as in music, there is still much left to be desired. In the former the drawing is scrupulously correct, but the imperfect know- ledge of perspective possessed by the Chinese artists, and the determination with which they ignore light and shade, are insurmountable drawbacks in the eyes of Europeans. When the portrait of George III. was brought out as a present to the Emperor by Lord Macartney, one of the principal ministers who came to examine it exclaimed “ that it was a great pity it should have been spoiled by the dirt upon the face,” pointing, at the same time, to the shadow thrown by the nose. One of the Jesuit missionaries, having a great talent for portrait painting, was expressly directed by the Emperor to paint all his subjects after the Chinese eye afforded no reason why the objects of nature should also he copied as imperfect.” As painters they may be regarded as mere daubers, but Painting. 233 manner, and not like those of Europe, with broad masses of shade, and the distant objects scarcely visible ; the monarch further observing “ that the imperfections of the 234 Sculpture. their outlines are free and spirited, their colours are good, and their portraits are recognisable. In sculpture their productions are almost equalled by the Feejee savages, owing to disproportion and want of elegance. High art does not flourish amongst the Celestials. If we compare the present state of science in China with that of all the Western nations, the inferiority of the former is most evident ; and although the Chinese preceded us in the discovery of certain facts in science, they have now dropped hopelessly behind, and seem only to progress at all by contact with Europeans. The principal cause of their stagnation in these matters is to be found less in any want of mental aptitude than in the imperfection of their language and in their national character. An indispensable requirement for the study of science is a well-constructed language, suited not only to scientific purposes, hut also to the ordinary operations of the mind. If by radical faults in its organisation it fails in giving a true interpretation to the different forms of thought, it is useless in matters where logical exactitude is required. In addition to this must be considered the national character. The Chinaman, always avaricious of his time and trouble, carries this spirit of economy into his studies, and, however attractive a theory may be, unless it is con- nected with his necessities and comfort it possesses no further interest for him — that is to say, he would never trouble himself to follow it out for the love of knowledge alone; and this is no doubt the reason of the perpetual infancy of the sciences in China. Discoveries. 235 It is, however, only just to say that, although they have no system of science worthy the name, they have never left off what may be termed experimental gropings in the dark, and have made some wonderful discoveries. Thus, the arts of rearing silkworms, of cultivating mulberry trees for their food, and of manufacturing silk from their thread, were known in China twenty-six centuries before the Christian era. M. Abel Edmusat credits them with having remarked the polarity of the loadstone, though they made no use of their dis- covery ; and another writer says they invented the mariner’s compass a thou- sand years before Christ. I may here mention that CHINESE COMPASS. the Chinese reckon from the South instead of the North Pole, and use a movable needle, with a stationary card. The Chi-King, the oldest record of customs and manners in the language, relates that six hundred years before our era gold, silver, iron, lead, and leather were in use among the Chinese. The art of cutting and polishing precious stones is also mentioned several times, and there are specimens of ancient art in the Imperial Museum at Peking more than 3000 years old, which are said to rival in beauty those of Greece and Etruria. From China came to us the art of making porce- lain ; four hundred years before Christ the Chinese knew the properties of gunpowder ; in the sixteenth century of 236 Discoveries. our era they printed by means of wooden types ; they excel in embroidering, dyeing, and japanning, and we cannot attain to their perfection in making paper at once strong and fine, ink vivid and lasting in colour, and many other articles which bear unequivocal testimony to their in- genuity, patience, and skill. A YOUNG STUDENT. CHAPTER XVIII. Liberal Sciences — The Medical Profession — Its Practice — Want of Sym- pathy towards Sick or Wounded — Anecdote of a Ruffian’s Revenge. I N' no other country are the liberal sciences at so low an ebb or held in such slight estimation as in China; indeed, so far does this extend that but one liberal calling, that of medicine, may he said to exist at all. The profes- sors of the healing art are numerous, because, no examina- tion being necessary, most of the literary bachelors who despair of obtaining Government employment betake them- selves to the practice of medicine as a means of gaining a livelihood. Any Chinaman is at full liberty to dub him- self a doctor whenever the fancy seizes him ; no one inter- feres in the slightest degree ; and, having studied a few medical books and learned the technical terms, he may pursue his course as a healer of bodies without let or hindrance. The reason that Government does not interfere with the medical men is stated to be, because it feels con- vinced that the deep and lively interest taken by every member of the community in his own health presents a sufficient guarantee that no confidence will be bestowed on 238 The Medical Profession. a doctor unworthy of receiving it — a happy-go-lucky theory which permits quacks and impostors of every kind to practice their deceits with impunity. The medical profession, from the simple fact of its being open to all, is looked down upon by the people, and is almost entirely composed of quacks and priests, whose position is hardly an enviable one for many reasons, some few of which I shall mention. Thus visits made to patients are seldom paid for, and the drugs prescribed must always be furnished on credit, otherwise the family of the invalid would get them at another shop. The Abbd Hue says : — “ It is also very much the custom not to pay for medicines that have not produced a good effect, which happens pretty often ; and even this is not the worst of the poor doctor’s case. He is not unfrequently obliged to hide himself or fly the country to avoid imprisonment, fines, the bamboo, or even worse punishment. This may happen when, having promised to cure a patient, he may be so awkward as to allow him to die. The relations then, without hesitation, commence a lawsuit against him, and the safest way, if the doctor has any regard for his life or his copecks, is to take flight.” It would seem that the Legislature favours these severe proceedings ; for the following passage occurs in the penal code of China, section 297 : — “ When those who shall exer- cise the professions of medicine or surgery without under- standing them, and shall administer drugs or operate with a piercing or cutting instrument in a manner contrary to established rules and practice, and that they shall thereby Penalties . 239 contribute to cause the death of the patient, the magistrate shall convoke other men of the profession to examine the nature of the remedy which they shall have administered, or the wound they shall have made, and which has been followed by the death of the patient. If it should appear that the physician or surgeon has only acted in error, and without any injurious intention, he may, by a certain pay- ment, obtain remission of the punishment inflicted on a homicide, in the manner established for cases of killing by accident, but the physician or surgeon shall be compelled for ever to quit the profession.” Commenting on the latter portion of this clause, one writer remarks that “ this last provision appears to us very sagacious, and such as might be imitated with advantage in other places.” The writer was probably in the hands of the faculty when he penned the above. By far the best account of the art of medicine amongst the Chinese is to be found in the pages of Pere du Halde, who treats the subject most exhaustively, and has, more- over, a much better opinion of their skill as physicians than other writers on the Empire, most of whom rank the doctors but a degree or so above impostors. The Chinese lay down two natural principles of life — vital heat and radical moisture, of which the spirits and the blood are the vehicles. To the former they give the name of yang, to the latter that of yn, and these two names joined together express the term “ Man ” in its collective sense. The two principles of life are lodged in every portion of the human frame, which they divide into three Q 240 Theory of Medicine. parts, these again being subjected to further subdivision, into which I need not enter. The radical moisture is supposed to be seated in six principal members — namely, the heart, liver, lungs, spleen, and the two kidneys, one of which they term the “ Gate of Life.” It is from these places that the radical moisture and vital heat pass into other parts of the body by means of the spirits and the blood, the circulation of which is stated to have been known by the Chinese since about four hundred years after the deluge. On account of the nerves, muscles, veins, and arteries which are distributed throughout the human frame, Celestial physicians regard it as a kind of lute or musical instrument, from whence emanates certain sounds, and, by touching the various pulses as a violinist tunes his instrument, the sounds emitted indicate to the experienced practitioner whether or no there is a screw loose or a string over- stretched. Pulses they believe to be placed in some dozen portions of the body, and even according to Du Halde the grand secret of their medical art consists in an accurate know- ledge of the dispositions of these pulses. He thus explains the principles followed by the Chinese physicians : — “ It is motion, say they, that makes the pulse, and this motion is caused by the flux and reflux of the spirits, which are carried to all parts of the body by the twelve passages before mentioned. “ Everything that gives motion,” add they, “ thrusts forward some movable body, and everything that is moved Phlebotomy. 241 either gives place easily or makes resistance ; thus, as the blood and spirits are in a continual motion, strike against and press the vessels in which they are conveyed, there must necessarily arise a beating of the pulse. “ It is the knowledge and perfect comprehension of these beatings and percussions which discover the dispositions of the body and the affections which they receive from the elements ; ’tis by these beatings that one may know the nature of the blood and spirits, as likewise what defects and excesses may be found therein ; and it is the part of skilful physicians to regulate and reduce them to their first temperament. “ In every motion (I omit the capital letter with which every substantive is garnished) there are two things to be observed — the place where it is made, and its duration; this obliges the Chinese physicians to take notice of the places of the body where the pulse may be examined, and the time of its beating. “ The use of blood-letting is very uncommon among them, though it cannot be denied that they are acquainted with it ; it is from the physicians of Macao that the use of glisters has been propagated ; they do not dislike this remedy, but because the knowledge of it came from Europe they call it the remedy of Barbarians. Their whole science consists in the knowledge of the pulse and the use of simples, of which they have great variety, and which, according to them, have specific virtues to cure diverse distempers. “ They pretend to know, by the beating of the pulse only, 242 The Pulses. what is the cause of the disease, and in what part of the body it resides ; in short, all the skilful physicians discover, or predict pretty exactly, all the symptoms of a disease, and it is chiefly this that has rendered the Chinese physi- cians so famous in the world. “ When they are called to a sick person, they lay his arm upon a pillow, then place their four fingers along the artery, sometimes gently and sometimes hard ; they take some time to examine the beating, and distinguish the differences, how imperceptible soever, and according to the motion, more or less quick, full or slender, uniform or irregular, which they observe with the greatest attention, they discover the cause of the disease, insomuch that with- out asking the patient they tell him in what part of the body the pain lies, whether the head, stomach, or belly, or whether it be the liver or spleen which is affected ; they likewise foretell when his head shall be easier, when he shall recover his stomach, and when the distemper will leave him. “ I speak of skilful physicians, and not of a sort of people who profess the art merely to get a livelihood, without either study or experience ; but it is certain — and there is no room to doubt of all the testimonies we have — that the Chinese physicians have acquired a knowledge in this matter which is very extraordinary and surprising. “Among many examples that I could bring I shall relate but one. A missionary fell dangerously ill in the prison of Nanking ; the Christians, who perceived they were like to lose their pastor, prevailed upon a famous 243 Drugs. physician to make him a visit ; he came to the prison, and, after he had considered the patient, and felt his pulse with the usual ceremonies, he instantly made up three medicines, which he ordered him to take, one in the morning, the other at one in the afternoon, and the third in the evening. “ The patient found himself worse the following night, lost his speech, and they believed him to be dead, but early the next morning there was so great a change that the physician, having felt his pulse, assured him that he was cured, and that he need do nothing more than observe a certain regimen till his health was entirely re-established ; and, in effect, his health was entirely recovered by this method. There are physicians who, when they visit sick persons, bring in their chair, or, by a servant who follows them, a chest with various drawers, which are separated into forty small compartments well furnished with roots and simples, which are administered according to the nature of the distemper ; and they are either sudorific, or serve to purify the blood and humours, to strengthen the stomach, to dispel vapours, and to stop fluxes, or else are gently purgative. “ There are others who carry no chest, but give a pre- scription, and leave the sick persons at liberty to take them of him or buy them of the druggists, which are to be met with in almost every city, and who have great shops furnished with excellent medicines ; some think it beneath them to dispense medicines, and these commonly require more for their visits than others. 244 Simples. “There are also a sorb of quacks, who collect a great number of receipts, and who, after having examined the distemper, pretend to make a cure, and agree for a price, which is not to he paid unless the patient is cured. But that which makes the fortune of many physicians is to cure mandarins of distinction, or other rich persons ; for, besides what they receive every visit, they have other very con- siderable gratifications. “ The Chinese physicians, after having made use of the simple decoctions and restored health, depend very much upon their cordials to extirpate the disease, even to the root; they have these of all sorts, which are generally composed of herbs, leaves, roots, fruit, and dried seeds. They have a variety of simples, which are sold in every city of the Empire ; one province borrows from another what it has not itself, and there are fairs where nothing else but medicines are sold, and shops filled with nothing but simples. “ The Chinese physicians allow water to their patients, but order it to be boiled ; as for other food, it is generally forbid, and, if the sick person is exceedingly hungry, they allow him to take but some small matter ; the reason that they give is, that the body being indisposed, the stomach is not fit to perform its functions, and that the digestion made in this condition is always pernicious. The fee re- quired for these visits and for these medicines is very moderate. After the first visit they never go back to the patient unless they are sent for, which allows them liberty to choose another physician, which happens very often Parsimony. 245 when they are not pleased with the medicines given by the former.” P&re Du Halde proceeds with a most elaborate treatise on the pulses, extending over more than one hundred pages, with which I shall not trouble the reader, by far the greater proportion of the would-be science therein explained being no more than arrant quackery. The number of drugs that enter into a Chinese prescrip- tion is something enormous, and, as the Celestials are always in terror of being overreached, it is a very common practice for the patient to bargain with his medical attend- ant regarding the cost of the remedies to be bought, and in this curious discussion the members of the invalid’s family take part, enjoining the doctor to prescribe cheap drugs, and, in fact, often passing their pens through such as they consider too expensive. This custom is hardly compatible with any real faith in the curing power of the medicines usually prescribed. Hue gives some curious information on this subject. He mentions that very surprising and very Chinese scenes sometimes occur with reference to these cases. When the physician-apothecary has said his last word, and declared pointedly that to obtain the cure it is indispensably necessary to make use of this or that remedy, a family council is held actually in the presence of the sick person, in which the question of life or death is coolly put, and frequently arguments brought forward to show that, considering the advanced age of the patient, or the hopeless nature of the malady, it may be better not to incur a useless expense, but quietly to allow things to take their 246 Acupuncture. course. After having made an accurate calculation of the sum required to buy these possibly useless medicines, it is by no means unusual to find the sick man himself give the casting vote, and deciding that the money would be much better spent in the purchase of a fine coffin, which is quite sure to come in useful some day or other, and the certainty of a handsome funeral is better than the slight chance of a prolonged existence which would be afforded by buying the drugs. The whole family looking at matters in quite the same agreeable and consoling light as the invalid, the doctor is politely shown to the door, and a servant de- spatched for the undertaker, who doubtless gladdens the dying man’s last hours by holding forth on the splendid receptacle that shall be prepared for his remains. Certainly nations differ. From the most remote periods of antiquity acupuncture has been practised by the Chinese; in fact, there seems little reason to doubt that its invention is due to them, and that from China it passed into Japan. As the name in- dicates, this operation is performed by introducing into tht body long fine needles, the part of the body selected for perforation and the depth and direction of the instruments being left entirely to the fancy or discretion of the operator; but that the process can in no case be a pleasant one may easily be imagined, more especially if the needles are made red hot, which is not unfrequently the case when the disease to be overcome is particularly stubborn. The herbs most generally employed by the Chinese apothecaries are rhubarb and ginseng ; of the latter they The Red Pill. 247 profess to have over seventy preparations. Antimony, mercury, snakes, centipedes, beetles, the aurelice of the silkworm and other insects, saltpetre, sulphur, cinnabar, and various other articles are also frequently prescribed. But the most effective medicine, and one which is held in universal esteem throughout the Empire, appears to be a minute red pill, hardly larger than a pin’s head, and warranted to cure any known disease under the sun. The composition of this valuable remedy is a secret known only to one family in Peking, through whom it has been trans- mitted from father to son for generations. At the place of its manufacture its price never varies, being always the same as that of pure silver. Thus, if you place a bar of silver in one scoop of the scales, the druggist will fill up the other with red pills until an even balance is obtained. Though compounded only at the capital, the ling-pao-you- y-tan (supernatural treasure for all desires) can be purchased at a moderate price throughout the country, but care must be taken that they are neither adulterated nor spurious imitations. No writer has yet enlightened us regarding the Celestial Holloway who first originated these boons to the human race. In their action the red pills are a most powerful sudorific, but their utility is not limited, like their brethren of 533 Oxford Street, to being taken internally. One of the little red globules, if reduced to powder and applied to the nose in the fashion of snuff, will throw the patient into a violent fit of sneezing, which continues until the body breaks out into a profuse perspiration. Owing to this peculiar effect, 248 Quacks. it is sometimes made use of by the relatives of a sick man to ascertain bow long they will have to wait before stepping into his property. If the “ supernatural treasure ” fails to elicit a single sneeze, the patient is beyond all hope of recovery, and that very day will witness his departure ; if he sneezes once, he will live until the morrow ; and if he performs that operation vigorously, the discomfited relatives are likely to be kept waiting a considerable length of time before they deposit the invalid in the gorgeous coffin they have piously prepared for him. Many of the priests profess to be medical men, and vend plasters which, when applied to an affected part, draw out the disease, and the number of quacks in every city who gain a livelihood by the credulity of the multitude is immense. Barrow mentions that a man of this description exhibited in the public streets at Canton a powder which he offered for sale as a specific for snake-bite ; and, to con- vince his audience of its efficacy, he produced a reptile of a species known to be highly venomous, and permitted it to bite him on the tip of the tongue. This organ imme- diately swelled to such an enormous size that its owner’s mouth was unable to contain it, at which critical period it seemed to burst, and exhibited a shocking sight of mingled foam and blood, the nostrum vendor suffering agonies the while, and exciting the commiseration of all the bystanders. In the height of the paroxysm he applied to Iris nose and to the inflamed member a little of the powder, when the swelling commenced rapidly to subside, and finally disap- peared entirely. Though the chances of any of the people A bsurd Etiquette. 249 who witnessed this exhibition being bitten by a snake were infinitesimally small, yet each person present was anxious to buy a packet of the precious powder, and the impostor’s stock-in-trade would soon have been sold out had not some one, more sceptical than the rest, suggested that a bladder artfully concealed in the mouth might account for the whole proceeding. As it is not etiquette for the men to be in company with the women, far less to touch their hands, the doctors have had recourse to rather an ingenious device, by means of which they are enabled to ascertain the condition in which the pulses of their fair patients may happen to be. This is performed by means of a hole made in the wainscot between two rooms, through which a silken cord is passed. The lady invalid in one apartment makes fast an end of the silken cord to her wrist, and the son of science stationed in the adjoining room gravely applies his fingers to the other end of the silk, which enables him to ascertain the nature of the complaint and prescribe accordingly. There is something exquisitely ludicrous in this solemn mockery, the absurdity of which must be equally apparent to both parties concerned. I must not quit the subject of doctors without mention- ing that, by a law in force throughout the Empire, any man taking charge of a wounded person with the view of effecting his recovery is liable, in the event of the sufferer’s decease under forty days, to be punished with death unless he can produce undeniable evidence as to how the wound was inflicted. Consequently, if some unfortunate person 250 Singular Law. is wounded in a street fray, neither doctor nor any one else will afford him the slightest assistance, from the fear of being held responsible for his life, and the sufferer is permitted to die in the kennel, with hundreds of persons passing the spot every minute. A striking instance of the effect of such a law is mentioned as having happened at Canton. A fire broke out in the suburbs, and, while endeavouring to extinguish it, three Chinamen had their limbs fractured, and were otherwise dreadfully injured by a falling wall. The surgeon of the British factory gave immediate directions for their removal, and was preparing to perform amputation, as the only possible means of saving their lives, when one of the Hong-kong merchants, who had heard of what was going on, hurried to the place and entreated the surgeon to leave them alone, and have them taken away from the factory as soon as possible, adding that, however good his intentions might be, if one of the patients should die under his hands he would inevitably be tried for murder, and the most mitigated punishment would be that of banishment for life into the wilds of Tartary. Reluctantly the surgeon acquiesced, the wounded men were removed, and were, without doubt, abandoned to their fate. The presence of a dead body is in China more than unpleasant — it amounts to a calamity. If a person dies in his own house, surrounded by his friends, all is well; but if he happens to lose his life in a wood, in a field, or even on a piece of waste land, the proprietor is held responsible for the death of a man whom probably he had never seen Inhumanity. 251 alive. The unfortunate victim is imprisoned, and often, through the intrigues of the relatives of the defunct and the cupidity of the presiding mandarin, remains incar- cerated until he consents to part with all his property. An eye-witness relates that on one occasion he saw an honest tradesman endeavouring, with tears in his eyes and humble supplications, to persuade a poor wretch who had fainted on the threshold of his shop to go and die some- where else, and the unfortunate creature got up with the help of a passer by, and had the charity to go further off, and yield his last breath in the middle of the street. The Abbe Hue tells the following shocking story : — “ One of the greatest acts of vengeance that a Chinese can practise towards an enemy is to deposit by stealth a dead body upon his ground. He is certain by that means to entail on his foe a long series of miseries and calamities. When we were at our mission in the valley of the Black Waters, one of the little towns in the environs became the scene of a horrible crime of this nature. A vagabond went into the warehouse of a great commercial establishment, and, addressing himself directly to the principal, said, ‘ Steward of the cash-box, I want money, and I have none ; I have come to beg you to lend me some ; I know that your company is rich.’ “ The sinister looks and audacious tone of the fellow intimidated the merchant, and, not daring to turn him out, he offered him two ounces of silver, saying politely it was for a cup of tea. Tlie beggar demanded, with the utmost 252 A Ruffian ' s Revenge. effrontery, whether he thought a man like him would be satisfied with two ounces of silver. ‘ It is not much,’ said the merchant, ‘ but times are bad, business is not going on well, and everybody is poor now-a-days.’ “ * What ! you are poor too, are you ?’ said the mendicant; keep your two ounces of silver then; I’m not going to starve you,’ and he went out, casting on the merchant a look like that of a wild beast. “ The next day he presented himself again in the street before the door, holding a child in his arms, and called out, ‘ Steward of the cash ! Steward of the cash !’ “ The merchant recognised the man, and cried, laughing, ‘ Ah ha ! you have thought better of it, and have come to fetch your two ounces of silver, have you ?’ “ ‘ Ho, I have not,’ said the ruffian ; ‘ on the contrary, I have come to make you a present. See, here is something to make your business get on better,’ and with these words he plunged a knife into the heart of the child, flung it all bleeding into the warehouse, and then rushed away and hid himself in the labyrinth of streets. The child belonged to a family known to be at enmity with this one, and the consequence was the total ruin of the house, the principal partners of which long languished in the public prisons.” I remember myself that, when lying at anchor off Hong- kong, the line-of-battle ship to which I belonged had frequently to send her boats to the rescue of Chinamen who had been knocked overboard by accident, or whose sampans had capsized in a squall. Though fleets of their 253 Want of Sympathy. own boats were plying all around, yet not a hand was extended to aid the struggling wretches. We were told that whoever rescued a drowning man was answerable for his debts, and this, if true, fully accounted for the apathy of the lookers-on. Nearly all writers on China have com- mented on the reluctance its inhabitants show to assist each other in situations of peril. CHINESE PRIEST. CHAPTER XIX. Agriculture — Famines — Vegetable Products — Lord Macartney’s Descrip- tion of the Imperial Parks — Hong-kong— Conclusion. AGRICULTURE is an art in which, the Chinese excel, ^ ^ and all travellers concur in speaking of the fair picture which the well-cultivated land throughout the country presents. Hot a corner of waste ground is to be seen ; even the very rivers are cultivated, for in some places they are covered with floating gardens. If excessive labour and excessive fertility could alone constitute the prosperity of a people, the Chinese would occupy the highest rank among civilised nations, for they seem to have attained to the utmost success in the development of cultivation. But, unfortunately, these results are due to the permanent struggle for existence that an overcrowded population is compelled to wage against famine and all its concomitant evils. It is hardly possible to admire too highly the con- tinued efforts of these people to extort a subsistence from the soil. Did they once lose the calm patience which is their chief characteristic, were they to despair and relax in their efforts for a single season, the results would be too horrible to contemplate. Famines. 255 That this is true, the following quotation from the Abbd Hue will prove : — “ Hot a year passes in which a terrific number of persons do not perish of famine in some part or other of China, and the multitude of those who live merely from day to day is incalculable. Let a drought, or an inundation, or any accident whatever occur to injure the harvest in a single province, and two-thirds of the popula- tion are immediately reduced to a state of starvation. You see them then forming themselves into numerous bands — perfect armies of beggars — and proceeding together, men, women, and children, to seek in the towns and villages for some little nourishment wherewith to sustain for a brief in- terval their miserable existence. Many fall down fainting by the wayside, and die before they can reach the place where they had hoped to find help. You see their bodies lying in the fields and at the roadside, and you pass without taking much notice of them, so familiar is the horrid spectacle.” The Chinese farms are usually small, and cultivated for the most part by the occupants themselves, be they tenants or owners, without external help — a system which has led to the discovery and adoption of many simple though highly ingenious methods for economising labour. Asses, mules, and small cattle are employed as draught animals, but not by the poorer peasants, who are compelled to rear their crops by sheer manual labour, at which task the whole family assist. It seems an undoubted fact, that if they bred as large a quantity of stock in proportion to their numbers as we do, the land would not produce suffi- cient nourishment for the inhabitants. it 256 Rice. Wheat grows in many parts of the Empire, but rice is the principal object of cultivation, and, as it only thrives CHINESE AGRICULTURE. in ground which is periodically inundated, artificial means of irrigation are resorted to, some of which display in a Vegetable Productions. 257 striking manner the mechanical ingenuity of the Chinese. In the northern provinces two crops of this life-sustaining grain are produced annually, and a twelve months’ supply is kept stored in the public granaries to alleviate the starvation and misery consequent on a failure of the crop. Notwithstanding this wise precaution, numbers, as we have seen, die annually of want. The range of vegetable pro- duction is very great, comprising sugar-cane, tobacco, opium, poppy, oats, maize, sorghum, and millet. Cotton is raised in the basin of Yang-tsze-kiang, and amongst trees are found the orange, lemon, mango, betel, loquat, cocoanut, apple, pear, plum, peach, and the tea tree, in the latter of which foreigners are chiefly interested. It is found in both mountainous and level districts, but a light rocky soil is best adapted to its growth. It is raised from seed, seven or eight of which are dropped in a hole four feet distant from its neighbour. Of these perhaps three spring up, which are carefully removed and planted in rows. Three years are required before the leaves are fit for gathering. The method of cultivating the shrub differs with the province in which it is grown, and there exist but two sorts, black and green tea, although many names are given to the production. Mr. Medhurst gives the following list of teas, with both their native and European names ; there are seven kinds of black and six of green : — Black Tea — Woo-e (Bohea), from the Bohea hills in the province of Fo-kien, where it is grown; Keen-pie (Campoi), choice fine dried teas ; Kang-foo (Congou), workpeople’s tea ; Paou-chung or Pon-chong (wrapped tea), because it is 258 Tea. wrapped up very nicely in small parcels ; Scaou-chung (Souchong), small-seeded tea ; Shwang-che, Sonchi, or Caper, double-compounded tea. Green Tea — Sung-lo (Twig tea), because of its resemblance to fir-twigs ; He-chun (Hyson), happy spring tea ; Pe-cha (Hyson skin), skin tea ; Tun-Jce (Twankay), stream station tea ; Cho-cha (Pearl tea or Gun- powder) ; Yu-tseen, Ou-chain (Young Hyson), tea collected before the rains. The business of tea-growing is usually followed by small proprietors, who cultivate their own little plots of land, aided by their families. Into all particulars concerning its manufacture want of space prohibits my entering, but those interested in the subject will find a very full account in a book by the eminent botanist, Mr Eobert Fortune, entitled A Journey to the Tea Countries of China, including Sung-lo and the Bohea Hills.” The bamboo is much cultivated about villages for its shade and beauty, and from the variety of purposes to which it is applied one writer has not inaptly designated it “the national plant of China.” The young and tender shoots are used as food, the roots as a material for carved work ; the stems as poles, canes, joists, rods, ribs of sails, and tubes for aqueducts ; the leaves for thatching, clothing, and manure; and the shavings for stuffing mattresses. Oak, walnut, camphor, cedar, rosewood, and ebony supply abundance of good durable timber. Wild animals have long since disappeared from the settled provinces, but in Yun-nan and the south-western portions of the Empire elephants, tigers, and other ferce may be China, p. 258. CHINESE FISHING SCENE Fish. 259 found. The pig and the dog are the only domestic animals kept for food. The Chinese waters furnish an abundant supply of fish of every kind, and the inhabitants of villages in the neighbourhood of ponds or lakes keep them well stocked by means of artificial hatching and rearing, which art has been known in the country from time immemorial. Fish, when caught in greater numbers than can be made use of on the spot, are placed in reservoirs, and there kept alive until the winter season, when — I speak of the cold northern provinces — they are taken out, and the frost soon renders them as hard as a board. In this condition they are kept by the Chinese throughout the winter, who by this means have always an abundant supply of fresh fish on hand. A favourite method of capturing fish amongst this sin- gular race is by employing cormorants trained for the purpose, who at their owner’s bidding dive overboard in quest of their finny prey, returning to their master with the spoil they may have succeeded in overtaking. The Chinese cormorants are said to be more docile than the same species which inhabits our coast, and they also vary slightly in colour. Le Comte, an old French writer, thus explains this curious system of fishing : — To this end cormorants are educated as men rear up spaniels and hawks, and one man can easily manage a hundred. The fisher carries them out into the lake, perched on the gun- wale of his boat, where they continue tranquil, and ex- pecting his orders with patience. When arrived at the proper place, at the first signal given each flies a different 260 Cormorant-fishing. way to fulfil the task assigned it. It is very pleasant, on this occasion, to behold with what sagacity they portion out the lake or the canal where they are upon duty. They hunt about, they plunge, they rise a hundred times to the surface, until they have at last found their prey. They then seize it with their beak by the middle and carry it without fail to their master. When the fish is too large, they then give each other mutual assistance ; one seizes it by the head, the other by the tail, and in this manner carry it to the boat together. There the boatman stretches out one of his long oars, on which they perch, and, being delivered of their burden, they then fly off to pursue their sport. When they are wearied he lets them rest for a while, but they are never fed till the work is over. In this manner they supply a very plentiful table, but still their natural gluttony cannot be reclaimed even by educa- tion. They have always, while they fish, the same string fastened round their throats to prevent them from devour- ing their prey, as otherwise they would at once satiate themselves, and discontinue the pursuit the moment they had filled their bellies.” The training and use of these birds in the capture of fish was not unknown in other countries, though now fallen into disuse. Naturally enough, the Chinese have instituted festivals in honour of agriculture, the chief of which are the Feast of Spring, the Feast of Labour, and the Feast of Harvest. The first named is celebrated early in February. The streets are gaily decorated, and the chief magistrate of each I China, r 2C1 FESTIVAL OF LABOUR. Feast of Laboiir. 261 department heads a procession to the eastern gate of the town for the purpose of welcoming the coming spring. He then brings the ceremony to a close by a long speech in praise of agriculture. The Feast of Labour, which takes place in the middle of April, is a far grander affair. The Emperor, having fasted and prayed for three days, repairs to the Sacred Field, accompanied by the princes of the blood and all his grandees. He there — after much ceremony, of course — with his own august hands turns up three furrows, using for the purpose a plough and a whip painted yellow, to the former of which is yoked a yellow ox. Behind the sovereign come three princes of the blood and nine dig- nitaries, each guiding a plough painted red and drawn by a black ox. Certain appointed labourers finish tilling the field, the produce of which is garnered in a sacred place, and used for the sacrifices of the following year. The ceremonials connected with this rite are so numerous that a minute description would prove tedious. One official prostrates himself nine times, and then hands the plough to the “ Son of Heaven.;” another hands the whip, a third the seed-box, and so on. It is said that this time-honoured custom is falling into disuse of late years ; the Emperor is represented by proxy, and the dignitaries by inferiors, who regard the ceremony as a farce. From policy, the rulers of China have ever encouraged agriculture, regarding its followers as superior to people engaged in mercantile pursuits. One Emperor publishes a book, written by himself, in which he says — “Give the 262 An Imperial Author. chief place to husbandry and the culture of the mulberry tree, in order to procure adequate supplies of food and raiment. Of old time the Emperors themselves ploughed, and their Empresses cultivated the mulberry tree ; though supremely honourable, they disdained not to labour, and they did labour, in order to excite by their example the millions of people. Suffer not a barren spot to remain a wilderness, or a lazy person to abide in the cities. Then the farmer will not lay aside his plough and hoe, or the housewife put away her silkworms and her weaving. Even the productions of the mountains and marshes, and the propagation of the breed of poultry, swine, and dogs, will all be regularly cherished, in order that food may be supplied in their season to make up for any deficiency of agriculture.” The Chinese are justly esteemed as landscape gardeners, and in minute spade husbandry they far surpass all Euro- pean nations. They are passionately fond of colours. We admire a gay parterre rich with blossoms of brilliant hues, but we never reach as far as the Chinaman, who admires each separate plant, or rather loves it with a mysterious love which seems to inspire him — calm, sedate, and matter- of-fact as he usually is — with the poetry of its own sur- passing beauty. To give some idea of the Chinese skill in landscape gardening, I cannot do better than extract Lord Macartney’s description of the eastern and western parks of Gehol, which, though somewhat long, can hardly fail to be of interest to the reader : — “ Our journey, upon the whole, has been very pleasant, Parks of Gehol. 263 and, being divided into seven days, not at all fatiguing. At the end of every stage we have been lodged and enter- tained in the wings or houses adjoining to the Emperor’s palaces. These palaces, which occur at short distances from each other on the road, have been built for his recep- tion on his annual visit to Tartary. They are constructed upon nearly the same plan and in the same taste. They front the south, and are usually situated on irregular ground near the bases of gentle hills, which, together with the adjoining valleys, are enclosed by high walls and laid out in parks and pleasure-grounds, with every possible attention to picturesque beauty. Whenever water can be brought into the view it is not neglected ; the distant hills are planted, cultivated, or left naked, according to their accompaniments in the prospect. The wall is often concealed in a sunk fence, in order to give an idea of greater extent. A Chinese gardener is the painter of nature, and, though totally ignorant of perspective as a science, produces the happiest effects by the management, or rather pencilling, of distances, if I may use the expres- sion, by relieving or keeping down the features of the scene, by contrasting trees of a bright with those of a dusky foliage, by bringing them forward or throwing them back, according to their bulk and their figure, and by introducing » buildings of different dimensions, either heightened by strong colouring, or softened by simplicity and omission of ornament. “ The Emperor, having been informed that in the course of our travels in China we had shown a strong desire of 264 Imperial Gardens. seeing everything curious and interesting, was pleased to give directions to the first minister to show us his park or garden at Gehol. It is called in Chinese Van-shoo-yuen, or paradise of ten thousand (or innumerable) trees. In order to have this gratification (which is considered as an instance of uncommon favour), we rose this morning at three o’clock and went to the palace, where we waited, mixed with all the great officers of state for three hours (such is the etiquette of the place), till the Emperor’s appearance. At last he came forth, borne in the usual manner by sixteen persons on a high open palankeen, attended by guards, music, standards, and umbrellas with- out number, and, observing us as we stood in the front line, graciously beckoned us to approach, having ordered his people to stop ; he entered into conversation with us, and, with great affability of manner, told us that he was on his way to the pagoda, where he usually paid his morning devotions ; that as we professed a different religion from his he would not ask us to accompany him, but that he had ordered his first minister and chief Colaos to conduct us through his garden, and to show us whatever we were desirous of seeing there. “ Having expressed my sense of this mark of his con- descension in the proper manner, and my increasing ad- miration of everything I had yet observed at Gehol, I retired, and, whilst he proceeded to his adorations at the pagoda, I accompanied the ministers and other great Colaos of the court to a pavilion prepared for us, from whence, after a short collation, we set out on horseback to view this 265 A Lovely Lake. wonderful garden. We rode about three miles through a very beautiful park, kept in the highest order, and much resembling the approach to Luton, in Bedfordshire; the grounds gently undulated and chequered with various groups of well-contrasted trees in the offskip. As we moved onward, an extensive lake appeared before us, the extremities of which seemed to lose themselves in distance and obscurity. Here was a large and magnificent yacht ready to receive us, and a number of smaller ones for the attendants, elegantly fitted up and adorned with numerous vanes, pendants, and streamers. The shores of the lake have all the varieties of shape which the fancy of a painter can delineate, and are so indented with bays, or broken with projections, that almost every stroke of the oar brought a new and unexpected object to our view. Hor are islands wanting, but they are situated only where they should be, each in its proper place and having its proper character ; one marked by a pagoda or other building, one quite destitute of ornament, some smooth and level, some steep and uneven, and others frowning with wood or smiling with culture. Where any things particularly interesting were to be seen we disembarked, from time to time, to visit them, and I dare say that, in the course of our voyage, we stopped at forty or fifty different palaces or pavilions. These are all furnished in the richest manner with pictures of the Emperor’s huntings and progresses, with stupendbus vases of jasper and agate, with the finest porcelain /and Japan, and with every kind of European toys and sing-spngs, with spheres, orreries, clocks, and musical automatons, of 266 Beautifiil Scenery. such exquisite workmanship and in such profusion, that our presents must shrink from the comparison, and hide their diminished heads ; and yet I am told that the fine things we have seen are far exceeded by others of the same kind in the apartments of the ladies, and in the European repository at Yuen-min-yuen. In every one of the pavilions was a throne or imperial state, and a Eu-jou, or symbol of peace and prosperity, placed at one side of it. “ It would be an endless task were I to attempt a detail of all the wonders of this charming place. There is no beauty of distribution, no feature of amenity, no reach of fancy which embellishes our pleasure-grounds in England that is not to be found here. Had China been accessible to Mr. Browne or Mr. Hamilton, I should have sworn their happiest ideas from the rich sources which I have tasted this day; for in the course of a few hours I have enjoyed such vicissitudes of rural delight as I did not conceive could be felt out of England, being at different moments enchanted by scenes perfectly similar to those I had known there, to the magnificence of Stowe, the softer beauties of Wooburn, and the fairy land of Paine’s Hill. “ One thing I was particularly struck with — I mean the happy choice of situation for ornamental buildings. From attention to this circumstance they have not the air of being crowded or disproportioned ; they never intrude upon the eye, but wherever they appear always show themselves .to advantage, and aid, improve, and enliven the prospect. “ In many places the lake is overspread with the Nenuphar or lotus ( nelumbium ), resembling our broad- Artificial Adjuncts. 267 leaved water-lily. This is an accompaniment which, though the Chinese are passionately fond of cultivating it in all their pieces of water, I confess I don’t much admire. Artificial rocks and ponds, with gold and silver fish, are perhaps too often introduced, and the monstrous porcelain figures of lions and tigers usually placed before the pavilions are displeasing to a European eye ; but these are trifles of no great moment, and I am astonished that now, after a six hours’ critical survey of these gardens, I can scarcely recollect anything besides to find fault with. “ At our taking leave of the minister, he told us that we had only seen the eastern side of the gardens, hut that the western side, which was the larger part, still remained for him to show us, and that he should have that pleasure another day. “ Accordingly, on the day of the Emperor’s anniversary festival, after the ceremony was ended, the first or great Colao, Ho-chun-tong , the Foo-leou, the Foo-leou’s brother, Foo-chan-tong, and Song-ta-gin, with the other great men who attended us two days since in our visit to the eastern garden, now proposed to accompany us to the western, which forms a strong contrast with the other, and exhibits all the sublimer beauties of nature in as high a degree as the part which we saw before possesses the attractions of softness and amenity. It is one of the finest forest scenes in the world — wild, woody, mountainous, and rocky, abounding with stags and deer of different species, and most of the other beasts of the chase not dangerous to man. “In many places immense woods, chiefly oaks, pines, 268 Extensive View. and chestnuts, grow upon almost perpendicular steeps, and force their sturdy roots through every resistance of surface and of soil, where vegetation would seem almost impossible. These woods often clamber over the loftiest pinnacles of the stony hills, or, gathering on the skirts of them, descend with a rapid sweep, and bury themselves in the deepest valleys. There, at proper distances, you find palaces, ban- queting houses, and monasteries (but without bonzes), adapted to the situation and peculiar circumstances of the place, sometimes with a rivulet on one hand, gently stealing through the glade, at others with a cataract tumbling from above, raging with foam, and rebounding with a thousand echoes from below, or silently engulfed in a gloomy pool or yawning chasm. “ The roads by which we approached these romantic scenes are often hewn out of the living rock, and conducted round the hills in a kind of rugged staircase, and yet no accident occurred in our progress, not a false step disturbed the regularity of our cavalcade, though the horses are spirited and all of them unshod. From the great irregu- larity of the ground, and the various heights to which we ascended, we had opportunities of catching many magni- ficent points of view by detached glances, but, after wan- dering for several hours (and yet never wearied with wandering), we at last reached a covered pavilion open on all sides, and situated on a summit so elevated as perfectly to command the whole surrounding country to a vast extent. The radius of the horizon I should suppose to be at least twenty miles from the central spot where we stood, Private Retreats. 269 and certainly, so rich, so various, so beautiful, so sublime a prospect my eyes had never beheld. I saw everything before me as on an illuminated map — palaces, pagodas, towns, villages, farm-houses, plains, and valleys, watered by innumerable streams, hills waving with woods, and meadows covered with cattle of the most beautiful marks and colours. All seemed to be nearly at my feet, and that a step would convey me within reach of them. “ From hence was pointed out to us by the minister a vast enclosure below, which, he said, was not more access- ible to him than to us, being never entered but by the Emperor, his women, or his eunuchs. It includes within its bounds, though on a smaller scale, most of the beauties which distinguish the eastern and the western gardens which we have already seen, but, from everything I can learn, it falls very short of the fanciful descriptions which Father Altiret and Sir William Chambers have intruded upon us as realities. That within these private retreats various entertainments of the most novel and expensive nature are prepared and exhibited by the eunuchs, who are very numerous (perhaps some thousands), to amuse the Emperor and his ladies, I have no doubt; but that they are carried to all the lengths of extravagance and improbability those gentlemen have mentioned I very much question, as, from every inquiry I have made (and I have not been sparing to make them), I have by no means sufficient reason to warrant me in acceding to or confirming the accounts which they have given us. , “ If any place in England can be said in any respect to 270 Garden ing. have similar features to the western park which I have seen this day, it is Lowther Hall, in Westmoreland, which (when I knew it many years ago), from the extent of prospect, the grand surrounding objects, the noble situation, the diversity of surface, the extensive woods, and command of water, I thought might be rendered by a man of sense, spirit, and taste the finest scene in the British dominions.” Lord Macartney also makes the following general observations on Chinese gardening : — O O “ Whether our style of gardening was really copied from the Chinese, or originated with ourselves, I leave for vanity to assert and idleness to discuss. A discovery which is the result of good sense and reflection may equally occur to the most distant nations without either borrowing from the other. There is certainly a great analogy between our gardening and the Chinese, but our excellence seems to be rather in improving nature, theirs to conquer her, and yet produce the same effect. It is indifferent to a Chinese where he makes his garden — whether on a spot favoured or abandoned by the rural deities. If the latter, he invites them, or compels them, to return. His point is to change everything from what he found it, to explode the old fashion of the creation, and introduce novelty in every corner. If there be a waste, he adorns it with trees ; if a dry desert, he waters it with a river, or floats it with a lake. If there be a smooth flat, he varies it with all possible conversions. He undulates the surface, he raises it in hills, scoops it into valleys, and roughens it with rocks. He softens asperities, brings amenities into the Garden Buildings. 271 wilderness, or animates the tameness of an expanse by accompanying it with the majesty of a forest. Deceptions or eye-traps the Chinese are not unacquainted with, but they use them very sparingly. I observed no artificial ruins, caves, or hermitages. Though the sublime pre- dominates in its proper station, you are insensibly led to contemplate it, not startled by its sudden intrusion, for in the place cheerfulness is the principal feature, and lights up the face of the scene. To enliven it still more, the aid of architecture is invited ; all the buildings are perfect of their kind, either elegantly simple or highly decorated, according to the effect that is intended to arise, erected at suitable distances and judiciously contrasted, never crowded together in confusion, nor affectedly confronted, and staring at each other without meaning — proper edifices in proper places. The summer-house, the pavilion, the pagodas, have all their respective situations, which they distinguish and improve, but which any other structures would injure or deform. The only things disagreeable to my eye are the large porcelain figures of lions, tigers, &c., and the rough-hewn steps and huge masses of rock-work which they seem studious of introducing near many of their houses and palaces. Considering their general good taste in the other points, I was much surprised at this, and could only account for it by the expense and the difficulty of bringing together such incongruities, for it is a common effect of enormous riches to push everything they can procure to bombast and extravagance, which are the death of taste. “ The architecture of the Chinese is of a peculiar style, 272 A rchitedure. totally unlike any other, irreducible of our rules, but per- fectly consistent with its own. It has certain principles, from which it never deviates ; and although, when examined according to ours, it sins against the ideas we have imbibed I ! 1 China, p. 272 . CHINESE COOLIE. I 273 River Population. of distribution, composition, and proportion, yet, upon the whole, it often produces a most pleasing effect, as we some- times see a person without a single good feature in his face have, nevertheless, a very agreeable countenance.” Another production for which China is celebrated is its silk. The mulberry tree is everywhere cultivated to a large extent, and the annual supply must be enormous. Europe and Asia draw from the Empire the majority of its superabundant silk. One extraordinary feature of the Chinese is the immense number who live on the water. Sir John Bow- ring, late Governor of Hong-kong, says — “ The enormous river popula- tion of China, who live only in boats, who are born and educated, who marry, rear their families, and die on the water, and never dream of any shel- ter other than the roof, and who seldom tread except on the deck or boards of their sampans (boats), show to what an extent the land is crowded, and how it fails to maintain the cumberers of the soil. In the city of Canton alone it is estimated that 300,000 persons dwell upon the river. The boats, sometimes twenty or thirty CANTON BOAT-WOMAN. — for theatres, for concerts, for feats, for gambling, and worse; some craft are employed in conveying goods and passengers, and are in a state of constant activity; others are moored, and their owners are engaged as servants or labourers on shore. 274 River Population. feet deep, cover some miles, and have their wants supplied by ambulatory salesmen, who wend their way through every accessible passage. Of this vast population some dwell in decorated boats used for every purpose of licence andfestivity Artificial Islands. 275 . . . Not only are land and water crowded with Chinese, but many dwell on artificial islands which float upon the lakes — islands, with gardens and houses raised upon the rafters which the occupiers have bound together, and on 276 Description of Island. which they cultivate what is needful for the supply of life’s daily wants. They have their poultry and their vegetables for use, their flowers and scrolls for ornament, their house- hold gods for protection and worship.” Hong-kong, our only possession in China, is an island at the mouth of the Canton river, about forty miles east of Macao. Its length is eleven miles, and its breadth from two to five. It is separated from the mainland by a narrow passage, which in some places does not exceed half-a-mile in width. Hong-kong (Bed Harbour) is mainly a naval and military station and a factory for British commerce with China. Victoria Bay affords a magnificent anchorage for ships of the largest size, having deep water close to the shore. The surface of the island is rugged and uneven, consisting of a range of barren granite rocks, which rise to nearly two thousand feet above the sea. The small valleys formed by the projecting spurs of this backbone are thickly grown with rank herbage and brushwood, but little land on the whole island is fit for cultivation. The city of Victoria is of considerable size, extending for three miles along the beach. The public buildings are very fine, and the houses of the merchants large and commodious, with broad verandahs and spacious gardens. The population is about 80,000, of which some 3000 are Europeans. The commercial relations of Hong-kong with Great Britain are so intimately connected with that of all China that it is needless to examine them separately. We monopolise almost the entire trade with China. The Statesman’ s Year Book for 1876 says: — "To the aggregate imports and VIEW IN HONG-KONO. V ' 277 Imports and Exports. exports of China, in the five years 1870 to 1874, Great Britain contributed 52 per cent., the colony of Hong-kong 25 per cent., and India 10 per cent., leaving only 13 per cent, for all other foreign nations, chief among which stand the United States. The value of the total exports from China to the United Kingdom in 1874 was £11,145,909. The imports of British home produce into China amounted to the value of £4,751,103. Of the exports from China to G-reat Britain nearly two-thirds consist of one article — tea. The value of this alone in 1874 amounted to £8,678,418. Mr. Martin states that the most populous part of China is adapted to the construction of railways, and at the end of 1875 an attempt to introduce them into the country was made, and a line ten miles in length laid down between Shanghai and Woosung. Unfortunately, a Chinaman was run over, or was supposed to have been, and there arose a dispute with the authorities, who would doubtless have liked to put the locomotive in the cangue. This grievance is so far settled that the Chinese Government have agreed to buy the railway plant at the expiration of a certain time, but it is strongly suspected for the sole purpose of tearing up the ways and tumbling the engines into the river. Such is a brief and necessarily most imperfect sketch of a highly interesting people. China has hitherto looked with the utmost jealousy on all outer barbarians, and shown an indomitable dislike to new customs. But every- thing points out that this state of isolation cannot be main- 2*78 Conclusion. tained. Her boundaries are conterminous with Russia, a pushing and ambitious Power, striving by every means within her reach to open up an Eastern trade. We have taught them by the severe lessons of 1840 and 1860 that the Western nations are not to be insulted and outraged with impunity; and, whilst demonstrating the immense superiority of our arms, have also shown our wish for an enlarged intercourse by means of increased commercial relations. China cannot long withstand this pressure, and on the day when new ideas and a new people shall first enter the carefully-closed door of the old edifice, the outer air will prove too strong for a constitution enfeebled by age and the first breath of the stranger will disperse the dust of fifty centuries. To nations as to individuals it is forbidden to live alone. CTTINESE PRAYING MACHINE COREA COREA: ITS INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL CONDITION. CHAPTER I. Sources of Information — Boundaries — Derivation of Name — Physical Geography — Mines — Climate — Products — Notes about Ginseng — Animals — Character of the People — Historical Sketch— Yearly Mission to China. O F all the countries of the Ear East, Corea — or, as it used to be the fashion to call it, “ the Corea ” — -is the least known to Europeans, for its rulers have hitherto been more successful than the Japanese ever were in their policy of self-isolation, and no foreigner has as yet been permitted to explore the interior thoroughly. Writing from ISTewchwang, the most northern of the treaty-ports of China, and the nearest to the Corean fron- tier, in January, 1866, Mr. Macpherson, the Chinese Com- missioner of Customs, observed : — “ When we cross the Tu-men we are among a strange people, of whom little more is known than of the natives of Central Africa. Yet ten Roman Catholic priests are believed to be scattered through Corea ; two are said to be residing in the capital, and four are known to have crossed from Chefoo in 1865. 282 Sources of Information. It is to be regretted that the desire of contributing to the advancement of general knowledge has not stimulated these enterprising men to tread in the footsteps of those illustrious servants of religion, from whom, for so many years, Europe learned all she knew regarding China.” Our sources of information respecting Corea and its people are scanty enough, but matters are not so bad as Mr. Mac- pherson states ; and, indeed, in the sweeping assertion just quoted, that gentleman has unwittingly done a grave in- justice to men whose courage and endurance under extra- ordinarily trying circumstances is undoubtedly worthy of great admiration. Not only for many years previously to the time when he wrote, but also continuously ever since, those very missionaries and their predecessors have from time to time, as opportunity offered, been forwarding to Europe reports of the progress they were making in the religious work to which their lives were devoted — un- happily, often, in more senses than one — as well as large stores of information respecting the institutions and the manners and customs of Corea. What these missionaries tell us in their letters we can hardly refuse to believe ; for though, owing to persecutions and prohibitory edicts on the part of the Government, they are obliged to remain in retirement, not to say concealment, they live among the people, speak their tongue, and are in daily and hourly communication with them. From these letters Pfere Ch. Dallet, himself a missionary, compiled and published, a short time back, a very interesting work in two volumes entitled Histoire de I’Eglise de Corde, to which we are prin- < 283 Sources of Information. cipally indebted for the following particulars respecting Corea and the Coreans. Another good source of information also demands a word of notice. The visit of the recent Japanese mission to Corea having supplied an opportunity of acquiring a further knowledge of the people, a Japanese editor, following the example set him by a higher civilisation, interviewed one of the leading secretaries on its return home, and obtained from him a description of the state of the country and the habits and customs of the people. This Sir Harry S. Parkes, K.C.B., her Majesty’s Minister in Japan, caused to be translated, and it has since been published as a Parlia- mentary paper, together with a number of his despatches to the Foreign Office respecting the treaty between Japan and Corea. Dr. Williamson, again, a Protestant missionary at Chefoo, who has travelled much in Northern China, Manchuria, &c., devotes a chapter to Corea in his Journeys in North China, and, though he has never visited the country him- self, he has met Coreans on several occasions, and has in that and other ways obtained materials for a brief sketch, which in most respects agrees sufficiently with the in- formation supplied by the sources indicated above. When, however, there appears to be any discrepancy, it has naturally been deemed wiser to accept the testimony of eye-witnesses. Scattered notices of Corea are also to be found in other directions, mostly in the publications of a bygone age, such as the collections of voyages and travels issued by Astley, 284 Sources of Information. Harris, and Pinkerton in the middle of the last and at the beginning of the present century. Nearly 150 years ago, too, Du Halde published a description of the country, and other writers, English and foreign, have touched upon the A COREAN JUNK AT ANCHOR. 285 Derivation of Name. subject. For many reasons, however, it has been thought best, in endeavouring to give an account of Corea, to consult the newest and freshest sources of information, which have been particularised above. The kingdom of Corea is composed of a large peninsula and a considerable number of islauds, chiefly on its western and southern coasts. It lies at the north-east of the con- tinent of Asia, to the south of Manchuria, between lat. 34° 40' and 42° 30' 1ST., and long. 125° and 129° E., and is bounded on the north by the rivers Ya-lu and Tu-men, on the south by the Yellow Sea, on the east by the Sea of Japan, and on the west by the Yellow Sea and the Gulf of Pei-chih-li. Exclusively of the numerous islands lying off its shores, the area of the country may be approximately stated at 80,000 square miles. The word Corea is derived from the Chinese Kao-li, pronounced Ko-ri by the Coreans. This was the name of the country under the dynasty which preceded that now on the throne, but in a.d. 1392 Cho-sen — in Chinese Chaoseen, or “ morning calm — became its official designation. Corea is also termed Tung-kwo (Eastern kingdom) in Chinese books, and Sol-ho by the Manchu Tartars. Corea is essentially a mountainous country, and a great chain of mountains runs from north to south on the eastern side of the peninsula, and its spurs branch off in every direction; in fact, one of the old missionaries observed with a great show of truth, “ Wherever you set foot, you see nothing but mountains.” Forests abound, especially in the north, the trees chiefly met with being pines. It is 286 Mines — Climate. believed that gold, silver, and copper are to be found in considerable quantities in the mountains, and gold also in some of the rivers; iron is known to be plentiful. Very little definite information, however, exists with regard to mines, as the search for them is forbidden under severe pains and penalties. On this subject the secretary of the late Japanese mission says : — “ The iron mines are the only ones worked ; copper, gold, and silver, if such metals exist, are yet untouched. It is possible that this has arisen from a foolish notion that their discovery would be prejudicial to the nation, and disturb the feng-slmi, a superstition which prevails in Corea [as well as in China]. For this reason no gold coins or ornaments are to be seen ; silver is used for hair-pins, but only in small quantities, and this comes from China. The copper and tin used in the country come from Japan. . . . It is said that there are coal mines in the country, but, strange to say, dear as fuel is, the Coreans do not seem to know the value of coal for this purpose.” The climate of Corea resembles in most respects that of Northern China. The winter is very cold, and the rivers in the north are frozen for several months. Spring and autumn are the pleasantest seasons of the year. In summer the heat is excessive, and is accompanied by torrents of rain, the disagreeable effects of which are felt in many ways. The products of the country include rice, wheat, rye, millet, vegetables of every kind, but very insipid, cotton, tobacco, and several plants, the fibre of which is used for 287 Products — Ginseng. making country cloth. Tobacco is said to have been in- troduced from Japan towards the end of the sixteenth century, and the cotton plant from China about 200 years previously. Fruits abound ; apples, pears, plums, straw- berries, mulberries, persimmons, grapes, melons, &c., are common, but, owing to the constant rains of summer, they are very tasteless, and, indeed, almost uneatable, with the exception, perhaps, of the water melons. Flowers are very numerous, many of the species being unknown in Europe. Oddly enough, however, they are all, with the sole excep- tion of eglantine, scentless, or have a disagreeable odour. Ginseng (the root of the panax quinqucfolium ) is cultivated to a considerable extent in Corea, but it is thought inferior to the finest kinds that grow wild in the mountains of Manchuria. This medicinal root is so highly esteemed as a tonic by the Chinese, and so little is known of it in this country, that it will not be uninteresting to interpolate here some remarks respecting it from a report furnished a few years ago by the Chinese Commissioner of Customs at the treaty-port of Newchwang, in Southern Manchuria. “ Fine Manchurian ginseng,” he observes, “ is only found in the upper valley of the Usuri, where ruined towns and forts mark the cradle of the race which, seven centuries ago, ruled over China from the Yellow Eiver to the Great Wall, which was forced back by the valour and genius of Genghis, and which, 400 years afterwards, again swept into Chih-li to occupy and retain the imperial throne. But ginseng loves moisture, and the densest of the forests which cling to the slopes of the hills ; it nestles in recesses which 288 the rays of the sun have never penetrated, and which are as pathless now as in the days when the Golden Tartars were dwelling in and cultivating the plain. The genuine Manchurian ginseng consists of a stem from which the leaves spring, of a centre root, and of two roots branching off at the same point from each side of the centre root. The stem somewhat resembles the head and neck, and the side roots the shoulders and arms of a man ; the main root represents the body, and a fork which the main roots fre- quently form, the legs. The Chinese, with a not ungraceful feeling, believe that a plant which thus expands into the human form amid thickets and jungle, on which the foot of man has never trod, must be intended to alleviate the sufferings of the human race. Its precious qualities are increased and intensified by age, and a plant is of no great value until it has been growing and gathering strength for at least an ordinary life-time. The age, and consequently the value, of a plant are ascertained by a careful examina- tion of the upper portion of the centre and side roots. These portions should be covered with rings, and the thicker and more numerous the rings the greater the age. The value of ginseng in no way depends upon its length, thickness, or colour.* The upper portions of the root also possess the greatest healing power. The stem which appears above ground, on the other hand, ought not to be eaten. It is supposed to be baneful rather than beneficial. In former years the collection of ginseng was in the hands * A delicate root, weighing only about 13 oz. avoirdupois, has been known to fetch nearly £17 at Newell wang. 289 of some forty merchants, who, on payment of a heavy fee, obtained the necessary authority from the Tartar General of Kirin. In addition to the fee, each merchant was bound to hand over to Government a certain weight of the object of his search. The search continued from the end of April to the end of September. In it the merchants employed the outlaws, whom the fear of punishment had driven to take refuge in these wilds, and who were com- pelled by their position to be faithful servants. These men underwent great hardships and incurred great dangers. Forced to wander far from the little patches of millet they had raised for their support, they were even menaced by starvation, and by the wolf, the tiger, and the leopard. And not unfrequently the hardships were endured and the dangers were incurred in vain. From the time of Tao- kwang ginseng was becoming yearly more scarce, and plants of any great age were rarely found. Finally, in order to arrest their utter extinction, the collection of the wild root was prohibited by imperial edict. Steps were taken in Kirin to carry this order into effect, and measures were adopted to prevent the admission of the interdicted plant into China. Nevertheless, a very small quantity is still clandestinely collected, to a considerable extent, how- ever, in Kussian territory. The cultivation of ginseng, though allowed, is not encouraged. . . . The side branches of the cultivated plant are frequently broken off, and its premature growth and the means made use of to expedite its development often efface the resemblance from which it derives its name. With a view to produce a false 290 Animal Kingdom. appearance of age, hair is tied tightly round the upper portions of the root, but a practised eye can easily detect the deception.” With regard to the animal kingdom in Corea, tigers, hears, and wild hoars are plentiful. The tigers, though of small size, are almost as destructive to human life as in India. Pheasants, water-fowl, and other game are also common. Domestic animals are mostly of an inferior description, but the ponies, though small, are very hardy. Enormous numbers of pigs and dogs are found in the country, the latter of which are said to supply the natives with butchers’ meat, and their flesh is thought very delicate in flavour ! The king alone is allowed to keep sheep and goats, with the former of which he offers sacrifices to his ancestors, and with the latter to Confucius. As might he expected in a country where the summer is so hot and damp, insects and vermin of all kinds are unpleasantly numerous. The climate of Corea is said to be healthy, but the bad water everywhere causes much sickness, especially inter- mittent fevers. Small-pox commits frightful ravages among the population, and it is currently believed that there are not one hundred people in the kingdom who have not been attacked by it. When the country is opened to foreigners, it may reasonably be hoped that it will, at any rate, reap some benefit in this direction from the labours of medical missionaries. The number of deaths annually from various forms of disease is very great, and the population consequently increases but very slowly; 291 Character of the People. speaking roughly— for no proper census has ever been taken — it may perhaps, and with some show of probability, he set down at about ten millions. The Coreans belong to the Mongol race, but they are more like the Japanese than the Chinese; they have a dark complexion, a short and rather flattened nose, and prominent cheek bones. Their hair is generally black, but sometimes brown and even auburn is met with. The men are of middle height and of powerful build, and stand fatigue well. So far as foreigners have been able to observe their character at present, they appear to be indolent, sluggish, and apathetic, after the manner of Mongols, and in this respect they form a startling contrast to their enterprising and industrious neighbours, the Japanese. Dr. Williamson remarks ( Journeys in North China, vol. ii.) that the Coreans “ are a brave people, excellent friends, but dangerous foes. We have had proofs of both these quali- ties — first, in the way in which the converts stood by the Eoman Catholic priests in their evil hour, hiding them and risking their lives for them, and finally succeeding in con- veying those who remained after the general massacre safely to Chefoo ; and, secondly, in the determined and successful stand they made against the French, who tried to punish them for these dreadful murders, and the spirited way in which they have repelled several other descents. The careful conveyance of shipwrecked mariners to ISTew- chwang, and the destruction of the General Sherman , which went into their river armed to the teeth, also illus- trate their character.’' .0 292 Independent Tribes. The same writer also states that among the lofty moun- tains which separate Corea from Manchuria, and also in the valley of the Ya-lu kiang, are independent mountaineers who defy alike the power of China and Corea. They have been several times attacked, but it has been found impos- sible to dislodge them from their mountain fastnesses. They appear to be Manchus, and are partially civilised. They employ themselves in gathering medicinal roots, cutting down trees, which they float down the rivers to the Ya-lu kiang, and in seeking for gold. There are certain points of meeting between them and the Chinese and Coreans, where they sell their medicines and wood, and purchase a variety of commodities, invariably paying the balance in gold. From the want of the necessary documents, it is impos- sible to attempt a detailed sketch of Corean history, and it will be sufficient to give some extracts from a brief summary which was drawn up from various sources by that most able Chinese scholar, the late Mr. Thomas Taylor Meadows, some time her Majesty’s Consul at Newell wang, in Southern Manchuria. Though Chinese civilisation found a suitable home in Corea at a very early period, still, as Mr. Meadows remarks, its almost insular position has served to preserve it as the habitat of a separate nation, distinct in manners and language. Chinese Governments have never been powerful on the seas, and, though expeditions have occasionally been despatched by sea from the Shantung peninsula to the opposite coasts of Corea, still military operations and in- Historical Sketch. 293 ternational intercourse have, practically speaking, been conducted by the northerly, and, as regards the Mongols and Manchus, exposed land route through Southern Man- churia. Hence it is that, though Corea has in the past two thousand years been more than once occupied by Chinese armies, and even administratively incorporated into the directly governed dominions of the Whang-ti (i.e., Emperor) of China, that state of things has lasted only for very short periods ; Corea has, in the main, been inde- ' pendent as regards internal government, though, on the other hand, its rulers have habitually, as it were, yielded, with rare exceptions, the homage of vassals to each line of undoubted Whang-tis. This has, for instance, been the case without intermission for the last 650 years, during the Yuen, Ming, and the present line of Whang-tis [i.e., the Manchu Tartar dynasty]. Corea has at times been divided into several states, as Hwuy, Shin-han, Pih-tse, and Sin-lo. Afterwards, in the second century after Christ, a new state, called Kao-li, began to grow into power, and, eventually absorbing all the others, gave its name to the peninsula. About a.d. 385, at a time when China was torn by internal dissensions, the Coreans possessed themselves of the whole of the country of the Liao river, which they retained for 260 years, till a.d. 645, when they were attacked by the then Whang-ti, or Emperor of the powerful Tang dynasty, and expelled, after several years of hard fighting. The Coreans were great in the construction and defence of fortified places, ruins and vestiges of which now, after a lapse of 1200 294 Historical Sketch. years, meet the eye of the traveller on all sides as he moves through the eastern half of the province of Sheng- king, or Southern Manchuria. They are everywhere known to the people as “ Corean fortresses.” They are of all sizes, from the single round tower, with the traces of a small encircling court, to the surrounding works of a city, usually quadrangular in shape, and the sides of which may measure three or four miles, with a gateway protected by outworks on each face, or one or two miles with only two such gate- ways on opposite sides. Some of these ruined fortresses are found in the low plain of the Eiver Liao, where they evidently depended on their wide, wet ditches as a main source of strength ; two such lie not far from the port of ISTewchwang. Others occupy the tops of isolated hills in the plain, or the ends of spurs jutting out into it from the mountain range that bounds it on the east. Others, again, occupy lower peaks of that range itself, peaks rising steeply to heights of 1000 to 1200 feet above the adjacent plains and valleys. All these ruined fortresses are exclusive of the existing walled cities of Southern Manchuria, as Liao- yang, Kai-yuen, Hai-ching, Kai-chow, &c., nearly all of which were equally fortified cities in the time of the Corean domination, and were at its close the scenes of recorded, in some instances of celebrated, sieges. Every year a Corean mission is sent to Peking to pay tribute and to receive the calendar, the latter act being, according to the ideas of Orientals, a matter of grave sig- nificance ; for in China the fixing and issuing of the calendar is a privilege appertaining exclusively to the Son 295 Yearly Mission to China. of Heaven. The Coreans, therefore, by receiving their calendar at his hands, admit that they are his tributaries. Furthermore, every new King of Corea is compelled to send a special mission to Peking to seek investiture from the Emperor ; he has also to give an account of all that con- cerns his own family, and of the principal events which take place in his kingdom. The King of Corea is not permitted to use the imperial colour (yellow), neither must he wear a crown resembling that of the Emperor ; and when any event of importance takes place at Peking, he is bound to send thither a special mission to offer his congratulations or condolences, as the case may be. The position of Corea as regards China was finally settled by the terms of a treaty made in 1637, when the Manchus overthrew the Ming dynasty, in support of which the Coreans had taken up arms. Among other matters, this treaty fixed in detail the amount of the annual tribute to be paid by Corea, and otherwise regulated the relations between the two countries. COREAN TRUMPETS. CHAPTER II. Form of Government — Kings — Royal Palaces — Royal Funerals and Tombs — Public Offices— Civil and Military Organisation— Nobles and their Privileges — Anecdote — Small Middle Class — Slaves — Their Number Diminishing— Condition of Women — Separation of Sexes. AS is commonly tlie case in the East, the form of govern- ^ * rnent in Corea is — theoretically, at least — an absolute monarchy. The king has unlimited authority over his sub- jects and their belongings ; his own person is sacred and in- violable, and he has almost divine honours paid to him by his people. Although he receives a special name from his suzerain at the time of his investiture, yet his subjects are forbidden to make use of it under the severest penalties, and it is only employed in official reports to the Court of Peking. After his death, his successor gives him a name, by which he is henceforth known. So sacred is the royal person considered, that the coinage does not bear his effigy, but some Chinese characters instead. It is worthy of mention that the princes of the blood-royal have, as a rule, no power or influence whatever in Corea, and unless they conduct themselves very discreetly they run a great chance of being accused, on some frivolous pretext or other, of conspiring against the peace of the realm, and exciting the Form of Government. 297 people to revolt, in which case their fate is certain. In the present century, indeed, three princes of the blood are said to have lost their Lives in this way. Although, as has been stated, the king is an absolute despot in theory, he is not really so in fact. Owing to various circumstances, chiefly successive regencies, the great families of the Corean nobility have contrived to get the substance, if not the semblance, of power into their own hands, and the king now-a-days is practically a roi faineant. The conse- quence is that there is great discontent among the people, and the missionaries report having seen a caricature in which the native artist represents the present condition of things by the figure of a man whose head and legs are entirely dried up, while the body is greatly puffed out. In this the head represents the king, and the limbs the people, while in the state of the body is portrayed the condition of the great functionaries and the nobility, who are ruining the king, and reducing him to a nonentity, while they are sucking out the very blood of the people. What are called royal palaces in Corea do not come up to European notions of such places, and in this respect the Coreans seem to be far behind their neighbours. These buildings, such as they are, are crowded with the king’s wives, concubines, and eunuchs, and have the reputation of being the hotbeds of intrigue and vice. Besides these palaces in which the king lives, there are others, somewhat similar in their internal arrangement and appearance, where the tablets of his ancestors are kept. Everything connected with the funeral obsequies of the 298 Royal Funerals. kings is considered to be of the utmost importance in Corea, and their interment is conducted with the most punctilious ceremonial. As is the case in China, the sovereign is looked upon as the father of his people, and at his death all his male subjects are obliged to wear mourning for twenty-seven months. The burial takes place at the end of five months, and this period is one of strict mourning. Marriages and all kinds of festive entertainments are for- bidden, as well as the slaughter of animals and the eating of meat ; it is even contrary to law to punish criminals at this time. The kind of mourning to be worn is prescribed by a proclamation of the Government, and the people are not permitted to resume their ordinary dress until a decree to that effect has been issued. Women, being held in great contempt in Corea, as will be seen later on, are exempt from these rules and regulations, and for that matter most of them are usually shut up in their houses, and are seldom seen abroad. On the day appointed for the funeral, the body of the departed monarch is placed in its coffin on the top of an enormous bier or litter, magnificently decorated from a Corean point of view, and is borne in solemn pro- cession to the tomb prepared in some mountain, which has been previously chosen with great care and circumspection in accordance with certain superstitious rites. The body is then buried and the customary sacrifices offered amid the wailing and lamentation of the surrounding crowd. Some months afterwards a monument is erected over the tomb, and officials are permanently stationed close at hand to watch it, and to offer sacrifices at stated periods. The Civil Administration. 299 members of the recent Japanese mission to Corea went to the site of some ancient royal tombs, situated about half- way up a hill, which they found encircled with walls three feet high and from twenty to thirty feet in circumference. On the tombstone of one was inscribed “ The tomb of Man- senden.” The tombs are said to resemble those of the Samurai in Japan, and stand in the midst of waste land. As each king is buried in a place apart, it may be imagined that the royal tombs are somewhat scattered about the country. The civil government of Corea appears to resemble in a great measure that of China, and therefore calls for but a passing notice. Under the king the general control of the affairs of the realm is entrusted to a prime minister, who is assisted by two officers styled respectively the counsellors of the left and the right, an arrangement the idea of which is evidently borrowed from that of the great public offices at Peking. There are six boards or public offices in Corea as 'n China, each of which has its special functions and .uies — one dealing with finance, another with war, a third with public works, and so on. The country is divided into 300 Soldiers. dght provinces (each under a governor), and these again are subdivided into 332 districts. With very few excep- tions, every able-bodied male is bound to serve as a soldier, and bis name is placed on the rolls as such. Nominally, there- fore, the king has a very considerable army at bis disposal, but it is no secret that large numbers of the names on the rolls are fictitious, and, in addition, the bulk of the so-called army has no military training whatever. The Japanese do not appear to entertain a very high opinion of Corean soldiers, for the secretary of their late mission, who saw some 1500 or 1600 of them, remarks that they wore wooden hats and coats of a reddish colour with wide sleeves, and bore neither armour nor helmets. They were armed with matchlocks of a small size, like those used by Japanese hunters, and with swords the SOLDIER, SHOWING THE MODE OF WEARING THE SWORD. Soldiers — Officials. 301 blades of which, in all probability, are imported from Japan. The number of banners is large in proportion to the number of men, and some had characters upon them, the tops of the colour-poles being ornamented with phea- sants’ feathers. The men appeared to be of all ages ; some were young, but many were quite old. They seem better drilled, in the opinion of their Japanese critic, than the troops of his own country were prior to the arrival of Commodore Perry, as at that time each Daimio (Japanese prince) had his men drilled as he chose, while theCoreans had one central government and one army. Their dress, he adds, seems well enough suited for fine weather, but bad for rain. It is, perhaps, hardly neces- sary to remark that the offi- cers are all drawn from the nobility. Civil and military functions are very commonly united in one and the same person. The tenure of office is in most cases limited, as a rule, to two years. High officials, with special powers, who may, perhaps, be not improperly described as “ censors,” visit the provinces from time to time and at irregular intervals, in order to judge how all classes of officials conduct themselves, and as they are the direct NOBLE. 302 Nobility. agents of the king, and as their reports are always accepted, it may he imagined that their influence for good or evil is very great ; the more so, as they are invested with the power of life and death, and can, on their own authority, degrade on the spot any officials, save only the governors of pro- vinces. In the earlier years of the present dynasty (some five centuries ago) the Corean nation was divided into two classes only— viz., nobles and slaves. Gradually, however, as has happened in European countries, an intermediate class sprang up, comprising labourers, shopkeepers, artisans, &c., and the slave class has dwindled away and become comparatively small in number. Nobility is hereditary, and as nearly all public offices belong to this class by prescriptive right, noble families preserve their genealogical tables with the most jealous care, so as to be able to prove beyond all cavil their claim to belong to the privileged section of society. All nobles enjoy privileges in common, such as exemption from service in the army, inviolability for their persons and their dwell- ings, the right of wearing horse-hair hats (the distinctive mark of rank), &c. Among the nobility, however, as in other countries, there are naturally different grades, and those families which have rendered any particular service to the king or the state, or have distinguished themselves in any special manner, occupy a more influential position than the rest. The Corean aristocracy, so far as can be ascertained at present, appears to be more powerful than any similar class in other countries. They are so numerous, A necdote. 303 and, despite their quarrels among themselves, so clannish, and so jealous of their rights and privileges, that even the king does not dare to offend them. The consequence is that, as a class, they are extremely arrogant, and disposed to carry matters with an exceedingly high hand. The following anecdote, told by P&re Dallet, will sufficiently testify to the truth of this observation : — Four police agents, in search of a thief, met a member of the class under notice, poorly clad and generally poverty- stricken in appearance. They thought he was a suspicious- looking character, and asked him, in an off-hand way, if he were not the man they were seeking. “ Yes,” said he, “ I am, and if you will come home with me I will show you my accomplices, and point out the place where the property is hidden.” Delighted with the discovery, the men fol- lowed him, but they had scarcely arrived at his house when, to their amazement, he called his slaves and some friends and had them seized. After having beaten them unmer- cifully, he put out both the eyes of three of them and one eye of the fourth, and sent them back, telling them that that was to make them see better another time, and that he had left them one eye between them in order that they might be able to find their way home. Incredible as it may appear, this outrageous and senseless act of barbarity unet with no punishment ; indeed, the nobles do very much as hhey like, and many of the poorer among them live simply; by robbery, and the privileges of their order protect them frOi.qi all the natural consequences of their acts. In point of fact; N these nobles seem to be literally the curse of \ u 304 L ower Orders — T rades- U n ions. the country. Between them and the people, properly so called, there is a small middle class, which hardly has any existence save at the capital. This consists of families which for several generations have filled certain posts under Government, such as those of interpreters, astronomers, doctors, &c. The people, as distinguished from the nohility — it is hardly necessary to remark after what has been said above — have absolutely no influence whatever under ordinary circumstances. Theoretically and legally, it is true, they are allowed to compete in the public examinations for civil and military offices, but, however well they may acquit themselves, and whatever he the degree they may obtain, they can never hope for any but the most unimportant posts under Government. In one way, however, the people are able to make their existence and the power of their numbers felt, and that is by a species of trade- unionism. The Coreans, like their neighbours the Chinese, possess wonderful powers of combination, and, to protect themselves against the exactions, cruelties, and arbitrary acts of the nobles, they have formed guilds or trade-unions, which in the capital and the larger towns have become very powerful, and exercise a salutary influence over their oppressors. One of the most important and best organised of these associations is that of the porters. Owing to the fact that goods passing from one part of the country to Slaves. 305 the other are mostly carried on men’s hacks, the number of people thus employed is considerable, and it will be readily understood how complex are the ramifications of such a class as this in all the towns, villages, and hamlets, and how easily they can make their power felt. Of the slave class, which is small and constantly diminishing, but little need be said. They are found chiefly in the families of nobles, and the class is composed of those who are born of a slave mother, or have sold themselves, or been sold by their parents into slavery, and also of found- lings. In the last-named case the slavery is personal, and does not descend to posterity. As a rule, it would seem that the slaves are well treated, and usu- ally, when they are grown up and married, they are allowed to live where they choose, and have only to pay their owners PORTER, a certain sum annually. The condition of the slaves, indeed, is so much better than that of the poor country people, that the latter not uncommonly attach themselves to some great families, and enter into a voluntary slavery. Besides the slaves spoken of above, there are others who are the pro- perty of the Government, but these are mostly persons who have been condemned to penal servitude for their crimes. 306 Position of Women. Women occupy a peculiar position in Corea, and, as lias been before stated, they are treated with what amounts almost to contempt. So much is this the case that they have no regular distinctive names, though in their earlier years they are known among their nearest relatives by some pet names. This, when they grow up, may only be used by their fathers and mothers, everyone else speaking of them as the daughters or sisters of so and so. After marriage, even this name disappears, and the woman is known by the name of the district where she lived before her marriage, or of that in which the peasant. ceremony took place; when she has sons, she is called the mother of so and so. Among the nohles it is customary to separate boys and girls at a very early age, the former being then placed in the men’s apartments, where contempt for women and all that appertains to them is daily inculcated upon them. Girls, on the other hand, are brought up in strict seclusion in the women’s part of the house, and very soon — such is the power of education and example — they learn to keep away from the men, and even to avoid their old playmates. These unnatural ideas become ingrained in the CoreaD nature, and the habits thus acquired are never got rid of. Separation between the sexes in all classes of society is carried to such an extreme, that all family ties, and the attendant joys and pleasures of home life, may be said to / Position of Women. 307 be completely destroyed. In noble families, when a daughter has reached a marriageable age, only the closest relations are permitted to see her, and even they are re- quired by custom and etiquette to address her only in terms of stilted ceremony. Once married, the girl is cut off from all her friends and the outer world ; she may not even leave the house without her husband’s leave. Although Corean women occupy such an uncomfortable position in most respects, arising from the contempt in which the sex is held, they are nevertheless treated with consideration, if not with respect, and, bad as their lot is, it is not so unbear- able as in some Eastern countries pretending to a higher degree of civilisation, where the women are looked upon as merely goods and chattels. In Corea, men of all grades give place to a respectable woman in the street, whatever her rank may be. Save under very exceptional circum- stances, the women’s apartments are held inviolable, even by the agents of the law. This idea is carried rather far, for it is even said that, when an intending purchaser is going to look at a house, he lets the inmates know before- hand, so that they may shut the doors of the women’s rooms, and he only examines the outer part, which is open to all. COREAN GONG. CHAPTER III. Marriage Customs — Curious Anecdotes — Occupations of "Women — Inequality of tlie Sexes — Fondness of the Coreans for their Children — Clannish Feeling among Families — Ceremonial Mourning and Funeral Obsequies— Religious Systems — Worship of Ancestors. W HEN a marriageable age is reached, parents betroth and marry their children without consulting or even con- sidering their inclinations, and, indeed, often acting in direct disregard of them. The chief object of thought is the relative position of the two contracting families, and the character and feelings of the future husband and wife are not in the least considered. The mode of procedure is much as follows : — The father of the young man puts himself in communication with the father of the girl, and they make all the arrangements, discussing the conditions of the con- tract, and fixing a day for the marriage, after consultation with some astrologer in whom they put confidence. An evening or two before the nuptial day, the lady calls in the aid of a friend “ to put up her hair,” and the bridegroom gets the same done for himself. As much importance attaches to this ceremony, those who perform it are chosen with much care, and are called by a name which, being translated, means “ lucky hands.” The following is said to Marriage Ceremony. 309 be the explanation of this curious practice : — The children of both sexes wear their hair in a single tress, which hangs down their backs, and they always go bareheaded ; as long as they are unmarried they are considered children, and are obliged to have their hair dressed in this way. They can then play all sorts of childish tricks and pranks without attracting particular notice, for they are not then considered to be responsible for their own actions, or capable of serious thoughts ; indeed, young unmarried men, even if twenty- five or thirty years old, are not allowed to take part in any proceedings where matters of importance are discussed. Marriage changes all this, even if the bridegroom be of comparatively tender years. On the day appointed for the marriage ceremony a species of dais is prepared at the bride's home, and friends and relations assemble in considerable numbers. The future husband and wife, who are complete strangers to one another, are led with great solemnity on to the dais, and placed face to face ; after a short pause, they bow to one another in silence, and forthwith leave the room by different doors. The bride returns to the female apart- ments, and the bridegroom remains in the outer rooms with the men, where he entertains his friends. It is this reciprocal salutation before witnesses, it would seem — which signifies the consent of the two parties to the con- tract — that constitutes the vital part of the marriage ceremony. After that, except in case of repudiation, the husband can always claim his wife wherever she may be. In the alternative mentioned, he cannot take another legal 310 Anecdote. wife so long as the first is alive, hut, as is the case in many other Eastern countries, he may take to himself as many secondary wives or concubines as he can support. Several of their customs in this respect are very extraordinary, not to say outrageous, whether judged from a legal or a moral stand-point, and must he passed over in silence. The following affair, however, which happened some years ago in a village where a Catholic missionary was living, will give a clear idea of the different laws and usages of the country in regard to marriage : — A noble was anxious to marry a daughter of his own and one of his deceased brother, who were both of the same age. For each of them, but especially for his daughter, he wanted the best husband he could possibly find, and, in his desire to make the best choice he could on their behalf, he had already refused several very suitable matches. At last, one day an application was made to him on the part of a rich and powerful family. After hesitating for some time whether he should give his daughter or his niece, he determined that it should be the former, and, without ever having seen his future son-in-law, he gave his word and appointed a time for the marriage. But three days before the ceremony some fortune-tellers informed him that the young man was a simpleton, very ugly, and very ignorant. The old noble was in despair, and did not know what to do ; he could not draw back, for he had given his consent, and in such a case Corean law is like that of the Medes and Persians. Distracted as he was, he hit upon a plan for softening the blow, which he could not entirely ward off. On the Anecdote. 311 morning of the marriage he went into the female apart- ments, and, in a tone that admitted of no denial or con- tradiction, gave orders that his niece, and not his daughter, should he dressed for the ceremony and brought on to the dais to salute her future husband. The daughter, thunder- struck, could but obey ; the two cousins being about the same height, the substitution was easy, and the marriage took place in the usual manner. The bridegroom, accord- ing to custom, passed the afternoon in the men’s apart- ments, and the old noble was astounded when he found that, far from being the fool that the fortune-tellers had depicted him, he was handsome, well-made, well-educated, and very amiable. Distracted at having lost such a son- in-law, he cast about for a means of repairing the mischief, and gave secret orders that in the evening they should introduce his daughter, instead of his niece, into the bridal chamber. He felt sure that the bridegroom would enter- tain no suspicions, because during the public ceremony on the dais new brides are so wrapped up and smothered with ornaments that it is impossible to distinguish their features. All took place as he wished, and during the two or three days that were passed en famille, the old noble rejoiced at the success of his stratagem, and congratulated himself on having got so perfect a son-in-law. The bride- groom made himself more and more agreeable, and so opened the heart of his father-in-law that, in a sudden burst of affection, the latter told him all that had hap- pened, the rumours about himself, and the successive substitutions of the niece for the daughter, and the 312 Marriage Customs. daughter for the niece. Staggered at first, the bridegroom soon recovered his composure, and said, “Very well; it was a clever trick on your part, but it is clear that the two young ladies belong to me, and I claim them both — your niece, because she alone is my legitimate wife, since she has made me the salutations required by law ; and your daughter, because, introduced by yourself into the bridal chamber, she has become my concubine in accordance with the laws of the country.” There was no gainsaying this ; the two young ladies were taken away to his home, and the old man, left alone, was jeered at by all for his want of address and his bad faith. On her marriage day custom requires that the bride should be most reserved in her conversation ; during the nuptial ceremony she does not utter a word, and in the evening, in the bridal chamber, etiquette, especially in the higher classes, enjoins the most absolute silence. The bridegroom overwhelms her with questions and compli- ments, but she must remain mute and impassible as a statue. She seats herself in a corner, dressed in as many robes as she can bear ; if she uttered a word, or made a gesture, she would become an object of laughter and plea- santry among her companions, for the female slaves of the house hang about the doors to listen, and peep in at the chinks, and they hasten to publish all that they can see and hear. One day — as the story goes — a bridegroom laid a wager with his companions that he would get some words out of his wife at their first interview. She was warned of this, and her husband, after trying various means A necdote. 313 in vain, bethought him of saying to her that the fortune- tellers, in drawing the horoscope of her future, had assured him that she was dumb from her birth, that he saw clearly that such was the case, and that he was resolved not to take unto himself a dumb wife. The bride might have held her tongue with impunity, for when the legal ceremonies have once been gone through, the marriage is a valid one, and it makes no matter if either of the pair has any physical defect ; but, piqued by the taunt, she retorted, “ Alas ! the horoscope that was drawn of my new family was still truer, for the fortune-teller predicted that I should espouse the son of a rat, and he was quite right.” This is the grossest insult that can be offered to a Corean, and she touched not only her husband, but his father too, and the bursts of laughter from the female slaves outside the door increased the bridegroom’s discomfiture. He won his bet, but the jeering of his friends made him pay long and dearly for his unlucky bravado. This state of reserve and constraint between the newly- married pair ought, according to etiquette, to last a long time, and for many weeks the wife ought not to hold any lengthened conversation even with her husband. With his relations she is required to be even more reserved, though with her mother-in-law she is rather more at her ease, and sometimes allows herself a short chat with her ; but if she be well brought up, these conversations will be rare and of brief duration. From what has been said, it will be at once apparent how rarely marriages can be happy in Corea. The wife is practically a nonentity, and 314 Occupation of Women. in her husband’s eyes she is merely a slave of a higher class, whose sole duties are to be the mother of his children, and to attend to his household. As a rule, she accepts her fate with resignation, knowing full well that, if she do not, her lot will be a still more unhappy one. In all classes of society in Corea, the chief occupation of the woman is to bring up, or rather to nurse her children, and this she often does till they are several years old. The mother seldom neglects this duty, which is even a more sacred one in that country than elsewhere, for there they have no idea of bringing infants up by artificial means, and consequently babies which have the misfortune to lose their mothers almost invariably die. The Coreans, it is said, do not know how to milk animals, and never use cows’ or goats’ milk, with the sole exception of the king, who takes some occasionally. In this case they procure it by means of a somewhat complicated operation : they lay the cow down on her side in the presence of the whole court, and the milking operation is performed with sticks or narrow, flat pieces of wood ; the milk, thus obtained with considerable difficulty, is carefully collected for the use of their royal master. The unjust inequality of the sexes, mentioned above, continues, even after the death of one of the couple. The husband wears half-mourning for his deceased wife for a few months only, and is then at liberty to marry again. The widowed wife, on the other hand, is expected to mourn the loss of her husband for the remainder of her life, and it is contrary to established usage for her to marry Fondness for Children. 315 a second time. Sometimes, however, second marriages do take place, but among the nobility this places the wife and her offspring under grave disabilities. Among the lower orders, owing to the necessities of life, neither custom nor practice is so strict in this respect. The Coreans are very fond of their children, especially the boys, and consequently cases of exposure and desertion are extremely rare. The first thing that a child is taught is respect for his father — -a feeling which is kept up through life — but owing to the position which woman occupies in the country, it is not the same with regard to the mother. The child soon learns that he must obey his father implicitly, or he will be severely and promptly punished, but his mother he commonly disobeys with com- parative impunity. This unfortunate lesson, learnt in early youth, bears its evil fruit in after years, and tends to keep woman out of her proper position in the social scale. The adoption of children is a very common practice in Corea, and those who have no sons of their own choose substitutes from the families of their relatives. The reason for this proceeding is to be found in the great importance which is attached to the due performance of the various rites connected with ancestral worship, the preservation of the family line being only a secondary consideration in the matter. Daughters are not adopted into a family, as the rites alluded to can only be properly performed by males. According to the letter of the law, cases of adoption are not valid unless they are duly registered ; but now-a-days this rule would seem by all accounts to be more honoured 316 Adoption of Sons. in the breach than in the observance, and it appears to he sufficient that the adoption should be publicly made and acknowledged, without any legal formality being neces- sarily gone through. The adopted child must be chosen from some family on the father’s side, bearing the same clan-name. The choice, too, is restricted to some extent in another way, for a man is not allowed to adopt his brother, nor his first cousin, nor yet the grandchildren of either of them ; to put the matter concisely, he is compelled by law and usage to select his adopted child from the generation immediately junior to himself. Another curious point in this custom is that, if the man has had a married son who has died without leaving any family, he must adopt a child for his son, and not for himself, and in that case he must choose the grandson of a brother or a cousin. The adopted child has the same duties towards his new parent as if he were in reality his offspring. The practice, though exceedingly common, is said to be productive of much unhappiness and discord among families, for the adopted children cannot always be drilled into forgetting their natural ties, though it is only right to add that the adoption usually takes place when the children are mere infants. When once the adoption has been completed according to law or custom, the bond between the father and his adopted son cannot be broken except by the special per- mission of the Board of Eites, which is the public depart- ment that takes cognisance of such matters, and that permission can only be obtained with great difficulty. In Corea, as in most eastern countries, the bonds of 317 Clannish Feeling in Families. relationship are held in great regard, and all relations, even to a very remote degree — whatever may he their social position — form a clan, or, as it may perhaps be more pro- perly called, one great family, all the members of which have common interests, and are bound to help one another. It would appear, too, that, as a rule, the greatest cordiality and good feeling exist among relations, for this hereditary custom is fully kept up, even though one may chance to be an official of high degree, and another sunk in the lowest depths of poverty. Although, however, this system of community of interests and reciprocal obligations among the members of a family has its advantages, it is, neverthe- less, not without grave inconveniences, for it tends to encourage idleness among the lazy members of a clan, who simply prey upon their well-to-do relations, instead of endeavouring to earn an honest livelihood for themselves. So strong, moreover, is the clannish feeling, that if one of these hangers-on commits any act against another member of the family which is punishable by law, he may feel assured of impunity, for his relations will not stir a finger against him, nor allow the constituted authorities to do so either. There seem to be not more than 150 family names in Corea, and consequently, to distinguish families which hear the same name, the name of the districts whence they have originally come is added ; and when the district is different, the hearers of the same family names are held not to be related. But for this arrangement, the Smiths and Browns of Corea would constitute very formidable clans indeed. 318 Legal Mourning. When, however, persons come from the same districts, they are held to be relations in the eye of the law, and even though the tie be no greater than that of cousinship in the twentieth degree, the social duties and obligations pre- viously mentioned must be performed and respected, and they are, further, not allowed to intermarry. In connection with this portion of the subject, a few words may be said respecting what must be termed legal mourning, especially among the upper classes. When a noble loses his father, mother, or a very near relation, he must not mourn the loss according to the dictates of nature, but is obliged to conform to certain rules laid down in a treatise published by the Government, and from which he cannot depart under pain of losing caste. When such a near relation dies, the mourners commence by placing the body in a very solid coffin in a room set apart and prepared for this especial purpose. The lower orders, however, who have not the same conveniences in the matter of house- room, keep the coffin outside their houses, and erect a sort of shed over it to protect it from the rain. The mourners are required to visit the chamber of death at least four times a-day to bewail their loss, and on these occasions they put on (almost literally) sackcloth and ashes. The times chosen for these visits are commonly early in the morning and before each meal. Other practices and customs have to be observed, into the details of which it is not necessary to enter. This ceremonial mourning goes on even after the burial of the deceased, and lasts altogether some two or three years. Funeral Ceremonies. 319 The Japanese authority, cited before, states that the priests attend the deathbeds of the people, but have nothing to do with their burial. The reason appears to be that the superstition of feng-shui \lit. wind and water — a Chinese expression, which is usually rendered “geomancy”] pre- vails, and bodies are interred in the paddy fields, in gardens, woods, or on the hills, or wherever the inclination of the family may dictate, so that there are no regular burying-places. It is said that stone monuments are erected to men of distinction, but under ordinary circum- stances a heap of earth is thrown up over the grave, and when this has disappeared by the operation of natural causes, which it does in thirty or forty years, the soil is again brought into cultivation. As complementary to the foregoing remarks, it will not be uninteresting to add the following particulars respecting funeral ceremonies in general, which have very recently been furnished by a Japanese writer : — When a Corean dies, the corpse is swathed in bands of coarse stuff, and laid, with a pillow beneath the head, face upwards, in a long coffin. A mound of earth is thrown up, and on this the coffin is placed, and over the coffin a monument is erected to the memory of the deceased. After the corpse is thus entombed, the family of the dead place fish, rice cakes, boiled rice, wine, vegetables, and dishes of venison before it. In the case of the death of parents, the eldest son kneels down at the head of the near relations before the tomb, and makes offerings of rice sprinkled with wine. This being done, he rises to his feet, and cries 320 Religious Systems. with a loud voice, Aka-0 ! Aka-0 ! after which he again sits down and burns incense. He repeats his offering, libation, cries, and incense-burning three times, and then takes up a position at the back of the tomb, and cries aloud, while his relatives offer rice, sprinkle it with wine, cry, and burn incense as he did, and the same number of times. The mourning colour in Corea is white, and mourners wear not only white clothes, but white hats and shoes. The ninth day of the ninth month is the day on which the Coreans assemble round the tombs of their friends, which they clean and weed. The fifteenth of the eighth month, the thirtieth of the twelfth month, and the fifteenth of the first and fifth months, have each their special ceremonies in honour of the dead. The last- mentioned day is a great holiday ; people dress in their best, visit the sepulchres of their departed friends, and on their return witness wrestling-matches, a somewhat odd amusement on such an occasion. There is nothing very specially worthy of remark in regard to the religious systems found existing in Corea, for they are, in the main, similar to those in China. Buddhism is said to have been introduced into the country some fourteen hundred years ago, and flourished till the end of the fourteenth century, when it was to a great extent superseded by Confucianism, which, in fact, became the dominant religion. Buddhism and its bonzes, though still existing in the country, have fallen into disrepute, now that they are not supported by the Government. As is usual with their sect, these bonzes are vowed to celibacy, and are 321 Worship of Ancestors. forbidden to eat meat or fish, though it may he doubted whether they respect the prohibition. They shave their heads, and are attired in the same fashion as their confreres in the neighbouring countries. A few nuns, or priestesses, are found, but, as in China, they bear a very bad character. Both bonzes and nuns commonly take to their vocation from a love for a lazy, idle life, or from want of other occupation, and they appear to be allowed to give it up whenever they choose to do so. Confucianism, as it exists in Corea, may be viewed from two points of view. Among the great mass of the people it consists in the worship of ancestors and the observance of the five great duties of mankind, viz., those towards the sovereign, parents, and old people in general, and those between friends and between husband and wife. Among the more educated classes there must be added the worship of Confucius and the sages of olden times, a reverence for the sacred books of China, and a state worship of the pro- tecting genius of the kingdom. Those who desire to enter minutely into the details of every-day life in Corea, will find ample information scattered through the letters of the missionaries which Pere Dallet has welded together and digested in his work ; but, for the purposes of this brief sketch, it will suffice to collect a few brief remarks by a member of the late Japanese mission respecting the houses, clothing, mode of dressing the hair, strangely-shaped hats worn by the men, &c. CHAPTER IV. Houses — Clothing — Head-dress — Industrial Arts — Impediments to the development of Internal Commerce — External Trade of Corea — Present Attitude of Corea towards the outer world. Y T would appear that there is some law limiting the size A of the houses of the common people, as they all live in dwellings about ten or twelve feet square. The walls consist of a mixture of stone and earth, and the roofs of rice-straw thatch. The plaster which is used in Japan appears to he unknown, and there is but a scanty display of wood. The floors are made of hardened earth ; oiled paper is placed over this, and on it people sit. Few of the houses have ceilings, and when they have them, they consist merely of oiled paper stretched from the uprights supporting the roof. Under the floor, and extending throughout its whole length, is a horizontal passage, at one end of which a fire is lighted, and the hot air passing along it warms the house. The practice appears a dangerous one, for the soot hangs about the eaves and the aperture where the smoke finds its way out, and were the flames to catch the straw roof, the house would soon he destroyed. The Japanese observed no mats in the houses, and the people Houses — Clothing. 323 sit on the earthen floor, not cross-legged, hut keeping their legs out straight. Considerable quantities of fuel must he used in the fireplaces just mentioned, but reeds and rushes are chiefly employed for the purpose. All the Government offices have tiled roofs, and are built of brick ; they have two gates, an outer and an inner one, and in some respects resemble Japanese temples. The tiles are of bad quality, and the woodwork shows no skill ; the frames of the paper- covered doors are so clumsy and heavy that but very little light is admitted into the rooms, before each of which a board hangs. These boards are not very finely finished, but the Chinese characters upon them are skilfully cut. Sanitary arrangements are by all accounts conspicuous by their absence, but in this respect the Coreans are no worse than their neighbours. The widest roads are from fifteen to twenty feet broad ; there is no provision at their sides for carrying off the rain, and they are apparently never repaired or improved. The streets in the towns are dirty, as might be expected, but they are ornamented with monuments raised to departed local officials. As regards clothing, both the upper and lower garments of the people are of white, and are undyed and unorna- mented in any way. Some of the officials wear silk, but of very coarse texture. Seen from a distance, the Coreans presented to their Japanese critics the appearance of snow- white herons, but on eloser inspection all similitude vanished, for their garments turned out to be of a very dingy-white colour. Most of the higher officials dress in white silk, and the lower grades wear garments of a 324 Clothing. sky-blue colour, with- out sleeves. The long sleeve is the badge of high rank, and is few always worn by the official when on duty. ilmm The skirts of dresses ■fe are described as re- sembling those of umm ■HA ■ill Japanese priests, and are called “ additional ®M1 wings” — and in some iiiiiii ■fi§ "ill sense they may be said to resemble SfM 'I mmihwF wings. The highest «miii 1 officials wear gar- if ments of shining silk M i QRM of a light pink colour. ■i'^ U and large, heavy shoes. Dr. Williamson fPB 1 | WSpP (5) learned that in the l . "/^iM ||§§|gy north the poor do not wear much cotton, but almost univer- ^IpiSIly Ij^flll sally dress in a species ^ES 0 * 7 of grass-cloth, made VILLAGE OFFICIAL. from a fibrous plant, which grows abundantly. This cloth bleaches well, like linen. In the south, cotton is worn. OFFICIAL VISITORS ON THE QUAHTER-DECIv OF ONE OF HER MAJESTY’S SHIPS China, p. 324 . | ■ w‘ ■ % Head-dress. 325 The head-dress is a large, broad-brimmed, round hat, fastened bj means of strings passing under the chin. These hats are said to be made of horse-hair by the native women, but they are also made of a fine grass, or fibrous material, which is beautifully woven. It is customary for a man to place his hat on his head when greeting a friend. The Coreans do not shave tbeir heads, but wear their hair long, and fasten it into a bunch at the top of the head, by means of pins which are vary with the rank of the wearer. The children wear the hair braided or plaited like the Chinese — a custom which appears to be gaining ground in this country in the case of young girls. The Japanese, during their late visit to the country, saw no public baths or hairdressers’ shops, and they heard that the Coreans do not bathe, but in summer- time they go to the river or sea-shore to wash themselves. This will account for the uncomfortably dirty appearance which they present to the European eye. The industrial arts do not appear to have made any progress in Corea for many centuries, but on this point Europeans will be better informed when the country is CURIOUS HORSE-HAIR HAT. made of silver or brass, and 326 Paper — Pottery. thrown open to trade, for at present little is known on the subject, at any rate in any detail. Cotton of good quality, long in the staple, is known to be produced in the country, and so is silk, but it is not manufactured to any great extent. Looking at the position and climate of Corea, it seems probable, as Dr. Williamson suggests, that the best qualities of silk could be raised there in great quantities, and also that the eggs of their silkworms would be valu- able for exportation. Corean paper, the same writer adds with truth, is famous all over the north of China foq its texture and strength. It is made from the bark of the mulberry tree, and doubtless owes much of its reputation to the fact that Chinese paper, which is made of bamboo, is such very wretched stuff. The Chinese use this paper, to a great extent, as a substitute for glass in their windows. There appear to be various clays in Corea from which pottery of a very good quality is made, and in this connection the following paragraph from a report on the trade of Kago- sima, in Japan, recently furnished by a British consular officer to Her Majesty’s Government, is particularly in- teresting : — “ The first pottery was made here about the year 1600, by a number of Coreans, who had been brought from Corea by Shimadzu Hiogo no Kami Yoshihiro, the feudal prince of Satsuma at the time of Taiko-sama, and here it still continues to be made by the descendants of the same people, who still preserve the proofs of their identity in their dress, names, mode of wearing their hair, in the books in the Corean language they possess, and in the knowledge of their native language which many of them preserve.” Impediments to Internal Commerce. 327 From what has been said in the preceding pages, it will not be difficult to understand that internal commerce in Corea is in a very backward and primitive condition. There are but very few shops, properly so called, in the country, and nearly all business transactions are carried on at fairs and markets. For this purpose the Government appoints five towns in each district for the periodical holding of these fairs or markets, and they are presumed to be sufficient to meet its commercial wants. A fair is held every five days in each of them in rotation, so that there is a fair every day in some part of the district. Tents or booths are erected for the display of merchandise and the convenience of merchants. There appear to be at present several very great and serious impediments to the development of the internal commerce of the country. First and foremost is the want of a monetary system. As in China, there is no such thing as a gold or silver coinage ; and, to complicate matters still further, dealing in the precious metals is hampered by all sorts of restrictions. In the northern part of the country all business transactions are conducted by barter, and in the southern provinces a small coin, like the “ copper cash” of China, is current. This coin ought to be made of copper, but it is reported to be in a very debased condition now-a-days, being largely adulterated with, and sometimes entirely composed of, lead. The Japanese say that the coins are of two sizes, and are called generically Toliei Tsuho ; the one is larger than the other, but both pass at the same value. The interest on money, if the 328 External Commerce . expression be allowable in speaking of such a condition of things as exists in Corea, is exceedingly high, not to say enormous, thirty per cent, being thought a comparatively reasonable rate. It may be said that the two drawbacks just named are sufficient to account for the undeveloped state of trade, and the general stagnation of business in the country ; but, in addition to these, there is yet another very serious impediment, viz., the almost total want of roads, which, indeed, in such a mountainous country could not be easily constructed. This drawback in China is counterbalanced by, and to some extent is probably due to, the excellent means of water-carriage afforded by numerous rivers and canals ; in Corea, on the contrary, the rivers are few, and those few mostly not navigable. The transport of goods in the interior has consequently to be carried on by means of porters, oxen, and ponies. In his previously quoted trade report, Mr. Macpherson, of the Chinese Maritime Customs’ Service, makes some observations on the external commerce of Corea, from which a general idea of its condition, and the manner in which it is conducted, may be gleaned. Trade with the outer world, he says, is carried on through five channels — through the Japanese factory on the southern coast ; through the fairs at Teng-hwang-cheng, in south-eastern Manchuria, and at Hun-chun ; through the merchants who accompany the annual embassies to Peking ; and through the Chinese junks from the province of Shantung, which are constantly engaged in a contraband trade on the western coast of Corea. At Teng-hwang-cheng there are o BUSINESS COTERIE. . '■ & ■ * I / \ External Commerce. 329 three trading periods in each year, in the third, ninth, and twelfth months respectively. To these the Coreans bring their paper, their cotton-cloths — which are even more durable than the celebrated manufactures of Central China — a little gold, some ginseng, and tiger-skins. They take away in exchange miscellaneous native products, and piece goods of different classes. The only opium which enters the country passes through this town of Teng- hwang, and, as the quantity is small, the consumption of the drug by this secluded race is, doubtless, limited. At Hun-chun the fair is conducted on the purest principles of barter. The mules and asses, the dogs and leather of Manchuria, and a certain proportion of foreign goods, are exchanged for the oxen and ponies, the cloth and the paper, of Corea. The fair takes place in the twelfth month of each year, and business is carried on under the supervi- sion of two officers, who are despatched from Peking expressly for that purpose. Two merchants attach them- selves to each of the embassies to Peking, but long lines of carts may be seen following in their train, and they are usually laden with paper, cloth, and ginseng ; probably four-fifths of the Corean ginseng reaches China in this way. They return with miscellaneous native products and foreign fabrics. Though trading on the journey is not prohibited, it is seemingly rarely resorted to. Their adherence to ancient customs induces them still to procure at Peking articles which, now-a-days at any rate, might be procured more readily and more economically at Newchwang, and in other parts of Manchuria. About twenty junks from the 330 Probable Opening of the Country. Chinese province of Shan-tung used some ten or twelve years ago to cross over to and cruise along the western coast of Corea in the course of the year, and this number has, doubtless, gone on increasing. They were principally laden with foreign piece goods, in exchange for which they take back ginseng, seaweed, and shell-fish. In these transactions money is unknown; a “piece” of shirting will purchase so many sticks of ginseng, or so many hundredweight of seaweed. The traffic is strictly re- pressed by the Corean Government, and natives detected in the prosecution of it are punished by death. Intercourse with superior races will teach the Coreans the value of their resources, and the best means of de- veloping them. When, however, that intercourse, free and unrestricted, will take place, it is impossible to forecast with any degree of accuracy, but it is only reasonable to hope that it will not be much longer delayed. That the Corean Government looks forward with aversion and dread to the opening of the country to foreign trade is unfor- tunately only too apparent, for the British envoy at Yedo reports that the Japanese Commissioners, in negotiating their treaty last year, had purposely avoided all reference to the question of whether intercourse with other nations should be permitted by Corea, partly because they had heard that the Corean Government wished to stipulate that the Japanese should bring no foreigners to the country. They believed, however, that the probability of Corea having to admit other foreigners was foreseen by the Corean Government, as one of the officials who took part Present Attitude of Corea. 331 in the negotiations, and who had been at Peking, was heard to observe on one occasion that Corea must expect that a treaty with Japan would eventually lead to similar engage- ments being concluded with other nations. In concluding these brief notes on the country, it will not be uninteresting to quote the following abstract* of a curious memorial which appeared in the Peking Gazette of April 4, 1877, in order to show the strange attitude at present assumed by Corea towards the outer world : — “ The acting Governor-General of Feng-tien \i.e., Man- churia], Chung How, memorialises with reference to the measures he would propose to adopt, in obedience to a decree to this effect, for increasing the stringency of the frontier guard on the Corean border, with the object of preventing passage on either side. A decree has been received, forwarding copy of a memorial on the part of the Board of Ceremonies, in which a letter, received by the Board from the King of Corea, was laid before the Throne ; and in reply to the instructions received, the memorialist would observe that in former years a tract of land was purposely left uninhabited on the further side of the frontier, beyond the “ Corean Gate,” in order to prevent the mingling of the subjects of China with people from outside. In progress of time, however, as it became difficult to maintain the stringency of the frontier-guard, squatters began to settle in this tract, and a few years ago, when the then Vice-President of a Board, Yen Hsli, proceeded on a mission of inspection beyond the frontier, he found almost * Published in the North China Herald of April 28, 1877. 332 Present Attitude of Corea. the entire region overspread with cultivators. After a con- ference at the frontier with Commissioners from Corea, he reported that what the Corean Government dreaded was admixture of a foreign, element in its population. He represented that the width of the tract left uncultivated was of less moment than the efficacy of border regulations, and he proposed the construction of a wall and ditch along the boundary, adhering to the natural features of the country, submitting at the same time a code of proposed regulations. Notwithstanding these proceedings, nothing effectual has been done for years past, and the population has gone on increasing, until now it extends to the very banks of the River (the Ya-lu). In view of the alarm expressed by the King at the encroachment upon his own territory with which he is menaced by the rapidly in- creasing advances of the squatter population, who are now divided from his territory only by a mere stream, it is proposed that the regulations submitted by Yen Hsu some years ago be actively enforced, and that death by summary execution be the penalty for anj^ act of trespass beyond the river-boundary on the part of any subject of China ; and that any Chinese subject who may be apprehended in Corea be sent as a prisoner to Moukdan, whence, after report to the Throne, he shall be conveyed to the banks of the river and executed. It is also proposed that it be lawful for the Coreans to slay any Chinese who may attempt to resist capture at their hands. — Rescript : Let the Board of Ceremonies take note.” INDEX Acupuncture, 246. Adoption of children in Corea, 315. Agriculture, 20, 245, (cuts) 256, 261. Amherst, Lord, his embassy, 87. Amoy, (cut) 89. Arms of Chinese soldiery, 123 ; Corean, 300. Army, the Chinese, 122 ; the Corean, 300. Artist, Chinese, (cut) 233. Bamboo, the, used in punishing, 108, 116 ; its usefulness, 258. Bank-note of Ming dynasty, (cut) 60. Barber, Chinese, (cut) 153. Battledore and shuttlecock, 197. Beggars, Chinese, (cut) 202, 251, 255. Belle, a Chinese, (cut) 47. Birthday of Chinese emperor, 96. Boats, Chinese, (cuts) 38, 145, 272, 275. Boat-woman, Canton, (cut) 273. Bonze or priest, superior, (cut) 132. Bribery, 101, 107, 222. Britain at war with China, 77, 89, 90. Buddhism, 53, 72, 131-135, 320. Burning paper money for benefit of de- ceased relatives, (cut) 191. Canals, Chinese, 18, 54, 142. Cangue or kia, the, 109, (cut) 110. Canton, 89, 90, 273. Cantonese girls, (cuts) 185, 274. Cemeteries, Chinese, 191. Census, mode of taking, 125. Chair for reclining, (cut) 173. Changing residence, Chinese, (cut) 30. China, origin of name, 10 ; ancient desig- nation of, 11 ; geography of, 12 ; exclu- siveness of, 14. Chinese Tartar, (cut) 27. Chopsticks, 162, 176. Chow, dynasty of, 34. Christianity in China, 135, 158. Civil wars in China, 37. Cock-fighting, 199. Coffins, Chinese, 190. Commerce in Corea, 328. Compass, Chinese, (cut) 235. Complexion of Chinese, 160. Confucius, 34, 99, 128. Cookery, Chinese, 181. Coolie, Chinese, (cuts) 205, 272. Corea, sources of information respecting, 2S1 ; derivation of name and boundaries, 285 ; climate, 286 ; animals in, 290 ; his- tory of, 292 ; present attitude of, 331. Coreans, their character, 291 ; yearly mis- sion to China, 294. Cormorants used in fishing, 259. Court of justice, Chinese, (cut) 218. Cruelties by Chinese, 78. Dinner Party, Chinese, 175. Dirty habits of Chinese, 168. Diseases common in China, 20. Divisions, chief, in China, 18. Domestic habits of Chinese, 174; of Coreans, 323. Drama, the Chinese. 229. Dress of Chinese, 161 ; of Coreans, 323. Drinking game in China, (cut) 198. Drums, Chinese, (cut) 232. Duck-boat, Chinese, (cut) 272. Dwellings, Chinese, 171, (cut) 172. Early History of China, 28. Education, Chinese, 206. Emperor of China, his power, &c. , 94 ; his paternal authority, 97. Entertainments, 174. Etiquette, 183, 249. Exclusiveness of Chinese, 14 ; of Coreans, 281, 330. Exports and imports of China, 277. Family, Chinese, at home, (cut) 172). Famines in China, 255. Feast of Labour, (cut) 261 ; of lanterns, 194. Feet of Chinese women, 166, (cut) 107. Festivals, public, 193, (cut) 261. Finger nails worn long, 160. Fishing, (cut) 258. Foochow, 89. Formosa, island of, 87. Fortresses in China, 124. Free ports in China, 89. Funerals in China, 188, (cut) 191 ; in Corea, 29S, 319. Gambling, 197, (cut) 198. Games in ChiDa, 197. Gardening, (cut) 151, 262, 270. Geography of China, 12 ; of Corea, 285. Girls, neglect of. in China, 183 ; Cantonese girls, (cuts) 185, 274. Ginseng, 287-289. Gong, Chinese, (cut) 133 : Corean, (cut) 307. Government of China, 100 ; of Corea, 296, 299. Great plain of China, the, 17. Great wall of China, 17, 36, 138, (cut) 140. Habits, domestic, of Chinese, 174 ; of Coreans, 323. Hair-dressing, (cuts) 165. Hanging gardens, (cut) 151. Hat of horse-hair, (cut) 325. History of China, ancient, 28 ; modern, 56, SO ; extract from, 212. “ House of the hens’ feathers,” 203. Houses in Peking, 157, 171 ; in Corea, 322. Hong-kong, 89, (cut) 274. Hue, the Abbe, 10, 20, 112, 23S, 245, 251,255. Hung-woo, Emperor, 58. 334 Index. Hwang-te, Emperor, 30. Idols, Chinese, (cut) 137. Infanticide, 188. Junks, Chinese, (cuts) 22, 90, 143; Corean, (cut) 284. Kambalu (Peking), 49, 53, 82. Kings of Corea, 296. Kiosk in Mosque, (cut) 132. Kite-flying, 196. Koksinga, the pirate, 74. Kublai Khan, 39 ; his palace, 49. Ladies, Chinese and Tartar, (cut) 48. Lady, Chinese, at her toilet, (cut) 164. Lakes, Chinese, 26. Language, the Chinese, 207. Lanterns, Chinese, (cut) 146. Lao-tse, the Chinese philosopher, 126. Laws, Chinese, 103 ; singular, 250. Legends, Chinese, 67. Literature, ancient Chinese, destroyed, 36 ; modern, 206, 211. Liquors, Chinese, 180, 199. Macartney, Lord, his embassy, 87. Macao, 84. Mace-bearer, Corean, (cut) 299. Magic-lantern, Chinese, (cut) 194. Magistrates, advice to, 115. Manchoo grievances, 62. Manchoo Tartars, tradition of origin, 67. Mandarins, (cuts) 155, 159. Manufactures in Corea, 325. Marco Polo, 40. Marriage, 184 ; ceremonies at, 186 ; in Corea, 308. Medicine, Chinese, 237. Ming dynasty, the, 59-66. Missionaries, Boman Catholic, in Corea, 282. Monastery, the “ Fee-Loi-Tsze,” (cut) 138. Mother and child, Chinese, (cut) 187. Mourning in China, 192 ; in Corea, 318. Music, Chinese, 231. Nanking, (cut) 18, 70, 75. Navy, Chinese, 124 ; war vessel, (cut) 22. New Year's Day in China, 193. Ningpo, (cut) 84, 89. Noble, Corean, (cut) 301. Officials, Corean, (cuts) 324. Opium, 20; trade in, 88; smoking, 200; (cut), 201. Opium war, the, 89. Pagodas, Chinese, 133. Palaces, of Kublai Khan, 49 ; the imperial, 149 ; in Corea, 297. Parental authority in China, 189. Parkes, Sir Harry, 91. Parsimony of Chinese, 245. Pawnbroking in China, 203. Peasant, Corean, (cut) 306. Pearl river, the, 26. Pechili, gulf of, 148. Peiho, the river, 18, 90. Peking, 18, 49, (cut) 50, 70, 82, 91, 147, (cuts) 148, 154. 167 ; taken by the English and French, 77. Physical aspect of China, 16. Physiognomy of Chinese, 159. Play, a Chinese, (cut) 230. Poetry, Chinese, 226. Police, Chinese, 156. Polo, Marco, 82. Population of China, 125. Porter, Corean. (cut) 305 Praying machine, (cut) 278. Priest, Chinese, (cut) 253. Prisons, Chinese, 106. Products of China, 20, 235, 257 ; Corea, 286. Punishments, Chinese, (cut) 98, 104, 108, 111, 115, 119, (cut) 121. Quacks Chinese, 248. Railways in China, 277. Rebellion of the Taepings, 76. Records of China, 28. Religion of Chinese, 53, 126; Coreans, 320. Revenge, a ruffian’s, 251. Ricefields in China, 20. River population of China, 273, 274. Robbers, Chinese, 71, 113. Romances, Chinese, 228. Russia at war with China, 75. Scenery, beautiful, 266. Sciences, Chinese, 237. Servant, Corean, (cut) 304. Sculpture, Chinese, 234. Shang dynasty, the, 32. Shanghai, 89. Signboards, 153. Silver island, (cut) 26. Soldiers, ancient Chinese, (cuts) 41, 105 ; modern, 123 ; Corean, 300. Student, Chinese, (cut) 236. Swallow’s nest, edible, (cut) 179. Taepinq Rebellion, 76. 'l aku forts, the, 91. Tartar dynasty, the, 46-55, 64 ; native of Chinese Tartary. (cut) 27. Ta-tsing dynasty, the, 67. Tea, cultivation of, 257. Tea-houses, 200. Temples, Chinese, (cuts) 130, 134. Theatre, the Chinese, (cut) 230. Tien-tsin, 90, (cut) 93. Toilette, Chinese lady at the, (cut) 164. Torture, trial by, 112, 214. Trades-uuions in Corea, 304. Tribunals, Chinese, 101, 214, (cut) 21S. Triumphal arch at Pekin, (cut) 50. Villager, Chinese, (cut) 163. Visits of ceremony, 181, (cut) 1S2. Waddell, Captain, S5; takes the Castle of Canton, S6. Water system of China, 23. Writer, Chinese, (cut) 210. Writing, art of, 210. 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Twenty-five Illustrations and Coloured Frontispiece. Crown octavo, cloth extra. Price 3/6. “A genuine book of fairy tales.” — Spectator. “ The illustrations are charming ” — Sunday Times. “ Possesses all the artistic attributes for which Marcus Ward’s publications are justly celebrated. ” — Morning Advertiser. “ The translator’s style is pure and graceful.” — Daily News. “ Very quaint and graceful, and very well translated.” — Times. “A nicely executed and pleasantly illustrated translation.” — Saturday Review. “A capital little volume.” — Athenaeum. “Will prove a welcome offering.” — Academy. Fairy Circles : Tales and Legends of Dwarfs, Fairies, and Water-Sprites. From the German of Villamaria. A Sequel to “Fairyland Tales.” Numerous Illustrations and Coloured Frontis- piece. Crown octavo, cloth extra. Price 3/6. 8 MARCUS WARD d CO.’S Bocks for Houng people. By Sarah Tytler. Childhood a Hundred Years Ago. By the Author of “ Papers for Thoughtful Girls.” With Six Chromographs, after Paintiugs by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Small quarto, cloth elegant, gilt edges, 10/6. “ A very fascinating account of juvenile doings a century back.” — Graphic. “The chromo-lithographs are very carefully executed.” — Daily News. Landseer’s Dogs and their Stories. By the Author of “ Citoyenne Jaequelline,” &c. With Six Chromographs, after Paintings by Sir Edwin Landseer. Small quarto, cloth elegant, gilt edges, 10/6. ‘'Charming stories.” — Spectator. “Thoughtful and sensible essays.” — Saturday Review. “The chromographs are excellent.” — Standard. The Good Old Days ; or, Christmas under Queen Elizabeth. By Esme Stuart. With Five Coloured Illustrations, from Drawings by H. Stacy Marks, A.R.A. Foolscap quarto, cloth extra, bevelled boards. Price 5/-. “ Not only will interest be derived from the story, but instruction as to the manners and habits of the people in the days of good Queen Bess." — City Press. Melcomb Manor : a Family Chronicle. By P. Scarlett Potter. Six Illustrations, in Gold and Colours. Foolscap quarto, cloth extra, bevelled boards. Price 5/-. “Altogether a very pretty book, whether as regards the pictures or the story.” — Saturday Review. Chronicles of Cosy Dlook : a Book of Stories for Boys and Girls. By Mrs. S. C. Hall. With Full-page Original Illustrations, Coloured Frontispiece, and Illuminated Title-page. Post octavo, cloth, gold and black. Price 3/6. “Mrs. Hall never in her best days wrote a better story for youngsters.” — Morning Advertiser. “This gifted lady and her husband are known to be among the finest writers of children’s books in this country.” — Edinburgh Courant. BOOKS AT FIVE SHILLINGS FOR CHILDREN. (fffyromograplj Series. Puck and Blossom : a Fairy Tale. By Eosa Mulholland, Author of “The Little Flower-Seekers,” “ Eldergowan,” &c. Six Illustrations, in Gold and Colours. Foolscap quarto, cloth extra, bevelled boards. [ New Edition. “ Pretty stories, beautifully illustrated in gold and colours.” — Daily News. “ The fairy pictures are full of life aud drollery. . . . The narratives are miracles of wonder and invention.” — Daily Albion. The Little Flower-Seekers ; or, the Aduentures of Trot and Daisy in a Wonderful Garden by Moonlight. By Rosa Mulholland, Author of “Puck and Blossom,” “ Eldergowan,” &c. With Twelve Chromographs of Flowers, by various Artists. Foolscap quarto, cloth extra, bevelled boards. “A charming volume .” — Daily News. “ A pretty story. The book will charm many a girl and boy.” — Athrnceum. “These illustrations are among the very best of an unusually prolific period." — Morning Post. “ One of the most graceful efforts of the season." — The Hour. “Contains some of the finest coloured plates of flowers ever published, and the story is in itself telling and fresh.”— Standard. “A prettier book for young children we have not seen for a long while." — Pall Mail Gazette. LIST OF ILLUSTRATED BOOKS. 9 BOOKS AT FIVE SHILLINGS FOR CHILDREN . — Continued. A Cruise in the Acorn. By Alice Jerrold. Six Illustrations, in Gold and Colours. Foolscap quarto, cloth extra, bevelled boards. [New Edition. “A simple little story, very prettily told, with illustrations in colours and gold.” — Graphic. “ Told in a charming style, hy aid of beautiful print, and illustrated in gold and colours.” — Liverpool Albion. Katty Lester : a booh for Girls. By Mrs. George Cupples, Author of “ The Children’s Voyage,” &c. With Twelve Chromographs of Animals, after Harrison Weir. Foolscap quarto, cloth extra, bevelled boards. [New Edition. “A very pretty story .” — The Hour. “A capital book for girls.” — Globe. “ Is deserving of high commendation for its artistic beauty.” — Figaro. “ A delightful collection of stories for little girls, adorned with a dozen capital chromographs, after Harrison Weir." — Times. The Children’s Voyage ; or, a Trip in the Water Fairy. By Mrs. George Cupples, Author of “Katty Lester,” &c. With Twelve Chromographs of Ships, Boats, and Sea Views, after Edward Duncan. Foolscap quarto, cloth extra, bevelled boards. “ Well adapted to the comprehension of children.” — Standard. ‘‘Mrs. Cupples deserves to be congratulated on a success, and so assuredly does the artist. ” — Fall Mall Gazette. BOOKS AT TWO-AND-SIXPENCE FOR CHILDREN. Kaspar and the Seven Wonderful Pigeons of Wurzburg. By Julia Goddard. With Coloured Frontispiece, Illuminated Title, and Full-page Original Illustrations. Small octavo, cloth extra. * ‘ Thank you , good Pigeons, for the very pleasant h ours you have given us. ” — A cademy. “ A delightful fairytale .” — Bath Chronicle. “ Illustrated with the artistic skill and taste for which the publishers are remark- able. "—Lloyd's Weekly LcmAon News. “A charming book of its kind.”— Birmingham Daily Post. ‘fit is fanciful, original, very readable and intelligent, and cannot fail to entertain all who pick it up ."—Midland Counties Herald. “ A cleverly- written little story .” — Belfast News-Letter. Dobbie and Dobbie’s Master: a Peep into the Life of a Very Little Man. By N. d’Anvers, Author of “ Little Minnie’s Troubles, ” &c. With Illustrations. Small octavo, cloth extra. “ A genuine child’s story.” — Spectator. “ A fascinating story,” — Academy. “ The story is simply and prettily told.” — Lloyd's Weekly. “We can recommend this book with all confidence to all fathers and mothers who have a nursery of small children.” — Standard. Tom : the History of a very Little Boy. By H. Ruther- furd Russell. Full-page Original Illustrations, Coloured Frontis- piece and Illuminated Title-page. Small octavo, cloth, gold and black. “ Almost as good, in its way, as Mr. Carroll's ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ Parents and lovers of childhood will like it much, as the childish reader is sure to do.” — Illustrated London News. “ Its tendency is quite unexceptionable.’’— Standard. “A very good story for hoys.” — Globe. Tom Seven Years Old : a Sequel to “ Tom. ” By H. Rutherfurd Russell. Full-page Original Illustrations, Coloured Frontispiece and Illuminated Title-page. Small octavo, cloth, gold and black. “ The truest and purest exhibition of a natural little hoy’s mind that we have seen in any story of child life .”— Illustrated London News. 10 MARCUS WARD & CO.’S BOOKS AT TWQ-AND-SIXPENCE FOR CHILDREN. — Continued. Minna’s Holiday, and other Tales. By M. Betham-Edwards. Full-page Original Illustrations, Coloured Frontispiece and Illuminated Title-page. Small octavo, cloth, gold and black. “ Simple, pleasantly-written stories .''—Daily News. Doda’s Birthday: the Record of all that befell a Little Girl on a Long, Eventful Day. By Edwin J. Ellis. Full-page Original Illustrations, Coloured Frontispiece and Illuminated Title-page. Small octavo, cloth, gold and black. “As pleasant a book as could be given to any little girl.” — Scotsman. “ A most suitable book for girls, and one that will delight the little misses immensely .” — Edinburgh Courant. “ A charming book .” — Daily News. “This book is handsomely illustrated.” — Freeman’s Journal. “ The story is told in a pleasing style. ’’-—The City Press. The Markhams of Ollerton : a Tale of the Ciuil War, 1642-1647. By E. Glaister. Full-page Original Illustrations, Coloured Frontispiece and Illuminated Title-page. Small octavo, cloth, gold and black. “Abounds with thrilling incidents of that eventful period .” — Morning Post. “A well-written story of the civil war, from 1612 to 1647.” — Scotsman. “The story of Charles I. is one that never loses its charm, and when so pleasantly and colloquially told, and embellished by such pretty and characteristic pictures as we have here, it will be sure to find a large and appreciative audience.” — Daily News. “A capitally-written story.” —Freeman’s Journal. Nanny’s Treasure. From the French of Madame De Stolz. Nineteen Full-page Illustrations and Coloured Frontispiece. Small octavo, cloth extra. “ Amusing and nicely written.” — Graphic. “ A very delightful story for children.” — Academy. “Well suited for young readers .” — Pictorial World. "Girls can hardly find more enjoyable reading of its kind than that furnished in ‘ Nanny’s Treasure .’” — Irish Times. “ The narrative is written in a healthy strain ." — Belfast News-Letter. The Little Head of the Family. From the French of Mdlle. Fleuriot. Fourteen Full-page Illustrations and Coloured Frontis- piece. Small octavo, cloth extra. “Natural and pleasant." — Times. “ Contains some pretty pictures of French life.” — Academy. “Amusing and nicely written.” — Graphic. “ Prettily told ” — Spectator. “ A stirring juvenile story.” — Manchester Courier. All in a Garden Green, and Talk of a Sheet of Paper. By Elizabeth C. Traice, Author of “A Forlorn Hope,” “Gerard’s Marston’s Wife,” &c. With Illustrations by T. M. Lindsay. Small octavo, cloth extra. LIST OF ILLUSTRATE I) BOOKS. 11 BOOKS AT TWO SHILLINGS FOR CHILDREN. Two Little Cousins. By Alice Hepburn, Author of “ Pollie and Jack. ” Five Coloured Illustrations, Cloth, Illuminated. “Adorned with bright ehromographs, and printed in large, clear type to suit beginners.” — Standard. Percy’s First Friends. By M. D. Five Coloured Illustrations, Cloth, Illuminated. “ An agreeable account of the early adventures of a motherless boy.” — Lloyd’s Weekly London News. Five Little Farmers. By Rosa Mulholland, Author of “ Puck and Blossom,” “The Little Flower-Seekers,” “ Eldergowan, ” &c. Five Coloured Illustrations, Cloth, Illuminated. “ Contains a number of cunningly worked-out chromo-lithographs, in which children and their domestic pets are grouped in a most artistic and effective manner.” — Figaro. Maqgie’s Pictures ; or, the Great Life told to a Child. By Fanny Levien, Author of “Mildred’s Mistake,” “Little Ada’s Jewels.” Five Coloured Illustrations, and Illuminated Title-page. Cloth, Illuminated. “ Will be welcome for the simplicity of its early lessons.” — Lloyd's Weekly London News. The Brothers ; or, Tales of Long Ago. By Fanny Levien. Five Coloured Illustrations, and Illuminated Title-page. Cloth, Illuminated. The Twin Brothers of Elfuedale : a Story of Norwegian Peasant Life. By Charles H. Eden, Author of “ Ralph Somerville,” “India, Historical and Descriptive,” &c. Coloured Illustrations, Cloth, Illuminated. “ Full of adventure. . . Schoolboys will welcome the book.”— Guardian. “A tale of Norwegian peasant life fifty years ago, cleverly put together, told in a bright, hearty view, and telling the young reader a great deal about the rough, simple lives of Northern folk, their customs, superstitions, and amusements.” — Times. Our Games: a Story for Children. By Mary Hamilton. Five Coloured Illustrations, Cloth, Illuminated. “ A pleasant little book. . . . Attractive illustrations.” — Standard. “Adventures of children, drawn in a charmingly natural manner.” — Guardian. Ella’s Locket, and what it brought her. By G. E. Dartnell. Five Coloured Illustrations, Cloth, Illuminated. “Pleasantly conceived, and prettily told.” — Hour. BOOKS AT EIGHTEEN PENCE. Nellie’s Playmates. By Hope Myddleton. Numerous Illus- trations and. Coloured Frontispiece. Small octavo, Cloth extra. The Magic Rose : a Story for Children. By Blanche Mary Peyton. Numerous Illustrations and Coloured Frontispiece. Small octavo, Cloth extra. 12 MARCUS WARD Entg=four ilHaps, jmnttli in Colours, in tfje best stglc. WITH GEOGRAPHICAL DEFINITIONS, DIAGRAMS OF THE GLOBES, &c. This Atlas contains extra Maps and information, suitable for more advanced pupils, is printed on strong paper, and hound in durable cloth cover. LIST OF MAPS. Eastern Hemisphere Western Hemisphere Europe England and Wales Scotland Ireland France German Empire [Hungary Austrian Empire and Kingdom of Italy Sweden, Norway, and Denmark Switzerland Spain and Portugal Netherlands and Belgium Russia in Europe Turkey in Europe & Greece Asia India or Hindustan Africa and Arabia North America South America United States of America Dominion of Canada Australia and Tasmania New Zealand Canaan or Palestine The largest Shilling A tlas ever offered to the Public. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. “ The Sixpenny and Shilling Atlases are marvels of cheapness, and the Home and Portable Atlases, each containing thirty maps, with indexes to upwards of 4000 places, are very complete for ordinary use." — Guardian, March 15th, 1876. “The series of Atlases issued by the Messrs. Marcus Ward & Co., of London and Belfast, merit attention. The maps are beautifully printed and neatly coloured ; the coast-lines, rivers, and mountains are clearly shown, and the names are not too crowded.” — Public Opinion, April 1st, 1876. 16 MARCUS WARD & CO.’S MARCUS WARD’S HOME ATLAS. Cfjirtg fHaps, printeU in Colours, From New Plates, specially engraved, with all the latest in- formation from the best authorities, and Index to upwards of 8000 places. Crown 4to, Paper Boards, 2/-; Cloth, Extra, 2/6. LIST OF MAPS. Explanatory Map Eastern Hemisphere Western Hemisphere Europe Asia Africa North America South America Oceania The British Islands England and Wales Scotland Ireland France German Empire Austrian EmpireandKing- dom of Hungary Kingdom of Italy The N etherlands & Belgium Sweden, Norway, and Denmark T urkey in Europe & Greece Russia in Europe Switzerland Spain and Portugal Turkey in Asia, Syria, Persia, Afghanistan, &c. India or Hindustan The Dominion of Canada United States of America Australia and Tasmania Central America and West Indies New Zealand Canaan or Palestine Bible Maps MARCUS WARD’S PORTABLE ATLAS. Cfjirtg IHaps, printrlj tit Colours, on one sitic oitlg of ^upcrfinr Braining ^aprt, Snitfj full Uniici. Demy Octavo, handsomely bound in Cloth — India Rubber binding, to open perfectly flat. 3/6. Advantages of this Atlas over others at similar or higher prices : — 1 . Pictorial Illustrations of Geographical Terms. 2. Diagrams to illustrate the use of the Globes. 3. In the Maps of England, Scotland, and Ireland, the Sizes of the Towns by their Populations are distinguished by varied letterings. 4. The Countries where French is spoken are shewn on one Map. 5. The Countries where German or kindred languages are spoken are shewn on one Map. 6. The whole of the Russian Empire depicted on one Plate. 7. The whole of the Turkish Empire depicted on one Plate. 8. Map of Overland Route — Mediterranean to the Indus — Asiatic Russia K hiva— Kokand — Syria — Euphrates Valley — Persia — Afghanistan — Biluchistan, &c. Illustrating the advance of the Russian Empire towards India. 9. The British Isles in one Map. 10. Several enlarged Maps of British Colonies. 11. Special Biblical Maps, for Sunday Lessons. MARCUS WARD’S SCHOOL ATLAS. Cfps Stlas contains Cjjirtg fHaps, printclj in Colours. The lettering of the places is plain and readable, the Index is specially adapted for quick reference, and it will be found a most useful Atlas for Schools and Colleges. Imperial octavo, Maps folded, Decorated Cloth Cover, Elastic Binding, to open perfectly flat, with complete Index. Price 5/-. LIST OF EDUCATIONAL WORKS. 17 MARCUS WARD’S EVERY-DAY ATLAS. dfjirtg fHaps, printcti in Valours. With Geographical Illustrations, Coloured Illuminated Title- page, and a complete Index. Imperial 4to, Strong Boards, Cloth Back, Printed Design on Side. Price 3/6. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. “These Maps are cheap, well engraved, and apparently on a level with the most recent and accurate geographical information.” — Standard, March 22nd, 1876. “ . . . Marvels of cheapness, and at the same time of comparative excellence. They a e all ‘got up’ with that artistic taste and neatness which generally charac- terise the publications of this firm ." — Manchester Courier, March 22nd, 1876. “Quite unique. . . . Admirably printed ." — Leeds Mercury. §jdlH8£8 of Jllanli frojcctim & ©idling. MARCUS WARD’S SIXPENNY OUTLINE ATLAS. Sixteen fSaps, ©uarto, Stout ©raSmng Paper, Stiff Paper SSffrapper. Eastern Hemisphere Western Hemisphere Europe Asia Africa and Arabia United States & Canada Canaan or Palestine CONTENTS. North America South America England and Wales Scotland Ireland Australia and Tasmania France German Empire Austrian Empire and Hungary India or Hindustan New Zealand MARCUS WARD'S SIXPENNY ATLAS OF BLANK PROJECTIONS. Consisting of Sixteen fHaps, ©uarto, printcA on JFine Paper, Stiff SKErappcr. SINGLE MAPS can be had from the, Outline and Projection Atlases on specially prepared Superfine Drawing Paper. Id. each. CLASS-BOOK FOR CLASSICAL AND ART SCHOOLS. The Mythology of Greece and Rome, with special reference to its use in Art. From the German of O. Seemann. Edited by G. H. Bianchi, B.A., late Scholar of S. Peter’s College, Cambridge. 64 Illustrations, Crown Octavo, Cloth, 3/6. “ To those who, like the Germans, are beginning to feel that the art of the ancients is no unimportant branch of classical study, a handbook like this com- mends itself." — Graphic. “Will be received as a real boon by a large portion of the public.” — Standard. “To schools and to private students this book may be strongly recom- mended. It is likely soon to replace most cheap works on the subject." — Sunday Times. fiSt* Placed on the Prize- List of H.M. Department of Science and Art. 18 MARCUS WARD & CO.’S ®orte on inmmtjg and §mp. Plants : their Natural Growth and Ornamental Treatment. By F. E. Hulme, F.L.S., F.S.A., of Marlborough College, Author of “ Plant F orm.” Containing 44 plates, printed in Colours from Drawings made by the Author, accompanied by a careful Treatise on the subject. Large imperial 4to, cloth extra, bevelled boards. Price 21/-. “ The object of this very excellent work is to show the close relationship that exists between botanical science and ornamental art.” — Morning Post. Hulme’ s Freehand Ornament. Sixty Examples, for the use of Drawing Classes. By F. E. Hulme, F.L.S., F.S.A., Marlborough College. Imperial 8vo. Price 5/-, or mounted millboard, cloth-bound edges 10/-. “ To the Student of Drawing this book is a mine of well-drawn examples. . . . Cannot fail to be useful to the decorative sculptor, the bookbinder, the manufacturer of textile fabrics of every description. . . ." — Art Journal. JStr Both these Works have been adopted by IT. M. Department of Science and Art, for Copies and Prizes. Illuminating : a Practical Treatise on the Art. By Marcus Ward, Illuminator to the Queen. With 26 examples of the styles prevailing at different periods, from the sixth century to the present time ; Chromographed in facsimile and in outline. F oolscap 4to, cloth extra, bevelled boards, gilt edges, 5/-, or, in Morocco extra, 10/6. “ A very creditable and remarkably cheap little book.” — Architect. "The examples of illumination given to illustrate the text confer upon the book itself no slight artistic value. The treatise, with its accessories, reflect much credit upon its author." — Morning Post. “An essentially useful book to draughtsmen.”- — Figaro. ‘ ' Of all the volumes that we have seen, none equals this as a compact and cheap book of instructions," — Standard. "It is a complete history of the subject." — Morning Advertiser. "A very usetul little treatise." — The Hour. %m\t Charlottes Joi[ goutig (pilten. Profusely Illustrated, Square Octavo, Cloth Extra, Bevelled Boards, Gilt Edges. Price 6/- each. Stories of English History for the Little Ones. By Charlotte M. Yonge, Author of “The Heir of Redclyffe,” &c. In Fifty easy Chapters, with a Frontispiece in Colours by H.S. Marks, A.R.A.; 50 Illustrations, and an Illuminated Title- page. New Edition, with Questions. " So simple that a child of the tenderest years will be perfectly able to com- prehend all that the writer wishes to convey . . . adorned with numerous illustrations . . . the title-page is a lovely piece of art in liluminated printing ." — Edinburgh Courant. LIST OF EDUCATIONAL WORKS. 19 AUNT CHARLOTTE’S HISTORIES— Continued. “An excellent and useful little gift-book." — Scotsman. “ Any boy or girl who fails to admire Miss Yonge's ‘Stories of English History' must, indeed, be hard to please.” — Bookseller. ' 1 The style is simple, and the facts are such as would most interest a boy or girl.” — Globe. “It is well illustrated and very handsomely bound.” — Irish Times, tsar A Cheap Edition of MISS YONGE'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, for Schools, is now ready j with 41 Engravings, and Questions, neatly bound in cloth. Price 1I6. Stories of Bible History for the Little Ones. By Charlotte M. Yonge. Three Readings and One Picture for each Sunday in the Year, with an Illuminated Title-page and Frontispiece in Colours. “Illustrations numerous and well executed." — Daily Telegraph. ‘ 1 Embraces the whole story from the creation to the ascension ; told as Miss Yonge knows so well how to tell it.” — Guardian. “ Nicely illustrated ; got up in an attractive style.” —Birmingham Gazette. &rA Cheap Edition of STORIES OF Bible HISTORY, price 2/-, just published. Stories of French History for the Little Ones. By Charlotte M. Yonge. In Forty-eight easy Chapters, with a Frontispiece in Colours by H. Stacy Marks, A.R.A. Twelve Full-page Illustrations, and an Illuminated Title-page. New Edition, with Questions. “The stories are well and clearly written.” — Saturday Review. “ Charmingly bound, printed, and illustrated.” — Manchester Guardian. Stories of Greek History for the Little Ones. By Charlotte M. Yonge. In Forty-five easy Chapters, with Frontispiece in Colours by Walter Crane, Illumi- nated Title-page, and numerous Illustrations. “ Miss Yonge is peculiarly fitted for the task which she has undertaken, as she has evidently a thorough feeling for the artistic sentiment which runs through the literature of classic Greece.” — Manchester Courier. “An extremely handsome and attractive volume. . . . marked by a simplicity and clearness of language which should bring the book within the comprehension of those to whom it is addressed.” — Scotsman. Stories of Roman History for the Little Ones. By Charlotte M. Yonge. In Forty-six easy Chapters, with Frontispiece in Colours, Illuminated Title-page, and numerous Illustrations. “Clear and interesting style well illustrated.”— Saturday Review. “Admirably suited to convey to juvenile minds correct impressions con- cerning the manners and life of the people depicted.” — Sunday Times. 20 MARCUS WARD & CO.’S AUNT CHARLOTTE’S HISTORIES— Continued. .“Told with a simple grace likely to charm her juvenile readers." — Noncon- formist. “We may warmly recommend as an admirable summary, calculated to amuse and impress the young mind.” — Lloyd' s Weekly London News. “ The work is very admirably done ."— Morning Advertiser. Stories of German History for the Little Ones. By Charlotte M. Yonge. In fifty easy chapters, with Frontispiece in Colours, Illuminated Title-page, and numerous Illustrations. A NEW SYSTEM OF SHORTHAND. Shorthand for General Use. By D. J. Everett, Pro- fessor of Natural Philosophy in the Queen’s College, Belfast. Foolscap octavo. Price 2/6. HANDBOOK FOR AGRICULTURAL STUDENTS AND FARMERS. Animals of the Farm : their Structure and Physi- ology. By John F. Hodges, M.D., F.C.S., &c. Second Edition, revised by the Author. Numerous Illustrations. Small Octavo, Cloth, 2/6. “The simplest and best handbook of its kind that we are acquainted with, and we can confidently recommend it to those for whose use it is intended." — Mark Lane Ex- press and Agricultural Journal. “ A very. useful handbook, and one that can be highly recommended.” — Bath Chron- icle. “ A book for agricultural students and farmers.” — Herts Guardian. “ We cannot recommend this work too highly : it is the production of an author of the highest eminence in his profession, and it has been well brought out by the publish- ers." — Farmers’ Gazette. “ Valuable to the practical fanner as well as to the young student.” — The Sports- man. POPULAR SERIES OF SUNDAY-SCHOOL CARDS, REWARD TICKETS. PACKETS, &o., &c. A PACKET OP POESY. Twelve Floral Cards, printed in Colour on Black Grounds. Price 1/-. (25) BIBLE PICTURES. Twelve scenes from Old Testament History, printed in Colours, with appropriate selections from Scripture. Price 1/-. (15) BEES FROM THE BIBLE. Twelve Monitory Texts on Cards, with Floral Borders and various Coloured Grounds. Price 6d. (32) BLESSINGS OP OUR LORD. Twelve Floral Cards, on Black Grounds, with verses from Holy Scripture. Price 6d. (52) CHRIST THE FIRST FRUITS. A set of Twelve Floral Cards, with Gold Grounds, Texts, and appropriate sacred poetry, Price 1/-. (23) COMFORTING WORDS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE. Twelve Floral Cards. Texts from Scripture. Price 1/-. (96) PUBLICATIONS. 21 REWARD TICKETS, PACKETS, &c.— Continued. FLORAL REWARD CARDS. — Two packets, each containing Twenty- four Cards, with Floral Borders in Gold and Colours. Price 6d. each. Packet A. — Sacred Verses. (21) | Packet B. — Texts of Scripture. (221 FLOWERS OF THE MONTHS. A set of Twelve Cards, printed in Gold and Colours, with appropriate Poetry and Descriptive Notes. In Wrapper. Price 1/-. (67) GIFTS FROM THE KING’S TREASURE. Twelve Illuminated Cards in a Packet, with Texts of Scripture selected by Frances Ridley Havergal. Price 6d. (64) GOLDEN PRECEPTS. A Series of Nine Floral Illuminated Texts. Size, 6^ x 8 inches. In Three Packets, price 1/- each ; or in Mounts, Gilt Bevelled Edges, 2/6 each Packet. GOLDEN THOUGHTS FROM KEBLE'S CHRISTIAN YEAR. A set of Twelve Cards, with Floral Borders. Price 1/-. (36) HYMNS FOR THE LAMBS OF CHRIST’S FLOCK. Twelve Cards of Birds and Flowers for Children. In handsome Wrapper. Price 1/-. (38) LEAVES FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE. Transcribed and Illumin- ated after the manner of Religious MSS. of the Fifteenth Century. Price 6d. (33) MEMORABLE WORDS FROM SCRIPTURE. Twelve Mediaeval Illuminated Cards. Price 6d. (41) MONTHLY MUSINGS. Twelve Illuminated Cards, with descriptive and entertaining notes concerning Birds and Flowers. Price 1/-. (39) MOTTOES FOR THE MEMORY. Twelve Mottoes for the memory from Holy Writ, Illuminated on Floral Cards. Price 6d. (44) PEARLS FROM THE WATERS OF QUIETNESS. Twelve Illuminated Cards in a Packet, with Texts of Scripture selected by Frances Ridley Havergal. Price 6d. (63) PROVERBS POETICALLY APPLIED. A set of Twelve Cards, with Floral Borders on Gold Grounds. Price 1/-. (37) PROMISE, PRECEPT, & PRACTICE CONCERNING PRAISE. Twelve Designs, with Illuminated Texts in Panels. Price 1/-. (45) PROMISE, PRECEPT, & PRACTICE CONCERNING PRAYER. Twelve Designs, with Illuminated Texts, in Roman Letters and Panels. Price 1/-. (53) SACRED SELECTIONS. A set of Twelve Illuminated Cards, set in Floral Borders and Gold Grounds, with Sacred Texts and Poetry. Price 6d. (35) SACRED THOUGHTS, in Verse. Twelve Floral Cards, with Black Backgrounds. In handsome Wrapper. Price 1/-. (24) SAYINGS OF OUR LORD. Twelve Floral Cards, on Black grounds, with Verses from Holy Scripture. Price 6d. (51) SPIRITUAL SONGS FOR LITTLE SINGERS. Twelve Hymns, on Cards, with Highly-decorated Borders on Gold Grounds. Price 1/-. (54) THE HISTORY OF OUR LORD. Twelve Scenes from the Life of Our Lord, printed in Gold and Colours, with appropriate Selections from Scripture. Price 1/-. (14) 22 MARCUS WARD £ CO.’S REWARD TICKETS, PACKETS, &c .—Continued. THE GOOD SHEPHERD AND HIS SHEEP. Twelve Scripture Texts, on Floral Cards, with Gold Repp Backgrounds. Price 1/-. (46) THE APOSTLES’ CREED. A Packet of Twelve Highly-decorated Cards. In handsome Wrapper. Price 6d. (28) THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. Six Double Cards Illuminated. Price 6d. (30) THE LORD’S PRAYER. A Packet of Twelve Highly-decorated Cards. In handsome Wrapper. Price 6d. (29) HOLY COMMUNION CARDS Twelve Cards in a Packet, containing suitable Texts and Verses in Panels. Price 6d. (48) CONSECRATION CARDS. “Thine for Ever,” for Confirmations, etc. Twelve Coloured Illuminated Cards, with Texts and Original Verses. By Frances Ridley Havergal. Two Packets. Price 6d. each. (65) — (66) WORDS OF COUNSEL from the Sacred Scriptures, Illuminated on Twelve Floral Cards. Price 1/-. (34) WATCHWORDS FROM SCRIPTURE FOR CHRISTIAN WAY- FARERS. Eighteen Floral Text Cards, on Dark Coloured Grounds. Price 6d. (47) WORDS OF CHRIST. Twelve Cards in Packet, with Illuminated Texts, 6jt x 4|. Price 1/-. (40) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. SUNDAY SCHOOL RE WARD CARDS. Twenty-four Floral Decorated Texts. Price 9d. (31) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Eighteen Double Cards in a Packet, Two Designs on each, Twelve Texts Repeated Three Times. Price 6d. (26) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Twelve Cards in a Packet, Four Designs on each. Price 6d. (27) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Eight Cards in a Packet, Four Designs on each. Price 6d. (55) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Twelve Cards in a Packet, Ten Designs on each, One Hundred and Twenty Illuminated Texts. Size of Card, 5i + 3f. Price 6d. (56) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Eight Cards in a Packet, Four Designs on each, Forty-eight Illuminated Scripture Texts. Size of Card, 5£ + 3j. Price 4d. (57) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Eight Cards in a Packet, Eight Designs on each, Ninety-six Illuminated Scripture Texts. Size of Card 5J + 3J. Price 4d. (58) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Eight Cards in a Packet, Ten Designs on each, One Hundred and Twenty Illuminated Scripture Texts. Size of Card, 5J + 3|. Price 4d. (59) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Eight Cards in a Packet, Eighteen Designs on each, Two Hundred and Sixteen Illuminated Scripture Texts. Size of Card, 5i + 3|. Price 4d. (60) PUBLICATIONS. 23 SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS — Continued. SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Eight Cards in a Packet, Twelve Designs on each, Sixty-four Illuminated Scripture Texts. Size of Card, 5| + 3J. Price 6d. (61) SUNDAY SCHOOL CARDS. Ten Cards in a Packet, Twelve Designs on each, One Hundred and Twenty Illuminated Scripture Texts. Size of Card, 54 + 3|. Price 6d. (62) POPULAR PACKETS OF TEMPERANCE CARDS. THE WATER PACKET. A set of Twelve Cards, with Borders of Water Plants, &c., and Original Verses by S. C. Hall, F.S.A. Price 1/-. THE TEXT PACKET. Twelve Selections from Scripture, chosen for their bearing on the subject. Beautifully Illuminated in Gold and Colours. Price 6d. WALL GREETINGS AND TEXTS. GOLDEN WORDS ABOUT JESUS. Six Floral Illuminated Texts. Size, 64 + 8 inches. In Two Packets. Price 1/ each; or in mounts, gilt bevelled edges, 2/6 each. GOLDEN WORDS ABOUT THE GOOD SHEPHERD. Three Floral Illuminated Texts. Size, 64 + 8 inches. In one packet. Price 1/ each ; or in mounts, gilt bevelled edges, 2/6 each. LIGHTS FOR, LIFE’S JOURNEY. Four large Floral Wall Texts in a Packet. Oblong. Size, 19 + 6 inches. Price 2/-. WORDS OF CHRIST. Twelve Cards in a Packet, with Illuminated Texts. 6j + 4| inches. Price 1/-. A Set of Placards, “A Merry Christmas,” “A Happy New Year,” “ Welcome.” Size, 24f + 9£ inches. Price 3/- per set. A Pair of Placards, Garland of Flowers with the words, “ A Happy New Year to Everyone;” Garland of Fruit with the words, “A Merry Christmas to You All.” Size, 34f + 134 inches. Price 4/ per pair. A Pair of Placards, Festoon of Flowers with the words, “ Welcome to our Hearth,” the companion with “Welcome to our Board.” Size, 34|-t-13i inches. Price 4/ per pair. Long Wall Text, “Glory to God in the Highest.” Size, 68f + 134 inches. Price 4/- each. (D) Long Wall Text, “On Earth Peace, Good-will towards Men.” Size, 68f + 134 inches. Price 4/- each. (E) Long Wall Text, “Unto us is Born a Saviour.” Size, 68| + 134 inches. Price 4/- each. (F) Long Wall Text, “ Behold, I Bring you Good Tidings.” Size, 68|xl34 inches. Price 4/- each. (G) VERK FOSTER'S COPY-ROOKS. 21 LIST OF VERE FOSTER’S WRITING COPY-BOOKS. 1. Strokes, Easy Letters, Short Words. — Traced Lines under each Copy, to be written over by the Pupil. Round Hand. i>4- Long Letters, Short Words, Figures. — S anctioned by the Com- mittee of Council as satisfying the requirements of the Second Standard, Revised Code, 1875. Half Text. 2. Long Letters, Short Words, Figures. — G uide Lines to regulate the length of Tailed Letters. Small Round Hand. 214 . Words of Four, Five, or Six Letters, for Practice in forming differ- ent difficult combinations. Small Round Hand. 3. Capitals, Short Words, Figures.— Analysis of Capitals. Showing how the stiff Printed Capitals become transformed into Running Hand. Medium. Hand. 354. Sentences of Short Words, spaced by Perpendicular Lines. This is the first book in which Sentences are introduced. Small Round Hand. 4. Sentences, mostly composed of Short Words. The Perpendicular Spacing Lines are omitted in this and all succeeding numbers. Medium Hand. 414 . Select Quotations from Shakspere. — Principally Long Sentences. Suitable for preparing Pupils to write from Dictation. Medium Hand. 5, 6. Sentences. — Maxims, Morals, and Precepts, in progressively Small Writing; each Line a complete Sentence. Small Hand. 514. Sentences, in Writing of Three Sizes, continuation of preceding Books Nos. 314. 414. and 5. Small Round, Medium, and Small Hands. 614. Sentences, in Writing of Two Sizes, in continuation of Books Nos. 6 and 7. Small Hand. 7. Sentences and Christian Names. —A collection of over 200 of the Christian Names in most common use, affording scope for a great variety of Elegant Capitals. Small Hand. 8. Sentences. — One Line on each Page. This Book is prepared for those who prefer at this stage to have only one line on each page. Small Hand. 9. Sentences. — Two Lines on each Page. Smaller Writing than in any of the preceding books. Some prefer this as a Finishing Hand to Nos. 7 and 8. Small Hand. 10. Plain and Ornamental Lettering. — Single Letters, Words, and Sentences. Alphabets in Thirty-three different Styles. The most perfect Collection yet published. 11. Exercise Book. — W ide Ruling, with Margin, for Parsing, Dictation, Composition, or other Exercises. 12. Exercise Book. — Narrow Ruling in Squares, for Arithmetic, Book- keeping, Geometry, and proportionate enlargements or reductions. 13. Exercise Book.— R uled for Book-keeping. Home Exercise Book. — Same Ruling as No. 12 (but Octavo Size). Price One Penny. Copy-Book Protector and Blotter. — Price One Penny. Keeping the Books fresh, neat, and clean. LONDON : 67, CHANDOS STREET, STRAND. £> BELFAST ; ROYAL ULSTER WORKS. , V- 0 0 i r DS706 .E22 China : historical and descriptive. Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library % V