ornia 
 ial 
 
 y
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 CHINA, 
 
 ITS 
 
 COSTUME, ARTS, 
 
 &c. 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 Trioted by S. GOSWELL, Little Queen Street, London.
 
 CHINA: 
 
 ITS 
 
 Costume, 
 
 MANUFACTURES, 
 
 &c. 
 
 DITEJ> PRINCIPALLY FROM THE ORIGINALS lit 
 THE CABINET OF THE LATE 
 
 M. BERTINj 
 
 WITH 
 
 OBSERVATIONS 
 EXPLANATORY, HISTORICAL, AND LITERARY* 
 
 BY M. BRETON. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. 
 IN FOUR VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 EMBELLISHED 
 
 SECOND EDITION, 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR J. J. STOCKDALE, 
 41, FALL MALL. 
 
 1812,
 
 01 
 
 
 TO THE 
 
 DEPUTATIONS 
 
 From the various Outports, and mercantile and 
 manufacturing Towns 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNITED KINGDOM, 
 Assembled in London, to oppose the Renewal 
 
 or tin 
 
 EAST-INDIA COMPANY'S 
 
 Commercial 
 
 With the warmest wishes for their success in effecting 
 an object so essential to the commercial, manu- 
 
 facturing, and trading Interests of the 
 , British Empire, 
 
 5 
 
 THIS WORK, 
 
 As a tribute to their collective, and individual, 
 meritorious exertions, 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED.
 
 THE TRANSLATOR'S 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE only remark with which the 
 Translator feels it necessary to detain 
 the Reader, is to state, that he has oc- 
 casionally introduced, though very 
 sparingly, such variations as he con- 
 ceived would tend at the same time to 
 elucidate the subject under considera- 
 tion, and as would more immediately 
 adapt the whole, notwithstanding 
 it is a translation, to the hand of an 
 English Reader,
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 JL HETACE Page'.5 
 
 Sketch of the Empire Its Productions The 
 Religions which prevail or are tolerated . 5 
 
 The Emperor Kien-Long 40 
 
 A Mandarin, and a Female of Rank, in their Sum- 
 mer full Dresses M 
 
 Sedan-chair of the Prime Minister . . . 59 
 
 Carriage of ihe Kong-Tehou, or of the Emperor's 
 
 oldest Daughter ........ 63 
 
 A Mandarin, of the fifth Order, going to Court' 
 
 in his full Dress 63 
 
 A Soldier beating the Evening Watch on a Bam- 
 boo Cylinder a Soldier carrying the Lantern 
 before the Officer of the Rounds . . . 71 
 Tartar Soldiers going to mount Guard at the 
 
 Palace-gates 7.5 
 
 Water-cart for the Imperial Family . . . 8O 
 A Tartar Woman and Child ... 81
 
 CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 The Grand Lama in his full Dress Lama of the 
 
 Tartar Banners Page 84 
 
 A Tartar Woman making a Tsi, or sacrificing to 
 
 the Spirit of the Door, to prevent Misfortune 
 
 from entering her House . ' 89 
 
 A Bonze who has made a Vow to go a certain 
 
 Number of Miles on All-fours ..... Ql 
 The Palace of Yuen-Ming-Yuen ..... 95 
 A young Licentiate riding through the Streets 
 
 with the Marks of his new Rank . . . 100 
 
 Chinese Implements of War 104 
 
 Mariner of travelling in a Barrow with one 
 
 Wheel . . . ' . . 109 
 
 A Mahometan Woman with her Son, to whom 
 
 she is shewing a Toy . . . , . . .111 
 
 Mirror-seller 116 
 
 An Account of the Feast of Agriculture, and of 
 
 the Feast of Lanterns 118
 
 LIST OF PLATES 
 
 TO 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 With Directions for placing them. 
 
 \. FEAST of Agriculture (described at Page 48) 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 2. Kien-Long, Emperor of China 
 
 to face Page 4O 
 
 5. A Mandarin, and Female of Rank, in their 
 Summer full Dresses 51 
 
 4. The Prime Minister's Sedan-chair . . .59 
 
 5. Carriage of the Kong-Tchou . . . 63 
 
 6. Mandarin of the fifth Order . . . . 6S 
 
 7. Chinese Soldiers 71 
 
 8. Tartar Soldiers 75 
 
 9. The Imperial Water-cart 80 
 
 10. Tartar Woman and Child 81 
 
 1 1 . The Grand Lama, and Lama of the Banners 
 
 84 
 1C. Grand Lama (Tao-Tse) 86
 
 PLATES ra YOL. r. 
 
 A 
 
 13. A Tartar Woman making a Tsi; to face Page 89 
 
 14. Bonze, on All-fours 91 
 
 15. Palace of Yuen-Ming-Yuen .... 95 
 
 16. Young Licentiate parading the Streets . 100 
 
 17. Chinese Artillery 107 
 
 18. One-wheel Riding-barrow 109 
 
 19* Mahometan Woman and hei Son . . .111 
 
 flO. Mirror-seller , . 116
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 OF the numerous works which have ap- 
 peared on the Empire of China, few have 
 entered into the necessary details respect* 
 ing its arts and manufactures. The ancient 
 missionaries, and the English writers who 
 published accounts of Lord Macartney's 
 celebrated embassy, have bestowed their 
 attention on little more than the princi- 
 pal objects of manufacture and com- 
 merce such as china, tea, printing, 
 breeding silk-worms, &c. ; and these au- 
 thors are, for the most part, repetitions of 
 each other. The English travellers have 
 obtained scarcely any new information 
 VOL. t. B
 
 6' PREFACE. 
 
 they have done little more than made 
 extracts from Duhalde's great work. 
 
 AjL Bertin, minister and secretary of 
 State during thc'two -preceding reigns, in 
 whose department the foreign missions 
 
 -*>"*& * ' 
 
 were, was sensible how useful a more per- 
 fect ^knowledge of China might prove to 
 the arts, sciences, and manufactures: not 
 satisfied with fulfilling the duty of his 
 office, by protecting to the utmost the 
 missionaries at Pekin, and transmitting 
 to them the supplies authorized by. 
 government, he contributed liberally to- 
 wards rendering their situations comfort- 
 able. He spared no expense to procure 
 rarities from China, and neglected no op- 
 portunity of acquiring detailed accounts 
 of the objects or drawings which were 
 transmitted to him.
 
 PREFACE! 7 
 
 This valuable statesman did not wish 
 to seclude, in his private museum, all these 
 important documents; his warmest desire 
 was to communicate them to the world. 
 
 M. Bertih was well aware, that the mis- 
 sionaries, who were so estimable from their 
 religious zeal, and so competent to elabo- 
 rate history, philology, and mathematics,, 
 which were within their own sphere, did 
 not possess' the same advantages in div- 
 ing into the secrets of arts and manufac- 
 tures. In fact, the collections which the 
 missionaries made were often defective and 
 incomplete in many points of importance, 
 owing either to their own ignorance, or 
 to the disinclination of those to whom, 
 they were forced to apply. Besides, the 
 Chinese mamifac hirers', equally jealous 
 with our own, of the secrets of their 
 respective professions, would not lightly
 
 $ PREFACE. 
 
 disclose them to foreigners. How then, 
 were they to surmount such obstacles ? 
 A favourable opportunity presented itself. 
 Two young active and intelligent Chi- 
 nese, named Ko and Yang, both natives 
 of Pekin, having become converts to the 
 Christian religion, and being instructed 
 by the Jesuits in the Latin and French lan- 
 guages, consented to go to France, at the 
 missionaries' expense, that they might see 
 (to use their own words) the splendour 
 of Christianity in Europe. The first was 
 nineteen, the other eighteen years of 
 
 age. 
 
 They arrived at Paris in 1760, and en- 
 tered the Jesuits' convent as novices. 
 
 " We were living," say they in their me- 
 moir, " in peace, and void of care, unknown
 
 PREFACE. 9 
 
 to all France, when the dissolution of the 
 society of the Jesuits took place." The 
 Count St. Florentine, touched with the 
 lamentable situation in which they were 
 involved by this event, obtained a pension 
 for them of 750 livres. 
 
 Desirous of returning to China, they 
 were obliged to make interest with M. 
 Bertin, who then superintended the India 
 Company's affairs. He eagerly laid hold 
 of the opportunity to carry into effect 
 the object he had in view. He prevailed 
 on the Chinese to put off their voyage for 
 a year; during which interval they went 
 through a course of natural philosophy and 
 chemistry, at the government expense, 
 under M. Brisson, academician, who died, a 
 few years since, member of the Institute. 
 They were also taught drawing and
 
 JO . PREFACE. 
 
 stroke engraving; in the latter of which 
 they left specimens of their abilities .be- 
 hind them. 
 
 By the order, and at the expense of His 
 Majesty, they made a journey to Lyons, 
 Forez, and Vivarais, that they might ac- 
 quire a knowledge of. the French - manu- 
 factures, and be more competent to com- 
 
 ' l 
 
 numicate information on those of China, 
 
 . It was evidently M. Bertin's object to 
 procure, in China, in some respect, at his 
 oipi disposal, two natives, who, having a 
 knjowledge of the language and arts of 
 Trance, were still free from the prejudices 
 of their own nation. It would be diffi- 
 cult tp meet with two men better quali- 
 fied to carry his intentions into effect 
 than were the Chinese Ko and Yang,
 
 PREFACE. 11 
 
 They reached their own country in 
 safety, and, concealing themselves at Ma- 
 cao in a corner of the vessel while it was 
 searched, landed at night by moonlight, 
 resumed the Chinese dress, and went to 
 Pekin, as though they had never been 
 out of it. 
 
 Ko and Yang did not lose a moment 
 to evince their gratitude to 1VL Bertin ; 
 but immediately set about returning 
 it by furnishing, conjointly with the 
 missionaries at Pekin, the greater part 
 of the materials from which the " Me- 
 moirs respecting the Chinese" were 
 drawn. Amiot and Cibot were the prin- 
 cipal editors. The first volume of that 
 
 collection, unfortunately broken off at 
 
 
 book 16, contains a learned dissertation 
 
 on the origin of the Chinese, their lan- 
 B4
 
 1* JREFACS. 
 
 guage, history, &c. It is by Father 
 Cibot, under the name of Ko. 
 
 Their intention was no other than to 
 .revise or re- write all which had been 
 published respecting China. M. Yang, ia 
 a letter to M. Bertin, dated October 
 
 10, 1772, thus expresses hknself : 
 ) 
 
 " I hope, in time, to transmit matiy 
 other memoirs, which will give a clear 
 and particular insight into every thing 
 relative to China. Hitherto France, and 
 even Europe, knows it only as through a 
 thick veil, which permits the objects to be 
 seen confusedly, and leaves much to suppo- 
 sition; butas Your Excellency, always oc- 
 cupied in enriching the state with the most 
 valuable knowledge, has incited our mis- 
 sionaries, they press forward to second 
 your intentions. It will shortly be seen
 
 PREFACE. 13 
 
 that the best selected works on China are, 
 at least in part, mere dreams and reveries* 
 Even in Father Duhalde, whom I consi- 
 der as the best, how much is there to 
 rescind of what he has gone too far in 
 advancing, and to perfect what he has 
 merely touched upon ! It were greatly to 
 be wished, that, among the missionaries, 
 were some lovers of truth who would un- 
 dertake to correct that author's work. I 
 say lovers of truth, because it is a pre- 
 vailing fault to exalt too high what there 
 is a disposition to praise, and to depress 
 too low what they wish to censure.'* 
 
 This letter, the original of which is 
 now in my hands, on bamboo paper, is 
 tolerably well written, and with great 
 judgment; as is all the correspondence 
 of the two Chinese. 
 B5
 
 14- PREFACE. 
 
 In another epistle, in which Yang 
 gives his protector a description, agree- 
 ably to his desire, of the Yu-Lan, a cele- 
 brated shrub of China, he says, " I beg 
 Your Excellency to do me the favour to 
 accept the description of a flower called 
 Yu-Lan, which we have named Ber- 
 tin ; to eternize our gratitude." 
 
 I saw with pleasure, on this letter, a re- 
 mark, in the minister's own hand, as fol- 
 lows " What does he mean by his Ber- 
 tin flower? Was it not known, and had 
 it not a name before Yu-Lan?" 
 
 A succession of unfortunate events 
 forced the relinquishment of this collec- 
 tion, which might have been so valuable 
 to our literati and artists. At first, la- 
 Tnentable dissensions arose among the 
 missionaries at Pekin. The death of
 
 PREFACE. 1 J 
 
 father Cibot, which took place on the 
 8th of August 1780, was a signal for 
 the most deplorable disasters. 
 
 I have now before me Father Cibot's 
 letter, written in a strange hand, but. 
 signed by him ; dated 3d of August, five 
 days before his death. 
 
 " My last hour draws nigh. My ideas 
 rest solely on our dear mission. I again 
 commend it to Your Excellency ; never 
 was your countenance more necessary. 
 You have done so much for it already 
 Perfect, Sir, perfect, I conjure you, the 
 good work. Time is short; if your 
 zeal does not come speedily to the as- 
 sistance of the French missionaries, 
 they will fall, and their religion with- 
 them."
 
 W PREFACE. 
 
 On returning from his funeral, Father 
 Sallusti, an Italian missionary, excom- 
 municated two of his brethren, and four 
 Chinese neophytes. On another side, 
 the French revolution placed the mis- 
 sionaries at Pekin in a still more cruel 
 -situation ; they were deprived of assist- 
 ancej and had no correspondence with 
 the mother-country. 
 
 Meantime, M. Bertin was especially 
 careful L, : cabinet, not only of the 
 materials which had in part supplied the 
 Memoirs concerning the Chinese; but of 
 many others which had not hitherto been 
 brought into use *. The most interesting 
 
 * Of the Narration of the Voyage of the two 
 Chinese, only twenty copies were printed. Con- 
 siderations of the greatest interest prevented its 
 having more publicity ; the work might find its way 
 to China, and the narrators' destruction be the con- 
 sequence.
 
 PREFACE. 17 
 
 was an immense collection of about 400 
 original drawings, made at Pekin, of the , 
 arts and manufactures of China, and many 
 other paintings. 
 
 Accident threw into -my hands nearly 
 the whole of this collection : together 
 with the correspondence of the mission- 
 aries, and that of Ko, Yang, &c. 
 
 Many of these subjects were new and 
 hitherto unknown in France; particularly 
 the manner of gathering the leaves of 
 tea by means of monkeys ; varnish-mak- 
 ing; costume of a Mahometan woman ; 
 the serpent-seller; money-changer; dis- 
 tiller; brazier; whip and kite sellers; the 
 interior of a Chinese apartment; sweet- 
 meat hare seller; some representations 
 of punishments, &c.
 
 1 8 PREFACE. 
 
 These drawings were unfortunately 
 either not described at all, or very 
 briefly described. I have, however, suc- 
 ceeded in adding a text, which will, I 
 flatter myself, prove not devoid of in- 
 terest ; and selected such of the draw- 
 ings as would be most acceptable to the 
 public ; for many of the subjects are not 
 sufficiently interesting, their costume 
 differing very little from that of our 
 European artisans. 
 
 On the other hand, it was requisite to 
 publish a complete work on China; a kind 
 of compendium of whatever it affords, of 
 the curious, rare, and useful. 
 
 I have consulted, for my explanatory 
 notices, all the narratives ancient and 
 modern; I have collected every docu-
 
 PREFACE. 19 
 
 ment within my reach, and laid the whole 
 under contribution, from the China Illus- 
 trata of Father Kircher, in which is the 
 oldest description of the Hortensia, to 
 the Fragments of the Voyage of I wan 
 Iwanow Tschudrin, published in 1809, by 
 the celebrated Kotzebue. 
 
 It has been my endeavour to relate 
 facts simply and reasonably, without par- 
 taking the enthusiasm, oftentimes extra- 
 vagantj of certain missionaries ; and with- 
 out giving myself up to that spirit of 
 censure and aspersion which has still 
 more frequently directed the pen of the 
 English traveller, Barrow; than whom, 
 however, few authors have written on 
 the manners of the Chinese more ingeni- 
 ously, or have displayed greater sagacity 
 and erudition ; particularly when he com-
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 pares their customs with those of the 
 ancients *. 
 
 One of my most ardent wishes has 
 been to share with my readers the respect 
 which I have always felt for missionaries. 
 Their utility, however, is not likely to 
 become a subject of dispute ; for the Eng- 
 lish are busily engaged in sending mis- 
 sions into Africa, America, and the 
 Indies. 
 
 * Barrow's Voyage to China has been a subject of 
 very severe animadversion with the Abbe Grosier, in 
 the Journal del'Empire. I must frankly confess, that 
 one of the most serious charges against him is to be 
 attributed to an error of his printer, and perhaps thence 
 transferred to his translators. Mr. Barrow has been 
 accused, and with reason, of having libelled the 
 government of China, by saying that it encouraged 
 infanticide : but it is not with the same jus! ice that 
 lie has been considered culpable in regard to the mis- 
 sionaries, of a calumny which would be really atro- 
 cious j I refer, for this essential explanation, to the 
 text of Plate tvi.at the beginning of Vol. JV.
 
 PREFACE. 2 1 
 
 In this quarter, at least, we have no- 
 thing to fear from their rivalry. The 
 English missionaries, being of the Lu- 
 theran persuasion, will make less progress 
 in the minds of the people, than Romish 
 missionaries. I do not speak of exterici 
 forms, nor of dogmas ; hut of the domes- 
 tic life, manners, and characters of the 
 ministers of either religion. The cell* 
 bacy of our priests was, indeed, for some 
 time, an obstacle to their obtaining very 
 great favour with the Chinese, who at 
 first regarded, Avith a suspicion almost 
 bordering on disgust, men who seemed 
 to have abandoned father and mother. 
 It was thought still more strange, that, 
 devoted to a life of strict celibacy, they 
 renounced having children, who might 
 honour their names in the hall of their 
 ancestors; but in the sequel, the very 
 prejudices of the people converted these;
 
 22 PREFACE. 
 
 unfavourable privations to subjects of 
 admiration. That religion was looked 
 upon sublime which could so detach from 
 the affairs of this world, as to renounce 
 the enjoyment of so comfortable a plea- 
 sure as that of living again in posterity. 
 
 The Protestant missionaries will, un- 
 doubtedly, not take European women 
 with them ; but then they will marry in 
 the country ; they will give their wives 
 a taste for the manners of Europe, and 
 this innovation will be considered an 
 offence, 
 
 The Dutch received at Japan, to the 
 exclusion of every other European na- 
 tion *, have never yet recovered, even the 
 most trivial portion of the ascendancy 
 
 * Sketches Civil and Military of the Islands of 
 ava, &c. second Edit. p. 266.
 
 PREFACE. 23 
 
 which the Portuguese, by the aid of the 
 Jesuits, had obtained there. Besides, the 
 English could not sufficiently conceal in, 
 China, the interest of commerce under 
 that of religion. Their missionaries, re- 
 garded as mere agents of the India Com- 
 pany, would be subject to merciless ex- 
 tortion and continual insults. 
 
 As plates of costumes can scarcely 
 have proper effect without being colour- 
 ed, the whole of this collection has been 
 engraved in such a manner as to be suit- 
 able for colouring. 
 
 My readers must be convinced that 
 this work has not been accomplished by 
 a traveller who has seen with his own 
 eyes, the subjects which he describes. It 
 has, however, been my aim, to combine 
 the useful with the agreeable; by a re-
 
 24 PREFACE. 
 
 ference to the most authentic sources, I 
 have compared, or endeavoured to recon- 
 cile, accounts which, in many instances, 
 were very dissimilar. It, however, is at 
 last a mere compilation ; but I have, in 
 no case, heen a servile copyist, nor have 
 I withheld my own opinions, where 1 
 conceived they could be given with pro- 
 priety.
 
 CHINA, 
 
 ITS COSTUME, ARTS, I 
 
 &c. 
 
 Sketch of the Empire Its Productions 
 The Religions which prevail or are, 
 tolerated. 
 
 CHINA is more favourably situated 
 than any country in the "world: one part 
 of its immense territory is sheltered 
 from the north winds by the elevated 
 regions of middle Asia; and the other 
 is bounded by the great Eastern Ocean, 
 the continual evaporations of which shed 
 over it, at all times, a humid, but mild 
 atmosphere strongly impregnated with 
 nitre. To these circumstances it is in- 
 debted for the most favoured climate, 
 and the best watered soil of the whole 
 globe.
 
 26 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 Many chains of moderately high moun- 
 tains intersect this vast region; where 
 two magnificent rivers have their sources, 
 increased by above twenty others, as 
 large as the finest rivers in Europe. 
 Lakes and canals without number, further 
 add to the fertility of a soil cultivated 
 almost in e\ 7 ery point. 
 
 All the gifts of nature, and every pro- 
 duct of human industry, are found con- 
 centrated there. An immense population 
 fills the cities and country, and may be 
 said to swarm even the very rivers, where 
 whole families are born, live, and die in 
 boats, without scarcely ever setting a foot 
 on shore. 
 
 Cultivation enjoys in tins fruitful soil, 
 whatever can add to fertility. The 
 mountains are cultivated from their bases 
 to the ir summits by means of terraces, 
 ingeniously thrown up, so as to pre- 
 vent tlie-;:rth from falling, and facilitate
 
 ARTS, AKT> MANUFACTURES. 27 
 
 tlie circulation of the rain and canal 
 waters. 
 
 Rice, corn, maize, and millet, almost 
 all our vegetables, shrubs, and the greater 
 part of our domestic animals, are found 
 in China; as well as the sugar-cane, cot- 
 ton and silk. Hence, apparently, were 
 derived the first orange-trees., so fortu- 
 nately naturalized at a subsequent period 
 in the south of Europe. The hortensia, 
 a beautiful flower, which has been so ra- 
 pidly propagated in Europe, was intro- 
 duced from this part of the world by Earl 
 Macartney: the camphor; tallow-tree; 
 bamboo, of which their paper is made, 
 and which is converted to various pur- 
 poses ; the varnish-tree, and aloes, whose 
 medullary part is in such estimation 
 among the Chinese, are of the number of 
 the products of this country ; but the chief 
 is, beyond all question, the tea-tree, the 
 consumption of which in Europe, and 
 more particularly in England, has almost 
 classed it with the necessaries of life.
 
 28 CH13TA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 The animal kingdom is not less worthy 
 of notice. The plumage of the birds is 
 magnificent. The gold and silver phea- 
 sants, and the fishes which we preserve 
 in globular glasses, may give some idea 
 of their splendour. 
 
 Every species of metal is to be met 
 with in this country ; coal-mines, marble- 
 quarries, rocks of mineral salt, and inex- 
 haustible stores of saltpetre. 
 
 If, in the opinion of Europeans, tea 
 occupies the first rank in the natural pro- 
 ductions of China, we must distinguish 
 among its works of art, the beautiful 
 porcelain, which even Europe has not 
 yet been able to surpass ; for although our 
 pencil-work may be more delicate and 
 elegant, yet in brilliancy and perma- 
 nency of colour, and in the composition 
 of the china, it is certainly inferior. 
 
 China contains about six hundred thou- 
 sand square miles. Authors differ ma--
 
 ARTS, ANB MANUFACTURES. $9 
 
 terially in estimating its population* 
 Earl Macartney takes it at three hundred 
 and thirty-three millions of souls; but 
 there is reason to believe that his calcu- 
 lation is exaggerated, and that others, 
 who suppose it to be two hundred mil- 
 lions, are nearer the truth. 
 
 The antiquity of this people is a sub- 
 ject on which writers are still less agreed: 
 authentic monuments seem to date their 
 existence for four thousand years. During 
 this long space of time, although maiix 
 dynasties have succeeded, and the coun- 
 try has twice been conquered by the 
 Tartar-, whose second dynasty still en- 
 joys tlie throne, their manners continue 
 in almost pristine purity : the attachment 
 of the Chinese to ancient customs, their 
 dislike of innovation, of \\hatever kind, 
 is the cause of this phenomenon, and 
 twice has the wondrous fact been wit- 
 nessed in that country, of the conquerors 
 submitting their manners to those -of the 
 conquered. 
 
 VOL. /. C
 
 30 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 The Chinese rava, from time imme- 
 morial, possessed the art of engraving on 
 wood, and have had in use the compass, 
 gunpowder, and man}- other discoveries. 
 It is scarcely possible that they should 
 have derived them from Europe, neither 
 can it be supposed that they found their 
 way to Europe from China at a time 
 when no relations subsisted between 
 them. Mark Paul, the Venetian, was 
 the first who, in the thirteenth century, 
 discovered and made known to Europe 
 the immense and flourishing empire of 
 Cathay, the existence of which was, till 
 then, never even imagined. They have 
 monuments of labour which, for immen- 
 sity, surpass those of the Romans, and 
 bring to mind the gigantic enterprises of 
 the Egyptians; bridges of prodigious 
 span and slightness; magnificent roads, 
 kept up with extreme care, in particular 
 those from Pekin to the imperial palace 
 of Ge-Hol in Tartary, which is constantly 
 cleaned, levelled, and repaired : at regular 
 distances are post-houses, at which sol-
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 3 1 
 
 diers are in readiness to carry dispatches, 
 and to relieve each other; and between 
 which, urgent communications are con- 
 veyed by signals analogous to those of 
 our telegraphs. The canals are innume- 
 rable; one, the grand imperial canal from 
 Canton to Pekin, is 1800 miles in extent. 
 The great wall which separates China from 
 the Mantchou country is about 1 500 miles 
 long, carried over high mountains and 
 into deep vallies. 
 
 The Chinese are tolerant almost be- 
 yond example, in matters of religion; 
 from which it may be inferred that every 
 species of worship is pleasing to them, so 
 long as it contains the pure and sublime 
 morality of their philosopher Confucius, 
 and that it is not incompatible with their' 
 blind belief in magic, and superstitions 
 of every kind. The Roman Catholic re- 
 ligion, however, has never made much 
 progress in China.
 
 32 ailNA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 Previous to the arrival of the mission- 
 aries, the Chinese practised four kinds of 
 religion : that of Confucius, which con- 
 sists in the law of nature, and deism, is 
 the religion of the literati, and of the 
 chief personages in the state; that of 
 Lao-Kiun or Tao-Tse, which appears to 
 be merely a corruption of the former; 
 that of Fo or Bouddha, which is grossly 
 idolatrous, a$d is the religion of the em- 
 peror, of the government, and of all the 
 Tartars about the court ; and the sect of 
 Yon-Kian, which comes so nearly to the 
 law of nature, or doctrine of Confucius, 
 that many writers have made no distinc- 
 tion, between the two. 
 
 The principal object of -Chinese. -wor- 
 ship is a Supreme Being, whom they adore 
 under the name of Chang-Ti; that is 
 to say, Sovereign Emperor. 
 
 Tien is the spirit which presides in 
 heaven, and which they sometimes in- 
 voke as the Deity himself.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. S3 
 
 The emperor, although of the sect of 
 Fo, considers himself obliged to conform 
 to the ancient rites ; and he accordingly 
 
 O / 
 
 sacrifices to the spirits of heaven and 
 earth. 
 
 Confucius, whose Chinese name is 
 Kong-Fou-Tse, was born, according to 
 the notions of the missionaries, in the 
 year 551 before Christ, and two years be- 
 fore the death of Thales, o::e of tnc seven 
 sages of Greece. He was cotemporary 
 with the famous Pythagoras, and some 
 years anterior to Socrates. He was 
 minister to the king of Lu, his native 
 country ; and he obtained successively 
 the favour of many sovereigns, although 
 he was often overwhelmed with disgust, 
 and could not always obtain attention to 
 the voice of wisdom. He died at the 
 age of seventy-three. His disciples built 
 him a tomb near Kio-Fou, the place of 
 his nativity. It is now surrounded by 
 houses, and has the appearance of a little 
 town. 
 
 cS
 
 34 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 The sect of Tao-Tse was founded by a 
 philosopher named Lao-Kiun. He is 
 pretended to have remained eighty years 
 Jn his mother's womb. The missionaries 
 fancy that, from his writings, he had some 
 idea of the Trinity, as he says, " Tay," 
 that is, the law of reason, " produced 
 one; one produced two; two produce*! 
 three ; and three produced all things/' 
 
 These sectaries are distinguished for an 
 absurdity which it is astonishing that ex- 
 perience should not have made them 
 throw aside. They lay claim to the dis- 
 covery of a beverage which confers im- 
 mortality: but I do not apprehend that 
 they venture to bring forward living 1 
 proofs of its efficacy. 
 
 The sect of Fo is the most complicated 
 in the articles of its faith, and was 
 brought to China from India, 65 years 
 before Christ,
 
 ARTS, AND MANLTACTtRES. S5 
 
 The emperor Ming-Ti, having been re- 
 minded, by a dream, that Confucius had 
 frequently been heard to say that the 
 saint would make his appearance on the 
 western side, sent ambassadors to India, 
 to discover what this saint could be, and 
 to initiate themselves in his doctrines. 
 They returned with the idolatry of 
 Boudtlha, the name of winch the Chinese,- 
 changed to that of Fo, because they have 
 no letter B, and it is contrary to their 
 custom to adopt any foreign name. The 
 mother of Fo was called Mo-Ya; during 
 her pregnancy she constantly dreamed 
 that she had swallowed an elephant : 
 whence originated the honour which the 
 Indian kings pay to the white elephants, 
 Fo stood upon his feet from the moment 
 of his birth ; he took seven steps, and 
 pronounced these words : " In heaven 
 and on earth I alone am worthy to be 
 adored !" The followers of this idol as- 
 sert that he was born eighteen thousand 
 
 C3> 
 
 times, and that his soul has passed succes- 
 sively into the bodies of different animals.
 
 S6' CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 In proof of the little importance 
 which the Chinese attach to these reve- 
 ries, for salvation, the priests of Tao-Tse 
 and of Fo live on very good terms ; fre- 
 quently inhabiting the same temples, in 
 which they perform their respective cere- 
 monies, and very rarely disagree. 
 
 The era of the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity into the Chinese empire, cannot be 
 precisely ascertained; it appears to have 
 been very far back; but the remembrance 
 of it was almost wholly done away when 
 .Francis Xavier, the Apostle of India, ar- 
 aived in .1542 at Sancian, on the coast of 
 'the province of Canton, where he died 
 before he had set his foot on shore. 
 Thirty years afterwards, the Fathers Ro- 
 ger and Ricci, owing to their knowledge 
 in mathematics, obtained access to China. 
 The Jesuits met with various changes of 
 fortune at court. In 1631, Father Adam 
 Schaal was in great favour at the court of 
 the emperor Yong-Li, whom he baptised, 
 together with the empress; but the irrup-
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 37 
 
 tion of the Tartars, and the defeat of the 
 emperor, subverted all the hopes which 
 the missionaries had conceived. The Je- 
 suits were expelled; but Schaal, owing 
 to his great merits, was specially exempted 
 from this disgrace by the conqueror. 
 
 At the accession of Kang-Hi, great- 
 grandfather to the present emperor, who 
 ascended the throne at eighteen years of 
 age, Schaal was appointed his tutor. The 
 esteem in which this missionary was held, 
 saved Macao from ruin, when all the 
 places on the coast were destroyed, to cut 
 off the provision from the army which 
 then contended for the establishment of 
 the old dynasty. 
 
 A general insurrection at length took 
 place against the missionaries, who were 
 all thrown into prison on the 12th Nov. 
 1664. Father Schaal, at that time 
 seventy-eight years old, was laden with 
 irons, and put upon his trial. He heard 
 the sentence passed upon him which
 
 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 condemned him to die by being strangled, 
 as the least infamous punishment in 
 China ; but which was changed to that 
 of being cut to pieces, which is consider- 
 ed to be the most cruel and ignominious. 
 The approbation of the government, 
 which was administered by four regents 
 during the minority of Kang-Hi, was 
 alone wanting to carry this horrid and 
 barbarous decree into execution. 
 
 Heaven, however, declared in favour of 
 the Jesuits. An earthquake spread terror 
 31 every mind. The people thought they 
 discovered in it the effects of Divine 
 vengeance; and the regency was forced 
 to set the Chinese converts at liberty, 
 but the missionaries were suffered to re- 
 main in prison. The earthquake being 
 repeated with increased violence, the 
 alarm of the people likewise increased; 
 the missionaries were set free, but the 
 virtuous Schaal did not long survive the 
 persecution: he died in 1666.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 39 
 
 From that period, the missionaries were 
 held in scarcely any favour at court. 
 The emperor Kien-Long recalled them, 
 it is true, towards the conclusion of his 
 reign, because he felt the necessity of at- 
 taching them to some native Chinese, to 
 form a board of mathematics, and assist 
 in the formation of the calendar, so im 
 portant in the eyes of the Chinese. The 
 events which happened in Europe at the 
 close of the last century, left the mis- 
 sionaries deserted; their respective go- 
 vernments, whose whole attention was 
 occupied by more pressing concerns, 
 neither thought of sending them assist- 
 ance nor successors. 
 
 Besides the four religions already men- 
 tioned, and the Roman Catholic religion, 
 the Jewish and Mahometan laws have 
 made more or less progress in certain pro- 
 vinces of the empire. For further details 
 see the description's of Plates XI. ami 
 XVIII.
 
 40 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 THE EMPEROR KIEN-LONG. 
 
 IHIS prince, whose fifteenth son now 
 tills the throne of China, is known by 
 the description of his person given in the 
 Accounts of the Embassies of Earl Mac- 
 artney, in 1792, and of Van-Braam and 
 Titsing, in 1794. 
 
 We have given his name, Kien-Long, 
 on the authority of the missionaries ; of 
 M. de Guignes, and of Mr. Barrow: it 
 is more conformable to the Chinese pro- 
 nunciation, though Sir George Staunton 
 adopts that of Tchien-Long; and Mr, 
 Barrow remarks, that the name of Kien 
 is very little used except in the southern 
 provinces. Kien-Long, who, at the time 
 of these memorable embassies, was eighty- 
 three or eighty-four years of age, was so 
 .tittle susceptible of natural infirmities, 
 that he possessed all the activity of a 
 3
 
 OF 
 
 > *p5s$>riliS&.fy,f.?tDdaialt 41 faff Mall
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 4l 
 
 stout healthy man of sixty his eyes 
 were black, lively, and penetrating, and 
 his countenance had not lost its colour. 
 His person was perfectly upright, his 
 stature about five feet ten UK n^ : he had 
 a good constitution, and his extreme re- 
 gularity contributed, in no small degree, 
 to keep it so. He rose constantly at 
 three o'clock in the morning, winter and 
 
 summer. ' 
 
 /' 
 
 In common with all the Mantchou 
 Tartars, he was passionately fond of the 
 chase. He was a skilful archer, and was 
 scarcely inferior, in drawing astrongbow, 
 to his grandfather Kong-Hi, who boasted 
 in his will, that he had bent a bow of 
 power equal to about one hundred and 
 fifty pounds weight. His intellectual 
 were adequate to his physical powers : his 
 imagination was very quick, and he at- 
 tained some eminence as a poet : his most 
 celebrated work is an Ode on Tea. He 
 also composed a poem descriptive of the 
 country of Moukden in Tartary,
 
 42 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 Although lie was so perfectly master of 
 the Chinese language, he nevertheless 
 had a very excusable predilection in 
 favour of that of his ancestors, the 
 Mantchou Tartars, and took great pains 
 to promulgate it. He ordered all chil- 
 dren whose parents were one Tartar and 
 the other Chinese, to learn the Mantchou 
 sufficiently to undergo an examination in 
 the two languages. 
 
 He was a great warrior, and made some 
 import*, at conquests. He was passion- 
 ately fond of women, lieing once at 
 Sanchou-Fou, a city celebrated for the 
 beauty of its females, he was smitten 
 with the charms of a beautiful ^oung 
 Chinese, and resolved to take her to his 
 capital : the empress hung herself for 
 grief on the news of his attachment. 
 
 A singular anecdote is related on this 
 subject. One of his sons felt much em- 
 barrussed what line of conduct to pursue 
 on his mother's death. To go into mcurn-
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 4r3 
 
 ing would be a kind of insult to his 
 father ; and to omit it would be disre- 
 spectful to the memory of his mother. 
 His tutor advised him to wear both 
 dresses at once, and in this state he 
 waited upon Kien-Long, having his full 
 dress over the suit of mourning. The 
 emperor was irritated at it, and gave his 
 son so violent a kick, that the young- 
 prince, after languishing some days, died 
 in consequence. 
 
 He at that time had four other sons ; 
 but the prime-minister, Hochoung-Taung, 
 contrived to set him very much against 
 them : he also in like manner prejudiced 
 him against those he had after this pe- 
 riod ; so that he made none of his first- 
 born heir to his power. He abdicated on 
 the 8th of February 1796, in favour of 
 his fifteenth son, or (as some say) his 
 seventeenth son, Kien-Long was then 
 eighty-six years old ; he lived three years 
 after his retirement, and died in February 
 1799.
 
 44 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 The young prince, who still fills the 
 throne by the name of Kia-King, retain- 
 ed the minister during his father's life ; 
 but Kien-Long had no sooner closed his 
 e}'es than he caused his old favourite to 
 be strangled. The sentence was passed 
 on twenty charges, which Mr. Barrow 
 specifies in his Voyage, and which were 
 either ridiculous and frivolous, or failed 
 in proof. Among other subjects of com- 
 plaint, it was stated that t( under pretence 
 of being lame, he was carried on his way 
 to and from the palace through the em- 
 peror's private gate S" 
 
 Kien-Long, of whom the annexed 
 portrait is a correct likeness, wore a gown 
 of brown silk, and a velvet cap surmount- 
 ed by a large pearl. This last decoration 
 is peculiar to the sovereign and his pre- 
 sumptive heir. 
 
 The emperor of China enjoys a literally 
 absolute power; he is accountable for his 
 conduct to no department of the state :
 
 .ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 45 
 
 but, as Mr. Barrow ingeniously observes, 
 this power is tempered by the institutions 
 of the country. 
 
 The patriarchal manners of China im- 
 pose on the son the duty of making 
 solemn offerings to the manes of his 
 forefathers; a ceremony which reminds 
 the emperor that the remembrance of his 
 private conduct and public actions will 
 be retained long after his life ; that every 
 year, at certain periods, his name will be 
 
 7 * M. * 
 
 pronounced from one extremity of the 
 empire to the other, either with respect 
 and love, or with horror and execrations, 
 
 In a word, if in this country the prince 
 does enjoy unbounded authority, it is ra- 
 ther as the father of his subjects than as 
 their lord and master. The government 
 may be more properly termed patriarchal 
 than despotic; and the name of the hun- 
 dred families given to the Chinese nation 
 collectively, sufficiently denotes that the 
 natives consider themselves as brothers.
 
 46 -CHINA, fts COSTCME, 
 
 The titles of the sovereign of China 
 are, Son of Heaven, and Master of the 
 Earth. His latter title is literally cor- 
 rect, he being the owner of all the soil 
 of China the subject merely enjoys his 
 land as a concession from the monarch, 
 and subject to a rent which is paid in 
 kind. 
 
 No one can speak to him in any other 
 than a kneeling posture, unless authorized 
 to the contrary. The mandarins kneel, 
 in like manner, before his throne, his 
 clothes, and his chair of state. On pub- 
 lic occasions they prostrate themselves 
 ^ine times. No one can go through the 
 grand gate of the palace on horseback } 
 he must dismount. 
 
 The bright yellow colour belongs ex- 
 clusively to the emperor and his children. 
 The other princes, viceroys, and ministers, 
 are clad in stuff of another shade of yel- 
 low, for which the sovereign's permission 
 is still necessary. The mandarins in ge-
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 47 
 
 ncral, and even the more distant branches 
 of the emperor's family, are clothed in 
 violet. The dragon with five claws, is 
 again another attribute of the imperial 
 power. The emperor's dispatches, the 
 edicts, and public acts, are dated with the 
 year of his reign, and the day of the 
 moon. The imperial seal is square; it 
 consists of a fine jasper of the size of 
 about eight digits. None but the em- 
 peror can have a seal of this description ; 
 those of the princes are gold ; of the vice- 
 roys and mandarins of the first rank, 
 silver ; and of the inferior mandarins, of 
 brass or lead. The importance attached 
 to it is infinite ; of which the following 
 is an example : 
 
 A mandarin inspector, from whom a 
 mandarin of a higher class, his mortal 
 enemy, had caused his seals to be stolen, 
 was apprehensive that this loss might in- 
 volve the loss of his place, and perhaps 
 of his life. What did he do to effect the 
 restitution of tkis precious object ? He
 
 48 CHINA, ITS COSTUMED 
 
 set fire to his own dwelling-house in the 
 night, and then, in the presence of the 
 by-standcrs, saved the little casket in 
 which his seals were generally deposited, 
 and carried it to his enemy, entreating 
 that he would take especial care of his 
 charge. The mandarin, in his turn, ap- 
 prehensive of being accused with having 
 stolen the seals, was forced to replace 
 them in the box ; and thus, in spite of 
 himself, restored tranquillity to the person 
 whom he wished to ruin. 
 
 Foreign ambassadors are not permitted 
 to reside in China. Their stay in the 
 Capital is temporary, and limited to forty 
 days, though this term has sometimes 
 been suffered to elapse twice over. They, 
 and all their retinue, travel wholly at the 
 emperor's charge. The persons attached 
 to Lord Macartney's embassy, from mo- 
 tives of delicacy, denied themselves many 
 articles which they wished for, because 
 they were not permitted to purchase them
 
 AKTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 49 
 
 at their private expense, every thing 
 being furnished gratis* 
 
 It has been stated erroneously, that the 
 emperor alone is entitled to have his 
 palace exactly facing the south. The 
 fact is, that the greater part of the pri- 
 vate houses face the south, as far as it is 
 practicable, as it is considered the most 
 healthy position. 
 
 The Feast of Agriculture of the Chi- 
 nese is universally known ; the emperor 
 presides, and, in the spring, ploughs 
 some furrows with his own hand. 
 
 The emperor of China sometimes as- 
 sumes the name of Father and Mother of 
 the country. The people regard him as 
 a being almost divine ; and many empe- 
 rors have fancied themselves gods. Kang- 
 Hi, after his mother's death, proclaimed 
 her goddess of the Nine Flowers.
 
 SO CHI5TA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 Kien-Long, notwithstanding his wis- 
 dom, believed that the god Fo was incar- 
 nate in his person. He is said to have 
 been jealous of the honours which were 
 paid to the Great- Lama of Tibet: con- 
 sequently, when the Great- Lama repaired 
 to his court in 1779, and a natural acci- 
 dent deprived him of life, slander and 
 calumny went to work on the occasion, 
 and attributed the unlooked-for death of 
 the chief of the religion of the Lamas, 
 to the effect of poison, rather than to 
 that of disease.
 
 fry f.f. S/r>ti*l,ili v/ / ''
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 
 
 A MANDARIN, AND A FEMALE OF RANK, 
 IN THEIR SUMMER FULL DRESSES. 
 
 MANDARIN is not a Chinese term, but 
 derived from the Portuguese word Man- 
 dar, which signifies commander. 
 
 The mandarins are magistrates, whose 
 situations may he changed at pleasure : 
 they are chosen from every class, but 
 those of judicature and the sword are al- 
 most always taken from the classes of 
 labourers, artificers, and traders. Services 
 rendered to the state, or personal merit, 
 are the only means whereby this dignity 
 can be attained. 
 
 There is but one family in China which 
 enjoys a kind of hereditary nobility; it 
 is the family of Confucius, which has 
 been in existence above two thousand 
 years. The lineal descendants of that
 
 52 CI1IXA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 great philosopher are extinct; but a 
 nephew is still in being, on whom has 
 been conferred the title Ching-Jinto-Chi- 
 Coul, the nephew of the great man. His 
 posterity is distinguished by the honour- 
 able denomination of Kong. 
 
 The number of mandarins throughout 
 tiie whole empire is stated at 493,000 ; 
 each of whom is attached to a tribunal 
 for some particular administration. They 
 are divided into two orders, civil and 
 military; are exempt from taxes and 
 contributions ; are permitted to borrow, 
 from the public stock, sums in propor- 
 tion to their rank; and their salary, 
 which is moderate, is paid six months in 
 advance. According to Father Trigaut, 
 the highest salary is less than a thousand 
 crowns. The smallness of their emolu- 
 ments induces them to commit every 
 species of exaction. When they go on 
 any particular mission their expenses are 
 defrayed by the government.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. $$ 
 
 They have the exclusive right of 
 Wearing gold-embroidered clothes. Their 
 costume is of two kinds, a summer and 
 a winter dress : the first is put on about 
 the middle of April ; the latter, which is 
 trimmed with furs, about the middle of 
 October. 
 
 , There are nine orders of mandarins. \ 
 distinguishable by the button, the plate, l 
 and the girdle. 
 
 u The button, in the first order, is of 
 ruby ; in the second, of worked coral ; in. 
 the third, of sapphire, or transparent 
 blue stone; in the fourth, of azure or 
 opaque blue; in the fifth, of rock-crystal^ 
 or transparent white; in the sixth, of a 
 marine shell, or opaque white; in the 
 seventh and eighth, of gold without or- 
 nament, but variously wrought; and jn 
 the ninth, of wrought silver. 
 
 The emperor sometimes grants the 
 mandarins the special distinction of 
 
 VOL. J. D
 
 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 ing a 
 hats. 
 
 wearing a peacock's feather in their 
 
 Their robes are embroidered in squares 
 both before and behind, with the figure of 
 a pelican, Guinea-fowl, peacock, crane, 
 pheasant, bear, swan, tiger, &c. according 
 to their degrees. The ornament of the 
 civil mandarins is uniformly one of the 
 feathered, and that of the military man- 
 darins of the four-footed race. 
 
 The princes, viceroys, and ministers 
 have the same .embroidery, only that it is 
 round instead of square. 
 
 These magistrates are responsible for 
 the irregularities of their administration ; 
 they are closely watched, but it does not 
 prevent many of their acts of rapine and 
 abuses of power remaining concealed and 
 unpunished. The missionaries, accordr 
 ing to M. de Guignes, somewhat exag- 
 gerate mandarin politeness when they
 
 AttTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 55 
 
 at the 
 match-seller. 
 
 state that the grandees dare not strike a 
 
 The retinue of persons in office is very 
 considerable; and, as magnificence is sup- 
 posed to consist more in the number than 
 the outfit of the suite, the consequence 
 is, that the mandarins are not unfrequently 
 surrounded by servants and guards abso- 
 lutely in rags. 
 
 The gowns of the Chinese ladies are 
 very long, extending from the neck to 
 the heels, so that the face only is un- 
 covered ; their hands are always conceal- 
 ed in very wide and long cuffs : the colour 
 of their dress may be red, blue, or green. 
 
 The females of this country are mode- 
 rately well shaped: they have short 
 noses, small but lively eyes, good mouths, 
 rosy lips, bluck hair, and long ears with 
 pendants : their complexion is florid, 
 their form bespeaks gaiety and freedom, 
 their features are regular. They 
 
 D2
 
 56 CIIlN f A, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 nearly all use paint, which is sold ready- 
 made, both white and rose-coloured. 
 The hands, which are commonly brown, 
 form a strange contrast to the whiteness 
 of the face. 
 
 The most desirable charm among 
 women of a certain rank is extremely 
 small feet: this is accomplished by hav- 
 ing them bound up, from their childhood, 
 in a case which is never removed, and 
 which impedes their growth. The village- 
 girls, in some provinces, imitate this ab- 
 surd custom. The great toe is suffered 
 to retain its natural position, but the 
 others are confined, until, compressed and 
 adhering to the sole of the foot, they can 
 DO more be separated from it. We are 
 assured that this fashion did not originate 
 in the absurd x ancl tyrannical pride of 
 husbands, who would reduce their wives 
 to complete inactivity, but in the example 
 of a princess who voluntarily submitted 
 herself to it. The Tartar females do not 
 accustom themselves to this mutilation.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. ,5? 
 
 Some of them wear an ornament on 
 tli head, made of brass or silver gilt, 
 representing the fong-hoang or phoenix 
 of the Chinese. The extended wings 
 wave gently over the front of the head- 
 dress, and the spreading tail forms an 
 aigrette on the middle of the head. 
 
 The Chinese ladies live very retired, 
 wholly engaged in their household af- 
 fairs, and how to please their husbands ; 
 ..they are not, however, confined quite so 
 closely as is commonly supposed. " The 
 women/' says the younger De Guignes, 
 "ffo and come in the streets of Pekin, with- 
 
 O 
 
 out restraint ; we met many of them on 
 foot, and others in open carriages." The 
 Chinese ladies who are rich, or otherwise 
 of consequence, are preceded by servants. 
 The facility with which they sit cross- 
 legged makes room for two or three in 
 the same carriage. 
 
 
 The females visit entirely amongst 
 each other; there is no. society or circle
 
 58 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 in China to which the women are admit- 
 ted. Marriages are a matter of mere con- 
 venience, or, to speak with greater pro- 
 priety, a kind of bargain settled between 
 the relatives. The girl has no right of 
 choice nor refusal in the husband who is 
 proposed; neither is the man any better 
 off: he is never permitted to see his wife 
 until the moment in which she is brought 
 to him with great pomp. The key of the 
 sedan-chair, or carriage, is previously sent 
 to him ; if, when he unlocks it, he finds 
 the female not suited to his taste, it is at 
 his option to send her back ; but in this 
 case, he loses all the presents he made her 
 parents for the purpose of obtaining her, 
 and is bound to return the value of all 
 which he received from them.
 
 ^f . fiintor, 
 
 Fitt> ?v;> Jpr-a jft, t> y // . ftn riff late jifal/ .. 1 faff
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 
 
 SEDAN-CHAIR OF THE PRIME MINISTER. 
 
 IHE prime minister, or Grand Colao, be- 
 comes, in right of his office (if he were 
 not so before), a mandarin of the first 
 rank. His costume is the same as thai 
 of a prince of the blood : for which see. 
 the preceding Plate. 
 
 This print represents the mode of tra- 
 velling in a sedan-chair, coolis, or palan- 
 quin. 
 
 The ministers or grandees alone are 
 entitled to have their palanquin covered 
 with green cloth. They also use vehicles 
 like those of private persons, except that 
 they are closed in front, and that the 
 wheels are placed quite, behind to make 
 the jolting of the carriage less uneasy. 
 Lord Macartney was secretly instructed 
 
 D4
 
 $0 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 to endeavour to learn at Pekin, the man- 
 ner in which the carriages were hung. 
 He had a superb bcrlin for his ow r n use; 
 and one of the presents which he brought 
 for the emperor was a chariot decorated 
 with the utmost magnificence. 
 
 The Chinese, who cannot bear any 
 thing like innovation, shewed an invin* 
 eible dislike to this kind of carriage : a 
 
 O 
 
 mandarin, whom the ambassador took 
 into his chariot with him, trembled at 
 <every motion, and always thought he was 
 going to be overturned. The most serious 
 Inconvenience was the necessity for the 
 Coach-box being in front, and raised 
 higher than the seats of those within, 
 The mandarin protested that his master 
 would never enter such a vehicle. The 
 alterations made in it were by no means 
 satisfactory, and the emperor's chariot 
 remained in a kind of lumber-room, dis, 
 regarded and confounded with other ob- 
 
 o 
 
 jects of infinitely inferior value^
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. Gl- 
 
 In the previous narration, page 44, of 
 the striking disgrace of the prime minister 
 of Kien-Long, we have sufficiently shewn 
 the vicissitudes to which the great are 
 exposed in China, as in all countries 
 where the powers are confounded, and 
 subject to the caprice of an individual. 
 One of these victims of fortune, Li-See, 
 was taken in the morning from an obscure 
 class to be made prime minister, and that 
 very evening underwent the penalty con- 
 sequent on an incautious expression. 
 
 In the early time of the monarchy, 
 there was less distance between the em- 
 peror and his ministers than at present. 
 The minister was considered in the light 
 of a sage and friend ; the prince and his 
 minister were looked upon as the head 
 and arm of the same body.. 
 
 When the British embassy landed on- 
 the Chinese territory, a sufficient number 
 of sedan-chairs were assigned for the 
 whole retinue of the legation: even.
 
 62 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 the private soldiers were carried in this 
 manner; but these, not liking their new 
 mode of conveyance, got out of the litters 
 ai,d induced the Chinese bearers to take 
 their places in the inside, when they car- 
 ried them in their turn.
 
 M 
 
 y
 
 ARTS, AXD MANUFACTURES. 63 
 
 CARRIAGE OF THE KONG-TCHOU, OR OF 
 THE EMPEROR'S OLDEST DAUGHTER. 
 
 THE Kong-Tchou, which signifies the 
 oldest daughter of the emperor, never 
 goes out except with a numerous retinue. 
 She can see, but is not seen. When she 
 takes the air, either in her carriage or 
 litter, men armed with whips and long 
 bamboo poles, make the passengers range 
 themselves in ranks, and turn their backs 
 upon die procession as a mark of respect. 
 
 Some have asserted that passtrs-by 
 were also forced to turn their backs upon 
 the emperor, which in Europe would be 
 the height of impertinence: bat modern 
 travellers contradict this. Two eunuchs 
 attend at the door of the carriage, which 
 is yellow, and is not unlike a prison in 
 shape.
 
 64 CHtXA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 The emperor's oldest son, who is call- 
 ed Hoan-Tay-Tse, or Ago (the latter is 
 a Tartar denomination), generally goes 
 out on horseback, with an immense caval- 
 cade. On his cap is a button, composed 
 of three golden dragons, ornamented 
 with thirteen pearls, and surmounted 
 with one larger than the rest. The 
 monarch's other sons, called Hoang-Tse, 
 wear the same button, except that it is 
 topped by a ruby in place of a large 
 pearl. 
 
 One remarkable circumstance is, that 
 the carriages of the princes of the blood, 
 and of the emperor himself, are never 
 drawn by more than one horse. The dis- 
 tinction of ranks by the number of 
 horses to a carriage is unknown in China. 
 It would indeed be no easy matter to 
 guide a number of horses attached to a 
 carriage not unlike our tilt-carts, and 
 which most probably accounts for this 
 not being adopted,
 
 I 
 
 ARTS, AVD MANUFACTURES. 65 
 
 The emperor's daughters are never call- 
 ed to the throne, either in their own, 
 or in a foreign country; for they only 
 intermarry with the Chinese. The empe- 
 ror bestows them on his principal man- ' 
 darins, by whom it is received as a very 
 high mark of distinction and favour. 
 
 o 
 
 The emperor himself never contracts 
 an alliance by marriage with a foreign 
 princess. At the period of his accession, 
 the highest personages of the country, 
 whose daughters are young and hand- 
 some, present them to him, that he may 
 choose a wife from among them. The 
 family on whom the choice falls acquires 
 great honour and credit by it. The num- 
 ber of his wives is unlimited; but the 
 reigning wife, termed Hoang-Heou, has 
 peculiar prerogatives. 
 
 The emperor's women, close shut up 
 in great numbers in a seraglio, hold no 
 communication with the world, and 
 may be said to have no idea of it,
 
 66 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 They sometimes indeed assist at the 
 court ceremonies behind lattice-work, 
 where they can sec without being seen. 
 The son of Sir George Staunton (who 
 has now acceded to the title), the chief 
 personage of Earl Macartney T s suite, it 
 appears, attracted the notice of these 
 ladies; they desired to see him nearer, 
 and he was accordingly so placed that 
 they could look at him at their leisure. 
 
 Some of the emperors, willing to gra- 
 tify the curiosity of their wives, who 
 wished to know the interior arrangement 
 of the capita^ built within the parks of 
 Ge-Hol and Yuen-Ming-Yuen, some mi- 
 niature towns, containing, on a small 
 scale, the most prominent features of the 
 streets of Pekin. 
 
 When an emperor dies, his widows 
 cannot marry again, however high the 
 rank of the suitor may be. They are 
 taken to a particular house within the 
 *walls of the palace, named the Palace of
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 67 
 
 Chastity, where they endeavour to divert 
 their perpetual imprisonment by such 
 amusements and fetes as their situation 
 admits of.
 
 68 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 A MANDARIN, OF THE FIFTH ORDER, 
 GOING TO COURT IN HIS FULL DRESS. 
 
 THE inferior mandarins seldom venture 
 to decide on affairs of consequence them- 
 selves, being obliged to report upon them 
 to those of the higher rank. The go- 
 vernors of towns refer to theTou-Tching- 
 
 o 
 
 Tse, or treasurer-general of their district, 
 and to the Fern-Yuen, or governor of the 
 province. These two provincial officers 
 acknowledge no superior but the' tribunals 
 of the capital. The Tsong- You, or vice- 
 roy, who is higher than the Fou-Yuen, 
 and has the administration of two or three 
 provinces, is subject to the same tribu- 
 nals ; but his post is of such importance, 
 that he cannot be removed from it, ex- 
 cept by being made minister of state, or 
 president of one of the high courts of 
 justice,
 
 offljjfth S a, A 
 
 fJ StorfcdaJf 4^fa/l .tfaft
 
 i ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. fi 
 
 We have already given the honorary 
 marks which distinguish the mandarins, 
 not only from the multitude, but from 
 those of a different rank. They are in 
 general very jealous of their rights and 
 prerogatives ; they are only spoken to in 
 a, kneeling posture. They go out attended 
 by all the officers of their court. At the 
 head of the retinue are two officers of the 
 police, with long flat bamboo sticks for 
 inflicting the bastinado ; men who beat 
 loos, or copper basins, a kind of Chinese 
 drum, which produces an extremely 
 hoarse sound ; executioners with chains, 
 whips, and scymetars, also form part of 
 the suite. Next come the parasol-, stan- 
 dard-, and other bearers of the marks of 
 dignity peculiar to the mandarin. His. 
 litter is preceded by horse soldiers, and 
 is borne by four men, surrounded with 
 servants and infantry. The palanquins 
 are either carried by four men, as in the 
 annexed Plate, or suspended between t\va 
 horses-ox mules.
 
 ^0 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 Horses are esteemed a great luxury in 
 China, and are very uncommon. M. de 
 Guignes estimates the whole number of 
 those who keep saddle-horses at only 
 242,000. The horses are small, not hand- 
 some, and far from elegant in their paces. 
 
 The mandarins of Pekin, who are in 
 the habit of riding, prefer mules, because 
 their keep is less expensive than that of 
 the horse, and they bear fatigue better. 
 
 There are wild mules in Tartary, which 
 vary both in gait and make from the do- 
 mestic mules. The Tartars eat their flesh 
 as food. In the western part of the em- 
 pire are camels and wild horses. The 
 latter go in numerous herds, and when 
 they meet any domesticated horses, sur- 
 round them, for the purpose of enticing 
 them away. The horses of Tartary 
 scarcely ever tire, and are particularly 
 bold in hunting wild beasts.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 71 
 
 A SOLDIER BEATING THE EVENING 
 WATCH ON A BAMBOO CYLINDER 
 AND A SOLDIER CARRYING THE LAN- 
 TERN BEFORE THE OFFICER OF TH 
 ROUNDS. 
 
 THE city gates, and the barriers at the 
 end of each street, are carefully closed 
 at night-fall. No one of any respecta- 
 bility is to be seen in the streets through- 
 out the night. They are filled with 
 patroles, who carry in their left hand a 
 hollow cylinder of bamboo, on which 
 they strike, not only as a proof that they 
 are on their watch, but to tell the hour, 
 and what weather it is. They interrogate 
 whomsoever they meet in their rounds ; 
 and if they receive satisfactory answers, 
 let them pass through a wicket fixed 
 to the barrier. They carry lanterns, on
 
 7S CHINA, ns COSTUXIE, 
 
 which are inscribed their names, and 
 those of the posts they belong to. 
 
 The piece of wood, or hollow bamboo r 
 is sometimes, instead of being cylindrical, 
 shaped like a fish, two feet and a half 
 long by six inches in diameter. It was 
 some time, says Mr. Barrow, before we 
 could accustom ourselves to the noise of 
 these cylinders, which, for many nights, 
 prevented our sleeping. 
 
 The officers who go the rounds are fre- 
 quently mounted on asses, preceded by *L 
 soldier with a dark lantern. 
 
 The police is not confined merely ta 
 this protection; the master of every tenth 
 house is obliged to keep watch for the 
 maintenance of good order, and to make 
 his servants mount guard. 
 
 The Chinese divide the day into twelve 
 hours ; the first beginning at our eleven, 
 o'clock at night, and ending at one
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 75 
 
 o'clock in the afternoon. Every hour is 
 divided into two poenchy, or half-hours, 
 and each poenchy into four quarters, 
 termed chy-ke. 
 
 The twelve hours are named after dif- 
 ferent animals, as follows: the rat, ox, 
 tiger, hare, dragon, serpent, horse, sheep, 
 ape, hen, dog, and pig. 
 
 The night is divided into five watches 
 the first of which is announced at the 
 different military stations, by a stroke oa 
 the drum or loo; the second by two 
 strokes, and so on. 
 
 In the whole world there is not perhaps 
 a. country where lanterns are so much in 
 use as in China; nor where so much va- 
 riety, art, and elegance are displayed in 
 making them. It is perfectly reasonable 
 for the soldiers on guard to carry a lan- 
 tern with them in their rounds ; but what 
 is very singular, and seems truly absurd, 
 is, that in their military evolutions they 
 carry it likewise, instead of arms.
 
 74 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 We arrived before Tong-Tchang-Fou, 
 says Mr. Barrow, in the evening; the 
 soldiers, who were drawn up in line, 
 each drew from under his coat a superb 
 lighted lantern, with which they went 
 through a kind of exercise. 
 
 The celebrated Feast of Lanterns is 
 observed every year at a fixed period. 
 The whole empire is illuminated from 
 one extremity to the other, and in all the 
 various modes which imagination can 
 suggest. 
 
 The lanterns are frequently made of 
 transparent paper, or gauze, but more 
 often of horn, so fine, so pellucid, that 
 foreigners, at first sight, suppose them to 
 be glass. Each lantern consists of a 
 single piece of horn, the joinings in 
 which are, from their nicety in amalga- 
 mating them by softening them in boiling 
 water, not to be distinguished.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 73 
 
 TARTAR SOLDIERS GOING TO MOUNT 
 GUARD AT THE PALACE GATES. 
 
 ACCORDING to the notes given to Lord 
 Macartney by the mandarin Van-Ta-Gin, 
 the Chinese army amounts to a miUioii 
 foot, and eight hundred thousand horse; 
 but this may be the nominal strength, 
 supposing every regiment to be full, and 
 not the effective rank and file. M. de 
 Guignes, the younger, reckons the in- 
 fantry at six hundred thousand, of which 
 ninety-five thousand are Tartars; and the 
 cavalry at two hundred and forty-two 
 thousand; which is very strong, consider- 
 ing the few horses which China produces, 
 and the difficulty of importing them from 
 abroad. 
 
 The Tartar troops are distinct from the 
 Chinese: the former are under their own
 
 $6 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 general; while the latter are dispersed 
 throughout the cities, forts, and guard- 
 posts of every province* 
 
 Among the Tartars, the highest mili- 
 tary officer is theTsiang-Kiun; he has the 
 immediate command of three thousand 
 men, and has two Ton-Ton g under him, 
 each of whom has the command of one 
 thousand, The Tou-Tong of the left, 
 ranks highest ; the left among the Tartars 
 being the post of honour. 
 
 The highest provincial military officer 
 of the Chinese is the Ty-Tou; he has five 
 thousand men under him, one thousand 
 of which are cavalry. The Tchong-Kiun, 
 or lieutenant-general, commands three 
 thousand; and sixTzong-Ping under him, 
 commanding three thousand each. 
 
 J e> 
 
 As China is in a state of profound 
 peace, the soldier's life is subject to very 
 little danger ; it is rather lucrative too, 
 and is therefore desirable-. The Chinese
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 77 
 
 soldiers are enrolled in their provinces, 
 and attached to the corps which are re- 
 sident there. The Tartar male children 
 are all born soldiers : enrolled under eight 
 banners, they possess the territories at- 
 tached to them; but being merely tenants, 
 they can only dispose of them in favour 
 of some of the same family. 
 
 The soldier is his own master in China, 
 except during the period of exercise, 
 which is at the time of the new moons, 
 and from being present at which 
 foreigners are strictly prohibited. 
 
 Lord Macartney and his suite had some 
 opportunity of forming an opinion of the 
 slate of the troops, as they received 
 military honours on their way. Mr. 
 Barrow says that what he saw Avere very 
 ill disciplined. In hot weather,' the sol- 
 diers were more disposed to use their 
 fans thaii their firelocks. They were 
 sometimes drawn up in line, and knelt 
 before the ambassador. Their parade 
 
 VOL. i. r
 
 78 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 uniformly seems better adapted to thea- 
 trical performers than to military men. 
 
 Their quilted petticoats, satin boots, 
 and fans, formed a singular contrast to 
 the variety and meanness of their private 
 employments and situations. The uni- 
 form varies in different provinces. 
 
 In war-time, the soldier receives, be- 
 sides his customary pay, six months in 
 advance, and the government gives his 
 family part of his pay for their subsist- 
 ence. The pay of a foot soldier is about 
 J 8,?. 4d. per month, and that of the ca- 
 valry I/. 17*. 6d 
 
 The Chinese military are punished by 
 being beaten with a bamboo, and the 
 Tartars are flogged with a whip. 
 
 Among the Tartar soldiers who mount 
 guard at the palace, some have to bring 
 engines in case of fire ; others tools, such
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 79 
 
 as rakes, pick-axes, &c. to clean and re- 
 pair the roads which the emperor travels 
 to go to Pekin, or to return to Hai- 
 Tien. 
 
 E 2
 
 80 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 WATER-CART FOR THE IMPERIAL 
 FAMILY. 
 
 VERY large tin vessels of a cubical form, 
 and which fit to each other, are used for 
 conveying water to the palace, for the em- 
 peror and his family. These are as con- 
 venient as our water-carts, and preferable, 
 as it is not requisite to pour the water 
 from one to another. Very great atten- 
 tion is paid to taking the water from that 
 part of the stream which is the clearest. 
 The carts are followed by eunuchs and 
 confidential officers, who never lose sight 
 of them. The least neglect in what re- 
 lates to the daily consumption of the em- 
 peror and princes, would be liable to very 
 rigorous punishment. 
 
 In the imperial palace are mandarin 
 purveyors, whose respective functions are 
 particularly designated one brings milk, 
 another bread, &c. &c.
 
 H 
 
 G 
 
 *!
 
 y///- .">. .</,/< -i,9,t.tn'/./..yi,tr/.-(f,ile. 42 fait Mai!
 
 AIITS, AND MANUFACTURES. 81 
 
 A TARTAR WOMAN AND CHILD; 
 
 THE Tartars having, from their first inva- 
 sion, evinced the greatest contempt for 
 most of the customs of the conquered, 
 it is not to be wondered at that their fe- 
 males should have rejected the fashions 
 of the Chinese women ; particularly that 
 of having small feet. They not only 
 give their foot its natural length, but 
 even add to it by a long curved shoe, 
 which the Chinese* in derision, call Tartar 
 junks, from the resemblance they bear to 
 those vessels. The upper covering of 
 their shoes is commonly of embroidered 
 satin, and the sole of paper or cloth, 
 doubled to the thickness of an inch. 
 
 The Tartar women have a frank and 
 confident look; they appear willingly 
 iu public, and are met in great num- 
 
 E3
 
 82 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 bers in the streets of Pekin. They some, 
 times walk, and sometimes ride on horse- 
 back, sitting, not aside, in the manner of 
 English ladies, but across like men. 
 They wear long silk gowns which reach 
 to their heels. Their hair is fastened up 
 and smoothed on all sides, nearly in the 
 Chinese manner. Although they use ag 
 much paint, red and white, as the Chinese, 
 it may easily be seen that their com* 
 plexion is naturally finer. 
 
 They almost all ornament their hair 
 with flowers. The custom of smoking, 
 and sometimes of chewing betel, makes 
 their teeth yellow. 
 
 They generally have a piece of wove 
 silk, which serves instead of a shift, over 
 which is a vest, and large silk drawers, 
 which in winter are trimmed with fur; 
 above this vest again is a long satin robe, 
 with an elegant girdle round the waist. 
 A fine shape is one of their characteris- 
 tics of beauty.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. $3 
 
 They still further differ from the wo- 
 men of China, as the latter suffer their, 
 nails to grow, and only retain sufficient 
 of their eyebrows to form a very thin 
 arch. 
 
 The men also take part with the 
 women in the uncomfortable vanity of 
 suffering their nails to grow, for the pur- 
 pose of shewing that they can live with- 
 out manual labour. The opulent, the 
 learned, and the mandarins, usually let 
 the nails of the left hand grow. 
 
 M. de Guignes saw the hand of a 
 Chinese physician, whose longest nail 
 was twelve inches and a half, and the 
 others nine and ten inches ; for the pur- 
 pose of obtaining this singular species of 
 gratification, he had been obliged to keep 
 his fingers constantly in small bamboo 
 cases. 
 
 4
 
 CHINA, ITS COSTUMK, 
 
 THE GRAND LAMA IN HIS FULL DRESS, 
 AND LAMA OF THE TARTAR BANNERSv 
 
 THE number of priests, or Bonzes, wlro 
 reside within the Chinese empire, may 
 amount to a million. They are divided 
 into two classes the Tao-Tse, or dis- 
 ciples of Lao-Kiun, and the Ho-Chang, or 
 priests of Fo. It should be observed, that 
 the religion of Fo, in China, is similar to 
 that of Bouddha in Tibet. The history and 
 attributes of this deity are also nearly the 
 Same as those of the Amida of Japan, 
 and the gods worshipped under various 
 names, at Siam, at Pegu, and in the king- 
 dom of Ava. 
 
 The Tartars, with whom the worship of 
 Fo is still more prevalent than with the. 
 Chinese, give their priests the name of 
 Lamas. The chief of this hierarchy is
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 85 
 
 the Dalai-Lama of Tibet. who is not 
 only the head of the religion, and the- 
 visible representative of the Divinity, 
 like the Pope in the Romish church, but 
 a^ pretended god immortal and incarnate. 
 
 The people are persuaded that the 
 Lama never dies, and that he merely 
 changes his corporeal residence. The 
 Lama is no sooner dead, or, according to 
 their belief, God has scarcely withdrawn 
 himself from the veneration of men, as 
 a punishment for their crimes, than the 
 priests pretend to have discovered, by 
 certain signs, an infant, in whom the soul 
 of the eternal Lama has vouchsafed to in- 
 corporate itself. This child is sometimes 
 several years of age, and is instructed in 
 his part ; but the choice generally falls on, 
 a new-born infant. 
 
 The discovery of the precious babe is 
 no sooner made, than the priests install 
 him in the palace, render him the same 
 honours as the deceased, and perhaps
 
 $6 CHINA, IT3 COSTUME, 
 
 persuade even himself, by a repetition of* 
 different traits in the lives of his prede- 
 cessors, that he has always existed, and 
 has only undergone an actual metempsy- 
 chosis. It has been already shewn in 
 the historical sketch, to what circum- 
 stances the introduction of the Tibetan 
 worship into China was owing. 
 
 The religion of Fo being the religion 
 of the prince, the priests who attend 
 upon it are the most favoured, and pos- 
 sess the richest and most magnificent 
 temples. Some of these edifices contain 
 five hundred gilt statues, larger than 
 life, representing either idols or deceased 
 Lamas. 
 
 The Grand Lama wears a gown of yel- 
 low satin, with an edging of fur. Over 
 it is a scarf of deep red. A yellow cloak 
 the size of the gown, is thrown over all. 
 The c-ip is a yellow satin mitre, behind 
 which depend" two fringes of the same; 
 the boots are likewise yellow ; the shot
 
 // Pmnn jinilii.ni 
 
 .t//vlt >/////-../' I'nll Mull
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 8/ 
 
 is terminated by a narrow yellow lace on 
 the seams. 
 
 The other figure represents a simple 
 Lama of one of the eight Tartar banners. 
 A plain yellow robe, red girdle, and boots, 
 and a kind of hat of yellow silk, com- 
 pose his whole costume. 
 
 The emperor Kien-Long was compli- 
 mented, in the sixteenth year of his reign, 
 by the Grand Lama of Tibet, who repaired 
 to Pekin with a numerous retinue. He 
 was received with great honours, and he 
 distributed to the people many thousand 
 impressions of his hand, traced bv him* 
 self on leaves of paper, by leaning upon it 
 with his hand, which was previously im- 
 pregnated with a yellow tint. He soorx 
 died there of the small-pox. His funeral 
 obsequies were very magnificent, and his 
 corpse was carried to Teshoo-Loomba, 
 the capital of Tibet, with great and im- 
 posing solemnity.
 
 88 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 The college of priests was not long in 
 discovering an infant at the breast, in 
 which the deceased pontiff was incarnate. 
 He was proclaimed the true Grand Lama; 
 he was a mere infant, and could not speak, 
 when, in 1783, the English sent the 
 famous embassy to him under Samuel, 
 now General Turner; who published an 
 interesting account of it in 1 800,
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 89 
 
 A TARTAR WOMAN MAKING A TSI, OR 
 SACRIFICING TO THE SPIRIT OF THE 
 DOOR TO PREVENT MISFORTUNE FROM 
 ENTERING HER HOUSE. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the religion of the prince is 
 the religion of Fo, or of Bouddha, it is, not- 
 withstanding, neither exclusive, nor even 
 the most prevalent. Every mode of wor- 
 ship is tolerated ; and to this may be at- 
 tributed the reception, which many em- 
 perors have given to the French mission- 
 aries. 
 
 The religion of Confucius is pure 
 deism, or natural religion, intermixed 
 only with somewhat of superstition, and 
 a few ceremonies, confined mostly to the 
 honours paid to the manes of ancestors.
 
 90 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 The people, generally, adopt the system 
 of the transmigration of souls; whence 
 arose the trick of the two bonzes who 
 one clay kneeled before two fowls, which 
 they made a poor countrywoman give to 
 them, under the pretence that they re- 
 cognized them as animated by the souls 
 of two of their relatives. 
 
 The priests of Fo ; like those of the sect 
 of Lao-Kiun, have contrived to plnnsre 
 and to keep the people in endless super- 
 stition. Such is the sacrifice represented 
 in the annexed Plate a Tartar woman is 
 about to adore a smr.ll altar, on which are 
 two lighted tapers, binning, in a kind of 
 perfume-pan, Leaves of gold and silver 
 paper. This ceremony commonly takes 
 place at the tin.e of the new and full 
 moon. The sacrifice is made to tne Spirit 
 of the Door, a kind of household god,
 
 o 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 Q
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 
 
 . BONZE WHO HAS MADE A VOW TO 
 GO A CERTAIN NUMBER OF MILES ON 
 ALL-FOURS. 
 
 THERE are no postures, however uneasy, 
 no sufferingr;, however exquisite, to 
 which the bonzes will not devote them- 
 selves to excite the charity of passers- 
 by. China abounds with them as much 
 as India. Some thrust long needles into 
 their cheeks, and will not pull them out 
 until they have received a contribution. 
 Others condemn themselves to drag a 
 
 O 
 
 heavy chain during their whole lives. 
 Others again, as in the accompanying 
 representation, make a vow to crawl 
 on all-fours, with a saddle on their 
 backs and bridle in their mouths, for 
 nine or twelve miles, and frequently 
 more.
 
 92 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 Father Amyot makes a severe, but not 
 an unjust criticism on one of our most 
 celebrated writers. He says, 
 
 " Tbe Erostratus of Geneva, Jean 
 Jacques Rousseau, would have attached 
 less blame to China, had he been aware 
 that the sublime philosophy of idolatry 
 produced some geniuses superior, in all 
 the prerogatives, to the original state of 
 man. As Europe still adheres to the ab- 
 surd notions of prudence and decorum, 
 which, as he has very properly observed, 
 are absolutely derogatory to primitive 
 rm-ht, we have not ventured to describe 
 
 c" 1 ' 
 
 many other things which would mate- 
 rially strengthen his discoveries, &c." 
 
 The fact is, that Rousseau, in his Emi- 
 lius, asserts that man, in his natural 
 state, could and must go on all-fours, al- 
 though this assertion is contradicted not 
 only by sound reason, but likewise by 
 anatomy.. Monkeys, which stand erect 
 like men, cannot retain that position long
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 93 
 
 without being fatigued. The length of 
 our legs and thighs, and particularly the 
 manner in which the occiput, or hinder 
 part of the scull, is set into the spine of 
 the back, prevent our going on all-four* 
 without serious inconvenience. 
 
 Father Lacomte mentions a mortifica- 
 tion which one of thc&e fanatics imposed 
 on himself equally strange and torturing. 
 He saw in the middle of a village, a 
 young bonze, mild, affable, and unassum* 
 ing, sitting upright in an iron chair, the 
 inside of which was stuck full of sharp 
 nails, which prevented his resting him- 
 self except at the cost of severe lacera- 
 tion ; two porters were dragging him 
 from house to house. " You see," said he, 
 " I am in this situation for the good of 
 your souls ; nor shall I quit it until all 
 the nails, above two thousand, with which 
 it is stuck, have been purchased. Every 
 nail," added he, " will cost you sixpence; 
 it will, you may be assured, be a source of 
 blessing to your families : pray take one
 
 94 "CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 of them at any rate ; \vhat you give will 
 not go to the bonzes, to whom you can 
 testify your charity in other ways, but to 
 the god Fo, to whom we wish to erect a 
 temple."
 
 J 
 
 5 
 
 M 
 
 8 
 
 g
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 93 
 
 THE PALACE OF YUEN-MING-YUEN. 
 
 THE palace of Yuen-Ming-Yuen, or thfc 
 autumnal palace of the emperor of China, 
 is at some distance from Pekin, and be 
 yond the great town of Hai-Tien. 
 
 The gardens are surrounded by walls, 
 and are at least twelve miles in circum- 
 ference. The English ambassador and 
 his suite were admitted into one part 
 of the park only. To the Dutch ambas- 
 sadors, who were there two years after- 
 wards, the mandarins apologized for not 
 shewing them, as the buildings were not 
 worth seeing, and were very much out of 
 repair. 
 
 The gardens are said to contain thirty 
 distinct palaces, with the out-buildings
 
 $6 CIILVA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 to each, for the emperor's principal of- 
 ficers, domestics, and workmen. 
 
 These assemblages of edifices, which 
 the Chinese honour with the appellation 
 of palaces, are more remarkable for the 
 number than the magnificence and archi- 
 tectural taste of the buildings. The 
 greater part of the out-offices are nothing 
 more than cottages. The palace in which 
 the emperor resides, and the great hall 
 of audience, would not be very unlike a 
 barn, were they despoiled of the gold and 
 elegant varnish which covers all the 
 wood-work. 
 
 The principal hall of audience of 
 Yuen-Ming-Yuen, is raised about four feet 
 higher than the level of the court-yard ; 
 a colonnade of large wooden pillars sur- 
 rounds the whole building, and supports 
 the roof. 
 
 A second range of columns placed 
 withinside and opposite to the former,
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 97 
 
 composes the wall of the hall. The in- 
 terval between the columns is filled, to 
 the height of six feet, with brick and 
 cement, and above that are lattices, co- 
 vered with oiled paper ; they are open on 
 court-days. The pillars are without ca- 
 pitals. 
 
 The hall is one hundred and ten feet 
 long, by forty-four wide, and twenty 
 high. The throne is at the bottom ; it 
 is made of red wood, not unlike ma- 
 hogany. 
 
 The ceiling is painted in circles, 
 squares, and polygons variously colour- 
 ed ; the floor is chequered, and of grey 
 marble. The only furniture or ornament 
 visible in the hall are two copper cym- 
 bals, four antique china vases, four 
 volumes of manuscripts, and an old 
 English table-clock. 
 
 The emperor's apartments are in gene- 
 ral composed of a great number of
 
 9$ CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 small rooms very simply furnished ; with 
 the exception of a cabinet named Heaven, 
 the walls of which are covered with 
 paper flowers: all the hangings are of 
 white paper. 
 
 In the garden is a river which forms 
 cascades, and ponds containing gold fish, 
 which, it is now well known, are originally 
 from this country, and attain a length 
 exceeding a foot. The gardens are of 
 that description which have been been 
 successfully imitated in England; the 
 walks are not regular ; on the contrary, 
 great care has been taken to obviate the 
 natural equality of the ground. 
 
 To revert to the gold-fish : though the 
 growth of those kept in Europe is slow, 
 they are the most temperate animals which 
 live, taking scarcely any nourishment: 
 they will do without food for a month 
 together, if they have fresh water every 
 two or three days ; they subsist on the-
 
 AUT3, AND MANUFACTURES. $$ 
 
 muddy particles which they find in it 
 They are very fond of flies and white 
 cake. I made a fish of this kind so tame, 
 that it would come to the surface of 
 water and eat out of my hand.
 
 100 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 A YOUNG LICENTIATE RIDING THROUGH 
 THE STREETS WITH THE MARKS OF 
 HIS NEW RANK. 
 
 THE attention which the Chinese govern- 
 ment pays to the subject of education is 
 truly paternal: there are few villages 
 without a school. From five years of 
 age, the children begin to learn the cha- 
 racters of the Chinese language, which 
 are so numerous and so complicated, that 
 a man's whole life seems scarcely long 
 enough to acquire the knowledge of 
 reading and writing it. 
 
 It seems that the schools teach nothing 
 more than the elements of writing ; pa- 
 rents who wish their children to have a 
 more finished education, place them in 
 colleges at their own expense; there, they 
 go through a course of studies, and sue-
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 101 
 
 cessively attain to three degrees, which 
 correspond with those of the European uni- 
 versities; namely, bachelors, licentiates, 
 and doctors. These degrees are not con- 
 ferred without numerous and strict 
 examinations. 
 
 The class of letters holds, in some re- 
 spect, the first rank in the Chinese em- 
 pire: it is that class which supplies masters 
 for instruction, ministers for administra- 
 tion, and magistrates for government All 
 literary men arc accounted noble, and arc 
 free from taxes. 
 
 So minute is the plan of education, 
 that it occupies thirty years of close ap- 
 plication, and absorbs all that tim-e iu 
 which the wanderings of the mind are 
 most to be apprehended. 
 
 When a pupil attains the rank of licen- 
 tiate, it is a day of rejoicing and happi- 
 ness to the whole family; his parents 
 overwhelm him with caresses : the present 
 
 VOL. i. F
 
 CHIN r A, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 of etiquette is a lamb, which is brought 
 to him alive with great ceremony. 
 
 The new licentiate, or doctor, usually 
 sets apart three days for riding about the 
 streets to pay visits; he is preceded by 
 youths carrying banners, on which are 
 inscribed the marks of his new rank. 
 
 It is not, however, that the reign of 
 science is extensive and profound among 
 the Chinese ; their whole knowledge is, 
 for the most part, confined to their own 
 language, with a smattering of the policy 
 and history of their country. They are 
 perfectly ignorant of the geography and 
 history of other nations, and study no 
 branch of physic. Their notions of the 
 "medical art are replete with error and ri- 
 diculous superstition. They consider the 
 stud;; of anatomy criminal, because they 
 are aliaid of defiling themselves by the 
 dissection of bodies, and they have made 
 so little proficiency in surgery, that if, as 
 Mr. Barrow says, the puissant emperor of
 
 ART*, AND MAlfUFACTURES. 103 
 
 China were to break his leg, he might 
 think himself fortunate in meeting with 
 some young European apprentice to set 
 it for him. 
 
 It is not to be attributed to any unwil- 
 lingness on the part of the Chinese to re- 
 ward merit, that they have so few well-in- 
 formed people amongst them. A priest of 
 the sect of Tao-Tse made himself so dear 
 to the emperor Kang-Hi by his talents in 
 chemistry and magic, that he was pro- 
 claimed after his death, God and Lord of 
 Heaven, and of the Sun, Moon, and Stars. 
 I should, however, observe, that the word 
 God, which I transcribe from the works 
 of the missionaries, would be more cor- 
 rectly expressed by the Latin Divus, that 
 is, Blessed,
 
 104 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 CHINESE IMPLEMENTS OF WAR. 
 
 THE implements of war delineated in the 
 annexed print are a cannon and culve- 
 
 rines. 
 
 The firelock is of wrought iron, mount- 
 ed on a wooden stock; the but-end is 
 small and almost, pointed , the touch-hole 
 is covered with a copper plate which 
 moves aside horizontally. The gun is 
 not discharged by the stroke of a flint, 
 but by a match, placed in a manner some- 
 what similar to that of our antique mus- 
 kets. Every soldier has a number of 
 these matches, in a leather bag, attached 
 to his gun. In making use of the gun it 
 is generally rested on two iron spikes. 
 The cartouch-box is a kind of pocket of 
 black cloth painted with oil paint, and 
 which contains the balls.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 105 
 
 The shields of the soldiers, who are 
 armed with sabres, are made of satin, ar- 
 row- and sabre-proof, but not musket- 
 proof ; their diameter is two feer r and 
 their weight eight pounds. 
 
 The quiver contains several rows of 
 arrows, each of a different shape. The 
 most singular are those, the points of 
 which are armed with another arrow, and 
 those whose points are slit, so as to re- 
 ceive a letter. This is the method 
 adopted for corresponding with the 
 enemy, in a besieged town, to evade the 
 vigilance of the governor and his officers, 
 
 The strength of a bow is ascertained 
 by the weight requisite to bend it. The 
 weakest used by the army is eighty-four, 
 and the strongest one hundred pounds 
 weight. The bow, before it is pulled, 
 forms a half-circle. It is drawn in the 
 reverse way. An opinion may here be 
 formed or' the corporal strength neces- 
 sary in Chinese soldiers, and in the 
 
 F3
 
 10(5 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 archers of the ancients. The invention 
 of modern fire-arms has produced the 
 important result of rendering individual 
 Strength of little consequence in the day 
 of battle. Every European soldier, suf- 
 ficiently strong to bear the recoil of his 
 firelock, is as capable of using it with 
 effect, as the most robust j in our modem 
 armies, it is rather soundness of constitu- 
 tion, and being inured to fatigue and pri- 
 vations, than muscular strength, which 
 constitutes real soldiers. 
 
 The shaft of the arrow is of fir, some* 
 times a reed, and always well made. 
 The point is sharp and in the form of a 
 lozenge. The bow is made of hard 
 elastic wood strengthened by buffalo 
 horn. The combination of wood and 
 horn increases its elasticity. The string, 
 of the thickness of a small goose-quill, 
 is made of twisted silk threads, with 
 leather in the centre where the arrow 
 comes.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 107 
 
 The Chinese soldiers sometimes slioot 
 fish with an arrow very cleverly. The 
 arrow is fastened to the how witk pack- 
 thread, to prevent its being lost, and also 
 to draw out the fish when struck. 
 
 In fortified places they make use of 
 bows which can only be bent by 
 machines, and which carry numerous ar- 
 rows to an inconceivable distance. 
 
 > 
 
 The Chinese were taught the cannon- 
 foundry by the missionaries. Their 1 
 pieces of artillery are made nearly on the 
 model of the bottom representation in 
 the engraving. The second, after the ; 
 style of the old Chinese cannon, is a cul- 
 veriiie composed of thr.ee or four bands 
 of wrought iron, combined with hoops of 
 the same, and mounted on a frame, 
 
 The first is a large iron tube wider than 
 a musket barrel, and which throws ball* 
 to a proportionate distance. 
 
 F 4
 
 IJ08 OHIXA, FTS C05TUMK, 
 
 The Jesuits Schaal and Verbiest in- 
 structed the Chinese in the European art 
 of casting artillery; at least, according 
 to the practice which prevailed at the be- 
 ginning of the last century, and which 
 has been since brought to great perfec- 
 tion, though the Chinese do not seem to 
 have made any progress in the art. On 
 public entertainments, or when they wish 
 to compliment persons of great conse- 
 quence, they do not discharge artillery, 
 but powder-boxes ; they are a Kind of pe- 
 tard or pistol, stuck perpendicularly into 
 the ground. Mr. Barrow mentions, that 
 the soldiers who fire these petards are so 
 frightened at them, that they no not ap- 
 ply' the match directly to them, but by 
 means of a train, which communicates. 
 fiom one box to.> another.
 
 .ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 109 
 
 MANNER OF TRAVELLING IN" A BARROW 
 WJTH ONE WHEEL. 
 
 Xms method of travelling is more plea- 
 sant and less dangerous than that of a 
 palanquin with two bearers : if one of the 
 men were to fall, the wheel would still 
 support this light carriage. It is not the 
 Chinese, but the Tartar women who tra- 
 vel in this way. 
 
 * 
 
 At Pekin is a great number of car- 
 riages for hire, drawn by one horse; 
 but, as has been already mentioned, from 
 not being hung on springs, their motion 
 is very rough and unpleasant ; although, 
 for the purpose of lessening this objec- 
 tion, the wheels are placed as far back as 
 possible. 
 
 F5
 
 110 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 These hired carriages are convex at 
 top, lined within and without with thick 
 blue cloth, and furnished with black 
 cushions; many of them are close in 
 front, with a door at the side, but they 
 are more frequently open.
 
 /'/</' '/. Miv i/ifi- /'V/./.SRK-/afalf. 41 ff>H Mali
 
 ARTS, AND .MANUFACTURES. 1 1 1 ; 
 
 A MAHOMETAN WOMAN WITH HER 
 SON, TO WHOM SHE IS SHEWING A 
 TOY. 
 
 JVlANY centuries have elapsed since the 
 Mahometans introduced themselves into 
 China; the missionaries assert that it was 
 the year 599 after Jesus Christ; but M. de 
 Guignes very successfully overthrows 
 this assertion, as, at that period, Mahomet 
 was not born. They were permitted to 
 remain a long time perfectly unmolested, 
 because they gave themselves little 
 trouble to make proselytes, and only 
 multiplied by the alliances which they 
 contracted. Some ci- them who \vere 
 well versed in mathematical knowledge, 
 were sent for to court, and entrusted 
 with the management of the calendar; 
 they then became more ambitious, and 
 not only collected and br ight up in 
 their own faith, the wretched infanti 
 V 6
 
 CHIN.A, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 ) ' 
 
 whom the barbarity of their indigent pa- 
 rents exposed in the streets and high- 
 ways, but they kidnapped, and even pur- 
 chased, some for a pecuniary considera- 
 tion. 
 
 We are assured that, during a period 
 of famine which desolated the province 
 of Canton, they bought above ten thou- 
 sand children; they married, and obtained 
 for them a considerable territory, whereon 
 small Mahometan towns were ere long 
 established, with mosques and priests. 
 
 Late emperors have persecuted the 
 Mahometans as untractable and rebellious 
 subjects; and the greater part of their 
 mosques have been either destroyed or 
 abandoned. In 1783 and 3784, the em- 
 peror Kien-Long carried on a war, in 
 which above one hundred thousand Ma- 
 hometans perished. 
 
 Scarcely any individuals of this reli- 
 gion now remain, except in the tributary
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. IJ3 
 
 countries, situate from the extremity of 
 Chen-Sy to Yrguen and Ily in Tartary. 
 The Chinese give them the appellation of 
 Hoey; they are divided into three classes, 
 which are distinguished by their tur- 
 bans. 
 
 Those of the first class wear a red tur- 
 ban in the form of a sugar-loaf, whence 
 they are termed Hong-Mao-Iloey-Tsc, 
 that is, red-cap Mussulmans. 
 
 Those of the second class, or white- 
 cap Mussulmans, are therefore termed 
 Pe-Mao-Hoey-Tse. 
 
 Those of the third class wear a turban, 
 or rather a piece of cloth, which wraps 
 round the head, and they are from that 
 denominated Tchan-Teon-Hoey, or Mus- 
 sulmans with their heads bound up. 
 
 Other foreigners, Jews, had found 
 their way to China before the Mussul-
 
 I 14 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 mans ; it is said, during the Han dynasty,, 
 which commenced its reign 06 years 
 before Christ. At first, they were a great 
 number of families, but they have much 
 decreased. These families marry solely 
 with each other, neither intermixing 
 with the Mahometans nor Chinese. 
 
 Duhalde asserts that the Jews have no 
 synagogue, except in CairFoang, the 
 capital" of the province of IIo-Nan.. 
 
 Mr. Barrow says that many of these 
 Jews abjure the religion of Moses, and 
 succeed to the highest stations; he adds- 
 also, that very few of them, the rabbis 
 excepted, retain even a smattering of the 
 Hebrew language, and that they have 
 been so long among the Chinese, that 
 their priests have great difficulty in sup- 
 porting the synagogue. The English, 
 embassy, on its \vay to Hang-Chou-Fou, 
 was desirous of obtaining some informa- 
 tion respecting the Israelites, and parti-
 
 ARTS,. AND MANUFACTUliJES. 
 
 ctilarly of procuring a copy of their 
 code of laws, for the purpose of compar- 
 ing it with the Bible ; hut they could not 
 succeed, owing to the mistrust and 
 vijity of the Chinese officers.
 
 CJIIN'A, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 MIRROR SELLER. 
 
 THE mirrors which are sold at Pekin, are 
 of highly polished copper; some of them 
 are four feet in diameter. Canton con- 
 tains the only glass-house in the empire : 
 looking-glasses and glass mirrors have 
 been manufactured there, quicksilvered 
 in the European manner; but this under- 
 taking has not proved successful. They 
 prefer those of metal : it is difficult to- 
 account for this preference in the Chinese,, 
 asvour looking-glasses are less liable to be 
 tarnished, and the polish is, as one may 
 say, unalterable. They are obliged to- 
 make use of metal in their telescopes, as 
 their glass has a double refraction, which 
 is productive of great irregularity in the 
 representation of objects. 
 
 Glass is, in other respects, highly 
 esteemed, and a great rarity in China.
 
 AXTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 117 
 
 The manufacturers of Canton do not un- 
 derstand how to manufacture it with the 
 proper materials which should compose 
 it; but they melt old pieces of glass> and 
 give it the desired form. The scarcity of 
 glass prevents its being used for win- 
 dows : the windows are commonly com- 
 posed either of their own transparent 
 shells, or of paper. 
 
 The ancients constructed their glasses 
 either with specular stones, that is, vitri- 
 fied lava, which is met with on the sides 
 of volcanos ; or with a white polished 
 metal the latter was in most general use, 
 and is still visible in old monuments. 
 They have the round form of Chinese miv- 
 rors ; but they likewise have a tail, by 
 which they were held in the hand, or 
 else fixed into some piece of furniture. 
 It was long a matter of dispute amongst 
 the antiquaries, what was the intent of 
 these objects : some thought they were 
 instruments used in sacrifices; butM.de 
 Tersan clearly proved, some years, since, 
 that they were mirrors.
 
 I] 8 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE FEAST OF AGRI- 
 CULTURE, AND OF THE FEAST OF 
 LANTERNS. 
 
 " THE histories of China," says Mon- 
 tesquieu, in his Spirit of La vys, Book 14. 
 Chapter 8. " speak of the ceremony of 
 opening the earth which the emperor per- 
 forms every year. The object of this 
 public act of solemnity is to excite the' 
 people to labour." 
 
 Among the ancient Persians, on the 
 eighth day of the month, named Chor- 
 rem-Ruz, the kings relinquished their 
 fast, to cat with the labourers. These 
 
 institutions are admirable, were it only 
 
 / 
 
 for the encouragement they give to agri- 
 culture. 
 
 Whether this august solemnity took its 
 rise in policy or not, it has now become
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 
 
 so essential a custom, that the emperors 
 could not dispense with if, at the present 
 day, bat at the risk of exciting discon- 
 tent. 
 
 Chou-King mentions a Chinese mo- 
 narch, who, having neglected to turn 
 the glebe, and ofter to Tien (Heaven), 
 the produce of the harvest, incurred 
 the just animadversion of the people ; 
 who regarded the public calamities which 
 afflicted the empire, during his reign, as 
 the effect of divine wrath. 
 
 Agriculture is held in such great vene- 
 ration in China, that the annals of the 
 people record, that the emperor Yao no- 
 minated, as his successor, a man from the 
 humble class of ploughmen; to the exclu- 
 sion of his own son, whose false and de- 
 ceitful character he dreaded. The name 
 of this prince was Chun ; he was 1 suc- 
 ceeded by Yu, who was of similar ori- 
 gin.
 
 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 Another emperor of the name of Yen- 
 Ti, who reigned 179 years before Christ, 
 set his principal courtiers an example, 
 and gave them a taste for agriculture, 
 by himself laying out the grounds of 
 his palace. The great Feast of Agricul- 
 ture is supposed to have been instituted 
 in commemoration of this action of Yen- 
 Ti. It is celebrated annually in all the 
 towns of China, on the fii:st day of 
 their spring-quarter, which corresponds 
 with our month of February; being the 
 day on which the sun enters the fifteenth 
 degree of Aquarius. 
 
 At the time of this festival, the governor, 
 or principal mandarin, quits his palace in 
 a sedan-chair, preceded by lighted flam- 
 beaus, flags, and music ; and his fore- 
 head decorated with a garland of flowers. 
 He repairs, with his retinue, towards the 
 eastern gate of the city, as though he 
 was to precede the spring. At the same 
 time are brought litters, covered with car- 
 pets or silk drapery, on which are depicted.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 121 
 
 certain strange figures or portraits of 
 persons who have distinguished them- 
 selves in agriculture : the streets are car- 
 peted ; triumphal arches are erected at 
 equal distances ; and, in the evening, the 
 exterior of all the houses is illuminated 
 with lanterns. 
 
 One of the figures represents a cow 
 of an enormous size, made of baked clay, 
 and so heavy that forty men sometimes 
 have great difficulty in carrying it. Be- 
 hind this cow, the horns of which are 
 gilt, is a young child which has one foot 
 bare, and the other covered. It repre- 
 sents the genius of labour,' or of industry ; 
 and constantly strikes the cow with" a 
 stick, as thouglr to make her go forward. 
 A company of labourers with their imple- 
 ments, men in masks, and buffoons in 
 disguise, terminate the assemblage. 
 
 o 
 
 When it lias arrived in ^ front of the 
 governors palace, the cow is despoiled of 
 all its ornaments, and, from its belly, are
 
 122 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 drawn prodigious numbers of little cows, 
 made of white clay, which are distributed 
 to the whole troop ; amongst whom was in 
 like manner divided the wreck of the 
 large cow. The governor, in a short 
 speech, recommends agriculture as a 
 point of the first importance to the pro- 
 sperity of a state ; then, taking hold of 
 the plough, he himself turns some fur- 
 rows. 
 
 This distribution of the parts of the 
 cow calls to mind a somewhat similar 
 ceremony which the ancient Egyptians 
 had. Osiris was worshipped in the form 
 of an ox, which Isis herself distributed 
 to the priests. In England too, a few 
 years back at least, it was customary on 
 May-day for the milk-sellers of London 
 to parade, with what was termed the milk- 
 maids' garland ; and sometimes a cow 
 dressed in flowers* 
 
 When any officers from the viceroys 
 come to court, the emperor never omits to 
 question them on the state of the country 
 
 4
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 12 3 
 
 and the promising appearance of the 
 harvests. 
 
 The Feast of Agriculture is celebrated, 
 in the capital, by the emperor in person, 
 who, with his own hands, ploughs several 
 furrows. Instead of parading a clay 
 cow, a live cow is sacrificed in the temple 
 dedicated to the Earth. 
 
 The emperor selects twelve nobles to 
 accompany him at this ceremony : namely, 
 three princes, aud nine presidents of the 
 principal tribunals. These twelve man- 
 darins, and the prince himself, are ordered 
 to prepare themselves by three days of 
 strict fast. On the eve of the ceremony 
 the emperor selects several mandarins, 
 and sends them into the hall of his an- 
 cestors^ to prostrate themselves before 
 the tablet on which his ancestors' names 
 are inscribed. They are desired to in- 
 form them, as though they could under- 
 stand it, that the great sacrifice would 
 be offered the following day.
 
 124 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 The tribunal of these ceremonies se- 
 lects fifty labourers to assist at the feast ; 
 they are recommended either by their 
 years, their good conduct, or their suc- 
 cess in their vocation. Forty younger 
 labourers are also chosen to attend the 
 plough, harness the oxen, and prepare 
 the grain which is to be sowed. The 
 emperor sows five sorts of grain ; rice, 
 millet, wheat, beans, and a kind of millet 
 which they call cao-leang. 
 
 The emperor opens the day fixed for the 
 ceremony by making a sacrifice on a hill, 
 at some distance from the capital, and 
 near the field which is to be sown by his 
 royal hands. 
 
 After he has offered the sacrifice, the 
 emperor goes down to the plain, followed 
 by his mandarins, carrying, in boxes, the 
 grain which he is to sow. The whole 
 court observes a profound silence ; four 
 professed ploughmen drive the oxen, the 
 emperor holds the plough, and traces
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. IS5 
 
 several furrows in five different parts : lie 
 then takes the boxes in succession, and 
 sows the grain which was in them, in 
 distinct parts of the field. The following 
 days, labourers finish ploughing the field. 
 
 The greatest care is taken of this piece 
 of land, which the governor of the 
 capital does not fail to visit regularly. 
 He particularly examines whether there 
 are no ears of corn, which, from their 
 extraordinary magnitude, may be taken, 
 as an happy omen : should such be the 
 case, and, for example, one stem produce 
 thirteen ears, it is notified officially, 
 throughout the whole empire, in the 
 Court Gazette. The harvest is gathered 
 in autumn, under the superintendence of 
 the same governor. The produce is put 
 into sacks of a yellow colour, and great 
 care is taken of them : they are used ia 
 the sacrifices which the emperor offers in 
 person, to Tien, -or Chang-Ti ; he also 
 sacrifices, on particular days, to the 
 manes of his ancestors, the same as if 
 they were still in being. 
 
 VOL. i. c
 
 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, 
 
 However easy it may be to conceive 
 the motive which originated and conti- 
 nues the Feast of Agriculture, that of a 
 no less famous institution, which is call- 
 ed the Feast of Lanterns, is not so readily 
 accounted for. The Chinese themselves 
 are not agreed as to its origin. 
 
 Some say, that the daughter of a man- 
 darin, having fallen into the water, and 
 been drowned, her father and the people, 
 impressed with grief and regret for her 
 estimable qualities, sought her, fora long 
 time, unsuccessfully, with lanterns ; and 
 that this is the occurrence which they 
 wish to keep in remembrance. 
 
 According to others, an emperor being 
 weary of hav-mg his pleasures broken in 
 upon, by the continued succession of 
 day and night, resolved, by the advice of 
 one of his women, to build a palace, ab- 
 solutely impervious to the rays of the 
 suri. The interior of it was lighted by 
 innumerable lanterns, and he there vege- 
 tated in effeminacy and debauchery.
 
 ARTS, AND MANUFACTURES. 127 
 
 The people having revolted, the empe- 
 ror was dethroned, and his palace de- 
 stroyed. To perpetuate the memory of 
 this event, the whole extent of the em- 
 pire is annually illuminated at the same 
 time. 
 
 ^ Some writers, without attributing this 
 feast to any extraordinary origin, simply 
 relate, that the emperor Jouy-Tsong, of 
 the dynasty of the Tangs, in the year of 
 Christ 712, permitted a great number of 
 lanterns to be lighted on the fifteenth 
 night of the first moon. This feast, 
 which afterwards lasted many days, was 
 at last restricted to three. 
 
 During the Feast of Lanterns, all the 
 streets, and public and private buildings 
 in China, make a most extraordinary 
 appearance. 
 
 END OF VOL. i.
 
 128 CHINA, ITS COSTUME, &C. 
 
 WHILE considering with astonishment the splen- 
 dour of foreign spectacles, we need not forget 
 that feasts of far greater national, importance, and 
 almost inconceivable magnificence, once graced the 
 British islands. See an account of the feasts 
 held in the temple of Tara, the grand seat of Ire- 
 land's triennial parliaments, in a note, page 148,, 
 on " The Emerald Isle," a poem, which, whether 
 for beautiful imagery, versatility of poetic talent, 
 interesting incident, and historical information, has 
 no rival in the present day. It is from the elegant 
 pen of Charles Phillips, Esq. who has just com-i 
 menced his professional career at the Irish bar. 
 Ter quaterque beatus ! 
 
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